#glad I changed my mind and broke it up into sections; it would’ve probably been 20 pages long!

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

Overmorrow Character and Lore Files

—Part 4: Worldbuilding Part I: Daybreak Town—

This document’s all about good ol’ Daybreak Town! You know, the place where everyone lies to each other 😊

The town may be gone, but its existence and subsequent destruction still has an influence on Ephemer and Cable throughout the course of Overmorrow. This is some supplementary info that I came up with, aka stuff that isn’t really touched on in canon

I also threw in an old Daybreak Town theory of mine, just for fun

[mc-lukanette]

GOD Furious Fu genuinely pissed me off SO MUCH so hopefully you don’t mind me coming over here to ask for some kinda Lukanette fix it for that train wreck??? Like, not even anything super detailed, if you don’t feel like it, maybe just “Marinette caves, gives the Miracle Box to Su-Han, gets spotty memories and Luka (+ Kitty Section and Kagami, maybe) help her out and worry over her.” Maybe Tikki even realizes she screwed up. If not it’s fine but Lukanette makes everything better so I had to ask.

Warning: it’s gonna be a ride.

—————

Luka looked over as his phone started ringing, brows raising at the sight of Marinette's icon popping up on the screen. It'd been rare for her to call him after all the complications that came with them dating, so he was surprised to say the least.

Nevertheless, he rested an arm on his guitar and reached across his bed with his other to pick up the phone, answering the call and moving the device to his ear. "Hey, Marinette."

"Hey, Luka..."

His heart sank at the sound of her voice. It was a whole mix of emotions, but above all else, she sounded tired. He wondered what she'd gone through for her voice to play those sorts of notes.

"Did anything happen?"

"No," she answered almost instantaneously. She paused, then let out a small whine. "I-I'm sorry. I'm so used to lying, but—I guess I don't have to do that anymore."

He stayed silent, allowing her to continue.

"I—" Marinette took an audible breath, then let it out, her voice lowering to a whisper as if she were scared of someone else hearing.

"I'm...I'm Ladybug, Luka."

Luka's first reaction was shock, though he couldn't be sure if it was the identity bomb she dropped or just the fact that she told him at all. Then, once the surprise died down, the idea that Marinette was Ladybug wasn't that surprising in itself. and he couldn't imagine who else it could've been otherwise.

Smart, talented, caring, selfless... it all added up.

But that also made it all the more painful when he realized what it meant. Immediately, all the dates that she'd missed and all the things he'd been concerned about made sense, and it hurt.

That was the secret she couldn't share with him, no matter how badly she might've wanted to.

The last thought in particular was odd to him, and he couldn't help voicing it, "I... thank you for telling me, Marinette, but... why now?"

She took another breath, more unsteady this time, like she were a guitar with something jammed inside the base. "Because—I'm about to forget it, and now I can't stop thinking about everything I might forget; how I want someone to know. You were the first - the only - person I thought of." Then, hesitantly, she asked, "Is that okay?"

Luka swallowed, feeling the whiplash of another dropped bomb right before the kind of casual compliment that made his heart race. "Of...of course it is."

She sighed in relief. "Thank you."

He tried to keep quiet, but couldn't hold back from questioning, "You said 'forget'..."

"Yeah, because I'm guardian now. There was someone else before and they gave me the ladybug miraculous, but—" She paused, as if considering something, then seemed to shift the conversation. "See, I didn't know anything about being a hero at the start, and... I screwed up." Before Luka could ask or recall the event, she continued, "I let the first ever akuma go, and it let Hawk Moth spread his butterflies everywhere when Ivan got akumatized again. I fixed it, but it was still my mistake that started it."

"Marinette—"

"—and I always tried. I tried my best no matter what I did. I tried to be a good Ladybug, a good student, a good daughter, a good friend... and I tried to get Adrien's attention." She groaned, though the sound seemed muffled, perhaps by her hand. Her voice cracked as she went on, "That's where everything went so wrong, Luka. I knew I had bad luck, but no matter how hard I tried, things would go bad. It was humiliating, and I kept thinking that maybe I just wasn't trying hard enough. My parents had such a happy relationship and I wanted that, but I was just wasting my time. He was barely in my life but he got put into everything I did, and I made so many mistakes from him. There's a liar in school who wants to turn everyone against me, and Alya thinks I'm just jealous because of Adrien. Chloe convinced me to do things I'm not proud of, and it took a while for me to be Kagami's friend. I didn't listen to my kwami and used my miraculous for my own gain, and..."

"What's wrong with that?" he questioned, voice pained. "What's wrong with using your miraculous for you? You save Paris every other day—"

"—because bad things happen, Luka," she stressed as if it were something urgent. "Bad things happen when I... feel."

There was a pit in his stomach. He knew he shouldn't ask - knew he wouldn't like the answer - but he hoped for better regardless. "Feel... what?"

"Anything."

He hunched forward, not strumming his guitar but running his fingers along the strings, desperate for something to busy himself with. His shoulders were stiff and his chest felt tight, unable to fathom what she'd been going through compared to what he'd merely seen on the surface.

"No matter what I did, no matter what I felt... it was wrong, Luka. I embarrassed Chloe in front of the whole class and she wanted to move to New York. She'd bullied me for years and I was so happy." She sounded conflicted, like instruments that didn't go together. "Adrien told me it was terrible. He didn't know why I could celebrate it. I felt awful, so I gave her a chance; I gave her a miraculous."

Luka anxiously rubbed one of the strings between his thumb and index finger, torn between seething and trying to reassure her despite knowing that she'd cut him off.

"She got it in her head that she deserved it, but with Mayura around, it wasn't safe to let her keep having it. I had to tell her 'no,' and..." She let out a defeated noise. "Do you remember that day? At the park?"

She didn't need to specify, and his voice lost all life at the memory. "Yeah..."

"Adrien and Kagami were together. I let them go. They seemed so happy together and it was the right thing to do, but..."

She paused, and he braced himself.

"When I was going to see the guardian to get a miraculous, I saw them. I got distracted and I forgot to de-transform. Because of me, Hawk Moth found the guardian, and he got the miraculouses from him. By the time I realized what happened, it was too late, and Chloe got akumatized again to ruin me. Those bees you saw—they were hers. They mind-controlled everyone, and that's why your identities were compromised. The guardian had to give up the box with all the miraculouses in it to me - ladybug me - because Hawk Moth was probably about to kill him and become the next guardian." She let out a sob. "Giving up the box... it takes your memory with it."

Luka gripped the string he'd been rubbing.

"I don't know how much he lost, but... anything about the miraculouses was gone. He didn't recognize me. He didn't even recognize the love of his life. He had... feelings, but that was it. All because of me."

"Marinette—" he desperately tried to interject.

She cut him off, as he'd feared, "I'm just fixing my own mistakes. People think I'm a good Ladybug because they don't get that. They don't get that I'm just going in circles. My friends don't believe in me, my parents think I'm too clumsy to carry a tray, and... it always feels like someone - somewhere - is laughing at me, with every screw-up." She whimpered. "What good is a ladybug who gets people akumatized? Who gets her own boyfriend akumatized?"

"I don't blame you for that!" he shouted, intentionally raising his voice to talk over her.

He heard a small noise in response, though he couldn't tell if it was another whimper or a giggle.

"I'm sorry," she said, though what she was apologizing for seemed vague, "and thank you, for always being there for me. I'm glad I have time to talk to you before he gets back."

Luka had to calm himself down to ask worriedly, "He...?"

"The guardian; the one that came before the one I knew. He showed up in my room today and saw how I had all the kwami outside of the box; I guess you're not supposed to do that, and he wasn't happy. He told me about all these rules I broke and how I had to give everything back. I took him to meet Chat Noir, but Chat ran for it when he realized that I'd forget about him. The guardian is chasing him down now and I'm just here, with the box, waiting for him to get back."

Luka leaned back and stared at the ceiling, overwhelmed by the rush of information she'd thrown at him all at once. He hadn't even been the one to experience any of it and he still felt worn down as if he had.

"I—" He paused, not liking how his voice shook. "I wish I could've helped you, Marinette. I wish you hadn't had to do all of that alone. I know you feel like it's your fault, but even the best musicians miss notes and mess up. Please don't blame yourself."

She let out a non-committal noise and he knew then that nothing he said would help her. He was sure that she believed him, but words could only do so much, and unlearning what apparent months of suffering had taught her would be difficult.

Though, he supposed it wouldn't matter. "Will you forget... everything?"

"I don't know, but at least everything about Ladybug or the miraculouses will go." She let out a half-hearted chuckle. "I guess it was all for nothing in the end."

"It wasn't," Luka replied. "Marinette, no matter how many times you feel like you screwed up, you were still an amazing ladybug. Everything you said didn't change my mind about that." After a moment of thought, he added, "And that other guardian... how is he?"

He heard her take a breath, as if to give an automatic answer, but she stopped herself. "...He's away from Paris, living with the love of his life."

"See? That sounds better than being the guardian, in Paris, where Hawk Moth is," he pointed out. "Maybe he forgot more than he would've wanted, but—"

"Luka," she interrupted, as if something had just occurred to her.

He considered finishing what he was saying, but stopped himself in favor of wanting to hear her out. "Yeah?"

"A-ah... mm." She struggled briefly while trying to get the words out. "If—if I forget too much... if I forget you... would you still visit me?"

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about the possibility, but it hadn't been on the forefront of his mind either, mostly for the sake of keeping himself grounded.

After having an internal debate with himself, he settled for asking, "Would you want me to?"

"Don't say it like that," she pleaded. "Don't leave it all up to me. I...I'd understand if you decide you don't want to see me again. I wouldn't blame you, I just—" Her voice lowered to something both shy and fond. "—I'm my best self when I'm with you, Luka. We didn't date for that long, and maybe it would've been better for you if we never met, but I..."

The pause she made had him holding his breath, his grip on the phone tightening. He couldn't believe she would dare to imply that he wouldn't do it all over again; meeting her, writing songs about her, dating her...

Marinette let out a breath, and Luka noted that it sounded so... final, like this was really the end.

"I love you, Luka."

His heart hammered in his chest. "Marinette."

"Thank you, and I'm sorry," she whispered. After going quiet for a few seconds, her tone suddenly shifted as she said, "I have to go now. He's on his way."

Luka took a sharp intake of breath, but the click of the call came before he could speak. He could only stare down at the phone, Marinette's contact image staring back as an emptiness washed over him.

Then, he was on his feet, guitar tossed aside, and he'd never moved so fast before in his life.

—————

Marinette gazed at Luka's picture for a few more seconds, as if doing so would permanently imprint it into her memory, then sighed and tossed it onto her chaise lounge. She rubbed at her eyes, wiping away tiredness and unshed tears, unable to help wondering if Fu falling unconscious after his memory loss was something peaceful for him.

When she uncovered her eyes, she noticed the kwami, all distancing themselves from her but staring at her like she was a corpse in a coffin.

"What...?" she asked, though part of her already knew the answer.

They all exchanged glances, like they were debating telepathically, then Wayzz flew forward.

"I - we - we're so sorry, Marinette," he said. Bowing in respect, he added, "We got so excited, and we only caused you more problems."

Marinette shrugged, only able to offer a defeated smile. "There's nothing we can do now. It's too late to change anything."

Tikki approached, her body hunched over and making her look even smaller than she already was. "I-I should've said something. I let him talk to you like that and I didn't do anything to stop him."

Marinette reached over, tempted to pet or touch her kwami in some way to help reassure her, but pulled back at the last moment, too conflicted about it.

The sound of something landing on the balcony followed, and Marinette stared up at it like she could see through her ceiling.

"...He's here," she stated. After giving one last look at all of her kwami, she focused specifically on Tikki and said, "Spots on."

Su-Han descended into her room, Ladybug standing in the center and wanting nothing more but to get things over with. He approached her, raising his fist and then opening it to show her the ring inside; Chat Noir's ring. Plagg, meanwhile, hovered aimlessly around the room, not meeting anyone's eyes and probably sensing the tension.

"That crybaby was even more of a fool than I'd thought," Su-Han commented, "giving a miraculous to a boy whose face is all over this village."

"What?" Ladybug blurted out. A boy whose face was all over—but that meant—"Adrien?"

Su-Han raised a brow. "A friend of yours?" He promptly scoffed. "That makes him even more foolish."

She couldn't even find it in herself to respond, too busy grappling with so casually being told something she'd intended to never learn about if she could help it.

Adrien was Chat Noir? It explained a little bit of everything and made her feel a lot of everything at the same time, like the two personalities meshed together to create something both shocking yet profoundly upsetting. She saw her memories with Adrien in place of Chat Noir and vice versa, unable to separate the two and pursing her lips as she recognized that, perhaps if things had been a little different...

"Young lady," Su-Han called strictly, pulling her out of her trance. "I don't have time to waste here. Relinquish the Miracle Box to me, at once."

"A-ah..." Ladybug could only nod, still dazed but at least focused enough to respond. She stared down at her hands, staring at the red and single black spot on the back of each, then sighed and closed her eyes, accepting that it was the last time she'd see them.

"I, Ladybug, hereby relinquish the Miracle Box..."

The last feeling she'd remember as Ladybug was a deep, unrelenting regret; regret for all the things she did do, didn't do, and the things that weren't even in her control.

Then, as her mind was fogging and she was slipping into darkness, she felt something else.

She felt free.

—————

Luka didn't bother saying a word to Tom or Sabine when he charged inside the bakery, both of them letting out various shouts of concern as he bolted past them and ran up the stairs. He nearly tripped multiple times, but he never stopped moving. He dashed up each flight until his eyes locked on the door to Marinette's living room.

He opened the door in a hurry, ignoring the sound of it slamming against the wall, and headed right for the stairs to Marinette's room. He threw caution to the wind and pushed open the trap door in the same fashion, his eyes scanning the place in a panic.

Then, his gaze fell upon Marinette, lying there on the floor, earrings gone, and he realized that he was too late. If he were honest, he hadn't known exactly what he'd rushed there to do - try and prevent the memory loss? tell her how wrong she'd been during their call? call out the guardian for treating his beloved so cruelly? - but now that he was there, all he could think about was being there for her.

He took a moment to catch his breath, then approached and knelt down next to her. Slipping his arms underneath her, he lifted her up and brought her over to her chaise lounge, wanting to at least get her off the floor. Her phone had been resting on the chaise’s cushion, but he simply moved it to the table after setting her down.

He paced around the room, raking his fingers through his hair and ruffling it. His mind was still racing, as was his heart, and his running had nothing to do with either. He knew that, whether Marinette had her memory or not, she was the song in his head, and any pain that would come with her not knowing him couldn't compare to the pain of not seeing her again. She wasn't a burden, and no matter how many excuses he might have to come up with, he wasn't going to let her be alone, especially not when she trusted him with a secret that she'd only let him hear.

He was so distracted by his thoughts that he almost didn't hear the slight shuffling noise, though the sound of Marinette stirring was what made him fully turn around to look at her. While she laid there, her eyes were half-lidded and unfocused, darting aimlessly around the room as if in search of something.

"Marinette," he whispered, rushing over to her. Bending over the chaise lounge, barely thinking, he asked gently, "Are you okay?"

"Mm..." Her eyes found his, and she blinked a few times before she actually seemed awake enough to answer him. "Luka?"

His breath, his words, his very sound, all caught in his throat. If he were a guitar, his strings would've snapped from the sudden release of tension.

"Y-you... know who I am?" he asked in a small voice.

She tilted her head at him, confused by the question. "Of course I do? You're my boyfriend."

Boyfriend. She said boyfriend. She didn't just remember him, she remembered her feelings for him.

He got misty-eyed from the realization, and Marinette's eyes widened in alarm.

"L-luka?" she called, brows furrowed with concern. She reached up with a hand, sliding it along his cheek. "What's wrong—what happened? I swear I'm okay, I—"

He shook his head, gently holding onto her wrist and feeling the steady rhythm of her pulse to ground himself. "Nothing, Marinette. Nothing happened. You—you just had a bad fall."

"O-oh. I...I'm sorry." She pushed herself up with her free hand. "I'm so clumsy. I didn't mean to worry—"

He couldn't wait any longer. He hugged her, squeezing her with every ounce of love that'd been accumulating since they'd originally broken up. Marinette didn't seem to understand the intensity of his actions, but didn't hesitate to hug him back either, even humming with content and burying her face into his shoulder.

Her song sang freely to him. It wasn't torn or twisted up, playing openly instead of staying locked in a music box. He couldn't have been happier after she'd given him such a scare before, and any remaining questions could come later.

For that moment, he just let their duet play free-er than it'd ever been able to before.

—————

"Luka~" Marinette called from the kitchen. When he looked over to her, she raised two different bottles of iced tea, waving them a bit for emphasis. "Which one do you want?"

He hummed, then pointed to the one in her left hand. She nodded at the decision, then put the other bottle back in the fridge, retrieving a bottled drink of her own before leaving the kitchen to join him on the couch.

The last few weeks had been a bit of a rollercoaster, but not necessarily in a bad way. He'd had to deal with Marinette's memory loss and simultaneously piece together how exactly it'd all worked out, but all in all, it was good for her.

Most of Marinette's memories outside of being Ladybug were in tact, and Luka had realized soon after she'd woken up from her memory loss that the reason she’d forgotten about their break up was exactly because it'd been related to her being Ladybug. He'd tried vaguely to explain it to her as if he hadn't known that she was Ladybug, wondering if those negative feelings still lingered, but they both still wanted to date each other and thus concluded that not dating after all that would've been silly. He knew full well that she wasn't going to be stressed or strapped for time anymore, so it wasn't a subject worth debating over, especially if it meant that they could move back into dating without issue.

She'd initially cried when he assured her that he was happy to continue dating her. She couldn’t comprehend why and he'd merely hugged her in reassurance, imagining that he was also hugging the Marinette of the past who didn't believe he'd want to date her again.

Outside of that, there were additional gaps in Marinette's memory that she couldn't explain, and Luka was certain that they were either Ladybug or guardian-related. Her parents had been particularly concerned by the losses, but Luka noted to himself that the lost memories were for the best. It was as if all of the memories that had caused her stress had evaporated, leaving only good ones behind.

Adrien was the big one, as she hadn't been able to remember him at all. At best, she was uncomfortable around him, and Luka did her the favor of removing any pictures of the guy from her cork board and phone. It took him a while to figure it out, but once he put together that Adrien was Chat Noir, things fell into place. Marinette had explained during their phone call that the previous guardian had lost his memory of the love of his life, but Luka imagined that she might've been his confidant for so long that thinking of her as anything else was impossible. Factor in that Marinette had also explained that her crush on Adrien had seeped into her being Ladybug, and it all added up; so long as the connection between the person and the miraculouses was unavoidable, they were forgotten.

And Marinette seemed all the happier for it. To some degree, it was tragic that Paris didn't have Ladybug anymore, but as far as Luka was concerned, Marinette needed to be rid of Ladybug more than Paris needed her, and Marinette's health took priority over all else.

The new ladybug holder was no replacement from the original, but Luka had expected that. Despite them being an adult and having access to as many lucky charms as they desired, no one could substitute Ladybug's instinct and ability to think on her feet.

But that wasn't Luka's problem, and he wholly intended to make sure that it wasn't Marinette's either. She'd heard that there was a previous ladybug, but had no interest in anything relating to the heroes nor their miraculouses. The most she'd said about them was one time where she'd idly commented that her homeroom and PE teachers had been "busier than she remembered," though she'd brushed it off as being related to her mild memory loss.

He'd giggled at that. He had been prepared to have to fall in love with a slightly different Marinette, but she honestly hadn't changed much; still caring, still generous, and still the adorable mess that he loved so much. She could afford to work on her confidence, sure, but he didn't fall for her due to what Ladybug had given her.

"Luka?"

He blinked, then looked down to her; her and her bright, happy eyes, the darkness underneath having faded long ago. She smiled at him, oblivious to his thoughts and a brow raised in amusement.

"Were you daydreaming?" she asked curiously, her hand covering his and giving it a casual squeeze.

Luka still couldn't quite believe that he was hers and she was his. He recalled Desperada, that fateful day where she - Ladybug at the time - had given him the snake miraculous, presumably after she'd tried to give it to Adrien. He wouldn't have admitted it at the time, but there was a pride in being able to do something that Adrien couldn't. He'd never forgotten her words either, knowing now that they were Marinette's.

"You were the right choice, Luka."

He sighed blissfully, bending down to press his forehead against hers and replying, "I'm just happy."

She let out a small whine at the sudden and sweet gesture, but still pressed back in return. "Me too."

They stayed in that moment until a sudden thumping noise brought them out of it, Luka jerking his head up to stare at where it'd come from: Marinette's room. Immediately recognizing what was happening, he groaned and rubbed his face in irritation.

As expected, the man Luka had come to know as Su-Han emerged, descending the stairs and locking eyes with Marinette. She recoiled, her hands clutching Luka's sleeve as she murmured, "Not you again..."

Luka gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, then got up from the couch and walked around to face Su-Han himself.

The man huffed. "I'm not here for—"

"Marinette wants nothing to do with you," Luka said lowly. He went for the living room door, opening it and gesturing outside. Su-Han followed with an air of self-importance and Luka closed the door behind them, leaving Marinette safely out of the conversation.

"The former ladybug had not even informed me of what she'd done," Su-Han explained. "Therefore, it's time she take responsibility and—"

Luka snapped, "You don't get to blame anything on Marinette. She did everything you asked her to and you made her give up her memories." He purposefully left out the fact that she was better off without said memories. "You're the one who insulted her song before you even got to hear it."

Su-Han squinted, the phrase clearly going over his head. "...What?"

At that point, the sound of footsteps came from downstairs, Luka glancing past the railing to see Tom coming up, perhaps having heard the voices even if he didn't hear any specific words.

The moment he saw Su-Han, Tom glared.

"Honey! That man bothering our daughter is back!" he shouted.

More footsteps followed, this time from Sabine and simultaneously much faster than Tom’s. Su-Han clearly caught on that this would be a repeat of "last time" (one of Luka's fonder memories of seeing the man be dealt with) and quickly fled back into the other room to return to Marinette's balcony and escape.

Once Luka had confirmed that everything was okay, he returned to the couch to sit at Marinette's side again. She tilted her head at him, but didn't ask any questions, Su-Han having become something on a "frequent but harmless weirdo" who she didn't understand.

Luka held an arm out invitingly, then wrapped it around Marinette when she snuggled against him. He used his free hand to open the bottle of iced tea - finding it difficult but also not worth leaving their cuddle to allow for both hands - then tipped the drink to his mouth to take a sip.

"Hey, Luka?" Marinette called, slightly shy in her delivery.

Luka met her gaze, setting the drink back on the table so he could give her his full attention. "Hm?"

"Could we... go on a date tomorrow?" she asked, one of her hands idly fiddling with the fabric of his pant leg. "I was thinking we could go buy a movie to watch? The one with Jagged Stone?"

He didn't know if the request had anything to do with the failed date that she may or may not recall anymore, but regardless, he was grinning like a fool. He pulled her closer, his free hand falling upon one of hers as he nuzzled her. "I'd love that."

He silently looked forward to the day where all the new memories he made with her outmatched the time lost from her old ones.

[belovedrival]

“It’s Jonas.”

It’s been almost six months but I did say I would talk about my experience, so here goes...

(It’s really long, I started this draft when Jonas was three months old)

I was told that I would be induced on March 10, a Wednesday. My due date was the 17th but baby had been measuring large for months so my doctor just wanted to go ahead with it. I agreed. We’d made it to 39 weeks and that was good. Plus, I felt huge and just...done with being pregnant. 

I worked (from home) on the 10th. It felt sort of surreal, knowing that we’d be at the hospital at 5 pm that evening, but I knew I needed to work to keep my mind off what was coming. For a while, at least. 

We’d started packing the hospital bags for weeks before. I’d left my suitcase open next to the bed and I’d throw things in there whenever I’d do laundry or think of something else I wanted to take. I sort of knew then that I was majorly overpacking (and in hindsight it’s laughable how much stuff I never wore/used) but at least we were prepared, right?

Yeah, about that...

Mister drove to the hospital. Since I was being induced, it wasn’t any frenetic, movie scene type, panicked dad experience. We just put our things in the car and drove there. On the way we talked about how strange it was, knowing that when we came home (God willing), there would be a baby in the car seat. Of course at that time we still didn’t know if our baby was a girl or boy.

(Mister told me later that he was almost certain baby was a boy. He said he’d heard too many nurses/medical personnel ‘slip’ while we were having ultrasounds and whatnot.)

People can choose to find out or not, but it puts a whole other dimension on the experience when you don’t know in advance. Just my two cents.

As we turned into the hospital parking lot, Mister told me to open the glove box. “There’s something for you in there,” he said. I opened it, trying to swallow the bowling ball that had lodged itself in my throat.

“Oh!” I said. “What I always wanted - an owner’s manual!”

When I’m nervous, I often joke.

There was a small white box next to the owner’s manual. In it was a necklace with an aquamarine pendant; one of the birthstones for March. Of course I cried.

We took an obligatory selfie before going inside the hospital. After getting checked in, we went to our room. I remember thinking that we’d only be in that room probably a day, and that 24 hours later, we’d be upstairs post delivery.

Ha. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!

I was given a drug to start labor (not pitocin). I’ve always hated needles and so getting an IV was not part of my top 100,000 Things I Love to Do List. Thankfully, the nurse who put it in was really good, so I barely felt anything. 

The one major memory of this whole experience (other than Jonas, of course) was how good the nurses were. I am forever grateful to them. 

Other than the IV and monitors, Mister having to sleep on the sofa, and me laying on a hospital bed, we could almost trick ourselves into imagining we were staying at some sort of hotel. Almost. For a few hours, anyway.

Wednesday night into Thursday morning was okay. I was feeling persistent pain. It wasn’t terrible, just uncomfortable, and I knew that it was part of the process. I didn’t sleep great but I was able to get some rest.

Around six o’clock there was a shift change, and my nurse for the day came in. Liz had a kind of cheerleader vibe about her, very positive, and in some other circumstances I might’ve found her annoying. But I liked her.

My doctor came in a little after seven and broke my water. That experience was...weird. I mean, it was a new experience for me, so it’s hard to describe. Uh, water is wet, so it was wet? Honestly, the thing I remember the most is that there was some meconium after Doc broke my water, which worried me a little. Baby was doing fine and no one seemed super worried, so I set it aside. I DID think it meant I was guaranteed to have the baby that day. How wrong I was, and not for the first time...

They gave me pitocin after my water was broken. So my contractions increased. It felt more like strong period cramps to me. I should say at this point that I have a high pain tolerance. I don’t know what the same level of contractions would feel like to someone else. Sometimes I was only mildly aware that I was having them. 

Probably one of the most annoying things about my entire experience Wednesday/Thursday/into Friday was not being allowed to eat anything. I had ice chips, and water, and Liz managed to get me some Jello. This was actually something of an issue, because I had gestational diabetes, so at first nobody wanted to give me anything except for sugar-free Jello. I did have some of that, but as the day wore on and there wasn’t much progress, Liz talked to somebody and got me some regular Jello. I would’ve preferred something else, but Jello was what I was allowed, so Jello I got.

I...don’t really like Jello. Seriously, like if it’s the only thing, I’ll eat it, but...yeah.

The hours ticked by. Progress was slow. At first I looked forward to Liz and the other nurses coming in and checking me, but by late afternoon, it was clear that things were slooooooow. The best part of Thursday was sometime in the afternoon Liz suggested bouncing on the ball. I was really happy to get out of bed and bounce for a while. After doing that, I decided it was time for the epidural.

I’d decided beforehand I wanted an epidural. As I said, I absolutely hate needles, but I also didn’t want my body to be so stressed that labor couldn’t progress. In the back of my mind, I also thought that if the situation changed, and a c-section became necessary, the epidural would already be in place. 

After the epidural was put in, I started shaking on the edge of the bed, tears rolling down my face. Liz was still holding on to me, and Mister was there, and they both asked what was wrong. I couldn’t speak for a minute. It felt a little like I was five years old, still terrified of that darn needle, and all the tension I’d suppressed had to get out somehow.

“It’s okay,” Liz said, giving me a hug. Sometimes that’s all that’s needed. I was sorry to see her go when her shift ended. She said she was working again on Saturday and that she’d stop by to see us after the baby was born, to see what we were having. (She did stop by.)

This was a constant refrain from most of the nurses: upon first coming into the room, and looking at the white board that had my information and seeing next to “Baby” was written “Surprise!!” we inevitably got the question, “You don’t know what you’re having? That’s awesome!” 

Getting the epidural made the pain diminish, but it also made things more complicated for me because I couldn’t move. Overnight, a tag team of nurses turned me one way and the other, and checked me. 

(I should also mention that all of the staff at the hospital had already been vaccinated, and they all wore masks into the rooms. We did not have to wear masks in the room, but if we went outside it, they were required.)

By Thursday night, both Mister and I were feeling rather discouraged. All day Thursday we’d been told that baby would come “by the afternoon”, then “by the evening”, and then late Thursday, “by Friday morning”. Bear in mind that I’d been on an IV/ induced since roughly six pm on Wednesday. 

Maybe this sounds laughable to people who’ve had 72 hour long labors, but I’d been mentally prepared for around 24 hours of labor. My twin sister had been induced with her first, and her labor had gone about that long. Around midnight on Thursday I was feeling pretty discouraged. Mister wasn’t angry but he said (when we were alone) that he felt like the staff had been overly optimistic. I just don’t think either of us had thought about the implications of me being induced without any sign of active labor. In hindsight, I was glad it was done then, but...yeah. Not being mentally prepared for that long of a labor was hard. I felt bad for everyone who was waiting on updates; it felt like literally nothing happened for about thirty hours. Like I think was dilated to five by Friday morning. And effaced? Practically nothing. My cervix wasn’t getting thinner at all.

Early Friday morning, a new nurse started her shift. My first impressions of Diana were...well, I thought, “she’s definitely not as friendly as Liz.” She was more brusque. As I hadn’t slept much Thursday night, and having been in the same situation for over a day, I didn’t care nearly as much about making friends. By that point I was tired - physically, mentally, emotionally.

But Diana was awesome. She got me turned onto my hands and knees, and had me start doing some vigorous exercises, to really move labor along. I was fine with doing whatever she said because I was REALLY ready to be done. So it felt a little like my cross country days in high school, at the finish of a difficult race. I was tired, I wasn’t sure how much I could do physically, but we had a GOAL and dammit, we were going to do everything to get there!

By late morning, even after the exercises, I was still dilated at a five. Hardly effaced at all. After checking me again, Diana left the room. The option of a c-section had been discussed, especially since it was over 24 hours since my water had been broken.

“I think I’m done,” I said to Mister. Even though I’d never really been 100% ‘I want a natural birth experience’, it felt a little like giving up. I started crying again. “I just don’t think this [natural labor] is going to work. I’m done.”

“If you’re done, that’s it,” Mister said. “Tell Diana you want a c-section.”

I have to say something here about Mister. Even though he kept saying he didn’t know what he was doing or how he should support me, he was AWESOME. He supported every decision, and listened to me talk about the different options. For as hard as labor was for me, I think he had a different hard time. All he could do was literally sit there and watch me go through pain and doubt and fear, and comfort me as best he could. He was a great comfort.

(This is why even if thoughtful partners don’t think they’re doing a good job at supporting laboring moms, they most likely are. Their presence is invaluable. For anyone who doesn’t have a supportive partner with them, or an absent one, my profound condolences.)

When Diana came back in, I told her I wanted a c-section. This was around 11 o’clock Friday morning, March 12th. “I agree,” she said right away, patting me on the shoulder. “You’ve done everything you possibly can to get this baby delivered naturally. I trust mom’s instincts on this.”

Her support meant so much. Really, when a veteran nurse says they trust your instinct, how can you not feel better about your decision?

She left to contact my doctor and several other people, and Mister let people know what was going on. At that point I was more relieved that soon it would be over. I wanted to see our baby.

Mister said later that he learned that hospitals have two speeds: 1) we’re in no rush; and 2) something is going to happen NOW. While my c-section wasn’t an emergency, once the decision was made, things did happen fast. Diana brought the anesthesiologist into the room so he could numb me up. As I already had the epidural, this didn’t take very long. After a few minutes of letting the medication work, Bryce asked if I could feel my toes.

“No,” I said. It was weird. I knew I shouldn’t feel them, but I couldn’t help saying, “I’m trying to wiggle them!”

“No, no, it’s good you can’t feel them,” both Bryce and Mister said. I was wheeled out of the labor room a few minutes after that (I was not sorry to leave it) and taken to the OR. Mister went with someone else to take our stuff to the recovery room.

I’ve been in operating rooms before. They aren’t places that make me want to stay there. Bright lights, metal everywhere, many thoughts of what could go wrong...although I will say that all the staff in the OR made me feel confident. I was glad to see my doctor. 

I felt better once I was in the OR (the only time in my life I’ve ever felt that way) but it felt like a long time until Mister arrived in there. He’d gone with a member of staff as they took all our stuff to a recovery room, then been taken to the OR. Once he was in place, everything started.

Doctor M had asked me before Mister arrived if he wanted to ‘announce’ was the baby was. I told her that he most likely would, but to ask him. She did, and he said yes, he’d love to do that.

There was a blue sheet in front of me so I really couldn’t see anything that went on - which was PERFECTLY FINE with me.

Obviously, I was flat on my back, and everything below my chest was numb. The doctor and others asked me at various times if I felt anything, and I didn’t (other than tugging and pulling). At one point, I suddenly smelled the unmistakable scent of something burning. “What is that? That burning smell?” I asked, glancing above me (really, behind me) at Bryce, who stood there.

“I’ll tell you later,” he said.

Which immediately told me I didn’t want to know what it was. 

Yeah, it was me burning, while the medical staff cauterized me, keeping me from bleeding to death.

(The fact that cesarean sections are major surgery, and regularly happen every day in the United States, is, frankly, a miracle. Everyone hears about the horror stories when something goes wrong, but considering the number of women who go through them without incident, we as a society completely take them for granted.)

As the tugging and pulling continued, and Doctor M said things like, “there’s the head”, the sense of anticipation increased. I’ve never felt anything like it before. Both Mister and I knew any moment we would meet our baby, and after waiting 39 weeks (and eight years before that), it was almost unbearable.

Doctor M said, “Here’s the baby!”

I heard a slight cry, and I looked up at Mister, who sat on my right, holding my hand. He looked down at me and said, “It’s Jonas.”

Even thinking about that moment now brings tears to my eyes. In knowing Mister almost eleven years, I’ve only seen him cry maybe five times. Including this year, on March 12th. We both were bawling, and laughing at the same time, as Jonas VERY loudly screamed his disapproval at being evicted from his warm, cozy space. At one point, Mister, laughing as he cried said, “One of the ---s (our last name) needs to stop crying in here!”

He has a rather husky cry, Jonas does. I loved his cry from the moment I first heard it (though I don’t actually like to hear him cry, if that makes any sense).

As I was sewn up, Mister moved his chair over to where our baby was, under a heat lamp. Then he brought Jonas over to me. My first thought was, he’s HUGE. My second thought was, he was the most beautiful baby I’d ever seen.

He weighed nine pounds, five ounces at birth, and had a fifteen inch head circumference. After I heard that, I knew a natural birth was never going to happen. He was born on Friday the 12th of March, at 1:14 pm. The digital clock on the wall said 13:14, which I thought was cool. And it made it a bit easier to remember the time :)

He had lots of dark hair, which I loved. My sister’s had bald babies, so it was nice to have a different-looking kid. Over the last few months, his hair almost entirely disappeared due to cradle cap, and is coming back in...blond. Genetics!

I can say now that it’s past, that I was more afraid during pregnancy than I could admit to anyone, even Mister. I have always been a worrier, and finally being pregnant after so many years, and being high risk due to my age (and my shunt, and the gestational diabetes...) I was in almost constant worry of something going wrong. First of miscarriage (no one needed to tell me of the statistics regarding older mothers), then of stillbirth, like the cord getting wrapped around baby’s neck, and death happening before delivery could happen. I have heard of at least two different stories of that happening to pregnant women in the ninth month - friends of friends of mine - and the fear of that, or something else equally catastrophic happening was, at times, almost crippling. I would’ve preferred to have never been pregnant at all rather than suffer a miscarriage or stillbirth. 

Perhaps it sounds childish, but mentally I didn’t think I was strong enough to have the dream of motherhood dashed, when every day of pregnancy brought that dream closer. I was (and still am) too much of a realist to ignore the statistics; I couldn’t pretend I was 22 and have a blissfully ignorant uneventful pregnancy. To this day, even after giving birth to a healthy baby, one of the biggest things that will set me off is the assumption that way too many people have. “We’re planning on getting pregnant soon.” “Just have kids, you’ll understand.” “I can take you out and make one just like you.” [a redneck phrase I’ve heard being said to a misbehaving child]

Not many of us can “plan” on getting pregnant exactly when we want to - or even within a year’s time. Not all of us can “just have kids” - they’re not like going to the store and getting a gallon of milk. (I recognize the privilege of living in a society where going to the store and expecting fresh milk can also sound arrogant to those who don’t live in one.) ‘Take out’ a kid (even said in jest), and ‘make another one’? I MIGHT have another child in the next couple years. More likely, I won’t. Not all of us can just get pregnant at the drop of a hat. (That’s assuming the one wanting to get pregnant even has a male partner or sperm donor at the ready...some never find that person to have a child with. And adoption can be a great thing, but not everyone is cut out for it. Shaming infertile and childless people for not wanting to adopt is disgusting.)

I was open with my OB-GYN about my fears during pregnancy and she referred me to several resources, and monitored me for PPD. My best friend’s son died in March 2020, a year before Jonas was born (though Billy had severe disabilities which made his death a certain thing), and my sister had had a stillborn son in August 2019 (my nephew Christian). So Jonas being born healthy was a huge relief for me. I can’t really describe the relief, except to say that as much physical weight I gained during pregnancy, letting go of the weight of the worry was felt even more deeply than losing the pounds since his birth (and I’ve haven’t lost all of that).

I will probably always worry about *something*, when it comes to Jonas. He gave me a scare earlier this week, rolling off the couch before I could catch him. He’s fine...and the incident scared me more than it scared him. But every day since he was born is a reminder of the gift he is, and I hope I never lose sight of that, even on the frustrating days (and there have been those over the last almost six months, and there will be more to come).

If you ever wanted children, and are fortunate enough to have them, cherish them. Be grateful for them, even when they drive you up the wall. Even when you only want three minutes’ peace, and they won’t give it to you. Love them anyway. I try to.  

[obxsummer]

Heart of Gold // Hold On

word count: 3.1k

warnings: physical violence, cursing, blood, injuries

summary: there’s pain in your eyes with no escape in sight as you remain in the kook kingdom. the rescue mission begins and suddenly, it seems like agreeing to rafe’s terms are the only chance at living that you may have, especially when jj’s life is put on the line.

a/n: ooh i love some nice angst, y’all already know

masterlist

series masterlist

--

Your head was pounding against your skull as you laid on the cold concrete floor where you had fallen. A concussion was most likely the cause from Rafe slamming you against the wall before leaving you to crumble to the ground with no assistance.

“We could be so powerful,” He complained as he paced the room in front of you. With a sigh, he crouched down to survey your bruised, sunken in face. “I’m sorry I have to do this to you. I don’t like seeing you in pain but you clearly don’t understand my point of view.”

You rolled your eyes and shifted out of his grip. “I understand it loud and clear, Rafe, but it’s not happening. Tossing me around and beating me doesn’t change the fact that I love JJ and that I’ll never be with you! I don’t know how Sarah hasn’t run from your psychotic family because I would’ve never looked back.”

You screamed as Rafe’s foot collided with your ankle, snapping the bones with pure force as he glared at you with enraged eyes. “You’re pathetic. Once Maybank sees how damaged you are, he won’t want to even look at you. It’s over, princess. Whether you think so or not, I won. They clearly don’t care. They haven’t looked for you once and nobody’s said a word about the beloved Princess Y/N missing from her kingdom. You’re nothing. They were probably looking for a way to get rid of you all along. I just did the dirty work for them.”

Tears were falling down your cheeks as you held your knees to your chest. Your hand shook above your ankle as immense pain filtered up and down the injured area. Chest heaving with sobs, you let your head fall against your knees.

It was so hard, so hard to hope and have faith that you would be out of Rafe’s reach sometime soon. Sarah had come back every so often to sneak you food and water as well as tell you what she was hearing from your brother, but none of it eased the aches in your body. You were so close to giving up and just agreeing so Rafe wouldn’t touch you again.

“Aww,” He faked sympathy as he kicked you again, sending you on your side as you winced from the pain of your bruises. “It’s a shame. I don’t have pity for you. Perhaps I could find some if you just agreed to my terms.”

The door slam shook you to your core as you curled into a ball as tight as you could. Ribs aching, head pounding, and all you could think about was if JJ would be okay without you.

--

The kingdom became a mess of plans once there was confirmation from John B of your whereabouts. The four remaining members of your group remained by each other’s sides as JJ was given the special task of going in amongst the raid and bringing you back. John B would be fighting by his side, the duo having trained together since the beginning of days. Pope and Kiara would be behind the scenes, but ready at a moment’s notice for when the boys returned, hopefully with you in hand.

“Okay, we’ll move in from this quadrant all together and then break off into smaller groups.” JJ’s finger pointed at the detailed map of Kook Kingdom that was broken down into sections. “The prince and I will move in through this path to where Princess Sarah will be awaiting our arrival. The main point is to defend and distract until we can get Princess Y/N back to safety. As soon as you see the signal, back out if possible. Don’t be afraid to call for backup and if deemed necessary, shoot to kill.”

Pope watched over his friend’s shoulder as he addressed the group of soldiers in front of him. JJ never failed to step up when it came to protecting any of his friends. Now that it was you on the line, he would stop at no end until you were in his arms, safe and sound. Pope’s chest was full of pride to know the boy in front of him.

“You have your orders,” JJ concluded as he looked at each person in front of him. “We have one shot at bringing her home. Let’s not fail. For the princess.”

“For the princess!” The group repeated his word before breaking off through the doors to prepare themselves for the battle ahead.

JJ let out a deep breath as he removed his hands from the table. Turning around, he came face to face with three important people in his life. Kiara, Pope, and John B wrapped the blond boy in a hug as he just let them hold him out of exhaustion.

“Almost there, J,” John B ruffled his friend’s hair in encouragement before they broke their embrace. “Come on, Mom and Dad want to see us before we leave.”

JJ’s heart was beating out of his chest as he walked down the hall beside his friends. He was anxious about what they were walking into. He just wanted to have you home, and he was itching to get inside and make sure you were okay.

“Kids,” Your mother greeted as the group stopped in front of her. She looked exhausted, having been tormented by her own thoughts of what went on behind closed doors as she waited for your return. John B walked into his mother’s open arms and hugged her tightly, knowing she needed the reassurance nobody could really give except you.

“I wish I could be on the field with you today, but it is for safety that I cannot,” King John addressed JJ mainly as he spoke, “Rest assured, I know each and every one of you will do your best to come back safely to me and Mariah with Y/N.”

Kiara nodded, her hand resting on Pope’s shoulder. “We will, sir. We promise.”

“Be careful,” Mariah kissed her son’s forehead before hugging him tightly. She did the same with Kiara and Pope before facing JJ. “Will the three of you step out so we can have a moment with JJ?”

The three teens gave their friend reassuring nudges and pats before exiting the throne room to wait for him outside. JJ looked at your parents with concern in his eyes. “Have I done something wrong?”

King John shook his head and placed a hand on the young boy’s shoulders. “Quite the opposite, JJ. We know of your relationship with our daughter. We have for a while now.”

“But, we promise we aren’t upset. She’s so much happier with you than we’ve ever seen her,” Mariah reassured when she saw his face falter with worry. “JJ, Y/N’s always loved you. From the first day you met I remember her running to me with the biggest smile telling me about her new friend that she found. You’ve always been there for each other, now is no different.”

“I-I… I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say.” JJ felt stupid in the moment for being unable to find words. He was here, learning that your parents knew every inch of your sneaking around, yet they were so kind and accepting of it that he was confused.

Mariah pulled him into a bone crushing hug, feeling him relax into her grasp from pure relief. She truly loved the boy, he was so good hearted. It was like he had a heart of gold, she swore at times. “It’s okay. We know you’ll save her, JJ. You always do.”

So, JJ Maybank stood there in the embrace of the King and Queen with his heart and his mind set on bringing you back to your kingdom and that was exactly what he was going to do.

--

Black spots danced across your vision as Topper yanked you to your feet. You stumbled and crashed into him with a whimper, your body failing to hold you up as you blindly tried to follow him.

“Ridiculous,” The guard mumbled as he continued to drag you from the room you had been kept in. Your eyes were wide in disbelief as you realized this was it. Rafe was going to kill you, and he was going to make sure everyone knew.

The Cameron Palace passed in a blur as Topper pulled you along towards where you assumed the throne room was. Shouting became evident to your ears along with the firing of weapons as you entered a long hallway.

“What’s happening?” You choked out as you attempted to look out the windows. “Topper, what’s going on?”

There was no answer as the young guard shoved you forward through the large double doors into the throne room. You tripped over your own feet and landed in a heap at the end of the stairs amongst the five chairs on the elevated stone. To your shock, King Ward wasn’t in the seat and it was instead occupied by Rafe who was smirking down at you.

“Finally!” He shouted, his voice echoing through the empty room as he stood and approached you. “I’m glad you could make it, really.” Rafe pulled you from the ground, his arm curling around you in a chokehold as he dragged you towards the window. You swore your feet weren’t even touching the ground as he moved while you writhed in his grip. Wounds were reopening at his rough actions, sending blood over your stained clothes and his pristine dress shirt.

Rafe’s fingers curled into your jaw as he forced you to look out of the glass. “Look at it. Your kingdom thinks it has a chance at beating mine to get you back. It’s comical, really.”

You whimpered at the strain on your sore body but you still had the energy to argue back. “Doesn’t look like they’re losing, does it?” You hissed as you watched your red and white uniformed troops take over the blue and white ones. “I know it’s hard to lose, Rafe, but I’m glad I’m here for your first time.”

“Everything isn’t as it seems, princess,” He sneered as his grip tightened on you. He moved back to where the large pillars stood next to the throne platform. Your back collided with the marble surface as Rafe yanked your arms back behind you. You screamed in pain as you felt a pop in your shoulder, the joint dislocated with the force of his actions. Harsh rope wrapped around your wrists, leaving you pinned in the awkward position as the prince stepped away.

The evil glint in his eye was evident as he stood in front of you, a devilish smirk on his lips as he observed your broken form. Stepping forward, he pressed a harsh kiss to your lips as you protested beneath him before he pulled away. “Contrary to your belief, my plan is just starting.”

Beneath the castle floors, John B and JJ were scrambling after Sarah Cameron who was leading them through the secret tunnels. Water splashed on their ankles as they finally climbed up the stairs that led them into the main dungeons.

“Come on. She should be here.” Sarah rounded a corner where a singular door was at the end of the hallway. JJ rushed forward, his anxiety getting the best of him as he threw the door open only to come upon an empty room.

“They moved her,” He huffed as the other two stood in the doorway. “Where would he go?”

“Throne Room!” Sarah snapped her fingers in recognition. “My parents aren’t here, they took Wheezie to the beach for the week. He would go there to watch the battle from up high.”

JJ squeezed the necklace in his pocket tighter as he followed the blonde out of the room and through the palace. His heart threatened to burst from his chest with adrenaline as they raced to get to you.

“Right on cue,” Rafe mumbled seconds before the room doors were thrown open to reveal JJ, Sarah, and John B. Your eyes were on the blond boy’s in seconds as you started crying in relief. They were here. They found you.

“Y/N!” Your brother shouted as the three of them moved towards you.

You shook your head desperately as you tried to get them to stop. “Behind you!”

Rafe had relocated around the edge of the room, both he and Topper jumping on JJ and John B and tackling the two boys to the floor. You and Sarah screamed in protest as you watched the two boys fight to free themselves.

“John B!” It was your turn to scream your brother’s name as he fell to the floor unconscious from the force of Topper’s hit. Sarah was by his side in seconds, cursing out the blond guard she used to trust as she cradled the brunette boy in her arms.

Rafe and Topper managed to get JJ on the floor as you cried and shouted for them to stop, all hope of freedom slowly leaving your body as you watched the blond struggle to get loose.

Rafe stepped away once his friend had gotten a decent grip on JJ. He turned to you and shook his head. “I told you, Y/N, you had a choice. I’m really sorry that JJ’s life has to end this way, with you watching.”

“No!” Your throat was raw from the scream you released as you shook your head. “Please. Rafe, please. You can’t do this.”

“I’m not completely heartless, though, princess. I’ll at least let you say goodbye.” He tapped your cheek lightly before releasing your hands, letting you go.

You didn’t hesitate to sprint across the throne room to where Topper let JJ go for a moment. JJ was ready for the impact of you hitting his chest as he wrapped his arms around you, cradling you in his lap as the two of you cried.

“You’re okay,” JJ whispered as he kissed your forehead before your lips. “You’re okay. I’m so sorry, baby.”

You shook your head, holding onto him as tight as possible with your left arm as your right one rested between the two of you from the pain in your shoulder. “You actually came.”

JJ held your head against his chest as he trembled. “I’ll always save you, Y/N.”

“Aw, how touching. Too bad I have to cut this cute reunion short.”

JJ shouted as Topper regained his grip on the smaller boy, yanking him to his feet as you sobbed on the ground. You turned to face Rafe, face full of tears as you saw him grab the sharp sword on his side.

“No!” You begged as you got to your feet. “Rafe stop!”

“Move, Y/N. I won’t hesitate to make you,” The prince growled as he approached, sarcastically brushing off the gleaming metal as if it had dust on it. “This pathetic being is the only thing standing between us and marriage, do you get that?”

You walked closer to him as JJ struggled in Topper’s grip. Your throat was tight as you fought to breathe and push air into your lungs, but you closed the gap between you and Rafe slowly. “I’ll go with you,” You agreed as you came to a stop. “You let JJ and John B go, and I’ll stay.”

“Y/N, no!” JJ’s face was red as he cried, his teary eyes never leaving your bruised form. “I’m not letting you do this.”

You ignored his plea as you set your hand on Rafe’s arm. “Tell Topper to let him go. They need time to leave the palace, and then I’m yours, okay?”

Rafe was clearly considering the offer on hand. This was a win-win. He didn’t have to clean his sword and he got the girl of his dreams all at the same time. “You double crossing me?”

You shook your head as he lowered his sword slightly. “I promise,” You vowed, your voice betraying you as it cracked amongst your emotions. “Let him go.” Rafe’s eyes watched yours as you turned to glance behind you. He waited to see if you would crack, if anything would reveal your true motive against your words. When he realized you were telling the truth, he motioned for Topper to let JJ go.

The next thirty seconds felt like hours. JJ knocked Topper down in seconds as he pulled his own weapon and ran headfirst towards Rafe. You spun at the commotion and panicked once you realized what was happening. Rafe reacted similarly as he grabbed his own weapon for attack.

Your legs moved before your brain processed as you jumped in front of JJ and shoved him away from the injury that would no doubt end his life. You hit the ground next, a groan leaving your lips from the impact. There was more screaming and shouting, the clanging of metal, and worried cries as you tried to keep your mind moving.

JJ’s crystal eyes appeared above yours, Sarah’s above him as you blinked. Your ears were ringing with noise as you tried to understand what was going on. JJ’s hands were red when he pulled away for a moment, making you confused as to who was bleeding. He was crying, Sarah too, as they both stared down at you, the blonde girl’s mouth moving but you couldn’t hear her words. You moved your good arm to rest your hands on top of JJ’s that were pushed against your chest, catching his attention. He shook his head, his tears falling against your cheeks as you mustered up a smile.

“I love you,” You whispered.

JJ shook his head desperately as he tried to stop the bleeding from your wound. He was shaking, his whole body freaking out as Sarah screamed for help, for anybody. His eyes never left yours though. He wanted you to know he was here, that he wasn’t leaving. Blood seeped through his fingers from the impact of Rafe’s sword as you protected him. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He was supposed to save you, not be the reason you were bleeding out beneath him.

The world slowed down, your eyes growing heavy as you fought to stay awake. JJ watched, unable to look away as your eyes slowly closed and your hand went limp against him. Now, he knew. Now, JJ knew what it was like to have the world ripped away from you without any warning, and he sobbed with the realization that he didn’t know if he would ever get the chance to return those three words to you in this lifetime.

--

tags: @dpaccione​ @socialwriter​ @mimi-multifandomxo​ @hmsjiara​ @rudths​ @bubblyglimmer

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[endless-vall]

Old friends - Thomas x Isobel (MC) fanfic

Summary: Isobel and Thomas used to be childhood best friends, but lost touch after she moved at the age of fourteen. Now, moving back to Goldcliffe, Isobel wasn’t expecting to see Thomas again. But sometimes surprises turn to be the best things in your life.

Author’s note: I know the ‘childhood best friends’ trope is so cliche’, But I’ve never actually got the chance to write one. So here’s one ~

This is going to be a series (not exactly a story with chapters, but it is reccomended to read all parts for a better understanding of the story). This is the first one, hope you’ll enjoy it!

Isobel strolled through the department store isles, furrowing her eyebrows when she couldn’t find the school supplies she had to get for Zoey.

“Let’s see,” She scanned the shelves in front of her for something, anything to cross off her list.

Finally - a five section binder appeared before her eyes like the savior she needed. At least this trip to the store wasn’t a complete waste of time.

And she was in luck, it was the very last binder on that shelf.

With a victory smile Isobel strode off towards the shelf and rose to her tiptoes, grabbing the binder just as another hand grabbed at it from the other side.

“Hey, I was going to--” She starts to argue, turning towards the man who grabbed her binder a second before she could call it hers, but stopped in her tracks when she realized the figure standing in front of her looked familiar. Too familiar to be a coincidence.

In mere moments, her eyes scanned the charming man standing in front of her, his eyes having a familiar glint she couldn’t put her finger on.

“Wait--” Her eyes widened with realization. “Tom?!” 

There he was, her childhood best friend, Thomas Mendez, standing in front of her.

He certainly was much more handsom than she remembered him, but he was still her adorable nerdy Tom.

“Izzy?!” Realization hit him too, and before they could completely process the situation, they both wrapped their arms around each other and colided into a tight hug.

After what felt like forever, not that Isobel was complaining, they finally broke apart.

She needed that hug, if she was being honest, and it seemed Thomas needed it too.

“I can’t believe it. It’s been what... Fifteen years?” Thomas asked, shaking his head and looking her over again, as if he was trying to check she was real.

“Almost sixteen, yeah,” She was barely able to believe it herself.

She knew that Thomas lived somewhere around this area, but she haven’t really given it thought with work, the move, and Zoey on her mind 24/7. She certainly wasn’t expecting to just run into him like that.

“Time sure flys.” Thomas nodded, trying to find the balance between once being best friends, and now barely knowing each other. They were now completely different people than they were when she last seen him - at the age of fourteen.

“It does. And still, it feels like just yesterday we were playing under that pine tree, or sneaking off to aunt Hilda’s house after hours, just to eat some freshly baked cookies and listen to her stories.” Isobel reminisced.

Thomas laughed warmly. “Oh god, you’re right. I haven’t had cookies that good in YEARS.” Now they were laughing together.

“Well, you can definitely keep the binder,” Thomas finally let go of it, and Isobel tossed it into her shopping bag.

“What are you doing here in Goldcliffe anyway?” Thomas asks her, as they started walking together with him showing her around all the good places for school supplies.

“I... Just moved here, actually.” She admits, suddenly catching herself blushing a little.

Why was she blushing at him? 

It was just Thomas. they were friends since day one at the first grade. 

“You moved back here?” Thomas didn’t hide the smile forming on his face.

“Yeah, my daughter, Zoey, got accepted to Bernhardt, and since it’s such a good school, I decided it was worth to move back. Although being back here does bring back all kinds of memories.” Isobel got lost in thought for a moment.

“Good memories, I hope?” Thomas peeked at her and caught her off guard. He was almost blushing himself, as if he was asking some unspoken question.

“Oh, definitely good, of course. But also some sad ones like having to move, and say goodbye to all my friends and start over someplace else.” Isobel explained.

When she was fourteen, her father got a job offer in a different town, far away from Goldcliffe, and the entire family moved. She haven’t really been to Goldcliffe since, but when she met Guy at College they hit it off by striking a conversation about Goldcliffe, and how they never met back there.

Thinking about it now, Isobel was glad she never ran into Guy while she lived at Goldcliffe, and that couldn’t ruin her memories of this place.

“Well, it looks like you did a wonderful job. You say you have a daughter, Zoey? Right? I bet she’s as brilliant as you are.” Thomas throws another thing from Isobel’s shopping list into her bag, and ticks some off his list as well.

“She’s much more briliant than I ever was. She’s honestly the best thing in my life.” Isobel beams whenever she talks about Zoey, and this time is no different.

“I noticed you have a school supply list too.” She motions to his own list, her tone asking...

“Her name is Luz. She’s the light of my life, as well. I guess we still have things in common, even after all this time.” Thomas answers, still smiling although his eyes tell a little different story, but Isobel isn’t sure if she should pry.

“So you moved here with your...” But here came the question, and Isobel wasn’t able to catch herself before she sighed. 

For some reason it was too easy to be herself around Thomas, even if she haven’t seen him for more than a decade.

“Her father is out of the picture... It’s just me and her. Been that way for a while now... Four years, actually.” Isobel explains, her shoulders shrugging.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m a single father too, actually.” He puts a hand over her shoulder. Somehow comforting, even though she should probably be the one comforting him.

“But Soledad-” Isobel starts to protest. Guy was a horrible person, but Soledad seemed to be an incredible woman. Isobel was actually present at Thomas and Soledad’s wedding, although she never really got to talk to him past congratulating him.

“Passed away... Two years ago. Well, passed away is putting it mildly. Killed is more appropriate.” Thomas’s expression turns angry, angrier than Isobel had ever seen him.

“Killed??” Her mouth hangs open.

“It was a car accident on paper. Unofficially? Her brakes failed. Manufacturer defect.” He explains.

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry, Thomas.” She reaches for him. Now it her turn to assure him.

A few moments pass, they’re standing in silence, as Thomas draws comfort from her.

“How’s Luz taking it?” Isobel dares to ask, finally, barely audibly.

“Honestly? Not great. With my job Solded was usually the alpha-parent. Now I’m struggling to find the right words and Luz acts out in school.

We’re holding it together, but it’s not easy. But I’m sorry to dump this all on you on your first day back.” Thomas shakes his head, and tries to plaster back his smile and change the subject.

“No... No, it’s okay. I can’t imagine how hard it is to lose a spouse. Although I definitely know a lot about struggling.” Isobel resume their walking, her hand still intertwined somehow with Thomas’s.

“Thank you...” Thomas nods, and suddenly it sounds as if he can breath more easily.

“It’s good to have you back, you know?” He tells her, as they finally find the last of their supplies, and head towards the counter.

“It’s good to have a friend here, too.” Isobel smiles at him warmly.

At least she won’t feel all alone in Goldcliffe, and putting on a brave face for Zoey won’t be as hard anymore.

After finally ringing up all their supplies, Isobel turns to look for Zoey in the fantasy books isle.

Thomas is still walking alongside her, excited to meet the little one.

“You know, since we’re both single parents now... We could definitely help each other,” Thomas suggests, as they approach the isle and Zoey comes into view.

“Oh, I’m counting on that. Besides catching up and helping me find ultra-fine pens you’re definitely going to help me with this Berthardt’s crowd and stuff,” Isobel orders, and Thomas chuckles lightly.

“I’m not sure if I can really help with that, I don’t exactly fit in either, but it would definitely be a life-saving experience to hang out with you during those boring parent-meetings.”

Isobel laughs. “We’ll just have to find something else you could help me with,” She winks at him.

“And you could teach me how to braid Luz’s hair, since I can’t do that for the life of me.” Thomas answers, as Zoey finally raises her eyes and notices her mom getting closer.

“Mom!” Zoey calls excitedly and runs over.

“Was this your plan from the beggining? Did you approach me just so I could teach you how to braid your daughter’s hair?” Isobel was teasing Thomas now, raising an eyebrow coyly at him while Zoey zoomed in.

“Mayyyyyyybe” He teases back, and she punches his shoulder lightly. He laughs in return, and then they both turn to Zoey - who’s looking between them questioningly.

“Did you make a new friend?” Zoey finally asks, turning to her mother with sparks in her eyes.

It was obvious to anyone who looked at them from the side to see that that kid adored her mother just as Isobel adored her.

“It’s an old friend, actually. Zoey - I want you to meet Thomas Mendez. He was my best friend, actually, back when I lived here.” Isobel introduces them.

“Hi Zoey.” Thomas offers his hand.

Zoey shakes his hand lightly before taking a step closer to her mom. “Hi Thomas.” She says politely.

God, he wished Luz would be so polite when meeting new people. Luz would’ve offered Isobel to sword-fight her by now, or something along those lines.

“How do you like Goldcliffe so far?” He asks Zoey.

Zoey’s eyes sparkle before she starts blabbering. “Well, I have’t seen much of it, yet, but it’s huge! And my mom used to live here so it has to be awesome. Also, my new room rocks! I can’t wait to find cool things to decorate it with. Ooooh, and also-”

Isobel sends a questioning look at Thomas, but instead of looking bored or regretting he asked - Thomas listens contently and carefully. He nods and smiles along to Zoey’s story and Isobel heart warms.

She was happy to reconnect with Thomas, but she was even more happy that him and her daughter were getting along.

She had a feelings this move was going to be good for them. For all of them.

[tera-91]

Stars

Hi guys! this is a story I wrote for @eat-moar-veggis and their oc blog @ask-villegas-sides. I know I havn’t been on recently and I feel terrible :( Hopefully this is a much needed kickstart <3. 

Warnings: not much but some cursing, fire, embarrassing roommates

Word count: 2291 

            Lev stood in front of their closet. Various types of clothing, in a vast array of shades of green, filled every square inch of the decently sized space. “Choices, choices. So many amazing choices!” Lev said as they scanned over all the pants, shirts, skirts, dresses, vests, and cardigans. After a few moments they finally decided on a mint green pleated skirt and a sheer mint green chiffon top over an emerald green tank top. As they looked at their reflection in the full-length mirror mounted next to the closet something felt like it was missing. After a few moments they were still unable to figure it out, with a shrug of their shoulders they made their way to the rather large make-up desk.

               The stunning mahogany piece of furniture had multiple drawers, in which its contents were organized for the most part. Items that are considered to be feminine were stored on the left and the items considered to be masculine were stored on the right. Such items included make-up products for when Lev simply wanted to look pretty or even when they wanted to go all out like Reese on occasion. One of the fairly large drawers, which was sectioned off, contained a wide assortment of body sprays ranging from floral to citrus to wooded. Another drawer, located on the right, Lev rarely opened for themselves contained a few half-used jars of hair gel that Flint would, almost randomly, pop in to use. Those were some of Lev’s favorite mornings.

               This was one such morning. A knock on Lev’s door caught their attention. They knew that knock, it only took them a month to learn each of their three roommates unique knocks after they all moved into the house turned apartment building. Their heart immediately began to race. “Lev? Can I come in?” Flint’s, still rough with sleep, voice made its way through the wooden door.

               “Sure Flint.” Lev’s voice came out a couple octaves higher than normal.

               Lev watched, almost paralyzed with a mixture of anticipation and excitement, as the door knob began to turn. The door opened in slow motion, at least from Lev’s point of view, to reveal Flint. Lev could tell he hadn’t slept very well, probably due to Flint’s inability to shut his brain off when he had an upcoming test. Flint’s fair complexion had begun to reveal how little sleep he had been getting and his dark brown, almost black, hair stuck up in all directions which really showed just how restless his sleep had gotten. Lastly, his light eyes, that could seemingly look straight into your soul, had dulled ever so slightly. Despite their concern Lev quickly averted their gaze and pretended to be busy by looking down at the table, suddenly way too interested in the organization of their knick-knacks.

               In their peripheral vision they saw Flint begin to lightly rummage through the drawer, permission long understood and inquiries no longer required, in search of his favorite light hold hair gel. Said hair gel, as always, had some how found its way to the bottom of the moderately filled space. They lightly cleared their throat. “Who’s cooking this morning?” Lev asked, voice better but still half an octave higher than normal.

               It was very apparent sleep still clung to Flint’s brain with his sluggish movements and slow response.  “I believe it is Reese’s turn.” As if on que, the pair heard a smoke detector go off. The loud beeping was quickly accompanied by panicked shouting by both Reese and Beckett, the last of the four roommates. Lev looked up at Flint, who’s hair was only half styled, the two locked eyes and bolted out the door.

               They reached the kitchen, fairly quickly with a lot of bumping into one another and several apologies, to find a war zone. Or more accurately, the aftermath of a food fight. A food fight which was then followed by Reese making a serious attempt at fried eggs once the various breakfast foods had been cooked, in some cases a little too well done. An attempt that wen down gloriously in flames, unfortunately quite literally.

               Lev and Flint reacted at the same time. Lev dived for the lower cabinet next to the stove that held the lids to all the pots and pans. With their fingers crossed they grabbed the right lid, they used the lid as a shield and pulled the pan from the hot section of the stove while they capped the pan to extinguish the fire. Next thing they knew they were showered with … grains of sand? Luckily most of it hit their arm, shoulder, some even got in their hair but missed their eyes. However, a quick check revealed the grains to be table sugar.

               Lev glanced to their left to see Flint, essentially frozen, with his arm still stretched out and Beckett’s sugar canister for their tea in his hand. “You-you threw sugar at me?” Lev asked confused.

               “I was simply attempting to extinguish the fire. S-since it was a grease fire, water would’ve made things worse.” Flint began to speak faster with each word. “Sugar was the best option.” He finished without making eye contact, face slightly pinker than usual, as he slowly set the canister back down on the counter.

               Sudden laughter broke the silence. All attention fell on Reese, who was nearly completely doubled over with tears streaming down his face. “Uh Babe?” Beckett’s, gruff yet quiet, voice interrupted the laughter. A not so subtle question to the blonde to find out what was so funny.

               “I-I knew that Flint was s-sweet on Lev but as always he’s so literal.” Reese brokenly explained through rogue chuckles. The meaning of Reese’s words clicked together in Lev’s mind as they saw a smirk form on Beckett’s normally neutral face. Flint was sweet on them? Like how Beckett was on Reese before they got together? He like them? Shyly their gaze panned over to the bespectacled Raven, whose face had gotten exponentially redder than before.

               “Reese! That’s not nice.” Beckett said as he covered his mouth with the sleeve of his panda hoodie to hide his amusement.

               “Oh really? Well I know how you are attracted to a bad boy.” Reese said in a playfully husky voice as he pulled Beckett closer to him by his waist. Thee scene between the two was interrupted as Flint, uncharacteristically, ran out of the room.

               “I-I’m going to go check on him.” Lev said, not completely sure the pair heard them as they had gone back to flirting. Lev left the kitchen, deeply concerned with Flint’s odd behavior and quick exit. They went to his room and gently knocked on the door. “Flint?” Lev asked softly, but loud enough they were sure Flint would hear. When they didn’t get a reply, they gingerly opened the door, hesitant to enter without permission.

               They opened the door and looked around. Flint wasn’t in the room. Before they could move to shut the door, they felt a presence behind them. “Lev?” Flint’s smooth voice made them jump and quickly turn around. Guilt immediately washed over them for opening the door, knowing Flint was a very private person.

               “I’m so sorr-“ Lev began but was interrupted by Flint.

“It’s ok.” He said as he gently placed a hand on Lev’s upper arm. “I apologize for running out like that. I must have worried you as that is not how I normally respond to Reese’s teasing.” Flint said, avoiding eye contact, face still considerably pink. Before Lev could say anything, Flint cleared his throat. “Please come in, there is something I wish to show you.” He said with a guiding push into his room and towards his bed.

               It was Lev’s turn to blush as they sat down on Flint’s bed and looked around the room. It was very organized, various folders with labels, books on the shelves appeared to be sorted by subject and size, very little clutter and few knick-knacks on display save for what Lev had gifted him. A few framed photos sat on the bedside table, probably of Flint’s family. There was also a photo of the four of them, a rare night where they all wanted to see the same movie.

               Lev’s musings were cut short as the main light was turned off and the room was thrown into complete darkness. It was then Lev realized the sole window they were almost positive the room had, was immaculately covered to insure no light filtered in. Lev’s heart rate began to increase as panic slowly began to seep in. Their heart nearly jumped out of their chest when they felt Flint sit down next to them. “I should have warned you.” he said as if sensing Lev’s increasing levels of unease. “I know you don’t like the complete dark. However, I assure you this is the best way for you to see it.” Flint explained, his voice low and calming. Lev could feel Flint shift backwards they were afraid he was going to fall off the bed. Unfortunately, they over reached and lost their balance. Next thing they knew they found themselves laying on Flint’s chest.

               Lev was actually glad it was dark in the room, their face practically glowing with embarrassment at the situation. On reflex, Flint wrapped his arm around Lev to prevent them from falling off the twin sized bed. After a moment of sliding his hand along the wall he finally found the mechanism he was looking for. With an extra stretch he was able to push the switch up enough for what he intended.

               Lev gasped as they watched the ceiling light up in a soft glow. Lights sparkled in a gentle, yet obviously meaningful pattern. Unfortunately, they couldn’t discern what the pattern was, but it didn’t make it any less mesmerizing.

               Flint shifted so he could better see Lev’s face as he glanced up at the ceiling. “Anything involving stars are my favorite subjects.” He said as the ‘stars’ slowly changed. “That’s Ursa Major but most are familiar with it being called the big dipper.” He explained and pointed up at the simulated constellation. “If you follow the line made by the two stars of the cup you’ll find Polaris.”

               “Polaris? That’s the North Star right?” Lev asked without taking their eyes off the ceiling.

               “Uh yes, it is.” Flint confirmed, slight confusion evident in his voice. He was not use to any of the others jumping into the conversation so quickly.

               “My brother always told me a good way to remember it was that Polar bears live in the North Pole. So Polar-is-North star.” Lev explained fluctuating their voice to emphasize the nuances in the saying.  

               “I never thought of it that way, I suppose it’s a good tool to remember the information.” Flint said, still processing the saying. “Do you know why it’s such an important star in navigation?” He asked.

               Lev looked up at him. “Well, my bother would say while we were camping that if we ever got turned around or if we got separated to find it, go left, climb a hill and look for the fire or lights to get home.” They began to fidget with their fingers as uncertainty crept into their voice. “It’s the brightest star.” They all but whispered.                “Not as bright as you.” Flint said, face virtually on fire as he hit a button. The ‘stars’ briefly flashed before they swirled in another breath-taking display.

               Lev was struck by the meaning of Flint’s words right as the ‘stars’ settle and arranged themselves into words. Their heart pounded and butterflies swarmed around their stomach as they read them.

               “Will you go out with me?” written in the ‘stars’.

               Lev was speechless as they looked back up at Flint. “Flint –“ They began softly.

               “Just kiss him already!” Reese’s voice could be heard through the door followed by sounds of a struggle. Probably Beckett scrambling to pull Reese away now that they were caught eavesdropping.

               The shout was enough of a push to embolden Lev. They reached their hand up, placed it on Flint’s cheek, and gently pulled him down. “I would love to go star gazing with you.” They said before they kissed him on the cheek.

               “It’s about damn time.” Came Beckett’s voice from the still closed door.

               “Beckett! Not you too!” The pair half yelled in unison as Flint found and tossed a snow globe bouncy ball at the door. The resulting thud was quickly followed by the sound of Beckett hastily getting away from the door presumably to go after his boyfriend. Flint let out an exasperated sigh before he looked down at Lev. Once the two locked eyes they broke into uncontrolled laughter. Flint, able to calm down fairly quickly, kissed the top of Lev’s head before reaching behind his back and pulled out a box.

               Lev tentatively took the box. Inside was a necklace and ring on a chain. Both pieces of jewelry had stars and glowed in the low light of the room. “I hope you like them and will wear them, depending on how you feel that is.” Flint said as he rested his head on top of theirs.

               “I adore them, almost as much as I adore you.” Lev said with a smile and they reached into the box and pulled out the constellation necklace.  Flint sat up and took the necklace from them, a silent offer to clasp the necklace for them. They sat up and turned their back to them, giddy at the feeling. Once the necklace was clasped the pair shifted in the bed and got comfortable to enjoy the stars. Now nothing felt like it was missing.

[mylittlebubbles]

Curiosity Kills Part 2 // Jughead Jones

GURL U SLAYIN THAT JUGHEAD FIC, CURIOSITY KILLS im waiting for the next part

Omg, please write part 2 for that Jug imagine

Oh please please. Part 2 of Curiosity Kills??

Well, here you go! I actually had fun writing this! I hope that I’ve done the ending justice! Enjoy! Also, don’t fret to ask me to tag you in imagines either! I’m always free to!

***

‘So, wait – you actually had feelings for Y/N? I knew it!’

Jughead was almost regretting telling Archie about Y/N and the fact that Ronnie was willing to help look for the love of his life. He always got too overly excited about Jughead liking girls, but, Archie only ever wanted to see his best friend happy and if this was the way to do it, he was willing to help.

With Betty and Ronnie being A-list super sleuths, they were willing to go to any extent to find out about Y/N’s whereabouts, their first stop, her old house.

The four friends stood out the front, looking at the homey, white little cottage house. It had vines covering the outside walls of it, giving off a very natured theme.

‘Well, the only way to find somewhere to really start to to ask the new owners.’ Betty explained.

‘Wait – how is asking them going to help?’ Archie asked, a confused frown placed on his face.

‘Archikins, if we can find out the sale agent who helped them get this house, we can then take it a step further.’ Ronnie answered. Ronnie took a quick glance at Jughead, who looked like her was over thinking everything. ‘How you holding up, Jughead?’

Jughead studied his friend’s old house, feeling many memories here with stay with her for weeks on end after everything that was happening with his own family and the times they’d shared together. ‘Let’s get some answers.’

The four of them walked up to the front door, Jughead lifting his knuckle to knock on the door. They waited a few seconds before Jughead knocked again, this time, the door became ajar. Jughead pushed the door open further to see the house was completely empty. No sign of life anywhere.

Walking in further, Jughead made a run for the stairs, straight towards Y/N’s bedroom. He pushed open the door to see only a bed remaining, no sheets or pillows, just the mattress on the ground. He was angry at himself for giving up so easily on searching for her, she probably hated him for never trying hard enough to search for her, but that is, if she was even alive.

Jughead kicked the mattress with such force out of anger he managed to flip it over, revealing a brown leather journal. He frowned, picking up the book. He’d never seen this before, Y/N never mentioned she’d written in a diary. She’d always tell Jughead she’d leave the writing to him.

He opened it, seeing a date for every single day, some things about him, others about her family and their fighting, school…everything. He moved to the last page for her last entry that she had recorded.

May 16th 2016

Dear Diary,

I still can’t believe that I introduced every entry like that. I guess maybe I really wasn’t a creative type. Anyway, this’ll be the last entry I leave.

To anyone that can find this, more specifically Jughead, things changed.

I changed.

I didn’t know how to fight it or come to terms with it, I guess this is why I’ve ran away.

Jughead knew it, she did run, she ran as far as she could and he wasn’t there to stop her.

Everyone will be searching for me, even my parents, but I don’t want to be found.

I want to be saved.

I’ve spent too much time trying to be the best I could for everyone else, but never for me. My family…though they always wanted to best for me, they forced it way too much.

I broke.

I didn’t ever want anyone to see that happy, bubbly girl broken…especially you, Juggie.

Jughead felt his eyes starting to water, reading the words Y/N wrote from her own heart.

Juggie, if you ever find this and you’ve given up hope in finding me, I wanna let you know that I’m not mad and I never will be. I can’t bare you to see me in this state of mind, looking so sad and lost…I was supposed to give you hope and happiness that you never got with your own family, I’m sorry that I couldn’t do that.

There’s something else you should know, and I can’t keep in anymore.

I love you, Jughead Jones III. I always have.

I know we are friends, but I wish for more every time I’m with you. If you finally find this at some point, I wanna give a clue into finding me, if you want to find me.

What is my favourite place where I feel the safest?

You’ll know, you always did.

Love Y/N.

Jughead closed the journal, running his fingers over the front cover. He knew exactly where she could be and he couldn’t believe he didn’t think of it sooner. He sprinted down the stairs to his friends, looking flustered but full of adrenaline. His friends looked at him then to the journal he held in his hand.

‘Guys, I think I found her.’

‘That’s great. So, where is she?’ Ronnie asked.

‘The place she feels the safest. The same place where we met for the first time…’

‘Which is where?’ Betty asked.

‘The old Riverdale Library.’

**

They all sprinted up the staircase of the abandoned Riverdale library, seeing the padlock had already broken off of the entrance. That hadn’t happened before, something was wrong. Jughead sprinted inside, followed by his friends who looked everywhere.

‘Y/N!’ Jughead exclaimed, his voice echoing throughout the building. He ran straight over to her favourite section of the library. He looked down the isle, seeing a bunch of blankets and a body laying on top of them. ‘Oh my god…’

Betty, Ronnie and Archie watched in horror as they saw the body laying still on top of the blankets. Jughead bent down, grabbing their shoulder to see the face of the girl he loved, Y/N…

Alive.

She was battered and bruised, a black eye consuming most of her face. She looked so pale and fragile, but still had the same Y/H/C hair he’d remembered from so long ago.

‘Y/N, c’mon – wake up…’ Jughead whispered. He shook her shoulder gently, seeing her Y/E/C orbs looking at him. She gave him a tired, weak smile, which made Jughead’s heart warm at the sight. He finally found her. He did it.

‘Hey Juggie,’ she croaked out, ‘You got my message, huh?’

‘Yeah, I did.’ He grabbed her cold hand in his large, warm one, lacing his fingers with her.

‘Too bad someone else found me before you did…’ she coughed, slowly sitting up. She looked behind him to see the faces of Archie, Betty and an unfamiliar raven haired girl. ‘My father… he-he worked for some pretty bad people. Not like what your dad is Jug, it-it was so much worse.’

‘How bad, Y/N?’ Archie asked instead, kneeling down next to Jughead.

‘That they fled before I had even returned home.’ Jughead’s heart hurt hearing the words of the people that were almost like his own parents. ‘These guys, another gang, were after him and I ran, but not with my parents. They’re somewhere in hiding in San Francisco the last time I heard and changed their name. I decided to move around different places, but I always came back here to the library, hoping and waiting that someone would find my note in my diary. Sadly, the gang did before you.’ She gestured to her bruised and blooded face, looking into Jughead’s sad eyes. ‘I’m alright, just in a little pain.’

‘Why didn’t you ask for help? You know Kevin’s dad would’ve done something.’ Betty reasoned.

‘Because it was too risky and I knew they were after me to get to my parents. What if they went after you guys next?’ Y/N looked at each of her friends faces It was best I remained in hiding until Jughead found me.’

‘You’re safe now, alright? Nothing’s going to happen to you anymore, I promise.’ Jughead cupped Y/N’s cheeks with his hands, placing his lips onto hers, something he’d been waiting to do for so long. He pulled away, pulling her in for a hug. Y/N gripped onto him, feeling her eyes water in happiness. She grabbed hold of Archie’s hand and gave Betty a warm smile.

‘Not to be rude, but, who’s the new girl?’ Y/N asked, making Ronnie chuckle.

‘I’m Veronica Lodge, I’m new to Riverdale – well, not really anymore. It’s nice to finally meet you, Y/N. Feel free to call me Ronnie.’ She smiled, nodding her head.

‘You too, Ronnie.’ Y/N chuckled, standing up with the help of Jughead. Y/N looked over to the entrance, clenching Jughead’s hand. ‘Where am I gonna live, Jug?’

‘You can live with me.’ Archie answered. ‘Jug’s moved in, I’m sure my dad would be glad to see you alive.’ Y/N chuckled, nodding her head towards him.

‘Thanks Andrews, I’ve missed Fred.’ She laughed, walking along beside Jughead.

Archie, Ronnie and Betty walked ahead, leaving Jughead and Y/N to have a private moment together. ‘So,’ Jughead began, a small smirk on his face, ��you love me, huh?’

Y/N chuckled, looking down at her feet. ‘Maybe, and with that kiss, I’m guessing you love me, huh?’ She mocked, causing Jug to laugh.

‘Yeah, yeah I do. As long as I’m alive, Y/N, you’re never leaving my side again.’ He kissed her forehead, pulling her close to his chest, where his heart warmed for her.

‘I’m okay with that.’ She whispered.

Tags: @jennathatsmyname @sweetvengeancee @sunshine51879 @phanofmydreams @mrsjugheadjonesthethird @shootingstarsaretearsofheaven 

[sc87confessions]

Lookin’ Forward To

You woke up the next day before Sid did, he looked peacefully asleep so you got up and went down to the hotel’s gym. You were in for about an hour when he called you to ask where you were, you told him that you’d be up in a few to go get breakfast with him and then head back home. You and Sid went down the street to a cute little restaurant that served healthy yet delicious breakfast. You guys were enjoyin each other’s company as you ate silently. “What time should I bring everyone?” you asked randomly “As early as you can so you guys can visit us before game time too” “Us or just you?” you teased “OKay mainly me, you’ve never come before anyways except for TYYY” “Sidney, we talked about this” you chuckled “What happened between you guys anyways, you said there was something there before?” “Nothin” “You guys dated?” “Why do you want to know?” “Because I’m curious, I knew there was something there” “Alright, Ty and I dated for about five months” “And?” “And it didn’t work out obviously, it was goin pretty well actually, the guys thought that Ty was finally goin to get hitched and all that” “BUT?” “I caught him kissin his ex after a night out with his “boys”, I ended it right away and this fucker had the nerve to bring her to the New Years Eve party just to rub it in my face” “Are you FUCKIN SERIOUS?! And you still talk to him?!” “Yeah but I went MIA for awhile, I wouldn’t reply to anyone, not even Jamie or Katie, until Jamie showed up with Jordie sayin how Ty knew he messed up and that he was a mess” Sidney looked at you like he couldn’t believe what you were sayin. “I don’t get how you stayed friends with him” “I was alone in Dallas Sidney, it’s sad to say but I knew I couldn’t have him out of my life, him nor the team, which is why I forgave Tyler, but I knew I could never trust him again which is why we never dated after” “So if he would’ve never messed up, you guys would’ve probably been married by now” “Who knows Sidney, somethin else could’ve gotten in the way later on” “Right” he said a little sad “I can’t believe I’m sayin this but everythin happens for a reason Sidney, me becomin a cop, me endin up in Pit, us meetin each other in Dallas right before I moved out there.” You said as you finished eatin your food. Sid sat in silence for a while as if lost in his own thoughts. Once you were both done you ended up leavin back home to change and get ready for the game. ​​​ You looked at yourself in the mirror and couldn’t grasp the fact that you were goin to a Kings game but this time in Pens gear, Sid’s to be exact. You felt like a trader but somehow you felt very proud of wearin Sid’s jersey. For the first time you’ll be wearin Pens gear whether it was away or not, which made you a bit nervous this is what you what you have to sacrifice to be with Sid you thought as you smiled to yourself. Your family however chose for the Kings gear which you were glad about as you wanted someone to cheer for your home team. When you guys arrived at the arena, you went to will call to grab the tickets and saw that Sid again had given you glass seats, this time though, on the visitin side of course. You were excited to be there at the game as it had been years since you’ve stepped foot at Staples Center and even more to see Sid play again. You went downstairs to see Sid, when he saw you his face immediately lit up. “Someone finally made it” he said ecstatic as he made his way to you and gave you a kiss, “thank you for coming down here (Y/N)”. Your sister then took a pic of you guys together. You had to admit you guys actually looked great as a couple. When the guys came out, they looked your way to see what you were wearin, most of them couldn’t believe it. Murray acted like he was cleanin his “glasses” to make sure that he was seein correctly. When Geno came out he immediately nudged Sid when he saw that you were in Pens gear. Sid’s face was more ecstatic than ever him seein you in his jersey. The game was fun and intense as LA was a pretty great team as well, luckily not too many fights broke out. Your family was havin a blast but somehow they then ended up cheerin even more loud when Sid scored a goal. You were yellin your lungs out when Sid scored, you got a few chirps here and there but you couldn’t care less. The Pens ended up takin the W in OT, you knew that Sid was goin to be in a great mood. You met with Sid downstairs, you knew he wanted to go out to celebrate so you guys went to a nice restaurant out in Manhattan Beach. It was nice seein all your family together includin Sid, how they interacted made you happier than ever. Sid would look at you now and then and smile subtly. He looked at you with more attention when you played with your smaller nephews and mostly the baby. In Sid’s mind, he couldn’t wait to have this kind of future with you, sooner than later for him. ​​​ The next day, you guys did the same thing, this time headin out to Anaheim, and this time you had no problem sportin the Pens gear as you had always hated Anaheim. The Pens played even better against the Ducks with a win over them 5-2. You guys headed out to another restaurant out in Newport, it was a nice place with a rooftop section which had the perfect view of the ocean. You really missed bein in California, havin time to be with your family made you realize that as much as you missed it here, you couldn’t move back, Pittsburgh was your new home, for good. You were lookin out towards the ocean when you felt someone hug you by your waist, of course it was Sid. He gave you a kiss on your cheek and then leaned his head on your shoulder. “What are you thinking about?” he asked “Nothin, just enjoyin this view, I missed it” “Mhmm, you’re a better view” “HAAha oh Sidney” you said as you turned around to face him You both stared at each other for a few seconds “I can’t wait for you to meet my parents, just a few days away” he said excitingly “What if your parents don’t like me Sidney?” you said half playful half serious “Are you kiddin me? My mom’s been bugging to meet you and Taylor of course too, my dad’s more quiet about it but I can tell he’s curious to meet you as well” he said as he kissed you lightly on the lips. Dinner was great but you guys were all tired from goin back and forth and of course it bein the holidays. It seemed like every time it was still just as difficult to say goodbye to your loved ones but they understood that you had a great career goin for you and now thankfully another amazin person by your side to support you. ​​​ The plane finally touched down in Pittsburgh as you gathered your things and headed out towards the baggage claim. You were waitin for you luggage when you saw Jake waitin for you with Leila. They looked great and happy together, as much as Jake had gotten mad at you, you knew he was appreciative for makin the first move for him, he’ll never admit it though. You guys headed out to get lunch and then went on back home to relax. It was a few days before NYE but you knew Sid’s family should come into town any minute. You were gettin ready for bedtime as you had work early tomorrow mornin. Just on cue Sid texted you Sid: Hey baby, parents are in town tomorrow morning, how does dinner sound? You: I should be out by 6 if that’s ok? Sid: Perfect, I’ll pick you up around 7 You: Sweet, I’m goin to bed Goodnight Sidney Sid: Goodnight baby sleep well It was around noon when Jake and you were decidin what to have for lunch, you guys went to a small cafe that had great paninis. Jake and you were deep in conversation when you felt your phone buzzin, you let it go to voicemail but 3 more calls followed again, you checked to see that it was Sid. “Hey babe, whats up?” you asked him “Uhmm just getting coffee with my parents, you look nice by the way” “I’m in uniform so I don’t know how ni---wait how do you know?” you said as you looked to your left towards the tables “Your other side baby” Sid said as he chuckled You turned and sure enough there was Sid with his family Oh SHIT this wasn’t how I was supposed to meet them Act cool Sid walked towards you as his parents followed behind “Hi baby, these are my parents” he said ecstatically as he gave you a kiss “Hi! It’s nice to meet you guys!!” you said as you got up to greet Trina, Taylor and Troy. “We’ve been dying to meet you, see who the great woman is” said Trina as she gave you a hug “All he does is talk about you haha” teased his sister as she hugged you too, causin Sid to glare at her a bit. “Hello Mr. Crosby” you said as you extended your hand to Troy. He stared at you for a bit, you almost thought he wasn’t goin to like you, until he brought you in for a hug as well “Well if it isn’t my future daughter-in-law I hope!” he said joyfully “Sid, honey, she’s stunning!” his mom added as Sid blushed “Pleasure to meet you guys, this is my partner Jake” “Hey y’all, it’s nice to meet you!” Jake said as he got up to greet them as well, “y’all are welcome to sit here” You guys sat down on one table and continued to talk “So how’s work going?” Sid asked “Not too bad, few calls but mostly minor events” you said “I can’t believe Sid’s dating a cop” added Taylor, “she can pretty much kick anyone’s ass, including yours Sid haahha” “Oh sure she can” he replied sarcastically “Sure looks like it since you talk to them a lot about me right baby” you said sassily “Whatever” he said givin up You guys enjoyed each other’s company for about 15 more mins since you and Jake had to go back to work You said your goodbyes as you guys got out into the patrol vehicle, Sid givin you a kiss and hug and wishin you to be safe. “Don’t forget about dinner baby” he reminded you “I won’t haha, 7 right?” ​​​ You had to admit, you were pretty exhausted from travelin and goin back to work early, time however was flyin for you. You got into the shower as soon as you got home and got ready for dinner. You wore a red sundress with your cowboy boots, you did your makeup naturally and curled your hair in loose waves. Meetin Sid’s parents earlier helped you calm your nerves a bit but you were a bit nervous of what they would ask you or if they’d change their mind about you. Jake helped you stay calm as he talked to you about the New Year’s day party that you guys were plannin at your home, he shared some pretty big news “So I know it’s soon, but I’m goin to propose to Leila at our party, is that okay?” He had taken you ring shoppin to get some opinions on what Leila would like so you knew he was goin to propose, you just didn’t know when. “Jake I think that’s perfect, we’re goin to decorate the house very well plus all of us are basically goin to be there, includin your family” you said eagerly, “I’m so happy for you Jake, don’t forget about us other people though ahah” you said as you heard the doorbell ring “Well soon enough, I won’t be the only one engaged, that is if Leila says yes” he said nervously “She’d be dumb not to, but Sid and I are not there yet, see you later Jake” you said as you headed towards the door Sid picked you up in his truck as he said that his parents and sister were on there way to the restaurant from shoppin at the mall. “You look beautiful (Y/N)” he said as he put his hand on your knee, rubbin his thumb softly “Thanks babe, so do you, well not beautiful er--- handsome, you know what I mean haha” As you guys arrived you saw that Sid’s family arrived at the same time as well, Taylor complimented you on your outfit and sat next to you and Sid at the table. Troy was excited to talk to you about your job and what kinds of things or people you had encountered so far. He was really interested in what you did as a living, Trina felt the same way but was more concerned than ever too. “Honey, how are you not scared of what you do?” she asked curiously “I am sometimes but I mostly think that I am better than that person who is out to get other people who are innocent, for me it’s not about bein scared, more about doin what’s right to protect others” “My my my, I hope Sid never lets go of you” Trina shared, puttin her hand over yours. You guys enjoyed an amazin dinner, which went way better than you thought it would. You were lookin forward to gettin to know Sid’s family more over the course of the New Year’s party and hopefully for the rest of your life.​​

[crimsonblackrose]

This museum was the last on my rushed museum day and it was the most rushed. Generally the hours for the Musée d’Orsay is from 9:30-6pm. (I’ll go more into their specific hours on different dates and closings at the end of the post.) But due to the strikes they closed early. Very early. While they said they weren’t closing before 5pm they started closing everything down at 4:30pm. The cafes, bookstores and the shops closed before 4:30, which was a shock because on regular days those stay open till they start clearing people out at the very least. Their hours were essentially unknown/uncertain until I actually showed up at the museum and read the signs posted everywhere. I hadn’t seen online that they were closing early which meant it was a shock to show up to find the museum I’d expected to be open the latest was closing early.

I managed to get to the museum at 3:19pm, which gave me a little over an hour before they started shutting things down. This stressed me out since I had expected to have at least 2 and a half hours to leisurely wander around. My goal was to check out their famous impressionist exhibit because my eldest sister said that it had changed her mind about impressionism seeing it in person.

While I was visiting they had a special exhibit on Degas. It was entitled “Degas à l’Opéra”. It ran from September 24th 2019- Janury 19, 2020 and was probably the most popular exhibit while I was there. It was crammed packed full of people even though they were only allowing so many people in at a time. Because I had such a limited amount of time in the museum to begin with I found this frustrating. It was difficult to see the paintings let alone move on from where I was and go to the next section. And other people weren’t being their best museum going adults. While I was there an argument broke out because a woman decided to take a short cut through a display which held the pièce de résistance of the exhibit. I think I watched a women loose her faith in humanity in that moment.

Just because there’s space doesn’t mean this is a way to cut through the exhibit. -sigh-

Edgar Degas is a famous French artist who worked in a multitude of mediums. He’s probably most famous for his impressionist paintings of ballerinas. (Though he hated being lumped in with impressionists who mostly worked outside with landscapes.) There are some that can be found at the Art Institute in Chicago.  He spent a lot of time at the  Opéra de Paris and seemed to have painted every inch of it from what guests see to the life backstage. His paintings of dancers sold well and his ability to capture movement and dance in a painting is lovely.

Walking through the exhibit was fun. I’m sure it would’ve been better to have seen the collection with more time and less people around. But I’m still glad I went and saw it.

After finally squeezing my way out of the Degas exhibit I hurried upstairs to see the rest of the impressionist art. All of it is on the top floor, the 5th floor. The floors between, third and fourth are closed and I found taking the escalators there was no way there to get to the second floor from that end. I could feel the impending closing of the museum over me like I’d make it to the fifth floor only to be shoved into an elevator and kicked out. But I made it and I rushed to see the Van Gogh pieces they had.

Before getting to the museum I’d tried to look up the highlights and according to the first result on google apparently they had starry nights. However after wandering around looking at the other Van Gogh pieces and being unable to find it I searched again and learned they didn’t actually have it.

I also found other pieces in my rush I hadn’t expected to find there that I recognized.

And I also took in the beauty that was the old train station. If you have time I highly suggest enjoying the cafe on the fifth floor. It has a beautiful view out the old clocks. They were sadly closing as I showed up.

Things like that, like little shops closing or the cafes stopping people from coming in made it feel like I’d run out of time. So I hurried back downstairs, wandered through the statuary and took a quick glimpse of the first floor before leaving.

I truly over did it. I never think it’s a good idea to cram as many museums into one day as you can. But I did it, out of the stress of getting my moneys worth with the museum pass. And I did. Technically. I was able to skip past long lines and queues and go straight in to nearly every museum and was very lucky. However by having the museum pass for only a two days and being in Paris for such a short period of time it meant that I was about to collapse on the steps of the Musée d’Orsay. I had taken a break on one of the benches in their statue courtyard inside, however as much as I wanted to stay there forever I couldn’t.

While the Louvre was very obvious online about the warnings that they were closing early I had difficulty finding anything until I arrived with the same warnings for the Musée d’Orsay. Thankfully it seems the strikes have been resolved but I highly suggest double checking. I’m lucky I arrived early enough to get in. While I was leaving people had arrived and were completely blind sighted and heart broken to find the museum had closed nearly 2 hours early.

The Musée d’Orsay is closed on Mondays, May 1st and December 25th. They are open Tuesday through Wednesday and Friday through Sunday from 9:30am until 6:30pm. They stop selling tickets at 5pm and start going through and “clearing the museum” at 5:15pm. On Thursdays they are open from 9:30am until 9:45pm. On Thursdays they stop selling tickets at 9pm and do their museum “clearing” at 9:15pm.  Tickets are € 14.

Musée d’Orsay This museum was the last on my rushed museum day and it was the most rushed. Generally the hours for the Musée d'Orsay is from 9:30-6pm.

[additionallysad]

Beach House Progress: Walls Up, Walls Down, & New Floor Plans http://ift.tt/2krPLYm

We’ve shared some random details about our beach house progress here and there, but we’re waaaaay overdue for a giant picture-filled blog post about everything that has been going on over there, complete with our latest (and hopefully final) floor plans!

Let’s just say that things are looking VERY different these days (you can check out the before pictures here and virtually walk through via this video tour). We definitely have the whole “sometimes it has to get uglier before it can get prettier” thing going on.

As you can see from the photo above, we’ve demoed out all of the existing walls. The big “LEAVE” is not some horror-movie-style warning, just a note the contractor left for his crew so nobody removed the curved wall’s lath (leaving it will make it easier to bend drywall around it later).

If you listened to this week’s podcast, you already heard that despite our hesitations to bust down all of the existing plaster (and occasional drywall sheets – this house was definitely a hodge-podge), everyone around us from the inspector to the contractor was telling us that it was just too risky not to open things all the way up to make sure we caught all of the issues lurking beneath.

The argument for taking things down to the studs was two-fold:

1. The condition.  We could’ve methodically patched and/or replaced the cracked, damaged, stained, or straight-up missing plaster (along with any sections that were removed during upcoming electrical, plumbing, and HVAC work) – but it actually would’ve driven costs way up, both for all of the tedious repair work AND for the added time it would take the electrician, plumber, etc, to work within the damaged old walls. So starting over was actually the more time- and cost-efficient option.

2. The secrets. We could see some visible mold on the plaster and pretty heavy termite damage to some of the already-exposed studs, so our contractor made a strong case for removing the old walls just for the peace of mind that we could identify and resolve any other hidden issues that might be structurally unsafe. We’re SO glad we did because we discovered additional termite damage (see the right picture below) as well as several places where the framing just wasn’t doing its job anymore (see that warped stud on the left).

We were sad to have to take the house apart more (all we want to do is put it back together!), but discovering this stuff made us feel good and thorough. Now all we need are some extra reinforcements throughout much of the structure to keep things nice and square, and ensure that our new walls won’t pop and crack down the line.

Stripping down all of the interior walls also reassured us that we made the right call in replacing the exterior siding as well (you can read more about that in this post). We already knew there were some rotten parts of the siding, but opening the walls revealed there were also TONS of gaps (as you can see in the picture below). The town inspector warned us that cold winds tend to blow up through those and cause lots of trouble heating these older homes in the winter, and as you can tell, there was no housewrap OR insulation between the siding outside and the plaster inside. This house never would have been sealed well had we just patched the exterior siding and the interior plaster instead of taking it all apart. In the end we’re SO GLAD WE CAUGHT THIS!

So in the long run we know these updates will make this house a lot more structurally sound as well as easier and less expensive to heat and cool, which will hopefully save us time and money (and tons of frustration) in the long run. Plus we still get to save things like our original hardwood heart pine floors, the old stair railings and treads, the original doors/doorknobs, and the old millwork/trim (which we’ve saved for rehanging once things are back together).

And speaking of doing our best to look on the bright side, removing the walls also led to a couple of cool discoveries – like this brick chimney stack that was lurking behind a faux-mantle in the living room, which went all the way up through the front bedroom. It has a couple of holes that will need to be repaired, but we like the idea of keeping the brick exposed to add character to both rooms. I think our excitement over the find is best expressed in this photo:

Note: we first attempted to stage that photo as “kicking” rather than “punching,” which mostly yielded hilariously blurry outtakes like this. The things we do while the contractor’s back is turned…

So this is what the upstairs looked like last time we were there. And I should clarify that while we cleared out much of the trash in the house and began some of the demo, we ended up hiring the bulk of this work out to our contractor. It quickly became clear that our progress was going to be veeeeeery slowgoing if we tried to accomplish this on our short weekly visits, and with mold, lead paint, and asbestos in the mix (which are all things that old houses typically have, unfortunately) it’s a good idea to be extra safe and hire a pro if you can.

And as we mentioned on this week’s podcast, seeing the whole house stripped down to the studs helped us get a better grasp on just how large some of the spaces were and it made us rethink our original floor plan idea. More on that in a moment, because first we gotta catch you up on the other big development.

Taking the interior walls down to the studs wasn’t actually the biggest project so far, it was dealing with this rotted side of the house. Not only had the siding gone to crap (word on the street is that someone many years ago used wood that wasn’t meant for outdoor use when enclosing a once-open side porch) – but the foundation was also sinking into the ground. Yes. It was set on SAND (not concrete or brick footers) and was many inches lower than the rest of the house. It was literally falling off of the rest of the house and slowly slipping into the dirt.

So the best course of action? Tear that whole puppy off and start over. (Yes, Sherry cried).

We originally had hoped we could “sister” the beams (this essentially means you reinforce them with new beams instead of completely removing everything) but upon further inspection so much of the wood was rotten or chewed by termites (and that entire side wall was asbestos shingle). So this once again was a case where EVERYONE we consulted, from a structural engineer to the inspector and our contractor was telling us the wisest thing to do was to just start over. And our contractor is a restoration expert, so he hates removing old stuff that can be saved.

The photo above is the downstairs porch area, and below is the upstairs porch (slash potty for some wild animal that broke in through the various holes in the siding). The ceilings were failing on both levels, much of the framing had rotted due to weather exposure, and it was just all around bad news.

Even the existing two bathrooms (which sat behind each of the enclosed porch areas) were suffering the same fate. This was the old master bathroom. If you ever wondered what would happen to your house if it was slowly slipping into the ground, well, it might look like this:

So once interior demo was complete, we greenlit the reconstruction of that whole side of the house (for reference, we’ve marked the affected areas in red below).

I have to admit it was pretty crazy to roll up one day and just see a whole chunk of the house GONE. #gulp

Although it did let in some pretty nice light! See, we’re always looking for the silver lining. (Note the clawfoot tub that moved into the bedroom while that side was rebuilt).

Fast-forward a week-ish and the contractor’s crew had almost finished setting our new foundation and rebuilding the entire thing. And since we’re in a historic district, there wasn’t any decision-making required (so nice!) since we just had to match the old window and door placement exactly so everything will look original once it’s done.

SO. MUCH. BETTER. No more slice of rotten siding for our poor neighbors to stare at.

Here’s what the master bathroom area looks like now. It can’t be overstated how exciting it was to step out there and soak up all of the newly rebuilt awesomeness. Anyone who follows us on Facebook or Instagram might remember that Sherry was so thrilled she lost a shoe out the window.

Before it felt so unstable and slanted that we were wary of spending more than a few seconds tip-toeing around out there. Now it’s solid, steady, and square.

Just another quick before and after progress so you can see how much has changed. This was the “before” view from the middle bedroom towards the old porch (future bunk room).

And here it is now. You can see that some of the studs on the right of this photo were completely chewed by termites (see that short stick-like piece that only goes about a third of the way up the wall? So glad we caught this stuff so we can reinforce it all.

Here’s another view of the rebuilt portion of the house from the top of the stairs. You won’t be able to see through that wall eventually, but I took the opportunity to mark it out so you can see how we’re dividing the new space:

Downstairs is kinda the same story. Here’s the view from the foyer. Again, that wall will be solid eventually, but you can see how much space is back there now that it’s not all rotten and falling in on itself. We also raised the floor up to be level with the rest of the house. It had had a big step down because, again, that part of the house was slowly sinking into the ground.

Now’s probably a good time to talk floor plan, since I mentioned that we made some changes from the last time we shared it with you guys. I tried out a new floorplanning tool, so this looks a little different than my rough version before. Things aren’t exact (for example, the curved wall in the living room wasn’t rendering well) but it has been great for keeping things straight with our contractor.

The biggest changes took place downstairs, mostly because when we stood in the newly constructed side we were stuck by how LONG it was. We had planned to just put a bathroom & mudroom in there, but it would’ve been the longest mudroom in the world.

So instead we turned half of the old mudroom into the bathroom, and are gonna use the old bathroom space as an eat-in breakfast nook. I took the picture below standing IN what will be the breakfast nook, so you can get a sense of the space. Keep in mind, originally ALL of what you see in this picture would’ve been mudroom. Yipes.

Here it is from the other side – visible through a wall in the foyer that will eventually be closed.

And just for old times’ sake, here’s that view from when we first bought the house:

We’re excited by the breakfast nook idea because we’ve heard a lot of advice that you can never have too much seating or gathering places in a vacation home, so this will create a nice spot that works as a kids table, a game table, or even just a cozy alternative to the open dining table. Plus, Sherry could not be more excited to create some banquette type seating inspired by images like this:

(source)

Adding the breakfast nook in the back meant we needed to rethink our kitchen a bit too, so we’ve essentially moved the kitchen BACK to the rear of the house, that way the breakfast nook is conveniently located off the kitchen. So in the photo below, I’m essentially standing where the dining table will go – looking at the kitchen, and the breakfast nook will be the back left corner that’s newly reconstructed.

To better figure out our kitchen, we turned to the free Ikea kitchen planner software. Again, it’s not an exact rendering (stairs!?) but I still find their software one of the easiest tools for quickly arranging cabinetry. Plus, there’s a strong chance we’ll actually do an Ikea kitchen, so why not?

Ignore all of the finishes and colors (and furniture) because this software isn’t really showing everything correctly (that over-fridge cabinet has about a foot of gap) but we just used it to make sure we liked the general flow. We haven’t totally figured everything out, but we’re thinking of tiling that triangle wall along the back by the door, maybe with some open shelves – and we’ll probably do stools and not cabinets on the backside of the island. But you can see now how you can access the breakfast nook through that doorway next to the weirdly rendered fridge.

Not too much changed in the upstairs floor plan, except that we stole a little bit of space from the middle bedroom to create functional closets for both it and the front bedroom. Other than that, the main new idea is in the back/master bedroom.

Previously there was a door closing off the back stairs (down in the kitchen, on the third step) that would provide privacy and a sound barrier for the people sleeping upstairs in that bedroom. Our contractor warned us that it wasn’t the safest idea (the inspector would never let him put a door on a step these days) plus Sherry really liked the idea of leaving it open visually, so you can see that cool back staircase instead of staring at a few steps and a door.

So to create a door solution to still provide privacy for anyone sleeping upstairs, we needed to add a wall. But since a wall would’ve blocked light from the window – we (along with our contractor) came up with the idea of double-pocket doors (possibly barn doors) with glass (possibly frosted) on top. The glass will let the window light through, and the pocket/barn solution means we don’t need space for the doors to swing. One door will slide open to reveal the railing, which isn’t perfect, but we really liked the idea of how double-doors would look and how much more light you’d get from two glass planes vs. just one.

I know the rendering above is a little janky, so instead we’ll leave you with this inspiration photo to show how we think it’ll add a little bit of specialness to an otherwise tight master bedroom.

(source)

Right now, interior framing is underway – along with hanging the new siding (which is already painted and about to go up!). We’re crazy psyched to see it at this next stage and will definitely swing back through with pictures when it’s done. No more photoshopping our siding pink!

There’s more general beach house info for anyone interested on this week’s podcast, which you can play below (if you’re in a feed reader it won’t show up so you’ll have to click through).

And for anyone who’d like to read about the beach house from the very beginning, here’s our first post about buying it, our second post with a video tour and our initial floor plan ideas, a post about our beach house decorating inspiration, and one that’s all about picking the siding color (we were inspired by the most random thing ever).

The post Beach House Progress: Walls Up, Walls Down, & New Floor Plans appeared first on Young House Love.

[vincentbnaughton]

Beach House Progress: Walls Up, Walls Down, & New Floor Plans

We’ve shared some random details about our beach house progress here and there, but we’re waaaaay overdue for a giant picture-filled blog post about everything that has been going on over there, complete with our latest (and hopefully final) floor plans!

Let’s just say that things are looking VERY different these days (you can check out the before pictures here and virtually walk through via this video tour). We definitely have the whole “sometimes it has to get uglier before it can get prettier” thing going on.

As you can see from the photo above, we’ve demoed out all of the existing walls. The big “LEAVE” is not some horror-movie-style warning, just a note the contractor left for his crew so nobody removed the curved wall’s lath (leaving it will make it easier to bend drywall around it later).

If you listened to this week’s podcast, you already heard that despite our hesitations to bust down all of the existing plaster (and occasional drywall sheets – this house was definitely a hodge-podge), everyone around us from the inspector to the contractor was telling us that it was just too risky not to open things all the way up to make sure we caught all of the issues lurking beneath.

The argument for taking things down to the studs was two-fold:

1. The condition.  We could’ve methodically patched and/or replaced the cracked, damaged, stained, or straight-up missing plaster (along with any sections that were removed during upcoming electrical, plumbing, and HVAC work) – but it actually would’ve driven costs way up, both for all of the tedious repair work AND for the added time it would take the electrician, plumber, etc, to work within the damaged old walls. So starting over was actually the more time- and cost-efficient option.

2. The secrets. We could see some visible mold on the plaster and pretty heavy termite damage to some of the already-exposed studs, so our contractor made a strong case for removing the old walls just for the peace of mind that we could identify and resolve any other hidden issues that might be structurally unsafe. We’re SO glad we did because we discovered additional termite damage (see the right picture below) as well as several places where the framing just wasn’t doing its job anymore (see that warped stud on the left).

We were sad to have to take the house apart more (all we want to do is put it back together!), but discovering this stuff made us feel good and thorough. Now all we need are some extra reinforcements throughout much of the structure to keep things nice and square, and ensure that our new walls won’t pop and crack down the line.

Stripping down all of the interior walls also reassured us that we made the right call in replacing the exterior siding as well (you can read more about that in this post). We already knew there were some rotten parts of the siding, but opening the walls revealed there were also TONS of gaps (as you can see in the picture below). The town inspector warned us that cold winds tend to blow up through those and cause lots of trouble heating these older homes in the winter, and as you can tell, there was no housewrap OR insulation between the siding outside and the plaster inside. This house never would have been sealed well had we just patched the exterior siding and the interior plaster instead of taking it all apart. In the end we’re SO GLAD WE CAUGHT THIS!

So in the long run we know these updates will make this house a lot more structurally sound as well as easier and less expensive to heat and cool, which will hopefully save us time and money (and tons of frustration) in the long run. Plus we still get to save things like our original hardwood heart pine floors, the old stair railings and treads, the original doors/doorknobs, and the old millwork/trim (which we’ve saved for rehanging once things are back together).

And speaking of doing our best to look on the bright side, removing the walls also led to a couple of cool discoveries – like this brick chimney stack that was lurking behind a faux-mantle in the living room, which went all the way up through the front bedroom. It has a couple of holes that will need to be repaired, but we like the idea of keeping the brick exposed to add character to both rooms. I think our excitement over the find is best expressed in this photo:

Note: we first attempted to stage that photo as “kicking” rather than “punching,” which mostly yielded hilariously blurry outtakes like this. The things we do while the contractor’s back is turned…

So this is what the upstairs looked like last time we were there. And I should clarify that while we cleared out much of the trash in the house and began some of the demo, we ended up hiring the bulk of this work out to our contractor. It quickly became clear that our progress was going to be veeeeeery slowgoing if we tried to accomplish this on our short weekly visits, and with mold, lead paint, and asbestos in the mix (which are all things that old houses typically have, unfortunately) it’s a good idea to be extra safe and hire a pro if you can.

And as we mentioned on this week’s podcast, seeing the whole house stripped down to the studs helped us get a better grasp on just how large some of the spaces where and it made us rethink our original floor plan idea. More on that in a moment, because first we gotta catch you up on the other big development.

Taking the interior walls down to the studs wasn’t actually the biggest project so far, it was dealing with this rotted side of the house. Not only had the siding gone to crap (word on the street is that someone many years ago used wood that wasn’t meant for outdoor use when enclosing a once-open side porch) – but the foundation was also sinking into the ground. Yes. It was set on SAND (not concrete or brick footers) and was many inches lower than the rest of the house. It was literally falling off of the rest of the house and slowly slipping into the dirt.

So the best course of action? Tear that whole puppy off and start over. (Yes, Sherry cried).

We originally had hoped we could “sister” the beams (this essentially means you reinforce them with new beams instead of completely removing everything) but upon further inspection so much of the wood was rotten or chewed by termites (and that entire side wall was asbestos shingle). So this once again was a case where EVERYONE we consulted, from a structural engineer to the inspector and our contractor was telling us the wisest thing to do was to just start over. And our contractor is a restoration expert, so he hates removing old stuff that can be saved.

The photo above is the downstairs porch area, and below is the upstairs porch (slash potty for some wild animal that broke in through the various holes in the siding). The ceilings were failing on both levels, much of the framing had rotted due to weather exposure, and it was just all around bad news.

Even the existing two bathrooms (which sat behind each of the enclosed porch areas) were suffering the same fate. This was the old master bathroom. If you ever wondered what would happen to your house if it was slowly slipping into the ground, well, it might look like this:

So once interior demo was complete, we greenlit the reconstruction of that whole side of the house (for reference, we’ve marked the affected areas in red below).

I have to admit it was pretty crazy to roll up one day and just see a whole chunk of the house GONE. #gulp

Although it did let in some pretty nice light! See, we’re always looking for the silver lining. (Note the clawfoot tub that moved into the bedroom while that side was rebuilt).

Fast-forward a week-ish and the contractor’s crew had almost finished setting our new foundation and rebuilding the entire thing. And since we’re in a historic district, there wasn’t any decision-making required (so nice!) since we just had to match the old window and door placement exactly so everything will look original once it’s done.

SO. MUCH. BETTER. No more slice of rotten siding for our poor neighbors to stare at.

Here’s what the master bathroom area looks like now. It can’t be overstated how exciting it was to step out there and soak up all of the newly rebuilt awesomeness. Anyone who follows us on Facebook or Instagram might remember that Sherry was so thrilled she lost a shoe out the window.

Before it felt so unstable and slanted that we were wary of spending more than a few seconds tip-toeing around out there. Now it’s solid, steady, and square.

Just another quick before and after progress so you can see how much has changed. This was the “before” view from the middle bedroom towards the old porch (future bunk room).

And here it is now. You can see that some of the studs on the right of this photo were completely chewed by termites (see that short stick-like piece that only goes about a third of the way up the wall? So glad we caught this stuff so we can reinforce it all.

Here’s another view of the rebuilt portion of the house from the top of the stairs. You won’t be able to see through that wall eventually, but I took the opportunity to mark it out so you can see how we’re dividing the new space:

Downstairs is kinda the same story. Here’s the view from the foyer. Again, that wall will be solid eventually, but you can see how much space is back there now that it’s not all rotten and falling in on itself. We also raised the floor up to be level with the rest of the house. It had had a big step down because, again, that part of the house was slowly sinking into the ground.

Now’s probably a good time to talk floor plan, since I mentioned that we made some changes from the last time we shared it with you guys. I tried out a new floorplanning tool, so this looks a little different than my rough version before. Things aren’t exact (for example, the curved wall in the living room wasn’t rendering well) but it has been great for keeping things straight with our contractor.

The biggest changes took place downstairs, mostly because when we stood in the newly constructed side we were stuck by how LONG it was. We had planned to just put a bathroom & mudroom in there, but it would’ve been the longest mudroom in the world.

So instead we turned half of the old mudroom into the bathroom, and are gonna use the old bathroom space as an eat-in breakfast nook. I took the picture below standing IN what will be the breakfast nook, so you can get a sense of the space. Keep in mind, originally ALL of what you see in this picture would’ve been mudroom. Yipes.

Here it is from the other side – visible through a wall in the foyer that will eventually be closed.

And just for old times’ sake, here’s that view from when we first bought the house:

We’re excited by the breakfast nook idea because we’ve heard a lot of advice that you can never have too much seating or gathering places in a vacation home, so this will create a nice spot that works as a kids table, a game table, or even just a cozy alternative to the open dining table. Plus, Sherry could not be more excited to create some banquette type seating inspired by images like this:

(source)

Adding the breakfast nook in the back meant we needed to rethink our kitchen a bit too, so we’ve essentially moved the kitchen BACK to the rear of the house, that way the breakfast nook is conveniently located off the kitchen. So in the photo below, I’m essentially standing where the dining table will go – looking at the kitchen, and the breakfast nook will be the back left corner that’s newly reconstructed.

To better figure out our kitchen, we turned to the free Ikea kitchen planner software. Again, it’s not an exact rendering (stairs!?) but I still find their software one of the easiest tools for quickly arranging cabinetry. Plus, there’s a strong chance we’ll actually do an Ikea kitchen, so why not?

Ignore all of the finishes and colors (and furniture) because this software isn’t really showing everything correctly (that over-fridge cabinet has about a foot of gap) but we just used it to make sure we liked the general flow. We haven’t totally figured everything out, but we’re thinking of tiling that triangle wall along the back by the door, maybe with some open shelves – and we’ll probably do stools and not cabinets on the backside of the island. But you can see now how you can access the breakfast nook through that doorway next to the weirdly rendered fridge.

Not too much changed in the upstairs floor plan, except that we stole a little bit of space from the middle bedroom to create functional closets for both it and the front bedroom. Other than that, the main new idea is in the back/master bedroom.

Previously there was a door closing off the back stairs (down in the kitchen, on the third step) that would provide privacy and a sound barrier for the people sleeping upstairs in that bedroom. Our contractor warned us that it wasn’t the safest idea (the inspector would never let him put a door on a step these days) plus Sherry really liked the idea of leaving it open visually, so you can see that cool back staircase instead of staring at a few steps and a door.

So to create a door solution to still provide privacy for anyone sleeping upstairs, we needed to add a wall. But since a wall would’ve blocked light from the window – we (along with our contractor) came up with the idea of double-pocket doors (possibly barn doors) with glass (possibly frosted) on top. The glass will let the window light through, and the pocket/barn solution means we don’t need space for the doors to swing. One door will slide open to reveal the railing, which isn’t perfect, but we really liked the idea of how double-doors would look and how much more light you’d get from two glass planes vs. just one.

I know the rendering above is a little janky, so instead we’ll leave you with this inspiration photo to show how we think it’ll add a little bit of specialness to an otherwise tight master bedroom.

(source)

Right now, interior framing is underway – along with hanging the new siding (which is already painted and about to go up!). We’re crazy psyched to see it at this next stage and will definitely swing back through with pictures when it’s done. No more photoshopping our siding pink!

There’s more general beach house info for anyone interested on this week’s podcast, which you can play below (if you’re in a feed reader it won’t show up so you’ll have to click through).

And for anyone who’d like to read about the beach house from the very beginning, here’s our first post about buying it, our second post with a video tour and our initial floor plan ideas, a post about our beach house decorating inspiration, and one that’s all about picking the siding color (we were inspired by the most random thing ever).

The post Beach House Progress: Walls Up, Walls Down, & New Floor Plans appeared first on Young House Love.

[vincentbnaughton]

Beach House Progress: Walls Up, Walls Down, & New Floor Plans

We’ve shared some random details about our beach house progress here and there, but we’re waaaaay overdue for a giant picture-filled blog post about everything that has been going on over there, complete with our latest (and hopefully final) floor plans!

Let’s just say that things are looking VERY different these days (you can check out the before pictures here and virtually walk through via this video tour). We definitely have the whole “sometimes it has to get uglier before it can get prettier” thing going on.

As you can see from the photo above, we’ve demoed out all of the existing walls. The big “LEAVE” is not some horror-movie-style warning, just a note the contractor left for his crew so nobody removed the curved wall’s lath (leaving it will make it easier to bend drywall around it later).

If you listened to this week’s podcast, you already heard that despite our hesitations to bust down all of the existing plaster (and occasional drywall sheets – this house was definitely a hodge-podge), everyone around us from the inspector to the contractor was telling us that it was just too risky not to open things all the way up to make sure we caught all of the issues lurking beneath.

The argument for taking things down to the studs was two-fold:

1. The condition.  We could’ve methodically patched and/or replaced the cracked, damaged, stained, or straight-up missing plaster (along with any sections that were removed during upcoming electrical, plumbing, and HVAC work) – but it actually would’ve driven costs way up, both for all of the tedious repair work AND for the added time it would take the electrician, plumber, etc, to work within the damaged old walls. So starting over was actually the more time- and cost-efficient option.

2. The secrets. We could see some visible mold on the plaster and pretty heavy termite damage to some of the already-exposed studs, so our contractor made a strong case for removing the old walls just for the peace of mind that we could identify and resolve any other hidden issues that might be structurally unsafe. We’re SO glad we did because we discovered additional termite damage (see the right picture below) as well as several places where the framing just wasn’t doing its job anymore (see that warped stud on the left).

We were sad to have to take the house apart more (all we want to do is put it back together!), but discovering this stuff made us feel good and thorough. Now all we need are some extra reinforcements throughout much of the structure to keep things nice and square, and ensure that our new walls won’t pop and crack down the line.

Stripping down all of the interior walls also reassured us that we made the right call in replacing the exterior siding as well (you can read more about that in this post). We already knew there were some rotten parts of the siding, but opening the walls revealed there were also TONS of gaps (as you can see in the picture below). The town inspector warned us that cold winds tend to blow up through those and cause lots of trouble heating these older homes in the winter, and as you can tell, there was no housewrap OR insulation between the siding outside and the plaster inside. This house never would have been sealed well had we just patched the exterior siding and the interior plaster instead of taking it all apart. In the end we’re SO GLAD WE CAUGHT THIS!

So in the long run we know these updates will make this house a lot more structurally sound as well as easier and less expensive to heat and cool, which will hopefully save us time and money (and tons of frustration) in the long run. Plus we still get to save things like our original hardwood heart pine floors, the old stair railings and treads, the original doors/doorknobs, and the old millwork/trim (which we’ve saved for rehanging once things are back together).

And speaking of doing our best to look on the bright side, removing the walls also led to a couple of cool discoveries – like this brick chimney stack that was lurking behind a faux-mantle in the living room, which went all the way up through the front bedroom. It has a couple of holes that will need to be repaired, but we like the idea of keeping the brick exposed to add character to both rooms. I think our excitement over the find is best expressed in this photo:

Note: we first attempted to stage that photo as “kicking” rather than “punching,” which mostly yielded hilariously blurry outtakes like this. The things we do while the contractor’s back is turned…

So this is what the upstairs looked like last time we were there. And I should clarify that while we cleared out much of the trash in the house and began some of the demo, we ended up hiring the bulk of this work out to our contractor. It quickly became clear that our progress was going to be veeeeeery slowgoing if we tried to accomplish this on our short weekly visits, and with mold, lead paint, and asbestos in the mix (which are all things that old houses typically have, unfortunately) it’s a good idea to be extra safe and hire a pro if you can.

And as we mentioned on this week’s podcast, seeing the whole house stripped down to the studs helped us get a better grasp on just how large some of the spaces where and it made us rethink our original floor plan idea. More on that in a moment, because first we gotta catch you up on the other big development.

Taking the interior walls down to the studs wasn’t actually the biggest project so far, it was dealing with this rotted side of the house. Not only had the siding gone to crap (word on the street is that someone many years ago used wood that wasn’t meant for outdoor use when enclosing a once-open side porch) – but the foundation was also sinking into the ground. Yes. It was set on SAND (not concrete or brick footers) and was many inches lower than the rest of the house. It was literally falling off of the rest of the house and slowly slipping into the dirt.

So the best course of action? Tear that whole puppy off and start over. (Yes, Sherry cried).

We originally had hoped we could “sister” the beams (this essentially means you reinforce them with new beams instead of completely removing everything) but upon further inspection so much of the wood was rotten or chewed by termites (and that entire side wall was asbestos shingle). So this once again was a case where EVERYONE we consulted, from a structural engineer to the inspector and our contractor was telling us the wisest thing to do was to just start over. And our contractor is a restoration expert, so he hates removing old stuff that can be saved.

The photo above is the downstairs porch area, and below is the upstairs porch (slash potty for some wild animal that broke in through the various holes in the siding). The ceilings were failing on both levels, much of the framing had rotted due to weather exposure, and it was just all around bad news.

Even the existing two bathrooms (which sat behind each of the enclosed porch areas) were suffering the same fate. This was the old master bathroom. If you ever wondered what would happen to your house if it was slowly slipping into the ground, well, it might look like this:

So once interior demo was complete, we greenlit the reconstruction of that whole side of the house (for reference, we’ve marked the affected areas in red below).

I have to admit it was pretty crazy to roll up one day and just see a whole chunk of the house GONE. #gulp

Although it did let in some pretty nice light! See, we’re always looking for the silver lining. (Note the clawfoot tub that moved into the bedroom while that side was rebuilt).

Fast-forward a week-ish and the contractor’s crew had almost finished setting our new foundation and rebuilding the entire thing. And since we’re in a historic district, there wasn’t any decision-making required (so nice!) since we just had to match the old window and door placement exactly so everything will look original once it’s done.

SO. MUCH. BETTER. No more slice of rotten siding for our poor neighbors to stare at.

Here’s what the master bathroom area looks like now. It can’t be overstated how exciting it was to step out there and soak up all of the newly rebuilt awesomeness. Anyone who follows us on Facebook or Instagram might remember that Sherry was so thrilled she lost a shoe out the window.

Before it felt so unstable and slanted that we were wary of spending more than a few seconds tip-toeing around out there. Now it’s solid, steady, and square.

Just another quick before and after progress so you can see how much has changed. This was the “before” view from the middle bedroom towards the old porch (future bunk room).

And here it is now. You can see that some of the studs on the right of this photo were completely chewed by termites (see that short stick-like piece that only goes about a third of the way up the wall? So glad we caught this stuff so we can reinforce it all.

Here’s another view of the rebuilt portion of the house from the top of the stairs. You won’t be able to see through that wall eventually, but I took the opportunity to mark it out so you can see how we’re dividing the new space:

Downstairs is kinda the same story. Here’s the view from the foyer. Again, that wall will be solid eventually, but you can see how much space is back there now that it’s not all rotten and falling in on itself. We also raised the floor up to be level with the rest of the house. It had had a big step down because, again, that part of the house was slowly sinking into the ground.

Now’s probably a good time to talk floor plan, since I mentioned that we made some changes from the last time we shared it with you guys. I tried out a new floorplanning tool, so this looks a little different than my rough version before. Things aren’t exact (for example, the curved wall in the living room wasn’t rendering well) but it has been great for keeping things straight with our contractor.

The biggest changes took place downstairs, mostly because when we stood in the newly constructed side we were stuck by how LONG it was. We had planned to just put a bathroom & mudroom in there, but it would’ve been the longest mudroom in the world.

So instead we turned half of the old mudroom into the bathroom, and are gonna use the old bathroom space as an eat-in breakfast nook. I took the picture below standing IN what will be the breakfast nook, so you can get a sense of the space. Keep in mind, originally ALL of what you see in this picture would’ve been mudroom. Yipes.

Here it is from the other side – visible through a wall in the foyer that will eventually be closed.

And just for old times’ sake, here’s that view from when we first bought the house:

We’re excited by the breakfast nook idea because we’ve heard a lot of advice that you can never have too much seating or gathering places in a vacation home, so this will create a nice spot that works as a kids table, a game table, or even just a cozy alternative to the open dining table. Plus, Sherry could not be more excited to create some banquette type seating inspired by images like this:

(source)

Adding the breakfast nook in the back meant we needed to rethink our kitchen a bit too, so we’ve essentially moved the kitchen BACK to the rear of the house, that way the breakfast nook is conveniently located off the kitchen. So in the photo below, I’m essentially standing where the dining table will go – looking at the kitchen, and the breakfast nook will be the back left corner that’s newly reconstructed.

To better figure out our kitchen, we turned to the free Ikea kitchen planner software. Again, it’s not an exact rendering (stairs!?) but I still find their software one of the easiest tools for quickly arranging cabinetry. Plus, there’s a strong chance we’ll actually do an Ikea kitchen, so why not?

Ignore all of the finishes and colors (and furniture) because this software isn’t really showing everything correctly (that over-fridge cabinet has about a foot of gap) but we just used it to make sure we liked the general flow. We haven’t totally figured everything out, but we’re thinking of tiling that triangle wall along the back by the door, maybe with some open shelves – and we’ll probably do stools and not cabinets on the backside of the island. But you can see now how you can access the breakfast nook through that doorway next to the weirdly rendered fridge.

Not too much changed in the upstairs floor plan, except that we stole a little bit of space from the middle bedroom to create functional closets for both it and the front bedroom. Other than that, the main new idea is in the back/master bedroom.

Previously there was a door closing off the back stairs (down in the kitchen, on the third step) that would provide privacy and a sound barrier for the people sleeping upstairs in that bedroom. Our contractor warned us that it wasn’t the safest idea (the inspector would never let him put a door on a step these days) plus Sherry really liked the idea of leaving it open visually, so you can see that cool back staircase instead of staring at a few steps and a door.

So to create a door solution to still provide privacy for��anyone sleeping upstairs, we needed to add a wall. But since a wall would’ve blocked light from the window – we (along with our contractor) came up with the idea of double-pocket doors (possibly barn doors) with glass (possibly frosted) on top. The glass will let the window light through, and the pocket/barn solution means we don’t need space for the doors to swing. One door will slide open to reveal the railing, which isn’t perfect, but we really liked the idea of how double-doors would look and how much more light you’d get from two glass planes vs. just one.

I know the rendering above is a little janky, so instead we’ll leave you with this inspiration photo to show how we think it’ll add a little bit of specialness to an otherwise tight master bedroom.

(source)

Right now, interior framing is underway – along with hanging the new siding (which is already painted and about to go up!). We’re crazy psyched to see it at this next stage and will definitely swing back through with pictures when it’s done. No more photoshopping our siding pink!

There’s more general beach house info for anyone interested on this week’s podcast, which you can play below (if you’re in a feed reader it won’t show up so you’ll have to click through).

And for anyone who’d like to read about the beach house from the very beginning, here’s our first post about buying it, our second post with a video tour and our initial floor plan ideas, a post about our beach house decorating inspiration, and one that’s all about picking the siding color (we were inspired by the most random thing ever).

The post Beach House Progress: Walls Up, Walls Down, & New Floor Plans appeared first on Young House Love.