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tundrainafrica · 3 years

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Hi, i saw some time ago you compared Royai to Levihan, would you mind elaborating more on their similarities? I ship both and looking at they compared blow my mind

YES. Beautiful ask anon! As always, sorry for only getting into this now, my inbox is still a mess I am currently trying to make sense of. But legit, I could talk about this for hours. Cause I’m that fucking simp who just randomly goes on Youtube and watches the Riza breakdown vs. Lust scene just to see some GREATTT acting and some great crumbs.

So anyway, will be moving on now to this really long and--mind you--uncurated rant.

Disclaimer though: Although I have watched all the fullmetal stuff, from the first anime, to brotherhood to the manga and have lurked in the fanfiction sites long before (like fam, this anime is literally my childhood it’s such a big part of my life that when I hear ‘mustang’ I think of roy mustang not the car), but at this point, the main story line for me is a blur and I probably just remember only the Roy scenes and the Royai scenes well.

I was not a big fan of Edwin for multiple reasons.

Warning: Spoilers abound for FMA so read at your own risk. And for people who watch FMA but not AOT, spoilers abound for AOT is well.

So there are a lot of similarities between Levihan and Royai and I think this is the reason why Levihan definitely appealed to me a lot as a couple. Royai after all was my OG ‘I think I wanna be in this type of relationship’ type of couple.

Military Setting

I’ve always found these types of relationships interesting cause I like to think, you’re in such a high stakes and very stringent atmosphere where you could die at any moment and you’re constantly doing such morally grey things. And with that, people have the tendency to either close in on themselves and just keep to themselves or just go crazy over time. Yet you have people who find the time to form CLOSE and almost ROMANTIC bonds with your fellow soldiers

And I just like the process of exploring how this happens. And you know what makes it juicier?

2. The commander to the subordinate dynamic (with a twist)

The boss to the follower dynamic because Royai and Levihan are both incredibly healthy and stable relationships but they both come from something taboo right? A commander to subordinate relationship? So we ask ourselves? How did they both make it work?

Well, what I notice is despite the implied respect Riza and Levi both hold for Roy and Hange respectively, due to their positions in the military, do you notice Hange and Roy still have respect over Levi and Riza’s opinions. I cannot remember all the scenes in both shows but remember that scene where Riza would just stop Roy half way into fighting when it’s raining because sometimes he does forget that he can’t do his fire thing when it’s raining? It shows obviously that Riza could undermine his decisions if she finds them completely idiotic or out of the blue. Or that scene where Roy was curbstomping Envy when he found out Envy killed Hughes?

So, the thing is Levi and Hange worked like this too. Even before Hange became commander, I think there was an already implied hierarchical difference between being ‘squad leader’ and being ‘team captain.’ Squad leader’s are generally in a higher position and command a much larger group and do you see how Levi approaches Hange? Like when telling her off about risking her life when trying to capture the titan?

And even when she was commander, that telepathy scene?? Can we appreciate, that when Hange became commander (compared to when Erwin was commander), Levi took the reins of a lot of the leading in the survey corps, as if he understood his job wasn’t just to follow Hange but to take care of her?

Like I’m sure Riza saw her job more as a caretaker to Roy more than his subordinate and seeing this in Levihan was just fantastic.

And another thing I love about both of them...

3. They were just the two competent level headed people

This is such a trope for me. I cannot handle couples where someone is just not competent or is so obviously underpowered compared to the other. Like I want them to be able to handle themselves without the other. And even when they’re alone they’re doing shit and you just find out later, by the way I have this bf/gf/partner who is equally competent. But when we’re together we just share one brain cell because we can practically melt when we’re safe with the other.

And the thing is since they’re in a military setting we don’t see them ‘practically melt,’ we can usually just pick out the crumbs (ehem 126), and the fact that these crumbs are such rare gems, makes it all the jucier.

And here’s the thing, in animes and in stories, this ‘competent people’ couple is usually supporting cast cause I dunno? Nobody wants to hear about the competent couple who just figured out they like each other and they just like hanging out with each other for some reason?

And most adventure stories are underdog stories where we watch people start of as dead weight and get stronger which is not boring per se but I dunno, these couples usually dont’ appeal to me fsr because I’m all for the power couple dynamic and the protagonists always have something going on making them doubt their strength so yeah. And there’s usually this token love interest who’s not as strong and tries not to be useless but is kinda dead weight.

4. Their special abilities?

Levi and Hange are a power couple the way Roy and Riza are. When these two couples were introduced into their respective stories, they were all well established as bad asses. We have humanity’s strongest, humanity’s smartest then in FMA we have the flame alchemist one of the strongest alchemists and we have Riza who’s crazy good with a gun.

5. They were never that in your face couple

As said above, I really love competent people ships but nobody really likes reading about people being competent and having their level headed shit together so these characters end up with more of supporting character energy who have their ‘big damn heroes’ moments where they swoop in and save the protagonist.

And the thing is, since they’re supporting characters, there’s so much more room to move when contemplating such couples because the crumbs are there? But at the same time they’re not there? And since I like exploring my own headcanons about those ‘boring’ yet incredibly stable and mature relationships, these tend to be my favorite characters to shoehorn into my spotify playlists.

Edwin and Eremika respectively have more ‘in your face’ crumbs and I dunno, their crumbs for me always seemed to be too obviously there where I was like ‘okay cute relationship’ but ‘I wouldn’t wanna be in a relationship like that’ kinda way.

And since main protagonist romantic subplots crumbs are already ‘in my face’ I end up thinking to myself, what’s there to headcanon?

And like they go through so much more problems romance wise since obviously they are the protagonist. But I guess for me, I never liked those couples who were so obviously together and go through problems that bystanders are aware of. Because I dunno, people might not agree with me but it doesn’t sit well with me when EVERYBODY knows about the problems between two certain people in a relationship.

I always liked those couples who just start off as two people hanging out together and then like five years you find out, they live together and have five cats and it turns out they’ve been married for two of those three years.

And power couples just make it work? Because the stories tend to focus on them being competent people more than being in love so when the coupling actually happens it’s like:

“Wow you live together and have five cats, you worked so hard for it, I’m so happy for you.”

Instead of you know, watching people go through like 3456 instances of miscommunication drama just to end up in a still seemingly doubtful relationship.

6. Iconic scenes for Levihan and Royai?

And here’s the beautiful thing about the crumbs of both of these ships, they are incredibly apparent when the stakes are high and this is *chef’s kiss.* This is literally the climax, the peak to such subtle crumbs. Like okay, fine it’s satisfying to see the main protagonist and their main love interest doing shit and loving each other when the stakes are high like in Season 2 of AOT with Mikasa thinking she’s gonna die so she confesses to Eren or maybe that Naruto and HInata scene in the Pain Arc where Hinata just pops in and saves Naruto and kinda dies in the process

But can we all agree that there is something very very very satisfying about seeing two people who are probably not or are probably dating just going crazy for each other when the stakes are high? Like yo, come on.

My favorite scenes for Royai: The Lust fight scene, the Envy fight scene and lastly, the scene where Roy opens the gates to save Riza and goes blind. Can we just appreciate the fact that Roy risked his Colonel dreams to save Riza by going blind??

And for Levihan? I’m sure Levihans are tired of hearing the chapter numbers but 115? That’s fucking iconic, Hange ltierally jumped into the river with Levi and please tell me that is not a parallel to Roy opening the gates for an already half dead Riza. Mind you, Hange did not even know if Levi would make it or not and she probably didn’t know if she would make it or not either. Any of the soldiers could have literally just shot into the river and nicked them with bullets. She just literally abandoned everything and wooshed to the river.

And I had this convo with a few other people and we were thinking about what if it was anyone else who found Levi. And we came to the conclusion that IT HAD TO BE HANGE. Because somehow, I feel like Hange would have been one of the only few, if not the only one who would have gathered up the courage to jump into the river and risk their own life to save Levi.

And for the next part... Disclaimer: This is just my opinion, please let’s not start a ship war.

Like with the war on twitter “Levihan vs. Eruri,” I started to reflect as well on whether or not Erwin would have saved Levi if he was there instead of Hange but I think it is less likely that Erwin would have saved Levi. Erwin probably wouldn’t have agreed with the rumbling definitely but I cannot help but think, Erwin approached his commander position like a chess master and with this, approached Levi as a superior while Hange approached Levi as an equal and a best friend.

So if, saving Erwin was just going to mess with plans let’s say to manipulate the Yaegerists for some greater purpose, would Erwin have just let Levi die?

7. The magic is no one fits Roy or Riza perfectly.

I had these same thoughts with Shikatema vs. Levihan and now Royai vs. Levihan. So comparing their dynamics, I just have to say, that none of them fit each other perfectly. Hange has Riza and Roy crumbs and Levi has Riza and Roy crumbs too.

Like Roy is some ridiculously strong (Levi) superior (Commander Hange) with a seemingly goofy personality (Hange). Riza is the subordinate (Levi) who’s equally reliable but not as overpowered (Hange) with a very strict but very obviously emotionally constipated personality (Levi)

Like if you put Levihan in some of the token Royai moments. Like the Lust fight? I think Levi would have done something similar to Riza. Okay, he wouldn’t have broken down right then but he would have done something similar to what Roy did when he found out Envy killed Hughes.

I’m convinced Hange would have had a breakdown which is more of an in between between what Roy (Envy fight) and Riza (Lust fight) had in their respective fights. I mean 115 is proof enough that Hange ain’t playing when her bebeluvs is in danger.

8. And towards the end of the series?

Okay this is where the comparisons just kinda diverge because this part makes me sad. In the end game, Royai worked together. Riza became the eyes of Roy when he was making shit explode in the final battle coz he was blind.

And Hange and Levi were completing each other towards the of the AOT end right? Not just with the jian bird references with having parallel injuries. In the final battle though when Levi was out of commission due to the explosion, Hange was the one fighting with the crew until 132. And the moment she died, Levi stepped up and fought right?

Like they had something similar going on, where these two were covering for each other and taking care of the kids. It’s just that compared to Royai who were explicitly working together, we have Hange covering for Levi right after he got injured and Levi stepping up to cover for Hange after she died.

AND I can’t help but think, literally post time skip just could not handle Levihan working together huh? Is that how competent Levi and Hange are as soldiers that Yams couldn’t let them work together just one last time? Like he knew it would mess with the story if he lets Levi and Hange lead at full power?

Which brings me to last point, and the point that makes me saddest.

9. About them being endgame?

Okay, so it wasn’t confirmed that Roy and Riza ended up together because Roy still had his fuhrer goals but AT LEAST THEY HAD A CHANCE? Like their last scene in the show was still them together? And Riza still at least got to follow him?

Levihan… They just… shit just happened and we all know what happened and now I’m reading fanfiction and crying over fcitoonal characters to pass the quarantine.

Anyway, if you reached this point, thank you for reading. And thank you for the question anon!

#levihan #meta #royai

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cheekysos · 4 years

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Road to Nowhere

Best Friend! Luke Hemmings x Reader

Summary: Luke asks his best friend Y/N on a road trip.

Warnings: Unrequited love, angst, minor swears

Author’s Note: Thank you for being patient with me the past couple of weeks. I’m still unsure about this piece honestly but I hope you enjoy it. Feedback is always very much appreciated, whether it be positive or constructive. Thank you for reading.

You and Luke have been best friends ever since he moved to LA. When you first met him you were in a somewhat serious relationship and by the time you admitted to yourself your feelings for Luke he just met someone. You wallowed in self pity for quite some time before you forced yourself to move on, Luke seemed happy and you wanted to be happy too. When Luke was single again, you were a few months into a new relationship. This cycle has continued for the entirety of your guys’ friendship, the timing just never worked out. Not that it would have mattered, you knew your chances with Luke were slim to none. You two joked, laughed, cried, and confided in one another but there was something missing on his part. You could tell by the way he looked at you that he didn’t love you the way you loved him. He doesn’t look at your smile and instantly get butterflies, your laugh doesn’t send a shiver down his spine, and your touch doesn’t make it hard for him to breathe. Now here you are, single for almost a year and Luke is in what seems to be a very serious relationship and it’s eating you up inside. You wasted so much time ignoring and hiding from your feelings because you were too scared to lose your best friend. Now your feelings are so strong it’s difficult to ignore.

His current relationship was definitely putting a strain on your friendship. She wasn’t comfortable with it, you knew the second he introduced you to her. The way she scanned you up and down, like she was assessing your level of threat. She occupied most of his time and didn’t want you around much, she never came right out and said it but you could tell - basically everyone could except for Luke. It was little things like the way she touched him in front of you, like she was claiming him or how it took her months to “learn” your name. But you put up with it because you loved him, granted you were also in love with him as well but you respected their relationship and would never act on your feelings. Between touring and her Luke hasn’t had much time for you so when he called you and asked if you wanted to go on an impromptu road trip with no certain destination you didn’t hesitate.

You packed enough clothes and toiletries for three days, that’s all the time off you could manage from work. Luke arrived that morning with your favorite coffee in hand and looking as adorable as ever. He was dressed casually in blue jeans, T-shirt, and boots.

“You’re really going to wear jeans while we drive across the country?” You teased snagging the large cup of coffee out of his hand.

“Hey what’s wrong with my jeans?!” He asked defensively.

“Nothings wrong with them. I just meant they aren’t very comfortable.”

“Well thanks mom but I think I can dress myself.” He quipped.

He stood in front of you with that stupid look on his stupid perfect face you loved so much. “So did you decide where you exactly were going?” You asked, spontaneity was not your strong suit.

“You pick, anywhere you want,” answered Luke.

You hesitated for a second, racking your brain for ideas. “Grand Canyon?”

“Whatever you want to see,” he flashed a sympathetic smile. What was going on?

“Seriously?” You asked. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“What a guy can’t spoil his best girl?” Luke had a tendency of saying things like this. Things that were obviously meant to be harmless but hurt you more than you’d like to admit because you knew he didn’t meant them, not how you wanted him to. Luke helped you with your suitcase to his car and typed the coordinates into his GPS. While he did that you connected your phone to his car. Right after Luke asked you on this trip you started making a playlist for the occasion, of course a majority of the playlist was already assembled in a secret Luke playlist you already had.

“I hope you’re ready for this playlist, it’s going to blow your little rockstar brain.” Music is what immediately connected you to Luke. You guys didn’t have exactly the same taste and there were definitely songs and artists you disagreed on but his passion for it was contagious. He changed the way you consumed music, pushed you to listen to more than just lyrics and the beat.

“Excuse you I have a big rockstar brain thank you very much.” His hand rested on the back of your headrest as he backed out of the parking spot. It’s strange how Luke made everyday normal activities just effortlessly sexy. The way his seat had to be all the way back for his massive limbs to fit, how he gripped the steering wheel with one hand while the other rested on the gear shift, or the way the sun landed on his face and illuminated his sharp features.

Before you officially got on the road Luke stopped to fill up his car. “Here pay for the gas and grab some snacks,” he handed you his card.

You went inside and gathered an array of different snacks, candies and drinks. When you came out you saw Luke on the phone, at first you thought he was talking to her but he looked anxious and stressed while speaking. Maybe they were fighting, maybe that’s why he wanted to get away for a bit. When you got closer to him he hung up the phone and returned the pump to it’s holster.

“Let’s get the show on the road darlin’.” He faked a smile.

You were on route soon enough, Luke quietly snacking on the bag of chips you bought for him as he drove. You really didn’t want to pry and you hated asking him about her but it was obvious something was bothering him.

“You alright?” You questioned turning down the music.

He forced a smile, “All good. Just quietly regretting my decision to wear jeans. I wish someone would’ve told me not to.”

You playfully tossed a sour patch kid at his head. You knew that’s not what was bothering him but you didn’t pry. After many hours of stupid car games, spontaneous singalong dance parties and a small cat nap on your part you couldn’t ignore the rumbling in your stomach any longer.

“Luke I need food and I’m tired.” You whined “I think we should call it a day, get some food and find a hotel.”

Luke rubbed at his 5 o’clock shadow. “Ya ok find a place nearby will ya?”

It took a little time but eventually you found a small bed and breakfast. “Take the next exit.” You instructed.

As Luke drove to the bed and breakfast you passed an In n Out. “Take a right!” you yelled.

Luke jerked the car into the turning lane, “the fuck Y/N! Scared the shit outta me.”

“In n Out! Need fries and a milkshake.” You exaggerate and pout your lip.

“You know I can’t say no to that pout.” Again, how could he not realize what he was saying to you? Could he be that oblivious?

You went through the drive-thru and ordered way too much food for only two people and continued driving to the B&B. The Bed and Breakfast was a decent sized Victorian styled home, they probably couldn’t have more than five rooms. You stayed by the car, taking in the fresh air of a new state while Luke went inside to check for a room.

“Good news and bad news,” Luke said walking back to the car. “Got a room but it’s only got one bed, she’s got a cot though so she’s going to have it brought up to the room. I’ll take the cot.” Luke grabbed the luggage and you followed him with food and milkshakes in hand. The room was cozy, the main focus of the room was clearly the bed. This bed and breakfast most likely catered to couples looking for a quiet getaway and in any other situation it probably would have been romantic but not when you were with Luke and he was with her.

The two of you sat on the floor eating and catching up. Against your better judgement you asked about her, you were surprised to see his expression fall.

“I don’t want to talk about her, this trip is about us.” he said quietly. “Remember when we took that road trip to visit your parents?” he laughed.

“You mean the trip you agreed to take after being on tour for months leaving me to drive for HOURS while you slept the entire time?” you teased.

“Hey, It’s the thought that counts!” he defends. Things with Luke were great, back to how things were before.

After spending a considerable amount of time reminiscing, the two of you got ready to go to bed. When Luke walked out of the bathroom he was dressed in only athletic shorts. You’ve seen Luke half naked plenty of time but it seemed like every time you saw him his shoulders were broader, his chest hair more dense, and his skin softer.

“I-I’ll sleep on the cot Luke. There’s no way your lanky ass is going to fit. I don’t mind.” You tried deflecting with jokes.

“Ugh! How rude!” Luke played. “I am not lanky! And it doesn’t matter - that thing’s for children, neither of us are gonna fit on it. We’ll just share” He tossed aside the extra throw pillows and pulled back the duvet.

“Are you sure this is okay?” you hesitated.

“It’s fine, just get in.” He turned off the lamp on his nightstand and tucked his extremities into bed, his back facing you. You followed his lead and got yourself situated on your side. You knew you should have turned around so your back was towards him but you just couldn’t bring yourself to look away.

“Night Y/N.” he yawned.

“Goodnight Lu.” As creepy as it sounded you spent some time watching his back, counting the times it rose and fell with each breath before he succumbed to sleep.

You woke up the next morning before Luke, he wasn’t a morning person in the slightest. After you finished getting ready and found Luke still in a deep slumber you figured the best way to wake him was a pillow to the face. After lots of whining and arguing the two of you were ready to get back on the road. Since Luke was still half asleep you offered to drive the rest of the way, which meant you spent most of the time in silence again, but you didn’t mind, you needed the time to think.

When you finally arrived at the Grand Canyon you and Luke stood there awhile speechless, taking in the beautiful scenery around you. His arm suddenly snaked around your shoulders and pulled you into his side. You followed his suit and wrapped your arm around his waist. You felt completely content in this moment, for a second you could forget about everything and just relish in this the now. When you looked up at Luke tears were brimming in his eyes. You stood in front of him with both hands held onto his waist.

“Hey...what’s the matter?” you pleaded.

“It's...I just. I’m just really happy to be here. To be with you, my best girl.” He pulled you in for a hug, his arms wrapped around you tightly and he placed soft kisses on the top of your head. Your heart soared in this moment. Everything felt so perfect, it felt like there was an inkling of a possibility that Luke loved you back. As you pulled away from the hug, Luke tucked the stray hairs behind your ear. Your faces were closer than they’ve ever been, your foreheads pressed together, noses just barely touching.

“I need to tell you something Lu..” There was no more denying your feelings. You couldn’t go on like this anymore you needed him to know, even if that meant that he didn’t feel the same about you.

“Lemme go first.” he cut you off. “She gave me an ultimatum, you or her…” Your heart was in the back of your throat and your entire body was on fire. This was it, he was about to kiss you.

His calloused thumb brushed along your cheekbone, “I..I chose her.”

#Luke Hemmings #Luke Hemming Fic #Luke Hemmings Blurb #5 seconds of summer #Bestfriend!luke #Luke Hemmings oneshot #Luke Hemmings Fanfiction #Luke Hemmings angst #5sos blurb #5sos fic #5sos imagine #5 second of summer imagines #5 seconds of summer blurb #5 seconds of summer fanfiction #5 seconds of summer fic

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thewritewolf · 4 years

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Breaking the Ice

Summary: The gang's plan to spend a week in an Alpine lodge hits a snag when, unbeknownst to Alya and Nino, Marinette and Adrien find out each other's identities. Now it's up to Alya, the power of love, and a freak snowstorm to push past the awkwardness and break the ice.

Hello and welcome to this very special birthday fic that has been three months or so in the making! Sadly Over's birthday came right at the height of me being swamped with the monthly prompts. But I got there eventually! Happy (very) belated birthday, @overworkedunderwhelmed!

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

The kilometers rolled past, putting them farther and farther away from their homes in Paris. Despite the promise of a cozy cabin in the Alpine woods waiting for them in the not-so-distant future, the mood in the car wasn’t the full and bubbling excitement that Alya had hoped for.

Most of the conversation had been driven by her and Nino, whether it be jamming out to his mix tapes or just talking about recent events. Not that there was much conversation going on right now - a four hour long car ride was enough to take it out of anyone. But for the entire car ride Alya was grinding her teeth at Adrien and Marinette’s seemingly stubborn refusal to talk to each other.

It had been almost a month since everything changed, their last weeks before they graduated from lycee and were set out into the great wide world. For the last year they’d been planning this - going out to Nino’s uncle’s cabin and spending a week hanging out. Just like old times, in case life conspired to keep them apart. After all, while they had resolved to stay in touch and meet regularly, who could really say for sure when they were all going to different universities?

Marinette had even gotten over her insecurity and babbling around Adrien! They had become great friends over the years, but then… something happened and they were back to square one. Except now it was even worse because not only was Marinette a mess, so was Adrien! They could barely make eye contact before looking away, blushing like school kids. Which they technically weren’t any more!

It was disgustingly cute, but also incredibly frustrating. Alya had thought that she had put all of this stuff behind her years ago, even if she was always hoping they’d still end up getting together.

Smiling mirthlessly, Alya stared ahead as the cabin rolled into view. It had been a while since she’d meddled in Marinette’s love life, but it seemed that if they were going back to their old ways, so should she. A plan began to come together…

Hopefully the weather would cooperate.

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

Nino watched the girls head inside with the bare essentials, leaving him and Adrien out here to get the rest while they got everything turned on. He turned around in his seat to look at Adrien as he stretched in the back.

“So, how are you feelin’ from that long ride, bro?”

“Not too hot. And not just because of the time in the car,” Adrien said with a shiver. “I knew it was going to be cold, but still.”

Nino snorted. “Well, maybe getting up off your rich kid butt and helping me out here will warm you up.”

“If you say so, my oh so worldly best bro.” The two of them chuckled as Adrien got out of the car.

While they were only staying there for a week, they packed plenty so that they wouldn’t need to make any unnecessary trips to the nearby town. It was good in theory but it did mean that it took multiple trips to get all the suitcases and bags and coolers.

Plenty of time to chat up his best bud.

“So what’s up with you, dude?” Nino picked up a suitcase for each hand. “Decided on what you’re going to university for yet?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Adrien said, rolling his eyes. “Father still wants me to go into business.”

“Yeah but I didn’t ask what daddio wanted, did I?”

Adrien sighed. “I’m not entirely sure. I like the idea of becoming a teacher.”

“You’ve tots got the patience for it.” Nino grinned. “You’re almost as chill a dude as I am.”

“As long as someone doesn’t try to mess with your playlists or take over the radio.”

“Driver alone gets that kinda power dude,” Nino said, a solemn air to his words. “You can’t just let anyone go messin’ with that stuff.”

“Uh huh.” Adrien smirked and hefted a cooler by himself. The dude was stronger than he looked. Maybe all that modeling came with some perks besides the obvious? “My other plan is maybe just…” Adrien seemed a little embarrassed. “...starting a flower shop.”

“...A flower shop?”

“Or something like that! Just a little business of my own that has nothing to do with fashion. Where people can’t say that I was only put there because of my father’s connections or whatever.”

“Flowers, huh?” Nino tapped at his chin, smiling. “Lemme guess - does this have something to do with a certain pigtailed friend of ours?”

“I- That’s not- No!”

“How are you two doing anyway, bro? Me and Al have been supes curious about what went down between you two.”

“What about that movie script you were working on?” Adrien said. “You were pretty far along the last time we talked about it. Did you work out the last few kinks yet?”

Nino could recognize such an obvious change of topic when he saw one, but he didn’t have the single-minded drive of his girlfriend and let it slide without comment. Besides, he could use Adrien’s help in talking out some of the more difficult parts of the movie’s plot.

An hour later, just as they’d finished bringing in their stuff and Nino got a good sense of how he wanted his story to go, he looked up at the sky and frowned when he saw the dark clouds and the flurry of snowflakes already coming down.

Nino closed the garage with the car in it and was thankful that they had already brought in plenty of firewood along with the suitcases. It looked like tonight was going to get chilly.

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

The four of them had already arrived fairly late into the day, so by the time they had gotten settled in, the sun was beginning to sink over the horizon. The light was made even dimmer by the snowstorm raging outside, its chill only barely pushed back by the roaring fireplace that they were huddled around.

There were two loveseats in the cabin and when Alya and Nino had taken one, that naturally left the other for him and Marinette. Each pair wrapped up in blankets to keep the cold out and to keep the shared warmth in.

Of course, they had more than fire to keep themselves warm, Adrien thought as he nonchalantly glanced to his side, toward the woman that was always at his side. Even if he hadn’t known just how true that was until a month ago. Was it good fortune that had made this partner and love interest one of his closest friends outside the mask? Or was it terrible luck, since they had barely managed to spare two sentences for each other ever since they found out?

Adrien was almost sure that there was a conversation going on, but for the life of him he couldn’t hear it over his pounding heart. Sitting there still as a statue, he was hoping that no one would notice his current state of distress, praying that he could make it through this week in one piece.

His prayers were immediately not answered since Marinette was slowly but inevitably closing the distance between them. Was it because of the cold? Or was there something else at play here? Either way, his lack of a response - or, at least, him not stopping her - seemed to give her courage as she got ever closer.

Which would be enough for his poor heart to handle on its own if it weren’t for the fact that once she was about as close as she could get without sitting on his lap, the back of her hand brushed against the back of his. It was enough to make his heart skip a beat. He redoubled his efforts to pay attention to the conversation just as it seemed to be ending.

Nino yawned and stretched, raising his arms above the warm confines of his blanket as he did so.

“Well, dudes, looks like I’m gonna pack it in for tonight. All that driving really took it outta me.”

“I’ll probably head to bed too,” Alya said. “The faster I’m under a warm set of sheets, the better.”

“Right. So we’ll be heading to our room now.”

Adrien had a sinking feeling with how they said that and he realized that there was one critical question he had never gotten around to asking during all the time that they had been planning this trip:

“Where is my room?”

“Oh, don’t worry, you and M will have the room just down the hall from us!” ALya said with a grin, her head poking around the corner just before disappearing behind it. “Nighty night!” She shouted once she was out of view.

Adrien’s mouth went dry and he stared at the roaring fireplace for a long moment before turning to look at Marinette, who seemed equally scandalized. With an apologetic shrug and a half grin, he stood up on shaky legs and made his way toward their apparently shared room.

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

Marinette wasn’t sure how much time had passed, since they had awkwardly crawled into bed and rolled over onto their sides, facing away from each other. The room was quiet except for the muffled sounds of the fire in the other room and the howling winds of the snowstorm outside. Darkness had long since crept in, leaving the room a mess of dark shapes and shadows that moved ever so slightly thanks to the faint, flickering light of the fire coming out from below the bottom of their door. Even with her eyes adjusted to the dark, she couldn’t see much beyond a few inches in front of her face.

The quiet left her plenty of time to think. Did she move too fast by getting so close to him in front of the fire? She was still a little mad at Alya for trying to force things along like always. She and Adrien were just… going through something right now. They’d get there in their own time!

...Then again, it had already been a month without any progress. Maybe Alya had handed her a golden opportunity. Was he even still awake? Marinette was the stage of tired where she could feel the exhaustion but knew she would never be able to sleep. Least of all with Adrien right there.

With nothing else to do, she decided to take a chance and roll over. It seemed that the years of fighting alongside one another had put them in sync since he rolled over at exactly the same time. They suddenly found themselves face to face, so close that she could feel his warm breath on her.

“Hey,” she said, sounding lame to her own ears.

“Hey, he said back.

Marinette bit her lip and tried to find the right words to say. Her thoughts were all mixed up and she struggled to make the first move.

“I love you,” Adrien blurted out. His cheeks blushed so fiercely she could almost believe they were glowing. It certainly helped her see him in a new light.

Her eyes soften and she smiles. She scoots closer to him.

“I love you too.”

Slowly and hesitantly, fearful that the spell might be broken and this would all prove just a dream, she leaned forward the final few centimeters between them and pressed her lips to his.

Outside, the storm raged on. But inside, cuddled close together through the night, they stayed warm.

#Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Adrienette #Nino Lahiffe #Alya Cesaire #DJ Wifi #ml fanfiction #my writing #Breaking the Ice

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dontbesoweirdkira · 5 years

Text

Dating Jason Todd would include

-YOU ARE LITTLE PRECIOUS BUNNY I SWEAR YOU BRING OUT THE SOFTEST PART OF THIS BROKEN MAN

-like this dude will literally let you get away with ANYTHING and no one better stop you

-“Hey Jay I just robbed a bank and took a lollipop from that kid next door.”

-“Aww you’re so cute, Doll. Let me put out this cigarette and I’ll help you count the money, okay?”

-“Jay, Dick said I can’t have anymore ice pops!!! I really want some, it’s not fair!!”

-“ He said what?! hOld On iM gEtTinG mY Gun nO OnE TelLs mY lItTle Babe sHe caNt haVe anY iCe popS.”

-wearing his thick leather jackets that smell like cigarettes and expensive scotch

-Stealing his 1/16263819827 Red hoods and waddling around the house while he’s out on patrol

-“Hey I’m RedHood and I have DaDdY IssUes, prepare to diEee!!! *pew pew*”

-“is that how I sound to you?! Because I don’t *pew pew* I *brrraaatratratatataaa* get it correct Y/N”

-Your tough edgy boyfriend

-If he has an off day, he’ll take you on a ride on his motorcycle to wherever you want to go. If it’d make you happy, he’d drive to Paris for you if he could.

-You guys usually end up drifting by the waterside, taking in the longing smell of the sea, feeling the subtle warmth of the setting sun and melting into the welcoming breeze

-There’s this really good Sandwich stand by the oceanfront and you guys always get a large one, and share it with a nice cold bottle of Coke. There’s also this really nice private beach that you two have no business being on, you guys would sometimes just sit on one of the lifeguards stands for a while and just enjoy each other

-“Hey Jay Jay?”

-“What’s up, Love bug?

-“Your eyes have a hint of Aqua Green in them. It’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. I just wanted you to know that, that’s all.”

-IN HOME CONCERTS EVERY SATURDAY AND OR FRIDAY.

-every week you guys make a list of your favorite classics and you build a Spotify playlist and dance around the house screaming *cough* I-i mean singing on the top of yalls lungs.

-weird adventures around the city! Like you guys sometimes go to weird parts of the city to see some weird crap to laugh about later on.

-“Why is he wearing a tutu and dirty socks-“

-“keep walking baby girl don’t question it.”

-monthly movie nights where you guys watch a movie that has crappy 1 star reviews while eating a bunch of unhealthy garbage all night.

-“but why did he do that?”

-“according to ‘moviecridictbooiiii12’, he’s an uncultured swine who has no Character development, 1/10 trash person totally.”

-If you guys are just sitting in a comfortable silence, just cuddling, he might open up a bit about his childhood or maybe talk a bit about how he’s feeling. But that’s a rare rare occasion he doesn’t like talking much about it.

-This sometimes can cause a bit of a rift because it almost feels as if there’s a lack of trust but you understand he’s been through a whole lot and if it were you, you’d probably be the same way

-he does not like pills in the house but if you have health issues and have to take them, he won't crucify you because of it, but he will monitor you and make sure there is no drug abuse. He wants to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself. He doesn't wanna lose you that way.

-He’s a depressed crackhead

-“Hey Y/N, can you tell me what’s in the drawer in the kitchen. The one next to the sink”

-“Hmm? There’s nothing in here Jason.”

-“Nothing you say? Just like my relationship with Bruce haha.”

-“Are you okay?”

-“No I am not and neither is my sleep schedule.”

-Oh yeah this Poor boy barely sleeps. Mainly because he’s out on patrol all night and when he finally gets home, he’s being called back out. Or sometimes he’s just so restless thinking about everything he needs to do. Other times he’s just scared to sleep.

-Yeah he’s pretty reluctant to go to sleep. He’s scared to have a bad dream and wake up in a vulnerable state. Or to accidentally wake you up from tossing and turning and wails of agony.

-You lost a lot of hours of sleep already do to comforting him at night so as much as he can function without a nights rest, he’ll do it to spare you

-You hate when he does this because you actually don’t mind comforting him, it makes you feel like he trusts and can rely on you.

-nightmares about the joker or the pit. Cryinggg this boy is really traumatized

-“Shhh, Jason it’ll be alright. I’m right here love.”

-Even though he avoids sleep at all costs, this doesn’t stop him from napping on the recliner or at the kitchen table from time to time.

-He’s a bit self destructive with drinking, smoking, betting himself up, not sleeping or eating properly. You really have to help him and work with him. Be patient and kind pLz.

-He doesn’t like exposing you to the stuff he does, he doesn’t like you seeing all the gore or what not so he doesn’t try to come home bloody much actually. He might stop at dicks house or some other friend’s house to clean up a bit before coming to you

-Todd doesn’t like you to see and be around all that. He wants to keep that life very very separate, he even tries to keep the news off and away from you. Although you already know and if it bothers you it not, it’s not much you can do to stop him.

-The only time you might see him bloody or hurt is when he can’t make it to a friends house and he needs you to patch him up and put him to bed quickly.

-argurmentssss

-Yeah you guys do little annoying antics back and forth but it’s not something super crucial. The only time where it heats up is like if something he’s doing really really bothers you, like his killings or if he does something super reckless. The arguments usually end up with

- “I’m sorry Doll, I’ll do better for you.”

- “Sorry JayBird, I wasn’t being fair”

-The worst an argument had ever gotten was when he didn’t come home for weeks without telling you he was out on a mission and you were scared out of your mind and ended up cursing him out for scaring you.

-You didn’t talk to him for about a week and he was a wreck

-“JASON DONT YOU DARE TRY TO KISS ME OR HUG ME I THOUGHT YOU WERE F*CKING DEAD OR WORSE! YOU COULD'VE TOLD ME SOMETHING LIKE I LITERALLY HATE YOU RIGHT NOW I COULDN'T SLEEP FOR WEEEKS JASON I WAS WORRIED SICK-“

-“Hey, it’s okay Y/n- I’m here no-“

-“NO IT'S NOT LITERAL I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU ANYMORE, GET AWAY FROM ME.”

-He cannot stand when he breaks your heart or makes you upset like he beats himself up a whole lot. He will apologize to you and do anything to make it up.

-“Stupid Todd? How can you upset the one person that seems to be so patient and loving to you? Ugh you idiot.”

-yeah he literally kissed up to you for months he felt so bad even after you apologized for overreacting and told him he didn’t need to do anything

-Yeah speaking of kissing up to you, he Buys you anything you want just ask. Looking at that super nice outfit in the mall? Check your room, it’s on your bed with a cute little note. Want an ice cream sundae? Yeah he got extra fudge/caramel for his princess.

-He just loves you like so so much he doesn’t care what you look like, how big or how skinny, how light or how dark you are. He literally adores you and wants to protect you with all his heart. He’d buy the whole world for you.

-“Jason, literal listen to me. 600 dollars for a charm bracelet I liked in the mall is too much, go return it”

-he’s a bit overprotective with you. Not in a “HEKDJEHEHEHINEEDTOKNOWWHEREYOUAREATALLTIMESSENPAI.” Kind of way but in a like “Check in every once in a while will ya babe? I wanna make sure you’re okay.”

-He doesn’t let you go outside after a certain time for ANYTHING unless it’s an emergency. It’s too dangerous in Gotham for you to be out scrolling going to a convenience store at 10pm at night. So if you need something from the store he’ll go get it for you or already have it in the house.

-Will 100 throw hands for you

-actually makes sure you can defend yourself and trains you a bit every month to make sure if trouble comes and he’s not there, you can protect yourself

-Intimacy

-Honhonhon. Although what many believe Jason has a high sex drive and wants it a lot or what not. I don’t think it’s 100% true

-I believe that like if his partner wasn’t the type of person who wanted it, or didn’t feel comfortable with it, he’d be okay with it. Like he doesn’t need it to survive although you look hecking good in that outfit today

-I feel like he’d be more kissy and rough touching than the full 100 yards with a more soft/standoffish sexually significant other.

-Yeah if he gets from a stressful mission or just needs to feel you, he’s gonna wanna kiss and touch on you but if you’re not into all that then like he’d back off because he respects you enough

-neck kisses and thigh kisses

-“jaybirdy I wanted to wear that new skirt I got yesterday, now I got your bites all over my legs.”

-he's a totally Dom and that’s on that period boo

-dAdDy KiNk I’m sorry

-His voice somehow becomes super raspy when he’s aroused?!?!

-He will tease you to a point you moan out his name and then turn around and act innocent

-“let’s watch Frozen! What’s with that face dear? You didn’t think I’d let you have it that easily now did you?”

-*wears anything short*

-”WOOOOO DAMMNNNN Y/NNNNNN LOOKING FOINE TODAY I SEE YOU! CAN I GET YOUR NUMBER?!?! YOU GOT A BOYFRIEND BECAUSE I KNOW HE'S DAMN LUCKYYY!”

-Highkey finds it so hot when you sit on his lap like damn it feels so nice to him like you know you’re his and that’s like arousing to him. Will play with the hem of your skirt if your wearing them and your thighs aren’t safe

(Anyways I ain’t trynna make this NSFW but I might do a little something for my 200 follower special)

-On a softer purer note, you guys are like the roasters of the fam, okay! Like no one is safe, especially Damian.

-“Tch- Todd and his little pet.”

-“Dami, didn’t know you’d be here, and apparently your hairline didn’t know either.”

-*Jason, Tim and Dick were dying*

-“Hey you little accident, why you standing like that, you look like you’re bout to enlist in the army.”

-“shut up Todd, at least I have good posture unlike you.”

-“Hey leave Damian alone, Jason. Dami just has a pole in his ass that makes him stand in first position all the time. It’s a serious condition, y’all need to stop laughing.”

-“Hey Selina! Your Sugar Daddy is in the kitchen, try not to steal anything though because he might cut down your weekly allowance.”

-“Haha Y/N and yours is in the living room getting drunk, careful he might end up with me tonight.”

-“Hmm, a gold digger and a cougar? Wow you got your careers set don’t ya! Ooops you should check in the mirror tho! I think your Botox is drooping.”

-yAlL CAnT sTop ROaStinG PeOpLe anD it’S wOrse When yaLls DruNk

-You’re actually pretty close to The BatFam and like Bruce Adores you he thinks you’re a wonderful influence on Jason like you changed him a lot. Dick sees you as a baby sister and like he literally baby’s you so much it’s sad. Tim and you like to joke around a bit and talk you guys get along decently. Although Damian would NEVER admit it, he actually is kinda fond of you even though you guys insult each other. He might stab someone for like hurting you or something. But watch your back because he might stab you as well.

-going to Bruce’s Galas and charity events like by force.

-“yYyyYYyyY/NnnNnNnNiEeeeEEee PLEaSE COmeEeeee sO iWOnT DrInk MySelF ouT oF tHeRe!!!”

-“Jason let go of my leg.”

-You don’t actually mind it too much, you’ve made some nice connections and plus it’s a little date night with Jason so Win Win!!

-He actually wears a nice Tux and styles his hair real nicely. Might even be wearing that nice watch Bruce gave him a long time ago on his birthday.

-*sniff sniff* is that Cologne? *sniiiiiiffffffff* *HIGHLY* Expensive cologne he’s wearing?! And *pat pat* HAIR GEL OH BOIIII

-He actually picks out a dress for you to wear. One he’s been dying to see you in. The super expensive one he found while shopping with Dick and Bruce one day.

-If some rich guy try’s flirting with you, it’s over for them. Jealous Todd Mode activated!

-“Doll Face, I found you. Love wandering off don’t you babe? When we get home, I’ll make sure you won’t want to wander off again,” He kisses into your ear hungrily “wHo’s tHiS, Y/N? Is he bothEriNg yOu?” He asks like he didn’t see him there

-“No but Jason you are.“

-“:o”

*later*

-“I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT I DID WRONG Y/N!! HE WAS FLIRTING WITH YOU AND I HAD TO INSERT MY DOMINANCE.”

-“JAY HE WAS A BUSINESSMAN LOOKING TO INDORSE ME AND MY WORK! YOU JUST EMBARRASSED ME AND MADE HIM FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE!! LITERALLY NOW HE THINKS I HAVE AN OVER POSSESSIVE BOYFRIEND.”

-“oh-“

“YEAH ‘oH’! serIouslY I CanT stAnd yoU.”

-Jason’s drinking and smoking. Let’s just say you’re not the biggest fan of it because of his health, you’re so worried about it. He’s already taking shots and stabs but like the drinking and smoking on top of that? You’re worried about him

-You always voice your concern and he’s never too phased and he’s always like

-“Don’t worry L/N, I’ll be okay. If this kills me, don’t let Dick take my meat stash in the freezer. Tell him I’m coming back to life in like 3 months give or take and I’ll be hungry for steak.”

-Actual best boyfriend! Like if you’re insecure about anything he’ll make you feel so much better, in every way possible. He makes it so know how much he loves you it’s so sweet and super cute like I’m crying.

-makes weird faces at you randomly and it somehow gets you to laugh?!?!

-cooks breakfast or dinner for you every once in a while but messes up a few times

-“sorry y/n I accidentally burnt the cookies I was trying to make for you. I-I can go run and ask Alfred to make some? I know how long you’ve been waiting to have some.”

- Did I mention he’s best boi? Like ugggghhhh he’s so blind to all that superficial mess people get caught up in. You talk down about yourself and he’ll like attack you in love I swear he will. He doesn’t like the self deprecation you do. He completely detests it.

-“Say you’re ugly one more time I’ll slap you with this heart of mine. Don’t make me do it Y/N. I’ll give you so much love, the only thing you’ll be able to say is “Omg I love myself so much like damn I’m so sexy and so fine and my personality? Perfect! thanks to my totally handsome boyfriend, I see myself so clearly now.”

-You guys Also like spend his birthday with just each other. But it’s really special to him and he always looks forward to the small marble cake you make, that has strawberries on top. He loves when you sit on his lap with your face in the crook of his neck, whispering into his skin ever so gently telling him to ‘make a wish old man’

-something about the birthdays you spend with him, brings him back to a happy place he once felt as a child. Or wanted to feel. He always wishing for the same thing…..to always see you happy

-“Jay I love you.”

-“I love you too Y/N. Remember that okay?”

(Request open)

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trashyswitch · 4 years

Text

Logan's Trip to [REDACTED]

Chapter 1: The First Ever Foreign Visitor

Logan visits one of the SCP Foundation sites, that houses SCP's of different classes. Though most of it should remain classified information, Logan is allowed to interact with the SCP's of the safe class. This is where things get much more interesting...

WARNING: Bits of the writing had to be redacted and expunged to keep names and locations classified.

Ever since I found out about SCP-999, I wanted to make a fanfic on it. It's SO CUTE!!! I WANT ONE!

Logan had brought Thomas, Patton, Virgil, and Roman all together to discuss a mostly classified trip he was going to take. Though he couldn't tell them where exactly he was going, he could tell them the name of the company and fill them in on the creatures he looked at and interacted with.

"So...how long will you be gone for?" Thomas asked.

Logan looked at his watch. "My ride should arrive at 12 am exactly, and I will be back at 12 o'clock noon, on Saturday." Logan replied.

"Okay. Very specific." Thomas commented.

"I'm aware of how specific it is. This is a highly classified trip that has been rewarded to me for...reasons I'm not aware of. But, it is a one time opportunity I could never say no to. I am very excited to go." Logan told them.

"I can't wait to hear all about it! Especially that orange goop one." Patton commented.

Logan looked at the paper he had in front of him. "I believe you mean SCP-999. And yes, I am eager to see what that SCP is like." Logan replied.

"Are there any SCP's you're nervous about?" Virgil asked.

Logan thought for a moment. "I am a little nervous of seeing SCP-173...And SCP-682. 173 being the baby thing, and 682 being the strange alligator being." Logan replied.

"Is there anything specific you're bringing for the trip?" Thomas asked.

"Yes, there is. I have been granted permission to give certain safe-class SCP's gifts. I wish to give SCP-2295 some fabric ribbon and needles. I hope to give SCP-131-a & b a couple hair accessories, or a couple toys they may like." Logan started. Patton let out an 'aww'ing sound at the cute idea. Logan continued. "I would also like to hand SCP-914 a piece of wood, and see what the machine creates out of it. To end it off, I want to offer SCP-999 a package of M&M's, and Necco™ Wafers." Logan told them.

"Didn't the Necco™ Wafers factories closed? And I thought they no longer sell them?" Thomas asked.

"They are in high demand and in low numbers, but I successful in finding a couple packages of Necco™ Wafers that were on sale on Amazon. I opened one package of them already to taste them, and determined that they weren't expired. Then, I decided to share them with Virgil, Patton and Janus." Logan explained.

"Nice!" Thomas replied.

"They were so good!" Patton exclaimed excitedly, remembering the taste of the wafers.

"They were, honestly. It was a nice treat." Virgil commented.

Logan smiled. "I'm glad you two liked them." Logan commented.

"So...how do you feel about it the transportation aspect?" Thomas asked.

"It's a lot, but I can manage. I won't be able to tell anyone how I got to the site, or how I got back. What I DO know, is that according to the handbook: I'll be taken to the site in a jet." Logan told them.

"Ooooh! Sounds fancy!" Roman reacted. Logan shrugged.

"It's certainly gonna be a new experience." Logan told them.

After everyone bid their goodbyes to the logical side, Logan calmly kept himself busy while he waited for 12 o'clock midnight to roll around.

By the time 12 o'clock had rolled around, Logan had already packed his bag and was all ready with an empty notebook and a pen. When Logan had walked up to the car with his suitcase, Logan got to see the two unidentifiable passengers that were going to drive him to the jet. The driver and the passenger were both completely bald and dressed in identical suits, with sunglasses on their faces. They looked like something out of Men In Black.

Before they left, A few precautions had to be taken: the driver had taken hold of the suitcase and his backpack, and began checking both bags for liquids, weapons and any other dangerous or illegal items. At the same time, the passenger on the right had walked up to Logan and had quickly checked him over for any harmful weapons. With Logan confirmed to be unarmed, the passenger instructed him to take off his prescription glasses. When his glasses were in his case, the security guard took them from him and placed them into a small compartment in his backpack. Then, the passenger placed an eye mask onto Logan's face that surrounded the skeleton holes of his eyes with comfortable memory foam. This memory foam helped to block out all light and therefore: all sight. Thankfully, Logan was well aware that this would happen. Logan had received a book of information that would prepare him for the trip. The book even gave him a warning that he would be blindfolded on the way to the jet location. Logan was prepared with something to busy himself. Logan had put a pair of air-pods into his pocket, and put together a playlist of his favorite songs and his favorite audio-books, to listen to on the car ride down. Though the extra precautions seemed over-the-top, Logan understood that the precautions were for the safety of himself, and the safety of the SCP Foundation. They didn't want anybody getting tortured into giving away top secret information.

Logan listened to his playlist on the way to the jet location. Surprisingly, the ride wasn't as boring as he thought it would be! It was really fun! He even went as far as to start dancing to his music on the way. Sure, the passengers might've judged him. But, Logan didn't care. They needed to know that he was human, and allowed to have lots of fun. Another surprising part, was that the car ride was shorter than he expected. By the time Logan had gotten through only half of the playlist, Logan had gotten a light nudge to the shoulder. Logan carefully took out his air-pods.

"We're here." someone told him.

Logan nodded. "Okay." Logan replied. Someone turned his head around to reach the back, and carefully removed the mask from his eyes. Logan had to take a moment to get used to the light. When he did though, travel became a little more smoother. Logan went through another quick round of body checks and luggage checks before Logan was led out towards the jet out in the field. The jet was big, but somewhat small compared to the usual airplane sizes. Logan climbed into the jet, and walked into the sitting area inside the jet. Logan smiled at the interior. It wasn't luxurious, but it wasn't poorly designed either. It was a pretty nice interior for a middle class flyer. Logan happily took a seat in one of the chairs, placed his backpack under his seat and readied himself for the takeoff. Logan couldn't wait!

Logan listened to the plane safety information that usually came with it, before hearing the flight attendant announce the jet's take off. Logan opened the window flap, and watched as the jet started rolling. Logan watched as the fields flew by faster, and faster and faster, until the plane started flying up! The ground became smaller and farther away, while the view down became larger and larger and larger! Then, the view was sadly forsaken, and replaced with fluffy clouds. Now the entire view was a mix of dark clouds and dark sky. Logan sat back in his chair, and sighed with a smile. This is the life.

A long 5 hours later, and Logan was getting ready to leave the jet! The announcer gave him the orders to fasten is seat belts, and Logan began to feel himself descending. Soon, the wheels hit the landing spot below, and slowly brought itself to a nice, perfect halt. Logan smiled and waited for the announcer to give him and the rest of the staff a go ahead to leave the plane.

"All passengers are ordered to leave the plane and descend the staircase below." Logan heard. Logan was ready. The door opened, and Logan collected his stuff and gave everyone a polite 'thank you', before walking himself down the stairs. A couple new security guards gave him his luggage, and instructed him to follow them. Logan did as he was told, and dragged his wheeled suitcase behind his back. Logan was led right into the main opening of the SCP site. A man with darker skin but similar attire to the passengers, met Logan at he entrance.

"Mr. Sanders. I'm Dr. ████, The General manager in this corporation." The man said.

Logan shook the hand. "I'm honored to be here and under your care, Doctor." Logan replied to him.

"How was the flight? Fairly smooth, I hope?" Dr. ████ asked.

"The most smooth plane ride I've ever experienced." Logan replied.

"Excellent. And can you tell me how you got here at all?" the Doctor asked.

"Nope. Not a clue." Logan replied.

"Perfect. This is a very special privilege. We wouldn't want to ruin it with unwanted leaks." Dr. ████ explained.

"Understood." Logan agreed.

"Shall we take you to your room?" Dr. ████ asked.

"Of course." Logan replied.

"24639 and 58227, lead the way." the doctor ordered.

"Yes sir." 24639 and 58227 both said. The two men began leading the way, while Logan and the Doctor talked.

"So Sanders. Are you overwhelmed yet?" The doctor asked.

"A little bit, yeah. But, it's nothing I can't manage." Logan replied.

"You're keeping in good spirits. I like that." The doctor commented. "Say, how many rumors have you heard about?" The doctor asked.

"Uuuuh...A couple. The only rumor I personally knew about, was SCP-173." Logan explained.

"Oooh. What about it?" The doctor asked.

"Barely anything. Just one leaked photo, and that it's dangerous." Logan replied.

"Okay. I just wanted to make sure I clear up some rumors, if you've heard any. But, it looks like you haven't. So, that leaves us a bit more time to talk." The doctor said.

"Okay." Logan replied.

"Are there any SCP's you'd like to look at?" The doctor asked.

"Yes, actually. I'd like to look at SCP 173 and SCP-682, if that's possible." Logan commented. "I don't wanna go into the actual room with them, but I would like to look at them through a window." Logan further explained.

"Aaah...I see. Anything else?" The doctor asked.

"Yes. I also want to look at SCP-067, SCP-294, and SCP-530." Logan replied.

"Okay. So, the World War 2 pen, the vending machine and the dog with multiple limbs. Alright." The doctor replied.

"I really wanna see SCP-131-a and 131-b. And perhaps I could see SCP-999?" Logan added.

"Of course! Those are the most playful SCP's we have." The doctor told him. Logan smiled excitedly. "And, here we are!" The doctor told him. The doctor opened up the door, and allowed Logan a chance to drop off his suitcase.

"I'm gonna let you get comfy in here. When you feel ready, just give us a call on our walkie-talkie." The doctor ordered before handing Logan a walkie-talkie of his own.

Logan looked at the walkie-talkie, put it up to his mouth and pressed the button. "I'm ready now." Logan told him.

The doctor's eyes widened in surprise. Really?! Even after all that, Logan wanted to start now?!

"Okay. Here's your map, and your key-card. Just highlight where you wanna go, and follow the map." The doctor told him. "And don't think of doing anything stupid. I have eyes on the entire building. You will be kicked out of the building site." The doctor warned him.

"I fully understand. No need to worry. I am capable of following proper guidelines and regulations." Logan replied humbly.

The doctor smiled at the man. "Okay. Just be sure to give us updates on your observations." The doctor ordered, before walking away. The Doctor truly believed he could trust Sanders. It was a nice change. Perhaps he had been blessed with a wonderful first-time tourist...

Logan opened up the map and opened up his handbook, and began highlighting the specific SCP's he wanted to check out and/or interact with. It took a few minutes, but Logan soon had a list of SCP's to visit and interact with.

Can you guess which SCP was the nearest to him? It was SCP-294. The vending machine! Logan walked himself up to the door, and used the key card he had been given earlier, to get into the door. When it opened, Logan pulled the door open and walked in. Logan walked himself up to the vending machine, and eyed up the big thing. It looked like your typical large click-and-pour coffee machine, but it came with a keyboard below the touchscreen that presented itself in the top right corner of the coffee machine. Logan walked himself towards the keyboard, and began to think of what he wanted. He could ask for any typical beverage. A soft drink, a glass of milk, an alcoholic beverage, or even a smoothie! But Logan began to wonder what other things can be made with the coffee machine.

Logan decided to test it. Logan typed the following words into the keyboard:

[Chicken nugget smoothie]

When he felt ready, Logan clicked enter. Logan watched as a paper cup fell into the machine dispenser, and produced a orangish-brown looking thick substance. Logan removed from the dispenser, and took a breath before taking a sip...Logan let out a dry heave in disgust, but stopped himself when he realized what he was actually tasting: chicken meat split up, breaded and deep-fried...Also known as chicken nuggets.

Logan threw the rest of the chicken nugget smoothie into the garbage, and smirked as he type in his new request:

[Juiced Strawberry Crofters Jam]

Logan clicked enter and licked his lips as he waited. The coffee machine spit out a paper cup, and dispensed a red-looking liquid with teensy bits of strawberry seeds mixed into the liquid. Logan took the paper cup out of the dispenser, and looked up at the touchscreen. The touchscreen had a few words displayed onto it: 'Crofters, the only jelly I will put in my belly'. Logan giggled at the message, and brought his walkie-talkie up to his mouth. "I was able to make liquefied versions of food options from the machine. Not only did I get an actual Chicken Nugget Smoothie, I was also successful in getting a liquefied, strawberry-flavored jam." Logan told the Doctor.

"Crofters?" The Doctor specified.

Oh gosh...He watches the YouTube channel..."Yup. Crofter's jam." Logan replied with an awkward chuckle.

Next: Logan moved onto the next SCP on his list: SCP-067. Logan used his key-card to unlock the door. When it allowed him in, Logan opened the door and looked inside. Inside of the room, was a table with a felt-covered wooden box. Logan looked around the room as he walked himself closer and closer to the middle of the room. In the middle, there appeared to be a wooden desk and a wooden chair. Logan took a deep breath before sitting himself down and opening up the drawer. On the inside of the wooden desk, was a built-in drawer that held pages of lined paper. Logan pulled two pieces of lined paper out of the drawer, and placed it onto the table. After taking one more big breath, Logan picked up the pen. Almost immediately, the pen began moving his hand. This was to be expected. The pen was known for taking over a person's arm until they placed it down. So, Logan allowed the pen to do its thing. The pen began to write in a pretty, but somewhat messy version of cursive. It looked like the type of cursive that had been worked on by a person for decades. This was very strange because Logan has never developed legible cursive of his own style. Logan was simply a printer, who often started every single word he wrote, in all capitals.

Logan watched as the pen continued to write out a long page of writing. As his hand was taken over, Logan skimmed through some of the writing. It appeared to have been school notes Logan could recognize from one of his high school years. The subject appeared to be science, and the writing had also recalled the following units: [DATA EXPUNGED]

When the pen was done, Logan's hand had placed the pen down and gave Logan control over his hand again. It was a strange, but interesting experience. While the pen dried, Logan kept on skimming some of the words on the page. The writing had showed him some of the chemistry and biology he had taken back then. A lot of the notes appeared to resemble Logan's...cheat sheet for the exam. Logan's eyes widened at the unbelievably accurate resemblance of his cheat sheet. Logan nodded his head slowly and nervously, before lightly pushing the paper aside and pulling out his own pencil. Using the second piece of paper, Logan described his science exam and the cheat sheet he had made at the time. He explained how the writing wasn't his own, but that the words written and the format of such words were perfectly replicated by the fountain pen, in great detail and accuracy. It was as if the pen had collected all of his high school memories of the science classes he had taken, had re-entered his mind for a good half an hour! It was strange, but very fascinating. When the ink appeared to be dried enough, Logan put the two papers together and inserted them into a hung up mailbox, for research purposes. When Logan left the room, he told Dr. ████ that the written paper was in the mailbox, and ready for analysis and research.

Next on his list, was SCP-2295. Logan used his key-card on the door, and opened it up. Upon looking inside the containment locker, Logan smiled as he gazed his eyes upon the multi-fabric teddy bear that sat onto the ground. Logan placed the key-card into the slot and removed it as he opened up the door.

"Hello." Logan greeted. The teddy bear seemed to not be asleep, but rather unresponsive. Logan closed the sliding door behind him, and knelt down a few meters away from the teddy bear. "My name is Logan. I believe your name is Kairos, right?" Logan introduced. The bear seemed to stay unresponsive for a bit...Logan slowly sat himself down in criss-cross apple sauce, and gently waited for SCP-2295 to make a gesture. After a minute of waiting, Logan pulled out his walkie-talkie and began talking into it. "This is Mr. Sanders, giving you an update. The bear appears to be unresponsive, which is unfortunate considering I brought it a little gift." Logan said.

"Can you specify what it is? Or would you like me to wait and see?" The doctor asked.

Logan waited a couple seconds for the teddy bear to do something. He was about to reply with a hint, but immediately stopped himself when he saw a small wave from the bear. Logan made a slight gasp, before answering the doctor's question with a small smile. "I'm gonna let Kairos open it up and reveal it." Logan replied. After he placed his walkie-talkie down, Logan decided to open up his backpack and gently pull out a little boxed present wrapped in fabric and ribbon. "I brought you a present. I thought you might like it." Logan told it, before gently dragging it across the floor towards the teddy bear.

Though it took a bit, the teddy bear moved his head! The teddy bear gave itself a scratch on the ear, and slowly brought itself up onto its feet. Logan's smile grew wider as he watched the teddy bear walk over to the present. The present appeared to be more than half its diameter, but quite long and wide. The teddy bear grabbed onto the ribbon with both of its hands fabric hands and pulled the bow on the top free. The bow collapsed onto the present, and allowed Kairos to unwrap the fabricated wrap. When the wrap and the ribbon was removed and pushed aside, the teddy bear opened up the box lid and pulled out the contents inside: It was fabric! Tons of different-colored fabric! The teddy bear's sewed-on smile widened as it looked at around 15 different patterned fabrics. The box also included multiple sewing thread colors! Black, pink, yellow, blue, red, even a light pink-colored thread! Kairos made an excited smile and showed off all the different fabrics he had now!

With his fabric stack all filled up for a while, SCP-2295 placed the fabric onto the floor in the corner of the room, and walked up to the generous man. Kairos reached his arms up, to ask Logan to pick him up. "You...want me to pick you up?" Logan clarified with a smile. The teddy bear nodded in reply, and reached his arms up as high as it could reach. Logan giggled and picked the guy up by the middle, like he would a toddler. The teddy bear reached his arms out in front of him this time, as if to ask for a hug. Logan didn't wait even a second, and happily gave the teddy bear a hug.

Logan had been hugging Kairos for about 2 minutes, when Kairos had taken something out of his mouth and had began...tickling him with it! Logan let out a few surprised giggles, and pulled away with an eyebrow raised in curiousity.

"Whahat are you dohoihing?" Logan asked. The teddy bear had held up a multi-colored feather with yellow at the top, and red and black at the middle and bottom of the feather. It was really pretty. "That's a lovely feather." Logan commented. the teddy bear's smile got bigger as it brought the feather onto Logan's neck and began fluttering it quickly. "Hehehehey! Thahat tihihihicklehehes!" Logan giggled, tilting his head to the side to cover up the spot. Kairos stopped the feather for a moment, and switched hands. With the feather in his right hand now, Kairos started fluttering the feather onto the right side of Logan's neck."Hahahahahaha! Stahahahahap thahahahat!" Logan told him through his newfound giggle fit. If Kairos' button eyes could've gotten bigger, Logan thinks they would've. Kairos must've discovered something new!

Logan stuck his tongue out at the teddy bear playfully. When Logan tried to get a better grip on the bear, Kairos made a jolt and dropped the feather in surprise! "Oh! Sorry, buddy." Logan apologized as he continued to grip the bear better. Amidst Logan's moving and gripping, Kairos started shaking and pushing at the fingers. Logan lifted an eyebrow. What was he doing? Logan paused his gripping for a moment, before continuing with it a second later. Kairos started shaking again and this time, it started covering its mouth with it's left hand! Logan gasped as it all clicked in his mind! "Are you...laughing?" Logan asked. The teddy bear gave Logan a small, but visible nod of the head. As a test, Logan tried squeezing the bear's side. The bear actually jumped again and began shaking with laughter! Logan's smile got wider as more puzzle pieces fit into the puzzle. "Are you ticklish?" Logan asked in a teasy voice. The teddy bear nodded back! He WAS!

Logan cradled Kairos with his left arm. When it was balanced enough, Logan began skittering his fingers all over Kairos' tummy and sides and started making ticky-ticky noises to further tease the bear. Kairos jolted in surprise and began shaking with laughter and squirming back and forth. When the bear wasn't reaching for Logan's fingers, Kairos was covering its mouth with both hand stubs to almost cover up the giggles and laughter. Unsurprisingly, Kairos didn't really have a laugh that came with a sound. Its laughter was merely shaking. Its hand-covering actually helped a little, to prove that he was laughing happily. Logan began to giggle along with the teddy bear as he tried out different spots. Unsurprisingly, the bear's big, multi-colored belly seemed to be the only spot that got it squirming and shaking the most! The sides still kept it laughing, but the squirming would lessen a bit. Logan even gave the ears a few tickles! And amazingly, the bear had covered its eyes and began rocking left and right uncontrollably! It was a very cute sight to see.

After a few more seconds of tickling, Logan stopped tickling the bear. Even though the bear didn't really have a pair of lungs, Logan still wanted to make sure he didn't go overboard. This was only a one time event. When the bear stopped its heavy breathing, Kairos lifted itself up onto Logan's arm and began giving Logan another hug. Logan lifted the bear up a bit, so it could hug Logan around the neck again. Logan gave the bear one last hug before saying good bye. The bear happily waved Logan good bye, and sat back down to resume to its inactive state. With the bear now inactive, Logan put his backpack on and left the room.

Logan pulled out his walkie-talkie as he walked. "It would appear that SCP-2295 has nerves. He's pretty ticklish." Logan told him.

"Interesting...I wonder if SCP-2295 might like SCP-999?" Dr. ████ asked to himself.

"Maybe..." Logan replied before putting away the walkie-talkie.

Walking down the hall, Logan smiled as he looked at the map. It looked like SCP-131-a/b was next! Logan walked himself up to the door, and placed the key-card into the slot. when the door opened, Logan walked into the room and walked up to a vault with a huge window that showed him the artificial teardrop-looking eyeballs. Logan made a smile when he saw that SCP-131-a & b had a Kids Road play mat on the ground. Logan watched as the two eyeballs rolled around on the rolling ball that was attached to them. They were tiny, but quite quick and observant (I mean, they are eyeballs afterall...). Logan walked up to the vaulted door, and placed the key-card into the slot. When given the right code, the door vault slid open on its own, revealing the eyeballs in its full glory. Logan walked in, gave the little eyeballs a cheerful "Hello", and knelt down to look at the little rolling balls. The eyeballs appeared to be teardrop-shaped Cyclopes. One of them was darker orange-colored, while the other was a darker, pretty yellow color. Logan smiled and gently scratched his fingernail around the bottom of the orange one's point on its head. The cyclops creature closed its single eye for a moment, and let out an electronic, cheerful noise in reply.

Wow! The eyeballs really are like house cats!

Logan gave them a small smile and offered a hand to jump onto. The orange one happily rolled itself onto his hand, and looked up at Logan. Logan carefully bought SCP-131-a up closer to inspect it. He tried caressing the left side of the eye pod, to see what would happen. Logan watched in admiration as the orange eye pod's eye dilated happily, and closed a little bit as it melted into the touch. Logan realized the orange eye pod liked to be petted too! Logan slowly moved his right hand away from the eye pod, just to make sure that the eye pod wouldn't try to roll off his hand or something.

When he felt he could trust the orange pod, Logan grabbed his walkie-talkie from his pocket, and clicked the button to talk. "Dr. ████: With your permission, I have brought a few of the safe SCP's little gifts for them to enjoy. for SCP-131-a & b, I have brought a couple customized wooden cars that I made and customized myself." Logan told him.

"Oh wow! You say you made them yourself? Okay. You can give them to the eye pods." Dr. ████ replied.

"Thank you." Logan said, before placing the orange eye pod down. Logan reached into his bag and pulled out little wooden toy cars, little pieces of black shoe lace, and little plastic rings that were meant for a toddler. Logan placed the shoelaces and the rings aside, to see what the were capable of.

"Here." Logan said, giving them each a little toy car. Both cars were a blue color, with black windows, a black windshield and grey small handles painted on. Logan had covered them in clear varnish to make them shine and keep them from breaking down. To encourage them to push it, Logan gave the car a light push. SCP-131-b looked at the car curiously, and tried pushing it with the side of its body. The yellow pod repeated the pushing, and even went as far as to roll itself around while pushing the car to go faster. Amidst the 'running', the car slipped right off the eye pod's body and slowed its rolling almost immediately. But, much to Logan's surprise, the eye pod couldn't stop itself! It didn't have a brake system! Logan covered his mouth as the eye pod hit a glass wall on the other side of the containment room. Luckily for Logan, the eye pod seemed to be okay after it shook itself off. Logan walked up to it, knelt down to the pod's level, and gave it a few pets to keep it calm. SCP-131-b gave Logan a little babble that could've been its version of saying 'thank you'. Logan smiled and began working on the cars.

Logan had a sense that because the SCP's lacked arms, Logan would need to customize the wooden toys further. Logan had actually prepared himself for such a repair. Logan pulled out the shoelace and the plastic rings, and placed them onto the ground. While one set of lace and ring was set out for the eye pods to investigate, the other shoelace and ring was being tied together, and tied the shoelace to the car. Beforehand, Logan had drilled a small hole into the car so that he could do this. But if it ended up not being needed, then it could be left there as a hole.

When he finished customizing both cars, Logan got their attention by waving the rings in the air for them to see. SCP-131-a rolled itself up first, followed SCP-131-b. Logan placed the ring around the little narrow cone on the top of the SCP's. Then, Logan gave the car a little push to encourage them to try it out. SCP-131-a was the first to go. The orange eye pod started rolling around slowly, just to test out the wooden car. When the wooden car started rolling too, the orange eye pod started going faster and faster! When the eye pod would roll itself faster, the car would roll faster as well! SCP-131-b had turned itself around to face the car, and was currently rolling around the room backwards! Logan giggled at the adorable sight, unable to take how cute and hilarious this was!

After a few minutes of having fun with their new wooden cars, SCP-131-a and b rolled themselves towards the door. Logan smiled and pulled out his walkie-talkie.

"Dr. ████, would I be allowed to let the SCP's roam the wider room with their new cars?" Logan asked.

"Of course! These SCP siblings are one of the only SCP's we allow to roam around." The doctor replied.

Logan smiled as he put the walkie-talkie away, and opened up the automatic door. Almost immediately, the two SCP's went barreling into the wider space with their car toys! Logan giggled at the silly eye pod creatures raced each other around the room. They drove around towards walls, and soon learned how to turn themselves around before they hit the wall! It was like seeing Star Wars-looking droids driving around while high on caffeine AND sugar all at once! It was really funny, and slightly fear inducing! But, they seemed to be having fun. After a few minutes of rolling around to the speed of race cars, SCP-131-a and b rolled themselves over to Logan and began babbling to him. SCP-131-a was attempting to fling the toy off its cone, while SCP-131-b was trying to help its twin. Logan smiled and removed the ring from the orange eye pod's cone. The orange eye pod began rolling around again, and brought itself over to the other door. When the yellow pod's ring was removed as well, SCP-131-b followed its twin over to the door. The two pods started jumping on the spot excitedly. Logan bit his lip. He wasn't sure if the SCP's were allowed to completely leave the perimeter...

"Hey Mr. Sanders..." The walkie-talkie talked.

Logan picked up his walkie-talkie. "Yes Dr. ████?" Logan replied.

"I think you should open the door and follow them. They want to show you something." Dr. ████ told Logan.

Logan nodded. "Roger." Logan replied before putting away the walkie-talkie. Logan walked up to the room button and clicked it to open the door. As soon as the door slid open, the two SCP's headed out the door and began rolling down the hall. "Wait up!" Logan warned them. Thankfully, the SCP's stopped and turned themselves around to wait up for their new slow friend. Logan did catch up though, and even kept his map in his bag to keep it a surprise.

Interesting enough, the eye pods stopped in front of SCP-173's door. Logan kept his key-card in his pocket, but did look inside to take a peek. The gigantic baby-looking statue was standing in the corner of the room, with its black eyes staring at him from over its shoulder. Logan's eyes widened at the size of the statue, and became more and more intimidated by it, the longer he stared. Logan took a moment to blink. When he opened his eyes, the statue had turned itself around! Its front was now facing him, and its black eyes were staring directly back at him. Logan gulped and looked down at the eye pods. Both of the eye pods were looking in SCP-173's direction. They were staring at him through the door, and making sure they didn't take eyes off him. When Logan looked at SCP-173 again, the SCP hadn't moved places at all. Logan narrowed his eyes curiously. The eye pods seemed to understand that they needed to look right at SCP-173 to remain safe. While Logan had been gaining fear from staring at it, the eye pods seemed completely un-phased by it. Logan decided to walk away from the window and keep on going.

When Logan started walking, the eye pods took their eyes off the SCP as well and sped right past Logan! They began leading Logan further down the hall, and stopped in front of one of the rooms. Logan caught up to them, and looked at the door label:

[SCP-999]

Logan immediately made a toothy smile. Logan had been waiting to see this one! But, it looked like the Eye Pods wanted to visit the slime as well! Or, the eye pods wanted to introduce Logan to the SCP. Logan pulled out his walkie-talkie. "SCP-131-a and b have led me to the chamber of SCP-999." Logan told the doctor. Logan out the walkie-talkie back into his pocket and pulled out the key-card, before placing it into the slot to open the door. When the door opened, Logan let the eye pods go in before him, so that Logan didn't have to worry about stepping on them by mistake. Logan closed the door behind him, and walked up to the chamber window. It looked like some kind of translucent orange slime. Logan smiled upon looking at the slime, and walked up to the chamber door. Logan placed the key-card up to the door. When it read it, the door slid open to reveal the orange slime. Logan looked down, and watched as the eye pods rolled excitedly towards the slime. The slime turned around to face them, revealing its black eyes and orange mouth, and happily pulled the eye pods into a big group hug. Logan smiled at the cute scene. While he waited, Logan walked further into the room and closed the door on the inside.

He pulled out his walkie-talkie. "I'm in the room with SCP-999 right now. SCP-131-a and b are hugging it happily." Logan updated.

"Do you feel 999's effects yet?" Dr. ████ asked.

Logan smiled and blushed. "I do feel some of the effects." Logan replied.

"A little warning: People have stated that the longer they stay in there with SCP-999, the more giddy and happy they get." Dr. ████ warned him.

Logan nodded. "Okay." Logan replied, before putting his walkie-talkie into his pocket again.

SCP-999 walked itself up to Logan, with the eye pods in its slime hands. SCP-131-a and b hopped off 999's hands, and rolled themselves behind Logan's feet. They began rolling and attempting to push Logan's feet closer, to meet the slime.

Logan giggled. "Okay, okay. I'm getting there." Logan told them. Logan walked a little closer and knelt himself down. "I'm Logan. I'm visiting the safe SCP's for research and tourist purposes." Logan told the slime. The slime didn't seem to get what Logan was saying. What it DID get though, was that Logan is not a very emotional person. Why, how can that be? That just won't due! A person must express their emotions. It's healthy that way!

SCP-999 brought itself closer to Logan with a smile, and brought him into a big hug with its stubby pseudo-pods. After turning himself around to face the front, Logan gasped as a sudden wave of happiness took him over. The slime was cuddling him firmly, giving him nuzzles with its cheek while making gurgling noises. If it weren't for the overwhelming feeling of happiness, Logan might've felt some awkwardness with this hug from an orange slime. But...the slime was giving him so much happiness! To top it off, the smell of cookies was filling the air as he was being cuddled! How can one feel anything but happiness when you're being cuddled while cookies are baking?!

Logan's toothy smile was impossible to wipe off, and it didn't take long for small, joyful giggles to start pouring out of his mouth. the gurgling and cooing noises the slime was making, only added to the happiness! Things got better and a little more silly, when Logan began feeling the slime suck him into the slime's body. Logan's giggles got a little louder as he felt ticklish sensations against his entire upper body, and some of his lower body as well.

"Hahahaha! Hehehehehey! Yohohohou're tihihihicklihihing mehehehe!" Logan reacted. The slime seemed to like this reaction because the tickling sensation got stronger and stronger. "BAAA! NAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IHIHI'M TOHOHOHOHO TIHIHIHICKLIHIHISH!" Logan shouted.

The slime began letting out excited cooing noises in reply. He hasn't said stop yet, meaning he could keep going! SCP-999 began enveloping its slime around the bottom part of Logan. Now, his belly to his ankles was covered in orange slime, that was tickling him! Logan let out a long, high-pitched squeal! "WAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WAHAHAHAHAIT! NAHAHAHAT MYHYHYHY KNEHEHEHEES! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Logan yelled desperately. Logan began to lose some of his balance. So, SCP-999 brought him down with its pseudo-pods, before continuing the tickle-fight. With two of his stubs, SCP-999 managed to make them thin enough to tickle Logan's armpits. With another stub, SCP-999 continued tickling Logan's belly and his belly button. "NOHOHOHO AHAHAHARMPIHIHIHITS! GAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAHAP IHIHIHIHIT! IHIHIHIHI CAHAHAHAHAHAN'T!" Logan begged helplessly. There it was! There's the word! SCP-999 lessened its tickles exponentially, and only continued the tickling on his belly. "HAHAHAhahahahaha! Ohohohohokahahahay...thahahahahat's behehehehetteheheher..." Logan reacted as his laughter turned into giggles.

SCP-999 smiled and got off of him. The slime slid itself towards Logan's backside, and placed its pseudo-pods onto Logan's shoulders. Logan gasped at the touch, but slowly relaxed as the SCP gave it little massages on the neck and shoulders. The massages were really nice. They were a teeny bit tickly, but nothing that Logan couldn't handle. Logan let out sighs of relief as he melted into the touch. It felt unbelievably relaxing for him. It wasn't painful like most massages were. This was just a gentle, slightly tickly massage.

SCP-999 must've noticed the small smile that was showing up onto Logan's face the higher it went, because the moment SCP-999 began to massage Logan's neck, Logan bursted into giggles. "Cahahaharefuhuhuhul. Thahahahat tihihihicklehehes!" Logan told the SCP.

"Hey Mr. Sanders," Dr. ████ said through the walkie-talkie. "I don't know if you know this, but SCP-999 has also been nicknamed 'The Tickle Monster' by the staff." Dr. ████ told Logan.

Immediately following that helpful fact, SCP-999 abandoned its massages and started enveloping Logan in its orange slime! Logan immediately knew what was next. He could already feel the tickle sensations against his ribs. Logan's giggles continued to fill the room as the eye pods watched eagerly. The eye pods seemed to make Logan slightly more giggly. Why, you may ask? Because it was like having an audience! To top it off, Dr. ████ was also watching him get tickled by 'the tickle monster'.

"Ohohohokahahahay, Heheheheheh! Ohohohokahahahahahay! Thahahahat's ehehenouhuhuhugh nohohohohow!" Logan warned. SCP-999 seemed to have thought otherwise, because the SCP made a gesture that was similar to a shake of the head. SCP-999 brought an pseudo-pod up to the back of Logan's neck, and began tickling there as well. Logan let out a squeal and lifted up his shoulders. "NOHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHA! IHIHIHIHI SAHAHAHAHAID THAHAHAT'S EHEHENOHOHOHOUGH!" Logan reacted, squirming around as much as he could through the slime. Surprisingly, the slime was thick, but still movable! It...kind of reminded Logan of peanut-butter. Amazingly as well, none of the slime seemed to stick to him or detach from the SCP at all! So, Logan didn't end up with any slime pieces stuck on him.

SCP-999 began letting Logan go and making apologetic gurgling noises. Logan laid himself down on the floor and panted in exhaustion. Worried for their new friend, the eye pods rolled themselves onto Logan and jumped onto Logan's belly. Logan made a surprised yelp from the sudden feeling of pods on his belly, but quickly fell into a fit of giggles as the pods rolled themselves up Logan's ribs. SCP-131-a started letting out electronic babbles in worry.

"Ihihihi'm fihihihine. Cahaharfuhuhul whehehre yohohou're gohohoHOHOHOIHIHING! IHIHIHIT TIHIHIHIHICKLEHEHES!" Logan reacted, falling on his back as his laughter hot louder. SCP-131-b had started attempting to climb up Logan's body, but was stuck rolling on the spot on Logan's belly. Logan's hands were squeezed into fists, as he struggled to not squirm too much to the point of knocking the pods off him. Now that Logan had let his giggles out of his mouth, he couldn't even try to push them back in. It was impossible. "GEHEHEHET OHOHOHOHOFF MYHYHY BEHEHEHELLYHYHY!" Logan begged. The yellow eye pod didn't seem to understand. So, it just kept on attempting to roll itself off the man's belly. This only made Logan's laughter continue. "THEHEHE ROHOHOHOLLIHIHIHIHING IHIHIS SOHOHOHOHO BAHAHAHAHAHAHAD!" Logan yelled. Again, SCP-131-b didn't understand him through all his giggles. But what 131-b DID understand, was that the blue man's belly was very bouncy.

Thankfully for Logan, SCP-999 seemed to understand him perfectly. SCP-999 slid itself over to the yellow eye pod, and picked it up with one of its pseudo-pods. With the other pseudo-pod, SCP-999 picked up the orange pod. Now that both eye pods were no longer tickling him, Logan could finally get some air. Logan stayed laying on the ground, and kept on giggling amidst his breathing. When the eye pods were placed aside safely, SCP-999 picked up Logan and engulfed him in a big, cuddly, slimy, yet comforting hug. Logan happily took the hug, and began to hug SCP-999 back. SCP-999 began nuzzling its cheek into Logan's scalp, and gently ruffled Logan's hair with a third pseudo-pod.

"Ihi lohohove yohohou too...Ihi lohove yohohou tooho, buhuhuddy..." Logan told him, giving it a few light touches on the cheek. Logan gasped at how squishy and surprisingly soft 999's face was. "You're so squishy! You're such a squishy-squish! You're such a good squishy-squish!" Logan cooed in a high-pitched voice. SCP-999's eyes widened as its smile grew wider. If it were a dog, SCP-999 would've probably wagged its tail and jumped up onto its hind legs in excitement. So in happiness, SCP-999 gave Logan a few more tickles with its pseudo-pods. One of them tickled on the neck, while the other two went for Logan's belly. "Ohohokahahay. Ihihihi gehehehehet ihihit...Yohohohou lohohohohove mehehe toohohohohoho..." Logan replied.

To further prove the SCP's love for Logan, SCP-999 tickled Logan under the chin as well. Logan made a wide smile and let out a cackle, before pulling his chin away. When his chin left the pseudo-pods' grip, SCP-999 made a forth pseudo-pod and tickled under his chin on the other side! No matter where Logan would move his head, SCP-999 would tickle his chin. Soon, Logan was letting out little snorts as well! SCP-999 AND SCP-131 a & b were all excited to hear THAT!

Even the doctor had something to say about it! "Wow! Even serious men like you can snort when tickled hard enough! No wonder SCP-999 loves you!" Dr. ████ reacted through the walkie-talkie. Unsurprisingly, this bit of teasing, along with SCP-999's cooing and gurgling noises, were all making Logan's face turn red! Logan was unbelievably embarrassed. He should've known that something like this would happen. He should've prepared himself for lots of tickles and giggles from SCP-999! But...he didn't! And now, Logan was really regretting it.

"HEHEHEHELP MEHEHEHEHE! IHIHIHIHIT'S *Snort* TOHOHOHO MUHUHUHUCH! *Snort* HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Logan yelled through his laughter.

"Okay, okay, okay. I'll help you." The Doctor replied. Logan let out a breath of relief. He was finally gonna get out of here! He loved it, but BOY, was it tiring! Logan made his body go limp as he believed he was getting free.

But suddenly, a vibrating feeling could be felt! Right on Logan's hip! Logan squealed and attempted to reach for the walkie-talkie that was in his front, right pocket. But, SCP-999 had grabbed his hands and placed them above his head! How DARE HE! That doctor is SO gonna get it!

"WAHAHAHAIT! LEHEHEHET MEHEHE GOHOHOHOHO! STAHAHAHAP IHIHIHIHIT DOHOHOHOCTOHOHOHOR!" Logan shouted, hoping the doctor could hear him through the cameras. But, the walkie-talkie didn't stop! It just kept on going and going! The worst part, was that it was right on the hollow of his hip! That's what was making it tickle so much! The walkie-talkie was right on a really bad spot! "PLEHEHEHEHEAHASE STAHAHAHAHAHAP!" Logan begged. SCP-999 looked at Logan with a confused expression. Why was he laughing? What was making him laugh so much? Even though the SCP loved hearing his full-blown laughter, it also wanted to know what was causing it. Thankfully though, the eye pods seemed to have figured it out! SCP-131-b rolled itself over to Logan's pocket and made babbling noises at the slime. When it got the slime's attention, the yellow pod stared right at the bulging pocket. The slime let out a few surprised gurgling noises!

SCP-999 let go of one of Logan's hands, and reached for the walkie-talkie. But, Logan beat him to it. Logan grabbed onto the top of the radio, and clicked the talk button to stop the vibrations. Then, Logan pulled the walkie-talkie out of his pocket, and slid it away from him. As the walkie-talkie slid away, the walkie-talkie buzzed and vibrated all over the ground. To make matters even funnier, SCP-131-a and b took off racing after it! It was like a new toy to them, that they could chase! Logan giggled at the scene, while SCP-999 made little happy gurgle noises.

"Thahahank yohohohou, Nine-nihihine-nihine." Logan said, giving the slime a few light pets on the head. SCP-999 happily melted into the calming touch. It appeared that SCP-999 liked being given touch as well as touching others! Logan smiled at the reaction it gave him. "Ihihi have aha gihihift fohohor yohohou..." Logan told SCP-999. The slime let Logan go, and began making excited gurgling noises while bouncing around excitedly. Logan smiled and opened up his backpack. Excited to see the slime's reaction as well, Logan pulled out a pack of M&M's, and a pack of Necco™ wafers. Upon seeing BOTH of the slime's favorite food, SCP-999's mouth started watering profusely. Logan smiled and opened up the M&M's. When the smell of M&M's filled the air, SCP-999 started bouncing around, clapping its pseudo-pods together and sliding around the room.

"Wow! What a lucky slime! That slime gets to have a bedtime snack!" Dr. ████ reacted from the walkie-talkie. Logan looked over, and noticed that the walkie-talkie was right beside him now. Then, he noticed the pods, happily squirming in place and waiting for a reaction. Logan smiled happily. "Thank you." Logan said before dumping out the M&M's for the slime. After the garbage ended up in the bag, Logan reaching his hands out to give them both 'good boy' pets. Upon the invitation, both pods came barreling over to Logan for pets. Logan giggled and began caressing, petting and scratching the little guys. "You too are such good pods! Yes you are! Oh yes you are! Such good little pods!" Logan cooed in a high-pitched voice. Both pods closed their eyes happily and deeply melted into the loving touches. The hands were so soft, so caring, so delicate! It even got to the point where the pods turned themselves so far to the side, that they just flopped onto the hands. Logan tittered at the reaction, and held them up in his hands.

"You know what? How would you like to come over and visit the safe SCP's more often? I think we need a person like you, who's loving, understanding, and very playful. Often the thing the SCP's miss, is the playfulness. And you seem to have it." The doctor offered.

Logan smiled and looked up at the slime. SCP-999 offered its pseudo-pod to Logan, and Logan calmly placed the orange pod into the slime's makeshift hand. With his hand now free, Logan picked up his walkie-talkie. "I'd love to!" Logan replied.

"Excellent! Would 20 bucks an hour work?" Dr. ████ asked.

Logan blinked, confused. "...What?" Logan clarified.

"Would 20 bucks an hour work? For looking after them?" Dr. ████ explained further. "You're getting paid to play with them. This is a one-time opportunity, that's being extended under the SCP Foundation. You minus well get paid." Dr. ████ further explained.

"I...I appreciate the offer, but..." Logan attempted to reason.

"Is that a yes for hourly pay?" Dr. ████ asked.

"I- No." Logan replied.

Dr. ████ paused his speech. "...What would you like then?" Dr. ████ asked.

"I'd like to play with them for less money. Much less. Heck, I'd love to just volunteer my time." Logan told him.

Dr. ████'s eyes widened. "...Are you serious? You want to volunteer your time to play with a bunch of unknown SCP's for a few days monthly?!" Dr. ████ clarified.

Logan smiled. "Yes. As long as they're safe, I'd love to do that." Logan told him.

Dr. ████ didn't know what to say. "...Wow...I-What can I even say to that? Other than...thank you!" Dr. ████ reacted, unable to properly process the information he was hearing.

"You're welcome. I'd love to help. I love these SCP's. I don't normally form bonds with people very quickly, but this...was an extraordinary experience." Logan told him.

Dr. ████ smiled. "I'm glad you agreed to my invitation." Dr. ████ said.

"I'm glad I did too. Though, who can turn down a chance to visit a predicting pen, a surgeon teddy bear, a coffee machine with endless beverages, a couple eye pods and a happy slime? I certainly wouldn't." Logan told him.

Dr. ████ let out a chuckle. "I'm glad to know." Dr. ████ replied.

Suddenly, Logan was pulled out of the conversation by an alarm clock in the room. Logan looked at the time.

[8:30 PM]

"That's the 30 minute warning for workers. It's their time to ready themselves to head home. You can choose to leave if you want. If you are going to leave though, I'd like you to take the pods back to their chamber." Dr. ████ told him. Logan looked at the pods, and noticed they had woken up and were ready to go.

"Okay. I'm gonna take them back then." Logan told the doctor.

"Alright." Dr. ████ said. "Have a good rest then." Dr. ████ told him.

Logan smiled. "Thanks, you too." Logan replied. Then, Logan picked up his backpack, and began zipping it up. As Logan began to leave, Logan couldn't help but notice that the pods were getting slower and slower. Their eyes were starting to droop as well. So, Logan stopped in front of them, and opened up a small, front pouch. "Here. You guys can ride in here." Logan told them. Logan lifted up the orange pod first, and placed it into the pouch. Then. Logan lifted up the yellow pod and placed it in beside the orange one. When the two pods were ready, Logan carefully carried the backpack up to their chamber door. When the door unlocked with his key-card, Logan opened up the door and walked into the room. After opening up the sliding door with the key-card, Logan walked in and placed the backpack down. Logan carefully lifted each pod out one at a time, and placed it onto the kids play mat they had.

Then, Logan gave them one last good night pet before walking out the door...

#ticklefic #fluff #scp foundation #field trip #human sides #sanders sides #scp-999 #scp-2295 #scp-131 #switch!logan #fandom fusions

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vanchlo · 4 years

Text

The Assistant / Chapter Forty-One, “Finally”

*Gifs are not mine*

Clickable Links:

- *NEW* Becky Magazine Cover from an O.C. Tag Challenge c:

- Masterlist feat. all chapters and Character Surveys

- Inspo tag

- Hecky Playlist

- Read on Wattpad

Warnings: None

Word Count: 10.3k words

Song: You’re Still The One by Shania Twain, bc duh Just Like Heaven by The Cure (click to listen)

A/N: I am SO excited for you to read this chapter, you’ll soon find out why ;)

SNEAKYYYYYY PEEEEEK

For the fiftieth time in the last two days, I couldn’t be more grateful for how easy things are coming together. I couldn’t be more thankful to have him by my side. It still feels like a dream getting to live this life now, and getting to work with him on the daily, singing Spice Girls amidst stolen cheek kisses.

One puzzle piece at a time, and there’s only one or two pieces left in this puzzle of ours.

"And then my soul saw you and it kind of went ‘Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.’"

- Iain Thomas, ‘I Wrote This For You’

There was truly nothing that could rock the waves I was currently riding, and I couldn’t wait a second longer to do the very thing that would make them even bigger. They had only climbed since telling Asher earlier this evening, and the smile that shared on our faces.

Skye was sprawled out on the sofa when I opened the door, finding it impossible to hide the grin on my face as I read a text from Harry that had dinged a moment before.

i havent been this excited for somethin in a long time bug. absolutely cant wait to see u on friday, idk if i can wait that long ;) good luck on ur case with Myles 2moro, you’ll do great Becks xo

“Well, look who has a pep in her step, all of a sudden. I don’t think I’ve seen you smile in days, since Harry’s left. What’s the occasion, Ree?” she teases, surprising me with the simple act of muting an episode of The Great British Bake Off that our nights consist of as of late.

“I may have had a good day,” I suggest with a shrug of my shoulders as I put my coat away in the closet.

“Since bloody when? You were in a shitty mood the last time we spoke, having ‘Harry withdrawals,’ or something. I’d say the only reason you could be happy right now is if you’d seen him, which would be impossible seeing he’s in Glasgow for another few days,” she mutters. I observe the look on her face change and how her eyebrows dance along her forehead after I turn around to face her, letting the smile lose. “Wait, he’s still there, isn’t he?” she questions, reaching a hand out as if looking for an answer with her body, too.

My head shakes from side to side slowly as my lips part to show my teeth, a rarity among my smiles, and the expression dawning on her face tells me she recognizes it too. “He came back today, his case finished early, Skye. And I asked him out on a date!”

“You didn’t?! Ree, you better not be kidding with me, or I’m gonna be really pissed at you!” she chuckles, feigning intimidation in her voice. Hints of the emotions buzzing around inside of me play across her face, meanwhile, my happiness keeps growing notch after notch.

I don’t know if I can wait that long either, Harry, cause I can’t remember the last time I was this excited. Thank you so much xxx

“I’m not kidding, Skye, and he said yes! He didn’t even let me finish asking and he said yes!” I exclaim after sending the text I had been typing, feeling her arms come around me in a shock when I look back up.

“I’m so fucking happy for you, Ree, it’s about bloody time!” she remarks excitedly, almost crushing me in a hug.

“Me too, I can’t remember the last time I was this happy,” I admit softly, relaxing in her arms, even though part of me wishes they were the arms of somebody else. Only an hour later, and I already miss him. Wow, I’ve got this bad.

“Did you kiss him at least?!”

“No, I’m waiting for the date, I guess. I looked like proper crap today, I’ve been up so late the last few nights prepping for the case with Myles,” I laugh, pulling away from her smell of peaches and chocolate when my pocket dings.

“First kisses aren’t something you plan, Ree, they just happen out of nowhere. The sooner, the better.”

“I guess you’re right,” I confess with a smile stuck to my lips. “We’ll just see what happens.”

Happiness and its synonyms still fill me to the brim an hour later, and whilst my thumbs flit across the screen of my phone. Her words stare back at me, and unbeknownst to me how, I wish I could see her again already. My footsteps wander down the main hallway, and before I know what I’m doing, I arrive at her door. Low and behold, it’s closed and my heart sinks into my chest when I find darkness waiting behind it.

miss u already bug xoxo

My words are whisked off to her, and soon my legs are entering the doorway of a certain somebody’s office, although not the one I was hoping for.

“It’s about time you made your rounds and came to say hi to me. Should I feel offended I’m the last one on your list?” Myles teases from behind his desk with a grin lining his lips.

“Oh, shuddup. Did Becks leave already fer tha night?” I question, letting my shoulder fall to the door frame as I watch the small ‘delivered’ appear under my blue text.

“Yeah, I ran into her about twenty minutes ago in the break room when she was clocking out. What, didn’t you already see her?”

“Ya, she was me first visitor. I was jus’ hopin’ t’ see her ‘gain,” I shrug, well aware of the terrible job I’m doing of hiding the one hundred watt smile I’m wearing.

“And does that have anything to do with you blinding me with that smile of yours?” he inquires, raising a sandy blonde eyebrow at me.

“Maybe it has sumthin’ t’ do with me havin’ a date with her on Friday, as of an hour ago,” I reveal casually with a shrug of my shoulders, feeling the smile grow larger somehow.

“Fucking finally,” Myles chimes with happiness spreading across his face, and I nod quickly.

“I know, ‘s all finally comin’ t’getha fer us.”

It would be accurate to say that I was still in utter disbelief after yesterday, and rehashing it all to Skye the second I got home only made it all seem more real, and even better. Then again, that was an understatement, because I had been waiting for this for years. I had been waiting to feel this way for too long, and to be able to say and think that I have a date with Harry tomorrow. An actual, proper date. Several times, I cursed myself for not making the date on Thursday night, tonight, because although I had waited painstakingly for five days, another two felt like twenty years.

It was even bittersweet coming to work the next day and not seeing him there, confusing the habits and expectations I had come to know. I still had to finish up the case with Myles that he would finish arguing, with my help, for the next two days. I tried to think of it that way, that the date would be even better after finishing that case, and in a way, signifying my return to Harry. God, it was all too perfect, but it would be even more so if I didn’t have to wait another bloody day, well actually two, to see him. Yesterday wasn’t long enough, but when I think about it, no length of time ever is with him and that’s how I know I’m in trouble.

Also, that I’m walking right into one of my dreams.

After a morning spent in court starting off the case, I was back at the firm with Myles after lunch to work on it some more. He had given me more time to myself to work on my own than Harry had, but I preferred it that way. Harry was right, Myles was good to me, and I did learn a lot from him, but it wasn’t the same as being with Harry. Nothing has ever and never will be the same as being with him, certainly not. Also, the whole Family and Interpersonal side of court was depressing as fuck, I found out. The topic littered Harry and I’s conversations the last almost week, resulting in me taking after him and deciding to stay far away from it for now.

I’m reminded of him everywhere I go, and it definitely makes trying to get my work done all the more difficult. I see his face in the succulent sat at the corner of my desk, behind my office chair where he would lean over me to help me on my laptop, on my sofa where he opened his birthday presents with explosive happiness, and in the reflection on the tall window where I now stand in the same spot as on his birthday when he hugged me against his front with a kiss to my head. A day later, and it all still feels so surreal to me, and I’m not mad about it. I appreciate its distracting qualities, leaving me to not worry as much about what the hell I’m going to wear tomorrow, and messing things up. Skye’s already picked out five outfits for me by now, I’m sure, but I was at a loss last night when I perused my closet. The pressure to impress somebody I’ve already met a hundred times, feels even greater than my second interview I had at the firm, and I tell myself I don’t know why, even though I do.

I want to wear the right thing, and feel beautiful. More than that, I don’t want to mess things up between us, again, no matter how stupid that sounds. No matter how premature it is to worry about right now.

With the happiest of sighs, I wander over to my bookshelf that now sits a dozen law books, gifts from Harry, Skye, Robbie, my dad, and Asher. Perhaps my favorite, to no surprise, is the Lawyer’s Dictionary that Harry got me. It has a section for all of the law jargon, another on many important laws, and lastly finishes with a guide for working the courtroom. I was just getting on my tippy toes to grab it when I feel a pair of arms surround my chest and pull me against theirs.

“Hiya, brat,” a voice teases, tickling my neck.

“Harry!” I exclaim with surprise, grabbing hold of his forearms. “Why do you love to scare me so much?”

“I dunno, ‘s fun, and coz yer a brat, so ya deserve it,” he giggles, and finally I relent and do too as I turn around to face him.

“I am not a brat!” I argue, finding his flushed stubbly cheeks, taking a second to get used to the thick stubble covering them now.

“Ya are, I reckon, couldn’t even wake me up last night t’ finish tha rest o’ tha FRIENDS episode on FaceTime, jus’ kept watchin’ along without me. If that doesn’t make ya a brat, then I dunno what does,” he tuts, clucking his tongue as he shakes his head at me. My giggles grow into a hearty chuckle as his folded hands settle at the small of my back.

“Harry Edward!” I scoff, swatting at his chest once again hidden by his Northface coat, matching his black skinny jeans.

“Hey, ya betta watch that hand o’ yers, bug, and that mouth too.”

“I’m not a brat,” I whine, all facial features falling into a pout that immediately grabs his attention.

“Rebecca Ann, don’t even start with me. Put that bloody pout away befo’ ya regret it,” he insists, pointing his eyes at me with the smallest of smirks peeking through on his lips. It wins him over and soon his dimples accompany his deep laugh. “Stop, yer not a brat, bug, ‘m jus’ teasin’ ya. Y’know that. Jus’ can’t believe it didn’t even take a week fer ya t’ skip ahead o’ me in our show.”

“The episode was already three quarters of the way over!” I protest, earning a good finger wag at me. I fight back and push against his chest. “And I didn’t want to wake you up, you were so tired.”

“No, it was not! It was only half way through and ya couldn’t even wake me up! How rude o’ my Becks t’ be makin’ up excuses.”

“Stop being mean to me,” I pout again, beginning to turn away with my arms crossed over my chest.

“Hey, ‘m jus’ givin' ya a hard time, bug, y’know that. Yer neva a brat, and even if ya are, yer my brat,” Harry hums warmly, the honey returning to his voice in full force as he catches me around the middle with his arms once again. I can’t remember the last time I heard his voice absent of the honey, though. I don’t ever want to. “I wouldn’t want ya any otha way.”

“I knew you were only joking.”

“You li’l liar!” he laughs against my temple and mine joins his ever so contagious one. “Y’know, ‘ve always loved how ya neva take me shit and how ya can dish it right back, Becks.”

“Of course, I figured out at the very beginning that I wouldn’t get by without it.”

“That’s me girl,” he coos, bringing me forth and round to find his gentle green eyes once more. They smile at me with a sparkle to them I haven’t had the pleasure to know before. I’ve yet to see him look at anybody this way, and I wonder if I have my own special look in my eyes for him, too. If I do, it was born long ago.

“What are you doing here? I thought you had said you were going to take it easy until Monday, since your case got done early,” I wonder aloud, unsure of what to do with my hands until they venture to his coat’s zipper on their own, pulling it up and down distractedly.

“I was, until My’ roped me into a partner meetin’ t’day, and I wanted t’ see a special sumbody,” he sighs with an accented roll of his eyes at first, and then they dish out their dazzle on me. “But that’s it, and ‘m off afta that. I hafta do a li’l work fer my case afta finishin’ it, but it’ll only take ten minutes tops. Then laundry, cleanin’, and tha like at home before grocery shoppin’. Only jus’ now got outta bed, tha bloody jetlag.”

“Ah, I see. The work of a lawyer never ends, it seems,” I comment and he nods above me, eyes watching my every move closely. “God, if I knew you’d be here today I would have tried a little harder when I got dressed this morning,” I laugh nervously, my eyes falling to his crimson button-up peeking out from his coat, decorated with gray flowers and foliage.

“Ya don’t even hafta try and ya look gorgeous, Becks. Promise,” Harry disagrees, the molasses pouring out from his words and into my heart, pushing the very last chip away. Just like that, I’m all his again, but I think it happened long before this and I didn’t know. Daring a look up at him, the dimples couldn’t be deeper in his cheeks as his sunshine smile radiates onto me, the pad of his thumb rough against my cheek. “I sure missed seein’ that smile, ‘s me favourite.”

My anxiousness carries away with the sunshine, and I’m left with red cheeks and a smile that makes them hurt. It almost pains me to look into his bright sunny eyes, but I wouldn’t want to be looking anywhere else. Finally, I let myself look and with that, I let him in a little further and start to let go.

“You’re really laying it on thick,” I jest harmlessly with a smile, dragging my finger down the seam of his chest where the two sides of the fabric meet in red cloth buttons.

“Ya, coz I finally can,” he grins, and the warmth spreading across my body in tingly waves finds an outlet in a soft laugh of mine.

Anxious yes, but ever so happy while his hand spreads out flush against my back, fingertips moving lazily. I’ve already pinched myself once or twice today wondering if this is all a dream, and shocked that I could ever be this happy. There were so many times I doubted the existence of it and its possibility, and everything it had to do with having this with Harry. Predictably, an electronic twinkle interrupts our conversation, and I’m confused to find him lifting his wrist.

“Woah, look at the fancy lawyer,” I tease, his already colossal smile growing taller as he flicks a finger across his shiny new Apple watch. “That must have cost a pretty penny.”

“Ya, and My’ dished out e’ry last cent,” he titters, pressing his palm to the shiny surface rounded by space grey edges, returning his eyes and hands to me. “It was his birthday present t’ me, sayin’ that I should be mo’ organized at me age, or sumthin’.”

“Talk about brutal honesty right there.”

“Don’t go bloody agreein’ with him now!” Harry scoffs, but his mouth open in disgust is no more, lined by joyous lips that soon attack my cheeks in kisses.

“No, no, no!” I beg aloud in shrieks when his quick fingers dance along my ribs, sending jolts of electricity across my body. More exclamations and pleas escape them before I say the magic words, “Harry Edward!”

“What d’ya want, hmm, Rebecca Ann?” he asks breathlessly, that adorable breathy laugh falling off of his glossy cherry lips.

“I think you like saying my full name too much,” I contend, giving up and falling into the sage green abyss of his eyes for the hundredth time, or more.

“Maybe I do. Maybe I like it,” he shrugs mischievously, that smirk glued to his lips that pull me in.

“Do you like it, the watch?”

“Ya, ‘s nice. I thought ‘d told ya ‘bout it, sorry. Reckon it has helped me t’ stay organized. Speakin’ of, me meetin’ ‘s inna few, so I hafta take off, bug,” he croons with disapproving lips, his bottom lip soon jutting out from the top.

“Harry Styles, don’t you even!” I threaten rather weakly, the sounds of happiness leaving my lips doing a good job of that.

“Oh, and what if I don’t? Hmmm, Rebecca Holte, jus’ what will ya do ‘bout it?” Harry returns, wiggling an eyebrow at me that makes my chest rumble with harder laughter.

“I’ll just have to stop you, but I don’t know how just yet.”

A devilish smirk is born on his lips before my eyes, and soon leaves my view while his face escapes to the crook of my neck, his voice soon tickling my skin, “Lawyers gotta be quick on their feet, bug. Reckon I can think o’ a way ya can make these lips stop poutin’, maybe ya can try it on me t’morro’ afta our date,” he hums against my neck, knitting up his sentence with a whisper of a kiss below my ear.

I feel like a fricken sixteen-year-old all over again, and I’m loving every second.

“You better get going to your meeting, before you’re late, Harry,” I giggle uncontrollably, sure that my face is blotchy with red all over because of what he just said. My suspicion is confirmed when he lifts his head of moused curls to look me in the eyes again, and the glint in them tells me so. I feel like I can read him even better now, all because he’s letting me.

“‘s alright, they expect me t’ be late by now, ‘s a given,” he insists with a comedic shrug of his shoulders, hands wandering away from my back and to our sides where they invite my hands into his.

“Will you stop and say goodbye this time?”

“‘Course, bug. ‘m sorry I missed ya yestaday, ya had already left afta I had made me rounds,” he assures me, receiving a quiet ‘it’s okay’ from me.

“Try not to fall asleep at your meeting today,” I joke, watching his eyes roll into the back of his head briefly before he scoops me into his arms for a squeeze.

“I won’t if ya promise not t’ be a brat anymo’ and skip ahead in our show.”

“Get lost and go to your meeting already!” I laugh, shoving him away by his chest, observant of his mouth relaxing into a disbelieving ‘O’. His laugh echoes mine quickly, only disrupted when my hand comes to his cheek to plant my lips on his other for a few seconds longer than necessary. “I’m so glad you’re back, Harry.”

“So am I, Becks, so bloody much,” he echoes, holding my hands a little tighter in his, even bringing one to his lips for a kiss. “Good luck on yer case, love, for tha thousandth time. ‘m so proud o’ you.”

With that, he leaves me in a puddle of my own surreal emotions, disappearing from my office with a look over his shoulder wearing that smirk. That very smirk I want so desperately to kiss off those cherry lips already. Tomorrow, I think, if I can make it until then. Just one more day.

I had been struggling with finishing this last part, or rather redoing it, for too long now. When my eyes again strayig to the violet clock, I was surprised to find that it had been almost an hour, and I hadn’t gotten much further. With my head in my hands, I sigh as feelings battle to be felt within my insides. After today’s argument, Myles and I had to shift our approach, and I still wasn’t sure of how to do that. He had been helping me, of course, but I still felt so lost. It doesn’t help that he’s currently caught up in the partner’s meeting that Harry is also at, and Jennings who is but isn’t a partner. I still don’t get it, even though Harry explained it to me a few times. The next time he does, I’ll have to remember to ask him to dumb it down for me.

Even after pouring over our shared notes in Google Docs, and my several law books strewn across my desk, I’m at a loss for what to do.

I wish more than anything that it was already five pm tomorrow, and that the only thing I have to think about is my date with Harry. I still don’t know what the hell to wear, or to do with my hair, or how heavy to go with my makeup.

“Why tha long face, bug?” somebody pipes up, pulling me away from my immersive thoughts. Blinking hard, I tear my eyes away from the laptop screen and look over to the door, but I don’t lift my tired head from my propped fist.

“I don’t know what to do for my argument.”

“Still? Why didn’t ya jus’ ask, Becks?” Harry hums with an inviting smile, pressing the door to come just shy of closing.

I shrug my shoulders with a heavy exhale, scrolling through what I have so far, quickly realizing how embarrassing it’ll be to show him. I can’t exit out quickly enough, hearing his footsteps arrive behind me.

“Hey, what d’ya think yer doin’?” he teases when I switch tabs, quickly feeling the weight of his hand on top of mine, dragging the mouse along. “Don’t be nervous, love, ‘m here t’ help. Always am,” he coos softly, a hand settling on my adjacent shoulder, earning me an encouraging squeeze.

“It’s embarrassing, Harry. I’ve been sitting here for over an hour trying to figure out what to do, and I have next to nothing to show for it.”

“Relax, ‘s only yer first official case yer arguin’. Don’t be so hard on yerself, Becks. It sounds like ya need a break, bug,” he insists, sending sparks along my left arm as he rubs stripes along the skin. It’s not long before I hear a familiar laugh and slowly, Harry’s dancing figure comes into view. “Yo ‘ll tell ya what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me what ya want, what ya really, really want,” he belts out, his phone blasting the song cupped in his hand.

“Oh my God,” I sigh with an accidental laugh, my head falling into my hands. I’m too curious though, and so I peek out from behind my spread fingers to watch him sing passionately with his eyes closed while breaking out some amusing dance moves. “Please, stop,” I chuckle, but I’m sure he also hears the lie in my voice.

“‘m not stoppin’.”

“Please, Harry. You’re going to make me die from secondhand embarrassment,” I confess into my hands, feeling brave and letting my fingers fall down to below my eyes. Mistakenly, his catch mine and they fly back up to cover my eyes, or for the most part.

“Rebecca Ann, ‘m not stoppin’ ‘til ya come and join me.”

“Then you’re going to be there for a while,” I say with a shrug of my shoulders, certain of one thing and that’s the smile claiming my lips, and the forgotten document staring at me. I’m too preoccupied with the silly, dancing man in front of my eyes, and how somehow this makes me love him all the more.

“Becks,” he insists, in between singing along to the song very badly. Oh no, I think as his steps near me once again. Before I know it, I’m staring into darkness as his breath tickles the back of my neck.

“Stop,” I beg with laughs interjected among my pleas. They grow into near shouts and exclamations when his singing is accompanied by his fingers dancing across my sides, and along the slopes of my neck. “Harry!” I almost yell, and when my laughs couldn’t hurt my belly more, it all ceases. Only the singing remains and is joined by his stubbly cheek against my temple, and his arms coiled around my shoulders. “If ya wanna be my lova, ya gotta get with my friends.”

“Make it last forever, friendship never ends,” I continue for him, giggles heard at the end when his nose tickles the corner of my sensitive neck.

“There’s me happy Becks, ‘m glad I found her ‘gain,” Harry coos, leaving a kiss on my temple before he helps me to tackle my argument.

Five days did and didn’t feel very long when I think about it now, with his arms wrapped around me as his voice tickles my ear. Too easily, I can remember his absence over those long days, and how effortlessly they felt far longer. I barely survived with his texts and phone calls alone, and it hurts to think that if it hadn’t been for his case finishing early, I’d still be sitting here in my office all in my lonesome.

Those thoughts are yanked away - thank God - when his voice brings me back, spewing legal mumbo jumbo that luckily nowadays I can understand, but I couldn’t have always said that. Harry makes quick work of what would be my best route to take and how I do that, and for the fiftieth time in the last two days, I couldn’t be more grateful for how easy things are coming together. I couldn’t be more thankful to have him by my side. It still feels like a dream getting to live this life now, and getting to work with him on the daily, singing Spice Girls amidst stolen cheek kisses.

One puzzle piece at a time, and there’s only one or two pieces left in this puzzle of ours.

The murmur of voices assaults my ears when I walk through the door, and feel my vision tugged towards the ceiling decorated with chandeliers. A song by Frank Sinatra floats around the entryway, hardly calming my overactive nerves, despite it being a favorite of my late grandpa’s. When I finally reach the host’s stand, the nerves topple out with my words, jumbling them.

“Reservation for H-Harry Styles, please,” I tell the towering, dark haired man. After a few moments tapping away on the kiosk, he grabs two menus and leads me through a maze of linen covered tables sat under the glow of the several chandeliers.

I try to hide my disappointment when he leads me to an empty, round table, leaving with a few words about my server being with me soon. Another feeling bubbles up inside me, forcing itself to join all of the others mixed together within me. I had a feeling I was too early, I think silently as I shrug off my long pea coat to hang over my chair. Skye’s wishes of good luck and ‘lots of snogging’ float back to me, filling my sad cheeks with another wash of pink. ‘No, you aren’t driving yourself, I’m dropping you off so then you can get a ride home with him, and lay a big one on him when he walks you up,’ she had insisted, but the anxiousness years in the making is doing a good job of making me doubt myself tonight.

My attention drifts to my phone that is silent with no new messages, but I still check our conversation. The last message was from him:

see u in half an hour for our date bug :) xxx

My thumb scrolls through our previous messages, straying to last night’s that brings a smile to my face.

I have no idea what to wear tomorrow :/

meant it when i said u look beautiful in anything Becks ;) help what should i wear ? xx

I might be a little impartial to that gray suit you wore to my class lecture that one time ;)

noted ;) i may especially love the color red on u if u wanna know

Noted ;) Question....

shoot, love

Skye was gonna drop me off tonight on her way to her boyfriend’s …. Would a ride home be too much to ask?

course not Becks. anytime u need a ride im here. id love to give u a ride home. perfect we can jam 2 some spice girls in the car then ;)

I can’t wait

neither can i bug :)

My reminiscing is interrupted when my eyes fall to my outfit of choice, tugging up the scoop neck that Skye insisted wasn’t ‘too slutty.’ Now, I’m not so sure about it, and I can’t decide if I wish he’d show up already, or if I’m not ready. Those thoughts are stolen away when the texts disappear on my phone, his smiling face claiming the screen with a jingle.

“Hello?” I answer with a gulp, trying to hide the anxious tremble in my voice. I can’t help it, my eyes dart to my wrist, noticing it’s already 6:05 pm.

“Hi, bug. ‘m sorry but tha traffic ‘s horrendous and ‘m afraid ‘ll be late gettin’ t’ tha restaurant. E’rybody else ‘s comin’ home from work too,” Harry explains from the other side, a weird sound taking over his voice. Yeah, we’re not too good at this pretending thing anymore, are we? I can hear the nerves in his voice, probably just like he can hear them in mine.

“Oh, it’s okay, Harry. I don’t mind at all, just be careful driving,” I respond, feeling a sense of relief at knowing where he is. I know he never would, but it squashes the tiny voice inside of me saying he wasn’t ever going to show up.

“‘Course I will, love. Thanks fer understandin’. Reckon ‘ll be there in ten. Are ya there already?” he responds, just the sound of his voice doing wonders at calming me down. The only thing that could take it all away is a hug, one of his.

“Yeah, I just sat down.”

“Mmmm, d’ya mind scopin’ out tha menu while yer there? I won’t be too long, we can order once I get there, if that’s alright,” he asks, the sound of traffic sneaking into our phone call for a second. Then, I hear him sigh ‘finally’ and the subsequent thrum of the motor.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll see you soon then, careful driving.”

“I can’t wait t’ see you, Becks,” he hums before hanging up, leaving me sitting across from an empty chair that I can’t stop picturing him sitting in.

This is really happening.

Finally.

The sound of her voice rings in my ears, and does nothing to stop the anxious shakes coursing throughout my body. Curses fall under my breath as I honk at somebody who pulls out right in front of me, making me slam on my brakes. With a sigh, I turn on my indicator before making my turn.

Pulling my keys from the ignition drenches my surroundings in silence, and reminds me of my heart beating wildly within my chest. Looking up, the decorative windows of the restaurant appear before me in shrouded light. She’s somewhere in there . . waiting for me.

Get it together, Harry. You can do this.

My eyes drift to the rear view mirror and I card my fingers through my hair until it looks decent enough. That’s as good as it’s going to get, I almost mutter while smoothing down my blazer underneath my coat. The bone chilling February night nips at my face once my feet touch the tarmac. Streetlights cast glows all around me, as well as the headlights of several cars. The thumping within my chest grows louder and faster as my feet near the door, and then the stand where a manicured man waits.

“Hi. I made a reservation unda the name ‘Harry Styles’,” I tell him, immediately casting my eyes to the tables within view, searching for her dark chocolate locks.

“Right this way,” he replies, waving a hand to follow him and I do. He leads me past several tables, empty and occupied, and almost gets me lost in the process.

The last thing I feel is lost when my eyes finally find her.

“Thank you. I-I got it from here,” I tell him hurriedly, holding a hand out that brings us both to a halt. He walks away after a short ‘you’re welcome,’ leaving me there, right where I want to be.

I don’t remember the smile reaching my ears or my heart quieting within my chest as I watch her flip through the menu thirty feet away from me. The prettiest red dress dons her long body, falling just underneath her collarbones and draped over the curve of her shoulders. Her hair falls in dark, natural waves, almost hiding the round opal sitting above the scoop of scarlet fabric. A tingling sensation blankets my body from head to toe, and the image of Becks sitting there waiting for me is burned into my mind.

It feels like I’m meeting her again for the first time, but I’m not. This feels like a new first time, and I know it’s one I won’t ever forget, much like the very first time I laid my eyes upon her.

It felt like a Monday. For the bloody life of me, I couldn’t remember if it was one at the moment. Is it Monday? I’m not sure, but with the way things were going today, it sure felt like one. The copier had a jam, I forgot the first lunch I’ve made in years at home, and my girlfriend had been annoying the fuck out of me this morning. To top it all off, I had applicants being interviewed today to fill the position of my personal assistant, ever since the last one bolted. She didn’t last more than two weeks, a big surprise.

Pete had been blowing up my phone for the last ten minutes, and I finally had had enough. Without an announcement or a knock, I stride into his office, fully intent on finding out what the hell he wants.

“I’m a little busy, if you haven’t noticed,” he retorts over the head of dark chestnut locks sat in front of him. Presumably, one of the new applicants for my personal assistant. Hmm.

“Well, ya kept ringin’ me bloody phone, Pete. So, what tha hell d’ya want?” I insist, throwing up a hand that falls to my thigh with a loud slap.

Suddenly, I wish the quiet little thing would turn around, and give me a look at her. Shy, she is, it seems. There she sits, tucked away into her little shell, dressed to impress in a dark dress.

“I’m in the middle of an interview!” he exclaims, certainly making a good first impression with the applicant. It makes me wonder for the tenth time why I bother having him do the interviews, but then I remember that I don’t really give a fuck, as long as I don’t have to do them.

“What fer, huh?” I tease, instantly getting a snappy response from Pete about it being for me, as if I didn’t already know. But, I did, and am only doing this to bother him even more.

“Ooo, ‘s it now? Ya get me a good one? Huh, Pete?” I grin, taking a step forward as a hand in my pocket plays with the tiny, metal guitar attached to my key ring. Sticking my head out as I move forward, my eyes dance across her head, and her profile that soon comes into view. “Hullo, love. Gonna be me new one, are ya? Petey here says I can’t keep one fer tha life o’ me, so here he ‘s interviewin’ me anotha one. How’s she doin’ so far, Petey? Think she’s a winna?” I joke aloud, knowing full well the effect my words have on the both of them.

My subsequent introduction falls from my lips after a retort from Pete, and then the stranger finally turns to look me in the eyes. I rack my brain, trying to put a name to her face from a prior conversation with Pete. Or was it going over her resume when it came in the other day? I can’t remember which, and I blame it on her captivating baby blue eyes, as well as the intoxicating smile that greets my own. Words float from her lips and grace my ears for the very first time, and I knew immediately that she was something else.

“Hi, my name is Becky. Becky Holte.”

Little did I know how drastically she would change my life, sometimes I thought for the worse, but ultimately for the better. The better, always. I had no way of knowing at that very moment, how many times she would come to save me.

My Becks.

The sound of homemade ravioli filled with chicken and three kinds of cheese is almost making my mouth water. It also makes me wonder when Harry will finally be here, and habitually, my eyes lift to look for him. To my surprise, I find him standing a ways away with the sweetest smile stuck to his lips.

“Hiya, Becks. Sorry ‘m late. Ya look . . absolutely gorgeous, by tha way,” he comments once he’s within a few steps of the table. He reaches across to squeeze my arm before sitting down across from me, a blush pinching his cheeks.

“Thank you, Harry. I uh, like the suit you went with, you look very handsome in it. Good choice,” I return, failing to not focus on the fast thrumming deep inside of me.

“Ya, a certain sumbody said it was their favourite on me, so I couldn’t disappoint,” he grins with a shrug, unfastening the button at his waist, exposing the satiny black button-up hidden underneath.

“Good, I’m glad you didn’t,” I smile, sure of the warmth he can see filling my cheeks, because I can see it mirrored in his own. “I like that you kept the stubble.”

“Why thank you,” he comments, once again rubbing it with his thumb and forefinger, and like before, making me all the more jealous. “I trimmed it up a li’l bit, figured I betta.”

“Oh, I hope you keep it. I think I prefer you with it.”

“D’ya now, Becks?” he teases with a lift of his eyebrows, his tousled curls almost tickling his forehead, but just barely. “‘ll hafta rememba that,” he smiles, and more than ever, it’s incredibly contagious. My cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling by now, but I don’t even mind.

“The um,” I begin nervously, my eyes falling to the elegant paper menu opened in front of me. It pains me to look away from him and the sunshine emanating from his smile, but it’s not so bad when I feel his chelsea boot knock against my heel, remaining there against the back of my ankle. “Chicken ravioli sounds good, as well as the margherita pizza, and Cacio e Pepe. Lots of good choices for dessert, too.”

“Mmm, they all sound good, love. Thanks fer lookin’ fer us,” he muses aloud, head bent down to peer at the menu when I glance over to him.

His habit returns and his bottom lip is caught between his teeth, and somehow, it makes my smile grow bigger. I didn’t think that was possible, but here I am with aching cheeks. I nudge his foot with mine and he looks up with a question on his face, soon relaxing into a sparkling smile. That effervescent look in his eyes from the other day returns, and if I hadn’t known it already, I truly could look into his eyes for the rest of eternity. The dimples haven’t left his cheeks since he arrived, and his raspberry lips beg at me from across the table.

“Let’s give it a try then,” he remarks, closing his menu without breaking our eye contact. The words dipped in honey flow from his lips and tickle something inside me, and I want more than anything to hear another meaning in them. His foot nudging at mine in return only makes me give in to it, and so does his wink.

Our server arrives at our table shortly, and I thank God for the champagne she pours into tall flutes, not taking the edge off fast enough. A conversation blossoms between us about his case, and then mine with Myles.

“Ya did great by tha way. Congrats on tha win, Becks, ‘m so fookin’ proud o’ you,” Harry grins adamantly, sweetness pouring off of his words that come out with a shake of his head.

“Thank you so much, Harry. Wait, how’d you know we won it? I was just going to tell you,” I ask with furrowed brows, and receive a measly shrug of his shoulders in return. The look on his face, as if a revelation is threatening to burst from his lips, teases at me until it abates when the server brings us waters and we order.

“So so bloody proud o’ you t’day, Becks,” he whispers as she pulls out her notepad and a pen. Possibilities blossom within my mind after he sends me a coy wink and knocks his foot against mine again. It doesn’t leave my own throughout the rest of our time there, during our meal and the laughs we share over glasses of champagne, and a plate of Tiramisu that I somehow let him share with me.

“I knew it! You were there today, sitting in the gallery, weren’t you?!” I exclaim, mumbling a short ‘thank you’ when he opens the car door for me.

“Maybe,” Harry shrugs casually, walking around the front of the car as I fall onto the leather seat.

“Harry Styles!” I nearly shout, if it weren’t for my voice dissolving into a giggle as he slides behind the steering wheel next to me.

“What? I had some stuff t’ do at tha courts, so I may have popped in fer a mo’,” he explains.

“Sure,” is all I say as I pull the seat belt across my chest.

“Hush, and play some music, bug. Here,” he insists, handing me his grey iPhone that looks normal sized in his hand, and then gigantic in mine.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to watch?”

“Coz o’ that right there, Becks. Yer nervous ‘bout it right now afta tha fact, imagine how ya woulda been if ‘d told ya I was comin’ befo’ yer argument t’day,” he returns, pressing buttons on the dash and soon, waves of hot air greet my cold body.

“I guess you’re right.”

“‘m what? I didn’t catch that,” Harry jests, cupping his ear. A scoff flies from my lips and I playfully swat his shoulder. “Hey, watch it. ‘m drivin’.”

“You haven’t even switched gears, so shut up,” I laugh, catching the eye roll he thinks I don’t see. “I see that eye roll, Styles, you better watch it.”

“You betta watch it, Becks. Betta pick a good Spice Girls song too, ‘m payin’ attention,” he jokes, soon his fingers diving into my side. A laugh escapes me unwillingly, and yanks my eyes over to his giggling lips.

His name leaves mine in a near shriek, and after a blink, his tickling fingers are gone and lacing between mine. The dark flecks in his sage green eyes catch under the overhead light before it turns off automatically. He gives my hand a good squeeze as his eyes melt into mine, and a zing of electricity runs up my fingers and then my arm. The smile falling into his cheeks mirrors the one that’s been glued to my lips all night, and now grows higher and higher. I return the squeeze just as he looks to his mirrors, the click of the doors locking when he shifts to Reverse.

It almost hurts to look away, but so many other feelings and thoughts are occupying me as my eyes fall to his phone. Disbelief washes over me as his long, ringed fingers sit between mine. It only grows when he lifts our intertwined hands up and over the middle console, to sit on his warm thigh.

An uninvited wave of pain hits me when I spot familiar sad songs amongst his music library, like the familiar ‘When She Loved Me’ that could make any Toy Story fan weep within seconds of hearing it. It intensifies when my eyes run over the songs Before You Go, Wish You Were Here, Say You Won’t Let Go, and With or Without You. Chancing a glance over at him, he stares straight ahead into the dark night, and a bittersweetness greets me. I try not to let it in, and the realization that perhaps those lost seven months were hell for him too, as were those five days apart.

“Find it? I have Spice World on there sumwhere. I know I have loads o’ shit on there, sorry,” he comments, turning his head to check his left before pulling onto the busy road.

“Y-Yeah,” I stutter, looking back to his expansive music library spanning from the 50’s to current music. His thumb drawing circles onto my knuckles brushes some of the sadness away as I bring up the album he speaks of.

“Bloody hell, why ya choosin’ tha sad one, Becks?” he titters, glancing over to me when we come to a stop at a light. His smile shining back at me whisks away the last drops of the sadness, but hints of it remain with me, begging to be felt. I shrug my shoulders as the beginning lyrics of ‘Too Much’ fills the car, and I only turn it up louder. “I get t’ pick tha next song, if yer playin’ sad stuff. Bloody rubbish you are at pickin’ songs,” he sighs jokingly with a shake of his head, curls tickling his ears and the nape of his neck.

“I am not!”

“‘Kay, brat, keep talkin’,” he snickers, earning another scoff from me that he answers with a harder laugh. I cast my eyes to the window with an exaggerated whimper, soon hearing his profuse apologies. “‘m kiddin’, Becks, bloody hell. I already know ya have a good taste in music from all o’ our talks. I like this song too, jus’ thought ya’d go fer some happy songs, seein’ tha . . occasion and e’rythin’. Hey.”

I answer him with my eyes returning to him, finding his wink before he looks back to traffic, and with my thumb coasting back and forth across his smooth skin. I listen to the lyrics, feeling another squeeze of my hand from him before I change the song.

“Hey, don’t change it befo’ ‘s done!” he exclaims, and I just laugh, watching his shocked lips soon do the same.

“Then stop complaining,” I argue, catching another roll of his eyes as the car slows to a stop in front of another light. Joy buds on my lips as the surprise unfolds on his features, meanwhile his eyes crinkle, the dimples fall deeper, and his raspberry lips thin out as a smile consumes his face.

“I knew ya were sumthin’ special,” he notes aloud with a shake of his head, a giggle emanating from his joyous smile, right before he joins me to sing along to Shania Twain’s ‘Man, I Feel Like A Woman.’

His fingers laced between mine continue to send my heart into overdrive as we belt out the song between contagious laughs, and then another crowd favourite, ‘You’re Still The One.’ This one gets me and sometimes throughout the song, I can’t get myself to look at him with the sincerity held in the lyrics. As well as the words that hit too close to home.

Finally, I can’t stand it anymore, and my eyes drift over to his at the end of the song, finding that his are already on mine. “‘m so glad we made it. Look how far we’ve come, my baby,” Harry finishes with his eyes dancing upon me with that smile dripping with molasses. As if his hand squeezing mine periodically throughout the song wasn’t already making me want to cry, now I really could. I return the gesture before looking out the window, blinking back the arriving tears from my eyes as those lasting words sing inside of my head.

Yeah, we finally made it, Harry. Belatedly, but finally.

“‘s been years since ‘ve been here, hasn’t changed much tho’,” Harry remarks softly, only a few steps away from my door.

“Yeah, the inside looks bout the same too.”

“‘m sure. Maybe I could see fer meself one o’ these days,” he remarks aloud, and when my eyes drag over to his nervously, I answer him with a nod.

“I’d like that.”

“Me too,” he coos, rubbing the pad of his thumb along the back of my hand. A shy smile nudges at the edge of my lips as he stands in front of me, my right hand still safe within his. “Well, I had a wondaful time t’night, thanks again.”

“You’re welcome, and thank you too. I had a lot of fun . . with you.”

“So did I, bug. ‘ll um, text you later then?” Harry says, clearing his throat awkwardly, his bottom lip soon returning to its nervous spot.

“Y-yeah, sounds good,” I mumble quietly, eyes falling to my hand that he drops. The absence of his warmth against mine feels very strange now, having been holding hands for the entire drive and subsequent walk up to my apartment.

“Night, Becks.”

“Goodnight, Harry, careful driving,” is the last thing I say before slipping behind my door, finding Skye perched on the sofa. The monotonous, forced words echo in my ears and my eyes fall to the floor, disappointment flooding every inch of me.

“So, how’d it go?! Did you finally fucking kiss him?!” she shouts the second the door meets its frame.

“No,” I admit between shy lips, the steps I take seeming as if they’re from somebody else’s body, not mine. The entire last five minutes feels like somebody else had lived them, not me. No, it can’t end like that. “Not yet, anyways,” I rush, ignoring my shoes I already toed off, spinning around and ripping open the door. “Harry, wait!” I exclaim, finding his surprised expression waiting in front of the lift.

“What?” he asks, eyebrows bent into a questioning mess.

“I-I forgot something,” I manage, the words spilling out in a heap while he closes the distance between us, stopping right in front of me. Right where I need him.

“Forgot what, bug? Did ya forget yer shoes in me car?” he titters, the fluorescent glow overhead picking out the few blonde hairs in his stubble.

“No . . something else,” I finally admit, taking a step when there aren’t any left.

The dimples remain set into his cheeks while his eyes fall to my lips and mine raise to his. His facial hair is prickly and dense under the pad of my thumb, and his coveted bottom lip is warm and pillowy. The golden hue of his olive green irises fills my mind when my lips finally meet his, and at last, I find his bottom lip between my own. His sweet giggle sounds against my lips as my fingers get lost in his buttery curls. I come to echo it when his hands shock me with their coldness against my hips, pulling me closer to him. One strays to the back of my head as his lips move against mine, the word ‘finally’ repeating incessantly within my mind. His barely there beard is scratchy against my skin, contrasting to the smooth tip of his nose grazing my cheek. The cinnamon and cocoa powder from the Tiramisu cake tickles my taste buds while his spicy vanilla smell covers me like a blanket. Zings shoot across my palm pressed to his smiling cheek, his facial hair prickly against the sensitive skin.

Not feeling like what was actually mere seconds later, air fills my lungs when we pull away at the same time, sharp inhales filling the air. Quickly, his sweet giggle joins it, and ropes one of my own in. The tip of his nose leaves trails on my cheek as his forehead falls onto mine.

“Ya have no idea how long ‘ve waited fer that,” Harry rasps, his warm breath dancing across my lips. His own press a whisper of a kiss to mine briefly, although after that, now I’m sure it could never be long enough.

“I think I do know,” I mumble, my hand straying to his chin where I brush the tip of my thumb against the flesh of his bottom lip.

“‘m sorry it took us so long, bug.”

“It’s okay, we’re here now. Finally,” I tell him and he nods, the twinkle in his eye bright as can be. For the first time, I let myself melt and lose myself in the greens of his eyes. Something I have wanted to do ever since the very first time I looked into his green eyes and knew I was fucked.

“Yes, we are. And look at you, Becks. Ya beat me t' tha first date and tha first kiss,” he smirks with a decadent laugh adorning his words. I can’t help but join him while I twirl a ringlet of his hair around the tip of my finger against the back of his neck.

“Oh, it’s okay, Harry. You got the first hand hold, and the first Shania Twain car duet.”

A roll of his miraculous eyes accompanies his continuing laugh, “Ya, well, so did you, but I got tha more romantic one,” he insists, words welcomed by my surprised scoff.

“Wait, you don’t find ‘Man, I Feel Like A Woman’ romantic?!” I nearly exclaim in faux disbelief, my voice softening into a giggle quickly.

“Only when you sing it, bug,” Harry smiles, thumbing circles into the small of my back.

“Wait, you got tha first handhold, brat. Rememba, when I visited you at yer old work that day? Bloody hell, you beat me t’ all tha good ones, Becks. No fair,” he snickers with a sigh to his words, the two contrasting the other. I suffice my response with an obligatory nod, feeling my heart just now starting to settle into a regular beat. “Becks, there’s so many things ‘ve wanted t’ say t’ you, and now, I finally can.”

“I think I know how you feel.”

“First thing ‘ll say ‘s I get tha second date and tha second kiss,” Harry contends with a smirk held in his eyes.

“Oh, really?” I giggle and he soon nods. He quiets the laugh beginning on my lips with his own giddy ones, my lips molding against his effortlessly. Thoughts blossom quickly within my mind, including why I waited so fucking long to kiss him. If I’d known all of these years how wonderful it feels to kiss him, I never would have waited this long. Our kisses are slow although hurried, our lips searching for the other’s desperately, and somehow perfectly. Years overdue, and it couldn’t feel any more perfect.

“Fookin’ hell, I jus’ wanna keep kissin’ you, Becks. Dunno if I can stop,” he chuckles, brushing his nose against mine softly. Shockingly, his eyes are even more gorgeous from this view, and I didn’t think that was possible. Evidently, anything is.

“You don’t have to,” I laugh and he shrugs his shoulders while his eyebrows mimic the expression, his giggle soon vibrating against my tingling lips.

“We have loads o’ lost time t’ make up fer,” he notes aloud.

“Yes, we do. A couple years, give or take.”

“Mmmhmm, yer right there, li’l one. Fook, there were so many times I wanted t’ kiss ya ova the years,” he sighs with a sad shake of his head. His dimple is soft under my fingertip, hidden under the warm brunette facial hair.

“Then kiss me.”

Too soon, his lips leave mine after a short peck, but I press at the back of his curls and envelope his laugh with my lips. My name falls from him in a delighted whisper before one more kiss. Our laughs grow louder only to be muffled, although weakly, when a figure walks by into their nearby apartment. My face runs to the crook of his neck, my very favorite song dancing along my ears as he holds me against him.

“Nothing to see here, sir,” I joke, and the warmth filling my insides grows at the sound of his happiness.

“No, I rememba I got tha first handhold that night we went out fer drinks tha first time. Tha night with tha Purple Hazes and all those shots,” Harry insists from above me, and I give him the funniest look when I come out of hiding.

“You’re still going on about that?” I ask in near disbelief, watching his curls move when he nods his head, dipping to meet my lips with his for a slow kiss.

“I don’t want this night to end,” I hum against the strawberry color of his decadent mouth.

“Neither do I, Becks. ‘ve been waitin’ fer it fer so long,” he agrees, the wispiness of his eyelashes ghostlike against my forehead.

“It’s getting late, and Skye is probably dying to hear how tonight went.”

“Ya betta go and tell tha poor girl then,” he responds, pulling my eyes towards his that sit just a moment away, sending all of the sunshine in my direction.

“That’s okay?”

“‘Course. I may or may not ring Myles on tha way home t’ tell him all ‘bout it,” he shrugs with a telling lilt to his sing-song voice. The only sound that leaves my lips is an amused laugh that he echoes, and I know that he feels the same way.

At last, I know after over two years that he feels the same way, through and through.

“We’ll figure out sumthin’ fer this weekend t’getha, sound good?”

“Yeah, sounds great, Harry,” I agree slowly and he nods ever so slightly, leaving kisses starting from my temple and down my cheek.

“G’night, bug.”

“Night, Harry. Drive careful,” I tell him and once again, he answers me with a nod.

“I promise, babe.”

“Goodnight,” I almost whisper, the very last breath of the word stolen away by his lips. I wouldn’t want it any other way, I barely am able to think as his lips massage mine between his. His neck is fiery beneath my palms and I’m sure mine is likened to it underneath his fingertips, surges of electricity passing below my skin. The skin is balmy against my blushing cheek when my arms come around his middle, surprising us both with a long hug, before I pull away first.

“Night, my Becks,” he murmurs against my lips, a shiver running down my spine when he leaves with a final squeeze to my hand. If that didn’t do it, the song flowing from his humming lips sparks memories behind my eyes, but I still can’t figure out where it’s from. But, I know that I have plenty of time to figure it out, and to get all of the kisses that I want from him.

Fucking finally.

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psychospeak-blog · 5 years

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Won’t Go Slowly // 66

A/N: Unbetaed because it’s been wayyy too long and I just wanted to get this up for you guys as soon as possible!

One // Two // Three // Four // Five // Six // Seven // Eight // Nine // Ten // Eleven // Twelve // Thirteen // Fourteen // Fifteen // Sixteen // Seventeen // Eighteen // Nineteen// Twenty // Twenty One // Twenty Two // Twenty Three // Twenty Four// Twenty Five // Twenty Six // Twenty Seven // Twenty Eight // Twenty Nine // Thirty // Thirty One // Thirty Two // Thirty Three // Thirty Four// Thirty Five // Thirty Six // Thirty Seven // Thirty Eight // Thirty Nine // Forty // Forty One // Forty Two // Forty Three // Forty Four // Forty Five // Forty Six // Forty Seven // Forty Eight // Forty Nine // Fifty // Fifty One // Fifty Two // Fifty Three // Fifty Four // Fifty Five // Fifty Six // Fifty Seven // Fifty Eight // Fifty Nine // Sixty// Sixty One // Sixty Two // Sixty Three

Sixty Four

It felt surreal.

Like when you'd first seen that positive sign, and you had to constantly remind yourself that you were growing a life inside you, the thought bringing a smile to your face every time.

You were moving in with Tyler.

You honestly didn't even talk too much on the short drive back to where you were staying, the music on low in the background, while you looked at the mountain scenery that had made you so calm.

When you got there, though, Tyler came around to your side before you could go to get Bentley out, and you thought he was going to offer to carry him again, but inside he held easily onto your wrist, fingers dropping to tangle in yours, moving you against the car, kissing you long, and slow, and deep, and full of love, lips smiling against yours. His hand moved to cup your hip and then he leaned in, resting his head against yours, not kissing your cheek like you thought he might.

"What are you doing?" you laughed.

"Seeing if we're being spied on," you felt him speak, against you, turning your head to see him peering in the window of the back seat.

"Is he watching?"

"Nah," Tyler said, shaking his head, his hand moving to the back of your head this time, kissing you more chastely. "He's still snoozing."

"Yeah," you said, still looking up at Tyler, your hand on his shirt, and he pursed his lips, raising his eyebrows at you. "I love you," you said simply.

"I love you," he said, kissing you once more, leaving his hands on your face this time. "And as much as I'd love to stay out here in the driveway with you forever, we should probably grab the little guy."

"Oh, yeah," you laughed, Tyler pulling at the door handle and then backing up so you could turn around.

"You got him?"

"Yeah, if you can start grabbing the groceries?" you asked, reaching to grab the car seat and pull it out, hearing Tyler open up the trunk. When you turned with the baby carrier, he was standing there with both of his hands loaded with grocery bags, to the point where you were certain he would be losing circulation in his hands.

"Can I get the groceries," he scoffed, turning around in a circle with his arms extended, and you bit your lip to try not to laugh, especially when he nearly tripped over his own flip flop.

"You look pretty proud of yourself."

"Aren't you impressed with how strong I am?" he asked, sticking his tongue out at you a little.

"I mean, I think he's heavier, but sure," you said, which caused Tyler to burst out laughing.

"You're not wrong," he said, "he's getting chunky."

"I know," you said, looking at the cheeks which seemed to be chubbier every day, frowning at Tyler doing some weird movement, like he was trying to get his chin and knee to touch.

"What are you doing?" You laughed.

"The keys are in my pocket," he explained, and you laughed at him even more.

"And you're gonna try and get them out with your leg?"

"Would you shut up and help me?" he laughed, and you laughed too, swinging the car seat out of the way and digging into Tyler's pocket.

"Getting handsy?" Tyler asked, his eyebrow raised and a cocky look on his face, and you swatted at his leg, the keys hanging free in your hand.

"I'm starting to think that you just put stuff in your pockets for when you can't use your hand just to make me touch you," you said, turning to walk towards the front door with your keys in hand.

"Nah, I don't need tricks to get you to touch me," Tyler said, and you were unable to think of a quick comeback before you opened the door, bombarded with sniffing noses and wagging tails.

"Hey, guys," you said softly, smiling when they sniffed at the baby carrier. "He's sleeping right now, I'm gonna go put him down, you can see him later, okay?"

You moved through the house, going to set him down on top of the dining room table, snickering when Gerry jumped up to catch a better look, his nose lunging towards the sleeping baby., and you smiled, petting him on the head and he jumped down, following you to where Tyler was heaving the grocery bags onto the counter. You immediately went over, starting to unpack the bags, wanting to get as much prep as possible done before Bentley woke up.

"Hang on," Tyler said, gripping your wrist, and pulling you back, "If we're gonna cook, we gotta do this right."

You frowned at him, until he reached around you, pulling out the half fill bottle of wine and tilting it towards you and you laughed, pulling open the dishwasher to grab two wine glasses, setting them on the counter, letting Tyler pour you a glass while you grabbed your phone, connecting it to the bluetooth speakers and making sure the volume wasn't on too high before you pressed play on one of your easy listening mixes, humming before you took a grateful sip of your wine.

"Oh, look who's into the country now, eh?" Tyler said, his hand on your hip, while you were standing on your tiptoes, trying to grab a baking sheet in the top shelf. "Jump, jump," he teased, grabbing it for you anyways, and you laughed, taking it from his hands.

"This is from you using my Spotify," you said, spreading out a layer of parchment paper on the sheet.

"Well, I don't want to listen to ads," Tyler said, scrunching up his nose.

"Whatever," you laughed, like he couldn't afford it.

"Boyfriends and girlfriends share," he said, settling in next to you, while you let him know that he could cut up the eggplant and pita bread, and spread some olive oil onto it for the appetizer, while you got started on prepping the main part of the meal.

"Which would be fine if you hadn't been using it for years," you said.

"I did no such thing," Tyler said, like he was appalled that you would even suggest that he would.

"Tyler," you said firmly, "I was running on the damn treadmill in Toronto in the dead of winter, listening to my music, and all of a sudden the worst rap comes on. The worst."

Tyler was already cracking up but you continued because you'd really never had a chance to get upset with him. "Then I keep switching it back to my playlist, it's fine for, like 4 strides, then I've got some stupid pop music in my ears."

Tyler's giggles were only confirming for you what you already knew though: that he had been purposefully messing with you, even when you weren't in the same country.

"Well, you shouldn't make your passwords so easy to guess then," he said, bumping you, again quite purposefully, even as he worked.

"It's my damn locker combination from high school, who remembers that?"

"I do," Tyler said, mining like he was undoing a lock, "and apparently you do, too."

"Yeah, well, I'm--"

"A giant nerd?" Tyler asked. "Yeah, I know."

"I was gonna say I'm more likely to remember it because it was my combination, but whatever."

"You make it sound like you don't remember all my passwords and shit," he said, sliding around you to grab something.

"Well, you shouldn't make them so easy to guess," you said his words back to him, and he raised his eyebrows, you humming along to the music "You take the breath out of my lungs

Can't even fight it

And all of the words out of my mouth without even trying" while trying not to laugh at the way that Tyler was enthusiastically using the BBQ brush you'd given him to brush olive oil onto the pita bread and eggplant like he was painting a masterpiece.

"This one's you," Tyler said, when Drake came on, looking at you so you could sing together, "He only loves his crib and his mom, he's sorry."

"He's loving that car seat right now though," you said, actually surprised that he was still sleeping peacefully, his head just slightly tilted off to one side, completely unaware of the activity going on around him.

"Your kid would sleep through Drake," Tyler said, although it turned out he was also able to sleep through you and Tyler singing "I want you all to myself

We don't need anyone else", laughing when Gerry jumped up, you catching his paws like you were dancing with him, feeling wonderfully light and airy, and you couldn't help but think about how many kitchen dance parties were in your future.

Really, your kitchen at home was too small for anyone but you to jam out.

The song changed then, though, while you and Tyler were moving around each other like you'd been cooking in this kitchen together your whole life, and, with it, the mood in the room changed, too, your eyes finding Tyler's, soft towards yours. And then you were squealing a little surprised when he pulled you toward him, not to spin you like he had before, but straight into his arms, your hands travelling to rest on his shoulders while he settled his hands on your lower back, beginning to sway back and forth. You didn't know the song, but you were listening to the words, Tyler's voice singing low in your ear, causing a tingle of warmth to spread up your spine. "Cause, I don't know how, I don't know how heaven, heaven

Could be better than this"

You hummed against him, the soft cotton of his t-shirt against your face, almost feeling like you could hear his heartbeat.

"I don't think we've ever done this before,'" he said, his hand moving into yours, pulling back to look at you .

"No?" You asked, looking up at him with surprise recalling how many weddings and, hell, high school dances you've been at together.

Tyler shook his head slowly, his hand still in yours, barely even moving as you danced. "Pretty sure someone always had a date."

"You," you said, and Tyler laughed.

"Pretty sure my sister or some friend I brought that happened to be a girl wouldn't mind if you cut in," he said, and all of a sudden you had a sudden vision of you dancing with your ex while Tyler sat at a table by himself, and your heart hurt a bit. But it had never really been like that. "I almost asked you once, when Daniel was running late at work but he showed up, so..."

You looked at the way that Tyler shrugged casually, like it was no big deal at all.

"He wouldn't have minded," you said, honestly, because things were so different then: Tyler was never a threat, he was just someone that was always just there for you.

"Well, I mind, I'm awful at slow dancing, it doesn't suit my moves," he said, and you laughed under your breath. "I was glad he showed up, I was only offering because I know how you get at weddings."

"You're not a bad slow dancer," you said.

"I'm terrible," he murmured. "It's only good because it's you."

I swear, this is perfect

Come kiss me one more time

Tyler's eyebrows raised expectantly and you smiled, sliding your hand up his back to the base of his neck, stretching up to kiss him, and then pulling away, smiling at each other before going back in for more, ready to settle into a deeper kiss. And yet right when your lips were ghosting over each other's, you heard Bentley start to make little grumpy noises, laughing out a huff while Tyler sighed, resting his forehead against yours.

"Way to ruin the moment, bud," Tyler said, releasing you , yet sneaking in a quick peck before you turned in the direction of the now crying baby, where you made quick work of the straps keeping him secure, lifting him up.

"Hi, baby," you cooed, your hand sweeping over the top of his head to push his hair back. "Did you have a nice little nap?"

You were about to place a kiss on his cheek when Tyler cleared his throat loudly, his head pushing between yours and Bentley's. "Don't play the cute card, you know what you did," he said, and then looked at you. "You were gonna kiss me before someone decided to be dramatic."

"Oh, right," you laughed, doing as you were going to before. Although it wasn't quite the same with a baby in your arms, but you made it work, lips even against each other and completely G-rated other than the fact that it lasted forever, yet it still left you breathless.

"Okay, now's your turn," Tyler said, and you smiled at his light voice, kissing at Bentley's cheek and the folds of his neck until he smiled, his finger's tickling at Bentley's back. "Are you gonna give Mom kisses? Give Mom kisses."

You laughed at the way that Tyler was trying to guide Bentley's head towards you, leaning it to kiss at his cheeks. Which you were able to do, mostly, until Gerry jumped up against you, his tongue licking at your face and the baby's.

"I wasn't talking to you," Tyler laughed, pulling him down, and you shifted Bentley in your arms, pulling his diaper bag towards you to get something to wipe off Bentley's face.

"Stop drooling," you laughed, continually wiping at Bentley's gummy smile. "I'm trying to help you and you're making an even bigger mess than Gerry did."

"'Cause the kid sleeps like you," Tyler said, hanging his head back with his mouth open.

"We do not," you said.

"Mhmm..." Tyler said, leaning into kiss you and then Bentley on the cheek. "You're both freaking adorable when you sleep."

You gave him a look, even as he nuzzled into you. "You woke up so happy," Tyler said, distracting from the situation.

"He was probably tired, he was playing really hard today," you said, bouncing him in your arms,

"Nah, he wanted to join the dance party," Tyler said, and you vaguely noticed him fiddling with your phone while you tried to sway with Bentley, but didn't think much of it until the music changed, and you took Bentley's hand in yours, swinging quicker to the beat, smiling at him until a joyous smile came across his face. "Oh you got moves, bud."

You laughed at the way Bentley's hand was gripped around you shirt, like he was holding on for dear life, even though he was clearly enjoying himself.

"Kiss you once 'cause I know you had a long night

Kiss you twice 'cause it's gonna be alright

Three times 'cause you waited your whole life

Ah"

You kissed Bentley on the cheek while Tyler was clapping his hands in time with the numbers, Bentley letting out a pleased squeal.

"Someone loves some T Swift," Tyler said, tickling at Bentley's belly, "You're gonna fit right in in Texas, huh?"

"Awe, I'm gonna have to get him a baby passport," you said, clutching your hand to your chest at the thought of the adorableness.

"You're gonna move in with me and that's what you're excited about?" Tyler asked, eyes wide in surprise.

"No, that's not what I'm excited about," you assured him. "It's gonna be so cute though."

Tyler smiled a little and then gave you an interesting look, one you couldn't quite decipher, and you watched him stutter a little inhale, running his hand through his hair. "You're not having second thoughts are you?" he asked.

"About moving in together?" you asked, and Tyler gave a curt not. "No," you said, shaking your head, and then looking at him, speaking before you could stop the words from toppling out of your mouth. "Are you?"

"Me?" he asked, eyes widening in surprise. "No, no, I just....well, I know how you have a tendency to overthink things. And you said "yes", really, really fast."

Because you didn't have to think about it, because you couldn't bare to think about the alternative. And you'd be lying if you said you hadn't had some thoughts running through you mind about the logistics of it all, and what it would be for you and Bentley, and everyone, when you'd never even considered moving out of the country until that moment.

"I mean, it scares me, a little, yeah," you admitted, making sure to look him clear in the eyes. "But I want to be with you."

"Me too," Tyler said softly, almost shyly." I was kinda worried you were gonna say no."

"What? Really?"

"Mhmmm..."he said, settling against you. "Not so much because I thought you might say no, but I just....kinda freaked myself out thinking about what I would do if you didn't want to."

His words came out followed by a gentle huff, making you believe that this was something that had been weighing on him for awhile.

"How...how long have you been thinking about asking me?" you asked with curiosity, shifting Bentley in your arms, because a part of you had figured this had been an impulsive ask on his part, typically so decided in his decisions.

"Since I went to Dallas," he admitted, evenly, and yet softly, like he only wanted you to hear. "Like, I didn't even know that I was thinking about it, really, until I was down there. Then my dad caught me looking around - like, I was thinking that room at the end of the hall across from room could be his room? It has enough room for a crib and everything. And we could make a little play area for him in the corner of the living room there so we can still keep an eye on him from the kitchen and stuff."

"Awe," you said, heart swooning.

"Awe?" Tyler asked, his face confused, yet a smile playing on his face. "Why is that 'awe'?"

"Because you thought about making a space for him."

"Well, of course I thought about making a place for him, he's gonna be living there too," Tyler said, like it was only common sense.

"It's still sweet," you protested.

"Yeah, well, I guess I really shouldn't be arguing with you when you think I'm being cute," he said.

You smiled, shaking your head, your faces so close, your nose just brushed against his.

"I thought he was gonna think I was nuts," Tyler confessed. "Like, it's so soon, but...I don't know, you make me..."

"I make you what?" you asked, half tentatively.

"I don't know," Tyler said, his cheek against yours, still somehow hugging each other in the kitchen, the baby warm and cozy against you. "I guess you make me want things I didn't think I'd have - or want to have- for awhile."

"Me too," you mumbled, because you never could have imagined what you were now: having Bentley sit up for the first time in that room that would be down the hall from yours and Tyler's, or getting to share his first brave, wobbly steps in Tyler's living room.

"Like it's crazy for me," he continued, "Like I never...I guess I never thought I'd be asking you to move in with me so soon, but..."

"But you're sure?" you confirmed, and before you could even get the words out, Tyler firmly said. "You know I'm serious about you."

You took a welcome breath. "I didn't even think about it...like the end of summer, I couldn't think about it."

"It was all I could think about," Tyler said, "And my dad said it best, I think, he was just like, 'when you love someone, you love someone'."

You laughed a little, pulling back so you could look at him. "I'm pretty sure he wanted us to move in together as soon as he found out I was pregnant."

Tyler chuckled against you. "Yeah...." he said, "Honestly, if you weren't working and I actually had the right to ask you, I'd have wanted you to fly down all the damn time. It sucked being away from you."

Your hand moved over his, where it was digging in against your side. "It was hard for me, too," you said, taking a breath, "Like, I don't think I've ever so sad when you had to leave."

"Nah, you always miss me," Tyler said, nuzzling against your neck. "It was just worse because you pregnant."

"No, I know, I was emotional."

"No, I mean I was emotional," Tyler clarified, "Like, I just, I don't know, if drove me crazy, babe, like I needed to be able to see you."

"I mean, all the phone calls and the visiting me during any spare time you had kinda gave it away.'

Tyler gave a bit of a sheepish look, tilting his head with a sweet smile. "I thought I was just being a good friend."

"I mean, you were," you said, "But you're kind of an even better boyfriend."

""Oh, I know, you're so lucky." he said, a smirk on his face.

"I am," you confirmed.

"Mmm.." he said, moving into kiss you, "And I can do this whenever I want, which is awesome."

You kissed him back, feeling Bentley's hand moving against your arm, smiling against Tyler's lips.

"I could always do this to you whenever I wanted," Tyler said, planting playful, exaggerated kisses in the rolls of Bentley's neck, pausing only to look up at you. "See, if last year sucked, it would have been even worse being apart from each other with this guy."

"Well, you won't be apart from us," you smiled, unable to resist kissing Bentley's chubby cheek yourself.

"If you're sure," Tyler said teasingly, still smiling up at you.

"I said I'm sure," you laughed. "Are you sure you're sure? You're making me second guess myself."

"Babe, I've been sure about you for a long time," Tyler said, his eyes steady and warm, looking into yours, "And, I mean, now that we've survived half a vacation already with a baby and not fought, I'm pretty sure we can handle living together. Unless we start arguing before we leave, then we may have to reassess the whole moving in thing."

He said the last part with a shrug, a cheeky grin on his face, and you laughed. "Oh, so this was a test, it wasn't a vacation."

"Nooooo," Tyler said, drawing out the word, trying hard not to laugh. "Nah, you practically lived with me all last summer, I'm pretty sure we could handle it."

"Yeah, I think we can, too."

"Can you say it?" Tyler asked, looking at you sweetly, "Because I've been building this up in my mind asking for you for a really long time, you know."

You laughed, leaning in to kiss him. "Yes, I'm 100% sure that I want to move in with you."

You felt Tyler's smile upturn against you. "So does this mean I can tell the dogs?"

You laughed, looking around at the faces in the kitchen. "Well, I'm pretty sure they can hear us but ---"

"Shh..." Tyler mumbled, getting down on the floor with them. "Guess what, guys? Guess who's gonna come live with us this year? You won't have to miss Mom anymore. Or Bentley. Cash, is your baby gonna come live with you? Are you gonna share your bed with him? Oh, you think maybe we should get him a crib? That's a good idea."

You smiled down at the wagging tails, and Tyler someone managing to stretch out on the floor, errant paws scrambling all over him,Bentley just watching the whole scene. "Are you excited to move to Texas?" you asked. "We can go to hockey games, and check out all the parks, and maybe you'll make some new friends."

Bentley cooed in response, batting his hand, and you smiled again, kissing him on the cheek.

"Oh, you're gonna make a ton of friends," Tyler said from the floor. "No big parties though. I mean it."

"We'll wait till he goes to the rink," you said in a loud whisper, "And then we'll bring out the ice cream, okay?"

"Hey," Tyler said, pushing himself up from the floor, wrapping himself around you both. "Don't you guys try to have all the fun without me. Only a little bit, okay?"

You smiled at his baby voice, the way Bentley was transfixed on Tyler's face, and you knew even more that you couldn't deprive either of them of that relationship, and you'd likely only fall even more in love with Tyler over the upcoming season.

"Okay," you said, double checking that you'd set the timer. "Who wants to go play while dinner is cooking?"

"Me," Tyler said, lifting Bentley's hand up for him. "I want to go play."

You smiled, following Tyler to where he was jogging towards the games room, encouraging the dogs to follow him. "C'mon, Mom, hurry up."

"Mom can't run."

"Walk really, really, really fast," Tyler said, and you laughed, grabbing your breastfeeding pillow from the couch and tossing it on the blanket that was still stretched out on the floor, leaning over to prop Bentley up in it.

"What toys do we got?" you said, kneeling down next to him. "Do you want your keys, again?" you asked, picking them up and dangling them in front of him, pressing the button so the music played.

"Where you going to, bud?" Tyler asked him.

"Mmm...just for a little drive," you said, looking back at Bentley.

*I always take my keys with me when I go out*, the toy sung, and you tried to hold back a laugh.

"I mean, that's a pretty smart strategy," Tyler said. "Is that supposed to be educational?"

"It's for motor skills."

"I mean, I'm not really sure he's quite at the point where he's able to stick a key in a lock yet," Tyler said, with mock seriousness, bouncing a ping pong ball on a paddle he'd grabbed from the table, and you laughed as Bentley's eyes widened. transfixed. "Is that blowing your mind?"

"He's like, woah, you're so good at that."

"I need to teach Mommy how to play, huh?"

"Mommy knows how to play ping-pong."

Tyler gave you a little bit of a look. "I mean, sure, but not well," he said, laughing at your expression. "It's not your fault, it's not like you practice."

"No, well, I don't have a ping-pong table."

"Well, you will now," he said, "And I kind of need you to get decent so we can get into some couples' tournaments."

"Couples' tournaments?" you laughed.

"Yeah, we'll get a whole operation going. Bentley can distract people with his cuteness, the dogs'll trip our opponents up, and then we'll just hustle people for money."

"You're ridiculous."

"No, I'm just trying to get you to play ping-pong with me," he said, giving you a pleading look, and you laughed, letting him take your hand to pull you up since Bentley was content just hanging out and watching out what was going on around him. You laughed as Tyler made a big show out of fitting his body around yours, sliding his hand over top, like helping you get the technique down was up the utmost importance and he was a profession, other than the way that he was pressed against your body, of course.

And then he proceeded to take absolutely no mercy against you, whipping the ball so hard it ricocheted off the wall behind you and then you had to chase it across the floor, Tyler's giggles filled the room, and Gerry trying to snatch it before you did.

"You gotta help Mom, Bentley, give her some tips," Tyler said, half leaning over now to talk to the baby. "She needs lots of them."

With his attention diverted, you took the opportunity to toss the ball at him, ricocheting off his head. "Hey!" Tyler said, turning to you laughing, his hand rubbing his head like it actually hurt. "That is not fair."

"I was throwing it to you, it's your serve," you said, looking pointedly at the ball, and Tyler sighed dramatically, you taking great pleasure in watching him bending over to pick it up, steadying your ping pong paddle in your hand. Which was great, really, because they you didn't drop it on the ground when he bent down, throwing you over his shoulder before you could even prepare.

"Tyler!" you said, really trying hard not to fall flat on your face as he walked back around the table, somehow managing to shift with the ping pong ball and paddle in his left hand, hitting it across the table lightly in a way that would have been easy for you to smash back, had you been on the opposite side of the table.

"My point," he said cockily, wrapping both arms around you now to settle your feet back on the floor.

"Well, you can't cheat," you said.

"It's not my fault you weren't there," he said. "You gotta be ready."

"It was exactly your fault," you laughed, "You can't pick people up."

"Well, you shouldn't have let me pick you up then," he said, laughing, somehow sliding his hand down to your ass and kissing you sweetly at the same time. "That was just a warm-up, okay? I'll be nice now."

"Well, don't let me win," you said, walking back around to your side of the table, and he gave you a look.

"No, I'm never gonna let you win," he grinned. He didn't, either, although there was a little more rallying and a little less chasing the ping pong ball around the room. After he'd won by only a handful of points you were set to go for another one, but noticed the timer was about to go off in about 60 seconds.

"Can you keep an eye on him while I go take that stuff out to cool?" you asked, nodding towards the baby.

"Mhmm.." he said, and you left your paddle on the table, your phone in hand when you walked back to the kitchen, frowning when you saw the text but carrying out your task anyways, and when you went back into the room, Tyler was on the floor now interacting with Bentley while Cash was still stretched out beside him.

"Hey, Ty?" you said, your phone still in your hand.

"What's up?" he asked, a toy still in his hand when he looked up at you.

"Your mom texted me earlier to let me know that she's coming up to your cottage this weekend while you're out of town and to ask if Bentley and I wanted to come over for dinner one night."

"Oh?" he asked, and you couldn't quite read the look on his face.

"Yeah," you said, curiosity written across across your features, setting your phone on the table. "Did you not tell her that we were coming with you?"

"No?" he asked. "Was I supposed to?"

"Oh no," you said, kneeling down on the floor now and then creeping back up to reach for your phone, thinking you should at least let her know before she went grocery shopping or anything. "I just thought you would have mentioned it."

"Yeahhhh," Tyler said, reaching to intercept you reaching for your phone, "If I mentioned that, though, then she probably would've started asking questions about why we were going on vacation together."

"What?" you asked, letting out a surprised laugh, and then studying the expression on his face. "Did you not tell her about us?"

"I mean, I didn't not tell her about us."

"What does that even mean?"

"I mean, I didn't actively not tell her, it just hasn't really come up."

"It didn't come up when you were telling her you were going away and I was coming with you?"

"Well, she didn't ask who I was going with," Tyler said, and you weren't sure you could raise your eyebrows any further in disbelief.

"Wha-?" You started, and then shook your head, your voice coming out sounding a little strained. "Do you not want her to know about us or--?"

"Oh, no, no, of course I do. She's gonna be stoked," he said, giving you a little smile that let you know that that wasn't the reason he was hesitant to share this news with his mother.

"Soooo..." you said, still trying to figure this whole thing out, because it wasn't like he was trying to keep your relationship on the down low at all, "You're going to tell her then, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Tyler said easily, his lips twisting up in a smile. "Whenever it comes up, then I'll tell her."

"Tyler," you said, and he just laughed.

"Okay, look," he said, "it was easy to tell my dad because I was with him, and you and I were apart, so obviously I wasn't going to go a whole weekend without talking to my girl. But he also gets that this is a new thing and wanted some alone time with you as a couple. I tell my mother and she's gonna want us to come have family dinners all the time. Which is fine, but -"

"So you were putting off telling your mom about us because you didn't want her to invite us over for dinner too often?"

"Well, when you put it like that, it sounds kinda dumb, but yeah?" Tyler shrugged. "Also maybe a little bit I was worried she was gonna get mad at me for not making a move on you sooner?"

"I don't think she's gonna be mad at you," you laughed, and Tyler raised his eyebrows.

"She's not your mom, you don't know how she can get," he said.

"I mean, I do know your mom," you said. And you supposed that was one of the benefits of falling in love with your best friend, that you got to bypass all the awkward meeting the parents and trying to make a good impression.

"Okay, but you didn't see the look on her face when she found out you were pregnant and she assumed that we were a thing."

"What, really?"

"Mhmm.. and, I mean, she was still super happy after I told her the truth, but I think she was hoping just a little bit that we were at least hooking up or something," he said, "which is really kind of weird, but she's gonna be super happy that we're actually doing this thing."

He was rubbing his thumb over your hand at the last part, and you couldn't really be mad at him, not when he was so cute and so dumb at the same time, and then you had a thought, gasping. "Tyler!"

"What? What did I do now?"

"You basically said on your Instagram that you have a girlfriend!" you said, playfully pushing him away from you when he laughed at your reaction. "Your mom probably wanted me to come over so she could ask me who you were seeing!"

"I don't think that's - " Tyler started and then stopped, looking at you more curiously. "Wait, my mom asks you for dirt on me?"

"Sometimes if she hasn't heard from you in awhile, she asks if I have to make sure you're okay," you said, and then shook your head. "That's besides the point! Your mom follows you on Instagram, she follows me on Instagram, what if I posted something that showed we were together? She's gonna be so mad that you told everyone else before her. Isn't she asking you?"

"Uh...I've kinda been avoiding looking at my phone," Tyler said, looking around the room like he had left it somewhere in there, but then he pushed himself up to stand.

"Wait, is this why you didn't want us on our phones during this trip?" you asked, and Tyler shook his head, making a face like that thought hadn't even crossed his mind.

"No, of course not," he said, leaning down to kiss you. "Just let me grab my phone, 'k?"

By the time he came back, you'd at least had time to process what he'd said, your eyes landing on the way his thumb was against the screen. "Okay, so, did she say if she was at home?"

"Well, you don't have to call her right now," you said, moving your hand with where Bentley had his fingers wrapped around it, because you didn't want to dictate what he should and shouldn't do, but Tyler just shrugged.

"What does it matter if I tell her now?" he asked, and you laughed.

"Well, you're the one who was putting off telling her."

"Yeah, because I was being selfish," Tyler said, settling back on the floor and easing into you. "And that was when I was thinking I might have limited time with you, now I can share you a bit because I won't have to say goodbye to you at the end of the summer."

"I know," you said, the grin spreading across your face. "But you can wait to tell her in person if you really want."

"But you got me all excited to tell her now," he said, leaning into kiss you once more. "I'm super happy, so she's gonna be super happy. And if we call her now, then you don't have to try and explain to my mother why you can't come to her dinner."

"That's true," you said, eyeing the way he was flicking through his phone.

"'K, so just be quiet," he said to you, and then leaned over, putting Bentley's pacifier in his mouth and holding his finger up to his mouth in a motion to be quiet, like the baby would actually listen to him,

"Why do I have to be quiet?" you asked.

"Shhh..." Tyler said, and you could already hear the call connecting, Tyler's mom answering pretty much immediately like she'd been just waiting for him to call.

"Ty?" she asked.

"Don't you have caller I.D.?" he asked, making a face and then laughing, leaning back against the couch now with his phone extended in front of him on speakerphone.

"Well, yes, I have caller I.D., I just wasn't expecting to hear from you," she said. "I thought you were out of town."

"Yeah, well, I still am, I just well, I kind of thought I should give you a call to -" Tyler glanced at you out of the corner of his eye, a smirk on his lips. "I guess there's kind of something I need to talk to you about. Something kind of important."

You heard her pause and take an inhale, "Tyler..."

"Just promise that you're not gonna freak out, okay?"

"Tyler..." she said again, and he only giggled.

"So, just don't freak out."

"Tyler," she repeated, "You can't keep doing this to me."

"Doing what?" he asked, "I'm not doing anything, just trying to fill my mother in on what's going on in my life."

"Why am I on speaker then?"

Tyler looked at you then, like you were supposed to be a part of this, and you gave him a dirty look, pushing at him with your foot. "Oh, I was just cooking dinner," he said.

"You were cooking dinner?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I cook sometimes," Tyler said, with half annoyance, picking up his phone and taking it off speaker, pulling it to his ear. "Is this better?"

You could hear her voice yet couldn't make out her words, and Tyler gestured for you to come closer. And while you weren't completely on board with the whole giving your mother a heart attack thing, you did actually want to hear her reaction.

"So is this a good thing or a bad thing then?"

"Mostly a good thing," Tyler said, and you frowned at him, "I mean, I'm happy about it, but I just want you to know if case you come down to visit me in Dallas next year. There might not be as much room if you want to stay with me."

"What?" she asked, and now she actually sounded concerned, and no longer skeptical that he was only trying to get a rise out of her. "Did you....did you go to Quebec to get another dog? Because -"

"No, I am not getting another dog," Tyler interrupted her.

"Then what do you mean there's not going to be as much room?"

"Well..." Tyler said, drawing out the word, and looking at you with a smile. "I asked someone to move in with me today. And she said yes."

"You asked......wait, she?"

"Mhmm..."

"What?" Jackie asked. "Who?"

"My girlfriend."

"What?" she asked again, louder this time, and with surprise. "This was not funny the first time, Tyler."

"I'm not laughing," he said, seriously, reaching for your hand. "I think you'll really, really like her. I'm almost positive."

"Are you lying to me?"

"I'm not lying to you," Tyler said, "I promise."

"But why don't I know about her then? If you're asking her to move in?"

"Well, it's pretty new..."

"How new?"

"Like...a month? Officially."

"A month? And you're asking her to move in with you?"

"Well, I already asked her, but yeah," Tyler said.

"And you're expecting me to believe all this?"

"I'm not lying," Tyler said, biting back a laugh. "Dad thought it was a great idea."

"Your dad knows about her?"

"Yeah, we went fishing with him," Tyler said, "Ask him if you don't believe me."

"It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that I don't believe this isn't a joke."

"It's not a joke," Tyler said, "And there's something else, too. She has a kid."

"She....has a kid?"

"Yeah, he's super cute, I think you'll really like him."

"And....he's moving in with you, too?"

"Well, yeah," Tyler said.

You leaned against Tyler now, like you could practically hear his mom thinking through the phone. "Is...is Y/N there?"

Tyler immediately started laughing. "Yeah, she's here."

"Can I talk to her?"

"Yes, you can talk to her," Tyler laughed, putting his phone back on speaker and holding it out in front of both of you.

"Hi," you said easily, your voice filled with happiness and a little bit of apology.

"Is he telling the truth?" she asked immediately, and you had to laugh at her quickness.

"Yeah," you said, intertwining your fingers with Tyler and turning your head to smile with him, "Yeah, he's telling the truth."

"So you're...?"

"Yeah, I'm moving to Dallas," you confirmed.

"But you and Tyler are...?"

"Oh, we're together," you said. "Yeah."

She didn't say anything, and then Tyler leaned forward towards the phone. "Mom?"

"Oh, sorry, sorry, I'm here," she said, and you could hear rustling through the phone. "Oh, I'm so happy for you guys, that's great."

"Yeah?" Tyler asked.

"Well, of course I am," she said, "I mean, I'm a little mad at you, Tyler, but.."

"Why are you mad at me?"

"Because you tried to scare me!" she said.

"I did not, I told you I was telling the truth," Tyler said, "And Y/N was here too, why is she not getting in trouble?"

"Because she wouldn't do that to me," Jackie said, and you laughed at Tyler's expression.

"See, I told you you'd like my girlfriend," Tyler said.

"Oh, I love her."

"'K, calm down, Mom, this is still a super new thing," Tyler said sarcastically, and she laughed.

"When did you guys even...?"

"It's actually been like a month," Tyler said, "You had no idea?"

"No," she said, "I mean, I had hoped, but I didn't know."

"Yeah, so we decided to go away for a bit, and I just...couldn't go any longer without asking her," Tyler said, and you heard her make a sound of sweetness.

"Is Bentley with you?"

"Oh, shoot," Tyler said, "Actually, could you run over to Y/N's house and check on him? We totally forgot. Yes, he's here."

She didn't have time to catechize him for his smart ass remark because then he was pushing the button the connect for a face time call, and you watched her come into view, just moving her glasses back towards her face, wiping at her face.

"Are you crying?"Tyler asked.

"I'm just really excited for you guys."

"Awe," Tyler said, "Thank god she said yes. And thank god you said her name and not someone else's."

"Yeah, well you too have always had a special connection."

"Well, she's special," Tyler said, turning his head from where it was pressed against yours to place a kiss on your temple. "And we already know we make cute kids, so.."

Which was another thing, really, but you couldn't really think about that when Tyler crawled over you to get closer to Bentley, holding the phone out in front of the baby.

"Whose that?" you said, laying on the other side of Bentley, pointing at the phone. "Is that Grandma Jackie?"

"Hi sweetheart," she cooed, "Are you having a good time on your trip?"

"He's having a great time," you said, pulling his pacifier away as it was falling out as he smiled in response to the sound of your voice.

"He's being super well behaved too, so chill," Tyler added,

"Don't jinx it."

"Nah, he's a super good baby," Tyler said, planting kisses on Bentley's face, "I mean, I might be biased but --"

"No, he's done better than I thought he would," you said, although you were kinda aware now that Tyler hadn't really experienced a bad night yet, other than when Bentley had his ear infection. "He's been so happy."

"He learned to laugh, too," Tyler said, tickling Bentley like he was trying to elicit a laugh, while the baby was just staring at him.

"Which is the best thing ever," you added, "Except he doesn't think we're funny."

"No, he doesn't think you're funny, he knows I'm funny," Tyler interrupted.

"Well, how come he doesn't laugh when you try to get him to?" you laughed.

"Because he's still learning, it's a new skill, he's working on it," Tyler said.

"He kinda laughed at me earlier," you said.

"That wasn't a laugh, that was a smile," Tyler said, "He just sees you and is like, 'Oh, hey mom, there you are, let me smile and be all happy', but he thinks I'm funny, he's just figuring it out, trust me."

"Anyways," you said, laughing at Tyler's certainty, "He thinks the dogs are super funny. Marshall started sneezing yesterday and he thought it was the funniest thing ever."

"That sounds adorable," Jackie said.

"Oh, it was," you confirmed, thinking back to the moment, both you and Tyler laughing at his pure enjoyment, and you could hardly wait to see what kinds of memories you'd get to create this year with your little family.

"Well, I'll let you guys go enjoy your vacation, I don't want to take up too much of your time," Jackie said, and you realized that you'd just been looking around at all your boys, hardly paying attention to the facetime conversation now.

"Thanks, Mom," Tyler said, "Love you."

"Love you guys, give Bentley a kiss for me," she said, and then just as Tyler was about to hang up, added, "Oh, you'll have to let me know when you're back, you'll have to come over for dinner."

You shared a knowing smile with Tyler.

"We were just talking about that, we'd love to," Tyler said, "What are you making?"

***

"Is he down?" Tyler asked in a quiet voice, after you'd stepped out on the deck, with the baby monitor in your hand, eyeing the half glass of wine that Tyler had poured for you, and shrugging off your robe so you could join him in the hot tub. It was round 2 of attempting to get him to sleep, with him being unhappy with Tyler trying to tuck him into bed like he normally did, and it had taken many laps around the house to try and get him to settle.

"This is just what I needed," you said gratefully, feeling your body already start to relax as you eased into the warm water, making your way over to Tyler.

"Did you bring the keys with you?" Tyler asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, if we're both out here, I don't want us to get locked out accidentally," you said, easing your head back to so could feel the jets right along your neck.

"I'm pretty sure you can only lock that back door from the inside," Tyler laughed, "Did you think the dogs were gonna lock us out?"

"I don't know what's gonna happen, it's not my house," you said, "I've just heard of it happening before, where people accidentally lock themselves out out of the house with their baby inside."

"In real life, or did you see it on a T.V. show?" Tyler asked, and you let one eye peel open from where it had been shut in relaxation.

"It might have been on a T.V. show," you admitted sheepishly, and Tyler laughed, "But it makes me feel better."

"No, I think it's cute that you worry about things like that," Tyler said, his tongue swiping over his plump bottom lip. "I would never even have thought of it."

"Yeah, but you'd probably break into the house to get him if we got locked out," you said.

"I mean, I would," Tyler said, "You're scrappy though, you'd figure it out."

"Well, yeah," you said, thinking back to the time when he'd managed to lock his keys in his first car, and you'd ended up having to get a coat hanger to get inside, after numerous attempts from him.

"Don't even, my hands were too big," Tyler laughed.

"I didn't say anything."

"Yeah, but you were thinking it," Tyler said, "And I've got shit together better now. Or everything's electronic so I can't mess things up."

"Mhmm." you said. And even though the keypad on his door in Dallas made things super easy whenever you were staying there, you kind of hoped he'd get you a key cut, if only for the symbolism.

"I guess I'm gonna have to get all those things that go over the electrical outlets," Tyler said, and you turned to him.

"Why?"

"Because you guys are gonna be coming to live with me," Tyler said, like it was obvious.

"Well, he can't even roll over yet, he's not going to be getting into stuff yet."

"He's rolled over before," Tyler said.

"From his stomach to his back, and then he's stuck, he's not gonna get very far like that," you said, and Tyler laughed, flailing his arms in the air, "It's gonna be awhile before he crawls, I haven't even baby proofed my house yet."

"Really?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, I mean his room is safe, but that's about it. I have plug covers and stuff anyways, I can bring it with me."

"Or you can leave it here in case you guys want to come home to visit, or for the summer," Tyler said, "And then you don't really have to worry about packing stuff up and going back and forth."

"Or we could do that," you said, taking your mind off the fact that you probably didn't need to have two cribs or two rockers, or multiple strollers and carseats, "But we'll figure all that stuff out, anyways, he's not just going to up and start walking all of sudden, and it's not like he's gonna be left alone."

"Yeah," Tyler said, although he didn't sound fully convinced.

"Your house is probably better for a baby anyways, 'cause you've got it dog proofed."

"Yeah, I guess we'll just get Gerry to show us what he might get into," Tyler said.

"Yes," you laughed, "Bentley will show us too. It's not like we have to have everything perfect right away. He's gonna grow and change."

That was really the most important thing you'd learned since having him, anyways, was that what worked the month before didn't always work the next, and you didn't really need the things that you thought you might.

"Yeah, but I would just feel better if we had everything all put together for you guys before training camp." Tyler said, and you recognized that familiar feeling of anxiety about needing everything in place.

"I'm pretty sure it'll be okay," you said, "You weren't even home when you moved last."

"True," Tyler said, his lips sliding into a smile, "And I know where we can get some reinforcements to help."

"Yeah," you said, although you had reservations of him easily going overboard, but you just wanted to stay on the excitement and high of getting to live with him. "I'm not worried about that though. Because we're gonna get to live together."

"Yeah," Tyler echoed, his voice lighter, his hand brushing against yours under the water. "We can have sleepovers every night."

"Can we sit in the hot tub every night after we put him to bed?"

"Hell yeah," Tyler said, "We'll get a baby monitor set up out there, a wine fridge, we'll be all set."

You weren't sure if he was joking or not, but you smiled anyways. "What I really need to do is ask his pediatrician for a referral to see someone down there."

"For a doctor for him in Dallas?" Tyler asked.

"That's what a pediatrician is a doctor for children," you said, your voice teasing.

"Haha," Tyler said, dryly. "That stuff is super easy, though. You can ask the other wives, or the team doctors."

"The other wives?" you asked.

"Yeah, I can get you their numbers and they can help you with finding doctors and play groups or whatever, places to shop. Get you set up in the wive's room, stuff like that."

"But I'm not your wife?" you asked, almost tentatively, because the thought of that was just way too much right now.

"Oh, no, I know," Tyler said, turning to face you, his voice reassuring, and using the hand that war next to yours to turn your body towards him, somehow managing to pull you into his lap, his hand gripping at your hip and then sliding to cup your ass, his eyes somehow managing to glimmer even in the dark of the night. "But I'm kinda into you. And we do have a kid together, so I think it's pretty important that you're a part of my hockey family, too."

"I just...don't know how this all works," you said, and Tyler laughed, and you had flashbacks to all those first few times that you'd gone to see him play in the NHL, when it had seemed kind of all overwhelming, especially when you weren't his family or his girlfriend, and yet he'd taken care of you like you were.

"It's not that complicated, trust me," he said, pressing his lips to yours, and you let your hands raised to the tops of his shoulders, and then smooth down over his arms, "Other than the fact I'm gonna get teased relentlessly for how into you I've been this whole time and haven't done a damn thing about it."

"Yeahhhh, I'm pretty sure we're never gonna hear the end of it," you sighed, giving him a little smile. "Your sisters keep texting me wanting to know where I am, by the way."

You felt Tyler laugh beneath you, and you knew, of course, that he hadn't told them yet either. "I kinda want to wait until we see them," he said, sliding his hand up and down your back, "See the looks on their faces."

"I know," you said, because Tyler had gotten to see their immediate reaction to you having a baby, and you'd missed out on that. "But I can't just ignore them until then."

"Well, that's what I've been doing," Tyler said, and then he laughed at your shocked expression, and the way that you pushed at his arm. "Just say you're super busy or something, I don't know."

"I'm not even working or anything right now, Tyler, if I say I'm super busy, they'll probably come drop something off at the house or offer to come over and hold the baby," you said, "and they're gonna know that I'm lying."

Tyler's beard rubbed into your neck as he though. "Well, say you decided to go away for a few days on a little family vacation."

"Because then technically it's not a lie?"

"Exactly," Tyler said, like you'd gotten it.

"They might even be more excited than your mom," you said.

"Yeah," Tyler said, giving you a smile, and then wrapping his hands around your back even more. "You know, as much as I love that my family loves you, don't forget that I loved you first."

"I would never," you said, kissing him back, letting your body sink into his in a slow, unhurried pace, your lips moving together and your hands soft, focusing on nothing else other than each other and complete unrushed until you heard the cries break through the baby monitor, slowly breaking away and letting out a little groan.

"I swear he knows when we're making out," Tyler said, and you caught his eye when you heard a distinctive howl coming through the baby monitor as well, even though the bedroom door had to be closed.

"He does not, we've had lots of alone time," you said.

"Yeah we have," Tyler said cockily, giving your ass a squeeze as he moved behind you, already on your way to come go back inside since it was clear he wasn't going to put himself back asleep.

"You can stay out here," you offered.

"We've already been out here for like half an hour," Tyler said, laughing at your shocked face because you were certain it hadn't even been 10 minutes. "I know, time flies when I've got my tongue down your throat."

"Tyler," you scolded, and he laughed, hands on your hip, and you might have gotten distracted as you heard the cries get louder.

"It was in a nice way, dude, chill," Tyler said to the baby monitor, turning you around to go inside, where you were immediately met with the echoing of nails against the floor from the dogs making their rounds. "What's wrong with your brother, guys? How come you didn't get him?"

You smiled, turning the door handle and Cash pushing his way through, pulling your towel tighter around yourself. "What's the matter?" you asked, pulling him from his bassinet and into your arms, bouncing lightly, reaching for his abandoned pacifier.

"You want me to take him for a bit?" Tyler asked, leaning around you. "You're dripping all over, and not in the good way."

"Oh my god," you said under your breath, Tyler giggling and he took the baby from you, and you went about going to find your clothes.

"Oooh, you want to see boobs?" Tyler asked in his baby voice, "Is that gonna make you feel all better?"

"Stop it," you laughed, getting changed while you walked into the bathroom to hang your swimsuit up, moving quickly because Tyler needed to get changed too, and you didn't think Bentley would really relax until he was snuggled up against a warm, dry body.

"He doesn't need to be changed or anything," Tyler said, passing him back to you.

"Yeah, I think he's just restless," you said, continuing to move with him. .

"He's not the only one," Tyler said, laughing at the way the dogs were circling around, "What's up? You guys need to go for a walk or something?"

You laughed at the way that the dogs were now completely perked up, trotting excitedly around the room. "Well, I guess I'm going for a walk now," Tyler said.

"What do you think, baby?" you said, already trying to work on getting Bentley into the carrier. "You want to take the puppies for a walk? Get some fresh air?"

"I think he wants to do anything that isn't sleeping," Tyler said, raising his eyebrows at you as you looked at him pulling his shirt on. Bentley was still crying when you got outside, which meant that Tyler was attempting to stop Gerry from howling, and you laughed at all the ruckus that you were creating in the quiet neighbourhood.

You weren't sure Dallas was quite ready for all this.

The dogs did, though, eventually get distracted by what was ahead of them, sniffing at the ground with tails wagging, Tyler loosely holding the leashes with one hand, tucking his hand into yours with the other, your one hand still on Bentley's back to try and calm him down.

"What's your deal, dude?" Tyler asked in a soft voice, leaning in to kiss him, and making a noise that you assumed was supposed to be imitating him crying, but that sounded more like a wounded dinosaur.

"He's just a little grumpy, I think," you said, trying to create as much movement as you walked to soothe him, already hearing him take deeper breaths of fresh air.

"Do you think he could be teething?" Tyler asked casually.

"He's only three months old."

"I know, babies can start teething at three months," Tyler said.

"Well, they can, but it's not common," you said, looking over at Tyler, his eyes focused on where you were walking. "Wait, how do you know that?"

You watched as a blush appeared on the swell of his cheeks, quirking his lips like he needed to move something. "I got this book," Tyler said, his eyes darting over towards you briefly like he was hesitant about your reaction. "It's for, like, new dads I guess."

He said the last part like it was a question, and you felt your heart warm, the heat moving from his hand into yours. "Oh, the one in your suitcase?"

"Yeah," Tyler said, and then his brows furrowed. "You saw it?"

"Yeah, when I was grabbing laundry," you said, because you didn't want him to think you were snooping, not when you'd asked him before going into his suitcase.

"Why...why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I didn't know if you wanted me to see it," you admitted, tentative in the way you looked at him, because you knew that this book didn't mean he was there yet.

"Well, I wasn't like hiding it from you or anything," Tyler said, "It's just....it's like, a lot, you know, to feel like I'm prepared to be a parent."

And even though you knew it was on his mind, his hand still felt steady in yours. "I know," you said simply.

"And I feel like I'm decent with kids, but babies are so....complicated sometimes," Tyler said. "Like when I thought about you having a kid, I was more like, I'm gonna have a cool little person to play with, and I kind of forgot about the whole baby stage."

"Yeah," you laughed, your hand still running over Bentley's back, his little body relaxing against yours. "You're way better with him than I thought you'd be."

"Well, thanks," Tyler laughed, and you slowed your steps down a little, laughing.

"I didn't mean like that," you said, "I just mean that you're way more involved that I thought you'd be."

"Well..." Tyler said, his lips turning into a smile, looking back between him and you.

"I meant before we were even a thing," you said.

"Yeah, well,..." Tyler said, "I really underestimated the amount that the fact that he's yours would make me fall in love with him even more."

"Yeah," you said, squeezing his hand, because it was the same for you. "Same."

"This book is actually really interesting though," Tyler said, his voice a little rough like he was fighting emotion. "Like it goes through each month and gives you all this information about all the new things."

"Yeah?" you asked.

"Mhmm...."

"Well, he could be teething but I don't think so."

"Yeah, I don't really either," tyler said, leaning over to kiss Bentley's head, "I think he just wanted to come hang out with us."

"Yeah," you said, thankful that being outdoors seemed to make him feel calmer, much like it did for you and Tyler. "I really, really hope he doesn't get teeth for a long time."

"You hear that bud?" Tyler asked, "Mommy said you're not allowed to get teeth."

"Well, not never," you laughed, "it's just way, way too soon."

"I know," Tyler said, "but you know how advanced he is at everything."

"Oh my gosh," you laughed, "is that why you brought up the whole teething thing? Because you want to brag about him being further along than other babies?"

"Well, not all the other babies, but he's definitely in the top 10%," Tyler said. "And to answer your question, no, I'd be bragging about no matter what he does."

You smiled, Tyler's hand pulling away from yours only to unclasp the dog's leashes, letting them explore the park they'd pulled you into, Tyler leaning his chin against your shoulder to look at the baby.

"Are his eyes open?" You asked, because he'd grown silent, and you'd wondered if the motion had lulled him back asleep.

"Oh, he's wide awake," Tyler said, grinning, and you assumed he was mirroring Bentley's expression back to him. When Tyker bent down to grab a stick for the dogs, you took the opportunity to pull the baby out, turning him around so he could check out what was going on.

"What did you find, Ger?" You asked, because he'd somehow gotten distracted when chasing the stick, his tail wagging as he disappeared underneath a play structure, and you ducked inside to see him digging in the gravel, unearthing a stick which you played tug of war with him for a minute before he darted off with his stick.

"Excuse me, sir," Tyler said from the window opening, "How much is your ice cream?"

"Oh," you said, crouching down with Bentley so you could see him. "$10."

"Ten bucks?" Tyler asked, "That's pretty steep."

"Well, it's artisan," you said, "he's been working on perfecting this recipe his whole life."

Tyler laughed, breaking character for just a moment, casually putting his hands in his pockets. "Well, it does look pretty good...."

"We can give you a free sample so you can try it."

"Oh, free samples?" Tyler asked, and you took Bentley's hand in yours, miming like you were scooping ice cream, handing it to Tyler, and watching as he pretending to take a bite. "It's excellent," Tyler said, licking his lips. "I'll take two scoops."

You went about that process, counting the two scoops and making sure to extend Bentley's hand for the money, Tyler grasping an imaginary cone.

"Om, nom, nom, nom" he exaggerated, a delighted gurgle coming from Bentley, Tyler's eyes brightening. "Om, nom, nom, nom," he continued, a little giggle causing Tyler to learn forward, pretending to eat Bentley's foot until a full-on belly laugh burst through.

"Is he being so silly?" You asked, one more laugh shaking Bentley's body, and then it was you were laughing when Tyler pulled his T-shirt over his face and started running around the park with his arms extended above his head like he'd just scored the game winning goal. In double overtime.

#wont go slowly #Tyler Seguin #tyler seguin imagines #tyler seguin imagine #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #hockey imagines #Hockey Fanfiction #hockey imagine

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dystopian-penguin · 4 years

Text

Regicide is a two-person job - Chapter one

[Has anyone asked for a mashup between an Royalty AU and a Boarding School AU? No? Well I did one anyway.

While I actually know where I’m going with this (which is rare for writers) I am not so sure if I’m gonna go anywhere with this at all (which is decidedly more common for writers). Either way, here’s an intro/sneak-peak into an idea that has been sitting in my folder for way too long.]

Lena Luthor was not having a good day.

It would have been unnecessarily overdramatic to say it had cracked even her Top 10 Worst Days, but then again, the full repercussions of it hadn’t made themselves fully known yet. Although, she supposed being forced to move halfway across the globe fit the “life-changing repercussions” category, and Lena had no possible method to ever measure all of those.

It didn’t matter. She was going to endure the next two years of her life by making everyone else’s a living hell, as she had always done. Besides, she doubted her antics would make her last very long in one of the most well secured campuses in the world, and when she showed up back home in a couple of months after getting (very politely) expelled it would be her turn to laugh in Lilian’s face. And her stepmother wouldn’t even be able to fully act on her rage without tipping off any investors that the Luthors were many orders of magnitude bellow “less than perfect” as a family.

Lena stretched lazily and put her feet on the table, sparing a passing glance at the picturesque snow-covered mountain ranges passing by thousands of feet bellow her. Deciding that she needed a well-rested mind in order to face the many small battles that were sure to occur throughout the day, she picked up her phone to change to a more sleep-friendly playlist. As she muted her music to scroll through her options, she heard Lilian and Lex’s hushed tones coming from the front of the jet.

“…what my contacts say about her”.

Lilian clicked her tongue at that at that. “I hardly think a girl with that much security actually lives up to these rumors. Maybe they’re trying for a more approachable thought-the-grapevines PR strategy,” she answered.

“She does fit the ditzy dumb blonde type, doesn’t she?” Lex said.

Lilian laughed at that. The type of laughter only Lex was ever really allowed to witness. Lena continued through the motions of picking a sleeping playlist and making herself comfortable enough for a nap, feeling slightly bad for whoever was the focus on their conversation. Her brother and Lilian could be quite vicious about their business partners when they were left alone to gossip, and not exactly fully committed to facts. Not that Lena gave a fuck of course. She had stirred up quite a few nasty rumors about her peers herself when bored.

“That will certainly come in handy for the company in a few years’ time, should it be true,” her bother continued. “Although I do personally believe a rebellious youth would have been even better to our interests than an idiotic leader. Either way, Lena dearest appears to be yet one more problem for the Kryptonian Secret Service now”.

Wait, what?

Lena continued to act as if her earbuds hadn’t been muted and curled on herself as if asleep. It had been bad enough to pull her out of her previous boarding school and haul her ass across the globe overnight and without warning. Had Lilian and Lex really concocted even more unpleasant surprises for her day?

What was she thinking, of course they had.

“Oh, I am sure she will be a problem either way, no matter what the other girl really is like” Lilian dismissed. There was a pause, and Lena heard the clink of a teacup against its plate. “Might I enquire what makes you so keen on believing that particular source this time?”

“For the same reasons you picked this particular academy to exile her to, mother dear”.

Another pause, longer this time, then Lilian answered in a tone of subdued irritation.

“So, he has contacted you as well. I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Oh, I can. What a stupid individual that was. But no matter, it has been dealt with,” Lex chuckled. “Unless you had any other pending business with him?”

Oh great, thought Lena. She was now once privy to the answers to what is without a doubt yet another “mysterious missing person case” that would make its rounds on Youtube conspiracy videos in a few years. If she didn’t know any better, she would think her brother planned his assassinations with the narrative of those videos already in mind.

And her family wondered why she was half-buzzed all the time.

Lilian must have made a dismissive hand gesture because Lex continued, “Good then, so we can stop these charades and discuss what we actually need to. Mother, I must admit, as much as the rest of this ordeal has been perversely well crafted, I believe sending her directly to that room might be a liability.”

“Oh please. Princess Kara might be a pretty face, but even Lena isn’t that stupid.”

Had Lena’s chair been facing them her ruse would have been over at that moment, as her eyes went wide. Just what on Earth were these two planning now? Lex’s black-market deals and criminal business practices were one thing. Every big corporation out in their happy little capitalistic dystopian society was guilty of that, no matter how much they liked to give flak to the Luthors exclusively. “That’s just good business,” as Lionel used to say.

But toying with Kryptonian royalty was way above even Lex’s repertoire, especially after their last… security breach, so to speak. Had her brother really grown as arrogant as to think he could walk in the same circles as a family thousands of years old and come out unscathed? That level of hubris spoke of Lillian’s intelligence, but her brother…

From a logical standpoint, Lena knew she would have to run into Princess Kara at some point during her (hopefully brief) stay in that blasted Royal Academy. The girl would have to be undoubtedly the hottest shit in that school, being the first in line to an empire and all. Lena also expected to be asked for some sort of report on her for Lex, so it’s not like she had exactly been planning on ignoring her existence entirely, as much as the prissy playboy types exhausted her to no end.

Okay, if Lena was being completely honest with herself, even she was curious about what the princess was really like.

She had met all kinds of celebrities and dignitaries in her short 16 years of life, but she had never met anyone from the only true royalty left in the world. And Lena knew even Lex had met the late King Zor-El only once, and as a child.

It was a silly guilty pleasure, but one that she was certain she wasn’t alone in. There was just something about the Kryptonian royalty in particular that made them seem like truly god-chosen and regal, and the whole world followed them like their own private novela. Rationally, Lena knew that “something” was, simply put, the best motherfucking public relations company in the world. One that not even the Luthors had enough money or sway to buy. She knew because they had tried. But there was still some air of magic and old-world nostalgia surrounding the very small family, and as much as it killed Lena to admit, she was as susceptible to that trap as the general public.

Even the super-rich are raised on Disney princess movies, after all.

Lena was pulled out of her reverie by Lex openly laughing and chastised herself for becoming so easily distracted at the mere mention of Princess Kara.

“Why, mother, that must have been the biggest compliment I’ve ever seen you pay her. I wasn’t referring to Lena’s dalliances, however”.

“Oh? Weren’t you?” Lilian countered with fake interest. There were more noises from the expensive porcelain set before he answered.

“Ok maybe I was a little bit,” he said bashfully, in a tone betraying just a sliver of vulnerability, like a little kid being caught with the cookie jar. A tone that Lena as a child used to think it was just for her. “But regardless,” he continued, “putting Lena in her room is simply too close. Even for whatever torture you have planned for her-“

“And here was I thinking I had made pretty obvious that sharing a room was part of her punishment,” Lilian interrupted.

Oh.

Oh, what the flying fuck?

Lena was being forced into a sharing a bedroom? Oh, that shit was low, so low. Even for Lilian.

“It is simply too close, mother” Lex repeated incisively, before Lena could focus into her seething rage any further. “She is to be there simply to observe and report, nothing else. Engaging directly with Kryptonian royalty is a risk we can’t afford to take, not with Lena of all people at the helm of the matter.”

Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, Lex.

“Well I beg to differ, darling. With the level of security and scrutiny that room is subjected to, there will be absolutely nothing Lena will get past us this time.”

“And therein lies the risk, mother. The KSS simply cannot be allowed this close to Lena. It is bad enough to need a background check to just enter the grounds of the damn school.”

“I admit the KSS might be a bit of an… overkill to our problem-”

“To your problem. I could not care less what Lena gets herself into, and especially not in such an easily bribable school.”

Lena heard Lilian open her mouth as to reply, but what followed were a few seconds of silence.

“Oh, Lex. Don’t tell me this is about you trying to protect her?” she finally said.

There was a muted silence, and Lena tried to keep her heart in a normal rhythm. Lex hadn’t really given much of a fuck about her for a few years now, there was no use getting her hopes up that he had ever been the brother he acted like when they were kids.

“Yes,” he answered more curtly than he usually was with his mother. Lilian must have had a similar expression of utter disbelief as Lena, because Lex felt the need to continue. “There are… details of this that you are not aware of, mother, no matter how much you believe to have bribed that man. But a private jet, of all places, is not the right setting for this discussion, yes?”

There were more clinks that sounded way rougher than their expensive 17th century porcelain should be handled like, and Lena was suddenly reminded of her brother’s secret (and completely pathetic, considering the family’s business) fear of planes. She wished she could say her heart didn’t feel a bit tighter with that knowledge resurfacing in her brain, but Lena was quite pathetic herself. Especially when she came to Lex.

Her brother’s expression must have put an end to the discussion, because Lena waited completely still for a long time but there had been no more words from either of them. But that suited her just the same. Deciding to give her fury towards Lillian proper attention on a later time, she decided to focus on the major bits of information she was able to acquire. Whatever it was this family had been planning to put her through this time, at least now she had an inkling of what it was. And a name. And with that name came a lead, and the very rare possibility of actually preparing herself psychologically to one of Lilian’s sadistic decisions over her life. Lena checked the time on her phone and found out she had roughly three hours for that. Four, if she counted the car ride between the private airstrip and the school.

She would need to google the shit out of Kara Zor-El.

#supergirl #supercorp #lena luthor #doesnt feel exactly right to tag kara just yet lol #fic #my writting

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altarflame · 4 years

Text

Let me give you this real country music breakdown.

Keeping in mind that 2019 involved lots of gut wrenching transition, including divorce and selling my home of 11 years (the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere). Moving away from the tropics, to a place where the ocean is usually too far and my plants can’t live outside through the winter. I had a kid move out and away, for the first time. My oldest friend also died last August, after a scant 3 month long battle with cancer. It was a real plague upon my proverbial dog, wife, and pickup truck. And, of course, I’m living through a pandemic, and a long overdue but very emotional racial justice uprising, with the rest of you, now. Anyway. OTHER than those things, my 2020 has been like...My sister’s gradually, gut wrenchingly cut off all contact with me over the past couple of years, culminating in the last couple of months, whenst we no longer speaketh at all. I’ve fought hard for this to be different and it’s still very sharp. I don’t think I’ll ever give up hope, or stop making a fool of myself about it. A new friend I was starting to really care about hung herself in April. I’ve tried to be there for her husband and 5 year old daughter when and how I can, which is honestly not much. I’ve taken several people who were scared to go alone, to her grave. I felt forced to break up with the person I thought was my soul mate, these past 3 years, and wanted to be with forever, and I have grieved it hard over the last couple of months. I’m still processing this. I’m gonna be processing this for awhile. My threshold for being anywhere near him without overwhelming sobbing is apparently approximately 45 seconds. In the beginning we were scrambled together, mixed in a celestial bowl and hand fluffed with a feather. And the tears of bliss were not amiss - it was a good day. But the story nears the present time Of restlessness and wake up calls Wake up! Years have flown fast but then who's counting The wars have been won but there's few left standing between us And the shadows of Christmas past... Critically acclaimed but sadly underrated - Fortune definitely favored us, but no one celebrated. Our wits were splitting at their ends... We gazed upon the city lights We each laughed aloud one final time and agreed: This is one thing we'll miss... On his way out, he sabotaged my part time foster child’s mom’s tenuous, fragile relationship with me, so I no longer have the ability to connect with or help that child who he brought into my life. Who I love and wonder about and periodically hear horror stories about via mutual friends. I bent over backwards, I burned calories straining for that trust between the mom and myself.

It’s so terrible sometimes. It hurts so bad. Jean-Paul. LAURA. *MILLS* . Coralye. FUCK. This post brought to you with plenty of hard crying, and no shortage of echoing painful music. I’m physically sick about this shit semi often. I don’t normally let go of anybody, guys. But certainly not my fucking nearest and dearest. I have a lot. I have SO MUCH. I know this. I feel good a lot of the time. I have all 5 of my kids under this roof while the pandemic rages on, and they’re all healthy and beautiful and they all love me and talk with me. It’s mostly all cake these days with them, Elise telling me where she is in her own solitary reading for pleasure, Ananda cracking me up, Jake biking to the grocery store for treats to share, Aaron showing me something amazing in the yard, Isaac washing dishes and giving me weirdly helpful and totally unanticipated advice. They’re almost no work now, it’s all return on investment and I have tons of privacy and I use the fuck out of it. I’m deeply in love with somebody these past 7 months. Being deeply in new love AND devastated-heartbroken about lost love at the same time is honestly dizzying, I spent a first destitute day thinking maybe I can’t do polyamory anymore, period. Maybe this is too fucking much and I’m gonna be alone and focus on my career and my goddamned plants. (<--not fucking really, obv I am not gonna let the pain win and go full hermit. Brief compelling temptation, though.) My career and my plants are great, btw, thanks for asking. I’ve got basically my dream job, it’s flexible and lackadaisical AND meaningful and challenging, it’s salaried with bonuses and hella benefits and amazing job security. It’s the whole thing, the culmination of 6 years in school and unpaid internships and volunteering. I even have a spare PRN position elsewhere that I mostly hang on to because it’s fun when they want me to come make $200 for a shift, to mix it up a little. And I have solo projects, writing and web and mental health, all in the works, and they’re good. I have seedlings sprouting. I have a yard that is pure magic, revealing new secrets each day. I’ve got some of my oldest people, like Jess. I’ve got some exciting new people, like Jill. The love, did I mention it? Holy shit. I’ve got Sterling, and that is a whole other story. That it’s been this good while things are this bad is pretty astounding. His own drama quotient has been off the charts, too. I almost can’t imagine how wonderful it would be if we weren’t constantly adrift in a sea of bullshit, though I also strongly suspect we both need a certain staggering minimum quota of bullshit. It’s no accident that we met mutually chasing along after the wake of the same madman’s chaos. We’re nursing some deep wounds in each other, waking up some old old hurts and soothing them back down smaller and smaller. Anytime we’re touching it’s either syrupy soma sweet, blazing inferno hot, or a staggering blend of the two - and then we pull apart to try to actually speak with whole brains, and inevitably take turns being baffled, just hilariously relieved, at how easy it is to communicate. We alternate coming at each other on tiptoe, braced, and then feeling confused and just.... amused? Skeptical? that the other is totally able to empathize with what was just said and is accepting it gently. We don’t have a ton of objective stuff in common, on paper. We’re both very wordy and linguistic, we’re analyzers, we draw unusual people who will feel safe telling us insane things. We’re both hypersexual perverts, chronic pickers, we both wear too much black. It doesn’t go a lot further than that at a glance. We both have PTSD and ironclad outward facing coping skills, nostalgia for the Florida Keys, scientific skepticism mixed with some faith in magic.... we were both brilliant children who felt pretty isolated. But I haven’t ever really felt like anyone is loving me the way I love people, before. I’ve never even felt like anyone else received my love, the same way I intended it, or at least not all of it. It’s like the intensity of what I’m conveying and meaning when I kiss somebody’s cheek, I dunno man, he experiences it. The goofy flowing sense I have, of holding hands, he comments on it all the time. I’m not just like.... alone, in my overwhelm with being touched, or my enthusiasm for sensations, and that is honestly pretty new to me. Sterling is not tolerating my affection for my sake, and I’m still gradually adapting to that with periodic backsliding into hesitance, and unneeded apologies. It’s like we’re totally fluent in the precise same love language, so nothing gets lost, and the feedback loop is instantaneous. He’s dark inside, but dark like Nine Inch Nail’s A Warm Place. Dark like the womb. So as I was saying. I have so much. Including a candle that’s about Mills, and is burning behind me, giving me this slipping sense that I need to blow it out, I need to reserve it, it’s gonna be gone soon. This one spans so many feelings, it’s been positive, some new candle would be what, voodoo? Meddling? I don’t know. This one’s been in a drawer, with our ring buried in it (my dragon). What will I do with that ring? What will I do with all this love? How can I contain so much, anyway? Why can’t anything ever replace anything else? It’s like infinite space, and the empty places just keep throbbing, and it’s like I sprout new spots for new fullness and the cavities pulse on. I’m deeply grateful for a certain self-completeness I’ve come to understand that I have, and that not everyone does. I am resiliant A-motherfucking-F (<--meta vulgar!). AND YET. OW OW OW. I’m sitting here trying to exposure therapy my way through my Mills playlist, as I write this, so Spotify can’t surprise me into sads anymore. I’ve gotten already to a place where sometimes i remember positive things purely positively, and laugh and tell a story and it’s ok. I’m bitter as all hell that I can’t even talk to my sister about this breakup, after she had so many stupid goddamned feelings about the relationship itself, about polyamory in general, about ever knowing him (which might have allowed her to help me grieve at all). Sigh. I love the internet, maybe feel free to send me a message if you’re still reading, whoever the fuck you are <3

#personal #long text posts #polyamory #Mills #loss #Sterling #motherhood #MSW

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chwrpg · 4 years

Text

What's happenin', hot stuff? -- Duk Barnes

A NOTE FROM ADMIN R: Can I just say, you knocked this completely out of the park, Kayla !!! I am so, so, so, so ready to see what you’ll be doing with Duk given the groundwork you put down in this application. Not just that, but Duk was simply missed on this dash. I love, love, love him and thank you for taking him up once more.

OOC NAME/ALIAS, PREFERRED PRONOUNS, AGE & TIMEZONE:

Your fave Kayla, she/her, 26, EST

DESIRED CHARACTER:

Donald “Duk” Barnes

HOW ACTIVE WILL YOU BE?

Okay so like I am always trying to be better for you guys, so let’s be optimistic and say 6 out of 10.

SECONDARY CHOICE:

N/A

DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER:

One of the things I’ve always loved about Duk is his kind heart. Like, underneath that very attractive exterior, there’s really a heart of gold. When I have written him before, I’ve always enjoyed how much he loves his family. It’s something I connect to and part of what draws me to him. He especially loves and is close to his sister, Sage. He never has seen her as weird, she’s just Sage. His relationship with his two younger siblings is different, of course, but I know he loves them and would do anything for them. It’s the same principle that I see in him with his friends. He’s very much ride or die, as the kids say. He’s also respectful and so funny. I love him so much and I’m forever grateful to be part of giving more depth to a character that was originally just a stereotype.

SAMPLE WRITING:

Adjusting his AirPod in his ear, Duk Barnes reached for his phone, hitting play on his coming to America playlist he had curated specifically for this moment when the pilot announced they had reached America and would reach their destination shortly.

In a second, he heard the familiar strains of his first track begin just before: “I hopped off the plane at LAX / With a dream and my cardigan / Welcome to the land of fame excess / Whoa, am I gonna fit in?”

It was a surprisingly apt song for having been released over ten years ago in what felt like an entirely different world. He could remember Sage playing this song over and over until he broke her CD in a moment of anger. He smiled to himself, thinking about how she’d laugh about how he was willingly listening to it now.

It had been over two months since he’d seen her in person. Or anyone in his big, loud, crazy American family. He’d talked to them through instant messaging, Skype, FaceTime. But that was it. For he had done something crazy on his own.

He’d gone to Singapore. To meet his biological family for the first time.

The thing was when Duk had turned 18, his mom had sat him down and presented him with a rather thick packet tucked inside a time-worn Manila envelope.

“This,” She had said with a shaky breath “Is everything I have about your biological family. You’re an adult now and your dad and I think that it’s time for you to have it.”

At the time, he didn’t know what to say. He’d taken the big envelope without a word, just nodding.

“You don’t have to do anything with the information if you don’t want to, of course.” His mom said rather quickly, having taken his surprised silence for disinterest. “But it’s yours. You used to always want to know more about your… your roots. At the time, I didn’t think it was right for me to share. But in there,” She nodded then to the packet where Duk was touching the golden brad holding the envelope shut. “In there, I think you’ll find the answers.”

In truth, he hadn’t opened it until a year later, He’d found it stashed in a neglected high school science textbook he had forgotten to return while preparing his things to return to college. Sitting at his desk, he finally pried it open. And his mom had been right, the answers to each question he could have wanted to ask were there.

There was also a letter. In a perfect script, on a fine soft-feeling stationery, written in English. It was from his mother’s mother. She wrote about her disappointment that Duk was given up for adoption, how she wished to raise him herself in Singapore, and gave some background about their family, how they were proudly Chinese and Malaysian and had such history that could be traced back over centuries. She wrote about how his mother had come to Chicago to study and fell in love with a white man. They’d broken up before Duk was even born and it was clear that the man didn’t want to be involved in raising the child. But his mother gave him up because she wanted to focus on her career and how the whole family had prayed that this baby would find a good home and a good family to love him as much as they all did.

However, most importantly, it said that Duk was, no matter what, part of the family and welcome to come to Singapore and meet them.

Using some of the names mentioned in the letter, Duk cautiously typed them into Google. The results were mostly in Mandarin, which he knew very little of, so he used the translate function to see what could be made of the articles. It looked like his maternal grandfather was something of a mogul. He had created a hotel and resort empire that spanned not only Singapore, but other countries in Asia and, apparently, a few in development in Europe. It felt unreal, and sat heavy in his chest. So much so that he had abruptly shut his laptop so hard he thought he would break it.

But it all had stirred up something in Duk. A yearning for something he couldn’t quite name. So, he took up learning Mandarin. He wanted to be able to communicate with his newfound biological family, on the off-chance that maybe some of them wouldn’t speak English. First with Duolingo, then borrowing Rosetta Stone from the local library. He wasn’t fluent, might not ever be so, but as he kept working on it, he realized he took to it almost naturally. The words felt right in his mouth. He saved money in a Tupperware container that he hid in the back of his sock drawer. He had given the adoption agency his information in the hopes that he would hear from his family and the first person to email him was his maternal grandmother. She was who he practiced writing Mandarin to, then, slowly, spoke to on Facetime. She was an adorable lady, with a big smile that reminded Duk of his own and the same shared love of the chaos and beauty of life. She encouraged him to come to Singapore and offered to help financially, but he told her it was okay. He could do it. He’d get there, he’d just need a place to stay.

“Well,” she said, a determined but amused look on her face. “That much I can do.”

Singapore was… beyond words. He would never be able to put words to the beauty of the country of his biological family and the feeling that settled in his chest when he stepped off the plane for the first time. It took his breath away, looking out across the tarmac, toward the trees and then the city skyline just beyond. It looked like something out of a movie about the future. If he didn’t know better, he would have been anticipating to see flying cars in the sky. It was amazing - and insanely scary - to meet the family, some of whom were eagerly awaiting him as he walked out of customs. It was kind of freaky, too, to notice how he could see himself, for the first time in real life, in other people. Grandma had given him the biggest hug and kissed both his cheeks. He wouldn’t remember all their names and how they were connected to him at first, his head felt full with information and tired from long hours whiled away in the air. He was, however, mildly surprised to discover that his family all seemed to speak English better than he could and playfully teased him with smiles on their faces about his choppy Mandarin.

Looking at his phone now, he flipped past photos of himself with cousins and various friends of the family, past the TikToks and other videos he had made of his travels (he had been surprised when his video of himself dancing in various airports on his way to Singapore to Billy Idol’s “Dancing with Myself” had begun raking in the likes). It made him smile and he knew already he couldn’t wait to go back. Grandma had begun hinting, toward the end of his time there, that he could try for dual citizenship and had outright offered him a job with the family company, even though Duk wasn’t sure if his uncle - the current CEO of the business - was certain of him. He stops on a video of himself doing one of the many TikTok dances with his cousins outside of a nightclub. They’d been the ones to show him the country’s nightlife, showed him what was what and brought him up to speed on the culture. They’d even managed to get him onto Weibo, the Chinese social media site, and looped him into their WhatsApp groupchat.

They had encouraged him, too, to meet his mother. Which was… easier said than done, it would turn out. He didn’t meet her until his last few days in Singapore. They’d texted a little before that, mostly just to set up a time and place. And when he had seen her, sitting by the window at the tea shop, it was like looking in a mirror. They had the same eyes, same mouth. And she had smiled at him like he was an old friend. Their meeting had been a little awkward, with pockets of nervous silence on both sides. But when they said goodbye, they hugged and Duk held his composure until he was back in his room, where he broke down into tears. Not sad tears, but tears of relief, of joy. It was all so much more than anything he could have expected.

The plane makes its final descent into O’Hare and Duk closes his eyes, uncomfortable still with the way the plane downshifts toward the ground, even though he knows it’s safe. He gets his things together once the plane settles on the tarmac, steering toward the gate. Turns off his AirPods, checks his phone for messages. He smiles at the notifications already popping up on his screen; friend requests on Facebook, new followers on Instagram, new likes on TikTok. Most are family, but he doesn’t recognize several of the new likes on TikTok or followers on Instagram. There’s also a text from his sister that just came through: Why is there a video of you dancing on TikTok?????

He shrugs it off, blowing up on social media doesn’t mean much since he’s still on cloud nine about his trip and eager to just get the hell off this plane already. He’s tired, almost running on fumes, but he still has a bounce in his step that always seems to be with him.

Then, once he makes his way through disembarking and through hectic customs, there’s the Barneses. Crowded right up to the metal barrier. They’re there to greet him, his mom waving her hands in the air as if he can’t see her in the crowd. His father is saying something to Michael, who is hoisting a big sign up into the air. Sara is picking at Mike, as usual and Sage is just looking around as though she would almost rather be anywhere else. But their eyes meet and she smiles. And he knows she is glad to see him, too. Duk tilts his head to one side, studying the simplified Hanzi type lettering on Michael’s sign. “You do know that the sign says ‘fried rice here’ right?” He asks the group. He didn’t expect this to be his first words to his family upon his prodigal return, but then again, normal to the Barnes family is always entirely subjective. Immediately, his mom shot a look at Mike, who is covering his face to hold back a burst of roaring laughter. “Michael!” She hisses and the boy finally lets loose peals of laughter. Sarah punches his shoulder and he grimaces as Sage rolls her eyes, turning her attention to her phone instead. It was the best welcome home he could have ever received.

ANYTHING ELSE?

Nothing! I love you all!!

#accepted #submission

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throwing-summers-at-the-walls · 4 years

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Hi, i hope you are feeling good! Im better than yesterday so i can finally answer you. First of all: i am so happy that you shared your fanfiction! i had a great time reading it! Im always open for more recs. Maybe your all time favorites? Or if you know some good h/c these are always welcome :) And YESSS please send me a link to your fanvids. -- yeah 13rw was super cursed. haha i also watched season 1 but thankfully i was able to sto watching becaue i could feel it making me feel bad (1)

I agree the suicide scene was just cringe (but i think i remember reading somewhere that they cut it out? idk) and overall this show just gave me the feeling that there was no hope and things are always getting worse instead of better and i hated that. but enough of that cursed show. can i just say i really admire how open you are about your feelings (like being suicidal and that) i realy, really admire this about you. i have so much respect for you that you can just share your feelings here (2)

I have never heard of ace attorney but that story you described sounds really good. and i get reading sth that isnt good for you and still doing it (because im a dumb bitch too :D) -- okay i might accept that Root will never grow on you (but i thought so too and look at me now :D) but i havent fully given up yet :)-- yes thats the girl. i think it was really sweet when she said that to Shaw. and i think Shaw appreciated it that someone tried to figure her out instead of just writting her off (3)

Shaw is really cool and definately also a badass and in combination with John its just great! but you will have to suffer trough some Shoot. but maybe, maybe you will end up not hating Root. hope dies last (idk how the saying goes in english, sorry). -- Did you ever ship Caresse (in a romantic way)? cause sometimes i do and sometimes i dont and i get so confused about it :) but i think most of the time i like them more as friends. anyway her death really sucked and you are right with (4)

her death and them losing the library it felt like a different show (i mean i guess it was a different show then). i kinda get your feelings about the destroyed library because i also really loved it (and im really bad with change) but i dont think it affected me as much as you. but yeah i still missed the library very much. and while the subway is a really cool new place its not the same. (also the subway is super dark cause its underground and idk it just makes the whole thing less homey) (5)

Yes he is everything! such a great, interesting character and i wish there were more John-centric episodes! (like ones that explored his character more). that was one of my biggest dislikes of the later seasons that John wasnt featured as much anymore. i think he chuckled a few times in the show but a real laugh? i cant remember one :( -- He did promise Joss to talk to Tyler so @show were is that talk? -- if seen the vid its awesome! thehiddenmemory has some great poi vids! (6)

yes i think so too. Like Grace would probably be relived and thankful that Harold is still alive and maybe they would even try again but eventually she would figure out that she cant trust him after lying to him for so long or sth like that and Harold would ofc realize that he is in love with someone else now. And then he finds out that John is still alive but stayed away cause he didnt want to get in the way of Harold/Grace. But then Harold comes back. And when they meet again John is like (7)

you came back for the machine? what about Grace. But Harold tells him he came back for John not the machine and then they kiss and have a happy live with Bear (sorry i got a little carried away here :D). -- Yeah Zoe is really hot and she needed more screen time! -- i hope you have a good day and i hope i havent messed up the numbers on the asks! :)

Hi ! I'm finally free from the resits, I hope you're doing okay with your thesis 💛

Sorry for replying late, there was the exam resits, and I read a bunch of fics, then I fell into pokémon and started bingewatching it. (Also I had a breakdown during therapy today so I'm gonna finish writing my answer to distract myself - it's been sitting in my drafts for so long rip)

Thank you !! It was a very personal thing, I'm really happy you liked it !! Your support and your comment made me thrive 💛💛

Tbh I was surprised to see it get kudos given that the only intended audience was my self projecting ass 🤣

So, my fav fics (my fav fic ever is in French, rip to y'all bc it's so good):

I am, I am, I am by RavenWhitecastle

Actually check the entire series this work belongs to: The Sinner and the Saint. I haven't finished it yet but I love it (I just skipped the explicit fics bc I don't like smut or sub!John)

Breaking All The Rules by talkingtothesky

Outsider Perspective by Neery

A Really Private Person by astolat

Hamartia (the hero's fatal flaw) by astolat

If Only for Tonight by spacemutineer

From Here, Where? by AKMars

Stroll by TheaNishimori

and the world was gone by lunarcorvid

a light that never goes out by vindicatedtruth

Limitations. by Michaelssw0rd

Reel you in and spit you out by Michaelssw0rd

All I Want For Christmas Is You by richmahogany

By What Power I Am Made Bold by brinnanza

Aftershocks by darringtons

At Certain Hours It All Breaks Down by nogoaway

construction of a kingdom by the_ragnarok

You Take Me Higher Than I've Gone by talkingtothesky

All Together Now by beadedslipper

I'll Let the Waters Still by brinnanza

Birthday Tradition by talkingtothesky

Things My Father Taught Me by KRyn

Truth is in the Eye of the Beholder by infiniteeight

Better Luck This Time by Lisztful

Motivations by JenNova

What's On the Table by cortue

In Another Life by Della19

I Thought We Already Were by talkingtothesky

Misunderstandings by thisstarvingartist

This is already fucking long omg so for the h/c: my bookmarks filtered with Rinch and h/c

Here's my playlist, it's mostly Rinch, but there are a few not Rinch vids, plus some scenes I like

This is long enough already, so it's time for a read more. Also, warning, we be talking about suicide

The portrayal of suicide is cringe most of the time anyway. If my suicidal ass can find a list of suicide methods and their lethality in 2 mins on Google you'd think writers who are supposed to do some research would be able to find them too but no they're like "ah yes slicing wrists" even though it's literally the shittiest method 🙄 (I just don't understand why slicing wrists seems to be such a popular method in the collective imagination ? It's weird.) At least in 13rw she took aspirin and cut herself vertically instead of horizontally but still, no hesitation wounds, and she dies even though she only got 4 wounds iirc ? I know more about jumping off bridges than slicing wrists, but it kinda sounds like bullshit to me. Also Netflix once suggested "beyond the reasons" to me, it's a sort of discussion with the cast and crew of 13rw and the only thing I remember is a moment of intellectual masturbation abt how they "opened a discussion abt suicide" 😬😬😬

They may have cut it out it's not impossible, idk I didn't hear about it, but it's not like I look for info about this dumpster fire lol. Maybe they faced backlash ? Wouldn't be surprised given how shit the show was. And yeah it has a hopeless vibe, I mean that's how it be when you're suicidal, but I didn't like it either.

You're sweet 💜💜 it's interesting that you find it respectable or admirable, I don't have an external point of view, so I'm just like 🤷 it is what it is. I understand where you're coming from though, I guess it's still quite a taboo subject, and suicidal people don't always feel comfortable talking about it, so me throwing around that I jumped off a bridge must be surprising. I'm detached enough from my suicide attempt that I'm able to talk about it without much of a problem, and I'm not really suicidal anymore.

Dumb bitches unite 👏👏👏 we be out there reading shit we shouldn't read

Yeah I think it's nice how the show didn't portray Shaw as a bad person for not having "normal feelings". Well, hope makes one live as we say in French (idk the English saying either lol) but don't hold much hope about me liking Root lmao

I used to ship careese bc they kissed in the crossing, but then I read some Rinch fics and I just ended up falling into it to the point where I stopped caring about careese. Now I think their relationship works better as a friendship.

Yeah all that change really puts me off... It just gives me "bad spin-off" vibes. Especially since there is less John :( and less Rinch :((((

Lmao yeah I just have a lot of feelings about early poi hgkfglrk. Also :/ I'm sad about the subway being less homey pls I just want happiness ?? I swear this show destroys my heart on top of owning my last braincell (brb changing my blog title to this lmao)

Mood I need all the John-centric eps, give me m o r e characterization and development and backstory and feelings hhhhhhh. I love him so much I just wanna spend more time with him. And that's what fics are for ! Yeah thehiddenmemory is so talented ! Astolat made some good ones too, on top of writing really good fics ! (Our fandom has been blessed with the presence of one of the ao3 founders hell yeah)

Also, remember how we talked abt the poi subreddit ? The other day I left a comment on there, wild I know. It wasn't a discussion about the last seasons though, I'm not crazy, it was about the impact poi had in our lives so I said it literally taught me English. Who knows maybe sometimes I'll comment again lol. I just don't wanna meet one of those people who prefer late poi over early poi.

Allow me to uuuuh write something based on what you said. Don't ask me how John survived with no major injuries, my man got that Thick Plot Armor alright. Hope you appreciate me getting carried away sjdkdksk it's kinda rushed and the first part isn't that good bc idk how to write Grace I'm just here for that sweet sweet Rinch stuff

Harold is eating breakfast with Grace in her kitchen – he can't think of her home as his home – when his phone vibrates. It's a text from the machine. It's a surprise, she barely contacted him since... He blocks the thoughts and the images coming to his mind. The machine sent him a picture. When he opens it, his heart misses a beat. Right here on his screen is a silhouette he thought he would never see again. His phone vibrates again. Another picture, this time it's unmistakably John, wearing his signature suit, Bear next to him. Transfixed, he stares at his phone until he feels Grace gently touching his arm. She goes straight to the point.

"Is it John ?" He looks up in confusion, but before he can say anything, she adds, "I hear you call him in your sleep every night."

"It's him, yes." He doesn't want to explain. He only wants to see John, to touch him, to tell him how much he loves him.

"You should go back to him. I like you, Harold. I am deeply relieved to see you alive. But I've been thinking, and... It's not working. This, us... You aren't really the man I fell in love with, the man I grieved... I can't trust you anymore." She doesn't say 'You lied to me' but Harold hears it all the same.

Harold sits on their bench. The machine indicated John often comes here. Soon enough, his arms are full of Bear, and John is standing in front of him.

"John. How are you ?" he asks when Bear finally calms down.

"Busy. And you ?"

Harold eyes him suspiciously – John once said he was busy when he was bleeding and way too close to death – but he seems to be well.

"I'm fine." He doesn't have time for awkward small talk." I thought you were dead. Why didn't you contact me ?"

"The machine told me you were with Grace. I thought you wanted to come back to your previous life. I didn't want to crash into it and ruin what you had."

Harold wants to be angry at him, but he understands. He did the same with Grace.

"You would never ruin anything. Besides, my relationship with Grace... didn't survive my lies. She's very dear to my heart, but she's a part of my previous life, as you said."

"So you came back for the machine, and the numbers, like the good old times ?"

Harold gets up from the bench.

"I came back for you. You are an important part of my life. The most important part."

John smiles, finally. He takes a step towards Harold, they're so close they could kiss. Harold reaches out, grips his shirt and slowly inches closer. He's still afraid of being rejected but John wraps his arm around him and kisses him. The kiss is over too soon. John's smile is even wider when they part.

"You're the most important part of my life too," he says before kissing Harold again. "You will stay ?"

"Always."

Damn I live for sappy Rinch stuff.

Bitches decided that Harold saying "always" is peak Rinch. It's me I'm bitches.

Also ofc I had to make a reference to number crunch, who do you think I am

Anyway. I hope you have a good day ! 💛

#half valid anon

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iicewitch · 4 years

Text

☀️ cult of dionysus

a playlist for my friend caz link to playlist: here tracklist and favorite lyrics below

1. only as good as my god - everything everything And on the steps of my church There, I'm chasing down a red girl with my hooves upon a- Ooh - Wild Ooh - Child If they crawl out of the mud Wash them away in a flood I'm only as good as my god Burnt hair and more money 2. disciples - captain murphy Don't you want devoted followers? Who leave their families for you Give their money to you Give their bodies to you Give up their lives for you Consider you God, and will kill for you Don't you want to become a cult leader? Since the death of God there has been a vacancy open You can fill that void, here is how 3. dionysus - bts Just get drunk like Dionysus Drink in one hand, Thyrsus on the other Art splashing inside this clear crystal cup Art is alcohol too, if you can drink it, you'll get drunk fool I'm now in front of the door to the world The cheers I hear when I get up on stage Can’t you see my stacked broken thyrsus At last I’m reborn 4. good hand - turbowolf And I say No pain, no gain That's the mantra I'm repeating No sun, no rain That's the mantra I'm repeating No pain, no gain, no sun, no No pain, no gain, no sun, no rain 5. addicted to love - robert palmer Your lights are on, but you're not home Your will is not your own You're heart sweats and teeth grind Another kiss and you'll be mine 6. cult of dionysus - the orion experience Or start a secret society for the wild and free Our ideology is "You can do what you want Too much is never enough" We are the Life, we are the light We are the envy of the Gods above 7. hitting on all sevens - lyndon smith Make of me a subject caste Pressed and kept beneath thy glass Every heart thy sent in heaven Always hitting on all sevens One by one as ordered Flank to flank and facing forward Hanging by the word In chapter, verse and sentence heard 8. touch tone telephone - lemon demon Don't hang up yet, I'm not done I'm an expert, I'm the one The one who was right all along Better to be laughed at than wrong I'm an expert in my field UFOlogy, yes, it's all real Ancient aliens, it's all true I'm an expert just like you 9. sundial - lemon demon Don't mind me, I've just got some problems to work out I'm only passing through or maybe just right out Somehow something set my sundial backwards tilted and upside-down Now the shadow hand is pointing time right out of town I don't remember what it is that I just said to you I've got Anubis on my back and something in my shoe 10. mother’s talk - tears for fears It's not that you're not good enough It's just that we can make you better Given that you pay the price We can keep you young and tender Following in the footsteps of a funeral pyre You were paid not to listen now your house is on fire 11. light up the night - the protomen There is a city that this darkness can't hide. There are the embers of a fire that's gone out, But I can still feel the heat on my skin. This mess we're in, well you and I, Maybe you and I, We can light up the night. 12. pure morning - placebo A friend in need's a friend indeed, A friend who'll tease is better, Our thoughts compressed, Which makes us blessed, And makes for stormy weather, 13. aspiring fires - mother mother Baby, so you think you know crazy I think you know what you know, But what you know you don't know for sure A little advice for aspiring fires You'll get put out if you don't get a little wild Try again, try again, it ain't right You don't got the due diligence to lose your mind You're not getting it right 14. oh ana - mother mother I'll play god I'll play god I'll play god I'll play god today Ante up and play that god a poker game Walk away with all our little God's spare change Playing this god it can't be good for— Ana's safety, Ana hear me ! 15. this devil’s workday - modest mouse So I ate the wedding cake 'til the whole damn thing was gone. And I'm gonna drown the ocean. Now ain't none o' that so wrong? I could buy myself a reason. I could sell myself a job. I could hang myself on treason. Oh I am my own damn god. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha 16. kiss me son of god - they might be giants I look like Jesus, so they say But Mr. Jesus is very far away Now you're the only one here who can tell me if it's true That you love me and I love me And a world screams, "Kiss me, Son of God" Yes a world screams, "Kiss me, Son of God" 17. personal jesus - depeche mode Take second best Put me to the test Things on your chest You need to confess I will deliver You know I'm a forgiver 18. charlie’s inferno - that handsome devil Catch you later, I'm off to see the man upstairs They all look like ants from here Stars and crystal chandeliers Excuse me, sir! There must be someone you've confused me for If I could see someone who knew me or someone in uniform I go to church on sunday, truly, usually more! Screaming at the angels while they pushed him through the door! 19. old 45s - chromeo Don't wanna settle Or didn't you get the memo You only get a date if you're walking in stilettos This is enough to drive you mad If you think romance is dead and gone Find an old jukebox full of 45's Pop a nickel in it and it all comes back 20. down at the midnight rectory - ted neeley Down, down, down at the midnight rectory! With jiggle juice frisking under the marquee! The peacocks are strutting behind velvet ropes, Sipping away on their heavenly dope. Gimme two alleluia's and an amen! 21. elevate - dj khalil Can't stop me, can't break me (can't break) What don't kill me, gon' make me (gon' make) Shoot for the stars, no safety (no safety) And now I see clear in HD 'Cause I win, over and over again Battlin' evil, I'm hopin' to win Fightin' my demons, I'm nice for a reason Enticed with the bleedin', I'm showin' my sins 22. come along - cosmo sheldrake We'll dance and sing 'til sundown And feast with abandon We'll sleep when the morning comes And we'll rise by the sound of the birdsongs We'll be here when the world slows down And the sunbeams fade away Keeping time by a pendulum As the fabric starts to fray 23. just one yesterday - fall out boy I thought of angels Choking on their halos Get them drunk on rose water See how dirty I can get them Pulling out their fragile teeth And clip their tiny wings If heaven's grief brings hell's rain Then I'd trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday 24. church - fall out boy And if death is the last appointment Then we're all just sitting in the waiting room I am just a human trying to avoid my certain doom If you were church, yeah I'd get on my knees Confess my love, I'd know where to be My sanctuary, you're holy to me 25. beast dance - kurage p Cast aside your humanity, before you have to grovel on the ground, being at the bottom of society. You want to be loved? In that case, come on. ”Roar roar roar roar roar roar” Inside the cage, ‘kay? 26. black and white - MASA Pour the gospel echoing through the world into your glass. Black&White! Practice your faith through shots and prayers. Open the bottle. Black&White! 27. sister’s mercy - hitoshizuku-p Jesus!! Pray and pray Believer, if you demand for salvation Oh Yeah!! Then pay up more and more for this Bright Red, now! Cheers!! Pour and pour When you’ve filled your stomach with this bright Red, Aa! All your wishes will come true 28. inferno pt. 2 - the buttress The depth of my breadth is unmet I'm becoming unraveled on the road less traveled I know Jesus wept But I abhor the Lord Fell on my sword Forever slept 29. let’s just live - casey lee williams Let's just live Just one day Let's forget about our problems Let's fall in love with life And just be free The sun will never fade The night won't steal our day Let's dance and laugh and love And let's just live 30. ignite - casey lee williams Fool, you shouldn't stare into these eyes of fire You're goin' to regret this little fight You don't wanna mess with me, I'm something higher You'll watch yourself suffer You'll watch me ignite 31. god’s gonna cut you down - johnny cash Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand Workin' in the dark against your fellow man But as sure as God made black and white What's down in the dark will be brought to the light 32. royals - lorde Let me be your ruler (Ruler) You can call me queen bee And baby, I'll rule (I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule) Let me live that fantasy 33. you should see me in a crown - billie eilish Count my cards, watch them fall Blood on a marble wall I'm gonna run this nothing town Watch me make 'em bow One by one by, one One by one by You should see me in a crown 34. rev 22:20 - puscifer Pray til I go blind (Pray) Pray cause no one ever survives Prayin' to stay in her arms just to die longer Satyrs and saints, devils and heathens and lies 35. this must be the place - talking heads Home, is where I want to be But I guess I'm already there I come home, she lifted up her wings I guess that this must be the place I'm just an animal looking for a home and Share the same space for a minute or two And you love me till my heart stops Love me till I'm dead 36. razzle dazzle - richard gere Give 'em the old razzle dazzle Razzle Dazzle 'em Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it And the reaction will be passionate Give 'em the old hocus pocus Bead and feather 'em How can they see with sequins in their eyes? 37. you’ll be back - jonathan groff You say our love is draining and you can't go on You'll be the one complaining when I am gone And no, don't change the subject 'Cause you're my favorite subject My sweet, submissive subject My loyal, royal subject Forever and ever and ever and ever and ever 38. no light, no light - florence and the machine No light, no light in your bright blue eyes I never knew daylight could be so violent A revelation in the light of day You can't choose what stays and what fades away 'Cause it's so easy, To say it to a crowd But it's so hard, my love, To say it to you out loud 39. shiny happy people - r.e.m Meet me in the crowd, people, people Throw your love around, love me, love me Take it into town, happy, happy Put it in the ground where the flowers grow Gold and silver shine Shiny happy people holding hands Shiny happy people holding hands Shiny happy people laughing 40. a good song never dies - saint motel There was a moment, a hole opened in the sky A chance to join that pantheon For all the times they never heard your battle cry Now be an angel, sing along 'Cause a good song never dies It just reminds you of where you were The first time it made you cry The first time you felt alive 41. king of the clouds - panic at the disco Some only live to die, I'm alive to fly higher Than angels in outfields inside of my mind I'm ascendin' these ladders, I'm climbin', say goodbye This old world, this old world I don't trust anything Or anyone, below the sun I don't feel anything At all 42. battle for the sun - placebo I, I, I will battle for the sun, sun, sun, sun And I, I, I, I am the bones you couldn't break Break, break, break, break, break, break, break 43. walk like an egyptian - the bangles All the school kids so sick of books They like the punk and the metal band When the buzzer rings (oh whey oh) They're walking like an Egyptian All the school kids so sick of books They like the punk and the metal band When the buzzer rings (oh whey oh) They're walking like an Egyptian 44. credens justitiam - yuriko kaida and eri itoh Free, they are With no malice they sing quietly And they told me that my song was louder/lighter Their song Releases the day of all malice I want to be like them And my mind (their minds are) Free 45. 99.9 - mob choir The protagonist of this stage is me Cryin' my life, cryin' my psyche Cryin' my heart in such commonplaces Is this my ideal? Is this my mind? Ahh, I’m looking for the answer ! 46. cruel angels thesis - yoko takahasi But someday you will notice On those shoulders of yours There are strong wings To guide you to the far future. If there is any meaning In the fate that pulled us together, Then I am, yes, the Bible That teaches you of freedom. A cruel angel's thesis And then sorrow comes forth 47. peace and love on the planet earth - zach callison I guess we're already here I guess we already know We've all got something to fear We've all got nowhere to go I think you're all insane! But I guess I am too Is there anything that's worth more? Is there anything that's worth more? Is there anything that's worth more Than peace and love on the planet Earth? 48. now we can see - the thermals We were born in the desert We were reared in a cave We conquered in the sun but we lived in the shade We were born on an island we grew out of the sand Never saw another creature never knew another man 49. love today - mika I said Everybody's gonna love today Gonna love today, gonna love today I said Everybody's gonna love today Gonna love today Anyway you want to, anyway you've got to Love, love me, love, love me, love, love 50. where is my mind? - the pixies With your feet on the air and your head on the ground Try this trick and spin it, yeah Your head will collapse If there's nothing in it And you'll ask yourself .. Where is my mind? Where is my mind?

#gene's playlists

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coffee-obsessed-writer · 5 years

Text

When You Least Expect It, Part Thirteen

Jensen x Musician!Reader

Masterlist - Contains Chapter Links & Wardrobe Collages

A/N: This is a slow burn fic that I have been working on for a while. Its a story I wrote for myself and just wanted to share with everyone. Yes, the “Dee” in the story is who you think, but there is no intended hate on her or their actual marriage. It is a work of fiction, that is all. Part thirteen has parts from Both POVs. There is also a playlist to go along with the series.

Spotify Playlist:

Chapter Summary: Y/N arrives in San Diego. Between telling Jensen what happened at FBBC and experiencing life in the spotlight as his new girlfriend, Y/N finds she is more than ready to make some big life changes.

Chaper Warnings: Language, Ragey!Jensen

WC: 8.2K

Series Beta’d by the beautiful @closetspngirl

The plane bounced along the tarmac at San Diego International Airport and Y/N felt herself be able to breathe again. It had barely been a week since she’d seen Jensen but after the incident with Nathan the night before, and the subsequent questioning by the police, she needed him more than ever.

She thought of calling him and telling him everything by phone, but the idea left her cold. Jensen had wanted her in San Diego in the first place, and she should have just gone. But the stubborn woman that dwelled inside her couldn’t relent everything quite yet. As soon as she had decided to book a ticket, Detective Perkins arrived along with two marked cruisers and scoured the area searching for Nathan. Perkins arranged to put out an APB on him for the assault and intent to question about the break-in. Y/N told Perkins everything Nathan said but left out the part where he implied a woman’s involvement. She knew what he meant, but was keeping that information for herself for now.

Hours later, when Y/N was finally back at Jensen’s house and laying in the bed she now shared with him, her overwhelming need to be near him was almost too much. She eventually got up and went to the guest room, laying down with Briana and finally falling asleep as the sun began to rise. Now, merely an hour away from seeing Jensen, she felt relief and the ability to breathe easy again.

Briana had all the arrangements taken care of, including reaching out to Robbie to secure credentials for Y/N to get into Comic-Con and to where she could surprise Jensen. Bri made him swear on his children that he would keep the secret and help Y/N get to where she was going. Unfamiliar with the chaos that was a convention such as Comic-Con, Bri didn’t want her to navigate those waters alone.

Early the next afternoon, Y/N disembarked the plane and retrieved her checked bag, then found the driver that Robbie had sent for her. The car brought her directly to the convention center with the promise of dropping her luggage at the hotel where everyone was staying. She made her way to the Will Call booth, already overwhelmed by the enormity of the event but still excited to get a glimpse into Jensen’s world.

With a quick flash of her identification, she retrieved her All-Access Pass lanyard and drew in a deep breath of the Southern California air. It was just as hot as it was in Texas, but the excitement that swirled in the atmosphere around the convention center made it seem slightly more tolerable. She could feel the people’s elation as she made her way through the crowds, trying to find her way to the conference room where Robbie was waiting for her.

Jensen exhaled a yawn and rubbed a hand over his tired face. He could easily sleep for a week already, and they were only on day one of three in San Diego. Normally he looked forward to Comic-Con weekends, they were different enough from the regular con circuit that there was a certain level of exhilaration over the unknown of what could happen. This year though, he was tired and a little sad, desperately wishing that Y/N was there with him.

He just got out of hair and makeup for a second time that day, to do yet another interview; this time it was Entertainment Weekly. They were usually easy going, lots of laughs, not too many hard-hitting questions; but fun conversation and banter about the show. If he was somehow able to work in a plug for the festival, even better. Getting exposure through an outlet like that could easily boost ticket sales enough to make a huge impact in what they are able to give back to the community.

Shaking off the last bit of sluggishness, Jensen made his way towards the set where the spotlights were pointed directly at the chair where he would sit. Tasha Wilson, one of EW’s representatives that weekend, was already seated and waiting; her wide smile and heavily produced eyes popped with excitement.

“Jensen!” she exclaimed, darting out a hand to shake his without moving from her seat. “So good to see you! Having fun this weekend?”

“Yeah,” he smiled as pleasantly as he could muster. “I am. It's always a good time here.”

“Anything scoopy you wanna dish before the cameras start rolling?” she asked, her tongue peeking out as she playfully wiggled her eyebrows. “Promise to keep my mouth shut!” She crossed her chest with her fingers and held them up a mock salute. “Scout’s honor!”

It instantly made Jensen smile softly and think of Y/N. God, I wish she were here, he thought, then tried to focus on Tasha instead.

“Uhhh,” he started, then laughed nervously, “you know I can’t. But I think you’ll be surprised at what’s in store.”

“Okay, fine. I know… can’t say anything,” she waved him off with a flirty laugh. “You ready, gorgeous?”

“Let’s do it,” Jensen said and dug deep down to find that switch he needed to flip just for these moments. Just as the cameras started to roll, and Tasha started to talk, he found his inner professional and turned on the charm.

As she flirted her way through the questions, Jensen tried to maintain his focus, but he felt like something was coming; though he had zero idea of what it could be that was causing it. Not necessarily in a bad way, but there was a sensation he couldn’t explain, building from the depths of his gut and crawling up his spine to his neck. Whatever it was, it made him take his attention away from Tasha and look off towards the fringe of the set, beyond the cameras to where the shadowed figures stood watching the interview.

“Did you and Jared get a lot of say in how this was going to go?” she asked, unaware that Jensen was no longer paying attention.

At first, he didn’t understand what he was seeing because it was like he was seeing her in fragments. First her hair, then her smile, and even from the distance he sat, he couldn’t mistake her eyes. His heartbeat faster as he noticed the familiar position of her stance, as her arms were crossed loosely over her chest, a hip hitched out while standing beside Rob. Jensen was rendered speechless by the sight of her. At first, he wasn’t sure if it was her or just a hallucination--the sheer desire to have her there playing with his mind--but then she laughed, and even though the ambient noise and distance, he knew for a fact she was really there.

“Jensen?” Tasha asked, and then followed his line of sight trying to locate the source of what grabbed his attention. “You alright? Still with me?” she continued when she went back to him.

“Yes. Sorry,” he laughed with a mixture of excitement and discomfort at being so caught off guard by her presence. “I’m, uh… I’m alright, I just saw a familiar face.”

He swallowed hard, and looked back in Y/N’s direction, almost afraid she would be gone, but thankfully she was still there. She was looking his way now, her lips pulled taut into the little smirk he loved so much; the one that made her look like she carried the world’s biggest secret and only wanted to tell him. Jensen’s heart swelled at the sight of her, the ache in his arms building with the need to run over and grab her tightly.

“Oh? An old friend, perhaps?” Tasha turned excitedly in her chair, still trying to discern as to who Jensen was referring too.

“No, no,” he chuckled, the kind that was forced and slightly frustrated. “It seems as though my girlfriend has decided to surprise me here this weekend.” Jensen couldn’t hide the enormous smile that exploded on his face as he nodded in her direction. Calling Y/N his girlfriend for the first time, especially to someone in this very separate world, made him almost giddy. He loved how Tasha’s expression went from excited to crestfallen in less than a second.

“Your… girlfriend? Ohhh! Well… this is new, I take it? Last I heard you were single and ready to mingle, Mr. Ackles.”

He laughed his fake laugh again. “Yes, it is new. Though we’ve been good friends for a while.”

“And is she someone we know?”

“Probably not yet. But I promise you, you will.”

“Oh, and why’s that?” Tasha asked with animated curiously, but Jensen took notice that her entire demeanor now changed from the flirtatious behavior earlier in the interview.

“Y/N is the most incredible singer, songwriter, and musician I’ve ever known. She’s been working on the Hometown Brewfest we’re hosting on Austin, and what she’s managed to put together will blow your mind. I guarantee the second she gets on the stage that weekend, everyone’s gonna know her name.”

“Wow! That’s quite an endorsement! And you’ve been known to sing as well, do you plan on sharing the stage with her that weekend?”

“Hell yes!” he responded enthusiastically. “Honestly, It’s what I am most looking forward to for the whole weekend. To share a stage with her, it’s gonna be awesome.”

Tasha went on to ask a few follow up questions about both the festival and the show, then began to realize that Jensen’s attention was far too divided to get much more out of him. Tasha relented and went into asking her final few questions. The moment the lights cut off, and she put down her mic, Jensen was up, out of his seat and dodging the camera equipment in order to get to his girl.

Jensen thought his heart may beat right out of his chest, like those old Bugs Bunny cartoons. The way she felt in his arms, the sensation of her breath on his neck as she embraced him back, the familiar scent of her shampoo wafting into his nose… all of it was able to drown out all the other noise and people that were around them. He didn’t care how many people were watching them from the corners of their eyes. Nor did he care that he had his face buried into her neck and unable to peel himself from her body. He refused to let go until he filled every one of his senses was lingering with traces of her. Finally, he felt he had held her long enough that he could breathe. When his grip loosened, hers did too, but they didn’t stray far from the other.

“What are you doing here?” he asked his expression a mix of wonderment, joy, and disbelief.

“Can’t a girl just miss her guy?” Y/N teased, but Jensen could see there was more behind hiding behind her eyes.

“Yeah, I mean… are you okay though? You don’t look okay.” He caressed the side of her face with his hand, and lightly brushed her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “What happened?”

Y/N opened her mouth to talk, but looked around quickly and visibly hesitated. “C--Can we… I mean, do you have a few minutes we could go somewhere quiet?”

“For you, I have all the time in the world, come on.”

Jensen took her hand and led her around behind the Entertainment Weekly set and into a small green room that was completely empty. Once inside, Jensen shut the door and turned the lock, not caring about who needed the space.

Y/N put her arms around his neck again and kissed him softly. “I missed you. A lot.”

“I missed you too, Trix. And not that I don’t love the surprise, but I know you well enough to know that something happ--” Jensen stopped mid-thought, and brushed the hair away from her neck. He thought it strange that she was wearing it down, as it wasn’t her usual style. But as he studied the subtle differences in the tone of her skin was that when he noticed the bruising on her neck. A sudden, intense flash of rage-filled his features.

“What the fuck happened?” he asked, trying to not scare her with the anger that was rapidly enveloping him. “Y/N…”

“Ok… so, just remember that I am here telling you now. Please don’t get mad I didn’t tell you last night. Can you promise?”

“No! Not when it involves bruises on your neck, I can’t!” he snapped, then saw the way she was looking at him and reeled in his emotions a little. He took a moment, then nodded with a breathy sigh. “I can promise not to get mad at you. The situation, though… something tells me that is a whole other thing entirely.”

“Nathan showed up,” she admitted quickly and quietly, casting her eyes to the floor as if she was ashamed to tell him.

“Nathan showed up at the brewery? When? Did Paolo--”

“Paolo called the cops just like you told him too. He wanted to call you immediately, I asked him not too. So, don’t take anything out on him. He was absolutely amazing last night.”

A slight bit of tension visibly left Jensen’s shoulders as he continued to try and regulate his breath. “What happened?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“I was walking to the truck, and starting to text you back when he just came out of the shadows. He wanted to talk, more like bitch me out, but… I tried to text you while he was rambling, so you could…I don’t know…”

“That was smart.”

“Well, until he saw me doing it, then smacked it out of my hands straight to the ground along with the files I was carrying. So, I don’t have a phone for the moment.”

Jensen rubbed his hand over his face, desperately trying to keep his composure while she continued.

“Then he got angrier and said some things… I said some things that pissed him off even more and then that’s when tried to choke me.”

Her last few words hung in the air like the haze of a humid afternoon. Jensen tried to process what she just revealed without having an explosive reaction, though purely for her sake. Y/N had seen enough anger and violence at Nathan’s hands, and he refused to let her see him in the same way.

Drawing in a deep breath through his nose, he steadied his hands that were shaking and did his best to unclench them.

“Did he hurt you? I can see the bruises, but did he--”

“No,” she replied quickly. “He didn’t hurt me. It was over quickly because I kneed him in the balls. It dropped him just as Bri and Paolo were coming out of the back door. Then he got up and took off. Cops came, I talked to Detective Perkins and then Bri took me home. Bri booked a ticket for me, called Robbie to get the credentials, and now here I am. But, there’s something else you gotta know… he admitted to the break-in, Jay. He did it and I think--”

A soft knock at the door interrupting the conversation nearly set Jensen off, but one look in Y/N’s direction and he knew that he couldn’t explode when she was present. He took a few slow, steady steps towards the door and unlocked it. Robbie stood on the other side, an apologetic look on his face.

“I know, my timing sucks bad. But, it’s time for the panel. I can take Y/N and get her seated upfront, is that cool? You just gotta head over to--” Robbie paused when he noticed how tense Jensen was. “You okay, man?”

“No. I’m not. But, I will be,” he cast a longing, side-eyed glance at Y/N and sighed. “Nathan showed up again.”

“What? When?” Robbie asked, walking in and closing the door behind him. “What the fuck happened?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Y/N replied and went to stand in front of Jensen. She forcibly took his hands into hers and squeezed them. “I didn’t want to tell you here, but I knew you wouldn’t let it go unless I did. I promise I’m fine. There’s an APB out for him, and that’s why I came here as soon as I could.”

“Thank God for that,” he said before running his tongue over his bottom lip anxiously. “I gotta go do the panel. Let Robbie take you to find a seat, and I’ll meet you when it’s done, and we can talk more about this, okay?”

“Okay,” she smiled, though there was a spark of uncertainty in her eyes. Y/N lovingly touched his cheek with her hand before leaving a soft kiss on his lips.

Y/N went to leave with Robbie, then paused and turned back to Jensen. “Aren’t you coming?”

“I’ll be along in a minute. You guys to ahead and get settled,” he said, and she could tell that he just needed a moment to himself to decompress from what she just told him. She nodded and reluctantly followed Rob from the room.

When they were gone, Jensen felt overheated from the lack of air circulating and the rage that boiled in his gut. He carefully discarded his blazer and neatly hung it over one of the chairs off to the side. He put his hands on his hips, and let his head fall to his chest as he tried to calm the fire that was still raging. He had a job to do, but he couldn’t do his job and be Mr. Personality to the crowd in Hall H when all he wanted to do was find Nathan and rip his head clear off his shoulders.

Jensen paced the room, and couldn’t help but conjure the image of Nathan actually wrapping his fingers around Y/N’s throat. Then he remembered what she said right before Robbie came in and felt like he was going to explode. He looked up at the ceiling and tried to exhale slowly, but he couldn’t fight it any longer. Grabbing a folding chair that was off to the side, Jensen flung it across the room with guttural roar. He kicked the small coffee table as hard as he could, sending it into the love seat against the far wall, spraying the magazines all over the room. He grabbed another chair and raised it before he whipped it to the ground while suppressing the roar of rage he had growing in his chest.

When he was finally spent, he stood in the middle of the room and found a steady breath as he surveyed the mess he made. In an effort to be cathartic about the entire situation, he slowly and methodically went around the room and put things back as they were. Luckily, he didn’t break anything beyond repair and made a mental note to contact someone to pay for whatever damage there ended up being. When he finished, he stood in the middle of the room and took one more moment to collect himself. He rested his hands on the back of the chair where he’d hung his blazer, his knuckles turning white from the intensity of his grip.

“I swear to God,” he mumbled to the empty room, his eyes fluttering closed, and his gut clenching at the images that were burning through his mind. “If that sonofabitch ever comes near her again, I will murder him myself.”

With that, Jensen grabbed his blazer and left for the panel.

It was well past ten when they finally returned to the hotel. Robbie had arranged for the staff to leave Y/N’s luggage in Jensen’s room, so all her things were there when they got back. They hadn’t spoken about the incident with Nathan again; not after the panel, and certainly not while they ate dinner with the rest of the cast that were in attendance for the con that weekend.

Back in the room, Jensen emptied his pockets onto the dresser and kicked off his boots into the closet. He neatly hung his blazer in the closet and then turned to find Y/N just sitting on the edge of the bed. Her eyes were closed, and her head hung to her chest. He thought she looked tired and slightly defeated.

“You alright?” he asked, slowly walking over, then crouching in front of her, resting a hand on either one of her thighs to steady himself. He picked up her chin with his thumb, lifting her (y/c) eyes to meet his, which were soft and thoughtful. “Talk to me, Trix.”

“I’m sorry,” she rasped, her throat dry and thick with emotion. Y/N hadn’t really allowed herself to cry or feel too much of anything after the confrontation with Nathan. She needed to feel strong and fortified. Now that she was finally in a safe, quiet place with Jensen, she thought she could finally could let herself feel something.

Jensen could sense that the dam was about to break, and took her hand, bringing it to his lips. “Baby, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

Those words from him were enough to finally break down the last vestige of emotional fortitude that she had. The tears flowed easily then. She withdrew her hand from Jensen’s and covered her face, trying to hide the emotion that spilled over. He got up from the floor and sat beside her on the bed. Drawing her in close, Jensen kissed the top of her head and just let her cry. All he could do was hold her tightly and let her know she wasn’t alone.

Y/N picked up her head a short time later and wiped as many of the tears away as she could. She got up and went to the bathroom for a cool washcloth to clear her skin of the salty tears that left streaks down her face.

“We don’t have to talk about it tonight,” Jensen called out from the other room. “It can wait, you know.��

“I know,” Y/N said, emerging from the bathroom. “I think I like that idea, to be honest.”

“Okay, good. So, tired? Ready for bed? Wanna watch tv? A movie, maybe?” Jensen picked up the remote and was scrutinizing it to locate the power button when Y/N plucked it from his hand and tossed it across the king-sized bed.

“No,” she said, and slowly unbuttoned her shirt, revealing her black lace bra that barely contained the swell of her breasts.

Jensen sat up straighter, an instant change in his expression lured her closer. She slotted herself between his thighs and delicately ran her fingers through his hair. Being with him so intimately, and knowing how safe she was When she was right in front of him, he gingerly pushed the blouse open further, wrapping his fingers around her waist and drawing her in even more. He kissed the soft skin on her stomach and hummed contentedly.

He reached up and gently pushed the garment from her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor, then sat back further on the bed and patted his lap. Y/N smiled impishly and took a moment to remove the rest of her clothes until she was left in nothing but her bra and panties then took him on his invitation and straddled his lap and lacing her fingers behind his neck.

Jensen buried his face between her breasts and drew in a deep breath of her while his lips pressed into her flesh. His fingers ran roughly up her back to the hooks of her bra. Before he unclasped it, he paused and looked up at her. Y/N was gazing down at him, her expression was delicate and soft. She looked angelic in the dim light of the room, and he couldn’t help but think of how differently things could have gone.

Once again, he could have lost her.

“Y/N…” he started softly, bringing one hand up to gently touch her cheek. “I want you to stay with me until the festival. We’ll just stay in Vancouver and if you have to go back to Austin, we’ll do it when I’m not filming. No more of this back and forth, okay? I don’t want to let you out of my sight.”

“Okay,” she whispered, before bending down and engulfing his plump lips with her own. “Whatever you want, Hollywood.”

Contented with her response, he kissed her back with purpose and went back to the task of unhooking her bra then taking her to bed. Later, when they were sweaty and breathless, completely spent from making love, Jensen held her and watched her sleep for a while before drifting off himself. The last thing he thought of before sleep pulled him under, was how he would do anything to protect Y/N, and how one day he’d be giving interviews and calling her his wife.

The next day was spent dashing from one event to another, most times with Jensen having to go on ahead, and Y/N meeting him there. More interviews, autograph signings, promotional shoots, and that was all before lunch. Jensen didn’t want to leave her again but knew he had to fill several last few commitments before he could be completely free of the rigid schedule. He waited until Y/N was busy chatting with Jared, then pulled Robbie aside and spoke in just above a whisper.

“You don’t let her out of your sight. Okay?”

“Yeah man, I gotcha. Me ‘n her stuck like glue.”

“I doubt he’d come here, but…” Jensen shrugged then looked up to see if she was still otherwise engaged. Thankfully, she was. “Don’t want to take the chance.”

“No, he couldn’t get through security. But… she could,” Rob mused sort of casually, more to himself than Jensen, but when he saw his friend’s expression change, he back-peddled a little. “I just mean… she likes to cause trouble, you know? Not that she has. I don’t think. Other than lunch…”

“She? You mean, Dee? And what lunch are you talking about? What else don’t I know?” Jensen asked harshly, then felt someone tugging on his sleeve.

“Ready?” the young PA asked that was there to escort him to the next event.

“Yeah, one sec,” he replied then turned to Rob again. “This conversation isn’t over.”

“I figured,” Robbie sighed and regretted opening his mouth at all.

Jensen stepped quickly towards Y/N and Jared, giving her a quick kiss goodbye, and grabbing his best friend to be led off to yet another place he didn’t want to be.

Robbie stood close to Y/N and when the guys were out of sight, he turned to her, an apologetic look on his face. “You didn’t tell him everything yet, did you?”

Y/N seemed surprised, then a veil of nerves clouded her expression. “No, not yet. Why?”

“I may have said something I shouldn’t have,” he shrugged and winced a little.

She exhaled slowly. “What did you say?”

“I said something about Dee. He seemed surprised her name came up. Bri told me… you know, what Nathan said.”

“Dammit, Bri,” Y/N mumbled and moved out of the crowd that was slowly engulfing them where they stood. When they were a little more removed, she caught Robbie’s intense blue eyes and scrutinized them for a moment. “What did she tell you?”

“You know she’s just looking out for you, right? And really, all she told me was that you said Nathan implied that someone paid him to break in. Is that true?”

“I don’t know. He said something like, ‘even though the dumb bitch was happy’ right before he described snapping my guitar into pieces, and how good it felt to do.”

“Jesus,” Robbie breathed and rubbed his hand over his face and down to his beard. “This is insane.”

“Tell me about it,” she snorted, and he could tell she was beginning to feel on edge.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I hate that any of this is happening to you. Especially just because you and Jensen found some happiness together.”

Y/N felt a rush of warm, enveloping love at the thought of being happy with Jensen. It was a foreign feeling to her, as any of her previous relationships were all bogged down with some sort of strangling weight. There was a brief time when she was far younger, where she thought she was in love; but that was nothing like what she felt now.

“I would go through this forever if it meant being able to be with him, Robbie.”

Robbie’s face lit up. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

She nodded softly. “So much. But I didn’t want to tell him about Dee, yet. Because he’ll blame himself and that’s the last thing I want. It’s why I left her name out of the police report--”

“Wait. You did? I don’t get why.”

“Because I have no evidence Nathan meant her. He didn’t say her name. But I know it was her. Unless Jensen has some other crazy ex-girlfriend I don’t know about.”

“You’re right, it had to be her. But, I can see why you withheld it. You have to tell him though and tell him about that day at lunch. She overheard us talking about the brewery. Do you think she sent Nathan there? Told him about it?” Rob asked, and leaned back against the wall, dumbfounded at the reality that the answer to his otherwise preposterous question could be yes.

“I don’t know, Robbie. None of this makes sense to me,” Y/N sighed and leaned against the wall next to him. “Honestly, I’m exhausted from thinking about it all. Why don’t you show me around the craziness that is comic con? Maybe get our minds off all this for a hot minute before we--and yeah, you’re doing it with me ‘cause you were at lunch that day--tell him about Dee.”

“Fair enough,” he said, pushing off the wall and sticking out his elbow for her to take. “Come on.”

She linked her arm in his, and Rob escorted her through the con.

After some navigating, Rob weaved them through various crowds of people, her arm still firmly linked with his. Y/N could hear the build-up of a crowd the closer they got to the end of the corridor and when they finally came out onto a balcony that overlooked a huge open room, she understood why it got so loud. Hundreds of people stood in different autograph lines, all snaking together around round booths that allowed the actors to engage up close and personal with the fans.

Y/N’s eyes searched the tables and finally spotted Jared laughing and signing something for a guest. Beside him, Jensen was doing the same thing, excitedly talking to a little kid in a Castiel cosplay. They walked along the perimeter, trying to get a closer look and maybe even grab the guys' attention to wave hello. As Y/N and Rob stood there casually watching the floor below, they were approached by several groups of fans, a few independent reporters all proudly flashing their press badges, and at least two different Supernatural cosplay groups. Y/N offered to snap pictures for the groups and even took out her own phone for a few as Robbie posed with each of them in glorious, fanboy fashion.

Y/N watched, amused, as Robbie lavished in the attention, but was genuinely excited to talk to them about the show, Louden Swain and the Brewfest. He introduced Y/N to the reporters and had hoped she would turn on the charm as she usually did, but he found her to be quieter than normal. Several times he had to help coax her to answer a question or give some details, and by the third or fourth quick pass at an interview, he realized that she just wasn’t ready. After the last staffer from FanFest News had shoved a recorder in their faces to catch a quote, Robbie led her away from the railing and deeper into the belly of the con.

Wanting to do something to take away the tension of having a million questions thrown at her, Rob led Y/N down to where the autograph lines twisted through the room and eventually made their way straight up to where Jensen and Jared were conducting their signing.

“Oh wait,” Y/N said, an impish grin forming on her lips, “Do you have the BrewFest’s IG saved on your phone?”

“Yeah, why?” Rob asked as he automatically retrieved his phone from his pocket.

“I want to do a quick live stream, but I am sans phone, so… Can I borrow yours?”

“Oh sure,” he said, and navigated the device to the proper place. “Go for it. That will be fun. Anytime someone can catch either of those two fools off guard, I am all for it.” Rob raised his eyebrows knowingly.

Y/N shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You boys…” she muttered, trying to quickly get the live stream up and going before they were spotted by Jensen or Jared. She got it recording just as she approached Jensen, and watched through the screen of Rob’s phone as a giant grin unfurled his face.

“What are you doing down here?” he asked, forcing himself to reign in the utter glee that controlled his expression at the surprise of seeing her there. “I thought you and Rob were mingling. Are you recording this?” His cheeks instantly tinged pink and the giddy smile returned.

“I am and we thought we’d come over and surprise you,” she giggled and met his eyes over the top of the phone. “this is a Live Stream for the BrewFest followers.”

Jensen leaned his elbows on the counter and looked directly into the phone, giving the lens and intense but soulful gaze.

“Hello there,” he spoke, purposely lowering the register of his voice. “How are you guys?”

On the screen, hearts, and comments exploded as people joined the stream in rapid fashion. A moment later, Jared leaned into the shot, playfully hiding behind Jensen and waving from over his shoulder. More likes, hearts, comments flew by so fast as the guys gave the viewers a fun moment of banter before Jared continued on to more autographs and Jensen turned his attention away from the camera and back to the woman behind the device.

“We’ll let you get back at it, right Robbie?”

Y/N panned the camera to Rob, catching him off guard, more so than she did Jensen and Jared. He stammered nervously and then pulled his lips taut and replied with a simple, “Yup.”

Y/N laughed and turned the camera back to Jensen.

“Say goodbye, Jensen.”

He waved one last time, and his attention was pulled away by fans handing him a picture to sign. Y/N turned off the live stream and waited for him to finish with the young couple. When he was, he slid down towards where she was waiting, leaned over the table to leave a quick, sweet kiss to her cheek.

“I’ll be done in about an hour. Don’t go for, okay?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she replied and watched him go back to do what he did best--winning the hearts of everyone that had the chance to meet him.

Robbie placed an arm over her shoulder and turned her towards the main con floor. “Ready to witness complete pandemonium?”

“Because this isn’t?” she asked with a laugh and motioned to the room around them before handing his phone back to him.

“Oh, this is nothing. Come on,” he said, taking the phone and tucking it deeply in his jeans pocket.

It was later that night that she got her first real taste of an overly aggressive member of the press who just wouldn’t take no for an answer. After all the interviews and autographs were done, their small group headed out to find a quick and quiet meal before heading back to the hotel. They were due to leave the next morning and everyone was beyond exhausted.

Jared and Rob were walking ahead, Jensen and Y/N strolling a few steps behind, walking hand in hand just admiring the city. The others who had joined them the night before called it an early bedtime and headed off to their respective hotels for a bit of peace and quiet. As the foursome tried to decide where to eat, a pair of paparazzi came around the corner. Y/N saw their faces light up as they realized just who they were looking at.

“Jared! Jensen! Over here! Rob!”

They were both calling out names, cameras suddenly up and flashing fiercely.

“What’s going on guys?”

“Where you off too?”

They asked at the same time, as they scurried along, clicking the cameras for picture after picture. One of them pulled out their phone looking for something while his companion continued clicking away.

“Just out for dinner, fellas. It’s been a long day,” Jensen said with a fake smile and a “fuck-off” tone.

“Stop and talk for a sec, come on guys!” one called out, while the other pocketed his phone again and picked up his camera, pointing it directly at Y/N.

“Hey! Y/F/N L/N! That’s you, right?” he asked, and took a few steps closer, a bit too close for her preference.

“Just ignore him,” Jensen mumbled and gripped her hand a little tighter. “Come on.”

Their group kept walking a little faster, trying to ignore the badgering call outs and questions but the two men were relentless.

“Come on, Y/N! Just a picture or two! People want to know who you are!”

Y/N didn’t know what to do. It was one thing while at the con and they were peppering her with questions; but out there on the streets, vulnerable and raw from the last few days, she hadn’t built up the walls she needed to in order to handle what they were throwing at her. She was infinitely glad Jensen was with her and able to shield her from their attention.

Instead of saying anything, or stopping to allow them a good picture, she politely held up a hand in a brief wave. As their cameras clicked away regardless, she continued walking and ignoring them, until the questions started up.

“How come you have a restraining order against your ex?!” the one called out, just as the other followed up with something similar and just as irritating.

“There’s a warrant too… just issued! Was he the one who broke in? Come on, everyone knows about that. What happened?”

“Jensen… Jensen! Did you know about that?!” the first one asked him.

Y/N immediately felt her body tense and her heart started pounding.

‘How the HELL did they know all that?’ She wondered, becoming scared by how intrusive everything felt right then, but desperately worked on keeping her eyes forward as her grip tightened on Jensen’s hand.

Jared and Rob stopped walking as the paps kept firing questions at her. They turned to see Jensen do the same, pulling Y/N to a stop. Knowing him well enough, Jared jumped between his best friend and the infuriating men before Jensen could do something stupid, and Robbie made his way towards Y/N. He grabbed her hand and protectively walked with her down the street while Jared and Jensen hung back, acting as a shield they stood there to prevent Rob and Y/N from being followed. When Jensen was sure that Rob had ushered her far enough away, he turned to the men and smiled in a way that made them take pause.

“Listen here, guys… you want my picture, have at it. I get it, it’s part of the whole gig… but her… she’s not here for that. So just leave her alone, okay? I see one of you point another camera at her again... ask her questions like that again and I promise you, it’s something you will regret.”

“Jay, c’mon,” Jared encouraged, putting his hand on Jensen’s arm. “You don’t wanna do this, not worth the effort.”

Jensen pulled his arm from Jared’s grip. He could feel himself getting angry, and on some level knew that it was entirely due to the current situation. It was all of it--Dee, Nathan, the break-in--and he was ready to find someone to take his frustrations out on. These two unfortunate souls may just be it.

“Jensen!” Jared called out, finally able to grab his attention. “Hey man, let it go. Not the time or place. Let’s go eat. Fuck these guys, let them be dicks… come on.”

Jensen’s jaw was clenched as he stared down the older of the two men. There was thirty seconds of intense silence where even Jensen wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He knew that Jared was right, it wasn’t worth the trouble, but he wanted nothing more than to take out the weeks of frustration out on one of these two men that thought it was okay to start throwing questions at his girl.

“She’s off-limits. Got it?” Jensen’s expression, coupled with his words were enough to cause the photographer to nod and take a few steps back. “In fact, any pictures of her surface from this, and I’ll know exactly who posted them. You wanna take pictures at the con, or on a red carpet somewhere, go for it. But right now we are off duty. You feel me?”

“Yeah,” the younger of the two said, “whatever you say, Jensen.” He was compliant but Jensen could tell that the man’s tone was still slightly aggressive.

The two men didn’t waste any time moving on after that, but Jensen stood his ground and made sure they were well out of sight before he turned to head in the direction that Rob and taken Y/N. Before he could go, Jared grabbed his elbow and pulled him back.

“Whoa buddy, just hold on there. What the hell was all that about?” Jared asked with a curious snort of a laugh.

“It’s been busy, haven’t had a chance to catch you up on everything…” Jensen sighed and then looked over his shoulder to make sure they were still gone.

“Well, now is a good time. What happened?”

“Not really a great place though. I always feel like they’re lurking. You know?”

“Yeah man, I definitely do. But you gotta tell me what’s going on. C’mon, fill me in on the way.” Jared motioned with his head and started in the direction of the restaurant where Rob and Y/N were hopefully waiting.

By the time they arrived there, Jensen and Jared found Rob and Y/N seated in a far corner booth. Jared was all caught up on why Y/N had come out to San Diego in the first place, and before he slid into Rob’s side of the booth, he sat down next to Y/N and hugged her.

“Jay told me what happened and I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Just know you got us. All of us. Since you have terrible taste and ended up with this guy,” he motioned over his shoulder towards Jensen, “you’re part of our family now. We got your back, okay?”

Y/N smiled and choked back the emotion that rushed up at Jared’s words; the whole situation hitting her harder than she realized. He moved back out of the seat and to the other side of the booth, while Jensen slid next to her and immediately wrapped an arm across her shoulders.

“You alright?” he asked quietly, as Jared and Rob began their own quiet conversation.

“Yeah. I just hate that you have to keep asking me that.”

“Come on, Y/N, none of this is on you. Those parasites, they have teams of people digging for stuff all the time. The minute the press learned your name yesterday, they were on it. I’m just sorry that being with me means your privacy is compromised.”

Y/N nodded slightly and rested her head against him. “It's okay, you’re worth it,” she replied.

He could tell she was trying to be playfully, lighten the mood a bit. But he could see that the usual spark of levity in her eyes was dulled and tired. The rest of the evening was pleasant and quiet; everyone enjoying a final meal in San Diego together. But all Jensen could think of was getting her back up to Vancouver and settling into a little bit of a normal life, with no drama, no complications and absolutely NO Nathan or even mention of his name.

Early the next morning, Jensen had arranged to have a private plane take them back to Vancouver, and invited the rest of the cast that was flying back to join them. He claimed to the group it was just easier to go together on one plane, but really it was simply to avoid the waiting paparazzi he knew would be stalking the usual terminals at the airport. He didn’t think after the weekend they had, that she’d be up for that kind of swarm, so he made a few calls and splurged on the private ride to his second home.

Back in Vancouver, Y/N found her stride quite easily. Jensen spent long days on set, but she found ways of entertaining herself by exploring Vancouver, checking out their cafes, and shops; even stumbling upon the one where Jensen bought her pendant.

When he was home, they spent a lot of time perfecting the last of the plans for the festival and talking about what songs they wanted to sing together. Jensen helped her write music, and she helped him run lines. They fell into a domesticated bliss that they didn’t see coming, nor did they question it. It all just felt so incredibly right.

Over the next several weeks, they flew back to Austin twice to work on the BrewFest. By the time August was coming to a close, the festival was approaching quickly and their free time dwindled down to nothing.

It was the Thursday before Labor Day weekend, and Y/N was sitting out on the balcony of Jensen’s Vancouver apartment. She had papers spread everywhere, trying to load the schedules into the new laptop Jensen had purchased but was getting frustrated by the updated software.

Y/N groaned loudly and sat back in the chair with a huff. She took off her sunglasses and tossed them across the glass patio table and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Dammit, Robbie… why you gotta be like this,” she mumbled and then leaned forward again just as Jensen was coming out on the balcony, a glass of cold iced-tea in hand for her.

“What did the little man do now?” Jensen asked with a raise of his brow. “Bitching about the cloud, still?”

Y/N laughed. “No. He updated this shared software we’re using to track the bands and setlists, and it changed everything around.” She whined and sat back again, her bottom lip protruding at the thought of all the extra work this was going to generate. “Ugh. I don’t wanna…”

“So, don’t,” Jensen shrugged and sat in the empty seat beside her. “You’ve been working non-stop for almost a year on this thing. Take a day off, Trix. Come on. It's a holiday weekend.”

“I know, but I’m just afraid that if I don’t, something will go wrong. I can’t have anything go wrong, Jay. I don’t know what I’m doing…”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Jensen repositioned his chair to face her. “You are pulling off something amazing here. I am in awe, every day when you tell me what’s going on. What you’ve already accomplished and what this event is going to be… whatever happens, Brewfest is going to be a massive hit. “

“You really think so?”

“Yes, I do. I know it.” He took her hand and tangled his fingers with hers as he sat, thoughtful for a moment, before speaking again. “Do you remember a while back when we made that deal. I said that I would leave you alone about San Diego, but I reserved the right to whisk you away at any given moment?”

Y/N rolled her eyes and inhaled slowly through her nose. “Mmhmm, what about it.”

“Good, cause I’m cashing in that chip. “I think you should go and pack because we’re going on vacation.”

“Ooookay,” she replied sarcastically and chuckled as she uncoiled her fingers from his to pick up the iced tea glass that was now profusely sweating in the August heat, and quickly spreading its condensation all over the table.

“You don’t believe me?”

“Come on, vacation? Seriously? When you said that I thought you meant after the festival.”

“Nah, now. We both need it now. Just for a couple days… I have everything arranged. We fly out tonight, fly back on Monday night.”

“When did you arrange all this? And where are we flying to, exactly?”

The one corner of his mouth tugged up into an impish little smirk. “Well Trix, that’s for you to just wait and see. Pack for someplace warm and make sure to bring a bathing suit.”

“Very mysterious…” she said and pouted her lips, narrowing her eyes on him. Slowly she got up from her chair and moved to sit on his lap, Jensen’s large hands instantly gathering her knees and swinging them up to lay across his thighs. “Won’t you give me a little hint?” she asked, batting her eyelashes animatedly.

He methodically shook his head. “Nope Just gotta wait and see. But I promise you,” he paused, tucking a wild strand of hair behind her ear, “you’re gonna love it.”

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