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coffee-obsessed-writer · 5 years ago

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When You Least Expect It, Part Fifteen

Jensen Ackles x Musician!Reader

Masterlist - Contains Chapter Links & Wardrobe Collages

A/N: Sorry for the delay with this new chapter! Life has been getting in the way, BUT I am back and determined to finish this ridiculously LONG fic. Thank you to everyone who keeps reading and following along with this one. You don’t know what it means to me! Any lines bold and italic are not written by me, but song lyrics used in the fic.

Spotify Playlist

Chapter Summary: The impromptu vacation Jensen takes Y/N away on hits a bump in the road, but they find a way to make the most of it.

Chaper Warnings: Floof, Mild Implied Smut, NSFW 18+ Only

WC: 11.9K

Series Beta’d by @closetspngirl

Y/N’s dreams were staggered and yet, lucid. She knew she had been dreaming, yet nothing in it felt like a dream; more so like she was replaying a real life memory.

She was on a stage. The lights were bright and hot, obscuring the crowd that was spread out beyond her. She could hear their cheers and screams of excitement. She could smell the faint hint of beer wafting in from the sea of darkened faces in front of her. In the dream, she looked down and saw her dad’s guitar back in her hands, and her heart swelled with both pride and ache. Love filled her, and slowly, she turned her head to stage left and saw him waiting for her there….

Jensen.

He was leaning against a speaker that stood nearly ten feet tall. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his beard was fuller than he normally kept it. Y/N could feel his eyes on her, watching, beaming with pride. She felt his joy, his devotion… and then she saw them. Two small shapes bouncing and giggling, stopping just before tumbling out onto the stage. They couldn’t have been older than three or four, and they both had Jensen’s green eyes. She knew they were her children, in the same way she knew it was all a dream. Any minute now she would wake up, and he would be lazily dozing next to her.

Haze and smoke from the crowd began to move in a hypnotizing pattern as it swirled up and into the rafters of the stage lighting. Y/N turned back towards the crowd and knew right then, that her life was just as it should be. She found comfort and solace in the unexpected now and this dream-induced glimpse at a future that could be waiting for her, gave her soul a sort of peace she never knew was possible.

Y/N’s eyes felt the morning light permeate her closed lids. She wasn’t sad in the least that it was time to open them and face her day. The lingering images of the dream found a place in her waking mind and settled in with excitement for seeing it all unfold in the future. But it wasn’t time yet. For now, it was time to enjoy the next two days with Jensen, in the only place on Earth she loved more than being wherever he was.

Pushing herself up and turning over to wrap her arms around Jensen, she was disappointed to find he was no longer there next to her. She knew she had slept a deep, blissful sleep, but she was still surprised that she hadn’t felt him get up. Throwing off the covers, she got up and moved around the room looking for signs of him. The bathroom was empty, as was the small sitting room that led to the door of the room.

Y/N wrinkled her brow, curious where he could have gone. She reached into her bag and pulled out clothes for the day. Turning back towards the bed, a folded piece of pale lavender paper with her name scrawled across the front sat waiting for her on the small nightstand an arm’s reach from her side of the bed.

“Real observant, dummy,” she mocked to herself as she reached for it.

Trix,

Running a couple errands. Should be back by noon. Think about what you wanna do today. Still about a dozen different things I still need to try up on that boardwalk. So let’s work up an appetite and gorge on funnel cakes.

Love ya

-J

She held the note on the hotel stationary and tried to think of where he could have gone. Breakfast waited downstairs in the B&B’s restaurant if they were hungry, and everything else they could possibly need was here in their room. Shrugging it off as Jensen just being his usual surprising self, Y/N slipped off her thin pajama top and went into the bathroom to shower.

When Jensen still hadn’t returned by the time she was finished, she figured she would put her own surprise for him in motion. Y/N scribbled a quick note of her own about where she was going and told him to meet her there.

“Jensen isn’t the only one who can pull off a grand gesture,” she mumbled with a sly smirk as she slipped on her sandals and grabbed her small, over-the-shoulder clutch, cell phone and the keys to the room. Her mind racing at light speed, she closed the door behind her and bounded down the stairs to the lobby of The Grenville.

Within fifteen minutes of leaving the room, Y/N had rented one of the beach cruisers the B&B had available and was within a block of arriving at her destination. Locking up the bike in front of Leo’s posh hotel and office suite, The Breakers, Y/N walked inside, and smiled as the blast of air conditioning smacked her in the face. Between the bike ride and heat of early morning, she was already sweaty and in need of a cold drink.

As she made her way through The Breakers lobby, she smiled and waved at all the familiar faces she had known for most of her life. Her spirits were high, her head clear and focused on what she needed to talk to Leo about. But when she was standing outside his office door, her hand reaching out for the knob to open the large double doors, she heard it. A voice from her past that she thought she would never, ever have to hear again.

Her mother’s.

Y/N couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Of course the tone and words were muffled, but Sherry (Y/L/N) had the kind of voice that could cut through the thickest glass with great ease. It had its way of going right through her, and suddenly triggering an immediate surge of anger and nausea.

Through the heavy oak doors, Y/N could hear Sherry’s laugh; but not a real laugh. The woman was incapable of having any true humor. No, this was her typical sarcastic, condescending, snarky laugh; the one that said ’I am now, have been and always will be, better than you’. And not for the first time in her life, she wondered why her father was so miserable for so long about her leaving. Losing Sherry wasn’t a real loss. In fact, it probably is why Y/N ended up being the kind of person she grew into being.

It was hearing her own name that finally prompted Y/N to twist the handle that now slipped from the nervous sweat coating on her palms. All thoughts of why she was there in the first place flew out the window. Now she just needed to know why the Wicked Witch of the East was returning to disrupt her happy life.

The air in the room, normally cool enough to hang meat, was heavy and humid. The sound of the door opening caused both Sherry and Leo to stop their conversation mid-sentence and turn to see Y/N standing there.

Poor Leo, she thought, gauging his expression of shock, first. Poor bastard had no idea Sherry was coming…

Sherry cleared her throat, and took a confident step towards her daughter.

“Your hair is different,” she said, and picked up one of the loose tendrils that had fallen from Y/N’s signature messy bun. “It’s dry. You should condition it more.”

Y/N turned away from Leo and allowed her (y/c/e)s to examine the woman’s face that stood in front of her. It was Sherry alright, but time had not been kind. The lines in her face were deep and telling of how rough those years had treated her. Y/N took some solace in how worn and almost broken her mother looked and was ready to fire off a quip or dig of some kind. Instead took the unexpected path, and simply said, “Thank you for that advice Sherry. Now, what brings you back to the town you couldn’t wait to disappear from?”

“Oh, my daughter…” she narrowed her eyes and made an attempt at a pleasant grin. “It’s good to know some things never change. How have you been? I heard about your exciting new career in event planning.”

“What are you doing here, Sherry?” Y/N turned from her mother and snapped her gaze intensely on Leo. “Leo… what the hell is going on?”

“Honey, relax,” Leo tutted in his most gentle tone. “I know you and your ma here have a bad history, but she is still my sister. She’s come for--”

“I can explain it myself, Leo. You don’t have to speak for me as if I am an infant.”

“Maybe if you didn’t act like one most of your life…” Y/N mumbled, her arms crossing over her breasts so tight she nearly cut off her own circulation. “Seriously, what the fuck are you doing here?”

“Well,” Sherry started, then threw her own purse on one of the cream colored wingback chairs, before sitting in the one adjacent. “I was contacted by the Manger Development Group. They are interested in buying a stretch of homes on the Seaside Heights, Lavalette border. One of the homes they are interested in is the bungalow.”

Y/N felt a twist in her gut. She wanted to sit, but she wouldn’t give her mother the satisfaction to have to toss her purse from the only other free chair. “Sss-so what? What does that have to do with you? Leo owns the bungalow.”

Sherry snorted a laugh, partially covering her mouth with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry, what? Says who?”

“Leo?” Y/N asked, but when she saw his expression, she already knew that Sherry wasn’t lying. “You own the bungalow, that’s what you told me. And that one day you would be deeding it to me.”

“I know that’s what I said, honey, but... “

“But my brother made some bad investments about eight years ago, and this time I was in a position to bail him out. He sold me the bungalow for a dirt cheap price with the promise you would never know.”

“I can’t believe this,” Y/N whispered to herself, hanging her chin towards her chest, and fighting the urge to pull her bun loose and pull out her hair.

“The reason I am here is because the Manger group wants to tear down the stretch of homes between the end of the boardwalk and 10th Street. Everything will be cleared and brand new condos will be going up.”

“You can’t just sell my home!” Y/N yelled, surprising even herself with the child-like whine in her tone. “Leo! You can’t… she can’t.. That’s… that’s MY HOME!”

“No, actually, Y/N. It’s not. It belongs to me,” Sherry said calmly while pinching the bridge of her nose. “I have allowed you to stay there, and took no credit for it because I know how you feel about me. But it’s time to sell and move on. Besides, aren’t you living in Austin… or is it Vancouver?”

Her expression went from frustrated to ice cold. The steely gray eyes peered into Y/N’s and made her feel as she did when she was a child and being reprimanded by the woman in front of her. Sherry was daring her to take the bait, keep the fight going. Knowing she would stumble over her words and just end up looking like a child throwing a tantrum--which was just what Sherry wanted--she bit her lip.

“You told her about what I’m doing now?” Y/N turned to Leo once again. “Knowing our history and all she has put our family through, you still told her about the festival, Austin… did you tell her about Jensen, too?”

“No, Y/N, I didn’t tell her a thing about your life. I wouldn’t…”

“He’s not lying, Y/N. Other than selling me the bungalow, he’s been completely loyal to you, his niece, over me, his sister. But I can let that go… Nathan actually told me about your new life, and yes, even your new boyfriend. I always did like that Nate, no idea why you two broke up.”

Y/N’s blood began to boil beneath her skin at the sound of Nathan’s name. She swallowed thickly, the air caught somewhere in her throat. She must have gone pale, because Leo came out from behind his desk and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Honey, you alright?”

But Y/N barely registered his voice or his touch and kept her gaze fixed on her mother. “You… you talked to Nathan?”

“Yes, several times over the last few months. He kept me very up to date on everything you’ve been doing. He’s so proud of you.”

Now she did feel as if she were going to faint. Racing thoughts plagued her mind and while she couldn’t make sense of them, she also didn’t want to believe the feeling that was growing in the pit of her stomach could be true. Was it her own mother behind Nathan’s violence and not Dee? Could she be THAT cruel?

“Nathan is a psychopath…” she managed to squeak out, but once those words cleared her lips, she could feel the anger begin to flow right along with the volume of her voice. “A FUCKING PSYCHOPATH, MOTHER! Do you even KNOW what he did? Do you?! NO! Of course you don’t! You’re a fucking joke, you know that?!”

She paused for a moment, and was about to lay into Sherry further, when the office doors opened for the second time. When they all turned, Jensen was standing there in the doorway, a perplexed expression, his eyes narrowing in on Sherry as he tried to read the tension in the room.

“Someone wanna tell me what the shouting is all about?” Jensen said, taking a tentative step into Leo’s office and closing the door softly behind him. No one spoke until he reached Y/N’s side. “You alright, Trix?” he asked and protectively put his arm around the small of her back.

“No, not even a little. Jensen, this is Sherry… my mother.”

“Oh,” he said and brought his gaze back around to Sherry, who was now standing from the chair and approaching him with her hand outstretched in a greeting.

“Nice to meet you. You must be the Jensen I’ve heard so much about.”

“Hmm… that’s me… and, uh, who was telling you all about me? Because I know Y/N and you don’t talk so...?” Jensen trailed off and looked over to Leo, who shrugged slightly and shook his head.

“Nathan did,” Y/N spoke up, and instantly felt Jensen’s body stiffen against hers.

Jensen’s expression went steely and cold. “Did he now?”

“Mhm… apparently he and Sherry here have been in touch more than a few times over the last year. Isn’t that right, mom?”

“Yes. And I am sorry you think he’s a psychopath, but--”

“Wait,” Jensen interrupted with a snarky laugh. “THINK he’s a psychopath? THINK? Lady… we have first hand proof of his instability and violence. Let’s start with the fact that he put your daughter in the hospital after breaking her nose and giving her a concussion. Then, let’s move on to when he just showed up at her place in Austin, harassing her. Or how he broke into that house and trashed everything in it! If that’s not enough proof for you… the last time your daughter saw him, he jumped her in a parking lot and tried to choke her!”

Leo and Sherry stood speechless, staring at Jensen as his own anger grew. Y/N stood stoically beside him, torn between feeling sick at hearing it all back again and loving Jensen even more for standing up for her. Not too many people had ever done that for her in her life.

“Y/N, I had no idea it was that bad…” Leo rasped, emotion filling his features.

“Doesn’t matter Leo,” she said and pushed back her shoulders. “He’s wanted for questioning in both cases. So, Sherry, if you know where he is now, and don’t tell us or the Austin Police Department, I will have them charge you as an accessory.” Finding some new found strength, she stepped away from Jensen’s side and moved closer to her mother. “For all you have put me through, for all you put my FATHER through, if you protect Nathan, if you give him one minute of asylum, I will be more than happy to do whatever I have to for them to charge you with aiding and abetting a fugitive.”

Sherry stared at her daughter, speechless. When she turned to her brother, Leo’s sour expression said all she needed to know. “Well, I will take that under advisement,” she said as she slowly reached for her purse off the chair.

“No need to rush out, you and Leo continue your business. Jensen and I are leaving.”

Not another word was said by any of them. As Jensen and Y/N laced their fingers together, and headed out the double doors of Leo’s office, the silence was so deafening, the world’s smallest pin could be heard dropping to the plush carpeted floor.

“Where were you this morning anyway?” Y/N asked absently as she watched the familiar scenery of the shore go by slowly out of the passenger side window of the rental car.

“Just had to run a quick errand,” he replied nonchalantly. “What made you go to Leo’s office in the first place?”

“Oh shit,” she mumbled and shook her head in frustration. “I wanted to ask him a favor. When I walked in and saw Sherry, I completely forgot about it.”

“What favor?”

Y/N shrugged. “Was going to ask him to borrow his boat for the afternoon. Thought we could take it out on the bay.”

“We can still find a boat rental I’m sure--”

“Nah, fuck that,” Y/N said, and suddenly sat up straighter in her seat. “Make your next right and go til you can’t go anymore. We’re taking Leo’s anyway.”

Jensen took his attention from the road to stare her down, seeing if she was serious. By the devilish gleam in her eyes and hint of the sly smile on her face, he knew without a doubt, she was.

It took barely fifteen minutes for Y/N to ransack Leo’s house for the boat keys, and another five for her and Jensen to walk down to the marina where he docked it. As they approached Leo’s thirty-eight foot Rinker Yacht, Sunset Dreams, Jensen’s eyes lit up.

“Well damn, Trix. I thought we were taking out a small boat. Maybe we should tell him. This thing is no joke.”

“Oh, I know. I’ve taken it out before. And trust me, after what Leo did to me, he owes me one.”

“What did he do? Is that what the fighting was about back at his office? Because we never really did get to that…”

Y/N paused as she opened the gate to the Dreams’ slip. Her shoulders fell as her head dipped towards her chest. He could see just from her stance that she was feeling defeated, almost like the night of the break-in. But there was more anger in her this time and he knew that whatever had happened in that office before he got there, was weighing her down like a stone.

She turned to him and he could see she wasn’t ready to answer him. “Can we talk about it later? Right now I just want to get out on the water and not think about anything.”

Jensen took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. “Of course. C’mon, let’s go steal your uncle’s yacht.”

Y/N wasted no time firing up the engine, and prepping the boat to set sail. Jensen watched her movements, impressed with her knowledge and comfort in maneuvering the large vessel. She had no fear steering it from its slip at the marina and navigating it expertly through the canals that wrapped around large homes like the waterways of Venice. Occasionally, Y/N would look over her shoulder at Jensen, who stood in the same spot, just observing her every action.

“Wanna drive, Hollywood?”

Jensen shook his head. “Nah, I am enjoying my view from right here just fine.”

She rolled her eyes and smirked at him just like she normally did and went back to driving the boat. Where that common gesture of hers normally amused him, this time it left him feeling… wrong.

“Hey,” he said, stepping closer and placing his hand on her shoulder to turn her attention back to him. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, woman. I wasn’t trying to be cute.”

“Awww, you don’t have to try,” she teased and playfully patted his cheek. He knew her well enough at this point that he could tell she was covering any sort of “real” talk with her charming sarcastic wit. Any other time he would banter with her like this all day, but right then he felt the need to reiterate to her why he was so intently watching her.

“Y/N, stop. Don’t try and brush me off with a joke. You know why I stand here sometimes and just watch you?” His eyes searched hers curiously, and she tried to look away. Jensen wasn’t having it and gently directed her face back to his. “I mean it. Do you know?”

“N-No…” she said with a tired shrug. “Why?”

“Because you amaze me. And not just because I think you’re absolutely beautiful. It’s everything. Yes, I love your face, and your messy buns. Hell, I even love your old worn out band shirts. But I love everything you do. You tackle everything with a kind of energy and determination that is only rivaled by over-sugared toddlers at bedtime.”

Y/N couldn’t help but snort a laugh as she quickly covered her mouth and nose with her hand in mild embarrassment.

“Yeah, you laugh… you didn’t know Jared’s kids at that age… my GOD... “ he paused, allowing his smile to fade and worked on bringing her back to his point. “Trix, you have no idea what you have brought into my life. Forget the fact that I am ridiculously head over heels in love with you… but just the things you do amaze me. You sing like an angel, create music, produce, organize… somehow can keep Robbie in line, carry the weight of the world on your shoulders and still manage to keep going. Hell, now I find out you can steal and drive a yacht like it's as simple as tying your shoes? You make me laugh, and make me feel passionate about life again. You make me believe and have faith in things that I didn’t put much stock in before. So, sometimes, when I am just sitting back and watching you… it's because I am amazed that someone as wonderful as you--for some reason--decided I was the schmuck you wanted to spend your free time with.”

Y/N’s (y/c/e) filled with tears, and despite her best efforts they spilled quickly down her cheeks. “I swear to God Jensen, if you get down on one knee right now I will throw your ass overboard,” she quipped and swiped at the remaining drops on her cheek.

“Go for it, I can swim,” he shrugged, and brushed a stray hair from her face. “I want you to hear what I am saying. Really hear me, okay?”

She bit down on her lip and nodded softly.

“Y/N, you have endless potential and I hate that those people who were supposed to be there to support you and encourage you, failed you. I hate what I walked in on in Leo’s office today and I don’t even have the details yet. I hated it because I could tell you felt attacked and alone. I never, ever want you to feel that way again. You got me, baby. I will be your family, your friend, your partner… and so will Robbie, Bri… all of us.”

“Jensen… I... “ she couldn’t find the words she needed. To give herself time, she quickly turned back to the control deck of the Sunset Dreams and gently guided the vessel into the open waters of the Barnegat Bay. Jensen waited for her to gather her thoughts, and didn’t press for a response or even acknowledgement of his declaration. Instead, knowing she would reply when she was ready, he stepped back and continued watching her work.

A little while later, she killed the engine and just let the yacht float freely. Y/N turned back to Jensen, and instead of saying anything, she simply took his hand and led him out onto the cushioned seats that lined the stern. He followed her lead and sat down, but never let go of her hand.

“Today I found out that Leo sold the bungalow to my mother. She holds the deed for the house and land.”

“Oh…” Jensen didn’t know if that was a question or a statement himself. “W-Why would he do that?”

“Sherry claims he made some bad investments, and she bailed him out for a change. That whole thing makes no sense, because no way my mother has that kind of money laying around.”

“Rich boyfriend?”

“I don’t know. Doesn’t matter anymore. She agreed to sell the land to a developer. This group wants to come in and demolish a bunch of houses right there on that stretch of beach… mine… the Sinatra house… gone. All to put up some crappy time share condos for idiots to come and trash our town.”

“Jesus…” Jensen groaned and sat back against the cushions, finally allowing her hand to slip from his. He leaned forward in frustration, resting his elbows on his knees and rubbing his hands over his face. “Is there any way to stop her?”

“I don’t know, Jay. But… that’s my home. That’s the one thing I have left of my father.” Her voice cracked on the last word, and Jensen didn’t hesitate to pull her into him. He turned her body so that her back rested against his chest, as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, clasping his hands above her breasts.

Jensen rested his chin on her shoulder, his lips a breath away from her ear. “Baby, no matter what… your dad is always with you,” he said softly.

That one sentence was what finally broke her. The tears came in heaping waves and his grip on her tightened. After months and months of stress, close calls and constant fear that Nathan had caused her, Jensen wasn’t surprised in the least that she was unloading it all. She crossed her arms over his as he sat there holding her until the tears finally stopped.

“I’m sorry,” she sniffed, and tried to move from his embrace.

“Don’t you dare apologize,” he replied and pulled her closer. “You’ve been holding all that in way too long.”

“Doesn’t mean I need to snot all over you. Lemme up.” Y/N tapped his arms to let her go, and this time he complied.

Y/N disappeared down into the galley for a moment, but returned a moment later with a handful of tissues and two bottles of cold beer. She handed one to him and twisted the cap off her own before sitting back down.

“Thank you,” she started and held her hand up to stop him when it looked like he was going to try and interrupt her. “My turn, okay?”

Jensen nodded and opened his beer.

“You’re not the only one amazed, okay? What you have done for me, what you have done for… everyone. You inspire me, Jensen. You make me want to get up and tackle things like a sugar-fueled toddler,” she snorted a delicate laugh. “You helped me come out of my shell, and do things I didn’t think I had it in me to do. You’re a great partner to work with, you’re everything a girl could ask for in a guy. So let’s just say I am as equally shocked as you are, that I am the one you want to share your time with.”

“I didn’t say all that to make you--”

“Hush. I’m talking now, Hollywood. You had your turn.”

Y/N took a sip of her beer then inched a bit closer to Jensen. She caressed the side of his cheek and leaned in to kiss his lips, longingly, but gentle. “I love you, Jensen. No matter what happens from here on out, never doubt that.”

“Even when I know deep down that it was Robert who has really captured your heart,” he replied; his ability to keep a straight face was absolutely infuriating to Y/N, who’s serious demeanor cracked instantly.

“Yes, jerk. Even though Robert will always secretly be my number one. But never tell him, it will just go to his head.”

She couldn’t dismiss the smile that had returned to her face, nor did she want too. Only Jensen knew just what to say, and how to say it, so she could say what she needed to, and yet moments later come back to their version of normal; smiling and joking with each other as they always did.

Jensen cleared his throat and took her hand in his again, giving it a slight squeeze. “I just want to say one more thing, and then we can drop it for now, okay?”

Y/N nodded and motioned for him to continue.

“Let me look into the developers and see what’s going on. If I can help, I want to. But I won’t without your okay. I want to work with you, never against you.”

“Okay,” she said, and kissed him again. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

“That’s my girl.” Jensen winked at her and pulled a long drink from his bottle. “Now, whatcha say we get some music on, and now you let me drive this baby further out into the bay?”

For the next hour, Jensen navigated the boat through the bay, while Y/N pointed out all the places she had fond memories of from growing up in Seaside. He listened to each detail, soaking in as much about her past as he was of the hot September sun. They laughed a lot, and occasionally he would notice her looking off into the distance, quiet and contemplative. He didn’t intrude on those moments; he wanted her to be able to let her mind wander, but knew he had the ability to pull her back when she started drifting too far from him.

After several hours, the heat of the day was getting intense. Being out on the water provided a cooling breeze, but the feeling of the sun on their skin was making it borderline uncomfortable.

Y/N went down into the galley to grab them each a cold water. When she returned, she placed his on the side of the controls and asked, “Wanna go for a swim?”

“Where? Here in the bay? Is that safe with all the jet skis and other boats?”

“No, I know a safe spot we can anchor and take a quick swim.”

“I don’t have a bathing suit. Someone forgot to inform me of our plans to steal a yacht today.” Jensen frowned and shrugged playfully.

“Oh, please. I am sure there is a suit down in the galley you can borrow. Or…” she trailed off, and leaned back to check out his ass. “I have no problem watching you go skinny dipping.”

“We’ve talked about this, Trix. You need to love me for more than just my body.”

“I do, I promise. I love your front as much as your back.”

“Alright, perv… where’s this ‘safe spot’ you wanna get me naked at?”

Y/N wiggled her brows and flashed him that same grin she had when she suggested stealing Leo’s yacht. Jensen didn’t think he could be anymore in love with her than he was at that moment. She was fun, and easy to be with. Even in the moments where things looked bleak, or they struggled with outside influences like Dee and Nathan, Y/N was still the only woman he could ever imagine loving for the rest of his life.

Twenty minutes later, she was instructing Jensen on how to drop the anchor and shut down the engines. Once the boat was secured, she retrieved a pair of swim trunks for him to change into. Y/N didn’t wait for him to return, she peeled off her tank top and shorts, revealing the simple dark blue bikini beneath it and dove head first into the cool bay water. When she surfaced, she saw Jensen standing at the stern, his hands on his hips and a contented soft smile on his lips.

“Couldn’t wait for me, huh?”

“Nope. Too damn hot to wait for you. Come on in, the water feels amazing!”

Y/N dipped beneath the water again, submerging her head completely then propelling herself back up when she felt Jensen splash into the water beside her. They were the only two in sight; no other boats around, no people watching from the shoreline. They were alone in their own little world and neither of them could have been happier.

Splashing at each other, swimming and even a little bet on who could make it back to the boat the fastest kept them busy until each of their stomachs started rumbling at nearly the same exact moment.

“Guess maybe we should eat something,” she suggested as she swam by him towards the boat’s ladder.

“Not so fast, Trix,” he said, grabbing her by the waist and yanking her against him.

He loved how she felt when she was close and could never seem to get enough of her. Since she agreed to stay with him in Vancouver, they had been together countless times. Never once did he tire of her touch, or her kiss. The more days that passed by, the more he craved her. Just the thought of it caused him to grow hard, and his mouth went to her neck, biting and kissing from her shoulder up to her ear.

Y/N was just as infatuated with his touch as he was with hers, and didn’t hesitate to stretch out her neck to let him kiss her. She wanted him to keep going, to take her right there in the water. If not for another loud rumble from her stomach, she would have encouraged him to do so.

“Jay…” she moaned just loud enough for him to hear her over the small waves lapping against the boat. “Wait…”

“Hmmm?” he replied without removing his lips from her neck.

She laughed and struggled out of his embrace. When she finally broke free, she swam back towards the boat.

“Come on, Trix!”

“Dude, I need to eat. So do you. There’s a restaurant less than a mile from here that has a parking lot for boats. We can go eat, then come back and pick this up.”

“Seriously? A parking lot for boats… you mean… a marina?”

“I seriously hate you right now. Come on, let’s get dry and dressed, go eat and then maybe, if you aren’t being a pain in the ass, I’ll let you get to second base.”

Jensen couldn’t help but laugh as she flashed him a challenging expression just before she reboarded the boat. Lifting one of the cushioned seats, she pulled out two towels and wrapped one around her shoulders. When he realized she wasn’t getting back in the water, he sighed and resigned himself to just having to wait to have her until later.

Within an hour Jensen was directing the Sunset Dreams into a slip at the Water Street Restaurant and Marina. He got a little to close on the starboard side and nearly hit another boat.

“One too many beers there, Captain?” She teased, “Maybe next time I should be the one to park.”

Deciding to ignore her jab, he offered his elbow and escorted her to dinner at Water Street. As they approached the patio entrance, they both realized just how crowded the place was. Forgetting it was Labor Day weekend at the shore, Y/N turned to him and shrugged.

“Sorry… maybe this place isn’t a good idea. I can tell you right now, you will get recognized and bombarded by people if we walk in there. Don’t know where my head is at today… Tomorrow is Labor Day, every restaurant in this town is going to be insanely busy.”

“They do take out? Let’s grab a bunch of apps and just go back to the boat. Besides, I really wanna get back to what we were doing before. That is much more appetizing to me right now than a plate of mozzarella sticks.”

As if on cue, a waitress walked through the patio carrying a large tray of food. The smell of which smacked Jensen right in the face and immediately caused his stomach to grumble in protest loud enough for Y/N to hear it clearly.

“Yeah,” she laughed. “Take out is a great idea. Head back to the boat, I’ll order up some stuff and meet you back there.”

“You sure?” he asked and when she nodded, he leaned in and kissed her lips. “Alright… get some wings… maybe some onion rings.” She nodded again and went to head inside. “Wait, Trix! If they got nachos---”

“On it,” she laughed and left him with a wink and that smile that could bring him to his damn knees.

For as busy as the place was, it didn’t take Y/N too long to return with their take-out order. She chose four different appetizers for them to share, plus a six-pack of a local brew she liked. He was impressed with the craft beer, and as he suggested getting some for the festival she shook her head.

“Already done. They came on board two months ago and will have a booth right next to Javier and Midway.”

“Told you that you were amazing,” Jensen mused and took another swig from the bottle before shoving a handful of nachos into his mouth. “Alright, enough work talk. Let’s get this bad boy back out to the bay so I can have my way with you.”

“Good lord man, can’t you let your food settle? You’re liable to get a cramp.”

“Oh, I’m gonna stiffen up alright…” Jensen took the onion ring from her hand and tossed it back in the container, before he lowered himself down towards her. He was being playful and flirty, no real intentions of taking her right there on the stern of the boat in front of a patio full of diners. But hearing her laugh as she smacked his shoulder, trying to thwart his advances, made his heart flutter and his knees go weak.

“You’re insufferable,” Y/N laughed and got up from her seat. “Why don’t you clean up, and I’ll get the boat going to head back towards Leo’s. I am sure we could find a quiet place to anchor for an hour or so; make good use of that stateroom.”

She kissed him sweetly and when he was wrapped up in returning it, she slipped out from under him.

“That’s the second time today you’ve denied me, Trix. Careful or I’m going to develop a complex.”

“Ha! Okay… whatever you say, Hollywood,” she said as she blew him a kiss and headed up to the Captain’s Chair to get the Sunset Dreams in motion.

Once the engines were roaring, she carefully maneuvered the vessel out of its slip and back into the channel that led to the open bay waters. It was a tight squeeze through Water Street’s marina, but she took her time and eventually got the boat clear and headed towards open waters. She could hear Jensen below deck, humming to himself as he went about cleaning up. A minute or two later, music began playing from the galley and she correctly assumed he found Leo’s hidden stereo system that was wired to play through the entire vessel. While he scanned the radio stations, she kept her vision straight ahead but her thoughts reflected on the day.

Their earlier conversation was fresh in her mind, though she tried her best not to show him how much it had affected her. She knew that he loved her, and that she could trust him. But the way he handled her mother, the way he held her and just let her cry… the overwhelming surge of love she felt for him was unexpected and threw her for a loop. She was scared, but invigorated by the excitement he made her feel. She could be her authentic self around him with no worry of judgement or repercussions. Other than her father, she never felt like that around anyone else in her life.

From below, she could hear him scanning the stations and when he finally found something he liked, she heard the volume turn all the way up. He was singing along at the top of his lungs as he moved around down there. Y/N had to resist the urge to go wrap her arms around him, then let him take her to bed. She gave one last look at the gauges and noticed gas was low. Knowing there was enough to hit the cove, then get back to Leo’s marina, she set the course to head back to the secluded spot for a bit before returning her uncle’s prized vessel.

Jensen had finished cleaning up and fiddled with the radio for a bit trying to find a good XM Station. He caught a classic rock one that played one great song after the next, and when Bryan Adam’s Summer of 69 started up three songs later, he celebrated with a quiet fist pump and began to sing along again. He was so wrapped up in the song and tidying up around the galley, he never felt the Sunset Dreams come to a stop, nor did he hear Y/N come down the small flight of stairs.

By the second chorus, he turned and saw her there. A grin on her face stretched ear to ear, casually leaning against the frame of the doorway that led down into the small kitchen area. Jensen didn’t care for a second that he got busted, nor did he miss a beat. He went to her, grabbed her hand and pulled her down the steps and into the kitchenette. Jensen moved her in animated fashion, twirling her around the galley, then gripping her waist tight, and dipping her back as he sang at the top of his lungs…

“Oh when you held my hand,

I knew that it was now or never.

Those were the best days of my life.

OH YEAH!”

His whole demeanor caused her to erupt with laughter. The more he danced and sang with her, the harder she laughed. When the song finally ended, they were both trying to catch their breath. The first few notes of Bad Company’s Feel Like Makin’ Love began to play through the speakers, and any thoughts either of them had to take a breather, was gone.

Jensen’s hands were on her waist again, pulling her closer against him. Y/N wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. Clothes flew off in all directions as he walked her back a few steps towards the small bedroom. Y/N fell back onto the bed and giggled as Jensen struggled to get his last bit of clothing off before he pulled down her bikini bottoms. He stood back for a moment and just allowed his eyes to drink her in and appreciate just how magical she really was. Every inch of her body, flawed or not, was beautiful to him. From a single strand of hair, down to the tips of her toes, there wasn’t an inch of her he wasn’t fascinated by.

Y/N propped herself up on her elbows and flashed him a wanting look. “Jay… you’re doing that staring thing again.”

“How could I not... “ he slowly climbed on the bed, gently pushed her to lay down and hovered his body over hers. “...when I have the most amazing woman in the world, naked, laying here in front of me.”

“You’re gonna get laid, you don’t have to lay it on so thick,” she teased.

His eyes grabbed hers and refused to let go. When he spoke again, his voice was raspy and low. “I know there’s a dirty joke in there somewhere, but right now all I want to do is show you how much I love you.”

Jensen kissed her sweetly, but the sweetness faded to passion almost immediately. They didn’t need foreplay; the whole day had been leading up to this moment. She was ready for him, and relished in the way he took her; slowly letting himself slide into the part of her that ached most for him, and letting his lips linger on hers as he did. Y/N softly moaned his name as her head dipped back, and his mouth trailed lingering kisses down her chin to her neck.

There was no hurry, no animalistic urge taking over this time. Each time their bodies came together, the rush of love and intimacy was what made it feel euphoric. Sex was a common occurrence for them and never once had it been mediocre or vanilla. They made love until their bodies couldn’t hold out any longer, and when Y/N’s orgasm hit her, she wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, pulling his mouth to hers as she whispered “I love you” into his lips. Her words alone made Jensen’s climax follow, and he gripped her just as tight.

When his body stopped shaking, he rolled off her and laid on the bed beside her. He immediately drew her against him, and she rested her head on his chest while his fingers lightly glided along her arm.

“I love you, Trix,” he said softly, followed by a loving kiss against her forehead. “More than I could ever really explain.”

Y/N snuggled closer into him and closed her eyes. She felt her body relax against his, and as his breathing slowed and leveled out, Y/N could feel herself fall further into a state of relaxation that she hadn’t felt in a long time. The sun, water, food and sex had done them in and Y/N and Jensen were lulled to sleep by the gentle waves rocking the Sunset Dreams.

By the time Y/N opened her eyes again, the light in the stateroom was much dimmer than it had been when they stumbled in earlier. She sat straight up and immediately felt how cold the room had become.

“What the fuck,” she mumbled, then looked over at Jensen, who was still snoring softly beside her. “Jensen… Jay… wake up.” She gave his arm a tap, waited a moment, then gave him a harder tap.

He woke up with a snort, and wiped at some drool that had escaped the corner of his mouth. “What time… where…” the roar of a jet ski engine whizzed past the port window, “right… Boat.”

“We passed out,” she said as she got up off the bed, taking the blanket and wrapping it around her shoulders. “Why is it so cold in here? Did we sleep until winter?”

“Oh shit, no. I forgot, when I came down here earlier to clean up, I found the air conditioning controls. Thought I would cool it off down here since it was so hot out on deck before.”

Y/N heard his words, but couldn’t react. After he said the words air conditioner, her mind was reeling.

“No… no no no,” she mumbled and started to scan the floor for her clothes.

“What? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, not at all. I just--just wait. Let me…” she got distracted looking for her clothes, then remembered the rest were in the kitchen. Jensen, half amused, watched her with fascination as she procured her top and shorts and tried to put them on as she stumbled through the galley towards the stairs to the deck. “Be right back!”

Y/N got to the Captain’s chair and checked the gauges. She saw the gas had run down lower, but it still registered there was enough fuel to get them back. She fell back into the seat with a relieved sigh and laughed to herself. Jensen appeared a moment later, back to fully clothed and peering over her shoulder with concern.

“We okay? Something wrong?”

“Low on fuel. Thought the AC would have drained it but I guess we’re good,” she shrugged, and went to turn the engines back on.

When they first failed to turn over, she brushed it off, waited a moment and tried again. Nothing. Looking back over her shoulder, Jensen replied with a silent shrug. Y/N tried again, and this time, the gas gauge fell straight to E.

“What the fuck,” she mumbled and flicked it with her fingers. When she did, it sprang back up to full, then fell to half, then fell back to empty. She felt her stomach drop, then couldn’t help the fit of laughter that followed.

Jensen watched her in amusement. “What?”

“Gauge is broken,” she laughed, “we’re out of gas.”

“Are you messing with me?” he asked, half joking, half serious. “Tell me you’re joking, Trix.”

Y/N shook her head. “Wish I could, but… nooope. We are stuck.”

“You’re way too cool about this.”

“It’s not a big deal, but--” Y/N’s cell phone started to ring from the depths of her clutch down in the galley, cutting off her words. “How much you wanna bet that’s Leo.”

Y/N jumped up and ran down into the galley, grabbing it on the last ring before voicemail.

“Hello?” she answered half breathless.

“You took it again, didn’t you?” Leo asked, his tone already resigned with knowing.

“Ummm… yeah.”

“Wish you woulda asked. Gas gauge is broken.”

“Sorta just figured that out. That’s actually why I came to the office this morning. Was going to ask you to borrow the boat today.”

“Honey, about that--”

“Leo, I appreciate you wanting to talk, but right now, I just wanna get this thing moving and come back; enjoy the rest of my vacation. I promise you, we will talk though.”

“Alright. If that’s what you want to do. I’ll give Gus a call and have him meet you out that way. Where are ya?”

“We are anchored out by the cove, across from Water Street.”

“Hang tight. Have someone out soon.”

They said their goodbyes, and Y/N returned her phone to the counter with a relieved sigh. She knew her uncle wouldn’t care about the boat. A service call for a fill up is a drop in the bucket for him. The relief was more because he didn’t press the issue. Leo liked to talk things out to death sometimes, and that weekend was for her and Jensen. Sherry’s unexpected return already threw a wrench in things, but she didn’t want to go back to that dumpster fire of a situation.

Y/N turned to head back up, and Jensen was already coming down the stairs. “What’d he say?”

“He’s sending out his friend Gus with fuel. Gus doesn’t live too far from here, and it’s not the first time this has happened so…” she trailed off with a shrug, but a bit of melancholy threatened beneath it. “It will take him an hour at least. You already cleaned up in here, I’ll go take care of the stateroom.”

She turned to leave and Jensen gently grabbed her arm. “Whoa, whoa. Hold on there, Trix. What’s up? Don’t act all cool for my benefit. What else did Leo say?”

“Just wanted to talk about what happened today. Told him we could, just not now. I just want to enjoy our time together. Not think about anymore bullshit.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Jensen smiled at her softly, the crinkles around his eyes slightly more defined. As he cupped the side of her face with his palm, she leaned into him and closed her eyes. She leaned forward and rested her head against his chest as he moved his arms to wrap around her snuggly. “The rest of today and tomorrow. It’s all for us. Then Tuesday we get back to real life. Until then, I say we have the best damn time we can have. Eat and drink ourselves into a comatose state and then wake up and go nuts on each other.”

Y/N snorted a laugh into his chest and when she looked up at him, he was flashing her a cheesy smile and wiggling his brows.

“You read my mind,” she replied and hugged him back while she rested her head back on his chest.

“Good. So, what’s on tonight’s agenda?”

“Let’s go find a bar with some live music, have a few shots, few drinks… go make out on the beach again.”

“See, this is why we get along so well,” Jensen teased. “Now go clean up in there, woman, I’ll get our stuff together.”

A couple hours later, Leo’s boat had been returned, and Jensen and Y/N finally made their way to their room at the Grenville. Each enjoyed a refreshingly cool shower and changed, ready for a night out on the boardwalk. After some quick Google searching and little consideration, Y/N told him where to go so they could go check out EJ’s Tap House. She had been there many times before and knew the venue well. It was a corner bar up on the boardwalk, right at the end of the pier with the rides. They always had great live bands, and the beer on tap was cold ‘n cheap. It was easily her favorite place to hang out in.

Jensen parked the rental car, and was once again hit in the face with the overwhelming aroma of boardwalk food.

“I know we ate but damn, we are going to have to get something up here later.”

“It’s Labor Day weekend, everything will be open, I promise,” she laughed and caught up to him in front of the car. Jensen grabbed her hand and led the way up the ramp to the main boardwalk.

The band playing that night at EJ’s was one Y/N had seen a few times in a variety of places up and down the shore. 7Minds was a popular local band, but had turned her down when she approached them about the festival. When she saw they were playing at her favorite bar, she knew that’s where they needed to go.

As they walked through the room, they found a quiet table off to the side of the stage. Once the seats were claimed, Jensen went to the bar to get their drinks, and Y/N sat watching the band set up the stage with their mics, speakers and instruments. As a musician herself, she was always fascinated with other musicians’ and their process of setting their stage. She had never played anything much bigger than a burlesque show at the Bamboo; but with that she had the rest of the cast, props… costumes. She could become Trixie Luna and transform herself into someone with the real confidence it takes to fill a stage. As she sat and watched, she couldn’t help but question if she could do that as herself, and more importantly, BY herself. Robbie was so adamant about her playing a set. But even with the promise of Louden Swain behind her, she didn’t know if her presence would be enough to conquer the stage successfully.

By the time Jensen returned with their drinks, the band had finished their setup, then vacated the stage. Due to start in a few minutes, Jensen moved his chair to sit beside her and get a better view.

“Is this one of the festival bands?” he asked after sipping at his bottle of beer.

“Nope, they turned me down.”

“Seriously? Why? H-How do you turn down an opportunity like that?”

Y/N shrugged. “Never really got a firm reason. They just declined every time I called. Wouldn’t even really hear me out.”

“Then why did you wanna come hear them play? Screw them.”

“They’re a good band, Jay. They got a big following. Thought if I could catch them in person... “ she gave an innocent shrug and took a swig from her own bottle.

“Ah, I gotcha. Gonna corner them and turn on the charm… good plan.”

“No, I’ll corner them, YOU charm them. I need you to put your famous face to work, baby,” she winked animatedly and shot him a finger gun.

He feigned disgust with her and leaned back in his chair. “How dare you, madam. I am not your whore. Just a pretty face to peddle out when you need something.”

She playfully blew him off. “Mmmhmm, whatever you say.”

“Seriously though, I thought you wanted to just enjoy the weekend. No family drama, no work…”

“Have you seen me pick up my cell phone once?”

“Leo did call earlier.”

She rolled her eyes. “Have you seen me pick up my phone for WORK, once?”

“No, I have not.”

“See, I’m being good. But, I want to give it one more try with them. If they aren’t even slightly receptive, I won’t push it.”

“Promise? Cause I’ve seen you work. I know how persistent you can be.”

“That’s when I was trying to impress you. You’re mine now. I can stop trying,” Y/N shrugged and casually looked away.

Before Jensen could throw out yet another sarcastic remark, the band interrupted his thought as they took the stage. All seven members got ready and within a minute, their instruments were in hand and they began to jam.

Right off the bat, Jensen could see why she was still in pursuit of them for the festival. Their sound was a very unique blend of Jazz, Rap and Ska, and their energy was off the charts. The set list varied in covers and originals, one of which made the crowd scream with excitement as the opening notes of the local’s favorite Seaside Tony began to play. Jensen found himself laughing at the lyrics and tapping his feet to the music.

The crowd was singing along, and the vibe of the bar was infectious. Jensen kept stealing glances over at Y/N, and found he enjoyed watching her even more than the band and the crowd. Her eyes were as wide as her smile as she moved to the music in her chair.

Eventually she felt him watching her, and instead of calling him out on it, she leaned in closer to him. “They’re awesome, aren’t they? I love how they just command the entire place’s attention.”

“They are friggin’ fantastic! Kinda hard not to command a room with seven guys on the stage and making that level of noise.”

“I’ve seen them do it with some slower covers too. They’re just infections.”

“So are you, you know,” he said and gave her a look that said, you better know it.

“I’m serious, Jay-”

“So am I, Y/N. You could get up there right now, with nothing but a guitar and get just as much attention as these guys do. In fact, I bet you anything you could do it.”

“Yeah, well, I guess we’ll see. I’m supposed to play a set with Robbie and the guys at the festival…”

“Don’t tell me you're nervous?”

“Of course I am,” she laughed and turned her body away from the stage to face him. “I’m terrified, Jensen. Look at those guys, this is like second nature to them.”

“I’ve seen you on a stage, it's in your nature, too.”

“No, not like that. Not--” Y/N stopped herself and looked back at the stage. She didn’t know how to describe her fear so that he could understand. “It’s not that… I know I am meant to write, play and create music; to work with other musicians. I guess I’m just not yet convinced I am meant to be in the spotlight. I play smaller bars than this. To play EJ’s would have been a dream come true.”

“Yeah, so… do it. You could get up there and take this whole place over. You’ll do it at the festival, too. I know you will.”

The love and encouragement he flooded her with in his gaze was physically overwhelming. She could feel her nerves begin to fade, not completely, but enough to waylay them for the moment.

“What the hell did I do in this world to have met somebody like you? You’re not real… you can’t be.”

“Why? Because I have faith in you? Because the way you interpret music and the sound of your voice fascinates me? Baby, that’s all you. I’m just along for the ride and holding on for dear life. Because I never, ever want to be without you or the feeling you give me.”

Y/N leaned in and kissed him, letting her lips linger for a moment before pulling away. She wanted to say I love you, but the words got stuck somewhere in her throat. She’d said them to him a dozen times or more, but right then and there, all she could do was smile.

The band interrupted their moment when they announced they were taking a short break. Jensen gave Y/N a wink, and without saying anything, got up from the table. Y/N assumed he was going for another round, or maybe a chance at the bathroom before the line grew again. Y/N was lost in her own thoughts about Jensen and the festival, when she felt the presence of someone approaching. Looking up with a wide grin, thinking it was Jensen, it quickly faded into a surprise when she saw one of the guys from the band standing in front of her.

“Hey, this is probably weird but, are you (Y/N L/N)? I’m Casey… I play the trumpet in the band.” His hand reached out to hers, and as she shook it, she remembered him more clearly.

“Yes, I am, and I remember you, Casey. We spoke on the phone, twice.”

“We did?” he said, his face scrunched curiously trying to remember as he ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair.

“About the festival, in Austin later this month….”

“Hmmm…. No, I know you from the Bamboo. You sing with The Corsettes, right?”

“Yeah, I do. But you don’t remember talking to me… turning me down for the music festival in Austin?”

Casey pulled out Jensen’s seat and sat it in. “Naw dude, I have no idea. I mean, I vaguely remember one of the guys mentioning it, but he said it was all bogus.”

Y/N let out a surprised laugh. “Bogus? Naw dude,” she replied, mocking his response. “It’s very real. I’ve spent the last almost year of my life helping to plan it.”

She gave Casey the short version of the details about the festival, and could tell it was the first he was hearing it all. When she finished, he leaned back in his seat, and again ran his hand through his hair.

“Man, I’m gonna kill these guys. That sounds fucking amazing. We would have jumped at the chance to play something like that!”

“It’s not too late, I am sure we could find a place for you if you wanna talk to them about it.”

“Most definitely--”

Jensen cleared his throat, stopped Casey in mid thought. “Sorry pal, the girl and the seat are both taken.” He carefully placed the two drinks on the table and straightened his shoulders, keeping his eyes glued to the strange guy in his seat.

“Oh, my bad man! I just recognized Y/N and wanted to come say hi. Then she told me about the festival, and--” this time, Casey interrupted himself and starred at Jensen in disbelief. “Holy shit! Dude! I know you too! You’re on TV! My sister watches your show constantly!”

Casey jumped up from the seat and stretched out his hand to Jensen. Jensen’s steely expression fell and was quickly replaced by a smile. “Oh wow, that’s awesome,” he said, shaking Casey’s hand. “Tell your sister I said thank you for watching.”

“This night is crazy,” Casey laughed and shook his head as he pulled out his cell phone. “Can I get a picture with you guys?!”

“Sure man,” Jensen agreed and went to stand closer to Casey.

“You guys go for it, I’ll take the pic,” Y/N suggested, but Casey shook his head.

“Hell no, you’re in this too!” Casey waved her over, insisting, so she went.

They snapped a few pictures and Casey tucked away his phone. “I gotta get back but hang out till after our set if you can and let me have more info on that festival. If it's not too late, we are definitely in!”

Y/N agreed and as Casey started to walk away, Jensen grabbed his shoulder and said something quietly. Between the noise of the bar, and the band starting to re-enter the stage, Y/N couldn’t hear what Jensen had said. Brushing it off, Y/N picked up her fresh bottle of beer Jensen brought over and waited for the band to start up again.

They played another hour long set, and the crowd’s energy didn’t dissipate once. Playing all the fan favorites, they slipped in a few covers before the set wound down. After their original Smuggling Snails, Casey approached the main microphone on the stage, as the other front men of 7Minds took a few steps back out of the spotlight.

“Thank you guys so much for always coming out to jam with us, sing along and get sloppy ass drunk while doing it! Before we close tonight though, I want to invite a local fan favorite to join us up here. Most of you guys have probably seen her at the Bamboo, leading those sexy ass Corsettes around, or strumming her guitar down at the Beachcomber on Sunday nights. Either way, tonight, she belongs to us and EJ’s Tap House! Y/N L/N, get your man and get your ass up here!”

Y/N’s stomach dropped and when she looked over at Jensen, he was grinning ear to ear.

“Did you do this?” she asked, her face wrought with shock. “When you talked to him before he left, did you tell him to do this?”

“No ma’am,” he said, shaking his head, then holding up his infamous Boy Scout salute. “Scout’s Honor.”

From the stage, Casey’s voice filled the sound system thru the bar, “Come on, Y/N! Show these people what they’re hometown girl can do!”

Y/N smiled at him nervously, and slowly began to stand up. “You’re coming with me,” she muttered as she reluctantly moved closer to the stage. The crowd was starting to send her cheers of encouragement, which helped move her feet along.

Jensen was right at her side. When they got on the stage, all but one member of the band stepped out of sight, leaving only the acoustic guitar player ready to accompany them. As Y/N and Jensen climbed the short staircase to the stage, the guitar player whispered, “What do you guys wanna do?”

Y/N went blank, all the songs, duets in particular, she and Jensen had discussed singing were completely vacated from her head. But Jensen didn’t hesitate, he leaned in and whispered to the man, Shallow. Yes, they had discussed it, but they hadn’t practiced that one together yet. Knowing exactly where her thoughts were headed, Jensen gave her hand a quick squeeze as he walked behind her to approach the second mic.

The guitar player began to strum the first few notes of the song, and the crowd picked up on the song immediately. Most of the women in the place responded with excited hoots and hollers. Y/N gave Jensen a nervous glance, and as the music rounded to his beginning lyrics, he gave her a little wink and began to sing.

“Tell me somethin', girl

Are you happy in this modern world?

Or do you need more?

Is there somethin' else you're searchin' for?

I'm falling

In all the good times I find myself

Longin' for change

And in the bad times I fear myself...”

Y/N loved the sound of his voice, and any time she heard it, she found herself getting lost in his full, rich tone with the gritty edges. She was so mesmerized by him singing those few lines, the nerves the crowd gave her dissipated almost immediately. Being on stage, singing next to him, gave her an immediate bout of confidence she didn’t know was possible.

The acoustic guitar came around to her first lines, and when she began to sing, she closed her eyes and just let Jensen’s presence guide her.

“Tell me something, boy

Aren't you tired tryin' to fill that void?

Or do you need more?

Ain't it hard keeping it so hardcore?

I'm falling

In all the good times I find myself

Longing for a change

And in the bad times I fear myself”

As she sang the words, it was as if she was hearing them for the first time. The words, so perfectly suited for her and her life… always fearful, afraid of change, yet longing for adventure. The way her life was, to the way her life is… she felt her stomach surge with passion, and the heat from the lights fell warm on her skin. The melody of the guitar began to swell, and so did her voice.

“I'm off the deep end, watch as I dive in

I'll never meet the ground

Crash through the surface, where they can't hurt us

We're far from the shallow now”

When Jensen’s voice reconnected with hers for the chorus, they blended together flawlessly. The harmony was so perfect, she couldn’t help but smile and look over at him. Their eyes locked as they sang...

“In the shallow, shallow

In the shallow, shallow

We’re far from the shallow now...”

He backed off from the microphone again, letting her carry the song to the bridge. Her voice carrying over the crowd and completely captivating them into near silence. Until the very end, Y/N let herself go and felt the words and the music surging through her.

“Oh. oohhhh, oh, ohhhh, ohhhhhhhhh….

Ohhh Oh, oohh oohhhhhhhhhhhh….

I'm off the deep end, watch as I dive in

I'll never meet the ground

Crash through the surface, where they can't hurt us

We're far from the shallow now”

One more time, Jensen joined her to carry the song to the end. When they finished, they were again looking at each other. The roar of the bar crowd was deafening and Y/N couldn’t stop herself from throwing her arms around Jensen’s neck and hugging him with every ounce of adrenaline that was coursing through her veins.

As he held her close, his lips were gentle against her ears. “They love you Trix, and so do I.”

Tag List:

Everything: @coffeebooksandfandom / @sorenmarie87 / @yallgotkik / @thefaithfulwriter / @sister-winchesters99 / @thymeheals / @keymology / @divadinag

SPN RPF (Jensen): @screechingartisancashbailiff / @winchesterxfamilybusiness / @sandlee44 / @wings-of-a-raven / @negans-wife / @kazosa / @deans-baby-momma / @teaspoin / @whiskeyandapplepie / @hobby27 / @breereadsthings / @maddiepants / @adoptdontshoppets / @squirrelnotsam / @faughnphotography / @katehuntington / @his-paradox / @deansenwackles / @destielhoneybee

When You Least Expect It: @mrsjenniferwinchester / @vickyfarley / @winchest09 / @jerkbitchidjitassbutt / @aomi-nabi / @luciathewinchestergirl / @alexiswinchester / @seppys-return-to-madness / @donnaintx / @deans-baby-momma / @the-is13 / @stoneyggirl / @captaindorit0 / @fanfictionjunkie1112 / @focusonspn / @deanwanddamons / @theebeee / @ultimatecin73 / @deanwinchesterswitch

Wanna get in on one of my tag lists? View the different Tag Lists, and send me an ask with which one you’d like to be on! Series Tags are on one sheet, Character tags on a second sheet.

#jensen ackles rpf #jensen ackles x y/n #jensen ackles x reader #jensen ackles x you #spn rpf #wylei #when you least expect it #jensen ackles fanfics #jensen ackles

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somekindoftuber · 6 years ago

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vld youtuber AU (klance, part 6)

Note: The city where Shiro and Keith live is called Springdale. I’d pictured both of these towns being in the Carolinas. Again, there are tense changes everywhere (sorry) but I plan to fix them later.

Thank you for all the great feedback!!

part one | part two | part three | part four | part five

Lance woke up surprisingly early on Saturday. Today they were headed to the fair. He brewed coffee and made a tentative battle plan for the day: walk around, see stalls, a few rides, some games, lunch, maybe renting a scooter to drive up to lookout hill to watch the sunset. It was the perfect opportunity for Lance to stop dancing around the issue and just tell Keith he’s in to him already.

Pidge pokes fun at him through breakfast as Lance makes a group text thread with everyone. They agree to meet up at the south entrance of the fairgrounds at 10:30.

Lance ends up making them late by spending too much time picking out his clothes. Keith and Shiro are both sporting a little pink on their noses and cheekbones from the sun on the beach the day before, but they’re all smiles as they pay for their wrist bands and head into the fair. It’s a typical American county fair ordeal, with rickety rented rides, badly rigged carnival games, and endless booths of cheap nick-nacks and fried foods. But there was always something about the Harborville fair that set it apart. There was an energy here, like the last bang of summer before cool autumn weather swept down the coast.

They buy tokens and move as a group at first, taking a lap around the fair before splitting up. Pidge and Hunk stick together as always, Allura drags Shiro off at a rather brisk pace, and that left Lance and Keith.

“Anything you wanna do?” Lance asks him.

Keith shrugs and smiles. “Anything’s good.”

They walk around for a while, stopping at booths here and there. They run into other members of their group from time to time, and Lance uses his phone to film bits of a vlog for later editing, catching Shiro and Keith in a few bits (“I’m here with my good friends Shiro and Keith! Say hi guys!”). Lance buys an inaugural funnel cake to split with Keith before hitting the prize games. Keith rolls his eyes as Lance goes for the ring toss, a game he swears up and down he’s mastered despite it being horribly rigged.

“Just you watch,” Lance tells Keith as he lines up a ring. “I’m gonna win you the biggest stuffed animal they have, and then you’ll understand my prowess.”

He swears Keith’s cheeks go red as he smiles. “Well, have fun. I’m gonna grab a soda.”

Lance is half disappointed and half relieved that Keith is no longer watching. So of course, when the guy he’s trying to impress leaves, Lance lands all three rings on a pole. He’s carefully eyeing the selection of stuffed prizes when Shiro appears at his left, seemingly out of thin air.

“You know,” he leans in a speaks close to Lance’s ear. “Hippos are Keith’s favorite animal.”

Lance turns to look up at him, confused, before Shiro gives him a knowing smile and walks away. Hippos? Okay, weird, but also kind of cute. When Lance re-examines the prizes, he spots a large pastel blue hippo near the back, with big button eyes, exaggerated stitching, and a white bow around its neck.

“That one,” he tells the game attendant, pointing.

Keith comes trotting back with a soda in each hand a few minutes later. He stops short when Lance comes up to him with the prize hippo in his arms, easily the size of a dog. Keith’s eyes go wide.

“Told you I’d win,” Lance beams, then holds out the stuffed animal. “Here you go.”

There’s an awkward shuffle as Lance takes the sodas so Keith can take the hippo, and Lance absolutely notices how Keith hugs it to his chest.

“Thanks,” Keith tells him, and his cheeks are pink in a way that has nothing to do with his sunburn.

Keith keeps holding the stuffed animal as they walk around, earning him a few stares. Lance has to admit he looks adorable - all sharp and intense, holding a giant fluffy toy like it’s precious treasure. They find the Racho Alegre food truck and Lance buys enough food for five people, setting the trays of empanadas, pork tamales, fried yucca fruit, papas rellenas and fried green plantains. He films a little, too, Keith protesting with a “don’t film me eating!” Lance passes Keith a mate soda and instructs him on how to properly enjoy Cuban food, and is pleased when Keith seems to enjoy all of it.

He might like the guy, a lot, but if Keith had ended up hating the food he grew up with? It might have been a deal breaker.

They chat at the picnic table for a good half hour as they digested, then walk around some more, Lance filming on his phone here and there. He spots the scooter rental place nearby, and eagerly points at it. But when they get closer, he frowns.

“Aw man,” Lance bemoans. “I was thinking it’d be cool to drive up to the hill to watch the air show, but all the scooters are rented out.”

Keith raises an eyebrow. “They’re not? There’s a whole bunch lined up.”

Lance shrugs. “Yeah, but those are the 50cc engine ones. You need a motorcycle license for those.”

“Yeah?” Keith looks unruffled. “I have one.”

Lance hears a record scratch in his brain. “You do?”

With a chuckle, Keith motions him towards the rental desk. “Who do you think test drives the bikes when Shiro’s done with them?”

Lance held the hippo, which he’d dubbed Blue, while Keith filled out paperwork, showing his motorcycle ID and insurance card. Lance caught a glimpse of it, and cooed.

“Aww, short hair!” He smiled at the photo of a younger Keith, scowling at the camera, and noticed two things: first, Keith didn’t have a middle name, and second, there were little tufts of what might be considered a mullet sticking out from behind his neck.

Keith shoved his ID back into his wallet. “Is your photo any better?”

“Actually,” Lance pulled his wallet from his back pocket and produced his driver’s license. “It is.”

Lance was proud of that picture - he was one of the only people he knew that actually took good ID photos. It was like a superpower. Keith was staring at his ID, his eyebrows raised.

“Leandro Sebastian McClain?” He asked.

“Uh.” Lance’s face flushed hot. “Old family name. Lance is kind of a nickname.”

Keith’s smile as he handed the ID back was magical. “Cool.”

Helmets secured, Lance climbed on the back of the dinged-up rental bike behind Keith as he started up the engine, giving him quick directions to the hill that overlooked the bay. Then, with Blue shoved between them, Lance wrapped his arms around Keith’s middle. They took off, and Lance felt a surge of adrenaline as they rode. He could count on one hand the number of times he’d been on a real motorcycle, and it was as scary as it was exhilarating. It was also cold, even the warmth of the sun unable compete with the wind that whipped past them. Lance hugged Keith tighter, wishing there wasn’t a stuffed animal between them.

It took a good ten minutes to drive up to the hill, and by the time they arrived, the wind had all but chilled Lance to the bone. The weather was beautiful that day, but it was a different story when you were going 45 miles an hour. His t-shirt and loose button up had done nothing to protect him, and as they reached the hill and stepped off the bike and took off their helmets, Lance set Blue on the bike seat and rubbed at his frozen, goosebump covered arms.

“You okay?” Keith asked.

“Yeah,” Lance laughed a little. “Just kinda cold. Wind’s kinda brutal at that speed.”

Keith blinked at him. “Oh.” Then, like they were in a movie, he removed his leather jacket and deftly swung it around Lance’s shoulders, patting it against his arms. “There, that better?”

Lance willed himself not to melt, because holy shit. That was the most suave thing he’d ever seen. Keith was one seriously smooth bastard. He caught of whiff of the scent coming off the warm leather and blushed hard. It smelled so good.

“Y-yeah,” he stuttered, letting his fingers grip the edge of the jacket and pull it close.

They sat on a patch of grass nearby just as the air show was beginning. Keith watched with rapt attention as the jets performed aerial acrobatics, leaving bright trails of colored smoke that twisted through the sky. When it was over, Keith sighed beside him.

“I wanted to be a pilot,” he said, his gaze fixed on the sky where the sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon.

Lance bumped his shoulder. “You still can be,” he said. “A pilot’s license can’t be that hard to get.”

Keith looked at the ground, shaking his head with a wry smile. “No, I mean… I wanted to be a fighter pilot. In the navy, or the air force.” He picked at a blade of grass. “But I wasn’t exactly cut out for it.”

“What do you mean?” Lance asked carefully.

Keith shrugged and leaned back on his hands. “I’m a high school dropout with a juvenile record,” he explained. “I’ve gotten my shit straightened out since then, but… that stuff sticks.”

Lance frowned. He was starting to realize just how little he knew about Keith - they talked a lot, but it was all superficial information. He didn’t know anything about Keith’s past, or his ambitions.

“It’s fine,” Keith said, interrupting Lance’s train of thought. “I can’t really complain about my life. I’ve got Shiro, I like working on bikes, and I enjoy my job. I’ve got it pretty good.”

Lance was glad to hear that, but it made him frown for a different reason. “Sounds like you’ve got it figured out. I have no idea what I’m gonna do.”

Keith hummed in questioning, and Lance let go of where he was clutching the jacket to wave his hand. “I’ve just been sort of… coasting for the last two years. I have no idea what I’m doing.” he chewed his lip. “YouTube is fun and all, but my dad keeps asking me what my career plans are, and I have no clue. I can’t just work cafe jobs forever, and Pidge is probably leaving after she graduates in a few months. I don’t even know where I’m gonna end up living.” He rubbed at his eyes.

Keith was quiet for a long time. “What about music?” he offered. Lance shrugged.

“Dunno if I want to go down that road,” he answered. “Being a musician is really unpredictable, unreliable. I doubt I could swing it.”

If Lance wasn’t spiraling into a pity-party, he would have appreciated how adorable Keith’s little pout was. “Well,” Keith offered. “What about teaching music?”

Lance blinked owlishly at him. “Say what?”

“I mean,” Keith started fidgeting. “You’ve said before that you like working with kids, and you play like four instruments, and you can read music…” He looked at Lance. “Why not combine them?”

Lance heard a record scratch for the second time that day. Holy crap. Holy crap. He’d never even considered it, but a career as a music teacher? That sounded… okay. That sounded good.

“I’d--” he swallowed, feeling his pulse quicken with excitement. “I’d probably need to get a degree in music education. But it’s doable.”

Keith beamed at him. “Yeah! Plus…” His face went pink as he looked to the side. “I was thinking, um. Since Pidge will be leaving and all, and there’s a good school in Springdale, you could..” Keith bit at his lower lip. “You could move there. With m-- with us.”

Lance inhaled softly as he looked at Keith. The sun had turned golden, lighting his face and making him glow, and it took Lance’s breath away.

“Also,” Keith put his hand over Lance’s where it rested on the grass. His fingers were shaking. “I, uh.” His voice dropped, so quiet Lance could barely hear. “I really like you.”

Lance gasped. Keith’s confession was so sincere and scared and it made his heart thump against his ribs, a wide smile cracking his face. Oh god, it was happening. He’d fantasized about this moment more times than he could count and it was happening, up on the hill overlooking the bay, with the beautiful sunset and Keith’s jacket around his shoulders. He had to be dreaming.

“I really like you,” Lance told him, turning his hand to thread their fingers together. “A lot.”

Keith huffed a little laugh and oh, he was so gorgeous, his hold on Lance’s hand tightening. Lance wants so badly to kiss him.

“Go out with me?” Lance asked.

Keith’s face fell, shock replacing the gentle smile he’d been wearing. “Oh. Um.”

It was like a bucket of cold water was dumped on Lance’s head as Keith pulled his hand away. Had he misread everything anyway? Was that too forward?

“I was thinking,” Keith began, his voice shaking a little. “That we could just… get to know each other more first?” He began clasping and unclasping his hands. “I’ve never really been in a relationship, plus we live five hours apart, and…” He pouted. “I mean, I didn’t even know your name wasn’t Lance until twenty minutes ago.”

“Oh.” Oh. Keith… had a point. Lance didn’t even know he had a motorcycle license until today. It was probably a good idea to get to know Keith better before attempting to dive headfirst into romance. Lance felt the relief like a physical weight. “You... wanna take it slow?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Lance could barely believe this was real. He leaned forward until his forehead rested against Keith’s and laughed softly.

“Sounds good to me.”

He thought this would be a good time to kiss, but they didn’t, eventually pulling apart to drive the bike back to the rental shop by the fairgrounds. Lance kept Keith’s jacket, slipping his arms through the sleeves and pressing his chest as close to Keith’s back as he could for the ride.

They made a trip to Lance’s car to stash Blue in the trunk for safe keeping, and as the sun was setting, grabbed a couple of beers and headed to the meeting point they’d arranged with everyone to watch the fireworks. Allura and Shiro had already spread a blanket out on the grass and were chatting. Keith and Lance took a seat near them, sitting close together.

Allura laughed, then Lance remembered his promise to Romelle. He whipped out his phone.

(+328) hey ‘melle you wanna come watch the fireworks at the fair??

(+396) Lance I just finished a 10 hour shift, that’s a hell no

He frowned, then discreetly aimed his camera at Allura and snapped a photo just as she was laughing, then sent it.

(+328) but cute girl looks lonely

There’s a long pause.

(+396) BE THERE IN 15

Pidge and Hunk eventually joined them, just as the grassy field was becoming crammed with people wanting the best seat for the fireworks. Beside Lance, Shiro looked a little odd, swaying slightly, his eyes dilated.

“Shiro?” Lance asked, keeping his voice down. “Are… are you high?”

Then Shiro laughed loud, threw his head back and really laughed. “Nah, no. Well, okay, yeah. Kinda.” He shrugs. “Fireworks kinda freak me out, after - y’know. So I took a xanax. They make me loopy as fuck, but I didn’t want to miss this.”

Lance blinked. He didn’t think he’d ever heard Shiro cuss before.

Romelle arrived twenty minutes later, just before the fireworks were scheduled to start. Lance did introductions and was pleased to see Romelle take a seat next to Allura, the two of them immediately striking up a conversation about coffee. Mission accomplished.

When the fireworks started, Lance leaned into Keith, feeling Keith return the motion. It was nice to not have to hide his affection anymore, or stay on guard. And if Lance watched the fireworks from the reflection in Keith’s eyes? Well, that was no one’s business but his.

After the fair, they retreat to Lance’s apartment to hang out and chat. Shiro is coming off his xanax and is having trouble staying awake, perking up only when Keith hands him a glass of water. Romelle and Allura trade social media handles and Lance feels a little smug about getting to play matchmaker for them. But mostly, he’s happy about Keith, who sits so close to him, who let Lance keep wearing his jacket.

It’s late and Allura decides they need to go, so everyone piles out of Lance’s apartment at once. Keith is the last one out, and Lance shyly lets the jacket slip off his shoulders and hands it back.

“Thanks,” He says. Keith grins.

“Anytime. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

Once the door closes, Lance leans his head against it, grinning wide. He gets about sixty seconds of peace before Pidge and Hunk lay into him.

“Please,” Pidge groans, “Please tell me you two are dating now.”

“Nope,” Lance grins wolfishly at her as Pidge flings her body backwards onto the sofa with a howl of frustration. Hunk just smiles knowingly at him.

“But you’re going to. Right?”

Lance toes off his shoes and goes for his room. “Eventually.” From the couch, Pidge yells that she hates him.

The next morning they have an early brunch at Lance’s favorite diner on the marina, trading stories of their adventures at the fair. Pidge and Hunk show videos on their phones of the rides and games they played. Lance films again, and takes a group photo of all of them with their mimosas and fancy biscuits.

When Lance sees them off for their drive back to Springdale, Keith pulls him into hug. It’s soft and nice and Keith is so warm, Lance taking a deep breath and inhaling his smell. When they pull apart, Keith’s eyes are glittering.

Lance waves at the car as his three friends drive off, feeling happy and light.

Continued in part seven!

#youtuber AU #klance #text

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ttwoguysandaride · 2 years ago

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2022 Smoker Craft 172 Ultima

2022 Smoker Craft 172 Ultima The Smoker Craft 172 Ultima is a fantastic combination speed boat. It can accommodate fishermen or the whole family. You can cruise the lake in comfort, or pull a tuber or skier with ease, or set it up for some great fishing! Specifications FLOOR/CARPET Sea Weave Cockpit Marine Treated ¾” Plywood Floor DASH/CONSOLE Volt Meter Fuel Gauge Lighted Rocker Switches Tachometer Speedometer SEATING Bow Cushion Set Rear Flip up Jump Seats 6 Seat Bases Slider on Helm Chair 3 Fishing Seats MISCELLANEOUS 12 Volt Power Point Top Loading Rod Boxes Passenger Side Glove Box Convertible Bow Casting Platform from Full Platform to Walk-Through Movable Seat Pedestals Extreme Tilt Steering (172) Twice Baked Urethane Paint Hyrdaulic Steering (182) Cleats (4) Circuit Breakers HULL CONSTRUCTION Injected Foam Floatation 5 Keel Construction Performance Hull System Hyrda Lift Hull LIVEWELL 15 Gallon Aerated Stern Livewell (172) 12 Gallon Aerated Bow Livewell 23 Gallon Aerated Stern Livewell (182) STORAGE In-Floor Rod/Ski Storage STEREO 2 Speakers Auxiliary Port for MP3 Player Stereo Jensen MS3A w/Bluetooth COLOR Silver w/ Blue Stripe Silver w/ White Stripe LIGHTING Interior LED Mood Lighting Navigation Lights TROLLING MOTORS Trolling Motor Plug WINDSHIELD Curved Walk Through Windshield Included on this boat BATTERY CHARGER 2 BANK DC PLUG IN FAMILY SKI PKG FISHERMAN TOP BLACK GRAPH HELIX 7 RAM SKI TOW PYLON SWIM PLATFORM W/ 3 STEP LADDER TROLL MOTOR TERROVA 80/US2 60" I-PILOT https://www.millermarine.com ✅ Subscribe to Our Channel for More Cars, Tips & Resources: https://www.youtube.com/c/TwoGuysandaRide/ ✅ Stay Connected 👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/GuysRide 👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twoguysandaride/ 👉 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@twoguysandaride ============================= ✅ SEE all of our HOW TO videos here: CarTechHowTo.com - http://bit.ly/2ZvDrbE ✅ Our Playlists: https://www.youtube.com/c/TwoGuysandaRide/playlists ✅ Other Videos You Might Be Interested In Watching: 🚘 2022 Jeep Wagoneer Series III - CarTech Infotainment and Passengers Screens How To https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO5Q1upM2CY 🚘 2019 Ford Escape Titanium- CarTech Infotainment How To https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIE9n3Q0Q2M 🚘 Excel Power Bikes - Electric Bicycles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F53cHrmG0vo 🚘 2020 Ford Fusion Hybrid - CarTech Infotainment How To https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGXVyzB0B3E ============================= ✅ About Two Guys and a Ride: Two Guys and a Ride’s channel is dedicated to all things automotive. We love driving and reviewing vehicles and sharing what each one has to offer. We give you the facts where others just state their opinions. We also tell the stories of some very cool and interesting classic cars and along the way, we’ll even show you the latest and greatest Boats, Watercraft, Snow Sleds, Side by Sides and Motorcycles. Let’s go for a ride! ================================= #SmokerCraft #SmokerCraft172Ultima #Boat #Boating #SpeedBoat #Fishingboat #SportBoat **All Specs are preliminary data from MFG available at time of filming this video. Subject to change** Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. This Channel contains OUR Copyrighted Material and is not Available for any use outside of our Channel. All Rights Reserved © Two Guys and a Ride https://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW5cF1SIeLQ

#reviews #car #crossovers #trucks #autos #auto #driven #cars #classic #vehicles #automobile #carreviews #performance #race #racing

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bestcarshowroom · 3 years ago

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Importance of a test drive before buying a new one

So you like a car or a bike, have researched everything about it and have made up your mind on buying it. But how can you be absolutely sure that the vehicle you have shortlisted is the right one for you? Simple, just test drive it! But what exactly should you do or look for before, during and after a test drive? Here are some tips on how to conduct it properly.

1) Shortlist first

Keeping in mind your budget, decide and research about the features and specifications you want in your vehicle before test driving it. You can log on to www.jyote.com for details about the price, specifications and features. Shortlist 3-4vehicles that best match your criteria and try to test drive all of them on the same day so that the drive experience of each vehicle remains fresh in your memory. On www.jyote.com, you can schedule a test drive from the comfort of your home.

2) Time and place of convenience

Try to schedule your test drive at a convenient time and place so that you have an ample amount of time to spend with the vehicle. A perfect test drive can vastly help you in making the final decision. It’s better to ask the dealer to arrange the test drive at your place. Try to park it in the space where you park your own vehicle or where you intend to park the new vehicle that you’re buying.

3) Take along..

a) Take your family or friend with you for the test. Their feedback will help you notice things that you may miss otherwise. If you’re choosing a particular car, say an MPV for a large family, it’s advisable to take along more people to sit in the car and take their feedback on how comfortable they are in the second and third row. b) Take a USB drive with some music in it to test the infotainment system of the car. Also, connect your phone to Bluetooth to check for compatibility. Place a call to check if the audio quality is satisfactory. Finally, check if the car’s infotainment system supports your smartphone’s proprietary in-car apps like Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.

4) Explore the

vehicle

a) Sit at the front and rear seat to check if the leg, shoulder and headroom are enough. Notice access to storage spaces from all seats. Take your kids with you to test the space. Make sure the transmission hump at the centre doesn’t eat into space or comfort. b) If you travel a lot, especially with family, check if the boot space is enough. You may also want to consider loading a suitcase or a large bag to gauge if the loading lip is too high. c) Notice ingress and egress from the vehicle. While some sedans and hatchbacks might be too low to comfortably get in or out, SUVs can often be a bit too high for many, especially kids and the elderly.

5) Just before the test drive

a) Before test driving the car, adjust the driver's seat and steering to your liking and notice visibility in all directions. b) Fiddle with the controls for instrument cluster, other switches and storage compartments to gauge the overall quality

6) Test Drive

a) Test the car on the route where you are going to use it frequently b) Try to tackle as many types of terrains or routes as possible. Take it over roads with rough patches, over flyovers, steep inclines and high speed breakers. Make a U-turn to gauge if the turning radius isn’t too large. Try to park it as well. c) Notice if the brakes are to your liking. Try to brake from different speeds and with different intensity. d) Check if the engine noise inside the cabin is too high when you rev it. e) Drive the car at varying speeds in different gears and note the noise, vibrations and harshness in the cabin due to traffic, wind, tyre noise, etc. f) Notice the quality of the gear shifts and clutch operation if you’re driving a manual car. In an automatic car, notice how it changes gears and whether the gear shifts can be felt in the cabin in the form of a head nod, which can be bothersome for some passengers. g) Try to drive the car on a bumpy road and notice the suspension performance, ride quality, cabin rattles and squeaks, etc. h) If you’re test driving in the summer, notice how much time the aircon takes to cool the cabin. If the car has rear AC vents, check how effective they are. i) If possible, take a drive once during the night as well to check the intensity of the headlamps. This is essential if you drive a lot at night.

7) After the test drive

a) While you may be flush with excitement after test driving a new car, do not be tempted or swayed to sign on the dotted line just yet. Evaluate other cars also that you may have shortlisted in the same manner. Take a day to collect your thoughts, reflect on the positives and negatives of each of the cars you've driven and only then head back to the showroom. b) If you’re still doubtful, don’t hesitate to ask for another test drive. Following all of the above steps should clear up any concerns you may have had regarding the car prior to the test drive and give you more confidence regarding your decision.

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thegreatduggo · 3 years ago

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Area Motorcycle Repairman (Neil's RD400)

I've forgotten some of the connective tissue of this story but I remember the main elements.

Neil was on one of the players in the Exter University Bar Dart's League (the Ram Bar). He was a cool looking guy, slightly effeiminate, with curiously striking eyes. It took me quite a few years to realize that he'd been wearing eye-liner. It wasn't common at the time and I didn't realize that that was the effect of eye-liner!

He looked a bit like Julian Cope of The Teardrop Explodes. I got to know him and I got on quite well with him.

I may have cozied up to him because he was a cool looking dude and I enjoyed being accepted into his orbit. Now, I look back on it, he was a genuinely nice guy but he really wasn't that interesting. I could have a decent enough conversation with him, but it's not like he cracked jokes or made me laugh or brought up unexpected topics or led the conversation. I made the conversation and kept him engaged.

Anyway, he rode an RD400, like me and at some point during the summer of 1981, he told me that his RD had seized up down in Exmouth (as it were).

I was well versed in working on the RD and I could do pretty much everything on it, not only that, but I was adept at finding used parts from breaker's yards, either directly or thru the pages of MCN - something I did on a regular basis.

I offered to fix Neil's bike for him - partly because I was proud of my skills and partly to impress him. I also knew how to tow a motorcycle with another motorcycle, having done it once before when I was working as a professional bird-scarer on a cherry orchard near Wantage off the A34. On that occasion, my mate, Tom, towed me 17 miles after I'd broken down a few days earlier. It was hell but we managed it.

I asked Phil if he would give me a lift down there and tow me on his RD400. He was up for it, so one evening we rode down to pick it up. It was a tough ride but we got it done without too many incidents.

The trick is to maintain tension on the tow rope at all times and the way to do that is for the towed bike to do as much of the braking as possible - easier said than done. The rope tends to go slack often, and then when the lead rider speeds up again the rope snaps tight and jolts both bikes, causing them to jerk off path, then the rope goes slack again until you reach a new steady state.

We got it back successfully to my place in Topsham.

At the time I was working on my own RD400 and I had the tank off to fill a dent and to respray it. So, I borrowed the tank off Neil's bike. Turned out the tank had a leak. There was a cracked weld which I managed to get a silver solder repair which appeared to do the job.

I got to work on the bike and soon found the problem. One of the balancing plugs in the crankshaft had broken free and blocked the con-rod. I decided to find a used crank on MCN. I found one pretty quickly and mail-ordered it. It took a while to arrive and when it did it was damaged. It had been wrapped in cardboard but the con-rods were poking out of the cardboard and one was bent. I managed o convince them to allow me to send it back and give me a refund.

That was a tricky situation to deal with back in those days - especially dealing with a breaker's yard! They could just tell you to fuck off and say that it wasn't their fault or whatever. But after a lot of fucking around, I returned it and got my money back. I found another one shortly thereafter. I was extremely nervous about it getting damaged or disappearing in the post. I was very relieved when it turned up in good shape!

All the while, I was giving Neil updates every time I saw him, explaining what was going on. It all sounded like a shaggy-dog story and every time I explained another delay, it sounded less believable. It was perverse because here I was feeling gulity when I was the one who was acually being inconvenienced and doing all the hard work! In fairness to Neil, he never complained but nevertheless I'd ended up in a bad position from being the good guy.

By this time we'd moved out of Topsham Rd and I was going back home to do an MSc at Bristol University.

Julian, Celia and Jacque moved into a new place in Topsham village. Somehow, I managed to shift Neil's bike to Sarah Vick's place on the hill on Mount Pleasant Rd and drop it off it in their small unkempt garden.

I used to come down from Bristol and visit Jacque in Topsham, then I would cycle into Exeter and do some work on Neil's bike.

One Saturday, I was at Sue's and Matt's place. Matt had just come back from Ireland and he had like 5 crates of home brew that had been sitting in his back yard for 6 months. It was in Grolsch bottles that he's stolen from the pub he'd worked in.

The beer was, shall we say, very lively! Meaning it was overfemented in the bottle and once opened it would cascade nothing but froth for minutes on end - it was the second time I'd experienced that phenomenon, so I reckoned we could push through it - and we did...

We drank all night and I believe it was the same occasion that the most excellent Stan was in attendance.

Stan was Al the Slug's roommate in the first year in Birks Hall. Stan was extremely bright and incredibly quirky. One could be mistaken for thinking that it was all an affectation. You might, perhaps, think he was an English Lit buff from Eton, except he was from a working class family up North.

I think Stan was entirely genuine and although he was overtly wordy, I think it was a mixture of being very good with words, and also that he liked to maintain a certain social distance by using complex and convoluted wording. Having said that he could also be extraordinarily direct and honest.

I think it was that night, that Stan asked us about "The pink 'uns" as if we should all know what it meant. It caused huge hilarity but Stan was unabashed. We never got to the actual explanation due to the laughter and interruption, but we drew the conclusion that he was talking about a sexual experience he'd had - probably his first - possibly with Bev who had been Al the Slug's girlfriend in the first year. It invloved seeing pink lights shimmering in your peripheral vision and Stan thought we would have all experienced the same thing.

As the night wore on, we all gradually ran out of steam and passed out. Stan dropped a bottle of beer onto the floor. The bottle landed upright, but sent up a spume of beer that woke him up. He though someone had thrown beer over him.

It was 6 or 7am and the night was over. I headed off up to Sarah's to work on the bike. I made my way into their garden where I collapsed into the long grass and passed out. I was discovered a few hours later by Sarah and her roommate and I was the subject of much hilarity.

Sarah's friend was a cute girl who I really liked, but she was dating some old guy (maybe 30? That would have been really old for us back then). They invited me in for tea and I managed to more or less wake up. Not sure if I got any work done on the bike or if I just headed back to Topsham.

In the next few weeks, I got Neil's bike back together and got it all up and running - it all worked fine. It was a good feeling to get it off my chest and I think that Neil and I went off for a good old session to celebrate. And that was probably the last I saw of him.

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tyreexpert · 4 years ago

Text

An easy guide to replace scooter tyres.

Scooters come with smaller tyres. On smoother roads, riding a scooter is very comfortable, but when these smaller tyres hit a bad patch of tarmac, you start feeling the bumps and bounces. While you cannot change the standard tyre size of a scooter, what you can do is to switch to a scooter tyres that is optimised for Indian roads.

Gearless scooters, such as the Honda Activa, are practical and easy-to-operate. But their tyres are too small compared to bikes. Plus these scooters are built for city rides, but not for tough city roads. Hence they suffer maximum damage when you have to drive over potholes or uneven speed breakers.

Read this blog to know more about how to replace Activa tyres

an-easy-guide-to-replace-your-scooter-tyres by CEAT Tyres

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agilenano · 4 years ago

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Agilenano - News: When a problem arises mid-ride, having a capable multitool can save you

To help you avoid those mishaps, we’ve compiled the best bike multitools on the market. Increasingly popular for both transportation and sport, bikes provide an incredible convenience for commuters and excellent workouts for cyclists. Whether you are biking toward a destination or simply enjoying the journey, you may not be paying as much attention to the thing getting you there. But like a car, your bike is an intricate machine, and maintenance is important. A Portable, Packable Toolbox: A Bike Multitool For both small adjustments for your riding comfort and large fixes to unforeseen issues, bike multitools put a toolbox of solutions in a size small enough to fit in your saddlebag. If you are new to cycling or are just getting around to bike maintenance, multitools are a simple and elegant solution for coping with several issues you could face mid-ride. Gone are the days of walking your broken-down bike back home. With a multitool handy, you can fix any problem right away and get back to riding. The best bike multitool manages to fit a lot of functional parts into a compact and lightweight device. Hex bits, socket wrenches, and chain-breakers fold together in a tool that is likely smaller than your wallet or phone. There are many variations of which bits are or are not included in a multitool. The result is a wide selection of quality products, each with its own advantages and drawbacks, for you to choose from. That’s why we have compiled this list of recommendations, featuring our favorite multitools with their specs, features, pros, and cons, all outlined for your convenience. For more information about bike multitools, you can check out our buyer’s guide and FAQ later in this article. If you’re looking for a specific type of bike multitool, feel free to jump to that category on this list. Best Overall Runner-Up Best Budget Most Minimalist Best Slim Design Best of the Rest The Best Bike Multitools of 2021 Best Overall: Crankbrothers M-17 Crankbrothers products get consistently positive reviews among riders, and it’s not hard to see why. The high-tensile steel tools ensure durability, and the black or gold accents on its aluminum frame keep it looking sleek and stylish. The tool is decently compact and lightweight, especially when you consider its incredible functionality. And with Crankbrothers’ lifetime warranty on their products, you can feel confident that this tool is a good investment. As the name suggests, the M-17 ($28) has 17 tools within its foldout design. It has hex keys ranging from 2 mm to 8 mm, a Phillips-head screwdriver, a flathead screwdriver, a stainless steel chain-breaker, and a Torx wrench (T25) for disc brakes. The universal chain tool works from an eight-speed chain up to a 12-speed chain, so you’ll likely be covered. There are also two open wrenches (8 mm and 10 mm) and four different sizes of spoke wrenches. One thing this action-packed product is missing is a tire plug tool. If you know this is a must-have for your bike, you can consider upgrading to the M-20. The M-20 also boasts a removable storage case for the included tire plugs. Overall, if you are looking for the best bike multitool that can solve most roadside dilemmas, the M-17 is a great bet. Weight: 168 g Primary tools: Hex wrenches (2-8mm), Phillips and flathead screwdrivers, chain-breaker, Torx wrench Number of tools: 17 Pros: Durable steel and aluminum construction A wide array of bits and tools that will tackle almost any emergency maintenance needs Compact design allows easy storage Attractive design with stylish color accents Surprisingly light Reliable lifetime warranty Cons: A little bulky, which might make it challenging to get into those harder-to-reach spaces Could be hard to get enough leverage out of its small frame Lacks a tire plug tool Does not come with a protective carrying case, unlike some of Crankbrothers’ other models (comes with a rubber holder) Check Price at Amazon Check Price at REI Runner-Up: Syncros Composite 14 Multitool You will love how this tool fits in your hand and how easy it is to use. The steel wrenches and bits are sturdy and long-lasting. Plus, the body is made of composite glass-reinforced nylon that makes for a solid and ergonomic grip. This multitool is designed to fold in on itself, which keeps it compact and light while maintaining its excellent versatility. The bike multitool ($25) has six hex wrenches sized from 2 mm to 8 mm. Be warned that a 2.5 mm hex key is not included in that range, so make sure your bike doesn’t have any bolts of this size before you buy! There are also four spoke wrenches, a chain tool, a T25 Torx wrench, a Phillips-head screwdriver, and a flathead screwdriver. All in all, this makes for a very versatile tool in a small, manageable size. Extending only 3 inches long and less than 2 inches wide, this tool will fit comfortably in your jacket pocket while you ride. You could even permanently store it in your saddlebag and forget that it’s there. If a problem does crop up, you’ll be glad to have it, as these 14 bits will get you through any mid-ride maintenance issue. Weight: 158 g Primary tools: Hex wrenches (2-8mm), spoke wrenches, chain tool, T25 Torx, Phillips and flathead screwdrivers Number of tools: 14 Pros: Compact, light, and easily storable Functional and durable Ergonomic handle Comes with a small carrying pouch Cons: Lacks a tire plug tool and a 2.5 mm hex bit Might be hard to achieve enough leverage considering its small size Check Price at BackcountryCheck Price at Competitive Cyclist Best Budget: Park Tool Folding Hex Wrench Set This folding hex wrench set by Park Tool ($8-14) is a great addition to any bike tool kit. The tempered steel wrenches are designed for incredible durability, and the composite handle provides great strength and leverage while you work. It has seven handy hex keys in the sizes you are most likely to need, ranging from 1.5 mm to 6 mm. It’s true that many bikes have 8mm or 10mm bolts for some parts. However, these are more likely to be at-home fixes, as you would need a larger tool with greater leverage for this maintenance anyway. Therefore, this standard set is a smart pick for handling those tiny on-trail fixes with ease. While this is a great hex set to have, it probably should not be your entire toolkit. Hex keys are a great go-to tool for tightening bolts that naturally loosen on a bumpy ride due to vibrations through the bike’s frame. Unfortunately, wobbly bolts are not the only problem that a frequent cyclist is bound to encounter. Your kit should also include a screwdriver, a Torx wrench, and a chain tool to tackle all of the problems that may appear. This wrench set is a great budget pick for new riders or cyclists buying their first tool that will later be part of a larger set. If you decide to add a few more bits for a few more bucks, Park Tool is a great brand with a wide selection of reliable multitools. However, for short rides that don’t venture too far from home, this budget pick is a handy tool to have for a quick fix. Weight: 103 g Primary tools: Hex wrenches (1.5-6mm) Number of tools: 7 Pros: Quality construction Minimal set with the most helpful hex sizes Lightweight and easy to store Helpful for quick fixes and adjustments Cons: Lacks some key elements, like a chain tool or open wrench Long-distance riders may not feel fully prepared with just this tool Check Price at BackcountryCheck Price at Competitive Cyclist Most Minimalist: Topeak Mini 6 Multitool In their Mini 6 ($11), Topeak pared down to the essential six tools for roadside maintenance. The tool provides five hex keys, ranging from 2 mm to 6 mm, and a Phillips-head screwdriver. A more risk-averse rider might choose to go with a bulkier multitool. However, for a minimalist rider, this lightweight tool is the perfect pick for your on-the-go maintenance. The foldout design of the Mini 6 keeps it super compact, as it takes up less than 3 cubic inches. The tool can easily fit into the smallest of spaces, which makes it ideal for both convenient storage and repairs in those hard-to-reach spots on your bike. Despite this small footprint, the extruded aluminum body offers decent leverage thanks to its extended 2.6-inch length. With the attached mini-keychain, you can keep this multitool attached to your bike lock keys or dangle it from your bag for easy access. The tool’s bits are made from hardened steel to provide excellent strength and reliable durability. Paired with an aluminum body, the entire construction is sturdy and long-lasting, without adding unnecessary weight. In fact, the tool is remarkably light — the lightest on this list by a good margin — with no sacrifice in quality or integrity. Adding form to function, the multitool’s aluminum frame is sleek and attractive. This is a multitool that will garner envious looks when you lend it to a friend in a pinch. Weight: 73 g Primary tools: Hex wrenches (2-6mm), Phillips-head screwdriver Number of tools: 6 Pros: Strong and durable construction Compact for riders who have minimal storage capacity Easy to use and able to reach narrow spaces Extremely lightweight Cons: Lacks many of the bits that could come in handy for roadside repairs Does not come with a carrying pouch, so you may want to store it in a bag to protect it from excessive moisture Check Price at REICheck Price at Amazon Best Slim Design: PRO BIKE TOOL 17-in-1 Multitool The Pro Bike Tool 17-in-1 ($28) is an amazingly compact and versatile multitool. You can accomplish most of your bike maintenance with this pocket toolbox. It features seven hex keys (2-8 mm), a T25 Torx wrench, a Phillips-head screwdriver, five spoke gauges (13-16 and Mavic Spline), and a chain tool verified for eight- to 12-speed chains. Finally, there’s even a bottle opener for those of us who need some liquid maintenance at the end of a long ride! With all this functionality in mind, it’s mind-boggling how compact the tool is. Its well-engineered foldout design keeps it under 3 inches long and less than 2 inches wide. This multitool is made with steel alloy tools and an aluminum body. If that doesn’t speak highly enough for its durability, it comes with a slim carrying pouch that will keep it protected from the elements. One thing that’s absent from this multitool is a flathead screwdriver, which is a common bit among multitools. As you might expect, flathead screws are fairly common parts on bicycles, especially older bikes where newer ones might utilize hex bolts. Before you grab this multitool, double-check your bike specs to ensure that you won’t find yourself out of luck down the road! Weight: 114 g Primary tools: Hex wrenches (2-8mm), T25 Torx wrench, Phillips-head screwdriver, chain tool, bottle opener Number of tools: 17 Pros: This comprehensive tool can solve an array of common bike issues Has a razor-thin design and is very lightweight Includes a protective carrying case Lifetime warranty on manufacturer defects Cons: The larger width could be an issue for hard-to-reach places or accomplishing 360 degrees of rotation Lacks a flathead screwdriver, so make sure your bike doesn’t require one before buying Check Price at Amazon Best of the Rest WOTOW 16-in-1 This 16-in-1 multitool by Wotow ($10) is a thorough product with a lot of functionality. This product sets itself apart from the rest on this list by including a few tools that rarely make it onto multitools. The standard features are six Allen keys (sizes 2-6 mm), a Phillips-head screwdriver, a flathead screwdriver, a spoke wrench, and a flat wrench with three sizes. As for the more unique features, there is a socket wrench extender rod and three bits that tuck away neatly. This is a great addition, as the extension gives you extra length in hard-to-reach spots and better leverage. The final unique feature is that this multitool also comes with three nylon tire pry rods, which would prove immensely useful in the event of a tire leak. Unfortunately, all of these helpful features do add up to a lot of bulk. The product is over an inch thick, which makes it less than ideal for storage in your pants or jacket pocket. At nearly 300 g, it’s certainly not winning any weight competitions. That said, if you have a saddlebag, neither of these issues is likely to be a deal-breaker. The biggest downside for riders would have to be the loose pieces. The socket wrench extensions do provide a great utility that most other bike multitools lack. However, there is a reason most multitools don’t have this, and this is a cost that you may find too high. These three wrench bits contribute to both the size and weight of the product. By necessity, they are loose in the multitool. Roadside maintenance just got a bit more stressful, having to worry about dropping and losing these pieces. Weight: 283 g Primary tools: Hex wrenches (2-6mm), Phillips-head and flathead screwdrivers, spoke wrench, flat wrench, wrench extender, tire pry rods Number of tools: 16 Pros: Includes three (albeit small) tire pry rods Great functionality Has a socket wrench extender for hard-to-reach bolts Cons: The bulky design makes this less than ideal for storage in a pocket Quite heavy compared to other multitools on this list Loose socket wrench bits could fall out and get lost Check Price at Amazon Topeak Alien II 31 Multitool Topeak’s Alien II 31 multitool ($41) is a mini-workshop that you can take with you on the road or trail. Seriously, it would not be surprising if this became your go-to tool even at home, considering how much it can do. It has a stunning 31 tools that fit on two interlocking body pieces. This design works really well to improve the user experience and overall functionality of the device for three reasons. Firstly, it halves the size of the tool by unlocking the pieces allows for easy maneuverability in tight spaces. Secondly, when any bit is opened for use, the length of the tool doubles, increasing your leverage so you can do less work and get the same result. Finally, the ergonomically shaped handle provides great grip and strength, saving your hands for the rest of the ride home. As for the bits, the eight included hex wrenches span from 2 mm to 10 mm. Like most of the other bits, they’re made from durable and weather-resistant chrome vanadium steel. There is a T25 Torx wrench, a 9mm box wrench, two spoke wrenches, and two screwdrivers — one Phillips-head and one flathead. There are three open wrenches and one mini pedal wrench (15 mm) for adjustments to the pedal tightness. The bike multitool is outfitted with a chain-breaker tool and a stainless steel wire chain hook for easy handling. It also sports two tire levers cleverly integrated into the body design, a serrated knife, and a bottle opener. There is even a small compartment for storing backup chain pins! This all-in-one tool has a truly impressive number of bits that can save you from a breakdown on the road. The downside of all this functionality is that the device is definitely bulky and the heaviest on this list. It’s more than three times heavier than the minimalist Topeak Mini 6! If you enjoy long rides or have an older bike that needs frequent maintenance, this tradeoff is surely worth it to have all these helpful bits with you on the road or trail. If nothing else, it will provide some peace of mind. However, cyclists looking to stay light or who are only interested in short-distance, close-to-home adventures may find that the Alien II is overkill compared to the reality of what you will actually need. Weight: 290 g Primary tools: Hex wrenches (2-10mm), T25 Torx wrench, 9mm box wrench, spoke wrenches, Phillips-head and flathead screwdrivers, pedal wrench, serrated knife, bottle opener Number of tools: 31 Pros: A very comprehensive set of tools Clever design allows for easy maneuverability and excellent leverage Ergonomic handle Protective carrying pouch with clip for easy and accessible storage Cons: Design is bulkier than most and requires more storage space Its heavy construction is a trade-off for getting better leverage with the tools Check Price at Amazon Crankbrothers Mini M-19 The attractive M-19 bike multitool ($33) meets the high standards of craftsmanship and quality that cyclists have come to expect (and appreciate) from all Crankbrothers models. The stylish multitool is made with strong steel bits and a durable aluminum body available in several color options. The product is backed by the brand’s lifetime warranty. You can expect to be in good hands if you select this model for your roadside maintenance. The M-19 is similar to its little brother, the M-17, in that they fit a versatile array of pieces into this small and relatively light miniature multitool. There are a couple of notable differences that may persuade you one way or the other. First, this mini multitool comes with a sleek steel tool flask to hold it. In addition to looking great, this sheathing keeps moisture away and protects the device from rust. This protection does come at a cost, though. In this case, it adds a good bit of weight. Depending on your priorities or the weather conditions you choose to ride in, you may decide to forgo this heavy case. The second distinction between this and the M-17 is that the M-19 upgrades its bit selection by adding two additional screwdrivers — one flathead and one Phillips-head — to give you four screwdrivers in varying sizes. Other features include seven Allen wrenches, ranging from 2 to 8 mm; four spoke wrenches of varying sizes; two open wrenches; and a T25 Torx wrench. It also features a universal chain-breaker tool that, like the M-17, works on anything from an eight-speed to a 12-speed chain. Similar to the M-17, this bike multitool doesn’t come with a tire plug tool. If this is essential for your riding, you can check out the Crankbrothers’ other mini multitool models — both the M-20 and the M-13 are equipped with a plug tool and case for extra tire plugs. Weight: 175 g (total is 215 g with the 40g steel case) Primary tools: Hex wrenches (2-8mm), flathead and Phillips-head screwdrivers, T25 Torx wrench, chain-breaker tool, open wrenches Number of tools: 19 Pros: Compact and sturdy construction Comes with a sleek carrying case for protection and durability Decently lightweight Packed with almost every tool you could need for on-the-go bike maintenance Exceptional lifetime warranty Cons: A bit heavy due to the steel case Like the M-17, the wide frame can make tight spaces hard to access Also lacks the tire plug tool that other Crankbrothers models offer Check Price at BackcountryCheck Price at REI Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose the Best Bike Multitool With so many different multitools available, it can be hard to decide which one will serve you best on your rides. There is no single rule to follow here, as it really depends on your personal riding habits and priorities. And of course, your bike. Type of Riding One of the most important considerations when looking for the best multitool is the type of riding you plan to do. This doesn’t simply mean trail or road, although that distinction matters. Whether you own a road or mountain bike will affect the problems that arise and the tools you need to fix them. The frequency and duration of your rides are two other relevant pieces of context that can help you understand what bicycle tools fit your needs. If you’re the type of cyclist who loves long hauls, for example, a more comprehensive bike multitool will suit you well and save you the frustration of being stranded hours from home. However, if you tend only to bike around town, a minimalist product will take care of simple fixes until you get back to the garage. Number and Type of Tools When comparing bike multitools, it helps to know the ins and outs of your bike and bicycles in general. If you are a new cyclist, you should familiarize yourself with common issues and fixes. Yes, cable cutters are technically a bike tool. However, you won’t find them in most kits or multitools because cutting a brake line is not a common repair. The tools you’ll find yourself using most often are probably hex wrenches. Most multitools include 2-8mm hex wrenches, some including 1.5mm or 2.5mm wrenches. Before investing in a multitool, check which sizes your bike requires. Other essential tools include the chain-breaker, Torx wrench, and, depending on your bike, tire plugs. Keep in mind that the more pieces you have, the larger the multitool will be. Finally, most multitools will not come with tire levers, except for our Wotow recommendation. However, those are a key investment for bicycle maintenance. Ease of Use and Comfort Another essential consideration for the best bike multitool is the ease and comfort of use. You may overlook this at first, thinking it’s not that big of a deal. After all, how often and for how long will you really need to use it? However, if the tool isn’t comfortable or easy to handle, you will be less inclined to take it out and take care of essential maintenance for your bike. More importantly, if you hurt your hand trying to fix your bike, you are going to have a tough time finishing the ride. When comparing multitools, a good trick is to look at the posted reviews. This is a great way to get an idea of a product’s usability. The recommendations in this guide take users’ experiences into account to ensure that selected products are great not just on paper, but also on the trail. After all, a multitool that’s too small to get leverage or too wide for a bike’s tight spaces would not be helpful to you. Weight and Packed Size This guide contains weight specifications for each product. The multitools vary greatly in weight, depending on how many bits the tool has and what materials it is made from. When searching for the best bike multitool for you, take the time to get an understanding of the dimensions of each tool. This will help you determine how easy it will be to maneuver in your bike’s tighter spaces, as well as what demands it will make on your already limited storage capacity. Depending on the size of your seat bag or backpack, a bulky multitool could be a dealbreaker for you. There is no right answer here. The trade-off between functionality and compactness is your decision to make, and it is a good one to keep in mind while browsing bike multitools. Photo credit: AmazonDurability Not all multitools are created equal! When you compare bike tools, keep in mind that better quality materials will make maintenance easier and last longer. As for the materials themselves, there are a couple of guidelines you should know. First, most bits, wrenches, and other pieces within a multitool are steel. There are some small differences in the benefits of stainless steel, hardened steel, and other variations. Any of these will be fine, especially if you have a carrying pouch to keep the tools away from moisture and prevent them from rusting. The bodies of multitools, on the other hand, vary greatly in terms of the quality and durability of these materials. Because these pieces are necessary for getting good leverage and grip, you should not settle for a cheaper bike multitool that skimps on this material. Quality materials like stainless steel, aluminum, and composite plastic will give you a better experience during maintenance and a longer-lasting, more reliable product. Price One final consideration that you will have while shopping around for the best bike multitool is the price. Most of the tools recommended here are comparable in price. All of them are reasonably priced for the quality and functionality of the product. You should expect some price variation based on the number of tools, added features, and any included carrying cases. If a price seems suspiciously low to you, check out the reviews to make sure it is made of good quality and won’t break the first time you use it. There is no use in saving money now if you just have to buy a new tool after one use. If you have the financial ability to invest in the right multitool, a small upgrade in your purchase can get you a reliable multitool that lasts years. FAQ What Is the Best Bike Multitool? Our Best Of guide covers a few of our favorite products in different categories. This way, you can see the best overall and also browse other products that are at the top of their own class. If you are looking for a reliable and versatile multitool, our recommendations are products by Crankbrothers and Syncros. However, all of the multitools on this list are quality buys that will serve you well with any roadside repairs your bike may need. Our recommended picks are great overall buys. However, if you have more specific needs, you should also check out the best compact, minimalist, and budget options. To get a better idea of how you should go about choosing a multitool, don’t forget to check out our buyer’s guide. Do I Really Need a Bike Multitool? Every cyclist should have at least a basic bike multitool handy on every ride. It is totally normal for bolts to get a little loose, especially if you are a mountain biker traversing tough terrain. You never know when you might want to make a small adjustment to the saddle or pedal. A portable multitool makes this simple maintenance possible no matter where you are. Most of the multitools on this list are lightweight and small enough that once it is stowed away, you might not even remember that it’s there. Besides, there is nothing more frustrating than needing a ride because yours broke down and you can’t fix it. At such affordable prices, the freedom and peace of mind that a multitool provides is definitely worth it. What Bike Tools Do I Need? The most essential bike tools you will likely need on a ride are hex wrenches and a chain tool. These come in handy for quick adjustments, tightening bolts, and, of course, repairing any damaged chain links. As for the particulars, the best way to determine what wrenches and size bits you will need is to ask your bike. Just consult the manufacturer’s information to determine the sizes of all bolts, screws, and parts on your bike. This way, you can be sure to get a multitool with the proper tools that will fit your bike’s needs. Another really helpful tool to consider bringing along is a tire plug tool. Depending on the conditions you’re riding in and what tires you have, leaks or breaks in your tires’ integrity might be a more frequent maintenance issue for you. None of the multitools on this list come with tire plugs, and only one includes tire pry bars in their package. If you are planning on taking off on a longer trip and can stand to carry more gear, these items may save you a world of headache in the event of a leak. What Is the Best Mini Bike Multitool? Miniature bike multitools pack a lot of utility into a small device. You can have access to a lot of useful tools and wrenches without too much added weight slowing down your bike. One drawback of most mini multitools is that the smaller size can make leverage more difficult to achieve. In such a small device, it can be uncomfortable to use and even a little painful for your hands. Our favorite pick for a mini multitool is the Crankbrothers’ M-17, which has all the essential bits packed into a sturdy aluminum body. As a result, it achieves the strong grip and torque necessary for all your maintenance tasks. Photo credit: Amazon Where Should I Carry My Bike Multitool? There is no one right location for storing bike multitools and other gear. However, having a designated gear storage location — no matter where it is — will keep you organized. Depending on the size of your bike multitool, a zippered or otherwise secure pant cargo pocket or a seat bag is a great place. If you don’t already have one, this is a great investment to make. If you keep your bike multitool in a bike bag that remains attached to your bike, then anywhere you bring your bike, the tool comes too. This may seem obvious, but there is nothing worse than having a small maintenance issue and realizing you’ve left your multitool at home! If you have a larger bike tool kit, your multitools may fit better in a pouch or backpack. Many cyclists prefer to leave this weight on the bike, rather than on their back, but ultimately it’s up to you. If you do store your multitool somewhere off the bike, just make sure that you don’t forget to grab it when you leave for a ride! Have a favorite bike multitool? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll check it out for future updates to this article. The Best Bike Pumps of 2021 Our experts found and tested the best bike pumps of 2021. Whether for road riding, mountain biking, or fat biking, we've got you covered. Read more… The Best Mountain Bike Tires of 2021 Whether you're a new or experienced rider looking to upgrade your tires, this guide to the best mountain bike tires has what you need! Read more… The post The Best Bike Multitools of 2021 appeared first on GearJunkie. #Biking #BestOf #Reviews

Agilenano - News from Agilenano from shopsnetwork (4 sites) https://agilenano.com/blogs/news/when-a-problem-arises-mid-ride-having-a-capable-multitool-can-save-you

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gravelcruiser · 7 years ago

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What in the world am I doing here I thought to myself as our group leader started the kick off meeting with the question of who thinks they've done the longest ride thus far this year. It is February and I live in Seattle, but this was hardly an excuse for this group. The first question was followed up with who had ridden in the coldest. I couldn't compete with either question while the results were being categorically combined into who had ridden the longest ride at the coldest temperature. Then the question was asked, who had ridden less than ten times total this year. My hand went up with maybe a few others to surprised looks. 8 times? Yep. Less than 6 times? My hand is still in the air, but I had obviously won this competition after eight. Disbelief followed by a meek 5? I put my hand down and claimed five, but I was lying. I had gone out and pedalled for a whopping total of three rides this year, on the eve of participating in a 90 mile, 6,000 foot gravel leg breaker. I didn't feel like I was gaining any acceptance into my new bike clan while they gave each other eyes of who was going to be the person to tow me back into town with a rope.

The first week of February isn't the time of year you are prepared to do such a ride unless you are working really hard for a constant state of earned fitness or you live in Southern California. The Rock Cobbler in Bakersfield California is a Gran Fondo style event put on and for exactly such people as well as the fool hardy like myself. Any lack in preparation was to be my own fault as I had willingly signed up for it months ago. I tried to be reassuring to the group, my daily commute with a 50 pound tandem and accompanying 50 pound son through the hills of Seattle had to count for something, right? Right?

I did my best to counter doubts with pure stoke. Constant enthusiastic high fives, jumping my Shimano Di2 equipped Rock Lobster Gravel bike off of any bump I could find and skidding into every stop like I was driving the General Lee. It seemed to be working. I had learned most names and as we rolled onto the start line everyone brightened by the warm temperatures and sunshine was smiling, seemingly unconcerned with my almost guaranteed forthcoming falling to pieces. As if having escaped cold weather and rain was enough to make whatever was to come totally worth it.

With the buzz of six hundred knobby tires on pavement, the initial twelve mile, neutral rollout felt like the big group rides I had done out of Santa Cruz years ago when training for racing elite level cyclocross. Fast enough to know the people on the front were going to crush the entire course, but big enough that it felt like a free ride tucked into the shelter of the group. Through town and along the river out of Bakersfield. Every pedal stroke getting the group closer to the steep bits the foothills of the Sequoia National Park were hiding. Then as if being rudely awoken, with a sharp u-turn off the pavement, around the barbed wire menacingly poking out from the inside of the turn, we were on dirt for the first time and the ride got real.

A series of punchy climbs did exactly what they are put in any course to do in short order as the group 300 strong slimmed down into single file line. A row of ants marching across the hillside as far as I could see. With fairly fresh legs, time and time again I threw fuel onto the fire, burning whole packs of matches when I had only brought a handful along, to ride steep, loose pitches instead of walking. After successfully riding a particularly steep, channeled out section that most were walking, I turned around and descended to help one of the neutral support dirt bike guys get his moto out of a rut. I wasn't worried about a little extra elevation yet and needed some good karma.

I bripped, braaped and buzzed through the initial stages of single and double track towards the first aid station. If this was any indication of what was to come, I was in for an amazing treat. The energy at the first aid station was infectious. Positive attitudes, adult beverages in abundance and a hint of surprise floating through the air. Or rather a distant roar of debauchery that was hard to place. As we left the aid station, we slid down through a chicane of grass, through a fence gate and into a palace of a backyard. After spending an hour riding through pretty barren and arid dry hills, it was literally a desert oasis. And then we were inside, riding through someone's kitchen, into the adjoining living room and wheelieing off their front step! The group I was in all silently looked at each other as we coasted into the street. Did that just happen!? Was that real or was it really a desert mirage?

The ups and downs between the first and second aid station seemed longer and more gradual. It made it so that we could develop a semblance of a maintainable pace. We paused for high fives, to help broken bikes and riders as well as investigate the burnt out remains of the Enchanted Forest. The second aid station sat at the base of what was to be the days big climb. I slow rolled up the pavement and hitched my rope to the wagon of a member of our group that dug the same leg friendly speed. We were both feeling good still, but after decades of miles under each our belts, instinctively knew that with fifty miles to go we had no business pushing limits.

So my new friend Topher and I ticked off the miles together. Climbed big hills, becoming acquainted when they were gradual and silently suffered when they were steep. We bombed down rutted, hoof hole riddled double track side by side. Encouraging each other with stoke when things got quiet, constantly reminding each other how awesome it was to be riding in the warm sun on isolated gravel roads. At some point we had begun riding toward the sun, a subliminal signal that we were on our way home. And then we saw the pop up tents of the last aid station on the horizon, far above the road we were riding. I wasn't looking forward to riding up there.

Luckily, we didn't have to ride up there. Unluckily, we had to literally climb up a slope far too steep to ride, let alone run and barely possible to walk. Crawling would probably the closest to the literal description of how most ascended to the top. For the few minutes it took to accomplish it was the worst, but once on top all the grief blew away in the wind and there were only more sweet dirt roads to ride.

With a wicked, swooping, canyoned, descent to the river valley we were back in familiar territory that signaled the final twelve miles back to the finish and the sweet, sweet finishing line beer rewards. It was twelve miles where an acquaintance became a good friend and any doubt of whether I belonged in this squad of gravel crushers evaporated entirely. I may have gotten clobbered by what the Rock Cobbler dished out this year, but we all did, and it brought us all closer together.

#shimanogravel

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chanzicoup · 8 years ago

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Love Game (VIXX Leo x Reader)

Summary: Leo is the school's heart breaker that goes for the nerdy girl Cassandra Park. He makes a bet with her that within 5 days he'll make her fall in love and if she does she'll have to grant one wish of his and if he fails then he'll grant a wish of hers.

A/N: I hope you enjoy this original fluff that I turned into angst because I have no soft side :)

Warning: Touches very lightly on social anxiety (like only mentions it for a few seconds), mentions a broken family/divorce, abandonment

Count: 3.4 k

Genre: Fluff w/ slight Angst

~Blake

Day One

Leo, tall, handsome, and cocky as hell. It was your first day and you knew this much about him. You had a cousin in the school, his name was Hongbin and he was in most of you classes. Hongbin told you to watch out for Leo because he was the type of guy to use the girls in school as a play toy. He was also just a bad guy in general; the only reason why he wasn’t kicked out of school is because his dad owns the property.

Oh and Leo’s rich too. Something else you justified with the fact he was wearing sunglasses indoors.

“Cassandra!” Your cousin Hongbin called from the other end of the hall. Other’s often assumed you were siblings from how similar you looked. You both had round glasses, thanks to the poor eyesight you two got from your grandfather’s genes, curly hair that you preferred to keep in a low hanging braid, and deep dimples no one else in your family had. You two were also some of the smartest kids in your grade and that was enough to tell the whole world you two were complete nerds. No dating for you guys. Hongbin ran over to his locker, which was next to yours, and opened it up. Hongbin and you were getting books from you neighboring lockers when you heard girls squeal and guys whistle. You turned your head to see Leo and his group of soccer teammates all walking in sync and if you had to say anything nice about Leo it would be that he is handsome. Yet you were sure his looks don’t compensate for his personality. Its wrong to judge a book by its cover but you felt this was a different situation.

“Gosh this guy. He used to be chill until his body started filling out.” You heard Hongbin suck in his teeth and slam his locker shut.

“How do you know that?” You ask while shutting your locker. Hongbin leaned against the wall with his weight being supported by his shoulders before telling a story about his history with Leo.

“Remember that town I used to live in before I moved to Seoul?” He asked and you nodded as an answer. If you recall correctly it was a pretty small area. “In the town everyone knew everyone and all the kids played with each other. He was one of the kids I hung out with when I got done school. He would play with all the kids, even if they weren’t good at whatever game they were playing. I don’t know what happened but he began treating people like garbage and acted like he was all that.”

You turn back to Leo, who was now flirting with some of the cheerleaders, and wondered how such a jerk could’ve once been a friendly kid. Leo caught your eyes and winked with a smirk. Instead of blushing like he expected you rolled your eyes and turned back to Hongbin. “What do you want to do after school today? Should we go to Auntie’s Store?” You asked, hopefully to change the subject you obviously didn’t want to start in the first place. The “Auntie” was you and Hongbin’s other Aunt, your mother had two sister’s. One was Hongbin’s mom and the other was a store owner. They all lived remotely close to each other, more now then before Hongbin’s family moved here.

“I was thinking we could go check out that new Thai place down the street- hey!” Hongbin was no longer in view and in his place was Leo, who was suavely leaning his arm against the lockers.

“Why hello there.” Leo greeted. Rude.

“Hello. Now good bye.” You walked around him to go to your homeroom with Hongbin but Leo grabbed your wrist.

“Let go of me!” Hongbin was about to intervene but Leo glared at him.

“I only want to talk. Alone.” He said. You rolled your eyes and urged Hongbin to go on without you.

“Now what. I am busy.” You weren’t pilled with work, but there was better things for you to do then to talk to this guy.

“Go out with me.”

“I literally just met you.” You scoffed, this guy has no shame, does he?

“And yet you were staring.” He smirked.

“First of all, I was glaring. That’s not a stare, and if it was then it’s not a stare that meant I was interested in dating you. Second of all, after what I’ve heard about you I wouldn’t trust you to get yourself to school on time. And third of all, I bet you don’t even know my name.” You bombarded him with reasons as to why you won’t go anywhere with him but he pushed them to the side.

“First of all, a stare is a stare. Second of all, don’t judge a book by it’s cover. And third of all just because I don’t know your name doesn’t mean I can’t learn it.” He just doesn’t know when to give up.

“You won’t stop will you? What will it take for you to leave me alone?”

“Give me five days to win your heart. If I get you to show the slightest bit of interest in me you’ll have to go on one date with me. If you still hate me by the end of the five days I’ll grant you any wish you can think of.” Was he serious? The tone in his eyes seemed to be proof enough that he meant what he said and said what he meant.

“Fine. Five days from today, at exactly 8:32 a.m.” yes, you had to look at your watch to see what time the bet was over “you will have to grant me one wish because there’s no way I’d fall for you.”

“See you then, love.” His new pet name for you made you cringe but you went to homeroom any way.

The day progressed the same as it normally would. Nothing out of the routine. No surprise from Leo. If he really wanted to win this bet he set up for himself he’d better get started soon because you were gradually forgetting he even talked to you this morning.

“You still up for thai food?” Hongbin asked while putting his notes away. It was currently the last three minutes of the school day and your teacher ended class moments ago. You figured if Leo would want to do something he would have made it clear to you in some way by now.

“Sure I have no other plans. But you’re paying!” You teased and slung your bag over your shoulder.

“Of course I am! I pay for meals and you pay for coffee!” It may have sounded like he put more money out but in reality you two went out for coffee more then you went out for meals. Also you two often borrowed money from each other with out limit so you’re always in each other’s wallets. But you guys were careful and only borrowed money if it was an emergency.

You walked out of class and almost made it to the door when a voice shouted out to you.

“Cassandra!” Leo called.

“How did he learn my name?” You mumbled. Hongbin looked at you wide eyed.

“You didn’t tell him off this morning?” He asked surprised.

“Tried to but eventually I made a bet with him that if I fall in love with him in 5 days I’d go on a date with him.” I explained my situation in full by the time Leo was with in hearing distance.

“Ready to go?” Leo asked. In his hand was two motor cycle helmets and on his face was a silly smile.

“Go where?” You questioned, “You don’t expect me to go on a motor cycle with you, right?”

“It’d make it easier to get to the place I am taking you, so yes, I do expect you to get on a motor cycle with me.” He thrusts the helmet in to your hands and began dragging you away from Hongbin.

“I guess I’ll have to rain check!” You apologized but Hongbin understood that you really had no choice about the out come of your evening plans. He made a note to himself to check in on you in about an hour to make sure you didn’t die or something before going on his own to get some thai food.

You and Leo were getting looks from everyone in the halls as he had his hand in yours. You blushed but not because of the physical contact. You got shy easily and really hated having this many eyes on you. You just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

“Can you hurry up please.” You whispered to Leo, near tears. You could feel your chest tighten with what the other students were possibly thinking about you.

“Now you’re excited!” He hurried you to his bike excitedly and lifted up the kickstand.

“Put on your helmet and hang on tight.” He chided. You reluctantly put the protection over your face and grasped onto the fabric of his leather jacket and waited for the bike motor to run.

“I’m not starting this thing until you hang on properly.” He cocked his eyebrow up and looked back at you. You knew what he meant but really didn’t want to. You wrapped your arms around his torso unwillingly and hugged it tightly. Then you hear the engine fire up and Leo cheer.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” And with that Leo sped off to a destination unknown to you. The helmet kept your eyes shielded from the wind so you actually got to see the lights of Seoul flashing by you and Leo sped up. If you were honest with yourself you were having a bit of fun, only because you’ve never done anything like this before! No other reason at all. The lights were nice and that was it. If it was night time it’d be prettier.

You did as you were told and held on tightly, jumping and cowering into Leo’s back whenever he picked up speed. He felt bad you got scared and slowed down a little, but not by much or else the thrill could escape! Ten minutes later you two stopped and got off of Leo’s bike. You took off your helmet and looked around, you were on a dirt path.

“No helmet hair?” Leo asked. You turned around in confusion before understanding his question.

“My hair is in a braid so it doesn’t really get messed up easily.” You answered. He nodded and locked up his bike.

“We just have to walk up that path and we’ll be there.” He said.

“Where’s ‘there’?”

“You’ll see.” He smirked.

Day Two

When Leo took me on his bike for a ride I’ll admit it was pretty romantic. He had a picnic set up that was actually delicious. Then he drove me home where Hongbin pestered me with questions. It was fun, but it did not win me over or sweep me off my feet. I guess all that I gained from this was a possible friend? Leo is still a player that I know if I started liking him I’d only get hurt.

Now it’s Saturday, Hongbin went to his friend’s house to work on a project and my family went out to run errands. I sit at my desk, typing up a research paper that wasn’t due for another week. My notes were scattered along my bed and empty water bottles cluttered the ground. I really should look into one of those refillable bottles. Go green kids. A few seconds later I hear a clanging noise and I jump in my chair. There’s no one home and nothing seems to have moved. Is it all in my mind?

Just as I thought that I saw that the noise was coming from my window, little pebbles struck the glass as if they were trying to get my attention. I walk over and see Leo standing in my front yard, one hand holding little rocks and the other holding a bundle of roses. I open my window to ask him what he’s doing but then he sets the flowers down and pulls something out of his pocket. Its a folded piece of paper. He opens it up and lies it on the ground. I look closer and see the paper is a map. Leo then sets the roses down next to the map and runs away. Seconds later I hear his bike riding away.

After changing into appropriate clothes I go outside and observe his map and see it’s a map of the school with certain rooms starred with numbers on them.

On top it’s labeled “Scavenger Hunt” and a little note from Leo is underneath it that read, “If you’re so smart you should figure out where I am :p”

“Oh gosh,” I chuckled. This guy certainly has a childish sense of humor. Maybe Hongbin was wrong about Leo? Nonetheless I should head to the school. Looks like the first room I should go to is my homeroom.

(A short walk later)

Should I be concerned that the school doors weren’t locked? It was really easy to get in. But if I remembered correctly his father owned the school, of course he would let Leo do something like this if he’d asked his father. I entered my homeroom and saw a book bag on my desk. I looked inside and saw it was completely empty except for a note.

“Take this bag, I noticed yours was beginning to rip at the seems.” The handwriting was the same as the handwriting on the map in my pocket, meaning this was Leo’s. I feel a little bad to taking this but I do need a new bag and I don’t have money for a new one. Thanks Leo, you’re a good FRIEND.

I checked the map and went to the next location, the chemistry lab. On one of the lab tables there was a booklet labeled “Science Humor” and it had stupid jokes and puns animated inside. Did I mention how much I loved science jokes? I’m too far out in nerdville.

On the tab inside Leo’s handwriting was found again, this time giving me permission to take the book. Of course I didn’t complain, this was the coolest thing I’ll ever own and I’ll be proud of it too. I chucked the book into the new book bag and checked the map once more.

The next room is actually a hallway. When I arrived I saw there was a trail of flower petals leading to my locker. Inside my locker was a Polaroid picture of Leo on his motorcycle with the caption, “This is how excited I am for our future dates~” and cue the blushing cheeks and the schoolgirl giggles that are silently sounded. No Cassandra. Don’t catch feelings. He’s just being nice. Really really nice.

The final room was the gymnasium, and it even specified the gymnasium with the stage inside of it. Yes, our school has two gyms. I cut through the lunch room to get to the correct gym and when I went in all the lights were off. At first I thought I somehow went the wrong way but then a spotlight shined on the stage, where Leo sat at a piano. Neither of us said a word but we made eye contact and he smirked. His fingers began testing keys on the piano before notes came together to form a rhythmic melody. Moments later Leo began singing and I melted into a giddy smile. No one’s ever done anything like this for me before.

Day Three

It was a new day and while the past few have been joyful and times of happiness, it was only bound to have some bad luck due. This morning started off like no other, I had come downstairs to see my mother crying and my dad tugging away a heavy looking suitcase out the front door. I was too shocked to speak, I could tell what was happening. I had just never seen it coming. I’ve never heard them arguing but then again I haven’t heard them speak more than two words to each other for months. I assumed they talked more when I was in school or when I wasn’t around. My parents are breaking up and I couldn’t stop it. My father came back in to grab the bag on the couch, and met eyes with me. He only tipped his hat before turning his back on me.

My mother looked at me for a brief moment before I stormed back upstairs, where the feeling of emptiness is doubled now that I realize my father is gone. I had to get out of there. When I shut the door behind me I leaned my back against it and slid down to wrap my arms around my legs. I heard my phone ring from my night stand and I was going to let it ring until it stopped but it only continued for another ten minutes. I had had enough and pressed the answer button with out even checking the ID.

“Not now.” I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle a whimper as the caller spoke.

“Cassandra, why did it take you so long?” It was Leo, I could tell it was him by his laugh. I can’t face him now, he can’t see me like this!

“Sorry.” I sniffled, “I was…preoccupied.”

“You sound down. Is something happening?” I heard the concern rise in his tone and panicked.

“Nothing is the matter, Leo don’t worry.” Maybe if I try hard enough he’ll believe me.

“Don’t lie, I can hear you choking up.” Tears slipped out of my control and I lost all of my power over my emotions and broke down.

“Oh god, I’ll be right there. Wait for me!” He asked and hung up, leaving me alone once more.

Leo’s POV

I knew something was out of order when she didn’t pick up her cell. As soon I noticed her voice was broken I was already slipping on my shoes and heading out the door. I rushed over to her house and saw her front door was open and a woman was crying at the kitchen table. I ran past her and rushed up the stairs, where yet another cry was sounded.

“Cas!” I shouted. I checked every door until I found the one where she was. Her small body is curled up tightly on her bed and her face was hidden inside of her palms. I came over and enveloped her in a hug, where she put her head in my chest as she let it all out. She went on and I rubbed comforting circles on her back and gave it a loving pat when I felt it was needed.

3rd POV

Neither of the two knew how long they were embracing one another. Leo had offered to get Cas out of her house and she allowed him to. Their ride on his motor cycle was comfortable and helped her calm down. She needed to forget what had happened at home and move on. Her father was never coming back and her mother would never be the same. All she had was Leo and she could only pray he wouldn’t leave too. She had finally opened her eyes to how she felt about him.

When they arrived to Leo’s house he led her to his guest bedroom, which was right next to his in case she needed him. He was about to leave Cas be to give her some possibly needed space but she grabbed on to his wrist with tears beginning to fill again.

“Don’t leave me too.” Leo’s heart broke at her words, she thought he was just like her father. Kneeling to her eye level Leo cupped her tear stained cheeks and earnestly looked into her eyes as he promised he was never going anywhere with out her. He needed her. He loved her just as she loved him, and he didn’t need another two days to figure that one out for himself. He would’ve wished for her to be his anyway if he had won.

#vixx #vixx imagine #vixx leo #kpop #kpop imagine #vixx scenario #kpop scenario #jung taekwoon #vixx taekwoon #leo imagine #taekwoon imagine

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thedegenerateasexual · 7 years ago

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spot the reference: anchor edition

i’m doing this for my own pleasure and no one else's but you'll probably enjoy it anyway because man the callouts i give myself in this post you don’t have to read the rabid dog section it got Long

anyway this is just a list of references either to the show or to other stuff that i put in this fic, because i've been in the UT fandom too long not to enjoy hiding stuff in my work. it doesn't even go into the GIANT list i COULD make of all the neat research tidbits or foreshadowing to That Last Part. one thing at a time. if you haven’t read anchor this post spoils the absolute best part so maybe don’t click the readmore!

PART I

"I can do what's necessary," Argent repeats, voice hushed. They pass under an outcropping of rock, throwing them both into shadow. "I can. I will."

this is a throwback to a line chris says in 4.05 IED, when he and derek are down in the hale vault, discussing what to do about kate. [gifs]

"We'll catch up to her," Chris assures him. "My family has been hunting things faster than us for hundreds of years. It's a marathon, not sprint. She uses up this much energy now, she'll be a little slower later."

Somehow, Derek doesn't find that very comforting.

this is something derek says to chris in 2.12 Master Plan, upon being told of their temporary truce. he knows he fucked up [gifs]

"It's rough terrain. We'll have to take it on foot."

"Not exactly." Chris sucks the last bit of salsa off one thumb and stands. He jerks his head over at a dusty-looking red motorcycle parked just a few feet away. "That's ours. Until we catch Kate, anyway. A little rickety—but it's all-terrain."

so this was partially because research told me a lot of people prefer bikes to travel around mexico, but also because three other protagonists i’m fond of use bikes to great effect. did not know this before deciding on the bike, but apparently JR Bourne is also a bike guy. (you’re welcome!)

PART II

Life is so strange. It's Derek's very first bike ride, and he spends most of it half-asleep, snuggled up next to an Argent.

“life is so strange” is my very favoritest line...from a fanfic i like about some dumbass horndog named barnes

Tonight Argent dreams of Kate, sitting on the bed next to him in Allison's old bedroom. "I want to honor the code," she tells him sadly, "but I can't do this myself." She has the knife positioned over her heart, gripping it with white knuckles. "Chris," she pleads. "Help me." The full moon is coming. "I don't want to die alone."

"i can’t do this myself - chris, help me” is something victoria says to chris in 2.09 Party Guessed. [gifs] the rest of it came from, uh, someone else. (:

One night Derek tells Chris about the auto repair shop he and Laura both worked in while they lived in New York and discovers Chris has a love of classic cars.

"Laura, too," Derek says. "I mean, I like cars all right, I picked up some stuff from her, enough to do most of my own repairs, but she was really the car person. She had this...1960s, I don't remember what year, it was Mustang she was restoring, bit by bit. Champagne gold."

Chris lets out a low whistle. "Now that's a machine. What happened to it?"

"Told the owner she could keep it when I left town," Derek says. "It really was more Laura's thing. She was picky, wouldn't drive anything that she could outrun. That was Laura," he sighs, "drove 25 over every speed limit, smoked like a chimney, and always looking for an excuse to pick a fight. She was almost a worse alpha than I was."

"But great taste in cars," Chris says. "I used to have this black 1967 Impala I liked to work with in my spare time. I've always wanted to restore one from scratch, but after I got married and we started moving around, it was too much trouble to lug around the extra vehicle with us—black cars are so hard to keep clean. I had to take up whittling instead."

the 1967 impala is, of course, from supernatural, and it’s all @marcusanthotius emily’s fault, as evidenced here, and i’m never taking that post down so she has to live with it forever. the mustang is a car my own dad used to love (and if you’re curious, it was a 66). “black cars are hard to keep clean” is something chris said during the infamous windshield-washing scene in 1.03 Pack Mentality. [gifs - none of that particular line, but this is the scene]

PART III

"It triggers the shift," Chris says, rubbing his neck, "by means of raising your pulse." Derek listens to Chris's again—sure enough, his heart is already pounding. "It taps into the rage, the bloodlust. Makes you rabid. It's a kind of endless loop of feedback—the more your pulse raises, the worse the rage, and the more powerful the rage, the more it raises your pulse. Eventually even a werewolf's heart will just give out. The only reason to use it at all is that most werewolves aren't capable of burning it out of themselves when they're in that state of mind. So it's a sure death for the werewolf—but a sure death for anyone else nearby, first."

Whatever Chris learned about the wolfsbane is wrong. Maybe because no one who's been hit with it has ever survived it; they had to make guesses from the outside. And from the outside, Derek knows he looks furious. But he's spent most of his life wrestling with rage, and this isn't just rage.

It's also terror.

so i’ve talked about this before, but i actually didn’t realize i did this until much later that i accidentally ripped off supernatural AGAIN for this: in 4.06 Yellow Fever, which is a BAD EPISODE, fight me, people get infected with a “ghost sickness” that causes you to feel more and more fear until your heart beats so fast it eventually just gives out.

Argent swallows, hard. "The year of the fire," he says unsteadily, struggling with the math, because he can't quite remember when that was. What year was Derek born? How old is he—in his twenties, right? "Two-thousand—five? Six?"

"Fifteen," Derek replies, very very quietly, "is the number you're after. I was fifteen. The fire happened on my sixteenth birthday."

i did this as a shoutout to jesse turner of @cambionverse, who is a lot like derek in general, and also had a very devastating fire happen on an important birthday of his, in part because he too got tricked by a hunter with a pretty face. (chris isn’t a great guesser, by the way - canon keeps changing the date of the fire + derek’s age when it happened, but in this fic, the fire was in 2004.)

Chris exits the bathroom and leans against the doorframe, watching Derek with his arms folded. "Pourquoi est ce que je devrais apprendre l'espagnol," he asks, looking almost fond, "quand tu est là?"

His French isn't bad, actually—Derek would give him a B+ for the effort.

this is a real thing that happened to me in real life when i was watching 1.12 Code Breaker with @machidielontheway coralie, who is a native french speaker and helped me do the french translations for anchor. when chris spoke the original code in its original french, she had to rewind it to listen again, and ultimately said JR’s accent was all right but not great and gave him "a B+ for the effort." chris was originally supposed to be a native speaker of both english and french for this fic, but that was so funny i just had to change it. (coralie and i have a lot of fun when it comes to french.)

Derek dips a little lower and finds a barely-noticeable scar on Argent's hip, a dark spot that's just a little indented. "Hmm." He strokes a thumb over it thoughtfully, presses it into Argent's skin. His other fingers then naturally come to rest on four identical marks further back on Argent's side. "Something with claws."

the second @cambionverse shoutout of the fic, a much tinier one, this is also a line from the first chapter of cambion: "What happened to [Bobby]?" "Something with claws." Ben stays still for a moment, then lifts a hand to the deep gouges on his shoulder.

"You listen to my heartbeat when I say it, Derek. It wasn't about you. New anchor or not, I know you won't hurt me, and I meant it when I said I wasn't afraid of you. But Riley—" Chris looks away, swallowing hard. "Riley terrified me."

riley was named for sam wilson’s tragically fridged-for-character-angst wingman in captain america 2: the winter soldier. yes, really. his last name, roux (which never appears in the fic), sorta-kinda means red, which sorta-kinda works as a reference to his alpha eye color at the time of his death. “riley” and “rabid” also both have five letters, begin with R, and have the same number of syllables, vowels, and consonants. (this is the first time riley’s name appears in this fic despite him being important from the very first scene; only took 35 thousand words...repression, much?)

PART IV

Riley lets out an earth-shaking roar, and lunges. Chris ducks, and Riley's claws leave deep gouges in the concrete wall behind him where his head was only moments before.

"Riley, listen to me—"

in pacific rim, yancy says a near-identical line to his brother right before he dies: “raleigh listen to me—” (hi, cally!)

There's growling from closeby, and glowing red eyes flash in the dark—Chris rolls. There's a table here where they keep weapons, and—yes, his hands close around a shotgun, he stands and whirls—

"Riley, stop! I don't want to hurt you—don't make me hurt you, please—"

this one is a reference to 3.22 De-Void, when chris says to derek “i don’t want to kill you, derek, don’t make me kill you, please” while he’s under the nogitsune’s spell. [gifs, kinda, they’re part of a set]

Chris isn't as upset anymore—not hyperventilating or flashing back—but his tears seem endless, starting anew every time they seem ready to slow. "I'm sorry," he says several times. "I'm sorry, this isn't me, I don't know what's wrong with me—"

in 1.11 Formality, after kate tells allison about werewolves and the sheriff catches her speeding and crying, “this is not me” is what she repeats to herself very harshly to get it under control. repression is kind of a family trait i guess :(

Derek starts towards the cabin, but Chris catches him by the shoulder. "Hang on," he hisses, "what are you gonna do, just run in there with no plan?"

"She is," Derek says, with as much feeling as possible when you're also trying to be totally silent, "right there." He jabs a finger in the cabin's direction. "I'm going to go and kill her. That's been the plan from the beginning."

"Exactly," Chris says, "she's just there. In that nice big dark house full of who-knows-what. I don't know, don't you think that's a little—"

"Don't say 'too easy'," Derek warns. "People say 'too easy,' bad things happen. Trust me, I'd know." Lightning flashes closeby, briefly illuminating the trees. "None of this has been easy."

"So, what," Chris says, "we just take her by surprise, and that's it? You don't think it's dangerous to underestimate her like that?"

"Two on one—" Derek eyes Chris critically. "—well, one and a half—we can't lose. She thinks we're dead, remember? She'll never see us coming."

"I don't like it," Chris says, folding his arms. "It's too easy."

There's a rustle from the undergrowth nearby.

in 1.12 Code Breaker, scott and derek have this same conversation, reversed, after scott frees him from where he was being held prisoner by kate. (that’s how he knows.) it’s worth noting that as soon as derek agrees scott is right, he gets shot twice by allison, accompanied by kate, and he and scott BOTH get blinded by allison’s flashbulb arrow. in 6.10 Riders On The Storm, scott and stiles have a similar conversation when they find the switch to divert the ghost riders’ train, this time with stiles insisting they let it be easy; they decide to go for it and promptly get their asses handed to them by the nazi alpha werewolf. [gifs] (thank you cathy <3)

"Like I said: the more they kill, the crazier they get. The crazier they get, the more they kill. Even if he means well, he won't be able to stop himself from attacking you eventually; it's just his nature. I know it's a hard time for you right now, but you've gotta be prepared, huh? He's helping you right now, but we hunt those—"

"—who hunt us, yes," Argent finishes, trying to keep his annoyance in check.

"You don't know the things about him I do," she hisses, her breath hot on his ear, "you don't know how cold-hearted he can be. Sooner or later he's gonna see you for the animal you are, just like he's seeing it in me. That's his nature. And I guarantee you, Derek—" His hands grab at her wrist, tugging uselessly. "The next thing he'll slip between those pretty pink lips of yours will be his .45."

this warning is given once to chris and once to derek, and it's a reference to a story deaton tells deucalion in 3.08 Visionary, when warning him that he cannot trust gerard:

When the scorpion asked the frog to carry him across the river, the frog said, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion replied, "Why would I do that? Then we'd both drown!" So the frog agreed. Halfway across the river, the scorpion stung the frog. When the frog asked him why he did it, since now they would both die, the scorpion replied, "It's my nature."

fun fact: this story was also originally the prologue of the fic before i changed it to the first version of the rabid dog story (which wouldn't quite fit anywhere else).

THE RABID DOG STORY

this is technically in part iv, but since it’s too big to quote in its entirety, i’ll just give it its own section, because of course i wound up going on way longer than i meant to (i get excited and explain this to a lot of people, so it's handy to have it typed down in case i wanna explain it again). the story/plot device in general is a sort of "reference" to two things: a 1970s TV show about the korean war called M*A*S*H, and 2.10 Fury.

so the original inspiration for this plot point came from M*A*S*H. the show follows a "mobile army surgical hospital" which is a fancy way of saying it's the medics who treat the wounded. in the finale (spoilers...you've been warned lol), the main character hawkeye has been committed to a mental institution after a nervous breakdown. he tells a story about a party that happened on a bus: how everyone was screaming and yelling and having a great time, how one person "couldn't wait" for the bottle of whiskey. but the more often he tells the story, the more details that change: the person was actually a soldier, and the soldier was actually wounded, because the whole bus was full of wounded (thus the screaming), and the bottle was full of life-saving plasma, not whiskey, and the soldier in question LITERALLY couldn't wait.

hawkeye tells a story about a refugee woman that had a chicken that wouldn't stop clucking, and when they were forced to pull over to hide from the approaching enemy, he told her to make it be quiet so they wouldn't all die. and she did: she smothered it. what he eventually is forced to remember is that it wasn't a chicken, but her baby. (the chicken's feathers are even patterned like a blanket in the flashback!) you can watch a clip of the final version of hawkeye's story here (but be careful, it's a rough one).

the way chris tells his rabid dog story twice in canon, and changes the details once he's around stiles, who knows the truth about werewolves, reminded me a lot of that episode of M*A*S*H. (yes, it COULD be that they're two different stories, but they're so similar! work with me here.) he doesn't bat an eyelash when victoria says gerard shot the dog, yet later insists he but a pullet through his friend's head (after which his friend was still somehow able to crawl towards him...?). it also, of course, changes from a dog to a werewolf. the way he tells one version of the story in each "chapter" of the fic, each time getting a little closer to the truth, was absolutely 100000% inspired by M*A*S*H.

"Riley, stop! I don't want to hurt you—please don't make me hurt you—"

"So you shot him?" Derek asks quietly.

Chris's hands tremble around the shotgun. What if Riley bites him? What if he gets turned too? He has to defend himself, doesn't he? Riley's coming at him again, he has only a second to decide—

"I..." Something dark and terrible shakes loose in Argent's memory. His mouth drops open in horror and his vision blurs. "I didn't!" he cries, eyes wide. "Oh, God—" He drags in a shuddering gasp, covering his mouth with both hands, the truth a vice clenched around his chest. "Oh my God—I didn't shoot him!"

and this realization was definitely influenced by that clip up there. ^ (the idea to rip off M*A*S*H was the only reason this thing got written at all; it was too good a plot twist not to put into real words.)

the WAY chris tells the final version of the story, in part iv, was inspired by 2.10 Fury. sadly i don't have a clip or any gifs handy (i looked...), but the way matt weaves in and out of his story about drowning—the way he begins speaking in present tense, the way he repeats coach lahey's dialogue word-for-word as coach lahey says it in the flashback...

"We—we thought there was a cure," Chris tries to explain, but he's crying and it sounds so foolish and naive to him now. He sounds like a child. "He hasn't hurt anyone, I just thought—"

"You thought?" Gerard roars. "He hasn't hurt anyone? Look at yourself! This is—"

"—why we have a code!" Argent chokes. "This is what it's for!"

Gerard waves his gun at the body on the ground. "Look at him! If he'd honored the code, do you think he would have ended up like this?" Gerard grabs Chris by the chin and forces his head to turn. Chris squeezes his eyes shut, but Gerard backhands him across the face with his other hand. "I said—"

"I said look at him!" Argent drags in a sob.

He's not dead.

"Oh, God," Argent whispers. "He's not dead. Even after all that, he's—"

"—still trying to claw his way towards you, do you see that, Christopher?"

...is what inspired the way i chose to tell it.

AAAAND that’s all, i’m pretty sure i got everything, i’ll end this post on that happy note bc i’ve been working on it for like 3 hours now and that was way longer than i intended for it to be.

#anchor #dargent #dergent #teen wolf #my stuff #kinda #it wound up being so long...i'm sorry i didn't meant to do that #i was only trying to laugh at how much captain america and supernatural were in it #chris argent #derek hale #TW*#misc*#meta*#i can't decide which it is so it can be both. sorry.

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