#i just know my mom was tired of me while we were watching swamp thing

[bloodyspector]

He just lives in my mind rent free, honestly

[willsimpforanyone]

I just remembered this prompt from wattpad or Tumblr and that it's good for angst.

Request for a Brother!reader x Percy Jackson, where the reader is slowly getting tired of always just being compared to Percy (about how he did so much while the reader just did small things for camp) which leads to reader holding some animosity towards Percy, so he just run away due to Percy not saying or even noticing what's happening to his brother leaving Percy to be sad and wishing he could've been there to stop some of the comparison

(sorry if this was too long, also, you can decide what happens to the reader after running away)

thank you for requesting!

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I stared at my reflection. I don't look much like Percy. Less muscled, for sure, but when one of us has ten times the life experience of the other, that's bound to happen.

I don't even know if I look like my dad; my mom always said I had his nose, a strong, Grecian nose. Both Percy and I have his eyes, though mine have always been... more muted, like the ocean in December.

"Hey, c'mon, we gotta practice."

Percy's voice filtered through the door of the bathroom and I sighed, zipping up my hoodie and throwing the hood over my head. "Yeah, yeah, like you need the practice."

He threw his arm around my shoulders and grinned at me. "Okay, then you gotta practice so I don't have to cover your ass every time there's a battle."

I ducked my head and elbowed him. He backed off, laughing, and I kept my eyes to the ground to hide my scowl. He didn't mean it, I know he didn't, but it still pierced through my ribs, icy and sharp.

There were about a dozen people in the amphitheatre, choosing weapons, slashing at dummies and each other. Percy uncapped Riptide, bronze blade gleaming in the midday sun, and gestured for me to unsheath my own weapon. I pulled out my shortsword from it's sheath at my side, the enchanted iron a familiar weight in my hand.

Already there were whispers surrounding us; watching Percy fight was a spectacle for a lot of campers. I doubted it even mattered that he was just here to help his incompetent brother, they were waiting to see him kick someone's ass. In this case, it would be mine.

I took a deep breath, shaking off some of the negativity. This was Percy, who I trusted to be able to resist the siren call of a performance in favour of actually being a good teacher. It shouldn't matter that there were more people here than there were a minute ago, he was here for me.

That gave me a little encouragement, and I faced him, sword at the ready. He grinned at me, and I managed a smile back. "Come on then, Jackson, what're you waiting for?"

He lunged forward and I swiftly sidestepped, slashing towards his arm. My sword hit against his armour and he spun round, aiming for my side. I could tell he was taking it easy on me, giving me a chance to learn to anticipate his moves.

I was almost having fun. For a moment, it was just me and my brother, the way it was when we first came to camp. I remember being terrified I would never see him again each time he was sent off on a quest, that I would lose my brother forever but he always came back, eventually.

For a split second, I gained the upper hand, pushing Percy back from the assault and attacking rather than defending. Swordplay had never been my strong suit, but I was good enough.

Until somehow he slipped under my arm, dodging the mad swing I made for him and twisting so he ended up with Riptide at my throat from behind. Both of us were panting, and I realised I really should have taken my hoodie off before I started fighting.

There was a cheer from around us, and Percy took his blade away from my neck, clapping me on the shoulder. "Maybe next time," he panted, backing away slightly. I made to turn and reply, but Percy was already swamped, younger campers and friends congratulating him. Annabeth sauntered over to him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Don't know why they're so excited, it's not like it was a difficult fight." She said it quietly, in his ear, but I heard it anyway. Percy just laughed, and pecked her lips.

I was torn- I tried! I tried to fight him properly, I swear, it wasn't an easy fight, at least I don't think so. Even if it was, why should he get all the praise and attention? No one else other than Annabeth was willing to fight him, I was holding my own against him.

I shrunk in on myself, hiding as much as I could in my hood, and slipped away from the amphitheatre. My sword tapped against my leg in it's sheath as I slunk back to the Posiden cabin. I shut the door, not bothering to lock it behind me; it's not as if anyone would come looking for me now wonder boy was outside.

Rooting around under my pillow, I withdrew a photo. It was a couple years old now, creased in the middle. I traced the fold lines, time separating me from my mom. She died trying to protect me from a monster that came to kill me when I was 12. I still have some of her things, everything else was burned down with the house.

My mouth tasted bitter as I remembered that Percy, only a year older than me, had found me and taken me to camp in the middle of the school year. I'd idolised him, and for a while we were inseparable until he kept being chosen. He was special, he was the one sent on quests and given power and was more connected to our dad that I would ever be.

I took a shuddering breath, looking down at my mom and feeling that gnawing, craving ache of grief; for her, for never knowing my dad, for feeling like I was losing the only other family I had.

There was a noise outside, a few feet from the door. I snapped my head up, eyes watery. From what I could hear, it was a couple of kids, no older than 8 years old.

"That's Percy Jackson's cabin!"

"Whoa, cool! He has a whole cabin all to himself?"

"No, dummy, his brother lives there too, duh."

"He has a brother? I didn't know that."

"Did you know he defeated Ares when he was like, 12? That's so cool."

They walked away, fully invested in their hero worship of my brother. People didn't even know I was his brother? Maybe they were new, they didn't know anyone, it wasn't fair to be angry at them for something out of their control.

They knew him, though.

That voice was insidious, echoing in my skull. They might have been new, but they knew who Percy Jackson was.

I folded the photo back up, and went to put it back under my pillow. Slowly, I reached into the drawer of the bedside table, pulling out a notebook and slipping the photo into the middle of it.

Without even really meaning to, I found my backpack stuffed into a corner. I scanned the room for my stuff, acknowledging that it couldn't all fit in my bag. Didn't matter, I didn't need much.

Some of my clothes went into the bottom of the bag. The contents of my bedside table was packed, a couple toiletries, as much as I could fit. I changed my shoes, finding a sturdier pair than the ones I was wearing.

I needed food. It was about lunchtime, I could grab some stuff and give an offering to Posiden for safe passage or something. Not that he'd be much help. I found a plastic box from somewhere and hid it in my clothes. I was out and back in 20 minutes, ignoring the few attempts at conversation. The plastic box was filled with food, and I swiped a cannister with water from a table.

I waited until it was dark, the sun just dipping below the horizon and painting the sky in dusky pinks and purples. Everyone would be getting something to eat after a long day at camp. Perfect.

The door shut quietly behind me, backpack slung over my shoulder and my sword at my hip. I should be able to get out unnoticed if I cut through the forest, and I slipped into the shadows of the trees.

A cough came from by my side.

I jumped a foot in the air and swore loudly, clapping a hand across my mouth a little too late. Nico di Angelo was leaning against a tree, dark hair not quite hiding his judging look.

No, not judging. Curious.

Feeling a little under the microscope, I let him take in everything about me- there was no reasonable explanation as to why I'd be here.

After a painful minute of silence between us, he shrugged. Reaching into a pocket, Nico tossed me a piece of plastic; a phone.

"Someone should know where you are."

I nodded and Nico seemed to melt into the shadows of the trees. I was alone, actually alone. Maybe I should have been worried he would immediately run to Percy or Chiron, but I trusted him. He didn't try to stop me, it seemed like he just wanted to make sure I didn't die.

Which, in a weird way, is the most caring thing anyone's ever done for me.

I steeled myself, slipping the phone into my pocket. I couldn't see the barrier that kept camp safe from here, but I knew I'd know once I passed through it.

Deep breaths. Let's get out of here.

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ooo i love writing angst, thank you for requesting, i hope you enjoyed!

[jamespotterthefirst]

Mi Viejito (Ethan x f!MC)

Pairing: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Lilac Allende) Words: 1K Warning: None Summary: Father’s Day more than twenty years later. 

Author’s Note: “Mi Viejito” means “Old Man” (affectionate). Thank you to the two anons who requested this!

Also, no editing. Oops. We die like men. 

Twenty five years are not enough to dull the impact of startling blue eyes meeting hers across a room. For a moment, she feels like that fresh-faced intern she used to be, meeting her medical idol for the first time. Except now, Ethan Ramsey has the elegance of time on his side, carved into every fine line on his handsome face. His hair, once dark brown, is a storm of silver now, making the blue of his eyes even more of a shock.

A pleasant sort of shock that makes her body thrum with warmth.

Ethan removes his spectacles and gives her a tired but breathtaking smile. Lilac returns it, moving to settle into her husband's embrace.

“Happy Father's Day, mi viejito,” she murmurs into a kiss. After his hum of thanks, they melt into the kiss, enjoying the rare few moments of blissful companionship.

“Where are the girls?” he asks after a while, as though reading her mind.

“Andy should be here any moment to drop them off.”

“Ah, the calm before the storm,” he muses with exaggerated dread. It doesn't fool anyone, least of all Lilac. Anyone who glances at Ethan Ramsey with his children for more than two seconds knows just how much he adores them. “What about Lori and Jonah?”

“Jonah hasn't texted me back and Lori is on her date.”

“Hrm.”

Lilac laughs. “Hunter's a nice kid. He's taking her on a boat ride at the Common.”

Ethan is not impressed.

“It's a cute date for two seventeen year-olds,” Lilac reasons with little success.

“Pitiful.”

“You took me on one of those when we were engaged.”

“I meant his name. What kind of name is Hunter?”

She laughs at that and places a kiss on his cheek, succeeding in softening his expression by a fraction. “You're just upset your little girl is all grown up.”

Ethan's expression is as impassive as ever but Lilac can see the brief flash of sadness in his eyes. She places a comforting hand at his cheek, sweeping the ridge of his cheekbone with her thumb.

“She'll be back in time for dinner. And I'm sure Jonah will text me back later. He's been swamped with school work these past few days.”

Ethan nods but is unable to elaborate an answer because the sound of approaching voices grows louder outside the door.

The youngest Ramseys arrive then, three times more boisterous than any teenagers their age. Though, to the surprise of exactly no one, the person in the little group arguing the loudest is Jasmine. Andy rolls her eyes, unable to contain a smile at the charming young girl trying to talk her way out of whatever trouble she's gotten into.

“Seriously, it's okay. Our dad owns the hospital.”

“He manages it,” her twin, Violet, corrects.

“Same thing,” Jasmine returns dismissively. “He as good as owns it if the place falls apart without him.”

“That,” Ethan intervenes, placing a kiss of greeting atop each of their heads, “would be your mother. She does the brunt of the work around here.”

Jasmine scoffs. “And yet the man gets all the credit.”

“Typical,” Violet adds.

Ethan and Lilac both laugh proudly. After Andy takes her leave for the day, the girls hug their father.

“Happy Father's day!” They chorus.

“We brought you coffee from that place you and mom are obsessed with.”

They thrust a to-go cup in his hand.

“We remembered,” Jasmine says importantly. “Not like Tweedle dee and Tweedle Ugly.”

“Jazzie,” her mother scolds. “Don't call your brother and sister that.”

“Ingrates,” Violet adds, agreeing with her sister. “Write them out of your will, Dad.”

Ethan is fully laughing now, a sound that is rare and wonderful, easily drawn out of him by his family. The little crevices on his face grow deeper with his mirth and it tugs at Lilac's heartstrings.

“If we're divvying up Dad's stuff then I call Minnie,” Jasmine proclaims.

“You can have that cat now,” Ethan returns intently. “I don't want anything to do with that thing.”

“I call Jenner the Second,” Violet calls out before her sister can.

They dissolve into an impassioned argument about who loves the dog more. Luckily for all of them, they are interrupted by the sound of more approaching footsteps, followed by even more arguing voices.

“... doesn't have his license yet.”

“What good is a license if he doesn't even have a car.”

“You don't need a car in the city. You can get around in the train.”

“Then why did you text me begging for a ride here?”

“You're such a jerk, J.”

The eldest of their children appear in the office, ceasing all bickering when their eyes fall on the father. Dolores, beautiful and bright faced from the sun, the freckles on her cheeks more vivid as she smiles. Jonah, tall, collected, and handsome—reassembling his father more than any of his siblings. Lilac watches fondly as they hug Ethan and wish him a happy father's day. After the brief surprise of their sudden appearance wears off, she can see her husband's eyes shining with emotion.

“We're taking you to lunch,” Lori informs him. “Jonah got us reservations at your favorite place downtown.”

“Nice, that place has the best chocolate cake,” Jasmine says excitedly.

“We said we're taking dad, not you freeloaders,” Jonah returns jokingly, ruffling his younger sister's hair.

“It’s father’s day! We deserve to be celebrated, too!”

“How do you figure that, squirt?”

“Who taught you how to throw a ball, Jonah Naveen Ramsey?” Jasmine demands indignantly.

“Who gave you pointers on how to impress that girl down the street you used to have a crush on?” Violet adds.

“Who Googled 'how to drive a stick shift car' when you borrowed Dad's car without asking him?”

“You what?” Ethan asks, turning to look at his son.

“Who—”

“Alright, alright! You can come with,” Jonah cuts in. “You two are insufferable, I swear.”

“That's no way to speak to your fathers,” Jasmine chastises.

The siblings continue their banter, taking turns predicting what their father will order. The one who knows his order exactly, Lilac observes, is Dolores, though she has no chance to boast to her siblings. Ethan’s pager goes off and he groans when he reads the message.

“There’s a problem with the paperwork in the Sawyer case,” he tells Lilac. With a mournful twist of his mouth, he looks at his children. “I’m sorry but I have to go handle this. Lunch won’t--”

“I’ll stay to take care of it,” Lilac interrupts.

Ethan studies her expression. “Are you sure, love? It’s an awfully complicated case.”

“I’m sure,” she assures him with a nod. “Go enjoy lunch with them.”

Ethan gives her a look so laden with gratitude and affection, her heart skips a beat.

“Geez, you were right, Dad,” Jasmine says. “Mom really does run this place.”

“Or she just prefers dealing with grumpy patients over hearing your awful jokes, Jazzy,” Dolores comments, side bumping her sister affectionately.

“Mom is a pro at dealing with grumpy, though,” Jonah tells them sagely. “She’s dealt with Dad all these years.”

Ethan laughs at that. “You kids won’t cut your old man a break on father’s day?”

“Nope,” Violet returns cheerfully. “Roasting you is our way of telling you we love you.”

______________________________

Author’s Note: Happy Fathers Day to everyone who celebrates! Thank you so much for reading this!

For reference, Jonah is around 20, Dolores (aka “Lori”) 17 going on 18, and the twins are 14

A few notes:

Though I am super behind on replies to my previous fics, please know I am so thankful to everyone who interacted! Love you guys so much!

I haven’t been able to work on Ch 2 of the OPH3 re-write, but I hope to do so soon. I think I’ve decided to take it easy with that series and see where it takes me!

Same thing with the Pictagram series! Thank you to everyone for your patience!

If you tagged me in your content while I was away, I apologize for the delay. I have it all saved up, ready to enjoy this upcoming week!

Tagging in a reblog!

[peachhcs]

Love Languages Pt. 2

Pairing: Luke Patterson x reader

Summary: Pt.2 to Luke asking you what Love Languages are

Warnings: talk of drinking and cheating but that’s it

Word Count: 1.6k

Here is part two that you all have been asking for! I deeply apologize for how long it took me to get this up, school is really kicking my butt. I have a bunch of people asking to be on my taglist and I’m currently in the works of making one so comment or reblog or something telling me you want to be on my taglist! Make sure you specifiy for my series or for small blurbs/oneshots like this or both! 

Thank you so much for the amazing feedback! I love the comments and y’all are so amazing! 

I’m not sure if this will have a part 3?? but let me know if you want one haha. I won’t be tagging anyone in this because my tags got lost in my notifications, so if you want to be tagged again, make sure you read above! :)

PART 1

* * *

You didn’t mean to avoid Luke, it just kind of happened. Junior Year was no joke and it felt like every night and every weekend you had piles of homework to get done, so you sort of drifted from going to Julie’s house everyday. She didn’t mind, she understood just as much and kept you updated on how the band was doing. However, you still felt guilty for avoiding the boys. You were worried that Luke would think he scared you away by touching you, but you were feeling the exact opposite. You wanted to explore more and find out more but here you were, in your room at 12am trying to finish this nagging essay that was due in 8 hours. 

You felt your eyelids growing heavy but you shook your head, trying to keep yourself awake. The 3 monster drinks on your nightstand said enough about how much you were trying to keep yourself awake. You had 2 paragraphs left but you knew you were at a losing battle with yourself. The way your eyes were just glazing over at this point and rereading the same sentence over and over was becoming a very evident indication that you needed sleep. Before you could even think about quitting for the night, there was a noise from the side of your room and a grunt. Your eyes quickly darted over to where the noise came from and there stood Luke with that magenta pull over that you really liked. 

“Luke?” His eyes quickly darted over to you, clearly surprised to still see you awake.

“Y/n..hey..” He started and you pushed your laptop away to give him your full attention. 

“What are you..doing here?..” You weren’t really sure why he was here and you felt a small bit of tension in the room from avoiding him for the past few weeks. 

“I uh..came to see you..” His voice was small and you pushed your eyebrows together in confusion. 

“At 12 in the morning?..” You knew ghosts didn’t really sleep but it was still a strange sight to see Luke in your bedroom this late at night. 

“Yup..” He trails off and pushes his glance down to the floor. You raised your eyebrow, knowing he wasn’t telling you the whole truth. You two were still best friends after all, so you could read him like an open book. 

“Luke, seriously. What are you doing here?” You ask trying to push an answer out of him. He finally meets your gaze again and you see his small expression on his face.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” 

You blinked a few times at his bluntness. This time you were the one to avoid his gaze. You picked at your fingernails slightly, knowing Luke was watching you and waiting for an answer. 

“I don't mean too.. School’s been tough and stuff.” You say cringing at how lame that sounded even though it was true. Luke stayed silent for a moment, trying to decide if you were lying to him or not. You avoided his eyes and kept your glance locked on the floor. 

“Did I do something wrong? Did I overstep by touching you? I didn’t mean to scare you or anything..” Luke trails off and you frown. You quickly shake your head to tell him no.

“No, no, no. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve just been really swamped with homework..” You grimace to yourself for coming back to your really lame excuse. You watch as Luke steps a little closer, testing the waters. When you don’t object to him moving closer, he takes a slow seat on your bed beside you. 

“You look tired..” He points out, gently reaching to touch your cheek. It warms both of your bodies as your skin makes contact. His hands were..warm..and comforting. You weren’t sure what you expected but it definitely wasn't this. Who knew ghosts were warm? 

“I told you I’ve been swamped with homework.” You chuckle and this time Luke chuckles along with you. He gently pulls his hand away and folds them into his lap. You stare down at your feet for a few moments trying to figure out what to say next. This felt like completely new territory the two of you were exploring and by the energy and growing tension in the room; this was a little bit scary. 

“Do you think you know..why we can..touch?” You ask hesitantly. Julie was filling you in here and there at school, but it wasn’t much and they didn’t seem to come up with anything as to why you had the “powers” too. 

“No..it’s still all confusing. We think Julie’s mom has something to do with us being connected to Julie but we don’t know about you.” Luke says, side eyeing you and you weren’t sure if that was a hint for you to talk about your past or not.  

You didn’t really open up about your past. No one had ever really asked so you never really talked. Julie knew a little bit, she knew that your mom and dad fought a lot and you didn’t like being at home that much, but that was about it. You didn’t talk about it further than that, so when you could feel Luke trying to dig into your past more, you shrugged. 

“My parents don’t talk much about stuff. I don’t know.” You say, keeping it short and simple. Luke frowns a little at your answer, but he knows not to push so he doesn’t. The two of you sit in more silence beside one another. You picked at your finger nails while Luke’s eyes travelled around your room. 

“I ran out on my mom. She didn’t believe in my dream and though dropping out of high school was the worst possible idea. We got into a fight and I ran out. That was the last time I saw her face to face. I died before I could make amends with her.” You glance at Luke, surprised at his openness. Even though you guys were best friends, talking about stuff like this was kind of off limits. The memory hurt too much so you never talked about at home, parent problems. 

“Wow..I’m sorry. That must have been hard on both of you.” You admit and Luke nods.

“It was, but Julie helped me make amends with them last year.” Luke smiles a little and you smile too. You knew his little story was a play to get you to start talking so you took in a little breath. 

“My dad cheated on my mom a few years ago with..a few other women. My mom keeps trying to make excuses for him to keep him around. They fight a lot because my dad doesn’t want to stay but my mom keeps pushing it. They’re both pretty heavy drinkers, too. It’s not a very good mix.” You explain. It felt weird to say it out loud, but it also felt nice to talk about it with someone.

“I’m really sorry, Y/n. I can’t imagine how difficult that is.” Luke empathizes but you only shrug. 

“It’s a good thing Julie let’s me come over so much. She’s been there for me for it all and I really love her for that.” You say, smiling at the thought of Julie’s friendship. You really couldn’t ask for a better best friend to get through it all. 

“Yeah, Julie’s really great. She does it all.” Luke laughs and you nod in agreement. More silence fills in between you two but it was comfortable silence. This time you lean your head on Luke’s shoulder and he pulls his arm around you to bring you closer. You could feel the tension slowly fading away. Sometimes all it took was one meaningful conversation to break the barrier. 

“Oh yeah, I saw these on my way over here and I thought you might like them.” Luke smiles and you watch as he digs into his pocket before pulling out a small bouquet of those pretty Aster flowers. You sit up a little, instantly recognizing them. They were your grandma’s favorite before she passed away when you were little. 

“Asters?” You ask and Luke glances at you a little surprised.

“Is that what they’re called? They’re really pretty.” Luke smiles and hands them to you. You smile, smelling them and instantly getting that fresh scent of your grandma’s house. 

“They are very pretty. Thank you.” You smile warmly and Luke smiles again. 

“Yeah, you’re welcome. They just reminded me of you.” Luke says and you chuckle. That was something your grandma had said to you a lot. 

“You should probably get going. It’s getting late and the boys are probably wondering where you are.” You chuckle, glancing at how much later it had gotten and you still had to wake up for school the next morning. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll see you at Julie’s tomorrow?” Luke stands up and sends you a hopeful glance. You chuckle and nod a yes. 

“Yeah, see you there, Patterson.” Luke smiles at your response. You watch as he hesitates to leave for a moment and you’re about to question him when in one quick motion he plants a kiss on your cheek before poofing out. 

You sit there, a little stunned, before allowing a small blush to creep its way onto your cheeks. You got up to put your flowers in your little vase on your desk. It added a nice touch to your room. If Luke hadn’t come in to make you more alert, you would have missed it. On your desk by the vase was a small piece of paper with writing on it. Upon examining it further, it was one of the last notes your grandma had written to you before she passed away. You thought you had lost that somewhere in your numerous papers, but there it was, front and center on your desk. 

I will be with you, today, tomorrow, and forever. You just have to look for the signs - Grandma 

[gaemkyuu]

Of Kings & Queens (Part 6)

Warnings: none!  A/N: Coronation day! I’m really thinking of adding one last chapter with a baby or pregnancy, but I’m not sure if I should just leave it as is... let me know your thoughts!  AU!Prince Charlie Gillespie x Fictional Character Disclaimer: This is a FICITONAL writing piece! In no way do I claim characters in this piece act this way in real life.

Masterlist *now taking requests ;)

Part 1/Part 2/Part 3/Part 4/Part 5/Part 6

In the urgency to have Charlie become King and Olivia become queen, the Northern Kingdom and the Western Kingdom decided that it would be for the best if the coronation day for Prince Charlie was combined with their wedding. It was also decided early on that Olivia and Charlie would have little to no say in what went into their special day. The only saving grace they had was Savannah who knew her best friend enough to object to certain décor or wedding dress designs, but the poor girl was swamped with wedding planning and tasks around the palace. After all, the Royal families had decided that the wedding should happen within a month’s time. The two of them felt more and more anxious as the days drew nearer.

Charlie was becoming increasingly overwhelmed with the constant stream of information being thrown at him about the Western Kingdom. He knew that trade and commerce with resources would be different, but he didn’t anticipate learning about the history of the Kingdom and the inner workings of its economy. Charlie figured he could learn about the Kingdom as he got his hands involved, like learning on the go. He didn’t expect the increased amount of meetings and gatherings of the Royal Council, which took away from his time sneaking around with Olivia.

Olivia on the other hand became increasingly frustrated with the extra court classes that her mother felt obliged to teach her. Every day she spent 6 hours with her mother being lectured about the duties of a Queen and what makes a good Queen. She also had to sit into more events with Ladies of the court and was constantly scrutinized on how she looked, behaved and presented herself. It was exhausting and Olivia felt increasingly annoyed with how she wasn’t allowed to be herself. It didn’t help that the only times she saw Charlie was when she passed him in the hall. He would exchange an apologetic smile and wave, which she would reciprocate, but the both of them knew how much this whole ordeal was getting to them.

The night before their wedding should’ve been filled with excitement and anticipation before the celebration. She had dismissed Savannah for the evening, much to her best friend’s reluctance. Savannah knew something was going on and she was growing increasingly concerned that Olivia was clamming up more than usual. However, Olivia knew Savannah was under a lot of stress preparing for the wedding and felt guilty about venting to her friend. Instead, she thought it would be beneficial for Savannah to get an early night and a little time to relax to herself. The only reason Savannah agreed was that Charlie caught her in the hall earlier and asked that she sneak him a small picnic basket of treats that they could enjoy together that evening. She didn’t ask any questions, but she also knew that Olivia would appreciate the gesture, and so she left a small picnic basket tucked away on her balcony.

However, Olivia sat quietly in her room crying on her bed, confused, lost and overwhelmed. The extra time spent with her mother made her question herself and made her feel insecure about herself. She started to feel unprepared every time her mother corrected her and started to question her worthiness as Queen. She hated the fact that her mother spent 6 hours every day for the past month grooming her to be a pretty wife that stood silently and poised beside her King, encouraging and agreeing to his every word. Her mother often reminded her that she needed to know her place and although she admired her strong willed nature, it was something that she needed to control as Queens are strong but also submissive. 

“Liv? What’s wrong?” she jumped at the voice and snapped her head in the direction of the voice. There stood a tired looking Charlie with a picnic basket with a concerned look on his face. He moved over to sit beside her on the bed, placing the basket of treats on the nightstand, quickly wrapping his arms around her. Olivia melted into the hug and the small stream of tears became a steady river, flowing down her face. She sniffled and bit her lips as she didn’t want anyone to hear her breaking down. Charlie rubbed soft circles on her back with one hand and held her head to his shoulder with the other. “It’s okay Liv, take a deep breath and just let it out”

“I’m sorry Charlie” she sobbed quietly into his shoulder, hugging him tighter. She loved Charlie with her whole heart, and there was no denying that. However, the lack of control she had on her life was frightening and intrusive. She felt the suffocating feeling that night in the garden slowly creep up on her, but having Charlie there helped keep her at bay. “I love you”

“I love you too Olivia. You’re okay... It’s all going to be okay...” Olivia continued to cry into her love’s shoulder and eventually she found herself calming down, but the sadness remained. She pulled away from Charlie and moved to her vanity to grab a handkerchief to wipe away the smudges of make up on her face. She gripped onto the edges of the vanity and took a deep breath, straightening her spine. She was trying to compose herself and convince herself that everything was fine and that she was overreacting, but as Charlie wrapped his arms around her from behind, she melted into his touch. He turned her around and hugged her once more and Olivia was grateful for it. She didn’t realize how badly she needed a physical connection with Charlie. To her surprise, he picked her up bridal style, but she fought him to be put down. “Would you please let me practice for tomorrow?” 

She gave him a small laugh and complied with his request. It amazed her that despite everything going on Charlie was still able to make her laugh or smile. Carrying her over to the bed, he laid her down gently and joined her on the other side of the bed. Instinctively, she cuddled into him, lying her head on his chest, something that Charlie greatly appreciated. The two lay there in silence as Olivia drew soft absentminded shapes on his chest and Charlie played with her hair.

“What’s in the basket?” she felt Charlie’s chest shake slightly as he chuckled and moved to sit up against her head board and pillow. She followed his actions and sat up as well as Charlie placed the basket in between them. He motioned for her to open in it, and she curiously did, smiling at what she saw inside. “You brought these for me?”

“Well, I haven’t been able to spend much time with you and we’ve both been under a lot of stress. So I had Savannah pull some strings and put this together for us to eat out feelings out tonight” he smiled and pulled out a strawberry pastry, taking a bite and rolling his eyes at how delicious it was.

“I guess I can have one. I have to watch my figure so I don’t look fat in my wedding dress tomorrow” Olivia thought she meant it in a joking manner, but it came out a little bitter to which Charlie frowned at her in concern and put his treat down. 

“Liv, what’s going on? You’ve never been ashamed at your appetite or conscious about your body” she sighed as she pulled out a pastry and quietly chewed on it, contemplating how much she wanted to tell him. “Olivia Grace, don’t try to hide a single thing because you know I can tell when you’re hiding something”

“I don’t know... I’m just feeling so lost and confused. Spending all that extra time in court classes with my mom has been getting to me... I feel like I’m losing who I am in the midst of being this perfect Queen that the nation needs, while also realizing this is not the way I want to help the nation. I don’t doubt you as a King, but I feel like I’m having to choose between you or something that I’ve been working my whole life for?” Charlie sat patiently letting Olivia express herself, knowing that she rarely got the occasion to. “You’re going to make an amazing king, I don’t doubt that... but how do you just let everything that you’ve been working towards go? Especially when you’re being asked to forget about something you’re passionate about?”

“You know I won’t dismiss you, right? Your word is equally weighted in my eyes” Olivia sighed deeply and Charlie knew there was very little that he could contribute to the situation.

“I know that, but I don’t get to be in the room to make crucial decisions with you... you’ll make them on your own and you’ll do the best that you can. But the problem is there are people who could offer better insight to the situation” a brief moment of hurt crossed Charlie’s features and she immediately regretted voicing that out loud. Day in and out, Charlie was proving to be an amazing King, with wisdom beyond his years. This was another thing that Olivia admired. Despite the chaos and fun loving side of Charlie, there was a man who was ready to lead a nation in a moment’s notice, regardless of how he felt.

“Is this what it’s about? The recognition?” her eyes widened and realized that she had to clarify what she meant before things were misconstrued.

“No! I couldn’t care less if they only wrote your name in history as King!” Charlie still looked apprehensive and unsure. “I just don’t want history to mention me as they’ve mentioned the Queens before us. In everything that I read, they are portrayed only for their beauty as an accessory to the King, but never for what they’ve done. We are going to have kids one day and I want my daughter to believe that she could do so much more than being pretty and submissive. I want our kids to believe that anything is possible if they work hard for it” he perked up at the last part of her explanation.

“You want to have kids?” she scoffed at his response, knowing she should’ve expected that part to be his biggest take away.

“Yes, but not the point Charlie. I thought that Kings and Queens made things possible for the Kingdom, when in reality we follow tradition that no longer makes sense to our society!” Charlie held her hand as she sighed, frustrated.

“Things are a little backwards aren’t they?” Olivia nodded and the two of them sat there in silence. The reality of their situation sank in deeper and the discontentment Olivia felt grew stronger. She looked to her husband to be for assurance, but noticed just how deep the bags under his eyes had been and how sullen he looked.

“I’m sorry... I’m being completely insensitive to how this is affecting you... have you been alright?” Charlie cleared his throat and straightened up, thinking carefully about what he wanted to talk about.

“I’ve been in meetings all day trying to decide what my first decree as king would be”

“And?”

“I have no idea... Pat said to pick something that would profit the economy between the Kingdoms, but the King said that we need to start exploring foreign trade. Meanwhile, the Viziers have been voicing out the concerns of the people, all the while I’m trying to take your advice of picking something simple because I’m going to stick with it for a while and... it’s just... it’s a mess” Olivia moved closer to Charlie as he stuttered through his frustrations. She moved his head to rest on her shoulder and played with his hair.

“You’re going to make an amazing King. I know that may not mean much right now, but there is no one else who I’d rather take my place other than you” Charlie smiled up at her and kissed the shoulder he leaned on. Regardless of what his decree would be, all of the other three Kingdoms would have to accept it the day of the Coronation when it is announced. Rarely ever was a decree never agreed upon, as it was the duty of the next King to let the other Kings know in advance as to what he would be deciding.

“I just wished the roles were reversed, y’know? I wouldn’t mind standing there and looking pretty!” he smiled as a genuine laugh came from Olivia as it sounded like a beautiful melody to his ears. It had been rare to hear such laughter come from her as of late and he made the mental note to make sure she laughed more often with him. “Listen, I know this isn’t panning out the way we wanted it to, but I hope you understand how much I love you Liv. I really mean it”

“I know. I love you more” she kissed the top of his head before he moved to sit beside her and yawn. “I really appreciate this cute little picnic you set up for us” he opened his mouth to respond, but another yawn made its way out. “But seeing as tomorrow is a big day and we are both exhausted, what say you we put these pastries away and settle into bed?”

“Feeling frisky are we?” Charlie smirked at the flushed Princess before him as she realized how her proposition could’ve been taken. “Relax, I got what you meant, I’m just teasing you. I just didn’t think you’d blush that deeply at the mention of sex” his eyes grew the size of saucers as her face deepened its shade, cluing in to her embarrassment. “You haven’t had sex before, have you?”

Olivia stuttered to get out her response, suddenly feeling embarrassed at the sudden announcement of her virginity in the conversation. It wasn’t customary for Princesses to spend time with any male unless it was an authoritative person, family or a potential suitor. Even then, there would always be a chaperone, which was usually Savannah. Olivia knew about sex, but a conversation such as this had never come up in the time that they had been together. She didn’t realize that she was still stuttering to explain herself until Charlie silenced her with a kiss.

“Nothing to be embarrassed about Liv” he winked, pecking her lips once more. “Does that mean I get to be your first everything?” She nodded and hid her face in his neck, still embarrassed at the situation. Charlie took this as a cue to lie down in her bed, reaching for the sheets as he slid them down. The couple laid in silence for the majority of the evening, Olivia drawing patterns on his chest after he unbuttoned it and Charlie playing with her hair while rubbing soft circles on her back. Eventually, Olivia fell asleep on his chest and he stealthily tried to get away without waking her up, but stopped when she grabbed his wrist. “Liv if they find us together in the morning, you know we won’t hear the end of it”

“Please... I just...” Charlie couldn’t say no to her, mostly because he knew the feeling. It was that same feeling he felt every late night that he stayed up to study more about the Western Kingdom and he was lost, overwhelmed and tired, wishing Olivia could just hold him to ease the emotions he was feeling.

“Fine... move over” she smiled appreciatively and moved over more on the bed, turning to face the other side so that Charlie could cuddle her from behind. “Just don’t complain if you wake up and I have all the covers” Olivia laughed and playfully hit him with a pillow. Charlie pulled her closer and snuggled his face into her neck, which caused her to giggle a bit. Olivia felt herself drifting as Charlie gave her neck soft kissed and hummed a melody that lulled her to sleep.

“Everything is going to be okay Liv. I promise”

***

The rest they received that night was much needed and both would say it was the best sleep they’ve had in a long time! However, the next morning Savannah entered to wake Olivia up only to shriek in surprise as Charlie was in bed. Immediately, the two jumped out of bed and Savannah rushed to the door. Hearing Savannah’s shriek sent guards her way and she explained that she had walked in on the Princess changing and waved them off. As Savannah entered the room, she chastised the both of them that they were lucky she had come alone this morning. After giving them a moment to say goodbye, Charlie exited through the balcony and Savannah began by shoving Olivia to the nearest bath to get her washed up.

Olivia didn’t have a moment to think about how she was feeling as it was one thing after another. Savannah ran a tight ship today and there was no chance that Olivia could ask for a break until Savannah got through her entire todo list. She winced as Savannah pulled her hair back and fastened it in the bun at the top of her head. People were constantly in and out of her bedroom asking Savannah questions about the wedding and coronation. Olivia was given bread, cheese and fruit to snack on before the Coronation and wedding, which she was thankful for, but she didn’t enjoy too much with the chaos going on before her.

Savannah finished up her hair and make up, then proceeded to get her into her wedding dress. This would be the first time anyone saw the dress, including Olivia. She trusted her best friend with her life, but she felt a little nervous. Upon seeing the dress, she instantly regretted any doubt she had for Savannah because the dress was perfect. Her dress was anything but the disastrous ball gown pastry dress her mother had recommended.

“Shall we?” her best friend smiled and Olivia nodded, feeling excitement.

Olivia’s wedding dress was a column dress that was off the shoulder adorned with iridescent pearl lace and a court train that began at her sleeves, mimicking the image of a cape. It was off-white and form fitting, something that no Princess or Queen in history had ever worn on their Coronation or Wedding day. Savannah zipped up her dress and helped Olivia into her custom made off-white silk high heels with gold vinery climbing up the back. She stood tall and felt beautiful as she stared at her appearance in the mirror. Savannah came from behind and hugged her best friend, chin resting on her shoulder and staring back at her reflection.

“You are going to be an amazing Queen Olivia. Forget anything your mother taught you and just be you. The people already love you, so why change?” a happy tear slid down Olivia’s face in appreciation at the kind words from her best friend. “Stop! If you cry, I’ll cry! I also just did your make up!” the girls shared a laugh and Savannah asked another servant to grab the King to help with the veil.

As her father walked into her room, his eyes instantly filled with tears and he was grateful that Savannah was there to help him place her tiara and cathedral weil on her. No words were exchanged between the two of them, just smiles and silent conversations with their eyes. With a last look at the mirror, Olivia took her father’s arm in hers and they walked to the Throne room where all the guests awaited. The walk to the throne room felt long and Olivia wishes it went by faster because then she wouldn’t have had a moment to think about what she was feeling. The closer they drew, the more confused Olivia became. She was excited to marry Charlie, but she wasn’t extremely thrilled to give up everything she worked for. She was thrilled that the Kingdom would have Charlie to lead them, but she wasn’t excited at the idea of being a trophy wife from here on out. 

Her father cleared his throat and Olivia realized they were at the doors to the throne room. At his signal, her life would never be the same, and a wave of nausea washed over her, her hands trembling suddenly. She took a deep breath and swallowed, in fear she might vomit, but her father let go of her arm and turned to face her, holding both of her hands in his.

“I haven’t had a moment with you like this since you were a child.” tears welled up in her father’s eyes. “Now here you are, a beautiful young woman becoming a wife and a Queen” he sniffled as a tear escaped and he wiped it with the back of his hand, never letting hers go. “Olivia, I’ve known since you were a baby that you would someday become one of the greatest Queens this Kingdom has ever known. I still believe that my dear.”

Olivia started to feel a little emotional as her father lowered his defenses around her. “I know that you have dreamed your whole life to one day relieve me of my duties. I’ve learned a lot about myself as a King and father watching you grow up and listening to your observations about this Kingdom. In time my dear, you will change this Kingdom for the better” Olivia let a tear slide down her face at her father’s words but it was quickly wiped away by him. 

“I will always be your little Princess” she smiled and the King sniffled. The servant apologetically interrupted their moment preparing for them to open the door as the muffled sounds of the orchestra penetrated the thick doors. With a kiss on the cheek, a nod from the King, they linked arms again and prepared to walk down the aisle together. 

Olivia will forever remember that moment when the doors opened and she saw Charlie at the throne. Watching his face go from shock, to amazement, to excitement, to happiness was such a joy to watch. She could only see him and he could only see her. Regardless of what the future held, Olivia had one certainty. She would never regret the decisions she made that led her to Charlie. As she walked with her father to join Charlie at the throne, the smile on his face was the biggest she had ever seen on him, and as the music slowly came to an end as they arrived in front of him, the smile remained.

“How you doin’?” he whispered, winking at her. They heard King Patrick clear his throat but couldn’t care less.

“To you Prince Charles, I pass my daughter, Princess Olivia Grace, to you. May you fill her life with peace, joy, happiness and prosperity” the King placed Olivia’s hand in Charlie’s, hesitating a moment to pull away. “Take care of my Princess” he whispered looking Charlie sincerely in the eyes.

“I promise” he whispered back and the King let go, joining his wife to the side.

The Royal Wedding proceeded exactly the way it should have. The religious passages and oaths were sworn, along with the traditions of the Western and Northern Kingdom, and soon the two were pronounced husband and wife, in which they turned around to face their guests for the first time. Olivia noticed King Jeremy and Queen Carolynn smiling in the front row on the right side, their parents seated behind them, while on the left side Prince Owen and Prince Hayden sat next to the King and Queen of the Southern Kingdom. To her immediate right sat the Royal Family of the Northern Kingdom and her own mother and father to her immediate right. All of the important families, gathered in one location for this momentous occasion.

The trumpets sounded signifying the time for the Coronation and the newlyweds knelt before the King and Queen as they assumed their positions. The happiness of their matrimony started to fade as the Queen began to speak to the people informing them of what makes a good Queen. As the Queen spoke, the words settled in Olivia’s mind and she felt herself slowly becoming less happy, something in which Charlie noticed out of the corner of his eyes. He squeezed her hand tightly in reassurance, but it didn’t seem to help. 

“I present to you, Queen Olivia Grace Gillespie” her mother announced as she replaced her tiara with a crown and the crowd erupted in applause. Olivia stood and curtsied to the Queen, then curtsying to the crowd. Owen clapped particularly loud and looked quite smug, something that Olivia caught. She watched him exchange a look with King Jeremy who smiled back at him, equally smug. Charlie’s whisper of her name snapped her out of her thoughts and she knelt back down beside him. The King immediately started his speech about passing the crown to Charlie and the responsibilities he would assume in his stead. Olivia saw him grow increasingly anxious as the King spoke, and she tried to comfort him the way he comforted her, especially when he started becoming fidgety.

“I present to you, King Charles Jeffrey Gillespie, the new King of the Western Kingdom” Olivia watched as Charlie was crowned and stood before her Kingdom who applauded him. He bowed to the King, who whispered something in his ear and all tension and anxiety left Charlie in an instant. The former Queen and new Queen looked at the two in confusion as Charlie turned around to bow at the distinguished guests, and then motioned to Olivia to stand with him for the final announcement. “Presenting the King and Queen of the Western Kingdom!” Everyone stood in applause and the people outside the castle could also be heard as someone announced the end to the official Coronation. After a few moments of applause, Charlie silenced the room with a motion of his hand and everyone took their seats.

“As your new King and a foreigner to this Kingdom, I have thought greatly upon what my first decree as your King would be. I have received a number of suggestions and requests from several honored and distinguished members of your Kingdom. Ultimately, I have decided on one.” Charlie paused, clearing his throat, leaving the crowd waiting in anticipation. “In the time that I have got to understand your Kingdom, I have noticed that the Kings of your past have brought prosperity to the Kingdom. In speaking with your people, I have learned that your Queens have done a great deal as well, but have only been known as the support to the King. We currently live in a time in which traditions in our past no longer support the needs of our future” Olivia looked at him in confusion, realizing that he was quoting her words from last night.

“In order to move forward as a Kingdom, with the interest of prosperity for the people and the nation, I believe that there are some changes we as a nation need to resolve.” Olivia followed Charlie’s gaze to Jeremy and Carolynn who smiled and nodded in agreeance, then to Owen who shared a look with his father, then to the Southern King who nodded in affirmation as well.

“Charlie, what are you doing?” she whispered curtly, looking at her husband. He smiled back at her and took a deep breath.

“My first decree as King of the Western Kingdom is to urge the Nation to agree that Queens shall join the Royal Council and their word should hold equal value to that of their King” 

Olivia's eyes felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets as she listened to Charlie’s first decree as King. Gasps filled the room and so did quiet whispers of chatter amongst the guests. Never had there ever been a decree that challenged their Nations traditions before! A tense and uncomfortable moment hung in the air as Charlie awaited to hear the responses from the other Kingdoms.

Jeremy and Carolynn were the first to stand and speak. “As King and Queen of the Eastern Kingdom, we accept your decree.” They bowed and applauded the new King.

The King and Queen of the Southern Kingdom were next to speak. “As King and Queen of the Southern Kingdom, we accept your decree” the applause increased. Charlie looked to his brother and family, who were shocked at the words that left his mouth. Olivia must have thought that Charlie had already chosen his decree and voiced it out to both families, which meant that this came as a total shock. She looked at her father who smiled proudly, but her mother seemed equally off guard. The look of confidence on Charlie’s face faltered as no one stood immediately from his family. His brother stood slowly with his wife and cleared his throat. If King Patrick didn’t accept the decree, then Charlie would have to think of a new one, something Olivia hoped deep down would not happen.

“As King and Queen of the Northern Kingdom, we accept your decree” the applause was deafening and the people celebrated the new decree. Granted there were people in the crowd, like the Viziers who were tremendously confused and her mother who was speechless, but there were also people like Savannah and her father who enthusiastically applauded the choice to break tradition for the better. As the roar of the orchestra commenced, Charlie took Olivia’s hand and walked down the aisle, Savannah following and fixing her train as they walked out of the throne room and to the parlor to get ready for the next part of the occasion. Thankfully, they got to the parlor quickly without anyone stopping them and as soon as the door shut, they kissed each other deeply.

“Did that actually happen?” Olivia breathed as they broke the kiss. Still, Charlie held her close, his forehead resting on hers.

“You and all the Queens that come after you will now be a part of the Royal Council. I told you, everything is going to be okay” happy tears filled her eyes as Charlie held her, smiling. She was preparing herself to never have a say for the rest of her life, but now she got to start fresh with a husband and King that not only loved her, but one that appreciated and valued her.

THE END

A/N: Thoughts?! If I were to add one last chapter to this series, what would you want to see?

tag list:  @ifilwtmfc @warmness0ul @starjane312

[jaxsteamblog]

Childhood Sweethearts

Click here to read the entire fic on AO3

(A/N: Long chapter. Zuko has a bad time. :c)

Katara bumped into Suki and Thuy as she made her way through the grove. Together, with Thuy’s directions and Katara’s light, they found Zuko and Sokka only yards apart. Both men were quiet and withdrawn, and covered in mud. 

Not finding the words to breach his silence, Katara only watched Zuko from the corner of her eye. 

Back at the huts, the group was led to the showers so they could bathe. The stalls were outdoors, all in a row, but curtains were hung to give them privacy. Relaxing in the warm water, Katara used as much of the lumpy, sweet smelling soap as she could. She rinsed repeatedly, washing out debris from her hair every time. 

When they emerged, clean clothes were waiting for them and Zuko immediately went to the hut he shared with Katara. She followed after him, still quiet. 

Lifting the flap to the hut, she saw him lying face down on the mattress. 

“Okay, so obviously you saw something out there too.” She said as she walked in, the flap falling behind her.

“What did you see?” Zuko asked, his voice muffled.

“Yue.” 

Zuko rolled over enough to lay on his cheek.

“For real?” He asked.

Katara chuckled and sat next to him. As she did, he rolled onto his side and propped his head up on a fist. 

“She tried to help me with the burden of destiny.” She said.

“Wild.” Zuko said.

“Who did you see?”

“My mom.”

“What?!”

Zuko nodded and Katara laid down on her side facing him.

“What happened?” She asked.

“Nothing really. When I first looked at her, she didn’t have a face.”

“That is terrifying.”

“I agree. But when I looked at her again, she did have a face.”

“Oh spirits don’t say it was your dad’s face or something.”

“It was Noriko’s.” 

“Like, Noren’s wife?” 

“Yeah, her.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.” Zuko rolled his head in an attempt to shake it. “Noren was friends with my mother and her boyfriend Ikem when they were younger.”

“Did Noriko know them?” Katara asked.

“Not that either of them have said. But Noriko had an accident in the woods a while ago and lost a lot of her memory.” He answered. 

“What kind of accident?”

“I never asked. I felt it was too invasive, you know?”

“Well, what happened to Ikem?”

Zuko laid on his back and put his hands on his stomach, but turned his head to look at Katara.

“It got awkward when Noren was telling me about him. I didn’t really want to know. But he doesn’t live in Hira’a anymore.” He said. 

“Maybe it has something to do with Noriko’s accident?” Katara suggested. 

“I don’t know.” Zuko said.

“Let’s go back and ask.” 

“Go to Hira’a and ask Noren about my mom’s old boyfriend?” 

“I mean, if you saw your mom with Noriko’s face in the swamp, maybe it’s all connected. Your mom, Ikem’s disappearance, and Noriko’s accident. Can’t hurt, right?” She asked. 

“Might be worth a shot.” Zuko said.

Katara leaned over and kissed his forehead.

“I’ll let Dong-Lee know.” She said.

Zuko held onto her and Katara lowered herself, cuddling into his side. She might need to make peace with destiny, but for now she could at least help Zuko with something important to him.

~

In the morning, when Katara explained her plan to cut the visit short so she and Zuko could head to Hira’a, the matriarch refused. Dong-Lee insisted that what the swamp showed him was far more important and insisted that they leave that day. 

Sokka looked haggard and didn’t ask to join, so Toph jumped into the decrepit old car stashed at the edge of the swamp. 

“What are you doing?” Katara asked as Toph buckled herself into the passenger’s seat. The driver didn’t seem to care and she began to work of turning over the engine.

“You do know the nearest city is Gaoling right?” Toph asked. “That’s how come I’ve been to the swamp before. I used to run away a lot.” 

“Are you going to visit your parents?” Katara asked.

“Rolling into my neighborhood with the Fire Lord and Water Tribe queen in this hunk of junk?” Toph asked. She paused as the engine roared to life and the car shook. 

“You better believe I want to visit the Beifong estate.” She said.

Toph returned to her childhood home like a landslide. In a matter of moments, Toph had dragged the equivalent of a front yard’s worth of dirt all over the pristine entry room, commandeered her parents’ private plane, and sent their driver back to the swamp in a much nicer car. 

Before Lao and Poppy Beifong could even properly introduce themselves, Zuko and Katara were swept back out, heading to the airfield. 

Toph stayed behind, for reasons only known to herself.

The plane stopped in Republic City, and that was when Zuko started to second guess the trip. 

“They have been nothing but generous, I can’t go sticking my nose into their private lives.” He babbled as they waited for the fuel truck. 

The new pilot had already boarded, and the new attendants bustled in the back preparing some sort of meal for them. Katara held Zuko’s hand as she looked around. 

“We’re just asking some questions.” She said, ducking her head down to speak quietly. “If Noren’s told you about your mother and Ikem before, I’m sure it’ll be okay.” 

“What if she went back for him and Ikem isn’t gone, he’s dead? And what if that’s the accident Noriko had?” Zuko asked. 

“We won’t know until we ask. And Zuko,” Katara waited until he looked at her. “It’s your mother.”

Looking pained, he only nodded.

It was the middle of the night when they landed in Hira’a. Too anxious to sleep, Zuko threw himself into work while Katara tried to coax him to at least lay down. He ignored her and she had to give up, too tired to fight him.

In the morning, he looked haunted. He was quiet as they ate breakfast and got ready for their outing. After washing his face and having some coffee, a little bit of life returned but it still wasn’t much to dispel his mood.

“Ready?” Katara asked.

Zuko nodded. 

They took a taxi this time, as Zuko was too jittery to sit on a motorbike. As they neared Noren’s home, his body seemed to spasm.

Katara took his hand and he stilled.

“It’ll be okay.” She murmured.

When they exited, the door to Noren’s house opened. The taxi pulled away when Noren stepped out.

“Zuko?” He asked, clearly surprised. “Ah, forgive me, Fire Lord.”

Noren bowed and Zuko took in a deep breath, releasing it slowly. 

“Noren, I need to ask you something.” He said.

“Of course. Come in, come in.” Noren said hurriedly, gesturing for them to enter.

Zuko and Katara walked in, feeling the cool AC brush against their faces. 

“Noriko left to take Kiyi to her art class. I hope you’ll stay long enough to see her.” Noren said as he shut the door. “Now how can I help the Fire Lord?”

“I need you to tell me about Ikem, and my mother.” Zuko said, turning around to look at Noren. The other man’s face paled.

“Your mother?” He repeated.

“Zuko saw a vision of Ursa in the Foggy Swamp. And Noriko.” Katara said.

Noren staggered backward, falling into the door. Katara grabbed him, steadying him and looking back at Zuko.

“Your mother…” Noren murmured.

“You knew her. Both of them.” Zuko said.

“They were childhood sweethearts, you said.” Katara added gently. 

“Yes, yes I knew them.” Noren said, nodding and standing on his own. “I knew them well.”

Noren stood, looking distantly into his memory. Zuko stood quietly, watching him.

“Should we have something to drink?” Katara suggested. 

Noren shook himself, looking bewildered from her to Zuko, as if he didn’t expect to see them there.

“Right. Tea.” He mumbled and walked to the kitchen. Katara took Zuko’s arm and led him to the couch in the living room, sitting him down.

“Are you doing okay?” She asked.

“Yeah.” Zuko said softly. 

“I’m going to see if Noren needs any help. I’ll be right back.”

“Sure.”

Katara walked to the kitchen and could hear Noren speaking quietly as she neared. Stepping through the archway, she saw him standing at the phone mounted on the wall, covering the mouth piece with his hand. 

“Just do some shopping or something. You can bring Kiyi back home for dinner.”

Katara frowned and stepped further into the kitchen.

“Is everything alright?” She asked.

Noren jumped and slammed the phone back onto the mount. 

“Noriko forgot her grocery list. I was telling her what we needed.” He said and moved hurriedly to the stove. 

“How thoughtful.” Katara said flatly.

Noren grabbed his kettle and moved toward the sink.

“Let me.” Katara said, sweeping in and grabbing the handle from him. Pulling her hand through the air, water shot out of the faucet, causing the handle to screech as it was forced up to open the valve. 

Keeping icy eye contact, she filled the kettle and used the rest of the water to slam the handle back down. Then, flashing Noren a cold smile, Katara returned the kettle to the stove and clicked the knob to turn on the gas. 

“I know you know something, Noren, and I know Noriko is involved.” Katara said, watching the spark under the grate before it caught the gas. A flame shot up and she turned the knob down, placing the kettle on the grate. 

“I know you want to protect your wife,” Katara turned and stared at Noren. “But you owe Zuko the truth.” 

“The truth is going to make things worse.” Noren said.

“You don’t know that.” Katara replied.

“Trust me, I do.” He said.

“No.” Katara repeated firmly. Her hands curled into fists and the kettle started to scream, steam already pouring out of the spout and spitting boiling water. 

“Tsk.” Katara wound water from the air around her hand, freezing it as she grabbed the handle of the kettle. “It’ll scald the tea.”

Noren collected the teapot and tea tin, setting them on the counter as Katara brought the water to the correct temperature.

“Aren’t you a Firebender? Make it hot.” 

Katara sighed, chilling the water and calming herself as she poured. Zuko was far better at making tea. 

Noren busied himself with the tray while Katara made the tea. She followed him back out to the living room, where Zuko was still sitting quietly.

“That was fast.” He said.

“I can make water hot too.” Katara said, bumping purposefully into his knees as she moved to sit next to him. 

“Now, Zuko, you said you had a vision?” Noren asked as he poured out the tea. He handed out the cups, but avoided Katara’s eye.

“Yes.” Zuko said simply and Noren sat down.

“The Foggy Swamp is one of the places on earth where spirits have an easier time moving through the veil.” Katara explained. “We went out with a group and I think we all saw something.”

“The spirits?” Noren asked, sounding anxious again. “There are other places where they enter?”

His words stuck out to Katara but she nodded.

“The oasis in the North Pole is always open because of Tui and La, and that’s not always a good thing.” She said. “I heard there’s a couple of places in the Earth Kingdom, and it’s rumored there’s a library in the desert, but the Foggy Swamp is the largest place where spirits have been found.”

“Is there a place near here?” Zuko asked, having also caught on Noren’s question.

“I…” Noren brought up his tea cup but didn’t drink. He lowered it and looked down into it. 

“There are three lakes in the woods, just outside of the village. A spirit visits on each solstice and has...powers.” He said. 

“What kind of powers?” Katara asked suspiciously. 

“It’s said that she is fate and controls the past, the present, and the future. And that she shapes each and every human before they are born, creating their entire lives.” Noren said.

“What does she do at the lakes?” Zuko asked.

“She can change….things.” Noren answered.

“What things?” Zuko questioned.

“I-” Noren started but jumped as the front door opened.

Noriko burst in and looked around, shocked to see Zuko and Katara.

“Fire Lord?” She asked, confused.

“Noriko.” Katara said and stood. 

“Gah!” Noriko shut the door and smacked the back of Noren’s chair. “I thought there were burglars!” 

“I told you not to come home!” Noren said, putting his tea cup down and turning in his seat.

“Why? Because the Fire Lord and the Queen are here?” Noriko clicked her tongue in annoyance. “They come to see us all the time.” 

Noriko pushed past Noren’s chair and went to Zuko, holding out her arms.

“It is so good to see you, la.” She said and Zuko rose. He hugged her and Noriko rested her head on his chest for a moment.

“It’s good to see you, Auntie.” He said.

“Oh! You sound so tired! What happened?” Noriko patted her hands against Zuko’s chest and then turned around. “What tea is this? Did you get this out of the gold tin?”

Noren shook his head and Noriko clicked her tongue again.

“Serving the Fire Lord such mediocre tea. His uncle owns a tea shop in Ba Sing Se! This is ridiculous.” She said.

“Noriko.” Noren said but Noriko waved him off, walking to the kitchen.

“I’m making a fresh pot.” She said.

“Noriko.” Noren said again, sound desperate. Noriko stopped and looked at her husband. She then glanced at Zuko and Katara.

“What’s happened?” She asked.

“Auntie, when did you come to Hira’a?” Zuko asked.

“When did I…?” Noriko frowned. “I was born here.”

She turned to Noren. “I was born here, right?”

“My mother came here, thirteen years ago, didn’t she? Looking for Ikem?” Zuko asked.��

Noriko, still frowning, wrung her hands.

“I don’t know them.” She said.

“Noriko.” Noren said gently, standing up and taking her hands in his. He lifted them to his face and kissed her hands.

“Ursa came back, as you said. She wasn’t looking for Ikem though. She thought he was already dead.” Noren said, lowering Noriko’s hands and staring at them. “She knew her husband was a jealous man.”

Katara took Zuko’s hand and felt the chill of his skin.

“I met her at the theatre. I recognized her immediately; it was like she hadn’t aged a day.” Noren said, looking now at Noriko’s face. “She’s still the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.”

Noriko pulled away and Noren turned to Zuko and Katara.

“The Mother of Faces can change how someone looks. She can also take away memories.” He said. 

“What?” Zuko asked. 

“Ozai sent men after me, shortly after Ursa left the village. I tried to hide in the woods and found the Mother of Faces by accident. I asked her to change me, but to leave my memories so I could always remember Ursa.” Noren said. 

“And when Ursa came back, you took her into the woods.” Katara said.

“It was to protect her.” Noren said and faced Zuko. “Your father was going to kill her.”

“Was it protecting her when she forgot her children?” Katara demanded.

“Noren, what are you saying?” Noriko asked, pulling on Noren’s sleeve.

“She thought she’d never see them again. That she’d never see you again.” Noren looked from Katara to Zuko. “It was unbearable for her.”

“You were able to keep memories of Ursa, did you know you would see her again?” Katara shouted.

Noren, hurt and panicked, stepped toward her.

“No! But I couldn’t think of living a life without a memory of her.” He said.

“So when Zuko was in your home, playing with his half-sister, you were happy to say nothing?” Katara questioned.

“Ozai could still-”

“Zuko is Fire Lord now!” Katara yelled.

“Stop!” Noriko cried, stepping in front of Noren and holding out her arms. “Please!”

“Both of you are incredibly selfish.” Katara spat. She glared at Noriko, even as the woman cowered. “How could you choose to forget your own children? After what you did for them?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Noriko said weakly, slowly dissolving into tears.

“Katara.” Zuko said, his voice flat.

“Childhood sweethearts.” Katara said mockingly. She then pointed at Noren. “You are just as jealous and possessive as Ozai.”

“Katara, let’s go.” Zuko said. “She made her choice.” 

Katara turned and they both started to walk to the door, hearing Noriko whimper behind them. As Zuko touched the handle, Noriko spoke quietly.

“Turtleducks.” She whispered.

The handle in Zuko’s hand melted. 

“What.” He croaked, looking at the door.

Katara turned and saw Noren holding Noriko, who was looking down at the floor.

“I remember a turtleduck pond. And a little boy.” She said. “Turtleducks don’t live in Hira’a.” 

“They live in Caldera in the summer. The ducklings would always hatch around my birthday.” Zuko said. 

Katara leaned across him, cooling the metal and pulling it off. Dropping it on the floor, she could feel Noren and Noriko jump at the sudden clatter. 

“Come on, let’s go.” She said, slipping her fingers into the space where the doorknob was and ripping the door open. 

“There was a little girl too, do you remember her?” Zuko asked, now sounding hurt. 

“Kiyi?” Noriko asked, sounding hopeful.

Zuko winced, shutting his eyes and Katara tugged on his arm.

“Let’s go.” She said again.

Katara got the taxi and gently handled Zuko into the backseat. He moved like an old man, or someone recovering from a bad fever. His skin switched rapidly from hot to cold and Katara forced him into the bathroom when they got to their rented home. 

She drew a bath for him and sat next to the tub. Zuko brought his knees to his chest, curling over his legs and sobbing. Katara stayed quiet, having to focus on her bending to keep the water from scalding or freezing him as his own bending went haywire. 

This was something they had talked about; their shared history dotted with moments of self-destruction. 

When the water stayed the same temperature and Zuko started to slump, Katara leaned over the edge to wash his hair. At the very least, she could manage that. 

After rinsing the soap out, Katara grabbed a towel as he got out. She dried him gently and Zuko stopped her. He hugged her tightly and Katara dropped the towel, feeling his damp skin cling to her shirt. 

“I’m so sorry.” She whispered.

“She said she poisoned Azulon to protect me. But then she just….forgot me.” Zuko said, choking up again. 

“I know.” 

“She forgot Azula. Azula truly had no one.” 

“She had you.”

“And look what I did to her.”

“Zuko.” 

“How could she forget us?”

“I don’t know.” Katara stepped back and held Zuko’s face in her hands. “But so many people have chosen to keep you in their lives. I chose you, and I will continue to choose you every day, for the rest of my life.” 

Zuko nodded and she picked up the towel. After she got him in bed, Katara sat in the bed and watched him fall asleep. As she gently pushed his long hair out of his face, she examined the different halves. 

Plucking the water out of her shirt, Katara swiped a finger at the edge of the scar. 

From the moment she first saw him, she knew what the scar was. Third degree burn, having damaged the epidermis and dermis. The burn was treated well but resulted in permanent hearing loss in one ear, vision loss in the affected eye, and contracture scar. Scarring is the result of damage being healed and collagen production. 

Only water from the spirit oasis had ever done anything to clear away scars. 

As Katara shook the water off her finger, she knew nothing had changed. 

He had been a child.

He had faced his father, knowing his mother had died at Ozai’s hand. 

“I wish I had known you when we were children.” Katara whispered as she laid down next to Zuko. “I would have loved you then and ever after.”

Curling into his side, Katara closed her eyes. When she had children, she would be a better mother. 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55

[red-i-mean-blue]

A:TLA romantic ships part 1

yes, no one asked for my opinions, yes I will give them anyway, yes because I have decided making a bunch of meaningless decisions and arguing for them will improve my mental state, yes I watched the show all in one very sleep deprived go and i’m not interested in rewatching it so yes I have absolutely no sources, yes this is a really long grammatical nightmare because I don’ t know how to be succinct and i use way more words than necessary at any opportunity because if my point doesn’ t come across exactly like i intend it will greatly upset me, no I have not yet watched Korra or read the comics because i’m tired now let’s do this.

includes Kataang, Zutara, Jetkara, Jinko, Maiko, Sukka, Taang, Tokka, Toko Ty Lokka, Tyzula, Yukka bc these were on the Avatar wiki ship list, part two will go into gay ships more

from 0 I despise people who ship this immediately to 10 I will read absolutely anything with this, I love it and could draw it for hours on how much I think the relationship would be good and how happy it makes me

Kataang (looks like a comic book sound effect so plus points)

very clearly built up over the series

cute kid crushes also ngl did not know katara was 14 and not older 12 or 13 so didn’t care about age when watching

now I know she’s 14 and he’s 12 it’s a little weird but still

haters say katara was just the avatar’s trophy girl, as if aang didnt kiss the ground she walked on and wouldnt stop telling anyone how amazing she is. Katara was the first face he saw from the new world and they immediately became friends. she was so excited to meet another bender, he clearly is trying to impress her and it is working, he listens to her about bending and offers to take her to the other side of the world to master water, TELL ME at this moment she is not ride or die and she doesn’t even know he’s the avatar, he lets her feel like a kid again, which is a feeling she’s forgotten after years of being a mother to sokka and the children. he literally sweeps her off her feet to save her from the fire nations ship i-. rewatched boy in the iceberg and hoo boy had canon not messed it up, this ship could have been legendary

hard to imagine older them working out what with the whole last airbender, preserve air nomad culture, let’s travel the world bc nomadic lifestyle, what’s marriage i’m a monk without biological family values vs last southern waterbender, preserve southern water tribe culture, I believe in the power of family and am ridiculously dedicated to my tribe,  let me go home to my father and tribe shtick, but I don’t care for after the show finishes much except for following the gang fix the world so I don’t really care about the marriage issue

canon was good until that Mess in season 3, WHY did he kiss her after that speech, wish they talked that out properly, wish he learned letting go of her to open the 7th chakra was the only right decision, wish the ending was a little more vague in ships and just left things open but yk whatever

that finale kiss was sweet, they hugged foremost as friends, no blushing, and then got the fuzzies, that moment standing alone? a+ but without any talking about what happened on ember island, a little unsatisfying

overall, fine ship, not my favourite nor do I actively ship it, but I see a kataang moment, i’m like, sweet so I give it a 6

Zutara (apparently fans are zutarians which looks like an alien race, plus points)

latter half of the show had quite a lot of Zutara potential, but idk about Zutara actual

katara was so ready to drop his ass, no way at the start

there is only one dynamic between them in which I can see Zutara working and that is as in the Stalking Zuko by emletish series where katara is so distrusting over zuko she takes to stalking him to make sure he isn’t doing anything to hurt Aang or about to betray them (her) again but he is just such a sweet dork who keeps trying to apologise to her even while she’s apologising to him for being a bitch that she can’t help but start to trust him, i’m a third into the third book in the series not stalking firelord zuko and I am thriving and tbh this is the only situation where I accept zutara, read the series I love it

age gap is weird, I know it’s the same difference between kataang but they made a point of zuko being older in the show also he’s so much taller and I don’t like 16 year old boys with 14 year old girlfriends in real life and so would katara because jet

katara has a bad experience with bad boy sword weilders (jet) but I guess you could see it as the start of her type idk

they are both the moms of the Gaang. sokka is the fun dad.

there is a parallel between their families, with the leader of their people dad, mom who left the picture when they were young, an older brother who is not a prodigy at/can’ t bend their respective element so they become proficient at swords instead, prodigy at bending younger sister with a violent streak. this is why I see zutara as potentially a really close friendship, almost siblings, but not a romance because to me katara is a little too like azula for comfort...

tbh I think a lot of folk shipped it because ooh fire boy and water girl (not the game) that’ s perfect, and bam army of zutarians

overall, kind of weird but ok and good grounds for humour so I give it a 4

Jetkara (bad ship name, why would you like this, minus points)

Jet is bad. yes Katara really liked him, yes he was definitely her first kiss and she would definitely consider him her first boyfriend but they would not define it because it’s easier to manipulate someone when it’s unclear what your relationship is and Jet is bad, with his weird fricking eyebrows and not even real swords those hook swords

Not wasting my time, 2

Jinko (cool name, reminds me of Hong Jinkyung, plus points) 

short but so sweet. not the first thing people remember from watching the tales of ba sing se (brb going to rewatch and cry) but really cute, so here’s a running commentary

his first thought was she knew they were fire nation rather than a pretty girl sat in a teashop giving him looks because she had a crush omg

that honest surprise when his uncle suggested she liked her and then she walked up and asked him on a date, adorable

anyone who looked at that god-awful hairstyle and still thought he looked cute has it bad also aww that hair ruffle and the little grab onto his arm

he’s pushing his food around and she’s trying out ice breaker questions and recieving one word responses he has no idea what he’s doing

“she is not my GIRLFRIEND” he’s not over Mai, clearly but he still is trying his best to be a good date even if he’s terrible at making conversation

anyone who sat through that date and the bad lying and the stilted conversation and still thought he was cute has it bad 

he is So Bad At Lying he just told the truth very vaguely and then bam travelling circus

jin so knows the two are fire nation, the whole date she just politely ignores the clear lies and doesn’t react to the obvious firebending, what an icon we love jin

honestly I was really expecting the show to reveal that jin knew he was a firebender if not from the start then from the lights but eh I guess she can keep a secret, good for her

HE KISSED HER BACK BEFORE REALISING A RELATIONSHIP COULD NEVER GO WELL AND HE MAY HAVE ANGSTILY STORMED OFF BUT HE ADMITTED IT WAS A NICE TIME TO HIS UNCLE

that being said I can’t see anything more happening but this date but omg imagine fire lord zuko coming back to visit and they become friends I-

overwhelming support for pre-date jin flirting to an oblivious zuko and the date Jinko, 8

Maiko (name would be a good name for a cat idk why)

childhood sweethearts before the banishment i think

she crushed because he saved her hair from getting burnt by tackling her into a fountain? adorable

I love mai she’s so funny but I think not the best match for zuko? he has a lot of trauma to get over and she doesn’t seem like the let all your feelings out and let’s talk about it until you feel better kind of person.  it was deeply ingrained in her to keep all of her feelings and emotions strongly hidden because she got what she wanted from her politician parents so long as she was quiet, well-mannered, and perfectly behaved according to avatar wiki so I get why she’s that way, until I was 11 I was that way too all the time, I understand freezing your face so you don’t look afraid or upset or angry and risk annoying adults, but I don’t think that that would fit zuko with his social ineptness

they literally broke up twice but are just assumed back together? she just surprised him and said they were back together and I think he forgot she existed

the deadpan firelady and the fire lord would be hilarious together tho she got the ruthlessness he lacks

post coronation I can see it happening, 6 but under Kataang

Sukka (terrible name lmao)

the cutest, sokka very excitedly says “Suki!! :DDD” every time he sees her

she didn’t give him the time of day until HE changed, incredible

just the best canon ship, the two nonbenders in the Gaang but very clearly shown to be important key members.

suki is sneaky and badass, rivalling zuko for position on the team as the sneaky badass one (they tie and bond over being sneaky and badass)

sokka is a great dad, he is the dad of the Gaang and he clearly loves suki and suki loves him back

sokka ships are ELITE, 9

Taang (a delicious orange drink mix that reminds me of home, nostalgia)

foreshadowing from the swamp where someone aang loved in the future really made me think taang was endgame yk

opposite elements ideology that I guess is what zutarians like also leaves everyone in the gang dating a Gaang member if zutara happens

actually the same age but not much else going for it

best friends, 4 but under Zutara

Tokka (great name of a small pet fight me)

sokka ships are elite, childhood crush turned adult strong friendship

I really like seeing the rough, tough, greatest earthbender in  the world have a crush, adorable

sokka is a great friend and his and toph’s canon relationship is so sweet, I wouldn’t change it

toph was fully going to give sokka a kiss on the cheek for saving her life i’m melting

age difference is too weird for a romance he’s like 16 or 17 by the end I think and she’s 12

best friends, 10 as a relationship in the show, 2, but in their 20s after the show... 4 but under Taang

Toko (very forgettable name but both characters have 4 letters so I guess it’s hard to come up with something memorable but every time I read it as Toph because same shape ish so minus points for being annoying)

even weirder age gap than Tokka 

not many moments that could be considered romantic? 

toph first accepted zuko despite him burning her feet, how she sees, which was big and they resolved problems between them quickly

toph clinging to his arm and asking for a life changing field trip caused him to blush, but I see that as him being like oh someone wants to spend time with me?? she’s hugging me??? what is this 

convenient ship for kataangers because the Gaang could be paired off as Kataang, Sukka, Toko

her crush on sokka seemed to go away or calm down when he showed up and she punched him and teased him a lot, her way of bonding

similar strict teaching styles and bonding over secret identities as Blue Spirit and Blind Bandit and parental issues and being the children of important families who made them run away to enjoy not having anything to do with politics and being nobility with impaired vision who have never stepped into a kitchen in their lives and being used to servants and then being on the run

I really see them as siblings with her helping him relax from his duties as fire lord because you already know this boy’s sense of honour is going to make him work tirelessly to fix the world and him helping her relax from the whole i’m not a fragile, weak little blind girl, i’m the greatest earthbender in the world shtick and reminding her she can be both a blind 12 year old girl and the most powerful earthbender in the world, she can accept help without being weak or lesser than anyone, people want to help because they care not that they pity you

best friends 10, relationship in show 1, after show 3

Ty Lokka (I don’t like this name looks like a place but can think of nothing better)

yeah I guess ty lee’s obvious flirting is grounds for a ship but in every interaction he’s involved with someone else and doesn’t seem to like her as a person

do they even interact while on the same side?

friendly aquaintances at best, don’ t understand, 2 but above Jetkara

Tyzula (don’t like this name, like a mineral water?)

canon I don’t care it is canonically a possessive relationship

azula’s only genuine apology goes to ty lee after hurting her feelings

Azula clearly loves ty lee, her betrayal sends her mad

after a lot of therapy for azula and apologies, maybe a healthy relationship could form after the show, 8 above Jinko

Yukka (looks like a childish insult, surely someone could have thought of a better name)

Sokka’s love for Yue stays with him for the rest of his life, she was the first person to die in front of him and he sees the moon as her facing the earth

love this forbidden lovers content, sokka ships stay elite

Sokka and Yue spend as much time together as possible with secret midnight dates flirting (“you wanna do an...activity together?”)  Sokka’s reaction to Yue’s engagement shows that he wants to have a serious relationship with her, and also he thinks Hahn is a bad person for Yue, which he is. 

Yue dying devastated him and he never falls out of love with Yue. her last words “[she] will always be with him” are true. swamp visions show Yue as one of the most important people in his life like a season or so after he last saw her. he wouldn’t kiss suki in front of the moon, and cries when Yue appears on stage, ignoring Suki. he talks about the moon as if it is directly Princess Yue in that cactus juice scene.

she died in his arms oh my god don’t look i crying, he feels personally responsible and guilty

yue was great even though she was the indigenous or black girl with light hair and eyes character and I wish she could have helped aang in the spirit world 

despite her arranged engagement she clearly really likes sokka even though she knows nothing can happen, 9

Kataang, Zutara, Jetkara, Jinko, Maiko, Sukka, Taang, Tokka, Toko, Ty Lokka, Tyzula, Yukka

[jamielea81]

Conversations

Chapter 7

Description: You accompany your friends on a day trip to Animal Kingdom Theme Park where you meet Scott Evans by chance. This one afternoon leads to a year long friendship with both Chris and Scott over text messages and phone calls.

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Warning: Cursing, drinking, fluff!

Word Count: 8,000

A/N: I know nothing about the lives of the Evans family and mean no harm. This is purely fiction and for fun. Reblogs and comments are much appreciated! The tag list is now closed. Each chapter tends to get reblogged from me a few times, so if you’re following me, you can’t miss it.

*Italics are internal thoughts

Catch up with chapter 6

“I swear I’ve never seen it,” you said.

“How can that possibly be true? That makes zero sense. You did go to elementary school, right? I’m pretty sure I watched that a few times when we had a substitute in fifth and sixth grade,” Chris exclaimed.

“Har-har. Yes, I went to elementary school, but you are a few years older than me Mr. Evans. Must not have been as popular by the time I was in fifth or sixth grade.”

“Whatever,” he scoffed. “M’not that much older than you. You were born in the eighties and the Princess Bride is an essential piece of classic cinema.”

“The numbers still count,” you chided.

“We’re watching it. And you’re going to like it,” Chris sternly said.

“Well you better visit. Otherwise you won’t be able to enforce that...what are we calling this? A punishment?” you offered.

The two of you had been back on your daily phone calls for the last few weeks. It felt as though you had never stopped. A part of you did worry that he would revert back to the acquaintance like relationship the two of you had the last four months if he started dating someone again. The two of you really need to have that conversation to completely clear the air. You and Chris talked about everything, just not about Courtney and Ethan. It was as though the last four months didn’t exist. You hated the idea of bringing in any negative energy to your friendship, but avoiding it felt worse.

“Punishment? Sweetheart, you’re hurting my heart,” he sighed. “And I’m working on that. Almost done filming.”

You perked up instantly. Chris visiting sounded like a dream. In a friendship way, of course. Maybe both Evans brothers liked dance parties. You’d just have to wait and see.

“Ahuh. I’ll believe it when I see it,” you replied.

“I don’t see you coming to Boston,” he retorted.

“It’s not Fall, babe. I have specific instructions on when to visit this national treasure.”

“We’ll see.”

 Screaming. That’s all you could hear and make yourself do. Sea World Orlando was hosting a media day to preview their new coaster Barracuda. This was not a fun family coaster like the Disney parks had, minus Everest of course. But this coaster was on a completely different playing field than Everest. It had a chest harness for goodness sake. A chest harness!

This is how I die.

You rarely covered actual ride openings, with the exception of Rise of the Resistance back in December. Okay, really you covered all ride openings at Disney. But in general, when it came to all other theme parks it was new lands, restaurants, hotels, that kind of thing. You especially didn’t cover coasters. This sort of thing was often saved for the local morning news channels. Sea World invited you out personally, and since you didn’t want to stop getting invites to their various food and music festivals, you accepted.

The ride started by being catapulted forward, then into a barrel roll, a loop, and to make master worse, the coaster rotated and it ended in a drop going backward.

You were given a card that allowed you two purchase five food and beverage offerings, but after riding Barracuda, you were feeling a bit green. Using one of your punches for a bottle of water, you quickly found some shade and sat down. You may have dry heaved. Thank goodness the spot you found was a little secluded.

Grabbing another chair, you put your feet up and tried to relax as best you could in a theme park nearing the end of May. Many schools were already on summer break, so the parks were definitely picking up on visitors. Fishing your phone out of your crossbody, you saw that you had a text from Brooks. He had officially left the Sentinel three months ago, but made it a game to text you random work-related questions almost daily.

Brooks: Can you run down to the first floor and grab that package their holding for me? I’m swamped.

Y/N: I’m on assignment smartass. How’s working from home?

Brooks: Glorious. I showered this morning and put my sweats back on.

Y/N: I’m sure that gets Jana’s engine roaring.

Brooks: I don’t believe you’ve seen me in sweats. I look damn fine.

Y/N: Gross

Brooks: 😈

Brooks: Lunch on Wednesday?

Y/N: Yes, but wear actual pants

Brooks: Maybe

 During your lunch date with Brooks, which you somehow got suckered into buying, Brooks told you that he and Scott were kind of friends and had been texting since he left Orlando almost a month ago. The two of them had exchanged numbers when you and Jana were in the bathroom. Per Brooks, one of their favorite things to talk about was you. Of course. You’d have to think of some way to get them back.

 It was suddenly Monday again, funny how that happens, and you were busy editing your latest article when your phone buzzed with a call on your desk. Seeing Chris’ name, you swiped to answer it.

“Hey babe.”

“Hi sweetheart. How was your weekend? Sorry I didn’t call,” he replied.

“I’m good. And no biggie. I had other boys to entertain me,” you said.

There were no boys. But he didn’t have to know that. You had to give it to him when you could.

“Boys, huh? Well, it’s a good thing you got a man right here.”

I walked right into that one.

If you could audibly swoon, you would have done it.

You let out a nervous chuckle. “Hmm. Okay.”

“Listen, last minute trip this weekend. My mom is taking my niece and nephews to Disney World. Could you meet up with me?”

“Um…”

“I wasn’t even going to go, but I figured my ma could use the help and thought maybe we could hangout. If you wanted to, I mean,” he quickly added.

Of course, you wanted to see Chris. You’d be crazy not to. All this time talking on the phone, even when you weren’t talking, all you thought about was seeing him face to face. But goodness, do you feel queasy all of a sudden.

“Like, Friday or Saturday?” you asked.

“We get in Friday morning and leave Monday morning,” he said.

“Wouldn’t I just get in the way of your family time? I don’t want to intrude.”

“No way. I want to see you. Besides, I need a ride buddy. We have an uneven number,” Chris said.

You could just see him beaming, perfect grin and all.

“I could meet you Saturday, I need to be in the office on Friday for a meeting.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment and you worried he had a change of heart.

“Ye-yeah, that works. I was hoping to see you sooner, but I’ll take what I can get,” he said.

“Geez, Evans. Really turning up the flirting, huh?”

Oh, shit. Did I really just say that?

Chris was flirty. Even Scott said he was. The two of you were nothing more than friends. Sometimes even great friends.              

It was his turn to let out a nervous chuckle. “Maybe,” he replied simply enough.

“Where am I meeting you?” you asked.

“Let me check with my ma, and I’ll text you the details when it gets closer to Saturday.”

“Sounds like a plan,” you replied.

“Now, tell me about these boys that were entertaining you,” he teased.

“You wouldn’t know them,” you teased right back.

 As the days inched closer to Saturday, you became more and more nervous. Like, palms sweating nervous. To your dismay, Scott was not joining his family on this trip, so you wouldn’t have him as your go to in case you spazzed out or said something stupid. Was this just friends meeting up or was this possibly something more? That’s what you couldn’t reason through. You didn’t dare ask Scott. That family shared way too much with each other for you to say anything about Chris. It would no doubt get back to him making Saturday more awkward than it was already was. Your logical side said this was just you hanging out with your buddy Chris. That’s all this was. Chris split his time between L.A. and Boston. You were all the way in Orlando. While you had vacation funds, you didn’t have funds to fly out once or twice a month to meet up with someone. This couldn’t possibly be anything more. But the romantic side of you fantasized about this being something more. Even for just a day.

 Chris sent you a text Friday morning when you were still in bed. It was seven in the morning and he apparently was wide awake.  

Chris: It's Friday, Friday Gotta get down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend

Holy geez.

You should have silenced your phone before going to bed. That wasn’t worth waking up to, even if it was from Chris.

Y/N: How do you even know that song?

Chris: Everyone knows that song.

Chris: I’m at the airport getting ready to board.

Y/N: Have a safe flight. I’m going back to bed.

Chris: Sassy…be more excited!

Y/N: Goodnight. Love you.

“What the fuck did I just type?!” you shouted, sitting straight up in your bed.

Even though you were tired, you never imagined being stupid enough to type that. Sure, you said that Jana, Brooks, even Scott, but that felt different. This was completely different. It came out so easily and you and Chris just never said that to each other. You couldn’t think of a way to back track that sentence. Seconds ticked by and you still had no clue.

The phone dinging with a new message catching your attention.

Chris: LOL love you too

LOL? How do I take that? At least he didn’t freak out about your response.

Well, now you couldn’t fall back to sleep. Instead you laid in bed contemplating the simple text you received. It was going to be a long day.

 Chris had sent you a few texts throughout the day. He and his family were at Magic Kingdom and were apparently hitting every ride. It sounded both fun and exhausting. He sent you a reminder text just as you were getting out of work to meet at Epcot at ten tomorrow. Epcot was your favorite park, but mainly for the drinking in various “countries” aspect. You imagined it would be quite a different day with kids in tow. Besides, you weren’t planning on drinking a drop of alcohol while out with the Evans clan. You didn’t want his mom to think you were a partier because you totally weren’t. Having a glass of wine after a tough day or out with friends once a month didn’t mean you drank a lot by any means.

You gave Scott a call when you got home. It was much earlier than your normal call time, but your nerves were shot and he was usually pretty good about grounding you.

“What’s wrong? he asked.

“What makes you think anything’s wrong?” you replied, chewing on the inside of your cheek.

“Being that you’re calling me five hours earlier than you usually do, I’m pretty sure something’s up.”

You let out a breath. Damn him being so preceptive.

“I’m meeting up with your brother tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I know. We’ve already talked about that.” Scott said.

“It’s just…I’m just so nervous about it. I really wish you were going to be here,” you whined.

“It’s Chris! You guys are friends. What are you even nervous about Sassy? You and I hung out all weekend alone. I didn’t pick up on any nervous energy from you then,” he said.

“You’re right. It’s dumb. Never mind.”

“The two of you are dumb. Now, tell me what’s really going on,” he demanded.

“Ugh, you’re so annoying,” you groaned.

“You’re so annoying,” he mimicked.

“Chris and I were barely friends for what, like almost four months? Yeah, we texted, but weren’t close, barely spoke on the phone. And now we’re close again and it’s great, because if I’m being honest, I really missed him. But I’m just worried that seeing him will change things. I know that sounds stupid, but what if he meets me and decides I’m boring. Or I’m nothing special and he’s wasted all this time getting to know me. You and I never had a break, so it didn’t feel awkward to spend time with you. Plus, your mom, niece and nephews will be there. It’s just added pressure,” you spit out all at once.

“You done now?” Scott asked.

“Jerk,” you replied.

“Finally,” he said, choosing to ignore you. “First off, you are not boring. If he isn’t bored already, he’s not going to be. I didn’t tell you this because your head is big enough, but you are pretty terrific. I promise I’m not coming on to you, but you need to know I had a such a great time with you. I was there to cheer you up, instead, you gave me a fabulous weekend. We were already close, but that weekend brought us closer. And don’t even worry about my family, my mom is going to love you. This weekend is only going to cement you and Chris’ friendship. Trust me.”

Scott is amazing and you are damn lucky to have him. Not only were you feeling better, you were kind of bummed you didn’t try to hang out with Chris tonight. It was fine though. Work was a little stressful and your hair was doing that weird thing it sometimes does. That’s not a first, no, second impression you wanted to make.

 After parking your car in the parking lot at Epcot, you took a few moments to calm your breathing. Fixing a couple smudges from your mascara in the rearview mirror, you took one final deep breath before getting out of the car.

It was nine forty five in the morning and it was already eighty degrees out. Temps were set to rise to close to ninety. Why the Evans clan didn’t take trips in the winter was beyond you. The crowds were generally lighter in early January and the weather was a lot more comfortable, but who were you to judge? You lived here year-round. Jana suggested wearing a cute sundress, but knowing it was going to be hot and you’d be running around with a few kids, dressing up didn’t seem sensible. You opted for jean shorts, a light gray tee with Mickey on the front, and a pair of slip on sneakers. The outfit was cute, but it didn’t make it seem like you were trying too hard.

Y/N: I’m here!

You made your way through bag check, skipping the line by stuffing your keys, license, and credit card in your front pockets.

Making your way to Spaceship Earth, you stopped in your tracks when your phone buzzed in your hand.

Chris: Just grabbing a couple of those spray mister fans for the kids. They’re already hot.

Chris: Where are you?

Y/N: In front of Spaceship Earth.

Minutes ticked by without a response from Chris. With one hand holding your phone, the other anxiously kept touching your hair. The humidity was already in high gear so you kept touching it, making sure it wasn’t being temperamental.

Clicking on the camera app, you switched the camera to selfie mode and used it like a mirror to check your hair and overall appearance. And then you saw him. He was attempting to sneak up behind you but failing as you could see him just slightly in frame of your camera. You didn’t mean to, but you had memorized that smile. You snapped a quick picture before turning around and startling him.

“Boo!” you shouted.

“Jesus! How’d you know I was here?”

You turned your phone to face him, showing him the selfie you captured with him in the background.

“Our first picture together,” you teased.

He grabs your phone out of your hand, throwing an arm around your shoulder. He snaps a picture, his megawatt smile on full display. In the one you captured, he was unprepared, and this one was no different, you were unprepared. So now you have two selfies on your phone with neither turning out just right.

You pull away slightly, grabbing your phone back.

“Can you warn a girl? I’d like to be prepared to take a picture. You know, maybe slap a smile on my face,” you scolded, smile peeking out even though you were trying to come across as serious.

He shakes his head at you.

“It’s nice to see you too, Sassy.”

You offer him a smile and take a step forward to hug him. The two of you don’t quite have the coordination down. Arms and shoulders bumping each other while you switch the position of your hands and finally get it right. He pulls you in tight, the brim of his ballcap hitting your forehead. The two of you chuckle at the exchange before pulling away.

He’s dressed casual in black basketball shorts, navy blue tee, sneakers, black ballcap low on his face. Even dressed so casually, he’s very easy on the eyes. Your tummy does a summersault as he takes you in.

Chris almost reaches for your hand, but then remembers that your surrounded by hundreds of onlookers who may have not noticed who he is yet, but could at any moment.

“Shall we?” he asks.

You nod your head and follow beside him, the two of you weaving in and out of the morning crowd. He stops next to a cart selling bottle water and misting fans. A woman you assume is his mother is next to three kids, all playing with their own misting fans.

“Ma,” he said, causing the woman to look up. “This is my friend Y/N. Y/N, this is my mother Lisa.”

You extend your hand for her to shake. She reaches out and does the same, offering you a smile, but it seems hesitant.

“Nice to meet you,” you offered.

“You as well,” Lisa replied.

“And these munchkins are Stella, Ethan, and Miles.” Chris said, pointing to each as he said their names. “This is my friend Y/N.”

“Hi guys!” you greet, waving at them with your hand.

The three of them all offer you a wave back.

“Should we go finding something fun to do?” Chris asked, mainly to the kids but he does glance at you and his mother.

A chorus of yeahs are said along with a fist bump or two. Chris grabs Stella and Miles’ hands and starts to walk, Ethan and Lisa walk along side of them while you trail a couple of steps behind.

The six of you make your way to Test Track where a cast member is waiting for your party. He introduces himself as Michael before leading your party through a side door you had never paid attention to before. There’s a whole design your own virtual car experience that you end up skipping since you are skipping the ride queue. Michael leads you to the side of the platform that the ride exits from. You wait one cycle before you’re allowed to load into the car. There are three seats in the front and three in the back. Chris gets into the front sliding all the way over, Stella gets into the middle seat and you next to Stella. Lisa, Miles, and Ethan slide into the backseat. Once everyone’s seatbelt is in place, the car advances forward.

As the car goes through twists, turns, and sudden stops, Stella giggles next to you while you hear Lisa say “oh no!” a few times from the back. You look at Chris who is grinning like a fool. He throws his hands in the air when the car flies through doors that open last second, leading you to a track that runs the outside perimeter of the building. The car reaches a peak speed of sixty-five miles per hour which isn’t necessarily fast on the open road, but in a convertible without a wheel or brakes, it’s pretty intense and fun. Your hair of course is shot. The wind having taken it in all sorts of directions.

The next attraction you hit is Mission: Space. Lisa opts to sit this one out with Stella, leaving you, Chris, Miles, and Ethan to ride the orange side. The orange side spins an extraordinary amount as it makes its way to Mars, while the green side is a lot tamer. The boys all wanted the orange side, so who are you to complain.

As the four of you file out the exit with Michael leading you, Miles complains that his tummy hurts. Chris picks him up and carries him the rest of the way to meet Lisa and Stella.

“I think we need to take a break. Miles isn’t feeling too well,” Chris said.

Lisa places, her hand on Miles’ head. “Are you not feeling well, sweetheart?” she asked.

He shakes his head no.

“There’s a shady spot with some tables over there,” you said, pointing to your left.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Chris said.

“I’ll grab some waters and meet you all over there,” Michael said before dashing off.

Chris pushes a couple of the small tables together while you grab an extra chair. Michael is back before you know it, carrying a bag filled with water bottles. He takes them out of the bag one by one setting them between the two tables.

“Chris, why don’t you and your friend go on without us,” Lisa offers.

“No, Ma. I’m sure it was just the spinning. He’ll be fine in a few. Besides, I don’t think he’s letting me go anytime soon.”

Miles clings to Chris as he sits on his lap. It’s the sweetest scene, seeing Chris hold onto Miles, while gently touching his forehead, brushing his har to the side. But you can’t help feeling like you’re intruding. While Lisa has been nice, she hasn’t given you the most welcoming vibes and you can’t miss the way her body is angled, essentially leaving you out of the conversation.

Only a few minutes have passed when you start to notice that a woman at a table a few away from your group is taking pictures with her phone. She isn’t being sneaky by any means. You’re really wishing you would have worn a ballcap today to hide your face. You don’t particularly care if your face ends up in a photo with Chris, but you don’t want to have him deal with that. October wasn’t that long ago, so you in another picture with Chris at Disney will only lead to more rumors. You turn slightly in your seat so that you’re facing away from him.

“Something wrong, Y/N?” he asked.

“Someone’s taking pictures.”

“Of course. Fuck,” he mutters before quickly closing his mouth, forgetting that Miles is right there.

He stands up, still carrying Miles.

“Michael, can we find another spot?” Chris asked.

Lisa gets the other two kids to grab their bottles of water and out of their seats.

“Yes, Mr. Evans. Follow me please,” Michael answered.

He leads your group through a maze of turns, eventually entering into a door labeled “Cast Members Only”.

“Well just hang out here for a few minutes. I’m sure Miles needs the air conditioning,” Chris said.

The six of you plus Michael stand in a wide hallway just past the door. There’s a row of lockers on the wall with various open doors you can see in the distance. It’s a bit uncomfortable standing there and with no one speaking it’s downright awkward for you.

After a few minutes, Miles starts to perk up. Chris sets him down on his feet and Lisa asks if anyone is hungry.

The kids all agree that they are suddenly starving.

“Michael, is there any reservations available at Coral Reef or Garden Grill?” Lisa asked.

“I’m sure I can find something,” Michael said, pulling out his phone. “For six?”

“Just five,” she replied.

“Ma! Y/N is joining us.” Chris said.

“Oh, I didn’t know if she was spending all day with us or just the morning,” Lisa replied.

Well, now you know that uncomfortableness was with reason.

“It’s okay. I’m actually going to take off,” you said, patting your pocket to make sure you had your keys.

“Sweetheart, no. Stay with us.” He takes your arm and pulls you down the hallway a bit. “Have lunch with us. You’re welcome to. I want you to.”

You look back to his mom who quickly looks away. It’s a family trip so while she’s been a bit cold, you understand that she doesn’t know you and is probably protective of her family.

“That’s alright. This is your family trip and I’m a bit tired. I didn’t sleep so well last night,” you lied. “You guys go have a nice lunch. Call me before going to bed tonight.”

You pull Chris into a hug before he can protest. He places a kiss on your forehead before you pull away. He has a sad smile on his face that you try your best not to match.

As you walk past the group, heading to the door, you stop in front of Lisa.

“It was nice to meet you.”

“You too dear,” she replied.

“Have fun guys!” you said to three kids before pushing open the door, the sun slightly blinding you for a moment.

 Sitting at home and sulking was doing nothing to brighten your mood. Frankly, you felt like shit. You felt bad for leaving the park without spending nearly enough time with Chris. And you felt bad for not just pushing through the uncomfortable vibes Lisa was putting out. What if you would have stayed and she had gotten to know you? You were friends with both Scott and Chris, there may come a time where you would see her again and now it’s going to be just as weird.

Scott texted you around dinner time.

Scott: How’d today go? Did you and Chris get matching ears?

Y/N: It went fine.

There. That was a reasonable answer. It was fine. Sure, you only saw Chris for like two or so hours, and they were mostly fine.

Your phone buzzed in your hand. Of course, it was Scott.

“Look at you calling me so early,” you answered.

“What do you mean fine? That’s it? All this build up to fine.”

“It was just weird and I made it weirder by leaving early,” you sighed out.

“Why’d you leave early?” Scott asked.

“It just seemed like your mom didn’t want me there. And I don’t blame her. It’s a family trip and who the hell am I really?” you quickly spit out.

“Hey! I’m sure that’s not how she felt. You’re one of my best friends, she knows that. I’m sure somehow this is Chris’ fault. I’ll call you back.”

“No, Scott. You don’t have to do that,” you said.

But he didn’t reply back. The little shit hung up on you.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scott hit the contact button for Chris, the ring sounding too many times for Scott’s patience.

“Hey, Scott,” Chris answered.

“Hey, jerk,” Scott replied.

“Why am I a jerk? Jerk!”

“I just talked to Sassy. Doesn’t sound like it went well. What happened?”

Chris sighed. “Yeah, it could have been better. Miles didn’t feel well and it kind of just went downhill from there.”

Scott groaned. “That’s too bad. She mentioned something about Ma not wanting her there.”

“I don’t think that’s true. I mean, she wasn’t acting like they were best friends. They just didn’t get a lot of time to get to know each other. Sassy’s just overthinking it,” Chris said.

“Yeah…You’re probably right. It’s just too bad you didn’t get a lot of time together.”

“Me too,” Chris said softly.

“Have a good day tomorrow.”

“Thanks, bud. Bye,” Chris said.

“Bye,” Scott said, ending the call.

“What’s going on with Sassy?” Lisa asked, startling Chris.

“Geez Ma! Ya scared me,” Chris hissed.

Lisa chuckled at her son’s response, putting her hands up. “Sorry.”

“She’s just disappointed with how today went,” Chris replied, running a hand through his hair.

“I didn’t even know you knew Sassy,” Lisa said.

“What are you talking about?” Chris asked, suddenly really confused.

“Well, Scott talks about Sassy all the time. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention her.”

“Ma, you’re giving me a headache. I introduced you to Sassy today. What are you going on about?” Chris asked.

“Christopher, are you telling me that Y/N is Sassy?”

“Yes!” Chris half chuckled, half groaned out.

“Oh no.” she mumbled. “I didn’t know they were one in the same! Christopher, I thought she was just some girl you met. I didn’t know she was Scott’s good friend Sassy!” Lisa exclaimed.

“Well, geez Ma. Thinkin’ so highly of me that I’d bring around just some girl on a family trip.” Chris said, running his hand through his hair once again.

“You boys don’t tell me these things. Now I feel so bad. Please apologize to her for me. Actually, you should apologize as well,” Lisa said.

“Me? What did I do?” Chris shouted.

“You didn’t make her stay,” she said matter-of-factly. “Take her out tomorrow. Go spend time with your friend. I can handle the kids just fine.”

Lisa left the room, calling out to the kids who were suddenly too quiet in one of the bedrooms.

Chris hung his head low. His mother was right. This was his first time he’s seen you since your quick meeting last fall. He didn’t want to go home leaving today as your only impression.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scott had sent you a simple text that made you smile a short while later.

Scott: My brother’s a bone head

Y/N: Not disagreeing

 The last Hallmark Christmas movie you saved to your DVR was playing on the TV. Something about a singer who was trying to catch his big break and ends up skipping Christmas. By now they storylines were all starting to blur together. Your phone buzzed with a message, dragging your eyes away from the TV.

Chris: You float like a feather In a beautiful world I wish I was special You're so fuckin' special

But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here

What’s he going on about?

Y/N: Radiohead?

Your phone rang about a half a second later.

“So, you’re a creep huh?” you answered.

“Feeling like one,” Chris sighed out. “I’m sorry sweetheart. I wanted our day to be better.”

“Babe, it’s fine. It wasn’t bad. I’m sure you’ll be in town again,” you replied.

“My mother says sorry by the way. She didn’t realize you were THE Sassy. Apparently, Scott goes on and on about you.”

You chuckled at that. “That’s not embarrassing at all.”

“My mother doesn’t think to highly of me as she thought you were just someone I met and asked to hangout with us,” he groaned.

“I didn’t think my Mickey tee gave off that vibe,” you chuckled out. “Tell her it’s fine and it was still nice to meet her.”

“You are such a sweetheart,” Chris said.

There goes your stomach again. You really wished that hug earlier wasn’t so short and sloppy.

“I was wonderin’ if I could see you again, tomorrow?”

“Oh, I don’t know Chris,” you said hesitantly.

“Please? Just the two of us. Just me and you. I want to see you again before I had back to Mass.”

“But it’s your family time and I don’t want to take away from that,” you reasoned.

“Sweetheart, my ma told me she can handle tomorrow by herself. Not that I don’t want to see you.” He lets out a breath. “I really want to see you.”

There’s so much conviction in his voice. It’s so gravely that your finding yourself gripping the side of the couch cushion to stay grounded.

“Okay,” you sputter out. Clearing your throat, you try that again. “Okay.” It’s firmer and much better than screaming “yes, please!”

“Great!” You can hear the smile in his voice which instantly puts one on your face. “Can you, ah, could you pick me up? We did a car service and I figure it’s probably easier if you just come and grab me?” he said.

“That’s not a problem. Dork.”

“Oh, are we back at that again? I’m pretty sure you were the one in a Mickey Mouse t-shirt today.”

You scoff. “Mickey is your idol. Don’t even!”

He chuckles low and deep. “You got me.”

 Since it’s just you and Chris and you aren’t running around a theme park, you chose a white t-shirt dress with navy blue stripes. You added a thin brown leather belt to give the dress some form and pair it with brown strappy flat sandals. You’re picking Chris up at the villa they rented at one and then off to lunch. He’s letting you pick since you live in the area. Adding a touch of gloss to your lips, you grab your bag and walk out to your car.

 After putting your car in park in the driveway, you fire off a text letting him know you’re there. Even though you received a sorry via Chris from Lisa, you didn’t want to chance another odd meeting. They probably were at the parks anyway, but you didn’t want to take that chance.

A minute later her comes jogging to your car. The goof. He’s dressed casually but put together in navy colored shorts and crisp white V-neck t-shirt. The fact that your coordinated doesn’t slip past you.

He gets in, immediately pulling you into a hug. Chris kisses your forehead for the briefest of moments before letting go. You manage a dopey smile because damn if you aren’t smitten. Generally, you are pretty quick on your feet and would have already had something witty to say, but that kiss, even though it was innocent, really threw you off.

“Hi,” you manage to squeak out.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

You stare a little too long at his lips before shaking yourself out of it and slapping a smile on your face.

“So, lunch?” you asked.

 The two of you dine at Four Rivers Smokehouse which is one of your favorite spots for a quick bite. The food is always great with a good mix of people stopping by on their lunch break and families enjoying a meal out.

He chooses the ribs and you the brisket before grabbing a table in the corner, offering him the seat facing the wall, hoping it brings a little anonymity. The idea of being recognized in public didn’t even cross your mind as it’s not something you ever have to worry about. You regret your decision of choosing a restaurant with so many windows and frequent turn over. Despite your worries, Chris has not alluded to any discomfort as he happily eats his food. He’s added extra barbecue sauce to his ribs. Squeezing a bit from each of the six bottles at your table, sampling each one before choosing the one labeled ‘smoky’.

“This is really good. I mean, really good,” he said, sauce smeared around his lips.

He’s adorable and it takes everything in you not to reach forward to wipe the sauce from his face. You lick your own, it’s an involuntary action that his eyes get drawn too. At least you’re not the only one finding yourself distracted.

“I come here like once a week. But we keep that between me and you,” you said with a smirk. He chuckles before grabbing a napkin to wipe his face.

 Lunch has long been finished but the two of you stay seated at your table, enjoying just being together face to face. Your conversation is much like it is via phone call, but now you get to study each other’s facial expressions. Loving how his eyes crinkle when he really smiles. How his eyebrows raise when he gets serious. He’s a work of art and doesn’t even realize it.

It’s already four in the afternoon and the restaurant is in that between time after the lunch crowds and before the dinner rush. You somehow manage to remove your eyes from his and see that there are only two other tables occupied.

“I didn’t realize we’ve been here for so long,” you said, stretching your arms. “I’m also impressed you didn’t get any of that sauce on your white shirt.”

Chris chuckles and shakes his head. He reaches his hand across the table, taking yours in his.

“I don’t want to say goodbye yet.”

“We can go back to my place,” you offer, your face instantly heating up at the implication. “I mean, because I live nearby. Not that you need to come back with me. I-I just want to hangout longer,” you stutter out.

Chris smiles wide, squeezing your hand a few times. “Let’s go hangout.”

 “Cheers!” Chris said, clinking his bottle of beer against yours.

It’s the second bottle for both of you, but probably the last for you as you still need to drive him back and the whole “not drinking for a long time” promise you made yourself.

“Cheers,” you echo before taking a long pull from the bottle.

“Didn’t picture you the beer drinker, Y/N.”

“Oh, yeah? Why’s that Mr. Evans?”

“Mr. Evans? Someone’s mighty formal,” he said. You shrug your shoulders in response before taking another sip. “You just seem like wine is more your speed. Perhaps raspberry vodka,” he chuckles out.

“I could just kill your brother,” you groan out. “Pretty sure I have at least a third of the bottle left in my fridge if you want any.”

Chris shakes his head, taking a drink of beer. “I’ll leave that for you.”

“So, kind. So, kind,” you snicker.

He’s reclined on your couch while you sit in your comfy blue armchair, feet folded up under you. Chris is skimming through the music on your phone, picking a new song after the last is done rather than letting it play through.

“You wanna sync your phone to my speakers? We can play something from your phone,” you offered.

“Nah, I like a lot of your stuff.”

You hold your hand in front of your face and pretend to blow on your nails while winking at him, in that “I’m too cool” kind of way.

 The sun is starting to set and you have a good view of the painted sky from your backyard. It’s still plenty warm, but with the sun down and your ceiling fan on, the two of you are comfortable sitting on your loveseat on the lanai snacking on pizza rolls because that’s all that you had that didn’t require defrosting.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Chris said.

“Yeah, it’s not a bad view to have. Should’ve had you bring your suit. It was hard to drag Scott out of the pool,” you replied.

“How’d you put up with him the whole weekend?” Chris asked. He said it so seriously, but you can see a hint of a smile.

“Well, I’ve managed so far with you, so I can pretty much handle anything.”

He bumps you with his shoulder and shakes his head. “So, sassy.”

“That’s what they call me.”

“Who’s they?” Chris smirks.

“Just you and Scott.”

You let out a little chuckle and you notice those eye crinkles reappear.

“Good,” he agrees.

 It’s late, nearing eleven. Chris stopped drinking after three beers, the two of you switching over to water.

“You want to watch a movie?” Chris asked.

You had gone back to your living room an hour prior. Sitting in opposite corners of the couch, but facing each other, your foot bumps his leg once in awhile causing you both to blush.

“Don’t you have to get back? You have an early flight, right?”

“Not until eleven thirty. We can go if you want me to or if you’re getting tired, but I rather stay here with you,” he replied, sincerity in his voice.

Fuck. He’s going to be the death of me.

Honestly, you’d stay up for the next two days if it meant spending time together. And the fact that he wants to stay makes you want to weep tears of joy. But that’s just a little too dramatic.

“I want you to stay.”

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you agree, lightly slapping his bent leg resting on the couch cushion.

He grabs your hand before you can pull it away, holding it there, just resting on his leg. You shyly look up and see him looking at you. The only words that matches the two of you is heart eyes and you pray that you aren’t imaging it.

After what feels like several minutes but more like mere seconds, your mouth opens up and you break the spell.

“What do you want to watch?”

Chris lets go of your hand and your heart instantly crashes at the loss of contact.

“I think you know,” he replied. Your mouth quirks to the side while you try to figure him out. “Come on! You know.��

You put on a fake annoyed look and shake your head. “Really? Do we have to?”

“I’m pretty sure you said if I visited, we’d watch it,” Chris said.

“Fine. I’m a woman of my word,” you said.

Grabbing the Roku remote, you clicked on your Amazon app, finding The Princess Bride, and renting before Chris could offer you five dollars to pay for it.

“I’m the host! I don’t need your money babe,” you reasoned.  

The movie played on and you slowly found yourself leaning on Chris more and more. Not that he minded. The closer you got, the more hands on he became. Half way through, you were completely laying on his chest, both your legs out stretched on the couch while his rest on the floor. His left arm is stationary on the arm of the couch while the other was wrapped around you. Your right hand laid on his chest as your fingers lightly rub it without even realizing you were doing so. Chris would quietly hum now and then, bringing a smile to your face.

Friends cuddle. They totally do.

Before you even reach the end of the movie, you’ve fallen asleep. So much for seeing it all the way through. Chris readjusted so that the two of you are laying comfortably.

You awake sometime later to Chris brushing his hand through your hair. The TV is still on but nothing is playing.

“M’sorry,” you mumble. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”

You sit up slightly, taking in his tired eyes. He looks back at you adoringly.

“It’s okay. I’ll make you watch it again next time,” he said softly.

The words next time make you beam inside. You sit up, setting your feet on the floor.

“Want me to bring you home?”

“Nah, we’re both too tired. Take me in the morning?” he asked.

“Of course. Do you want to go to bed? What time is it anyway?”

“I think about three.” Chris sits up on the couch, running a hand down his face. “I’m actually a little more awake after our nap,” he quietly chuckled.

“You want to pull an all-nighter?” Well, kind of all-nighter since we did sleep for a little bit.”

“Yeah, if you’re not too tired,” he said shrugging his shoulders.

“Oh, shit! Did you tell your mom you weren’t coming back?”

Chris throws his head back laughing. “It’s my ma. Of course, I sent her a text. Once we started the movie, I figured I’d be staying over.”

“Good. I don’t need her thinking I’m a bad person. Taking advantage of her baby boy.”

You get up, walking to the kitchen to grab a couple of more water bottles. Chris swats your ass just as you pass him.

 The two of you have the music back on, sitting close to one another, choosing to talk through the early hours of morning. It’s nice and you can’t help but feel closer to him. Part of you is worried that this is a one-time thing. Chris comes to Orlando once or twice a year, but probably can’t get away to spend time with you each trip. You start to do the math on your own vacation time, trying to think if there are events out of state that a publication will pay you to write about. But it’s way too early to be thinking this much, you just need to be here in the now.

You shift your focus back to Chris who’s looking at you with a dopey grin.

“So, will you?” he asked.

Huh?

“Will I what?” you asked.

“Did I lose you for a minute?” he chuckles out.

“I’m sorry. Lack of sleep. I’m with you now. What’d you ask?”

“I said.” Chris stands up. “Do you want to go for a walk?” He takes your hand and pulls you to your feet, not letting you answer. “Sun’s almost up.”

You nod your head, walking to the door to slip on a pair of sneakers. They don’t quite go with your dress, but you’ve essential been up for almost a full day.

Grabbing your keys from the table near the door, you lock up and pass your keys to Chris since you don’t have any pockets. You live on a residential street that’s a mix of vacation rentals and long-term residents like yourself. There are a few joggers out, but besides them, it’s just you two.

Chris takes your hand in his as the two of you stroll slowly around your block.

“I’m really glad you were able to hangout today,” he said.

“Me too. I actually wish you were staying longer.”

“Me too sweetheart. I don’t want to wait another seven months to see you,” he confessed.

You stop in your tracks. Keeping a hold of his hand, you turn to face him.

“You don’t?” you asked.

Where this doubt is coming from, you’re not so sure. The two of you are friends, so of course you’ll see each other again. It’s just this in between flirting and touching that has you all mixed up.

Chris gently rests his other hand on your face and leans in, slowly bringing his lips to yours. They’re soft and smooth, just like you’ve imagined. You eagerly kiss him back but don’t want to push it, so you remain solid where you stand, letting him do the work. He slowly pulls away, but not far because you can feel his warm breath on your face. His eyes are intense, asking for permission. You slightly nod your head and before you know it, his lips hit yours. It’s so quick you’ve barely shut your eyes before his other hand takes a hold of your face and he kisses you more intensely. You’re not complaining, but you are thankful it’s so early, the neighborhood is barely awake. You wrap your arms around his back and hold him tight as he kisses you senseless. He pulls back again, still holding your face gently before planting a chaste kiss on your lips.

You flutter your eyes open to see a soft smiling Chris. He’s still lightly holding your face and you hope he doesn’t stop.

“Was that okay?” he asked softly.

He knows it was. He’s just being a little shit per the usual.

You give him a small frown and quickly see a tiny bit of doubt in his eyes.

“I think I need to try that again,” you said, grabbing his face and bringing him to you. You kiss him softly on the lips. Once. Twice. Three times before you feel him smile against you. He leans his forehead against yours as you both stand there like two smiling fools.

“Of course, I don’t want to wait this long to see you again,” he breathes out.

“Me neither,” you agree.

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[ellewritesathing]

So Close  -  S.S. XLI

Summary: The universe has a funny way of putting the things you want right in front of you, but just out of reach. Stiles and Y/N have been best friends ever since Scott brought him home, but when Stiles realizes that he might want to be something other than best friends, she leaves to go to some fancy private school up North. Now that she’s back though … maybe he’s got a shot? A Teen Wolf AU in which the reader has always been so close to Stiles and yet so far.

Masterlist   Prev. | Part 41

Word-count: 6.7k+

A/N: not to like shamelessly self-promote but like. you guys might like this prompt i did for stiles 👀

You couldn’t sleep. Even with your friends safely back in your life and Stiles asleep next to you, you couldn’t sleep. Eventually, you rolled onto your side and watched the rise and fall of Stiles’ chest as he snored. You smiled and reached over to play with his hair. His heartbeat slowed after a little while and his snoring became a bit softer. 

Taking your hand back after a while and lying down again, you pulled up your shirt and ran your hand along where the bullet hole should have been. It was freaky; your skin was perfect. You’d been injured internally plenty of times and healed but this was the first time you’d had a proper external wound. It healed slowly at first, better than a human but nothing to write home about, and then Deaton gave you blood. It made you feel sick. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

“Hey,” Stiles said softly. When did he wake up? He yawned and moved closer, putting his hand on top of the one you had on your stomach. His thumb grazed where the wound should have been. “You know I didn’t mean what I said earlier, right? My mouth kinda moves before my brain does sometimes.” 

You smiled. “Yeah, I know.” You squeezed his hand before turning back onto your side to face him. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did, though. I mean, it is pretty weird.” 

“You could never be weird to me,” Stiles said. Then he squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. “That was, like, ridiculously lame. I’m sorry. I just meant … you know. I’m usually the one being maimed, not you.” 

“Yeah and it hurts like a bitch,” you said with a sharp exhale and a roll of your eyes. 

Stiles laughed and lifted his hand to your face. “Yeah, the worrying isn’t that great either. You wanna trade back?” 

“Kind of wish we could give up both,” you said with a small smile. 

Stiles shifted and pulled you into his arms. He kissed the top of your head and sighed. “At least, for now, we’re both safe. Neither maimed nor worried.” 

“I like the sound of that.” You found his hand again. “Almost as much as your use of ‘nor.’”

“You liked that, huh?” 

“Yeah, it really distracted from the blatant lie that neither of us is worried right now.”

Stiles laughed and then it was quiet for a moment. You could hear Noah’s heart beating in his sleep down the hall, but Stiles’ beat louder. His fingers drummed your arms in the silence. You didn’t want to ruin the moment, but you had to tell him what happened. 

“Theo wants me in his pack,” you said. No use sugar-coating it. Stiles’ drumming stopped. “He called me the shadow wolf. Said that I was more like them than I was like you guys.” 

“He’s wrong,” Stiles said instantly. You could almost hear him frowning. “You know that, right?” 

“The thing is … I don’t think he is wrong,” you said quietly. “With all the chimeras - even before we knew they weren’t like us - I felt bound to them. Like whatever they’re made of … maybe I am too. I- I’m not going to join them. I hate Theo. And even if I didn’t, I could never leave you or Scott.”

Stiles was quiet, working hard to choose the right words. As much as you loved him for it, if he didn’t say something soon, you were going to throw up. When he did speak, he didn't start asking the questions you knew were bouncing around in his head. All he said was: “You promise you’re not gonna leave?” 

“I promise. No matter what.” 

With that out of the way, Stiles relaxed. Still, you waited for him to say something. To ask what you meant, maybe even what it felt like to 'be bound' to the chimeras. But he was quiet, so quiet that you thought he’d actually gone to sleep until he said, “I’m gonna kick his ass.” 

“Can I shoot him first? I’m still pretty pissed off about that.” 

“Of course. Then you can hold him down while I kick him in the-” 

With that colorful image in mind, you went to sleep with a smile on your face. Unaware of Stiles lying awake and anxious next to you.

---

Usually, after half of your group got injured and while you were making plans, things were at least a bit quieter for a few days. Unfortunately, the Dread Doctors weren’t so kind as your other foes; you’d only been shot yesterday and now you were racing down the highway with Scott and Stiles, chasing after the Beast behind a group of police. 

“Unit Five heading northwest on Crescent reporting an incredibly large … something,” Clark said over the radio.

Another deputy responded, “Unit Nine to Dispatch, I think I’ve got eyes on the same thing. Some kind of rabid animal.” 

“Unit Five to Nine, trust me: That’s no animal,” Clark said. 

You laughed and unbuckled, leaning forward to poke your head between Scott and Stiles in the front. “She’s not wrong.” 

“Yeah, but-” 

Scott was cut off by Strauss coming in over the radio. “Unit Six to Dispatch, we have a situation downtown. Multiple fatalities.”

The voice of the dispatcher sounded cold compared to the overwhelmed officers. “Copy, medics on the way. Do you have a perp insight, Unit Six?”

“Negative,” Strauss said. He sounded overwhelmed. You guessed as weird as Beacon Hills was, not many people knew how to react after a werewolf attack. “Looks like a 10-91E. Animal attack.”

“10-4, can you say what kind of animal?” the dispatcher asked. 

Stiles pulled out his radio before Strauss could answer. He also pumped the accelerator and you held onto Scott to keep from sliding back into your seat. “All units stay back. Do not engage,” Stiles said. “I repeat, do not engage.” 

“Stiles, get off the radio,” Noah snapped. You almost laughed as Stiles handed you the radio to put back. Still, Noah added, “All unit alert: Wait for back-up. Repeat: No one goes near this thing.”

“Unit Five reporting a sighting on Hill Road southbound.” 

“Unit Nine. I’ve got it turning off Oakridge, southbound on Beachwood.”

“All units, this is Dispatch. We’ve got a 911 call with an additional sighting on Mitchell.”

“Wait a second? Beachwood to Mitchell?” Stiles asked. 

“It’s headed back for the hospital,” Scott said. 

“Mom’s working tonight,” you said. “I’ll call her. Stiles, you gotta tell your dad.” 

Stiles grabbed the radio instantly. “It’s headed to the hospital. Dad-” 

“Stiles, get off this channel,” Noah said.

Stiles started arguing with his dad and you bounced your leg as you waited for your mom to answer her phone. The first call rang out so you texted her and tried again. 

Melissa sounded tired when she answered. “Hey, honey, we’re pretty swamped at the-” 

“Mom, you’ve gotta evacuate the hospital,” you rushed out. She started arguing but you talked over her. “Whatever the Beast is, it’s heading towards the hospital. And it’s going to kill people.”

You fell back into your seat as Stiles changed course towards Beacon Memorial. He was going as fast as the Jeep could manage, but the drive felt agonizingly slow. It was made worse by the constant updates from the police radio. The latest being a man on fire running into Beacon Memorial. 

When you eventually did get to the hospital, it felt abandoned and eerily similar to that night with the durach and a dying Cora Hale. You shoved those thoughts aside when a gun cocked behind you, overridden by your instinct to pull Stiles behind you. 

“Jesus Christ.” You let out a breath when you realized the threat was only Noah. He held his index finger to his mouth and shushed you. 

As much as you loved Noah, you could have strangled him right there. Once again, you shoved those thoughts aside when the lights flickered and snarling rose in the distance. 

“Fourth floor,” Scott said. 

You all nodded and headed up as quickly as you could. Noah took the lead, followed by Scott and then Stiles - you’d insisted on taking the rear in case anything snuck up on you guys.

The fourth floor was ruined. Almost none of the lights still worked (luckily, not a problem for you and Scott), the electricity crackled through torn-open wires, and parts of the ruins were on fire. You wandered around the dark halls until something flew down the hallway in front of you. Since you noticed it first, you pulled Stiles into you and Scott pulled Noah back just before the fireball roared past. 

It hit some partitioning and the flames went out. That wasn’t a random fireball; that was Parrish. Cut, charred, and disoriented Parrish. Parrish with glowing eyes. 

His eyes extinguished as Noah made his way over to him, but you couldn’t focus on their reunion. Something had thrown Parrish across the fourth floor. Something big.  

Scott walked ahead of you, but soon you found a paw print in the dust. The two of you didn’t need to say anything to know that you were going to follow the trail. The paw prints started changing, turning into something smaller and more human. Eventually, you found a sneaker print. 

It struck you as odd that it would be a shoe print and not a footprint. Parrish was made out of fire and completely naked when you found him, and the Beast was made out of shadows. Maybe it was just different. Parrish wasn’t a chimera. At least you didn’t think he was. 

“Scott …” You weren’t sure what you were going to say.

“I know,” he said with a sigh.

---

Once again, you and your friends were gathered around the island in your kitchen talking through the logistics of a crazy plan. The only thing that made this time different from all the others was the fact that Lydia was missing. 

“We get into Eichen, we get into the Closed Unit, we get Lydia, and we get out,” Stiles said, summarizing his (already very long, very detailed) explanation.  

“And we have to do it all of this while getting past orderlies, guards, electric door locks, and a Mountain Ash barrier,” Scott said.

“You guys have a plan for all that?” Malia asked. 

Stiles pulled out a keycard. “I stole this off an orderly when I visited Lydia.” He paused, looking over at the card. “But it’s useless ‘cause they reset the codes each night.”

“So why did you take it?” Kira asked. 

“He’s building up to that,” you said quietly, taking your eyes of Stiles to look at Kira.

“The only way to get Lydia out of Eichen is to make that keycard work again,” Scott said.

“And how are you going to do that?” Liam asked. You held back a smile.

Stiles held out a hand. “We’re getting to that, okay? Just listen.” He spun the laptop around to show you guys a data table. “I pulled all the history off the keycard. Two weeks ago, there was a brownout and the security system rebooted. During a reboot, all of the keycards revert back to a default code. So, if we trigger a reboot …”

“The card goes back to the default code,” you said. “All the keycards work again.” 

“But how are we going to cause a brownout?” Kira asked. 

“That’s your part,” Scott said with a hopeful smile. “You’re going to draw power from the mainline, but only enough to cause the brownout.”

That’s where Stiles jumped in to ruin their moment. “But not a blackout. If you do that, you send Eichen into lockdown which would be bad. Very, very bad.”

You touched Stiles’ arm lightly to get his attention. He was freaking Kira out. Stiles looked at you with an expression that said he was sorry, and you gave him an encouraging smile. He got a little carried away sometimes but he always meant well. 

Scott, forever oblivious, kept talking and tapped on the blueprints that covered the island. “There’s an electrical room behind the reception counter,” he said. “The main power line goes into two breakers that run power to all of Eichen.”

“Okay, slight problem,” Kira said, looking ready to have a panic attack. “I don’t know how to do that.”

“That’s okay, you have time to practice,” Scott said with another trademarked hopeful smile. 

“Let’s say all this goes perfectly,” Malia started in a voice that said she expected none of this to go perfectly. “How does the brownout get us into the Closed Unit of Eichen?”

“The system takes five minutes to reboot.” Stiles looked over at Malia. “In those five minutes, all the alarms will be turned off. And the keycard should work-” 

“And then Liam, you, me, and Y/N get Stiles to the gate of the Closed Unit,” Scott said.

“After that, Stiles is on his own,” you said. Stiles reached for your hand under the table. “He’s the only one of us who can get through the mountain ash barrier.”

“And when we’re gone, all anyone’s going to think is that there was a reboot of the security system caused by a brownout,” Scott finished.

“So, uh … any questions?” Stiles asked. 

They all started talking at the same time. From Liam: How do we get into Eichen House in the first place. Malia wanted to know what the worst-case scenario was. Kira asked what happened if she couldn’t trigger the brownout.

“Okay, admittedly, a lot could go wrong,” Stiles said, holding up his free hand in surrender. 

“Everything could go wrong,” Liam said. 

Stiles' open hand turned into a fist as you tilted your head. “Biscuit,” you said softly. Liam shrugged and started defending himself when Scott started talking.

“Guys, if we don’t do this, we lose Lydia,” Scott said. “She’s going to die in there tonight. And she might take a lot of innocent people with her.”

“We can do this,” you said. Your friends didn’t look convinced. “Okay, we’ve done a lot worse. At least this time we have a plan.” 

---

Eichen House still freaked you out, but you could only imagine what it felt like to Stiles. So many bad things had happened to him here, and you had the feeling that more bad things were still going to happen. Then again, maybe the paranoia was coming from the fact that you were inside a body bag and lying next to an actual dead body.

Parrish was surprisingly good under pressure; when the guard made him open the bags, he was completely calm. Your heart spiked at the sound of the first zip being undone, but then Parrish started opening yours and you got ready for a fight. The fight never came. The guard valued his dinner too much. 

Once you were in the morgue, you had to wait a few minutes before any of you could do anything. Stiles' heart was beating out of his chest. Admittedly, so was yours. You tore the bag open without waiting for the others, but they didn’t need any more encouragement after they heard you breaking out. 

“Oh my god,” Stiles said between gasps of air. “Never again.” 

“How much time do we have?” you asked as you got to your feet. Liam was closest, so you helped him out of his bag and to his feet. He mumbled a thank you as you waited for an answer.

Scott checked his phone. “Fifteen minutes, starting now.”

“Then let’s get started!” Stiles started fumbling to get out of his bag and fell to the floor. “Ow! Jesus.” 

You hurried over to help Stiles up. He muttered obscenities the whole time but he accepted your help nonetheless. Scott got out of his bag safely, and then you just had to wait for the orderlies to leave the hallway. As soon as they were gone, you were on the move. 

You wanted Scott to take the lead but Stiles knew this place better than any of you did, and personal knowledge trumped an hour spent studying floor plans any day. The best you could do was follow behind him and keep a careful watch for anything that might be a threat. 

The orderlies blocking your way to the closed unit were definitely a threat. 

You pulled Stiles back and Scott grabbed Liam. The four of you pressed yourselves against the wall in an attempt to hide, and the memory of doing something similar with Isaac, Erica, and Stiles popped into your mind. That felt like such a long time ago. 

“What are they doing here?” Scott whispered.

“I don’t know,” Stiles said, stealing a glance down the hall. “Their rounds should’ve ended five minutes ago.” 

Liam was decidedly less subtle with his look at the orderlies. “I can take them,” he said. 

Both Stiles and Scott glared at him for a moment. “No one’s taking anyone,” Scott said. 

“How much time?” Stiles asked, cutting Scott's alpha moment short. 

Scott checked his phone and sighed. “Three minutes.”

“I’ll just knock them out and hide the bodies,” Liam said. He was adorably oblivious. 

Stiles looked so close to slapping him that you instinctively reached for his hand to calm him down. “Oh my god, please stop,” he said.

One of the patients banged on the glass and scared you all out of your mini-argument. “Did you talk to the doctor?” he asked. 

“What?” Liam whispered. 

“Did you talk to the doctor?” he repeated. You looked over at Stiles uncertainly. “I haven’t had my medication. I need ten milligrams at 8am, 15 milligrams at 1pm, and no more than 20 at dinner.”

“We’ll get the doctor,” Scott said.

“Doctor Fenris?” the patient asked. Another beat of silence and you hoped that your nod was enough to calm him. “Doctor Fenris.” Then he started crying. He hit the glass as he said, “They took Doctor Fenris.”

“Guys-” You flinched when he hit the glass again. “He’s going to blow our cover. I can take the blame and get the orderlies out of here.” 

“No way, you’re not going anywhere,” Stiles said. “Scott, do something.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Scott whispered.

The patient stopped banging on the glass, but he was still distressed. “I haven’t had my medication. I need to see the doctor.” Stiles looked down the hallway. The orderlies were coming closer. “They took Doctor Fenris.”

“Somebody shut him up,” Stiles said. 

“I need to see the doctor!”

“Shut him up.” 

You pulled your hand away from Stiles before he could argue and stepped into the hallway. “I told you: I don’t know where the doctor is, alright?” you said to the patient. “I’m just looking for my brother- nurses, could you help me? This place is like a freaking maze.” 

“How did you get here?” one of the orderlies asked, roughly grabbing hold of your arm. 

“I was looking for my brother. They said he was moved to another unit and that they’d take me to see him but no one ever came.” You shook your head and gave them a very clueless smile. “I’m sorry. Is this area, like, restricted or something?” 

The orderly that had your arm looked ready to bite your head off but the other one just shook his head and gave you a tired smile. Either he wasn't paid enough or people wandering around the halls was a common occurrence.

“Let’s take you back to the reception area, okay?” he said. “They can sign you in and track down your brother. You can come to see him during visiting hours tomorrow.” 

You forced a laugh and started following them down the stairs not too far away from the gate that your friends would need to break through in a few seconds. “You’re the nicest person I’ve run into all night,” you told him, careful to smile at the grumpy one too. 

You carried on with your charade all the way back to the reception area, and then you gave them an annoyingly over-the-top thank you. They smiled and told you to wait for the nurse behind the counter to come back. You did not. As soon as they were out of sight, you made a b-line for the electrical room. 

Malia immediately grabbed you and threw you against the wall as soon as you opened the door. She looked confused to see you but still held onto you. 

“Relax, it’s just me,” you said, holding your hands up defensively. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked. "You're supposed to be with Scott and Stiles."

“The dummies almost got busted,” you said with a small shrug. “I fixed it and came to check on you guys. Hey, Kira. How’s it going?” 

Kira looked away from her small opening in the door and gave you a small smile. “Could be better. I don’t know if these guards are supposed to be here. How are we going to get out?”

Malia let go of you and the two of you walked over to check out the guards. “We don’t want to set off any alarms until Lydia is out,” she said. 

“You’re right. Maybe we could-” 

You stopped talking when one of the guards came in over the radio. The perimeter guard hadn’t checked in. You looked at Malia when the two guards rushed out to see what caused the delay. She shrugged and closed the door. 

"Not our problem," she said.

Kira leaned against the door to get a better listen, but you and Malia didn’t need to. You heard the nurse loud and clear when he told someone that visiting hours were over, and then you heard Tracy tell him that they weren’t there to visit. 

“Shit,” you whispered.

They pulled the nurse across the counter and slammed him to the ground. Tracy wanted to finish him off, but Theo said they were on a schedule and it was better to leave him. You, Kira, and Malia held a collective breath until the chimeras left. 

Malia was the first one out the door and she slapped the nurse to get him to wake up. It didn’t work but at least his heart was beating. 

“It’s started,” Kira said, looking down at her electrified hands. 

“Then we need to get you out of here,” you said. You reached out to grab her arm but stopped when you remembered how she fried Scott. “Let’s go.”

“But what about the others?” Kira asked. 

“They should already be back at the morgue,” Malia said. “We need to go.”

Kira took a second to decide and then jumped over the nurse and the three of you made a run for the morgue before Kira messed up Eichen’s frequency again. The others weren’t there, so you hoped they’d gone to the van instead. The alarm started blaring before you could share your theory. 

You grabbed the sides of your head and collapsed in on yourself. Malia grabbed your arm to pull you out and reached for the doorknob, but it was electrified and both of you got electrocuted as a result. To top it off, the alarm still made your ears bleed. 

Malia took a deep breath once she got back to her feet. “Lockdown,” she said. 

You were still cringing on the ground when Scott started roaring. When your body got to its feet, it felt like being possessed again; you weren’t the one who moved your body. But once the brief discomfort was over, your head was clear and the alarm didn’t hurt so much anymore. 

 “Something’s wrong,” you rushed out. “I need to go help them.” 

“No,” Malia argued, turning back to the door as the lights went out. “We need to get out of here.” 

You were still arguing when Kira started lighting up again. The buzzing of the electricity didn’t freak you out so much as how worried she looked. She was terrified of messing things up again. 

“I don’t know how long I’m going to last,” Kira said.

“How did you stop it before?” Malia asked. 

“Scott carried me outside, which almost killed him,” Kira said. 

“I’ve already died. It’s not so bad,” you said. You shrugged. “I can take you out.”

“Maybe we could try grounding her to something,” Malia said. “Lydia was teaching me about circuits before-” 

You tackled Malia as a bolt of electricity shot out from Kira and hit the door where Malia had been. You held onto her as Kira’s lightning struck every metal surface it could find. 

“You guys have to get out of here!” she yelled.

“We’re not leaving you,” you told her. 

Kira hit one of the body holds as she turned her back to you. You and Malia got to your feet as Kira cried, “I should’ve stayed in the desert with the Skinwalkers. I can’t control this. I’m never going to be able to.”

“Kira, it worked,” Malia said. “You saw it work. You controlled it enough to cause the brownout. You can stop it.”

“I can’t!” Kira turned to glare at you and her eyes glowed an angry golden color. “Go!” 

Even if you wanted to, an escape wasn’t possible because Kira electrified the entirety of her side of the room. Malia pulled you closer to her again and you both waited for the electrical storm to pass, careful not to touch anything conductive. 

The storm passed as quickly as it started.

“Kira?”

Slowly, you both got to your feet, but then you had to pull Malia back from grabbing Kira’s unconscious body. She argued with you but you shook your head. 

“She’ll kill you,” you said. 

“She’s right,” Josh said. You both pulled away from Kira to focus on him. “Electricity is still coming off your friend. I can feel it from here. But I can help her.”

“Why?” Malia asked. 

“Because I need your help.” Josh stepped away from the door and revealed Corey bleeding out in the hallway. “With him.”

“Oh my god, Corey.” You started forward when Malia caught your arm. She didn’t trust them; you didn’t blame her. “Mal, we’ve gotta help him.” 

Malia let go and you rushed over to Corey. You tried to lift him but he was in too much pain. Josh took Corey’s other side and looked over at you. “I knew you’d help,” he said. 

You didn’t know what to say, so you just hurried to get Corey on one of the exam tables. He was in so much pain. Almost his entire body was charred. He must have gotten caught up with Parrish. 

“Why isn’t he healing?” Josh asked. 

“Maybe he can’t. Maybe it’s too much,” Malia said. 

“He’s going to die, isn’t he?” Josh asked. 

“His heartbeat is getting slower,” you said. “But I can try to take away his pain. It could help.” 

“It might even get him to start healing,” Malia said generously. “But we’ll only do it if you help Kira.” More sparks flew and you all ducked. “You said you could help!” 

“Yeah, but it’s not like taking voltage from a car battery,” Josh argued. “She’s got a lot more power than that.” Corey groaned on the table. “Are you two going to do something or not?”

“Mal-” 

“After you help her. I don’t trust you,” Malia said.

“I don’t trust you either!” 

“Josh, do you trust me?” you asked. You’d never been close before, but you were something else now. “You said you knew I’d help him. I will, I promise.” 

More sparks. 

“We go at the same time,” Malia said, snapping his attention back to her. “Deal?”

Josh nodded reluctantly and walked over to Kira. You and Malia held each of Corey’s arms as Josh knelt over Kira. “On three?” he asked. “One.”

“Two.” 

“Three.”

The lights started flickering as Josh absorbed Kira’s electricity, but it was the least of your concerns after only a second of taking Corey’s pain. Until now, you’d never understood the phrase ‘blinding pain’ but with your vision blurring and your entire body burning, it had new meaning. 

But Corey’s heart started beating again. Rapidly. He was breathing. Kira gasped for air on the floor but it was almost impossible to hear over Josh’s screams. 

Between you and Malia, Corey’s pain faded after a minute. Josh managed to get Kira conscious and not electrified. You stayed with him but Malia went to check on Kira and Josh came back to Corey.

“Anybody know how we’re supposed to get out of here?” Corey asked, sounding scared and hurt.

“This place is still in lockdown,” Malia said.

“But it’s not just locked,” Kira said after shooting a look at the door.

“Yeah, I can feel it, too,” Josh said.

“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Corey asked. “Just wait here?” 

“We had a backup plan,” you said. Malia didn’t look like she wanted you to tell them, but you did anyway. “Mason is supposed to reset the transformer.”

“How’s he gonna do that?” Josh asked, at the same time that Corey asked if you meant his Mason. 

“He’s got the blueprints of the building,” Kira said. “And he has the full map of Eichen’s electrical system. All he has to do is get into the transformer shed behind the building.” 

“Don’t worry. Mason knows exactly what he’s doing,” Malia said. 

You had to smile to yourself. Thinking back to your first few weeks with Malia when you couldn’t stand her and she said that she would leave you in the desert, you almost couldn’t believe how much she’d grown. 

Malia and Kira kept huddled by the body holds while Josh rushed to the door to wait. Everyone was healing now, but you still felt ready to throw up. Taking away Corey’s pain had taken it out of you and if you didn’t drink some blood soon then you weren’t going to be much of a help to anyone. Surprisingly, Corey stayed with you by the exam tables. You heard the shutters on the windows roll back and then Josh pushed the door open. 

“He did it!” Josh said. 

“We gotta get to the Jeep,” you said, hopping off the table and running out with Kira and Malia. 

It didn’t take long to get to the parking lot, and even less time to get to the front and pick up the guys and Lydia. You tossed the keys to Scott as you got out and asked if Lydia was okay. 

“No, and we need to go,” Scott said. “We need to get Lydia out of here.”

Before he could get very far, Parrish collapsed onto the Jeep’s hood with claw marks all over his back. “Sorry, but she’s coming with me,” Tracy said. She held onto Lydia, no doubt paralyzing her as she did. 

“Okay, Tracy. Just wait,” Scott said. “You don’t know what’s about to happen.” 

“I’m taking her. That’s what’s happening,” Tracy said. “And none of you are going to do a thing-” 

Electricity crackled and Tracy collapsed. Natalie stood behind her with one of the guard’s nightsticks in her hands. You and Stiles reached out to catch Lydia, but you faltered and he caught her. 

“Could somebody please get my daughter out of this hellhole?” Natalie asked.

You helped get Lydia into the car with Stiles in the back. She looked awful, and you could smell the dried blood and gore in her hair. It was nothing on her fear though, nothing on Stiles’ fear either. 

Scott drove as fast as he could, but Lydia’s heart was beating too quickly. Without any warning, she let out a scream that burst your eardrum closest to her. Heightened senses meant you were weaker when it came to loud noises like that, and Lydia's scream wasn't like any other loud noise. Stiles started bleeding and the mirrors cracked. You yelled at Scott to drive faster. 

Even though the drive to the animal clinic was stressful, helping Deaton treat Lydia was even worse. Your brain was addled by the scream, and she kept screaming until Deaton injected her with mistletoe, straight into the spot where she’d been trepanned. Her final scream shattered all the windows in the clinic but you reacted too slowly. 

Scott protected Lydia but Stiles tackled you to the ground, bits of glass sinking into his back. 

“Stiles,” you said softly, hands reaching up to his face. The side of his face was still bloody from Lydia’s screams. “What are you-” 

“Someone has to take care of you,” he said quietly. 

You were both snapped out of your moment by Scott trying and failing to wake Lydia up again. You held onto Stiles’ hand as the two of you joined the others by the table. You couldn’t even hear her heartbeat. 

She let out a low moan as her heart started again. Lydia looked terrified when she opened her eyes again but she held onto Stiles’ other hand when he reached for her. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. She held onto him and nodded quickly. “You’re okay.” He took a deep breath. “Do you want to try to sit up?” 

Stiles helped Lydia sit up, wincing slightly from the glass, and she looked around slowly. Her eyes landed on Natalie in the doorway. “Mom?” 

“Oh, honey.” Natalie rushed over to Lydia and pulled her into a hug. She looked relieved for the first time in weeks. 

“They saved me,” Lydia said weakly. “Stiles saved me.”

Natalie looked up from Lydia to make eye contact with Stiles. “Thank you,” she said. After her blow up the day before, you knew it meant a lot to him for her to apologize. 

Stiles smiled at her to let her know that everything was fine, but then he winced again and ruined his heroic image. He still looked pretty heroic to you, but Natalie was a mother and all she saw was a broken boy covered in glass. 

“Let’s get you home, huh?” Natalie flattened Lydia’s hair and kissed her head. She looked ready to cry when she touched Lyd’s trepanation wound. “You can take a bath and we can watch The Notebook. Hmm?” 

“I can come with, if you want,” Scott offered with a smile. 

Lydia nodded, not bothering to hide the tears in her eyes. She thanked you on her way out and soon it was just you, Stiles, and an awful lot of broken glass. 

“Sit with me,” you said gently, tugging on Stiles’ arm to bring him to the exam table. It was so reckless of him to shield you like that but you couldn’t be mad at him. Not when he'd gotten hurt protecting you. “Do you want me to take your pain while I take the glass out?” 

“And here I was thinking you wanted to makeout with me to say thank you for saving you from all that glass,” Stiles said with a lazy smile as he watched you get Deaton’s tweezers. You gave him a look and he laughed. “No, I can handle it.” 

“You sure?” 

Stiles nodded and you bit your lip. You weren’t sure if you had it in you to take his pain away, but still. Taking out all this glass was going to take a while and it was going to hurt. 

You started with the shards furthest away from his spine, doing your best to ignore his wincing. The closer you got to his spine, the worse his pain got. You put your hand on his shoulder and tried to take his pain away like you did with Corey, but you pulled your hand away when it started burning. 

Thankfully, Stiles was too wrapped up to notice your blunder, but it was pretty hard not to when your hand started shaking. The glass clattered into the metal dish with the other shards and you took a deep breath. 

“Hey, you okay?” Stiles asked, looking over his shoulder at you. 

“Yeah, just-” You took a breath and squeezed your eyes shut. “Just a bit light-headed. It’s been a while since I’ve had anything to drink.” 

“Oh,” Stiles said softly. He looked down for a second and then used his hands to turn on the table to face you, no doubt opening some fresh wounds in the process. “You know you could do it if you wanted to.” 

You frowned. “Do what?” 

“Drink my blood,” Stiles said. God, when did this become your life? “If you can’t wait until we get home … you could do it.” 

“No. No, I couldn’t,” you said. You took a step back. “Stiles, I would kill you. And even if I could control it - which I can’t - I could never ask you to do that.” 

“But you didn’t ask, I offered.” Stiles reached for your hand and you felt so guilty for putting him through this.  

“I know, but I- I can’t risk hurting you,” you said. 

Stiles was quiet for a second. He looked down and drummed on the table for a second. “Malia told me you don’t heal without it.” 

Snitch.

“Yeah, but I’m not the one that’s hurt right now.” You sighed and took a step forward to press your forehead to his, your hand holding onto his neck. Your thumb ran across his neck. “Let’s just get you cleaned up, alright?”

Stiles was so still, but eventually, he took a breath and nodded. “Okay,” he said softly. He kissed your hand before you pulled away to finish cleaning him up. He took in a sharp breath when you pulled out the largest (and, thankfully, the last) piece of glass. You apologized repeatedly but it just made Stiles laugh and then wince. “Hey, at least it's over now,” Stiles said in an attempt to comfort you. 

You laughed and put the tweezers down. “Close. We still have to clean the cuts if you don’t want an infection.” 

“Maybe I want an infection. I could get superpowers,” Stiles said between yawns. You walked around the table and he pulled you into a hug. His face was in your hair when he mumbled, “Do you think it’ll scar?” 

“Not if I have anything to do with it,” you said. You pulled back and ran a hand through his hair. “This part will be quick, okay? Can I take your shirt off?” 

“You can take my shirt off any time, babe.” Stiles leaned back and gave you a lazy grin which made you laugh despite the horrible night you’d had. 

“Slow down, Stilinski. Let’s finish this first.”

“Yes, ma’am.” 

“Don’t call me ma’am.” 

“Sir, yes, sir.” 

You rolled your eyes and pushed the open button-up off his shoulders so he could take his arms out of the sleeves. You lifted the bottom of his gray t-shirt and threw it at him when he made another flirty joke. 

Cleaning and bandaging the cuts went a lot faster, which was a relief because you were exhausted and Stiles must have been freezing. When the last of the bandages were on his back, you leaned in and wrapped your hands around him.  

“Thank you for taking care of me,” you said softly. You pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “Let’s go home. Do you have a shirt in the Jeep that I can bring you?”

“What’s wrong with my other shirt?” Stiles asked. 

“It’s torn and covered in blood,” you said as you pulled away. 

Stiles shrugged and pushed himself off the table. “You just want to see me walk around shirtless for a while.” 

“You know me well, Stilinski.” You took his hand in yours and lifted it to kiss him again. Stiles rolled his eyes but he pulled you closer anyway, only letting go so you could lock up the animal clinic and then to pull on a sweatshirt. 

Exhausted and worn out from the night, you fell asleep almost immediately as Stiles drove home. You weren’t sure what it was about the Jeep that did that to you; maybe the familiarly worn seats or how Stiles pumped the heat all the way up, or maybe just the way Stiles would drum on the steering wheel and play his favorite song on repeat. He was one of the only people who you trusted, and the Jeep was one of the only places you still felt safe.

Part 42

Tagged: @ietss​  @used-avocado​

[theliterateape]

History is a Puzzle Box of Rashomon

by Don Hall

I’ve often said that the scariest thing to ever come out of my mother’s mouth was the declaration “Let’s go on an adventure!”

For my mother an adventure must include a lack of preparation, potential for danger, and a sense of I can’t believe we just survived that! She once decided she wanted to do a charcoal sketching of a gravestone from the grave of one of our Appalachian Baptist fire-and-brimstone preacher ancestors. My dad drove her up into the mountains and they started seeing patches of purple paint on trees and rocks.

Turned out that was the locals’ way of telling outsiders they'd get shot if they trespassed. My dad clutched his pistol the rest of the way.

Mom got her charcoal sketch. I can’t believe we just survived that!

When I was a kid and we lived in Arizona, mom decided we were going on adventure. My little sister, mom, and I loaded up in her brown Gremlin, a bag of sandwiches, some sodas, and all of our swimming gear and headed out for an afternoon at Lake Pleasant.

All was copacetic until she thought she saw a shortcut to he lake. It was not a shortcut. It was simply desert. It started out as a bit of a dirt path that sort of petered out about an hour into the drive. We were driving in the open desert in the vehicle equivalent to a Pinto.

Of course we blew a tire. Of course we didn't have a spare.

Being a melodramatic kid, I went into a full-blown faux-survivalist panic. After a few minutes of wailing about our imminent demise I set out to figure how to get water out of cactus, the thorny testaments to the heartiness of desert foliage fending off my un-callused hands and delivering exactly no water.

This being decades before smartphones, we were stuck. We had no clue where we were in terms of the comforts of civilization and while mom put on a brave face (and occasionally got the giggles at my histrionics) our fate was sealed. Unless someone miraculously drove into the middle of the desert to save us, we were doomed.

And then the miracle occurred. A beat-up red Ford pickup truck coming from the other direction popped up on the horizon. I shrieked in relief; mom flagged the truck down.

We were about a mile from a highway but we couldn't know that. The driver of the pickup was taking a shortcut from the highway.

Here's where the story gets odd. To this day, my mother's version of this adventure and mine are identical. Word for word the same until we get to the driver of the Ford. On my life, I swear it was an older Native American man who stopped, hitched up the Gremlin to his vehicle, and towed us the mile to the highway and on to a gas station. 

My mother will go to her grave insisting it was a family of four Mormons.

What?!

We’ve had family arguments about this story. Both my mother and I are intractable in our insistence of our specific endings of either Native American man or family of Mormons. We both were there. We both can see ourselves in the tale. The endings are as different as could be.

There is conclusive scientific research that demonstrates how the memory of an event subtly changes the actual memory as it is retold. The more you tell the story, the more it transforms into something similar but wholly different in the margins.

If my mother and I can have such divergent differences within a memory of an event we both shared, how many splinters are there in a collective re-telling of a larger event encompassing many more tellers? How many completely incompatible versions of the attacks on New York on September 11, 2001 are there? How many versions that don’t quite line up with one another are there of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941?

Moving forward and backward in history, if we are to accept (and I do) that our memories are more Silly Putty than Lego Bricks, how much does film, television, books, and social media come into play in the constant morphing of objective truth to the collection of subjective memories and finally commonly accepted reality?

There is conclusive scientific research that demonstrates how the memory of an event subtly changes the actual memory as it is retold.

Back in the olden days when one could watch something horribly incorrect in the political sense without it becoming a ringing endorsement of your personal "brand" or a scathing indictment on who you are as a fellow human, I went to a screening of Griffith's The Birth of a Nation. It was at an esoteric video shop/screening theater on Fullerton Avenue in Chicago called Facets Multimedia and there were six or seven others in attendance. I was the only white person in the room.

Historically, Griffith's opus is significant in several ways. 

First, it was among the earliest epic uses of film. Released in 1915, it was the first blockbuster Hollywood hit. It was the longest and most-profitable film then produced and the most artistically advanced film of its day. It secured both the future of feature-length films and the reception of film as a serious medium.

Second, it was the first modern popular culture example of an artistic achievement attempting to force a certain perspective on the larger culture (the idea that the KKK were the heroes of the Civil War) it was initially released with the title "The Clansmen" and reframed the war, Reconstruction, and white hooded sheets in tandem with lynchings as the preferred story of American history.

Third, while propaganda has been around since men could talk and write, it was the most pervasive use of a medium that communicated on a newfound mass level to promote a horrifying ideology and was embraced by President Woodrow Wilson as a personal favorite.

Following the three-hour screening, there was a sense of discomfort as the lights came back up. My guess at the time it was the other viewers in the room wondering if I, the sole white person in the room, was as offended by the revised perspective the film espoused as the rest in the small cadre. I suppose I wasn't as offended because I wasn't black and I knew what I was getting into when buying my ticket. I can imagine seeing the film without some context would be like a slap in the face.

One of the things I learned doing stage combat around the same time was that a slap in the face never hurt as much as you'd think. It wasn't the pain of the blow but the surprise of it that gave it impact. Going in cold to see the KKK presented as the true patriots wouldn't hurt but the surprise might be a shock.

In a very different way but in the same vein, I remember being the only white face in a crowded theater in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the opening night of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. The looks of inquisition for my reaction to the film from the predominantly black faces followed me out into the lobby and into the parking lot.

I read recently that one of the reasons the scars of that Civil War in America have never fully healed is that we’ve never, as a nation, agreed on a single narrative of why we fought the goddamned thing. The subjectivity of truth in the re-telling of that dark period is confounding and subsequent attempts to force one perspective or the other or multiple angles on the causes of the War of the States has only confused the issue. Thus the recent beheadings of statues glorifying Southern generals and the re-naming parties of public schools to eliminate anyone associated with slavery.

I understand and empathize with this impulse to reverse the whitewash of history from our streets and schools. So much of our literature and symbols in real life have been created with, maybe not a D. W. Griffith subjectivity, a revisionist historical perspective that paints over the ugliest parts of our history to re-tell the narrative and erase those most subjugated by it. I expect over-correction (like the New York Times 1619 Project which casts our history as steeped in nothing but racism and slavery without acknowledging the contributions set apart from those stains) and, after reading that San Francisco schools are eliminating Abraham Lincoln's name, I decided to re-watch Spielberg's Lincoln.

I don't know if it was actually Lincoln or screenwriter Tony Kushner who came up with the following analogy but I found it instructive in the push to reframe the story today.

A compass, I learnt when I was surveying, it'll... it'll point you True North from where you're standing, but it's got no advice about the swamps and deserts and chasms that you'll encounter along the way.

If in pursuit of your destination, you plunge ahead, heedless of obstacles, and achieve nothing more than to sink in a swamp... What's the use of knowing True North?

The film paints the fight for the 13th Amendment as a dark political game, cajoling and persuading the legislators of the day to codify in the Constitution a formal revocation and rebuke to the forced enslavement of other human beings. It also portrays Lincoln as a deeply pragmatic leader. The speech is one he gives to Thaddeus Stevens, a zealous abolitionist, who rightly sees true north but, up to that point, would rather be righteous than successful in abolishing slavery.

Both men are long dead so the question of whether both men would tell the same story, in their re-telling of those pivotal moments leading up to the vote, or if their stories would radically diverge, is wholly academic. That’s where the trappings of art collide with authenticity. This is the version Spielberg and Kushner decided upon and it will be the version millions who watch the film and decide to simply accept it as the one true version.

This is not to say there is no objective truth. It is to suggest that our inability to separate fact from our subjective fictions makes us pretty fucking lousy arbiters of that fact.

On the other hand, we have celebrated author Mark Manson, whose book Everything is F•cked: A Book About Hope is being banned in Russia by Putin because it speaks directly to atrocities committed by Stalin. Putin is looking to re-write Stalin's history. 

There is a big difference between revising a history shown to diminish the effects of overt racists in one country and purging a country’s history of established monstrosities but the mechanism remains the same: reframe the story and tell it enough times that the meaning changes over time. Keep pushing the new narrative (right or wrong) until the soft memory of an entire nation bends to the will of the teller.

That’s all history is, after all. A slew of stories we tell over and over to indoctrinate a sense of national pride. It grows more perilous when those revising the stories weren’t present. The source of the tales becomes less reliable and the reframe more suspect. When the source is a film or video of an event, we feel as though we’ve experienced it but our perspective is entirely subverted by what the camera shows us and the narrative promoted when we watch it.

One of the techniques that Griffith practically invented was the camera’s use to tell the story from his view. Frame things in a certain way, in a certain order, and our very eyes are deceived, our minds accept the deception, and we believe.

In 1950, Akira Kurosawa gave the world the reigning example of individualized subjective point of view. Rashomon shows us three different perspectives on one specific event. The film makes the point so clearly that the term used popularly to label the he said/she said/they said dilemma is a rashomon.

This is not to say there is no objective truth. It is to suggest that our inability to separate fact from our subjective fictions makes us pretty fucking lousy arbiters of that fact. Show me someone absolutely 100% certain of the sort of events they've only seen on an iPhone video moderated by Faceborg and spun by both the media and some random stranger and I'll show you someone deluded and quite probably dead wrong.

Even when we're there to witness events in person we get it wrong so the concept of getting it right through the mediation and manipulation of amateur videographers and activist pushing a narrative is nothing short of lunatic fringe.

Bizarrely, we all know this to be true.

We know that social media is almost entirely unreliable. We know that film is a highly manipulative art form. We know that Robert Downey, Jr. never flew in a suit of armor, that Keanu Reeves is not Neo, that as much as he embodies who I hope Abraham Lincoln was like, Daniel Day Lewis is an actor and couldn't possibly know what the man was actually like in person.

We know this to be true but we need to be right. We need to believe and so we take that leap of faith, that gut level adherence to what makes some sort of sense in the story and run with it. More so, if the fiction supports things we already have chosen to believe in, we are adding it to the arsenal of defenses against any other sort of view of our story.

We know there's more to the story of the Antifa takeover of Seattle. We know there's more to the January 6th breach of the Capitol. We know there are more sides to the story of Michael Brown. We know that with everyone filmed in a Walmart screaming about her right to forego a mask there is something else before and after that moment that may demonize her just a bit less.

We know but we don't care. Context and considering the framing takes too much work. Too much time. In an existence flooded with too much information, too many stories, too much video, too many opinions, it's just fucking easier to settle on the story that suits you and roll with that.

That's why—no matter what my mother says—it was definitely not a family of Mormons and I'll go to my grave with that.

[purplesurveys]

980

When was the last time you went out of state? We don’t have states but the last time I went out of my city was around three weeks ago when I had a job interview somewhere in Metro Manila.

And where did you go? QC, that’s where the company’s headquarters are.

What does the 6th text in your inbox say? The 6th most recent one says “I hate this feeling so much.”

Do you even like the person who sent you that text? Yeah.

Do you have more than one best friend? Yes :)

In public restrooms, do you flush the toilet with your foot? Always. Public restrooms here are nasty and it’s always safest to go with your foot to flush, because everyone else does so.

What song is stuck in your head at the moment? Pool by Paramore has been playing over and over in my head this afternoon.

Name one thing you worry about running out of: Throughout the pandemic I have had an ever-existing fear of the family finances running out or getting dangerously low for obvious reasons. I feel like I shouldn’t be worrying given that both my parents have stable sources of income and have started buying non-essentials like socks for Cooper and boxes of desserts, but with Covid still making everything uncertain I will always be paranoid about this.

Spell your first name without T, E, R, A, or L. Obyn. I’m one letter off from becoming a medical specialization, lol.

How old were you when you had your first kiss? I was 16. I was a bit of a late bloomer considering I attended an all-girls school where everyone always ends up gay lmao, but at least my first kiss meant something.

Do you ever save Aim conversations? I was never on there.

If you were a crayon what color would you be? I don’t know and I don’t care enough to think of an answer. I never think of things like this.

Do you wish your eyes were a different color? If so, what? No, I’m satisfied with mine. Eye color isn’t something I’ve ever been insecure about, really.

What is the 4th digit in your phone number? 5.

Who was the last person to comment you on Myspace? In my short period of time there, I don’t think anyone ever gave me a comment. I’m pretty sure I abandoned my account after like three days.

Have you ever given someone a fake phone number? I’ve never had to, so no.

Your phone’s ringing; who do you want it to be? It can be anyone. I’m really thirsty for human contact/connection at this point and I miss regularly catching up with friends. But with everyone being busy and I myself being swamped with work, it’s just so hard to gauge when someone’s gonna be free and open to talk.

Have you lied to get out of a date? I’ve never been faced with that situation.

Was your mom a cheerleader in high school? She was super interested in cheerleading but I don’t think her high school had a varsity for it. She wanted to be one so bad so she knew a few moves and was flexible well into her 30s.

When was the last time you ate at McDonald's? The last time I ate something from McDonald’s wassssss within the last month, I’m pretty sure. I had a box of McNuggets on my first week of internship. But I have not sat down at a McDonald’s to dine in for probably a couple of years now. I don’t tend to do that a lot.

Do you think more about the past, present or future? I think about all of these all the time.

Are you more of a talker or a listener? Definitely a listener. I prefer to let others have the spotlight as I think everyone’s thoughts are more important than mine.

What do you wear to bed? I usually wear a thin top and shorts so that I feel more breezy.

Do you like ketchup or mustard better? I honestly don’t like either on their own. I’m bound to enjoy them more if they’re mixed with other ingredients, like ketchup mixed with mayo or honey mustard. I find ketchup too sour and mustard is simply not part of a Filipino’s palate.

Did you ever have a Furby when you were little? No. I didn’t even hear of it until I was a lot older. Not a common toy here.

Did you eat a cookie today? No but I wish :( Chocolate chip cookies sound really good right now.

What do you and your parents fight about the most? Politics with my mom. I don’t really argue with my dad.

How old will you be in 15 years? 37.

Is summer your favorite season? Nope.

Chinese, Mexican, or Italian food? Chinese, then Italian, then Mexican.

How many states have you lived in? No states. In terms of my country’s geography, I’ve lived in two regions.

When is the last time you saw your mom? Last night.

Do you like the band Mayday Parade? I tried listening to a few of their songs when they were popular in middle school, but I couldn’t get into them.

What was the first thing you thought about when you woke up today? Dreading work. Today didn’t turn out to be as brutal as 5 AM Robyn thought it would be, but it was still tiring and I’m happy to be taking surveys now.

Do you think dance/techno music is annoying? It’s not my cup of tea, but I don’t actively think it’s annoying. Maybe some are, but a lot personally aren’t.

What year were you born? 1998.

Do you shop at Hollister? Nope. I don’t even know if we ever had physical Hollister stores here.

Grab the nearest book and turn to page 17. What is the 4th word? “Was.” Very riveting.

What are you going to be for Halloween? I hiiiighly doubt there’s gonna be any Halloween events this year. Hypothetically, I’d be a Sim because it’s so low-effort and yet it makes people laugh every time. Literally just stick a green 3D diamond on a headband and you’re done, hahaha.

How many times have you seen your favorite movie? I can’t even tell you. I had a ridiculous Two for the Road phase where I watched it every. single. day. when I’d come home from school. Never took track of how long that period was, but it lasted a while.

Do you own a Coach purse? My mom owns a handbag, but I don’t know about a purse.

What's your Myspace song right now?

Has a boyfriend/girlfriend ever given you a pet name? Yeah.

[getparkd]

Got To Be NC!

As you might know, I am a huge fan of parks. Some of my favorite public lands are the very ones in my home state of North Carolina. I have lived here my whole life and have been visiting these parks since I was a kid. Although I have not visited all of them, one day I know I will. So, enjoy this list (and review) of the beautiful parks of NC!

1. Carolina Beach 

Fun Fact: Carolina Beach is one of the only places you can find the carnivorous Venus Flytrap and Pitcher Plant in the wild. This park is home to a subtropical wetland, which is the perfect ecosystem for these carnivorous plants. While you may be tempted to take one home with you, beware because the state of North Carolina made it a felony to poach Venus Flytraps in 2014. Also in the park is Sugarloaf Dune, which has been used as a navigational marker since 1633. In total, the park has 7 miles of trail, and is one I have visited many times during my stays in Wilmington. 

2. Carvers Creek

3. Chimney Rock

This spire of rock is instantly recognizable to anyone within miles. Chimney Rock is 315 foot tall and overlooks Hickory Nut Gorge and Lake Lure. “Lake Lure?” you may ask, yes Lake Lure. The spot where they filmed the unforgettable lake scene in Dirty Dancing, as well as the scene of Baby dancing down the stairs. The town is also home to an annual Dirty Dancing festival, so you might want to plan your trip when Baby and Johnny are back in town. As well as Dirty Dancing, you may recognize this park from the climax scene in The Last of the Mohicans. 

4. Crowders Mountain

5. Dismal Swamp

6. Elk Knob

7. Eno River

8. Falls Lake

9. Fort Fisher

Home to the Civil War-Era bunkers and one of the best aquariums in North Carolina. Fort Fisher is a hidden gem in ENC. As a student at UNC at Wilmington, I know all to well about the beach. I know where to find a dirty beach, a crowded beach, and I certainly know how to find a good beach. Fort Fisher is just that. You can sit on the sand and watch the pelicans fly overhead and the cargo ships come into port without the worry of trash and dirty water. Because it is a state park/recreation area, it is kept very clean and has nicer facilities than public beaches in the area. It also has 4 wheel drive access to the beach. If you are visiting, don’t forget to stop by and see Luna, the albino alligator at the aquarium. 

10. Fort Macon

Fort Macon! This place is probably one of the most interesting places in North Carolina. I recently wen there with my little brother to have a little day trip. The park itself is a beautiful ecosystem, as the Musgrove trees are my favorite. We stopped first at the beach was had clear water and a great view of the Cape Lookout lighthouse from the shore. Next we went to the actual fort which was the best part of the trip. Walking throughout the fort you see rich stone works and manicured lawns. I got some really cool Insta and VSCO photos here as well. Highly recommen! 

11. Goose Creek

12. Gorges

13. Grandfather Mountain

One of the windiest spots in the entire state. Grandfather Mountain is home to the famous mile-high swinging bridge. Walking across the bridge is both exhilarating and terrifying. As requested by the staff, hold on to your belongings, and even small children, to keep them form blowing into the valley below. It is also home to an amazing zoo that houses black bears and mountain lions. 

14. Hammocks Beach

Hammocks Beach State Park is a park I visit quite often as it is only about 30 minutes from where I live. I have visited both the mainland site, which has an amazing visitors center and serene wooded trails, and the Bear Island site. Bear Island is a 3-mile long barrier island that is home to nesting sea turtles and clean beaches. A ferry, kayak, or personal boat can take you over to the island to enjoy the water!

15. Hanging Rock

16. Haw River

17. Jockey’s Ridge

My favorite! Jockey’s Ridge is located in Nags Head, North Carolina, right next to Kitty Hawk, the site of the first human flight. Jockey’s Ridge is the tallest active sand dune on the Atlantic Coast. Hiking through this park feels like you are in Star Wars! Some of my favorite activities to do are sandboarding down the giant dunes and paragliding. Jockey’s Ridge to me is the most fun and the most beautiful of all the parks I have visited.

18. Jones Lake

One of the two lakes formed by the geological phenomenon called Carolina Bays. This phenom creates lakes of varying pH levels, resulting in different coloration of the water. Jones Lake is colored a bright red color. This lake has great swimming and fishing. Beware alligators though!

19. Jordan Lake

Jordan Lake is like other lakes in my state, but the one things that makes it interesting: the Bald Eagle. Jordan Lake is the summertime home of this rare species. It is fascinating to watch this birds fly and hunt for prey. You can enjoy swimming and hiking, as there is 15 miles of trails throughout the park.

20. Kerr Lake

Another amazing park in the beautiful state of NC! Just like Jorden Lake, it is also home to a bald eagle. We have camped on the shore a few times and I love waking up early to watch the sun rise over the lake. We take our boat and pull our tubes. Another great thing this park has is rolling, smooth roads. Take your longboard and carve down these streets. There is also a really nice marina down the road who has killer ice cream. 

21. Lake James

22. Lake Norman

23. Lake Waccamaw

Just like Jones and Carolina Beach, these park is home to some cool species. The American alligator and the Venus Flytrap are easy to find in this swampy park. While the slews and backcountry of this park are full of blood-sucking mosquitos and alligators, the lake front dock is an amazing spot to swim. The pH level of this lake makes it perfectly clear. Not only is it clear, but it also is only about 4 feet deep which makes it perfect for younger or inexperienced swimmers to have fun without all the worry. I personally like driving around and seeing all the beautiful lakes houses after taking a swim, but there is also a really nice restaurant on the lake front that I’ve heard has amazing burgers. 

24. Lumber River

Lumber River is the only black water river in North Carolina, and is also a National Wild and Scenic River. This park ahs great kayaking, but beware alligators. 

25. Mayo River

26. Medoc Mountain

27. Merchants Millpond

28. Morrow Mountain

29. Mount Jefferson

It is our family tradition to go every Thanksgiving to get our Christmas tree from the mountains. So, last year we decided to go to West Jefferson and we visited Mount Jefferson State Park. It was approximately 17 degrees and there was ice everywhere, but we hiked to the top and enjoyed the view of the valley below. One of the coolest things about Mt. Jefferson is the Luther Rock. This rock juts from the side of the mountain and allows you to walk out on it and take in the beautiful scenery. 

30. Mount Mitchell

Mount Mitchell is the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River. The observation area at the top allows for you to see as far as 85 miles on a clear day. Just make sure as you head up, you layer up because it can drop temperature very quickly. 

31. New River

32. Occoneechee 

33. Pettigrew

34. Pilot Mountain

35. Raven Rock

Oh Raven Rock! We took this trip after a long day at the ball field on my mom’s 40th birthday. Needless to say we were tired, but we still decided to tackle the 4.2 mile hike to the Raven Falls. We were expecting a waterfall, but instead we got rapids. We did however cool off in the river before taking our long hike back. Despite this, the actual Raven Rock was beautiful and the park is still on of my favorites. 

36. Singletary Lake

The best thing about this lake is how secluded it is. It is tucked away behind a tree line and barely visible from the road. The only people that frequent this are its junior campers. You can enjoy a peaceful evening fishing on its 500 foot peer and if you’re feeling lucky test your swimming skills with the alligators. 

37. South Mountain

38. Stone Mountain

39. Weymouth Woods Sandhills

40. William B. Umstead

I just recently took my second trip to this park and it is still as beautiful as the first time. There are over 35 miles of hiking in this park so it is very unlikely you will see it all. While I do love hiking, I enjoy just driving through the park as well. The stone bridge over Sycamore Creek is one of my favorite spots as it has rolling fields of grass that you can lie down in and have a picnic if you please. 

[namjoonchronicles]

outnumbered | th

↳  pairing taehyung x you ↳  genre fluff, slice of life, domestic, husband-Taehyung amen ↳  words 6k ↳  summary raising five kids with a full-time job is a challenge. thankfully, Taehyung agreed to be a full-time house husband. but the matriarch family aren’t usually appreciated. Especially, when the women earns for the house.  ↳ note Taehyung have 5 kids, they’re : Renee (7), Noah & Niel (5), Tati (3) and the youngest, Sam (3 months old) ↳ song lieuwe roonder ‘let me love you’

Taehyung begins his duties at 4am everyday. Around this hour, the youngest will be fed with her formula milk, freshly warmed and perfect for the morning. Taehyung’s large feet slip into mismatched indoor slippers, sitting at the side of the bed and he’d turn off the night lamp from his side. He routinely take your phone and plug it to the charger while you stay asleep.

For Taehyung, the day begins early. And he usually started with pouring the grinded coffee beans into the coffee machine, and lets them boil in time while he disappears to the laundry room with your blouse for ironing. He stifled a yawn, gliding the iron to smoothen creases on the semi-crumple light pink long sleeves.  What is that colored blob? He leans in to see closer. But without his glasses, he wasn’t able to make sense of what it was, so he sniffed it.

Milk? Coffee? Milk coffee?

Taehyung’s eyes darted to the top left of the ceiling after setting away the iron from the board, to prevent it from burning like the last time. How many time do I have to tell her not to stain her clothes? This is twice this month.

He didn’t waste time to pick another maroon flowy blouse with a black pencil skirt for you to wear to work today. This one needs a steam iron because its made of satin silk. He was saving this particular blouse for friday night, but he had no choice.

The coffee machine readily brews and began to expel its liquid into the coffee jar right underneath it. Taehyung dashes pass it with your ironed cloth on a hanger. It hooks securely around the edge of the wardrobe—out of reach of children.

He looks at the time. 5:15AM. Next, laundry. He collects heaps of clothes set next to each door and into the large basket he held close to his waist.

The baby begins to cry. You frowned in your sleep, but as you try to reach your phone, it wasn’t there. You lay face down, grabbing nothing on the side table. Not a minute later, you heard Taehyung shushing her quiet.

“Daddy’s got you… shush, mummy’s sleeping…” Taehyung rocks Sam side to side, while attacking with smooches around her face. Barely 10 months old, Sam is already gurgling audible words. Taehyung predicts that she’ll start walking before she turns two. Sam’s eyes is wide open and Taehyung knows she won’t be able to be put to bed again.

Sam is going to cling on him like a baby koala. Not that he minds. Taehyung is now fixing the water bath warm enough for a shower. As it fills up, Taehyung lunges down the hall in fast steps to knock on the eldest door. “Renee? Renee… wake up, school time…” he turns the knob to find Renee stirring in her single bed and kissed the top of her head. The fourth child fell asleep on the floor next to Renee’s books.

“How did Tati end up on the floor, Renee?” Taehyung asked in hushes. He had to put Sam down to carry Tati back up into her bed as Renee waddles with her blue towel draped over one shoulder. Her eyes drooping sleepily. Taehyung collected Sam again and walked out.

He poked his head into the fridge after placing Sam on the baby chair to take out three overnight oatmeals and milk. Taehyung passed the baby chair to jog down the other end of the hall to wake the twins, Noah and Niel. Renee is out of the bathroom now, and she is dressing herself up. She’s 7 and just started school.

“Dad! Where’s my nametag?” She yelled. “Check your pocket!” Taehyung retorted, before knocking twice on the boys’ door. Before he turns the knob, he inhaled deeply as if he’s about to unleash the beast. In this case, two beasts.

“Boys, good morning…” he sang. “Daddy I can’t find my nametag…” Renee whined at the door in her school uniform. “Okay, I’ll go find it, but can you have breakfast while you wait?” Taehyung said in a hurry. Noah had stood up in the middle of his bed and Niel won’t move.

“Alright…”

Tati had began crying very loudly.

“Also, sweetheart can you go wake mummy up? She’s going to be late,” Taehyung kneels next to Niel, and shaking his shoulder to wake him. He’s sleeping like a log. Only 5 years old, but sleeps more than Uncle Yoongi does.

Renee disappears. But now Tati started whimpering, while hugging Taehyung’s arm. Noah is now pulling down his pants with his dingles dangling, saying he wants to pee. Taehyung sprints to grab Noah from the bed, and into the bathroom. But he didn’t make it to the potty. Noah peed on the floor.

Tati’s crying intensifies because she fell back when Taehyung carried Noah. Niel threw her a plushie in an attempt to quiet her down.

“Daddy!” She shrieked, “Niel threw me bear-bear…” “Niel, don’t throw Tati the bear-bear… what did daddy tell you about that,” Taehyung is cleaning Noah up.

“Daddy where is the socks?” Renee asked. Noah is groaning while Niel is throwing a tantrum in his bed.

“Noah, Niel, you are going to be late. Where is Tati’s pacifier? Who took Tati’s pacifier?” Taehyung wipes Noah’s face with his own shirt before patting Niel’s bottom to hurry him.

“Noah! Niel!” You roared from across the hall. The boys straightens up and waddled to your room.

“How many times do I have to tell you that when dad had the baths ready, you have to wake up when he asked you to?” Hand on hip and the two tattle to the bathroom and showered.

Taehyung carries Tati around his waist now. He passes you a mug of coffee. Tati stopped crying immediately. “Dad! My nametag!” Renee yelled. Taehyung tipped his head back and you patted his chest twice, “I got it, watch the boys…” and then, “Coming baby. Mommy is coming!”

“No I want daddy…”

You stopped in your steps and spun your heel around, “Guess not…”

Taehyung hands Tati to you and you watched the boys brush their teeth, before he disappears into the hallway to help Renee. “Do you really need that nametag?” Taehyung whined.

“Even mom and dad don’t remember my name sometimes.”

The boys is now dressed in their pre-school uniforms and climbing on the tall stool for their breakfast. Sam had dunk her whole hand inside the bowl of oat meant for Noah. And Noah screams.

“Sam put her hand inside my food!” “Sam don’t put your hand in Niel’s food…” “I’m Noah!” “I’m not Niel!”

“And I will be late,” You buttoned up your blouse and zipped your pencil skirt.

Taehyung finally sat Tati down, wiped Sam’s oat covered hand with a wet cloth. “Can you fetch Renee? Didn’t you get half day off? The boys has parents teachers meeting we need to attend…” He glances at you repeatedly, while reminding Renee to wipe her mouth before she leaves with you.

“I really can’t. I’m swamped today… can’t you be late for the meeting to fetch Renee? Just bring Renee along…” “Renee has piano lessons today…” “Oh shoot, I forgot.”

“We need to do laundries tonight. It’s still on right?” Taehyung held the door open while Renee, Noah, Neil and you wore shoes and scattered out the door. “Yeah definitely,” you stood on tiptoes and plant a kiss on his cheek. “Please, for the love of God, be home before 6pm,” he eyed you, lips parted a little.

“Remember to get the rice cake order for grandma’s memorial ceremony!” Taehyung yelled, followed by, “Be good at school, all three of you!”

Taehyung turns to Tati and Sam. Both too young to go to school, still in their PJs.

“Guess there’s just us, girls.”

And then he heard it. The beeping. The semi silent ringing. He dashed to the messy bedroom to see the phone blinking. Your phone.

“Damn it.”

Extra diapers. Some edibles. Some toys to pass time. It didn’t take long for Taehyung to pack Tati’s backpack.

“When we get to mummy’s office, you have to promise me you don’t run around, and behave okay?” Taehyung knelt next to the bag. Tati leans her tiny body on Taehyung’s arm. Sam is gurgling on the sofa on her back.

“Why are we going to mummy’s office?” “Mummy forgot her phone. She needs it so we could call her later in the evening.”

It gets really hard. He’s not going to lie. Having five children isn’t a walk in the park. More like running through it. Raising children is not a one person job. It could feel like 15, and at the end of the month there’s always a constant worry if the expenses will be enough until the next payday. There’s two diaper packs that needed to be bought, and school items, school trips, and fees. Uniforms, extra lessons. Having a family means having a lot. Before you even decide to have this home with him, he already had trouble convincing you to have children. Everybody knows how eager Taehyung is about having a large family, and to be honest with you, sometimes you feel like marrying a complete stranger when it comes to things like this.

Sometimes, he felt like marrying a stranger. At one point, your goals and destination seems different from one another because you were still a career-oriented girl with determination of a first year worker, but at the same time you are also mom to five, and sometimes, Taehyung demanded your presence in the home you built together. Having children also means less time together. Which leaves little room for communication. You’d be home, far too tired for a conversation, and he’d be piled with domestic demands and tasks. You try to help, you do, but most of the time you are at work and there are moments that you don’t get to see your children for days.But you are determined not to leave room for doubts when it comes to Taehyung and your priorities. It was a lengthy shift from your golden university aspirations, but you can’t imagine a life without Taehyung. And now, the five children.

Fingernail tap on the marble desk coming from a pair of large hands. The concierge occupant lift her gaze to see a friendly boxy smile. She intuitively tuck her hair behind her ear helix.

“I’m not sure if you remember,” Taehyung shyly greeted her. “Yes! Yes, Mr. Kim… Mrs. Kim’s husband, it’s been awhile, I’ll let you up. Here’s your passcard,” she bowed once and Tati waved enthusiastically back at her. So cheerful.

“You’re adorable…Is this the little one?” the receptionist let out a bashful smile. “No, this one is. This one is Sam,” Taehyung turns to show the gurgling bundle of joy, strapped on his back. Taehyung lets out a proud smile as he took the passcard.

Tati reaches for her dad’s hand but wrapped her little finger only around his pinkie. Sam falls to a sleepy riddle. “Earlier, Mrs. Kim was in a meeting. I’m not sure if it has ended or not, but do help yourself around…” the receptionist smiled politely, guiding Taehyung down the elevator hallway and pressed the button going up. Then she leaves him be.

Taehyung felt rather giddy going back here after awhile. The last time he came, he made quite an impression for singing live with his honeyed deep voice that leaves the audience awed. The last time he came, he was a vocal coach with a five figure earnings, a good sports car and a collection of Van Gogh arts. Last time he came, there was no Renee, Noah, Niel, Tati or Sam. That was close to ten years ago. This is where he met his wife, you.

He’s not going to lie. He sometimes ponder on how life would be if he didn’t fall for you that night. Maybe sitting in his expensive penthouse, in a king sized bed, filled with loneliness, of a longing for someone he had never met, wondering if she was still out there. He let go of his job, so you could have yours.

Tati tugs his sleeves, looking up at him through her thick lashes. “Daddy, I need to go potty,” she murmured cutely. Tati had recently been toilet-trained so she was told to tell someone if she needs to go to the toilet. Taehyung gulped down the whole plastic cup of drinking water at once, in a hurry, because he knows that if he dragged time, she’d might pee there and then. There’s only one problem.

The male restroom doesn’t have toilet bowl meant for kids like the females. Taehyung dashed through the automated door and carried Tati into the first cubicle. Sam is snoozing on her father’s back, soundly. Her finger stretches as she accommodates the sudden movement, but resumes sleeping. Taehyung heard the next door cubicle was being flushed, and then another.

“Did you hear about our head technician and our company lawyer?” this man had a higher voice tone, with a slight southern twang at the end of his words, suggesting a heavy Gwangju accent.

Taehyung then heard your name. “With Min Yoongi? The lawyer?” Another man replied, the automated wash basin washing water down their palms when it detects hands. This one had a clearer set of pronunciation. Fit for a news anchor, with the way he spoke.

“Nah, with our leading advocate, solicitor, and P.A.; Park Jimin,” the one with Gwangju accent replied, “Turns out that the company’s recent soliciting isn’t the only soliciting he does.” “What do you mean?” “Rumors had it that they’re a thing. Last month, when the company vault had an audit check, Jimin promptly said the auditing for May was in his team, when it wasn’t. Now why would he do that if he doesn’t have a thing for her?” Slight pause, “...Someone caught them dating in the car last Tuesday. All laughing and giggling… it was very scandalous.” “Isn’t she married?” “I know right… I don’t think her husband knows.” “Why would she do such a thing…”

That’s right. Why would you do such a thing.

“Daddy--” Tati spoke but Taehyung covered her mouth immediately, waiting for the two men to leave. After putting Tati into her briefs, Taehyung walked back out with her. His mind flashes into the conversations he had caught you in, oftenly, middle of the night when everyone was asleep.

“I just want to say thank you for today, it was really nice to have someone to lean on when things go south,” he heard you sigh into the phone by the window, away from bed. You must have thought he was asleep.

“I really enjoyed it, I do… too much,in fact,” you swept your untied hair back, and looked up to the window pane, drawing random shapes on the fogged window.

All these while, he thought it was a girl. All these while he thought it was your best friend from college. He never once questioned your loyalty, ever.

And when he left that restroom, he saw his doubts in action.

You were walking down the crisp hallway, fiddling with a file in your chest, smiling far too widely even for a friend, to that man with glasses. It was very unsettling. The conversation you had with him.

“I wouldn’t know what to do, if it weren’t for you…” you let out a breathy giggle. “You don’t have to worry about that. I got you, I always do. That’s my job,” this man passed.

“You should break me in half the next time too. I’d appreciate that.” “Don’t mind if I do.”

Taehyung waited until you both disappeared into the staff’s pantry. Then he took Tati out from hiding and she innocently asked, “Why didn’t we talk to mom?”

“We came to surprise her, didn’t we?” Taehyung blurted with a broken smile, and rubbed her hair, “Got to fix your ponytail so you’ll look neat for mommy. How does daddy look? Do I look handsome?”

She nodded enthusiastically. She doesn’t know anything. She doesn’t understand anything.

And in that brief moment, Taehyung resented you. Not because you gave him room for doubts, but because you allowed someone else to come in between. Your actions are selfish. Spiteful.

“Go knock on mommy’s glass door…” Taehyung urged Tati and she did with a huge toothy grin.

“Come in…” your voice was clipped and full of authority. The one Taehyung remembers whenever he calls you at work, or in bed, several years ago before Sam came.

Taehyung helped Tati pushed the door open and you gasped pleasantly so loud, pushing your chair back and knelt before she even get into your open arms, greeting you with a huge hug. “My babies!” you closed your arm around her and carried her up to one side of your waist, before stretching towards Taehyung to have him leaning over for a smooch but he settled for a brush on your cheeks instead. You ruffled Sam’s hair too. Precious.

“I didn’t expect this!” You giggled, and Taehyung pulled your phone out of his back pocket and you replied a disgruntled, ”Oh.”

“Can we talk for a bit?” Taehyung asked in a deep tone. Tati cupped her hand to whisper in your ear. She asked if she can lay down on the couch there. You simply nodded to Taehyung but only after you excitedly answer Tati’s question. “Of course, baby girl, you can sit, and you can lie down, just promise not to stand on it because you could fall and hurt yourself, okay?” You set her feet on the floor and brushed your lips on her forehead so it’s now smushed with red lipstick.

Red lips always lie.

“Is it about school? Renee’s? The boys?”

Taehyung shook his head.

“Do I need to call someone to watch over the kids?”

“You know what. I came to give you the phone and I did. So I think I should head back soon,” Taehyung looks at the wall clock, “Noah and Niel are coming home soon and I hadn’t cooked anything.”

Then he felt your hand around his forearms, giving an assuring squeeze. “But you just got here, can’t you stay for a little while?”

Do you even want me here? Are you just playing the good wife because your cover was almost blown? Where has he touched you? Where have you let his hands go? Because that breathy laughter was reserved for me. And only me.

“Just a little while,” Taehyung felt his heart softened while his head hardens. A part of him felt disappointed that he let you win. Another part of him wanted to be the man that is still foolishly in love with you and another, wanted to walk away because the reap wasn’t as much as he sow. If only things were that simple. If it wasn’t for these kids, he would have gone rampage the moment he found out. How could he catch on the signs? He was too busy running the household. Busy wiping pees, cleaning poops, ironing clothes, getting food ready--he could not have noticed the telling signs of you cheating.

You spent more time here at work than you ever did at home. How could he be so stupid?

He was in love…. Love makes people stupid.

So he sat there, Sam sleeping on her side and her blankets draped over her to accommodate the indoor aircon temperature while Tati had slept on Taehyung’s lap, having her dad fluffing her hair to make her sleepy--he sat there watching you take calls, the length of the pen in between your lips, eyes focused, hands flipping over the pages of endless accounts. Your job is to keep the supplies going for months. Every product delivery and the materials to create them were under your supervisions, a stressful job that was slightly different than the ones you had when you were in the industry, working there.

In short, you have to plan two months supply ahead for fast-moving items to meet demands. Knowing so many people depend on your efficiency gives you slight anxiety that you were still taking pills for. Taehyung knows that much.

“Baby, are you stressed?” his sudden question didn’t stir you much, you were too occupied with work to bother too much about it. “Same old-same old, sweetheart… why? Is there something you’d like to talk about?” you murmured, switching your attention on the left page of the reports for last week delivery numbers to help predict the next month’s consumption.

“Just asking…” “I hope we can have lunch together, I wanted to eat with the kids.”

Taehyung felt an incoming ‘but’. But he was intruded, before it could come.

Jimin walks in. Yes, Taehyung knows about Jimin. He is your personal assistant for a year now since the last one resigned because she was starting a family. At first, Taehyung didn’t pay attention to it, but now that he had doubts; every single glance, words, and touches exchanged between you and Jimin had become breadcrumbs.

With a sleek blonde hair, pushed back, Jimin wore a classy baby blue dress shirt, paired with black trousers too tight for Taehyung’s comfort. He wears full-rimmed glasses but today, had them folded and tuck in his breast pocket when he came to see you.

“You called for me?” Raspy, light toned, polite and mesmerizing voice. He bowed his head slightly at the sight Taehyung and smiled fondly to the sleeping toddlers.

“I did,” you paused while pulling out a file from the stack, “I don’t recall agreeing on this design for the Summer packaging, and this particular bubble wrap supplier, we’ve worked with in the past, they’re very late in completing orders, I just don’t understand why I have to approve something I didn’t agree on--the last time I checked,” you tipped your eyes up and Jimin leans down closer, both of your faces are merely inches away from each other. You pointed the said company on the invoice paper and showed Jimin. Jimin squeezes his eyes and lowered his head to see better. That’s what the glasses are for, Taehyung pushes his tongue against the insides of his cheek, watching an absolute horror unfold before his eyes.

“Yes, yes… I remember that too,” Jimin softly whispered. It was almost as if Taehyung is morphed into witnessing a pillowtalk, “Here’s what we do, I’m going to double check with the secretary and make sure that we have updated the new list of companies that we are satisfied working with; I’ll make sure to email you, no later than…” he drags, and looked at his Rolex wrist watch that looked very similar to the ones you got for Taehyung on his birthday last year, brown straps, “...3pm.”

“Thanks, Jimin...what would I do without you,” you breathlessly say and Jimin gave you a charming smile that turned his eyes into crescents. “No problem,” Jimin tipped his head in your direction and excused himself with a polite expression at Taehyung, his boss’s husband. “I thought we’re going to talk?” Taehyung stuck his gaze on his knees, raising both of his eyebrows, his thumb picking on the threads of his worn out jeans.

You noticed the sudden change of tone but decided not to dwell on it. “Can it wait? Is it important?” The way it leaves your lips, was so tactless and when you realised how insensitive it was, it was already too late.

“I don’t know. Is our marriage important?”

You shut the door leading to the sky garden after Taehyung set his hands on the metal rails, over-looking down the metropolitan city. The high-rise building, the blue cloudless sky, the strong wind striking every once in a while, the car honks from the streets down below.

“Taehyung, what’s this about?” with the silence growing, you became impatient. Taehyung drops his head, his arms stretched along the handrails with a heavy huff and the droop of his shoulders.

“You built everything from the ashes… this building we stood on. From scrapes. It’s funny when you think about the very beginning at the first hint of an,” end. Taehyung didn’t finish his sentence. “This is all very lovely, and heart-warming,” you clicked your tongue and looks at your wrist watch, “But we could do this conversation inside...I thought it was something serious, because you mentioned marriage and stuff.” “It is about marriage,” Taehyung spun around to face you, “You--”

Your phone rang, and you answered it, “Yes I am aware of the conference call, I will be there on time, Jimin. Thank you for the reminder.” Much to Taehyung’s dismay. Taehyung’s jaw hung, in disbelief. He scoffs.

“Look at you!” he stresses, “You don’t have time being a mother, let alone a wife! Your work is consuming you. Not only that, you spend more time here than you ever do at home…! You speak to Jimin more than we do in a week!” He slows down, only to continue, “It was Tati’s birthday last week and you didn’t even show up or get her a present. I bought one for her and told her that it was from you.... And she was so happy…” he shook his head, a broken smile on his lips.

You were stunned. You were unable to utter a word. So you begin with a whisper of his name, “Taehyung…”

He turns away from you, his hand on his hip and he darted his eyes to the front before shutting them. Disappointed, unloved and possibly unheard.

“Everytime I say I need you home, you say you’re at the office and you will be late. All I want to know is, is it really work? Or is there more?” “What are you talking about…” “I’m talking about why Jimin is calling you out of office hours? And why do I find his tie in your bag? Why does he have the same wrist watch I have? Are you cheating on me?” “No. I wouldn’t!” “So you would have, if you didn’t have 5 kids with me? Is that it?” “Stop twisting my words… Jimin is my coworker and he helped me purchase that wrist watch for you. I went to team dinner with him, I told you that!”

Taehyung turns to face you and your brimming eyes, he leans his mouth next to your ear and growled, “Well coworkers don’t sit in the car together, after midnight...you thought I didn’t see that?” Taehyung leaves the sky garden with a hard gaze, piercing through Jimin’s entire body when he found the poor assistant standing right beside the entrance door to the sky garden. Taehyung was a master at disguising his emotions. Especially in front of his children.

“I’ll see myself out, thank you,” Taehyung carried Sam and Tati with ease. When Tati asked why she can’t say goodbye, Taehyung said, her mom is in a meeting. It was an obvious lie and Jimin heard it all.

You were still there. Still standing at the same spot Taehyung left you in. Still there, processing everything that had been said. Jimin’s heavy footsteps didn’t shake away your worry one bit, like it used to. You clutched your phone shakily, and pressed them against your lips, eyes darted forward at the sky. And you heard the door open, but you wave them away, whoever it might be. Not even turning to face them.

Jimin nodded once, “I’ll tell them you’ll be in ten minutes.”

Instead of heading back to the office, Jimin hid in the bathroom for employees. He laced his fingers together and leaned his forehead on them, sitting on the toilet cover, knees widespread. He bit his lips and half-shook his head.

You returned home before 6pm that day. The house is in a mess. For the first time in a long time, you arranged your heels neatly on the racks. The kids have had their dinner early. And there are three large baskets for laundry, arranged in a line by the wall. You took time to notice all the finer details of your beloved home, the one you build with Taehyung. Picture frames after picture frames greeted you. Of when Renee turned 2, then 3, then 4… and how you gradually disappear through the years. You couldn’t ignore the pain in your heart when you heard Taehyung’s voice in the distance.

“Okay, everybody out the tub!” Taehyung commanded, “Look at your fingers all wrinkled! We have to get out now, or you’ll age!” “Dad is lying!” Noah and Niel are very giggly and it struck you that you’ve never given bath to the kids ever since they could start to walk.. Sam had never been bathe by you since you started working, and you relied heavily on Taehyung.

“Oh noona! You’re home,” Jungkook bowed at you. Jungkook lives next door and frequently helped with babysitting the kids whenever he is needed. Laundry every 3 days and he’ll come and does his duties without being prompted. Once he resumes his college, you will have to find a new replacement and you hadn’t spoke about this with Taehyung yet. There’s a lot of things that needed discussions, and there’s so little time in a day. 

Blinking the tears away, you turned your attentions to the halls where Taehyung is carrying both of the boys in each arm, wrapped in towels. Taehyung caught your eyes but didn’t reciprocate the sadness. It’s like the conversation never happened, but with the way he was ignoring you, you were once again reminded that it did.

“Do you want to change first or what…” your husband took your purse but avoided your eyes entirely. “I’ll change,” you breathed.

Taehyung nods once. “Alright, Jungkook. The baby is in the crib there, Tati is colouring in the room while Renee is doing her homework.. There’s chopped fruit cubes in the fridge in case they get hungry, and there’s extra bottles of milk for the youngest. The boys have eaten no matter how much they try to fool you, don’t fall for it..understand?”

You could still hear Taehyung from the halls and it was amazing how he had everything sorted, alone. The bed is still neat, and none of the children were allowed on it, because it was mum and dad’s special place. Toys are in the basket, the diapers are arranged, along with the baby clothes, and it was easy to look past all these detail and you hated yourself for not being able to see this before.

Jungkook helped carry the baskets down with Taehyung and before your husband could make his way to the driver seat, you stopped him. Your eyes pleaded him with words you couldn’t say, when Jungkook is still here, fooling with the kids. Taehyung moves away, wordlessly and planted a kiss on each of the kids’ hair that manages to follow Jungkook down the apartment into the parking lot.

In the car, Taehyung rested his elbow on the car door, his long index finger rubbing the skin on top of his upper lip, his eyes lasering to the view outside the moving car. There’s only the music from the radio playing. Your heart is beating very fast, your eyes were drying from the way you were making them stay open. He’s right next to you, but you don’t feel him there. Is he even breathing? You want nothing more than to reach for him, tell him that you love him and how it doesn’t change, but it feels like you’re already too late. You don’t want to carry on like nothing is wrong. You want to save what you have left.

Taehyung was biting the insides of his cheeks, replaying the scene from this morning in repeat. He was angry, sad, upset, jealous--and he isn’t sure where to put his feelings. He doesn’t speak because all the talking had been done. You weren’t speaking either, but what was those eyes for? The way you’re looking at him. Is it a plea for him to stay? Why would you think he was going anywhere? The accusations are true, isn’t it? That’s why it scared you. Taehyung was eating his feelings.

He loads the laundry. No words exchanged. You insert the coins while he collects the empty basket, and stack them, one after the other. He took one bench and you took the seat right next to him. In between you both, on the floor, are the baskets you came with, empty. All its content in three different machines. Taehyung leans his head back. He wore a grey hoodie underneath a red plaid jacket. His brown fringes cover his brows, as he pushed his tongue against the insides of his cheek. You sat up straight, at the edge of the bench, knees pointed to the side where he is, hands in your lap, clasped and unclasping.

“...I want to tell you that everything you heard isn’t true,” you started. Taehyung nodded away, but in a careless way, as if he didn’t believe a thing you said. “It’s not just about what I heard. It’s what I see. With my own two eyes. It leaves me wondering what else you’ve been doing behind my back…” Taehyung crosses his arms. “Nothing, sweetie…” you emphasized, “I do my work, and nothing else.”

“Listen,” you moved closer to him but he repelled, “I realised that we haven’t been spending time together and that’s horrible of me. I hadn’t been treating you well but I want to, starting now. I just need to know that you still want this.”

Taehyung’s guard starts to wane. His arms fall to each side and he sat on the edge, clutching his fingers on the brim of the bench, underneath him. He chews his lower lip, feeling anxious to tell you what he had been feeling.

“I do. But, do you?” he pauses, and then, “When you come home from work, you don’t even look at me. You fall right to sleep when I begin talking to you in bed. Your answers are brief, and our only conversations are about diapers or house errands.”

There are nights that he wants you so much but couldn’t find it in him to ask for you. He would watch you sleep and before he could register those images in his head, another kid goes crying. You may have your company to worry about, and he only has you. Waiting for you to come home, to ask you about your day, to take care of your needs--whatever it might be. And it’s easy to forget, that he needs you too. Emotionally, sexually.

Do you ever look at the end, and wondered about the beginning? To how it all began, to what was there before the blizzards come and swept away everything?

Taehyung is your partner, in sickness and in health. There are so many things that you’ve been through, together. The house that you live in, it wasn’t painted and had a lot of holes. The walls needed remodelling, and when the remodelling happens, they needed to be painted over. And he’s the one helping you to reach the top corners that you couldn’t. You both have sat on that floor, where the couches are now, talking about the dreams you wanted to have together. You rested your head on his shoulder, while leaning back on the wall, a mug of hot chocolate between your hands. His eyes sparkles at the thought of having children run around this house. Picture frames began to decorate the walls, couch was brought in, rugs, curtains were hung, television set, coffee table, dining table, dining table chairs, kitchen appliances. And slowly, the house was filled.

If loyalty was put to the test, Taehyung would have passed with flying colors.

A whiff of the detergent begins to fill the corners of the laundromat, and you slowly reached for his veiny arms, sliding down his wrist. You took those hand into both of yours, and pressed your lips on each knuckle, murmuring, “I’m so thankful to have you.”

Taehyung’s gaze softens at the sight of you, and he covered your hands with his own, squaring his shoulder at you, so you sit face to face with each other.

“Please tell me how I can make this better,” you looked at him with eyes brimming with tears, and the moment he saw it, he gathers your head into his chest, cradling them gently. Gradually, the simple hand holding turns into an embrace. “Spend more time at home, with me...and do what lovers do,” Taehyung’s eyes turn into crescents, his lips puckered. He comforted you with a kiss on the forehead.

“And I want that Jimin fired,” Taehyung darted. “I’ll keep my distance from him,” you persuaded.

“Deal.” Deal.

The trip to the laundry, was even more fulfilling than the nights before. Romance are rekindled and words are exchanged for the better. Communication is key.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

The Art Of Remembrance (Part 30)

Azula drinks in the warmth of the fire. Her mind is still abuzz from their venture to the Vine Research Facility.  She lays herself on the ground, feeling worn out and pessimistic. Truth be told, they hadn’t expected to find anything on the first go around. No fool would remain in one place after losing such a high profile captive. Even still, it had been decently embarrassing to have to relay to the rest of her party that her team had come up nearly as empty handed as everyone else. Embarassing to let everyone know that they’d wasted their time. At least she had been able to present the maps and notes. Though she can’t help but think that they were too convenient to be anything less than a decoy or a trap. A trap, she can work with. A decoy is completely useless.

Azula presses her fingers into her temples and groans in frustration. The maps all pointed to the Foggy Swamp. This is where they had been planning to go next anyhow. It might be that she is overthinking things again. Really what is the harm in following those maps if they had already been planning on going in that direction anyhow? At least now she can account for possible mishaps.

She runs through various scenarios and possibilities and formulates a reaction plan for each. For this she is thankful for the notes. It keeps her mind from conjuring up images of Sokka’s lightly burnt chest and an imagined scent of charred flesh. It also keeps her from dwelling too much on how Katara, Mai, and TyLee seem to be avoiding her again. Toph and Aang have come to check on her. Aang had offered her a little insight on the Foggy Swamp and they’d had a fairly enthralling discussion about the place. Apparently, she is going to have to brace herself for hallucinations and startling phantasma.

She is alone again, with the pair having retreated off to bed. Azula knows that she ought to be sleeping too. She sits up and draws her knees to her chest as she stares into the flames. She decides that she is in need of another distraction.

Sokka too is slumbering but she wanders up to him anyhow and gently shakes him awake. She imagines that he is probably growing tired of this routine of her rousing him from sleep because it refuses to come to her.

He mumbles something sleepy that she can’t make out. “Sokka?” She calls with volume and abruptness enough to make him jolt. He practically tosses the blanket off of himself.

“Geez, Azula!” He exclaims. “Having trouble sleeping again?”

She nods, “not for the reason you think though.”

He sits up and strokes the stubble on his chin. “Zuko says that you never liked failure, does it have something to do with that?”

Azula nods, “that’s part of it.”

“What’s the other part?”

“Come show me the lights and I’ll tell you?” She offers.

His blue eyes light up with glee. “You want to see the lights!?”

“Yes.” She replies. “Now that I’m not sick and frostbitten, I might be able to appreciate them more.” She doesn’t particularly have to say any more, he is already tugging on a heavier pair of pants and his parka. She hasn’t even taken her own off.

“Do you want me to heat up some tea and we can drink it while we watch the lights?”

“That sounds nice, Sokka.” She certainly isn’t one to pass on a little extra warmth.

.oOo.

Sokka ignores any and all protests as he bundles Azula up more adequately. She already has her parka on but her mittens are still uselessly wet from their journey home. He steals them away from her and comes back with a dryer pair. Along with a few pairs of socks and hats, they had been hanging above the fireplace and heated generously. She grumbles various protests at him being so fussy and overly-nurturing with her but such complaints begin to fall short when the pleasantries of toasty mittens start to settle in. He can’t get her to admit her satisfaction out loud but when he turns around to fetch the tea, he catches her pressing the mittens to her cheeks.

He is not yet satisfied with the temperature of the tea so she certainly won’t be. He leaves it to continue to a boiling point. As he does so he fetches a hat. He is thankful for her top knot, it saves him the trouble of having to sweep her long locks out of the way while he fixes the hat over her ears.

“Sokka, I already have a hood, I don’t need…”

“Frostbitten ears and fingers.” He fills in. “I know that you like matching things but I don’t recommend losing an ear or another pinky.”

Azula shoots him a vaguely humored pout and clutches her left hand. Without giving himself a chance to second guess, he takes that hand a gives it a small kiss. He quickly retracts to check on the tea. “Alright, I think that it’s done.” He pours a cup for her and gives her one final once over. “And I think that you’re all set…” He pauses. “Maybe we should get you another coat?”

“Another coat?” Her brows crinkle and her nose scrunches. “I don’t think that I’ll be able to move if you add any more layers.”

Alright, so he might have overdone it a little.

“If anything, I should take one off.”

He chuckles. “Okay, I think that we’re ready to go.”  He takes her hand and leads her out and into the snow. It isn’t all too late in the night and, with luck, the luminous display will settle her mind enough for her to sleep. He hopes that her nights will be less insomnia riddled. He would be lying to himself if he said that it wasn’t at least slightly annoying to be woken every night. He just hopes that he doesn’t express as much.

Sokka finds that standing with her is more than enough to make up for that.

She is particularly quiet as she gazes up at the dancing sky. He can’t tell if she is actually looking at the delicately churning curtains or if she is staring at the stars and moon. They are particularly bright tonight. He has trouble finding a place in the sky that isn’t strewn with cosmic glitter. The moon itself hangs in the sky like a silvery saucer. Its surface throws glimmering light over the fallen snow. For once there isn’t a flake in the air.

It is just as well because he doesn’t have to squint against falling snow to enjoy the lights. All things considered, it is a rather warm night for the poles. He almost feels bad for bundling Azula up so heavily until he notices the ever so slight shiver over her body. “You getting cold?” He asks.

She shakes her head, “I’m not cold.” The teeny tremor in her voice betrays that fib.

“Come here.” He offers with a soft laugh and an eye roll.

The princess wanders back to him, her gait made awkward by snow and a layer too many of clothing. He pulls her close, her back pressing into his chest. He holds her around the middle and rests his chin on her head. He feels her arms curl up to grip the ones he has around her.

He had come out here to look at the lights but instead he is looking at her. At that rare moment where innocent delight is plain on her face. Even beneath the scarf, he can tell that she is smiling.

.oOo.

Azula can’t say that she has seen anything like it; turquoise folds over pink and pink cascades over teal. And then it seems to explode in shades of blue and magenta and hints of green and purple. They dance like silks on a clothesline caught in a summer breeze.

Now that she is truly observing the display she can understand why Sokka enjoys it so. It is just awe striking enough to pull her mind away from the freezing air. Just majestic enough to quiet the unrest in her mind.

“I like them.” She finally says. It is something of an understatement.

“I told you that you would.” Sokka replies, giving her a little squeeze.

She pulls her gaze away from the lights and turns around to look up at him. She can see the curtains of light reflecting in his eyes. Kind eyes. Warm eyes. Frosty in color but warm no less. His smile is rather charming too, especially when it reaches those eyes. It has been a while since she has seen him so happy. Maybe she hasn’t seen him this happy before now.

“I’m really happy that you like them, I was worried that you didn’t and I was just bothering you.” He says. “The first time I tried to show you them.”

She shrugs. “I was just sick and…” she looks back at the vast expanse of the tundra. “Sick and waiting for something to shamble its way out of there.”  She admits.

“Fair enough.” He replies. “What’s bothering you tonight.”

She presses her lips together and hovers her hand above his chest.

“Still?” He asks. “I told you that it was alright.”

“It isn’t alright with your sister. Or Mai and TyLee. I know what they think of me…”

Sokka sights. “Kat just gets protective, ever since mom died…”

“Your mother is dead?” She probably should have known as much. Thinking back on it, she’d only ever seen his father around. Perhaps she’d thought that the woman had simply been away, off somewhere else in the world. Or maybe it is simply that she hadn’t had much time to connect those dots.

“Yeah. It was the war, when I was just a kid.”

“How young were you?”

“Maybe seven or eight. Something like that…” He trails off.

“My therapist says that I have mother troubles too, I don’t remember them though.” At her slight laugh he gives one of his own.

“Anyways, ever since that happened, Katara’s been all protective and motherly. She doesn’t want to lose anyone else. She just needs some time to cool off.” He shrugs. “She’ll see the whole picture once she does.”

“What about Mai and TyLee?” She asks. “They’ve been looking at me as though I’m going to set them on fire at any minute.”

“That’s probably because they haven’t seen you like this yet.”

“Like what?”

“Sniffling and buried in a ridiculous amount of parkas.”

“That is your fault?” She crosses her arms.

“The parkas are, yeah.” He agrees with what she believes is self satisfaction.

“Maybe I should have asked them to join us…” She thinks aloud.

“I think that there will be other times for us to talk as a group.” Sokka shrugs. “They just need to get used to the new you.” He cups a hand over her cheek.

“I suppose.” She replies. She watches her words trail away on the mist that slips from between her lips. It reminds her that it is absolutely frosty out.This time she doesn’t think that the distraction of the lights will be able to take the bite away.

“You’re cold.”

This time it isn’t posed as a question and she doesn’t plan on lying about it anyways.

“Let's get back inside then.”

“How long do you usually watch them for?” She looks back up as they begin to walk back.

“An hour or so.”

“In this weather?”

He shrugs again, “I’m used to it.”

Perhaps she should make a goal of building up her cold tolerance.

“I bet that I wouldn’t last as long as you on a beach.” He points out. “True.” She cuts him a smug smile; as smug as she can make it anyhow with the icy air practically freezing her face into stiffness.

She stuffs her hands into her pockets and her mind begins to ruminate on Katara, Mai, and TyLee again. She finds it hard to believe that they will get used to her, especially if Sokka’s tales of her are to be believed. And she thinks that they most certainly are. “What if they don’t get used to me?”

“You’re going to have a whole boat ride to the Earth Kingdom to show them that you’re a fun person to talk to.”

Her belly flops just thinking about being trapped on a boat and in another awkward dinner conversation. She might just have to get used to them too. She is coming to realize that socializing doesn’t exactly come easily to her. That she likely comes on too strong. That she is too blunt. And that she sometimes isn’t sure what to say at all. It is this that finally compels her to ask the other thing that has been occupying her for quite some time. “Do you love me?” She asks it quickly enough and abruptly enough for him to ask her to repeat herself. It is harder the second time, now that it isn’t an impulse question. But she manages to inquire again.

.oOo.

Sokka’s strides slow to a halt. The question has thrown him. He supposes that the question was just waiting to be asked. Though he didn’t expect her to ask so soon. As so, he hasn’t yet figured out how to answer it.

The part of him that still has hopes for Suki is reeling. And the thought that Azula recovering her memories will nullify everything else that they’ve been through still nags him persistently. And yet when he looks upon her, he only feels a pleasant flutter. Especially when She stares up at him like that.

He swallows. At his hesitation, her face seems to fall. He swallows harder still.

He has delayed too long. He isn’t sure if it is hurt or anger that he sees on her face. Whichever it is, it carries her the rest of the way back to his home. He watches her disappear inside. At her departure he is sure that he does love her. It wouldn’t hurt him so much if he didn’t.

[lesbianperaltas]

i used to live alone before i knew you.

pairing: jake/amy rating: n/r word count: 2,398 a/n: this is my @b99fandomevents fic written for @winnietherpooh! happy halloween! i meant to have this out a couple days ago i apologise. i hope you like it! <3 big shoutout to @obsessivelymoody for reading this over for me. <3 summary: They sit back on their couch, Amy getting comfortable, placing her feet in Jake’s lap and he just looks at her—she’s not looking at him—and he thinks of how he’s never really had a person before her. He had always used to come home from a long case with a pack of beer and he’d watch Die Hard alone. It never used to be a problem until everyone slowly started to couple off in his friend group, and even then it never really got to him until he got a glimpse of what it feels like to have someone to hang out with and actually like to be around with. It was like slowly over time his partnership with Amy had started to become something more. They were friends then—friends that hung out sometimes after work, and somewhere Jake wanted more than just being friends. He wanted everything that Amy could give him.

(or, Jake and Amy, some polish food and hot cider.)

[ AO3 LINK. ]

It’s always the start of October that he feels it. He doesn’t know what it is—the leaves are starting to change colour, New York City is starting to get colder, and it’s starting to get darker. Stores have started putting up Halloween decorations in the windows, there’s new lattes to try and even better sweet treats to eat. It’s his favourite time of year. 

(Except, sometimes, when it’s actually Halloween, he’ll be working on a scene and he’ll see the numerous amounts of people with their children in costumes, and he’ll think of the last few Halloweens that he could remember with his father. It doesn’t always get to him, but Amy and Jake have been trying for a kid, and it’s just getting harder and harder to ignore the memories he’s desperately trying to heal from.) 

Jake and Charles had been working on a scene for a few hours now, he always hated doing door to door, but it had to be done. The faster they went through it the faster Jake could go home. He had plans. 

(Most of his plans were spending time with Amy on the couch, her stroking his hair while he rested his head in her lap watching house hunters and making bets on the couples.) 

“I just love this time of year,” Charles says as he touches his pen to a pumpkin head that’s been taped to the door. By the looks of it a kid must have drawn on little doodles. It makes Jake smile despite how tired he was tonight.

“I know Charles,” Jake pats his back and they knock on the door.

A woman answers with a child on her hip, funnily enough he’s wearing an orange shirt. Jake has to remember that there’s so many people that love Halloween for a completely reason that he loves Halloween. He smiles at the baby who’s holding a sippy cup in his hands.

“Hi, we just have a couple of questions,” Charles starts out and he’s squinting his eyes in a gooey way with a big smile that only Charles does towards babies. The baby of course is enthralled with Charles and smiles and giggles.

Damnit that’s cute, Jake thinks, before taking over the questions.

A couple doors later, they’ve done what they could for the night. It’s not quite dark yet but the sun has gone down and the sky is tinted with pink and orange clouds.

Charles drives them back to the precinct. He talks about Nikolaj and how excited he is to take him trick or treating. Jake just smiles, his best friend loves his kid. Sometimes it’s overwhelming, but Jake hopes to be just as overwhelming when he’s a father someday.

He texts Amy that he’s on his way back to the precinct. She had today off, she told him that she had plans on cleaning the apartment and running errands because they ran out of groceries. Most of their conversations today had been asking Jake what he wanted groceries wise since he out of the two of them made the meals given Amy’s track record. He looks back on their conversations and one of Amy’s replies saying, If you make another eggplant dick joke I will hit you with it and it won’t be pretty.

Jake had replied: babe that’s so hot. i’d love to get hit from a dicklike eggplant if it’s from you.

She stopped texting him after that.

*

When they get to the precinct Amy is waiting for him at her old desk across from him. She’s got one of Jake’s hoodies and jacket with a scarf that Karen had knitted for her last year with matching mittens. It’s not nearly as cold but she always needed to keep warm.

He thinks of the last time that she was sitting across from him at her old desk. It had made something inside of him flutter knowing that she was downstairs now. He smiles at her, she looks up from her phone and smiles at him.

“I didn’t know you were here.” Jake said, walking over to her and placing a hand on her arm.

She reaches out and cups his cheek. “I thought I would surprise you. I finished my to do list early.”

Jake laughs, “That doesn’t surprise me.”

Jake doesn’t realise that Charles is just standing there with a big grin. Amy gives Charles a look and he walks quickly and quietly to his desk, and it’s only then that Jake leans in to give Amy a quick peck on the lips.

She sits back down while Jake finishes up paperwork.

It takes him longer than he expected, but Amy is patient, she tells him about her day as he quickly types and he throws in a couple of sentences here and there. They co-exist in a way that he’s never felt with another person, and he knows that they’ve been together long enough but sometimes it just gets him that this was the person that he chose to love. He feels that flutter again, looking up at her, sitting where she used to sit and remembering how different they were back then.

And when he’s done she puts one mitten in her pocket and holds her hand out for him to take.

“Goodnight Charles,” Jake says over his shoulder.

“Goodnight Jakey. Have a good evening with Amy.” Charles says with a happy sigh.

Jake shakes his head with a small smile.

*

Jake and Amy used to have this tradition that every Friday they would try a new restaurant in their burrow courtesy of Charles’ blog. They would never tell him that they went there, but it had become something that Jake looked forward to. It was Friday, and Jake had been swamped at work and they hadn’t discussed where they wanted to go and it was too late now.

“Soooo,” Jake says, “how do you feel about polish food and house hunters?”

He gives her a second to think about it before adding quickly, “I know that we try something new every Friday but I’m kind of tired and just want to spend the rest of the evening alone with you.” His voice drops at the end, vulnerability was something that he was still working on after all these years of being together.

She just gives him a look that he knows all too well, but it still makes him feel warm every time she does it, and it’s normally followed by her reaching out to his cheek, her thumb caressing the side of his face with a warm smile that was only for him.

She nods, “I would like that.”

They walk to Amy’s car and he gets in the passenger seat putting his work bag in the back. Taylor swift blares through the speakers and he knows that it’s the mix CD that he made for her just because.

The drive is quiet, the volume is turned down low, he looks outside the window at all the shops they pass by and he listens to Amy humming song lyrics.

And then, he thinks, I am the luckiest person alive.

“I saw a really cute baby today.” Jake says after a while.

“I did too.” Amy dives in about the little boy who was helping push the cart with his mommy and the cute outfit he was wearing knowing that Jake would appreciate it because it had Star Wars on the front.

It used to scare him, thinking of his future child. It used to scare him because he didn’t know if he’d be a good dad, but then he looks at Amy, and he sees how her face lights up talking about the little boy and his mom and it just dissolves all of the fears away. He reaches out to take her hand, warming it up with his own.

“Our baby is going to be so cool.” Jake just says with a simple shrug.

That’s all there is too it. Their baby is gonna have two parents who love them and support them and be there for them unconditionally.

“The coolest.” Amy agrees with a smile.

*

It doesn’t take long for them to find parking, Jake reaches his hand out for her to take and they start walking to the polish place that Amy loves so much. When they first started dating it was like their place to go when they didn’t want to go too far and the owners knew them by now.

They order their food quickly and sit at one of the tables while they wait. They’re holding hands across the table and Amy is going on about her busy day tomorrow and how her mother is already planning Thanksgiving. And Jake just listens, he listens because it’s his favourite thing to do. Jake was loud in a lot of ways, he had something to say about everything, but if there was something that could shut his brain up, shut all his intrusive thoughts and doubts, it was Amy. He watches the way she uses her free hand to talk, and he thinks of how different they are now.

It was one of their first cases together as partners when Amy had took him to this place, it was only once, but they had been working for forty-eight hours on the case with little to no sleep and coffee was no longer strong enough, Jake thinks that he might have only eaten food that came from the vending machine and whatever Amy gave him out of pity. When they finally got a break in the case they didn’t know how to celebrate because it was too late to go to a bar. So, Amy took him to the next best place which was this exact polish place, and she ordered her usual.

This was when they didn’t know a lot of things about each other, Amy was looking at him like she was determining whether this was a good idea or not. Jake, in the middle of eating their food, had grabbed his hot chocolate and raised it in the air like he was about to give a toast before eventually he said, “We did good, Santiago.” Then he paused for a moment, “We make a really good team.”

He had forgotten that memory until they started dating, but that’s what he thinks about, staring at Amy again. His thumb caresses her hand. The bell rings, letting them know that their order is ready.

Amy smiles, jumping up from her seat and walks over to grab the bag.

“I’m so excited.” Amy says.

Jake laughs. It’s hard not to, her happiness is infectious.

*

Their routine goes like this: change into pajamas, Jake gets the plates out, Amy starts to scoop the food from the boxes onto the plate, Jake reheats the food while Amy turns the television on and finds their channel, Jake gets the tv trays out and sets them up while Amy goes back to the kitchen to grab the plates. They revolve around each other, like they’re doing a dance that they know so well.

When dinner is finished, Jake grabs the plates and does the dishes while Amy puts the leftovers away. She grabs two mugs out of their cabinet and places them on the counter while reaching for a packet of something in their tea cabinet. Jake is almost done with the plates and he turns around to see what Amy is up to. He can still hear the television but it’s low.

He peeks at what she’s doing, turning the kettle that Amy recently bought on. She holds up the pack of hot cider and waves it in Jake’s face.

“Figured we could drink something festive for a change tonight.” She says with a small smile.

Jake grabs one of the packets and opens it up just so he can sniff the cider goodness.

“My grandma used to always make me hot apple cider in the winter time. She always preferred it over hot chocolate. I wasn’t picky. Sugar is sugar.” Jake jokes with a shrug, wrapping his arms around Amy and resting his chin on her shoulder while she pours the hot water.

Amy smells like him and like home. He supposes there isn’t much of a difference. He presses a small kiss to her shoulder, letting her go to grab spoons for them to stir the powder.

Jake thinks of how when they have kids they can have their own traditions. Maybe their kids will prefer hot cider over hot chocolate—either way, he thinks, their kids will come home to a warm house, with a warm drink waiting for them, and endless amount of hugs and ears ready to listen about their day.

They sit back on their couch, Amy getting comfortable, placing her feet in Jake’s lap and he just looks at her—she’s not looking at him—and he thinks of how he’s never really had a person before her. He had always used to come home from a long case with a pack of beer and he’d watch Die Hard alone. It never used to be a problem until everyone slowly started to couple off in his friend group, and even then it never really got to him until he got a glimpse of what it feels like to have someone to hang out with and actually like to be around with. It was like slowly over time his partnership with Amy had started to become something more. They were friends then—friends that hung out sometimes after work, and somewhere Jake wanted more than just being friends. He wanted everything that Amy could give him.

He thinks of how far they’ve come and how Amy had become his person.

He doesn’t tell her this, he doesn’t think that he needs to, she just knows.

Amy turns to him now and giving him a small smile before she brings the mug that Jake bought her for Christmas last year up to her lips and turns back to their show and she laughs. One day, they’ll have their family, one day this space will belong to more people than just them, but right now, he thinks of just how happy he is to be able to come home to Amy everyday. It’s love and it’s warmth, and it’s everything Jake needs.

[smokinholsters]

A Decision at the Crossroads

A Heartland AU - Chapter 2

Mitch sat back down and dropped his hat on the small pile of logs next to his chair then reached to refill his coffee cup. He’d already checked, mucked out and fed the horses in his care, saw that the barn and the area around the trailer was none the worse for wear. Checking the time he dialed Amy’s phone and waited.

She answered and he heard the screen door of the house open and close almost simultaneously and he immediately heard those motorcycle boots walk the stairs.

“Good morning husband.”

“Morning Ames, how are things ?”

“Things are great but JT needs some potty time and Lyndy’s in the bath so ….”

“I’ll call when I know something. Anyone helping ?”

“Georgie and Quinn are coming over to deal with horses, Caleb will check the herd.”

“Love you, talk later.”

“More than talk sweetheart, I hugged a pillow last night, not very satisfying.”

Mitch laughed and hit disconnect.

“Mitch, good morning, I was expecting to knock and wake you.”

“Morning Ty, rancher’s hours I guess, my wife’s an early riser too which is helpful getting a bunch done before the kids get up raring to go.”

“I was going to run out to pick up some breakfast but you seem to have beat me to it.”

“If you’re not fancy, there’s a bag of home made muffins and some oranges right inside, coffee’s fresh.”

“Your wife baked these ?”

“I think those are her grandmother’s honestly but she does with the kids.”

“How about you Ty, you hail from around here ?”

“Vancouver originally, my mom’s still out there, dad died a few years ago, mom’s remarried, we talk every week and she was here I guess 4 or 5 months ago.”

Ty came out of the trailer a few minutes later with a small plate, two muffins, an orange and mug he found on the counter and sat a second before his phone rang.

“It’s the clinic, I have to take this.”

“No problem at all Ty.”

He was on the phone for about 20 minutes and glanced a couple of times at Mitch in apology. At one point Mitch checked on the horses again, removed their empty feed buckets, checked their stalls, water and the horses general condition and returned outside as Ty was getting off the phone.

“OK, let’s get that front end off the ground and see what’s up.” Ty said walking over “Everything Ok at home ?”

“Everything’s fine, it’s the busy time getting the kids ready so we didn’t talk long.”

Ty nodded as they walked. There was no lift per se but a nice platform ramp setup. The plan was to jack the truck up and slide the two platform ramps underneath the front end and the jack the truck on the platform so they could check it out and see what needed to be fixed.

Matt, the officer from the day before came by in his regular clothes, jeans, t shirt and flannel. He walked over with work gloves, there to lend a hand and took over once the jacking for each of them as they manually lifted the Dodge heavie’s 8 cylinder Cummins Diesel off the ground. He helped slide the platforms over and then jack the truck again to raise the front passenger side off of the platform.

The first thing they did was remove the tire which had gone flat overnight due to a crack up the rear of the rim they hadn’t seen the day before. This wasn’t an issue as Mitch travelled with two spares, one in the trailer and one under the pick up in the rear.

As Mitch had predicted the rocker arm was a goner as was the front right shock. The shock would be easy enough to pick up locally as a pair since they should both be done together, the real issue was the rocker arm.

When they were satisfied at what needed to be done they sat down in what looked like a small makeshift patio outside Ty’s shop.

“OK, the shocks’ll be easy, Canadian Tire should have them in stock.” Ty began. “You have a viable spare so that’s not an issue. Let me call around and go online and see if I can’t round up a right side rocker arm.”

“I’ll set up another pot of coffee.”

Ty nodded and checked his phone walking away. Matt accompanied Mitch over to the trailer. It was a little chilly so Mitch stopped and stoked the fire pit, threw on a few logs and grabbed the empty pot while Matt pulled up a chair and a small branch to push some embers around. He expected Mitch to have a coffee machine inside and was surprised when he put a grate over the pit and lay the old style percolator on the fire.

“Old school.” Matt said watching.

“I’m not much for the machine stuff though my wife loves the convenience of those one cup things, can’t fault that but when I have the time, real perk is the way to go I think.”

“Yeah, my dad was like that, me, I get most of mine for free really, perk of the uniform I guess.”

“So when’s the wedding ?” Mitch asked as he leaned forward to move the pot off of the flame when it started to perk.”

“Next June so we can get married outside at her folks place.”

“And after ?”

“We both want kids so maybe that, we’ll have the house by then and both get good benefits, time off for kids, we’ll see. How long you wait ?”

“I don’t know that we really waited or planned anything, she was pregnant about a year after we married I guess. JT, about 2 ½ years later I guess and now 3 years later once again. We’re also waiting on approval for a foster, we both feel strongly about it, she wasn’t pregnant at the time we applied but we’re fine with it.”

“Boy or girl ?”

“Which one, it’s a girl in the oven and the foster will be what it is.”

“Nice, maybe you’ll even up.”

“Not necessary, love ‘em all the same, treat ‘em all the same.”

“Definitely the way it should be.” Matt said as the door to the porch of the house opened and closed.

“Just in time for a fresh cup Ty.” Mitch said gingerly pouring the hot coffee from the steaming pot into a mug. “Good news I hope.” Mitch continued.

“I found one we can get today the rest Monday after delivery which means you may not be driving home until Tuesday.”

“The one we can get today ?”

“Airdrie.”

“Airdrie, that’s what, 2 ½ hours each way.” Matt said.

“And I’ve got to get to the clinic for something. This is the number of the dealership, the guy who has it is Tom and the name he has is Cutty, whatever you decide is fine Mitch, that’s my truck, key’s in the ignition.”

“I may have an idea.” Mitch said “we’ll figure it out and let you know Ty.”

“I’m a bachelor for the weekend Mitch” Matt told him. “I can grab a cruiser and we can be down and back in under 4 hours.”

Mitch laughed, “let me make a call.”

Matt strolled off into the barn as Mitch thought for a minute and hit his phone.

“Hey buddy, Amy tells you’ve got a problem.”

“One maybe you can help me with Caleb, there’s a rocker arm with my name on it in Airdrie, how about you ride past, pick it up and bring it up ?”

“Where are you ?”

“Place called Nelson Lake, it’s about 2 maybe 2 ½ hours ?”

“I’d love to help you out Mitch but, well, we’ve got this fence thing at Heartland I’m dealing with.”

“How many ?”

“Just 6 and they’re all back but I got to get this fence back up, I’ve got Trace and Jade with me. Give Amy a call, maybe she can think of something.”

“Ok Caleb, get ‘er done.”

“You know I will brother, later.”

Mitch took off his hat and dropped on the ever decreasing log pile, ran his hand through his hair as he sat down and hit the call button.

“Give me some good news cowboy, your baby momma’s missing you big time.”

“Ames.”

“No Mitch.”

“Not that bad, there’s a rocker arm in Airdrie, if someone can pick it up and drive it here I can be home tomorrow. I’ll get the shocks done today so tomorrow will go real fast. I asked Caleb but ….”

“I  know about the fence. Let me ask Georgie and Quinn, they’re with the kids and kind of aimless for the weekend it seems. I’ll text you, it’s easier from out there, text me an address or GPS.”

“On the way.  Hey Amy, you know I miss you as much as….”

“I know you do sweetheart, I love you.”

“Love you too.”

“Where are we ?”

“Waiting to hear someone from home is driving up through Airdrie and bringing us that rocker arm while we get those shocks done.”

“You think we can get it all done today ?” Matt asked.

“We can try I guess, I wouldn’t drive the trailer down at night but first thing in the morning would make my wife happy. It’ll all depends on when it gets here.”

“Well, I called Canadian Tire and they have your shocks in stock so let’s pick up those, install ‘em and get them out of the way.”

“And then lunch is on me.” Mitch said patting Matt on the shoulder “I know you don’t have to do this but I sure appreciate the company.”

Mitch’s phone sounded off on the way back with the parts and he checked his messages. The tone was specifically Amy’s.

“Georgie and Quinn glad to help out, help on the way !! Love you heading out, talk later !!”

Mitch read the text out loud once he read it.

“Excellent” Matt said “how long you think ?”

“With the stop in Airdrie, maybe a lunch, figure 3 to 4 hours, we may get this done today yet.”

Mitch then texted Ty rather than called and received a call back as they pulled into Ty’s property.

“Hey Ty, just getting back from Canadian Tire.”

“You two Ok on your own, we’re swamped here at the clinic and I don’t want to leave Kelsey.”

“We’re great, take whatever time you need Ty and if you can later, dinner’s on me.”

“Feel free to put whomever is bringing that part in the guest room Mitch.”

“Thanks Ty, we’ll see, the trailer has plenty of room.”

“Consider the option Mitch, talk to you later.”

“He’s a nice guy, bit of a loner.” Matt said.

“I’ve noticed, what’s his story ?”

“Ty ? Not really sure, he got here maybe a dozen years or so ago and was working for Kelsey. Rumor has it he was escaping a bad break up or something, broken heart kind of thing. He’s dated some, he’s a good looking guy, just nothing stuck I guess.”

“How’s he related to Kelsey ?”

“How so, I don’t think they are.”

“Isn’t his last name Burton ?” Mitch asked now thoroughly confused.

Matt laughed “No, no but I can definitely see how you made that mistake, Ty’s last name is Borden, B-o-r-d-en not Burton, B-u-r-t-o-n like Kelsey.”

“Ty Borden” Mitch said quietly running the name through his memory “It sounded familiar when I thought it was Burton, this doesn’t help, I can’t make the connection. He said he was down our way years ago, but the time frame is all wrong because I was in the service back then, who knows, let’s get the truck done.”

Working leisurely on the truck they got the shocks changed, the wrecked tire stowed and the spare ready to install once the rocker was swapped out. There was a small bar that served lunch and snacks a few miles away that Matt recommended and on the way Mitch decided to touch base.

He was surprised that he couldn’t get either Georgie or Quinn on the phone and left messages to call him when they could. Then he tried Amy who picked up on the second ring.

“Hey Ames, how’s it going and did you hear from Georgie or Quinn ?”

“It’s going fine and I haven’t, hold on a second Mitch” she said as he heard the phone moved and her talking to someone else which sounded as if she was handing him something and thanking him.

“What was that all about ?”

“Tipping a nice young man who just loaded something in the pickup for me, where are you ?”

“Heading for a burger with Matt, the deputy who’s helping me out. Where are you anyway and what’s being loaded, I thought you were out with the kids.”

“What gave you that idea, Georgie and Quinn are with the kids, I just had a rocker arm loaded in and strapped down.”

“Really ? You’re driving it up, why ?”

“Date night in the trailer lover.”

“You’re not serious.”

“What’s that supposed to mean.” She asked playfully indignant.

“Let’s not go there, you know I can’t wait to see you.”

“And touch me and hold me ?”

“All those things Ames, stop and eat please and don’t overdue.”

“I’m fine sweetheart and I have a sandwich and drinks and a bag of clementines, I’ll stop to eat on the road.”

“And I promised dinner to our hosts.”

“I can’t wait to meet and thank them. I love you, gotta ride !!”

“Stay safe Ames.”

“Change in plans Mitch ?” Matt asked laughing as they parked at the small bar and grill.

“Yup.”

“Nice she misses you.”

“She’s usually better than this when I’m away, this is pregnancy hormones.”

“So that rumor’s true ?”

“Which rumor is that Matt ?”

“You know, the uhm, uhm, closeness.” He said with a grin.

“I only have the experience with Amy but in her case yes and in spades.”

“Good for you buddy, sounds like fun.”

Mitch laughed, “yeah, it doesn’t suck and I’m long gone head over heels in love with her so…..”