#had exactly 2 seats and 6 beds for a 6 person house. plus nothing to do apart from one tv; the phone and the worst bookcase

[pterodactylterrace]

Guys Like You Chapter 14

Title: Guys Like You

Chapter:  14

Chapter Summary:  Settling into family life.

Rating: 18+

Warnings: It’s so much tooth rotting fluff. Like... I went overboard with the fluff, I couldn’t help myself.

{Prologue} {Chapter 1} {Chapter 2} {Chapter 3} {Chapter 4} {Chapter 5} {Chapter 6} {Chapter 7} {Chapter 8} {Chapter 9} {Chapter 10} {Chapter 11} {Chapter 12} {Chapter 13}

"Briar." Henry whispered, popping his head into the room where the little girl was playing.

"What?"

"Mama's resting up for tonight, how about you and me go check out that park down the street?" Henry suggested, hushing the girl when she squealed excitedly. Overall, finding a place to move in together hadn't been too much of an effort. Henry found Faye wasn't too picky when it came to homes. She had been impressed by every one they had seen. They had decided on one that was on a nice quiet street, not too far from town, had a big fenced in yard for Kal, enough rooms for everyone plus a park just down the street. Briar had been begging Faye to take her since they had moved in last week, but they found it hard to find time for an adventure while also trying to settle in.

If Henry had to venture a guess, he'd say they were about 3/4 of the way there. The kitchen and the bedrooms had been sorted. Henry's office/gaming room was still mostly in boxes, as well as most of the living room furniture. So far, the only thing not boxed in the living room was the couch, which Faye was currently passed out on. They had intended to unpack more, but Henry could tell she wasn't feeling right. Faye told him it was just a headache, but Henry insisted she lay down anyway.

Now was their chance to sneak out and procrastinate on actually working on the house. Henry made sure her jacket was zipped up and her hat was secure before taking her little mitten clad hand in his, leading the giddy girl down the street to the park. Her eyes lit up when she saw all the different things to play with, from slides to swings to monkey bars, all just waiting for her to climb all over them. Her hand was free from Henry's the second her little sneakered feet touched the grass, darting off to go and play on as many different things as she could.

Henry followed after the little girl, lifting her into the toddler swing at her request and setting her in motion, unable to keep the smile from his face at her elated giggles. He had intended to keep her low, not wanting to scare the little girl, but was soon reminded of her love of baby adrenaline when she started demanding to go higher and higher. He finally reached the point where she was swinging near his face, squealing in laughter the entire time, her little mitten clad hands holding the chains as her feet kicked gleefully.

"Catch, catch!" Briar laughed, twisting around to plant a kiss to Henry's jaw when he caught the seat. "Again!"

Henry was more than happy to comply, releasing the seat and letting her swing again, stepping back and giving another small push. He had half a mind to record her time on the swings; this was the type of moment that the best memories are made of. She was so happy, soaring through the air without a care in the world. He hadn't known her for very long, but he already could tell she was growing up more. She was turning into her own little person, with her own thoughts and ideas. So stubborn, unafraid to take risks and she had him wrapped around her little finger. Just like her mother. He somehow felt bad for missing out on the first years of her life, even though he didn't know her then. She deserved to have a father figure to spoil her. She needed someone in her life to show her how a woman should be treated so she wouldn't settle with someone that wasn't right for her.

How her own father could want nothing to do with her was baffling to him. She was the sweetest little girl. She would constantly pop out of nowhere to squeeze his leg in a hug and scurry off again. Every time he picked her up, she would kiss his cheek and throw her little arms around his neck. She cuddled close for bedtime stories, always reacting like it was the first time whenever he would read one to her. How anyone could decide not to be a part of her life was beyond him, but at the same time he was glad. If her biological father hadn't been a complete douchebag, he wouldn't be where he was now, living with the woman he had fallen with so hard, so fast. He wouldn't have a house to fill with their own memories together. He wouldn't have someone special with him at the premiere tonight. He wouldn't have taken the little girl with him on a sneaky adventure to the park while the woman he loved was napping on the couch. He wouldn't have his own little family so for that, he was grateful.

"Down!" Briar decided when she swung back to him, her eyes locking on the slides and large play structure not too far away. Of course, she would want to climb on something while she was there. Henry stopped the swing's motion and unfastened the little girl, her feet barely touching the ground before she was sprinting off again toward the slides.

Henry chuckled to himself at the little girl's excitement, sitting down on a nearby bench to keep watch as she played. She was a little ball of energy, climbing the ladder to the slide and going down head first, giggling the entire time. She zipped across the play yard, climbing the large structure in the middle and going down the curly slide on one side. Henry settled back into his seat as he observed, silently patting himself on the back. She would be too worn out to throw up a fuss for the babysitter when they had to leave later. He just hoped Faye was feeling better by then. He would hate to drag her out for something this important when she felt unwell.

Her stunning dress had been delivered just two days ago, her face lighting up when she caught her first glimpse of it. Henry knew she would look beautiful in it. He also had the feeling she would look even better when he took it off later that evening. The couple had wasted no time in christening every surface they possibly could. Their bed, the bedroom wall, the shower, the vanity, the couch, the kitchen counter, the table. Everywhere they could possibly get to and not wake the baby was fair game.

Between moving, and the premiere, he also had his mother's birthday coming up. That was something he needed to remember to tell Faye about. It had somehow slipped his mind with everything else going on. He had told his mother they would all try to make it out to see her for her birthday, but he had somehow forgotten to bring it up to Faye. Hopefully she didn't have anything else planned. His mother was really looking forward to meeting her.

Henry slowly scanned around the play area of the park, taking note of everyone else around. It quickly became apparent that all the other adults were women. Most of which were currently staring at him, quite possibly recognizing who he was. He really should have worn a hat to hide behind. Would that look weirder though? A random guy sitting on a park bench, hiding his face behind a hat, watching children play? Why weren't there more fathers out with their children? Sure, his own father worked a lot when he was growing up, but he always had weekends off, and he made sure to make time for his family on those days. This was a Saturday afternoon, shouldn't there be at least one or two other men around? His overthinking was making him more and more uncomfortable the longer he dwelled on it.

"PAPA!" Henry jumped up without thinking, his current train of thought instantly cut off at the child's scream. His eyes locked on her in a second and he dashed across the playground in four quick strides to kneel down next to the little girl on the ground who was holding her knee and crying. He was suddenly grateful no other men were around. It would have been really awkward for him to go running up to someone else's kid like that.

"Hey, hey, it's ok." Henry soothed, picking her up and letting her cry into his neck. "What happened, princess?"

"I... I fell do-down." Briar sobbed, clinging to him as he rubbed her back.

"It's ok. You're ok." Henry assured, deciding then was the best time to take their leave as many sets of motherly eyes had already locked on him, now hyper aware of his presence. This seemed to be quickly going from a fun bonding experience to Henry being turned into eye candy as he tried to soothe a crying child.

Briar had calmed down considerably by the time he had gotten them home, though he decided to continue carrying her anyway. If he had to guess, she wasn't exactly in the mood for walking. He tried to be quiet when he came back inside, hoping not to wake Faye and alert her to their sneaky adventure; it didn't matter how quiet his entrance was however, as Faye was already waiting by the door when he came in.

"Is she ok?" Faye asked softly, looking at the girl still clinging to him as though her life depended on it.

"I fell down." Briar sniffed, slowly reaching to her mother for more coddling.

"I bet that was scary." Faye soothed, taking the child in her arms and kissing her head softly. "Did you fall off of something at the playground or did you just trip?"

"Just trip." Briar mumbled, cuddling close to her mother.

"How did you know where we went?" Henry asked suspiciously, raising a brow as he began taking his coat off.

"Oh please, it's not rocket science. She's been begging to go since we moved here, you'll do anything she asks and the playground is in the direction I saw you two coming from. Busted, mister." Faye explained as she helped the little girl out of her coat and mittens.

"It wasn't sweeties before dinner this time." Henry defended himself, stealing a kiss as he reached beside her to hang up his coat, taking Briar's and hanging it up as well.

"You should have woken me up, I would have loved to have gone too." Faye pouted, slowly letting the squirming child down.

"You weren't feeling well, and tonight is an important night." Henry reasoned, resting his hands on her hips and pulling her closer.

"So you really want the babysitter coming here with everything still in boxes?"

"If I hurry, I can probably make the living room look livable. At least mount the TV or something. Possibly just set the iPad up on the coffee table and pretend that's what we use as a TV."

"Yes, because I'm sure they will believe that a giant geek ass dork nerd like you would have such a tiiiiiny little screen to watch his nerd shows on."

"Well I did find myself a small woman. Maybe I just really like little things." Henry teased, kissing the top of her head.

"Who do you think you're calling small?"

"You." Henry shrugged, kissing the top of her head again.

"I will have you know, I am not small. Everything else is just big."

"That's what you always tell me that every time we - ouch!" Henry chuckled, rubbing his ribs where Faye had poked him.

"That did not hurt."

"Well it didn't feel nice either!"

"We need to get the living room unpacked, come on." Faye insisted, quickly poking his ribs again and dashing off to the living room, Briar poking Henry's hip and racing off after her mother.

"Woman! You are teaching the baby bad habits!" Henry chastised, pursuing after both of them.

"I am doing no such thing! She needs to learn your weaknesses." Faye taunted, keeping the couch between her and her boyfriend.

"I already do whatever she asks, why does she need a weakness?" Henry laughed, slowly circling around one side, both girls skittering around to the other.

"One day you may say no." Faye shrugged, squealing when Henry reached over the back of the couch, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to him.

"Now why would I ever say no to either of my girls?" Henry asked, cupping her jaw and kissing her softly.

"There might be an occasion." Faye reasoned, bumping her forehead against his, her other hand sneaking up to tickle his ribs again.

"Would you stop?" Henry grumbled, dragging her over the back of the couch and wrapping his arms around her tightly.

"I will never stop."

"Papa, no!" Briar gasped, running around to the back of the couch and grabbing her mother's hand. "Mama, come on!" She urged, trying to pull her free.

"Oh what, now you're on her side? I thought you were on team me!" Henry gasped, letting Faye be pulled from his arms.

"Gonna get you!" Briar giggled, attempting to tickle at his leg.

"Ok, now this is not fair!" Henry grouched, letting Faye go to snatch Briar up instead. "Two on one, really?"

"Papa, down!" Briar squealed, wiggling when he started to tickle her sides.

"Down? Now why would I put you down?" Henry laughed, jumping and barely suppressing a swear when Faye snatched his ribs again.

"Briar, I'll make you a deal. I'll let you go if you help me get Mama." Henry stage whispered to the child, setting her down and chasing after her mother when she darted off down the hall.

"Mama!" Briar cheered, chasing after the two, Kal now following the rest of the family to the kitchen.

"I know what you're planning, and it's not a good idea." Faye warned, slowly backing up to the counter.

"Oh, and why is that?" Henry asked, pressing up close to her, pinning her between his body and the counter.

"I'll tell on you."

"And who are you gonna tell? Briar? She's on my side now, remember?"

"Uhh... how about your mother? Would she side with me?"

"Oh!" Henry lit up, his mind jumping to another subject while he still had her trapped by his body. "That reminds me. My mum's birthday is next week, she's wanting us to come."

"That's a bit of a distance, isn't it? You have to factor in a toddler sized bladder into all travel plans now, my love."

"That is true. We also have to worry about Briar having to stop for restroom breaks."

"Oh, Mr. Somebody over here thinks he has jokes." Faye scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"We can fly there, it won't be as bad." Henry reasoned, kissing the top of her head. "She's really wanting to meet you two."

"Wait, she knows about us?"

"Faye, do you really think my mother wouldn't know about the woman I've been dating for the last ten months? We've moved in together, I think the people close to us are starting to suspect something."

"But I mean... does she know about us?" Faye asked, her eyes flicking down to the little girl trying to climb Henry's leg.

"She's excited to have another little girl to spoil. For some reason, us Cavill's just don't have very many girls."

"And she's ok with that?" Faye asked, fiddling with the hem of her shirt nervously.

"Why wouldn't she be?"

"I don't know. It's... a lot. It was a lot having you step in and step up like you did. It just doesn't seem like something a mother would want for her baby boy."

"I'm in my thirties." Henry snorted.

"Yes. You are over six feet tall, over two hundred pounds and over thirty years old. You are also her little baby boy."

"Briar, am I a baby?" Henry asked, reaching down to scoop her up.

"No, you Papa Bear!" Briar giggled, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"And there's also that. Since when does she call you Papa?"

"She just yelled it a the park." Henry shrugged. "Is it something we need to discuss?"

"Well I mean... if the shoe fits." Faye mumbled. "I just don't want her to freak you out."

"I've been acting the part for a while now, if it bothered me, I would have said something. We're a family now, Faye. You're stuck with me."

"Oh am I?"

"Yes you are. If you leave, I'm going with you. Right Kal?" Henry asked, looking down at the canine, his tail swooshing across the floor in excitement at being included in whatever was going on.

"So now I have three children to worry about?" Faye groaned, her head falling back in mock annoyance.

"It would seem that way, yes. One is very easy to care for, however. He can let himself outside and his food is on an automatic timer."

"I don't know if you mean you, or Kal."

"Alright, two of us then."

"Enough with the distractions now, Mister Sir. We have more work to do around here." Faye reminded, reaching up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek and taking Briar from his arms.

"So, I'm going to unpack the living room and you two are...?" Henry fished, reluctantly releasing Faye from her prison.

"I'm gonna help Briar get her room the way she likes it."

"Her room was the first thing we did." Henry pointed out suspiciously, his eyes narrowing as Faye skittered around him. "Oh no, you get back here, Woman!" He called, taking off after them again, mother and daughter both laughing as Faye hurried to Briar's room. He caught up with the two of them just as Faye was setting her daughter down, quickly snatching his girlfriend up and playfully biting at her neck. "You are not getting away that easy!"

"It was worth a shot." Faye sighed, letting him drag her back to the living room where he promptly sat on the couch, settling her in his lap and resting his head on her shoulder. "This doesn't seem like unpacking." She teased, resting her head against his.

"Of course it is. We are visualizing how we want it to look." Henry chuckled, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. "What are you thinking?"

"Hmm... TV over the fireplace?"

"A solid choice."

"Coffee table in front of the couch. Side table over there. Briar's little table and chair over there. Probably put Kal's bed next to it."

"He'll lay next to her whether we put the bed there or not." Henry pointed out.

"True. How good are you at putting together IKEA furniture?"

"It is definitely going to be a job for another day." Henry decided, eying the few new pieces they had gotten for the larger living room.

"The toys should probably be near Briar's table so she's not tracking them everywhere. Kal's toy basket can go by his bed. We'll find a place for the pictures once we have the big stuff figured out."

"Sounds perfect." Henry agreed, holding her a little tighter when she tried to stand up. "Just a few more minutes of visualization."

"If you keep putting it off, it'll never get done."

"I'm not putting it off. I'm prioritizing physical contact with my lady right now."

"You just don't want to mount the TV."

"It's a pain in the ass to mount that thing." Henry groaned, looking at the still heavily wrapped TV leaned against the wall.

"It's your TV."

"And I did the sensible thing and paid extra for someone else to fight with it the second time I moved."

"We should have done that with all the furniture."

"Feels less personal, though."

"That's true. Now come on, big guy. We've got stuff to move around." Faye sighed, sliding from his lap and offering her hand to him to help him off the couch, not that he needed it. She would take any excuse she could to touch him, however.

The pair got to work, Henry doing the literal heavy lifting despite Faye's protest that she could move things on her own. They managed to get the furniture - minus the TV - in place; Briar occasionally popping in with a new snack every time, offering each a bite before scampering off again. Faye was putting Briar's toys in her toy chest while Henry went through the boxes, looking for any others containing toys.

"Oh, I found the bath toys!" Henry announced, holding the box up proudly.

"Oh, great. Briar's going to be thrilled when she takes her next bath." Faye sighed in relief. To say the little girl had been less than thrilled to have a plain no-toys-or-bubbles bath was an understatement. As it turns out, no more tears shampoo does not apply when the cause of the tears is from lack of toys.

Henry was putting the toys in the cabinet, down low where Briar would be able to choose what she wanted for herself, when he first saw it. It was a blue and white box with one particular word that grabbed his attention without even trying.

"Faye?" He called, his heart in his throat as he picked up the box, raising a brow at her when she appeared in the doorway, unable to force himself to form words.

"I haven't taken it yet." Faye admitted, seeming to shrink in front of his eyes, the words on the box staring accusingly at her.

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[stillbandofbrothersthirsty]

As Far As Friends Go

Chapter 17 (Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10; Chapter 11; Chapter 12; Chapter 13; Chapter 14; Chapter 15; Chapter 16)

Emily - September - October 1944 Emily’s mind was with Nixon as she quietly crept down towards the kitchen. He had looked so disheveled wandering the halls like a madman. Emily worried that he was struggling to sleep again. She flicked on a small lamp just inside the kitchen. It provided enough light to guide the kettle. Within a moment Emily stood beside the stove waiting for the water to boil. She wanted to be careful to pull it off the burner just before it whistled. The last thing she wanted was to wake the entire house of officers before they left England for good.

A slight draft blew through the window panes just above the sink and Emily was glad she had thought to bring the tartan blanket from the foot of her bed. As she waited, she peered out the window expecting to see nothing but black. Emily imagined all the creatures that may be roaming about in the night. She had seen plenty of deer, rabbits, and even a few foxes since coming to Aldbourne. Instead of woodland animals, Emily made out the faint silhouette of someone sitting on the bench only a few yards from the manor. She squinted through the pane wondering if it was one of the officers. A speck of orange illuminated the raven night and Emily recognized the posture of the man smoking. She knew that figure, she had sat beside him for hours. Emily pulled the kettle off of the stove and filled two mugs. Clutching her blanket with one hand, Emily balanced the steaming mugs against her chest. The ceramics weren’t hot through the wool blanket but she walked quickly outside anyways, afraid the tea would cool once it hit the night air. “Hey Joe,” Emily approached Joe Toye, adjusting her grip on the mugs. It was chilly outside, but not so cold that the blanket wouldn’t suffice for warmth. The bench Joe sat on was perfect for over looking the low swooping valley below. Emily could smell the smoke from his cigarette who’s tip glowed each time he sucked at it. “Am I disturbing you?” She asked. “Emily, hey,” Joe hardly turned to look over her shoulder, “nah, take a seat.” Emily circled the bench and sat down beside him gazing off into the darkness. She held out one of the hot mugs, “tea?” she asked. Joe grimaced, but accepted the cup, “I don’t know why the tom’s are so moony over this stuff,” he said taking a tentative drink. Emily chuckled, “you don’t have to drink it.” “Eh it’s okay, thanks,” Joe flicked his cigarette to the ground. “So what’re you doing out here?” Emily asked. “I don’t know, just couldn’t sleep.” “Feeling anxious about tomorrow?” Emily kept her voice gentle. Something about Joe allowed her to immediately let her guard down. She felt totally comfortable around him but that didn’t mean he was comfortable around her. “A little bit, I don’t know.” “That’s reasonable to feel that way,” Emily said. She didn’t want to push him. Joe exhaled deeply. They sat in companionable silence for a while. A breeze rattled the leaves in the trees as if warning them of their fate. Emily much preferred the cold to the heat. She was perfectly content cocooned in her blanket with the cool air turning her cheeks red. “Would you call me a coward if I told you I was scared?” Joe’s voice was husky. Emily looked at him in surprise. “Not at all Joe! Not one bit.” Even in the dark Emily could see Joe’s Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed. “Is there something specific you’re worried about?” Emily asked gently. “I don’t wanna let anyone down,” Joe confessed into the night. “Joe, why would you say that? You’re not going to let anyone down. You’re one of the best soldiers in Easy Company.” Joe chuckled humorlessly, “I have a hard time believing that.” “It’s true,” Emily kept her voice low, “ask any guy here. You’re the one they want in their corner. You’re the one I want in my corner.” Emily wasn’t just saying that to make him feel better. She had gotten to know Joe well since Normandy and there were few people in the world she trusted more. Joe was the kind of guy who would be there for you without question. “Ugh,” Joe groaned. He ran a thick hand across his face. “Fuck. Sometimes I don’t know what I’m doing here, why I deserve to be with the best of the best.” Emily’s heart ached for him. She knew exactly how he was feeling. There were few feelings worse than doubting your own place. It was incredibly lonely. “Because you’re one of the best,” she said firmly. Joe laughed bitterly but otherwise accepted her compliment. “I honestly wonder what I’m doing here sometimes too,” Emily admitted. “Yeah?” Joe looked at her properly for the first time all night. “Yeah. I came over here a completely different person and now,” she shrugged, “now sometimes I don’t know who I am or what I’m doing.” “You’re the map girl,” Joe said matter-of-factly. Emily laughed, “oh is that what I am?” Joe allowed himself a little smile, “I mean that’s what we call you. That’s one of your nicknames at least.” Emily’s mouth dropped in mock shock, she was curious, “What? How did I not know I had nicknames! What else am I known by?” “You really wanna know?” “Yes!” “Mrs. Nixon.” A shiver ran through Emily’s body and her face grew hot. “Sorry if that embarrasses ya,” Joe said. “Why Mrs. Nixon?” Emily tried to keep her voice light. “You know there’s a real Mrs. Nixon right?” Joe shrugged, “yeah, but you’re like Captain Nixon’s work wife. You guys are always together workin’ on somethin’,” he said innocently. Emily’s muscles relaxed slightly at his explanation. “I prefer map girl,” she said. “Yeah me too, you got me all set up for Normandy.” “I’m glad you made it back,” Emily said sincerely. They exchanged a look that only two people who had been to hell and back could interpret. “Yeah,” he said. Emily inhaled deeply, pulling as much of the outside air into her lungs as she could. “I’m going to go back to bed. You should probably think about getting some sleep too.” “Yeah,” Joe said morosely. His thousand-yard stare was back, “yeah.” “Okay Joe,” Emily patted him tenderly on the shoulder, “good luck tomorrow.” “‘Night.” Emily made her way back to her bedroom where she fell into a restless sleep. The journey to Holland was much more grueling than the trip to France had been. The action was less concentrated and it took weeks for Emily to be reunited with her paratroopers. Operation Market Garden had gone poorly and her route was diverted towards Arnhem rather than the over-ambitious point across the Rhine. The 101st had managed to secure a few bridges and roadways but the initial encounter near Eindhoven had resulted in Easy Company’s retreat. When Emily finally reconnected with the 101st in Schoonderlogt she sought Nixon out for instructions. He and Winters were standing outside of the building where Easy’s second platoon was bunked up. She noticed the spot of raw red flesh on Nixon’s forehead as soon as she saw him. “What’s that?” she demanded, “wait and why do you smell like urine?” 
Nixon shot Winters a dirty look but didn’t offer any explanation. Winters retold a rather jarring close call Nixon had outside Eindhoven. As Easy Company moved to retreat a bullet ricocheted off his helmet, leaving behind a burn at the top of his forehead. For all intents and purposes, Nixon was fine. He had only been left with the small red scar which was expected to fade away. Nixon thought so little of his brush with death that he had the gall to be annoyed with Winters for informing Emily about the incident. Winters, cool as ever, was uninhibited by Nixon’s attitude and explained matter of factly how shaken both he and Nixon had been in the moment. “I’m fine, it’s fine. It’s not some dramatic war story!” Nixon protested. “No,” Winters conceded, “I’m just telling her how it happened.” Emily tried to match the candid energy of the men but deep down something stirred in her: panic. She wanted to scold Nixon for not retreating quicker. She wanted to ask him so many questions like if the burn had caused him any pain. What would she have done if the bullet had penetrated the metal? She would’ve lost him. It was in that moment she realized she would not be able to cope if he had been killed. “I’m fine,” Nixon repeated firmly, looking directly in her eyes. Emily cleared her throat, “I know. You’re standing here aren’t you?” “Exactly. Plus, you’re lucky you didn’t make it here earlier. 2nd and 3rd Battalions’ C.P.s were hit in force. Major Horton was killed.” “What?” Emily asked in shock, her stomach rolled with fear. “Yeah, glad you weren’t working when the Germans hit,” Winters added. Emily had missed out on so much. Obviously, the army had gotten her over as quickly as they could but she wasn’t priority personnel and the roads were difficult to travel. She cursed her femininity. If she had been a soldier she would have been able to slip back to 2nd Battalion with greater ease. Every day throughout her journey she had encountered men who were AWOL from the hospital, trekking back to their companies, and it didn’t take them nearly a month. “By the way, Em, I think we’re gonna need you later. Dick and I have got to go meet Strayer and I’m sure he’ll have a project for me,” Nixon said. “I’ll be at HQ anyways,” Emily said, “I have some things to set up anyways.” Nixon nodded at her, “thanks.” He and Winters jumped in a jeep and drove off. Emily took the chance to take in her surroundings. Everywhere around her soldiers were bustling about unloading trucks and dodging jeeps. The dirt roads were sodden with mud. Emily looked down at her boots. This wasn’t the first time she was grateful that they were part of her uniform. She began to make her way down the road past thatched grooves and stone buildings. As she walked she made various plans in her mind for what she wanted to get done once she made it the Battalion HQ. It was difficult reconnecting with her team after so much time apart. There was no saying what they had started working on, and Emily had little clue as to the recent developments in their corner of the war. The first couple of hours would inevitably be spent playing catch up. It was an extra hurdle for her to overcome, all because she would never be authorized for jump training. Let’s keep the bitter thoughts to a minimum, she chided herself. There was no place for negative thinking in a war zone. She made it to the command post to find it bustling with officers. Colonel Sink was barking orders in the background. Emily slipped in as inconspicuously as possible and found her way to a side room where other intelligence staff members were working. “Hi Larkin,” she said to a young S-1 working over an open chest. He was pulling out stacks of papers and re-arranging them on a nearby desk. “Hi Miss Rooney,” he briefly looked up to greet her. “What’s the most recent status on things?” she asked him. “Um, we’ll be in this area for a while. Patrols are being sent out to monitor the area while we get situated. A few have already successfully taken some key crossroad points.” Emily nodded, “thanks.” Larkin was concise. It was enough information for Emily to begin to work off of. She located a map of the area and began to review the intersections surrounding Schoonderlogt and outside of Arnhem. “Has anyone been tracking what’s been secured?” Emily asked. Larkin handed her another version of the map she was looking at with few places marked in red ink. “Thanks!” Emily accepted the map. “Okay,” Nixon clapped his hands together sharply, announcing his entrance, “we’ve got some work to do. We’re assisting the British Lt. Colonel Dobie here with rescuing a bunch of his men.” Lt. Colonel Dobie stepped in behind Nixon. “Where are they?” Emily asked looking up from her map. “15 miles north of the river.” Emily tracked the map as he spoke, “Easy company will meet them on the riverbank with boats.” “What do you need from us?” Emily asked Nixon. “We need to pinpoint where exactly to place the boats. Also, we need to take a look at the enemy dispositions and area maps.” Larkin directed Nixon and Dobie to the dispositions as Emily sat by feeling somewhat useless. She hadn’t yet familiarized herself with this intelligence room and she couldn’t help but feel somewhat embarrassed that she wasn’t the one confidently assisting Nixon. She could not afford to slip, not now. The rescue mission, known as Operation Pegasus, was more than successful. It took three trips but Easy Company was able to get all of the Brits across the Rhine without incident. That night Emily could hear the men cheering from the long thatched building down the road. The allied men were celebrating another day of life in their godforsaken world and it made Emily smile to think of their joy, no matter how fleeting. But tragedy struck soon after. A jumpy private shot Moose Heyliger while on guard. Welsh had arrived at the scene. The day after the event Emily could tell Welsh was shaken. His face was gaunt with exhaustion and worry. Emily’s first instinct was to comfort him, at least in the way she would have before Normandy. But Nixon’s words from months ago rang in her head. Since then, Emily had become self-conscious of her friendship with Harry. Heading Nixon’s words she had distanced herself somewhat from the engaged man; not that he really seemed to notice. And to her surprise, she hadn’t really missed him. He was still a happy face to see around and she felt an obligation to be there for him in moments he was hurting. But she had realized that she didn’t crave his company, no more than she craved George’s or any of her other friends. Welsh was nice to have around but Emily didn’t pine for him like she thought she should’ve if she were truly in love. The weeks passed and the weather grew colder in Holland. One day Emily was reviewing the allies' advance deeper into Belgium when a quick question came up. She decided to seek out Nixon to see if he could help direct her. He wasn’t in his office so she walked down the hallway to Winters’ office which was her best guess as to where Nixon might be. The glass-paned door was open but she could hear voices conversing inside so she hung back. The office was occupied by more than just Nixon and Winters. A moment later, Bill Guarnere exited the office and Winters assistant closed the office door. 

“Hiya sweetheart,” Bill said as he passed her. Emily smiled warmly at him then moved to approach the door. As she drew closer she could hear Nixon and Welsh conversing with Winters. “I’m outta here, I’m going to Rheims.” She heard Welsh’s voice through the thin door. “Strayer will be in London for at least another week for Lt. Colonel Dobie’s wedding.” Nixon was speaking now, “I personally am heading back to Aldbourne to look up a certain young lady.” Emily’s stomach sunk with Nixon’s words. She hadn’t realized he was still in touch with the woman he had been seeing in Aldbourne. There was no explanation for her feeling but the idea of Nixon traveling so far back to see his lover filled Emily with rage. What was he doing wasting his time on that woman? He was married for christ’s sake, why was this woman worth compromising that? “May I help you?” Winter’s assistant asked. Emily looked at him blankly, “uh, no, actually, never mind.” Clutching her pad folio closer to her chest she turned on her heel and marched back down the hallway.

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

Ultimate ship meme for Glow?

General:

Rate the Ship -  Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this not getting more attention?! | The OTP to rule all other OTPs

How long will they last? - They would definitely last forever - like, if there is some kind of afterlife for them, they’ll be together there as well. 

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - I actually imagine that falling in love for them was a slow process, like it often can be with relationships like theirs, which start as friends and develop into a romance. They kind of had this thing where they knew they loved each other before they realized they were in love with each other. 

How was their first kiss? - It was actually a pretty simple moment. They were just...relaxing together, probably snuggling on the window seat in Glimmer’s room, when Bow just kind of...gave her a little peck on the lips. Glimmer was a little surprised at first, but she kissed him back shortly after, and they just...kept snuggling for a while longer.

Wedding:

Who proposed? - Bow, and to steal an idea from my friend  tolstoyevskywrites he technically proposed twice. Once with a fairly simple ring that he literally shot through Glimmer’s window with a note asking her to marry him, and once later on with a fancier ring he made himself. She said “Yes” the first time, but he wanted to do it again, properly. 

Who is the best man/men? - Most likely a couple of Bow’s brothers, along with maybe Sea Hawk….And Swift Wind would probably insist on being “best horse” because excluding him would just be discrimination and rude.

Who is the braid’s maid(s)? - Adora is probaly one of them, and one of Bow’s sisters probably takes up the other spot (I still headcanon him as having brothers and sisters)

Who did the most planning? - Probably Bow did a little bit more, but Glimmer definitely offered her input a fair amount. Though, honestly, Castaspella probably made about as many decisions as either of them once she found out about the wedding. 

Who stressed the most? - Glimmer, without a doubt. Bow did his best to calm her down whenever he could. 

How fancy was the ceremony? -Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - No one was specifically not invited, though Glimmer did try and avoid her aunt finding out for as long as possible, just to try and avoid her taking over the preparations. 

Sex:

Who is on top? - They switch sometimes, but usually Bow’s on top.

Who is the one to instigate things? - Glimmer is the one who instigates things the most, particularly because she likes to…get Bow worked up during times she really shouldn’t, like during meetings. 

How healthy is their sex life? -Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

How kinky are they? -Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

How long do they normally last? - They normally go at least two rounds a night, though sometimes three. How long the rounds last really does depend on the night, and how quick or slow they want to go.

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - They usually make an effort, and even if one of them “comes up short” one time, the other tries to make up for it the next time they have a chance to be intimate. 

How rough are they in bed? -Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? -No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - They’d probably plan either two or three. I think Bow liked growing up with siblings and Glimmer used to think that she would have liked having a brother or sister, so they’d probably want more than one, but not so many that they’d feel totally overwhelmed. 

How many children will they adopt? - Probably none, not because they would be against the idea, but just because I don’t think it’d ever really cross their minds. That being said, if they were asked to foster a child or two, they would happily accept the offer.

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - Bow, but he technically volunteers for diaper duty. He figures that since Glimmer has to feed the baby, the least he can do is let her get a little extra sleep while he changes the diapers. 

Who is the stricter parent? - Neither of them is exactly a pushover, but Glimmer tends to be a little more strict, taking influence from how her mom raised her growing up, even if she does try to give her own kids more freedom than she felt she had. 

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Bow is already Glimmer’s impulse control, so he’d just kind of automatically take that role for his children as well. 

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - They both remember and they take turns making the lunches. Glimmer is more likely to give them an extra snack, so the kids often ask her to make them more than they’ll ask Bow, but they each end up doing it about the same amount.  

Who is the more loved parent? - They’re both loved equally overall, but it depends on the specific child who they are closer to. And obviously neither of them is unloved by any of their children; they just have more in common with some of their kids than others. 

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? - They both definitely try their best to attend, but Glimmer often has to deal with court stuff, so sometimes Bow has to go alone.

Who cried the most at graduation? - Definitely Bow. Glimmer might get emotional, but she does her best to not cry in public, while he just flat out doesn’t care.

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - Probably Glimmer, if only because her rank basically means she can use her power to get them out of trouble without any real issue.

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - Well, they have chefs to do most of the cooking, but between the two of them, if you’re talking specifically cooking and not baking, that’s Bow. 

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - Neither is particularly picky in regards to food, but between the two of them, Glimmer might be slightly more picky.

Who does the grocery shopping? - They often go together, but Bow is the one who is more likely to do that particular chore on his own.

How often do they bake desserts? - Considering Glimmer has a sweet tooth, pretty much every other day, since they usually have leftovers from the previous night’s meal.

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - They’ll eat either, but if they had to choose between the two, probably go a little more towards the meat dishes.

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Bow would be the one to actually get away with doing the surprise, just because he’s a better cook. Plus, he can usually get a little more free time to make the meal.

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - Glimmer, though Bow is pretty much never actually against the idea

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidentally while cooking? - Neither, though Glimmer is probably more likely to set off the smoke alarm

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - Glimmer will help, but Bow is the one who just sort of instinctively tidies up. It’s a habit he picked up after so many times of cleaning up Glimmer’s room while listening to her rant about her mom.

Who is really against chores? - Neither of them is against chores, though Glimmer is more likely to put off doing them until the last minute. 

Who cleans up after the pets? - Both of them. It was a joint decision to get pets, so they both take responsibility for them, including the messes they make.

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - That is Glimmer, without a doubt. She usually cleans properly, but sometimes she puts it off for a little too long and just needs to hide everything until later.

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Probably Bow, but Glimmer has been known to have her last minute stressing moments, especially if their guests are someone she wants to leave a good impression on.

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - Neither of them, because nobody who visits or lives there carries cash.

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - Probably Glimmer, but even then, not by much, and really only when she’s super stressed and needs a way to relax, since a hot bath reminds her a bit of the steam grotto at Mystacor.

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - They take turns, but Bow does it more often, mostly because he likes to go out in the morning while Glimmer prefers to sleep in.

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - Every year unless they have something outside of their control that will keep them from doing so, and even then, they still try and do something, even if it’s not as big as they’d normally go for the holidays. But, whenever possible, they go all out. 

What are their goals for the relationship? - Nothing in particular, really. They just want to be together and grow and learn from each other for as long as they possibly can. But, ultimately, their main goal is just to be together and make each other as happy as they can.

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - Neither of them really sleeps that late, honestly. Bow is definitely the one who gets up earlier, but Glimmer is usually awake by ten even without him waking her. 

Who plays the most pranks? - Glimmer, mostly because it’s easier to get away with a prank when you can just teleport away from the scene and pretend you had nothing to do with it.

[writersplanetarium]

Facade: Halloween

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

Aelin smiled, admiring herself in her mirror as she stood in her Halloween costume. It was a deep red dress with a black lace corset Aelin had been breaking in for a few weeks. A black, leather belt with knives was strapped around her waist with another holder around her ankle just above her black heel. She had another knife on her thigh.

Aelin adjusted the crown resting on her head of golden curls that were intricately pinned up. Her lips were adorned in red lipstick that matched the ruby in her crown, and a smokey eye adorned her lids. Elide had brushed on just enough blush to give Aelin a flush that made her look as though she’d been out in the cold.

“You are a miracle worker,” Aelin said, turning to Elide, “Thank you so much for all your help.”

“I’m doing what I love,” she said, “For the people I love.”

“My turn next!” Lysandra said dropping into the seat at Aelin’s vanity in her room where Aelin, Lysandra, Elide, and Nesryn were all getting ready.

“I still can’t believe you convinced Aedion to dress up as Beast,” Aelin chuckled, taking in the beautiful yellow gown Lysandra was wearing.

“He agreed to everything but the mask,” Lysandra replied, a faint laugh in her words.

“It was hell trying to convince Lorcan,” Elide said, “But I cracked him when I told him he could still wear his leather jacket.”

“You two are going to make the cutest 50s biker couple,” Lysandra gushed.

“It didn’t take Sartaq much convincing,” Nesryn said, “In fact, I think he was waiting for it.”

“You two are going as Superman and Wonder Woman, right?” Aelin asked, sitting down on her bed beside Nesryn. Nesryn nodded, picking up the costume where it sat beside her.

“I had decided I wanted to be Wonder Woman first, but we saw the opportunity and took it.” Aelin smiled, but her chest ached slightly as she realized how she was the only one of them without somebody. The pain of losing Sam still followed her every day. She’d wake up alone in a cold bed and reach for a body that wasn’t there. That would never be there.

Aelin didn’t believe in ghosts, but she wished she did. She wished that Sam could still be here somehow. She wished she could see him, even just as a glimpse. She dreamt of him night after night, but it never ended well. 

“Did Evangeline decide what she was going as?” Elide asked Lysandra.

“She decided she wanted to be a goddess,” Lysandra replied, “We were at the costume store and she fell in love with an Athena costume. It’s white with a pink ombre at the bottom. Oh, and the sleeves wrap around the arms, and we got her the cutest little gladiator sandals and a crown with the leaves.”

“Oh, that sounds adorable. But won’t she get cold?” Elide asked.

“We won’t be trick or treating for long, and once the party starts the house will be quite warm,” Lysandra said, “I’m just glad we finally found something she liked. She also said something quite interesting.”

“Oh?” Aelin said, turning towards Lysandra, “We like interesting.”

“She said that Rowan might actually wear a costume this year.” Aelin rolled her eyes. Of course she wanted to talk about Rowan.

“That’s not interesting,” Aelin said.

“Oh, so you’d rather talk about how you two shared a bed?” Lysandra challenged.

“You two shared a bed?” Elide asked, her eyes going wide.

“They even cuddled,” Lysandra said. Aelin wished she could forget how it felt to be pressed against him. Wished she could sleep through the night again like she did when he was there. Just without him. Yeah... without him.

“Dorian dropped off Fleetfoot in the middle of the night and I thought someone was breaking into the house, so I called him to come over since Aedion and Lys were away,” Aelin defended, “Evangeline asked him to stay and then she got up early in the morning and practically forced us together.”

“I have pictures that don’t look very forced at all,” Lysandra teased.

“Whatever. Let’s talk about something other than Rowan,” Aelin said.

“You know, Aelin, you and Rowan would like each other if you both gave way just a little. You refuse to see anything but the bad in each other,” Elide said.

“For good reason,” Aelin said.

“I’m just saying, you can’t make your acting look as good as you do when you feel nothing but hatred for each other,” Elide countered.

“The line between love and hate is very, very thin,” Lysandra said, “I’m just waiting it out until they hop to the other side. It’s inevitable, considering how sexy he is.”

“He is not that sexy,” Aelin said.

“Lying to yourself won’t make you feel any better,” Nesryn pointed out, “What is Rowan going as?”

“Evangeline told him he needed to be a warrior,” Aelin said, “I told him if he didn’t I’d egg his house. I’m going to do it either way, but still, it’d make Evangeline happy if he dressed up, so he’d better do it.”

********

It was dark as Rowan walked up to Lysandra and Aedion’s house. He could hear the music inside the house from the driveway. Despite the fact that he didn’t want to give in to Aelin’s demands, he’d dressed up as a warrior just like Evangeline had asked, poofy clothes and all. The bow across his back wasn’t the most comfortable, nor was the quiver at his side, but he could drown it out.

He hadn’t dressed up for Halloween since he’d been with Lyria. He had never particularly been interested in Halloween before, but she’d loved it, so he dressed up for her. He knew now, though, that if he didn’t participate he’d be dragged out of his house by his friends, which he’d rather avoid. And he knew if he didn’t dress up, Aelin wasn’t joking about egging his house.

Rowan sighed before heading in through the front door. Halloween music was playing and fog rolled over the floor. Cobwebs and bats and pumpkins hung all over the walls and ceiling. The house was full of people Rowan recognized both personally and vaguely.

“Rowan! You made it!” Evangeline said, running at him, launching herself at him. Rowan narrowly managed to catch her. “And you dressed up like I said!”

“Yes, I did,” Rowan said.

“Well we have punch in the kitchen, alcohol in the fridge, and Aedion is making burgers and hot dogs out on the patio. Plus there’s candy everywhere.” Rowan cracked a small smile.

“Good, I’m starving,” Rowan said, setting her down.

“Do you like my costume?” Evangeline asked, spinning around.

“It’s nice,” Rowan said, “Are you Greek?”

“I’m a Greek goddess! Athena. She’s the smart one,” Evangeline replied.

“Just like you,” Rowan said, patting her head. Evangeline gave him a grin, saying a quick goodbye as she spotted one of her friends.

“Rowan, hey!” Lysandra said. Rowan nodded to the woman. “I’m so glad you made it. And you’re wearing a costume! You look so nice.”

“As do you,” Rowan said, “Belle?”

“Yep,” she said, twirling in her yellow dress, “Aedion’s Beast. You should see Aelin’s costume. She looks great. Actually, she needed to see you. She’s downstairs.” Rowan huffed.

“What does she need?” Lysandra shrugged.

“No idea. But you’d better hurry.” Lysandra headed off towards the backyard and Rowan glanced around. He grabbed some candy before heading downstairs to see Aelin.

Downstairs was Lysandra and Aedion had their games set up. Ping pong table. Air hockey table. Pool table. A flat-screen for video games.

Aelin was at the pool table and Rowan stuttered in his step when he saw her. She was intricately dressed exactly as she’d said. She was dressed to the nines, assassin princess clearly coming through in the outfit. Rowan shook his head, dismissing the thoughts running through his head.

She was playing against Dorian and clearly winning as she knocked a striped ball into a pocket, leaving only two striped balls compared to Dorian’s five solids. Dorian looked up, a lazy grin on his face when he saw Rowan.

“Hey, it’s been a while,” Dorian said. Rowan gave a nod of acknowledgment and Aelin turned from where she was taking her shot.

“You need something?” Aelin asked.

“Lysandra said you did,” Rowan retorted.

“I don’t need anything.”

“Then why did Lysandra say you did?” Rowan asked.

“Why do you think?” Dorian chuckled.

“I’m going to kill her,” Aelin mumbled as she took her shot, pocketing the last of her balls.

“Oh, come on,” Dorian said, putting up his pool stick.

“Wha-? You’re done already?” Aelin asked.

“You’ve bested me twice,” Dorian said, brushing his hand down her arm, “So you’ll have to find someone else’s butt to kick. Maybe Rowan will play against you. He’s quite good.” Dorian looked over at Rowan.

“Sure,” Rowan said, “If only so I can beat her ass.”

“You wanna bet?” She challenged.

“Yes, actually,” Rowan said, “A hundred bucks says if I start, you won’t even get a single shot in.”

“Two hundred bucks says I will, and I’ll win.”

“Deal,” Rowan said, grabbing a stick. Rowan watched as Aelin pulled out the balls from the pockets, setting them up on the table.

Aelin turned to Rowan as she finished, giving him a simmering smile as she tossed him the cue ball.

“Prove yourself, Buzzard.”

“I will, Princess.” She gave him a narrowed look as he set down the cue ball. He took a breath as he went to shoot, letting it go as he hit the cue ball. It flew across the red velvet, cracking against the other balls. A solid ball made it into the pocket and Rowan cast Aelin a sly, mocking grin. He kept going, pocketing ball after ball, watching with great satisfaction as she got more and more nervous. He was about to take his final, winning shot when Fenrys came up behind him, hitting his back.

“Rowan, you’re here! And in a costume!” Rowan watched as his shot went wonky and Aelin’s face lit up.

“Fenrys!”

“Fenrys!” Aelin shouted with joy, while Rowan shouted in irritation. He spun back towards Aelin. “That didn’t count.”

“Oh it so did,” Aelin laughed.

“He threw off my shot!”

“That’s not my problem,” Aelin said. Rowan turned to Fenrys with a glare.

“You owe me two hundred bucks if I lose,” Rowan bit out.

“When you lose,” Aelin said, pocketing two balls in one shot. Rowan gestured to Aelin, and Fenrys held up his hands.

“Sorry, dude, sorry. I was just taking in the garb. You look great. You never usually dress up.”

“Evangeline asked me to,” Rowan said, folding his arms, “And then Aelin said she’d egg my house if I didn’t.”

“That’s my girl,” Fenrys said, making Aelin grin.

“You’re about to make me two hundred bucks richer, Fen.”

“You don’t feel at all hindered by the fact that you’re only winning because I was sabotaged?” Rowan asked.

“I will never pass up a chance to take money from you, Buzzard,” Aelin said, pocketing another ball.

“You’ll owe me,” Rowan said again to Fenrys. Rowan watched as ball after ball was pocketed by Aelin. Then it was down to just the eight ball. Aelin winked at him just before she made her shot, sending anger and desire down his spine in an infuriating mix.

The ball went right in. Rowan groaned, burying his face in his hands as Aelin cheered.

“Double or nothing, same bet,” Rowan said.

“No way,” Aelin chuckled, “Pay up, Buzzard.” Rowan turned his gaze to Fenrys who has been watching the game unfold.

“I’m not paying. You made the bet. You should have made a stipulation.”

Rowan rolled his eyes, reluctantly pulling two hundred dollars out of his wallet.

“Why do you just have two hundred dollars on you?” Aelin asked.

“I always carry three hundred on me at all times in case of emergencies,” Rowan said, shoving his wallet back into his pocket. “I need food. And something to drink.” Aelin pulled out her phone, checking it.

“Aedion said the food should be done at seven and it’s six fifty so it should be close.”

“Oh nice,” Fenrys said, “I’m starving.”

“When we get back I’m going to rob you of all you’ve got,” Aelin said, slapping Rowan on the back violently hard as they put the sticks away. It was definitely going to leave a mark.

“Gods, Aelin!” He elbowed her in the ribs in rebuttal.

“Hey!” 

“Now, now, you’re both pretty,” Fenrys said, wrapping an arm around Aelin’s shoulders. Aelin and Rowan both shook their heads.

They went upstairs to eat and drink and have fun, but Rowan couldn’t help but spend most of the time stewing. Aelin was the last person he wanted to give two hundred dollars to.

“Are you brooding because Aelin totally beat your ass at pool?” Lorcan asked, leaning against the wall beside Rowan.

“She didn’t beat my ass, Fenrys sabotaged me. I would have won.”

“Sure.” Rowan glared at the man.

“I was down to the eight ball.”

“And you can’t know if you would have won, really,” Lorcan said, looking out over the crowd until he spotted Elide and gave a barely perceptible smile.

“You’ve played against me. You know I would have won,” Rowan said.

“Maybe. But there’s no proof.” Rowan scoffed, rolling his eyes. “She snagged two hundred off of you. That’s pretty sad.”

“Yeah, well at least I’m not wearing an entire bottle of hair gel,” Rowan quipped, taking in Lorcan’s fifties bikers look. Like a guy straight out of Grease.

“No, you’ve just got long, silky locks,” Lorcan said dryly. Rowan rolled his eyes. He’d had his food and drinks and he was ready to get out and collapse into bed.

“Am I allowed to go home yet?”

“Nope. If Evangeline hasn’t gone to bed yet, you can’t either.” Rowan let out a sigh. “You should try and win your money back.”

“She said no,” Rowan huffed, “Because she knows if I had a genuine chance, she couldn’t beat me.”

Rowan spotted Aelin across the room, laughing, having a good time, and he hated her for it. He hated that she had to pull at his heart the way she did. There was just something about her that he couldn’t shake.

“Why are you looking at her like that?” Lorcan asked.

“Who? Like what?” Rowan asked.

“Aelin. Like that.” Lorcan gestured to Rowan’s face.

“I’m not looking at her any way.”

“Yes you are,” Lorcan said, “I don’t know what it means, but you’re looking at her in a way that is not hatred.”

“It is hatred.”

“It’s not hatred.”

“It i-”

"Time for shots!” Lysandra said, handing out shots to Lorcan and Rowan. And that sounded like a very good idea to Rowan.

Shot after shot went down and Rowan drank until he was sure he was drunk. Until his mind was too blurred to think. Then he was finally allowed to go home, but he didn’t want to just go home. He was angry and confused and he wanted revenge on Aelin simply for existing within the same space as him.

So he went into his house, grabbed his eggs and toilet paper and he went outside. He went to Aelin’s house. As he stood, drunk, in her driveway, slight panic raced through him as her front door opened. And there she stood, multiple cartons of eggs in her hands, clearly drunk as well.

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“What am I doing? What are you doing?” Rowan retorted.

“I was going to egg your house,” Aelin admitted.

“You said that you wouldn’t if I wore the stupid costume!” 

“But you have no reason at all to egg my house!”

“Other than you being a bitch and wrongfully taking my money?” Rowan retorted. 

“I won fair and square according to our rules!”

“You cheated!” She glared and opened her egg carton, throwing an egg at him. It missed Rowan by miles and he laughed at her.

“You missed, Princess!” 

“Shut the hell up, you buzzard!” She threw another egg, splattering it at his feet. Now it was Rowan’s turn to rebut. He threw an egg at her, intending to his her square in the chest, but he went high, hitting her in the face instead, which didn’t upset him one bit. As she wiped the egg from her face, a deep glare settled over her features.

Suddenly they were caught in an egg fight. Unfairly, Aelin had more eggs than he did, but he was a much better shot, even drunk. She landed about six actually on him from three dozen and he landed eight from one dozen. When they ran out of eggs, he chucked the toilet paper at her house, making her jaw drop.

“Hey!”

“Take that!” Rowan said. Before he could register what was happening, Aelin was running at him. She tackled him to the ground, making him hit the ground with severe force. He groaned from the hit, throwing Aelin off him, climbing over her. She shoved him then, knocking him off her. They tumbled on her lawn, rolling in eggshells and remains of the eggs.

“You’re insane!” Aelin yelled.

“And you aren’t?” He retorted, finally pinning her down by her wrists, both of them breathing hard.

“I’m as sane as I need to be,” she said, blowing a piece of her hair out of her face that had fallen down, “And I’m sending you the bill for the cleaning on this outfit.”

“I’m not paying it. I already was forced to give you two hundred. You don’t get any more,” Rowan huffed.

“Why do you hate me so much?” Aelin asked, her hazy eyes softening, “You’ve had it out for me since the day you moved in.”

“Is it not obvious?” Rowan asked, “You’re loud and obnoxious and arrogant. You act like everyone is below you. You lost your fiancee and yet you walk around every single day like it doesn’t even bother you. Are you really that heartless? Does it not tear you apart inside?”

“You don’t know shit,” Aelin spat, a glare coming back over her face as she roughly shoved him off of her, “Don’t you ever talk about it again or I swear to the gods I’ll make you regret the day you were born. Though you’re so pathetic, I wouldn’t doubt you already regret it, huh? Cause I’m not the only one pretending to be okay, am I?”

“Shut up,” Rowan growled, forcing himself to his feet.

“Get the hell off my lawn,” she seethed, heading back into her house. Rowan shouted a few obscenities at her as she walked away, watching as she went back inside, flipping him off before slamming the door.

Rowan huffed and went back to his house, angrily stripping out of his clothes before spending a long, long time in the shower. He was pruned as he tumbled into bed, only falling asleep because of all the alcohol in his system.

Tagged:

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[princecupcakee]

Park Bench | Reddie

Read on AO3

Rating: E

Pairing: Richie Tozier/Eddie Kaspbrak

Word Count: 3,112

Chapter: 6/8

Past Chapters: Chapter 1 (AO3), Chapter 2 (AO3), Chapter 3 (AO3), Chapter 4 (AO3), Chapter 5 (AO3)

Next Chapter:

Summary: Recently divorced and ‘incapable of love’, Eddie Kaspbrak moves to Los Angeles for work and a small, small hope of a fresh start. Broken up and never dated again, Richie Tozier tries to get back into love with help from his love of music. Quickly meeting eyes and one concert later, they think that maybe love isn’t that bad. So they try it one more time.

Chapter 6: Eddie Kaspbrak Gets Hurt, Richie Tozier, Stan And Patty Uris, And Ben and Beverly Marsh Buy A Ring & Eddie Kaspbrak, Bill Denbrough and Mike Hanlon Plan A Leave

Tags/Warnings: Angst / Unhappy Ending / theres only one sex scene but this is explicit anyway / Bisexual Richie Tozier / Gay Eddie Kaspbrak / Post-Divorce / Implied/Referenced Cheating / Inspired By Remembering Sunday (All Time Low) / Inspired by The Book Ninja by Ali Berg / Implied/Referenced Child Abuse / Implied/Referenced Abuse / Implied/Referenced Manipulation

Tag-list: @richietoaster, @s-s-georgie, @mikeuris, @gazebobullshit, @that-weird-girls-blog, @tozierking, @thoughtfullyyoungduck, @s-onora, @bellarosewrites, @lermanslogan, @ambitiousskychild, @ghostnebula, @vanillaredvelvet, 

(Ask if you wanna be on the tag-list!!)

Chapter 6

Eddie Kaspbrak Gets Hurt

Richie was out getting… something (he didn’t tell Eddie), he said it would take a while. Which left Eddie in an uncomfortable state. He didn’t want it to happen again, he didn’t want to lose something as important as this.

~

“How could you do this? You cheated on me, Eddie! With a man! I thought you cared for me, you didn’t want to hurt me!”

“Myra, I’m sorry. It was a mistake-“

“How was that a mistake? You’ve been dating for three months, Eddie. And you just pass that off as a mistake?”

“None of that was supposed to happen, Myra! I didn’t know what I was doing!”

“The texts seem to say otherwise.”

“Fine!  Lets get a divorce!”

“What?”

“I’m done! I can’t do anything here. You’re always saying that I’m hurting you, then I’ll stop! This marriage was headed for doom the moment it happened.”

“Are you hearing yourself, Eddie? This is crazy! This is what that man has done to you!”

“None of that was him, it was me! I don’t want this marriage, I don’t want this life! I’m sorry, I know what I did was wrong and I should’ve just told you before this got out of hand, but I didn’t. So, I’m sorry. This is how we fix this.”

~

Eddie, feeling incapable of love, takes a safe seat on the couch. ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ He thinks to himself, bringing his face into his hands. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, but he’s been thinking about this the whole time. He’s been thinking of leaving, this whole time. He’s been so happy with Richie. Of course, he was. But his past is taunting him, following his every move and making him afraid.

He doesn’t want to hurt Richie. The best thing to do is to leave. Just as he did with Myra. That is how you fix it, right?

Fuck. He needed a drive. Now. Richie took his car out though, and talking to yourself at the train station isn’t a thing he would really want to do. Run. That’s it. Thats what he’ll do. He’s always been good at track; this should be fine. His mother wasn’t here to stop him this time.

So he put on his shoes and stepped out the door. It was never that cold in Los Angeles, people casually went out on runs. But when he bolts away from Richie’s place, ran straight onto the road with his eyes closed from pushing back tears then getting hit by a car, he thinks maybe running was a bad idea.

He woke up in a shaking ambulance. His eyes shut, he should’ve expected this. Its not like he hasn’t woken up in an ambulance before.  ‘I thought the point was to help people, I feel like I’m gonna throw up’ he thinks bitterly. He closes his eyes again, he didn’t need to be asked questions, or checked on, just needed time to think. ‘You wanted a drive now you got one’ his mind laughs at him. He was tired, but he did need to think. He could make a run for it, leave without a word. But that wouldn’t be fair to Richie, would it? He’d do anything to keep Richie. Keep him happy, keep him in his life, whichever he meant, it still fits his description. He could pick a fight. He was good at that. He cheated on his wife, he would know how to cause problems.

If Richie were to see him at the hospital, which was likely, he could pick a fight. A quick, simple, small fight that he would enlarge, ruining every smile he received since the divorce. He wants to deserve Richie. He needs it. But he can’t just be that person. Plus, Richie would find out sooner or later, that he’s truly incapable of not fucking up love. The love in his marriage wasn’t real. He tried to remember if he ever thought it was. Hell, if he fucked up a love he only created in his head, how could he be capable of real fucking thing? He knew it sounded stupid, but his heart felt like it was being thrown into an incinerator, maybe that meant it wasn’t.

Its too much for him to handle, thats easy to admit, but to admit to himself that he’s so in love would be a little harder. He knew where this was headed before it even started, he was too much of a mess. He shut his eyes tighter. Richie has the perfect job for him now, he’s got his friends, he’s got a place, he should be fine without Eddie. Eddie was just scared, and incapable, and destructive, and defensive, and nothing that Richie would need.

He promised himself that night, seeing Myra cry and beg for him to stay, that love was too much. That he couldn’t handle hurting someone like that.  He hurt his mother so much as a child, she would always say so after Eddie would leave the house for longer than she’d said to. Was she really hurt? Eddie couldn’t tell anymore, he just knew that she didn’t like it. Myra was mostly the same, was hurt when ever Eddie would do something that he wanted to without telling her first. Seemed as if most of what he wanted wasn’t allowed.

He knew that it was trauma. That it was built into his head that he’s always hurting people. But he’s still scared. Its one thing to know what happened, its another to know how to deal with it. Eddie didn’t know the latter. He’s been trying, really, but in the early hours of the morning, when Richie would be sound asleep beside him, he’d wonder if he hurt Richie. He probably would. So, the best plan would be to leave, where Richie could forget about him, and go on as if he never existed, maybe then he couldn’t hurt Richie.

So, when Richie sees him in the hospital, worried and almost in tears, his heart twists.

“Eddie, what happened? Are you okay?” Richie rushes, Beverly, Ben, Stan, and Patty following behind. Eddie doesn’t bother to ask why.

“I'm fine,” he says stubbornly.

“What happened to you?”

“I went out for a run, got hit by a car, I’m fine though.”

“You aren’t fine, you got hit by a car,” Richie says loudly. Eddie wonders if this hurt him.

“So? I’m still breathing, Richie.”

“You’re still- you’re still breathing? So? Your fucking hurt I thought you were a risk analyst!”

“What? So you’re gonna get mad at me for getting hurt? It was an accident, I can do everything just fine. We can go back now, I’m not in any pain,” Eddie waves off. He really was in pain though, a throbbing headache, his sides feeling like they’ve been stabbed.

“We’re not going back, you have to stay here and heal, from… that!” Richie gestures to Eddie in the hospital bed.

“You can’t just tell me to stay here, I’m fine, this is my body anyway.”

“You’re being a dick, man.”

“Do I look like I care?”

“I’m trying to help you!”

“You’re not doing shit!”

Silence followed after that, Richie with tears in his eyes and Eddie trying to hold his back. ‘This is how to fix it’  he reminds himself, turning his head to face away from Richie.

“Well… how can I do something?” Richie asks softly.

Another minute of silence, “You can’t,” Eddie chokes out, “can you please just leave?”

“Okay.”

~~~

Richie, seated on a hard cold chair in the hospital, tries to breathe. Calling him a dick was probably unnecessary, he was hurt after all. That was probably his fault. Yeah, he was trying to help Eddie but he wasn’t doing it right. He did feel as if he was a bit controlling. Thats always what Connor would say. Every time he asked him where he was going, who that girl he was with was, why he wouldn’t come home at night. He was controlling.

He should apologize, he really is in love with Eddie. Mike and Bill are in Eddie’s hospital room right now, he should just go in there. A normal apology might not do it. He grinned. Everything fits into place. He just hopes Eddie says ‘yes.’

Richie Tozier, Stan And Patty Uris, And Ben and Beverly Marsh Buy A Ring

“I’m horrified,” Richie mumbles walking into the store. They were buying a ring now. Richie’s plans all fitting into place.  He had told Eddie that he went out to buy something, though, he doubts Eddie was really listening. Patty, Stan, Ben, and Beverly were here with him, they were the only ones who knew about the proposal.

He had the perfect plan. He’d replay the day they first kissed. Well, without the date of course. And seeing Walter and Maddison. (He still wonders how to fill that gap.) Pulling Eddie out of bed to take him to a different restaurant with a similar view to the one before. He didn’t want Eddie to exactly notice his plan so a normal too-early-watch-the-sunrise breakfast would do. He would take Eddie out around town, anywhere the wind took them, by sundown, they would be back, seated on the bench a ring in Richie’s hand and one knee on the ground. He had checked the weather for that day, it was most likely to rain that night, which fit perfectly to his plans. And, if not, it would work either way.

Maybe he’d play a game again, ask Eddie to marry him as they talked. He was still debating that part since Eddie talked about his divorce to Richie that day. Well, he mentioned it. Eddie wouldn’t really tell him things. It wasn’t something he really liked to do. He told Richie nothing about his divorce, his family, it's almost like it didn’t happen. But it affected Eddie, Richie could tell that. It slightly worried Richie. Eddie wouldn’t really let him in. Anything about his past seems to be missing, something long gone and thrown away. If Eddie didn’t want to talk about it, that was fine, sometimes Richie just hoped he would tell him sometimes. Richie just hoped that he could help.

“Don’t worry about it, Richie,” Patty says, smiling.

A quick thank you to Patty, “remind me again how you know Eddie’s ring size?” He asks Beverly.

“I helped him look for rings when he got married.”

“Oh God that makes it worse. What if he doesn’t wanna get married anymore? Did his divorce suck? He didn’t tell me much about it-“

“Richie,” Stan says, walking over to a jeweler. Richie walks over to a different one with Bev.

“You should ask him yourself, Rich. About his divorce. All I really know is that he loves you,” Beverly smiles after asking to see three different rings (which Richie thought was a bit extra.)

“I guess thats… yeah, thats a better idea.”

“I know you’re doing this again but, I mean, I’m really believing in this one, I’ve known Eddie a long time.”

Richie appreciated the comment in silence. He believed in this too. “You’re marriage has been perfect, how?”

Beverly was surprised by the question, “I guess, love? It isn’t that easy to explain, and everything I’m going to say would be cheesy as fuck, but yeah, I guess love would be it.”

“You and Ben are such sappy assholes,” Richie laughs, earning a playful punch to the shoulder from Beverly.

“When are you proposing anyway?”

“Saturday,” he smiles confidently.

The jeweller brought up the box of rings set inside the glass box. Beverly had chosen three. Two golden bands with matching circular diamonds embedded into it, a pair of golden rings with three blue diamonds, and the third, a silver ring with a large square diamond in its centre. Richie hated the last one for sure. He debated it for a few minutes, the first pair or the second.

“I’d say the gold one with the blue ones,” Stan says, coming up behind them.

“Yeah,” Richie smiled, “could you carve something on the inside of that?”

“Of course,” the jeweler replied, “just write down what you want,” he pulled out a piece of paper that Richie was sure wasn’t there and wrote ‘R + E’ The jeweler then explained the prices and the ring in words Richie would only dream to understand.

He was buying a ring for Eddie. He was going to try proposing, he was going to ask Eddie to marry him. The thought alone made Richie’s heart race, but he smiled. This love is worth a shot. This would work. Eddie wouldn’t do want Connor did to him. Eddie is kind, and brave and caring, and everything Richie could ask for. Richie wondered if the cheesier something sounds, the more true it is. It seemed to fit the definition.

“Hey, Rich?” Stan says beside him. Bev was off somewhere with Ben now, Patty was looking at a few necklaces, leaving Richie and Stan together.

“Yeah?”

“I’m really proud of you man,” he pats Richie’s shoulder.

“Thanks,” he smiled fondly.

“I was worried about you, man. After… Connor, I didn’t think you’d want to keep with it.”

“Eddie’s really amazing.”

“I can tell,” he smiles.

“Don’t take him from me. If you got that hot shit, Mike, you could probably get Eddie too.”

“Who- who told you that?” Stan asked punching Richie’s arm.

“What is it with people punching me?” He rubs his arm exaggeratedly.

Stan laughed, “‘cause you’re a dick.”

His phone rang, echoing around the store, gaining looks. ‘Eds Spaghetti’ flashed on his screen. “hey!”

“Sir, I have Mr. Edward Kaspbrak’s phone with me and you were on the emergency dial. He is in the hospital,” the woman on the other line gave an address, and Richie shut his phone to head to the hospital.

Eddie Kaspbrak, Bill Denbrough and Mike Hanlon Plan A Leave

“Eddie, are you sure about this? This is the one time its working out for you, we both think so,” Mike says sympathetically gesturing to him and Bill.

“I’ve made enough fucking mistakes I don’t wanna keep fucking shit up.”

“B-but you aren’t!” Bill argues, he opens his mouth to say more but Eddie cuts him off.

“I will, Bill. You know me just as well as I do, I can’t do this,” it hurts when he says that. He’s about to burst into tears, he knows it, so he breathes slowly.

“I haven’t seen you this happy, Eddie. This is… new. This is something thats good for you,” Mike has always been rational. The one to make decisions and the one to ask for help. But Eddie doesn’t need help. He doesn’t want to change what he thinks, he doesn’t want to be persuaded away, leading to what he knows will happen.

Bill and Mike are talking again, but he doesn’t want to hear anything else. He tries not to blink, the tears will probably fall the second he does. ‘This isn’t a mistake’, he thinks. He wants to think. There’s nothing for him here, nothing that can fix him. He’s going back to New York City, he’ll find an apartment, he’ll go to work, thats all. At this point, he doubts he’ll fall in love again. Richie might. Richie will, he likes to think. Someone better than he is. Someone who can give Richie what he deserves.

Richie told him about Connor. All the things he did, all the horrible words he said. Eddie hated it. He only wishes he could be with Richie for that long, Connor just wasted it. Sometimes he would wonder if Connor regrets it (or if he could make Connor regret it) and wondered if that would happen to him. When he leaves, would he regret it? If he was being selfish, probably. But he was doing this for Richie. This would be good for him. This is how you fix things.

“I’m going to do it,” he whispers, “I don’t care if you don’t think this is a good idea, sometimes I don’t think it is. But thats just me wanting to make things worse. I’m going.”

The tears were bursting out now, but Mike and Bill didn’t move (as much as it hurt them to do so.) “You c-can change y-your mind, Eddie. Y-you can change. I th-think you already have,” Bill says softly.

Eddie just sits there, his breathing is still mostly still steady. People always said that, that you could change. And most people can. He knows he can. But the risk of hurting someone while still just trying to change. That in-between point where your still figuring out what and how to change from the way you were before to the way you want to be. There is always a risk. Nothing is ever easy. He learned that.

Richie is someone he didn’t want to hurt. He’s gone through being hurt before, and its effects were pretty clear. Eddie could do that, Eddie probably will. This was inescapable. If he couldn’t hold himself back then, how would he do it now? With the ‘power of love’? Love exists he’s sure of that, but what would it be able to do? What would it be able to fix?

When Eddie’s in tears, all his anger goes away. All of the fire inside of him leaves. All there is the pain it has left. “I wish I thought the same as you, Bill,” he weakly laughed.  

Bill and Mike didn’t protest anymore, knowing it would be useless. Eddie’s going to leave Los Angeles on Saturday, and there’s no stopping him. They wonder if there ever was a way to. But they doubt it.

[let-it-raines]

Catch Me If You Can (27/40)

298 days. That’s how long Killian Jones was away from a baseball field. It’s less than a year, only part of a season for him, but it might as well have lasted a decade as he alternated between physical therapy and spending an excessive amount of time sitting on his couch.

But then he came back and won the World Series.

It’s something no one saw coming, and it’s certainly not something anyone who knows about his arm would predict. Now it’s a new season with new possibilities, and anything could happen. On-field reporter Emma Swan will be there to cover it all even if she is not his biggest fan right now.

Asking her out live on-air will do that.

Rating: Mature

a/n: I’m the slightest bit overwhelmed by how kind a lot of you are and how many people have become invested in this story. It’s the coolest thing seeing the happiness it brings some of you, even if I am stressing you out right now. Whenever I get a message about how a story has made someone’s bad day better, I get a little smile on my face. You are all awesome ☺️

Thanks to @resident-of-storybrooke​ for being my beta! Don’t fret. She yelled at me a lot about this part of the story too, so it’s not just you guys and it does get better. 

AO3: Beginning | Current

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-/-

Emma has never once complained about having off from work before.

Not once.

She has four days off right now. It’s four days of no baseball and no responsibility, and she has been looking forward to it for months ever since she first saw the time off on the calendar and marked it in a huge red circle. There’s nothing quite like having the ability to sleep in, not brush your hair, and lounge around in pajamas all day as you watch professional athletes hit tennis balls back and forth at each other at one hundred miles per hour as they play the US Open.

But there’s a bit of a sting to it all when two tickets to the semi-finals tomorrow are saved in her phone, and she hasn’t spoken to the person who bought them for her in three days.

(They’re in the nosebleed section so no one would notice them, and Emma remembers laughing out loud when Killian showed her the seats because she has no idea how they would even see the ball.)

Okay, there’s more than a bit of a sting.

It fucking hurts.

There’s always been a reason why she didn’t make plans so far ahead of time, not ones that require monetary and emotional commitments from her, but she’s been breaking all of her rules over the past five and half months. All of them. She’s made plans to go to Portland, to go to a wedding, to go to this idiotic set of matches that she would actually really love to go to.

All of them with Killian.

Emma should have known better. She honestly should have. Every time she ever made plans with Neal or Walsh or any other man that she was dating, they always fell through. They never held up. Either the relationship would endend, or the guy would fade away at the last minute. It didn’t matter. Every time she got her hopes up, they fell back to the ground and were crushed under the weight of her own disappointment.

Neal was the definition of flaky. He was always making these big plans with big dreams and promising her so damn much before ripping the rug out from under her so quickly that she barely even had time to brace herself before she fell flat on her ass. And the really shitty thing is that she didn’t even realize how awful it was that he was doing that to her because that’s what people had been doing her entire life – foster parents, social workers, childhood friends, her birth parents. That little seed of hope would be planted, roots would start to grow, and then it’d all be torn out of the ground. She was in a relationship like that for years and then fell into the same exact trap two years later.

Why would Killian be any different?

(Of course he is different.)

A laugh escapes her lips at that, one she didn’t give permission to, and all it does is make Emma curl into her bed a little bit more, wrapping her arms around her pillow and yanking the blankets further up her body so that the outside world can’t get to her. It’s just Emma, her laptop, and a bag of salt and vinegar chips that are most likely going to break her tongue out.

As it should be.

This is not how her day was supposed to go.

Not at all.

Killian was supposed to come over after his morning training, and he was going to spend time with her and probably Ruby, debating television shows and movies and eating whatever takeout he decided to bring on his way here. But Killian isn’t here. She doesn’t even know where he is. Probably not training considering he’s out for the rest of the regular season.

It’s what he told her, but it’s also what she’s read in about fifteen different articles online.

And what she had to post on her Twitter account as part of her job. Life is funny that way. You think you can avoid your boyfriend and all information about him, but she can’t. It’s part of her freaking job.

She couldn’t have kept herself from reading the articles online if she’d tried.

(She didn’t.)

There’s a knock on her door, a sound that Emma has been ignoring for most of the past few days, but she didn’t turn the lock when she went to get her chips two hours ago, so Ruby easily opens the door and walks into her bedroom. She’s got her hair pulled back into a ponytail and is wearing leggings and a sports bra like she just went to the Pilates class that Emma skipped out on.

She shouldn’t have done that.

Fueling her emotions into that would probably have been a much healthier way to cope. No, it definitely would have been. Exercise is better than stuffing her mouth with junk food even if junk food feels so much better at first.

Shit. She’s pathetic. But honestly, she doesn’t even care.

“Hey,” Ruby says quietly as she shuts the door behind her. “How are you feeling?”

Emma doesn’t respond, just curls herself further into her pillow like the pathetic person she is as a tennis ball is thwacked across the court and bounces up into the bottom level of the stands. But Ruby, never one to be deterred by anything, walks across the room and settles down on the bed behind Emma, wrapping her arms around her stomach and pulling her closer while Ruby’s chin rests on her shoulder.

It’s the most considerate touch she’s felt in days, and it’s the only time that someone hasn’t shown her pity or tried to tell her that everything was going to be okay. After she left the hospital, leaving Killian behind with her mind reeling and falling down a hole with no escape, Emma immediately went to her apartment and changed into running clothes before running until her legs wouldn’t work anymore. It was fifteen miles, something she’s done before, something that’s not even her personal best, and she thought that she could keep going.

She had to keep going.

But the adrenaline died out on her, all of her anger and rage and, frankly, sadness dissipated into barely being able to breathe, and she’d swiped her metro card and walked through the gates to get on the train that would take her to David’s house because she needed him like she hadn’t needed him in years. David is always the reasonable one, is always the one who makes her see things that she can’t see, but he wasn’t there. It was only Leo and Mary Margaret, and as much as Emma loves Mary Margaret, she couldn’t understand why Emma was so hurt by Killian lying to her.

It’s not what the lie was, though that is a pretty big deal. It’s the fact that the lie happened.

Over and over again.

She gave him her heart in all of the shattered and glued back together pieces, and as careful as he is with it, he still managed to add a crack or two.

How could she have ever expected otherwise?

Why did she?

Why does she still want him to be the one to help her keep holding it together?

David had eventually come home and seen her talking to Mary Margaret, and somehow, he just knew that she needed him to hold her for a little while. He did, cupping the back of her head with his hand and not placating her by telling her that everything was okay or that she shouldn’t be angry or anything else that she wasn’t quite ready to hear yet.

There were a lot of things she wasn’t ready to hear that day.

“Do you want to go for a walk with me sometime today?” Ruby asks, and Emma breathes out on a sigh, her stomach swirling in a messy cloud of anxiousness over the fact that Ruby has finally decided that Emma has to talk. She’s been waiting for it. She’s also been expecting a much more abrasive conversation. “I know that your legs probably still feel like shit from that crazed run you went on, but I feel like a walk would be good. Fresh air, exercise, maybe I will even stop and buy two dozen donuts. You know, really splurge and keep them to ourselves and not let Graham have any.”

Emma chuckles, and this time she’s kind of glad for it. It’s not a big belly laugh, but it’s something.

Baby steps are better than nothing.

“Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of a walk?

“Nope. It’s good to get our legs moving, work some of this laziness out of you. Plus, I fully plan on making us walk the full perimeter of Central Park, so we’ll have earned those donuts. If we haven’t died first because that’s a huge ass park.”

“You do realize that Bryant park is closer?”

“And that’s exactly why we’re not going there.” Ruby squeezes her again, pretty much hugging her, and it may actually make Emma’s heart swell. “C’mon, Ems. Indulge me for an afternoon, okay? It’s not like you to lay in bed like this. I don’t like it.”

It’s not. She’s already thought that. This isn’t her. She’s not the type of girl who lays around in bed because she’s upset that she and her boyfriend got into a fight, if that’s even what this can be called. There wasn’t exactly any fighting, even if her mind has managed to create the illusion that there was. Honestly, she barely let him get any words in besides his explanation of what happened. And she’s not the type of girl who cries and eats ice cream and wonders how life will ever go on.

There’s nothing wrong with doing that, but it’s not her.

And she hasn’t cried. That’s beside the point, though.

“It’s really comfortable in here, okay?”

“You’re moping.”

“Then let me mope.”

Ruby sighs and hugs her a little closer.

“Emma, I know that I might not seem like the most emotionally mature person at times, but I’ve been in a steady relationship for a long time. I know that things like this happen, and I know that after lying in bed for nearly three days now, you need to get your ass up. You’re not going to find any solutions at the bottom of that chip bag.”

“I hate Graham for helping you be so emotionally stable. You used to hate love.”

“It’s all the good fucking. I’m telling you. Knocked some sense right into me.”

Emma barks out a laugh and completely rolls over on her stomach, letting Ruby’s arms release her as she snorts into the pillow. “You are the worst,” she mumbles, her voice muffled by the material.

“I am the best.” There’s a slap against her ass that has Emma jumping and rolling over again so that she nearly knocks over her laptop. “Now, go brush your teeth, put on some deodorant, and change clothes so we can take over the city with our powerwalk like the rich old ladies we’ve always aspired to be.”

“If you insist.”

“I do.”

It’s an actual blazing inferno outside, the heat curling up from the concrete to practically burn through Emma’s sneakers, and it makes her really not want to be out on this walk. But she knows that the faster she walks, the faster she can go back home and retreat back to her room. All she really wants is to go back to her room.

And get under the shades of the trees in the park. September needs to end and allow October to roll in so that she won’t sweat every time she steps outside. This is ridiculous.

It’s probably all of the salt and vinegar leaving her pores. What a thought to have.

If only eating strawberries or kale or something was a good emotional comfort food.

It’s a little over a mile to the park, and as awful as the entrance is all full of tourists and street vendors and people trying to sell her a guide to the city like she doesn’t know it’s on a grid system, Emma is thankful just to have the slight breeze and be away from the masses of people. She won’t admit it, not out loud, but Ruby was right to get her to get up and get moving. When she’s lounging around, her mind wanders to things that it shouldn’t wander to, and at least now she’s able to put all of her focus on putting one foot in front of the other and watching all of the people around her.

Why pay for Broadway tickets when you can watch people in Central Park?

The air-conditioning. Yep. The air-conditioning.

They walk for an hour, just a casual stroll that Emma keeps thinking should be a run, but the heat of the day becomes too much for her, her heartbeat going wild, and as soon as she sees an unoccupied bench in the shade, she makes a run for it, leaving Ruby to catch up from behind. It’s a bit ridiculous, but this is a golden opportunity to allow herself to sit down and breathe without anyone bothering her since most people in the area are concentrated around the boathouse and not the little beaten path to the side of it.

“I hate summer,” Ruby groans when she reaches the bench. “It’s the worst. I don’t care that it’s when all of the good sports happen. It’s too damn hot.”

Emma bends down to rest her elbows on her knees and cradle her head in her palms. “It was your idea to come out here.”

“Yeah, well, you were depressing me.”

She doesn’t say anything back, taking a moment to breathe and stare down at the laces on her shoes. One of them is about to come untied, but she can’t bother to fix it. There’s no point if she plans on never moving from this spot. The sweat that’s trickling down her back is going to keep her glued here anyways.

How the hell did she run fifteen miles the other day? What kind of rage-fueled adrenaline was that?

“Killian lied to me about his shoulder.”

The words come out without her permission. She doesn’t even remember thinking them. Her mind was blank and then all of the sudden they were there, escaping from her tongue and her lips and becoming part of the air that’s surrounding she and Ruby.

Emma is still staring at the ground. Her hand has also unconsciously found the chain around her neck, the one with Killian’s mom ring that he gave her as a good luck charm. She hasn’t been able to take it off. She wanted to, wanted to take away that reminder of him, but she couldn’t do it.

Killian wanted her to have one of his most prized possessions, and as mad as she is at him right now, she can’t take it off.  It means too much to her to have been given something like this.

“He lied to me,” she continues, taking a deep breath, though she’s not sure if it’s from the exercise or the emotions running a race in her mind and wearing down her nerves. “And I get it. He was scared. He – ”

“He didn’t want you to think less of him for being broken.”

“How do you know that?”

“Mary Margaret told me. You know she can’t keep a secret.”

Emma chuckles, but it’s a weak one, before lifting her head back up so that all of her blood can return to its rightful place. She was starting to get worried it wouldn’t. All she can really focus on is how cool the metal of the ring is against her stomach.

“Unlike you have apparently become, I am not the best with my emotions,” Emma continues. All of the words she’s been holding up are bubbling up to the surface and ready to spill over and run rampant. “I’m pretty shitty with them, but Killian made me feel comfortable, you know? When we’re together, I do pretty okay sharing all of the broken parts of me. He knows a lot of stuff that not even you know, and I thought we were in the kind of relationship where we trusted each other enough to share the brokenness. And trust me, we have a lot of it. We’ve had…we’ve had pretty shitty lives at some points, and I am so mad at him for repeatedly not telling me that he was hurt and for not being smart enough to stop playing and get some help. It’s not that big of an injury, but it could have been. He loves that stupid game, and he’s going to lose it if he keeps doing things like this.”

Ruby reaches down and grabs Emma’s hand and wraps her fingers around her palm and squeezes so that Emma has to look up at the sky to stop the tears from finally falling. This is dumb. This is all so dumb, and every bit of it could have been avoided.

“I think though,” Emma continues, still blinking away the tears, “past the lying and this gut-wrenching fear that he’s going to lie to me about other things too, I’m mostly hurt that he didn’t feel comfortable talking to me. I love him so much, Rubes. He probably has no idea how much I love him because I barely know how to express it, and, but I don’t know how to fully trust him if this is going to be a pattern.”

Ruby’s sighs, and Emma swears that she feels it in her own bones. Her heartrate has calmed down, something next to normal, and she no longer feels like she’s going to throw up. She was kind of feeling like that for a little while, and the guy sitting in the grass fifteen feet away from them reading a book in peace probably wouldn’t appreciate that.

“You’ve got to talk to him.”

“I don’t – ”

“You don’t want to right now,” Ruby finishes for her, and Emma twists her head to the side to look over at the lake instead of at Ruby. “I know. I got that. You have every right to be pissed off at him. You have every right to kick and scream and feel anger so deep in your belly that it aches when you breathe. It doesn’t matter what he lied to you about. If it hurt you, it hurt you. Case closed.”

“I know but – ”

“Nope, nope, you’re going to let me finish. I am on a roll, and you’re going to crush my momentum.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Ruby squeezes her hand again before letting go. “Killian should not have lied to you. That’s just…I know we all tell little white lies, but this is obviously different. He shouldn’t have lied to you or to anyone. He should have trusted the people who he loves with the things he’s struggling with, but I don’t think this was about him not trusting you. He didn’t tell his family about any of it either.”

“They knew about the accident.”

“To be fair, Liam was there, and I think there’s no way Elsa couldn’t find out.”

“Semantics.”

“Very important ones,” Ruby points out. “I don’t – I’m not trying to tell you how to feel. I’m just saying that Killian didn’t do this out of malicious intent. He’s not Walsh, and he’s certainly not Neal. He is not spending his time trying to bring you down because he can’t handle being with a successful woman. I honestly think he’s scared of losing you and of losing the game, and that can make people do things that they wouldn’t usually do. You may not realize it, but I think you have become just as important to Killian as baseball is – if not more so. I know all about that ring you keep messing with and how big of a deal it is. Honey, he wouldn’t have given that to you if he didn’t love you. I’m not saying that fixes everything because it doesn’t. You have to talk to him and let yourself trust him if you think he’s worth trusting.”

Ruby echoes the words Killian said to her in Elsa’s office, the words that she repeated to Mary Margaret when she was trying to explain what was going on. They’re right. They’re all right, and she hates it. She doesn’t even know why. She should be thrilled that everyone seems to think that Killian didn’t set out to hurt her.

She thinks that too.

But Ruby is right in the fact that he did hurt her and right in the fact that she should be allowed to feel how she feels. How could she not with everything that’s happened to her in her life?

But she’s not thrilled.

And it’s dumb. Really, really dumb. Because she should want to get up from this bench and run to Killian’s apartment. It’s not far, maybe another mile walk, but she has absolutely emotionally exhausted herself to the point that talking about this more would be too much for her.

Talking everything out is still new to her, and when the stakes are this high, that pestering feeling that it’s all going to go wrong is continually building. Because what if Killian realizes that she’s more broken than he thinks too she is, and it’s all too much to deal with? Their relationship seems so simple on the surface and yet underneath it all…

Oh fuck.

Emma loves Killian so damn much, more than anything as he would say, but being together has never been simple. It’s always been a series of guesses and choices and an underlying hope that things would work out. She allowed herself to have that hope from the beginning, when she barely knew anything about him and when he’d fucked up with her already, and she should allow herself to have that same faith now that she genuinely knows so much of what makes up the ever-evolving person who is Killian Jones.

Tomorrow. She’ll talk to him tomorrow. Her stomach is still in too many knots for her to even think about seeing his face today and seeing the smile that always makes everything inside of her feel like it is floating on cloud nine.

Tomorrow. It has to be tomorrow because then she’s got to leave for Boston and Detroit, and she’s not waiting a week.

And she almost desperately needs to know how he’s doing. He’s got to be hurting, and she knows that she added to that.

“Can we go get those donuts now, Rubes?”

“Absolutely.”

The walk home seems swifter than the walk there, and it’s likely because Emma isn’t weighed down by the heaviness of a lot of things that are on her heart. Or maybe it’s because she does have donuts to look forward to. Today is going to be her last day of self-indulgence where she allows herself to mope and eat like all of the junk food in the world is going to disappear tomorrow. Because tomorrow she’s going to start eating actually balanced meals with things like vitamins and nutrients – most of the time – and she’ll hopefully stop feeling so sorry for herself.

That’s a bit of a gamble.

Ruby still makes a point of distracting her for the afternoon, obviously sensing that Emma is two seconds away from running away to her room and never emerging again, and while she contemplates that a few times throughout the day, especially when Graham comes home and kisses Ruby hello, she doesn’t.

In fact, she’s the last one awake and the only one to stay out in the living room. The only light that’s on comes from the TV, a tennis match still going on late in the night, and maybe it’s the lack of sleep she’s gotten or maybe it’s that feeling that happens when you’re alone at night and your mind starts playing tricks on you, but something gives her the courage to pull out her phone and text the person she’s been thinking about all day.

Emma: How’s your arm?

The bubble pops up immediately.

Killian: It hurts, mostly in the mornings, but not too bad. Lots of Ibuprofen and ice.

Emma: That’s good.

Emma: Not that it hurts. That it’s not too bad.

Killian: Yeah, I’m glad it’s not as bad as it has been.

Her heart may actually break a bit more at the thought of him being hurt all of this time. She’s been so mad at him, so frustrated with him for not sharing it with her, and she’s barely had any time to think about all of the pain that he’s been going through. Shitty move on her part.

It’s one thing to get injured and still be able to go about your daily life. It’s another when your livelihood depends on your body.

Killian: You should still use the tickets tomorrow. Take Ruby or David. I can get you an upgrade to sit closer since I’m not going with you now.

I don’t want to use them with anyone but you, she types, a little pathetically.

She doesn’t actually send that message. She can’t muster up the courage no matter how much truth is in the statement. Wine or whiskey or, hell, tequila are really tempting at this point to make herself feel a little less – upset, conflicted, hopeful even. But drowning sorrows in alcohol is no way to solve a problem, even if she’s done it before. It’ll only make her feel worse.

Emma: Can we talk tomorrow?

That text is riskier, means more, and is far scarier, and yet it’s the one she sends.

Killian: I’d like that.

Emma: Me too.

[the-gedonelune-times]

Chapter Nine: Betrayal.

Summary: Gedonelune, the prestigious royal magic academy is waiting just for you! The door has opened a whole new world of possibilities for your future. For the next thirteen days you’ll be undergoing the provisional trial to see if you have what it takes to become an official student. Along the way you’ll be meeting new faces and going on exciting new adventures. But be warned, shadows are being cast on the land, if you dive to deep, you may find yourself being swallowed up by the chaos. Your journey begins now, will you be able to banish the darkness?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5 

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

“No.” I firmly shook my head as I took a step forward, only backing away when I saw her take a step back. “I’m not afraid of you, Lily, nor would I ever hurt you.”

“The humans were not scared of me either, but they must have been. Why did they take my life? Why am I even alive here right now? Do...I deserve to live?”

“I don’t know, Lily and I’m afraid I don’t have the answers. But there’s one thing I do know: You deserve a second chance.”

“W-What?”

“You deserve to live the life that was taken from you, are you really going to just toss that away now?!”

“I…” Lily bit down on her lip as she shook her head. “N-No, I-I want to live, I want to experience everything life has to offer! I want to be with the humans I care so deeply about.” 

As Lily broke down, I moved closer to hold her, gently ruffling her hair as I tried to calm her down. As time passed, Lily began to regain her composure and the two of us took a much-needed rest. I had discovered that my peram had managed to survive the fall into the water, so we each were able to snack on our food before setting up camp in the room we were locked in at the moment. 

“Do you think there’s a way out of this room?”

“There is. I managed to regain some of my memories which included the layout of the Ark. We fell in near the very end of one section, ironically near where the Crystal itself was stored.”

“Wait, so there’s multiple sections to the Ark?”

Lily nodded. “Yeah, the whole thing practically covers the entirety of this land.”

“S-Seriously?!”

“We saw the same visions, right? This land used to belong to my clan.”

“All of it?”

“Yes, back before it was named, the Land of Solomon was nothing more than a vast land inhabited by the Zirnitra.”

Zirnitra...where have I heard that...wait..!

“You mean the extinct species?!” I practically jumped to my feet in surprise.

“That’s the one.”

“That’s..incredible! This means that the Zirnitra tribe isn’t truly extinct and now with your memories back we can-”

“I’m afraid we need to slow down for a second.” Lily spoke calmly before taking a sip of her water. “I’m not sure about being a dragon anymore. My power has been sealed and I still don’t have all my memories. There are still many pieces that have not been restored. We can’t start getting ahead of ourselves just yet. The first thing we need to do is get out of this section, which I admit, I’ve been holding off on doing because of something I remembered.”

“Just hearing you say that means that something bad is waiting for us, isn’t there?”

“W-Well...m-maybe? You see, to make sure we weren’t attacked by any of the other dragon clans, we developed a very special beast. A living….golem, if you will. Of course, I’m not sure if they’ll even be up and running about considering the magic used by my species is gone. However, if they *are* still up and running, we’ll be in some serious trouble…”

“Right….” I sighed. “You don’t have your magic and my wand is nothing more than wood chippings.”

“Can you still walk alright?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“That leaves us with running as our only option then.” Lily smiled as she got up and helped me to my own feet. “But you know, there’s always a chance it might turn out to be one of the homing areas.”

“Homing areas?”

“Mhm. We had a lot of rooms built here for not only our species but for others, including humans as well. There’s a chance one might still be around here. Hopefully, the amenities here still work.” Lily said while putting a hand to her chin. “This place was definitely meant to last, but…”

“Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out. Let’s count our lucky stars and hope that we end up hitting a homing area instead of a golem party.”

Lily giggled softly before leading the way over to the crystal. The minute she held out her hand, the crystal reacted, opening up like a blooming flower before releasing a bright light that unlocked a secret door disguised as the wall itself. Dust began to surround the area as it opened revealing a completely dark room when it had settled down. I held my breath as we walked into the room together. As we did we heard a loud noise as the door behind us shut, somehow how giving way to the once dark room to light up with floating orbs of flames. I could practically feel the relief wash over my body like a cool breeze when I saw a bed in front of me.

“This is a homing unit right?”

“Yep!” Lily spun around as she looked over the room. “Ah, it feels so nostalgic being in here.” 

“You slept here? Didn’t you have a castle or something that you lived in?”

“I did, but I preferred to be closer to my people so I could watch over and protect them. They were almost like...my children. I wanted to make sure they were safe, so when I was able to, I would stay down here in the Ark with them. I remember long sleepless nights when I would be on guard or when I would try to help get the children to fall asleep. The lost children from the Kamuy clan were always the worst when it came to them falling asleep.” Lilly laughed as she recalled memories from her past.

“You know, there’s something I recall seeing when I was taken to the past. About another clan of dragon and about the children having to get used to their new surroundings. Were they not allowed back home?”

Lily sighed as she took a seat on one of the beds. “Many of the children that got lost while travelling with their other clan, were returned safely back to their families. Except for the Illuyankas clan. They were the most ruthless and hostile out of the four of us. We knew that any child that was returned back to them would be mistreated and more than likely removed from the family altogether. When he heard about this, we decided to give the children a new loving place to call home here, even if it meant going to war with the other clan.”

“That’s horrible.”

“It was. Luckily for us though the other clans were just as welcoming as we were. The Kamuy, Vouivre, and Amphisbaena clans would also help house lost children and anyone in general just as we did. They all came off as intimidating and more often than not would end up scaring the humans of that age away, though it was unintentional.”

“You...didn’t have a war though with the other clan, right?”

“No, and even if we had, we would have won. Though our species was known to be the most gentle out of the rest, we were also the strongest. Our magical power was seen as something divine, but that’s exactly what aided in our downfall. You could be the nicest person in the world, but the minute it’s known you have a great deal of power, someone out there will want to cause you harm. I think maybe that’s why the humans did what they did to us. It wasn’t because they hated us, but rather...they feared us. Maybe they thought we would one day turn on them. Fear sometimes takes over rationality...that’s why I...I have no ill feelings towards the humans for what they did. They were merely human, that’s why I still continue to love them and have a need to protect them.”

“Lily…”

“Anyways, I think it’s time we rested up a little bit, don’t you? It’s been hours since we arrived here in the Ark and you must be exhausted.”

“That might be true but what about-”

“If you’re worried about making it back in time, then don’t worry.” Lily smiled. “I promised you I’d get you back to the academy before your judgment and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“What about your friends?” I asked.

Lily flinched a little, her expression changing to a sad one. “That’s another thing I remembered…”

“What is it?”

“I don’t...I don’t know how to break it.”

“Wait, what do you mean you don’t know how? What about the flowers?”

“Those are a common flower that only blooms here in the Land of Solomon, there’s nothing special about their healing effects.”

“....and the crystal?”

“That crystal was used for nothing more than to harbor one of the three ancient types of magic. It was the only one that was able to control the magic without shattering it. It can’t grant wishes or even heal anyone for that matter.”

“So then this trip…”

“Yeah, what you said to me back in the flower field...I’ve been thinking about it a lot and you might be right. This might have been a set up all along but..”

“You don’t want to believe that Beckford might be behind it, do you.”

Lily nodded sadly. “I need to talk to him about it, I mean, maybe this was all coincidental. But even so...I can’t deny that something isn’t up. Plus, Beckford might be my only chance in helping me wake them up, it’s why I’m so desperate to keep moving forward until we can escape, but at the same time I know I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because if I keep doing that then the one I lo-...I mean….you might push yourself past your breaking point and I can’t watch you do that to yourself.”

“What about you? Surely you must be a little bit tired from all of this.”

“Maybe a little. Most of the tiredness I’m feeling might not be coming from physical exertion though.” Lily sighed before giving me a sweet smile. “But that’s enough about this.”

With a small yawn, Lily got herself comfortable in the bed next to mine; falling asleep within mere minutes. My mind had kept me up for a while before I could even fall into my own slumber. 

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

I wasn’t sure how long it was that I had been asleep for, there were no clocks for me to look at, nor was there any way of seeing what time of day it was since we were underground. I was beginning to feel a little panicked until I noticed that Lily was still fast asleep. In one of our conversations about sleep schedules, Lily had mentioned she only needs a couple of hours of sleep. So perhaps I had only been sleeping for a short while, it sure felt like it since my body felt heavy and my mind was sluggish. 

I was about to turn onto my other side when I noticed something was holding my hand in place, preventing me from moving. As I looked down, I noticed that Lily’s hand was holding my own. My cheeks began to burn as I gave her hand a small squeeze. My loving gaze on her sleeping face turned to surprise when I saw her eyes slowly flutter open. A sleepy smile graced her face as she looked at me and then at our hands….

She immediately apologized before pulling her hand away from mine before getting up. She offered to check the bathroom and see if there was some clean water that we could use to clean ourselves with. Funnily enough, Lily remembered that there was an underwater spring right under the Ark and managed to find an old pump that was used to draw clean water from it. We each took one of the bathrooms got cleaned, changed, and even had a snack before leaving the area. 

We embarked on the next part of our journey and had managed to cross multiple more areas until we were standing in front of a large stone archway. Inside was a dimly lit area where multiple large stone statues surrounded each side, each one bearing a weapon of some sort. 

“Lily, what is this place?”

“Hm, this must be one of the last rooms here in the Ark. You can tell by all the golem guards surrounding the area. Normally they would be on patrol, but as I mentioned before, there’s no magic keeping them alive. This room must have been their resting area that they were sent to during the day. If we keep going a little farther we should reach an exit leading to the ground above.”

“I’m afraid this is as far as you two will be going though.”

That voice…

“Beckford!” 

Walking into the middle of the room was none other than Beckford. Unlike before, there was no hint of kindness whatsoever. As he stepped closer to us, Lily moved over to shield me.

“You’re pretty stupid, you know that? You have no magic but you’re acting like you can protect this person.”

“Why are you here?”

“To finish the job that was given to me. Things could have been wrapped up a lot sooner you know.” Beckford scoffed.

“What are you talking about?” I sent a glare in his direction as I spoke.

“Tsk. Let me shed a little light on your situation, after all, consider this a gift to me before you take your last breath.” Beckford had a malicious smile on his face as he walked around us. “You see, a while back there was news, a rumor that a stranger had appeared in the town. This person was completely shrouded in mystery, no one had seen them with their own eyes. One thing they knew was that great magical energy had appeared right when the stranger did. You can imagine the desperation in people who sought out just a single glimpse of this stranger. Can you take a wild guess on who that stranger was?”

Beckford asked before standing right in front of Lily, sending a bone-chilling glare her way.

Lily said nothing, going completely silent while looking at the ground.

“That’s right, it was you, Lily. You were the one who woke up in the forest. I couldn’t believe the magical energy that I felt the day you first stepped foot in my store. I knew right away that you weren’t human.” Beckford laughed. “The best part was that you had no memory, no recollection of the things that took place before you had even arrived here. This played out rather in our favor. This meant you also had no control over your magic, no knowledge of all the things you were capable of doing. However...this didn’t mean you weren’t labeled as a threat. Because of this, I had planned to eliminate you much, much earlier than this. Sadly the first attempt didn’t work, though I will say that was a bold move going and throwing yourself in front of my Chimera like that.”

“Chimera…? You mean...the thing that attacked Felix and I that day was sent out by you?”

“Correct. That my dear was the first attempt, the second attempt didn’t go as planned, but it did lead to a chance to have you right where we want you.”

“Second...attempt..?” Lily’s hands were shaking now and I wasn’t sure if it was out of sadness or anger.

“I knew it!” I stepped out from behind Lily and shouted. “I knew you had something to do with the incident in the village. The fact that you had all those unopened letters from Lily meant that you were already at or near the scene. “

“What?! Beckford, how could you do this! I thought we were friends, I thought I could trust you!”

“You and I, friends? Don’t make me laugh. You were merely a pawn in our little game. You’ve evaded us for so long, but now the end has come for you.”

“Well done, Fenrir.” A new voice had entered the conversation as they strode into the room; it belonged to a man with midnight-blue hair.

“Adonis..”

“Who’s this?” 

“I’m the one who’s here to oversee that you meet your end here in this Ark. Now, your highness, prove that you’re strong enough to die by my hands and join your people once more.”

The man gave a sinister smirk before snapping his fingers, disappearing in a smoke of dark miasma. Fenrir stood before us, in his hand he brought out a small object and smashed it the ground, causing a summoning circle to appear on the ground in front of them. With a mighty roar, a chimera was summoned, tendrils of darkness danced at their feet; this chimera was clearly one subjected to the darkness.

The final battle….was about to begin….

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

Nadia: This is it...the final battle is about to commence. Truths will be revealed and questions that have been left unanswered will finally be answered.

Persephone: The darkness is spreading...ready to swallow up everything in its path.

Nadia: Can they beat it?

Persephone: Or will they fall prey to it?

Both: Be ready for the final chapter: ‘The Queen Awakens!’

[raidbossmadi]

People Like Us Chapter 2

2. Arrival

Previous Chapter: Here 

Eden-4 was a pretty self sustaining planet, it wasn’t home to a huge weapons manufacturer like Eden-6, nor was it a metropolitan super city like Promethea, and at the very least it wasn’t a barren desert hellscape like Pandora. It was just a nice forest planet, with a healthy farming community and one very enthusiastic group of people who took a siren being around weird , a nice planet to live a calm and casual life . However, being a relatively secluded planet meant that off planet visitors weren’t a common occurrence and it meant that the sound of a large space faring vessel entering Eden-4’s atmosphere was enough to startle Sloane awake instantly.

“What the fuck?” She thought,falling out of her bed. “Oh right the Calypso twins.” She picked herself off the ground and untangled herself from her blankets tossing them back on the bed. She decided she would show up at the arrival and see what all the fuss was about, normally she wouldn’t get dressed out of her pyjamas until after lunch but this was a special occasion after all.

She left her house and headed to the city center, as the tree tunnel that hid her house opened up to the sky, she saw a large transport class ship hovering in the upper atmosphere above the city. On its bow even from the height the word ‘Centurion’ was clearly visible in white lettering. It was an impressive ship though she supposed she should expect no less from the leaders of the Children of the Vault.

Sloane had decided she didn’t want to get too close to this arrival, if the Twins we’re here for the vault she would be a prime target. However, she couldn’t miss an event like visitors coming to Eden-4 so instead she came as close to the spaceport as she felt comfortable, seeing the crowd amassing and she slipped over to a tree having it scoop her up in its branches and carry her aloft to a nice vantage point.

She watched as a smaller drop ship landed at the spaceport, within minutes the doors to the ship opened and out stepped two figures, the girl was short yet stocky, she wore the same jacket cloak and high collared shirt she had in the videos. This was obviously Tyreen. Following behind her was a man, tall and lanky, he had the same sharp features as she did though his hair was black in contrast with Tyreens white. The most noticeable feature about him though was his large mechanical right arm that appeared to be made from scrap metal and barely cobbled together, both of the twins were far more intimidating in person than they were on film.

“Helloooo Eden-4! The twin gods have arrived!” Tyreen exclaimed in the same boisterous voice Sloane had heard in the videos. There was something almost predatory in the way the twins looked at the crowd of people before flicking to the horizon and though she knew there was no way that she could be seen from here she found herself ducking into the leaves of the branch and ultimately climbing out of the tree all together.

Perhaps they were after vault after all and that would put her on their radar sooner or later. She would prefer to be ready when it did.

                                                             ***

“Quite the crowd we pulled in, eh Sis?” Troy remarked as he set his luggage down on the hotel bed.

“We always do, don't we?.” Tyreen was sat on her bed across the room looking down at her echophone scrolling through the files on the Siren that inhabited this planet and the history of the vault.

“I can’t believe the historical society just handed over those files like it was nothing. Like I know we’re a big deal and all but you’d think they’d have a little more loyalty to one of their own.” She mused as she noted just how much information was on the file; a comprehensive history of the girl's life. Not that she had done anything of note as far as Tyreen could see, just an artist who happened to be a Siren, her abilities seemed to be plant based and Tyreen was sure it would be easy enough to convince her to do what they wanted. While the Siren was the first one to be born on this planet the vault of course had been here much longer but as it stood now, the only way to get to the vault was through the Siren as they had been smart enough not to include the location of the vault key, only that she knew where it was.

“Think she’ll be trouble?” Troy asked as he took a seat next to her. “Kinda surprised it has taken this long to run into another siren.”

“I’m not, there’s only six of us Troy and we’ve been purposely avoiding falling under the Firehawks attention on Pandora so you know it’s not like we’re begging for another Siren to notice us.” Tyreen yawned seemingly less concerned with matter than her brother was.

“Uh yeah I know, I’m just saying. Think you’re gonna have to like I dunno fight her?”

Tyreen finally put down her phone looking at her twin with an annoyed stare. “I will if she gets in my way, otherwise I really don’t see the point.”

Troy nodded and opted to stop pestering his sister for the moment, she was obviously tired and it was best to leave her alone. Besides in the morning they had a siren to hunt.

***

It was easy to fall back into the rhythm of tending to the things around her little spot of woods like the Calypso Twins had never even set foot on the planet. Sloane was sure that they couldn’t be looking for her and that surely no one would tell them that she was the only one who knew where the vault key was would they?

She was out on the backside of her house hanging her laundry out to dry when she heard the sound of someone approaching the house from the front.

“That’s strange.” She thought. She wasn’t expecting guests as she walked back into the house. Warily she opened the front door to find herself face to face with Tyreen Calypso. Her first thought being “Wow she’s shorter than she looks on camera.” Luckily she had the sense not to blurt that out. Especially once she noted that the look in the other sirens eyes seemed particularly malicious.

“Uh hi, Can I help you with something?” Sloane asked cautiously and stepped back from the door. She felt intimidated even though the other woman had done nothing as of yet, but in reaction to the rush of fear she felt her siren marks began to glow a faint blue.

“Ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,doll. You should just relax.” Troy’s smooth voice rang out from behind her and she quickly felt the cold metal of his cybernetic hand close around her wrist. Of course, she had forgotten to lock the back door after she’d come in to investigate the knocking. “We’d hate for anyone to get hurt.”

Sloane squirmed in his grasp, though it was a futile effort, there was no way she could safely get out of this.

“You can let her go Troy, I think she understands it’s easier to comply.” Tyreen said. Sloane felt her wrists sting as the metallic hand released its hold on her.

She straightened up and felt like a deer cornered by wolves as she looked between the Calypso Twins. She hated that they had managed to muscle into her own home and make it seem like they owned the place. This realization gave her a streak of boldness that she opted to run with.

“You two can stop with the theatrics, I don’t see a camera anywhere so I assume you’re not filming this; if I’m wrong about it and you are with how the both of you are acting I’ll assume it’s not live and you’re planning to edit out whatever you don’t like.” She said as her eyes scanned the room one more time not seeing anything out of the ordinary “So why don’t you tell me why you two are in my house? Otherwise I’ll politely ask you to leave.”

“Oh this one is sassy, Ty.” Troy remarked though Tyreen shrugged it off.

“We got intel that says you know where the vault key is and given that you know that I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you know where the vault itself is. Now I’m sure you’re already aware that the vaults are very important to my brother and I. So why don’t you make this easy on all of us and tell us where they are?” Tyreen demanded. Though the other woman was about the same height as Sloane was her mannerisms and speech made her seem all the more imposing.

“And if I don’t?” Sloane shuddered as the metallic hand caressed her cheek and caught her under the chin tilting her head to look back at Troy and she caught a glimpse of a large sword that sat sheathed on his back.

“Be a shame to add a face as pretty as yours to the trophy gallery, but heretics don’t get mercy you know.” Troy smirked and his metal fangs glinted in the light and Sloane all the more felt like she was helpless in this situation, the Calypsos had her exactly where they wanted her.

“You two can stop with the threats really, and I mean why assume I’m a heretic when all I’m doing is asking questions? I’m more than willing to help you, this whole guarding the vault key from outsiders responsibility has never really been my thing. Plus it’s like c’mon how am I supposed to judge who's ‘worthy’ to open the vault I’m just one woman but to be fair the two of you seem like the most prepared and knowledgeable people I’ve come across asking about it so might as well hand it over right? You are the Children of the Vault after all, I can’t think of anyone more suited for the job.” Sloane was stress rambling a little bit even though the rational part of herself told her that she was of more use to the twins alive despite the obvious posturing they were doing.

The twins looked at each other, clearly not expecting her to so easily give them what they wanted. Tyreen shrugged and smirked as she looked back at the other siren.

“Yeah? Well go one then. I’m sure you’ve got terms before you take us to the vault, we can make this a business deal. I’m feeling nice today.” Tyreen crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, everyone had a price and seeing as the other siren hadn’t seemed to be a threat she was willing to pay that price, within reason of course. Besides she hadn’t decided if she was going to kill the other woman yet.

Sloane blinked a few times; she hadn’t been expecting Tyreen to offer her anything other than not killing her as payment for what the twins wanted. She thought for a long moment before meeting Tyreen’s gaze again.

“I want to get off this planet, half of the people here treat me like I’m something to be worshiped and treated with reverence but I’m just a person. I’m not like the two of you, I have no plans to build a following or be a god and when the Vault is opened well I don’t need to be here to protect it now do I? I won’t be a bother, I’ll even be your new ship janitor if that’s what you want. I just want to get away from here, I’m tired of being stuck on this stupid planet.” Sloane ran a hand through her hair nervously, she hoped she wasn’t asking for too much.

Tyreen looked to Troy and raised a brow, the twins seemed to have a silent conversation in the moments that passed before they both looked back to Sloane.

“That’s all you want?” Tyreen asked, resting a hand on her hip. “You want a way off this planet. So much so you’re willing to serve us.” She seemed puzzled by the fact that Sloane seemed so easy to win over yet the desire to leave the confines of one’s planet was one Tyreen could sympathize with.

“Uh yeah?” Sloane was puzzled. Was it really that hard to believe? Had they really been expecting her to make some kind of extravagant request of them.

“Well it’s not the strangest request we’ve ever gotten. We’ll give you time to pack your things then come back for the Vault key, how does two days sound?” Tyreen nodded toward the door and Troy finally stepped around to join his sister, the taller of the twins looked Sloane up and down before flashing a smirk again.

“We’ll be in touch, don’t go get cold feet and run off either. Tyreen’s not a big fan of the chase.” He said as Tyreen gave a snort and nudged him with her shoulder, then as quickly as they had come in they were gone leaving Sloane still a bit stunned as she processed all that had happened. She checked her phone, the entire exchange had only taken about twenty minutes though it had felt like the three of them had been locked in the tense negotiations for hours.

So this was really happening. She was really about to leave the forest that had been her home for twenty-three years. It had protected her just as much as she protected it, though in recent years it had felt more like the forest was keeping her from truly enjoying her life. The canopy that blotted out the stars feeling more like a cage than protective barrier to keep the outside world away from her.

She slid down onto her couch, Persphone crawling out from the bedroom where she had hid while the twins had been present and climbing onto Sloane’s lap. Her fingers ran through the lizard fox’s fur as she processed what she would have to prepare for.

[wildflowerhigh]

Second Time Around (c.h.) | Part 7

Read part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 8

Summary: Calum just can’t sit around and wait anymore.

Word count: 2.6K

---

“Fuck, it’s good to be home.”

Calum padded into his mother’s house in Sydney, tired and jet-lagged. He had his own apartment in the city, but at the moment, he wanted to be around his family. He lugged two suitcases and left it by the door, enveloping his mother and father in a massive hug. His sister had also come back to Australia for a bit, and he gave her a much-needed hug as well, before going straight up to his childhood bedroom, and fell fast asleep on his bed.

Three hours later, after Mali had shaken him awake, he ambled down to breakfast. He was still jet-lagged, but a bit more refreshed. It was bright outside, close to midday, and Calum dug into the pancakes his mum had made. He sighed with content- no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make it like his mum did.

“I’ve missed you, Cal,” Joy, his mother, said and he mumbled back the same with his mouth full. She laughed- he could go and be famous all over the world, but he’d still be her little baby in her eyes.

“Why did you cut off all your curls, huh? And coloured it blonde too!” she interrogated, and Calum shrugged. She ruffled his his hair and he smiled warmly as he swallowed a bite.

“It’s part of the aesthetic for the new album, mum,” he replied, and she nodded, amused.

“And you’re happy? Everything’s fine?” she asked softly.

He paused, his mind flashing back to Harper, before nodding. He had literally just gotten back, he didn’t need to bug her with his problems just yet. So he finished his breakfast, and spent the rest of the day lounging around the house, basking in the comfort of his childhood.

---

“How have I never come here before?” Mali exclaimed, as Calum led her into a cozy little Chinese restaurant, tucked away near the bustling markets of the city.

“Ashton showed it to me last time I was here,” Calum commented by way of explanation. Their parents had to get back to work, so he and Mali had taken off into the city to do some sibling bonding. It had been quite a while since they had hung out, so it was nice to be around his big sister again.

They grabbed a table, taking seats on opposite sides. The place was empty, save for another family and a couple. “It’s good to see you again, bro,” she said, accepting the menu she was offered by the waiter. “We have so much to catch up on!”

After spending a few minutes ordering (Calum knew what was the best to eat there, and Mali followed his lead), they dived into exchanging stories back and forth. With her also having a music career, they both got into some wild encounters. By the time their food and drinks arrived, they were laughing so hard, Calum’s stomach aching with each laugh. As close as he was with his bandmates, she was his best friend in a way that only siblings could be. She had known him all his life, so of course she understood him on a level no one else did.

Mali finished narrating a story about her ex-boyfriend, and Calum chuckled, shoveling a forkload of noodles into his mouth. “So you’re single, are you?” she suddenly asked, causing him to choke. He coughed, as Mali frantically pushed a glass of water towards him. He cleared his throat and drank some water, while his mind was racing. Should he tell her about Harper?

“Sorry, Cal,” she said, and he waved his hand dismissively, coughing once more to fully clear his throat. He picked up his fork, hoping she had maybe forgotten about her question. “You didn’t answer my question,” she continued, and Calum’s face fell. He dropped his fork in defeat.

“I am single, technically.”

“If you have to use the word technically that means you’re not single,” she asserted, and he groaned. He didn’t want to talk about his feelings and face his heartbreak once again. She quirked her eyebrow at his silence, watching his mind whirring. “You know I’m here for you, right?”

He looked up at her, surprised. “Yes, of course, I-” He shook his head. “It’s not that big of a deal, sis.”

“Last time I saw you looking like this about a relationship, you had just had your heart broken, so…” She drifted off, letting him finish the sentence himself.

Yeah, sometimes it was annoying to have a sibling who understood you on a level no one else did.

Before he knew it, Calum was telling Mali the whole story- how they had run into Harper (she was surprised and pleased to know that Harper was the girl on his mind), how she had made his way into his heart, and finally, how they had kissed, and she had dismissed it as nothing.

“So you’re in love with a girl who doesn’t want you back,” she concluded.

“I-” He paused to think; at the bottom of his heart, he knew his sister wasn’t wrong. 

Taking his silence as agreement, she continued speaking. “You never actually told her how you feel, did you?”

“Well, when I asked her if that night meant anything to her, she said no, so… I think she was pretty clear about what she wants,” he replied, staring at his half-empty plate, his sadness seeping into his voice.

Mali sighed. “You can’t let this affect your mental health, Calum, that happened last time.”

Calum shook his head firmly. “Don’t worry, I’m working on that. I’ve learned from my mistakes, it’s not gonna be as bad this time around.”

She nodded pensively. “Okay, if you aren’t gonna tell her how you feel, you should try moving on. I know a nice girl, I think you’ll like her a lot…” Calum zoned out as Mali described her friend. Calum knew he should be trying to move on, but along with the pain that came with thinking about Harper also came butterflies, which were weirdly comforting. Plus, the thought of setting himself up for heartbreak with a brand new person was scary.

“... Is the day after tomorrow for lunch okay?” she finished, posing a question to him. He hadn’t realized she had gone all the way into planning the actual date. He simply nodded. She smiled, and shook his arm comfortingly. “It’s gonna be alright, Calum.”

---

Calum sat in a café opposite Mali’s friend two days later, smiling and nodding politely as she narrated some tale that happened to her. She was very nice, and was easy on the eyes too; but Calum’s mind wasn’t present at the café with them. Just before walking in, he had seen a picture Harper had posted to her Instagram (of course he still followed her- they were still friends, after all), and now he couldn’t stop thinking about her. 

He felt like an idiot, because here was a perfectly nice girl sitting in front of him, who genuinely seemed interested in him, but he was letting her down, instead pining after his friend who didn’t think of him that way. He felt stupidly guilty for being on a date with someone other than Harper; how messed up was he?

He realized too late that his date had asked him a question- something about his music? No, no, no, he couldn’t keep doing this. The poor girl deserved better than his half-assed answers.

“I’m sorry, I have to go, something came up,” he said quickly, smiling apologetically at her and stood up. She didn’t look too surprised- maybe she had noticed that his attention wasn’t actually on her this whole time- and he paid for his coffee, and bid her goodbye.

He walked out of the café alone, misery and confusion clouding his brain. He strolled down the footpath aimlessly, not exactly knowing where he was going, not exactly knowing what he was thinking. What he wasn’t expecting, however, was for Harper herself to pull up in a car beside him, honking the horn to grab his attention.

“Calum?” she called out. “What are you doing here?”

Calum gaped at her. “I- uh-” he stammered, his mind suddenly blank on seeing her in front of him.

“Do you want me to drop you somewhere?” she asked, realizing how thrown off he was.

“I- no thanks, I’m good,” he said, finally spitting out sensible words. 

“Are you sure, Cal? I can drop you home.” The use of his nickname made him tingle, but he quickly shook it away. 

“Where are you off to?” he asked.

“Well, I was actually going to the cliff, it’s been a minute since I’ve been there,” she replied. He looked around at his surroundings- he was quite far away from home, having chosen a café closer to his date’s house- but he realized that they were quite close to the cliff.

The cliff was on the outskirts of the city, a place where he and his friends used to go as teenagers to hang out, to get away from life for a bit. His heart was suddenly filled with nostalgia. Calum felt the urge to go there immediately. He realized he would have to go with Harper if he went right away, but something told him that he had to do this.

“Can I come with you there?” he asked. Harper looked taken aback, then her eyes lit up with hope. She nodded, smiling.

“Of course.”

He got into the car, and her pleasant scent instantly filled his nostrils, threatening to overwhelm his senses. He took a deep breath, steadying his nerves and switched on the music player, as she stepped on the accelerator.

---

They drove in silence. It was only a ten-minute drive away, and in no time, they were at the cliff, stood against the bonnet of the car. The sun was just beginning to set, spraying the sky with red and orange and pink. Calum was overwhelmed by memories as she parked the car.

“This is gorgeous,” Harper mumbled, her mouth open in awe as she took in the view. Calum found it breathtaking too, but in more ways than one- he stupidly took a peek over the edge. He could see the dark forest looming at the foot of the cliff, making him shudder- the height was disconcerting- and he quickly moved back to the bonnet. His uneasiness must have reflected on his face, because Harper looked over at him, concerned.

“You alright, Cal?” There was the nickname, again. Calum brushed it off, trying to ignore the goosebumps on his hands.

“Not a big fan of heights, that’s all,” he replied.

She smiled pitifully at him. “Don’t worry, you’re not alone,” she whispered, and gingerly placed her hand on top of his. It sent shivers up his spine, and had his heart pounding, and Calum just couldn’t take it anymore.

“Do you really not feel anything?” he exploded, removing his hand from under hers and standing up. “You said that night meant nothing, then you smile at me like that and hold my hand and- Do you really not feel anything for me or are you just stringing me along? Or am I stupid for thinking that we could be something?” 

Calum paused and took a deep breath. She was staring at him in shock. Before she could counter, he continued speaking. “I can’t keep going on like this, Harper, pretending like I’m okay with just being your friend. ‘Cause I’m not.” 

She looked away from him at the end of his rant, down at the ground, and dragged her hand over her face, letting out a sigh. “I knew we had to have this conversation eventually, I just didn’t think you’d be the one to start it,” she muttered. Calum raised his eyebrows, a little confused, and walked over to stand right in front of her. She looked up at him nervously. 

“You’re not stupid, Cal. Of course that night meant something to me, you don’t know how long I’ve wanted that,” she said. His heart skipped a beat at her last sentence. Harper looked over his shoulder at the view, but Calum didn’t take his eyes off her. She looked so small and vulnerable, and despite everything she’d done, he only wanted to hold her. 

“I got scared of losing you,” she muttered, her hands fidgeting, and Calum’s eyes widened. That was the exact worry he had had before. “I lost some of the best friends I had ever made when you guys left for London, and when I found you again, I didn’t wanna risk it.” Her bottom lip quivered a little; she seemed distant as she recalled old memories. Calum’s hand involuntarily moved to her face to push back a strand of hair, and she leaned into his touch. His hand came to rest at her jaw, thumb tracing her cheek, and she looked back at him, eyes begging for forgiveness. “I’m sorry, Cal.” He was so close to her. Her hand covered his hand on her cheek, lightly brushing across it.

“I don’t wanna lose you either,” he whispered. 

In her eyes, he could see the sincerity of her emotions. The sorrow, the surprise, the want. “Really?” she murmured.

Calum nodded. “I never wanna make that mistake again.” She exhaled, lips opening slightly, and he bent down to kiss her.

Her lips were soft, moving slowly against his. It felt different- that night was more passionate, a more carnal desire, but this was more intimate. He just wanted to know her, inside and out. His hand moved into her hair, his other hand gripping her waist. She stroked his arm, both her hands landing on his chest, and she pulled him closer by his shirt. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, and he tilted his head to let her in. 

Calum pushed her back against the car, and she immediately situated herself on the bonnet. Harper’s legs wrapped around his hips. He wrapped his arms around her, and attached his lips to her throat, planting soft kisses all along her neck. Her hand was in his hair now, tugging slightly as he moved further down, to the curve of her breasts. 

She pulled him back up, crashing her lips into his, and he moaned slightly. His hand moved up and down her thigh, unable to get enough of her, until she pulled away, out of breath. His heart was thumping loud, and they both breathed raggedly till their hearts slowed down, while staring into each other’s eyes.

“You know I’m not gonna let you walk away that easily, right?” he said.

Her almond brown eyes shone in the sunlight, her lips swollen and pink. Her mouth stretched into a smile. “I certainly hope not,” she replied. He chuckled and leaned back in to kiss her. After a few more short kisses, he pulled away, grinning.

“I’m in love with you, Harper Romano,” he said unapologetically, feeling a weight lift off his heart at the words. She smiled at him that smile that made his heart flip, that he had so easily become obsessed with, that he wanted to melt in forever.

“And I really like you as a friend, Calum Hood.”

“What-” He started moving away when she burst into laughter, her whole face lighting up. 

“I’m kidding!” She tugged him closer, and he set his hands on either side of her, shaking his head amusedly. A smile broke onto his face, as she said, “I’m in love with you too.”

After all the relationship troubles he had had in the past, he never thought he would want to hear those words again, yet here he was. He felt as high as a kite, his heart soaring, and barely able to contain his grin, he leaned in to press his lips to hers.

---

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Plastic Heart - Part 17

Namjoon x Reader Author: Mo Summary: When you get the highly-anticipated BTS dolls for Christmas, your life takes a turn in a way you never could have expected. Note: There’s some foreshadowing at the end of this one ;) I love you guys soooooo much. Seriously, all of your asks and replies and comments give me life! Checking for them after I update is like opening presents on Christmas morning uwu <3 Warnings: None? Word Count: 1.5k

Prologue, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Wednesday came around slowly, and in his days while you were in class, Namjoon grew bored easily. Sure, now he could play video games with the guy without having to tag-team a single controller like they did, he could hold a book with his hands instead of his entire body, and he had Koya to take care of now, but his little blue son did a whole lot of sleeping.

That left him with nothing to do and a whole lot of time to do it, counting down the hours until you’d finally get back to the apartment so he could drown you in kisses. Well, until you pushed him off to work on homework.

But today was different. Today was Wednesday, which meant that once you got home, he’d get to go out again, this time wearing a beanie and a mask to avoid trending on Twitter. In the past few days, RM still hadn’t released anything official, so Namjoon was stuck going out incognito as to not be recognized by one of his namesake’s crazed fans.

When the door finally opened, Namjoon sat at attention, carefully relocating the snoozing koala to the cozy pillow laying on the couch. You smiled at him, taking out your earbuds and setting your backpack on the chair so you could rearrange things before going to the library.

“Did you guys have a good day?” You asked.

Your boyfriend stood up and walked over to you, and you straightened up to kiss him. He loved how far he had to lean down to make your lips meet, a reminder that though you had been multitudes taller than him before, he was now the tall one. He was the one you called when you couldn’t reach things in the cupboard (that he had maybe relocated to see you straining on your tippy-toes until finally surrendering and calling him to come use his long-ass arms to get it).

“It’s better now.” He murmured against your lips, an arm snaking around your waist. “How was class, baby?”

“It was good. Boring, but good. I’ve got another paper to write, which means lots of tea at the library.” You slid your laptop into your bag and stopped to think about what else you might need. “You’re coming, right, babe?”

“Of course I’m coming. I’m always so bored without you here.”

“And what are we, chopped liver?” Jin scoffed from his seat on the coffee table.

“We’re perfectly entertaining, but he’d much rather make out with his human girlfriend than hang out with a bunch of toys.” Yoongi chuckled to himself. He had some weird look on his face, but you weren’t quite sure why, and you wouldn’t know why until you got back later…

Namjoon’s face reddened and he grinned shyly.

“What, you think we can’t hear you two out here after you put Koya to sleep?” Hoseok laughed. “You’re not exactly subtle.”

“Alright, so, we’re gonna go.” You changed the subject, cheeks steadily darkening to meet the red shade that Namjoon’s were. “All set?”

“He’s been ready for like two hours, just sitting there wearing his shoes in the house ‘in case your class got out early’.”

“Wow, okay, is today Roast Namjoon Day?” He looked at Taehyung pointedly, sending the other boys into a laughing frenzy.

“Cute.” You pinched his cheek. “I missed you too, Joon.”

His bashful grin revealed those dimples you loved so much. He surrendered to your touch, practically glowing under your gentle affection until he turned to the boys. “Remember Koya has to be in bed by ten. He likes lullabies and bedtime stories.”

“We’re the best babysitters ever.” Jimin promised, saluting. “We’ll take care of him.”

“I trust you guys. See you in a little while. We probably won’t be out too late.” You told them, watching as Namjoon looped the strings of his mask around his ears and pulled his beanie over his hair. There. Inconspicuous. No one would ever be able to spot him now.

So, the two of you headed out to meet your friends once again. When you arrived at the library, Melody and Ella were already sitting at the usual table, and Luna was standing in line to get tea from the little shop tucked into the back of the large academic building. You scooted into your usual seat in the booth against the wall, and pulled an extra table over so Namjoon could sit beside you. Ella smiled at the sight of your boyfriend, but Melody only stared.

“This is that guy you were on Twitter with.” She said, motioning to Namjoon’s tall form as he took a seat in the spot next to yours.

“Right. Introductions. Melody, this is my boyfriend, Namjoon.”

“But not THAT Namjoon.” Joon interjected. He looked to Ella apologetically. “Sorry we gave you a fake name. When I tell BTS fans my real one, they tend to freak out.”

“That’s valid.” Ella nodded in understanding. “No harm done.”

“Oh, Namjoon, how nice of you to join us.” Luna smiled, sitting across from you and beside Melody. “How are you?”

“I’m great, Luna, thanks.”

“Okay, one more question, so, when were you going to tell the squad you had a boyfriend?” Melody asked, still ogling the handsome man that had seemingly walked into your life out of nowhere. She couldn’t remember you saying anything about being interested in anyone. Although, if someone who looked that much like Jin had just waltzed in out of the blue, she couldn’t say she wouldn’t wind up with a boyfriend too…

“It all happened so fast. I swear, we haven’t even been dating for that long, and I kind of wanted you to meet him in person before I said anything.” You explained, resting your hand on Namjoon’s on top of the table. “Plus, would you have believed me if I sent pictures?”

“Probably not, no.” Ella laughed. “He just...looks so much like RM.”

“Which is why we’re being careful today…” Namjoon motioned to his mask, chuckling to himself. If there was another leak, he was sure his and your face would be plastered all over the internet again, and surely, that wouldn’t be good for you in the long run.

You opened up your laptop and made a fresh document, plugging in your font preferences and line spacing settings before punching in the MLA formatted header. It came as second nature to you now: name, class, teacher, date, title. You sighed deeply. God, how you hated papers.

Sensing your distress, Namjoon’s boyfriend senses tingled and he leaned closer to you, telling you gently, “I’ll go get us tea if you tell me what you want.”

Your heart just about melted. “I just want an iced chai with soy milk. Thank you so much, babe.” You kissed his dimpled cheek, even though there was a mask between your lips and his smooth skin.

“Alright, I’ll be right back.” He stood from the table and walked over to the counter.

Melody looked at you, jaw dropped. “Where the hell did you find him? I want one.”

You resisted the urge to reply ‘Target’, instead giggling and shrugging.

“Yeah, talk about goals, oh my God.” Ella chimed.

Luna only sat there, smirking knowingly, but not saying anything about where he’d really come from, who he REALLY was. She was happy to see you happy. It didn’t matter where your new boyfriend had come from. She could see that he really cared for you, and that was all that mattered to her.

“What can I say?” You shrugged, watching him as he ordered. Your heart fluttered. That tall, handsome man over there was your boyfriend. Your BOYFRIEND. Ugh, you got chills just thinking about it. “He’s one of a kind…”

Namjoon came back a few minutes later with your iced chai and whatever he had ordered for himself, which was in a warm drink cup instead of a cold drink one. He lowered his mask and blew on it a few times before taking his first tentative sip.

“What did you order, Joon?” You asked.

“Earl Grey. It’s really good.” He reported, letting the warm cup sit between his large hands. “Do you need any help with your paper?”

“I think I’m okay right now, but if you want to read it over when I’m done, that would be really helpful.”

“Of course.” He wrapped his arm around you and pulled you closer, kissing your temple softly while his mask was down. So far, that was the only thing he didn’t like about wearing it: that he couldn’t kiss you while it was covering the bottom half of his face. “Whatever you need, baby.”

You were too preoccupied with your work and the handsome man with his arm around you, exuding warmth like a furnace, to notice the piece of folded paper sticking out of his pocket. And you were also too distracted to notice the shooting star that whizzed through the clear night sky just beyond the glass in front of you...

Tagged: @iie-wakarimasen, @lilgaga98, @catbugsugarpea, @demonic-meatball, @backtonormalthings, @kbowen9, @honig-bienchen, @coolcat494, @ffantasylandd, @feed-my-geek-soul, @ayoo-bangtan, @xxqueenwxtchxx, @cap-lu20, @finninpoposu, @coldbookworm, @sitkafay, @daniawinchesters21, @okaysoplshelpme, @zamirayinyue13, @douseeme16

[hollandroos]

Run To Me; Part Seven

You do not have to read this first book to read this one! - There are a lot of dad/mafia series, so if this seems similar to yours then message me for credit.

Blow a kiss, Fire a gun: Teaser Pt.1 Pt.2 Pt.3 Pt.4 Pt.5 Pt.6 Pt.7 Pt.8 Pt.9 Pt.10 Pt.11 Pt.12 Pt.13 Pt.14 Pt.15 Pt.16 Pt.17 Pt.18 Pt.19 Pt.20 + NSFW Alphabet with Mob!Tom

Run To Me: Prologue Pt.1 Pt.2 Pt.3 Pt.4 Pt.5 Pt.6

Words: 4.4k

Read on Wattpad! + Playlist!

“So you actually meet him?”

You twiddle the spoon that sat in your tea, holding it by the butt as to not burn your fingers. The metal spoon was hot but the cup was even hotter and your fingers still hurt from where you’d picked up the cup before, forgetting to use the handle.

Your father sat ahead of you, a scolding cup of coffee in his hand and frown on his face. But beneath that frown was curiosity.  He may not have been the best father- not even close but it was the little things like the fact that he hadn’t allowed you to drink coffee knowing what caffeine did to you and instead had a hot cup of tea prepared.

He wore one of the sweaters you remember seeing as a kid had to wonder if he still had it because it was his favourite, or because it was your mother's favourite. It was the one she used to throw on after a long day, drown out the scent of his cologne in her perfume and trudge around the house with it hanging around her thighs.

You remembered her even without having to look at the old photographs on the entryway table and the way her caramel coloured hair hung in waves, sometimes it was frizzier than others as it sat just below her shoulders, more often than not in braids. Her eyes were always kind, never anything less and you had to wonder how someone to soft- so gentle ended up being married to a mobster.

“What else could I do? I can’t run from him. We have no money, plus, I could move to New Zealand and he’d still find me.”

Your dad tilts his head briefly, having to agree. “How was he around Rosie?”

“He was good, noticeably nervous at first and didn’t really talk much but he softened up, bought her drink and got a few laughs out of her.” You say, pulling the cotton blanket further up your chest and cursed the fact that your father refused to get any heating installed.

The house was still as cold as it was when you were a kid and you remembered why you owned so many sweaters and leggings. The halls were still as dark and gloomy as ever, but still not as narrow and your old room still stood as it always did- plus, sunny orange duvet laying wrinkled on the bed and desk still containing old high school yearbooks and school textbooks that you never looked twice at.

Even a selection of pictures of you and your first boyfriend remained hidden in the back of your drawers, as well as photos that were taken at parties and sleepovers.

“A quiet mobster is never a good one-” He tries to repeat.

“-Means they’re thinking deeply into something, I know.” You take a sip of the tea, wincing when it burns your top lip and tongue. “Rosie was good too once she opened up and even gave him a picture.”

“She did? Gosh, that’s not like her.” Your dad's eyes widen in shock as he places the coffee mug down on the rustic table, the thing resting on a selection of children's books.

“Yeah.” You laugh, remembering what had happened two days ago. “He taught her a bad word.”

Your dad doesn’t seem shocked. “So what do you think will happen now?”

“I really don’t know. I mean a part of me knows that he deserves to be in her life and a big part at that, I feel like he wants to be as well but the other part still feels really on edge.”

It was still undecided as to whether or not he wanted to be involved and exactly how involved but you’d be lying if you said that you hadn’t felt a few of those familiar feelings creep back in two days ago when he sat ahead of you. They were feelings that you thought had long been buried, but just as quick they’d managed to spring back into action.

“At the end of the day he only protected you, you need to give him a chance.” Your father says, picking up his cup of tea once again.

“I did! I let him see Rosie and meet for a drink.” You point out, not even surprised at what he was saying. “I almost died and I don’t want Rosie to be put in danger too-”

“Nick was cruel. He was sick in more ways than one and any sane person wouldn’t mess with Tom. He could make Rosie safer then she already is.”

You roll your eyes, remembering that almost five years ago you didn’t want your daughter anywhere near Tom, wanting to flee as far as you could and it turns out that ‘as far as you could’ was only an hour or so away with the luck of no traffic. It seemed like the best option at the time.

“That’s what you said about me when you signed me over to them.” You remember, making a small wave of guilt formulate over your dad.

“Sweetheart, you still came out of it alive.” He points out.

Your eyes fall to the mug of hot tea, “Some people didn’t- some very good people.”

Your dad sighed, leaning forward in the seat you remember him sitting in when you were a child, sitting on the edge of his seat with a beer in hand on a Saturday night, a game of footy on the television.

“That wasn’t your fault, you need to stop blaming yourself for his death. Nick shot him, not you.”

“Nick shot me too and I got to live so why-”

Your father senses your panic beginning to rise, the way colour began to drain from your cheeks and palms tighten around the mug. “Sweetheart, deep breathes. Remember Rosie.”  

You remember Rosie, her little hands that were only half the size of yours and feet that merely fit into all of the shoes she had in her closet- especially the pink ones with hot pink flowers on the top. You’re reminded of her laugh and her smile that could make the room metaphorically light up and her desire to draw each and everything in sight whether she had a pack of fifty crayons or two.

Your phone vibrates, bouncing around on your lap on top of the scratchy blanket and you look down, tensing when you see an unknown number. Those were always scary, but then again it could’ve been Rosie’s daycare or someone from work. You take a deep breath before picking it up, balancing the mug in one hand before leaning forward to place it down on the coffee table.

“Hello?” You ask into the phone, voice pretty monotone besides a little bit of curiosity.

Aiden sighs, the overwhelming feeling that you weren’t going to bother picking up washing away and even through the phone, he puts on an act. “Hey, baby, what’s up?”

You let out a sarcastic laugh, looking at your father that was watching intently. The nickname was his way of trying to pretend that nothing had happened and it made you tense. Of course. “It’s been a while. Does that have anything to do with Tom Holland?”

He sighs into the phone, stress conscious in his voice. “Look, I can’t tell you what’s been happening but I need to come around later-”

“Nope.” You shake your head. “No way are you going near my daughter again.” Your dad chuckled at both your protectiveness and stubbornness.

You could barely believe that he was asking after everything that had happened- in fact, the last time you’d seen him was at the dinner before you evacuated to the bathroom. Remembering how persistent he’d been, hands tugging at your wrist made you shudder and teeth clench. And the fact that you found out what he’d been doing all this time? You felt dirty to put it simply.

“I just need to pick a few things up.” He pushed, hand tightening around the cell phone. It was a brick- a burner phone.

“I said no- Don’t make me tell you again. You lied to me, Aiden, told me you were a freaking IT guy?!” You look towards your father who shakes his head in disappointment. He never liked Aiden, not one bit. Call it a fathers instincts. “Did you ever bring drugs to my home?”

“No.” The shaggy-haired man debates hanging up, getting his stuff back his own way but decided against it. “I left some stuff at your place including something very valuable, a family heirloom in fact so can I please come by later? I’ll be in and out. You won’t see me again.”

“Nope.” You put emphasis on the P, annoyance lacing your words.

“C’mon, five minutes.” He was getting desperate, hands grabbing at the kitchen counter as he tried to prevent himself from getting angry.

You stop for a moment, wondering if he was lying to you again or if he really did have important things at your house. Aiden seemed to be a pathological liar, something you’d learned how to decipher during your time with Tom- Not that Tom was a pathological liar, just that there’s a lot of secrecy in the mob. You learn how to tell when someone’s lying based purely on the small actions like how their fingers twitch or brows part. You had managed to wean your way around at his place, find out secrets you swore his men weren’t even aware of.

“Is the heirloom really that important?” You ask, fiddling with the strands on the blanket.

“It is- it was my mothers.”

Something switches and you find yourself thinking about being in his situation- more so reminiscing the night you realised you left your mothers necklace at Tom’s house where it possibly still sat in the bottom of a bedside table, cold and alone for a long five years after going almost everywhere with you for ten.

“You have five minutes, not more, got it? And If I ever see your face again I swear to god Tom will-”

You didn’t know where it came from, mentioning Tom’s name that was but it happened, it slipped out and you found your cheeks heating up, lip going between your teeth.

“Thank god-” He lets out a sigh of relief. “Can I come over when you get back from getting Rosie from daycare?”

So he knew your schedule.

“Yeah, no later than four.” Without another word you hang up the phone, suddenly feeling a sense of dread settle in the pit of your stomach. But it was overthrown by anger and pent-up frustrations.

Your fathers eyebrows raise, a smirk settling on his face and he watches you chuck the phone down, distress crossing your features for a second as you try to ignore what you’d just said. Both of your cups of tea were long forgotten, the gentle ticking of the clock filling the silence. Your dread was evident- your father had always been good at assessing your emotions even if he hadn’t been there all the time.

“Do you really want to get involved with the mob again, pumpkin?” He asks.

“No,” You shake your head. “But if I let Tom become involved in that little girl's life then I’m back in whether or not I want to be a part of it.”

The old, grandfather clocks rings two pm, sharp rings indicating half an hour before you were due to pick up Rosie, though she was probably already waiting at the gate for you to pull up.

-

You agreed but couldn’t get his words out of your head, the very last sentence he spoke to you that almost seemed like a threat. ‘Something bad’s going to happen and I think you know it.’ You tried to shrug it off but deep down you knew that he was right, that just maybe there was a domino effect going on and everything you did- every move you made from this point forward could possibly lead to a negative outcome.

You weren’t shocked when you saw Aiden later that day looking the way he did. By that you meant one of his eyes’ was a sickening combination of purple and blue, bottom lip split and swollen and you were sure his chest looked no different. It looked like one of Rosie’s finger paintings- only worse.

You didn’t need to point it out to him, neither did you want to considering the wounds brought back a tidal wave of deja vu.

“Tom- Christ, what did you do?” You groaned, concern, however, lacing your words. The first aid kit supplies lay strewn around the bathroom counter as well as the bloody rag Tom had previously been holding to his lip.

“Was a hard day at work, is all.” His words came out a little bit muffled due to the fact that his lips were swollen and double the size. “Just pretend I was stung by a wasp or somethin’.”

You roll your eyes, concern slowly slipping away then replaced by a sarcasm he’d grown to love. “You look like you were stung by five- who’d you mess with this time?”

“Correction,” His hand goes over your own, holding the cloth while you got the disinfectant ready. “Who messed with me.”

“Rosie’s on the couch watching tv, don’t talk to her or me and just get what you need.” Your voice was cold, emotion practically non-existence as you stared at him with hard, piercing eyes.

He nods, a mop of black hair bouncing gently and moves into the familiar apartment. It never was the prettiest, he’d admit, but it was most definitely cosy and always warm. He couldn’t count the nights he’d spent on the couch right where Rosie was sitting, escaping his more… illegal business and the things it entailed. Maybe that was why he stuck around so long, purely because there, with the two of you he was safer than on the outside.

He heads towards your bedroom, duvet cover still a mess and curtains pulled shut tightly as usual and clothes scattered the bedroom floor. He knew you didn’t leave your room like that on purpose, more so because you were always running low on time but choose to taunt you about it whenever he could.

While you were meant to be doing dishes in the kitchen, Aiden scoped out what he needed which was most definitely not a family heirloom, you found yourself tapping your foot against the tiled floor, gentle pats echoing making the fish look at you through the glass, wide, beady eyes and tail swishing.

Getting suspicious, you dried your hands off and crept into the hallway, making sure not to step in places that you knew creaked- because the last thing you needed to do was expose yourself. Maybe it was a bad idea but you felt uncomfortable just allowing him to creep around your house unwatched.

Aiden leaves the bedroom, no heirloom of any kind in hand and you raise a brow, wrinkles forming in your brows and he heads towards the bathroom.

 Of course something in you hadn’t believed that he was here for an heirloom in the first place but it was the kindness of your own heart that had allowed him back into your home for a solid five minutes, so watching as he exited the bathroom and head to Rosies closed, secure door made you jump out from behind the kitchen entryway. 

He grips the door and you grit your teeth.

“What are you doing?” you gasp, watching Aiden’s hand tighten around the door handle. He removes it quickly, aesthetic not matching Rosie’s door that was plastered in little sticky notes and drawings.

Maybe you were paranoid- maybe you had a reason to be.

“I can’t find it- are you sure Rosie didn’t take it? You know she likes to explore.” He struggles out. Lies slipped between his teeth without a second thought, they were second nature to the dealer. “Were you watching? Do you not trust me?”

You ignore his question, almost laughing because he actually expected you to trust him. “Positive.” You grit your teeth harder, though you didn’t know if your ‘positive’ answered his first or second question.

You tug the sleeve of your shirt down, fiddling with the thin cotton.

“I just need to find it.” He says, only this time you could sense the lies and they made you feel uneasy. He took a step closer, one hand going to yours and you jerk away, wide eyes almost threatening. “C’mon, baby.”

While Aiden hadn’t made you feel that way before- or at least not to often after growing comfortable around him you now felt yourself tensing, a thin layer of sweat building on your palms as he stands next to your daughter's room, tall and staunch. Maybe it was knowing what he did that made you uncomfortable, and possibly now that he may have had it out for you after what Tom had done to his face.

“Get out of my house, It’s been five minutes.” You say, glad Rosie was in the living room watching some television show instead of in her bedroom right now, having to listen to this. “Seriously I can’t even look at you.”

“I can’t-”

“Leave or I’ll call the cops- or Tom, and I’m sure you know all about his methods by now.”

“Okay- Okay I’ll go.” Aiden puts his hands up in defence, black eye widening as he backed away from the bedroom door. “Something bad’s going to happen and I think you know it. You know, giving birth to that girl was never a good idea. Having the mafia boss’s kid under your roof puts you in a fucking world of danger.”

You feel a shiver run down your spine, backing out of the doorway as Aiden slips through into the living room, feet padding against the floor leaving muddy prints and if you were any angrier you would’ve yelled at him for it. Is this what adulthood it?

“Leave.” You grit.

“I’m leaving.” Aiden swore he would’ve cursed out loud if your threat wasn’t looming.“Bye, Roo.” He says, taking progressive steps towards the front door, semi empty-pocketed.

She puts a hand up, waving without taking her eyes off of the tv and you almost snicker. If it were anyone else then she would’ve got up, ran over and offered a possible hug. Maybe this time Rosie was just too invested in Max and Ruby or the bowl of popcorn that sat between her legs, greasy fingers digging into the bowl every few moments.

You wait for the door to shut and for some reason, waiting for it to slam but it never comes. Aiden closes the door gently, barely pulling Rosie from her thoughts and you head over to the couch, sitting next to Rosie who struggles into your lap, greasy fingers staining your trousers.

“Mommy?” Rosie’s voice competes with the tv, tongue running over her teeth as she tries to get the popcorn kernels out.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t like him very much, neither does Peter.”

-

Club music rang through Toms' ears and by now he was pretty used to it, but this time he’d actually hated it. He hated the way his eyes rang even after only arriving half an hour ago and how he struggled to see his brothers in the dark, and he hated the girls that had been eyeing him up since he walked in. He felt vulnerable.

A selection of men laughed away in the corner, downing shots of alcohol faster then he could blink and Tom wouldn’t lie, he partially felt threatened- especially when one of the men locked eyes with him, snarling before turning back to his mates. Tom moved around in his seat to make sure his gun was tucked in the back of his pants.

His brothers sat with him at the bar, both already slightly tipsy compared to Tom who was on edge, only suffering a low buzz.

“Do you have a photo of her?” Sam asks, seeming more interested then Harry who remained in his seat, beer in hand and cigarette in the other.

Tom draws his attention back to his brothers, fingertips dancing over the bar counter as he processes what his brother said- attempting and succeeding at getting his brain out of the ditch. Tom would admit that he was feeling drained, partially weak but wouldn’t say it out loud and the last thing he needed was his brothers taunting him for it.

Tom reaches into his back pocket, pulling out his phone and goes to your messages. The last ones were from two days ago, a faint ‘read at 11:37 am’ haunting him. He has to scroll up but it’s only one swipe and he finds the photo you sent him the morning after you met at the restaurant.

Rosie was at the park, buckled up in one of the toddler swings with her fingers gripping the chains holding the set up, hands tucked away in a pair of cotton gloves. Her hair was covering part of her face and they hung in the same evident curls he’d seen a while ago at the cafe, teeth poking through her gums. It wasn’t an overly old photo, but she was definitely smaller then when he’d last seen her.

He hands the phone to Sam and Harry peeks over his shoulder for a moment. “She’s definitely your kid.” He says, “Blood tests are out of the question.”

“You think?” Tom takes his phone back, looking at the Rosie. The photo was taken around a year ago on a fall day, he could tell because the tree’s were practically naked behind her, brown leaves scattered across the bark. He feels something that could’ve been pride, but was easily mistaken for interest.

“Look at those curls, and the eyes too. Reminds me a girl version of you when you were four.” Sam marvel’s at the photo, something in him happy to have a niece despite his distaste and uncertainty of Y/N.

Tom grimaces as the smell of smoke becomes overwhelming- a smell he once enjoyed but now made him screw his face up in distaste. He snatches the cigarette out of Harry’s hand, putting it out on the dish in front of him.

Harry gapes, arms going up. “Dude, just because you’re trying to quit.” He snorts. “You’re changing already, you must really want this.”

Toms gaze hardens, practically glaring at his brother and it’s clear even in the dark club, hot red lights illuminating his features. It turned his black shirt a gentle shade of red. “I just don’t want to screw things up with Rosie, is all.”

Harry snorts, seeing the other half of the situation. “And Y/N?”

“If I screw things up with Y/N then I don’t get to see Rosie,” Tom mutters, staring into his empty glass that was full only half fifteen minutes ago. He was sure he and his brothers reeked of alcohol by now, and he was sure that he himself looked fresh out of a breakup.

“Or you could just take the kid, you have the power to do that, you know,” Harry replies, carelessly snatching the phone off of Tom and flicking through the rather short selection of messages.

“Harry’s right.” Sam points out, taking a mouthful of beer. “I mean it wouldn’t be hard to get her signed over if you really wanted to. Wouldn’t take long either.”

While Tom would be lying if he said the thought hadn’t crossed his mind at least once, he gingerly shook his head. The mobster had no clue where to begin when it came to looking after a child. The thought alone terrified him and he couldn’t begin to think about the lengths you’d gone to set up a safe environment for Rosie.

To set his house up for a four-year-old he’d need a full-time nanny, to rid of the weapons that decorated his house and the men that wondered after private meetings. He wouldn’t even have time to give her the love she deserved.

“She’s grown up around Y/N, they need each other.” Tom knew you needed each other, you were the other’s support system and it was evident as day. Rosie was practically attached to your hip and you hers.  “That’d be really fucking cruel.”

Sam shrugs. “You’re practically the king of London- you’ve done worse.” He places his cup down, the bartender taking your empty jugs. “You’re right though, it’s probably not the best idea.”

Harry shakes his head, calling for another drink. “You’re going soft mate. Can’t believe you even let that Aiden guy just walk away.”

“I didn’t just let him walk away, he got a good punishment first.”

“Good.” Harry scoffs, mimicking his brother and managing to find the humour in his eldest brothers words. “You gave him a few fucking bruises then practically told him to fuck off. If someone did my girl dirty like that I’d put a bullet through the guy's skull.”

“Watch it.” Tom threatened, feet kicking the flooring frustratingly almost like a child. 

He opened his wallet, pulling out a few bills to leave on the counter but his fingers landed on the colouring in Rosie had given him. It was folded but he could still see the admittedly repugnant yellow and pink that was scribbled around the border and quickly brushes past it, fingers going to the notes.

Harry puts his hands up in defence, wobbling around partially in his slightly tipsy state. “You’re weak is all I’m saying. We want the old Tom back.”

Sam nudges his brother like he did when they were kids, hissing under his breath. “You’re just slipping is all he’s trying to say,”

“Whatever.” Tom slams the notes down, hand making contact with the wood. “I'm doing a better fucking job then dad ever did.”

Harry chuckles, cheeks a bright shade of pink. He ignored the mention of his father- knowing even with alcohol in his system that the man had been out of his life for years now. “You’re a dad now,”

Tom stands up, cough erupting from the back of his throat and he tries to ignore the glances from the men at the opposite table, eyes glancing around for the nearest escape and Sam follows suit, trying to nudge a more then tipsy Harry out of his seat.

“What do you say we get out of here?” Sam says, noticing the tension between his brothers that Harry seemed to miss. “We’ve got work to do.”

-

Things are about to go from 0-100 so quick

Let’s talk about this chapter! Favourite parts, what you want to see next etc :)

PART 8

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[broadstreetmisfits]

Good Times - Carter Hart

Requested?  Y  /  N   “gimme happy carter hart @ maddie”

Prompt: N/A

Warnings: None

A/N: Okay so this is specifically for my friend @marnershart and I just wanna let you know that @fratboyvesey requested this so you’re welcome

A/N number 2: This was inspired by the song “Good Times” by All Time Low. Highly recommend the band

WC: 1,623

Age: 6

“Stop coloring my cat purple!” You whined as you pushed your best friend, Carter, away from your coloring book.

“But now it looks pretty” He replied as he went back to coloring his rocketship green

Grabbing a blue crayon, you drew a stick figure.

“Whose that?” He asked as he looked down at the figure

“That’s me, waving you goodbye” You giggled

“And,” Carter began as he picked up a red crayon and drew a stick figure next to yours. “That’s me”

Age: 10

“Come on Y/N! Don’t be a pansy!” Carter whined as you stood on the front porch of your neighbor’s house.

Carter had dared you to ding-dong ditch your neighbor. However, you were terrified of doing it, since you thought they would come out and yell at you. Nonetheless, after you gulped, you knocked on the door and then ran for your life.

“Quick! Here!” He whisper yelled as he pointed to a bush.

Both you and Carter crawled under some of the lower branches. The two of you watched as the front door of your neighbor’s house swung open. Old Man Jenkins looked around for a few moments before letting out a groan.

“Stupid kids!” Old Man Jenkins yelled as he shook his fist in the air. He then went back inside, closing the door behind him.

You and Carter giggled as you crawled out of the bush.

“That was a good one,” He said as he gave you a high five.

Age 15

Sitting at your desk, you continued to scribble down your homework. A few minutes into doing your work, you heard a knock on your bedroom door.

“Come in!” You called after the third knock. The door opened and looking over your shoulder, you saw Carter walk in. “Hey, what’re you doing here?”

“I need to uh, talk to you about something,” He said as he sat down on your bed

You swiveled your chair around so that you were facing him “What’s up?”

“So you know how Everett had been scouting me for a few months last season?” He asked and you nodded “Well, they were continuing to scout me this year, and they offered a contract. They want me to play for them”

A smile broke out on your lips. “That’s amazing!”

“Yeah, I guess,” Carter said half-heartedly

Your eyebrows furrowed as you saw him clearly not super excited about the news. “What’s wrong?”

He let out a sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair. “You do know that Everett is in the States, right?”

Instantly upon hearing that, your smile disappeared “Oh,” You whispered

“So now you know why I’m hesitant of going” He replied and you nodded

“You should still go. You’ll be one step closer to achieving your dream.” You told him

He looked up at you, a soft expression on his face “Are you sure?”

You nodded and then spoke “I’m positive. And plus, most of the NHL teams are in the States. You’d probably have to go there anyway.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” He agreed and then spoke again. “But what will happen to us?”

You couldn’t help but let out a chuckle “We’ll still talk. Just because you’re gonna be in another country doesn’ mean we can’t be friends.”

“Good. text and call whenever?”

“Text and call whenever” You agreed

And that’s exactly what you two did. At least to start. The first few weeks after he moved out there, you two were constantly talking on the phone or texting. He would tell you practically everything, from the general summary of the day, to what practice was like, to sometimes even telling you what he ate. Of course, you would do the exact same to him. You would update him on everything that was going on in your life.

However, as Carter stayed in Everett longer and longer, you two began to grow apart. You guys weren’t constantly texting or calling and left out a lot of details when you guys would talk.

Age 18

It was three years after Carter had left for Everett. The two of you didn’t talk much, if at all. Every once in a while, you would see that he would post something on social media, but other than that you had no contact.

You had just wrapped up your freshman year at the University of Alberta and was back at Sherwood Park for summer vacation. Since you hadn’t been back home in a while, you decided to take a trip down memory lane and walk around the neighborhood. For the most part, the walk was relaxing, seeing the familiar sights. However, as soon as you got to a familiar intersection, you froze.

Standing at the corner, you looked across the street to see the familiar house of your childhood best friend. All at once, the memories that you had with him came flooding into your mind. All of the times you would play hide and seek, or color, or have conversations about what you guys thought the future was going to hold. Both of you planned that you would have stayed best friends and would go on adventures for the rest of your lives. Of course, that obviously didn’t happen. The wave of memories slowed down to the point where you could relive each one without interruption of another.

A smile formed on your face as the memories of the times you and Carter would have snowball fights filled your head. Both of you would build massive and elaborate forts to try and protect yourselves against each other but they would usually prove to be useless as you two were too reckless and usually stood out in the open for the majority of the fights.

Once the memories faded away, you were alone by yourself looking at the house across the street. You were left with the same emptiness you had when Carter had left for Everett.

Age 20

It was your winter break from college, and your friend invited you to her house for part of the break. Since you had nothing better to do, you said yes, and so you found yourself flying down to Philadelphia.

One day during your break, your friend told you that she had gotten tickets to the Philadelphia Flyers game. You were ecstatic; you loved hockey and had always wanted to go to an NHL game, and now you finally had the chance to.

Walking into the Wells Fargo Center, you were extremely excited. The smile on your face was never wiped away. You found your seats were behind the net that the Flyers defended during the first and third periods. The two of you barely got to your seats in time to hear the starting lineup for the Flyers, but you’re glad that you did make it.

“In goal, number 79, Carter Hart,” The public address announcer said.

When you heard that, your jaw instantly dropped. There was no way it was the same Carter Hart that you used to be best friends with, right? You had to think that it wasn’t but as soon as the goalie hit the ice, you knew it was him.

Carter skated down the ice to the goal he was going to protect. For some reason, he had a good feeling about this game. As he took off his mask and place it on the top of his net for the national anthem, he looked up at the crowd, and his eyes instantly widened. There was no way it was Y/N; the girl who he used to be best friends with, right? But without a doubt, he knew it was you.

You could have sworn he was looking at you for almost the entirety of the national anthem… or at least you hoped he was. On one hand, you wanted to do something that would get his attention and maybe get him to recognize you. But on the other, you wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. He left you five years ago to fulfill his dream and you didn’t want to interfere with his career. So, you decided to stay quiet in your seat.

But Carter had a different idea.

Throughout the game, everything was going relatively normal. Normal penalties, normal scrums, normal goals. However, with less than a minute left in the game, two large workers for the Wells Fargo came up to you and your friends.

“We need you to come with us,” One of them said

Both you and your friend’s eyes widened when you heard what he said. The two of you had done nothing wrong, at least you thought you hadn’t. Nonetheless, you followed the two workers down the tunnel to the concourse.

When they took you to a section that said ‘employees only’ you started to get nervous. Where on Earth were they taking you? Both of you were led down some stairs and down a few hallways until you stopped at a pair of large wooden doors.

“Now we’re gonna have to wait here for a little while, maybe thirty to forty-five minutes,” one of the workers said. Lucky for you, you had nothing to do after the game.

The time went fairly fast, and before you knew it, the wooden doors swung open. As soon as the person walked out, your jaw hit the floor. It was Carter. Your best friend from all those years ago was standing right in front of you. He wrapped his arms around you and his first three words to you were as follows.

“I missed you”

From that point, you knew you wanted to stay in Carter’s life. And just like you, he wanted to stay in yours.

[aceofstars16]

Trapped in the Past (Chapter 4)

Fourth Chapter of my Timetrapped AU inspired by @artsycrapfromsai!

When Mabel and Dipper fight over a time machine, they find themselves sent back thirty years in the past. Now it’s up to the younger versions of their great uncles to get them home.

Chapter 4 - Questions and...answers?

Mabel finds out some things about Stan that she never knew before, and Dipper shares his adventures with Ford, but questions only abound as time goes on.

1 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 6 - 7

AO3

How could he have let this happen? That was the only thing Stan could think as he looked at Mabel, who had fallen asleep in his arms – which touched him far more than he would ever admit. The thought of saying goodbye to her was becoming more and more difficult. But he needed to. She was not safe with him. If she hadn’t been with him then Rico’s goon wouldn’t have shown up…

Just the thought of the man sent a pulse of anger through Stan’s body. He should’ve gotten a few more punches in. If any person thought threatening a child was okay…

A soft whimper interrupted his thoughts and Stan ran a ran through Mabel’s hair, trying to calm her – as he had done every time she had made a distressed sound. Which seemed to be happening in her sleep now.

“It’s alright kiddo, I got you.”

After a moment, she seemed to calm down again and Stan sighed, leaning against the side of the bed once again. Realistically, he probably should move her to the bed - especially because his back wasn’t entirely happy with his current position – but he didn’t want to accidentally wake her up, so he stayed put.  

Then there was a knock at the door.

Stan froze, quickly looking around. If it was one of Rico’s men again…He caught sight of his bat and took a breath. Hide Mabel, grab the bat, open the door. The plan came to him right away, but then something caught his eye. A slip of paper had been shoved under the door.

Anxiety grew in his chest as he readjusted Mabel so he could reach out his foot and pull the paper towards him. It could be any number of things. A note changing the requirements of Rico’s payment, a threat, or something else that would spell out danger for him or Mabel…But it wasn’t anything of the sort. It was, a postcard?

Picking it up, he frowned at the picture. Gravity Falls. Where the heck was that? And who would be sending him a postcard of all things?

Then he turned it around.

Please come. Written in all caps, and signed by…

“Ford…”

Stan stared at the words. Handwriting he hadn’t seen in years. From a brother that he thought had long forgotten about him – though he had never forgotten about Ford.

A million thoughts raced through Stan’s mind. Why now? What would possibly prompt Ford to reach out to him after over ten years with no contact whatsoever? And with such a sort message. As the questions raced through his mind, a feeling of dread grew. Whatever it was…it couldn’t be good. But then again, Stan wasn’t exactly in a very good position either. His eyes flicked to the address it had come from. Gravity Falls, Oregon. Well that would probably be far enough away from Rico…and he wasn’t banned from there yet. Plus, despite everything, Stan knew he couldn’t say no. Even if Ford didn’t care about him anymore well…Stan still cared about him. He was his brother after all, and once upon a time they had been best friends.

As the memory crossed his mind, Stan felt a stab of despair. Every time he thought of Ford, it hurt. He had never wanted to lose his twin, he had never meant to hurt him, to break that stupid machine. But he had. Because he was a screw up. And look where that had landed him. In a small town trying to pay off an insurmountable debt while also figuring out what to do with a lost little girl. Yeah, not exactly how he imagined his life would be.

“What…where…oh…”

Mabel’s quiet mumblings snapped Stan out of his memories and he quickly shoved the postcard under the bed. He didn’t need to get Mabel involved with all of that. But he did need to figure out what to do now…and there really only seemed to be one option.

“You doing okay, kiddo?”

There was silence for a moment, and Stan thought maybe she had just spoken in her sleep, but then there was a quiet hum, though he couldn’t tell if it was a yes or a no.

“Don’t worry, they aren’t coming back any time soon.” A half truth. Stan didn’t know when Rico might send someone else, but by then Mabel would be safe and he would be long gone.

“But uh…I think the police might be better at keeping you safe from them…and getting you home.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt Mabel stiffen. So much for her softening on the idea of getting help from the authorities.

“Come on, Mabel, I…I can��t take care of you and…they’ll know what to do.”

For a moment, there was nothing, then in a quiet voice. “But I don’t know them.”

Stan opened his mouth, about to argue the point that she didn’t know him either, but she cut him off.

“I just want to stay with you.”

Gosh, why in the world did she trust him so much? He did nothing to deserve this, and she deserved so much better.

“You don’t want to go home?” It was the first thing he could think of, because he knew if he could’ve gone home all those years ago…well…maybe he wouldn’t have. But that was because he hadn’t really had a choice. If Pa hadn’t sent him out, hadn’t forbidden him to come home again…he might’ve found his way back to the pawn shop again. Maybe.

Silence, then a quiet, “I don’t-I don’t know if I can get home.”

At that, Stan just looked at her, curled up in his lap, her face hidden in his sweater. He had been kicked out when he was seventeen…surely no one would kick an actual child out of a house? But as he thought about it, he felt a knot growing in his chest, because he wasn’t naïve. He didn’t like to believe it, but he knew there were people out there that would do exactly that. After all, some might even say seventeen was still a child too.

But then another thought crossed his mind. If she had been kicked out, what about… “What about your brother?”

Mabel snuggled closer to him, and he sighed. Well so much for-

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to find him…and if…if I-“ Her voice caught and Stan realized she was crying. Oh gosh he had made her cry, again.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Stan tried putting as much belief into the statement as he could – despite not believing it in the slightest. Things hadn’t been okay for him in forever. But Mabel deserved better than that. “We’ll find him, just…I…this town isn’t a very good place for me anymore and if your brother is here I…you can’t leave your brother kiddo.” Not like I did. Stan stopped himself from saying that thought aloud. He only left because he had to but it was hard not to wonder what might’ve been if he had done something different.

She didn’t reply, in fact it sounded like she was crying even harder. Man, he was bad at this.

“Tell you what. I’ll go with you to the police and you can see how you feel after meeting them. Sound good?”

Seconds passed and the only response he got was her curling up into an even tighter ball. Great, just great…

Minutes ticked by and Stan just sat there, exhaustion creeping up on him, but he tried to ignore it. He needed a plan, and not a nap – okay maybe he needed a nap but he didn’t have time for one. Finally, despite the weight in his chest, he knew what he needed to do. Get Mabel to the police – people who could actually help her – and then get the heck out of there.

Letting out a breath, he patted Mabel’s hair. “Uh, you wanna help me get some of these boxes into the car?”

At that she actually looked up, and the tearstains on her face broke his heart. How we he gonna walk away if she started crying again? No, he had to. For her sake.

“All of them?”

Looking up, Stan frowned at the boxes. He really did have quite a few. He might’ve had most of them in the car at some point but he really didn’t want to try to figure out how to organize it all again. Besides, most of his products were broken and useless, no need to drag them along with him.

“Nah, just a few of them. Come on, you can help me figure out what to keep.”

The next few minutes were unexpectedly enjoyable. Mabel seemed to love all of his…innovations, especially the names. She even convinced him to keep a Stan Vac. He was pretty sure it was just because of the story he had told her, but hey, it might come in handy? If it worked.

But all too soon it was over. Stan sighed as he placed the last box in the trunk. Then he made his way to the front of the car and crawled into the driver’s seat.

Mabel was sitting on the passenger’s side, the broken tape measure on her lap.

“So…is that special?” He asked as he turned the car on and pulled out of the parking lot, trying to be as discreet as possible because he may have ‘forgotten’ to pay for the past few days at the motel.

For a moment, she just looked at the pieces, then sighed. “Not anymore…”

Well, okay then…that wasn’t really a straight answer. And he couldn’t think of any way to respond. He tried to tell himself it was because he was planning what to do, but in reality, he knew it was because the sadness in his chest was growing. Mabel deserved better than his life but…he would be lying if he said it hadn’t been nice to have a friend again.

The police station came into view and his chest grew tighter and tighter. But the weigh changed to anger and a hint of fear when he caught sight of something, or really, someone.

One of Rico’s men. Walking down the street, looking as innocent as any other person, but Stan knew who he was. And if he saw Mabel go into the police station…

Glancing at the building again, Stan reasoned that it probably only had ten staff, tops. That was nothing compared to Rico’s gang. Then another thought crossed his mind. What if the police were in Rico’s pocket?

Crap.

“Stan…I…we aren’t going to the police, right?”

Letting out a breath, Stan turned on his blinker and turned onto a street – one that headed out of town. “Nope, we’re getting out of here.”

Maybe it was stupid, maybe it was selfish. But Stan didn’t trust Dead End Flatts. Not its gang, not its police. So heck if he was going to leave Mabel there. He’d find another town and get help from their police or…something. And if her brother was still in that dump then they could help her find him. Hopefully.

Mabel watched as Stan fiddled with the gas pump, eyes flicking to snacks they had gotten at the station shop to fill in as breakfast. She was hungry, but she didn’t really have much of an appetite. Despite Stan letting her come along with him, she couldn’t help but fear that he wouldn’t let her tag along forever. Sooner or later he would insist she go home. And she would have to tell him that she was from the future or…figure something else out. Neither option seemed that great, if she was being honest with herself.

Sighing, she opened the bag of chips and stuck one in her mouth before setting it on the arm rest, wanting to make sure Stan could reach them when he came back in the car. As she did so, something caught her eye. A piece of paper sticking out from inside the arm rest compartment. It was probably just something from Stan’s businesses, but curiosity egged her on and she carefully pulled it out of the crevice, only to freeze when she saw the logo on the front.

A familiar sign for a familiar town. Gravity Falls. If there was anything that could get her home, Gravity Falls would have it. Maybe there was a time traveling wizard or maybe that time travel guy would show up there. Even as the thought crossed her mind, Mabel realized that still didn’t help her find Dipper, and she couldn’t just leave him stranded…But she didn’t really have many options either.

Flipping the postcard over, Mabel’s eyes were immediately drawn to the large printed letters. Please Come. Something about the handwriting looked almost familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it. Then her eyes flicked to the addresses. Stanford Pines, Gopher Road. That was where the Mystery Shack was, right? That would make sense except…if Stanford was sending it…then…She looked at who it was addressed to. Stanley Pines. Who…who was Stanley? It didn’t make any sense. She knew the Stan she was with - he was her great uncle. There was no other way it could be anyone but him. So why was this letter from a Stanford. If Stan wasn’t Stanford then…why did he have that name in the present?

The driver’s door opening shook Mabel out of her thoughts and she looked up quickly, still trying to figure out what the heck this postcard meant.

“Alright let’s get out of-“ Stan stopped mid-sentence, looking at the letter in her hand. “What are you doing with that?”

Mabel didn’t even try to stop him from taking it out of her hand, nor did she really catch the frown that grew on his face for a moment as he shoved it in his pocket.

“I…sorry, I just…I don’t want you to get caught up in…all of that.” Stan waved his hand as he spoke, and a long sigh escaped his mouth.

“Who…who is Stanford?” It was the first thing she could think of to ask, even though she didn’t know if it would really clear anything up or not.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Stan sighed. “My brother.”

“You have a brother?!?” Maybe it was obvious, what with the same last names, but Mabel had never heard of Stan having another brother besides Shermie. And the thought of having another great uncle was kind of exciting.

“Uh…yeah…two actually.” Stan rubbed the back of his head before putting the car into gear and zooming out of the gas station.

“W-what is he like?” Mabel couldn’t help but want to know more about this mystery brother.

“I haven’t seen him for a while so…” He shrugged, then let out a sigh.

That wasn’t what she was expecting. And just the mention of brothers created small knot of fear in her stomach. What if she never saw Dipper again? Trying to swallow down that thought, Mabel couldn’t help but ask, “When…when was the last time you saw him?”

“Eh…I’ve lost count…it’s not…important.” A long pause then. “You hungry?” It was an abrupt subject change as he grabbed the chip bag and offered it to her.

Mabel picked out a chip but didn’t put it in her mouth, instead she turned it around in her hand, glancing up at Stan. It was clear there was something going on with his brother, which might explain why she had never heard of him having another brother. She wanted to asked more but…Stan was clearly trying to avoid it. Still…

“I want to meet him.”

The car swerved for a moment and Mabel quickly grabbed the side of the car, her chip being crushed in the process.

“I don’t…I don’t think that’s a good idea, kiddo.”

That didn’t sound good. But still…”Why not?”

“I-it’s complicated. Trust me, it will be better if I just take you home.”

Take her home? That sounded all fine and dandy except for the fact that she didn’t have a home in this decade. This car was probably the closest thing to a home she had unless he took her to Grandpa Shermie but…that would require her to admit that she was from the future. Maybe it would be fine if she did, it sure would make things easier. But she could practically picture Dipper shaking his head vigorously at the idea.

Then the beginnings of a plan started forming in her mind. A half lie that…could work. Or at least one that might convince Stan to let her go to Gravity Falls with him. If that’s where he even was going…

“You’re going to see him though…right?”

Stan kept his eyes on the road, but she could see the hint of a shadow pass over his face. “He asked so…yeah…”

“Well…I…” Mabel trailed off, trying to figure out the best way to phrase it, and hoping it didn’t sound too made up. Even though it wasn’t entirely a lie. “I actually have family up there, in Gravity Falls. And they would actually be home, unlike my parents who are on a trip, so…”

The brakes screeched as Stan slammed on them, swearing to the side of the road before looking at Mabel with utter bewilderment etched on his face. “You’re telling me, you’ve been to a small town that I’ve never heard of before and you also just so happen to have family there too?”

He didn’t believe her. Crap. Confidence, that’s what she needed. Stan always said confidence was key in lying. “Yup, my great uncle lives up there. It’s a small town but surprisingly entertaining. Dipper loves it cause it’s so weird.” Okay so that was the entire truth. Just, excluding the fact that the Gravity Falls she knew was about thirty years older and the great uncle she was talking about was Stan himself.

“And you’d rather go there, then home?”

Mabel nodded, not even pretending to lie, because it was true. She knew Gravity Falls. Sure, maybe it would be different than she was used to but she doubted it would’ve changed that much. At least not compared to Piedmont.

Running a hand down his face, Stan sighed and leaned back against the driver’s seat. After a moment, he glanced at Mabel, who gave him her biggest smile.

With a groan, he straightened up and pulled the car back onto the road. “Gravity Falls it is then.”

“And then Mabel used the leaf blower to shoot him into all the other gnomes!” Dipper pointed to the sketch he had doodled in the Journal, looking up excitedly to see what Ford thought.

There was a thoughtful smile on his face. “Leaf blowers…never thought of that. Clever. I’ll have to remember that.”

A grin grew on Dipper’s face at that, only to fall a moment later as he realized that Mabel was still missing. “It was Mabel’s idea…”

“Ah…right…I’m sure she’s fine…Once the weather calms down a little, maybe we can look some more.” As he spoke, Ford walked over from the stove, holding two bowls of soup. He set one down in front of Dipper before sitting down with the other.

Dipper glanced out the window, wishing the snow would just melt so he could find Mabel. But he wasn’t exactly dressed for the weather and even the thought of snow sent a shiver down his back. Almost freezing yesterday hadn’t really been fun, and he wasn’t keen on doing it again. But if it meant finding Mabel, he would gladly do so.

“What else have you learned?”

Ford’s words brought Dipper’s mind back to the table, and the growling of his stomach. Taking a bite of the soup – which he regretted as it was a little too hot – he flipped to the next page, excitement warring with his worry for Mabel. But as he spoke, his enthusiasm won, if only momentarily. “Oh yeah! So, we went to the lake and this old guy came running, screaming about a Gobblewonker and of course I wanted to get evidence of it. But then we found out that the Gobblewonker was a machine made by Old Man McGucket himself!”

Looking up at Ford, Dipper’s grin froze. Because Ford was staring at the picture of McGucket, shock lining his face. Biting his lip, Dipper glanced at the picture for a moment, not sure what to say.

“Umm…a few days after that we had to fight some wax figures that came to life, like Evening at the Cursed Gallery, but more…terrifying.”

“Evening at the Cursed Gallery?” Ford still looked dazed but he seemed to be trying to hide that fact as he asked about the movie, his eyes narrowing in confusion.

“Oh…right…it’s uh, movie. Doesn’t come out for a while…Um…but we stopped them with hot objects cause they were made of wax.”

A hum was Ford’s only response and Dipper felt his excitement wavering a little. What was it about the Gobblewonker that had shaken Ford so much? Taking another bite of soup, Dipper found himself flipping to one of his most recent entries.

After swallowing, he pointed to the picture. “Mabel also figured out that the real founder of Gravity Falls was Quentin Trembley, eighth and a half president of the United States. Turns out he is just as silly as her. He froze himself in peanut brittle for a over a hundred years.”

“Peanut brittle? That-“ Ford trailed off before closing his mouth, the frown on his face easing as he shrugged. “Why not?”

“We tried playing a prank on Soos, uh, one of our friends, because he tried to encase himself in peanut brittle to see what the future was like but…he figured out it wasn’t the future pretty quickly.” As soon as he said it, Dipper felt a wave of sorrow. If only this was just a prank. Granted, meeting the author was great and all but…it wasn’t exactly what he was expecting. Especially with Mabel being lost.

“The future…right…”

And once again, Ford seemed to be lost in thought, uncertainty etched on his face.

Dipper absently flipped through the few other adventures he had written about, but as he did so, he felt the pull on his gut tighten. Mabel had been there with him for almost every crazy thing, she had even written in the journal herself. But she wasn’t here now.

Glancing out the window again, Dipper frowned as he saw the snow was still falling. Gosh why did it have to be winter?

With a sigh, he looked back at Ford, who didn’t seem to have moved an inch. Man, he really looked tired…what was with that? Did it have to do with the machine down in the basement?

Just the thought of the machine had Dipper flipping through the journal again until he found the page with the blueprints. Ford still didn’t seem focused on him, but this might be the best chance he ever got.

“Um…Ford?”

“Hm?” The distant look cleared and Ford focused on Dipper again.

“I…I was wondering what this page is about…” Despite wanting to know about the machine, Dipper didn’t really want to actually mention the basement, not after Ford’s reaction to him being down there.

Ford’s eyes narrowed and he frowned at Dipper, then sighed. “It’s complicated…and dangerous in the wrong hands…which is why you are not to go to the basement again, understood?”

Well that wasn’t exactly the answer he was hoping for, but he didn’t really want to press it. Despite the fact that Ford was pretty much telling him he didn’t trust him. Granted he didn’t really know Dipper, but, it still hurt a little. “…okay…”

Ford nodded. “Good.”

Silence settled over the table and Dipper forced himself to focus on his food, though his appetite seemed to have vanished. He tried scraping together something to talk about, but all of the questions he had about Gravity Falls seemed to have vanished now that he actually had the opportunity to ask them.

However, one came to mind as he took his last bite of soup.

“Can I ask…?”

Ford looked at Dipper and raised an eyebrow, which he assumed meant he could continue.

“Why is Gravity Falls so weird? I mean, I always thought there were supernatural things out there but in Gravity Falls there are so many. Do...do you know why?”

A small frown grew on Ford’s face and he sighed. “That’s the exact thing I’ve been trying to figure out but…it’s more…elusive then I had previously thought…”

“Oh…”

Picking up his half-eaten soup, Ford grabbed Dipper’s bowl and dropped both in the sink. “You should probably get some more rest.”

“Uh…I’m not really tired…” Dipper glanced outside, which still had signs of light, though it was fading a little. It was also winter which meant it probably wasn’t much past three, if even that.

“Sleep is important.” There was an edge to Ford’s voice that was quite unsettling, and Dipper felt a small spark of fear. Normally he would argue his point but after everything in the basement…maybe he could just write some more or something?

“And I wouldn’t mind taking a look at my journal, just for…research.”

So much for that. “Ummm, okay?”

Ford picked up the journal and waved at Dipper, as if shooing him away. “Go on now. The blankets are still on the couch, right?”

“…yeah…” Dipper couldn’t muster up any excitement at being banished to the front room, again. But he complied. For now. If Ford went down to the basement again, maybe he could explore more. Or he could check out the boxes in the attic. Maybe Ford wouldn’t tell him what was going on, and maybe the basement was off limits but, there had to be some answers somewhere, and the attic seemed like the best bet. All he had to do was wait.

What in the world happened in the future? The question kept playing over and over again in Ford’s mind as he flipped through his journal - though he kept coming back to the page with Fiddleford. The last time he had seen his old friend, he hadn’t looked…amazing, but this was something different all together. What could’ve caused so much change? Obviously time played into it but…the way Dipper had talked about him eluded to something worse.

Ford couldn’t help but wonder if it was his fault. Because he hadn’t listened to Fiddleford’s warnings about the portal. He had been so caught up in his own plans that he didn’t stop to consider what might happen if they didn’t play out like he hoped they would. And now he didn’t even know where his friend was – though he doubted if Fiddleford would even consider him a friend anymore.

Shaking his head, Ford tried pushing aside that thought. After all, it didn’t seem to be helping his guilt any, and he couldn’t quite seem to muster up enough mental energy to process his feelings anyway.

Skimming through Dipper’s notes, something else caught Ford’s eye and he froze.

Great Uncle Stan.

Reading it again, Ford shook his head. If Stan was Dipper’s great uncle than that meant…he was too. It meant that Dipper was related to him. And yet, somehow, he didn’t seem to know anything about Ford. Well, maybe that wasn’t entirely unbelievable. Ford wasn’t the best at keeping in touch with his family. Then again, Stan was even less connected. So why would Dipper know about Stan but not him?

It was too much. Ford didn’t have the energy for this. The few sips of soup he had managed to eat seemed to be making him even more lethargic than before. And trying to puzzle together the future was only making him confused, which increased his mental exhaustion. He needed to do something that would wake him up.

Pulling out his first journal, he started flipping through it, looking for a blank space he hadn’t written in yet. Maybe if he wrote down his current situation it would help him figure out a solution. That had worked in the past. Or at least, somewhat. Plus, it was the only thing he would come up with at the moment.

So, he started writing. About Dipper and the strange and suspicious timing of his arrival. About Stan and the probability of him coming or not. About all of the sneak peaks of the future that he had seen, and what they could possibly mean. And if he could stop them…or if he should stop them.

Time ticked by and Ford’s mind was so caught up in what he was writing that he didn’t notice how sloppy his handwriting was becoming, or how his head was getting closer and closer to the desk.

What to d-

Ford’s hand slid on the paper as his exhaustion overtook him, sentence unfinished as he succumbed to slumber.

And as he did so, an almost inaudible laughter echoed around the room.

[amelia-blackshepherd]

Record Time (3)

Last part from my mama and sister shepherd prompt!

“I’m going to bed.” Betty announces as she stomps into the house in front of us. She had refused to talk to us or tell us why exactly she had ended up in jail on the entire car ride home. All we knew was what the police had told us, that they picked her and her friends up after getting a call about some teenagers driving recklessly, thankfully nobody was injured.

“Stop.” Owen’s strong authoritative voice commands. “You aren’t going anywhere till you tell exactly what happened tonight.”

Betty turns to face us, her teenage face stone cold gaze looks onto us. When she made no attempt to begin explaining, “We are waiting…” I impatiently state, standing beside Owen staring back at her with my arms crossed.

She rolls her eyes at us before finally opening her mouth, “Some guys offered us a ride, it isn’t a that big of a deal. The cops are totally over reacting, it was probably just some lame person who saw the car go by their house and freaked out cause we were going like 2 miles over the speed limit.”

I let out a harsh laugh, “2 miles over the limit, Betty the cops told us how fast the car was going when they pulled you over. This isn’t a joke, you could have been seriously hurt or killed. Did you even know those guys before you got in a car with them?”

“Yeah, kind of, I’ve seen them around school before. Look, I am fine, nobody was hurt, so can we just drop it.” Betty says as she turns back ready to make a retreat to her room.

I look at Owen for back up, “No, we can’t just ‘drop it’ Betty. The rules are you have to tell us when you go somewhere else and that includes getting in cars with random boys.”

“Oh my God. You are so over reacting. Nothing happened, and they were just going to bring me here so why would I call to tell you that.” Betty voice is beginning to raise as the argument progresses.

“Betty, you were picked up 40 minutes from here. Do you really expect us to believe they were just driving you home?” I ask, and before she can try another lie, I continue, “And the next words out of your mouth better not be a lie.”

“Fine. Whatever, I’m sorry.” Betty mumbles.

“That’s it?” I ask raising an eyebrow at her, when all I get is a shrug in response, “Alright then, you are grounded. No hanging out with your friends, no going out, just school and home.”

Betty rolls her eyes, “Yeah, saw that coming. For how long?” She asks clearly not caring.

I look at Owen first, “Until you tell us the truth about tonight. The whole truth, no lies, no excuses. Oh, and if we aren’t home, you can come to the hospital and wait for us there.”

“What!” Betty exclaims, causing Leo to wake up in his nursery, “That is insane. You aren’t even my parents, you can’t do this.”

Her words sting me slightly, but I also know she is angry and lashing out, Owen takes over, “No we aren’t, but we are responsible for you. This is not up for discussion, go to bed.” Betty huffs off towards her room and slams the door causing Leo’s cries to become louder. “I got him.” Owen says as he heads off to the nursery.

When I reach the nursery, I am greeted with the sight of Leo being comforted by Liz, I completely forgot she was here with all the commotion. “Ah, thanks again for watching him for us. Sorry we took so long.”

“No problem, he was a perfect angel until all the fighting a few minutes ago.”

“Yeah, sorry about that buddy.” I coo to Leo as I let him play with my finger as he settles back into his crib.

As we leave the nursery, Liz voices the question I know she has been dying to ask since Amelia first got the phone call. “So, what exactly is the whole situation here? I wasn’t eaves dropping but it was kind of hard not to hear the fight. Who is the girl?”

Owen runs his hand back through his thin hair, wanting to be careful about how much he told Liz as Amelia’s relationship with her was still extremely fragile, but also knowing he had to offer some sort of explanation, “Well… her name is Betty and we are sort of taking care of her, she is actually Leo’s mother. See I am er we are fostering him, and then we met Betty. Betty was living on the streets, which is why she had Leo in the foster system and Amelia wanted to help Betty, who ah is a recovering addict.” I try to explain as simply as I can, but Amelia is right there isn’t exactly a word for this.

Liz is silent for a moment trying to take in the information, “Wow, that’s an incredible thing that you and Amy are doing.” I nod my head as we continue towards the living room, “But wait, if you two decided to foster does that mean you can’t have kids of your own.” Liz asks quietly, just as we come back into the kitchen where Amelia was cleaning up from supper.

I look at Amelia, knowing that it isn’t my place to explain all of our situation to her family. Liz follows my gaze to Amelia and waits for her to say something. “No. I mean, no we can have kids, well we probably can, it is just…. It’s complicated. I guess to really answer your question I will have to start from the beginning.” Amelia’s words tumble out of her, I can she would rather not have to dig up everything that has happened, everything she went through, and everything we went through together.

Despite not really wanting to tell my sister about how me and Owen split, how I ran after the pregnancy scare, how we became friends again and then Leo came into the picture and then Betty and then me and Owen came back together, despite how little I wanted to tell my sister every little thing that had happened that lead us here, I did. I even told her about the brain tumor and about Christopher, which was hard, I still wasn’t sure I could trust her with all of this, however, it did feel better to get everything out in the open.

Liz ended up spending the next 2 days with us, and it was actually really nice to have a real relationship with her again. I was sad when she finally had to go back home. I was surprised that she didn’t nag me at all about keeping some pretty big things secret, not only from her, but from mom too.

It wasn’t until the day after Liz left that everything began to implode. Within 24 hours of Liz leaving my house I had 12 missed calls, all from my family that a month ago I hadn’t spoken to in over four years. 6 calls were from my mother, 4 from Nancy, and 2 from Kathleen, and based on there angry messages I knew Liz had told them everything, or nearly everything.

For most of the day I tried to ignore my missed calls, but I knew sooner or later I would have to face the facts, they knew, and I couldn’t keep hiding it from them. So, first I called Nancy, I wasn’t ready to deal with my mother and I figured Nancy would be good practise as she was the most like mom. Plus knowing how close Nancy and my mother were and how my mother use to rely on Nancy to give her information on the rest of us I figured I could use that to my advantage. I could tell Nancy what mom wanted to know and that way I wouldn’t have to directly deal with her.

I was just hanging up the phone with Nancy when Owen came into the living room. He took one look at my drained face and moved behind where I was seated to massage my shoulders. “I wish I could help.”

“mmm…” I mumble relaxing into his hands, “Me too. I think I’ll call Kathleen and Liz next.”

“Want me to give you some space.” He asks, moving around the front of the couch.

I pat the seat beside me asking him to join, “No, these calls shouldn’t be as bad anyway.” I pick my phone back up and decide to call Kathleen first, seeing as she called me the least amount of times and from what Liz had told me, she has her own secrets she is keeping from mom, I doubt she will be as harsh on me for keeping stuff from her.

I was right, Kathleen was worried about me in her typical big sister kind of way, but she also understood why I choose not to tell our family some things. Next, I called Liz, when she picked up the phone I couldn’t help but say, “What happened to sisters covering each others’ asses?”

“I’m sorry, Amelia. You know mom and Nancy, the second I got back into town they were on me to tell them everything. I really thought they would see your side if I explained everything, that they would understand and give you some space so you could tell them on your own terms. I really am sorry.”

“Liz, did we even grow up in the same house? When have mom or Nance for that matter ever left things alone and let things sort themselves out.” As much as I want to be mad at Liz, I know she didn’t mean to cause harm and to be fair I have had years to tell them everything, but I hadn’t.

After I hung up with Liz, I looked over at Owen who had fallen asleep beside me at some point, I shake him gently, “O, why don’t we go to bed.”

He sleepily opens his eyes and smiles at me in his charming sleepy manner, “You finished all your calls?”

I look away from his eyes and play with an imaginary loose string on the couch, “I’ll call my mother tomorrow.”

“Amelia…” He draws out my name.

“I know. But what is one more day going to hurt?” I counter.

“Call her. Then we can go to bed. I’ll even give you another massage before we go to bed.” He tempts.

“Fine.” I accept, knowing it will be better to just get this over with anyway. So, I pick up the phone and call my mother.

She answers on the first ring despite it being fairly late. I try and ease my way into the conversation and surprisingly she lets me. We talk for a while, she has questions about why I didn’t tell her and if I am okay. She is hurt that I didn’t tell her about the brain tumor or about Christopher. But she also understands why I didn’t tell her about Owen after everything that happened with our wedding.

I stayed on the phone talking with my mother for nearly an hour, Owen sat beside me silently rubbing my back in support. After finally hanging up with my mother, I was exhausted. I laid my head back against the couch and closed my eyes. It was weird I felt so raw and open now that my whole family knew everything but I also felt like I was stronger then ever.

“I am so proud of you.” Owen’s strong voice softly says beside me. “I know how hard that must have been for you. And I love you so much for being so strong and telling them everything, that could not have been easy.”

I sit up and lean into him and press a tender kiss to his lips as my way of thanking him for being so understanding and for just being there. I couldn’t have done any of this without him and I want him to know that.

“You looked exhausted, let’s go to bed.” He pulls me to my feet and puts his hand on my lower back as he guides me towards our room.

I lean back into his hand and allow him to guide me even though I know exactly where we are going, “Lets. But before we sleep, I believe I was promised a massage.”

I feel Owen’s strong hands move up my back to my shoulders as he starts a light massage and then his warm breath against my neck as he moves my hair aside and kisses the exposed skin, “Of course, I always keep my promises.”

[menalliha]

Memories

Summary: Your brought into a talk show to talk about the upcoming Infinity War. But you were brought down memory lane and a surprise at the same time.

Word Count: 2190

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Warnings: fluff!! Cuteness!

A/N: I was bored and this popped into my head. Sorry it’s lame. I’ve had writers block bad and this is all I had. 😅

My Masterlist

Today was the day it was all about you. You were having an interview on the Ellen Show with the upcoming release of Infinity War and your husband Chris being away for his own interviews. With your mom backstage with you holding your two-month old baby girl, Ellie Evans, you couldn’t be happier.

You knew a lot of the questions would be about how you and Chris met and why you kept it secret for so long and a few rumors that went around about you a few costars.

You walked out on the stage and waved while the crowd went crazy upon seeing you. Taking a seat across from Ellen, you crossed your legs and smiled.

“Well this is weird. Last time we all saw you, you were in the early stages of your pregnancy and had Chris attached to you at the hip.” Ellen stated.

Laughing softly, you nodded in agreement. “My family likes to laugh at me and say he’s my arm candy. I mean he did everything he could to not leave for his interviews and meetings. Ever since having Ellie he hasn’t really left her crib side or mine. And with Infinity War coming out everyone has their own thing to do. He’s been going with Sebastian and Anthony to interviews.”

“Now speaking of that, you were left out on a lot things on set right?”

“Sadly, it wasn’t that I liked to spoil things, a lot of my scenes involved being around Chris and Scarlett and Elizabeth. They never told me that Chris was to grow out his beard. So my whole time filming my scenes before his, I never saw him. They kept up separate. Considering I was pregnant and he couldn’t keep his hands off of me.” You laugh and looked around. “When I first saw him finally, we had to redo that scene like ten times. First time I forgot my lines. He was laughing at me, the rest was because I kept playing with his beard.” You shrugged and laughs more.

The time you spent on set and having to redo scenes because of surprises and due to pregnancy was unbearable. The Russo brothers pretty much filmed your scenes and had you stay home for the rest. Chris was constantly calling you on his breaks making sure you were ok and eating like you should.

“Well you and Chris have been together for how long exactly? You’ve been married for almost three years now. But together for way longer than that.” Ellen looked at the screen behind you and her that was flashing pictures of you and Chris when you both were younger.

You smiled when one popped up that was most recent. It was when Ellie was born. You smiling down at the bundle of joy in your arms while Chris sat next to you on the bed and talked to her. It was one of the best moments ever. Cause he was in his Captain America costume.

“We’ve been friends ever since we both joined Marvel. He’s a very sweet and likable guy. All the members saw us as a thing since we always hung around each other in between shoots. People made bets. I was also very close and still am to Sebastian. He’s more like a big brother and the godfather to our daughter. He called it way before anyone. We dated for well over four years before he proposed. It was supposed to be a private thing but him always being easily excitable, he sent out a mass text to ALL the members and I knew something was up when they all showed up to our dinner.” You peeked at the screen and saw the picture of Chris proposing to you.

“I mean you are one lucky woman. Getting Chris and the man who plays Captain America is a two for one. And having a huge family like the Marvel family. Your daughter is very lucky.” You nodded in agreement with her.

“She really is. And it’s funny, my mom and I were staying in a rented condo here and like I said, I was forced to stay home under house arrest. He flew my mom here and of course we assumed she would have been born here cause of filming, his mom was due to fly down literally the week she was born. She was born a week and a half early. I called his phone, I called Sebastian’s phone… I called everyone’s phone. I called Robert… and he put me on speaker, yelled for Chris and said ‘Dude you need to leave now.’ I heard Chris ask why. And at the moment I just lost it. I screamed as my mom was driving. It scares the life out of her. I told him if he didn’t get his ass to the hospital right that instant I wouldn’t let him live it down. He ran alright. He never changed. So while I’m being prepped, I hear people in the hall get all excited about this man dressed as Captain America. I thought nothing about it till that crazy man came to my room.” You laugh hard and cover your mouth, you almost falling from your seat.

Ellen laughed with you. “Was it just him that left the studio?” You shook your head no. “Who else was there?”

You managed to catch your breath. “Everyone. As soon as Chris left, everyone else joined him. I wasn’t embarrassed, I just was in a lot of pain. I was glad everyone came but that stopped the product for a bit. They were ahead of schedule anyway. Everyone wanted to see the baby. Sadly everyone but Chris left and I was in labor for well over a day and a half. He never left my side and never changed out of his costume. Chris tried to get his mom down here early and switching everything around while he was doing that… they let my mom stay with us in there and I was so so thankful. Chris was a mess, trying to ease my pain how he could. He felt so bad.” Wiping the loose happy tears from your eyes, you still managed to chuckle.

“Well you have Ellie here with you and your mom. But I also have a surprise for you as well. How about we bring them out together? Close your eye please Y/N.” You did as Ellen asked but was very iffy on it.

“I’m not gonna get scared first am I…? I know how this usually goes.” Keeping your eyes covered, the crowd broke out into small cheers and aw’s knowing your mom had brought out Ellie and the surprise Ellen had. You felt a presence behind you but assumed it was your mom. A small kiss lingered on your cheek from the person and then the smell of a very familiar cologne filled your nose. You tried your hardest to not think it was your husband.

The couch sank down under the weight of the other person. You jumped a little when you felt a hand on your thigh as they rubbed your leg. You took your hands away from your face and saw your husband. He held your daughter close to his chest with one arm and rubbed your leg with his other.

“Surprise!” He laughed and tried to keep Ellie asleep. “This is actually one of my interviews but I was told to keep it a secret.” He smiled and looked at you with his bright blue eyes.

You wanted to smack him for this but you were so happy to see your husband. Especially holding his daughter. That is what caused the audience to ‘aw’ so much. It did cause your heart to flutter and skip a beat.

“Now the whole family is together!” Ellen cheered and clapped. Your face heated up from embarrassment. You were smiling like a little school girl who had a crush on a celebrity you didn’t even know. “Ok so one question I have is, what is your most embarrassing moment on set?”

You try so hard to not die from embarrassment at what you did on set. Sadly it was recorded and forever on the internet and gag reel.

“Y/N I see that your looking a little flustered. I assume being around the guys you have a lot to talk about.” Ellen smiled and saw how Chris was just laughing.

You shook your head and tried to ignore your husband. “Yeah actually it’s a video that haunts my life to this day.” You sighs and cross your arms. “I hate it so much. I always do most of my own stunts and this one backfired. One of my wires broke and I was left dangling while all the Chris’, ALL of them, Robert, Anthony and then Sebastian was just like laughing in the background. It was funny but also embarrassing. I was supposed to be on a diet and I was still like in the early stages of pregnancy so everyone was laughing cause I ate a huge lunch. Pretty much they wanted to jump and pile up on me. If my Chris didn’t remind them I would have been done for. These guys are beefy. Chris Hemsworth and Pratt are big guys and so is Robert. I was doing a flipping scene and when I went to land, it pulled back and broke. Just leaving me there.”

“Well to no utter surprise we have the video. We won’t say who gave it to use but um you have amazing taste in godfathers for the baby.” Ellen cough and the crowd laughed.

“Alright Y/N let’s test some stuff before fully going all in for this scene. That way we can see if the bungie's will hold.” One of the stunt directors called.

“My suit is so tight.” You huffed and rubbed your stomach. “I should have stopped at one burger and had a salad with it. It’s gonna come back up tonight anyway.”

“How many burgers did you have? Probably couldn’t out eat me!” Chris Pratt called from the side.

Your husband laughed. “Trust me she could especially right now. She had like 6 burgers, 2 large fries and a extra large chocolate milkshake. Plus the rest of my food.”

You huffed and smacked his chest. “Chris!! Don’t tell them all of that!!” He looked at you so offended. “You know I’m sensitive about what I eat right now. And I ate a lot at lunch.” Pouting, you turned away from your husband and tugged on the bungie’s. “Alrighty let’s test this.” You stepped back to jump, as you did, you did a few front flips and as you went to land, one of the bungie’s broke and left you suspended in air off the ground. “This is not my fault! I swear!”

“It was those extra burgers!” Pratt called, almost falling over laughing. “This is what happens when you eat for two!” You glared and flipped him the bird. “Come on now! Their recording this! Children will see this. We can’t pile up on you or hang off of you. So I have another idea!”

“You realize they’ll get me down and I can still chase you down Pratt. I’m still fast.” Crossing your arms you ignored his yelling and felt him grab your leg and pull you down and put you in a headlock. Trying to get free, you felt him rub his knuckles on your head. “Get off of me you big gorilla!!” You laughed and tried so hard to squirm free.

“Hey guys! Free noogies!! She can’t do anything!!” Pratt yelled and sudden you heard Hemsworth laugh and couple of others join in.

“I swear I will get you ALL back!” You laughed trying to fix your hair. “I have to get this restyled.

“They wanted to jump on you but they can really do that.” Your Chris walked over and laughed. “That’s all the payback from what you do to them. I’ll just pay you back another way.”

“I’m suffering enough with what you’ve done Evans. I have to suffer for 9 months.” You laughed softly and he helped you down finally. “This is going to be a long process.” You huffed and blow hair from your face.

You sat on the couch and covered your face. “For the record it was actually 3 burgers, 1 fry and still a milkshake.” You shrug. “When your man offers you food you go all out.”

Chris wrapped his free arm around you and holds Ellie closer. “I completely understand why. I watched her pull through with all the issues of pregnancy. The morning sickness and everything with it. I wish I could have been around more for her. I am now especially.” He kisses your cheek and smiles. “She’s a great woman and actress. Me and the others wouldn’t have it any other way.”

You know you were blessed to be apart of his life and same for him. The memories just kept flooding back and you stared at your most recent memory laying in his arms.

Once again I apologize if this sucks. I was bored and have had awful writers block. But comments would be helpful and appreciated!!

[timeywimeygalaxy]

The Ghost Of You {Chapter 2}

A/N: Chapter 2 ya’ll! and gotta say this got a lot darker than I anticipated it being xD so I’m sorry for that! also to note the way Roman says “Demon” is pretty much the way Shane says it here xD Dunno why it cracks me up and Deceit is mentioned in this chapter his name will be Dorian in this AU and throughout it, I hope you like this chapter!

Warning: descriptions of murder, Swearing, Deceit (mentioned), let me know if there is anything else!

Pairings: None....yet ;)

Words: 2530

Tag List: @accio-hufflepuff-power @just-an-anxious-ravenclaw-boy

Let me know if you would like to be tagged/untagged in future updates!

Ch1 Ch 2 Ch3 Ch 4

“C’mon Ro!” Virgil huffed as all three men scurried through the airport wheeling their suitcases behind them, after a 6-hour flight which included Roman freaking out upon seeing their plane number was 180 “Have you SEEN Final Destination?” Virgil was already anxious enough without that dork making him more so, luckily Logan had diffused the situation quickly by stating “no need to worry Roman the odds of dying in a plane crash are statistically one in eleven million” “That’s still one!” Roman shouted dramatically. Virgil rolled his eyes as he pulled his arm to the checkout desk.

All three of them were frazzled, after one taxi ride, a 6 hour flight with a stop in between that, now they were finally on the ground back in their hometown and boy did it feel good to be back on home soil again, stepping out the airport helped as the cool breeze hit their faces, chucking their suitcases into a rental car, Virgil got in the drivers seat slamming the door closed, he wanted to get to their Air BnB and at least have some time to recuperate before tonight.

Arriving at their rental place, they made their way inside and dumped their suitcases in their respective rooms, Virgil opened his and started laying out devices on his bed as Logan entered his room and leaned on the door frame looking at the objects that Virgil was picking up inquisitively.

“What’s all this?” he questioned as Virgil finished laying out all the objects.

“these,” he said as he closed his suitcase and kicked it under the bed “are our tools for tonight” Logan raised his eyebrow at him, “Enlighten me?” Virgil knew Logan hated not knowing things, so he gladly explained, feeling somewhat superior that he knew more about this subject than he did.

“So you got this thing” Virgil held up a square box device, pressed a button and red light turned on “it’s an EMF meter, measures electromagnetic fields within a certain radius, also measures temperature” Logan nodded completely focused soaking in all of this information like sponge he chucked it back on the bed after explaining its usage and picked up another black box it looked like a portable radio “and this is a spirit box, it sends out radio signals at a certain frequency and could allow us to talk to a spirit if need be” he chucked it back on the bed “and this here” he said picking up a small black box with a lens in “is what we call a camera” he spoke in a condensing tone grinning as Logan looked at him like he was already done “I know what a camera is Virgil” both men laughed softly as a comfortable silence fell between them, Virgil started packing everything into a rucksack, zipping it shut he then eyed up Logan suspiciously “anyway why do you care what equipment we use? Thought you didn’t believe in this stuff?”

As if bought back to reality by social interaction rather than soaking in knowledge, Logan blinked and understood the question, he went back to his composed usual state, “I don’t, simply put it is scientifically impossible for any entities to exist in this world, in a 2000 study,  a cognitive neuroscientist from laurentlan university in Canada used electromagnetic fields to stimulate the brain of a forty five year old man who’d reported previous spirits and with the magnetic fields, the researchers were able to conjure a similar apparitions that the man had seen years before” He finished looking rather pleased with himself as Virgil sighed.

“So, you just think that’s it, nothing happens after you die?” he asked sounding monotone.

“yes”  

“That’s depressing.” Virgil muttered out loud mainly to himself, he could see that Logan looked somewhat hurt by this comment, and he quickly tried to correct it “that’s not- I mean- just I guess try to keep an open mind like I said before?” Logan nodded “if need be then I will concede if we actually find substantial evidence” now it was time for Virgil to nod as he smiled at his nerdy friend thinking how much he really did care for both of them.

As they pulled into the driveway of the abandoned place, the street lamps illuminated the outside of it, at night time it makes the house appear much more sinister, all three got out the car and looked up at the house, Virgil felt uneasy slightly knowing what had happened 10 years ago now…wow had it really been that long? He shook himself out of his nostalgic thoughts and turned his friends “okay let’s get in and set stuff up, Logan you’re on the camera, I’ll do sound stuff and Roman you…do whatever you do best” Roman grinned, as they walked up to the door.

Virgil pushed it and it slowly creaked open, the boys turned their flashlights on as they entered and Virgil swore it had looked worse than when he was first there, yeah 10 years does that to a place but this looked a lot messier, the narrow kitchen looked like a bomb had hit it as all the pots, pans and whatever had been left there was no sprawled all over the kitchen floor and the cupboard doors lay open bare.

“Welcome to creepsville boys” Roman whispered as they went further down the hallway three flashlights moved around the open living room, as the sofa and still broken coffee table from all those years ago, only now it appeared more broken like someone had hit it with a sledge hammer bits of it lay splintered on the ground “be careful guys” Virgil announced as he manoeuvred around the wooden splinters and lay his rucksack on the couch he pulled a few folded pieces of paper from the rucksack and handed Logan the go pro camera with a stick that it screwed onto to make it less shaky.

Virgil looked around the dark room flashing the light in all areas, squinting in the darkness he had an extremely uneasy feeling that he felt like a pair of eyes were watching them, it was unbearably silent his breath hitched as Roman put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly, this calmed him down a bit as he turned to Logan who looked ready enough wit the camera, he turned the sound on to record his voice, if they were filming here then they were going to need some kind of back story for the audience plus Roman and Logan needed to know what had happened before they started doing anything stupid…Roman mostly.

Virgil sat down on the couch as a bit of dust escaped it, he unfolded the paper and held it shakily in his hands looking up at the other two “time for a history lesson” he switched on the audio recorder and started reading to them from the paper.

“On November 2nd 1997 two friends moved into 494 skylar avenue, Thomas Sanders 29 and Patton Prairie 26,  both men were described as very friendly and all around nice people by their peers, their neighbours described them as “very nice boys, they were always looking out for each other and everyone in the neighbourhood said how kind and caring they were they both always had a smile on ther face” soon after moving in though they described witnessing paranormal activity to their families, such as lights dimming, scratching on the walls and sometimes they said they heard what sounded like growling-“

“Like a lion?” Roman snorted as Virgil glared at him adjusting the paper in his hand.

“More like a demon” he retorted, Roman laughed as he looked around the place “Demahn, Demahn!” He called out and snickered, “Dude stop it! Virgil snapped but was clearly suppressing a half laugh at Roman’s antics, “Look let me just get on with this okay, just stop…antagonizing it” he sighed returning to the paper, Roman pushed his hands into his pockets suppressing a giggle.

“After one night, in particular, Patton had told his mother that he felt an eerie presence next to there bed so she called them in a medium in to exorcise whatever the presence was, it was performed and for a while everything seemed fine, until on the afternoon on November 2nd, 1998 exactly one year after the men had moved in, three men were found brutally murdered-“

“Three? I thought there were two” Logan inquired

“yeah alright I’m getting to that!” Virgil huffed at him.

“Thomas, Patton and a third person were found dead by a friend who said they were meant to be meeting them that day, Patton was found with multiple stab wounds in his body whilst Thomas was eerily found lying next to him, it was described “as if he was trying to hug him”, having nearly the exact same wounds as his friend.

Roman and Logan shifted uncomfortably at this piece of information and Roman glanced around the living room suspiciously.

“upstairs in the bedroom a third body was found, he would later be identified as a friend of theirs Dorian Bennett, family have said that they had a bit of a rocky friendship but they still cared for each other, Dorian had been seen by neighbours hanging out with the two men quite frequently before they had been killed-“

“He did it!” Roman assumed

“And how have you come to this conclusion?” Logan remarked

“C’mon it’s obvious! They had a rocky friendship, he was seen hanging out with a lot more before they died, maybe an argument happened or something and he killed them, then himself! There you go I solved it!”

Virgil glared at him “you didn’t solve anything because he was found with his neck snapped” Virgil smirked at him with a knowing stare that he had proven Roman wrong who had shut up giving him a pouty look, he shook his head and continued.

“although neighbours, friends, and family were questioned about there deaths, with no DNA found at the scene of the crime and no leads as to what happened, no one knows what went down within that houses’ walls but ever since people have described seeing a man wearing glasses appearing in the kitchen, there’s been male laughter heard as well as screams, growling and banging on the walls, one person even said they heard someone singing Disney songs-“

Roman let out a high pitch wheeze “I-I’m sorry…just- imagine walking into the kitchen and you just hear a far away echo rendition of let it go, I mean man those ghosts have good taste!” Roman declared, Virgil glared at him as he opened his mouth to continue he was interrupted again.

“Okay we get it!, enough we get the picture man, two friends, Demahn!” Roman snickered again at his pronunciation of the word demon, “and mysterious deaths, shall we get started with what you wanted to do?”

Virgil thinks for a moment before setting the papers down “okay, you guys ready?”

“As we’ll ever be” Logan replied as he pressed the recording button the small go pro camera, everything is silent for a moment before Virgil speaks.

“Is there anyone here with us right now?” He asks nervously slightly pulling his hoodie tighter around himself, he held his breath.

Nothing.

Suddenly Roman piped up loudly making Virgil jump “C’mon demahn! Do something! If you want to hurt us bang on the walls!”

“DUDE! What the fuck are you doing!?” Virgil yelled in fear as Roman and Logan (to Virgil’s surprise) suppressed a laugh, Virgil raised his eyebrows at him as Logan composed himself once more “I apologize, Virgil,, but Roman does have a humorous way of looking at his situation, and whilst I may be biased with the whole ‘non believer’ aspect I can still appreciate that the… demahn-“ Roman was now howling with laughter as Logan was trying to suppress his in order to not make the camera shake, “That’s the spirit, Logan!”  Roman starting chortling again at his own pun, Virgil was now giving them both daggers “you’re both assholes” he declared “why did I even bring you here?” he asked himself as he rubbed his face in annoyance, exhaling a large breath, both of the men’s laughter was suddenly cut short as multiple loud bangs on the wall echoed throughout the house, it was so loud that, Virgil jumped and shuffled backwards closer to the other two and Roman let out a dramatic scream, whilst Logan on the other hand remained calm and collected “now you’ve done it” Virgil whispered towards the other two, “what did I tell you, don’t fuck with a demon!” he snapped at both of them “it was probably the wind, this house is very old therefore it will be in need of repair work” Logan replied coolly.

“wind is not that strong dude, and there’s no sign of a hurricane hitting here anytime soon!” Virgil hissed at him under his breath whilst trying to calm himself.

Subtle footsteps were heard from the kitchen as Virgil flicked his flashlight to where the sound was coming from, he grabbed Roman’s hand subconsciously as he breathed in and held for seven seconds before exhaling for eight, “you got that on film, right?” Virgil checked with Logan and he nodded, Virgil gestured to Roman with his arm pointing at something, but roman couldn’t understand what he was trying to say Virgil continued nodding “grab the fucking spirit box thing!”.

“Oh!” once Roman understood he ran over to the bag laying on the couch, took out the spirit box and handed it to Virgil who shakily turned it on, a loud static noise rang through the house as Roman covered his ears and all three of them winced at the sound cutting through the air “Oh Jesus Christ! Does it have to be that loud!” Roman whined over the noise as Virgil nodded as he looked around the room with his flashlight he bravely stepped forward and addressed the room “if there are any spirits with us tonight then please make yourself known, we’re sorry about what happened to you”

“i-cant-“ two syllables of a male voice seemed to cut through the static, Virgil looked to the other two who didn’t seem convinced “did you just-“ Roman shook his head “all I heard was gibberish that could be any radio channel” Virgil sighed exasperatedly at his friends scepticism as he changed the knob on the radio to a more easier channel to hear.

“Okay, is there anyone here? We have this box and you can talk to us through it”

Static.

Virgil sighed and ran a hand through his hair when another voice broke through the static

“Hello” all three men looked at each other in horror and it was clear that they had all heard the exact same thing, Roman and Logan moved closer to Virgil and listened intently to the box.

“Ca-Can you tell us your name?” Virgil asked it

The static on the box didn’t seem to change for a minute, they all glanced at each other holding their breaths until a distinct voice on the box echoed through the house.

“Thomas”

HOOO BOI! XD sorry for that cliffhanger folks! Hope you all liked the chapter though! chapter 3 should be soon! ^^