#he and johnny immediately corrected her of course but she is still very happy to have found people who remind her of him so much

[hoperays-song]

Random Sing Headcanons Again: Mrs. Crawly Edition

Her full name is Irene Ann Crawly.

Johnny reminds Mrs. Crawly a lot of her late husband and she frequently refers to him as her grandson as a result. Johnny has never corrected her when she does.

She sometimes invites the younger members of the Moon Theatre to her surfing lessons and they all make sure to attend when she does.

She loves flowers and gardening a lot and takes care of the ones around her house and the theatre religiously. She even searched for the theatre plants after the flood, which she was able to find somehow.

She also insists on only buying calendars with floral themes.

Mrs. Crawly has always been a very very fast driver. It only took her insisting to drive her and Johnny someplace one time for him to put his foot down on becoming her personal driver from then on for her and everyone else's safety.

She constantly has snacks on her to give out to people who seem hungry to her.

When she was in high school, she was drill team captain and was well known for her no nonsense attitude. She was both loved and very much feared by her teammates.

She also met her late husband when they were in high school though they did not actually start dating until they were in college.

While Meena and Johnny were in high school, she made sure to come to all of their events, whether it was Johnny's track meets, Meena's choir performances, or the theatre shows where they both did tech crew.

Ash will come over and play her quieter versions of her newest songs so Mrs. Crawly doesn't have to hurt her ears at one of her shows to hear them.

Mrs. Crawly will collect both houseplants and unique shaped post-it notes. Her house looks like a jungle at this point but she saves the post-its for a "special occasion".

Before Buster's dad bought the theatre, Mrs. Crawly would help a younger Buster sneak in to watch shows through the stage door. She also acted as his reference for getting a job at the theatre initially alongside his father.

Nana and her do have tea together from time to time, and they talk about the old days in the theatre.

She actually loves vintage things and gushed over the gang's truck the first time she saw it. The troupe will search for months to find stuff she mentions from her childhood.

Mrs. Crawly does genuinely dislike when people are behind deadlines or are tardy to things.

She is a die-hard romantic and will cry at all romantic movies, even romantic comedies, which are her favorites.

[jaehyunspeachparty]

daddy jaehyun

iv.xlvi. (m)

It almost seemed to be forgotten for you. She wasn't there that long. You didn't want her at all. All the pain, all the suffering. You had actually already forgotten how it felt, but now you were reminded of it again...

You lie in bed with a stomach ache and you can no longer stand the cramps. At first you thought that something was wrong with your body. Everything spasmed and contracted. But when you went to the toilet, you are no longer surprised. Your period had started again for the first time after the twins were born. Probably because you are breastfeeding less now, as Geon now liked more normal food. You still fully breastfeed Kiwoo. From time to time he snacks a raspberry or a piece of mango. But then he prefered your milk more. And you were actually quite happy about it, because you still enjoy the time with your little ones. So your body switched and was ready to give you blood, pain and cravings once a month. And that would always last until you came to the menopause or you surprisingly decide to have a 5th child. But that wasn't an option for you and Jaehyun. You had your hands full with the twins anyway. After you found the feminine hygiene products in a lower drawer, you went back to bed. It was only 5 a.m., but you couldn't really sleep. The period pains were so bad and you decide to get up again, get a hot water bottle and take a pain reliever. "Hey, what's up?" Jaehyun had meanwhile noticed that you kept getting up from the bed and feeling restless. He turned the light on gently and his eyes were still very small because he was still completely sleepy. "I'm in pain," you say and sigh as you put the hot water bottle on your stomach. "How strong is it? Shall we go to the hospital?" Jaehyun was immediately concerned and now he looked more alert. "No, no ... it's not that bad. I just got my period back." You feel more uncomfortable than you have felt for a long time. Has it always been that bad? "Shall I bring you something? Some tea maybe?" He sat up and looked at you like you were lying there like a little worm and trying to survive everything until the medication work. "No, it fits in the meantime. Go to sleep." You didn't want him to get too little sleep. If he starts the drama again, he will have less sleep anyway. "Really?" He still looked at you with a raised eyebrow, but you nod with a smile. "Really." Jaehyun then went back to bed and snuggled up to you. His warm body was comfortable for your back and so you could relax a little. "Stay like that. It's good," you say softly and Jaehyun smiled. "I would do nothing else more than this." He kissed you and you both got a little sleep.

The pain killers were working and you slept so well. You sleep and sleep and get as much sleep as you haven't done for a long time. And when you woke up it was 11 a.m. You stretch out sleepily when it came to you: THE CHILDREN! But before you panic completely, you see that there is a letter on the bed. You open the envelope and read the letter. "I didn't want to wake you because you slept so sweetly and you now have so much to do with 4 children, so you can also take sick leave. I still have to work today, but Johnny organizes everything in the new house and he takes the children with him. I'll pick Miga up from school and we'll help Johnny around the house. So rest, enjoy the day. I also made you something to eat, it's in the fridge. I love you. Jaehyun." You found it so cute and so attentive. You were completely in love with your husband when the period pain started again. But you could still enjoy the day. You move into the living room because that way you were closer to the kitchen. You then lie on the couch, eating Jaehyun's food, which has always been so good, drinking tea and watching a few dramas. You could really switch off, although you were always accompanied by pain. The feeling was so new to you again that you had to keep checking that your pants weren't full of blood. You haven't had a period for 1 1/2 years and therefore you had to get used to it again. With Miga and Sunoh, your periods came back much quicker, but apparently your body took longer with the twins. When Johnny and Jaehyun came home with the children it was already late and everyone except Miga fell asleep. Johnny put his children to bed while Jaehyun put the twins, Sunoh and then Miga to bed. You are still lying on the couch and watching dramas when Jaehyun came down to you and lay down on the couch to you. "And? Were you able to relax a little bit?" He asked, putting his arm around you. "Yeah, thanks for that today. That was really good for me." "Is the pain still that bad?" He asked, brushing your hair back from your face. "A little bit, but I'm feeling better." You smile and were glad that Jaehyun was with you again. "Shall I do something for you?" He asked and stroked your stomach, but then he noticed that the hot water bottle was still under your sweater. "Well? It's already cold," he said with a laugh and pulled it out. "Yes, but somehow I like the feeling of having something on my stomach." You don't know if it was because you always wanted to be pregnant, but the pressure felt good. "Is that how it is? Is that the only reason you got pregnant?" Jaehyun winked and you both had to laugh. "Jaehyun ... thank you ..." you say softly and look at him with wide eyes. "Nothing to thank. We're a team and one of us needs a break now and then." He grinned, took the blanket and covered you both. You snuggle up together and continue to watch the drama. But somehow you still want to say thank you. Your hands were on his stomach. You gently stroke his abs, which you do a lot because you like to run over the lines of his muscles, it relaxed you. But then you get the idea that you could help him relax a little too. Jaehyun didn't know anything about your plan. His gaze was still on the TV and you start gently running your fingers over his waistband. Jaehyun reacted somehow, but still looked at the television. But then slipped your hand under his sweatpants. His eyes suddenly widened and he looked at you with a grin. "What are you going to do?" He asked you and you grin up at him. "I just want to say thank you." You wink and you slide his pants down further so that you can better "work" on him. Jaehyun no longer looked at the television. He pushed down the blanket and watched as you massage his member. You were still snuggled close to him, but you still had a good grip on him. You spit in your hand and spread your saliva along his length. So it was better for him and you notice how Jaehyun's hand clawed more into you. "Oh yes," he moaned softly, watching you move your hand up and down. You smile and you can feel right away that he liked it because he got hard pretty quickly. "Oh God!" He kept moaning and threw his head back. You liked that he liked that so much. You continue to do your best, massage his length as best as you can. You try to vary your pace and always play with his tip, where he was particularly sensitive. "Hey, what are you watching?", You suddenly hear Johnny's voice, who came into the living room with no worries. He lived with you until he could move into his new house. You and Jaehyun immediately pull up the blanket and try to pretend you're just watching TV. "Just a repeat of this drama," you say and smile. "Oh, I can see. I can watch. I really like the drama." Johnny actually sat down on the couch then because it was more of a retorical question for him. "Um, yes of course", you say and Jaehyun looked almost a bit pained. He was so hard, it wouldn't have taken him long to cum. You could read it on his face, but you thought you'd just keep going, just under the covers. You first take a couple of tissues and then you run your hand back to his length again. Jaehyun looked at you admonishingly. You pretend you don't see it and look at the TV while you put your hand firmly on his length and massage it. You could feel his breathing quicken and his hips twitch. You are going faster and with your other hand you are already preparing the tissue. It wasn't long before Jaehyun splashed into your hand. His cum was all over the tissue and he was so horny he couldn't help but moan. "AH", he moaned loudly as he wanted, but then it occurred to him that Johnny was still in the room. Immediately he correct his moaning to a sneeze. "Atchoo." Jaehyun pretended he had a bit of a cold, which is not abnormal at this time of year. "The sneeze was very random," Johnny said with a laugh. Jaehyun just laughed uncertainly and so did you, but Johnny then looked straight back at the television. You had to laugh inside, but so did Jaehyun. He then kissed your head and his face came close to your ear. "I love you," he whispered and you answer him with a kiss.

daddy jaehyun masterlist 

[merakiaes]

Best Friend’s Brother - John Shelby

Pairing: John Shelby x reader

Requested: Yes.

Prompts: None. 

Warnings/notes: This is pretty shit, I’ve been distracted today so sorry for that. The title is also shit, I couldn’t come up with anything else xD Hope you like it though! (NOT PROOFREAD)

Wordcount: 3437

Summary: You’re Ada’s best friend. After meeting her family and taking care of John and his kids for so long, he finally pops the big question. 

The year was 1919 when you first met Ada Shelby.

She was twenty-two and pregnant with her first child, and you had recently turned twenty and just gotten your job as a midwife at the hospital.

The first time she came to visit you to check up on the baby, she was very grumpy and reserved. You could admit it frightened you a bit, as you were very well aware of who her family was.

But the second time she came by, she was in a better mood, and ended up opening up to you about the reasons for her foul spirits the first time around. And once you knew, you couldn’t bring yourself to blame her; you wouldn’t be happy either if you were stuck in between your one true love and your birthgiven family.

You were supposed to be strictly professional with all of your patients, but the two of you just clicked so quickly and so well once you actually got to talking that you couldn’t help but accept when she invited you out to a night out on the town the third time she came around.

You didn’t live far from Watery Lane, but still, you hadn’t ever been down that particular street. You weren’t really someone who widened your boundaries and explored. You were too careful.

And either way, you didn’t get much time to spare anyway, between work and taking care of the two boys you had taken in after the war. They were twin brothers, nine years of age and left parentless by the war.

Before the war, you had spent many days and nights babysitting them, and so you had when their mother had passed away in the influenza while their dad was away fighting.

You knew them and they were comfortable with you, which was why it was a given to take them in permanently when their dad never came back.

That night was the first one since you were eighteen that you had gone out on the town to have fun, having your neighbors – a couple in their fifties who lived with infertility and jumped at every chance they got to watch your boys – babysit for you.

Ada took you to the Garrison, really forcing you to go outside of your comfort zone. It took a while, but eventually you managed to let loose after getting a few drinks into your system.

The two of you were laughing and singing at the bar, entertaining pretty much the entire pub, when the Shelby brothers joined you after having dealt with some business.

To say they were shocked when they walked in and found their sister, who had never kept any female company in her life, singing at the top of her lungs with you at her side, was a big understatement.

You were introduced to them, and with the alcohol controlling your body, you were nowhere near your usual shyness, shaking their hands with a firm grip and enthusiastic smile.

Arthur, as the party-animal he was himself, loved you immediately, and Tommy was strangely fascinated by your kind nature. But John didn’t really care much.

Until the morning after when you came by the Shelby household with your two boys and ended up offering yourself to help his Katie clean up after she’s weed the bed so that he could head back into the betting shop.

After seeing you handle his kids, with such grace and so much kindness, having them calmer than he’d ever seen them before, he was sold.

There were countless of things he found attractive in women, but nothing could ever even compare to seeing you with his kids; that was the kind of sexy that could have any man whipped for the rest of his life.

And that’s just what happened.

You started babysitting his kids whenever he needed the extra help. He would drop them off at your house whenever Tommy had him running errands, and some mornings, you and the boys would even come by his house, where you would get his kids out of bed and feed them breakfast just so that he could get some extra sleep.

Only a few weeks after you’d met the entire family, you were adored to bits by each and every one of them.

Polly loved you for always helping John out, and for keeping her company whenever the boys were out on business. And Tommy and Arthur grew fiercely protective over you, even more so than they were Ada.

Ada was a Shelby and they knew that she could handle her own if it ever came to it, but you were just so innocent. Soft as a flower, just generally bright and bubbly with not even a smudge of darkness in your heart.

The amount of kindness you held in you often clouded your judgement. You always tried to see the good in people, which in Small Heath, could get you into a lot of trouble, hadn’t it been for the Peaky Blinders having your back.

But while Tommy and Arthur were protective over you, John was absolutely possessive. Not to your face of course; he would never, in a million years, want to give off the impression that he was trying to control you.

But if someone as much as mentioned your name with ill-meaning, his blade would be at their throat and their faces pushed into the mud in the next 0.01 seconds.    

He heard you at the Garrison when you would talk to Ada about the perfect romance and your dream man, how you wanted him to have strong morals, a kind heart, be loyal and committed to a fault and not fool around with other women behind your back.

You didn’t have high demands, but for the male population in Birmingham? It was pretty much impossible to stay faithful, and that was why you had yet to find someone right for you, as most men were sleazebags that would jump at every opportunity to get their cocks sucked.

John tried with all his might to change himself to fit your standards. He stopped visiting the whorehouse, he stopped reciprocating the women who would try to seduce him at the pub, sending them into Arthur’s lap instead.

He had already had good manners towards women, but for you, he took it to an entirely different level, excessively opening doors for you, pulling out chairs whenever you would go to sit down, and asking you if you needed anything wherever you went, whatever you did.

He did everything he could to get you to notice him, and you did. You didn’t think much of the increase of politeness, being used to the Shelby brothers’ unusually good manners, but you did notice the way he was distancing himself from women.

But you never could’ve guessed it was because of you, you just guessed it was because he missed Martha, so you stepped back and didn’t mention it.

It had been a long day. You had been working a shift at the hospital between six in the morning and three in the afternoon, and then you had gone straight to the Shelby household where Polly was watching the boys.

You helped around for a bit before you had to take the boys home to get them ready for bed. You hadn’t seen John all day, but you didn’t dwell much on it, used to him being out on business.

But you also hadn’t seen Ada all day, which was strange.

You had just put the boys to sleep when there was a knock on your front door. Your head whipped around to the doorway of the kitchen at the sound of the door opening, and you instantly knew it was either Polly, Ada or Arthur, as they were the only ones who didn’t bother waiting for you to open the door.

And you were proven correct when Arthur stomped into the kitchen only a second later, hands tucked into the pockets of his pants.

“Evening, love.” He greeted as he approached you, kissing your cheeks upon reaching you like he always did.

You kissed his cheeks back with a wide smile, drying your wet hands on your apron meanwhile.

“Arthur.” You greeted back, smiling widely. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Ah, you know.” He shrugged, the corners of his eyes crinkled with a mischievous smile. “Just here to relieve you of your housewife duties for the evening.”

You narrowed your eyes in suspicion at that, even further so when he reached around your back to undo the string of your apron.

“Is that so?” You asked, watching with careful eyes as he carelessly threw the fabric to the kitchen bench. “And why would that be?”

He took no care to your distrusting stare, grabbing you by the shoulders and starting to steer you out of the kitchen and to the front door, where he grabbed your coat from the rack.

“Because,” He began, opening your coat and holding it up for you, the suspicious smile not once leaving his aged face. “Johnny boy is expecting you.”

Your squinting eyes instantly went back to their normal size at the sound of John’s name, and you wasted no time in starting to put your arms into the coat, but you were still puzzled.

“What could he possibly need help with at this hour? Are the kids running circles around him barefoot again?” You questioned with a sigh, hoping that wasn’t the case as John already had so much on his plate.

But luckily, Arthur shook his head. “Nah, the kids are over at Polly’s tonight. It’s just the two of ya. Now, no more questions. Don’t want to keep my little brother waiting, do we?”

You gave him a long look, trying to figure out why in the world he was looking so smug. He always did, on second thought, but never this much.

But nevertheless, you didn’t put up much of a fight, ready to come running at John’s every call like you had been for the past months.

You wordlessly stepped outside after Arthur had opened the door for you, sparing his satisfied face one more look, before beginning down the stairs and onto the street, hearing the front door slam shut behind you only a second later.

Your brain was running crazy with thoughts.

You had been there for John a lot during the short period of time you had known each other, helping him get the kids up and ready in the mornings, ready to go to bed in the evenings, and many times afterwards taking care of him, talking to him and being there for him when he mourned the man he had been before the war.

But this was well past the children’s bedtime, and you had never been called over this late, especially not when the kids weren’t even there. So to say you were confused was a huge understatement, and admittedly, it made you quite anxious.

But you guessed you’d see soon what this entire thing was about, as the walk to his house wasn’t very long.

You reached your destination in only five minutes, and didn’t even bother knocking on the front door before entering John’s home, only kicking your boots free of the mud while calling out.

“John?”

There was a bang from the lounge, followed by a curse, but when John didn’t come and greet you at the door, you rid yourself of your own coat and ventured into the house yourself.

Upon entering the lounge, you were surprised to find the room lit up by countless of candles, and a table full of delicious-looking food.

You were surprised, and confused, and even more so when John finally revealed himself, coming out from the kitchen with a bottle of wine in his hands.

His hair was pushed back neatly, almost looking as if it had been groomed that very same day, and the grey suit he was wearing looked a tad more expensive than the ones he usually wore, causing a lift of your eyebrow.

“What’s all this?” You smiled teasingly, walking closer to the set-up with slow steps. “What’s the occasion?”

A smile to match your own rose to his lips as he walked around the table, putting the bottle down and coming over to you.

“I wanted to do something special to show my appreciation.” He told you, gingerly grabbing your arms and starting to lead you towards the table. “For everything you’ve done for me and the kids. I just thought you deserved to be pampered too, for a change.”

Once you reached the table, he pulled out the chair for you to sit down on, making sure you were comfortable before walking around and sitting down on the opposite side.

“Well…” You chuckled, letting your eyes gaze at the food. “I know for certain you’re not the one who cooked, or else half of this would’ve been burnt.”

An effortless chuckle left his lips at that. “You know me well, don’t you?”

You couldn’t help but smile at the sweet sound, and you were incredibly lucky for the warm hue of the candles, or he would’ve for certain been able to see the blush tinting your entire face.

“Probably better than you know yourself.” You answered with a nervous laugh, looking around some more before looking up at him, only to find he was already looking at you.

And of course, that only made you blush harder.

“What are you staring at?” You asked, getting only a lovestruck smile in return.

“You.”

But in all your flustered glory, you didn’t catch the feelings behind his baby blues. “Why? Is there something on my face?”

You reached your hands up to your face, starting to feel around for an eyelash or something. Your actions drew a laugh from his lips, which only resulted in you getting even more flustered.

“No.” He shook his head. “There’s nothing on your face.”

You opened your mouth to ask if something was the matter, feeling anxious with how strange he was acting, but had to cut yourself short when he suddenly stood up.

Out of instinct, thinking he had just forgotten something from the kitchen, you instantly began standing up too. “Can I help with anything?”

John quickly shot you down, gently pushing you back into your seat by your shoulders and shaking his head. “No. For once in your life, don’t help and just sit down.”

He let out a small laugh, the sound causing your lips to tug into a smile, but quickly turned serious again, forcing you to become so, as well.

You weren’t quite sure what you were expecting to happen when he cleared his throat and started digging around in the inside pocket of his suit, but it sure as hell wasn’t what happened next.

From his pocket, he fished out a small, white velvet box. Your eyes grew wide at the sight, and you couldn’t stop your hands from going to your mouth in shock when he then proceeded to go down on one knee.

“I was supposed to save this ‘til after dinner, but I just can’t wait that long.” He told you, trying his hardest to catch your eye, but your eyes were stuck on the box in his hand. “I’m sorry if this is weird for you to hear, but I am in love with you. I have been for some time now, and I would be the happiest man alive if you would do me the utmost honor of letting me take you as my wife.”

He opened the box, and your entire body froze at the sight of the ring inside.

It was a silver ring, with a twisted band with tiny diamonds all the way around, and in the middle, a big Alexandrite stone, twinkling with the perfect mixture of purple and aqua blue.

It was absolutely beautiful and looked more expensive than everything you had ever owned all together.

“I…”

You could barely form words.

“No, wait. Just listen for a second, please.” He pleaded, almost desperately, scooting closer to you and taking one of your hands in his. “I know I’m older than you, and that you could get someone younger, someone more honorable and someone with a cleaner lifestyle. But I see you with my kids and I just… They see you as their mother, they love you. Seeing you in general makes my heart beat as if I was seventeen all over again, and seeing you with them makes me go crazy. I want you, need you- we need you in our lives, (Y/N). If you’ll have us.”

Finally, you were able to tear your wide eyes away from the stunning piece of jewelry to meet his.

You could feel the tears starting to build up. “John, I don’t-“

Panic instantly struck his face. “You don’t want to marry me?” He interrupted you before you could finish your sentence, and you instantly started shaking your head violently.  

“No!” You protested. “I do! I do. I just… I’m a bit shocked is all.”

His disappointed face turned into one of hope. “You do want to marry me?”

“Of course.” You nodded, your face breaking into a smile so big it actually hurt your cheeks as you finally broke free of the shock. “Of course I do!”

A loud, relieved laugh left his lips and he wasted no time in standing up, taking you with him. He dropped your hand for a brief moment to be able to remove the ring from the box, closing it and putting it down on the table before picking your hand back up and slipping the ring onto your finger.

You let out a teary laugh at the feeling of the perfect fit, your entire body trembling with excitement, and before he could even think of make the first move you grabbed his face in your hands and pulled him down to crash your lips to his.

His hands came up to cradle your jaw and pull you even closer, while yours went to the back of his head, your entire body just curving into his.

When you broke apart again you were both breathing heavily, out of breath. Your foreheads leaned together and John let out a nervous laugh as he stared into your eyes. “I think that’s the most scared I’ve ever been in my entire life.”

You laughed, closing your eyes briefly before looking back into his. “I’m sorry.” You apologized in a whisper, smiling. “I just… I really didn’t expect this.”

“Why?” He wondered with a shake of his head. “I’ve been doing everything in my power to show how much I care for you, I thought you noticed.”

You snorted. “Of course I’ve noticed. I notice everything.” Your smile fell slightly, turning into one of compassion, your thumb rubbing at his cheek gingerly. “But I thought that was because you missed Martha.”

Much like yours had, his smile also simmered down into a smaller one, his eyes growing sad. “I do, and I’ll always love her.” He confirmed quietly. “But I’m not in love with her. Not anymore.”

You looked deeply into his eyes, showing him you understood, before the thought suddenly struck you.

“Does Ada know?”

She was your best friend, and you knew she would have both yours and John’s heads for not telling her about your feelings for one another. The reaction would, however, be a bit milder if John had asked her permission beforehand.

And luckily, he had.

“She’s the one who helped me pick out the ring.” He confessed, his eyes leaving yours to focus on your hand as he brought it up between you, his fingers running over the ring lightly.

“Of course.” You smiled, shaking your head. “I should have guessed.”

How else would he have known what your favourite gemstone was and what to look for?

“God, I love you.” He said suddenly, taking you slightly by surprise.

But you quickly regained your composure, smiling widely and putting your arms back around his neck.

“I love you, too.” You said. “And even though you might not think so yourself, you really are the most honorable man I’ve ever met, and I know for a certain that I will never meet anyone who will be able to top that.”

A bright smile overtook his boyish features and only a second later, you were pulled into another kiss, no more words being spoken. But you didn’t need to say anything else, the ring resting on your fingers saying it all.

Who would’ve thought you would end up with your best friend’s brother.

[bewareofchris]

Public Relations 17/??

R atm | Alec Hardy/Dr. Bill Masters | Broadchurch, Masters of Sex | Strong language, eventual sexual situations

“The fact that Alec Hardy was not currently, had not ever, and did not want to date the American sex research did not seem very important at all to the town of Broadchurch.  They did what they had always done with a little bit of juicy gossip: they made a spectacle of it.”

<< prev | Part 1

The established rhythm of Bill’s life had been utterly destroyed; developing a new sense of normal was continuously hindered by the fact that Bill had (apparently) never appreciated the women in his life.  It had felt like he appreciated them when he had them, but the disaster that his personal and professional life had become proved otherwise.

It was embarrassing to be an adult that had to re-learn how to do basic tasks like shop for groceries, pay bills and clean his bathroom.  The necessity of putting on a polite, interested, personable professional face exhausted him.  The first reasons he had ever one looking for an assistant was to relieve him of the emotional labor of interacting with his patients on a social level.

Bill was interested in the science; the people were just a means to that end.

But even as tired as he was at the end of the day, sitting on his single dining room chair, staring at the lackluster TV dinner he’d picked up on his way home, Bill could handle all of those things.  He was smart, and capable, and resilient. (That’s what his Mother said when she tried to make it sound like he’d developed super powers from being beaten by his father.  You’re made of tougher stuff, she’d say.  You can withstand anything.  Bill couldn’t withstand anything but he’d gotten more than enough practice withstanding his father’s fists.)

The unbearable thing was remembering about his children.  It hit him low in the gut, now and again, when the room around him got quiet.  He remembered that he had children, he remembered that he missed them.  It was like remembering an appointment at the last second, it gripped your whole body in a wave of warmth that you’d ever forgotten something important.  Bill had been a terrible husband, a terrible lover, and a terrible father.

All the evidence he needed was the fact that he was capable of forgetting his children.  That he had to remember them in quiet spaces.  Every time it overcame him, he soothed himself by thinking that he’d fix it.  He thought he still had time.  He thought, certainly, tomorrow he was going to go and see Libby, or a lawyer, and he was going to work it out.

Every day ended the same: Bill, a lukewarm TV dinner, and the realization that he’d forgotten his children again.

Bill never went to see Libby; she came to his office so early in the morning that she was there before he arrived.  She was beautiful, the way she always had been, and furious still.  With her back as straight as a steel beam and her hands folded together in her lap, she sat on the little couch in his office waiting for him.

“Libby,” he said.

“Don’t,” was her response, as sharp as a knife.  “I always hated it when you put on that voice.  I knew you were lying to whoever you were talking to, and you always used that voice on me.”

Bill couldn’t have defended himself even if he’d been given the time to.

“I’ve hired a lawyer,” Libby said.  

“Good.”

Libby’s frown was so tight it might as well shredded her lips across her teeth.  She shifted her hands on her lap and tried again, “I don’t want the house.  I’ve decided that I don’t want to live here anymore.  I’ve told the lawyer the only thing that I want from you is the children.  Let’s be honest,” and Libby would��be honest, as brilliant and hurtfully honest as she could be, “you never wanted them anyway.”

Bill hadn’t even set his briefcase down.  It bumped against his leg when his arms twitched, and he wasn’t certain if he meant to cross his arms or raise his fists at the statement.  He couldn’t even work out if he were insulted to be thought so little of, or offended at the implication he would just let his children go.  (That was the loudest thought: they were his children.)  

“I don’t think we should do anything rash,” Bill said.

“It’s not rash,” Libby said.  “I don’t want your house.  I don’t want your money.  I don’t want anything from you.  I only want my children.”

“They’re our children, Libby.”

Libby snorted at that.  She stood up with a jerk of annoyance.  Her hands were fretting in front of her and then smoothing down the length of her skirt in the next moment.  She looked at him like he were a bug.  “You never even held them as babies, Bill.  You weren’t at half their birthday parties.  I had Johnny alone.  Don’t stand there acting like you’ve ever cared about my children.”

“I have cared.”

“You’ve pretended to care,” Libby corrected.  “That’s fine.  I knew what you were when I decided to get pregnant.  Even if I didn’t know before Johnny was born, I knew before Jenny.”

“I’m not giving up my children, Libby.”

Libby looked at him with pity.  She shook her head when words failed her, and ran her tongue over her pink lips.  “Then I’ll see you in court.”  

Bill didn’t have time to say another word before Libby walked out.  He was left standing there, still holding his briefcase, trying to figure out what had happened and what he could possibly do about it.  (And the answer was, he had happened and there was nothing to do about it.)

--

Would you ever forgive your wife?

Bill had sent the message a full day ago and Hardy had spent every moment thinking about the answer.  The cheapest, easiest answer was to say that he had forgiven her.  She had said that she was sorry, she had said that she wished things would have been different, and he had said he forgave her.

Hardy hadn’t meant it though.  He’d been keeping the peace.  He’d been doing what was best for his daughter.  (Whatever that meant.)  

Tess had wounded him.  The severity of that wound couldn’t be measured because it could not be separated from the consequences of her selfish betrayal.  Maybe he could have forgiven her for fucking another man; maybe he could have gotten over being lied to.  Maybe it wouldn’t have even mattered, not really, that she’d betrayed him.

What man in all the world could say that he’d never thought about being unfaithful.  Hardy had been the receiver of appreciative glances in the past; he’d had opportunities to take advantage of discreet indiscretions.  And he’d thought about it in earnest.  He’d built fantasies out of the idea that he didn’t have to be faithful to his wife as long as he could keep secrets.

But he hadn’t done it.

No, the trouble with Tess fucking another man behind his back wasn’t that she had taken her clothes off and spread her legs.  It was that a murderer had gotten away.  A little girl couldn’t have justice for the atrocity committed against her because his wife had been too cock-hungry to do her job properly.

Tess had let him take the blame.  She’d sat there with tears in her eyes, telling him how sorry she was about everything, but she let him take the blame.  She saved her career and her reputation.  She protected herself by agreeing that it was meant to protect their daughter.

Hardy lost everything because Tess took her clothes off with another man.  It was a hard thing to forgive but it was an easy thing to turn bitter in the pit of your stomach.  If he had to choose if he wanted to hate his wife until the day he died, he simply didn’t have the stomach for it.  

Yes, was all the answer he sent back.

Bill’s response was immediate: Have you ever purchased a couch?

I have.  Are these two things related somehow?

I need somewhere to sit that isn’t my bed or the dining chair.

The limited things that Hardy knew about Bill should not have made the statement as surprising as it was.  Wait, have you never purchased a couch?

No.  Well, I have paid for a couch but I haven’t picked it out.  Libby always chose the furniture, and Virginia decorated the office.

You didn’t help?

I didn’t see the need to.  Of course Bill had not seen the need to.  Why should a man worry about things when he had women to do it for him?

It was your home and your office.

Yes.  If Bill had any sense of shame, he must have been staring at his phone working out how to explain himself.  I trusted that it would be taken care.  Libby and Virginia both knew my preferences and I paid.  We all did our part.

Have you considered that it is not the 1950s and that you are an asshole, Bill Masters?

That thought does occur to me frequently, yes.  

Hardy wasn’t smiling at his phone because he was happy.  It didn’t feel like joy, but it felt like something.  He was curled forward in bed, smiling at his phone screen with a disbelieving sort of laugh caught in his throat.  Are you looking at the couches now?

Yes.

Are you alone?

Yes.  (Of course he was.  Bill must have run out of women he hadn’t already pissed off.)

Tell me about them.

Why?

It will help you decide which one you like the best.  If you don’t like it you’re not going to waste time texting about them.  Hardy leaned back into his pillows, with the phone held over his face.  

Oh.  That’s clever.

They wasted time like that, Hardy reading Bill’s sarcastic descriptions of couches and the sales persons.  They narrowed the choices down to two possible contenders.  Bill sent him pictures, and Hardy offered advice until he was too tired to stay awake a moment longer.  He thought he should have told Bill that he was going to pass out at any moment, and not to worry (he was still alive) but he woke up the next morning with the phone laying next to his face.  

The last text he got from Bill said: Good night, Alec.  I hope you sleep well.

next >>

[gvbejvmes]

Drabble: Like Scarlett Loves Tara

Title: Like Scarlett Loves Tara Rating: PG-13 Pairings: Gabriel/Johnny, background Gabriel/The Russian Trigger Warnings: None?  Summary: A glimpse into four visits Gabriel took to Johnson Estate during autumn and one summer that corrected the course of his life. Notes: I plan on doing a series of pre-wedding drabbles. You’re welcome!

Late Fall 2010

The first time Gabriel walks onto the grounds of Johnson Estate, he falls in love. It’s 2010 and he’d recently become friends with the most eccentric person he’d ever met. And this was coming from someone who spent 7 years in prison. Kaleidoscope Johnson was vibrant, flamboyant, loud, and absolutely ridiculous. He was the type of person you either hated or you liked. There was no in between. Gabe had liked him immediately. The other man was so uniquely himself that Gabe couldn’t help but to be drawn to him. He was the type of person Gabe had never had the chance to be, and he loved that about him. It was probably why he’d agreed to spend the weekend at the estate of a man he barely knew while his husband was working on a big case.

“What is this place?” Gabe asked, staring around in complete and total wonder. The house is huge. He’s not even sure if he should call it a house. It’s definitely a manor. Calling it a mansion didn’t feel right. Mansions feel cold, and this place was definitely not cold. They’re outside and Gabe feels like he’s in an Agatha Christie novel. The grass is green and feels never-ending. There are gardens with neatly pressed dirt wrapping through the plants. And the trees. God, the trees. They’re these gorgeous mature oak trees with leaves he’s dying to draw. Still, there’s more. There’s a patio with tables spaced throughout like a restaurant. Past the patio is a pool, but it’s not the kind for laps. It’s the shallow kind that’s more of a tanning shelf that anything else. If he squints, he’s pretty sure he even sees a stable. “Are we breaking and entering? Because I’m not technically an ex-con but I do still have a record of time served.”

Kaleidoscope laughed and threw an arm around Gabe’s shoulders. “This, my dear Gabey, is Johnson Estate. It’s my house. Well, the family home.” He shrugged and led Gabe from the patio to the sun room. “Once upon a time it was grand-mere's home, but she left it to me when she died. It was a big scandal. Completely bypassed her three children and left it to her twenty-one year old grandson. She wanted to leave it to someone who would actually use the house. And every artist needs a place to retreat with his fellow artists.” The way he said it made it sound so simple. “I like to summer here. It’s also where I like to host my orgies. Which if you weren’t happily married to that statue of a man you’re married to, I would invite you in a heartbeat. You are happily married, right?”

Gabe rolled his eyes. “Yes. Very happily married.” He settled onto one of the chairs and stared out into the backyard. It was quiet for a moment, which was out of character for Kaleidoscope, but when he looked over to where his friend had been, he wasn’t there. When he leaned back, however, he was fiddling with a tray while an older woman swatted at his hands before putting a kettle on. Shaking his head, he turned back to the view in front of him, and stared out at it in complete wonder. He didn’t say anything until Kaleidoscope came back with the tea tray. “Why did you bring me here?” He asked quietly.

The other man shrugged. “I wanted to show it to someone who would actually appreciate it for what it was.” He flipped the cups onto their saucers and picked up the kettle. Gabe thought for sure Kaleidoscope was done talking, but then in a very quiet voice came: “No one ever appreciates it as much as I do, but I knew you would.”

Early Fall 2013

It’s the end of September, but they’re in the middle of a heatwave and Gabe was dying in the city. Johnny was at some lawyer convention. He may have zoned out as his husband was trying to explain it to him. Anyway, there was no way he was going to survive a heatwave in a house without a pool. So, he packed up the dogs and drove up to the estate.

He’s honestly not sure how it happened, but somewhere along the line, Kale gave Gabe his own set of keys to the estate. According to Kale, he didn’t see the point of it sitting around empty when there was someone else who loved the house as much as he did. Of course, he always made sure Kale wasn’t doing… whatever it was what Kale did in the house when he went up to the house alone. Most of the time, the house was empty and it made a nice escape for Gabe. Kale, of course, wasn’t even in the city. He’d gone to Lake George with his boyfriend of the moment, so he was actually grateful that Gabe wanted to spend a couple of days at the house. 

It was the middle of the day and Gabe was floating in the pool on a float shaped like an island while George and Gulliver splashed in the water around him. He was napping on the water more than anything else when there suddenly was a surprised shout. It was enough to make him tumble off the float and into the pool. The dogs for their part went splashing off towards the sound of the noise.

Gabe dunked himself under the water before pulling himself to the side of the pool only to see the woman who ran the house, Hilda, being loved on by the dogs. “Mr. Gabe!” She scolded him. “I didn’t know you were coming into town today. Your room isn’t made up. Is Mr. Kale with you?”

He’d tried over and over again to get her to stop calling him Mr. Gabe, but as far as she was concerned, Gabe belonged at the estate as much as the actual owner did. “Hey, Mrs. H.” He shook the water from his hair like he was a dog. “Nah. Kale is upstate with… Eric? I think that’s his name. Or maybe it’s Aaron. My husband is out of town for a couple of days. So I figured if I have to be alone anywhere, it should be the prettiest place in New York.”

Hilda sighed before shooing the dogs back to the pool. “Oh, Mr. Gabe. I wish you had called the house. I need to dust and vacuum your room, and wash your linens. And I need to go up to the store. I can make the stew you like tonight. I think I have the ingredients for that, but oh-” And the older woman was already in her own head. She was planning what she wanted to make and what she thought Gabe was going to need while he was there. It didn’t matter what he said; she definitely was happy to have someone at the estate. He couldn’t imagine what it was like to run a house that was empty for half the year.

“Mrs. H.” He got out of the pool. “I’m capable of making up my own room you know. I just need fresh linens. The room’s still clean from last time.”

She made a tsking sound under her breath. “Oh, no. You start doing that and I’m out of a job. Oh, I’ll have to tell Mr. Ericson you’re here so he can get the beds for the dogs. And I’m sure you’ll want to ride at least once while you’re here.” She pressed a kiss to Gabe cheek before pushing him back towards the pool. “Welcome home, Mr. Gabe.”

And it was strange to him how a place that wasn’t even his could feel like home. 

Summer 2018

It’s early, not yet seven, and everyone staying at Johnson Estate are still sleeping. Gabe’s been up for about an hour. Sleeping alone still wasn’t easy for him. Sure, he could have slept in Velvet’s bed with her, but she’d gone home with some guy who slept in a coffin the night before. Needless to say, he’d gotten little to no sleep. He’s curled up on the couch in the great room, a worn copy of As I Lay Dying in his hands and a fire in the fireplace crackling happily in front of him. 

“Oh, you are awake.” A familiar voice murmured out from behind him. Gregor Rasputin, known to everyone as Razz and as the Russian to Gabe, wasn’t necessarily welcome as far as Gabe was concerned, but he wasn’t unwelcome either. He was a gray area that Gabe tried not to think about too much. “Are you hiding from me?” While Gabe was spending the entire summer at the estate, the Russian had only been around for about a week, and it was more than obvious to everyone that he’d taken a liking to Gabe. And Gabe wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He was officially divorced. Liking someone else didn’t mean that he was cheating on Johnny, but it definitely felt like it. The Russian was nice enough, but he wasn’t wrong: Gabe had been hiding from him.

He closed his book, and sat up more to give the other man room on the other end of the couch. They both tended to be early risers. Although, for Gabe it was more that he wasn’t able to sleep, than being an early riser. “To be fair I’m hiding from everyone. This is my favorite room, but I don’t think everyone knows it’s here.” He tucked his legs up under him as he watched Gregor set down a tea tray. “So don’t tell anyone.”

The larger man smiled at Gabe. “It will be our secret, Gabriel.” He sat down in the middle of the couch, much closer than Gabe had originally been anticipating. “I brought you tea. Brewed like coffee. Very strong, but very bitter. I brought sugar. I noticed you like sweet things, but not chocolate. I think this is because you’re desert born.” He shrugged and gestured to the rest of the tray. “And I brought breakfast. Fruits and bacon, and that strange biscuits with sauce.”

That earned a laugh from Gabe. “Biscuits and gravy.” Gabe corrected as he took the cup of tea and sniffed it curiously before taking a sip. Almost immediately he made a face. “Bitter is an understatement.” He all but whined before mixing sugar into his tea.

The Russian shrugged before putting together a plate, a little bit of everything, and handing it to Gabe the second he set his cup down. “Others don’t notice. You hide it well, but I notice. I see because I know you least. You don’t eat. Move food around and drink tea and martinis, but no food.” He nudged the plate closer to Gabe. “Eat, Gabriel. I think you were much stronger before. Much more meat on your bones.”

Sighing, Gabe took the plate from him and made a point of popping one of the orange slices into his mouth. “Do you usually worry this much about men you barely know or am I just special?” He’s not sure if he’s trying to be sarcastic or if he’s fishing for a compliment. 

The Russian laughed. “You’re the most special man I’ve met, Gabriel. Men in Russia?” He made a sound Gabe didn’t know how to describe. “They are nothing like you.” It was too much for Gabe so he busied himself with eating his biscuits and gravy, as though that would get the Russian to stop speaking.

Thankfully the other man got the hint, and they fell into a comfortable silence. It wasn’t until Gabe set his plate down and picked up his tea, sipping gingerly just in case it was still too bitter, that the mood changed again. When it was sweet enough, he took a larger sip, not prepared for the question he was about to receive. “Gabriel, this house…” He wasn’t sure if the other man was searching for the right word in English or if he was trying to phrase it in a way that wouldn’t spook him. “How do you know so well?”

A real smile lit up his features. “This house?” He shook his head bashfully. “Home has always been people for me. This was the first place that felt like home.”

Late Fall 2019

It’s early evening and Gabe is in the sunroom painting when his phone goes off. His hands are covered in paint, but he still checks to see who’s calling. When he sees that it’s Johnny, a couple of different emotions wash over him. On one hand, things with his ex-husband had finally settled into a state of normalcy. On the other hand, talking to Johnny was like that book about giving the mouse a cookie. It always seemed to lead to something more. Still, he found himself setting his brush down and answering his phone. “Hey, Johnny.” And that was something that would always feel strange in his mouth. He wasn’t his Jay any more. “What’s up?”

He’s pretty sure that his ex hadn’t been expecting Gabe to actually answer the phone. “Uh, hey, Briel, Gabriel. How are you?” And it’s awkward. It’s so fucking awkward, but it’s still a better place then they were before. “Right, stupid question. I didn’t get to tell you last week, but thank you for letting the dogs stay with me while you were-” And he wasn’t going to say it. They both knew he wasn’t going to say the rest of the sentence: while you were in Russia for three months with your long distance boyfriend and were considering moving to the other side of the world permanently. 

“I hate boarding them.” He admitted as he put his brushes away for the night. There was no way he was going to be able to go back to painting after talking to Johnny. “They were much happier with you than they would have been at one of those places.” 

It’s quiet on the other side before Johnny seemed to finally bring himself to the reason why he called. “Yeah. I actually bought them a couple of things online that just arrived today.” It was quiet again for a long moment. “Can I stop by your place and drop them off?”

Gabe closed his eyes, even though he knew the other man couldn’t see him. When he’d gotten back to New York, he’d actually made a point of having CJ pick up the dogs instead of him having to see Johnny. The same as when the dogs were brought to his place. Fresh out of a break up with a man who was supposed to help him get over Johnny, he didn’t trust himself around his ex-husband. 

“I’m not at home. I mean, I am, but I’m not in the city. I’m at the estate.” He admitted. 

“Oh.” 

And for a moment it was like neither of them knew what they wanted to say, but neither of them wanted to hang up. Finally Johnny was the first to speak. “Well, I can drop them off when you get back? Or you could have Cordy come and pick them up?” And he had to know that he was avoiding him at this point. He had to know.

“CJ leaves for a shoot next week so I’ll be back this weekend.” He promised. “You can drop them off then. I’m sure Bella would be happy to see you.” 

And it’s quiet again. “Briel,” Johnny murmured out quietly. “Why didn’t you stay in Moscow?”

He picked at his cuticle as he searched for the right words. “Because my home is in New York.”

Neither of them knew what to say after that.

Late Summer / Early Fall 2020

When Gabe suggests getting (re)married at the estate, he’s not entirely serious. He knows how well Johnny and Kale get along, and he doesn’t want his husband, no, fiance to be awkward. But maybe it was how much Gabe talked about that house. Or maybe it was because given the state of the pandemic it was the safest place to get married - no strangers and everyone could stay there. Still, he doesn’t expect Johnny to like the idea. 

Hell, he doesn’t even know that Johnny liked the idea until he shows him the proof for the invitations and it has the estate’s address. He’s sure he cries and starts babbling about how beautiful the manor house looks in the fall, but it doesn’t matter. That house is his Tara. He loves the estate probably more than any other building in the world. It the best wedding gift his fiance could have given him.

It isn’t until they arrive at the estate a few weeks later that he realizes Johnny has never been to the estate before. It isn’t until he sees the look of total wonder on the other man’s face that he realizes this is his first time seeing the manor house in all its glory. “What do you think?” He all but whispers out. If he doesn’t love the estate, Gabe’s not sure what he’ll do. 

Johnny’s quiet for a moment, but when he speaks, Gabe’s heart melts. “It’s perfect.”

[isobel-thorm]

nic/john/sharky and “I may be an idiot but I’m your idiot.”

Combined with @zacklover24‘s prompt #11: “Be my wife” - though changed accordingly. 

It’a Beautiful Morning, We’re Looking for Something Dumb to Do

During a particularly lazy morning, Sharky lets some insecurities slip and John and Nic have a question for him in response. 

Nicolette Raylan had marched back into Prosperity’s master bedroom, intent on letting her husband and their boyfriend have it for letting her be the only productive one that morning. They had a lot of work to do that day. They needed to turn one of the vegetable gardens, check up on the Ryes and deliver a few building supplies to Wheaty, and she wanted to get a head start on the day. But her boys hadn’t moved at all, and they hadn’t even come to investigate when she had showered and left the bathroom door open. She was intent on finally dragging them out of bed, but the sight to behold stopped her in her tracks in the doorway.

Sharky was out cold, but he had shifted since she had left. His head was on John’s forearm and he had brought up his knees to John’s chest.

For someone who, even before the Collapse, never shut up about John’s assumed sexual prowess, Sharky seemed more content to cuddle with the man.

Still, the sight was adorable, and she went to retrieve the old Polaroid camera she had found while scavenging one of the old bunkers a while ago. The boys were going to kill her, but if she got to commemorate this, so be it.

She found the camera and took the photo.

The noise woke John and he blinked wearily at her for a moment, then upon realizing Sharky had one of his arms pinned, he heaved a tired sigh and lifted one hand in order to beckon her back to bed.

“We’ve got things to do,” Nicolette pointed out.

“Then what was the point of coming out to my place? Besides, yeah we do, and you’re on our list, Shorty,” Sharky pointed out, though his voice was sleep-heavy.

“We run this place. We’re entitled to sleep in.”

Nicolette tiptoed over to him and poked the Sloth tattoo on his chest, but realized too late it had put her in grabbing range, and John leaned up in order to get an arm around her and pulled her across his body and in between him and Sharky. For someone who had at least initially protested, she gave up immediately and stretched out along John’s side.

John turned his attention to Nic’s outfit- if you could call it that. One of his button-ups with nothing underneath- she knew he could appreciate that, at least. It was the fact that he was clearly distracted by her wearing a pair of Sharky’s boxers- made perfectly evident by the flame patterns-  was paired with his shirt. “What… is this?” he snapped the waistband of the boxers for good measure.

“Hey, they are freshly washed entirely clean, thank you very much.”

John had no idea what the Hell that meant, but judging by how Sharky snorted, he figured it was an inside joke. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to understand it.

“I just miss my college hot mess days,” Nicolette protested.

“You’re always a hot mess,” John corrected.

“Thank you. I just wanted to look the part again,” she replied as she passed him the mug of coffee then lay down so she was back to chest with Sharky and draped her legs over the man. “You love it, don’t lie.”

“I do but I’m still appalled at your taste.”

“I can say the same about my choice of men, too.”

John shrugged. “Well, you did pick Charlemagne.”

“Hey, fuck you,” Sharky cut in,

John flicked his ear, and Sharky immediately did it back.

Comfortable silence passed for a while as  Nicolette got settled back into bed- or at least what two of them thought was comfortable silence.

“Hey.. … you guys know I love you, right?”  Sharky asked after a while.

Nicolette, already experienced with Sharky’s switch of topics gone from comparing shitty action movies to comparing him and her to the characters and then an extremely heartfelt confession, bolted upright in order to face him. “Of course we do.”

“I was joking, Boshaw,” John agreed.

“No! I know that, I jus’… I dunno, I ain’t good with words like you two.”

“Sharky,” the other two said simultaneously, same tone inflection and all, by sheer chance.

Sharky motioned at them. “See? That. I don’t have that with y’all, and I just… I don’t know. I just… wonder if I’m starting to intrude here is all. I mean I know we’re all a thing and it goes beyond this place an’ all but-”  

Nicolette stared at him for a moment, and she could feel John tense, at a loss. “Of course it goes beyond a bed. You’re my best friend, pretty sure John can count the number of friends he’s got on one hand and you’re one of the first couple of fingers, Cal still calls you ‘Dad’ half the time and the jig’s been up for years, you’re part of us, part of this,” she insisted. She thought for a moment. “You know that garbage show V you had me watch during one of our marathons back before things went to shit?”

“Yeah?”

She pointed to herself. “Erica,” she pointed to John. “Hobbes,”  she pointed to Sharky. “Jack. Hell, Star Wars. Leia, Han, Luke before it got weird. Ariadne, Eames, Arthur, get me? You’re part of us. I promise. There’s just…”  she trailed off.

“We had to come a long way before we could happen,” John offered, squeezing Nicolette’s hip gently to make the point he meant just the pair of them. “It was a lot of work and changing, so… we might have a… deeper understanding of each other on some level. With you two it’s easier because there was… nothing to change. You weren’t on opposite sides- well, as heavily as we were. You two were immediately best friends, immediately something- I didn’t have that luxury.”

Sharky paused, considering.

“Hey, we love you too. You’re one of us. Promise. Okay?” Nicolette tossed her leg over his again and leaned into him.

“Yeah, yeah,” Sharky nodded, though he only seemed two-thirds convinced.

“Hey,” Nicolette repeated, “You only aren’t official because we didn’t think you were big on the whole commitment thing. We figured with all your stories about all your game you’d wanna move on.”

Sharky looked perplexed for a few seconds. “I mean, I did, but… then I realized what you just said. I mean y’all are the closest thing to best friends I’ve got and we’ve all been through some shit together and I fuckin’ love Cal and you’re both so attractive I just wanna slap you and then this shit happened and we didn’t fuck anything up and you still like me and we’re still friends and I uh… I just… really… like this? And uh-”

“Marry us,”

Sharky slammed his mouth shut at her request, then looked at John who looked equally startled, but John being John immediately let the look of surprise drop and he looked at the other man expectantly.

“Uh, wha…?”

“Be. Our. Husband,” Nicolette replied.

Sharky blinked at John, who shrugged. “You’re… proposin’? Here?”

“If I’ve let my idiot of a best friend-boyfriend think for a second that he’s not good enough for me or us, I’ve fucked up nearly beyond repair, so yes. Be our husband.”

Sharky looked from her to John and back. “Uh… Johnny Boy?”

“My wife is asking you a question, Charlemagne. We’ve… discussed it. Now all that’s left is you actually answering.”

“And I wouldn’t be-”

“You haven’t been imposing at all ever,” John cut him off. “We were just… being weary of you mentioning not wanting to get married.”

Sharky started again, then scoffed. “Fuck what I said, man. I’d marry the shit out of y’all. So uh… Yes.”

Nicolette shrieked at that and immediately started peppering him with kisses, and John merely managed to reach up and take Sharky’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze to avoid overwhelming the poor man.

When Nicolette finished with him, Sharky pulled away, beaming, then stopped short. “Hold up, is this like your guys’ common law marriage bullshit with you guys just calling each other it, or that whole to do by the Yes sign when y’all got actually married?”

“Your call,” John answered.

“… Can we just have a small thing at your place?”

“Of course.”

“Right on,” Sharky nodded slowly. “Man, Auntie Addie’s gonna be so jealous.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” John deadpanned playfully.

“Holy shit, I’m gonna be a fuckin’ Raylan. How badass is that?”

“Pretty badass. And babe, you’ve been a Raylan since you went dynamite fishing in my presence like, the first week I knew you. I thought only my family was dumb enough to do that.”

“Hey, it fucking works.”

“Only you would focus on that, considering what we just asked you.”

“Hey, I can multitask. I’m just that multitalented,” Sharky objected.  “Like right now, I am perfectly happy if we get to the X-rated celebratin’ part.”

“That, is the most sensible thing you’ve said the whole day,” Nicolette pointed out, though she scooted up so she could throw one leg over his hip.

“Including ‘yes’?”

“Especially including yes. Horrible mistake you’re making, marrying us.”

“Yeah, well, I’m an idiot, but I’m your idiot.”

“You’re damn right you are,” she replied, before the three of them promptly went through with Sharky’s request.

[mmmatchasay]

crush

a tad bit inspired by David Archuleta’s song, Crush and Hotel Transylvania 1. I really don’t proof-read any of them but if there are any mistakes, please do tell me and I will try to correct it as quickly as I can.

word count: 1520 words

pairing: spencer reid x reader

summary: it’s all about the zing and you’re about to find out.

“Oh, come on, Y/N. Are you sure you don’t even feel the slightest bit of attraction for Spencer?” JJ asks, pouring herself some coffee from the pot and she moves over to sit beside you and across of Garcia.

Garcia gasps as she stares at you. “You like Boy Genius?” Her jaw drops the slightest bit – she likes to think herself as your closest friend but how come she doesn’t know that you like Spencer?

Flushing slightly, you shake your head. “Come on, JJ. We have been through this.” You wince slightly and look away from your food. Suddenly, your food reminded you too much of Spencer and you grab your cup of orange juice and took a huge gulp. “Spence – Reid,” You almost curse yourself at that slip and clear your throat. “Yes, I find Reid to be attractive – in fact, on a scale of one to ten, he’s definitely an eleven.” At this point, Garcia’s starting to hyperventilate, and she reaches for JJ’s hand while JJ looks at you with an amused expression. “But, he is my co-worker and I definitely won’t be doing anything at all because if things go south, this team is going to break, and I am so attached to this team already.” You purse your lips and JJ sighs while Garcia looks at you dumbfounded.

“But – But,” Garcia sputters, shaking her head in disbelief. Sometimes she wonders just how can you be so smart but so oblivious to certain things? “The two of you would look so good together and, and imagine all the baby geniuses running around this office!” She blinks a couple of times and the flush on your face turns deeper and you had to clear your throat a couple of times to prevent yourself from saying something silly like ‘did you know I already picked out a name if we happened to have a boy or a girl?’. Yes, you definitely are not ready to have your dignity flying out of the window.

Trying to casually shrug your shoulders – and also promptly forgetting that you are in the same room with one of the best profilers in the team – you look over to Spencer’s table. Thankfully, he isn’t in the office at the moment, having gone out for lunch with Derek Morgan which he normally does every Tuesday and it’s really not your fault that you pay all of these (unnecessary) attention on the young doctor. “It’s all about the zing.” You say lamely and before the two of them could say anything else, you grab your plate of (now) stale food and threw it in the bin.

“Zing?” JJ furrows her eyebrows.

Garcia gasps. “Oh, I know this reference!” She smiles proudly, causing you to giggle at her reaction and you nod your head. “But really though, Y/N. Are you sure you don’t want to pursue Spencer? I think the two of you deserve each other; you should listen to the way he talks about you sometimes.” Garcia tries once more – the two of them have been doing this a lot lately: trying to set you up with Spencer. As much as you would love to try and be with him, you knew if things went south between the two of you, it will definitely change the dynamics of this team and you aren’t sure if you are ready for that just yet (and also partly because you are afraid that you might not feel the zing with him too).

“Maybe it’s just fascination. Reid deserves someone better and I’m not even sure if I can give him anything, you know.” You tell them earnestly, scratching your cheek in an awkward manner. “Anyways, can we please just stop talking about this? At least for today?”

Before Garcia can even say anything, JJ nods her head. “Yes, of course, Y/N.” She glances at Garcia and turn to look at you. “I’m really sorry if we’re trying to push Spencer to you but believe me when I say this, Spencer likes you, Y/N and after all that he has been through, I just want my baby brother to be happy.” JJ says this so earnestly you almost blush in embarrassment and instead, nod your head.

“I’ve to go pick up something first and I’ll finish my report as soon as I’m done. I informed Emily already, so I’ll see you later.” You almost forgot about the errand your step-mother had told you to do and without waiting for their replies, you simply excuse yourself.

“We need to do something.” Garcia mumbles, poking her food. “Y/N clearly likes Spencer too.”

JJ nods her head. “Yeah…” She furrows her eyebrows for a bit before turning to look at Garcia. “I think there is one way we can help her.” Garcia frowns in confusion for a bit before it clicks, and she grins. “Let’s help Y/N find that Zing.”

Glancing at your watch, you sigh in relief. You have ten minutes left to spare! After picking up your step-mother’s medicines and a few other things she needed to recuperate, you quickly made your way back to work and just as the doors to the elevator are about to close, Spencer immediately walks in.

He blinks in surprise when you catch his eyes and a smile blossoms on his face. “Hi, Y/N.” You tuck your hair behind your ear and smile at him. The door closes and because the conversation you had with Garcia and JJ earlier, it’s slightly bit awkward being in the same elevator as him.

There’s really no denying the fact that you are attracted to Spencer – not just his looks but his intelligence too. Biting your cheek, you glance at Spencer only to find him staring at you and you flush slightly. “Hi, Spencer. Did you enjoy your lunch with Morgan?”

Spencer nods his head, his curls bouncing wildly around his face and your fingers twitch with the urge to run your fingers through them. “Yes, I did.” He is about to open his mouth to ask about how you knew he went out for lunch with Derek when the elevator stops abruptly, and you gasp, hands immediately going for the rail.

“What’s happening?” You shared a look with Spencer and just as he is about to press the emergency button, a voice fills in the elevator.

“Boy Genius, Y/N, I say this with all the love I have in my heart, please talk to each other. Everyone is tired of seeing the two of you pining after each other and Boy Genius, this is your chance! Y/N, you wouldn’t know until you try! Zing.” Then the speaker died down and the two of you stood in the elevator, staring at everything but each other.

Spencer’s the first one to break the silence. “Um, Y/N?” He calls out your name carefully and with blushing cheeks, you turn to face Spencer. “I didn’t ask Garcia to do this, just in case you think I did but I just want to tell you that I… have feelings for you? Very intense feelings that go beyond the definition of a crush.” He states, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly and he swallows. “Was the Zing Garcia mentioned earlier related to Hotel Transylvania?” Spencer asks, curling his hair behind his ear.

“You know that reference?” You blurt out and Spencer breathes out, relieved that you are finally talking to him and he nods his head.

“The word Zing was used in Hotel Transylvania 1 – although they did mention it in the third movie as well – but commonly known as a word used by Mavis Dracula and Johnny Loughran and it’s said that a zing is a sparkly feeling in your whole body when you find the one you’re supposed to be with forever and ever.” Spencer explains and takes a deep breath, inching closer to you. “Do you have that? The Zing? With me?” He asks cautiously.

Feeling a burst of confidence, you turn your body towards Spencer and with one hand, reach up to pull his neck down so that you can press your lips against his and it takes everything in you to not moan upon contact. His lips are softer than you had imagined and honestly, you have thought about kissing Spencer more than you can count and Spencer closes his eyes, his fingers finding your waist and he deepens the kiss, one hand moving up to cup your face.

You are the first one to pull away and you can feel your heart still racing against your chest and looking up at Spencer, he is looking at you so tenderly, you blush once more. “Do you think you can kiss me again?” You whisper, and Spencer raises an eyebrow, recognition dawning on him. “I think I might have felt the zing, but you know, you can never be too sure.” You finish lamely and Spencer chuckles, nodding his head.

“I like you, Y/N.” Spencer presses his lips against yours, once and twice. You finally give him a smile as you shyly lean against him.

“I like you too, Spencer.”

[doof-doofblog]

"... It's The Least I Could Do!"

Monday 28th December 2020

Good evening everyone! Hope you all had a brilliant weekend! The New Year is looming!! I can't believe that by the end of this week we'll be into a new year - 2021! Crazy right? I hope you enjoyed my last post, the previous ended on such a nail biting, seat gripping moment - I am so looking forward to finding out what happens next!!!

Wow, Oh Wow! What another brilliant episode! I feel like there's so much to mention, obviously the BIG one involving Gray and The Carter's, I'll leave that one for last! Let's focus on Ruby and Martin first, in the previous episode Ruby had informed her husband that she was eager for them to have a child together. This episode carries on pretty much immediately after Ruby has dropped the bombshell on her husband. Unfortunately for Ruby, Martin, with a heavy heart, reveals that he doesn't want anymore children, considering the fact he has 4 already. Ruby is visibly devastated by her husband's revelation, she questions why he never mentioned anything before they got married. But to be fair, I don't think Ruby has ever been the Mother-ly type? I don't know, she's still young and maybe she may have wanted a baby eventually. Martin tries to softly explain to his wife, that he loves and is enjoying what they have. With her eyes visibly getting teary she leaves the Vic, leaving Martin sat on his own. However, when Kat, Stacey and Kush arrive at the Vic, Stacey notices Martin sitting alone and approaches whether she's able to sit with him. With Stacey knowing Martin all to well, she can see something has happened at that the couple have had a row, but when Martin reveals exactly what it's about, she can fully understand Martin's point of view. Regardless of what she thinks of Ruby, she advises her ex-husband that if he only agreed with her to make her happy and he'd probably resent her and regret it for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, whilst Stacey and Martin are having their conversation - Ruby goes to her club and grabs a bottle vodka to drown her sorrows, she walks into her office and longingly looks at the picture on her desk - Which I just want to mention, how bloody young does Louisa Lytton look in the picture along side her onscreen Dad, Billy Murray (Johnny Allen)?! Crazy! Later on in the evening, as Ruby leaves the club and Martin leaves the pub, they both find each other in the Square and instantly they both seem to apologise to each other, Ruby for dropping it out of the blue and Martin for his reasons for not wanting another child. But I think the thing that upsets Ruby just that little bit more is when it's revealed that Martin had confided in Stacey, Ruby looks instantly hurt. She informs him that she is completely aware that Stacey will always be a part of his life, mainly due to the fact that she's the Mother of his children, it's then that she voices that her husband was right, why should things change for them whilst things are great for them? However as they turn to walk home, Ruby's tears begin to fall as she can no longer hide her devastation!

Speaking of another couple briefly, Ian is still feeling under the weather as his Mum pays him a visit, trying to persuade him to get his marriage to Sharon annulled, as she tries to get through to him that Sharon doesn't love him and is simply with him out of pity. Even though Ian demands his Mother to leave, it seems as if her words play on his mind, as later on, Sharon is making him a hot cocoa - of course unbeknown to him, adding that little bit of poison into the drink, as he takes a big gulp of the hot liquid, he announces to his new wife that his Mother's words are actually correct. Even though Sharon tries to convince him not to listen to his Mother's advice, he reveals to Sharon that they should get an annulment. You can see the absolute fear in Sharon's eyes as the thought of not being able to carry on with her plan, she begs to Ian not to annul their marriage, she tries her absolute best to persuade him that he's the only man who's ever truly cared about her. It looks as if Sharon has to act quick, even say the one thing that she truly doesn't want to say, but it seems as if she doesn't have a choice if she's wanting to get rid of Ian and take all he has, she reveals to him that she's slowly falling in love with him!! When I first saw this, the one thought that came to my mind is - Is Sharon going to have to go a step further and maybe even sleep with Ian, just so she'll be able to get what she wants?! She truly is a woman on a mission at the moment!

The next thing I want to mention is Linda, Mick and Max. Even though we know what's happening round at the Atkins household (I'll get to that very important part shortly!) Mick is at home packing his things, announcing to Linda that he's planning on going away with Tina that very night! However, it looks as if Linda pleads for her husband not to go, questioning him whether he has actually thought things through clearly. But the one thing that she mentions which seems to change his mind, is Ollie. She pleads for him to stay for their little boy, it's true that Ollie would be completely lost without his Daddy. (I know I've said it before and I'm going to say it again - Ollie is so god-damn cute! Don't think I've ever seen a more cute, beautiful looking child!) However, what next seems to really confuse/surprise me, after, Linda visits Max and is surprised to find flight tickets booked for New Zealand on New Years Day! If we recall, Linda did admit to Max that seeing as it looks like her marriage to Mick may be coming to an end, she thought maybe going to New Zealand to make a fresh start with Max would be a good idea. However she seems incredibly shocked to have it sprung on her like this, and so soon! She never thought he would mean straight away, but Max tries to convince her - what have they really got to lose? - Although, something tells me that neither of them are going to make that flight on New Year's Day??!!

Okay, so now the big elephant in the room!!! TINA???!!! Oh my goodness, what brilliant acting from both Toby-Alexander Smith and Luisa Bradshaw-White! I was almost shouting at the TV for Tina to get away from Gray! Have to say it was brilliantly filmed and edited! The way Tina absolutely lashed out at Gray, revealing she knows EXACTLY what he had done to Chantelle, and threatening to tell everyone on the Square! Even though you feel like you were rooting for her, you feared for her also! It's like we knew full well that Gray wouldn't hesitate to act to stop Tina from revealing his secret! I thought it was absolutely brilliant as he was chasing her around the house, from the front to the back, it was like there was no escape for her as it was a complete, open-plan, circle space which she couldn't find a way to get away from him! Even thought she fought her absolute best to fight her way out! I kind of panicked for a moment when they both looked to the set of kitchen knives on the counter, I wasn't sure whether one of them lunged for them, but when Tina makes a dart for the front door, suddenly out of nowhere, Gray lunches towards her, stopping her in her tracks! Everything goes black! When we return to the scene, everything is quiet, Tina is nowhere to be seen, but Gray is looking calm and collected as he's has a drink and is talking quietly. At first it looks like he's talking to Tina, trying to act all innocent and giving his reasons, he loved Chantelle, but she didn't listen - just like SHE didn't listen! Then, the camera turns to show Tina, out-cold, unconscious, slumped on the living room sofa - only the interesting thing is is that she has a noticeable, big, purple bruise around her neck, almost looking like she's been strangled. Did anyone else find it completely creepy that whilst Denise was at home speaking about the type of man Lucas is, how evil and twisted he is - that it was also referring to Gray, whilst he was wrapping up Tina's body in a sheet?! Had Gray actually killed Tina?! Another victim of his wrath?!

It's going to be absolutely devastating for the Carter family once they find out the truth about Tina! I'm sure it was confirmed that this episode was Luisa Bradshaw-White's final episode as Tina, but do we know for sure if she's dead? Could she, unbeknown to Gray, actually be unconscious? If he has simply dumped her body somewhere that we're not aware of, could it mean that she could return one day?! Who knows? I feel it wasn't made fully clear whether she was dead or not, what do you guys think?  What did I say about her gold chain?! I knew that that was going to be significant, even though Shirley has found it, she has no idea what has actually happened to her sister! She and Mick have been made to believe that Tina has fled Albert Square in an attempt to escape police. Oh My God!!! Was anyone else gobsmacked when Gray was putting Tina's body into the boot of his car, and Mick just happened to approach and ask about his sister - I literally shouted at my TV "She's right there!!!" How on Earth could Gray act so calmly, lying to Mick and making up a story about Tina already leaving the Square without him! The scene between Shirley and Mick as they're sitting in the Vic was a very moving one! The first thing that got me was when Shirley made a toast to her sister, even though she is wishing her look, she is completely unaware of what has truly happened to her younger sister! This scene really got to me as it seems to be the first time in a long time where Mick and Shirley have actually sat down together one-to-one and had a drink, she questions her son why he hates her so much, but Mick's eyes begin to get teary. He softly explains to his Mum that he doesn't hate her, as this comes as a relief to her, she pleads to her son to open up and tell her what's been going on, what is happening in his head, what has gotten him to this state? Why have he and Linda split up after everything they've been through? Even questioning could it be his anxiety. For one very small brief moment - you think Mick is FINALLY going to talk! His breaths are raspy and his eyes are full of tears, he softly begins to speak ... "It's ..." But before he can even carry on that sentence, Gray finds them. It's then that they both thank him for everything they've done for them, and Tina!! Ooooooohhhhhh that rattles me a little bit, Gray takes their "Thank You's" and turns away, but oooohhh just wait until the Carter's find out the truth, Gray cannot hide his secret forever, he will get his comeuppance eventually! Mark my words!!!

Thank you all so much for reading! I apologise it's late but I hope you've enjoyed reading as much I've enjoyed writing this post! I'll be back tomorrow following tonight's episode! Enjoy the rest of your evening folks! Love you all xXx

[vodkawrites]

Yuuri Week 2017, Day 1: Terra Incognita Title: 28 Tuxes Chapter 1 Genre: Alternative Universe Pairing: Katsuki Yuuri & Minako Okukawa Characters: Katsuki Yuuri, Katsuki Family Rating: Teen and up audiences Warnings: None Summary: While planning his 28th wedding, Yuuri begins to wonder if he can ever find love for himself.Or; the victuuri 27 dresses AU absolutely no one asked for.

Read on AO3

Mozart found his calling at age five composing his first minuet.

Johnny Weir was eleven years old when he first learned to skate.

And Yuuri? He was ten when he discovered his purpose in life.

It is a rainy day in Hasetsu. Yuuri's mother tells him it's a sign of good luck for rain on one’s wedding day - apparently it's some old superstition.

Yuuri only sticks his tongue out.

He knows none of that is true. It's only to comfort anxious brides and prevent them from being upset. Rain isn't good luck. Rain only makes everything absolutely miserable. And just because someone is getting married doesn't exactly change that fact.

Yuuri steps into the large catering hall, gawking as the unknown land unfolds before him. There are twelve circular tables near the front of the room, all surrounding a small wooden stage. On each table is a bouquet of pink and white roses and more cutlery than Yuuri has ever seen. Honestly, Yuuri is a bit overwhelmed by the entire set up.

He is greeted by an attendant who takes his family's wet coats and ushers them towards the correct room. Apparently this room still needs time to set up and the official ceremony will take place in one of the back rooms.

Yuuri follows the attendant towards the back room, marveling at the grand spiral staircase and diamond chandelier. He shakes his hair dry which only drips water onto his sister's black dress.

"Yuuri!" Mari exclaims. She gawks at the water stains on her black dress, showing them off to Yuuri. "Why do you always have to ruin everything?"

"Sorry," he mumbles. He knows Mari doesn't mean to be so vulgar - her rude comments are just some twisted way she expresses her love for her younger brother - and he suspects it's only the teenage angst that is fueling her sixteen year old rage.

"Yuuri, Mari, why don't you go to the bathroom and dry yourself?" their mother suggests. She hopes her peace offering can placate her children before it manifests into a full blown argument. And knowing the Katsuki siblings, it is bound to become a rather disruptive scene if they aren't separated immediately.

"Okay," Yuuri agrees.

Mari, however, only huffs but his mother takes it as a positive sign.

Yuuri follows Mari up the stairs until she walks into the female washroom, promptly leaving Yuuri to fend for himself. He's ten after all, how hard could finding a bathroom be?

Apparently very hard because he finds himself walking around the large catering hall twice - possibly three times from the signs on the door but he can't be completely sure. Yuuri can't help it that the signs are impossible to decipher.

He eventually comes across an unmarked door at the end of the hallway. It has to be the bathroom - there’s nothing else it could be. Besides, Yuuri isn't too keen on walking around the entire catering hall again and walks in anyways.

The first thing Yuuri notices is that it isn't like any bathroom Yuuri has ever seen (but he supposes he's never exactly been in a place so fancy before so it isn't necessarily that surprising). The room is plush and everything seems to be an off white; the wallpaper, the furniture, even the carpet is an obnoxiously white colour. The only things that aren't are two opened bottles of champagne (which seem to be almost empty) and a full length mirror.

Yuuri walks over to the mirror, checking to see if there is anything out of place. He fixes his hair, slicking it back into its original style. He then begins to admire himself in the mirror, contouring his body in various positions. He checks twice to make sure none of his stomach fat is visible through his suit. He knows it's vain (and that he's only ten and therefore he shouldn't be worrying about his body fat) but he can't help but to pinch and poke at his stomach rolls.

"Shit!" Minako shrieks.

Yuuri turns around, horrified.

"Oh my gosh! Am I in the girl's bathroom!?" Yuuri yells.

He should have known there is something wrong with this room - no male's bathroom looked like some sort of angelic paradise with three different vanities, two full length mirrors, and a chaise lounge. Not to mention the assortment of different soaps, makeup pallets, and bottles of champagne. Of course this is a women's washroom!

"Please don't tell anyone," he pleads. “It was a mistake!”

He couldn't imagine if anyone found out he accidentally stumbled into the woman's washroom. He isn't sure he would be able to show his face in Hasetsu ever again. He would need to move to the United States, get plastic surgery, and maybe change his to Leo. Yes, this plan could definitely work. He definitely has at least ten thousand yen stored away in his bank. It is only a matter of finding his passport...

However, Minako doesn't seem to mind. Instead, she cracks a smile, it's forced but it's a smile nonetheless.

"No, this is just the bridal suite; not the woman's bathroom."

"Oh," Yuuri breathes out, relieved at that revelation.

He is thankful that he didn't accidentally end up in the women's bathroom but his attention is now on Minako. She is dressed in a beautiful gown that reminds Yuuri of a ballerina. The bodice is a tight and sleeveless but is adorned in small rhinestones that shimmer off of the warm glow of the lights. The bottom of the dress extends past her feet creating an A-shaped silhouette that flatters her natural curves. There is a grey ribbon tied around her middle which matches her silver tiara. Yuuri thinks she looks more beautiful than he has ever seen her before.

However, even in all of her glamour, she seems rather distraught.

"What's wrong?" Yuuri asks innocently. He knows from the many romantic comedies he watches with his friends that weddings were supposed to be a happy time. He couldn’t understand why she seems so absolutely miserable.

Minako lifts her veil from her face,

"Oh, it's just...well everything!" she declares.

She fans herself around her eyes to dry up any stray tears. Yuuri reaches into his pocket and pulls out a crumpled tissue. Minako thankfully accepts the tissue and blows her nose into it.

"My hair is a mess and my gown got a stain!" she whines.

She motions to the bodice of her dress right below her navel. Yuuri has to squint to see the light outline of a champagne stain but under certain lights it is visible. Yuuri doesn't think it's that much to worry about, but he certainly wouldn't want a stain on his own wedding day, so he complies.

"Not to mention my partner's nephew is sick so we have no one to be the ring barer," she adds. She miserably collapses onto the chaise lounge, and grabs one of the half empty glasses of champagne. She downs is easily, ignoring the burn in the back of her throat.

"I'm sorry," he says genuinely. He knows how tough a wedding day must be, and to have everything - including the weather - turn against someone is difficult.

"Thank you," she tells Yuuri. "But unless you can fix a dress and cure a cold, I might have to cancel the wedding."

Yuuri blinks twice. Cancel the wedding? She can't possibly cancel the wedding over something so trivial! There must be something he can do...

"If you want, I can help braid your hair. I do it to Mari all the time! Plus the stain is easy to fix. Just run it under cold water and soap. And I don't know how to cure your nephew, but I can be the ring barer."

Minako looks up from her glass of champagne. “You would do that for me?”

“Of course! Everyone deserves a happy wedding!”

Minako laughs. "Oh Yuuri, you're a life saver!"

Yuuri smiles and begins tying up Minako’s hair.

After what feels three hours of braiding and washing her dress (but in reality is closer to forty minutes), Minako looks perfect once more. She profusely thanks Yuuri before handing him a set of two rings on a white pillow. She quickly explains what he needs to do before ushering him down the aisle.

He takes his place in the front row, sticking his tongue out at Mari as he passes her seat. She makes sure to kick the back of his seat as revenge.

As he takes his seat, the minister motions for the audience to stand and the pianist to begin playing the Bridal Chorus. Yuuri follows suit, turning his attention towards the spiraling staircase.

Minako walks down the stairs, holding on to the railing and using all of her prior dance knowledge to look like she is gliding. She smiles brightly as she enters the room, waving at the audience. She is beautiful, there is no doubt, but Yuuri somehow finds his eyes wandering towards the alter. There, underneath the arch, is the groom.

He gazes at her with an absolutely awed expression - his eyes fill with a growing desire and his mouth curls into a an inviting smile.

Yuuri wishes one day that someone will look at him the same.

He begins to drift off during the ceremony (he doesn’t particularly care about all the religion and traditions, if he is being honest) and instead begins to dream about his own wedding. He hopes it would be one of those beautiful ceremonies he sees on his mother’s soap operas - the weddings with a giant layered cake and a drunk father-in-law and cherry blossoms falling in the background. It sounds a bit cliche, but Yuuri thinks it is perfect.

Mianko breaks his thoughts as she motions for him to hand her the rings. He takes the rings off of the pillow, handing her the golden bands. They have a small heart embossed on the front and their initials on the inside but despite their simple natural, Yuuri thinks they are rather beautiful.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the minister says after the two slide the ring on the other’s hand. “You may now kiss."

Yuuri watches the two press their lips together, melding into a deep kiss. Most people his age would look away, disgusted by the mere sight of two adults kissing. Instead, Yuuri finds it utterly romantic; so much so that a tear forms in his right eye.

And that is the moment Yuuri fell in love with weddings.

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND June 14, 2019  - MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL, SHAFT, LATE NIGHT, THE DEAD DON’T DIE

I apologize for taking last week off, but I really needed a break, especially considering how late I was running on writing anything for the column. I also worry that the fact I write so much about the wide releases over at The Beat -- hitting the ‘net in about an hour -- means I don’t have so much to write here, and I don’t want to disappoint those who click on the link.

Hopefully, some of you are using this column to check up on limited releases and repertory screenings. Feel free to drop me a line or hit me up on Twitter if that’s the case, as I hate working in a vacuum.

Sadly, I don’t think there’s been much buzz for MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL (Sony), the attempt to revive and reboot a franchise without the original movie’s two stars. This has rarely worked in the past, and Will Smith is so well-liked, as seen by the success of the recent Aladdin. Directed by F. Gary Gray (The Fate of the Furious), the new MiB are played by Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, both popular thanks to Thor: Ragnarok and the recent Aven gers: Endgame but not quite up to Smith when it comes to being a box office draw. I’m happy to see Emma Thompson back, although I’m sure she’ll be better used in this week’s expanding release Late Night, while Liam Neeson can be fun when given the right part.

Mini-Review: It’s officially the summer, so studios are starting to hope that film critics will go easier on their movies meant to be entertaining summer “popcorn fare.” That was certainly true of the original Men in Black, which combined a simple premise of an alien-fighting government agency with the charm of Will Smith.

Men in Black International has the same premise, but this time, instead of Smith, it has Tessa Thompson as Molly, a young girl who discovered the presence of the Men in Black. Twenty years later, she wants to become one herself. If you’ve seen the trailers and commercials, you already know that she’s accepted into the group and paired with Chris Hemsworth’s British Agent H.

There’s no point getting further into the plot, because it really doesn’t matter. It’s the exact same rookie MiB agent trying to keep up with the more experience agent who is having none of their youthful shit, as they encounter weird and often deadly CG aliens.

There’s a good reason Tessa Thompson has been cast in this movie, and that’s because she has a likeable personality in everything she does, and presumably, that’s enough to carry an MIB movie.  Similarly, I like Chris Hemsworth as an actor, but right now, he’s in danger of turning into Johnny Depp, basically famous and popular for one character then trying to imbue every character after that with what he thinks works with his audience. In Hemsworth’s case, Agent H is another arrogant and dumb dope always getting things wrong and being corrected by someone else, in this case Thompson’s Agent M. Those looking forward to seeing this movie for Emma Thompson or Liam Neeson may be disappointed by how little they actually appear in the film.

I certainly don’t entirely fault director F. Gary Gray for the movie’s problems, as he clearly was working with what he was given and doing the best he can. The CG and action are well done and so well-blended there’s no problems there, although the only alien that doesn’t seem like a rehash to previous MiB movies is the one voiced by Kumail Nanjiani, who gets in a few fun jabs at Hemsworth.

The best part of the movie probably comes in the third act when Rebecca Ferguson turns up as an alien arms dealer (with extra arms, of course) and somehow, the combination of her with the other three actors delivers some of the movie’s strongest moments… and then it goes back to the tired plot that didn’t really seem to be going anywhere

I’m sure plenty of people will enjoy Men in Black International just fine, but one really has to go into the movie with lowered expectations to think it’s any sort of improvement even over the worst of the previous movies (MiB 3).

For the most part, Tessa Thompson shines in an otherwise uninspired and mostly unfunny reboot that really doesn’t give much hope for the future of this franchise.

Rating: 6/10

I have to admit that I also wasn’t a very big fan of Tim Story’s SHAFT (New Line), which reunites Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree 19 years after the previous Shaft movie, which I also never really liked. Joining them this time is Independence Day: Resurgence star Jessie T. Usher, who also will be appearing on the upcoming The Boys series on Amazon. You probably won’t know it from the amount of coverage you’ll be seeing from me this week, but hey, work is work, and who am I to pass up a chance to interview Jackson and Roundtree, not once but twice? No idea when that coverage is running but I’ll post links here when it does.

Adding a bunch of my features on the movie:

AM NEW YORK FEATURE

COLLIDER INTERVIEW WITH JACKSON, ROUNDTREE AND USHER

COLLIDER INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR TIM STORY

I’m always excited for a new Jim Jarmusch movie, even though I’ve been mixed on some of his more recent films, including Only Lovers Left Alive, his vampire movie starring Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston that I seemed to be one of the few people who wasn’t that into it. With THE DEAD DON’T DIE (Focus Features), Jarmusch explores the world of zombies, and I think the tone and mood of this one are more in line with Jarmusch’s earlier work but also with Romero’s zombie movies, although there isn’t as much zombie gore as some might hope.

My Review of The Dead Don’t Die from The Beat

Also expanding nationwide this weekend (presumably) is Amazon Studios’ LATE NIGHT, the Mindy Kaling-penned comedy co-starring Emma Thompson. I was mostly bummed about not doing this column last week because it meant delaying my review, but I do hope that people will go out see this very funny movie based on Kaling’s own experiences in late night. I think it’s one of Thompson’s best performances in a long time, although I did think she was great in last year’s The Children Act, a movie that was sadly overlooked by most film critics/writers.

Mini-Review: Anyone who has ever underestimated Mindy Kaling from her TV work on The Office and The Mindy Show will never do so again after seeing Late Night. I’m saddened to say that I’m one of those who has learned that lesson the hard way.

The premise is simple with Kaling playing Molly Patel, a young woman with dreams of being a comedy writer, something that becomes more possible when she’s hired as a writer on the prestigious talk show “Late Night with Katherine Newbury.” What Molly doesn’t know is that she’s a bit of a “diversity hire” once Katherine (Emma Thompson) realizes her writing room is all white males. Molly has troubles fitting in at first but her bright personality proves to be what Katherine needs to start examining her own life, as the network tries to take her show away from her.

Directed by Nisha Ganatra, an indie filmmaker whose work I have sadly overlooked until now, Late Night is a great example of the quality of work that can be created when an actor is allowed to make her passion project.  It’s immediately obvious what Kaling has brought to her television shows as a writer, performer and producer as Late Night.

Kaling and Ganatra’s impeccable storytelling includes many characters around Molly and Katherine that add to their story without taking the attention away from them.Thompson has always been a fine actor but in Katherine Newbury, she’s been given a present that will bring her back to the forefront come awards time. Thompson creates a character that can be funny in the same was as Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada but also quite sympathetic, and that’s a hard balance to create.

Overall, Late Night is just a joyous breakout film for Kaling.  If you can imagine a cross between Tina Fey’s “30 Rock” and Kumail Nanjiani’s The Big Sick, then you may have a better idea whether Late Night will be your thing. Rating: 8.5/10

Interview with Director Nisha Ganatra

You can see how I think the above movies will fare over at The Beat.

LIMITED RELEASES

Although the big news this weekend is Late Night (presumed) expanding nationwide, as well as the wider-than-usual release for Jim Jarmusch’s latest, there are still a number of movies opening in select cities I want to draw attention to.

One of my favorite films from this year’s Tribeca Film Festival was Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer’s PLUS ONE (RLJE Films), which stars Jack Quaid (from The Hunger Games and the upcoming The Boys series) and Maya Erskine from Pen15as long-time best friends Ben and Alice who decide to accompany each other to an upcoming round of weddings, acting as wingmen to help the other one pick up men and women. As you can imagine, it only works out to a point.

I’m not embarrassed to say that romantic-comedies are a bit of a guilty pleasure with me, and Plus One is a really good one, since it’s both funny and romantic, which isn’t something we often get from studio fare in this vein. I absolutely love Maya Erskine, though I haven’t had a chance to check out her Hulu series just yet; there are few actors who are so talented at being hilariously funny but also delivering on the drama when necessary. I feel like Quaid is trying to keep up with her. If you’re the type of person who gets dragged to weddings every other weekend, this movie is definitely for you.  Plus One will be in theaters and On Demand this Friday, and I definitely recommend seeking it out, especially for a fun date night movie.

Another really good drama coming out this weekend is Sienna Miller’s AMERICAN WOMAN (Roadside Attractions/Vertical), which stars Ms. Miller as Debra, a 30-something woman whose teen daughter goes missing, leaving her to care for her grandson. She’s able to deal with the loss with the help of her sister (Christina Hendricks) and mother (Amy Madigan), but also ends up with a series of bad men until she meets Aaron Paul. Directed by Jake Scott, Ridley Scott’s son, who made the drama Welcome to the Rileys back in 2010, this movie lives or dies on the performance by Miller, and she is pretty fantastic in a role that covers 11 years in this woman’s life. This is definitely a smaller slice-of-life movie that covers the things her character goes through in order to find her best self, but I generally liked the entire cast, which is quite diverse, including Will Sasso (from Mad TV) and the underrated Pat Healy as one of the most abusive men with whom Debra ends up.

Opening at the Metrograph Friday and in L.A. on June 28 is Sophie Huber’s documentary Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes, a terrific look at the classic jazz label that’s still going strong thanks to current President Don Was (yes, he of “Walk the Dinosaur” fame) but is also branching out into other jazz-influenced genres. I really dug how Huber told this story, featuring new interviews that’s framed by a recording being done by the current incarnation of the Blue Note All-Stars. If you like jazz or  even have a passing interest, it’s good to know the history of the genre and Blue Note’s part in it.

A movie I’ve been wanting to see but just haven’t had the chance to is FRAMING JOHN DELOREAN  (Sundance Selects), directed by Don Argott (The Art of the Steal) and Sheena M. Joyce and starring Alec Baldwin as the visionary who made his way up through the auto industry only to be disgraced when charged with drug trafficking. Also starring Morena Baccarin, Josh Charles and more, it opens in select cities on Friday.

Miranda Bailey’s BEING FRANK  (The Film Arcade) features comedian Jim Gaffigan as the title character. Set in 1992, it stars Logan Miller as teenager Phillip, who wants to leave his small town to go to music school in New York, something his father (Gaffigan’s Frank) forbids. Philip decides to go on a wild spring break but he then discovers that his father has another whole family in another town.

Jay Stern’s SAY MY NAME  (Electric Entertainment) opens in select cities and on VOD Friday. It stars Lisa Brenner and Nick Blood as two strangers who have a one-night stand that’s interrupted by a robbery, sending them across Wales to try to retrieve their stolen property.

Thomas Stuber’s German drama IN THE AISLES  (Music Box Films) stars Franz Rogowski (Transit) as a guy who just started working at a big box store where he becomes obsessed with a co-worker (Sandra Hüller from Toni Erdmann) but when he starts delving into the secrets she’s keeping, he begins returning to his own dark habits. It opens at the Village Eastin New York on Friday.

Less than a month after her last film Poms bombed, Diane Keaton is back in Joel Hopkins’ HAMPSTEAD  (IFC Films) starring opposite Brendan Gleeson as Emily, a widow in an expensive apartment in the title London neighborhood that she can’t afford. Gleeson plays Donald, a gruff loner living in a cabin who just wants to be left in peace, but when his home is threatened, Emily has found her new cause. Based on a true story, it also stars Lesley Manville, and it will play at the IC Center this Friday.

Kat Rohrer and Gil Levanon’s award-winning doc Back to the Fatherland  (First Run Features) will open in New York (Cinema Village) and L.A. (Laemmle Music Hall). It deals with the friendship between the two filmmakers despite their different backgrounds – Kat is the granddaughter of a Nazi officer while Gil is that of a Holocaust survivor – and they seek out other grandchildren of Holocaust survivors who have moved back to Germany and Austria.

Opening on Wednesday at the Film Forum is Muayad Alayan’s psychological thriller The Reports of Sarah and Saleem (Dada Films) about the clandestine affair between an Israeli café owner from West Berlin and her Palestinian bread vendor from the East, made more complicated when their spouses find out. So it’s sort of a retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in Israel? It actually sounds intriguing.

I’m bummed that I didn’t get a chance to see divisive Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas’ latest, Our Time  (Monument Releasing), but at three hours, it was just hard to find time to watch it. This one is about a Mexican family living in the countryside raising fighting bulls who is torn apart by the woman of the house falling in love with another man. No, I have no idea why this story had to be three hours long, but it will open at the Quad Cinema in New York Friday.

Lastly, there’s David Hackl’s Daughter of the Wolf  (Vertigo), starring MMA star Gina Carano as a military specialist who comes back from the Middle East to claim her inheritance only to find her son has been kidnapped.  Also starring living legend Richard Dreyfuss, it opens in a bunch of theaters, but this is more of a VOD special.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Premiering on Netflix (and in select theaters) Wednesday is Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, an amazing film resuscitated from 1975 as Scorsese goes on the road with Dylan during his 1975 fall tour. (Besides streaming on the network, it can also be seen in select theaters like New York’s IFC Center and Film at Lincoln Center.)

Also, Adam Sandler is back with his latest comedy MURDER MYSTERY, reuniting him with Jennifer Aniston as a couple who go on a trip to Europe where they’re invited for a party on a yacht by a billionaire (Terence Stamp) who ends up being murdered with them being the prime suspects. So Sandler, a New York detective, needs to work with a local crimefighter, played by Luke Evans.

Also, the doc Life Overtakes Me which looks at the Resignation Syndrome being suffered by refugee children in Sweden as they end up in a coma-like state for months and years with their parents having few options to help them.

LOCAL FESTIVALS

A few decent festivals are starting this weekend, a couple in New York and on in Chcago, but the one that definitely shouldn’t be missed is the annual BamCinemaFest, which kicks off tonight with Lulu Wang’s amazing Sundance favorite The Farewell, starring Awkwafina. Unfortunately I didn’t get to nearly as many of the screenings as I hoped, but I’m sure you can find one or two gems in the line-up this year.

The annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival will kick off at Film at Lincoln Center this week with a wide variety of documentaries, dramas and foreign films. I haven’t seen any of the movies but really, with this festival, you can rarely go wrong in terms of learning what’s going in the rest of the world.

Kicking off in Chicago this week is the Cinepocalypse Genre Film Festival, which features a wide variety of genre films both old and new. It kicks off on Thursday with the World Premiere of Glenn Danzig’s Verotika and in a similar vein, there will be events like Gwar vs. Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare and Gwar vs. Cinepocalypse plus there’s lots of vintage genre including Tammy and the T-Rex from 1994 and Joel Schumacher’s Flatliners (1990) in 70mm! Some of the big horror films from other festivals like Villains, The Lodge and Satanic Panic will also get their Midwest Premieres. It’s a fairly robust schedule that runs from June 13 through the 20.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

The Jim Jarmusch retrospective continues through the weekend with Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) with Jarmusch in person Thursday night, and 1991’s Night on Earth as well as a couple reshows. Late Nites at Metrograph will be screening the action-comedy The God of Cookery (1996) starring the amazing Stephen Chow, while Playtime: Family Matinees will screen Jimmy Stewart’s 1962 film Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation.  Sine Sunday is Father’s Day, the Metrograph is screening a couple father-friendly baseball comedies like the 1962 movie Safe at Home!, starring Mickey Mantle, as well as John Badham’s 1976 comedy Bingo Long Travelling All Stars and Moto Kings, starring Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

The Wednesday matinee is Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie (1964), starring Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery, then the Weds-Thursday double feature is Dean Martin’s The Wrecking Crew co-starring Bruce Lee with Hammerhead, both from 1968. Friday and Saturday will be screenings of Stanley Kubrick’s classic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), then Sunday and Monday is Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time In the West (1968). (Not sure if you noticed a trend there but all four movies are from the same year!) The weekend’s KIDEE MATINE is the Japanese sci-fi film The Green Slime … from 1968! Friday’s midnight movie is Tarantino’s own Inglourious Bastereds while Saturday is Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1969 – changing things up a little).  Monday’s matinee is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford  (2007) from Andrew Dominik, and then Tuesday’s Grindhouse double feature is Model Shopand They Came to Rob Las Vegas.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Opening Friday is a new restoration of Jennie Livingston’s Paris is Burning  (1991) which looks at New York in the ‘80s from the perspective of the African-American and Latinx drag scene. The movie ran for six months back in 1991 when it first played at the Film Forum. This weekend’s Film Forum Jr. is Spike Lee’s Crooklyn from 1994. The Jewish Soul series continues this weekend with Maurice Schwartz’s 1939 film Tevya, while Alain Resnais’ Last Year at Marienbad will continue playing for another week, as well. Also, if you haven’t had a chance to see Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers, it will play as part of The Hour of Liberation series which also ends on Thursday.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Cassavetes & Scorsese: Love is Strange, the series that just won’t end, continues on Friday with Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymoreand A Woman Under the Influence, both from 1974 and a pretty good double feature actually.  On Saturday from noon until midnight, there’s a Camp Void 6-Film Marathon, co-presented by Cinematic Void, which includes a number of classic genre films, as well as a couple comedies from the ‘70s and ‘80s.Kubrick’s long-time assistant Leon Vitali will be back to present a screening of The Shining (1980) for Father’s Day. Although it’s already sold out, the Egyptian will have a special John Woo double feature of Hard Boiled  (1992) and Face/Off (1997) with John Woo in person!

AERO  (LA):

As with New York’s Quad, the AERO is sharing the Pauline Kael centennial love with The Pearls of Pauline: Kael at 100 with Children of Paradise (1945) on Thursday, a double feature of Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Thieves Like Us (1974) on Friday, and then Diner (1982) and Melvin and Howard (1980) on Saturday. For Father’s Day Sunday, there’s a special Indiana Jones TRIPLE feature of the first three movies, all in 35mm with the third film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade celebrating its 30thAnniversary.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Because I had to skip last week’s column, I wan’t able to write about the Quad’s amazing new series Losing It at the Movies: Pauline Kael at 100, which pays respect to the film critic who would have turned 100 next week. The movies being shown this weekend include Brian De Palma’s The Fury (one of my personal faves from 1978), Clint Eastwood’s The Gauntlet  (1977), the horror classic Re-Animator (1985), Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and more.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Waverly Midnights: Parental Guidance  goes with David Lynch’s Eraserhead  (1977), Weekend Classics: LoveMom and Dad will screen Vittoio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves  (1948), while Late Night Favorites: Springgoes with Ridley Scott’s Alien(again), Suspiria (again), The Holy Mountain (again).. and Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.  Seems like Bicycle Thieves is the best bet in terms of stuff that isn’t shown a lot.

FILM OF LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

Besides the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, the Upper West Side theaters are beginning an extensive Ermanno Olmi Retrospectivethat includes films from the Italian director ranging from 1958’s Time Stood Still and 1961’s Il Posto through 2014’s Greenery Will Bloom Again. I honestly don’t know if I’ve seen any of his movies but it’s an amazing series with two screenings of each movie.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

On Saturday, MOMI will screen Burt Reynolds’ Hooper  (1978), directed by Hal Needham, in 35mm, as well as Sidney Lumet’s musical movie The Wiz (1978) starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson as part of a StarringDiana Ross series. That series also includes Lady Sings the Blues (1973) and Mahogany (1975), both screening Saturday.

MOMA (NYC):

The extensive Jean-Claude Carrière will finally conclude on Sunday, and as before, I have nothing to add about it.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

Richard Donner’s The Goonies (1985) will be shown on 35mm on Friday and Saturday

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This Friday’s midnight screening is the 1987 film Hard Ticket to Hawaii.

Next week, Disney is back to dominate with Toy Story 4 as Woody and Buzz Lightyear shouldn’t have too many worries facing the return of Chucky in Orion Pictures’ Child’s Play.

[meenasmoon]

I don't know if this is a prompt but I just realized... What if Jhonny had a girlfriend before Meena?? (They broke up pls, MeenaxJhonny 4life). It's just... really uncomfortable when your are with your boyfriend and suddenly his ex appears ;;;

Proof

Sorry for the odd formatting. I’m on mobile only in the islands but when I get back to the states I’ll fix everything. Enjoy!!

Meena nervously adjusted the neckline of her new dress as she looked at herself in the mirror. The mayor had invited them all to a fundraising gala at his mansion where he had insisted that Johnny perform a song of his choice. Flattered that the mayor wanted to him to preform, Johnny had quickly accepted the invitation and the wheels were set in motion.

Rosita immediately got a sitter for the night of the gala and a week before the gala she had taken Ash and Meena shopping for the proper formal attire. Both girls had been especially reluctant to shop but Rosita had been so insistent that they were left with no other option. After an entire day of shopping they each had a dress that met Rosita’s standards and they were dropped off at their homes with strict instructions not to show Johnny.

The confused gorilla had bugged his rommate and his girlfriend for days about seeing their dresses but both had held fast in their promise and he didn’t even catch a glimpse until the night of when Rosita had pulled both girls into the women’s dressing room to get ready.

So here Meena was standing in front of the mirror and hoping against hope that Johnny would like her dress. She was wearing a floor length forest green gown that hugged her torso before flaring out at the waist into an elegant train. The dress was held up by one strap that wrapped diagonally across her chest. Her mother had given her a simple gold necklace with matching earrings to wear that night and her outfit was complete. Where normally she would be marvelling at the dress rather than worrying about the fit, the thought of her new boyfriend waiting to see her was sending her into a self-conscious worry fest.

And that’s why when Ash stepped out of her changing stall in a classy red and black strapless dress she found her best friend still in front of the mirror adjusting imaginary flaws in her dress. If she were honest with herself Meena looked breathtaking and she found herself thinking that Johnny was one lucky guy. At the same time she knew that Meena only saw a mess of flaws rather than the beauty that everyone else saw so she hurried over to comfort her. When Meena saw Ash’s form in the mirror she gasped and immediately began gushing over her appearance.

“Oh my gosh Ash you look amazing!” She exclaimed and Ash gave her a grin in response. She grabbed Meena’s hand and squeezed it once,trying her best to comfort her friend.

“So do you Meena. You look gorgeous.” when Meena tried to protest she gave her hand another firm squeeze and the comment died in Meena’s throat.

Just then Rosita bustled in, already ready in her short but elegant black dress, and began fussing over both of them. Once she was satisfied that they looked as good as she imagined they would she ushered them out of the dressing room. Nervously, Meena squeezed Ash’s hand tight, and in response the porcupine gave her an encouraging smile.

When she exited the dressing room Rosita headed straight for her husband who was waiting nearby. The easygoing pig good-naturedly let her fuss with his tie, an affecionate smile gracing his lips. Ash lead Meena out of the dressing room and over to where Johnny was chatting with Buster and Eddie. Buster was wearing his normal blue suit since he dressed formally everyday. Eddie, who had been forced to attend many such events by his mother, was wearing a tailored tuxedo. Johnny was also dressed in a new suit with a green fest that matched the color of Meena’s dress. Silently, Meena thanked Rosita for secretly making sure that they matched.

Ash cleared her throat and the men immediately turned their attention to the two women. Johnny’s gaze went straight to Meena and instantly his jaw dropped and his heart tried to leap out of his chest. Slowly, he walked up to her and ran his hand up her arm until he was cupping her cheek and pulling her in for a slow, passionate kiss. Meena’s ears flared out slightly in surprise at the sudden kiss and when he pulled back her cheeks were adroably red.

“I’m sorry love but ya just looked so bloomin’ beautiful tha’ I couldn’t ‘elp myself.” He whispered, grinning crookedly when she blushed harder and looked down in embarrassment.

“You look very handsome too.” She said shyly and Johnny’s grin widened in response. He leaned in and gave her another kiss, which was interrupted when Ash cleared her throat and raised her eyebrow at them.

“You think we could head out sometime today lovebirds?” She asked snarkily but both animals knew she was too happy for them to actually be upset that they hadn’t left yet. They both laughed and followed the rest of the theatre family out to the car.

The entire ride to the Gala Johnny couldn’t look anywhere but at Meena, much to her embarrassment. And when they pulled up to the mayor’s mansion he insited on opening the door for her and escorting her inside like the true gentleman that he was. There were reporters lining the walkway into the house and when they saw the famous theatre family making their way up, they immediately swarmed towards them. Meena stiffened nervously, still nervous in the face of the press, but Johnny just tightened his arm around her waist and pushed past the reporterseasily. Meena smiled up at him gratefully and amist the flash of camers he leaned over and placed a comforting kiss on her cheek.

The comforting effect served to drown out the now frantic press as Johnny led a smiling Meena into the mansion where everyone else was waiting. Neither of them noticed the slim gazelle glaring up at the couple as she gripped her camera in her hands. Her glare morphed into a devious grin and she slipped through the crowd towards a back entrance.

Inside the mansion Buster was gleefully introducing his performers to various socialites, including a few movie stars. Finally the mayor himself joined their little group and began to chat with Buster and Johnny. By this time Gunther and Eddie had snuck off to the snack table while Rosita and Norman were twirling around on the dancefloor. So as Johnny and Buster talked with the mayor, Meena and Ash secured glasses of champagne from one of the servers.

They had been there about an hour when the mayor suggested that Johnny go check the piano he had set up for the evening. Johnny agreed and before he left he leaned over and gave Meena a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll be right back love.” He said and then he and Buster followed the mayor to a small stage. Meena watched him go and turned back to Ash to finish the conversation about guitar brands that they had been having. However, before she could even open her mouth tosay anything a pretty gazelle with a tape recorder in one hand an camera in the other appeared in front of her and Ash. Startled, Meena jumped slightly and then gave the gazelle a waty smile. Ash just frowned as she looked over the mysterious woman. She was petite and pretty but Ash could see that her smile was forced and her brown eyes were hard.

“Well hello there, you must be Meera?” Her sugary sweet voice was almost too nice and every one of Ash’s quills stood on end as soon as she mispronounced Meena’s name. She couldn’t be sure but she was pretty certain that she had done it on purpose.

“Um it’s Meena actually.” Meena timidly corrected her but the gazelle just laughed it off and moved closer to them.

“Well Meera, I just thought that I should come over and introduce myself seeing that we have one thing in common. Ash crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the gazelle when she mispronounced Meena’s name yet again but she went ingored as the gazelle went on.

“My name is Carol Antlerson and I-” Before she could get out whatever she was trying to say Ash interrupted, a smug grin pasted on her face.

“Oh I know you. You write for that dishrag of a magazine, Gossip Gal.” She grinned when the gazelle stiffened and forced another smile over at Ash before turning back to Meena.

“That’s me.” She laughed awkwardly and when Meena and Ash just looked at each other in confusion she kept on talking.

“Anyways. I heard that you and Johnny Bannerton are a thing now.” She said ‘thing’ like it was the most disgusting word she could think of. Ash’s eyes narrowed and Meena looked around nervously, wishing that she was anywhere else.

“Um yes we-” Meena stuttered out but Carol decided to interrupt her with the bombshell she had eagerly been waiting to drop.

“Well I wish you luck. Maybe you’ll last longer than he and I did. That really was the best year of my life.” She laughed breathily as Meena’s face went paler than Ash had ever seen it. Her fury was trumped by the deep concern she suddenly had as Meena gaped at the smirking gazelle.

“Y-you and J-Johnny… a year?” She stuttered out and Carol grinned maliciously as she watched the elephant flounder for words.

“You know it really surprises me that Johnny is dating a girl…well…like you.” She gave Meena a toothy smile and Ash shook with fury.

“What the hell do you mean by that?!” She tried to come to Meena’s aid but it only seemed to make everything worse as the gazelle took her outburst as a queue to lay out all of the differences between her and Meena.

“Well I mean look at us darling. I’m small and you’re so…big. I have nothing against larger mammals of course but I never thought Johnny would supersize after me.” She giggled at her own joke as Meena began to shake slightly next to Ash, who stood gaping at the Carol’s audacity.

“And I mean are you really sure about that dress because that cut…well it’s not quite flattering on a figure like yours. And green is definitely not your color. I on the other hand look absolutely fabulous in this little pink number if I do say so myself.” She giggled maliciously as she did a little twirl for them.

“Oh and when it comes to the spotlight I’m not shy about performing for an audience. I have a wonderful voice you know, Johnny always used to tell me. He loved my confidence and my voice.” She patted Meena’s shoulder lightly and pasted on a fake sympathetic look, “But I’m sure he likes your lack of confidence too sweetie.”

Meena opened and closed her mouth but nothing but a tiny squeak came out and her eyes began to fill with tears. Ash decided in that moment that enough was enough and Meena obviously couldn’t defend herself against this harpy. But Ash had plenty of experience with prissy girls like her. She stepped forward, using her tiny body as a makeshift shield for her friend to hide behind.

“Listen bitch. Johnny dumped you for a reason and I’m pretty sure it’s because you’re a petty little brat who attacks people for no reason. Now…” she plucked a quill out of her back and pointed it at the startled gazelle, “I suggest you get out of my face and stay away from my friends. Capisce?”

She stuck the quill in the gazelle’s leg for emphasis and she gave Ash a dirty look before stomping away, her hands clenched tightly on her equipment. Ash turned around to comfort Meena and found her friend standing right where she had left her, her face securely shielded by her ears as fat tears streamed out of her eyes and stained her cheeks.

Ash grabbed her hand and pulled her off of the dance floor and into a empty room off to the side of the dance hall. Meena collapsed into a chair just as deep sobs began to wrack her body.

Ash hovered over her nervously, unsure how to comfort her friend. She settled for pulling her into a tight hug. Meena huddled against her and tried to halt her sobs with to no avail. Ash rubbed her back but Nothing had changed after a few minutes she pulled back and looked into Meena’s bloodshot eyes.

“I’m gonna go find Johnny.” She said soothingly and dashed out of the room, searching desperately for the familiar form of her roommate. When she found him next to the stage, chatting with the mayor she hurried over and grabbed him by the sleeve.

“Ash? Wot-?” He was cut off as she yanked him away, practically dragging him across the dance hall towards the room where she had left Meena. When they reached the door Ash opened it and shoved him into the room before following him and slamming the door behind him.

Before Johnny could question Ash about her odd behavior he heard sobbing coming from behind him. He spun around and as soon as he saw that Meena was the one sobbing into her hands all of his attention was on her.

He gathered her into his arms and she cried into his chest as he stroked her back soothingly.

“Ash wot 'appened?” He said quietly as he kissed the top of Meena’s head.

“Some bitch named Carol Antlerson showed up, said she dated you for a year, called Meena fat, antisocial, a bad singer and insulted her dress!” Ash felt her blood start to boil as she remembered what that gazelle had said to Meena.

Johnny growled at the thought and then sighed deeply as he realized the damage that Carol had caused in the minutes that he had been gone. He gently lifted Meena’s head so that she was looking him in the eyes. He wiped away a few tears but they were quickly replaced by more.

“Oh love. Ya can’t believe what that girl said. Ya are the most beautiful, talented, and amazing animal that I 'ave ever met.” He stroked her cheeks and Meena looked up at him with uncertainty in her eyes.

“B-but she-” Johnny cut her off before she could say another word.

“Is a vindictive, cold-'earted, lonely bitch. An’ I dropped 'er the moment I realized tha’. Ya ’re nothin’ loike 'er and that’s wot I love abaht ya.” He whispered and Meena smiled for a second before it faded back into sadness. She ran her hand over the material of her dress and let out a heavy sigh.

Hearing those words from Johnny was enough to stem the flow of her tears but her sadness still haunted her gaze like a ghost that won’t be banished. Carol had stirred up all of her insecurities in one go, as if she knew all of Meena’s fears. They wouldn’t settle back down so easily.

Johnny frowned when she refused to look at him. He wracked his brain for some way to help but came up with nothing, even Ash looked completely lost. He glanced at a nearby clock and thought to himself 'almost time for my song’.

“My song!” He suddenly gasped and leapt to his feet gleefully. Both girls looked up at him in confusion but Johnny didn’t stop to explain as he gently pulled Meena to her feet and began leading her towards the stage. Ash followed close behind, keeping her eye out for a certain unwanted reporter.

When they got to the stage he sat Meena on the piano bench and then gathered the other band members to discuss the change in song. When he was ready he sat next to Meena and signaled the mayor to introduce them.

The mayor gave him a puzzled look but announced their performance anyways. Every eye in the room was on them in that moment and Meena felt herself start to panic. Before she could hyperventilate Johnny gently positioned her face so she was looking away from the crowd and at him instead. With a secret smile he began to play.

Oh, her eyes, her eyesMake the stars look like they’re not shinin’Her hair, her hairFalls perfectly without her tryingShe’s so beautifulAnd I tell her aYeah

He looked at her as he sang, that smile still perched on his face. Meena turned bright red immediately and tried to look away from him but he pulled her gaze back up to his.

I know, I knowWhen I compliment her she won’t believe meAnd it’s so, it’s soSad to think that she don’t see what I seeBut every time she asks me, “Do I look okay?”I say,

Meena saw the brief sadness in his eyes as he sang and for a moment she wished that she could see what she looked like through Johnny’s eyes. Maybe this song was the best way for him to communicate that. She took a deep breath and a small smile began to bloom on her face as he sang to her.

When I see your faceThere’s not a thing that I would change'Cause you’re amazing Just the way you areAnd when you smileThe whole world stops and stares for a while'Cause, girl, you’re amazing Just the way you are.Yeah

Meena couldn’t fight the feeling as her smile began to grow and the blush faded. He was drawing her in with his words and the sincerity in his eyes. It gave her an indescribable feeling to know how he felt about her. That she was special to him.

Her lips, her lipsI could kiss them all day if she’d let meHer laugh, her laughShe hates but I think it’s so sexyShe’s so beautifulAnd I tell her everyday,

The crowd watching them started to fade away as Meena became absorbed in the song and the negative emotions began to fade away. Rationally she had no reason to doubt his feelings for her but she couldn’t help but feel inadequate. In this moment, however, she felt like the most beautiful animal in the world.

Oh you know, you know, you knowI’d never ask you to changeIf perfect’s what you’re searching forThen just stay the sameSo don’t even bother asking if you look okayYou know I’ll say,

When Johnny saw the smile returning to her face he grinned and began to sing louder and with more passion. His goal was to make her feel like nothing could touch her because in his eyes she was beyond perfect.

When I see your face There’s not a thing that I would change'Cause you’re amazingJust the way you are And when you smileThe whole world stops and stares for a while'Cause, girl, you’re amazingJust the way you are

In the crowd Ash grinned and gave Johnny a thumbs up even though he couldn’t see it. She was terrible at cheering people up but in this case she knew that she had made the right decision in getting Johnny. Those two were meant to be and she wasn’t going to let anyone mess with them.

The way you areThe way you areGirl, you’re amazing Just the way you are

As Johnny slowed down the song and Ash hoped that he was finally convincing Meena that she was beautiful because her best friends deserved to be happy.

Out of the corner of her eyes she caught sight of a flash of pink as Carol moved to the front and glared at the couple, watching with disdain as Johnny serenaded Meena.

Grinning mischievous Ash pulled a quill out of her back and snuck through the crowd until she was standing behind the gazelle, poised and ready for her attack.

When I see your faceThere’s not a thing that I would change'Cause you’re amazing Just the way you arehAnd when you smileThe whole world stops and stares for a while'Cause, girl, you’re amazingJust the way you are

As Johnny finished his song the crowd erupted into cheers and Ash jabbed the pointy end of her quill into the gazelle’s butt. She let out a shrill screech and jumped away, creating enough of a diversion for Ash to slip away. Carol screamed in frustration when no one admitted to poking her and began ranting that no one at the party was worthy of her and how she would see them all in hell. Before she could get much further two burly bears appeared and carried her out of the party.

Meena and Johnny watched the whole exchange in amusement and When she was gone Johnny leaned forward and kissed Meena, softly, slowly and passionately.

“Was tha’ enough proof for ya?” He asked teasingly and Meena giggled happily, the only evidence of her sadness was the slight redness in her eyes.

“I might need a little more.” She whispered and pulled him in for another kiss.

[silver-pond-of-light]

Being Praskovia

The best setting for a love story is a peaceful/bustling evening city spot.

The best setting for a story on existence's futility is an early morning. The episode I am going to describe perfectly fits in the second setting, disappointing and puny in itself.

OK. I don't want any unnecessary escalations right in the beginning! There is in fact a certain kind of mornings that I enjoy - Saturday mornings. Throughout all of my January, February and some part of March I normally don't have anywhere too important to go to except for the shop to buy smth to my coffee. That's why each Saturday I wake up all revved up about all the idle hours stretching in front of me ;)

It started the same yesterday. I woke up at 5:39 (it seems to have become my habit now) and immediately started watching all the current affairs, educational programmes that I had been putting off during the whole working week. Having waded through all the usual stuff to watch, I opened my vk-chats and found something really extraordinary. My friend had sent me a link to the film both of us included in our to-watch lists looong ago. 'England Is Mine' (2017) by Mark Gill. The film, telling the story of Morrissey’s life before he met Johnny Marr and started their famous band The Smiths.

Obviously not the best biopic in the world, but the special allure about it, for me personally, is the central character, Morrissey, the future frontman of The Smiths, the band that had changed my life and encouranged my creative inclinations.

Morrissey, his passions and influences that I once revealed here http://www.passionsjustlikemine.com/influence.htm as well as in his interviews had one of the most massive impacts on my personality. I admired both his incredibly profound lyrics and everything that inspired them. 'Bedroom years' would be mentioned as a creative incubator for everything he created as a part of The Smiths or in his solo career. Being influenced by Morrissey's example, I would often seal myself off the outside world for weeks (sometimes for months) turning only to books, movies and music for comfort. That, of course, racked my senses to a dangerously harsh degree at times.

Come to think of it, much has changed in less than a year, and while I was watching the film yesterday I caught  myself thinking that my own bedroom years seemed so distant to me. As a matter of fact, I was sometimes even happy that I was no longer concentrated on books and writing during last 6 months of my living in Krasnoyarsk and lecturing at the local uni, as all those attemps at originality would often leave me empty and alienated. I guess, that was the reason why I didn’t want to stay this kind of girl living only for a written word, for whom ‘people come second or possibly third’. At some moment of my past I’d finally got it that being Morrissey was not really cool.

I was still thinking about all these things, applying some huge efforts to concentrate on what was going on on the screen, when I realised that my mom was leaving for work. I was wearing headphones and so failed to recognize that she had been trying to attract my attention to her. Apparently, for quite a time :D What she had told me then, staying at the threshold of the room, changed my whole day.

Anyone who knows me is also aware of the fact that my mother is an extremely nice person. You can sense it straight away watching the way she laughs, uses her gestures or the way she smiles while thinking about smth. It takes just a fraction of a second to grasp her warm-hearted nature, void of offence. It is evident to whoever approaches her. And, well, she is often the one to be approached, especially by strangers! It has always made me wonder and laugh when strangers come to her asking for directions. Almost each time me go out together there is at least one person who would approach my mom, asking how to come from A to B. We have got used to it. But the day before yesterday my mom met a woman who had made some striking impression on her, and she couldn’t help sharing that.

My mom told me that she was walking home from the musical school on Surikova street she works at, when some woman suddenly approached her. As you might have already guessed, the woman wanted to know how to come to one department store in the city centre. My mom explained her how to get there and, what’s very typical of her, decided to accompany the woman. Soon she learnt the stranger’s name - Praskovia, or better say - Praskovia the Poet. The woman happened to be very easy-going and sincere. She appeared to be in  her mid-forties. Her fragile appearance together with her modest height had obviously charmed my mother. She discovered that Praskovia used to be a literature teacher at one of the Krasnoyarsk’s schools. She told that she loved working with children, but lately she had been only engaged in writing poems. Having found such an appreciative audience, she shared some of them, which my mother would later describe as a true poetry, not just tasteless and trifling doggerels anyone can come up with. 

At that moment of my mom’s story I had  realised I had an urgent need to somehow hide my eyes or turn away, as I started feeling that tears were welling behind my eyes. I pretended not to be listening and glued my eyes to the screen. After noticing that, my mother told me there still was some milk for coffee in the fridge, three waffles and an apple on the table, wished me a nice day and left.

What followed was some enormous emotional whirl and deluge of tears which I couldn’t stop for about two hours. A response too bewitching and overflowing, you’d say. Reason? The simple fact that I am too far from being Praskovia at the moment. Oh, yes, it sounds all clumsy and awkward since the most instant association with this name is a song by Uma2Rman about a girl with the same name, cheated by some guy, and having to crucify her love and feeling for him to start over again. Even without knowing the stranger I’d been told about, I recognised her poetic soul. The one that I  am afraid I am starting to lose (or have I lost it already?) This wouldn’t be a great deal unless I really cared about my writing ambitions. No. It’s not about being published, it’s just about being able to capture my feelings about the world and people out there, about music I listen to, books I read, films I watch. The thing is that in the course of these six months of my calm life in Krasnoyarsk (yes, calm, despite about 20 classes a week with my students, it is not the most challenging stuff I have ever been doing) I have somehow stopped discovering music, books and films, or these discoveries are too rare compared to what was happening in my previous life. It’s clear that I have never had much free time. Striving to live up to everyone’s expectations, I was spending my days on studies, all sorts of musical, theatrical education. What’s more, it wasn’t always that I didn’t have friends or boyfriends :D for whom I also managed to find proper time. Besides, each and every free minute was filled with books and writings. I am sensible enough to recognise that Zeitnot-issues have always been present in my life, but they never posed some daunting difficulties for me. Trying  to recall when  was the last time I wrote something personal, I could only come back to the journal’s note from November, 7th - my unofficial birthday, my usual 1-person party celebrating  life’s changes. However, I don’t really remember when  was this last time when I wrote or was able to analyse smth in a deep and eloquent way. Why has it all changed? Why have I suddenly lost resemblance with Praskovia the Poet?

Let’s face it, it’s mostly because of my current occupation entitled university professor. Sounds fancy. Makes wonderful impression on strangers. And deludes into thinking that you are cool enough  to be trying harder. I could never believe that this  sort of thing may happen to me. I was always delirious in my efforts to do my best in each and every subject, astonish everyone with my academic performance. Often at the expense of health or through some other sacrifices. I was never satisfied with myself and future prospects, and I had an yearning to improve that. Favours and respect I am enjoying at the time being at the university have probably dumbed aspiration to keep up with the best. With the best of me. I am showered with all the possible attention from my students (not all of them, but still), I am used to my function at the uni and have become comfortable with it, managing classes, checking tests and correcting essays and mistakes. The outcome has been certain blindness to the mistakes I make. Being fancy and ostensibly smart has eventually become such a familiar part of my routine that there is sometimes as much incentive to notice my intellectual and creative blind spots as there is to notice ubiquitous elements like clouds, trees or usual piles of handouts on my table :D

My reaction towards poetic genius of some stranger called Praskovia, this woman I am least likely to ever meet, exposed the trap I’ve fallen into. Deep in the cell of my heart I knew about that stranded intellectual position I inflicted upon my self with all the working hours, worthless ways of spending that little time I have. I thought, without books and my writings I would be better off. I wouldn’t need to stamp at my personal insecurities, dramas and problems while describing what’s happening to me. I decided to crucify my absorbtion with knowledge and everything intellectual, thinking that would be much better to leave out all such things, at least just to get some peace of mind. Which never happens all the same!;)

After I have learnt Praskovia, I can’t cling to such way of thinking anymore. Of course, I wouldn’t like to be as fragile and, perhaps, as helpless and lost as she seems to be. I know now, it’s impossible to solve life’s challenges at a wave of syllable. But what’s also clear to me is that I am too afraid of becoming a wordless girl. So, coming back to this Russian song I’ve mentioned above I am absolutely  positive that I can crucify or supress any kind of love, but NOT the love  for writing and it’s high time to return to everything I used to be before I’d got my current position ;)

P.S.

And if you must, go to work tomorrow Well, if I were you, I wouldn’t bother For there are brighter sides to life And I should know, because I’ve seen them (But not much often)

[bitchinlyras]

Home is Where Ever I’m with You

set after the fugutive part 2, enjoy :))

Amy takes the key out of the ignition and rests her head against the back of the seat, letting out a sigh of relief, closing her eyes and listing to the sound of the rain thundering down onto the car. 

“We’re home,” she whispers, turning to look at Jake in the passenger seat—asleep. 

She smiles, for the first time in what seems like years. It is not surprising, they are both exhausted, having spent the last 48 hours in the hospital waiting for news on Gina. She’d barely slept during that time; Jake hadn’t slept at all.

“Jake,” she murmurs, running her fingers through his hair, “Jake, babe, wake up, we’re home," 

His eyes flutter open, and she feels suddenly bad for waking him. The peaceful look of innocence that was on his face is gone now, replaced by emotional exhaustion. 

"Huh?” he breathes, confused; he looks over at Amy. 

“We’re home,” she tells him gently.

“Your place?” he looks up at the building. 

“Our place,” she corrects automatically. 

“Oh, yeah,” he mutters; before looking back at her, “I’m sorry, I’m just…” he trails off, shutting his eyes and leaning his head back. 

“Exhausted,” she finishes for him, reaching out and caressing his cheek. He opens his eyes and smiles weakly. 

“She’s going to be okay,” Amy says, looking into his eyes. 

“I know,” he gulps, tears filling his eyes. 

Amy places both hands on his face before pulling him into a hug, stroking the back of his head. He lets out a sob, and Amy holds him as a shakes, her heart breaking; the rain continues to pour. 

“Jake,” she says, her voice breaking. 

They let go of each other. “She’s going to be okay,” Amy repeats. 

Jake manages a smile. “I know, it’s going to take more than a bus to kill Gina Linetti; she might be immortal for all we know," 

Amy laughs, and then cries, and soon Jake is doing the same thing. 

"Let’s go up to the apartment,” she strokes his cheek, “you need to sleep." 

"I love you,” Jake tells her. 

Amy leans forward and kisses him tenderly. “I love you too." 

"Let’s go back to our apartment,” Jake says after a moment. 

Amy nods, tears in her eyes again. “Our apartment.”

They brace themselves before they rush out of the car, through the rain, and to the front of the apartment block. It occurs to Amy, as they stand there drenched, that if they weren’t so emotionally, physically, mentally, and every other type of exhausted they’d be making out by now. 

 "What?“ Jake asks, bringing her back to reality. 

Guilt immediately floods her. How could she be thinking about kissing in the rain when one of her best friends and Jake’s childhood friend had been in hit by a bus and is currently in a coma (yes, Gina is gong to be okay, but that’s beside the point). 

"Uh, nothing,” Amy says, not meeting his eye. 

She fumbles with the key when they reach their apartment, her hands barely functioning, as if they closer they get to home the more the fatigue washeds over her. 

“You okay?” Jake asks her, concerned. 

How he can be worried about her, when his longest friend is in a coma amazes her. 

“I’m fine,” she replies, as the key slides into the lock and turns with a click, “just tired." 

Jake nods, as Amy attempts to open the door. 

The door opens, but not very far, stopping just short of the gap being wide enough for them to fit through. 

Amy pushes against it again, but the door bounces back, as if something is pushing against.

"Ames,” Jake says soothingly, but she ignores him. 

“What! The! Hell!” she yells loudly, repeatedly slamming the door into what ever is stopping it from opening. 

“Amy, it’s almost three in the morning,” Jake places his hand on hers and gently pries it off the handle, “people are sleeping. If you’re not careful you’ll get us kicked out of here and then we really will have to go live at my old place,” he jokes, an attempt to lighten the mood. 

“I never have anything blocking the door! What the hell is it?!" 

"Ames, you’re stressed,” he says in the same soothing voice, placing his hands on her shoulders. “It’s just my stuff, we haven’t finished unpacking, there’s still, like, three boxes." 

She nods. Of course, his stuff. 

With a couple of pushes Jake manages to open the door wide enough for the two of them to slip through. 

"Sorry about that,” Jake mutters, hanging the keys up on the hook before falling into the couch, “I’ll finish unpacking in the morning." 

Amy sighs, pulling herself up onto one of the stools at the bench. "No, it’s fine, I’m just stressed. I’m sorry,” she says quietly, shutting her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. “Mi casa es tu casa, literally,” she adds with a laugh, opening her eyes to look at Jake—asleep again. 

Amy smiles to herself, sliding off the stool to sit next to Jake on the couch, taking time to soak up the peace and innocence on his face this time, and not planning on waking him up.

He wakes up anyway; it’s as if he can feel her eyes on him.

He yawns and turn to look at her. “How long was I out?”

“About two minutes,”

“That’s gotta be some sort of record for the last couple of days,” he jokes sleepily.

Amy lets out a chuckle, her eyes still on Jake; her heart over flowing with sudden love and happiness.

“What?” Jake asks her after moment.

“I just,” she sighs, feeling guilty, “I feel happy, and I shouldn’t, not with what’s happening to Gina, who’s arguably you’re best friend in the world, and I just feel bad for feeling happy,” at some point she must’ve started to cry because there are tears on her cheeks and her hands are trembling.

“Ames,” he says, taking one of her trembling hands in his, “why do you feel happy?”

“Because of you,” she says, a tear falling.

“Cause of me?”

“In the rain before, and now seeing you here, at home, our home… I don’t know, you haven’t been home much since you moved in because of the case, and I get it, that’s fine, but just seeing you here, that makes me happy, because you’re not here to go back to yours later, you’re here to stay because this is yours. Does that make any sense?”

Jake smiles softly at her, tears in his own eyes, “Yeah, it does.”

“And I want this, us, to be forever. Until we die of old age, or get hit by a bus,” Amy finds herself saying.

“Really?” Jake breathes, as if he can’t believe it.

“Of course,” Amy replies, kissing him gently.

He smiles widely, “I was going to wait till later to do this but- oh crap,”

“What?”

“I… I need to find something,” he tells her, standing up and beginning to search one of the boxes.

“What?” Amy asks again.

“I can’t say,” he replies distractedly, digging through the box.

“Why?!” she asks, annoyed; then it dawns on her and her eyes widen. “Jake,” she says breathlessly.

He looks up at her, his eyes filled with adoration. “Yeah?”

“Really?”

“Of course,”

Amy fights off the urge to sob uncontrollably, settling for a few tears trickling down her cheeks (it’s been a very emotional past few days).

“What’s it in?” she asks, joining him on the floor next to the boxes.

“Does that mean…” he trails off, his heart beating as if fighting to escape his rib cage.

“You’ll have to ask me first to find out the answer,” she says, a smile on her face.

He breathes out, just realising he’d been holding his breath, his eyes locked on Amy. “It’s… it’s in a little red box,”

“Okay, well I’ll look in this one,” Amy says practically, managing to keep the many emotions she’s feeling out of her voice. She opens up one of the other boxes and begins to search. Jake is unable to move, his eyes still fixated on her, in complete wonder.

Then his eyes widen, and he stands up so suddenly that Amy jumps slightly in surprise. 

“I already unpacked it,” Jake mutters too quietly for Amy to hear.

“What?” Amy calls after him as he rushes into the bedroom.

“Where is the one place you wouldn’t look?” he calls out to her as he practically skids onto the floor, suddenly wide awake.

“How am I supposed to know where I wouldn’t look?”

Jake smiles to himself as he picks up his rolled up Die Hard poster off the floor, and tips it so a small red ring box comes sliding out of it and onto his palm. “Die Hard.” he whispers to himself with a grin.

He skips out of the bedroom and back to Amy, his heart racing with both nerves and happiness. He sits down on both knees in front of the already kneeling Amy. 

“You’re supposed to stand up for this part,” he says cheekily.

“If I stand up, I’ll probably fall over,” she responds, which was true as she’d lost feeling in both legs from sitting on her knees too long and her heart was going so fast in anticipation it was bound to make her dizzy if she stood.

“Okay then,” Jake laughs, despite having the sudden overwhelming urge to cry. 

“Amelia Jane Santiago,” he begins, opening the ring box; Amy gasps at the sight of the ring, her heart melting, “I… am not very good with these things-” he feels tears in his eyes and Amy laughs, a couple of tears falling down her own cheeks “-but I love you, so much… and I want us to be forever, and I can assure I spent more than one whole dollar on this ring. Will you marry me, Ames?” 

Smiling through a cascade of tears Amy nods her head. “Of course,” she cries, wrapping her arms his neck and kissing him passionately.

“I love you,” she murmurs tenderly, her forehead touching his.

“You wanna put the ring on?” Jake asks her softly.

She looks up at him, and nods, smiling widely; scared that if she speaks she’ll burst into tears.

He takes the ring out of the box and attempts to slide it onto her finger, except he can’t. It stops just short of her knuckle, refusing to go any further.

“Oh my god, it’s too small!” Jake exclaims. “Ames, I’m so sorry,” he adds, but Amy is in a fit of laughter.

“Jake, my fingers are too big!” she laughs.

“No, the ring’s just too small,”

“Remember when we were undercover as Johnny and Dora?”

“Oh my god,” Jake laughs, “you have fingers of a giant behemoth person!” 

It takes almost five minutes for the two to stop laughing and calm down, by which time they are lying hand-in-hand on the floor. 

“I’m so tried,” Amy murmurs, her eyes shut, “and I’m so happy too,”

Jake squeezes her hand in reply, and Amy smiles.

Me too, he’s saying, me too.

***

4 days, 13 hours, and 37 minutes later

Jake is sitting in the chair by Gina’s bed, scrolling through buzzfeed on his phone. They’ve all been taking it in turns to sit in Gina’s room with her in case she wakes up for these past few days.

Gina’s eyes flicker open briefly; Jake doesn’t notice.

She opens them again after a moment, and this time she manages to say something, “Why am I in such an ugly ass room?” Her words are mumbled and slurred, but they’re enough for Jake to leap out of his chair in surprise.

“Gina! You’re awake!”

“No, I’m sleep talking,” she replies sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

“You were hit by a bus,” Jake tells her.

“Well that explains a lot,”

Jake quickly calls for a doctor or nurse to come in and check on her before calling Amy - who had left to get coffee just two minutes ago - on the phone.

“Ames, she’s awake!” Jake says the moment Amy picks.

“Oh my god,” Amy says hanging up the phone and rushing back to Gina’s room.

“We’ll need to take her to get some tests and scans done, but we can give you a moment to talk if you want,” the nurse tells Jake, just as Amy comes running into the room.

“Uh, thank you, that’d be great,” Jake replies, and the nurse nods, leaving the room.

“Gina! You’re awake!” Amy says, as she moves over to her bed.

“Oh look, it’s Count Dorkula’s wife, Countess… Nerd,” Gina responds.

“Well she doesn’t appear to have changed that much,” Amy murmurs just loud enough for Jake to hear her.

“Actually, we have some news about that,” Jake says to Gina, taking Amy’s hand.

“You guys are vampires?”

“No, we’re going to get married,” Jake shows her the ring on Amy’s finger (they had it resized).

Gina’s face splits into a grin. “Thank god! I was sure you’d both die virgins!”

[gvbejvmes]

Drabble: 5 + 1 -- Dad

Title: Five Types of Fatherhood Rating: PG Relationships: Gabriel James/Jonathan Michaels, Gabriel James/Nancy Conrad (James and Scott) Brief Summary: Five times someone called Gabe “Dad” and one time he did it.

One

Gabe is exhausted. He’d been at the shop all day long, and all he wanted to do was take a hot shower and sleep for as long as the baby would allow. Hearing noise coming from the kitchen, he wandered over to see what his wife and daughter were up to. DJ was in her highchair munching on cheerios, which meant she wasn’t sleeping when Gabe was closing up at the shop again. So seeing her up and snacking wasn’t surprising to him. What was surprising was Nancy sitting across from DJ, talking to her. It wasn’t that Nancy was a bad mother. It was just that she didn’t connect with their daughter like Gabe had. “Say Mama.” His wife instructed. “Ma-Ma.”

He leaned against the doorjamb, watching them for a moment, a fond smile on his features. After a couple minutes, he finally decided to make his presence known. “Nanc, what are you doing?” His wife all but jumped out of her skin, which made Gabe grin from ear to ear. Scaring the shit out of his wife was one of his favorite pastimes; it always had been. There was just something about her reactions that always made him happy. He wondered what that said about him as a person. 

“Delilah is behind.” Nancy told him as he dropped a kiss to the top of her head before dropping a kiss to DJ’s head, causing the baby to squeal excitedly. She shoved a soggy Cheerio into his mouth as Nancy continued to talk. “According to the doctor she should already be talking. She should actually have a vocabulary of ten words by this point. And she hasn’t said anything yet.” His wife all but whined as he forced himself to swallow the soggy Cheerio.

Trying not to roll his eyes at his wife’s dramatics, he instead ruffled their daughter’s hair. “Maybe she just doesn’t have anything to talk about yet.” He defended before giving Nancy’s shoulder a light squeeze. “I’m gonna take a shower.” He was barely out of the room when a little voice stopped him. Eyes going wide, he spun around to look at his shocked wife and very proud daughter. “Say that again, kiddo?” He asked, unable to believe what he’d just heard.

“Dada stay!” DJ announced, sounding very proud of herself. She was grinning from ear to ear. “Dada stay.”

He blinked, finding a smile working its way onto his face again. “Okay, Deej. Dada stay.” 

Two

Sometimes being so much older than his two cousins was a pain in the ass. Without fail, the two kids tended to be at his house more often then they were at their own house. Mostly it was because Nancy was currently staying at home with the kids, but it didn’t stop it from being annoying. Having two kids was one thing, having four kids constantly in his house? That was another thing all together. But sometimes it worked in everyone’s favor. Like today.

He didn’t know why the school called him instead of his actual parents, but he figured Dusty probably told Sammy to write down the store number instead of their house number. All he knew was when he walked in the door of the school and saw Sammy sporting a black eye, he was grateful as all fuck that he was the one who got the phone call and not his mom. He was also more than grateful for the fact that Sammy looked young for his age while Gabe looked a couple years older than twenty-three. 

Before he could say anything to his cousin, the secretary noticed Gabe standing there. “Hi, can I help you?” She asked, looking as though she wanted to be anywhere other than at work. 

Sammy jumped in for him. “That’s my dad.” He lied, flawlessly, flipping his hair over his eye to hide his black eye.

The secretary looked at at Sammy and then looked at Gabe before looking back at Sammy. There was no denying they were related. They both had the same dark eyes and the same bone structure. 

“You’re his father?” She asked Gabe, obviously not believing them. While Roswell wasn’t a small town, it wasn’t huge either. They might not have known each other, but they’d definitely seen each other around town, which worked in his favor since Sammy was almost always around Gabe and the babies.

He raised an eyebrow at the secretary. “Are you shaming me for being a young father?” 

The secretary’s face went an interesting shade of pink. “No, of course not. Uh, the principal’s waiting for you.”

Gabe winked at Sammy before disappearing into the office.

Three

Gabe was definitely not a morning person, but having kids had forced him into pretending to be a morning person. As much as Nancy tried to do a majority of the parenting, the girls never let her. They’d learned pretty early on that if they knew Gabe was home, they wouldn’t have anything to do with Nancy. This meant that most mornings Gabe was the one who woke up to change diapers and feed the kids in the morning. When they didn’t wake him up, however, that never meant anything good -- most of the time.

Yawning he crawled out of bed, rolling his eyes at Nancy still snoozing away. He stopped outside the girls’ rooms when he heard talking. DJ must have heard her sister crying and decided to soothe her instead of waking Gabe up. He couldn’t help but to smile as he slowly opened the door. DJ was sitting next to the crib. “If you talkeded, Daddy would know you needed something.” She told her sagely. “Can you say ‘Daddy’?” When Cordelia just stared at her, DJ tried again. “How ‘bout DJ? Can you say ‘DJ?’”

Grinning from ear to ear now, he stepped all the way into the room. DJ couldn’t see him yet, but Cordelia could. She bounced excitedly in her seat, squealing happily. “Dada!”

DJ spun around, eyes wide. “How much you hear, daddy?” She asked, sounding very bossy for being a toddler.

He laughed, kissing the top of DJ’s head before scooping Cordy up from her crib. “Nothing at all.” He lied as nuzzled the baby, delighting in her happy squeals. “Nothing at all.”

Four

“Do you want coffee or tea?” Gabe asked around a yawn as he moved around the kitchen. Juliet had spent the night, which was a step in the right direction. Or at least it would have been if his husband hadn’t been locked away in his office for the majority of the night prepping for a court case.These days Gabe wasn’t sure what was more important to Johnny: his career or his family. When he got like this, Gabe couldn’t help but to feel like his job was first and Gabe was somewhere around five or six on his list of importance. He pushed the thoughts away and instead turned his attention to making coffee and starting breakfast. At least it was a Saturday. Cordy would be up soon, and then the four of them could have a nice family day.

He’d just finished pouring coffee into a cup for Juliet when Johnny appeared, dressed like he was going into the office. “Can you put mine into my travel mug?” He asked, pressing a kiss to the side of Gabe’s head. “I have to go in for a little bit. I think I had a breakthrough on the case.” 

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Johnny grab an apple off the counter before stopping to talk to Juliet. Gabe closed his eyes as he tried to reign his emotions in. Of fucking course he needed to go into the office on a Saturday. It wasn’t like he barely saw his husband as it was. Fuck, there were days when he only knew the other man had even been home because his toothbrush was wet. They couldn’t keep living like this - ships passing in the night. 

And here was Juliet making an effort, but off went Johnny back to fucking work like always. With shaking hands, he started the kettle for himself before pulling down a travel mug for his husband. “When are you coming home?” And he hated how much like his mother he sounded right now. 

“I’ll be back before dinner.” His husband promised as he took the mug from Gabe, and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. It was barely nine o’clock, which made Gabe feel like he wouldn’t be back for dinner if going into work for “a little bit” was going in for eight hours. “The four of us will go out.”

And with that his husband was gone and Gabe was staring after him, trying to figure out when this had become his life. 

“Dad, can you grab the creamer?”

The question shook him from the trance he’d been in. “Yeah, sorry.” It wasn’t until he put the creamer on the table that he realized who had asked him the question. “Did you just...” He stared at Juliet, a smile working its way onto his face. “You did. You just called me dad.”

Juliet looked absolutely mortified. “No, I didn’t. I said: ‘Gabe, can you grab the creamer.” She corrected.

“Sure...” Gabe said with a roll of his eyes. “You definitely did not call me ‘dad.’”

The kettle chose that moment to whistle, successfully ending their conversation.

Five

“No! You take that back.” 

Bella was sitting in her little bouncer, giggling up at her grandfather. She waved her pudgy little fingers in his direction. “Dada!” She said again with another giggle.

He looked at her in absolute horror. “No. Not Dada. Grandpa.” He corrected, pointing to himself. “Grandpa.”

Bella giggled and grabbed at Gabe. “No. Dada.” She corrected him. “Dada.”

Gabe groaned. “Stop that. Grandpa.” He pointed at himself again. “Grandpa.” He pointed at her. “Bella.”

The little girl’s face scrunched up. “No. Dada.” She looked behind Gabe, and pointed again. “Mama.”

He spun around to find Cordelia in the living room with them. “Make her stop.” He whined out. “It’s creepy.”

Cordy picked up Bella, who immediately started patting her mom’s face. “Dad, I think she thinks it’s your name.” She rolled her eyes at him. 

He blinked as he processed his daughter’s words. She probably wasn’t wrong. Since the separation, he and Cordy were attached at the hip. They rarely saw anyone they weren’t related to. So why would Bella think his name was anything other than Dad?

“Want Dada.” She squirmed in Cordy’s arms until he took her.

Gabe sighed. “Fine, but only until you learn how to say Grandpa, okay?”

Bella looked like she was thinking about it. “Okay.” She nodded. “Okay, Dada.”

+ One

Mixers weren’t exactly Gabe’s thing. One would think that because he went to so many of them, he would be used to them by now, but all he ever wanted to do was leave once he got to one. This time was no exception. A half hour in and he was already ready to go home.

Sighing, he took a sip of his whiskey sour and scanned the room. He could hold his own among the art crowd, but there was something about being around politicians that made his skin crawl. He’d already had to talk himself out of multiple conversations. At least when he was next to Johnny these things were a little more bearable. Finally spying him, he finished his drink before wandering over.

“There you are, daddy. I’ve been looking for you all over.” Gabe all but gushed out as he pressed himself against Johnny’s back, arms looped lightly around his middle, chin on his shoulder.

The senator Johnny had been talking to went absolutely still and immediately excused himself. As soon as he was out of earshot, Johnny turned in his arms, ears pink, but a fond, albeit annoyed, expression on his features. “How many times do I have to tell you, Briel? Not in public.”

Gabe laughed. “But it’s fun when they’re homophobic.” He tried to justify before kissing his husband. “Besides, you secretly like it when I call you Daddy in public.”

Before Johnny could argue otherwise, his phone rang. “Saved from admitting the truth by our fourth child.” He teased as he saw the caller ID. “I should take this. I’ll catch up with you in a bit.” 

As soon as he answered the phone, he was greeted by Marlie’s slightly panicked voice. “Dad, please tell me you know how to remove permanent marker from skin.”

Gabe laughed. “Baby skin or regular skin?” 

[everyonesastar]

Okay, here goes. Could you do a protective Buster? Like Ash and the gang are getting threatened by some tough guy and Buster come to the rescue and the two get into a brutal fight? Like the guy stabs Buster which ales Buster go berserk with protection

Sure, but I had to change up some things, anyways…hope you like it!

—

After their big performances, they’re had been people following them for autographs or trying to get pictures with them, which almost none of them had a problem about.

But it had gotten to the point where on social media, people would overflow them with messages or posts, so sometimes the gang didn’t bother to bring their phones when going to rehearsals. 

But Ash had been getting these awful calls from a strange man or possibly a woman. Usually stupid calls or voice mails wouldn’t frighten her but they kept getting worse, and there was things showing up at her house, notes in particular.

One this morning had shown up in her own home, saying how they loved how she looked when she was sleeping, now who wouldn’t be frightened by that? She noticed her window had been broken, “This is getting ridiculous…” She mumbled.

Still, this didn’t stop her from showing up at rehearsals. “Alright Ash, show me what you’ve been working on for our new show!” Buster said, sitting in the second row with Mrs. Crawley and Eddie.

She grinned, plugging in a cord in the input jack. She began to play loud and clear.

“Lately, I’ve been, I’ve been losing sleep”

She strummed her guitar softly

 “Dreaming about the things that we could be”

She continued to play her guitar softly, until she had reached a part of the song.

“I couldn’t lie, couldn’t lie, couldn’t lie”

“Everything that kills me makes me feel alive”

She had paused for a moment, before playing her guitar loudly.

“Lately, I’ve been, I’ve been losing sleepDreaming about the things that we could be”

She felt herself grinning as she closed her eyes, she felt truly happy.

“But baby, I’ve been, I’ve been praying hardSaid no more counting dollars”

She opened her eyes, only to stop singing for a moment. There was a dark figure sitting in one of the seats, the person who had broke into her own home had been following her, hadn’t they?

“We’ll be….” She stopped playing her guitar, she just stood there, afraid. She just stared at the figure in fear, and watched them slowly leave.

“Ash?” Buster asked, trying to see what was up. “Ash? You ok?” He continued to ask. She snapped back into reality after a few minutes of trying to calm down, she hadn’t realized the whole gang was around her.

“Ash, whats wrong?” Rosita asked while rubbing her back, Ash had been shaking for awhile. “There was….something there….someone was watching me…” “What do you mean? It was only me, Eddie, and Mrs. Crawley watching you…” Buster said clearly as confused as the others.

“I think the porcupine has lost so many quills that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about!” Mike said snickering a little, he then stopped once he had noticed Johnny was giving him a look. It wasn’t a very pleasant one…

“T-They…were sitting near the back, and they left not too long ago…” Ash mumbled. “What did they look like?” Meena asked “I-I dont know…but that isn’t the first thing that’s happened today….” Ash whispered while rubbing her head, this was all too much.

“Wait, what do you mean by that?” Rosita asked “Someone..broke into my house, they left a note…” “Well, what did the note say?” Mike asked, while crossing his arms.

“I don’t think it’d be appropriate saying it but…it was about me sleeping, and how they um…loved watching me sleep…it had more on it…but i don’t really feel like vomiting at this second” Ash said while sighing.

“That creep….who’d do sucha’ thing?!” Johnny said, balling his hands into angry fists. “Guys…just dont worry about it too much alright? I’ll tell you guys if that person is-” “Don’t worry? Sweetie, how can we not worry at this point? Something broke into your home and watched you sleep! Now they’re following you everywhere! We’ve got to do something!” Rosita said, she looked frustrated now.

“I agree with you Rosita, but you should all go head home and call me if anything strange happens ok? You should be with your family and secured in some place better than this. Ash, you’ll be hiding in Eddie’s apartment, the person probably won’t find you there and might be waiting for you at your own house…” Buster said. 

“Wait what?” Ash and Eddie said, bewildered by his decision. “Yep, now everyone go home and lock your doors ok? We’ll meet up tomorrow to practice and talk about this subject later.” Buster said while walking towards his office, leaving the gang alone.

They all hid in their homes, although, each one of them got a special surprise. There were items shattered or ripped, windows broken, and a small note. 

“Sometimes, the things you see in the shadows are more than just shadows.”

“ My fantasies are much darker than you think, my dear.”

Neighbors were concerned for what was going in Rosita’s house after hearing her scream. It was the same for all of them actually, the were all in a panic. They all immediately called Buster.

“W-What?! Stay at home? But Buster, this is where I might die if I don’t escape sometime soon! This horrible person is after all of us all!” Meena said frantically in the phone, you could hear the phone shake from her grip on it.

“Just stay there ok? I’ll figure out something….” Buster had said this to each and every one of them, he was walking around, trying to figure out whom is could be.

Ash had lended Buster the note she had found in her house, she didn’t know why, but she didn’t want to have it there any longer. He kept examining the hand writing, it looked oddly familiar to one of the sign up sheets he had gotten when he had opened up his signing competition. He couldn’t place his finger on who. so he went back to his office and looked through every single file he had.

Their name wasn’t listed,but there was a picture.

Lance.

Of course it had to be him… Buster sighed, aggravated. He did know what he was going to do once he had seen him or found him. He walked along the streets, seeing if he’d spot him anywhere, and luckily enough he saw him. He was waiting for a subway train to approach, this was a good time to confront him.

Buster sneaked through the crowds of animals and stood next to him, making absolutely no eye contact. 

“I know what you did Lance…” Lance jumped a bit at the statement, “Oh really? If you do then go ahead, tell me” Lance said facing the koala now. “You’re tracking down my friends, you’re ruining their homes and live’s! You’re even stalking Ash, you ex if I am correct…” Buster whispered with a grim tone.

“Must’ve tooken you awhile to find out, but now, im afraid you know a little bit too much for me..” Lance said, there was a small clicking sound heard. Buster was confused, what was going to happe-

a mark from a small pocket knife was right across his stomach, he held his stomach  and began to bleed everywhere. There were screams heard from those who had seen it, and as the subway train had reached its stop, Lance walked in calmly, smiling even.

Leaving Buster laying on his side.

“Oh my god! B-Buster!” Ash screamed while pointing towards the TV in Eddie’s home, it was everywhere on the news. “What? Are you ok Ash-” Eddie paused while looking at the video clip that was playing on screen and screamed as well.

Everything was beginning to fall apart, Eddie was trying to calm down outside while Ash called everyone and told them the news, while doing so, they all agreed to met up at the hospital immediately.

“Eddie you’re going to have to take some deep breaths and calm down! We need to go to the hospital right now!” Ash said practically dragging him on the sidewalk while trying to get a taxi.

“M-My friend! He’s, he may be dead!” He said between deep breaths. “Well we don’t know that for sure until we get there Eddie now come on!” Ash said trying to shake him out of the state his mind was in.

Johnny was driving as fast as he could through the traffic, he even ran a few red lights. He spotted Ash and Eddie on the sidewalk. “Jump in! We can’t waste anymore time!” Johnny said pulling up by them.

They both hopped in quickly, and finally got out of the squished car and into the hospital. The rest of the gang was already in the waiting room, “Finally you both arrived! It’s been thirty minutes!” Mike yelled. “Thirty minutes since what?” Johnny asked “Since they got Buster into the emergency room!” Gunter said interrupting the two.

“H-How was he when he arrived?” Eddie asked, the room was silent “I’m going to be honest Eddie…he didn’t look as enthused as he usually is…but im sure he’s going to be alright!” Rosita said reassuringly.

After waiting an hour, sure enough Rosita was right, she always was. They all jumped at the words “Alright, you can all go and visit for a few minutes..” 

They ran into Buster’s room practically sliding! “Buster! You’re ok!” Eddie yelled. “W-Well, of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be?” Buster said while pressing a button that helped his bed adjust. He sat up to face them, “Well I dunno, maybe from the fact the whole world just saw you get stabbed” Mike said while hopping onto the foot of the hospital bed.

“That really went on the news? I thought no one would’ve noticed…” Buster mumbled. “Well, its kind of hard to not notice blood everywhere…A-Anyway….we’re just so happy you’re ok!” Meena mumbled with tears in her eyes. “Aww…thanks Meena…thank you guys for listening to me…I just couldn’t risk you all getting hurt…” Buster mumbled with a faint smile.

There was a few minutes where they hadn’t talked, they just looked at one another, happy to know it was all ok. “Alright, visiting hours are over with, you must all leave now.” A llama said in a nurse’s uniform. 

“Alright, we’ll be out in a second” Johnny said while grinning.

They all gave Buster light hugs and sweet farewells, Eddie left Buster with only a quick kiss while he could.

And as weeks passed, flowers, balloons, even cards had shown up. A nurse was bringing in another bouquet of white lilly’s. “Well Mr. Moon, I hope you have a plan on where you’re going to put these once you leave.”

He sighed for a moment and smiled “No, that’s alright mam’ I don’t need flowers or balloons or even cards to know how much my friends love me, just plant those here. This place could really use something pretty” Buster said. The nurse smiled “Alright Mr Moon, I will for your sake. Tomorrow’s a big day for you….get some sleep. Goodnight” She said while turning off his light.

“Goodnight” Buster whispered, smiling faintly while drifting off to a deep sleep.

—

End!

I’m very sorry if this isn’t as great as my last but, still, I hope you enjoy it!

[sorayahigashikata]

Chapter 59: "None of you are free from sin."