#charlie has baby fever

[goldenamaranthe-blog]

Kid Vaggie 4: Unsung Lullaby

Request for angst. Why angst? Why do people want to have their feelings hurt? Why? Also, this is LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG.

Charlie: (cradling Kid Vaggie in her arms as she carries the little angel to bed) Alright, sweetie. It's bedtime.

Kid Vaggie: (shakes her head violently and clings to Charlie's jacket lapels) No!

Charlie: Vaggie, it's bedtime. You need to get your sleep so you can grow up big and strong.

Kid Vaggie: (shakes slightly) No. Something bad is gonna happen.

Charlie: (pulls back the covers and sets Vaggie down gently) Sweetheart, nothing bad is going to happen to you here. This hotel is officially the safest place in Hell. Nothing, and I mean nnnnnothing- (boops Vaggie's nose)

Kid Vaggie: (giggles slightly and curls up under the blankets to get away from the onslaught)

Charlie: -Is going to get you.

Kid Vaggie: (snuggles in and yawns) Pwomise?

Charlie: (heart pulses painfully) I promise. (kisses Vaggie's forehead and heads to the door) Good night, Vaggie.

Kid Vaggie: Goodnight, Pwincess. (blushes and hides half of her face under the covers) . .. .. I wuv you...

Charlie: (clutches her chest and pinches her legs together as her ovaries throb like ticking time-bombs) I love you too, hun. (closes the door and walks down the hall while pulling at her hair) Note to self: As SOON as Vaggie is back to her normal self, get a spell from dad to make babies.

Kid Vaggie: (nestles in and falls asleep)

*-*-*zZzzzZz*-*-*zZzzzZz*-*-*

-Screams fill the air as the smell of burning tires, smoke, and blood course through the streets of Hell. Angelic Devils with grey and black wings soar through the skies and between buildings as they spray the blood of sinners across alleys and buildings.-

Kid Vaggie: (eyes snap open at the sound of a particularly blood curdling scream, and she looks around at the chaos)

Exorcist: (rips her spear out of Angel Dust's mouth and throat)

Kid Vaggie: Angle Bust!!!

Husker: (leaps forward with a tiger's roar and his claws extended)

Exorcist: (grabs Husker and uses her spear to skin him alive before completely ripping his spine out of his back)

Kid Vaggie: Husk!!! (looks around and sees the rest of the Hotel's occupants' corpses laying on the dead grass filled front lawn of the establishment)

Alastor: (sawed in half with his antlers ripped off)

Cherri: (exploded from the hips up)

Niffty: (pieces replaced with bug parts and scuttling across the ground from an angelic steel knife lodged in her spinal chord to keep her moving)

Lucifer: (tied by the ankles at the top of the hotel, his wings billowing limply in the breeze from being completely shattered like a flag)

Kid Vaggie: (crying and is about to puke when another scream fills the air. She looks and sees the Exorcist holding Charlie up by the throat) CHARWIE!!!!

Exorcist: (looks over to Vaggie and throws Charlie in the air)

Charlie: (gets skewered on the sharp nose of Dazzle's statue)

Exorcist: (to Kid Vaggie) ......Go. Run. (turns to look at the carnage) ........*sob*

Kid Vaggie: (suddenly sees the same spear the Exorcist has in her hands and scrambles to run away. Lungs are on fire as she sprints through the streets and down an alley) NO!!! NO!!!NONONO!!!

-Feathered Wing Flapping Fills the Alley-

Kid Vaggie: (turns around and sees the Exorcist, shakily bringing her own spear up as tears stream down her cheek)

Exorcist: (stands silently before taking off her mask, revealing Vaggie's older face) What did you do?

Kid Vaggie: (suddenly wearing Exorcist clothes) I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!!! YOU DID THAT!!! (scene shifts, and suddenly she's the one staring down a cannibal child cowering against the wall)

Cannibal Child: (crying) I didn't do anyhting wrong.... Please, don't kill me...

Kid/Vaggie: (lowers spear) Go. Run.

Cannibal Child: (sprints away)

Kid Vaggie: (looks down at her fully grown self in horror and suddenly feels excruciating pain in her left eye socket) AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Exorcist/Vaggie: You were weak. (grabs Kid Vaggie's wings and rips them off)

Kid Vaggie: (screams and cries before panting in pain and staring at her older double. The older woman is split in half down the middle to share the visage of a woman with short, white hair and blood smear everywhere)

Lute/Vaggie: You don't deserve Heaven. / (crying) You don't deserve Happiness.

Kid Vaggie: (world slowly fading to black as the Exorcist turns and leaves)

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Angel: (sees Charlie walk into the bar) Woooooof! Don't you look a special kinda way. I take it that Baby Fever ain't breakin' anytime soon?

Charlie: (pouts) Is it that obvious????

Angel: Please, Toots. (waves a hand in front of his nose) I can smell the ovulation process comin' off ya.

Lucifer: (sparkles in his eyes as he digs into his inner jacket pocket) Do you need the baby potion?!

Charlie: NOT YET!!! VAGGIE IS STILL A KID!!! (pauses) .....Wait, you just keep a bottle of that on hand?

Lucifer: .........Full transparency. I've been keeping it ever since you were with what's-his-nuts in case you needed it. What was his name? Fredrick's boy.

Charlie: (covers her mouth at the thought of carrying her ex-boyfriend's child) Dad, I never intended on having kids with Seviathan.

Lucifer: THANK THE STARS TOO!!!! Boy was a little fuckwit.

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Charlie: (turns to the staircase and sprints up the stairs three-four at a time) VAGGIE???!?!?!

Hazbins: (all scramble out of their seats and sprint after Charlie)

Charlie: (bursts into her and Vaggie's room and sprints to the bed to hold the thrashing child tight) Vaggie, sweetie, what's wrong?!

Kid Vaggie: NO!!! NO!!! NO-NO-NO!!!! (stops thrashing as Charlie's scent fills her nose and stares up into worried eyes) Charwie?

Charlie: Yeah, sweetie, what happened? (pets Vaggie's hair, wincing at how badly the child is shaking)

Kid Vaggie: (breaks out into a new wave of tears and sobbing wails as she holds Charlie tight) Exowcists! *hic-hic* Evewyone gone! My fault!

Charlie: (holds Vaggie tighter) Shhhhhh! Shhh-shhhh-shhhh! It's okay, Vaggie. The Exorcists are gone. They're not here anymore. They can't hurt you or anyone else here. Nothing is your fault. (turns to the rest of the group motions for some help)

Hazbins: (all standing in the doorway slowly shuffle in to make a giant hug pile)

Angel: No one blames you for nothin', kid.

Husker: For a fierce little psycho, you've never hurt any of us. (massages the skin patches where Vaggie took out some clumps of fur) Not entirely.

Cherri: You're a great guardian angel for the Hotel, kiddo.

Niffty: You do such a good job helping me kill all the roaches in the basement!

Lucifer: (finishes off the hug pile by engulfing everyone in his wings) You're more angelic than any of those Exorcists, little dove. Nothing that happened is your fault.

Alastor: (watching silently from the doorway)

Charlie: (tears filling her eyes as she gently rocks Vaggie and sings a quiet lullaby)

Kid Vaggie: *sniff-sniff* (looks up at everyone around her and calms down, nestling into Charlie's chest and falling asleep) Wuv... you... guys.... ZzzzZzzZZz.....

Bonus:

Hazbins: (clutch their hearts simultaneously) Fuck....

Charlie: (still holding a sleeping Vaggie) Not so funny when it's you, is it?

Lucifer: Charlie, please tell me you want that potion as soon as she's back to normal. I need a little demon-angel grandbaby.

[the-ace-with-spades]

List of Works-In-Progress I'm still intending to write/actively writing 📃✨

or my accountability list to look at in a few months...

last updated: 09/04/24

Fandoms: 🚒 9-1-1 [5-7 works], ✈️ Top Gun (movies) [9 works], 🔪CoD (reboot only for now) [4 works]

Already posted on AO3, ongoing works:

✈️ Top Gun, hangster — (sometimes I feel) like a monkey pilot, trans!Rooster fic with a hangster confrontation (and getting back together), 6 years after Rooster's transition. When recalled to Top Gun. #(sif) lamp tag

✈️ Top Gun, hangster, slow down (you're doing fine) — Rooster-centric/character study fic with Getting Back Together trope and past-hangster flashbacks and icemav as parents #slow down tag

✈️ Top Gun, hangster — just hold my hand, outsider Mav POV, kind TG:M retelling AU

Bradley and Jake are married and have four kids and Mav didn't know about any of it until the special detachment because he and Bradley haven't talked in years. Things happen and Mav gets to be a grandpa. (vague, unspecified kind of mpreg is in this story)

*

Planned out and started sequels/bonuses, not posted yet:

✈️ Top Gun, icemav — bonus for slow down (you're doing fine)

It is the 5+1 icemav prequel from the slow down universe I talked about, I just don't seem to finish it (it's really hard to write Ice POV...)

The 5 times Ice waited for Mav to be ready and 1 time Mav realized he'd been ready for a while.

✈️ Top Gun, hangster — sequel for slow down (you're doing fine)

The weeks after Bradley and Jake decide to try being together again, mostly trying to figure out how to be together in a way that is healthier and more honest. Including meeting the parents (icemav), meeting the sister (Jake's), and Nat's judgment.

✈️ Top Gun, hangster — sparks (working title), sequel/bonus for ignition, the firefighter! Bradley AU #ignition tag

Done in snippets/drabbles. The adventures of firefighter!Bradley and still a naval aviator!Jake, which would include the world cockblocking them from finally going on their first date (5 times they had to cancel their date, and 1 time didn't), the awkward first times, as well as Bradley lecturing Jake on safety a little bit too often (and Jake finding it hot...)

*

Started writing, but haven't posted yet and don't know if I'll ever finish it even if I want to:

🔪 CoD, ghostsoap — exhumation, different first meeting and (kinda) secret identity AU — overview here, a snippet here

Written in a flashback/present sequence. Soap and Ghost met when they were just Johnny and Simon, starting in the Army. From dates, to sharing a Manchester flat, ending with Simon being MIA in Mexico for months, they'd been together through a lot. But the Christmas Eve Simon's family, bar Johnny, is killed, he chooses to die with them and never put anyone in danger. Years pass, and Soap joins TF-141.

🔪 CoD, ghostsoap — don't shoot me, santa, first Christmas Ghost spends with the MacTavish family (and first Christmas he spends with anyone in almost 10 years) and all its troubleshooting — overview here

Johnny takes Ghost to Scotland to spend their first Christmas together. Johnny's family is not too thrilled about Ghost — about the mask he wears, about the job he has, about the family he doesn't have, about how faceless he is, even to Johnny. Ghost decides that Johnny is worth taking the mask off and starting living as Simon again.

🚒 9-1-1, buddie — brand new information, the 5+1 jealous!Eddie fic — a snippet here

5 times Eddie found something new about Buck's taste in men (and was ridiculous about it) and 1 time he found out Buck's type (Eddie)

Used to titled in my drafts 'eddie trying to prove he matches bucks taste in men'

🚒 9-1-1, buddie — the cure series, a canon-divergence au after Wrapped in Red with a side of trans!Buck

Part 1, 'cause boys don't cry, a snippet here — Buck decides to leave the 118 after Wrapped In Red in order to stop defining himself by the people he loves and learn to live alone and both succeeds and fails at it. Includes Buck long-distance parenting Chris, Eddie feeling like a long-distance spouse whose husband refuses to stop taking long-distance jobs, jealous!Eddie, Maddie&Eddie bestism, and people all over the States assuming Buck is divorced. Longest part of the series and the most angsty one.

Part 2, like I'm home again, a snippet here [coming soon??] — future fic, Buck is back at 118, he and Eddie are married, Chris is choosing colleges, and Bobby is trying to get Buck into leadership training so he can retire. And then, Eddie enters what Buck and Chris think is a mid-life crisis, but is in reality a baby fever.

Part 3, untitled, a snippet here — future fic, outsider POV from a new probie at the 118. Captain Diaz and Lieutenant Diaz are running the firehouse, but their family, including kids, Buck's not-dad and retired captain Bobby, keep on popping up and confusing the new probie. Buck also pulls a Bobby and 'adopts' the new probie.

Parts probably won't be posted in order.

🚒 9-1-1, buddie — accidental trans pregnancy, a short one-shot based on a meme post.

Buck is nauseous, Chim makes a joke (not knowing Buck is trans and have been dating Eddie for a few months now), and Eddie has a metaphorical heart attack at the table.

🚒 9-1-1, buddie — Buck wants to be a parent and thanks to Connor, he realizes he can be a parent without finding a partner first — overview here

The most ridiculous fic idea I've had the desire to write. Involves trans Buck, sperm donor arc in reverse, Eddie doing mental summersaults to be said sperm donor.

🚒 9-1-1, buddie — AU for the post-lawsuit arc, with buddie already being a couple before the lawsuit — snippet here [coming soon??]

Buck takes the settlement and becomes a (maybe temporary) househusband/stay-at-home-dad. This would be centred on Buck, but would not have the crew bashing, but rather a realistic view on how everyone feels and how the lawsuit and settlement deal would affect the team, etc.

✈️ Top Gun, hangster — with arms wide open, omegaverse mpreg that follows the TG:M storyline (kinda) — overview here

(in my head, this fic is very soap opera-like, but I like it this way so...) Bradley and Jake had been together 7 years with no mating, no marriage, and or no even just meeting Jake's family, and Bradley was okay with it. Until he found out he was pregnant. So when Jake doesn't want anything to change, Bradley leaves and seeks help from the only person he can think of — Ice. Cue the wayward son getting reconciled, a few months passing, and by the time Bradley meets Jake again, he's six months pregnant.

*

Drafted only but I still want to write it sometime:

✈️ Top Gun, hangster — Pacific Rim AU — a tag for this fic is #hangster pacific rim au

History repeats itself — Mav loses his drift partner and raises his kid and years later, Bradley loses his drift partner and raises her kid (with a twist). Mav doesn't leave PPDC, but Bradley does — at least until Ice shows up telling him the world is ending, this time for good. Featuring Jake being both Bradley's fanboy and a tsundere (ala Chuck about Raleigh) and weirdly good with kids and the typical mortifying ordeal of being seen during the drift.

✈️ Top Gun, hangster — sequel for (sometimes I feel), like a monkey pilot, that would dive into the idea of Jake and Bradley starting a family

I'll make a post about this at some point because there are so many ways this could be written. I do think that they're the type that would have an accidental pregnancy, but there are so many ways this could happen (on deployment, right before deployment, cryptic pregnancy, with some miscommunication involved - I think they're dumb enough any of it seems feasible)

🔪 CoD, ghostsoap, possible side gazprice?? — blindsided, tattoo artist/florist au but not really, with a misunderstanding twist

Where Ghost and Soap are both ex-military, Ghost and Price have a tattoo shop, and a street away what they think is a florist shop opens. Totally self-indulgent because I wanted to give Ghost a full-body skeleton tattoo, skull-face tattoo included. I have absolutely no other details besides this, this is slightly recycled from another fandom...

🔪 CoD, ghostsoap — with lights off, a longer one-shot about Simon and Johnny still being badass even if retired from the military

Retried, Simon and Johnny move to Glasgow and start a family. While Johnny still craves the adrenaline and works with the Glasgow Organised Crime and Counter Terrorist Unit, Simon rides among the streets as a paramedic in the Motorcycle Response Unit and only shows up when the guns and stabs are done. That is, until the day when Johnny and his team are taken hostage in a terrorist attack and he's the first responder on scene and The Ghost is needed again.

There are probably a few more in this category and in the kinda-abandoned-but-not-really category, I never fully abandon my works but I'll leave it at that for now

[a-hazbin-reader]

A Alastor x wife!reader where reader has been wanting a family and finally by some miracle she discovers she's pregnant

Just a thought 🫠

You are not even the third person to ask for this and we're all already delusional here soooooo-

Alastor X Reader Headcanons

✅️Romantic

❌️Platonic

TW: Sadness, Reader has baby fever and spreads it to her husband unintentionally, A little angst, Implied baby making 😉

Description: 👆⬆️

Alastor would do anything for his wife, spare no expense for her happiness and it shows

You two have talked previously about your obvious desire for a family with him

He would be willing to give that to you even though he's admittedly not the biggest fan of the idea

Part of him is scared of being a father but he won't ever admit that

You two both knew that sinners couldn't reproduce, and it crushed you that the opportunity was taken from you

You were still happy to have your husband and your found family at the hotel

You just still had that desire to have a baby, your husband's baby to be exact

Alastor hates seeing you so hurt over this, he wants to fix things for you, but this is out of his control

He couldn't give you a baby no matter how hard he tried, and that makes him feel helpless, which makes him angry

Sometimes the longing for a baby and the despair of knowing you can't have one gets to be too much for you and you unintentionally draw into yourself

Not amount of hugging or soothing words from your husband can console you, no matter how hard you cling to him and seek his comfort

You're just so sad sometimes

Which leads to Alastor being frosty and agitated with the others around the hotel, upset that he can't just fix it

He would give you the biggest family if he could, whatever he could do to make you feel whole

It's not like you two are neglecting each other or growing apart, there's just this heavy feeling hanging between you two

Everyone knows something is up with you two, but nobody is brave enough to ask, except maybe Vaggie, but she's respecting your privacy as a couple

Of course, it's Charlie who tries to get to the bottom of things for the two of you, everyone is just worried you two are fighting

So when you finally relent and tell her the truth, she's relieved that you and Alastor only want to have a baby-

YOU AND ALASTOR WANT TO HAVE A BABY!?

Sinners can't reproduce so you're just riding out your baby fever until it's manageable again

But no sinner has had a friend in the Morningstar family before

Not even a day later Alastor is greeted by Lucifer while you're out with Charlie and the others

"Hey man, heard you wanted me to get your wife pregnant! Lucky for you, I happen to have a thing for married women~"

When you come back home you're surprised to see Lucifer and your husband talking amicably, both turning their heads towards you immediately

"Ah! Would you look at the time? I should really get going, things to do, ducks to make-what?"

Lucifer gives you an unexpected side hug on his way out, hand resting momentarily on your stomach before leaving

You rub where he touched, surprised by the sudden warmth that lingers there

Your husband is looking at you strangely too but kisses you in greeting before you can even question it

Alastor acts rather clingy the rest of the day, following you around, asking you how you're feeling, giving affection more freely

You can't deny that you're loving the attention and soaking up every bit of it, the warmth in your stomach having spread throughout your entire body now

If Alastor's sudden neediness is anything to go by, he's feeling the same as you are

How either of you manage to wait until everyone has gone to bed to indulge in each other is beyond you

The entire night is a blur but when you wake up the entire bed has nearly been torn apart

Feathers are all over the place, the blankets have all been kicked away or shredded, the bed frame is clawed and cracked

You would almost feel embarrassed, but when you look at your handiwork on your husband, you can't help but feel proud

Things mostly go back to normal after that, except Lucifer visits more often and seems to pay special attention to you

You feel like everyone is watching you lately and you don't know why, you're never alone anymore, your husband especially is very hovery

But it ends up working out in your favor because one day you wake up, overwhelmed by the urge to vomit, your husband holding back your hair

And it keeps happening for days on end, and you start gaining weight without explanation, and your cravings are suddenly intense and-

Your husband is looking a little too pleased with himself, rubbing your back soothingly as you poke at your mysteriously changing body in the mirror

"You did this to me somehow, didn't you!"

"Why honey, why would I need to babytrap you when we're already married?"

"Because you-what?"

It takes a few moments to register what he said, all the strange things in the last few months clicking into place

"You got me pregnant..?"

He actually starts to look a little embarrassed, suddenly unsure if he really did the right thing after all-

When did he end up on the bed?

Is definitely sure in his decision later when he exits the bedroom, fixing his hair and clothes while he leaves you sleeping in bed

Luckily, the hotel has a lot of people who are willing to help out with your pregnancy because Alastor is worried he's actually in over his head

Your mood swings are more like mood hurricanes and sometimes he needs help knowing the right things to say

"Y/N, don't worry about not fitting into your own clothes, this is uh...just an opportunity to get new ones!"

"T-Thanks Vaggie..."

The cravings start to get fucking weird, Alastor genuinely repulsed by some of the things you're asking him for

"Darling, I can get you fresh meat as bloody as you want but do you really need to eat it with cake and ice cream?"

"Don't you love me..?"

He'll be back in 10 minutes

The bigger you get, the more sore and tired you are, constantly needing help around the hotel as you waddle around

"Thanks for helping me, Husk...I was getting really tired."

"Charlie, is it alright if I sit in that chair? My back is killing me.."

Alastor is scared with how vulnerable you are like this so he sticks close to you but silently appreciates the help from everyone

Even the other overlords come to see your miracle pregnancy, which doesn't help with Alastor's paranoia over how defenseless you are right now

They just want to see

As if Carmilla or Rosie would let anything happen to you anyways, Rosie loves the crap out of you and Carmilla wouldn't hurt an expecting mother

Rosie is constantly visiting and bringing baby gifts, so many that they're starting to pile up around the hotel

"Oh darling, you're practically glowing! Alastor! Have you told Y/N how radiant she is with her pregnancy?"

She wants to be Aunty Rosie so bad

Alastor genuinely admires the changes in your body, feeling pride in the thought that he did this to you

"With a little help from the big boss of-"

"You haven't left already?"

"I want to talk to my god child~ Can you stop hogging Y/N's belly for five minutes?"

"Your what now?

Alastor rubs your belly a lot, baffled by the idea that his spawn is in there and how happily you carry it

How you're so proud to be having his kid is beyond him, he knows what a wretched man he is and you still love him, take pride in him

The first time he feels the baby kick, he's a little unnerved but then you guide his hand back, smiling at him in a way that makes his heart ache for you

"Our baby wants to say hi to you..."

Okay, now his heart is melting, give your husband a kiss right now

Starts kissing and talking to your belly more after that, talking to the baby about anything and everything as if you're not even there

"Now your mother, you have no idea how lucky she is to have me as her husband~"

Confides in you late one night, about his fear of being a father and failing you and the baby

Not him having tears pinpricking in the corners of his eyes as you kiss him and reassure him

He doesn't particularly care about the gender of his child, just that you and the little spawn are okay

But if the baby is a girl, then he would like her to have his mother's name, that's all he would ask really

If the baby is a boy then he'll let you pick the name out as long as it's something fancy sounding

Does all the work when it comes to the nursery and baby proofing but has no idea what that actually entails, so you'll have to help him out

He's so proud to show you the finished look

The closer it gets to your due date, the more out of sorts and anxious he is but he tries to put on a brave face for you

He makes sure you never have to lift a finger, doing everything he can to make you comfortable and spending all his free time with you

Carmilla and her daughters all volunteer to assist in the labor, Zestial coming for the sake of tagging along

Alastor is in genuine anguish when you actually go into labor, the sound of you in pain and him being helpless to help is torture for him

Refuses to leave your side the entire time, blocking out everything else but you and encouraging you as best he can

Focuses so hard on taking care of you that he hardly notices that you've finished, surprised when Carmilla suddenly puts not one but two babies in your arms

You're visibly exhausted but seem to gain a renewed energy at the sight of your babies, looking at them in wonder before giving Alastor a tearful smile

"A boy and a girl, a miracle on top of already being miracle babies. Congratulations, Alastor."

Carmilla pats him on the shoulder before leaving, pulling Zestial and her daughters along with her

Alastor doesn't even register what she said, still dumbfounded at the sight of you cooing at two squirming infants

TWINS!? Lucifer, you sneaky son of a bi-

"Do you want to hold them, Alastor?"

"I would love nothing more, my dear..."

He definitely doesn't immediately fall in love when his babies cling to him like they'll never let go, holding his fingers in their unbelievably tiny hands

A LITTLE TREAT FOR ALL OF YOU WHO WERE BEGGING FOR THIS

[angelbarelywrites]

♡ slashers scenarios | y’all accidentally adopt a kid

�� fandoms; Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original + 2006), Dead by Daylight, slashers (general)

♡ characters; Micheal Myers, Thomas Hewitt, Bubba Sawyer

♡ reader; gender neutral

♡cw; parenthood (?), mentions of violence

♡notes; i work with toddlers all day yet still somehow get baby fever- so here’s this i guess lol.

i can’t see Brahms as a dad so skipped out on him this time, Vincent is iffy too but we might come back to him

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

Micheal Myers

> micheal never wanted to be a father before he met you

> he knows for a fact he has something terribly wrong with him

> and while it never bothered him…it was far too dangerous to pass on

> but the way you light up when little kids on the street wave to you

> how you talked about building a family when you got drunk and sappy

> and how soft and gentle you were holding your friend’s baby…

> he knew you’d be the perfect parent, good enough to balance any bullshit he was bring to the table

> so it’s maybe not a complete accident when he stalks into the house with a banged up stroller out front

> the baby is crying, his parents passed out from some shit they snorted in the living room

> it makes his job easier when he slits their throats, and he’s sure as hell not sympathetic

> not that he ever is

> he follows the cries upstairs- a tiny little boy is wailing in his crib

> but he stops and stares at Micheal, blue eyes wide as he looms in the door

> at first Micheal thinks the racket it going to start again and braces for the scream

> but the boy reaches for him eagerly instead, making grabby hands and squealing

> it takes a bit of snooping but Micheal finds some paperwork after he’s secured the child in a carrier

> Miles. The boy’s name is Miles, and he’s ten months old- just tiny for his age

> you think he’s fucking with you when he sets a baby carrier on your table that night

> “…that’s Miles.” He mutters and walks away

> you’re pissed but you can’t say you have anything but an urge to protect this tiny boy

> he has red hair, and light freckles and the sweetest disposition

> he’s perfect, surely Micheal wouldn’t just steal a child…not without good reason

> and you notice Micheal still lingering, watching you both

> you try not to smile

> “…well. Gonna help me find somewhere he can sleep or not?”

Thomas Hewitt

> when Charlie brings in the little girl, Luda Mae is beyond excited

> she had no idea the couple she’d sent down their road had a baby

> her dark curls and chubby legs and ruddy pink cheeks remind her so much of Thomas at that age too

> not too far off from one if she’s got it right

> she’s thinking selfishly, she’s always wanted a daughter

> but Thomas’ eyes go so wide when you both walk in

> he’s in awe of the tiny lil thing sleeping against his mama’s shoulder

> he won’t hold her, terrified of hurting her

> but you’re eager to take her for a bit and he gets real close, chin hooked on your shoulder so he can inspect her closely

> she’s all giggles as she touches his mask

> and you’re nearly in tears when she snuggles up against you

> “…yknow…i’ve been thinkin. i’m much closer to grandmama age than mama age now”

> you say yes before Luda can finish her ask - there was nothing you wanted more than a child with Thomas

> he’s hesitant, but he already adores her

> you have no way of knowing her name, so what you should call her is a bit of a hot topic for a few days

> Charlie wants to name her Charlotte because he’s a self centered bastard , and Luda Mae has about a thousand suggestions that come from baby books decades older than you

> but you let Thomas decide

> Audrey Mae Hewitt is what he chooses

> Audrey from a book he read

> Mae from his mama

> and it suits her perfectly

Bubba Sawyer

> “hey cook! look what i got!”

> Drayton about beats Choptop in the plate when he sees him carrying a toddler under his arm like a log

> but he’s kind of impressed such a scrawny dirtbag can carry a chunky kid like that

> the little boy is a healthy weight for two or so, with lil chipmunk cheeks that dimple when he grins

> and the cutest damn mullet you’ll ever see

> Drayton is getting too damn old for this, and there’s only one person he trusts even a minuscule amount in the house

> so he just. hands him to you when you walk into the front room

> “congratulations, it’s a boy”

> you’re confused but excited

> and a bit concerned with how he and Bubba will feel once the man gets home

> a kid is a big commitment- and a man that wears people’s faces can be scary

> but Bubba immediately squeals and beelines for the little one when he staggers in

> they both tilt their heads curiously before the boy tries to climb up his leg

> when he picks him up, the boy gives a huge belly laugh, kicking his legs

> you choose his name- politely declining your boyfriend’s brothers’ insistence on Lil Choppy or Drayton II

> Jedediah Junior sounds perfect to you - little JJ

[fallbhind]

DO BETTER, FOR FATHER.

synopsis : after finishing a review paper, you need father mayhew to observe it, and you didn't quite expect to catch him at such bad times, especially when he just got out the shower.

➤ warnings .ᐣ smut. p in v. unprotected sex (wrap 'fore you tap. no little nun babies yet). fingering. kissing. virgin / lost of virginity. virgin!reader. sucking readers come off charlie's fingers prep before sex. DUBCON. blasphemy. tw blood. charlie likes reader bleeds. based off this bot that was req by anon. probably butchered the freak out of this scene but i didn't have the energy to rewatch the seen. please don't come after me. &&. idk anything abt how nuns dress. wc﹔1.5k

NOBODY KNEW how sinful father mayhew was actually. underneath the 'good young-forwarding preist' cover, was almost like a middle-school boy who hadn't yet grasped the understandment of be faithful to the religion. but oh, the only difference is father mayhew punished himself for giving into his urges, like masturbation towards the pretty little nun (you), he met not to far back when he first joined the church as a preist.

in fact, his sinful persona was so well hidden he carried a great following throughout the community, from the blog posts about the recent killings going around discovering they were more surrounded by religion than your every day killer, to having great listeners listening to him bike and preach. especially you.

you watched from the corner as he pedaled on the bike, that red tank top stretching across his chest, it was just oh so sinful. in your eyes. while he mumbled things towards the camera that was he was filming on, when he went to bring his arms up and clap, he closed his eye, relishing in the fact he could hear you scurry away to hide out his view. for the remainder of the time on the bike, you left him with a smirk that was planted by you.

later, you stood in the doorway of his bedroom, waiting patiently as you watched him step out the bathroom, wrapping the white towel around his waisted, the v line to his cock clearly visible, he showed little care (clearly), after all he stepped out the shower with his bedroom door wide open. of course most people can do such without people lurking but that was beside the point. when father mayhew turned round, he greeted you almost joyfully. "sister." he said. "what brings such pleasure?"

you were so ashamed to have been caught staring, you used the newspaper held loosely in your hand to face plant yourself. has he stalked closer, you passed him the new review for that blog that has been going viral due to the connections to the serial killers and religion. he greeted you inside the room, shutting the door as he walked back over to his small mirror that he almost towered over. disappointment covered his face, "i'm not saying your a bad writer, sister—" he paused, "but where is the bloodlust?" his hand smacked against the paper numerous times, dramatically showing what he meant.

"do better." he said, walking over to you, "i know you can." charlie released the paper from his hand. the paper had a slow descend to the floor, and you kept quiet as father mayhew dropped his towel to the floor without another word. it was like a fever dream. your eyes sinfully trailed down to the v right before his cock, it was a sight, and you were drinking it right up from the cup.

"like what you see?" father mayhew said teasingly while you held your lips taught together refusing to say anything to the tease. he leaned towards your face with a smug look, "say yes." he demanded of you.

"yes, father.. i like what i see." you said, almost ashamedly, bowing your head towards the ground, wishing no disrespect on jesus and god himself. father mayhew did something no catholic pastor would ever do to their nuns. remove their veil. as father mayhew pulled the veil away from your head, your pretty hair falling freely, watching your hair spread away from each other, father mayhew did something, he let out a groan of shear pleasure.

he cupped your jaw relishing in the fact you say before him, veil off and you didn't even fight him about it. "you look so good." father mayhew pushed his lips onto yours, enlightening something in your body were you just couldn't push away. and it was sad, really. you spent practically devoting yourself to staying pure for your future husband, but with charlie in the way, you didn't believe that would stay a true, unless you married him, of course. which that was definitely not happening. has he pulled away from your lips, a satisfying 'pop' filled the room, along with your slightly heavier breathing.

within the blink of the eye, you found your self being pushed up against the wall, right underneath the cross. without a chance to protest, he was bunching up your gown, pulling down your pantyhose before ridding you off your panties and pantyhose, discarding them on the floor. you were pinned in such an uncomfortable position, you let out a grunt, hinting at your discomfort. he rubbed a thumb over your clit impatiently, wanting to just destroy you, but poor thing, he knew you were a sweet thing, saving her self for marriage.

he massaged the bulb in a soothing circle, drawling a soft whimper from your lips, the stimulation was new to you, and it felt good, but you felt oh so sinful while it was happening. you should've said no. but it felt so good. you wanted to say no, but you clearly wanted this. he pushed his lips against yours, "father mayhew—"

his voice cut you off. "call me charlie." he whispered in against your lips, going back to pushing his lips against yours, his tounge swiping across your bottom lip, clearly hinting at what he wanted. you opened your mouth allowing him to enter. he pushed his tongue in your mouth, your tongues 'wrapping' around each other. with how well your tounge moved against his, people think you weren't a virgin.

charlie's thumb pressed against your bud once more, before slowly pushing a finger into your tight hole. you let out a soft whimper, rolling your head against the wall, hitting the cross ever so slightly. "fuck—" you moaned out, feeling his finger move in and out of you, picking up pace as he found it easier to move in and out. he slowly eased another finger into you, your whole body tensing as he did so. you could've burst on the spot.

"go ahead." charlie whispered hoarsely, like all the saliva in his mouth had dried up. "i know you want to." his tounge swiped across his bottom lip, wetting his lips. he slowed his pace as he noticed your body locking up, and as your body did so, you came, on his fingers, the thick white cream coating his fingers with a shiny cover. he brought his fingers to his mouth, using his teeth to eat the come. "it's so sweet, sister." he praised, "you did good."

he tapped open your mouth, sticking a finger in your mouth, "suck." your mouth worked skillfully around his finger, sucking the salty come off it. after cleaning your mess off his finger, his cock was painfully hard. he picked you up off the ground, your legs wrapping around his waist as you wrapped your legs around his hips, whilst keeping you pressed against the wall. he aligned himself to thrust into your tight hole, pushing the tip in.

when he pushed his cock in all the way, slowly easing it in and out of you, knowing it just had to hurt you so bad. you squeezed around him. charlie started to thrust into you, losing sight of what he said he was going to do, doing quite literally the opposite of what he said to himself. "feel so good around me." charlie praised. he slowed down his pace slowly when he felt his balls tighten, but there wasn't any way he was going to come unless you came first.

so, with little care, he sped his pace back up, bottoming you out. when he pulled himself back out, a small ring of blood cover the base of his cock, "cute." he muttered, "but 'm not finished yet." before pushing back in again. he was so happy. he was the one that got to deflower you, and you didn't say yes, but you didn't necessarily reject. your hands went to feel of his back, the fresh lacerations from the whip he used on himself a few days ago. as he moved in and out, occasionally re-bunching up your dress that would slip, he'd run soft circles on your cunt to speed up the process of making you come.

he loved the way he felt around you, the tight virgin. "father." you breathed out, grabbing onto his shoulders tighter for leverage. "'m so close." you said admittedly, your back arching away from the wall, feeling your body become looser as you came around his cock.

"that's my girl," he whispered, "i thought you'd never come." following a suit a few minutes after, he came as well, filling you with his warm, beautiful semen. of course that was when he started to daydream about you birthing his children, about being married happily ever after with you, and two beautiful kids. to be able to touch you without sin, but that was all a daydream. for now, at least.

he pulled out, allowing you away from the wall. he walked over the sink, wiping of the blood from the base of his cock, grabbing the white towel, wrapping it around his waist, watching you pull up your panties, then putting your pantyhose back on. he watched you slide on your high heels, standing up. "i should go fix the uh— review for you." you trotted out his room, quickly heading downstairs as you left charlie with a smile.

TAGS @mattsdolll. @sematarygirls. @beausling. @pr3ttyf4wn.

[auggieblogs]

"Totally worth it" | CL16

Charles Leclerc x reader Author's note: Hey, hiiii, loves. I hope you all are doing good!!! This fic is inspired by that one episode of "How I Met Your Mother"... you'll figure out which one. Happy reading, everyone<3

―୨୧⋆ ˚masterlist

The sound of footsteps echoed through the house, signalling Charles' return from the grocery store. You were curled up on the couch, feeling absolutely miserable with a cold and a slight fever. Your tissues were piled up beside you, and you had a blanket draped over your shivering form. The room felt cold despite the heater being on, and you couldn't help but sigh in discomfort.

Charles burst into the living room, carrying bags of your favourite snacks and a brown paper bag from the drug store. "I'm back, amor," he announced with a warm smile, placing the bags on the coffee table.

You smiled weakly in response, appreciating his effort to make you feel better. "Thank you, baby", you mumbled, your voice hoarse.

Charles came over, his brows furrowed with concern and felt your forehead. "You're still warm," he said softly. He then fetched a thermometer from the medicine cabinet and sat down beside you. "Open up for me, y/n." He gently placed the thermometer under your tongue and waited patiently. After a moment, he checked it and smiled, "Your fever has gone down a little bit."

You sighed in relief as he kissed your forehead, his lips warm and comforting. Charles turned on Gilmore Girls, and fluffed the pillows behind your head. He snuggled up beside you, gently kissing your knuckles.

As the day turned into evening, Charles decided it was time to make you some dinner. He headed to the kitchen, despite his terrible cooking skills, he was determined to make you some homemade chicken noodle soup. He had learned the recipe from his mother and hoped that he could manage it for your sake. You could hear him pottering about and occasionally muttering to himself.

Charles prepared the soup with love and care, making sure the broth was just right, the noodles were cooked to perfection, and the vegetables were tender. He even added a little extra seasoning, just the way you liked it.

He eventually returned with a steaming bowl of soup, a proud smile on his face. "Here you go, my love," he said, sitting beside you.

Now, I know I'm not the best cook," he admitted, "but this is the one dish my mum taught me to make. I hope it's not too terrible."

You couldn't help but laugh, a sound that turned into a coughing fit. Charles quickly handed you a glass of water before blowing on the soup to cool it down. He took a spoonful and carefully brought it to your lips. "Here, amor, let's see if it's edible."

You took a tentative sip, surprised by the taste. It was actually quite good. You nodded and smiled as Charles fed you spoonfuls, his eyes never leaving your face.

Once you had eaten, he gently wiped your mouth with a napkin and placed the empty bowl on the nightstand. Then, he tucked you back in bed, ensuring you were snug and comfortable.

He leaned in to kiss you goodnight, but you stopped him, concern in your eyes. "You don't want to kiss me, you'll get sick, Charlie."

He didn't say anything but held your face in his hands and kissed you sweetly. He'd risk a cold to take care of you.

Charles climbed into bed with you, a book in hand, and began to read aloud. His voice was soothing, and you slowly drifted off to sleep.

A few days later, it was his turn to succumb to the cold. You found him wrapped in a cocoon of blankets on the couch, looking miserable and adorable all at once. You prepared a warm bowl of soup and fed it to him, blowing on it just as he had done for you.

As you sat by his side, feeding him spoonfuls of soup, Charles couldn't help but smile through his stuffed nose.

"Totally worth it," he mumbled between bites, making you giggle.

[steviewashere]

Baby Blanket

Rating: General CW: Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Child Abandonment (as I think that's what it would technically be even if Steve is an adult at this point) Tags: Post-Canon, Future Fic, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic, Established Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Sick Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson Takes Care of Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Steve Harrington Has a Complicated Relationship With His Mom, Baby Blanket, Eddie Munson Loves Steve Harrington, Eddie Loves Him So Bad, Steve Harrington Loves Eddie Munson, Sad Steve Harrington, Cuddling & Snuggling For @steddieangstyaugust Day 15 Prompt: Childhood (apologies that I'm late, but this idea hit me very last minute on the 15th, oops!) Also, I didn't mean to describe Linus's (from Peanuts/Charlie Brown) blanket, but I sorta did?

🌡️—————🌡️ He’s careful about inserting the thermometer into Steve’s mouth. Even as the aforementioned guy coughs around it, jostling the little glass thing, nearly knocking it straight back down to the floor. But he’s prepared to keep it from crashing this time. No way is he going out to the store—again—to replace the damn thing.

“Breathe slow through your nose, sweetheart,” Eddie breathes, demanding lightly. “I know it’s hard to do right now, but we won’t get an accurate reading if you spit this thing out.” He cups his palms under Steve’s chin just in case, all too riled at the thought of having to be the catcher on the field. But it just ends up being a precautionary thing—as Steve, though rolling his eyes, does exactly what he’s told.

It’s a slow going process. The mercury inside working up, up, up as the time ticks away. A minute passes and Eddie knows that Steve is suppressing coughs. His eyes have gone watery and his cheeks, already flushed, glow a deeper and brighter terrible red. There’s got to be a huge wad of snot stuck half past and around the block in his right nostril, the feeble attempts at sucking in air are just that—feeble. And the deepest tell to Steve’s state is the awful, wet, raspy rattling croaking from his chest.

Inwardly, Eddie raises his fist at whatever god allowed the creation of the flu virus. And he shakes that fist for causing that damn virus to spread.

His watch beeps, two minutes up. And he gently pries the thermometer from Steve’s overly moist mouth, unlocking the hacking of his lungs, and the spray of his spit, and the miserable attempts to cover it all up with his elbow. Not like that would do anything, Eddie bitterly thinks, I already had this shit last week.

103 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Shit,” Eddie mutters. He sets the thermometer onto the coffee table. Reaches out for Steve’s shoulders and forces him back down onto his right side—half flopped already on the sofa, just needs to get his legs tucked back underneath him. And he pets a shaking hand over the exposed, goosepimpled, and overheated skin of Steve’s bicep. Usually, this muscle tank he’s got going on would be hot, but now it’s just…bleh. “Listen,” Eddie whispers, “if your fever doesn’t break by tomorrow morning, I have to take you to the hospital, okay?”

Steve gives a weak whine. Eyes closed, mouth twisted, shivering. “I don’t wanna,” he petulantly protests; but that’s not going to work on Eddie. Not this time, at least.

“I know,” Eddie murmurs, “I know, baby. But I’m serious this time. You’ve already been sick a while longer than I have. And you’re shaking like a leaf. And though you finally were able to keep down some crackers and soup—and water, thank god—you’ve barely had anything to eat. I’m just”—he sighs—“I’m worried, Steve. I’m worried this is something more than just the average flu.”

Another weak little sound, this time something like a sniffle. And when Eddie gets a clear look at Steve’s face, no longer buried into the soft throw pillow under his head, his heart begins to fracture. Tears streak Steve’s already ruddy, terribly warm cheeks. And his lips are quivering. And his eyebrows are quirked in an uncomfortable twist.

And Eddie hates this.

“Baby?” He calls to Steve.

“S-sorry,” Steve chokes out, “I don’t feel good.”

He brings his hand off of Steve’s bicep, instead cupping the back of his head. “Okay,” he softly says, “you don’t need to be sorry, baby. But thank you for telling me how you’re feeling. Can you tell me what doesn’t feel good? Maybe I can help fix it?”

For a long moment, Steve doesn’t say anything. Instead, he gets the last of his tears out of his system, lets Eddie hold him along his greasy hair, and continues to shiver through his whole body. Finally, he whispers, “Can you stay and…can you cuddle with me?” He doesn’t look Eddie in the eyes when he requests it. Doesn’t dare drag his sight off the loose threads of the throw pillows, strings that Eddie promised he would sew back straight when they were both feeling better. Steve takes another raspy, deep breath that physically pains Eddie to even hear. And then he tacks on, softer than before, “My mom used to when she still loved…” He sighs.

There’s not much to say to that, other than Eddie immediately and already agreeing. Because a cuddle with his boyfriend is as easy as breathing air for him. But they still haven’t touched on the sore subject that is Steve’s parents. Or Steve’s childhood, for that matter.

It’s not like there’s much reason to. Not when they’ve got a life outside of Hawkins now and have their own apartment and Steve hasn’t spoken to either of his parents in roughly three whole years. Not when they’ve learned to take responsibility for each other—both in the duty of making sure the other is safe and healthy, and in the sense that without the other, one of them just wouldn’t be. And it’s never time to talk about Steve’s parents when all they’ve done is push him aside, leave him second best to their work and social lives, and when they finally paid attention—they realized that having a certain type of kid (a word that they don’t repeat, an f word) hindered all the “work” they’ve done for the family they have.

Not that they’re family.

But they tried to act like one at some point.

“Of course, sweetheart,” Eddie whispers, “let’s get you to our room, okay? You want me to get anything else before I slip into bed with you?”

Again, Steve takes a moment of silence. Then, “I stole one of my mom’s blankets when we moved in here. It’s in the hall closet. Can I have that?”

“Yes, baby. What’s the pattern on it?”

Quietly, Steve answers, “My baby blanket. The blue one. It has my name embroidered on it.”

“I’ll grab it, I promise. Now, let me get you to bed and I’ll be with you in just a second.”

He easily and carefully picks Steve up from the couch. Not exactly light, but not heavy either. And shuffles the two of them down the hallway to their bedroom. Tucks Steve under just the top sheet, no comforter. Pushes hair away from his forehead and back behind his ear. Leaves a little kiss to his right cheek, the heat radiating onto Eddie’s lips.

Then, Eddie grabs what he needs: an ice pack from the freezer, a cold bottle of water, the container of cough syrup, and some Tylenol. It’s the baby blanket that’s harder to get. Not because it’s buried in the back of the closet. And not because it’s simply not there.

But it’s the way it lays between Eddie’s hands that really gets him.

It’s a pale blue. Something close to periwinkle. Has a light layer of fuzz and lint, as if it’s hardly been washed over the years. Too precious of cargo to run through the washing machine, and too hard to take away for a hand wash when Steve probably needed it all the time. The edges are frayed—strings loose, some of the stitching completely missing, a few tears that would never be sewn up to the original corner it’s meant to be. There’s a couple small stains on it, most likely from being dragged or even dropped in dirt. In the bottom right corner of the fabric is a name embroidered in off-white floss: Steve. Though, upon closer inspection, it appears one of the letters is missing. The only thing left in its wake is the shadow of what should’ve been an ’N.’ Like maybe it had been altered at some point.

The size of the thing pulls at Eddie’s heart strings, too.

Not a big one—like the quilt his mama made when he had turned three, though it wouldn’t fully cover him until he was ten (when she wouldn’t see him use it, but he tries hard not to think of that. Tries.). It’s not medium, either. No, this baby blanket is the perfect size for a baby; a newborn baby.

Underneath Eddie’s right index finger, he feels a soft tag on the back of the blanket. And when he flips it over, he spots exactly that. A tag. Not with care instructions like some of those store bought blankets—pre-determined with a name. No, it’s a screwy kind of tag. Made from obvious silk, scrap fabric, off-white, too, but yellowing from old age. And in a black, inky scrawl, it reads:

‘For you, my little prince. For my heart. I love you always. -Mommy’

And he didn’t want to cry, but he’s close to bursting with the need to. So, he shoves that little bit of emotion back inside, puts the blanket in the crook of his left elbow, and carries his haul back to their bedroom. Where he finds Steve in the same position: curled up on his left side, hands tucked under his chin, legs bent and ankles crossed, the top sheet pulled all the way up to his wrists, eyes glazed and looking at the empty left spot of the mattress where Eddie should be.

He puts the ice pack on the back of Steve’s neck, even if he’s met with a slight hiss and a half-assed wriggle away. But, thankfully, the fight can be put off because Steve stops trying to get away. To that, Eddie internally relieves a sigh. Twists the cap off of the bottle of water, but places it on Steve’s bedside table for him to reach later. The cough syrup and Tylenol go to Eddie’s table. But the baby blanket goes immediately to Steve, who takes it with quick, healthy movements.

Eddie can only lay himself under the top sheet, melting and softening at the sight of Steve bringing the blanket up close to his face, tucking one of the torn and frayed edges to his bottom lip. He runs the old fabric on his dry mouth, almost like he’s smearing kisses along the thing.

“Thank you,” Steve tiredly breathes.

Laying on his right side, Eddie has full access to Steve from where he is. He reaches out a gentle hand to the side of his boyfriend’s face, caresses his skin tenderly, and then pulls him close between his shoulder blades. Not quite tucked into Eddie’s warmth, but enough that they could share body heat. But he does tangle their legs together, just to give them contact, just to satiate some of what Steve needs.

Steve scoots even closer, though. Closer than how they should lay considering he’s got a temperature that nearly warrants a hospital visit. But Eddie lets him lay his head on his shoulder. Lets him puff warm air onto his neck. Lets him take.

“Eds?”

He hums questioningly.

A hard, yet slow intake of breath. “I miss my mom,” Steve admits quietly. So quietly, Eddie almost doesn’t hear him. But he does. Damnit, he does. “She’s not a bad person. She’s not…she’s not what my dad made her to be.”

“I know,” Eddie can only say, “I know, Stevie.”

“She love—s me.”

Eddie throws his left arm over Steve’s waist, brushes his hand over the small of Steve’s back. “Yeah?” He asks softly.

“Mhm,” Steve answers, “I know it.” Eddie can just feel the tickle of the baby blanket brush him. Like it’s being pulled even closer. “She made this for me. And she…she used to tell me stories. And she took care of me when I was sick.”

He has to bite his tongue, even as his fingers betray him—as they squeeze Steve at the utterance of those words. Because he knows better than to point out the ‘was’ in those sentences. He knows better than to make a point that Steve’s mom hasn’t even bothered to try and keep contact. Even when she was given a phone number—“For emergencies,” so Steve had said.

Though, that makes Eddie wonder if it was for emergencies at all.

Makes him wonder if it really meant, “Call me every once in a while. Don’t be a stranger.”

He can’t tell Steve, delirious and sick and sad Steve, that his mom is effectively a stranger now. Can’t do that. Can’t be the one to tell him that his mom is basically dead. And the evidence of that is her absence.

He can’t do that.

“Oh, she loves you so much, baby,” he lies.

Steve nods. His hair scraping the underside of Eddie’s jaw, dirty and heavy and prickly. “She does,” he agrees. Then, he goes silent again. His fingers running over the blanket, feet rustling under the top sheet, skin on skin, nasally breaths through a stuffed up nose. 

“Doesn’t she?” Steve asks later, quiet and low. Unsure.

🌡️—————🌡️

[gunnerfc]

Baby Fever | Steph Catley x Matildas!Reader

Summary: having young children around during camp has you and your wife thinking about the future 

Warnings: just fluff!! Which is the complete opposite of my last steph fic LMAO

WC: 1.3K - a tad short but wanted to have something posted this week! 

AN: two steph fics back to back…. Just love her very much i fear 🤧

Being in camp with some of your closest friends and your wife was always a fun experience. You were thrilled to be back in camp, playing the sport you loved with the people you loved. However, recently there has been a specific thought in the back of your head about you and Steph expanding your family. It didn’t help that two of your teammates had adorable kids that usually came to camp with them.

Here you were, sitting with some of your teammates after a long day of training watching Kyra and Charli playing with Harper. The small girl’s giggles filled the room as she tried to escape Kyra’s grasp. You watched from your spot on a couch with a fond smile on your face at their interactions. 

“You and Steffy are next then yeah,” Caitlin’s voice pulled you from your thoughts about what it would be like seeing Steph play with your kids.

You turned to face the forward, offering a light shrug in response before mumbling a “maybe.” You and Steph have talked about kids before you were engaged and it was something you both wanted, you just weren’t sure when. With it being an Olympic year, you knew it wouldn’t be any time soon and that was fine and you knew this was a conversation that needed to be revisited. 

The next few days before the game, it seemed that no matter where you went, you saw parents with their young kids having the best time. It was like the universe was trying to make your baby fever worse than it already was. You had decided to bring it up to Steph the next time you two got a moment to yourselves, which with the hectic pre-game schedule wasn’t until you were sat next to her in the locker room after warm-ups.

“My love,” you started as you leaned closer to her. “I think we should have a baby,” your voice was low enough for only Steph to hear but with the loud chatter and music filling the room, you could have spoken normally and no one would have heard you.

Steph, who is in the process of retying her boot, jerked her head up and almost hit you. Her eyes were wide at your words but before she could form a response, Tony was ushering the team into a huddle for a quick speech before walkouts.

Was telling Steph you wanted to have kids right before a match your brightest idea? No. but if you didn’t say anything soon then you were going to go crazy. Your words stuck with the defender throughout the match and she tried her hardest to shake them, needing to focus on the game.

Steph wanted kids with you as well, and she’d be lying if seeing how much the team loved Harper and Harley didn’t make her want kids more. She just was not expecting you to say that right before you walked out onto the pitch for a game. The Matildas came away with a three-to-one win over New Zealand and as the final whistle blew, you were jumping in her arms, celebrating your goal that she assisted. 

“I’m so proud of you, pretty girl,” Steph swooned, her arms tightening around your waist. 

Your arms tightened around her neck as your face flushed at the pet name. It didn’t matter that the two of you had been together for years and were married, every time Steph called you a cute pet name, you felt the same as you did when you first started dating.

“Couldn’t have done without you, baby,” you whispered in her ear as you pulled back slightly, your eyes locking with hers. Normally, you would have been hesitant about bold PDA moves but in that moment you didnt care as you pulled your wife into a kiss.

Over the loud cheers from the crowd, you could hear Kyra and Charli mocking you and Steph and the teasing comments from Caitlin and Hayley to “get a room.” You giggled into the kiss before pulling away and subtly flipping off your teammates. 

You heard your name being called by a staff member to come do a quick post-match interview and you groaned into Steph’s shoulder, you didn’t want to let go of her.

“Go, we’ll talk back at the hotel,” the defender smiled as she lightly pushed in the direction of the staff member. You took a deep breath at her words, knowing she was referencing what you said before the game. 

You weren’t expecting anything bad but you were nervous about the big step you and Steph would be making soon. The interview went by quickly and you were once again in the locker room, this time freshly showered and in comfortable clothes. Steph had waited for you to take a shower and change before you two joined your teammates on the bus. 

The ride back to the hotel was quieter than normal, everyone feeling the effects of long training sessions mixed having played over ninety minutes. Your head was resting on Steph’s shoulder as your eyes fluttered closed from exhaustion. “Sleep. I’ll wake you when we get there, pretty girl,” Steph whispered as she gave you a small kiss on the top of your head.

A few minutes later, the defender was lightly shaking you awake, whispering that you were at the hotel. You blinked a few times to wake yourself up before light stretching your arms as you waited for your teammates in front of you to move down the aisle. Taking Steph’s hand you exited the bus and made your way through the lobby. Before you could reach the elevator, Steph pulled you towards the hotel's indoor pool, she figured it would be a relaxing way to talk since you weren’t roommates this camp.

As you two reached the entrance, a family exited the pool room laughing. You were sure the universe was just teasing you now. The indoor pool was empty after the family left, which made things a bit more peaceful for you and Steph. The two of sat on the edge of the pool with your feet in the cool water.

You sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying just being in your wife’s presence. Steph was in an intense staring contest with the reflections in the water, her mind racing with similar thoughts to yours.

“I know we’ve talked about kids,” you started, breaking the silence. Steph turned her head in your direction, giving you her full attention. “But, seeing the team, and you, with Harper and Harley this camp has me thinking about us, and when we will be parents. And, it's like the universe is trying to tell me something because every time we leave this hotel, all I can notice are families having the best time and I want that,” you rushed out, taking a deep breath when you were finished.

Steph watched as you rambled with a small smile on her face, she was over the moon at the thought of starting a family with you. “Obviously, I know it can't happen now, we have the Olympics and the rest of the season to focus on but after, maybe we could start then,” you offered when Steph hadn’t said anything.

“I want nothing more than for us to have a family. I couldn’t tell you the number of times I've watched you with kids, picturing you with our kids,” the defender mumbled as she thought about it again. 

“After we win the gold medal and the league, we’ll start then,” Steph confirmed your earlier statement with a promising tone. Your face lit up at her words as you scooted closer to pull her into a deep kiss.

You pulled apart when air became an issue and leaned back with a content sigh. “I know you’ll be great with kids, my love,” you said before a teasing smirk that Steph knew meant you were going to say something unserious. “Plus, you’ll also be a milf!” you smirked, watching Steph roll her eyes at your words.

You two had some time to figure out everything about expanding your family, but for now, you were going to live through your teammates who brought their kids to camp, knowing soon you and Steph would have your own kids to love and adore.

[goldenseresinretriever]

One Man’s Trash

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Reader

Part of the San Diego Dogfighters universe but can be read as a stand-alone

CW: Angst, fluff, suggestive language, medical inaccuracies, hockey inaccuracies etc. No use of Y/N.

Word Count: 3.4k

Series Masterlist

“Bunny come on, just consider it.”

“Jake Seresin,” you place your hands on your hips and try your best to keep a stern expression on your face as your boyfriend gives you puppy eyes rivaling those of the actual dogs on the screen in front of him. This discussion has been occurring more and more often and you’re starting to feel your resolve slipping. Jake wants another dog. With you so early on in your career, you’d expressed your desire to wait to get married and have kids until you’ve had time to get your feet under yourself, and Jake, ever the respectful partner, had supported and agreed with your decision. An unforeseen side effect, however, was that instead of baby fever, your boyfriend has come down with a severe case of puppy fever. He spent every spare moment looking at shelter websites and showing you photo after adorable photo of puppies up for adoption.

It’s not that you don’t want another dog. You love Pudding but she’s always going to feel like Jake’s dog, no matter how much the two of you love each other, to the point that Jake constantly complains that she likes you more than him. And the house is more than capable of housing another pup. Even with its single-floor layout, the backyard is open to the beach and it's perfect for a dog. And yet despite all that, you can’t help the guilt that gnaws at your heart at the idea of leaving yet another dog at home when you and your boyfriend are busy jetting around the continent for work, sometimes for weeks at a time. Sure, right now you had an ideal situation with your parents being empty nesters just two hours away in Anaheim, and more than willing to babysit Pudding while the two of you were out of town, but that was an arrangement formed out of necessity. Willingly bringing another dog into your anything-but-consistent lifestyle made you feel like a bad parent. It was another reason you were holding off on kids. Jake, of course, who was more used to this lifestyle didn’t feel that same guilt the way you did and he’d even gone so far as to bring it up when you were at your parents’ house for dinner last. Your parents enthusiastically expressed their support and willingness to take care of yet another dog should you choose to get one. You know part of that is due to the fact that your parents have decided that despite being their youngest child, you’re likely going to be the source of their first grandchild. They want to be as supportive of your and Jake’s relationship as possible to get to that point since Charlie is married to his job and Tucker’s currently single and busy with his career.

You watch Jake’s brow furrow and feel a different stab of guilt in your chest. You don’t mean to be so cold to him but you just want him to consider your point of view and reservations. The smart thing to do would be to wait until the off-season at least before taking on a new member of your family, but he’s insatiable. “Fine, Bugs,” he says and you feel your heart squeeze at the coldness in his tone. He closes the laptop and gets up from the counter. You feel frustrated tears making your nose tight. You don’t want to fight with Jake but he can just be so damn stubborn sometimes, and while it’s one of your favorite qualities in him, it’s also been a point of contention in your relationship.

You’re left alone in the kitchen, fighting back the tears until a wet nose presses into your hand and you look down, blinking past the tears to smile at Pudding, who’s gazing up at you with concern in her honey eyes. You squat down and wrap your arms around her fluffy neck, burying your face in her fur as the tears escape. She nuzzles you gently, placing a paw on your bent knee, whining softly in concern. When your tears finally stop, you decide to take some space to breathe and grab your keys and Pudding’s leash. You load her into the back seat of your new SUV. Your heart aches at the memory of Jake surprising you with it for your birthday. He’d been chiding you about getting a new car longer than you'd been dating but you’d been hesitant to spend the money, so after a careful line of questioning and a few times he’d been able to coax you to test drive some cars for the hell of it, he’d surprised you with the forest green SUV that was bigger than you needed but Jake insisted it was a safer option than a car.

You feel your heart pinch again as you drive to the nearest dog park, wishing Jake was with you. Going to the dog park as a little family was one of your favorite things to do on your precious days off and you can’t help but feel his absence like a dull ache in your chest. You hate fighting with Jake. By the time you get to the park, you’re ready to turn right back around and go home but you can tell that Pudding’s excited even if she can tell that something’s wrong.

You manage to play for about an hour or so before wrapping up with a long walk around the park and heading home as the sun begins to sink below the horizon. Jake’s not home when you return and your heart sinks. You’re eager to set things right with him, but you force yourself to cook dinner, leaving some out for him, before climbing in the shower. The tears come again, then, at the idea that Jake may not be coming home tonight. Your shoulders shake with sobs as the shower water mixes with your tears. When you finally leave the shower, the water has long since run cold and you get dressed for bed in a daze, exhaustion sitting heavy on your bones.

When you pad out of the bathroom, however, your heart lifts at the sight of Jake sitting in bed, reading whatever coach’s biography he was currently working through. He doesn’t seem to have noticed your presence, that or he’s ignoring you, and if that’s the case you can’t take it. You approach the bed cautiously, climbing in, and Jake starts, “Hey Bunny, how was your sh-“ he’s cut off as you scoot across the bed at lightning speed and curl against his side, inhaling his scent and letting it ground you even as you shudder against him. “Bunny? What’s going on, sweetheart?” He puts the book down, his full attention on you as you don’t answer, and simply curl closer. Jake pulls his arm free from under you and wraps it around your shoulder and you feel your body relax into his touch.

“I’m sorry, Jake.” You blurt and hate the way it sounds wet and weepy as your tears flow once again. He stiffens underneath you and then his other hand reaches for your chin, guiding your face up to his so he can see the tears coursing down your cheeks, alarm in his eyes.

“Sorry for what? Bunny, what’s going on?” You blink, surprise stopping your tears as confusion takes over.

“For earlier, about the dog,” you blubber tearfully. “I hate fighting with you and I should have been more patient-“

“Fighting with me? Bunny, I’m not mad at you,” he says, surprise lighting his eyes flecked with pain. “Was I frustrated in the moment? Yes, but I’m not mad at you sweet girl, I could never be mad at you over something like that.” You blink up at him.

“Then where did you go? You were gone so long I thought you weren’t coming home tonight,” his eyes widen and he wraps his other arm around you, pulling you closer.

“Oh Bunny, I told you this morning I was golfing with the guys this afternoon and we’d probably do drinks after.” You’d completely forgotten about that. “I figured you and Pudding went out to have a girls’ day, I didn’t realize you were upset or I wouldn’t have gone, I’m sorry.” You shake your head against his chest.

“No, I’m sorry, I should have articulated better and not just assumed you were angry at me. And I really am sorry Jake, about telling you no about the puppy. It’s been just as hard for me as it has been for you.” You pause and Jake seems to know you have more to say so he waits patiently. “I haven’t been fair to you. I know I’m asking a lot to wait before we have kids, and you’ve been so respectful of that. And I know this is a natural compromise but I can’t help but think about how irresponsible it feels right now and… it makes me feel like a bad mom.” Your voice gets softer at the end but you know he heard you as he pulls back so he can look you in the eye.

“Bunny, first I want you to know that you should never feel guilty about wanting to wait to have kids. You’re right, neither of us are ready for that right now. I’m lucky enough to have a girlfriend that travels with me to my games, if I had to trade that for kids? I’d pick you every time. Kids can wait, I want to enjoy you, just you, for a little bit longer. Second, I know you just want what’s best for us and this puppy, and I know I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on you to make this happen sooner rather than later and I’m sorry. I know you’re right about waiting until the off-season and I’m sorry I haven’t been receptive.” He leans in to press a kiss between your eyes. “Third, you’re not a bad mom. You never will be, not when you care this much. You’re not impulsive, you’re level-headed and you care so much it hurts you. You’re such a good mom to Pudding and you’re going to be the perfect mom to our future puppy and kids.”

You sniffle, leaning back down to lay your head on Jake’s chest. “I really do want a puppy, you know? I want to raise them together, and I don’t want to miss a single second of it, which is why I want to wait. So know that as much as you want to get one as soon as possible, so do I, the timing just isn’t right right now.” Jake nods above you.

“I know, sweet girl.” He kisses the top of your head. “You know I love you, don’t you?” You nod.

“I know, and I love you too, Jake.”

“That’s my girl. We’re a team, even when we disagree, remember that. And we’re not going to make any decisions for this team without agreeing about it first, okay?” You nod again and he eases the two of you down to lay down in bed, reaching over to turn off the lamp.

***

Two weeks later, you’re running late. You’re supposed to be meeting Jake and the rest of the team at a restaurant downtown now that the game in Anaheim is over. You would have driven up with Jake but you had some things to finish up in San Diego before the game against the Ducks that evening in Anaheim. The guys had decided to drive to the game instead of taking the jet since it’s basically local and they were anxious to spend a day at home after a long road trip even if they had one last road game before the next stretch in San Diego. You’re wrapping up the last of your preparations, Pudding at your side. She doesn't usually attend away games but your parents came to the game and brought her so she can come home with you and Jake after almost two weeks apart. Jake had offered to take Pudding with him but she’d been glued to your side to his dismay. Now she’s waiting patiently as you load up your gear and various forgotten articles you’d found during a final sweep of the locker room. You swing the trunk shut, ready to be on your way.

You turn to Pudding but she’s nowhere in sight and you panic suddenly, turning to look around the deserted parking garage in fear as you call out for her. You hear a yip in response and follow the sound to a large dumpster in one corner of the garage. Pudding’s jumped on top, balancing on the one open lid, and she’s digging around inside, a distressed whine coming from her as you approach. You’re confused. While you and Pudding have become quite close, you haven’t quite managed to grasp the meaning of all her various noises.

“Pud, what’s wrong, honey?” You ask tentatively as he just whines louder and digs more. You approach the dumpster, trying to see what she’s so upset over. Those aren’t her hungry noises, you know that. When you get closer, she grabs your sleeve with her teeth, dragging you even closer and your brow furrows in concern. Something’s definitely wrong. When Pudding realizes you don’t understand, she huffs before jumping into the trash and you let out a yell of surprise. She digs around in the trash and before you can shout at her to get out her head disappears under the trash. You start calling for her frantically, considering whether you should climb in after her when she starts to resurface and that’s when you hear it. It’s weak and muffled but the whimpers are clear as day once you catch the sound. Pudding’s head comes back up and clutched gently in her teeth is the scruff of a puppy. You let out a cry of surprise as you reach out instantly and Pudding gives you a knowing look before passing you the puppy.

He’s skinny, too skinny and there are cuts and tiny sores on his grayish blue body but you recognize him to be a pitbull puppy and his distressed whimpers and whines tell you he’s terrified. You pull him close, curling around him protectively as Pudding pulls herself out of the dumpster and jumps down next to you. You give him a basic once-over before calling to Pudding and heading to the car. He needs to go to the vet for a proper checkup but from what you can tell, he’s okay.

***

You’re pacing around the exam room. The vet’s cleared the little puppy and prescribed him some medicine to help with the sores. Pudding has climbed up on the exam table and is licking at the tiny puppy lovingly, and he seems to be comfortable with her if not still very anxious. You don’t blame him, it’s a new place with new people and he was abandoned in a dumpster before this. He lets out a little whine and you stop your pacing, making your way over to the two dogs, squatting so you’re eye-level with them before smiling at the little guy. You reach out a hand to stroke his tiny head and he licks your fingers as you giggle. Your heart clenches as you spot the dark patch on his chest that looks a little like a heart.

You’re enjoying the moment when Jake bursts through the door to the room, worry on his face. He turns to you instantly.

“Is she okay, what happened?” You’d texted him letting him know you’d be late or possibly miss dinner due to an emergency trip to the vet. You stand up, giving him a shy smile as you gesture to the little pup curled under Pudding’s chin.

“Meet Taz,” you whisper and he whips his head around in confusion until his eyes find the little gray bundle, widening in surprise. He squats down then, reaching a tentative finger out to stroke Taz’s tiny head.

“Hey there little buddy,” he whispers softly and Taz rubs up against his hand. Jake’s face breaks into a grin and scratches behind his ears gently. “Where’d you find this little angel?” Jake asks, turning to look up at you. You shake your head.

“I didn’t, Pudding did. He was buried in a dumpster in the Ducks’ parking garage. Pain passes across Jake’s face as he turns back to the dogs, reaching his other hand to scratch Pudding’s head.

“Good girl, you did so good,” he praises and you can’t help the smile that creeps up your cheeks. “You’re ready to be big sister, huh?” He asks, turning back to you. “So, Taz?” There’s more than one question in his eye and you nod.

“Like the Tasmanian Devil, since we’re already Bugs and Lola.” You shrug as he grins. “I know we talked about waiting, but I feel like we found him for a reason,” you give him a nervous look, “if you’re ready that is?” Jake’s eyes soften, leaning down to kiss Taz’s little head before standing to wrap you in his arms, kissing your head next.

“I’m ready if you are, Bunny.” You nod against his chest.

“I think I am,” you smile and pull back to see Jake smiling too.

“Then I guess our family’s growing by one,” he says, reaching down to scoop up Taz as he ruffles Pudding’s fur with his other hand, his arm looped around you, and you curl against his side, smiling contentedly.

The door to the exam room opens and the doctor walks in, smiling. “You must be Dad, what’s the verdict?” She looks excitedly between the two of you and you smile, leaning back against Jake as he presses another kiss to your head shamelessly.

“We’re keeping him,” Jake confirms and she grins at him, clapping her hands excitedly.

“Congratulations! I’m having my nurses draw up some paperwork and then we can talk about whether you want to get his preliminary vaccinations taken care of today or if you want to wait to take him to your family vet.”

***

That night you’re exhausted by the time you get home. Jake stopped by the pet store to grab some necessities for Taz while you took the puppies home. You left Taz in Pudding’s care while you hopped in the shower. When you pad back into the living room, Jake’s sitting on the floor next to a smaller dog bed he’s placed right by Pudding’s that Taz is currently exploring while Jake watches. You walk up behind him, pressing your legs to his back.

“Hey, did you get everything?” Jake nods, tilting his head back to look up at you. You return his fond smile as you sit down next to him and Taz nervously trots over to you and you scoop him up, nuzzling him against your cheek.

“Hi, sweet boy, are you getting all settled in?” You coo softly and you can feel Jake watching. He places a kiss to the part of your shoulder that’s bared by his shirt being too big on you.

“See Bunny? You’re not a bad mom.” He whispers against your skin and you feel your heart squeeze. “Thank you,” he says then you turn to look at him, pulling Taz against your chest where he snuggles in.

“For what?” You ask as Jake lays his forehead against yours.

“For growing this family of ours, and for bringing us something that’s truly ours equally.”

“Well it didn’t seem fair that you’re outnumbered by the girls in your own home,” you tease and he bumps his nose against yours playfully.

“Something tells me he’s going to be a momma’s boy and then you’ll all still outnumber me anyway,” you giggle at that.

“Well if it makes you feel better, I think Pudding has the two of us beat for favorite,” you point out as Taz wiggles out of your grip as Pudding comes over to lie on her bed and then he’s attempting to climb onto it beside her. She watches for a few moments before giving in and reaching over to grip the scruff of his neck between her teeth gently and lifting him up onto the bed. He immediately snuggles up against her and she nuzzles his tiny head with her nose.

You see Jake watching them with a fond look in his eye and lean over to kiss his cheek. “You’re MY favorite, though. Always will be.” He smiles at that.

“You’re my favorite too, Bunny.” The two of you watch as the puppies snuggle up next to each other and you swear you feel your heart grow a size bigger as your family does too.

[weebsinstash]

More poly LuciLili ideas since you guys really liked the ones where they get Reader pregnant

-I really like the idea of Reader, in the very beginnings of the relationship, where you don't know they're "out to get you" yet, that you come across Lilith in a rocking chair, crocheting or knitting, like, little baby socks or a little baby hat, and she knows you're getting baby fever (and has already talked to Luci about it) and you start talking to her and she's just like "this is for a very good friend of mine. She's going to be having her first baby soon :)" and then timeskip to around 12 months later when you have your baby and she gifts you the same socks and you're just like ".... HEY! >:(" and are a little mad but not that mad, in fact maybe you're so in deep at this point you're smitten they were thinking of you the whole time

- I just. I really REALLY like the idea of Reader having a premature delivery so you give birth and the baby is super small just like its dad 🥺❤️ like Lucifer being genuinely excited he's having his first son and looking so forward to seeing how big it's gonna be and you get this, this cute little bean,and he ADORES his baby but, just the idea of a little tiny preemie Morningstar 🥺❤️

-I love the idea of Lilith completely going over Lucifer's head if "she knows" the best or whatever. Oh she thinks Reader is the best for Lucifer? She'll pull all those strings to shove her husband at you; drug him, swap places with you during sex, give him weird horny dreams, invite you to their Garden of Eden dream dimension where you've got your beav out. I still think of plucking berries off a bush and, you all, idk, wind up lickong the berry juices off of each other's fingers and stuff... brewing wine and getting drunk and swimming in a river... frolicking like little spring fairies

-Reader who starts getting their heart broken over the fake Eden dreams because you wake up missing "your lovers" and you go out to a bar and fuck actual people and they're so deep in your fucking head that you regret it. It feels like cheating. All you can think of is your Lily and Ducky and how you want them instead 🥺❤️ and they're not even. Real. At least the versions you're dreaming about. That you don't know ARE the real ones.

-babysitters Fizzy and Ozzie and idc what you say. They love your baby and adore being fun gay uncles and it may even lowkey make them wanna adopt a baby of their own

- you know who is the happiest here. CHARLIE. A new parent, her very own baby brother, and her family and friends are closer than ever? It's a happy day in Hell! Never for a SECOND does she have "am I being replaced with the new baby" anxiety. She's thrilled and even starts asking her mom if SHE'S gonna have another baby (and that milf freak may reply that she'd consider it if YOU got pregnant again. The two of you could be pregnant together--)

-I feel like carrying the son of the devil would give you some. Interesting cravings. It's two in the morning and Alastor finds you with handfuls of raw meat and blood dripping down your chin and he's bursting out laughing, "suddenly I'm not the only one!"

-i can just picture Heaven getting the memo that Lucifer has created another child and there's tons of angels freaking out and trying not to cause a panic and, God is there "you know what? good for him, good for him". Adam and Sera are tearing their fucking hair out and God is like. Contemplating sending a gift basket.

-I feel like there's added layers if Reader was somehow a former wife of Adam but can you even imagine. Lucifer steals not one. Not two. Three of your wives. He fucking dies and his soul is in Hell and that's already torture enough and he finds his wife again and she's. Pregnant with Lucifer's child. This man would have a Kubrick level menty b (but I prefer human reader having mad supernatural pull game lol)

[zippidi-dooda]

"Charlie, hello again!" You smiled, hanging your stethoscope around your neck.

The man in question walked over to you, holding a small bundle in his arms.

"What seems to be the issue this time?"

Chuckling, he grabbed your arm and led you towards your office, "nothin' too major, I don't think. But you'll probably want to keep the door closed for the other patients."

Concerned, you frowned and allowed him to close the door behind you, going over to the sink to thoroughly wash your hands.

"Place 'em on the bed there and tell me what's been going on."

"Well, ya see, I found this gal on my way to ...."

You listened to Charlie explain the situation, pulling on a pair of latex gloves and grabbing your usual tools for the job.

You weren't sure what he'd brought in this time or what ailment you'd have to treat, but you believed you had been accustomed enough to his spread of injuries and illnesses you'd be able treat this one no problem.

"Alright, let's see what's up with you old girl." You lifted the heat resistant blanket from the bundle that had been placed on the bed.

And then, laying in the fluffy heap, your eyes locked onto the golden eyes of a scaley, iguana sized creature huffing before you.

"Charlie," you mustered out, voice low and cool, "why am I looking at a dragon?"

"Well, hopefully to help her out. Now, her breed is normally prone to blowing plumes of fire so we should go carefully about this, but she hasn't exactly been too energetic since I found her. She is-"

You looked at him, raising a hand, "That's not what I mean, Charlie. Why did you bring her here? I know I've helped you out many times before but I've never handled a dragon before! What happened to the reserve's doctor?"

He breathed out a laugh, running a hand through his curly red locks. "She's been out and no one's been able to reach her. Look, you know I'd have checked in with her first if I could've. I care deeply about these guys, I'm not careless."

You pinched the bridge of your nose. "I'm aware of that. But there wasn't anyone else you could've went to? Someone more qualified and experienced to handle her?"

"You were the first person I thought of. She has a high fever, there's swells along her snout, and her wing's out of sorts. I was able to splint it but I think we'd both feel more at ease if you took a look at her. Please, Y/N, there has to be something you can do."

You couldn't help sighing at his plea, freckled face curled into a hopeful pout.

"Step back, Weasley," you raised the heart of the stethoscope, "I'll see what I can do."

You did your usual checkup and routine care for the small thing, getting down to the root of the problem, and soon enough the poor baby was fast asleep.

You cleaned up, tossing out your gloves, and gave the rundown to Charlie.

"Her wing fracture had been infected, which explains the fever and why you found her so drousy. I'm not sure how long she's been like this, but everything is stable now."

You jotted down in your clipboard.

"You did good with the splint, I dont expect there to be any complications with her wing development. Just keep it on her for a while and have her take some of this alongside her meals, okay," you handed him a prescription. "Oh, and make sure you check in with her regular doctor as soon as you get the chance."

Charlie grinned, kneeling next to the bed. With a finger, he stroked the dragon's head softly eliciting a rumbly purr from her chest.

"She's already looking better. You're a natural at this, Y/N!"

"Please, Charlie, don't surprise me like this again." You frowned.

He reached out to you, pulling you down to his side. "Ehe, don't know if I can do that."

"Charlie."

"But, I will work on having another specialist called to work with us down at the reserve. In case something like this happens again. I honestly don't know where the old nurse went ...."

You watched the small puffs of smoke float from the dragon's nostrils as she snored.

"I'm just glad I was able to do something."

"Well, you did take a bloody long time to get started."

You glared from the corner of your eye.

He laughed, draping an arm around your shoulder, drawing you close. "I'm kidding! Sorta. You did great, doll. Say ... you ever think about working with me at the reserve? We were just about looking to take in more pretty vets like you to help out."

You rubbed your temple. "Oh my lord."

He took your chin to look at you. "I'm serious."

"L/N, we have that appointment waiting for you at ... oh, my. I'll just ... tell them you'll be a minute."

[beforeimdeceased]

🗝️ MUSINGS OF THE HEART 🕯️

a slew of love letters are discovered decades later revealing a love affair between a woman and her brother’s wife.

based on the love letters between virginia wolf and vita sackville-west.

to darling,

i hope this letter finds you well. to much dismay i must inform you of the passing of our beloved family pet, charlie. i remember a great deal of our time together in which you enjoyed his company. how is your heart? mine is a slew.

it is not just the passing of charlie, though i do miss him. i must confess i believe i am suffering from a defect of madness. i cannot sleep, your name is glued to the inside of my cheek. i miss you so feverently that i bite until i draw blood.

how are the babies? give them my best.

adorned,

your abagail.

📜

to dear,

i’m most sorrowed to hear of the passing of our beloved charlie. he was most admired in my heart as a force to be reckoned with. missing one eye and a limp in one leg but he never let it stop him.

i wish most ardently that you did not have to wait until the second paragraph to devote your love to me. i wish it was splattered in ink on all of my perfect and prestigious dresses. you have ruined my white gown with your bloody love. i couldn’t ask for a better person to destroy me.

i cannot speak much of life here with manuel. he is kind and noble, you know this, but is most certainly not you. i miss our passionately paced — loosely placed kisses in the […] but most of all, i miss your eyes.

you are a craving i simply cannot get rid of. we are visiting the farm in a month, prepare for me.

forever,

your y/n

📜

✑

a stolen glace is much too subtle for abby, she has to stare at you head on. you’re left agast, drinking in her shamelessness.

it doesn’t take another stern stare down to tell you that abby wants to talk to you. you’ve already excused yourself to a far corner of the house, cursing yourself at your impoliteness. doesn’t every hosts wife want to escape the party? it isn’t exactly an honorable soirée, there isn’t much cheese left to pair with grapes and wine.

speaking of wine, your drunken whines echo against the walls of the coat closet you find yourself pushed into. abby wasted no time, a lustrous tone darkening the sweet things she was saying.

“i missed you.” had translated to “i know you haven’t been touched in forever.”

and “you’re beautiful.” had found itself becoming “you’re intoxicating” on her hungry lips. there was no other place you’d want to be right now.

tangled in a web of ecstasy, your body anticipating her touch. every second mattered. if you did not have her right then and there, you’d grow ill from wanting.

and of course, just as her lips are trailing sweet kisses down your neck, your name is called down the hall.

[everythingisawayoflife]

random dead poets headcanons - modern au

i feel like all i do is crank out headcanons and not actually write (even though i definitely have a dps fic that needs updating…) anyway heres dps headcanons

i always start with neil and i think its cause he’s my baby and i like to think i just #get him anyway - neil love gilmore girls. a lot. i know next to nothing about gilmore girls so i couldnt tell you who his favorite rory boyfriend is but he will die on the hill that lane and dave deserved to be together

knox has run through the most phones because he always drops them in the toilet - he keeps loads and loads of rice, not for eating, but just in case he needs to make a last minute apple genius bar to fix his phone - its worked like 25% of the time

meeks works at a barnes and noble. he clocks so many hours there because he just loves working there. his barnes and noble has two floors.

neil and ginny host the tonys watch party every year. its one of those things thats always a fever dream. the best but also worst party was the 2017 tonys when great comet was up against dear evan hansen. if you so much as mention great comet to either of them, they will either devolve into crying, longwinded ranting, or put the entire album on and explain it to you

charlie is a gleek. a diehard gleek. he relates to santana on a spiritual level and can quote the iconic santana/quinn hallway fight verbatim in his sleep as well as her rant to kurt

todd has the job stability comparable with trish from austin and ally. he only gets a steady one when meeks recommends him for barnes and noble. they work all their shifts together. its incredible.

the poets have a quizbowl team at their favorite bar - each of them have their knowledge strengths and they have an ongoing win streak of four weeks (which at their bar, the prize is free drinks. so. do with that what you will)

pitts is an avatar: the last airbender purist (i mean who isnt tbh) and self-identifies with the earthbenders

cameron becomes THAT film nerd who swears tarantino is his god and that pulp fiction is the greatest movie of all time but he doesnt actually believe that - his favorite movie is the obscure animated film “we’re back! a dinosaur’s story” (1993)

[a-hazbin-reader]

Please. Alastor x single mom?

Oh my god and imagine how he’d give her the best Mother’s Day ever after years of just her waking up to a normal day aside from her baby giving her a macaroni necklace or a card and now she’s waking up to a breakfast in bed and a day to relax I’m not getting emotional you are

Okay, but y'all are giving me baby fever fr with these asks

Alastor X Reader Headcanons

✅️Romantic

❌️Platonic

TW: F L U F F, A little bit of sex towards the end but a very small amount

Description: ☝️⬆️

Whether or not you were a mother when you were alive, you certainly were one now. You took in and protected as many children sinners you could because nobody else would

You took care of toddlers all the way up to teenagers, it was an exhausting and thankless job but you don't think you could ever quit

Not when one of your kids comes crying to you because they scraped their knee, or they had their first heartbreak, or they had a nightmare

How any of them ended up down here was baffling to you, especially the youngest ones

You protected your family fiercely and have even gone toe to toe with overlords to keep your kids safe, earning you a reputation for being a mama bear

You loved being their mother and wouldn't give it up for anything, no matter your own sins

So when one of your little ones goes missing, you're panicking and searching everywhere for her. You spend all day trying to find her and asking anybody if they've seen her

After hours of searching, one of your teenagers calls you, telling you they found her but that you need to come home immediately. You don't need to hear anything more

When you get home, you find your little girl sitting in the lap of Charlie Morningstar, Hell's Princess. All your kids are gathered around her while she tells them about her hotel

Something you had been trying not to let them know about because you didn't want to get their hopes up only to be heartbroken. It was cruel

Not to mention the shady characters that probably stay there.

So imagine your irritation when all your children suddenly swarm you and start begging to stay at the hotel. Each one excited and hopeful to learn how to go to heaven

You can't tell them no so you try to dissuade them but they insist on going so you allow it. It's very reluctant agreement though.

You try to keep all your children close to you once you enter the hotel and see the others. Let's see, an angelic exorcist, a p0rnstar, a tiny murderous maid, a drunk bartender and one of the most deadly overlords around

You were unimpressed, and it showed as you held your kids a little tighter, not even hearing Charlie excitedly telling you about all the amenities

You have a difficult time letting your kids sleep so far away from you, all of them excited to get their own rooms. You often check on them throughout the night

More than once, Alastor has caught you peeking into their bedrooms to make sure they're still safe in their beds

You startle when you hear his amused laughter, nearly bumping right into his chest as you close the door behind you

"Nobody is going to eat them while they're asleep, you know."

You can't help but feel defensive, crossing your arms and giving Alastor a withering look

"That's not funny coming from you."

His smile only gets wider, gripping your chin and tilting your head up as he leans in close

"Darling, it's even funnier because it's coming from me!"

You insist on making sure your children eat a good diet, often making it yourself because you don't trust anybody else to do it. That and some of your little ones can be picky eaters

Often, Alastor stops by the kitchen to watch you, curious about what you're making and how much of it you plan to make

"My my~ That smells absolutely delicious, my dear~! What are you making?"

You're guarded, setting down the plates on the table a little harder than you meant to

"It's just an old family recipe, nothing special."

So imagine your weary surprise when he starts to help you cook, helping with the food preparation and even setting the table. You start to get used to his help, relaxing a little more each time you two stand hip to hip, cooking

He's even taken to sitting down to meals with you and your family, an amused smile on his face as he watches all of you interact. Eventually, he joins in the conversations, and your youngest ones get comfortable enough to even eat off his plate

"Don't take food from his plate! That's rude..!"

"It's quite alright, my dear~ I find it endearing~"

He's even in your corner when your picky eaters rise up and try to say they don't like what you made. Pushing their plates away and pouting

"Mom, I don't like it..."

You can't help but sigh and roll your eyes, exasperated and annoyed that you have to go through this again

"Yes you do, you've eaten this before and you gobbled it up... Just try it, baby."

They whine and try to refuse when Alastor speaks up, pushing their plate back towards them gently

"Now, now, your mother worked hard on this meal... We don't want her good efforts to go to waste, do we?"

"No..."

Your child whines but reluctantly takes their fork and begins eating, Alastor giving you a triumphant grin as he sits back down

You take a bite of your own food to hide the fond smile that wants to creep up onto your face

The hardest, scariest moment at the hotel for you was when you and one of your older girls got into an argument in front of Alastor

It all started over a party and a boy, you wouldn't let her go and in typical teenage fashion, she started to fight with you. The more you held your ground and said no, the worse it got

"Young lady, that is not a good environment for you! It is a disgusting den of perverts, drugs and uninhibited violence!"

You tried to stay calm and reason with her, but her emotions were running too high

"We're in HELL! There's no place here that's good for any of us! Why do you have to be such a bitch!?"

Before you can even open your mouth to reply, Alastor places a hand on her shoulder, his smile twitching and the sound of static buzzing

Your heart drops as you fear he's going to hurt her, instinctively moving forward to stop him

"Alastor-"

"Dear one, it's bad manners to talk to your mother like that. She only worries for you and wants to keep you safe. I suggest you go to your room and calm down, then come back to apologize to her. Hm~?"

He pats her head and nudges her to go to her room, turning to you and tilting his head. She looks embarrassed and a little ashamed, seemingly taking Alastor's words to heart

"Ah, teenagers~ Always so temperamental even when dead~"

You do your best to ignore the sudden heat on your cheeks, the way Alastor handled the situation having you feel some type of way

If Alastor were to have a type...he would have to say he's definitely drawn to the motherly type, it's a weakness of his

So when Charlie drags you and your gaggle of children to the hotel, Alastor has an inkling of the kind of trouble he's in for the moment he sees you

He's seen how you've come running out of your room in the dead of night because you heard one of your little ones crying from a nightmare. How you spend the rest of your night awake and rocking them back to sleep

Alastor has watched you run yourself ragged trying to get all of your children ready to go out for the day, juggling your teenagers yelling at you because they can't find their clothes and your little ones tugging on your clothes for your attention

He's noticed how you'll shield your family from sinners at least twice your size without fear. Not even he himself was an exception from your intense protectiveness

In the earlier days of your family moving in, Alastor had picked up one of your younger kids to stop them from touching something and you had panicked

He'll never forget how you had tore your kid away from him and held them tight, giving Alastor a intense look as you poked his chest

"Never do that again."

He had tried to brush it off and charm you with a smile, acting unbothered

"Darling, your family is in no danger here. I can assure you-"

"Bullshit. There's no such thing as a safe place or someone you can trust, not here."

You had stormed off after that and Alastor was left with a warm feeling building in his chest that has yet to leave

Your soft smile whenever one of your kids snuggled with you, the way you sighed and put your hands on your hips when they argued with you. Your voice when you sang your littlest ones to sleep

It was all so addicting for him, he found himself wanting to be a part of your family and the love within it

Without even realizing it, Alastor had begun filling the role of the father in your family, ending up getting attached to each of your kids

He learned what made them happy, what made them sad or scared, which ones needed hugs and which ones preferred words

Both you and Alastor began to work together as a team, and most people outside of the hotel just assumed you two were a married couple. A married couple with a small army of kids

You stop one child from bumping into someone, and Alastor scoops up the other two before they can do the same

Alastor will cook dinner and you'll clean up the mess while you both sneak the dessert that the kids don't know you have

All of you will hang out together in the lobby of the hotel, Alastor humming to himself and pretending to nap while your girls play with his hair and paint his claws

Your boys will all be cuddled up around you while you read a story to them, both of you enjoying the domestic bliss

There's a building tension between you and Alastor that everyone can sense, even the kids but nobody comments on it

Except Angel but he doesn't dare bring it up around you two

Your kids start pulling little stunts to get you two to end up together, offering to make you both dinner only for it to be classically romantic with candles, flowers and your children pretending to be waiters

Or asking embarrassing questions in front of the two of you, like if Alastor thought you looked pretty or if you liked Alastor's voice

Or wanting both of you to tuck them and give them goodnight kisses at the same time

The worst part is...it was totally working

The tipping point came when one of your boys woke up crying in the middle of the night, both you and Alastor barging into the bedroom

He was inconsolable, having obviously had a nightmare and repeating that he didn't belong here. He only quieted down once you and Alastor wrapped your arms around him

The three of you were cuddled up on a bed that was far too small for all of you, you couldn't contain your blush once you realized this

So Alastor offered up his room for the night, and the three of you snuggled together in his bed, Alastor's arms wrapping around you

You both woke up with more kids in the bed than you remember going to sleep with, your little boy having climbed onto one of his sisters instead

Leaving you tucked under Alastor's chin with your face in his neck, Alastor's strong arms around your waist and his face buried in your hair

The two of you had pulled away out of embarrassment, making eye contact before suddenly melting back together, soft smiles on your faces

"Alastor..?"

"Hm~?"

"I really want to kiss you right now..."

You two are unofficially, officially a couple after that. Grossing out your children by kissing each other, saying sappy things, just embarrassing them with how in love you are

It's so painfully domestic, but Alastor wouldn't give it up for anything. Not when the youngest ones grab his legs and try to hold him down, not when the teenagers get snarky with him. Not when you two bicker over what's best for the family

Even the more embarrassing moments, like when you two are in bed together, Alastor chasing his release as you lock your legs around him and dig your nails into his back

He's nearly about to spill inside you when there's a tentative knock on the door, making the two of you freeze and whip your heads towards the sound

"Papa..? Mama? I keep hearing scary noises, and I can't sleep..."

It's an awkward untangling of limbs and soft cursing before you two start laughing at how absurd it is

Or the softer moments when he looks into the bedroom to see you singing your kids to sleep, feeling himself grow relaxed and sleepy at the sound of it

His life has nearly completely changed since meeting you and your family, but he wouldn't change anything even if he could

Rosie often teases him about how much he's softened up for his family. It's all good-natured, though, she just as attached to them as he is

"So Alastor~ How's that little family of yours doing? Did your girls finally stop fighting over that boy?"

"They're lovely as always, but unfortunately, that boy seems to have been scared off."

"Such a shame~"

"Quite~"

Honestly, the only thing Alastor needs now is to find you a ring

@valerie-is-in-the-cupboard I know we talked about you writing a lil' something about this, so I tried to twist it up because I didn't want to inadvertently take any ideas you had!

[maxsimagination]

woso 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

SAM KERR

• baby fever

• good girl 18+

STEPH CATLEY

• strawberry kisses

• my person

• miscommunication

CHARLI GRANT

• welcome home

KATRINA GORRY

• second mum

LUCY BRONZE

• that’s my girl

• oblivious

• sexy little number 18+

• silly girl

• bugs

MARY FOWLER

• surprise

KYRA COONEY-CROSS

• finally

MACKENZIE ARNOLD

• brick wall

• countertop 18+

• restraints 18+

ALANNA KENNEDY

• card games

• my protector

• sneaky, sneaky 18+

• we did it

CAITLIN FOORD

• i’m better than him

KATIE MCCABE

• katie mccard

• swapping shirts 18+

HAYLEY RASO

• long time, no see

• don’t touch her

GURO REITEN

• jealousy, jealousy

MAPI LEON

• tourgide I • tourgide II

• love story

• unexpected 18+

• catch me if you can 18+

PATRI GUIJARRO

• what friends are for

ONA BATLLE

• rumour has it

CLAUDIA PINA

• pina colada

• mi bebe

• beach day

ALEXIA PUTELLAS

• la reina

• stop teasing me 18+

LAUREN HEMP

• coming out I • coming out II

ELISA DE ALMEIDA

• celebrations 18+

• pushing limits 18+

AITANA BONMATI

• water fight

SAKINA KARCHAOUI

• hugs and kisses

KIM LITTLE

• secret family

• just a baby

• seven minutes in heaven 18+

IRENE PAREDES

• catch me if you can 18+

• sit back and relax 18+

JESSIE FLEMING

• bad day

• phobia

MILLIE BRIGHT

• first time 18+

LEAH WILLIAMSON

• you belong to me 18+

-> if you are unsure of what i will write or who i will write for, you can find my guidelines here.

© 𝙢𝙖𝙭𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 - 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘦. 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯!

[luna-naoffcial]

I need an awesome writter to make my daydream come true.. *peaks at you*

Very platonic..Alastor finding a child reader that somehow fell in hell , either were in heaven and followed the exorcist out or heaven made a mistake.

And we clingy af..you know like cats somehow LOVE people that don't like cats? Yea that's us with Alastor. He acts like he hates it cuz he has a réputation damn it ,but he feeds us , reads us stories , does our hair and gets caught , claimed he was making sure we didn't bring flees back in the hotel. So fucking smug when we throw a tantrum cuz we want Alastor and not anyone else to hold us

Lucifer arrives and he's a dad to charlie so..idk baby fever high af ? he totally spoils us rotten and tries to take us away (lowkey kidnaping us LOL). Feeds us snack and fightd with Alastor about our fzvorite food..we like all of it. Defently put us in a duck onesie.

Arts and craft time , we made a poor copy of Alastor's staff..and made round circles with permanent red marker on our cheeks

Ohhhhh, interesting XD welp enjoy!

─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────

【 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 】

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐞𝐦! 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧! 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥! 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝! 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧. 𝐘𝐞𝐭, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞: 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞-𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐬, 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐞��𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐤-𝐝𝐚𝐛 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰? 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐛 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞—𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧.

𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐲, 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐟, 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲.

“𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥,” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲. “𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮?”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲, 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐭. “𝐈—𝐈 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞,” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥. 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐢𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥’𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞,” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥. “𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫! 𝐓𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧!”

“𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭!” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐭. “𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞!”

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐨. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧. 𝐈𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐈𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.

“𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞?” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞,” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝. “𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐞?” 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐝. “𝐎𝐡, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧.”

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩. 𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧.

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲—𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞—𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰.

𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝’𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝.

“𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞?” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐠, 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝. “𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫.” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭? 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧! 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰.

“𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞?” 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. “𝐍𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫.”

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐳𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭—𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐠𝐨.

“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧, 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞, “𝐈’𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐒𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞"

𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥, 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐭-𝐩𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤.

“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠?” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.

“𝐮𝐡𝐦, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮?” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.

𝐀 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧, 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨.

𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.

“𝐇𝐨𝐰... 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?!” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭. “𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟... 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞?”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. “𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰! 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬—𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝’𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥.

“𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞,” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. “𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲. 𝐖𝐞’𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞.”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞’𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞. “𝐎𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐬𝐡, 𝐀𝐥, 𝐰𝐡𝐨’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? 𝐇𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞!” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐦.

𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞, 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬. “𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞? 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐝? 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦?” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. “𝐍𝐨, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫,” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞. “𝐈’𝐦 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲... 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭.”

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞?” 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐃𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. "𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥... 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐢𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐝.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐝𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐃𝐮𝐬𝐭. “𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭," 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧?" 𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, "𝐀 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫" 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝

"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧, 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮" 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤, 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰, "𝐨𝐡𝐡𝐡𝐡𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫! 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐀𝐥, 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐲, 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. “𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬!” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐞𝐝. “𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞!”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫. “𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐭𝐨𝐨,” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥, 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐭. 𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐲, 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭. 𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐝𝐨. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰.

𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝. “𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐈 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 ����𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥—”

“𝐎𝐡, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫,” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦. “𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭?”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐝𝐝 ��𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 “𝐡𝐞.”

𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭. “𝐎𝐡! 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝! 𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬! 𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮!”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲. “𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬? 𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞!"

─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐟𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧—𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲.

𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐫𝐲. 𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲, 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞’𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝. 𝐀𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫—𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐬—𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

"𝐇𝐞𝐲," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥. "𝐖𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮... 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, '𝐤𝐢𝐝', 𝐛𝐮𝐭... 𝐮𝐦..." 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬. "𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐞?"

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞. "𝐎𝐡, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐘/𝐧," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. “𝐘/𝐧?” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝. "𝐎𝐡, 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞!"

𝐀𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐲, 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐃𝐮𝐬𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, "𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐘/𝐧... 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚... 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?"

𝐘/𝐧’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬. "𝐈’𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐞," 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐨𝐟-𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐳𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬.

𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥, 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫. “𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚 ‘𝐡𝐞’ 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰?” 𝐬����𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞, 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡. 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞. “𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡. “𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤.”

𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐃𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝. “𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐡𝐮𝐡?” 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝. “𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.”

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮. “𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰?” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝. “𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐤?”

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞. “𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐠. “𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐟𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟.”

𝐕𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰, 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝. “𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐨. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 ‘𝐡𝐞’ 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞... 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩, 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤?”

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. “𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧.” 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫—𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐘𝐨𝐮, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 "𝐡𝐞" 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 "𝐬𝐡𝐞" 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫.

𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮. “𝐒𝐨, 𝐘/𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠?” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. “𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰... 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫,” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮—𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞. 𝐍𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲.

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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐰𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐭. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞’𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞.

“𝐃𝐚𝐝?” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝. “𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫! 𝐇𝐨𝐰’𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥?” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫-𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦—𝐧𝐨, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐧𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭.

𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫. “𝐀𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬,” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲. “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.”

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. “𝐎𝐡, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. “𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠?” 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞.

“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐈 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭,” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝, "𝐢 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.” 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐦, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞.

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫-𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

“𝐇𝐢,” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐲𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐨... 𝐛𝐫��𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝. “𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭. “𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞?”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤. “𝐈’𝐦 𝐘/𝐧,” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲.

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐜. “𝐘/𝐧, 𝐡𝐦𝐦? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫.”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝. 𝐀 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐣𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐨? 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐘/𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐨! 𝐒𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞!”

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮. “𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞?” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞—𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝, 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞? 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝.

"𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐬𝐢𝐫," 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐞, "𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐘/𝐧, 𝐈 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐀 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥."

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞. “𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲?” 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. “𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨... 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮?” 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞-𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞. “𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞—𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐝. 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐘/𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.”

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐢𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞.

“𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨?” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐦. “𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐈 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐘/𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨... 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.”

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐩, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤. “𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐡𝐨𝐩, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤-𝐚𝐧𝐝-𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐘/𝐧, 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐲.

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. “𝐒𝐨, 𝐘/𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨? 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐤, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐞.

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.

“𝐈𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥,” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. “𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐘/𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝, 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐯𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧—𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭���𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. 𝐇𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧—𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫, 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟-𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞.

“𝐇𝐢, 𝐝𝐚𝐝!” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫.

“𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰. “𝐌𝐲, 𝐦𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧... 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬?”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. “𝐍𝐨𝐩𝐞! 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞!”

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤, 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧.

“𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐞?” 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲. “𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡! 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐈 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭!”

“𝐀𝐡, 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡. “𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲—𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤?”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. “𝐍𝐨𝐨𝐨, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝.”

“𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭.” 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

“𝐇𝐦𝐦... 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲,” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩. “𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐱 𝐢𝐭?”

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲. “𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞!”

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. “𝐒𝐢𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧. 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨.”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐭. “𝐎𝐰!”

“𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞,” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝. “𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭. 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭.

“𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬?” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲, 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫.

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭. “𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫"

“𝐚𝐰𝐰𝐰, 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲?”

“𝐎𝐡, 𝐲𝐞𝐬.” 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐭

𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐇𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬.

"𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤.” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝. “𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭!” 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐭.

“𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬,” 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞. “𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫.”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞. “𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐝𝐚𝐝.”

“𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲. “𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐃𝐮𝐬𝐭, 𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤.”

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐀𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥—𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭... 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝, 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

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