#i didn't tell them about my dad but i should. just to ruin the mood

[allthebestcowgirls]

god my coworker is cool but they like constantly try to one up everything i say. i forget what exactly we were talking about but i mentioned how my family is irish and mexican and there's lots of alcoholism/ addiction. and they were like "yeah my dad's addiction is scary. he loves smoking and adds mint essential oil bc they don't sell menthols" or whatever and like um. well my dad's addiction killed him so

[thelostconsultant]

Puppy love

pairing: Max Verstappen x reader

summary: During his karting days, you were one of his opponents, but outside the track he was just a stupid boy who fell in love with a pretty girl. Now, after all those years, you meet again in the paddock, and he doesn't want you to leave.

note: Yes, Jos is an asshole in this (too).

“Have you seen who jumped in to do the interviews?” Charles asked with a wicked smile when he stopped next to his rival after the race. Max hadn’t really paid attention to these details until now, but now that he was informed there was something he should probably know, he looked around to see where the reporter was. “I haven’t talked to her since your dad ruined her career. But she seems truly happy now.”

That’s when his eyes fell on you, the girl who had been haunting him in his dreams for long years, the one who was glowing while talking to the cameraman. He wanted to object, he wanted to say “my dad didn’t ruin her career, she just decided to quit,” but the way you had left certainly hinted at a possible connection between the two events. Because his father’s outburst took place a week before he found out you weren’t coming back to race, and you didn’t even try to contact him ever again. 

What made it real hard was the fact he knew you were left heartbroken, and it wasn’t racing that you missed. His mother called your parents to ask them about you, and they said you had been crying in your room for days, but when the option for a call from Max came up, they were quick to shut it down. They said it would be easier for you to move on if he didn’t show up in your life again, and he couldn’t help but blame himself for everything that happened. 

If he hadn’t fallen in love with you, if he hadn’t met you on a vacation, if his father hadn’t found out he loved someone, maybe you would still be racing. He remembered your bright smile that was present even after a tough race, and your good mood that was often highly contagious. The boys you raced against loved you dearly, mostly because you brought a different energy into their little boys’ club.

“Max, you’re next,” he was told all of a sudden. 

He wasn't ready to face you, but there was no escape. What he had to do now was force a smile on his face and act like he was talking to someone else, someone whose presence didn't affect him half as much as yours did. But the moment he stopped in front of you and noticed a strange glint in your eyes, he had to focus on breathing in and out while you asked your first question.

After the camera was turned off, he cautiously watched you to see if you were planning to approach him, or if you seemed open to the possibility of him doing that. When you looked at him with a smile and said goodbye to the cameraman, he walked over to you with his hand folded behind his back.

“It's nice to see you here,” he said with a small, cautious smile. You nodded, but Max could see behind the cheerful look on your face, he could tell you were tense. “If I'm bothering you, just say it.”

You took a deep breath, and soon your smile changed, and it was now showing a lot more sadness. “It's been a while, that's all. Talking to you in person brings back different memories,” you admitted.

“Good or bad ones?”

Following a shrug, you folded your arms over your chest and looked down at your shoes. “Compared to the ones that come back when I see you or Charles on TV? Bad,” you finally replied. 

Max gulped upon hearing this, feeling guilty despite knowing he had done nothing wrong, that whatever happened back in the day was the result of a series of decisions made by your parents. If it was up to him, he would have kept in touch with you, doing his best to see where this puppy love would lead the two of you. Maybe you would have broken up after he got into F1, maybe you would be married by now. It was a question he had no answer to.

The best he could do now was trying to make you understand this, making you see that he wanted to fix things now, even if you would be nothing more than friends. Sure, he had no idea how much you had changed over the years, but he knew there was only one way to find out. “I know it means very little after all these years, but I’m sorry,” he said to break the deafening silence.

You nodded, then to his surprise, took a step closer to him. “I know it wasn’t your fault. My parents told me what happened exactly eventually.”

He watched you closely, trying to figure out if you were interested in a proper conversation, maybe later in private. But before he could speak up, Charles walked over to the two of you and wrapped an arm around your shoulder with a big smile on his face. “It’s been so long,” he said happily, earning a shy smile and a barely visible shake of your head from you.

Max bit the inside of his cheek, annoyed by the sudden appearance of the Ferrari driver, but the main problem was a vivid memory from his childhood. While him and Charles had gone for blood on the track and didn’t have the best relationship off it either, you and the Monegasque were on very good terms, with you even visiting him and his family in his home. It didn’t bother him until his brain finally caught up with his feelings and he realized he had a crush on you, because then he felt intense jealousy every time his rival laid a finger on you, even if it was nothing more than a friendly pat on the shoulder.

You then suddenly moved to give him a hug, and seeing the way Charles wrapped his arms around you made his blood boil, even if he knew deep down that he had no right to be jealous. But it was painfully obvious that the two of you were talking to each other, keeping your voices down as much as you could in the noise around you, and he couldn’t help but wonder what it was all about.

Then he finally let go of you and said goodbye, although the two of you agreed to have dinner in Italy next week to catch up. Max took a deep breath and thought about what to say, but before he could come up with anything, an official came over to drag him to the cooldown room, so all he could do was apologize and say goodbye, wishing he could see you again next week. According to Charles you were supposed to be there in Monza, which meant he would have the chance to talk to you.

To properly talk to you and possibly find out more about your life after you quit racing.

He knew in the cooldown room they were supposed to talk about the race, but all he could think about was asking Charles what you talked about, what was so secretive that no one else could hear it? So, in the end he didn’t say much, he just watched the recap of the race and discussed what he saw if it was standing out. Even while standing on the podium, his eyes scanned the crowd under them, trying to find you as if he was playing Where’s Wally?

On the way home, he spent his time browsing your social media accounts, and he couldn’t help but wonder why he had never checked them. On X, you were posting about F1 news, commenting on them as a journalist, while on Instagram you focused on sharing more personal posts, like photos of your holiday, your hobbies, or yourself in the paddock. There had been so many of those, how come he hadn’t met you before?

Having a glimpse into your life felt so nice that he hadn’t realized he had scrolled back a few years. Well, not until it turned out he accidentally liked a few of your old photos. If you hadn’t seen the notifications, he wouldn’t have noticed that. But you saw them and weren’t shy to send him a DM about it.

The next few days passed with him regularly checking his DMs to see if you wrote to him again, if you changed your mind and decided to have dinner with him, but there was nothing, so he was forced to wait for the perfect opportunity to talk to you in the paddock in Italy. How he would find you in the flurry of people was a mystery, although he had a fleeting idea that maybe their PR team could help him get a hold of you. Not like that could work, a request like this would certainly give them a stroke, assuming he was planning to give a random interview.

His heart skipped a beat when he noticed you at the press conference, talking to some of the drivers behind the cameras. Your eyes were shining brightly, your smile lit up the room around you, and Max felt like he had been taken back to his childhood when all the boys at their karting races swarmed around you to get a scrap of your attention. But those were hormone-driven teenagers, while these guys were grown men, many of them in serious relationships, so he knew it wasn’t entirely the same situation.

This time Max made sure he could stick around after the interviews, hoping to get a hold of you once you were done. He approached you after everyone left and you decided to chat with someone from the crew. He cleared his throat nervously, subconsciously expecting you to yell at him, to tell him to leave you alone. But your poker face was perfect, because you turned to him with a kind smile and acted like you were ready to have a pleasant chat with him. The crew member left you alone, so only the two of you were left there. 

“You either don’t understand the word no, or you just learned to completely ignore it because you always get what you want,” you said with a sigh, the smile long gone by now. 

He let the last part of the comment go past his ear, instead he just took a deep breath and began to massage the back of his neck. “Can’t we have a pleasant conversation? Just put everything aside, forget about our shared past, and let’s treat this as a chance for a fresh start.”

You watched him with a thoughtful hum for a while, then nodded. “All right. What would you like to talk about?” you asked with a curious look in your eyes. 

“Us.”

“There’s no such thing as us.”

“Too bad, because that’s exactly what I want,” he was quick to inform you, mentally kicking himself for being this straightforward, even if it was true. Because he wanted to see if you would be interested in the 2.0 version of your relationship, the chance to see how your young love would work out in your adult lives. “Are you seeing anyone?”

For a moment you hesitated, but then you shook your head. “No. I don’t really have the time for that,” you replied honestly. Before Max could speak up again, though, you began to talk once more. “But I’m a reporter here, dating a driver would be… unethical. I can’t play favorites,” you explained. 

Max took a quick look around, then gently placed a hand on your cheek. “We can figure that out later. Let’s focus on step one, which is going on a first date. Tonight? We can turn to room service to help us out if you don’t want to meet somewhere public,” he told you. 

“So you want me all to yourself in your hotel room?” you asked with a teasing smile. 

He was sure as hell he blushed, because the idea of what you were suggesting hadn’t occurred to him. Having you alone in his hotel room wasn’t something he consciously planned out, he only wanted to meet you somewhere away from the curious eyes. “It’s not like that,” he told you defensively. 

“I know, don’t worry. Send me the when and where,” you said as you patted his shoulder. “See you later, Max.”

Nodding, he watched as you walked away from him. He didn’t say a word–no, he couldn’t say a word. His brain was too busy replaying the way his name rolled off your tongue, that sweet, soft tone of your voice as you said goodbye. With his mind still lost in a pink haze, he returned to their motorhome to gather his things and call it a day. He couldn’t wait to meet you, that was all he could focus on. 

A few hours later he was sitting on the edge of his bed, his foot nervously tapping on the floor while he waited. You could be here any minute, and waiting was the worst part. Well, maybe the conversation wouldn’t be that much better, but he could still hope for the best. So when half an hour later there was a knock on his door, his lips curled into a wide smile and he rushed over there to let you in. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was held up in the media center,” you apologized the moment the door closed behind you. 

Max had to take a deep breath to calm himself. You being close to him again brought back feelings he thought he had long forgotten, and he wanted to give you a kiss, a soft kiss to test the waters with you. But he had to behave, he had no idea where the two of you were standing right now. “It’s okay, don’t worry. So, dinner?” he asked after a short break, giving you a smile. 

Food seemed to get you in the mood to chat, because as the two of you enjoyed the various dishes he ordered, you started to tell him about your life after everything that had happened back then. You finished high school like a normal kid, went to college to study journalism, and you managed to get jobs at various places that were related to motorsports, especially F1. That was your dream, to once work with this world, but you were quick to clarify knowing he made it here didn’t give you the idea. 

He tried to hide the cocky smirk that wanted to show up on his face, because he was sure what you said weren’t true. A voice in the back of his mind told him you wanted to see him again, that you wanted to get back what had been taken from the two of you all those years ago. After all, why wouldn’t he think that? It didn’t take much convincing to get you to meet him tonight. And if he was delusional? At least it was a nice thought. 

It was then his turn to talk, so he told you stories that you had probably never heard, about himself, about the grid, about everything, really. If you asked questions about his family, you focused on his sister and mother, but you were mostly interested in his cats and hobbies. As you told him, you couldn’t understand how he ended up being such a cat dad, but it certainly suited him. 

“Charles said he doesn’t get murderous thoughts about you several times a day lately,” you suddenly noted with a short laugh. 

Clearing his throat, Max tilted his head to the side. “You talked to him?” he asked casually. 

You nodded and took another bite of your pasta. “Yeah, we had dinner yesterday. I remember how the two of you were back then, I was wondering what the situation was now,” you said with a shrug. 

A wide grin crept on his face upon hearing this. “So you asked him about me.”

“It was just one question, don’t get too cocky,” you pointed out with a roll of your eyes. “But I’m glad you kinda get along now. It’s nice to see that.”

Max flashed a smile at you, then returned his attention to his dinner. For a while you both ate in silence, but then you got rid of the plates and he found himself wondering what to do next. So he just looked down at his hand and moved it closer to yours, letting his little finger brush against yours as if you were back in your teenage years. You let out a laugh when you noticed, and you looked at him with a kind smile. You weren’t as cold as you had been earlier today, now you seemed to have warmed up to him, ready to give him a chance to show you what he wanted. 

So, he took a deep breath and leaned in to kiss you, cautiously moving his lips against yours to make sure he didn’t scare you away. It took you a few seconds, but you eventually eased into the kiss, one of your hands even moving up to his face to keep him close. He couldn’t hold back a quiet chuckle that drew a questioning hum out of you. Max shook his head, then he dived in to kiss you again, but at the same time he let his hand wander under your shirt, even though he could have expected what happened next. 

Because you pulled away and pushed his hand away from your body. “Stop, don’t… I shouldn’t even be here, I should just go, and–”

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t do this, don’t push me away. I’m sorry. If you want to slow down, that’s exactly what we’re gonna do, okay?” he asked you, his voice desperate. For a minute or two you remained completely silent, you were just watching him with doe eyes, as if you were trying to process what just happened. “Please, just stay,” he said quietly.

You hesitantly took his hand and gulped loudly as you gathered your thoughts. “Listen, it’s complicated. I already told you, I shouldn’t date drivers, but,” you began, but fell silent without finishing the sentence. 

Max cupped your face and rested his forehead against yours. “One step at a time, all right? We’ll figure out if this could even work between us, then we’ll decide how to move on,” he said with a soft smile. When you nodded, he kissed your nose. “Good. Do you want to stay with me and cuddle a little, or would you rather go?”

“We just cuddle, right?” you asked with a thin voice. When he nodded, you let out a soft sigh. “Okay, just for a little while, then I’ll leave.”

But you didn’t leave. The next morning he woke up to you sleeping soundly with your head on his chest, snoring softly while you were lost in your dream world. Max couldn’t stop grinning, he was way too excited and happy to keep a straight face. It felt so nice, so natural, that he wondered how long you would be against it. You clearly wanted this as much as he did, but if you needed time, he was willing to give it to you.

As you lay there, he remembered that vacation all those years ago, when your parents not-so-accidentally bumped into his mom. His first date in a local cinema, watching a movie that was dubbed and neither of you could fully understand it. His first kiss in that movie theater with a girl that was special enough to catch his attention. The way you fell asleep with your head on his shoulder one night when your parents talked a little too long in a restaurant on the beach. 

And he was hell-bent on going back to that town to experience everything again as adults. All he needed was you softening enough to let him take care of you in front of the whole world.

[cutielando]

hold me close until i die ~ harry potter

synopsis: in which Harry loses you forever

warnings!!: mentions of reader death, grief, sadness

my masterlist

Being on the run was taking a toll on all of you.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and you had been searching for Horcruxes for weeks and you were starting to lose hope of ever finding them all.

You were tired, you were drained of every ounce of will and hope, you were missing home more than anything. You missed the warmth you felt while cuddling with your blanket next to the fire, the taste of hot chocolate, the comfort of your bed, the feeling of safety that home provided you.

Your mood drop was visible to the three of your friends, but especially to Harry.

You didn't want to tell Harry that you couldn't do it anymore, that you wanted nothing more than to go home and leave everything behind you.

"What's wrong?" he asked you one night when he found you outside of your shared tent, looking at the black sky.

"Nothing" you mumbled, but you knew he wouldn't believe you.

"Love, I know you, I know when something is wrong. You know you can tell me anything" he sat down next to you and pulled you into his chest, wrapping his arms around you in order to keep you warm.

"Promise you're not going to hate me?" you said in a small voice, looking up at him with big eyes.

"I could never hate you"

You sighed, thinking of ways to break the news to him in the nicest way possible, careful not to hurt his feelings.

"I just, I can't do it anymore. I can't keep living on the run like this, I'm not made for this. I want to go home, I want to wrap myself in my favorite blanket and stay near the fire, I want to laugh with my Mom and play Quidditch with my Dad. I want to go back to my old life, but I also know how important this is to you and I didn't want to hurt your feelings by telling you that I don't want to do this any longer"

You couldn't see Harry's face because your face was buried in his chest, but you could tell that he heard you loud and clear by the way his posture changed.

Nobody talked for a moment, the only thing that could be heard was the faint conversation Ron and Hermione were having.

"I understand. I know you, I could tell that you weren't happy about this. I'm not mad, if that's what you're scared of. As soon as we're able to be on the move again, we'll drop you off at home and continue by ourselves. I don't want to come with us if you don't feel safe. I love you, and your safety and well-being are always going to be my top priority" when he finished with a kiss on your head, you let out a big sigh of relief.

You were so glad that he wasn't mad at you. You loved him more than anything and you truly wanted to help him, but it's not the lifestyle you wanted, no matter how much you wanted to trick yourself into believing it was right for you.

"I'm sorry I can't be of more help. I just didn't think it would be this hard, being away from everyone I love and constantly worrying if I'm going to live to see tomorrow" you said, looking out in the distance at the quiet forest.

"I know. I should have known it was not going to be easy, for any of us, but especially for you three because you have people at home that you care about and I don't. But don't worry, as soon as we can get moving, I'll take you home"

"Thank you" you rested your forehead against his, savoring the quiet moment you had with your boyfriend.

♡♡♡♡♡

It had been a couple of days after your conversation with Harry and Hermione had informed everyone that it was finally safe for you to get moving again.

You had talked to everyone about your plan and they were surprisingly supportive, understanding how much you needed to go home.

On the day when you would finally be leaving, the trio was packing up the tent and stashing everything in their bags while you were standing outside the tent, watching for any anomalies.

A twig breaking in the distance ruined the thick silence of the trees, making you stiffen and grip your wand tighter into your hand.

"Hello?" you called out, distancing yourself from the tent and walking deeper into the forest.

Another twig snapped, this time from your right. You turned around but you didn't see anyone. Just as you let out a sigh and went to turn around, you felt something hard hit you over the head, making you fall down to the ground and hold your now bleeding head.

"Hello, Y/N. Remember me?" a distant voice filled your ears, but you couldn't place it.

Your vision had gone blurry and you were starting to feel lightheaded, the blood loss starting to affect you.

Before you could do anything else, you felt your eyelids go heavy and close, the last thing you heard being your boyfriend screaming for you in the distance.

♡♡♡♡♡

When you regained consciousness, you had a splitting headache and you could barely gather enough strength to open your eyes.

"Y/N" you heard someone whisper your name from afar, and you desperately tried to open your eyes and see where the voice was coming from.

"Y/N, please open your eyes" another voice whispered, and it sounded awfully familiar.

"Love, please open your eyes and look at me" a third voice was heard, and you finally recognized it to belong to your boyfriend.

You managed to open your eyes a little, the blurry figures of your 3 friends slowly coming into view. They were on the other side of the room, their hands and legs tied with chains to the wall.

"Where are we? What the bloody hell happened?" your voice was hoarse, and you held a hand to your head, trying to soothe the throbbing in your head.

"Snatchers, found us in the forest. Caught us when we exited the tent after Harry yelled your name. The next thing we knew, we woke up here" Ron explained in a hushed voice, looking around to make sure there was nobody to overhear your conversation.

"Damn it. Are you alright?" you asked, resting your head against the cold wall and looking over to them.

They looked just as bad as you felt. There were bruises on their arms, mud all over their clothes.

"We're fine, you took the hardest hit in the head" Hermione looked at your head worriedly.

"Well, well, well. What a nice family reunion" the teasing voice of Bellatrix filled the filthy room where you were, her footsteps echoing and coming closer and closer.

"Unlike you, we actually have a family" Ron grumbled, struggling against the chains his hands were tied with.

"Little Weasley has got a tongue, how cute. Y/N, how are you doing, my darling? How's your little head?" she turned her attention to you, cocking her head and looking at you with a satisfied smirk.

"My head is fine" you mumbled through gritted teeth, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of seeing just how much pain you were in.

"Well, we can't have that, can we? After all, you didn't come here to feel at home" she approached you and stuck a hand inside her robes, pulling out a dagger and twirling it around in her hand.

"Don't you dare touch her, you vile bitch" Hermione screamed, thrashing against the chains.

"Shut your mouth, you filthy little Mudblood, or you'll be next. Now, Y/N, are there any last words you would like to say to your friends? Maybe to your little boyfriend?"

You turned your head and looked straight at Harry, tears streaming down your face as you came to terms with the fact that you were going to die in the next few minutes. Tears started filling Harry's eyes too, all while he was trying to escape from the chains.

"Harry, look at me, love. Don't cry, it's okay, I'll be fine. You go home and tell my parents I'm sorry and that I love them, okay? I'm sorry I left them alone and I'm sorry we didn't get to say goodbye. Promise me, will you?" your voice was shaky, cracking at every other word.

"Don't talk like that, Y/N. We're all going to be fine, you'll get to tell them that yourself" he was struggling, the pain in his chest becoming unbearable.

He couldn't lose you too, not after all the people he had lost. You were the only constant and he couldn't bear imagining a life without you in it.

"Promise me you'll go to my parents, Harry. Please" more tears streamed down his face as he nodded, watching you give him a teary smile.

"I love you, Harry, more than anything in this world. Be strong for me"

Before he could say anything else, you felt the cold blade pierce your stomach and Bellatrix's breath against the side of your face.

"Tell your brother I said hi" she whispered in your ear, pulling away and taking out the dagger.

You felt warm blood seeping through your shirt, and your breaths became ragged as you tried to apply pressure on the wound.

Bellatrix's footsteps became distant, and at last Harry freed himself of the chains and sprinted towards you, taking your head and placing it on his lap.

"Look at me, Y/N. You're going to be okay, we're going to get you out of here and you'll be fine" he tried to sound strong, but he was dying on the inside as he watched you struggle to breathe.

"I'm not, love. The dagger was poisonous, I can already feel the poison entering my blood. There is nothing you can do" you whispered, managing to cast a small smile.

Hermione was sobbing furiously from the other side of the room, Ron doing the best he could to muffle his sobs as he watched the scene in front of him. His best friend dying.

"Don't say that, you can't die on me. We have our life planned out, you can't leave me" he was crying, his tears falling on your face and clothes.

"You're going to be fine, my love. Be strong for me, live your life, fall in love and have the family you've always dreamed of. Do it for me"

Harry shook his head, not seeing a life where he didn't have you by his side. But when he saw your form, he couldn't help but promise you what you wanted from him.

"I love you, Harry. Always have and always will. Take me back to my parents, tell them I'm sorry and that I love them" just as you spoke the words, the last breath left your lungs, your eyes losing their sparkle and becoming void.

Your body started turning cold as Harry hugged your lifeless body close to his chest and sobbing in your hair.

He vowed he would get revenge for your death and fulfill the promises he made you, even if it would cost him his life.

Your death would not be in vain. He was going to make sure of that.

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[kasagia]

Our little game pt. 5

Pairing: Klaus Mikaelson x witch! reader Summary: Klaus is making a major, huge mistake of his life, for which you are paying the price. Will you be able to forgive him? Or maybe it's too late for everything. Warning(s): angst, talk about death, Klaus fights and suffers because of Mikael, family drama, blood, violence, curses, I used some famous lines from TVD and TO Word count: 6,9k

Third person's POV | 2 hours earlier

The original hybrid left the party in a hurry, loosening his tie as he practically ran towards the parking lot. His younger brother was right behind him, barely catching up with him.

"Nik! Wait a minute!" Kol screamed, grabbing his brother's elbow and stopping him halfway. He completely ignored his hostile, stern look and continued. "We need to think it over."

"All we need to do is get rid of him from our lives once and for all!"

"We can't do it alone. We need Freya…"

"Freya will never stand against him! We're on our own unless you're a coward." the man cut him off, yanking his arm out of his grip.

"Well, let's at least take Elijah…"

"I'm not going to ruin our brother's wedding day! I already killed him once; I can do it again. We have to hurry before he calls for backup. Will you help me, or should I rely on myself?" Kol sighed as he studied his brother's determined face. If they had attacked out of the blue, they might have been able to defeat him together while he was still weakened.

"All right. But we're keeping Davina out of it."

"As well as Y/N." they nodded to each other and walked hand in hand towards the parking lot.

Klaus had to do it quietly. His little witch needed a break, and a fight with the Mikaelsons' psychopathic father wouldn't help her at all (or convince the woman to stay in New Orleans much longer than she planned). Elijah deserved a respite from his problems, and so did Rebekah. Nor could he rely on Freya's strength and power forever. After all, she wasn't immortal like them; she had her limits like any witch. Kol and he had to deal with it on their own. For everyone's sake.

"Do you even know how he managed to get back to the surface of the earth? I thought you killed him for good last time."

"Believe me, I'm just as surprised as you are."

"You think it's the mother's work? She has regained her powers and is resurrecting all our enemies from the other side?"

"You tell me. You spent a few months there before we finally begged your witch to help us bring you back. What were our parents' moods?"

"You know, I tried not to get too close to them. But I met your father; he's actually a nice guy."

"What did you say?" he asked in shock, staring at his brother in pure surprise.

"Yeah, I was surprised too when he saved me from Mikael and introduced himself as your dad. We had a bit of a fight at first, but he turned out to be a good guy."

"You met… my father."

"Maybe it's not a good time, but I think you should know that. If he somehow magically appears here, and I'm pretty sure he'll do it; he's said many times that he'll get the fuck out of here as soon as he gets a chance, you shouldn't hurt him. Hope deserves at least one normal grandpa. Ansel would be a good fit for this; he was babbling about her all the time, and my head was bursting as he raved about her. You know I love her, but how much can you talk about a baby? Hey? Nik?" he shook his brother's shoulder as he sat silently in the driver's seat, not bothering to start the car.

"How did he know about Hope?"

"He's been keeping an eye on you since… you know. He probably knows everything about you, which is actually as scary as it is cute."

Klaus continued to listen to Kol's story in silence. As he drove the car, he pondered the new message. His father watched over him.

His real father.

The one who supposedly abandoned him and didn't care for him...

Could that be true?

Could he believe it?

Allowing himself to live a boyish fantasy of having a father who truly cares for him? He could believe that Esther would be able to lie to him about his real father's feelings toward him, and it was hardly possible that Kol could be so cruel. So, could Klaus have been so lucky after all?

Could he have had the love of his true father, the beloved daughter who was the light in his dark life, and the love and devotion of a woman he wanted more than anything in this world?

Could Klaus, after so many years of pain, sorrow, and fury, be given such enormous blessings?

He found out a few hours later.

He found out a few hours later, when he and Kol were returning as fast as they could to their family after Mikael nearly killed them two. However, it wasn't just the two of them in the car on their way back...

~•♤♤♤•~

"Father! Come, come wherever you are!"

It was supposed to go fast and smoothly. Klaus was supposed to act as bait (after arguing with Kol for several hours, they played paper, rock, scissors, and he lost… 10 times), and Kol was meant to heroically step in with a white oak stake and try to kill their father.

Piece of cake. Nothing possible could go wrong.

But it did. Very, very quickly.

They underestimated Mikael's ability to win people over. While Klaus was able to single-handedly take down his father's band of minions and come out of the fight uninjured, the fight against Mikael proved to be more of a challenge. Especially since he had a bit of an advantage over them...

"You're alone, boy? Did your siblings finally abandon you?"

"Don't worry about them. I don't need anyone else to help me send you back to hell."

"Very courage from your side to assume you can kill me all alone. Or stupid. I think the second one suits you much better. You didn't change at all, Niklaus. Thousand years, and you're still a quick-tempered, impulsive boy seeking the approval of others. I guess you've never learned from your mistakes. But it's even better for me. It'll be so easy to finally end your miserable life."

"Thousand years of trying, and you were never close enough. What makes you sure this time will be different?"

"This time, I know your weakness." Klaus' heart stopped for a moment in fear. He couldn't talk about Hope. His daughter was safe with Hayley, the pack, surrounded by Freya and Y/N with all sorts of protective spells.

"I don't have any."

"Don't you?" he looked at him carefully with a sinister smirk on his lips. "Then let me remind you. The blonde one, powerful witch you've met not so long ago. Y/N, right? Her blood must taste ambrosial with such magic running through her veins. She would make such a beautiful corpse, don't you think? "Klaus' composure dropped to zero, and his and Kol's plan went to hell. No one will threaten his witch, especially Mikael.

Without thinking, he lunged at the man, trying to punch him in the face. Mikael braced for his outburst, grabbed his fist, and twisted his arm. Klaus shouted, twisting his hand out of his grip, and pushing him to the boxes behind him. Mikael staggered, trying to regain his balance. The hybrid took advantage of this by throwing a metal rod at him and speeding towards him with the intention of snapping his neck. The older man grabbed the object flying towards him, pierced Klaus' side, and pushed, sending him crashing to the floor.

Klaus pulled the metal out of his body, but the wound on his side wouldn't heal. Suddenly he felt as if his whole body was on fire; every nerve in his body shot through with unimaginable pain. He felt as if his mother had put a curse on him, cutting him off from his werewolf side.

Suddenly, a circle of fire formed around him, and none other than the mother of the originals emerged from the shadows, muttering a familiar spell that began the 1,000-year search for the doppelgänger and the moonstone. Panic rose in him, along with the pain he felt.

NO! He couldn't go through it again!

"Who'll fight for you now, boy?!" Mikael shouted, walking slowly over to him and pulling a white oak stake from his coat pocket, patiently waiting for his wife to finish her spell and get rid of her unwanted son from their lives once and for all.

"I will." Kol stepped out of the shadows, pushing his father away from the circle where his older brother was trapped. Mikael laughed, looking at his son with contempt.

"I was wondering which of you would come to rescue this abomination. I never expected you'd be the first one to protect him. Wasn't he the one who locked you in a coffin for centuries? Will you defend him after what he did to you? You know best of all what he's capable of. Don't you want revenge? To see him suffer for all his sins against you? Join us, my son. Let's do justice to him together."

"Forgive me, father. I'm not on the retirement team." Mikael's smirk fell, and an ominous, dark look returned in its place.

"So you will watch your failure."

Mikael threw himself at his son in an instant, overpowering him. He turned his back to him and clamped his hand around his neck, forcing him to watch as his brother writhed on the floor in pain, occasionally getting close enough to the fire to sear him. Kol shuddered.

"In a moment, your mother will finish reciting the spell, and your treacherous brother will become nothing but a vampire again, and then... I will pierce him through before your eyes, son, so that you will remember once and for all how those who oppose me end up. Maybe then you'll join us."

"I'd rather die." Kol growled, trying to wriggle out of his father's grip.

"So you will."

And then, when everything seemed over for the two siblings and all hope of survival was lost, the appearance of one person changed the fate of the originals.

Suddenly, a wooden bolt shot out of the darkness of the building and pierced Esther's stomach, causing her to break her spell. The woman fell to the floor, screaming. Another wooden stake flew towards Mikael, who was forced to let go of Kol and catch the flying piece of wood before it hit him.

Klaus stopped shaking in pain, taking quick, heavy breaths. He used his remaining strength to look at his savior.

It couldn't be true…

"Get away from my son!"

Ansel jumped off the container, falling right in front of Klaus and shielding him with his own body. He held his crossbow high, aiming it at an angry Mikael. Kol stood beside him, handing him a white oak stake, which Mikael dropped and took out their weapons himself.

"I've already killed you once!"

"And I can already tell you that this time the ending will be different. Now, get out of here, or I will skin you for what you have done to MY SON."

"What can you do to me?! I'm a vampire, the original! Some weak werewolf can't kill me!"

"Be careful. That weak werewolf has many friends, and some of them..." Mikael and Esther cried out in pain as they fell to their knees on the floor. "Are very powerful witches. Touch my son again, and I'll kill you right away, without a blink. But for all of this, you've already done to him..." more bolts fired from his crossbow, wounding the parents of the originals. Most of them were aimed at the seething with anger Mikael.

"Kol. Take your brother out. I'll join you in a second."

"Are you sure, old man?"

"Yes. Just give me a few seconds." Kol nodded uncertainly to him, not wanting to leave Ansel alone with his parents at all. But the younger original carefully took his exhausted brother into his arms and carried him outside at vampire speed.

The werewolf took a few steps towards the kneeling two, firing the few bolts he had left at the man. Esther screamed shrilly beside them as the witches continued to torture her with their magic.

"I'll make sure you suffer in ways even your cruel, psychopathic mind can't imagine and believe me... a thousand years on the other side teaches great creativity and patience, Mikael." Ansel drove one of the stakes through Esther's heart and watched with satisfaction as the woman who had kept his only son away from him fell to the floor dead. "He'll suffer one more time because of you, and I'll make sure you don't get any peace even on the other side. I hope you understand."

"This whore of his will die before he gets to her! You won't protect him from that."

"We'll see. Again, please!" Mikael howled louder in pain as the witches strengthened their attack. Ansel smiled slightly.

Ansel left the warehouse, leaving the vampire writhing in pain behind him. He had more important things on his mind than torturing him. His son needed him, and he wasn't going to spend a single minute doing anything other than helping him.

After all, family was the most important thing. For always and forever.

~•♤♤♤•~

Kol drove the car, watching the two men in the back seat in the mirror. Ansel told him to get back to their siblings as soon as possible, especially Y/N.

The original had already learned on the other side that it was better to follow his orders. Ansel usually knew what he was doing, and after saving Kol countless times, he had the younger vampire's full trust.

Klaus could be a little more like him.

"What are you laughing at there, jester?" Ansel asked, looking up from his sleeping son and noticing the smirk on Mikaelson's face.

"Don't get offended, but he is nothing like you."

"I know, and I'm proud of him. He's his own person."

"Elijah will be delighted when you tell him that. Another believer in Nik's redemption."

"He is my son. Of course I believe in him and want the best for him." Kol's face morosed as he remembered how, just an hour ago, his father had tried to kill him and nearly ended his brother's life. "Don't make such a face. He is not your father. No father would make his child suffer. He doesn't deserve your attention, thoughts, or anything."

"But he's right about one thing. We are monsters."

"No. You're all lost. You may be a thousand years old, but really you are like children who have not been taught how to be adults. You know no other way to deal with your emotions than to succumb to this bloodlust. The worst of all is that you've allowed yourselves to be told that you are monsters when everything you do is out of your will to survive or strong feelings."

"A living ticking time bomb, eh?"

"If that's what you want to call it." Ansel murmured, shifting his gaze to his only son. Kol glanced at the two men in a car mirror.

Klaus will be damn surprised to see such a caring and tender look in his biological father's eyes. But he deserved it. After everything Miakel and Esther had put him through—what they all went through because of their parents—they deserved a normal, healthy relationship.

Kol would give anything to have someone like a werewolf for a dad.

"He needs you. Don't fuck it up." instead of admitting this childish desire to himself, he decided to warn Klaus' father. 

"I'm not going to waste my chance, Kol. This is rarely: to come back from the other side."

"I'm still going to keep my eye on you. Especially around Hope."

"I would expect nothing less from you."

"Good. Wake up our princess. We're almost there."

~•♤♤♤•~

They expected it to be hard. Some hidden group of vampires and witches ready to attack at any moment, maybe a few deadly traps await them.

They wouldn't have expected the house to go up in flames. Vampires didn't usually die from fire... but humans did.

Klaus got out of the car the moment he saw the burning building. He didn't care that Kol hadn't stopped the car yet or that his newly found father was sitting right next to him.

All the original hybrid had on his mind was getting to Y/N as fast as he could.

He screamed her name and ran like a madman through the collapsing house. She had to be around here somewhere, unless she evacuated. The man did not allow even the slightest thought that his beloved could be trapped in the building, dead from the fire. He had to find her, lock her in a safe place, defeat Mikael, and return to his love, only to finally reveal his feelings to her and keep her with him where she belonged. There was no other way out of this situation.

However, Klaus, despite his best efforts, found someone completely different.

Katherine Pierce-Mikaelson lay unconscious among the collapsing ruins of the hall. Klaus stopped. Dark thoughts flooded his mind. How easy it would be to leave her here once and for all and let some stray plank fall and pierce her stoned heart. He shook his head.

Whether he wanted it or not, she was part of the family now. And he never left them behind. (Also, Y/N wouldn't approve of him leaving her friend to die. Elijah wouldn't be too pleased either.)

He took her in his arms and carried her out of the building. He laid her down on the grass, checking to see if she was injured.

"NIKLAUS! KATERINA!" Klaus raised his head, turning his gaze to his brother, who was running towards them. "Is she okay?! Where is Kol?! KOL?!" the elder brother rushed home after making sure his wife and Klaus were okay.

The hybrid caught up with him and grabbed his jacket, stopping him from entering the building.

"He is fine. Have you seen Y/N?" Elijah fell silent, looking away from his younger brother. Klaus grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look into his eyes. "WHERE IS Y/N?!" he shouted, shaking him.

"Niklaus..." the hybrid didn't even bother to listen to him.

He let go of the lapels of his jacket and ran towards the collapsing building, but before he could get close to the fire, his brother caught him. Klaus tried to break free from his grip. They both fell to the ground, fighting until the younger original snapped the older's neck.

"NIK!" his sister's scream stopped him from going home again, he ran towards her. Rage and fear shone in his eyes.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" he shouted at the jittery blonde. He had to get to Y/N, and his sister's tearful, devastated face didn't show she was safe. His anxiety and panic only increased as he searched Rebekah's eyes for any answer.

"She... she is in our house." Klaus had never felt such need and blissful relief flood him so quickly. Unfortunately, it left him as fast as it came. "She is in transition."

The original froze. He felt as if the whole world stopped around him for a moment. The one thing Klaus wasn't sure how Y/N would take in their (then very likely) future relationship was her possible transformation into a vampire. Now that it was actually happening, Klaus worried what his beloved's reaction would be.

"What? But... how?"

"Our father's minions attacked the building. Elijah and I managed to escape in time and evacuate Freya. Katherine was supposed to join us with Y/N, ​���but they never showed up. We went back into the building and found her with a metal rod in her chest. We thought she was dead, but Freya did some weird tricks on her, and it turned out she had vampire blood in her system. Your blood, Nik. I'm so sorry."

"They attacked Katerina. They snapped her neck when she tried to help Y/N. We need to find them and Mikael. They will die for what they did." he growled, preparing a very savage plan of attack in his head.

He would destroy those who hurt his love. They will be begging him to send them to hell quickly.

"Klaus! You knew that, right? That our father returned. Is that why you disappeared with Kol? You went to kill him on your own and you lost. You provoked him, so now it's our fault that Y/N is dead."

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT MY PLANS WERE!" he shouted furiously. Rebekah had no right to say that when all he was doing was trying to protect Y/N and his family.

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM, NIK, IT'S ALWAYS YOUR PLANS AND NEVER OURS! And now Y/N is dead and it's all your fault!"

"SHE'S NOT DEAD! SHE WILL BE WITH US FOREVER AFTER TURNING INTO A VAMPIRE!"

"SHE WILL NEVER FEED!"

Her sudden statement restored complete silence, broken only by the sound of the burning house. Klaus quickly came to the conclusion that the sound of the fire burning in the fireplace, instead of bringing him relief and peace as before, would become the cause of his anxiety, a memory of the fear and horror he felt today. Another trauma for the collection.

"What?"

"She won't be one of us. She will die, Nik, and you will have the blood on your hands of the only person who has ever truly loved you."

"YOU'RE LIAR! SHE WOULD NEVER LEAVE ME!" he shouted, feeling the tears start to gather dangerously in his eyes.

"Are you sure?"

Klaus screamed, rushing furiously at his sister, but a strong hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Be calm, son. Don't do something you'll regret. We'll go in turn. We'll kill Miakel first and then deal with Y/N, right?"

"And who the bloody hell are you?" Rebekah asked, eyeing the newcomer suspiciously. Especially when her brother hadn't ripped his arm off or maimed him after he touched him.

"Rebekah, this is my father... Rebekah!" Klaus screamed as the blonde vampire walked over to the older man and slapped him across the face.

"It's okay, Niklaus. I think I deserved it." Ansel groaned in pain, clutching his sore cheek.

"What do you want from him?" she growled, shielding her brother from him with her body. The Mikaelsons' experience had taught them to be careful in their dealings with their parents. They didn't have a very good experience. Klaus, on the other hand, rolled his eyes at his sister's protectiveness. If Ansel wanted to hurt him, he would have done so long ago; he certainly wouldn't have saved him from the clutches of death. Which didn't mean he trusted his father. He would have to deserve it and prove his good intentions to the sibling.

"I want to protect him. He's my son."

Klaus' heart beat faster. His son. It had been a long time since anyone had said that about him (he doubted he'd ever heard those words spoken with such pride and feeling). After all, Klaus wasn't made of stone. He could pretend his father's attitude didn't bother him, but he guessed they all knew how it affected the cruel hybrid. But before their big family meeting about Ansel could take place, they had to defeat their parents. And nothing unites and strengthens family bonds like hunting down their enemies.

"I threw the newlyweds in the car! If you've finished this dramatic scene, get your ass to the car before we all burn up from this fire, behind you, idiots!"

Maybe Klaus would have taken his father into the family after all. He would make a great replacement for his annoying little brother...

~•♤♤♤•~

Y/N's POV

I groaned as I slowly began to regain consciousness.

My head was bursting like hell, my throat felt like a desert, and the lights of the New Orelan lanterns that flooded into the room blinded me, causing me additional pain.

I felt like I had a huge, unforgettable hangover.

However, I don't remember much from last night. I guess I got drunk at the wedding faster than I thought and ended up in Klaus' bedroom again. At least he cleaned up after our recent… activities.

I slowly got out of bed. The world seemed to spin in my head. I closed my eyes, trying to compose myself. Suddenly, I heard an awfully loud jazz band playing in the streets of New Orleans. I swallowed, wondering who normal plays at night under other people's windows.

Someone entered the house with a bang, slamming the door mercilessly behind them. I hissed, clutching my throbbing head in pain. I've never had such a big hangover in my life.

Klaus came in covered in blood. Instantly, I felt the excitement flooding into my body, and my tongue moved to wet my chapped lips. I felt hotter in the room. My god, I fucked him only 24 hours ago, I couldn't be such a whore to him.

"Y/N." he sighed, standing stunned in the doorway. Well, he probably wasn't expecting me in his bedroom again.

"After all the noise outside, I can tell you didn't get rid of those musicians after all. Who did you fight? And please don't tell me it was Elijah." I asked, trying to control my sudden and unexpected turning on by the hybrid in the blood. Fucking hormones before a period.

"Noise?"

"Do not change the subject. With your super-hearing, there's no way you can't hear it." the man gave me a concerned look as he approached me. "Okay, I'm starting to worry. What happened to you?"

"Y/N..." he whispered, reaching for me, but I took a step away from him and wrinkled my nose.

"There's no way I'm letting you hug me or even touch me when you're covered in blood. Know my good heart, I'll clean you." I made a familiar flick of my wrist, but to my surprise, nothing happened… my magic didn't even move in my veins. I tried again, but nothing happened. I transferred my annoyed, hostile gaze to the original. What right did he have to lock me up in his house and block access to my magic?! "What the hell have you done to my magic?! Why did you keep it from me?! What kind of game are you playing right now?!"

"Y/N, I need you to calm down..."

"DON'T TOUCH ME! What did you do to me?! Why can't I feel my power?!"

"I'm so sorry, love."

"No… you can't just imply that… No." I shook my head in disbelief, unable to accept what he was trying to tell me. He must have been making cruel fun of me. But his painful, worried expression indicated otherwise.

"You're in a transition, Y/N."

"No, no, no. I can't! I didn't even drink a vampire's blood or die!"

"You drank from me last night, and today at the wedding, my father's minions disrupted the party. They started a fire and…"

"NO! You're lying! I can't be a vampire!"

"Y/N, please just listen to me..." he took a step towards me, but I backed away from him in panic, afraid to be so close to the man covered in blood... I could smell the wonderful, intoxicating smell of the red liquid on him.

"DON'T come closer. It is impossible. Are you playing some sick game, or is that some fucking plan of yours? A way to get me stuck here?"

"You think I'd stoop so low that I could do something like that to you? One of the few people I care about more than myself?!"

"You tell me. I don't know you."

"Do you really want to argue the same thing over and over again? When do we both know the truth?"

"I'm in transition, I'm scared, I'm angry, and I feel like my whole body is on fire with pain, and you're still able to bring everything back to our fucked-up relationship? You are an unbelievable narcistic psycho."

"Well, I know a very simple solution to your problems." he walked over to his desk and opened a drawer, leaving a bloodstain on the wood. He turned back to me, tossing me a bag of blood. "Drink."

"Are you crazy?! I'm not going to turn into that bloodthirsty thing that you are!"

"I've never heard such a beautiful compliment, love. Now. Drink. Before I pour it down your throat."

"You can't fucking make me!" I screamed, throwing a bag against the wall, which wasn't a good idea at all as its contents started to run down the wall, creating a small puddle on the floor. My gums involuntarily itched. My stomach rumbled as the delicious smell of fresh blood hit my nostrils.

I closed my eyes, sighing as I tried to control the overwhelming hunger. Klaus took advantage of my moment of weakness, coming over to me and enclosing me in a tight, strong hug. The smell of blood that covered him attacked my senses.

It was funny how his arms were both the only place that could bring me peace and make me fearful of the inner need caused by the vampire blood in my system.

"I can see how you are struggling and how persistently you are trying to overcome it. But why fight it? Why when you can get so much? Have you ever thought about the benefits of being a vampire? Your lovely, pretty face will never age a day, being able to dazzle others with its unimaginable beauty forever. All human diseases and ailments will disappear. You will be able to enjoy eternal life, discovering the mysteries and wonders of this world, even if not with me by your side, then with someone who will worship you until the end of this world. All you have to do is drink some blood and let us take care of you until you learn to control yourself. Is that such a big price to pay for eternal life?" he let me pull away from him a little so I could look into his eyes as he held me tight, desperately trying to convince me to stay alive.

"Who said it would be a happy life? That I'll learn to control myself and not go crazy or become a ripper? That I won't come back covered in the innocent blood of humans every night like you?"

"I must admit I'm a little offended, but I won't blame you for making such vicious accusations against me." he said it in such a tone that I laughed involuntarily, bringing a tender smile to his face. He could always make me laugh, even in the darkest of times. "It's the blood of Mikael and his minions; they definitely weren't innocent, love. Besides, I know you. You will not attack an ordinary man for your own pleasure. And even if you want to, I'll make sure you don't do anything stupid."

I got out of his grip, walking away from him to a safe distance. I might have been in transition, but of the two of us, the man was still the more impetuous. His reaction to my final decision may vary, and I prefer not to risk an untimely death by suffocation.

Besides, Klaus would never forgive himself for that.

"I can't, Nik. I won't feed." his calm facade dropped, and the desperation in his eyes and fear became more evident.

"Y/N just listen to me..."

"It seems like the only fair way out, you know? I helped you plan that stupid wedding; now, at least, you can return the favor by giving me a big, epic funeral."

"Don't even joke like that."

"You know, when Bonnie became sort of an anchor for dead supernaturals to find their way to peace or whatever it is, I couldn't believe at first that the dead actually went somewhere. It seems logical that after you've lived so many years with all these super powers, you just… die. No special effects, no second life, or another reality where there are other dead people. Now, I wish I believed in an afterlife, but I just don't buy this peace story."

"Vampirism is by definition an afterlife."

"I'd rather go into the unknown than live in pain." as if on cue, a sudden, painful spasm seized the left half of my body, causing me to double up... I thought I was beginning to decay from the inside out.

Klaus was near me in no time, holding me up. Fear and despair were painted on his face so clearly that I had to look away from him to chase away the remorse.

"The longer you wait, the more you'll suffer."

"Yeah. I think it's better this way. I mean, look at me. I'm gonna make a super-hot corpse. Perfect for an open casket..."

"Y/N."

"I want a huge party. Everyone has to drink themselves into oblivion and reminisce about all the happy times, funny jokes, or God knows what else. And don't let Kol officiate my funeral, because he'll definitely bring up that stupid story about drunk me flirting with you in a wedding dress or that you were my last fu..."

"STOP IT!" he shouted, interrupting me."I'll not entertain this kind of talk any longer. You must feed. I need you." he growled, glaring at me madly as if that had ever impressed me or worked on me.

He wanted a furious lovers quarrel? Here we go, I'll give him a fucking, last argument.

"This is not about you, this is about me! I liked who I was! I've spent my entire life being that exact version of myself! Years of hard practice and experimentation with my magic went for nothing. I'm nothing! I will never be who I used to be. It is better if I die as someone I'm proud of than live as someone I despise!"

"NO! It is better to live a flawed life than to waste it rotting in clay!"

"But that's not your decision to make." I whispered with tears in my eyes.

He thought I wanted to die? Leaving the love of my life when our story was just beginning? That I didn't want that fucking fairytale ending where the princess got her prince charming?

But I was never a Cinderella, and Klaus was no cut-off to be a prince on a white horse. And we had to accept this.

"Y/N..."

"I HAVE NOTHING, KLAUS! Without my magic, I am a meaningless shell of my former self. I will always be just a shadow of the person I used to be, unable to cast even the simplest spell or feel the fucking energy of plants! My immortal life will be one big void that nothing can fill!" I walked over to him, taking his hands. I didn't want him to leave. Since I was about to die, I didn't want to do it alone. But I knew full well that he wouldn't stay with me to watch me die, because if I were in his place, I wouldn't be able to watch him go away forever either. "I don't want to live like this, Nik. I can't stand such a pain, and certainly nothing is worth it."

"If you want to go back to the arms of death so badly, I won't stop you. I only hope the bugs will eat your rotten body soon, love." he growled, pulling his hand out of my grip, and he stormed out of the room.

"Klaus! Wait!" I shouted after him, trying to take a step towards the door, but I was too weak to move. I slumped to the ground, letting all my heightened emotions come to light and burst into tears as I listened as the hybrid left the house, slamming the door angrily.

This wasn't how it was all supposed to be.

Everything was meant to fall into place after the wedding, but my life was coming to an inexorable end, and my epic true love left me alone and ran away, hurt by my refusal to accept eternal life by his side.

Suddenly, I felt arms pull me into a comforting, firm embrace as someone began to stroke my hair reassuringly. I looked up. It was Klaus' father.

Klaus told me about it several times and even showed me one of the most traumatic memories for him—finding his biological father, pierced through and through by Mikael's sword. I spent half the night with him then, trying to distract his mind from his memories about his true origin.

Apparently, Ansel must have returned with the parents of the originals. He must have trusted him to let him into his mansion.

"All right. He will calm down a bit and come back to you, darling. He will not waste the last hours with his beloved on pointless wandering in anger around the city."

"I... don't want to hurt him. I just can't... I... was never supposed to become... It's all so fucked up." I sobbed, letting Ansel move me to Klaus' bed, so we were sitting next to each other.

"Try to understand him. The love of his life is dying, and while he could shove blood down your throat and save you, he can't do anything without your permission. He's powerless, and that's one of the few feelings my son doesn't take well."

"I don't think I can do it, Ansel. I don't want to be a vampire, but… I want him to be okay. He finally has some happiness and peace in his life, and I'm taking that away from him, making him unhappy again. If only I could turn back time and…"

"And do what? Never met him?"

"That would be best for him and his family."

"I think my son knows what's best for him. And I think..." he got out of bed, rolled up the carpet to get to the floorboards, and pulled out one board. He put his hand into the hole and pulled out a huge bundle of papers. He put everything back in its place and came over to me, handing me the package. "He discovered it himself a long time ago."

"What is it?" I asked, wiping tears from my cheeks, and (after wiping my hands on my dress) I took it from him.

"Something for you. Ah, these postmen! They always lose something or don't deliver it on time, don't they? I'll leave you with that for a while. I'll make sure you have some privacy." Klaus' father went out of the room, closing a door behind him.

A werewolf left me with the strange envelopes alone.

I looked at them distrustfully, not certain if I really wanted to open them. But my innate curiosity made me ask myself one important question all the time.

What was in them?

With trembling hands, I opened the first sealed envelope.

I'd recognize Klaus' practiced, beautiful handwriting anywhere. It's been haunting me since he sent me an invitation to Mikaelson's ball. After every little note he gave me, I could tell I was an expert at his refined handwriting. Thanks to this little obsession, after the first glance at the letter, I knew it was written by him.

Y/N, I have to admit, I'm a little offended that you're not answering my calls. Are you so busy with Mystic Falls stuff that you don't have time for old friends? It'd be nice to know you're alive, Klaus

My malicious witch, my nuisance, It's really awful of you to torment my poor soul. What have I done to deserve such a cold shoulder? Have your little friends turned you against me? If Rebekah and Katherine deserve weekly video calls, what do I have to do to have the honor of hearing your irritating voice? Stop with that attitude, or I'll show up in this musty hole myself, Klaus

A thorn in my side, a waking nightmare, I see you're ignoring me on purpose. I have to admit, I didn't expect such a game from you, but here you go. Want to play games? Expect me to be a willing participant. Let the best win, Klaus

My stupid little witch, Heretics will no longer bother you. Do not thank me. Put your life in danger for these morons one more time, and you will know my wrath, Klaus

My little tormentor, Have you cast a spell on me to think about you every night? Does this possession make me see you everywhere I go, only to be disappointed when I reach a person who is not you? Is this another one of your new tricks? Making me miss you awake and asleep? I swear I'll draw you into your own trap, Klaus

My lovely witch and the sweet bane of my existence, You win. I love you. Truly, madly, deeply. I dare you to come to me and get your price. Yours, Klaus

If it was possible, I cried more than before. Why now? Why didn't I find all these letters sooner? If only I had known about the letters sooner, now at least I would have had something to remember on the other side.

But the most important question was, did I really want to go to the other side, now?

[aita-blorbos]

Am I the a-hole for running away from home to avoid having to meet my relatives for Christmas?

I (12M) have never been able to smile naturally. I can force myself to with a bit of work, but it usually hurts a lot, so I'd rather not bother. Mom (40F) and Dad (38M) have always been understanding of that fact, as has my brother (12M), so normally it wouldn't be an issue. However, Mom comes from quite an esteemed family, which is accordingly very strict about our conduct. That I can't just plaster on a perfect, friendly face all the time, is a source of frustration for Mom's siblings, especially two of whom I will call Uncle G (42M) and Aunt K (45F).

The last time I saw them for Thanksgiving, G pulled me aside into the kitchen and threatened to carve my face up with the knives there if I didn't smile, because it was a celebration and we should be happy, and me not smiling brought down the mood. And then, when K caught me not smiling later (because I needed to rest my face), she threatened to pour boiling water on me so as to teach me a lesson about obeying elders.

I'm scared they'll actually go through with it for Christmas, because we were all supposed to stay in one big lodge together for a week, and I can't keep up a smile like that for such a long time. I never told Mom, Dad or my brother about it either, because according to our other uncle D (49M), who is the patriarch of the whole family and a super important politician so he's very wise, sibling relationships are really important. Telling Mom about it will make her argue with K and G, and maybe D as well, and it will ruin her relationship with all of them. And Dad and my brother would just tell Mom anyway.

So when I had just finished packing my bag, the night before we were to leave, a thought suddenly occurred to me. Everything I needed to survive the next few days was in the bag - my clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, water bottle, etc. I could just leave. I thought about Uncle G and Aunt K, and what they would do to me, and, in a moment of impulse, took my bag and left while everyone else was sleeping. I snuck onto a train and made my way to my best friend S's (11F) house. Her mother, Auntie C (older than Mom, F) let me stay at her house for as long as I needed, and offered to call CPS, but I told her not to because Mom's family is important enough that calling the cops on them would probably result in the caller getting arrested instead.

So, right now, I'm with S, we're both officially having our first sleepover (that could potentially last forever) and it's really fun! We had a movie night, and also got to play video games, and I even got to help them make traditional desserts for the solstice (which may or may not have devolved into S and I flinging flour at each other and having to clean the kitchen after that). I'm really thankful that I left and came here instead. But, my parents and brother have apparently been really worried - they even called Auntie C asking if she'd seen me, but I begged her not to tell them so she didn't. We haven't seen any missing child posters go up yet, though that's probably because my relatives don't want people knowing the family managed to lose a child and isn't quite so picture perfect.

I know I should be ashamed of myself for making my family panic so much, especially since I managed to overhear that my brother has been really depressed since I left, so much that he keeps refusing to eat. And I do feel guilty! But going back will just lead to me getting shuttled off to the lodge and getting punished even worse than before. It's selfish, but I don't want to go home. I'm happy here, I'm happy that I left, which is probably why I'm TA. It's been weighing on me, and while S insists I'm NTA, I think she's biased because spending time with friends is fun. So, if anyone out there might offer a more objective view of the situation - AITA?

UPDATE: Basically I still got found anyway, but Auntie C and a few other family friends convinced me to tell my parents about what happened last time. I did, and now Mom has cut all contact with her family. And also G and K are actually getting arrested! Good riddance - I just found out that they had been really harsh to my brother too, and he also didn't tell anyone for the same reason as me. I'm honestly starting to wonder if D's emphasis on siblings might have messed up our entire family a bit...

[hacash]

Series asks:

• The Terror

• The Musketeers

• the last movie you watched

Marvellously the last film I watched was LOTR, which makes this beautifully easy! Also I want to sue for making me choose just one husband-candidate from the Terror character list, this is nothing but pure biphobia.

The Terror

Character I’d want as a best friend. - Depending on my mood it would either be Bridgens (sweet, gentle, loves books, will clearly be a comforting presence) or Fitzjames (gossipy, kinda bitchy, would enjoy drag brunch and hopefully sharing his fabulous wardrobe with me).

Character I’d want as a parent. – I was going to say MacDonald, as he’s just so nice and dry-witted and shaped like kindness, but honestly one of the fundamental rules of life is that you can't think your parent is hot and Charles Edwards remains an absolute dish, so it's gonna have to be Captain 'Grumpy Pants' Crozier here.

Character I’d want as a sibling. - Irving, my troubled dweeby little baby queer: I have so many queer Christian groups to share with you.

Character I’d want as a significant other. – SOL TOZER. LOOK AT MY TAGS. THIS MUCH IS APPARENT. He's loyal, he's snarky, he's genuinely protective of his men, he's the hottest one of the bunch and clearly takes orders well: which is basically my dream husband. Because I'm greedy I will also dub Fitzjames and Hartnell as very close runners-up: two absolute Good Eggs who also happen to be very pretty.

Character I’d want as a child. – Honest to God, if I could pop baby Thomas Evans into a sling like a baby kangaroo and carry him around all day, I would, with his curls and his pinchable cheeks and his heartbreaking loyalty to his buddies.

Character I’d want as a weird inlaw. – There is only one possible right answer for this, and that answer is Thomas ‘Monsterfucker’ Blanky.

BBC Musketeers

Character I’d want as a best friend. - Porthos, 100% the best musketeers of the bunch.

Character I’d want as a parent. – Obviously Captain Treville; apparently a specific blorbo-type I have is ‘gruff figure of authority who would die for anyone under their command’ and Treville was definitely a foundational blorbo here.

Character I’d want as a sibling. - Sylvie only had a single series and I'm still gutted about it; not only do I think she'd be a great sibling but we could overthrow the government together.

Character I’d want as a significant other. – I didn't spend several years spamming your feeds with reams of d'Artagnan gifsets and meta not to dub him my honorary husband now.

Character I’d want as a child. – Aramis: granted he’s an adult man but I feel like he needs a full-time parent just to tell him what not to put his dick in.

Character I’d want as a weird inlaw. – Can you imagine going to family dinners and having Louis as an in-law? Those meals would be so messy, I would absolutely love that.

LOTR

Character I’d want as a best friend. – I would argue that pretty much the entire point of the trilogy is ‘you will never get a best friend better than Samwise Gamgee’, so obviously my answer’s gotta be Sam. We both like gardening, planting, being snarky little shits and loving Frodo Baggins so we’d probably get on.

Character I’d want as a parent. – Absolutely Theoden: Bernard Hill’s delivery of ‘no parent should ever have to bury their child’ ruined me twenty-two years ago and honestly I’ve never quite recovered. (He makes such a good dad!!)

Character I’d want as a sibling. – Boromir is the archetypal big brother; I would bond with him over adorable hobbits and being aspec so so much.

Character I’d want as a significant other. – My little eleven-year-old self’s crush on both Pippin and Merry was a significantly formative period in my life, so honestly, either of them. They’re both Good Eggs, we can bond over cooking, Pippin can make me laugh lots and Merry can compensate for my utter inability to plan anything ever.

Character I’d want as a child. – Those two adorable baby hobbit kiddos played by Peter Jackson's kids.

Character I’d want as a weird inlaw. – Gandalf is the only weird inlaw.

[bunbeeplays]

The Lemon Legacy: Generation 1, Chapter 82 - A Nighttime Visit

Ophelia and Xander are woken up by someone pounding on the door.

Ophelia: What the woohoock! Who the hell is here at midnight?

Xander: It looks like a kid and… wait, is that Greta? Jace? They're supposed to be at their dad's house tonight. What are they doing here?

Jace: This was a dumb idea. We should have just stayed home.

Greta: That place isn't home anymore, not with them. Don't worry, Uncle Xander and Aunt Ophelia are cool. They'll understand.

Their conversation is interrupted when Xander opens the door.

Greta: Ugh, thank Watcher. Took you long enough, it's cold out here.

Xander cuts to the chase.

Xander: What are you guys doing here? Did your dad drop you off? It's the middle of the night.

Greta: We had to get out of there, it sucked.

Xander: You just LEFT?

Xander: Does anyone know you two are here?

Greta: Uh, well, now you do.

Xander: I'm not in the mood for jokes. Get inside.

Greta: Uh, you sound mad.

Xander: I am. Inside, now.

Jace, who is very afraid of the dark, immediately walks in and freaks out. Ophelia does her best to calm him down. She promises to make him and Greta a midnight snack before he goes up to use the bathroom so he doesn't have a bladder failure.

Xander: Let me get this straight. You dragged your brother out of bed and you two walked across town in the middle of the night without telling your parents.

Greta: What's the big deal?

Xander: The big deal is anything could have happened and no one would know where you were.

Greta: Why are you being so uncool about this?

Xander: I'm not being "uncool", I'm reacting how any normal adult would.

Greta: Yeah, like I said, uncool.

Xander: Your mom's going to be really uncool when she finds out what you did.

Greta: Why should I care about how she feels? She doesn't care about how I feel! I told her I didn't want to see him but she made me because she's a total bitch-

Xander: Greta Rose Laurent, you will NOT talk about your mother like that. She's doing what she thinks is right.

Greta: Then she should keep us away from Dad and his new she-devil of a wife! It's not like he cared we were there. He's got his new family. Jace spent all night trying to get him to play catch but all he could focus on was Tiff and Tommy! Jace went to bed in tears!

Xander: I'm sorry you two had a hard night but if it was that bad, Ophelia and I would have come gotten you. What you did was dangerous.

Greta: Why are you being so lame?

Xander: Caring about your safety isn't lame.

Greta: Nothing happened!

Xander: Well something could have. I'll call your mother and tell her what happened. She can deal with telling your father where you are.

Greta: Whatever.

Ophelia spent the entire altercation pulling out some chia seed puddings for the kids, since that's the closest thing they had to a snack in the fridge. Being there for the fight was kind of awkward, but seeing Xander be so parental was… oddly nice?

Greta plops down at the table and groans.

Greta: I thought Uncle Xander would get it! I know he hates Dad too after what he did to you and Mom!

Oh, so Hilary did tell her the whole story.

Greta: I don't want anything to do with him anymore! Why doesn't anyone understand?

Ophelia: Your mom didn't want what happened to ruin your relationship with your dad.

Greta: Why? She knows he's scum and she still forces me to see him? How does she not get it? No one does!

Ophelia: I understand not wanting a relationship with a parent more than you know.

Ophelia: I was disowned. I haven't seen my parents in years.

Greta: Okay, you win.

Ophelia: I'm not trying to "win", Greta. Your mom was trying to do right by you by not denying you a relationship with your dad, but maybe she doesn't understand how much his actions hurt you.

Greta: Everyone says I should forgive him cuz he's my dad but he didn't apologize to me and Jace for turning our lives upside down, for treating you and Mom like dirt! It's llamashit!

Ophelia: Your mom was trying to be fair to you two, but you don't owe your dad a relationship.

Ophelia: Jace was really scared from being out in the dark.

Greta: I know, but-

Ophelia: You were trying to do what's best for him, even if it ended up hurting the person you thought you were helping. Well, your mom was trying to do that with you.

Greta: Yeah, I guess…

Ophelia: Uncle Xander wasn't trying to be mean, but there's a lot of dangerous people out at night. Vampires, werewolves, townies with eyeball rings. Knowing you two were wandering out there all alone scared him.

Greta: I didn't want to scare anyone.

Ophelia: I know.

The boys come back downstairs and while Greta and Jace eat their pudding, Ophelia and Xander talk in the kitchen.

Xander: Greta totally hates me now.

Ophelia: No she doesn't. She acted impulsively because she's a teenager and she was upset she got called out on it.

Ophelia: She'll get over it. The important thing is the kids are safe and accounted for. I think she and Hilary need to have a deeper talk about Greta's feelings about what happened but for now, things will be fine. You got upset because you care about them, that's not a crime.

Greta comes over to wash the dishes and Ophelia gives Xander a kiss on the cheek, quietly whispering in his ear to talk to her again, before she leaves to introduce Jace to Marshmallow.

Ophelia: I think she likes you, Jace!

Jace: Aww, nice kitty.

Marshmallow: why is this hooman so small

Xander: Greta-

Greta: Look, I'm sorry we snuck out, okay? I didn't think about vampires and werewolves and townies with eyeball rings. I just thought you and Aunt Ophelia are cool and would make things suck less for Jace. And me, or whatever.

Greta: So what did Mom say? Am I grounded?

Xander: No, I talked her out of it. I don't think she understood how strongly you felt about what your dad did. She wants to talk to you about it to avoid another situation like this in the future, but she's not going to punish you.

Greta: Oh. Thanks, Uncle Xan.

Xander: I figured I was hard enough on you. Sorry I yelled, kid. Just… cut your mom some slack, okay?

Greta: Okay. Sorry I yelled too. And called Mom a bitch. I guess I didn't understand where she was coming from either. Maybe we do need to talk.

I make my Sims hug so much but idc, I love them and want them to hug.

[brainfilehasstoppedworking]

Sam makes fluffy Aoi and Takaaki shit??? Who knew!!! I love my Ishimaru-Fujisaki Family AU

《~~~~~~》

Aoi sighed. She'd been bothered by a bunch of things. It ruined her mood completely when she heard one of the guys on the boys' swim team call her a 'Slut' for wearing a shirt that revealed a bit of her boobs. And always latching onto her guy friends. But it wasn't because she liked them or wanted anything from them, she was just affectionate like that. She couldn't help herself. She did it with her female friends, too.

Her girlfriend, Sakura, didn't mind it. She knew that Aoi was like that.

She sighed again and continued to mope around as a random TV program played.

"Hina. Honey, what's wrong?" Her father asked. She looked at the policeman sadly. But she didn't say anything and went back to watching the TV. "I-It's nothing, Dad."

"You sure? You can tell me, I won't get upset." Takaaki said with a slight smile. Aoi felt herself wanting to smile. Of course, how could she not tell him? He's so caring of her and her brother. And he treats all his kids the same, no matter what. But Aoi just continued to watch the TV, her sad expression still there.

Takaaki sighed. He went to the front door and grabbed his keys. "I'll be back in a minute, okay?" He said as he put on his shoes. "Okay…" She said with a nod.

A few minutes had passed and Takaaki had finally come back home. He found Aoi still watching TV. She was also skimming through a magazine Sayaka probably gave her. It was a year old fashion magazine of the fashion trends of the time. He remembered seeing Sayaka look through it a bunch of times that year. Along with the other ones that came out that same year.

Takaaki headed into the kitchen and left Aoi alone.

Aoi still looked sad. Her mood didn't get any better. She hated being looked at by guys or some girls and treated like she only existed for her body. She felt extremely terrible when Toko moved in with them and she made all these comments about her boobs. Takaaki had to pull Toko aside and scold her –giving her a stern look of just pure disappointment– to not bother Aoi with how her body looks. And Toko probably said some sort of dirty remark, making him pissed and sending her to her room.

She told him that he didn't have to, but he said that Toko should learn some manners to not speak of another woman that way. It was rude. It was like he knew what that felt like by how his expression was.

Aoi appreciated that small moment.

She felt someone lift her up and take her somewhere. "What are you doing?" She asked Takaaki. He just placed her down at the table and went into the kitchen again. He put down a plate of donuts in front of her, "Okay. I got you these. Now, tell me what's wrong." Takaaki said as he sat down on the other side, his hands intertwined with each other and resting his head on them slightly.

He had an intense expression. But it softened a bit, "I just want to be there for you, Hina, as your father. I know I can't replace your biological parents everything-wise. But, I'm here for you." Takaaki told her, still gazing at her.

Aoi looked at the plate of donuts. Then at him.

She smiled and took one, stuffing it in her mouth happily. She proceeded to tell him what she was going through and how it bothered her. And Takaaki listened quietly, nodding. He didn't interrupt her or anything, he just nodded and kept his silence until she was done. She wasn't sure if he was furious or not as he had a good poker face.

Though, he seemed annoyed at what he'd been told, not at her, but at all the guys and the comments.

Aoi and him sat at the dinner table for a while, chatting. It made her feel better. And she happily ate her donuts.

[miyuhpapayuh]

14. can't catch a break.

"How was your first session?" She asks Rod, as he sits on the coffee table and plays with her fingers.

"It was entirely too deep for a first session, in my opinion, but talking about shit wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be. I guess.”

“Yeah?”

He sighs. “Yeah. It's weird. I felt real out of place.”

"Hey, look at me." His sad brown orbs find her face, making her frown. "It's okay. Everybody has their faults. It matters what you do to overcome them, okay? I'd never judge you. Please, don't shut me out. If you don't wanna talk about it, we don't have to."

"I'd never shut you out. I just appreciate you for even talking to me after seeing that shit. I just don't want you to be scared—"

"I'm not scared of you. I know you just wanna protect me. I just want you to find other alternatives, okay? You can't just go around choking people— unless it's me."

He cracks a smile, making her laugh.

"Aw, he's smiling for me!" He pulls her up from the couch to sit on his lap, giving her sweet kisses, causing her skin to break out in goosebumps.

She laughs and pulls away, cupping his face in her hands. His plump lips now have a red tint to them from her red lipstick.

"Red is definitely your color, boo." He lets out an obnoxious laugh, making her cover her ears.

"We both apologized. She's goin’ through some stuff, so I'm just gonna give her some space. We'll be fine."

Rod lays on her stomach and plays with the drawstring on her shorts, while she plays with the ends of his lavender durag.

“I'm glad y'all talked it out.”

“Yeah, me too.”

"You wanna go somewhere?" He pulls his head up from her stomach and waits for an answer.

"Yeah, sure. Where to?"

Roughly, forty five minutes later..

They're sitting inside a little diner, a little bit outside of Manhattan.

Since she's not too comfortable with being outside of her usual surroundings, she sits on the same side of the booth as Rod.

This time, he doesn't clown her for being a baby, and she thanks him for that.

"I'm not really hungry or anything, I'll just get a milkshake or some—"

"Roderick? Is that you?" A man a little bit darker than Rod comes up to our table.

She looks over at him and sees his jaw clench, but he says nothing.

"Yeah, that is you. You know who I am?"

"Yeah, I do. I ain't got time to talk, though." She put two and two together and realized who the man was.

"You gonna do ya old man like that?" 

"You know... I'm really not in the mood to be chastised by someone like you."

"Someone like me, huh?"

Rod stands from the booth and almost comes nose to nose with his own father. Stevie pulls on Rod's sleeve, but he moves his hand away.

"Yeah, someone like you. You ruined my fucking life. I've spent the last twenty years of my life pretending like you don't exist, and you got the nerve to show up and demand some goddamn respect from me?!" He barks.

"I'm still your father. You owe me respect—"

"I don't owe you shit!" He pushes his dad back, sending him stumbling into the table behind him.

“That's what the fuck I owe you!”

The few people inside the diner start to look in their direction. Stevie sighs, trying not to let her nerves get the best of her.

"Okay... I don't think y'all should be doing this here." She says, tugging on his sleeve again, making him look down at her this time.

“I dare you.”

"Aight."

He looks back at his dad and grunts. Pushing past him, he pushes the door open roughly. She gets up and follows behind him.

They're almost inside the car, when his dad comes up to him again, making her palm her forehead.

"Where do you think you're going? You still got your mama in your head, telling you that I'm a bad person?"

"Get in the car, Stevie."

She opens the door and sits inside, keeping it open, while he slams his own door shut.

"Are you kidding me? Am I supposed to give you a standing ovation for leaving me? I was two fucking years old when you left! I didn't know where you went. I don't even know you, but I know what I felt the day that my mom was cursing your sorry ass out on that phone. You're a coward, Sam. You're a terrible person. Fuck you!" 

He strikes him across the face, but Rod hits him right back. Stevie flinches and jumps out of the car.

"Stop!" She yells, pushing him away from Rod with all her strength.

If looks could kill, they'd both be dead.

She turns her back to him and places her hand over Rod's cheek.

"Get the fuck outta here!" Rod yells, sending his father stumbling away into the darkness.

He gently removes Stevie's hand from his face and opens the car door, sliding into the seat.

Instead of trying to find words, she just sauntered back over to the passenger side and closed her door.

He sits there for a while, before closing the door and starting the car.

The ride home was every bit awkward, and she couldn't wait for them to be back at the house.

Pulling up to it, he stops before her mailbox and keeps his stare straight ahead. She turns in her seat.

"Why'd you park right here?"

"I think I'm gonna go... it's been a long night, and I pretty much ruined what was left of it."

"What? No you didn't. That wasn't your fault."

He closes his eyes and drops his hand from the steering wheel, turning the car off.

"We can't have a normal day to save our lives, Stevie. It's always some shit!"

She shakes her head.

"That's not true— but, who cares? As long as we got each other, I don't give a damn about anything else, and you shouldn't either!"

He sighs. She pulls her seatbelt off and reaches up for his chin, turning him to face her. He's looking at her, but his eyes are throwing her off.

"None of that shit matters to me. We've all got problems. That's life. I'm not about to let this go, just because we can't have a peaceful time outside the four walls in my house or your house—"

"I'm not giving up. I'm just— I'm frustrated. You shouldn't have seen that shit. I don't want you to see me as some damaged person." His voice cracks.

"Listen to me. I don't see you as anything but an angel. I'm not expecting you to be perfect. You are who you are, and that's the best thing that's ever happened to me. We all have our troubles, Rod. But, don't let that be who you are. That only makes things worse. It makes it harder for the people that love you. You may think that I'm scared of you or whatever the case may be, but I'm glad that I see this side of you, so I can help you— even if you don't want my help, I'm still here." A couple of tears fall down his cheeks.

"I don't know all of what you've been through, but I can be here for you. If you wanna talk about it, we can. If you don't, we don't have to. I just want you to know that this," I gesture between us, "I'm not giving up on so easily. I love and care about you too fucking much. I need you to know that."

"I know, ma. I love you, too." He pulls her into him, stuffing his face into her neck and wrapping his arms around her, causing her to have to damn near sit in his lap to hug him, correctly.

His soft cries break her heart as she rubs his back and kisses his face, not knowing what else to do.

They sit like that for a good hour, before moving into the house.

Linking their fingers together, she leads them upstairs. He sniffles and saunters behind her, as she wipes a couple of her own tears away.

"We're gonna be okay?" He asks, sitting on her bed, as she steps out of her clothes and finds a big T-shirt to sleep in.

"We are, baby."

Doing the same, he lays down on her, sinking until his head is laying on her chest, arms enclosed around her

She pulls the covers over them and kisses his forehead.

@thegifstories @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @sheabuttahwrites @blowmymbackout @awerkofart @abeautifulmindexposed @twistedcharismaaa @blackerthings @blackpinup22 @nayaxwrites @cecereads209 @cocoa-puffs @mauvecherie-writes @supersizemeplz @soufcakmistress

[humanoidalien27]

Content warning: Sebastian being Sebastian

.....

Chapter 4

Sebastian's Wand

      You were prepared for Draken to show up and even ask for you and Ominis to produce your wands, a fact which you were grateful for Sebastian's wand and that Draken hadn't seen yours before.

"What is this about?" Ominis asked politely once Draken said you could put your wands away.

"We had a prison break at Azkaban. A Sebastian Sallow and Mr. Williams escaped. I came here first because you have ties to both of them."

You screwed up your face at the accusation. "I'm trying to become an auror. That's to put dark wizards away. Not let them out."

You made sure your tone voiced disapproval, getting him to nod. "As you two still have your wands, I can see I was wrong. Good day."

You glanced at Ominis as his brows pinched and Draken disapparated. "A wand? How'd Sebastian get a wand?" His head moved your way when you didn't reply. "You didn't-"

"I know, but it was impulsive. Something he always brought out."

Hearing you sigh, he lightly patted your shoulder. "I understand, if he was telling the truth, I hope he finds out what he needs. If he's lying, you're going to get into a lot of trouble if they find your wand. Speaking of which, how do you have an extra wand?"

"I actually had four. I have Fig's, Miriam's, mine and... Sebastian's."

"You actually have his wand?"

"I picked it up that night. I never got the chance to give it back," I answered softly, looking at it.

"So, Sebastian's now on the loose. We have no idea where he is or what he's doing," he said, pausing for a second. "No, that was pretty much normal."

You laughed, knowing he did that to lighten the mood.

"Just do me a favor and don't get involved with whatever he's doing. I don't want to lose another friend."

"I can't promise that, but I promise to try."

"Alright, you said you were taking a trip to Hogsmeade today?"

Glad to get off the subject of Sebastian, you nodded. "Yes, I'm meeting Natty and Poppy today. They've been excited about this the whole week. Christmas break only comes once a year, so I decided to indulge them."

He smirked. "You have too many presents you bought for them, don't you?"

"That too, but you're not allowed to complain, you knew I was like this before moving in," I teased, earning a laugh.

"Pack rat of the year award goes to you, every year. Does your dormitory look as bad?"

You let out a scoff. "No, that would set a bad example and ruin my reputation."

"What?" He snickered, shaking his head. "You're not afraid to ruin your reputation when it comes to me?"

"No? You're family, I don't have to. You know pretty much every bad habit of mine and you stayed-"

"Coerced," he clarified.

You narrowed your eyes his way, not that he could see it. "Jerk."

He smirked. "Just be careful, alright?"

"Yes, dad. I'll look both ways before crossing the street. Check my surroundings to make sure I'm not followed."

Giving a deadpan expression for calling him "dad", he nodded, thanked you and then waved you to leave.

If only you knew how those words should have been guidelines for the day.

     Natsai and Poppy almost scolded you for buying them too many Christmas presents, but it was hardly that much, maybe six each.

It was nothing compared to the presents you bought for Sebastian that you knew you'd never be able to give him and you still got them anyway.

You couldn't help yourself, everything that reminded you of him or you'd think he'd like, you'd buy.

Ominis scolded you the first time he found them, but then calmly explained that you were only hurting yourself, so you got creative and used an extending charm, to hide them in the bag you kept in your pocket alongside your wand.

Ominis was a smart man, he'd put it together, if he hadn't already.

You knew why you were annoyed at the manipulation Sebastian put you through, why you took a chance and gave him your wand in Azkaban. You loved him, a feeling that hadn't gone away in the months he'd been locked up.

You didn't know if that was naivety on your part for falling for someone who played you so often or just hoped he'd been serious at least once. But, in the end, the silence was your answer.

Something poked you hard in the shoulder, making you jump, before you saw Imelda smirking at you.

"Weren't you doing a race today?" Poppy asked, barely drawing her gaze.

"Had to come back," she answered simply and held out her hand. "You dropped your wand."

Instantly understanding this was Sebastian, you quickly grabbed it from him.

"Oh, thank you."

"No problem," he said slipping into the booth beside you. "So, I feel like we haven't spoken in a while. How are things?"

Poppy laughed. "We spoke this morning. You told us you were going flying, remember?"

"It was cancelled, my opponent didn't show up."

Surprised by how nonchalantly he said that, Natty and Poppy side glanced.

"So, anyway. How're things going between you and Ominis?"

Confused, you looked at him. "Ominis?"

"You're living together, right?"

Poppy laughed softly. "If I didn't know Imelda, I'd think you were jealous."

You sent him a warning glare.

"Not at all, I'm just curious, you know."

Rolling your eyes you stood. "Well, I'm going to head back home."

"Yes, got to make it back home before Ominis gets there first."

Ignoring that, you walked outside after saying goodbye to Sirona.

It's like nothing changed in those months. Of course he'd go right back to fighting with you.

Shaking your head, you moved to head out of town, barely making it half way before you were grabbed and pushed into an alley.

When you spun, you saw Imelda behind you, taking a few steps back.

"Sorry, I needed to get you outside."

Casting a glance around, seeing nothing suspicious, you narrowed your eyes at him.

"Why? And why attack the friendship between Ominis and I?"

"Well, a man and a woman living together usually ends in one thing happening-"

"Oh, grow up Sebastian. Ominis is like a brother to me."

He raised his hands and sighed softly. "Alright, alright. But I need your help."

Crossing your arms, you sighed. "For what? I thought you were looking into the whole innocents in Azkaban thing. Why come to me?"

"You're an auror in training, you can grab the things we need to prove it."

Wondering who "we" meant, a familiar man moved out from under a cloak, making you jump.

"My apologies," he whispered, though amused.

Pressing a hand to your chest, you looked to Sebastian as he changed back to his original form.

"Look, I'm already under suspicion for just having ties to both of you."

Startled, Sebastian looked to Felix. "Both of us?"

"Yeah, he killed my mother."

Felix's eyes flickered closed as he sighed and moved to try explaining.

"I'm not broken up about it."

Their eyes widened in shock, before Sebastian babbled out random noises, before shaking his head. "Why would you-"

"Not the time Sebastian. Anyone could be around and recognize you," you said quickly, knowing he'd be curious about it being you never spoke of your past before.

Felix held out a piece of parchment. "This is the location of the documents and the password to the safe. Once you're safely away, read them and you'll know we're telling the truth."

Staring at Sebastian for a moment to gauge how serious he was about this, you took the parchment.

"Fine."

He visibly deflated and smiled. "Thank you."

Nodding, you reached into your pocket and took Sebastian's wand out.

"You did keep it," he whispered taking it carefully.

"You should go before you're seen."

You jumped when Sebastian rested his hand on your shoulder. "Thank you, I'll be around."

You nodded as Felix let him climb under the cloak. 

.....

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[standardquip]

Relationship with my parents

This is about me rationalizing my relationship with my parents, who voted trump. They are (sincerely) nice people.

(quote from below) "It's been really hard to rationalize my relationship with my parents (and their relationship with trump) when I'm largely in far left echo chambers who loudly proclaim that anyone who supports trump is a racist, fascist, asshole, nazi, etc. When that's blatantly false, simply put.

But I also don't want to make some wide sweep about how they're uneducated morons who don't fully understand what they're voting for, or are victims of propaganda, because I don't think that's true either. At least not for my dad, anyway."

---- cw suicide mentions, transphobia

My relationship with my parents has not been great. For most of my life, I hated them and was actively trying to get away. My life got better once I finally did. I ex-communicated them after they refused to accept me as their son (I am AFAB).

To illustrate how bad it got, I was in the US Navy and I tried to kill myself and was separated due to those actions. I got one phone call and I didn't call my parents. They had to figure out I was no longer in the Navy from someone else. How awful for them.

After only a few months of them finally leaving me the fuck alone (honestly probably due to the shock of the Navy thing), they started trying to have a relationship with me again, and the only reason we ended up reconnecting was because I gave up trying to fight them. Also they used the correct pronouns finally. Our relationship was pretty transactional from then on. They wanted a relationship and I needed money. I mostly forgave them (or at least accepted that they did the best with the knowledge they had at the time) and after a lot of therapy, I didn't hate them anymore. I don't know if I have ever loved them, but I reached a point where interacting with them didn't ruin my mood so there was a mostly peaceful co-existence.

By the time I finally got financial independence (which involved getting VA disability and buying my own house), I wasn't treating my parents like ATMs anymore but I wouldn't say my view of our relationship was anything more than platonic.

All of the relationship effort came from their end. They wanted to visit me, I never volunteered to visit them. They want to call me, I almost never call them, etc., etc. I'm a loner, the only reason I talk to anybody really is if they call me.

Anyway. I had a breakdown in 2018 which involved getting real with my mom about my mental health, something I'd never really done before. Ever since that day, my mom called me every friday and my dad called me every monday. I saw it as they were just making sure I was still alive and maybe it was partly that but I think they mostly just wanted a reason to talk to me more often.

They also started visiting me every year and we would do big house construction projects. My house would probably still be unlivable if it were not for their help.

It should also be stated that they live about 1000 miles away from me and they drove to visit. So visiting me, to work, involves considerable time (and energy) on their parts. And they did it every year.

They also volunteer a lot in their home state. So they are, genuinely, good people.

They are not racist. But they are christian, (mostly) white, and affluent (probably the lowest tier above "upper middle class" ), so basically insulated from most of the world's problems.

They both had troubled childhoods with families that were poor. They both worked their asses off to get what they have now. They both worked full-time for basically their entire lives, even while they had kids (me and my brother).

So, naturally, they are fiscally conservative.

They're both retired now. My mom is now basically a tradwife and she doesn't really think for herself, politically. She says sometimes she doesn't vote at all but when she does, she votes for whoever my dad tells her to vote for.

She was a nurse, but she's against universal healthcare. She believes abortion "shouldn't be used as birth control" so that makes her pro-life somehow. They believe being queer is fine as long as you don't "participate in the lifestyle" so they don't believe in gay marriage.

They love sinners such as myself, but they don't want to participate in a system that enables those sinners, essentially.

My dad's views boil down to fiscal conservatism only; he's basically a single-issue voter. He believes that the rich will always find a way out of paying taxes so we should give up on the whole thing. The middle class (him) always ends up paying so he needs to look out for himself now and he'll vote for whoever will lower taxes and whoever makes his stock market portfolio look good.

He doesn't understand why people get so heated about political topics. Why can't we just have a rational discussion? Why does everyone get so angry?

He didn't outright say it, but I think he believes that all of the identity politics (if it even goes into law) simply won't be enforced. So it shouldn't be such a high priority to think about.

My dad is constantly watching the news and trying to get "both sides" of the issues. He actually does watch both sides of the news, too. That being said, I don't think he's ever voted for a democrat in his lifetime? So I'm not sure what kind of things he's actually learning.

Either way, I would consider my dad "well informed" on politics.

They both voted early for trump this year. They've been voting for him since 2016.

With all this background in mind, it's hard to say I should disown my parents over politics.

It's been really hard to rationalize my relationship with my parents (and their relationship with trump) when I'm largely in far left echo chambers who loudly proclaim that anyone who supports trump is a racist, fascist, asshole, nazi, etc. When that's blatantly false, simply put.

But I also don't want to make some wide sweep about how they're uneducated morons who don't fully understand what they're voting for, or are victims of propaganda, because I don't think that's true either. At least not for my dad, anyway.

It is completely understandable why two people who got shitty hands and worked their lives to get out of those situations would be bitter that their incomes are going to people who did not work as hard.

It's not morally right, but it's understandable.

Earlier this year, as the red states were ramping up the efforts to make all the leftists move out, my dad asked me if I would visit them in their home state of georgia. (For reference, I live in a northeastern blue state.)

I said no, because in case he had forgotten, I am transgender. And I don't want to go where I am unwanted.

And he said "So what? Ignore them."

This was over a phone call. That pissed me off royally but I am not very verbally "with it" so I didn't response directly until later, via text.

Where I wrote:

(begin quote) Regarding the anti lgbt laws It doesn't matter if they're 'not that bad' or 'won't be enforced'

It doesn't matter that they may not arrest me because I don't look trans or have all my legal documents matching.

What matters is that red states have made it their mission to pass (or try to pass) laws and policies that actively hurt lgbt people, OF WHICH I AM ONE, making it clear they do not want those people in their state(s).

And it would be one thing if you guys did not actively vote for the party pushing those views (I still would be reluctant to visit but maybe I would anyway) but you don't. You vote republican. You are probably voting for trump. You actively disproved of my entire transition and you said you thought it was a mistake and my scars made you sick.

To this day I don't know if you actually think of me as your son or if you're just paying lip service to your kid's mental illness to avoid drama so I'd talk and have a relationship with you again. This goes for both you specifically and mom.

So no, I'm sorry, I never plan on visiting you in georgia. I never plan on going to georgia again for any reason (even the [anime] conventions) unless the political landscape totally changes.

I'm not going somewhere where "my kind" isn't wanted and I'm CERTAINLY not going there to visit parents that support (either directly or indirectly) the laws that actively hurt lgbt people, which, again, I need to remind you I AM AN LGBT PERSON WHO IS ACTIVELY BEING HURT BY THESE POLICIES and was and currently am being hurt by the culture these policies represent.

"So what? ignore them" is MASSIVELY IGNORANT and it pissed me the fuck off.

As a side note, this is the thing I was talking about with Florida [on the phone]. License can be revoked and you can be charged with fraud. Partway down the article it does say that if taken at face value it could also apply to tourists. https://www.newsweek.com/transgender-people-florida-face-drivers-licenses-revoked-1865187 And again Georgia is definitely nowhere near as bad as what desantis has been doing in florida but the public sentiment down there about trans people certainly seems the same to me right now

This is a blog but it's more clearly written. Where the news article mostly focuses on people attempting to newly change their license, this blog talks more about what it means for trans people in general who could be charged with "misrepresenting" their identity (by having a license that says their sex is not their birth sex -- this is me. I am a person who has M on their license and wasn't born male.) https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/florida-misrepresenting-gender-on

Same person also made a risk assessment map, which is useful if you want to read more context about what states have been doing in relation to anti-trans bills (I do not use this map to influence where I travel; I found it today to help illustrate the current state of affairs.) https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/erins-anti-trans-risk-map-early-legislative

This article is to ground my comments about public sentiment and the "political situation down there." Even if this is just one extremist saying this, it's not like the republican party is doing anything to separate themselves from this guy's opinions. It just adds fuel to the fire and the growing anti-trans public sentiment. The article does a pretty good job explaining how those comments have impacted society. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/cpac-speaker-transgender-people-eradicated-1234690924/

You might be wondering why I have suddenly come out of nowhere about this stuff. The answer is because all of this crap only started happening in the last 2 years! Yeah there was some arguing about bathrooms and sports once in a blue moon years back, but nobody really cared that much. Then suddenly in 2023 there were 589!!! anti-trans bills crafted.

The worst part is, I don't even actively seek out this information! The florida memo was something I accidentally found! I actually try to stay away from the news because (especially for trans people) it is SO BLEAK.

Here's an article that illustrates the rise in the crafting of these bills: https://translegislation.com/learn

And, I'm not even touching on whether you personally agree with the bills. That's not a debate I want to have. I don't really care if you personally agree the bills should be passed or if the wording in them seems logical (I feel like it should go without saying, but just to be clear: I don't agree with any of these bills, including the ones about preventing medical care for trans kids).

What I AM trying to impart on you is that the mere fact the bills exist, the mere fact there are SO MANY of them, especially so suddenly, is cause to believe that there is anti-trans sentiment and is very clearly indicative that the states making those bills, by extensions republicans, by extension YOU, MY PARENTS, would prefer that trans people do not exist (I AM A TRANS PERSON), and I do not feel safe in a state that holds a majority of people who who hold those views. I also do not feel safe in a state that borders florida, THE WORST state for these bills and sentiments.

Anyway I don't expect any sort of response from you so don't feel pressured to come up with something. But at least now I can say you have been informed.

(end quote)

He never responded or directly referred to these texts in future conversations, which I expected. These texts were sent in early April. Since then, my parents visited me twice this year, where we decidedly did not talk about politics at all.

However, my relationship with my dad was pretty much gone after these texts. I really did not see a future for our relationship. We were never that close anyway, had never reconciled as much as my mom and I had, and since this conversation (and knowing their voting pattern) I had mostly written off any future relationship with him.

But I resolved to not ACTUALLY do anything about it until the election. I was (perhaps foolishly) thinking they either would vote Harris, or not vote at all, or Harris would win and I could just keep ignoring political discourse with them.

I really did try to see it from their point of view. Did trump have decent economic policies? Maybe there was too much bloat and some branches of government could be drained.

But the people who spoke badly of Trump were vast and kept coming out. Trump's ideas come off as "I'm 14 and this is deep" and while on the surface some of the ideas seemed ok, the people he was appointing to "replace the swamp" seemed, on the whole, absolutely the wrong picks and would definitely make things worse. Not to mention how pretty much the entire world's country leaders ALSO spoke out against Trump, too.

I certainly was no fan of Harris, I thought some of her plans were BS (I consider myself fiscally conservative too, for the record!) but I thought she was certainly better than Trump so I voted for her anyway.

Trump really felt like he had no redeeming factors and all of his cabinet picks that I know about seem just as bad, if not worse, than him. I don't understand what my dad was seeing in them (or hoping for). He said he didn't like trump as a person but he thought Trump would be better than Biden/Harris.

I was hoping that, if trump's policies really weren't that great anyway, maybe... just maybe... he wouldn't vote for trump for me. Because he supposedly loved me. A person who happens to be lgbtq. And his child.

[insert Red Hood monologue about Joker here (specifically 1:53 - 2:09)]

While I do mostly live in a left bubble online, I am in a very red area of a blue state and the lefties I personally interact with are more centrist imo. So I had no illusion about this election. I knew it was going to be very close.

Still heart-breaking to see Trump win, though. Now I actually had to deal with what I'd been putting off for so long: my relationship with my parents.

Emotionally, it would hurt them far more than me. But in every other aspect, it would hurt me more than them.

After 2 days of essentially shock, I decided to ask for my uncle's opinion. My entire family is left except for my parents.

I said (heavily summarized) I'm thinking about excommunicating my parents. Do you have any opinions or advice? He said (heavily summarized) my dad is a lost cause but my mom (his sister) is all he has left and he wants to have a relationship with her. He is angry they voted the way they did but he doesn't think politics are worth sacrificing that relationship. They will continue to have a relationship and continue to not talk about politics with each other.

I said, but how do you expect people to learn if there aren't any consequences specifically to those people? He didn't have a good answer.

My mom calls me every friday. Today is friday. After the talk with my uncle, I decided to just split it up. Compromise.

I texted my mom:

(quote) I'm really upset with the election and your part in it and I'd prefer you didn't call me for a while. If you need to come up for your dad I'll still let you stay here but otherwise I need space. (end quote) [Her dad (who I don't have a relationship with) is currently in the hospital.]

And then, an hour later, I texted my dad: (quote) I'm not going to go out of my way to avoid you in person if you visit again, but I'm not interested in having a relationship with you at all.

I've taken you off my schwab accounts as POA (might not go through until tuesday) and I won't answer any future calls from you.

The only reason mom is not being cut off is because unlike you, I don't think she fully understood what she was voting for. (end quote) Today has hurt a lot, actually. More than I expected. I guess I had reconciled with them a lot more than I thought I Had previously.

I hope I made the right choice.

----

This entry is about me rationalizing my relationship with my parents. Realistically, I personally will likely be unaffected by a Trump presidency. But as I stated in my long text to my dad, it's really not about that. It's about the sentiment that it's acceptable to believe people like me shouldn't exist.

That being said, Trump's policies are absolutely horrid anyway. More specifically I am not looking forward to distrusting my food quality even more than I do currently, nor whatever they're doing with the EPA. Can't wait for our water and air quality to go to shit. Fun times! /s

I think that anti-lgbtq policies are pretty low on the priority list and I'm hoping we'll be mostly forgotten about while they dismantle everything else.

I will personally be insulated from a lot of harm, being in a blue state, passing, post-transition, and a military veteran. At this point I can really only worry about myself, because if I try to worry about other people now I'll lose it.

For everyone else, try to take it one day at a time. Trump doesn't get into office until late January, so you still have time to figure out what you want to do.

Hugs for everyone.

[casspurrjoybell-20]

FOOLS - Chapter 31 - Part 1

BOOK ONE: The 'Fools Fall in Love' Trilogy

*Warning - Adult Content*

Saturday morning was weird.

Sam and I had Saturday detention that Sam picked me up for.

It was an uneventful punishment for walking out of class.

It started at nine in the morning and ended by one p.m. but that wasn't the weird part of my day.

What was weird was me walking into my home, after Sam dropped me off and finding my father in the kitchen, cooking.

He was wearing jeans and a worn out, blue t-shirt with no drink in his hand.

That was new and usually, Friday nights he gets so waisted that he doesn't wake up until past two on Saturday.

"You're up early," I committed then suddenly felt nervous, not knowing if what I said would tick my dad off.

I didn't know what type of mood he was in yet.

To my surprise, my dad didn't say anything as he went to the fridge and pulled out a half gallon of milk and a small tub of butter.

He grabbed two bowls from the cabinets then set them aside the stove

"Want some Mac and cheese?" he asked, pouring in milk and adding butter to the cooked noodle, then the cheese packet, stirred.

My eyebrows shot up, I was feeling a cross between bewilderment and confusion.

"Uh... yeah. Sure," I said, still flabbergasted by my dad's sudden switch in mood.

I wasn't too sure if I should question him about it as I didn't want to accidentally make him mad, ruining this moment.

After he slid a bowl full of hot Mac and cheese in front of me, he took a seat opposite of me at our small kitchen table with his own bowl.

I decided to risk the moment.

"What's got you in such a good mood?"

"I got a raise," he told me, taking a bite of his pasta.

My eyes widened

"A raise? Wow. That's.... that's great."

I didn't know he worked long enough to get a raise.

He nodde.

"Which reminds me," he stated as he leaned to the side to grab his wallet from his back pocket.

He hands me two fifty dollar bill, shocking me once again.

"What's this for?"

"For you. Obviously this doesn't cover the amount you've spent on bills for me but..." he shrugged and left it at that.

Did my dad get abducted by aliens and was replaced by a calmer dad?

"Oh and..."

And? I watched, dazed, as my dad pulled out a receipt in his pocket and handed it to me.

The receipt was from AutoZone.

"I got you your new battery. Installed it this morning'."

I looked up at me dad in awe.

"Thank you."

"Consider this an early birthday present," he told me and I actually smiled.

"My birthday's not for another month."

"Yeah, whatever smartass," but my dad spoke in a' humorous' tone.

What was happening?

"I'm just sayin' when your birthday does come around, remember this moment. I know you don't like to do anything for your birthday, so this it all you're getting."

I have a pretty good reason for hating my birthday, I thought.

"Thanks, dad," and God, I wanted this moment to last but it was ruined when he said...

"I'm having some people over tonight."

Another poker night and creepo, Randy.

"I'm gonna be out tonight, if that's okay."

"Good, I don't need you starting shit again."

'Me starting shit?'

It was that pedophile asshole that that groped me but I wasn't about to tell my dad that.

I could handle myself.

"Yeah, okay," is all I responded with.

I stood up and grabbed both of our empty bowls and set them in the sink before texting Sam that I was coming over early.

I didn't want to be here when that sleaze came over.

I didn't even wait for a response as I grabbed some clothes 'maybe being a little hopeful about spending the night and being able to continue what we started on Friday'.

With that thought in mind, I added a few more... necessities to my bag.

Sam had texted me it was alright if I came over early but I was already in his driveway.

"Hey," Sam greeted when he opened the front door and stepping aside so I could walk in before shutting the door.

He looked beautiful as ever.

He was wearing sweatpants which I didn't know he owned considering all I've seen him in was jeans or his fancy corduroy pants and he had on a cozy sweater.

I cupped his face with my hands and pressed my lips to his.

When we pulled away, Sam was blushing with a smile.

"You seem happy," he stated.

"Well, I just kissed my boyfriend," and I swear I heard Sam squeak at that.

"And my dad and I had lunch together and he was in a good mood," I told him as we both walked upstairs into his bedroom.

Sam shut the door behind him.

"Is he... not normally in a good mood?" he asked me cautiously.

"No, not really. Not since my mom left."

"Oh."

"But I don't want to get into all that," I said because I could see the questions stirring in Sam's brain.

"Yeah, no, that's okay."

Then he glanced down at my backpack before looking back up at me with a smirk.

"Are you sleeping over?"

"If I can. Otherwise, I'll just go to Jason's."

Now Sam looked confused, so I added...

"I just can't be home tonight."

"Why not?"

Because I didn't know how long Randy would be there.

"So, can I stay the night?" I asked, ignoring his questions.

Sam just gave me a small smile but his eyes looked worried.

"Sure."

I pulled him down to lay with me in bed, my arm around Sam while he laid on his back and I was on my side, facing him.

"I texted Jason and Carter..." Sam began in a soft but almost anxious tone.

"Carter will be over by four and Jason will be here after work, around four-thirty..."

I checked my cell-phone: 2:15PM.

"So you're saying we have about two hours to ourselves?" I questioned.

A knowing smile hinted on Sam's face as he looked up at me.

"Yeah, so if you wanted to..." Sam's words slowed as my hand slid under his shirt.

"Um, we could watch a movie..." my hand moved slowly down to his sweatpants, my fingers untying the drawstrings.

Sam swallowed.

"Or play a game..." I slip my hand in his pants, palming him through his boxers and making Sam's breath hitch.

"Ah or you could..." and I have him in my hands, stroking him slow and sensual under his boxers.

"I could..?" I questioned, bringing my lips to the skin below his ear, kissing him.

Sam was dazed, lost in lust and short breaths.

"Um, you could..." I kissed him.

With my left hand still rubbing up and down his dick, my right hand gently glided up his neck until I was gripping his jaw.

Bringing my arm up-that laid under his head- to draw him closer to me.

Sam laid his hand on my cheek, opening his mouth for our tongues to meet.

"You locked your door?" I asked against his mouth.

"Hmm," is the answer I got so I took it as a 'yes'.

I removed my hand from his boxers and started pushing his sweatpants down.

Sam lifted his ass so I could slide his clothes past and he helped me take them off, exposing his boxers.

I dropped my own pants and tossed them on the floor.

We both sat up, discarding our shirts and my hands captured his face, kissing him feverishly.

My tongue in his mouth, my hands on his ass, squeezing, rubbing, until I nudge his boxers down some,.

"Is this okay?" I asked before I could remove them.

"Yes," he confirmed breathlessly and I pulled his boxers down, him shifting to take them off before helping me out of mine.

My eyes ran the length of his body, admiring Sam's beauty while his hands slid down my chest until they laid on my waist.

I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him into a rough kiss.

Sam's hand fell lower, wrapping his fingers around me and began pumping his hand up and down.

My hands moved to his ass, teasingly squeezing before slapping his ass, Sam making a strangled moan.

I pushed him back down, flat on his back.

His cheeks were flushed crimson, his lips swollen, his vibrant green eyes hooded with lust.

I kissed his stomach while I squeezed his thighs.

Sam's head fell back as I took his cock into my mouth.

That was my first time giving head to a guy but I just did what I knew I would lik,; licking and sucking on his tip before deep throating him.

Rubbing my saliva around his shaft.

My hands going exactly where he wanted them to go.

Sam gripped and pulled at my hair, whimpering...

"Oh fuck."

I looked up at him, lifting my head.

"I thought you only swore when you were angry?" I asked amused.

"Shut up, meathead," but Sam was smiling.

"Hmm. Dumbass," I said before going back to my sexual task of pleasuring my boyfriend.

I definitely enjoyed going down on him, especially hearing the erotic sounds he was making but selfishly, I wanted his mouth around me, so I didn't go too much longer before I sat up on my knees.

Sam knew exactly what I wanted.

He crawled in front of me and with his hands clutching my thighs, he took me in his mouth.

I groaned, grabbing his hair in my hands as he bobbed his head up and down.

Fuck, he felt amazing.

His warm, wet mouth sucking on me.

He felt so good, I couldn't help but thrust myself further into his mouth until his nails dug into my thighs and he gagged, pulling away from me.

He gave me a sheepish smile.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"For what? For gagging on my dick?"

He shrugged looking embarrassed.

"It's been a while. I can't take too much," he admitted.

"Do you know how much you turn me on? Gagging and gripping onto me like that? I find all of that hot."

His eyebrows raised.

"Oh."

"But if I'm being too rough..."

"No," he shook his head.

"I like it. It's, um, you, uh, turn me on too," and he smiled.

It was contagious.

I grasped his jaw and pulled him up to me.

"Good. Now if it's alright, I'd like to fuck you until you're weak all over."

Sam made a squeak sound again and nodded eagerly.

I pulled him into a quick kiss before shoving him again onto his back and positioning myself over him.

Pressing my lips to this side of his mouth I made my way to his neck then down to his collarbone and sucked on his skin.

Pulling back, I watched Sam as I brought my fingers to his mouth and they dipped in, soaking in his saliva.

Sam sucked and licked my fingers before I removed them and brought them between Sam's legs.

My lips go back on his and I bring my finger to his entrance 'picking the middle finger to go in first but let's be honest, I hadn't fingered an ass before but it was self explanatory, I presumed' but I didn't get the chance to because someone was barging into the very much not locked bedroom door.

I collapsed onto Sam, yanking the blanket onto us but it was too late.

"Holy fuck."

[lucaswarmhotchocolate]

I always wondered why adults wanted me to be proud of myself for doing hard things when I was younger, hard things are just. things. you have to do them. why would I be proud of myself for doing something I didn't enjoy? pride is for things that are fun. anyways a lot of it was adhd but also a lot of it was the way I was raised. eldest daughters of single mothers, or maybe just me as the child of my parent, just Do Things that are hard. you take care of your little brother (not when he's sick on a school day though, school is still mandatory for you then, however if he is sick on a weekend you should help out) do the dishes feed the cats brush your teeth take a shower do laundry fold the towels Help Out, because that's what you're supposed to do. But don't forget that we are desperately trying to pretend that middle class ideals and ways of life are applicable to us, so don't fall behind on your schoolwork, make sure to make friends, get Hot lunch since we can afford it thanks to Obama and more inclusive free lunch programs, make sure to get a fruit and a vegetable though even if you just want fruit and have to waste a vegetable because that's the only way it's free, don't stay after school late though -- just because you're in middle school now doesn't mean your brother is, you have to be there when he comes home, make friends but I don't like those friends and also I'm going to ground you specifically from your friends whenever you fail to babysit your brother or do the dishes or if I'm just in a bad mood and want to blame something on your friends. Also, all men and boys are evil and I hate them and you need to tell me when you get a boyfriend (I dated a trans guy in secret because they were a couple grades above me and I adored him so much and started questioning my gender because of them introducing it to me, but I didn't want my mom to ban me from seeing him. in hindsight it was fine! we were adorable! when I ruined the relationship I had nobody to cry to though. I didn't tell my mom until last year and she almost grounded me as revenge for not telling her)

also you know what fuck prose here's some more bullshit I'm thinking of

when I was like 7 or something my dad (shorthand for my brother's dad cuz I thought he was my dad for years) told me I could only have my million dollar shaped chocolate bar from gramma and pop-pop if I drank some of his fireball whiskey. it tasted bad but I got my chocolate a few shots later. I didn't tell anyone till a couple years ago in therapy. Also adding this while re-reading the whole post again but he stripped me down to just my nightshirt once (yeah he even took off my underwear it was so normal and not at all weird of him) and tickled me! and told me about how nice it is to sleep without underwear on! I hate him. hope all that smoking gives him lung cancer and the years of alcoholism gave him the worst liver ever. I'm more mad at him for using his belt on my baby brother.

my mom likes to say she's so accepting of me and she used to be an ally but now she's bi and cool good for her she still grounded me from going to pride when I actually had friends who were inviting me. now I have no friends and nobody to go to pride with and quite frankly I have no pride. I'm tired.

everytime I have gotten sick, ever since i was a little kid, I've stayed sick for longer than what's is "normal." my theory is that I simply have no tolerance for pain or discomfort, and need more rest compared to most people in order to get back to my usual self. somehow everyone in my life is still surprised when I have a mild cold for a week at a time.

in my first year back at highschool after covid hit I was sick every month. literally had a more consistent recurring cold than I have ever had from my period. I was literally so stressed my body freaked out and made me sniffley, congested, throw up, run fevers for an hour at a time before cooling down again, have no appetite and need to sleep for days at a time. my mom still tried sending me to school like that and honestly she got her way an irritating amount of time, and usually also either refused to drive me or got mad at me while driving me and always said something right at the entrance to the drop off area.

I had such a visceral reaction at the idea of entering my high school's building I would literally be late to first period by 5 minutes almost every day because I would have to psych myself up to go through the doors. I'd spend hours in the bathroom crying or sitting on the floor with my head in my hands. I'd use and abuse the oh-so-generous 10-15 minute breaks they allowed the entire student body to take to the point where on my IEP that my therapist fought to get me, they actually specified I was only allowed to have 5 minute breaks! as expected this caused me to go hide in the bathrooms EVEN MORE instead. I couldn't even stay in just one, I had to go walking around to change which bathroom I'd hide in or else they'd send someone to fetch me. I was considered a truant for most of my high school career and still nobody ever set up consistent fucking meetings with the fucking. idek the person I was supposed to be talking to according to my IEP. idk what position she filled. she was supposed to be talking to me for 30 minutes a week MINIMUM but I saw her one time for 30 minutes. literally once. I switched to an alternative schooling program for dropout risks and kids with behavior issues before I had a second meeting with that woman.

My mom has never responded to my meltdowns with anything other than anger, stress, and more anger. When I cried as a child she would yell at me to stop it and has explained that she just "didn't know what to do" and goes through the whole song and dance about her abusive dad literally every time I bring it up. she still yells at me when I cry. when I have meltdowns I'll sometimes bang my head against a wall and the last time I did that she decided to grab my fucking head.

I've always been viewed as the "family chef" because I liked food and the food network as a kid, and even though my mom always says that she agrees if I cook I shouldn't have to clean, and that she and my brother love when I cook because neither of them are fucking doing it, she always gets mad at me for not cleaning up after my cooking. I dont know how many times I've explained that I don't have the energy to cook *and* clean, and since nobody else is cooking I kind of have to it would be nice to have lowered expectations for me to clean things up. I continue to be the only person to cook, or at least put real effort into making a nice tasting meal that others enjoy, and my mother continues to berate me for leaving a mess after myself. I still do dishes! I just can't do a lot of them and so there is still a mess after i cook or eat. i am still always always always put down specifically for not doing the dishes and even though it's just me cooking for the whole fucking family, the humble trio of us, the most I get is praise. "thank you for cooking! it's so good! I appreciate you ♡" it sounds nice, right? it's just like. how the fuck are you gonna say that and then not help me clean after I cook and then get mad at me for not cleaning and then continue to either not cook, or make such blatantly shitty and lazy meals that taste absolutely horrible or have no nutritional balance at all? Like I can't just go on a strike from cooking! I'm so hungry! I haven't eaten anything nutritionally balanced, just ramen and ice cream for the last couple days, and I feel like shit. absolute shit. there are pantry goods and stuff I just don't have the energy to macgyver a full meal out of it all and not only am I not eating, nobody else is either! my mom just doesn't care though because my brother has his grandparents to help take care of him and my mom is fine without proper meals and I look at dungeon meshi memes wishing I was able to cook something nice and warm and balanced and then coming to terms with the fact that I can't right now and nobody is helping me.

my mother probably is emotionally abusive tbh! she sucks when she's doing bad. she is terrible at emotional regulation and views me as a fully grown adult who doesn't need to rely on her at all. I think she legitimately thinks I purposefully take advantage of her, rather than thinking that I rely on her because she told me I could for so many years that I never expected her to get mad and take it back.

My vocab is annoying. my mom gets annoyed easily. you get what happens.

my school is an alternative option to me dropping out, since the trade-based career preparation "alternative education" center didn't work out well for me (I have crippling anxiety in the most literal meaning. it is not a meme or a hyperbole I get so anxious I panic and shut down and it's comparable to a soldier with ptsd hearing fireworks. cannot stress enough how much I am not kidding) anyways, it's a one class at a time style education, all online. I'm not making as much progress as they usually expect, but I think I'm doing okay since I try to communicate with my "Relationship Manager" and she seems to understand that I'm just slow, not a "bad kid" or something. I would've been kicked out of my public school by now, since they only allow their students 4 years to either graduate or transfer/drop out. This program is really good for me, but sadly did not randomly turn me into the Super Genius autistic person and so my mother, who oversees my education at home, is *very stressed* about it. I don't think she realizes how slow I am with my work and thinks I'm just fucking around, and she seems to think I don't understand how serious my situation is because no matter how much help is vaguely offered to me or how many times she yells at me or threatens me or warns me about how I could get kicked out if I don't make enough progress, I don't magically churn out progress like a fucking machine or even a Regular person. like yeah, no fucking shit, I'm disabled and have been struggling with school my entire fucking life. how the hell would anyone help me when my problem is existing in the wrong way?

all my peers that I still follow on instagram are graduated by now. all my old friends have long since forgotten about me, have moved on with their lives while I'm still in fucking high school. HIGH SCHOOL. it's embarrassing. I see someone I used to have spanish class with when I go to the supermarket. Someone from Algebra worked at the closer-to-me grocery store. I see people my age *working* all the time. Leaving my house is an admission of guilt, a lesson in public humiliation. I will never be normal, I will always struggle, I will always think it's over right before it gets worse.

Sometimes I wish I would just get into a car accident, need to get a limb amputated or use a cane or a wheelchair. Have something visibly wrong with me, something accepted by others as a Reason for why I am the way I am. Of course, this too is met with guilt because physically disabled people deal with the same shit but worse. It's still ableism. It's just hard to explain to others that I need the same amount of support as someone in a wheelchair even though I look completely fine. My family is skeptical of me, always thinking I just need to apply myself more. I can get a job, i just need to actually submit an application. I can finish highschool, I just need to Focus More. I just have ADHD, why do I act like I have a Real Disability? "Okay, fine," they admit, "maybe you're autistic -- you're not *severely* autistic though! you can walk normal, and talk the same as we do, and you never had a meltdown at school like that one boy!" But they ignore the fact that I always felt like everyone at school hated me specifically, the fact that the classroom was such a hostile place for me that I sought comfort in *public bathrooms.* they ignore the times I called my mom, sobbing and choking on my tears and riddled with hiccups, begging my mom to take me home so I could be in my room where it's *safe* and nobody hates me. they ignore the way I would always scream and cry at the starts of semesters. they ignore the way i still get so overwhelmed and nervous at the thought of people that I regularly stay inside my house for weeks at a time. nobody is willing to admit that I am an "unacceptable" autistic person, I have adhd in a serious way, not a fun or even just an annoying way. I need support, support that I do not have, and nobody takes me seriously because I'm young and don't have kids and my mom needs the support *more* because she has to deal with *me*!

I'm just like. so fucking sick of being disabled enough for it to ruin my life but not disabled enough for others to call me disabled. every time i refer to myself as disabled in real life it's seen as an exaggeration, hyperbole, not something serious. I'm told to ask for help but apparently I can't *actually* ask for the help I need, I can only ask for... normal things? I'm gonna be honest I don't know what I should ask for. nobody's ever told me what I'm allowed to have. Just that having someone else do my work for me isn't the answer, even though there is the literal standard business model of a cleaner who comes to your house and cleans for you. another business model for a person who drives you around. obviously I don't need unusual things, I'm just not rich about it.

Someday I just want to live and exist without being scared someone's going to come into my room and yell at me, or tell me all the ways in which I fail to measure up to people's expectations. I just want someone to love me unconditionally, without it hurting.

[the-writer-nerd-ro]

I can't believe I forgot to post this one since it's the start of my very special Sara Pena and Hunter Richardson mini-series "The H in Sara stands for Have A Nice Day."

This series is based on my very favorite Bon Jovi album 'cause I think Sara would like it too. Each fic will correspond to a song on the album (not in order), the song that has two versions on the album will be a multi-chap, so there will be twelve fics total :D

I want to be loved

Sometimes Sara was home when Hunter got home from work and sometimes she wasn't.

Today, Hunter wasn't sure which was the case until she got to the bedroom and found Sara flopped across the bed, tears leaking out of her eyes.

She was wearing headphones and hadn't noticed Hunter, so Hunter stalled in the doorway, watching and waiting.

Finally, Sara looked over, paused her music, and began to swipe at her face.

“Are you alright? Did something happen?” Hunter asked, tentatively moving forward.

“I'm okay. Just listening to my crying playlist.”

“Your what?”

“My crying playlist. Don't you have playlists that correspond to your current mood?”

“No, Sara, I don't.”

“Oh. You should make some. It's much cheaper than therapy.”

“What music is on your crying playlist?” Hunter asked.

“Oh well, this one was just Bon Jovi. Some of the other ones have other songs.”

“I didn't know that Bon Jovi was particularly sad,” Hunter said, coming in and sitting next to Sara.

“Oh they aren't. I guess this album just has a lot of sentimental value. But like. The bad kind.”

“So why were you listening to it?”

Sara pursed her lips, thinking it over. “Just needed to cry, I guess.”

Hunter felt like if she pressed further she'd be picking at scabs, and she didn't want to be the one to hinder Sara's healing. So she just sat in silence, her hand resting supportively on Sara's back.

After a few minutes of quiet, with the occasional sniffle, Sara spoke again.

“My dad showed me this album. He played all the Bon Jovi albums for me back in the day, but this one was my favorite.”

Hunter nodded. She didn't know much about Sara’s parents, except for the fact that they were no-contact.

“Music used to connect us,” Sara said, blinking back tears.

“What happened?” Hunter asked, despite her intention to not pry.

Sara fell backward on the bed, bringing Hunter with her.

“I stopped being someone he wanted to connect to.”

“Oh.”

“I think Have A Nice Day is the last album I listened to with my dad before I realized I was trans. He doesn't know that, of course. I didn't tell them for a long time. I was his son, his spitting image. Everything I did was a reflection of him.”

Hunter frowned. “That's a lot of pressure.”

“Mm-hm. I was good at it though. He taught me about music and how to drive and fix cars. And he told me dancing was for girls and would give me looks if I bobbed my head too much to Livin On A Prayer.”

Hunter rolled on her side to face Sara. “I'm sorry you had to deal with that.”

“The thing is, I liked learning how to drive and fix cars. And I still like the music he shared with me I just… I can't listen to it without remembering that when I came out, that connection was severed. He told me I ruined his life, and I know he meant it, too.”

Hunter scoffed. “Sounds like your parents need to get a life instead of micromanaging yours.”

Sara laughed a little bit. “Yeah. I know they were in the wrong for that. I wish knowing it was irrational would make it hurt less.”

Hunter was quiet for a while, rubbing circles on Sara's shoulder with her thumb.

Finally, “Can you dance to it?”

“What?”

“Have a Nice Day. Can you dance to it?"

“Oh! Yeah, I think so.”

“Will you show me?” Hunter requested.

“Will you dance with me?”

“Of course.”

Sara started the album from the beginning, turning the volume all the way up, and hopping off the bed, pulling Hunter up with her.

At first, the dancing was a little stiffer than Sara usually was, but with Hunter's encouragement she began to really get into it, head banging and hip thrusting through all thirteen tracks.

It was silly, and it didn't solve everything, but it helped knowing there was someone who loved all of her and who would help her make new memories with the little things that had made her into the woman she was now.

[sweetvaporiapool]

2024/1/4

Oh fucking well I am now in a shitty fucking mood now let's hear my first rant of 2024.

Why does every time I go outside with my dad we always gotta have a ARGUMENT. It's always over the tiniest crap too. I know it's embarrassing, but I have immense trouble telling from left to right, and I get incredibly nervous in public spaces to the point my mind goes blank. And even if I told him multiple times in the fucking past HE STILL SCOLD ME IN PUBLIC. MY HANDS LITERALLY BEGAN TREMBLING AT ONE POINT DURING OUR FUCKING ARGUMENT, AND HE JUST FUCKING WAITED UNTIL I GAVE UP. "Just take deep breathes if you are stressed it's not that hard," I FUCKING DID DO YOU NOT SEE ME RAPIDLY BREATHING IN THE FUCKING CAR????????????????????????? IT DIDNT DO JACK SHIT IT DIDN'T DO. JACK. FUCKING. SHIT. THATS WHY I AM SWITCHING METHODS. I AM BEGGING YOU TO FUCKING OBSERVE ME PLEASE OBSERVE HOW I BEHAVE SO YOU COULD SAY SHIT ABOUT ME. IF YOU THINK THAT I AM EMBARRASSING YOU IN PUBLIC THEN OH FUCKING WELL WAH TO THE FUCKING WAH CAUSE THAT SHIT ISNT GONNA HEAL IN SECONDS. Well, it's good we sorted it out, but it's still so infuriating that we just always gotta have a petty ass argument. I am so tired of this I just want to spend some genuine good time with my family without any arguments. WHY. IS. THIS. SO. GODDAMN. HARD. I am starting to think this is all my fault, which ofc yeah it is in the very beginning. I swear to god I just want a good relationship with my family and nothing more, I really do I just want a good relationship. God but I think I ruined everything I such a awful person, I am begging my parents to have another child, wether adopted or not please just leave me alone I don't deserve to be their child.

I really don't deserve my parents they should have another child and leave me to rot. I love them so much oh my god but seriously everything hurts

[maskfree]

Mama just approached me by opening my locked door. She felt so apologetic and I honestly don't know what to say. I'm just tired of explaining.. of talking. They often correct my choice of words that I am no longer confident of what to say. I'd rather not talk than be misinterpreted. Besides, it's complicated. It's not solely because of her that I am not in the mood to eat. I am also grieving for the people of Palestine. What reason is it even to celebrate Jesus' birthday if his birthplace and descendants are restless from Israel's occupation and genocide? How can I eat in celebration of that, tell me? People are getting killed. Also, Christmas is just an American idea to augment capitalism. They would just probably think I'm crazy and say I'm taking things too seriously.

Anyway, she asked what's wrong and that it's Christmas, why I am feeling the way I am. I couldn't answer her. She's regretful after I told her yesterday I wish I wasn't born. I meant what I said coz of my condition and lack of support system. I know it would hurt any mom to hear that but I can't stop my mouth and my emotions. This morning, she greeted me merry Christmas and I couldn't greet her back. I can't say what I don't mean. What's merry about Christmas when Palestinians are dying? Also, just because she was able to move on that doesn't mean it's the same for me. I'm still under masking burnout. I couldn't be diplomatic with her or anyone at home. It made me regret that time. I wish I didn't go down and talk to my cousins yesterday just so it didn't happen. I didn't have to say those words. I speak what's in my head openly. But if they ask me now what's wrong, I can't respond.

My dad came in after her and gee, he shouldn't have forced himself to talk to me. He just told me why I am wasting my time being lonesome and I should be considerate of them coz they can't celebrate Christmas joyfully. Like seriously, did he really come to talk to me to listen and understand??? Like I wanted to die even more so that I will no longer have to burden them of my meltdowns. I'm just exhausted, my head aches so bad, my menstrual flow is stronger than usual. I filled two adult diapers with blood in a single day. Going three. I guess that's why I'm also very emotional. I don't want to interact coz it'll drain me even more. I know communication is important but I am pretty bad at it. I might not be able to explain things in the way they would want to hear. I'm doomed to be misinterpreted. Misunderstood. So it's better to just leave me be.

They probably think I am acting like a selfish brat for "ruining their Christmas". Well, they're right. I can't stand anything anymore. I don't want to pretend. Still waiting for my death to come.