#currently @ the airport waiting 4 my brother to arrive

[westaysilly]

omfg its happening

[pierregazly]

ambivalence ꨄ george russell

george russell x fem!gasly!motogp!reader

warnings: mentions of george's crash/dnf from singapore, sad!george, poorly translated french. [wc: 1.5k words]

in which george doesn't know how to feel; he's devastated about his own finish... or lack thereof, but the love of his life just finished P2 in her own race and he can't help the joy from taking over.

mercedesamgf1

tagged georgerussell63

liked by yngasly, georgerussell63, alex_albon, and 406,705 others

mercedesamgf1 he fought SO hard out there. 💪 a heroic effort by george. unlucky to miss out on a well-deserved podium, right at the very end.

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username absolutely gutted for george... but yall really couldn't show up to the podium for your other driver cuz of this??? slimy lol

username it wrecked my heart watching the last 5 mins of that race honest to god (lets celebrate no rbr in the top 3 tho !!!)

username guy signs his contract and starts this shit? sounds like a bit of a mistake huh

username george :((((

yngasly 💗💗

liked by mercedesamgf1 username congrats on ur p2 finish yngasly!!! you deserved it so much

username id sooo have such an ick if i were yngasly rn and my bf and brother both sucked at their jobs today while you kicked ass.... embarizzzing

yngasly

liked by pierregasly, georgerussell63, pecco63, and 175,543 others

yngasly what an incredible weekend, and an even better race! so proud of the whole team, and honoured to be taking home the p2 trophy this weekend. ciao italy 🇮🇹

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pierregasly nous savons tous qui est le gasly le plus talentueux 💪 (we all know who the most talented gasly is)

pierregasly proud of you! 🤍

username that's our fav motogp girl, kicking ass as always yngasly!!!

username god im so obsessed with her

username she was SO close to that p1 position i was screaaaaaming at my computer omf

georgerussell63 proud of you lovely 💗

georgerussell63 can't wait to celebrate with you when i get to see you angel

username i would die for the relationship georgerussell63 and yngasly have... it's so pure love

yngasly has posted a story

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georgerussell63 thank you, love. sorry we both can't be celebrating today. yngasly oh georgie...

The plane left the tarmac almost 7 hours ago, just a few short hours left until it landed in Singapore. The plane’s shifty Wi-Fi allowing you to watch the current race going on in the Singapore streets, your boyfriend maintaining a good speed, and a good position throughout most of the race.

Your stomach dropped immediately when the commentator’s voices picked up, George’s name dropping from their lips as the cameramen panned to his car.

The inner turmoil started the moment you watched the replay of the Mercedes hit the wall during the final lap. You, alongside every other person watching the race, were not expecting such a dramatic end to an even more dramatic race.

It had been an incredible day before this, your own P2 finish still pushing high levels of joy through your body. It had been an exhilarating race, after qualifying in P6 just the day before, you were able to jump up 4 positions, holding everyone off behind you as you maintained your speed and composure to finish the race in your highest finish this season.

You were almost immediately carted off to the airport once all your media responsibilities were completed. You had booked a flight to Singapore that would get you there just a few hours after George’s own race was over, allowing you to surprise him after weeks of being apart.

What you didn’t expect was the internal dread that was currently encompassing your body, unsure of how George would react when you arrived at his hotel door after how his race just ended. He would be happy to see you, regardless, but would he be upset at you for coming after the end of your own successful race? Would he want to be alone? Would you end up having to spend the night in Pierre’s room, leaving George to wallow in his own self-pity?

It was all you could think of as the map showed the flight radar on the screen in front of you, the estimated time of arrival dwindling down the closer you got.

You had texted George the moment you saw his crash.

Are you okay???

That looked bad

I saw the video of you walking away, you looked like you were in pain… I’m so sorry mon amour :(

You drove an amazing race… I’m so proud of you

If you want to talk you know you can call me, I love you :(

He had let you know he was a little sore and would probably be back to the hotel late so he likely wouldn’t be calling you tonight. It’s what prompted you to call Pierre the moment you were off the plane, the phone ringing a few times before he picked up.

“Incredible race! I watched a bit of it before we had to get in our cars, you kicked ass. Jumped up 4 places and everything, let’s goooo,” he trailed off the end with a small ‘woot’ of celebration, his gigantic smile prevalent even through the phone.

“Thanks Pear, but I wasn’t calling about the race. My flight just got into Singapore; do you think someone from your team could come pick me up? Or like anyone? George doesn’t know I’m here… it was supposed to be a nice surprise.”

The sigh was loud through the phone, Pierre agreeing to have someone from Alpine come to the airport.

“You should know… George is devastated. Charles says he was crying his eyes out when he saw him walk by, said it looked like he was super distraught. I don’t know how happy or excited he is going to be about your race today.”

The tears sprouted to your eyes immediately, you had already seen on social media that George may have been seen crying, but to hear it directly from someone who had seen him… the sadness wreaked through your body.

“I don’t care about my own race, right now. I’m happy enough for myself, he needs someone to be there for him.”

It didn’t take long for someone from Alpine to pick you up and drop you off at the hotel. You had bothered one of the men from George’s PR team earlier in the day to text you what room number and hotel he was staying at, promising him it was all for a surprise that wouldn’t cause any issues for George or the team.

Your knuckles rapped against the door in front of you, sounds from inside the room halting the noise encompassed the air. You couldn’t tell if he was coming to the door or not, no noise now coming from the room. Just as you were about to knock again, the door swung open to reveal your boyfriend.

His red-rimmed and puffy eyes were the first thing you noticed, a clear indicator that he had been crying. The small smile that grew on his face was real, a tiny bit of happiness shining in his eyes as he took in who was in front of him.

“Oh, Georgie…”

You dropped your bag to the floor, pushing your body into his. His arms wrapped around your frame, his head pressing into the junction where your neck and shoulder met, your own arms wrapping around his taller frame. You played with the hair at the nape of his neck, holding him as tight as you could, allowing him to push any emotions he was currently feeling into the hug.

“What are you doing here?” He murmured into your ear, his arms tightening around your body as if he was trying to fuse the both of you together.

Shrugging in his arms, you continued to hold his frame tightly in your own. “Thought it would be a nice surprise, was going to fly with you to Japan after and spend some time with you. Haven’t seen you in a while, I guess.”

George pressed a gentle kiss to the top of your head before pulling away, a sad smile falling on his lips. “You drove an incredible race today, my love. I’m so proud of you.”

You couldn’t help the pull at your heartstrings as he praised you for your own race, even after the devastating end to his own. It was obvious he was trying to keep the sadness at bay, to not ruin your own accomplishments.

“Thank you, mon amour. I don’t want to talk about my race, though.”

George grabbed your bag as he gestured for you to walk into the room, allowing the hotel door to slam behind you as he placed the luggage next to his own. “I don’t really want to talk about my own race, either. I’d much rather talk about yours.”

He pulled you onto the king-sized bed, immediately wrapping his body around your own as you snuggled into his chest. You could feel his heartbeat against your ear, his fingers rubbing soothing circles on the indent of your spine through your shirt.

“I feel like such an idiot. I’m not a rookie, I shouldn’t be making those kinds of mistakes, I lost complete control of my car at the worst possible time and cost myself one of the best finishes this season. It’s not fair,” he choked the words out, his nose pressing into your hair as he took a deep breath, trying to keep the inevitable tears at bay.

“Georgie… it happens, mistakes happen. It sucks, don’t get me wrong, but we all make mistakes. Do you know how many fuckups I’ve had this season? Don’t get me started on how many Pierre’s had, it doesn’t make you rookie-caliber to mess up one race. You’ll come back stronger from this; I swear.”

You could feel the small shrug of his shoulders as he pulled your body closer to his own, a light press of his lips to the crown of your head the only indication that he heard you.

“I can’t believe you got P2. I was trying to watch it while we were getting ready, someone said you jumped up 4 places huh?”

You nodded your head, a bashful smile pulling onto your lips, “It wasn’t that impressive, I’ve done it before.”

George nudged your side, prompting you to look up at him, a small smile edging onto the Brit’s lips, “That was your highest finish of the season though, darling. I’d say that’s pretty impressive, no?”

“I don’t want to overshadow how you’re feeling to be happy about my own race, mon amour. That’s not fair to you.”

Nudging you again, you felt his fingers dig into your ribs lightly, an indication he was telling you to stop talking. “You’re not overshadowing how I feel, I’m devastated, and I’m pissed at myself for how my race finished. It doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to be happy for you, to feel some type of joy over the fact my best friend just finished P2.”

Leaning up, you pressed your lips to his gently, a ‘thank you’ imbedded in the way your lips moulded together. George pulled you closer, pulling back to rest his head against your own once again.

“At least my crash damage numbers aren’t as high as your brothers. Did you see he finally hit the millions a few days ago? Knew he’d beat me there.”

“Oh my god, George. Not everything has to be a competition between you and my brother.”

georgerussell63 has posted a story

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yngasly love you forever and ever mon amour 🫶🏻

i've had a few requests for motogp!reader x george, so i hope this meets your expectations 🫶🏻 i literally know nothing about motogp so i'm so sorry, i tried to make it broad so it didn't seem like im dumb lol love yall!!!

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[chlorinecake]

ੈ♡ “do you actually hate me? so, enemies to lovers?”

🧩 N.RK 🐈‍⬛

pairing: flirtatious!stranger!riki x tsundere!fem!reader 🍵

synopsis: after calling the mysterious airport boy’s phone number, you’re left to make a decision that could quite possibly change everything between you two

cw: language, mentions of food, lots of teasing, crack, ft. riki’s big sister [Konon]

wc: 1.9k — part 1 ✈️ & part 2 💌 & part 4 🥟

You stared at the yellow sticky note in your hand, reading Riki’s letter for what felt like the hundredth time. By now, you had fully memorized his number, but you still glanced at it as you typed the series of digits onto your phone.

Boop, the dial tone sang eerily.

“Hello,” the cheerful speaker said from the other side of the phone.

“Hey, this is ____ from the airport. I just wanted to say thank you for returning my…item,” you chuckled.

“Uhh, I think you have the wrong number, ma’am.”

“Oh,” you almost frowned, “then who is this?”

“This is Café Royale on Olive Street. Wait, what did you say your name was again?”

“____.”

“Ok, cool! We were told to expect a call from you! You have a table for two reserved at 8:30am with Mr. Riki N.“

“I do? I mean, is he there now?” You asked, looking at the time that currently read 8:19am.

Ding.

“Yeah, he just came in,” the call cut out.

After getting dressed in casual apparel, you arrived at the café around 8:35am, spotting Riki and the female cashier chatting things up. He whipped his head at the sound of the door bell chiming, smiling at the sight of you.

“Wow,” he remarked, taking in your frame.

“Skipping straight to the corny stuff, I see,” you teased, sticking your hands in your pockets.

“No? I’m just surprised you actually showed up,” he said as the waitress made her way over.

You weren’t too sure why Riki wanted to meet with you so soon. Though, it surprised you how much thought he put into arranging everything.

“Hello again! Feel free to check out some of our options and see what you like before ordering,” she chirped, looking back and forth between you and him. “He’s my little brother, by the way, so don’t try anything fast unless you wanna be scalped,” she snapped, passing you a menu.

You didn’t really know how to respond to that, so you just stayed quiet, following Riki’s lead as he guided you to the reserved table by your hand.

His grip was protective yet gentle, you felt like you could hold his hand forev-

What am I saying, you thought to yourself.

He pulled out your chair before sitting beside you, propping his elbows on the table, interlacing his fingers.

“That’s Konon, my older sister. She wasn’t trying to threaten you. Just think of it as a friendly warning,” he nodded as if accepting it himself.

“I understand,” you smiled, analyzing the menu. “You two look very alike. Do you have similar personalities, too?”

He giggled, “We have similar interests, but different character’s. She’s obviously the cold type when it comes to meeting new people. I’m more…”

“Flirty,” you answered, meeting his eyes.

“So I’ve been told,” he hummed.

The waitress came over to your table with a note and pen in hand, “Alrighty, kid’s. What can I get ya?”

“I’ll have a matcha boba smoothie,” you answered plainly, suddenly becoming shy in front of his sister.

“And for the gentleman?”

“I’d like a matcha latte, with a sharing platter of chocolate filled shortbread cookies…and maybe a few breakfast bagel bites… ooh! With fresh strawberries on the side, microwaved please.”

Konon didn’t bother writing down his order, tucking the notepad in her apron pocket. “Fantastic! I’ll be back with your order in just a few minutes,” she said sarcastically, side-eying Riki as she walked away.

A different waiter brought out your order, placing a wooden platter down on the table, along with a few napkins.

“Thank you,” you and Riki said in unison, bowing his head slightly.

You immediately took a sip of your boba, a few drops of the sugary green liquid dripped from the straw, seeping through your top.

How lovely.

“Uhhh,” you looked down at your chest, the imprint of your bra starting to show.

“Looks like you’ve got a hole in your lip,” he teased, moving a thumb to wipe the drink from your mouth and then tasting it himself. “Hmm, she never makes it that good for me,” he pouted, using a few napkins to wipe at your chest.

You could feel your face growing hotter as he continued to dab at the stain, your mind still stuck on the image of him tasting the tea from your mouth with his thumb.

What was this boy doing to your heart?

“Gosh, Riki, maybe if you stopped thinking about my melons, the universe would stop drawing attention to them!” You raised your voice at him accusingly, swatted his hand away from you. Luckily, Konon had her back turned and didn’t notice the commotion.

“I can’t believe you just called your boobs melons,” he judged. “Did you give each one it’s own name, too?”

“You’re a foreign breed, Riki,” you said, failing to get the green out of your shirt.

He sighed, “Here.” Looking up to face him, your eyes darted to the view of his abs that poked from underneath his shirt. “What’re you doing,” you asked, trying to mask how you were literally just checking him out.

He took off his hoodie, revealing the white tee he wore underneath. Running a hand through his bleached hair, he handed you the hoodie to cover your stained shirt.

“Riki, you don’t have to do that.”

“No, it’s alright,” he smiled, snaking your head through the hole.

You still had to get used to his strange personality, but you were growing more and more fond of it with every second that passed.

“What do you think?” He asked, sitting back down before flashing you a shit eating grin.

“What do I think of what?”

“The way I smell? I’m sure you took a whiff. Weirdo.”

Ouch. You never would’ve thought getting a taste of your own medicine would be so painful.

You paused in thought, “Well, it smells a little off, actually. Like reptilian eggs and ear wax, but I’ll get over it, I guess,” you teased back, eliciting a fit of laughter from him.

He was hysterical, hair tussling all over his head as his body followed the sounds he made. It’s not that Riki found your joke all that funny, but it was how small you looked in his hoodie that really tickled him. He let out a sigh, reattaining his composure.

“Can you pass me a few cookies?”

You nodded, handing him three.

“Excuse me? I’m a cookie short, ma’am.”

You scoffed. “What’re you talking about?”

“I asked for a few cookies? You only gave me three.”

“Yeah, because a few IS three.”

“Okay, everybody knows a few is four. A throuple is three”

“Throuple sounds so dumb. And for the record, a couple is two, a few is three, nobody knows what four is, and a handful is five, because you have five fingers.”

“I’m sure I could hold a lot more than five cookies in one hand, just saying.”

“That’s not the point, Riki!”

“Whatever, ____,” he shook his head, taking a bite of the crisp cookie. “Words aren’t a valid way to measure numbers anyway.”

“Change the subject or I’m leaving.”

He rolled his eyes, dipping one of his cookies into the warm green latte. “Have you ever experienced a ghost poop before?”

You choked on your boba. “A what?”

“A ghost poop. It’s when you feel the urge to poop but you don’t actually have to poop, so like, it’s just your butthole going through the motions of pooping but you’re not actually pooping? I know you know what I’m talking about.”

You shook your head in horror, offended that he brought up such a thing while you were eating. “What’s wrong with you?”

“What? You told me to change the subject!” He defended, picking up one of the mushy strawberries before savoring the tartness in his mouth, reaching to add a cookie to the mix.

You blinked at him. “I hate you.”

He moved the biscuit from his face, “Wait, like… actually?”

“Yes, actually.”

“No, I mean like deadass?”

“Actually, deadass, for real, no cap, whatever,” you exaggerated, picking with a loose thread of his hoodie.

He finally bit into the cookie, munching and nodding at your response. “Hmm. So, enemies to lovers?”

“I’d rather die.”

“Woah, that’s a pretty big step, ____, but if you’re ready for that kind of commitment, so am I.”

You raised an eyebrow at him, a smile wavering over his features. “Can I call you ‘baby’?”

“I don’t think you should order caffeinated drinks anymore.”

“As a soon to be legal adult, I’m allowed to enjoy as much caffeine as I please.”

“So- wait, how are you qualified to work as a tsa agent if you’re a minor?” You asked curiously, trying one of the cookies yourself.

“Don’t you know my last name?”

You swallowed, “Obviously not.”

“Well, my father owns the airline organization you went to the other day. I’ve been working as an agent since I my sixteenth birthday, but before, he had me on window cleaning duty a few days a week. He says it’s his way of making me into a ‘good-for-something man.’ Working with him has its perks though.”

Riki Nishimura, you pieced together in your mind. A name that sounded so lovely on the tongue and so fresh in the mind. Why was he so dreamy?

“Does he pay you?”

“Pfft, no. He lets me travel once a month, instead.”

“No way. Where’ve you been?”

“Uhhh, the Philippines, Japan, of course, because I have relatives out there, Australia, Spain, South Korea, Brazil, Poland, Canada-”

“Paris?”

He paused for a moment. “No, actually. I was never really captivated by the place. Not until I met you, that is.”

What the? That was such a direct comment! Does he find you “captivating?”

He dug into his leather shoulder bag, pulling out an envelope and handing it to you.

“You’re really the old fashioned letter and notes type, huh?”

“Yes, and you love that about me,” he winked, “among others things, I’m sure.”

You scoffed, “Like what?”

“Well,” he began, leaning back in his chair with folded arms, showing off his toned muscles. “I’m mysterious.”

“Mysterious?”

“Mhm,” he nodded confidently, “And attractive.”

You rolled your eyes.

“I always say silly things that you find endearing.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself Rik-”

“You’re in love with my name.”

You wanted to kick him for how flustered you suddenly felt.

He continued from your silence, “You say it all the time like you’re scared to forget it. Like I’m gonna walk away if you don’t keep calling me.”

You dusted a few crumbs from your hands over the table. “Would you?” you asked, meeting his piercing eyes.

“Would I what?”

“Walk away.”

He leaned forward, looking down at the empty mug before him.

“Maybe if you were to reject my offer,” he finished, gleaming at the sealed envelope that sat on your side of the table.

Biting a lip with anticipation, you tore an end of the white rectangle, revealing what was inside:

A plane ticket.

To Paris, France.

With Riki.

Tomorrow!

You shook your head in disbelief, meeting his desperate yet patient features.

“I… this is… Riki-”

“See? There you go saying my name again,” he set his hand over yours, “I’m right here, ____. All you have to do is say yes.”

You took a deep breath, trying to rationalize between your heart that screamed yes and your mind that howled no. It’s not like you didn’t trust him, but you still weren’t sure how you felt about him yet, and something like this could change everything between you two. From a cute stranger that gave you hell at the airport to potentially travelling the world with him.

What do you say?

ᴀ/ɴ 𓂋 I hope you all enjoyed reading this piece as much as I did writing it! ~ love always, @chlorinecake 🎂

☆ ☆ ☆ taglist: @microwvdstrawb3rri3s @yngwife @fanficfactoryfoxxx @ashgonedash @wzy3ka @j-wyoung @stinkoscope @cloudylino

[thedaveandkimmershow]

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10

With my first alarm having tripped at 330AM and our previous night having been lengthened by that healthy bit of Back to the Future 3, we couldn't have got more than four hours of sleep. If that.

Still, the reality of catching our flight brought us to immediate lucidity and we were out the door by 420.

The DoubleTree's not more than five minutes from Doug Fox Parking and, since the shuttle snaps us right up and delivers us to the terminal, we check our bags in by 445. That's fifteen minutes before our Spot Saver appointment that cuts us to the front of the TSA check point line. Unfortunately, Spot Saver actually starts service at 5AM and the person who's supposed to run it isn't there yet. Isn't there yet.

Isn't there yet.

So we bail and get through the TSA check point in less time than we were standing around waiting for Spot Saver to open.

Go figure.

We're through the check point by 515, boarded a little after 545, and by 6 I'm already starting to nod off again, spending this first leg of our flight somewhere between fully awake... and fully asleep.

We manage a quick change of flight in Denver then we're in the air again, reaching Orlando a touch after five in the afternoon. We spent that flight, by the way, studying (Kimmer) and reading (me).

From Orlando International Airport (MCO), we hitch a Lyft. Actually... no we don't. We summon a Lyft whose ETA keeps changing, stretching 7 minutes into 30. And when the app indicates our ride's arrived?

Yeah. We can't find it, subsequently getting a call from the driver that they're on the level above us (departures) and can't find the route down to us. At which point both the driver and I decide this was not meant to be and I summon an Uber instead that shows up five minutes later.

The Uber driver's from Haiti and, as with a number of drivers from countries currently undergoing or having undergone outright war or violent oppression, his story is at times a bitter pill. There's more to him that just the negative, of course. He has family that's here in the States right now. I think his dad's the only member of the family who's staying put because he's very much an I was born here, I'm gonna die here kind of human being.

By 'n by, we bid each other fare thee wells at Universal's Endless Summer Dockside Resort. We stayed here a couple nights last year, spending a day in Universal Studios theme park before heading off to immerse ourselves in Disney which, as it turns out, sort of cured us of Disney for awhile, so now its all Universal all the time for us for the foreseeable future.

Now, the line to check in's kinda long but there's a family with a baby in a stroller ahead of us so we amuse ourselves (and the baby) by waving and making faces. The baby has an older brother who also serves as entertainment and, before you know it, we're at the desk checking in.

We don't realize it until later when we open the door to our room that the super nice person who checked us in also upgraded us to a suite after handing us a pair of buttons to commemorate our 31st wedding anniversary. She even wrote out 31st Anniversary by hand with a Sharpie. And she recommended what she considers to be one of the best taco restaurants around because Kimmer mentioned her love of authentic Mexican food.

By the time we're squared away in our room, it's coming up on 8 which is pretty all right because we've had a long day and we choose to end it as if we were home: with an episode of Madame Secretary and continuing a Harry Potter movie. In this case it's the beginning of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 1 where they're all set to take off from Number 4 Privet Drive, attempting to confuse and avoid Death Eaters.

At some point in there... we fall asleep.

And then at some other point I wake up briefly, use the remote to turn off the TV, then fall back asleep again.

Thus endeth our first day in Orlando.

🙂

[ya-pucking-nerd]

4 times you ruined his plans and 1 time he ruined yours - c.makar

Hello lovelies! So sorry for the wait! Please enjoy <3333

~ 

taggin the moots: @2manytabsopen @jostystyles @typical-simplelove @youngbeezersmixtape @imagines-r-s @fallinallincurls @hockeylvr59

Small note: reader insert is female! 

Very big note: this fic contains mentions of pregnancy and surgery and motherhood

1. 

Calgary International. Not exactly how you planned to spend your Saturday, but you wanted to be back in Seattle to rest up before you started your job again. You were on your way back from the short 4-day holiday you managed to snag after Christmas and Boxing Day. You stayed with your brother, Michael, and his family of 7. It was nice, but 5 kids are so many kids.

You had gotten anxious about missing the flight, so you arrived at the airport 4 hours early and, fortunately, breezed through security. All that remained was waiting the 3 hours and 52 minutes until your flight officially left the gate. Well, at least you had a book and headphones. 

You sat near your gate, still nervous that you might lose track of time and miss the calling of your flight. But you set an alarm for 60 minutes before the flight would leave so that you would have plenty of time to await the calling of flight AIRCAN1442. So, for now, you set your phone aside and pull out your iPod Nano and headphones. Call it old-school, but that thing worked as well as the day you got it. Your current read is a book called It All Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover. You loved it so much, that it was actually a re-read. And apparently, the guy who sat across from you did, too. You noticed him staring, and at first, you thought it was at your book, but the more you thought about it, maybe he was looking at you.

He was cute in a boyish way. Solidly built, but you could tell a lot of it was muscle. He wasn’t dressed like a snobby businessman, but rather a guy who wanted to be comfy on his flight to wherever he was headed, like you.

In a moment of boldness, you closed your book and said, “Where are you off to?” It was small talk, but hey, you still had 3 hours to kill. 

“Oh. Me?” He looked stunned that you even looked his way. “I’m headed back to work in Denver, Colorado.”

“Oh, that’s awesome! I work in the states, too. Seattle, Washington.”

“What do you do?” And for once, he seemed genuinely interested, unlike the men you had met at bars. 

“I’m a surgical OBGYN.” Now, that might have freaked him out a little. 

“Oh wow. Sorry, I’m a little squeamish about blood. But wow. I can’t even imagine. That must be exciting. I hardly remember when my mom was pregnant with my brother, but I just remember my dad said there was a lot of screaming. Do you get screamers all the time?” 

Ok. He was absolutely adorable. His cheeks were getting bright red as he asked, aside from the redness you already noticed. Doctor thing. 

“I don’t generally do normal births. More like C-sections and stuff. But, yea, there’s always screaming. Occupational hazard, I guess. I’m Y/N.” You reached your hand out. 

“Oh, shoot. I didn’t even ask your name. I’m sorry, Y/N. I’m Cale, like the vegetable, but with a C.” He shook your hand a little longer than most handshakes last. He was still smiling, though. 

You giggled a little. He probably got that all the time and had become accustomed to introducing himself that way. Further increasing his adorableness. 

You guys talked for about 2 hours until Cale checked his watch. “Shit! I missed my flight! Oh my god.”

“Oh my god! I am so sorry! I-“

“Nah,” he interrupted. “You know what. I think everything happens for a reason. I’m glad I met you. I would miss my flight all day to keep talking to you.” He was so sweet. “But I do need to rebook my flight,” he laughed. 

“And I do need one more thing.” You looked at him and nodded, silently asking him what that could be. “Your number?”

2. 

You had talked to Cale almost every day since you met him. It seemed the two of you would never get the chance to meet up in person. Until Cale texted you on Tuesday.

From: Cale like the vegetable but with a C

“Y/N! I have a game Thursday night in Seattle! There’s a morning skate, but my afternoon would be free. Wanna grab coffee somewhere? You know Seattle better than me :)”

The butterflies in your stomach were uncontainable at this point. You knew you liked him, but you just now realized how big of a crush you had on him. 

Frank, the best birthing coach on the floor, popped up in front of you with a smirk on his face. 

“Heyyyyy, Y/N.” Ok. He was up to something. 

 You put your phone down and took the bait. “What’s up, Frank?” 

“Who has you smiling at your phone? You haven’t smiled at your phone since Paul from oncology asked you out on a date. That was three years ago, honey. You, you are not subtle.” Caught red-handed. The worst part was that he was right. Super right. You haven’t been on a date for almost three years. You were a devoted doctor, always on-call. Sometimes it ruined your nights out with your coworkers, but half the time, they ended up running to the hospital with you. 

“Frank. I- No. It’s nothing.” 

Frank smirked before he grabbed your phone and started texting faster than any average human should be able to. It was no use trying to grab it back because Frank was the sneakiest and most agile person you’d ever seen. Frank could probably do more intense gymnastics than Simone Biles if it meant he would keep your phone. 

He comes back with your phone and a smirk on his face.

“First date secured, bitch.” And the smirk grows to a smile. “Thursday at 2 at Pike Place.” 

You groaned. “Frank! I’m on-call Thursday afternoon!”  

“Y/N, chill. Literally, nothing is going to happen. And if it does, I’ll hold them off. It’s just pregnant ladies.” He laughed it off as if giving birth was something you could just hold like your bladder. 

You glared at him but were secretly happy he took the initiative instead of you. You would have typed and deleted and re-typed for an hour before answering. 

Thursday morning came, and you woke up giddy. You Facetimed Frank to get his opinion on an outfit. He picked the grey sweater dress with a red flannel tied around the waist, calling it “the perfect winter outfit!” Wallet? Check. Keys? Check. Spare scrubs in case you are called in? Unfortunately, check. 

Meanwhile, the boys were giving Cale a hard time in the hotel. He was dressed in his suit because after your date, he had to head straight back to the arena for the game. Nate was messing his hair up. JT hid one of his dress shoes. By the time he got out the door, he was more nervous than ever. He wanted to ask you to be his girlfriend. The boys teased him for his crush, but he knew how he felt. You were his dream girl. 

You decided to meet at Starbucks. Seattle, after all, was the home of the original Starbucks. When you got there, you found Cale sitting in a booth, looking incredibly good in his suit. You started to doubt your choice in outfit, but it was too late. He saw you. You straightened your dress out and walked over. He stood up, giving you a hug and handed you a latte. 

“Cale, you didn’t have to.”

“I know, but I wanted to. I guessed on the latte. I can get you another if you don’t like it.”

“No, it’s actually perfect.” So now the perfect guy already got your coffee order right. It was too good to be true, right?

Things were going so well. The conversation felt so natural, like you were already dating. You found out he was continuing some online classes while playing hockey, he was a type-a neat freak, and he called his mom at least once a week because he loved her. Each thing you learned about him made your crush on him grow.

About an hour and a half into the best first date of your life, your phone buzzed. Inwardly, you prayed that it was just Frank texting you about a funny hospital story. Unfortunately, it was a page. A mom with twins went into labor 6 weeks earlier than her due date. You groaned out loud. 

“I have to go. I’m so sorry. Oh, I knew this was going to happen. I’ve been paged to the hospital. A mom needs an emergency c-section. Cale, I’m so sorry.” 

“What? Y/N, go! Don’t apologize. I know your career can be a bit unpredictable. It’s no big deal. Go, save the day!” God, he was perfect. You thanked him profusely before rushing out. 

An hour later, you were stripping your gown and gloves. You scrubbed and changed before leaving the hospital. The paperwork could wait. You wanted to call Cale before his game to wish him good luck. You truly felt horrible. 

Instead, you found a text from Cale.

From: Cale like the vegetable but with a C

Hey, could I have your address? I don’t know how long surgery takes, but it’s probably tiring, and I don’t want you to forget to eat. Dinner’s on me, just need the address for UberEats.

The shock on your face was probably laughable. 

From: Y/N Y/L/N

How about I make you dinner? You can come over after your game and I can make up for running out on you? I promise I’m not tired.

From: Cale like the vegetable but with a C

Absolutely! What did you have in mind?

From: Y/N Y/L/N

Pancakes? Feeling some breakfast for dinner.

From: Cale like the vegetable but with a C

Perfect. I’ll see you around 10 :)

You texted him your address and you wished him good luck in his game. Then, you panic cleaned your apartment. It wasn’t extremely messy, but you were a little sloppy this morning when you were getting ready. 

At 10:15, you buzzed Cale in. The two of you shared blueberry pancakes and finished your date. 

“I’m sorry, again, for running out on our date. Totally bad first date.” 

He smiled and grabbed your hand. “Hey, I’m not mad. I swear. I think your job is so cool, and pregnant people going into labor is like the most unpredictable thing I can think of. Besides, I don’t think this date turned out so bad.” His stomach did a cartwheel when you squeezed his hand back. 

You smiled back, loving the way he was rubbing your palm. It gave you butterflies. 

“Hey, can I ask you something? I was going to ask you at Starbucks, but I think now is better.” Cale asked. You nodded. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

3. 

Cale was the most incredible guy on Earth. You had been dating for one year and a month when he finally asked if you would consider moving in with him. His cheeks turned red when he asked you. He said, “I know you love your job, and I would never ask you to quit it. More like a transfer?” about 5 times. He even told you he asked Nate’s girlfriend, Alyssa, about openings at the hospital. For you, the choice was obvious. You had been thinking about making the transfer when you hit your first anniversary. But watching him sweat because he didn’t want you to feel that he thought you should give up your amazing career was probably one of the sweetest things you had ever witnessed him do.  

Your transition from Seattle to Denver was smooth as silk. Maybe because Cale organized the whole thing. He was there to help you pack, and he was there to greet the moving trucks when they arrived in Denver. Slowly but surely, your belongings began to infiltrate his house. The spare bedroom became your storage until the two of you sat down to figure out all the things you could give away. Your seasonal throw pillows decorated his couch, and the smell of your perfume lingered on Cale’s bedsheets. 

Cale played the best he ever had the day you finally came to see a home game in person. And it didn’t go unnoticed. The girls you sat with giggled all 4 times Cale assisted a goal and skated over to your section with a toothy grin and a point into the crowd. You assumed the boys were chirping him, too. And when he was named “first star,” he could hear your cheers from the other side of the arena. 

One night, you found yourself at a Denver Nuggets game with Cale. He invited you after JT bailed on him. At first, you were hesitant because he told you he got good seats. The word “good” seats usually imply expensive seats, and you weren’t used to people spending that type of money on you. You offered to pay him back for your ticket, which he refused. See, Cale was raised right. His mom taught him that he should always pay for his date, no matter how big or small that date should be.

Cale did invite JT first, but he was relieved when JT said no. He had been feeling like this for a while but wasn’t sure if the time was right. Cale was ready to tell you he was in love with you. He knew how big the words were. And yes, maybe it was a little soon, but they say when you know, you know. 

You started walking towards the “General Admissions” entrance, when Cale grabbed your arm and pulled you towards the “LEXUS CLUB” entrance. The two of you walked down one of the many staircases of Ball Arena, Cale making small talk. Then, you noticed just how many stairs down you were walking. When you finally got to the bottom of the stairs and through the door, you realized just how good the good tickets were. They were courtside seats. 

“Relax, Y/N.” Cale grabbed your waist, leading you to your seats. They were in the middle of Ball Arena. You stared at Cale in amazement. How could someone so be so amazing? 

The game was exciting. You and Cale each got food and some beer. Despite not knowing much about basketball or its players, you were having a good time, until the free throw competition. During a commercial break, people were coming down the stands for the free throw competition. The people were doing pretty good, until a basketball bounced off the rim. You saw the basketball coming towards you at a very fast speed. You completely acknowledged that. Did you move out of the way? Did you use your hand to block your face? Absolutely not.

The ball hit you square on the head. In an instant, Cale was on the floor with you. When did you get on the floor? He was saying your name, but it sounded muted almost. The jumbotron camera man was on your right, pointing his camera at you and Cale. Your vision was a little blurry, but you focused hard enough to see yourself on the jumbotron. It was a sight to see. 

Cale was tugging on your arm to help you up. Your balance was definitely off. You must have said that out loud, because Cale said, “Alright. Let’s get you to the hospital. I think you might have a concussion. It’ll be okay, baby. I’m right here.” 

You didn’t know it, but Cale was a little disappointed that the night hadn’t gone how he’d planned. He wanted you to enjoy the game, and then he wanted to tell you he loved you. This was not in the plans. 

He turned down the lights so you wouldn’t get a headache. You wanted nothing more to sleep on the way to the emergency room, but Cale wouldn’t let you. What if the ball had hit something that made your brain bleed? No, Cale couldn’t take the risk. He turned on soft music in the car to keep you awake and kept talking about anything he could think of to keep you awake. 

He pulled up to the valet, despite your insistence that you could be alone for a few minutes while he found a parking spot, but he was stubborn. “I am not leaving you, Y/N. I don’t want you to fall over or something.” If you weren’t so dizzy, you would have found it sweet. 

As embarrassing as it was, having your accident go viral on Twitter helped you in the emergency room.

“Hey! It’s Y/N from OB! She just got hit in the head! Let’s get her in!” you heard an intern shout. 

You were seen fairly quickly and diagnosed with a mild concussion. No work for a week, stay off screens as much as possible, and definitely no more courtside Nuggets games. 

Cale stayed by your side the whole time. He was dozing off holding your hand waiting for the discharge papers. He was doing that thing where he rubs the palm of your hand with his thumb that gave you butterflies. You leaned down to kiss his forehead to thank him for staying with you.

“Love you, babe,” he whispered. You did a double-take. His adorable cheeks flared red. “I- uh- well. Yeah, I love you, Y/N. I was meaning to tell you after the game. I wanted it to be special. I’m sorry it wasn’t more romantic. I wanted there to be roses and champagne.” 

“Cale. I love you, too. This is perfect. I’m sorry for ruining your plans.” You giggled. “We can have a re-do sometime. Just not courtside.” You kissed his forehead and then his lips. You really loved this boy. 

4. 

Generally, you would consider yourself pretty fearless. You worked in surgery with screaming parents for God’s sake. You loved going on adventures, especially hiking through Colorado. But, this test on the counter was scaring the shit out of you.

You didn’t tell Cale. You didn’t want to freak him out in case you were overreacting. You and Cale were certainly not trying, but you had to admit, you would be a little sad if the test came out negative. Already spiraling before you knew the results, you began to think about Cale as the father to your child. You thought he would make the most amazing girl dad. But on the other hand, Cale teaching his little baby boy how to hold a hockey stick would be so sweet.  

The timer on your phone went off. This was the moment of truth. 

It’s positive. Now would probably be the time to tell Cale. With shaking hands, you texted Cale, asking when he’d be home from practice. 

From: Cale <3

Actually, you got me at the perfect time. Practice just ended and no film. Great day! How do you feel about Indian food? 

The thought of Indian food made your stomach grumble. In your haste to take the pregnancy test, you forgot to eat lunch. You requested butter chicken and garlic naan.

Cale came back to your shared home with your order and an extra mango lassi. He didn’t even know you were pregnant yet, but he was already doing the most.

“Cale, I wanted to ask you something.” You were so nervous.

“What’s up?”  

“I’ve just been thinking about it recently. How do you… how do you feel about kids?” You weren’t ready to ask him about the kid growing in your uterus. You decided to start off your questions in general statements.

“Oh, I love kids. Why do you ask?”

“Well, Cale, I mean, like, your own kids. How do you feel about having your own kids?”  

“Kids someday would be nice.” He smiled. He began thinking about his own little boy. Your stomach dropped. He said “someday.” And no, he didn’t know that his kid was sitting in your uterus. How could he have? But his reaction just made you nervous. “Why do you ask, Y/N?” 

“Just thinking about it. I work with babies all day, you know?” You felt a bit bad about lying to him, but it wasn’t really a lie, right? You were thinking about it recently, and you did work with babies all day. 

Cale knew after that response that something was wrong, but he didn’t know what. He thought he did well with the Indian food, but he knew you well enough that you would have told him upfront if you didn’t want the Indian food. The problem was something deeper than Indian food.

You helped him clean up the food and told him you were going to take a nap and asked if he wanted to come with. Cale happily accepted.  You climbed on top of the bed instead of snuggling under your mountain of blankets, and he knew something was really wrong. You loved your blankets. Even in the summer, you turned the AC down so you could still use your mountain of blankets. 

“Y/N, please. What’s wrong? You’re making me worried.” He climbed on the bed with you, and tucked you in a blanket, hoping it would give you the comfort he couldn’t.

“I don’t know how to say it, Cale. I don’t want you to be upset.” He was holding both your hands, fighting a few tears. He thought this was the “breakup talk.” He didn’t want to cry, but he could hardly imagine himself not being with you. He wanted to fight for you with everything he had.

“Cale, honey, why are you crying? I haven’t even told you yet.” He looked at you in shock. This wasn’t the breakup talk? What else could it be? “Cale. I’m pregnant. I took a test. It’s in the bathroom. I didn’t know how you would react. I’m so sorry.” All the words fell out of your mouth before you could stop yourself. 

Cale felt his entire world freeze. Almost instantly, he pictured the little boy from earlier in the afternoon. He pictured teaching him hockey and how to be a gentleman. Dressing him up with little bowties. Giving him a mohawk when his hair is wet. And above all else, he pictured doing all those things with you. 

“Oh, Y/N! This is fantastic news! What do you mean you didn’t know how I would react. Oh God, I am … I don’t even know the words. But, no, I would never be mad. Oh!” He bent down so his face was in front of your stomach. He put his hand on your stomach, and he swore he fell more in love than he even knew was possible.  

“Do you know the gender?” His eyes were so hopeful. He wanted a boy so badly.

“No, I just found out. We’ll know around the fourth month.” 

He paused for a moment. “Can I tell the boys?” 

“Yes.” You rolled your eyes, playfully. He eagerly whipped out his phone, typing fast. You knew the boys wouldn’t be able to hide it from their girlfriends/wives, so you grabbed your phone waiting for the avalanche of texts you would receive. 

The first trimester went well, considering the way the first trimester went for other women. You went through bouts of morning sickness and moodiness, but Cale took it in stride. Each time you were bent over the toilet, he was there holding your hair back. When you told the nurses on your floor, they were all so excited for you. They threw you a small party in the break room. They decorated onesies with glitter glue and markers. They told every single patient of yours, too. Every room you entered, you were greeted with “congratulations” from patients about ten minutes from having their own babies. Their excitement made you even more excited for your little bundle of joy. You were barely showing, but you wore slightly tighter clothing just to highlight your stomach.

The second trimester was about to begin, and you and Cale were sitting together in your office, waiting for your appointment. Today was the day you were going to get an envelope so you could find out the gender. You knew Cale would be happy if it was a girl, but you also knew he deeply wanted a boy. He talked constantly about a little baby boy. He even bought little baby hockey gear and skates.

Amanda, your doctor and colleague, came into the room. She explained everything she was going to do, then laughed because she realized you knew it already. Then, the dreaded question. “Would you like to know the gender?”

“Actually, could you just put the results in an envelope? We’re going to give it to a friend. We’re doing one of those gender reveal parties.”  

“Oh! That’s so exciting! Will do. But for now, I see ten fingers, ten toes, and a healthy heartbeat. Do you want to hear the heartbeat?” You and Cale both nodded, and you teared up a little bit when you heard the heartbeat. Sometimes, you forgot that you were growing a literal, living tiny human. It was difficult to conceptualize.

At the end of the appointment, Amanda gave you a sealed envelope, and you rushed over to Alyssa Mackinnon’s house to give her the gender of baby Makar. When you told her a few weeks ago that you wanted to have a gender reveal party, she squealed and asked if she could plan it. You agreed, and then fawned over party themes and ideas for the actual reveal.   

The party day came. You wore a pink dress. Cale wore a blue polo and khakis. When you got to Alyssa and Nate’s house, the whole team, your friends from work, Cale’s parents and brother, your parents, and your brother and his family were there. All the people that were important in your life were here to see whether baby Makar was a girl or boy. 

Alyssa had a few small party games going on along with a blackboard for people to tally their guesses on your baby’s gender. The men took turns racing to put diapers on footballs, while the women wrapped around your stomach with ribbons to measure how round your belly was. Then, Alyssa announced to the guests that it was time to step outside. When you stepped outside, you saw a goal post with a white balloon hanging from the top post. And you got so excited. 

You knew what was about to happen. Cale was going to shoot a puck at the balloon, and you were going to know the gender. Cale grabbed the stick from Alyssa and took aim. 

DING. Hit the post. POP. The balloon bled pink confetti. A GIRL! You squealed with joy, running over to Cale, giving him just enough time to drop the hockey stick and catch you in his arms. You started to cry tears of joy. Cale was crying, too. But soon, your overactive overthinking kicked in. How did Cale really feel? You were forced to push down the anxiety as your families and friends swarmed you and Cale with congratulations. 

The guests slowly made their way back inside Alyssa and Nate’s house to head out. You wanted to stay until the end to help her clean up and to thank her for all the hard work she put in for your gender reveal. You were packing paper plates into a garbage bag when you heard a loud gasp behind you.

“Y/N! Give me that! You are pregnant! Sit down! Kick your feet up! Don’t you dare touch another paper plate!” Alyssa cried. She pointed at your stomach and then to the couch. You handed her the bag and sat down on her couch. She gave you the “I’m watching you” stare before resuming what you had started. A minute later, Cale appeared. He sat down next to you, and you knew this was your chance to talk to him.

“Cale, how are you feeling? I know you wanted a-”

“Y/N. I’m happy. We both knew I wanted a boy, but I’m not upset. I swear. I just wanted our baby to be healthy. Her happiness is my top priority, not her gender.” You could have sworn your heart grew three sizes. You may have ruined his plan to be a boy-dad, but you always had a feeling he was a girl-dad anyway. 

The next four months passed without a hitch. The OBGYN floor had a field day with your baby shower. Mel Landeskog planned a separate shower, and with permission from the hospital, she brought the party to your break room. You thought you received a lot of gifts at the gender reveal, but now that everyone knew it was a girl, You and Cale swore you had enough baby clothing that you thought you never would need to do laundry because of how much they got for her. You had enough diaper boxes that they stacked from floor to ceiling in the nursery you and Cale had set up.  

At this point, you due date was 15 days away. Your belly was swollen to triple the size it used to be. Your feet hurt if you stood for longer than 20 minutes. You told Cale you just wanted the baby out. He would laugh at you and then take your feet and give them a massage. You really had the best boyfriend in the world. 

Truth be told, Cale was more prepared for a baby than you were. He had two go-bags packed – one for you two and one for the baby. You were extremely calm for that aspect of the actual birthing process. You also knew Cale wasn’t happy about you working, but you insisted on working until the minute your water broke. Your rationale was that you would already be at the hospital, and then as a bonus for your patients, you would be able to give them the care they needed. You just knew that the floor would take care of you. You knew each of the charge nurses. You knew how well they took care of their patients. They already told you that you would be their VIP patient. 

Today was relatively slow for you. You had no scheduled C-sections, you were only on-call for obstetric exams and emergencies that entered the ER. All of a sudden, you got a frantic call from Steph, the charge nurse in the ER. She was freaking out, as the entire ER staff did when a pregnant lady came in.

You went down and examined the woman and asked the nurses to admit her into the birthing wing when suddenly, you heard screaming. You rushed back over. She needed a C-section. You knew you weren’t supposed to, but you took an oath, and you had to save this woman and her baby’s life. You yelled at any nurse nearby to clear an ER for you and rushed up to scrub. 

You were gowned and gloved, finally. Mid-way through the C-section, you felt a pinching in your own stomach. You figured your baby decided to kick. It was only when nurse Kimmy gasped, “Y/N! I think your water broke!”

You barely registered the shout, but then you felt a tightening in your own stomach. A contraction. The nurses were already calling Cale without you even needing to ask them. They knew you were determined to finish the surgery. You pushed through and helped your patient deliver her baby. You took off your surgical gown and the nurses immediately put you in a wheelchair.

“Marci! I can walk myself to the OB wing!” you protested. She just shook his head and kept pushing you. You met Cale in the waiting room. The nurses had prepped a birthing suite for you the minute they found out your water broke. Cale brought both your go-bags into the room and helped you into the bag.

“You really had to be in surgery when your water broke?” he joked. He kissed your forehead, and together you waited and waited for your baby girl to make her grand entrance.

Marci came in periodically to check on you. The whole floor came in to say congratulations and dropped off some food. Maybe it was the hormones, but their love surrounded you, and it made you feel really good about having a baby. 

Finally, six hours later, baby girl Makar made an appearance. You and Cale never picked out a name. You could never decide. He thought of a name that you liked, but then you thought of another name. You would try to convince him of the new name, but then he would think of another one. The two of you were stuck. And now she was here! 

But as soon as you looked at her face, you knew the name. You looked at Cale, and both said at the same time, “Lilly Grace Makar!” 

+1. 

Your daughter, Lilly, was three, now. You and Cale were holding off on this for a long time, but you decided that the summertime would be the perfect time to go to Disney World in Florida. She loved watching Mickey Mouse in the mornings before daycare. Even though you both knew she wouldn’t remember the trip, you just wanted to take her for your own personal fun. 

At least, that’s what you told Cale. Secretly, though, you had other motives. Cale and you still weren’t married. Not even engaged. Obviously, the two of you were bound to each other forever. Cale was yours and you were Cale’s. But you just wanted the title of wife. It had been over six years since you went on that first date. You thought that was a reasonable amount of time to get engaged and married. And for goodness sake, you had a kid together and you hinted about wanting more for the past few months. 

So, that was where you hatched your plan. On a day off from work, you took Lilly to the mall. You told Cale she needed some new summer outfits because she grew out of the clothes she had in the spring. But you also made a quick pitstop at the jewelry store. You stole Cale’s Stanley Cup ring, too, so that you could get an accurate measurement. At the jewelry store, you picked out a solid silver band. Nothing extravagant, but enough for the occasion. At the end of the day, it was about your love for one another, not the extravagance of the ring. You were going to ask Cale to marry you at Disney World.

That same week, Cale entered the guest locker room in New Jersey, and pulled Gabe and Nate aside. He had a very important question. 

“Hey. So, how did you guys ask Mel and Alyssa to marry you? I think Y/N’s been dropping a lot of hints lately. I mean I know it’s just a title, because we’re both there, but I’m pretty sure it’s something she wants. I think I’m overthinking it.”

The two men laughed, remembering the times when they felt the same way. They each launched into their stories of asking their girlfriends to marry them. Gabe’s was intimate in Sweden. Nate’s was slightly public, in front of their families on the beach in Cole Harbour. 

They gave Cale a lot of ideas. He already knew the ring he was going to get you. He even knew he wanted to include Lilly in the proposal. He just didn’t know how public you wanted it to be. He thought about proposing in secret, like in the hotel room, but that didn’t feel romantic enough. He thought about proposing during the fireworks at Magic Kingdom, but that felt too public. 

You, on the other hand, had an exact plan. You wanted to propose in front of the Magic Kingdom castle. You figured that a proposal to hockey’s best defenseman would garner media attention regardless of how private you tried to make it. You might as well get some good photos out of it. 

You secured the ring you got for Cale in your carry-on. You had to hide it strategically, knowing Cale probably forgot something and would need to borrow it from your stash. Cale secured the ring he got for you in his suitcase between his underwear. There was no way you’d go through his underwear. 

The flight was smooth, Lilly was content to watch Mickey Mouse on the plane’s television screen. Cale insisted on first class, knowing this was Lilly’s first big vacation. She didn’t seem to notice, falling asleep about two hours into the flight. 

Arriving at your hotel, you unpacked and got onto the monorail to take you to Animal Kingdom. Lilly loved everything about it. The next day at Epcot was so much fun. She wouldn’t remember it, but you and Cale took enough combined pictures that you would never forget. Hollywood Studios was your favorite. 

The fated day finally came for you. Magic Kingdom. You secured the ring in your baby-backpack. You boarded the monorail with Cale and Lilly, as if everything was normal. Every bone in your body was on fire. You were nervous, but you wanted to be married to Cale. It was the only thing in the world that made sense. He was your rock. He gave the best advice. He was an incredible father. And you just knew in your gut he would be the best husband (not that he already wasn’t performing husband duties).

As excited as you were about proposing to Cale, you also wanted to do it early in the day so that you could enjoy the day with your daughter and hopefully-fiancé. 

“What do you wanna do first babygirl?” you asked Lilly as you and Cale grabbed her hands. 

 “Umm… I wanna see the princesses!” she shouted. Perfect. This would be the most perfect opportunity to walk towards the Magic Castle. 

Upon arrival, you stopped and pulled Lilly over to the side. Swinging your backpack down, you grabbed your phone and the ring box. 

“Lilly! Cale! Smile!” She posed with Cale in front of the castle. Cale put her down while you put your phone back in your bag and turned around with the ring box open. 

“Cale?” 

His face was in shock, but all of a sudden, he started laughing and reached into his own bag. Suddenly, Cale was down on one knee with a ring box while you stood in front of him with a ring box. 

Your face was flushed. People was stopping to look at you. But all you could see was Cale. Your perfect, sweet, caring, thoughtful fiancé. 

You screamed yes before he could even get the question out. He laughed as he put the ring on your finger. 

“Cale, you didn’t answer my question.” 

“You didn’t ask one, love.”

“Will you marry me, Cale Douglas Makar?” 

“It would make me the happiest man in the world.” He kissed you sweetly, and you slipped the ring on your finger. The small crowd of people around you cheered for you. Cale picked Lilly up and you handed your phone to a nice-looking couple and asked them to take a picture. And it now served as your wallpaper.  

A/N: Yes. This entire fic was based off of this tweet. No, I will not be taking questions. LMAO

https://twitter.com/virgoprincxss/status/1031921634951684097?s=20&t=t5DZrxlxwSquOAQ5pZi32Q 

I hope y’all enjoyed!!

[shxllxfx]

Flirtatious || David “Deacon” Kay

David "Deacon" Kay x Street!Reader, Jim Street x Sister!Reader

Summary: Jim's little sister visits and turns the life of a special Sergeant upside down.

Warnings: English is not my mothertounge. GIF isn’t mine, credit to owner.

A/N: I hope you all like this, let me know what you think. Love you all lots 💋

Words: 2097

Taglist: @browngirldominion

Masterlist

Add yourself to my taglist!

For Deacon it was a normal day. At least what he could call normal since Annie left him. They tried as good as possible to make everything as easy as they could for the kids and they were as understanding as children could be. He stayed at the house with the kids while Annie went to her sister, who lived just down the street. It was Annie's wish. So in the morning, Deacon got up and ready, made breakfast and got the kids up for school. Annie would pick them up after. That was their routine since almost a year now. Once he got to work everything was as usual and normal as his day at work could be. Until she arrived.

*

With your travel bag over your shoulder and your favorite hot drink in your hand you slowly left the airport and headed towards the cabs. You missed LA. The burning heat in summer, the beach, and the waves and maybe even your younger brother. But if there was one thing about LA you didn’t miss it was traffic. You sighed when the driver had to stop yet again. "The traffic, huh?" He sighed. "Gonna be the death of me one day." You gave him a soft smile and nodded. "Well I surely didn't miss it." He laughed. Whole heartedly laughed. A big grin grew on your face. He was mid-fifties, no hair on his head but a full grayish beard in his face. "Vacation was that good?" You shook your head slightly as he stopped the car in front of the big compound. "No vacation. Lived out of city for some time but I'm coming back now." You paid him and gave him a soft smile with a quick thank you before leaving the cab and heading towards the entrance.

You knew these people were thorough but having to go through a complete body and back check that was worse than the one on the airport was something you didn’t expect. Another thing you didn’t expect was being escorted to your younger brother by some big muscular looking dude. "Sorry to interrupt Lieutenant, Commander. Street you've got a visitor." The guy stepped aside and gave you a chance to investigate the big room where some people were standing around a big table. "Y/N/N? No way!" Jim sprinted towards you and you opened your arms wide for him to hug you tight. He kissed the side of your head while picking you up slightly. "God I've missed you! You didn’t tell me you were back!" You chuckled when he let you down and gave him a big grin. "Well, surprise?" You shrugged before looking at his colleagues, all staring at the pair of you. "If you are busy now, I can come back later. Just wanted to see my little brother first thing." He rolled his eyes at you but then turned his head to the lieutenant, who gave him a nod. "It's alright. You wanna meet the team?" Now your heartbeat increased a bit. Meeting new people always made you nervous. You gave him a nod and dried your hands from the little film of sweat forming on it.

"So that's Lieutenant Lynch and Commander Hicks, my bosses. Sergeant Daniel Harrelson or Hondo, as we call him. Officers Dominic Luca, Chris Alonso, and Victor Tan. And lastly Sergeant David, or Deacon, Kay." You gave every single one of them a small smile while being introduced. Jim had his hand reassuringly on your back in between your shoulder blades. "It's nice to finally get to know the lot of you. Jim talks about you nonstop. I'm Y/N." The girl in the group, Chris, gave you a comforting smile. "Street talks about you all the time, too. He said you studied medicine?" You looked at Jim and raised an eyebrow. "Street, huh?" He just scoffed. "Yeah, I finished 4 weeks ago, now I'm just waiting to start practicing." Jim removed his hand from your back and gave your shoulder a short squeeze. The other Sergeant, Deacon had his arms crossed before his chest and gave you a soft smile when you locked eyes. "I'm sure you'll get a job soon." His voice made you shiver a bit, like an electroshock. "Thank you." You smiled softly and looked down. You needed to break the eye contact, otherwise you would have melted right away.

*

It had been some time since you came back and you and Jim had been spending more time together than ever. He had allowed you to stay with him and Luca at the house till you found a place for yourself and till you got a job. Since they were close as a team, they often spend time with each other, so obviously Jim dragged you along. You stepped out of the hospital your application file clutched to your chest as a big smile grew on your face. You tried to control the outburst of happiness that grew in your chest but failed miserably as you let out a little laugh. You had to talk to Jim. You needed to tell him. Since you were a little child and Jimmy and you had been sitting up all night, in the foster care bedroom, talking about your dreams and plans. His had been the police, the swat and your dream had always been working in a hospital. You got into your car an old Toyota you bought and drove to the swat compound. By now they all knew you but that didn’t stop the body and purse check by the entrance. As always, an officer escorted you to your younger brothers’ team. "Y/N" Hondo greeted you and gave you a brief hug. Deacon looked up from the computer he was working at and gave you a big smile. "Street isn't here and I have somewhere to be but I'm sure Deacon will keep you company till Street is back." With that he left and you turned around, your body still bubbling with happiness. You sat down on one of the chairs, not wanting to disturb Deacon who seemed to be working on something but your body was filled with so much energy that you got up right away. Deacon looked at you and stopped what he was doing. "What's got you all excited?" He asked and gave you a warm smile. A smile that could literally melt anyone. "Okay I really wanted to wait until Jim is back but I really need to tell someone." You took two energetic steps towards him, hands shaking from all the happiness. "The hospital I applied with gave me the job." You blurted out, stumbling over your words. Even if Deacon didn’t know the long backstory of you wanting to help people, be there for them at their worst and be there for them to get better, he could feel the importance of your statement. "Congratulations. That's awesome, Y/N." He wrapped an arm around you and pulled you in for a hug, which you happily accepted. "Thank you. I've been working so hard for this; you don’t even know." You whispered and let go of him. You were still shaking and your cheeks started to hurt from smiling so wide. You whipped over your face and as you lowered your hands you took yours in his. They were warm and rough, sending small electroshocks through your whole body. "You are shaking." He stated, applying a little pressure on your palms, trying to calm you. "I'm just so excited and happy about it. It's... I've always dreamt of this." You heard footsteps behind you and when you turned around Jim walked in. You slowly slipped your hands out of his, the warmth leaving you. "Jimmy!" You hugged him tightly and your happiness and excitement started to bubble up again, pushing aside the weird feeling the situation with Deacon gave you. Right now, the only important thing was telling Jim about your day.

*

You were currently siting on the sofa while Jim and Luca were playing a game. Hondo was leaning against the counter sitting on his beer while talking to Chis and Tan. They were fun to be around and great to talk to. "Got you another one since yours was empty." Deacon handed you another bottle and plopped himself down on the sofa next to you. "Thank you" you grinned while pulling your legs to your chest. Since the situation a couple of days ago you and Deacon haven’t spoken to each other but even right now only hearing his voice felt like pure electricity in your veins. A weird feeling you had never felt. "You are so quiet today, everything okay?" He nudged your side with his elbow and you looked up at him. With a small nod and smile you put the bottle to your lips. "I think..." your little brother slurred, putting an arm over Lucas shoulder who just won again, "I think that we should take a picture. To remember this glorious day and Luca winning against me." A small laughter escaped your lips when you jumped up, always ready to keep memories as a picture. You reached out to Deacon, waiting for him to take your hand while the others already formed to a small bundle. Chris put up her phone with timer and when Deacon grabbed your hand and let you pull him up, Chris pushed the button, only leaving enough time for you and Deacon to stumble into the picture. It was only after the flash went off and the picture was taken that you realized the hand on your hip and the other one still in your hand. While the others fussed about seeing the picture you just stood there for a second before Deacon quickly pulled away both hands, winking at you when he left you all flustered. You didn’t know if it was the alcohol in your veins or the simple fact that the warmth you had from having him next to you was gone, but something inside you screamed for his presence.

It was getting late, Hondo and Chris already left and you were just bringing Tan outside to his cab while Luca, Jim and Deacon were having a conversation about being in the swat. "It was really nice; we have to do that again sometime." Tan laughed while getting in the cab. You gave him a small smile and wave when the cab left. The fresh night air was soft and nice against your skin. The sky was full of stars. You sat down on the bench in the garden, taking a deep breath in, eyes closed. "Here you are" Deacon walked toward you, hands in pockets. He had a small smile playing on his lips. You simply had to smile back. "It’s so pretty out here" You stated, smiling up at the sky. "Yeah it is." He said. When you looked at him, he was looking at you. You felt something warm around your heart. For a brief second you held his eye contact, before looking at your hands. "Well that was cheesy." You muttered and he chuckled quietly. "But true." He was whispering so quietly that you almost didn’t hear him. For a moment everything was quiet. He softly grabbed your hand. "You should go back inside. I just got a cab and Street and Luca are going to sleep soon." You let him pull you up, till you were standing so close you could feel his body heat and you could swear that if you would have breathed just a bit quieter you would have actually been able to hear his heart beat. “Spending time with you guys has really been awesome. I understand why Jim loves you all so much.” With a smile on his lips he hummed. He was still holding your hand in his but you didn’t bother to take it away. It felt good. Familiar. Deacon stopped right in front of the door. With a questioning look you stopped as well, your eyes on him as you waited for an explanation for his stop. With a soft smile he stared back at you. “Maybe we could spend some time together. Just the two of us?” You were confused and raised an eyebrow. “I am asking you to go on a date with me, Y/N. If you want to?” The confused look on your face changed to a soft smile which turned to a grin. The warm feeling in your stomach grew. “Yes, Deacon. Id like that very much.”

[kitkats-mikrokosmos]

you who led me through that maze, you are my light - chapter 1: such stuff as dreams are made

crossposted on ao3

genre: fluff, slowish burn, romance pairing: ot7 x reader summary: ❝ this rain, too, is coming to an end i won’t let go of your hand anymore i wish that you would love me ❞

(or the one in which bighit holds a raffle for army to spend 4 months with bts in a remote lakehouse, and you win)

word count: 1390 warnings: cursing

see author notes at the end

Words could not begin to describe the cocktail of emotions that shot straight through your veins as you stared down at your phone.

"Dear (L/N) (F/N),     Congratulations! You've won the raffle!     Please contact us by January 31st, 2021 to claim your prize.     We look forward to hearing from you. -BigHit Entertainment"

This had to be a joke, right? There was no way that this was real. Spam or a cruel joke from your family or maybe this was a dream.

You reached over and pinched your forearm. Hard.

The only thing that resulted was an explosion of stinging pain across your nerves and involuntary tears springing to your eyes.

So this wasn't a dream. But that still left spam or a joke.

It was totally in character for either of your brothers to pull something like this. But you didn't know if they knew how to spoof an email address, and, as you peered at the screen, you realized that address looked very official.

Quickly, you opened an incognito browser and did a Google search for BigHit's email address (addresses?). There was no guarantee of credibility, but still, it was better than operating under the assumption of goodwill. That was the sort of thing that got you hacked and all of your data sold on the dark web, and that was something you'd rather avoid. Once you'd found emails that looked like they might be correct, you opened the email again to compare them. The result had your heart hammering in your chest and your pulse fluttering in your throat like hummingbird wings.

They were almost identical.

This was probably the real deal.

This was probably the real deal.

You leaned back in your chair, a bark of disbelieving laughter leaving your lips.

Well shit.

You had some plans to make, you guess.

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

"Dear (L/N) (F/N),     We discussed what you mentioned in your last email, and, in the effort of making you more comfortable, we thought that we might send the boys out one at a time to join you in the as-of-yet undisclosed location. You would have a week to get to know each other individually before another member would join you both.     Is this sufficient? -BigHit Entertainment"

"Dear BigHit Entertainment,     That sounds great! Thank you so much for being so understanding. I really appreciate it. -(F/N) (L/N)"

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

"Your plane will leave tomorrow at 6:00 AM. Sorry, but that ended up being the most convenient time."

"It's fine, I understand," you said, smiling even though you wanted to cry at the thought of waking up at 4 in the morning so that you could make the plane ride. You'd have to make an emergency order from Target for a couple of those Starbucks frappucinos. You absently scrawled a reminder to yourself down onto a sticky note that you stuck to your corkboard, phone balanced between your shoulder and your ear.

Oh, how you missed the days when you could just drive to the store down the road and pick up whatever junk food you happened to be craving at the moment.

Still, life goes on.

"All precautions will be taken, of course. Still, when you arrive in Seoul, you'll be required to quarantine for two weeks. I know you've already been informed, but I just wanted to double-check one more time: you are okay with this, correct?"

"Yes. Yes, I am."

You'd expected it, in fact. They couldn't have known for certain that the ARMY that won the raffle would be from Korea, and there were all sorts of travel restrictions, worsened by winter - that they could fly you in at all was nothing short of a miracle. Quarantine seemed obvious.

You'd rather not spend time holed up in some hotel or someplace for fourteen days, waiting to see if you'll start displaying symptoms, but you'd also rather not get other people sick by accident - especially not the boys. The only way those two things could coincide was if the pandemic was over, and, unfortunately, things weren't there yet. You were still praying for a vaccine, but in the meantime.

"All right, I believe that's everything. We look forward to meeting you, (L/N)-ssi."

"I look forward to meeting you, too. Thank you. I really appreciate this opportunity."

It sounded like the person on the other end was smiling when they replied, "Of course. Have a good day."

"You, too."

"Bye."

You hung up and turned in your chair. Your suitcases were packed and waiting by the front door, and butterflies swooped in your stomach. In less than 24 hours, you'd be hopping on a plane to Korea, and in a little more than 2 weeks, you'd be meeting BTS.

Already, you were nervous. You couldn't imagine how much of a wreck you'd become as the day approached. Still, that was something for future-you to deal with. Present-you had enough on your plate.

First order of business: ordering coffee.

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

You blinked blearily up at the airport.

Where to now? you wondered as you stepped through the automatic doors. Multiple signs blinked at you to please wear a mask, and you adjusted yours a little, fixing it on the bridge of your nose. You glanced around. There weren't any obvious directions or anything.

"Uh, are you (Y/N) (L/N)?" an unfamiliar voice spoke.

You turned.

A woman in a pressed blue uniform and a matching mask stood there. She stopped the mandatory six feet away, and, judging from the crinkles of her eyes, she was smiling at you.

"That's me," you said, reshouldering your carry-on bag.

"Excellent!" she chirped, in true customer service fashion.

You felt bad for her, having to be this upbeat at ass o'clock in the morning. Maybe she could recommend you her coffee brand. Or maybe she was just fueled by spite like you'd been when you worked at the coffee shop downtown. Opening was always a fucking nightmare.

"Please follow me." She gestured onwards, then began walking.

You trailed behind.

"I'll take you to security," she continued as she walked, her heels clicking against the linoleum. "You'll be flying on a private plane today. Whoever's flying you out must really want to be sure you're safe." She paused. "And have a lot of money." She gave a tottering laugh.

You probably would've found the joke funnier if you were actually awake, but alas. You'd had two of your three coffees already, but there was only so much caffeine could do when it was up against the existential nightmare of an early morning.

Luckily, she didn't seem particularly daunted by her less-than-enthusiastic audience. Instead, she kept chattering on - about what, you weren't sure; you were having an incredibly hard time focusing your foggy brain to focus on anything for longer than 0.2 seconds.

You were flying to Korea. Jesus Christ. The reality was finally sinking in - as much as it could, given your current state. What country had you saved in a past life to be this lucky?

You likewise went through security in a daze, still reeling. You were only slightly more coherent when you were boarding the plane.

The flight attendant gave you a sympathetic smile and advised that you try to get some sleep - it was going to be a long flight.

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

14 hours later, give or take, the plane had touched down in Seoul. You disembarked and were immediately swept away, rushed through customs before being deposited into the care of BigHit employees. One notable employee being Kim Hyun-Woo, whom had been the one you communicated with primarily as this whole thing was being set up.

He greeted you with a wide grin. "It's so great to finally be able to meet you in person, (L/N)-ssi."

You tried to return his smile as best you could. "You as well." You yawned. "Sorry, that was a really long flight."

"I understand." He nodded and gestured to the car. "If you'll climb inside, we'll take you to the hotel you'll be staying at for the duration of your quarantine."

You did so, and you were soon on your way.

You watched Seoul's cityscape slide by, the brilliant lights offset by the dark of the night, and you wondered why it was that you felt like your life was about to change. Forever.

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

Short first chapter I know, but the next chapter will be longer - and juicier. You’ll be joined by the first member next chapter, so be sure to vote to decide who that’ll be.

[tuscanwalker]

September 10, 2021- Exit Through the Gift Shop

12.5 km, 100 m (325 ft) CUS

I guess I’m going to have to stop eating as though I was still walking. My smart watch says I walked around 18,000 steps yesterday and burned about 900 calories above baseline. This is a far cry from the 50,000+ steps and 4,500+ calories I burned on my last walking day. While I am sure that I was burning fat then, I am just as certain I am adding fat now. Strangely, Kim and I have never lost weight on any of our walks, we just cast thinner shadows at the end.

Today, after an 8 am breakfast, I ran to catch the 8:44 to Moselkern. From there, because I had no car and there is no shuttle on weekdays, I walked 5 km up a shallow trail until Burg Eltz appeared out of the forest. This was my kind of walking. An average 2% slope through a beautiful forest alongside the picturesque Eltz River. Meadows were filled with what others have described as wild orchids, although they look more like a relative of snapdragons to me. Even the stairs at the end were a civilized 20 m high. It took a bit over an hour each way, but it was time well spent.

As I have always said, when visiting popular sights it is best to go early or late to avoid the crowds. When I arrived at just past 10 a huge electric sign announced that there were currently 82 people in the castle grounds with a maximum Covid capacity of 350. When I left an hour or so later, the number on the big board was 331 and at least another 150 were lined up outside (terrifyingly cheek by jowl) and waiting to buy tickets.

Basically, this fairy tale castle has been under construction and reconstruction since the 12th Century. Three of the Eltz brothers had an argument 100 years after construction began and the family split into three parts, the Golden Lions (Eltz Kempenich), the Silver Lions (Eltz Rubinach) and the Buffalo Horns (Eltz Rudindorf. Over the next 500 years they built three interconnected homes within the Castle (condo?). Through shrewd political alliances they avoided having the castle stormed and demolished like so many others in the region although there was that unfortunate 5 year siege during the so called “Eltz Feud”. The Rudindorf branch of the family died out in the 18th century and the Rubinich branch sold out in the 19th. Today, the Kempenichs use about a third of the castle as a vacation home while the rest is open to the public as a way of paying the horrendous upkeep costs. This is the only actual tour I have been on while in Germany. Each tour was limited to ten people and we had to simply walk quickly through two rooms as they were not deemed large enough to permit sufficient physical distancing. No pictures were allowed except in the Treasury and Armoury where the family kept some of its goodies.

After walking back down (I met no one on my way up, but over 100 on my way down) I hopped a train back to Cochem, arriving 4 1/2 hours after I left. I immediately threw out my hiking shoes. They were the same ones I used in Portugal and while I had not worn them since, the sole on the right one began to separate a couple of days ago. This may because that is the leg I limped on for 500+ km in Portugal or it could be that I was almost always walking north on the west side of the river, so the right shoe provided most of the support on the many trails that sloped off the cliffs.

Then, for the last time, I grabbed another leisurely lunch with a half a litre of Riesling and sat reading on the restaurant terrace for a couple of hours. While my wine consumption is likely going to come under review when I get home, it should be remembered that Riesling in only around 10% alcohol. Thus my half litre had only slightly more than would two glasses of the wines we usually drink that are 14-16% alcohol. If that sounds like rationalization to you, you are very astute.

Tomorrow, I’m off to the Frankfurt Airport where I will get my very expensive preflight molecular Covid test (have appt) and then adjourn to the Airport Ibis Hotel to see if I can come home on Sunday. I will also try to fulfill the true purpose of my trip, to get Lu-Anne a bottle of Monkey 57 gin in duty free as it is apparently available only in Germany.

[maxdark158]

WAZZUP?! THIS IS THE FINAL CHAPTER OF ANGEL IN GOTHAM! Demon in Gotham has another four chapters but THIS IS THE LAST ONE OF THIS FIC!

EVERYBODY PANIC

Wait no don’t actually pls... I’m sorry

Thank you wonderful @ozmav for creating the au that inspired me to write this. I apologize in advance to you.

LETS G-GO GO GO

Angel in Gotham: Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5 ~ Part 6 ~ Ao3

Demon in Gotham: Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Ao3

FANART! I GOT FANART GUYS!! Riddler ~ Joker thank you @thegreysman !!! If ANY of you draw ANY fanart PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tag me!!!!!

oooOOOooo

The Unnamed Teenager That Defeated The Riddler Cripples Joker!

Just days after beating The Riddler at his own game, the same teenage girl holds off The Joker until Batman arrives!

“We had to amputate him below the knee,” Arkham doctor says. “There was too much glass in the wound, it cut several muscles, tendons, and arteries. The shattered bone didn’t help.”

French Teenager Unavailable for Comment.

[Read More]

oooOOOooo

Their trip to Gotham was ending early, all because of her.

Marinette woke up in the hospital. Professor Mendeleiev was there. She apparently fainted due to asphyxiation. She had a cut on her hand, and rugburn on her feet, and had been out for nine hours. The doctor told her it was a miracle she wasn’t more heavily injured after encountering the Joker. Professor Mendeleiev glared at them until they stopped talking about it.

She was discharged soon after. On the way to the hotel, Professor Mendeleiev told her what happened while she was out. The rest of the trip was canceled because of two students being attacked by the Joker, though Marinette’s confrontation with the Riddler hadn’t helped the case. They would be going home that evening. They’re leaving for the flight in two hours – 3:30pm.

“Bruce Wayne graciously paid for our flight back,” Professor Mendeleiev said. Marinette would have felt sick hearing it if she wasn’t so numb from everything.

Her parents had been informed about what happened. She should probably call them soon.

“Your friends tried to visit you in the hospital,” Professor Mendeleiev finished as they pulled up to, the now heavily guarded, hotel. “Unfortunately, only your guardian for the trip was allowed visitation, which is me.”

Her mind instantly went to Damian but- “Friends?”

An almost sad look appeared Professor Mendeleiev’s face, but it was gone so quick Marinette believed it to be imagined. “Yes. The Wayne boy and some classmates. Kim and Alix.”

Her heart lurched to her throat. Kim? Alix? She didn’t think anyone else cared anymore but…

She and Kim had distanced over the years, but when they were younger he was like her brother. She and Alix hadn’t talked much. She didn’t think either of them cared anymore.

She got out of the car. Professor Mendeleiev had brought Marinette some of her other clothes so she wasn’t wearing the bloody crop top and pajama pants. Her t-shirt and jeans were plain enough that she might be able to slide past the others she could see in the lobby.

Marinette hoped.

She walked in, Professor Mendeleiev behind her.

“Marinette!” A huge body slammed into her. Its arms wrapped around her and soon she was spinning.

“Careful, idiot,” she heard Alix say. “Don’t break her!”

The arms set her down and – oh it’s Kim. His eyes were red and puffy. A glance showed that Alix’s eyes were too. Why were they like that?

“I’m glad you’re okay,” he said genuinely.

“Me too,” Alix playfully punched her shoulder. “You beat the Joker! You’re bada-”

“Get away from her,” Another voice cut in, sharp. Marinette glanced up to see Alya keeping her distance from them, standing in front of Lila. From what she could see of the Italian, her hair was now in a single much shorter ponytail – or bun? Maybe it was a braid.

Alix crossed her arms in front of her chest. “What if I don’t want to?”

“You heard what Lila said,” Alya’s voice was angry. Marinette was numb to it. “She-”

“Alya,” Professor Mendeleiev chose that moment to step in. “I don’t care what Lila has been telling you, but stop yelling at her and her friends.”

Marinette jolted at the word. Friends.

“She needs to go to her room and pack for the flight back to Paris tonight anyway. Allow her to leave.”

Her class, most of them surrounding Lila, stared in stunned silence.

After a moment, Marinette went to the Elevator. She was given a new room key during the drive to the hotel.

She felt like the hallway security police were staring at her as she walked to her room.

They thought she was a freak. Everyone did.

When Marinette entered her room, she was immediately hit in the face.

“Marinette!” Tikki whispered, knowing there were others outside her door. “I’m so sorry, I should have gone with you I-”

“It’s okay Tikki,” Marinette was still numb, but it was better than dissociating. It was better than crying.

“No,” Tikki’s eyes were filled with shining tears. “It’s not.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but she couldn’t.

Because it wasn’t alright.

Instead of answering, she focused on her room again. She still remembered everything from the other night, but this would be her last time seeing it.

The sheets are scratchy, she remembered. The fabric was still clearly cheap.

The bed was stiff. She knew it was hard sleeping on it, but it was hard sleeping anyway for her.

Her entire hotel room was bland. A mess of off-white and white. It was bright, and it needed more color. More design to it.

She could see the creepy painting of two children in a bucket on the wall from the door. It was black and white except for the blue color of their shirts. Their eyes were still wide, but they seemed to stare at her now. Maybe they thought she was a freak too.

The familiar surroundings made it easy to spot the not-so-familiar changes she made. Her sketchbook was brightly colored, closed on her desk. Her dirty clothes were on the floor in the corner. The entire room was a mess of cut fabric and cardboard from the previous hours she spent designing and making-

The Thing.

She’d taken to calling it The Thing. She felt that if she acknowledged what it was, even in her own mind, she would break. She would break and someone would have to pick up the shattered pieces.

She cleaned up the mess. The few scraps of fabric left weren’t enough to make a design out of so she threw them away.

Marinette repacked her suitcase and backpack, making sure to account for absolutely everything. She checked once, twice. Tikki checked. Then she checked again. The only things she hadn’t packed were her phone and her sketchbook, both of which currently laid on her bed.

She still had an hour before they left to go to the airport.

The Thing was still hanging in her hotel room’s closet. It was small and cramped with only two hangers, a small shelf, and no door. She had shoved The Thing to the very back so she couldn’t see it unless she stood directly in front of the closet.

She went there now. She was staring at it.

She didn’t break, but she could feel cracks. Chips and pieces of herself fell to the ground.

Marinette’s hands shook as she took it from the closet.

She glanced at her sketchbook.

oooOOOooo

“Hi Maman, Papa,” Marinette greeted her parents.

After she finished with her little project, Tikki convinced her to call her parents. Though, she didn’t need that much convincing. It was a long flight, and she wouldn’t be able to call or message them while on it.

She still had fifty minutes left until she needed to go to the lobby.

“Marinette!” Her papa’s eyes were red and puffy too. Maman was still crying. “My little girl! Are you alright?”

“I’m okay,” her voice sounded wobbly and wrong. “I wasn’t even heavily injured.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Maman’s eyes had a fire in them. Marinette wished she still had hers. “I’m just glad you’re coming home soon.”

“We’re going to wrap you in bubble wrap,” her Papa’s voice was also wobbly. “So this can’t ever happen to our baby girl again.”

Marinette tried to imagine that, for a moment. Ladybug fighting akuma while wearing bubble wrap armor.

“I’m okay,” she said. “I know it was scary-”

“Understatement of the year!” her Maman grumbled.

“But I lived!”

“Yes, you did,” Her Papa’s voice was still wobbly, but proud too. Marinette felt her heart lurch to her throat again.

She hated it when people were worried about her.

“You not only lived,” her mother wiped her eyes, “But Marinette, they had to cut off one of his legs-”

What?

“He’ll be down for the count until he can properly use his prosthetic!”

She what?

“You may have saved more people, doing that-”

She… she did that…

She permanently and irreversibly damaged someone beyond repair.

“They even did a news article about it! My baby girl, making Gotham’s news!”

The entirety of Gotham knew she hurt the Joker. Hurt him so bad he didn’t have all of his body left.

“She’s anonymous in it though, Tom.”

No wonder the security guards were staring at her.

“Even better! We know who she is but others don’t! I’m even more proud.”

She wasn’t just a freak.

“You would be, darling.”

She was a monster.

“Marinette?” Tikki whispered.

“Honey?”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” she tried to sound normal. Look normal. Hide her claws and flaws.

She’s a monster.

“I’ve got to finish getting ready,” she lied. It was heavy on her tongue but she didn’t care. Guilt was heavy, too heavy, but she didn’t care anymore.

“Thank you for calling us!”

“Try not to look for anymore villains!”

“I won’t,” That, she could answer honestly. “Goodbye, Maman, Papa.”

“I swear you’re her favori-” her father’s grumblings were cut off as Marinette hung up the call.

“Marinette?” Tikki tried again.

Marinette stared at her hands. She couldn’t see the blood, it wasn’t there anymore, but she could still picture it there. Blood that she caused.

She was a horrible person. Her actions were inexcusable. Monstrous.

Guilt was crushing her. It weighed on her shoulders and tongue, pushing her down and down. She waited for it to squish her like a bug. She hoped it would squish her like the bug she is.

Someone knocked on her door.

Marinette was numb. Like a zombie, she got up to open it. She already knew who it was.

Damian’s hair was messy. He wore a gray hoodie. She suspected he had the hood up until recently to try and conceal his identity as Damian Wayne.

She remembered how as Robin, when she punched The Riddler, he had been messy then too. Now she knew why – he had rushed to change into costume to help.

The memory hit her hard. She could see both of them standing there – Damian and Robin.

She looked at him. She didn’t break. It was a close thing.

His eyes weren’t red or puffy. His hands were stuffed in his pockets.

He looked normal.

Marinette wondered how much makeup he wore to hide his lack of sleep from being a superhero. She didn’t have hers on right now.

“Angel,” His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. “Are you… okay?”

She managed to smile. It was fake. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she tried to joke.

It fell flat.

Without another word, she stepped back and opened the door wider for him. He walked in, pausing on the creepy painting.

“I know,” she mumbled. “It’s weird.”

He huffed.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you,” he says, and Marinette understands.

She knows he isn’t apologizing as Damian. He’s apologizing as Robin. She can remember doing this when she had friends who got hurt. ‘I’m sorry, I should have been there.’ She knows what the meaning is beyond the words he actually says.

She knows he’s apologizing to a monster.

“You didn’t have to be,” she says, speaking to Damian. “I would have been too worried about you to… to…”

The words die in her throat but she knew what they were. To hurt the Joker. To damage him beyond repair.

“I was still,” he seemed to fight with his words too, “worried.” He spits it like a curse, like he hates saying it. Like he hates her.

Marinette could understand that. She hated having to be worried about Lila last night.

She ignored the hurt.

“You don’t have to be,” she mumbles, going over to the desk so she can sit.

“Are you fully packed?” he changed the subject.

“Yeah,” she sat at her desk. Her sketchbook, missing a few pages, was on it. Her phone was in her pocket. The rest of her suitcase and backpack were gathered by the foot of her bed.

The clock on the bedside table had a bright red glow. It was one of those electric ones.

She had forty-five minutes left.

The conversation lulled.

“I’m a bad friend.”

She ignored the pain.

“What?” Damian jerked. “What makes you say that? Why would you say that? There’s no reason for you to think that, Ange- Marinette.”

She tried not to flinch.

“There is,” she said slowly. “I don’t deserve you. You shouldn’t have to suffer a friendship with me.”

“What? Angel-”

“I’m a horrible person, and you shouldn’t have to deal with me.”

“What are you saying?” His eyes were wide, almost frantic. “You’re not making any sense.”

“I’m not supposed to,” she could feel a tear slide down her cheek. “You… you’ll understand soon.”

Damian looked lost. “Angel-”

“I’m not an angel,” she got up, heading to the closet. “I don’t deserve that name.”

“Please, you’re not making any sense,” she paused outside of the closet. Why did he sound so hurt? He had to hate her.

She was a monster, and monsters deserved to be hated.

“I’m an awful person, a horrible friend,” she whispered. “I’m protecting you from me.”

“I don’t need prote-”

In one quick move she grabbed a shoddy sketchbook paper-wrapped rectangle and threw it at the bed next to him.

“That’s yours,” her voice was wobbling. Tears were falling off her face and onto her shirt. “Open it when I leave, then you’ll understand why I can’t be your friend anymore.”

This was the most expressive she’s ever seen Damian. His face seemed to fall, and he picked it up carefully.

“You don’t want to… to be my friend?” he whispered. His eyes were shiny, and he sounded like he was about to cry. It was probably from relief.

She was a monster, and monsters didn’t deserve happiness.

“I don’t deserve to,” Marinette corrected.

She betrayed his trust. She went behind his back and discovered something about him that she wouldn’t ever be able to forget – not in this universe.

He didn’t deserve someone like that. He wasn’t a monster like she was, and deserved someone better to be his friend and to comfort him and-

“I need to call my parents,” she lied again. She loathed liars and now she was one. But that was okay.

She was a monster, and monsters deserved to be loathed.

If anything, Damian looked even more hurt. He didn’t say anything though, simply taking the package and walking out the door.

He didn’t slam it. He closed it with a soft click.

“Marinette,” Tikki sounded horrified. “What did you do?”

“He-he deserved better,” Marinette sobbed. “He doesn’t-doesn’t deserve… He doesn’t deserve…”

She broke down into sobs then. Ugly, horrible sobs that her hotel room pillow didn’t fully muffle.

“You can still fix this!” Tikki cried. “You can call him, you have his number, or-”

Marinette shook her head. She couldn’t.

She was a monster, and monsters didn’t deserve to love.

Oh.

Oh no.

She loved him.

She…

She was in love with Damian.

Marinette’s tears started fresh. She was in love with Damian. She couldn’t pinpoint a when, but she was…

It felt soothing, for a moment. It was not as obsessive as her crush on Adrien was, but something calmer. It flowed like a stream, natural.

But now, the stream was boiling. It hurt to breathe, to move, to think, because she loved Damian.

And she didn’t deserve him.

She now felt all of the hurt, the pain, everything she had been ignoring, full force.

It was mint it was chains it was tight throats and burning lungs and sobs.

It was painful.

oooOOOooo

Five minutes until they leave the hotel for the airport. Marinette had her backpack on her back, her suitcase in hand, and her sketchbook under her arm. Her phone was in her pocket and Tikki was in her backpack.

When she arrived at the lobby, everyone was waiting in groups. She saw several red and puffy eyes, none as worse as Lila Rossi.

Oddly enough, she sat alone.

Kim was the first to see her. He was pacing and looked up when he heard her quiet footsteps. “Mari,” he breathed. “I’m so sorry.”

What?

“What?” she asked. Her voice wasn’t wobbly, but it cracked.

“I’m sorry too,” Alix piped up. “We may have gotten suspicious toward the end, but we still believed Lila for years. I’m sorry.”

What?

They… didn’t believe Lila?

Other classmates began to step forward, shame-faced. Rose was still crying. Juleka’s hair hid one eye, but the other was still shining as well.

“Marinette, I’m so sorry,” the small blonde cried. “Lila, she did that, and-and you’re you and you don’t deserve it and-”

“What?” she was still confused. What… what happened? Why were they…

“Damian Wayne was here earlier,” Alix stepped in. “He called Lila out on her bullsh-”

“Alix!” Ms. Buistier cried.

“He called you out too, you know,” Alix snapped back immediately. “And don’t think I’m not going to bring up all the points he argued about you to the school board.”

Ms. Bustier paled considerably. Marinette was worried she’d faint.

“The point is, he called Lila out for all the lies she told,” Kim frowned. “Well, the ones he knew of. The rest of us filled in the blanks for him.”

“It helped when the police showed us the security footage of last night,” Juleka mumbled. “Alya couldn’t argue with facts.”

Alya, also sitting alone, flinched.

“You don’t have to forgive any of us,” Rose was still crying. “We don’t deserve it. But I- I still wanted to apologize.”

“Same,” Alix grumbled. Kim nodded.

Marinette was still confused.

She was a monster, and monsters deserved to be detested.

But they didn’t detest her.

At least, not anymore.

Professor Mendeleiev clapped her hands to get the class’ attention. Everyone began to file into the bus to go to the airport.

The security officer policeman nodded to her on her way out. Marinette wished they hadn’t seen her.

On the bus, she still sat alone. She knew they wanted to give her space, but Marinette didn’t care.

Her phone was in her hand. She opened up her and Damian’s text chat. She was going to delete all the messages. She had to delete them. She had to…

She didn’t want to. These were the only proof she had that their friendship existed.

She found herself rereading messages on the way to the airport. She’d never find a nickname for him in the chat, she realized. Her endeavor failed.

But Marinette already felt terrible, so what was a little more scorn? After all, she betrayed her best and only friend. She betrayed him. She ended their friendship because he deserved better. She made sure he hated her. And she couldn’t even delete her only reminder of the whole thing. She was pathetic.

She didn’t break.

She wished she did.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Best Christmas of all; Tom Holland x child reader

*Author’s note*

Okay WOW! I am a TERRIBLE Person BUT I GOT IT DONE. To the Watson anon from long ago as well as @artistintraining239​ I FINALLY GOT THE TOM HOLLAND REQUEST DONE!!!!!! Now @artistintraining239​ I made a SLIGHT change in the adoption part of the story so I hope you’ll accept what I ended up doing for that part, and to the Watson anon whomever you maybe, you are LITERALLY THE MOST PATIENT PERSON EVER!! You requested something from me like 2 years ago around Christmas time and I couldn’t do it cause it ended up as shit, so you gave me a second chance and I PROMISED I DELIVER AND SO I DID!!! It took awhile for me to try and add the ideas you had mixed with this other requester listed above but I F***IN DID IT!!! 

Not really any warnings just PURE, TOM HOLLAND FLUFF, foster care (just for characterization), Tessa makes an appearance, and having no knowledge of Tom’s family. I’m just using them here for the story, RESPECT THEIR PRIVACY'S. 

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural​

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@ixchel-9275​

@platawnic​

______________________________________________________________

It’s a miracle when a person can go up on the big screen and become someone famous, it’s another miracle when you get adopted after losing your family in a housefire before you reach your teenage years.  I gained both miracles.  The best place to start is probably from the beginning when I was chosen to costar in the upcoming Marvel movie Spiderman: Homecoming.

I was chosen out of hundreds if not thousands of little girls to play the cousin of Peter Parker aka Spiderman, Jenna Hawkins (Brown spider).  Jenna’s character was that while she was Peter Parker’s cousin, she would eventually become a sidekick of Spiderman who not only was a quick learner thanks to her cousin, but she was the perfect silent weapon because no one would suspect a child (much like how real brown spider bites can be deadly but not really kill).

I had asked my current foster mom if I could audition for the film and thankfully she said yes but she had to run it by the system if I could audition for a film role.  Surprisingly the foster system I was put in allowed me to audition and by a miracle I got the role.

So I was flown out from my home of Colorado Springs to New York where they were filming Spiderman: Homecoming.  And surprisingly the entire cast didn’t treat me with sympathy or made me feel out of place because I was a foster child, they saw the potential in me as an actress and as a person.

They looked past the fact that I was a foster kid and just saw me, which I really liked, especially from some of my heroes like Mr. Downey (oh I guess I should say Robert since he told me that Mr. Downey made him sound like his dad), Tom Holland and of course my true role model Zendaya (since I love KC Undercover).

Now it was getting close to the holiday seasons, my favorite time of year actually Christmas time.  I’ve always wanted to know how people celebrate Christmas unfortunately the foster family I live with didn’t celebrate Christmas (something to do with religion or something) so they just treat Christmas like any other day.

So while everyone was closing up the set and locking their trailers, I was sitting in my movie chair while my agent locked up my trailer.  As I was scrolling through my phone, I heard the familiar voice of Tom call out to me.

“Hey (n/n)!” I looked up and smiled at him.  I got out of my chair and raced up to him to give him a big hug.  “Whoa oh man you really are getting strong aren’t yah? Almost knock me off my feet.”

“Sorry Tom.”

“Hey don’t even worry about it. So you excited for the holidays? You got any idea what you’re gonna get for Christmas?” at that point I looked down and I told him.

“Not really.”

“Why not? You’ve been the sweetest girl I’ve met, I’m sure Santa’s got you at the top of his nice list.”

“Maybe. But I won’t know cause the foster parents I’m with don’t celebrate Christmas.”

“Really?” I nodded. “Well do they celebrate a different holiday? Like Hanukah or Kwanzaa?” I shook my head no.

“The only holidays they really celebrate are New Years, Valentine’s day, 4th of July, and Halloween.”

“Wait so not even Thanksgiving? Cause I hear that’s a big celebration here.”

“They just treat it like a normal day. I think their reason for not celebrating the December holidays is religion or something. And I’ve always wanted to celebrate Christmas but—I was either too young to remember how my first Christmas went or because of now. But what are you doing for Christmas Tom?” I asked trying to lighten the mood since I had seen that I made him upset.

“Well just gonna go home, be with Tessa and my brothers and the rest of the family.”

“Wow, that sounds like fun. I hope you have a good Christmas Tom. I’ll see you in the New Year when we get back to filming.” I turned and went to grab my phone when Tom said.

“Actually (y/n). Would you like to come to London with me for Christmas?” I turned to him and was shocked at what I just heard him say.

“You—you’d really want me there?”

“Yeah. I mean I was hoping to kinda make it a surprise by tomorrow but as you know I’m—pretty terrible at keeping secrets. So I got in touch with your foster parents and the foster system you’re under and they’ve allowed you to come spend the holidays with me.”

“Really? They did?”

“Yeah. So—do you wanna come with me and meet my family?”

“Yes!” I ran back towards him and hugged him again.  This time he picked me up so that I could now wrap my arms around his neck.

“That’s great! So the plane leaves in a few hours, why don’t you get your stuff and I’ll meet you outside with Harry and we can drive up to the airport.”

“Okay.” We then pecked each other’s cheeks and I quickly raced off to find my bag that my agent Mr. Jones had.  He handed me my bag and told me to behave and that if anything happened, just call either him or my foster parents.  I told him I would be on my best behavior and with that we hugged each other and I walked outside the studio and saw Tom and Harrison outside about to get into the taxi.

“Ahh (n/n) over here!” I rushed over as fast as I could before Tom met me half way and picked me up and tossed me in the air making me giggle as he held onto me with one arm before taking my suitcase with his other hand.

“So you ready to see England (y/n)?” asked Harry.

“Yeah. Is it really as big as they make it in the movies?” I asked.

“You’ll have to see for yourself.” He answered.  We all then piled in the car and Harry told the driver to take us to the airport.

“You think Tessa will remember me?” I asked Tom.

“Of course she’ll remember you. She loves you.”

“Is flying over an ocean different than flying over cities?”

“Not really. You nervous about flying overseas?”

“I mean a little. Sorry.”

“No, no there’s no need to apologize love. I remember flying overseas the first time and it can be scary. But you’ve got me, right?”

“Right.” I said with a nod.

“So there’s nothing to be afraid of (n/n). I’ll be right there with you the entire time. And you can always hold my hand if you feel a little scared, okay?”

“Okay, thanks Tom.”

“No problem.” It took a long time but we finally arrived at the airport and we did all the usual stuff they make you do at the airport before we were finally allowed to head to our gate.  It was about an hour and a half wait before our plane even arrived so Tom and I ended up playing Super Mario Kart on our Nintendo switches.

I was in my lead with Mario but Tom cheated and bashed into me with his Yoshi.

“Hey that’s cheating!” I exclaimed.

“All’s fair in Mario Kart my dear (y/n). And Yoshi is the best there is.” He mocked back at me.

“Yoshi’s a cheater and a bully.” I whined as I tried to take back the lead.  Then just my luck, Tom’s cell chimes his text tone and he had no choice but to answer it because for some reason it kept chiming repeatedly.  So as he looked down at his phone, I crashed into Yoshi and took back the lead and won the race. “I win!”

“What oh that’s not fair you knew I was distracted!”

“All’s fair in Mario Kart Tom.” I threw his words back at him.

“Ohh she got you there mate.” Harry laughed.

“Okay, okay then, alright then yah little miss smarty pants.” Tom said with a quirk of his brow while I did my victory dance just to rub it in Tom’s face that I won and he lost.

“1st class flight nonstop to London England now boarding, 1st class passengers only can now board.”

“Ohh that’s us. Get your tickets ready.” Harry said as the three of us grabbed our small bags and we showed the lady our tickets before going through the tunnel and finally getting on the plane.  We got into our seats and I looked out the window seat and waited another long time before we finally started to take off.

As the plane began to take off, I felt my stomach beginning to sink down to my feet. That’s probably the one thing I didn’t like when it came to flying, that and having my ears popping.  I rubbed my ears as I could feel them beginning to ache, that’s when Tom took my hand and said.

“You best not do that, it’ll only make it worse.”

“Then what can I do to make them stop ringing and popping?” I asked.

“Here’s a trick my dad taught me. Plug your nose, like you’re about to dive in a pool.” He said as he demonstrated for me and I followed suit. “Then as hard as you can blow from your nose. That’ll make your ears pop open.”

“Your voice sounds funny Tom.” I giggled hearing how his voice sounded with his nose plugged up.

“Well so does your little missy.” He mocked back. “Okay so let’s blow together on three okay?” I nodded. “One….”

“Two….”

“Three.” And as hard as I could I blew as hard as I could.  “It didn’t work.”

“Try it again, sometimes it takes a couple of tries.” He told me.  He counted down again and I blew as hard as I could again, this time feeling my ears pop however the second they did I was met with this agonizing pain as I began to rub them again. “No, no don’t rub them it’ll only make them worse.”

“But it hurts Tom!” I whined out.

“I know but trust me, the pain’s gonna subside soon. Just give it a moment. Here wanna hear a story about Tessa that my mum told me awhile ago?” I nodded and he then told me of how Paddy taught Tessa a new trick with balancing food on top of her nose before getting the command to eat it.

Hearing that story gave me a good distraction and soon enough my ears were better and no linger hurting anymore.  It was then we were told by the captain that we could now take our electronic devices out and that’s when Tom proceeded to take pictures of Harry and I and he posted it up on Instagram telling his fans that we were on our way home for Christmas.

He then even showed me the video of the trick he told me about earlier. Apparently his brother Paddy managed to get a recording of it as well and he sent it to Tom.  So I got to see for myself Tessa’s new trick.

“Do you think she’ll come to the airport?” I asked him.

“Maybe, mum and dad know how much I love spoiling that Princess of mine. Well next to you munchkin.” He said with a playful ruffle of my hair.

“Tom!” I whined out.  He chuckled and we proceeded to watch all the videos of Tessa that he had.  We continued with a few more games of Super Mario Kart or Mario vs. Sonic the Olympics.  After several hours even with it still being daylight out the window, I began to grow tired.

“It’ll still be a long while before we get to London, why don’t you take a little nap?”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. See that’s the best part about long flights, you get to catch up on sleep. And I know these past few months have been rough on you even with just 10 hours of filming you have to do. So go on take a little nap.”

“Okay, hey Harry?”

“Yeah?” he said as he looked up from his phone.

“Please beat Tom in another round of Mario Kart for me will you?”

“Hey! You win one time and you act like you’ve won the super bowl.” Tom said which made Harrison laugh.

“I’ll win one for you kiddo. Besides someone needs to knock this rotter down to size.” He said gesturing to Tom to which Tom glared at him.

“Okay you cheeky little kitten, go to sleep.” He brought out my pillow and blanket and lowered the window screen down so the sun wasn’t shining in my eyes and covered me up.  I placed myself against the wall and soon I fell fast asleep, suddenly feeling the exhaustion from the past few months from all the filming and jumping and swinging I had to learn for the film.

“(Y/n)? Hey (Y/n),” I moaned tiredly and woke up to see that I had went from the wall to spreading across Tom’s lap. “We’re here.” I looked outside to see that it was still pitch black out.

“What time is it?” I said as I stretched myself out.

“A little past 3am. So it’s still early for you to be fully awake. But don’t worry we’ll meet my parents in the car and you can go back to sleep on the way to the house.” He unbuckled my seatbelt and packed my blanket and pillow away in my bag. He picked up my bag then he went and picked me up. “Okay there we go love.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and clung onto him like a sleepy koala while Tom walked out holding onto me with his arms wrapped around me.  From my constant eyes opening and closing trying to fight off sleep, I saw Tom walk through the tunnel before we were finally out the gate and I felt him waving.

“Hey mum, hey dad.”

“Welcome home son, Harrison, and this tired young thing must be (y/n).” I turned to look up and as I rubbed my eyes, I saw Tom’s parents.  They looked like nice people but I was just too tired to fully introduced myself.

“Now Dominic, you can tease the girl when she’s fully awake. C’mon you three must be exhausted. Let’s get you all home and into bed.” Tom’s mum said.

“Thanks mum.” Tom adjusted me back into his arms so that I was now lying against him but I still clung onto him as we all left the airport.  I don’t really remember much after that because soon I went back to sleep against Tom’s chest.

When I woke up the next morning I found myself in a bedroom.  It was painted gray and the sheets were a dark blue color.  I heard the door open and the next thing I knew this big mass of gray came hopping right towards me and I was greeted with wet kisses.  I knew only one creature who greeted me like that.

“Tessa! Awww Tess I missed you so much!” I cooed as I scratched her belly and squished her face between my hands.

“She could hardly contain herself when we came home last night.” I looked up and I saw Tom leaning up against the edge of the door.  “It does warm my heart to see you liking Tessa.”

“Why wouldn’t I? She’s an angel.”

“Guess it’s kinda due to her breed. Blue Staffys’ are considered one of the most dangerous dogs here in the UK.”

“But that doesn’t mean she’s vicious. It’s the same with pit bulls. My foster dad back home tries to keep me away from the neighbors white and brown pitbull Titan every time he escapes. But he’s not vicious, unless you count licking someone to death vicious.”

“Man I’m so glad you think that way (y/n).”

“Yeah. That’s what Mrs. Spencer always tells me whenever it comes to dogs. I wish I could have one, or a cat for that matter but my foster dad’s allergic to cats and my foster mom is terrified of dogs, unless they’re the purse dogs but I don’t really like them.”

“Why’s that? Just out of curiosity.” He asked as he came over and sat down at the foot of the bed while Tessa placed her paw on my lap finally calming down.

“Not big enough. I’ve always wanted a dog that I could cuddly with like a teddy bear. Or play fetch with. At my last foster home that I could remember, there was this family that has these Chicha…..Chicas…..I can never pronounce the name.”

“Chihuahuas?”

“Yes that’s it. They had about five of them and they weren’t very nice. Those are the dogs my current foster dad would say were vicious, because they always attacked anything and one of them even ripped my favorite jeans apart.”

“Ahh man that’s terrible. I’m sorry that happened to you.” He said as he gently stroked down my hair.

“Yeah but it’s better than what it could’ve been.”

“True, true, but you never need to worry about getting hurt by this pretty princess.” Tom cooed as he leaned over and kissed Tessa’s head repeatedly.

“So it’s Christmas Eve, what do you guys usually do first?”

“Oh right it is. Well if you’ll come downstairs with me my lady, I will show you firsthand what Christmas is like in the Holland household.” I then got out of bed and Tessa hopped down and went on ahead and raced down the stairs with Tom and I following behind her.

When we got downstairs, all I could see was pure magic.  Lights and Christmas decorations everywhere.  There were tiny villages out along some of the tables and china cabinets standing all on top of some type of cotton or something, which made it look like the villages were on top of snow.

“Wow, this is so pretty.” I said in awe.

“You really like it dear? My mum and I collected those little Christmas villages every year when I was growing up. Each year we’d add a new addition to our collection and make our little Christmas town grow even bigger.” I looked up and there I saw a woman standing beside me.

“Morning mum.” Tom said.

“Morning love, did you sleep okay?” she asked as Tom hugged her.

“Always. (Y/n) this is my lovely mum Nicola, mum this is (y/n).”

“It’s an honor to meet you (y/n). Tom’s told us so much about you.” She said as she knelt down to my height and held out her hand.  I shyly shook it and said.

“Tom’s told me a lot about his family. You all seem really nice.”

“Well Paddy and Harry cane be rambunctious and tricky little buggers but they’re cool.”

“Thomas behave.” His mom lectured him which made me giggle.

“So shall we get started on the gingerbread houses mum?”

“Yes we shall. But as punishment for your comment against your brothers, you’re gonna be doing the hard part of gluing the house together.”

“Aww mum!” whine Tom which made me snicker. “Laugh it up fuzzball.” Tom said to me.

“Hey who you calling a fuzzball you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy looking nerf-herder!”

“Whose scruffy looking?”

“Alight, alright enough you two. At this point the both of you are looking at gluing the gingerbread house together.”

“Sorry Mrs. Holland.” I apologized.

“It’s fine dear, now then both of you in the kitchen now.” Tom and I then raced to the kitchen with his mum telling us not to run in the house.  A few minutes later, his dad and his brothers Harry, Sam and Paddy all arrived in the kitchen.  His brother’s were pretty good, especially Paddy who let me in on all the embarrassing stories of Tom.

“And then there was this one time when he was in Year 11 when he went to the winter formal and tried to ask this girl he liked by…..”

“NO! Don’t you dare tell that story!” Tom shouted at him.

“Why not I think (y/n) should hear it.” Paddy mocked.

“What? What happened?” I asked.

“It’s nothing, nothing happened.”

“Tom went outside her house with a boombox playing some sappy love song.” Sam said.

“N you didn’t.” I proclaimed.

“So what if I did?”

“What did you think you were in, the 1980?”

“Hey she loved 80’s movies and Say Anything was her favorite so I figured she’d think it was sweet.”

“Yeah till she said it was corny and turned yah down.” Said Paddy.

“Well I thought it was real sweet the way Tom asked out his date. Of course she turned out to not be the one, but that’s fine because at least now I know that I raised my little Thomas to be a romantic.” His mom said as she came over and pinched his cheek.

“Mum please!”

“Alright, alright enough talk. Let’s get this gingerbread house up and ready to go.” His dad stated.

“So how exactly do you make gingerbread houses?” I asked.

“Just watch us and jump in whenever you think you got it.” Said Paddy as his brother Sam got the supplies.  He dumped out the cookies while Tom’s mom and dad got the icing and graham crackers out.

It was then the Hollands’ began to build their gingerbread house.  Just as Tom was about to glue the pieces together, I decided to step in and I told Paddy.

“I can hold it.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah I got this.”

“Okay now (n/n) be sure you hold this nice and still while I glue it okay?”

“I got it Tom.” He then proceeded to start gluing the walls together then once he was done, he placed his hands over mine to give it a bit more pressure so that the two pieces could stay glued together.

“Hey (y/n) mind helping me out with this? I’m trying to pick the glitter patterns for this year but I can’t figure out what to do.” His mom said.  Tom allowed my hands to come out from under his and I quickly went over and she helped me look over the glitter patterns.

“Hmm……what about the silver and gold pattern? Like in Rudolph.”

“Brilliant. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Oi (y/n), mind helping us pick out the gumdrop patterns. We got the colors we want but can’t figure out the pattern.” Sam said.  I looked over to see the three colors they’ve chosen; purple, green, yellow and red.

“Hmm…..why not do purple, yellow, green and red? Cause red and blue make purple, so by ending it with red we can start back to the purple, even without the blue.”

“Oh yeah. Thanks (n/n).” Sam said as he ruffled my hair.  It took awhile but finally we managed to get the gingerbread house all done and decorated.

“Alright everyone, I officially declare that the 2016 Gingerbread Holland house is officially made.” His dad proclaimed and we all applauded.

“And of course let’s not forget the biggest help of all, Miss (Y/n) (l/n).” Tom proclaimed as his family clapped for me as Tom picked me up and paraded me around the kitchen.

After the gingerbread house we were watching some Christmas movies while his mom was making us some lunch.  Right now we were watching one of the old animated movies, we had just gotten done with Rudolph and now we were watching Frosty the Snowman.

“See before Olaf came along with his warm hugs, Frosty was the OG. He was the man!” Harry proclaimed.

“We get it Harry, you love Frosty and hate Frozen, let it go.” Sam said which made Paddy laugh.

“I see what you did, good one Sam.” They fist bumped with each other.

“You guys are such dicks.” Harry said.

“Harry! Language!” Tom said as he covered my ears trying to block my ears from hearing the words.  Truth is I’ve heard every single bad word in the book thanks to my foster mom’s brother.

“Lunch is served.” Tom’s mom came in with a plate of sandwiches, ranging from ham, ham and cheese, veggie sandwiches, or turkey.  I grabbed a plain ham sandwich and that’s when I felt a nudge at my leg.  I looked down and there was Tessa looking up at me with those big brown eyes, she licked her chops as she eyed my sandwich.

“Ah-ah Tessa, go on scoot. Scoot!” Tom’s dad said as he took notice of Tessa from the chair that was beside me.

“Tess,” Tom said before giving one whistle and Tessa went over to Tom and he told her, “Tessa down. Down. Good girl Tess.” When I saw Tessa lie on her stomach, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.  I heard her take a deep sigh as she began to close her eyes.

I looked around to make sure no one was looking before ripping a part of my sandwich off and I lowered it down towards Tessa.  She immediately lifted her head and reached her neck out before finally scarfing down the sandwich.  I patted her head and quickly went back to watching TV.

“I saw that.” I heard Tom whisper in my ear.  Uh-oh busted.  I looked up at him with the most innocent face and whispered back.

“Saw what?”

“Don’t you play dumb, you’re gonna get it later little missy.” He teased as he pressed his forehead against mine before turning his attention back to the TV.  I gulped thinking just what did Tom have in mind.

When the sun began to set, it was time for Christmas dinner.  There was turkey, pudding, pies, cookies (which I helped make with Tom’s mom), cakes and fruits and veggies.  As we all gathered around the table, I ate a piece of turkey, I was suddenly feeling this—bubbly feeling in my stomach.  I don’t know how to describe it, it’s like—that feeling you get in your stomach when you’re sad but also overjoyed with happiness.

“(N/n), you okay?” I heard Tom say.  I nodded and hummed before turning back to my turkey.  “Are you sure? You’ve got the deep in thought look.”

“I’m fine Tom, really. I just…..feel happy to be included in…..a family. For once.” The room went quiet for a long time before Tom’s mom placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and she said.

“We’ve enjoyed having you here with us (y/n).”

“My wife’s right. You’ve been a really big help today, we hope you’ve had an equally good time here with us and that we helped make this a good Christmas for you.” His dad added.

“I have. In fact I—I think this maybe the Christmas I will always remember the most.” I said with a soft smile.  The Holland’s all smiled and I felt Tom pat my back while his brother Harry ruffled my hair and I felt Tessa at my feet.

After dinner we gathered in the living room after getting into our pajamas, I helped place down the cookies for Santa with Paddy. He placed down the milk while I placed down the cookies.

“Okay there’s one last tradition we have before we go to bed.” Tom told me as he sat me down into his lap.

“What’s that?”

“Every Christmas eve we take one gift and open it up, sorta like a sneak peek at what’s coming tomorrow morning.”

“We started shortly after Sam was born, the kid could hardly wait to open up his presents so we decided on one gift just to get him to go back to sleep.” His dad explained.

“I wanna play Santa, I wanna play Santa!” Paddy exclaimed.

“No, no, no Paddy you played Santa last year. Let’s let Tom be Santa this year.” His mom said.  Tom picked me up and I sat beside Tessa and stroked her head while Tom began to pass out presents.

I got my present which was just a simple Christmas bag with red and green paper stuffed inside to hide my present while everyone else got boxes.  Maybe my present was a snow globe or some type of clothing?

“Hang on guys, hold on. I think it’s only fair that we let our biggest help and guest (y/n) open up her present first.” Tom announced once all the presents were given out.  They all agreed before turning to face me.

“Okay, if you all say so.” I dug through the bag and pulled out the green and red wrapping paper to reveal an envelope.  Okay I was confused? Why was I given an envelope, if it was a Christmas cars I doubt it could fit in this small thing.

“Here I’ll help open it, Harry hand me the letter opener by the dining room table.” Tom said as he came up next to me.  Harry got up and he got the small knife and Tom thanked his brother before opening the envelope with a single swipe.

He handed it back to me and I took out a few pieces of folded paper.  I unfolded the hamburger styled papers and I saw at top the name of the Foster Care system I was put under.  There was all these big words but the one thing that did catch my eye was the signature of Tom’s parents at the bottom.  I looked through the other papers and kept seeing their signatures.

“What’s…..”

“Something I was running through the Foster system as well as my parents. I’ve really enjoyed having you around (n/n), you’re like the little sister I never had and……we want you to be a part of our family.” Tom said as he brought me up onto his lap.

“You—you all…..wanna adopt me?”

“Yes love, if you’ll have us that is. I mean, Tom’s told us so much about it it’s like you’re practically part of the family.” His mom said.

“So what do you say poppet, want to be a Holland?” I was……overjoyed.  A wide smile spread across my face as tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t even form any words as I nodded allowing the tears to fall down my face.  Soon my new family all came up and surrounded me in a group hug.

At this point I don’t care what else I might’ve gotten for Christmas, all that mattered now was this.  I had gotten the one wish I had always wanted, the one gift I hoped I would get someday.  A family.

It was then the next morning, waking up that Christmas day, in fact it became a White Christmas day, I got to spend the entire morning with my new family making snow angels with my new brothers, having snowball fights, learning how to build a snowman with my new mom and dad, and playing around with my dog Tessa.

In the years to come those Christmases grew to be better than the last but none of them will ever compare to my first Christmas I had with my new family.

[ya-pucking-nerd]

4 times you ruined his plans and 1 time you ruined his plans - c.makar TEASER

hehe. causer of chaos. should be out in a week or so?? bully me so i actually do it. 

1. The Missed Flight

Calgary International. Not exactly how you planned to spend your Saturday, but you wanted to be back in Seattle to rest up before you started your job again. You were on your way back from the short 4-day holiday you managed to snag after Christmas and Boxing Day. You stayed with your brother, Michael, and his family of 7. It was nice, but 5 kids are so many kids.

You had gotten anxious about missing the flight, so you arrived at the airport 4 hours early and, fortunately, breezed through security. All that remained was waiting the 3 hours and 52 minutes until your flight officially left the gate. Well, at least you had a book and headphones.  

You sat near your gate, still nervous that you might lose track of time and miss the calling of your flight. But you set an alarm for 60 minutes before the flight would leave so that you would have plenty of time to await the calling of flight AIRCAN1442. So, for now, you set your phone aside and pull out your iPod Nano and headphones. Call it old-school, but that thing worked as well as the day you got it. Your current read is a book called It All Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover. You loved it so much, that it was actually a re-read. And apparently, the guy who sat across from you did, too. You noticed him staring, and at first, you thought it was at your book, but the more you thought about it, maybe he was looking at you. 

He was cute in a boyish way. Solidly built, but you could tell a lot of it was muscle. He wasn’t dressed like a snobby businessman, but rather a guy who wanted to be comfy on his flight to wherever he was headed, like you. 

In a moment of boldness, you closed your book and said, “Where are you off to?” It was small talk, but hey, you still had 3 hours to kill. 

“Oh. Me?” He looked stunned that you even looked his way. “I’m headed back to work in Denver, Colorado.”

“Oh, that’s awesome! I work in the states, too. Seattle, Washington.”

“What do you do?” And for once, he seemed genuinely interested, unlike the men you had met at bars. 

“I’m a surgical OBGYN.” Now, that might have freaked him out a little. 

“Oh wow. Sorry, I’m a little squeamish about blood. But wow. I can’t even imagine. That must be exciting. I hardly remember when my mom was pregnant with my brother, but I just remember my dad said there was a lot of screaming. Do you get screamers all the time?” 

Ok. He was absolutely adorable. His cheeks were getting bright red as he asked, aside from the redness you already noticed. Doctor thing.

“I don’t generally do normal births. More like C-sections and stuff. But, yea, there’s always screaming. Occupational hazard, I guess. I’m Y/N.” You reached your hand out. 

“Oh, shoot. I didn’t even ask your name. I’m sorry, Y/N. I’m Cale, like the vegetable, but with a C.” He shook your hand a little longer than most handshakes last. He was still smiling, though. 

You giggled a little. He probably got that all the time and had become accustomed to introducing himself that way. Further increasing his adorableness. 

You guys talked for about 2 hours until Cale checked his watch. “Shit! I missed my flight! Oh my god. 

“Oh my god! I am so sorry! I-“

“Nah,” he interrupted. “You know what. I think everything happens for a reason. I’m glad I met you. I would miss my flight all day to keep talking to you.” He was so sweet. “But I do need to rebook my flight,” he laughed. 

“And I do need one more thing.” You looked at him and nodded, silently asking him what that could be. “Your number?”

[daddymendes]

Surprise (Shawn Mendes x Reader)

*In this you’re Brian’s sister*

*3rd person’s POV*

(Y/N) was currently rummaging through her clothes as she was pack her suitcase for a trip. You see, (Y/N) boyfriend, Shawn, was currently on tour for 4 months now and (Y/N) started to miss him dearly. So she took matters into her own hands and planned a surprise visit to her boyfriend.

So she contacted her brother, Brian and Shawn’s bandmate, Geoff. Together they planned how she was gonna surprise Shawn. The plan was for (Y/N) to come to Italy (where Shawn was at that time) and surprise him while he was perfroming a song on stage infront of all her fans.

Within the next few minutes, she had everything she needed packed up in the now closed suitcase.

*(Y/N)’s POV*

Once I was done packing, I went to my bathroom to change into the clothes I would wear to the airport.

I changed into baby blue jeans and one of Shawn’s grey hoodie that I stole from his suitcase before tour.

Once I was done packing all my stuff, I grabbed my handbag which contained my laptop, laptop charger, my phone charger, spare clothes, chewing gum and snacks.

I grabbed my suitcase, rolled it down the stairs and out the door and packed it into my car. I locked the house door before climbing into my car and pulling out of the driveway.

The ride to the airport was quiet with the faint sound of the radio playing in the background. Suddenly one of Shawn’s songs came on and I immediately put the volume up. I felt something warm in my chest. I always feel like this whenever I hear Shawn’s songs on the radio. To think that, that is the same kid that sat in his bedroom doing covers on vine is crazy.

The car ride went by pretty fast as soon after, I found myself checking my suitcase in and already passed security and was now waiting for my flight to be called.

I decided to call Brian to update him on the plan. I texted him asking if Shawn was with him and if yes, he should go to another room so that I could call him.

A few minutes later, I got a facetime call incoming from Brian. I accepted the call and Brian’s face popped up along with Geoff in the background.

“Hey! I’m at the airport waiting for my flight right now” I said

“Nice. We’ve just finished practice and your boyfriend is looking pretty sad right now” Geoff said

“Awe bless him! Let’s hope our little surprise will brighten his mood a little” I said

“I’m sure it will. He’s whipped for you” Brian said

We all laughed and continued talking for a bit more until my flight was called. We said our goodbyes and see you later and ended the call.

I grabbed my stuff before heading towards my boarding gate. I showed the lady my passport and boarding pass before I was allowed to get in.

I walked down the tunnel to the plane before I found my seat that was next to the hublot. I placed my bag under the seat in front of me before I connected my earphones to my phone and listened to my music.

For the next few minutes, the plane started moving from it’s parked space towards the runway. At this point I just blanked out and within the next few minutes I was passed out.

*Few hours later*

I was woken up by the plane shaking like hell. I opened my eyes an looked out the hublot and I realised that we were landing. Once the plane hit the Italian ground, I grabbed my stuff and headed to the baggage belt.

Whilst waiting, I took out my phone and texted Brian saying that I arrived. He replied that he had a car waiting for me outside.

Once I got my luggage I headed out to the pick up area where I spotted a man standing there with a sign with my name on it. I walked towards him and greeted him. He turned out to be pretty friendly.

He grabbed my luggage and headed out to the parking lot where a back SUV was waiting there. He placed my luggage in the trunk and I climbed on the backseat. He climbed into the drivers seat and started heading out.

*Few minutes later*

The car pulled my to a hotel and I climbed out. I thanked the driver and grabbed my luggage. I walked into the hotel to be greeted my cold AC air. I looked around and spotted Brian sitting in the lobby area waiting for something.

Once he noticed me, he walked towards me with a smile.

“Hey lil sis” He greeted and hugged me

“Hey big bro” I said back

“We gotta get your to your floor before Shawn arrives” He said grabbing my luggage

“When is he supposed to be here?” I asked walking besides him

“Anytime soon. We just have time to get you hidden” He said

We entered a glass elevator that had a view on the lobby. As the elevator started going up, that’s when we saw Shawn walk in with the rest of his crew. But luckily he didn’t look into the elevator and I passed unnoticed.

The elevator doors opened and revealed on of th emany floors in the hotel. Brian walked ahead as I followed behind him.

“The only problem is that you’re on the same floor as all of us. So be careful not to get caught” Brian said as he opened a room door

“After you” Brian said as he steped out of the door way

I walked into the door way and walked through the door.

“You’ll just stay here for a few hours before you surprise Shawn during the concert” Brian said sitting down in the office chair.

I sat down opposite of him, on the bed.

“So, how’s it been?” I asked reffering to the tour

“It’s been great. Good vibes all along. Great people too!” He said

“I missed Teddy so much. I gotta see her as soon as possible” I said

“Oh trust me, she missed you too” He said

We kept on talking about anything that came up in our minds until it was time for Shawn and the team to head out to the stadium where the concert would take place. And Brian had to go along with them because he technically was part of teh team now.

So I was left alone for about an hour and I decided to change out of my clothes into cleaner clothes before Brian called me to tell me that there was a car downstairs waiting for me.

I walked out of my room to the lobby and I greeted the driver. I climbed in and he immediately started driving towards the venue. When we arrived, before I walked towards the venue, I called Brian saying that I was gonna walk in.

As I ended the call, I thanked the driver and walked to the backdoor. As I entered, I was greeted by Brian. I quickly pulled me towards a room afr away from all the commotion.

“That’s the only place you can stay in until Shawn goes on” Brian said

“Okay, that’s fine. It’s just a few minutes” I said and shrugged and sat down on a random box

“BTW can you get Teddy to come here? Don’t tell her I’m here tho” I said

“Sure. Be right back!” He said and walked out of the room

I waited for less than 2 minutes before the door opened and revealed Teddy. She took a glance at me before her face turned into pure shock.

“OMG! YOU’RE HERE!” She screamed but I shushed her before she caught the attention of anyone else

“Shhh! Shawn doesn’t know yet! I’m planning on surpirising him” I said

“Awe you guys are the cutest!” She sqealed

Teddy and I kept talking until we heard Shawn’s entrance song. We then decided that it was safe to get out of the small room and so we did.

Teddy lead me towards the wings where everyone was stading, watching Shawn’s performance.

Once they realised I was here they all greeted me.

“Heyy! You made it!” Geoff said

“Finally! I’m glad all the whining is gonna stop!” Andrew said and sigh

“Whining?” I asked

“Yeah your boyfriend kept going on about how he missed you and everytime you wouldn’t answer his calls he would always be in a bad mood. Always being down, sulky but I’m glad It’s gonna be over soon!” He added

“Oh wow. I didn’t expect that from him” I said

“So when are you gonna surprise him?” Geoff asked

“Last song maybe?” I said unsure

“Yeah sure. That’s ‘If I can’t have you’ which I know you love” Geoff said

“Oh my god yay!” I exclaimed

During the whole concert we kept on dancing and singing along with Shawn and the fans.

When the time finally came, Shawn was introducing his last song, ‘In my blood’ and I couldn’t help but feel anxious.

“Tell me when to go on” I said to Geoff

“Sure” He replied

I let most of the song pass and we were now at the last chorus of the song.

Geoff made a sign to me that I should now step on and I did. Shawn was forward at the edge of the stage, close to the fans.

I truned my head to the right and saw Zubin that looked at me shocked. I chuckled at his expression and greeted him with a head sign and placed my pointer finger to my lips in a ‘shhh’ sign. He nodded and I walked froward.

I slowly approached Shawn and as some fans noticed my presence, they screamed out even louder if that was even possible. I noticed how Shawn slightly looked confused but continued on.

When I was right behind him, I innocently tapped on his shoulder. He confusedly looked over his shoulder to see who was behind him and as soon as his eyes met mine his jaw fell to the floor.

He swung his guitar onto his back, picked me up and hugged me. I squealed as I didn’t expect him to do such thing.

“Oh my god! I can’t believe this! You’re here!” Shawn said

“Yes Shawn I’m here and I’m staying for the rest of the tour!” I said

“Couldn’t be better!” Shawn said

We kept staring into each others eyes simultaneously forgetting about the thousand of fans watching.

And they soon started chanting “KISS! KISS! KISS!”

We both turned our heas towards them and smiled to each other.

“Guess we gotta give the fans what they want” Shawn said with a smirk

I smiled at him, leaned in and soon enough our lips met and we could here the fans going wild!

In the end it was all worth it. I was so happy to be back in Shawn’s arms and so excited for the rest of the tour. I could tell that we would make many more happy memories!

[abundanceofsoph]

SkyFire 1: Chapter 15

Rori in Manchester: May 2014 

Word count: 2.3k

SkyFire 1 MASTERLIST

>Instagram posts 

◊Harry: good luck with your final exam this afternoon. I know you’re gonna crush it, love. H

Aurora smirked at her phone as she read Harry’s text. She had actually finished her exams two days ago but had told Harry that she had one more today which is why she couldn’t make it back to the UK in time for the bands Manchester shows. He’d floated the idea months earlier, wanting her to meet his mum, stepfather and his sister. When she’d told him that her exams didn’t finish in time for her to make it to the show, they had made a new plan for his family to travel down to London for the shows the following week and Aurora would fly in to meet them before joining the band on the European leg of the tour. Unbeknown to Harry, Aurora was currently at the airport, waiting for the StarkJet to depart for Manchester airport. She would arrive on the day of the first of two shows in Harry’s home city and she was excited to surprise her boyfriend and finally meet his family.

Once the jet finally touched down at the airport, Aurora took a cab to the stadium. Before she climbed out of the cab, she quickly pulled her long dark hair back in 2 braids, covering her eyes with a large pair of sunglasses and tugging a baseball cap down low over her brow. She joined the queue forming outside the venue, chatting with some of the fans already in line, smirking when none of them realised who she was at first.

Eventually a few of those standing closest to her in the line recognised her but she shushed them and swore them to secrecy. “I just want to experience the show like any other fan,” she told them. “If you want, we can take some selfies together, but could you wait until tomorrow to post them?” They’d agreed and she had enjoyed spending the majority of the day chatting away with them while they waited. When the doors finally opened, Aurora ran with her new friends into the venue, staking out their position against the barricade next to the catwalk section of the stage about halfway along. Once the lights dimmed for the start of the show, Rori finally took off her baseball cap and pulled her hair out of the braids, combing her fingers through them and tossing her hair back over her shoulders.

Aurora was euphoric as she felt the energy of the crowd surrounding her and the music blasting from the speakers. The entire stadium felt electrified and she felt a grin splitting her face apart as she screamed along to the song. In that moment she felt as if she had been transported back in time, she was suddenly the 15 year old standing in the crowd of the X Factor live tour with her best friend and their mums, screaming along to the same 5 boys, only now she was 19 and it was no longer Liam that held her attention. She hadn’t been able to look away from Harry since the moment he’d stepped out on stage and her heart soared to see the pure joy on his face as he danced across the stage with his 4 best friends, his brothers, singing his heart out to the sold out Manchester crowd.

As the final notes of Rock Me played out she took a deep breath, running her fingers through her hair to push it back out of her face as sweat beaded across her body from the dancing and the swelling crowd surrounding her. She was leaning against the barrier and looked up with a goofy grin, watching Harry and the other boys walking back towards where she was standing as Niall spoke to the screaming girls about the upcoming song. By some stroke of luck, as Harry took a seat on the central apparatus built into the stage he looked out over the crowd and spotted her standing only a few metres in front of him, freezing in place in shock as their eyes locked. The girls around her started screaming hysterically in response to his stare and she shot him a cheeky grin and a little wave that caused a huge grin to break out across his face, exposing his dimples. ‘What are you doing here?’ he mouthed, to which she replied by shouting back a joyful, “Surprise!”

He shook his head in bafflement, blowing her a kiss as the music began to swell and Liam sang the first lines of Don’t Forget Where You Belong. His eyes kept returning to hers as the song continued and every time he saw her singing back at him, his smile grew impossibly bigger. At the end of the song they once again locked eyes and he mouthed the words ‘I love you’.

The concert continued on with Rori having an incredible time, letting herself pretend she was just another fan in the crowd, screaming along to her favourite songs, but every so often when he passed by her section of the crowd, Harry’s smile would grow and he would throw a wink or blow a kiss in her direction, causing those around her to meltdown and swoon at their idol. Half a dozen songs after he first spotted her, all 5 boys returned to the raised section of staging and Harry sat himself down directly in front of her, with Niall sitting to his left with his guitar. The young couple locked eyes as Zayn sang the opening lines of Little Things. Aurora’s eyes grew damp with unshed tears while Harry sang out, “You’re perfect to me,” as he stared into her eyes and the tears spilled down her cheeks as she sang back along with him, “I’m in love with you and all these little things.”

It was much later in the concert, towards the end, when things changed. The smiles, winks and kisses that Harry had been directing towards his girlfriend all night had the fans surrounding her riled up into such a frenzy that during Story of My Life they all began to push forwards towards the stage, causing those against the barriers to become crushed against the metal. Louis noticed the problem moments before the nearest security guard, immediately signalling to the band to cut the music and drawing the security teams’ attention. “Is everyone alright down there?” he asked, his accent thickening with his concern for the fans. The other boys turned towards Louis trying to catch up to what was happening, and the moment Harry noticed that Louis was standing in front of Aurora’s section of the crowd he sprinted across the stage towards her, panic clear on his face. By the time he reached Louis’ side, the security guards had already managed to pull several of the girls over the barriers and Louis was instructing the fans behind to calm down and stop pressing forward. Rori quickly joined the few fans standing between the barriers and the stage and as soon as she was out of the crush she looked up to find Harry crouching down on the side of the stage in an attempt to get closer to her without leaving the stage and causing a bigger crush from the crowd. “Are you alright?” he yelled in concern, visibly relaxing when she nodded and smiled reassuringly back. He stayed kneeling at the edge of the stage until the situation had been sorted and just before Rori was ushered away to a different part of the crowd, Harry signalled to the guard by her side to wait. By the time he jumped down from the stage, a camera had already been tracking the situation and a large percentage of the crowd was already aware that the girl with the black hair was in fact Aurora Stark, so when Harry swept her into his arms the crowd around them erupted into screams with the confirmation of the rumours that the two were dating. He turned to the waiting guard as they pulled apart, insisting that he make sure she was taken backstage to watch the remainder of the show in safety before he quickly climbed back on to the stage.

After the show, Harry rushed to his girlfriend's side, pulling Aurora into a hug and spinning her around as soon as he reached her. “I can’t believe you’re here,” he yelled excitedly. “I thought I wasn’t going to see you for another week.”

“Surprise,” she giggled, gripping his face in her hands and kissing him deeply. “I missed you.”

“God, I missed you,” Harry sighed. “OMG are you ok?” he gasped suddenly remembering the crush in the crowd.

“I’m fine,” Rori assured him. “Although I feel bad about the rest of the fans that caught up in it all though. It was kind of stupid, now that I think about it.”

“But very romantic,” Harry said. “Everyone’s allowed to make mistakes. I’ll check with security in a minute and make sure everyone’s ok.”

“The secrets out about us now I guess,” she murmured. “Sorry.”

“Never apologize,” Harry replied. “This was a wonderful surprise and we were going to announce it next week anyway so who cares. I’m just glad you’re here.”

xXx

Aurora’s knee bounced nervously as the van pulled up out the front of Harry’s family home. He reached across to place a comforting hand on her thigh, stilling the anxious movement. “Just be yourself,” he whispered in her ear as the other boys climbed out of the van. “They’ll love you; I promise.”

The couple climbed out of the car, joining the other 4 boys as they walked towards the front door of the house. Harry squeezed his girlfriends’ hand in his while Liam knocked on the door. Anne threw open the door with a wide smile, welcoming the boys into her home. Harry bounded forward, sweeping his mother into a bruising hug. “So good to have you home, love,” she murmured into her sons’ curls.

“Brought someone to meet you,” he said, pulling back from the hug and Anne’s eyes widen as he reached back, taking Aurora’s hand and pulling her to his side.

“Aurora. I thought we wouldn’t be seeing you until next week in London,” Anne said in surprise before hugging the young woman warmly. “It’s so lovely to have you here. Come on in.”

Harry threw a smirk towards his girlfriend, his expression clearly saying, ‘I told you so’. She rolled her eyes in response, following Anne into the front sitting room where the rest of the band was already crowded onto the sofas with Gemma and Robin joining them.

“How about I chuck the kettle on?” Anne asked the room. “Who wants a cuppa?”

“I’ll come give you a hand,” Rori offered, earning her a smile from Harry. He kissed her cheek before heading over to hug his stepfather and then throwing himself onto the sofa beside his sister. Rori followed Anne into the kitchen and watched as the older woman filled the kettle under the tap and then put in on to boil. 

“I take it you surprised Harry by flying in a week early?” Anne asked once she turned away from her task. “I’m sure he was thrilled.”

“He was,” Rori said with a smile. “I couldn’t wait to get here.”

“I’m glad you are. He’s told me a lot about you. Hasn’t shut up about you really.”

Rori’s eyes widened and Anne chuckled. “I’m sure you already know this but he’s quite fond of you, love. You’ve made quite the impression.”

“I’m pretty fond of him too,” Rori admitted. “You raised an incredible man.” 

“Thank you but trust me, he made it easy for me.”

“I was nervous to meet you,” Aurora admitted with a small chuckle. “I should have known you’d be so welcoming.”

“From everything Harry’s told us, I knew that you’d be a wonderful woman,” Anne said. “We’re excited to have you join the family.”

“Thought I’d come make sure everyone was playing nicely together,” Harry interrupted with a cheeky grin. He crossed the kitchen quickly, stopping behind Aurora and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. 

“I was just about to tell Aurora here all of your most embarrassing childhood moments,” Anne told her son, laughing loudly when he replied with a groan and hid his face in Aurora’s shoulder.

“Not to mention all the baby photos I need to see,” Rori joked, grinning widely at Anne as Harry complained about bullying.

They stayed at the Twist house for the rest of the afternoon before the boys headed back to the city for soundcheck and preshow preparations. Aurora stayed behind after Anne and Robin offered to give her lift when they headed in for the show later in the day. Despite only having spent a few hours with Anne, Robin and Gemma, Aurora found herself fitting into the family dynamic easily. She hadn’t realised how starved she had been for a maternal figure in her life until Anne had welcomed her with open arms. Her own mother had only been gone for 3 and a half years, and while no one would ever replace Louise, Aurora found herself comforted by Anne’s presence.

When they arrived at the arena that evening, they were escorted backstage and found the boys in the green room. Harry was quickly at her side as soon as they entered, his dimples flashing. “How was the rest of your afternoon, love?” he murmured in her ear, wrapping his arms tightly around her torso.

“It was great,” she said. “I love your family.”

“Knew you would,” he replied.

Unlike the previous night’s show, Aurora watched the second show from the side of stage with the rest of Harry’s family, dancing with Gemma to their favourite tracks. Following the show, Harry and Aurora headed back to the hotel with the rest of the boys and in the morning Rori joined the band as they travelled north for a midweek show in Edinburgh before heading to London for 3 shows at Wembley.

NEXT CHAPTER

OR CONTINUE READING ON AO3

[lovemesomesurveys]

What is a recurring thought on your mind today? lol it’s 5 in the morning and I’m thinking about getting more egg rolls for lunch. I had been craving them for awhile and finally had some last night and now I want more. Have you had any confrontations with anyone lately? No. What is the last charity you donated to? A cancer research charity. Do you feel all fuzzy and good when you do a good deed? It does feel good to do good. Don’t ya just hate foot cramps? I wouldn’t know, but I get stomach cramps and they’re not fun at all, so I imagine a foot cramp isn’t either.

Would you say you have an infectious laugh? I don’t think so.  Shouldn’t you be doing something else right now? Sleeping, but c’mon when do I ever go to bed before 7 or 8AM anymore? Do you have anything planned for the summer? Couldn’t do anything this summer. I’m so glad we’re in August though and summer is almost overrrrrr. What is something you worry about often? Health related things. Constantly. Are there any mountains nearby where you live? No. Did you like to collect frogspawn as a kid? No.  Do you walk fast or slow? I’m a fast wheeler I’m told. Do you keep birthday cards or throw them out? I keep them. I don’t get very many anymore, though.  Would you consider yourself healthy? Both mind and body. Nope, not in any way. Do you play any team sports? Nope. If so, which position do you play? - Does sitting in waiting rooms drive you insane? Yes. I’m very impatient and the waiting just makes me more anxious. What form of public transport do you use most often? I don’t take any public transportation anymore, but I used to take the bus sometimes in college. Would you consider yourself an adrenaline junkie? Ha, no.  Do you ever go onto ‘failblog’? I’m not familiar with that. Have you ever been arrested? If so, why? No. Do you ever put sticky notes around the place to remind yourself of things? No. I use the reminder app on my phone and/or write it down on my marker board. Would you eat a spider for $50? Absolutely NOT. Nopeeeeeee. Would you rather be a kangaroo or a koala? Koala, I guess. What is a common slang word from where you live? ”Hella” used to be a very Californian thing, but everyone says it now so I don’t know. Do you keep your fingers on the home keys when you type? I don’t type the proper way. I’ve been on the computer and typing since I was a kid, I even took a typing class, but I still don’t type the proper way haha. How I type works for me, though, sooo. *shrug* Are you easy to talk to? People have told me that. Can you juggle with more than two items? I can’t juggle. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I tried to juggle. Has anyone ever assumed you can’t speak English? No, but people have assumed that I speak Spanish. Do you live in a rural or an urban area? Urban. At airports do you ever worry your luggage won’t arrive? It crossed my mind. Do your parents ever call you ‘pet’ or ‘sweetheart’ etc? Not those two specifically, but other terms of endearment. We have our own that we’ve made up for each other as well. If so, does it annoy you? No, not at all. Do you like jalapenos? I loved ‘em, but I can’t eat spicy food anymore. :( What other windows have you currently got opened? Just this one. What woke you up this morning? I haven’t gone to bed, yet, but when I get up it’ll be well past morning. I don’t even go to bed until the morning. :/ Who else is in the same building as you? My parents, brother, and doggo are home as well. Would you like a penny farthing bicycle? A what? Your name? Stephanie. Would you ever consider visiting Ireland? Sure. Would you like to visit Venice? Yes. Did you ever eat leaves when you were a kid? Uh, no. I wasn’t the kid who played in leaf piles or played with/ate dirt or anything.  What is the largest body of water near your hometown? California is near the Pacific. Do you have any flags in your house? Yes. Are there any ‘keep off the grass’ signs where you live? Not in my neighborhood that I know of, but yeah some public places in town do. Have you ever walked on the grass with such a sign? No. Are you double-jointed? My thumbs are. At school which area of science did you prefer: biology/chemistry/physics? I managed to get by in science, but it wasn’t my favorite. Which did you prefer between geography/history? History. Have you ever had a main part in a play? No. Are there any musical instruments in the room you’re in? No. Can you name a difference between RNA and DNA? Uhhh. I’m blanking. Do you know anyone who owns a farm? No. Have you ever driven a tractor? No. Does the smell of the countryside bother you? It’s quite pungent, ha. I guess if you live out there you get used to it, but anytime I drive through the country I just gag. Do you drink more water or juice? Water. I don’t drink juice at all.

Sweater weather or tank top weather? Which do you prefer. Sweater weather, most definitely.  Have you ever kissed a Zachary? No. Do you hate when people try to embarrass you? Uh, well yeah. Do you like in October when a bunch of haunted places open up? I don’t go to any, but yeah. I just love spooky season in general. Did you tell someone you loved them today? Not so far. Do you watch the show Ghost Adventures? No. My dad watches it, though, so I’ve seen parts of it here and there. What color are your curtains in your bedroom? Dark blue. Are you superstitious? I do the knock on wood thing, but I think that’s really just out of habit. Is there a cat in the room you’re in right now? No, I don’t have a cat. What’s your favorite thing to do on the weekend? I don’t do anything different from weekdays. All my days are the same. Do you have your license? No. Do you still watch cartoons? I still watch Rugrats, Doug, and Hey Arnold. And animated movies. Do you like to cook? Only ramen. Do you drink? Nope. Do you smoke? Nope. Where do you buy your clothes? Hot Topic, Boxlunch, Adidas website, and Kohl’s.  Do you enjoy going to the movies? Yes. I miss being able to go. Are you still in school? Nopeeee, I’m done. Do you like cupcakes? Yes.

What makes you sad? A lot of things. I’m also just a sad, sleepy, sensitive soul as I like to say. Are you an animal lover? Yes. Are you hot-headed? I’m not quick to anger, but I do get irritated and frustrated quite easily. Do you have any siblings? I have 2 brothers. Are you afraid of snakes? YES. Do you have any pets? Yes, I have a doggo. <3 What color are your eyes? Brown. How bout your hair? I dye it red, but it’s naturally dark brown. How tall are you? Like 5′4. Who do you live with? My parents, brother, and doggo. Is there anything you want to ask anyone right now? No. Do you have kids? No. Do you love your family? Yes. They’re my world. What color hair do you prefer on the gender of your choice? I don’t really care. How bout eye color? Blue and green eyes are gorgeous.  Do you have a job? If so, what? No.  What is your dream job? I don’t have one. :/ What did you “wanna be” when you were a little kid? A teacher. What’s your favorite kind of movie? Psychological thrillers, horror, drama, romcoms, comedy, some action/adventure, /sci-fi... I like a variety. Are you gay, straight, bi, lesbian, asexual, or not sure? Straight. What kind of music is your favorite? I like variety. Do you play any instruments or sing? What kind? No. Have you ever been to a concert? If so, what was your favorite one? Yeah, several. I enjoyed them all, concerts are just awesome. It’s a cool experience.  Are you more negative or more positive? Negative. Well, for myself. I can be positive for others. Have you ever been depressed? I have chronic depression. How are you feeling, dear? Tired and crappy. Mhm and how’s the weather where you’re at? It’s 6AM and it’s already 64F.  Okay and have you been healthy lately? No. Are you in middle school, high school, college, graduate? I’m done with school. What is/was your favorite class? English was always my favorite and then in college I was able to take psych courses, which is also what I majored in, so I liked those. Have you made any life altering decisions lately? No. Where is your favourite place to get pizza? This local place.

Do you have any physical traits that are bothering you lately? My hair.

What is the closest store to you? A grocery store. Do you have any songs currently stuck in your head? Not at the moment. Have you made a CV? No. I had to Google what a CV was.  Where is the last place you applied for a job? (If you have) I haven’t. Are you photogenic? Nope. Are there any concert venues where you live? Yes. Are you annoyed at anyone these days? I’m always annoyed with myself. Which continent would you most like to travel to and why? Europe. There’s a ton of places I’d like to visit. Have you ever/would you ever do volunteer work? I’ve done a lot of volunteer work. Do you know anyone that has died in a road accident? No. Do you know which career path you want to follow? No. Are there a lot of tourists where you live? No. There’s not shit to do or see of interest here. My state is a touristy state, though. Any plans for your next birthday? This year I obviously just stayed home, but my family made it nice. My brother got me coffee, breakfast, and a coffee cake from my favorite place, my mom, brother, and I watched this new creepy movie, You Should Have Left, then we just hung out until dinnertime, which was my fave, Wingstop, and then I opened presents.

Do you have to use public transport often? Not at all anymore, but when I was in college I had to take the bus sometimes. Does your house have an alarm? Yes. Have you ever asked someone out on a date? No. Whose grave did you last visit? My dog, Brandie, is buried in our backyard. My dad made a really nice gravesite for her. What’s something someone can do that makes you melt? A guy that can play the piano. What are you listening to right now? An ASMR video  If you won a lot of money on the lottery, what would you buy first? The first thing after paying off debts would be a new house for my family and I. What’s your greatest fear?  Death, disease, bugs, clusters. <<<< SAME. Gaaaaah the last one just made my skin crawl from seeing the word. Those are just a few of many fears for me. Has anyone upset you in the last week? Yes. What’s the best thing about you? I like my cheesy, corny sense of humor. What’s your favorite drink? Coffee. What are you going to do tomorrow? Same stuff I do everyday. What are you craving? I want more egg rolls like I had last night. How did you sleep last night? I don’t ever feel like I slept well. I never wake up feeling well rested. Does that really happen for people cause I can’t relate.

What was the first thing you thought this morning? I haven’t gone to bed, yet.

If your favorite food gave you pain, made you have acne, etc., would you still eat it? I’d just have to eat it less often and less of it. Unless it made me really sick or something or was very intense and unpleasant. Like I can’t have spicy food at all anymore except for the weak hot sauce that has like less than 2% of anything, but even that I can only have a little bit of. I can’t drench my food in it, just light dips. It sucks cause I used to be obsessed with spicy food, and I used to eat really spicy stuff.

Have you ever been judged on something you wore? Yeah.

Are you a timid person? Yes.

Think QUICK what word begins with c? Coffee!

Are you a funny person? I think I have my funny moments and now and then and trust me, when they happen I make sure to own ‘em cause they’re rare haha.  Be honest, do you go for looks more or personality? Personality is the most important, looks only go so far. Personality goes on a much deeper level and who a person is matters a lot more to me than their looks. That being said, I can’t say looks don’t matter at all. I also want to add that a good personality can add to someone’s attractiveness. 

Ever been so upset but didn’t understand why? Yeah. I get these moody moods that are sometimes triggered, but there’s a lot of times where they seem to just come on out of nowhere. I suppose it’s the depression, but like I can be having a decent day and then suddenly I’ll feel my mood changing and nothing in that moment changed that would seem to cause the sudden change. I just feel it coming on and once it does, I can’t stop it. My emotions very much control me. 

Are you a flirty person? No. I can be if I’m interested in someone and I’m comfortable around them enough to be flirty. Though, it’s probably subtle. 

Are you homophobic? No.

Ever had a rumor spread about you? No.

Has anyone ever pulled your pants down in public? Nooo. 

Ever had the ‘birds and the bees’ talk with your parents? Yeah.

How would you react if someone said you ruined their life? Wow. I would feel extremely bad and shitty to say the least.

Are you a sympathetic person? Yes. I’m also very empathetic. 

Ballet dance or hip hop dance? If I could, I would have tried hip hop. What’s currently bothering you right now? My stomach. 

What is the most athletic you’ve done? When I had to participate in my adaptive PE classes. That’s literally the only time.

Do you remember the first conversation you ever had with the person you currently have feelings for? I don’t have those kinds of feelings for anyone at the moment.

Do you like to drink herbal tea? Yeah, now and then. I’m not a big tea drinker.

If you’re home alone, do you still close/lock the door when you use the bathroom? No.

What your favorite thing to have on toast? Butter.

Has anyone ever hung up on you? Yeah, but only like telemarketers and wrong numbers.

Have you ever been to a concert? Several. Hasn’t this come up a couple times? Maybe I’m getting the surveys confused, I’m tired.

Can you speak more than one language? If so, what other language(s)? Not fluently, just some Spanish.

Are you talking to anyone right now? No.

If so, how do you feel about them? -

Do you know anyone who skateboards? Not anymore.

Do you ever sing when you’re alone? Yeah.

What’s the stupidest song you’ve listened to today? I have’t listened to any stupid songs. I don’t listen to music I’d consider stupid. Are you listening to music, currently? No.

How do you feel about the song? - When someone teases you do you frown or give an amazing comeback? My family and I playfully tease each other and sometimes I’ll come up with something funny and clever to say, but there’s times where I’m just like             -____- and say like, “har-har very funny” haha or something lame like that. Do you think you can sing? I know I can’t sing well at all, but I still like to anyway to myself.

Do you have any talent? No.

Do you think you’re better looking than some other people? No.

Do you like dancing? I like head bobbing and moving my shoulders/arms/hands, ha. And sometimes I attempt (very badly) to do some TikTok dances haha. Privately, though. I’d never recored myself and share it with the public, major yikes. 

What’s your favorite zoo animal? Giraffes.

How is your hair currently styled? It’s up in a messy bun. 

How long are your showers (on average)? Like 30-40 minutes.

East or West? West.

What did you do last night? Binged some Step by Step on Hulu until 1AM-ish, then I made my ramen and watched some YouTube videos while I ate, then I played some Animal Crossing for a bit, and then I scrolled through Tumblr for awhile, and then I did some surveys and listened to ASMR, which is what I’m still doing now.

Do you like your music loud? I like it at a comfortable volume. Some songs I have a little louder than others, just depends.

What are you allergic to? Tangerines. I also have seasonal allergies.

Do you ever stay up late just to be awake I have insomnia, but yeah I do stay up later than I should. Like, I could attempt sleep a little sooner than I do.

What do you want to name your children? I don’t want to have kids.

Would you ever write a letter to someone you haven’t met yet, like your future spouse? Nah.

Did the last movie you watched make you cry? No. It was a psychological thriller, it was trippy.

Are you a good swimmer? Nope, I can’t swim.

What are you always thinking about? Health stuff. 

Is science your favorite subject? Well, psychology is a science. When you’re really worked up, what do you do to relax? Listen to ASMR.

Would you rather spend the day watching movies or on an intense hike? Uh, watching movies. Definitely. I can’t go hiking anyway, but I wouldn’t want to do anything intense or outdoors.

Did you ever try the cereal Special K? Yeah, there’s nothing special about it.

Think of the last person you kissed, was it memorable? Yeah.

You have the choice of being poor but happy, or rich but miserable. Which is it? Poor and happy. 

Do you think girls with short hair are less good looking than those with long hair? Uh, no? There’s a lot of beautiful people with short hair and there’s a lot of beautiful people with long hair.

[guccitaehyung]

Surprise (Shawn Mendes x Reader)

*In this you’re Brian’s sister*

*3rd person’s POV*

(Y/N) was currently rummaging through her clothes as she was pack her suitcase for a trip. You see, (Y/N) boyfriend, Shawn, was currently on tour for 4 months now and (Y/N) started to miss him dearly. So she took matters into her own hands and planned a surprise visit to her boyfriend.

So she contacted her brother, Brian and Shawn’s bandmate, Geoff. Together they planned how she was gonna surprise Shawn. The plan was for (Y/N) to come to Italy (where Shawn was at that time) and surprise him while he was perfroming a song on stage infront of all her fans.

Within the next few minutes, she had everything she needed packed up in the now closed suitcase.

*(Y/N)'s POV*

Once I was done packing, I went to my bathroom to change into the clothes I would wear to the airport.

I changed into baby blue jeans and one of Shawn's grey hoodie that I stole from his suitcase before tour.

Once I was done packing all my stuff, I grabbed my handbag which contained my laptop, laptop charger, my phone charger, spare clothes, chewing gum and snacks.

I grabbed my suitcase, rolled it down the stairs and out the door and packed it into my car. I locked the house door before climbing into my car and pulling out of the driveway.

The ride to the airport was quiet with the faint sound of the radio playing in the background. Suddenly one of Shawn's songs came on and I immediately put the volume up. I felt something warm in my chest. I always feel like this whenever I hear Shawn's songs on the radio. To think that, that is the same kid that sat in his bedroom doing covers on vine is crazy.

The car ride went by pretty fast as soon after, I found myself checking my suitcase in and already passed security and was now waiting for my flight to be called. 

I decided to call Brian to update him on the plan. I texted him asking if Shawn was with him and if yes, he should go to another room so that I could call him. 

A few minutes later, I got a facetime call incoming from Brian. I accepted the call and Brian's face popped up along with Geoff in the background.

"Hey! I'm at the airport waiting for my flight right now" I said

"Nice. We've just finished practice and your boyfriend is looking pretty sad right now" Geoff said

"Awe bless him! Let's hope our little surprise will brighten his mood a little" I said

"I'm sure it will. He's whipped for you" Brian said

We all laughed and continued talking for a bit more until my flight was called. We said our goodbyes and see you later and ended the call.

I grabbed my stuff before heading towards my boarding gate. I showed the lady my passport and boarding pass before I was allowed to get in.

I walked down the tunnel to the plane before I found my seat that was next to the hublot. I placed my bag under the seat in front of me before I connected my earphones to my phone and listened to my music.

For the next few minutes, the plane started moving from it's parked space towards the runway. At this point I just blanked out and within the next few minutes I was passed out.

*Few hours later*

I was woken up by the plane shaking like hell. I opened my eyes an looked out the hublot and I realised that we were landing. Once the plane hit the Italian ground, I grabbed my stuff and headed to the baggage belt.

Whilst waiting, I took out my phone and texted Brian saying that I arrived. He replied that he had a car waiting for me outside.

Once I got my luggage I headed out to the pick up area where I spotted a man standing there with a sign with my name on it. I walked towards him and greeted him. He turned out to be pretty friendly.

He grabbed my luggage and headed out to the parking lot where a back SUV was waiting there. He placed my luggage in the trunk and I climbed on the backseat. He climbed into the drivers seat and started heading out.

*Few minutes later*

The car pulled my to a hotel and I climbed out. I thanked the driver and grabbed my luggage. I walked into the hotel to be greeted my cold AC air. I looked around and spotted Brian sitting in the lobby area waiting for something.

Once he noticed me, he walked towards me with a smile.

"Hey lil sis" He greeted and hugged me

"Hey big bro" I said back

"We gotta get your to your floor before Shawn arrives" He said grabbing my luggage

"When is he supposed to be here?" I asked walking besides him

"Anytime soon. We just have time to get you hidden" He said

We entered a glass elevator that had a view on the lobby. As the elevator started going up, that's when we saw Shawn walk in with the rest of his crew. But luckily he didn't look into the elevator and I passed unnoticed.

The elevator doors opened and revealed on of th emany floors in the hotel. Brian walked ahead as I followed behind him.

“The only problem is that you’re on the same floor as all of us. So be careful not to get caught” Brian said as he opened a room door

“After you” Brian said as he steped out of the door way

I walked into the door way and walked through the door.

“You’ll just stay here for a few hours before you surprise Shawn during the concert” Brian said sitting down in the office chair.

I sat down opposite of him, on the bed.

“So, how’s it been?” I asked reffering to the tour

“It’s been great. Good vibes all along. Great people too!” He said

“I missed Teddy so much. I gotta see her as soon as possible” I said

“Oh trust me, she missed you too” He said

We kept on talking about anything that came up in our minds until it was time for Shawn and the team to head out to the stadium where the concert would take place. And Brian had to go along with them because he technically was part of teh team now.

So I was left alone for about an hour and I decided to change out of my clothes into cleaner clothes before Brian called me to tell me that there was a car downstairs waiting for me.

I walked out of my room to the lobby and I greeted the driver. I climbed in and he immediately started driving towards the venue. When we arrived, before I walked towards the venue, I called Brian saying that I was gonna walk in.

As I ended the call, I thanked the driver and walked to the backdoor. As I entered, I was greeted by Brian. I quickly pulled me towards a room afr away from all the commotion.

“That’s the only place you can stay in until Shawn goes on” Brian said

“Okay, that’s fine. It’s just a few minutes” I said and shrugged and sat down on a random box

“BTW can you get Teddy to come here? Don’t tell her I’m here tho” I said

“Sure. Be right back!” He said and walked out of the room

I waited for less than 2 minutes before the door opened and revealed Teddy. She took a glance at me before her face turned into pure shock.

“OMG! YOU’RE HERE!” She screamed but I shushed her before she caught the attention of anyone else

“Shhh! Shawn doesn’t know yet! I’m planning on surpirising him” I said

“Awe you guys are the cutest!” She sqealed

Teddy and I kept talking until we heard Shawn’s entrance song. We then decided that it was safe to get out of the small room and so we did.

Teddy lead me towards the wings where everyone was stading, watching Shawn’s performance.

Once they realised I was here they all greeted me.

“Heyy! You made it!” Geoff said

“Finally! I’m glad all the whining is gonna stop!” Andrew said and sigh

“Whining?” I asked

“Yeah your boyfriend kept going on about how he missed you and everytime you wouldn’t answer his calls he would always be in a bad mood. Always being down, sulky but I’m glad It’s gonna be over soon!” He added

“Oh wow. I didn’t expect that from him” I said

“So when are you gonna surprise him?” Geoff asked

“Last song maybe?” I said unsure

“Yeah sure. That’s ‘If I can’t have you’ which I know you love” Geoff said

“Oh my god yay!” I exclaimed

During the whole concert we kept on dancing and singing along with Shawn and the fans.

When the time finally came, Shawn was introducing his last song, ‘In my blood’ and I couldn’t help but feel anxious.

“Tell me when to go on” I said to Geoff

“Sure” He replied

I let most of the song pass and we were now at the last chorus of the song.

Geoff made a sign to me that I should now step on and I did. Shawn was forward at the edge of the stage, close to the fans.

I truned my head to the right and saw Zubin that looked at me shocked. I chuckled at his expression and greeted him with a head sign and placed my pointer finger to my lips in a ‘shhh’ sign. He nodded and I walked froward.

I slowly approached Shawn and as some fans noticed my presence, they screamed out even louder if that was even possible. I noticed how Shawn slightly looked confused but continued on.

When I was right behind him, I innocently tapped on his shoulder. He confusedly looked over his shoulder to see who was behind him and as soon as his eyes met mine his jaw fell to the floor.

He swung his guitar onto his back, picked me up and hugged me. I squealed as I didn’t expect him to do such thing.

“Oh my god! I can’t believe this! You’re here!” Shawn said

“Yes Shawn I’m here and I’m staying for the rest of the tour!” I said

“Couldn’t be better!” Shawn said

We kept staring into each others eyes simultaneously forgetting about the thousand of fans watching.

And they soon started chanting “KISS! KISS! KISS!”

We both turned our heas towards them and smiled to each other.

“Guess we gotta give the fans what they want” Shawn said with a smirk

I smiled at him, leaned in and soon enough our lips met and we could here the fans going wild!

In the end it was all worth it. I was so happy to be back in Shawn’s arms and so excited for the rest of the tour. I could tell that we would make many more happy memories!

[jamesbucksiclebarnes]

Rating: Mature

Chapter List: [1] | [2] | [3] | [4] | [5]

[AO3 Link] | [Fic Page]

SERIES SUMMARY:

"Not human. She was not human. They all knew it. Could almost feel it, but couldn't make sense of it. That was why they were afraid. Not because of what she used to be Before. But because of what she was now."

Having found herself serving as the right-hand to the Governor for too long, Synnove le Jacques does her best to make things right with the people of the Prison. Stuck beside her partner in crime, her irritatingly obnoxious and hideously problematic best friend, Merle, she does her best to fight back against the monster she has let the Governor become.

CHAPTER TITLE: The Consequence of Morality.

It was easy to forget how fragile humans could be. How easily their bodies break, their minds more so. I should have seen it sooner. The decay. The absolute descent from decent man to homicidal lunatic. Really, it should have been clear as day to me. I’d been with the man since the beginning. Followed his lead. Obeyed his orders because I believed he stood for the good of all those still left alive in this goddamn hellscape.

We had been strangers once. At the beginning.

He, his daughter, and his wife had been waiting in the seen-better-days room outside the hanger of the private airport out west. It had been a present from his wife. A single day of flight lessons from a local pilot.

Me, on the other hand? Well, I’d been waiting for my getaway plane. My day job wasn’t exactly within the realm of legality and, often, I’d find myself requiring a rather speedy exit from the immediate vicinity. That time was no different. I did my job and got out of there like any self-respecting worker would do.

I’m still unsure whether it was his luck or mine that allowed us to be within the same place at the same time that day. The answer would likely change depending on which one of us you asked. I say it was my luck. He would say it was his. Either way, we both lucked out that day.

Well, as much as one could “luck out” at the beginning of the fucking apocalypse.

I had gotten him and his daughter to safety, along with the handful of other occupants of the hanger that day. His wife didn’t make it. She was the first to go. I’d had to drag him away from her in order to make sure the kid didn’t become a damn orphan within the space of two minutes.

After we escape the airfield, we made our way steadily towards the nearby town. We had passed by the prison. I remembered that quite clearly. The screams coming from behind those brick walls were horrendous. Lucky for the rest of them, I was the only one that could hear them.

The town was owned by the dead when we arrived. We should have known better, but it was only the beginning. There were many lessons we had yet to learn.

Myself and two of the others cleared a way to the towering city hall building at the centre of town, barricading the doors for good measure. We held up in there for almost three days before Phil came up with that brilliant plan of his.

Build walls, he said, like it was going to be easy. Build them high and strong to keep the dead at bay.

And we did.

It was hard work. Keeping the dead back long enough to place another panel, building more and more each day until the bodies piling up were almost as high as the fence itself. That was my job, of course. Killing them. I was good at it and the rest of them knew it. In fact, I was too good at it and I knew it unnerved some of them. Especially Marcus.

Often, I’d find him eyeing me up from across the room, as if he expected I would leap up and murder him on the spot for absolutely no reason. I’d been quite transparent about my profession since the start, believing it would solidify a sense of trust, but Phillip and Milton were the only ones that didn’t look at me like I was a criminal. Phil, I think, saw the benefit of having someone like me on his side. Milton just accepted it because I was the only one that would listen to him go on about his scientific theories.

It was only after the walls were finished around our newly thriving little community that Marcus made his move.

I wish I could say I hadn’t expected it. But they’d made their intentions glaringly obvious from the get-go. He, Zach, and Luke did their best to catch me off guard during my nightly rounds. Their best wasn’t good enough.

I didn’t kill all of them, of course. We had gained almost twenty new members to our community, many of which were small families. I doubted my straight-up murdering folks would make them feel at home. Marcus, however… He’d had to go.

Once I told Phil what they’d tried to do, Zach and Luke were the first to be exiled.

There’s only been a handful others we’d kicked out since then. Mostly newcomers that refused to get with the program.

I don’t quite know when I became the general of a small army. Nor I do I even remember at what point Phillip became “the Governor”. I don’t even know when I started calling him that if it was before or after Marcus. All I know is, it happened.

Those of us that could fight, that were unafraid of the undead, were sent outside the walls to scavenge and recruit. We were partnered up, given whatever weapons we wanted from the small armoury, and sent out into the world of the dead with a little pat on our backs.

My partner had been… a challenge, for lack of a better term. He was this pasty, old white guy with a dirty mind and a Southern mouth. Sexist, racist, and whatever other “ist” you could think of – this guy was it. And, my God, for a guy with one hand he could sure be handsy. At least, he had been for the first ten or so minutes after we’d first met. Once I’d made it very clear I had little issue cutting off his other hand and feeding it to him, he’d kept it to himself.

Other than that, as a woman with dark skin who was from another country – even one as benign as Australia – it had been a little… tense between Merle and I for a while there.

But, somehow – and I don’t even know at what point we decided we didn’t hate each other anymore – we started getting along. Inside jokes, begrudging respect, and a ride-or-die attitude – we had the whole nine-yards. It came to the point that, suddenly, this redneck, trailer trash, white boy knew me better than anyone. And I knew him. We traded stories like they were currency and barely spent more than a few hours apart. Which was weird, in retrospect, but at the time, it hadn’t felt that way. He was like a brother to me. An older, obnoxiously irritating and horribly problematic brother.

And, as strange as it was, the feeling seemed to be mutual. He’d jump in to defend my honour at every opportunity. One of the guardsmen looking at my backside? His fist would be in their face before I even had a chance to turn around. He knew I could have done it myself – in fact, as much as he said otherwise, I knew some of the things I could do freaked him out a little. Mostly, it was the things he couldn’t explain away – like how I could hear things that he couldn’t or how my reflexes were just a fraction faster than was humanly plausible. Thankfully, he gave up questioning me about it rather quickly, and now just kind of… accepted my weirdness. For which I was thankful.

It was hard trying to come up with logical explanations about my oddities without outright lying about them.

Anyway, the two of us served beneath the Governor’s rule for longer than either of us would like to admit. I wish I could say I knew the exact moment his orders became less than favourable. To be honest, I hadn’t thought to question them. My entire life had been spent listening to orders and obeying them with little enquiry. I’d grown somewhat suspicious of his mindset near the end, there, but the only thing I could actually pinpoint was the exact moment I decided I’d had enough.

It was that night, in the haphazardly put together cells out by the old warehouse. We had brought in two strangers, members of a rival group that had made their home in the once-overrun prison. It had been a completely coincidental run-in. We had been out looking for a woman, a newcomer that had caused some “trouble”. We managed to track her to a series of small shops out by a deserted strip of road. I went around the back while my partner surveyed the storefronts. She was lucky I spotted her first. I didn’t know what he would have done with her. While I had made my growing concerns about the Governor’s current state of mind clear, he hadn’t deigned to share his opinion of the man with me.

At first, she had looked at me with suspicion. The woman I knew as Michonne had seen how close I was with the Governor, knew it was his orders I followed. But when I had jerked my head toward the field behind me, indicating for her to make a run for it, understanding dawned on her face. I was letting her go.

Unfortunately, that was right at the exact moment I heard a voice I didn’t know ask, “Merle?”

A young Asian man and a pretty, petite woman were standing out the front of one of the stores, looking up at Merle as if he had just sprouted horns from his thinning head of hair. I peeked around the corner just in time to watch Merle lift his gun and decided it was likely best to intervene before he got too trigger-happy, like he usually did.

I kept things relatively calm for about three entire seconds before Merle pistol-whipped the poor guy and forced him into the driver’s seat of the nearby sedan. The two of us piled in behind them and instructed them to drive back to the gates of Woodbury.

Everything just seemed to escalate from there.

We threw the two strangers, whose names I learned were Maggie and Glenn, into the barely kept-together cells and began our interrogation. And by “our interrogation” I mean the Governor and Merle’s attempts at intimidation.

Merle’s I could handle. It was nothing I hadn’t seen before. Berating the guy, beating him, tossing a biter in there – the usual. But the Governor?

I had been standing in the room with Merle, watching him berate Glenn, probing him for answers about the group making their home inside the prison fences, when I heard it. The sound of his belt was oddly stark against the soft sobs making their way through the solid metal wall. I knew the other two couldn’t hear it. It didn’t matter.

That was the moment I drew the line. The second I heard that belt, I knew what I had here in Woodbury was over.

Without a second of hesitation, I spun on my heel and marched out the cell door. Martinez was standing outside it, keeping guard, and caught my eye as I made my way down the hall a step to the next door down. His eyes were wide as he shook his head.

“Don’t,” he warned me.

I didn’t listen.

Lifting my booted foot, I kicked down the door to the cell next door and strode across the empty space to where the Governor stood, still undoing his belt. Maggie sat across the metal table from him, naked from the waist up, arms crossed over her bare chest as tears slid down her cheeks.

The Governor turned to face me at the sound of my sudden entrance. I pushed him aside as I peeled off my own shirt and gave it to the sobbing woman. Rapid footsteps sounded by the doorway and I knew both Merle and Martinez were standing there, watching as I rounded on the Governor with fire in my gaze.

He snarled at me. “What do you think you’re doing, Jacques?”

“Putting a stop to this,” I snapped in response, stepping back around the table.

The Governor did his best to stare me down, but he was about as intimidating to me as a baby lamb. “You don’t get to make that decision!” he screamed, spittle flying from his thin lips. “I give the orders here! Me, not you!”

“And I’ve obeyed them!” I yelled. “But I can’t stand by and let you do this. It’s not right and you know it!”

The Governor looked as if he were about to explode. His face was red, and his mouth kept opening and closing as if he were trying to form a response. I turned my back on him before he could, reaching out for Maggie, who had turned around to shield herself as she pulled my shirt over her head. Gently, I took her arm and began leading her towards the doorway.

Merle gave me a warning look, shaking his head just as Martinez had done. Martinez was a close friend, and Merle was my partner in crime, but I didn’t listen to either of them. Instead, I pushed my way through, pulling Maggie along with me as I lead her back into the cell where Glenn sat. The tears that had been steadily spilling down her cheeks increased tenfold when she saw what Merle’s fists had done to Glenn’s face. Once I let her go, she ran to him and began to cry as he asked her what the Governor had done.

She didn’t get a chance to answer.

The man himself burst through the partially closed door and made to grab me by the arm. I sensed him coming and spun out of his reach, turning to face him with a sneer.

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” I hissed.

The Governor looked slightly taken aback. I hadn’t spoken to him like that for a long time. Too long, it would seem. “You think you can just do what you want?” he snapped back, throwing an arm wildly in the direction of the two prisoners behind me. “You want to end up in here, too? Be my guest.”  

Merle took a tentative step forwards, lifting his one remaining hand in a surrendering gesture.  “Oh, come now. Ya don’t need to be like that, Governor. She’s sorry. Ain’t cha, Jacques?”

“Not really,” I replied plainly. “No.”

The exasperated look he gave me would have been comical in any other situation. What had he really expected? He knew I wouldn’t – couldn’t – lie. Besides, like hell I was going to apologise for stopping him raping a woman. Jesus Christ. I may be an assassin, but I wasn’t a monster.

“Have you forgotten who’s in charge here?” the Governor asked, his voice returning to a normal volume, though underneath the blasé tone I could hear his growing contempt.  “Which one of us gives the orders and which one takes them?”

“Have you?” I responded, cocking my head to the side to regard him with cold, narrowed eyes.

The Governor blinked in surprise, his right eye twitching as he tried to make sense of my reply.

I gave him the curtesy of elaborating, making sure to emphasise each hissed sentence with a step in his direction. “Did you really think you had control over me? That I wasn’t only following your orders because I agreed with them? Do you think that highly of yourself that you forgot, for a moment, who I am? What I can do?”

The Governor’s legs seemed to act without his permission, pulling him back, matching my every step forward with one back. He retreated until I came to a stop, looking down at him despite the few inches of difference in our heights.

“If I had wanted that crown of yours, Philip, I’d fucking take it and there would be nothing you could do to stop me.” I stared at him with my piercing blue eyes until he dropped his gaze, swallowing, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

A moment of silence passed before I returned to my usual casual lean, the tension in my body evaporating almost instantly as the intensity in my gaze dissipated.

“Now that we’ve covered that,” I began in a chipper tone. “I’d like to continue by stating that I happen to believe freeing these two in good nature would be in our best interests as a community. However, if you say otherwise, I won’t argue.” Because I’d be wasting by breath.

The silence continued to stretch for another few moments before the Governor raised his gaze back up to meet mine once again. I could see the steely resolve in them, the growing sense of distrust and malcontent. He spoke in that authoritative voice, as if I hadn’t just put him in his place merely a few minutes ago.

“We keep them here.”

And that had been that.

Kind of.

No more than a few hours later, Glenn and Maggie’s people infiltrated Woodbury.

I had returned to the cells mere minutes before I knew of their presence, knocking the working guard unconscious – sorry, Andy – and picking the lock open to set them free. My intention, of course, had been to lead them out to the loose panel in the eastern fence, escorting them to safety. That had not exactly panned out, as the people from the prison had decided to launch their attack whilst I was partway through leading Glenn and Maggie to the cellblock’s exit. Once the smoke grenades went off, I brought them both to a stop and explained to them the best way to escape, telling them to keep low in the smoke and wishing them luck before we parted ways.

As much as I knew in theory that I was done in this place, I hadn’t quite accepted it emotionally just yet. After all, I had plenty of friends here, people I almost considered family. It didn’t feel right to fight on the opposite side, not in such an outright way as taking the prison’s side in this.

I should have just gone with them. I wouldn’t have ended up here if I’d just gone.

If it had been anyone other than fucking Martinez that came for me that night, I would have fought back. And I think he knew it, too. The apologetic look he gave me before forcing me up against the side of the building to chain my wrists together was the only thing that stopped me from punching him directly in the nose.

He put a bag over my head and dragged me out to the warehouse, where the sounds of curious, excited chatter met my ears. I could only partially see through the cotton fabric covering my face, but it was enough to make out the shape of the stands we often used during our Game Nights. They were as full as they’d ever been, overflowing with the townsfolk who had no doubt been gathered at the behest of the Governor.

His voice cut through the aimless whispers surrounding him, crisp and authoritative as he announced the purpose behind tonight’s entertainment.

“What can I say?” he asked the gathered people of Woodbury. “There hasn’t been a night like this since before the walls were completed.”

Yeah. Thanks to me. I wanted to scream, to yell at the people that our “fearless” leader had lost his damn mind, but I couldn’t. Not yet. Martinez still held my arm, keeping me in my place at the edge of the biter-lined arena. On the other side, I could see another figure being dragged forwards, bag over his head.

I knew who it was from the dirty wife-beater alone and gave an internal groan. Of course, the one time I wasn’t with him when he did something stupid, he got himself caught.

“I thought we were past it. Past the days when we all sat, huddled, scared in front of the TV during the early days of the outbreak. The fear we all felt then… we felt it again tonight.”

I could barely make out his shape, standing at the back of the stands, a blonde figure sitting in the place beside him. Andrea. She had come to Woodbury alongside Michonne; yet hadn’t heeded the other woman’s warnings. Nor had she listened to mine, when I’d tried to encourage caution around the man she was taking to bed. Well, she was about to learn. As were they all.

“I failed you!” the Governor continued, his voice breaking as if he truly were ashamed. “I promised to keep you safe. Hell, look at me.” I saw the outline of his hand gesturing towards his face, though couldn’t make out what the hell he was pointing to. “You know, I – I should tell you that we’ll be okay. That we’re safe. That tomorrow, we’ll bury our dead and endure, but I won’t. Because I can’t… Because I am afraid.”

Uneasy gasps of surprise rippled through the townsfolk.

“That’s right,” the Governor sighed. “I’m afraid of terrorists. Terrorists that want what we have – want to destroy us! And worse, because more than one of these terrorists are one of our own!”

Across the arena, Patterson pushed Merle forward with enough force to almost send him sprawling onto the sands. Thankfully, my partner kept his footing, skidding to a halt in the centre of the arena and looking around at the townsfolk that had gathered to watch what was no doubt his execution.

“Merle. A man I counted on. A man I trusted.” The Governor shook his head, the dismay in his voice almost, almost believable. “He led ‘em here! And he let ‘em in!”

Merle opened his mouth to argue but something in the Governor’s gaze must have stopped him.

“It was you,” the Governor hissed down at him. “You lied. You betrayed us all.”

From the side of the arena I couldn’t see, someone else was pushed through the gap between the biters and onto the sands. The newcomer stumbled slightly, barely managing to maintain his balance as he came to a stop in front of Merle.

I couldn’t see their faces, but I could tell by the change of air around them that they recognised one another. They were not strangers.

I bit my lower lip. That did not bode well.

“This is one of the terrorists,” the Governor announced to his audience. “Merle’s own brother.”

Ah. Shit.

“And worse yet,” he continued, his voice growing deeper in his attempt to sound dismayed. “Merle’s influence over my most trusted – our most valuable asset to this community…”

I could see him shaking his head, as if the words he was trying to say hurt him too much to voice. Had I not already been almost ninety-nine percent sure he was about to tell the world it had been me that had helped Merle, I would have laughed. He’d gotten good at this.

Behind me, Martinez whispered, “Sorry ‘bout this, ese. Orders.”

He pushed me forwards, keeping his grip on my upper arm as he led me out into the sands alongside Merle and his brother. When he brought me to a stop, he let my arm go and reached up to pull the bag from my head.

“He poisoned our beloved Synnove’s mind against us. A founding member of our community!” the Governor yelled, and the stands erupted with shock and malice.

My gaze, partially obscured by the blonde strands of hair that had fallen free from my ponytail, snapped to Merle’s. He gave me a pointed look, like he was disappointed I’d let myself get caught.

“Really?” he asked, brow cocked.

“Oh, fuck you,” I snapped in response.

From up in the stands, the Governor continued his speech and I was finally able to get a good look at him. He was dishevelled and battered, as if he’d been in a fight, and across his right eye there was a white bandage, splattered with red. Someone had come for him and I hoped beyond hope that that someone had been Michonne.

“What should we do with them?” the Governor asked his people.

From my right, a distinct cry broke through the torrent of voices. “Kill them!”

I twisted in place to look for the owner, only to see an ocean of familiar faces glaring back at me. Jesus Christ. Were they really this easy to manipulate?

“Kill them! Kill them!”

Apparently so.

The chant continued as the Governor smiled down at us, a chilling grin absent of any and all warmth it had once held. I could barely recognise the man standing there.

“You wanted your brother,” he said to Merle. “Now you got him.”

Merle just looked across to the man he called brother before meeting my curious gaze. With a casual gesture towards the man standing across the arena, he grinned. “Jacques, meet my baby brother, Daryl. Baby brother, meet Jacques.”

I glanced over at the other Dixon, my gaze travelling up and down his dishevelled form. He was shorter than Merle, but not by much, and had dark, unkept hair that partially over his forehead. His ruggedly pleasant features were scrunched into a confused scowl as I took my sweet time surveying him before turning back to Merle with a cheeky grin.

“At least now I know where all the looks went in your family,” I remarked lightly.

Merle snorted and gave me the finger.

“Brother against brother,” the Governor called, promptly ruining the moment. “Partner against partner!”

I looked up at him with my upper lip curled over my teeth in a snarl.

Andrea was standing beside him now, looking up pleadingly at him as if she had expected different. Expected better of him, despite all the warnings to the contrary.

“Winner goes free! Fight to the death!”

It was incredibly unlikely he’d keep that promise.

“Hey now,” I yelled out, over the cheers and jeering voices of the crowd. “I’m sensing a little unfairness here!” I jiggled my chains behind my back and gave the Governor a pointed look. “I’m the only one with chains!”

He merely looked down at me as if I were nothing to him, a fly upon his shoe. “Well, we wouldn’t want the fight over too early, now, would we?”

The voices from the crowd called out my name, called out for me to fight. It was almost as if this were any other Game Night, where I would tag-team with Merle against challengers in this very arena. We had been undefeated since the games had begun. These people knew only a fraction of what I could do and, even then, they had always put their money on me.

I looked over to Merle. His upper lip was shaking the way it often did when he was about to explode in anger.

Somehow, he managed to keep it somewhat under control. He took a step back and began to spin, looking at each member of the crowd in turn as he lifted his arms up like he used to do at the beginning of every Game Night.

“Come on, come on! I can’t hear yous!” he called out to the townsfolk.

A few scattered “Let’s go, Merle!”’s echoed around the warehouse, followed shortly by a “Get em, Jacques!”.

“Come on, ya’ll know me! I’m gonna do whatever I gotta do to prove my loyalty is to this town!” Merle continued.

Stepping further into the centre of the arena, I kept a close eye on both him and Daryl while I prepared myself to leap-frog over the chains loosely tied behind me. I knew Merle was talking shit. Knew him well enough to see that glint in his eye that meant the wheels in this balding head were beginning to turn.

From my right, Merle’s brother scoffed. “You really think this asshole’s gonna let you go?”

Merle looked at him with a smirk. “Just follow my lead, little brother. Ready, Jacques? Just like old times?”

I flashed him a wide grin before I jumped up, swinging my bound hands down and around the base of my feet so they were now in front of me. “Ready when you are, old man.”

Merle looked back to his brother, smirk growing wider as his excitement overtook his sense. “We’re gettin’ out of this right now.”

Merle and I leapt into it first. After all, we’d had plenty of practise fighting against one another in this arena. The chain linking my wrists made it a little difficult, but I managed to pull out some old moves to make it our battle somewhat believable. When I stumbled back, having been “kicked” in the chest by Merle’s dirty boot, I took a brief moment to look behind me towards Martinez. He was holding one of the Biter leads, pushing it closer to me each minute that passed.

I knew he was the weak spot. He wouldn’t shoot me, even if his life depended on it. Not after all we’d been through together. I knew it as well as he did. That was our way out.

While I had been “recovering” from Merle’s kick, the old redneck had started beating on his brother. They tussled on the ground for a moment, looking as if they were actually going at it more than they really needed to. Daryl managed to get his boot between them and kicked Merle off and when he scrambled up onto his feet, I stepped into his guard. He took a swing at me and I ducked beneath it, stepping around him and throwing my hands over his shoulders, pulling the chain taut across his throat, leaving only just enough room for him to breathe.

Merle locked eyes with me over his brother’s shoulder. He gave a little nod.

“Martinez,” I said, quiet enough so only Merle and Daryl could hear. “He’s the weak spot.”

Merle nodded. “Count o’ ten?”

“Better make it three.” I looked to the side of Daryl’s face. “You ready, little Dixon?”

He snorted in response. I took it as a yes.

Merle started a countdown.

One.

Two.