#i think a hug from graham would fix me not even joking

[artisthedgehog]

no bc i genuinely think but im a cheerleader is like the only movie i can rewatch its just so good im crying and sobbing

[wordsablaze]

Revolutionary Embrace

When it's just the two of them left in the tardis, Thirteen and Yaz finally get round to the just as awkward but much softer and sincere reunion they both deserve...

A/N: happy new year !! thought i'd start 2021 with a lil thasmin fix-it because i just want our space girlfriends to be happy <3

-

“It’s okay to be sad.”

Yaz doesn’t take her eyes off the Doctor, not even after the tardis doors quietly click shut and both of them are left standing in silence, save for the quiet thrumming of the tardis around them.

Thirteen sighs and turns, finally taking her eyes off the doorway but still unsure how to approach the dangerously soft look in Yaz’s eyes, the one she’s seen so many times before, the one she’s regretted causing in the first place so many times before.

“Yaz, I…”

When she doesn’t continue, Yaz sighs, walking over so she’s leaning on the railing directly beside the Doctor. “It’s okay. I’m sure they won’t mind if you visit every now and then.”

Well, that’s really not what Thirteen had thought she’d want to talk about. She blinks, then shakes her head, grinning sheepishly. “I’m not very good at timing the whole ‘now and then’ thing.”

The tardis seems to thrum louder at that, perhaps in sympathy or perhaps in outrage, and both of them laugh awkwardly. Yaz leans a little closer, gently nudging the doctor with her elbow. “Hey, did you really mean to come back as soon as you’d left?”

Ah, so they are going into that after all. Thirteen sighs, letting her head drop as she exhales. As much as she appreciates the way Yaz is waiting patiently for an answer, she hates the quiet between them. It feels cold and wrong and nothing like the way things should be. Not for the first time, she wishes she could turn back the clock and try again.

“Yes,” she answers eventually. “Yes, of course, I really thought I set the coordinates right. I didn’t mean to be gone so long, I swear.”

Yaz hums in acknowledgement. “You, uhm, you were smiling. When you got back, that is. Was that just for our benefit then, so we wouldn’t know how long you’d been gone?”

It’s almost frightening, the way Thirteen doesn’t even know who she is anymore but Yaz can still read her like an open book. Maybe it’s the new body, she thinks, and there’s something about her face in this regeneration that makes her easier to decipher. Maybe it has something to do with Yaz being the first person she really interacted with in this new body, she thinks, and something had blossomed between them because of that. Maybe-

“Doctor?” Yaz asks softly, pulling her out of her musings.

Thirteen lifts her head up again and offers Yaz a smile. “Gold star for Yaz.”

“How long were you in... space prison?” Yaz asks, her voice somehow even quieter than before, so quiet that even the tardis seems to pause her thrumming so none of the words get lost in the mostly but not entirely metaphorical distance between them.

She thinks of the tally marks, the endless strikes of white against uncaring stone walls, and the way she could navigate her daily walk or narrate every creature she goes past even in her sleep by the time Jack had made his way inside. She thinks of every time she’d wished she could leave and every time she’d wished she could see her lovely team back on earth again. She thinks of the clothes she’d been made to wear and how they were so impersonal, nothing like the outfit she’d picked out for herself with the help of the others, and how she’d felt so unlike herself in them.

Turning to face Yaz properly, Thirteen sighs. “Too long, Yaz, too long.”

“I’m sorry,” Yaz murmurs as if any of this could possibly be her fault.

Thirteen shakes her head. “It’s not your fault. Seeing you all again was the only thing that mattered. Did you guys miss me?” she half-jokes.

Yaz chuckles but her fingers are clenched into fists and her eyebrows are furrowed into a strange frown. Without thinking, Thirteen reaches for Yaz’s hands, covering them with her own and waiting as Yaz’s eyes widen in surprise before she looks up, something like hope shining in her beautiful brown eyes.

“I missed you. Every day. All of you! My wonderful, brilliant fam…” She trails off as the hope inside Yaz’s eyes fades into something darker, something more dismal and disappointed, but she doesn’t stop talking. “I knew Ryan and Graham would be there for each other, they’re great when they’re not bickering! But I’d hoped- well, I’d hoped I could be back before you... I didn’t want to leave you alone, Yaz.”

Yaz’s fingers slowly unfurl but instead of moving closer, she shakes her head and steps backwards, her hands slipping out from under the Doctor’s as she blinks slowly, clearly trying to calm herself down. “I wasn’t alone, Ryan and Graham came by a lot and I- I didn’t always notice how much time had passed, you know? Must be something to do with being inside the tardis, I guess.”

Thirteen nods. “Yeah, the tardis is pretty great, she’s… she always seems to know what to do.”

The tardis seems to thrum in approval but then she goes quiet again and Thirteen can literally feel the way that’s just to let her know it’s her turn to comfort their human now. She just wishes she knew how.

“So what do you say we celebrate the new year in the Meringue galaxy anyway?”

Yaz slips her hands into her pockets and nods slowly, half a smile blooming on her face. “Yeah. Yeah, okay, that sounds nice. I don’t even remember the last time I ate one of those anyway so it should be fun.”

Thirteen smiles back, hesitating for only a moment before reaching her left hand out towards Yaz. She hadn’t predicted the way Yaz’s expression seems to crumple but before she can panic about it, Yaz has thrown herself forwards, this time not to shove her away but to pull her close, Yaz’s arms looping around the Doctor’s neck almost desperately as she bites back a sob.

Her breath hitches but Thirteen lets herself relax into the embrace, slowly curling her own arms around Yaz and letting her eyes slip shut as she breathes in the scent of leather and lavender, a genuine smile growing on her face as the air around them fills with warmth, a warmth she’d almost forgotten could even exist.

“I missed you too,” Yaz mumbles into her shoulder, her voice thick and on the verge of breaking. Thirteen pulls Yaz closer in response, tightening her grip as the tardis thrums happily above them.

“I’m sorry for disappearing,” Thirteen whispers, “but I promise to try and never let you down.”

Yaz sighs but shows no sign of wanting to pull away, her fingers staying firmly curled around the Doctor’s jacket as if trying to physically anchor them together, as if she doesn’t believe they’re not going to be separated again, as if she expects Thirteen to disappear as soon as she lets go.

It’s not like Thirteen is complaining. She loves the feel of Yaz in her arms, she loves the way the rest of existence doesn’t seem to matter as much when she has Yaz’s arms around her, and she loves the way they fit together so well. It seems a shame they’ve waited so long to do this and for a moment, Thirteen wishes she could go back in time and do it earlier, before the whole mess of ten missing months.

“Thank you for coming back,” Yaz says after what feels like forever, pulling back just enough for their eyes to meet but still mostly wrapped around one another. “I was worried we’d never see you again.”

Thirteen shakes her head. “Oh, Yaz. The tardis and I couldn’t stand to have this universe without you, or any other universe really. I honestly can’t think of a single universe that wouldn’t want a Yaz!”

This time, Yaz’s smile fills her face, small crinkles emerging beside her eyes and a soft blush dancing across her cheeks. “I think I’ll just stick with you, Doctor.”

The tardis thrums in agreement.

“Well, I can’t argue with that!” Thirteen grins, pleased with the way Yaz laughs brightly and making a note to have more moments like this in the future.

When they finally, finally pull themselves apart from their warm embrace, Yaz carefully slides her fingers between the Doctor’s. Thirteen beams at her, squeezing her hand before going to start both the tardis engines and their journey to celebrate the new year properly.

It won’t be same as the last time they’d all gone to see nineteen different fireworks displays but somehow the change doesn’t seem so bad anymore, not when Yaz is smiling like her dreams have come true and the tardis is thrumming as if the whole universe is at peace and Thirteen finally feels like she’s truly back home.

Robertson may have been majorly wrong about the daleks being revolutionary but Thirteen can safely say she has no doubt that Yaz most definitely is.

-

this was very self-indulgent tbh but hey, maybe someone else can find a lil enjoyment in a thasmin hug :)

-

thanks for reading !! masterlist | doctor who blog: @thasmine

[thebrochtuarachs]

To Begin Again, Chapter 11: “Riding”

A/N: I know it's been a while since I updated this story but I hope you like this short little chapter. :) It's been fun revisiting this story and I just love this AU of Jamie and Claire. It’s been a while since I wrote so apologies in advance and as always, comments and suggestions are always welcome. Hope you're staying safe in this pandemic. Love always, M

This chapter is dedicated to @samncait4ever​. 🧡 Thank you for being a wonderful friend and fandom ally. Rest in Peace. <3 

AO3 / CH: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10

XXXX

Jamie and Claire spent the next two days rekindling with each other inside the laird's room, only bothering to leave the chambers once to grab food from the kitchen that will last them for days.

They flitted through talking, eating, coming together, and sleeping ( not particularly in that order ) until they’ve reached another pause in what has been a blissful 2 days.  

"Jamie," Claire said softly, a hand caressing the back of his head, "I don't think I've ever been so happy." Jamie rolled to one side, shifting his weight carefully so as not to squash his wife, and lifted himself to lie face-to-face with Claire.

"Nor me, my Sassenach," he said, and kissed her lightly, but lingering, so that she had time just to close her lips in a tiny bite on the fullness of his lower lip. "It's no just the bedding, ye ken," he said, drawing back a little at last. His eyes looked down at Claire, a soft deep blue like the warm tropic sea.

"No," Claire said, touching his cheek. "It isn't."

"To have ye with me again -to talk wi' you -to know I can say anything, not guard my words or hide my thoughts...God, Sassenach," he said, "the Lord knows I am lust-crazed as a lad, and I canna keep my hands from you-or anything else-" he added, wryly, "but I would count that all well lost, had I no more than the pleasure of havin' ye by me, and to tell ye all my heart."

Claire’s heart ached and soared with Jamie’s confession, much more to the fact that his sentiments echo to hers so strongly.

“So tell me all yer heart” Jamie said, “We’ve got time now”

Claire gave a small chuckle but moved to settle a bit more to Jamie’s side. "It was lonely without you," she whispered. "So lonely." She need not say more.

“Do ye regret it?” he asked, not really meaning to dampen their high but a question that came naturally in the conversation.

Claire didn’t even think about not answering but owed it to her and Jamie’s newfound strength to bring up these kinds of conversation in their reunion.

“The time we lost, yes. Brianna, no - definitely not.” She gave him a wry smile and continued. “There are so many what-ifs, the things we dreamed about happening, the future we planned… a part of me wonders what our life would be like if we stayed in the 18th century, raised Bree in that time with Jenny and Ian.”

“Aye, I do ken what yer saying. I spent a lot of time in the cave thinkin’ about ye and the bairn and what she’d look like, how ye’ll be as the lady of the house, something of the like’

Claire glanced at the window where the light was strong through the blinds, telling us that it was probably mid to past noon.

“Jamie, as much as I’d like to stay here another day, Bree’s coming in the evening and we need to get up and put our clothes on at some point.”

Knowing full well that Jamie won’t be the first to comply, Claire reluctantly got up and rummaged through the pile of discarded clothes on the floor to look for some undergarments and pants. Jamie was still not moving, staring at her with hooded eyes she knew so well but she would not budge as well.

“Oh, come on, get up!” She said laughingly as she pulled the blanket off Jamie’s body forcing him to groan in the cold. “There’s plenty more to see around! care for a stroll with me?”

“With ye, anywhere, Sassenach.”

-

Bree’s last class for the day cancelled allowing her to travel up to Lallybroch earlier than scheduled. Her parents' directions were fairly easy to follow and now, she found herself on the rough path towards a 3-story building that was meant to be her home.

She saw every detail as told by her mother - the arch that bore the Fraser emblem at the top, the handsome three-story manor of harled white, windows outlined in the natural gray stone, a high slate roof with multiple chimney’s and several smaller whitewashed buildings clustered about.

She took it all in and expected to feel all the history to overwhelm her but for some strange reason, it brought her a sense of peace and belonging.

She parked her car and proceeded to knock on the front door. After three tries and no answer, she decided to explore the backyard and found out why her knocks and calls were unanswered.

Over the horizon, Brianna saw two horses racing one another in the open field, the competition clearly fierce.

“You’ve lost your touch on the horse, Sassenach” Jamie called, looking briefly behind him to watch Claire.

Claire commanded her horse to a faster speed, easily surpassing Jamie, calling him out “Sorry, you were saying?” she laughed. “Race you to the stables!”

With her headstart, Claire ran out Jamie and won the race.

Once she dismounted her horse and led her white horse to her stable for some food and water while Jamie followed suit, dismounting from his black stallion.

“I should’ve known you were holding back from me, Sassenach.” Jamie said, walking towards her as she closed the door to her horse’s stables.

“Well, if last night was any indication, you shouldn’t have doubted that” Claire replied, allowing herself to be trapped as Jamie placed both his hands on the stable door, blocking her way.

"I thought you'd be a little sore but I seem to be mistaken" Jamie teased, leaning in for a kiss until -

“Mama! I’m surprised that you can ride...” Brianna began her question “... a horse!”

“Bree! You’re here! I thought you won’t arrive till nighttime” Claire pulled away from Jamie’s arrest and went to greet their daughter.

“Yeah, my last class got cancelled. Roger and Mrs. Graham will come in a couple of days.” she explained. “Hi, Da” Bree proceeded to give Jamie a brief hug as well.

“Well, it’s almost lunch, I think we have pork chops we can easily deep fry.”

“Sounds good.”

The trio walked back to the house where Claire proceeded to the fridge and told Jamie and Bree where everything else in the kitchen are.

“So, tell me about the house” Bree asked as they prepared their food.

Claire and Jamie proceeded to exchange stories, flitting between when Jamie’s father built it, to stories of the Fraser children being born in the house,  to when they stayed there for a couple of months after they got married, how Jenny and Ian kept it in the family through the challenging years in the past and how Claire purchased and renovated to what it is now.

“It’s a rather large piece of land, that’s why we need the horses.” Claire finished the story.

“How’d you learn?” Bree asked.

“Well, you know my stories with Uncle Lamb and how we traveled to archaeological sites when I was younger. I had to learn pretty quickly how to ride. And then, when I met your Da, he was a soldier and a stable boy, taking care of the horses, so I got to spend a lot of time watching him train the young kids in the castle” Claire explained.

“Do ye know how to ride, Brianna?” Jamie asked as they fixed the table.

“Uhm, no.”

“I can teach ye! If ye want, of course.” Jamie stammered, hoping he did not push his limits.

“Yes! I would love to.” Bree exclaimed excitedly. “I’ve always wanted to try but never got the chance.”

“Why not? I thought Boston had good facilities for horseback riding?” Jamie asked. Bree and Claire exchanged glances but came out with it.

“Frank and I were either too busy with the university or the hospital so we never really got to take Bree out to spontaneous weekend trips.” Claire began to explain.

“Our trips are planned months in advance so everyone is free. We mostly went to historical sites or the beach for maximum relaxation but adventures like these didn’t happen often.” Bree followed.

Jamie looked unsure how to proceed based on their stories as it seemed half fun. Claire and Bree picked up on it and decided to continue on baby steps when it comes to telling Jamie details of their life the past 20 years.

“Maybe you can start teaching Bree how to ride later after lunch and we show her around the house” Claire pitched.

“Sounds like a plan!” Brianna agreed with a clap.

They proceeded on eating their pork chops while continuing with exchanging stories about Lallybroch. After lunch, they showed Bree to her room while they all freshened up and took a short nap.

Around 4:00 in the afternoon, they all went back to stables where Jamie introduced Bree to one of the mares, Jilly, gave a little lecture and then let her mount up. Claire was content watching on the side with a basket full of snacks for the afternoon.

“Alright, now, just try and be comfortable on the horse. Sit straight and relax. You know when they say that horses smell fear, it’s true” Jamie said to Bree. “Okay, I’m going to take you on a short walk around.” Brianna nodded and gently held on the reins.

Jamie took the horse for a walk around an open lawn and Brianna pretty quickly caught up with the rhythm. After 5 trots, Jamie put the horse on a gallop as a challenge and his daughter ran with it excellently.

“This is fun!” Bree called out to Claire.

“Wait till you dismount it then let me know again.” Claire joked. “But you’re doing great, sweetheart!”

After two hours on and off the horse, night was falling in and they decided to call it a day.

“I’ll go ahead and start dinner, hope you like carbonara. You two, take care of things around here.” Claire declared.

“I’ll walk her to the stables.” Brianna insisted and took the reins from her Da and walked Jilly back to the stables.

“I’ll follow you in a minute, Bree” Jamie said as Claire went towards him for a snuggle as they watched their daughter walk ahead.

“She’s a natural, Jamie” Claire whispered. “Just like her father”

“Don’t make me cry, Claire. But yes, she is” Jamie pulled Claire tighter and gave her a light kiss in the hair. “I always imagined how teaching and taking our children out on a horse would look like. Now, I don’t have to.”

“Aww, darling. It truly has been the best days and I know there is more to come.” Claire lifted her head and gave Jamie a quick kiss. “Now, go and teach our daughter how to rub down a horse and I’ll get dinner started.”

[hayloohooman]

Cure for Boredom (a Sherlock fanfiction)

Gregory Lestrade sat at his desk, head in his hands. He’d been on his feet all day and he finally had a chance to sit down. The past week had been intense. There had been more cases in the space of this one week than Lestrade usually had to deal with in a month. The cases themselves had been more or less straightforward. He hadn’t had to call in Sherlock Holmes yet. That was a whole other issue. Sooner or later, Sherlock would be showing up demanding a case, and Lestrade wasn’t sure he could deal with that right now. He loved Sherlock, but he could be a right pain in the backside sometimes.

Sure enough, Sherlock turned up about fifteen minutes into Lestrade’s break. He had his gloved hands in his coat pocket and looked at Lestrade with an expression of frustration. Lestrade just looked up at him from his chair, feet up on the desk, eating his sandwich and not even bothering to grace Sherlock’s presence with a hello. “Bored” Sherlock said simply. Lestrade nodded. “Good for you” Lestrade replied. “I’m not”. Sherlock grunted. “Any interesting cases?” Sherlock asked. “I wouldn’t say interesting. Many… many cases. Nothing that would suit you though” “I’m willing to take any case, any case at all. Otherwise I’m going to have to find an alternative source of stimulation”. Sherlock was obviously referring to his drug habits. “Don’t you dare” Lestrade replied sternly. “Find me something then!” Sherlock demanded, flopping down into a chair and fixing Lestrade with his gaze. Lestrade sighed, breathing deeply. “Sherlock… this is the first break I’ve had today. I’ve been on my feet for ten hours at least. Is there really not anything else you could do to entertain yourself? What’s John up to at the moment?” “He’s taken Rosie to playgroup” “Well surely you could go along with them?” “I did consider it. John said people would talk though” “Yeah, well… people do little else don’t they?”. Lestrade sighed again, wishing he could just fall asleep and get away from the pressures of the day. “Look, Sherlock, I don’t know what you want me to do. I can’t magic a case out of thin air. You can look through my paperwork if you like. I’ve got plenty of work that needs to be done, but it’s really not anything that you’d consider stimulating”. Sherlock flicked through Lestrade’s paperwork, tossing it aside, letting the paper drop to the floor, creating a mess. “Boring… boring… boring… what is wrong with criminals nowadays? They’re so predictable. It’s the same thing over and over again” “Makes my job easier” Lestrade muttered. He was starting to feel oddly unwell. He reckoned it was the stress. Too much work and not enough sleep. He could really, really do with a lie down. He looked at the mess on the floor and it made him feel worse. “Sherlock, I really don’t appreciate you coming in here and giving me more work to do. And now you’ve completely messed up my paperwork” Lestrade said weakly. Sherlock went to reply and then looked up, noticing Lestrade’s considerably paling complexion. He narrowed his eyes. “Are you feeling quite alright Graham?” Sherlock asked. “It’s Greg” Lestrade mumbled. “Greg. Are you feeling alright?” “No”. Sherlock dropped what he was doing and knelt in front of Lestrade, taking his wrist in his hand. “You’re pulse is slow, eyes unfocused, you’re sweating, you’re getting paler every second. I believe I’m right in saying you’re about to faint?” “Great deduction”. Sherlock wasted no time in assisting Lestrade onto the floor when he saw his eyes fluttering. “Greg?” Sherlock asked worriedly. Sherlock didn’t usually feel such emotions as worry, but Lestrade was his friend, though he wouldn’t be in a hurry to admit it. “Greg, can you hear me?”. Sherlock remembered how to do the recovery position from the times that he had seen John perform it. He checked for breathing and a pulse. Lestrade’s pulse was still slow, and his breathing was slightly gasping. Sherlock felt for a temperature and found a cold sweat on Lestrade’s forehead. “Lestrade, talk to me” Sherlock found himself pleading. He shook Lestrade and got no response. Sherlock got up and went to the door of Lestrade’s office. There was no one around but he still called for help. When no one responded, he hurried back to Lestrade’s side, kneeling and checking his breathing again. Lestrade shivered slightly and Sherlock squeezed his shoulder. “Greg? It’s Sherlock. You know? Your favourite high functioning sociopath? The amateur detective that’s always showing you and your colleagues up?”. Greg groaned weakly, coming round. “Hey. It’s okay. You’re alright” Sherlock said comfortingly, patting Lestrade’s shoulder awkwardly. “Sherlock?” Greg asked croakily. “I’m here”. “Water” Lestrade muttered and Sherlock grabbed the half empty bottle from Lestrade’s desk. Lestrade sipped at the water, Sherlock supporting him to sit up. “You haven’t been getting anywhere near enough sleep. You’re incredibly overworked, working overtime, it’s been a much busier week than you’re used to. This is your first break of the day” Sherlock said quietly. “Brilliant… brilliant deductions. I literally told you half of that” Lestrade said sarcastically. Sherlock huffed slightly. “I wasn’t deducing… All of that was obvious… I’m… apologising. I shouldn’t have put any more pressure on you. I’m sorry”. Lestrade stared at Sherlock. “It’s… it’s okay” “It’s not okay. You passed out. You need to go home. I’ll call a cab”. Lestrade nodded, not finding any strength to argue.  

Sherlock went with Lestrade in the taxi. Lestrade lived alone since his divorce from his wife and Sherlock was still concerned at how woozy Lestrade seemed. When they got in Lestrade flopped down on the sofa and Sherlock made him a cup of sugary tea. “This should help you feel a bit better” Sherlock said, handing Lestrade the tea and sitting down on the sofa beside him. “Thank you” Lestrade replied, surprised at how considerate Sherlock was being. “I really am sorry for my behaviour earlier” Sherlock said softly. Lestrade shrugged. “I’d rather have you bugging me at work than overdosing on cocaine” “Well. You certainly gave me a scare. That was enough to distract me from the boredom for a bit” Sherlock chuckled. “Don’t ever do that to me again though” he added, his tone serious. Lestrade smiled. “I think I should stay here with you tonight. Just to make sure you’re alright” Sherlock said. Lestrade raised his eyebrows. “It’s like you’ve had a complete personality transplant” Lestrade said, only half joking. Sherlock blushed. “Yes, well, like I said, you scared me”. Lestrade looked at Sherlock fondly and put his arm around him. “You’re a good man Sherlock Holmes”. Sherlock didn’t usually hug people, but he put his arms around Lestrade and rested his forehead on his shoulder. “Full of surprises today, aren’t you mate?” Lestrade laughed. Sherlock hummed in response. Lestrade gave Sherlock a squeeze and then they sat back on the sofa, drinking their tea and enjoying each other’s company.

[welcometophu]

Not Your Guardian Angel: Chapter 14

Marked Book 3: Not Your Guardian Angel

Chapter 14

[ Previous | First | Next ]

It’s been almost two weeks since Nikita and Alaric disappeared. As peaceful as it is in her dorm room, it’s still strange knowing that Nikita isn’t just with Heather. It’s stranger still how life just goes on and only a few people seem truly worried about the fact that several people—including a professor—have just disappeared.

Even Pels feels like she should be more worried than she is. There’s a part of her that just expects that everything will be fine eventually. She’ll turn around and Nikita will be there, and Coven will happen again, and Dad will push her across campus to join the meetings.

But there is also a tiny part of her that is scared that it can’t be that simple. That there is something she’s ignoring.

“Go check on Rory,” Dad suggests as she climbs the stairs after dinner. “I haven’t seen him down in the dining hall.”

“I’m sure he’s doing fine,” Pels mutters. “He’s got Kit. Besides. It’s not like I can do anything anyway.”

“You underestimate the healing power of company.” Dad blocks the way when she tries to get to her room, nudging her down the hall. She pushes back, but he’s stronger, and she realizes that once again, she’s going where he wants, despite herself.

She makes her way down the hall to the corner room that Alaric and Rory share, and raps on the door.

“It’s unlocked,” Rory calls out, so she nudges it open.

Rory sits on the floor with his back against his dresser, knees drawn up and his guitar across his lap. His toe just barely touches Kit’s rounded back, where Kit’s hunched over, drawing something on the pad across his knees. Serina sits not far away, staring down at a textbook on the floor and doing nothing.

“I just—” Pels almost steps out as soon as she steps in, but Dad blocks her way. “I wanted to see if you’re okay.”

Rory shifts, and as soon as the pressure of his foot leaves Kit’s back, Kit looks up, blinking. “Oh. Hi.”

Serina lifts a hand to wiggle her fingers, then picks up the textbook to move it to her lap, staring down at it still.

“Not really,” Rory says. “But I’m panicking less.” He slides his hand down Kit’s back before pushing himself to stand. His hair falls forward, almost covering his face as he looks around. “I can offer you space on the floor or our one desk chair to sit on.”

“Floor’s easier if you want to study with us.” Serina’s voice is flatter than usual, almost listless. “But I’m guessing you aren’t into Chemistry.”

“Not my usual thing, no.” Pels is used to feeling awkward, but the tension in this room is so thick it’s troubling to step further in. She takes the chair Rory indicates, sitting on the edge while Rory sinks back to sit closer to Kit than before, one hand across his back. “I just—I got to thinking at dinner and I wanted to see how you’re doing.”

“My family came down,” Rory says. The sound of Kit’s pencil is louder now, faster as Rory leans close to him. Pels isn’t sure Kit’s even aware of his surroundings anymore.

“Your family?” Pels asks.

“My extended family, from Vermont. My Dad grew up in a commune of Mages.” Rory lifts his right hand as he speaks. “They went over Pawel’s house with a fine tooth comb, trying to figure out what they were even doing. I know they were looking into issues with the Shadows, trying to decide what to do next to heal the Split.”

That is entirely Greek to Pels, but she nods along anyway like she doesn’t feel like she’s coming into the middle of a conversation and entirely lacking in antecedents.

“They’re positive no one died,” Rory says. There’s a soft sound from Serina at that. “They think someone might have Traveled, and given that they had three people capable of it, that’s plausible.”

“Mac Teleports. Carolyn Travels through her cards. And Matteson’s a Shadow,” Serina mumbles, tracing something in her book. “So they think they went somewhere. But they still aren’t answering their phones, or talking to us, or coming home, so we don’t know where.”

“But they’re safe,” Rory says firmly. “We’re almost positive that wherever they are, they’re safe.”

“Oh.” Pels is pretty sure she’s supposed to say something sympathetic here, but she has no idea what. “I’m… glad they’re safe. It still seems weird that they haven’t—”

“Right?” Serina looks up, and for just a moment she looks almost like her usual self, a bright light in her eyes. “They should be here. Carolyn should just come tumbling out of wherever and Travel them back. It should be easy. I can’t focus. I need Carolyn to be okay.”

“She’s okay,” Kit mumbles. “I’d know if she wasn’t.”

“That’s good news at least.” Pels stands up, hesitating. “If you hear something else, let me know? I don’t miss the epic fights, but I do worry about Nikita. And everyone else.”

Dad nudges her, and she stumbles forward. She shoots a look over her shoulder, not sure what he’s getting at, and Dad nods at Rory like there’s something she should be doing.

“What?” Pels hisses.

Rory looks confused.

Dad wraps his arms around Pels in a quick hug, and she gets it then. “Oh. Um.” She opens her arms in offering.

Kit ignores her, huffing slightly as Rory rises. Serina looks back at her book. But Rory leans down to wrap his arms around her, his head against the top of hers. He’s skinny enough that even small as she is and reaching up as she has to, she can get her arms around him and try to hug him tight. And he holds on just as tightly in return, clinging to her like she’s a very small teddy bear for several breaths before he finally steps back.

“It’s all going to be okay,” he says, like she’s the one needing reassurance, so she nods to give that back to him.

“If I hear anything from Nikita I’ll let you know,” She says. Dad lets her back up until she’s at the door, and she slips out into the hall, closing the door after herself. There’s a soft strum of a guitar from the inside as she goes.

“Any other errands you want me to run?” Pels murmurs. Dad’s already at the other end of the hall, turning the corner. She hurries after him, expecting to find him heading down the stairs, but instead he’s leaning against the open doorway into the common area, watching as Pat packs things into bags and monitors popcorn in the microwave.

Pat glances over as Pels steps next to Dad, and grins. “Hey, you’re just in time.” He grabs one of the bags off the counter, handing it to her before turning back just in time to turn off the microwave. He juggles the hot bag of popcorn between two hands before dropping it into a canvas bag, and then picking that and the last bag up. “Come on. Trish said she’d bring the drinks.”

Pels glances into the bag as she heads down the stairs. Rolls. Marshmallows. Graham crackers. A box of vanilla wafers. “And we’re bringing food?”

Pat turns as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, waiting for her. “I appreciate the help carrying things, and yes, you will be fed. That is, as long as you’re interested in hot dogs, popcorn, or s’mores.”

“How weirdly will you look at me if I admit I have never eaten a s’more?” Pels asks. She passes by him as he stares at her. “I’m not joking. It’s not like I’ve ever been camping. Or gone to a lot of bonfires. It’s just one of those things steeped in social mystery that I’ve missed out on.”

“We are going to fix that.” Pat raises a bag, calling out to Jackson as he emerges from a different door further down Townhouse Row.

“Condiments,” Jackson says. “Trish is bringing the drinks, right?”

“Sera said Trish is bringing the drinks,” Pat agrees. “I don’t know if that means alcohol or not.” He casts a sideways glance at Pels. “Let me guess—”

“You would be right,” she admits. “Because there is honestly nothing more sad than drinking alone. Besides. We only had wine in the house, and it wasn’t even good wine.”

She trails after them, Jackson seeming to move his long legs in slow motion to allow Pat to keep up, but Pels still struggles. Pat might claim to be short, but he’s at least a half foot taller than Pels, and it makes a difference when they’re on the move.

They veer off in a direction Pels isn’t familiar with. “The theater is over this way, right?” she asks.

“The theater is on this corner of campus, yes,” Pat waves a hand like he’s giving a tour. “We’re passing by the Arts buildings now. The main auditorium is in there, but the smaller club theater, entirely maintained by students, is the low building coming up on the left. Sera did tech for the fall production, but she’s been too busy this spring. Where we’re going are the gardens beyond that.”

“Gardens?”

Pat starts walking backwards. “Didn’t you walk through the gardens on your tour before you applied? Or during Accepted Students’ Day?”

Pels opens her mouth, then closes it again, lips pressed together in a rueful expression. “How many things do I have to say I never did before you really start looking down on me?” she asks quietly. “I just applied based on reputation, and hoped I’d get in. My Mom came here, although she didn’t get her degree here; she left when she was pregnant with me. I knew it was a place where Talent is accepted, so I figured that people might think I’m weird, but I wouldn’t end up having to leave because of it. I just thought I could be…” She searches for the word and comes up empty. When she looks over, Dad doesn’t offer anything to help. “Background noise,” Pels mumbles, because that’s the closest she can get to what she meant to say.

Pat stops dead. “You should never have to be a side character in your own movie,” he says solemnly. “You aren’t background noise, Pels. You should be loud, and—”

“Please don’t say proud and out because it really sounds like that’s where you’re going with this,” Pels tries to cut him off, but it only makes him laugh.

“I know what it’s like to be quiet,” Pat tells her. He runs back to her, putting an arm around her shoulders and drawing her forward as he starts walking again. Jackson moves along beside them, chuckling softly as Pat keeps talking. “I decided that I was never going to be quiet again. I thought that if nobody saw me, everything would work out, and that did not go according to plan.”

“You do have loudest on the floor nailed down,” Pels says dryly.

Pat puts his free hand over his heart. “I’m wounded that you believe that my music is somehow louder than the legendary sound of thunderclaps from your own room.”

“I’m not involved with those,” Pels protests. “You can’t blame me for Nikita and Jennifer. The music is yours, though.”

“Sometimes it’s mine,” Jackson says solemnly.

“Hey, there they are!” Pat’s arm drops away from Pels so he can hurry forward to where Trish, TJ, and Sera are waiting by a wrought iron arch between two head-high pine bushes. “Booze or soda, Trish?”

“Both.” She pats the soft cooler that lies slung across her body by a long strap. “Not a lot though, but my momma raised me right to bring something along to any party.” She looks over as Pels slows down, uncertain about yet another new person. “Pels, right?”

“Pels, right,” Pat confirms. “And Pels, these are the gardens. They don’t have any kind of a fancy name, and according to some people they aren’t nearly as good as the ones at VIT—”

“Look, I’ve been in the gardens at VIT and they live up to their reputation,” TJ talks over him. “They set aside a ten acre plot for these incredible, meticulously fashioned gardens, with hundreds of different kinds of plant life. The trails are fantastic and well-maintained. The brook has three separate places to cross. This is—”

“Like someone let an ancient football field fall to Chaos, and left a fire pit in the middle,” Trish finishes his sentence with a soft laugh. “But we’ve got a fire pit, so who cares?”

“And I’ve reserved it.” TJ brandishes a lighter. “One of the perks of being an RA. So let’s go.”

As soon as Pels ducks under the arch, the tree cover overhead almost blocks out the last rays of the late afternoon sun. The temperature drops in the near darkness, and she has to pull out her phone to use the flashlight to light her way. Even with the dim light that filters through, she trips over a tree root at one point, righting herself as Dad keeps her from faceplanting on the path.

“Thanks,” she murmurs under her breath, thankful that no one seems to have noticed.

The path winds through the trees, eventually opening into a small field that has several benches, along with a large fire pit and a pile of wood nearby. There are a few stones around the edges outside the pit which seem to be there to sit on, and Pat drops his bags next to one and uses it like a table as he starts pulling things out.

“Get building,” he instructs, gesturing at the fire.

TJ looks at him. “You think I know how to build a fire? I’m a city boy, and we do not build fires on the rooftop in New York, thanks.”

“Give me the lighter.” Trish slips it into her pocket, then starts sorting through the wood in the pile. She directs Sera to bring her different pieces, building a stack of wood according to some algorithm Pels does not understand at all.

Pels sits on one of the benches, trying stay out of the way, and also trying to ignore the fact that Dad is sitting next to her, feet on the bench as he perches on the back. He leans down, elbows on his knees. “It’s even a school night, and here you are,” he says. “Your sister would love to hear about this.”

He’s probably right.

Pels waits until the fire is going, flames licking into the air above the pit. Pat spears hotdogs onto metal skewers and hands them out; Jackson puts three on his skewer and holds them in the flames to cook them all at once.

Pat motions for Pels to come closer. “Eat dinner,” he says, offering a skewered dog.

Pels fishes her phone out of her pocket. “Hang on. Can we, uh—” She gestures from the phone to Pat to herself. “For my sister. She’ll never believe me otherwise.”

“Hey, everyone, selfie time!” Pat calls out.

Sera leans over his back, arms on either side of him, her cheek pressed to his. “Oh?”

They all gather around, Pels at the front. When she can’t quite get everyone in frame, Jackson grabs her phone and holds it out and above them to snap several pictures as they make faces at the camera. By the time she’s done, she can easily pick a few to send to Cheyenne. Then she has to add more contacts to her phone and start a brand new group text for the group so she can send the full set of pictures to everyone.

Are you at a cookout? Cheyenne asks.

Illicit underage drinking, hotdogs, and apparently s’mores are on the menu, Pels replies. As Dad informs me, I’m being a real person tonight, acting normal and everything. Not that he’s said all that explicitly, but she’s gotten very good at reading his expressions over the years.

Good for you! Oh. Dad’s calling. I need to go down for dinner.

Cheyenne cuts off with that; even though Pels texts her again, there are no replies.

“I hope everything’s okay with Peter,” she mutters. “I just—I need to get her out of there.” But she can’t. Cheyenne’s just a kid, and Mom’s still the adult, and if that leaves Cheyenne walking on eggshells around Peter, Pels can’t fix that.

Not to mention that Cheyenne is trying to protect Pels and won’t let her do anything.

“Are you going to cook your hotdog?” Sera asks. Her gaze is focused somewhere else, Pels has no idea on what, but it’s not Pels or the fire. Sera’s eyes move, as if she’s tracking something Pels can’t see.

“Oh. Yeah.” Pels shoves her phone back in her pocket and forgets about it for a moment, as TJ helps her find the best spot to heat her hotdog without burning it to a crisp. As soon as she thinks it’s done, Pat is standing next to her with a bun held out, and gesturing to the condiments.

It’s just a hotdog, but it’s weirdly good because of the fire and the company. It’s too hot, a little smoky, and she did burn one side, but it’s still better than anything else she can remember recently. Even those little mini dogs from The Dog Shack.

Pat opens the marshmallows while Pels is still trying to finish her hotdog. He lays out different options on one stone—plain and flavored marshmallows, different kinds of chocolate and peanut butter cups, and two different kinds of graham crackers or vanilla wafers. “We believe in variety,” he says solemnly. “There is no one true way to make a s’more.”

“But if it’s your first, you should go with traditional,” Jackson says, holding a hand up to keep Pat back as he grabs a marshmallow and skewers it. “C’mon, Pels, let’s do this. Then you can try options.”

“All the options,” Pat encourages.

Trish starts laughing. “She’ll be high on sugar.”

“Which does not taste good with beer.” Sera has a can open in her hand, and she makes a face as she alternates bites of crisped marshmallows with swallows from the can. “This is really gross. Who thought of this? Pat, you’re an idiot.”

“I am brilliant, because this is a perfect way to spend a Thursday night,” Pat declares. He might be on his third or fourth s’more; Pels has lost count. She also hasn’t seen him with a beer yet.

Jackson makes Pels feel even smaller than usual, and she readily gives up her skewer to him rather than leaning over the fire to toast the marshmallow herself. She gathers up chocolate and graham crackers as directed, holding them when he places the marshmallow on top, then covering it.

“You seriously haven’t had one before,” he asks.

Pels is well aware of what they are. She’s seen them on shows, she’s seen cereals based on the taste. She once toasted a marshmallow over the flame of a gas stove, until Peter found her trying to clean up the sticky, dripping burnt sugar mess. They’d moved a week later, losing a security deposit because Dad had blown out every light in the kitchen along with one window.

“I seriously have not had one before,” she says solemnly.

She bites into it and immediately regrets it because the molten hot sugar hasn’t cooled enough to eat. She makes a low noise and blows on it hard, but then takes another bite right away because it’s just so good. She realizes she grabbed dark chocolate, but that’s wonderful against the sweetness of the marshmallow. There’s a crisp earthiness to the outer roasted shell of the marshmallow, and the chocolate melts against it, spreading over the graham cracker. Everything crumbles, and she ends up with sticky fingers and a too-full mouth, needing to chew and swallow fast as a low laugh bubbles up. “That’s good,” she says around the remaining mouthful.

Pat shoves a wrapped peanut butter cup in her hand. “Now make another one with this,” he orders, and Pels hastens to do exactly that.

After four s’mores, she’s absolutely positive that she’s had too many. She’s full of energy, her skin itching with the need to get up and do something. Or maybe that’s being surrounded by people, all of whom are talking and shouting over each other, and seemingly unbothered by the way she just observes. They include her without forcing her to speak, and it’s strangely welcome to be able to just be here on the sidelines.

“Yeah, a little. I want to have some new material before I hit the road at the end of May,” Trish says. She’s sitting with her back against one of the large stones, between Sera’s legs. Sera combs her fingers through Trish’s hair, idly braiding it, then combing it free again while looking at something else in the distance.

Pels isn’t sure what the start of that conversation is, then Trish starts singing.

“Whatever I do, wherever I go, I’ll travel the world, to come home to you,” Trish sings. “It’s nowhere near done yet. I’m trying for that feel of being on the road, but knowing you’ve got an anchor to come back to.” She leans her head back, looking up at Sera. “It’s nice knowing there’s always someone there for you.” Her voice is a little slower than Pels remembers, the southern accent a bit thicker.

“We should’ve had you bring the guitar,” Pat says. “You and Jackson on guitar, some of you with good voices, the rest of us just yelling out music because it’s fun.”

“No guitar doesn’t mean no campfire songs.” Jackson’s on the ground as well, leaning back, one shoulder pressed against Pat’s. He gestures, and TJ ends up on the ground next to him, as Jackson loops one arm over his shoulder. Jackson whispers something to TJ, and they both start belting out a song that Pels recognizes as one of Rory’s.

Pat joins in, along with Trish, and Sera jerks to a halt, blinking as she looks down at Trish. Her brow furrows, fingers caught in her hair.

Trish reaches up, touching Sera’s cheek as she grins and keeps singing.

Sera looks over at Pels, brow still furrowed. “We should record this.”

Pels can barely hear her over Pat’s off-key rendition of the song. TJ and Trish are nice to listen to, and Jackson isn’t half bad, but Pat can’t carry a tune to save his life.

Sera continues to look between Trish and TJ, her brow furrowed. Pels wonders if she is recording it, capturing it to whatever hard drive lurks inside her brain.

Maybe an external recording would be nice, too.

Pels gets her phone out and kneels on the ground so she can get them all in frame. They move from one song into the next almost as if it’s planned, and Pels manages to capture that one in full. She stops the recording as Jackson falls back, dragging TJ and Pat with him.

“Thirsty now,” Jackson complains, holding one hand up. Trish puts a can in it, and laughs when Jackson realizes that he can’t lie down and drink at the same time.

“Can I share that video with Rory?” Pels asks.

“It is adorable that you ask permission,” Pat says. “I vote yes.”

“I definitely say yes,” Dad murmurs. “Look at you, sending something to amuse a friend in need.”

Pels waves her hand in Dad’s direction, as if flicking away a mosquito. She sends a quick message to Rory with the video, then decides to send another to Cheyenne saying, Yes, I’m having fun tonight. She’s a little surprised to realize that she hasn’t had a text since Cheyenne said she was going down for dinner, so she adds, You okay? and sends that as well.

She gets back a picture of Cheyenne’s face, barely lit by her desk lamp in a dim room. I’m fine. Just buried in homework. I get to see Dr. Smalls tomorrow. Don’t worry.

It’s an interesting combination of things to say, and really isn’t likely to make Pels worry less.

If anything happened, you’d tell me, right?

She feels awkward sending even that much, like maybe Peter will see Cheyenne’s phone. She doesn’t want to say the word Talent, or Telekinesis at all. She definitely doesn’t want to refer to Peter himself.

I’m okay, seriously. Don’t worry. I’ll call you tomorrow. Promise.

Pels supposes she has to accept that, even if it’s hard to just let it go.

TJ points up from where he still lies back on the ground, his feet warmed by the fire. Jackson’s sitting up between him and Pat, drinking his beer. Sera’s returned to whatever she was focused on before, but her feet are drawn up cross-legged on the stone, and Trish is stoking the fire.

“If you look up, the sky is clear enough to see the stars,” TJ says. “And planets. That’s Jupiter, right there. It’s crystal clear tonight. Saturn will be, too, but it hasn’t risen yet.”

Trish lowers herself to the ground next to TJ and lies back, raising her own hand and letting TJ adjust it. “Oh. There. I see it now. Hey, aren’t you an Arts major?”

“My mom loved Astronomy. Which, maybe it’s a funny hobby for a dancer, but she used to say how we’re all made of stardust, and that’s how some of us become stars,” TJ says softly. “I think she liked the wordplay, since she was a star on stage. We used to talk about how dance was meant to show our starlight, and I still think of that every time I dance.”

“It’s a pretty image,” Jackson agrees. He sets aside his empty beer and lies back, while Pat pushes himself up one elbow.

“Come on,” Pat says, and Pels isn’t sure if he’s talking to her or Sera. “Come look at the stars.”

Sera meets Pels’s gaze, and for a moment she has a feeling that they might be on the same wavelength. Then Sera heaves a long sigh, tucking dark hair behind an ear studded with piercings. “Fine,” Sera says. As she approaches the group, TJ rolls closer to Jackson, and Sera drops into the space offered, between TJ and Trish.

It looks uncomfortable, being so close.

Pels carefully picks her way around to the other side of Pat and lowers herself to the ground. Her feet are almost too warm, as close to the fire as they are. She wiggles her toes, seeing the fire burning merrily just beyond them, then when Pat nudges her, she looks up to see the stars spread overhead in the clear sky.

“It’s beautiful,” she admits.

“Peaceful,” Pat says. “It’s easy to lie here and just forget about everything else, right?”

Maybe for him. As soon as he says that, thoughts flood in and Pels can’t pick which one to follow first. Nikita’s still missing. She’s intensely confused about watching people interact. Why is Sera petting Trish? Why is TJ snuggling Jackson one second and Sera the next? He’s now on his side with his back to Jackson, holding Sera’s hand as he guides her to see different constellations.

Is this how this is supposed to work?

“I can hear you thinking and you haven’t even had anything to drink,” Dad murmurs, and Pels does her damnedest not to jump at the way he’s crouching next to her, leaning in far too close. “I think they’re all a bit drunk.”

They might be. Pels won’t judge, and honestly, she wasn’t paying that close of attention to who drank how much.

“Just relax for a little while,” Dad says, patting her head.

Pels closes her eyes, exhaling as she tries to let her body relax into the ground. She does it again for good measure, and this time it seems to work, and the voices become background noise as she floats in a sea of darkness and a strange mix of warmth at her toes and the top of her head chilled in the night air.

“I don’t have to understand everything, right?” she whispers. Dad doesn’t respond, but there’s movement next to her, like Pat might have heard her.

“I don’t think it’s possible to understand everything,” Pat murmurs softly. “I think all we can do is try to understand the things that affect us most, and move forward from there.”

It seems like valid advice. Maybe Pels doesn’t need to understand how other people relate to each other. Someday, though, she’s going to have to figure out how other people relate to her.

Someday.

Tonight can be about the s’mores and the stars.

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[holidaywishes]

It Had To Be You XXXIV

Chapter Thirty Four: Lush Life

  Summary: Your friend invites you onto his podcast over the summer and asks you a lot of question about Tyler and your relationship with him; leading him to do a lot of uncharacteristic things.

  Author’s Note: Two in one week?! What sorcery is this? I kid, I kid. So, I’m sorry that the last chapter ended almost identically to others I’ve add -- but it was a fluffy smut chapter that it deserved it; especially with what’s coming up. This one jumps ahead about 5 months from January to August and that’s the biggest “warning.” Again, I was going to add some angst but I’m waiting for it to build up some more. So, this one is sweet and still pretty short but if you keep this one in mind, you’ll be able to tie all the drama together. 🤷‍♀️

  Warning: Time jump, tiniest bit of angst

  Song Credit: Lush Life -- Zara Larsson

  masterlist

  the other masterlist

xx

  The last five months had been almost perfect; almost like it had been at the beginning of your relationship. Tyler took you out to the Bahama’s for a week, the two of you took in a festival in Dallas and Toronto, Chris even convinced the two of you to come back to Calgary for the Stampede where you met Ethan’s new boyfriend, Graham.

  “Ethan talks about you all the time!” Graham said upon your first meeting him, hugging you tightly

  “I’m so happy to meet you! When Ethan first mentioned you to me, I don’t think I’d ever seen him smile so wide. It was adorable” you laughed. It was true though. Ethan hadn’t really dated since Orlando and you wondered if he’d ever be in that place again so when he told you he met someone on Tinder you were nervous, because it was Tinder, but he couldn’t stop gushing about him. When he FaceTimed you randomly one day, you weren’t expecting him to tell you that things were serious; but he did, and he was so happy that you couldn’t stop smiling. Graham and Tyler talked for a bit while Ethan pulled you aside

  “I need you to do me and Graham a favour...” he said

  “Of course, I’ll officiate your wedding” you joked and he smiled before shaking his head

  “Graham just started a podcast, but he’s having a hard time promoting it...”

  “What’s it about?”

  “Dating”

  “What’s the hook?”

  “Hook?”

  “There’s a million dating and relationship podcasts out there. What makes his stand out? What’s the brand?”

  “It.. He’s describing it as a hopeless romantic’s guide to dating in a world that is forever obsessed with hooking up.”

  “Okay, fair...” you furrowed your brow, “what’s the favour? You want me to ask Ty to go on?”

  “No, see, that’s what I thought,” he said, excitedly, “I suggested it and said it would be such a good starting off point. You know free publicity and all that. But Graham said no, because the chances of him having another professional athlete, or guest at all, were slim so he wanted someone who people could relate to!”

  “And that’s me?”

  “OF COURSE!”

  “I mean, I’m in!” you smiled, “but I’m not sure I’ll be the most exciting guest...”

xx

Tyler’s P.O.V.

  You and Ethan sat down outside the podcast studio while (Y/N) and Graham recorded. You could hear some of it but not enough to gain anything from it, so you turned to Ethan to talk about his relationship; listening to him gush about his boyfriend, you wondered if (Y/N) had ever been like that to her friends about you.

  “I’m glad the two of you have been able to get back to a good place,” he said, as if he was reading your mind, “she really loves you but she gets.. stupid sometimes.” He laughed at his own words and you laughed back, hearing Graham’s laugh fill the studio and (Y/N)’s follow soon after.

  “What do you think they’re saying in there?” you asked

  “We’ll have to wait until tomorrow when Graham puts it up. He does it all himself you know?” Ethan gushed, “he’s pretty amazing..” You weren’t sure what to say, so you smiled to yourself and then over at Ethan who was clearly sporting a deep red blush across his cheeks. The podcast went out the next day, like Ethan had said it would, but you had to wait an extra day to listen to it and when you finally got around to listening to it while you were driving around the city, you inhaled slowly before pressing play.

  “Welcome everyone, to those few out there who are actually listening to this podcast, welcome. Hello. Hi. Thank you for being here,” Graham started, with a laugh before introducing you, “I have a guest with me today. I’m excited, my first guest! So, welcome everyone, my new friend, (Y/N) (Y/L/N)...”

  “Hello,” (Y/N) said softly, “I’m so happy to be here. This is my first time on a podcast, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens.” You were proud of her, how confident she sounded and how happy she seemed. Graham prompted her with questions about whether or not she was single, “I’m not, no, I’m in a relationship,” she answered, “he’s busy a lot but we’re happy. He’s actually sitting outside the studio as we record.”

  “He’s a super nice guy, everyone, do you want to keep him a secret or tell people who he is?” Graham asked eagerly

  “I can say, I don’t think he’d mind..” she laughed, “Tyler Seguin”

  “What’s that like? Dating a hockey player? A pro athlete?”

  “I mean it can be a lot... Like I said, his schedule gets really hectic and sometimes I don’t get to see him very often but when we finally get to spend time with each other, we try our best to make the most of it.” You smiled at (Y/N)’s sentiment, getting a quick text from her as you pulled into your driveway

  “I just landed, Lucy’s with me. She’s already ordered an Uber. See you soon. Love you!” she wrote

  “Love you too” you replied and went back to listening to the podcast, only now realizing they’d changed topics from you to online dating

  “I hate all the apps. I was on all of them for literally like a minute,” (Y/N) admitted, “but they’re all so shallow. Even Hinge. The one app where you’re supposed to get to know someone by the answers they give but here’s the thing... NO ONE ANSWERS A GOD DAMN PROMPT!” she exclaimed and the two of them burst into laughter, “they all add pictures of themselves with fish or at a shooting range or like in a huge group of people and you’re just like: What am I supposed to do with this?”

  “Right?!” Graham continued, “and, obviously my dating apps are different than yours might be, but if you’re looking for relationships you have to weed out these guys who are just showing pictures of their abs so they can ‘move the camera down’ later...”

  “No one wants that! Like, I’m sorry. Gay or Straight, penises are not pretty to look at. I wouldn’t say that vagina’s are either but that’s why it’s called ‘bumping ugly’s’“ they laughed

  “So has Ty ever sent you a dick pic?” Graham asked semi-seriously

  “No. Thank god. I think he’s being a little more careful with what he sends because he’s been burned with stuff in the past. Which I think is completely fair and actually very smart. Plus, I don’t know what I’d do with it. I’m not gonna stare at it. I mean, I’ve seen it before and I’ll see it again. I don’t need pictures of it when he’s on the road...” You laughed along and cleaned up the house with the podcast playing in the background while you waited for (Y/N) and Lucy to walk in when you heard Graham ask something unexpected

  “Do you think you’ll ever get married? Like do you see Tyler ever proposing to you?”

  “Tyler? no. I’d marry him in a heartbeat. I mean we’ve been together something like 2 years, maybe 3, and we’ve had our ups and downs but I love his stupid face and his ridiculous love for what he does and how much he loves his fans. I love it all. Honestly. But Ty’s never been the marrying type. You know, we’re young and I think he wants to make sure that whoever he’s with is going to be the person that he wants to BE with. Because I wholeheartedly believe that he wants to marry once or not at all” you stopped what you were doing to listen to what she was saying

  “Why don’t you think that’s you though?” Ethan asked and you leaned in

  “I’m not the most confident person in the world, and it’s been a huge cause of a lot of our arguments. I can’t see ME, not him, me, ever getting past that part of myself that always jealous of the girls who slide into his DM’s when he’s on the road or the friends of the girlfriends of the other guys on the team who show up at parties or bars when the guys are out or childhood friends who are now tall, beautiful models. I guess I just think that those issues would always come up and it would just strain our relationship. We can always fix it when we’re dating but when we’re married, we’re in it. Like IN IT” she laughed

  “And he’s the guy who wants to marry once?”

  “Oh Absolutely. When you first meet him, he might seem like an eternal bachelor but once you get to know him you see this super romantic part of him and that’s the part that wants to get married and have kids and retire and just live the rest of his life in complete bliss.” You furrowed your brow at her words, having never really thought about it too much yourself, but you couldn’t say that she was totally off base. You listened to the rest of the podcast while you tidied up the house and just as it ended, Lucy and (Y/N) walked in the door.

  “HEY!” the sound of her voice felt different, as if the podcast had tainted it somehow but seeing her face brought the light back to her voice.

  “Hey” you answered, giving her a hug and kissing the crown of her head and nodding to Lucy as your welcome to her. “Can I talk to her alone for a second?” you asked Lucy

  “Go for it” she said and you guided (Y/N) to the bedroom. She giggled when you closed the door and paced in front of her but when you looked at her, you noticed her smile fade

  “What’s wrong?” she asked

  “Nothing..” you answered, “I uhm...”

  “Ty, you’re making me nervous. What’s going on?!” she whined and you rushed to calm her down, rubbing your hands up and down her arms when you got in front of her.

  “I listened to the podcast...” was all you said and she squinted at you, waiting for you to continue but all you could do was sigh.

xx

  You waited for Tyler to continue his thought because the podcast couldn’t have been bad enough to warrant this reaction

  “I didn’t mean to say anything bad, we were just talking about us and I was being honest...” you said, a frown crinkling your face

  “No no, it wasn’t anything bad. I’m so proud of you, I loved listening to you on the podcast,” he smiled but you were still confused, “but.. did you really mean what you said?”

  “Which part?” you asked

  “The marriage part. You don’t think we’ll ever get married?”

  “Ty, we’ve talked about this before. You don’t want to get married, I don’t think I’m ready to get married anyway but you’ve always said that if you’re gonna get married it won’t be for a long time. Like once you’re out of the NHL...”

  “Yeah, I’ve said that in the past... but maybe it’s different now..”

  “What changed?”

  “You?”

  “What?” you stepped back, away from his touch

  “You changed my mind. My opinions on all of it.” Stepping forward and grabbing your hands softly

  “I don’t understand...?” you shook your head

  “I don’t want to get married,” he said and you gasped, “right now!” he corrected and you laughed

  “I didn’t think you did” you interjected

  “I think we’re still too young but I want to do something,” he said and you furrowed your brow again, feeling a slight headache starting from how much he was confusing you but he turned around and grabbed something off the dresser, “it’s not a ring”

  “Is that my earring?” you laughed as he knelt in front of you

  “Yes,” he smiled, “I can’t promise you I won’t screw up or that you won’t feel insecure. I can’t promise that we’ll ever actually get married but I want you in my life because you make me happy and when I picture my life in 5 years.. you’re there. With me. And the dogs.”

  “Ty...” you tried

  “I honestly can’t promise you anything but what I can promise you is that I love you and I want you always...”

  “You’re such a loser,” you joked, and he smiled, “I can’t promise you anything either. I can’t promise that I’m good for you or that we’re good for each other but I can promise you that I’ve never wanted anyone more than you..”

  “So that’s a yes?” he asked

  “I mean.. sure? But what is it a yes to? That we love each other because we didn’t really need my earring for that?”

  “That we’ll always love each other, married or not. Together or not...” you tilted your head to the side and pouted mockingly

   “If that’s what it is,” you said with a smile, moving your hand to his cheek, “of course.” He smiled and pulled you in for a hug, kissing your cheek and holding you there for a bit before Lucy threw open the door.

  “What the hell is going on here?” she said only to be met but the two of you smiling brightly.

  “We’re not engaged!” you exclaimed and Lucy’s face contorted into pure confusion, leaving you and Tyler to laugh at the situation.

[scrapyardboyfriends]

Okay I’m making one post about it and then I’m done. 

Overall, I thought today’s episodes were great. I think Samantha did a good job. I actually liked Joe and Debbie today...not so much them together (cause I’m still pretty meh about that) but them as separate characters and both of them interacting with Noah today were actually tolerable and I prefer them in their sibling roles. I even didn’t hate Graham and Megan and Frank today. And Lachlan and his Breaking Bad jokes and interacting with Priya were fun. I’m glad they really are continuing with Priya’s involvement. 

I thought the Liv stuff was great today. Those are definitely feelings that have been brewing for a long time and I’m glad they all got brought back up. It feels necessary for to further her arc. And I like angst sometimes. And I thought all of the performances were wonderful. 

In the second episode, I mostly liked the robron content we got. I really liked seeing Aaron go and talk to Gabby and Gerry. That feels logical to me and since robron can get pretty isolated, it’s lovely to see him reaching out to Liv’s friends because it feels natural. 

I didn’t even mind Robert bringing up Seb because it was clearly a set up for their little fight where Aaron threw it back in his face since Liv brought all that up today. It made sense to me. And It gives them another opportunity to address it and not just having a cute baby as a prop. And I do love their healthy communication. Really, I think it’s great to see. 

But...what the hell was that last scene with them? Forget the fact that Robert started out far away from him. He eventually did sit down next to him and I swear, he might have actually put a hand on his shoulder or something but all of a sudden they cropped the shot and only showed one of them???? What was that? Did one of them mess up a take and they had to edit it together weird? Were they not both available to finish that scene? It was so weird. 

I hate complaining about the ‘chill’ but at this point...it’s ridiculous. He can hug his husband to comfort him about his sister’s struggles. It doesn’t require kidnapping to hug him. I just...the missed opportunities are starting to drive me insane. 

And I don’t disagree with people. Some lighter flirty moments would be wonderful. It’s why we all loved that bit about Prison Break because it was a bit of light in all the angst. I know today was not the right time for it so I’m not saying they should have. But in all this time since the reunion, they could have included that little story I mentioned about them being pulled in all these directions with Seb and Liv and Rebecca and Joe and trying to find a bit of time for themselves. It really would have broken up the monotony and the repetitiveness. Sigh. I just wish they would see the problems and attempt to fix them because it’s making me sad. 

[imagines-for-the-fangirls-soul]

Yours - Chapter One

Chapter One : You Know I Do

A/N: Hello! Hello! Sorry that this has taken so long! I’m house sitting for my brother and he literally lives in the middle of nowhere with no wifi. The fact that I’m posting this right now is a god send! So here is the continuation of Just Yours! I know I still haven’t put all of Just Yours into one piece, but I’ll work on it. I am using the tags from the first part of the story, but if you don’t want to be tagged (or want to be added to the list) please let me know! I promise it won’t hurt my feelings or anything if you don’t want to keep reading. Anyways, I hope you like it! Let me know what you think! So excited to be writing for Rafael again!! Word Count: 2,308 Pairing: Rafael Barba x Reader Synopsis: The wedding! Tags: @sergeantdodds, @standing-in-a-downpour, @gibbs274, @sweetsummertime99, @amelia-save-me​, @cumberbabe92​, @evs14u 

“Wow, Y/N, you look absolutely beautiful,” Mike said, smiling at you. You smiled back and walked towards him. You threw the train of your dress behind you and stepped down from the pedestal.

“I'd say the same about you,” you said, grabbing onto his bow tie, “Except this is crooked.” He laughed and looked down at you as you straightened it for him.

“You never could tie one properly, I should have remembered.”

“It's your wedding day, you don't have to fuss over this.”

“It's okay,” you said with a smile. You smoothed out the shoulders of his suit and smiled at him. Mike leaned forward and kissed your forehead.

“You look beautiful.”

“You said that already.” He shrugged and you laughed. “Thank you for being here.”

“I wouldn't miss it for the world. Do you want me to go get Dad? It's almost time.” You nodded and he walked towards the door. When it closed, you looked in the mirror. You fixed your makeup on your forehead, from the spot where Mike kissed you.

You and Rafael had decided against a wedding party. Nick would be carrying the rings for you, and was sitting next to your father and brother in the front row. The chapel that Rafael had picked out for your wedding was the same one that his parents got married in. You had chosen white lilies to decorate the aisles with, and dreamy, lantern lighting. Glass lanterns strung up from the rafters left the chapel with a romantic feeling.

A knock came from the door, and you called for whoever it was to come in, before looking at yourself one last time, smoothing the pockets of your dress. Your father walked in, tears already brimming in his eyes. You rolled yours and hugged him.

“Dad, come on.”

“I'm sorry,” he said, wiping his eyes. “You look gorgeous.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“Can you help me with one last thing?” He nodded and you walked across the room, grabbing your long veil. You handed it to him and bent down a little. He stuck the veil in at the crown of your head. “Thank you.”

He smiled as you turned back to him. You hugged him again before bringing the veil over your face. He took your arm and you walked out the door. Just outside, you found Mike again, holding your bouquet of white lilies. You took them from him with a smile. Mike ran in front of you, and walked into the chapel. You heard the music start and took a deep breath. Your father smiled and patted your hand.

“I love you, dad.”

“I love you, too.”

The doors opened. The room was relatively dark, save the lanterns. You saw a few friends and family in the back, before your eyes rested on Rafael. He was smiling, and you could have sworn he was crying, standing all by himself with the minister. Of course, he was dressed in a blue suit and vest.

When Rafael first saw you, nothing else in the world seemed to matter. Not the break up, not the fights, not anything. Seeing you, walking towards him, looking lovelier than ever made everything alright.

The world seemed to slow as he looked at you. He couldn't even pay attention to the music playing. He was only focusing on your veiled face, wanting nothing more than to see it. Your dress fit you like a glove, and you looked radiant.

He couldn't stop smiling, and eventually started to tear up. You were getting closer, although it felt like an eternity. Eventually, you reached the end, and your father unveiled you. Rafael laughed a little to keep himself from crying more. You smiled at him as your veil was situated and winked. The last few steps to the altar you took quickly, grabbing Rafael's hands quickly.

“Cariño,” Rafael said with a huge grin. You smiled back at him, and wiped away a few of his tears.

“Hi,” you whispered.

The minister began to talk about how the two of you met, even making a joke that it was under unconventional means. Rafael laughed, but didn't pull away from you. He continued talking about your life and love, but Rafael didn't hear much of it.

He only focused on your eyes. And then your mouth. And then everything about you. He wanted nothing more than for this ceremony to be over, so he could kiss you and know that the two of you would stay together forever.

Rafael finally heard the minister when he said to repeat after him.

“I, Rafael, take you, Y/N, to be my lawful wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part.” You smiled and looked down at your hand as he slipped the tiny, silver band around your finger.

“I, Y/N, take you, Rafael, to be my lawful husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health until death do us part,” you repeated, before sliding the simple, silver band with one small diamond onto Rafael's finger.

The rest was a blur. The minister said 'You may now kiss the bride' and it was all over. Rafael carefully brought your lips together as the chapel cheered. You and he were now married, never to be parted, which is all that Rafael ever wanted. He didn't pull away for a while, even though he realized he had kissed you for too long. When he did though, he looked at your smiling face as you brushed your hand against his cheek, and kissed you all over again. The two of you made your way back up the aisle, passing your friends and family who were smiling at you.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

After taking a million pictures, and spending too long in your limousine, you and Rafael finally arrived at your reception. You had selected an abandoned fire station that has specifically been renovated to become a location for weddings and parties. The high ceilings and walls were re-paneled with wood, and the giant chandelier hanging from the wall masked the fact that there used to be a pole there.

Music played as you walked in, and the lead singer of the band introduced you two as Mr. and Mrs. Barba. Taking to the center of the dance floor, Rafael spun you around a little, making you laugh, before pulling you up against his chest.

“May I have this dance, Mrs. Barba?” he asked. You grinned and shook your head, not even caring how cheesy you both were being.

“Absolutely.” Rafael put his hands on your waist and you put yours around his neck, as Love Me Tender started to play. You swayed together slowly, your head resting on his shoulder. He whispered softly in your ear, as you spun around the glowing room.

Not only was there the big chandelier hanging over the center of the dance floor, but each table had a glowing lantern at the center. White flowers of all kinds decorated around the lanterns. The plates and silverware only reflected the gleaming light, which added the special glow and sparkle to the venue.

“Did I mention that this dress is . . . fantastic?” Rafael said, as he looked down at you. You smiled and scrunched up your nose, leaning in close.

“It may have come up,” you said, leaning in to kiss your husband.

The song came to an end, and your guests clapped. Rafael leaned in to kiss you, before you started making your rounds. You stopped by the table with your squad and hugged everybody. Next, you moved over to talk with your dad and brothers. They hugged you, while Mike whispered something about ending Rafael if he ever hurt you. You rolled your eyes, and told him that wouldn't be a problem, but appreciated the thought.

You found Nick and Graham later in the evening, just after dinner was served. They both hugged you and kissed your cheek. As you were talking, someone wrapped their arms around your from behind, and you turned to find Zara standing behind you, and Nick's mother behind her.

“Oh my gosh! Thank you both so much for coming!” you said, and hugged them both. Zara was beaming up at you, and you hugged her once more. “I'm so glad you're here.”

“Me too. You look beautiful.”

“Well thank you,” you said, giving a little twirl in your dress.

“I wish I looked as beautiful as you.”

“Oh you do,” you said, squeezing her hands. “Right, Nick?” He walked forward and nodded.

“Absolutely.”

“Can I borrow your dress for my wedding?” Zara asked. You looked at Nick and smiled.

“Of course. Is it coming up soon?”

“I sure hope not,” Nick muttered. Zara laughed and pushed her dad slightly.

“Daddy!”

“Yeah, come on, Nick!” you played along. He smiled and leaned forward to kiss your forehead.

“I love you,” he said. You wrapped your arm around his waist and smiled.

“I love you, too. Thank you for coming all the way from California.”

“I wouldn't miss this for the world.”

“I'm glad you're here, too,” you said, reaching across to grab Graham's hand. He smiled and looked down at Zara.

“Well, I had to see my goddaughter. It's just a bonus that you're here, too.” You sarcastically laughed and pushed his shoulder.

“Ha ha, very funny.”

“Oh hey, Y/N,” Nick said, giving your waist a squeeze to draw your attention. “Isn't that your crazy Aunt Gretchen talking to Rafael?”

“Shit,” you muttered quietly. “Yes, thank you.” You dismissed yourself from the group and went on a rescue mission for Rafael. You pulled him away, saying there was some kind of cake emergency that needed to be attended to right away.

“What's the emergency?” Rafael asked, following you.

“Nothing, I just missed you,” you said, taking his hands and kissing him.

“Good, I missed you, too.”

“Wanna get a drink?”

“More than anything,” Rafael said. You smiled and held his hand in yours as you made your way over to the bar. You each got a drink, and took a moment to look at the group of people.

“Our wedding is killer,” you said, surveying the room. Rafael laughed and nodded.

“You're killer.”

“You're corny,” you said, looking at him.

“I know.” You leaned in again to kiss him, pulling on his lip softly. “Mrs. Barba.” You patted his cheek before sauntering away, knowing very well that Rafael was staring at your ass as you did.

The rest of the evening flew past. You danced with both of your brothers, your father, Zara, Nick, Graham, Fin, Rafael, everyone. Your feet were sore, but you also had had a lot to drink, so you weren't feeling it as much. You and Rafael were still swaying together when the party started to die out finally.

“Well, cariño, should we head out?” Rafael asked. You looked up at him, and at the last few stragglers of the evening.

“Yes. I've got some great plans for tonight,” you said, running your hands through the back of his hair. He smirked and you kissed him, not letting him pull away for a long while. (Not that he wanted to, anyways.) You said goodbye to your family as they started to clean up for the night, and walked out into the cool, summer night, and climbed into your limo.

You arrived at your hotel room, and hadn't separated once. He carried you across the room, bridal style of course, and laid you down on the bed. You smiled up at him as he continued to kiss you. You laughed as you pushed him away and he looked at you sadly.

“What?”

“Get us something to drink,” you said, grabbing your bag from the side of the door. Your things had already been brought up for you. “I'm gonna change into something different.” Rafael raised his eyebrows, but definitely didn't argue.

You went into the bathroom and carefully took of your dress, hanging it over the side of the shower. Then, you went to work, squeezing yourself into the intricate lingerie that you had bought for tonight. The white lace clung to your body, and was incredibly uncomfortable, but when you looked in the mirror, you felt sexy. And you knew that Rafael would be pleased, too.

“Almost ready?” Rafael called.

“Yeah.” You swung open the door, and propped your hand against the door frame. Rafael looked up from the bed, and a smile grew across his face. You spun around, letting him get a glimpse of everything. “What do you think?”

“Wow. Just wow,” he said. You laughed and walked towards him. He had taken off his suit coat, and was only sitting in his shirt and vest. You straddled his legs, and situated yourself in his lap. He smiled at you as you started to unbutton his vest. He slid his hands up your waist, before kissing you. You continued to unbutton his shirt as he kissed you, and put his hands on your chin.

He threw off his shirt, and pulled you closer, so your bodies were pressing as close together as possible. He fiddled with the string around your waist as he kissed down your neck. You sighed happily and drew yourself closer to him.

“I love you.”

“I love you,” he mumbled as he kissed your skin.

“I'm so glad we got married,” you said, pulling his lips back to yours. He was smiling when he pulled away.

“God, me too.” You kissed him again, over and over, never stopping to smile. “I'm gonna love you until the day I die.”

[sprnklersplashes]

I Can Be Your Hero (2/?)

AO3

After the fires were completely out, Emma managed to get back to West Co in next to no time at all, which pushed her to the limits. Sure, flight was just like riding a bike, but like you hadn’t ridden in years and were thrown into the Tour de France. She quickly scrubbed the worst of the ash and dirt and swear off in the bathroom.

Then of course the minute she reappeared (with everyone so glued to her antics on the TV they had hardly noticed her gone), Zelena started demanding for pictures, scoops, stories, anything to give an insight into this mysterious woman. The sports writers dropped their football scores and beauty columnists stopped writing about blush and ran to the scene to get interviews. Luckily, Miss Mills wanted Emma to stay in the office and run errands for her. Which sounded like heaven, sitting at her desk and casually sorting through e-mails with a coffee, but in reality had her running up and down stairs to collect stories and letters from various departments.

With the running and fetching and carrying on top of the strain she had already put her body through, Emma found herself sagging against a wall, letting the metal cool her fiery cheeks. Her legs began shaking and she groaned softly. The last thing she needed was to pass out at work.

“Snow?” Killian asked from behind her. She groaned again, louder this time, and forced her eyes open. Killian was standing with the corner of his mouth quirked up but concern in his eyes and his good hand ready to catch her if she fell.

She heaved herself off the wall, hoping the heat on her face didn’t mean she was blushing.

“I’m fine,” she muttered.

“You don’t look fine. In the nicest possible way.” He moved to hold her but thought better of it and stepped back. “Zelena giving you a rough time?”

“You could say that.” She started heading towards the office and he fell into step with her. “You don’t need to do this.”

“I do, actually.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Not in that way, Emma. I have to see Zelena about a few things.”

“Oh.” They fell into a slightly awkward silence as they began ascending the stairs, the only sound being Emma’s breathing that slowly but surely got worse until Killian stopped.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked. She let out a sigh but refused to stop walking.

“Just a little tired,” she admitted, knowing full well that ‘little’ was an understatement. All she felt like doing was going home and collapsing into bed.

“Anything I can get you?” he asked. Emma laughed and shook her head, wincing as it started to hurt. “I have pain killers in my office, I can run them up to you.”

“Thanks but I don’t need painkillers,” she said as they reached her floor. “Just need to get through today.”

Killian nodded and let her go to her desk while he headed for Zelena’s office.

“Hey, Kill,” Graham greeted absent mindedly, catching Emma off guard completely. “Still hiding out downstairs?”

“Hey Graham, still slaving at a computer?” Killian asked, giving a cheeky smirk before strolling into Zelena’s office.

“You know him?” Emma asked. Her legs were still sore but it was a relief to sit down for once.

“Friend of mine, we knew each other in college,” he explained. “Then he showed up here.”

“What’s he like?”

“He’s fun. Bit of a laugh. Can’t take anything seriously.” Graham swung his chair round to face her. “Do you like him?”

“No. Barely know him.”

Then about half an hour later, Emma had gone down to one of the lower floors and returned to find a takeaway cup of tea, a pack of cookies, some bottled water and painkillers sitting on her desk with a note scribbled on a pink post-it.

Just in case you need it-K.

                                                                                             *****

When Emma returned home, all she wanted to do was run herself a nice hot bath and slip in, but unfortunately she was too exhausted to even put herself through the effort. Instead she tossed her ripped shirt in the trash and wriggled out of her trousers and slipped into her softest sweatpants and favourite loose t-shirt before flopping on the sofa and turning on the TV.

And what else would be on the TV but her. Well, a blurry shot of her flying around the building taken from a cellphone.

“It was amazing,” a woman being interviewed said. “She was flying, and she put out the fires with her breath-her breath- and then she put them all out and got us out!”

“She lifted my daughter down from that building,” an emotional looking man said as he held the girl who Emma recognised as the girl she first saved. She was coughing a bit and clinging to her father for dear life, but she smiled. “She lifted her down and saved her. God knows what I would have done if she hadn’t shown up when she did.”

“Sir if you could tell this woman something, what would you tell her?”

“I’d tell her she is amazing. And I’d thank her a million times over.”

The program kept going but Emma was no longer listening.  She kept replaying the words ‘she is amazing’ over and over in her mind.

For the first time in a while she felt amazing. She felt powerful, strong. She felt helpful and needed. She felt like she had done something right. Something that she was always meant to do. She had made a difference in other people’s lives.

Unable to contain herself, Emma jumped up and danced for joy (despite her previous exhaustion), a high pitched squeal and laugh coming out of her as she did so.

Her celebration was interrupted by a knock at the door. Emma stopped and composed herself, fixing her hair in the mirror, before running to the door and opening it to find Elsa.

Growing up, Emma and Elsa had been joined at the hip. Maybe it was because Elsa felt as if she had responsibility for Emma-she did find her after all-or maybe it was because Elsa found her that the two shared a heartfelt connection, making them best friends as well as sisters. Maybe it was just how they turned out; having lived in the same home, shared a room, bathroom, meals and even clothes, for years.

In any case, Emma and Elsa had become so close that they only needed a look to see what the other was thinking.

And given the look on Elsa’s face when Emma opened her apartment door, Emma saw she was in for a lecture. Or three.

“Okay, Elsa please don’t freak out,” Emma begged as her sister swept into the room with such grace and poise she practically screamed ‘I work in a high ranking university and my car probably cost more than you could dream of’. “I know it was a stupid idea-”

“Emma, what were you thinking?” she asked. “Seriously what were you thinking? Showing dozens, probably hundreds of people who you are?”

“No one saw me,” she assured her. “Trust me I’ve seen the footage. That could be anyone.”

“Any tall, pretty blonde in the city?”

“There are plenty of tall pretty blondes!”

“Emma,” Elsa sighed, placing her hands on her shoulders. “You could have been hurt.”

“But I wasn’t,” she replied. “Don’t you see?  I saved them. I helped so many people, Elsa.”

“Your parents sent you here so you could be protected, Emma.” Emma couldn’t help but feel guilt then. “So you could be safe.  Not so you could expose yourself. That is the worst way to keep yourself safe.”

“People needed help,” Emma insisted. “And that is what my parents would have wanted. They wanted me to help people. That’s all they did. Why shouldn’t I do that too?”

“I am not saying that,” she sighed. “I am saying you should not be out there, risking your life-”

“Why not?” Emma asked. “If I can do these amazing, extraordinary things, why shouldn’t I use them to help people?” Elsa opened her mouth but Emma held up a hand to stop her. “Elsa, I love you. I love you and Anna and Ingrid more than anyone on this planet. But you’re wrong. I had to hide this part of myself for my whole life. Do you know how that felt?” Tears sprung up in Emma’s eyes.

“You know that I do.” Elsa whispered. After realising she was asexual and a lesbian at fifteen she hid it from Ingrid and confided only in Emma until last year. If anyone knew about what it was like to hide a part of yourself, it was her.

“Elsa as much as I love you I am not one of you. I’m not human. Shouldn’t I be allowed to embrace that?” Elsa wiped her sister’s tears. “I don’t want to hide anymore. For the first time in a long time I have felt like I was doing something right. Like I was doing…..”

“What your parents wanted?” Emma nodded and Elsa pulled her into a hug. “Emma, I-”

“I felt like I had to. I had to help them because I could.” Elsa turned and looked at the TV, where the same man was still talking.

“And I think that this woman is most definitely not human. But I don’t care. Because she is brilliant. And anyone who was going to risk her life for my daughter is ok in my books.”

“There’s no talking you out of this is there?” Elsa asked. Emma smiled and shook her head. “Then I’m with you on this.”

“Thanks.”

“Ingrid is going to kill you.”

                                                                                               *****

Emma arrived at work the next day feeling much better; after her talk with Elsa, she took a long hot bath and spent the rest of the night with a hot cocoa and her sister by her side, listening to her jokes and complaints until she finally fell asleep.

And maybe it was the afterglow of last night but she found herself a lot more content than she normally was. She smiled as she picked up Miss West’s usual order in an overly crowded coffee shop, nor did she get irritated when a text from Miss West popped up on her phone to pick up some columns from the sports section and that she needed photocopies of several different articles on her desk before she arrived.

“Someone’s chipper,” Graham remarked as Emma entered.

“Well, you know, the sun is up, the birds are singing, what’s not to smile about?” Graham raised his eyebrows at her.

“Are you feeling okay?” he asked. “Do you need me to call someone?” Emma rolled her eyes, still smiling, and walked into Zelena’s office to place the photocopies on her desk.

“Turn the news on!” Isaac Heller asked from the back of the room as Emma came back. “I want to see if that woman is still on!”

Graham lifted the remote and flipped to the news. Sure enough, the anchor was talking about Emma’s adventure the previous day and the blurry photo of her flying next to the building. Emma looked down, hoping no one would see the proud smile on her face.

“Well would you look at that?” Graham sighed. “What do you think?”

“She’s….. she’s cool I guess.” Emma shrugged off her jacket. “I mean, the flying and all, that’s cool.”

“She’s more than cool, she’s brilliant,” Graham remarked. “And only a little scary.”

“Scary?” Emma asked, flinching when she realised how loud she was being. “How so?”

“Just, she flies around, she breathes out ice,” he said, shrugging. “I just hope she stays on our side.”

“She will. At least I think, I hope, why would she not?” Thankfully, the glass doors swung open before she could dig herself into a deeper hole.

“Morning all,” Killian greeted as he entered, carrying a plastic wallet.

“Killian, what do we owe the pleasure?”  Graham asked, but he was smiling. “Come to join us lowly writers?”

“Alas, I am her strictly on business. Looking for Miss West’s personal assistant.” He flashed Emma a smile and she responded by rolling her eyes only slightly.

“What can I help you with, Mr Jones?” she asked. He handed her over the wallet. “Just some photos for the next issue that she wanted. Emma lifted one out; it was a photo of the Wonderland apartments just after she’d left it. And another for the girl she had saved, posing with her father.

“When did you go down there?” she asked.

“Soon after I spoke to you yesterday,” he replied. “Miss West wanted some for the article.”

“They’re good,” she said. Killian smiled before turning to look at the TV screen.

“What did I tell you, Snow?” he said. “Big big universe.”

“You think she’s an alien?” Emma asked, willing her voice to drop in pitch. “Why?”

“Well, how many humans do you know can fly and shoot snow out of their mouths?” he asked. He laughed when he saw her face. “Nothing against aliens, Snow. I just hope she’s the friendly kind.”

“That’s what I was saying,” Graham commented. “Emma seems to be on her side.”

Killian checked his watch.

“And I should get back to work. See you later Graham, Snow.”

“Right, Kill,” Graham said, going back to his desk as Killian left. Emma pondered for a few minutes before running after him.

“Killian!” she called. “Killian, wait.” He turned and looked at her expectantly. “I just wanted to say thanks. For the painkillers and stuff. It did help.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” he chuckled. “Nothing too serious, I hope.”

“No, just….. long day,” she sighed. “Thanks.” He gave her a smile before walking off down the hall. She stood for longer than a second to watch him leave.

Graham had his eyes back on the TV screen when she returned. She sat at her desk and saw multi millionare businessman Mr Gold onscreen, talking to some reporter.

“What a jackass,” Graham muttered.

“Well I don’t care who she saved, she could have done a lot of damage. What if someone had been hit with that ice breath?”

Emma’s blood started boiling. She gripped her arm so tightly that her nails were digging into it. Her lips were pressed into a tight line.

“Emma, you okay?” Graham asked. Emma let out a deep breath and adjusted her glasses.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”

“This man is an ass, Emma,” he assured her. “Nothing he says matters.”

“Yes except he is a very rich and powerful ass with over 40 million Twitter followers,” Emma pointed out.

Who does this man think he is? Zelena said in the elevator.

“Miss West,” Emma alerted them. As usual, Miss West was greeted by her employees standing to greet her. Emma scurried after her into her office.

“Who does that weasel in a suit think he is?” she snapped to no one in particular as she paced the room. “No really, who does the think he is to talk about her like that?”

“Who, Mr Gold?” Emma asked.

“As if he has ever done anything useful in his sad, lonely and bitter life and is now raging on a superhero!”

“You think that woman is a superhero?” Emma asked, unable to keep the smile off her face.  Gold’s comments from earlier melted away. She had never seen Miss West praise anyone, let alone calling someone a superhero.  Zelena stopped pacing and looked at her curiously.

“Does it matter what I think?” Zelena asked. “The general public seems to think she’s a hero. And heroes sell, and that is exactly what is going to sell our magazines.” She strode over to her desk, perched on her chair and began typing. “We’re marketing her as a superhero, a beacon of hope, a role model-”

“Is that what you think she is?” Emma managed to blurt out. Her boss looked up at her, clearly surprised. Probably because that was the most she had ever heard Emma say in her presence that was not work related.

“I think she has the potential to be that,” she sighed. “And I am not wasting a second in getting here there. Hope, positivity, that rubbish sells, Jemma. Now what appointments do I have today?”

“Oh, um…” Emma ran out, lifted the organiser from her desk and ran back in, much to Miss West’s annoyance. “You have a meeting with Fiona Black at six thirty…..”

“Oh God no.” Zelena rolled her eyes. “That noir coloured nit and her condescendingly irritating proposals will put me in an early grave.”

“Should I cancel it?” Emma asked. Zelena shook her head.

“No, no I have to deal with it sooner or later. I’ve sent these columns down to the colour printer, go pick them up for me?”

And just like that, Emma was normal again.

On her lunch break, while sitting in the cafeteria with Graham, Emma received a text from Elsa.

Anna thinks she knows. What do I tell her?-Elsa.

Emma didn’t even hesitate.  Anna deserved to know just as much as Elsa did.

Just tell her.  

“Who’s that?” Graham asked through a mouthful of noodles.

“Elsa,” Emma replied, angling her phone slightly away from him. “Just wanting to know how I’m doing.”

I did. She’s screaming.-Elsa.

Emma chuckled softly. She wouldn’t have her messed up family any other way.

That evening, Emma found herself escorting Fiona Black to Miss West’s office. Fiona was the head of a radio station that, despite her less than perfect relationship (in both public and private) with Miss West, maintained a partnership with West Co. She was almost as fierce as Zelena was. Her voice was has strong as steel, her eyes could make even the strongest person squirm and she almost always got her way.

The exception was negotiating with Zelena of course.

All eyes were on her as she stalked into her office, where Zelena sat waiting like a queen on her throne. Emma was dismissed with the wave of a hand and could not get back to her desk fast enough.

“She didn’t want you to take notes?” Graham asked, raising an eyebrow.

“She specifically said not to,” Emma replied. “Meaning this is going to get messy.”

“I give them half an hour before they blow,” he said.  Emma shook her head.

“Longer.”

“Ten dollars says I’m right.”

Forty-five minutes later, Fiona was storming out of Zelena’s office, fury etched onto her face. Zelena stood in the doorway with a triumphant smirk. Through the glass door of Zelena’s office, Emma could see them fighting. Well, Fiona was fighting, Zelena was conversing with a wide smile.

Graham sighed and handed Emma over a ten dollar bill.

“Jemma,” she called, her tone too sweet to be anything but a jab at Fiona. “Take Miss Black out to her car, please. Wouldn’t want her out alone in that strom.”

“No need,” Fiona snapped. “I can make my own way without your assistant’s help.” Fiona straightened her jacket as if to preserve what little dignity she may have possessed. “Goodbye Miss West.” Zelena chuckled as she watched her storm into the lift.

“And my personal lift too,” Zelena huffed. “The nerve. Jemma, in here.” Emma let out a long sigh, rolled her eyes at Graham and followed Zelena into the office.

“Yes, Miss West?”

“Scrap the piece about new communications.”

“The one that specifically sites Miss Black as a leading woman in media?” Emma asked. This was a new level of petty, even for Zelena.

“Yes. If she needs us to bring people to her glorified blog I’d say she was going downhill anyway.”

“So the partnership with GoldenRadio?”

“Is off, Jemma, yes,” Zelena sighed. “Now unless you want our partnership to finish as well, go get rid of those articles.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Emma sighed as she left.

                                                                                               *****

Emma had just changed out of her work clothes, damp from the walk home in the rainm and into her sweatpants and was heating up a mac and cheese for dinner when there was a knock on the door.

“Anna?” Her younger sister stood on the other side, her brown hair still in two pigtails (which she somehow managed to pull off without looking like a complete idiot), nestled under a green knitted hat and wearing a purple overcoat. “Come on in.”

Anna smiled and bounced into her apartment.

“Elsa told me that she told you,” Emma said, smirking. Anna grabbed her and pulled her into a slightly too tight embrace.

“Emma I’m so proud of you,” she squealed. “You’re like a superhero. A real life superhero.  Like….. Wonder Man.”

“I think you’re getting your heroes mixed up,” she chuckled. “But thank you. You really think I’m doing the right thing?”

“I know you are,” Anna insisted. “If the world gets into trouble who better to save it than my sister?” Emma squeezed Anna’s hand in gratitude.

“Means a lot, Anna.”

“And that’s why I’m here. If you’re going to be a superhero, you’ll need a costume.”

“A costume?” Visions of leotards and tights sprung up in Emma’s mind.

“Well, think of it as a disguise. After all you can’t have people knowing you’re you, right?” Emma nodded, she did have a point. Anna lifted a sketchbook out of her bag, flipped a few pages and handed it to her. “I designed this on my lunch break. What do you think?”

It was a short, above the knee dress with a pleated skirt and elbow length sleeves. Anna had added a belt, knee high boots and-because of course-a cape.

“You designed this for me?” Emma whispered. Anna nodded.

“Well I thought I had to do something to help.”  Touched, Emma wrapped her arm around Anna’s waist. “I figured you might need a little more cover up, but then again, you’re bullet proof.”

“I think it’s great. I just need to make one little adjustment.” She picked up a pencil from the counter and sketched something onto the top; bird with a curved neck so that it resembled an S.

“A swan?” Anna asked.

“No. It’s the symbol of my home planet. Of Storybrooke.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I feel like if I’m going to go into battle saving this planet I should have a reminder of my old one.” Anna wiped her sister’s tears away.

“I get it. And I can have all of this made.”

“How? The closest thing you’ve come to making clothes is designing costumes for your school’s drama department!”

“And we had the best looking Cinderella to ever grace a stage. Just give me a week, okay?”

Emma looked back at the costume and imagined herself in it. She could see herself

“Okay.”

                                                                                               *****

A week later, Emma stood in her bedroom, windows locked and curtains drawn, staring at herself in the mirror. The all-white dress hugged her figure tightly but left plenty of room for movement. The skirt fell just to her knees, leaving a lot of room to kick (she’d tried). Despite the short sleeves it was warm, which would very much come in handy. The whole thing was secured with a gold belt around her waist. The cape stopped just below her knees and was-according to Anna-fire retardant. The boots reached up to her knees. She had pulled her hair out of its bun and let it fall loosely across her shoulders and taken off her glasses. Finally, her planet’s symbol stood out proudly on her chest.

She certainly looked the part of a hero.

“Emma?” Elsa crept into the room, startling her. “Sorry, I just worried.” Anna stood behind Elsa and her face lit up upon seeing her handiwork. “You look amazing.”

“You think so?” Emma asked. Putting the costume on made her feel different. She wasn’t just Emma Snow, she was the protector of this planet. And the legacy of her own one.

“Definitely. Very empowering,” Anna added. “And if I’m correct, and I probably am, the whole thing is pretty durable, so it shouldn’t wear and tear. Even when flying.”

“Only one way to find out.” Before either of them could ask what she meant, Emma ran to the fire escape and flew into the night.

She sped around the city, too high for anyone to see her. The wind tangled in her hair and the altitude was making her heart race and the only sound she could hear was the wind in her ears.

It was exhilarating to say the least.

She stopped on top of one of the towers, smiling from ear to ear. And sure enough, not a tear on her outfit.

Emma looked up to the stars and touched the logo on her chest. It was the closest she would get to holding her mother’s hand again.

                                                                                               *****

One week earlier, after Zelena and Fiona’s meeting

Fiona Black slammed the door of her Porsche as she got out. To say she was ‘fuming’ would be an understatement. No way in hell would she let that witch have the last laugh. Let her start to tear down everything she had built up after years of scraping herself up from nothing.

“Over my dead body,” she exclaimed.

It seemed the world took her literally. Not ten seconds after she said that, a lightning bolt struck her car, which in turn sent the electric shock right to her.

Fiona grunted as white hot pain flooded her. Her arms and legs twitched uncontrollably as lightning made its way through her body, making every inch of her body, down to the fingertips, sting like never before. Her legs gave out and she felt herself fall to her knees and then her face hitting the gravel as the pulses of pain slowed to a steady rhythm.

Just before she gave in and let herself go, accepting death only because it was surely less painful, she felt something roll her over and lift her up.

When Fiona awoke, she realised she was still in pain. Her hands were hot and stinging. She made to move but quickly realised that she was stuck. She managed to raise her head slightly and saw that her wrists and ankles were strapped to a table with some kind of metal.

“Hey!” she called out into the dimly lit room. “Hey, where am I?”  She struggled against the bonds but it was no use. “Hey let me out!”

She heard a door slide open and the sounds of high-heeled footsteps come towards her. Up until then, Fiona had been sceptical but in that moment, her first thought was ‘aliens’. She closed her eyes and braced herself for what came next; she expected something to puncture her skin.

Instead, the lights came up and her bonds were undone. She felt hands on her shoulders helping her into a sitting position and opened her eyes to see a woman with pale skin and black hair smiling at her.

“Who are you?” she asked, her tone both fearful and angry. “Where am I? What have you done?”

The moment she said ‘done’, a bolt of lightning flew from her hand and scorched the floor. Terrified, Fiona pulled her hand to her chest.

“Think of me as your guardian angel,” the woman purred. “And I am here to help. If it wasn’t for me you’d be dead.”

“Dead?” she echoed. “The lightning…..”

“Lucky I happened by when I did,” she said.

“Am I in a hospital? My son, did you contact him?” The woman’s face fell and she caressed Fiona’s face with a gentle, cold hand.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware you had any family. You see this isn’t a hospital. This is a spaceship.”

“Spaceship?” she said, half laughing. “No, you’re wrong. I’m dreaming.”

“I assure you this is quite real. Come.” The woman made to help her stand but Fiona flinched back. “I don’t bite, I promise.” She guided Fiona to her feet and helped her walk, unsteadily, to the wall. After pressing a button on the wall, a section opened to reveal a window, with Earth far below. Fiona’s knees buckled at the sight of everything she had ever known so far below her.

“Are you an alien?” she whispered.

“Yes.” Her eyes widened. “But I won’t hurt you, I promise. Come, let me sit you down.” Once Fiona was seated, the woman perched at the edge of her bed, a good distance from her. “I’ve come to help you. If you do something for me.”

“What could I possibly do for you?”

“Well, let me explain. The lightning that could have killed you? After I saved you I bonded it to your DNA. Hence the lightning bolt you shot from your hand.”

“You mean….. I have powers? Like some sort of mutant?”

“Oh mutant is such a harsh word. Why not try ‘hero’? No one in the world can do what you do, Fiona. I didn’t just save your life, I elevated it.”

“No!” she protested, beginning to cry. “No.  I can never go back now. I can’t go back to my son and shoot lightning at him. You didn’t save me, you destroyed me!” Another bolt of lightning shot from her hand and she jumped back.

“No, no, no. You can learn to control it.” Fiona slowed down and looked at her. “Aboard this ship I have state of the art facilities to help people such as yourself. I have met species with such abilities as your own. After some time with me you will bend these new gifts to your will.”

“And then help you?” she asked. “How?”

“As I understand it, you are angry with someone. A Miss West, correct?” The very name of that woman brought Fiona’s earlier rage back and lightning flew from both her hands and scorched the wall. “You could use these powers to get to her. And by getting to her, you could well be helping me get to someone I need to find.”

The pain in Fiona’s hand stopped. It was still warm, but the sensation now thrilled her, painting a smile on her face. And that smile would only broaden once she destroyed Zelena West. Finally, the witch would get her lesson.

And maybe a few others who had wronged her could learn too.

“When do we begin?” she asked.

[butter-ff]

Child's Play...

Porter: My belly is ready to pop! Milo is about a few days past due and he's still just chilling in there. Today is Valentines Day... my first one with Aubrey! I woke up because I had to pee really bad and I was expecting Aubrey but got an empty space. "Happy Birthday BabyGirl!" Aubrey came in with a huge smile on his face. Oh yea today is my birthday... I know I know I'm a valentines baby. People always joked that my parents really must have been in love to have a valentine baby! "Thanks baby!!!" I smiled as he sat a tray on the bed in front of me with a deformed ass heart which I think is a pancake, and fruit. "I did my best, it's not how yours would look..." I smiled and watched him as he started to ramble. I kissed his lips and giggled. "It's perfect baby thank you!" He winked and rubbed my belly. "You ready to meet the world or what Milo?" He asked his son, and at that very moment my water broke. I mean c'mon I have to share a birthday with my kid!? "Baby my water just broke..." I said calmly. "Huh I didn't catch that see it sounded like you said..." I shut him up by getting up so he could look at the spot I left on the bed. "Shit ok P breathe!" I wanted to laugh at the face he was making as his brain started to process everything we needed to get out of the house, but the contractions were interesting. "I am breathing babe, but yours sounds a little off." I answered pacing slowly as one passed. Once he got up and started moving around I ate some fruit and cleared the sheets off the bed before heading to the laundry room. "So you wanna share a birthday with mommy huh Lil man?" I cooed at my belly. I can't wait to finally see our little person. I could hear Aubrey making calls and shuffling around upstairs as I came back up to change and do my hair. He has my mom on speaker. On Phone: Mom: what is she doing Aubrey? Aubs: she's literally walking around like it's a normal day! He said it so exasperated and I laughed as I gave myself two braids. Mom: that's good it means her contractions aren't very close so y'all have a little time. Get her dressed and yourself and grab the hospital bag we packed last week and by the time y'all get to the hospital your mother and I will be there ok!? Aubs: yes ma'am see you in a little bit. Mom: oh and Aubrey? I heard the smirk in her voice. Aubs: ma'am? Mom: get your shit together she's fine, you'll be a daddy in a few hours! He smiled hella big as they hung up. He called E next. E: hey shouldn't you be catering to my sister on her birth... Aubs: Porter's water broke, we're going to head to the hospital in a few can you call all of the God parents please!? E: awwww on her birthday!!!! And yea I can do that see y'all there! End phone: I was tempted to put on make up but decided against it. I was ready to go minus shoes as Aubrey finally got dressed. "Baby I can't see my feet!" I said with a pout. He studied my outfit and disappeared into his closet grabbing a pair of my shoes and putting them on for me. "Thank you Papi!" I said pecking his lips. "Mmhmm chill out with that this morning, I can't do nothing!!" He gave me a serious look and I laughed before instantly stopping when another contraction hit. "Yup let's go!" He said helping me up and down the stairs. He situated me in the car and made sure we had everything before driving to the hospital. "How you feeling mommy?" I smiled stroking his hand that was rubbing my belly. "Excited... a little anxious, and eye roll worthy that he just has to come on my birthday!" I said the last part jokingly. Aubrey chuckled. "Say don't be jealous mommy I just want to share my day with me and daddy's favorite girl!" The way he spoke for Milo made my heart flutter and nothing could knock the smile off my face. "I hope he looks just like you!" I said staring at Aubrey as he drove. "I just want him to have ten fingers and ten toes mommy!" He said as we pulled up to the hospital. He got out helping me out and our moms were waiting for us along with the entire crew of people we call family. I was taken to my room and my doctor came in with a big smile. " Well Ms. Porter happy birthday... looks like you'll be sharing it with your mini!" I smiled back and thanked her. "How long we in for doc?" Aubrey asked and my mother laughed at how anxious he is. "Her contractions are about fifteen minutes apart so I would say another couple of hours." She answered him. "Thanks, I can't wait to meet him!" Aubrey spoke and my mother nodded her agreement. "And I'm sure he's just as excited to hear his daddy's voice in real time and not through mommy's belly!" She winked at Aubrey and he chuckled. She always found it cute how much he talks to my belly. "You hear that Milo? You get to hear me in real time soon!" I giggled as he kissed my stomach and of course my mom was being like the freaking paparazzi. "Alright well I'll be back soon to check on you, before you know it you'll be holding your baby boy!" She left and Aubrey pulled a gift out of his pocket. "What's this baby?" I asked eyeing him. "Open it and see." Was his only response. I opened it to see a charm bracelet with three charms. One was an angel with a pink heart, the other two was an engraved heart with a little football and one with an owl. "Aubs..." I said breathlessly. "You'll always have my heart and Milo's!" I pulled his face down to mine and gave him a sweet kiss. "Thanks baby I love it!" I said as he put it on. "I figure for every major milestone in our life I can get you a charm to fill up your bracelet." I smiled at how thoughtful he truly is. "That's such a sweet gift Aubrey!" My mother remarked. "Yea you might need more than one bracelet though cause I plan to get you pregnant with a basketball team!" I rolled my eyes and playfully punched him. "Right and what are you expecting them to come out of huh? Not my uterus!!!" My mother snorted at my words causing us to laugh! "See all this slick talk is mute when I'm putting it on you how you like!" My mouth dropped at his words and I grabbed his ear as my mother laughed at us. "My mother is here!" I warned. "She knows you're a freak Porter just give up the good girl act already. She may not know exactly how Milo was conceived but she knows what it took!" He winked at me and I'm too done right now. "Ooh boy you get on my nerves!" I said. "Man baby, I am your man!" He pecked my lips and I mushed his head. "Y'all are something else!" My mother side smiling at us. "Seriously though baby Milo is going to want a playmate!" Aubrey spoke. "He has Mani!" I stated. "Yea but I never had siblings and it's something I've always wanted for my kids!" I just looked at him... like who negotiates children when their fiancé is in labor with their child! "Is this really the time for negotiations Drake!?" I asked. "Oh she pulled out the middle name!! Why yes Sophia this is really the time so while we're at it I'm thinking twins and then one more after that!" I squeezed his hand hard as shit when a contraction hit I could tell because his hand was super red and so was his face. "Yup that's a no from Milo!" I said. "Not even woman, that's your body trying to get him out!" He poked my breast and I wanted to pop him. "I think twins would be nice!" My mother spoke and I glared at her as another contraction hit. "That's great mother are you going to carry them?" I asked oh so serious. "Chile please, the devil is a good lie. You were enough for me!" I shook my head and Aubrey laughed. "Just think of all the good sex baby!" He whispered in my ear and I softly head butted him. "Go on somewhere I'm over you right now!" I said pushing him away. "I can fix that soon just wait on it baby!" My mother full out laughed at that. "Ok Aubrey leave her alone... you two I swear!" She smiled shaking her head. "I'm done!" He held up his hands in surrender. I shook my head as the contractions grew closer. Not too long later it was time to push. "Alright Porter Emilio is ready to make his entrance into the world!" Aubrey softly squeezed my hand kissing my forehead. "You got this baby!" I smiled at him as the doctor told me to push. It literally took all of my strength, and a couple of tries. But Aubrey was so perfect through it all and I couldn't wait to see it back in my mother's recording. When I heard the cry of my baby my own dam burst and I was crying too. "It's a healthy baby boy, 8 pounds 10ounces!" Our doctor announced and Aubrey's smile was the cutest as he left me long enough to cut the umbilical chord. "Oh my god Porter he's precious!" My mother said as they laid him on my chest. I can't even describe how beautiful he is. I saw so much of Aubrey in his face it was crazy! I kissed his little eyes as Aubrey wiped some of my tears. "Welcome to the world Emilio Steven Graham!" Aubrey spoke choked up. We both just stared at our perfect little creation before looking at each other. "He looks like you!" I said with a smile. Aubrey pecked my lips as we wiped each other's tears. "He's perfect, thanks baby!" I nodded as we kissed again and my mother cooed. "Look at those Pier eyes!" She gushed. Aubrey and I looked to see that he got light brown eyes like my dad and I. "Oh you're so perfect Milo!" I cooed at him. I gave him to his glam mother who I knew was anxious to hold him. And she fawned all over him before giving him to the nurses to go do what they needed to do. "You did so good baby, I'll never forget this day!" Aubrey spoke and I smiled. "Thanks daddy I couldn't have done it without you!" And I meant every word. "And I got every precious moment of it!!" My mother beamed. "Oh Porter he's everything!!!" She was beside herself I could tell. "Congrats Glam Ma!!" I said as she hugged me. "Same to you new mommy and Happy Birthday sweetheart!" Aubrey gave us our moment and went to grab the crew. They piled in with Birthday balloons and all types of gifts and teddy bears. The nurses brought Milo back in and everyone sang Happy Birthday to us. The grandmothers took turns holding him first and my Grams wanted to hold him hostage, but reluctantly gave him up to Steez and Bam. When Erin got him she gushed the whole time. Aubrey's best friends had the cutest moment with him where they swore to always protect him and to my dismay teach him how to get and keep the ladies... When Celeste got him we all laughed. "Milo daddy pissed your mommy off, because you are the spitting image honey!" She spoke. "Thanks for that Celeste!" Aubrey said. "Yea no problem really!" She replied giving him to Julian. "Hi there little guy, I'm god dad Julian I've been waiting to meet my partner in crimes little person. I just hope you're not a loser like her! Maybe soon I can give you a God sibling huh would you like that?" We all looked at Celeste as Ju spoke and she just smirked... let me find out! Julian gave him to Remy and he clutched her finger with his little hand. "Hey, you know my voice huh Milo... huh I'm TiTi Remy, I'm your favorite! I'm going to spoil you and love you and cherish you just like your mommy did me growing up. And I promise to always be there for you and protect you!" We we're both crying as she sat on the edge of my bed holding him. And honestly I Don't think there was a dry eye in the room. She handed him back to me and he let out quite the wail. "Someone is hungry!" The nurse spoke with a smile and everyone cleared out except my mom and Aubrey. "Your first titty my man!" Mark said out the door and I wanted to throw something at his silly ass. "Your moms got some nice ones son and you made them even better!" Aubrey said as I rolled my eyes and my mom helped me with getting him to latch on. It was painful and I almost wanted to cry but Milo seemed to be content just sucking away. "Lucky kid!" Aubrey said and my mother laughed. "This is good bonding for you guys, feeding time, and burping time which Aubrey can do since he falls short in the boob department." I nodded taking in her advice. "You will have to share those though Milo, daddy likes them too!" I popped Aubrey with my free hand and he laughed. "Just saying!" He chuckled. That man is a loser. Milo got what he wanted and I gave him to Aubrey to burp. I found myself dozing off, tired from all the work my body just did. I posted a pick of me looking at Milo and Aubrey kissing my forehead and thanked God for my baby and another birthday before going to sleep. PG_13: Thanking the lord for another birthday... oh and for Emilio Steven Graham as well 👶🏽❤️ Champagnepapi: Happy Birthday to the love of my life and our son... best Valentines Day I've ever had. 👶🏽💙😍😘🎂 YouloveRemy: Happy Birthday to my big sister and my heart baby Milo, you are the most perfect thing TiTi Remy has ever seen!! 😩👶🏽💙😍🎂🎉 StephanoEmilio: Happy Birthday to my little sister and my nephew. I will always protect you two!! 💙✊🏽👊🏽👶🏽❤️️👑 #prouduncle BamBam: Happy Birthday best friend and welcome to the world to the most perfect god son!! 👶🏽😍😘🎂 PrettEmama: Happy Birthday my love 😍 and Emilio welcome to the world baby boy you are so precious and so perfect! 👶🏽🎂 #manihasacousin AEgames: My baby had a baby on her birthday lol Happy Valentine's Day and blessing y'all it's a wonderful day in my extended family!! ❤️👶🏽🎂 #loveislight It'sJu: My partner in crime had my godson today... and yes I am his favorite! 😉👶🏽 Happy Birthday Princess P and Prince Milo 👑❤️️ Only1Celeste: The most perfect baby for the most amazing boss, Happy Birthday y'all!! 👶🏽😍🎉🎂 #valentinebabies Chubbsview: Welcome to the world baby Graham, and Happy Birthday P!! 👶🏽🎂 Ovo40: My man had the best Valentine's Day in history 😂👶🏽🎂 Happy Birthday Porter! Ovomark: Uncle Mark got you Milo always! 👌🏽👶🏽💙 oh yea and Happy Birthday stink!! 💁🏽 It's short but this next and last one will hopefully be long and the perfect closure... It's been a ride!!! 😩😂

[xuxibelle]

Chai Tea - Chapter 10

The next week the guys left again and this time they would be gone for three months. Andy and I grew closer and she got to know the girls as well. She and I spent a lot of time at each other’s flats keeping the other company while the guys were away. She was at work one day, so I stopped in on my way in to town.

“Hey, Andy,” I said as I sat at the counter.

“Hi, Kat,” she smiled. “You want anything or you just stopping in?”

“I’ll take a tea to go actually, thanks,” I smiled. She handed me my cup minutes later and I smiled at her. “Alright today?”

“Yea, I’ve been doing well. It’s tough him not being here, but they will be home soon. That’s what I keep telling myself. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t hear his voice every night,” she laughed. I nodded my head.

“I know what you mean,” I said smiling. “You need anything from town while I’m going?” I offered. She shook her head.

“No thanks, I’m good,” She smiled.

“Alright, I’m of then,” I smiled as I stood from the stool and left the shop. I walked down the street to the row of stores I had almost memorized in my year of living here. I walked in the clothing store and looked around for a bit. I decided to leave when I didn’t see anything I really liked, so I went to the market a few shops down. I felt like I was being followed, but I didn’t see anything weird. I ignored it and continued on my way. I grabbed a buggy and pushed it around the store picking up a few things here and there. I kept running in to the same guy when I would go on a new aisle. I laughed and he looked at me. “Sorry, I just find it funny that we keep running into each other.”

“Yea, it is a little funny,” he laughed. I turned back to the shelf I was looking at and debated on which cereal to buy. He leaned over to whisper in my ear, causing me to jump. “Some people would say it looks like it was on purpose,” he laughed. I returned his laugh and continued my shopping. I pushed my buggy to the front and put my items on the counter to be rung up. I paid for my groceries and left the market, heading home. Nothing else felt weird, so I just pushed the thought of being followed earlier to the back of my mind. When I reached my flat, I put up the items I bought and went to my room. Alli was back from her vacation and we didn’t really talk anymore. I was gonna have to look for a new flat soon. I couldn’t take much more of this. I pulled out my laptop and started looking. After half an hour, I finally found one close to the shop that was relatively cheap. I made an appointment to go see it later this afternoon and hopefully it would be nice enough to stay in. I wasted time by watching a movie and by the time it was over, it was time for me to leave to go see the flat. It was a block away from the flat I was in now so it was actually closer to the shop. When I arrived, there was a nice older lady waiting for me in the office downstairs. She led me to the elevator and took me to the top floor. We stepped out and walked to the second door on the right and she opened it, leading us inside.

“You don’t have any pets do you?” she asked nicely.

“No ma’am, I don’t,” I smiled at her.

“Children?” I shook my head no.

“Husband?”

“No, but I have a boyfriend. He has his own flat though and he goes out of town a lot,” I told her. She smiled and showed me around the apartment. She pointed out the kitchen, living room, two bed rooms, and two bathrooms. The closets were huge, which I liked, and there was a balcony outside of the living room with an amazing view.

“Now, there’s a leak in the faucet, but that is supposed to be fixed tomorrow,” she told me. “Also, sometimes the glass door to the balcony sticks; I’m supposed to have someone coming to look at it. Do you think you would want to move in here?” she asked sweetly.

“Can I take a minute to look around?”

“Sure, sweetheart, go ahead,” she nodded. I walked around in all the rooms, imagining where my stuff would go and what new stuff I could buy. I walked out on the balcony and looked around. It was beautiful. I turned and walked back inside where she was and smiled at her.

“I’ll take it.”

“Fantastic! Let’s go downstairs and get your paperwork filled out, then,” she smiled at me. I followed her down to the office and sat in the chair in front of her desk to fill out whatever paperwork she needed me to. I read over everything making sure I wasn’t getting taken advantage of.  “Alright, Katerina, you are all set. You can move in whenever you like, just remember I have two people coming to fix things there if you move in this week,” she smiled as she handed me the keys to the flat.

“Thank you so much, Ms. Graham. I can’t tell you what this means to me,” I smiled as I shook her hand and turned to leave. I walked back to the shop to see if Andy was still there and to my luck, she was. I sat at the counter and waited for her to finish up with the customers in line.

“Back again?” she asked when she was finally done and had a chance to talk.

“Yea,” I said. “I actually wanted to ask you a favor,” I smiled at her.

“Well, I do owe you, so what is it?” She teased. I laughed and looked at her.

“I just got a new flat and I need help moving,” I told her.

“Oh, is that all? Not a problem,” she laughed.

“Really?”

“Yea, I’ve got two brothers; they’ll help if I ask them to. And one of them has a truck, so you don’t have to rent anything,” she told me. I ran around behind the counter and hugged her tight.

“Oh my god, I love you,” I said as I let her go and laughed. “I didn’t know how I was going to do all this with the guys not here. You are amazing.” She laughed.

“It’s alright,” she smiled and blushed. “I do owe you though.”

“For what?”

“Niall,” she smiled as she blushed again. I rolled my eyes.

“He liked you without me saying anything”

“Yea, but if you hadn’t asked Harry to bring him in here, I may not have met him,” she smiled again.

“Aw, you two are so cute,” I gushed causing her to blush again.

“Seriously though, thank you,” she smiled as she hugged me. I walked back around the counter and paid for a bottle of water before sitting back on the stool. “So, when do you want us to help you?”

“As soon as I can get everything packed,” I laughed.

“is it that bad where you live?”

“No, it’s just that me and my roommate don’t really talk anymore and I don’t want to live with someone that I can’t talk to, you know?” She nodded and pulled out her phone texting her brothers.

“I told them to be prepared to help me help a friend move this week, so just let me know when and if I can’t be there because of work, they will be there,” she smiled.

“Thank you again,” I smiled as I walked out of the shop and headed back to Alli’s flat. I might as well start calling it that since I was moving, right? I walked in and she was in the living room watching some show. I walked over to the couch and she glanced at me. “Can we talk?” I asked.

“Sure,” she said as she paused whatever was on the TV. She turned towards me, “What’s up? Problems in paradise?” she joked.

“Hardly,” I laughed. “Um, I don’t really know how to tell you this, so I am just gonna say it,” I said looking at her. I saw her expression go from relaxed to worry. I took a deep breath and looked at her, “Alli, I’m moving out.”

“What? When?”

“This week,” I winced.

“Did I do something?”

“No, of course not. I, We,” I started but didn’t finish. I took a breath trying to calm my thoughts. “We’ve just grown apart and I need a place of my own,” I smiled at her. “Are you mad?”

“No, you’re right. We did grow apart and I understand wanting to be on your own, especially since you are with Harry now,” she smiled at me.

“So you’re really not mad at me?”

“Of course not,” she smiled as she stood up and hugged me. “Do you need any help moving?”

“No, I think I got it. My friend Andy is getting her brothers to come over and help,” I told her. She nodded.

“Well, let me know if you need anything,” She smiled as she walked back over to the couch. I walked to my room and started packing. I packed everything in my room, my closet and my bathroom. I took a box and went to the kitchen to get my stuff from there and put the box in my room when I was done. I walked in the living room and grabbed my movies from the DVD collection we had beside the TV and put them in a box in my room. After a couple hours, I texted Andy and told her that everything was ready to move. She was off from work, so she came over with her brothers to help. Before the end of the night, all of my stuff was in my new apartment.

“We should celebrate,” I said. “We can order pizza.”

“Where are we gonna sit?” one of her brothers asked.

“In the floor, duh,” she laughed and rolled her eyes as she sat on the floor of the living room and I smiled at her. “Look, you two don’t have to stay. I’ll find a way home later,” she told them.

“Are you sure that’s okay with you?” the other brother asked. She nodded her head yes and I thanked the guys before they left. She and I sat in my living room floor talking while we waited on the pizza to arrive.

“So, Niall’s great, huh?” I asked.

“Yea, he really is,” she blushed. I smiled at her reaction. “What about Harry?”

“Yea, he is too,” I smiled at her.

“Did you tell him you moved?” she asked.

“Shit, no,” I laughed pulling my phone from my pocket to text him. “I was trying to hurry up and pack.”

To Harry: Hey :) Hope things are going well. Wanted to let you know I moved to a new flat. It’s closer to work too :) I can’t wait for you to see it! Xx

There was a knock at the door so I got up to answer it. I paid the delivery guy and took the pizza, returning to my spot on the floor. This was the best pizza I had ever had, I laughed to myself. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out.

To Kat: What? I didn’t even know you were thinking of moving, lol

To Harry: I didn’t either, lol

To Kat: Did something happen?

To Harry: No, I just realized that Alli and I had grown apart and I felt like I needed to have my own place

To Kat: That’s great! I’m glad you found a place so quickly that you liked. :)

To Harry: Thanks :) It’s a great place! Andy is here with me now. She and her brothers helped me move all my stuff today. You are going to love it

To Kat: Tell me about it :)

To Harry: There are 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. There’s also a balcony that looks over the city. It’s gorgeous. I just have to buy furniture now, lol. Oh, it’s on the top floor of the building :)

To Kat: It sounds amazing! I can’t wait to see it in two days ;)

To Harry: Two days? I thought you were out for another week!

To Kat: The trip is getting cut short so we are coming home day after tomorrow :)

To Harry: That’s great!! But my flat won’t be ready by then, lol

To Kat: That’s okay, maybe I can help :)

To Harry: You’re sweet x

To Kat: Only because I love you :)  xx

To Harry: I love you too :)  xx

To Kat: it’s probably late there; I’ll let you get back to what you and Andy are doing so you can rest. See you soon, love.

To Harry: Alright. See you soon :)

I sat my phone down and looked at Andy before picking it back up.

To Harry: Should I tell Andy that you are coming home early?

To Kat: No! I’m glad you asked. Niall is going to surprise her.

To Harry: lol, ok. I’m glad I asked too! Night xx

To Kat: Sweet Dreams xx

[megairishrose]

Put a Patch on it chapter 21

Robin was ready to hit his head on the desk. The amount of security had gone up since Liam's murder. He had to keep Tara and Killian safe from any and all threats. But what made him feel powerless was he couldn't do anything, he still felt horrible he couldn't stop bad things from happening. Part of him felt it was his fault Liam was killed. He should have seen that coming. All he could do was hold a sobbing Tara.

He felt unworthy of the position. He doubted himself every day. Regina was the one who had to reassure him, he was capable and smart. He couldn't blame himself. It was not his fault.

A knock at the door stopped his doubt for a few minutes. "Come in."

Tara stood there. "Hey, did you talk to Emma? Did you give her everything she needs?"

"Yes, security footage from every camera, phone records, the visitors log. She is very thorough."

"Makes a good detective. You alright? You're quieter than usual." Tara was worried about him.

"All the craziness recently makes my interview look like a walk in the park…" Robin was comfortable enough with her to be honest.

And she chuckled. "You think your interview was hard? That was nothing compared to the guy before you…"

"You hired me a keeper?" Tara almost growled. Liam and Killian kept their heads down. They knew how their sister got when she was mad.

"A keeper of sorts. Someone to keep you out of trouble." Michael told her. He actually thought it was his best idea yet when it came to his daughter.

Tara narrowed her blue eyes at him, there were exact copies of her mother's. Then she heaved an annoyed sigh. "Under one condition, I have final say in who gets hired."

"Deal. Now you had better get going. You're meeting him at the coffee shop." Michael said.

Her eyebrows rose. "You're setting me up with him too?"

He didn't answer but a smile did cross his face.

Tara left the table and grabbed her purse and jacket before she headed out of the apartment. The coffee shop was down the street and Tara was a regular there. So she just had to walk through the door and her order was ready when she reached the counter. She had a fake smile on her face when she paid for it and then took a seat.

A keeper, basically a babysitter. She was a grown woman, a grown adult who could take care of herself and have her own back. She had been out of college for about a year, her vice had been under control since then. Tara had a habit of starting fights, enough that the press loved to find her in action or sometimes make her fight.

It wasn't like she was the only one with problems. Liam liked to race, he had a special car that he personally fixed up. Killian had a relationship with drugs. And the three of them were friends with drinking.

Why weren't her brothers getting baby sitters also?

'What time is this keeper supposed to be here?' She texted her father.

'One thirty.' Was the response.

She looked at her watch, one twenty. So the man had ten minutes to show up or she was gone.

'Watch his neck is the size of a tree and his brain the size of a peanut.' Tara sent her next text to Killian. Tara could always joke with her little brother.

'Just be nice.' Came the very un-Killian response. Liam must have taken his phone.

Before she could yell at Liam for stealing, she heard her name called out. "Tara?"

Tara looked up and to her complete shock and happiness, she recognized the voice. "Graham? When did you get into town?"

The tall brown eyed man reached her, a huge smile on his face. She hugged him tight and he responded by picking her up and spinning her around. Who cared if they caused a scene. They were just two very good friends reunited.

Tara was finally set back on her feet and she studied the man in front of her. Broad shoulders, brown hair that was recovering from a buzz cut but his eyes were exactly the same as two years ago when they had said good bye before he was shipped off to boot camp. And he was still wearing his father's wolf pendent.

And he still hadn't answered her question. She none too gently shoved Graham into a chair. "Answer my question Humbert. When did you get into town?"

"About a week ago, I had to get settled, find a place."

"And this is the first I see you? I thought you loved me." Tara slightly sounded hurt.

"You have been busy, I read the papers. What other shenanigans have you gotten yourself into?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary. I'm trying to get back on the straight and narrow path."

"Best of luck to you." Graham raised his coffee cup to her.

Tara laughed. "So tell me what has been happening to you. I have only gotten one word answers from you since you left."

So Graham launched into his latest story. It completely captivated Tara and at times she was in stitches. She had missed him so much. Graham had always been another brother to her.

Wait, she had come to the coffee shop for a reason. "Guess what, my father hired me a keeper. I was supposed to meet him here at one thirty and its now…" She checked her watch. "Almost three. Well, that's just rude and inconsiderate. No call to say he's late or realized he didn't want to be my keeper…"

"Tara…" Graham cut her off but she kept talking.

"This only makes him look horrible and unreliable…"

"Tara…"

"I was stood up by someone who thinks he can protect me…"

"Trinity!" Graham finally raised his voice and slammed his hands over hers on the table.

She jumped slightly. "What?" He looked at her sheepishly, with wide eyes. Then it dawned on her and she slid her hands back. "My father hired you." She said evenly. She wasn't sure how to feel about this. "When and how did this happened?"

"It's a funny story actually…"

"Humbert…"

"I stopped by your place a few days ago to say hi and ran into your father. It was his idea…"

"I see." Tara stared at him.

"I guess he assumed I would be a good candidate. I know how you get. Anyone that was hired, you would use your charms to get whatever you want."

"You think I'm charming?" Tara asked, actually batting her eyelashes at him.

To which Graham held up his finger. "No, stop it. I have known you for far too long. I know all your tricks."

Tara leaned back in her chair and sized up her best guy friend in the world. He made some good points. They knew each other since grade school. He knew how much she could handle and when to step in. But she was not going to hand herself on a silver platter. No, if he really wanted the job, he had to fight for it. "My father agreed that I had final say in who is hired as my keeper. My one condition is you have to take me down in the boxing ring." Tara told him.

Graham's eyes widened at her. "Tara, are you out of your mind? I am not fighting you."

"Chicken? Besides, you know that being my keeper is going to involve lots of fights. What do you say Humbert?" She challenged him.

He sighed. "You are on, Jones."

"Good. Meet me at the gym in thirty minutes." Tara stood up and walked out of the coffee shop.

She walked home to find it empty. She quickly grabbed her gym bag and boxing gloves. On the way out, she pulled out her phone.

Liam picked up. "How did the date go?" He asked good humored.

"Graham's back in town and looking for a job. He might get it but he has to fight me for it."

"Graham's back that's great… wait… he's who Dad hired?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it. Come down to the gym and watch me take him down."

"Well, at least it will be entertaining. Should I bring Killian?"

"Of course." Tara hung up the phone and headed to the gym. When she entered, she was greeted by almost everyone in there. Tara had been going there for so long, it was her safe place back in her teenage years.

She walked into an empty ring ten minutes later and prepared herself for a fight. Her gloves went on last.

One, two.

One, two.

A few practice shots couldn't hurt. How was she going to play this? Was this even a good idea?

Graham entered the gym about five minutes later accompanied by Liam and Killian. They looked so happy to see each other. The three of them walked right over to Tara.

"You ready to go down, Humbert?" She asked, good-humored

"I was planning on going easy on you. But with that attitude, I changed my mind."

Tara just laughed as Graham put on his gloves. They then stood facing each other. Liam and Killian were below, they had no idea what was going to happen, the fight could go either way.

No countdown to start their match, though Tara had him on his back in three seconds.

"Not much of a challenge here Graham. I'm disappointed." She told him.

He stood up and stared her down. "You fight dirty. What ever happened to that pathetic good form talk your family does constantly?"

"Hey!" Yelled both Liam and Killian.

"That's my family, not me. And remember who taught me to fight dirty?" Tara smiled and gave him a mock salute.

"I regret that so much." Graham said.

They fought a bit more, putting on an excellent show. Then Graham finally knocked her down and she actually stayed down.

She could have gotten up; it was so easy. But instead Tara looked up at him, considering her options. Maybe Graham having her back was a good idea.

Then a bell sounded and Graham just stared, realizing he had won. He let out a whoop and raised his hands over his head.

Tara moved into a sitting position and watched his celebration. Then she held out a hand to him. "Are you going to help the lady up?"

He turned to her with a confused grin. "Oh, now you're a damsel in distress?" But he did offer her a hand up.

Tara walked to the edge and took the water bottle that was offered to her. Then she felt a tap on her foot. She bent down to meet Liam's eyes.

"You let him win." It wasn't a question.

"Don't tell him that." She had a smile on her face.

If there was one person in the world that Tara Jones trusted with her life, it was Graham.

[lilacmoon83]

Once Upon a Snowing

AN: This is a sequel to Captivation and Fate. Despite their age difference, David is falling in love with Mary and longs to escape his abusive marriage to Kathryn.

To the guest reviewer that didn't like Drunk Snow: You're about the only one. I wrote that, because it was fun. It was meant to be fun. Lighten up...your Snow hate literally has no place here. Everyone seems to forget that Snow's going through a lot. She's separated from her husband and it's painful. But it's always Emma, Emma, Emma. Or Rumple and Regina. Snow has pain too and I refuse to dismiss her or hate on her the way most of this fandom has.

Once Upon a Snowing

Passion

It had been twenty-eight years since he had kissed her like this, with passion and need. With love...she could feel it ebbing through him. With every kiss and caress, she could feel Charming fighting to get out. David was so like him in many ways, just with less confidence and self worth. It was no wonder. She had heard enough from Granny and Ruby about how Kathryn treated him and the things she said to him. It had been twenty-eight years since she had felt his hands on her and she was in heaven. Their lips parted momentarily, as they gazed into each other's eyes. "You are so beautiful…" he said, still in awe of her. "You're sweet. I'm not exactly a young woman anymore," she replied, a little self conscious now.

"I want you…" he blurted out. His eyes widened suddenly, like he was wondering where such a bold thought had come from. But she knew where it came from. "I…" he started to say, but she cut him off by kissing him again. "Mmm...I want you too," she hummed, as he watched her with utter captivation, as she nimbly undid the buttons on his flannel shirt. It dropped to the floor, leaving him in just a tank top. She didn't stop there though and he lifted his arms so she could remove the undershirt too. "Oh…" she thought, appreciating that she was finally able to gaze upon him like this again. Bare, lean muscle met her hungry eyes, as she took him in. With feather-light touches, her hands skated over his flesh. Her body was already humming with being this close to him again. The scars on his abdomen were new and she felt even more anger at Regina. These were the price he had paid getting her into the wardrobe. If only he had been able to follow her through…

"I think I got them in a car accident. I don't really remember it, except I woke up in the hospital. Guess I was in a coma for a couple years. Katherine was so angry...cause I was trying to leave I think," he recalled. "She should have been overjoyed that you were okay," she said bitterly. He shrugged. "I should have been grateful to her...she could have just shut off my machines and been done with me. Maybe that would have been better," he said sadly. Her eyes flew to his, wide with disbelief. "Never say that," she said in horror. "Until you...I don't think anyone would have cared," he replied, a touch of bitter in his voice. She put her hands on his broad shoulders and slowly slid them up his neck, until she was cradling his handsome face. "I care...I'd be devastated if anything happened to you," she confessed. "But why? You barely know me," he said. She inhaled deeply, trying to keep her composure.

She couldn't tell him yet...it wouldn't make any sense. He might even think she was mocking him; Katherine had mocked and belittled him enough that it would make more sense than the actual truth to him. "Do you believe in love at first sight? In true love?" she asked tentatively. "Before you? No...I was pretty sure that stuff was just in fairy tales," he replied. Her heart clenched at those words. "But now...I…" he stammered, as he gazed into her emerald eyes. "Yes...because I fell for you the moment I met you," he confessed. She melted into him at that point and their kisses grew feverish. She almost wanted to weep at the feeling of his lips kissing her neck, of being pressed flush against him, of his hands on her waist. The cold, lonely nights of crying herself to sleep, longing for his arms around her were over at last. She needed him...as desperately as ever. "Make love to me…" she pleaded, as she gazed into his eyes and lifted her arms. He gazed back just as passionately and pulled her blouse over her head. Their lips met again and her hands made quick work of his belt. She pushed his jeans down his long legs and moaned into his kiss, as she felt his arousal pressing against the confines of his boxers. She backed him toward the bed and she stood between his legs, kissing him, as he sat on the bed. He gazed up at her and watched, as she undid her pants and slid them down her shapely legs, before kicking them away. His back hit the bed, as she straddled his lap. Passion consumed them, much like it used to, feeling as though no time had passed at all...

~*~

Much Later

Mary rested her head against his chest, as they bathed in the afterglow. "Wow...that was...wow…" David said in awe, as he held her and she was in heaven being in his arms again. She wasn't even sure wow covered it. The passion between them was as incredible as ever and he didn't even have his memories back yet.

He gazed at her in awe and she gazed back, a sated smile on her face. "Is...is it wrong that I'm in love with you?" he whispered. She smiled. "No...I'm in love with you too. I feel like I have been my whole life, even though that probably sounds crazy," she replied. "It doesn't...nothing has ever felt this right. You're the only thing that feels right in this stupid town," he confessed. She smiled and kissed him tenderly. "You need to be prepared though. People are going to think a couple like us is scandalous. They're going to call us names. They will be very cruel," she warned.

"Mary...they already call me names. I'm Kathryn's trophy husband. A pretty face with no brains. Women think I'm just a boy-toy. Men think I'm a pushover. Even if she won't give me a divorce...I never want to go back to her," he cried. "Oh my love…" she soothed, as she hugged him and rested his head on her chest. "You don't have to go back to her. This is your home now," she said.

~*~

Mary wasn't kidding. In the days that followed, the whole town was on fire with the gossip that David Nolan had finally left his wife Kathryn, not only for a another woman, but a woman twice his age. Rumors flew around, each one more outlandish than the next. Mary was badmouthed fiercely by some and called horrible names. Home wrecker and tramp were the kindest of the terms used when referring to her.

Kathryn was livid and embarrassed, going as far as lashing out at David publicly in the diner. But that had only led to everyone's surprise. It wasn't the first time Kathryn Nolan had belittled her husband in public, but this time he didn't take it and better, didn't cave to her demands.

~*~

Regina was seething, especially when she learned that Graham had offered Emma a job as his deputy. And Snow...that insipid, over the hill princess was back to being a thorn in her side. She admitted she had underestimated Snow's ability, even at her age, to seduce Charming back to her. But she had just the thing to fix them both. She stared at the gleaming knife she had swiped from the Nolan's kitchen when she was there pretending to comfort Kathryn. And the knife conveniently had David Nolan's fingerprints all over it. She picked up her phone, pushed a button, and brought it to her ear. "Is it done?" she asked, listening to the voice on the other end. She smirked evilly. "Excellent work," Regina praised, as she hung up. "We'll see how smug you are when I take him away from you again, Snow White," Regina hissed, as she gazed out the window over her town.

~*~

David arrived home to the loft, a little sad, as he carried a box filled with sparse belongings. He should have known it was inevitable, but he didn't regret anything. He could never regret meeting Mary and falling for her. He didn't care what people in this stupid, narrow minded town thought. He loved her. He was coming to adore Emma too. They were the same age, but he strangely saw her like a woman he would be proud to have as a daughter, as crazy as it sounded. But little David...he had really taken to the kid and visa-versa. Thick as thieves, they had been recently. Little David seemed like he wanted to follow him everywhere and kept asking him if he knew how to use a sword. It might seem peculiar, but he chalked it up to little David's love for his book of fairy tales he was always wanting to read from. David had read to him several times over the past few weeks, each time heralding the tale of Snow White at little David's insistence, much to Mary's amusement.

"He thinks you're Prince Charming," she had told him. "I don't think I'm much of a Prince Charming," he had replied shyly. "No...I really think he's onto something. I certainly would have no problem calling you my Prince Charming," she had cooed. "Would that make you my Snow White?" he had joked, though the look on Mary's face had seemed like she almost wanted to cry.

He would have pondered why more, but she had made sure all coherant thought left his mind at that point and found themselves in bed again. He almost blushed at the incredible memories of that night. Kissing her, making love to her and she to him, hands everywhere and lips too, touching and tasting, voices singing for each other. No...he didn't regret anything, even if he had just been fired from his job. The reason stated was failure to perform work efficiently, but he knew that was all crap. He was good with the animals...really good. He knew the Mayor or Kathryn probably had a hand in seeing he was let go. Kathryn wanted to punish him and force him back to her. But it wasn't happening. He was never going back. He offered a small smile, as he went inside the small apartment that he now lived in. "David!" little David called, as he was scooped up into strong arms, after setting the box aside. "Hey kid," he said, as he hugged him back. "Oh no...they didn't," Mary fretted, as she saw the box. "It's okay...I'll find something else," he promised. "But you loved that job," she said. He shrugged. "I love you more," he replied simply, and she felt herself melt. He was more and more himself with each day that passed. She just wished she knew what the big push was that she needed to bring all his memories back. She eagerly welcomed his arms around her and put her head against his chest.

But Emma chose that moment to burst in, looking as worried as Mary had seen her in a long time. "Emma?" she asked. "I'm guessing you two haven't heard the latest," she replied. "What's going on?" David asked. "Kathryn's missing," she stated bluntly. "Missing?" David asked. Emma nodded. "She didn't show up for work today and no one's seen her since yesterday at work. The Mayor and her father and pushing us pretty hard to start an investigation already," Emma said, shifting uncomfortably. "And you have to question me," David replied, catching on. She sighed. "I know you didn't do anything," she started to say, but he put his hand up. "It's okay Emma...I'm her estranged husband. I'll be suspect number one. I don't have anything to hide," he replied, as he leaned over and kissed Mary tenderly. "I'll be home soon," he said, trying to convince them both. She nodded and put her hands on her grandson's shoulders, as he followed Emma out to her car. "Grams...is Gramps gonna be okay?" little David asked. She forced a smile for him. "Of course sweetheart," she replied. But she knew that if Regina had any involvement in this, she knew coming up with some bogus evidence wouldn't be hard for her. She knew the woman and she wouldn't stop until she took David away from her again. But there was no magic this time and this may be her town, but Snow was going to fight her...and she was going to win this time...