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aggimaginary · 11 months

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The Moon Shines In Friendship (Nimona fanfic) - chapter 2

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Hello everyone! I am so sorry that it took me a month to update my story! I mean, I loved what I had planned for my first Nimona fanfic, but I was busy in college school, and I had more personal things to deal like fanart and other fanfic. So, here's chapter 2, It took me a while too because this chapter is really long. This chapter is a flashback chapter that took place before and during the events of the film! I hope you have fun reading this!

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22 YEARS AGO

At the Academy, young knights-in-training were working very hard to achieve their goals and dreams of becoming real knights. Some used wooden swords to defeat their individual monster dummies, some pushed themselves through an obstacle course, and some practiced duels. Particularly young Ballister Boldheart and Ambrosius Goldenloin. They were assigned together as partners for dual practice. They didn't mind, they were excited. They were always a duo and bow, they had to battle each other. They would try not to play around with the Director's presence. They have to be serious and play as if they are enemies.

At that moment, Ballister poked Ambrosius' hip with his wooden sword.

"Whoops! Careful there," Ambrosius chuckled quietly.

"Sorry," Ballister whispered. Knights never apologize, so he lowered his voice when he said that word.

As the children kept on training, the Director had been observing each and every child in the Academy. Most of them did so well. Ballister had always been the best student she ever had, but she also wanted Ambrosius to be as best as the former, just to maintain the status of his bloodline.

"Cadets, may I please have your attention?" The Director announced, having all the students' attention as they all left their station and placed themselves in line, and stood straight, "We have a very special guest today, and she brought us an unexpected surprise. Students, welcome, Queen Valerin."

As the Director stepped aside, Queen Valerin walked calmly in front of the students as they all bowed respectfully before their queen.

"Please, don't be too formal. I know you are all very busy and well-focused on being knights, but I have a very special announcement to all of you," Queen Valerin announced as the students all stood up straight from their bowing, "We have a new student today, and she's very new, she doesn't come from a noble bloodline."

Todd snicked quietly, "Oh great, another street rat, a girl street rat."

The other kids chuckled quietly as Ballister and Ambrosius heard Todd's insult for the new student, not to mention they also thought about Ballister being the only commoner knight-in-training. Now that there were going to be two, there will be double punching bags in this Institute. Ambrosius just wanted to march right at Todd and punch him, but Ballister extended his arm to stop him, shaking his head and gesturing not to continue what he was doing, especially not in front of the queen.

"Everyone, I like you to meet Chasina," The queen lowered her hand, and pointed below her, but there was no one there, "It's okay, Chasina, you can come out."

Behind the queen's dress, a female child timidly and shyly crept out to show herself. She was very afraid and very shy to show her face, but, as a young commoner, she loved to obey the queen. She then slowly stepped out, fully showing herself. A little girl, probably a year younger than Ballister and Ambrosius' age, with short brown hair that covered half of her right eye, wearing a sky-blue blouse, a cerulean skirt, and a cyan hairclip bow. She was also holding a gray mouse plushie in her arms, and she was covered with a little amount of dirt as if she hadn't showered for a while. It made sense because she had been living in the streets all her life.

Ambrosius gasped in delight as he nudged at Ballister, making him think he was lucky that he wouldn't be the only commoner in the Institute.

Queen Valerin bent down to reach the little girl's level as she placed a hand on her head, "I saw this little girl sneaking into the headquarters, and I saw in her eyes when she held a sword. It inspired me that we should have another lower-class child in the Institute. And I hope you should make her feel welcome."

The other young knights-in-training quietly snorted as if they wanted to welcome this young commoner into the Academy. They already have one. They didn't want to deal with another one.

Ballister just stared pitifully that the new student would have to deal with the same prejudice from the other cadets as he had, while Ambrosius glared spitefully. This was like how Ballister got into the Institute, but since this was a very young female commoner, the young Goldenloin knew those bullies would do something worse to her.

"Well, I should leave you all to carry on with your training," Queen Valerin reported before turning at the young girl, "Chasina, you're going to be alright here, and you'll be the hero that I see in you."

While looking up at the queen, Chasina was scared. She wanted to be a knight, but her lack of self-confidence made her doubt herself. But since the queen herself was the one who brought her here, Chasina just nodded at her, hoping the queen was right with her words. She had no idea what she put herself into when she snuck into the Institute's castle and held a sword from one of the display cases of the deceased knights.

Queen Valerin stood up straight once again and walked out to leave the students back to their training. Chasina quickly tried to follow the queen as she was too scared to be left alone without her supervision, but the door was already closed. The queen left. Chasina was on her own now. She was really scared. She didn't know if she could survive here… Alone.

The Director approached her closer from behind, and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Alright, Chasina, why don't stand over there next to your classmate, Ballister, over there?" she pointed her staff to where Ballister was standing. Chasina looked up and saw a young commoner boy waving at her. Chasina wasn't so excited about this. She was very new, so she didn't know how the system worked here. When Chasina, still holding her toy, walked slowly towards the line, one cadet beside Ballister moved aside, not because he would give her space, it was because he was disgusted by a dirty new commoner. The other cadets laughed while covering their mouths as they watched Chasina stand in line beside Ballister.

Ballister extended a hand to Chasina, but she just stared at him and looked away. She was too scared to meet another kid at her age…, or older. She wasn't ready to socialize yet. Ballister understood that. On his first day here, it was hard to socialize with other cadets. Nobody liked him here… except for just one kid. Chasina just needed time to find trust in other kids. Ballister put his hand back behind his back, giving Chasina some space for herself.

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At recess, Chasina was sitting on the dining table alone, eating a grilled cheese sandwich. This was the only thing she could afford to get at the cafeteria. She wasn't comfortable eating different food since she only ate leftovers and food from trash when she was still living on the streets.

There were so many things in her mind today. It was her first day, and things were getting hard. It was because she started late. Unlike Ballister, Chasina started training a little later than the rest of the cadets. She couldn't keep up with the classes. She needed to read more textbooks and observe demos of how to hold the sword, dodge attacks, etc. She was too slow and even scared that she wouldn't reach her dreams too soon. There was so much pressure already. Her training was too advanced for her to catch up. It was a stressful first day already.

Recess was the only thing she could rest herself from all that training. She hoped she got her head straight once she finished eating her food.

Just then, a group of kids approached her with smirky faces.

"Look what we have here, guys. Another kid from the streets!" Todd laughed as he raised his hands for his fellow cadets to give him high-fives. Chasina remembered Todd from earlier. The guy who would made fun of her already. Chasina decided to ignore him and proceeded to eat.

"Wha- what are you eating? A grilled cheese sandwich?! What are you? A street mouse?" Todd laughed loudly as so did the rest of the knights-in-training. It wasn't her fault that she liked cheese. Chasina loved cheese. The only food she could eat when she tried to survive.

"Look, she is a mouse!" One of the students pointed out.

Chasina tried not to cry when the other cadets called her that as her hair covered half of her face and took another bite.

Shockingly, her mouse plushie got snatched away from beside her. Todd held the toy by its tail.

"Hey!" Chasina yelped, witnessing her favorite toy got taken away.

"She has a stuffed mouse as a pet, too!" Todd showed the stuffed mouse to his fellow cadets.

"Give it back!" Chasina demanded, throwing her unfinished sandwich on the table, and stood up to get her mouse back.

"Awww, you want this?" Todd cooed before throwing the mouse at another student.

It became a Hot Potato Game for the other students as they passed the mouse plushie to each other and prevented Chasina from catching her beloved toy.

"No! Cherry!" Chasina cried, trying to catch her mouse, "Please, I want Cherry! Give her back to me!"

Todd then caught the mouse back into his arms and held it by the tail again. He handed the mouse to Chasina, but he raised it up to prevent Chasina from retrieving it as she was too short to reach her toy, "If you want it, you have to catch it!" He threw the mouse again to another cadet.

"No! Please! Give her back!" Chasina sobbed, still trying to catch her mouse, and extending her arms to reach for it.

"Hey!" Ballister's voice was heard behind the other cadets. They all turned around, and Chasina was surprised to see the same boy she stood next to earlier, "Why don't you give her that mouse back? She did nothing to you!" Ballister bravely marched up to Todd.

"Aww, isn't this sweet? Ballister here thought he was a real knight already!" Todd teased with a chuckle with other cadets chuckled along with him. He grabbed Ballister by his shirt collar, and pulled him closer to his face, "By protecting a very weak princess!" Todd threw Ballister in front of Chasina, who scooted backward slightly, "You know, you're lucky the queen sent in another commoner because if neither of you would become a knight, then you'd both be losers together. High-five on that!" Todd raised both his hands, letting other cadets high-five him again, and they all laughed at Ballister and Chasina.

Surprisingly, the mouse plushie around Todd's arm got snatched from behind. It was Ambrosius as he held the mouse gently in his arms, "Leave them alone, Todd. It's none of your business to tell them what they'll be in the future, especially her," he eyed Chasina, who was shocked to see a noble student would stand up to commoners like her and Ballister.

"Pfft! Whatever, Goldenloin, have fun with your servant and your new toy, and I'm not talking about the mouse," Todd scoffed as he walked away before bumping his shoulder at Ambrosius', and the other cadets followed him.

As those bullies already left, Ambrosius turned, and offered a hand to Ballister, "Bal, are you okay?"

Ballister accepted Ambrosius' hand, and stood back up on his feet again, "Yeah, I was supposed to get that mouse… for her," he tilted his head at Chasina. She was still on the ground, feeling scared to come forward towards the two boys.

Ambrosius looked down at the mouse plush he held, and handed it over to the little girl, "Here. I think this belongs to you."

Chasina almost hesitated to come close and retrieve her mouse because it was held by another noble child. She was afraid to be bullied again. But that was her toy. She needed her mouse. If this child was handing it over to her, then now was her chance to get it back, "Ch-Cherry!" Chasina rushed to her mouse, and snatched it back, hugging it so tightly like she never wanted to let it go again. Small tears flowed down on her cheek. She really loved her toy.

"I'm sorry about Todd. He's always been like that," Ambrosius explained as he stepped forward, causing Chasina to back away a little while holding her adorable little mouse, "Hey, don't be afraid, we're not going to hurt you."

But Chasina remained distant while still hugging her mouse. It was hard for her to make new friends, especially when she had already been bullied. She still stayed still while staring at the two boys at the corner of her eyes. Her left eye was covered by her hair as she was too shy to even look directly.

Ballister and Ambrosius glanced at each other, knowing the girl was too scared to come closer. They understood her, so she needed more time and space to socialize.

"Anyway, I'm Ambrosius," the young noble kid introduced himself.

"And I'm Ballister," the young commoner boy took a step closer to the young girl, and kneeled to her level, "Um, what's your name again?"

Chasina was too nervous to talk, but it was rude of her if she didn't speak at all when she was asked. She responded quietly, "Um... I'm Chasina."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Ballister asked, leaning the side of his head a little closer to hear her.

"Um... My name is Chasina," Chasina answered even quieter.

"A little louder," Ambrosius requested.

"It's Chasina," the young commoner girl whispered quickly.

"I think I almost hear 'Chasina'. It's that your name?" Ballister tried to clarify what the little girl was saying.

But Chasina only let out a small squeak.

Seeing that the commoner girl felt so pressured and nervous, Ambrosius told her calmly, "Okay, you don't have to say it again. So, you dream of becoming a knight one day?"

Without saying a word, Chasina just nodded. "So do we! Your parents must be really proud," Ballister exclaimed while approaching closer to Chasina, "Where are your parents, by the way?"

That was it. Chasina only lived in a street with no memory of her parents. Yet, she grew up without parents or a family either. She lived alone, all by herself with her toy, "Umm… I don't have parents," she answered, still quiet but clear to hear.

Ballister felt pity for Chasina. He had the same life as she had. All alone in the street, "Aww, it's okay. I don't have parents either. I came from the streets, like you."

"It's true. Ballister here snuck up into the training course and attacked a monster dummy. It's pretty funny," Ambrosius recalled the day Ballister snuck into the obstacle course, and the knights tackled him down. Ballister wasn't so proud of himself that day, but he was glad he was brave enough to sneak in like that.

Chasina let out a little giggle. It was funny.

"Hey, why don't you hang out with us?" Ambrosius suggested.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother," Chasina said, feeling like a burden already.

"It's nothing. We want you to stick with us. We'll help you along the way since you missed a couple of sessions. You didn't catch up when our training started. We'll help you out with make-up sessions," Ballister suggested.

Chasina wasn't sure if this was a good idea. She just met these boys. Why were they so nice to her? Why didn't they like those other cadets? But hearing their voices sounded like they were serious about accompanying her. Chasina slightly turned her head to show both her eyes from her hair, "Well… alright. Thank you."

Ballister offered Chasina's hand as she accepted, and he helped her get up on her feet. She then approached Ambrosius, trying to be brave to face a noble child. He responded by just rubbing Chasina's hair, and she giggled like she was tickled.

It was a good start to a beautiful friendship.

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At the Glorodome, there was the knighting ceremony, and senior cadets were going to be knights tonight. Ambrosius, Ballister, and Chasina snuck out of their dorms just to see the ceremony. They found the right spot for them to watch the whole view. Ambrosius climbed up on the stadium rafters first before Ballister and Chasina tried to catch up with him, "Come on, come on!"

Ballister came up next, then offered Chasina's hand, who was still trying to climb up while holding her mouse toy.

"Careful, Chasina," Ballister grabbed her hand and lifted her up.

Once the children were up on their feet, they continued to walk a little farther to find a better view while Chasina felt hesitant but followed the two boys anyway.

"Are you sure this is safe? I don't think we're allowed here," Chasina said.

"Don't worry. No one will know we're here. We've been here before," Ambrosius reassured her, sitting at the edge of the rafter.

"This is also the place where we hang out sometimes," Ballister added, also sitting down.

"Wow, that's really great," Chasina still felt hesitant about this idea, but she didn't want to feel left out of the fun, so she sat down beside Ballister.

As the knighting ceremony started, new knights rode their horses into the arena, and the whole crowd cheered for their new knights. The knights headed towards the middle of the arena.

"Wow, that's a lot of knights," Chasina commented, couldn't take her eyes off the scene.

"Here's the best part," Ambrosius whispered excitedly.

The three children proceeded to watch the scene. A knight stepped forward before the queen, and she used the sword to announce his knighthood to the public. The crowd cheered loudly.

Chasina was puzzled at first about what was happening, until she figured it out for herself, "Oh, so that's how they would become knights? The Queen officially made them knights?"

"That's right. And someday, it's gonna be us down there," Ambrosius said proudly.

"Do you think we'll be able to do it?" Chasina asked in doubt. Seeing the other knights reach their dream tonight, she couldn't imagine herself being down there with the queen who would knight her one day. She wasn't sure what the future held for her as Chasina doubted if she would ever be a knight, "Do you think I can do it?"

Ballister placed an arm around her shoulder, "Of course. We saw how you worked hard back at the Academy. First make-up sessions, you're already learning."

"I can be a fast learner sometimes." Chasina chuckled proudly, trying to remove Ballister's arm from her, "I'm just afraid that… I might not be able to do it."

"What makes you say that?" Ballister asked with him and Ambrosius glanced at her worryingly.

"I mean, come on. Look at me! I'm no noble, I'm from the streets, and I'm a girl…. A weak little girl," Chasina curled herself and hugged her knees.

"You're not. Did you already know that Gloreth is a girl herself?" Ballister reminded, still seeing Gloreth's statue (its backside) from up here.

"Yeah, but she's brave and determined. I'm just scared and timid. Knights are not like that," Chasina was filled with self-doubt. She even stared at Gloreth's statue from afar, comparing herself to the legendary hero.

"Hey, I was like that too," Ambrosius admitted.

"You are?" Chasina refused to believe that.

"You just didn't know you were talking to the direct descendant of Gloreth," Ambrosius rubbed his thumb and index fingers together while staring at his nails, before glancing back at Chasina with a smug look.

Chasina was confused by Ambrosius' words. She didn't know what he was talking about. It was confusing, until… She stared at Gloreth's statue then back at Ambrosius. She looked back and forth at the giant statue and her friend a couple of times before she realized a shocking revelation.

Ambrosius is Gloreth's descendant that she never ever knew before!

"I didn't know that!" Chasina exclaimed, making the two boys laugh. They couldn't believe Chasina was still clueless about that fact. She should've gotten out more.

"I thought you'd figured it out yourself!" Ambrosius laughed really hard.

"I didn't know!" Chasina admitted. She was completely unaware. She knew Ambrosius came from a noble family since all cadets were born noble with Ballister being the only commoner before her arrival, but she couldn't tell which ancestry belonged to every student in the academy, "But I do know now," Then, she remembered Ballister being a commoner like her. He was so brave and hardworking, while Chasina had a little lack of self-confidence. That made them so different, "How do you get so confident, Ballister?"

"I wasn't so confident, but I did work very hard in class, and it's my dream. And if it's your dream to be a knight too, then I know you'll be able to be one," Ballister advised, making Chasina nod in agreement. It was her dream to be a knight and to protect the kingdom. It was merely impossible for her until the queen decided to let a commoner boy like Ballister train into the Institute. Now, Chasina was brought in as well.

But there was another thing Chasina was thinking in her head, much more important than her dream, "I'm more worried about another thing."

"What would it be?" Ballister asked, but Chasina was hesitant to answer, "Come on. You can tell us."

Chasina sighed in embarrassment. It would be too cheesy or sappy to tell them what was on her mind right now. She held her toy again, and confessed, "It's just that… you guys are my friends. You guys were the only ones who welcomed me here. And what would happen to us if we became knights? Would we ever be friends? Would we… still be friends? What if… we won't be?"

"That's not true. We'll always be friends," Ambrosius assured her.

"But, friendship isn't part of a knight's oath. Our oath is to protect the kingdom, which means taking the risk… even giving up our friendship…" Chasina's voice trembled and nearly cried. She sat back and looked down, proceeding to watch the ceremony. She would imagine that all three of them were down there but wouldn't be friends like how they were today anymore, "We go alone."

With Ballister feeling pity for Chasina and trying to comfort her, Ambrosius looked down at the ceremony. He had the same idea as Chasina's. She was right. For now, they are just children, being happy together while training to be the best knights. But, in the future, as they grew, they would risk losing their friendship when they fulfill their duties. Friendship couldn't last forever sometimes. It depended on how adults would see when they grew up.

Then, Ambrosius had an idea. It would be a risky idea, but it was the only option. He stood up and announced to the two commoners, "You know what? Why don't we make our own oath?"

"Our own oath?" Ballister asked.

"Yes! It might not be a knight's oath, but this is our oath together, knights or not."

"I'm pretty sure you will be a knight, Ambrosius."

"Even if I do, we still have to make a promising oath."

When Ambrosius took a knee down, Ballister and Chasina moved away from the edge and gathered into a huddle.

"From here on out, we swear to each other that we always be best friends. Even if we become knights, nothing and absolutely nothing would stand between our friendship. Not even the Institute would break us apart. We'll always stay close together, and be knights together at the very end," Ambrosius just made an unbreakable and sworn promise. As a noble-born knight-to-be, it was in his honor to make a promise that would never be made to be broken…, ever. To prove it, he put his hand in the middle, to be the first out of the three to swear that promise, "That's a promise I'm willing to keep. I swear," he was now waiting for any of the two to join him. He wanted to make sure that Ballister and Chasina would swear the same promise he was keeping.

"I swear," Ballister was the next one to put his hand on the middle, over Ambrosius' hand. He wanted to make this friendship last forever like Ambrosius and Chasina.

Once Ballister touched Ambrosius' hand, there was a feeling between them that they hadn't felt before. In his defense, Ambrosius already had an interest in Ballister, but they were still children. It might be just a normal liking, nothing more.

Ballister didn't mean to make things awkward between him and Ambrosius when the former touched his hand. The way Ambrosius stared at him made Ballister blush a little while his hair covered one of his eyes, and tried to look away from him.

Seeing the two boys staring so strangely at each other, Chasina didn't know what was happening as she interrupted them, "Um… you guys know I'm here right? Eyes on me," The kids just chuckled hysterically while Chasina still stayed with the same topic they were talking about just now, "But… I swear," she put her hand over Ballister and Ambrosius' hand, she also agreed with this promise. She wanted to stay best friends with the boys who had been so nice to her ever since she first stepped at the Academy. Even if they would reach their dreams as knights, she wished that they would stay like this for a long time.

"Trust me, we'll always be best friends… no matter what," Ambrosius declared as the three had their hands lifted in the air.

Throughout the years, Ballister, Ambrosius, and Chasina grew close together as a trio. To lock up their promise forever, Ambrosius made his own "Decree of Friendship" with just a piece of paper and crayons. He put his signature under the text with a yellow crayon. He passed the paper to Ballister, signing his own signature with a black crayon. He passed the paper to Chasina, who signed her signature with a blue crayon. With the "decree" being signed up, Ambrosius rolled the paper into a scroll and kept it in a small chest.

Ballister and Ambrosius then acted like older brothers to Chasina. Ambrosius gave one of his family's swords to Chasina, just like he gave one to Ballister. He gave her a blue one and modified the G initial of the sword to a C.

When the three were stargazing together in Ambrosius' dorm, Chasina was fascinated by the crescent moon. This gave Ballister the idea of giving her a last name; Moonlight. Chasina loved that name and decided to keep it.

One day, Chasina lost her favorite toy mouse, which was hidden in the corner under her bed. Ballister and Ambrosius found it until Chasina declared she didn't need her toy now that she had two amazing big brothers to look after her. Secretly, Ambrosius kept her toy mouse, just in case she would need it again one day. When the three were stargazing together outside their dorms and laid down under the stars, Ballister surprised Chasina with a new hairpin by removing her old hairclip bow and replacing it with the one he made. When Ambrosius gave Chasina a mirror, she saw the new hairpin Ballister made for her. It was a blue circular hairpin with a navy blue crescent moon surrounded by tiny silver gems. She loved it! She totally loved her new hairpin. She had been wearing that pin ever since and never took it off.

There was also that day when Ballister and Ambrosius helped Chasina dye a streak of her hair with blue and white.

As they grew, Ballister and Ambrosius continued protecting Chasina from being severely bullied until she was a bit old enough to defend herself, and gained confidence.

Years later, Ballister, Ambrosius, and Chasina were now teenagers. Possibly 16 or 17. They did great at the academy together. All three, fight together, side-by-side. No solo, no letting each other down. Even though there were classes that the three had to train alone, most of the time, they were studying, learning, training, and fighting together. They always had each other's backs.

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Another day in training, the three took a hard level at the obstacle course. The three were working together to pass this training test. It was the mid-terms, and they must have to survive this test together. No one should be left behind.

Queen Valerin and the Director were watching them impressively from the side. The queen was delighted by the sight of three knight-in-training fighting together while the Director showed a worried expression.

"Look at them, my queen," the Director said calmly, trying not to express such emotion about her concern.

"I know. Three brave future knights, fighting together to protect our kingdom," Queen Valerin sighed proudly. She loved how three cadets trained together.

"But this isn't the will of Gloreth, Your Majesty. Friendship is a distraction to the duty of knights. Not even friendship helped Gloreth to be a hero," the Director confessed her opinion about the students' friendship.

The queen turned to her, and explained with confidence, "Director, you might not see it, but the way I see it, these three would make a better future for our kingdom. You may think their friendship won't fulfill their duties, but to me, they would do very well, even better than one knight alone," the queen and the Director returned their gaze to the three students as Ballister, Ambrosius, and Chasina finished the whole obstacle. Nothing but debris and messes around them. They defeated dummies and traps together, and they celebrated with cheers and group hugs for their success. Their laughter was still heard by the two women, "I think Gloreth would've done the same, having friends to fight with her for the kingdom."

But the Director thought of it otherwise when she was observing the trio, "Would you even think that friendship would bring threat to the kingdom, Your Majesty?"

"I think not. Knights are stronger when they work together, especially in the name of friendship, so there's nothing to be worried about, Director. The future remains bright in their hands together," Queen Valerin added proudly before deciding to leave to get back to her duties.

As the queen left, the Director completely disagreed with applying this "circumstance" to a future incredible knight like Ambrosius since he was Gloreth's direct descendant and he had to fulfill his duties just like his family and his ancestor had ever done. She believed Ballister and Chasina were a distraction to Ambrosius' future in knighthood and the kingdom would fall apart because of their friendship, as she had always feared when she was young. At her last glance at the three students, a broken robot was still functioning, and about to shoot Ambrosius, but Chasina pushed him out of the way, and deflected the ammo back onto the robot, breaking it down in the process. The three friends laughed at this moment.

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The trio reached the age of 25 or 26. They completely reached adulthood. 4 years left before their dreams would come true.

One night, Chasina went to Ambrosius' dorm to talk to him. She was standing in front of Ambrosius' door room very nervously. She took a deep breath as she wasn't sure she was ready to do this, but she couldn't do anything until she wanted to say something to her "big brother", "Okay, here we go,"

She knocked on the door, and the door was already opened by the Goldenloin, "Chasina, my baby sister!"

Chasina giggled when he called her that as she playfully smacked his shoulder, "Stop calling me that. Can I come in?"

"Sure, sure," Ambrosius stepped aside for Chasina to come into his room. When she was finally inside, Ambrosius closed the door, and turned to his "little sister", "Do you need something, Chas?"

"Oh, I just wanna talk to you," Chasina answered as she sat on Ambrosius' bed.

"Alright. What is this all about?" Ambrosius asked, sitting next to her.

"Well, umm…" Chasina was too scared and too nervous to tell Ambrosius what she wanted to tell him. She didn't want to say anything literally, but it would be something like it was a goodbye message. She has to be specific, but, at the same time, metaphorically. She exhaled for a moment before confessing, "I just wanted to tell you that you're the best big brother I could ever ask for. You're always there for me when I need you."

Ambrosius was touched by Chasina's words as he scoffed in laughter, "Aww, it sounded like this would be your last words to me. Don't scare me like that!" He threw his arm around her back, making Chasina chuckle with him.

"No, it's true, Ambrosius. I just… I realized how important you are to me. I looked up to you since we were kids, and… I could never forget that," Chasina smiled before leaning herself into a hug.

Ambrosius hugged her back like a big brother protecting his little sister with just his arms, "Me too, Chas. You're the little sister I never thought I had," he planted a kiss on Chasina's head before pulling himself from the hug to look down at her, "Hey, what's really going on?"

"Nothing, nothing, I just…" Chasina didn't want to tell Ambrosius what was happening lately. He let out a little yawn, and her eyes were half-closed.

Ambrosius observed the look on Chasina's face. He helped her up and guided her out of his room. He opened the door for Chasina, and led her out, "Maybe you're just tired. You need to get back to your room. I'll take you there."

"No, no!" Chasina quickly answered. She wasn't ready to head to her room yet. There was something else she wanted to do next, "I-I want to go to Ballister, just to say goodnight to him."

"Alright, Chasina, just be careful on your way. Okay, sis?"

"Yes, Bro, I will."

"Great. Goodnight," Ambrosius smiled at Chasina before he closed the door.

Now that Chasina was alone with her thoughts with Ambrosius closing the door, she turned around, dropping her face to sadness. She had to act fast before she could do what she wanted to do tonight.

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Chasina made it to Ballister's dorm room as she knocked on the door.

Right away, the door opened and Ballister was surprised to see Chasina, "Hey, Chasina!"

"Hi, Ballister," Chasina greeted him with a normal expression.

"What are you doing this late? You must get back to your room before the Director finds out," Ballister instructed, concerning for his "little sister."

"Can I just at least talk to you, just one last time?" Chasina requested as if it would be her last request.

"Umm, okay, come on in," Ballister was a little confused at the last part, but he moved aside to let Chasina in. Ballister then closed the door, and turned to Chasina, "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Umm," Chasina fiddled with her fingers while sitting on the stool. She couldn't bring herself to say what she wanted to tell Ballister. She loved him so much like a big brother, and she didn't want to hurt him. She had to compromise, "Bal, I want to say thank you for… staying with me this whole time. I thought I would be alone, but you and Ambrosius were always there for me, mostly you. You know what it's like to be an orphan commoner, and you made me feel that I'm not alone."

Chasina's speech made Ballister wonder why she would say something like this like it would be the last thing she would ever do. He took another chair, and sat down in front of her, "Okay, where does this come from?"

"Nowhere! Just from me," Chasina lied, making a sheepish smile.

Ballister rolled his eyes and cupped Chasina's face with one hand to make her look at him, "Chasina, you know that I'm always here for you. You know we commoners must stick together," the look on his face made Chasina smile and nod at him. Both of them are commoners, and they still stuck by each other's side every step of the way, "And Ambrosius was there for us as well!"

Chasina chuckled, remembering the protective one of the trio, "Yeah. He's a very nice guy."

"But I was worried. What's gotten into you for saying these things to me?"

"Nothing. I just… I just love you."

"I love you too, sis," Ballister smiled as he kissed Chsina's forehead, and helped her get up from the chair to guide her out of her room. It was already late, and Chasina needed to be in her room, "Let's just talk about it tomorrow, okay? You need to go back to your room." When Chasina was out of the door, Ballister couldn't close the door without telling Chasina, "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

As soon as Ballister closed the door, Chasina's face dropped to sadness as she turned around, whispering, "There's not gonna be a tomorrow," she let out a sniff before walking back to the direction of her room.

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In her room, Chasina already packed the stuff she needed in her suitcase. Before she left, she turned around just to look at her dorm room one last time. On her bed was the sword Ambrosius gave to her with a carved C behind the G.

Chasina let out a few tears in her eyes. She would regret what she would be doing, but it was for the best of her and her two best friends, "I'm sorry, guys. I don't think I can do this," she slowly closed the door as the light that shined onto the sword got narrower and narrower until it was gone. The sword was just door on her bed, waiting for anyone to hold it.

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Sneaking out of the Academy wasn't easy. Chasina had to improvise her plan to escape with other knights seeing her. She used everything she learned from her training with a couple of new techniques to be sneaky and get out of the fence. She threw her suitcase first over the large fence. Then, it was her turn to jump over, but she lowered herself a little bit to avoid being spotted by a light beam from one of the towers. When the light passed by her, Chasina quickly climbed up the fence and threw herself down to the other side.

Chasina ran as far as she could from the Institute's palace. She just hoped no knights would see her leave, not even her adoptive brothers. When she was already gone so far, she looked back at the palace. She remembered that day she snuck into that place, only to be discovered by Queen Valerin and let her train to be a knight at the Academy. Now, she was sneaking out. She thought she could do this. She thought she could be a knight like she always dreamed of. She thought her two best friends' encouragement would help her, but she was wrong. She had been staying at the Academy for years, and only to this day, she had a lot of thought about going down this path, and it wasn't worth it. Chasina just lost her confidence in continuing her dreams, and had some self-doubt about herself; a female commoner being a knight was highly impossible. All her training was a waste of time if she couldn't reach her dreams for real. She wouldn't know that, but she was sure that she couldn't be a knight… like her friends. Most of all, she didn't want to let her friends down. She didn't want to be a burden on them. She wanted them to succeed… without her. She was only doing them a favor, that's what best friends do… what a friend would do. Even if far away, Chasina wanted to keep her promise to her friends that they made when they were still children. She had to stick by it.

Chasina took out a photo of her, Ambrosius, and Ballister together. They were so happy when they took a selfie. But deep down inside, Chasina had a lot of doubts about herself. She wouldn't know if their friendship last forever if she didn't succeed in what she was trained to be. And she couldn't let her friends go down with her… for her. She had to do what's best for all three of them

Chasina first glanced at one brother whom she looked up to, "Ambrosius," and then the other brother whom she grew close to "Ballister," she wiped a tear with her hand before sobbing softly, "Maybe you're better off without me," she put the photo back on her pocket before walking off even further, "I'm so sorry."

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2 years later after her departure, Chasina tried to survive on her own. She went through a couple of jobs and tried to stay hidden from the Institute. During her free time, she had been self-trained with a lot of new hand-to-hand combat and self-defense moves. Now that she was on her own, she had to protect herself. Without her sword, she was defenseless. She had to fight in a different way this time.

There came a time when she was caught in the middle of a gang that would attack her. Thanks to her self-defense training, she defeated a lot of goons many times, and even had to kick them in the nuts! Unfortunately, she was intruded in an abandoned warehouse, and the structure was unstable. Who knew how long this warehouse was standing?

When she was punching and kicking goons, her moves sent them crashing into walls and structures making the warehouse stand still. Seeing that the whole place would fall down, all of the surviving goons moved out and Chasina tried to flee as well, but the whole building collapsed on her.

Chasina was out cold for a few hours until she woke up, looking unharmed, but she felt her left leg get stuck by heavy debris from what was supposed to be a warehouse. Chasina tried to pull her leg out from under the debris, but she was stuck real tight. She even tried lifting with her hands, but the debris was too heavy. She then tried kicking the debris with her spare leg, but it was no use. She tried kicking it again, causing a broken roof to tremble and close to dropping onto her.

While shielding herself with her arms when the broken roof startled her, Chasina noticed the photo slid out from her pocket. She examined the photo of her, Ambrosius, and Ballister. Oh, how she missed them so badly. She even wondered how they were doing when she was gone. Were they worried for her. Were they thinking of her everyday? Or did they just move on and concentrate on their training with her? Either way, she never stopped thinking about them everyday for the past 2 years. She just hoped that one day, if Ambrosius and Ballister would become knights, they would see each other again.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the broken roof was about to crash down on her, so close to her face. Chasina was horrified and tried kicking the debris off her stuck leg, but still no effect. She then gave an angry and frustrated look.

"Good Gloreth. Just great."

Two months later, Chasina found herself a temporary hideout where she was working on something. Other than her training both from the Institute and her self-training, she also learned gadgetry. What she had been made was not easy. It took her two months to figure out her new and only invention. After fixing a couple of things, she attached it to where her left leg was supposed to be, replacing her old flesh leg with a mechanical one.

In order to free herself from the heavy debris that got her leg stuck two months ago, Chasina had no choice but to chop off her own leg when she found a saw nearby. It was painful and a lot of blood bled out from her body, but she managed to survive as long as she could. She always looked at the photo of her and her friends, which motivated her to keep going, and in hopes of seeing them again when she was ready.

It took her two months to build her a new leg, but it was worth it. She wanted it to be as functional as possible in order to live and survive alone.

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These past two more years, Chasina was still living on her own, still trying to get used to her prosthetic leg, and continued her self-defense and hand-to-hand combat training. If not a sword, then she customized her own weapon of defense and attack; her own hairpin that Ballister gave to her when they were younger. She even made copies of her favorite pin as she used them as shuriken.

She remembered that tonight was the night of her friends' knighting ceremony… when she would have been a knight if she had stayed four years ago.

Even if she won't be a knight tonight, not if anyone would remember her, she can't miss her friends becoming knights they had dreamed of since they were all still children.

A male reporter was currently delivering a report for the whole kingdom, "Good evening, folks. We are coming to you live from the Glorodome. I'm Nate Knight."

His female co-worker introduced herself next, "I'm Alamzapam Davis."

"And tonight's the night we knight the knights! Ain't that right, Pam?" Nate declared as a spotlight shined over one of the helicopter lights, bringing to light the shiny statue that is of the great Gloreth herself.

"It sure is, Nate," Pam replied before pointing out as the two reporters could be seen doing their report in front of the stadium, "But this is also the most controversial knighting ceremony in a thousand years."

"You can feel the excitement and the tension," Nate added on, explaining as crowds of people started to pour into the city, gazing at the giant screens around them to watch the report live. "Tonight, tradition will be cast aside, and the kingdom will change forever because of one man."

Chasina was walking on the streets quietly, blending in with the crowd with her blue cloak on. She removed her hood that covered her face to watch the news on a nearby screen.

"Ballister," Pam identified before a video clip showed of Ballister, when he was younger, eagerly going through a training course, "The street kid with the impossible dream of being a knight."

"I'm here to slay monsters and protect our kingdom," young Ballister declared before getting tackled by a bunch of men in armor.

While watching that clip, Chasina let out a little giggle. She never knew what happened to her adoptive older brother when he got into the academy. Chasina hadn't been there yet, so she didn't remember that time.

A new video then showed young Ballister with the queen and the Director, who gave him a shiny sword with Nate explained, "Impossible, that is until the queen herself made a shocking decision."

The little boy was amazed by how mighty the sword looked while the queen explained to the reporters, "No, he doesn't come from a noble bloodline... but he might just have the heart of a hero."

A new video clip then showed Ballister, who was now all grown up as an adult, duked in silvery black knight armor, and easily defeating all the obstacles that stood in his way while Pam elaborated, "And Ballister made the most of that chance, graduating top of his institute class. A class that includes none other than…"

A new clip showed a video imagery of the handsome, charming man in gold armor, while Nate declared his name, "Ambrosius Goldenloin."

"Hey," Ambrosius said with a shiny smile.

Nate explained a little about Ambrosius, "Direct descendant of Gloreth herself, and the most anticipated knight of a generation."

A new video clip showed Ambrosius shouting "Whoo," which prompted the crowd to respond with the same cheer before he knelt down and posed for a picture with a little boy.

While watching, Chasina rolled her eyes, remembering her other older brother with that ego.

She was waiting for her introduction in the news, but she wasn't mentioned nor shown in the video footage. It was possibly the fact that she had gone for 4 years, and no one knew she had gone missing or left the Institute. Guess she was already forgotten. It was already 4 years, and time flew so fast.

Pam the reporter then mentioned, "With Ballister joining the ranks, for the first time in history, our safety will be put in the hands of a commoner."

"I don't feel safe," a female resident mentioned when asked for an interview.

"It's not what Gloreth wanted," another female resident replied, not liking the idea one bit.

Back with the news reporters, Nate then stated, "So tonight, only one question remains. Will the kingdom accept this knight who might not be right?"

Hearing negative comments from other citizens of the kingdom, Chasina knew both she and Ballister wouldn't be accepted to be knights because they were both commoners. Now that she left, and Ballister was back to be the only commoner left in the Institution, all hates went to him now. She just wished she would be there for Ballister, reminding him he wasn't alone in this… but she wasn't there for him… not at this time since things got complicated for Chasina. All she would do now is wish her luck from afar.

"Good luck out there, Bal. I wish you the best," Chasina sighed as she put her hood back on and walked off.

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In the stadium, everyone far and wide had gathered, excitedly anticipating the knighting ceremony to begin. This year was to be a historic ceremony, and whether the outcome was good or bad, all that mattered at the current moment was the sea of new knights that were to be honored by the queen herself.

Meanwhile, Chasine successfully snuck into the Glorodome and found herself an empty seat where she could see the whole arena. With her self-trained skills, she was stealthy, making it impossible to be noticed when she snuck into the stadium. She still covered herself with her cloak, hoping no one would recognize her. Of course, nobody would recognize her because nobody knew her. She was unrecognizable, probably ever since before she left and disappeared. The knighting ceremony just started just in time when Chasina took a seat. She could now relax and watch.

Lights flickered, spotlights brimming brightly, and the announcer declared, "And now the newest heroes of the realm!"

All of the knights rode into the stadium horseback, decked in armor and swords in hand, with the crowd cheering loud and proud for their arrival.

As Ballister entered the arena on his horse, the bright lights and the loud cheering amazed him; sure, it was always thrilling to watch the ceremony, but it was a whole new surreal feeling to BE the one receiving the cheers and applause, having the lights shine down on him, seeing the excitement and intrigue on everyone's faces. He almost wanted to pinch himself and see if he was dreaming, but now was not the time to be distracted.

Ballister rode up to Ambrosisus, who was soaking in the chanting, but turned his head and offered a warm smile to Ballister, as partial sharing of his excitement, and partial reassurance, letting him know that things were going alright so far.

Within the audience, Chasina clearly noticed Ballister and Ambrosius. She was so excited for them, but nervous for only Ballister and sad for herself that she wasn't there with her brothers. She has regrets about leaving, but it was for the best of her two best friends. She knew they did great without her around, and it was fine with her. She wanted her friends' dreams to come true.

As the knights rode their horses up to the white stage, blue carpet decorating its floor and the stairs, the announcer proclaimed as the lights dimmed, shining a spotlight down on a single throne that stood on the stage, "My lords and ladies; her Majesty. the Queen."

The queen, with the director standing next to her, rose up from her throne and approached the edge of the stairs.

On cue, the knights, in unison, lept down from their horses and approached the queen, standing straight by their horses, as orderly as any army would appear.

Ambrosius was the first to come forward and greet the queen. Before he did, he whispered to Ballister, "Here come the whoo," He turned back to the audience, and shouted very loudly, "Whoo." He earned a large round of cheers for him, many responding back with the same cheer.

Ballister couldn't help but smile, and Chasina, from the bleachers, rolled her eyes, chuckling; Sure, they both knew that Ambrosius would be receiving a lot of praise and cheer for becoming a knight; after all, he was a descendant of Gloreth, who was a legendary knight in the kingdom; any knight would be more than honored to follow in the footsteps of such a legacy, and be very well-known for it.

Ambrosius climbed up the steps and dropped to one knee, bowing in front of the queen and giving her his sword.

The queen accepted the sword and declared while tapping his shoulders ever so lightly with the tip of the sword, "I hereby pronounce you Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin, hero of the realm."

The crowd went absolutely bonkers with applause as the queen then told Ambrosius, "Stand, Sir Knight."

Ambrosius stood up on command and went to stand off to the side, near where the queen was.

Chasina let out a small squeal with happiness. She was happy for Ambrosius. He was destined to be a knight because of his ancestry. But Chasina never focused on that. All that mattered to her was Ambrosius was her friend. And he still is. She should be happy for her friend. Now, it was her other friend's turn; she started to be very nervous for him.

Ballister watched this and knew that he was up next to be knighted; this was it, everything he had worked for had led him to this moment. It was time….to fulfill his goal and be named a hero of the realm. He was excited, nervous, determined, and even slightly scared, but history was gonna be made tonight, and now was his time to make it happen. So, with a breath of air he released slowly, Ballister whispered to himself and made his way up the stairs, "Here we go."

While walking up, he saw the proud smile that the queen had; it was a smile resembling that of a proud mother watching their son. Although the Ballister was but merely a commoner, being handpicked by the queen herself to proceed with training at the institute and succeeding, making it this far, well, that qualified as an accomplishment to be very proud of.

Albeit, the closer he got, the more nervous Ballister began to feel, but seeing the reassuring smile Ambrosius had helped his nerves, although the stoic stance of the Director did not do much to calm his nerves. At the bleachers, Chasina was biting a finger real hard, praying that everything would be alright.

When Ballister was soon standing face-to-face with the queen, she spoke to him, "I've been looking forward to this moment."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Ballister responded as he bowed down to one knee, feeling gratefulness and sincerity in his tone of voice.

Then, the queen made a surprising announcement, "My people, starting today, any of you should be able to hold the sword if you want it; if you earn it."

This announcement made the entire audience murmur in curiosity, confusion, excitement, and so many other emotions! While yes, the idea of even simple folks like themselves becoming knights did seem fairly exaggerated, and perhaps an improbable task, would this be something that COULD become a viable option for their future?

While the audience had their own doubts and questions, Chasina sighed sadly. She held a sword once and got into training, but she had self-doubt and a lack of confidence during her time at the academy. She doubted herself if she could ever earn a sword like both her brothers. She just wished she could continue, but there was a part of her that made her think she couldn't do it. She snapped out of her thoughts to continue watching.

"I've watched this young man earn it many times over," Before questions could arise, the queen then looked back at Ballister, asking him for his sword, which he easily took out and presented. The queen picked up the sword and gently tapped the tip of it on his shoulder, "I hereby pronounce you Sir Ballister Boldheart, hero of the realm!"

There was an eerie wave of silence in the beginning; did no one want to cheer for him? Did many people still not think Ballister would be a formidable knight because he was a commoner? Was this silence gonna break part to a loud ringing of boos or worse?

Both Ambrosius and Chasina couldn't help but feel a little concerned when the two separately saw the small frown Ballister had when he received no praise after being knighted by the queen herself.

Just then, there was a cla- then another, followed by a loud cheer, and then more cheers. Soon, to Ballister's surprise, the entire stadium was cheering loudly in applause, chanting his name at the top of their lungs, "Boldheart! Boldheart!"

"Boldheart! Yeah," Ambrosius cheered with a laugh also escaping his throat as he felt very happy for Ballister; he knew that if anyone deserved to have a moment like this as much as any other knight, it was him.

"Yes! That's my brother!" Chasina shouted happily as if anyone could hear her. She was happy for Ballister. She believed from the very beginning she met him that he could make a difference for young commoners like both of them.

Ballister himself could hardly believe it; the people finally saw him as a knight. He defied the impossible and made it possible; becoming a knight from common background! He didn't know what to think, other than…It truly is…a dream come true.

As the crowd continued to chant his name, the queen told the knight while giving him back his sword, "Congratulations, Sir Boldheart. Let a new era of heroes begin with you."

However, when Ballister had got his sword back, something strange happened; the end tip of the handle which the queen was holding earlier had…turned on? And it not only turned on, but a green light was emitted, and pointed directly at the queen herself.

The handle of the sword turned into a sort of high-gadget ray, and before Ballister could even know what was happening, the ray blasted a green beam of light that hit the queen square in the chest and sent her flying.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion; the ray being blasted, the queen getting hit, her crown falling, the shocked look on everyone's faces, and even the disbelief on Balister's face. Everyone in the stadium, the Director and even Ambrosius and Chasina, who let out a horrific gasp, could not believe what was happening!

Without thinking, and acting in quick defense to save the queen, Ambrosius pulled out his sword and sliced it right through the arm that was holding the sword ray, sending the ray's blast upward at the sky, just narrowly avoiding the screens above the stage. Everyone in the audience looked up in shock, not only for what the blast from the ray was doing but also for what had been done; the queen was shot right in front of them, by how they saw it, none other than Ballister!

As much as she was shocked that the queen was killed by a green ray, Chasina just couldn't help but keep her eye on both Ballister and Ambrosius. She saw the whole scene, the way Ambrosius indeliberately sliced Ballister's arm with a sword. It was horrifying. One of her best friends who was her brother at heart got his arm chopped by her other friend and brother at heart. She never ever expected it would come to this. None of the three would think this would happen.

Ballister reeled in pain after his arm had gotten chopped off, but looking away from his arm, he saw the sword/ray drop and shatter upon impact hitting the floor. Broken light shards fell down from the ceiling, but all were oblivious to it for the shock of the events that have transpired were of much more importance.

Ballister looked up and saw the look of disbelief on Ambrosius' face, as well as the surprised expressions everyone else had, but none of their looks shook Ballister's more than Ambrosius'. From afar, Chasina still stared at her now shocked brothers as she covered her mouth in disbelief with her hands and little tears came out of her eyes. She felt that her worst expectation might come true… this might be the start of a faded friendship.

However, no words could be spoken from the three, with one being distant from the two; all that lay between them were the remains of the actions done.

Before that thought could come through, the chandelier from above broke off and fell down, damaging a hole through the stage floor between Ballister and Ambrosius. Chasina helplessly closed her eyes, not wanting to see more of them. She couldn't handle this anymore so she quickly rushed through the crowd to find an exit.

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She didn't know how long it was; hours, days, or weeks. Chasina still couldn't get over what just happened at the Glorodome. It was a nightmare back there. She was still in disbelief at what her brothers had done. On a rainy day, all Chasina had was a cloak, and wet, the rain couldn't stop her from thinking. She wasn't even running from the rain. Just letting it all in. Chasina didn't like to believe, didn't want to believe it. But something in her mind made her ask questions. Did Ballister really kill the queen? Did Ambrosius do the right thing? Her head got messed up with sadness, anger, and confusion. She couldn't tell anymore.

As she passed by, Chasina got a chance to stop at nearby screens of the news.

"The queen killer is still out there."

"Everyone is scared."

"Not since Gloreth's monster has anything been so hated."

"He never should've been a knight."

"He wasn't one of us and hated us for it."

"A commoner."

"He's vile."

"He's got no place in this kingdom."

"He's a murderer."

"He's a monster."

Looking at the news, Chasina shed a tear. She realized that this whole thing started 4 years after she left. It made her wonder if this was the consequence of her disappearance from her two best friends… that they changed without her presence. She didn't only think about herself or her two friends, she thought about how it came to this for all three of them.

Deep down, despite how she and everyone witnessed, Chasina refused to believe Ballister killed the queen. She had known him for a long time. He wasn't the kind of person to murder someone, especially the one who believed in him and Chasina as well. But would it be because she left without telling either of her two friends? Chasina hoped that wasn't the reason. If it did, then it might be her fault, and she wished she would've been there to prevent it from happening.

"Oh, Ballister, what just happened?! What did you do?" Chasina squeaked while holding her tears, and holding the picture of her and the two boys together. She stared at Ballister, having mixed feelings if she would believe he would do such a vile thing. Then, her eyes shifted to Ambrosius, and she let out more tears from her eyes, "Ambrosius, what have you done?!"

She couldn't get over the fact that Ambrosius would do that to Ballister. She wanted to believe it was an accident, but even if it was, it didn't change what she saw. Her brother hurt her other brother.

Chasina turned around, and started sobbing while hugging herself, "What is happening to my brothers?" She really hoped that she would've been there for Ballister and Ambrosius, and maybe protected them from hurting each other in any way.

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When a month passed by, while trying to get her mind off of things, Chasina went to the marketplace to get some food. Living alone in her temporary apartment was so lonely and scary sometimes. She had to survive by herself ever since she left the Institution. Because of taking multiple jobs and getting fired for 4 years, she earned her paycheck every now and then.

While getting some vegetables she needed, she heard electronic wanted signs from a newspaper stand, and it alerted her. She turned around to notice Ballister bumping into a few folks, who looked at him weirdly before walking away. The nearby window of a newspaper stand he passed kept showing electronic "WANTED" signs with his face on it, making him desperately cling to the hood he had on to try and cover his head and face. He almost crashed into a man who was reading a newspaper that had a "WANTED" poster of him on it. Ballister quickly, and desperately tried to hide his face so NO ONE could see him, but it was getting harder to have his identity concealed safely without someone spotting him. And low and behold.

"Wait, Bal?" Chasina said with a very low voice, curious about what her so-called criminal bestie doing out in the open, "What is he doing here?"

"I know he's here! Find him," she heard Ambrosius' voice order out, making Ballister hide behind a car to stay out of any line of sight.

"Ambrosius!" Chasina quickly hid behind a tower of crates with vegetables in them. She took a peak to see Ambrosius leading other knights to search for Ballister.

Then, a woman noticed Ambrosius and smiled, saying, "Look, it's Goldenloin!"

This stirred a crowd to come over and gather around Ambrosius in excitement, which turned out to be the perfect distraction for Ballister. With everyone looking at Sir Goldenloin, no one would even think to turn and spot him!

While Ambrosius tried to tell the crowd that they had to move because he was looking for Ballister, a kid then asked him hopefully, "Can I get your autograph?"

Mentally just biting his tongue, he figured one autograph couldn't hurt, replying while holding out a pen, "Just one signature. Who am I signing?"

While hiding and watching, Chasina remembered that night… the night of the knighting ceremony. How could she forget? It was unnecessarily graphic. She didn't want to think of how Ambrosius would hurt Ballister so badly. But what concerned her the most was that Ambrosius was the one who led the other knights to find Ballister! Despite not having the right information as to why Ambrosius was doing this to their best friend, Chasina could see, hear or even feel with her guts that he was serious with his duties as a knight, even putting his friendship at risk.

"Is he serious right now?" Chasina whispered angrily.

Ambrosius signing the autograph gave Ballister the perfect chance to sneak out and enter the car, hiding out inside of it.

A minute later, loud music was heard from the car Ballister was holding in. It started to get Ambrosius and Chasina's attention, with the golden-armored knight and a blue-cloaked figure turning their heads and seeing the car blasting the music the roof down, and some sort of figure, though Ambrosius couldn't tell who it was, inside with the saleslady while Chasina already knew who. But Ambrosius had a hunch that it could possibly be Ballister hiding in the car, and, after finishing with the autographs, he tried to get the crowd to move so he could take a closer look. This feared Chasina that her "wanted" brother would get caught for sure by her other "heroic" brother. She wanted to just step out of hiding, and help Ballister, but she couldn't show herself yet, and wasn't the right time yet.

But something else caught Chasina's attention. While still hiding behind a tower of crates, she noticed the squire was running for his life, asking the people around him,

"Please help me, help me, please! A little demon baby is after me! Please help me!"

Curious about what was going on, Chasina followed the commotion.

When Squire ran under a bridge pass, he stopped and screamed in fright when the "Demon Baby" appeared in front of him. Frantically wanting to get away, he threw a meek punch, which led to the "demon baby" biting his hand and making Squire shriek in pain.

While witnessing from behind a few people who were helplessly watching the squire get beaten by a "Demon Baby", Chasina let out a little chuckle. She found this scene a little funny. She sometimes liked to watch people get hurt in a comedic way, one thing she wasn't proud of.

Then, Chasina moved aside when the "Demon Baby" tossed Squire around like a beach ball, making the blue-cloaked woman laugh, but she tried to cover her mouth as she was supposed to ignore the commotion as other people in the market did.

The Squire was being dragged against his will by the "Demon Baby", who had him by his ankle, all while the crowd of people watching did nothing but view the current situation, as merely they had no idea what to do, while Chasina just couldn't do anything but watch this hilarious moment. You couldn't see this kind of shenanigans every day.

The Squire kept throwing whatever he could get his hands on at the "Demon Baby" to get it to let him go, but nothing worked, until he threw a piece of pizza at it, making the "Demon Baby" pull it away from "his" face, "Pineapple on pizza? Bleah!"

"There," a knight's voice rang out, making the "Demon Baby" look over her shoulder.

It caught Chasina's attention as well as she looked behind her.

Scrambling to come down the escalator was Ambrosius, who told the people he passed by, "Excuse me; I need to get through; move!"

Adding onto the predicament as the "Demon Baby" accidentally let go of Squire's ankle to get the pizza off gave Squire the chance to get his foot out of the shoe and start to run, freedom in his sight! Nothing could stop him now-

CRASH!

Nothing except getting hit by a car that rams him into a box of pots and pans, making the pans spill over him.

Chasina was a little surprised there, but she couldn't help but find this funny than horrifying. She still kept herself hidden behind the crates but kept her eye on the "Demon Baby" and Ballister, who came out of the car.

"Aw, why did you get to kill him?" The "Demon Baby" asked, pouting.

"He's not dead, I hope," Ballister frantically responded as he and Nimona picked up the unconscious squire while Ballister desperately hoped that running the car into him REALLY did not kill the guy.

"Is that Ballister?" a male passerby commented after seeing Ballister.

"It's the queen killer!" a female passerby exclaimed in shock.

"He's working with a demon baby!" another male passerby stated as Nimona and Ballister placed Squire's unconscious body into the car trunk.

Chasina started to wonder if this "Demon Baby" was associated with Ballister. It made her wonder how did this happened. Chasina even remembered on the news that Ballister was partnered with a pink-haired girl. The "Demon Baby" wasn't that girl. Something felt different for Chasina because of the way she observed her best friend in the shadows.

"Ballister, stop," Ambrosius, holding a crossbow, shouted as he and the other knights headed right towards him.

Chasina was alerted by Ambrosius' presence, and about to catch Ballister for sure. She stayed hidden, but she sat down and took three hairpins as her shuriken out from her pocket, just to prepare for what was going to happen.

Ballister and the "Demon Baby" tried to put Squire's body in the trunk, but the door was not closing.

When Ambrosius got a clear shot at Ballister with his crossbow, Chasina was ready to throw her hair pins at Ambrosius. They won't knock him down or anything. Chasina only wanted to distract Ambrosius to let Ballister and his new companion escape.

When Ballister looked up and saw the concerned/stunned look on Ambrosius' face. Chasina was observing this and got curious as to why Ambrosius suddenly lowered his crossbow. She waited for Ambrosius to get ready to shoot so she could take some action, but it didn't turn out what she was expecting.

As Ambrosius couldn't take the shot, but the other knights did, it was all the more motivation for Ballister to get into the driver's seat and get as far as he could as fast as he could.

The saleslady was kicked out of the car, the "Demon Baby" hopped in, and Ballister immediately drove off, flying the car up into the sky before any more arrows could be shot at the car by the knights below.

While Ambrosius was still trying to process what was going on and why Ballister was doing all of this, the other knights were frustrated, and the people around them were in a panic.

Meanwhile, Chasina went back into hiding behind the crates, and kept herself from laughing as she enjoyed the shenanigans in this market. She rolled her eyes and sighed in relief, but from enjoyment and knowing Ballister was safe for now. She couldn't stay any longer or the other knights and Ambrosius might notice her. Chasina picked up her grocery paper bag and left her hiding spot without being noticed by the people around her. She just hoped she'd see Ballister again, and she would help him in the shadows. She hoped he'd be safe. She began to wonder why Ambrosius lowered his weapon when he got the chance to capture Ballister. It made her think there might be hope between them. Might be hope that their friendship remained intact.

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Early in the morning of the next day, Chasina went out for a little stroll while reading a newspaper. She was already mad when the newspaper was about "the queen killer" and a girl with pink hair. Chasina angrily crumbled the newspaper and threw it into the nearby trash can.

"Ugh! Why do people think of this?!" Chasina mumbled as if she wanted to shout, "My best friend is not a killer."

Just then, at the corner of her eyes, she saw two mysterious figures heading into the Institute headquarters. Chasina turned in that direction just to make sure if she noticed what she thought she knew. Yep, it was Ballister, along with a girl with pink hair.

"Ballister?" Chasina muttered quietly, "What is he doing?"

When Ballister and his companion snuck into the headquarters, Chasina had to follow them, wanting to know what they were up to. But it would be difficult if someone or Ballister himself would see her. Chasina wasn't ready to show up to one of her friends yet. Things got complicated lately.

When she found another way into the Institute headquarters without guards around, Chasina just had to get in from the outside. It might be tough since she might be out of the open, but she was stealthier than being inside the building. The walls of the building were smoother than she remembered. She used to climb these walls as a kid, and now, it felt different when she touched the walls and she had a prosthetic leg. Remembering her self-training when climbing walls without proper tools, she had to improvise by using the building's structure. It'll take her a lot of time, but he had to try. She wanted to know what Ballister was doing here, even if it put him at risk of being arrested. Chasina started to climb by jumping sideways in a narrow gap in the building.

It took her maybe 15 minutes and she got tired, probably because her robotic leg added extra weight to her body, but Chasina made it just in time when Ballister and his "sidekick" faced Ambrosius and the Director. Chasina had to remain low so no one could see her. She remained holding tight at the edge and kept her face hidden. She hoped no one would see her on this side of the building or she'd get caught for sure. She could see and hear everything that was going on.

Ambrosius was standing in front of the Director in defense, set to protect her if needed, while Ballister walked down the stairs, meeting up with Nimona. Both sides at a standstill, he then spoke up, "Ambrosius, the Director killed the queen."

"What?" Ambrosius, surprised to hear this, responded.

Chasina gasped softly with her fist covering her mouth while her other hand still held onto the edge. The person she depended on killed the queen? How? And why? As a little girl, Chasina was always dependent on her teacher, and the Director had always given her advises and wisdom that she needed for her training. She never thought her "favorite teacher" was evil all the time!

The Director snidely responded quietly to try and lure Ambrosius away from thinking she was the suspect, "Another desperate lie,"

"He's not a liar," Nimona quickly remarked, defending Ballister.

The Director let out a laugh, "Says the miscreant, whispering in his ear."

Nimoan took no offense to the tease, answering back, "Aw, thank you."

Ballister then spoke up, saying, "I'm innocent, and I have proof," and reached into his pocket to grab the evidence he and Nimona had gotten.

The Director, noticing this, became a little worried; if Ballister had proof, then it'd mean she'd instantly be exposed and her plans would fall apart! To try and stir Ambrosius to stop Ballister, she told him, "He's got a weapon."

Just before Ballister could show the picture on the phone, a light beam was shot and it destroyed the phone, and the evidence, along with it.

Up in the sky, the knights were on large, white helmet-based hoverbikes, flashlights shining on the duo below, and holding ray guns in their hands, with Todd exclaiming, "Not anymore! Todd rules!"

Then, a lot more knights came in and surrounded Ballister and Nimona, set to shoot in defense if need to be.

Seeing so many knights riding on their hoverbikes and light beams pointed at Ballister and Nimona, Chasina lowered herself a little bit, trying to be as stealthier as possible, but she didn't want to miss what would happen next… though she was hoping for the most important thing.

Surrounded on the roof and up in the sky, with possibly no spot of escaping, Ballister was not gonna run, not at least before he had the chance to try and clear things up with the truth, telling Ambrosius, "It doesn't matter, you shouldn't need proof. you know I'm not a murderer."

Ambrosius stood there, still, and while not verbally responding, emotionally, he was at a standstill; he's known Ballister the longest out of anyone, but still….did he know him enough to know if Ballister…would even do something so…dark?

Then Director, growing more impatient by the minute, told him, "What are you waiting for, Captain?"

"Hurry before the whale gets here," Todd added.

While Ambrosius was still standing there, thinking what meant to be done, Chasina was still hoping that another one of her best friends/adoptive brothers would believe Ballister. In her heart, Chasina believed that he was not a murderer. She was hoping Ambrosius would believe him too. All three of them knew each other very well. Nothing could ever change what they had between them… could it? They made a promise those years ago. Chasina expected Ambrosius to stick by that promise if he remembered.

Nimona tried to encourage Ambrosius to make the right choice, telling him, "Come on, man. Do the right thing."

Ambrosius got a good look at Nimona and asked Ballister, "Who is she, Bal," Then, something in her eyes made him rephrase his question, "What is she?"

Chasina had the same question in her mind ever since she learned about Nimona's presence with Ballister. She squinted her eyes to see a little closer and clearer while keeping herself hidden.

Worried that Ambrosius would do something to hurt her, Ballister tries to calmly, though worryingly, tell him, " Ambrosius, I am begging you to trust me."

But without a clear answer, and the safety of his people at hand, Ambrosius held the sword up high, pointing it right at Ballister.

Both Ballister and Chasina, who just witnessed this, were shocked and in disbelief. Ambrosius, the guy they thought was their friend. Their best friend. A lover, a brother, an only noble who believed to be different from others. Yet, they were wrong.

Ballister thought Ambrosius would believe him. They had known each other when they were still children. They shared each other's dreams. They shared each other's lives. They shared everything together. The only crime they ever committed to each other was they stole each other's hearts. They had been in a romantic relationship for 14 years, though it felt like at the beginning they first met. It was a childhood crush at first sight. They always had each other. Ballister trusted Ambrosius all his life and heart, even when Nimona warned the former about the latter. Ambrosius would've been the only person Ballister had to ask for help because he was the only one in the institute he could ever trust. He loved him. He won't use him to clear his name because of their relationship. It was about that. It was about how the years went by, and they stayed close together and promised to love each other in every single way.

And yet, here they were now. Ballister was heartbroken and Ambrosius made him think their relationship wasn't worth his duty and his legacy as a knight and Gloreth's descendant respectively. Ballister thought there was hope with Ambrosius, but he chose his family's legacy over his heart, over the man he loved.

Chasina couldn't believe what she just witnessed. In all her life, she thought nothing would get in the way of her and the two boys' friendship. She still remembered that day, the day the boys brought her to the stadium where they sat on the rafters, and they all made a solemn promise that she, Ballister, and Ambrosius would stay best friends forever, no matter what. Not even their duties would tear their friendship apart. Chasina wanted to believe it would be true, but it wasn't. It was a lie. Ambrosius' promise was a lie this whole time. He was the one who made the promise first. It was his idea to make it their own oath. Chasina hesitated that day because she believed this promise would break someday. And it happened anyway. Chasina was heartbroken for the same reason that Ballister thought. She even believed that Ambrosius wouldn't let his family's legacy and his duty as a knight stand in the way of their friendship. But she saw it in her own eyes. Her adoptive older brother pointed a sword at her other adoptive older brother. Arm chopping might be an accident, but pointing a sword at a friend was a choice, and he made this choice without having second thoughts at all. He broke his promise. The promise that was sacred to all three of them. And she thought she was the one who broke the promise first, but at least she wasn't a backstabber like Ambrosius.

"Ambrosius… why?" Chasina whimpered as tears streaming down her face. She kept holding on to the edge, but she couldn't stop her tears from forming and shedding because one of her friends made an unfair decision. She looked up to Ambrosius when they were kids. And then, the person she looked up to betrayed their friendship. It made her wonder if he would do the same for her if she were in Ballister's shoes. Would he still be choosing his legacy then their friendship? Then, he might though, "You promise."

He then declared, in possibly the coldest voice that Ballister had heard him talk in, "Arrest them."

Seeing that talking no longer was an option, it left to do one other thing, one Ballister was more than welcome to. He stood firm, telling Ambrosius, "You wanna know who the kid is?"

Nimona seemed to catch what Ballister was planning, commenting in determination, "Oh, I like where this is going."

"You wanna show 'em," Ballister asked Nimona.

"I'd love to," she eagerly responded.

"Let's break stuff," Ballister declared.

"Metal," Nimona replied, her eyes glowing red and her teeth baring fangs as she leaped up.

Ambrosius, the Director, the other knights, and Chasina gasped in surprise as they witnessed Nimona shapeshifting into her mighty gorilla form again. As she landed, she bellowed a very loud roar towards Ambrosius, one that shook him, not a lot, but to a great degree that it stunned him before she ceremoniously booped him in the nose and started to help Ballister fight the knights off.

The Director, seeing that things were now gonna go poorly for them, asked Ambrosius to, "Give me a sword."

However, Ambrosius was more concerned about the Dirextor's safety, blocking her while replying, "We need to get you to safety."

Meanwhile, the fight continued, with Ballister using his sword to block the strikes of the knight while Nimona shapeshifted from gorilla to cat, clawing away at a defenseless knight.

Ambrosius had gotten the director into their aircraft, telling the pilot, "Get this thing in the air now!"

As the aircraft took over, taking the Director to a safe place, Ballister and Nimona continued to defend themselves from the knights that were attacking them.

Wanting to help Ballister and Nimona without showing herself, Chasina remained hidden at the edge as she took out 5 hairpins from her pocket with a spare hand, and threw them at some of the knights that charged at Ballister, knocking them down while the pins made clanking sounds at the metal armors. The hairpins spun back at Chasina, grabbing them immediately when they flew back to her. Chasina hid below before anyone noticed what she did. Helping out without revealing herself was so much fun for her. It made her feel alive.

Just then, two light beams shined in front of her, thus blowing Chasina's cover, and were discovered by a couple of knights on their hoverbikes.

"Halt!" One of the knights shouted, "Who goes there?! Who are you?!"

Instead of fear and doubts that she had been piling up in her head forever, Chasina smirked sinisterly, and answered, "Your worst nightmare!" She had been waiting years to get back at the other knights who wronged her and Ballister as she had 6 shurikens in her hands and quickly leaped from the wall.

Chasina punched a knight off the hoverbike. It was her hoverbike now. Two other knights shot at her, but she managed to dodge them and three her hairpins at them, knocking them off their vehicles. Another three knights approached her when her hairpins didn't hit them. Chasina clung over the hoverbike and swung the knights off.

Even not directly, she was actually helping Ballister and Nimona, giving them fewer knights to fight than more, and it'll be easy for them.

Meanwhile, Ballister blocked his sword at the incoming strikes while Nimona continued to use shapeshifting to knock the knights away. She changed into a wolf to pounce at a knight that came from behind before shapeshifting into an ostrich and running on the knights' heads, knocking them out with heavy foot strides.

While the fight was very serious, Nimona was laughing away, having a ball with getting to fight off these metallic knuckleheads.

Topping things off, she leaped into the air and shapeshifted into a rolled-up armadillo, which she got thrown by Ballister and nailed one knight in the ribs very hard.

"Sorry, no sorry!" Nimona commented as the knight fell over.

When a knight on the hovercraft was firing lasers at him, Ballister quickly pulled up an electronic shield to block before he headbutted the knight on the ground.

Deciding that it was time to get off this roof, he asked Nimona, "You see a way out of here?"

"Of horse I do," Nimona answered, trying to be funny as she shapeshifted into a big horse, getting Ballister onto her back and galloping away.

"Okay, that was terrible," Ballister commented but with a smile as he and Nimona made a grand escape.

Ambrosius chased after them, "Stop that… horse?"

Nimona galloped over to the edge, where two knights were already there, firing at them, Ballister asked Nimona, who showed no signs of slowing down, "We're going over, aren't we?"

"Yep," Nimona answered, adding before making a huge leap, "The only way out is down."

"Why are we always falling?!" Blister shouted as he and Nimona began to free fall from the roof of the Institute.

While Chasina was still standing on the hoverbike, banging two knights on each other's heads, and throwing a hairpin on the other knight behind her, she noticed Ballister and Nimona falling off the roof. She sighed when she realized the fight was moving back to the ground. She didn't want to climb down like how she climbed up earlier, so…

"Guess we're going down!" Chasina let herself fall freely.

Luckily for her, her free fall was safer when she used the knights on hoverbikes to break her falls as she punched and kicked every knight she encountered on the hoverbikes, lowering herself way down while trying to follow Ballister and Nimona, still keeping herself on a low profile.

Nimona easily shapeshifted a pair of dragon wings and caught Ballister, "Ha ha! Told you you'd want the wings. Whoo-hoo!"

Ballister was happy to be not free-falling anymore, and grateful that their fall was now gonna be a little smoother until he saw that company was trailing behind them.

Nimona shapeshifted into a gorilla again, sliding down the building's banister carefully while hugging Balister tightly, before she threw him onto a hoverbike.

"Whoo-hoo-hoo," Ballister shouted as he headbutted the knight riding on it, hopped on, and held on tight, riding it down.

Nimona, meanwhile, leaped up and ceremoniously shapeshifted into a whale, using her mouth to swallow the knights in the air. She landed belly-first on the ground and used her blowhole to shoot the knights out in a wet fashion.

As Ballister arrived and hopped off the hoverbike, he commented to Nimona, "Okay, that was super gross."

"Haha, I know!" Nimona cheered out loud as the group of knights fell down in a splashy glop.

Chasina made it down safely to the other side. When she saw a few more knights coming after Ballister and Nimona, Chasina jumped into their path, waving her index finger before giving one of them a punch in the face

Left alone to fight off a few of the remaining knights that were waiting for him on the ground, Ballister and Nimona fended them off before Ambrosius came charging in, riding on a hoverbike before he leaped down, sword in hand.

As Nimona quickly shapeshifted to fend off the other knights, Ballister and Ambrosius went toe to toe, sword and sword, with Ballister saying, "Well, if it isn't the golden boy."

While Chasina was still fighting incoming knights, she saw both Ballister and Ambrosius dueling with swords.

That was it! Her worst fears came true!

"Oh no," Not only she was worried about the two fighting each other, but also she was out of the open. She couldn't let her two best friends see her. She's not ready. Chasina grabbed an unconscious knight and used him as a puppet to fight approaching knights while keeping herself hidden.

She overheard Ballister and Ambrosius' argument while they kept dueling it out.

"Did I ever mean anything to you? Or was it all just a lie?" Ballister remarking angrily towards Ambrosius.

"A lie? Says the guy running around with a monster," Ambrosius harshly retorted back.

But he got him back with a snark from Ballister, who quickly came in defense of Nimona, telling the golden knight, "Don't call her that! She's smart, kind, and quite sophisticated."

On cue, as the two knights separated, one of the guards was running away in fear, with Nimona, still in otter form, pointing out in hilarity, "That guy just peed his armor! He peed his armor!" Not the most sophisticated comment, but a perfectly timed one, nonetheless.

And adding more to the pleasure, it only made Ballister's point stronger, especially when he mentioned to Ambrosius bitterly, "And she has my back, unlike you."

Ambrosius could feel his strikes becoming overpowered, valiantly trying to fight back while stating, "You lied to me about everything!"

"Only one lying to you is the Director," Ballister retorted back before knocking Ambrosius to the ground.

With the shift of power in play, Ambrosius felt like, now that he was defenseless, that this was gonna mean that he was gonna get "killed" and asked Ballister bitterly, "What? You're gonna kill me now too?"

Overhearing that part in disbelief, Chasina suddenly dropped the unconscious knight. For something in her life, she never heard of Ambrosius saying something heinous about Ballister before. This was the first time, and it hurt her that a friend would say that to her other friend.

Ballister almost felt incredulous by that comment; why would Ambrosius think that?! He was trying to save him, not kill him! He quickly responded in shock, "You believe that?" After stabbing his sword into the ground near Ambrosius's head, just to send the message straight to him, Ballister stated with anger in his voice, "Then you never knew me at all."

Just before Ballister could do anything else, Todd zoomed in on his hoverbike, grabbing Ballister and throwing him into a nearby cereal stand, the booth's theme song playing while the cereal boxes fell and littered the sidewalks.

Todd jumped off his bike and cracked his knuckles, approaching Ballister while telling him, "Yeah. Now I'm gonna punch you in the face."

Chasina gasped when Ballister got beaten up by Todd and the other knights. To save her friend, Chasina ran towards the wall of the gate, where she decided to take the other way around to prevent being seen by her friends by going over it. It was tough to climb onto the wall, but when it came to her friend, she had to take the risk. But when she made it outside and landed on her feet, a few knights piled her down. She didn't see that coming.

Meanwhile, otter Nimona was toying with a knight's arm, saying, "Now, I'm no doctor, but this cast looks delicious," she used her teeth to tear into the armor.

However, when she didn't catch sight of Ballister, she looked up, calling out, "Boss?" When she saw where the crowd of knights had gathered, she assumed that they possibly had him surrounded and were trying to hurt him.

Furious, her eyes glowed as she shapeshifted into a wolf and ran across the courtyard before turning into a rhino and barging through the doors.

Back at the stand, Ballister was trying to put up a fight, but got knocked in the back by Todd, who taunted, "You think this hurts? Wait till you see what we do to your pet monster."

On cue, before Rhino Nimona could reach him, she got shot at with waves of electricity that dragged her to the ground, and no matter what she tried to change into, the electricity kept pouring onto her.

Ballister tried to push his way toward her, but the knights surrounding him kept pushing him back, even his plea "No! Leave her alone," fell on deaf ears.

Hearing Ballister pleading for Nimona, Chasina turned to see how that pink rhino got electrified. She might not know Nimona completely, but the tone of Ballister's voice pleading for her made Chasina realize he cared for that girl. Chasina struggled to break free to help Nimona, but the other knights held her arms and shoulders, refusing to let her go and about to arrest her.

When Nimona caught what little sight of Ballister getting surrounded before her view was obscured, it made her rage go to defying levels, and in a puff of smoke, she shapeshifted into a gigantic dragon; the same dragon that was the mascot brand of the cereal at the booth.

The sight of dragon Nimona made Todd turn around and say happily at first, "Kwispy," before asking in confusion, "Wait, what?"

"Hope you brought milk," Nimona declared in response before shooting gigantic pebble-like cereal out of her mouth, which pounded all the knights away with ease and made them slip and fall to the floor.

While Chasina and the other knights who held her captive were distracted by Nimona's "Kwispy" form, Chasina realized the knights' eyes were on the dragon. It was her chance to escape as she shoved the knights with her shoulder, and punched them aside when they tried to hold her again.

She had that open window to escape now and tried to hide before anyone else saw her.

Ambrosius had noticed the sight of the dragon, asking himself a very confused, "What?"

Dragon Nimona let out a happy roar and shot her hands/claws up in the rock fashion sign.

Just then, a car that was on the road turned and flipped over, narrowly about to hit an innocent little girl who was hiding from the madness before Nimona stopped the car with her tail.

Nimona couldn't help but look up down at the girl and see how scared she was looking up at Nimona, who was possibly the most intimidating "monster" she had ever seen.

Ignoring the warning sirens and calls, Nimona quickly shapeshifted into a small girl and tried to approach her gently, "It's okay."

But the scared girl quickly held up a wooden sword, stepping back in fright because she was scared Nimona was gonna hurt her. It prompted her to nervously say in terror, "M-Monster" before her mom rushed in and picked the girl up, taking her to safety.

It left Nimona reeling in guilt, and at the same time, seeing how scared the girl was… it bothered her seeing how many still viewed her as a "monster" in their eyes.

Distracted by her thoughts, she didn't hear the knights approaching her, ready to capture her.

However, just before they could grab her, Ballister came riding in on a hoverbike, "I've got you, kid," he grabbed Nimona before they could, escaping into the dusty streets, with Ambrosius sadly watching on after being unable to have captured them.

Chasina was watching behind the damaged vehicles and saw what just happened. She saw what Nimona did when she saved that little girl, but she was feared instead. It concerned Chasina for Nimona about how she felt that way.

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4 days later, at the Antlered Serpent restaurant, Chasina was taking a drink… or more or less than 10 drinks already after what happened at the Institute castle today.

"Hey, another glass over here!" Chasina called while raising her glass, slightly drunk.

"Don't you think you had enough?" The cashier asked worryingly.

"Another glass! Something stronger!" Chasina yelled. The cashier rolled his eyes and went to the back to find a stronger drink for her

Everything was all messed up in her life. Ballister was framed by the Director, Ambrosius betrayed him, and both of her friends started to hate each other. It was like their friendship fell apart. Chasina refused to believe this was happening. Her worst nightmare had come true… for real. She still believed all of this happened because she left 4 years ago. It made her wonder what would happen if she stayed with her friends. She even believed their friendship was a worthless child promise that the trio made as… children. She was so mad. Mad about what was happening. Mad at the Director for killing the queen and framing Ballister. Mad at Ambrosius for choosing his duty and the legacy of their friendship. Things would never be the same again, until…

Chasina heard a buzz from her phone. She took her phone out and tapped the notification she received.

It was the news about the Director who revealed the shocking confession.

"I framed Ballister. I killed the queen."

Chasina snapped out of her drunk state and reviewed the number of views and comments in this video. She read all of the hate comments about the Director and the Institute. It was unbelievable! A lot of people believed in this video. They believed in Ballister now.

Chasina sighed in relief that the problem worked itself after all. She was so frustrated about what happened lately, but maybe things would get better soon. She took out the bills from her pocket and put them on the corner. She wore the hood, Bal. Well done." She was heading out of the exit, expecting something improving tonight.

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The next night, Chasina was strolling at the alley when she was watching an exclusive report on her phone about the Director's clarification about her confession. She didn't catch up with the live news, so she watched it on video.

"Citizens of the realm, that is not me in the recording. I know it looks like me and sounds like me, but it is not me. That was the monster working with the real queen killer, Ballister. They are trying to trick you. We are under attack by something that can take any form. It could be anyone. Your spouse, your child, your best friend, the person sitting next to you. None of us are safe so long as the villain and that monster are still out there."

Chasina gripped her phone so hard out of anger, it almost broke into half. She was so angry at the Director's lies that she still accused Ballister and had everyone believe his sidekick was a monster. Chasina couldn't take it. She was sick of having one of her best friends being called a villain when he had never been.

"Ugh! Can't believe this! That liar! That b-" Chasina cut off her words as she wasn't used to swear. She swallowed her words back and took deep breaths.

Hearing the news and the alarm about a "Monster Attack", Chasina was a little startled by one of the warning signs above her.

"What the heck? She rushed out of the alley and turned to the back of the streets. She squinted her eyes to see from afar. A giant black kaiju was crawling into the city and got attacked by firing missiles.

"Oh no," Chasina didn't want to think of who that monster was. She remembered Nimona was pink, and Chasina couldn't want to imagine if that was her. She covered herself more with her cloak, and backed away into the alley, where she would be safe for now. She could still watch live news on her phone when she changed windows.

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It might've been a while since Chasina was still hiding in the alleyway, but she could see live that the "monster" was heading to Gloreth's statue. Chasina was somewhere in that area when she noticed that the "monster" was passing by. Chasina was leaning back against the wall to avoid being spotted. When it was all clear for her, Chasina slowly leaned forward to take a little peak at what was happening in the streets.

Nimona was attacked several times and a lot of civilians ran away from her in fear. She got hit by another blow, knocking her down to a nearby building. Awaking from the impact, Nimona's dark form slowly came to it, but the sight she was greeted with was anything but pleasant. Destroyed buildings around, and all these people who either threw stuff at her or said hateful remarks of her being a monster.

She eyed the statue of Gloreth and, deep within the sadness of her glowing eyes, something… really dark came to mind. After so long of fighting off these people who just want to put a sword through her… why not just make it easier on them and… have it done herself?

Standing up, Nimona approached the statue, stopping just at the tip of the statue, with a minimum of a foot away from her. People watching far and wide, wondering what this creature was gonna do next. Chasina already come out of hiding and ran closer to the street to take a closer look at what was really going on.

Nimona's chest seemed to open up, revealing a white light shining from inside of it, most likely where her physical body was. She raised her head up, and with a scream loud enough to shatter glass, she was about to take the dread step forward that… ended everything.

Nimona thought that it was all gonna be over; all the pain of people seeing her and treating her as the monster they saw her as, the pain of being alone because no one understood who she truly was… one simple poke of the sword of Gloreth's statue through her heart…would end everything. She'd feel free… she'd feel the pain go away… she'd feel… alone?

Suddenly, in all the darkness that consumed her… there was a light….and it was coming from… outside… on her chest?

All of the people around gasped at what they had witnessed. Chasina had the biggest reaction of all as her eyes sparkled with worry and surprise.

Standing on the tip of Gloreth's sword, using his prosthetic hand to touch her, both metaphorically and physically, was Ballister, and the impact of his hand on her made a white light that shined very brightly.

Nimona did not appear to show any response to it, but something about Ballister being there, trying to reach out to her… it… it was like… a beacon of hope? No, a beacon of… empathy. He risked going up to a freak of monstrosity like her….to stop her from going through with this?

Ballister was breathing fast, but not once did his hand move away from her heart. He dropped his sword, which fell to the city of passersby below, who all looked on in shock. The sword literally landed in front of Chasina's feet, and she yanked herself away from the impact. She continued staring at Ballister's sword before looking up again Why was Ballister… trying to stop this monster…from hurting itself?

Everyone looked on in stunned silence; was this a way to defeat it? Or maybe…. was Ballister… trying to save it? But why? It surely did not show any emotions like humans do…. right?

But no one in that kingdom knew how Nimona felt more than Ballister, and he knew of Nimona's pain, anger, and sadness; he's witnessed first-hand how being viewed as someone bad can impact your relationship with others. He knew what it felt like to be cast aside and seen as someone who won't amount to anything just because of what you are, and he knew, what it felt like….to not be seen.

Back at where the incident occurred, Nimona finally showed a bodily response by looking down at Ballister.

Ballister could feel her eyes piercing through him as he looked up, but he did not run; he did not hide, he did not even want to fight; all he wanted to do…was help her.

With guilt and regret heavy in his heart, he told her, "I'm sorry."

She didn't respond, but listened, as Ballister spoke out, "I'm sorry. I see you, Nimona."

His words seemed to not only be impacting Nimona, but also everyone who watched. They were speechless; Ballister, who they saw as a criminal, a queen killer… he was defending them. Not only that, but he was risking his life… to help the life of this monster… who really wasn't a monster. Just a lost soul who wanted to be seen.

Ballister saw that his words seemed to go through to her, and he added, "And you're not alone."

Suddenly, the white light that had come from Ballister's touch began to absorb the darkness that had become of Nimona, making it all eradicated. Once the darkness was gone, all that remained, was the battered bruised, and bloodied, but alive, well, and standing, body of Nimona.

Nimona tearfully looked up at Ballister, and struggled to walk forward, only to wind up falling. But in the nick of time, Ballister caught her, and pulled her into a close hug, with Nimona, while not able to speak for the time being, showing her gratitude by wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging back.

All over the kingdom, everyone watched this interaction….and it was…..unbelievable. Ballister truly was….a knight unlike any other. After all, there'd never been a knight before who could even face a monster head-on and….touch them on such a strong emotional aspect. But Ballister did.

Seeing a beautiful friendship between her best friend and his friend, Chasina held a fist onto her left chest and cried with tears of joy. She never felt so proud of her friend for doing the right thing… the important thing for someone who needed a friend. This moment reminded Chasina so much of how Ballister and Ambrosius offered their friendship to her. Now, their friendship was shared with anyone who needed it.

Ballister and Nimona both separated from the hug, with Nimona shooting Ballister a thankful smile.

Suddenly, the sound of a loud explosion prompted the pair to turn their heads and look over beyond where the wall was, seeing a green light that sparked from where the explosion happened.

Even Chasian down below heard of the explosion as she turned her head and looked in the direction where the explosion was. She might know what was going on, but she could sense that something was wrong, very wrong.

From on top of the statue, Ballister and Nimona could see all of the people scrambling to get away, and Nimona even caught sight of the same little girl from before, who looked up at her in wonder, before her mother pulled her away. While everyone ran in panic to get somewhere safe, Chasina remained still while still wrapping her cloak around her and had her hood still covering her face. She still stood where Ballister's sword was still lying beside her. She couldn't move, she couldn't leave, not when her friend and his sidekick were still on the sword of the statue. She only kept her eyes on Ballister and Nimona, wondering what their plan was now.

Nimona couldn't help but feel bad for all of these people. That cannon, once shot, was gonna have a blast strong enough to hurt so many innocent lives who didn't even deserve such a fate.

Ballister was aware of this too, saying in disdain/concern, "That gun's gonna kill everyone."

Nimona saw the worried expression on Ballister's face, and she thought of a really crazy idea that she knew was gonna work, and it'd help save the day. Was it reckless? Yes! Was it dangerous? Yes! Was it gonna involve something getting broken? Yes….and this was where the idea was gonna be at its scariest.

With a grin of determination, Nimona told Ballister, "Hey, boss."

When Ballister turned his head to look at her, Nimona turned around and told him, fear not once present on her face or mind, "Be right back. I'm gonna go break some stuff."

Ballister had a bad idea about what Nimona was gonna do, starting to ask her, "Wait, Nimona. What are you…?"

"It's time to rewrite this story," Nimona simply answered as she turned around, about to make a leap of fate.

"Nimona! Nimona," Ballister quickly called out to her, but she was already into it, leaping down from the statue, and just before she hit the ground, shapeshifted into a beautiful, fiery phoenix.

The sight of phoenix Nimona wowed everyone in the city as they watched it fly right towards the cannon, which was all set to fire. Its light was bright, but Nimona's flames were even brighter, and it was time to put these flames to the test and rewrite the story.

Back by the cannon, Ambrosius was weakly trying to help the other knights escape when he saw the incoming fiery phoenix and was taken aback greatly.

Before the cannon could properly fire, Nimona crashed right through it, making it blow up with a fiery explosion. The light and impact of the explosion were so bright, that all the knights and citizens turned their heads and shielded their eyes so that they would not be blinded by the light and heatwave that followed.

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A year had passed, and the kingdom never forgot Nimona's heroic sacrifice to save them all. They held a memorial for Nimona as they held out flowers and drawings as their way of thanking her.

Still covering herself with her cloak, Chasina took out a red paper and put it with the rest of the kingdom's tribute for Nimona. The red paper contained a chrome colored "THANK YOU" note, showing gratitude for Nimona. If Nimona was still alive, Chasina wanted to meet her in person to thank her for taking care of Ballister for her. She felt bad for Ballister that he lost his new best friend. She wished she could do something for him… but she wasn't ready. Showing up to Ballister won't fix him just yet.

Chasina… needed more time than she thought.

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She didn't know how long it had been. 5? 6? 7 months? Chasina heard Nimona's return, alive, much to Ballister and the whole kingdom's joy. Everyone loved Nimona now. She wasn't the monster they heard of from their history. She lived a normal life now with Ballister. It was a good thing for her… but not with Chasina. She was still alone in her apartment. She was living under a rock while her friend got reinstated as a knight with his sidekick by his side. She bet Ambrosius was with them as well, not that Chasina' was interested in him anymore.

She and the boys used to be a trio! They worked hard together. They had always been together. But now, Chasina was all by herself. She was a coward, a weakling, a NOBODY.

She couldn't face her friends because she couldn't face her fear of confessing and showing up and couldn't face the past. She left because of self-doubt and never even got in touch with her friends. She felt ashamed that she erased herself from her friends' lives and thought that they didn't need her anymore.

But deep down, Chasina missed them all the time. She wanted to visit her friends all throughout 5 years and even tell them she was still alive, but she still had self-doubt about this decision. She kept wishing for years that she shouldn't leave. She shouldn't left her friends and made them think she was gone. She wished she could be with them and be known to the whole kingdom like them.

Then again, she got tired of hiding and being a nobody to the whole kingdom. Heck, she got tired of even hiding from her friends. She had been gone for too long. Now was the good time to fix her mistake of abandoning her friends and remaining hidden from them for years. Chasina marched towards the door while taking her cloak from the rack.

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Wow! This chapter was really long, but I love the results.

I had a lot of notes for this chapter.

It wasn't confirmed how old Ballister and Ambrosius were as adults, so I guess they were 30 years old, and, as children, they were 8 years old. So, since Chasina is a year younger than both Ballister and Ambrosius, I had her age as a kid was 8, and 29 as an adult. Since this fanfic took several months after Nimona's return, which probably took place a year after her "death", then the three were a year older than their ages in the film.

I do want to have my OC inserted in the film (that was a little lie), but the film was already amazing, so I had my OC appear after the events of the film. Instead, my OC is the character that was "hidden in the shadows" during the film's timeline.

The scene where Young Ballister and Young Ambrosius meet Young Chasina was referenced by My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and My Little Pony: Equestria Girls when Twilight Sparkle first met Fluttershy (both pony and human versions).

This flashback revealed that Chasina lost her left leg in an accident, and she built and designed her own prosthetic leg, similar to Ballister building his new arm. However, Chasina lost her leg 2 years prior, making her the first one to lose a limb. Her flashback was also referenced by Ducktales: Whatever Happened To Della Duck.

Special thanks to MasterClass60 for helping me with this chapter as she made half of the chapter while I was doing a couple of edits.

I hope you like my new chapter so far. Stay tuned for more! Hope I'll update sooner than last month.

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#nimona #nimona oc #nimona movie #nimona 2023 #nimona film #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister boldheart #chasina moonlight #ballister x ambrosius #goldenheart #fanfiction #fanfic #nimona netflix #original character #oc: chasina moonlight #oc

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outrunningthedark · 9 months

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I'm wondering how they're going to get rid of Natalia on the first episode, Marisol makes sense show up again but Natalia simply disappearing will be very weird as there won't be a huge time gap, a maximum of two weeks if the cruisy is the same as Bathena cruise. We have to wait and see but I don't think Natalia will disappear for now, maybe in the 3rd episode and Marisol in the 5th or 6th episode

Btw happy new year my darling

Apologies for being a bit late with this, love. I hope the first week of the new year is treating you well. <3

IF (yes, everyone, I realize I could have read this wrong) my instinct regarding Natalia not returning - not even to be broken up with on screen - is correct, I think Tim is going to take the easy route and repeat what the show did with Ali since she was the prior LI whose future was unclear between seasons and then never went back. The timeline you’re referencing supports my theory, too, so thanks for that. 😜

Say it’s only supposed to have been a few weeks or MAYBE a month since we last saw the characters. (Is this cruise in real time or is Bathena recovering from what happened, reliving the events? No clue.)

Odds are Buck won’t have announced the breakup to the 118 just yet. There he was a few weeks back singing Natalia’s praises and they’re already over? Not his finest moment, right? So maybe there’s a casual conversation happening - just like how it did at Buck’s welcome back party in 3x01 - where someone asks how Natalia’s doing or if they’ve got plans and he has to admit she’s not in the picture. Things get awkward for a sec, Buck says it’s for the best. Everyone moves on.

As for what reasoning Tim may have come up with, I have two specific thoughts on this part:

— Buck first felt drawn to Natalia when he was hyperfocused on his experience with dying, yes? He felt like she “saw him” because of what he was feeling in those days/weeks after the coma?

Well, if season seven is bringing us a Buck that is TRULY trying to move on from everything, TRULY trying to focus on the fact that he’s still alive rather than the fact that he could die at any time…he and Natalia won’t have as much in common anymore, will they? Is Buck going to want to be with someone whose life revolves around death and dying when he’s worked hard to get himself out of that headspace?

Obviously if Natalia were to stick around the show would make changes to the character just like it did for TayKay, but if she’s not meant to reappear? Buck’s new outlook on life is the perfect excuse to keep Natalia as is and say they’re going in two different directions now.

— There’s a post on my blog (from not too long ago) where I talk about the IG live in the final days of filming season six in which we could hear the cast getting ready for a scene describing a “boring” date Buck was to have had with Natalia. (Natalia was confirmed by Kenny)

Why is that important? Because it means there was an alternate ending on the table, one that would have led to Buck NOT getting serious with her.

Just like Tim doing the cruise ship disaster that Kristen wouldn’t touch, I wouldn’t be surprised if he uses whatever the original script said to get the point across. It’s much faster than coming up with his own brand new dialogue for a character we’re not supposed to care about anymore. A character that he didn’t have a direct hand in creating, either.

(As usual, this is TL;DR, but the one thing I’m always gonna do is cover all my bases!)

#anonymous #tina speaks #911 speculation #tv: 911 #tv: 9-1-1 #evan buckley

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periwinckles · 2 years

Text

LETTERS FROM NEW PANEM

PART 2

No hunting today.

You see, I allways hunt a little extra on the days leading up to the reaping. The idea came to me three years ago, when I was standing in the middle of the square, waiting for Effie Trinket to call the female's tribute name, and the only thing I could think of was "if she calls my name, Mom and Prim will have no food tomorrow." So from that year forward I would always prepare. You know, just in case it was my name she called.

Turned out to be a good thing, because we spent the past three days locked inside our tiny house, just waiting for news from this so-called rebellion. At least we had food.

Besides me, Prim stirs and Mom is breathing soundly. I don't remember the last time the three of us shared a bed. But after getting our armbands last night, the ones that announce to yourself and everyone else your original fate, we could do nothing more than climb into our mother's bed and cry ourselves to sleep. Mostly me and Mom crying. Prim, ever the logical one claims it's useless to cry. After all, she's not really dead. She was supposed to die, but not anymore, "so there's no need for tears Katniss".

We are supposed to wear our armbands on display at all times, from this day forward. Black if you originally died during the war. White if you survived, but left District 12 for good. Red if you survived and were one of the 183 rebuilders of the bombed District.

Three people in this house, three different coloured armbands.

But Prim is right. We should be thankful.

I still can't believe it. We are free. It is such a foreign concept that I have no idea what to expect from this day. Am I allowed to hunt now? I really don't know, but our loaded ice-box and the confort feeling I get from my family's proximity are enough to deter me from hunting today.

"Are you worried about getting married?"

I turn my face to the side and find Prim watching me, her words barely a whisper, as to not wake my mother up.

"What? Prim, that is the last thing on my mind right now! Why would I be getting married?"

She shrugs a little bit "You heard the mayor last night. Red armbands can't leave the District…

"Wasn't planning to!"

… and they have to marry the same person they married after the rebellion."

"Wasn't planning to, either!"

Mom stirs, and we both pull the cover over our heads, as if that would block the sound of our voices, when it barely blocks the heat from spreading out.

"But there were only 183 citizens left! And some of them were probably still kids. You most likely married someone to help repopulate…"

"Are you even listening to what you are saying?" My voice is loud and I know it is highly unlikely my mom is still sleeping through this conversation.

"Prim, marriage is the lesser of my life ambitions. Even if I did survive, and I was a District rebuilder I was still me, and I probably lived as an old spinster in a cabin in the middle of the woods until I died of old age. Trust me, there is no danger at all that I'm being called to marry someone at the end of this month."

I start to rise from bed, ignoring her downcast look. I know where this is coming from. The reason why Prim didn't loom for long on her black armband is because she saw in mine a beacon of hope, that even after these horrible events there would still be an Everdeen on District 12, and that I would go on to live a happy fulfilled life. And to 12 year old Prim, a fulfilled life would be marriage and kids.

"I'm going out." I say without looking in her direction

"I thought you weren't hunting today, sweatie."

Ha, so my mom is finally dropping the pretense of being asleep.

"Not hunting, just need some fresh air."

—--

It is still early morning but I am by no means the first person out and about. I guess being locked down for three days was enough to make people anxious to go out again. As I take my morning walk, among the Seam houses I find it hard not to fix on everyone's armband.

Black. Black. Black. Black. White. Black. Black. Black. Black.

I'm reaching the last row of houses, just before the meadow, when I spot a little boy, 6 or 7 years old, playing with a single chipped marble, the first red armband I saw, besides my own.

"Hey Miss, you're red too!"

"That I am." I answer him, even though my voice carries a small fraction of the enthusiasm his does.

"My whole family is red! Me, my baby sister, my maw and my paw."

"Good for you!" And I keep going even though I know he wants me to stay and chat. I am probably the first Red he saw as well, outside of his family.

4 reds.

With me, it makes 5.

Only 178 to go.

From the corner of my eye I spot Gale coming from the fence. I guess he went hunting by himself today. As we walk towards each other it is inevitable. We search not each other's eyes, but each other's armbands.

Red on my arm.

White on his.

I let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding. Losing Prim (even if only theoretically) was hard enough. At least Gale's safe.

"So, red huh? I knew you would be one of them." He tells me with a sad smile and a touch of resignation.

"You know I would never leave these woods." And I wouldn't. All the memories from my father are here. These are our woods, and even if the District burned down (which, matter of fact, apparently it did), I could never leave this place. Not to go after my mom, to wherever she went. Certainly not to go with Gale. I guess deep down he always knew that, but seeing the different colors on our arma, settling different choices for both of us makes it real.

"Well, I need to get this to my mom." He says pointing to his game bag.

"What about your family? Are they…?"

"All reds. I'm the only white."

"Good. That 's good." I smile a little bit and with a small nod am on my way. He doesn't ask about my family's colors, and I feel no impulse to tell him, Prim's black armband still heavy on my heart.

4 more reds. That's a total of 9. 174 to go.

I don't even know why I am keeping track of them. It's not like I really care. Not when Prim will be wearing a black armband. But simple math keeps my mind focused. I spot two more families of reds, … 18, 19.

Black, black, black, white white, black black. Black. Two more reds. 20, 21.

I turn a little bit to the right and am right at the edge of the town. If white and red were scarce in the Seam, here they appear to be non-existent. Black, black, black, black everywhere.

Two reds in the cobblers shop, and I feel myself smiling for the first time, today. Delly Cartwright and her brother are putting up a sign on their parent's shop and I watch them from a distance. 22 and 23.

Suddenly, while watching Delly, I remember Madge. I wonder if she is red too, and next thing I know I am walking to her house.

Because even though I told Prim I would be ok living by myself in the Woods, the thought of losing every important person of my life, either to a war or to a different District is weighing me down.

This is ridiculous. This didn't really happen in this timeline. Prim didn't die. Mom and Gale are not leaving. Still, thinking about another Katniss with no family and no friends is quite depressing.

"Oh Katniss!"

Madge is suddenly hugging me, while I barely register that I reached her house. We're not quite the hugging type. Well apparently she is. She lets go of me and I spot the black fabric on her arm, and that's enough to tip me over the edge and I am once more crying, and hugging her. Apparently I'm the hugging type too.

"Ok, enough of that. I'm the one that died and I am not crying." Madge holds my hand and pulls me inside her kitchen. We sit at her kitchen's table and she pours a cup of tea for each of us.

"You're just like Prim "

Her eyes fill with sorrow "I am so sorry about Prim, Katniss."

I bring the hot tea to my lips, but put it down immediately

"How do you know Prim's black?"

She gives me an apologetic look

"My dad has a list with all the 183 names. I saw yours there, and that hers wasn't. And I know you would never willingly live far from her, so I just assumed."

We stay silent for a whole, drinking our tea, when she stands abruptly

"They'll be handing new letters to all the reds tomorrow! At school, for those of you that go to school, and at the mines for those that work there!"

" And?"

She's giving me the same exasperated look Prim gave me this morning.

"And? Aren't you curious? I know I am! I mean, you survived, so now I am going to vicariously live through you! We could sneak into my dad's office…"

I give her a scowl, but she won't budge.

"What if the letter carries the name of your husband? Don't you wanna know?"

What is it with everyone wanting to marry me off?

"I'm not getting married."

I'm not. Really. Even if I were, Gale would probably be the logical choice, but that ship has sailed. So luckily that makes me completely safe on that account.

"But don't you wanna be sure? I mean, at least you won't be caught off guard tomorrow, in front of everyone."

She does have a point. But I'm not getting married, so it's not really an issue.

Ah, damn it.

"Ok, but let's make it quick."

I don't need to give my consent twice because next thing I know I am monitoring the halls and corridors, while she taps away at her dad's computer.

"Bad luck. Tomorrow's letter will only contain info on everyone's occupation. And we all know you'll be the District huntress. Or butcher. I'm gonna check anyway, maybe you'll be the new butcher."

I peer at the corridors once more, but turn around when I hear Madge curse.

"What is it?"

She's looking flabbergasted and out of words.

"I don't know, it makes no sense. I guess you're the baker's wife?"

A shiver goes through my spine

"I marry Peeta Mellark???"

I run to her side because that can't be true. I never get the chance to double check it though.

"Madge, what are you doing? That is confidential!"

Mayor Undersee is at the Door, the one I was supposed to be watching, and Madge is in deep trouble.

And so am I. Apparently I'm marrying Peeta.

#everlark #everlark fanfiction #thg fandom #team peeta #itwouldhavehappenedanyway

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nocompromise-noregrets · 7 months

Text

five good things

Time for one of these, I think.

I'm now off work for a week, hooray. I have no concrete plans except some studying and hopefully some writing, and a bit of touristing around town, possibly combined with lunch or a coffee with one of my longest-standing colleagues from job number one who retired yesterday and wants to get out of the way of the builders who will be starting to redo her bathroom on Monday, rather than months ago, as planned, when she'd be out of the way at work all day XD

I went in to job number one yesterday to make some hours up and tackle a particularly complicated task that needed some sustained concentration to get it done; I'd been intending to do it over Christmas but then managed to get the plague and didn't feel up to it, then didn't manage to do it on any of the weekends since then, so when Kate announced she was having a retirement do in our function room at the end of her last day I thought it was a good opportunity to get it done since it was on a Friday which is my non-working day these days. I got done everything I needed to do and also had a good long chat with Pauline, one of my other longstanding colleagues who's been volunteering with us since she retired nearly 20 years ago; I never see her any more because she comes in on Fridays when I'm not there, so it was really lovely to see her. I'm really going to miss Kate, as she's the last member of the team I first worked in back in 1997 to retire - but she's going to be coming back in and volunteering so hopefully we won't lose touch. I've known her (and Pauline, and Julie, our erstwhile manager who retired five years ago) more than half my life and they've all been so incredibly supportive over my career, but none more so than Kate. She's incredibly perceptive and understanding, kind to a fault, and I think she knows me better than I know myself (I am not at all self-analytical or perceptive or any of that stuff). We've been meaning to go for lunch for at least six years, since we haven't worked so closely together after the last restructure eight years ago, and never getting round to it, so I rather hope we can sort something out soon.

The retirement do was lovely - Kate's family were there (including her Oscar-winning son, for those of you who remember that particular excitement this time last year) and colleagues past and present, everyone brought some food, Kate gave us a quiz about herself to see how much attention we'd all been paying over the 36 years we'd variously known her (she started working with us in the autumn of 1987 - so ten years before I did) which was huge fun - my table won, enormously satisfyingly XD although we did have a bit of an advantage with both me and my work wife Helen as we both know her pretty well :D - and it was enormous fun, although I'm in huge denial that she's actually left. I went on to the pub with three former colleagues who I don't see nearly enough of, and wended my way home at the end of the night feeling warm and happy and generally rather good. I'll be getting my long-service award next year (25 years!!!) and I do feel rather as though it's about time I stepped into Kate, Pauline and Julie's very supportive shoes for our younger members of staff.

On Thursday I had a very productive online meeting for job number two, for a project that my predecessor handed on to me without really any guidance as to what I was going to do with it or how (he was very much a project manager and I am very much not, and I think he just expected me to be able to take it and run with it) - I'd had it on the back burner for several years as I just did not know what to do with it, but this year I feel like everything's coming together a bit and I got in touch with the academic who'd thought of it in the first place to say I was almost in a position to facilitate something, and she nearly bit my hands off XD we finally managed to get our schedules aligned on Thursday and she and a colleague and I got a bit of a plan together which is likely to involve me facilitating but not doing much else, which suits me absolutely fine.

Also for job number two I had an enquirer at location number two who wanted to come and look at the house's Catholic chapel registers for a history of the neighbouring village where he lives in a monastery because he is a Benedictine monk. I had never met a monk before, so I was completely intrigued, and he was really lovely - quite young, and very nerdy about history, so we hit it off very well, he found what he wanted in the registers, and then we went for a wander in the Anglican churchyard next to the house looking for gravestones for the family he was looking for. Dealing with enquiries and enquirers isn't my favourite part of the job, but it's always rather rewarding when someone finds what they wants and goes away happy.

Since those five were all work-related...I've done a bit of writing this week on two Femslash February prompts and a birthday fic for @lemurious in her Astronomer!Arwen 'verse, and it's been so nice to be back at it. I haven't felt much inspiration just lately and I've really missed it.

We're plotting fun things for Barduil Month in April over at @bi-widower-dads :D

We have a new boiler! We have heating! And a much better thermostat and more economical boiler and better radiator controls and everything is so much more comfortable. :D

It's nearly spring! Our daffodils have been out for weeks, and one of my peach trees has been in full bloom for about two weeks at this point, although the other one is still only thinking about putting buds out, which is a bit weird because normally they flower together - but the later one is in a shadier position so maybe that's got something to do with it.

I had a couple of nice walks round the docks to and from the garage where the TT was having a couple of things fixed, one first thing in the morning when everything was misty and the water was still as a millpond, and one late in the afternoon when the sun was just beginning to head for the horizon, and it reminded me how beautiful our little city is. I don't usually see the pretty bits, but I feel like I should make more effort to go up to the docks more regularly than once a year around my birthday, when we don't usually enjoy it because all the pubs are showing the Six Nations and the horse racing and we have no interest in either of them. Thinking we might go up during the week this year, instead of the weekend, when the rugby at least isn't on, although it's Gold Cup week so there's no escaping the horses. Still, there are a couple of new places opened now so maybe one of those doesn't have a TV. XD

I have some lovely Lumene skincare stuff again, having discovered that John Lewis sells it over here. It's just the nicest stuff, from Finland, all full of Nordic botanicals and things, and after a while where they weren't shipping to the UK, they are again now, plus I can also get it from John Lewis (I have clearly arrived among the middle-aged middle classes, I have a John Lewis online account now XD ), hooray.

It's nearly bike weather again! I might see if I can get him started up this week, as long as it's not too cold and/or wet.

I've been having so much fun with @mihrsuri RPing in-universe fandom drama in her Tudors OT3-'verse :D :D :D <333333

good lord, thirteen things. Not bad :D

As always, if anyone wants to take this idea and run with it, do feel free. Five (or more!) good things, no matter how big or small. A little bit of positivity in the midst of everything else.

#five good things

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pandapupremade · 2 years

Text

Babysitting Cream

WORDS: 1918

SHIP: Mephiles / Infinite x Lila Kitty (poly selfship)

CONTENT WARNINGS: mentions of food, discussions involving past events of villain actions which are not relevant to the actual fic but yknow

SUMMARY: A trio of idiots babysits a 6 year old. It's fine. Everything's fine.

author note: I have worked on-off for this since like. idk months ago a loong time. possibly even since 2021. either way i find it very funny and finally finished it. enjoy

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

"You don't mind, do you?" Lila asked as she poured herself some coffee that morning, "I mean, it's not like you two have other plans, right?" She received blank stares in response. Well, Mephiles always stared blankly, but Infinite's stares were usually more disappointed...Ah, that's besides the point.

She had, for context, just dropped the awkward (not for her) bomb that she had agreed to Mephiles, Infinite and herself babysitting six year old Cream the Rabbit while her mom, Vanilla, went out on a day trip with a friend. (Which was a little strange to Lila, because normally Vanilla would simply take Cream along, but it seems the friend wanted some alone time, whoever it was...)

Anyway, the babysitting thing; it was going to start around noon, and Lila hadn't bothered to tell either of her partners before the morning of. It's fine, she knew they never really went anywhere without her, so if they hadn't been able to help out, she would've known!

Infinite sighed, moving forward and crossing his elbows on the kitchen table. "Interesting mother the child must have, to entrust her daughter to the likes of us..."

Lila paused. "...Yeaaah, I guess that's true - Mephiles almost destroyed the essence of time, you kinda reigned terror for a while..." She tapped her chin. "..Ah well. What's done is done and well in the past." ...Technically what Mephiles did never happened in this timeline, though. Infinite has less excuse.

"There would also be you, who is a danger to everyone, including herself." Infinite added, to which Lila huffed.

"I'm more careful when it's not my life on the line!" She told him, putting her hand on her hip and sipping her coffee a moment after. She froze, then, and glared at Mephiles now - "Don't you say a WORD about it, Mr. Ruined Timeline."

Infinite also glanced at Mephiles, who had been quiet so far (though had a minor air of amusement at Lila's words). "...What about you? You have no complaints?"

Mephiles said nothing a moment longer, then looked up at him. "...No." A goo monster of few words. Oh well.

"Glad to hear it! Vanilla is really sweet, so I would hate to let her down!" Lila hummed. If that's truly the case, maybe she should've checked with Infinite and Mephiles BEFORE the day of, buuut...That's not how Lila rolls, and everyone knows it.

"I do wonder, though," She mused as she leaned against the counter, "Who exactly is she going out with...? Is she dating someone? Hmm..."

"It's not your business, is it?" Infinite shook his head. "There you go again, observing everyone's lives..."

"I'm just curious! It's not like I'd ASK HER something so personal!" Press the X button to doubt, as the kids say. Infinite and Mephiles would mash that button if it were physical.

...........

A little later, the three would depart, and a bit after that would arrive at the little cottage that Cream and her mother called home.

"Well, we're here!" Lila smiled with the announcement of her presence, skipping up the decorative garden-barriered walkway. "Man, it's always so cozy here..."

"That's a word for it," Infinite eyed the home with a bit of distaste. Clearly, it was too cutesy for him. Mephiles also seemed a little...put off by the bright colors. He began to reach out, actually, for a flower, but Lila stopped him.

"Hey! Don't touch the flowers! Cream worked hard to plant those."

"...The child planted these?" Mephiles seemed...curious. Weird.

"Yes, and I don't need you upsetting her before we even get inside." Lila scolded him. Still, her attention was caught by the front door opening, and a very tall rabbit stepping out.

"Miss Lila, is that you?" the woman spoke with a restful expression; probably a demeanor unfitting of her greeting two ex-villains and the singular and irresponsible thing keeping them from returning to said villainy. Yeah, Lila was that singular thing, somehow.

"Ah! Miss Vanilla!" Lila beamed, "You look lovely today!"

"Thank you, dear. Please, all of you - do come in..." She opened her front door a tad wider, and Lila gestured for her partners to follow as she walked inside. The interior was comfortable, but somehow bigger than the outside had implied. "Cream shouldn't be any trouble for you today...In fact, she seems quite excited to see you."

"Oh, she could never be any trouble." Lila shook her head. "She's so sweet, after all...Where is she now?"

"Ah, she's in her room with Cheese and Chocola..."

"Well, we'll go see her, then." Lila nodded, and started towards the hallway.

"Oh, do you know which room is hers?"

Vanilla gently called after her, and the feline stopped.

"Er...." Didn't think so. Vanilla would inform her, though, and they'd actually make their way there.

Voices were audible, once getting closer - well, one mobian voice, and two chao voices. "Cheese, please pass the sugar."

"Chao, chao!"

"Thank you. More tea, Chocola?"

"Chao, chao, chaaao!"

"Certainly!"

"Tea parties..." Infinite grimaced, but Lila shushed him.

"You will enjoy a lovely tea party with Cream, Finni." She smiled in a way he did not exactly feel emotionally supported by. "And you'll play dress up, eat her toy cooking, compliment her pictures, give her friendship bracelets..."

"Joyous day. Shall I allow her piggyback riding as well?"

"Oh! Great idea!"

Infinite's hand brought itself to his face. There was no backing out now, was there? Absolutely not, and it was worthless to even ask.

"Hi Cream!" Lila popped her head into the room, followed by stepping in with a bit of a sway in her movements. "And Cheese and Chocola, of course! I hope I'm not interrupting..."

"Oh, hello Miss Lila!" The soft spoken little rabbit smiled - although, she actually wasn't much shorter than Lila. Lila was small for an adult mobian, you see. "Please don't worry! You're always an invited guest."

She then blinked as Infinite peered his head in behind Lila. Lila glanced at the Jackal. "Oh, um...I brought along some friends - is that alright, Cream?" She smiled a tad...nervously now.

Cream tilted her head. "Hm? Oh!" Another blink, and a surprised expression. "Of course, Miss Lila! I'm sorry for staring, Mister Infinite. Please, do come in."

Infinite hesitated, seeming to be more on edge than before. Lila, on the other hand, relaxed tremendously. Then, Cream spoke again.

"Miss Lila, you said you brought friends...But I only see you and Mister Infinite."

Lila glanced around. "Ah - oop - one second. Mephy, where are you?" The cat moved to leave and search...Leaving Infinite and a child alone.

A child, to be specific, who knew all about the destruction and fear he had caused. Infinite could only give a feeble, fleeting prayer that she at least hadn't witnessed it first hand.

Yet the girl said nothing to him, really. For all he knew as she turned back to her Chao, her intentions were to ignore him. Maybe for the first time in his stubborn life, Infinite was fine with no acknowledgement. He watched her pick up another little teacup and fill it with some apple juice - sorry, tea - with just as sweet a smile as before. Infinite figured it was for Lila, and tilted his head to gaze around the tiny little room.

"...Here you are, Mister Infinite."

The direct referral certainly took him off guard. He looked back at Cream, bewildered at her offering out the teacup she had just poured. "...What?"

"It's for you. I do insist you drink it while it's hot."

Infinite blinked, but took it in his hands with more gentleness than maybe anyone expected. But Cream did not waver. She retained her pleasant demeanor and seemed delighted he took the tea. "I..." Infinite averted his eyes. "...Thank you, Miss Cream."

What had he gotten himself into?!

...........

Meanwhile, Lila was hunting down Mephiles. It seemed to her like he'd just vanished! Not unlike him, but not convenient right now. Lila did run into Vanilla, though, who seemed to be taking care of chores while she waited for her date to arrive.

"Um, Miss Vanilla...Did you see Mephiles come through here?"

"Mh? Mephiles?" Vanilla turned to the cat with a thoughtful frown. "I'm afraid not. Perhaps he stepped outside?"

"Hmm..." Lila tapped her chin, gaze shifting to the doorway. "It is possible. He showed interest in Cream's flowers earli - AH!" Lila's shout caught Vanilla off guard, but the cat didn't notice the concern and rushed out towards the front of the cottage again.

As Lila very naturally and accurately predicted based on the presented clues (she praised herself for such cunning intellect), Mephiles was crouched by a patch of flowers. Immediately, she panicked. Knowing Mephiles, he had turned Cream's precious garden to gooey shadow or crystalized it or...

....Or perhaps he was helping them grow? The flowers looked taller than before, and very much blooming vibrantly. Lila blinked, confused. "Um...Mephy?"

Mephiles looked up at Lila upon her approach. As he stood, she noticed a fading purple from his hand, and she deduced a usage of his powers. (All this exaggerated journalism vocabulary was getting tiresome.)

"Did you, um...?" She pointed to the flowers. Mephiles nodded. Lila pursed her lips. "...So my next question is how you did that."

"It's simple." Mephiles replied, "I have a decent control over time and space...I chose to manipulate the growth of the plant to a more notable appearance."

"...Notable?"

"They were unimpressive before."

Lila stared at him. He stared back, as blank as ever. Finally, she sighed. "Okay, well. Let's get back inside now."

Mephiles nodded, abd the two started for the front door...but their destination would be reached first by someone else. Lila instantly recognized the culprit, and all the clues came together at last.

What clues, the audience asked? (What audience it is remains irrelevant to Lila's thought process.) Well, to go over them...Lila was used to Vanilla taking Cream out when she had to leave the house, meaning whomever she was going on a date with had romantic intent. Vanilla had many friends who could've watched Cream, and not just Lila's mismatched trio. Finally, Lila just remembered she technically owed someone ten bucks.

With all this, it was finally clear! Vanilla was going on a date with Vector the Crocodile. Sure enough, the tall green reptile was strolling up the walk, bouquet in hand, possibly listening to music based on his rhythm filled walk cycle. However...He froze at the sight of Lila, and quickly turned his headphones off.

"You?! What're you doing here?"

"Watching a child." Lila replied confidently. Vector blinked, his eyes shifting to Mephiles. Lila rolled her eyes. "Not him. I mean Cream."

"Alright, yeah, okay. That makes more sense." Vector rubbed his forehead. "What're ya being hired to watch 'er for, though? Can't she get Amy?"

"I'm making up the ten I owe you." That was not the real reason, but Vector bought it. Well, whatever.

Vector and Vanilla would have to be on their way, so there was hardly time for more chit-chat. Lila had more hope in herself, and she guessed she kind of had hope in her companions, too. Mephiles would likely please Cream with having helped her flowers, and as for Infinite...

Lila paused.

"...You think we would be able to ditch him here?" She turned to Mephiles hopefully. "Maybe instead we could follow Vector and Vanilla and take notes for blackm..."

Mephiles now gave a chill inducing effect in his stare, and Lila shivered.

"Joking, I was joking. Let's go back inside."

#ok 2 reblog #🐱✏️ lila kitty (self insert)#💍🤍 ruby romance (infinite the jackal)#🦔🖤 crystalline goop (mephiles the dark)#kermitwriting #ask to tag

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corainne · 1 year

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About two years ago I had the idea to write a 1920s murder mystery featurning Nightingale and Mellenby constantly being third-wheeled and cockblocked by Nightingale's younger sister. Today I finally started writing said fic, and how did I start it? One thousand words of Nightingale family ... stuff. Because that seems reasonable

“Paul is a right pig!” his niece announced, hands clenched into fists as she stormed into the dining room.

Her mother, seemingly more occupied with her breakfast than the quarrels of her children, raised her head with a look of such disinterest that Thomas had rarely seen it’s equal.

“What has he done now?” Vita asked.

“He threw Muriel into the dirt!”

“Go and tell him to apologise to you. Once we’ve washed Muriel she’ll be as good as new”

“Wash her?” Maud exclaimed, “But she is filthy!”

“Then I’ll buy you a new doll once we’re back home”

“But I don’t want a new doll, I want Muriel”

“Then I guess washing her will have to suffice, Maud. Now run along”

If anyone had ever described his sister as the motherly type, Thomas thought to himself, they had been sorely mistaken.

“He’s been annoying me since the day that he was born,” Maud grumbled, but did as she had been told.

“I do not understand why anyone would voluntarily have children,” Stephen said, nursing his cup of tea with one hand while the other was pressed against his temple.

“Don’t ask me,” Vita had returned her attention to the plate in front of her, “They were an accident”

“Could you perhaps lower your voice?” Stephen asked. Thomas could only agree with the sentiment, and from the looks of it their brother Pip did as well.

“Maybe you three should have drunk less last night,” Vita said, and dug into the remains of her hearty breakfast, which made Thomas’s stomach churn just from the smell of it.

“You have a wonderful way of looking at the things that make life worth living, Victoria, and then taking them out of it”

“In any case,” Pip had a way of inserting himself into any conversation between Vita and Stephen that seemed to be headed into the direction of an argument, “some children are lovely”

“You only say that because you don’t have to take care of them all day,” Vita argued, “if your roles were reversed and you had to stay home all day while Emma worked you’d think differently”

“I rather doubt that. Although Emmie has been mentioning wanting to go back to work, lately. The boys are nearly five, after all”

“Isn’t she pregnant again?” Stephen asked, and Thomas’s head snapped towards Pip. That was the first he had heard of a pregnancy.

“That has obviously put a damper on her plan, but perhaps in a few years the time for it will come”

“You didn’t tell me that Emma is pregnant”

“Didn’t I? I’m sorry, Thos, I thought you already knew”

“Well, no, I didn’t”

“You did only arrive late last night,” Vita reminded him, “If you had been here earlier you would have found out about it at the same time as everyone else”

“My ship was delayed, and I took the first train down here that left London,” it was a tired excuse, Thomas knew, after five years of missing birthdays and holidays.

“We were thinking of making you godfather,” Pip offered, an olive branch that couldn’t quite hide the way Vita’s eyebrows rose at the suggestion.

“I would be honored. How far is she along?” He hadn’t seen his sister-in-law in some months. She had already gone to bed by the time Thomas had arrived, and had breakfasted with the children hours before Pip had bullied him and Stephen out of bed, all three of them looking worse for wear after they had worked their way through their father’s wine collection well into the wee hours of the morning.

“The baby’s due in May. Emmie is hoping it’ll be a girl, although I am getting the impression that they might be more of a handful that boys,” Pip said with a glance at Vita.

“And they stay that way for much longer,” Vita said, “I mean, look at Daisy”

“What about Daisy?”

“She’s been pestering Father about some New Years do she wants to attend with one of her friends from finishing school,” explained Vita, with a roll of her eyes, “except it is somewhere in Yorkshire, and Father doesn’t know the family.

“It’s at the Mayhews’,” a voice came from the doorway, “and Father has met Tessa’s father before. Besides, he said I may go if I can find a chaperon to accompany me”

Daisy was the youngest of their lot, and the one who looked most like their mother. Almost a head shorter than Vita, she wore a pink jumper that managed to conceal most of her curves, her light brown hair shingled. Somehow she seemed to have aged years in the few months since he had last seen her.

“A chaperone?” Stephen asked.

“Yes. Will you come with me? I’d be ever so thankful”

“I’m sorry, biscuit, but I already have plans of my own”

“I can come with you,” Thomas offered.

“You can?” Stephen asked, shocked.

“You will?” Daisy asked, hopeful.

“Didn’t you go to school with a Mayhew?” Pip asked, insightful as ever.

“But you don’t have a car, Thos, how would you get there?” Vita asked, always the voice of reason.

“Well that is no problem,” said Stephen, “you can have my car. Just drop me off in London on the way”

“In that case I don’t see a reason why I couldn’t accompany you,” Thomas said, and found himself at the receiving end of a smothering hug and a kiss on each cheek.

“Oh thank you, Toto, you and I will have such fun there”

#rivers of london

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invisiblerambler · 2 years

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I'm sitting on one of my planes back home so I'll start to elaborate on what this trip meant. So I fully fell into drag race about this time two years ago. I was living at home after graduating college and was struggling to find a ft job. I truly felt like I had nothing going for me and that every time there was maybe an opportunity for things to get better it never did. Then I think in August 2021 they had just announced the first part of the tour. I had recently been laid off and it felt like a pipe dream to be able to go. Then in 2022 I was finally able to move out of my parents house and get a full time job mostly in my field of study. The move was a lateral move and not what I wanted to do, but I knew it was a step and I hoped it set me up for more things in the future. Shortly after I moved they announced they were postponing the second part of the NA leg for Trixie to shoot QOTU. I was crushed because I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to go anymore and I wouldn't be able to go with one of my best friends whom I had planned to go with. Fast forward a few more months and someone who I originally met on here and is definitely at least partially responsible for my T&K fascination told me she was going to go to the last show and told me if could fly in we could go together. After minimal hesitation I said yes. I had earlier that fall applied to grad school and knew admission decisions were supposed to come out in that time frame, so it would either be a celebration, a welcome distraction or one bright spot in a sea of disappointment. Well much to my complete shock I got the decision weeks earlier than I expected and it was a yes. So I was headed to Durham knowing that in a few short months my entire life would be transformed in ways I could only dream of. I've talked truly exhaustively to everyone in my life how much this is the culmination of so many things. So to then be able to celebrate the end of this life chapter with one of my best friends with a show and a tour that means so much to both of us was truly one of the most meaningful experiences of my entire life. I am still so overwhelmed and overcome when I think about what the last week has been. I've cried about it no less than a lot and will definitely cry about it more in the future. There's a lot to celebrate and be grateful for and also the healing catharsis of it all has been so moving. This is a time in my life I will truly never forget and also look back on so fondly one day for the soft landing it provided as I launched into my next phase of life. Anyway thanks T&K for a great show and for providing the perfect bow to this era of my life.

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maguro13-2 · 1 year

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The (Not-so) Ultimate Summer Camp Pt.1

[Spike-Chunsoft HQ - Japan]

Makoto : It's Pride Month! Today is the day of Ultimate Summer Camp beginnning!

Komaru : We got things to do at Ultimate Summer Camp! There's gonna be beaches, there's gonna be games! And there's gonna be wild activities! This is going to be the best summer ever!

Hajime : Don't get too excited, cause summer is only a week! That's what I'm gonna do the ultimate Summer Camp. Doing fishing with my...Uhhh...friends! Yep, I'm gonna do fishing with my friends and classmates!

Shuichi : You're going to do the Ultimate Summer Camp thing?

Hajime : Yep. That's because we're doing it right now!

Shuichi : Rhetorical question, Hajime. But I've been preparing for my entire life for it! Cause I'm ready to hit the beach this summer and it's going to be super duper fun!

Kaede : Me too! Today is going to be a fun in the sun! We're ready for the beach!

Chiaki : Why do you think going to the beach is cool? Is that something that you really wanted do something for fun?

Komaru : Sure! We're gonna be dressed in bikinis, do a little sunbathing, and of course a little partying!

Chiaki : Don't you mean "Partying in the sun"? You're not the only one who is going to have fun in the sun. Cause I gotta be gaming for live vacation recording! I bet you and your stinky GF wouldn't last a surprise in your bathing suit.

Touko : Uhh, just for the record, I've been showering in the real world for at 10 years. In fact, I only hated my own mother because I was the first person to meet Komaru as a kid when we were little! I haven't taken a dip in the water for years since the darkness enshrouded my entire life.

Komaru : Don't be ridiculous, Touko. I've know ever details about your life, you living in a dark past means nothing to me now after that tragic backstory was nothing necessary to the point that I've first met you as a kid, in the real world, that's where I had the chance of meeting you in the first place. So, are you ready to hit some beaches!?

Touko : T...Totally!

Komaru : Good! Good! I've been beginning to do this along time ago! We are all going to hit the beach!

All : Yeah!

Kodaka : Excuse me, can I have your attention for a moment?

Makoto : Sure, writer! We are thrilled to hear your announcement!

Kodaka : Okay if you insist. (clears throat) Well, everyone knows that it maybe a summer day from you at Spike-Chunsoft Headquarters, Japan. But this is going to get my heart-wrenching. It is such a sad day for the company that the franchise's mascot Monokuma has just been retired.

(everyone except for Komaru, cheers in excitement)

Komaru : What? Monokuma retiring? But that's the mascot of the franchise. How could he possibly retire? He can't retire himself as a mascot. We've been doing this franchise that it is an inspiriation of horror movies like Saw and Cube. He maybe a sadistic robot bear, but he's the mascot of the series! And now it's sad for us that he doesn't want to be the franchise's mascot anymore.

Shuichi : Or probably it's just an inspiration of Total Drama Island, like that.

Komaru : Hey, don't get me on that Canadian stuff from Canada, I haven't watched Total Drama Island in years, Oh wait a sec, I did. I did watched Total Drama Island.

Shuichi : You do?

Komaru : ...No.

Kodaka : But before you can continue on your Summer vacation plans to the beach, I'd like to introduce you to the one that will be taken care of. Your camp guidance.

Makoto : Camp Guidance? Why do we need a camp guidance.

Kodaka : Cause someone will show you the wonder of camping in the woods help you guide your way of expressing mother nature.

Makoto : Wait. You don't mean...

Mrs.Naegi : Oi, Makoto, Komaru. I heard you've got some summer plans for your vacation. It's not like that you want to go skinny dipping at the beach or something.

Makoto : Oh great. Just to see someone in prison after getting trapped in the school for way to long. Mom.

(Mrs Naegi appears in her camping gear)

Komaru : Ma!?

Mrs.Naegi : So...Who wants to go camping first!?

(ZOOM+Running)

Komaru : Oh boy. Here we go camping with mom, again.

Togami : This is going to be one camping trip.

~ LET THE NOT-SO ULTIMATE SUMMER BEGINS ~

#danganronpa #danganronpa udg #danganronpa 2 #danganronpa v3 #makoto naegi #komaru naegi #touko fukawa #hajime hinata #shuichi saihara #comedy #dark comedy

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thecaitortot · 7 years

Text

7/14/17

I’ll be sleeping on the floor for the next several days while we sell a ton of our old furniture.

Housework projects are moving along quite steadily. I’m so proud of my parents.

I want a job. Mostly, I want people to stop asking me when I’ll get a job.

I can tell I miss research when I come across two or three different things in one sitting that Snopes has yet to write about.

Is Snopes hiring?

Is the college down the street hiring?

Do I even have enough energy to get a job in the first place?

I need to go polish my writing samples for my applications in a couple of months. Gotta take all of the beautiful Jesusy bits out so secular universities will hire me.

Personally I don’t like doing interdisciplinary theology/psychology writing anyway so it’ll be quite a relief to dismantle my soapboxes and put my theological bits back where they belong: in a lovely little journal next to my Bible.

I’m thinking about starting on an essay about skepticism and why it might actually be a more desirable trait among Christians than everyone says it is.

Seriously, why is “Doubting Thomas” one of the worst insults some denominations can hurl at you? (I mean aside from Jezebel, or any number of gross things from the Book of Revelations)

Whatever man, Christian culture is fucking weird.

#i mean did i not announce what my life plans were to everyone months ago?#and then say stop asking for the love of God almighty???#anyway that's the good bits of my life how are ya'll?

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vendettaparker · 3 years

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Reckless [T.H]

Summary: In a fit of jealousy, Tom embarrasses you in front of your new friend and the entire pub, leaving you heartbroken at his reckless actions.

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings: Swearing, angst, slut-shaming

a/n: hi! sorry this took so so so long for me to get out! i got super busy with other works, but i’m super happy with how this turned out :) i hope you enjoy this, and don’t worry, i know how scary those warnings look ^ but this ends happy, i promise! as always, comments and reblogs are appreciated <3

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Tom was an idiot. He was an actual fucking idiot. He now realizes that as he watches you run out of the pub with hot tears streaming down your face. He watches as Harry runs after you, your bag in his hand, probably to make sure you make it back home safe since there was no way you’d return to the crowded bar, where Harrison and Sam were giving Tom death glares, the same little pub where Tom had made a complete fool out of you.

The few months Tom came home to London were always the setting of your most cherished memories. Sometimes it seemed like when he left so did the whole group of friends you surround yourself with.

There was no doubt in your mind that Tom was the life of the party. He had a certain aura about him that caused some of the most fucked up, but amazing situations to occur. That was probably one of the reasons you loved him so much.

When he was in town, his brothers, Harrison, and Tuwaine all joined together to make the next few months memorable before he had to leave again, and you were always included, but when he was gone, Harry usually went with him, Harrison focused on work for himself, and Sam focused on his restaurant. The world slowed down after Tom left, and so many times, you were left to wait for his return; alone.

Tom hated leaving you behind every time he went back to the states, but you had such deep roots in London, he didn’t want to pry you from your family for months on end. He loved you too much to constantly subject you to his hectic lifestyle. He spent as much time with you as he could when he saw you, but the second he had to go, it was all tearful goodbyes in a crowded airport.

You and Tom had been best friends for decades at this point. You supported him no matter what it was that he wanted to accomplish. He’s even said in interviews that he credits a huge bulk of his success to his friend back home, then he’d give a wink to the camera, and you always knew it was for you.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

When Tom came home after filming Spider-Man: No Way Home, you practically tackled him to the ground in a hug.

“You div,” You mumbled into his neck, “you forgot to let me FaceTime with Zendaya.”

“Oh, shit!” Tom gasped, finally remembering your request to talk to your favorite actress, “my bad.”

You looked at Tom incredulously, “I don’t think I can be friends with you anymore.” You feigned hurt, clutching your hand to your chest, “it just hurts too much.”

“That’s a damn shame,” Tom frowned, “I mean, I could just FaceTime Zendaya now, but if that’s how you—”

“I changed my mind,” You smiled sweetly, cutting him off, “love you, bestie.”

Tom rolled his eyes and pulled you into another hug, “Missed you, bestie.”

“Um,” Sam, Paddy, and Harrison stood behind you, clearing their throats.

“Missed you guys too,” Tom sighed, and he rushed over and gave his brothers and friend a hug.

You gave Harry a hug while Tom chatted with his brothers, quickly catching up with him.

“What’s the plan for tonight, guys?” You spoke up.

Every night after Tom got back, he’d go back to his flat and take a nap before a night out on the town. Usually, you’d bar hop a bit before going to a club, so tonight wasn’t likely to be any different.

“I was thinking we could get dinner at Lorenzo’s,” Harry said, “then maybe hit the pub on Ashford?”

You and the others nodded in agreement as you made your way out of the airport.

“Can I invite my friend Avery?” You asked.

Tom nodded, “Sure, I didn’t even know you had any other friends, (Y/N),” he joked.

“Haha,” You laughed sarcastically, “gee that was a good one, Tom. You really got me.”

“What can I say?” He smirked, “I’m a comedian.”

“Is that the guy you met in your philosophy lecture?” Harrison butt in.

“Yeah,” You nodded, “he’s really sweet, so be on your best behavior guys, and maybe don’t be yourselves, just this once?” you suggested with a slightly teasing tone.

“Are you trying to impress him or something?” Tom inquired.

“No,” You scoffed, “I’m just trying to not throw him to the wolves.”

Tom laughed along, but it was strained. He wasn’t too keen on the idea of adding a new member to your friend group, and the little glint in your eye when you talked about Avery made his heart tighten.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Okay,” You smiled as you set the last of Tom’s luggage in his living room, “I’ll let you get some sleep then.”

You gave him one last hug and a kiss on the cheek, “see you later.”

Tom reciprocated and inhaled the sweet smell of lavender in your locks of hair, “mhm,” he sighed, “see ya.”

Harrison was about to walk out after you when Tom grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him back, “Mate, what the fuck.” he grumbled as he stumbled over his feet, “I thought you wanted to take a nap?”

“I slept on the plane,” Tom explained quickly, “you’ve been here the whole time, right?” Harrison nodded, “so you know this Avery guy, yeah?”

Harrison shook his head, “I haven’t talked to (Y/N) much this past month, but he’s probably on her Instagram.”

Harrison pulled out his phone and looked at posts you’d been tagged in, “Ah, here.” He handed the phone to Tom and pointed to the tall blonde guy in a group photo with you and some other friends, “He’s the tall blonde.”

Tom studied the picture with a small frown, “They’re not dating though, right?”

“She said he was her friend,” Harrison shrugged.

“You know what I mean,” Tom rolled his eyes, “do they look really chummy to you?”

“His hand’s kind of close to her butt, but other than that I don’t know.” Harrison pointed it out, causing Tom’s heart to momentarily stop.

“Ok, new plan,” Tom announced, “I’m going to ask (Y/N) out tonight.”

Harrison scoffed and rolled his eyes. “What?” Tom wondered.

“You’ve said that almost every single time you’ve been home and you always chicken out.”

“No, I don’t!” Tom gasped in offense, “It’s just hard to find the right time.”

“You’ve literally had hundreds of opportunities to tell her how you feel, Mate.”

“It has to be perfect.” Tom insisted, “I can’t just ask her out of the blue, I have to butter her up first.”

“That’s dumb.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Tom groaned, “get out, I changed my mind, I’m going to sleep.”

Harrison rolled his eyes and chuckled before giving Tom a pat on the back and leaving. Tom waved goodbye as Harrison drove away, and then rushed to his phone.

“FaceTime Zendaya,” he instructed Siri. The call went through and soon Tom was met with Zendaya's tired eyes in a dark room.

“Hey, Z!” Tom said cheerfully, “best friend, bestest pal in the world. The person that never wants to see me fail ever, my greatest companion—“

“Tom,” Zendaya groggily cut him off, “what the fuck do you want, I’m sleeping.”

“How do you ask a girl out?”

Zendaya sat up a little more and turned on her bedside lamp, “What? You don’t know how to ask a girl out?”

“Well I do,” Tom backtracked, “but I want it to be special. I’ve been in love with this girl for nearly two years now and every time I go to ask her out, I chicken out.”

“I don’t know, what does she like?”

“Well one time she told me her favorite animal was a sea otter, should I get her one?” Tom pondered, hand resting in his chin in thought.

“Um, no, what the fuck?” Zendaya squinted her eyes at Tom, “have you gotten any sleep yet?”

Tom shook his head, “This is important, Z, now help me!”

Zendaya rolled her eyes, “I’ll text you some ideas, but for now just go get some sleep. With how tired you are now you’d probably call her the wrong name or something.”

Tom rolled his eyes, but the action caused his eyelids to droop even more, “Fine, fine,” he conceded, “I’ll let you know how it goes.”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Okay,” Tom announced at the restaurant before you arrived, “I’m going to ask (Y/N) out tonight so I need you all to shut up and not distract me or make me nervous.”

Harrison, Harry, and Sam just stared at Tom. Tuwaine, for some unknown reason, started clapping.

“Tom,” Harrison began, “no offense, but—“

“Ah ah ah,” Tom stopped him, “is what you’re about to say going to bruise my ego?” Harrison thought about it for a moment before slowly nodding, “okay, then shut the fuck up, respectfully. I don’t need any bad juju tonight.”

“Well, I’m happy for you, Mate,” Tuwaine nodded. He was the closest to you after Tom and he knew all about your crush on the brown-haired Brit. You might’ve let it slip once when you were drunk, and since you didn’t willingly tell Tuwaine, he was sworn to secrecy. “I’m positive she’ll say yes.”

“Thank you,” Tom smiled at him, sending a slight glare to the others for their lack of faith in him. “As for the rest of you, I can’t wait to prove you wrong.”

You walked into the restaurant with Avery hunched over from laughing so hard. Tom smiled in your direction and waved you over, “Hey, (Y/N/N)! Over here!”

“Wow,” You chuckled, “must’ve been a good nap. Little energetic there, huh?”

Tom went in to give you a tight hug, holding you close, “Just missed you,” he mumbled into your hair.

“I just saw you a few hours ago?”

Avery stood by you awkwardly, waiting for Tom to release you. Tom reluctantly let you go and pulled a chair out for you, next to him.

“Thanks,” you smiled at him, motioning for Avery to sit next to you, “hey, everyone,” you smiled at the group of boys that were properly about to piss themselves at Tom’s over-the-top behavior, “this is Avery.”

“Hi,” He waved at the group as a small chorus of ‘hellos’ rang across the table. He turned to Tom to shake his hand, “I’m a big fan, Mate. Love your work.”

Tom smiled and patted him on the shoulder, “Thanks, it means a lot.” smiled politely, shaking Avery's hand.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Dinner went off without a hitch, at least in your opinion. Avery was melding well with your friends and he was cracking jokes like he’d know the group for years.

The boys seemed to enjoy his sense of humor and what he added to the conversation. Sam and him even found that they shared an interest in cooking, which led to them having a slightly heated discussion about how real Gordon Ramsey’s cooking skills are; which ended in laughs.

However, Tom was probably having one of the worst nights of his life. Every time Avery playfully shoved you while you two laughed he wanted to wring his neck. It also didn’t help that he couldn’t find the perfect time to ask you out. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to ask you out with all of his mates around.

Tom smiled and laughed along with the jokes, but once you looked away he was back to frowning.

“Tom,” Harry nudged his brother, “wipe that scowl off your face.”

“I’m not scowling,” Tom grumbled, “this is my normal face.”

Harry rolled his eyes and kicked his older brother under the table, “You need to ask her soon. I think Avery is trying to make some moves on her.” Harry noticed, seeing how Avery casually had his arm around your chair.

Tom rolled his eyes, “As if I can't see that for myself,” he scoffed. “I don’t want to ask her with all of you watching. What if she says no?”

“We can leave you alone for a bit when we go to the pub, but I’m not sure if Avery will go with us.” Harry shrugged, “you could always ask her out tomorrow.” Harry suggested.

“No!” Tom exclaimed, causing everyone to look at him and Harry, “Sorry, I—um, I just don’t really like that shirt on you Harry; it makes my eyes hurt.”

Harry looked down at his shirt for a moment and then frowned, sending a light smack to Tom, “You bought me this shirt you div.”

Everyone went back to their own conversations so Tom leaned in to talk to Harry some more, “I can’t wait for tomorrow. What if I chicken out again?”

“Then you’re an idiot.” Harry deadpanned with a shrug.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

The pub was way more packed than anyone expected. The new addition of live music to the outside patio definitely livened up the place and more customers went to see what local band would be playing next.

The pub had a classic English pub feel, with the wood flooring and the yellow-tinted walls, but it also had a modern twist with a back patio and outdoor seating with fairy lights, and the lights that illuminate under the bar itself.

“I’m gonna go check out the band,” Harry announced after he came back with your drinks, “you guys should all come with me.” He said with a slight side-eye to Sam, Tuwaine, and Harrison.

“Eh, I’m not really into—” Sam began, but Harry sent him a quick kick under the table. “Ow! I mean, I love music.” Sam smiled enthusiastically.

“I’m gonna stay back and finish this beer,” Tom said, holding up the large pint of beer he was already a quarter of the way through, “(Y/N), wanna race to see who can finish first?” He suggested trying to get you to stay behind.

“Oh you’re totally on,” You smirked, “but I am going to take a quick peek at the band. We can race after I get back.” You got up from your seat and began walking away with Harry and the boys. Tom pouted at how horribly that plan worked. Harry looked back at Tom apologetically as he held the door open for you.

“Wow,” Avery smiled beside Tom, scaring him, “she really is something.”

“Holy shit, Mate,” Tom held a hand to his heart, “you almost gave me a heart attack. I thought you went with them?”

“Nah,” Avery shook his head, “I’m not really into music,” he shrugged.

“Oh, okay,” Tom nodded. “What were you just saying?”

“(Y/N),” Avery looked towards the back patio exit dreamily, “she’s amazing. I mean I would definitely ask her out, but probably not at a pub surrounded by her mates, y’know?”

“Mhm, yeah,” Tom said quietly, his heart already beginning to shatter into millions of inconsolable pieces. “I mean, she’s alright.” He said with a forced laugh, trying to fend Avery away from you, “she definitely isn’t really your type, though.”

“What do you mean?” Avery asked, taking a sip from his beer, “she’s perfect, mate.”

“I mean,” Tom racked his brain for an excuse big enough to make Avery not want you, “you don’t think it’s a little weird she’s in a friend group with all boys?”

“No,” Avery said slowly, skeptically looking back at the exit, “she just clicks with boys, I guess. Girls and guys can just be friends.”

“Not her,” Tom scoffed, “I mean, it’s just a little obvious, y’know?”

You and the rest of the boys were heading back in, seeing as the back patio was completely overcrowded with patrons.

“What’s obvious?” Avery asked, raising his voice slightly due to the volume in the bar.

“(Y/N)’s only friends are guys!” Tom nearly yelled over the volume of chatter, not realizing that the surrounding customers could hear him, “makes me wonder how many she’s slept with! I mean, that’s not a coincidence to me!”

The surrounding customers halted their conversations, leaving only Tom’s voice filtering through the air and into your ears.

“That’s crazy,” Avery chuckled awkwardly, “I don’t think she’s like that.” He shook his head, annoying Tom. In a final last-ditch effort to get Avery off your back, he said the worst thing he could, loudly, into a quieting pub.

“Well, she hits on me all the time,” Tom shrugged, “she’s just a bit whorish, I guess.”

“Tom,” Tuwaine cleared his throat, interrupting their conversation, “what the fuck, mate?”

Tom looked at all the boys next to Tuwaine, and behind them was you, teary-eyed with harsh sobs racking through your body.

You whispered something to Harry, and then all but ran out the front door. Harry walked over to where Tom was sitting and picked up your purse.

“Harry I—” Tom tried.

“Shut the fuck up, Tom.” Harry snapped, “You're an idiot and an asshole, just leave things be.”

Harry ran out the pub entrance, following you to give you a ride home.

Tuwaine, Sam, and Harrison shook their heads once the shock ebbed away. One by one they all left Tom sitting in shock and agony at the bar. Avery, not knowing any of the group, barely knew what was going on or if Tom’s accusations were correct, left the pub and went home without another word.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Harry,” Tom whined into the phone, “please tell me how to fix this, please I’m begging you.”

Harry sighed, now properly regretting lifting his silent treatment from Tom, “Tom, there is absolutely nothing I can do to help you, and even if there was, I wouldn’t. You called her a whore in front of a crowded pub—”

“I know!” Tom yelled, “And I’ve been living with that guilt for three weeks now! Please, Harry. I-I messed up so bad.” Tom’s voice cracked, “I tried calling and texting, a-and my texts started turning green. She blocked me,” Tom sobbed, “I’m in love with her, and I never got to tell her. I ruined our relationship before it even began.”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, “you did.”

“Harry, I just want to apologize properly, please.” Tom begged, “I tried going to her house, but her roommate threw a drink at me and told me she went out of town. Where is she?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Harry,” Tom sighed, “I’m trying so hard here, I don’t care where she is, I’ll go anywhere for her. Please, I just can’t keep waiting in the dark for her to talk to me.”

Harry sighed, rubbing his forehead, “Okay, fine, but don’t tell her I told you where she was. And if you get your face clawed off, just know that you deserve it.”

“Okay, okay, now tell me.”

“She’s been staying with Tuwaine and his girlfriend.”

“Okay, thanks, love you, bye!” Tom said through the phone, already grabbing his keys.

Harry sighed and began texting Tuwaine,

Harry: Tom’s coming over, don’t snap him in half, he just wants to talk to her.

Tuwaine: I’m not home right now, but I'd be more worried about her snapping him in half…

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Tom pulled up the Tuwaine’s flat and pounded at the door. He didn’t see Tuwaine’s car in the driveway but he saw yours parked on the street so he knew you were in there.

“(Y/N)!” He desperately called, “Come on, I know you’re in there!”, his pleas were met with silence and he rang the doorbell on repeat, “(Y/N), please! I just want to talk!”

The door opened to show you standing there with your messy hair and stained sweats, still looking overwhelmingly perfect in Tom’s eyes. He noticed the dark circles and the dried tears and his heart broke, even more, knowing he caused this. He loved you so much and he caused you some of the worst pain imaginable. All he wanted to do was hold you and kiss your puffy cheeks, desperately whispering praises into your ear. You were perfect in every sense of the word, and he let you believe you were anything less. He was an idiot—the biggest idiot in the world—for making you cry.

“What do you want?” You snapped with a sniffle, pulling him back to reality as you rubbed your red eyes.

“I just want to talk,” Tom gave you a small smile, “please.”

“I don’t have anything to say to you.” You scowled, “You need to leave.”

“No, (Y/N), please.” Tom begged, “I’m sorry. I’m so so so fucking sorry. I was being an idiot and—please, (Y/N), you’re my best friend. I don’t wanna lose you.” Tom’s voice cracked, but you remained stoic in the doorway.

“I’m your best friend? Really?” You scoffed, “I thought I was just some whore you let hang around you?”

Tom winced at his words being thrown back into his face, “I didn’t mean it, I swear,” he promised, tears glistening in his eyes, “I don’t even know why I said that. I was being so fucking stupid—”

“No,” You interrupted his rambling, “you don’t get to say that. You don’t get to say that it was just you “being stupid”. Who the hell says that about their supposed best friend? Why would you even think that? You don’t just get to call me those things in public, and then say that you don’t know why you did it. You can’t even give me a reason—”

“I’m in love with you,” Tom blurted out, blowing out a puff of air in stress, “I’ve been in love with you for the longest time, (Y/N). And Avery was saying how he wanted to ask you out, and I couldn’t lose you. I didn’t want to lose you. I had so many plans for us, and I wanted to be with you—to be yours—more than anything, and I let my jealousy get in the way. I’m sorry because if I deserved you I wouldn’t have done that.”

You stood in the doorway of the flat, arms crossed over your chest. “I can’t believe you’d be so reckless.” You said after a moment of silence, “I would’ve been yours if you had just asked me.”

“I’m sorry,” Tom cried, reaching out to hold your hand, but you backed away ever so slightly, “please, I would do anything to fix it if I could.”

“You don’t understand anything, Tom.” You frowned.

“Help me understand.” He begged.

You pondered it for a moment and then released a sigh, coupled with a few tears, “I loved you,” you admitted. Tom’s heart did a leap, but then he realized that you were talking past tense as if his chance with you was gone.

“And I would spend months and months just waiting for you to come home so I could spend time with you. I was so lonely when you and Harry left; I always am. Avery offered to spend some time with me after class one day and I agreed because I don’t have anybody else when you leave. And it was fun, but he wasn’t you. He’ll never compare to the place you had in my heart, but at least I wasn’t alone anymore.” You sighed and began closing the door again, “Now, because of you, I have no one again.”

The door was about to slam back in Tom’s face, but he shoved his foot in the threshold, “(Y/N), wait,” he pleaded, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how important Avery was to you. I can never undo what I did, but please let me make it up to you. I just need you to understand how sorry I am.”

You opened the door again and looked at Tom’s sad eyes, boring into you, “I do understand how sorry you are, but I don’t know how I can trust you again. You said awful things about me without even batting an eye or taking a breath—”

“I know,” Tom sighed, “I know and I’d give anything to take it back. I just want you back (Y/N). Even if you don’t want to be my girlfriend, I can’t leave knowing I’ve lost my best friend.”

“As much as it hurts,” You caved, moving from the doorway to let Tom in, “I still love you, and I don’t want to lose you either.”

Tom smiled and walked into the flat, immediately pulling you into a hug, “I’m so sorry, (Y/N),” You hugged back and sniffled into his hoodie, before pulling away with a sigh.

“I know,” You nodded, “I forgive you. But next time, just be honest with me and tell me how you’re feeling. I’d give you the world if you asked for it.”

Tom smiled and stroked your tear-stained cheek, “I’ll just settle on your heart for now, if that’s okay?”

“That’s so fucking cheesy.” You giggled, wiping the tears from your eyes, “I love it.”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

✧tags & moots✧ @ptersmj @princessofguineapigs @peterbenjiparker @cherrytholland @itsapeterthing @justapurrcat @thirstiestpotato @kelieah @iovebug @waitimcomingtoo @rosyparkers @parkers-gal @allegra-writes @starktonyx @celestialholland @hollandcrush @londonspidey @blissfulparker @spidernerdsblog @spidey-sophie @spideyspeaches @peterparkers-bad-youtube-apology @andilovetowrite @sinisterspidey @asonofpeter @westcoastcigar @arlo-sanders @love-peterparker @boiolay @letssee2468 @white-wolf1940 @fandom-life-12 @hollandsdream @annathesillyfriend @lovelybarnes @miseryholland @wierdteenagenerd @duskholland @hollandprkr @lauras-collection @arvinsescape @hollandsrecs

#tom holland #tom holland fluff #tom holland x reader #tom holland smut #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #tom holland fanfic #tom holland oneshot #tom holland angst #tom holland peter parker #peter parker #spiderman #peter parker smut #requested

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reidingmelodies · 4 years

Text

Finders Keepers

A/N: It’s been ages since I’ve written anything, so I figured it was about time I got back into it! Hope you enjoy, any feedback is appreciated :) Warnings: None Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader Word Count: 2.7K

“What’s wrong with you, Pretty Boy?” Morgan questioned as Spencer rushed into the BAU Tuesday morning, fingers threading through his curls and a look of pure agitation gracing his features. As if he didn’t hear the question directed towards him, Spencer continued to storm through the room, nearly stumbling into Morgan in his quest to reach his desk.

Pupils dilating, Morgan looked towards JJ who had taken stock of the scene from her chair, brows already furrowed and legs moving to stand and head towards her fellow colleague.

Taking the lead, JJ swiftly headed to Spencer’s side, moving to place a hand on his shoulder before thinking better of it and placing both hands on the edge of his desk instead, Mama Bear instincts dialed all the way up. “Everything okay, Spence? You seem annoyed.”

Morgan scoffed before thinking better of it, “I’d say he’s a bit more than annoyed, JJ”. No sooner than the words had left his mouth he was given a swift elbow in his side from JJ and an eye roll from Spencer and all that was left for Morgan to do was raise his hands in defeat.

Sighing, Spencer turned back to his desk before mumbling a response back to them, “I’m fine, guys. I think I lost my copy of War and Peace on the Metro this morning. It was in my bag when I left my place, it must have fallen out when I was trying to grab my umbrella. I thought maybe I just forgot and left it here, but apparently not”.

“You and I both know you don’t forget anything, Pretty Boy,” Morgan chimed in, visibly less tense now that he knew there wasn’t any immediate danger.

“Actually Morgan that’s not entirely true. I have an eidetic memory which means-”

“There’s the Reid we all know and love,” JJ chuckled, heading back to her desk to get ready for the day ahead of them. Morgan followed, leaving the bullpen in search of Garcia and Spencer sighed, trying to move past the fact that one of his favorite books was no longer in his possession. Logically, he knew he could buy a replacement copy after work, but deep down he knew it wasn’t the same.

The words dancing across the page would be the same ones that brought him entertainment and the comfort found in familiarity throughout his life, but the book within his hands wouldn’t hold the same nostalgic memories. He wouldn’t look down at the tattered cover and reminisce on his first jet ride with the BAU, thinking back on how he brushed his fingers against the book’s familiar spine while trying to calm his stomach filled with nervous jitters at the prospect of working with unfamiliar people. He wouldn’t look at the dog-eared pages and remember how the words on those exact pages brought him comfort on nights he would escape to his bedroom and try to leave memories of aggressive classmates and whispering peers behind.

Any thought of potentially buying a new copy of the book after the workday was dispelled though as Garcia called everyone into the conference room to discuss a pending case in Phoenix, no sooner followed by a “wheels up in thirty” announcement from Hotch. Grabbing his go-bag and leaving the bullpen, Spencer filled his head with thoughts of the case, half of his brain racing ahead to connect victimology and significant locations while the other half was stuck repeating a never-ending mantra of “it’s just a book” in the back of his mind.

***

As Spencer was boarding a jet to head 468 miles north, Y/N was playing with a loose thread on her sweater, thinking about the long day of work ahead of her. Breaking her trance, she looked up and instead glanced up at the now empty row of seats in front of her. Her brows furrowed as she saw a book stuck in the crack between the far left seat cushion and the back of the chair, and before she knew it her curiosity overtook her. Y/N found herself standing from the seat, travel mug and bag in tow, before reaching for the dictionary-like book that was calling to her. The title War and Peace glared back at her, and a quick turn of the cover revealed faded words written in blue ink proclaiming that the book was the “Property of Spencer Reid”. With the announcement of her stop blaring over the loudspeaker and the weight of someone else’s book in their hand, Y/N made a split second decision to stuff the book into her bag, leaving the Metro with not only thoughts of the upcoming workday but visions of whom the mysterious Spencer Reid could be.

The workday passed by slowly, each passing second filled with the overwhelming desire to search for Spencer Reid on Google. By the time Y/N was on the Metro ride home, any and all motivation to search for the book’s rightful owner went out the door as her irritation grew with the rising heat of the increasingly packed subway car. Needing a distraction, her hand reached into her bag, initially moving for her cell phone but making a last second switch as her hand brushed the spine of the book. May as well spend my time doing something productive, she thought as she gently pulled the book out of it’s temporary home. With a final sigh, she turned to the first page and began to read.

As Y/N was tearing through the pages of War and Peace at an alarmingly quicker rate than she anticipated that night, Spencer was filling out a WMTA lost and found form in the hopes that someone had the decency to return his book. Knowing his luck, he assumed it was long gone and in the trash somewhere, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to make one last ditch effort at finding it. Groaning, Spencer called it a night and went to bed, silently vowing to find his book the second he stepped foot off the BAU jet again.

***

Six days later the BAU team landed in Quantico, making plans to head to a bar for a drink before a well deserved day off. As designated drivers were assigned and phone calls home were made Spencer gathered his things, making a beeline to the door in the hopes of reaching the WMTA’s designated lost and found area before it closed for the night. He was a foot away from the door before a soft hand grasped his wrist, immediately stopping him in his tracks.

“Skipping out on the bar tonight, Reid?” Emily questioned, head tilted as she noticed how frazzled her friend was.

“I’m just gonna go home and watch a bit of Dr.Who” Spencer began, desperately trying to think of something that would let him out the door without further questions. “Speaking of Dr. Who, did you know that it was originally created to be an educational show for kids? It’s actually really interesting-”

“Say no more, Dr. Reid,” Emily laughed, letting go of his wrist and heading back towards the others, “enjoy your night”. Spencer tightly smiled, leaving the bullpen and making his way to downtown DC in search of his book. An hour later and he wasn’t any closer to finding his book, ultimately giving up and heading to the bookstore to buy himself another copy.

It was at that same time JJ and Derek found themselves hysterically laughing at a corner booth in the bar, thinking about how Spencer probably missed out on meeting the love of his life that night- a woman sitting in the booth directly across from them, War and Peace open on the table in front of her and a pen and highlighter busy at work marking up post its that were being meticulously placed on the book’s pages.

***

A month and a half went by and Spencer had officially given up hope on finding his lost book. In the six weeks since he had last seen it he refrained from reading his new copy, not willing to give up the small amount of hope he had that he would be reunited with his original book. That evening though, as the Metro had yet another delay and the subway car continued to get hotter and hotter, he figured there was no better time than the present and pulled out his new copy of War and Peace. A few pages in, a sudden jolt of the car made him glance up and almost immediately he locked eyes with the woman across from him. In the span of ten seconds, his thoughts ranged from she’s beautiful to hold on- she’s holding my book and before his legs fully alerted his brain what was happening he found himself on his feet and sitting in the empty seat directly next to her.

As Spencer’s brain began to register just how bad of an idea it was to sit next to a stranger as abruptly as he just did, the woman next to him gripped her bag slightly tighter, tilting her head to the side as she peaked a look at the man next to her.

Her mouth opened to speak, but before she could do so Spencer interrupted her, desperately trying to save himself from any embarrassment her words could bring.

“That’s my book,” he bluntly stated, mentally hitting himself as he watched her adorably confused features morph into a look of defense.

“No.. that’s your book,” she pointed down to his lap, where his new copy of War and Peace was resting between his palms.

“No it’s not- well, it is but it isn’t really?” Spencer tried to explain, his face growing more and more red with each word that left his mouth.

“So it’s your book, but not your book?” She questioned, lips curling up into a slight smile as she witnessed the sweet agitation of the man in front of her.

“Yes! I lost my book on the metro almost two months ago. This is just my replacement copy, and I don’t know how I know, but I’m positive the book in your hands right now is the one that I lost.” Spencer finished his spiel, watching as the woman’s eyes widened in realization and her mouth formed an “o” shape.

“You’re Spencer Reid?” she asked, and now it was his turn to play the part of the confused companion.

“I- yes? But, how do you know my name?” As soon as the question left his mouth the image of the title page of his book filled his head and all too soon he was practically yelling with joy in the poor woman’s face. “Wait, that is my book then! Does it say Property of Spencer Reid on the cover page?”

The woman laughed, and Spencer watched as any traces of tension left her body. “I’m so sorry! I found it on the Metro on my way to work, and I meant to look you up- not in a creepy way,” she continued, growing more flustered with each passing second. “I was gonna try and find you to return it but then I started reading it and I liked it more than I thought I would and I just,” She stooped, taking a breath and giving him the most adorable set of puppy dog eyes he’s ever seen. “I’m just really sorry, I shouldn’t have held onto it as long as I did”. She finished, and held the book up, holding it out towards Spencer’s hands. “I think this belongs to you”.

“It’s not a problem at all, I promise,” Spencer reassured her with a warm smile on his face, “thanks for keeping it safe”. Something about her filled his stomach with joy, and as he looked at her he saw a similar smile mirrored back at him. It was at that moment he knew he would do anything to keep that look of happiness on her face, stranger or not. “You know what,” he continued, “you should keep it- finders keepers and all that”.

Y/N laughed in disbelief, immediately shaking her head and pushing the book closer to its rightful owner. “It’s bad enough I’ve had it this long,” she admitted. “It belongs with you”.

“At least take this one then?” Spencer’s brain continued to be a few steps ahead of him, and before he knew it he was taking the book in the stranger’s outstretched hands and placing his new copy in her grasp. “It looks like you still have a hundred pages or so left and I wouldn’t want to keep you from finishing it. Besides, I definitely don’t need two copies”.

The woman smiled and gave him an enthusiastic nod, and Spencer couldn’t help but think he just made the best decision of his life. The speaker above them announced the next stop, and with a sudden jump she left her seat, discarding the new book into her bag and turning towards Spencer on her way to the door. “Thanks, Spencer!” she exclaimed, “maybe I’ll see you around sometime”. Another smile was sent his way, and before he earned up the nerve to ask for her name she was gone, disappearing into a growing crowd of commuters desperate to get back to the comfort of their homes and begin the weekend ahead.

***

The following morning, Spencer found himself in his living room with a mug of coffee in his hand, completely lost in his thoughts. He was trying to calculate the chances of seeing the mystery woman again, considering it took six weeks after losing his book to see her for the first time at all.

He groaned, inwardly cursing himself for his lack of courage the day before and wishing he at least had a name to match to the face that wouldn’t leave his mind. As the coffee cooled, he found his gaze wandering to the coffee table where he had laid the book and his satchel the previous night. With a sigh, Spencer picked up the book only to notice a bright orange post-it sticking out of one of the pages.

“The strongest of all warriors are these two- time and patience” was written in loopy writing, highlighted in yellow with exactly twelve exclamation points in red ink under it. He was a man of science, but he couldn’t help but feel as though finding one of his favorite quotes from the novel staring up at him was a sign.

As he continued to skim the pages, he found note after note filled with quotes, reactions, and doodles and he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of admiration for the stranger who put them all there. It was a book that held countless memories for Spencer, but already he could tell that this was going to be his ultimate favorite.

Backtracking to the front page, Spencer saw his familiar scrawl had been slightly covered by a light blue post it note. “If this book gets lost a second time I don’t want to make the same mistake as the first guy… please call Y/N at-” Spencer laughed, immediately grabbing his phone to dial the number before he has time to talk himself out of it.

As the phone began to ring, he thought about how he couldn’t picture her name being anything else. It was as beautiful as she was, and he longed to properly meet the woman who managed to get his heart racing with just a few post-it notes.

“Hello?” the voice on the other end of his phone answered, and Spencer could immediately tell it was the same woman from the subway.

“Hi, is this Y/N?” he began, fingers nervously twiddling together. At her hum of acknowledgement he continues, “This is Spencer, the guy who’s book you had? I was just looking through the post-its you left behind and I love the perspective you have on the book. Plus, it was so nice of you to even hold onto it in the first place so I was wondering if you’d wanna get coffee, maybe? So I can say thank you for everything and talk about the book with you?”

The opposite end of the phone was silent and Spencer’s face grew red, his hands moving to his hair because how could he possibly think she wanted to meet him, she didn’t even know him and-

“I was hoping you’d find that post-it note,” she giggled, and with the sound all of Spencer’s worries completely washed away. “Absolutely”.

***

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tyongxnct · 4 years

Text

𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 - 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝐿𝑒𝑒

pairing: Mark Lee x reader

special guest: Jaehyun, Johnny, Yuta, Jungwoo, Taeyong, Doyoung, mention of Haechan

summary: Years ago, you were deeply in love with Mark Lee. He’s your first love and you thought he’d be the last. After finding out why he really dated you, he broke up with you and vanished. You were devastated and heartbroken. Now you were at the airport as the maid of honor of your best friend Aera, her wedding’s in Greece and you were flying three days earlier with her, her fiancé Jaehyun and his best man. Little did you know that Mark Lee was Jaehyun’s best man. Feelings you thought you had buried deep inside bloomed again.

song: back to you - Selena Gomez

genre: exes-to-lovers!au, angst, smut, fluff

warnings: smut, alcohol consumption, swearing

word count: 11.7k

A/N: I’m finally done. This is the last fic of my series and I can’t believe that i’m done with this series. This series means so much to me, not only because I love Selena Gomez, but also because of the meaning behind evey story. Thank you for all of your support, thank you for every comment, like, reblog, ask and follow. This is just the beginning. Also thank you for requesting that you want to read a second part to some of my stories, I’ll try to write them in the upcoming month, march. I hope you enjoy. Thanx

taglist: @alex-chann, @aesthetichrj @bvbyxuxi

Took you like a shot Thought that I could chase you with a cold evening Let a couple years water down how I'm feeling about you And every time we talk Every single word builds up to this moment And I gotta convince myself I don't want it even though I do

“I have BIG news!” Aera squealed as soon as you opened the door for her. She hugged you tightly and started jumping, you jumped with her even though you had no idea why.

“Why are we jumping around?”

“Greece! I’m getting married in Greece!” she yelled happily, “You know that it’s my dream to get married in Greece and my amazing soon-to-be-husband surprised me with it! Oh god, I can’t believe I’m marrying Jaehyun in fucking GREECE!”

“Holy shit that’s great! But can we stop jumping I might puke.”

You sat down on your couch with Aera, “We need to start planning, the wedding is in 3 weeks. I’ve sent the invitations right before I came here. We booked a hotel with the best view ever and my wonderful maid of honor aka you are flying with me and Jaehyun a two days earlier, you know, to get stuff done and the others come one day before the wedding, your man too, by the way. I can’t wait for my bachelorette party- but remember, I promised Jaehyun no strippers.” Her eyes sparkled as she talked about her wedding and you started thinking about your own future.

Were you ever going to get married? You want to get married, you really do. But what if you never get the chance to? Your boyfriend hated to talk about commitment and marriage, he said living together and dating was enough, but you never felt the same way. You wanted to get married, you want a ring on your finger, and you wanted to call him your husband, not your boyfriend.

Aera left after a while and you were alone, until you heard the door open with a sigh. “I’m home.”

His voice, no, his existence alone triggered you and without knowing you plugged in your earphones. “I said I’m home Y/n. There she fucking goes again, god I’m not going to deal with you tonight.” And without saying anything after that, he left again. Minho, your boyfriend of two and half years, always left you alone. He never bothered to talk to you about the problems in your relationship and after trying and trying, you were sick of it.

Dating him was almost torture but breaking up with him was also difficult. You were so scared of being alone, of not being loved.

Almost three weeks later, you found yourself at the airport with Jaehyun and Aera. Jaehyun looked at his watch every two minutes and he looked really nervous too. “Where the fuck is he?” he mumbled and Aera kicked his leg. “Ouch?” he hissed in pain. “Sorry baby didn’t mean to kick you that hard.”

“What is going on here? Who are we waiting for?” you asked confused. “You didn’t tell her?” Jaehyun asked his fiancée. Aera shook her head.

“W-Well about that- uhm, there’s one thing I have to tell you, but don’t get too mad,” Aera looked at you nervously, “you, uhm… you remember Mark Lee, right? Please forgive me for not telling you, but- fuck, he’s Jaehyun’s best man. He’s coming with us.” Aera closed her eyes, scared of your reaction.

“You are joking right?” your heart pounded against your chest.

“N-No, I really didn’t know that you didn’t know- a-and you know, Mark’s my oldest friend and yeah, and uhm, fuck he’s coming act natural.” Jaehyun looked at his phone and laughed, even though his screen was dark and Aera laughed with him.

“How the fuck am I supposed to act natural?!” you almost yelled bus as soon as you heard Mark’s little hi, your heart stopped beating.

It’s been almost three years since you heard his voice. Every memory played in your mind like a sad movie, the second he asked you to be his girlfriend to the end of your relationship with him, the moment he broke your heart almost made you cry again, but Aera stepped on your foot and you came back to reality.

“Hi.” You said coldly, his last word replaying in your head over and over again.

Aera and Jaehyun watched you and Mark awkwardly and Mark couldn’t find any words to say, except for, “H-hi.”

“Sooo, now that everyone’s here,” Jaehyun handed you your tickets. “Thanks.” Mark mumbled.

You were about to go on board, you didn’t say a word since Mark came and he was busy talking to Aera and Jaehyun. “Y/n, we’ll see you guys when we land alright?”

“What do you mean?” you asked confused, “We sit together? Right?”

“W-Well about that- we are flying first class, we wanted to spoil ourselves a little- please don’t get angry I’m sorry I am so sorry.” Aera whispered and you felt like you could explode any second like a volcano.

“Y-You mean… you’re telling me I have to sit with him for the next couple hours?! All alone?!” you tried to whisper but it was loud enough for Jaehyun and Mark to hear.

“shh! Just, I don’t know, sleep, or watch a movie or maybe just talk to him like a grown up, please do it for me?” she pouted.

“I’m gonna be wasted when we arrive in Greece.” You couldn’t be angry at her. “As long as you don’t kill him.”

Jaehyun and Aera entered the plane first and left you and Mark alone. “So, how have you been?”

The audacity.

“Good.” You mumbled. How long until you could enter that fucking plane?

“Me too, well, I’d say ok-“

“Look, Mark. I’m doing this for our friends, okay? I’m not interested in your life. I don’t want to talk to you unless it’s about the wedding. Did I make myself clear?” maybe you were mean and bitchy, but after everything he had done to you, you didn’t care.

He just nodded and looked down to his feet.

Half an hour later, you were seated on the plane right next to Mark. It’s not your first time flying, but it was Mark’s first time, and he was fucking scared.

“This is captain Lee Taeyong speaking, I’m your pilot for our flight to Mykonos, Greece. My co-pilot for today is Kim Doyoung. Please enjoy your flight.”

After the announcement and the instructions, you were ready to go.

The plane started moving and you could feel Mark tensing up next to you. His grip on the hand rest tightened and his knuckles turned white.

You tried so hard to ignore him, but you couldn’t. You should laugh at him, take pictures of his suffering- but you held his hand and assured it him that it’ll be over.

Mark looked at you and then back at your hands. Your thumb slowly stroked his hand and he stopped thinking about the plane and he could only think about your hand holding his.

You held his hand until you saw the flight attendant walk around.

Mark thanked you but you ignored him.

“Hello, would you like to have some water or coffee?” the flight attendant asked you and Mark.

“Just a water please.” Mark said.

“Do you have something stronger? Wine? Or champagne?”

“Sure ma’am.”

“Alright I’d like to have some champagne.” You smiled and she nodded.

Mark looked at you, eyes a little wide.

Four glasses later, you were a little tipsy.

“I think you had enough-“ Mark tried to stop you from ordering another glass.

“You don’t know anything about me!” you protested.

“Y/n, get some sleep come on-“

“Mind your own business.” You plugged in your Airpods and ignored him. You didn’t want him to interact with you and If you have to stop drinking for him to shut up, you sadly had to.

You closed your eyes and leaned back. You didn’t notice Mark’s eyes on you, watching your pretty features as your chest raised with every breath you took.

Shortly after, you fell asleep.

You could break my heart in two But when it heals, it beats for you I know it's forward but it's true

Three years ago

“It was a game. I won and now it’s over.” Mark said coldly as he looked away.

“What do you mean a game? And what is over? Mark, babe, I don’t understand.” Maybe you knew, maybe you tried to hide the fact that you saw it coming. Your relationship was too good to be true.

“I told my friends that I could fuck you within a year, and I did. We’ve been dating for ten months. I won. I can’t believe I waited ten months to fuck you.” He said casually.

“What?”

“Are you deaf? I fucked you and I got a lot of cash in exchange. Now we’re over. As simple as that.”

“You’re joking? Right? You love me, Mark. We love each other. It’s not funny.” Your voice broke.

“I’m not fucking joking,” he showed you the money he got, “Now, please get the fuck out of my apartment. Oh, and take your toothbrush with you.”

You were crying and that annoyed him. “Why are you fucking crying?!”

“M-Mark please don’t do this- I love you. I have never loved anyone like I love you. P-Please tell me you’re lying.” You sobbed.

“You know what, I’m leaving. Leave before I come back.”

Mark didn’t want to leave, but watching you cry and sob hurt him, he would never admit that to you but deep down, he felt something for you. Mark thought ending things with you was better than walking on eggshells. It was a matter of time until you would find out. He didn’t want to risk you finding out from someone else. The least he could do was tell you, face to face.

You loved him, you really loved him so much. He was a perfect boyfriend. There was not a single day you doubt him or your relationship. It hurt, you first ever heartbreak and you didn’t know how to handle the pain.

I wanna hold you when I'm not supposed to When I'm lying close to someone else You're stuck in my head and I can't get you out of it If I could do it all again I know I'd go back to you I know I'd go back to you I know I'd go back to you

After your breakup with Mark, you felt your life slowly falling apart. You were barely present in class and you stopped interacting with your friends. You drowned in self-pity and you fell deeper and deeper. Only Aera was there for you. After so many years of friendship, she always got your back.

“Is the pain ever going to stop?” you asked her between sobs.

“Honey, it’ll take a while, but I promise you, it’ll stop.”

Aera and Jaehyun were dating since first year of college and he told you that he had no idea about his oldest friend’s plan. Jaehyun was happy to see his friend happy- because was happy whenever he was with you. You went on double dates and spent so much time together, Jaehyun really thought that you and Mark were going to end up together.

“I swear I didn’t know. His other friends- that Haechan guy and the others were with him. He never told me because he know that we’re friends.”

“It’s okay, Jae. You’re not as childish as they’re. Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

And Jaehyun and Aera never left your side until college was over. During your time thinking about life and finishing college, you met Minho, your current boyfriend. You started dating and you thought he’d help you get over Mark, but he only made you feel worse.

He was a fuckboy, he fucked anyone with tits, and even though you knew it, you still agreed to date him.

Multiple fights and breakups followed, and you always end up at Aera’s or Minho would leave for a couple days.

Whenever you were lonely, and it was the case most of time, you thought about Mark. You missed him, his lips, his touches, the way he laughed and his silly jokes. You missed the way he said I love you and how warm and loved you felt with him.

No matter how hard Mark hurt you, you didn’t regret falling in love with him. You’d do it again and again.

We never got it right Playing and replaying old conversations Overthinking every word and I hate it 'Cause it's not me And what's the point in hiding Everybody knows we got unfinished business And I'll regret it if I didn't say this isn't what it could be

Two days until the wedding

Mark shook you softly and tried to wake you up. “Hey, Y/n. We’re here. Wake up.”

“Just a little longer Markie.” You mumbled in your sleep as you held his hand. When you landed, Mark got scared again and just held your hand without asking you. You were asleep after all.

Mark’s heart was about to explode. He blushed at the nickname. You used to call him Markie every time you were sleepy or acting like a baby to get his attention.

And every fucking time he fell for it and his heart softened. “Okay baby.” This time Mark stroked your hand with his thumb.

About three minutes later, the flight attendant came to wake her. “Sir, ma’am. You need to leave the plane. We landed almost ten minutes ago.”

You slowly woke up and stretched your arms. “What? Oh, sorry.” You stood up, a little too fast. Everything was spinning, Mark held your waist and you fell on his lap.

“Are you sure we landed? Everything’s spinning around.” You held your head, not noticing that you were on Mark’s lap. “Y/n, uhm, could you stand up? But do it slowly this time!” he still held your waist. “What? Oh, shit, sorry.” You stood up, a little slower this time.

“Y/n! Mark! What took you so long? What the hell?” Aera looked strictly but as she saw Mark’s arm around your waist she softened. “S-she’s a little tipsy.” Mark said, cheeks red.

“Of course, she is.”

“Am not! Oh my god, the weather is so good!” your eyes were slightly open but as soon as you saw the sea and the beautiful architecture your smiled brightly. You pushed Mark’s arm off and started unbuttoning your shirt.

Mark’s eyes widened, and Jaehyun turned around, he didn’t want to watch you take off your clothes. Aera’s mouth fell open and Mark kept on watching you. Your tank top under your shirt rose a little and Mark’s eyes travelled to your soft skin. You put your shirt in your handbag and took out your sunglasses.

Mark’s eyes never left your body, his eyes going up to your breasts. He needs to get away from you or he’ll lose his mind.

“You can turn back baby, she’s wearing something underneath.”

“J-Jaehyun maybe we should… you know.” Mark locked eyes with Jaehyun.

“What you mean Mark?” Jaehyun asked cluelessly.

“A car, you know, for the hotel.”

“Oh yeah right. Ladies, don’t move away, we’ll go rent a car.” Jaehyun kissed Aera and then they left.

“I’m going to kill him.” You breathed out after Mark left. “You won’t.” Aera posed next to you as you took selfies together. “I will. I hate him. He acts like nothing happened, like, like he never broke my heart. As if we’re old friends or shit like that.”

“He acts totally shy around you. I think you intimidate him. Did you see how he watched you when you took off your shirt? That idiot was and is so into you.” Aera always thought that Mark loved you, no matter what he did. You don’t date someone for months just for 50 bucks. “He’s a man. As soon as they see tits, they’re on their knees.” You laughed.

“Well, maybe you should let him kneel for you a little longer. I guess he’s into that.” She giggled.

“I can’t believe that you just said that.” You closed your eyes. “Well, Jaehyun’s into that.”

“Jaehyun’s into what?” Jaehyun asked as he heard his name. “Into me of course.”

“That’s why I’m marrying you.” He pulled her in for a kiss- a very steamy and hot kiss. “Hello? Keep it PG-13 please.” You looked at them with disgust in your eyes. Mark awkwardly coughed next to you. “The car is ready.”

You were in the backseat with Mark, he was a little close for your liking. “Your leg is touching mine.” You said. “And?” he asked.

“I don’t like it.”

“Sounds like a you problem.” He said back. “Excuse me?” you said in disbelief.

Jaehyun and Aera locked eyes for a second.

Aera turned the radio louder and it was your song.

“Y/n! Isn’t that your favorite song?!” she yelled through the music. Mark glanced at you. He remembered the song. You had your first kiss with Mark, and that song was playing in the background. You were in his car, just like right now, in the backseat.

“No. It’s not.” You said as you looked out.

“What? But it’s in your Spotify playlist. What was it called? Fav songs? Best songs? His songs? My songs?” she kept on asking and you couldn’t take it anymore. “’Our songs’ but I deleted that because that playlist was stupid. Now, please. Change that songs.”

Mark smiled to himself. You still had the playlist called our songs? Mark and you created that playlist when you were dating and you always listened to it, over thousand times and it never got boring.

“Fine.” She sighed. “No! Don’t change that song. I-it is my favorite song.” Mark said and you looked at him with furrowed brows.

“Okay.”

“Change it.” You demanded.

“Don’t.” Mark was looking at you too. “Aera, change the song.” You said through gritted teeth.

“Aera I’ll jump out of the car If you change it.” Mark threatened.

“He won, Y/n, sorry. He threatened with his life.”

You didn’t say anything because the song changed. You looked back to your phone, ignoring Mark.

“We’re here.” Jaehyun parked the car and you mouth fell open. The hotel looked stunning. “Holy shit. This place is fucking gorgeous.” Aera said happily. “Only the best for my fiancée.” Jaehyun was fucking cheesy but Aera loved it.

The hotel was not exactly like a hotel. It was more like little white house’s next to each other with a pool and a perfect view. The house was bigger than you thought, many guest rooms, a big room for the couple and a very big room for you and Mark, at the end of the hallway, far away from Jaehyun and Aera’s room.

“If you excuse us for a while, we have things to discuss in our room,” Jaehyun said as he winked at Aera. “But we’ll get dinner together. Don’t go too far, stay in your rooms or go swimming we don’t really care just leave us alone for an hour-“ Aera kicked his leg again. “or three.”

After unpacking your stuff, you decided to go to the pool. You changed to your black two-piece swimsuit and left your room and at the same time Mark opened his door and left his room. He was in his swim trunks and he stopped his movements as soon as he saw you leaving your room.

Mark tried to hide his gaze on your body, but he was quite obvious. “Stop staring.”

“I-I’m not staring.” He looked away.

“Sure.” You made your way outside, to the pool. It was extremely hot, you put your towel on the beach chair next to the pool and sat down, ready to put on some sunscreen. Mark entered the porch and looked at you. You put sunscreen on your legs and didn’t break the eye contact.

You wanted to tease him, provoke him so you put on a show. You slowly pulled the straps of your swimsuit down and slowly put the sunscreen on your neck and shoulders until you reached the upper part of your breasts. You didn’t need to look at Mark, you felt his eyes on your as he put his stuff down next to you.

“Mark?”

“Y-Yes?” he stuttered, his focus on your breasts.

“Could you help me? I can’t reach my back.” You said innocently.

Mark gulped, “Y-yeah I can, uhm, I can do that for you.”

Mark wasn’t the only one watching. You watched him too. You watched him take off his shirt and you couldn’t look away. He looked hot, hotter than before. Did he start working out? He caught you watching him and smirked at you. You threw the sunscreen to him and turned around. You untied the bikini bra but held it against your breasts.

He squeezed a little on his hand and slowly put it on your lower back, slowly massaging it into your skin. You didn’t know If his hands were cold or If the sunscreen was cold, but after he touched you, your entire body shivered. You got goosebumps, you even felt your nipples harden.

“Yes Mark, just like that.” You teased him again.

“Feels good?”

“Mhm…” you moaned.

His face was close to yours, you could feel his breathe against your neck. His hands slowly travelled down, slightly about your ass. “Hands up, Mark.” You pushed his hands up again, you wouldn’t let him touch your ass.

You leaned back, your head was resting on Mark’s shoulder. You were sitting between his legs and you grabbed his thigh after he put a little bit pressure on your back. You weren’t going to lie- it really felt good. Your muscles relaxed, you closed your eyes and just let him touch you.

“You want me to go harder?” he whispered in your ear. “Yes, please go harder on me.” And he did. You squeezed his thigh, your hand travelled higher and higher, “Fuck.” He mumbled under his breath and when you stopped, you moved forwards. “That’s enough.”

You tied your bikini bra back up and turned to him. He quickly tried to hide his bulge with a towel. “Are you perhaps turned-on Mark?” you mocked him.

“Your nipples are hard. I guess you are turned-on.”

He was right. You were turned on and your nipples were hard. “No, I’m not. Why would that turn me on? My nipples are hard b-because it’s cold. And stop looking you pervert!” you crossed your arms in front of you and made your way to the pool.

“Cold my ass.” He mumbled.

You slowly entered the pool, step by step. The temperature was good, you hoped your nipples would calm down. You watched Mark enter the pool, he was on the other side looking at you.

“This is my side and that is yours. Stay on your side and don’t bother me.” You told him strictly. Mark nodded and watched you. You just stared at each other and then Mark dove into the water. He swam towards you and when he got out, he was right in front of you, face, and hair wet. Chest rising and falling, eyes on you. Mark was really close, like, really close. You could feel the bulge against your thigh.

“What are you doing?” you asked.

“Swimming.” He caged you in his arms and pushed your body softly against the wall. He looked at you and the beautiful view of Greece and the ocean he had.

“Swim on your side of the pool.” He was annoying you so much.

“I have a better view from here.” Mark said as he looked you in the eyes. “Fine, you can stay here-“

“Don’t go.” He whispered. “Why? I’m blocking your view.”

“You are the view.”

You didn’t say anything back- you couldn’t. Your heart was beating against your chest, breathing got difficult and you couldn’t calm down. He was so close, you were about to lose your mind.

Mark wasn’t doing any better. You looked ethereal. You looked as beautiful as the first time he had met you. You were even prettier and the way you were so cold to him was kind of hot. Mark thought that his feelings for you died but seeing you after such a long time only made him realize, that his feelings for you got even stronger.

He always asked Jaehyun about you, but Jaehyun punched him and told him to fuck off because he had hurt his girlfriends’ best friend and his own friend, too. In Jaehyun’s eyes, Mark was a great friend, and he would trust him with his life, but after what he had done to you, Mark lost the right to know about your life. Still, Mark tried to find out If you were feeling any better after the breakup. If you were happy without him in your life, but he always failed and reaching out to you would be the worst thing he could do to you.

Mark’s hands were on your waist. He pushed his body against yours and he knew how nervous you were, but two can play this game.

Your hand was on his toned stomach, caressing it softly and then going down. You never broke eye contact and when your hand landed on his crotch, softly squeezing his bulge, he let out a moan. You were bold, you kept on playing with his bulge and Mark’s lips were attacking your neck. He placed soft kisses and started sucking.

“Fuck, Y/n. It feels so good. Please don’t stop.” He moaned as he squeezed your waist slightly. Before you could realize what exactly was happening, your phone rang.

“Ignore it.” Mark mumbled, his lips leaving your skin for a second.

“Mark- no.”

“Please… I’m so close.” He kissed your neck up to your jaw. You wanted to keep doing whatever the fuck you were doing with fucking Mark Lee, but your phone never stopped ringing. “You’re close?”

“Yes baby, so close.”

And you stopped your hand movements immediately. “W-What no please-“ he begged but you pushed him away. “You’re a big boy, right? You don’t need me.” You stepped out of the pool and wrapped the towel around yourself. Mark was painfully hard, and he was about to cum.

You took your phone and looked at the messages you just got. Minho texted you and you realized that you just gave Mark a handjob, even though he didn’t cum, and you totally forgot about Minho’s existence. Not that Minho always had you on his mind.

“You have got to be kidding me.” You said.

Mark looked at you curiously.

You called Minho immediately, not caring If you lost so much money since you called someone abroad.

“What the fuck does that mean?!” you asked angrily.

“I’m busy- I can’t attend the wedding.”

“Busy my ass, fuck you. This is my best friend’s wedding, the least you could do is to come to the wedding and stay next to your fucking girlfriend.” You were so angry, you didn’t care about anything.

Mark didn’t want to listen to your private conversation- and he had to jerk off- but after hearing the word girlfriend, he stopped in his tracks and listened.

“I have so much work and it’s just a wedding- I’ll make it up to you.” Minho said but you were distracted by the voices and music. “A-Are you at the club? You promised you’d never do that again?!”

“I’m with some colleagues-“ he lied.

“It’s fine. I don’t have time for this right now.” You hung up without listening to him any further. You were exhausted, so fucking exhausted. You turned to your left and saw Mark watching you. “Who was that?” he asked.

“None of your business.” You were cold to him again. Mark was about to say something, but you left without giving him the chance.

The only thing on your mind right now was Mark’s lips on your body. You took a hot shower and changed into a pretty sundress, perfect for the hot weather.

Mark was under the shower, after he jerked off, you still didn’t leave his mind. All he could think about was you and the person to whom you were talking.

After an hour, Aera told you to get ready- you were all going out for dinner. You all got ready and left the house. You were in the backseat with Mark again, not exchanging a word with the three, you were in your own world.

When you felt Mark’s hand on your thigh you turned your head to him. “Huh?”

“Burgers? What do you say?” he asked softly and pulled his hand back. “Sure.” You just wanted to drink, you didn’t care about food.

Jaehyun parked next to a restaurant and when you entered, you were all shocked. It was a beautiful restaurant with a terrace and a pretty view. Aera was next to you, Jaehyun across from her and Mark right across from you.

It felt like back then when you were going on actual double dates. “I think I have a déjà vu?” Jaehyun laughed awkwardly. “Ouch!” Mark yelped. “Sorry Mark, I wanted to kick Jaehyun.” Aera said. “Why would you want to kick me?” he asked his girlfriend. “Babe, shut up.” It was so awkward.

Mark looked at you, he knew exactly what Jaehyun was talking about. “Do you guys remember when the waiter pushed Jaehyun’s head into the cake?” Mark laughed at the memory the four of your shared. You didn’t say anything, but the others laughed. “Oh my god that was hilarious. He tasted so delicious.” Aera winked at him. “Okay, well, uhm, I wasn’t talking about that.” Mark scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“My baby likes it when her fiancée tastes like strawberries.” Jaehyun smirked at Aera.

“This is absolutely not something we want to hear, Jesus.” Mark said disgusted.

After finishing dinner, you walked on the beach together. “Hey, babe, what’s on your mind?” Aera pulled you back to talk to you. She knew something was up.

“I just- Minho isn’t coming and I’m not sad about it. Why am I not sad about it?” you asked her. “Thanks god- I mean, I think your brain started working finally. Do you even see a future with him?” she asked you. “No, I don’t b-but I’ll never have future with anyone- I guess I’m just not worth-“

“If you dare to finish that sentence, I’ll push you into the water.” Aera threatened you. “Listen, I know when you are happy, and there was not a single time you were happy in that relationship, not like you were with that dumbass-“ she pointed at Mark, “The last time I saw you truly happy was with him, and I’m not saying go get Mark, I’m saying that Minho isn’t worth it. You are too good for him and there’s someone who loves you so much and who deserved your love and attention. Not that looser.”

And your eyes never left Mark’s back.

Something inside you switched, you don’t need a man next to you to be happy, well definitely not a man like Minho- he wasn’t even a man. After all the tears and fights you finally opened your eyes, and you knew that you deserve better.

“Fuck this shit I’m breaking up with that piece of shit.” And you really did. Aera held your hand as you dialed his number and called him.

“Y/n? It’s fucking 4 am.” Minho said. “Babe-“ you heard in the background, but you didn’t fucking care.

“You know what, I don’t even fucking care. Do whatever you want- thanks god you aren’t coming. I don’t have to make memories with an asshole like you. Go back to your slut. I’ll get my stuff when I’m back. I’m done with you” And you hung up.

You felt better than ever before.

You didn’t feel like crying- you were happy, you wanted to make great memories with your best friend and after so many years, you finally broke up with Minho. You felt free and when you looked to your left, to the stunning view you had, you just smiled.

“I’m so proud of you. You know, there are a couple single friends of Jaehyun coming to the wedding, maybe you’ll get some dick.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Jaehyun’s friends? Are we really sure about that?” you joked, looking at Mark again.

“You are right.”

Meanwhile, Mark and Jaehyun were talking about you.

“Dude, she was talking about someone not attending the wedding and like, she said girlfriend or something, I don’t know- is she… is Y/n dating someone?” Mark asked, he was scared of the answer. He had hope to get you back, but when you were someone else’s, he couldn’t do anything.

“Yeah, Minho. Such a piece of shit, like, he’s worse than you-“

“Hey!”

“Sorry, but like, what you did was an asshole move but he’s like constantly an asshole, I think that’s worse than being a dick just once. He cheats and yells and is so fucking disrespectful, if it weren’t for Y/n I’d kill him and I can’t believe that he’s coming to my wedding, god.”

Mark was shocked, you’re really dating someone like him?

“Why isn’t she leaving him?” he asked Jaehyun. “I don’t really know, they started dating right after you left, maybe she tried to move on with him.”

Mark knew he had hurt you really bad, but you tried to move on that soon? Why did you touch him like that when you have a boyfriend? Why did you let him kiss your neck and be so close?

“Let’s go to the club!” you yelled happily, and Mark turned to you. “Club?” he asked.

“Yes, the fucking club, I want to get wasted!” you sang happily.

And the next stop was a club. After a couple shots (Jaehyun didn’t drink anything except for water, he’s the driver), you and Aera danced on the dancefloor happily together. You felt so alive and excited, you jumped around and Mark couldn’t keep his eyes away from you.

The way your dress slightly rose and exposed your beautiful legs. He hoped nobody else was looking at you like he did.

“You’re staring.” Jaehyun said.

“Am not.”

“You’re so fucking obvious, it physically hurts me to see you like this.” Jaehyun patted Mark’s back.

“Do you think she still hates me?” Mark asked. “Well, I would.”

“That’s not helpful.” Mark gulped down another shot. “Alright, I’m sorry. She’s like, pissed, but I don’t think she hates you.”

“Baby! Dance with me!” Aera pulled Jaehyun to the dance floor and he didn’t resist. He had to show everyone that Aera was his girl, his fiancée. Dancing slowly turned into a make out session and not even five minutes later, they left the dancefloor and entered the restroom.

After dancing for so long, you returned back to your table. “What are you doing here all alone?” you asked Mark.

“Drinking.” He drank shot after shot. “Share with me.” You sat down next to him, really close. Your thighs touching and his gaze on your legs made you smirk.

“Let’s play a game. We’ll ask questions and If we don’t want to answer, we take a shot. Okay?”

You nodded, that could get really interesting. You ordered a whole vodka bottle and started the game.

“Ladies first.”

“What a gentleman. Well, okay, I got a question. Did you get to cum today?” you asked boldly. “I did.” He smirked at you.

“Okay, uhm, were you turned on?”

You took a shot, yes you were so turned on, but you wouldn’t say that out loud.

Mark looked you in the eyes, “Do I look hot?”

“So fucking hot.” Mark said without thinking.

“Do you want me to touch you?” he asked now, you took a shot, which was a pretty obvious answer to him. He put his hand on your thigh. He squeezed slightly. “I never said yes.” You said. “You also never said no. Do you want me to stop touching you?”

“It’s not your turn.” Which meant that you didn’t want him to stop touching you.

After a couple shots, Mark finally asked you the question he was dying to ask.

“Did you miss me?” his face was serious, and he looked you the deep in the eyes. Whenever Mark asked you a question to which you couldn’t say no, you took a shot, just like you did at this question. Mark knew that you had missed him.

“I missed you. So much.” He came closer, nose brushing yours. Mark pressed his lips on the corner of your lips. He slightly pulled back and you looked at you, you weren’t stopping him, so he continued.

The next kiss landed on the tip of your nose and then on the other corner of your lips. Mark squeezed your thigh with a little bit more pressure as he finally placed his lips on yours. Mark kissed you slowly and without realizing it, you kissed him back. You shut your eyes and let him kiss you. He kissed you with so much passion, so much longing and you cupped his cheeks to pull him closer.

His right hand held you by your waist and squeezed it, you gasped, and he put his hot muscle in your mouth. His tongue was playing with yours, he sucked on your lower lip and you could feel yourself getting wetter with every touch and every kiss. You forgot that you were in public, everyone could watch your heavy make-out session with Mark.

“M-Mark-“ you moaned.

“Mhmm…” he didn’t want to stop-

“Mark- there are people around -fuck- us-“ when he started kissing your neck, you lost it.

“Don’t care.” And he kept kissing your skin. “I can’t get enough of you.” He smirked as he left a mark on your skin.

You opened your eyes and saw Jaehyun and Aera coming. You pushed Mark away and acted like you didn’t just have the best kiss of your life.

“We’re done,” Aera giggled, “We should go back, it’s late and we should get sober until tomorrow night. I want to remember my bachelorette party.”

You just nodded, grabbed your purse, and left the club with the others coming after you.

The car ride was awkward. Mark wanted to hold your hand, but you tried to leave as much space as possible between you. Your head was spinning, you wanted him but the voice in your head told you to back off.

Mark was silent the whole ride back and after you left, he could finally breath again.

“The others are coming tomorrow, I trust my best man to take care of them.” Jaehyun and Mark talked on the way back to the house and you tried to ignore the fact that Mark was really walking right next to you.

“Of course, dude. You’re bachelor party is going to be crazy, by the way.” Mark planed something big for Jaehyun.

“No strippers.” Jaehyun warned.

“No strippers for you.” Mark teased even though he was suddenly not interested in seeing women, except for you. You were on his mind and you just didn’t want to leave.

That kind of hurt you.

You accidently locked eyes with Mark, and he wanted to punch himself. “I- I mean I don’t want them either- you know? I swear I didn’t book any strippers.” Mark tried to save himself, but you just rolled your eyes.

“We’re going to have strippers though, Aera.”

“What? Aera, babe, I thought we said no strippers.” Jaehyun pouted.

“I told her! Y/n No strippers!” Aera panicked.

“No strippers for you.” You mocked Mark and he glared at you.

“No strippers and that’s final.” Jaehyun said strictly like a dad, pointing his finger at me.

“I was just joking- don’t worry. No strippers. Promise.”

You could break my heart in two But when it heals, it beats for you I know it's forward but it's true

The next day was hectic. Family members and friends finally arrived and you, as the maid of honor, tried your best to be there for them and for Aera. Mark on the other hand just hung out with Jaehyun. The wedding is tomorrow and the bachelor parties are tonight. Aera was a little stressed, even with your help. She was talking with the catering company and you could see how exhausted she was.

“Aera, go take a long relaxing bath, I got this. I have your list and all of the information. Let me manage this, you need to relax and enjoy this. I don’t want you to stress.” You told her.

“You’re right, I trust you with this.”

You did everything you had to do. You were done with the check list and when you were about to go to your room to take a quick nap, a voice interrupted you.

“So, Y/n. Did you get hotter? Or is it just the weather in Greece?”

You turned around and faced Johnny Suh. A close friend of Jaehyun and he was always flirting with you, even when you dated Mark, but it was harmless. He was always nice and kind and you flirted back, just for fun of course and well, you liked making Mark jealous.

“Oh look at you! Long time no see.” You hugged him and the other boys trailing after him. Mark leading the boys and watching you and Johnny flirt right in front of him.

You hugged the others, and they didn’t know how to act, since Mark was glaring at them, which you didn’t notice.

“So Y/n, do you need any help?” Johnny said, winking at you.

“I’m actually done with everything, I was about to take a nap.”

“A nap? Come on, we’re in Greece. Let’s go to the beach.” Johnny suggested and everyone agreed with him, even Mark.

You thought about it for a second. Going to beach sound perfect, who knows If you ever come to Greece again.

“Alright, I’ll go get my stuff and change.”

You changed to your bikini and a sundress. You packed your back, a couple towels, sunscreen, and your sunglasses. The boys were already waiting for you. Jungwoo, Mark, Johnny and Yuta were the only ones who wanted to go to the beach. Jaehyun was napping and the others wanted to go to the city.

You were sitting between Jungwoo and Mark. Johnny was driving and Yuta took the passenger seat. You pressed your legs together, you didn’t want to touch Mark’s legs. After everything that happened last night, you were scared and you didn’t know what to do. Mark wasn’t doing any better. It was so awkward and if he could, he would kiss you again.

Not even 15 minutes later, you arrived at the beach and it was such a beautiful view.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful.” You said with wide eyes.

“Not as beautiful as you are.” Johnny flirted and you softly hit him on the shoulder, “Shut up.”

Mark tried to ignore Johnny’s flirty behavior, but it was so hard, even back when you and Mark were still dating, he hated it whenever Johnny flirted like that with you. He didn’t even know why, he shouldn’t have cared, he was only dating you for the money, right? But now it was different. Now he cared even more, he wanted you and it drove him crazy that you ignored him all day.

When you settled down right in front of the beach, Yuta and Jungwoo dropped everything and ran straight into the water.

“They didn’t put any sunscreen on.” Johnny mumbled, “Can you help me put some on Y/n?” he asked you.

“Sure.”

Once again, Mark wanted to punch his friend.

The way you put sunscreen on Johnny’s back was quick, you wanted to annoy Mark, you didn’t want him to think that you were really interested in Johnny. Johnny thanked you and asked you if you need help too and when you nodded, Mark remembered when he put sunscreen on your back yesterday.

Mark smirked at the memory, you’re so beautiful and your moans were so pretty and-

Mark’s thoughts were interrupted by you.

“Johnny, you are so strong, it feels so good.”

How could you say that, Mark thought.

“Y/n are you still with that piece of shit?” Johnny asked you as he massaged your back. “No I broke up with him.”

“So you’re single right?”

“Fuck- Yes, single.” You closed your eyes and enjoyed the massage you were getting.

“Hyung, I think Yuta is calling your name.” Mark interrupted.

“I can’t hear anything?” you mumbled.

“For real, he called your name just a second ago, maybe you should go look after him.”

Johnny’s plan worked. Johnny could hear the jealousy in Mark’s voice. Johnny wasn’t really interested in you, yeah you were pretty and you have a great personality, but you were still Mark’s ex-girlfriend and Johnny knew that Mark still liked you, even though he never admitted that.

“Alright, maybe Mark can continue?” Johnny asked you.

“I don’t know… Mark’s not as strong as you are.” You teased.

“I am strong, did you forget about yesterday-“

“Okayyyy.” Johnny laughed awkwardly and left you two.

Mark placed his hands on your back, he softly massaged you. You were laying on your stomach and Mark slowly untangled your bikini straps.

“How is this?” he asked you as he put a little pressure on your back.

“G-Good, so good.”

“You like making me jealous huh?” his hand travelled down but he stopped right before your butt.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You said innocently even though you knew exactly what he was talking about.

“Oh baby, you do. You know what I’m talking about,” he put a little bit of pressure on your neck, “I really want to spank you for behaving like a brat.”

“Do it.”

“Don’t play with me.” Mark bend forward and pressed his lips on your bare shoulder. He left wet kisses on your skin and you closed your eyes and let him.

You missed him. You missed Mark so much. You wanted him and he wanted you, but there was still something holding you back.

You got interrupted by the ringing of your phone.

Mark pulled back and when you tried to stand up to reach for your phone, you forgot that your bikini was loose.

“Oh shit-“ you laid back and Mark giggled. He tied your straps back together and you finally answered your phone.

“Hi Aera, yeah we’re at the beach. Everything is done, don’t worry I took care of everything. Yeah be ready at 9 I’m not telling you what I’ve planned. The dress code is red and short. No Jaehyun won’t get jealous because he won’t get to see you until the wedding. Oh, I’m- I’m with Mark right now- would you shut up we’re not-“ you glanced at Mark who was already looking at you, “I’m hanging up now.”

Aera teased you with Mark, she asked you why you were alone with him and if you were doing dirty things with him.

“I’m going to the boys, are you coming?” you asked him softly.

Mark just nodded and trailed after you.

After your fun beach day, you got ready for the bachelorette party. Aera’s three other friends were also coming and knew about your plan. You booked a limousine and a VIP place in a club, it wasn’t much, but Aera liked it the traditional way.

After changing to a short red dress with thin straps, you put on makeup and you were ready to go. The others were also ready and Aera tried to hide herself.

“Jaehyun can’t see me like this- he’d rip this dress off me, then he would fuck me and then he would burn it.”

“Calm down, Johnny told me that they already left.” You assured her.

“Fine. Fuck I look so hot.” Aera opened her front camera once again and looked at herself.

“Yes you do and now let’s get wasted!!” one of her other friends said.

Driving in a limousine was fun, Aera popped the champagne bottle carefully and after driving around the city for 3 hours and having fun in the limousine, you arrived at the club.

You entered the VIP lounge and the night started perfectly. Everyone was having fun, dancing, and drinking.

Aera secretly texted Jaehyun that she missed him and loved him. She also left for about five minutes just to talk to him in the restroom.

“Where the hell were you?” you asked her.

“I was talking to Jaehyun I’m sorry I’ll turn my phone off now.”

And she did, of course after she texted Jaehyun that she was turning her phone off, she didn’t want him to worry and also have fun.

After that, Aera drank and danced like there was no tomorrow.

You were also having the time of your life, it’s been so long since you danced freely in a club. No, it’s been so long since you had fun at all. When you were with Minho, you never had any fun. It was always about him, his pleasure, his feelings, everything about him. All you could think about was Mark when you were with Minho. No matter how much Mark hurt you, when he was your boyfriend, he was always perfect. He valued you more than Minho ever did. You shouldn’t be thinking about Mark when you were lying next to someone else, but you couldn’t help it.

“Y/n?”

You turned around and your eyes met Mark’s.

“M-Mark? Are you real? Or am I dreaming?” you giggled, you were tipsy.

“I’m real,” he stroked your cheek, “This island is so small, we ended up at the same club.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck and he put his hands on your waist. “I was thinking about you the whole day.” you admitted, you were drunk and drunk you always said the truth.

“Me too. Couldn’t get you out of my head.”

“Are you drunk?” you asked.

“No, but I’m still telling you the truth. I missed you.”

“I miss-“

“Y/n! Jaehyun is here and he can’t see Aera, it’s almost midnight! It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding!” Aera’s friend giggled, “and she’s so fucking drunk and I’m so drunk too,” she giggled again.

You sobered up quickly, thanks god you didn’t drink much, there has to be someone sober enough to take care of everyone and you could never forgive yourself if anything happens before the wedding.

“I’ll take her back to the hotel, you guys can stay and have more fun.” You told her and she thanked you and told you to call if anything happens.

Mark followed you, he helped you carry Aera to the taxi.

“I’ll come with you.” Mark said.

“Don’t worry about us. I can take care of us, go have fun with the boys.” You smiled softly.

“No I want to be with you- I mean, I was bored anyway, and tomorrow is the big day, I should have some… sleep.” He scratched the back of his head nervously.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

When you arrived at the hotel, Mark helped you carry Aera to your room. She was going to stay with you for tonight, Jaehyun shouldn’t see her before the wedding.

“Sleep tight, tomorrow is going to be your big day.” you said as you tugged her in.

You turned to Mark with a small smile on your face, “Thank you. For helping me with her.”

“Of course. Uhm, do you, only if you want to of course, do you want to drink something with me? In m-my room if that’s okay for you. I mean it’s still early and I’m not really sleepy, you know.” Mark rambled.

“Yeah, sure.” You said shyly.

Mark opened the door and you entered his room. His room was clean and had a perfect view. Even at night, the view was beautiful. The lights in the dark, the moon shining brightly, it looked mesmerizing.

You stood in front of his window and Mark watched you with a smile on his lips to you, the view was everything but to Mark, you were everything. You looked absolutely beautiful to him.

Mark took a couple steps and was now right behind you. He wrapped his arms around you and put his head on your shoulder. You intertwined your fingers with his and pulled him closer to you.

“It’s beautiful.”

“You are beautiful.” He whispered softly against your ear.

You turned around, his arms still around you and his face so close to yours.

“I couldn’t tell you this in the club so I’m going to say it now,” you whispered against his lips, “I missed you too, Mark. I missed you so much.”

And without thinking twice, you both leaned in and kissed.

You closed your eyes immediately and you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him even closer, he did the same, he pulled you closer by your waist and pressed you against the window.

He kissed you gently and slowly, your heart pounded against your chest and Mark’s heart was racing, too. As if time stopped right there, as if they were never apart. Mark’s right hand was on your jaw, softly pushing your head up to get better access to your mouth, you let out a soft moan, Mark used the opportunity to meet your tongue.

The kiss was perfect, slow but still so passionate.

Mark pulled back, you were breathing heavily and heat rose from your stomach to your chest, a feeling you couldn’t really describe.

He left wet kisses on your cheek, down to your jaw and then your neck. You tilt your head back, Mark sucked on your soft skin as your hands tangled in his hair, lightly pulling.

You could feel yourself getting wetter and wetter, you just wanted to take off this dress and let Mark fuck you.

“D-Do you want this?” he asked you.

“Yes-“ you whimpered as he sucked on your sensitive spot.

Mark pulled you to his bed, with you on top of him straddling his lap. Your lips connected again, you tried to unbutton his shirt as he grabbed your butt softly and squeezed it.

You almost ripped his shirt, but you didn’t care.

It was your turn to press your lips on his neck.

Mark closed his eyes, the way his crotch met you when you pressed yourself against him, the way your lips kissed his soft skin, leaving pretty marks on Mark.

Mark couldn’t take it anymore. His pants were so tight, it almost hurt. He wanted to feel you, he needed to feel you. Mark changed positions, he was on top of you now.

“Take this off- please, fuck, take this off now.” He looked for the zipper of your dress and when he finally found it, he wanted to cry.

He took off your dress, and fuck, he was going crazy. You weren’t wearing a bra, only your black panties.

“Fuck, you’re so perfect.”

The way Mark looked at you made you feel so beautiful. You weren’t shy like you used to be, you felt good and you wanted him so bad.

You pulled him up for a short kiss.

Mark took off his pants as fast as he could and he was painfully hard. He couldn’t wait to be inside of you. His lips were on your nipple, he sucked on your breast and his hand was playing with the other one. After sucking on your one nipple, his attention was on the other one. “Mark- fuck, it feels so good. Please don’t stop.” You moaned.

You were so wet and feeling Mark’s cock against your thigh turned you so on.

While playing with your nipples, his one hand found your pussy. He stroked it over your panties, but then his hand travelled in your panties and he started playing with your wet pussy.

“Baby you are so wet. All for me?”

“Yes, yes. So wet for you, Mark.” You closed your eyes tightly. It felt so good to feel his hands on you again.

Even thought Mark wanted to taste you, he couldn’t take it anymore, he needed to be in you now.

“You can take me, right baby? I need to fuck you.”

“Please fuck me Mark.” You also couldn’t take it anymore, you needed to cum.

Mark took off his boxers and hovered above you. “F-Fuck I don’t have a condom.”

“You don’t have a condom? Why?” you asked him.

“Well, I didn’t think that I was going to fuck you here.”

“What if you’d met someone else here?” you asked curiously.

“I’m not interested in someone else. I want you- I always wanted you.” He admitted shyly.

You looked each other in the eyes for a couple seconds, he leaned in and pecked your lips. He pulled back and looked at you again.

“You can fuck me without a condom. I’m on the pill and I haven’t had sex in months,” You can’t even remember the last time Minho fucked you. “And I never fucked without a condom after I had sex with you.”

“Me too. I mean after… after you I haven’t fucked raw.”

“Okay.” You said softly.

“Okay.” He leaned in and pressed his lips on yours.

While kissing you, he slowly pushed his cock in you. You grabbed his biceps tightly, he stretched you, you haven’t been fucked in so long, you got even tighter.

Mark pulled back and looked at you. “You feel so good around me. So, so fucking good. I missed you so much.” With that, Mark pushed his entire length inside of you.

“Fuck-“

He was fucking into you, slowly but hard. You could feel his entire length and he always hit your sweet spot. “Right there- Mark, fuck.”

“I-I want to ride you. Mark, fuck.” You moaned.

Mark turned you, you were now on top of him.

You bounced on his cock up and down, his hands on your waist pushed you down and he thrusted his hips to fuck into you. Your hands were on his shoulder, holding him. Even though you wanted to ride him, he was fucking you hard and good.

“M-Mark I’m gonna cum. Fuck Fuck Mark-“

And then your climax hit you. You collapsed on top of him and he still fucked into you. “Fuck feel so good. Y-you feel so good.” Mark was so close and the way he kept fucking you overstimulated you. You clenched one last time and Mark came inside of you, painting you walls white. He moaned your name as he came and you could feel him twitching inside of you.

Mark wrapped his arms around you and pressed you against his chest. Mark pulled his cock out of you. You could hear his heart beating against his chest.

The night was perfect, after cleaning you up, you were wrapped in his arms once again. You talked about everything that night. Everything you had missed when you were apart.

“Can I ask you something?” he said.

“Sure.”

“Did you ever love him? Minho or whatever his name was.” Mark was jealous, even though you were in his arms.

“No, I don’t think that I’ve ever loved anyone, except for you. I always loved you.”

Mark smiled and kissed your temple.

“Why were you with him? Why didn’t you break up with him? Jaehyun told me that he’s an asshole.”

“After- after you broke up with me, I was… lost. I didn’t know what to do. I felt worthless and just- useless. He made me feel- wanted? I don’t know. I needed someone to forget you and he didn’t care. He never cared about me but he made me believe that he loved me. And that’s all I wanted. I just wanted to be loved.” You whispered the last part. A tear escaped your eye and you were quick enough to wipe it away. But Mark still noticed.

Mark felt bad. He never wanted you to feel this way. You were a dream. You were so perfect and it was his fault that you felt worthless. If anyone was useless, it was Mark.

“It’s my fault a-and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that you felt that way, but it’s not true. You are so much more. You are perfect in every possible way. You are more than anyone could ask for. I’ll never forgive myself that I made you feel this way.” Mark teared up and pulled you even closer.

“C-Can I ask you something?” you asked this time.

“Y-Yes.”

“What did you do with the money?” you were always curious about that.

Mark gulped hard, the memory pained him. “I gave it back.”

“What?”

“I couldn’t take money from a stupid bet, a bet that hurt you. I wasn’t proud of what I did. I wanted to forget that it happened, that I did that to you. I wanted to erase that from my memory. But I couldn’t erase you.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you. I loved you back then and I love you now. I never stopped loving you but I was too scared to reach out to you. I thought you hated me and it took me long to realize how much I love you.”

You looked up to him, you didn’t want to cry but your eyes were teary. “You love me?”

“Yes, I love you. I love you so much. There was not a single day without missing you, not a single day without regret eating me alive.”

“S-So you still love?”

“Yes. I love you.” He looked you deep in the eyes.

“I love you too.”

Mark smiled widely. Oh, how he missed hearing that you loved him.

“I’m sorry for everything.”

“It’s okay.” You pecked his lips but that wasn’t enough for Mark. He climbed on top of you and kissed you passionately.

His hand was on your naked thigh, stroking it softly. You were wet and when Mark put his hand on your wet pussy, you moaned.

Mark circled your clit and his tongue played with yours. It felt so good. He slowly put two fingers inside of your cunt and thrusted them in and out. You clenched around his fingers and you could feel your climax coming. Mark added a third finger.

His lips were back on your skin. Mark softly kissed your boobs and sucked on your sensitive nipples.

“Are you going to be a good girl and cum?” he asked you between his kisses.

“Yes- I’m so close.”

“Look at me.” His face was close to yours again, and when you looked at him, at his dark doe eyes, you came.

After you calmed down, you glanced at the clock in the room.

“Shit, Mark. It’s almost six in the morning. We need to sleep.”

You talked the whole night and after two orgasms and cuddling, you didn’t notice that it was already this late.

“But I’m hard.” He pouted.

“Do you want me to suck you off?”

“Yes, please baby, please suck me off.” He begged.

You were on the edge of the bed, your face right in front of his hard cock.

You slowly licked from the bottom to his tip. You pumped his cock in your hand a couple times before you put it inside of your mouth. After pumping him, you licked the slit on his tip.

“Babe- don’t tease me.” He whimpered.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Anything- but just please, do something.”

You put his entire length inside of your mouth, bobbing your head up and down and pumping the part of his dick you couldn’t put inside of your mouth.

You stopped bobbing you head and stared licked his tip again. “Babe- please. Please make me cum.”

Mark was going crazy. He needed to cum, his cock was so sensitive now, he twitched every time you licked or touched him.

“Okay, baby. I teased you enough, I’ll make you cum. You want to cum right?” you kissed his cock and he nodded. “Please. I want to cum on your face.”

You sucked his dick properly this time, he was so sensitive and so close, not even ten seconds later, he came on your face, just like he wanted to.

“Fuck, fuck fuck. That was so fucking good, babe, fuck.” Mark was breathing heavily, the intense orgasm tired him. You cleaned you face, fortunately he only came on your face and inside of your mouth.

You crawled back to him and kissed his lips. “Thank you.” He thanked you. “I love sucking your dick.”

“No, well yeah thank you for that too but I’m thankful for everything. Thank you for forgiving me.”

“I love you.”

And you fell asleep in his arms.

I'd go back to you I'd go back to you What was there, wasn't sure But I'd go back to you I know I'd go back to you

Not even three hours later, your alarm clock woke you and Mark up.

“I don’t want to leave you.” You mumbled.

“I don’t want you to leave either. Stay a little longer.” He kissed your shoulder.

“I can’t I have to wake up Aera. It’s her big day, it needs to be perfect.”

“Everything you do is perfect.” Mark flirted.

“Shut up, I’ll see you later okay? Thank you for last night.”

“I love you.” He leaned down and kissed you. After kissing for two minutes to pulled back again. “I have to go.”

“Just five more minutes.”

Almost thirty minutes later, you tiptoed to your bedroom. Aera was wide awake playing with her phone when she saw you.

“Where the fuck were you and why are- oh my god.” Aera understood immediately. “You bitch fucked Mark didn’t you.”

“Yes, and now shut up and get ready for your wedding day!”

“I know I know, but like, I’m happy if you are happy. Are you happy?” she asked you worriedly.

“Yes. I’ve never been happier I think.” You smiled. You were really happy and so in love with Mark.

“Then I’m happy.”

Hours later, you found yourself in your maid of honor dress, looking absolutely gorgeous. Mark was helping you with everything. With the catering company, the guests and everything else that needed to be taken care of.

Mark stole kisses from you here and there and now he pulled you back to his bedroom and kissed you intensely.

“You look so stunning- I can’t stop staring at you. I love you, pretty girl.” He kissed you again.

“M-Mark fuck, you look so hot and I really want to fuck you, b-but, fuck we can’t.” you closed your eyes and let him kiss your neck.

“Okay, okay. I’m trying to stay calm, but fuck, you look so good I want to rip that dress off.”

“We’ll have the whole night. Let’s go back, people are going to get suspicious.”

When you went back, you met Johnny and Yuta on your way.

“Where are you two coming from?” Yuta asked.

“My bedroom- ouch.” You kicked Mark’s leg.

“What were you doing in your bedroom?” Johnny asked amused. “Do you want me to show you?” Mark asked with a smirk.

“Mark? What the f-“ and then Mark pulled you in and kissed you fully on the lips.

He could finally show Johnny that you belonged to him, that you always belonged to him.

“Well I guess we saw that coming.” Yuta laughed with Johnny. The two left and you were still kissing.

“Ew! He is eating her Mommy!” you heard a little girl scream.

You pulled away immediately and apologized.

Mark laughed his ass off as he walked you to Aera’s dressing room. “I’m going to eat you tonight. But not your mouth. I’m going to eat your cunt.”

“I can’t wait. I’ll see you at the ceremony alright? I need to stay with Aera now.”

“Okay baby.” He kissed you goodbye.

The wedding ceremony ended so quickly, next thing you knew you were in Mark’s arms slow dancing. Aera and Jaehyun’s wedding was truly beautiful. Everything went smoothly and you were finally resting in the arms of your lover.

Aera and Jaehyun were also slow dancing and smiling happily. Not only because it was the most important night of their lives- also because their best friends were finally happy together.

“Y/n?” Mark said your name softly.

“Mhm?” you hummed with closed eyes.

“I’m really sorry that I put you trough all of that, and I’m sorry that it took me so long to realize my real feelings for you. You’re the most wonderful person I’ve ever met in my entire life and I’m going to do everything I can to keep you in my arms. I don’t want to see sad ever again. I’ll love you until my last breath.”

You promised yourself you weren’t going to cry that night, but a couple tears still escaped.

“You know, I was hurt but I healed and I’m more than ready to do this with you again. It was you. My heart always longed for you, and I don’t think that there could be anyone I would love as much as I love you. You could break my heart thousand times, I would go back to you over and over again.” You looked up to him, he could see the love you felt for him in your eyes.

“I love you.”

“I love you.” And with that, Mark pressed his lips on yours and kissed you with so much love and adoration.

I'll go back to you I'll go back to you I know I'd go back to you I'll go back to you I'll go back to you I know I'd go back to you

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