#i just want max to take care of his old man of a husband

[42uneatenwatermelon]

I haven't found one yet but there better be a freelance husbands fic of future max taking care of future sam from 204 somewhere

[danadaria]

Steddie Olympic AU where Eddie gets on his first Olympics for BMX freestyle, and it's so weird because he has been in competitions for many years but nothing like this, something so big and with so many rules.

His background was being a hyperkinetic kid who didn't really care about his life, and somehow being fearless and doing acrobatics became his career. Still, even then it wasn't so serious.

His thing were the X-games and open exhibitions, with fire, hard rock & metal, tattoos, and having RedBull as a sponsor.

Behind the adrenaline he and his friends are a bunch of clowns who just wanted to fly and have the bones of a child forever.

But now he's here: in the middle of a giant line in an ocean of other athletes, wearing a fucking blazer from Ralph Lauren and with the lamest jeans he had to wear in his entire life.

And everything is kinda awful, because he lost sight of friends (Gareth and Max, both skaters, but they train in the same place), and he just heard there's no McDonald's at the Olympics this year.

He doesn't even like McDonald's so much, but god, he grow up hearing about athletes eating hundreds of burgers and mcnuggets for free, and sue him, but his inner child was super excited about it.

"Are you ok, man?"

Eddie opens his mouth to give a snarky remark when he sees the most beautiful man in existence – GORGEOUS v-shape, honey eyes, pink pouty lips, and kissable moles– looking at him with concern.

"Yeah, yeah. Everything is okey-dokey" He says lamely.

The most beautiful man in existence snorts at him.

"Okey-dokey? What are you? Five?"

"Probably. I was sad because I found out today there's no free McDonald's this year. Now that I know I'm not sure if it is worth being here"

Eddie's future husband looks surprised for a second and laughs at him.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course. I read some people ate so many nuggets they left the Olympics cackling like a chicken: I wanted to be one of them!"

"Oh, yeah. I ate lots of them post-competition"

"See?!"

"Ok, I give you that. But this year there's going to be international cuisine and all that jazz"

"Knowing me, I'm going to get too overwhelmed with the options and I'll end with the saddest oatmeal every day."

"You have lots of food opinions for someone that's on a sports event"

"Well, is either that or thinking that my biggest rivals are a bunch of 15-year-olds from Brazil and Japan."

"Oh? What's your sport?"

"BMX freestyle"

"That's the race in the mountains?"

"That's literally BMX racing."

"Right." He looked ashamed.

Eddie needed to fix that look, now.

"And you? What's your poison?"

"Poison? You mean my sport?" Eddie nods at him encouragingly. "Gymnastics."

"I can see it." Eddie looks at him approvingly, "You have the arms of a gymnast, big boy."

The face of Eddie's future husband turns a beautiful shade of red. And Eddie is just a second away to ask for his name, and his number to change the course of his life, when he feels a hand on the jacket's collar.

"Here you are, loser. We need to go this way!"

And before Eddie can say anything, Max Mayfield (his new arch-nemesis) takes him away from the love of his life.

He says bye with a hand before being cruelly separated, disappearing into a sea of people.

"Do you want to be murdered before or after the opening ceremony, Red?"

"Oh, shut up loser."

____________________________________________________________

Steve is going back with his best friend to their apartment, feeling super frustrated. Somehow, 24 hours ago, he thought it would be a good idea to give his phone to his best friend for the inauguration night to avoid getting too excited and watching videos of the event until 4 am.

And now he was regretting ALL his life choices.

"You don't understand Robin, I met a super cute guy, but I couldn't get his name! I'm only going to search that and nothing else"

"Steve, you made me swear I wouldn't pass your phone on inauguration day, no matter the reason. You need to sleep"

"Easy for you to say. You didn't meet someone when you didn't have your phone!"

"I would understand better than anyone! I met the cutest girl competing at air riffle, aaaand I didn't have my phone either!"

"You gave her your presentation card, didn't you"

"Yes, sorry."

"See? Why didn't you make me buy some for me, too?"

They arrive at their floor. Steve knows they're a little obnoxious, but it was the first night and it's still early.

"Good night, neighbors! Isn't it too early in the event to be fighting?"

Steve looks up so fast, he probably hurt his neck a little bit. At the end of the hallway, sitting on the floor next to a very closed door, was Steve's meet-cute: All smiley, charming, and inviting.

"It's you!"

"Oh! Hi Mr. Gymnastics, and hi unknown lady."

"It's Robin Buckley," She says and goes straight to her apartment, "we probably going to see each other again, so good night".

And she closes the door firmly behind her.

"I didn't have. I mean. I don't have my phone to search for you."

The other boy looks at him, almost evaluating him, before giving Steve a big smile and offering his hand to stretch.

"Eddie Munson."

"Steve Harrington."

"So, would you-"

"There's a McDonald's near where I compete tomorrow. Would you like to go with me?"

Eddie stands up and walks until he's in front of Steve. He smiles.

"Would love it. After all, it was my childhood dream."

Steve smiles too.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Marlene Dietrich (Shanghai Express, Witness for the Prosecution, Morocco)—Bisexual icon, super hot when dressed both masculine and feminine, lived up her life in the queer Berlin scene of the 1920s, central to the 'sewing circle' of the secret sapphic actresses of Old Hollywood, refused lucrative offers by the Nazis and helped Jews and others under persecution to escape Nazi Germany, the love of my life

Sophia Loren (Marriage Italian Style, Houseboat)—Major Italian star, first actress to win an Oscar for a performance not in English (for Two Women (1960)) and later when Roberto Benigni won an Oscar in 1999 he jumped over the chairs towards the stage going "Sophia Sophia!!" because he was running towards Sophia Loren and said he cared more about her than the Oscar, that's the effect she had on people. She was big in the 60s already even though she gained a lot more notoriety after that. And I mean. Can we take a moment and just.

This is round 6 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Sophia Loren:

She has maxed out all her stats: beauty, elegance, sensuality, she's got it all. her mesmerizing eyes, her sensual mouth, her sharp face shape, her everything is so striking and unlike any other beauty in films. she was also voted the world most beautiful woman when she was freaking 65

im submitting her in honor of my dad bc she was the first celebrity crush of his he ever admitted to me and my sister :) and he was right. shes so pretty

OSCAR WINNER. Worked with some of the hottest leading men in Hollywood but remained faithful to her husband whom she had a loving marriage with till he died (even though Cary Grant almost tempted her once, it's complicated)

One of the most well-known sex symbols of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and unlike some unfortunate others, she seems to have been pretty well at peace with occupying that status. She made assertiveness and a tempestuous temper seem glamorous, and although she's famous for side-eying Jayne Manisfield's cleavage, honestly? She's one to talk.

Absolutely, drop-dead sexy, also a hard working, extraordinarily talented actress who didn't shy away from the less glamorous roles to gift us some gritty, memorable performances

Submitting this on behalf of my dad, who knows nothing of tumblr or this blog, but I remember being a kid watching Houseboat while my mom thirsted after Cary Grant, dad thirsted after Sophia Loren, and I was excited that they lived on a boat. Anyway, she's extremely beautiful and was an international star, doing a ton of movies in Italy before being recognized in the US.

JUST LOOK AT HER Y'ALL

Very smart and beautiful, the characters that she played (I mean those in the movies that I put in the previous question) are as strong and determined as her which I think adds to her hotness.

Global superstar and my late grandfather's long time movie star crush and for a man as quiet as he was, and as hopelessly devoted to his wife as he was, the fact that I know that means she was EXCEPTIONAL.

Big in the chest, snatched in the waist, pretty in the face 😳

Sexy, beautiful, deep. A real star.

Her performance in "Man of La Mancha" is just so very captivating. Dubbed as "the Italian Marilyn Monroe", she looks beautiful in any movie and at any age.

Forget the exotic sexpot of her Hollywood films and go back to her Italian career: sparking with Marcello Mastroianni as the woman who drives him mad and outwits all his fumbling attempts at macho posturing in their early films, and showing a tender side in their 1970s films. Sophia isn’t self-conscious about who she is or her beautiful body: she enjoys being herself and she wants us all to enjoy ourselves too.

She starred in films as a sexually emancipated persona and was one of the best known sex symbols of the time. She is a great cook and her filmography is immense.

On the misattributed quote that Sophia owed everything to spaghetti: 'Did you actually say the quote frequently attributed to you, "Everything you see I owe to spaghetti"?' "Non è vero! It's not true! It's such a silly thing. I owe it to spaghetti, no, no. Completely made up."

Marlene Dietrich:

ms dietrich....ms dietrich pls.....sit on my face

its marlene dietrich!!!! queer legend, easily the hottest person to ever wear a tuxedo, that hot hot voice, those glamorous glamorous movies…. most famously she starred in a string of movies directed by josef von sternberg throughout the 1930s, beginning with the blue angel which catapulted her to stardom in the role of the cabaret singer lola lola. known for his exquisite eye for lighting, texture, imagery, von sternberg devoted himself over the course of their collaborations to acquiring exceptional skill at photographing dietrich herself in particular, a worthy direction in which to expend effort im sure we can all agree. she collaborated with many other great directors of the era as well, including rouben mamoulian (song of songs), frank borzage (desire), ernst lubitsch (angel), fritz lang (rancho notorious), and billy wilder (witness for the prosecution). the encyclopedia britannica entry im looking at while compiling this propaganda describes her as having an “aura of sophistication and languid sexuality” which✔️💯. born marie magdalene dietrich, she combined her first and middle names to coin the moniker “marlene”. she was a trendsetter in her incorporation of trousers, suits, and menswear into her wardrobe and her androgynous allure was often remarked upon. critic kenneth tynan wrote, “She has sex, but no particular gender. She has the bearing of a man; the characters she plays love power and wear trousers. Her masculinity appeals to women and her sexuality to men.” in the 1920s she enjoyed the vibrant queer nightlife of weimar berlin, visiting gay bars and drag balls, and in hollywood her love affairs with men and women were an open secret. she was an ardent opponent of nazi germany, refusing lucrative contacts offered her to make films there, raising money with billy wilder to help jews and dissidents escape, and undertaking extensive USO tours to entertain soldiers with an act that included her a playing musical saw and doing a mindreading routine she learned from orson welles. starting in the 50s and continuing into the mid-70s she worked largely as a cabaret artist touring the world to large audiences, employing burt bacharach as her musical arranger.

First of all, there are those publicity photos of her in a tux. Second of all, I have never been the same since knowing that she sent copies of those photos to her Berlin lovers signed "Daddy Marlene." Not only is she hot in all circumstances, but she can do everything from earthy to ice queen. Also, she kept getting sexy romantic lead parts in Hollywood after the age of 40, which would be rare even now. She hated Nazis, loved her friends, and had a sapphic social circle in Hollywood. She also had cheekbones that could cut glass and a voice that could melt you.

Her GENDER her looks her voice her everything

“In her films and record-breaking cabaret performances, Miss Dietrich artfully projected cool sophistication, self-mockery and infinite experience. Her sexuality was audacious, her wit was insolent and her manner was ageless. With a world-weary charm and a diaphanous gown showing off her celebrated legs, she was the quintessential cabaret entertainer of Weimar-era Germany.”

The bar scene in Morocco awoke something in me and ultimately changed my gender

"Her manner, the critic Kenneth Tynan wrote, was that of ‘a serpentine lasso whereby her voice casually winds itself around our most vulnerable fantasies.’ Her friend Maurice Chevalier said: ‘Dietrich is something that never existed before and may never exist again.’”

"Songstress, photographer, fashion icon, out bisexual phenom (notoriously stole Lupe Velez and Joan Crawford's men, and Errol Flynn's wife, had a torrid affair with Greta Garbo that ended in a 60-year feud, other notable conquests including Erich Maria Remarque -yes, the guy who wrote All Quiet on the Western Front- Douglas Fairbanks Junior, Claudette Colbert, Mercedes de Acosta, Edith Piaf), anti-Nazi activist. Marlene was a bitch - she had an open marriage for decades and one of her favorite things was making catty commentary about her current lover with her husband, and her relationship with her daughter was painful- but she was also immensely talented, a hard worker, an opponent of fascism and the hottest ice queen in Hollywood for a long time."

"She can sing! She can act! She told the Nazis to fuck off and became a US citizen out of spite! She worked with other German exiles to create a fund to help Jews and German dissidents escape (she donated an entire movie salary, about $450k, to the cause). She looks REALLY GOOD in a suit. If you're not convinced, please listen to her sing "Lili Marlene". Absolutely gorgeous woman with a gorgeous voice."

Gifset link

"Bisexual icon and Nazi-hater. Looks absolutely stunning in the suits she liked to wear. 'I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men'."

"would you not let her walk on you?"

[14buddy22]

I BRING HOTCH FLUFF REQUEST!!!

Aaron getting hurt somewhat badly on a case and having to actually relax and recover at home?? Reader and Jack just pampering and spoiling him to the max because they’re rarely able to and Aaron learning to enjoy it and actually spend time with the fam while he can :,)

Thank you thank you thank you! I hope you like this <3

Aaron going head to head with an unsub and actually losing is rare. Well, he didn't actually lose, but he did take a tumble down the stairs before Derek managed to help Aaron in the fight.

And while Aaron took a tumble down the stairs, he smacked his head hard against the concrete wall. Not only did he have to get stitches, but he also had a concusion. On top of that, he had broken his arm and a rib, and twisted an ankle as well.

So, that put the strict unit chief out of commision for a while.

Taking Aaron home from the hospital, you helped him get out of the car. He swore it was fine but you refused to let him walk out by himself.

You raced out of your side of the car like you were a little kid going to get ice cream. As you grabbed him out of the door, you put you arm around him and helped steady his walk to your home.

Walking inside, you were met with Jess and Jack with a "welcome home dad" sign. While Jack was 12, he loved his father, and he raced to him to give him a huge hug.

When you walked Aaron over to the couch, you and him thanked Jess profusely. You watched as Jack clinged to his Dad's side, turning on a movie and pulling a blanket over them.

You started to cook dinner when you heard Aaron say, "Let me come help you."

Not in a million years were you going to let your injured husband cook dinner with you.

"No. It's my turn to spoil you. You take care of me and Jack when we get sick, now you're injured, let us take care of you."

You made dinner with ease, moving effortlessly around the kitchen. As you served Aaron dinner on the couch. You made a plate for Jack to eat next to Aaron.

Eating dinner with your 2 favorite boys in the whole world never got old. As Aaron was the Unit Chief still, there wasn't much time to have him around. You cherished every second you got to have with Aaron.

You knew the next 4 weeks were going to be great having him around. It's a blessing in disguise for you and Jack. You guys get to have Aaron all to yourselves. No interrupted nights, meals, or activities. He was yours and Jacks for 4-6 weeks.

The first week at home, Aaron was very reluctant to let you and Jack do anything for him. He wanted to do everything. He was a stubborn man, but one look from you and Jack and he immediately realized that instead of needing to do something for himself, all he needed to focus on was getting healthy for you and Jack.

You and Jack were always pampering him with whatever he needed. Snack? Jack knew which one Aaron would love. Blanket? You put those within reach of Aaron. Movie? You and Jack had a list of movies you two wanted to watch with Aaron.

While Aaron was gone most of the time, it was nice to soak up this time with Aaron. You guys are rarely able to have this time together. You think Aaron was starting to realize that. The way Jack clung to him every day, didn't want to go play with his friends as much, Aaron realized that while it sucked to get hurt, he needed this. He needed to spend time with his son, with his wife, he needed to relax. We all know relaxing isn't in his vocabulary.

Aaron couldn't help but fall harder in love with you. He was head over heels in love with you, but now you were taking care of him, and his son, the house, and working later at night when needed, he was amazed. He loved you.

As you laid down in bed next to him for the night, he pulled you in close, kissing you.

"Thank you. I know it's probably what you expected to use with your vacation time, but I appreciate you pampering me. I feel so loved in a way I've never felt loved before. I know we've been married for 2 years, and you love me every single day, but this is something new I haven't gotten to experience yet. Pampering me and making sure I'm okay. I love you so much. Please don't ever forget that."

"How can I forget, Aaron? I'm a Hotchner now."

He chuckled at your expression. Of course you were going to ignore his appraisal for loving you so much.

"Thank you. I was taking life with you for granted and never again will I do that. Thank you for being you. Thank you for loving me and all that comes with it. This time off has made me focus on myself and my family. The two most important things. Without me, there is no us. I'm gonna take care of myself, apply for the section chief job, work 9-5 and be home for you and Jack. I think at this time in his life, he needs me. I've also loved every minute of our family time together. And of course, staying on the couch and never having to move when I'm home. Might just fake an injury for the rest of my life."

You scoffed at that and pulled at the back of his head, away from yours.

"You wish Hotchner, but you're going to have to do ALOT of making up for this when you're cleared for strenuous activities."

With that, he leaned over, kissed you, and fell asleep shortly after he heard you softly snoring.

[queenshelby]

An Illicit Affair

Part One: My Boyfriend's Father

Pairing: Cillian Murphy (46) x Reader (23)

Warning: Age-Gap, Taboo Relationship, Infidelity

It was 15 months ago when you first met the man who, unbeknownst to you, would eventually become the center of your disastrous life and that man was not your current boyfriend Maximilian Murphy, a twenty-two-year-old Irishman from Dublin.

You had been going out with Max for about a year when you met the man who changed everything for you and, whilst Max was almost an entire year younger than you, you had both met at London's top medical school after he had transferred from Trinity College. 

Max was energetic, confident and intelligent. He was popular with the girls and, although you were drawn to him because of his sense of humor and easygoing nature, it was quite obvious to you that he was much less serious about life in general than you were. 

After a year of non-serious dating, Max eventually told you that he was taking you to Dublin for his father's 46th birthday and it was then when you first laid eyes on him. Cillian Murphy, your boyfriend's father. 

The name "Cillian Murphy" didn't ring any bells for you at the time as you had never seen any of his films, but now, 15 months later, you knew everything that there was to know about him due to the publicity his movie Oppenheimer had received in recent weeks. 

You went to see the movie too with some friends and whilst you had broken up with Max about a year earlier, you happened to recall the weekend you shared with him and his family in Dublin. 

Both Cillian and his wife Danielle made you feel welcome when you arrived with their son Max late on a Friday afternoon at their large Victorian townhouse near the coast, just outside Dublin.

The house was decorated with tasteful modern furniture and a collection of modern art hung on the walls. The living room featured large windows overlooking the sea with heavy curtains blocking the view when needed.

You spent most of Saturday relaxing by the pool with Max, swimming and sunbathing before enjoying a dinner prepared by Danielle for her husband's birthday.

As you sat down at the table, Cillian seemed distracted, and it wasn't until the second glass of wine that he asked you more about yourself and your aspirations.

"So, what do you want to specialize in?" he asked and you looked down at your plate and replied softly, "I haven't decided yet. I think I might enjoy working in pediatrics."

"Working with children can be emotionally demanding," Cillian said, "but I am sure it's  incredibly rewarding," he then went on to say before acknowledging that Max had told him that you were at the top of your class. 

"It sounds like you have a bright future ahead of you," he told you and your heart fluttered a bit as you heard his voice, deep and resonant, filled with warmth and confidence. It was a contrast to Max's playful teasing, something about which made you feel comfortable and safe.

Danielle, Cillian's wife, chimed in with a question for you, "What got you interested in medicine in the first place?" she asked. You paused for a moment, considering how best to explain such a complex answer.

"Well, my dad was a doctor, so healthcare was a part of our household growing up," you began thoughtfully. "But the real turning point came during high school when I visited a friend who was hospitalized with leukemia. Her doctors and nurses took such great care of her, and it really opened my eyes to the impact that medicine could have on people's lives."

Cillian nodded along, seemingly genuinely interested in your response.

"That's amazing," he murmured. "You are genuinely empathetic and that's a good trait to have, especially as a doctor," he went on to say with a smile and you couldn't help but blush slightly under his intense gaze. His piercing blue eyes seemed to look right through you, making you feel vulnerable in a way you hadn't felt before. But instead of feeling uncomfortable, you found yourself strangely drawn to him. There was something magnetic about him, something that made you want to spend more time with him despite the fact that he was twice your age.

The day after his birthday party, while you were lounging around the poolside, you couldn't help but notice Cillian looking at you intently from across the lawn. His eyes held a mysterious glint, a curiosity that seemed to grow stronger every minute.

As if sensing your presence, he approached you and started a friendly conversation. The topics ranged from movies to books, and even personal interests. It was a pleasant surprise finding out that both of you shared a love for Jazz before Max pointed out to you that Jazz music was for "old people", causing Cillian to laugh.

The sound of Cillian's laughter was soothing and comforting.

You felt butterflies in your stomach as adrenaline surged through your veins. You tried to compose yourself, focusing on the casual exchange of small talk, hoping to distract yourself from the strong attraction you felt towards your own boyfriend's father.

But no matter how hard you tried, those enchanting blue eyes kept drawing you back in. The subtle smell of his cologne lingered in the air, filling your senses with a mix of excitement and shame.

Luckily for you however, on Sunday morning, Max and you travelled back to London, leaving behind the memory of the lingering gaze that Cillian gave you as you boarded the plane while, in hindsight, you realized that Cillian's gaze did leave something behind - a seed planted between the lines of your otherwise innocent encounter.

In the months that followed, you found yourself thinking about Cillian more often than you expected and, unfortunately for Max, at the same time as fantasizing about his father, you became more and more annoyed by his immaturities. 

And then, one evening, after another argument between you and Max over whether you should go clubbing or stay in and study, you finally snapped.

"This isn't working out anymore, Max," you told it him straight. "We need different things in life and we would be better off breaking up now rather than prolonging something that won't work long term," you told Max, sitting on the bed of his dorm room, causing his chin to drop.

"You don't mean it," he said, sounding shocked.

"Yes, I do," you said firmly as you looked away from him, knowing that he wouldn't understand why you couldn't go on like this.

"No, please, give me another chance. We can make this work," Max pleaded, moving closer to you, reaching out to touch your arm.

"No, Max, I've made up my mind," you said firmly, avoiding his pleading eyes.

You knew that it was only a matter of time before Max would come to terms with the truth, but you also knew that the process would be painful for both of you.

Max moved closer, grasping your hand gently. "Maybe we just need to communicate better," he suggested, his eyes full of hope. "I love you, you know. I am happy to try anything," he continued but you shook your head.

You pulled your hand away, fighting back tears. "I just... I can't anymore, Max," you whispered quietly. "We tried to make it work several times, but our expectations are quite different. I am taking university serious, but you are not. You have different interests and I think that you would be better of with someone else," you confessed, averting your gaze.

"But... but, what about the future? What about us?" Max stammered, desperation seeping into his tone. You remained silent, allowing the silence to hang heavily between you two. Finally, you took a deep breath.

"I don't want to lose you, Y/N," Max pleaded, his voice quivering. "We have been together for a year, surely we can find a way to make it work. I promise."

You shook your head sadly, unable to meet his desperate gaze.

"We are both still young and year is nothing if you are in your early twenties. I'm sorry, Max," you managed to whisper, swallowing the lump in your throat. "I think it's best if we end things here."

He let out a choked sob, his face crumpling. "Please," he implored, clutching onto your wrist. "Don't leave me like this."

But you couldn't stand it any longer, pulling your arm free. "I need space, Max," you said sharply, rising to your feet.

"I need to focus on myself and my studies right now," you told him while, deep down inside, you knew that something was missing, something was holding you back from fully committing to your relationship.

And it wasn't long before fate intervened as, just over year after your breakup with Max, you ran into Cillian again at a jazz concert in London...

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[ham-st4r]

��𝒏𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 - 𝑳. 𝑯𝒆𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒖𝒏𝒈

❦PAIRING: heeseung + female reader!❦

❦WARNINGS: mentions of intimacy, angst, taboo relationship, small age gap, child abuse, cheating, (not reader) mentions of illegal racing & weed smoking, kissing, alcohol, selling drugs, divorce, violence, blood, injuries, cursing, crying (not as intense as it sounds but I did want to make sure I added all the warnings)

❦GENRE: step-mom reader, stepson heeseung, dysfunctional family, slow burn.

❦SUMMARY: in which you move in with your husband after your wedding, everything is perfect except for one thing, no matter what, you can't seem to get close to his son. Even after a year of knowing each other, you hadn't even spoken ten words until his 21st birthday rolled around, and funny enough he was the surprising you.

❦NUMBER OF WORDS: 14,364k

Find your way around!

Hello, this is my longest fic so far, so I hope it's okay. Please leave feedback and reblog! thanks so much, happy reading.

It had already been two months since you moved in with your husband, and things couldn't have been better. He gave you a key to the house and even bought a car for you as a welcoming gift which you thought was over the top, but he assured you that it was more than okay and that you deserved it, which made you fall for him even more if that was possible.

In the beginning, your parents weren't too fond of you marrying an older man when you were still in your late 20's it took a while to convince them, but he really made you happy, and when you introduced him to your parents over dinner, and they saw how radiant you were when you were with him they gave you their blessing, and you couldn't have been happier.

There was just one tiny little problem.

More like a big problem.

No matter what you did, his son heeseung wouldn't even spare you a glance, not when you first met, not at the wedding, and not since the day you moved in, absolutely nothing.

You knew it was probably hard for him to go through all this, especially as a twenty-year-old getting used to having a mom or (stepmom) all over again, but you've been in his life for about a year now, and he still hasn't warmed up to you yet.

"I don't think he likes me," you sighed as you cuddled up next to your husband on the couch in the living room.

He wrapped his arms around you to comfort you. "Don't worry, honey. I'm sure he'll come around soon. He's just adjusting to the new house and everything," he reassures you.

"I hope so." You said with a sad smile.

That conversation happened last month, and he still hasn't made any effort to communicate with you.

You've tried various things to get his attention, like taking him shopping or making his favorite foods. Nothing worked, but his twenty-first birthday was right around the corner, and you were going to try to use the special day as a way to get closer and bond with him.

You noted that he enjoyed listening to music like a lot, so you had bought him the airpod max hoping he enjoyed them.

You could only hope he didn't think you were trying to buy his affection cause you really weren't. You just wanted to get to know your son.

And speaking of your son, he didn't tell you where he was off to when he left earlier this morning, and when you asked him, he just slammed the door in your face without saying goodbye, which wasn’t surprising to you anymore.

You initially called your husband, but he didn't pick up the phone, which also wasn’t surprising anymore. You figured he was just working overtime like he often does.

But luckily for you, he had given you heeseung's phone number in case of emergencies, and to you, this was an emergency he left in the morning, and it was now midnight with no word from him, so naturally, you were worried about him.

Thankfully your worried heart was put to ease when he answered on the first ring, and you breathed a sigh of relief. "What?" His tone was cold and harsh, just like it had always been, but right now, you didn't care. You were just happy he answered.

"Are you okay? Where are you? What time are you coming home?" You said in a worrisome tone.

You could hear him sigh on the other end. "I'll be back soon" you could barely hear him from all the loud noise in the background.

"Okay, I'll heat up dinner for you when you arrive. Drive saf-" your shoulders slumped down in defeat when he abruptly ended the call.

Another hour had passed, and you began to worry again, but the keys jingling outside the door made you jump to your feet excitedly. At least one of your boys was finally home.

"Hey!" You greeted. "I'll go get you something to eat. I'm sure you're starving" Heeseung didn't even pay you any attention. Instead, he took his shoes off at the door and made his way upstairs to his room.

You could only watch him with a frown on your face once he was out of sight. You could have sworn you smelled the scent of weed coming off him, and you furrowed your brows. You didn't know he smoked, which made you wonder if your husband knew you made a mental note to ask him when he came home from work later on.

Which was apparently not going to be tonight, it was already two in the morning, and you fought to keep your eyes open so you could greet him when he came back, but as the clock struck 2:02 am, you found yourself shuffling off to your shared bedroom drifting off to sleep just minutes later.

The next morning you woke up to an empty bed, and you assumed you had overslept and hubby was already at work. However, when you turned to face the clock, it was ten in the morning. You rubbed the sleep from your eyes, double-checking the time, and your eyes were correct. Maybe he worked all night or had to take the early shift. You'd just have to call him and figure it out later.

You got up and stretched for a while before going to the bathroom to wash up a bit.

Once you finished and went downstairs, you were pleasantly surprised to see heeseung dining at the table. "Morning," you greeted him with your croaky morning voice and a gentle smile as you made yourself a cup of coffee.

He didn't say anything, but that was to be expected. He never talked to you during breakfast. Since you moved in, you never had dinner as a family. It has always just been you and your husband occasionally while heeseung stayed in his room doing god knows what or you and heeseung sitting in absolute silence.

Once your coffee was ready, you joined him and quietly sipped your hot beverage. "I was really worried about you last night," you confess. You didn't want him to get up and leave when you tried to talk to him, but you wanted to express that you cared, and if that made him upset, you were willing to take that chance.

He looked at you briefly and took a spoonful of his cereal.

You took that as a sign to continue. "You don't have to tell me anything, but please just be home sooner than midnight," you spoke softly, just barely above a whisper, so you wouldn't scare him away.

He only gave you a small nod, but that was enough for a smile to spread across your face since he had finally acknowledged your presence.

You and him continued to have breakfast in comfortable silence until the front door opened and startled you slightly. "I'm home~" your husband sang as he stepped inside and took off his shoes.

You got up from your chair and ran over to him excitedly, wrapping your arms around his back and giving him a peck on the lips. "I missed you," you pouted, and he poked your cheek with a smile on his face.

"I missed you more" you grabbed his warm hand and led him to the kitchen table.

"We were just having breakfast. Would you like me to cook you something?" Before he could respond, heeseung had stood up and washed his unfinished cereal down the drain, and took off to his room.

You looked at your husband with sad eyes and sat on one of the kitchen chairs. "Why the sad face honey?" he stroked your cheek with his thumb lightly, and you leaned into his warm touch. "Hey, look at me" he tilted your head up slightly, staring at your beautiful eyes. "You had breakfast together again. That's a win, right?"

You’ve been having breakfast with heeseung since you moved in, and nothing has changed. It didn’t help you get closer with him, but you tried to stay positive, and you supposed your husband was right.

"Right" you got up from your seat and kissed his cheek. "I'll make some pancakes. How does that sound?"

"That sounds lovely." He agreed and gave you that beautiful smile of his.

"I don't want to kill the mood," you mumbled as you cut into your fresh plate of pancakes. "But last night when heeseung came home, he reeked of weed" you bit your bottom lip nervously as you awaited his reaction.

He just chuckled in response. "Honey, he's been like that for years. Don't worry about it." He dismissed.

"Has he been coming home past midnight for years too?" You hadn't noticed this behavior until last night. Usually, you were in bed by ten, but since you stayed up late waiting for your husband to come home, you were up late enough to encounter this apparent habit of heeseungs.

He dropped his fork and grabbed your hand. "Yes, ever since the divorce," he sighed. "He's just been very troubled. I've tried to talk to him about it, but he shuts me out all the time."

You wonder how bad the divorce must’ve been for heeseung to act this way. Your husband always said it was the past and that he didn’t want to talk about it, and you respected those boundaries, but you were still curious.

"Maybe I should talk to him," you suggested. After all, maybe it was the lack of a mother in his life that made him act this way. Maybe you could be there for him in a way his father couldn't.

He let go of your hand and clenched his jaw. "I told you I've already tried."

"But maybe I could try a different approach" you were adamant about the idea cause if heeseung was struggling. Naturally, you wanted to help him.

"Fine," he threw up his hands. "You'll just be wasting your time" your brows creased in confusion at his response. He had never acted this way before when you and him talked about heeseung's behavior, but before you thought too deeply about it, you assumed he was just tired and let the conversation go for now.

He abruptly stood up from the table and went to the bedroom, leaving you alone with three plates of unfinished food.

Heeseung had just come downstairs, and he looked like he was going out. Judging by the clothes he had on, he glanced at you, and you tried to hide your hurt expression by giving him a weak smile.

He eyed the table noticing there was a plate in front of his chair where he usually sat, and it was untouched.

He checked the time, and he supposed he could spare a minute or two. He rejoined you at the table, devouring your pancakes like it was his last meal on earth.

You smiled slightly as you watched him eat in silence. "Aren't you going to eat?" He mumbles after taking a sip of water.

You nearly jumped in surprise when he spoke to you, but you quickly composed yourself. "Yes," you whispered and resumed eating your pancakes, and even though they were cold, you ate every last bite with a smile, cherishing this rare moment with him.

Once he finished, he took his dishes to the sink and washed them along with the bowl he had left from earlier.

“Bye, heeseung” you gave him a tiny wave from the kitchen that he didn’t bother to return.

He put his shoes on at the door, and without another word, he was gone.

But at least there was progress, or so you thought.

You're sure that someone would have probably thought you were crazy with just how many decorations you had bought for your son's birthday, but hey, it was your first time celebrating the special day with him, and well, you wanted it to be special.

Unfortunately, earlier in the morning, when you were getting ready to go shopping, your husband informed you he wouldn't be home which totally ruined your whole entire mood. It seemed like everything went against you when it came to getting together as an actual family. If heeseung wasn't abruptly walking out of the room every time his dad entered, then his dad would be leaving for work nothing seemed to be working out for you.

"Can't you just call in? just this one time?" You all but begged him to stay home for Heeseung's birthday.

"No, I can't," he said flatly as he put on his dress coat. "He'll be fine. I always miss his birthday, whether it’s a business trip or for work, and besides, he's got you now" he turned around and flashed you a quick smile.

"Yeah," you mutter sadly while he kisses your cheek and waves goodbye to you.

You sighed at the earlier memory, but you weren't going to let it get your spirits down, especially when heeseung’s room was now decorated from head to toe. You smiled to yourself at the finished product taking a picture and sending it to your husband since he couldn't be there.

Now all that was left to do was wait for the birthday boy.

Heeseung trudged up the stone path to his house, sighing loudly when he saw the empty parking lot, which was a sign that his dad wasn't home.

"Seven years in a row," he mumbled sadly as tears welled in his eyes. He's not sure why he even still cared if his dad celebrated his birthday with him or not.

You'd think after seven years of hating his dad, he'd be over it by now, but he wasn't.

He remembers all those years ago when his mother did her best to make him feel loved going as far as inviting all his friends over to celebrate his birthday, but no matter how many people showed up, nothing could replace the absence of his father, not even the outrageous amount of gifts he received could replace that relationship he so desperately wanted with his dad.

Heeseung doesn't even know when it all started. All he knew was one day, he was a small child enjoying picnics at the park every Sunday after church, and the next moment he was a young teen, and his mom had turned into an alcoholic once she found out her husband was cheating on her, and just like that, everything fell to pieces and the perfect family was ruined all because of his piece of shit father.

Unfortunately, since heeseung was so young back then, he didn't have a choice in who he wanted to take custody of him after the divorce, and sadly there was no chance of him living with his mom. She didn't have enough money and a stable home for him to even stay in, so naturally, he was stuck with his father for the time being.

But now that he's a full-grown adult, he could make his own decisions about where he wanted to live, but stupidly enough, he was waiting and hoping that his father would change and that he would somehow care about him the way he used to but after two years of hoping heeseung had given up and decided to take his life into his own hands.

Which was probably not the best choice, but he needed money to move sooner than later, and a nine-to-five just wasn't going to cut it, especially cause he was secretly helping his mom get by cause, of course, his mother’s well being was no concern of his fathers, So naturally heeseung had resorted to the quickest way to make loads of money by selling drugs, betting, and racing illegally. It wasn't safe, but it was a safe bet to get him where he needed to be, and that was out from under the roof of his heartless father.

Especially right now, he's never wanted to leave so bad the fact that his dad had the fucking audacity to remarry was baffling to heeseung. He had the perfect wife, and he fucked it up for some random woman that he'd never see again, and that angered heeseung to the point that he couldn't even fathom he couldn't believe that his precious mother was brought down and reduced to absolutely nothing at the hands of his own father the thought made him feel sick.

And now that his father was doing the same thing with you made him feel even more sick. He never saw you as his mother. That’s for sure no one could ever replace her, not in a million years, but he could tell you were a good girl, and you were trying, which he appreciated. Even though he didn't show it, and even so, you still did your best and put up with his attitude to bring the family together, and you just had this glow that could change the whole atmosphere from dull and uninteresting to happy and cheerful, something his father didn't deserve he doesn't deserve your kindness because even after he fucked up with his first wife he didn't learn from his mistakes cause he was still going out behind your back every single night.

Heeseung wanted to tell you so badly about his dad’s unholy doings, but he didn't know if that was his secret to tell, so he stayed quiet. But right now, he didn't really care about respecting his father's privacy anymore cause not only was he cheating on his own son's birthday, but he was also out cheating behind your back, just like the old days.

You didn't deserve such treatment in heeseung's eyes. You deserved a real man, someone who could appreciate you for all your efforts and hard work, someone who could be there for you instead of leaving you home alone for ten hours a day, someone who could love you the right way.

God.

Heeseung feels so terrible for even thinking about you like that, but fuck, it was impossible for him not to. You were the perfect wife. Quite literally, everything about you was ideal for him.

He could see himself in his father's position so easily coming home from work to be greeted by you with warm hugs and kisses and a hot meal waiting for him on the table.

Except with him, it would be so different. He would answer all your calls, he would never come home late without telling you first, he'd give you massages when you were tired, and he would appreciate you for every little thing that you do.

Cause that's what you deserved, not a pathetic excuse for a man like his father.

As he got closer and closer to the door typing in the security code, he hadn't realized it yet, but his tears had subsided, and maybe that's all it took was for his dad to miss his birthday one last time cause as he took his shoes off at the front door he didn't have that heavy feeling in his gut anymore if anything it felt like a weight had been lifted and he could finally let go.

This felt like the last time his dad had to prove himself, and when heeseung came home to an empty parking lot, he accepted the fact that his father would never care about him the same way again, and as much as that hurt him in the beginning, it also felt like a relief cause now he didn't have to hang onto any false hope how could he when his own father gave him absolutely nothing to hang onto.

He was finally free, and he accepted his fucked up reality for what it was, something he wished he would have done years ago.

But, at least he can say he tried cause he really fucking did, no matter how painful it had been.

The house was oddly quiet normally. You would have been running down the stairs to greet him, but you were nowhere in sight, which made him frown.

He'd never ever ever ever admit to you that he liked it when you greeted him, that he liked it when you cooked his favorite dishes and liked how you worried about him and his safety when he was out late.

Cause god knows he loves all those things about you. Sometimes he'd leave the house just to hear you say bye, and he knows that sounds pathetic, but it's true.

He hated that he couldn't reciprocate your cheerful attitude. He wanted to so bad, and he almost slipped up so many times, but he was afraid that once that happened, there would be no going back. He was already basically in love with you at this point, and if he had to engage with you every day in a friendly manner, he'd be a goner, so instead, he gave you the cold shoulder and acted harshly towards you and it hurt him to know that he was hurting you, but if he ever acted on his desires for you he knows he'd ruin the family just like his father did, and he never wanted to be like his father ever.

He quietly made his way to the kitchen keeping his noise to a minimum, assuming you must have been tired and had gone to sleep early.

He decided to eat one of the apples you had bought from the market the other day. You had been talking about how good they were, and he remembered the sad look on your face when his stupid ugly, nasty father rejected them, saying. "I OnLy eaT oRgaNic fRuiT."

Oh, how heeseung wished he could have stuffed all those apples down his dad's throat at that very moment.

As heeseung bit into the apple, a smile unknowingly spread across his face. You were right. They were delicious, or maybe it was just cause you bought them, who really knows, but he enjoyed every last bite of it before throwing the core into the trash barrel and jogging upstairs to wash up for bed, not knowing that he was about to nearly have a heart attack after he opened his door.

"Surprise!" You popped out from hiding behind his door and held a cake with two big candles reading twenty-one on it. "Happy birthday, heeseung!" You smiled brightly.

His eyes went as wide as saucers as they scanned all the decorations. There were white, green, and purple balloons decorating his ceiling, and on the cake was his favorite cartoon character, buzz light year.

He couldn't do it.

He couldn't treat you harshly anymore, not after something like this. How could he?

This was far more than anything he could ever ask for, and he couldn't help but tear up. How did you know he loved Toy Story? His dad didn't even know that, not that that's saying much, but still, he couldn't believe that someone actually paid enough attention to him to even notice.

His silence was making you nervous, but before you could start overthinking, he quickly blew out the candles and set the cake on his nightstand, pulling you into one of the tightest hugs you've ever felt.

"Thank you, y/n, thank you so much," he cried on your shoulder, and you were shocked. You were not expecting this type of reaction from him, but you thoroughly enjoyed it and quickly hugged him back.

"You're welcome, birthday boy" you ruffled his hair, and it was difficult for you not to cry as well. Your son was finally hugging you for the first time since you met.

You rubbed his back gently as his cries started to die down a bit, and he pulled away from the hug, looking at you with teary eyes. It took everything in him not to kiss you right now, and he's thankful that you broke eye contact with him first. Otherwise, he probably would have done something really stupid. "Come on, let's open your presents" you wiped the tears off his cheeks, and he smiled before closing his door and joining you on his bed. "Okay, first one," you handed him the box excitedly. It was a Ferrari Lego set wrapped in Toy Story themed paper.

He didn't want to ruin your beautiful wrapping, but he couldn't contain his excitement as he ripped the paper off, gasping when he saw what was in his hands. "You didn't have to. How did you know?" You giggled at his reaction and nudged his shoulder playfully.

"Mothers know these kinds of things" he froze when you said that, being reminded of what this actually was a mother and son celebrating a birthday. He realized he was painting a different picture of what was actually happening inside his head, a more romantic one, so he calmed down his excitement while silently reminding himself that you only thought of him as your stepson, nothing more, nothing less. "Besides, your whole room is full of legos" you pointed to his shelf with all his little figurines, and he smiled at that, happy that at least someone paid attention to him.

"Thank you!" you felt saddened that he still hadn't called you mom yet, but your husband was right. It's the small wins that count. Heeseung would come around soon enough, you thought, especially after tonight.

"Okay, next!" You handed him another big box, and you couldn't wait for his reaction to this one.

"What did you get me?" He asked with a teasing smile. Honestly, being like this in front of you was easy for him. He felt light whenever you were around. Everything was just so carefree and comfortable. That's one of the many things he loved about you. Even if you two never spoke properly before, this felt natural, and he knew it did for you, too. He knows all the effort you put in to get closer to him, so he knew this meant a lot to you too, and he was grateful cause that let him know you cared and you didn't just give up on him like his parents did no matter how many times he treated you rough you were always patient with him which made him wonder how his worthless dad was lucky enough to get a girl as perfect as you.

"Open it and see" your cheeks hurt from smiling so much, but you were just so happy that he was finally opening up to you and letting you in. It made you feel so much joy that he trusted you to show you his real emotions. This moment meant the world to you, and you'd definitely never forget it.

"No way!" He stared at you in shock. "You're freaking crazy," he said, getting choked up as he examined the headphones.

You're not sure if he was crying cause of the present or the fact that he was finally celebrating this day with someone after so long, but it didn't matter to you as long as he was happy. "Do you like it?" You side-hug him and lean on his shoulder.

"Of course, y/n," he sniffles. "I love it" you leaned up, watching the smile that never left his face until he turned to look you dead in the eyes. "I love you" he used the opportunity to slip those words in just to let you know he knew you'd think of it in a mother-son way, but he didn't care as long as he got to tell you before he left.

Those words nearly brought tears to your eyes. That was even better than him calling you mom. You smiled brightly. You were so happy, and you couldn’t wait to tell your husband the news.

"I love you too" you quickly pecked his cheek as you stood up from his bed to grab the cake. "How about some cake?" He looked at you and nodded. "Come on," you said in a whisper and gestured downstairs.

"Can we eat it here?" He asks sheepishly, and if you didn't know any better, you'd think he was turning five and not twenty-one from his childish request, but who were you to say no to eating cake in bed?

He sat back on his bed and tucked his feet under him while the bed dipped down next to him from your weight. He swiped his finger along the cake, gathering some frosting and licking it off his finger. "Good?" You ask, laughing at the way he decided to eat it without a fork.

"Yeah," he mutters shyly as you do the same, tasting the sweet frosting and humming at its delicious taste nodding in agreement with him.

You both ate the chocolate cake until there was barely anything left, and he sat it back down on his nightstand before he joined you on the bed again.

"You don't know how much this means to me," he whispered and trailed off while playing with his fingers nervously.

He looked like he wanted to say more, so you waited patiently for him to continue like you always had.

"This was the best birthday ever," he breathed out and looked at you with an unreadable expression.

"I'm so happy to hear that" you smiled genuinely at him and gently patted his shoulder.

Before you could even register what was happening, he was leaning in and kissing you.

It was if time had stopped.

You were paralyzed when you felt his lips on yours. You couldn't react from your state of shock as your eyes widened. He continued kissing you, tilting his head slightly and brushing his lips over yours.

When he placed his hand on your knee, you finally were able to react to the situation, and you pushed him back roughly by his shoulders. "What the hell are you doing?" You wiped his saliva off your mouth and stood up, distancing yourself away from him as you caught your breath.

He immediately hung his head low, knowing that he had messed up big time. You could hear him sniffling lightly. "I'm sorry," he whispered as his voice cracked. "Y/n, I didn't mean to." He looked at you with tears now trickling down his face. "I-I don't know what came over me, I'm sorry" he got off his bed and reached for you, but you backed away from him further, and his heart ached when he saw the pure look of utter disgust on your face.

Your heart felt like it was about to leap out of your chest from how fast it was beating. You had no idea what to even think. Your mind was blank as you rushed out of his bedroom and into yours, locking the door behind you just in case he tried to follow you.

You curled up in bed and let the silence take over, trying to make sense of what the hell just happened.

As you were lost in thought, you heard a few soft knocks on the door, and you jumped slightly. "Y/n, please don't be mad at me," he pleaded softly, and you could hear the hurt in his tone. "Please…” he whispered shakily, and you heard a soft thud on the door when he rested his forehead against it.

For the next three minutes or so, you could hear him quietly sobbing outside your door, and you were torn on what to do. Your stepson had just kissed you out of the clear blue.

You didn't know if you should talk to him about it or not. Maybe he had been smoking and just made a mistake, but you can’t remember smelling any smoke.

You ruffled your hair in frustration and did the first thing that came to your mind.

You tried phoning your husband. Maybe he could give you some answers.

You just sighed when you heard the dial tone.

Of course, he didn't answer like usual it annoyed you that he could never answer his phone because of work. You knew he was more than likely in a meeting, and he couldn't be disturbed, but every time you needed him, he was never there. You knew that’s what you were getting into when you married such a busy man, but that didn’t make it any less upsetting.

You tossed your phone to the side and sighed loudly. You could still hear heeseung’s faint sniffles from behind the door.

"I know there’s no excuse for what I did, but for what it's worth, you made this birthday the best one yet" he dragged his index finger down the length of the door. "G-goodnight, y/n" he walked back to his room and lied on his bed, feeling absolutely terrible about himself. Not only did he kiss you without permission, but he also kissed a married woman. "What was I thinking?" He mumbled quietly into his pillow.

He knew exactly what he was thinking, and he let his emotions get the best of him, but it was so hard to control it when you looked at him so fondly. How could he not get emotional when you had set up all those things just for his birthday? How could he not get emotional when you remembered the things that he liked?

It's been almost a decade since he felt those types of emotions, and he wasn't ready to feel those things again, especially not with you, especially when he couldn't control his feelings for you.

All those thoughts, feelings, and emotions came over him so fast that he didn’t have time to second guess his actions, but as soon as his lips were no longer on yours, he realized that he had made an irreversible mistake.

The last thing he saw before he cried himself to sleep was his leftover cake on the nightstand.

You woke up in the morning, and unfortunately, the first thought that came to mind was last night. You frustratedly massage at your temples, trying to rub out the headache while looking at the alarm clock that read 8:27am.

You turned to your husband and wrapped your arms around him, hoping to seek some comfort from him after what happened last night, but he rolled on his side after mumbling something about it being too hot as he scooted away from you.

That was another thing that has been troubling you lately. Maybe you were blowing things out of proportion from all the stress you had been carrying with you recently, but he seemed so standoffish lately he'd barely kiss you unless it was before he left to work, and god forbid you mentioned your worries about heeseung to him, he'd just blow you off, and tell you that heeseung was an adult that could do what he wanted.

But the worse part was you couldn't remember the last time he took you on a date or the last time he made love to you, and getting married only seemed to create distance between you both, and you hated it. You felt so alone being cooped up in the house all day. Sure, you'd go shopping sometimes, but that only took your mind off of things for a little while.

And heeseung never talked to you, so that made you feel even more alone, and after last night everything kind of just hit you like a ton of bricks. You felt more isolated than you ever have, and you had no one to talk to. You moved far from your parents, and the time zones were completely different. You hadn't contacted your friends in years, and now it was just you all alone by yourself to figure out what you should do after your stepson thought it would be okay to kiss you, and your husband was practically ignoring your needs as his wife.

This whole time you've been so worried about getting the mother approval stamp from heeseung that you barely even had time to focus on your life with your husband, and now that you realized that, it felt awful. 

"What do I do?" You whisper as tears well in your eyes, sobbing quietly so you wouldn’t wake your sleeping husband.

For the whole day, heeseung didn't even think about leaving his room. He just couldn't face you after what he did last night.

Remembering the look on your face was enough to have him curled up in bed until midnight.

Once he saw all the lights were shut off, that's when he decided to leave. He made his way to the door, and he almost shirked when he saw you lying on the sofa all by yourself.

He tiptoed to the door, praying you wouldn't wake up, and to his luck, you didn't. He hastily put his shoes on and haphazardly wore his jacket and went to his secret racing spot.

You stirred in your sleep. Once you heard the door shut, you must have passed out while watching tv again. "Babe?" You called out, but you got no answer. You turned the tv off and went to your bedroom to see your husband fast asleep. "He didn't wake me up?" You mumbled you were once again waiting for him to come home from work, but you fell asleep, and he didn't even think to wake you up before going to bed.

Which reminds you, if he wasn't the one leaving, then that must have meant it was heeseung, and it was past midnight since your talk with him over breakfast. He seemed to understand your concern for him being out so late and made it a point to come home no later than ten.

So why was he leaving past midnight again?

You wanted to call him and tell him to bring his butt home, but after last night you're not sure where he stood with you or where you stood with him, to be honest.

Heeseung didn't want to leave past midnight and make you worry, but after what happened the night of his birthday, he figured you didn't care about him coming or going cause he made you mad, and he hated knowing that he ruined the little relationship you had both formed just as quickly as it happened.

But if he looked on the bright side, at least now, you probably hated him and wouldn't try to get close to him anymore, so that was a good thing. Maybe that would help him suppress his feelings for you, and besides, he'd be leaving soon anyway, so how you felt about him didn't really matter.

He was going to use the money he made from his nightly races and drug deals to move out. He now had more than enough to afford his own place and live alone comfortably.

Of course, his dad wanted him out a lot sooner and would be more than happy to buy heeseung his own house to get him out of his hair, but heeseung didn't want anything to do with his father once he was gone. 

Everything that happened in this house he wanted to be a thing of the past, even if that included you.

Sure, it was a cop-out move to just avoid what happened that night, but in his mind, there wasn't a need to address that situation again. He fucked up, and that was the end of it.

That wasn't the only reason he wanted to move though his dad played the bigger role in that, and now after that incident with you, it was fuel for him to leave even sooner than he had originally planned.

He closed his eyes as a few tears rolled down his cheek, and the crowd roared his name as he revved his engine.

And as soon as the two black and white checkered flags were raised, he pressed his foot on the gas, going full speed ahead, pushing all his worries down just like his gas peddle, even though he knew they would all surface again and haunt him once he reached the finish line.

Of course, you couldn't get any sleep cause heeseung was still out, and it was now three in the morning, not to say you would have been able to get any sleep with your husband snoring loudly next to you anyways.

You quietly got out of bed and put your robe on. You walked downstairs and poured yourself a glass of wine, sitting on the sofa, waiting for heeseung to come home.

It wasn't long before the door was creaking open, and you heard the familiar jingle of heeseung’s keys.

He turned around and twisted the knob so he could shut the door silently.

You cleared your throat, and he nearly jumped out of his shoes as he slowly turned around with a grimace on his face. "Mind telling me what you've been up to?" You traced the rim of your now empty glass as you crossed your leg over the other.

"S-s-sorry, I won't do it a-again," he mumbled as he hung his head low and kicked his shoes off at the door.

"What exactly is it that you won’t be doing again?" You asked and slowly held the cup to your lips, taking a small sip of the alcoholic drink.

He gulped nervously from your stern tone. "Just hanging out late with some friends," he lied. He didn't have any friends, not since his parents divorced.

You hum and nod your head. "Do these friends happen to smoke?" You questioned.

How the hell did you know that? "Yes," there was no point in lying. He wouldn't want to make you more upset.

You pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed. "What did I tell you about being out past midnight?"

"I know, and I'm sorry," he mumbles. "I didn't think you'd care" he bit his lip nervously.

"Why wouldn't I care? You're my son," his expression hardened at your words.

"Please stop saying that," he whispered shakily.

"What's wrong? I know I'm not your biological mother, but I'm trying here" you pushed down the lump in your throat and ignored the ache in your heart as he said those words to you.

"You just don't get it, do you? That's just the thing, you're not my mom, and I'll never see you as my mom" he clenched his jaw in annoyance.

Now you couldn't even pretend that didn't hurt like hell that's all you ever wanted was for him to call you mom but the way those words fell from his mouth so carelessly broke your heart. "W-what did you say?" Your voice now matched him with a shakiness that made him instantly regret what he said.

He came closer to you, wrapping your frail body in his arms. The smell of smoke invaded your senses as you inhaled sharply. "No, no, no, that's not what I meant," he whispered as your shoulders shook in his hold. "You know what, screw it" he pulled back and stared into your eyes intensely. "I'll never see you as my mom because," he took a deep breath before continuing. "Because I like you" his bottom lip quivered, and you could feel his body shaking slightly. "I know it's wrong, and I swear I tried not to, b-but I just couldn't help it, and on my birthday, I just couldn't control how I felt. It's the first time someone has shown me any type of affection in years, and I-"

You cut him off. This was nonsense. He was speaking. There's no way that's how he truly felt. "You never even talked to me before then" you pulled away from the hug and waited for him to explain.

"I know," he whined out. "But that's why I didn't want to get close to you 'cause this whole time I've had…" he trailed off, but you got the point. "And on my birthday, you just" he looked down at his feet, embarrassed and ashamed to even be telling you this. "You made me feel special, and I haven't felt that in a long time." He whispered.

You looked at him with a million questions swirling around in your mind, but you asked the burning one. "What about your father? He's great to you. Surely he makes you feel special" you tried to make sense of what heeseung was saying, but you couldn't wrap your head around it, and getting angry wouldn’t help, so you spoke calmly while hoping to get some answers.

He just scoffed at your words and shoved his hands into his pockets. "He didn't even wish me a happy birthday." He poked his inner cheek with his tongue.

A look of shock overtook your features. Of course, you knew your husband wasn't going to be there on his son's special day, but not buying him a gift and not sending him a text was outrageous. "Maybe he was just too busy," you reasoned. There's no way he would not have sent his own son a happy birthday text unless he was busy.

"For the last seven years? I don't think anyone is that busy" he rolled his eyes. "It's obvious what's important to him, and I'm not."

"Don't talk about your father that way. He's a great man and a great husband, and you're just being ungrateful right now. He's working himself to death to take care of us both," heeseung just gave you a sad smile.

If you had any idea.

"If you say so," he wasn't going to argue with you about this. He was afraid he would slip up and spill his dad's secrets, and that would make everything so much worse than it already was.

"Just go to your room, and you're not going out tomorrow." You concluded that was all that needed to be discussed right now.

Without another word, he quietly went to his room and left you stressed out on the couch with so many unanswered questions.

"Honey will you call that deadbeat son of ours from his room," your husband joked as he sat at the table.

You just chuckled at his statement, knowing he meant no harm, and went to get heeseung from his room.

You knocked a few times and waited for him to answer. He cracked the door open just a sliver, and you saw his eyes widen slightly. "Yes?" He whispered.

You hated how he almost seemed scared of you after everything, but right now, there was nothing that you could think of to fix this situation between you and him, so you’d just have to be awkward around each other for the time being.

"Dinners ready, and your father wants you to sit with us," you informed him in a soft tone hoping that would help unnerve him, but it didn't seem to work.

"Ok," he said quietly and opened the door, fully exiting his room and coming downstairs with you.

"There he is! Finally decided to crawl out of that den of yours," heeseung sighed while sitting at the table. He knew this was going to be absolute torture. He was only doing it cause he knew you wanted to. "So your mother told me you've been smoking, is that true?"

You gasped in shock. This was not how you wanted him to bring this up. Tonight was just supposed to be a simple, peaceful dinner, nothing more, nothing less.

You shook your head and signaled for your husband to stop, and heeseung looked at you with a tinge of hurt on his face. Not believing the fact that you had told his secret.

Apparently, your husband didn't get the memo. "So are you going to answer, or do I have to beat it out of ya" his father joked, but neither you nor heeseung was laughing.

You smiled awkwardly and took a sip of your lemonade, staying quiet.

"What does it matter?" Heeseung responded harshly.

"To be honest, I don't care what you do, but your mother here is worried about you," he said while cutting into his steak.

"Babe," you scolded him for his choice of words. You knew he was just frustrated and didn't mean them, but you still acknowledged how inappropriate that was to say. "Sorry he's been drinking," you murmured to heeseung, but he knew even if his dad wasn't drinking, he would still say those hurtful words to him without thinking twice about it.

"There's nothing to worry about" heeseung dismissed the topic from going any further.

"See honey? I told you it's fine" you just sat there uncomfortably for the rest of the dinner. Maybe it was just you, but he didn't seem to care about his own son's reckless behavior, and it left an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. "What I am worried about, though, is when you're going to get a girlfriend. I mean, you're a grown man, and you haven't dated anyone." He chuckled.

Heeseung glanced at you feeling embarrassment course throughout his veins.

You were surprised to hear that. Heeseung was a good guy. From what you know, he was intelligent and interested In making music, plus he had handsome features, so you were bewildered at the new information.

"Isn't that something, dear? He's twenty-one and doesn't have a girlfriend."

"Well, that's his choice, babe. Maybe he just hasn't found the right one," you try to ease the tension of the conversation, hoping heeseung would loosen up a bit, but he didn't.

The conversation started out in the wrong direction, to begin with, but now it was completely lost.

"I suppose, but he hasn't even had sex yet" this was the first time you had ever heard your husband talk in such a manner, and it was revolting, to say the least, especially at the dinner table.

Has he always been like this? You wondered.

"Dad, we can have this conversation another time," heeseung gritted through his teeth. He knew his dad was trying to get under his skin, not to say he cared, but heeseung just didn't want you thinking differently of him for being a virgin. He didn't want to think he was any less of a man.

Of course, his dad wasn't going to listen to that, not when there was a perfectly good opportunity to humiliate his son. "Hell, he hasn't even had his first kiss yet," he chuckled, and heeseung's mouth parted as he stared at his dad in shock, unable to comprehend why he'd want to put him to shame like that in front of you.

Heeseung looked at you scanning your face for your reaction, and you could have sworn you saw tears in his eyes before he got up from the table and ran off to his room.

"Why would you say that?" You asked, knowing that you weren't the only one that could obviously see that heeseung was upset when he left.

"Say what? It's harmless fun. He'll get over it" he took a drink of his beer before shrugging his shoulders.

"That didn't look harmless to me, and it wasn't funny," you said sternly while throwing your napkin on the table.

You may not have been on good terms with heeseung, but he didn't deserve to have his love life aired out for your husband's drunken amusement.

You could only imagine how embarrassed heeseung felt.

You stood up from the table and headed to your room as well. You couldn’t believe he had to ruin the evening. "Honey, wait, I'm sorry," you heard him drunkenly apologizing, but you continued on to your room, too stressed and tired to put up with him or anything else right now.

After you finished washing up, you went to check on heeseung. As hard as it was going to be to speak to him, you just wanted to make sure he was okay after what happened.

You knocked on his door, hoping he hadn't already gone to sleep. You waited a few seconds after knocking, and you didn't get an answer.

Maybe he was listening to music, you thought and cracked the door slightly. He was lying in his bed listening to music, just like you had originally thought, and he was wearing the headphones you bought him for his birthday. You smiled at the heartwarming sight before opening the door further and revealing yourself.

His head shot up to the door when he noticed the light from the hallway shining into his dimly lit room. When he saw it was you, he quickly took off his headphones and straightened out his blankets, running his fingers through his hair, trying to tidy up a bit.

"Can I come in?" He just looked at you and nodded his head. You shut the door behind you and sat on his bed, pushing away the thoughts of the last time you were in his room on his bed. "Sorry about him," you apologized on your husband's behalf.

"It's not your fault" he scooted away from you and hugged his knees to his chest. "It wouldn't be the first time he's done that" the words accidentally slipped from his mouth, and he panicked.

"What do you mean?" You ask him, puzzled.

Heeseung was quick to come up with an excuse. You didn't know much about his relationship with his father. From the outside looking in, they seemed like they got along pretty well, and heeseung knew what he said just now would make you ask questions, and those questions he didn't want to answer cause ultimately they would reveal what his dad was doing to you this whole entire time.

"Uhh, you know, just the teasing and all" he smiled uncomfortably and hoped you'd buy that lame excuse, and it seemed like you did when you nodded your head in understanding.

"Just so you know, it's nothing to be ashamed of" you were going to reach your hand out and comfort him, but you decided it'd be best if you didn't.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said lowly, and you sighed in defeat as you sat up and walked out of his room. If he didn't want to talk about it, you weren't going to force him to. You assumed he needed space, and you were more than willing to give it to him.

You went back to your shared bedroom to find your husband already lying in bed waiting for you. "Honey, I'm sorry," he apologized again while you got into bed next to him. "I'll talk to him tomorrow. He's probably upset with me," he mumbled in the crook of your neck as he wrapped his arms around you.

You cuddle up closer to him, and he presses soft kisses all over your neck, tickling you. "Babe!" You shouted when he started tickling your sides playfully.

"What?" He answers back as if he's unaware of what he was doing to you.

You giggled and squirmed, trying to get out of his hold.

"I gotcha now," he teased and continued tickling you while laughing at the noises you were making.

Heeseung could hear you both talking and laughing. He hated how his room was right next to your guy’s, and he could hear literally everything.

He turned up his music to full blast, drowning out everything. The last thing he wanted was to hear you being intimate with his father.

His father didn't deserve to see your body, heeseung thought. You should have been in his bed making love to him. He was confident his father couldn't please you the way he could. Hell, it wouldn't even be a comparison.

If heeseung had a chance with you, he'd give you anything you wanted. He'd take his precious time with your delicate body, trace his fingers over every dip and curve of your beautiful figure whisper praises in your ear about how good you make him feel. He'd stare directly into your eyes and tell you how much he loves you and how precious you are to him as he slowly strokes inside you while you moan his name and clasp your hands tighter with his.

You should be in his room right now with him.

Little did heeseung know you were unfortunately not getting intimate with his father cause after the little tickling session, he passed out from all the alcohol he drank earlier in the evening, leaving you to fall asleep unsatisfied for the countless night in a row.

A few weeks had passed now, and things were starting to get better with your husband. He was taking you out more and spending more time with you, which was great, and it kept your mind clear.

Unfortunately, things were the same with heeseung, and even still, you had no clue what to do. You wanted to tell your husband, but you had no idea what kind of mess that would have caused, so you ignored it entirely, and heeseung went back to his old ways of giving you the cold shoulder, which you were happy about cause that made you feel better about not addressing the situation somehow you twisted it that if he wasn't talking to you you weren't going to talk to him and you convinced yourself this was his fault for shutting you out.

Besides, he hasn't made a move on you since, so there wasn't anything to talk about, right?

Right.

Finally, you got your much-needed break from everything that has happened this past month, and you couldn't have asked for anything better than to be where you are right now, hugged up to your husband on the couch, watching movies as he stroked your hair.

Your guy’s movie marathon was interrupted by heeseung making a surprise visit to the living room. He scoffed and made his way to the couch, handing his father his key to the house before retreating back to his room.

You eyed the little transaction, and you furrowed your brows, looking at the house key that sat on the entertainment stand in the living room. 

"Babe, what was that about?" You wondered why heeseung was giving up his house key.

"Oh, he didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" You say, growing more confused by the second.

"He's moving out next week," he told you as if it was just something as small as a story from one of his co-workers or something.

You sat up abruptly. "What?! No, he didn't tell me" you knew things weren’t going great with you and heeseung right now, but you didn't expect him to keep something this important from you. "Why didn't you tell me?" Now that was the strange part he didn't know about yours and heeseung's falling out, so why would he assume heeseung would tell you when he didn't even speak to you?

"Cause it's not a big deal" he shrugged and tried to hug you, but you backed away.

"It is a big deal. You know how hard I've been trying to get close to him, and you didn't even think to tell me he would be moving?" You raised your voice slightly.

"What does it matter?"

You couldn't sit still any longer. You got up from the sofa and went to heeseung's room. Maybe he could give you a better explanation than the bullshit your husband just gave you. "Why didn't you tell me you’re leaving?" Your tone was still harsh, but it wasn't aimed toward heeseung.

"Didn't think you'd care" he disregarded the way you just stormed into his room without knocking.

"Why would you think that?" Your expression softened, as well as your tone.

"We haven't talked in weeks, so what's the point? For all practical purposes, I'm not even here," he angrily shoved his belongings into his suitcase.

You knew it was your fault why he felt like that, and it made you feel terrible. You could no longer deny the fact that your and Heeseung's relationship diminished because you were not handling what happened like an adult. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

Fuck fuck fuck.

He wanted to punch and kick himself for thinking you looked cute apologizing right now. That's not what this is about, heeseung focus. He took a deep breath and put on his hard exterior once again. "I forgive you," he said with no emotion at all.

He couldn’t understand why you’d take all the blame, though, cause he definitely had a part to play.

You watched him packing, and you still felt guilty for everything, even if he had forgiven you. "So that's just it then?" You asked sadly, you knew at this point having a mother-and-son relationship was out of the picture, but you’d still miss him when he was gone.

He sighed and zipped up his bag, opening a smaller one for his toiletries. "What do you want from me, hmm? I already told you this," he pointed back and forth between the two of you. "Is never going to happen. I can't give you what you want, and you can't give me what I want."

"Heeseung, I don't know what to say. I want to tell you I'm sorry, but I'm not. I'm a happily married woman, and you have to understand that," you tried to explain to him in a way he'd understand without hurting his feelings.

"Exactly, and I can accept that, so why can't you accept the fact that this picture-perfect family idea of yours is never going to work? I'm moving out, and now you can live the rest of your life happily with that-" he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from talking and saying something he shouldn't.

"Honey?" You heard your husband calling you from downstairs, and heeseung sighed. You wanted to finish listening to what he was saying, but you opted to leave his room and go to your husband.

"Fuck” heeseung said under his breath when you walked out.

He wanted to let you know what was happening, but he was scared. He didn't want to hurt your feelings, or worse, what if you didn't believe him?

He shook his head and finished packing. It wasn't his mess to sort out. He tried to convince himself.

Everyone glossed over what happened over the next week, and so did you heeseung was leaving today, and there wasn't anything you could do or say to stop him.

It was in the evening, and you were supposed to be going out to dinner with your husband, but he wasn't answering your calls. He said he'd be ready by six, yet it was eight, and he didn't even bother to call you to inform you what was taking him so long, and you started to get worried. 

Tears unknowingly pricked your eyes and cascaded down your face. Everything had gotten to you, and you couldn't contain your emotions anymore and finally let out all your frustrations.

You sobbed into the palms of your hands while sitting at the kitchen table. Everything seemed to be going wrong the past month, and you had no idea how to fix it heeseung was basically done with you, and your husband didn't even seem to notice how stressed you were lately. You were hoping to talk to him over dinner, and now that fell through, so here you sat sobbing like an overgrown baby waiting for your beloved husband to come home.

To make matters even worse, when you looked up, you met eyes with heeseung, and he was just staring at you.

You must have missed him coming down the stairs while you were crying hysterically.

You quickly grabbed a napkin and dried your tears. Obviously, it was too late to hide them, but you still tried.

Heeseung dropped his moving boxes at the door and made his way over to the kitchen. He didn't hesitate for a moment to lean down and wrap his arms securely around your shaking shoulders. "Shhh, it’s okay" he kissed the crown of your head and rested his cheek there while fluttering his eyes shut.

You didn’t have it in you to tell him off for his overly affectionate gesture, so you let him comfort you instead.

You grabbed his hand and held it tightly. You didn't have to tell him why you were crying. He saw his mother in the same position you were in right now, all beautiful and dressed up, ready for the big date that never came.

"I'm going to tell you something that I know I shouldn't, but you deserve to know," he whispered and squeezed your shoulder reassuringly. "My father is cheating on you" heeseung's heart rate increased as he finally spilled his father's filthy secret to you.

"What?!" You pushed his arms off you, and he stumbled back slightly while you stood up from your seat. "Why would you say that? He would never" you defend your husband. Little did you know he would, and he was at this very moment.

Heeseung hung his head low. "That's the same thing I thought when my mother told me," his voice cracked. "I know it's hard to accept it. I've been there before, but it's true."

"No," You felt more fresh tears welling in your eyes. "Take that back right now. How could you ever speak about him that way" this was absolutely preposterous, you thought.

"Because it's true, I wanted to tell you for so long, but I didn't want to hurt your feelings, okay?" He stepped closer to you, and you let him engulf you in a hug, but you didn't hug him back.

"How do you know?" You asked, nibbling on your lip. You wanted to fight back, but something about the look on heeseung's face made you feel like he was telling you the truth, and it made you feel sick.

"Call him and ask him where he is," he responds quietly. You broke away from the hug.

"No, I get it now. You're just trying to break us up 'cause you can't stand the fact that I don't want to be with you" that had to be it cause the man you married would never cheat on you, and you knew he loved you, too much to do that to you.

"What?!" Heeseung said, shocked that you would not only accuse him of lying but the fact that you would think that lowly of him. "I would never lie to you, y/n that's not the type of guy I am, and what would I gain from lying to you? I know you'd take his word over mine any day, and besides, I'm leaving today, so even if I was trying to turn you against my father, that'd be pretty stupid given the fact that once I walk out of that door in the next fifteen minutes, you'll probably never see me again."

That was true, but maybe heeseung didn't want you for himself. Maybe he just wanted to ruin your life cause you didn't accept his advances.

He could see the apprehension on your face, and he took the opportunity to further prove his point. "He said he would be home today at six, right?" You just nodded your head. "And he also said he was going to go to work, right?" You nodded once more, feeling a heavy weight settle in your gut. "So if I call his work right now, he should be there, right?" You knew where this was going, and you didn’t like it one bit. You were going to leave and go to your bedroom, but he quickly grabbed your wrist and stopped you from moving.

He let go of you and pulled out his phone, and dialed his dad's work number, putting it on speaker as the phone rang three times before someone picked up. "Hi, could you give me Mr lee's extension? I'm his son, and he's not answering his phone right, and I'm worried" you listen, as whoever was taking the phone call informed heeseung that Mr lee had not been at work today and that he was always off on Sunday. "Oh, okay, thank you. Bye," you stared at heeseung with tears in your eyes.

But you were still in denial. "He's probably just off doing some work elsewhere," you smiled and convinced yourself.

Heeseung couldn't believe how much you were defending his father, but he understood he was the same way when he found out from his mother, but he was going to prove to you that it was true one way or the other. "Y/n, I need you to listen closely to me. I'm doing this for you, okay? I love you, and I don't ever want to see you hurt. I don't want to sit back and watch the next most important woman in my life get reduced to nothing at the hands of my father, not again" it was hard for him to contain his emotions. Talking about this topic was something he thought he had gotten over, but it felt like the wound had never healed, even though he thought it did years ago.

You stood in silence, wrapping your arms around yourself, preparing for what he was about to say. If you were being honest, you had your doubts about your husband a few times, like when he smelled like women's perfume, and he told you he worked around females, so that's why he smelled that way at the time that sounded true, so you went along with it the other time you saw a red stain on his shirt that looked a lot like lipstick, but you thought you were reaching and didn't bring it up to him but now as heeseung was giving you all this information you weren't so sure so instead of telling heeseung off for saying such foul things about his own father you stayed and listened cause deep down you were afraid you had been right all along.

"Remember all the times I always left the table when he came home? It's cause we don't get along. He made it seem that way, so you wouldn't think any less of him, but he knows deep down I hate his guts, and he hates mine. You remember all the times he came home from work late? He was out at the club. Remember all the times he didn't answer his phone or come till the next day? He was off with somebody else while you were waiting at home for him like a good wife" before you could shut him down, he pulled up a picture of your husbands' car in the parking lot of a club, and that's when it felt like your world had come crashing down you had a feeling but you being you just thought you were overthinking all the time, and you stupidly gave your husband the benefit of the doubt when evidently he didn't deserve it.

You were sad, hurt, and upset. "Why would you do that?" You said to heeseung while crying. He just looked at you, mirroring your hurt expression cause this was just as hard for him to relive all over again as it was for you finding out. "You're lying!" You screamed at the top of your lungs. "You're lying!" You pushed his him. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" you hit his chest, punctuating your hurtful words each time your hand came in contact with his body. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he let you weakly pound his chest. Eventually, he grabbed your wrist and stopped you pulling you into a hug instead. "You're lying," you choked out through sobs as you let him engulf you in a hug. This time, you hugged him back in your weak and vulnerable state.

You couldn't believe everything was a lie right from the beginning. You don't blame heeseung for not telling you sooner. You blame yourself for being so stupid and naive to believe such ridiculous lies. You hated yourself for having blind faith in your husband, and you hated your heart for loving him so foolishly that even when things seemed different, you just brushed it off.

Heeseung rubbed your back soothingly to comfort you. "Remember all the times I came down for dinner when he was gone? I did it so you wouldn't feel alone. Remember all those times I came back early? I did it so you wouldn't have to worry about me anymore. Remember all those times when I was here for you, and he wasn't?" You could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest while he poured his feelings out to you. "If I was in his place, I'd never come home late. If I was in his place, I'd never look at another girl, and if I was in his place, I'd treat you right" he held onto you tighter, giving his words more significance.

He leaned back to look you in the eyes, trailing his hands over your hip bones. "If I was in his place, I'd never make you cry" he scanned your face, and his heart broke for you. You looked lifeless and completely broken as he wiped away your stray tears. It was like he was looking in a mirror at his fourteen-year-old self when his mother told him the same news, except when he found out he had no one to confide in cause his mom practically abandoned him for alcohol and left him in the hands of his abusive father, but he wasn’t going to let you go through the same thing that he did he was going to be that person that was there for you when no one else was he was going to be that person his mother couldn't be for him.

Heeseung thought it was now or never and closed the gap between you two before he could think twice. Besides, no matter the outcome of his actions, he'd be gone tomorrow, but he was here today, he was in this moment, and he was going to make every second of it count.

You responded to the kiss, and in your weakened state, all you wanted was his comfort. It was something you needed more than anything in the world, especially right now.

It felt so right.

No matter how hard you tried to be his mother, you never quite made the cut, and deep down, you knew it was because you never really saw him as your son. You were just too wrapped up in trying to be the perfect wife for your husband that you lost sight of everything, and right now, after everything heeseung had told you, kissing him didn't feel wrong cause you didn't feel like you were kissing your stepson no, you felt like you were kissing a man that loved you and a man that actually cared for you and your well being.

He hummed into the kiss pulling you closer by your waist as he kissed you passionately, slowly, lovingly this was the first time you had ever felt this way from a kiss. You never felt the butterflies in your stomach that you were feeling right now when you kissed anyone else. With heeseung, you could actually feel the love he had for you.

He leaned back and fluttered his eyes open, slowly placing one last loving peck on your lips.

He's been waiting for the moment for far too long. It was definitely worth the wait. He'd live his hellish life all over again just for it to lead to this very moment with just you and him and no other distractions in between.

Your lips were just as soft as he imagined, your kiss was just as electrifying as he daydreamed, and your embrace was everything he ever prayed for. "Come with me," he says out of nowhere. "Get a divorce and leave him live with me. I promise I can take care of you, trust me" he rested his forehead against yours. Everything was happening so fast, and you could barely breathe, but one thing you knew for sure was right now, heeseung had told you the truth you had been searching for, and his embrace made you feel safe. He proved you could trust him, but you don't know if you were ready to move on so quickly you didn't want your emotions getting in the way of making such a big decision, and heeseung seemed to have read your mind.

"We can take this as slow as you want" he gripped your shoulders, leaning down a bit to hold eye contact with you. "Look at me, okay? All I'm asking is for you to come with me, if, a month down the road, you decide you don't want to try with me. I’ll completely understand, but right now, I just can't stand to see you hurt. I can't let that happen to someone I love not again," he meant every word wholeheartedly. He couldn't be there for his mother, but he could be there for you.

You nibbled on your lip in thought you had no money outside of your husband's income, and you couldn't afford to move right now. "Heeseung, I can't." You whisper.

"Why?" He breathed out and placed his hands on your cheeks. “Hmm?”

"I can't afford to move, and I can't go back to my parent's house," you told him your concerns for the first time in months. You felt comfortable speaking your mind out in the open.

"You know how I always go out at night?" You nodded your head as he stroked your cheek softly with his thumb. "I hate for you to find out like this, but I was doing illegal things to make money, and let's just say I could buy you a house twice this size. We could fly to your parent's house and be there in the morning. Whatever you want, I can give to you." He looked at you intensely to prove to you that he was dead serious.

You could feel a headache coming on. This was all too much for you to handle alone, but Heeseung wasn't going to let you handle this alone, not this time. "I couldn't ask that of you."

"I want to give you a life that you deserve, let me" the look in his eyes was indescribable, but if you had to put it in words, it was love mixed with hate, sadness mixed with anger, but behind everything, it was hopeful and sincere. "Let me be the man in your life that my father couldn't be" you didn't need to hear anything more you gave him a quick kiss sealing off his promise and wrapping your arms around him tightly.

"Thank you," you mumbled into the crook of his neck wetting his shirt with your warm tears, but he didn't mind one bit as he reciprocated the hug.

"Anything for you. I got you" he disconnected from the hug and smiled, wiping your tears. "Let's get you all packed, yeah?" He wasn't trying to pressure you, but the sooner you both could leave, the better.

"Wait" you put your hand on his chest, stopping him from going anywhere.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly and rubbed the back of your palm with his thumb.

"I'm scared," you muttered.

"It's okay. I’m here now, and I won’t ever let him hurt you again" he led you upstairs, and you grabbed only your necessities. You didn't want anything that reminded you of your soon to be ex-husband.

Heeseung gave you a reassuring smile to ease your worries as you dropped your bags off at the door.

You both sat in the living room, waiting for him to come home. "It's okay," heeseung whispered and grabbed your hand. "I'll be here every step of the way. You have nothing to worry about" he kissed your hand but quickly distanced himself from you when he heard the front door crack open.

"Hey, isn't this a surprise you guys are actually getting along for once," he said, and it was now clear as day how condescending his tone was, and it only occurred to you now that that's how he always talked to you when it came to you trying to get close with heeseung you can't believe you didn't notice it sooner.

You can't believe he didn't even mention the date you two were supposed to go on. Then again, if heeseung never showed you what your husband was up to, you probably would have summed it up to him just being tired from “work” like you always foolishly had.

"Can we talk?" You ignored his slight jab and walked over to the kitchen heeseung parted his mouth to say something, but you smiled at him, letting him know you were okay.

"Sure" he took off his shoes and followed you to the kitchen smirking at heeseung while doing so.

"Look, I don't want your explanation. All I want is a divorce" you slid the diamond band off your finger and set it on the counter.

"What?" Your ex-husband chuckled incredulously.

"I know exactly what you've been doing behind my back, and I don't want to be with a person like you. I can't live the rest of my life with a liar," your whole body shook with nerves and fear.

"What are you talking about? I haven't been doing anythi-"

"Don't! Just stop!" you yelled at him for the first time ever. "Save it for someone else" you tried to walk past him, but he grabbed you by your wrist heeseung was watching the whole time from the living room, and as soon as his father laid a finger on you, he was quick to stand up and make his way over to you.

"Don't you dare touch her again" you looked up and saw that heeseung had gotten in between you and was shielding you from his dad.

"Oh, so he speaks," his dad chuckled. "Stay out of this boy. It has nothing to do with you" he pointed his finger in heeseung's face.

"It has everything to do with me," heeseung gritted through his teeth. "You heard her what she said. Now leave her alone."

"Watch your tone with me, boy" he balled his fists and got ready to throw a punch at heeseung, and you screamed in fear, but luckily heeseung was quick enough to dodge out of the way.

"Stay back," heeseung said to you before turning back to his father. "Do not make me do this" he stood up to his father, looking down on him from the height difference heeseung had definitely outgrown his father. He was no longer the helpless teen boy that couldn’t defend himself all those years ago. He had grown into a man that was able to stand up for himself and protect the people he loves.

His father didn't listen, and this time, it was heeseung who was raising his fist and landing a powerful punch to his dad's jaw, knocking him straight to the ground.

Heeseung immediately jumped on top of him, pinning him to the ground while beating his face to a pulp with every punch. He could hear his mother's cries, and with every punch, he saw your sad face, and he went into a fit of complete rage, landing every blow, each hit more powerful, Than the last, as he screamed. "No more!" Over and over again. “I’m not letting you hurt me or the people I love anymore!”

You stood there in shock, whimpering with your hands covering your mouth as tears ran down your face. "Heeseung, that's enough" you went closer to him, and he pushed you back slightly and continued to punch his father's face in, pretty soon. It would be unrecognizable. "Heeseung, please stop" when he heard your broken voice, he immediately snapped out of it and turned around to see you crying. He quickly let go of his father's collar and stood up, wrapping you in his arms protectively.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. You could feel him shaking with pure rage, and it scared you, but you knew he'd never do anything to hurt you. "I'm sorry, love.” He spoke gently and stroked your head. “I just don't want him to hurt anyone anymore." He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"It's all okay now," you comforted him and rubbed his back gently.

He sighed and rested his chin on the crown of your head. "It's okay," he reiterated, swaying your body back and forth in his hold" "ready to go home?"

"But your hand" you held his bloody hands, examining the broken skin on his knuckles, and he winced slightly.

"I'm okay for now. Let's just get out of here" he kissed your forehead softly.

You looked at the floor where the man you once called your husband was laid out unconscious, and as you looked at his bloody tattered face, you felt no remorse, not after he tried to not only hurt you but heeseung as well after you found out everything about him you couldn’t feel one ounce of sadness for him.

Heeseung followed your line of vision, and he felt nothing but resentment toward the man he once called his father. "He can take care of himself" heeseung spat on his unmoving body and hooked his arm around your shoulder, and headed to the door. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?" Heeseung said with worry.

"No," you whispered and shook your head softly while clutching onto his arm.

“Good” he whispered and kissed your cheek, a faint smile graced heeseung's features, and his eyes lit up as a warm feeling spread throughout his chest. He couldn't put into words how happy he was that you felt comfortable and safe with him.

You grabbed your suitcases and walked out the door hand in hand with heeseung. Once the car was fully loaded with your belongings, he opened the door and helped you inside, buckling your seatbelt and placing one last loving kiss on your temple as you smiled softly at him.

After he got in the driver seat and buckled himself in, he held your hand in his, rubbing soothing circles on your palm, and you're not sure what the future held for you and heeseung, but for right now, you were going to go wherever he takes you.

Cause, after all, it was heeseung that helped you break your unholy ties.

FIN.

Thank you so much for reading. I appreciate each and every one of you who made it to the end.

[agendabymooner]

RUSH || DR3 SMAU + FIC SERIES: a masterlist

f1 masterlist: a - n o - z

daniel ricciardo x ofc (lester alessandro)

summary: lester alessandro, before she was a bassist of a eurovision winning band, was a daniel ricciardo fan. it was too bad they didn't get to know each other well until monza 2021.

content warning: MY VERY FIRST SMAU SERIES (that's a trigger warning on its own), use of explicit language, 16+ rating

rush series (x måneskin member!ofc)

honey (are u coming), smau: how lester alessandro got blocked by daniel ricciardo before meeting him in monza 2021. (h)

own my mind, fic: it took lester almost six italian grand prix races to come across daniel ricciardo once more. sure, she was hesitant to speak to him regardless of the fact that she was his fan but the mclaren driver was certain he’d rather cause a stir in the f1 community with her after his win in monza than celebrate his victory with a lot of people. OR the second close encounter between the two of the most unhinged people of f1. (g, h)

read your diary, smau: it's 2021 and everyone thinks that lester and daniel are dating. lesson learned: never underestimate a fan's investigation skills. (g)

mamma mia, smau: an interview with jimmy fallon gives a brief idea of how lester and daniel came to be. (g)

mamma mia (again), smau: a youtube playlist was created to compile clips of danny talking way too much about his beloved girlfriend (f)

gossip, smau: everyone thinks lester's only here to be a formula one girlfriend with a bad reputation. it's not her fault she's confident. (mc, hc, h)

kool kids, smau: lester and daniel are going to new york to see a musical... while babysitting their "kid" (feat. lando norris) (g, h)

timezone, fic: lester wasn't normally like this, but she's more than willing to pay twice the price just to get to the next flight to where he wanted her: his arms, her home. (hc)

if not for you, smau: messages exchanged between lester and others as she takes care of the wolff children and an ex with the poorest decisions to have existed. (feat. lando norris, max verstappen, charles leclerc and characters from a story) (f, g, h)

baby said, smau: many tweets are posted that they don't often mean. their fans thought that his marriage proposal was one of them. (f, g, h)

supermodel, smau: how not to cry when you're talking about the man who'd give you the wedding that you dreamed of? (f, g, h)

rush series: wedding special

london bridge, smau: the alessandro-ricciardo wedding week is nothing of a peaceful week, and the monday only proved that thought right. (feat. f1 drivers) (f, h) - wedding special 1

fergalicious, smau: the grid singles need to touch some grass… or in lando’s case, go swimming. (feat. f1 drivers) (h) - wedding special 2

l'azienda di famiglia (e le donnole dell'isola), smau + fic: the alessandro family arrived and lando and george found themselves alone with two of the sisters. (feat. lando norris and george russell) (f, g) - wedding special 3 ♡

rush series: mrs. ricciardo special

part of you, smau: mrs. lester ricciardo asks her followers what to get her husband for his 35th birthday. little did danny know, she’s already got one ready to surprise him (f, g)

when emma falls in love, smau: as her pregnancy progressed, lester ricciardo made sure that her sanity wouldn't go the other way as she posted a thread of journal entries talking about her pregnancy. (f, h)

slipping through my fingers, smau: beau ricciardo was his dad's carbon copy and his mom's little heartbreaker.

here comes the sun, smau: despite having a red bull driver dad, beau ricciardo - or "little par" - is converted to tifosi, thank god for his full-italian mother. OR lester ricciardo's one year old son and his chaotic dad attended a måneskin concert when the bassist returned to the stage after almost two years of absence. (f, h)

pocketful of sunshine, scenario: beau ricciardo turned one and what's a good way to show his personality besides from showing it in front of an irwin? ★

[johaerys-writes]

What do you find most influences your characterization of Achilles when you’re writing? I love all your fics so much btw! 💖

Aah this is such a good question!!! Honestly a lot of the time when I write him I think about his Iliad characterisation, I think it's my favourite. He is so abrasive and self-centered and it makes so much sense within the context of the story and his situation that you can't even be mad about it. I love how intensely he feels all his emotions, Achilles doesn’t do anything by halves: he loves to the max, hates to the max, grieves to the max. There is something so powerful about the fact that his love and his grief go hand in hand with such monumental destruction, like he’s so SCARY in how torrential his passions are but also so very human, and that is always an interesting thought experiment trying to apply those characteristics in different universes or stories. I love that throughout the Iliad we get glimpses of not only how deadly he is, but also a sweet, caring, honourable man that genuinely cares about his fellow humans in his own way, and also about justice and fairness, and it's so painful how that is turned against him in the end. He's just such a complex character with so many layers, and with every fic I write about him I want to peel back those layers and see what I can do with them lol. He contains multitudes and I honestly think he's one of the greatest characters ever conceived in one of the most compelling stories ever written and that inspires me the hell out of me lmao.

Also the fact that he's a demigod, and that he is intentionally written differently from other characters in the Iliad (in the way he speaks and acts and moves, the way he expresses his emotions, in his powers, his connection to Thetis and the sea), like he’s a weirdo by default but also extremely relatable and I find that so endearing. Achilles' weirdness is something that features quite a lot in my works.

I am also inspired by his TSOA and Hades characterisations, as well as his appearances in other ancient greek works (I think I would be lying if I said that TSOA isn't in the dna of most of my patrochilles stories LOL but I usually inject other bits and pieces from other works into his characterisation depending on the fic). I love seeing how other creators were inspired by Achilles and what they decided to do with him, which aspect of his character they chose to focus on, it's always so interesting. It's a good thing that he appears in quite a lot of stuff, both modern and older works, both in writing and in art, so we're a bit spoiled for choice.

Edit: also the fact that the myth of him hiding in Skyros dressed as a woman is so old and embedded into his general myth, and that he was feminine-looking and graceful enough to pass makes me feral....!!!!! ABSOLUTELY FUCKING FERAL!!!! And ALSO that even in the Iliad his role in Patroclus' funeral mirrors that of Andromache in Hector's funeral, like he doesn’t care about gender norms Patroclus is his HUSBAND and Achilles taking on the role of the wife is just!!! Genderfluid Achilles until the day that I die 🥹✊️

Okay I'll shut up now haha I hope I answered your question!! I'm glad you're enjoying my works 💕

[lewmagoo]

dona nobis pacem | rhett abbott

latin: [ˈdona ˈnobis ˈpatʃem], "grant us peace."

description: in which one man's determination to protect his family nearly costs him everything

warnings: 18+ only, angst with a happy ending, whump, plot divergence (i mean, OR has no cohesive plot so does it matter?) mentions of death and murder, violence, blood, brief and nondescript mention of childbirth/fertility issues, physical altercations, stab wound, mentions of hospitals/surgery, rhett's daughter witnesses him getting hurt (necessary warning), talk of trauma, please let me know if i missed anything

characters: rhett abbott x wife reader, together you have a daughter named belle

notes: this story is quite long, and pretty intense, so read at your own discretion. if you are unfamiliar with the storyline of outer range, this might be a little confusing to you, idk. also, i encourage you to listen to dona nobis pacem 1 by max richter while reading this.

Rhett Abbott was a fool to think he could keep his family safe. 

He never wanted any of it to touch you. The mess his brother had caused was not meant to sully you. It was all he was certain of, in a moment otherwise full of fear and uncertainty. Whatever happened, this couldn’t touch you. You couldn’t know. 

But how could he ever think he was capable of protecting you? How could he ever think his wife, and his precious baby girl, would not be dragged into this turmoil?

Those were his thoughts, grim as they were, as he lay bleeding out against the front seat of his truck as you begged him not to leave you, pleading with him to hold on just a little longer. 

But as his consciousness faded, much like the quickly setting sun, he knew this was it. Nothing would be the same ever again. Life as you knew it was seconds from spiraling out of control, torn asunder all because of the foolish actions of one man. 

It was never supposed to end like this. But as his eyes drifted shut of their own accord, he was powerless to stop it. Rhett had fought so hard not to lose his family, but he’d neglected to take into account that his family was going to lose him. 

He should’ve known it was all going to fall apart the night he came home, Perry in tow, clothing stained with another man’s blood. They were quiet as they crept into the house, but not quiet enough, because you were pulled out of your fitful slumber by the headlights of a truck shining through the window, and the whir of an engine. 

You knew it was your husband. Rhett had gone out that night with Perry. He usually didn’t, preferring to spend the evening with you and your five-year-old daughter, Belle. But he’d been struggling as of late. His bad shoulder was bothering him. The one he’d injured countless times throughout the course of his rodeo career. And though he didn’t verbally express it, you knew the pain was nearly unbearable for him. He favored the shoulder often, and sometimes struggled to lift things. But he was too stubborn to ask for help, so he suffered in silence. 

When his pain grew to overwhelming magnitudes, he would pop some painkillers and nurse a beer or two, just to take the edge off. That was why you weren’t surprised that he’d gone out with Perry to their favorite bar.

He had slipped into your bedroom just as you were putting Belle to bed, kissing you both on the head and informing you that he’d be home later. 

“Be careful,” you told him. 

“I will. Luh’ you.”

Now he was standing in the middle of the kitchen, hands trembling with an anxiety he’d never known. He should have heeded your warning. Be careful. But it had all happened so fast. One moment he’d gone to bring the truck around, and the next, he was watching his brother standing over the lifeless body of Trevor Tillerson. 

Panic had seized him. What were they going to do? This was murder they were dealing with. Not some petty crime. Perry had finally let that blinding, unhinged temper possess him like a horrifying demon, and he’d killed someone. Snuffed out a life just like that. 

Rhett’s first reaction was to help his brother, as he always did. He couldn’t just leave him to deal with it by himself. But the moment he asked, “what do you want to do?” He should have known that it was going to change everything. There was no coming back from this. 

Foolishly, he thought it noble to protect his brother. But why on earth should he expect that same protection in return? Perry was so muddled in his own mind that he was going to drag everyone down with him. Even if it resulted in a young father being taken away from his family. 

Rhett considered this as he drove home with a body in the back of his truck, blood soaking the bed. His chest was tight, and his mind was spiraling. He had a wife and a child at home, for God’s sake. How could he be so foolish as to aid and abet his brother? 

And more importantly, how could he protect you from all of it? 

But he knew it was futile when saw you as he pulled the truck onto the Abbott property. You were at your bedroom window, peering out because the truck pulling in had awakened you. 

His stomach sank with dread as he pulled the Sierra into the barn. He knew it was only a matter of minutes before you came down to see what was going on. And how could he keep this a secret? You would find out, because he could never keep things from you. He told you everything, and couldn’t even attempt to lie to you, because you always knew when he was. And he had pledged to you on your wedding day that he would always be truthful to you. 

Even if that honesty threatened the very foundation of your lives. 

It took everything in him not to double over and retch once he jumped out of the truck. He focused on taking deep breaths as he walked around to the truck bed, terrified to look at the body of Trevor Tillerson, because that would make it all too real. 

“What are we gon’ do, man?” He asked his brother. “You got us into this mess. What the fuck are we supposed to do now?”

Perry’s eyes, soft and dark like a goddamned calf’s, blinked slowly at Rhett. The younger Abbott grunted in frustration and stepped forward to say something else to get a response out of Perry, but he stopped. 

The sound of footsteps made them both freeze. They shared a look of pure terror. Moments later, their father appeared in the doorway, idling there for a moment as he eyed his sons. Both boys held their breath as he approached, wondering what he’d say, what he’d do. 

His boots crunched against hay and rubble. One step. Two step. Three step. Then he reached the truck, and his face remained stoic as he took in the sight before him. 

Royal looked at the body, and then back up at his boys. His jaw tightened. His eyes were bleak. Then he took a deep breath, seemingly about to speak, when suddenly, a voice Rhett knew all too well called out into the cool night air. 

“What’s going on?”

Your husband’s eyes darted to you, standing in the doorway of the barn, and he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. But it was the raw terror in those sky blues of his that made your heart drop to your stomach. 

He stepped toward you, holding out his arm. “Baby, don’t—” 

But you were already rushing forward, wanting an answer to your question. Rhett caught you before you could look into the truck, his hands firmly holding your shoulders. “Stop,” he said, voice low, desperate. 

“Rhett, what—”

“Don’t want you seein’ it. It’s not for your eyes.” He was adamant. He didn’t want you to have to live with the sight of death. 

You grabbed his forearms, holding on tight. “Tell me what happened.” 

His chest heaved. He opened his mouth to speak, but Royal placed a hand on his shoulder. “In the house.”

Rhett simply clamped his mouth shut and nodded. His hand found your own, and he squeezed tight, though there was a tremor in his grip. The sickening buzz of anxiety hummed in your chest as you followed Royal back to the house, your hand still clasped in your husband’s. 

Someone was dead. You just knew it, that was the only thing you could think of that would result in this much upheaval. And the more you considered it, the more dread welled up within you. 

You had so many questions. Your mind was reeling. What did this mean for your family? Whatever was about to happen would change the trajectory of life as you knew it. And the entire walk to the house, all you could think of was your daughter, and how this would affect her. 

When you all made it to the house, you ended up in the kitchen. Rhett leaned back against the counter, eyes ahead, darkened with fear and anxiety. You stood beside him, body leaning into his. His breathing was rushed. In all the time you’d known him, you’d never seen him like this. He was always so steady, your anchor in a time of storm. 

Now he was the one in the midst of a storm. 

“Trevor Tillerson’s dead.” It was Perry who revealed the truth. “He…he made a comment about Rebecca, and I-I-I lost control. Next thing I knew he was on the ground, not breathin’.” 

You stared at him. Long and hard. Royal said something, but you couldn’t hear it over the rush of blood in your ears. This was all Perry’s fault? And he’d pulled your husband down into the miry clay alongside him? 

“Do you just have no thought for how your actions affect others?” You spoke up, tone dripping with venom. Heat was blossoming in your chest. The early signs of a rage that would not easily be contained. 

“It happened so fast,” he weakly defended. 

“I don’t care! You didn’t once stop to consider your daughter?! Or your brother? Or his child?!” Your voice was growing louder. 

“Alright, enough,” Royal interjected, holding a hand out toward you. “We’re not wakin’ the whole house over this.” He snatched the phone off the wall, seemingly ready to call the sheriff. 

Rhett sucked in a sharp breath as he watched his father pace. He was waiting for his signal, waiting to follow his lead. He had to know what to do. Right? 

“His brothers know?” Royal asked, voice tight. 

“No. They were trashed,” Rhett answered. “W-we thought, if we brought him back to his place, he’d have a better chance of—”

“Then why is he here, goddammit?!” His father hissed, jaw clenching. 

You waited with bated breath. There was no quick and easy way out of this situation. Your husband was likely going to jail, unless Royal pulled a magic solution out of his ass in the next few minutes. 

Then, suddenly, “alright, let’s fix this.” He slammed the phone back down onto the cradle, stepping over to Perry and tugging him out of his seat. 

Beside you, Rhett tensed.

“You’re not calling the sheriff?” Perry asked in disbelief. “Look, I fucked up, okay? Don’t make this your problem.”

“We dial that phone, both of you go to jail. Not just you! You get that, right?”

Your stomach turned at your father-in-law's words. He was right. Perry was going to drag himself and his brother down into a pit in which they would never be able to claw their way back up from. The thought filled you with a rage you couldn’t begin to describe. How could he have been so foolish? 

You didn’t even realize you were stepping toward him until Rhett gently caught your arm. He knew what you were about to do before you did. “Don’t.” Pleading. Serious. Your eyes locked with his, and you nodded, reeling yourself back in. 

Deep breaths. In and out. 

Your vision cleared as Royal moved on, instructing both boys to remove their bloodied shirts. “Me and your brother are gonna figure this out,” he said. “Go upstairs and to Amy.” Then he pointed at you. “You go back up to Belle.”

And then he was pulling Rhett after him, and you were stricken with an ice cold shock of fear, instinctually reaching out to grab your husband’s arm. 

He stopped, glancing back at you with an anguish you could not bear to look at. “We’ll figure it out. Go be with Belle.” He pressed his forehead to yours, only to pull away seconds later when Royal sharply whispered his name. 

You watched him grab a hoodie off the peg by the door, and then he stumbled out into the night, and your chest ached with an agony you had never felt before.

What did this mean for your family? Rhett was an accessory to murder. There was no way he would get off scot-free from this. This was going to turn your lives upside down. But above all, it was going to turn your young daughter’s life upside down. 

Perry’s footsteps were what tore your gaze away from Rhett’s retreating form. Your brother-in-law made his way toward the steps, but you caught his arm as he passed you. 

He wouldn’t make eye contact with you, and it sent scorching fire through you. “Look at me,” you hissed through gritted teeth. Your grip tightened on his bicep as his guilt-ridden eyes met yours. “Don’t you dare let my husband take the fall for this, Perry.”

“I-I won’t,” he responded. 

“Swear to me.”

“I swear.”

But whether or not he would make good on that promise remained to be seen. Letting out a breath, you released his arm, and let him ascend the creaky steps to the second floor. 

You closed your eyes, still reeling from what had taken place. How were you just expected to go back upstairs to your daughter when her father was in the process of disposing of a body? 

The thought sent a wave of nausea through you, and you shuddered, pushing the feeling aside. It was best that you went back upstairs before Belle woke up and realized you were gone. So up you went, slipping back into your bedroom, where your daughter still slept soundly. If only you could remain as undisturbed and peaceful as her. Something told you that there would be many sleepless nights ahead for you now. 

Out in the dark of the Wyoming night, Rhett dutifully followed his father, his mind racing as he pulled his hoodie over his naked torso. He had no idea what Royal had planned. He wasn’t even sure if it was a good idea to follow that plan.

“Look, there ain’t a clean way around this,” the Abbott patriarch explained, his walk determined. “Your brother’s been through enough. There’s not a chance in hell I’m lettin’ Amy lose her dad, too. You agree?”

But Rhett recoiled like he’d been slapped. “But what’s that mean for me? For my family? I’m just supposed to take the fall for his fuck-up, and my wife and daughter lose me?”

Royal stopped abruptly, gaze hard as he stepped into his son’s space. “Nobody’s losing anybody, alright?” He gritted, chest heaving. 

“So what are we gon’ do?” Rhett asked, voice wavering. His limbs burned from the anxiety coursing through him. Was he going to lose everything, because of one foolish decision? 

“C’mon,” Royal simply said. 

Inside the house, you’d just slipped into bed, when you saw another set of headlights shine through your window for a second time that night. 

Panic seized you, and you sat up, swinging your legs over the bed and padding over to the window. Your heart sank like a stone in your chest, the weight of dread pulling it down. 

It was the Tillersons. Luke and Billy jumped out of the truck, and you stumbled back from the window so they wouldn’t see you. Wordlessly, you hurried across the bedroom, but you didn’t even make it into the hall before the loud, incessant pounding of a fist on the front door made you freeze in your tracks. 

The pounding grew louder, and behind you, you heard a soft whimper come from your daughter, who’d been asleep in her bed, but was now awakened by the noise. 

“Mama?” She called out. 

Cursing under your breath, you turned on your heel, creeping back into the room. “It’s okay. Try to go back to sleep, okay? It’s just someone here to talk to Uncle Perry.” You soothed her by running your hand over the top of her head. The pounding made you both jump again. Her fearful eyes met yours in the dark. “I want you to stay here. Don’t come out of this bedroom until either me or Daddy comes in. Understand?”

“Okay,” she whispered. 

You kissed her forehead and then you slipped away, closing the door behind you. When you made it to the steps, you caught sight of Perry creeping toward the door. 

His hesitation filled you with an anger you could barely contain. You were quick to scramble down the steps, light on your feet. “Answer it, or I will,” you spoke out. 

“What the hell do I say to ‘em?” He hissed, eyes slightly wild. 

You threw your hands up. “I don’t know! This is your mess! Get yourself out of it!”

As he moved to answer the door, you slipped into the kitchen, gazing out into the night, your heart thudding erratically against your chest. You searched for any sign of Rhett, hoping he was out of sight. There was no telling what would happen if the Tillersons got ahold of him. 

But then your ears tuned into what Perry was saying to Luke and Billy, and your eyes moved from the window to the door. You couldn’t see the boys, but you could see your brother-in-law, leaning against the door. His hand was against the opposite wall, fingers flipping the light switch that controlled the barn lights. S.O.S. 

“Where’s Rhett?” 

Your chest tightened at the mention of your husband’s name. You waited for Perry’s reply, and for a terrifying second, you were certain he was going to throw his brother to the wolves. And essentially, he did. 

“I don’t know.”

Your eyes went wide, and you almost lurched forward to intervene, but you thought better of it. It might cause the situation to escalate. But if Perry didn’t protect his brother like he was supposed to, you were going to have no choice but to step in. 

But then you saw a shadow out of the corner of your eye. And when you looked back out the window, you spotted Rhett, creeping low in the darkness, quick on his feet as he made a beeline for the back door, out of sight of the Tillerson boys. 

Acting instantaneously, you quietly rushed to the door, reaching it just as Rhett crept onto the porch. He caught your eye through the screen, and you held your hand up, signaling him to wait. The door had loud, squeaky hinges that would surely alert the men that someone was coming into the house. 

So Rhett waited. Both of you did, unmoving, as you listened to the exchange. Then, suddenly, they were storming off the porch, and Perry was running after them, lying right through his teeth as he tried desperately to keep them away from the barn. 

You took that as the opportunity to pull Rhett into the house, right into the shadows. His breathing was rushed, his chest heaving. When you took his hands in your own, they were trembling. 

“Shh,” you soothed, leaning into him, crowding his space. He needed to calm down before you even attempted to ask him any questions. 

His eyes drifted shut, and he focused on the feeling of your body pressed into his, grounding him. When he opened his eyes again, he found you still looking at him. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, voice hoarse. “We shouldn’t have brought this mess home. I…I didn’t know what else to do. Perry wouldn’t fuckin’ tell me anything. Just sat there staring straight ahead. So I panicked.”

“No, you shouldn’t have been in this situation in the first place. But what’s done is done. What is your dad going to do?”

“He said he’d take care of the body. I don’t know what he meant by it. He took off with his horse toward the west pasture. Told me to go back inside.”

“So Luke and Billy won’t find anything?”

“I don’t think so, no.”

“Not unless your brother fucks up and opens his mouth when he shouldn’t,” you hissed through your teeth, shaking your head. “How could he do this to us? To you? Doesn’t he realize what’s at stake?” 

“He wasn’t thinking,” Rhett tried to reason. But even he knew it was futile. 

“He’s never thinking!” Came your bitter, whispered exclamation. “He’s out of control. And I’m not going to let his stupidity tear my family apart.”

Your husband locked eyes with you, and even in the darkness, you could see how deeply this had shaken him. But there was also a burning determination in that cool blue. “I’m not going to let anythin’ happen to us, you hear me? No matter how bad this gets, none of it will touch Belle. I’ll protect that baby with everything in me.”

You knew he would. He was fiercely protective of his child. Not only for the fact that she was his flesh and blood, but also for all you’d gone through to have her in your lives. Her birth had not been an easy one, and you’d nearly lost her as a newborn. Five years later, she was healthy and happy as could be. But she was also your only child, because that was all your body could take. And you’d be damned if you let her be sullied by the mess her uncle had just plunged all of you into. 

If Rhett swore to keep that child safe, he would make good on that oath. Even if it cost him his life in the process. 

“I know you will, Rhett. I know,” you assured him. 

He sighed, pulling you close, his large hands cupping your face. “I’m so fuckin’ terrified, baby.”

“Me too,” came your trembling reply. It felt as if you’d just been thrust into the frontlines of battle, completely exposed with no weapon or armor to protect yourself. 

“I’m gon’ follow my dad’s lead on this,” he informed you, “if we do what he says then maybe we’ll be okay.”

You lifted your hands, placing them against his chest, above his racing heart. “If that’s what you think is best, then I’ll stand by you. But I’m telling you right now, if your brother so much as thinks about letting you take the fall for this, so help me God I will fight tooth and nail to take him down.” 

Rhett simply nodded, because he knew you meant what you said. He knew that you only remained civil with his brother so as not to cause a rift in his family. Sometimes it was better to remain silent, even if it pained you to do so. You had no desire to cause strife, because you knew it would negatively affect your daughter. And part of you feared that if you pushed Perry enough, he might snap altogether and forbid Amy from playing with her cousin. You couldn’t do that to your precious girls. They were inseparable, and forcing them apart because you couldn’t remain civil with your brother-in-law was the last thing you wanted to do. 

So you held your tongue. But over the last six years of your marriage, you had watched this family wear your husband down. You knew that it was only a matter of time before you decided that enough was enough. In fact, you already would’ve uprooted your family and moved elsewhere, had it not been for your financial situation. 

You were doing what you could to put money into savings, but it had not been easy. You’d had your eye on a quaint little house not far from the Abbott property, but someone had outbid you, and ever since then, you had been unsuccessful in finding another place you could afford. So, in your in-law’s house, you lived, in Rhett’s old bedroom. 

Your daughter slept in a little bed in the corner of your room. The situation was less than ideal, but it was all you had. Now, however, you thought living in a cardboard box might have been a better option than staying under this roof, where your entire family had just been put in danger. 

Now here you were, shaking with fear and rage in your husband’s arms, wondering how you were going to get through this. Nothing would ever be okay again, you sensed. 

Your private moment in the darkness of the kitchen was interrupted when Perry came back inside. Rhett kept you from blowing up at him with a gentle hand pressed against the back of your neck. A wordless plea to wait. 

But it was only a matter of time before you let that rage bubble to the surface. 

Until then, there were bigger fish to fry. Like the fact that Cecelia had just come downstairs to see what the commotion was. Her boys shared a look, and she let out a huff when they didn’t immediately respond, a hand on her hip. 

“Well? Out with it! What kinda trouble did’ya get yourselves into?”

And that’s how you all found yourselves seated around the kitchen table as rain poured from the sky in buckets outside. Royal had not yet returned from his supposed disposal of Trevor’s body. The wee morning hours had given in to a gray dawn, one that appeared as bleak as the situation you were currently in. 

Cecelia had put a pot of coffee on to brew. Rhett had poured you a cup, made just the way you liked it. You couldn’t stomach a single drink of it, however. You were too anxious to do much of anything. 

The minutes ticked by. You looked at the clock on the wall and you finally decided that if your father-in-law didn’t return within the next ten minutes, you were excusing yourself from the table and going upstairs to get your daughter ready for school, because someone at least had to keep a sense of normalcy in the household. 

But suddenly, the back door flew open, and in walked Royal. Disheveled. Bloody. His shirt mysteriously missing. All four of you stared at him as he stood there in the middle of the entryway. Just when you thought he wasn’t going to say anything, he finally moved forward. 

“Gonna put on a shirt.” And then he was gone. 

You glanced at Rhett. He truly thought it was a good idea to trust his father? You weren’t sure if it was a good idea, only because Royal had been a little…disheveled, as of late. Would he be able to hold it together long enough to see his sons safely through this?

When he returned to the table, wearing clean, dry clothes, you all looked to him in silence, desperate for guidance. Rhett grabbed your hand under the table and squeezed. You squeezed right back. 

The silence drew out for a long time. Too long. Then, Cecelia spoke. 

“What happened to your leg?” She asked, acknowledging the blood, and the limp Royal had sported when walking into the house. 

“Don’t worry about that,” he answered. 

“You’re bleeding,” Rhett added, leaning forward in his seat. 

“I’m fine,” his father insisted. 

“Alright then. Where’s the body?” Perry asked. 

Your gaze snapped to him. Before you could even say a word, Rhett was speaking. “Don’t tell me that. I don’t wanna know that. If this all goes to shit, it’s on me too, pal,” he muttered. 

You tensed beside him. 

“If it does come to that, I’m taking all the blame,” Perry responded. How noble of him. 

“Perry, stop,” Cece firmly interjected, her gaze hard. “We’re all in this.”

“We wouldn’t be if it weren’t for him,” you snapped, tired of remaining silent beside your husband. 

“Can’t change what’s already been done,” your mother-in-law said. “You and I both know that.” Then she looked at her husband. “Royal, look. You tell us everything you think we need to know.”

That prompted a heated discussion in which everyone tried to speak over one another. Demanding answers. Trying to get something out of Royal, who refused to share any more details than necessary. 

It was Rhett who was finally the voice of reason. “If you’re askin’ us to go all in on this, then we gotta be on the same page. I have a family to think about, Dad. I need to know I can keep them safe from all this.”

Royal opened his mouth to reply, but all of the sudden, Amy’s voice startled all of you as she strolled into the kitchen in search of breakfast. “What are you guys talking about?”

You looked at Rhett, and he at you. 

“Amy, can you give us a minute?” Perry asked, voice wavering. 

“I have to eat breakfast before I go to school,” she answered matter-of-factly. 

Her statement prompted you to glance at the clock again, and you abruptly stood from your chair. Your brother-in-law looked at you, brow furrowed. 

“Where are you goin’?” Came his demand.

“To get my child ready for school,” you simply replied, tone sharp as you rose to your feet. 

And just like that, the tense family meeting was adjourned. You walked out of that kitchen, and as the silence met your ears, you found yourself stopping in your tracks at the foot of the steps, anxiety tightening in your chest like a boa constrictor. 

You clamped your hand over your mouth and squeezed your eyes shut, suddenly so overwhelmed you couldn’t take another step. 

How on earth were you going to get through this? You didn’t see how there could possibly be any light at the end of the tunnel. 

But life had to go on. You had a child to care for. So you threw yourself into being her mother, because it was the only thing that kept you from falling apart completely. 

You forced yourself to trudge up the stairs and to your bedroom, where you found Belle already awake, getting into her school clothes. 

“G’morning, baby girl,” you greeted her. “Sorry I wasn’t in here to wake you up.”

She beamed sleepily at you. “It’s okay, Mama. I got up all by myself without you waking me up!” She was very proud of her accomplishment. 

You stepped forward and reached out to cup her little cheek before you leaned down to kiss her head. “Getting to be such a big girl. You finish getting ready. I’ll get your breakfast. Would you like Cheerios?”

She nodded vigorously. “With bananas?” Came her hopeful question.

“Of course. I’ll go get it ready.” As you turned to leave, you took pause to offer her one more instruction. “Don’t forget to brush your teeth. I’ll fix your hair when you come downstairs.”

“Okay Mama,” she happily replied. 

Your heart warmed at her sweetness. That was your girl. She was as easygoing as the day was long. After your initial scare of almost losing her when she was born, you found that she was an incredibly easy baby. She didn’t cry very often. She was always happy. She usually slept through the night. You remembered thinking something had to give. That there was no way a baby could be this low maintenance. 

But she was. And as she grew, her pleasant disposition grew with her. She was so eager to please, and her joy was contagious. That wasn’t to say she was perfect, because she wasn’t, but it was to say that you or your husband couldn’t quite take credit for how good she was. It was simply how she was born. 

She was your pride and joy. And as you walked away from the bedroom, leaving her to get dressed, an intense ache blossomed in your chest. Would the peaceful childhood she’d always known be ripped away from her? 

The thought weighed heavily on your mind as you descended the squeaky old steps, your body on autopilot as you headed back to the kitchen. 

You looked up to find your husband leaning against the counter, his back toward you as he gazed out into the stormy morning. The kitchen was quiet now. Everyone had gone their separate ways, leaving you and Rhett the only souls in the room. 

“Belle awake?” He asked, having heard your footfalls. 

“Yeah,” you replied, already moving to grab the box of generic oat cereal from the cabinet. 

“She know anything about last night?” 

“She woke up when the Tillersons tried to bust the damn door down. But I think she went right back to sleep after that.”

“Good,” he mused with a nod. He turned to watch as you prepared your daughter’s breakfast. A sad, wistful look clouded his eyes. The bitter taste of regret filled his mouth. If only he hadn’t decided to go out with his brother. If only he wasn’t such a coward, turning to alcohol to numb the physical pain he was in. If only he’d decided to just grit his teeth and bear it, and slip into bed beside you the night before, where he belonged. 

But it was too late to go back now. His bed had been made, but not of his own design. Perry had turned down the covers and dragged him under. Now Rhett had no choice but to reap the consequences of another man’s foolish decision. 

His reverie was interrupted by the sound of little feet running down the stairs. He lifted his head just in time to see Belle scurrying into the kitchen, smiling widely up at her father.

“Morning, Daddy!” She exclaimed, rushing toward him. 

Rhett knelt low, opening his arms and allowing her to throw herself into them. “Mornin’, little chick.” He held her tightly to his chest, squeezing his eyes shut and relishing in the precious moment. 

“You’re gonna squish me!” She squealed, giggling wildly. 

He hummed, releasing her from his hold. “Sorry, I just missed ya after you were asleep all night.”

She smiled, lifting her little hands to hold his scruffy cheeks. “I miss you too when I go to sleep.” 

“Alright, c’mon, baby girl. Let’s get some breakfast in you before we end up being late to school.” You got her settled with her bowl of cereal and banana, and as she ate, Rhett sat at the table with her to keep her company. 

You could see the pain in his eyes. He was cherishing every last normal moment he could with her, should everything come crashing down. 

But all too soon, the quiet morning had to come to an end. Rhett glanced at the clock and sighed lowly. “Alright, little chick. It's time we mosey on outta here and get you to school.”

While Belle ran to grab her backpack and coat, Rhett was quick to retrieve his hat off the peg on the wall. He caught you watching him, and he stepped toward you, leaning down to kiss you deeply. 

When you parted, he spoke. “Anyone knocks on the door while I’m gone, don’t answer it.” He kept his voice low so only you could hear. 

“Okay,” you replied, intending to follow his instructions. You were going to be alone in the house for a little while that morning. The thought of having to deal with the Tillersons all by yourself, or worse, the sheriff, was enough to have you wishing you could burrow under your covers and hide forever. 

But that seemed to be what Rhett had in mind. “I know you probably won’t be able to sleep, but try to get some rest. I know ya need it after being kept up all night.” 

You tried. You really did. After Rhett left to take Belle to school, you climbed back into bed and hid yourself from the harsh world outside of the four walls that surrounded you. 

But sleep would not come. Anxiety crept in, and you felt like you were suspended in a pit, invisible fingers clawing at you, ripping your clothing to shreds, pulling at your hair, slicing into your flesh. It was overwhelming, all-consuming, paralyzing. 

It forced you to jump out of bed and busy yourself elsewhere. If only you’d been scheduled at work that day. It might’ve proved to be a better distraction than sitting in an empty house, staring at the clock, waiting for the minutes to tick by until your husband returned. 

It was agonizing. And it went on like that for the next few days. But Royal had instructed everyone to continue on like things were business as usual. You tried your best, but it all weighed heavily on you. The only thing keeping you together was that precious little girl of yours. 

You were adamant about keeping up your normal routine for her. Wake up for school. Breakfast. Out the door, seated in the truck, right between her mama and daddy as he drove you to work and her to school. 

But it wasn’t long before the walls started closing in. Everything came to a screeching, grinding halt when Amy was out hiking on the property and proceeded to stumble upon Trevor Tillerson’s body.

You weren’t home when it happened. It was Saturday, which was the day you always went into town with Rhett and Belle to get breakfast at the quaint little Wabang Diner. Neither of you were in the mood to be upbeat and pretend like everything was fine, but you forced a smile onto your faces and treated it like any ther Saturday so Belle wouldn’t suspect anything. 

Halfway through your breakfast, Rhett’s phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He paused, not one to check his phone during a meal, but pulled it out anyway, just to see who it was. His brows pinched together, and he caught your questioning gaze.

“Perry,” was all he said. 

The bell above the diner door jangled. Your attention shifted to the front of the diner, and your blood ran cold. Rhett saw the look that passed over your face, and he discreetly turned, following your line of sight until he, too, saw who you were looking at.

Deputy Matt was making a beeline toward your table. Your heart quickened in your chest, and you fought to keep your expression neutral. Belle had suddenly started patting your arm, trying to get you to look at the picture she’d drawn with crayon on the paper placemat in front of her. You hardly acknowledged her, too fearful of what was about to happen. 

Matt’s shadow darkened the table, and you and Rhett both looked up at him. Rhett immediately stood up, his back turned to you, in an attempt to keep the attention on him and not you or Belle. 

“Mornin’, Rhett,” Matt greeted, then nodded at you and your daughter. “Mrs. Abbott. Belle.”

“What can I do for ya?” Rhett asked. His shoulders had gone tense. 

“I have a few questions regardin’ Trevor Tillerson, if ya don’t mind.”

Rhett nodded once, and attempted to lead Matt further from the table. Beside you, Belle had forgotten all about her picture. “Why is Deputy Matt talking to Daddy, Mama?” She asked.

“I…I don’t know, baby. Stay right here, okay?” You made sure Belle stayed put before you stood, stepping toward your husband. 

“Where did you go after the fight with Trevor?” Matt was in the process of asking.

Your breath caught in your throat. They knew something. New evidence had come into play. That had to be what it was. Rhett’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he reached for it, realizing what was happening. You were at his side then, eyeing Matt.

“Rhett, don’t answer that phone,” the deputy warned, holding out a hand. 

People around you had started to quiet down, intrigued by the situation, and you felt all eyes on you as you stood in the middle of that diner. Rhett was frozen, opening and closing his mouth, his mind at a loss for an answer. You had to step in, and fast.

“He was with me,” you spoke up.

Matt glanced at you, confusion creasing his brow. “Amy said he wasn’t home that night.”

She had? Fuck. Either way, you stuck to your guns. “That’s because the two of us snuck off.” 

“...to do what?” 

You raised a brow. “Are you sure you want to know the answer to that?”

Matt narrowed his eyes. “Yes, I do, because it’s pertinent to this case.”

“We were fucking in the barn, Matt. That what you wanted to hear?”

Rhett’s eyes went wide, and you saw his head snap toward you out of the corner of your eye. Matt sputtered, looking to your husband. “Okay, um, is that true then, Rhett?”

Rhett ran his tongue over his teeth, nodding his head. “Yeah. It’s true.”

The deputy let out a sigh. “Alright then. That’s all I needed.”

And then he was gone, leaving you to hurriedly pull Rhett back to your table so everyone would stop staring. You’d surely be the gossip of the entire town, but your family was already under scrutiny as it was, so it really didn’t matter.

“You couldn’t have come up with something a little more creative?” Rhett whispered in your ear.

“I panicked,” you hissed back. “Besides, you weren’t doing anything to help yourself.”

To your relief, it seemed that Belle hadn’t heard any of what you had said. But you were still jarred from the encounter. It made you realize just how serious this situation really was. Your husband was now a prime suspect in a murder he didn’t even commit. And in your heart, you knew that if it came down to it, you would reveal your brother-in-law’s guilt to protect Rhett. You weren’t letting him go down for this.

But that encounter in the diner was just the tip of the iceberg. After that, everything began to spiral out of control. The pressure was building, building, and building, like a whistling teakettle that was about to blow its top and send scalding water everywhere.

Everyone began pointing fingers at your family. Namely your husband. As everything came to a head, he was brought in for questioning. So were you. And so was Perry. You remained stoic as you answered Joy’s questions. You refused to give anything away that wasn’t your carefully rehearsed story, an alibi for Rhett.

Maybe it was foolish of you. Maybe it was the most idiotic thing you’d ever done. But the entire time, all that was going through your mind was your daughter. The child you’d carried in your womb for months. The child you had almost lost. And you knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you had to protect her. 

They say a mother’s love knows no bounds. But they don’t always tell you the harrowing lengths that love will have you willing to go to. If it came down to it, you would sacrifice yourself just to see to it that she was protected, that she was safe, that this never touched her. You would rip your own heart out of your body for her. You would die for her.

Rhett was just as determined to protect her, to keep his family together. His story matched yours, and he maintained his innocence. But it was Perry who nearly fucked it all up. He couldn’t keep it together when faced with a barrage of questions from the sheriff. 

He cast the blame on Rhett. Said he wasn’t actually with you. That he didn’t know where his brother had gone the night Trevor was killed. He froze up, and in a moment of desperation, tried to make himself look like the innocent party. 

“Perry says Rhett wasn’t actually with you that night,” Joy informed you. “Do you know why he would say that?”

Your eyes snapped to hers. “I have no idea why he would say that. He’s lying.”

“Are you sure about that? There are a lot of things that don’t add up here, Mrs. Abbott.”

You held her gaze, your heart pounding within your chest, rage swelling in you. You couldn’t let this happen. Couldn’t let Rhett go down for his brother’s wrongdoing. It was on the tip of your tongue. The confession that would change everything. Perry did it. Perry killed Trevor and tried to blame Rhett.

But before the words could even leave your mouth, the front door of the station slammed open, and in walked Royal with the family lawyer in tow. And then it was over. You were free to go. 

Your body trembled as you walked out of that room. You refused to look at Perry as you did so, because you knew you would lunge for him. Rhett grabbed for you, his hand closing around your arm. He was shaking, too. 

But you said nothing to each other as you walked out into the night. Your breathing quickened. Your chest went tight. There it was again. That pressure. Building. And building. And building. 

And then, Perry said something. You didn’t hear what it was over the blood rushing in your ears, but it set you off nonetheless. Your head snapped up, and you let out a guttural wail, yanking out of your husband’s grasp. 

“How DARE you?!” You cried, and before anyone even realized what was happening, you’d slapped him right across the face. 

Rhett caught you, pulling you back against his chest. Royal stepped between you and Perry, hissing something about keeping it down, and not drawing attention. 

You didn’t care. You couldn’t do this anymore. You couldn’t lose your husband. You couldn’t let your daughter’s father be taken from her. 

“Stop,” Rhett pleaded as you fought against him. He’d pulled you off to the side. You were sobbing. Clawing at his shirt. Begging him to let you go. “Stop!” Finally, it was his gruff tone that silenced you. 

His hands were clutching your arms. His eyes, blue as the Wyoming sky, were pleading. “Not here! Not in front of the fuckin’ police station!” He hissed at you. 

You looked at him, finally, as your tunnel vision cleared. Then you blinked. Once. Twice. And suddenly, you were crumpling into a fit of sobs. “He can’t do that! He can’t betray you like this!”

Rhett was vibrating. He was as angry and hurt as you. It took everything in him to hold it together. He was reeling, unsure of why Perry would so easily let him take the fall for this. But this wasn’t the time or place to go off the rails. 

“I know, baby. I know. We’ll figure it out, alright? Just not here. Let’s go home. Let’s go home to our baby.”

The mention of your daughter brought you back to yourself. He was right. It was nearly her bedtime. She was with her grandmother, but she would be expecting you to tuck her into bed, not Grandma. 

“Okay,” you whispered, relenting. “Okay.”

You let him guide you toward the truck, and as he did, you didn’t miss the way your father-in-law was berating Perry for shifting the blame onto Rhett. “Don’t you dare let him take the fall for this,” he snapped. 

But he was already letting it happen. 

The next few days were difficult, to say the least. It felt like a spool of thread was being unraveled, faster and faster and faster. And there was nothing you could do to stop it. 

Rhett was a mess. He was trying his best to keep it together for you and Belle, but he was struggling. Cecelia was on the verge of falling apart. Royal seemed to be slipping. And Perry? It appeared that he was succumbing to whatever madness lurked in the corners of his mind. 

Your family was falling apart at the seams. And although you’d fought tooth and nail to keep Belle out of it, you knew she sensed something was terribly wrong. There was no way she couldn’t. 

It had begun to manifest in her as a form of separation anxiety. Now, whenever you or Rhett had to leave her, she would begin to cry, pleading to go with you. You weren’t quite sure exactly what had triggered this anxiety in her, but when you gently asked her why she was so afraid to be apart from her parents, she told you that she didn’t know. That she was just scared. That she felt like something bad was going to happen. 

You realized it was likely because she could sense the distress in all the adults around her. Her grandparents were distant. Her uncle was unstable. Her parents were scared. And to a little five-year-old girl, it all seemed so terrifying. 

She’d started having a difficult time in school. She couldn’t focus. She wouldn’t participate during recess, opting to sit beside her teacher the entire time, too unnerved to play with the other kids. Your usually bubbly child had been reduced to a timid, fearful mess. 

It made you want to kill Perry with your bare hands. It got to the point where you could not stand to be in the same room as him. So you avoided him as best as you could. And the entire time, you were at war with yourself, considering putting an end to all of it. You were so tempted to march into Sheriff Joy’s office and tell her everything. 

But you never got the chance. Because the Abbott family wasn’t the only family coming apart at the seams. Perry wasn’t the only older brother on the verge of insanity. 

Luke Tillerson had begun spiraling out of control the moment his brother died. And he was only getting worse. You hadn’t personally encountered him, but you’d heard that he was coming unglued. He firmly believed that Rhett had killed Trevor. And unbeknownst to you, he was on a mission to prove that. 

His obsession with proving Rhett’s guilt gave way to something much more sinister. Finally, it all came to a head one night when he decided he was going to take justice into his own hands. If the sheriff wasn’t competent enough to take care of things, he’d just have to do it himself. 

So, fueled by alcohol, and unhinged rage, Luke decided to target that which was most precious to Rhett Abbott. 

You’d decided to go into town that evening. You couldn’t bear to be under the same roof as Perry, and it was clear that Belle and Amy both needed a change of scenery. So you and Rhett decided to take the girls into Wabang for dinner. If only for an hour or two, you could pretend that life was as it should be, and not about to shatter into a million pieces. 

At the prospect of going out with her parents and cousin, Belle was overjoyed. It was the first time she seemed like her old self in a while, and you cherished every moment of it. 

You went to the diner in town, like you always did. Belle and Amy sat across from you and Rhett, talking and giggling and coloring pictures on their placemats. 

Surely people were whispering about you, but you didn’t care anymore. Neither did Rhett. With the walls closing in, all you wanted was to enjoy one last night of domesticity with your daughter. 

And enjoy it, you did. In fact, it was the best night you’d had ever since the whole mess started. You held your husband’s hand under the table like you did when you were first dating. You watched your daughter laugh with her cousin and your chest ached with love. For a fleeting moment in time, you felt okay. 

But it all came crashing down when you left the diner that night. 

As you strolled out into the evening air, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. You headed right for Rhett’s truck, Amy and Belle holding your hands as you walked. 

But when you reached the vehicle, Rhett stopped, suddenly patting at his pockets. You gave him a questioning look. “What is it?”

With the roll of his eyes, he shook his head. “Think I left my wallet inside.” Then he tossed you the keys so you could start the truck. “Be right back.”

Thinking nothing of it, you turned to continue leading the girls to the truck. 

“I hope nobody stole Daddy’s wallet,” Belle announced, concern in her voice. 

“I’m sure he just left it on the counter,” you assured her, squeezing her shoulder. 

“Yeah, don’t worry, Belle,” Amy echoed, always happy to comfort her cousin. 

You smiled at her efforts, finding it perfectly sweet of her to look out for your daughter the way she did. But that fond smile soon gave way to a frown when you were alerted to another presence nearby. 

You heard a man’s voice behind you, just as you made it to the truck. 

“Look who it is.”

The voice made you stop dead in your tracks, and a chill of dread began to creep down your spine. Slowly, you turned around, only to find Luke Tillerson approaching you. 

He looked worse for wear. You were used to his clean-cut appearance and neatly styled hair. But now, fair blonde stubble lined his jaw. His normally clear eyes were bloodshot. And he appeared to have been drinking. So this was what everyone meant when they said he was on a downward spiral. 

Immediately, you pushed your daughter and niece behind you. “Can I help you, Luke?” You asked, tone sharp. 

Luke hummed. “Yeah. Where’s that man of yours?” 

“Across the street. Why?” 

“I wanna talk to him.”

“Well you’ll have to wait ‘til he comes outside.”

He narrowed his eyes at you, but soon grew distracted at the sight of the two girls behind you. “Hey you two,” he greeted. 

“Hi, Mr. Luke,” Amy responded. 

“Girls, get in the truck,” you spoke up, voice clear and authoritative. You had a sinking feeling that something was about to happen. And you didn’t want the children to witness it. 

Luke locked eyes with you. “Why? You afraid I’m gonna tell them the truth?”

“Get in the truck. Now,” you desperately repeated when they made no move to do so. 

The girls scrambled for the door, scampering up into the truck at your command. But Luke continued, even as they climbed inside. 

“You afraid I’m going to tell little Belle here all about her father being a goddamn murderer?” 

“That’s enough!” You cried, whirling around to face him. Rhett wasn’t a murderer. You wouldn’t stand for such an accusation. 

But he was already out of control. He surged forward, and you took a fearful step back. “Is it?” Then, he leaned in closer. “Your daughter deserves to know the truth! That her daddy killed a man!” He shouted it right at the truck window, where the girls were huddled. 

“Leave us alone!” Came your plea. You were trembling, vibrating with adrenaline and fear all at once. 

At that very moment, Rhett stepped back out of the diner, having found his wallet and tucked it back into the pocket of his jeans. But the sound of raised voices caught his attention. 

His head snapped up, eyes traveling across the street, where the truck was parked. His breathing quickened, heart thudding against his chest. It was not the sound of raised voices that jarred him. It was the sound of your voice, laced with distress. It made the hair at the back of his neck stand on end.

Without a moment of hesitation, he was walking, boots crunching against gravel as he crossed the street, quick as a flash. He couldn’t see you from this vantage point. You were hidden by the other side of the truck. But he knew someone else was with you. 

His feet broke into a run, driving him to your aid. Whoever was bothering you had picked the wrong fucking time to do so. Rhett was seconds away from knocking their teeth out.

When he rounded the truck, he came face to face with Luke Tillerson. You gasped at your husband’s sudden appearance, feeling relief and fear all at once. You knew he’d take care of the problem, but you were afraid of the outcome. 

“What’s goin’ on?” Rhett asked. There was a barely checked edge to his tone. His chest heaved. His eyes darkened. 

“Just the man I wanted to see!” Luke slurred. 

“You bothering my family, Tillerson? Because that’s what it looks like.” 

Luke shrugged, taking a swaying step toward Rhett and pointing over at you. “I was just telling your wife here that your daughter deserves to know the truth about her daddy.”

Rhett’s hands twitched at his sides. His body had gone stiff as a board. “Leave her out of this. She doesn’t know anything.” Rage bubbled beneath the surface. 

You watched him like a hawk, just waiting for his signal. If Luke pushed him any further, it wasn’t going to be pretty. You didn’t want this to escalate, but it seemed unavoidable. 

Rhett moved to step away from the truck, hoping to lead Luke away from his family should anything happen. 

“Lying to your own kid, huh? Wonder what she’ll think of you when she grows up and learns what you did.” 

Just as Rhett was hoping, Luke followed him. “You’re drunk. Go home.”

Luke scoffed. “‘m not that drunk, Abbott. You’re just trying to get me off your trail.”

“You’re scarin’ my girls. So I’m gonna tell you again, go home.”

“No.” Then, the blonde lurched forward, arms shooting out to shove at Rhett. 

Your husband’s eyes locked with yours for the briefest of moments. “Get in the truck,” he gruffed. 

You didn’t stick around to argue. Quickly, you climbed into the passenger side, slamming the door shut firmly behind you. 

“Mama,” Belle whimpered from the backseat. 

You turned around, meeting her tearful gaze as you reached your hand out to touch her cheek. “It’s okay, honey. I want you and Amy to get down on the floor, alright?” You didn’t want them to witness the fight that was sure to ensue. 

Both girls crouched down against the floorboards of the truck, and you turned back around, your eyes fixed on the altercation taking place. 

Rhett wasn’t usually one to start fights, but he could finish them. He’d calmed down considerably since your daughter had come into the world, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t defend himself, and his family, when it came down to it. 

While the girls hunkered down in the backseat, you watched through the window, anxiety thrumming in your chest. The two men were talking in raised voices, growing more and more agitated with each passing second. 

Luke shoved him again, and that was it for Rhett. “Told you not to put your fuckin’ hands on me,” he hissed. He lunged right for the second eldest Tillerson, landing a solid punch to his jaw. 

But Luke could hold his own. He merely stumbled slightly, and then came right back at Rhett. But the right hook he aimed for him was blocked, avoiding its sure blow to Rhett’s face. 

The scuffle escalated, and you clutched the door handle, prepared to step out there if necessary. To do what, you weren’t quite sure. You knew there was no reasoning with either of them in this moment. If you tried to insert yourself between them, you would get hurt. 

Rhett was sober and could hold his own, while Luke was drunk, leaving him less coordinated than usual. You were pretty certain your husband would be the one to end this fight. 

But then you saw it. A glint of silver in the light of the street lamp, and it was as if your entire world had stopped turning on its axis. 

In what seemed like slow motion, Luke surged forward, a hunting knife clutched in his hand. Driven by your need to protect your husband, you cried out, “no matter what, you stay on this floor, and you do not get up!” to the girls. 

Then, you were jumping out of the truck, dashing around to the back, where you knew Rhett kept a tire iron. Hoisting yourself up, ignoring the pain that flashed through your ribs as you slammed against the edge of the truck bed in your haste, you grabbed the large tool and took off running. 

But you were too late. 

Just as you neared the two men, you watched in horror as Luke found a weakness in Rhett, and took advantage of his moment of vulnerability, plunging that knife right into the front of his body. 

Rhett breathed out a strangled grunt as searing pain flashed through his midsection. His eyes flickered down to the knife embedded in his body, then back up to Luke. He knew this was it. He was going to die, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. 

“Tell my brother I said hi,” Luke rasped, trembling with his rage, fully intending to yank that knife away and sink it into Rhett’s heart. But all of the sudden, a brutal, blood-curdling scream ripped through the night air.

“NO!” And then, a resounding, sickening CRACK! Within seconds, Luke Tillerson was on the ground, out cold. 

His knife clattered to the cement, and along with it, Rhett stumbled back, letting out a pained growl, similar to the wail of a wounded animal. Instinctively, his hand came up, pressing over the wound as crimson soaked through his shirt. Shit. There was a lot of blood. More than there should’ve been. 

He locked eyes with you. Then, he stumbled forward, already woozy on his feet. 

You dropped the tire iron with a loud, metallic clash, scrambling to Rhett’s side as he careened forward. “H-he stabbed me,” he gasped in shock. He pulled his hand back to stare at the blood that had stained his skin. “He fuckin’ stabbed me.”

“Let’s get to the truck,” you said, your voice wavering. It took everything in you to keep your panic at bay. 

It proved to be a difficult task with all his weight leaning on you, but somehow, you managed to get him to the vehicle. He leaned against the side as you opened the door, and when you turned to help him into the truck, you realized how pale he’d gotten in just that short amount of time.

Your heart hammered wildly in your chest, and you began to shake as terror ripped through your body. The hospital was an hour away from where you were. How on earth were you going to get him there in time? The amount of blood he was losing was alarming. Surely he would bleed out before you could get him help.

Inside the truck, you could hear the girls crying. Belle was inconsolable as she watched her father struggle to climb up into the seat. 

“Daddy!” She shrieked, frightened out of her mind. 

If you hadn’t been entirely focused on getting your husband into the truck, you would’ve mourned the fact that your daughter had to witness this. But now was not the time. You had to get help. Had to save him. 

You yanked your jacket off, lifting up his shirt before you pressed the coat to his abdomen. “Hold this tightly in place,” you instructed him, placing his hand over it. Then you slammed the door shut and sprinted around the truck, hopping into the driver’s side and starting the engine.

As you gunned it down the road, all you could hear were your daughter’s terrified wails, and Amy tearfully asking you if her uncle was going to be okay. I don’t know. I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know.

Beside you, Rhett was focused on holding the fabric of your jacket over his wound. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears spilling from the corners at the sound of his baby crying. There was nothing he could do to stop it. He’d fought so hard to protect her, and now here he was, bleeding out in front of her, effectively traumatizing her. 

“I’m sorry,” he whimpered, “I’m sorry!” 

You could hardly hear yourself think over the chaos taking place within the truck’s cab. You tried your best to comfort Belle and Amy, even though you could barely keep it together. “I’m taking Daddy to the hospital, okay? The doctors will be able to help him. I need you to take deep breaths for me, baby. Can you do that? In and out, through your nose.”

Fighting to calm your child down in that moment was one of the hardest things you’d ever had to do. You longed to hold her in your arms. To cradle your little girl to your chest, as you’d done when she was a wee babe, and tell her that it was all going to be okay. But you couldn’t. You could only use your voice to comfort her, and it tore you apart. 

Because how could you be of any comfort when the love of your life was bleeding to death beside you, and your daughter and niece had no choice but to watch it? 

And then, Rhett was trying to speak. “I’m s-sorry,” he repeated, head thrown back against the seat. “Baby, I’m sorry. I tr-tried to keep it from her. Tried to keep her safe. I-I failed her. I failed you both. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t!” You cried. “Please. Just save your strength.” You weren’t sure how much of it he had left.

You sped the entire way to the hospital, racing against the clock. Please don’t take my husband from me. Please. Who were you even asking? God? It seemed that He’d turned His back on you. He wouldn’t help you. You were alone. Forsaken. 

That drive to the hospital was the longest forty-five minutes of your life. By the time you skidded to a halt in front of the emergency entrance, Rhett was barely conscious. As you threw the truck into park, you turned back to look at the two frightened little girls in the backseat, holding one another for dear life.

“Stay here. Do not move until I come back out for you, okay?” You sharply instructed. Then you jumped out of the truck, feet pounding against the ground as you dashed into the hospital, throwing yourself through the doors.

There was no way you’d be able to get Rhett out of the truck on your own. You needed help. So you cried out for it. “Help me! Please, my husband was stabbed! He’s going to bleed to death!”

At your desperate pleas, a few orderlies sprang into action, grabbing a stretcher and sprinting outside with it. You followed them, watching as they tugged Rhett out of his seat and placed him on the stretcher. There were voices around you. Shouted commands. Mentions of a dangerous amount of blood loss. 

They whisked him away as you blindly followed after them, watching as your husband was ripped away from you. Is he going to be okay? Is he going to survive? Help him. Help him. Help him!

You didn’t realize you were shouting until a kind, gentle nurse was in your line of sight, cautiously holding onto your trembling shoulders. “We’ve got him, honey. He’s in good hands. We’ll help him as best as we can.”

You looked at her, nodding your head. “O-okay. Okay.”

“Do you have anyone you need to alert? Any family that needs to know about this?”

“My…my, um, in-laws.”

“Alright. Why don’t we just set you up in the waiting area and you can call them and let them know?”

“N-no,” you said, as she tried to lead you away. “My daughter…my niece. I need to…I have to go get them from the car.”

“Do you want me to help you?”

You barely even remembered saying yes, but soon, your girls were at your side, and an orderly had kindly volunteered to park the truck for you. The sweet nurse from before, whose name was Angela, led you to a quiet corner of the waiting area and informed you that she’d be nearby in case you needed anything. 

As soon as you sat down, Belle was grabbing at you, tearfully begging to sit in your lap. She was what brought you back from the precipice of hysteria. Your baby needed you to take care of her. So you shifted into that nurturing mode, focused solely on protecting and providing for her. 

You called Cecelia while you sat there, informing her of what had happened. Beside herself with emotion, she assured you that she would be there as quickly as she could, with Royal and Perry in tow. 

And then you sat there. And sat. And sat. Belle remained huddled against your chest, her arms around your neck. Amy burrowed into your side. And you held them both, comforting these poor little ones who had just experienced so much trauma. 

Everything had changed in a split second. One man’s decision had led you to this very moment. The moment in which you held part of your entire world in your arms, while the other half lay bleeding out on an operating table as doctors tried to save him.

You would learn that the knife Luke had stabbed Rhett with had gone deep enough to cause an internal bleed, and some organ damage. Surgery was necessary to repair it. He’d lost a lot of blood. Too much blood. He needed a transfusion, or he would not survive.

The girls were right there with you when the doctor told you all of this. Belle started weeping against your chest. Amy tugged at your arm, her owlish eyes fearful. “Is Uncle Rhett going to be okay?”

You lovingly stroked her cheek with your hand. “The doctors are doing everything they can for him.” But you didn’t know if your husband would pull through.

You had no time to dwell on it, because that was the moment that Royal, Cecelia, and Perry walked into the room. At the sight of her father, Amy sprang from your side and ran to him, falling into his arms as she hugged him tightly. 

You stood, still holding Belle in your arms as you stepped toward your family. Cece reached for you, placing a hand on your back. “Honey, I’m so sorry.” Her eyes were glimmering with unshed tears. She was barely holding it together. 

“They know anything yet?” Royal spoke up. 

You began to relay the information the doctor had given you, your voice wavering with emotion and exhaustion. You were at your wit's end. It was all catching up to you. The stress you’d been under. The constant scrutiny your family had been subjected to. The suffering your own child had just endured, after all you’d done to protect her.

And that was what did you in. 

Perry asked a question. “Do they think he’s gon’ pull through?”

You locked eyes with him. He stood there, and he had the nerve to look like he was about to cry. Wide, dark eyes shimmering under the fluorescent lights. And you snapped. Without a word, you set Belle down, sending her to her grandma. Then you looked at Cece. “Take her to get a snack, please,” you instructed, eerily calm. You weren’t going to subject your daughter to any more trauma.

“I don’t think–”

“Take her,” you pressed. 

Your mother-in-law clamped her mouth shut and nodded before she gathered up Belle and Amy and led them out of the room.

Then, you turned back to Perry.

“You did this,” you growled, jabbing your finger in his face. “My husband is dying. My child is traumatized. And it’s all BECAUSE OF YOU!”

You were blinded by a rage you had never known. A burning, churning, all-consuming rage. Red clouded your vision. And you lost yourself. You lunged at him, wailing with your own kind of agony as you tried to hurt him the way he’d hurt your family. 

You landed a jarring punch to his nose before someone caught you from behind and yanked you back, even as you fought wildly against their hold. Perry stumbled back, clutching his nose as blood gushed through the spaces between his fingers. You vaguely registered Royal as the one who held you.

“Enough!” He hissed in your ear. You were drawing the attention of the hospital staff. 

“You broke my fuckin’ nose!” Perry exclaimed through his hands. 

“That’s what you get! He shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this!”

It took Royal shaking you roughly to finally shut you up. “I said ENOUGH!”

You’d never heard him yell before. But it silenced you immediately. Your vision cleared, and you finally looked into his face. 

“You need to control yourself,” he lowly commanded you. 

“Don’t you dare speak to me about controlling myself. The reason we are in this mess is because he,” you jammed your finger in Perry’s direction, “couldn’t control himself.”

“You causing a scene in the middle of the fuckin’ hospital ain’t any better!”

“Is there a problem here?” A member of the hospital security team had finally stepped into the room.

“No,” Royal gruffly spoke up.

The guard looked at Perry. “You should probably seek medical attention, sir.”

“I’m fine,” he snapped.

“You sure?” The man reiterated. Then, “I can get the cops involved if need be. Or are we going to behave like civil adults from now on?”

“We’re fine,” Royal insisted. “Sorry to disturb the peace. Won’t happen again.”

“Better not.” Then he walked away, leaving the three of you alone in the waiting room. 

You stared at Perry, your chest heaving. “Perry, either you confess for what you did, or I’ll do it for you. I’m done playing this game, trying to protect a man who doesn’t deserve protection.” You crowded his space again. “And if Rhett dies, there will be no place safe in heaven and earth for you. I’ll put you in the goddamn ground.”

An eye for an eye, after all. 

Then you walked away, holding back the bitter tears that had begun to blur your vision. The adrenaline was wearing off. Your fist was throbbing from the punch you’d thrown. It would likely be swollen after the fact. But it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore, except your daughter and your husband. And at the rate you were going, you might only have one of them left. 

You stumbled into the nearest bathroom, careening forward as your hands shot out to grip the sink. You bowed your head, letting out a broken sob. You were spiraling out of control. Your life was falling apart. You couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t speak. The tears had begun to flow and you couldn’t stop them. 

But you couldn’t lose it now. Not when Belle was depending on you. So you simply turned on the faucet and splashed cool water on your face, swallowing your sobs before you dried your face. When you exited the bathroom, you found that Cecelia had brought the girls back to the waiting area, their snacks in hand. Perry was nowhere to be found. Likely taking care of his broken nose.

When Belle saw you, she ran to you, and you took her into your arms again. As you took a seat on one of the uncomfortable vinyl chairs, she turned to show you what her grandmother had bought her from the vending machine.

“I got Goldfish,” she softly informed you. Even in the midst of a frightening situation, her childlike wonder still showed. She was only five, after all.

You tried to smile at her as you reached up to touch her round cheek. “They look yummy, baby.”

She sat in your lap and munched on her snack. It proved to be a welcome distraction for her. But she didn’t want to be separated from you. Even when Cece pulled out a small notebook from her purse and set it out for Amy to draw on. Belle loved drawing, but she refused to leave your arms to join her cousin.

So you held her, allowing her to stay close to you, because you needed this just as much as she did. 

And then the doctor walked into the room. Royal stood immediately. You leaned forward in your seat, your heart quickening in your chest. The doctor’s expression was unreadable. What was he going to say? Was your husband gone?

Please, no. No, no, no.

But then, hope. “There was considerable damage, and a lot of bleeding. But we managed to get it under control. He’s stable now, but he’s not awake yet. It’ll probably take him a bit to come out of it. This kind of trauma takes a lot out of a person.”

“So y-you’re saying that–” You started, but couldn’t get the words out.

“As far as I can tell, your husband is going to be fine, Mrs. Abbott,” the doctor assured you.

Immediately, you fell into a fit of sobs. You held Belle tightly to you, and you cried, rocking your baby back and forth. “Daddy’s going to be okay. He’s going to be just fine,” you told her. She cried with you.

A little while later, you were permitted to see him. Maybe it was selfish of you, but you longed for it to only be you and your daughter to be the ones to greet him first, and no one else. But thankfully, Cecelia sensed that, and she gently said, “you go. We’ll come in and see him when you’re ready.”

You squeezed the hand she’d placed against your arm, and then slipped away, Belle in tow. As you walked to the room they’d placed Rhett in, a tremor ran through your body. You weren’t sure if you were prepared for what you were about to walk into. But you squared your shoulders and walked into that room anyway.

There was your husband, that strong, steady, immovable force of a man, laid out in a hospital bed, vulnerable and weak. You were overcome with emotion, and it welled up within you, threatening to spill forth like a waterfall. You couldn’t believe you even had any tears left to cry. 

“My girls,” Rhett murmured, attempting a sleepy smile as you approached. 

“Daddy!” Belle exclaimed, pulling out of your grasp and rushing toward her father. 

“Be careful, baby,” you warned her so she wouldn’t jump on top of him. 

But she was very gentle with him. She reached out a little hand and closed it around his fingers. “That was so scary,” she whispered. 

His cerulean eyes welled with tears. “I know. I’m sorry you had to see me like that, little chick.”

You reached for him, taking hold of his free hand. “I thought…I thought I was going to lose you,” you whimpered. You ran your fingers through his hair, brushing it away from his forehead. 

Now his bottom lip had begun to quiver, and he squeezed your hand. “I’m sorry.”

You didn’t say anything in reply. You couldn’t, because you were too verklempt to do so. You sank into the chair beside his bed, still clutching his hand, and you cried. As did he. Belle scurried around to your side of the bed, squeezing her way between you. So you held your daughter, and you wept. 

You wept for the trauma that she had endured. You wept for the harm that had been inflicted upon your husband. And he wept for you, and for his child. He had tried so hard to keep it all away from her, but his failure was evident, and it broke him. He could not protect his family. He never could.

No words were exchanged after your tears slowed. Nothing could express the magnitude of what you were feeling, so you said nothing. Instead, you sat in that hospital room, and you cherished this intimate moment between you and the two loves of your very life, as painful as it was. 

You didn’t know what the future held after this moment. You didn’t know what awaited you beyond the four walls of this hospital room. So you drank in the rare moment of peace before the floodgates opened and all hell broke loose.

All too soon, that moment of serenity was broken by a gentle knock at the door. You turned to see Royal, Cece, and Amy in the doorway. Reluctantly, you motioned them into the room. It wasn’t right for you to keep them away from him. But you knew if Perry so much as attempted to set foot in the room, you would forbid him from doing so. 

You couldn’t bear to look at him, not after he was the reason your husband was laid up in this hospital bed. You would protect Rhett with every fiber of your being, and if that meant barring his own brother from seeing him, then so be it. 

But unbeknownst to you, Perry had left the hospital grounds, and was already headed for Wabang. There was a piece of paper thrown haphazardly onto the passenger seat of his truck. A sheet of stationary with the hospital logo. 

And on that sheet of paper was a confession. Written in detail, describing everything that had happened the night Trevor was murdered. In that letter, embellished as it may have been, it absolved your husband of all guilt, save for him landing a few punches. 

I’m the one who killed him. His blood is on my hands, and mine alone. 

He was going to leave the letter for Sheriff Joy, and then wait it out. 

He knew if he would have simply manned up and taken responsibility for his wrongdoing in the first place, none of this would have happened. His brother wouldn’t have been gravely injured. His family wouldn’t have been torn apart. 

He was a fool. And he was reaping the consequences of that foolishness. But it was too little too late to fix it now. And somehow, in his heart of hearts, he knew that. Knew that even this confession would not fix the mess he’d made. There was only one solution he could come up with in his muddled, unstable mind that would even come close to repairing the damage that had been done. He just wasn’t sure if he had the courage to do it.

Back at the hospital, the time had come to head home. Rhett desperately needed his rest, it was evident in the way he could hardly keep his eyes open, or barely lift his hands from where they lay at his sides. 

His body had been put through the wringer, and his recovery would not be easy. It would be slow and painful. He wasn’t sure if he had the strength to get through it. 

“Alright, I think it’s time we head home,” Cecelia finally said, squeezing Amy’s shoulders. “Uncle Rhett is exhausted. He needs his rest.”

“But I wanna stay,” the little girl protested. “Please, Grandma?”

“No ma’am. We’ll come see him another day. I promise. Now let’s go.”

Reluctantly, she took her jacket from her grandmother’s hands and shrugged into it. Then, Cece reached her hand out toward Belle. “I can take her home and get her tucked into bed.”

But the thought of leaving either of her parents was unfathomable to your little girl. She gasped, immediately whirling around and hiding herself against your side. “No!” She cried, holding onto you like she used to do when she was a toddler and something had frightened her. 

Your heart broke at her fear, and you wrapped a comforting, protective arm around her shoulders. “I think it’s best if she stays with me. Thank you, though.”

Cece nodded, and instead, reached out to hug you. “I’m sorry it came to this,” she whispered. 

“Me too,” came your reply. 

A few moments later, the trio was heading out the door, and soon, the room was quiet again. You gazed back at Rhett, and found he was already beginning to nod off to sleep, unable to keep his eyes open any longer. Your heart ached in your chest at the sight. He looked like a frail little boy. 

“Can we stay with Daddy all night, Mama?” Belle asked you, after she’d calmed down from her initial upset. 

You cupped her chin as you looked at her. “I don’t think so. The hospital will probably want us to leave. I can get us a motel room close by, how does that sound?”

“But I don’t wanna leave him,” she continued to protest, her bottom lip quivering much like her father’s when he cried. 

You knelt in front of her, taking her hands in your own. “I know, sweet girl. I don’t either. But I need you to be brave for me, okay? Daddy needs to get some rest so his body can heal. We can’t be with him the entire time. We’ll go sleep at a hotel, and then we’ll come right back tomorrow morning. I promise.”

She sniffled, glancing from you to her father. Even though he could barely keep his eyes open, he mustered a smile at her. “I’ll be okay, little chick. Go with your mama. She needs you.”

Tearfully, Belle nodded. “Okay, Daddy.” Then she scurried forward, leaning in so she could kiss Rhett’s cheek. “I love you.”

He hummed tiredly, eyes drifting shut. “I love you too.”

You moved to his bedside again, placing your hand over his own. The hands that had held your face as he kissed you on your wedding day. The hands that had held your unfathomably tiny daughter when she was a premature newborn. The hands that had calmed spooked horses, and built fences. The hands that held you together. 

“I love you, sweet man,” you whispered as you learned down to press a kiss against his forehead. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

And with that, you took your daughter’s hand in your own, and led her out of the room. You fought tears as you went, entirely overwhelmed. Half of your heart was lying in that hospital bed, and leaving it behind was more agonizing than you’d been expecting. 

But you put on a brave face and left the hospital. Your child needed a warm place to sleep after the events that had taken place. You weren’t sure if you could make the hour long drive home. It seemed much too daunting, and you feared you might pass out from exhaustion if you attempted it. 

So, a nearby motel it was. You chose the cheapest place you could find, one that also included breakfast, and that was where you ended up for the night. No sooner had you made it to the room and gotten Belle in bed, than she was asleep, succumbing to the weariness that had plagued her.

You slipped into bed beside her, wrapping your arms around her little body. You were certain you would end up crying yourself to sleep, but you realized that you quite literally had no more tears left to cry. 

So you held your daughter to your chest, and you drifted off into a fitful, restless slumber. Every time you let sleep overtake you, you were plagued with the nightmare of watching Luke run your husband through. 

It was torturous, and soon, you gave up on sleep altogether, choosing to stay awake until the sun began to rise high in the sky. And as its first rays shone through the window, Belle stirred in your arms, and then sleepily looked up at you.

“Morning, baby. How did you sleep?” You softy asked her.

“Okay. I was really tired.”

“I know you were.”

“Can we go downstairs and have pancakes for breakfast?”

“We sure can, little one.”

“I wanna take some to Daddy, too.”

“We can do that, as well.”

You got up for the day, and you helped Belle get ready, getting her into the shower and giving her the motel soap products to use. She made a small fuss about having to wear the same clothes she’d worn the day before, but you gently reminded her that you had no other options, so she dressed without complaint. 

Before long, you were downstairs, hurriedly prepping and eating a quick breakfast before you were out the door, a box of pancakes clutched in Belle’s hands. She’d even use a pen to write for Daddy.

Then, to the hospital you went. When you arrived, you were overwhelmingly relieved to find that Rhett was awake, but he was very clearly in a world of pain. You heard it in the strangled groan he let out when he leaned forward to hug his daughter.

“Ahh,” he hissed, jolting back as he placed a ginger hand against his abdomen.

“Are you okay, Daddy?” Belle fearfully asked.

“I’m fi-fine, just a little sore, is all,” he assured her. This was more than just a little sore. He was in agony.

“When was the last time you had a dose of pain meds?” You softly asked.

“Haven’t gotten ‘em yet.”

“Oh, baby,” you gasped. Without a second of hesitation, you pressed the nurse call button, determined to have things taken care of. Before long, Rhett finally had his pain medicine, and he was soon happily eating the sub-par motel pancakes while Belle sat beside him on the bed, content to just be near him.

This journey you were about to embark on would not be an easy one. Rhett had a long road ahead of him. But you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were be with him every step of the way. You would support him, protect him, and love him, just like he had always done for you.

You learned that he would need to stay in the hospital until he was strong enough to go home. The doctor was hopeful, and assured you Rhett’s wound looked good, as far as severe injuries go, and that it should heal fine, granted there were no unexpected complications. 

However, while his prognosis appeared hopeful, there was still your family situation to be dealt with. While Belle sat on the floor, your headphones in her ears as she watched a movie on your phone, you explained to Rhett what had happened.

“You broke my brother’s nose?” He asked in disbelief. You hadn’t expected him to be so amused, but he was smiling.

“He had it coming,” you simply replied. But you quickly grew serious. “Rhett, this has gone on long enough. He nearly tore our family apart because of his stupidity. I know he’s your brother, but he isn’t worth losing your life over. I’m done protecting him. If the cops come asking questions, I’m going to tell them the truth about him.”

Rhett nodded, his face grim. “I know. I’m just sorry I didn’t give him up sooner. You have to understand where I’m comin’ from, here. I thought I was doing the right thing by following my dad’s lead. I thought if I did, it would save Amy from suffering any more heartache. And I thought it would be the best way to keep you an’ Belle safe. But I…I couldn’t even do that. And now my sweet little girl is…” he trailed off, his emotions welling up so intensely inside him that he could hardly speak. “Now my little girl is traumatized for life, all because I couldn’t just man up and turn my brother in.”

“But the thing is, you shouldn’t have had to protect him. But you did, because you’re expected to just do whatever your family asks of you. They put everything on your shoulders and I’m ashamed that I didn’t stand up for you a long time ago and put a stop to it. I’m in this just as much as you are. We both have to live with what happened last night, knowing it could have been prevented.”

“I’m scared of what comes after this. I don’t know if…if I’ll be a free man or not. But I’m willing to pay my dues, if I need to. I want to be a better man. Want to be an example to Belle and own up to my wrongdoings.”

You nodded, squeezing his hand in your own. “Whatever happens, I’m with you.”

Maybe it was too little too late to make things right. But he was going to try his damndest to do so. And you were going to support him in that plight. 

Later that day, Royal and Cecelia showed up to the hospital with Amy, which you had already expected. Belle was happy to have her cousin’s company, and you wouldn’t deprive her of such a thing. She needed all the support she could get. 

But what you didn’t know was that Perry was on his way to the hospital at that very moment, with the intention of speaking to you, and only you. He had something very important to tell you. He just wasn’t sure if you would listen to reason.

You were preoccupied with speaking to Cece when he arrived. You didn’t notice him at first, until you were suddenly made aware of a presence darkening the door of Rhett’s room. You lifted your head to look, and the moment you saw who it was, your body went tense. 

“What are you doing here?” You demanded, already stepping toward him. You weren’t going to allow him near your husband or child. 

“I need to talk to you,” he replied. He most certainly looked worse for wear, with a bandage over his nose, barely hiding the bruising and swelling you’d caused. 

“I have nothing to say to you, Perry. Not after what you’ve done.”

“You don’t gotta say anything to me. I just need you to listen. You’re gonna want to hear this, believe me.”

You weren’t sure what made you follow him. It was as if your feet were moving of their own accord. You let him lead you out into the hall, just out of earshot of everyone else in the room. When he turned to face you, you took a step back, taking in a steadying breath so you wouldn’t fly off the handle.

“Wanted you to know that I confessed. To everythin’. Left a letter for the sheriff last night.”

“You what?”

“I left Rhett out of it. It’s all on me. Figured I’ve caused enough suffering as it is. So I’m puttin’ an end to it right now.”

You were utterly speechless. You could only stare at him in disbelief. He’d really done it. After the weeks of hell he’d put you through, he’d simply written a letter and left it at that. “I-I don’t know what you want me to say to that.”

“Don’t have to say anything. Just wanted you to know.” And then, he turned to go. He walked away from you. Walked away from his parents, his brother, his daughter. He walked out through those hospital doors, and he didn’t look back.

You were left in the middle of that hospital hallway, reeling. You didn’t know what to think. Didn’t know how to feel. Part of you was relieved. The other part of you was so enraged you could hardly stand it. You wanted to scream. Wanted to cry. Wanted to destroy whatever was in your path. 

But you didn’t. You turned on your heel and went back to your husband and daughter. You acted like nothing had happened out there in that hallway. But that couldn’t be furthest from the truth.

Life went on. And you had no choice but to let it. Rhett was released from the hospital a few days later. He had strict instructions to take it easy and not do anything strenuous for the next four weeks. 

In those four weeks, you took care of him around the clock. And with each passing day, he grew stronger. He was well on his way to healing. But the emotional damage that had been caused had yet to heal for any of you.

And the very man who was responsible for that turmoil? He went missing a day after he confessed to the murder of Trevor Tillerson. He was just…gone. Without so much as a trace. No note. No explanation. He’d seemingly vanished into thin air.

The only one who seemed to know anything about it was Royal. He never admitted as much, but you could tell that he knew something. Perhaps where Perry had gone. The cops settled on telling the public that he was on the run, and currently at large. A heft reward was offered to anyone who knew of Perry Abbott’s whereabouts. 

They never did find him.

That left the rest of his family behind to pick up the pieces. Amy was now, effectively, an orphan, even it the fate of her parents was unknown. Cecelia and Royal took her in, vowing to raise her in Perry’s absence. The poor child was never the same after the disappearance of her father. Her spark had vanished along with him.

Perry’s disappearance was what pushed you over the edge. You knew that you could not spend another minute in Wabang. Not after all you had endured. So, as soon as Rhett was strong enough to travel, you decided together that it was time to move on. If not for your sake, but for your daughter’s.

It was time to head out in search of the peace you had so desperately been longing for. 

You chose to settle in a peaceful town another state over. While money was still tight, you made do with what you had. You enrolled Belle in an entirely new school. And together, as a family, you sought out therapy to cope with all you had been subjected to.

The healing process after leaving Wabang was no walk in the park, to say the least. You and Belle were both plagued by nightmares. Knowing you were suffering in such a way tore Rhett apart. But you fought your way through it together. Until the nightmares lessened and the fear gave way to peace.

Rhett carried a scar on his torso, a permanent reminder of the knife that had nearly taken his life. But every time you looked at it, you were filled with gratefulness that he was still here, with you. That he was still able to be the father your little girl needed.

The bond the three of you shared had grown deeper still throughout this grueling process. It was a bond that could never be broken. And while it had taken a lot to get to that point, you realized that it had shaped you into the person you were always meant to be. The mother you were created to be.

You watched your daughter flourish in a new place with new friends. You watched your husband come into his own and find a way to provide for his family, just like he’d always dreamed of doing. And together, the three of you found peace and healing. 

It was no easy feat, but that was okay. Because you had each other. And that was all you’d ever need.

-

taglist:

lmk if you'd like to be added!

@thedroneranger @rosesvioletshardy @bradshawsbitch @wkndwlff @damrlova @bigassnocash @endofdays56 @rhettabbotts @milesmillergf @alylikethecat @marchingicenotes7 @blindedbythelightt @cherrycola27 @fantasias-creativebubble @pullmans @sebsxphia @thesluttyarchivist

[hotvintagepoll]

LAST POLL OF ROUND 5

Propaganda

Sophia Loren (Marriage Italian Style, Houseboat)—Major Italian star, first actress to win an Oscar for a performance not in English (for Two Women (1960)) and later when Roberto Benigni won an Oscar in 1999 he jumped over the chairs towards the stage going "Sophia Sophia!!" because he was running towards Sophia Loren and said he cared more about her than the Oscar, that's the effect she had on people. She was big in the 60s already even though she gained a lot more notoriety after that. And I mean. Can we take a moment and just.

Mbissine Thérèse Diop (Black Girl)—She’s a Senegalese actress known for starring in Black Girl, one of the first African films to receive international attention/acclaim. So much of the movie relies on her ability to convey her character’s sense of isolation/loneliness, she’s so amazing, I really wish she had acted more. However, she just recently appeared in the film Cuties!

This is round 5 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Sophia Loren:

She has maxed out all her stats: beauty, elegance, sensuality, she's got it all. her mesmerizing eyes, her sensual mouth, her sharp face shape, her everything is so striking and unlike any other beauty in films. she was also voted the world most beautiful woman when she was freaking 65

im submitting her in honor of my dad bc she was the first celebrity crush of his he ever admitted to me and my sister :) and he was right. shes so pretty

OSCAR WINNER. Worked with some of the hottest leading men in Hollywood but remained faithful to her husband whom she had a loving marriage with till he died (even though Cary Grant almost tempted her once, it's complicated)

One of the most well-known sex symbols of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and unlike some unfortunate others, she seems to have been pretty well at peace with occupying that status. She made assertiveness and a tempestuous temper seem glamorous, and although she's famous for side-eying Jayne Manisfield's cleavage, honestly? She's one to talk.

Absolutely, drop-dead sexy, also a hard working, extraordinarily talented actress who didn't shy away from the less glamorous roles to gift us some gritty, memorable performances

Submitting this on behalf of my dad, who knows nothing of tumblr or this blog, but I remember being a kid watching Houseboat while my mom thirsted after Cary Grant, dad thirsted after Sophia Loren, and I was excited that they lived on a boat. Anyway, she's extremely beautiful and was an international star, doing a ton of movies in Italy before being recognized in the US.

JUST LOOK AT HER Y'ALL

Very smart and beautiful, the characters that she played (I mean those in the movies that I put in the previous question) are as strong and determined as her which I think adds to her hotness.

Global superstar and my late grandfather's long time movie star crush and for a man as quiet as he was, and as hopelessly devoted to his wife as he was, the fact that I know that means she was EXCEPTIONAL.

Big in the chest, snatched in the waist, pretty in the face 😳

Sexy, beautiful, deep. A real star.

Her performance in "Man of La Mancha" is just so very captivating. Dubbed as "the Italian Marilyn Monroe", she looks beautiful in any movie and at any age.

Forget the exotic sexpot of her Hollywood films and go back to her Italian career: sparking with Marcello Mastroianni as the woman who drives him mad and outwits all his fumbling attempts at macho posturing in their early films, and showing a tender side in their 1970s films. Sophia isn’t self-conscious about who she is or her beautiful body: she enjoys being herself and she wants us all to enjoy ourselves too.

She starred in films as a sexually emancipated persona and was one of the best known sex symbols of the time. She is a great cook and her filmography is immense.

On the misattributed quote that Sophia owed everything to spaghetti: 'Did you actually say the quote frequently attributed to you, "Everything you see I owe to spaghetti"?' "Non è vero! It's not true! It's such a silly thing. I owe it to spaghetti, no, no. Completely made up."

Mbissine Thérèse Diop:

[hoosurdaddy]

Chapter 10.

Pairing: post covid! Stan Marsh x post covid! Reader, post covid! Kenny McCormick x post covid! reader.

Triggers: 18+, cheating, smut,gaslighting. Reader is married to Stan, bad grammar, short.

Finished at last! Thanks to everyone who read and supported:)

--

"I can't believe you're pregnant!" Heidi squealed along with Nicole who giggled into her wine glass while Heidi rubbed your belly. Stan was catching up with his other friends. It had been four years since you left South Park to Wyoming. It was the best decision you had made. It was the right decision. And you were now 6 months pregnant.

"You leave for four years and you come back pregnant, what?" Heidi continued to admire your round belly, while you and Nicole giggled.

"What can I say?" You shrugged, grinning at their comments.

Nicole looked down at your feet, gasping. "Are they the new Gucci python print high heel pump?"

You showed off the heels, although your back was killing you Stan was so excited for you to show them off, and it would kill you to see him upset. "Surprise."

"I don't know how you're wearing them right now, being pregnant and all." Nicole continued to admire your shoes. From the corner of your eye, you admired Stan laughing and joking with his friends. It took a bit of groveling for your friend group to forgive your actions, especially Kyle (who never fully forgave you but tolerated you). But overall, was excited for God daughter. And Stan was so excited to be a dad.

You swore you could of seen a blonde hair man somewhere in the middle, but you shook your head. It wasn't.

"So." Heidi spoke as she drew your attention back to them. "Can we please see the nursery!!"

With a smile, you nodded as you reached for your bag to show the girls your Winnie the Pooh themed nursery for your daughter.

--

"Sweetie, are you sure?"

Stan asked in a nervous voice when you told him you wanted to go into town to grab some cute baby growths. You knew Stan had trust issues, especially being back in South Park triggered these feelings, so all you could do was reassure him.

Cupping his cheeks, you planted a kiss onto his lips. "You have my location, I will text you every half an hour. I promise, I will be in Bella Baby's for an hour max. If not, you can come find me, okay?"

Stan sighed, planting a kiss onto your palm before nodding as he walked over to the car. "Okay, don't be too long." He whispered as he hopped into the car, he waved goodbye to you. Despite it being raining, you moved slowly through the street of South Park, remembering the good old days.

As you walked, you hadn't been paying attention to your surroundings when you bumped into someone while in your day dream. "Sorr-"

Everything seemed to freeze, you were now were staring into the eyes that once held so much for you. Your best and worst mistake. The person you had been able to avoid for four years. Kenny McComick.

"Hey." He whispered.

--

"What are you doing?" You asked Kenny as you held your cup of water. You were sitting in Tweak's bro. Kenny had gotten a coffee, and with you being pregnant, couldn't drink caffeine. But caffeine was the least of your worries, you were betraying your husband once again. All the years of therapy gone out the window, but had to hear Kenny out.

"I heard about your.. pregnancy. Congratulations." You gave Kenny a tight lipped smile at his congratulations. He couldn't help but stare. You were glowing. You somehow looked better than what Kenny could recall from the last four years, expect you were pregnant with a baby that wasn't his.

"And Stan? He's taking care of you and the baby well?" You rested your hand against your palm, nodding. Kenny wanted to reach over and hug you and never let you go, but stopped when you reached down to place your cup on the table.

"Why are you really here?"

"I just missed you."

The rain was letting up by all means, it was actually getting heavier. You were sat here with your ex lover, while anyone from South Park could notice you and tell Stan. You couldn't risk that just cause Kenny 'missed' you.

"I don't think you made the right decision by leaving South Park.. I think you were just thinking what was morally right, not what you really wanted." Kenny started off, having your heart weaken.

"My decision and what I chose to do is none of your concern, Kenny. I made my choice, and because of my choice, I am having a daughter with a wonderful, forgiving man." You snapped, shocking Kenny who was not expecting your reply. You quickly grabbed your handbag, managing to push yourself off the chair with a little more force because of your belly.

"This was a mistake." You snapped, storming out of the cafe. Kenny cringed at the words, he hated them when your first said them, he hates them even more now. He quickly chased after you, managing to grab your arm before you went too far.

"Y/N, I'm sorry. Please listen to me, and I promise I'll leave you alone forever." You sighed, crossing your arms. You nodded.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything. I've been in love with you since I was 14, I wanted to be with you so badly.. But I could barely look after Karen, I figured I would of been nothing in my future. That I wouldn't be able to provide for you. But by the time I could, you married Stan.. And I took you for my own selfish reasons.."

You stared at Kenny's vulnerable face as he spoke. You wanted to cry for him. "I mean we could of been eating pop tarts for dinner, living in a two bed room apartment with three kids. I had no idea that I wouldn't be poor forever. I wanted to be able to provide for you, that I lost you to Stan somewhere in the middle."

"Kenny." You rubbed his cheek. "I've loved you since I was 14, the only difference was I was too chicken shit to say anything.. I wouldn't of minded eating pop tarts for dinner, as long as I had you, I wouldn't of cared."

Kenny leaned into your palm, much like Stan did earlier. He was staring at you with those beautiful eyes.

"I love you so much."

Once again, you were back in arms with each other. Kenny pressed his lips down to yours. People on the street on South Park walked by without a care in the world. Just young lovers, embracing each other. The rain was dripping down your clothes, soaking into your skin.

Kenny wanted to hug you, hold you, kiss you. He wanted to be yours so badly.. But he wasn't.

he couldn't.

he can't.

"s..sorry."

You shook your head, sniffling. "It's okay, don't worry."

You felt your eyes starting to water once again, but pushed it down encase Stan was lurking around. You never intended to have an affair, let alone intend to re-rash old feelings. An old affair.

"I.. should go.. You know, Stan."

Kenny nodded, feeling his hands slipping away from yours. Before you left, Kenny called your name once more. You turned back around to see Kenny wearing that stupid grin.

"In another life, right?" Kenny called out. "I'm happy.. I'm sorry that our time was never right."

"Don't be sorry.. I'm not sorry. It was worth everything we went through.” You smiled back. "In another life.”

You watched as the crowd engulfed the blonde until he was out of sight. You turned and walked, listening to the sound of traffic, and the sound of rain on the ground. Eventually, Stan came and collected you.

You stared at the scenery of South Park as you recalled vivid memories of your star-crossed lover. A tear ran down your cheek as you pictured his crooked smile and blonde hair.

This time, You smiled.

Fini.

[tootern2345]

Watched me the 2009 indie stop motion black comedy film. Mary and Max and…. I fucking love it! It’s a work of art. The story is pretty amazing and has a lot of humorous and tear jerking moments. Some of the humorous moments I laughed at. 8 year old Australian girl, Mary Dinkle, is an outcast. Her parents are mainly neglectful and she finds comfort in food and cartoons. While 44 year old New York man, Max Horowitz, is an obese outcast who too, finds comfort in food and cartoons. Mary gets curious at a post office one day and writes him a letter and after staring in the window for 18 hours, Max writes back. After that, a whole lot happens. Including an adult Mary pissing Max off after she thinks that autism (referred to as Asperger’s here) can be “cured”. It takes Max, in a pure heat of the moment of blind, unadulterated rage against a homeless man unintentionally setting off max’s biggest pet peeve (littered cigarette butts) to realize that mary and humans ourselves, are imperfect. Mary finally gets to see max in the end but max has passed away peacefully, never forgetting the memories along the way as Mary cries tears of joy, with her infant son as well cause yeah.

I love the animation and the amount of detail it went into it. Stop motion is a highly underrated but purely amazing way of animating and animation as a whole. Especially the Typewriter used!

Also, as an autistic myself, I can relate to max and his personal struggles. This movie shows the more unfortunate parts of being autistic and especially being an autistic adult, and remember, the film does take place mainly during the 70’s and 80’s back when autistics could be easily rid of, shipped off to the ward in which they could be experimented on a lot (that’s what max went through once). And I too, got pissed alongside max when Mary showed him the book about “curing” autism. and the film does show that while us autistics may struggle to express emotions on the outside, we are showing a lot of emotion on the inside. Another thing I relate to, sadly, is not being able to cry a lot. There have been times a plenty in which I wanted to cry but just couldn’t get myself to do it. And it is sad that max got ridiculed for being Jewish. Antisemitism sucks ass, alongside ableism as well. Although, I do feel bad for Mary as well, her father works long hours at a tea factory and focuses more on taxidermy than his family and her mother is a drunken thief. Both of them end up dying a year within each other and seeing Mary’s ex husband, Damon, leaving her was pretty sad as well.

The film also shows that the school system doesn’t care about anyone that’s dealing with issues regarding emotion and bullying. Especially during the 70’s and 80’s. I loved it when Mary stood up against her bully. And I also loved it when Len, the agoraphobic, WWII veteran amputee neighbor, ended up saving the day right before Mary succeeded in her own death in her own darkest hour.

The voices and music are great as well and the vocal direction I also admire! Vocal direction/line delivery can make or break voices and in this case, it really makes the film tbh.

Overall, I rate this film a 10/10. I have nothing bad or flaws to say about it/with it. It’s amazing and I personally recommend ya’ll go watch it (although, the film is definitely NOT for kids)

Oh, a note, the film was partially based off a true story. The key plot of the film (Australian kid and Autistic American adult write letters to each other) was real. The other parts were luckily for show.

Que Sera, Sera to all. And to all, a good night!

[makima-s-most-smile]

Trigun Maximum 8.3

I am finally done with the volume. And my heart bleeds.

Trigun Ultimate: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 Trigun Maximum: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 9.1, 9.2, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5

Spin-off: Freed Bird

Okay, when is this? Is this the path to december? Or when Wolfwood is on the way to Juneora Rock? I mean, he doesn't have Angelina, but then again, she would have been left where the Ark started, so is it now? Then again, he wouldn't take up random work to get to December... So, I'd say that this is either Pre-Trigun Ultimate Wolfie on the way to Knives with the knowledge that he has no home anymore or Pre-Trimax Wolfie under the thumb of Knives. The way he thinks about Lina protecting herself could show his growth as a person.

Is Wolfwood the bird or the human or both? He has no freedom, none at all, the Eye of Michael and his responsibilities bind him down. But then there is a point to be made that Wolfwood is desperately trying to find a place to rest, that he is in constant pain from trying to survive. He gets like the worst out of both worlds. I would have loved for that birdmotive to be present earlier for Wolfwood.

Ahhh… good old peak idiot Wolfwood. 

A difficult situation. They were right to take a loan, but the father wasn’t very responsible with the money, then, was he? They profited from the ownership of the plant and lived a cushy life. He should have constantly put money away for such a situation. 

It is not only the responsible and fair thing to do ala you wash my back and I wash yours, but also considering the worth of plants, you cannot take even one death of them. I’d say make plants common property, but even that wouldn’t stop people from trying to gain power over them.

WOLFWOOD! YOU WERE SO GOOD WHEN LINA PROTECTED HERSELF FROM THOSE GUYS! And here you are like: “Nah… congrats. I don’t care.” I partially understand him. Wolfwood grew up in deepest poverty, he would most likely marry Orekano to get that lifestyle (give that money to the orphanage). He may not understand that someone may prefer a life of strife than to be an object in the hands of a weird man.

Again, the bird motive. Lina is a trapped bird. She doesn’t know how hard the world outside is, she truly doesn’t. She lived a life as an upper class woman. 

Haha, wrong person to ask.

Not gonna lie, her saying that she was an orphan and using that as a reason to say that she was dependent on people reads so fucking weird. Everyone is dependent on other people. If Maylene popped out a child and kept it, it would also be completely dependent on her. That’s what children are. In the next few pages we learn that she was adopted like at age 2 max. She had next to her whole life with this family, who took care of her as her own from what we get to see. She does not understand poverty or survival at all. She was at an age where you do not remember things. Sorry, but no girl. I understand that you may felt overly protected and maybe suffocated by your parents, maybe your parents actively stopped you from going out and growing up, but your lack of freedom is totally different than that of an orphan of a struggling orphanage.

Then again, that does not mean that she has to marry Orekano to keep her lifestyle. She has the ability and the freedom to decide for herself. She is a bird breaking out of her cage. It is her decision to make.

Wolfwood sounds pretty judgemental, but he also does not understand what Maylene has to expect of her new husband. For him it looks like a naive girl romanticising freedom from a position of privilege. He also projects onto her, what he doesn’t/didn’t have his whole life. He is the bird that just wants a safe place, but he cannot get it. He cannot imagine giving that up.

I just realised, Wolfwood said he put bullets into Chapel for the name he gave him. But we see him called Nicholas in the past. It was the Punisher. Wolfwood hates Chapel for making him an assassin, but my brain was too soupy in the last volume.

Ah, yes. Wolfwood’s old friend. Parentification. How it made him what he is today, the big brother, the caretaker, the protector. So much of Wolfwood can be traced back to this.

I think it is also interesting that we see a kind of neglect/abuse here, that wasn’t done with ill intent or anything. The orphanage was too full, the aunties had too many children to take care of and that led to Wolfwood being forced into that role. He wasn’t parentified by neglectful parents, but by a society that causes too many orphans and that gives not enough money to adequate care for the helpless and innocent. There was no alternative. Should they have left Maylene alone and crying?

From what we know about Wolfwood, he saw the orphanage as a kind of paradise. It was a place where he could be without having to give something. Wolfwood already came to the orphanage with the ideology of having to be useful, to balance out the debt that occurs from him being there. It was so easy for him to become a quiet helper to the aunties that didn't tell his needs. His basic needs were taken care of and for that he had to be thankful. Everything beyond that was to be used to pay off the debt, to give to the other children. 

What did he think then about the bird? Did he want freedom? Or was he okay with how everything is? He was fed, had a place to sleep and was being taken care of, somewhat. Did he ever wish for more?

It is about Maylene. Did Wolfwood ever wonder or hope to be adopted? Or did he see himself as damaged goods from the start? Maybe he came in as “too old” for an adoption and resigned himself to be the one that makes sure the little ones get adopted?

Little WooWoo is massively cute. I love this style more than Stampede’s. 

Why is this… wearing a cross… jumpsuit? I hate him already.

Grati… tude… What the fuck is wrong with this guy? Much, considering Maylene’s reaction. But at least now Wolfwood checks WHY Maylene may prefer survival to a cage.

No, he doesn’t. Wolfwood! Pull your head out of yer arse! Okay… okay… he was just put through the meatgrinder because Maylene declined and fled.

The only right answer to his incel shit… Why is that icky guy so obsessed with Maylene’s virginity? I push aside the train of thought about priests and naughties, because we know how reality looked since before the Renaissance and I do not believe that such a possessive icky, icky weirdo would even have such information.

Call him out, Maylene! Oregano’s actions aren’t her responsibility. I wouldn’t say Wolfwood egging him on made it worse, because I don’t think that… I have run out of insults… guy would have believed Wolfwood anyway.

Wolfwood the protector. The Punisher, then his body and then Maylene.

But… Damn, Wolfwood! I wanna root for you. But you say the vilest things. None of these deaths are on Maylene. They are on Orekano. Do you really believe that she would have a good and comfy life under him? Yes, decisions come with consequences, but fleeing from an abusive situation and the abuser acting out is never on the victim. We know how you came to that mindset, but, buddy, that mindset is massively flawed.

FUCKING FINALLY!

How did Orekano get even worse? “Hurdur, I would stain my hands on your defiled body…” Dude believes in fucking cooties.

We know that Wolfwood cares for Maylene. Even if his words are… saying the opposite. He wants her to have a comfy life. He doesn’t want her to struggle like he does. His actions show this. He protected her repeatedly from Orekano, he doesn’t take all the money offered for his funeral service, he gives her as much as he can so she can start somewhere anew. He doesn’t agree with her choice, but he lets her make her own.

And that line from Maylene, I understand much more. Somehow she got into her head that she being adopted is just the family filling some spot with her. That’s sad… And hopefully wrong. But it makes her point of breaking off from that legacy and choosing her own path. She heard Wolfwood’s warning, but she prefers being a free bird struggling to a caged wife.

Earlier, Wolfwood was sad that she doesn’t remember him. But he did leave a massive impression on her in the form of the bird motive. So much so that she took up carving herself. And Wolfwood is stunned, moved. He mattered. For all the blood on his hands, he had a positive effect on someone's life. And he cannot deal with it. That’s why he puts it down as a lousy carving.

[oc-character-development]

My belated opinion on Endeavour series 9 episode 1: Prelude:

This might be a little all over the place but I have a lot of thoughts, just haven’t had time to write them down, so apologies for the rambling style.

The mystery was dark. I mean the link to the death of the 14 year old was DARK. And you could really see the pain in Morse’s face as he figured it out, probably because it’s horrible AND because bullying that drives to a innocent teenager to suicide is exactly WHAT MORSE WENT THROUGH HIMSELF. Shaun Evans really did great with the acting and directing in this episode.

My word Russell’s pulling out all the stops this series. The callbacks, the references, fucking BLENHEIM VALE!!! (I hope this means a Jakes return, please!)

SAM! SAM! SAM!!!! He’s alive, dealing with PTSD (poor kid) but at least he’s alive and back home in Oxford. My heart broke when he yelled at Thursday that he had no idea what he went through (even though we know that Thursday does know, he just processed it differently and Sam is just lashing out) Plus we learned of a little of what happened to him. His friend got shot right next to him. Poor Sam. I loved his little scene with Morse though.

Unpopular opinion: I loved Joan/Strange in series 8. So I’m content with Joan being Mrs Strange. At this point, it makes sense, they set it up last series, and the crew couldn’t really bring in a new character for us to get to know last minute. So Joan makes sense. Plus it means that my theory of Morse recognising who Mrs Strange is and slightly smiling knowingly in Inspector Morse when Strange brings her up is validated. However, this brings me onto my main concern of the series:

Thursday.

Bright is retiring, that I fully accept, great for him, but…. Thursday.

Thursday I get the feeling as though it’s not going to be so cut and dry with his exit. I want it to be. Thursday becoming the Superintendent at Carshal Newtown, THE STATION MORSE CAME FROM ORIGINALLY, is almost perfect tale end to the story. It’s almost poetry and it makes sense as to why Morse never brings him up despite already being very closed off about his past.

Also Win being concerned about Thursday leaving Morse made me smile, especially after her outburst during the final episode of the last series when Sam had gone missing, she really cares about Morse as much as Thursday and understands the role her husband plays in Morse’s life- her worrying over what’ll happen to Morse if they left Oxford warmed my heart.

HOWEVER, if Strange is his son in law, which it’s certain he is at this point, then why doesn’t HE bring up Thursday to Morse in the original series? That’s why I’m believing that it won’t be so simple as a transfer with Thursday. And why I’m still worrying he might die or something worse. I WANT a happy ending for him and Mrs Thursday. I’m just don’t think it’ll happen. I’m basing it off when the wedding happens, in episode 2 or episode 3; because it would be too tragic for something to happen to Thursday the same episode as the wedding.

Speaking of the wedding; Jim asking Morse to be his best man, they’re at that level of friendship and knowing that just makes Inspector Morse even better 🥺

Also seeing Max more was fantastic. More of that please in the last two episodes.

Morse. My blorbo. I feel so bad for Morse. Not only did he break his alcohol abstinence which we all knew would happen eventually half way through the first episode, everything is changing for him, not only is Bright retiring (which hasn’t been announced to the station), not only was he not told that Joan and Strange are getting married (although Thursday did have a valid reason for not bringing it up himself), not only are the wounds of Blenheim Vale threatening to open again, but he has no idea that the man who is the closest thing he has to a father is seriously considering taking a Superintendent job and transferring to the station Morse originally transferred to Oxford from. Seriously; THE SEPARATION OF MORSE AND THURSDAY IS GOING TO BREAK ME!

The last scene of Prelude broke my heart. Thursday looking at Morse and clearly worrying about him broke my heart. And that is just episode one of the final series!

Overall; great episode, and this series is shaping up to be the emotionally destructive series I expected it to be.

[r-o-s-e-f-i-r-e]

This is 100% Steve getting drawn in and having to play a role in the heist a la Julia Roberts in Ocean’s 12. His ex-husband Eddie is running a con on his current boyfriend Henry Creel. Steve lost all of his fucking friends in the divorce because he’d never been in the game, really, had mostly tuned out whenever they started discussing their next job and kept making everyone sandwiches. 

They’d all agreed to keep Steve out of it — Nancy and Robin and Dustin and Will, everyone, since Steve liked his job as a middle school guidance counselor too much to jeopardize it. Couldn’t lie for shit. Then they idk do something, like, big time stupid, a huge fuck up that lands Eddie in prison, and Steve is so mad he can’t take it any more and cuts them all off and files for divorce.

Three years later Eddie’s out of prison (I think Nancy is Rusty in this world) and wants to run one last job on Henry Creel, old rival, Vegas casino owner, notorious slimeball, something something drug trafficking other super illegal stuff. Nancy’s fully like sure, right, this has nothing to do with how he’s been parading Steve around like slutty decorative arm candy since they met, putting him in tight white pants, expensive loafers, giving him jewelry, and Eddie of course goes surely not this is purely business etc etc. 

They get the band back together: Dustin for comms, Robin to plant in the casino, Mike on explosives, Argyle and Jon for transpo, Lucas on surveillance, Will is the acrobat. MAX IS MATT DAMON. Murray bankrolls them. 

Heist heist etc. Steve and Eddie run into each other in the casino, Eddie is trying to be chill except Steve is just as beautiful as he remembers and also has another man’s fingerprints all over him. Steve is angry and heartsick, knows Eddie’s up to something. 

Something something plan A goes wrong, maybe Eddie gets captured by Jason Carver, unexpected third player late in the game. Dustin and Robin convince Steve the only way they can save him is if Steve draws Jason and Henry’s attention away long enough for Max to get in and get Eddie out. Steve pretends to fight with Henry and then gets posted up at Robin’s poker table with Dustin in his ear so that he can track Jason, moving around the casino, get Henry to come down and try to make up. 

Steve is of two minds, half his attention on letting Henry draw him in and murmur apologies in his ear, the other half on Eddie, wherever he was in the bowels of the casino, hoping Max gets him out before Jason Carver can find him, sick with worry. 

Heist heist etc!! They steal all the money. Chrissy is another plant and she honeypots Jason Carver and then breaks his neck with her thighs. Eddie manages to get audio from Dustin in Steve’s ear of Henry Creel saying he cared more about the money than Steve. Steve slaps Henry across the face and gives him back the gold bracelet he’d insisted on Steve wearing. The whole crew is in front of the fountain, when Steve finds them. They all slink away down the Vegas strip. 

“You’re such a fucking asshole,” Steve says, and then draws Eddie in and kisses him as Claire de Lune starts playing. They’re married again a month later. 

[15-lizards]

More southern ASOIAF headcanons for my mental health

Robb: star football player who gets drafted for a D1 college. He is absolutely the sweetheart of the SEC world. Definitely the next Joe Burrow. Has a million followers on insta and all of his posts are professionally edited. On the outside there’s nothing wrong with him but he actually has a dark secret (he’s just dating theon). Margaery is absolutely his sorority girl gf before they both realize they’re gay.

Arya: absolutely insane. Begs Ned to go along on hunting trips and can shoot a rifle like a grown man. She’s one of those kids that eats the heart of the first deer they kill. Runs around barefoot in the backwoods and the gravel roads. Sustains herself on bug juice from the gas station and honeysuckle plants that grow outside the house. Just true southern trash I love her.

Dany: Weird horse girl to the MAX turned highschool overachiever. Still rides horses but had a breakdown and a personality 180 after middle school and is now class president bc she wanted to make friends. Is in like three thousand clubs and is somehow the head of all of them. She has such a nice speaking voice but her accent only slips out when she’s angry. Ridiculously active in the local community. We all know that girl. We all know she needs Xanax and we love her.

Catelyn: Facebook mom. Keeps their suburban front lawn looking SPOTLESS. Always cheering Robb on at his games, makes the rest of the Starks dress in the school colors and take family pictures. Doesn’t like to gossip unless that person deserves it but when she does she absolutely tears them apart. Always hosts the neighborhood block parties. Ends up feeding half the neighborhood children when her kids bring them home after they were out playing when the streetlights come on.

Theon: Drug dealer who lives in the backwoods I’m sorry. He barely graduated highschool and likes to chew dip so thick you can’t understand what he’s saying. Actually kind of smart but didn’t care enough about school. Always showed up in his stupid lifted truck. Always smells like either cigarette smoke or weed. Just gives off dirty vibes but he was always pretty chill to hang around with surprisingly. Always had weird respect for the smart kids or the ones who didn’t want to do drugs. Somehow this is all appealing to Robb

Cersei: Evil Facebook mom. Passive aggressive to your face like she isn’t even going to be fake nice. Everyone’s always kissing her ass in her comments section as she humble brags about Myrcella being on the honor roll or Joffrey making the baseball team (the Lannisters have the stadium named after them). She knows if you don’t show up to church and makes sure all of her friends (who she hates) know about it too when they have brunch afterwards. But she is so fine. True southern milf. All of Joff’s classmates never shut up about his mean hot mom.

Davos: Your nicest old man neighbor ever. He’s Theon’s closest neighbor (two miles down the road) and is always trying to set him on the right path. Will def lend you money if you need it. No one’s really sure what he does for a living but he’s probably good at it. Always letting the nearby kids run around in his yard while he keeps an eye on them from the porch. He woodworks in his spare time. Everyone nearby has a swing set or a crib or a table he carved for them. Also gives the wisest, most sage advice ever uttered by anyone ever. He dropped out so he can’t read very well but Shireen always walks down the road after school to teach him :,)

Lysa: god she is just. Batshit crazy. Slightly normal until you walk into her ugly suburban mansion (that her old ass husband paid for) and she starts talking about Qanon. Such a conspiracy theorist and Robin is most definitely not vaxxed because those give you autism duh. Tries to return clothes she got like three years ago to Target and gets mad when they won’t refund her. Gives fast food workers a hard time. Or any service workers really.

Dolorous Edd: That man is a Waffle House employee. Trains Jon how to cook while taking an order while smoking a cigarette all at once. Cleans up questionable needles in the bathroom and needs to take a smoke break outside afterwards. You have never seen a man look so jaded yet make you the most fire fucking hashbrowns you have ever eaten in your life. No one knows what he does off the clock he’s a mystery. He just comes in, complains, makes waffles, leaves. Has thrown hands with a customer. Multiple times. Never loses.