#i’ve seen the ones of him and chris on the six foot but i wish they were higher quality 😭

[chocohybrid]

i’m collecting david collins/smeg set photos like pokémon. i love that little guy

(IF YOU HAVE ANY PLEASE SHOW ME 🙏🙏)

EDIT: Check the reblogs for more :)

[athrialuxegna]

Stronger than she thinks Part 4

Triggers warning: mental and physical abuse, violence, swearing

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Fanfiction | Archiveofourown | Wattpad

The warm sun rising woke me up. My body felt sore, I have fallen asleep on the roof. My watch indicated that it was 4 a.m. I growled and get up. I needed a shower. My walk back to my apartment was silent, no one was up. I jumped into the bathroom and came out only an hour later. I needed to take care of myself. I dressed nicely in black shorts and a sleeveless top opened in the back, revealing my sports bra. I spent some time doing my hair so that my brown curls would bounce on my shoulders. When I look at my reflection in the glass, I felt fake. My appearance didn't match my inside.

I changed the broken string of my guitar and played for hours. Music kept my demons away. A knock at my door stopped my daydreaming. I put my guitar aside and look at the clock, it was already ten a.m. Time has passed by in a blur. I sighed and opened the door carefully. Harrison was on the other side. He seemed tense, his grey hair outlining his striking blue eyes as well as the dark rings under them.

"Hey, Chris," A small smile grazed his lips.

"Harri' come in," I ushered him, opening the door fully.

He stepped in and sat on the couch as he usually does. We had a sort of father-daughter relationship because of the age gap between us. He neared his fifties as I was going on my twenty-six. I tried to smile in a poor attempt to ease the atmosphere.

"Want something to drink?" I offered.

He declined silently, avoiding my eyes by staring into space. I knew what bothered him. I have kept my rape from him although he could have helped me. Harrison always had my back. Five years of working together had forged a strong bond. I have ruined it by confessing to another person, one of his fellow leaders.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I wanted to process the whole thing before letting anyone know." I apologized, it was no use to beat around the bush.

"Why Eric? I'm not jealous but I'm wondering how it happened to be him." He stated, sincere curiosity twinkling in his eyes.

"Eric cornered me. I had no choice but to tell him." I explained plainly.

"Interesting. I've never seen him so concern. I think taking care of children had rubbed on him after all. It's not a bad thing I guess." He remarked while laughing.

His joyful persona had returned, his bright smile adorning his face. I couldn't help but smile at the thought of Eric becoming soft. I had witnessed this side of the young leader lately, just glimpses that confirmed that he was not as heartless as everyone depicted him.

"I hope he will not be watching me from now on," I replied dryly.

Memories of the night before rushed back to me. Eric's body against mine, his hands on my hips. Our bodies moving in sync to the blasting music. I swallowed thickly. I didn't know how to interact with Eric anymore. We were so close then I broke the spell by singing my feelings before disappearing. It sounded so cheesy although it had been intense.

"I heard you made a show last night. I wish I was here to hear from you." He confessed tenderly.

"Maybe you'll have some other occasion to hear me. I think I need this to get better." I said truthfully.

"You can count on me, you know that Chris. I'm here for you no matter what." He assured, his eyes plunging into mine.

"I know Harri. Thank you."

I sat on the couch next to him and rested my head on his shoulder. Harrison would never hurt me in any way. He was the only man I trusted most in the faction. He had proved more times than I can count that he was reliable on all levels.

"How is it going?" I asked finally.

"Well, we had a meeting early this morning to discuss the situation. The investigation is pretty much finished. All proofs are against Brent. He will be judged within a few days."

"Had Max told you anything about my suspension, yet?"

"No, he might extend it for a few more days to make a point. Don't worry, honey, your job is safe. You know we need you." He smiled down at me.

"You need me because you'll be lost in your papers in no time," I remarked, teasingly.

"Touché!" He exclaimed, putting a hand on his heart.

I couldn't help but laugh at his antics. My face dropped at the knock on my door. I hadn't expected any visitors and now I had two. I excused myself and get up to open the door to... Eric. My surprise was long-short as I heard Harrison coming behind my back.

"Hey, Eric! I was just on my way out." He said with an overly enthusiastic tone. "See you, Chris." He shot at me before making his way into the hallway.

I stood still a second, processing the situation. Eric was staring at me with an unreadable expression. I shifted to the side and made a sign to invite him in. He entered and shut the door behind him. I felt small and ridiculous. I should have known that he wanted an explanation about what happened last night. I didn't even know what to say to ease the awkward tension between us.

"Look, Chris, we danced that's all.  We had a good time that's what matters." He stated, his deep voice as cold as ice. "Max wants to see you, that's why I'm here."

I opened my mouth then shut it multiple times like a fish out of water. Stunned by his words. I didn't expect things to go so fast. I wasn't ready to share this horrible night with anyone. Let alone, Max. And I was oddly bothered by the way he acted. The leader's façade returned, crushing my chances to guess what was going on in his mind.

"I'm not ready." I blurted out finally.

Eric turned deadly serious, he crossed his arms over his broad chest, eyes fixated on my own. I couldn't look away, even if I wanted to.

"You have to Christine, that is an order." He said in a dark tone.

I shivered uncontrollably and adverted my eyes to the floor. I hated him for doing that.

"Don't do this ever again. My trust is limited." I huffed in irritation, taking my jacket from the counter kitchen.

"So is mine." He hissed in response, body tensing.

"What's your problem today?" I muttered under my breath while lacing my boots.

"Stop questioning and hurry up." He retorted with an annoyed sigh.

I kept quiet, even when we walked to Max's office. I didn't dare look at Eric. Dread crept upon me as we neared the door's office. I was ready to bolt away, but Eric caught my wrist before I could make a move.

"Don't even think about it." He growled. "You only have to do this once then it's over." His voice strained.

I gulped down the lump in my throat and took a deep breath. Eric opened the door and dragged me inside. I almost lose my footing as I stumbled into the chair in front of Max's messy desk. Mountains of papers and piles of folders covered the wooden furniture. Back straight, head held high, I fought against the urge to puke all over my shoes. I hated to be the center of attention.

"Christine, I'd say it's good to see you if it was under other circumstances." Greeted Max. "I know it's hard for you, but we need your testimony for the investigation. You can take all the time you need." His smooth voice could have eased my nerves if Eric wasn't standing in the corner of the room, gawking like a hawk.

"Hi Max, I agree. It would be better for other reasons." I answered, careful to not let my voice falter. "Hm, it was last Monday night. Brent found me in the Pit. He wanted my help for something, or so I thought at the moment, I don't really remember what it was about... I think he claimed that members were organizing fighting sessions there, making bets and exchanging points or something like that."

It was difficult to walk down memory lane. Images came rushing through my mind, poisoning my every thought. I took a deep breath, eyes fixated on the pen Max was holding. I couldn't look at him while I was picturing Brent right in front of me.

"Anyway, he dragged me in the old quarters to check it out. I didn't know something was off until he pushed me into a dark room. I..." I swallowed thickly. "I didn't have time to react because he hit me behind the head with his gun then he... He began to take my pants off... I... I was too knocked out to fight him. He... He took advantage of me and I couldn't..." My throat got tighter at every word. "I couldn't do anything while he... he raped me. Then, he threatened me, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone or he... He was going to make me factionless."

I didn't see their reactions, I didn't need to. The tension filling the room was enough to know what was crossing their minds. Before any of them could utter a word, I added:

"I don't want anyone to know about this aside from the people already involved. If that's even possible."

"I'm afraid that's not, my dear. Dauntless law demands a vote from all members to establish a punishment. But we can keep your name out of the victims' list if you want to."

I only nodded in response. My nails were digging in the armrest of the chair, my knuckles turning white under the pressure. My heart lumped in my chest when Eric took a step forward. I could see his black combat boots in my peripheral vision.

"Did he use a condom?"

Heat rose in my cheeks and my breath caught up in my throat. I didn't expect that question. I lowered my head a little more to avoid their pointed stares. Recollecting this night was harder than anything that I have ever done. I felt everything all over again. The pain coming from his bites on my skin, his fingers digging in my hips, his pantings in my ear, the pain between my legs as I was begging for him to stop. Brent overwhelmed all my senses. I wasn't in the office anymore but in that dark room with him.

"Chris? Christine?" Eric's voice forced me out of my memories. "Did he use a condom?" He repeated, his voice smoother than silk.

I closed my eyes for a brief second.  If he didn't use one, there was a possibility that I was pregnant. How didn't I think about it? When was my last period? Not a clue. My mouth felt dry.

"I honestly don't know," I whispered in disbelief.

"You should go see Marlene check this out, it's better to do it sooner than later." Advised Max. "We'll announce Brent's trial tonight, the vote will be held in five days from now on. You're suspended until the end of the week."

My head shot up instantly. Harrison told me that he would extend my suspension, but it still hurt. I loved my job because I felt useful, purposeful. I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest to prevent both men from seeing them shaking.

"Look, I know this is about me beating the shit out of Brent. I won't apologize because he deserved it, but I'm sorry for breaking the rules of 'no fighting outside rings'. I get it, I messed up and it's not tolerable for someone close to leadership but give me some lack. I've never broken any rule before, I've been obedient and followed orders my whole life, you can't do this to me. I need my job, Max, please." My voice wavered at the end.

Max get up and walked around his desk, hands clasped behind his back. He spared a long look at Eric who nodded in response. Their silent conversation put me on edge. I should have shut it. I just proved that I was unstable. Great move, dumbass. Max stand right in front of me, careful to keep a decent distance between us. His sympathetic look gave me the urge to slap him across the face. I didn't need his pity, but I needed my job to keep me from going insane. If I didn't have anything to focus on, I might lose my mind and do something really stupid.

"It is not really a suspension as you understand it." His thin lips stretched into a comforting smile. "Think of it as vacations. You need to recover and take care of yourself first, Chris. My decision is not to be discussed."

I huffed in response but didn't push any further, Max was not someone to disagree with. I stole a glance at Eric. He nodded slightly his head as to ushered me to keep a low profile. Well, at least someone was on my side. One that I would not have imagined.

"So, what am I supposed to do until then a part of taking care of me?"

"I've heard that the Child Care Service needed someone from time to time to watch the kids."

"I'll think about it," I answered while looking at Eric, an eyebrow raised in question. "If that's all, am I free to go?" I asked, already out of the chair.

Max dismissed me by pointing the door with his head with a small smile. I turned on my heels before doing or saying something I might regret. One question lingered in my head, did Eric asked for me to work at the Child Care Service, or was it, Max?

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Out of curiosity, do Callie and chris ever run into each other/ confront each other after

CW: Referenced head-banging and resulting injury, brief ableism references, gaslighting, vaguely referenced institutional pet whump

(for context, see This Isn’t Hypothetical For Chris, “Can You Come Get Me?”, No Words, and Drop)

“Um. Hey.”

Chris, in the midst of a careful, incredibly precise drawing of a tiny Easter Island moai while studying for the Non-Western Art History test, looks up, only to freeze, his fingers tensing around his pencil until he presses so hard the lead snaps off, rolling down the notebook.

His hair is pulled back, caught at his nape with a clip Mari let him borrow, but he wishes all at once that it weren’t, so he could shake it over his face, hide behind it. That it wasn’t blue but some color no one saw in a crowd, so she wouldn’t have seen him and known it was him.

He hesitates too long, and she shifts, moving herself into his field of vision again. “Chris, are you-... are you busy?”

“Hey, um, hi... hi, Callie,” Chris mumbles, looking back down again, clicking the end of the mechanical pencil to get more lead, enjoying the sound and the very slight press of the eraser against his thumb. “I’m just, just studying. What, um, what do, do, do-do you... what do you want?”

She seems to take it as an invitation, which it isn’t. When she pulls out the chair across the table, the legs scrape along the floor impossibly loudly, but only Chris seems bothered by it. The sound makes his teeth itch, a feeling he can’t possibly describe in any other way. When he moves the chair, he picks it up, carefully placing it back down, avoiding the sound that shudders through him and digs into the tiniest bones. 

Everyone else just scrapes. 

She tucks some of her own bouncy, wavy brown hair behind one ear. It’s chilly today, it was so foggy this morning Chris could barely see from one side of the bridge to the other when he crossed over the highway to the other side of campus to get some coffee to help him cram before the test. Callie is wearing a heavy cable-knit sweater that drapes just so off one shoulder, showing the silken strap there, and skintight dark jeans. She looks really pretty, but Chris mostly thinks everyone looks pretty. 

Even Dylan in the morning looks pretty, with his hair all messed up. Even though Chris is still kind of mad at him and probably always will be. 

Chris is in his usual thick black compression shirt, helping him hold off the weight of the lights, keeping the prickle of the Student Center from digging too deeply into his skin. Over that, a t-shirt from the Lion King musical that Mari brought back from her last trip home - (”I have like five, now, Chris, I’ve seen it in like six different places you can have this one, if you want? It’s from when I saw it in Chicago.” And of course he did, he is starting a small collection of shirts he had gotten from nearly everyone he knows), and one of Jake’s heavy sweater-coats, borrowed - but really stolen - from the house last weekend. Jake pretends not to know. Chris brings them back eventually.

Between Chris and Kauri, it’s a miracle Jake ever has anything warm to wear at all.

“So, I just-... I wanted to, um. I haven’t seen you around-... oh, did you get hurt?” She cocks her head to the side, and Chris looks away from her, spinning the pencil in his fingers, his foot tapping on the ground now, nervous energy bubbling inside him. 

There’s a bandage, still, on his forehead. He wishes he could say it was from the day in class, but it’s not. It’s from a few days ago, after meeting with the grad student to sign stuff to drop the class. It’s from coming home with all his hurt and fear a spinning top that he could only calm by breaking its rhythm, and he’s, it’s regression, but it’s okay, sometimes you go back and you get back up and go forward again, Dr. Berger says it’s okay sometimes to backslide as long as you know you have people to help you get up-

“I’m fine,” He says, flat and smooth words, barely his own voice at all. “Hit my head on, on, on a cabinet.”

Technically true.

She nods, folding her hands in her lap, watching him with those sort of big sad eyes people get sometimes, when they’re working up to something and want you to know they’re not the bad guy. Her drink has a cloth sleeve on it with tiny little bow ties. He wonders if she made it herself.

She clears her throat. “Okay, um. Good to hear it. So... I just... I heard you dropped.”

“Yep.” Chris keeps his eyes down now, on his pencil. The gentle weight of his feather necklace reminds him that he has other options, too. For now, though, he spins his pencil on top of his open notebook, the drawing of the moai. “Who told you that, um, that-... that I, I dropped?”

“I mean, when you weren’t in class for a couple weeks-... you know at first I thought you just, like, you know... the teacher told you not to come by, but then you kept not coming, and...” She kind of throws her hands up. Hers are painted a cheerful blue-toned red. Chris’s are black, but they’re heavily chipped. He’s been picking at them again. “I asked Esh, finally, and he said-”

“Eshiram.”

“What?” She blinks, confused. 

“Not Esh. His, his, his name’s Eshiram.”

“No, I know, I just-... whatever. Look, so, I get that you’re probably still pretty mad, and... I’ve kind of been trying to hunt you down to say I’m sorry.”

Chris, caught off guard, pauses in spinning his pencil and turns to look at her again. “What?”

“About... I would never, ever have wanted you to feel you had to drop the class, Chris, I swear.” She leans forward, all earnest sincerity, and there’s a look of guilt on her that makes him think she means it. It wasn’t her idea, after all - if she’s even fucking talking to him, she doesn’t know what he is, she didn’t catch it like the grad student did.

After the drawn out moment, his foot starts to tap on the floor again. “It’s, um, it’s, it’s, it’s okay,” He says, wishing he had his own drink, something to hold in his hands and sip. The nerves start to wind up inside him, and he drops one hand down where she can’t see it, starts to tap on the side of his thigh.

“No, it’s not.” Callie sighs, shaking her head. Her hair moves with the motion and he catches a hint of her shampoo, it smells like fruit and honey. “It’s not, Chris. Look, I just-... I took everything you said super personally, and that wasn’t okay. I get that you, you know, you weren’t really talking about me.”

Chris turns to look at her, blinking wide green eyes, thinking, Yes, I was.

He opens his mouth to maybe tell her, but the pause goes on too long and she’s already talking again before he can. “There’s all these reports about abuse, and everything, I swear more than ever, and it just-... puts me on edge, you know? So I heard you saying-... well, you know. You don’t know that things are better at our house. All you know is what you’ve, you know, seen on the news.”

Chris takes in a breath and holds it, tapping hard against the seam of his jeans. He isn’t going to get angry. Getting angry made him have to drop and lose points off his GPA, getting angry gets him noticed by too many people all at once, angry feels heavy and hurting, angry draws attention, attention mean eyes and hands and-

Let the breath out. Exhale. He has to purposefully remind himself to do it.

“I, I, I know more than, um, than that,” He manages to say, but his voice is small. He’s no good at being angry, when it’s not in the moment, when there’s nothing to draw him out of himself. “I don’t, don’t just... build sets all day, Callie, I’m, I’m, I know other, um, other things.”

“Yeah, I know, I know. Like, I’m surprised you’re not, like, a math major or something, like in that movie-”

Chris sits back and snorts out bitter laughter. “You, you, you mean, um, The Gift?”

“Yeah! Vincent Shield did such a good job, they said he did a bunch of like, work to really get into character which is so cool since he was only, like, sixteen when he did that one with that, you know, the other guy he did movies with all the time-”

“Owen-... Owen Grant.”

“Yeah! I wonder what happened to him. Anyway-”

“Do you, do... do, do, do you think-... Callie, I suck at, um, at math.” Chris can’t help himself. He starts to laugh at the absurdity, and Callie looks like he’s hit her across the face, wide-eyed, shocked. “This is, um, this, this is, this-... this is a really, really-... really bad apology.”

“Yeah, I know.” Callie kind of laughs along with him, then, but there’s something fake and brittle to her laughter. “But I swear, I just came to say I’m sorry. It was just a misunderstanding, I really didn’t mean for you to have to drop. I swear, Chris, I don’t, like, hate you or think anything bad about you-”

You called me a fucking spastic.

“-or anything like that. I just... can you forgive me for losing my temper? I’m sorry, it’s just, when my family is attacked by people who don’t even know us, I get super defensive, and-... and I should have realized you weren’t really attacking us, just, you know, the system.”

Chris stares down at his shoes. He thinks, you are the system, it doesn’t exist without people like you who buy us, but he doesn’t say anything.

She seems to take this as agreement.

It isn’t.

“So, yeah. I’m just... I’m really sorry, Chris. Will this throw your whole, you know, graduation and everything off, or do you think you’ll still be good?”

Does she even really care? Chris swallows and raises his head, to look at her again, fixing his eyes just slightly to the left of her face, where it won’t be obvious he isn’t focused on her. An old trick, one he used to do to stay safe in training, maybe... maybe before that.

Even though he can’t remember a before that anymore.

Because of people who buy people like him.

“I’ll, um, I’ll be good,” He says, and the words taste like dust and feel like gravel on his tongue. “I worked out a, a, a-a plan with, with my, um advisor. So I’ll... I’ll be-”

so good for you

“Fine.”

“Great.” She relaxes, all smiles again, and reaches over putting her hand over his left arm, gripping a little. Chris feels the weight of it like the clap of restraints forcing him down on a table and stiffens, looking right at her the way he’s supposed to.

Years go by, but the training isn’t gone. Not all the way.

“Listen,” She says, voice low. “I really am sorry. But you just-... can’t go around thinking everybody who does something you don’t like is bad, you know?”

His heart races in his throat, he can barely swallow around it. “Yes,” He says, softly. She doesn’t hear the first stirrings of panic. But he feels them. “I... know.”

Good boy.

“I’ll see you around, Chris, okay? I’m glad we talked about this.” She pats his arm, like a handler almost, and then pushes herself to her feet. The chair scrapes back and Chris’s teeth grind together as the sound ricochets around inside him. The dim warm lights overhead lay heavily over the fabric he wears to protect himself from touch like that.

It’s not enough.

He can still feel the hand on his arm as she walks away, heads out the double-doors and is gone.

Chris’s hand slides to the feather and he pushes the silicone plastic between his teeth, letting his tongue press up against the carved vanes, sinking into the familiar sensation, letting it wrap around him, calm his pulse, help him rebuild the thin wall he needs between himself and the world.

He stares blankly off into space, chewing the feather, unnoticed by the few other people in the Student Center this early in the morning. 

She probably feels so much better.

Like so many other people in his life, she made herself feel better by making Chris feel so much worse.

After a while, still chewing on the feather, he picks his pencil back up and starts to draw another moai.

He’s probably going to fail this test.

---

Tagging: @burtlederp , @finder-of-rings , @endless-whump , @whumpfigure , @slaintetowhump , @astrobly, @newandfiguringitout , @doveotions , @pretty-face-breaker , @boxboysandotherwhump , @oops-its-whump @moose-teeth , @cubeswhump , @cupcakes-and-pain @whump-tr0pes @whumpiary

[maxineswritingcenter]

You Saved Me - Derek Hale x fem!reader part 26

 --------

Back at Castle McLeod, I was unpacking my bags once again. I hadn’t really planned on staying more than a couple months but knowing Beacon Hills... It could be a while. A soft knock made me look back towards the door. Lachlan was leaving against the thick wooden door, arms crossed over his chest. 

“You’re back early.” He said, walking into the room. 

“Yeah.” I shrugged, closing the top drawer of the dresser, “Scott talked me into coming back to keep me and little tyke safe.” I patted my stomach. 

“So... How’s Derek?” 

“Alive and well. Unfortunately, Derek was put under a spell. It seems like that woman really wanted to keep him distracted.” I put my hands on my hips, “Speaking of, why were you so supportive of me pulling a ‘Michael’?”

“I can hear you!” Michael shouted from the next room over. 

Lachlan chuckled, “I supported you because you have to at least have someone supporting you. And I knew you wouldn’t kill him. You love him too much.” 

“Why didn’t you try to stop me if you knew I wouldn’t?” 

“Because you need to make your own decisions. Your own choices.” He picked up the family photo album that I placed on the bed, smiling down at the crest that decorated the front, “Our parents made a choice for us, we need to make our own.” He made a good point. I guess it was easier to talk with Lachlan about my situation because he had been through the same thing. He lost a part of his life, he lost his partner. 

He set down the photo album, “I came because the other members have gathered in the main room to discuss their hunter situations. We were hoping, well, I was hoping that you would come in and share your tale.” 

Sighing, I rubbed the back of my neck, “I... I don’t know.” 

“There’s no judgement here.” Lachlan said, “I’ll be by your side every step of the way.” His eyes were kind and genuine. He seemed so wise but he was still so young. One could only imagine what he had been through. 

“Okay.” I nodded, “Let’s go.” 

-

After getting a little more gussied up, Lachlan led me down to what could have been a movie set for the knights of the round table since there was a large, wooden round table with chairs around it. Each chair had a tapestry draped over the back with what I was assuming were the crests from the different clans since the tapestry on the chair Lachlan pulled out for me was my family’s. They were at least five other werewolf clans there. They all started their story the same way, everything was fine. There were working well with the hunters in their area, a mishap here or there that was resolved. When it got to me though, that was the interesting part. 

“And finally, our last member (Y/N) of the (Y/L/N) clan.” Lachlan motioned to me to the whole group. Everyone was staring so intently. 

“Uh, hi.” I said awkwardly, “I’m (Y/N). And uh the hunter situation hasn’t been great.” I stood up, “You all knew my father’s deal with Chris Argent, weapons in exchange for safety. He became a friend to our family. But he was the only one who wanted that. After abusing my partner as a child, his sister, Kate, succeeded in murdering the majority of the Hale pack which prompted my parents to conduct the Wolf Eclipse spell on me. She didn’t stop there. Laura Hale had figured out who helped her start the fire. Unfortunately, Peter Hale then killed her and took matters into his own hands and started killing off her list. This scared Kate, so she returned to Beacon Hills to finish what she started. She tortured my partner and I, and led her niece down the same path as herself. A path where cruelty and death were right. After Kate’s death, their father Gerard came into the picture. That’s where I learned how bad Kate could be. Gerard is dead. Chris’ wife is dead after being bitten, and his daughter is on the brink of becoming just like her aunt. So... The situation isn’t great.” I sat back down, “I’m sure Chris will be fine working with us, but to say that things are fine is wrong.” There was silence. It almost seemed like the rest of the clans were uncomfortable with my statement. I’m glad they got to have  The meeting adjourned soon after. 

-

SIX MONTHS LATER

MICHAEL

“What do you mean you have no idea what you’re doing?!” (Y/N) roared, her eyes bright red. Michael had accompanied her to the mainland to do some shopping for last minute baby things when she had started to feel cramping. They had gotten a hotel room on the mainland since the ferry didn’t run this late. So now it was just Michael and (Y/N) in a hotel room and he probably wasn’t going to get his security deposit back. (Y/N) was leaning back against the bed, holding her large baby bump. 

“Do you know how many times I’ve been in this situation?! Zero! Zero times!” Michael tugged at his hair, trying to stay calm in this very not-calm situation. Michael really didn’t have too much training from the Lunar Circle as a bodyguard. He had been dead for a couple months so it was safe to say he missed the werewolf delivery class. He was screwed. 

“Well, you better do something before I rip your HEAD OFF!” Her roar was cut off by her whining in pain.

“Let’s just calm down, alright?! I’m doing the best I can!” Michael pulled his phone out of his pocket, calling into Lachlan’s office. 

 “Praetor McLeod speaking.” 

“Praetor, it’s Keaton, I have a bit of a situation here-” A loud crash made him look back at his guard. (Y/N) had thrown a lamp at the wall. Yeah, definitely not getting that deposit back. 

“What was that?”

“That’s the situation, sir. (Y/N)’s gone into labor.”

“What?!” He shouted, “How far apart are her contractions?”

“I don’t know...”

“Well, ask her!”    

Michael looked back at (Y/N), “Hey (Y/N/N)? How far apart are your contractions?” (Y/N) had fully shifted, her fangs looked ready to bite down into me. She roared loudly in response. 

“I’d say pretty close.” Michael squeaked out. 

Lachlan groaned in frustration, “Dammit! Looks like you’re going to have to deliver the baby.” There was shuffling around, “I’m gonna get on the next flight to the mainland.” 

“Wait-wait-wait, what? I can’t deliver a baby!”

“I’ll be there soon.” Lachlan hung up. Michael turned around slowly, dropping his phone on the ground. (Y/N) was on her hands and knees on the ground, screaming through her teeth. 

“Okay... I can do this.” Michael said confidently. The look in her red eyes made the confidence fly out of him like a bat out of hell. 

“I can’t do this.” 

-

They made it back to the castle in the early morning. Lachlan and Michael stood outside of the infirmary, waiting to get inside. 

“So how’d it go?” Lachlan asked, hands behind his back. He honestly looked stressed. When he had run into the hotel room, he looked disheveled with new parent panic, which was interesting. 

“Uh...” Michael looked down at his arm in a sling. During a contraction, (Y/N) had pulled and dislocated his shoulder, “All things considered?” He looked back at Praetor McLeod, “Pretty well.” The door in front of them opened, a nurse waved them inside. 

(Y/N) was on the bed, holding a tiny baby in her arms. She didn’t look at them when they walked in, refusing to take her eyes from the infant. She was smiling so bright, a twinkle in her tired eyes. The child was sleeping peacefully.

“Well, look at you.” Lachlan grinned, “Tiny little thing.” He went to her side, looking down at the baby with such adoration. 

It had been a while since Michael had seen a baby, and the feeling that overcame him when the baby was born... He could only compare it to being a father. 

Michael stepped forward, looking down at the little boy, “Look at all that hair.” He said in awe. Even as a newborn, his head was covered in thick dark hair. 

“Have you seen Derek?” She chuckled, sweeping some hair from the little boy’s forehead gently with her fingertips. 

“Excuse me, Miss (Y/L/N).” All of their heads were brought to look at the home nurse that had come from the local hospital, “We have all the paperwork ready for you to look at.” (Y/N) looked up at the nurse. 

“Oh yeah, sure.” 

The nurse clicked the pen, “Alright, what’s the wee lad’s name?” 

“Nicholas Noah Hale.” She said. Hale? She was really giving him his last name. After everything?

“Is it safe to give him Derek’s last name?” He asked, tapping his foot. She narrowed her eyes at him in confusion. 

“It’s fine.” She shook off his concern.

“And the father’s name?” The nurse asked. 

“Derek S. Hale.” Even hearing his name made his blood boil. 

-

(Y/N) 

The infirmary - mostly Lachlan- wanted me to stay in the infirmary overnight for observation. I guess being a werewolf certainly helped with the pain management. After calling Uncle Noah and Stiles, it was time to call Nicholas’ father. Although I’m sure he felt the pain I went through already. I had sent him a message that I was going to video call him, I just hoped that he was in a place where he could. 

I had the laptop set up on the table that was attached to the medical bed. I pressed his name then hit video call. I watched as the virtual call ang, praying that he could answer. Finally, it connected. The video feed opened, showing Derek. He was in the office of the depot, Peter was in the background, looking over his nephew’s shoulder. 

“Ugh.” My smile fell, “Why’s he here?” 

“It’s his laptop, I didn’t have a choice.” Derek grumbled. 

“Come on, show me my little great-nephew.” Peter whined, leaning in closer. 

Shaking my head, I bent the screen down to show Derek and Peter the sleeping baby in my arms. 

“Wow...” Derek said, grinning brightly, “I wish I could be there to-...” He blinked a few times, “I should be there.” 

“I wish you were here too.” I smiled sadly, “He looks just like you.” 

“Poor kid.” Peter mumbled. Derek looked over his shoulder. 

“Go.” Derek growled, “Now.”

“But-” 

“Now!” Peter quickly moved out of frame and out of the office. Derek looked back at me, shaking his head a little. 

Little cries brought attention to the little boy, “Somebody’s hungry.” I started to unclasp my hospital gown. I had breast fed him previously but it was still a weird feeling. 

“I’m in love.” Derek said softly, “I love you... So much. I love him so much.” He looked determined, “I’m gonna make Beacon Hills safe again. Safe for both of you.” 

“I know you will.” I said softly, stroking Nicholas’ cheek softly, “But please be careful.” 

“I’m always careful.” My glare changed his smug expression, “Okay, maybe I’m not. But I promise to be extra careful.” 

----------- 

Read part 27 here!

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[dc41896]

You Again (3)

Ok so as y’all have probably noticed I’ve been very much in my Chris feels lately and I just want to apologize really quick for the spam lol. Eventually the stories for him won’t be as frequent, however when that will be idk 😅. Hopefully you guys don’t mind though and again sorry for the spam!

Pairing: fratboi!Chris EvansxBlack Reader

⚠️: None💕!

“Ok so we talked about the basics like position and function, now I think we should add if there’s any diseases that affect it or what could happen if it’s damaged like with Phineas Gage and the iron rod,” Chris explains taking turns looking between you and his laptop screen.

“Oh, um yea that sounds good,” you respond slightly caught off guard from how well everything was currently going. You had your notes lying in front of you to make sure you were putting the correct information on the slides, but you honestly didn’t need them from Chris recalling everything, word for word, from memory as if he was a human textbook.

“What, surprised that I actually know something sweetheart?”

“No, I know you’re smart and have since we were little it’s just...you say and do dumb stuff sometimes, which can make some question that.”

Chuckling as he places his hand over his chest; you find yourself giggling as you’re immediately brought back to when you were kids. Even then, you thought his laugh was adorable and even tried to copy it, which Chris took the wrong way and thought you were making fun of him.

It was your first fight and you practically begged him as tears streamed down your face to understand that it was a good thing.

Seeing you cry then made him cry, and of course after hearing about two distraught kids on the playground, your teacher took both of you aside to try to figure out what happened. Long story short, it was a very eventful recess.

“Wris sing!,” his niece, Alana, excitedly announces running up to her uncle’s leg.

“Not right now Stink I’m working on something ok? Maybe later.”

“Tay,” she sighs, disappointment over her face as Chris picks her up to rest her head on his shoulder while he continues to type.

“Wait sing? You sing?” Sitting back in your seat with arms crossed over your chest, an amused expression covers your face.

“I mean not on the regular, she just likes this song and wants people to sing it with her so I’ll do it sometimes. But we’re working now so don’t get your hopes up about a full routine.”

“Actually I think we deserve a little break from all this excruciating work we’ve done. Don’t you Alana?”

“Yea!! Wris sing!”

“Yea c’mon Wris,” you smirk as she pulls his hand towards the play room. A large sigh escaping his pink lips, his eyes stay glued to you for a few extra seconds as if thinking of something before smiling at his niece as he stands from his chair to follow behind.

“You know what? Why don’t we have Y/N sing with us too?”

“Yay!!”

“Oh no, you don’t want to hear me sing. I’m sure you’d rather want your uncle.”

“Nonsense! The more the merrier right Stink?” Grabbing your hand, he leads you to the light pink playroom littered with various toys along the cream colored carpeted floor and books perched on white shelves lining the wall.

Turning on the small circular speaker sat on one of the shelves, upbeat music begins to fill the room as she bounces up and down clapping her hands. Walking up to his niece as he sings, he takes her small hand and twirls her around making her giggle.

“I'm telling you, darling

The minute you're calling

I'll be there in a hurry,

No matter how far

It could be to the stars

Yeah, I'll be there, don't you worry,

With you I stay fly

To the sky

With you I stay fly

To the sky”

Smiling as you watch them dance, you don’t know what surprises you more the fact that he actually sounded decent or that he was capable of doing something so cute and not annoying for once. Skipping over to you, Alana grabs your fingers pulling you over to their small group.

“Dance too!,” she giggles joining your hand with Chris’ as she holds onto both of your free hands making a circle with the three of you.

Lightly twisting along with her, all that can be heard over the music is all of your laughter and the occasional small thumping of her tiny feet hitting the floor after you and Chris lift her in the air.

Bending down, he picks Alana up holding her on one arm before twirling you with the other while she excitedly squeals. Making your way back around to face him, you momentarily lose your balance causing your body to press against his as you try to avoid stumbling.

“Careful sweetheart. You know you were always a bit clumsy,” he smirks making you roll your eyes before laughing at yourself.

“And what’s going on here?,” a voice asks from the doorway startling the both of you.

“Mommy!” Running up to the woman with similar features to Chris, Alana jumps into her arms kissing her on the cheek.

“Hey sweetie! Did you have fun with your uncle and his friend?”

“Sarah this is Y/N, we’re working on a project together so I invited her over.”

“Wait Y/N?! Oh my gosh it’s been so long!,” she smiles walking over to where you and Chris were standing. “I remember when you were a little girl playing with this pain over here. How’ve you been?”

“Good, just ready to graduate and be done with school.”

“Yea I bet, but you guys only have a month left so you’ll be done before you know it. Do you know what you want to do after?”

“Yea I’m hoping to be a nurse in the hospital or one of the clinics but then again we’ll see what happens.”

“Juice pwease!,” Alana interrupts with a smile making the three of you giggle.

“Alright sweetie it’s coming up. Were you guys gonna stay for dinner?”

“Nah maybe next time, I got a meeting to go to in a couple hours so we should get going. Bye stink!,” he answers tickling her sides. “Bye adult stink.”

“Be glad I’m holding a child right now,” she glares smacking his arm as he laughs. “Bye Y/N it was nice seeing you again and good luck with everything!”

“Bye pwetty!!,” Alana adds waving her hand.

“Thanks Sarah and bye Alana! Be good ok? Unless you’re with your uncle Chris then do whatever you want,” you smile making both of them giggle as Chris rolls his eyes.

———

“Trying out for Fast and Furious 13 are we?,” you ask as you enter the restaurant.

“Calm down I wasn’t going that fast.”

“Your foot was pressed so hard on the pedal I thought it was gonna go through the floor and you’d run the car yourself like Fred Flinstone.”

“And yet we still made it safe so you don’t have to worry your pretty little head about it sweetheart,” he smirks following you to the register.

“Aww look at you two! Me and my Harold fuss like that all the time,” a middle aged woman with glasses sitting at the bar smiles. “How long have you been dating?”

“Oh we’re-,”

“Six months and 10 days. But it feels longer which is crazy,” he interrupts putting an arm around your shoulders.

“Well I wish you guys many more months of happiness, and might I add you are a beautiful couple.”

“Thank you! I hope so too because heaven knows how I’d be if I lost her.”

“Yea I’d hate to be without him,” you fake smile as he kisses your temple. Collecting the last of her things, she hangs her purse on her shoulder before giving you both a final wave as she walks out the door.

“New rule,” you speak elbowing him in the side causing a small grunt to escape his lips before he chuckles. “Never do any of what you just did again. Now I need to disinfect my face when I get back to the room.”

“Jeez so violent,” he smirks rubbing his side. “This is how you show appreciation when I’m treating you to food?”

“Correction you treated me to a ride, but I can pay for myself.”

“I know you can, I’m just trying to pay you back for helping.”

“And I appreciate that but there’s no argument, I can get my own food,” you sarcastically smile.

“Yea there wasn’t an argument until you started one, like always,” he answers copying your expression.

“I don’t always start arguments-,”

“Oh my gosh Chris hi!” Turning towards the register, you see a familiar looking slender girl around your age carrying two red cups. Red hair pulled up in a ponytail, she rushes around the counter excitedly smiling as she places the cups down before wrapping her arms around his neck giving him a quick, yet very extra, hug. “That pool party was insane!”

“Ahh that’s where I’ve seen her from,” you thought as you stood listening to their conversation.

“I know right, we definitely gotta have another one soon. Oh Jessica this is Y/N, Y/N this is Jessica, you guys have probably seen each other around campus.”

“Yea I think I’ve-,”

“Hmm no I don’t think so, but anyway yes to another one!,” she interrupts immediately directing her attention back to Chris and making you silently laugh to yourself in disbelief. “Especially towards the end of the semester like maybe even after graduation!”

“You know that’s a good idea, I’ll talk to the boys about it and see what they say.”

“If it’s coming from you I’m sure they’ll say yes. Just make sure I’m invited.”

“Of course!,” he smiles making her blush as she twirls her hair with her index finger. Making eye contact with someone behind you, she removes herself from her trance before picking up the two cups now saturated with dew.

“Excuse me, I have to take these to a table really quick. I’ll take your order when I get back,” she smiles as she passes the both of you, purposely leaning more into Chris so she could graze her arm against his.

“Well she was nice,” you speak sitting in one of the empty barstools as you wait for her to return.

“Am I sensing a bit of jealousy?,” he asks propping one foot on the lower bar of your stool as he grabs the back railing, fingertips occasionally touching your back.

“You know what, yes I am jealous. Of the fact that she doesn’t have to be near you right now while I’m stuck here looking at your face.”

“First stalking now staring at my face?! I have to say I’m flattered.”

“Don’t be because I definitely have not, and will not, do any of those. Now I’m sure your little flirt buddy back there would happily do those for you.”

“I was not flirting, that was called being nice and charming.”

“Oh please, I was just about to ask should I leave with all her hair twirling and your ‘of course you’re invited, why wouldn’t I invite all available girls in the state?’,” you mock immitating both of their voices while scrolling through Instagram.

“Clearly you don’t know how flirting works so why don’t I demonstrate on you then?”

Looking up from your phone you’re met with crystal blue eyes peering down at you making you realize just how close you two actually were.

Inches from his chest, it was almost as if you could feel his cologne radiate off his skin with the slightest movement he’d make. His gaze becoming more intense the longer your eyes are locked together, it feels like you’ve been that way for minutes instead of only a few seconds as you slightly shift in your seat.

Even trying to talk now seemed impossible from your throat feeling like the Sahara desert at high noon.

“Huh would you look at that, she doesn’t have a comeback,” he smirks turning his attention from you to the sports headlines from ESPN scrolling across the television mounted high in the corner.

And just like that, Christopher “Party King” Evans had left you dumbfounded after taking away your power of always having the last word.

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[zabdidaddi]

zabdiel de jesús - camping trip

A/N: this was intended for @mind-of-tavia​ ‘s 500 follower writing challenge! congrats girlie :)) also the jacket zabdi is wearing in the pic looks so so floofy and i just wanna hug him oamsdfmsdf

prompt: “It’s cold, you should take my jacket.”

warnings: none? just fluff :3

word count: 1.7k

You’d been best friends with Joel since you were kids, so you agreed without hesitation when he asked if you were down to join him and his bandmates on a week-long camping trip in California.

When you arrived in Cali, Joel had picked you up at the airport and the two of you hopped in his car and drove to the camping site.

“I can’t wait to introduce you to them,” he squealed like a five-year old, making you laugh. “Sometimes they get annoyed when I talk about you a lot, but they think you’re pretty cool.”

You blushed at the pseudo compliment, but played it off with a smirk. “Well, I mean… aren’t I though?” Joel just grinned at you and shrugged.

“Eh. Debatable.”

…

Three hours later, you finally arrived at your destination, and Joel gently shook you awake.

“(Y/N), wake up. we’re here.”

Yawning, you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes before hopping out of the car and helping Joel unpack. As you trudged up the hill with all your stuff, an icy breeze sent shivers down your spine; suddenly, you wish you’d packed warmer clothes before you left.

“Joel!”

You looked up to see a boy who looked around your age running towards the two of you.

“Erick!” A grin was plastered across your friend’s face as he waved to his bandmate in greeting. When Erick had made his way over to the two of you, Joel dropped his stuff on the ground and embraced him. Then, to your slight surprise, Erick turned to you and extended his arms for a hug as well.

“I’m Erick,” he said cheerily. “You must be (Y/N).”

“Yep, that’s me,” you giggled, hugging him back. Then, Erick helped you and Joel carry your stuff to a more secluded area where the other guys had apparently already started setting up their tents. When you finally got there, you saw the three other people Joel had told you about in the car - a guy wearing a beanie with tattoos poking out form under his rolled-up sleeves, a red-head wearing some of the coolest earrings you’d ever seen, and a six-foot tall guy with curly blonde hair who immediately caught your attention. They looked up as the three of you approached them, and immediately rushed over to tackle Joel in a group hug. The beanie guy glanced over at you and beckoned you to join them, so you happily obliged. When they finally broke apart, Joel introduced you to the rest of them.

“Guys, this is (Y/N),” Joel said, slinging an arm around your shoulder. “(Y/N), this is Chris, Richard, and Zabdiel.”

“Nice to meet you guys,” you chirped.

“Joel, ¿ella no esta tu novia?” Chris asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at the two of you. Although your Spanish wasn’t the best, you recognized the word “novia” and could tell from the tone of his voice what he was implying.

“Ew!” you and Joel simultaneously cried, exchanging disgusted glances with each other. The other boys cackled with laughter, causing Joel to glare at them.

“But don’t you guys dare touch her,” Joel warned.

“Ay papi, lo entendemos,” Zabdiel laughed, raising his hands in mock surrender. You glanced at him when he said that and noticed him looking at you. Then, he winked at you mischievously, making your heart flutter. In response, you offered him the most confident smirk you could muster, which earned a soft chuckle from him.

When you and Joel excused yourselves to set up your individual tents, you asked as casually as possible, “Is Zabdiel always this cocky?”

“Cocky?” Joel questioned incredulously, then burst out laughing. “Why do you think he’s cocky?” “I - I don’t know,” you answered, clearly flustered. “He…winked at me?” This only made Joel laugh even harder, and you huffed in annoyance.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said, trying his hardest to hold in his laughter. “Nah, he might have been flirting, but he’s super sweet; you’ll see once you get to know him better.”

By the time you guys had finished setting up everything, it was already late at night. Richard suggested a bonfire, so you carried all the food supplies out while the boys set up the fire. When they finally managed to get a flame going, the six of you sat in a circle around it. Much to your delight, you were sitting next to Zabdiel, with Joel on the other side of you.

The boys started to discuss plans for the next two days, and you thought it was extremely sweet of them for trying to converse in English so that you would understand. After a while though, you zoned out, focusing on trying to warm yourself up instead.

“Careful,” Zabdiel muttered, placing a hand on your shoulder when you leaned too close to the fire. You tried to ignore the tingling sensation where he touched you and just gave him a small smile. Leaning back a little, you felt a little colder because of the lack of heat from the fire, so you wrapped your arms around yourself instead.

Out of your peripheral vision, you noticed Zabdiel shrugging his jacket off, and you turned your head to look at him.

“It’s cold, you should take my jacket,” he told you.

“But then you’ll be cold,” you protested, shaking your head when he offered his jacket to you. “Keep it.”

“No,” he responded. You crossed your arms across your chest and pouted at him, which made him grin goofily at you. “(Y/N), por favor. I’m not cold.” You stared at him for a moment longer, then gave in when another cold breeze caused you to shiver uncontrollably. 
“Fine, but just tell me when you want it back,” you told him, and he nodded, handing you his jacket. “Thanks Zabdiel.” The jacket was way too big on you, but at least it kept you warm.

“Isn’t that Zabdi’s jacket?” Joel asked from beside you. You whipped your head around to look at your best friend, having momentarily forgotten about his existence. Turning your head back to glance shyly at Zabdiel, you nodded. The other boys heard Joel’s comment and immediately turned their attention to the two of you.

“Ay Zabdi!” Erick cheered, and the other boys joined in.

“Callate,” Zabdiel muttered, though a small grin was spreading across his face. You half expected Joel to chastise or threaten Zabdiel, but he just shot an all-knowing smirk at the two of you.

“I’m tired,” Joel said suddenly with a yawn. “I’m gonna sleep now. Goodnight.” He kissed the top of your head quickly before standing up and winking at you. You blushed furiously as you realized what he was doing. The other boys quickly caught on and stood up as well, claiming that they were tired and went back to their tents. After the boys had all left, it was just you and Zabdiel awkwardly sitting side by side, neither of you looking at each other.

“You tired?” Zabdiel asked after a while. You turned your head slightly to look at him.

“A little bit,” you admitted. “You?”

“Sí, pero,” he paused. “I’ll stay outside with you if you want.”

His sweet offer brought a smile to your face, and you wanted to hug him so badly, but didn’t know how to initiate it. So, you just replied, “Thanks Zabdi.”

Suddenly, Zabdiel asked, “Are you sure you’re not dating Joel?”

“No,” you replied, almost choking with laughter. “I’ve known him for so long.” Before you know it, you’ve started to tell Zabdiel about your childhood stories with Joel, and he shared a few of his own childhood memories with you as well. An hour later, you’d grown so tired that every sentence you uttered was interrupted by a yawn.

“You should sleep,” Zabdiel reluctantly said, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. A blush crept upon your cheeks, and you smiled shyly at him.

“I think I’ll sleep out here,” you said, glancing at the sky. “It’s so pretty.” Zabdiel followed your gaze and looked up as well, murmuring in agreement. Then, without a word, he stood up abruptly and started heading back towards his tent. You looked up in confusion, then realized he was probably going back to his tent to sleep. Sighing, you lay down on the grass and just stared at the stars. He did even utter so much as a “goodnight” or tell you that he was going to go back to sleep. “Whatever,” you told yourself. “Stop liking him (Y/N), because he obviously doesn’t even care about you.”

“Idiota.”

You sat up in alarm and found yourself face-to-face with Zabdiel who was holding two pillows and a blanket in his arms

“I…”

“(Y/N), I care about you,” he whispered. “Yo creo que… ya enamorado de ti.”

You cocked your head to one side. “No entiendo, Zabdi.”

“Nevermind,” he said softly, then laid the pillows down about a foot apart. You lay down on one of them, and he lay down on the other.

“Tell me,” you whined, turning around to face him. He chuckled and shook his head, staring into your eyes. “Por favor.” He swallowed nervously as his gaze flicked to your lips. Oh. Without hesitating any further, you closed the gap between the two of you and pressed your lips against his gently. Butterflies swarmed in your stomach as he kissed you back harder, his hand sliding down to the small of your back to pull you closer. When you broke apart, he grinned widely at you.

“Are you cold?” Zabdiel asked suddenly. Even with his jacket on, you were still a little cold, so you nodded. In response, he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you to his chest. You buried your face in the crook of his neck and relished his body warmth.

“Goodnight Zabdi,” you yawned.

“Buenas noches, amor,” he whispered, kissing the top of your head. Smiling, you closed your eyes and drifted off into sleep. You couldn’t wait to spend the rest of the week with Zabdiel De Jesús.

[brieannakeogh]

Dog Days of Summer- Ch 12

Dog Days of Summer- Chris Evans X plus sized reader. Dog days of summer are usually defined as the hottest of the year, some define it as lazy days. This year ‘hottest’ has nothing to do with the outside temp. You meet Chris and Dodger Evans while taking your own dog to the park.

Previous Chapter / Master List

Warnings: No warnings. 

Chapter 12

On the way home you called the store and let them know about the cart in the middle of the aisle, apologizing for the abruptness. The rest of the time you stewed. You knew he had your best interests at heart, and if he had fessed up right after you don’t think you would have been so mad about it, but he hadn’t said a word. If you hadn’t ran into Matt would he ever have told you? He can’t just hide painful truths from you, especially because you hadn’t even known him that long. If he overstepped that much after just a couple of weeks, what would he do after six months? Would he try to hide things that happen on set or while he was away? You were done with being lied to and you really wanted to believe it was a one time thing, but really everything had moved so fast. Did you even really know this person aside from the interviews and things you’ve seen online? How much of feeling like you’ve known him forever and trust in him is from what you knew before, or the real person sitting beside you? 

Chris touched the back of your hand, pulling you from your thoughts. Looking out to your apartment, you couldn’t be sure if it was relief or dread that the drive was so quick. He interlocked your fingers to bring your attention to your joined hands instead of out the window. “Sweetheart I’m so sorry. I knew that I shouldn’t have done it, or at least told you, but I didn’t want you to be hurt again. I had just gotten you calm and in the bath.” 

“I know Chris.” Your focus still on your hands, his thumb running softly over your fingers. “The problem is, a lie of omission is still a lie and I promised myself after Matt I would never tolerate someone lying to me again. I just wish you had told me.” You release his hand. “Let’s go get Dodger.” 

Chris is quiet until the elevator ride up. “Does that mean I’m not welcome?” 

“God no Chris!” You turn to him, wanting to hug him but knowing you can’t right now. “I just need a little time and some space to myself.” The elevator doors open and you step out into the hallway, fiddling with your keys by the door. “Can you give me until Monday? That gives me the weekend to wrap my head around this. I really like you Chris, but I’ve got to figure out if I can trust this will be a one time thing.” 

He nodded and you unlocked the door. The happy dogs sensing the mood, quickly calmed down. He leashed up Dodger while you held Popcorn to your chest. It hurt watching him go, but it’s the only way you could think clearly. 

“Can I ask you something?” Chris turned back to you at the door. You nod. “In a relationship, what is the one most important thing for you?” That wasn’t the question you expected after your first fight, it was like a first date getting-to-know-you thing. 

Lifting Popcorn up to your face, wanting to hide behind him you answered. “A year ago my answer would be loyalty, but it’s changed. I’ve changed. Now? Honesty, brutal honesty.” 

“So for example, not that it would happen, but say I cheat. Fuck some rando girl after being away on set for 6 months. Even after all he put you through, you would be willing to forgive me if I was honest with you about it?” He sounded incredulous, but you nodded all the same. 

“I wouldn’t be happy, but if we talked about it and came to an understanding, yeah I would.” 

“I think you already know mine is loyalty.” 

“Yeah, I know. Loyalty and trust.” 

He turned back to the door, opening it. “Talk to you on Monday.” He said over his shoulder going down the hall to the elevator, not looking back at you even as the doors were closing.

You cried yourself to sleep that night. Popcorn wasn’t happy about how clingy you were being, constantly trying to wriggle away, but you just held on tighter until he gave up. Only when he started making noises of protest did you let him go his own way, calling him a traitor as he slinked down to the foot of the bed. It surprised you just how much it hurt after such a short amount of time. Finding out Matt was cheating on you wasn’t even this bad, you were just enraged at that. This you couldn’t even be really mad about what Chris did. You still didn’t like it, but understood his reasoning. Honestly you couldn’t wait until Monday and it scared you how strong you were feeling about that. 

The next morning you woke up groggy, lonely and with a splitting headache from crying all last night. You went back to the little boring routine you had before Chris barreled into your life. It’s funny, nothing you and Chris did together was really what you would call exciting, but it was just more fun than laying around alone. Aggravated with yourself for thinking about him and missing him every minute wasn’t helping. What you needed was a distraction.

Online you look through different job websites, picking out positions that are near you and sound like something you would be hired for. You spent the rest of the afternoon filling out applications and sending out resumes. That night you had fitful dreams about paperwork chasing you and being labeled a psycho on the online personality tests. 

Waking up again dog tired, you were coming to the realization that you might have to beg him for forgiveness just so you could get a good night's rest in his warm bed. It had only been a day and a half and you realize how attached you were to him. That was not a good sign for the days ahead, you didn’t know if you’d be able to handle him being gone frequently. 

You spent the morning and afternoon checking your email for any response to your resume, answering the ones that did and setting up a few interview times. You kept glancing at your phone as you worked, debating if you should end the shut out early. Clearly your decision to forgive him had been made, now you were just hurting yourself and possibly him. If you called him early, would he think you were weak? That had been your issue with Matt. You had been a doormat and he took advantage of it. No, Chris wasn’t like that. You’d known that from the conversation on the bench at the park. If you close your eyes you can still feel the breeze and the warmth of his shoulder on your cheek. That felt like months ago when it had only been a few short days. 

Mind made up you grab your cell phone. Looking at the time you remember that it was Friday and he was supposed to go out with friends tonight. On the one hand you wanted to tell him as soon as possible so he could have a good night, but you also didn’t want to disturb him. As you were fiddling with your phone, trying to decide what to do, there was a knock at the door. 

Your whole body stiffened since there were only two people that could have gotten past the lobby door, Chris or Matt. Neither were expected and you weren’t sure which you were more nervous to be on the other side, for completely different reasons. 

Another bang, bang, bang came through, sounding more like a fist then knuckles. Popcorn started to bark and ran over, trying to be as intimidating as a small chihuahua could be. 

You walk over and try to look through the peephole, but you can’t see anything, just the wall across the way. So you shout through it. “Who is it?” 

“It’s me.” 

Your heart jumped back in your chest but kept the quick pace. Your mind flashing to a couple of weeks ago when that same voice stood outside your door. 

Hand already moving to unlock and open the door, even with your brows drawn up in confusion. “Chris?” The smell of alcohol hit you first when you got the door barely cracked open. His appearance looked like normal, hair styled, clothes in place, but he was leaning heavily on your doorway and swaying a little.  “Oh God, Chris how much did you drink? You didn’t drive here did you?” Trying and failing to look around him to see if someone carried him up to your door. 

“No they rolled past and kicked me out of the car. Said they were tired of hearing me talk about you and to just make up already.” 

You snort out a laugh. “Good friends.” 

“I said you wouldn’t see me until Monday, but they didn’t listen.” He stared at you for a beat. “Hey you did open the door!” A look of surprise filters over his face. 

“Yes I did and now I’m going to tell you to come in here.” You tug at his arm, pulling him over the threshold enough to close the door. Steering him to the couch and making him sit, you go to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee and grab a glass of water. It’s not long before he stumbles from the couch to the kitchen. Turning off the sink faucet you thrust the glass of water under his nose. “Here, drink this, and I don’t remember telling you that you could get up.” 

He takes the glass and finishes it in three gulps. “Why do I have to stay on the couch?” 

“Because you are drunk and can barely stand on your own two feet. I don’t want you falling and getting a concussion.” 

“But I missed you!” He says with a grin, flinging his arms around you. 

Patting him on the back. “I missed you too.” 

“Did you? You’re not mad anymore?” He mumbled into your neck. He had started to lean more weight onto you then you were comfortable with but you braced your legs and held him up. 

“No I’m not mad, I was actually just about to call you when you showed up.” 

“Really?” He pulled back, swaying a little, his face lit up like Christmas and you couldn’t help but smile back. 

“Yes really. I still want to talk about it, but I forgive you.” 

“No, no, no. Less talk, more kissing.” He leans in and you put a hand over his face laughing at his excitement. 

“Go sit, I’ll bring you some coffee.” 

“Ugggg.” he whines and flops face first on your couch.

When you come back with a cup of joe, you find him snoring softly into the couch cushions. Setting the mug down, you move his head so he could at least breath properly and grab a throw off the back of the couch to cover him. His feet still stick out, so you go and get a comforter off the bed and switch it out with the throw for yourself. 

With your hands on your hips you shake your head at the passed out form and quietly begin to lock up. Changing into pjs and climbing into bed with the throw, you turn out the last light and fall asleep yourself. You feel the bed dip and look over to see Chris crawling in, wrapped up like a burrito in your comforter. Giving him a warm smile to let him know it’s ok, he moves in and covers you both up, pulling you against his chest. The bedside clock says 3am, you had only been asleep for a few hours, but he seemed a bit more sober than before. 

“I missed you.” He breathed into your neck. 

You reach back and pet his head. “I know, you already told me once tonight. I missed you too.” 

“I didn’t know where I was at first when I woke up. Popcorn decided to lay on me and it startled me awake. Not use to a small thing jumping up on me.” 

“What about Dodger? Will he be ok for the night?” 

“I called my doorman, he said he would take him out to the bathroom tonight and in the morning.”  He buried his face into your neck. “I’m sorry.” His voice rumbled into your skin. 

You tighten your arms around his that are wrapped around you. “I know. I’m sorry too.” 

He sat up a bit and turned you to be able to see your face. “What for?” 

“I overreacted. I had the right to be mad but I went too far. I think some of it was how I’ve been treated in the past, but you’re not them and are allowed to make your own mistakes without me putting their leftover baggage on you.” Lifting a hand out of the covers you put it against his cheek, hoping to show him how much you missed him. He leaned down and slid his lips over yours, sealing them together for a sweet kiss that let you know you were forgiven too. “Still want to date the crazy woman?” 

“As long as you can put up with my fanbase and anxiety, I can deal with your level of crazy, which is pretty much average. You’re way more sane then some of the women I’ve dated.”

Before you can ask about the number of crazy women he’s dated, he’s already back claiming your mouth. Rolling you to your back, you can feel him press against your side, his cock straining against your hip. It brings up all sorts of pleasant memories, but also another. “I distinctly remember saying there would be no booty calls on Friday.” You mumble into his mouth. 

“I didn’t call, so it doesn’t count. Besides, we just made up from our first fight, I think we deserve makeup sex.”

“I think we need to get some sleep and for you to sober up.” 

“I’m sober. Perfectly sober.” He replied with mock indignation.

“If that was true you’d have a splitting headache.” Even in the darkness of the room you could see his lip poke out in a pout, which just confirmed your suspicions.  “How about a counter offer of morning sex and a big greasy breakfast when we get up?” 

“Fine, but I only want to leave the bed tomorrow for food and to take the dog out.” 

Your hand runs down his back as he snuggles back up to you, his head being pillowed by your chest. “I think that is one of your best ideas yet.” 

After a bit of cuddling, you both get comfortable and start to drift off. You’re teetering right on the edge of sleep when his voice interrupts the quiet night. “I got my schedule. I’m leaving next week.” If you had been any further into sleep you never would have heard him, as it is you grow very still. You thought you had more time than this and it felt like cold water thrown on you. 

“Next week?” 

“Thursday.” 

Swallowing down the breath you were holding, relieved it was at least the end of the week. Trying to pull as much cheerfulness into your voice as you can muster, you turn to him. “Sounds like we need pack a lot into this week. I think we can do it though, we just need to get organized and schedule out a plan of attack. You might need to do that because I suck at it. I figure we need to have sex, eat, have more sex, sleep, eat, take the dogs out at some point and just continue that cycle the rest of the week. Maybe also talk about the best way to stay in contact while you’re gone too, but that can be…” You were cut off by his mouth on yours. Even in the moonlight his eyes were bright and hopeful. 

“So no thought about kicking me out?” He pulled away just enough to talk, but his grip on your hip was tight. 

“Never for this, it’s your passion. Plus I quite enjoy watching your movies, but I think we established that.” 

“Yes, obsessive fangirl if I recall correctly.” 

You smack his arm. “I wouldn’t go that far.” 

“Now it’s abusive fangirl.” He grumbles as he rubs the spot on his arm. 

“Ya big baby. Go to sleep or I won’t take you out for breakfast.” 

“Threatening to cancel breakfast and not morning sex?”

“That would be more of a punishment for me, not you.” You peck his jawline and snuggle closer, burying your face in his neck this time. Letting out a sigh as he rubs your back. “We can do this right? I mean you’ve done it before?” 

“Yes, but if one of them worked out I wouldn’t be single right now. Ow!” 

“You’re not single right now.” The teeth marks on his shoulder still visible. 

“You know what I meant. You’re very violent when I’m drunk.” 

“So you admit it!” You start giggling as he protests. “Nope you said it, so go to sleep.” 

“Fine, but next time you drink too much I’m going to bite you back.” 

“Promises, promises.” The words rumbled into his neck as he chuckles. Soon you’re both fast asleep, but you’re dreams aren’t in any less turmoil then when you slept alone. Only this time you were chasing him, never quite able to keep up. 

Next Chapter

Only took a month to update this. Sorry about that. Hopefully it was worth the wait. 

Thank you everyone that still keeps up with my blog!

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[diveronarpg]

Congratulations, ART! You’ve been accepted for the role of EDMUND with an approved FC change to Max Irons. Admin Minnie: I knew this was a winner while reading your plots Art, but it was your para sample that really left me speechless. The way you showed us how he had suffered and how he had ached, all that bitterness and resentment and ambition and pride... it was so clear how deep your love for Edmund goes. I am thrilled to see someone with such an intimate, intense grasp on Easton’s soul. Please stay forever, and please ruin us for the rest of your life! Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Alias | Art

Age | 19

Preferred Pronouns | He/him

Activity Level | Well here’s the thing about quarantine. I will be spending the next two-three months in a house, all day, every day, with consistent access to a laptop. I also lost my job and because the US economy is a flaming pile of garbagé, I don’t imagine getting another any time soon, especially since all my skills are in food. All this to say, I believe I will be incredibly active, outside of my Skype’d classes and grocery runs and whatnot.

Timezone | MST

How did you find the rp?  | A discord friend DM’d it to me after I went on a rant about Edmund and the layers to his “Thou, Nature, art my Goddess” soliloquy. They know me so well, and acceptances were literally in like six hours from when I got the link, so I sat my butt down, put down my real-world obligations for a moment, and typed this whole thing out like I was writing an unstarted essay due at midnight.

Current/Past RP Accounts | All my old RP writing is from years ago and is, frankly, really really bad. Thank you for making this optional.

IN CHARACTER

Character | Edmund or Easton Craven. I love Daniel Sharman’s wonderful, gorgeous face with my whole heart (hello gay awakening), but I’d like to use Max Irons instead, if at all possible.

What drew you to this character? | So, my love of Easton/Edmund actually began about a year ago, when I cut my hair and started playing around with names and different clothes. I was in a Shakespeare class at my college, and it was a requirement that we perform a monologue. It didn’t need to be Broadway-worthy, we just needed to deliver it, and we could do this as often as we liked. I performed two. One from a play we had read and analyzed, as my professor asked, and I did another. That second one was Edmund’s “Thou, Nature” soliloquy. It was the first time I performed as a guy to an audience that thought I was a guy, not a girl playing dress up. So I have a really strong emotional connection to Edmund, regardless of the form he’s in.

I was really excited by this particular version of him, however, because I thought it played right along the line of a monstrous asshole and charming young man doing what he can to deal with the hand dealt to him. He’s both of those things, to me, and I really enjoyed that you brought that forward. Edmund, from the source, reminds me of Chris Evans’ character from Knives Out, in a way? Completely self-motivated, selfish and cruel, and yet really fun and charming, as long as it isn’t you he’s screwing over at the time. I know he isn’t that character and I’m honestly really glad for it. I just found a similarity there.

I just really like those kinds of characters in fiction, and that, combined with my emotional ties and vague debt to the source character, meant I arrived and started writing as fast as I could.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? |

These are all ideas, nothing here is set in stone, and are entirely dependent on the beauty of the other writers free will.

Some Twelve or Fourteen Moonshines Lag of a Brother: From the get-go of this awful experience known as the human existence, Easton has existed just slightly behind Everett, just enough to keep the guy freezing in the shadows. It’s the last name, the mannerisms, and the goddamn eyes that sit in his skull. It is a truth, acknowledged by both me and him, that there is an association to Easton he really wishes wasn’t there. This is why I want someone to look at Easton and see Easton, not a Craven.

Now, I want to pause here, and say that Easton is a lying snake of a man that would and probably will sell out his own family for one corn chip. He is completely self-centered, convinced of his superiority, and willing to bleed the world dry to get the pound of flesh he is owed. I want someone to see this, to realize there is a snake curled around the Capulet’s necks, willing to bite and kill every single one of them if it means he gets to sit comfortably on a throne of gold and bones. Because that is what he wants, he wants the world to pay for every second of misery he endured in his life. But he is charming, slippery in the way only the truly awful can be. He’s accepted the labels thrown at him and become them, which is its own kind of armor. Who doesn’t love a bad boy?

But beyond all that, he is rotten through and through. I’d like his armor to crack and reveal the duplicity underneath, maybe around someone like Maeve or Catherine, someone that might not be believed right away. I love the idea of Easton being the wolf among some very dangerous sheep, but the really, truly awful ones not realizing. This could produce a really fun dance, where the two parties involved both try really really hard to overthrow or remove the other from their position while still trying really hard to maintain a veil of normality.

But that dance is what makes this all so terribly fun. They’re on a rock, doomed to eventually die, and Easton wants his power, but why can’t he play a few games while trying to get it?

I Grow, I Prosper: Easton, poor guy, was brought into the world and then spent the next twenty-six years being told his existence and all the things that came with it were his fault. They weren’t, or at least they weren’t in the way he had been told his entire life. He has learned to move past the label of “bastard” or “illegitimate”, meeting all such claims with the certainty that he must act the part. But does his position fulfill him? Does his current lot in life spark joy? I think not! He is a captain, yes, but so is his brother. He is, at best, on equal footing with his brother and at worst, he is the younger brother desperately following behind Everett as a living shadow yet again. Easton needs to be more than Everett. He’s wanted this his entire life. The whole city needs to look at Easton and see him, not his brother, and then Easton wants to rub it in Everett’s face, lord it over him for the next century at the shortest. That is the general idea behind this plot: Everett surpassing and overcoming his brother. The fact that he’d end up lording over so many others is really just a plus!

This plot would require effort. Loads and LOADS of plotting and communication on my part, and a whole lot of cutthroat, stepping-on-literally-everyone-else-in-Verona from Easton. He is going to have to exploit the hell out of Celeste and the information she can get him, potentially leading to her downfall just so Easton can succeed. He will need Rafaella and Tiberius to trust him almost unconditionally, which, just from what I’ve seen poking around the main, seems pretty much impossible. And of course, he has to successfully and continually one-up Everett, which might be the hardest job of all, given the whole awful tangle of EmotionsTM that Easton has towards him. It’s hard for him to be clear-headed when he wants to tear Everett into little tiny pieces with his bare hands.

But hey, that is, again, the whole point of this plot: the destruction of the legitimate son. Eliminating the sun so the moon can rule 24/7.

My Services are Bound: No matter how ambitious, how desperate Easton is to rule the world, he doesn’t yet. He works for the Capulets and he is a tool used to further the wishes of those above him in this terribly illegal food chain where dog eats dog. No matter how much Easton wishes it was different, it isn’t, at least not at the moment, and he must bide his time until something better happens.

Yes, Easton is a tool, and I want him to be reminded of that. He has the ambition to rule the world, can picture himself with a crown he may never hold, but he is a knight on the chessboard. I want his ego to be checked, I want him to be taken down at the knees and reminded of the situation he is in, who he works for. Now, ideally, this would come from the Capulet family themselves and not a rogue Montague or something.

The Capulet family, in order to win this war they’ve found themselves in, need their tools to be obedient and ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. This is not the case with Easton. He’s a rebellious man, more loyal to himself than any of the lofty ideas the Capulet heads have surrounded themselves with. So the family he serves would need to get Easton back in line, somehow. They’d need to remind him who he is and whom he serves no matter what it took and use whatever tools at their disposal. This could potentially happen after Easton completely blows off a mission he was handed to advance his own agendas, which I think would probably be the best choice as it would probably send these awful shrieking sirens off in the Capulets.

I want this particular plot because Easton is so assured that he will be able to make the world pay and yet he’s just one man against so very many others.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Oh most definitely. As a writer, I am a firm believer in conditional happy endings, probably because I play so many video games. In order to get a happy ending, in order to survive, the character has to do all the right things. The likelihood of Easton doing all the right things is just tiny, absolutely microscopic.  

IN DEPTH

I was going to do both, but I’m running out of time so…

In-Character Para Sample:

There is something beautiful in standing alone, where there are no silent reminders of how Easton arrived in this world, how he stepped into it screaming and no one cared to change that. There were no side-eyes, reminding him of how unwanted he was, how utterly unworthy he was to bear the name “Craven”. No hands hiding giggles at the boy his mother ran from and his father hid away. Here, under the bowed ceiling in the transept of the Capulet’s cathedral, there was only him and God.

“I hope,” Easton began, fingers lightly running across the back of a pew likely not used for praying, “that you know what is coming.” The eyes that proclaim a taint to his family’s name were raised to dance across the ceiling. “If word is to be believed, you, an old man in the sky, a Father,” he spat out, “brought me here. Placed me here upon this Earth to do whatever it is I so wish.” A smile, small and dangerous with heavy promises was birthed on his face, an expression that could not have been more familiar to his muscles. “I suppose that’s all a father has ever done for me. Perhaps,” he mused, lightly tapping his chin as he continued to wander aimlessly among the seats of a flock absent. “Perhaps I should be grateful that both You and him are both so delightfully hands-off.”

“I suppose this rock is where You chose to put all Your bastards, isn’t it? Shoved them away from Your kingdom, making them fight for their place in Your home despite them all being Your children?” The noise that escaped Easton’s mouth was not fit for the place he stood in, but it hardly seemed to matter to him as he collapsed into a pew, feet raised to rest on a Bible, feet that had stood in a man’s blood not hours before. “I suppose that must be how it is, because we’re all made in Your image, aren’t we? And that man had to learn it from somewhere.”

His head fell back, eyes closed to the beauty above him in a silent condemnation for Who it was built for. “You’ve released yet another snake into your garden by making that woman my mother and handing me the Craven name, you know.” The observation was quiet, laced with the bitterness of cyanide, perfected over years of similar declarations. The words were familiar, not on his tongue but rather to his mind, the idea similar to ones he had kept close for years.“I have crawled in the dirt on my stomach for too long because of You, and I shall take a throne and dare You to steal it from me.”

He inhaled, once, a desperate attempt to calm the words he could feel rising like acid in his throat. It didn’t work, though Easton didn’t try very hard. He rarely did when alone. “I am owed this, you miserable old bastard,” he hissed out from behind his teeth, sounding like the snake he had just claimed to be. “I will take everything because this is Your fault, and I will make your precious sheep pay for every inch of Your mistake. It’s mine, I deserve it.” A hand was clenched into a fist in his lap and Easton shifted forward, only to slam it into the wood of the pew ahead of him. “It’s mine.”

He stood suddenly, coat rising around him like smoke rising around a fire, warning the world of the danger just over there. Turning on his heel, he left the cathedral without a look back, without a fear of God. And though there had been no one around, the air hung heavy with a question. Just which father had he been addressing?

Extras: If you have anything else you’d like to include (further headcanons, an inspo tag, a mock blog, etc), feel free to share it here! This is OPTIONAL.

I submitted this through an Easton mock blog! There was going to be stuff there but my laptop crashed and I need to eat dinner!

[happys-crazy-queen22]

Not So Little Anymore

Gif credit @chriscrosscerulli

Hope you all enjoy.

Happy Reading Dollies

@chriscrosscerulli . @ilovetaquitosmmmm

"My little sister is coming today to see me, me so be on your best behaver". Balz pointed at the band warning them.

"Y/Ns coming, cool". Ryan shrugged his shoulders as he rocked his head.

"Don't even think about talking, smiling, gazing, smelling or even mentioning her. Got it"?

"Shut up".

"And you fucking better not touch, kiss, lick or fuck my sister cause I will kill you".

"Will you shut up"? Ricky threw a empty red bull can at him.

"Just making sure you know she's off limits".

"We've met your sister before it's not like we're all going to jump on her". "So chill". Chris said annoyed.

When you got to the venue you didn't know where to go and Josh was supposed to come get you but he was to busy so he sent little Ryan to get you. That kid use to pick on you when you first met. He thought he was so cool cause he was a couple years older than you but he has seen you in a couple years since you went off to college.

"Y/N"? You heard your name called. Turning around you saw a tall handsome man coming toward you until you saw it was Ryan. Holy Fuck he got hot!!

You bit you lower lip looking him up and down. He was a fine looking specimen and you might want a piece of him this time around.

"Ryan that really you"? You asked with a smile.

"Yeah" He replied shyly like always unless he was torturing you with your brother.

"You've grown up since the long haired rocker".

"Yeah so have you". "Balz wanted me to bring you to him".

"Yes I know, he's to fucking lazy to get off his ass to meet me".

"You ready"? You nodded and followed Ryan to the tour bus.

What happened to Y/N she grew up? Ryan's thoughts wondered. He remembered her being this little brat that would follow him around and annoy him. But now she's older and more mature. She's got long legs, she carries herself well and she grew boobs. What why are you thinking about her boobs or even thinking about her like that? Ryan's mind raced. Did he have a little crush on her now?

"So how have you been"? You asked Ryan who stayed three steps ahead of you.

"Good". Ryan was short and sweet like always.

"Good, good".

"Um here we are". Ryan opened the door and you stepped in. The smell of pumpkin spice hit you like a ton of bricks.

"Josh"? You called out.

"I think he's in the back". Ryan pointed to the curtain that separated the front room to the back.

"What's he up too"? You eyed Ryan.

"Nothing, I don't think".

"If he does anything I'm going to kill you".

"What'd I do"? Ryan questioned with a chuckle.

"That right there that little thing you just did". "You go first". You pushed Ryan by his shoulders into the back first. And he was attacked. Josh jumped off the top bunk and landed on Ryan's back making him fall to the ground. All the guys came out of their bunks laughing until they heard Ryan. "It's me Ryan your guitarist".

Josh moved to see if that was true and then looked behind him

"You asshole". You then proceeded to tackle Josh, Ryan still underneath the two of you getting squashed. Josh twisted you so now you were under him and on top of Ryan

"Hey little sis". Josh licked your face like he did when y'all were kids.

"That's disgusting". You rubbed your face off on Ryan's back. He was laying there covering his head.

"Get off of me". You grunted slapping Josh's hands off your arms. You sat there still on Ryan out of breath.

"Ahh come on. This is quality brother sister time". Josh laughed.

"I don't think anyone wants there brother to lick them". You stood up fixing your clothes. Helping Ryan to his feet.

"You okay"? You asked moving a piece of hair from his face. Wanting to make sure your dumbass brother didn't hurt him.

"Yeah but you weigh a lot". And there was the dumbass friend to the dumbass brother.

"Thanks, you dick". You rolled your eyes and went to the front.. Josh and the band laughed at Ryan's comment.

"How's my little sister"? Josh pinched your cheeks hard. You looked at him about to cry but didn't. You pushed it back inside and flipped him off.

"When do you guys go on"? You sat down on the couch.

"At six, why"? Josh plopped down beside you.

"I was going to walk around and listen to the other bands before you". "Is that okay"?

"No. Yeah I don't care. Just don't get kidnapped".

"Who would want to kidnap me I'm fat remember"? You sighed crossing your arms starring at Ryan who didn't dare look up at you.

"Right".

"I'm gone". You said getting up from the couch.

"You want me to show you around"? Ryan asked quietly.

"No but if I need a douche bag I'll find you". You hissed. Ryan looked embarrassed as Chris and Ricky went "Wow".

You roamed the venue stopping and listening to the bands playing some you knew and some you wished you never seen it made your ears bleed.

Checking your phone you seen it read five forty. They were about to go on. You headed to the stage and waited on the side.

All the guys came on stage got into their areas and started playing.

Tapping your foot, nodding your head and moving your hips to the music you were actually starting to enjoy yourself.

Then the music came to a pause.

"Listen up fuckers we have a very special guest here with us tonight. Look to your right and you can see Balzs little sister Y/N". Chris yelled into the mic. You blushed at all the eyes watching you. You simply waved and went back to watching the band.

Chris continued playing as you walked off back to the tour bus. You felt uncomfortable with strangers watching you. You didn't know how the guys managed all the starring.

When you got on the bus you found a bunk and just laid down and slowly drifted off.

"Dude did you see that chick with the pink hair I think she was flirting with you". Ryan told Ricky as they came on to the bus.

"She showed everyone her boobs, I think she was flirty with everyone". Ricky popped a top on his red bull. Ryan laughed and went to his bunk. He pulled back the curtain and there laid you sleeping peacefully.

Ryan smiled and quietly grabbed a clean shirt from beside the bed. Going back out into the front with Ricky.

"You're never going to believe this, Y/N is in my bunk sleeping".

"So that's where she went, I didn't see her after Chris embarrassed her in front of the crowd".

"Should I wake her to tell her we're back"?

"Nah, she's had a long trip she's probably tired".

"Right yeah".

The music blared into your ears, it was like you were sitting on a speaker. You groaned getting out of bed. Walking to the front you heard lots of voices.

They were throwing a party and decided not to invite you.

"Y/N"! Ryan excitedly called out, he had a girl on his lap but pushed her off as he saw you.

You waved and wondered to the door, you needed some fresh air.

The night sky was lit up by tiny little stars. There was actually a breeze blowing instead of heat like it was when you got here.

You wondered around the bus then a noise made you stop and look around. Was someone following you?

"Oh god, I'm blind". You clenched you eyes tightly. Josh was making out with some random chick up against the bus, her moans turned your stomach.

"Go away, I'm busy". He released his lips from hers.

"Great for you but aren't you supposed to be spending time with your little sister"? "That's what I'm here for right"?

"I'll talk with you later, I'm busy". He went back to making out.

"Whatever". You huffed, walking back to the bus.

All you wanted to do was to go back to sleep and forget this day ever happened. But it didn't seem that simple with the party going.

Walking back on the bus you noticed there were fewer people and it was quieter.

You wondered back to the bunk you were in before when you noticed feet hanging out from underneath the curtain.

Recognizing them vans anywhere you pulled back the curtain, Ryan was smoking a cigarette.

"Where's everyone"? You asked getting his attention.

"They went to a bar or something".

"Why didn't you go"? He scooted over for you to get in.

"I'm not really into bars".

"Understandable".

You both sat there in silence for awhile until Ryan rolled over looking at you with a smile.

"What"?

"It's good seeing you".

"Are you drunk"? You asked with a laugh.

"No well maybe". "Why do you ask"?

"Cause I annoyed you a lot and I figured you hated me".

"Yeah that was when you were a teen now you're pretty cool".

"How many drinks did you have"?

"About six or was it thirteen"? Ryan tried to count on his fingers.

"So a lot, so whatever you or I say now you aren't going to remember in the morning".

"Probably not".

Leaning in you kissed him hard and fast. Quickly pulling away to see his reaction. He still had his lips puckered and his eyes opened.

"Why did you stop"?

"You liked that"?

"Yes, I've been wanting to do that since you came".

"But what about the wise ass cracks about me"?

"I had to keep Balz off my trail so he wouldn't suspect anything. He gave us this big speech about not having anything to do with you or he'll kill us. His crazy face meant it too".

"Ryan, my brother is not my keeper. He has no authority over who I date, fuck or kiss. So if you aren't to scared put your hands on me and fuck me now".

Ryan didn't hesitate, his hands went to your hips pulling you on him. Straddling his waist you grinding roughly. Trying to get friction between the two of you. You just had to feel him.

Your hands went to his hair, tangling your fingers giving it a pull. His lips attacked your neck. Giving off soft moans as Ryan kneeded your ass.

"Ryan". You gasped/moaned as Ryan sucked on the spot that made you melt to his touch.

Being so caught up in the moment you didn't hear the band get back on the bus. The first one through the back was Balz. He stopped in his tracks, his mouth hung open and his blood boiled.

"Are you fucking kidding me Sitkowski, my sister"?

"We're busy right now, we can talk later". You spoke with sarcasm as Ryan was busy, you closed the curtain.

"I'm going to kill you"! Josh screamed. Both you and Ryan giggled.

"Come on man, you dont need to see that". You could hear Rickys voice trying to calm Josh.

"That's my little sister". Josh dramatically cried.

"I don't think she's little anymore after this".

That night and early into the morning Ryan and you fucked the shit out of each other. The bus was filled with moans, grunting and crying. Not all cries were yours that night either. Balz realized that you have grown up and dating one of his best friends.

[indigoire]

It Read-through Chapters One and Two, “After the Flood” and “After the Festival”

Starting off strong with child death! Yaaaay! 

Warning for gore, death, homophobia, hate crimes, sewer clowns, and juvenile humor. 

Explanation of what I’m doing here.

The first chapter is pretty much exactly like the first part of the 2017 movie, with a few very key differences. 

For one, Bill is a few years younger here than he is in the first movie. In the movie the kids are around thirteen or so and they make note of this a couple times. In this Bill is only ten, therefore he’s eleven for the rest of the child half of the novel. Georgie is still only six. 

For another, when Pennywise attacks Georgie he doesn’t drag Georgie into the sewers, and the neighbors respond to his screams almost immediately. It’s outright stated that forty-five seconds after Georgie’s first scream a man named Dave Gardener finds Georgie’s body, already dead, arm torn from its socket. People run outside when they hear the scream, they witness Georgie by the storm drain, they know of the attack. In the movie he’s “gone missing”, largely presumed dead, but here Bill and his family know from the outset that Georgie is dead and died violently at that. There is a mention by King that the town tends to get through terrible events and then pretend they never happened in order to get over them, and I think in the film they made this more overt by having the few neighbors around ignore what happens to Georgie. 

I feel like for the sake of the liveblog I should go over what happens in the book for the unaware, but it almost feels superfluous for this first chapter. Everyone knows Georgie dies at the hands of Pennywise, at the claws of It. Even the book lets it slip very early on that Georgie is slated for death, only a few paragraphs in. 

Let’s rewind and properly explain. The book begins with George Denbrough running after a newspaper boat in the rain. George, or Georgie as he is affectionately called, is the younger brother of Bill Denbrough, one of our main characters, if not the leading man. Bill is sick with the flu, so he can’t go and play with Georgie in the rain, but he builds the kid a paper boat all the same, and seals it with paraffin wax to keep it watertight. A lot of the first chapter is devoted to two things: showing the bond Bill and his brother share, and showing that Georgie is already somewhat aware of It’s presence. 

Bill sends Georgie down to the cellar to get the wax, and Georgie goes, but with extreme trepidation. He pictures monsters waiting to snatch him up in the cellar, and King here goes in depth into the smell of the cellar, a smell of “dirt and wet and long-gone vegetables”, the stink of rot, which is the smell of the monster, “the smell of It, crouched and lurking and ready to spring. A creature which would eat anything but which was especially hungry for boymeat.”

Yep. “Boymeat”. Right up there with “manflesh” in terms of descriptive vocabulary. 

But basically, on some level, Georgie knows there’s something lurking in the dark for him, and he knows it’s a childish fear but he can’t quite shake his instinct. 

Sidenote: there’s a reference to the Turtle fairly early on! Georgie finds a flat can of Turtle wax, and stares at the logo for a good thirty seconds. Which, by the way, probably looked like this: 

Anyways, Georgie finds the paraffin wax and runs up the stairs, fearing that something lurking in the dark will grab him by his shirttail and yank him down, but he escapes and goes to give the wax to Bill. 

Just a personal note here, when I initially tried to read this book some ten years ago I rolled my eyes at the conversation between the two brothers, which I remember distinctly being about buttholes, who was the biggest butthole, etc. I mean, they’re kids, it’s juvenile humor, what ya gonna do. The version I have downloaded here has the kids calling each other “a-holes”. So now I have to wonder if my version got censored somehow. Anyways. Nothing to inspire confidence in the rest of the novel like a conversation about who’s the biggest asshole between kids. 

The brothers do have an oddly tender moment, which they both note is out of character for them, with Georgie kissing Bill’s cheek goodbye and Bill telling him to be careful. It seems like they know instinctively that they’re never going to see each other again. 

Georgie runs out to play with his boat, and he chases it happily through the street until it unfortunately goes down a storm drain. Georgie tries to see if he can get it, but only sees yellow eyes staring back, until said eyes solidify as a clown. Georgie describes the clown as a cross between Bozo the Clown and Clarabell from Howdy Doody (both, for the record, are the most terrifying clowns I’ve ever seen, dear lord), but King notes that if Georgie “had been inhabiting a later year” he would have thought of Ronald McDonald first. 

Just real quick gonna throw these nightmares up on screen for y’all:

Thanks, I hate it. 

Here Pennywise introduces himself as Mr Bob Gray, also known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, so right off the bat there’s some differences. Georgie asks himself how he could have seen yellow eyes when Pennywise’s eyes are a “bright, dancing blue” like his mother’s or Bill’s eyes. 

Like the 2017 movie, Pennywise says the storm blew him and the circus into the sewer, and asks Georgie if he can smell the circus. Georgie can indeed, but he does notice the cellar smell lurking underneath, the smell of wet and rot. 

But he ignores it. 

Instead the clown offers him a balloon and Georgie asks “do they float?” 

And the second he reaches his hand out to grab a balloon, Pennywise latches on, Georgie screams, and knows no more. 

“They float,” it growled, “they float, Georgie, and when you’re down here with me, you’ll float, too—”

It’s noted that Georgie watches the clown’s face change, and what he sees destroys his sanity “in one clawing stroke”. 

So really it’s a good thing that he dies a few moments later after It wrenches his arm off. 

Again, Georgie’s body is found within the minute by a neighbor, and other neighbors run over to see what’s going on. 

The chapter ends with a description of the paper boat floating through the sewers of Derry, as Bill’s family is delivered the news and his mother is sedated for shock in the ER, and “perhaps it reached the sea, and sails there forever, like a magic boat in a fairytale”. 

Sweet sentiment. I’m getting all choked up over here. 🙄

So I figured I’d read on to the next chapter, seeing as the first chapter is so short and so well known. 

God, I wished I had left it at one chapter. 

The next chapter is told through a series of interviews with the witness and suspects to the case of the murder of Adrian Mellon. 

It’s a fucking shitshow of a chapter.

It is DEEPLY homophobic. Every word of it. 

This is how we’re introduced to Don Hagarty, partner to Adrian and key witness to his murder: “This man—if you want to call him a man—was wearing lipstick and satin pants so tight you could almost read the wrinkles in his cock.”

COME ON, STEPHEN. 

Now. I know very very well that this book was published in 1986 and America was not kind to queer people in the eighties. I know that King was capturing that homophobia, not necessarily homophobic himself, and that his viewpoints have probably changed. 

That said, reading this chapter was like a punch in the stomach every few sentences. The cops who interrogate the men responsible for the hate crime against Adrian make it clear that they are both disgusted by the attackers and deeply homophobic themselves. They all say at some point “I don’t like fairies, I don’t care for queers, they’re hardly men” in varying forms of intensity. 

I honestly think I blacked this chapter out when I was seventeen, I don’t remember it being like this. Or maybe I didn’t care so much a decade ago, closeted and repressed, and that’s a scary realization. That your own internalized homophobia might have been so pervasive that you don’t see it in others. That it sounds reasonable when a supposedly sympathetic character says he hopes the murdering homophobes get locked up, prison raped, and get AIDS. 

Sigh.

To sum up: Adrian Mellon is attacked while out with his boyfriend, Don. A group of young men, having been teased by Adrian at the Canal Days festival (though Adrian here makes a blowjob joke, not a shitty haircut joke--he’s too good for this book really), claim that they attacked out of “civic pride” because Adrian was wearing a “I ❤️ Derry” hat. One of the attackers tells Don to get out of there, and he screams for help. The attackers push Adrian over the side of the Kissing Bridge. The attacker who saves Don, Chris, sees Pennywise, and so does Don a little bit later, and they tell the cops that interrogate them. The cops dismiss the clown, at first ostensibly because the witnesses are hysterical, but then later in the chapter it’s revealed that the police don’t want the attacker’s lawyers jumping on the clown thing to prove their clients’ innocence. So Pennywise, even having been seen by two witnesses, is left off the record entirely. 

King also reveals the deeply, deeply homophobic sentiment in the town, the violent anti-gay graffiti all over public property, at the Kissing Bridge or in the public park, the people in the town outright ignoring the attack as it’s happening, the fact that the one gay bar in town is home to some very fearful people who just want to keep their heads down. 

So yes, you can extrapolate that the homophobic stuff expressed in the book is to show that Derry is a hateful place where fear festers and so forth...

But King also goes out of his way to emasculate Don Hagarty and Adrian Mellon every chance he gets, effusing about the dramatic makeup they wear, the nail polish, the bright outfits, the campy attitudes. Adrian is described as five-foot-five and slight. Don is described as shrill and dramatic (his BOYFRIEND was just BRUTALLY MURDERED). Meanwhile the homophobes are described as looking like Bruce Springsteen. Like. 

I really feel for Don, I do, despite the book’s best attempts to make him a walking caricature, a huge gay joke. He says Derry’s like “a dead strumpet with maggots squirming out of her cooze”. He calls Derry a sewer. He’s right on both counts.

Well. On that cheerful note, time to wrap this read-through up! Tune in next time for our introduction to Stan (and probably the last time we’ll see grown-up Stan :D). 

Bye for now.

[venus-says]

Symphogear G Episodes 09-13

In the distance, that day, when the stars became music.

Here we are! Last string of this season. I’m honestly surprised by how my thoughts about this season changed doing this rewatch, I wonder how much it’ll still change based in these last 5 episodes. Regardless of everything I’m glad, is good to know we changed. XD

We have a lot to go through so let’s go.

Episode 9 is a pretty good one. For starters, we get some answers to the questions I had on my mind from the last, so I’m very grateful for that. We also have great emotional moments with most of the cast so bonus points for that.

I especially like Chirs in this episode, from she having dinner with Tsubasa, to she being relatable character ever in that training sequence, to her moment with Hibiki when she shows her affection for her in both a harsh and lovable way. She shone in this episode like no one else and I love it.

The FIS girls also don’t get behind, in this episode it feels like each one of them is broken and divided by their personal feelings and their sense of duty while we as an audience can see that this is just Ver playing with them like puppets and it made me feel so sorry for them, I just wanna give them a hug.

There’s just one thing that I didn’t like here and it was the fact that they discovered everything about Miku way too fast. I think if we had more time to “grief” over her that moment in the end when she shows up in the Shenshoujin would be more impactful both as a plot twist and as a cliffhanger, and also more emotional to both the viewers and characters. But even with this detail I really like this episode.

Episode 10 is another great one, probably my favorite of this season.

Miku’s song is great, Shenshoujin is dope and the way it works is fantastic. Miku fighting Chirs is pretty fun, that moment Tsubasa steps in to help protect Chirs and Shirabe is just amazing, and seeing Ogawa run on top of the water just makes the whole situation even cooler.

Kirika’s side of things is probably the worst of them all. Since she didn’t tell anyone she suspects being Finé every time she mentions disappearing sounds empty because the other characters haven’t a single clue about what she’s talking, but if you put that aside it works.

But by far the best of this episode is Hibiki and Miku’s confrontment. That short conversation before they start fighting is probably one of the most honest and heartfelt conversations we had. Their battle is simple but the emotions on that combat were just so high that they didn’t need a lot to make that work. It’s probably my favorite Hibiki x Miku moment in the whole series, I just like how in here they seem to be in an equal foot with each other, there isn’t someone whos trying too much or trying too little, they both want the best for their friend and they both have the resolve to stand by their beliefs (even though Miku got a little brainwashed there) and do what they think is the correct thing to do, is truly an amazing moment.

In summary, the fights are all good, the emotional conflicts all work and the emotional climaxes work out as well. We can see the struggles of each character and how each of them has big burdens laying around their shoulders. It is a great episode.

It’d have been even better if the final scene was just Hibiki and Miku being hit by that beam, but still, it’s a very solid episode.

Episode 11 starts very weirdly, I even had to double check to make sure I was watching the right episode because of how confusing it was.

I think they've missed a scene that would serve to connect the events from the last episode to this one because everything looks very off. For starters the whole thing with Chris joining the bad guys and then all of sudden they got Miku in an infirmary bed, and while I can fill the blanks and say to myself that Chirs is plotting to destroy the Staff of Solomon and I can assume that they caught Hibiki and Miku while they were falling after being hit by the beam, I still wish that had been shown or at least been mentioned in the episode.

But after this convoluted start the episode picks itself up and it gets good, is not best and I didn’t get anything interesting to talk about but it was still good.

I said I don’t like the Finé’s successor plot, and I still don’t. But seeing glimpses of Finé taking over Shirabe in this episode was really good, I like that moment when Genjuuro is handing Shirabe’s pendant and they talk like if it Ryoko was there and not Shirabe. It's very subtle and it works very well, that was something I didn’t really pay attention to while watching for the first time. That aside though, Kirika’s whole speech, because she thinks she’s the one just, makes me tired.

One last thing that I want to mention: Ver is a disgusting character and I just wanna see him die. Like, congratulations to the writers of this show for making such a hatable villain. Gosh, this man grinds my gears. ANYWAYS...

I think Episode 12 is the one I have fewer things to comment on. Not because I didn’t like it, but because almost everything that happened here was just the culmination of some events that happened in episode 11.

Maria’s side of things was probably the saddest one, seeing her sing trying to reach out to other people and not getting a single reaction was heartbreaking.

Kirika and Shirabe battle get to end and I think I’d care more for it if I wasn’t so done with Kirika at this point. But seeing Shirabe being saved by Finé was actually pretty cool.

Tsubasa and Chris fight, on the other hand, was pretty good and it gives my favorite moment of this episode when Chris calls Tsubasa as “senpai”. It’s just so good to see how they’ve grown to like each other and see how good they work together. This is such a great friendship I love them. Also, they made Ver run away like a scared cat and took the Staff of Solomon back making him frustrated as hell so I’m happy.

Sadly my happiness went away for a little bit. Yeah, I... don’t like this finale.

They have some things that work if we look at them separately but when you put them together it feels like there’s something still missing.

Like, Maria getting in the Airgetlám for the first time is cool, I remember freaking out when the six of them got in their X-Drive and I had a similar reaction this time as well, Shirabe going full megazord mode was awesome, and I also like when Genjuuro slaps Ver in the face by saying that he won’t kill him and he’ll have to go to a trial like a normal human being instead of becoming a martyr or a hero.

But this episode loses to me because the final battle isn’t against a person, isn’t against someone who they can talk to and understand each other like in the last season, and yeah you can argue that they have chosen to do things this way to represent the Moon Ruins being activated again and that the Curse of Balal is already showing signs of being reinsured, but this doesn’t take away the fact that it made the finale lose its magic.

At the end of season one, I was heartworm and happy like I’d seen something unique with a nice message, this time the message is still there (and thank God that is, it shows they didn’t lose the essence) but because so many other things were treated with more importance if felt just like an ending any other show could pull it off in the same way.

I still love symphogear to death, but I think this season has dropped a few ranks in my favorites list.

And we reach the halfway point of this journey! I know I’ve said this before but I can’t believe I’m managing to keep up with all of this. Thank you for keeping up with me, and sorry if I thrash talked way too much. I usually go for 4-4-5 blocks but since tomorrow is Sunday I’ll try to go for 5 episodes instead of just 4, I don’t know if it’ll work out since there’s precure stuff I need to do but regardless of that I still wanna try. See ya~

[kylorenpunk]

Well I challenged @masonjar828 to do this ask meme like 200 years ago and he challenged me back but I’ve been busy so here we are. 

200: My crush’s name is: don’t have one. men suck. 199: I was born in: Mickey Mouse’s lair aka Orlando 198: I am really: trying not to make a self deprecating joke rn 197: My cellphone company is: Not being disclosed bc I don’t need stalkers 196: My eye color is: brown 195: My shoe size is: 8. I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to be taller than I am bc of that shoe size 194: My ring size is: Uh no idea. Maybe 9? 193: My height is: Five foot three inches 192: I am allergic to: A couple of antibiotics but that’s it  191: My 1st car was: 1995 Honda Accord. RIP Goldeen. 190: My 1st job was: Technically I was an assistant for an occupational therapy clinic that paid me under the table. My first paid job was a pool attendant for a hotel.  189: Last book you read: My professor’s shitty textbook.  188: My bed is: currently unmade.  187: My pet: doesn’t exist. Bro is allergic to the entire animal kingdom 186: My best friend: I have multiple and love them all very much  185: My favorite shampoo is: Just recently bought a new shampoo from OGX (coconut curls I think?)  184: Xbox or ps3: xbox 183: Piggy banks are: Not a bad concept. I have upgraded to using mason jars to save money  182: In my pockets: Not wearing pockets atm. Usually I only carry my phone tho 181: On my calendar: Is a bunch of doctor’s appointments 180: Marriage is: Fantastic with the right person 179: Spongebob can: ??? do whatever he wants? idk what op was thinking 178: My mom: is great and shouldn’t have to deal with my shit 177: The last three songs I bought were? I haven’t bought music in over two years. Spotify is my life. 176: Last YouTube video watched: I watch so many a day that I forgot what I last watched.  175: How many cousins do you have? 5 on paternal side. 3 on maternal. But I’m hispanic so it’s def more than immediate family  174: Do you have any siblings? 1 and he’s a pain but I love him 173: Are your parents divorced? nope. fun fact. I used to think divorce was normal as a child and wondered when I would get a second set of parents.  172: Are you taller than your mom? No I’m like 4 inches shorter 171: Do you play an instrument? is mayonnaise an instrument 170: What did you do yesterday? future job training and watched my brother [ I Believe In ] 169: Love at first sight: Lust at first sight  168: Luck: kinda 167: Fate: sure 166: Yourself: a lot more than I used to  165: Aliens: why not 164: Heaven: in a way 163: Hell: sure 162: God: the catholic in me says yes 161: Horoscopes: yes and no  160: Soul mates: tough question. 21 year old me would have said yes. 23 me is on the fence. Maybe for other people but I don’t really believe it for myself.  159: Ghosts: I love ghost walks so I hope they’re real 158: Gay Marriage: Of fucking course 157: War: No 156: Orbs: Isn’t this the same as ghosts? 155: Magic: No  [ This or That ] 154: Hugs or Kisses: Either one has it’s benefits 153: Drunk or High: Never been high so I guess drunk  152: Phone or Online: they mean the same thing now 151: Red heads or Black haired: dark hair 150: Blondes or Brunettes: brunettes 149: Hot or cold: hot  148: Summer or winter: summer 147: Autumn or Spring: spring 146: Chocolate or vanilla: depends. rn I want vanilla 145: Night or Day: day 144: Oranges or Apples: oranges 143: Curly or Straight hair: doesn’t matter. I feel more myself with straight hair tho 142: McDonalds or Burger King: mcdonald’s  141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: milk  140: Mac or PC: pc. Apple is a peice of shit.  139: Flip flops or high heals: heals 138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: this is a weird question 137: Coke or Pepsi: depends on whether it’s a can, glass or on ice 136: Hillary or Obama: lol was this made in 2008 135: Burried or cremated: not sure. i wanna say burried tho 134: Singing or Dancing: I’m bad at both 133: Coach or Chanel:  neither 132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: who 131: Small town or Big city: small town 130: Wal-Mart or Target: target  129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: ben stiller 128: Manicure or Pedicure: pedicure. my hands never last 127: East Coast or West Coast: east  126: Your Birthday or Christmas: christmas bc I can see my family 125: Chocolate or Flowers: flowers 124: Disney or Six Flags: six flags despite the fact that i’ve never been 123: Yankees or Red Sox: I don’t give a shit about sports [ Here’s What I Think About ] 122: War: dumb 121: George Bush: dumb 120: Gay Marriage: I’m hoping for a day where the LGBTQ+ community is no longer discrimated against 119: The presidential election: dumb 118: Abortion: No woman should be denied a right to abortion  117: MySpace: yeah this was made in 2008 116: Reality TV: dumb 115: Parents: great wonderful  114: Back stabbers: dumb 113: Ebay: useful 112: Facebook: kinda useful 111: Work: a necessity 110: My Neighbors: I don’t talk to them 109: Gas Prices: could be lower 108: Designer Clothes: I don’t care 107: College: a scam but education is worth it 106: Sports: depends on the sport 105: My family: great wonderful 104: The future: idk [ Last time I ] 103: Hugged someone: yesterday 102: Last time you ate: when I started this thing 101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: last month 100: Cried in front of someone: Two weeks ago 99: Went to a movie theater: going tonight 98: Took a vacation: three years ago. going soon tho 97: Swam in a pool: I don’t even remember.  96: Changed a diaper: never 95: Got my nails done: a year and a half ago 94: Went to a wedding: a year and a half ago 93: Broke a bone: never 92: Got a peircing: three years ago 91: Broke the law: probs when I was underage drinking 90: Texted: yesterday [ MISC ] 89: Who makes you laugh the most: all of my friends 88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: free food and family 87: The last movie I saw: toy story 4 86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: starting my career job 85: The thing im not looking forward to: taxes being taken out of my paycheck 84: People call me: Karina, Kari or Rina 83: The most difficult thing to do is: let go of someone in your life 82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: nope 81: My zodiac sign is: cancer 80: The first person i talked to today was: no one. Update my boss just called lol 79: First time you had a crush: 1st grade lmao 78: The one person who i can’t hide things from: myself 77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: uh recently I think  76: Right now I am talking to: Romantic? no one Normally? No one lmao  75: What are you going to do when you grow up: I’m grown but I’m not disclosing my job on here 74: I have/will get a job: already have one 73: Tomorrow: I’m working 72: Today: I’m cleaning 71: Next Summer: No idea 70: Next Weekend: no idea 69: I have these pets: no I don’t 68: The worst sound in the world: styrofoam 67: The person that makes me cry the most is: my mother 66: People that make you happy: family and friends 65: Last time I cried: Thursday 64: My friends are: cool great wonderful 63: My computer is: working 62: My School: I’m graduated 61: My Car: I need to wash today 60: I lose all respect for people who: have no respect 59: The movie I cried at was: toy story 4 58: Your hair color is: brown 57: TV shows you watch: Sabrina, jane the virgin 56: Favorite web site: twitter 55: Your dream vacation: new york 54: The worst pain I was ever in was: wisdom teeth 53: How do you like your steak cooked: medium rare 52: My room is: a mess 51: My favorite celebrity is: chris evans 50: Where would you like to be: on vacation 49: Do you want children: yes 48: Ever been in love: three times. Ironically only one was with someone I actually dated 47: Who’s your best friend: I have multiple 46: More guy friends or girl friends: good mixture of both 45: One thing that makes you feel great is: makeup 44: One person that you wish you could see right now: a few 43: Do you have a 5 year plan: hell no 42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: not a physical list 41: Have you pre-named your children: kinda 40: Last person I got mad at: no disclosing 39: I would like to move to: the smokey mountains 38: I wish I was a professional: MUA [ My Favorites ] 37: Candy: lifesaver gummies 36: Vehicle: hondas 35: President: obama 34: State visited: TN 33: Cellphone provider: ATT 32: Athlete: n/a 31: Actor: i can’t choose 30: Actress: cant choose 29: Singer: can’t choose 28: Band: currently little mix 27: Clothing store: rip charolette russe 26: Grocery store: publix is the only acceptable floridian answer 25: TV show: jane the virgin 24: Movie: high school musical 23: Website: twitter 22: Animal: meerkat 21: Theme park: busch gardens 20: Holiday: halloween 19: Sport to watch: soccer  18: Sport to play: none 17: Magazine: n/a 16: Book: eragon 15: Day of the week: friday 14: Beach: n/a 13: Concert attended: hannah montana? 12: Thing to cook: beans 11: Food: rice 10: Restaurant: taco bell 9: Radio station: n/a 8: Yankee candle scent: n/a 7: Perfume: anything fruity 6: Flower: rose? 5: Color: pink or blue 4: Talk show host: ellen 3: Comedian: n/a 2: Dog breed:  black lab 1: Did you answer all these truthfully?  wouldn’t you like to know

[morrisondauthor]

“Ex-Factor” – Part 1

*special thanks to @justthatsony for the pics and conversations that helped create this story!!!

           I was in the middle of getting ready for a friend’s party when Graham texted me asking if I wanted to hang out with him and his friends. I told him I was going to stop by a party and that I might be able to hang out with him and his friends after I leave. Just getting a text from him made me feel good inside. There’s just something about being with the right person that really changes you as a person, especially after a horrific previous relationship. And my two-year rollercoaster ride with my ex-boyfriend was downright tragic.

           “Sony,” my friend Riley said to me as we rode an Uber to the party, “you need to stay the whole party. You know I don’t like that bitch Evelyn.”

           “But she invited you to the party,” I said with a laugh.

           “She’s your friend, not mine. She only invited me so you’d show up.”

           “I really wish you’d put some effort into getting to know her, Riley. She’s a little extra but…”

           “A little extra? Boy, please! Tamar Braxton is a little extra. Evelyn is the fucking queen of extra.”

           I rolled my eyes and laughed before saying, “Just avoid her and talk to some of the cute niggas that are gonna be there. Her cousin Marlo is from Jersey and he’s bi. He’s gonna be there, and he loves fem niggas with long legs like you.”

           “Is he cute?”

           “He has that Jordan Calloway thing going on. Brotha is fine.”

           “Ooh, I love me some Jordan Calloway. Alright, I will keep my self preoccupied with trying to get his dick tonight. Who else is gonna be at the party?”

           “I know she invited a few other people who work with us at LeBeau Fashions. I think she invited some straight male models, too.”

           “You think any of them will be trade?”

           “I doubt it. You know most of them are lame ass wannabe rappers and shit, so they put on that homophobe front thinking it will get them into the industry.”

           He shook his head and said, “True.”

           We arrived at Evelyn’s apartment building in Flatbush a few minutes later. There were a few people hanging out in front of the building; but no one me nor Riley knew, so we entered the building and took the elevator up to the floor Evelyn’s apartment was on. I got another text from Graham saying he really wanted to see me that night, which was cute. I texted him back saying if the party was lame, I’d leave early.

                                                   Me (Sony)

           “Just as I expected,” Riley said as we entered the party. “This shit is lame as fuck.”

           I nudged him in the side and said, “Please do not start any drama with Evelyn tonight. Go find you some dick.”

           “Shit, you don’t have to tell me twice.” He split up from me and headed over to a group of guys.

           I looked around to see if I could spot Evelyn anywhere, but she wasn’t in sight. So, I decided to go make myself a drink. I assumed the drinks were in the kitchen because I didn’t see them anywhere else, so I headed there. The moment I stepped inside and saw Chris sitting up on a counter talking to some white boy, my mouth damn near dropped to the floor. Before I could back up, he looked towards the entryway and noticed me standing there.

                                                   Chris

           “Sony,” he said while rudely dismissing the white boy with his hand. “Long time no see, baby.”

           “What the hell are you doing here, Chris?” I asked while folding my arms in anger. “I thought I told you to stay the fuck away from me and my friends.”

           “My boy Travis got an invite and he brought me with him. I think he’s fucking your girl, Evelyn right now in her bedroom.”

           “Whatever.” I turned to leave, but he hopped down from the counter and stopped me.

           “Yo, what’s the rush? You ignore me on social media, you changed your number and now you don’t wanna talk to me? I’m not gonna try anything, baby. We’re in a small ass apartment with a bunch of people.”

           “Chris, I wasn’t kidding when I told you I’d go to the police if you ever fucked with me again. I’m done with you.”

           “I’ve changed.”

           “You’ve changed? In five months, you’ve changed? Fuck you, Chris.”

           “Damn, it’s like that?”

           “Yes, it’s like that! You’re lucky I didn’t go to the cops. And don’t you even think of following me or doing anything else because I will get my boyfriend to fuck you up.”

           He chuckled as he asked, “Boyfriend?”

           “Yes. He’s six-foot-five just like you and he will beat your punk ass.”

           “So, where is this magical boyfriend of yours?”

           “Go to hell, Chris. Go straight to hell.” I turned away from him again but he grabbed my arm hard. “What are you doing? Let go of me?” I hit him in the chest and tried to pull away from him. “Chris, let me go right now!”

           He smiled again and let my arm go before saying, “I’m sorry, baby. I just…I missed you. I still think about you and what we had.”

           “That’s right, it’s what we had. Do not talk to me again tonight.”

           I hurried out of the kitchen and tried to find Riley but couldn’t. I looked back to see Chris still standing in the kitchen entryway watching me. Without seeing Riley or Evelyn around, I began to panic. The moment Chris became preoccupied in a conversation with someone, I made a break for the front door and left the party as quickly as I could. Instead of taking the elevator, I took the stairs. I kept thinking he was going to know I left and would follow me, but no one else entered the stairwell as I made my way down to the ground floor.

           Chris was the ex-boyfriend I mentioned before, the one that put me through an emotional rollercoaster for two years. We met at an underground fashion show in Manhattan and it was a combination of lust and love at first sight. I was there because I had a contract designing for the Haus of Noir, an exclusive fashion house that focused only on black and dark grey clothing and accessories. He was there to model clothing for another underground designer. We exchanged looks behind the curtain for most of the show. Then as we were leaving, he offered me a ride home. We fucked in my apartment for two hours and then I never expected to see him again. About two days later, he found me on social media and told me he was openly bisexual and that he wanted to be my boyfriend.

           “Baby, where are you?” I asked Graham over the phone as I walked through the streets of Flatbush behind a group of people I didn’t know.

           “I’m at the Sprint store on Fulton Street with my friends,” he told me.

           “Good, I’m gonna get an Uber to bring me there.”

           “Sony, what’s wrong? You sound…”

           “I’m fine. I just wanna see you.”

           “I wanna see you, too, baby.”

           “I’ll get the car to take the Flatbush Avenue Extension, so I’ll be there in no time.”

           “Alright.”

           I turned off into a corner store and used the Uber app to get a car to pick me up from there. When it arrived a little while later, I hurried out to it and that’s when Evelyn called me. I answered the call, “I was at the party but never saw you. Where the hell were you?”

           “I was with Travis,” she said with a laugh. “You remember him, don’t you? He’s the model with…”

           “He’s Chris’s friend. Evelyn, Chris was at the party.”

           “Oh my God. Sony, I am so sorry.”

           “No, that was fucked up.”

           “I didn’t know Travis had brought him. Travis just walked up to me and talked me into going into my room.”

           “Well while you were getting dicked down, I got cornered by Chris in your kitchen.”

           “What did he say? He didn’t threaten you or anything, did he?”

           “No, but he was acting weird as fuck. You know I don’t want to be around him, Evelyn.”

           “I know and I am so sorry. You know I would never intentionally put you and him in the same place like that.”

           “Still, it was creepy so I got the fuck out of there.”

           “You couldn’t have taken Riley’s annoying ass with you?”

           “Bitch, I fucking dipped the moment I seen Chris was there. I don’t want him learning where I’ve moved to.”

           “Why all the fine ones gotta be so damn crazy?”

           “Speak for yourself. Graham is sexy and is in his right mind.”

           “Mmm hmm, so why haven’t you done the deed with him?”

           “Because I’m doing things differently this time around. Besides, Graham and I have done some things. We just haven’t done everything yet.”

           She laughed and said, “You and them fine ass bearded niggas, I swear.”

           “Look, I would’ve stayed at your party a little longer had he not been there. I was going to get a drink and boom; this nigga was right there in your kitchen. Had me shook.”

           “My bad, Sony. I can’t apologize to you enough. Had I known he was here, you know I would’ve told you.”

           “Yeah, I know. It’s okay. You can make it up to me by paying for lunch tomorrow.”

           “I got you, boo-boo.”

           “I’m about to meet up with Graham and some of his friends. I’ll talk to you later, girl.”

           “Alright. Bye, love.”

           “Goodnight.” I ended the call just as the car turned onto Fulton Street. When the car pulled up to the Sprint Wireless store, I confirmed the payment to my card plus the tip and hopped out.

                                                Graham

           “There he is,” Graham said to his friends as I entered the store. He put his arm around me and told me, “We’re all about to get something to eat so…” He noticed the look on my face and asked, “Baby, is something wrong?”

           “Nothing, I’m good.”

           “Come on y’all, let’s go get something to eat.”

           “Let’s go to the IHOP on Livingston,” said one of his friends. “We can walk there from here, it’s right around the block.”

           Graham and I became friends a few weeks after I broke up with Chris. We met at a party and then later ran into each other repeatedly because he was a photographer at some of the fashion shows I worked on. So we started this friendship and for the longest, I thought he was straight. When I learned he was in fact gay, I did make some advances but I’d already told him I was recovering from a bad breakup so he insisted that we take things slow. Over four months later, we were boyfriends but we hadn’t done much past oral sex. There was reluctance on both our parts to rush things.

           As me and Graham followed behind his friends towards the IHOP, I asked him, “What made you and your friends want to hang out in a Sprint store?”

           “Phil and his girl were already there, so the rest of us met up there.”

           “Oh, okay.”

           He put his arm around me as we walked and asked, “You sure you okay, baby?”

           “Yeah. I’m sure. I wish I would’ve skipped Evelyn’s party and just met up with you. Did you drive tonight?”

           “Yeah. My car is parked down Fulton.”

           “Well, after we stuff our faces with pancakes, how about we go back to your place?”

           “My roommate is gonna be home. Why don’t we just go back to your place?”

           “No. My neighbor has been listening to some grunge music lately and he plays it really loud.”

           “I guess we can go back to my place then. It ain’t like we’re gonna do anything anyway.”

           “We’ve been doing stuff.”

           He laughed a little and put his mouth close to my ear as he whispered, “I do love the taste of that sweet ass, baby.”

           I giggled and told him, “You are so nasty.”

           After eating in IHOP with his friends, we said goodnight to them and walked to his car. He drove us to his apartment in the Crown Heights area. The real reason why I didn’t want to go back to my place was because I still wasn’t one hundred percent sure that Chris hadn’t followed me from Evelyn’s place. I hoped that he didn’t because he’d know where Graham lived, but at least he wouldn’t have known where I lived.

           “You’re lucky I cleaned this room up,” Graham said as we entered his bedroom. He closed and locked the door before telling me, “Get out them clothes.” He burst out laughing and quickly said, “I’m just playing, baby.”

           “Yeah right,” I said while rolling my eyes. I sat down on his bed and took my shoes off before asking, “Can we watch a movie? I wanna cuddle up and watch a movie.”

           “We can watch whatever you want.” He bent down and kissed my lips before pulling back and taking off his shoes.

           “Hey baby?”

           “Yeah?”

           “Do you remember the bad breakup I told you about when I first met you?”

           “Yep. What about it?”

           “At Evelyn’s party tonight, I ran into my ex.”

           The moment I said that, he froze up. He slowly sat down beside me on the bed and asked, “Did you speak to him?”

           “Yes, and it was very awkward.”

           “Awkward how?”

           “Well, he kept calling me baby and…I don’t know. It was just weird. I told him to stay away from me. I didn’t even know he’d be at the party. I left as fast as I could.”

           “Sony, what happened between you and him?”

           “A lot happened. I did tell you he’s a model and that’s how I met him. I just haven’t told you everything.” I took a deep breath before revealing, “He hit me.”

           “What?!”

           “It was only once and that was when I broke it off. We were together for two years but the day he hit me was when I ended it. But it didn’t end there. He started stalking me and I had to threaten to go to the cops to get him to back off. Then I changed jobs and moved to a different part of Brooklyn. I changed my number and blocked him from my social media accounts. Tonight was my first time seeing him since before I met you.”

           “No wonder why you’ve been acting strange tonight. Sony, why didn’t you tell me earlier tonight?”

           “Because you were with your friends and I didn’t want to burden you with nonsense.”

           “It’s not nonsense. Baby, if you need me to talk to that nigga then…”

           “No. He knows not to try anything. I’m not going to let him scare me into changing jobs and moving again.”

           “Do you still think about him?”

           “No, I don’t. The only person I think about is you. I don’t have to worry about you snapping on me or you snorting a bunch of coke and then locking me in a bathroom overnight.”

           “He’s a cokehead?”

           “I’m not sure about now but when I was with him he was. I never even tried the stuff and never will.”

           “Good, because you know how I feel about drugs. I’ve seen too many people mess their lives up over that. Damn near every model is on it. I have to use Photoshop on so many of the pics I take because so many people are strung out on that crap.”

           “Whether Chris really has changed as he claimed tonight or not, I’ll never look back at him again. That chapter of my life is closed, and nothing will reopen it.”

           Graham kissed me and made me feel comfortable as we cuddled up on his bed and watched a movie. With my head on his chest and his arms around me, I felt a level of security that I knew I wouldn’t have felt had I went home that night. But I’d later find out that it was a false sense of security. No one person can keep you safe from demons, past or present. Sooner or later, those demons catch up to you and force you to confront them head on.

[Disclaimer]: Pictures used do not reflect the sexuality or personality of people in the pictures. They only serve as visual examples of the characters.

© D.A. Morrison 2017

[docholligay]

Between Us Girls

Perhaps, as @keyofjetwolf herself put it, the first Cagney and Lacey fanfic written in 15 years, commissioned by her. Friendship feelings, rare coming out drama from me, please let Jet know if you liked this at all (also me) Please bear in mind I have seen exactly *ONE* episode of C&L, so, this might be terrible. 

To say Chris wasn’t paying attention wasn’t entirely fair, and so Mary Beth wouldn’t have said it. She wished she had the words for what it was, that way Chris had of paying too much attention, focusing so intensely on the job that everything else got pushed from her mind, her eyes laser focused on the door to the small apartment building.

It always meant something else. Not that Chris wasn’t a good cop--most times, Mary Beth would say she was a great cop, a little old-school, a little reckless, mostly with herself, but a great cop. All that being true didn’t change the fact that Chris never focused more on the job than when something else in her life was falling apart.

It was wet and cold, the grey drizzle falling over the New York streets, the sidewalks shining like ice under the streetlights, and might have been, for how cold it felt. It seemed to match the wet and grey of Chris’ mood.

Mary Beth had gotten to know the different flavors of Chris’ distracted melancholy, over the years, and what it felt like when her father drank too much too often, when she drank too mucha and too often, when her job was frustrating her, and this one, her least favorite of them all, that Chris never opened the door to, that Mary Beth was never allowed to see.

That Chris’ door on the subject was about as effective as a clear plastic shower curtain didn’t seem to matter.

Chris kept her laser focus on the door, sipping at her coffee. Mary Beth privately wondered if there was anything else in it, but decided the moment wasn’t right, and besides, it would have been tough for Chris to sneak away from her to do it, and so she simply shrugged internally and leaned back in the seat.

“Cold tonight.” It was a cheap entry, but Chris didn’t usually have a very expensive cover charge.

Chris nodded. “More coffee in the thermos if you want it.”

Not spiked then, Mary Beth thought. That was, at the least, a good sign for the moment. She’d be reasonably clear-headed.

Mary Beth often found herself in this position with Chris, of wanting to talk, walking to let out the poison, and knowing that Chris wanted anything but. Of knowing how she would react, always defensively and as if she had something to hide, even if she could never hide anything from Mary Beth. That was the joke of it, always, the way Chris thought she could pull one over, even after all these years.

She would never let anyone else say Chris was stupid, but sometimes, Chris was stupid, and Mary Beth was very satisfied to say it to herself.

“You're sure quiet tonight.” She gave Chris a chuckle. “You mad at me or something?”

“No,” Chris smiled reassuringly, “Of course not. Just got a lot on my mind.” She shuffled down further into the seat, her coat climbing around her ears.

“Want to talk? Nothing else to do, waiting for a perp.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Sure it is.” It was never anything, when it was this thing. She always tried to slam the door in Mary Beth’s face, ignoring that she’d had a key for years, and it didn’t do much good.

“What’s got you in such a mood?” Chris bristled against her casual disbelief.

Mary Beth took a deep drink of her own coffee. “Can we talk about what’s really going on with you? As friends?”

Chris took in a deep breath. “I mean, you know my luck with men,” She shrugged, “always looking at the wrong one, in the wrong place, wrong time.”

Mary Beth sighed and shook her head. “Oh Chris, it’s not some man, it’s never some man, stop lying to me.”

That put her in a snit.

“Well, what do you want, Mary Beth?” She shrugged aggressively, pointedly looking out the windshield, not even angling her face toward Mary Beth

I want you to stop hiding from me. I want you to trust me. I want you to be honest with me. I want to be able to know all of you. I want you to know I know. I want you to be safe with me.

“You know I already know? Right?” Mary Beth looked at her, suddenly tired of the carried secret over the years, tired of the way in made Chris, who trusted her in so many things, cagey and quiet and suspicious.

Chris snorted and smacked her hand on the steering wheel and turned to Mary Beth. ‘Then why make me say it?!”

“Because I want you to trust me, you stubborn ass! You can tell me anythi--”

She waved her hand. “Mary Beth, this isn’t any of your business--”

“You’re gay, Christine! There it is. I told you, now you can tell me, okay?”

They sat in silence, Mary Beth’s arms crossed in front of her, Chris staring out the driver’s window, turned away from her.

“I’ve known a long time, Chris.” Mary Beth looked over at her. “When we first partnered up, about six months after that. I saw you with a woman, walking down the street. Harv and I had a date in the city. Seems like a lifetime ago.”

“What, I can’t have friends?!” She crossed her arms leaned against the window.

“Aw, Chris, don’t insult me, I know you like my 2 foot square backyard. You don’t look at your friends like you were looking at her. You don’t dress like she was dressed to get a drink with a friend.” She decided to go for broke. “You don’t look at men that way. You’ve tolerated every sad double date we’ve been on.”

Chris said nothing, not even mounting an attempt at denial,  simply continued to stare out the window, not looking at the building in front of them so much as looking through it, and Mary Beth felt a pang of guilt. She hadn’t meant to hurt Chris. She’d meant to make her feel better. To make her feel cared about. That was always its own battle with her, to let you show her love and care, to keep her from using everything as a weapon against herself, from pushing people away.

Mary Beth had stood and fought, from day one, whether Chris liked it or not.

The coffee steamed as Chris sat silent, the moments stretching into a block of silence, and she swore she could hear Chris’ mind whirring, chastising herself for being too much this and not enough that.

It wasn’t like she blamed her. If it got out in the squad, it was hard to say what would happen. She can’t imagine the lieutenant would be too surprised. Esposito’d be shocked, Isbecki would say he’d known the whole time on account of Chris’ disinterest.  If Chris were on, she’d shoot back that if that were true, the entire female population of New York would be lesbians.

She probably wouldn’t be on top it that day.

Mary Beth might have to pop off for her.

So no, she didn’t blame her. Except for not trusting her partner.

Thinking over all of this, and imagining Chris thinking the same, Mary Beth grew tired of the quiet, the strangeness hanging between them. If it was already here, she may as well take it all the way home. God only knew when she’d get the chance again. It would nag at her if she didn’t sure as a mosquito in the bedroom.

“Does Charlie know?” As soon as she blurted it, it seemed like an inappropriate question, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want the answer.

Chris looked at her wildly and hit the edge of the steering wheel again. “Of course Charlie doesn’t know! Can you imagine what he’d say? Mary Beth, you can be so--”

Well, she wasn’t sitting and pouting anymore, at least.

She spoke softly. “I think he’d say he loves you, Chris.” She tried to lighten the mood, and chuckled. “And take it easy on the car, you want to cost the city?”

Chris shook her head and leaned toward the window, head in her hand. “Forget I said anything..” She thumped the edge of the window, rattling off words as fast as she could, so fast that an excuse might come. “Everything is so easy for you Mary Beth, you don’t even know--”

“I think he’d feel that way. I know I do. I know it doesn't matter to me, Chris.” She shrugged. “I don’t think Charlie’d feel different from me.”

Chris avoided her gaze, just gesturing into the distance, still sputtering. “Oh you think Harvey’d just be fine with it, you go home and tell him your partner's a--”

“I don’t think Harv’s gonna be very surprised, Christine, I know we’re from Queens, but give us a little credit here.”

Chris looked out the window, but her expression changed, and she bit her lip. “I didn’t ever want to tell you.”

Mary Beth turned her whole body, slightly insulted. “Do you not trust me, or what? We’ve been partners for years, Chris, you think something like that would matter to me? I’m some small-minded idiot? It’s the 80s, Chris, for God’s sake.”

Chris turned toward her, her face in a scowl. “You don’t understand, Mary Beth, it matters to everyone. Easy for you to say, with your nice husband and your nice kids you can bring everywhere, and everyone understands, and it’s so EASY for you, Mary Beth, you don’t have to spend your entire life holding your breath.”

Mary Beth’s face softened, and she nodded. “You’re right. It is easy for me.”

Chris paused a moment, taken aback by her easy admittance of the fact, as if she’d expected nothing but a fight. Chris had spent her whole life ready to fight.

But Mary Beth didn’t come with a fist. Maybe that was always what was hardest of all.

“But I’m not the world, Christine. I’m Mary Beth Lacey, and I care about you, and I want to be a part of your life. All of it.” She reached out and touched Chris’ forearm. “You don’t have to go it alone, Chris.”

Chris just looked at her, searching her face, the partner she had known so well and who she had trusted in so many ways asking her to trust her in just one more.

“You won’t tell anyone?” She asked cautiously.

“I’ve known for years.” Mary Beth shrugged and gave a reassuring laugh. “Not even interesting to me now, there’s nothing to tell.” She patted her arm. “But I promise. I won’t even tell Harvey, if you don’t want me to, though, kinda ruins my plans to ask you and your girlfriend,” she hoped it came out smoothly, she had practiced saying it to Chris so many times, “over for dinner.”

Chris gave a weak laugh. “What girlfriend?”

“You’re as much of a disaster with women as you pretended to be about men? Chris, I’m shocked.” Mary Beth quipped dryly.

Chris laughed, genuinely this time. “You can be a real shit, you know that, Mary Beth?”

“So who was she?” Mary Beth sipped at her coffee. “And why do we hate her?”

“Her name was Dana.” Chris’ shoulders, for once, seemed to relax. “And the trouble is I don’t hate her at all.”

“That’s what I’m here for, anyways.”

“Mary Beth?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

The man they were looking for never did materialize that night. Whether he caught wind of where they were looking, or stopped at the bar and had to many, or was caught off guard by a downed subway line, they couldn’t say. Mary Beth would never remember. But what she did remember, in all the years that followed, the shared joys and pains and victories and struggles, is the warm night in the freezing cold New York streets, where she felt like she saw the whole of her best friend for the first time.  

[avaalons]

Chris Evans Fic: Back Together

You paused at the door to smooth down the imaginary wrinkles in your dress, but mainly to try and steady your nerves. It had been five long months since the break up and you hadn't laid eyes on him in the flesh since then. But, of course, meeting at a mutual friend's wedding was inevitable and today would be the biggest test of all. How would he look? Would he be with someone? Brought a date? Or would he be alone, like you? Did he remember why you had broken up? Because night after night of scrolling through digital albums of your snaps and videos on your phone of the two of you rendered your memory useless and the events that led to you walking out that day were now hazy and vague. 

And now here you were, about to see him for the first time since then. You still hadn't really got a game plan together for how you would act. Cool and aloof? Bright and breezy? Contrite and apologetic? It was too hard to decide but, regardless, you knew the moment you saw him, your brain would do its own thing anyway. 

Other guests had gone past you through the doors to be seated in the expansive ballroom where the ceremony was taking place and you knew you needed to move. What if he saw you here, nervous and hesitant? No, you needed to keep your cool and your head. So, as you approached the ushers, you took a deep breath, straightened your shoulders and steeled yourself.

'Good afternoon, bride or groom?' One of the ushers smiled at you. He was young and you vaguely recognised him from Facebook photos and get together held by your friends. Cousin? Nephew? 

'Uh... bride, I guess.' Actually, you knew both Sarah and Matt pretty well and, in fact, it had been at one of their big summer barbecues that you'd met Chris. An orchestrated meeting, of course. Today's bride and groom had been certain the two of you were perfect for each other, and they had been right, up to a point. You figured, however, that Chris would choose to sit on the groom's side, having known him since high school, and you didn't want to risk being too close.

You were directed to the bride's side of the congregation and sat down, making small talk with the older couple next to you as you attempted to discreetly scan the room for a familiar head (do NOT think about running your fingers through his hair) and broad set of shoulders (and definitely don't think about digging your fingertips into the muscles there). You took in some of the details: aunt and uncle, travelled all the way to Boston from London for the wedding. Sarah had lived with them for a year while she completed an internship straight out of college but they hadn't seen their niece in person since then.

You couldn't see Chris anywhere and the tension was rising within you. What if he wasn't attending? That notion dawned on you with sudden horror - what if he hated you that much, wanted to avoid you so badly, that he wasn't attending his high school buddy's wedding? You felt sick and flip flopped between desperately wanting to see him and never wanting to lay eyes on him again.

The ushers were about to leave their posts at the doors. Matt and his best man were taking their positions at the front - it was about to start. Where was he??

Sarah's aunt's quiet voice drifted into your consciousness from your left side.

'We heard there was going to be a big movie star here, one of Matt's friends apparently. We don't really know who we're looking for though. Do you think he's here yet?'

You look at her incredulously for a split second - not because you couldn't believe she didn't know who Chris was but because the universe had inspired to her to mention him at that very moment as you were tearing yourself up inside over seeing him. A sudden rush of movement to your right had your head spinning around and then your heart stopped. There he was on the row of chairs across the aisle from you, quickly unbuttoning his navy blue suit jacket as he sat down, a little flustered but clearly relieved he'd made it in time. He was alone, and he looked good. As good as you remembered. He did a quick recce of the room and faltered slightly when his gaze landed on you. You stopped breathing. 

But then there was a half smile (slightly unsure, maybe even tinged with a hint of sadness) and a half wave of acknowledgement and you felt your whole body relax, tension fading away with surprising speed as your lips quirked up. The hardest part was done. 

You turned back to Sarah's aunt, thinking about what Chris would have done in response to her innocent inquiries about the movie star guest.

'He's probably a bit of an ass, like most of those Hollywood types,' you grinned at her as the first chords of Sarah's entrance music began and the whole room turned to look for her arrival.

 ***

The ceremony was gorgeous, Sarah looked ethereally beautiful and the happiness of the day was spilling over into all things. A tear or two had escaped your eyes as you looked between Sarah and Matt. You and Chris should have been stood side by side watching your friends get married, thinking ahead to the day when you'd be walking down the aisle to Chris' smiling face. 

You had seen a few of your friends gathered and, seeing that Chris wasn't currently with them, you integrated yourself quickly as the photographer was calling out for photos. You hadn't realised how much you had missed them during yourself self-imposed isolation since the break up. You had thrown yourself into work and had avoided anything that reminded you of Chris, which unfortunately included all your mutual friends.

Lucy turned to you while everyone else was listening to a story from one of the guys, and spoke in a quiet voice meant just for you, a glass of champagne delicately held between her fingers, 'Have you spoken to him yet?'

You shook your head, 'No, not yet. He's seen me, he knows I'm here. I've not seen him since we were in the ceremony.'

'He's over with Matt's parents at the moment. What even happened with you two anyway? I was so shocked when I heard.'

'It was so silly, I can barely remember. I think a lot of pressure had been building with our jobs and we were having a lot of time apart and... it was hard,' you shrugged. There wasn't an explanation, not really. It was just life, just one of those things.

Lucy gave you a look of sympathy, then looked over at him speculatively, 'Well, you never know. He's not brought anyone with him today.'

'I've not heard from him in five months, Luce, I think it's safe to say we're over.'

'You don't need to get back together to have a round of ex-sex, that's all I'm saying,' she raised her eyebrows and plucked another glass of champagne from the servers tray as one strolled past, 'Here, take this, you're going to need all the help you can get.'

You inclined your head in acceptance, clinked your glass with hers and took a slightly unladylike mouthful of bubbles. You'd been so wound up, you hadn't eaten at all so far and you knew, just knew, the drink was all going to go straight to your head. 

 ***

You had been relieved to see that you and Chris were seated at separate tables, although you had rolled your eyes slightly when you realised you had been seated at the singles table. Chris, meanwhile, was with some of Matt's family, including one very giggly and bashful, but rather young cousin who had been tossing her blonde locks over her shoulder for so much of the meal, it was a wonder she managed to eat anything. She can't have been any more than twenty years old but it grated on you all the same. You hated to admit that you were relieved to see Chris being nothing but polite and amenable. You knew what Chris' flirt mode looked like and thankfully it was not switched on. 

You had managed to consume a few glasses of wine with dinner, and another glass of champagne with the toasts and speeches and by the time you excused yourself momentarily to head to the bathroom, your head was spinning slightly. Concentrating on keeping one foot in front of the other, you made it out of the room without bumping into anyone. 

On the way back, you discreetly paused at the main hotel bar for a glass of ice water, not wanting anyone to see you trying to sober yourself up at the reception bar where the wedding reception was being held. 

'Water already? It's only six o'clock,' a deep, velvety voice, tinged with amusement, came from behind you and you closed your eyes momentarily while you steadied yourself. You'd missed that voice. It still managed to send a tingle down your spine. Turning around carefully, your glass of water in hand, you suddenly felt shy and didn't quite meet his gaze.

'Bubbles went to my head a little quicker than expected.'

He stood not three feet away, hands casually tucked in his trouser pockets, adopting a pose of deliberate nonchalance. When you did eventually look him in the eye, you immediately wished you hadn't. You were surrounded by people but you may as well have been in a room alone with him, those blue eyes making you want to spill everything you'd refused to acknowledge for months now. I miss you. I want you. I still love you. 

Instead, you took a sip of your water. 

'You look good. Really good. A little on the skinny side maybe,' a small, boyish grin appeared and it made it so easy to forget the arguments and the insults, hurtful words spoken in anger and passion. 

You shrugged it off, 'Well, work's had me pretty busy. Constantly on the go. You don't look so bad yourself.'

You didn't say that you'd barely eaten for the first three months and even now, would still go forty eight hours having forgotten to eat a single thing.

Suddenly, you were overwhelmed with questions. Had he followed you out here? What did he want? Why wasn't he flirting with Matt's cousin? She was attractive and he was well within his rights to. Was he seeing someone? Why didn't he bring her?  Did he want to have ex-sex? Why hadn't he tried to see you or speak to you? Why hadn't he called? Did he miss you as much as you missed him?

'I heard you went on a date.'

That silenced the bouncing in your brain at least. You were momentarily stunned.

'What - how did you? It wasn't -,' you stuttered defensively over the beginnings of sentences until you remembered you'd done nothing wrong and your eyes narrowed, 'We've been broken up for five months, Chris.'

'I know, but right now I can't seem to remember why.'

He was still mildly grinning but that comment made your hackles rise. It was all suddenly crystal clear in your mind.

'I seem to remember you calling me a dumb bitch for accidentally spilling water on your childhood Pats scrapbook.'

At least he had the decency to look sheepish, 'That was very wrong of me and I'm beyond sorry. That was just a silly fight though, I don't think that was why we actually ended things. It might have been the final straw but it wasn't the whole cause.'

You didn't really know what to say to that. Sure, he'd been pretty nasty to you but you had been awful back, you remembered, and he was right; ruining the one sentimental thing he held closest to his heart from his childhood may have started the argument but it wasn't what finished it.

'Chris... I'm not sure what you want me to say to that. Surely we're not going to rehash our whole relationship at the bar of Sarah and Matt's wedding? What's done is done, it's over, we're moving on.'

'I'm not.'

You drew in a quick breath at that as you realised just how much you'd wanted to hear that. But you were confused too.

'Chris, I haven't heard from you in five months. That seems pretty 'moved on' to me.'

He was shaking his head in disagreement, 'You left me. Not the other way around.'

The air was static around you as you held his gaze. The words of a million questions were beginning to form on your tongue, you just needed a few seconds to get them in order.

'Evans?! Come on man, Matt wants a picture of all the high school guys,' a male voice drifted from somewhere close by. No, don't take him away. I need... we need...

But before you could say anything, Chris had given you an apologetic smile and was off into the crowd, meandering around people to go and have a photograph with all his high school friends, leaving you, alone, with your water. 

You turned back to the bar, abandoning your glass on the glossy wooden surface, 'Excuse me, bring me a vodka, lime and lemonade please. Double. And a shot of tequila.'

 ***

The disco was in full swing, the DJ playing a whole host of songs that the bride and groom and their friends were reminiscing too. The lights were making hypnotising patterns on the wall and you were trashed. Luckily, Lucy had joined you so you weren't drinking alone like a total loser. 

'How can he just say that, Luce? You left me. Not the other way around. Like it's my fault we haven't spoken in months,' you were angry and slurring, perched on the counter top in the bathroom as Lucy attempted to refresh her lipstick.

'I know babe,' she replied, bottom lip done and lipstick waving around in the air, 'He's got no right. He can't just show up here smiling at you and expect you to fall at his feet.'

'Tell me about it. What does he take me for?! It's going to take more than that, thank you very much.' 

'I think you just need to take control. Accost him. Take him to your hotel room. Use him for the night. Let all your anger out.'

This seemed like the total opposite of what you should do, given your conversation up to now.

'But Luce, didn't we just say he needs to work harder? Like, I can't just go and throw myself at him.'

'No, no, no. You've got this all wrong. If you do the asking - no, telling - you've got the power. It's not throwing yourself at him. It's taking control.'

Lucy had always been better at dealing with the opposite sex than you. She was smart and sexy, and knew how to work a guy.

You made your decision. You stood up from the counter with purpose, turning to look at your reflection in the mirror. You plumped up your boobs in your bra, fluffed your hair and spritzed perfume lightly over your body. Chris wasn't going to know what hit him.

'Taking control, that's what I'm doing. I call the shots.'

Lucy nodded definitively, 'You got this.'

Rummaging in your clutch bag to make sure you still had the two key cards for your hotel room in there, you pulled one out and wrapped your fingers around it. One last glance in the mirror and you were ready.

 ***

Chris stood in the long line of his high school buddies, the seventh shot of the night in front of him, watching the server run the bottle of liquor down the line of glasses, filling each one with burning, sweet liquid. This was such a bad idea.

He had promised himself he'd keep his head while he was here. He couldn't afford to get too emotional with you around. He was already regretting the things he'd said earlier - why had he mentioned hearing that you'd been on a date? He couldn't have anymore of a creepy stalker if he'd tried - and that was after only one glass of champagne.

But here he was, doing shots with his high school friends. His plan for getting you back was going to have to wait, but maybe if he stopped drinking now, he could put it into action later. It was only - he glanced at his watch - eight thirty after all. Jesus. Seven shots in all before 9pm. 

'More!' One guy said from down the line at the bar. Matt, the groom, started to shake his head while holding up his hands in surrender. 

'No, please no! I'd actually like to have sex with my wife tonight if that's okay with you all,' Matt begged out as a loud jeer went up from the group at the word sex. Apparently you can take the boys out of high school...

Chris saw his opportunity to take a break, 'I gotta take a piss so you bunch of losers decide what's happening next while I'm gone.'

He stumbled away from the bar, shaking his head in amusement, but stopped short when he saw you across the room, leaning against a door way with your gaze fixed steadily on him. Chris suddenly felt extraordinarily hot under the layers of his three piece suit. You pushed yourself away from the wall and began a slow, confident walk towards him. God, you really did look amazing. 

'Hi,' Chris threw out as you approached, and instantly regretted it. What was it about you that made him sound like a fucking idiot every time?

'Hi,' one corner of your mouth quirked up as you mimicked his greeting, 'I was thinking...'

You reached out to brush some imaginary dust from his lapel. It felt so good to touch him again. 

'Hmm?' was his intrigued reply.

'Maybe you'd want to make use of this,' you held up your keycard, clamped between your index and middle finger. Without waiting for his reply, you slipped it into the breast pocket on his jacket, behind his pocket square, before turning around and walking back to the party. 

It was early in the evening, there was no way you were heading upstairs yet. You'd make him wait. You were in control after all.

Chris watched you sashay away, still trying to formulate a coherent thought. This was not part of his plan! His plan was to be a gentleman, to talk, to arrange to go to dinner, to apologise for not fighting harder, to lay out all his reasons for getting back together and what you could both do differently this time. He had not factored keycards and hotel rooms into the equation. But now the option was there and he'd be lying if he said it wasn't tempting. 

 ***

The next few hours ticked by unbearably slowly. You analysed every single thing you'd said and done up to this point and you wished beyond everything you had waited until later to give him the keycard. Passing it over so early just meant you had to endure pure torture for close to four hours. You weren't cut out for this. It was a mistake. You couldn't switch off your feelings and have just sex with him. You still loved him for God's sake. What if he didn't show? You didn't think you could recover from the humiliation. 

Eventually though, it was midnight and the DJ was wrapping up with the slow songs. You were coiled so tightly, you felt you would snap any moment so you jumped when you felt a warm hand on the small of your back.

'Dance with me,' came the deep, velvet reply, gentle and persuasive in your ear. His hand guided you to a spot on the dance floor and he gave you a little spin before settling an arm around your waist and holding your left hand in his right. You were flush against him under the disco lights as you swayed from side to side. It felt like home, and you felt like crying. Inexplicably, you knew he wouldn’t sleep with you tonight. He was going to be a gentleman.

He didn't say anything so you tried to read his face but he wasn't giving much away. You wondered idly how drunk he was. Could you just pass this all off as you being overwhelmed with the emotion of the day? All of a sudden, you felt desperately sad, as though all the efforts you had made to stay focused and present had just crumbled around you, letting all your grief in once more. You rested your weary head against his shoulder as you danced, afraid that he would see your eyes welling up if you'd stayed as you were. You could feel the tickle of his beard as his chin came to rest atop your head and you felt the loss of him for the last five months keenly. Breathing deeply, you remembered his warm, masculine scent and how   comforting and yet sexy it had always been.

‘I’ve missed you, baby girl.’

Your grip on his hand tightened, ‘Chris, don’t. It hurts too much.’

‘It won’t for much longer. We’re getting back together.’

That made you pull back to look him in the face as you raised an eyebrow, ‘You seem very sure of yourself, Evans.’

He simply smiled. It wasn’t an overly confident or smug smile. It was affectionate and maybe even a little bashful, ‘Come with me.’

He led you by the hand out of the ballroom through double doors onto the outdoor terrace. The air was cool and it helped clear your head slightly, as though everything was back in focus out of the heady emotion of the dancefloor.

He guided you towards a wrought iron love seat and tugged on your hand to pull you next to him as he sat down. Once seated, he wrapped an arm around your shoulders, keeping you close to his side.

‘We never should have broken up, should we?’

‘Chris, the reasons we broke up still exist. You’re still going to be away a lot and that will inevitably cause strain. We can’t change that.’

‘No, but we can deal with it better.’

There was silence for a moment as you gazed out over the gardens, twinkling in the night with subtle outdoor lamps.

‘We haven’t spoken in five months. If we’re meant to be together, why did we just back out without a single word? Why didn’t we fight for what we had?’

‘Because we’re too stubborn?’ You could hear the smile in his voice, ‘I don’t know about you, but after I stopped being angry about our fight, I started waiting for this exact night, hoping the occasion might make you more amenable to my plan.’

You couldn’t help but scoff at that, ‘I didn’t make you work very hard, did I? Still got my keycard?’

Chris barked out a laugh, ‘Yep, but I don’t think I’ll need it.’

Your heart sank and cheeks flushed. This is exactly what you were afraid of. How could he say all of this and then just reject you so easily in the same breath?

‘You don’t want to…’ you pushed yourself up and made to get away. Run and hide in your humiliation. But his grip was firm.

‘Hey, that’s not what I meant. You are the sexiest, most attractive woman I know. I meant I won’t need it because we’re going up together. You can let me in yourself. No sex – I’m determined. I’m doing this properly. But we can talk about important things and chat about less important things and we can take a shower and lie around in fluffy robes and make out. You can fall asleep wrapped around me and tomorrow night, I’m going to take you on a date. A real pick-you-up, flowers-at-the-front-door date,’ he planted a kiss on the top of your head, ‘That sound okay? I’ll even pick up the whole tab.’

You grinned, ‘Sounds perfect. You got nowhere to be?’

‘Nope. I’m taking a few months off while I get my head together and focus on some things in my life that I only truly realised the importance of once they were gone.’

Your eyes threatened to well again and you couldn’t keep the words in as you whispered, ‘I love you.’

‘I love you. So much,’ Chris spoke with weight in his words.

‘Is it enough to keep us together, do you think?’

‘More than enough this time, I promise.’

Your chest filled with warmth, hope lighting you up from the inside out. You had a lot to thank Sarah and Matt for, as it turned out.

[spicyreyes]

Garbage and filth for Red

@patiently-burning here you go my friend enjoy this crack

The problem with Chris joining their group - other than the drains on medical supplies trying to stabilize him, the hard work it took to get him out of his depressed slump, the constant headaches of Nick’s ribbing at him, and the other five thousand issues that came up on a daily basis - was that the original group had been a well-oiled machine before the Angels found them. Adding a new person in the mix, especially one who was still re-learning how to use various weapons, threw off their dynamic. There was a hesitation in their response time, a blind spot in their watch, and-...

“God fucking dammit, Ellis!”

-...And a lot of room for error.

“Sorry, Nick!” Ellis called, scrambling to knock back a zombie far enough to shoot it in the face. “I tried to get him!”

Nick glared at the boomer bile that was crusting onto his shoe - only his shoe, thankfully, though he’d have preferred it not gotten anywhere near him. “I caught that,” Nick said. “What with the six bullets that whizzed by me as you tried to remember how guns work.”

There was a brief pause, before Ellis quietly muttered, “It weren’t six, Nick.”

From where Chris stood, back-to-back with Rochelle as was his usual fighting position, he corrected, “I believe it is wasn’t, tonto.”

“Hit him for me,” Nick spat to Rochelle. “That means idiot.”

“It does not!” Chris protested, as Rochelle obligingly stepped back slightly, causing her partner to stumble. “...Not exactly.”

“Christophe,” Rochelle snapped, and the man immediately relented. “Lo siento, jefe,” Chris said, the last word having a faint sarcastic lilt to it. “And my apologies to you as well, conejito. I took the insults you swap to be friendly banter and joined.”

“You’re fine, man!” Ellis called, over the sound of gunfire, because the zombies kept fucking coming. “Nick calls me a whole lotta stuff, ‘cause he’s rude like that, and I know you don’t mean it like that. If y’all were really mad at me, I feel like I’d get a lot worse, so I ain’t really too upset about a name or two.” He turned a bright grin on the spaniard. “And anyways, Nick’s prolly only callin’ you out on it to get us to stop payin’ attention to the fact he’s got a shoe full of zombie puke because he nearly ran into the thing.”

“Trying to get away from your dumb ass,” Nick growled back. “Fuck, these things are endless! Can we get off the goddamned street?”

Chris and Ellis shared a look, amused and mutually accepting that Nick was not going to let them draw attention to his mistake for more than a couple of seconds at a time.

Coach, apparently deciding that the time to let the kids bicker freely was over, called out, “There’s a store there that’s all boarded - I bet it’s secured.”

“Ah, yes, because I want to break into a boarded building,” Nick griped, but headed toward the sketchy little shop nonetheless.

The lock on the door was so rusted that Nick simply lifted a foot and gave it a couple solid kicks, knocking the whole doorknob off. The door slumped down on its hinges and swung out lazily, and the survivors all scrambled in, Nick pulling the door back shut behind them. Coach and Ellis grabbed the edges of the first shelf by the door and pushed it into the space behind the doorway to bar it closed, while Nick reached over and experimentally flicked the lightswitch, just in case the city power grid or store generators were still running.

With luck, they were. Lights came on all around them, illuminating…

“Oh my God,” Rochelle muttered, as the type of store they were in was revealed.

“Well,” Nick said, looking out into the sea of novelty items and sex toys. “That explains the boarded front.”

Coach blinked slowly, before shaking his head and heading to one of the boarded windows, prying out a rotted section of wood to have a view of the street. “I’m too old for this shit,” he muttered, and settled down to keep watch, clearly calling dibs on the position that involved the least interaction with the store’s merchandise.

Chris laughed quietly at Rochelle’s pale face and Ellis’ flushed cheeks and flustered stuttering. Nick ignored all of them, instead making a grand show of browsing the shelves appreciatively.

Rochelle let out a loud sigh after a minute, and looped her arm around Ellis’ shoulders, dragging him off. “Come on, boy,” she told him. “The sane ones here need to stick together.”

Ellis ran a hand down his face as Rochelle stopped in front of a shelf off to the side. “I cain’t believe we ended up in a pervy shop like this. I ain’t never been in one of these in my life.”

Rochelle laughed. “I didn’t expect to spend an apocalypse in one, but I’ve seen a couple.” As Ellis continued to stutter, she scooped up a box, showing it to him.

Ellis nearly died at the label, happily declaring it a kit to clone a penis for a custom dildo. “For Nick,” she suggested. At Ellis’ raised eyebrow, she elaborated, “So he can go fuck himself.”

Ellis snorted without really meaning to, and soon they were both in hysterics, cracking up over the sheer absurdity of the situation.

Nick approached them then, looking ridiculously pleased with himself. “I found your favorite, Ellis,” he said, and both the others were instantly on alert.

Ellis looked down as Nick shoved a bag at him, going tomato red yet again at what he held there: gummies, like the worms he loved, but shaped as tiny penises.

Looking up to Nick’s smugly amused face, Ellis made an impulsive move, and grabbed the bag, popping it open.

“Wait, El-...”

Ellis didn’t hesitate, just scooped out a few of the gummy dicks and popping them into his mouth.

“Huh,” he said, chewing thoughtfully. “These are good. Thanks, Nick.”

The gambler was staring dumbly at him, and he grinned.

“You want one?” He held one out, taking a strange joyous satisfaction as it flopped from the end of his fingers to dangle in Nick’s face.

The gambler turned and walked off without a word, and Ellis and Rochelle dissolved back into giggles.

Shortly after, Rochelle would repeat the clone-dildo joke to Nick’s face, and it would turn into an every-man-for-himself joke showdown, with Rochelle and Ellis being the only two with an alliance.

Coach, from his space on the window, really wished he hadn’t chosen to turn around at all, given he did so to see Chris holding up slightly scandalous underwear to a glaring Rochelle, who was holding a massive dildo, while Ellis shoveled his face full of penis-shaped foods and Nick tried to subtly pocket some of the smaller items to use in his ‘secret’ nighttime rendezvous with Ellis.

“Lord, if this is punishment for somethin’,” Coach drawled, watching the zombies on the street flop about in boomer bile like puppies in mud. “I can’t help but think you’re goin’ a bit far.”