#but maybe I’m wrong and you’ll go get me my rights back on that Minnesota school board. have at it child

[mercuria1]

Calls to action to save America by voting and running for local office are so funny. Read the room

[midnightstar-90]

Hidden~ Eddie Diaz x Nash! Reader

A/N: I am starting a taglist. If you want to join let me know. Also, I know the ending to the last part was strange, but I'm setting something up. Just... You'll see...

The Accident

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

5 Minutes Before The Crash

Eddie's POV

I was very confused about how I feel. I just met a girl that I might like, but I'm trying to fix what I had with Shannon. I had to talk to someone. That someone ended up being Buck. "I'm just so conflicted. I want to be with Shannon, but I felt something when I talked with Y/N. I mean, Shannon is Christopher's mother, but Y/N and Chris clicked right when they say each other," I told Buck while restocking the truck. "You got all that from watching a girl walk your son to class?" Buck asked, giving me a confused look through the truck window. "Your one to talk. You still stay in your "girlfriend's" apartment, even though she has been in another country for 2 months," I say back. "You asked for my opinion, so don't catch an attitude. Also, Abbie will be back," Buck argues.

I just look at him and raise my hands, showing him I'm surrendering. We finish restocking the Firetruck and head upstairs. We sit down in the lounge. "But, if you want my opinion. I think you should get to know this girl. Don't ruin your relationship with Shannon over a girl you hardly know. Even though she is Christopher's teacher, she may not be all you thought her to be. I mean, you did get this feeling from her picking up Chris from the office." For once since I've been here, Buck gives good advice. "Thanks, man," I thank Buck. The bell rings, and we both groan and roll our eyes.

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

Bobby's POV

'She's here. I know it could be anyone, but I have a feeling. I don't think she would forgive me. Even before the fire, I didn't give Y/N the attention she deserved. Maybe it was best I stayed away. She could have been one of the victims of my stupidity. I think I should find her and explain.'

The same things have been going through my head ever since I heard Buck and Eddie talk. How do you tell your family that you have a secret daughter? The bell rings, making me leave my thoughts here for the sake of the victim.

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

Flashback to 2000

Narrator's POV

Bobby and a 7-year-old Y/N sit in a cafe in Minnesota. Bobby ordered a coffee and a danish, and Y/N ordered a hot chocolate and a cookie. Times like this made Y/N happy. She had alone time with her father, and he wasn't working. "Daddy, where were you last weekend?" Y/N asked her father with a slightly sad tone. "Well, I had to work. You know my job can get busy." Bobby didn't know how to tell his daughter that he found someone.

It had been 2 months since Marcy and Bobby started dating. Bobby didn't know how to tell his daughter that there is someone else, but he did know that he would have to tell her someday. Today was the perfect day.

Bobby decided to lay the information on his daughter calmly. "Honey," Bobby started getting the attention of his daughter, "Do you remember when I was talking to the lady that had a niece on your soccer team? Well, she and I talked, and we went on a couple of dates." Y/N's face lit up. She instantly went into excited mode.

"How did they go? You have to tell me everything," she was basically jumping in her seat when she realized, "Wait, that was 2 months ago. Why am I just hearing about this now?" Bobby chuckled at his daughter's playful antics. "Well, I had to make sure she was awesome for my beautiful princess." Y/N giggled while drinking her hot chocolate.

Y/N accepted that she couldn't be the only person in her father's life to make him happy. What she didn't know is that, when his second child was born, she wouldn't get the same attention. It only got worse.

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

The 118 exits the truck, seeing the 3 car collision.  The crash was in the middle of an intersection. The cars were in a 'T' position. Athena Grant meets with the fire captain to give him the rundown of the issue. "Car one is the cause of the crash. Car one crashes into car two, causing car two to push into car three. Cars one and two have one driver each. Car two with light head injuries, but car three has a woman and child about the age of four, both unresponsive."

Hearing the information, Bobby sends Buck and Chimney to check on cars one and two. Eddie, Bobby, and Hen head toward car 3. Eddie makes it over and sees Y/N. Eddie calls out Y/N's name, worried.

Bobby curiously looks into the car and sees the girl. She looks just like the girl he left in Minnesota but grown-up. He looks in the back and sees a little boy with some of the woman's features. 'I have a grandson?' Bobby thought to himself.

Eddie calls out to Y/N again. Y/N slowly opens her eyes. "Eddie... my son... Zach... help him... first," Y/N tells the firefighter with a raspy voice. "I'll get the boy. You get the woman"

Buck and Chimney make their way over. Eddie tries to open the door, but it doesn't budge.  "The door won't open. Will the back open?" Eddie asks. Buck goes over to the other side of the car and opens the door.

Bobby gets the boy out and passes him to Chimney to get checked out. Buck and Eddie try and get Y/N out from the back. Hen checks Y/N out. "Miss, can you hear me," Hen says checking Y/N's pupils. Y/N responds with a groan and a slight nod.

While Hen and Chimney check out the mother and son, Eddie sees something. Y/N's phone lights up with a missed call from 'Mom'. Behind the notification, Eddie sees a picture of Y/N and a man posing in their Navy uniforms. So far, Eddie got the impression that he and Y/N had a very similar background.

Y/N and Zachary were both put into the ambulance. Athena walks over to Bobby. "What's wrong? It looks like you've seen a ghost," Athena asks with a chuckle. Bobby keeps a very serious look and says, "I did. That was my daughter." Athena looks at Bobby with a serious/confused face and asks, "What?!"

Tagist: @jjpogueprincess @notanordinaryprincess95 @wiypt-writes

[yourfavewriteress]

right under our noses (part 1) | colton parayko

intro |

Teaser: “Are you guys seriously not going to tell either of us who the other person is?”

“Trust me on this,” Jayne said. “Trust us.”

You looked over at Alex who was seated next to her. “For some reason I trust your word right now more than hers. Do you approve of this person?”

“You know I wouldn’t support setting you up with anyone I didn’t think could put up with you,” He replied.

“Alexander,” You warned him. Jayne groaned, slightly nudging his leg under the table.

“She’s being serious,” She added.

“I trust the guy, yes,” He said finally with a roll of his eyes. “We both wouldn’t set you up to get hurt, you know that already.”

“What if this doesn’t work?” You trusted Alex, and especially Jayne. If they were vouching for this guy, you really had no reason to question it. But, your dating life had not been the best. You were consistently getting caught up with the wrong guys, ones that would play with your feelings just to boost their own egos. You were a strong woman, and always kept your composure. But, you were tired of always being in the background. And maybe this could work. It doesn’t hurt to try, at least, not yet.

“Then we figure something else out,” Jayne shrugged.

You sighed, looking down at your drink.

“What are you worried about?” Jayne asked. You looked at her and shrugged. Jayne didn’t understand why you didn’t see yourself the way she did. To her, you were beautiful, smart, successful (albeit in a terrible job), strong, witty and loving. You were a catch, and she hated that the men in your past made you believe anything different.

Alex loved you like a sister. Ever since Jayne introduced you at one of his team parties, he was extremely impressed at your competitiveness in the ongoing drinking competition and became one of your biggest cheerleaders, even against his own teammates. He also hated hearing about the guys you dated, because although you weren’t actually siblings, he would have loved to knock out some of the guys you had let into your life. And if he could get the chance to size someone up before they got the chance to hurt you, he definitely wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity.

Alex cleared his throat, reading you like a book. “You’re not desperate.”

“Alex!” Jayne said, slapping his shoulder.

“Tell me that’s not what you’re thinking,” He raised his eyebrows at you. Seeing you as his sister, he sometimes knew you better than Jayne did.  “I know you, Y/N. Don’t lie.”

“You have to admit, it’s a little desperate,” You mumbled.

“We all know that Jayne isn’t really giving you an option,” He laughed.

“You know what, why don’t you go upstairs or something?” Jayne suggested. Alex laughed, kissing her before turning back to you.

“Ever since we met, I’ve never lied to you,” He started. “I seriously think you have nothing to worry about. We’ve all been through a lot of shit together, and whether this works or not, we’re always family.”

“And, you’re never ‘lonely,’ no matter who you are, or are not, dating,” Jayne added.

“But, it might be fun to explore some other options that maybe you missed in the past,” He gently nudged your shoulder. “And, with our help, hopefully you won’t have to worry about the guy being an idiot.”

“Fine,” You breathed, sighing. “But, when will I find out who it is for sure?”

“I guess not until you have the balls to bring it up to them,” Jayne smirked.

“Are you serious?”

“No,” Alex said, shaking his head at Jayne. He knew that you might change your mind, “We just want you to get to know each other before we say anything about who’s who. Obviously, if you’re closing in on the wrong person, we’ll warn you.”

“I’m still not understanding how this is going to work,” You crossed your arms over your chest. “How are you guys so certain that we’ll both know who you’re talking about? I’m assuming you’re telling him the same thing.”

“That’s the point,” Jayne said. “It was kind of an epiphany for us, so we hope it’ll be for you guys, too.”

“I told her how much it sounded like a movie,” Alex said. “But, the similarities between you are obvious to us knowing both of you, but clearly not to you guys.”

“Can we just try it for two months and see how we feel?” Jayne added when she noticed your hesitance.

“In two months, you tell me who it is,” You ordered, pointing at both of them clearly.

“Sure,” Alex shrugged, but he smiled as he continued, “That is, if you don’t already figure it out yourself.”

****

“I don’t know, guys,” Colton mumbled to Alex and his wife Jayne. They had just finished their game against the New Jersey Devils and were on their way to their respective cars when the couple decided to update Colton on their plan.

“She already agreed,” Jayne said. “Just waiting on you.”

“Are you guys seriously not going to tell either of us who the other person is?” He asked, keeping his voice down so no one could hear them as they walked through the crowded hallway.

“Nope,” Jayne responded. “It’ll be fun and exciting, trust me.”

“What happens if I meet someone else before we figure it out?” He asked.

“Well, we’re going to hope that you don’t,” Alex responded, giving him a look. “But, we’d probably just call it off.”

“You guys already know each other, all we’re asking is that you just get to know the people around you. And, we’ll do our best to make sure that’s her without you knowing.”

“I find it really hard to believe that this is going to work,” He said once they reached the couple’s car. “But, if you guys are both vouching for this plan and her, I guess it doesn’t hurt to try. It’s not like I’m seeing anyone.”

“Yes!” Jayne exclaimed, hugging Colton. He laughed, hugging her back. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

“You won’t,” Alex said. “If it works.”

“Okay, I’m going to get the car started,” Jayne said, pulling away from Colton to give the guys some time. “Good luck, Parry.”

“Don’t disappoint me.” She shook her head, walking towards the door and leaving the two guys alone.

“What do you know about the girl?” Colton asked. “You have to give me something to go on, man.”

“Let’s just say that you guys have a little history,” He shrugged, smirking at his teammate. “Not enough that would stop something from happening now, but enough that you might remember.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Colton called when he realized Alex was done giving hints.

“I guess you’ll have to wait to find out.”

****

After agreeing to take part in the plan and allow your best friend and her husband to set you up with someone, you tried your best to continue your normal routine. If they were so certain that this guy was perfect for you and you would be able to see it, you planned on talking to everyone as normal and then paying attention to what happens. To be fair, that was all that you could do.

“Y/N?” You stopped in your tracks, turning on your heels.

“Aaron?” You furrowed your eyebrows. “What are you doing in St. Louis?”

“I’m visiting,” He laughed. “How are you?”

He walked towards you, immediately pulling you into his chest. “I’m great, how are you? Weren’t you just in Minnesota or something?”

“Yeah, for some business meetings,” He pulled away. 

“Wow, I guess you’re a big shot now,” You joked.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m such a big shot that I still drive the same old car. I was actually hoping I would bump into you somewhere. Do you maybe want to grab a drink sometime? Catch up?”

“Uh, sure, yeah,” You nodded, slowly. “Just text me and we can set something up.”

“Same number?”

“Yeah, same one,” You replied.

“Okay, then. I guess I’ll see you soon,” He smiled, waving.

You smiled back, returning to your cart. Throwing your bag over into the top part, you pulled out your phone, clicking Jayne’s number almost immediately. 

“Hello?”

“Please tell me the person you’re thinking of is not Aaron Nichols who I met at that freaking parade when the guys won. If it is, abort the mission, now. Over my dead body.”

Jayne laughed, “What? No, it’s not Aaron Nichols. Who the hell is that?”

“Thank god,” You breathed. “Because he just asked me out in the grocery store.”

“Well, our guy isn’t going to be asking you out anytime soon. We promised you a slow burner,” She said.

“Oh please,” You rolled your eyes. “So, have I come across him yet and not realized it?”

“I don’t know, have you?” She threw back.

“How is that helpful at all?”

“We also told you that it’ll be much better if you guys figure this out on your own. No hints, no telling you if or where you’ve seen them.”

“You guys suck,” You responded. “I bet you Alex has given this guy lots of hints.”

“To be fair, I did tell you that it wasn’t Aaron, which I won’t do anymore. You can’t ask us every time you have an encounter with a guy.”

“Well, why not?” You whined. “Am I really just supposed to talk to everyone with the possibility of dating?”

“Exactly.”

“You guys suck,” You repeated. “I have to go, I’m checking out.”

“I’ll call you later.”

****

Colton wasn’t doing much better, either. Agreeing to this plan meant that he had to pay attention to all of his encounters with the women that he knew. And, he knew a lot. Although a gentleman, Colton had had his fair share of partners. But, the plan limited the amount of options to women that Alex and Jayne knew as well, especially Jayne, since Colton picked up on how close Jayne felt to this woman. She was obviously close with Alex, too, who seemed to trust this girl enough.

“Hair color?” Colton breathed, running on the treadmill.

Alex laughed, shaking his head beside him. “Stop.”

“Where do I know her from?” He asked.

“I’m not telling you anything about her,” Alex said.

“Fuck, man,” Colton sighed. “I feel like I shouldn’t have agreed to this.”

“Why?”

“Because, it’s like you guys playing matchmaker for me and this person that I supposedly have a history with. If I have a history with them, maybe there’s a reason why it didn’t work out,” He said.

“People mature,” Alex pointed. 

“Me or her?”

“Both.”

“Well, what’s our history? Did we date?”

“No, you definitely didn’t date.” Alex almost laughed, thinking back to his warning that he was 100% sure Colton respected.

“This feels a little desperate,” Colton admitted. “Like I can’t find someone myself.”

“If it makes you feel any better,” Alex paused his run briefly to lean on the machine, facing Colton. Colton did the same, catching his breath as Alex continued. “She said the exact same thing when we told her. Look, this isn’t some game show trying to pair you up with some stranger that you don’t know. This is, and as much as it literally pains me to say, one of your closest friends helping you find someone that I can genuinely see you having something with. I know what you like, I know what you need, and I guess I care about you being with someone that is going to be good for you.”

“Do you actually know her?”

“Yes, man,” Alex huffed. “She’s a really good friend of ours. She has a job, a life, her own place that she pays for with her own money. Independent, funny, but depending on your humor. Jayne and I both agree that you have the same annoying humor so there’s that. You said something earlier about not wanting someone soft? Trust me, she’s not. But, she has a soft side. You’re not soft, per se, but you have a soft side, too. She likes that. And, I can assure you, even though this is subjective, you’ll definitely be attracted to her. Now, that is the last piece of information you are ever getting out of me about her until time is up. Seriously.”

He let out a breath as he starting the treadmill back up. “Are you done now? Can I finish my workout?”

“That’s all I really needed to know,” Colton said, even though he really wanted to know more. “You just convinced me, not gonna lie.”

“Sounds like your dream girl, huh?”

Colton let out a laugh, “A little, yeah.”

“We thought so, too.”

[a-winchester-fairytale]

The One With The Road Trip

Summary:  Dean wants to go on a road trip with the girl he loves, but you have no idea all of the surprises he has in store for you.

Word Count: 2,078

Warnings:  lots of fluff -- (You may want to see a dentist after this)

A/N:  Written for @smol-and-grumpy​ Friends Title Challenge.  Thank you for hosting a fun challenge with lots of great prompts!  

Please feel free to let me what you think.  I love the feedback!!  <3

“What are you doing?” You groaned, throwing the blanket back over your head as he chuckled.  Dean set the bag down on the floor and jumped onto the bed with you.

“Come on, it will be fun.” He promised, squeezing your sides to tickle you underneath the covers.  You squirmed, playfully pushing him off you and nuzzling your face into his chest.

“Staying in bed on a cold morning can be kind of fun too.”  You suggested and you could feel his body shake with a deep laugh.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you warm.”  He said in your ear, kissing your cheek and climbing out of the bed.

You sighed, rolling your eyes as you finally agreed to get up.  “Promises, promises.”  You teased, giving him a sideways smirk as he walked back down to the hall toward the kitchen.

Although you wondered what Dean had up his sleeve, you enjoyed days when he was in a playful mood.  It wasn’t often that he seemed happy and his lighter side came out, and that is the biggest reason you agreed to get up early on a brisk winter morning when there was finally a break between hunts.  

As you dressed, you could hear Dean talking to his brother Sam in the kitchen.  “We should be back by tomorrow night.”  

“Just be careful.  We still haven’t heard anything back from Cas about what is happening in Heaven and the angels.”  Sam told him.  Dean nodded.

“We will be.  If you hear anything, just give me a call and we’ll high tail it back here.”  He promised, his serious voice returning.

“I don’t suppose he is telling you where we are going.”  You hinted to Sam as you came into the kitchen.  

“Don’t you dare.” Dean threatened his little brother as he put a couple of thermoses in the green ice chest and headed out to the garage.

“Maybe, but I am sworn to secrecy.”  Sam told you.

“You’re no help at all.” You told him, squinting your eyes. Sam only shrugged and pretended to zip his lips together, tossing an imaginary key over his shoulder.

“Okay…”  Dean announced as he came back inside. “Duffel bags are in the trunk, provisions in the back seat, all I’m missing is my girl.”

You blushed, grinning from ear to ear at his endearment.  Dean was still the only guy you knew that could make you feel like a lovesick teenager.

“Have fun.”  Sam whispered, giving you a quick side hug.

 You climbed in the passenger seat and glanced in the back seat at a few provisions that Dean had carefully packed.  “Are you going to tell me what we are doing?”

“Just going on a road trip.” He replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders.  He pulled out of the garage and turned down the road, punching the gas and the impala took off.

“A road trip?”

“Yes.”  He confirmed, chuckling lightly at your suspicion.  “What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing.”  You replied, cautiously dragging out the word. He looked over to see you squinting your eyes and pursing your lips as you watched him drive.  

“What?”  he asked innocently.

“I just….”  You started, shaking your head.  “You literally go on road trips for a ‘living’ and that’s what you want to do when we don’t have any hunts on the radar?”

“Okay, that’s fair.” He admitted.  “I wanted to spend a day or two with you when we didn’t have the whole ‘end of the world’ thing breathing down our neck.  You know, just go somewhere like normal people.”  

“So, is this a ‘Dean Road Trip’ or a ‘Sam Road Trip’?”  You asked, smirking at the way he looked at you.  

“What does that even mean?”

“You know….Sam likes to have everything planned out beforehand.  Every turn and stop marked on that map in the glove box.  You – well, you like to just wing it.”  You explained and he laughed so hard the car swerved for a moment.  “I just want to know what I’m in for.”  You added.

“The destination is set, but otherwise we are winging it.”  He replied, his eyes dancing as he looked back at you.  

“Do I get to know the destination?”  You asked, giving him your best puppy dog eyes.

“Minnesota.”  He replied, obviously enjoying the game he was playing with you.

“What in the world is in Minnesota?”  

“You’ll see.”  He teased and you playfully rolled your eyes. “Now pick out some music and just have some fun.”  

“Now I know you are going crazy.”  You told him, picking up the tape box and putting one of the cassettes into the impala. “You are letting the passenger pick the music.”

“Just don’t tell Sammy.” He laughed.  He rested his arm along the back of the seat and you slid over close to him, leaning your head against his shoulder.

The two of you stopped often along the drive to break up the miles.  A few times at little gas stations filled with junk food, tacky souvenirs, and slushy machines.  Although most were small and didn’t have many options, you had always preferred them to the large chains along the interstates.  You thought they had personality and many times you would find the treats you enjoyed as a kid that were hard to find nowadays.  

As Dean bought a handful of snacks, including a few you knew he hated but you loved, you picked up a small toy souvenir.  Dean watched as you set it on the dashboard of the impala, debating for a moment before he simply sighed and let it stay there - at least for the trip.

The two of you stopped for lunch at a little 50’s style diner and stopped at the World’s Largest Ball of Twine and to take a selfie with Jolly Green Giant Statue before continuing down the road.  Dean found a quiet park next to a lake and stopped so they two of you could eat dinner that evening.  There were some old worn picnic tables and Dean unpacked the sandwiches he had packed in the back of the car.  

“Too bad it’s so cold or we could go swimming in that water.”  You commented, looking out at the lake.  You felt Dean get up from the table and turned to see a mischievous look on his face. “Oh, no….don’t you dare!”  You insisted, pointing a finger at him.

He came around the table and you jumped up, running away from him.  It only took him a few feet to wrap his arms around your waist, lifting you off the ground and you screamed at him.  He threatened to throw you into the water and then laughed as you tried to fight your way free.  Dean set you back on the ground, but held you close to him.

“I wouldn’t do that to you.” He said unconvincingly.  

“You better not, Dean Winchester.”  You threatened.  He leaned down and kissed you a few times before loosening his hold on you.  

“Come on, we still have a little farther to go.”  He said, grabbing your hand and leading you back to the car.

Hours later you felt Dean lightly shake your shoulder to wake you when he pulled the car to a stop. It was pitch black outside but you could see something reflecting off of the water in front of the car.  You didn’t remember falling asleep and stretched a little before climbing out of the car.  As soon as you did, you realized that what you saw reflecting on the water was coming from the sky above.

You stared in amazement at the northern lights spreading out in front of you in all the colors of the rainbow as you made your way to the front of the impala.

“Dean!  This is amazing.”  You exclaimed looking up at the colors dancing in the night sky.  

“Well, it’s not Denali.” He shrugged.  You looked over at him leaning on the grill of the car, stunned that he would remember that you had always wanted to go to Denali to see the Aurora Borealis.  “When I heard that this year was supposed to be a good year for this kind of thing, I figured it was worth a shot.”

“You planned this whole thing just for the northern lights?  I had no idea….”  You shook your head in disbelief, but Dean only shrugged.

“I didn’t want to say anything in case it didn’t work.  Everything I read said there was no guarantee and I didn’t want you to be disappointed if it didn’t happen.” He admitted.  

You turned to stand in front of him, placing your hands on his cheeks and kissing him softly.  “You could never disappoint me.”  You whispered against his lips.  He chuckled as you leaned your forehead against his. “I know that’s not what you meant, but this road trip has been wonderful.  You were right, it was nice to get to spend some time with you outside of hunting.”

“So you had fun?”  he teased.  You laughed and nodded.

“A lot of fun.  And this…”  You said turning around to look at the lights again.  “This is kind of perfect.”

Dean wrapped his arms around your waist and put his chin on your shoulder as you leaned back against his chest.  In spite of the frigid air, you felt warm and smiled, remembering his promise from that morning.

“I’m glad you feel that way cause perfect is kind of what I was going for.”  He said, moving his arm a bit to pull something out of his pocket and hold it out in front of you.

You glanced down at his hand and it took a moment for your eyes to realize what it was.  Suddenly you pushed your body forward and turned to stare at him in disbelief.  Dean was grinning from ear to ear, watching your face as you processed the ring you saw in his outstretched hand.

“Is that….?  Are you serious?”  You asked finally.  Dean nodded.

Sam wandered restlessly around the empty bunker, glancing down at the phone in his hand every few minutes.  He tried updating the hunter’s journals but when he found himself re-reading the same sentence a third time he growled in frustration and pushed the books away.  He tried working out, something that usually allowed him to get out of his own head, but at the end he felt more tense than relaxed.   He grabbed a beer from the kitchen and plopped down in the library tossing the phone down on the table in front of him.

“This is ridiculous.” He mumbled to the empty room.  “You’d think I was the one asking.”

Sam rolled his eyes, taking another drink from the bottle before setting it down on the table.  He glanced at the carved initials next to it, thinking back to the day him and Dean had added their mark.  The corner of his mouth turned upward in a smile at the memory.

That had been only days before Dean met you and six months before you came to live with them at the bunker.  Although Dean and Sam were still the same people that carved their mark that night, the relationship that began between you and Dean had changed both of you, and Sam had enjoyed having a front row seat to see Dean find the hope and joy he had thought he lost.

Sam picked up the cell phone, noticing the time was just after midnight.  He debated, turning the phone over and over in his fingers. Finally, unable to resist any longer, he typed a message to Dean.

S – Well??

He watched the screen, but received no sign that Dean had seen the message or that he was going to get a response.  Sam sighed, setting the phone back on the table and picking up his beer.  As he took a drink, the phone buzzed.  Sam jumped up, spilling beer down his shirt and he cursed under his breath.  Running his hand along his jeans to wipe the beer away, he picked up the phone with the other.

D – She said yes!!

Sam closed his eyes as relief and excitement replaced the nervous feeling he had ever since Dean told him what he was planning to do.  He responded with a smile on his face.

S - Congratulations brother.  See you when you get home.

**Thank you to @talesmaniac89 for the beautiful dividers**  

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[deans-haunted-baby]

Best Part of Me

*This is my fix-it of Jack’s reaction to Cas’s death in 15x19 and some of the events in 15x18 rewritten. Featuring a flashback post episode 14x10. I was so disappointed they never really let Jack feel this loss when he dreaded that deal for a whole year. The title is from a song by St Leonards. Enjoy!*

Summery: In Hastings Minnesota, after learning from Dean of Castiel’s sacrifice to the Empty. Jack runs off to be alone somewhere in the deserted town. Breaking down and reliving the last good memory of a hunt he and Cas went on together 

Sam and Jack sauntered down the quiet roads, surveying the desolated scenery, coming to a 4-way stop. Nothing but emptiness all around them. Vacant buildings and vehicles, one smashed into a telephone pole. Stores still blinking their neon open signs in the windows. Car alarms blaring off in the distance. But no voices. Not a trace of any souls anywhere. Just nobody. Everyone was gone and the two hunters began feeling like they were starring in that Chuck Heston flick The Omega Man.

Jack could see his tall, anguished mentor was distracted, often checking his phone for calls in case Dean or Eileen or maybe Cas… Desperately searching inside the unoccupied cafes and stores in case they missed someone. He’d been beating himself up all night for not being able to save the AU world survivors. And it was driving him crazy not hearing from his brother for the past 12 hours. 

“We should’ve heard from them by now.” Sam blurted; quickening his pace towards a truck. Peeking inside. “Come on Dean, where are you?”

“You think they’re alright?” Jack asked uncertain.

“I don’t know. But you were the last person to talk to Cas.” Sam approached the boy getting restless. “What; did he say anything to you before you guys got cut off?”

Immediately Jack stopped; swallowing hard as he lowered his eyes to the pavement. “No…not really.”

The truth was Jack couldn’t get over this weird twinge he felt in his chest; an ache that refused go away. Like a piece of him had been severed and now he was nursing the phantom pain. The Nephilim boy had it ever since the last time he spoke to his father on his phone…before they were abruptly interrupted by static. Last night the group had split. Dean and Castiel went to confront Billie at the bunker while Jack stayed behind with Sam at the hideaway to protect the remaining people that hadn’t been erased. Next thing he knows survivors are disappearing in front of him, people he knew. Friends and fellow hunters. And then his phone set to vibrate; buzzes irritably in his jacket pocket to which he’d fished it out.

________________________________________

Several hours earlier

 “Jack!” the angel’s gruff voice was urgent. But relieved when his son had answered. “Oh, thank heavens.”

“Cas?” the young boy chirps; raking his fingers through his hair. Still not over the shock of seeing all their people vanish and exchanging disturbed looks with Sam. “Cas are you and Dean okay? Did Billie?”

“No, we’re fine,” he replies back; tone switching from critical to sudden despair. “What about you and Sam, the survivors?”

Jack’s face fell on the verge of tears; pacing away from the tall hunter and leaning against the wall.

“They’re gone.” He chokes out. “All of them… Cas…Sam and I tried…we tried… It happened so fast… We just couldn’t save anyone.”

The Nephilim boy heard a heavy sign on the other end then Castiel says, “It wasn’t your fault Jack. None of this is your fault, alright.”

“No, I could’ve done something! If-if I still had my powers, I could’ve protected all of us!”

“Jack, no. Don’t do that to yourself. There was nothing you could’ve done and you did all you could do, okay.” The angel encourages firmly though soft. Giving Jack a chance to calm down before he adds. “Listen…there’s something I…need to tell you…in case anything happens.”

Jack’s heart rose in his throat. “What do mean in case something happens to you?” he demands; voice rising. “Cas what’s wrong?”

“Nothing…yet.”

“What does that mean?”

“You remember what we talked about?” There’s something in Castiel’s question that begins to worry the young Nephilim. “The night we were hunting in Albuquerque?”

Jack let out a sharp intake of breath. “Yes but…what does that have to do with right now?”

The angel hesitates briefly and resumes a response; spontaneously changing the subject.

“I’m so proud of you Jack. I’m proud of the person you are and who you’re becoming,” Castiel’s deep baritone was gentle as it always was whenever he spoke to his son. Never above a decimal than he had to; reserving his emotions. Yet the sadness was unmistakable. “The day that I met you and your mother…changed my life forever. When you chose me…I knew…I knew the moment when I first connected with you through Kelly…felt your love…that I wanted to be your father. And I never felt more happiness in all my eons than I did raising you.”

“Cas why’re saying this?” Jack stuttered; his eyes glistening. He was so confused over the angel’s choice of phrases. “Don’t…”

“Jack I…I need you to do something for me…alright?”

Castiel’s request was blunt yet sudden, jerking the young Nephilim out of his afflicted stupor. “What is it?”

“I want you to look after Sam and Dean for me,” He says melancholically. “Can you do that?”

“Why? What about you?” Jack gasps; his whole-body trembling; going cold. Sinking into a corner holding his knees. Yet he tries to maintain his anxiety during the situation. “Cas, you’re scaring me.”

“I know this is going to be difficult for you to understand but…I want you to be strong, Jack. Stronger than you’ve ever been… To never give up on yourself no matter what. Because I know you will do amazing things one day. I believe in that. I’ve only ever seen good in you.”

“Cas…”

The angel pauses, and with another sigh he reveals, “I love you, son. I love you more than anything in the whole world… You’re the best part of me, Jack… I’m happy because of you; for the time we got together. And I just wanted you to know that…”

Jack could hardly speak his throat clogged. Tears now rolling down his cheeks. He wanted to return those words so badly, his chest swelling like something crushed him from the inside. Finally untangling the muscles in his neck, he pleads.

“Cas…Dad, wait I-” just as the Nephilim boy is about confess the line goes dead mid-sentence followed with an indescribable pain hitting him in the heart; causing Jack to drop his cell in defeat. Muttering the words to himself. “…I love you too.”

________________________________________

Present time

Not long after the two hunters had given up their search for signs of life, did they hear a familiar engine of a car. And a black 67’ impala wheeled around the corner of the street; parking beside two large plants in front of a blue and white store. Dean, he was alive. Sam and Jack wanted to feel elated at that moment…until they saw him exit the vehicle. Alone. And the Nephilim boy’s chest pains increased. Why wasn’t Castiel with him? Jack was too afraid to even ask in case he got an answer he didn’t want. So instead, the three guys traded bleak looks in the middle of the road; minding the fragments of what was once a functioning civilization.  

“Everyone’s gone,” Sam says to Dean; barely leveling his shock. Looking around with that false hope someone else might pop up. Then he glances back at his older brother who’s avoiding his gaze. “You see anybody on the way here?”

“No.” the elder Winchester replies huskily. His expression tormented. Again, Jack is afraid of reading him too closely.

Sam fidgeted on the spot; squints his eyes and imparts, “I couldn’t save anybody.” A hint of bitterness enflames his voice at the thought of that reaper. “Billie.”

“It wasn’t Billie. It was Chuck.” Dean discloses.

“What?”

Right then Jack couldn’t keep quiet anymore. He needed to know the truth; impulsively jumping into the conversation.

“Where’s Cas?” His voice was harsh.

The taller Winchester peered over his shoulder at the Nephilim boy but Dean couldn’t even give him direct eye-contact. Visibly shaken. Jack had detected redness within the whites of his puffy eyes. He was so anguished about something that it made the other two hunters nervous. Finally, its Sam’s turn to inquire about the angel’s whereabouts.

“Dean, where is he?”

The elder Winchester was apprehensive; staring off vacantly. Hanging his head and licking his lips trying to conjure up the best explanation he could which might lessen the blow. But Jack was impatient; arms at his sides. Heart pounding with fear. He doesn’t want excuses he just wants a straight answer from his other mentor about his dad. And he was going to get it whether he liked it or not.

“He saved me. Billie was coming after us and…Cas fought her off until we found someplace safe,” asserts Dean and he looks over at Jack who’s getting paler listening to the story. “While you and Cas were…speaking on the phone, he summoned the Empty. It took her. And it took him…” Jack’s heart instantly sank to his stomach. No, this couldn’t be true. No. The Nephilim boy backpedaled, shaking his head in disbelief. Noticing the tears in the hardened hunter’s eyes. “I’m so sorry Jack… Cas is gone.”

Sam’s grief had swallowed him up whole; touching his face with both hands. Struggling to keep it together. But Jack was the opposite. Standing there wearing a hollow smile; releasing a counterfeit laugh.

“No, that’s not true,” argues the Nephilim. “I just talked to him last night. He was okay.”

Sam attempted to console the boy; quickly wiping at his wet face. “Jack.”

“Cas’s fine you’ll see. He’s coming back. He has to come back. I didn’t get to tell him I loved him too.”

But Dean hardly in the mood for sentiments wouldn’t play along. “Jack, he-he’s not… Cas isn’t coming back. I’m sorry.” As Sam tries to reach his hand out to touch the young Nephilim’s shoulder, he receives a heated defensive glare.

Nobody touches him there except for Castiel. NO ONE.

“NO!” Jack barks jerking his body away from the taller hunter’s grasp; face beet red. Even though he already knew. Felt the truth in his heart all along the second that line went dead; the boy had been reluctant to accept it. He was too overwhelmed with denial. “I said Cas’s is coming back! HE’S COMING BACK!”

“Jack, wait!”

Quickly the Nephilim storms off in a random direction of the street; ignoring the Winchesters’ shouts behind him. It didn’t matter where he was going, he just needed to get away from them. Away from the sunlight. From the noise. Away from everything else still standing. Into nothingness. Somewhere that didn’t feel so loud or enclosed. Putting a palm to his head, Jack starts to feel dizzy and an urge to vomit. His vision blurred and his legs began to wobble each step he took. Nothing felt real anymore. It was terrifying.

He could hardly breathe as if something were suffocating him.

Over and over, Jack’s mind is racing in between panicked breaths. “Cas? Cas, where are you?” Reaching his hand out in front of him like a blind person; aimlessly searching for that invisible tether that bound him to the trench-coated angel. Receiving nothing but a light breeze against his skin. “Dad, please, tell me where you are?”

At last, the Nephilim boy stumbles on an old dessert parlor. Sammy’s Highway Café. Despondently gawking at the stupid giant pink milkshake on top of the sign. Walking inside not caring whether he was trespassing or not. The lights were off but Jack could see traces that this place was thriving not too long ago. It smelt of stale food and drink; evident of half eaten platefuls of burgers with fries and empty glasses sitting on top of some of the booth tables. Along the counter was a partially bitten donut beside a cold mug of coffee. A receipt with some money next to the till. And draped on one of the stools, it seemed as though someone had left their beige jacket which resembled so much like the angel’s trench.

Fragments and memories…of live people. Before Chuck took them…just like Castiel. His father.

Stepping towards a jukebox tilting his head, Jack’s blue eyes meet a half-full glass of milkshake sitting on the table close by. Pink, like the one on the sign outside. It disgusted him. A serge of hatred suddenly overflowed his body; knocking it onto the floor and smashing into pieces on impact. Unable to avoid the dibble of pink goo getting on his jeans only enraged the Nephilim more. Resulting in a fit of fury; swiping everything off the counter. Kicking at stray contents clinging to his shoes. His throat clogged up as the anger gave way to uncontrollable sobs. He wanted the pain to stop, but no matter how many things he destroyed, the hurt wouldn’t leave him.

“Cas you liar! YOU LIAR!” he howled; covering his tearful face with one hand collapsing into a corner. Crying. “You said you’d still be with me!”

For over an hour Jack sat like this; breaking down into his palms over his knees. Shedding more tears than he ever thought possible. Practically wearing his eyes out. It was his fault. He should’ve said it back, why didn’t he say it back? Why could he never tell the angel how much he’d meant to him when it counted? Jack wanted the tears to stop the but every time he tapped into an arbitrary memory of Castiel’s face smiling back at him or giving him that infamous sage advice. Heard that soft raspy voice saying his name. The pain worsened causing Jack to cry harder and longer.

All of a sudden, a sharp jab interrupted his grief. Jack was just about to grab the thing whatever it was and toss it until he realized what it was. Digging inside the sleeve of his white jacket, the Nephilim pulls out a single silver angel blade. Jack had completely forgot he’d been carrying it around with him since yesterday. No much longer than that, he carried it all the time in his clothes for a year now as it was very special to him. Wiping at his eyes, Jack clutches the blade and is instantly transported back into a memory of when he’d first received the weapon.

________________________________________

One Year Earlier

Castiel and Jack were in the outskirts of Albuquerque hunting a couple rugarus in the process of kidnapping a family in a warehouse. Around this time the young Nephilim was on probation for using his powers in the fight against AU Michael’s monsters. Ending with the unholy archangel prince trapped inside Dean’s mind. The reason for the restrictions was because of the resurrection spell keeping Jack alive. Every time he used power, he’d burn off part of his soul; something Castiel and the Winchesters did everything possible to prevent. And the best distraction for boy was usually going on some Team Free Will 2.0 hunts.

“Jack, NOW!” the angel shouts, wrestling with the second monster after his son successfully torches the first.

“I got it!” the Nephilim calls back, aiming the flamethrower nozzle ready to blast the creature. He’d remembered Sam and Dean’s specific instructions that the only way to kill a rugaru was to burn them. And he would’ve if he hadn’t frozen on the spot; Castiel would’ve been fried otherwise. There was no way, he couldn’t risk it. “I-I can’t! I can’t get him!”

“Jack, what are you doing?!”

“I don’t want to burn you!”

Immediately the angel groans grumpily. “It’s not holy fire!”

Jack wasn’t a gambler. “Yah but-

“Jack!”

Running out of time, the frantic young hunter goes over another strategy in his mind. He wasn’t willing to singe his dad to stop a monster. And that’s when it hit him. Reckless though it just might work.

“Wait, Cas let him go!” he clamors.

“What?!” Castiel was mystified at how crazy that plan was.

“Just let him go, trust me!”

Taking on too much faith the angel puts his trust in his son anyway and releases the rugaru; dodging out of range. As expected, it instantly launches at the nonchalant Jack who’s armed and ready with the flamethrower; projecting a lethal jet fuel of fire. The Nephilim then covers his ears as the creature releases high pitched throat screeches; its entire body engulfed until the thing’s charcoal hide falls lifeless to the ground. Breathing a sign of relief, Jack stares at the dead monster; spacing out. Brought back to reality when he hears the angel grumbling and rushes to his aid.

“Are you okay?” he asks his dad breathily; helping him to his feet.

“Yah, I’m fine.” Castiel belches; still sore from the fight. As an angel he was much stronger than a human, though it still hurt getting punched in the ribs. And the monsters he tangled with were far from weaklings. “So that was your plan? Just let him go, huh?”

Jack shrugged smirking. “It worked didn’t it?”

“Yes, it did.” The reluctant blue-eyed angel agrees dryly; giving his son an affectionate shoulder pat. “Come on, we’re not finished yet.”

“What do we have to do now?”

“Tend to the civilians.”

After releasing the captive family, Castiel and Jack resumed the dreary task of getting rid of the rotten smelling corpses and packing their things into the aquamarine pickup truck. The night air was hot accompanied with the usual sounds of owls and crickets chirping. Jack’s busily loads the flamethrower into the back compartment, unaware his father is taking a moment to gaze at him. Expressionless though underneath that reserved exterior is admiration. Despite using none of his powers, the boy had handled himself just as he’d done the other several times they’d hunted together.

Castiel couldn’t help feeling impressed with Jack; overwhelmed with a sense of pride. He’d come a long way in his training in such a short time; picking up skills faster than the angel had seen any human. But Jack wasn’t just getting better at the combat or the weaponry. His mind functioned more acutely than any other hunter in the field. And he wasn’t even three years old yet. Still there was something about tonight’s hunt that bothered Castiel. His son had nearly given into his own fear. Fear of losing…him; which could’ve costed them the lives of the family they were saving.

“Well, we’re all packed.” Jack announces gleefully; turning to the angel.

Stonily, Castiel approached the young Nephilim.

“Good.” He says; scratching his hair. “Ah Jack…can we talk about what happened back there?”

The question made the boy frown, unwinding his jaw. “Oh…right… Yah, I-I’m really sorry, Cas. I didn’t mean to-” He stopped himself.

But the angel finished his sentence. “To freeze?”

“Yah.” Jack hung his head in shame.

“Do you know why?”

Did he know why? Of course, he did! Jack was afraid. Afraid of hurting Castiel. No…he was scared of losing him and had been ever since that deal he’d made with the Empty. For the past month it’d been daunting on Jack the severity of his dad’s sacrifice; what it meant. Tried as he might to pretend it didn’t trouble him. Smiling, acting normal. the Nephilim secretly agonized over the angel’s fate. To the point where it either made him overprotective of Castiel or reckless during hunts. Just like tonight.

“I…just didn’t want to set you on fire too, that’s all.” Jack answers vaguely earning his dad’s titled scrutinized glare.

Being as close as they were, Castiel was pretty astute at reading his son’s body language. Knowing when he wasn’t entirely honest. “Are you sure that’s what it was…or was there something else holding you back?”

Jack swallowed, averting his gaze. And it dawns on the angel, sighing, looking heavenward. He didn’t need a verbal explanation; putting his hand on his son’s shoulder in an attempt to console him.

“Oh Jack, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize how tough this has been for you.”

“I can’t help it,” concedes the young Nephilim; his gaze shiny. “I know you said not to worry about you but…I am. All the time. And when I keep thinking about that deal you made… I get this…awful feeling in my stomach. Like I’m being torn apart…from the inside.”

Castiel’s reserved face promptly falls, listening intently as Jack confides his deepest fears. Knowing that this deal had been causing his son so much grief pained him. The angel felt like someone had just run him through with his own sword.

“Cas I…I love you. And I don’t want to lose you. Not to the Empty or to anything.”

Parting his lips and softening his eyes; slowly absorbing everything he was hearing. Castiel was touched; taking a deep breath before reassuring. “But Jack, that rugaru was barely a threat to me. And you know my deal with the Empty… I’m far from happy for it to take me away any time soon.”

“What if I don’t want it to ever take you?” Jack remonstrates; defiantly scowling.

“I’m afraid its not that simple.” Sadly, contests the angel.

“But…I don’t want to lose you. I hate even thinking about it.”

“I know…so do I.”

Together the angel and the Nephilim boy endure a tender moment, leaning against the tail end of their truck side-by-side; taking small solace in each other’s company. And quietly gazing at the stars. Then out the blue a bright twinkle catches Castiel’s eye; reminding him of something he’d forgotten. His present to Jack. They’d been so wrapped up in dealing with Michael’s shenanigans, he hadn’t even found the time to give it to him yet. Delving into one of his trench-coat sleeves, Castiel presents the dumbfounded Nephilim with a polished angel blade.

“Cas what…why are you giving me this?”

Castiel pursed his gentle smile and winked. “Call it a late Christmas present. I’ve ah, I’ve been meaning to give it to you…when I felt there was a more appropriate time.”

Jack furrowed his brows; observing the weapon. “Your angel blade?”

He humbly accedes.

“Not just any angel blade but…its the very first one I ever fought with.” Divulges the docile angel. With two fingers he carefully touches the tip, devotedly looking over Jack’s awestruck expression. “I won many battles with this blade…for millions upon millions of years. Just when I thought I’d fall…this weapon seemed to…save my life. And I started to look at it as more of a…good luck charm I guess.”

“Cas I…I don’t know if I should take this. It means too much to you.”

“Jack, I want you to have it. Sort of a celestial warrior’s birthright and with your archangel half technically being of royal lineage…and you’re my son.” The young Nephilim grinned at him somberly; working the blade in his hand. And Castiel pauses giving himself a minute to think about what he was going to say to his son next as it would be difficult. Exhaling heavily, he conveys. “But I also want you have it…as a reminder that…wherever I am…I’ll always be with you.”

At this Jack’s eyes find his dad’s; expression dismal absorbing Castiel’s every word. “Because someday Jack its true, I won’t be here and you’ll have to carry on with your life. I can’t say when it will happen…it could be months or years… Whether it’s the Empty or something else…we will be separated… And it will hurt…” The Nephilim boy’s lip quivered as he holds back oncoming tears; looking away. Pain twisting all his insides; he didn’t like this conversation. Though Jack’s ears and heart remained open to the angel; touching his chest using his index finger. “But just because I won’t physically be here anymore…doesn’t mean I’m gone, Jack. I’m right there…within you. Whenever you need me. You understand?”

“I think so.”

Without warning Castiel embraces Jack in a bone-crushing hug; chins touching shoulders. Closing their eyes. And they held each other tight; savoring every single second of that closeness.

“I love you Jack.”

And Jack whispers out of earshot. “I love you too…Dad.”

________________________________________

Present time

Just like that the memory passed. Jack was back in the café he roughed up earlier. Alone. Curled up in fetal position, clutching the precious gift his father had given him; tears still streaming down his face. Hair matted and moist; clothes soiled. And his heart as broken as that milkshake glass he’d smashed on the floor. Castiel was gone. His dad was gone… Forever… It didn’t feel real, more like a nightmare. A nightmare Jack desperately wanted to wake up from. He couldn’t even think about moving his body it hurt too much. Whenever he tried lifting his head the dizziness settled in and he sunk back into his depression.

“No, I can’t do this.” Jack thoughts bombarded; gawking the angel blade in his grip. “I can’t keep lying here feeling sorry for myself. He wouldn’t want that, not after giving his life for me. I’m supposed to be a hunter and a celestial warrior. I have to be stronger now.”

Using every muscle at his disposal, Jack forces himself up off the floor. Grabbing a stool and countertop for support. His whole body ached; weighted down like it was full of dumbbells yet he didn’t quit moving. Jack could hear Castiel’s voice in his mind, encouraging him like he’d always done on hunts and during one of their sparring sessions in the gym.

“Come on Jack, get up! Get up now!”

“Yes, I will,” the Nephilim promises himself; gnashing his teeth. Lumbering forward on his wobbly legs ignoring the agony. “I won’t let you down Cas! I swear I won’t.”

“That’s it Jack, come on! You’re almost there!”

“Okay!”

One foot in front of the other. Jack slowly repeats this method of awkward walking until all the muscles in his legs have loosened and are functioning properly. As he’s feeling more mobile the pain is subsiding. It’s not quite gone but it’s not intolerable either. In fact, the Nephilim uses it to power through the wreckage and towards the exit. Drying his eyes with the back of his palm. Before Jack realizes it, he’s already reached the door pushing it open. And on his way to search for the Winchesters. Because he’s not alone… He’ll never be alone. He has his family. And Castiel is always with him; guiding him.

[livingmybestfictionallife]

Knife in a Gun Fight --The Commodore

Summary:  In 1929, the Nevin-Klaff Gang, a collection of bootlegging cousins from the farmlands of Texas find themselves on the run and in need of help.The gang finds their way to St. Paul, Minnesota where the make the acquaintance of notorious, underground, bootlegger smuggling gang, The EST. Immediately, the leaders of these two gangs, Siobhan (Shiv-on) “Shiv” Nevin, and Colson “The Gun” Baker, can’t stand one another. When their subordinates go behind their backs to agree to work together, Shiv realizes how dangerous it can be to be a knife in a gun fight.

A/N: I apologize for how this was def. not posted when I originally anticipated. I had a major plot hole I had to fix and basically rewrite this chapter!

Built in 1920, the Commodore was a quaint place for passersby to take refuge during their journeys; however, after the hotel’s bar was shut down, it was secretly relocated underground to become an exclusive, and on occasion, nefarious, speakeasy. All of the gamblers, bootleggers, and gangsters that Saint Paul attracted knew of the speakeasy, but more importantly, they all knew of The EST.

Almost as well known as the Nevin-Klaff gang, the EST was a staple of the mid-west’s criminal underground. The EST began in Cleveland as a collection of bootleggers and smugglers, each trying to escape their own predetermined fates, and arrived in Saint Paul roughly two years ago. Siobhan had heard the rumors of the EST’s near invisible smuggling and bootlegging operations, and they served to be accurate given how little media attention the received. Sure, Saint Paul was her first pick of a hideout because of it’s magnetic pull to the criminal world, but when she realized the EST was there, that was when she devised an escape plan.

Since the collective Nevin and Klaff siblings began working together, Shiv could feel Walter and Eddy’s fear--they would never admit to it in order to not feel as if they were burdening their older brothers--and the discontentment George and Art constantly repressed from the younger three regarding if they’ll make it out alive. She knew it was up to her to save all of their asses. She knew George was one snarky comment away from getting a hole blasted through him--by the cops or another gang, it didn’t matter; he was a smart-ass to everyone. Art was intelligent, but didn’t have the patience to see more than two minutes ahead of each action he took, Eddy and Walter were by no means children, especially after everything they’ve witnessed and experienced, but neither had the brains to figure out where to go or what to do next. Shiv was the planner, the decisive, witty, strategic thinker the gang needed to escape the country without striking interest in the wrong people.

Who else do undesirables go to for help other than more undesirables? she thought not long after arriving in Saint Paul. The EST was far from her first plan, but it was the safest one she could come up with.

“Just mingle,” Shiv reminded her brothers and cousins as they entered the Commodore speakeasy. The large, open room was flooded with people of various different walks of life. In one corner, a known gangster spoke freely with what appeared to be financial businessmen, near the billiards table, housewives and flappers cheered while their men competed, and throughout the crowd, men and women spoke, danced, and drank as if the law could not reach them down here, beneath the streets of Saint Paul, Minnesota. “Don’t draw attention to yourselves,” Shiv stated with a glare in George’s direction as she followed the men down a short flight of stairs.

“Where are we meeting up and when?” Walt asked as a young, redheaded woman caught his eye.

“If you meet anyone in EST, try and set up something for tomorrow” Siobhan said softly under the music. “Breakfast, river dancing, anything” she continued slightly sardonically with a scoff. Already Walt and Eddy peeled themselves away from the group and made their introductions to the young woman and her friend. George and Art also pulled away from Siobhan to begin a game of billiards at an open table. 

Shiv took a deep breath and slowly approached the bar. Her reflection bore back at her from the mirror behind the bar, and she quickly examined herself. Her long, toned arms had lost their tan from working under the hot, Texas sun, however the muscle remained, especially after having to carry the Nevin-Klaff gang on her shoulders for the past eight or nine years. Her long, dark hair was tied up elegantly--something her younger cousin learned to do as a child when his mother asked him to help her with her hair on Sundays--and a hint of makeup accentuated the twinkle in her doe eyes. A soft, cap sleeve evening gown hung from her shoulders in shimmering, golden beaded hues before transforming into a flowing swirl of pale blue tulle. The gown hugged her body gently before it fell to gather around her feet, and despite the few eyes she’d caught glancing her way, she grew anxiously uncomfortable in the attire.

For the past near decade of her life, Shiv had been carrying out secret plans of illegal activities; she never had a moment to reflect on her appearance or the appeal she had towards others. Often, her brothers and cousins would meet flings wherever the group sought shelter, but Shiv didn’t have the luxury of forgetting her surroundings and abandoning all concerns. People brought out the worst in her; it was a fact as inarguable as the sky being blue or the grass being green. Being raised on a farm, as the only child in her household, she not only endured the worst from her peers for being poor, but also was not shielded from her brothers’ and cousins’ ‘boys-will-be-boys’ antics. She grew up to be tough and level-headed, but more so, Shiv’s experiences with people outside of her family--and sometimes even within her family--led her to putting up the harshest of fronts and strongest walls imaginable.

“Can I get you something ma’am?” the bartender asked as Shiv’s eyes flicked away from the table top and to the young man before her. He couldn’t have been much older than Walter or Eddy, but he seemed much younger due to the lack of farm-built muscle that defined her family.

“Just a double whisky, neat,” she stated monotonously with a small smile in exchange for her off-putting tone. With a nod, the bartender sauntered away to pour the drink, and Shiv turned on her heel to examine the room once more. George and Arthur were playing against one another and attracting a large crowd of predominately female spectators, Walter sat at a booth with the redhead he saw upon entering the bar and laughed with her at a story she appeared to be telling, and Eddy wasn’t very far away from Walt, carrying back a round of drinks alongside a blonde girl who seemed rather taken with him.

“That’s a pretty strong drink,” a deep voice said from over Shiv’s shoulder as she turned around to take her glass from the bartender and meet the stranger’s eyes. The man beside her was folded into the bar and had pulled a nearby stool towards him with his long legs in order for him to sit as he sipped from his own glass. He wore a stone grey three piece suit with a black tie, wore his blonde hair slicked back and to the side, and seemed all too sure of himself for Siobhan’s taste.

“Not strong enough if you ask me,” she commented in a dry and rather unremarked tone as she refrained her natural instincts to continue to scope out the man beside her.

“It’s not too often that I see a nice girl such as yourself drink a man’s drink,” he said with a small chuckle. Slowly, Shiv’s eyes drifted to her right as she held her breath and clenched her jaw.

“What in the world would lead you to assume that I’m nice? And why the hell do men think they have a monopoly on everything?” Shiv questioned without an ounce of emotion rising from her tone.

“Can’t you just take a compliment?” the man huffed as he rolled his eyes and took a small swig of his drink.

“I’d love to, but unfortunately, there was nothing of substance in anything that you said for me to even assume to be a compliment,” Shiv stated as monotonously as she could. 

“What is your problem?” The blonde man with his hair slicked back and to the side grumbled as he poured the rest of his drink down his throat and narrowed his eyes in curious observation at Siobhan. As she quickly lost whatever patience she had left after dealing with George all day, Shiv exhaled sharply, tossed back her whisky, and stared the man in the face.

“You’re my problem,” Shiv stated in response to the man’s question.

“Me?” he quickly questioned in return only to get an annoyed glare from the woman across from him.

“Yes, you. It was more than obvious that I wanted to be alone; did you not come over here because you figured I was the only woman in this place completely isolated?”

“Maybe I wanted to talk to you,” the man attempted to explain away her accusations.

“Maybe you did,” she sighed and rolled her eyes, “after your silver tongue and semi-suave persona failed in picking up either of the women chatting at the table behind us.” Hesitant to admit his shortcomings with the brash woman before him, the man narrowed his eyes at her and pursed his lips, as if prompting her to continue. “There’s a mirror on the bar, I couldn’t have ignored that train wreck even if I wanted to.”

“Did anyone teach you how to smile?”

“Did anyone teach you how to pick up on basic social cues?”

“Damn, why are you so mean?” the blonde man gasped in aggravation.

“It’s what the world does to you, pretty boy. Maybe you’ll learn that one day,” she said before standing up and leaving a tip on the bar for the bartender.

She didn’t want to come out tonight. Befriending EST was not apart of her original plan; it was just some bullshit addition George wanted in order to feel like he was contributing something to protecting his brother and younger cousins. A simple ask-around-town and introduce-yourself before asking for a favor would have worked. Personal, human interactions were obsolete. It didn’t matter one way or another if they were best friends or simply business partners, but George threw a fit and threatened to take off on his own, which subsequently terrified Walter of losing his brother and then sent Arthur and Edmund into a panic about separating from their cousins. 

“I should have let him leave,” Siobhan muttered to herself as she paced towards an empty booth in the darkest corner of the speakeasy. There was a distinct difference between each Nevin-Klaff member’s reason for being in this criminal boat, and Shiv was near certain of each person’s motives. 

Walter didn’t want to be left out. Being the youngest instilled a fear in Walt about being the only one not able to do something out of the Nevin-Klaff cousins. Edmund knew the work he would have to pick up around the farm with George, Arthur, and Siobhan gone would be too much for him to handle, and he wasn’t about to handle the brute of harvest on his own. Arthur only continued to help George in order to keep him on the right track. George wasn’t the brightest, and he certainly didn’t know what he was doing in the beginning. Shiv always figured he assumed he could stash jugs of whisky or moonshine in the bed of a truck, drive two counties over, and collect some cash. Without Art to be a sound moral compass with more than half a brain, George would have been locked up not too long after he started. Shiv never really clicked with George. Throughout their childhood, she never understood why the family favored him so much, but she did know they were unaware of the many secrets he harbored from them. Initially, he stole from his parents--it wasn’t much, but taking anything from a dirt poor farmer was more than enough to ruin him--and then got into bootlegging as a way to get enough money to payback his parents without them knowing. 

There wasn’t a doubt in Shiv’s mind that, if the gang were to go their separate ways, George wouldn’t stick to the harmless crimes they commit now. He’d go on to rob trains or banks, make a mistake and kill someone or end up being killed. That’s the only reason she didn’t devise a way to travel in smaller groups or spread out across the country, because whoever was stuck with George would be screwed.

“He has dumb-ass plans anyway,” Shiv sighed to herself as she reexamined George’s idea of becoming friends with EST. Allies, sure, Shiv could understand that, but friends? This wasn’t a school playground. This is 1929 Saint Paul, Minnesota and they were wanted in who knows how many states. There’s not any time fro friends, and their idea of going to a speakeasy and flushing out the people they’re essentially stalking in order to get close to wasn’t going to come to fruition tonight. “Screw this,” Shiv huffed as she slammed her hands down on the table in front of her and sprung to her feet. “I didn’t want to come. I told him this was stupid. No one ever listens to me, even when my only job requires them to listen!” Over and over, more and more complaints flooded Shiv’s head as she made her way to the exit. She grumbled each one under her breath and did her best to ignore all of the concerned glances being exchanged her way; all except for one. The baby blue-green eyes of the man who had pissed her off by reminding her all too much of George noticed her leave, and wore the smallest expression of guilt on his face. 

Shiv noticed him, and it made her even angrier.

[maydaygirl-save-our-ships]

Lake’s New Normal (A Fanfic)

Summary:

After Lake escapes the train, she’s invited to live with the Cosay family. But after escaping the mirror world, traveling through a supernatural train, and fighting for her life, is she really able to live like a normal teenager?

She’s not sure, but she’s willing to fight every day to make this life her new normal.

AO3 Link

Chapter 5: Breakfast Interrogation

The sunlight streaming through his blinds was the first thing Jesse saw in the morning, and for a moment, he wasn’t sure where he was. Waking up in his bedroom under his covers was almost too normal. After weeks of waking up in different cars, it was strange to wake up and be home.

Jesse sluggishly headed downstairs. When he arrived in the kitchen, he saw his mother flipping pancakes, his father reading the newspaper, and his brother happily eating a stack of pancakes. The sight was so familiar it made his heart ache. He hadn't realized how much he missed them until this moment. 

“Jesse!” his mother said with a wide smile when she noticed him in the doorway. She rushed over to him and pulled him into a hug, kissing the top of his head. “Oh, I missed seeing you in the morning. Come and have some breakfast.”

“I will, but you have to let go of me first, mom,” Jesse said with a grin as his mother continued to hug him.

“No way, I’m never letting go of you again,” she countered.

Jesse laughed. “That’s going to make eating pancakes really hard.”

His mother gave him one more squeeze before sighing and letting him go. “Okay fine, go sit at the table. I almost have this last batch cooked up.”

His mother put a stack of pancakes in front of him and Jesse’s mouth immediately started to water. 

“Thanks mom, these look great!” As he started to pour syrup on his pancakes, he glanced towards the stairs. “Did Lake wake up yet?”

His mom shook her head. “No, we haven’t seen her yet.”

“Do you think I should wake her up?” Jesse asked. “I don’t want her to miss breakfast.”

His mom put a hand on his shoulder. “Let her sleep. When was the last time you think she got a good night's rest?”

“Well, after she left the mirror world she probably always had the Flecs chasing her so… probably not for a long time.”

“Then let her sleep,” his mom said. “I can always make more pancakes when she wakes up.”

“Did anyone hear a loud bang last night?” Nate asked as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. “I wasn’t sure if I dreamed it or not.”

Jesse hesitated, unsure if he should say anything. He knew Lake would be mortified if his family found out she had fallen out of bed. 

“I didn’t hear anything,” his mother said. 

“Hey dad,” Jesse said, quickly changing the subject. “Do you think we could remove that mirror on the back of the guest room door?” 

His father looked curiously over his newspaper. “Why?”

“I think it freaked Lake out a little. And to be honest, even though the Flecs were only chasing her, I still jump when I look into a mirror. I’m not surprised it makes her uncomfortable.”

“I might be able to do something about that,” his father said. “But son, I wanted to ask you something. You said those Flecs that she used to be running from, they were like the mirror police, right?”

“Yeah,” Jesse said. “But unlike our police they were trying to kill her, not just catch her.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” his dad said. “If the police were after her then does that mean she did something wrong?”

“Apparently escaping the mirror world is a crime,” Jesse explained as he stuffed a fork full of pancake into his mouth.

His dad pressed his lips together, his forehead creasing in confusion. “That seems like an unusually high punishment for just running away. Did she mention anything else that she did?”

His mother scoffed. “No matter what she did, there’s no excuse for trying to kill a little girl. She must have been so scared…”

“I’m not saying there is,” his father added quickly. “I’m just saying that maybe there was something else she did that she didn’t mention to you, Jesse.”

Jesse frowned. He didn’t like where this was going. “Like what?”

“Well… how well do you really know her?” he asked. 

Jesse felt a surge of protective energy. “She’s my best friend, I’d say I know her pretty well.”

“But you’ve only known her for a few weeks, right?” his father asked. 

“Sure, but we’ve been through a lot together.”

His dad sighed. “I know you have. There is just something strange with her story of how she got out of the mirror world. You never met Tulip on the train, right?”

“No, I never met her,” Jesse said. “And what do you mean by strange? Everything was strange on the train.”

“It’s not what she told us that was strange,” his dad said. “Although most of that was pretty bizarre. It’s what she didn’t tell us that I’m worried about. She didn’t exactly say how she escaped or why Tulip was willing to help her even though it was breaking the law. I just get the impression that she’s hiding something.”

“Well, yeah…” Jesse agreed easily “Lake isn't the most open book. She wouldn’t even tell me she was a reflection at first. I just thought she was a metal person. I had to hear it from the Flecs first before she came clean.”

“That’s strange,” his father said. “Why would she want to hide that she was a reflection?”

Jesse shrugged. “Lots of reasons, but mostly because she was a wanted criminal and she didn’t trust me.”

“I think that there might be another reason,” his dad said. 

“Stephan,” his mother said in a warning tone. “Don’t start throwing around your wild theories. It’s none of our business if Lake decides not to tell us certain things about herself.”

“It’s our business if someone is trapped where they shouldn’t be,” his dad countered.

“What are you talking about, dad?” Jesse asked, exchanging glances with Nate, but his brother seemed to be just as confused as he was.  

“Lake mentioned this Chrome Car where she and Tulip had to switch places in order to open the door, right?” his dad asked. “Lake didn’t go into detail about how she and Tulip both got out of the car, and I think there's a reason for that. I think that Lake switched places and left Tulip there in the mirror world.”

Jesse stared. “What?”

“I don’t have any proof,” his dad said. “I just think that she’s hiding something and that makes the most sense to me. And to be honest, Jesse, you’re a very trusting guy. I’m just worried that you trusted her too fast and she may have taken advantage of that trust to get off the train. You don’t really know her.”

Jesse stood up in his seat. “No dad, you might not know her, but I do!” His heart pounded in his ears as he glared at his father. “I know I’ve only known her for a few weeks, but after everything we’ve been through, I feel like I’ve known her my entire life. And Lake would never do something like that. She’s a good person. I don’t know where Tulip is, but if Lake says she’s fine, then I believe her.” 

His family was staring at him, taken aback by his sudden outburst. He realized he hadn’t yelled at his parents for a long time, probably not since he was Nate’s age. He always did what his parents said, even when he disagreed with them, but he couldn't just stand by and listen to his father accusing Lake. 

“And Lake never took advantage of me. She’s a good friend. I went back for her because I made her a promise. If it wasn’t for her, I would have never gotten my number down and I would have never been able to escape the train in the first place.”

“But son,” his dad tried to reason. “Tell me this, why does Lake have a reflection? Does that make sense to you? What if that’s Tulip and she’s taken Lake’s place in the mirror world?”

Jesse shook his head vigorously. “I-I don’t know! I don’t understand everything about how the mirror world works. Lake doesn’t even know half the time! All I know is that I trust Lake and that’s enough for me.”

Heavy footfalls sounded behind him, and Jesse’s mother’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked past him. Jesse turned around to see Lake standing in the doorway of the kitchen. She had an unreadable expression on her face and her arms were crossed defensively across her chest. 

���Lake...” Jesse began, but Lake’s attention was focused angrily onto his father as she entered the room.

“Tulip Olsen,” Lake said, her voice guarded. “She lives in North Branch Minnesota. If you look at the news reports you’ll read about Tulip disappearing for a time and then reappearing months later. At least… I think you will. I don’t know for sure that she got off the train, because I wasn’t with her for that part, but she’s smarter than me. So if I found a way to get off, then I’m sure she did too.”

The room was still, hanging expectantly in Lake’s last words, but no one else spoke. Jesse moved to stand next to Lake, but for some reason she refused to look at him. 

“And as for why I have a reflection in the mirror,” Lake continued, “That’s just me. I’m my own reflection. It’s something a reflection’s body does because we have to show up in many reflective surfaces. That might not make sense to you, but that’s how it works. So you can believe me or not, but that’s the truth.”

Nate shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his mother glanced over at his father. His father put down his newspaper and cleared his throat.

“Lake, I shouldn’t have just spouted out wild theories like that,” his father said. “I have nothing against you. It’s just that Jesse can be easily swayed by his friends, and he’s gullible. I was just worried.”

“He has more of a backbone you might think,” Lake defended, but then she hesitated, her expression softening. “But he can be pretty gullible,” she admitted. “I guess I get why you would be worried.”

“Hey!” Jesse protested. “I’m not that gullible.”

She gave him a skeptical look. “You see the good in people, even if there isn’t any. That can be dangerous. I hate to admit it, but you’re dad’s right, you shouldn’t have trusted me as fast as you did. You didn’t even start to doubt me until the Flecs got into your head, and even then you picked me over the law. I could have been lying to you.”

“Maybe I just had a good feeling about you,” Jesse said with a grin. “I listened to my gut.”

“Like you did for the Apex?” she reminded him, and Jesse’s heart sank. 

“Okay, so maybe my gut hasn’t always been the best,” Jesse reasoned. “And maybe I can be a bit gullible, but I was right about you. After all, you’re a good person.”

Jesse’s goal was to get Lake to smile, but instead, his words had the opposite effect and her expression completely shut down. She folded her arms around her chest tighter. 

Concerned, Jesse reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but to his surprise, she turned away from him, moving her shoulder just slightly out of reach. His hand fell to his side in confusion.

“Even so,” Jesse’s dad continued. “I should have talked to you about my worries first. I feel bad about how I went about it. I’m sorry, Lake. You should feel welcome here, not like a criminal. I’m sure you’ve had enough of that already.”

“It does get kind of old,” Lake agreed, and Jesse could see her relax slightly at his dad’s apology. “But... I get why you’re suspicious of me. I would probably be the same. So if it will make you feel better, go ahead and look to see if Tulip made it back home. If you can’t find it on the internet, I know a local number you can call and ask.”

“Maybe I will later,” Jesse’s father said. “But right now, my wife made some pretty delicious pancakes. Please, come have some?”

Lake hesitated, and for one terrifying second, Jesse thought she was going to just turn around and walk out the front door. He wouldn’t blame her, after what his father accused her of.

Instead, Lake carefully sat in the kitchen chair she had occupied last night. It protested her weight, but the sturdy wood chair held.

“I’m sorry about my husband.” His mother said as she filled up a plate with the last of the pancakes. “He reads too many sci fi books.”

Lake smiled at that, but Jesse could tell that the smile was forced. He sat next to her and ate the rest of his pancakes, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. She seemed sad, and Jesse couldn’t tell if it was because of what his dad said, or if he had done something to upset her.

Jesse was almost done with his stack of pancakes when there was a loud knock on the door. 

Lake froze, and Jesse met her panicked eyes. 

Jesse’s mother stood up and looked out the kitchen window. 

“Why are the police here?” she asked. 

Dread filled Jesse’s chest. The police? What would they do if they saw Lake?

Lake looked seconds away from bolting out of the house through the back door. Jesse reached over and grabbed her hand, both to comfort her, and to assure himself that he wasn’t going to lose her. 

To his relief, Lake reciprocated the gestures and squeezed his hand. 

“Oh... that’s probably my fault,” Jesse’s father said regretfully.

“Stephan, what did you do?” His mother whirled around to glare down at his father.

“The police called our house this morning,” his father explained. “They were going to give us an update on our missing persons case. I had to tell them that Jesse came home last night and was safe. They said they were going to send someone to take a statement from him. I didn’t think they would send someone so quickly.”

“What do we do?” Jesse asked. “What happens if they see Lake? And what should I tell them about where I was?”

“Are they going to take Lake away?” Nate asked fearfully. 

“I’d like to see them try,” Lake said in a low growl. “Compared to the Flecs, I doubt these Primes will be able to touch me.” Lake got up from her seat and Jesse did the same, keeping a firm grip on her hand.

“Okay, calm down everyone,” Jesse’s father said. “They don’t know about Lake yet, and we can keep it that way.”

There was another hard knock on the door and the policeman introduced himself through the door as officer Gonzalez. 

“All they want is a statement from Jesse,” his father said in his calm voice. “Lake can go upstairs until he leaves. There should be no reason for him to go up there. Nate, you can keep her company, and we’ll call for you if there are any issues.”

“What do I tell the officer?” Jesse asked. “He won't believe me about the train. Should I make something up about where I was?”

“You telling a lie?” Lake asked skeptically. “I doubt you could lie to save your life.”

“It doesn't matter what you tell him,” his father said. “If you lie he’ll probably be able to tell, and if you tell the truth he won’t believe you. Just tell him whatever you want, but don’t mention Lake.”

The officer rang the doorbell. 

His mother wrapped her arms around Lake’s shoulders. “Lake, let's get you upstairs, honey. Come on.”

Lake looked at Jesse worriedly. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk with the officer and I’ll come upstairs and get you when he leaves. Everything will be fine,” Jesse promised.

Lake nodded, let go of his hand, and followed Nate up the stairs. As soon as Jesse was sure Lake was out of sight, he turned nervously towards the front door. 

He wasn’t sure he had it in him to lie, which meant this officer was about to hear one unbelievable story.

---------

Nate led her upstairs to what looked like a small study. It had a desk with a computer, a bookshelf full of books, and a reading chair in the corner with it’s own lamp. 

“This is my dad’s study,” Nate said while shutting the door behind them. “But he doesn’t use it much because he’s usually in the garage working. Me and Jesse come up here to play on the computer when mom is using the TV downstairs.”

Lake strained her ears to listen for the sounds of the police officer entering the house. 

She knew logically that it made sense for the police to want to talk to Jesse after he had been missing for so long. She also knew there was no reason for the police officer to want to check upstairs.

On the other hand, Jesse’s dad had been suspicious of her and he had admitted to talking to police earlier this morning. Was it too paranoid to think that maybe Jesse’s father had told the police about her? Maybe he was hoping the police would take her away? He wouldn’t be the first person to try and stack the odds against her. 

“What does your dad do?” Lake asked. She could hear the sounds of Jesse talking to the officer, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying.

“He owns his own business fixing up houses so they can be sold for more money. The garage is full of his unfinished projects.”

Lake glanced at the only window in the room. If she heard the officer climbing up the stairs, could she jump out of the window without being seen? Even if Jesse’s father told the police officer about her, if he never gets any proof, then they won't believe him, right?”

“Lake?” Nate’s voice brought her back to the room. “I’m sorry about what my dad said. He just worries sometimes.”

Lake shook her head. That was the thing. It wasn’t about what Mr. Cosay said that necessarily upset her, it was what Jesse had said in her defense. How could Lake be upset at Mr. Cosay for suggesting that she had tried to trap Tulip in the mirror world, when he had been right? It was Jesse that defended her. Jesse who said that Lake was a good person and could never do such a thing. At the end of the day, Mr. Cosay had been right and Jesse had been wrong. 

Lake had spent her entire time free from the mirror world fighting to prove that she was a person. In all that time, she had never once stopped to consider if she was even a good person. 

However, Jesse seemed completely convinced that she could’ve never hurt Tulip or done anything wrong. A part of her wanted to hug him for standing up for her without a moment's hesitation, and the other part of her wanted to yell at him for being so trusting and naive. She wasn’t the person he thought she was, and that was the painful truth.

If he were to find out the truth about everything that she had done, all the people that she had hurt, or was willing to hurt for her own selfish reasons, Lake knew he would hate her. That’s why she was determined to make sure that he never found out.

“No, it’s okay,” Lake said at last. “I honestly have no right to be mad at your dad for that, trust me.”

“Oh, okay, that’s good.” Nate said simply. He seemed as eager to move on with the conversation as she was. “Well… did you want to watch a movie? My dad has a pretty big movie collection on his computer.”

Lake listened, but she didn’t hear the sounds of anyone coming up the stairs. She supposed she could watch a movie and listen for a potential ambush at the same time. 

“Sure,” she said with a shrug. “Which ones do you have?”

Nate showed her the list of movies his father had downloaded on his computer. In the end, Lake picked a comedy that Nate recommended. Lake hadn’t seen many movies in their entirety, since she usually had to watch or listen to them from small reflective surfaces in the Olsen living room, such as someone's phone or a glass of water.

In the end, she had chosen the movie School of Rock, since Tulip had only seen part of it, and Lake had always wanted to watch the entire movie. Something about the kids learning to make music grabbed her attention, even though she wasn’t sure why. Tulip was never serious about learning to play music, so Lake didn’t know much about it. 

Nate grabbed blankets and pillows from his room and he and Lake sat on the floor, staring up at the computer playing the movie. Lake was leaning against the far wall next to the door, which made it easy for her to hear if anyone came up the stairs. 

They were about thirty minutes in, and she was thoroughly enjoying the movie, when Nate called her name.

“Can I ask you a question?” he asked. Lake could see him fidgeting out of the corner of her eye.

Lake suppressed a sigh. “Is it about the mirror world?”

“No, it’s about the train and Jesse.”

Curious, Lake looked over at Nate. “Okay shoot.”

To her surprise, Nate didn’t just start asking his question. Instead, he got up, went to the computer, and paused the movie.

He nervously took his previous seat next to her, but instead of leading against the wall like he had been before, he sat cross legged and faced her.

“I know Jesse tried to explain it to me, but I don’t really understand why he was on the train. Did he do something wrong? And if… if I do something wrong will the train take me too?”

The unmistakable look of fear in his eyes caused Lake to sit forward, giving him all her attention. She knew she had to correct him before he started worrying that he would be taken by the train for talking back to his parents or forgetting to do his homework.

“No, it doesn’t work like that,” Lake assured him quickly. “The train doesn’t take you because you did something wrong. It’s not a punishment. It’s supposed to help you work out your problems.”

“Then why did Jesse get taken? He doesn’t have any problems. Everybody likes him and he never gets into trouble.”

Lake rolled her eyes affectionately. “Yeah, I know, he’s a great guy, and he's everyone’s friend, but there’s such a thing as being too nice.”

Nate stared at her uncomprehendingly. “What do you mean? How can you be too nice?”

Lake motioned to his hurt arm. “Well, he was nice to his buddies, but because of that, he didn’t exactly stand up to his friends to protect you, did he?”

Nate recoiled and looked down at his arm in embarrassment. “It- it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t mean to-”

“But he didn’t stop it either.” Lake pointed out. ”And that makes it partially his fault.”

“But he apologized!” Nate defended, his eyes starting to water. “It… it was a mistake…”

Lake held up her hands. “Whoa, I know,” she assured him. “I know how badly he feels about what he did to you. Jesse knows it’s more important to stand up for what he believes in than it is to be liked. That's the lesson the train wanted to teach him, I guess. I think it’s dumb to kidnap someone just to force them to learn a lesson…. But that’s how the train works.”

“But Jesse shouldn’t have to stop being nice. It’s it a good thing to be liked by people?” Nate asked. 

“Jesse doesn’t have to stop being nice, he just needs to practice being able to say no, even if people get mad at him for it. He can’t make everyone happy, and he should be able to do what he wants to do.” Lake chuckled. “I guess I’m the opposite. I do what I want and I don’t care if I piss off other people. I guess that’s why most people don’t like me,” she said with a shrug. “Besides Jesse of course, but he likes everyone.”

“Well… I like you,” Nate said shyly. “You’re nice.”

Lake blinked. “Oh…” she rubbed the back of her neck. She had never been called nice before. “Umm, thanks, Nate. You’re pretty cool too.”

Nate smiled, but there was something distant about his expression.

“Are you okay?” Lake asked. 

“I just wish I had passed the man test,” Nate admitted in a rush. “If I hadn’t gotten hurt Jesse wouldn’t have felt bad and he wouldn’t have gotten taken by the stupid train. It’s my fault-”

“No!” Lake shouted, pounding her fist on the carpeted floor for emphasis. The resounding thump was louder than she expected, and both she and Nate froze, listening for the sounds of movement downstairs. When no one came up the stairs to investigate, Lake looked over at Nate.

“Listen to me Nate, Jesse being taken by the train is not your fault. If it hadn’t been for that incident, Jesse would have gone along with something else that those goons wanted to do and he would’ve felt bad for it later. It was only a matter of time before he ended up on that train. It was Jesse that had a lesson to learn, not you.”

“I was really worried when he never came home,” Nate said with a sniff as he used the back of his hands to wipe the tears from his eyes. “I kept thinking that if I had only stayed there with him then he wouldn’t have gone missing.”

Lake shifted uncomfortably. She wasn’t sure what to do when people cried. What came out of her mouth next was unbidden and completely honest.

“It’s not your fault, Nate, trust me. It was a supernatural train. It would have picked Jesse up no matter what. And even though it kidnapped your brother for a few weeks, I’m kind of glad it did…” Lake admitted. “I would have never gotten off the train without him. I’m sorry, that probably sounds really selfish.”

Nate shook his head, a small smile growing on his face. “No, it's okay. Even though I was really scared that I would never see my brother again, I’m glad that Jesse was able to help you get off the train. So even though I missed him, it was worth it.”

Lake stared at the young boy in front her, suddenly overwhelmed by his kindness even though he never met her before. He was definitely Jesse’s brother. 

“Thanks Nate. Now, come on, let’s finish the movie.”

Nate smiled, a real smile this time. “Okay!”

<previous  

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[holidaywishes]

Embers V

Chapter V: out of line

  Summary of series: Katie moves from Peachtree, Georgia, to L.A. with her son, Alex to start fresh after the death of her husband. When she meets Evan Buckley, a young firefighter, she falls fast but will her son be so quick to accept Evan into his life?

  Summary of chapter: After the dinner at the Firehouse, Katie is confused by the way Big Jeff is acting around her and tries to talk to him but it doesn’t go as planned.

  Warning: Angst, death, possible trigger warning for death of a child

  Author’s Note: Here we go y’all! The start of the angsty chapters. I love me some good angst but this, to me, is the bare bones of what I’ll typically consider angst. This is more just casual dramatics but I did want to have some kind of ‘Evan has a bad day and come to Katie for comfort’ element so this is what I came up with. I have something pretty big in mind for a few chapters down the line which I think you’ll enjoy but, until that comes, I hope you enjoy the ride! Cheers, xx! 😘

  masterlist

  the other masterlist

xx

Katie’s P.O.V

  You dialed Evan’s number into your phone, sighing before bringing the phone to your ear

  “Hey” he greeted

  “Hi,” you smiled to yourself, something about his voice could immediately calm you down, “I’m sorry about last night.”

  “Don’t be. A little drama never hurt anyone” he laughed

  “I don’t know about that. I’m gonna talk to Jeff today, and Nick, to find out what was going on...”

  “Okay,” he responded, uncertainty on his tongue, “do you need me there in case he tries something?”

  “No,” you smirked, “I think I’ll be fine. Plus, I’ll have Alex with me. He’s the best way to diffuse any situation.” Evan laughed before agreeing and signing off, while you got ready to head into the fire -- so to speak. As you and Alex drove to your young client’s house, you tried to come up with something to say so you didn’t get too emotional but when you pulled up in front of the house, your anger couldn’t be contained

  “NICK!” You shouted outside Nick’s door while banging your fists on the wood, “I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE! ANSWER THE GOD DAMN DOOR NICKY!”

  “RELAX!” He yelled as he whipped open the door

  “Where is he?” You said, pushing Nick aside

  “Who? Big Jeff?” he answered, a confused look on his face, “he really didn’t mean anything by--”

  “Where. Is. He?” You urged and Nick obliged, directing you and Alex to the kitchen where his bodyguard was preparing a meal

  “Oh Katerina! Alex!” He said with a smile, welcoming you into the house, “It’s so good to see you!”

  “Save it, Jeff...” You hissed, “what the hell was that last night?”

  “What?” He asked, dumbfounded

  “Alex, sweetie,” you knelt down to meet your son’s eyes, “how about you go play video games with Nicky for a bit?” Just as you thought he would, Alex bounded over to the couch and you turned her attention back to ‘Big Jeff’

  “Everything okay?” he asked

  “Do you think I’m stupid? Or that I’d find the way you acted last night flattering?” you started, “because it wasn’t. It was embarrassing and completely out of line!”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, walking over to the fridge to put away the food he’d brought out earlier, “I was looking out for you and Alex. I’m always just looking out for the two of you.”

  “What was there for you to look out for?” you chided, “we were at dinner and my boyfriend offered to drive me and my son home. There’s nothing to worry about there..”

  “I think there is”

  “I think there’s not”

  “Well maybe that’s why you need someone like me.” Jeff said as he moved behind you slowly

  “What?” you asked, your breathing beginning to shallow

  “What would Jesse think?” he whispered, finally standing still behind you

  “Excuse me?” you started to turn but Jeff forced you to stay forward

  “Your husband died,” he snarled, “he didn’t leave. He died. You think he’d be okay with you moving on so fast?”

  “Watch it, Jeff” you tried, but it only seem to make him snicker

  “Someone needs to make sure you keep some kind of... virtue--” he circled around you and met your gaze-- “wouldn’t want to ruin the reputation you’ve worked so hard to create for yourself would you?”

  “You have no right to talk about my husband. You didn’t know him and my reputation is going to be just fine. I don’t need your help. We don’t need your help,” you scolded, beginning to storm out of the house, yelling to your son, “ALEX, come on baby, we’re gonna be late for school!” Your breathing was beginning to normalize but you could feel Jeff following you out of the house; he watched you as you helped Alex into the car and opened your car door before stepping in yourself, an almost sinister smile creeping across his face.

xx

  “So... what do you think his problem is?” Marie asked curiously, “think he’s obsessed with you?”

  “What? No!” you answered, “I don’t know what’s wrong with him but it was super weird and incredibly sketchy. I mean I’m sure it’s nothing...”

  “Yeah maybe..” she started, “but if you feel at all nervous, I would keep your distance. You and Alex”

  “I know but how am I supposed to do that? He’s on Nick’s payroll and I guess, technically, so am I..”

  “Just don’t be alone with him.” Her words sounded so final like they should be easy but something just didn’t sit right with you

  “Should I say something to Nick?” you asked

  “No,” Marie said bluntly, “I don’t think Nick would do anything other than say ‘it’s probably nothing’ and then go play some stupid video game.” You shrugged and moved on with your day.

  “Katie, let’s go!“ Your boss called out and you shot to her feet

  “Where are we going?” you asked

  “We’re going to get set up your two favourite clients on a date!” Raquel confidently walked past as her words mingled with the business of the office, “come quick before I take her off your hands!”

  “I never wanted her on my hands in the first place” you muttered to herself

  “KATIE!”

  “COMING!” You responded, running to meet your boss for a meeting you really didn’t want to have.

xx

  “I’m sorry,” Amber said, disdain dripped from her tongue as she spoke, “why do I have to fake a relationship with this... child?”

  “I’m not a child,” Nick replied, smiling as he continued, “and I can prove it to you.”

  “Ew” she scrunched her face before Raquel interrupted

  “Look, this is a great opportunity for both of you to branch out to different audiences,” she said, “get more fans..”

  “I don’t do PR relationships.” Amber stated, making you scoff and roll your eyes

  “You also don’t respect yourself” you added

  “Excuse you, yes I do.”

  “Not according to the millions of results whenever someone does a web search for Amber Reed” You chided

  “Who cares,” she scoffed, “that’s all fake anyway”

  “It doesn’t matter, Amber,” you tried, “your audience is made up of young, incredibly impressionable, girls and their parents are the ones who hold the purse strings.”

  “So..?”

  “Oh my go--” you sighed to her boss who immediately took over

  “So, you don’t make money if your image doesn’t improve”

  “I’m not a child and I want to be treated as the adult I am”

  “You have to know your lines and learn to stick within them.” You added and watched as Amber considered your words, pursing her lips before looking at Nick

  “So what does surfer boy have to do with this?” she asked and you noticed Raquel smile

  “Well,” you started, “Mom’s love Nick. No one really knows why, but it probably has something to do with his videos with his little brother who doesn’t live in L.A.--”

  “He lives in Minnesota with my Dad” Nick interjected and you shook her head, smiling at him

  “Mom’s can see Nick as being a good influence on their kids because he’s a good influence on his own brother. Add to that that his publicist is a mother,” you gestured to yourself, “and they’re immediately won over by him and his stupid charm.”

  “I have to play girlfriend to a Youtuber to fix my image?” she cringed

  “You really think I wanna do this sweetheart?” Nick countered, “No. I know your story. Spoiled little rich bitch who won a talent show and never had to work to get where she is. I’m only agreeing to this because I trust Katie and she seems to think this could be good for both of us.”

  “You don’t know a thing about me” Amber scowled at Nick

  “That’s why you get to know each other,” Raquel added, “you two don’t actually have to date each other. Just learn some things about each other -- enough to fool reporters and paparazzi and both of your audiences.” The two thought about it for a minute until reluctantly agreeing. You would be lying if you said you didn’t think it was going to be a total disaster but you were really hoping you were wrong.

xx

Evan’s P.O.V.

  “So you talked to him?” he asked Katie, who’s voice chimed from the other end of the call

  “I did. It was really weird, he was really weird. But it was probably nothing...”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Oh god, yeah,” she laughed, “I’m fine. I’ve got it handled.. for now anyway.”

  “I’m only a phone call away if you need me”

  “Good to know.” The siren rang through the firehouse and you had to say goodbye to Katie. He had no idea what the call would be about but he dove in, ready for anything. Though he couldn’t say he was ready for this.

  “Holy crap...” you whispered to yourself, staring at the scene in front of you. A bus had skidded off the road and was stuck between a branch and a road off the side of a cliff.

  “What do we got?” Bobby said as Hen gave the team a run through. Everyone else had gotten out of the bus fine, unscathed, except for one little boy who was too close to the front door -- too far for anyone to reach, “alright. Here’s what we’re gonna do. Eddie, Buck, you two are going to repel on either side of the bus. We have to move quickly because we don’t know how long that bus is going to stay where it is. But the two of you can’t make any sudden movements when you get there, we don’t want to risk that bus falling.” There was something about Bobby’s tone that made you realize that the likelihood of saving this boy was low but he did as instructed and made his way to the front of the bus where the boy was. When you saw the little boy, he called out and asked for the boy’s name

  “Kingston” he sobbed

  “Hi Kingston, my name is Evan and this is Eddie,” he gestured to Eddie on the other side of the bus, “we’re gonna get you outta here okay? But you have to be really still for us.”

  “Okay” he replied and you could see him wiping away his tears.

  “I don’t know how to get in there, Buck,” Eddie called, “if we try to open this door, the whole bus could shift and fall”

  “If we break a window, we won’t have room to get in there and bring him out safely,” you answered, “it’s not sturdy enough for us to shimmy through”

  “How’s it goin’ down there guys?” Chimney called

  “We’re thinking!” Eddie yelled up, concern lacing every word, “we need a harness!” You weren’t sure what Eddie was doing since the two of them agreed there was no way of getting into the bus without it shifting loose and falling

  “Eddie, what are you doing?” you asked as Eddie contemplated a way to get inside

  “If I can get in there and position myself in front of the window, and quickly grab him, maybe I can break the glass and repel out the front instead of to the side?”

  “And what if the bus falls forward?” you argued, “it’s too risky Eddie!”

  “I know! We can’t just leave him there. We need to do something!” Eddie was clearly stressed but he calmed himself down enough to talk to Kingston

  “Hey buddy, it’s Eddie, how are you doing?”

  “I wanna go home” Kingston answered shakily

  “I know, bud, and you will. Can you do something for me and Buck?” he asked and Kingston nodded, while you payed close attention, “can you move slowly, very very slowly toward this door?”

  “Eddie..” You started but Eddie held his hand out as if to say ‘give me a second.’ Kingston moved slowly but when the bus began to creak, he stopped

  “I can’t! I can’t!” he cried

  “Okay, that’s okay,” Eddie said, “you did so good, Little Man!” He dropped his head and tried to figure something out with you but the you could only stare at each other.

  “I think that we can only keep him calm..” Eddie sighed, “make sure he’s not alone.” You knew, on some level, that Eddie was right but you didn’t want to lose someone else; especially not a child.

  “What if we--“ You started to suggest something when a voice called out

  “Kingston!” the voice yelled, “Kingston baby! Where is my son?! WHERE’S MY SON!”

  “Mommy?” Kingston yelled

  “Ho-ho-hold on!” You and Eddie both yelled to the woman above them

  “Mommy?!” Kingston repeated

  “Kingston, no!” You shouted as he saw the little boy begin to move, “STOP!” Your words were met by panicked screaming as the bus shifted away from the branch it was trapped by and crashed to the bottom of the cliff. Leaving you and Eddie to drop their heads in defeat, a rush of sadness covering their faces.

  “Where’s my son?!” The two of you heard the mother call as they removed their harnesses and slumped back to the truck, “WHY COULDN’T YOU SAVE MY SON?!” She cried; both Eddie and you were silent as they left the scene and made no eye contact with the rest of the team.

xx

Katie’s P.O.V

  “THIS IS AWESOME!” Alex shouted as you and him set the bed with the new comforter set that he picked out for Evan

  “I think he’ll get a kick out of it” you laughed as you stared at the comforter, covered with Does and Bucks.

  “I think he’ll like it too!” he smiled

  “So you like Buck now?” you asked and Alex nodded emphatically.

  “He’s pretty cool.” You smiled before finishing making the bed. When the doorbell rang, Alex rushed to answer it

  “Slow down, bud” you laughed

  “Hey Buck!” Alex greeted him just as you came to stand behind your son

  “Hey Bud!” Evan replied before Alex dragged him into the bedroom to show him the comforter, “WHOA! Look at that!” Evan said

  “They’re Bucks, and you’re Buck!” Alex shouted and you laughed, paying close attention to Evan’s face

  “I love it, buddy.” He was sincere in how he said it, and when he picked Alex up to give him a hug, you noticed Evan’s eyes welling up with tears

  “Hey Liebling,” you said to Alex, “how about you go watch T.V. for a little while okay?” Evan put him down, and you giggled as he skipped out of the room and down the hall to watch his favourite shows, “the set isn’t that bad is it? He saw it and immediately thought of you, so we bought it. But it can just st--”

  “No no,” Evan smiled, rubbing your arms, “I love it.”

  “What’s going on?” you whispered, bringing him to sit on the bed with you. As soon as you asked, he fell apart in front of you, his head falling onto your lap and you brushed his hair to soothe him

  “Can I just.. be here like this?” he asked, tears falling on your lap

  “Of course you can” you replied, continuing to brush his hair, not knowing if he would tell you what had happened when he sat back up and began walking out to where Alex was; you followed closely behind, furrowing your brows when Evan stopped at the end of the hall and leaned against the wall. You let him know that you were there by rubbing his back gently, feeling him release a deep sigh

  “He’s so happy,” Evan said as he watched Alex play with his Lego in front of the T.V. with a very colourful show playing across it, “such a happy kid. Exactly how he should be...”

  “Yeah, he is..” you smiled but turned him to face you, “talk to me, Evan. I’ve never seen you like this and I’m starting to worry.”

  “We lost someone today,” he answered, “a kid.” He fell back against the wall and you moved closer to him, closing the gap to comfort him

  “Evan I’m so sorry”

  “His name was Kingston and he was just so young. It all happened so quickly. I can’t imagine how scared he was or what his parents are going through. I’ve only lost one other person on the job and it did a number on me...” You weren’t sure what to say, so you rubbed his shoulder and let him talk about it as much as he needed to, as much as he wanted to, “I don’t mean to dump all of this on you, I didn’t think I would talk about it this much--”

  “You can always talk to me,” you added, “about work, good or bad. About anything. I’m always here for you Evan...”

  “I know,” he smiled, taking your hand in his, “as weird as it sounds, I just wanted to see his smile. I wanted to just be around him, and you of course.”

  “I understand.” You smiled and he made his way over to the couch to sit by Alex. You watched as the two of them built an imaginary world of Lego’s, smiling at each other, laughing and letting the day wash away from them; you could tell it was exactly what Evan needed. He looked back to find you and smiled when he caught your eye, you returned the gesture before walking over to the couch to join them.

[spidey-babe-parker]

From Afar

Chapter 5:  I don’t wanna talk about it

Featuring: Sam Winchester x Plus Size Reader

Summary: Even as you continue to grow up you and Sam are there for each other when you each other the most.

Warnings: angst, fluff

AN: next chapter will be posted on Thursday Jan 9th.

Links are broken and all past and future chapters can be found in my masterlist

THEN

Three years have passed since your last trip to see Sam. Life just seemed to get in the way for both of you. Sam was working on getting into pre law program, and your father had just beat a round of cancer. Your life seemed to be stuck in Kansas. On top of that you were now in your nursing program. 

You were once again on a plane to see Sam and his girlfriend of year Jessica.

It still feels so weird to say Sam has a girlfriend. The night before he asked her out he called you asking you if it’s okay for him to ask her out. You informed him that you aren’t his girlfriend that he’s allowed to ask her out.

That phone call broke your heart if you’re being completely honest with yourself. Sam was never yours and that night between you didn’t make him your boyfriend. Since that night you hadn’t even seen him in person. Even though you hadn’t seen each other in person you made sure you spoke on the phone at least once a week. 

Arriving at the airport you look through the sea of people until you see your best friend once again standing there waiting for you holding a sign with your name on it.

You can’t help but run towards him, you’ve missed your best friend so much you can’t get to him fast enough. He pulls your doughy body into his quickly. He leans down and presses his lips to the top of your head.

“How has it been so long?” he says pulling away from you.

You shrug your shoulders and say, “life got in the way.”

“How’s your dad?” he asks as he places his hand on your shoulder.

“He’s finally in remission,” you say as Sam starts leading you through the airport.

He leads you to his car and he puts you suitcase in the back before driving you to his apartment he has that’s off campus. When you arrive he takes your suitcase and you both start walking up towards his apartment. 

When you enter you’re greeted by a beautiful girl who is baking something. She turns around and give you and Sam a big smile.

“You must be Sam’s best friend, (Y/N). I have heard some many amazing things about you,” she says before she leans up and presses her lips to Sam’s for a sweet kiss.

“Yeah and you must be Jessica. Sam has told me a lot about you and I’m so glad I’m finally getting to meet you.”

As the day goes on you watch Sam and Jessica and it’s very clear to you that they are very much in love. Jess is a great girl and you can tell she’s perfect for Sam. She’s helping give Sam the life he’s always wanted, and even though it breaks your heart to see him in love with someone. You know deep down inside that this is what’s best for Sam. You know that things between you can never work out, and you can’t risk ruining your friendship. Even if it breaks your heart you know this is best for him. His life in California is going to bring him true happiness and you know that. You can never stand in between Sam and him being happy and getting everything he’s always wanted in life. If you wanted this happy life with Sam you would of went with him to California when you were eighteen.

Your two days you spend with Sam and Jessica is really nice. See Sam reminds you how much you miss him. Life without him always feels like there is a missing puzzle piece in your life. 

Sam drives you to the airport and he parks his car so he’s able to give you a proper goodbye. You both have no clue when you’ll actually get to see each other again.

“Sam I need to say something,” you say as he holds you close hugging you.

He pulls away and looks down at your, “ you can say anything you know that.”

“I’m really happy you finally found someone who isn’t afraid to love you,” this statement hurts like hell to say, but you need Sam to hear it.

“Okay I need to ask you something,” he says as he reaches up and rest his hand on your round cheek.

“You can ask me anything,” you say as your eyes start to brim with tears.

“Are you afraid to love me?”

The tears start sliding down your cheek as you gently nod. You say softly, “you mean way too much to me for me to do something mess this up.”

“I don’t think we would of messed things up,” he says with his voice sounding shaky as if he’s fighting off his own tears.

“Jessica seems amazing and it means the world to me to see you happy,” leaning up your press your cheeks to his. Pulling away from you can tell he’s fighting back tears. “Goodbye Sammy,” you say reaching for your suitcase.

NOW

You still haven’t responded to your mothers text. You aren’t even sure what you should say to her. Just telling her “congratulation” seemed strange. 

You lay in bed for a while wide awake, before you finally decide to get up to have a cup of coffee. Dean is sitting in the kitchen at the table eating some bacon with a cup of coffee in front of him. You pour yourself a cup of coffee and sit down across from him and he holds out a piece of bacon for you. You smile as you take bacon.

“Where’s Sam?” you ask between bites.

“He went out for a jog like a crazy person,” he says.

You finish eating your bacon and you can feel Dean watching you.

“What’s on your mind darling?” he asks.

“My mom texted me to tell me that Kalen proposed to her,” this was the first time you were saying this out loud. 

His eyes grow wide as he stares at you. Dean is well aware of your relationship with your mother, and your resentment you have towards her for her walking out on your father and you.

“I take it you aren’t exactly happy about this,” he says.

You shrug your shoulders and sigh, “I don’t know how I feel about this if I’m being honest.”

Before you can say anything else Sam walks into the kitchen looking quite sweaty. He reaches into the fridge and pulls out a bottle of water and walks over to the table where you and Dean are sitting.

“What are you two talking about,” he says as he twist open the bottle of water.

“Kalen proposed to my mom.”

Sam’s eyes grew wide just as Dean’s had. He stares at you for a long moment before saying, “Are you okay?”

“I think so. I need to call her and talk to her. I couldn’t bring myself to just text her back.”

Sam walks over and places his hand on your shoulder and she says, “if you need anything I’m here for you.”

“We’re both here darling,” Dean adds.

“Thanks boys, I’m going to go call her real quick.”

Walking off to your bedroom you sit on your bed and you stare at your moms contact information for a long moment before you finally get enough courage to call her.

The phone rings about three times before you hear your mother say, “Oh sweetheart I’m so happy to hear from you.”

You pause for a moment before saying, “hi, mom.”

“Did you see my text?” your mother asks.

Closing your eyes you say, “yeah I saw it. Congratulations.”

“Thank you sweetie. Kalen and I were talking and we would really like for you to come down for a couple of days.”

Your mother knows damn well she doesn’t have a right to ask for you to come see her. Everything in you is screaming to say no, but you can’t. Throughout your life as hunter you have seen too many people pass away, and you’ve told yourself that you need to get rid of past grudges. Maybe it’s time you finally fully forgive your mother.

“I can drive up tomorrow,” you say.

“Oh sweetie that will be amazing,” you can tell by your mother’s voice that she’s happy she’s going to get to see you again.

“Okay, I’ll see you soon,” you say before hanging up.

Sitting your phone down on your bed you take a deep breath. You can’t believe you actually agreed to drive up to see your mother. 

Walking back into the kitchen you find Dean drinking another cup of coffee and you find Sam freshly changed sitting in the spot you had been sitting in.

Sitting down next Sam you let out a heavy sigh. You lean forward resting your face in your hands. You feel Sam’s strong gently start rubbing your back, the same way he always does when he wants to help calm you down.

“You okay?” Dean ask.

Looking up at him you slowly nod your head, “like an idiot I agreed to drive to Minnesota to see my mother and Kalen tomorrow.”

Dean stares at you in complete shock, and Sam doesn’t say anything he just continues to gently rub your back.

“I’m trying to forgive her and this is step one,” you say leaning forward and resting your head back in your hands.

“I’ll go with you,” Sam says.

Pulling your face from your hands you quickly look up at Sam. He’s literally an angel for offering to go with you. 

“Are you serious?” you asks.

He nods and say, “Of course I’ll go with you. I know this is a big deal and I’ll be there to hold your hand through it all.”

“You’re the best,” you say giving him a smile.

“I’ll stay here with Jack, and Cas, and if you need us for anything I’ll drive to you right away,” Dean says.

You can’t believe how you lucked out having both the boys in your life. 

THEN

You’re studying for a major test in one of your classes when you receive a call from Dean. You haven’t heard from him in a while so seeing his name pop up on your phone leaves you scared something is wrong.

“Hello,” you say answering the phone.

“Darling I hate to call, but my dad went on a hunt and he’s missing,” you can tell he sounds pretty worried.

“Dean I wish I could help, but I have a really big test in two days for one of my classes. I can’t fail it or it could mess with me becoming a nurse.” You feel really bad that you can’t help, but you know there are plenty of hunters that can help Dean. Your dad can even help Dean if he needs the help.

“Darling I’m not asking for you to come help, I’m calling you to let you know that I’m driving to Stanford to get Sammy.”

Your eyes grow wide that he’s driving to Sam. The brothers weren’t exactly on the best terms. If Dean drives out there, this could mess up his life with Jess.

“Does he know you’re coming?” you asks.

“No, he would tell me know if he knew I was coming.”

“Why are telling me this Dean?” you asked sitting up from you bed where you sitting with your nose buried in your textbook.

“Because I might need you to convince Sammy to help me,” he says. 

“He’ll help you,” you say knowing Sam all too well. Even though Sam is mad at his father, you know he’ll help find him just because Dean needs him.

“I hope so darling,” he says before hanging up.

-

A couple of days have passed when you get a phone call from Dean once again. It’s late at night and seeing his name on your caller id leaves you worried that something has happened to Sam.

“Hello?” you say trying to say calm.

“Darling Sammy is fine, but he’s going to need you,” your heart is racing at his words.

“Dean what’s wrong?” you’re already crawling out of bed getting ready to pack a backpack.

“Yellow eyes got Jess,” your heart drops at his statement. You know how much Sam loved her. Your best friend must be a complete and utter mess.

“Where should I meet you?” you ask walking towards you closest to grab your backpack.

“We’re heading towards Colorado.”

“I’ll leave now to drive that way. Where is Sam now?” you ask as you start pulling a few things from your dresser to pack.

“He’s in a gas station right now. I didn’t tell him I was calling you.”

“Where are you at right?” you asks.

“Nevada.”

You hang up from your phone call with Dean and rush into the kitchen you leave a note for your father before jumping into the same truck that Dean taught you to drive in all those years ago.

It takes about seven and a half hours of your driving through the night when you finally pull up to the motel Dean told you they were staying in. It’s early in the morning as you walk up to the door and knock on the room that is in front of the parked impala.

“One moment,” you hear Sam say on the other side.

He opens the door and his eyes grow wide when he sees you standing on the other side of the door.

“What are you doing here?” Sam says looking at you like he’s seen a ghost.

“Dean told me what happened and I thought you might need your best friend,” you step forward and wrap your arms around his torso and just hold him. He breaks as you hold him and repeat over and over again that you’re always going to be there for him.

♡ All my taglist are open ♡

@thisismysecrethappyplace​ @theonelittleone​ @missbeccamay @breezy1415​ @imjustsad-leavemebe​ @geeksareunique​ @notyourtypicalrose​ @lilulo-12​ @this-side-of-midnight5​ @alicedopey​ @mogaruke​ @sideeffectsofyou​ @queenoftheunderdark​ @malfoysqueen14​ @superflannel​ @fandomsrourlives​ @arctusluna​ @biggirlauthor​ @pinknerdpanda​ @stoneyggirl​ @fiftyshadesofrebel​ @pantrashtic​ @vampire7595​ @xoxocrystal17​ @bella-maria2018​

[cxhnow]

Growing Up With Chloe x Halle

The Bailey sisters on why they didn’t switch up overnight — the world just caught up to their speed.

On their 2018 debut album The Kids Are Alright and on Freeform’s Grown-ish, a 19- and 17-year-old Chloe and Halle Bailey sang “Watch out world, I’m grown now.” So you’ll have to forgive them for acting out a little on their new sophomore record — they warned us. While Ungodly Hour might sound like a pivot to the grown ‘n’ sexy side of R&B similar to plenty of their peers, trading TKAA’s colorful doodles for chrome angel wings and skin-tight latex, they’re really just living the same truths they preached up and down TKAA: Own your insecurities, work hard, don’t get distracted by drama. “When we created this album, we said, Okay, we want to show all the different sides and layers of us,” Chloe tells me, sitting side by side with her sister, over Zoom from their family home in Los Angeles. “We don’t just want to show this one side. A lot of people still think we’re teenagers.”

Now 22 and 20, the former child stars are ready to explore the topics they’ve been singing about since they were kids making covers on YouTube, the ones that landed them a record deal with music royalty before they were old enough to vote. The new album calls out former flings, seethes with jealousy, and apologizes when necessary. Lyrics like “It’s four o’clock / you sendin’ me too many pictures of your …” and “No drama, no baby mamas” immediately started dating rumors online, roping in their Grown-ish co-star Diggy Simmons. While most fans are having fun with it, those a little, um, outside of the Baileys’ age demographic are still struggling (try to get through this Breakfast Club questioning without cringing). In case you missed it: They no longer have to change Beyoncé lyrics from “You showed your ass” to “You showed your butt” — on “Do It,” they proudly sing “I’m a bad girl, shake a li’l ass.” Alongside all the perks of growing up, the album makes sure to normalize the struggles, too.

When the coronavirus pandemic sent Halle home to L.A. from The Little Mermaid rehearsals in London, their house (complete with mom, dad, and younger brother, Branson) became their album rollout headquarters. One of the few albums to not be pushed due to the coronavirus, Ungodly Hour was originally planned for June 5, but the deaths of George Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, and far too many others across the country, created a moment that Chloe and Halle felt they couldn’t ignore. They pushed the album one week, to June 12, and continued to use their platform to share petitions, funds, and awareness, while also personally signing petitions and making donations. As both an escape and work, they’ve been focusing their energy on the album, diving into elaborate DIY remote performances and mashing up songs, but making sure to leave Sundays for rest. After a busy weekend tearing up the BET Awards and Global Citizen virtual stages, channeling Aaliyah in one performance and going full rock and roll in the other, they’ll be back on Instagram Live this Thursday for Ungodly Hour Tea Time, where they often chill out in Snuggies, try to remember what day of quarantine it is, and update their supporters on their lives.

How has it been, emotionally, to have to sing and dance while all of this turmoil is happening? Halle Bailey: Emotionally, what’s keeping us afloat is music and feeling better through the art. I think that’s why we love music so much because even though we create it and we sing it, we use it as our healer, too. Everything going on really makes you reflect. But we’re young black women, this hasn’t been anything new to us. Our community has known about this for a very long time, and it’s constantly upsetting. But what I’m appreciating about technology and social media is that our voices can’t be silenced anymore. And the things that they used to try to hide, they can’t any longer. We’re seeing these injustices happen over video, and [so is] the rest of the world who’s usually ignorant to the racism that’s been underlying in this community. They’re seeing it and they’re upset as well. So it’s good because change can only happen when we’re all working towards a common goal. I can’t wait to see what comes out of this.

I feel like every time we have one of these moments where everyone is just mourning so publicly in such a communal way, there’s also music that uplifts us. Talk me through deciding to postpone the album.

HB:  During the height of the George Floyd protests, emotionally, we just were not right to release a project. Our little brother and our father — when we see a video of George Floyd getting killed in the street, we think that could be them tomorrow. And we wanted to shine the light on what needs to be seen. That George Floyd video, Breonna Taylor, all of the other brothers and sisters that we have lost to police brutality — that is what needed to be at the forefront and what still needs to be at the forefront.

And when The Kids Are Alright came out that was right around March for Our Lives, the Women’s March was happening. How does this moment compare for you?

Chloe Bailey: Wow, now that I’m thinking about it, this time, it feels a bit more like change is really going to happen. Around The Kids Are Alright, we went to the March for Our Lives and we were around that incredible energy; it was really positive and uplifting because we were all banding together. But for some reason, this time right now … I feel like we have the entire world’s attention. Actual change is going to come out of what’s been happening. So, it feels the same but different, right?

HB: Yeah, I definitely think this one feels more massive. Feels like, Okay, maybe we’re getting somewhere this time. Maybe it won’t just go away a week after all of this is over, you know?

In the early stages of Ungodly Hour, did you go in wanting it to be something that showcased your maturity? Or did that come out as you were going with it?

HB: We absolutely knew that we wanted it to showcase our growth, the evolution of us into young women. Because I feel like The Kids Are Alright was very much us finding ourselves and that project took three years to make. So with that length, you can kind of go through and see like, Oh, wow, they must have been really shifting through and figuring out what’s wrong and what’s right. So, for this project, it was like, Yes, we are here. We are now grown women. I’m 20. My sister’s about to be 22 this week.

CB: Hey!

HB: So we took that and we were just like, Let’s show who we’ve become. And let’s show the side of us that people don’t see whether it’s the naughtier side of us or the insecure side of us, or the part that picks every single thing apart about ourselves out. We wanted to show all the layers of us as young women, once you kind of know who you are, but also you’re still learning.

You’ll never be a finished product.

CB: Never, constantly evolving. And that’s the goal.

There have always been glimpses at your boss-bitch attitudes, hints of it in your music and on Grown-ish. Do you ever get the sense that you’re waiting for the industry and fans to sort of open their eyes and catch up to where you’re at?

CB: I’m not gonna lie, there are some moments. And I remember when we were even creating this album we were putting a certain pressure on ourselves. Because we were thinking, What do we want the world to hear from us? What do we think the world wants us to sound like? What would make people become more receptive to us? I remember we were creating for, like, one to two months in that mind-set, and we were creating some of the worst music we ever have.

HB: Yeah, it was. It was trash.

CB: It was because we weren’t creating from our hearts. We weren’t being honest with ourselves, and as a musician, you gotta be vulnerable and share that true part of yourself or the music isn’t going to be very good. Once we threw that out the window and said, You know what, let’s create a good body of art, the album continued to write itself. But that main lesson for us was never change yourself; the world will catch up to you when it’s ready. I feel like they’re kinda ready now for this project. It’s older and more mature than The Kids Are Alright because we’re older and more mature than who we were when we created that.

In making a more vulnerable album, were you nervous about expanding your image in that way? Was there anything that you debated not including or things that didn’t make the cut?

HB: Wow, so, I will say that our parents kind of had a hard time … well, not a hard time, but just like opening their eyes to the fact that, Okay, these are the topics that we’ve decided to talk about. This is what’s happening. It was really fun for us to watch them. I completely understand how they feel because, you know, we’ve been just little babies to them and now we’re growing and they’re hearing [about] certain things that we’ve been through, or that we just wrote in the music. They have been like, “Oh, okay, so that’s that.”

Fans tweet collabs at you all the time, but what’s your actual approach to choosing who you work with? (Ungodly Hour features just two major collaborations: Swae Lee on “Catch Up” and the title track with Disclosure.)

CB: Definitely we have to be fans of them, number one. Even though we make music, we are such big music fans and music lovers. Two, we have to feel like the person can sonically fit the song. We don’t want to throw just anyone on a song just because they have a big name, which is really cool too. It’s really great to get big features. But it’s so funny because we have a big wish list of who we hear on which songs and some people bite, some people don’t. It’s always fun to see what the end result will be. And I know we’ll start putting out remixes and stuff soon, which will be fun.

HB: It’s very interesting because it’s hard during the creative process. You kind of have to open yourself up to somebody you do not know when you make music; it’s a part of your heart that you’re sharing. So, it’s a very intimate thing to do with a stranger. Which is why with my sister it’s really easy. But when it comes to us working with new people, we gravitate towards the ones who have very open spirits and souls, nice people.

Chloe, would you ever produce for other artists?

CB: Absolutely, 1,000 percent. That would be so much fun. I would be getting out of my comfort zone, because the only person who I can comfortably produce in front of is my sister and blast it loud over the speakers. Whenever we have other sessions with other producers and we’re collaborating, I’ll put my headphones in, I won’t blast it on the aux with theirs. I have my little computer on my lap because I like using weird sounds and samples and chopping them up in a weird way. Sometimes it’s trial and error, so I don’t want people to hear my mistakes.

HB: She’s amazing and she should just blast it everywhere she goes, okay?

CB: I would definitely love, love, love to do that.

Yes, we want to hear you everywhere! So, when shelter in place started, you guys very flawlessly transitioned to doing these home covers and incredible remote performances. What’s the process of coming up with these concepts, especially the more elaborate ones?

HB: Oh my gosh, it’s really just a bunch of play. When we’re coming up with concepts, our creative director Andrew Makadsi is really amazing at seeing our vision for the songs before we actually perform them live. It’s been really interesting and exciting to have new songs to play with. But as far as the covers, you know, those are easy. We can do those in our sleep; we just love singing other people’s songs.

How long does it take to pull together a remote performance like the Today show one for example?

CB: Our amazing creative director came up with that and it took him a day. He just kept sending us a bunch of references and photo ideas he thought of and we picked the backdrop we wanted. The song arrangement, because we always like to switch it up every time, takes —

HB: Like a day.

CB: It takes us like ten minutes to arrange the songs. But then we took some of the choreography [by Kendra Bracy and Ashanti Ledon] that we learned during the music video shoot, and we added new choreography ourselves for the Today show performance. We were like on the floor and stuff — we did that the night before we filmed it. That took us like 30 minutes because we wanted to make sure the moves weren’t awkward because we’re not choreographers, so we would prop up our iPhone and that would be our little dance-studio mirror.

You guys are really doing it by yourselves in quarantine. So, what’s the tennis court situation? Has that always been there?

HB: Yeah, it has actually, we just haven’t really used it. I mean, we’ve been where we live for about two years now. We never really thought to use it until quarantine happened ‘cause we always go somewhere else to shoot performances. That’s been a beautiful evolution — using what we have. We feel so blessed to just be able to do what we love and also do it somewhere nice.

The tennis court performances have been life-giving.

CB: It’s been so useful, from the at-home photo shoots we have to do and then the performances, like I’m so grateful. We don’t actually know how to play tennis, but there are basketball hoops on each side so our little brother Branson’s usually out there. So, when we do have to do these things, I feel bad because he’s always out there shooting hoops, but he’s like, “Okay, you can have it for two hours …” [x]

[supernaturallyobsessedchic]

Our Work Never Ends

I originally called this Wayward Sisters, this just popped in my head. This is a rough that I’m allowing you to see. I will be editing it from time to time. 

Just let me know what ya’ll think. Please.

[Couldn’t find the Empty version of Lucifer]

Summary: Two girls come together for a common cause. Find Dean.

Pairing: None

Set: Well after Season 15 (Assuming Sam and Dean die in the finale (which they better not, bitch I’ll riot…no jk, I’ll die from the heartbreak alone.)) a couple of years or so after.

Mobile Masterlist

A/N: Cassie Robinson x Dean (Season 1); Sarah Blake x Sam (Season 1) (Died in Season 8, has a daughter), just something.

~

Ever wondered, what happens to a man when he hears his wife died of natural causes, but when the information was being told to him, it didn’t seem natural. Not to him. After Crowley killed Sarah with a hex bag, suffocating her to death. Sam wanted to break the news to her husband Ian, with their daughter, who was turning 6 at the time that their mother was dead. Sam couldn’t bring himself to tell Ian a snot nosed lie. But he couldn’t tell the truth either.

Ian turned into a hunter, shortly after the news of Sarah. He wanted revenge. Avenge his wife’s death. But, having little to no knowledge under his belt. A werewolf was all it took to end his, short, hunting days. Beth was 13 when her father died.

-

Growing up in the south with a half black and half white mother can lead to bullying. But not for Kaylee. She had her dad’s blood in her veins and Cassie knew it.

Yet another call from the school about a fight she was yet again involved in, proved to her she was Dean’s daughter. Sure she did the DNA testing, months after he left to go hunting with Sam after saving her family from a racist ghost truck, she had something of his. A stray hair was all it took to confirm she was Dean’s daughter.

She had to tell her about her dad. She always asked when she was a kid about her daddy. So she decided to tell her about her dad. Dean Winchester. A hunter, who hunts monsters. She was 14 when she learned this.

-

Three years later…

The girls are not of age yet. But armed with pictures, one of her dad, and one of her mom. All it took was a topic about monsters and the supernatural to bring the two girls together.

Kaylee, now 17 years old, she’s on her way to turning 18, rents a room out for them. To chat in a more controlled environment.

“So, you’re looking for your dad?” Beth asked.

“Yeah. My dad,” she began. And shrugged. “My mom says he hunts monsters. Supernatural monsters, ghosts, demons that whole rep.” she said.

“My dad is looking for—well was looking for, a man by the name Sam Winchester. He told my dad about my mom’s death. He might help me about my dad’s.” she explained.

“Huh, my dad’s name is Dean Winchester. Maybe we’ll both get what we want if we stick together.” Kaylee suggests.

“Yeah. I agree.” Beth says.

-

The girls got up bright an early the next day, checked out and left. Kaylee having to hotwire and steal a car. A parked, police car, a 2019 Dodge Charger, solid black with police lights on top.

“We are so going to jail.” Beth groaned.

“Shut up, I know what I’m doing kid.” Kaylee said as she quietly pulled out of the parking lot unnoticed.

Pulling into an abandoned garage several miles away.

Thought it may look abandoned, but Kaylee is familiar with the area. Her ex-boyfriend dabbled in cars. Taught her how to fix them up, hotwire, steal even turn a cop car into a nonpolice car. This also happened to be her ex-boyfriends garage.

She managed, with the tools he had lying around, to get under the hood and gank the gps tracker attached to the engine. She even managed to unhook the dashcam and, ditched the plates, lights and siren. Destroying the important stuff. Like the trackers and cameras so no one would find them, hack into it and manage to get any kind of information from the trackers and cameras.

It was starting to get late in the day, night was soon approaching.

“We’re staying here for the night. I need to work on the car more.” Kaylee says.

“Where are we gonna sleep?” Beth asks.

“Over there, the mechanic always has a place to crash while working.” She says, pointing to a spare room in the garage.

Beth finds a small bed, all made up with some covers, dusty and old. She shook the sheets and blankets out and remade the bed. And got ready to go to sleep while Kaylee striped the paint and painted the car black and trimmed with chrome. Making it look spick and span, and brand spanking new by morning. No sign it was ever a police car.

The next morning, Kaylee managed to get done with the car in time. Beth got up, made the bed and got ready to go when Kaylee stops her.

“Do you have a license?” Kaylee asked tiredly.

“Yeah, why?” Beth asked.

“You’re driving.” Kaylee tossed her the keys.

“We broke how many laws in one day? And you ask me if I have a driver’s license.” Beth says with a bitchface to boot.

“Shut up.” Kaylee says, getting in the passenger seat.

“You’ll be fine, I put different plates on the car, got new tags. The car is now ours.” Kaylee says, getting settled in.

“And how’d you manage that?” Beth asks as she pulls out.

“Breaking the law.” Kaylee says. Pulling her beanie over her eyes, and falling asleep.

-

Weeks have passed, driving from town to town, asking people if they’ve seen the man Kaylee is looking for, or anything about him.

“Kaylee, we’re here.” Beth said pulling up to a house in Sioux Falls.

After a stop in Minnesota Sheriff Donna helped out a lot.

“I swear if this is another one of my dad’s friends I’m offing myself.” Kaylee groans.

“So what if Donna didn’t know Dean had a kid, I thought it was funny.” Beth said with a laugh.

Kayla mocking a laugh with Beth. Clearly not amused.

They knock on the door.

“Yes.” A voice answers from inside.

It was summer, this house was like one of many having two doors, the main door and a screen door. And just like any house after the long winter months, and having a day where it’s beautiful outside, the screen door is open letting in the fresh air.

“Hi, are you Jody Mills?” Kaylee asked.

A middle-aged woman with pixie short hair appeared, coming to the door but not opening it.

“Depends on who’s asking?” She answers.

“Ma’am, my name is Kaylee Robinson, my mom knew a Mr. Dean Winchester, I’m looking for him.” Kaylee said.

“And how well did your mom know Dean?” She asked.

“So you are Jody?” Beth goes.

“No shit.” Kaylee groans at Beth.

Kaylee sighs. “He’s my dad.” She says.

Jody tried to hide the shock that filled her face, she too didn’t know Dean had a kid.

“He saw my mom again around January 2006, I was born September 26, 2006. And this girl, Beth, had a run in with the supernatural. We just want to find Dean and this, Sam character. Maybe they can help us.” Kaylee says.

“Help you with what?” Jody asks seriously.

“I wanna know who killed my dad and why.” Beth says.

“And my mom, died in a car accident…but it didn’t seem like an accident. It looked an awful lot like a case my dad solved when he was with my mom last.” Kaylee explained.

“Come in, you should know about this.” Jody says.

-

After a good long talk of the boys’ adventures…

“God?” Kaylee goes.

Jody nods. After telling them about the Winchester’s, demons, angels, and Jack and Cas and their bought with God Chuck.

“They died, protecting this new god?” Beth asked.

“Yeah, they couldn’t get away and well the power of Jack and Chuck overwhelmed them. Killing them instantly. They felt no pain.” Jody explained.

“So my dad’s dead too.” Kaylee goes, standing up.

“I’m sorry kid, I really am. Look, I wish there was a way.” Jody starts.

“What if there is?” Kaylee says.

“What?” Jody asks.

Beth remaining silent.

“You said before, they died and came back many times. What if, there is a way to get them back?” Kaylee asks.

“Sweetheart, they wouldn’t want that.” Jody says.

“How would you know?” Kaylee snaps.

“Lebanon, that’s where their base is right, I’m heading there.” Kaylee says, leaving.

“But, Kaylee, you and I know nothing about bringing the dead back to life.” Beth says after her.

“Dad and Sam figured it out, right?” she asked. “Well, I’m a Winchester too. Believe it or not. I’m sure I will figure out how to bring my dad and uncle back.” Kaylee says getting in the driver seat.

Jody couldn’t get out fast enough. By the time she gets to her truck they're gone. All she could do was to put out an APB on the car. As the days pass, no one sees the car or the girls.

-

A few days later…

They pull up a trail, seeing a tall building looming over head.

“Apparently hunters here knew Dean and Sam. That’s a good thing, right?” Beth asked.

“Well yeah, we would have been looking all over for this place…” Kaylee says. “Not that we would be looking to long. Lebanon isn’t very big.” Kaylee adds.

The door down remained unlock. As they walked in through the second door, a dark and musty room awaited them. They pulled out their cellphones, activating the flashlight.

“Whoa.” Beth goes.

“Son of a bitch.” Kaylee says.

“This place is huge, and your dad lived here?” Beth says.

“Apparently.” Kaylee says.

Kaylee looks around and sees the main power switches. She heads over and throws both of them, one at a time.

“Son of a bitch.” Beth says. Her gaze, off into the far distance.

Kaylee follows Beth’s gaze, seeing a huge library.

“Hey girl, I think we found the batcave.” Kaylee says.

“Well, let’s get to looking on how to bring your dad back.” Beth says.

-

The next morning…

“Kaylee, this place has everything, spell books, lore books, hell even a Manuel on being a hunter.” Beth says holding up the books.

“Alright, let’s not geek out okay.” Kaylee says.

“Geek out, really?” Beth goes.

“Well, don’t get me wrong, it all sounds awesome. But, I just wish it was an easy, ‘hey this book is on resurrecting the dead’.” Kaylee says, playing with the swords behind Beth.

“Yeah, well, we don’t have that. We have to do it the old fashioned way.” Beth says.

After a couple of hours of reading and scrounging, Beth found a lead.

“There’s a spell. All I need is blood, blood related to your dad and uncle. And since you have some Winchester blood in you, and Dean and Sam, you are related to them so, I need your blood.” Beth says, holding up the spell.

“But we got everything else. Sage, and something that belonged to them…” Kaylee says skeptically. As she looked at the pile Beth had, ingredients for the spell. Two flannels, a stick of sage and a bowl.

“Your dad’s stuff was still here so I figured his flannel would do.” Beth said.

“Does it have to be the whole damn shirt, just, here.” Kaylee says.

Grabbing a pair of scissors she cuts a piece from the collar.

“Look, there’s even hair. And we’ll do it on Sam’s too.” Kaylee says, doing the same to his flannel.

“But problem.” Beth says.

“What?” Kaylee groans.

“Where are they buried?” Beth asks.

Oh.

Kaylee looked all over the bunker, for a clue to where they would be buried. And found nothing. But one clue that seemed odd.

“Jack, the same Jack told us is the new God. He used to live here.” Kaylee says, entering the library holding a journal.

“Yeah, same for Cas too. Did you know celestial beings don’t sleep?” Beth says.

“Kind of figured. But this journal, has my dad’s name in it. And another Winchester, John. Sounds like he was my dad’s dad.” Kaylee says.

“Yeah, that’s called a grandpa.” Beth says jokingly.

“What’s with the snarky comments?” Kaylee snapped.

“I’m bored.” Beth says.

“I wonder if praying works.” Kaylee says.

“Try it out.” Beth says.

“Okay.” Kaylee goes, sitting down, folding her hands and begins to pray.

“Alright, I have questions that need answering. And only this Cas and Jack can answer them. Can someone up there send their feathery ass’s down here, please and thank you.” She says.

“Really? That’s a prayer?” Beth says sassily.

“I don’t go to church.” Kaylee says.

“Hello” a voice is heard behind them. They turn to see a scrawny kid.

“And you are?” Kaylee asks.

“Jack.” He says.

“Jack, the same Jack that worked with my dad?” Kaylee asked.

“I am. And, before you ask, I have made a promise not to bring them back. Under any and all circumstance.” He says quickly.

“But Jack it’s important. We need answers.” Kaylee says.

“I’m sorry, but as far as I’m concerned, this place has all the answers you need. I can’t help you.” He says and vanishes.

“Well, son of a bitch.” Kaylee growls.

“Now what?” Beth asked.

“We’ll find a way; we don’t need no god to help us.” Kaylee says.

-

Remember Nick, Lucifer’s first original vessel? We were never shown what happened to his body, or his spirit since God’s destruction. And his many attempts to bring Lucifer back from the Empty. Let’s just say being a vengeful spirit has it’s perks. Going between worlds, even dipping into the Empty and waking up Lucifer.

The Empty Lucifer, and the spirit of Nick, resurrected Nick’s corpse.

After slipping past Death, getting Empty Lucifer out of the Empty and into the real world Nick and Lucifer were back in action. And more powerful than ever.

Winchester. He wanted the Winchester’s dead.

-

As the girls slept in the bunker, Kaylee couldn’t sleep. Her thoughts racing. Until she heard her friend screaming.

“Beth!” Kaylee shouted. Following Beth’s screams.

She found Beth, standing at a crossroads of hallways. She follows Beth’s gaze to find a man standing at the end of the hall. A dark gaze in his eye. Flashing red, a deep red.

Her mind screaming somehow. Lucifer.

Lucifer?

“Lucifer.” Kaylee whispers.

“What? How’d you know?” Beth asks.

“I don’t know, I just do somehow.” Kaylee says.

Lucifer vanished in a puff of black smoke.

And it happened again behind them. Turning to see Lucifer looming over them, he throws the girls down the hall. Causing them to roll to a stop.

“Something’s off about him.” Kaylee says. Getting up.

“How so? Wait? How would know something is off about him?” Beth shouts further down the hall from Kaylee. “You don’t even know him!”

“I don’t know okay!” Kaylee admits.

The girls notice their breath is showing.

“Didn’t your dad write something about ghosts showing themselves, the temperature would drop?” Beth asked.

A thought came to Kaylee, and she acted on it.

“Dad, is that you?” Kaylee asks.

A figure appeared behind her.

“Sam!” He shouted. Another figure showed up, behind Lucifer.

Lucifer stopped. Seeing Sam and Dean appearing before him.

“Dean!” Sam shouted.

Dean? Dean! Dad! Kaylee thought.

Sam used his ghost mojo to hold Lucifer in place.

“Kay, listen to me.” Dean says. Kaylee turns towards him.

“There’s a book, it’s a banishing spell. Try it.” He says.

“But, dad he doesn’t feel celestial in any way. I don’t think he’s an angel.” She says.

“I think Dean’s ghostly influence or whatever is giving you this knowledge.” Beth suggests.

“There should be an angel blade in my room, run and get it.” Dean ordered.

Before she could, Lucifer sent her flying further down the hall. Dean vanishes for a minute, and appears by Kaylee’s side.

“You okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, at least I’m not hitting a wall or anything.” Kaylee answers. “An angel blade, what’s an angel blade?” Kaylee asked. Dean vanishes. Only to hear a metallic blade slide out of his room.

She hurries to it, sliding to a stop and grabbing it. And she high tails it towards Lucifer. Who launches her through a closed door, Kaylee grunts in pain at the force of it all.

“Sorry kids, but, gotta run.” Lucifer growls. Vanishing, this time for good, in a puff of black smoke.

“You’re right, not an angel.” Dean says.

“Can you come back now?!” Kaylee asks, stumbling out of the room Lucifer just threw her in. Angel Blade in hand. “Jack said he wasn’t gonna bring you back because of some promise. Beth and I  know nothing about hunting, we need you guys.” Kaylee begs.

“That spell Beth dug up, it will work. Just head up to the grave site. It’s the top of this hill up here.” Dean says.

“We can’t follow you up their unless you bring something that ties us to this plane.” He adds.

“Beth, my laptop. I'm tied to my laptop.” Sam says.

Beth runs into Sam’s room and grabs his laptop. Giving her a nod.

“Mine, oddly enough, is not in here. And after all this time I don’t know if she’ll run.” Dean says.

“What?” Kaylee asks.

-

Dean shows her his car. The black, 1967 Chevy Impala.

“I loved this car more than anything. She was my baby.” Dean says.

“Okay, can I drive her up there?” She asks.

“If you can get her to start, yeah.” Dean says.

She heads into Dean’s room, finding his keys and is back in no time. The boys fizzle in and out of view, one minute they're not in the car, the next minute they’re in the back seat behind the girls.

She turns the key, sounds like the battery is dead. And judging by the way her dad's car is parked, she can get her Dodge down here and give the Impala a jumpstart.

And that’s what she does. She manages to drive it in the garage, parking it so she can get out in the Impala but also jumpstart the old muscle car.

And a jumpstart was all it needed. Beth turns off the Dodge and gets in the Impala and the pair drive up the hill to the grave site they speak of.

-

It was almost dawn when they reached the hilltop. Finding three graves.

Beth heading over to said graves getting bowl ready, Sam helping her as best as he could.

Kaylee and Dean having a, ghostly, father, daughter bonding moment.

“Cas. Who was Cas?” Kaylee asked.

“He was, an angel friend of ours. A brother in arms. He died trying to save us but, obviously it wasn’t enough.” Dean says dryly.

“Did you ever loved my mom?” She asked.

“Of course I did, that’s why I left.” Dean answers. Almost offended by the question. “You know what I do--, what I did. I didn’t want that for your mom. Or you.” He said.

“Well, she died in a car accident, but in my mom’s old journal entry, how people were dying the same way she did.” Kaylee explained.

“I thought, having it cross hollowed grounds it would destroy it Sam.” Dean says, glaring at Sam.

“Guess I was wrong.” Sam says.

“When did this happen?” Dean asked.

“It was…around, early October 2019.” She answers.

“That’s when God opened up hell, probably even brought him back for kicks.” Dean said.

“And this is Chuck, not Jack, right?” She asks.

“Right, Chuck was just, all out bad.” Dean answers.

“Okay, Kaylee, I’m ready for the blood.” Beth says.

She turns back to Dean. Dean gives her a nod and a soft, sad smile.

Kaylee heads over to Beth’s spell making bowl and cuts her hand, squeezing a good amount of blood. And Beth saying the incantation.

‘Bout a short time later two hands, one from either grave shot up. The girls scream at the scene, backing off some.

First popped out Sam, gasping for breath. Shortly after, Dean popped out doing the same. Both looking like nothing happened, other than being buried. No injuries, no blood, just unharmed and fine.

“Well,” Dean says with a huff.

“Looks like we got more work to do.” Sam says, panting.

~

 as of 4/22/2020, it’s been edited a bit. editing will continue...

REMEMBER, FEEDBACK HELPS. Either, Reblog, comment, Ask, anything to give feedback on this. It is in it’s rough stages, it is gutsy of me to share it like that. 

Copying and reposting someone else’s content is plagiarism and illegal. This work is property of supernaturallyobsessedchic. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher. An electronic reference link to the original posted work may be provided for purposes of promotion or assistance of publication by the readers discretion, if proper credits are given to the author in the re-post. 4/21/20

[lady-divine-writes]

Five Times Blaine Gets Sick and One Time Kurt Figures Out Why: Chapter 1/6 (Rated T)

This is a commission gone bad, so I’ve decided to start posting it and return the commissioner’s money (which I’ve been trying to do for a bit now but since they’re apparently not in the same country as me, Paypal won’t let me do a straight refund. I have to pay $10 out of my own pocket to return the money, which I’m trying to arrange). This whole thing has been a poop show, let me tell you. A lot of things went wrong. But two things that rubbed me the wrong way about this is a) yes, I was taking a while to get this done. Aside from life, I had seven other commissions, all which this person was told. I even offered to return their money twice before. I was told that as long as it didn’t take till the New Year they were willing to wait. That was apparently a lie. And b) they were stalking my actions on social media. You’ve heard me talk about this before - how someone will say “Hey, I noticed you updated this story. Why don’t you update this one?” That’s what I was getting. They had subscribed to me and was put out that I was doing other work that I enjoy when I had their commission to do. That automatically makes me not want to work on your project. Well, here it is. I’m putting it up in six short chapters, but the work is mine. I don’t want their name attached to it. Read it. Don’t read it. I really don’t care. I just want it off my shoulders and off my plate so I can focus on more important stuff.

***

“I’m dying!” Blaine moans, arms wrapped around his stomach and rolling left and right on the sofa while Kurt tries to snatch the thermometer out of his husband’s mouth.

“You’re not dying. You’re just sick. Now hold still, you big baby, while I check your temperature. Otherwise I’m going to have to do this rectally, and I’m sorry, but I’m not sure our relationship can survive that.”

That comment stops Blaine’s tantrum in its tracks – not because he’s finally being an obedient patient, but because of the absurdity of that remark. Kurt has shoved a great many toys up Blaine’s rear, but a thermometer is where he draws the line? He would love to explore the rationale behind that in greater depth but he’s too busy dealing with his life being violently torn from his corporeal form.

“I am dying. I feel it.”

“What do you feel exactly?” Kurt pounces, grabs the thermometer from between Blaine’s lips and holds it up to the light.

“I’m burning up. It feels like my blood is boiling. My whole body’s on fire!”

“Yeah, well, you have fever,” Kurt informs him, squinting at the red line to make sure. “But it’s not all that high. What else?”

Blaine frowns at the assertion that the fever currently surging through him like lava isn’t all that high. “Well … I’m achy. Like, all over. And my head hurts. I’m thirsty …” He continues pulling out anything he can think of when it looks like Kurt is no longer taking his peril seriously. “I could probably drink the whole ocean!”

“That wouldn’t be a good idea. The saline content would definitely kill you. But congratulations! You have the flu!”

“The flu!? I can’t have the flu! I got a flu shot!”

“Yesterday. You were probably exposed to the flu a week ago and you’re just showing symptoms now. I’ll call Gunther on my way to work and tell him you won’t be at the diner today. And you should email your professors. See if you’ll be missing anything important today at school.”

“You’re … you’re leaving me?” Blaine sits up quickly only to regret it a second later.

“Yes, Blaine. It’s just the flu. It doesn’t even seem like a bad flu. You can take care of yourself.”

“I can’t take care of myself, Kurt! I’m suffering from a fatal disease here!”

Kurt’s eyes roll hard enough to make him dizzy. “You’re not going to die from the flu.”

“People have died from the flu!” Blaine insists. “Google it! It’s possible!”

“Yes, it’s possible, but it’s rare. You’re healthy as a horse. I don’t think it’s going to happen to you.”

“You don’t know that! I could turn a corner in seconds! Th-there was a woman in Minnesota had the flu - seemed fine. Laid down on her sofa for a nap and never woke up!”

“Wasn’t she in her eighties?” Kurt shoves his keys into his pocket and his wallet into his messenger bag. “And didn’t she have, like, diabetes and a heart condition?”

“Don’t know,” Blaine mutters grumpily. “But why take the chance? Wouldn’t it be a good idea for you to stay with me? To be on the safe side?”

“Blaine! I’m only going to be gone for three hours. Four tops! I don’t think you’re going to die in the next four hours!”

“But it feels like I am!”

“You have your cell phone. If you start seeing a bright light and distant relatives coming to greet you, call me, and I’ll have Mrs. Pancetti from next door come check on you. Shoo them away.”

“Kurt!” Blaine stares at Kurt with pleading, blood-shot eyes, and Kurt stares back - stoic, determined not to be swayed. A stand-off ensues, one Kurt doesn’t have time for. In his head, he tells himself to end this ridiculousness, grab his stuff, and go. His husband is a big boy. He’ll be fine. But the more Blaine stares, the more Kurt begins to feel sorry for him. Blaine doesn’t usually get sick. Aside from catching a mega-cold his senior year of high school (which resulted in the infamous Tina Cohen-Chang Vapo-rape incident) Kurt can’t remember the last time Blaine was truly sick.

And he doesn’t seem all that sick now! But Kurt has had the flu before (of course). It can be deceptively mild in the beginning. If Blaine’s is anything like the flus Kurt gets, he’s going to be miserable. And even though he doesn’t consider himself the nurturing type, there’s something deep inside trying its hardest to convince Kurt to stay home and take care of his husband.

And it’s winning.

Kurt checks the clock on his phone and sighs. He’s cutting things close as is. If he’s going to leave, he’d better do it now or else he might as well not even try. At this rate, he’ll miss his connection, hit hellacious traffic, and spend close to an hour stuck on a crowded subway platform. He scrolls through his itinerary in his head – his one class and the few projects he’s contributing to at Vogue.

Can he really afford to miss a day?

Actually, he can. For the first time in a long time, he can.

“Alright,” he groans, but with the twitch of a smile on his lips. “Give me a minute, let me iron out a few things, and I’ll be back to hang out with you.”

“Yay!” Blaine giggles, fluffing his pillow and snuggling beneath his thick comforter.

“I’m going to go to the bedroom and get changed. Try not to die too loudly.”

“This is going to be great, Kurt!” Blaine calls after him. “You’ll see. I … I know I’m sick, but we can watch trash TV and play video games and …”

“Hold that thought.” Kurt ducks behind the privacy curtain. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”

Kurt drops his bag and unzips his boots. He shoots Isabelle a text, wincing while he gives her what he feels is a thin excuse, but that’s because he has his father’s work ethic. No missing work unless he’s caught in a fire or bleeding profusely out his head. He doesn’t like bowing out on his responsibilities without giving people twenty-four hours’ notice. But Blaine getting sick? Incapacitated? (That’s what he tells Isabelle has happened to assuage his own guilt.) That cropped up this morning. And it’s an emergency, right? Emergencies don’t tend to give 24 hours’ notice. So if he didn’t have it, how could he give it?

Besides, it’s been a long time since he’s had a dedicated day off with his husband. Their schedules for the past six months have turned them into proverbial ships passing one another in the night. They share the occasional meal, get one date night every two weeks, but they’ve been overwhelmed by mid-year exams and double-shifts at the diner. Maybe Blaine’s flu is a blessing in disguise. Sure Kurt will be playing nursemaid, but Blaine is awfully cute when he’s needy. He’ll cling to Kurt like a baby sloth. They’ll watch TV and cuddle, Blaine’s hot skin pressed against his as he feeds his husband apple sauce and they catch up on life.

He’ll be missing an exciting day at Vogue, but this will be worth it.

“Okay, Blaine!” Kurt strips off the stylish outfit he’d chosen for the day and puts on his pajamas, rushing as he becomes more and more excited. He yanks on his socks, slides his feet into his carpet slippers, and sashays back to the living room. “Let’s play hooky!”

But by the time he returns, Blaine is fast asleep.

[suitofvibraniumarmor]

Yours Truly [Part Seven]

Summary: Fourth of July is a family affair on the Pratt farm; something new sparks between Chris and Sadie. Pairing: Chris Pratt x OFC, Chris Evans x OFC Word Count: 1775 Warnings: Mentions of divorce and abandonment. A/N: This fic was previously posted on my multi-fandom account; in honor of OC Appreciation Day, I figured I would queue it all up for your reading pleasure throughout the day! This was a collab with @captain-s-rogers , and I will link her chapters at the end of all of my posts! Some GIFs were difficult to find again, so if there’s no credit, they’re from Google Image Search or from the original post. 

July 4

Caroline,

Happy Fourth of July! Honestly, I don’t know who’s more excited for fireworks, me or Layla!

I’m including the pictures from the birthday party with this letter. We had so much fun! Layla said it was her best birthday ever, and that’s all I need to know. Her friends seemed to enjoy it, too, and Chris and his parents were happy with everything, so that’s good, too.  

Chris’s parents are super nice, but they want to take Layla for the rest of the summer. Chris told them no, that he didn’t want to be away from Layla, and he doesn’t want Layla to be taken away from me. In light of some other things that were said, he’s going to talk with me later about what happened exactly between him and his ex-wife, while Kathleen and Daniel take Layla into town for a few things for the barbecue later on. They’re all at breakfast right now – I was invited to go, but I think some family time might be better for them.

We watched Chris’s rally last night, and I actually saw you! Looking powerful and professional as always. You’re rocking this job, C, I just know it. I’m hoping there are some more details in your next letters that come about what’s going on with you and your boss. (I’m a horrible influence, I know.)

There are more things I want to tell you, but I just can’t get them onto paper. Telling you always makes things real, and I want them to be real but they still seem so overwhelming to put on paper – maybe it’s time for a phone call? Miss you much, bestie!

Yours truly,

Sadie

After addressing, sealing, and stamping the envelope with the letter and pictures in it, Sadie left it in Kathleen’s trusted care to take into town and drop off for her. The post office would be closed, but the big blue box was always open.

Once Layla was gone with her grandparents, Sadie set to work in the kitchen preparing food for the mid-afternoon cook-out. Chris helped her by slicing up some vegetables for a tray while they talked.

“How was breakfast with your parents?” she asked.

“It was good, and much needed, like you said. Not that I’m happy admitting you were right,” he teased.

Sadie laughed lightly. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Hopefully you’re not upset, but I agreed to let Layla go up to Minnesota with them for a week when they head back. I’ll fly up the last couple of days to visit and bring Layla back with me.”

“Why would I be upset?” Sadie frowned. “She’s not my daughter, Chris, she’s yours. They’re her grandparents. Even if you had decided to send her up there for the rest of the summer, I would have been disappointed but not mad. It’s not my choice to make.”

“Thanks,” Chris said, piling a handful of celery sticks onto the tray. “I guess we could go ahead and talk about Emily.”

“Only if you want to.”

He let out a deep breath, deciding where to begin, exactly. “She left almost a year ago. Layla had just turned four, and I could tell Emily was getting restless. She wouldn’t talk to me about what was wrong, just grew more and more distant. Finally, one day, she told me she had met someone else and she was leaving. I told her,” he took another deep breath, “I told her that I wasn’t going to allow her to take Layla, to which Emily replied that she hadn’t planned on taking her.”

Sadie’s eyes grew wide. “I’m not saying that leaving you is any better, but how could she leave her own daughter behind? And willingly, at that.”

“Emily didn’t want kids when we started dating. By the time we were married, she had changed her mind without any convincing from me, and when she got pregnant with Layla, we were both ecstatic. It didn’t take long for her to remember why she didn’t want kids, I guess.”

Sadie’s eyes welled with tears; her heart broke all over again for both Chris and Layla. She tried to stop the tears, but it was to no avail.

“Hey, don’t cry, Adie,” Chris said, using Layla’s name for her as a means to cheer her up. He set down the knife and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his side. “We turned out all right. We got you.”

“I know,” Sadie sniffled, “and I know it’s not about me. It just makes me so angry and so sad. You and Layla both deserve so much better.”

“You have a big heart,” Chris said, running his hand up and down her arm. “That’s what makes you so special to us.”

Sadie leaned her head on his shoulder. “I’m not going to save you deviled eggs just because you’re flattering me, you know.”

Chris laughed and went back to the vegetables. “Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying.”

Sadie laughed, too, and dried her tears. “Change of subject, but I might like to stick around while Layla’s gone, if that’s okay. Look for some jobs in the area.”

“Yeah, of course. You’re welcome to – hey, if you find one close to here, you’ll be around for harvest.”

“Come to think of it, what do you farm? I mean, I’ve been here for a month now, and I assumed it was wheat, but we’ve never actually talked about it.”

“Sunflowers,” Chris smiled, blushing a little.

Excitement beamed bright across Sadie’s features. “I love sunflowers!”

“Well, you’ll have to at least come around during harvest. I’ll make sure you get some good flowers.”

Their conversation flowed easily after that, with witty banter and flirty teasing. By the time Layla, Kathleen, and Daniel returned, it was as though they were old friends, comfortable and familiar.

The air smelled of bug spray and firecrackers by the time night fell. They were all full on hamburgers, hot dogs, and a variety of fruits and veggies – not to mention the desserts that Kathleen and Sadie had baked.

Layla had frosting smeared across her face, and her hands were sticky from a slice of watermelon. When they all set out lawn chairs to watch the fireworks the neighbors down the road were shooting off, she crawled onto her father’s lap and leaned her head against his chest. She was asleep before the fireworks even started.

“She had a long day,” Sadie commented.

Chris nodded, kissing the top of Layla’s head. “That she did, and I don’t think she was fully re-energized from her birthday.”

“I think you’re right.” She leaned her head back and sighed, watching Layla sleep. “I’m going to miss her next week. I haven’t been here that long, but it seems like it’s been forever.”

“Yeah, it does,” Chris said.

Sadie studied him for moment before turning back to the fireworks. There was a note of relief in his comment, and Sadie couldn’t help but feel encouraged for it. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who was feeling something more than what would normally be considered professional or even friendly when it came to the relationship with Chris.

She was in the midst of accepting that these feelings were actually happening when Chris confirmed that she was, in fact, not the only one feeling that way: he reached over and slipped his fingers through hers. Sadie tried not to smile too big, squeezing his hand a little in acknowledgement of the gesture.

The next morning, Sadie’s heart was still on a high from the night before. Holding hands with Chris while the fireworks exploded over them wasn’t something that she had expected to happen, especially within seconds of coming to terms with her own developing feelings.

She hummed all the way through making pancakes for breakfast, cleaning up the patio from the Fourth of July celebration, and doing the dishes that had been abandoned the night before. She smiled to herself through the laundry and through Layla’s counting lesson. By the time lunch rolled around, she was more than a little excited to see Chris come in from his outdoor work with Daniel that morning.

Chris, it seemed, was just as excited at the prospect of something new as Sadie felt. The two of them shared blushing glances and secret smiles all throughout lunch. They didn’t say much to each other, but he did wink at her on his way through the back slider when he returned to the fields.

After lunch, Kathleen laid down for a nap, and Sadie set about getting Layla packed for her trip.

“If I’m not leavin’ till tomorrow, why do I have to pack my clothes now?” Layla groaned, leaning on the edge of the mattress.

“First of all,” Sadie smiled, “I am packing your clothes, not you, little miss. Second of all, it’s good to be prepared.”

“It’s not ‘cause you want me to go away?”

Sadie zipped up Layla’s bag and sat on the bed, pulling Layla into her lap. “I never want you to go away, Layla, but I can’t keep you here all the time, either. That’s selfish.”

“You promise you’ll be here when I come back?”

“Of course! Me and Daddy are going to be so bored with you gone!”

Layla grew quiet and pensive, so Sadie set her back on the floor and double-checked around the room that she had packed everything.

“Are you taking your monkey or your goose to Grandma and Grandpa’s?”

“Goose,” Layla answered definitively. The pensive look returned to Layla’s countenance, but this time she verbalized her thoughts. “Sadie, are you gonna kiss Daddy?”

Sadie turned to Layla with her brow raised. “Kiss Daddy?”

Layla nodded, excited now that the subject was out in the open. “Yes! He was so sad when Mama left, but he’s happy now! And he says you’re a blessing, to both of us. And I know you was holding hands last night.”

“Oh, Layla …”

The little girl took Sadie’s hands. “It’s okay with me!”

“Oh, it is?” Sadie chuckled. “Can you keep a secret, sweetheart?”

Layla nodded. “Yes. Is it about Daddy?”

Sadie nodded, too, and crouched down in front of her. “And about you. I wasn’t sad before I came here, but I was kinda lonely. And I’m not, now that I’m here with you and Daddy.”

Layla flung her little body into Sadie’s hug. “That’s why you have to stay forever!”

Sadie hugged Layla tightly, not saying anything, but thinking, if only for that moment, she would be fine staying there forever with Chris and Layla.  

Part Eight

[boeserbby]

Only Time Will Tell- Brock Boeser #1.1

about/request: I really wanted to explore a relationship where you are ‘the other woman’ this is the result of that. I’m not sure how long this will end up so…. sorry.

warnings: cursing, cheating, mentions of death

authors note: Let me know any mistakes you see. I can use as many tips with my writing as I can get.

word count: 1996 words

I decided the day I got my acceptance letter that Vancouver was my future. June had held lots of ups and downs that year. To be honest, getting that letter had been the highlight of my summer. It was the first time since my brother Charlie died that I had felt semi-normal. Writing that email back to the dean made everything feel a little more ordinary, at least it did for a little bit. Telling my parents was a little harder. They seemed happy, as happy as you can be to have both children leave within a year of each other. Of course there was a huge difference between me and my brother leaving: mine wasn’t final. I guess they were just glad to see me a) going to college, especially after turning down that full ride from University of Minnesota; b) I was acting more like myself from before the accident; and c) that I hadn’t- as my therapist says- ‘gone into the drugs path that claimed so many others who lost their twins’. Bullshit if you ask me.

    The day I got the letter was the same day that my brother’s- my dead brother, that is- best friend got drafted. Brock Boeser was one of the guys my family “adopted” in (my brother’s friends became like family not too long after he befriended them). They were always together which in turn meant I was always with him, but Brock was always different from the rest. He never treated me like a little sister like so many other of Charlie’s friends had. To him I was his honorary best friend. I held that title whenever Charlie was sick in bed or, the more often the case, they needed someone to be goalie. Growing up I was just happy to be with them. Some of my old friends always said their siblings held them at arm's length. Charlie and I were different. We were best buds who happened to be friends with the same people. 

    Brock getting drafted was bittersweet. Of course it was happy times, Brock and my family had remained close in the year span between Charlie’s passing and the draft. It was also a reminder of what could have been. Before the accident, Charlie was ranked #65 in the world. People had been coming from all over to watch him play. Scouts from universities, OHL team, NAHL teams, and even a few from NHL saw him play some of the best hockey. They had talked to both him and my parents about his playing and how far he wanted to go. 

    “All the way, baby,” he would say with that awful frat boy smirk. Those scouts thought that’s exactly where he would go too. They told him they saw him rising higher up in the draft come time to be picked. 

    It was hard seeing Brock getting selected by the Canucks. For one, that was where I was going to spend the next couple years going to college. I was going 1,400 miles away to escape people from my town, yet here I was going to the exact same place as the person I most wanted to escape from, next to my mother and father that is. But Brock had already committed to North Dakota all the way back in February. Plus Vancouver was a big city, it is 7 times larger than my hometown of Bloomington. There was no way we would see each other. 

    At least that had been my hope, and it had worked for nearly 2 years. Until my mom did what she does best and messed it all up.

    “Mom? It's only-” I paused to check my watch, “- 3:15. Why are you calling so early?”

    “Honey!” she said in her cheery voice which meant I was in for some trouble. “You’ll never guess what happened yesterday.”

    I sat down on my chair ready to hear about another stupid thing Brenda did at work or how my father sat on a fish hook again, “What?”

    “Brock got called up!” she exclaimed.

    “Wow,” I said my voice was mixed with actual excitement and that of what you would say to your children’s “wonderful” macaroni art project. This wasn't news to me. I had seen all over Instagram and had gotten the notification from the NHL app I had on my buried deep within phone. 

    Even if she heard the tonality of my voice my mother ignored it, “I know! Jess and him are flying up tonight I told them you could show them around.” The way she said it seemed like I had no choice in helping out Brock and his mother. Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t busy or anything but it was hard seeing him right away after the accident and even now. It was like Charlie’s death had been the axe splitting the log that was our friendship in two. 

    But if there was anything that growing up in Minnesota had taught me it was that being nice made things a hell of a lot easier. “Of course,” I said. “What time are they flying in?” I didn't live too far from the airport, maybe 20 minutes.

    “ They should be flying in about 4:10 in Gate C,” she stated. I check the time again noting I had about 30 minutes.

    “Okay, I’ll text Brock and tell him I’ll pick them up,” I said getting up from the couch. I grabbed my coat from the closet by the door and scooped out my keys. Winters here weren’t as bad as back home but the cold still gets to you. 

    “Alright, I’ll call you later?” she voiced.

    I said yes and hung up as I walked out of the elevator into the parking garage. As I slid into the seat of the car I texted Natalie, my best friend and roommate, to let her I know I would be out until late and one to Brock letting him know I would be waiting by Gate C when they arrived. The cold inside the car was enough to make me wish I used that remote car start my friends installed for me for Christmas. I sat shivering as the car’s heat slowly made the temperature inside a little more bearable.

    I had only been inside Vancouver International a total of maybe 7 times. Once  when I got here, 3 or 4 times picking up my parents when they came up for a visit and the rest for when old friends needed a tour guide on a layover. The thing about airports though is that they are almost all the same. The outside may make you think the insides would be different but nope. All have the same look and feel, and maybe the same carpet,. It was annoying, but also super helpful. I sat waiting for Brock and his mom to get through customs.

    Part of me worried that we would have changed too much to recognize each other when we did meet up. It would make things awkward to hug someone you hardly recognized and sit there pointing out all the differences in each other. Another part of me, the larger part, worried that we wouldn’t have changed at all and that I would have to look into the eyes of my deceased brother’s best friend’s eyes. Now that’s a heavy thought.

    “Oh my goodness,” I hear a voice say behind me, “Y/n, you… you look so grown-up!”

    It had been about two years since I heard seen Laurie Boeser, but I could recognize that voice from 10 miles away. I got up from those awful plastic airport chairs and turned to give my second mother a hug. Stepping back I saw the boy who still looked like the kid I spent most of my time with growing up. Now though he looked bigger, tougher and more like a hockey player. He still had that blonde hair he got from his dad Duke and his smile shown identical to that of Laurie’s. I gave him a hug as he struggled with holding bags of all sorts. 

    “Hey guys,” I said, politely smiling. “How was the flight?”

    “It was amazing!” Laurie starts. “Brock got us into first class so the flight attendants are all ‘Could I get you sparkling water and warmed nuts, Ms. Boeser?’ and getting us blankets.”

    “I mean you do look young enough to be Brock’s sister,” I say.

    Laurie playfully swats in my direction, “Oh please stop.”

    After catching up a bit more I offered to take some of the bags Brock was holding and showed them to the car. I could see from the corner of my eye Brock looking at me as we made our way through airport parkings and even as we strapped in the car. I think he too was worried about thinking of what to say, especially with how we left things before I left. Lets just say Charlie wouldn’t have been happy with what had happened. To be honest I wasn’t too happy with what happened. 

    Laurie and Brock were staying about 10 minutes away from my apartment. We dropped off their luggage and I showed them a little bit of downtown Vancouver. It was fairly late by the time we grabbed food at a hole in the wall pizza shop and walked a bit of the boardwalk by the ocean. I dropped them back off at the hotel room with a promise to Laurie we would go get breakfast when Brock went to morning skate the next morning. By then the car company will have delivered the rental car to the hotel so I wouldn't have to drive Brock there and pick him up.

    When I got back to the apartment Natalie had claimed the big sofa and was watching the mini marathon of Harry Potter movies. 

    “What were you up to?” she questioned.

    “Nothing?” I said grabbed a handful of chips before flopping on the loveseat.

    “Who was it? Was it that weird guy from Chem? Nick.. no David?” she prodded. One thing to note about Natalie, she's intense and everything that is yours is hers too. 

    “You mean Arnold? And no it just someone I used to know. Isn't this the one where Harry kills the big snake at the end?” I said trying to deflect.

    “It's called a basilisk. Hold on, you’re trying to change the subject,” she said. “Which means that you don't want me to know who it is, harsh.” 

    “I’m not doing anything. And it's not that I don't want you to know who he is-” I started.

    “So it’s a he, huh” she interrupted. “Wait its that Bruiser kid isn't it?

    “It’s Boeser,” I corrected.

    “So it is him!” she said sitting up a bit more.

    “I…. um,” I tried to say.

    “Y/N it's okay,” She slinked over to me. “Did you talk to him about Charlie yet?”

    I slouched a little in her arms. Natalie knew a lot more of my demons then most people. She knew some of the struggles I went through losing Charlie, she knew the pressure I put on myself after he died and she knew how poor my relationship with my parents is. I let her in on more things then I usually feel comfortable with but there was something about her that made opening up really easy. “No, his mom came up with him to help him get settled so I haven’t really gotten to talk with yet.”

    “Maybe you should see if you two could meet up tomorrow to talk, let some off your chest,” she soothed. 

    “We’ll see, I think for right now though I’m just going to leave it,” I said. “At least until he gets settled in more.” I promised myself I wasn't going to let this go, once Laurie left we were going to talk out everything that happened, including the kiss we shared.

[sonicawareness]

The Best Albums of 2019

After listening to more than 2000 new albums in 2019, I’ve narrowed my picks down to The 20 Best Records of 2019.

I’ve included 3 essential songs from each pick, as well as a choice lyrical clip and a brief description of the album.

Noting beats actually LISTENING TO MUSIC! So don’t just read my thoughts: follow and listen to the Spotify playlist containing 60 songs from the top 20 albums:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5TWlfWoo54MQ5cYTMmB0RI?si=M_23L6DDRieVuA845A90Pg

01: Yung Gravy - Sensational

Aptly titled Sensational, this debut full-length is a thirty minute party that dances between the hottest trap beats, well-placed samples, and the young Minnesota rapper’s braggadocious persona and ridiculous raps

Hey Alexa, how many bitches can we fit in the Tesla?...Pull up in that Model X with your model ex!

“Whip a Tesla” • “1 Thot 2 Thot Red Thot Blue Thot” • “The Boys Are Back in Town”

02: TWICE - &TWICE • Feel Special EP • FANCY YOU EP

Nine young South Korean women radiate endless energy, bountiful bliss, and some of the catchiest songs to come out not only in 2019 but recent memory 

Even when things go wrong, feelings out of control: lessons, to be sure. Be okay, all right! Even a crying face is glittering, filter and laugh! You can return to invincibility, right? Blow off, and we havin’ fun! [Translated from original Japanese]

“Fake and True” • “Breakthrough” • “Stronger”

03: Sublime with Rome - Blessings

Frontman, bandleader, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Rome Ramirez delivers his finest record to date: eleven heartfelt reggae-driven songs that are as well-written as they are masterfully recorded and produced

Watching you feel good tonight: it's your song up on the station, and we don't even know no words. I wanna hear you roll your R’s, singing Spanish in the car, “Dime algo hermosa tonight”.

“Wicked Heart” • “Light On” • “For the Night”

04: Bring Me the Horizon - amo 

Cohesive yet genre-spanning (metalcore, hip-hop, electronic, and pop, to name just a few), the sixth album from the English quintet is an emotional yet insightful rollercoaster masterpiece

Before the truth will set you free, it'll piss you off. Before you find a place to be, you're gonna lose the plot. Too late to tell you now, one ear and right out the other one ‘cause all you ever do is chant the same old mantra.

“MANTRA” • “wonderful life” • “i apologise if you feel something”

05: Weezer - Weezer (Black Album)

Expertly produced and instantly memorable, the long-running Rivers Cuomo-driven California quartet is once again in top form, adding yet another fresh and unique — but distinctly Weezer — record to their extensive discography 

Don't get mad at me, I'm just being honest. I should have lied, now you're mad at me? I'm just being honest. How 'bout from now on you'll write the script, I'll read the lines?

“Can’t Knock the Hustle” • “Zombie Bastards” • “Living in L.A.”

06: Big Data - 3.0

Like this sophomore album’s lyrical content — exploration of the impact artificial intelligence will have on humans and on the Earth — the latest project from producer, multi-instrumentalist, and mastermind Alan Wilkis is paradoxically dark yet bright; like AI, this album’s execution is equally flawless and Dangerous

I created a monster, it's out of control, it's going to take me...I didn't know what I was making...But now it's coming, coming for all of us!

“Monster” • “See Through” • “Evolution Once Again”

07: blackbear - ANONYMOUS

Vibrant yet dark, personal yet accessible, the fifth album from Mat Musto is a collection of 18 vulnerable, confessional songs told over slick electronic and hip-hop sounds

You drop the bag and ask me how my weekend was. I love that, though. You laugh when I make stupid jokes, and when I went to rehab, you didn't judge me that bad. I struggle with addiction probs, you always got my back. What am I gonna do the day that my drug dealer moves away? Whatever am I gonna say to my new plug? It just ain't the same.

“DOWN” • “HATE MY GUTS” • “DRUG DEALER”

08: Denzel Curry - ZUU

Hit-after-hit of hip-hop bangers pack this album’s half-hour runtime, with a plethora of guests joining the fray but never quite knocking it out like the young Miami native, Denzel Curry 

First they mockin', now they hoppin', all on the wave, 'cause they see me poppin'. Big-big-big large pockets, they start flockin'. Here's what I say when they ass keep knockin'...

“RICKY” • “BIRDZ” • “ZUU”

09: DaBaby - KIRK / Baby on Baby

On his two 2019 albums, his first proper efforts after countless mixtapes and singles, DaBaby unleashes his signature, incessant vocals over relentless trap and modern hip-hop beats

Prolly heard I was broke from a broke nigga, prolly heard I'm a ho from a ho! I don't know what you know, I ain't runnin' from no nigga, let’s go!

“BOP” • “OFF THE RIP” • “Suge”

10: Bayside - Interrobang

On their eighth album, the Anthony Raneri-fronted New York natives sound refreshed, focused, and tighter than ever telling their trademark tales of heartbreak and healing

I love that music saved you, and Lord knows it’s saved me too, but songs never love you back, and you never know the person preaching to you...

“Interrobang” • “Prayers” • “Bury Me”

11: The Hold Steady - Thrashing Thru The Passion

Few frontmen can weave an album’s worth of compelling narratives, yet the Brooklyn band’s Craig Finn finds himself on the seventh The Hold Steady album once again delivering ten more engaging, interlocked tales over his band’s fierce guitar riffs and all-too-catchy choruses

Thanks for listening, thanks for understanding: tequila takeoff, Tecate landing.

“Entitlement Crew” • “Denver Haircut” • “You Did Good Kid”

12: Electric Guest - KIN

Sugary sweet, the third record from the California duo promptly polishes any rough few rough edges they once had to deliver a perfectly slick yet quirkily heartwarming collection of eleven easy-listening songs

I'm like, “this mothafucka might sue me, and that mothafucka might boo me”. I'ma keep on goin' to a better day, all this other bitterness can fade away.

“Dollar” • “I Got the Money” • “More”

13: Billie Eilish - WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

Part punk energy without sounding even slightly punk, part emo diary without being a dashboard confessional, the debut record from American teenager Billie Eilish craftily bounces between genres, haunting sounds, and strange stories

If you think I’m pretty, you should see me in a crown. I'm gonna run this nothing town. Watch me make 'em bow one by one by one.

“bad guy” • “my strange addiction” • “you should see me in a crown”

14: The Cat Empire - Stolen Diamonds

The eighth album from Australia’s The Cat Empire is a full-blown dance party packed with catchy, clever songwriting and a room full of drums, horns, strings, keyboards, turntables, and bass

Operator, please, I can’t get out my head. Tell me where I’m going or where I’m being led. Tell me like an order, and order I’ll obey. Maybe I just thought you said, or did I did I hear you say, “We’re going to ([kill a man]) Kilaman-jaro, jaro…”

“KIla” • “Stolen Diamonds” • “Ready Now”

15: Dirty Heads - Super Moon

Co-frontmen Dirty J and Duddy B return to the beach for the seventh Dirty Heads album, borrowing sounds from across their entire discography of acoustic guitars and witty hip-hop to craft a surprisingly delicate record

I'm a flame, I'm a beacon that won't go out. In the dark, in the rain, I'm your lighthouse. When you can't stand the pain, hope you know now, I'll keep you safe, I'm your lighthouse.

“Super Moon” • “Lift Me Up” • “Tender Boy”

16: TENDER - Fear of Falling Asleep

Dark and uninviting, the second album from this London duo is an intimidating but rewarding listen delicately spiced with just enough hooks to keep you trapped in its atmospheric dreams 

I’ll be looking for the scent when it goes cold. I’ve been trying to beat the maze with a blindfold on. I’ve been foraging through mud and sticks searching for that power that don’t exist.

“Closer Still” • “Bottled Up” • “Handmade Ego”

17: Logic - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind / Supermarket Soundtrack

Logic returns once again with countless rhymes delivered over his trademark breathless bars, frequently painting an all-too-vivid picture of a famous rapper struggling to comprehend the world around him

All these comments got me lost in my mind; all these thoughts that I'm having are not mine. I always post that I'm having a good time so my life looks perfect online...

“Homicide” • “Don’t Be Afraid to Be Different” • “Lemon Drop”

18: Tyga - Legendary

More than just a collection of hits, the seventh album from the Compton rapper is well-sequenced and effortlessly laced with hook-after-hook for Tyga to deliver his signature obscene lines about things he self-admittedly has too many [sic] of: money, cash, hoes, cars, clothes, flows

Hey, shut the fuck up, bitch, you know who I are. Point blank range, and I'm shootin' for the stars. You niggas subpar and I just raised the bar. You got Rollies on your wrist, this is Chopard. Slide on your block like a fuckin' go-kart, my nigga A&R, still got an AR.

“Haute” • “Lightskin Little Wayne” • “On Me”

19: The Chainsmokers - World War Joy

The third album in three years from Alex Pall and Drew Taggart (and no shortage of guests) is an easy, light collection of ten slick relationship-focused pop songs that find the duo largely eschewing their dance-centric history 

You said, "Hey, whatcha doing for the rest of your life?" and I said, "I don't even know what I'm doing tonight". Went from one conversation to your lips on mine.

“The Reaper” • “Family” • “P.S. I Hope You’re Happy”

20: Bear Hands - Fake Tunes

Brooklyn’s Bear Hands returns with another collection of bright, bouncy songs that ever-so-slightly conceal the trio’s underlying sadness and struggles  

I don't see how you think you can come to me, and bitch to me, lay out your problems, like ancient history, like I ain't got no other shit to do. I love you, baby, but my lips are turnin' blue.

“Blue Lips” • “Back Seat Driver (Spirit Guide)” • “Mr. Radioactive”

THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2019

Yung Gravy - Sensational

TWICE - &TWICE • Feel Special EP • FANCY YOU EP

Sublime with Rome - Blessings

Bring Me the Horizon - amo 

Weezer - Weezer (Black Album)

Big Data - 3.0

blackbear - ANONYMOUS

Denzel Curry - ZUU

DaBaby - KIRK / Baby on Baby

Bayside - Interrobang

The Hold Steady - Thrashing Thru The Passion

Electric Guest - KIN

Billie Eilish - WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

The Cat Empire - Stolen Diamonds

Dirty Heads - Super Moon

TENDER - Fear of Falling Asleep

Logic - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind / Supermarket Soundtrack

Tyga - Legendary

The Chainsmokers - World War Joy

Bear Hands - Fake Tunes

[runningwithmoose-blog1]

Falter

Pairing: Jared Padalecki x Reader

Warnings: mention of a breakup, related angst/sadness, Jared being a sweetie.

Word Count: 1378

Author’s Note: I know I’ve been absent for a while. I’ve been going through a lot. This fic is inspired by a recent break up. I basically wrote it for myself.

You stared down at your phone for the millionth time that day, hoping Grant would call you back. But, you knew deep down that his decision was final. After three years with the man, the only adult relationship you had ever been in, was over. Done. Just like that.

Grant had made it very clear to you that it wasn’t him, it was definitely you who was to blame. He had grown bored of you, which he made blatantly clear. And he just couldn’t live with that.

But, like after all changes in life, the days go on. You needed to get back to work, to try to carry on. Bring an actor really did have its perks. You could hide your pain pretty well, despite the pain nagging at your chest. And, once you were at work, you were able to become a completely person altogether.

After a few more minutes, you made your way onto the set, immediately spotting Misha and Jared. The two of them were laughing about something, mostly likely something Jared said. You smiled at the thought of what it could have been.

Jared was always someone who made you smile. Whether it was a joke, or a silly look, he was such a positive spirit. And, on top of that, he was a great friend. Over the two years that you had worked on the show, you had become close to the actor, and spent quite a few lonely days in his company.

And, just a few months after you met Jared, you had fallen for him.

But, since you and Grant were already together, nothing grew from your feelings. However, your friendship grew quite a bit, which was enough for you.

You stared at the men as their giggling continued. Misha turned to you first, offering his famous sweet smile. “Hey there, gorgeous! Ready for a long day?” He asked, pulling at his Castiel tie. You nodded, chuckling.

“Always, Mish.” You heart pinged as memories of earlier that morning bubbled up. You had no idea which of your belongings would be gone from your apartment when you got back that night. You didn’t know what Grant was going to take back to Minnesota.

But, for the moment, it didn’t matter. You needed to concentrate on you work and your friends.

You lifted your head, smiling again at the men. But, you quickly noticed that Jared was studying you, obviously not buying you charade.

“Y/N, are you alright? You seem, well, a little off.” Jared tilted his head a little, taking a few steps towards you. You froze for a moment.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine.” You offered him a slight smile and shrugged nonchalantly. He raised his eyebrows, placing his hand on your shoulder turning you to his side.

“Y/N,” his voice was much softer, almost inaudible to Misha just behind him. “It’s okay to not be okay. I can see the pain in your eyes. What’s going on?”

And, with those words, you lost all composure. Tears streamed down your cheeks, wiping off your freshly applied makeup. You could feel your legs begin to shake a little bit as you reached out for Jared’s arm.

“I-It’s Grant. He left,” you whispered shakily, just loud enough for Misha to turn back to you. “For good.” Jared’s eyes widened as he reached out, instantly wrapping his arms around you, pulling you close. Misha approached you, placing a gentle hand on your shoulder.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you two were having problems.” You pulled away from Jared suddenly, peering up at your friend.

“That’s the thing! We weren’t!” you sobbed. “H-He said he was bored with me and wanted out. He took what he could and is probably on a plane back to Minnesota right now.” You lowered your head, wiping your eyes. “I don’t blame him,” you muttered. Jared’s eyes grew wide at your words.

“What? What do you mean? He’s an idiot for thinking you’re boring!” Jared pulled your chin up with his soft fingers. “Y/N, he doesn’t know what he’s letting go of. I’m sorry he’s making you feel this way. But, with Misha as my witness, I can tell you that he’s wrong.” Jared smiled down at you, making your chest lighten just a little. You stared into those gorgeous hazel eyes, finding comfort in the light golden rings that encircled them.

“Thank you, Jared,” you whispered shyly, wiping your tears again. Misha gently rubbed your back, offering a sweet smile.

“Jared’s right, Y/N. This may be a new beginning for you.” Misha rested his forehead on your shoulder, his hand remaining on your back. “I’m so sorry it had to happen like this.”

Jared pulled you close again, pressing a sweet kiss to your forehead. That was something he did a lot. Jared was someone who loved to show his affection to those he loved, and for you, that was what he did. Your heart fluttered lightly at the contact.

“Thanks, guys.” You rested your cheek against Jared’s chest and let out a deep sigh. Misha lifted his hand from your shoulder and muttered something about finding Jensen. He didn’t want to overwhelm you. You nodded and watched him walk away.

Jared gently ran his palm over your hair as he held you against him. You cried for a few minutes, letting out the buckets of emotions that hit you all at once. But, once you started to calm down, you leaned back a little.

“Sorry your shirt is so wet now,” you chuckled, rubbing your eyes. Jared laughed, making you smile.

“I don’t care. There are probably six more of them in wardrobe. I just want to make sure you’re okay.” His right hand wrapped around yours. “I know you’ve been with Grant for a while, but he’s not the only man out there. There are so many, Y/N, so many people who think you’re amazing. You’ll find someone who loves you like you deserve.” Jared squeezed your hand tightly. Your eyes widened. Was he implying something?

“I-I don’t know about that. But I’ll be okay,” you muttered up at him. Jared lifted your chin again, holding it up as he leaned down, holding his face just inches from yours. He smiled and winked, then leaned forward, gently tapping his lips against yours. The kiss only lingered for a moment before he pulled away, his gaze locking to yours.

“There are people who love you, Y/N.” His fingers released your chin, and he took a step back. “We’ll talk about that later.” He winked again, making your heart swell just a little. “Now, we need to get you back to makeup.” He grinned. “We have a lot to film today.” You just nodded, letting Jared escort you back to the makeup area. Your mind floated, replaying the barely three-second-long kiss over and over.

Jared’s hand remained wrapped around yours, pulling you close to him. He stuck around as the makeup artists began again. For forty minutes, you sat there, until your character was artistically reapplied to your face.

“Gorgeous,” Jared whispered as you slid out of the chair. “Now, c’mon. Let’s get this over with. Maybe we can get out of here before midnight.” You smiled and nodded, secretly dreading going home.

“Yeah, hopefully.” Jared turned towards you, giving you the same look as he did earlier.

“How do you feel about going home?” he asked rather bluntly. “You aren’t afraid, are you?” You didn’t look at him, not knowing how to answer.

“I-I’m not looking forward to it.” You finally looked over at Jared, who nodded.

“Well, I can come over and stay with you.” His eyes widened as he realized his bluntness. “I mean, if you don’t want to be alone, I can crash on your couch. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be alone, especially when you’re this upset.” You smiled, then nodded.

“I think that’s a good idea. Thanks, Jare.” Jared took your hand again and led you to the set. You felt a lot better than you did when you came to work that day. And that was all because of Jared, and Misha. For once in your life, you actually knew that you weren’t alone.