#decided to keep it in regards to the brothers only because they pulled Leo out of the dimension and helped Raph rebuke his possession

[sinnbaddie]

Donnie isn’t the best at comforting others, but he knows when his twin is being distant and tries to make him feel seen in his own way

2/

[aprils2ndhandshop]

Falling asleep next to the turtles during a movie night ‘03

Each turtle written about individually! 

Summary; The turtles ask you to come over for a movie night; you’ve been super close friends for a couple of months,  keeping your feelings for one another secret, so this was a rather typical request. In the midst of the movie, you fall asleep and he really can't bring himself to wake you up.

Leonardo:

Leo would immediately notice a change in your body language; he'd sense your body sinking into the couch the moment you begin to get sleepy.

To be precise, he was never really paying attention to the movie in the first place - he's been far more interested in you.

He is unbelievably sentient, especially in regards to you: your company, your energy, your warmth, your scent.

For him, there has always been this intense connection with you - something he’s fearful you don't reciprocate with him. His attraction to you goes far beyond physical, he feels as though he could bare his whole soul to you.

"You tired, y/n?"

Leo is quick to remove himself from where he sat and kneel next to your resting body.

"No, no, I'm okay, Leo."

Despite how unconvincing your response is: that you answered him with your eyes closed, half-asleep, he can't help but smile and leave you be.

She just looks so comfy and peaceful; why would I disturb the poor thing?

Leo will sit on the floor next to you and watch the remainder of the movie! He is careful to ensure that he does not make too much noise that will wake you up.

He can't help but admire you while you sleep; he does his best to not seem creepy about it but he sucks at it.

She's so sweet like this.

When the movie is over, he double-checks that you are as comfortable as possible. He makes sure your head is resting on the pillow, that you're bundled up in warm blankets, that you aren't close to the end of the couch  - he is very attentive.

“Sweet dreams.”

He places a kiss on your forehead before heading up to his room.

Raphael:

Raphael is simultaneously falling asleep as you are. The only reason he wakes up is due to the ending credits of the movie; a loud, obnoxious credit song wakes him from his faint slumber.

"Ah shit, that is so annoying.”

He clumsily, tiredly looks for something to shut it up.

“You like the movie, y/n?"

He doesn't initially realize you fell asleep; he takes a few moments to find the remote and turn the tv off - then turns around to find you out cold on the couch next to him.

His heart melts at the sight of you, cuddled up in his blanket.

“Bore you right to sleep, huh?”

Raphael could swear that when you're around him, you put some kind of spell on him. Something as small as you falling asleep amid a boring flick was so charming to him.

God, you’re so cute.

Unlike his brother, Leo, Raph doesn't care to avoid ‘creepiness’ - he will shamelessly admire your beauty. He figures it's be a waste not to take this opportunity.

And no, he would never do this if you were awake or if anyone else was around. He’s secretly shy!

Raphael will be sure to grab a second blanket for you, just to be sure you are warm and cozy.

He’s generally pretty paranoid about you sleeping in the lair, so many little things come flooding into his head. Is it too cold in here? Is the couch too disgusting to leave her on? Does Mikey leave rotting food in the crevices of the cushions?

His unnecessary panic with eventually get the best of him; he can’t bring himself to wake you up and move you yet, he doesn't want you to be alone if something bothers you.

Instead he just decides to spend the night on the arm chair next to the couch, just to be sure you’re okay.

Donatello:

Donatello notices shortly after you initially fall asleep, he kinda saw it coming! Considering how tired you were when you got to the lair and how slurred your responses became, it was hard to miss.

Even though Don is a fairly attentive guy, he didn't care for the movie you choose - the majority of his attention was on you despite your sleepiness.

Upon noticing you finally fell asleep, he can’t help but smile at how adorable you look.

He’s so overcome with how much he adores you he almost lets out an obnoxious “awh!”

Sleepy girl.

Donnie does a quick clean up of the mess you left behind: moving the chip bag, the glass of water, the remote and all other things you may knock over in your sleep.

He will also go up to his bedroom and to get you his favourite pillow in order to make the couch as comfortable as possible.

When he is sticking the pillow under your head, he is so gentle and sweet! He moves you like your a delicate, glass doll.

“I’m sorry for moving you.”

Shocker! Shocker! He is a total dork about the whole situation, battling between an urge to happy dance around and an urge to sing of your praise to his brothers.

Regardless, he is sure to take care of everything and ensure you are comfortable.

Michelangelo:

Initially, he is determined to keep you awake with him; he wants more time with you and will do just about anything to get it.

“Come on, y/n! You usually stay up super late... Like me!”

It's not like you don't want to stay awake and enjoy the flick with him, yet your body had different plans.

“I’m sorry, Mikey. I'm just really sleepy.”

Despite his desire for you to stay awake with him, he finds it so adorable when you're all sleepy and tranquil: when your eyes flutter closed and you have to force them open again, when you rub your tired eyes with a soft smile - it's all too cute.

After a short-lived fight to keep you awake, he caves and feels guilty forcing you awake

This is a day all his brothers never thought was possible. Michelangelo, stubborn, hard-headed Michelangelo, stopped fighting to have his way.

Mikey is undeniably a softie, yet with you, that's amplified - you can have everything and anything you want.

“Fine, fine, I’ll let you sleep, y/n/n. But only because I love you!”

He looks over at you as you’re falling asleep, pulling himself away from his beloved superhero movie.

I love her so much. I will marry this girl.

Eventually, he finds himself too distracted to pay attention to the flick, choosing to finish it another day, preferably, when you’re awake.

He turns off the tv and checks on you one late time.

She’s a little angel.

Before he goes up to his bedroom, he’ll do a surprising thorough check on your comfort: making sure your heads on the pillow, you’re cuddled up in blankets, feet covered up.

“Sweet dream, y/n.”

I had to relocate so welcome back!

[downwiththemutantnjnjaturtles]

We Met Within This Screen (chapt. 3 PART 2)

[Donnie x reader]

part 1 here

At the lair, everyone stripped of their gear and started getting ready for bed. No one spoke to each other on the way back from patrol, and unsurprisingly, Donnie trudged to his lab immediately upon arriving home.  It was near sunrise and he was tired but no doubt couldn't sleep, not only because he had sleeping problems, but also because his mind was too preoccupied with the events of the night. He just couldn't stop thinking about it. In the moment, when all of them had realized what it meant when they read the text about the racket outside her apartment; he was too distracted. But now that he was really thinking about it, despite the fact that it could have been a coincidence, he felt something strange yet unmistakable—he'd been this close to her, if he was correct. They all were. It made the whole thing sting worse, being so close but unable to do anything. 

Eventually, he did decide that it was time to try to go to sleep. He left for his room and when he got there, Leo wasn't quite ready for bed yet. Thankfully. 

As he was pulling off his suspenders, he heard the curtain move but didn't look over to regard whoever was there. If it was Raph, he'd tell him to go away. He couldn't ban Leo from their shared room, though, so secretly he hoped it was Splinter, but instead Mikey came in. He sighed as he finishished with his clothes, sitting down onto his mattress. 

"D?" 

"What?" Donnie asked flatly. He was sluggish.

Mikey shut the curtain behind him and tentatively took a seat next to his tired brother, sitting in silence for a second before he spoke. "You okay, bro?" he asked softly. 

Donnie rumbled something vague and incoherent. 

"I just wanted you to know that I'm here for you," Mikey said. "And I don't think you did the right thing letting her go, D....I really think you should go for it." 

"How?" he replied. "It's hopeless anyway.  Leo was right; she's a human and I'm a mutant. It was a failure from the start." 

Wrapping an arm around the back of his shoulders, Mikey encouraged him with a shake, "Don't talk like that, dude! It's only a failure if you believe it is. We were so close tonight, you saw her message! Come on, let me be your wingman. You like her, I know it. We can go there sometime, check it out...you know?" 

Donnie let out a deep breath and slumped over. "Are you saying we stalk her? Mikey, that's a terrible idea." 

Mikey scoffed, "Dude, no, we aren't creepy guys. We'll just roll by, see if we can catch anything from the window and get outta there. No one will even know! Then we can do some detective work or something and find out if it's actually her." He flashed him a bright smile. 

"And then what, Mikey? So we'll know it's her, nothing useful there." 

Donnie watched the curtain carefully to make sure no one was lurking outside, and even then urged Mikey to keep his voice as low as absolutely possible. He was paranoid Leo would be outside listening in and bust them for something he didn't even do because of Mikey's antics, but so far he only heard some bustling in the kitchen. 

"You don't get it, bro," Mikey started, bumping him with his shoulder, "you're gonna get to know her more and then meet her!" 

Donnie shot up from the bed, "What? That idea is somehow worse!" 

"Next time we go on duos during patrol, we'll swing by and see what's up. Cool? Cool. Night, D." 

Mikey left, leaving Donnie in shock just standing there. He checked around each corner for anyone listening in as soon as Mikey left, and to his relief, no one was there. Leo was in the dojo and he could hear Raph headed to their room. 

He took his glasses off and lay back down on the bed, slapping a palm on his forehead. Mikey was dead-set on making this happen, wasn't he? Stupidly, boldly dead-set. He had a kind of confidence that Donnie hadn't mustered up quite yet. 

Donnie rolled over when Leo finally came to bed. He wasn't mad at him but disappointed, and not even at Leo, but in general. He still didn't want a confrontation with his brother—he had nothing to say. And neither did Leo, apparently, because the two remained quiet, not saying anything and not trying to, either. Donnie tossed and turned before he was actually able to fall asleep. One question bombarded his mind—should he follow Mikey?

Chapter 4

[crimson-snowfall]

Jealous hc for Comte, Leo and Theo please! Really appreciate your writing!

Sorry for the wait, and thanks for your kind message! Here ya go~

Ikevamp HC request: Jealous Theo, Comte, and Leo

Theo

Theo is particularly vocal when it comes to Arthur playing around with you. Even though he knows Arthur does it on purpose just to piss him off, he just can’t let the flirt do as he pleases with you, so he makes sure to give Arthur a piece of his mind every now and then.

Theo doesn’t really get jealous nor wary about you interacting with the rest of the mansion’s residents, because he’s plenty confident about his ability to keep his hondje satisfied.

The only time he ever feels jealous is during those occasional instances when you would end up spending a lot of time with Vincent for days at a time, and Theo hates himself for it.

He has always admired his brother, and Theo has spent all of his life believing that Vincent is better than him, and in a good way. He thinks of his dear brother as the best person in the world, so it made him sick inside as soon as he realized that emotions of jealousy have ‘tainted’ his love for his brother.

He is deeply confused as well, because sometimes he’s not sure whom is he truly jealous about. Perhaps he’s jealous both ways?

As soon as Vincent realized how Theo feels, he promptly apologized to him. Theo visibly paled upon hearing Vincent apologize to him, panic quickly taking over him.

“What are you taking about, b-broer? You did nothing wrong, you know you can never do wro–”

“Calm down, Theo. Look… I’m just really happy that you finally found yourself a woman to love in this life. That’s why I wanted to get to know her better, and love her the same way as I do love you, Theo. Because soon enough, she’s going to be my sister-in-law, right?”

Vincent had that kind smile on his face as he said all those things to Theo, and it’s enough to make the strength in Theo’s knees leave. He pulled his brother in a tight embrace, insisting that he should be the one apologizing for even feeling that way.

It’s not often that Theo shows his weak side towards him, so Vincent had been more than willing to comfort him and dispel his worries.

After that, Theo’s subtle jealous episodes became far less often. However, when you finally realized it and confronted him about it, you could’ve sworn he got incredibly flustered for a moment.

“Huh? What are you talking about hondje? Why would I be jealous? This is my brother we’re talking about here, do you really want to get punished?”

Unfortunately, he didn’t sound nearly as convincing as he had hoped to be, and while you would’ve taken this golden opportunity to tease him, you decided against it. Theo can play really dirty if you tease him so much, and you’re not yet really ready for another night of him just teasing you until you’re nearly in tears. Instead, you spent the next few days spoiling him with sweets and fluffier servings of pancakes.

Comte

At first, you thought that Comte just really loved to spoil you. But after a while and as you get to know him better, you eventually noticed a pattern to these shopping sprees and fancy restaurant dates he often takes you to.

While the fact that he indulges spoiling you remains true, you realized that he does this mainly so he can have a valid reason to keep you all to himself, at least for the day.

Lately, he’s been starting to spoil you way too often, almost every other day. While you do enjoy the time you spend with him, your closet is starting to get crammed with all the clothes and accessories he gets for you. You’re also conscious that you may be starting to put on some weight as well.

Unsure of what to do, you approach Leonardo. Comte is good friends with him, so you thought that Leo of all people would know how to deal with your lover’s behavior.

You came to him in the library and much to your surprise, the pureblood is actually awake and not passed out on the floor like always. You told him about your troubles.

“Have you talked to him about it, cara mia?” A soft smile graced his features as he regarded you with concern.

“No. The thing is… I don’t even know where to start.”

“Well, this is actually the first time I’ve–” Leo stopped mid-sentence, his expression as though he had sensed something coming. His soft smile turned into a mischievous one as he stood from where he was seated and approached you.

“No, I think I have an idea.” With those words, he closed the distance between the two of you, pinning you against the nearest bookshelf. He tilted your head up, your eyes meeting his that were dancing with mild mischief. Leo leaned dangerously close, and it really looked like he was going to kiss you when—

“Leonardo Da Vinci.” A heavy voice came from the entrance, and there stood Comte, golden eyes on fire. Leo was shaking– surely not out of fear, instead he looked like he’s trying to hold back his laughter.

In mere seconds, Comte has you in a protective embrace whilst his vicious glare remained on his friend. The other pureblood shrugged it off.

“There you have it, cara mia. Now’s your chance. Go and tell him. There’s no way he could deny it anymore.” Leo walked out of the library as if he had done nothing wrong, and the sigh that escaped Comte’s lips nearly echoed in the room.

“What was that all about, ma chérie?” He turned you around so that you’re facing him, the rage in his eyes replaced with mild sadness.

You ended up telling him everything, how you loved spending time with him, but how deep down you wished he didn’t have to resort to spoiling you that much all the time.

“I appreciate everything, Comte. But, you don’t really have to go that far every time, I… I already have so much of everything. If you’re jealous, we could just always spend more time together– just simply the two of us, together. It doesn’t have to be always extravagant.”

“I’m sorry ma chérie. I just couldn’t help myself whenever I’m with you. I want to give you everything.” Comte placed a tender kiss on your forehead.

He continues about taking up on your offer about spending time together without being too extravagant. He suggests taking you off from your household duties for the next few days, and the tender look in his eyes made it impossible for you to refuse.

“I can’t guarantee that I won’t end up spoiling you… in my own other ways though, ma chérie. I hope you’re prepared for that.”

Leonardo

Leo’s room has always been messy, but lately it’s just a disaster. For the past two days, Sebastian has been taking care of most of the other household duties while he left you in charge of your lover’s room.

On that particular day, the butler told you that your sole task is to attend to Leo’s room, and after that you can take the rest of the day off as some sort of compensation.

You came to his room, already dreading the mess that’s about to unfold before your eyes as soon as you open the door.

“Leo, how do you even manage to get your room this dirty? I just cleaned up yesterday!” You made no effort to hide your frustration as you began cleaning his room. Surprisingly enough though, this time, he helped you out.

Soon enough with his help, the room looked far more decent and actually habitable. “See? It’s much better now. You’re actually good at this, Leo. If only you would do it more often, then–”

You were cut off when strong arms pulled you into a tight embrace. “It’s been three days and you still don’t get it, do you, cara mia?” Leo planted a soft kiss on your neck before falling back into his bed and turning you around so that you’re on top of him.

He wore a somewhat lonely expression as he played with your hair. He took a deep sigh, the signature scent of cigarillos wafting on the air. “Lately… I found myself feeling rather jealous.”

“Jealous of what? And what does that have to do with any of this?”

“You’ve been doing nothing but housework lately, cara mia. You attend to everyone, and sometimes I just want to keep you to myself. That’s when I thought, what if I made it so that all the housework you’ll ever do is in my room? Then maybe I’ll get to spend more time with you.”

You looked at him in absolute disbelief. “Leo, I can’t believe you…”

“You don’t have to, cara mia. But today I helped you because… I want you to do something other than housework.”

Hope you liked it and sorry for any ooc-ness and grammatical error, my mind’s really a mess right now with all the university work piled up on me ;w; I haven’t read Leo’s route yet either so sorry if his is a little bit shorter compared to the others. I need to read more canon facts and be able to read more interactions between these characters so I can write them better in the future, but on the meantime thanks for your understanding! As for the other request (and future reqests that may be made), I’ll get to you on the 1st week of February~

[zoey-wades]

Honeymoon (King Liam x MC)

Rating: M (Drug Use, Substance Abuse, Violence, Self-Inflicted Violence)

Characters: Dark!Liam Rys x Dark!Lyra Frasier (MC) x Dark!Drake Walker

Summary: Fresh out of school and trying to figure things out, Lyra Frasier spends her weekdays going to a job she hates and her weekends in a drug fueled haze. And then she meets golden boy Liam. Lyra soon realizes that the violent underbelly of New York City’s elite may be more than she can handle.

Author’s Note: I haven’t updated this thing since uh......last year? I’m bad at making a writing schedule for myself. I think, the way TRR has been going as a series, I just haven’t had the motivation. But when I separate this world from that one, it helps a bit more. 

Honeymoon Series

ooo. Prologue.

oo1. Honeymoon.

oo2. Midnight City.

--x-- 

oo3. C.R.E.A.M. 

It was bad enough that Liam’s father was ill; he also had to be stubborn as fuck.

Liam winced as his ailing father lifted the shaking glass of whiskey to his lips, determined to keep drinking despite what the doctor and his wife told him about the effects on his body. Liam cleared his throat, earning a single passive glance from his father across the desk. 

“Oh come on,” Constantine groaned, licking the droplets of liquor from his chin, “Not you, too. I don’t need anymore shit about what I do in my free time.” 

Unwilling to take advice from those he deemed inexperienced, Constantine was an unwavering force in a world of deeply complicated decisions. Liam patiently rested his folded hands in his lap, training his expression to convey as much stoicism as he could in the given circumstance.

“You don’t seem to understand that this,” he motioned towards the glass, “is the reason why Sebastian Clark was able to fly under your radar for so long? What would’ve happened if Walker and I hadn’t figured him out? Who knows what he could’ve gotten away with--” 

“That rotten, coked out fucker,” Constantine spat with a wave of the hand, “Good riddance. I didn’t need him poisoning my ranks with his bullshit.” 

“That’s what I’m trying to explain,” Liam leaned forward in his seat, speaking slowly to emphasize his next point, “We don’t know that he hasn’t. And the fact that he was in your ranks for as long as he had should be worrisome. Who knows what else is going on that we don’t know about.”

“My men are loyal to me,” Constantine stated plainly, “One bad apple doesn’t always spoil the lot.”

At the age of 67, he’d been away from the action for quite some time. Evidence of a hard youth decorated his face and body in the form of scars and bones that didn’t quite heal correctly. Liam couldn’t remember a time when his father didn’t look tired. If he hadn’t seen a photo of a young Constantine with his own eyes, he’d believe the man just came into this world with a shock of white hair and bloodshot eyes. His stepmother half-joked that Liam’s older brother, Leo, caused their father to gray prematurely with his gambling and sex addictions.

On the other hand, Leo had to get it from somewhere.

Liam watched his father struggle to take another sip from his glass before averting his gaze to a family photo on his father’s desk. Teenage Justin and Liam sat side-by-side, unsmiling, with neatly pressed suits on in front of their equally serious fathers. Why Constantine kept that particular photo on his desk, Liam never understood. Nothing about it exuded warmth. 

“Did Justin ever talk about a girl around you?” Liam suddenly asked, refocusing on his father who swirled his whiskey in deep thought. 

“A girl?” He repeated in thought, “Once or twice. Usually he was asking advice on how to keep them tamed, you know?” 

Constantine attempted a conspiratorial smile that Liam didn’t reciprocate. 

“Did he mention any specific names?” Liam pressed on, “Or descriptors?” 

Constantine raised a brow and sat the sweating glass on a wooden coaster, “What is this about?”

What was this about? Liam wasn’t entirely sure. There was something about the girl, Lyra, that intrigued him. How was she able to dip in and out of their world so easily without leaving any footprints behind? Who did she know? 

After dropping her off back home the previous afternoon, Liam did some quick research into who she was. Aside from a few high school choir competition press reels, she was an otherwise ordinary woman. 

“Well I...” Liam chose his words carefully, “ran into Justin at the bar, talking to a girl. You know we never really see him with anyone. So I was just curious.”

There was a brief pause between the two men, and the grin returned to Constantine’s face, “A hot piece of ass, huh? Thinking of getting in there?” 

Liam said nothing, but fidgeted with the rings on his fingers. His father wasn’t technically wrong. But god damn if the wording didn’t make him feel like the grossest piece of shit. 

He decided to drop the subject for another time.

“Sorry to push us off topic, Dad,” Liam quickly corrected, “But, back to my original point...how do you know for sure Clark was the only shady one in the group?” 

Constantine considered this, tapping his pen on the wooden desktop, “What reason would I give them to turn their backs on me? I’ve been with these men for well over 30 years, I fed them,” he counted on his fingers, “clothed them, put their kids through school, made them dukes in their own respects. They made their names on my back, and they think they’re gonna fuck me over!” 

The sudden exclamation caused the man to cough violently into his arm and then into a handkerchief. Liam instinctively jumped to his feet, and rushed across the room to fetch a glass of water for his father. 

“I’m fine!” Constantine croaked, attempting to catch his breath, “I just got a bit overexcited.” 

Despite his protests, Constantine took the glass and sipped from it slowly. It hurt Liam to see his father deteriorating so quickly. A part of him felt like Constantine believed himself to be invincible. A smaller part of Liam felt like his father was simply just giving up. He had to put on an air of confidence, as he was at the top of the pyramid and could not show weakness. But as he grew older, cracks in the foundation began to form. Cracks that Liam had been working to seal. 

Liam loved his father. There was no doubt about that. But every day the work grew more difficult. Liam could almost envision the empire crumbling at his father’s feet, all because he was too stubborn to fix the loose bricks. 

As if reading his mind, Constantine sat the glass down and looked over his son, “You do know that I love you, right, kiddo?” 

There was a faraway look in his eyes, a look Liam saw once in a while. And he always wondered where Constantine went when that happened. 

“Yeah, I know, dad.”

Sadness darkened his father’s features, “Despite the issues that your mother and I had,” he cleared his throat, “I did love her. And I think you were the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m always going to be proud of you.” 

A pit formed in Liam’s stomach and he reached across to grab his father’s hand, “Hey, what are you not telling me?” 

And just like that, Constantine switched the darkness off, a confident grin returning to his face. It didn’t reach his eyes. 

“A man can’t tell his kid he appreciates him, anymore? Lighten up, Liam.” 

--x--

Liam sat in the garage of his apartment building to smoke and attempt at shuffling through his thoughts. Maybe it was counterproductive. An hour after leaving Constantine’s office, Liam learned of another potential fuck up in his father’s ranks. Someone was making trade deals on the low, and informing a rival company of some arms delivery pick up spots before they arrived for a cut of the profit. He passed the message along to Drake, who responded with the same concerns regarding Constantine’s failing leadership. 

Liam was only one man. Though he was sure he didn’t feel an ounce of the pressure his father did, the stress he felt nearly crippled him sometimes. He briefly allowed his mind to wander to Lyra and what she was doing. Did she know how much he envied her life? She didn’t answer to anyone, she could leave the city if she wanted to, she never had to constantly look over her shoulder. Lyra carried herself with the air of freedom he could only dream about. Clutching his phone in tatted knuckles, he almost considered texting her. But truly, what would he even say? 

“Hey, I know we only spoke once and you gave me your number because you wanted to pay me back for the gas (which you still don’t have to do). But what does freedom feel like?” 

Right now, Liam imagined she was laying across the secondhand sofa in some old college sweatshirt, watching YouTube, her mind a thousand miles away from him. He’d never even seen her apartment. But he had a feeling she had a lot of plants and a collection of decorated whiskey bottles on her kitchen counter. She seemed like the type. He caught himself chuckling at the thought and frowned. Ideally, he’d just let her go. He could never bring her into this world, she was too good for it. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that he could grow to like her. 

The shrill ring of his phone cut through his thoughts, sharply pulling him from a moment of escapism he didn’t even know he needed. 

“Hello?” Liam answered, attempting to mask his disappointment. 

“Idon’tknowwhathappened! Idon’tknow!” A shrill voice cried on the other end between sobs. Liam pulled the phone from his face, and realized it was his father’s assistant, Penelope, calling from an unknown number. Alarm bells went off in Liam’s head, and he turned the ignition in his car. 

“Pen, what happened?” He asked, sitting up in his seat. 

“I just came in and he was....! I don’t know what happened, Liam! I was gone for an hour!”

“What. Happened?” Liam asked, again. His heart began to thud in his ears, and he gripped the steering wheel, “Just fucking tell me. Spit it out-”

“Constantine shot himself!”

[msjr0119]

A Second Chance

Part 2

King Liam and Hana had been assassinated, leaving behind their loved ones. Both Riley and Drake are struggling to come to terms with this- but does their future hold a second chance for the two of them?

Series Requested by @kacie-0156 ❤️

Book: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Liam x Riley (Past tense), Drake x Hana (Past tense), Drake x Riley (Present tense)

*Majority of the characters belong to Pixelberry*

Song inspiration: See You Again (No Rap) - Samy Jebari

Warnings: Swearing, suicide attempt mention (past tense), mention of miscarriage (past tense).

Word count: 4,300ish

Tags: If you want to be added or removed let me know: @pedudley @kacie-0156 @ladyangel70 @annekebbphotography @yukinagato2012 @ravenpuff02 @kimmiedoo5 @bascmve01 @kingliam2019 @texaskitten30 @lodberg @cmestrella @axwalker @hopefulmoonobject @rafasgirl23415 @walker7519 @drakewalker04

*****

“Drake! Leave him alone...” Riley pleaded, she knew that he was only protecting his niece- but she also knew what he was like when he was angry. His temper could make the younger generation tremble.

Letting go immediately of Theo, he shook his head assuming that he had gone too far. Thank you, she whispered in his ear.

“What are you doing here?”

“Ayah invited me. I’m so sorry...”

“Mom, you can’t exactly criticise us. You was flitting between my father and Drake!” Riley’s eyes widened, she had never heard her daughter speak to her this way. Never mind calling Drake just ‘Drake’. It was always Uncle.

“Apologise to your Mom, now. That isn’t fair Ayah!”

“No! Myself and Theo are adults. Not kids as you all refer us too.”

“Ayah, shut up!” Louis shouted towards his older sister after seeing his Moms eyes begin to leak.

“Theo, please go home. Or I’ll contact your mother...” Riley began to walk back inside the cabin- knowing she needed to sort this situation out but she needed time to think.

“Mom, wait!”

****

Drake called a cab for Theo, he and Ayah decided to escort him home. The ride was mute, neither young adult wanting to annoy Drake anymore. Deep down Ayah knew that she had deceived everybody. Deep down she knew she shouldn’t have invited her boyfriend without permission. Deep down she didn’t mean to say hurtful things to upset her Mom.

“I’m sorry, I love you.”

“I love you too, Princess. I’ll text you.” Drake watched the two of them express their love, he knew that he couldn’t prevent the two of them falling in love. He knew it was none of his business- she wasn’t his daughter. Believing that he should butt out next time.

“What have you done now? Walker get off my land!”

“Fuck you, Madeleine. I don’t want to be here either. Explain to your son that he isn’t welcome on my land when not invited!”

“My son is going to be your future king! Watch your mouth, Walker!” Drake laughed, hestically out loud. Much to the annoyance of Neville and Madeleine who both provided him with the same expression- a scowl.

“Are you going to explain to the Earl, Ayah?”

“Countess Madeleine, Earl Neville- my brother is taking over the throne. Not myself.” The Vancouver’s jaws nearly dropped to the ground. They wasn’t aware of this ‘news’.

“So looks like you lost out of the crown yet again, Countess.” Drake smirked, he looked at Theo who clearly hadn’t informed his parents of Ayahs decision.

“Inside now, Theo!” Madeleine was more annoyed with the fact that Riley didn’t tell her, whenever they spoke about the social season plans- Riley explained that the suitors were all sorted and asked Madeleine to just concentrate on the event schedule. Now she realised why Riley refused to elaborate on the suitors details.

Drake and Ayah entered the cab again, as angry as he was with her still- he looked over towards her as she was crying. Holding her hand, he assumed that she would push him away- instead she snuggled into him.

“Do... do you think he loves me? Or was he only with me because they thought he would be King? Daddy told me that he is different to them. That he could see that Theo loved me....”

“Your father knew?”

“He knew for years... Mom only knew when I told her that I was abdicating. She had an inkling that I was in a relationship. She believed it was with Jackson though... but he’s seeing Elena.”

“Why didn’t he tell your Mom? You know your Mom thinks that you and Theo are just a fling or so she hopes... Jackson’s seeing Elena?”

“I begged him not to. I know how much Mom hates Madeleine and Neville hence why we kept it a secret all this time. Yeah, I thought you’d have known?”

“What is it with you lot keeping secrets? Any other secrets that I need to know about?”

“Bartie lost his virginity to Chloe...” Shrugging her shoulders it was the only thing she could think about that wouldn’t get her brother or Jackson in any kind of trouble. I’m surprised Leo hasn’t murdered Bartie. Drake couldn’t be a hypocrite towards them all- they all did irresponsible things as children/ young adults too. It’s only natural.

“Okay gossip girl, anything else?”

“You love Mom still?” First Louis, now Ayah. Why can’t they give me a break? Drake thought to himself, believing that sooner rather than later the two of them would be impersonating Cilla Black.

“I’ll always love your Mom, Ayah. Always. As I love all of you. When we get back you need to apologise to her. And next time, keep quiet- your Mom has very good hearing!”

“I will do. I’m sorry. I love you, Uncle grumpy.” Snuggling back into Drake, he held his niece tightly- hoping that Theo wasn’t going to hurt her. If so, himself and Leo wouldn’t hold back.

****

An hour had past since Theo was escorted home. Louis stayed with his mom, they remained in silence.

“Are you going to come back out? I think we’ve all sobered up due to Ayah’s drama - again.”

“I’m fine, Louis. Go back to sleep- or socialise with the others.”

“What Ayah said about you with Dad and Uncle Drake...She didn’t mean it. We all make mistakes, we all fall in love. She should know, I mean she could have had anyone and she chose a Vancouver..” Shuddering at the thought, he wasn’t usually one to pass comment on both of his sister’s relationships.

“I know she didn’t mean it. It was the heat of the moment. I’m fine honestly. Enjoy your last days of freedom.”

“Everyone loves you Mom, some more than others.” Quirking her eyebrows she assumed he meant her children.

“Mom?” Running up to her, her not so little princess pulled her in for a tight hug. “I’m so sorry. I’m a bitch. I didn’t mean what I said. I love you so much, I don’t want to lose you too.”

“You’re not going to lose me. Not yet anyway. I love you, Ayah Olivia Rys. Next time make sure that none of us see his you know what. How are you my daughter? Did I not teach you to be sneaky like I was?” Winking at her, she decided to have a laugh at her own expense. Knowing that she couldn’t change what had happened in the past.

“Difference between you and I Mother, is that I only love, Theo. I can’t blame you though, my Father and Uncle Drake are very attractive.”

“They are. I’m going to check on your Uncle Maxi. I’ll see you both in the morning. Anymore surprises before I go to sleep?”

“No. But....” Ayah looked at Louis, as if they knew what they were both thinking.

“Uncle Drake loves you. You love him.”

“Of course I love him, he’s one of my dearest friends. I love all of your uncles, Aunt Liv and Aunt Beth.” The two of them looked at each other, knowing she was hiding her true feelings. Giving the two of them a tight hug, she paused looking at them both adorably. Even though Ayah was her mini me, she could still see Liam in her as well as Louis and Ellie.

****

Drake was acting like a King’s guard. Impersonating his late father in some way. Making sure that all the young adults were all asleep- alone, with no further unexpected visitors. After his heart to heart with his goddaughter - he really didn’t trust any of them now, after Ayah’s confessions regarding them all. Walking into the cabin, he shook his head as he saw Riley and Maxwell top ‘n’ tailing on the couch. Maxwell was sprawled out- almost suffocating her.

“Hey...” whispering in her ear, she was far too deep in sleep to respond. Knowing he was about to break his back potentially- due to his age, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the spare bedroom. Gently placing the duvet over her, he made sure that she was comfy- before kissing her on the forehead.

“Drake?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. You looked so uncomfortable- and Maxwell could have potentially had a boxing fight with you in his sleep.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time... you look tired. What time is it?”

“Just gone three. I’ll leave you to it. I thought we could all go hiking tomorrow? Or fishing? That’s if you’re all up for it?”

“Sounds great!” Apart from the fishing part. “Can you stay with me? Or wake sleeping beauty up and ask him to stay with me? I know I sound pathetic but ... I can’t sleep, I always wake up. Crying.”

“It’s not pathetic, maybe Maxwell should stay with you though Brooks- because of our past.”

“We’re friends Drake. I’m not going to do a ‘Ayah’ on ya.” Gulping, she saw his Adam Apple bob up and down. Regretting what she said- she bit her lip.

“It doesn’t matter, Drake. I’ll be fine. Night.” Rolling on to her side, she sighed- regretting feeling needy. Hearing the door close, she debated whether or not to go and sleep next to Maxwell again.

“You’re back.”

“Of course I am, I can’t sleep next to the Queen butt naked. I’m always here for you, Ri.”

“I know you are. Ditto...” Slipping next to her, she immediately rest her head onto his chest.

“Thank you, goodnight Drake.”

“Night, Riley.” Holding onto her, she slowly fell asleep-wiping the tears that continued leaking from her eyes he hoped that she would sleep well.

****

A few hours later, Drake woke up spooning Riley. Before she noticed he immediately turned around- he was there to comfort her only, however Mother Nature thought otherwise. As he rolled over, his eyes widened at the figure who would now be nicknamed as Cordonia’s ‘peeping Tom’.

“Morning, Romeo!”

“Max! Get out of here now!”

“What did I tell ya about being too old to fuck. You sneaky bastards....”

“We didn’t do anything! She’s my friend.”

“You’re bedroom is next door though... ya can’t kid a kidder bestie...”

“It was you or I that was going to be sleeping next to her. You had passed out. Nothing happened. I swear, Max. She laid on my chest, fell asleep. Then she rolled on to her side. Why am I even explaining myself to you?”

“Will you both just shut the fuck up? Jesus, Max! Why do you keep insisting on waking people up?”

“Sorry, your Majesty. So besties, what are the plans for today?”

“You’re going home Beaumont!” Drake said sarcastically, already fed up of being accused of something that he hasn’t done.

“Woah, harsh Walker. So Ri, what are we doing?”

“You are leaving this room now, so I can get ready for the day.”

Pulling Drake to the side, she immediately noticed his morning glory. Pretending that she didn’t, he already knew that she had - it was too obvious not to.

“Drake... thank you for staying with me. I really appreciate it. I think it’s first night I’ve actually slept well considering how short it was.”

“No probs... erm... I better go and sort myself out. I’ll come down and make everyone something to eat...”

****

Riley walked downstairs and was immediately greeted by an audience wearing the same cheesy grin.

“What?”

“Did you sleep well, Auntie Riley?”

“Yes, thank you Jackson.” Feeling paranoid, she shot Maxwell a look- knowing that he had gossiped about her sleeping arrangements.

“Hey, don’t blame me. They all wondered where the Queen and Sir was... I couldn’t lie, Ri.”

“To put you all straight, myself and my best friend Drake slept next to each other. He comforted me. I’ve not slept well since Liam di- left...”

“Are you okay?” Feeling his hand linger on her shoulder, she wasn’t sure as to why she had to explain herself. She had slept next to Maxwell plenty of times when Liam was abroad for meetings. But because it was Drake this time, she felt paranoid that they would all criticise her from ‘moving on’ so quick.

“Maxwell, I need your help. Now!”

“What’s up buddy? What do ya need me to do?”

“Stop spreading shit. She seems uncomfortable again. We’ve just got her back slightly to her being herself. You don’t want to push her away.”

“No one is bothered if you both fucked each other. Just saying. But don’t worry- I won’t mention anything more. But if my godchildren ask me questions I’m not gonna lie to them.”

****

“Mom?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay? You seem quiet. We aren’t bothered that the two of you shared a bed you know...”

“I’m fine, Ellie. Honestly.”

“How about when we go back home, we all just have a big huge slumber party? Just us Rys’s.”

“That sounds great sweetheart.”

“I love you, Mom. I’ll remind Ayah, no Vancouver’s allowed! Or Beaumont’s - specifically the single middle aged Beaumont.” Ellie whispered, not wanting to cause anymore ‘Ayah Drama’.

“Here, tuck in everyone. I’ll be back in a minute.” Placing the food in the middle of the table, everybody knew that Drake was an amazing host, as well as cook. Not sitting down with everyone, he grabbed some apples from the fruit basket before making his way to the door.

“Where are you going?” Riley questioned him. Not that it was any of her business. She was just curious.

“Just to feed Starlight. Why?”

“I just wondered. That’s all. I’ll round these lot up for that hike and fishing trip.”

****

“Hey, girl... here you go.”

“I swear you love her more than you do me...” Jackson said whilst smirking.

“I swear that you love Elena more than me...”

“How do you know? Ayah....”

“Why couldn’t you tell me?”

“You’re still grieving over Mom and Uncle Liam. My love life isn’t important.” Placing his hands into his pockets, he focused his gaze to the floor. Unlike people such as Lydia Vancouver, he was selfless- his life didn’t need to be broadcasted.

“I’m still your father. I’m still here, for anything.”

“I suppose we are as bad as each other.”

“What do you mean?”

“You and Aunt Ri. I don’t know why you are both hiding your feelings. I love, Elena. I’m only half noble, I’m not sure if Leo and Beth would approve of our relationship- hence why we are keeping it hidden. Hence why I didn’t want to be a suitor for Ayah when she was the next in line. If I can admit all of that now, you need to admit it too.”

“Jackson... Leo isn’t going to criticise you for not being ‘full noble’... regarding Riley... she was the first woman that I ever loved. I still love her, but as a friend. That is it...”

“Okay.” Whatever, he thought to himself. “Come on, they will be waiting for us.”

****

After a long hike, everybody was exhausted and ready for bed. However they all promised to go fishing, one of Drakes favourite hobbies. Riley was hesitant at first- every since her accident she had grown a phobia with lakes/rivers.

The young lady that was pulled out of the Hudson River, early hours yesterday morning has now been named by NYPD as Riley Brooks, a 25year old waitress and barmaid from Manhattan. Miss Brooks is currently in an unstable condition in hospital. Two witnesses who were walking by at the time that Miss Brooks apparently entered the water, bravely jumped in the river and pulled her body to the river bank, where she received CPR after suffering a suspected cardiac arrest. There was support from other witnesses, who helped the two brave people also. Miss Brooks was then immediately rushed to hospital, as were the witnesses for a check up. No foul play is suspected at this time, however Detective David McDonald has requested if any other witnesses could come forward The previous day before this tragic incident, Miss Brooks had reported her ex partner to NYPD for domestic abuse. It is known that the well spoke about Lawyer, Nate Cooper had abused the victim for months, including hospitalising her on more than one occasion. Leo Rhys, a friend of Miss Brooks also became a victim to Mr Cooper’s violent outbursts. The man is currently in custody with the Boston Police Force.

I took my shoes off, and sat on the edge of the muddy riverbank, taking in the last memory of the beautiful scenery surrounding me. Pulling my purse out of my bag, I stared longingly at the black and white picture- my baby. Raising the picture to my mouth, I kissed it- mommy is coming to be with you angel, I’m sorry, I’ll see you soon and protect you and love you like I should have loved you in this world.

Leaving all my possessions on the side of the riverbank as if they were lost property, I timidly walked over to the water. Dipping my toes into the ice cold flowing water, sent a shock through my body. Could I do this, I thought? Having second doubts, I looked up to the beautiful sunrise, looking around making sure no one was there. I had to jump- no more second chances, no more time to doubt. It was no or never. My heart jumped out of my skin as I entered the water. I gave up. I’m sorry.

When Drake suggested fishing, he had completely forgotten how irresponsible it was of him to suggest this.

“We could do something else, we don’t need to do this..”

“It’s fine, just promise me that you and Max will hold on to me if I panic.. I’ll be fine...” I hope.

“If you change your mind, I’ll take us back. I promise, I’ll be next to you.” Drake walked into the water to hold onto the boat, and to also assist Riley safely on it.

“This is so relaxing...” Riley sighed, as she sat back on the boat. Drake provided her with a soft smile as he held on to the rod. They had been on the boat for a while now, and she seemed to be enjoying it. In Drake’s eyes he was relieved that she had overcome a fear, he was also relieved that Maxwell decided to get so drunk on the hike that he had passed out. Again. Silence is bliss.

“Hopefully we’ll catch something. I think I’m losing my touch looking over at their collection of catches...”

“It’s because you’re old now, Walker.”

“I maybe old, but I’m still talented at things Brooks...”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Blushing, he didn’t know what to say. He assumed that she wouldn’t call him out in a response.

“I.... Erm....”

“Have I rendered you speechless?”

“Maybe?”

“Let me have a go....”

Maxwell woke up from his slumber, forgetting where they were. Forgetting exactly what they was doing. Seeing his two friends incredibly close to one an another, he wondered how long it would be until they found solace with each other. A mischievous grin formed on to his face- deciding to rock the boat. Not realising how much strength he had until both Riley and Drake fell into the lake. “Oops!”

“Riley!” Drake swam up to the surface immediately scrutinising for Riley- unable to find her location, he dove under water. Finding her, he raced over and helped her. Knowing that she was panicking, his main aim was to quickly get her to safety and back to the cabin.

Coughing as they got back to the surface, Drake wiped her damp stray pieces of hair away from her face.

“Are you okay?” Stupid fucking question. Of course she isn’t okay.

“Yeah. Fucking Maxwell...”

“I thought I’d lost you, I couldn’t see you at first.” Unable to stop crying, flashbacks roamed through her mind.

“You’d never lose me.... thank you, for saving me.” Holding on to Drake for dear life as he tread water, she eventually wrapped her legs around him. Needing to feel safe. Luckily, Drake was a strong swimmer.

“Guys, I’m so sorry.... I’m like the Hulk and didn’t realise it...”

“Pull a trick like that again Beaumont, and I swear you won’t make it to your next birthday! Help me get Ri, back onto the boat...”

****

Arriving back at the cabin, shock from the events had soon disappeared- instead along with their children they laughed about it whilst providing Maxwell with dagger eyes every so often. Both Riley and Drake sat close to the fire, both feeling as if they had pneumonia. Once they got back on their boat, Jackson took his shirt off and threw it to them for Riley as she was shivering like a shitting dog.

“Hey, blossom. So when I was looking for some clothes for ya to wear- I was debating whether or not to ‘borrow’ one of Drake’s infamous jackets... but then I came across this... I believe it is yours anyway...”

“Aww I’m so in love with her already. I can’t help but snuggle her... Congratulations to you both.” Hana said to Liam and Riley as she held a new born Ayah.

“Hana, I hope you’re going to be snuggling her until she gets too big.. myself and Liam was hoping that you and Drake would be two of her many godparents...” Hana began crying, Riley was aware as to why the over dramatic expression from her best friend.

“We’d love to be.. thank you both so much...”

“I’ve got a present for you as well Han, but I’ll need to wash them all first. I don’t want to offend you so if you don’t want them it’s fine...” Hana provided her with a perplexed expression- Riley would never offend her, they were the best of friends after all.

“My maternity dresses, the ones that you always admired. I don’t think we will be having anymore children- if so it won’t be for a while. So they are yours if you want them. Drake didn’t tell me by the way, I figured it out - he just confirmed it.”

“You are the best friend anyone could ask for! I’d be honoured to borrow your dresses. If it’s a boy, there may be wedding bells in the future.”

“It’s... its .... one of my dresses... I gave it to, Hana. She insisted on giving me it back- but I refused... she suited it so much better anyway... even after having Jackson she wore them well with her fashion sense... I’m sorry, I need some air...” Everybody jumped up, hesitating whether or not to follow her before sighing at Maxwell in unison.

“What, I didn’t think I’d upset her... I just seem to be fucking up a lot recently...”

“No shit Sherlock! I’ll go and see to her...”

“Drake, I’m sorry...”

“I’m sorry too Max, you wasn’t to know how she would react... just see if all of her clothes are dry. Don’t cause anymore calamities...”

****

Hey, handsome. You will never believe what happened yesterday- I’m sorry I didn’t ring you as I usually do. I wish that you could be here to berate our daughter. Myself and the kids, Maxwell too- decided to spend time at the cabin before the social season. Ayah decided to invite Theo without telling anyone- we caught them doing... you know what... oh, Liam. What am I going to do with her? I imagine her antics are what you had to suffer with Leo when he was that age. Maxwell nearly killed me today as well. In a fucking lake. Typical. I panicked but I didn’t want anyone to know. I know how protective you would have been. Drake was furious with him. Why'd you have to leave so soon? Why'd you have to go? Why'd you have to leave me when I needed you the most? Give me all the strength I need. To carry on. I need it, Li. I’ve just broken down because Maxwell gave me my old maternity dress to wear that I gave to Hana. You remember, that flowery one that she adored. I’ve come out of my shell a bit, I’ve got all these muppets supporting me- especially Drake. I feel guilty but I slept next to him last night. I hope you don’t mind. I love you with all my heart, Liam. I miss you every second of each day. Everything’s going to be a bit hectic from a few days time- I’m not sure if I’ll be able to ring you every night. But you will always be on my mind- guiding us all, helping Louis become King. When I see you again.

“Hey... what are you doing?” She’s just rung Liam, shit. Perfect timing Walker.

“I needed to talk to Liam. I’m also feeling embarrassed for my emotional outburst over a maternity dress.. it’s little things like that, that trigger off happy memories. If it was the other way around, Hana wouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”

“Don’t be embarrassed. I suppose Maxwell didn’t want you wearing my commoner clothes.. remember you always used to take the piss?”

“Heh, yeah that shit. You look handsome in a suit though...”

“I still managed to make you fall in love with me once upon a time, wearing that shit...”

“You did...” Pausing, she didn’t want to elaborate. Their relationship was happy memories but was overruled by negative ones. “We all love you Drake, we just take the piss because you get so arsy easily. With Maxwell he just accepts that he’s the ‘clown’ of the group and laughs at his own expense.”

“Don’t I know it... why do you think I still call you Brooks? Because it annoys the hell out of you... it’s my little revenge...”

“I don’t mind it, not really. It’s our little thing.”

“I’ll have to think back to everything that annoyed you- just to get my own back then...”

“I’ve got a long list about how you annoyed me in the past. How you hurt me. But it’s all in the past...”

“I was a jerk... I grew up a lot after everything that I put you through. I’m so fucking sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologise. You’ve made up for it a million times over. Besides, you brought me back to Liam. You found happiness with Hana. This year we’d have been celebrating our child’s twenty fifth birthday...crazy isn’t it?” Closing her eyes, a few tears leaked and fell down her cheek. Not only due to the miscarriage. But how it occurred.

“Yeah, every day I imagined what it would have been like. I didn’t like to think about it that much, especially in front of Hana and Li. It wasn’t fair to them. But I always did, Jackson is my child - but ours was my first child. I will never forget about it even if we never met it.” Hearing him say that, broke her heart. She had the same thoughts- she still had the picture of the scan in her memory box. Unknowingly to anyone, she looked at it on the anniversary of the day she lost their baby. As well as the baby’s due date. Knowing that Liam would have comforted her, if he knew that she did this- but as Drake said, it wasn’t fair on their spouses. Taking a deep breath, she decided to change the subject before she became an emotional wreck- yet again.

“Why didn’t you and Hana have anymore children?”

“We we’re blessed with Jackson. He was healthy. Obviously I’d have wanted more, but Hana didn’t after the labour. I love my wife so if she was happy I was happy. I had a vasectomy shortly after that. Besides I’ve got my godchildren who are practically like my own anyway.”

“He’s a credit to you both.... this is getting far too sentimental. I’m ready to go back if you are?” Holding his hand outwards her, she intertwined her fingers with his as they ambled back towards the cabin. Content in each other’s company.

[fire-fira]

More TMNT Junk (this time 2003 post-canon!)

[Ao3 version]

Soooooo I was vaguely thinking about posting this, and then I saw shit that the soggy cheetoh’s doing on my dash, and decided screw it-- to temporarily shove aside that unpleasant BS here’s some more TMNT stuff.

(Full disclaimer, most of this came from me babbling to @sounddrive about this concept. Plus a couple added things thanks to @babblingweirdnonsense. Because why the hell not?)

SO

Just imagine the 2003 turtles living a ridiculously long time. I mean ridiculously long. Like still going strong when they’re around 121. (You can’t really tell me that it couldn’t happen when the Ninja Tribunal are thousands of years old and still look like they’re in their 30s-40s. If they can do it, so can these boys.)

It might be their mutation or it might be their level of chi control (or it might be both), and somehow Usagi's hanging on as long as they have (because separating Leo from his husband after that long would be cruel).

Yes you read that right, we’re going full-on Leosagi/katanashipping for this.

Of course with them being so old that brings up the question of why they wouldn’t have been present for the events of season 6 (since most of it takes place 100 years after they were 18). But I’ve got an explanation for that!

20 years prior to those events they got caught up in a war in Usagi's world and got stuck there. It wasn't supposed to become a war-- it was probably originally just supposed to be a vacation, time away from loud city noises and all that-- but nope! One thing led to another and escalated out of control, and they couldn't turn their backs because that wouldn't be fair-- and then some pain-in-the-ass magic user tried to trap them in that world (maybe to make sure they couldn't get reinforcements).

- Needless to say, they weren’t happy about that.

- So much inventive swearing from Raph. SO MUCH.

Plus Mikey probably adopting who knows how many kids. Because it’s Mikey and he’d hate the idea of leaving any orphaned kid behind when he can do anything about it.

- Though of course this is in addition to any kids he had already adopted over the decades who were spread out over their world and Usagi’s. So he just ends up with even more kids even though he’s already a grandpa... and a great-grandpa... and very likely a great-great-grandpa.

- Mikey will not be stopped.

- Leo and Usagi probably also have their own gaggle of adopted kids/grandkids/great-grandkids (although some actually related to Usagi through his son Jotaro, which is the family secret everyone pretends not to know, at least in Usagi's world), but they've got nothing on the sheer number of children and babies Mikey has taken in. There've been jokes that Mikey alone is going to completely rebuild the Hamato clan just through the number of kids he takes in.

Donnie in Usagi’s world mourns his lack of access to the tech he's used to, but he's been figuring out work-arounds. Mainly because sometimes when he's out in the field he wants nothing more than to just electrocute someone in a fight. What scares others is that he's got several nieces/nephews/etc. who have taken an interest in his inventions and tech to the point that they're sometimes referred to as a specific 'sub-division' of the Hamato clan (which can 'command lightning' and other such claims that most of them scoff at).

Raph's also got parts of the family that will happily glom onto him and follow him around and gleefully switch into 'coordinated ninja mode' when he gives the signal. People outside of the family tend to see Raph as one of the most terrifying of the family, but everyone in the family see him as a big old teddybear.

- Raph tends to lean on the 'scary' facade to keep people at a distance, because by that point he knows that if he doesn't then he's going to end up with a fan club. Again. And people are going to be throwing themselves at him. AGAIN. And he learned his lesson the last time (mostly).

- Though not being able to go anywhere in Japan in Usagi's world when he was about 50 without having people trying to throw themselves at him in increasingly desperate attempts to court him or while pledging their undying love to him was enough of a nightmare that he's amazed that sometimes he still forgets about trying to maintain a distance. Even worse, he still has a few diehard hangers-on that have yet to give up even though they've been trying to chase him for decades. (Usagi thinks this is absolutely hilarious and routinely ends up in cackling fits with Leo over it.)

- Mikey sometimes helps Raph dodge his fans and plays innocent if they spot him.

- (Raph was not counting on being seen as so attractive the first time he went to Usagi's world. For several subsequent visits he still wasn't prepared. When he found out about the first 'fan club' the poor man almost fainted, only to end up hiding for about five hours instead.)

People in that world are reasonably unsurprised by the fact that the turtles are still around (because I can easily imagine turtles in that world on average probably being a little longer-lived), but the surprise comes in with the fact that Usagi's still alive.

- He has made vague comments that maybe living with turtles for so long has affected him.

- He's also made vulgar jokes of varying levels of subtlety that have led Leo to facepalm, blush, clamp a hand over Usagi's mouth, or deliberately interrupt so that he won't have to hear one more comment about how sleeping with Leo has 'magically extended' his life.

- Mikey is terrible and cackles every time. Naturally he encourages Usagi's comments just because Leo is 'Too Old For This Shit™', and therefore it's all the more hilarious to him.

- Usagi’s comments may have drawn them more attention than Leo would prefer.

- (You can thank @babblingweirdnonsense for this sub-point addition.)

Usagi: "The true secret of immortality is to worship the flesh of the Kappa Ninjas. I have bedded the leader, and he in turn worships my flesh and gives me life."

Leo: "Stop telling people that sleeping with me will make them live longer."

Usagi: -winking- "I'm trying to make our bed a bit more fun."

- Leo: "...Look what you did. I bet you're proud of yourself."

Usagi: -smirks- "I am indeed. After all, I know all about the magic of a skilled turtle."

Leo: ". . .I love you, but please stop saying words.”

- Raph and Donnie have mastered 'tuning this shit out for the umpteen-millionth time™'. (The kids still have various levels of shrieking about it though, which is part of what makes it so hilarious to Usagi and Mikey both. They both have a terrible sense of humor.)

Mikey's go-to excuse for why he won't settle down with someone while they're stuck in that world for those 20 years is that he's "married to being a parent" and doesn't have time for a partner. Considering the number of great/grand/kids he has, no one's going to disagree.

- It’s mostly because he doesn’t want to end up in the same situation as Raph.

Then there's the perpetual argument over whether Mikey trying to refer to their family as a clan of 'ninjurai' or 'roninja' is remotely acceptable. He insists that both mashup terms fit perfectly since their family is made up of so many ninja and samurai/ronin. Most of the family disagrees on the principle of 1) those aren't real words, and 2) as old as he is why does he still insist on butchering Japanese as much as possible? (He insists because even as an old man he gets a kick out of being a little shit.)

- Other contenders for mashup terms Mikey’s gotten his family to shoot down are: samuninja, shinorai, ronobi, shininja, and rinjarai.

- Even his great/grand/kids have jokingly threatened to disown him for that.

- The argument has had various iterations going for decades

Everyone who knows anything about the family knows that if they want to interact with anyone who gives a sense of being calm, respectful, polite, and so on to go to Leo. And yet despite this everyone also knows that the five old men are possibly the best fighters in Japan; that all five of them are skilled, resourceful, and responsible. It still doesn't change the fact that at times Leo seems to be the only one who cares even a tiny bit about formality anymore.

- It also doesn't help that Leo probably knows entirely too many secrets from too many high-ranking officials scattered throughout that world's Japan.

- 'Oh yes! The responsible one! The leader! Now we can get some proper negotiations out of the wa- Oh no. It's him.'

- Old man Leo keeping a polite face even while the barest hint of a smile is on his face and amusement is dancing in his eyes-- because he knows.

Donnie's gotten so used to saying outrageous things in a deadpan due to having to occasionally explain his tech as 'magic' that there are times where he'll say something like, "No, it's intended to make an entire wall of a building explode if you sneeze near it," without even giving a hint that he knows he said anything that doesn't make sense.

- Raph may or may not have scared off some obnoxious would-be trouble-makers by telling them that if they didn't straighten up that he'd tell Donnie to just go ahead and summon the demons already.

- Leo's given up trying to tell the two of them to not say things that imply they're sacrificing people in some sort of twisted blood ritual. He's just grateful that their reputation is so wide-spread and they're so well-thought-of (if regarded as very strange) that most people seem to know not to take those comments seriously.

- Usagi may have once claimed that he was sacrificed and brought back from the dead several weeks in a row. Leo just rolled his eyes and pretty much told him to stop telling people that he'd let his brothers ritualistically kill his husband on a regular basis.

When Mikey wants to be lazy or a pest at the kids, he absolutely pulls the 'I'm old, I'm so achy and tired, I can't possibly get to my feet and walk that short distance to get (insert whatever here)' card. No one buys it. They've seen him in a fight, during training, etc. They know he's not 'frail', 'weak', or 'fragile' no matter how much he plays it up.

- Which at least once has resulted in a bout of--

"I can't possibly go on! I'll just stay here. And die. Of thirst. Because my grandchild who I thought loved me won't help dear old Grandpa."

"Grandpa. You were running across rooftops an hour ago. I highly doubt that you 'can't' get up."

"Dying. Of thirst. Leo! Leo, are you there?! Everything... going... dark..."

Leo just shaking his head. "No one in the family believed it when we were kids, no one's believing it now."

"I... can't possibly... move..." Over-exaggerated theater gasp.

"...Grandpa. I don't believe you. That didn't even sound close to a death rattle. And you can see the tea kettle from where you're sitting."

"...Too bad I don't have a good swivel-chair here."

"Mikey, no."

- (This is another sub-point you can thank @babblingweirdnonsense for.)

Mikey: “Child! Please give me that plate of food one foot away from me. My knees hurt.”

Child: “Father, I saw you beating an enemy ninja not two hours ago.”

Mikey: “I am sore from the fight.”

Child: “You were doing a handstand five minutes ago.”

Mikey: “I can no longer walk on my feet! Only my arms work now.”

When they’re finally able to go back to their world (a year after their younger selves return to their time) the media almost has a meltdown. Especially since Cody is able to confirm that they’re them. (Because realistically you can’t tell me that Donnie isn’t a famous scientist in that time. All four of them probably ended up in history books.)

Donnie keeps his deadpan semi-nonsense explanations. (Explaining to family or someone who gets what he’s talking about or doing is one thing. To others? He’ll still say things like “It’s magic” and leave it at that.)

- "No, really, how does it work?"

"The power of jesus."

- It even carries over to Donnie talking to reporters.

Reporter: “Where were the four of you for all these years?”

Donnie: "I could tell you-"

Raph: "-but then he'd have to kill you."

Donnie: "-No I wouldn't. But it'd be difficult to answer."

Reporter: "Could you try to explain?"

Donnie: "...Somewhere over the rainbow and in another dimension."

Raph: "Don, we weren't in frickin' Kansas."

Donnie: "Close enough."

Raph: "No it wasn't. Wasn't even on the same side o' the planet.”

And to top it all off, there’s the random thought of someone trying to suggest that one of the older turtles should probably sit in a chair normally (while they're either sitting on the back or on an arm or upside-down, who knows what), mostly out of concern that they might fall since they’re so old, and just the whole,

"Child, I am far too old and nowhere near straight enough to care about how other people think about how I'm sitting when I'm comfortable."

[itsshortfurball20]

Percy Jackson, The Avenger

Percy has an encounter with Nick Fury. A year later, he’s being called on to help protect the world… again. He’s not alone in this Avengers Initiative. A genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist; a super soldier; a green scientist; a Norse god; and two secret agents. What could go wrong?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

This chapter has 5,011 words

10 – I Get My Own Action Figure!

The next couple of weeks after the battle were hectic.

Once the dust had settled and the injured were being tended to and the dead counted, questions started popping up. Questions about what exactly had happened. Were those aliens that had attacked? Are they going to come back? Who had saved them? Were they superheroes? Was Thor really a Norse god or just another alien?

Not all of those questions had been answered. SHEILD never made an official statement, but slowly the questions started being answered. Yes, it had been aliens and no, the Chitauri weren’t coming back anytime soon. They had been led by a Norse god called Loki, whose brother, Thor, was in the attack against him, part of a team called the Avengers.

All around the world, people were talking about the Avengers. Some argued against the team, trying to force them to take responsibility for the attack, saying that they were to blame for the damage done to the city. Those people, however, were few and far between.

Most people regarded them as heroes. Citizens being interviewed by local news stations and papers praised the heroes, thanking them for saving their lives. Walking around the city, one could see spray-painted murals, people wearing hoodies and t-shirts with the heroes on them. There were even action figures modeled after the group.

Percy found that the action figures were the coolest part yet. He had already managed to buy a mini-figure of himself, complete with his shield and sword, that he had sitting on his nightstand. Annabeth thought that it was funny. She hadn’t said anything, but Percy knew that she found the whole situation amusing.

He also couldn’t help but marvel at his ‘superhero’ name—Riptide. Apparently, the little boy that he had saved had been interviewed by the New York Post and had told them the story about Percy saving him and his mother from the Chitauri. Well, his mother had told the story. The only thing the little boy could talk about was how cool Percy had looked, with his armor and big sword that he called Riptide.

The media took it up and went with it. Now he was Riptide, the superhero with the mutant ability to manipulate water.

In all honesty, Percy was glad that no one had gotten ahold of the knowledge of the Greek world. When information had started appearing in the news, Percy had IM’d Fury (actually managing to scare the director when he was alone in his office) and had asked to keep his identity, along with the existence of the Greek gods, under wraps.

So far, it seemed to be working nicely. Percy figured that he would head to Camp Half-Blood the next day and inform Chiron about all that had happened. But there was something else that the demigod had to do first.

He stood in a secluded area of Central Park. The whole team had shown up to accompany Thor (and Loki, whose hands were bound, and a muzzle placed on his face) back to Asgard. Thor went around, shaking hands with everyone as he said goodbye. When he reached Percy, the demigod gave Thor a big smile. “Hey man, it was nice meeting you.”

“Honor is mine, Percy,” Thor told him. “Maybe we can fight together again one day.”

The son of Poseidon laughed. “Let’s hope it’s under better circumstances.” Thor nodded and started to move away, but Percy grabbed his arm before he could fully walk away. “Hey, just remember, always family. No matter what.”

“Thank you, Percy.”

Percy watched on as Thor finished the rest of his rounds before heading back to Loki. Bruce and Tony stepped forward, Tony holding out a briefcase. It opened to reveal the Tesseract, dimly glowing blue. Bruce took the Tesseract and placed it in a glass tube before handing it to Thor. The Norse god held one end, giving the other to Loki, who reluctantly took it. He took one last look at the team before turning the handle.

The energy of the Tesseract swept over the two. Percy fixed Loki with one last glare before they were both gone.

Then slowly, one-by-one, the Avengers wandered off. Natasha and Clint riding off together; Steve on his old Harley; and Bruce and Tony getting into one of Tony’s sports cars. Percy headed to Paul’s blue Prius. Hopping into the driver's seat, he started the car and drove away.

Driving through the city, Percy could see the efforts of the citizens as they began to clean up the city. He knew that Tony was going to be in charge of the rebuilding process. The billionaire had already struck a deal with the Department of Damage Control, signing a contract that all post-battle cleanup would be under his control.

Percy passed an empty pedestal, its statue gone and somewhere in the streets of the city. People had noticed the statues running around during the battle (they were hard to miss), but no one seemed to remember the same incident happening almost five years ago—most likely due to the Mist.

The son of Poseidon was glad. It was one less thing for him to worry about. He had enough on his plate at the moment, mainly helping with the clean-up process.

Percy pulled up to the hotel he and Annabeth were staying in. During the battle, the apartment building where Sally and Paul lived had taken a large hit to the wall, deeming it unsafe to live in at the moment. Percy had told his family to stay in Montauk for the time being. Annabeth and he had decided to stay in a hotel for a couple days while Percy finished up his Avengers stuff before heading to Camp Half-Blood.

The demigod entered the hotel room. Annabeth sat on the bed; eyes glued to the TV where a reporter stood on screen. It appeared to be another interview, this time with an older group of men playing chess.

“Superheroes in New York? Give me a—” a man said before Annabeth paused the TV. Percy sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Annabeth smiled at him. “How’d it go?” She asked.

“Well, Thor and Loki are officially back in Asgard, and the Tesseract is with them.” He leaned back into the pillows, letting out a sigh as he went. “I think that it’ll be a while before we see Thor again. Imagine the family drama going on right now.”

“I can imagine it,” Annabeth teased, laying down beside Percy. “Just look at who our family is. It can’t be too different from ours.”

“Except their father doesn’t eat them, he adopts them. Or, one of them, I guess.”

They laid in silence for a while. Percy played with Annabeth’s hair, trying to braid her blonde hair while she read her book. After a while, Percy gave up and settled for just staring at Annabeth. She looked beautiful—as always—even with the small purple bruise on her chin that she had gained during the battle (something about a bank and a bomb).

“You ready to go back to camp?” Percy asked.

Annabeth set her book down and looked over at him. “Yeah. I wonder how the others will react to you becoming famous.”

“Technically, I’m not the famous one. Riptide is.” Percy gave Annabeth a small smirk before continuing on. “Secondly, it’s not that different from Piper. I mean, her dad’s Tristan McLean and we didn’t bat an eye when she told us.”

“That’s because you didn’t know who Tristan McLean was. And it is different from Piper—it's her dad that’s famous, and at least he isn’t known for having saved the world.”

Percy held up his hands in surrender. “Fine,” he agreed, before slowly lowering his arms again. “They’ll be fine with it, right? I mean, it’s not like I had much of a choice, and if I hadn’t been there, who knows what might’ve—”

“Hey, don’t worry,” Annabeth cut off Percy’s rambling. “I’m sure they’ll understand. Besides, I’m sure they won’t even think it’s that big of a deal. Most demigods don’t worry too much about the mortal world anyway.”

Percy smiled softly. “You’re right, as always. It’s not a big deal.” He said, the last part more for himself, before pushing himself up. “Now come on, let’s get packed.”

\~*~/

“This is a huge deal!” Leo shouted. “I mean, holy Hephaestus, wow.”

Percy shot a glance over at Annabeth. So much for not a big deal, he told himself. Shaking his head, he walked closer to Leo who was pacing around them on the hill, having run up to greet them when they had first arrived. “Leo, it’s really nothing—”

“You met Tony Stark. The Tony Stark, the legendary mechanic!”

Percy scratched the back of his head, not fully understanding Leo’s reason for excitement. “Yeah, l guess.”

“You guess?” Leo threw hands into the air in shock. “Percy, Tony Stark is a genius. His work with nanobots is revolutionary, not to mention the mechanics of the Iron Man suit. Half of the Hephaestus cabin has a poster of him hanging by their bed.”

“What about you?”

“Are you kidding? I already have his Iron Man T-Shirts, Iron Man Hoodie, Iron Man trading cards, Iron Man action figure, and two posters—one from before and after the whole alien-thingy.”

Percy nodded dimly. “Woah, I didn’t know he was such… wait, did you say trading cards?”

Annabeth gently grabbed his arm. “Percy, focus.”

“I am focusing. Focusing on the fact that I somehow missed the fact that I have trading cards with me on them.”

“Percy.”

“But Annabeth…”

“And Leo,” Leo chipped in. “Don’t forget I’m still here.”

The couple turned back towards Leo. “Sorry,” Annabeth apologized.

Leo dismissed her apology with a wave of his hand. “It’s fine. I can’t imagine how weird it must be for you to be famous. That’s gotta feel weird.”

“Honestly, it doesn’t faze me,” Percy shrugged.

“Well if I was you, I’d be hanging out with Tony Stark and comparing notes,” Leo stated. “Maybe we could work on something together!”

Percy noticed a small twinge of smoke start rising from the top of Leo’s hair. He pointed it out to him, smiling as Leo frantically reached his hand up to pat out the small fire. When the fire was out, Percy considered an idea he knew he would probably come to regret, but...

“Hey Leo, if you want, I could introduce you to Tony.”

Leo froze, his eyes growing impossibly wide. “Really?” When Percy nodded, Leo jumped into the air, punching the air. “Oh, gods! This is—thank you, Percy.” The fire reappeared on Leo’s hair, much bigger than before. Leo ran back down the hill, screaming about getting to meet Iron Man.

Next to him, Annabeth laughed. “I think you just made his day.” She commented.

“At least one person’s happy about this situation,” Percy noted as they started making their way down Half-Blood hill. “Let’s hope that everyone else takes it just as well.”

At the bottom of the hill, campers had gathered around, no doubt drawn out by Leo’s shouting. At the front stood Chiron, his tail flicking back and forth in a way Percy had seen it do before whenever the centaur had been agitated. Percy swallowed.

Chiron stared at him with a poker face, and that only made Percy feel even more scared. “Welcome back, you two.” Their mentor greeted. “I think we need to have a talk.”

\~*~/

Chiron ushered them into the Big House, shooing away the curious campers. Once the last camper had wandered off, he led them to the living room. Percy and Annabeth took a seat on the couch while Chiron lowered himself into his wheelchair, the centaur’s lower half disappearing and a set of fake human legs popping out.

“So,” Chiron started once wheeled himself over to the couch. “Drinks?”

Percy and Annabeth shook their heads. “Listen, Chiron…”

The centaur held up his hand, bringing Percy’s word to a stop. “Percy, I’m not mad. Just tell me what happened.”

For the next fifteen minutes, Percy told the entire story, starting from Blackjack getting captured to him and Annabeth sitting on the couch. Chiron listened carefully the entire, only interrupting once or twice to ask a question. Annabeth was the same. She had already heard the first part, but she listened very carefully to his time with the Avengers. When Percy finished, the room was silent except for Seymour the Leopard’s snoring.

Finally, Chiron spoke up. “This may be more serious than I thought.”

“What do you mean?” Percy asked.

“If Loki willingly teamed up with… aliens,” Chiron said, almost as if he was unfamiliar with the word. “Then he must have struck a deal with someone. With the way you described the Chitauri, they don’t seem all that capable of thinking of a plan. So the real question is, who’s their leader?”

“And what could Loki offer them?” Annabeth input. “Think, if Loki struck a deal, it's obvious what he gets. An army.”

“He tried striking a deal with me for Olympus’ armies,” Percy remembered. “He came to me in a dream and said that if I gave him command, then he would make me powerful.”

“Is this the same dream with Rachael’s prophecy?” Chiron asked.

The son of Poseidon nodded. “It is. That’s also part of the reason why we’re here. Something isn’t adding up.”

Chiron’s eyebrow raised. “Like what?”

“The prophecy… it doesn’t feel finished yet. Like there’s more to come. I’m scared, too, because the last time I felt like a prophecy wasn’t finished yet, Luke went and sicced a pit scorpion after me. And then he went and joined the Titans and we all know what that led to—”

“Percy, deep breath.” Chiron broke through Percy’s panicked rambling. “This could be very serious, Percy. You should meet with Rachael as soon as possible. She arrived yesterday. I spoke with her briefly before she headed to her cave, saying how she needed to contact Ella.”

Percy and Annabeth stood up. “Thank you, Chiron,” Percy said, grabbing Annabeth’s hand as they headed for the door.

Chiron smiled. “No problem, my dear boy. Also, before the two of you go,” he called, making Percy and Annabeth turn back to face him. “I’m happy you’re back.”

\~*~/

Percy and Annabeth made their way to Rachael’s cave. Luckily, the campers had returned to their activities after Chiron had shooed them away, so no one stopped them to talk. A few did wave, but quickly turned back to their activities. Percy returned the gesture jovially. He didn’t realize how much he had missed Camp Half-Blood, and he could only smile as lava poured down the rock-climbing wall and the familiar sounds of swords clanging and kids yelling reached his ears. Camp Jupiter was nice, but Camp Half-Blood would always be his first home.

They climbed up the small hill, where Rachael’s cave resided at the top. The thick burgundy curtains that usually were draped closed in the cave’s entrance were drawn to the sides, revealing the mess of throw pillows and bean bags in the cave. Percy and Annabeth shared a look of concern before venturing in.

Rachael’s back was to them. She sat facing her mural wall, which she frequently painted on whenever she was plagued with images from the Oracle. Paint covered her arms and legs, which wasn’t too far from normal. But what wasn’t normal was the slight green glow that emanated from Rachael’s body.

Annabeth took a step closer. She reached her hand out, intending to shake Rachael’s shoulder. “Rachael?” She asked.

Rachael jumped and whirled around, holding out a paintbrush like a sword as the green glow faded away. She lowered it once she saw who it was that was standing behind her. “Hey, guys.” She greeted. “What brings you here?”

“We wanted to talk to you about the prophecy,” Percy told her.

“I thought that might happen. Take a seat,” she gestured to the haphazardly scattered beanbags. Percy picked a purple one while Annabeth took the bright yellow one next to it. Rachael remained standing, pacing around them. Eventually, she settled and sat on the concrete floor. “I talked with Ella,” she started. “She had never heard the prophecy, nor anything that might relate to it.”

“I’ve never actually heard the prophecy,” Annabeth spoke up. “Could one of you repeat it for me?”

Percy looked over at Rachael who nodded at him. He tried to recall the prophecy he had heard. “Um, it comes from… comes from—”

“Oh, let me,” Rachael told him. “It comes from day as dark as night—”

“At least I was on the right track,” Percy muttered. Annabeth shushed him and turned back to Rachael.

“After evil’s rule, the final fight,” Rachael continued. “They’re gone, they’re broke, they come together.” Percy saw Annabeth frown. She opened her mouth as if to speak but closed it after a second. “Charged to protect, earthly tether. Rolling stone, purple reign. All must end in blazing pain.” Rachael finished reciting the prophecy. Noticing Annabeth’s grim expression, Rachael joked, “Cheery, right?”

“Peachy,” Annabeth responded.

“Well,” Percy clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the two women. “Now that we all know the prophecy, some thoughts. Rachael, you said that Ella didn’t have anything?”

“I didn’t say that,” Rachael corrected. “I said she didn’t recognize it. But we did discuss some possible meanings.”

“Did any of those include a meaning for ‘final fight’?”

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Rachael asked, slightly taken back. “I would’ve thought blazing pain—”

“The blazing pain part is over and done with,” Percy dismissed with a wave of his hand. “The nuke,” he explained when he saw Rachael’s blank face.

Her face transformed from confused to scared—face paling at his words. “Nuke?”

“The government wanted to nuke us, but Tony ended up putting it through the portal. All’s fine now. Blazing pain avoided.”

Annabeth nodded slowly. “That…makes sense. But what I don’t get is the final fight part. This is your guys’ first fight together.”

“But it does say ‘must end in blazing pain’,” Rachael interjected. “That’s what worries me. The fates wouldn’t put in the word must unless it was unavoidable.”

“They must have been wrong, Rachael. That part is over with. Even Wise girl agrees.”

Rachael sighed tiredly. “I don’t know. Usually, after the events of the prophecy, the lines become clearer. But they aren’t now. Which may mean…” She trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. But the implication hung in the air.

Percy cleared his throat, breaking the silent tension. “I, for one, think that there’s nothing left. We’ve got to be overthinking this. I mean, Loki’s back on Asgard, and the Chitauri aren’t coming back anytime soon.”

“But I don’t feel that it’s done,” Rachael said, her voice filled with worry. “There are still too many unsolved variables. If I didn’t know better, I’d say this sounds like a Great Prophecy.”

Both Annabeth and Percy sat up straighter at the mention of a Great Prophecy. They shared a glance, remembering what the last two had entailed. Percy looked back over at Rachael; brows furrowed together. “You really think? So soon after?”

“Well, one was given not even a day after the other had been completed,” Rachael recalled. “So yeah. Totally possible.”

That made some sense to Percy, given the last time, but he was sure it was over with already. He frowned as Annabeth grumbled. Looking over at her and her tense posture, he thought the situation over in his head. On one hand, if this really was a Great Prophecy, then they needed to be prepared. They would most likely need to give up college and jobs to prepare for whatever would come. But on the other hand…

The son of Poseidon knew that Annabeth would be disappointed on giving up her goal of becoming an architect to fight. Besides, the whole situation was a huge ‘if’. If the prophecy wasn’t over, if this was a Great Prophecy. Did he really want to jeopardize Annabeth’s happiness for a small, unlikely chance?

“It’s probably nothing to fret over,” Percy said. “I saw we call it a day. It’s about to get late anyway. Didn’t you want to get cleaned up before dinner?” He asked Annabeth, distracting her from the prophecy.

Rachael tried to protest. “I really think that—”

“No, he’s right,” Annabeth said, pushing herself up. “I say that it’s over and done with. That’s two against one.”

“I really think my vote should count twice as I’m the Oracle, but whatever,” Rachael muttered, irritation creeping into her voice. As she stood up, she added, “I’ll keep looking into it, just in case.”

Percy nodded as he and Annabeth started to make their way out of the cave. “Just in case.” The demigod hoped that she wouldn’t find anything. He hoped that he had made the right call.

\~*~/

Percy stood on the beach, starting out at the water. The waves crashed gently at his feet and the breeze blew his hair into his face. He didn’t bother to fix it. Instead, he stood there mulling over his earlier conversation with Annabeth and Rachael.

Even as he denied it, he couldn’t help but muse over the thought of another Great Prophecy. Wasn’t two in his lifetime enough? That by itself already sounded like a stretch. The idea of a third seemed laughable. Did the Fates really hate him that much to put him in the center of another Great Prophecy? What had he ever done to them?

Percy cleared his thoughts, stalling the oncoming headache. He knew that if he continued to stand there and analyze everything too deeply, his head would start pounding. In an attempt to clear his head, he took a couple of deep breaths and focused on his surroundings.

It felt nice for a July evening. In just three days, it would be the fourth, and he knew that the Hephaestus cabin would pull out all the stops, especially when Leo was the one in charge of the firework display. Just thinking about it made Percy excited. It felt as if it had been forever since he had celebrated July 4th at Camp.

He was so deep in his head; he didn’t notice the figure behind him until they spoke. “Nice weather for some fishing, wouldn’t you say?”

The demigod whirled around. Poseidon stood behind him in his usual garb, Hawaiian shirt, Bermuda shorts, sandals, and his lucky Neptune fishing hat. In his hand, he held his trident, waves of power radiating from it. He moved his eyes from the sea to Percy, smiling at him. “Hi, son.”

Percy stared at his father as the god walked closer to the edge of the water, his trident transforming into a fishing rod. Poseidon cast out his line. The line soared impossibly far out (a little godly magic) before plunking into the water. Next to Percy, another fishing rod appeared. Percy grabbed it and cast it out, his line much closer to shore. They stood there for a while, soaking in the peace.

Eventually, Percy turned to Poseidon. “Dad, what are you doing here?”

“Can’t say hi to my son?” Poseidon asked as he checked his line for a tug. When Percy raised his eyebrow at the god, Poseidon shrugged. “Figured I’d see how you’ve been doing,” he admitted. “Especially after your little adventure with that group. The Avengers, right?”

Percy nodded. “That’s what we’re calling it. And… I’m fine.” He dropped his fishing rod and turned to face his dad. “Did you know about the Norse gods? The Chitauri?”

“We’ve known about the Norse since they were first created. Of course, it’s been a while since they’ve come to Earth, but, nevertheless. And with the Chitauri, not specifically. There are whole other worlds out there, Percy. Even I don’t know most of them, or even how many there are.”

“And why did you never bother to share this information with anyone?”

“It was never relevant. Until now, that is.” Poseidon stroked his beard, shifting his eyes away from the sea to his son. “Your uncle is in a sour mood. Apparently, Loki coming to Earth and waging war broke a treaty between Odin and Zeus. But as the Norse are in space and Zeus has no way of getting in contact, there’s nothing he can really do. I don’t care much for politics. I’ll be spending the next couple months in my palace just so I don’t have to listen to his grumbling and pitiful whining.”

Percy smiled a little. Catching Percy’s smile, Poseidon turned his attention back to his line, a twinkle in his eye. All of a sudden, the line became taught. “Oh, think I got something.” With a small flick of the wrist, the fishing rod started wheeling in the prize. Percy could see the start of a gigantic sea serpent-looking monster. Poseidon only grinned at the monster. “This will do nicely. Amphitrite has been nagging me lately about her new diet, wanting to try new things. Hopefully, this will do the trick.”

The demigod figured his father would just disappear, but the god turned back to Percy. “I need you to remember, son, that no matter what happens in the future, I will always be proud of you. The coming times will be difficult, but I know you will prevail. With the reveal of the Norse, mortals will start to pry into other pantheons. The truth will come out at some point or another, I know it. Zeus is too confident that no one will ever discover the truth, but with the re-introduction of Thor… just know that many people might not be happy. Maybe even some of the gods.”

Percy nodded. When he had shown up in New York, in the midst of battle, he had known there was a chance of the demigods being exposed. And even though he had talked to Fury, and even though the media believed he was a mutant, it seemed like that would come true.

Poseidon clapped Percy on the back. “I’m sorry.” Was all he said before dissolving into the sea breeze, his fishing rod and dinner disappearing along with him. On the beach, a small sand dollar rested just where Poseidon had been standing, with Percy standing there alone.

Annabeth found him half an hour later still staring at the sand dollar. With only a glance at his face, she could guess what had happened. “Your dad?”

“Yeah,” Percy confirmed. He bent down to pick up the sand dollar, turning it over in his hands. It looked remarkably similar to the one Poseidon had given to him on his fifteenth birthday. With a sigh, he stood up and pocketed the sand dollar. “He wanted to talk.”

“About what?”

“A lot. But he said he was proud of me.” Percy took Annabeth’s hand and pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her. She melted into the hug. “He also mentioned how the mortals are going to find out about us, sooner or later.”

Annabeth hummed. “When you first told me, I thought that might happen and just prepared myself for the worst.”

“I still think we have a while. People still doubt that Thor really is the same one from mythology.”

“But there are others out there, Percy. Others that might prod or poke just a little too closely and stumble across something they might not like.”

“We’ll deal with it when it comes. Together.” In the distance, the familiar sound of the conch shell blowing could be heard, calling the campers together for dinner. “Come on,” Percy tugged Annabeth towards the Pavilion. “I’m starving.”

Annabeth laughed. “You’re always starving.”

“Which is exactly why we should go eat. Come on, last one there’s a rotten minotaur!” Percy shouted before taking off. Annabeth followed, laughing and yelling as she chased after him.

\~*~/

A couple of days later, the two sat on the beach, staring up at the sky as bright explosions lit up the night sky above them. They watched as some of the usual fireworks were shown (the camp, George Washington crossing the Delaware River, and the more recent but continuous one of Camp Jupiter).

Percy’s face lit up as bright as the sky when he saw the one of the Avengers, all doing a fighting pose as the firework-Chitauri raced towards them on either side. It was exciting to watch as Percy’s firework-self destroyed some of the aliens, the fireworks exploding even brighter when a Chitauri died.

Finally, when the show was done, courtesy of Leo McSchizzle, Bad Boy Supreme, (Or so the fireworks proclaimed), most of the campers trudged to bed. Percy and Annabeth stayed on the beach; the daughter of Athena curled into Percy’s side. Percy’s eyes gazed at the bright stars. Somewhere out there in the vast emptiness of space, were Thor and his brother. The demigod hoped they were starting to patch things up. He really didn’t need Loki coming back to Earth to try and destroy it again the next time he and Thor had a little squabble.

Beside him, Annabeth yawned. Percy shifted his gaze to look down at her. “I think we better get to bed before the patrol harpies catch us. Want me to walk you to your cabin?”

Annabeth nodded tiredly. “Yes please.”

The two slowly stood up, their legs tired and heavy. They walked hand-in-hand together towards the cabins, both slightly leaning on each other. When they reached cabin six, Percy gave Annabeth a goodnight kiss before watching her head into her cabin. After the door closed, Percy trudged to his own cabin, cabin three. He didn’t bother changing into pajamas, barely managing to get his shoes off before he collapsed onto his bed.

Percy fell asleep with a smile on his face, dreaming of him and Annabeth laying under the stars together.

11

[mayquita]

The Grape Incident (1/2)

I know, I should be writing some of my WIPs, but, although I had this idea in mind for some time, only yesterday I had enough inspiration to write it.

This is a gift for @saraswans , as a symbol of my gratitude for her continued support, for encouraging me and for pushing me to continue writing. I know that she deserves something better, at least that the story was complete, given the significant date, but I thought that, especially today, she would like to receive my humble gift. Sara, I'm going to finish it, I promise, but at least you already know what will happen in the second part, don’t you? Thank you for always being here when I need you.

(Note: I’ve written this in just a short time and it’s unbeta'd, so I apologize in advance for the many mistakes and nonsense.)

Summary: Emma and Killian are best friends and together with the rest of their friends and family decide to welcome the new year in a special way, traveling to Madrid. On New Year's Eve, Emma has a revelation, although maybe she learns it in an unexpected and a little terrifying form.

Word Count: ~ 2400

Ao3 / FFnet

The Grape Incident

"I can't believe we're flying over the ocean right now."

Emma was aware that she was behaving like a petulant girl since they had boarded the plane — even before if she was honest with herself — but that didn't stop her from continuing her little tantrum. "I still don't know why we had to choose Spain as a destination to celebrate New Year. Couldn't we have gone to... I don't know, to Maine?"

Killian chuckled at her side, but his expression immediately changed the moment she threw him a glare, his bottom lip caught between his teeth as he scratched behind his ear.

"We all decided to do something special to welcome to the new year." Mary Margaret reminded her across the aisle, waving her hand encompassing the rows of seats around. The fact that she used the same tone as when she addressed her six-year-old son, far from reassuring Emma did nothing but increase her irritation. "You were there when we chose Madrid because we thought it would be fun." She added in a calm voice and in a tone perhaps too condescending for her liking.

Emma huffed in response as she leaned her head back against her seat, wishing the sleep would soon overtake her.

Killian took advantage of that moment to leaning close to her and whisper in her ear, "Admit it, Swan, all those complaints are nothing but your poor attempt to hide that you are terrified by the flight. You can pretend with others, but not with me, love."

She didn't need to look at him to know that a stupid grin would be adorning his lips. He was right, of course, because after all, he was her best friend and he knew her better than anyone, better than herself, sometimes.

This wasn't the first time she traveled by plane, but it was the first one she did it over such a wide surface of water like a damn ocean. For some reason, that had activated all her alerts, causing nerves to grip her stomach while her mind imagined a thousand possible scenarios, each one more terrifying. She'd like to be in the place of her ten-year-old son Henry, who had had no problem falling asleep shortly after taking off and he was now sleeping placidly in his seat next to the window, his head resting on Killian's shoulder.

"You should try to sleep, I still have a free shoulder." To emphasize his words, Killian pulled her into him and surrounded her shoulders with his free arm. "Or I can try to distract you, you know," he suggested while waving his eyebrows in a naughty manner.

Emma rolled her eyes and, before accepting his suggestion, she looked around. Across the aisle, her sister-in-law Mary Margaret had finally succumbed to sleep after their brief talk, as had her nephew Leo and her brother David. Then she turned her head a little more, catching the image of Elsa, Killian's sister-in-law and Ruby, the other single member of the group, along with the two of them, also slept peacefully. Finally, she peeked through the gap between the seats to check that Liam, Killian's brother, and the twins were also asleep. So there was only she and Killian left.

She let out a sigh of resignation as she settled herself beside Killian, letting his arm encircle her again as she snuggled against him looking for his warmth. "Okay, do your magic and make me sleep." She mumbled against his chest, trusting in Killian's power to get her calmed enough. Maybe it was the rhythmic beat of his heart beating against her ear, or maybe his melodious voice that continued whispering nonsenses, or the way his fingers tangled in her hair, the fact was her eyelids began to become heavy, her muscles relaxed and the incipient sleep finally invaded her. Her last thought before succumbing was how lucky she was to have such a fantastic best friend.

"Emma... Emma darling, we've arrived." A few hours later Killian's voice came to her in a muffled whisper. Still navigating between consciousness and sleep, Emma snuggled closer against him, reluctant to leave his arms, at least until she heard the shriek coming from her son.

"Mom! Wake up! We finally arrived!" Henry's excited voice made the last vestiges of her sleep leave her, though she couldn't keep a groan from escaping her lips. The adventure in Madrid, for better or for worse, had just begun.

//

The rental house in which they would stay, was huge and far enough from the center of the city so that their rest would not be disturbed. The four boys shared a bedroom, each couple also had their own bedroom assigned. That left two more bedrooms to be shared by the three singles of the group, so Emma ended up sleeping in the same room as Ruby, Killian being the privileged not to share his bedroom.

Although Emma had been named by common accord  — even by Killian and Henry, the traitors —The Grinch of the group, at least as regards this vacation, she had to acknowledge that she was having a good time.

At least if she ignored the continuous noise, the crowd in the streets, the cold and the endless lines. They had to wait for hours, HOURS, to get a table at the most famous chocolate cafeteria in the city, but, according to Mary Margaret, who had previously studied all the traditions and typical activities of the city, they couldn't go through Madrid without trying the chocolate with churros from San Gines. — And she was right, the wait was totally worth it.

But Emma did appreciate walking through the streets of the city, discovering its corners, its historical places, the Christmas decorations and even enjoying with the children the Christmas show that a famous department store offered every year.

There was something she wasn't willing to do, though, and it was to attend an event called pre-grapes or something like that, that basically consisted of a pre-New Year's Eve rehearsal. The event would take place at the Puerta del Sol and if it was always already crowded the times they had passed through, she didn't even want to imagine how it would be during that rehearsal. But the children were quite excited, so they decided it would be better if they split into two groups, the men would take the children to the Pre-Grapes thing, while the girls enjoyed an evening for themselves.

They decided to go out for a drink at one of the many bars in the city. They hadn't been there for ten minutes, when the interrogation began. "So, when are you going to make it official?" Ruby asked arching an eyebrow at her, before taking the bottle of beer to her lips.

"Make official what exactly?"

"That you and Killian are together, of course." Mary Margaret added, as if it was obvious what they were talking about.

Emma ignored her friends after rolling her eyes. She had grown bored that they always asked the same question at the slightest opportunity. The answer was always the same — there's nothing official to announce, we're just friends. This time, she didn't even bother trying.

"Come on, Emma, maybe we were used to seeing you together back home, but here the thing between you has acquired a special dimension." Elsa also decided to contribute, to her dismay.

She suppressed the groan that threatened to escape her lips. Instead, she shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't see any difference." She simply added, suddenly very interested in the plate of chips on the table.

"Who is taking care of your son right now?" Mary Margaret insisted.

"Do I have to remind you that Henry is also with his uncle?"

"With his uncles." Elsa hurried to point. "Henry considers Liam as his uncle, and Declan and Connor as his cousins."

"Okay, but I still don't get the point. Henry is a lucky kid who has a lot of family that loves him and cares about him. I don't know what that has to do with Kilian."

"Who would you trust your son with his life?" Emma didn't bother answering Mary Margaret's question. "Killian is Henry's father to all intents and purposes, except in blood and in the name."

They were right. Killian had been present in her son's life since he was born. Emma's life had been far from simple. She had suffered different traumas, rejections and abandonment that had left her with her heart broken beyond repair. But just when she was in her lowest moments, pregnant, in jail, after suffering the betrayal of Neal, Henry's father, her biological brother came to her rescue, getting hope to become part of Emma's life again.

Their parents had died when Emma was three years old and David was eight. They stayed together for the first three years, but an error or a misunderstanding caused them to be separated, sending each one to a different part of the country. It took David years to find his little sister again, but when he did, they never separated again.

It turned out that reuniting with her lost brother also meant adding more people to her small circle, people she would end up trusting completely. Liam was David's best friend, so it was inevitable that he and his brother would become part of that circle. Ruby and Mary Margaret were friends since childhood. Elsa was the last to join the group when she started dating Liam one year after Henry's birth.

Emma would always be in debt to Liam, who became his lawyer without even knowing her, getting her out of prison before Henry was born, and thus causing her baby to come into the world in a quiet environment, surrounded by people who loved him even before he was born.

For some reason, the bond between Killian and Henry was created almost from the beginning, probably in tune with the growing friendship that blossomed among them once her first moments of reticence were over. Emma had been able to see behind Killian's mask of cockiness and what she had seen had satisfied her enough to trust him even with the care of her son when he was barely a baby.

Killian had ended up moving to the same building as Emma and Henry, to help her with the upbringing. The bond created between them had only consolidated over the years and Henry adored Killian. Emma could not be more grateful that her son had Killian as a stable father figure, as someone constant in his life.

"I think we all agree that Killian is the closest thing to a father that Henry will never have, but I don't see what that has to do with Killian and me being together."

"It has everything to do, Emma. He is a father to your son, he is your best friend, the person you trust the most."

Mary Margaret wasn't wrong. Killian was everything to her. He offered her security, and stability. He was the last person she talked to every day, the person she first addressed when she had something interesting to tell. And in addition to being a decent guy, he was terribly handsome, causing the butterflies in her stomach to flutter every time he was in her presence.

"We're fine like that, we don't need anything else." She replied weakly, being aware that her voice was not convincing at all. But it was true, the relationship they had was almost perfect, in no way did she want to risk something failing and end up ruining everything they had built over the last ten years.

"You already behave like a couple, but without enjoying the more pleasurable part." The smirk drawn on Ruby's face and the salacious arch of her brow left no doubt about what would be the that pleasurable part for her.

Maybe it was the effect of the alcohol going through her system, or the fact that her imagination betrayed her, bringing to her mind images of her and Killian involved in such pleasurable activities. Whatever it was caused Emma to feel a blush crawling from her neck to her cheeks, her blood running hot in her veins.

"I don't know what you two are waiting for, honestly." Elsa added, giving her a soft smile.

"Enough, girls, we haven't crossed the ocean to keep the same conversation as always. We're in Madrid, where there is a bar on every corner. We have the night free of responsibilities, so stop talking and drink more." To emphasize her words, she took the glass in front of her and drank the shot in one gulp, wanting her friends to drop the subject and join her.

For a few seconds, the only thing she heard was the music of the bar and the sound of people talking and singing around her in a language she didn't understand, while her friends looked at each other first and then gave her sidelong glances. Just as she began to find herself uncomfortable at the scrutiny, Mary Margaret's lips lifted slightly, while Elsa nodded subtly and Ruby rolled her eyes as she dropped her hands in her lap in defeat.

Emma wasn't able to suppress the sigh of relief that escaped her mouth and was about to ask for another shot, when Mary Margaret addressed her again.

"Well, you win for this time, but just let me tell you one last thing. I bet the next round of drinks that I know who will be the only man waiting for our return home safe and sound."

Emma didn't need to bet, since she was also sure of the answer. Indeed, when they arrived home a few hours later, laughing and humming, the alcohol running through their veins making its effect, the first thing they found after opening the front door, was someone asleep on the couch, with the tv remote control in one hand and snoring softly. A warm sensation spread to her heart as her stomach fluttered and her gaze was unable to move away from the image of Killian falling asleep while waiting for her to return.

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year everyone!

[prxttylittle]

“Whatever; I’m not jealous.”, “I noticed them checking you out.”, and because i live for married memes “No! I don’t want a new (brother / sister)!”

“Whatever; I’m not jealous.”

{ v ;; the princess and the moon. 

       Prince had picked up on the scowl which remained on Luna’s face from the exact second they reached the till in the store up to when they got to the car. He stayed silent as she ignored him piling their purchases into the boot of the car in favour of going into the front passenger seat to wait for him. When she was out of sight, he rolled his eyes, mumbling a sarcastic comment about ‘no thanks, I don’t need any help’ and finished stocking the car with all the baby stuff they’d bought before he hopped into the driver’s seat. He smiled at her, pretending he didn’t pick up on her attitude. “Problem?” He raised his eyebrows at her. No response. Prince huffed out a breath before sticking the keys in the ignition. “Fine, keep it to yourself.” They managed to get the whole way home without either of them saying a word. Prince wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong and he wasn’t going to apologise or admit defeat when he didn’t even know what had happened to cause the scowl on his wife’s face. They reached the house and she barely waited for the car to stop before she stormed toward the house. Prince chuckled as she slowed at the front door, probably realising she didn’t have her own keys with her and would have to wait for him to unlock the door. “I’m not opening that door until you tell me what the fuck I did.” He didn’t conceal the smirk on his face but it did fade automatically when Luna snapped at him about flirting with the cashier back at the store. He furrowed his eyebrows together, trying to even recall the conversation he’d had with the girl that had served them at the shop. He couldn’t think of what he’d said that led Luna to believe he’d been flirting, maybe he’d just not been rude, like he usually was, and she took that as him flirting. Prince really didn’t know. He tried to argue that she was being ridiculous but she kept up her attitude with him. “Luna, if I were going to flirt with teenage girls don’t you think I wouldn’t do it with my pregnant wife at my side? Seems like the most inappropriate time and also a weird choice of person to make you jealous.” Prince was truly finding the whole thing comical but clearly Luna wasn’t seeing it from his perspective. “Whatever; I’m not jealous. Just open the door.” He laughed. As if she truly thought he would believe that she wasn’t jealous. He did listen to her, though, and opened the front door for her but just as she was about to go inside, he pulled her back despite her protests. He placed both hands on either side of her face. “You’re the only person I want to flirt with. You’re also the only person I know how to flirt with so can you please drop this?” He pressed his lips to hers and was only filled with glee when the action was finally returned. 

{ v ;; no reason. 

       It was strange for Jason to be re-visiting all the hot-spots of his youth. Usually when he returned it was just to see his family at Christmas time and he kept his location visits restricted to wherever he needed to go to visit whatever family member was in his schedule that day, be it from the hospital to his grandmother’s. Bringing Iola with him this year meant she had the power to convince him to show her around the town he grew up in. Considering his primary and secondary schools and pretty much everywhere he hung out was within in a twenty-five minute distance from his childhood home, they decided to go for a walk in the winter air so he could show her around. They’d walked past his primary school where he told her stories of being the class clown and the clash between the religious practice in his school versus his father. A two-minute walk from the primary school there was the secondary school which didn’t have gating around it so he brought her straight onto the grounds, walking through the damp sports field hand-in-hand. The grass crunched beneath them, ice still melting. “I broke my arm over there when I was thirteen,” he pointed at the rugby goalpost that had rusted over time and even looked a little lopsided if he stared at it for too long. “I was showing off by hanging from the middle of it and one of my mates threw a rugby ball at me which knocked me down.” They walked further through the pitch and he told her more stories of his teenage years, comparing his little country-school in a small Scottish town to the large high schools he’d seen in America, hers included. They came across a tree stump and he raised his eyebrows, not having known the school had cut the tree down. “There used to be a huge tree here, you’ve definitely seen the million drawings of it I have in my notepad. People would sneak out of class or away from lunch to make out behind it.” He kicked at the stump that looked awfully desolate in comparison to the never-ending branches and foliage that used to stem from it in the image of the tree burned into his mind from his school-days. He, for a moment, forgot just who he was showing around before his next sentence came from his lips. “I had my first snog here when I was fifteen, actually, with a girl from Year 6.” He watched the expression on Iola’s face transition and suddenly regretted not focusing more on the story of the time he’d broken his arm. He wasn’t sure if she was joking or not by looking so unimpressed. He chuckled nervously. “That was ten years ago though, you know that, yeah?” He cursed silently when she just nodded instead of giving him a proper answer. “Baby, there’s no reason to be jealous of someone I kissed once when I was a teenager.” Watching the expression on her features refuse to soften made him nervous. “Whatever; I’m not jealous.” She pulled her hand free and he rolled his eyes when she wasn’t looking. Jason didn’t believe she wasn’t jealous. “Baaaaaabe.” He whined, pulling her back to him. He kissed her, scattering pecks around her face and neck when she didn’t indulge him. “Come on, I don’t even remember her name.” He smiled softly trying to pull her out of her unnecessary mood. “I’m sorry that I kissed someone before we met, I wish I’d known at the time that I was going to move to America and fall in love with the most beautiful girl on the planet because I wouldn’t have done it.” He raised his eyebrows at her, pouting somewhat-playfully. “If it helps, we can make you the last girl I kiss behind the tree.” He looked at the stump. “Or what’s left of it.”

{ v ;; July 17th. 

       Rolling his eyes, Zayn let out a breath when Ari asked what was going on with him. He didn’t expect it but a chuckle fell from his lips. “You don’t want to know what’s wrong with me.” He glanced up at her from his position on the couch with his head in her lap. “Of all people, you’re not going to want to listen.” He sighed and went to re-focus his attention on whatever movie she’d picked out but was dragged away almost immediately when she insisted they were friends and she’d listen to him. He looked back to her, a frown on his lips. He didn’t really want to talk to her about his drama with Harry but he kind of wanted to test the waters with her. Was she being genuine about wanting to listen to him? She had insisted before that her feelings for Zayn were just a small crush that she would get over eventually. Even as he mocked and teased her, nothing had actually changed between them and he appreciated that. The nights they spent up late together just chatting and joking around like a pair of idiots was Zayn’s favourite time of the day, or night. He sighed, giving in and deciding to talk to her about what was going on with him. He told her about what happened between him, Harry and Ashley. He confessed to not really caring if Ashley had been there or not and continued to decipher and toss between his feelings about everything that had happened in the house as of late. If he wasn’t talking to Ari he would include how his confusion was deepened by her recent admission of her feelings toward him but he didn’t want to introduce that tension to their otherwise carefree friendship, though it was heavily influencing how he felt about things in the house. At the end of his rant he let out another sigh and ran his hands over his face. He glanced up at her and frowned at the weird expression written into her features. “What?” He sat up then, separating the touch between them. “You’re not, like, jealous are you?” He attempted to decipher what the look on her face meant but he immediately felt like an idiot for suggesting it was jealousy she was feeling but her cheeks blushed and his eyes widened. Was it jealousy? “You are!” He accused and he couldn’t help the amused grin on his face when she huffed and puffed, telling him to shut up. “Whatever; I’m not jealous.” She insisted and he raised his hands innocently, giving up the argument. He wasn’t about to irritate her any further by making more accusations of how she felt. He went quiet for a moment and considered telling her the part he’d left out regarding how he felt about her crush on him. He weighed out the options. He could confess that her feelings for him were fucking with his mind a bit but then he didn’t want to make her feel like she shouldn’t have told him in the first place. The silence lingered and he decided not to bring it up. “You don’t have to be, you know.” And when she went to ask what the hell he was talking about, he interrupted her by kissing her. Kissing her was instinctive. It felt right, more so than with any of the other people (the many, many other people) in the house that he often made out with. With Ari it always felt somewhat important, like he should always be kissing her. “You don’t have to be jealous of anyone.” He mumbled against her lips. 

{ v ;; katie and leo. (& eli, the third member of this ship)

      Katie is focused on pouring rum into her cup when Ava addresses her. “Katie, truth or dare.” She smirks, after having picked truth the last two times and getting asked boring questions about her sex life, she chooses dare, eyes narrowing at Ava sat on the couch across from Katie. The playful smile on Ava’s lips doesn’t really worry Katie until she hears her dare out loud. Katie’s eyes widen and her mouth hangs open a little longer than she’d like. “You want me to snog Eli?” Katie scoffs, looking over at the other twin. Maybe she was delegating the wrong energy by focusing her hatred of a King sibling on Camille. Maybe it was the twins that deserved her tyranny. Letting out a sigh, Katie places her drink into the cup-holder on her seat, sparing a glance to Leo who looks like he feels the exact same way she does about this dare, and makes her way over to Eli. It’s strange, as she slides down onto his lap, crossing her legs together, arms draping over his shoulders. She eyes him for a moment, smirking more so out of discomfort than anything else. Katie places one hand on the side of his face, the other resting flat on his shoulder and she can’t shake the feeling of how peculiar it is to have his hands on her waist. “This is so weird.” She mumbles with a chuckle and a shake of her head, unsure if anyone but him hears it. Finally, Katie leans in. Her eyes flutter shut just as her lips graze up against his, tender at first before her lips gently coax his apart, tasting the marinara from the pizza they’d ordered mingled with the over-powering flavour of the beer he’d been drinking. She has hooked up with many guys in her time but Katie has never been so hyperaware of her surroundings mid lip-lock with someone as she is with Eli, the sound of the fire blazing and the soft blare of music in her ears very evident, that on top the knowledge that everyone, Leo included, is bearing witness to this moment. Very much the opposite to kissing Leo in which case the whole world disappears from around her. Her stomach does flips but not in a good way, more as though she was snogging her own brother kind of way. Katie chuckles against Eli’s lips when Leo pipes up interrupting them to say it’d been long enough and she pulls away, her eyes blinking open. Their faces are still close as her eyes search Eli’s and she lets out a sigh and pats him on the cheek before turning to the rest of the group. “Does anyone have a number for a psychologist? I’m going to need serious counselling after that.” She gets up then and returns to her seat, downing half her drink in one go mostly so Eli King’s lips aren’t the most recent thing to touch hers. Her eyes don’t leave Leo for a second despite how he’s refusing to look at her. She leans forward so only he can hear her when she speaks. “It was just a dare, Leo. It obviously didn’t mean anything. You don’t have to be jeal--” “Whatever; I’m not even jealous.” The way he’s dropping his drink to the ground and stomping away from the group proves his words wrong. She glares at both of the twins. Katie loves Eli and Ava. After Leo they were possibly her favourite people (not that she’d ever tell Eli that) but when they directed their troublemaking towards her, she wasn’t the biggest fan.

   Katie catches up with Leo outside. “You have nothing to be jealous about.” She challenges, a little irritated that he has decided to pick up an attitude with her about this. “I’m not–” “Yes you are.” She looks him up and down for a moment before she reaches out and takes his hand. She steps closer to him so their faces are almost touching, if she stands on the tips of her toes. She doesn’t say anything else, just kisses him and it proves even further how much kissing Eli had felt like kissing a relative. It couldn’t for a moment compare to this. Pulling away, Katie smirks. “And Ava only had to double-dare me to do this one.” But when it feels like he’s going to get snippy with her again, she locks their lips yet again to shut him up and also partly because she enjoys kissing Leo-Valentin.

___________________________________________________

“I noticed them checking you out.” 

{ v ;; the princess and the moon. 

        Making sure that nobody was looking at them or lingering around, Prince grabbed Stacey’s wrist and pulled her back so they were the last two standing outside while everyone else entered Matt’s house. He ignored the smirk on her face, rolling his eyes instead. He handed her the small baggie of white powder, swapping the cash in her hand for the drugs. He raised an eyebrow at her, his hold on her wrist still very much present and a little too tight. “That’s your second batch of MD this weekend.” He pointed out, noting as her amused grin transitioned to an expression of panic. He knew how afraid she was of people realising how big of a problem she had. He quite frankly didn’t care if she was an addict or just having fun, she was loaded and always paid up-front and that’s all that mattered to him. He wasn’t about to start handing out rehab pamphlets. “I’m only going to tell you this one time. Leave Luna alone or else everyone finds out about your little habit, and I’ll cut your supply off. Got it?” His grip on her wrist tightened enough that she attempted to pull free but he refused to let go until she agreed to back off of Luna. He nodded. “You keep this conversation to yourself, too.” He snarled before finally releasing her and making his way into the house to the party. 

     Prince didn’t catch up with his friends until a while into the party, having been busy selling the products filling his pockets. Walking into the kitchen, he felt Stacey’s eyes on him and he only spared her a moment’s glance before he spotted Luna and Cassie. He didn’t say anything when he reached them, just gave Luna a kiss, his hand wrapping around the plastic cup in her hand to take the drink from her, finishing it despite her protests. He noticed she was looking past him over to Stacey and he rolled his eyes and cupped her jaw to force her to look at him instead. “What’s the problem? She say something to you?” He challenged, immediately assuming the glare on Luna’s face was a result of Stacey not taking him seriously. Luna finally refocused some attention back to Prince. She shrugged, denying any altercation with Stacey. He raised his eyebrows, needing much more of an answer than that. “I just noticed her checking you out.” She explained, still short with him as if he was to blame, and he snorted. “You’re in a mood because you’re jealous of her?” He retorted, his intention not to come across as teasing as it was. A smirk embraced his lips and he leaned in to kiss her, which was still weird for them, or even just him, to do in front of all of their friends and peers. “You don’t have to worry about that.” He assured Luna. Prince knew exactly why Stacey had such an intent gaze locked on him but he wasn’t going to share. “She’s not checking me out, and even if she were I much prefer you.” With his hand still under her chin he urged her to look at him, not smiling at her exactly but his features softening when she finally gave him her full attention. “Let’s get out of here.” 

{ v ;; no reason. 

       Attending a party with Iola by his side as his girlfriend once again felt right. A part of him was so excited by their reunion that he didn’t even want to go to the party, he just wanted to stay at home and roll around in bed with Iola but he knew they had to attend since they promised Lip. It turned out to be a lot of fun. Having people tell them how good they looked together, getting drunk and dancing the night away felt like some kind of celebration for their rekindling (even if the real celebration was June’s birthday). Jason frowned when Iola pulled away from kissing him. She seemed distracted and he wanted to know what was going on. She nodded to her left. “Who’s that? I noticed them checking you out.” Jason frowned and followed her gaze and it was the first sight of Molly all night. Standing across the room, her and her friends had their sights set on Jason and it made him feel slightly nervous. He’d ended on good terms with Molly but he guessed it wasn’t so nice to see Jason parading around the place with the person who prevented him from really giving any bit of himself to the semi-relationship they’d had while Iola was gone. He sighed and placed his hand under her chin to force her gaze back to him. “Who cares who’s been looking at me? I’ve been too busy checking you out.” He leaned back in to kiss her but it was naive of him to think she would let this drop, especially considering he didn’t even answer or question or say that he didn’t know the girl. She stepped back from him and he rolled his eyes. “Babe–” he reached for her hand, but it was pulled out of his grasp. He bit down on his lip and let out a sigh. “Fine, it’s– uh–” He didn’t really know how to tell her that there’d been someone else in his life. Even if they were broken up when he’d gotten with Molly he knew he should have told her at some point in the weeks they spent rebuilding their relationship. He looked around and suddenly he was no longer enjoying the party. The music was too loud, there were too many people crowding around them and he already predicted Iola was going to be furious with him so this didn’t exactly feel like the right setting. He guided her outside but she would only let him take her so far so he sat down on the porch with her. She looked just as unimpressed as Molly’s friends had two minutes ago. He took her hands in his. “The girl that was looking at us” Jason refused to use the term ‘checking me out’ mostly because he didn’t really think that’s what had been happening. “Is my ex from when you were away.” He blurted out so quickly that the words fumbled together. But she picked up on them, of course she did. She pulled her hands away and stood up. He didn’t get a chance to explain because she had already stormed off, quick enough so he couldn’t catch up. Jason knew there was a world of fury waiting for him at home and he only partly contemplated not following her but he knew better than that. It was time to face the fire.

{ v ;; july 17th. 

      Zayn looked outside from where he was just about to exit the elevator, noticing the crowd that had gathered at his apartment building’s door. He sighed and almost held back but they’d been cooped up inside for so long, avoiding paparazzi and he knew they had to go out eventually. Especially when they both had things to do that wasn’t just rolling around in bed and fighting about what movie to watch or what food to order in. Neither he nor Ari were the type to hire a bunch of staff to surround them at all hours of the day but having Ari at his side with so many people outside he now wished they had a few more human barriers to protect them from the crowd of fans and paps loitering. They finally made their way outside but the moment the crowd started to move nearer to them, Zayn instinctively wrapped one arm around her waist from behind, trying to sort-of shelter her body with his as he held out his other arm to block out the flashes and shouting, as if it helped in anyway. The men with cameras shouted and hollered at the married couple and Zayn had to force his features to remain unphased. Questions of whether or not Ari was pregnant again, if they wanted a baby, how they were doing, what they’d been working on career-wise, the MTV show and One Direction and more that Zayn couldn’t even catch with all the shouting came flying their way. He heard multiple people ask if Ari was pregnant again and it kind of stung but he just focused on guiding her to the car, neither of them giving the paparazzi an inch. Once again, he blanketed her body with his as he urged her into the car, safely. He gave one wave to the crowd before he piled in beside her. He let out a breath and chuckled lightly despite his dip in mood. “If only we could have a greeting like that every time we leave the apartment.” He remarked sarcastically. He scooted over in the car so he was directly beside her, wrapping an arm over her shoulder to pull her in against him. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. He shrugged when she pointed out that there’d been quite a few fans of his outside. “I noticed them checking you out.” She added in and he raised his eyebrows before he laughed at her. He didn’t give her much of a verbal response, leaning forward to kiss her to quash her unnecessary jealousy. “I didn’t notice. I was busy checking you out.” A playful grin braced his lips as her kissed her again.

{ v ;; Katie and Leo. 

       If Nicholas Keller found out that his seventeen year old daughter was throwing a house-party while he visited his girlfriend on tour with his other daughter in tow, shit would very well and truly hit the fan. He would probably put a lock on her bedroom door, along with every window in the house and take away all of her electricals. For now, he was oblivious and Katie didn’t plan on that changing. She put away any pictures of her mother to avoid breakage, and hid any valuables so if anything got destroyed, it would be nothing worth noticing. She liked hosting parties, she didn’t get to do it often. It was very rare for her dad to trust her at home alone and even the last two times he had gone away, she’d been stuck babysitting Bella. Now, she was home alone and she invited all her friends from school and dance class and she was letting herself go in the comfort of her own home. While talking to two guys from her dance school, she noticed Leo coming downstairs with a girl and there was nothing she could do to stop the sinking feeling in her stomach. She excused herself to make her way to Leo, grabbing him before he could go and get another drink. A sickly-sweet smile presented itself in place of her scowl moments ago. She nodded in the direction he’d just come from. “Who’s that?” She asked, calm and collected and proud of herself for it. He didn’t answer her which eroded her pretence of being fine with him hooking up with another girl in her house. Instead he focused on the two guys she’d just been sandwiched between. “Who are they? I noticed them checking you out.” She looked back to the guys from her dance class, and to her annoyance (purely because it gave Leo a leg to stand out) they were in fact checking her out. She rolled her eyes and looked back to Leo. “Jake and Liam. They’re from my dance class. And why do you give a fuck who checks me out when you’ve just been shagging some blonde bitch in my house?” She snapped, her sweet demeanour from moments ago completely washed away. He went to speak and she held up her hand to interrupt him. “I’m fine with this just friends thing but its so fucking rude of you to bring some girl upstairs in my own house. I hope you didn’t do it in my bed. Not that it would surprise m–” Her rant was cut short when he pressed his lips to hers but she was still angry, too angry to make out. She pulled away, glaring at him. The red flush on her cheeks from her rage transitioned to embarrassment when Leo explained he was just showing the girl where the bathroom was. In typical Leo-Katie fashion, he didn’t make fun of her mistake, he just kissed her again. She returned the gesture this time and pulled away with a grin. “Well, you can use my room if you really want.”

___________________________________________________

“No! I don’t want a new brother/sister.”

{ v ;; the princess and the moon. 

         Prince watched on as Luna explained to Leo the benefits of a new sibling, how Leo could play with them, be granted the responsibility to look after them and not be the only kid in the house but Leo just pouted in response to all of the above. “No!” The married couple exchanged a glance. “I don’t want a new brother or sister!” The child huffed and puffed dramatically before running away from his parents and up to his room. Prince let out a sigh and sat back into the couch, rubbing at his face with both hands. He looked at Luna and rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed that they didn’t get the reaction they were hoping for, as if they had the slightest bit of control over how a ten year old acts. “He’ll come around eventually, he doesn’t really have a choice.” When Luna found out she was pregnant again, Prince was overcome with joy. The first time they were expecting a child, he’d spent the whole nine months nervous about his ability to be a good dad despite how long and well he’d taken care of his little sister, practically a parent to her when they were younger. Prince just hadn’t been sure it would suit him, fathering. Luna didn’t have any doubts about him and when Leo finally came, she was proved right. The love he felt for his son was surreal, unimaginable adoration. Knowing he was going to get to experience that with a second child was wondrous and he hadn’t initially thought of what Leo would think about having a newcomer in the family home until they discussed sitting him down and informing him he was going to become a big brother. However, Leo pouting and running off in a tantrum like he’d just done wasn’t really what Prince had expected. He leaned forward on the couch so he was closer too his wife, taking her hands in his. His lips grazed her knuckles and he shrugged his shoulders. “Leo’s a good kid. He’ll be an amazing big brother, he practically already acts like one to Katie so just imagine when he actually has a little sibling especially after she’s gone away to France.” He assured her, one hand going to rest on her stomach. There wasn’t much of a bump there yet, if anything Prince wouldn’t have even noticed a weight-gain had he not been informed of the pregnancy. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, trying to get her to look at him and when she did a smile plastered his lips until her expression finally matched his to which he matched her smile with a kiss. “It’ll be fine.” His hand gently glided over her stomach.  

{ v ;; no reason. 

        If there was one thing Jason was sure of it was that if he ever met the person who created ‘Baby Shark’ he would punch them in the face, simple as that. He came to this very (obviously peaceful) conclusion when he walked through the front door of the house only to be greeted by his fiancee and son dancing to the exact same song that had been playing when he’d gone out hours ago at breakfast time. The smiles on both Iola and Freddie’s faces didn’t seem to be worth the constant playback of the same song over and over again, especially Baby Shark. He might consider a less violent approach if his son had an affinity for Westlife or Disney Classics. He wrapped an arm around Iola’s waist to pull her into him, kissing her hello despite the gagging sounds that came from Freddie, causing the married pair to pull apart with laughter. He lifted Freddie up and asked him about his day to which Freddie excitedly talked about his cousins calling over and how they played this game and that game, most of them Jason had never even heard of even as the rules were being described to him. “Oh yeah?” Freddie nodded and went on to talk about how his new baby cousin had been there too, going on to talk about how boring babies are. Jason chuckled at that. “You didn’t like your baby cousin, huh? You wouldn’t like it if mummy and daddy had another baby in the house besides you? Give you a little brother or sister.” Freddie squirmed in Jason’s arms, making a whining noise and he shook his head vigorously which just made Jason and Iola laugh. “I don’t want a new brother or sister!” He insisted and he was rolling around so much that Jason had to put him back on the ground before he dropped him which was very likely. Freddie became immediately distracted once he was returned to the floor, returning to dancing in front of the telly with his toy-shark in hand. Jason finally focused his full attention on Iola. “Did you hear that? Our three year old thinks we should learn to use protection because he wants to be the only kid.” He sniggered. With both hands on her hips he went to pull her in for a kiss but was hastily interrupted when Freddie bounced over, pulling Iola closer to the television because it was 'mommy shark time’ for the song. He watched them dancing, noting Iola had every move down to perfection and he couldn’t stop the doting smile on his lips. Jason was pulled in between them just in time for daddy shark part and he had to comply even if the song did almost send him to insanity. Maybe one kid was more than enough, he decided.

{ v ;; july 17th. 

       Zayn was practically falling asleep on the couch when the sound of the front door and Leilanis voice filled the house. He didn’t move but then again he didn’t really have to because it wasn’t long before Leilani was running into the living room shouting ‘Daddy, Daddy’ and jumping up onto the couch with him. As tired as he was there wasn’t anything he could but smile whenever he was in the presence of his children engulfing Leilani in a hug just as Jack came bounding in after her and joined them. “Where’s your mum?” He quizzed, noticing the pair seemed to be going puttering about by themselves. Before anyone could answer, Ari came running through the front door but didn’t stop to speak to anyone. Zayn was suspicious of Ari’s haste to rush into the house and when Leilani said ‘Mummy’s been sick today’ Zayn immediately knew where she was gone. He sighed and turned on cartoons for the kids before he went to seek out his wife. He knocked on the bathroom door lightly to warn her he was coming in. He sat down on the floor beside her just as she sat back. He placed his hand on the small of her back, gliding up and down to soothe her. He pouted. Through her last few pregnancies Zayn hated to see Ari go through the bad parts of carrying a baby, the sickness and nausea, the mood swings and the discomfort near the end. Though it was beautiful to see their family grow, he couldn’t not feel bad for her when the negative parts made themselves known. There was never anything he could do to help her and it wasn’t as if he could empathise or take any of her burden, either. It always made him feel helpless. “Leilani says you’ve been sick.” His hand continued to rub at her back, gentle and not pushing up against her. He sighed when she finally seemed to be feeling better as she turned to curl up in his arms, her head on his chest. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. He was thankful for Netflix because it kept the kids distracted while he and Ari just sat on the bathroom floor, him comforting her from feeling ill. 

     Later that night, Zayn was quite literally just about to fall asleep when the bedroom door pushed open and Leilani’s voice, quiet into the night disturbed him. He blinked, not sure if he’d heard the childish whisper or not until she called for them again. He sighed and sat up to turn on the light beside his bed. At the door, Leilani stood with a blanket in hand and an expression so sad that Zayn felt his heart break a little. He nudged Ari to wake her up as Leilani crawled into the bed between them. The married pair both wrapped an arm around their daughter as she explained that she couldn’t sleep because she was worried about Ari having been sick earlier. Though she seemed a little devastated (and also was waking them up at 2AM), Zayn couldn’t help but smile at the sweet gesture. He looked over to Ari, knowing she felt the same and also allowing for her to explain what was going on. “But I don’t want a new brother or sister.” Leilani argued when Ari finished explaining that she was pregnant once again. Zayn frowned. “I already have one.” Leilani explained further. “And you're such a good big sister to Jack. Maybe he wants to be just like you. Don’t you want that?” Zayn smiled at Leilani. She had been so excited when Ari was pregnant before, Zayn hadn’t expected they'd have to try get her on board with this next baby. Ari chimed in and eventually Leilani started to get much less upset, agreeing with them that a new sibling wouldn’t be so bad. And, like clockwork, Jack came striding into the room. Younger than Leilani, his upset was much less empathetic and more placed on the fact that he was feeling left out so Zayn lifted him to join them in the bed, sandwiched between his parents and sibling. Zayn chuckled quietly into the night as the kids fell asleep quite easily. “Might need to get a bigger bed.” He teased Ari, his voice low enough for her to hear but not to stir the children. 

[yukiwrites]

A Festival Only For Her

For Corrianderweek, Day 6: First Date

It was the vernal equinox, which meant that the harvest festivities were about to be held throughout the weeks to follow.

There were many preparations to be seen to: Organizing a royal ball, increasing security in town so the people could have a festival of their own without any troubles, dealing with the demands of a few noble houses regarding this or that spyce, not to mention strengthen their borders now that their people would take their mind off of the war for a change. They had to be ready should the hoshidans decide to throw a surprise attack during such precious few happy times for the dark kingdom.

As always, Kamui still wasn't allowed to leave the premises of the castle, so going to the harvest festival with Camilla, Leo and Elise was impossible.

"Don't you have any feelings, Big Brother?!" Elise cried for the tenth time that day, begging Xander to let Kamui out for a day, or at least half of one so they all could enjoy the festival together. "Big Sis is super lonely inside the castle by herself!"

"What are you talking about, Elise? Kamui has her duties as princess right here in the castle." He replied for the equally tenth time, looking through some documents by his desk. Elise puffed her cheeks in front of him, Camilla right beside her as Kamui awkwardly watched everything from the door. "She's to attend to the ball as well as entertain our guests from the court."

"But that's all boring! She's never allowed to leave the castle, and there's a super fun festival going on! Can't you pretty please let her go, just for tonight?" She almost stomped her foot on the floor, her cheeks so inflated Xander worried they might burst.

He glanced up from the documents to Elise, then to Kamui at the door. Immediately did he feel a jab of guilt grasp his heart, but blinked away so no such feelings could be displayed once he spoke up. "They are Father's orders, Elise. I cannot go against them; no one can." He said finally, going back to the documents.

Elise felt like crying. "B-but aren't you sorry for her? It's such a great festival!" She sniffled. "If Big Sis can't go, I won't go, either!"

That made Kamui speak up, running from the door to her little sister. "Oh, please don't, Elise! I'm so happy for your feelings, but please don't waste such a great opportunity to have fun because of me!" She hugged the little girl, who sobbed for a moment.

"B-but you'll be all alone here! I want everyone to have fun together!" She rubbed her face against Kamui's stomach.

A lonely smile sprouted on Kamui's lips, once again jabbing Xander's heart as he took a peek from the documents. The dragon princess caressed her little sister's head. "I'll be fine here, Elise, really. You HAVE to have fun for me, as well! And bring me lots of presents, hm?"

Elise paused for a moment, lifting her eyes to meet her sister's. "Lots and lots?"

Giggling, Kamui placed a kiss over her forehead. "Lots and lots! I wanna hear everything!"

"... Okay, then." Elise looked down, almost kicking the dirt from her shoes. "I'll go get ready."

Watching everything closely, from Xander's subtle reactions to her younger sisters hug, Camilla wrapped both arms around them. "Big Sis will bring you the most adorable little present for you, my dear."

"H-hey! I'm the one who's gonna bring the best one!" Elise gasped, hopping to the door. "Look forward to it, Big Sister Kamui!" She pointed, quickly running out of the room, purposely not saying goodbye to Xander.

"Um, I will-" Kamui helplessly lifted one hand to the space Elise had been a moment ago, then chuckled without mirth. "Thanks for raising her spirits, Big Sister."

"My, of course I would! Both of you are my PRECIOUS little sisters, after all," she exchanged glances with Xander before placing one arm over Kamui's shoulder. "Come on, now, dearie, let's help our Elise choose her dress, hm?"

The dragon princess hesitated, fumbling to look over Camilla's shoulder to Xander. "Ah, um, Big Brother-"

"He'll be fine, the grump." Camilla dismissed with a wave of hand, pulling Kamui to the door. "See you later, Brother."

Xander narrowed his eyes as Camilla closed the door behind them, not even allowing him the pleasure of looking at Kamui's face one last time. Sighing, he sank back into his chair, pressing the bridge between his eyes. "What was I supposed to do? They are Father's orders..." He exhaled.

He knew that they all wanted him to agree into sneaking Kamui out, but he couldn't abide to such wish, even if he himself desired it fervently. Everything he wanted was to make his Little Princess happy, the smile on her face a precious gem only him could tell the pricelessness.

He had to be the perfect Crown Prince everyone longed for, even if that meant distancing himself from his family by making them think he only had eyes for the realm, or the war. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course, for he loved each one of them with the intensity of a never-fading flame.

It tore him apart, to see them upset because of the person his realm needed him to be.

His eyes closed, he felt a smirk sprout from his lips. Still, it wasn't as though he was heartless in truth. If he couldn't bring Kamui to the festival, he would bring it to her instead.

With a renewed conviction, he went back to going through the scrolls, intent of being the one to bring the smile back to Kamui's face.

Camilla, Leo and Elise went and came back from the festival, quickly making their way to Kamui's room to give her the assortment of presents they brought: from sweets to baked treats to masks and hats.

The eldest sister couldn't help but notice the forced smile the dragon princess bore, but for the sake of their younger siblings, she kept quiet about it. With a "I wish you were there with us, but surely next year you will" hug, she brought their visit to an end, allowing Kamui to be alone with her thoughts once again.

It's not that she was upset with Xander, of course not. She knew him better than anyone -- she knew his love better than she knew herself. He loved her and gave himself into their secret relationship with everything he had: He snuck her out into the gardens in the middle of the night, danced with her in the empty ballroom once everyone had gone to sleep and took her to watch the stars from childhood.

There was no doubt that he forbade her to go for her own good, and she knew that. Buf of course she still longed for the day she could go through the stalls hand in hand with him, and share all of those tasty food their siblings had brought back with him, under the moon. She longed for the day they could have a proper date, and worry only about what they would need to do next instead of fearing a night raid during this blasted war.

Kamui walked slowly back to the table she and her siblings shared previously, brushing her hands through their presents. A lonely smile once again sprouted over her lips, her imagination doing everything it could to picture the way the decorations were placed and how many fun games they could play throughout the stalls. How many tasty food they could buy and share.

Her hand stopped by a draconic mask and she smiled at her siblings' thoughtfulness, playfully wearing it.

As though staged, a set of knocks rumbled over her door -- the familiar set only she and Xander shared.

Immediately her heart fluttered, her cheeks flushing under the mask; a wide smile making itself known. "Xander...?" She chewed her lower lip, tip-toeing to the door.

Once she opened, there was darkness -- the corridor torches had been turned off? But why?

Still, the light from her room illuminated the man in front of her: it was undoubtedly Xander, but he, too, wore a mask covering his eyes and sported a half-bow, extending one hand to her as though asking her for a dance.

"Xander?" She called again, not able to hide the giggle from her voice, taking his hand, her eyes looking all around.

The Crown Prince smiled upon hearing the joy in her voice, quickly pulling her towards him once their hands intertwined. "Forgive me for preventing you from enjoying the festival, my Little Princess." He whispered by her ear, closing the door behind her, pressing one hand behind her back to keep her in his arms.

"Oh, Xander... Thank you for worrying." Suddenly in the darkness, she darted her fingers through his face, trying to find not only his lips, but the mask he wore.

Once she found both, they exchanged a quick kiss, the thrill of darkness making her heart thump inside her chest. "What... what is this all about?" She couldn't keep herself from asking, the bubbling curiosity bursting inside of her chest.

Chuckling by her lips, Xander squeezed her waist against his for a moment before letting go, carefully taking her by the hand. "Follow me, my princess." His hoarse voice sounded, making Kamui's body blister.

"I'm so curious..." She pressed her lips to prevent another wide smile from sprouting, trustfully following Xander's large steps throughout the dark corridor. She knew he wouldn't let her bump into anything, so her steps were equally as large.

Once they reached a staircase, however, Xander slid his hand to her waist, holding her tightly and guiding her step by step. Even almost blind to where they were going, she knew that route -- her body remembered it from using it for years.

They were going to their tower; to the one they've always shared stargazing nights at.

She had to clutch her heart in emotion, closing her eyes as the moonlight illuminated their steps with the approaching exit.

They didn't need to go out for her to feel his love. They didn't need to go through food and game stalls to have fun under the moon -- they only needed each other.

Her shoulders sagging from such realization, Kamui felt petty from being upset about not going to the festival. The moment she opened her mouth to apologize, they reached the peak: the faint moonlight barely lit the top of the tower, allowing the countless -- dozens! -- of festival lights illuminate it instead.

"I could not bring you to the festival, so I brought it to you instead, my Little Princess." He whispered by her ear, enjoying how she simply stared at the round candles scattered all around the tower -- on the ground, over the handrail and there were some hanged up over the walls!

Kamui could almost hear the buzzing of the crowd and smell the scent of freshly baked food. In truth, she was actually smelling the food, for it was also served there, over a purple-and-orange blanket by a nearby wall.

It was a midnight picnic, under the festival lights.

"X-Xander...!" She sniffled, taking off the mask so she could dry her teary eyes.

He softly brought her to cry on his chest, rubbing her back in circular movements. "Forgive me if this is not much, my love."

She shook her head vehemently, sniffling deeply. "It's perfect! Oh, Xander, it's perfect! Thank you so much for this!" Her smile shone brighter than any light, making Xander feel his heart finally settle in place.

The tears glittered in her eyes, her happiness filling his breast with fulfilment. He caressed her face, drying her eyes with his thumbs. "Anything for you, my Kamui." He whispered before bending down to kiss her, being immediately welcomed and embraced.

They might've had not left for the festival, but that night had been much more meaningful than any normal date would, and Kamui wouldn't change it for anything.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Fic: The Beginning of Wisdom - Chapter 8 (Ao3 link)

Fandom: Flash, Legends of Tomorrow Pairing: Leonard Snart (Len) & Leonard Snart (Leo), Len Snart/Mick Rory, Leo Snart/Mick Rory, Len Snart/Mick Rory/Leo Snart, Leo Snart/Ray Terrill, Len Snart/Barry Allen

Summary: In which Leonard Snart is twins.

(the life and times and loves of Len and Leo Snart)

—————————————————————————————————–

It wasn't that Leo intended on anything happening with Ray, of course.

He had far more important things to worry about: Len, Mick, even Lisa, worrying away at her university. That's where his priority had to be.

But Ray was –

Nice.

Friendly. Helpful. Kind.

Ray was there.

That latter part was the more important, Leo thought. He had never before felt alone like this – he had always had Len, and even in the rare and few times when Len went away, he had had Lisa, and later Mick. He didn't now, and he felt it. This new emptiness, the gaping vacantness of not-knowing, of having to keep up their alibi even when his soul cried out to visit Mick more, to talk to Len more, to gather them all together under his wing and make sure they were safe, was slowly driving him mad.

Leo wasn't used to needing anyone but them, but he was also used to having them, and maybe that gap was where Ray Terrill, pretty good model and half-decent administrative assistant, slipped in.

Ray was also dreadfully attractive if you liked that sort of thing, which of course Leo – as the designer who had input into the selection of the models who wore his clothing – did. Unusual features, frankly ridiculous ears, but damn if Leo didn't think they were cute when he first saw them and he still thought they were cute now.

Maybe that was why he moved from just letting Ray help out with paperwork to letting Ray take him out after work for drinks every once in a while to help him forget his sorrows, if only for a little.

He probably shouldn't have.

He definitely shouldn't have – Mick in the hospital, and Len there to care for him when he could and around the house only sometimes the rest of the time because he was working like a man chased by a fury, like there was any amount of money that would somehow make things better, and Leo was of course horribly worried for them both.

But neither of them was here.

Ray...was.

Leo's bond with Len came first, of course. They'd agreed on that, long ago. And after Len there was Lisa, and then Mick, and that was all they needed, and that was the way it had always been.

That was why Leo said no – gently, but still no - the first time Ray made a fumbling sort of pass, awkward and blushing and stammering, filled with disclaimers, but Ray accepted it with grace and continued to spend time with Leo regardless.

Leo wasn't an idiot – Ray may have been graceful about it, but he'd clearly not entirely given up hope quite yet, interpreting Leo's 'no' as the 'it's not a good time now' that it might very well have been, and if Leo were thinking with his head like he was supposed to, he'd have sat Ray down and made it clear that it was never happening until the message sank in.

And yet, somehow, for some reason...he didn't.

No. That was a lie.

Leo was always the more self-aware of the twins: the nice one, the smiling one, the one who understood and explained why people were acting the way they were acting. The family shrink, as Len liked to tease him –

– some shrink to not be able to help when his own brother was falling apart, some brother to spend time with someone else when his other half needed him so desperately –

No, the truth was something else.

The truth was, Leo didn't want to be alone.

He didn't want to be responsible.

(That was meant to be Len's job, some vile part of himself wailed, Len was the one who was always there, the protector, why was he not here, where he should be, protecting him?)

So yes, Leo knew why it was happening.

He knew, too, that he – he liked Ray, a strange, formless sort of liking, deeper than the usual friendliness that he pretended to feel for most people. Ray was there, smiling, happy, helpful; he was kind in a way that Leo did not often see. He was strong enough to shrug off Leo’s occasional bursts of bad temper with a laugh.

Leo liked Ray. It wasn’t just loneliness: he didn’t want to break all bonds between them.

He couldn't stop.

No.

He didn't want to stop.

He wanted Ray – pretty, smiling, simple Ray – to keep coming around to offer him company and take him out to go drinking and to dinner and to put his hand on Leo's shoulder and press his lips to Leo's cheek and to pull him into his arms in an embrace –

He didn't want it to stop.

So he didn't stop it.

And then Len came back to him.

Not the half-hearted visits from a ghost that Leo had grown sadly accustomed to, but Len himself, awake and aware and himself once more. Face haggard, back slouched, exhaustion written in every line – and eyes filled with apology.

The great healer Time had finally done what it needed to do.

"I left you," Len said, voice flat with despair. "How could I leave you?"

Leo pulled his brother into his arms and they curled up on the couch he kept in his office just for his brother. "You didn't leave," he pointed out. "You were here."

Because Len was there, visiting every three days like clockwork, eyes vacant, movements mechanical, silver tongue silenced.

"No," Len said. "I wasn't."

Because he wasn't. He knew he hadn’t been: his mind had gone far afield to hide from reality. He couldn’t stop, couldn’t think, could let himself think, so he buried himself in the work of getting enough money to pay for Mick's expensive treatments without destroying Leo's fledgling business by taking the money out of its barely sufficient funds. He worked until it was the only thing he could think of, could talk of, and he never stayed the night.

He hadn't been there.

In his grief, his all-consuming despair, he left Leo all alone.

Yes, Len knew he hadn’t been the brother he should have been.

Leo, in turn, knew that his brother had only acted the way he had because Len felt he didn't deserve the comfort Leo offered to him; he did not blame him in the slightest.

Yet he could not deny what Len knew, once he'd awoken, to be the truth: that his blinding self-hatred had hurt the other half of himself, for by denying himself Leo's comfort, Len had robbed Leo of the comfort of giving it.

"I'm sorry," Len said. "I'm sorry."

"You're forgiven," Leo said at once, because he could say nothing else. He had missed his brother so much: to have him back was the only thing he required to make it all right again. "But only if you stay, and heal."

Len stayed.

Len healed.

At last.

There were some awkward days at the start – with both of them feeling their way around each other the way they'd never had to before – but then it began to click back into place: the music they listened to, the foods they ate, the in-jokes they knew, the sentences they finished for each other turning into sentences they did not even need to start –

Mick was still missing, still a gaping hole, but Leo visited him regularly and reported to Len that he was getting better every day and would soon, with luck, be returned to them.

As for them, they fell back into orbit around each other.

Leonard Snart, complete at last, the way they ought to be.

At peace with themselves.

And things were good again.

Or at least they were, right up until the day Leo slept late, comfortable in his bed with Len holding him safe, and Len, waking early, decided – after checking Leo's calendar – to let him continue to sleep and to go into work for him.

It was all production meetings, after all; production meetings and photography and Len could deal with obnoxious business people and haughty photographers and self-absorbed models just as well as Leo could.

He thought he could, anyway.

It was only the habit of a lifetime of lying that kept him from breaking that model's wrist the first time he patted Len on the shoulder, the first time he stepped too close, the first time he took a set of papers as if that were his right and called himself Leonard's assistant, like that was a title he was due –

Len didn't break his wrist, because Leo wouldn't have.

But he wanted to.

Len kept the smile fixed on his lips, Leo's smile, the kind one who loved nobody but who needed protection from all the world, protection that only Len could offer, and he slipped away to his office to check the time records that confirmed, yes, this – this Ray Terrill, model and would-be photographer, had been logging far more hours than any model needed.

Had been hired on a suspiciously high number of design shoots.

Had, in fact, been the subject of some tabloid speculation, buried deep in the back pages where tales of the less-famous resided, in regards to several private dinners and drinks he'd been seen to have with Leonard Snart, famous designer.

Speculation of friendship - or perhaps more.

This was far worse than Len had thought.

Leo had been left all alone, and Len acknowledged that to be his fault. It was right and just that he turn to other company to stave off the loneliness that overwhelmed him, no matter how much it pained Len that Leo had been forced to resort to such measures.

Those measures, which had left him vulnerable to anyone who could see it - open to those who wanted to eel into Leo's life, to find a place at his side, a place in his heart - to do who knows what with.

To hurt him, perhaps.

By leaving, Len had allowed them that opportunity.

But now Len was back.

Leo's protector, first and foremost, before any other role. Protector from everything, from blows, from pain, from anything – even himself.

Len had never had to protect Leo's heart before – that had always been Leo's job, the more emotionally intelligent one, the more distant one, the family shrink – but Len could do the job just the same, he was sure.

And this would end now.

Len pushed the button on his phone and asked for Ray to be sent to his office.

Ray came to him with a smile. "I'm not done with my paperwork yet," he teased, friendly and familiar, not stopping before the desk but coming around to put a warm hand on Leonard's shoulder, squeezing it gently, familiar. Too familiar. "You usually don't have time for me until then, you're too professional. Couldn't wait to see my face today, huh?"

"Tell me, Ray," Len said, his demeanor friendly. "You do know I'm married to Mick Rory, right?"

Technically, of course, it had been Len standing beneath the canopy, his hands in Mick's, uttering the vows and signing the contract between them, but it was Leo who clasped their hands together with a smile and didn't take his hands away, who echoed each of the vows Len had uttered, and Leo – only Leo, the clean and upstanding Leo – who could wear a ring if they had ever wanted one.

Ray hesitated. His hand was still on Len's shoulder.

"Yes, of course –" he started.

"Tell me," Len said, his voice just as pleasant as before, "did you deliberately wait until he was in the hospital with horrific burns all over his body to make a move, or was it just lucky coincidence that you showed up when I was mourning and hurting and alone and in need of someone to lean on?"

"I – Leonard – I didn't –"

"You worked for me for months before that," Len said. "But the offers to help, the constant company, the passes – that all happened after he was out of the picture, didn't it?"

"I – no! You seemed down, that's all – I just wanted –"

"Down," Len agreed. "Alone. Vulnerable. Or are you saying I've misinterpreted what you're doing as a pass?"

Ray fell silent.

Yeah, Len thought as much. Ray had definitely made an explicit offer.

An explicit offer Leo clearly hadn't shut down well enough.

Because he had been alone, and sad, and in need of someone.

Len was boiling mad, and only part of that anger was fueled by his own guilt. He was so good at staying cold, but that soft heart of his was blood red with fury on his brother's behalf.

"Leonard –" Ray started, his eyes wide, gentle, hurt. "Leo –"

Len felt his temper flare like an audible crack in the glacier-like ice that surrounded him.

He’d never felt possessive before: that was always Leo’s domain.

Leo.

His Leo.

"If I ever want you to touch me again," Len said, "I'll say so. Now get the fuck out of my office."

Ray fled.

It occurred to Len that that might have been too harsh.

Leo hadn't actually okayed this, after all.

Len went home.

Leo was puttering around, looking pleased. "Mick's going to be released from the hospital soon," he reported with a grin that faded when he saw the look on Len's face.

"That's good," Len said, because it was. It was great. Mick would come home and Leo would take care of him and Len would be there for him and together they could keep Leo safe.

"...what happened?" Leo asked.

"I got rid of the guy harassing you," Len said. "A bit harshly, I admit, but –"

"Harassing?" Leo asked, alarmed. "No one was harassing me; what are you talking about?"

"That Terrill guy," Len explained. "You know, swooping in and making moves when he knows you're vulnerable and taken –"

"He was – it wasn't like - you got rid of him?" Leo's voice was raised.

Len took a half step back, surprised by Leo's vehemence - and also not entirely surprised. Not as much as he have would liked to have been. "Yeah," he said, his voice flat. "I did. I protected you."

"You –," Leo pressed his lips together. "Leonard Snart, you know perfectly well you should've cleared this with me first. I do the emotional stuff."

Len crossed his arms and glared. "I was provoked. He called you Leo."

Leo opened his mouth to snap back, then paused and considered. He was angry at Len. He was never angry at Len.

And he thought, now that he took a second to think of it, he might understand why Len had done what he had done. "Are you jealous?"

"No! ...maybe."

"Leonard..."

"Leonard," Len replied. "You can't just decide that we've started dating someone new without telling me. I don't even know the guy! You never mentioned him! Assuming harassment was reasonable."

"We're not dating him!" Leo exclaimed. "He's just – helping out. I've already turned him down."

"Uh-huh. Have you cleared this with Mick yet?"

"There's nothing to clear!"

"Sure there ain't."

"There isn't. I turned him down."

"I'll tell Lisa he's available then, huh?"

"He's gay," Leo said.

"Okay, so Charlie."

"You are not hooking Ray up with Charlie! For that matter, no one is to be hooked up with Charlie! Ever!"

"...fair," Len allowed. "You get where I'm going with this, though."

Leo groaned and put his head in his hands. He'd fucked this one right up, hadn't he? "Okay, fine. Maybe I like him a bit."

"Enough to keep him all to yourself, clearly," Len said. His voice was cold as ever, but he couldn't hide the hurt. Not from Leo.

Leo's chest hurt like he'd been stabbed. He hadn't meant – it wasn't – he hadn't intended -

He'd always promised himself that he would be the only one inside Len's tender heart that wouldn't cause him pain. Everyone else, they would hurt him, but not Leo. Leo would guard his brother's heart against the world.

Even, if necessary, against Leo himself.

He hadn’t done that this time.

He'd really screwed this up.

"I wasn't sure what I was doing," Leo admitted. "I was lonely, and I've never wanted anyone but you and Mick. I like people, Leonard, I'm the half of us that's good at that, but I don't let them in. I never let them in."

"I know that," Len said miserably. "That's why I thought..."

"I know. I should've told you about him, about it being okay, about me being okay with what he was doing. It just...never seemed like a good moment."

"I'm still first, though?" Len asked, and Leo's heart hurt that Len even felt that he had to ask. This fire had destroyed so much of his brother's confidence, and then Leo went and did this on top of it.

"First forever," Leo assured him, reaching out and pulling Len into his arms. "No one else. We come first."

Len sighed and tucked his head into Leo's shoulder. "I scared him off," he admitted. "I was pissed."

"And you didn't want to be pissed at me," Leo said. He of all people understood how Len's emotions worked: his own were too similar not to. "If he was harassing me, then I wasn't hiding things from you."

"Yeah. That."

"I should have mentioned it," Leo said firmly. "If it was important enough for me to care about how you resolved it, it was important enough for me to tell you about it. I'll do better in the future."

"You're the one who's supposed to be good at emotions," Len agreed. He hadn't quite forgiven yet – mostly himself, though Leo knew too well how quickly anger at yourself transmuted into anger at others – but Leo could tell he was softening.

"To fuck up is human," Leo reminded him. He didn't just mean himself.

"How is it going to work, though?" Len asked, acknowledging Leo's point but his mind already elsewhere. "With Mick, you know, it was just you and me and I knew you'd like him –"

He had known no such thing, but what was history for but rewriting for convenient argument fodder?

"– but now we have Mick to think of, too, and right after the burns, too - I don't want him to feel like we're swapping him out for – for a better model –"

"We are doing no such thing!" Leo exclaimed. "Mick is mine; no one can replace him!"

Len's shoulders finally relaxed at that. Leo being his old possessive asshole self – that was normal. This Ray business? Not normal. And Len desperately needed something normal right now.

The fire had shaken him.

The thought of losing Mick –

Where could they go from here? How could he lead Mick into another situation where it could happen again, and where the next time he would not escape? Could they continue to be partners, with this between them?

Len buried his head in Leo's neck. He wished he remembered how to say that he was afraid.

Leo put his hand on the back of Len's head.

He didn't need Len to speak to understand.

He didn't need Leo to speak to know that he understood.

[walkerismychoice]

June - Part 1 (Liam X Drake)

Book: The Royal Romance

Summary: Chapter 2.1 of a 4 chapter series chronicling the months before Drake left for college and his relationship with Liam. 

Rating: PG-13+ with some drinking and mature themes

A/N: I intended initially to make each month only one part, but I felt this one needed 2 parts. Also, I envision this to be around 2009, so I tried to keep that in mind in regards to technology and pop culture. There is nothing NSFW yet, but there may be in future parts. In the story, Drake and Liam have both already turned 18 and are legal adults.

Word Count: 2343

Tag List:  @laniquelove, @bobasheebaby, @choiceswreckedme​, @mfackenthal, @viktoriapetit, @boneandfur, @theroyalweisme, @debramcg1106, @ladynonsense, @hopefulmoonobject, @flynnomalleysPlease let me know if I missed anyone or if anyone wants to be added

Drake stripped off his cap and gown immediately following the graduation ceremony. "I'm so glad to be done with this place." 

"It wasn't all bad, was it?" Liam questioned. "You had me, Maxwell, and Olivia, plus most of guys on the football team were cool."

"I don't know if I would put Maxwell and Olivia in the plus column."

"Admit it Drake, no matter how much they annoy you, they are your friends. You will miss us all."

"I'll be just fine seeing Maxwell and Olivia twice a year or whatever on school breaks. That is more than enough. You though, Liam, I will actually miss."

"You know Drake, my father's offer still stands for you to attend university here with me. Think about how much fun we'll have."

"Liam, I can't mooch off your family forever. This is just something I need to do."

Drake was going to miss Liam. So much in fact it hurt to think about it. But that was another reason he needed to go. Neither he nor Liam brought up that night on the football pitch again, but Drake couldn't get it out of his mind. It was absurd, and had to be a fluke, for both of them. So why couldn't Drake just forget about it? His codependency with Liam had reached new heights, tricking Drake into believing he had romantic feelings for Liam. There was no other explanation. Liam was his world, and Drake desperately needed to expand his world apart from Liam.

"It was worth a shot, but there's still time to change your mind. I have a feeling this summer will be epic."

"Speaking of ‘epic’," Drake said, "what's the deal with the party your brother wants to throw for us tomorrow night?"

"My father and Regina will be away on diplomatic matters over the weekend, so Leo wants to throw us a graduation combined with congrats on winning nationals party.” 

Leo and Liam weren't particularly close, but Leo had just finished college himself, and liked any excuse for a party. Leo also knew Liam and Drake were a packaged deal, so it was thoughtful of Leo to include Drake. It's not like anyone else would be throwing him a party. 

“Should be an interesting night."

"Yes, probably more interesting than our family dinner tonight."

"Well, I'm not technically family so-"

"Drake, you are not getting out of this. Father and Regina are hosting this for us. Savannah and Bastien will be there too."

"Fine," Drake acquiesced. "But we are escaping as soon as we can."

Dinner was as long and dull as Drake imagined it would be. The food was okay, but Drake would be just as happy with a good steak or burger rather than expensive cuisine. And seven courses was at least five too many in his opinion. Two and a half hours later, dessert was finally served, and Drake and Liam were free to go.

"Okay Drake, you were so eager to get out of there. What are your big plans for tonight?" Liam asked.

"Not a clue. Maybe we could take the boat out again." Drake smirked.

"Very funny, Drake. I told you I'm never doing that again after we almost died the last time."

"We were fine after I saved your ass. You know I would never let anything happen to you. How many times have I gotten you out of trouble already?"

Liam cocked an eyebrow. "And how many times did you get me into that trouble in the first place?"

"Fair enough. Since that's out, what do you suggest?"

"Hmm..." Liam paused thoughtfully. "I've got nothing. Why don't we just watch movies or play video games in my room? We haven't done that for awhile."

"Works for me," Drake agreed. Liam had a pretty nice setup in his room and it was one place they were never bothered by palace staff or anyone else. They had been so busy in the last month with exams and football, the two of the hadn't really just hung out together in quite a while. Even though they still hadn't talked about what happened, things didn't seem at all strained between them, so maybe Liam really hadn't thought about it again. Just two guy friends hanging out together. Nothing more to it.

They started off playing FIFA obviously, as they were both obsessed with the sport. They tired of it after awhile and decided to watch a movie on Liam's laptop so they could stream Netflix.

"How about Iron Man?" Liam suggested.

"Sure, I haven't seen that yet. I wonder if they will ever make a Captain America movie?”

"I know you have a thing for him, Drake,” Liam teased. “I've seen the stash of action figures in your room."

"They are collectibles! It's not like I play with them."

"Sure Drake, whatever you say."

Drake threw a pillow at Liam's head. "Just start the movie."

It wasn't uncommon for Drake and Liam to watch movies huddled together on Liam's bed. But it felt different now. Drake tried to keep some distance between them because he wasn't sure where his thoughts would take him if there was any physical contact. This meant Drake had to awkwardly strain his neck to see, and it did not go unnoticed.

"What are you doing over there? Get closer so you can actually see." Liam reached his arm around Drake's shoulder, coaxing him to scoot closer. If Liam was okay with this, Drake could be too. He just had to focus on the movie, and not how good Liam smelled or that every incidental touch lingered on his skin. So far it wasn't working.

“You’ve been quiet, Drake. Where’s all your typical sarcastic commentary?”

"I guess I'm just tired. Thinking I should just go to bed."

Liam placed his hand on Drake's thigh, his soft gaze fixed on him. "Are you sure there's nothing at all you want to talk about"?

Drake felt heat rise in his cheeks, and his heart beat faster. Either Liam was totally oblivious to everything, or he knew exactly what was going on and wanted Drake to say it out loud. Drake was still trying to wrap his head around his own feelings that were admittedly getting harder and harder to deny. He wasn't ready to blurt it all out to Liam and scare him off if it was all one sided.

"Nope, just tired."

"All right then...I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yep, see ya," Drake replied and swiftly retreated to his room.

-

Drake watched as multiple kegs of beer were wheeled into the palace. "How many people did Leo invite?"

"Well, he invited our entire graduating class, plus a bunch of his college friends and other nobles."

"Great...Is it too early to start drinking?" Drake didn't know what he expected, but he shouldn't have been surprised that every young noble and socialite in Cordonia would be there. It was Leo making the guest list after all. Drake was just hoping for something smaller and more laid back. At least there would be plenty of alcohol to get him through.

The party guests trickled in and before long, the palace was packed, the music was playing, and Drake was a couple beers in and actually starting to enjoy himself. Drake found himself hanging out with Liam, Olivia, Maxwell, and a few of their other noble friends.

"Let's play a game!" Olivia suggested. "How about truth or dare?"

Drake groaned. "You know I hate that game."

"Exactly," Olivia replied. "If you are too afraid to play, you can go drink by yourself because lord knows you don't have the social skills to strike up a conversation with anyone outside of this group."

Drake didn't want to give Olivia the satisfaction. "No, I'll play."

“Okay then, Liam, why don’t you start,” Olivia directed.

“Maxwell, truth or dare?”

“You know I have no fear,” Maxwell asserted. “Dare.”

Liam looked around the room. “I dare you to go hit on one of Leo’s friends. Bonus points if it actually works.”

"I thought you were going to give me a challenge. Watch the master at work."

Maxwell walked up to a petite brunette. They were out of earshot but Drake could see her smiling. "I can't believe it. Is this actually working?" She proceeded to take Maxwell's phone and appeared to be typing her number in it.

Maxwell walked back with a huge grin on his face. "That was too easy. Her name is Jenny and she's an American exchange student."

"Let me see that." Drake grabbed the phone. "Her phone number is 867-5309? Doesn't that sound family, Maxwell?"

The whole group burst out laughing but Maxwell was clueless. "I don't get it."

Liam shook his head. "Maxwell, even I have heard that song one hundred times. Hopefully you can get over your rejection quickly because it's your turn to choose someone."

"I'm sure there will be plenty of other ladies lining up for me, especially after I pull out my break dancing moves. But back to the game, Olivia, truth or dare?"

"Truth." Drake was not surprised. Olivia never held anything back.

"Okay, how many people in this circle have you hooked up with?" Maxwell inquired.

Olivia looked around at the 9 other people in the group. “It depends on how loosely you define ‘hook-up,” but I’m going to say four.”

“Wait,” Maxwell appeared perplexed. “I know about, Nikos, Eleanor, and Luca. Who’s the 4th?”

Drake held his breath. It happened one time and they swore it would never be repeated. He and Olivia were both a little drunk and stupid. The didn’t have sex, but close enough. After that, they went back to outwardly hating each other because it was much easier that way. Drake prayed that Olivia was as afraid to let that secret out as he was.

“Too bad you didn’t ask the right question Maxwell. You only asked how many, not who,” Olivia replied and Drake breathed a sigh of relief he hoped nobody noticed. "Drake, truth or dare?"

Fuck. Of course she would pick him. There was no good option as Drake was sure she would be out to embarrass him either way. He decided on dare, figuring that was the better bet rather than having her try to dig out his deep dark secrets. "Dare, I guess," Drake muttered.

"Excellent. I dare you to kiss Liam...on the lips."

“Not going to happen,” Drake declared. “Try again.”

“Drake I said you didn’t have to play if you don’t want to but a dare’s a dare. You don’t get a options.”

Okay, he didn’t have to make this a big thing. Drake leaned in and gave Liam a quick peck on the lips. “There are you happy now?”

“What even was that? That doesn’t count. Give him a real kiss this time,” Olivia demanded.

Drake tried to protest again, but the whole group was egging him on at this point. This was a terrible idea, but he was starting to feel the alcohol and just wanted to shut everyone up. He grabbed Liam by the shoulders and their lips crashed together. Liam parted his mouth without hesitation and wrapped his arms around Drake, pressing their bodies close together. That probably would have been  enough to satisfy Olivia, but Drake got lost in the moment and kissed Liam deeper. Liam could have pushed Drake away at any time but he responded with equal hunger, all the sexual tension between them dissipating into one another. Drake came back to reality and abruptly ended the kiss. Liam stood silent and motionless, matching the rest of the crowd who seemed uncertain of what they had just witnessed.

“My god Drake, do you and Liam need to go get a room?”

“Shut up Olivia. I just did what you wanted. Although I probably do have a better shot with him than you ever will. I’ve had enough of this game already. I’m out.” Drake walked away and into the kitchen where the kegs were to get another beer. He sat down at a table alone to try and get drunk enough to forget how much he liked kissing Liam and how obvious it probably was to everyone who saw.

“Drake Walker, sulking by himself...what an unexpected surprise.” Leo’s tone was dripping with sarcasm. “You look like you could use something stronger than beer.” Leo pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two shot glasses.

“No thanks, I usually stay away from the hard stuff.”

“Have you tried this? Come on, I think you’ll like it.” Leo poured them each a shot. Drake took the shot and immediately started coughing. Leo laughed and poured him another shot. “The second one usually goes down easier than the first. Lets try this again.”

Drake downed the second shot. “It burns less this time. I guess it doesn’t taste so bad.”

“So you want to talk about whatever has you down?” Drake shook his head no. “Good because I really didn’t want a listen, but maybe I can cheer you up another way. Hey Sophie come here.” Leo motioned over a pretty blonde girl about Leo’s age. “Sophie, this is Drake, my brother’s best friend and guest of honor number two. He needs some cheering up.”

“Hi Drake. You are pretty cute...are you 18 yet?”

“Yep. Have been for half a year.” Drake replied, oblivious at the time as to why this was relevant. He still wasn’t really up for conversation, but she kept talking and he didn’t ask her to leave. Before he knew it, she was asking Drake to take her back to his room. He was sober enough to realize what was happening, but drunk enough to not care that it was an impulsive decision. They passed back through the room where the group was still playing drinking games. Out of the corner of his eye, Drake saw Liam watching him walk out with Sophie. He didn’t dare turn back to check the expression on Liam’s face. It was better not to know.

[downwiththemutantnjnjaturtles]

✨Mikey teaches you how to skateboard✨

2k12

Now, learning new things is hard. It can be difficult or painful or embarrassing...and maybe even a combination of those three things.

Like now. Now, you were embarrassed.

All four of the boys already knew how to skate. They've been doing it for a while now; but Mikey took special interest in teaching it to you himself. He didn't always have knowledge to pass onto anyone else, because his brothers kind of outshined him, but you were a different story. You, my friend, did not know how to skate—so Mikey decided he'd take that into his own hands.

"Alright, just step on like this," Mikey demonstrated, hopping onto his board and rolling briefly. He stepped off and turned back to you. "See? It's not hard, y/n! You can do it!"

He ran up to you side and watched you expectantly. That big, goofy smile on his face was the only thing keeping you from getting cold feet and backing out. He was so excited to show you something, you couldn't just chicken out now.

"You have way more confidence in me than I do in myself right now," you responded as you tentatively tried to get on the board.

"Come on, you'll do great," he reassured you. He got behind you, ready to catch you if you fell. He didn't think you'd fall, but he thought him being there would make you feel safer.

"Uh, Mikey–!"

And the board slipped right out from underneath you. You let out a yelp as it flew forward and you tipped backwards, but instead of your head hitting the concrete, it fell into the plastron of a certain turtle. Strong hands held you up from underneath your arms, and he laughed heartily. "You're pretty clumsy, dude!"

He let you onto your feet and went and got the board, once again placing it before you. In honesty, you felt discouraged by now, as this was your fifth fail in a row. Mikey had it down easily and then some. Why was it so hard for you?

"Try again, y/n," he encouraged you. But you rolled the board away with your foot and crossed your arms, leaning back against the wall in a huff. He looked back at you, disappointed. "Hey, what's your deal?" he asked.

"I can't get it," you said in frustration. "I don't think I'm cut out for this."

Mikey was extremely persistent, so he was about to protest to you about your quitter attitude when Leo strolled in. He turned to his blue-clad brother and asked, "Leo! Can you tell y/n that this isn't that hard?"

Leo gave you both an amused look. Regarding you with a nod, he gave Mikey a cheeky grin. "Mikey, do you remember how many times you wiped out when you were learning?"

"Uh, yeah!"

"Then go tell y/n that, bud," Leo gestured toward you, "and then the real master can show her how it's done."

"What? No, I'm the skate-master," Mikey argued, sticking out his tongue. Leo went to approach you with his board but Mikey quickly jumped in the way. "I'll show her. Come on, y/n."

He led you away from Leo, who sat back and watched the two of you with a smile on his face. Mikey took extra care in being slow at showing you again, opting for a less...tenacious approach. When he guided you to step on, you did so, albeit wobbly-like. That's when he noticed part of your problem.

"Hold up, pause, time out," he interrupted, pulling you aside. "You gotta activate your belly muscles, dude! That's where your stability or whatever comes from!"

"You mean my core?"

"Yeah, that."

You tried again, this time with that minor change, and suddenly it felt not so unstable. But you still felt off balance and planted a hand to his hard plastron, earning a little laugh from him. He helped you stay put.

"Okay, okay, you got it y/n! Now we just..."

He gave you a light push, and suddenly, you were rolling. With ease, at that. It really wasn't so hard.

He jogged up next to you with a huge grin and said, "Now, try rolling yourself!"

You pushed off a little with your other foot, and there it was. The breakthrough moment. You were skating, finally! And not almost falling over every other second!

Mikey whooped and threw a thumbs up as you looked over your shoulder.

And then you fell. Hard. On your hip.

"Ooh!" he winced, running over to help you up. "You gotta watch where you're going!"

You heard an eruption of laughter behind you and stole a glance back, and there Leo and Raph were, having a good one over your fall. Raph pointed at you and Leo half-mindedly slapped his hand down, though still chuckling, and tried to hide it with a throat clear.

Aside from the dull ache in your hip, you couldn't help but laugh yourself as he pulled you up, his hand enveloping yours. "Aw, your first real wipeout!" beamed Mikey. "Don't worry, we all did that at one time."

"Speak for yourself," Raph added in.

Donnie suddenly came from around the corner. "More like twice," he quipped, resting a hand on Raph's shoulder. "Don't think we've forgotten that one, Raph."

The two of them bickering back and forth was drowned out by Mikey grabbing your attention. "Y/n," he started, "you did good for a beginner!"

You rubbed your hip and tried to will away the blush on your face, but all the attention on you made it difficult. "Did I?"

"Yeah! You were like–" He jumped onto his board and cruised by smoothly, holding his arms out, "looking coooool. Exactly like this."

He was certainly a lot more graceful on the board than you, but you just giggled and agreed anyway. He really was so cute when he was excited.

[marylouexpress]

late night writing in SP

Alright, let’s state some random facts.

It only took me 5min to get this computer started - or should I call this outdated machine “dinosaur”, like Isaac from Manchester (Tulum) once said? 

Anyway. That was fact 0. Fact number 1 behind this text is because I started getting to the conclusion that maybe Eduardo is too light regarding my abusage issue. He definitely either underestimates it or is too relaxed about it - either way, the point is: I need to build up the courage to be more transparent about how complex and serious it actually is. Another possibility is that I’m not being completely frank about it, I’m definitely keeping a lot of important details to myself. I might need to really commit to open up about how entwined this whole thing has already become. I need to be more upfront. More real, even with myself. I might’ve gotten used to just sharing the best bits of each category, making sure to pretend to forget that the rest of the iceberg is completely real to myself more than to anyone.

What if I would just come clean? If there’s anyone I’d do it with, it would be Eduardo. I should just write something and have it ready to be read first thing in the section, because in the last one I even had my topics written down and before I knew it I was already completely involved in a different subject. I think it still might have worked somehow because I found a way to connect all the dots throughout the session. And the same way I sidetracked with Eduardo a couple of days ago, I was nearly doing it with this text.

More random facts?

Leo Hare is an extremely incredible human, he’s a genius, an extremely intelligent and generous person. He’s enlightened and I am lucky to have him as one of my closest friends. I am so, so thankful he welcomed me here and it’s been really pleasant. /edit 17/10/22 I think I was blind.

Luar is an absolute dream of a boy. Just like with 99% of all my gay best friends - so many! Felipe, Fraser, Elliott, Matías, Sean, Chang, Rapha Cruz - I always tend to have a platonic sexual crush on my gay boyfriends. They’re just so cute, and to think of two boys going for it is just the ultimate hotness for me. 

Another random fact?

Binance has been yielding big time and I really hope to make some real money with this stuff. It hasn’t been this present in my last year by chance.

I love Ozzy. He’s getting hotter and hotter, wiser and wiser, such a warming company. I remember when we marked 7 years of friendship and he said that after that was for life… And, truly, he’s someone I intend to have around for always. And I’m really sorry about his loss, I hope he and his family have all the love to help each other heal. I’m sorry about his brother. But I’m proud and happy with his growth. I must text him that before falling asleep.

Another random fact? I’m very sorry about Chang, I’m really bummed about how much he changed and let his energy fade. And I can only imagine that it wasn’t by choice, and for that I wish I could give him strength. But it’s all so very odd. Strange. We did bond on a deep level, but he’s different. I don’t feel like I can trust him anymore, not entirely - because you could never do with an addict. And although I am sorry for him, I don’t regret letting the space build up in a way. Yesterday at Família Truco’s game night at Freddy’s place, he messaged around midnight to ask me to be his companion for his exam 9h later. And I agreed to go because I was high, optimistic that I could pull it off, and being lifted by the idea that I had spare love to give him after all the dragging to pay me back - which he still hasn’t, and although it would be incredible to be paid right now, I have decided not to stress over it anymore. It’s been given to maybe never return, and we know it swings the round about. But turns out I had to cancel on him, and even though it wasn’t very nice, I don’t feel guilty at all.

“I’m nice, I’m not stupid”.

I hope me and Marcel end up meeting in Brazil later this year. Casting the prophecy like with Salim and New York. Still amazed by the fact I had two trips to incredible cities in America with all paid for within 1 year.

More random facts.

Tomorrow we have the day party for Deb?

More… Oh my god, yes, apparently Australia has just permitted Brazilians to apply for Working Holiday Visas. This is fucking huge. Definitely something to take into consideration.

I wish mom was less self-centered.

I wish my father was less cold.

I hope my brother can break the pattern I’m also afraid to follow.

I hope I can break the patterns. Is it this hard for everyone? Or am I just weaker than most? Or am I weaker for some physiological reason?

Am I completely lost or am I slowly making progress and depriving myself from any form of credit?

Do I need help or do I need focus?

Let’s keep the random facts flowing.

The joint I just smoked was pretty soothing.

Anyway, another random and also, unexpected, negative surprise to boot was that Jr. dal Bianco actually was only talk. It never happened and I really thought this one was kind of guaranteed. Guess not. He just keeps ghosting me and showing up late at night when he’s drunk and horny.

You’re pretty, that’s great. 

Next thought…

The fact I feel something that 5 years ago I would have thought it would be too unlike me to be true. I’m deeply connected and comfortable in my solitude and independent heart. And although from time to time I might miss a few things from times where my heart was completely open, when I was already undeniably exposed and vulnerable, when I wouldn’t think twice before giving all I got to that someone that turns my world upside down… When your heart is so full of life and pouding so strong in the exact same frequency as your lover. It’s truly something incomparable, beautiful to experience, but also potentially draining. Very much so.

And I had such a sequence of roller coasters and romances and different dynamics, nationalities, genders, ages… And I fell in love so hard for some of these individuals. Like with Luca, I was on fours for this guy, I had every part of me attached to something that was only real to me, and I would let myself sabotage myself over and over because I had a tiny yet remarkable hope he would, one day, eventually… maybe finally realize I was the woman of his life. 

And I gave so much of myself to this love, this platonic love, and it took me so much to move on for real and to heal… And it was so much going on emotionally, consistently. Julia, Aaron, Kaz, Nat, Zak, Luca, Mia, now even David maybe, but such on a smaller scale. I think I emptied out all my romantic, emotional batteries at some point, and that’s when the prophecy came, in Gili, first time I had mushrooms to trip by myself, at the Bungalow I was staying, smoking by the trees, sitting on my very own private hammock. I first had my first time ever thinking of Luca that didn’t pinch my heart, it was nothing but a fleeting thought. And then the realization: I genuinely want and need to be on my own, working on my own development, giving myself the freedom, the space, the independence that a solo traveler has to be able to adapt to sometimes. Thing is I always had trouble being able to open myself up without diving into this collided mindset where suddenly your story is not about yourself anymore. It’s about the two of you, and every decision compromises two people, each opportunity that presents itself is probably very different, each step you’re taking is assuming that person is the most important thing in the world.

And how quick does that can fall apart? How fast can somebody that used to share every moment with you just disappear from your life? And be an eternal stranger. How many times did we end up getting over people that broke our hearts? Even though it seemed impossible before.

And there I can definitely say that I have participated a lot in the past. Having a heart that was open and ready to jump on most adventures that seemed special. But that took so much from me, that now - after riding this train solo for the past 3,5 years, without ANY real love that really meant something - it seems kind of an unnatural thing to truly let the guard down and give so much energy and time to that one person that has so much influence on my life. I know it feels like a dream. But most of the time you wake up from it pretty quickly.

Like with David. It peaked and we even made traveling plans just before it all turned into dust, from night to day, no shades of gray to work with, just the blunt: deal with it, it’s over before you could ever have preddict, over something completely out of my control, not personal at all and yet, he has left such a mark in me.

I don’t think I spend over 3 or 4 days, at most, without having something remind me of him. A memory. Daydreaming, nostalgic and melancholic. Talking about him. Keeping it real. Reminiscing. Letting go.

But why is it that I always pick the wrong ones to give it a try? Like Raul. Over Agustin, on top of it, nonsense yet completely inevitable.

I know I’m saying I have my gates open, but the truth is I’m still looking for the key. It feels unnatural to open myself to somebody right now. On the other hand I also miss the kind of connection where you’re really living something special, that really makes your life colorful and makes your day so pleasurable to live for.

I haven’t felt that in so fucking long. Since Mia.

But I’m not looking for any kind of pressure or strings right now. It’s not the right time, but also I know that if it’s meant to happen with someone, it will be impossible to stop it. When it’s real it moves mountains and everything that is the way.

I’m going to sing and dance a little before crashing.

I think I need to make sure Eduardo comprehends the situation. I need to accept I need help, and he’s the one to communicate it first.

I know what to do. I know that sacrificing this and breaking this pattern would turn my life around completely, yet I keep chasing my own tail and stopping myself from making progress in life. It’s only gonna get worse, and now is the moment I can still decide to not go down that road, I still have time, I can still banish it from my life - but it’s so hard to avoid it out there, especially for my lifestyle. Everything would have to change.

 It’s been literally one of the only consistent things about my adulthood, apart from a few isolated phases where I would run away and hide from this world. But it would always sneak back in. It’s like a trap.

It’s also about thinking about the future. Thinking of my path, my achievements, my goals, my spirit, being disciplined, in control, aware. Strong.

Bed time, let’s try to sleep. Let's fetch melatonin.

[msjr0119]

We Belong

Part 13

Evangeline Bruley returns to Cordonia to take over her families Duchy. She was betrothed to the now King, however he is engaged to Duchess Riley but still has lingering feelings towards his first love. What will happen during her time back in Cordonia?

Tag list- if you want to be removed just let me know 😊

@pedudley @kacie-0156 @loveellamae @annekebbphotography @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs @yukinagato2012 @nz1091 @cordonianroyalty @custaroonie @seriouslybadchoices @rainbowsinthestorm @princess-geek @jared2612 @desireepow-1986 @gardeningourmet @twinkle-320 @queenjilian @forthebrokenheartedthings-blog @princessleac1 @scarletreesex

Warnings: References about sex and masturbation, swearing.

Sorry it’s a two parter - click the link at the bottom to continue 🤭 thanks @pedudley for reading snippets as always 😘

******

The friends all waited in the apartment, not knowing what to do. Liam kept checking his phone for an update regarding the proposal as did Maxwell. Neither had any response from Drake. Hearing the the door handle turn, everyone stood up- eager to hear the news, excited for their friends.

“Surprise! Did you miss me all?”

“Leo? What are you doing here?” Liam walked over to his brother and gave him a tight squeeze.

“Well a little bird informed me about Walker and Evangeline... sorry Liam, but you know thinking back- there were hints that they must have liked each other more than friends. So where’s the alcohol?” Everyone turned to face Maxwell, knowing that the ‘little bird’ that Leo was referring to was in fact him. They all caught up with Leo, Liam explained what had gone off in Cordonia recently. Leo instantly felt more guilty that he had abdicated now hearing about everything. However he was grateful that his niece, brother and sister in law was safe from harm. Hearing the door slam open, their eyes all widened.

“Where’s Evie?” Maxwell asked wondering if this was some prank- after all Drake usually wore the infamous scowl.

“She said, no. Well in fact she didn’t say yes or no. She said she was ‘sorry’ and ran off.” Olivia shook her head, thinking back to what she thought when they all mentioned about him proposing.

Liam guided Drake into the bedroom, needing to comfort his friend. In a way he knew how he felt, accept he never got to the part of kneeling in front of her and asking those four words.

The atmosphere within the room was mute- no one knowing what to say or do. Maxwell looked out of the window, the rain had started to pour. Squinting his eyes- he noticed her stood outside, he knew he was about to become drenched.

“Evie’s outside, I’ll go and talk to her.”

****

Liam sat Drake down on the edge of the bed, he didn’t know what to say or do.

“Where’s Evie? What happened?”

“I don’t know where she is Li....”

“I’m sorry Drake...” Running out of the restaurant, Drake stood up quickly and ran after her.

Fuck. Not understanding why she ran off, he was more concerned as to where she had disappeared to in a flash. Roaming the streets of Paris, he had no luck- her phone went straight to voicemail.

“I know she didn’t give you an answer, but at least you managed to get to the point of asking her... this is Evie all over. She will come back as she always does. Don’t worry.” Liam nervously said trying to make a joke.

“It’s pissing it down Liam, we are in a foreign country. What if something happens to her?”

“Come and get a drink, and then we will all go out and look for her. She can’t be too far.” Drake began to cry in front of his best friend. Unable to contain his emotions. “Drake...where’s the usual Walker scowl? The sarcasm?”

“I keep fucking up Liam. Maybe I should have just stayed single. Let her be happy?”

“She is happy with you. As Leo said there were hints back in the day that it was always you. Because I was madly in love with the idea of being with her, I was blind this whole time... I believed that you had a possible crush on her, I didn’t realise that you was in fact in love with her. Do you remember the beach party her parents threw for her eighteenth?”

Evie returned to Cordonia for her birthday, she didn’t like the fuss but she knew that her parents will have organised something for this milestone birthday. Arriving home, she walked through the Duchy expecting everyone to jump out and surprise her- however there was silence surrounding the place.

“Good afternoon, Evangeline. Happy birthday!”

“Thank you, Doris. Do you know where my parents are?”

“They are waiting for you at the beach. They instructed me to take you there once you arrived home. They’ve even packed you some clothes.”

Arriving at the beach, see saw some of her friends and her parents. Alexander ran up to his daughter providing her with a tight squeeze.

“Happy birthday my darling daughter! How was the flight? I love you.”

“It was fine. I love you too.” Olivia soon broke up the reunion, wearing that infamous smirk.

“Evie. It’s nice to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back, even if it’s a flying visit. Where’s Liam, Leo, Max and Drake?”

“Frolicking in the sea, as always.” Turning her head towards the direction of the men, she laughed watching them act more like children than grown up men.

“I’m going to go and see them. Are you coming Liv?”

“And ruin this beautiful skin? No thank you. You don’t know what sort of germs are in there- especially after those four have been in there.”

Liam noticed that Evie was walking closer to them, he had missed her- every night he dreamt that she was in his arms even though they agreed that they was just friends. Running out of the sea, he picked her up and held her tight.

“Happy birthday, princess.”

“Do you want a slap, your highness? Thank you.”

“He doesn’t give in does he?” Leo said to max and Drake who were both oblivious that Evie had arrived until now. Drake gulped, as his eyes fixated onto Evie. Her slim body, her smile- the beauty surrounding her made him immediately weak at the knees.

“Walker?”

“Erm.. yeah?” Leo followed where Drake’s eyes were fixated on. “Now either you’re gay looking at my brother like that, or you have the hots for Evie?”

“I’m not gay, and Evie’s my friend. Liam’s happy to see her.”

“As are you?” Watching Liam lead her into the water, she flinched feeling the cold water- Liam picked her up fireman style and eased her into the water slowly.

“Of course, she’s my best friend out of the noble women.” Making his way towards the two of them, he knew Leo would continue asking questions- wanting to avoid this he would rather act as gooseberry.

“Happy birthday, Bruley.”

“Drake!” Wrapping her arms around him, she kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.” Feeling the blush creep on to his face, he needed to create a distance between the two of them.

“Did you get anything nice for your birthday then?” He asked nervously, seeing Liam become closer to her he felt a pang of jealously- not knowing why. She wasn’t his. Evie was just his in his wild fantasies.

“I’ve just literally landed back in Cordonia, Drake. The best birthday present is having you all here with me.”

“I’ll be back in a minute, Evie. I’m just going to get Leo- we have a present for you which we need to prepare.” Kissing her on the cheek, she didn’t react to the gesture. Turning to face Drake, she noticed that he couldn’t keep eye contact with her.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing. I feel bad because I haven’t got you a present. I didn’t know what you’d want...” Forcing his hand into hers, he knew what she was doing. Doing their handshake, their thing- she smiled at him.

“I don’t want a present. Having you here, is the best present. I know that you’re half naked - you could offer to strip for me like I did on your eighteenth?” Winking at him, she was only joking- she had seen them all with their shirts off, each one of them was toned.

“What when the two princes are around? You’d get a better show from those two.”

“Maybe?” Splashing him with some water- the shock on his face made her giggle like a little girl rather than an adult.

“You better get swimming, Bruley.”

“Or what Walker?” Asking in a mischievous way, she remained still- assuming he wouldn’t act upon his threat.

“Or I’ll get you back ten times worse.”

“You wouldn’t dare, it’s my birthday. You’ve got to be nice to me...” I’m always nice to you. I’m in love with you. But I can’t let you know that, I hope that no one else tells you that. I don’t want to lose you as a friend. Splashing her back, he soon regretted it- after hearing her scream.

“Drake!”

“Shit. I’m sorry. Are you okay?” Caressing her cheek as he wiped away the excess water- she smiled softly at him. “I forgive you. You owe me though.” Winking at him, she placed her hand into his. “Come on, let’s go and find the others.”

Drake pulled her flush to him, the flirting, the holding his hand- he wanted to tell her how he felt. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he held her- not knowing if he dare do anything else. Resting his forehead against hers he decided against telling her the truth.

“Happy birthday, Lina. Love ya bestie.”

“Love ya too.”

“Put her down Walker.” Not realising how tightly he was holding her, he immediately created a distance between them once again. Liam came up behind Evie, and picked her up in his arms. Water splashed over them all as he did this. Forcing him away from her, she hugged him instead.

“I’m going to head out. See you all in a bit.” Leo noticed that her eyes were focused on Drake as he exited the sea, as she held on to Liam - knowing she didn’t return the love for his brother, he wondered if her heart belonged to his friend instead- even if they both insisted that they were only friends.

“Leo, said that day that her eyes were on you- as were yours.”

“I’m sorry, Li. I wanted to tell her how I truly felt about her that day...”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because you was so happy that she had returned.. we all thought she would return to Cordonia and that you would win her love.”

“I would never win her love, we slept together the one time because we was drunk. All the affection I provided after that wasn’t returned, she did it back to be polite and she was blunt about her feelings. When she’s around you, her eyes sparkle. Maybe she was just having doubts with the failed engagement with Toby. But I believe that she didn’t runaway because she hates you, or doesn’t love you. She’s probably scared of commitment, afraid of losing you. We will find her, don’t worry.”

****

Evie looked out towards the river in front of her, not knowing how she ended up there. In her heart she was screaming ‘yes’ a thousand times but her mind thought otherwise. Knowing Drake would look after her, love her and be a brilliant father she still didn’t understand why she said that she was sorry and ran away.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“Max? What are you doing here?” She knew that news travelled fast, but wondered how he had travelled to Paris from Cordonia that fast.

“Drake told us about his plans... we all came. To celebrate with you both....” Like a stab to the heart, she now felt like the biggest bitch around.

“I don’t know what happened... I panicked.”

“Why would you panic? You love each other.” Maxwell wiped the tears as well as the rain from her face, showing sorrow in his eyes.

“What if I’m not a good wife? Or a good mother? I planned it with Toby and look at how that happened. Drake had been hinting about becoming a family but I just assumed it was general talk and that it was going to happen in the future. He’s going to hate me.... what have I done, Max?”

“To be honest you fucked up. We all fuck up. Yes, he’s angry possibly more upset. But he still loves you, I think you’ve just lowered his ego a bit.”

“See even you’ve admitted that I fucked up. What is wrong with me?”

“You’re scared of failing him, you believe it’s too soon. But it’s not Evie. This thing between you two has been blossoming over many years now... my birthday, you seemed jealous of him and Kiara.” Evie thought back to that night, of course she was jealous.

Maxwell was buzzing for his birthday, he was like a kid in a candy shop- unable to hold in the excitement. Even though he was excited for the shenanigans, there would be someone missing. Someone he had been incredibly close to all his life- Evie. She had made a new life for herself in the UK, they hadn’t seen her since her eighteenth birthday- nearly three years ago. Speaking to her on a regular basis, he had tried to convince her to come- however she said she was busy completing her dissertation. The night went on, Maxwell was grateful for all the nobles and his friends attending but his thoughts still lingered on Evie.

“Maxi, are you ready to do your speech? Smash some champagne in Beaumont style?” Bertrand asked, Maxwell looked at him confused- wondering why his brother was grinning like the Cheshire Cat and being actually nice towards him. It’s the booze, he’s bladdered. Nodding his head, he made his way to the grand staircase.

Feeling soft hands cover his eyes from behind him, he knew those hands- did you miss me?

“Evie! Evie, it’s you- it’s really you!” Picking her up, he held her tight not knowing if it was his imagination playing tricks on him. “I couldn’t miss your birthday, Maxi!”

“How long have you been here?” Looking at Bertrand, he raised his tumbler towards the two of them before stumbling over.

“Bertrand snuck me in... good job really otherwise I’d still be hiding upstairs with the state he’s in.” Maxwell looked at Bertrand on the floor, his legs in the air- laughing to himself. Debating whether to help his brother or not, Evie pulled max closer to her, “he will survive, leave him.” Hugging her tightly, they both laughed hysterically at Bertrand’s antics.

“Have you finished your dissection?” Evie laughed, nearly wetting herself. Practically hyperventilating, Maxwell didn’t realise he was a comedian in the making- wondering what was so funny.

“I’m in law school, not medical school...Dissertation Max. Yes, I rushed it and submitted it so I could spend your special day with you.. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too! So much! Oh god, Liv is coming over- I better run. I stole some wine at Lythikos. But I’ll tell you about it later. If I’m still alive!”

Olivia strut over towards her friend, noticing the jewellery on her left finger. “That’s a nice rock...” Fuck, Evie murmured to herself- forgetting to remove the jewellery that she had become accustomed to.

“Surprise!” Evie said nervously before grimacing.

“Who is he?”

“Someone who I go to university with...”

“You don’t sound thrilled to be engaged...”

“He fucked my friend. I don’t know if we’re still together or not. I love him Liv. But I also hate him...”

“Get rid! There’s plenty more men out there who are willing to treat you like a princess...” empathising the word princess, she knew who her friend was referring to. Looking in Liam’s direction, he raised his scotch up towards her providing her with a soft smile. The other thing she noticed, was Drake Walker with arms wrapped around Kiara. She knew that they had a past, that the two of them had lost their virginities to each other. Not knowing why, her face faulted - possibly jealously. But why should she be jealous? Drake was her friend, one of her closest friends. As was Kiara even if they had drifted apart since childhood.

“Well this day is full of surprises. A lot can happen in three years...”

“How long have Drake and Kiara been together?”

“Oh. They started officially dating shortly after your eighteenth- on and off. She’s always liked him apparently, Drake on the other hand- I always believed that he would be a one night stand type of man. He’s never shown any emotions towards any woman before. Even when they were ‘together’ all those years ago, they never made it official. They don’t suit each other, there’s just something odd about them, that’s probably why. Personally, I couldn’t deal with Kiara’s voice changing accents every two seconds. And Drake, well he’s just Drake.” Olivia shuddered. “He must have a big dick for someone to like him that way...”

“He’s a great guy... you don’t know him Liv.” Pausing, she didn’t want to provide Olivia with any inkling that she was jealous of her friends relationship. “I’m happy for them both.” Removing her engagement ring, she placed it in her purse.

“Why are you removing your ring? Having second doubts? Ready to jump back into Liam’s arms?”

“I just don’t want everyone knowing about my personal life. Having everyone criticise me for forgiving him.” Olivia shook her head, guiding her friend over towards their friends- Evie suddenly felt a tightening in her chest, feeling nervous.

“Bonjour Evangeline...” Kiara ran up towards Evie, pulling her into a tight hug.

“Bonjour Kiki, ca va?”

“Ca va bien, Merci...” the two continued their greetings speaking french, until Liam interrupted - Pulling Evie’s hand towards his lips, he kissed her hand softly.

“I’m glad that you decided to come, Evie.”

“So am I, your highness. Where’s Leo?”

“Oh, he Erm. He abdicated...”

“He what?” Not realising how loud she was, there was silence in the room. All focusing towards her. Drake noticed her pull Liam away, whispering in his ear.

“She’s playing with fire.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh Nothing Walker. I bet you those two end up together- he will use the Prince Charming act. Besides I doubt she’ll be staying in the UK...”

“Why? Is she coming back?” Maxwell asked hoping that she would.

“She’s having a tough time, but she’s hiding it well. Liam may just be the reasoning behind her returning home.” Maxwell enthusiastically jumped up and down, whereas Drake felt a lump form in the back of his throat. If she returned, he would be thrilled, as everyone else was. But he was with Kiara- he had spent years of flirting with her, the odd flings just to attempt to move on from Evie. It was common knowledge within court that they was a couple, but there was a possibility that she would have to commit to being one of Liam’s suitors for her Duchy. Drake wasn’t that fussed, he didn’t return the strong feelings that she did with him.

_____

“Why has he abdicated? What the fuck has gone off?”

“He didn’t want to marry Madeleine, simple as. So now I’m Crown Prince. My social season was due to begin, but father said to wait until Leo sees sense.” Shrugging his shoulders, he knew for a fact that Leo wouldn’t suddenly change his mind.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. You and I could have been running the country... I bet you are glad that the arrangement was cancelled. You didn’t want to be married to the spare, never mind the next in line.”

“Well if Leo doesn’t see sense, I know that you’ll make a fantastic King. You’ll find a Queen that you love...”

“I love you... now you’ve finished your studies, you could become one my suitors whenever my social season begins. Give me a chance Evie?”

“I’m staying in the UK, Li. I have a life there. We are friends, I’m sorry that I can’t give you what you want.”

“If you change your mind, I’d be thrilled. If not, you are always welcome to the events.” I’m engaged. I’m never going to change my mind. Liam’s hands roamed up her body, after all the hurt Toby had given her she still felt guilty for allowing him to do this. Guilt that Liam was sincere with his feelings, the feelings that she would never return. Seeing Drake look at them, she didn’t want to return Liam’s kiss. Kiara bounded up towards Drake and placed soppy kisses onto his face. Evie’s heart sunk, as Drake smiled at Kiara. Providing her with one last look, she pulled Liam closer towards her.

____

“Told ya, I wish we had placed a proper bet. I think Liam will be believing that all his Christmas’s have all come at once. Not little miss innocent now are we Evie?” They all looked over towards Liam and Evie, Liam had her pinned against the wall- as he passionately kissed her. Knowing she would never return the love, at this moment in time he didn’t care. He craved her, every second that she wasn’t around.

“Do friends kiss like this?” He asked her in a seductive tone of voice. “I’m joking with you Evie. I’ve missed you.”

“Your tongue tastes of scotch... I’m feeling drunk just kissing you...I’ve missed you too. All of you.”

“Or is it just me in general that is making you feel drunk? Weak at the knees.”

“Keep dreaming, future king.” Liam led them back to where the majority of people were mingling.

“Thank you for the kiss, if you want to carry it on- you know where to find me.”

“Liam, it was heat of the moment. You’re a good kisser, I can’t deny that...”

“I know, it was just an innocent kiss between friends... I love you Evie.”

“Love you too, Li.”

“Bruley.”

“Hey, Drake.” Usually she would hug him tight, kiss him on the cheek- but she was distant. He felt as if the kiss he had just witnessed between her and Liam was the reasoning behind her not being her usual self around him.

“So, that kiss... are you and Liam.. you know...”

“It was just a heat of the moment thing.” I was jealous about you and Kiara, Toby has broken my heart- so thought why not?

“I see...” Fuck, why am I jealous over her kissing him. I’m with Kiara, even though I’m in love with her. Feeling awkward with the silence- she decided that it was best to leave the conversation unfinished.

“See ya around Drake.”

“Wait!” Turning around, she faced him- waiting for him to elaborate. Instead he just looked vacant at her- as if his mind was working overtime but not functioning.

“What?”

“Have I done something wrong?”

“Not that I’m aware of? Why?”

“Just you usually hug me when you return. Kiss me on the cheek. We do our infamous best friend handshake... I just feel that I’ve done something wrong...”

“You’re with Kiara. Officially now. I’m not going to be an over affectionate friend when you are in a relationship...”

“I don’t care what Kiara thinks, you’re my friend. Possibly my best friend. Our handshake. That’s what we do. Why are you being distant with me? Is it because you’re not wanting to jeopardise your chances with Liam?”

“There’s nothing going on with me and Liam, Drake. And if there was, or I was in a relationship- I would tell you all in my own time.”

“Are you in a relationship?”

“No....Yes....I don’t know?” Drakes heart sunk at the possibility that she was courting someone.

“Who is he?”

“What’s with the hundred questions Drake?” Folding her arms, scowling at him- he didn’t want to annoy her. He didn’t want to push her away but was eager to know who had stolen her heart. Jealous? Yes he was. Why? He was in love in her, knowing he had no right to be jealous- he decided to make out that he was asking as a friend.

“I’m just making conversation...”

“He’s no one...” Seeing her facial expression change in an instant he closed the distance between the two of them. He could tell that something was on her mind. Wishing that she would open up to him, they were close once- he didn’t understand why there was so much secrecy. Cupping her cheeks- his eyes showed concern.

“Whoever he is... has he hurt you?”

“Of course he hasn’t. We just... we’re not working out. That’s all...”

“Is everything okay guys?” Thankful for Max interrupting them- she had slipped out too much information. Information that she told Olivia she wasn’t ready to expose.

“Yes, Max. Come on let’s dance.” Pulling her away from the awkward situation- Evie was grateful. Deep down, she was now realising that there were some feelings for Drake- feelings that she couldn’t figure out.

“Why is there tension between you and Drake?”

“He’s getting all pissy because I didn’t hug him or do the handshake. Why is he getting pissy? He’s with her...” Maxwell was taken aback with her tone of voice. Quite scared of her at this moment in time. Looking over towards Drake, he noticed that his eyes were locked on the two of them.

“You sound jealous.”

“I’m not jealous! He’s my friend, and I’m happy for him- I just don’t want Kiara getting upset because I’m too close to her boyfriend...he’s asking me fucking questions about my life. My personal fucking life. Why is he interested so much?”

“Good point! At least you know french, you could insult each other that way... Evie, don’t kill me... but you really do sound jealous. Maybe you should take a breather?”

“Max, that night... I was jealous of him and Kiara... I don’t know why? At the time I was engaged to Toby, I kissed Liam. But my thoughts were about them. I think I had feelings for him then...he asked me questions about Toby, asked me if he hurt me before you joined us.”

“So I was right then... why lie to me? You did have feelings, and so did he...now look at you both... you could be married soon, have babies... don’t filter your feelings anymore. Talk about things to each other. You are made for each other, everyone knows that. I’m still pissed off that you didn’t tell us you was engaged...”

“I want all that with Drake, I’m just scared. What if Bianca causes trouble? Or Drake splits up with me again? I can’t go through all that again... I didn’t want to tell anyone, because I was a mug for forgiving him. Besides Olivia knew I was engaged..”

“We all make mistakes. We wouldn’t have judged you. You told Olivia but not me. I’m so hurt. You’ve hurt my feelings! I’m joking. Evie, Drake wants to be with you. He proposed to you. He’s madly in love with you. If it fucks up- which it’s not going to- you can rip my bollocks off... Bianca who? She’s facing the death penalty remember. Evangeline Grace Walker, has a nice ring to it.”

*****

Drake returned to the lounge with Liam, all their friends provided him with a soft smile- all still remaining mute. Not wanting to offend him in any way.

“Where’s Maxwell?” Liam asked, assuming he had run off to the store for food as he was always hungry. But surely he would have taken someone with him he believed.

“Evie’s outside, they are probably catching pneumonia. He’s gone to talk some sense into her - I hope.” Hearing Olivia explain this, Drake looked out of the window- seeing Maxwell hug her he shot out of the apartment. Not that he was jealous of his friend comforting the woman he loved, he just wished that he was doing this instead. Needing to tell her that he was stupid, and hoped that his proposal hadn’t ruined their already rocky relationship.

*****

“Evie!” Hearing Drake’s voice, she removed herself from Maxwell’s embrace. She had allowed him to hold her for what seemed like ages- thankful for all of the words that he had spoken to her. The encouragement to follow her heart. Even though Maxwell had convinced her that he wasn’t angry with the rejection- she was still nervous about seeing him.

“I’ve been worried about you...”

“I’m sorry.” Oh shit, I’ve said it again.

“Don’t be, I’m glad that you’re okay.” Pulling her towards him, he held her tight- forgetting what had happened earlier he wanted to get the two of them inside before they ended up in hospital.

“Gooseberry is signing off from duties. Don’t be too long, guys. Love ya both.” Patting Drake on the shoulder, he looked at Maxwell confused- why is he assuming that we are staying here? It’s pissing it down. Leaving the two of them together, he had hoped that they would talk whether it was outside or elsewhere.

“Bruley. Come on, let’s get you inside. You’re shivering.” Removing his jacket, he placed it gently around her shoulders.

“Why are you calling me Bruley?”

“I alternate with your nicknames. I always have done. It’s your surname...”

“I don’t think I’ll be called that for much longer...” Drake looked at her confused, she held his hand. Sorrow in her eyes for her past actions. “You can call me Evie, Lina, Evangeline... Wal...”

“Walker?” Evie nodded, hoping that he still wanted what he had asked her. Kneeling down, he retrieved the ring box out of his back pocket. Not caring that his knee was now sodden due to the puddles on the ground, he hoped that this time- was the time. Hoping she would say that one word- yes.

“I’ve already asked you this, and I’m keeping a tight grip on you so you don’t runaway again. Becoming your friend was a choice, but over the years I gradually fell in love with you and it was beyond my control. You have always had a place in my heart that no one else could ever have. You make me happy in a way that no one else will ever be able to. You are beautiful Evangeline Grace Bruley. Will you marry me? Become my wife. Become Mrs Walker?” Come on Evie, don’t shatter my heart and ego again.

“Yes!” Pausing, her heart fluttered seeing him look up at her adorably. “I love you Drake.” Not knowing if it was tears falling from her face or the rain- he slid the heirloom onto her finger. Standing up, she jumped into his arms as he kissed her in a lingering slow kiss. The kiss soon turned passionate. Breaking the kiss, he held her tight keeping to his promise about not letting her go.

“So, I’m about to become a Duke- don’t take the piss. Unless you runaway again or ditch me at the alter. Thank you for making me the luckiest mother fucker in the world.. I love you, Lina.”

“I love you too. Duke Walker.” Quirking his eyebrows, she bit her lip- attempting not to laugh.

“It was my grandmothers ring, I hope it’s okay. She loved you, you know.”

“It’s beautiful. I’m honoured to be wearing Nana Pat’s ring. Do you remember when she made every noble house her infamous sausage plait?”

“When you’re a Walker, maybe you could continue her tradition- Savannah is a shit cook as you already know and besides she’s a Beaumont now...”

“Do you trust me? I mean, I’m not the best cook- I’m almost on par with Sav..”

“I trust you with anything, Lina.” Placing her back onto the damp ground he held her left hand, Reality still hadn’t sunk in that she had finally agreed to be his wife.

“I think we should do our handshake...”

“Random...”

“We haven’t done it since your eighteenth...”

“Yes, you got pissy about it at Max’s birthday....”

“I got pissy, because I saw your tongue down Liam’s throat and you wouldn’t come anywhere near me like you used to...”

“As I said that night, you had a girlfriend...”

“Which I didn’t give two fucks about... I was jealous- I just wanted to be close to you. If that was just doing our handshake I was happy...”

“I’m sorry. I kissed Liam, to try and get your attention. I saw Kiara all over you.” Blushing, she didn’t know how he would react to this confession.

“So did you like me back then?”

“I must have done. I was jealous too.”

“Why couldn’t we just tell each other back then? When you mentioned that you was in a relationship and I asked if he had hurt you- it was Toby wasn’t it?” Nodding, if he knew he would have never let her return to London.

“We didn’t tell each other because we was just friends?” Shrugging her shoulders, she wished that they had been honest about their feelings.

“Just friends who are now engaged... I regret not telling you sooner. I wanted to kiss you on your eighteenth... in the sea... I fucked Kiara and said your name instead, I wanked over you when we stayed over - your mother was horrified....”

“Why didn’t you kiss me? You said my name? You did what?” Drake laughed to himself- her facial expression was exactly like Michaela’s was that day, the similarity was uncanny.

“Don’t look at me like that, you look just like your mom. I wanted to kiss you. Liam was thrilled that you was back- he was determined to win your love..he’s my best friend- I didn’t want to cause a rift between you both. I slept with Kiara and said your name.. it was court gossip and we split up....”

Kiara pulled Drake through the threshold, they had both had a few too many drinks- and she was desperate to leave the ball. Wanting Drake all to herself. Pushing him onto the bed, she hovered over him as she thrust against him. During the ball, the talk was focused on Liam beginning his social season- as well as Evie potentially becoming a suitor. Overhearing that, his heart sunk- feeling like he was cheating on Kiara as all his thoughts lingered on his best friend instead.

“Fuck me Drake.” Drake flipped her off of him. Standing up, he began discarding his clothes- as she did the same. He wasn’t fussed about foreplay, he wasn’t even turned on that much. In his mind, he was imagining that she was Evie- the one who got away. The one person who he let go without informing her about his true feelings. Opening the wrapper- he placed the condom on before forcing his hard cock straight inside her, she was already instantly wet. After a few thrusts, he was already to cum - he had his eyes closed, thinking about someone who he wasn’t fucking. “Drake! Don’t stop...” hearing her say this encouraged him to increase his speed. Why do I feel like I’m cheating?

“I’m so close baby... Evie...” Kiara was soon turned off by this. Pushing him off of her, he soon knew why.

“Ki, I didn’t mean that... we’ve all been talking about her... I....”

“Do you love her Drake?” Seeing heartbreak creep onto her face, he felt guilty.

“I... fuck...”

“I have the right to know... you was fucking me - your girlfriend and said our friends name instead....”

“I’ve always loved her Kiara. But it doesn’t matter, because she doesn’t love me back... we’re friends in her eyes.. and always will be.”

“Have you told her?”

“No. Why would I tell her?”

“If you haven’t told her, how do you know that she doesn’t feel the same?”

“Why are you being so calm about this? Most women would rip a mans dick off if they did what I’ve just done. I just know she doesn’t feel the same. She’s too good for me anyway- someone like Liam deserves her....”

“We was never going to work, was we? You’re in love with Evangeline. My father would prefer me to marry Rashad.... he actually wanted me to finish our relationship and still become one of Liam’s suitors. You should tell her Drake before it’s too late. I’m not being a constellation prize.. when is she due to come back?”

“You deserve better than me, I’m so sorry Kiara. She is due to come back next week for Liam’s social season. If she comes...”

“If she does, make sure that she isn’t a suitor. Do you want me to finish you off?”

“No, thank you. I’m going to go.” Leaving her alone, he was shocked at her niceness regarding the whole situation. Remembering every word she said, he looked through his photo album- looking at the same picture that he always did. A picture of him, Savannah and the Bruley’s at her eighteenth. Evie had snuggled into him, as Olivia took the photo. Hesitantly he placed his arms around Evie and Savannah- he wasn’t one for a family portrait as Alexander referred it as.

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