#it happened when I put the big parka on and then stood next to a bed

[toadlett]

I found a glitch in Disco Elysium so poweful i had to stop playing and draw Lieutenant Double Yefrietor Harrier "noodle arms" DuBois.

[lokilickedme]

In less than 2 hours we sign the papers for our house and are officially no longer homeless. We've been basically drifters since December 4 of last year and while it's been interesting to say the least, I think I'm going to have to face the fact that at this point in my life I don't care to do anything like this ever again. What a long strange trip it's been. There were some experiences along the way that I wouldn't want to miss if it had never happened the way it did, though...

Some good, some not so much.

Like sitting in our empty house on the final night before we hit the road, talking to my only living sibling over pizza about life in general and our lives in particular, knowing we'd probably never see each other again after this trip but finally understanding each other after 40-something years of pretending things were a certain way in our family and acknowledging that no, they're not

Packing up an entire house in less than a week, just me and my brother, and coming to the profound realization that the lives of four whole people can be loaded into boxes and stacked in a truck and after a couple of days you stop missing the stuff you put in them

The windstorm in the Texas panhandle that blew me straight into the gas pumps the moment I stepped out of the car and hearing what had to be a 90 year old man yell JESUS CHRIST WHAT MOTHERFUCKER PISSED IN POSEIDON'S POST TOASTIES...and wondering for the next 200 miles what the god of the sea had to do with a windstorm in Dumas

Listening to Little read town names from the back seat and agreeing wholeheartedly with his pronunciation of Dumas as Dumbass

Telling my kids the story of Milagro as we passed through with white knuckles and picking up my phone to hear my husband say "Hey, you remember what happened that night in Milagro?"

Listening to a radio deejay speak Diné for hours as we drove through Navajo Nation land in New Mexico

Finally seeing the Shiprock for the first time

The snowstorm that chased us all the way from Santa Fe to Moab

Watching/trying not to watch the couple on the balcony above us at the hotel in Monticello while we stood in the parking lot trying to figure out which way to go (they were gettin’ it epic, ya’ll)

Seeing the first massive range of mountains in the rear view mirror as we headed over the second

Being tired of mountains by the time we hit the third

Losing the race to beat the snowstorm and waking up in Castle Valley to more snow than I’ve seen in 40 years

Heading out of Castle Valley like our asses were on fire to beat the second blast of the oncoming storm

Eating something in Moab Utah that...I don’t know what that was.  It was good, but I’m not doing that again.  Mama likes to know what’s going in her mouth thanks

Screaming over the walkie-talkies with my brother and Big in the truck in front of us and some random traveler who was on the same channel as we crossed the border into Colorado

Taking pictures while I was driving and having people in passing vehicles wave at the camera

The snow

God, the snow.  Oh, and the rockslide.

Watching the Bookcliffs get bigger and bigger the closer we got to our destination

Arriving at our destination as homeless drifters and wondering why it wasn’t as romantic and exciting this time as it was when I did it alone 30 years ago.  Must have had something to do with the kids having farting contests in the motel room.

Going down to the motel lobby every morning for a week in my pajamas and parka for what seemed like the best damn coffee in the whole world while the blizzard blasted around us like it was never gonna end

Waving to the snow plow every day at noon from the motel balcony with the boys

Snowflakes the size of your fist

Lobby coffee.  I still have wet dreams about it.

Never wanting to see the inside of another motel for as long as I live after just about 4 days of being cooped up in one room with three males and two cats.  The lobby coffee helped

Moving into the ranch.  The murderous peacock horde and Jim the bull and the goat with no ears that bites the back of your leg as you run screaming and never knowing if it was JD, Dingo, or Ratch that was banging around in the basement at any given 2 am and never finding out what Dingo looks like because you only ever saw him from a distance, but nothing beats a good mystery and you know I have available faceclaims

Sitting in the attic with my notebook, typing away while it snows outside on the little mountain town we’re about to call home

Getting an explosive nosebleed in Rock’s Record Store under a life sized poster of George Harrison and going outside only to slip and fall in the dead center of the street, which around these parts is how new residents become locals

Feeling all kinds of weird despair when being told over the phone by an official with the Colorado Department of Education that without a permanent address I would have to register my boys as homeless to be able to continue their homeschooling

Looking at house after house and finding empty closets to cry in in strangers’ homes because everything was either too tiny, too expensive, needed too much work, too expensive, too far from husband’s workplace, too expensive, too everything and too nothing and just...too too

Finding a house we could afford and coming to within two weeks of closing only to have it yanked out from under us and finding out it was a blessing in disguise because no shit you guys, the deceased previous owner owed some dangerous people a lot of money and they had liens on the house that the deceased previous owner’s daughter didn’t know about before she put it up for sale.  The house has since been taken off the market and the daughter has disappeared.

Finding another house we love in an incredible location in our price range (barely) that ISN’T being repo’ed by the mafia and putting in an offer on it within one hour of the listing going live...and being informed the next afternoon that we got it.

Calling the Colorado Department of Education back and having them remove the boys’ homeless status.

.

This afternoon after the closing/signing we start unloading our stuff from the storage lockers into the house and we are having our Bootleg Christmas in February, folks.  I have gifts packed up that we didn’t have time to open before we left (we were on the road on Dec 25 and my brother, an anti-holiday Culty, was with us the entire week before that helping me pack up the house) so I finally get to see what @texmexdarling sent me :)

See you guys on the other side.

[thatesqcrush]

Retrouvaille

Rafael Barba x Reader. For @barbasimp - winner of Holiday Bingo. Prompt: Maybe a fic where Rafael and the reader were a thing before he left new york after the incident, but when he comes back he sees how close Carisi and the reader are and gets HELLA JEALOUS.

AN: This takes immediately during 22x04, “Sightless in a Savage Land.”  Script found here.  Coffee reference (above and in the fic - from 19x9, Gone Baby Gone.

AN2: Using “Sway” by The Kooks for VDay bingo. Lyrics denoted in bold.

AN3: Retrouvaille is a French word meaning rediscovery - the happiness of meeting or finding someone after a long separation. 

Warnings: language & smut (p in v sex, implied cunnilingus).  WC: 3.3K

****

To say you were anxious was an understatement; your leg bounced restlessly as you and your Captain sat in the diner. It had been unbearably cold and despite still wearing your parka and the hot cup of coffee in front of you, you could not warm up.

“Y/N, are you okay?” Olivia replied as she poured some milk into her coffee. She stirred the coffee with one hand and reached out to grab your hand from across with the other. “You don’t have to be here.”

“Nope, I am good.” You replied coolly, your lips emphasizing the ‘p’ sound. You looked out the window, watching the people mill about on the street. A blast of cold breezed through the diner. You looked past Olivia and you felt your stomach flop at the sight of the man approaching the booth. You stood and switched sides of your seat, choosing to sit next to Olivia.

The last time you saw Rafael Barba, he was worn and depressed, with tears lining his eyes as he stood in front of the courthouse. It was there he poured his love for you making your heart swell before he shattered it into a million pieces as he broke things off with you. You were a wreck after, to the point you needed to take time off to get your affairs back in order. The apartment you shared with him was no longer your safe space  and no longer inhabitable. Rafael told you to keep the engagement ring. You took it off that night and left it in a lock box at your bank. Photos of you and him during happier times were taken down from your locker and tossed in the trash. Plans for the future - for a shared life together were gone, like a sandcastle being washed away by the sea.

Now Rafael appeared just as handsome as he did all those years ago. His hair was a more pronounced shade of salt and pepper and instead of being clean shaven, a beard graced his face. The infamous camel pea coat was swapped out for a grey one. Instead of a three piece bespoke suit under it, he wore dark jeans and a blue and pink checkered shirt. He turned to the counter and requested a coffee before he sat down in front of you. 

“Barba.” You greeted, taking a sip of your coffee.

“Olivia!” Rafael replied brightly. He shrugged his coat off and looked at you. “Y/N, it’s good to see you again.”

You didn’t reply, instead choosing to sip your coffee once more. Rafael shifted in his seat and looked at Olivia. “So--”

“Liv’s said you’ve been busy.” You spoke, cutting him off. “What have you been up to?” 

You knew Rafael had kept in touch with Olivia. She had mentioned Rafael here and there in conversation with you and the squad.

You knew Mickey Davis deserved a good defense. You were, however, caught off guard when Olivia suggested that perhaps Rafael could help secure a deal. You didn’t even know he was back in New York.

“Consulting with the Innocence Project, defending voting rights on the ground. I've barely slept since the election ended.”

“Liv said once everything cleared up, you might consider doing defense work.” You continued. 

“Her case or Fin’s?” Barba asked. 

“The city settled one of Fin’s. Liv's still waiting on her day in the barrel, but that's not why we're here. 

“It should be -- sorry.” Rafael shrugged, looking at Olivia. 

Olivia gave Rafael a small smile. “Hypothetically, if we... arrested a defendant who was not innocent…”

“Decorated vet. Six tours in Afghanistan. Comes home to find his daughter raped by her foster father--” You interjected. 

“And he shoots the guy point-blank range three times?” Rafael questioned. Both you and Olivia give him a pointed look. “Hypothetically.”

“So you're all caught up.” Olivia replied, now picking up her own cup.

“All right, hold on.” Rafael shook his head. “Did Carisi ask you to intervene on Davis' behalf?”

“Well, actually, Carisi doesn't know that we're here.” You murmured.

Rafael laughed. “Of course not. Wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“We wanted to see if you would feel him out. And see if he would cut Mickey a deal.” Olivia continued.

“With Carisi's stomach? He won't have the stomach to take this to trial.” Rafael rolled his eyes. “This case is a dog.”

“Really? Some mentor you are. Not even believing in your protege.” You sneered.

Rafael cocked a brow at you while Liv put a hand on your shoulder, in an attempt to comfort you. You jerked your shoulder away from her, and stood. You tossed some bills onto the table. 

“Sorry, Liv. I thought I could handle this. But I can’t. I’ll see you tomorrow.” You heard Liv call out your name as you stormed out of the diner, but not once did you look back.

Rafael looked at Liv, a frown on his face. “Honestly, I am surprised she didn’t leave sooner.” 

***

You and Phoebe were watching through the double-mirror in the squadroom as Kat and Rollins interrogated a suspect. Phoebe watched as Carisi approached you and she tapped your shoulder, nodding towards him. 

You looked over at Carisi and smiled. “How did voire dire go?”

Carisi sighed, crossing his arms. “It was the Rafael Barba show, charming and cherry-picking jurors for twelve straight hours.”

“He was always a dog with a bone.” You replied. “Walk with me to my desk. I am gonna order some Chinese.”

“I gotta know, Y/N. I saw Barba’s witness list, and he tracked down Ajay's other foster kids, ACS employees, VA shrinks. How big of a staff does he have?”

“I can’t say but know that I am not helping him out.” You hissed in a whisper.

Carisi huffed. “It's fine. Barba was here before me. He was your--”

You held up a hand. “No! That doesn't mean I'm more loyal to him than I am to you. You forget - he broke up with me. He wanted nothing to do with me. Why should I help him?”

Carisi’s ears turned pink and when saw the broken look on your face, he felt shitty. “Y/N, I am so sorry.”

You shook your head. “Dinners on you Mr. ADA and all will be forgiven.”

***

When Rafael entered the squadroom, it was late - he did not expect to see you. But there you were, Carisi perched on the corner of your desk, laughing. Seeing you and Carisi together like that - his jealousy flared and he wondered if there was something more than friendship going on. You plucked food out of the takeout container and offered Carisi a bite. You grabbed a napkin and reached up to Carisi’s face and you were about to say something when you spotted Rafael. Your laughter subsided and you smacked Carisi on the knee and pointed to Rafael. As he made way to your desk, you murmured something to Carisi and made a beeline to the locker room, dropping your food on your desk, causing it to spill a bit. The chopsticks fell to the ground with a clatter.

Rafael paused mid-stride and turned to follow, when Carisi approached him and blocked his path. “Barba, I don’t know why you’re here, but leave Y/N alone.”

“Is there a problem Carisi?”

Carisi jutted his jaw, clearly displeased. “Just leave Y/N alone - you hurt her. I know you never meant to. Don’t make it worse.”

“I came here to talk to her. That’s all.” Rafael huffed, before pushing past the young attorney to follow you, much to Carisi’s protests. 

**

You sat on the bench in front of your locker, crying. You dropped your head in your hands, your body shaking. You heard the sound of footsteps and you stood up, wiping your eyes. 

“Y/N.” Rafael’s voice was dark and deep, and hearing your name escape his lips sent shivers down your spine.

“Rafael! What are you doing here? Y’know you’re really not supposed to be back here!” You hissed, dabbing your eyes once more with your sleeves. 

“I wanted to check in with you.”

“Why? You’re not my boyfriend anymore.” You replied, as you grabbed your belongings. You slammed your locker shut, the metal clanging sound echoed. 

There was another sound of footsteps. Now it was Carisi who arrived. “Y/N, you okay?”

You looked at Carisi. ‘I’m fine. I’ll be out in just a bit.” Carisi nodded and made his way back out. 

You adjusted the strap of your bag. “Move.”

“No, I’m not your boyfriend anymore.” Rafael agreed, but not moving. You stepped to the side and Rafael followed your movement, blocking your way.

“Move.” You commanded. “Now.”

When he did not budge, you let out an exasperated sigh. “Say whatever you have to say. Get it out.”

“I just wanted to say I am sorry for everything. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.” Rafael replied.

“Suddenly you care? Please, I have plenty of people in my life who have taken an active role in that. I have gotten by just fine since you left.”

“Who? Carisi? Trading in one lawyer for another? You got a kink or something?" Rafael replied haughtily. 

You snorted in derision. “You know what, you can go fuck right off.” You pushed past him and Rafael grabbed your wrist and pulled you flush to him. Rafael met your eyes, they were puffy and red from you crying. 

“What are you--” You began, but Rafael crushed his lips against yours. You were initially stiff, but you relaxed into his embrace, allowing for the kiss to happen. You let out a soft moan and Rafael used the opportunity to deepen the kiss, by sliding his tongue into yours. Rafael wrapped his arms around your waist and you wrapped yours around his neck, dropping your purse to the ground.

“I love ya.” Rafael rumbled into your ear before dipping his head to your neckline, sucking a mark that you knew you would not be able to hide.

At his words, you pushed Rafael away. “What the fuck? You can’t just barge back into New York, into my life, say that you still love me and expect me to forgive you on the spot!” You were angry, there was a fire in your eyes that Rafael had been at the end of before, and he dropped his head, shamed. He took a seat on the bench and you followed suit, sitting next to him. “Me, the squad… that was always your M.O. - take whatever you want to take - to hurt the ones you love. You never thought about the consequences of your actions on others - nevermind baby Drew.”

“I know. I am an asshole.  I know this is the wrong time and the wrong place but I had to tell you. I love you. And I regret the way I left things with you. And if you tell me you don’t love me - that you still don’t feel the same way - I’ll leave. After the case - you’ll never hear from me or see me again.”

Deep down you knew you still loved Rafael. You had always loved him. You didn’t initially understand why he did what he did with baby Drew or why he left, but with therapy, time, and deep talks with Liv, you understood. It didn’t mean you weren’t angry - you were - but you could see why Rafael felt he had no choice but to leave.

“I need your heart. I need your soul. And getting over you was the hardest thing that I’ve ever had to do.” You replied, not answering his question. Your breath was still uneven from the tears you shed. You were worn and all you wanted to do was go home. You stood and slung your purse over your shoulder. “I am going home. Figure your shit out but don’t expect me to wait around.”

Carisi watched as you stormed away, with Rafael trailing behind you. He was going to say something but he noticed how Rafael allowed for the space between you and him to grow. 

***

The following morning you were getting ready for the day as usual. Coffee was brewing, music was blasting, you were digging around for some clean clothes. There was a staccato knock on the door. You ignored it and found a shirt from the pile of clothes and sniffed it.

There was a second knock, this time louder than first. “I am coming!” You shouted as you tugged your shirt on. You huffed as you marched to the door before tripping over a stack of books that you were planning on donating to your neighborhood library.

You swore loudly and hobbled over to the door. Swinging it open, you all but shouted, “What do you wa--”

On the other side was Rafael. Holding a tray of coffee and a paper bag, that you presumed were some kind of sweets. “I know I am the last person you want to see. I don’t know what to do. Um… do you want some coffee?”

You wrinkled your nose, but you took a step forward and plucked the pastry bag from his grasp. You opened it and inhaled the fresh pastries; your stomach rumbled in response. You reached in and grabbed a honeybun. 

“Come in.” You waved him in before taking a bite of the sticky pastry. Sorry it’s not more neat.”

Rafael made his way in. You entered your apartment, turning the lights on as you made your way in. 

“It’s fine.” Rafael replied as he took in your new-to-him space. There were elements that reminded him of your time together, but it was more uniquely you than anything else.

“You said something yesterday that has stayed in my mind all night long.” Rafael sat down on your couch. 

“Yeah? And what’s that?” You asked, taking a seat across from him. You reached over and plucked the two coffees from 

“I need your heart. I need your soul. All this time away from you has made me realize that. I am sorry for hurting you - for even breaking things off the way I did.” He confessed. “But then I realized, I couldn’t do it. All this time… I still love you.”

You didn’t respond and Rafael felt his heart sink. His stomach knotted and he thought he would throw up. 

You were quiet when you finally did speak. “I still love you too.”

Rafael looked at you, a huge grin on his face. He was overjoyed to hear your proclamation. “So now what?”

You furrowed your brows and an idea came to you, your face brightening. “I suppose we’re due for some makeup sex.”

Rafael blinked. “What?”

You stood up and tugged off your top. “Look, I don’t know about you - but it’s been awhile and I have needs. Are you complaining?”

Rafael stood, shrugging off his coat and also making quick removal of his clothes. “No, not at all. Just not what I expected to happen.”

You were down to your panties. “Just gotta make one call.” Rafael nodded, continuing to undress. You grabbed your phone and called Liv. “Hey, Liv - personal emergency, I won’t be able to make it - no everything will be fine - no you don’t need to come by. I’ll make it up. Thanks.”

You tossed your phone onto the couch and stretched out your hand. “Come on.”

**

Rafael groaned as he pounded into you with punctuated thrusts. You grabbed the sheets desperately as pleasure coursed your body. Being reunited with Rafael was almost too much - no one ever fucked you as well as he did - and no one ever made you feel complete as he did. Rafael pushed your knee higher, changing the angle. His cock hit you at a new angle and you cried out.

“Oh fuck, fuck, yes, just like that!” Your back arched slightly. He dropped his mouth to yours, swallowing your moans as he slid his tongue into yours. Rafael quickened his pace and you snaked your hand between your bodies to rub your clit. 

“Gonna… fuck… gonna come…” Rafael groaned. 

“Come for me, give it to me.” You panted. “Need it. Need you.”

Rafael stiffened, groaning your name as he came, filling the condom you insisted he wear for the time being. You continued to rub with one hand as your orgasm approached, you used your other hand to grip his arm tightly. You threw your head back as you cried out Rafael’s name as your orgasm peaked and washed over you. 

Rafael pressed a kiss to the top of your forehead as your body grew slack. He removed himself and rolled his body off yours. He removed the condom, tying it in a knot before disposing it into the trash bin at the foot of your bed. Rafael rejoined you in the bed and you curled into his embrace.

You stroked his chest softly, running the tips of your fingers through his chest hair. “We have a lot to work on.”

Rafael grabbed your hand and pressed a kiss to your knuckles. “I know, hermosa.”

You looked up at him. “For us to work - it’s going to take time. We have a lot to work on - a lot to unpack.”

“As long as it takes. I don’t want to lose you again.”

You propped yourself up and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Well, since we have so much time ahead of us now… why don’t we make up for lost time?” 

Rafael arched his brow and you squealed as he pulled you up on top of him.He kissed you deeply and rolled you onto your back once more. He began to press kisses along your body, shimmying down. 

He got to the apex of your thighs and spread your legs. You met his eyes and he winked before dropping his mouth to you again.

FIN.

***

Tags: @mgarner1227   @madpanda75  @tropes-and-tales @dreamlover31 @beardedmccoy @youreverycolor @neely1177 @witches-unruly-heart @mrsrafaelbarba @skittle479 @ottosuricato @sass-and-suspenders @mommakat32 @dreila03  @beccabarba @garturbo @lovebennycolonmiguelgalindo @imjustreallynosy @sweetsummertime99 @whyissvuruiningmylovelife @annabelleb49 @scarletsoldierrr @cesarofangirl78 @redlipstickandplaid @redlipstickandblacktea @zoeykaytesmom @differentshadesofgray @misssirenlove @esparza-army @bananas-pajamas @mishaissocoolike @thefanficfaerie @theenchantedgalleryofstories @catnip987 @choppedgalaxynerd @pieceofshittytitty @ktiz90 @evee87 @itsjustmyfantasyroom @detective-giggles @rampantmuses @jazzyjoi @stormtrooperofficerbrowneyes @rachelxwayne @prurientpuddlejumper @lv7867 @permanentlydizzy @bisexual-dreamer02 @madamsnape921 @averyhotchner​ @teamsladsandgents @qvid-pro-qvo @alwaysachorusgirl @amelia-song-pond @wanniiieeee  @tintinxtintin @law-nerd105 

[tiffdawg]

The Light of Stars | Chapter Eleven: Disillusionment

Gif: @bestintheparsec​

The Light of Stars

Pairing: Din Djarin/ The Mandalorian x Reader (fem; no y/n)

Word Count: 5.5k

Rating: M | Warnings: the typical angst and a little smooching, mild language. No spoilers for season two!

Story Summary: In pursuit of the Child’s people, the mysterious Jedi, Din Djarin and his foundling find hope in a woman who shares the kid’s strange powers. Newly partnered with the Mandalorian, you are trained in the ways of the Force, but you’re no Jedi. You’re just trying to find your place in the galaxy.

A/N: Hi! It's been a while – much longer than I ever intended and for that I apologize. I want to say thank you to you all for reading my story and sticking with me. And to everyone who left comments on previous chapters, you have all my love for ever. I really do cherish each and everyone. You all inspire me to keep writing! Anyway, I'll stop rambling and let you read the latest installment of Jetii, Din, and Baby's (mis)adventures. This chapter is officially the beginning of the end!

Read on AO3

TLOS Masterlist | My Masterlist

… . …

Chapter Eleven: Disillusionment

The last few days were a blur as you cut across the galaxy at lightspeed. Time ceased to exist even as it passed you by, but it was uneventful in the best possible way as you spent what precious time you had left with the Mandalorian and his foundling quietly existing together.

You passed most of your time in the main cabin conversing with Mando. You always talked about your pasts. Never the future. But you considered yourself lucky to have that time with him. He spoke mostly of his youth with the Mandalorians and his early forays into bounty hunting, but occasionally he’d grace you with a story from his childhood. When he’d confessed that he hadn’t so much as said his parents' names aloud in decades but still found it within himself to share a treasured memory of them, you’d reached across the small space separating you to twine your fingers with his gloved ones as best you could. The words seemed to come a little easier after that. His life had been so full of sadness that you wondered if the last few weeks together had been an anomaly even with the chaos you’d brought into his life.

Down in the hull after tasteless meals of reconstituted food, you’d spent long hours reading texts from the Jedi holocron aloud to Mando while he disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled every blaster in his weapons locker twice-over. Other times he insisted on continuing your flying lessons but there wasn’t much to do as the ship sailed through hyperspace. During the infrequent fuel stops on lonely planets, you’d stretch your legs and find a quiet place to practice with the kid in consolation for long days spent trapped inside the ship.

That day, you’d landed on Mygeeto, a cold, frigid planet a few sectors from your final destination. Mando and the kid seemed unfazed by the icy winds, but you’d had to dig out your old parka just to walk to the closet cantina while the ship refueled. It was also a decently populated planet, big on mining and banking and a hub of trade. You were on the outskirts of a smaller spaceport, but it wasn’t somewhere you wanted to linger.

The docking bay was crowded with a steady rush of people coming and going earlier that morning. Now, when you stepped into the small, outdated docking bay ahead of the Mandalorian but behind the Child’s hovering carrier, it was deserted. Instantly, your eyes went to the fueling gear still hooked up to the Razor Crest. A quick glance around the bay told you the lone mechanic was nowhere to be seen. Most likely off working on one of the other starships. That meant the three of you were stuck on that icy, crystalline planet for at least a little while longer. 

That meant trouble.

“Mando–”

“I know,” he sighed. “I made them back at the cantina. They aren’t with the guild, but they’re definitely hunters.”

“Were you just hoping they wouldn’t follow us back to the ship?”

“I wanted to get you two back to the Crest.” He entered a code on his vambrace and canceled the ship’s security protocols. After the ramp lowered, he closed the baby’s carrier and sent it into the hull of the ship.

“There are six of them,” you said, raising a brow at him, “and they’re right behind us.”

“Not a problem, sweetheart.” He placed a hand on the blaster holstered at his hip. 

“Gods, you're cocky sometimes,” you retorted. Still, you extracted your lightsaber from your satchel before tossing the bag into the ship. It pained you to think that neither the baby nor Mando would be safe until that ex-Imp was taken care of for good. And even then, you worried about who else might know about the baby. You could only wish that wasn’t fated to be their only existence together. With his visor trained on you, his helmet tilted to the side. You shrugged as you took your place beside him.

“Don’t think I can handle it on my own?”

“I know you could, but you don’t have to,” you assured him. You glanced at him out of the corner of your eyes and found him watching you.

“I–”

Whatever he was going to say next was cut off by a noise coming from just beyond the entrance. Both of your heads snapped in that direction, alert and ready for a fight. 

When the first blaster shot rang out, Mando returned it with one of his own.

. 

“How many of them are there?” you shouted over the blast that rocked the Razor Crest. You’d mistakenly assumed you’d escaped after you’d fended off the six bounty hunters at the docking bay. The gunship fired back at Mando’s command.

“Down to two,” he answered as he hit a series of switches in rapid fire. He pulled the yoke and the ship took a nosedive through empty space. “Told you that spaceport was too big.”

“You didn’t say that.”

“I thought it.

Another hit set off one of the alarms. “Mando!” 

“We’re almost to the hyperlane. Once we hit lightspeed, they can’t track us. Just hold on!”

You sighed in relief at the familiar streaks of blue light of hyperspace. Mando’s seat swiveled to face you and the Child. “You alright?” he asked the kid. He chirped happily in response. “I figured.” He turned to you, elbows resting on his knees as he leaned forward in his chair. “How about you?” 

“I’m fine,” you assured him. You might’ve been a little rattled, but you’d seen worse. “We’re those the Moff’s men? How’d they track us to Mygeeto?”

“They didn’t.” A beat passed as you waited for him to explain. “They were already here. They’re amateurs. Gideon probably distributed fobs throughout the galaxy.” 

While you’d gotten a decent glimpse of it on Vrogas Vas, you were beginning to see the severity of his situation. The Empire might’ve fallen years ago, but this former Imp had not. He had the resources and the reach to find the Mandalorian and the Child. And you didn’t like the thought of him taking on the Moff alone. “Mando, can you do something for me?” 

“Anything,” he responded quickly.  

You hesitated, doubting he would think that in a moment. “Will you send a holo to your tribe before you leave for Nevarro.” He straightened up at that, ready to protest. “You’re going to need all of the help you can get.”

“I can’t ask them to put the covert at risk for me. Not again.”

“So you know they would come for you?”

“Yes,” he answered, voice straining around the word. 

“Do you think they hold what happened against you? Do you truly believe that any one of them regrets their choice?” He didn’t say anything, but you knew your assumption was right. And you knew his guilt was misplaced. They wouldn’t have welcomed him back, called him their brother, if that was the case. “You have to forgive yourself, Mando.” You unbuckled your safety restraints and kneeled before him. With a hand on the either curved cheek of his helmet, you forced him to look at you. You leveled him with a serious look, but he was unflinching, as still as ever. “Do you want to know what I think?”

“What?”

“They’re Mandalorians. They would want to fight with you. For you. How do you not see that?”

Wrapping his hands around your wrists, he pulled your hands away from his helmet. “I can’t do that for you.” 

“Can’t or won’t?” you snapped before you stood and left the cabin.

… . …

Drawing his eyes away from the streaks of light bending around the Razor Crest, Din found you still in your seat next to him and the Child carefully cradled to your chest. With matching expressions – eyes closed and lips slightly parted – you both slept peacefully. Din had half a mind to wake you and send you both to your room. Even that makeshift bunk had to be more comfortable than the contorted position you’d maneuvered yourself into in your chair. But as the baby moved in your grasp to snuggle further into you, tiny clawed hands gripping the front of your tunic even as he drooled on it, he hesitated to disturb the scene before him.

Somehow, in the span of a few weeks, Din’s entire universe had narrowed to the two of you. His foundling, of course, was already his primary focus in life. And then you showed up and without even meaning to, the three of you had become a family.

Din had a family.  

The realization struck him hard and fast, but quickly faded into something familiar. Something some part of him already knew because of course you were his family.

A soft smile pulled at the corner of Din’s mouth as the two of you dozed, bathed in blue starlight, until he realized that he wasn’t the only one who was going to miss you. The kid had grown fond of you, to say the absolute least. When he wasn’t toddling after Din or causing trouble, he was attached to your hip. But your days together were numbered.

He didn’t have time to dwell on that reality. He was suddenly pulled from deep within his own mind by the quiet beep of an incoming holo. With the flick of a single switch, Greef Karga’s figure, in miniature and cast in static blue light, appeared on the console.

Karga’s booming voice filled the silent cabin. “I’ve been trying to reach you for days, Mando.”

“I’ve been out of range.”

“While I’m sure your new quest has taken you to the furthest reaches of this galaxy, there are more pressing matters at hand here on Nevarro. Would you care to tell me why Moff Gideon, the man you supposedly killed, is amassing stormtroopers outside my city?” he asked pointedly. “Word is he’s looking for you.”

“I’m aware,” Din sighed. “I’ll be there in a few days. I have something I need to take care of first.”

“Something or someone?” Karga mused lowly with a deep chuckle. Din followed his line of sight. Next to him, you’d woken and leaned forward in your seat just enough for the holocam to pick up your image. You watched the guild leader with interest. “Who might this stunning creature be?”

“End of the week,” Din said curtly before switching off the holo.

“Who was that?” you asked. You spoke softly, mindful of the baby in your hold. Your tired gaze lingered on the spot where Karga’s figure stood a moment ago before drifting to Din. 

“No one.”

“Right,” you said with a gentle roll of your eyes. “I heard you mention Nevarro.”

“He’s an old associate.”

“A friend?” you supplied, brows lifting with the question.

“Sometimes.”

“Well, I imagine that means something coming from you.” There was a glint of humor in your eyes but faded into something more serious as you leveled him with a stern look. “Are you sure we shouldn’t go there first?” you asked, not for the first time. “You know I’m good in a fight.”

A small huff of a laugh escaped him. You could hold your own, of that he had no doubt. And the thought of having you with him for a few extra days was nothing short of tempting. Still, something told him that was how things were meant to happen. That was the original deal the two of you struck up, after all, and the course was already set. The Crest was less than a day out from the Lah’mu sector. It would be easier on his own heart to stick to it. Surprisingly, your argument from the day before had faded into the background. He’d come to expect more of a fight from you, but you’d rejoined him in the cockpit that morning as if nothing had happened.

He decided it was best not to prompt another argument. He stood and held out a hand to you. “It’s been a long day. You should go to bed.”

You placed your hand in his and let him pull you to your feet before you gently handed the still-sleeping baby to him. “You should too.”

 .

The kid didn’t so much as stir as Din placed him in his makeshift hammock above his cot. He started to remove his armor, stowing the Beskar for a few hours of much needed reprieve. Lost deep in his own tired mind, he didn’t hear you emerge from the ship’s small refresher.

“What’s that?”

 “What?”

“That.” He glanced over his shoulder at you just in time to see you gesturing toward the compartment.

“Exactly what it looks like.” That time he heard you move closer to him as you peered around his form.

“You’ve been sleeping here?” you asked incredulously. “I thought there was another bunkroom.”

“No,” Din answered flatly. He couldn’t see why that was an issue – especially at the late hour but the scowl on your face as you moved between him and the compartment told him that you expected a better explanation. “Technically there aren’t any bunkrooms on the Crest. Yours was extra carbonite storage for backlog. I converted it recently because the kid kept trying to crawl in here with me and there’s not exactly enough space for two. I wasn’t taking on any quarries so I figured it would work temporarily.”

“And you gave it to me?” 

“Yes.” 

“Why would you do that?” 

“It’s nothing,” he said, hoping to brush it off.

“Mando,” you sighed, sounding stuck somewhere between exasperation and gratitude. You pursed your lips as you looked back at the cot. “This the sorriest excuse for a bed I’ve ever seen. I’m not letting you sleep here.” 

“Where would you have me sleep?” he asked, not bothering to hide the amusement in his voice.

“In your bed,” you replied, crossing your arms over your chest. You could be so stubborn when you wanted. Almost as stubborn as him. 

“And you?” he asked.

“I’ll be there too.” There was a hint of a mischievous smile playing on your lips. 

“Last time–” 

Your voice dropped to a whisper, but it was enough to make him forget the rest of his sentence. “I miss having you in my bed.” 

A chill shot down his spine and settled low inside him as he watched you scale the ladder that led to your room and left him to follow. Just before you disappeared, you threw a playful insult back at him. “Di’kut.”

His chest deflated as a deep sigh fell from his lips. “Let me guess who taught you that,” he called after you, rolling his eyes at your receding figure. He sealed the small compartment and followed you up.

“You had your chance to teach me nice things in Mando’a,” you retorted. “Now I can insult you seven ways to Scarif!”

 “Great,” he muttered with a light laugh.

“To be fair,” you offered when he finally walked into your small bunkroom, “Paz called me an idiot too.”

Din froze at the threshold as a cold fear rushed over him. “He told you his name?” he hissed. 

“Yeah.” You said it almost lightly, but Din heard the slight edge undercutting your words. He knew you understood the significance of the act. He could see it in the way you teased your bottom lip between your teeth. “I didn’t ask. He just told me. He said it was okay,” you tried to clarify. “It’s not like I expect you–”

“Do you want to know?” he replied quickly despite not knowing if he was prepared to give it if you said yes. While there were a few select people who knew his name now, he had never shared it with anyone himself. If Vizsla could share his name with someone outside the covert, then so could he. Right?

“Of course I do. I want to know all of you,” you started slowly. You stepped closer to him, gently resting your hands on his last piece of armor. Your eyes followed the path of your fingers as you traced the mended edge of his cuirass. “But I only want what pieces of yourself you want to share with me. I would never ask.” 

“I know you wouldn’t. You never ask for anything.” 

“I asked you to come to bed with me,” you teased, trying to divert the conversation.

“No. You told me.” You smiled almost shyly and made to move away, but Din reached for your hands and held you in place. “Ask me for something. I’ll give it to you.” You eyed him for a long moment as you considered his request. He could see the thoughts racing in your mind. “Ask me for anything,” he repeated. 

“Anything?” 

“Yes.”

“I want you to promise me something.”

“A promise?” His brows furrowed behind the visor.

“Do you remember our last conversation that morning at the covert? Because I haven’t forgotten it.” Neither had Din. He nodded once and you squeezed his hands. “No matter what answers we find on Lah’mu, no matter where your journey takes you and your son next, no matter how many years or decades it’s been since we parted,” you took a deep breath as your voice wavered, “I want you to promise me that you will pursue a life that makes you happy. The both of you. Whatever that may be.” 

Din had no response to that. He’d given you permission to ask him for anything and for some godsforsaken reason you asked for his happiness. He was struck, hardly for the first time, by just how much good there was in you. That you could possibly care about him that way even amidst your own turmoil. He would’ve preferred you ask him to call his tribe members for help. “Sweetheart–” he tried to admonish.

“Promise me, you stubborn Mandalorian,” you demanded with a new fire in your eyes. “You said you would give me anything. That’s what I want. If I can’t— If I can’t be there with you, I at least want to know in my heart that wherever you are, you are happy.” When he didn’t say anything, you pleaded. “Please, Mando.” 

Lifting a hand to the back of your head, he drew you closer to him and gently pressed his helmet to your forehead, kissing you in the only way he could in that moment. “I promise,” Din swore even though that didn’t change the fact that there was only one way he ended up happy.

“Thank you,” you sighed as if he’d given you something you needed. Without parting, your fingers dipped beneath the edge of his cuirass. “May I?” He nodded against you and you pulled just enough to deactivate the magnetic hold. Others had tried to take his armor off in the past, usually by force, but with you it felt like a barrier. Something keeping him from what he really wanted. 

As Din laid in the too-small bunk with you, your words echoed in his mind. If I can’t be there with you, I at least want to know in my heart that wherever you are, you are happy. With every quiet moment that passed, each one somehow longer than the next, he seemed to move closer to you, and you to him, until you met somewhere in the middle. His forehead knocked against yours again and as your breath ghosted across his face, he fought his overwhelming desire to kiss you. Really kiss you. To show you just how much your care for him affected him. But he remembered what happened the last time you’d tried something like that. It ended with you crying into his chest as he held you through the long night. 

He asked anyway. “Can I kiss you?” he rasped.

“I thought you just did, Mandalorian,” you teased.

He rolled you over onto your back, caging you in as he leaned on his elbows to hover above you. “You’re going to be the death of me,” he rasped. 

Before you could offer some smart retort, he slotted his mouth over yours. Despite his eagerness, he felt clumsy and unpracticed. Considering he’d never kissed anyone before you, he absolutely was. You were the only one he’d ever wanted like this. Based on the breathy little noises you made for him, you didn’t seem to mind his inexperience.

He pressed the weight of his body into yours, pinning you beneath him, until there was no space between you. You were molded to him and him to you in a way that felt natural. It felt right. He was growing accustomed to it even as he knew he shouldn’t. But those moments with you, unmasked and exposed, were too enticing.

Din never said he was a good man.

… . …

In the light of an early morning, you ran through an open field surrounded by a forest of tall evergreens. Soft wild grass cushioned each stride as you sprinted toward the tree line, chasing the fresh, spicy scent. Behind you, someone pursued you at full speed. 

No. That wasn’t right.

You glanced over your shoulder only to find not one but two young children sprinting after you, squealing and smiling. Your heart practically burst at the sight of their unbridled joy and a laugh of your own bubbled past your lips. You slowed your pace, giving in to them easily, and two sets of arms wrapped around your legs. You knelt in the dewy grass, rewarding them with snug hugs and kisses on their chubby cheeks, and earning yourself another jubilant round of laughter from them both. 

Together, they begged you to chase them next, and unable to deny them anything, you readily agreed. You stood, shooing them off to get a head start. But they wouldn’t run away just yet. Not when they were too distracted by something behind you. Another pair of arms, only much stronger, wrapped around you.

The kids ran off, shouting catch us, dad! A low rumble reverberated through your back as the man behind you laughed at the children’s wild antics. Your eyes fell closed as you leaned into him, deciding you’d follow the children in a moment. Right then all you wanted was to savor his embrace. It felt like the closest thing to home you’d ever known.

You turned your head as if to look over your shoulder and a pair of lips met yours. Even after the kiss ended, you didn’t part. The feel of his smile hovering against your lips was almost as intoxicating as his kiss.

 “Good morning, Din,” you sighed.

.

You startled awake with a sharp inhale.

Disoriented and scared, you tried to make sense of what you’d just seen. That dream felt real. Too real. Considering the turn your life had taken in the past few weeks, you had no idea what it was. A remnant of your vision. An offering from the Force. Or just your imagination playing tricks on you. It seems like the closer you get to Lah’mu, the more the Force saw fit to taunt you with that other future.

Your eyes searched the pitch-black room for some sort of sign as to where you were, but you couldn’t see anything. Instead, you felt an arm around your waist, holding you securely.

Mando’s arm.

You were still on the Razor Crest, tucked away in your shared bunk that was too small for the both of you, and he was fast asleep behind you, warm and solid. You felt him shift behind you, lifting his head from his pillow to look down at you in the dark.

“Are you okay?” he asked hoarsely. Even in sleep that man missed nothing. Mando’s hold on you tightened, pulling you back against his chest.

“Yeah,” you assured him. “Just a dream.”

“Another nightmare?” 

“No. Not quite. Just...” You screwed your eyes shut and tried to banish the lingering images, or rather sensations, of that other man from your mind. Mando’s voice cut through your daze as he called your name, drawing you back into the present. “Just strange. It almost felt like another vision.”     

“Of your future on Lah’mu?” 

“I don’t think so.”

Din shifted closer. “Your other future?”

“Yes,” you offered meekly.

“What do you dream of? With him?” The question hurt and you said nothing for a long time. The more time you spent with Mando and the baby, the more certain you were that you’d made the right choice. A life on Lah’mu as a lonely Jedi master was more appealing than a future with a stranger you could never love. Not when your heart belonged to the man lying next to you. Seeing him amongst his people had only reinforced your conclusion that Mando was not the man in your vision. It was not the way. His way. But you supposed that didn’t matter and you were only making yourself upset for no reason by reminding yourself of the fact. You’d chosen your path. “You can tell me,” he prompted again.

You shook your head and craned your neck to face him even though he couldn’t see you. You were so close your noses brushed, but he made no move to part. “No, I don’t think I can.” 

A tension hung between you as you waited for his response. “The offer stands,” he finally replied.

“And I appreciate that.” But all you really wanted was to put that dream out of your mind and forget about it entirely. The man next to you provided the perfect distraction. 

You closed that last bit of space between you, letting your mouths meet in a slow, lingering kiss. His soft, slightly chapped lips matched with yours with aching tenderness. Just like that, with him, you felt safe from all the uncertainties your future held. You decided you could indulge in it just a little while longer. Continue what he’d started the night before.

“Good morning, Mando,” you sighed around a lazy smile when you finally parted.

“Good morning, cyar’ika.”

He sounded happier, and your grin pulled taut and you turned in his arms. Holding his face with your hands, your lips melded with his again. He didn’t start at your touch anymore. He sought it out. With a hand gripping your hip, he pressed you closer.

“I could stay right here,” you murmured your confession against his lips in between hungry kisses, “forever.”

“Fuck, so could I,” he admitted. You slipped your tongue into his mouth as his lips parted around his words, earning a broken, desperate moan from him. 

He let you roll him into his back, and you moved so that you were on top of him, a knee pressing into the thin mattress on either side of him. Your hungry mouths slotted together once more.

You longed to feel his skin against yours again and as his hands slid lower, you thought he was going to free you from your tunic. But then his hands traveled further, past the hemline, over your hips and just kept going until he squeezed the swell of your backside, fingers digging into your fabric covered flesh, and ground your hips down against him. Against something hard.

“Oh fuck,” you gasped into his mouth. He chuckled darkly against your cheek as he did it again. That had no right to feel that good. You’d had your suspicions, but knowing he wanted you like that was a whole new thrill. “Eager this morning?” you asked as you searched for breath.

“You started it,” he said low and teasing while nipping at your bottom lip.

“Let me kiss you while I can.” He stilled his movements beneath you. You’d meant it as a joke, but it hurt. You pulled away and rested your head against his chest, letting out a long, slow exhalation as that all-consuming melancholy that seeped into the stolen moment. “I shouldn’t have said anything.” 

“It’s fine,” he ground out. It wasn’t fine. You could hear it in his voice. Even as he moved you off of him with the gentlest touch, you felt the distance growing between you once more. He slipped out of the bunk and you listened to him search for his helmet in the dark, but you sensed him hesitate and he turned back to you, cupping your face between his hands and pressing his lips to yours. There was something about this kiss that felt different. There was a desperate sort of passion that sends adrenaline coursing through your veins. You return it with equal fervor, pouring all your love for him into that kiss. 

“What was that for?” you asked when he finally parted from you.

“I never know.”

“Know what?”

When he spoke next, his voice came to you filtered through the modulator. “I never know when it will be our last.”

The truth of his words tore through you, leaving you feeling cold as you packed your things and emptied the converted bunkroom of all traces of you.

.

After descending the Razor Crest’s ramp, your boots hit the soft grass first, sinking slightly into the black soil that covered the planet. A cool, misty air kissed your skin as you stepped away from the safety of the ship. Your eyes scanned the green valley, landing on the small settlement that dotted the landscape.

You felt Mando approach. He stopped a half step behind you, but his presence felt heavy, almost overwhelming, as you tried to focus. Still, you knew he’d wait for your call.

“She’s here,” you announced quietly, voice barely audible over the crashing waves. You peered back at him over your shoulder, finding his dark visor already trained on you. His helmet tilted slightly. Your heart swelled with affection at the familiar, inquisitive movement. You were well beyond chastising yourself for the sentiment, even if it hurt. “And I think she’s close.” You tore your eyes away from him, ignoring the way the words seemed to get stuck in your throat. Finding your former master had been your goal for years. Now, for the first time in nearly a decade, the two of you were on the same planet. Yet you felt no joy at that momentous fact.

You felt a steady hand rest between your shoulder blades. “I’m right behind you, cyar’ika. Lead the way.”

.

After a few hours of trekking along the base of the rolling hills at the direction of one talkative settler, you found a lone woman meditating in a grassy field. She faced away from you, but the lavender hair styled in a low chignon and dark flowing robes told you exactly who she was.

“Wait here,” you directed without ever taking your eyes off of her. A familiar hand wrapped around yours, stalling you. “It’ll be okay, Mando, but you have to let go.”

You took another step forward and your hand slipped out of his. When you stopped a few paces away, you hesitated. Even after all the years you’d spent searching for your former master, you never figured out what you wanted to say. 

Before you could so much as open your mouth, a flash of violet light cut across your vision. Reacting on instinct, you reached for your lightsaber, blocking the attack at the last moment.

Falling back a step, you grounded yourself before meeting her next strike. A clash of blue and purple plasma sputtered before you. Over the cross of your sabers, you saw her calculating amber eyes flick to the side as she lifted a hand. Daring a glance back, you saw Mando frozen in place, blaster drawn and ready to fire. 

The force behind your next attack sent Zarichi reeling. 

“You hurt them,” you said through gritted teeth in between parries, “and I’ll strike you down where you stand.”

“You don’t have it in you,” she scoffed.

“You don’t know what I’m capable of.”

“I taught you everything.” Her next drive, three strong blows you narrowly managed to counter, landed you flat on your back with her saber at your neck. The slightest move would’ve singed your skin. “And you’re out of practice, padawan.” 

Before she could so much disengage her lightsaber, she was thrown across the field by some unseen force. You watched her tumble to the ground in a heap before snapping your head to the kid. He stood next to his father, hand outstretched and eyes closed. “Damn,” you breathed.

Zarichi stood and dusted herself off, eyes locked on the baby at Mando’s side. “How curious,” she assed, with a hint of a laugh. Without another word, she set off back toward the settlement. Sighing, you fell back against the grass.

With the baby clutched to his chest and a hand on his hip, Mando appeared above you. “That’s your master?” He didn’t sound amused.

“What’d you expect?” you asked with a shrug. “She’s a Jedi.”

... . ...

Thank you for reading!

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[lemonandhugs]

Chapter 6 of Stars Align!

Chapter 6

Sam and Caitriona walked outside of Edinburgh Airport and the freezing cold Autumn wind hit them in the face, causing them to both squint and grimace. Caitriona gasped and hugged her own body, after placing her luggage on the ground.

Sam still felt extremely embarrassed about what happened on the plane, despite Cait’s reassurances. He felt guilty, and just awkward around her, which he hated. He stood quietly next to her, with his head down, burying his mouth into his scarf, his hands shoved in his parka pockets. Cait picked up on how he was acting immediately and peered over at him. The wind blew Sam’s curly hair away from his left temple and she could see the large marble-size bump and light blue-purple bruise that had developed.

“How’s your h-head?” she asked him through a quivering jaw.

He shyly looked at her, “I’ve uh…I’ve got a bit of a headache, and it’s throbbing a bit, but I’ll be fine. I’ll take something for it when we get there…I deserve it though…what happened.”

Cait exhaled, turned towards him and held on to his forearm, “Sam…please, it’s alright. There was no harm done. It’s not like your hands landed in any awkward places, none of that. You haven’t offended me, or pissed me off, or given me a reason to not trust you. It was completely harmless. Please, don’t feel bad.”

Sam looked into her eyes then, seeing the pleading in her hypnotising blue-grey eyes, and it made his insides melt like warm butter, and his tension and embarrassment melted with it. He smiled crookedly.

“Well, alright. As you say,” Sam smiled wider at her and twisted slightly so the elbow she was holding on to gently nudged her.

The worry dissipated from Cait’s eyes, as her smile reached them, “good.”

She let go of his arm and shoved that hand into her pocket and began shivering again, as she was no longer distracted from the cold.

Sam looked at her with a knowing and concerning smile, “yeah, still as cold as I remember. I haven’t been back here for a few years.”

Cait’s teeth began to chatter and her body began to tremble as she hugged herself. She nodded, “well…I s-suppose I’m going to h-have to get used to th-this. No d-doubt I’ll be wearing a lot l-less on set in those early s-scenes of block one.”

Sam’s mouth went into a straight line and he nodded, “the things we do as actors,” he cheekily smiled at her.

Cait smiled back in between her teeth clicking together, “mhm.”

“At least you dressed warmer this time, and at least it’s not raining. It would be bad if we got our hair wet, yours more than mine. The car will be here s–, oh here it is,” Sam tilted his head upwards, gesturing towards the Audi coming towards them.

“Oh, thank g-god,” Cait murmured.

Then they noticed another Audi, exactly the same and directly behind. They both looked at each other confused.

“We must be taking separate cars?” Cait questioned.

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed.

The two drivers got out and hurried over to introduce themselves as Sam and Cait’s drivers for the duration of Season 1 filming.

“Are we travelling separately?” Sam asked his driver.

“Yes, we always have actors driven separately, in case of any accidents,” Sam’s driver stated.

“Oh, that makes sense,” Cait nodded.

“Okay, yeah I was wondering why two cars pulled up. If you’ve got this, man, I’ll help Caitriona’s driver with her luggage,” Sam asked his driver, pointing to his pile of luggage on the ground.

“Oh, S-Sam no. You don’t h-have to do that, it’s f-freezing, get in y-your car,” Cait shook her head, and attempting to stop him after he already had two pieces of her luggage slung over his shoulders, ignoring her.

Walking quickly to the boot of the car, with Cait’s driver, he put the luggage in and opened the door for her.

“In you get before you turn into an icicle,” Sam smirked at her.

Cait both pouted and smirked at him, and playfully hit him on the arm.

“See you when we get there, and thank you,” her smirk disappeared, and she gave him a small, sweet smile.

“No worries, Caitriona Balfe, see you soon,” Sam winked at her and brushed her back gently, up, and down.

He ran over to his car and quickly got in. Cait smiled to herself as a quiver ran over her spine, from his touch.

It was an hour drive to where their trailers would be located, and where the writer’s studio was, in which they would be going to their first read through, the next morning.

Twenty minutes into the drive, after small chit-chat with her driver, getting to know him, Cait was distracted by her phone going off. She picked it up from inside her handbag and saw a text from Sam on her screen. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face, and the excited feeling that formed in her stomach.

 -        Have you thawed now? :P

 -        Ha ha, very funny...! But yes, I’m quite toasty now, thanks for asking :D

  -        Good to hear. We can’t have Claire looking like those creatures in Avatar, now can we? :P

 -        :O but thank you for your concern, lol…I think Claire could rock blue skin!

  -        Mmm…you’re not wrong there. It’d make for an interesting series! Haha

 -        The stones did it :P

  -        Ah! Now THAT’S an interesting concept, Caitriona Balfe! We must tell Ron!

 Caitriona giggled quietly to herself, and she and Sam joked back and forth for ten minutes more.

‘Alright, alright. Leave her alone now. Professionalism, a respectful distance…don’t get too close off-set!’ Sam thought to himself as he typed out one last text to Cait saying that he’ll see her when they arrive.

A half hour later and they had arrived. The drivers got their luggage out of the cars and lead them towards their trailer. They came to one very large trailer that had both their names on it.

‘Sharing a trailer?!’ Cait panicked, and side-eyed Sam.

Ron walked around the corner a couple of seconds after Sam and Cait had reached the trailer. He beamed when he saw them both.

“Sam! Caitriona! How are ya?! Glad you had a safe trip. The hair looks great!” Ron exclaimed, shaking their hands.

He looked at the large trailer and back at Sam and Cait.

“So, you two will be sharing a trailer. All the trailers will be shared between two cast members. Starz could only get us a limited number of trailers, but they got us the very biggest ones. They’re so large, you will have plenty of your own space,” Ron explained.

‘Breathe, Caitriona, breathe. You’re sure to be used to him in no time now! Fuck, I hope we don’t become sick of each other…’ Cait thought, biting her bottom lip.

‘So much for a respectful distance off-set…fuck…it’s okay, it will be fine. We’ll become very comfortable with each other and it will be very good for the show and our on-screen chemistry,’ Sam calmed himself, determined to think rationally.

Sam and Cait both nodded at Ron while he was speaking. Sam was wringing his hands nervously and peered over at Cait. She caught his eye and gave him a shy smile. He smiled back but noticed the worry in her eyes. She quickly looked away and Sam’s attention was caught by Ron walking up the three steps and opening the front door of the trailer.

“Come in and have a look! Really nice inside, more modern than you would think,” Ron waved them forward, ducking his head inside as he spoke.

As Sam and Cait walked slowly towards the steps, Ron quickly climbed down.

“I’ll let you two get settled. I have to run, I have a few meetings to get to, one with Diana herself. You’ll meet her on Sunday, Caitriona. And yeah, I’ll see you two Sunday for Block One Read Through. 9am. All the cast will be arriving later, so you’ll get to meet everyone. It’ll be good. Can’t wait to see the book come to life, essentially,” Ron expressed with a lopsided smile on his bearded face.

Sam and Cait both smiled at that.

“I’m excited, this is all so new to me. It’s so beautiful here,” Cait said biting her lip and smiling, taking in her surroundings.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a hell of a journey, I think we’re all going to have a great time. It’ll be great experience for you as an actress, I’m sure you’ll learn a lot,” Ron nodded.

“Oh definitely,” Cait widened her eyes and smiled cheerfully at him.

“Alright, I’m off. See you in a couple of days,” Ron said putting his thumb up, before quickly turning and walking with large strides to his car.

Sam cleared his throat awkwardly, then stretched his arm out for Cait to walk up the stairs first. Cait smiled crookedly at him, looking up at him through her lashes, and ascending the few steps. Sam followed close behind, and upon switching the light on, they were indeed both surprised at how big and modern it really was. Colours of grey and white, a good-sized bedroom area that was split into two and identical on both sides, with two queen beds and a sliding dividing wall in the middle. That was the left side of the trailer. A doorway from the bedroom led out into the dining area, with a small bathroom running off just behind, with a surprisingly large shower. To the right of the dining area was a very impressive marble-top, large kitchenette.

“Wow. I cannot believe how huge this is,” Sam raised his eyebrows and looked around and up at the ceiling.

“Yeah! It doesn’t look like it from the outside. It’s lovely though. Definitely big enough for two,” Cait said as she ran her hand along the marble bench top, her back to him.

“So, uh…I…I guess we’re…living together. How do you feel about that? Since it was kind of just sprung on us…” Sam uttered, rubbing the back of his neck and carefully peering up at her.

“Well…I think…you know, we’re going to be on set together all day anyway. Sharing a trailer will give us a chance to get to know each other on another level. Which…I think will make us more comfortable with each other on set, especially in maybe the more…intense scenes. Obviously, we’ll give each other space when we’re in here. And…there’s an understanding between us. A trust,” Cait crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged one shoulder. She gave him a nervous smile through tight lips.

“That’s true. Yeah, you’re right. I promise I won’t intrude on your space, and I’ll wash my own dishes and won’t leave my clothes lying around. Oh, and I won’t leave my towels on the floor,” Sam grinned at her, rather cheekily.

Cait giggled freely and peered down at the floor before licking the corner of her top lip and looking back up at him.

“Well, ditto,” Cait nodded.

The sun suddenly crept out from behind the gloomy, grey clouds that were threatening rain, and it shone through one of the windows, catching both their eyes.

“So…if you’re not too tired, and because it’s rather beautiful outside now and the rest of the cast don’t arrive until later, maybe now is a good time I take you up on your offer on showing me around…?” Cait asked a little nervously but couldn’t help but smirk at him.

This took Sam by surprise. He didn’t actually expect her to take him up on that offer in which he felt stupid for suggesting.

“Oh,” Sam expressed with genuine shock, his eyebrows shooting up, “okay, yeah, of course. We can walk over to a park in Craighforth, and walk along the River Forth? It’s very beautiful, it gives a great view of the mountains.”

“Yeah, that sounds lovely,” Cait nodded, turning around to grab her phone out of her handbag.

They both descended the stairs of their trailer.

“I’ve got the key,” Sam said, holding up the key before shoving it deep into the front pocket of his jeans.

Cait looked back at him and smiled, “good, I don’t think Ron would be too impressed if we lock ourselves out already.”

Sam giggled, and the two walked side-by-side, hands deep in Parka pockets, out of the trailer lot, deeper and deeper into the countryside. They spoke mostly about little details of their life that they hadn’t yet shared; filling in holes of mystery about one another. They were showing more of each other, inch by inch, in the moments they spent together. Sam told Cait about his childhood spent scampering about the countryside on his own but having a ball. He told Cait about this place, historical anecdotes he was told by his family. Cait looked up at him, listening intently, admiring how his entire face lit up when he spoke about Scotland, how happy it made him, how his teeth and bright blue eyes shone in the sunlight. How he smiled so wide, she could see the creases on the corners of his cheeks.

After an hour of walking, they came to a completely open, wooden, rail-less bridge, and a wider part of the river, running wildly beneath them. They both stepped onto it without hesitation and continued to walk and talk, not really paying attention to the water beneath, or the bridge itself.

Sam, so focused on what Cait was saying, wasn’t aware enough of his footing. Being on the left side of the bridge, his left foot suddenly slipped slightly off the edge. He gasped sharply and grunted loudly. His body instinctively leaned over to the right side to prevent him from falling over the edge. His arms flailed outwards and he bent down quickly, clutching the planks of the bridge. Before he could register what had happened, before his adrenaline had stopped surging through his veins, all he heard was a petrified, high-pitched shriek, and all he saw was Cait’s body be flung, head first over the right side of the bridge, into the gushing river; not even a splash was heard. His heart stopped, his breathing ceased, he froze. His hands started to shake; all he could hear now was a painful ringing. Half a second later, and he was on his feet, looking into the water, breathing heavily. All he could see was a gushing pool of white and black.

“CAIT?!” he screamed at the absolute top of his lungs, over and over, until his throat and lungs started to burn.

He finally heard a gasping sound, then coughing, then screaming. He found Cait, already pulled twenty metres down the river in the matter of four seconds. The river was deep and had such force that she was unable to stand. She was struggling to swim properly and keep her head above the water.

“SAM HELP ME! PLEASE HE–,” Cait shrieked, and then she was gone, swallowed by the water.

Sam turned completely white, he felt physically sick as he sprinted, with everything he had, off the bridge and down the river, coming to where he spotted Cait in the water. He ripped off his Parka, threw his phone without looking, squatted, and slid down the grass, reaching the water. He dived underneath the water and let it take him downstream to Cait. Keeping his eyes open and his arms outstretched. Five seconds had passed, and he saw a dark shadow, trying desperately to fight against the stream and swim upwards; legs and arms striking against the water, but also being dragged further, deeper, underneath. Sam kicked his legs hard, hoping to reach her sooner. When he was close enough to reach her, his body slammed against hers by the force of the water before he could grab hold of her. She jolted sharply away from him, but then reached back for him, as he reached for her. Their hands gripped together so tightly, and without letting go, Sam attempted to touch the bottom with his feet and push himself up to the surface. He coughed and inhaled sharply, grunting, kicking, and fighting against the water with one arm. He pulled Cait up towards the surface, but their hands started to slip. He took in a large breath, submerged himself back into the water, reached out and grabbed Cait by the waist, pulling her towards him with one arm, then quickly let go of her hand and grabbed her waist with that same hand. Cait kicked and clutched his shoulders tightly. He pushed off the bottom with his feet again, with all the power and energy he had, and launched them to the surface. Cait coughed violently and wheezed loudly, before water gushed from her mouth. She inhaled and coughed again. Sam held her up high above the water, his hands underneath her arms. He was unable to move sideways against the water, so in one swift movement, he angled Cait towards the grassy side of the river and threw her towards it. She landed close enough to grip the grass and mud, clawing and trying to grip with her feet to pull herself up. Sam was again submerged underwater when Cait looked behind her. Sam had decided to try and dive deep down and swim sideways, where the force wasn’t as strong. A few seconds later, his hands shot up out of the water and gripped the grass, rocks, and mud on the side of the bank, ten metres downstream from her. He coughed, breathed heavily, and grunted loudly. He was able to get a good enough grip and pulled himself up out of the water. With shaky legs, he sprinted over to the side where Cait was still trying to pull herself up. He reached down, grabbed one of her wrists, strongly pulled her up towards him, then grabbed hold of her other wrist and pulled her completely out. He pulled her to her feet so swiftly, and without thinking, he scooped her legs up with one arm, and held her torso with the other and ran towards where he left his Parka and phone. She gripped around his shoulders and neck tightly, nails digging in, not daring to let go. When he reached his Parka, he bent down and gently sat her on the grass, ripped off her own Parka and put his dry one around her, then pulled her tightly against him, rubbing her back and arms vigorously. He shook and coughed as he did so before he could say anything. His brain couldn’t reach his mouth at this point. After a minute, Cait pushed against Sam’s chest, bent over to the side, coughed, heaved and more water gushed out of her mouth. Sam firmly pounded her back, hoping he was helping to expel the fluid from her stomach. Cait, still bent over, close to the earth, gasped and breathed heavily. She continued to cough intermittently a few more times, until she could no longer feel any fluid in her belly. She harshly exhaled. Luckily, she wasn’t under very long, and was able to hold her breath and didn’t inhale any water, but some did force its way into her mouth, giving her no choice but to swallow. She knew there wasn’t any fluid in her chest or lungs, as she was able to breath easily.

Exhausted, Cait’s breathing started to finally slow. Sam rubbed her back gently, and she carefully pushed herself back up to a sitting position.

“Caitriona…” Sam began with a shaky voice, “I’m so sorry! You could’ve drowned, and I…! If anything happened to you! I…Caitriona, I’m so so sorry. Are you alright, did you hit your head? Do you think anything is broken?” Sam’s hands were shaking very visibly as he held Cait’s shoulders.

Cait was trembling all over, both from the cold water and the shock from what just happened. She had her head down and her eyes closed. Sam searched her face desperately while he waited for a response, still white as a ghost, icy water dripping from the tip of his nose.

After a few minutes, Cait took a deep breath in through her nose and breathed out through her mouth. She slowly opened her eyes but kept them facing down. Sam let go of her shoulders, and continued to wait patiently, his hands still trembling in his lap.

“I…I’m alright. It doesn’t feel like anything is broken…I know I didn’t hit my head on the way down…the water was too…deep...too strong…it…” Cait described with a shaky voice and hugged herself with her own trembling hands, trying to stop the rest of her body from shaking.

“…it was an accident Sam. It’s alright,” Cait slowly moved her head up to look at him. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, all the colour was drained from her face, and her lips were now a blue-tinted pink.

“No, it’s not alright. I’m a…fucking idiot! I wasn’t paying attention to my feet; I knew I was too close to the edge! You could’ve broken your neck because of me. And…your hair!” Sam clenched his jaw and violently rubbed his forehead with his hand, eyes shut.

“Oh! Oh…fuck,” Cait exclaimed with widened eyes and a horrified look on her face and she grabbed two fistfuls of her hair.

“Caitriona, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I don’t know how you’ll ever forgive me…I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I mean I…” Sam broke off with a huff. He shifted away from her and held his head in his hands.

“Well, Sam, I didn’t break my neck. And…you saved my life, Sam. You risked your life to save mine. You got me out of that water just as quickly as I fell in…” Cait reached a trembling hand over and touched his bicep.

“Caitriona, I’m the reason you were in that river in the first place. Of course I was going to do everything in my power to save you…I mean…of course I would do everything I could to save you even if I wasn’t the reason,” Sam turned back towards her and shyly looked down at the wet grass between his legs, his arms resting on his knees.

Cait smiled lopsidedly, “I know. Thank you, Sam, for saving my life. All I know is that I could not, for the life of me, keep myself above the water. I was…stuck. Completely stuck underneath. If it wasn’t for you…you got to me so fast, like you didn’t even hesitate to jump in,” Cait raised her eyebrows in question.

“I didn’t,” Sam shrugged, “I’m just glad you’re alright. Well, I hope you are. That’s what we’re going to find out,” Sam stated as he grabbed his phone, scrolled through his texts with Ron to find the numbers of the drivers.

He typed in the number and asked his driver to immediately come to where they are. After he hung up, he screenshotted their location on Google Maps and sent it to his driver. His driver responded within a couple of minutes.

“My driver will be here in ten minutes, then we’re going straight to the ER. You’ve swallowed a lot of water. I want you to get checked out. I want to make sure you’re alright,” he said with a determined voice, looking at her with guilt in his face and concern in his eyes.

Cait nodded, “I…I don’t know what I’m going to do about my hair…” Cait hesitated, biting her lip.

“Yeah I don’t know what I’m going to do about mine either. I’m going to call Ron right now and explain everything,” Sam put the phone to his ear again, then reached over and pulled his Parka tighter around Cait.

She gave him a shy smile as she put her arms through the sleeves.

Sam spent the next eight minutes on the phone with Ron, explaining the whole situation. Cait watched Sam’s face closely. His different expressions, his hand movements as he spoke, the way he chewed his thumb nail when he was nervous.

‘He saved me…he jumped right into that fucking death trap of a river and saved my life in the space of five minutes. What if he got stuck underneath after throwing me over to the bank…what if he broke his own neck trying to save me…the way he held me above that water…the way he was able to pull me to him against that heavy stream…he just…he amazes me…is he real?’ Cait was completely lost in her thoughts as she watched him.

Sam hanging up the phone snapped her out of it.

“Ron is really concerned about both of us, but he’s happy we’re both alive and going to the hospital. He wants to be updated with all results, and how we are tomorrow. The read-through may have to be pushed back, depending. He’s also going to call the stylist in London about our hair. He’s going to call back later about it,” Sam informed Cait, still with a look of remorse and embarrassment.

“Alright…was he pissed about our hair?” Cait asked.

“Nah, he just said ‘accidents happen’. He was more concerned with our health. I just…this is a big deal for you, Cait, and if I’ve ruined it for you, I wouldn’t ever forgive myself –,” Sam started, shaking his head.

“Sam,” Cait cut him off, “you haven’t ruined anything. It’s fine, everything will be fine.”

Sam gave her a small, lopsided smile, “I really am sorry though, for all that water you had to throw up, for any cold you get because of this, for everything. I suppose you don’t want any more Sam Heughan tours,” Sam looked down sheepishly.

Caitriona reached back over and patted his hand, then squeezed it slightly before letting go.

“I do, just, maybe no more dangerous bridges,” Cait smirked at him.

Sam laughed, “deal, I promise,” he looked at her and smiled.

Her face broke into a smile back at him, and just like that, they were stuck in a moment. No one was able to move. Not until Sam’s phone rang, and they both flinched, snapping out of it.

“Hi, Ron,” Sam answered, a little nervously.

He spent another minute on the phone, which left Cait’s thoughts to drift again. She cleared her throat and turned her head away. She smiled to herself briefly, then sucked her lips into her mouth and looked down.

‘He really is a great guy. It’s going to be a lot of fun working with him. We’re going to be great working partners and friends. That’s it though Caitriona, that’s all he is and will ever be to you. Just a co-s –,’

“Okay so with the hair appointment, the stylist has told Ron that you’ll need to get it redone, but I don’t because my perm isn’t as intense, and because of the amount of hair I have. So, your appointment in London is in a few days. It would just be a fly there, fly back kind of day,” Sam explained, breaking Cait from her self-pep-talk.

“Oh, okay. It has to be done,” Cait nodded and shrugged.

“Yeah, only if you’re well enough. Otherwise that can be pushed back as well,” Sam reassured.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Cait half-smiled, and checked her phone for the time.

“I hope so. Oh, car’s here,” Sam said as he jolted to his feet.

He put his phone in his pocket, then reached down and put his hands out to Cait. She took his hands and he gently, but strongly eased her up.

“Are you alright? How are your legs?” Sam asked, steadying her.

Cait peered up at him, “yeah, uh…a little shaky but…I’m okay,” she nodded, looking down shyly.

As the drive to the hospital wasn’t a short one, both cars and drivers arrived. The drivers quickly got out and ran over Sam and Cait. They frantically asked what happened and if they were hurt, with concern and shock.

“It’s alright, I’ll tell you on the way,” Cait said to her driver.

“Yes, me too. We need to get her into the warmth right now,” Sam said to his driver, then looked at Cait’s.

Sam walked Cait to her car and opened the door for her. He held her elbow as she weakly climbed in.

“Are you warm enough? Do you think you’ll be sick again? I can see if they have a bag somewhere,” Sam half turned to look at Cait’s driver.

“No, it’s okay, Sam. I’ll be alright. It’s really warm in here,” Cait reassured.

“Alright, keep the parka, and I’ll see you when we get there,” Sam brushed her knee slightly, before closing the door.

Sam handed Cait’s soaked parka to her driver, “would you mind just putting this on the front seat, in font of the heater, where it can dry a bit?”

“Sure, sir,” Cait’s driver nodded and took the parka.

“You can call me Sam,” he said politely.

Sam ran and jumped into his car.

 **

 Upon arrival, Sam jumped out of his car, ran over to open Cait’s door, then held out his hand for her. Cait exhaled out of her nose and smiled at him.

“Thank you, Sam, but really, I’m alright,” Cait tried reassuring again.

“I just didn’t want your legs to lose balance or anything,” Sam said, concern in his baby blues.

“Well, I appreciate it,” Cait said shyly.

“It’s the least I can do, Cait. Sorry, Caitriona!” Sam quickly tried to patch his slip-up.

‘Oh, fuck!’ Sam tensed.

Sam and Cait checked in and walked towards the waiting room.

Cait smiled widely, “you DID call out ‘Cait’ when I fell in! I heard you, even under the water, but thought I was going crazy.”

“Sorry, I…it was just quicker to say in the moment, I panicked,” Sam confessed, embarrassed.

“And now?” Cait asked teasingly, smirking at him.

“Now…well that was an accident,” Sam bit his lip and smiled nervously.

Cait giggled, “you can call me ‘Cait’. I like it. Believe it or not, I’m not often called that. My family doesn’t believe in shortening names, I guess. And it’s only a few of my friends who call me ‘Cait’, and you’re my friend,” Cait gently nudged his shoulder with hers, smiling a little too flirtatiously.

‘Thank Christ for that,’ Sam thought, feeling instantly relieved.

Sam laughed, then sighed, “well, I’m glad we’re still friends, even though I barged you into a dangerous, dirty river,” he gently nudged her back.

“Caitriona Balfe?” a nurse suddenly came out.

“I’ll meet you here when we’re done, okay? Good luck…Cait,” Sam gave her a shy smile.

Cait returned the smile, “you too, see you after.”

 **

Cait was checked over with a routine blood test, an X-ray, and an ultrasound of her stomach to see if there was any damage from the river water and how much she swallowed. They wanted to test for any lurking contaminants in her stomach, and intestines, that could potentially travel to her bladder and urinary tract. They also checked for any fluid on her lungs.

Sam needed less invasive checks but was also examined for any contaminants in his body, from the river.

They both received their results within the hour.

**

 Sam was already in the waiting room, scrolling on his phone, trying to distract himself from worrying about Cait.

‘Please let her be alright, please let her be alright, please let her be alright!’ He begged, with every heavy thump of his heart.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the deep green of his parka that Cait was still snuggled into. She smiled crookedly at him and sat next him.

“Hey! Did everything go alright?” Sam quickly asked.

“Just a few tests, I’ll get the results soon,” Cait expressed.

“Me too. How are you feeling?” he asked, turning more towards her.

“A bit better, now. Not so shaky, and I’ve warmed up. I think it was just shock, more than anything,” Cait shrugged, “and, how are you?”

“Och, fine,” Sam nodded.

“Hopefully. You were in that water too,” Cait raised her eyebrows, concern spreading across her face.

“I didn’t swallow any though. I’m sure I’m all good, but we’ll find out soon enough. I…I hope you’re okay…Cait,” Sam said sheepishly, still feeling a little nervous about calling her that.

Cait gave him a look that said, ‘it’ll be okay’.

“Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe?” a doctor came out and said.

Sam and Cait stood up and followed him into his room.

The doctor information Cait that they couldn’t find any contaminants in her system, luckily, she vomited all of them out. They were both right as rain. The only recommendation the doctor gave Cait was to take a good probiotic for a week, and to have steaming hot shower, get a lot of bed rest with a lot of layers and a hot water bottle over the next 24 hours, to avoid getting a chill and then the flu.

Sam let out a sigh of such relief, knowing she was okay and that he hadn’t ruined anything for her.

‘I hope she doesn’t get sick…I’ll do everything I can to make sure she doesn’t! what if she does…what then? It would be inappropriate to kind of…take care of her…but…we share a trailer…we live together…fuck. Please don’t get sick…Cait,’ Sam struggled, then smiled, knowing he had full permission to call her by a nickname.

“That’s good news,” Sam said grinning at Cait, as they walked back towards their cars.

“Yes, see? Everything is fine. I just need to get out of these wet clothes…” Cait started, and immediately caught herself. It was too late.

‘What? What the fuck did you just say? Oh my god,’ Cait cursed herself internally.

Sam widened his eyes, then giggled quietly when he caught Cait’s face over what she just said.

“Uh…I mean…I need to put on something dry and curl up in bed…do you think there’s a hot water bottle in the trailer?” Cait asked, deliberately changing the subject.

“I’ll have a look for one while you’re in the shower. Are you hungry?” Sam asked.

“A little. Soup or broth is probably what I need the most right now,” Cait replied.

“Yeah, I saw heaps of cans of soup in the little pantry,” Sam nodded, opening the car door for Cait.

Cait smiled at him, “thank you. Alright, well, I’ll see you in a little bit,” Cait gently touched his forearm and climbed in.

Sam closed the car door and when she made eye contact with him out the window, he winked and waved, before running to his car.

Sam rang Ron and filled him in on the details.

“Alright, good news! I’m glad you’re both okay. We’ll have the read-through the day after tomorrow, if Cait is up to it, and then she’ll go to London two days following that. I’ll flick her a text now, and I’ll check in tomorrow evening. Goodnight, Sam,” Ron replied on the other end of the phone.

 **

 Caitriona wasted no time in gathering her warmest pjs and toiletries and hopping straight into the shower. The hot water took a while to heat up, and Caitriona stood just outside the shower, covered in goosebumps, arms wrapped around herself, bouncing up and down and shivering. When it was finally hot, Cait pounced underneath and lavished the steaming hot liquid covering her body. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, inhaling the steam. Her fair skin was quickly becoming red, but it was a very welcomed contrast from turning blue from the icy water today. She relayed the experiences in her head, as she stood under the hot stream, concentrating on her breathing. Today was certainly a terrifying experience, being trapped underwater. However, she felt no trauma over it. All she could think about was how quickly those strong arms grabbed her before there was enough time to actually start to really panic. How quickly he got to her, pulled her from the jaws that wanted to swallow her whole. How he swept her up like she was weightless, held her close.

‘Yes, he’s very thoughtful and caring. I’ll forever be grateful for him. I’m lucky to have someone to work with who will have my back,’ Cait thought, as she lathered soap on her body, determined to not let her thoughts drift.

Cait put on her fresh, warm pjs and wrapped her washed hair in a towel and walked out of the bathroom. The clouds of steam broke out behind her. Her cheeks were rosy red from the heat. Then she saw Sam. He had changed his clothes and was now wearing tracksuit pants and a loose, long sleeved shirt. He was standing in the kitchenette sipping coffee. He turned around once he heard her. He couldn’t help but look at her from head to toe and then back up again. Cait was wearing black cuffed sleep pants, thick purple bed socks, and an oversized fleece top.

‘Adorable creature! Look at her looking so snug…no, stop looking!’ Sam caught himself and he cleared his throat and briefly looked away.

Sam stuttered and struggled to get his words out at first, “Uh…I…uh,” Sam pointed to the little dining table.

Caitriona looked over and there was a steaming bowl of soup, a mug of black coffee and some chicken bone broth, waiting for her. Cait’s eyes lit up. Then she looked back at Sam and smiled. Sam shyly looked down and smiled, taking another sip of his coffee.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28043499/chapters/76290278

[jaxsteamblog]

Aurora

Click here to read the full fic on AO3

And it was over.

Zuko took time to help her move during the week and on Saturday, Sokka closed up the Ice Blossom and drove the big truck to move the pieces she couldn’t break down. In the evening, as she washed away their sore muscles, they all sat at Katara’s kitchen table and shared the various cartons of take out.

They ate by candlelight as the electric company had not switched over her account like she asked.

It was awkward for more than that, as they all knew what the next day was.

Katara’s summer was over, though there was still a week left before her classes began. All of them were about to head up to the North Pole for the Avatar’s debut and, even worse, the Fire Lord was coming along.

They slept over and in the morning, they went together to the airport. Despite the impending three day ordeal, their luggage was light. All of their fancy attire would already be there and waiting for them.

Flying to the North Pole was a lot easier for Katara, mostly due to the fact that they boarded a private plane. Iroh met them at the airport, coordinating with Zuko about when they would be meeting up with Azula and the Fire Lord.

The thought that she would soon be face to face with the man behind her mother’s death was, for the lack of a better word, odd. The degrees of separation between the Fire Lord’s order and Kya’s death passed through so many people, it was difficult for Katara to connect the two. Still, having to meet him made her feel queasy.

Everything was moving so fast, and Katara took her first breath of the day on the plane. It was as if the past few weeks had swept by her in a gust of wind. Her head spinning, Katara gripped her armrests and tried to focus on the small porthole window.

Hopefully the next five days would pass quickly and without incident.

Multiple cars were parked on the tarmac and their plane taxied slowly over to them. A stairway was wheeled over and as the door to the plane opened, the cars similarly opened. Most of them were guards, but Hakoda stepped out of one, smoothing down the sleeves of his parka.

“Hey, there they are!” Hakoda greeted as Sokka and Suki emerged from the plane. “Let me see my soon to be daughter-in-law!”

Katara followed after them and watched as Suki hugged her father. She hesitated before walking over and was distracted by a loud calling. Looking around, Katara finally peered upward, shielding her eyes from the sun still clinging to the horizon.

A Sky Bison banked and landed in a turn, facing the rest of them and stomping some of its tree trunk legs.

“Hi Katara!” Rohan’s voice bellowed from over the Sky Bison’s head. There was a flurry of orange as multiple people jumped down using their airbending.

Still breathing, Katara smiled. It didn’t seem likely that the time would pass slowly now.

It was dark when Zuko found her.

A dinner was being held for just the guests of honor, and drinks were being served. The Avatar was in conversation with Arnook and Tenzin, while the Fire Lord was standing with her father, Iroh, and Azula. It was too much and, with dinner still yet to be called, she had to escape.

It was the end of summer, so the North Pole was heading quickly into the dark season. The sun was only up for a few hours and lingered at the horizons, but evening fell quickly. So it wasn’t surprising that Katara stood in twinkling darkness before suppertime.

“I am not used to it being this dark but not feeling tired.” Zuko said as he walked up to her. Most of the building was made of wood and stone, but the balcony was pure ice. Zuko looked uneasy as he stepped on it, despite the grit the architect had added.

“It’s worse when the sun doesn’t go down at all. My bending is all out of wack then.” Katara replied.

“Sounds like Firebender perfection.”

“Don’t like the moon?”

“I prefer the ocean.”

Katara rolled her eyes and turned, crossing her arms on the railing just as Zuko stood next to her. He, like every other Firebender that came to the Poles, was dressed lightly. It was a mark of weakness if they needed arctic clothing, and while Katara understood that their inner fire kept them warm, it also greatly annoyed her.

It was as if they were saying they were better suited to living in her home than she was.

“So the Avatar seems nice?” Zuko offered. Katara glanced back briefly and nodded.

“She is. She definitely seems interested in being your friend.” She said.

“It surprised me too. I wasn’t prepared for her to get political so quickly.” Zuko replied. “But she wants Azula to teach her firebending.”

“You’re kidding!” Katara scoffed and Zuko smiled.

“It makes sense. If she cozies up to me, it gives me a leg-up on the global stage. But by having Azula be her teacher, she doesn’t risk ticking off my father too much.” He explained.

“About him…”

“What?”

“Does he always look like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like he has a rod jammed up his backside but instead of taking it out, he just gets offended that you haven’t impaled yourself?”

A laugh burst from Zuko and he quickly covered his mouth.

“That is definitely one way to put it.” He said.

“I can find other ways.” Katara offered and Zuko chuckled.

“I’d rather you not.” He said.

They stood in silence, looking out over the snowy courtyard. Everywhere she looked was snow and ice. With no humidity, the lampposts and streetlights didn’t glow, but stood like beacons of crisp white brilliance. The snow and ice itself glowed, coloring the light blue.

When it got truly dark, people would begin to carry around lanterns that were as old as their tribe.

“I hate being here.” Katara said suddenly and Zuko faced her.

“As in tonight or just in general?” He asked.

“In general.” She shook her head and tucked some of her hair behind an ear. “It reminds me of horrible things, yet I spend all of my time needing to go to the Oasis.”

“Then let’s go.” Zuko said.

“And be late to dinner?” Katara asked.

“Let’s cause a scandal. I don’t really want to eat with my father.” He replied. Smiling, Katara took his hand.

“We can be quick.” She said and pulled up a massive ice ramp from the snow on the ground.

Katara raced them both around the palace and to the high walls that guarded the Oasis. Out of respect, Zuko insisted they use the door and the guards let them pass. It was going to be hard to deny Katara entry when she harbored a link with one of the spirits being guarded.

Zuko seemed in awe of the place and Katara watched peacefully as he walked around. She went to the pond and sat down, not looking at the fish beside her but neither was she ignoring them.

After marvelling at the plantlife, Zuko walked to her and sat next to her.

“How do you feel?” He asked.

“Calm.” Katara said with a smile. She then grinned and leaned toward him.

“Want to see something weird?” She asked. Zuko only nodded and Katara sat back, putting her hand into the pond.

She couldn’t see it, but the look on Zuko’s face told her what was happening.

“Whenever my link to La is active, my hair turns black.” She said.

“But at the beach-” Zuko started, still staring at her hair.

“My hair was wet, you wouldn’t have noticed it.” She said and then turned to look at the fish. As they swam by, Katara put out her hand and let them pass under. Their scales felt like silk.

It was while she looked down that she saw the reflection of the sky.

“Zuko.” She said with a gasp and looked up, pointing as she did.

Green light spilled over the dark sky like trickles of water. The lines themselves also bled upward, illuminating a three dimensional space that made the vast sky a maw of darkness. The lights shimmered and Katara turned, lying on her back to watch them. Zuko joined her on the grass, his hands under his head.

“Now that is cool.” He said.

“Everything is so beautiful here, I wish I was happier.” Katara murmured.

“Are you not happy?” Zuko asked.

“I am, right now.” She said and turned her face. She was looking at Zuko’s scar and felt impelled to reach out. His eye fluttered, but he didn’t move away and Katara lightly touched the burn. At her touch, he closed his eyes and Katara rolled onto her side.

“I think here, of all places, I could heal you.” She whispered.

Zuko smiled.

“No. Right now, I’m happy too.” He said.

Katara took back her hand and leaned over as he opened his eyes. Zuko reached up with one hand, putting on the back of her head as she dipped in to kiss him. As her lips met his, she turned herself, and he sat up, holding her. They curled around each other as Katara ended up with her arms around his neck; his wrapped around her middle.

As they broke apart, Katara felt her arms pull against him and he pushed her up.

“We should probably go to dinner.” He murmured.

Sighing, Katara rested her forehead against his.

“Fine.” She put down an arm and pushed herself up, allowing Zuko to stand.

“May I escort you, your Highness?” He asked, offering his arm.

Katara only stuck out her tongue before linking her arm with his.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

[writemymemoir]

Stowaway  Pt 3. (The Mandalorian x fem!reader)

SUMMARY: Introductions and a surgery

A/N

Feel free to message or reply to this post if you want to be tagged

T/W

Blood, adult language and surgery

Part 2

Part 4

Your head pounded; a slow throb was making its ways up your arm. You could barely open your eyes. Squinting out of them, you saw the ceiling was only a few feet away from your face. Moving your head to the side slowly, your gaze came to the little green toddler sitting beside you on the bed. Looking to the other side, you groggily realized you were in the cramped space of the bed chamber.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” the mans voice said from the foot of the bed, he was fiddling with some kind of device, you couldn’t see it clearly. “You had quite the cut on you,” he continued, pointing at your bandaged arm.

You were in your undershirt, your parka no where to be seen. Looking down, you saw your sleeve had been pulled up and your cut had been bandaged up.

“You did something back there, something I’ve only seen once,” he continued, voice as monotone as ever. You tried to think back to what happened before, but your brain felt like it was stuffed with cotton and fuzz.

Slowly you started to remember. Seeing the little green child, attacking the man, somewhat losing to him. The grogginess of your mind started to lift.

“What?” You said, in fake astonishment, “Have you never been sneak attacked before.” The man looked up; he gave a slight shake of his head. You liked to think it was in laughter, but his mask gave away nothing.

“Do you remember how the fight ended?” He asked, looking back to continue fiddling with his device. You thought back, it was hard to think, but you remembered your staff. More importantly you remembered how to staff was out of your reach on second and in your hand the next.

Slowly sitting up, you gripped at your head, trying to force your headache away.

“So, we have a truce then? No more fighting?” You said avoiding the question, you turned to the child, and gave it a little scratch on the head. It cooed at you, his eyes filled with delight.

The man paused, slightly looking up, then continued.

“I wasn’t the one to start the fight,” He said, you huffed.

“Well, you did try and put me in the freezer, and you threatened to turn in my bounty,” You tried to justify your attack. He didn’t respond.

“Look, I just needed a way off that planet. You saw my arm, I was willing to do anything not to get killed,” you continued. He sighed, apparently finished with his device.

“The chip isn’t in that part of your arm,” He said, gesturing to you bandage. “I can help you get it out, if you want.”

You looked up from the cooing toddler.

“Why are you helping me?” you asked, confused at this stranger’s hospitality. The man didn’t say anything for a while. You returned to cooing at the child, delighted by its small giggles.

After a while, you heard a sigh. Looking up, you saw the what the device was. A tracking fob. Beeping, as its target was only a few feet away. You bristled.

The man noticed.

“If I wanted your bounty, I would’ve had it by now,” he said. You looked at him, scoffing.

“That sure of yourself, huh?” rolling your eyes, you scooted past the little green child to the foot of the bed to get out of the bed chamber. The man’s head was tilted again.

���Ok mister bounty hunter, where’s the chip?” You held out your good arm in front of him, then continued to play with the toddler with your bad one.

You looked up at the man, and he looked down at you. He sighed again, crouched in front of you, then began moving the fob up your arm. Slowly, the beeping began to increase.

Even though you were playing with the child, it didn’t hide the fact that you were tense, every move locked due to the stranger’s closeness. Turning your head, you looked at the masked man.

“I don’t think we introduced ourselves,” you said, staring you’re your reflection, the helmet only inches away. You had dried blood in your nostrils, on your neck you had the scab of the knife wound you sustained in the cantina. You chuckled; I look like shit.

The man stepped back, and the fob leaved your shoulder.

He paused, crossing his arms. You almost rolled your eyes at his dramatics. He was waiting for you to start.

“You can call me Y/N,” you held out your hand to shake.

After a second beat, he replied.

“People call me Mando,” the man took your hand. You gave him a confused squint.

“Mando,” you tested out his name, he dropped his hand, turning to look at the child. “Kinda macho, don’t you think.”

His head turned to you again, a slight tilt though in the way he held it.

“Let’s continue,” he said, raising the fob again. The closeness wasn’t as bad this time, but it still made you cringe away.

“You didn’t introduce me to this little guy,” you said, not looking at him.

“I don’t know his name,” Mando said plainly. You looked from the child to him.

“That is kind of,” you paused, “unusual.”

“Well, its kind of an unusual situation,” He said, scratching the child’s head.

“Do you call him anything?” You asked.

“No,” He said plainly.

“Well,” You paused to think, “I’m going to call you Baby,” you cooed at the little kid.

Mando pulled back. Obviously waiting for you.

“Ok fine, lets get this chip out,” you held out your arm.

“Its under your collarbone,” He said, putting the fob over the location. “I can get it out, but I don’t have strong painkillers.”

You pursed your lips, Of course.

“Well, I did this without any painkillers. I think Ill be find,” you said, holding up your bandaged arm. The child whined due to your hand moving away from his play time.

Mando looked at your arm, now returned to the child’s playtime. He looked back at you, hesitation in the tilt of his helmet.

“It wasn’t that bad of a job,” you said, a little offended.

“It really was,” he said, turning towards the med kit. On the way, he pressed a button that slid the bed you were on out from its hanger, into the open of the corridor.

Baby giggled at the movement. Smiling, you turned your full attention to him. Waving your hands in front of him, he watched with full attention. You continued, until Mando returned.

Your stomach growled, just as he set down his items for the coming surgery.

“So, I know you can’t really eat before a surgery. But have you got any food for after?” you asked, praying the answer would be yes.

“No,”

Fucking hell, you face turned to a scowl. Mando paused, looking at your dramatic expression. Continuing on with his organization, he spoke.

“We’ll stop at a port’s cantina soon, we can get you and the kid food then,”

Scowl softening, you gave him a nod.

“Lay down, I’ll give you pain killers in a minute,” He turned to the child, lifting him up, he walked over to the ladder. Putting him down at the top in the cockpit, he returned to you, pulling a bottle of pills out of his pocket.

“Have about three of these,” he said, handing them to you. You read the label; you had never seen this type of painkiller before. And you had seen many painkillers in your lifetime.

Popping them in your mouth, you swallowed and laid down. Mando knelt on your right side. Pulling down the shoulder of your shirt down, he wiped on some disinfected.

A noise brought you to look to your left. The child had climbed down to you and now was reaching for your bad hand. You started to play with him as the knife touched you skin. You just kept looking at him, trying to block out what Mando was doing.

After what seemed like hours of Mando digging into your collarbone, you heard the clink of something landing in the metal dish to his side. Finally, that’s out. You breathed out a sigh of relief.

Mando finished up by stitching the wound and putting a bandage over it.

Looking over to him, you grabbed his arm.

“Thank you,” you paused, “Thank you for helping me.”

All Mando gave you was a nod of his head, before he stood up and pressed the button on the bed, causing you to slide back into the beds cramped chamber, your hand left Baby.

“Get some rest, we’ll be at the cantina shortly.” He turned, walking to the cockpit. You looked up from you position on the bed to see Baby looking at you with his big eyes. Giving him a smile, he walked over to Mando to join him in the cockpit.

Laying back down, you looked up to the ceiling of the bed chamber, only a few feet from your face. You closed your eyes and prepared yourself for when you awoke.

Tags:

@lamnothome​

@aeryntheofficial​

[waitimcomingtoo]

In Case You Don’t Live Forever - Chapter Seventeen

Pairing: Peter Parker x Venom!reader

Warnings: Endgame spoilers

Masterlist

Unchained Melody (the song at the end)

You woke up the a small jolt of lightning hitting your chest. Your whole body felt electrified as the bolt coursed through your veins. Your eyes fluttered open and you were blinding by the bright lights.

“Pe-“ you managed to mutter out before giving up. It hurt to talk. You felt like you had been run over several times with a truck. You briefly remembered tweeting Harry Styles years ago, telling him you’d thank him for running you over with a truck. You had laughed at the time but it came back to haunt you in this moment.

“Lady Y/n!” Thor cheered. His hammer was resting on your chest, right over your heart. You assumed he’d used it as a defibrillator. As you slowly came to your senses, you realized you were lying on your back. All the Avengers were gathered around you, minus Nebula. You looked to your right and saw Tony pouring something over your dominant arm. You hadn’t even realized he was doing anything when something came to you. You couldn’t feel your arm. It laid there limply as Thor and Steve helped you sit up. You couldn’t move it and began to panic.

“Guys?” You asked as you repeatedly picked up your limp arm and dropped it. You couldn’t even feel it hitting the floor.

“Shhh it’s alright. Just be glad you’re alive.” Tony comforted you as he pulled you into a tight hug. You wrapped your normal arm around his neck and felt tears prick at your eyes.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you.” You whispered in his ear. Tony brushed hair out of your face and wiped away your tears with his rough thumb.

“Don’t worry about me, kid. I’m just glad you’re okay.” Tony assured you. You nodded at him.

“I was so scared. I looked at you to see your face but your mask was covering it.” You stated. You felt like a child being comforted by their parent. You were slightly embarrassed now. The Avengers watched you stand up to Tony and say all those horrible things only to have you come right back after the snap. You had fully expected to die after snapping. Your cheeks heated up at the thought of your words.

“I’m sorry, kid. I should’ve let you see my face.” Tony’s eyes were full of regret. You didn’t hold anything against him. You suddenly remembered what it was all for.

“Did it work? Is everyone back?” You asked. Before anyone could answer you, an explosion knocked you unconscious.

Peter Parker had just fought the greatest battle of his life. He turned to dust, woke up in a strange orange place, and was immediately thrown back into battle. He called the orange place “Orange Target” was while he was there, much to Doctor Strange’s dismay. It wasn’t the worst in Orange Target. He made friends with Shuri and the Guardians. He’d only spent about 5 hours there before Doctor Strange told him Thanos was back and he had to fight again. Peter was ready to use his new iron suit and defeat Thanos for good this time. He ran into battle behind Steve and Thor and began to fight space dogs from Thanos’s army. He spotted Shuri kneeling near a door and ran towards her.

“Need some help?” He asked his friend. Shuri laughed and waved her hand.

“I got this, Parka. Go keep an eye on my brotha for me.” Shuri told him. Peter nodded and skipped away.

You weren’t sure how long you were out this time. You were woken up by someone shaking your arm.

“Miss? Are you alright?” A girls voice asked you. She had an accent but you couldn’t pinpoint where it was from. She helped you sit up as you became aware of your surroundings. The tower was smashed to pieces. There were small fires and rubble everywhere. You heard shouting in the distance. The sky was a deep orange with huge yellow rings. You saw a thick door next to you and you figured you had been under it for a while.

“Did you pull me out?” You asked the girl. Her hair was in fancy buns and braids and she had tribal markings on her face. She nodded.

“I saw your leg sticking out from unda the door. People were looking for you for a while.” The girl told you.

“Who?” You asked. You suddenly became aware of the shouting on the intercom in your ear that all Avengers wore.

“On your left!” An unfamiliar voice said into the intercom.

“Stop saying that! I already saw you.” Steve’s voice answered angrily.

“I have the gauntlet. Nebula just killed Nebula. I think I’m on acid.” Clint’s voice said. You pulled your attention away from the intercom and turned back to the girl.

“Thanks for pulling me out. What’s your name?” You asked her. You were very dazed and confused but you wanted to thank your savior. You went to shake her hand but she had some kind of hand blasters on.

“Shuri.” She told you. “And you?”

“Y/n.” You answered. She smirked.

“Ah. So you’re the one Peetah won’t shut up about.” Shuri said. You didn’t even hear her. You were too focused on the battle you saw in front of you. You could see Thor, Steve, and Tony fighting a giant purple man in the far distance. You assumed he was Thanos. What you couldn’t figure out was where all the other people had come from. There were thousands of people fighting some kind of space dogs. You saw some flying, some using magic, some using weapons you’d never seen before, and some holding spears while in matching outfits.

“What’s happening?” You asked Shuri.

“Thanos came to retrieve the stones but everyone was brought back to fight him.” Shuri answered you. Your attention snapped back to her.

“Everyone’s back? My snap worked?” You gasped. If everyone was back, that meant Peter was somewhere on that battlefield waiting for you. You jumped up, despite the ache in your bones. Your arm was still flopping around like a wet noodle.

“You’re the one who snapped?” Shuri asked incredulously. You nodded as you scanned the battlefield for Peter. Shuri crossed her arms in front of her chest in an x shape and looked your firm in the eye.

“Thank you.” Shuri said. You didn’t know what she was doing so you hesitantly copied her motion and crossed your arms in front of your chest.

“You’re welcome?” You said as more of a question. Shuri’s hand blaster retracted into a bracelet and she took your hand.

“Come. My brotha is this way. He’ll want to thank you too.” Shuri pulled you towards the battle.

You jumped right into battle and found yourself near Thanos soon enough. This was no mistake. You wanted to make him pay for what he did. When Thanos was distracted by Tony, you jumped on his back and wrapped your arms around his fat neck. They barely went all the way around and you certainly couldn’t do anything to hurt him. Thanos was wearing you like a necklace.

He pulled you off his neck and threw you against the ground. You knew you had made a mistake. Tony was distracted by one of Thanos’s men and he couldn’t come to your rescue. You were defenseless now. Thanos stalked towards you and you began to back yourself up with your good hand. You hit a big rock and backed yourself up onto it it. There was no where else to go. Thanos was on top of you now. You reached your good arm around the rock and hugged it for comfort.

“Stupid girl.” Thanos declared in a low voice. “Did you really think you can stop me when you’re only human? I’m at the top of the food chain, my child. You’re at the bottom.” Thanos got in your face. Though you couldn’t see your arm, you felt something warm touch it.

“I may be human.” You leaned in closer to him, much to his surprise. “But I will never be a bottom.”

With that, you bonded with Venom and punched Thanos square in the face with her inky black arm. Thanos flew back and you stood up. You held out your arms as Venom seeped back into your skin. You watched as your body transformed into Venom for the first time in five years.

“I’ve missed us.” You cheered as she appeared in her snake like form and hovered in front of your face.

“We’ve missed you too.” Venom said. More tears fell at the sound of her voice. Both your arms were functioning with Venom in your veins. You leaned forward and pressed a long kiss to her forehead.

“Ready to kick some ass, baby?” You asked her.

“We are ready.” She nodded. You turned into Venom and charged towards Thanos. You put up a good fight but in the end, he was still bigger and stronger than you and Venom. He had you by the neck and you thought all hope was lost when he suddenly dropped you and fell to the ground. As he fell, Nebula stood behind him with a tranquilizer. She looked up at you and gave you an awkward smile as you let your face show.

“Girl power?” She asked, unsure if herself. You nodded excitedly and pulled her into a hug. She was cold and made of metal, but you didn’t mind.

“That’s right! Girl power!” You exclaimed. Nebula gave you another smile. They got better and more natural every time.

“Hey! Green lady! Have you seen a big black monster with white eyes? And if you have, can you please not tell them I called them a monster?” Peter asked Gamora, whom he’d never seen before. He didn’t know Venom was dusted. He figured if a battle was going on, you were there and in Venom form.

“No. I’m looking for my sister. Have you seen a blue bald chick?” Gamora asked Peter. Peter shook his head.

“Alright. Good luck finding her.” Gamora said.

“You too.” Peter ran in another direction.

Meanwhile, Nebula looked proud of herself as she kicked her father’s body.

“My father should be out for a few minutes. I have to find my sister. Will you come?” Nebula asked you. You nodded and went with her to the other side of the battlefield.

You transformed back into yourself right as Nebula found Gamora. Gamora handed Nebula a weapon and offered you one, but you declined.

“No thank you. I have my own weapon.” You told her politely. Gamora smiled at you and put her gun away. You noticed Rocket was behind her, along with a tree, a blue man, a girl with antennas, and a man lying on the ground while holding his groin in pain.

“Y/n! Look everyone, it’s that babe I told you was all over me. This is my crew!” Rocket announced. You shook hands with the girl and the man, who’s names you learned were Drax and Mantis. Finally, you turned to the tree.

“I am Groot.” The tree said.

“Hello Groot. We are Venom.” You and Venom responded. Groot smiled at you before going back to battle.

Speaking of the battle, you noticed Steve getting his ass handed to him by Thanos. You excused yourself and ran towards him. Right as Thanos was about to bring his giant sword down on Steve and slice him in half, you slid in the middle of them and held up your hand. Venoms arm became like shield that deflected the blow from Thanos’s sword. You were still you but had Venoms massive arm. You turned your head to look at Steve and smiled.

“Hey Captain. Always use protection, am I right?” You wiggled your eyebrows and nodded towards your shield, or in this case, your “protection.”

“A condom joke? In the middle of a battle? I’m going to have a talk with you after this young lady.” Steve scolded. You rolled your eyes as Thanos continued to hit your shield. You didn’t mind the blows. It was giving Steve a chance to take a well needed rest.

“I’m only kidding Captain. You’re welcome by the way. Oh, and this is my best friend Venom. Say hi, Venom.” You said. Venom poked her head out and smiled at Steve.

“We are Venom.” She said.

“I am Steve Rogers.” Steve answered as he pointed to himself. You smiled at the interaction.

“We’re gonna go help Tony.” You told him, smiling at the chance to use “We” again.

“Go. I’ll be fine.” Steve nodded. You slipped away and looked around for Tony.

Peter had found Tony lying on the ground and immediately ran to his aid. To Peters surprise, Tony pulled him into a tight embrace, despite having seen him just 5 hours ago.

“I’m good here, Underoos. Go help Cap.” Tony assured Peter after their hug. Peter nodded, excited to be useful, and went to find Cap.

You couldn’t find Tony so you began to help anyone you saw needing help. You pulled a few space dogs off Black Panther, ate a few of Thanos’s army men who were attacking Scott and his girlfriend, The Wasp, and punched someone who was hitting Rocket and Groot with lasers.

Soon, a giant game of hot potato broke out with the Infinity Gauntlet. Through the intercom, you heard a series of “I got it!” and “pass it to me!”. You could barely make out who’s voice was who’s but you could’ve sworn you heard a familiar queen accent screaming over intercom. You stopped in your tracks and listened closely.

“Hi, my name is Pet- OH MY GOD.” A voice yelled over the intercom, followed by a horse whining. You’d recognize that voice anywhere. You began to look around for him frantically but were suddenly distracted by something entering the atmosphere. You looked up and watched in awe as Captain Marvel destroyed Thanos’s ship. You saw her land near you and talk to someone who you couldn’t see, but mustn’t been lying on the ground. You noticed as more and more women formed around her.

“Welp. Duty calls.” You said as you walked over and joined the women. Carol now had the gauntlet in her hands. You didn’t turn back to see who she had taken it from. You only matched forward with the other women, not having any clue where you were going or what you were doing, but still walking beside them without a moments hesitation. Together, you all fought and killed the space dogs in your way. Carol flew to Scott to give him the gauntlet and the other women slowly dispersed.

You were kicking major ass at this point. You jumped in the air and tore apart a space dog. You landed in a spider like position and popped your head up.

“Venom, porcupine mode.” You said. With that, Venom shot out tendrils in all directions, directly into the bodies off all the space dogs around you. Each tendril pulled out the heart of the space dog it was inside, killing them instantly. You killed 17 space dogs in a matter of seconds and smiled at your work.

“Venom?” Came a voice behind you. You stopped admiring your work and slowly turned around.

There, right before your eyes, was the boy you’d waited for for five whole years. There, safe, alive, a little worm from battle, but ultimately okay.

“Peter?” You asked. His name was alien on your lips. You hadn’t said it to him since the day he left for MOMA. You couldn’t believe it. It couldn’t be real. It had been too long and you’d lost hope too many times.

“Is Y/n in there?” Peter yelled. He was pretty far away, but still close enough to hear. You realized you were in your Venom form and Peter couldn’t see you. You transformed back into yourself as a tears of joy swam in your eyes.

“Peter?” You asked again. You were in complete disbelief. He looked different. From

what you could tell, he was shiny. Was it really him, or was it a trick?

“Y/n!” Peter cried. He began to run towards you. Without thinking, your feet began to move too. They carried you towards the boy without you even trying.

You crashed into Peter and immediately put your lips on his. Your good arm was around his neck and it held him as tight against yourself as you could. His arms were just as tight around your waist as he kissed you back. The kiss became sloppy and a little salty as hot tears ran down your cheeks before you even realized you were crying. You could barley compose yourself long enough to kiss him properly. You cried against his mouth and pressed kisses to his entire face before pulling him into a tight hug. His magical laugh filled your ears and you crumbled to your knees. He followed you down and held you closer.

After taking him all in, you pulled away and put your hands on his face. It was exactly the way you remembered, like you had left a bookmark in a book. Everything was still there. His freckles dotting his crooked nose. His thin, always red lips. His pretty brown doe eyes. You never loved brown eyes until you loved somebody with brown eyes. It was there. It was all still there. You tried to form a sentence but only sputters and parts of words came out. Peter laughed at your inibility to speak until you finally managed to say one word.

“Hi.” You said stupidly, in a squeaky voice. Hi? Really? You hadn’t seen him in 5 years and mourned his loss everyday. The best you could come up with was hi?

“Hey.” Peter answered. You could physically feel your broken heart mending back together. You smiled at him brightly before pulled him into another hug. You took in his scent. It was the same as always though also had hints of that new car smell. You bunched your fingers in his soft curly hair. You felt his warm cheek pressed against yours.

“Why are you hard?” You asked suddenly, still in Peters embrace.

“Uh, what?” Peter asked. He pulled away and looked at you confused.

“Your suit. Your suit is hard now.” You knocked on his arm and it made a clanging sound. “Is it made of metal?”

“Ohhh. That kind of hard.” Peter laughed. “Uh, yea. Mr. Stark made it for me. It’s made of iron.”

“Iron? Like his suit?” You asked. Peter nodded excitedly and began to ramble about all the cool new features. Then he began to tell you about space and how it felt to turn to dust. You happily listened until he mentioned that he’d only been on the bus five hours before.

“Five hours? Peter, you were gone for five years.” You told him. Peter looked at you in bewilderment.

“I was gone for five years?” He asked and you nodded. “Did-did you move on? Are we…are we still-“

You cut Peter off with a proper kiss this time. He melted into your lips and you sighed in content.

“Of course. Of course we’re still together. Till death do us part, remember? Good thing I sang that song to you all those years ago. Since you decided not to live forever.” You teased. Peter pretended to be offended.

“It’s not my fault I was turned to dust.” Peter said. You laughed and pulled him into another kiss, right as Steve and Thor ran by.

“Wait, Queens is the boy you’ve been talking about for the past five years?” Steve asked in shock. Peter looked at you with a smile as your cheeks turned red.

“Lady Y/n is dating the spider child?” Thor wondered as well. “Why didn’t you tell us his name?”

“I was trying to keep his identity a secret. I didn’t think he was gonna introduce himself to every freaking person on the battlefield.” You answered, giving Peter a look. He shrugged sheepishly, knowing he had told everyone his full name and walked around without his mask. It’s like he wanted to world to know his identity.

“You kept my identity a secret for five years? I can’t even keep it a secret for five seconds.” Peter said in amazement. You nodded so he kissed you again.

“Alright lovebirds, break it up. We still have a battle to win.” Steve said. You and Peter got up and walked hand in hand to the battle.

Your first happy memory with Peter upon his return was also your last one. He was devastated by the death of Tony, as were you. You felt so stupid. Maybe things would’ve been different if you had let him do the first snap. Maybe he’d still be alive. You hadn’t told Peter about your snap yet. You told him you’d inured your arm in the battle. He didn’t ask any further questions.

Your arm had to be amputated up to the elbow after the battle and you felt like all your self confidence had gone with it. You wore a black dress that covered your scar to Tony’s funeral. You stood by Peters side and held his hand with the one hand you had. Aunt May stood on the other side of him and rubbed comforting circles onto his back.

You were hurting, badly. Losing your arm, Tony, Nat, and Steve all at once took a toll on you. You couldn’t even be happy that Peter was back. You were happy, of course, you just couldn’t show it. Your home was destroyed, obviously, but you had held on to your old apartment. The landlord had vanished in the snap so you stool the deed to Peter and Mays apartment and owned it, rent free. They moved back into their apartment, and had all their stuff thanks to you putting it all in storage. You gave Peter his clothes that you refused to wear while he was gone. Everything worked out for the Parkers. You, on the other hand, had no clothes, no furniture, and no arm. You were in worse shape now than you were in the past five years. But at least now you had Venom, Peter, MJ, May, and Ned to get you through it. You came to realize you didn’t need any material items. You only needed the people around you.

After the funeral ceremony, you kept your distance from Peter and stood at the far end of Tony’s estate with a glass of water in your hand. Everyone else was talking but you were alone in the corner. Everyone looked so depressed. You never would’ve guessed the battle had been won. You watched Peter sit on a bench and stare off into the water as Tony’s memorial floated away. May sat next to him and rubbed his arm but he didn’t respond. You looked down at your own lack of arm and felt tears sting your eyes.

“You must be Y/n.” A calm voice startled you. You turned and saw a man with a funny beard and salt and pepper hair next to you.

“Um, yes.” You stammered, not expecting anyone to talk to you. “That’s me. Who are you?” You quickly wiped at your tears so he wouldn’t see. But he didn’t need to see them to know you were crying.

“Doctor Strange.” The man answered. You recognized the name from Peters rant when you first reunited.

“I’m Y/n. Oh. You already knew that. But how did you know?” You asked as you nervously downed the last of your water. Doctor Strange chuckled and you noticed your cup magically refilling. You sipped it and it was chamomile tea, Mary’s favorite drink.

“The first thing Peter said when he woke up wasn’t “where am I?” or “what happened?” like everyone else. It was your name. He asked for you.” Doctor Strange said. Your eyes wandered back to Peter and you felt a weight on your chest.

“Why are you telling me this?” You asked the man. His name suited him. He was very strange and vague.

“Because you’re experiencing doubts. And regret. I’m trying to assuage you.” Doctor Strange answered. You looked at him. How could he know what you were feeling?

“What are you, some kind of mind reader?” You asked timidly. Doctor Strange was right. You regretted snapping. You’d still have an arm if you hadn’t snapped. It didn’t kill you and you were human. Had Bruce or Thor done it, they would’ve been totally fine. And worse, you were doubting your relationship with Peter. He was 18 and you were 24. You were done with college and had a full time job at the Daily Bugle. He was still a child while you were forced to grow up in his absence. On top of that, you were both grieving Tony, as well as Nat, and the loss of your arm. How could two broken people possibly be in a functioning relationship together? You wanted to be with Peter, you had no doubt about that, but you felt like you needed a break. But you felt stupid for wanting that because you just took a five year break. You were a different person than the one Peter left behind five years ago. He had to relearn everything he knew about you. But how could you possibly tell Peter all that when he just lost Tony? And even worse, how would Peter react when he found out the snap that killed Tony had only left you with one less arm? Would he wish it was you who died?

“I’m not a mind reader. But I am all knowing. I told you that because you need to have faith in Peter. I know you’re both in pain but you have to give it time. Don’t run from him just yet.” Doctor Strange warned. You looked at your tea to avoid eye contact.

“Why do you care? I thought you were the protector of the reality or something. Why would my love life concern the great and powerful Strange?” You half heartedly mocked.

“Because I saw 14,000,605 ways the world was going to end, and Peter loved you in all of them.” Doctor Strange replied. You looked up at him in amazement.

“Really? That’s a real number?” You asked. You instantly felt dumb but Doctor Strange chuckled.

“Yes, it’s a real number. And you’re right, I usually don’t concern myself with frivolous romance. But I didn’t see another couple alive that the same could be said about. The highest anyone else got was 11.” Doctor Strange laughed but you didn’t find it funny. You were mostly shocked and a little impressed.

“Only 11? And Peter and I had 14,000,605?” You asked for confirmation.

Doctor Strange nodded and looked over at Peter.

“I almost didn’t believe it. But it was right there in front of me. I’m not supposed to tell you things about the future or else they won’t come true, but you looked like you needed to hear some good news.” The doctor said.

“And your good news is that Peter is stuck with me in every possible version of reality?” You chuckled lightly. It felt strange to smile at a funeral so you quickly stopped.

“My good news is you’ve done the impossible. You’ve transcended the laws of nature and found a soulmate. It’s something most of us only hope to do. And you did it at 19 years old simply by moving in across the hall from a loser with a spandex suit.” Doctor Strange chuckled again. You went to hit his arm, forgetting your own arm was no longer there. You awkwardly reached with your other arm and smacked his shoulder. He carefully watched your struggle.

“He’s not a loser. He’s my soulmate.” You reminded. You felt a strange sense of pride knowing that you could say that and it was proven to be true. Doctor Strange smiled back and put his hand on your arm stump.

“I guess you’re right. I’ll see you around, Y/n. Take care of yourself. And remember what I told you.” Doctor Strange said as he disappeared the way he came. You waved with one hand and took a sip of your tea with the other. It took you a few moments to realize you had two arms again. You looked around for Doctor Strange to thank him, but he was nowhere to be found. You looked at your new arm and made a fist. You knew exactly what the first thing you wanted to do with it was.

You found Peter talking to Thor and Bruce and slipped you new hand into his. It took Peter a second to realize which hand you were using. He looked from your face, to your intertwined hands, and back again in bewilderment.

“Y/n! Your arm is back!” Peter gasped. You smiled happily and nodded, not wanting to draw too much attention to yourself considering where you were.

“Doctor Strange worked some of his magic.” You whispered to the three men who were looking at your arm in amazement.

“Loki used to do magic.” Thor recalled sadly. You and him both lost your siblings before the snap. And while everyone was reunited with their loved ones, you had to accept that Mary and Loki weren’t coming back. Thor didn’t talk about Loki often. You knew it was a sore topic for him. He noticed your sudden mood change at the mention of his brothers name.

“He worked some magic on you, didn’t he Lady Y/n?” Thor smirked. Bruce laughed, having heard the story and Peter looked confused.

“What? What magic?” Peter asked. You shook your head and gave Thor and Bruce a stern look that said “zip it.”

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it baby.” You said and you pressed a kiss to Peters cheek. Peter gave you a tight lipped smile in return. You knew it’d be a while before you saw him smiling again, but this was a good first step.

After the funeral, you went to Peters house and held him while he cried. You sang to him softly as his tears seeped into your shirt.

“Oh, my love, my darling

I've hungered for your touch

A long, lonely time.”

You sang quietly as you ran your fingers through his hair. Peters sobs became the silent kind and all that could be heard was your voice.

“Time goes by so slowly

And time can do so much

Are you still mine?”

You continued. Peter began to calm down a little and snuggled further into your neck.

“I need your love

I need your love

God speed your love to me.”

You sang even softer into his ear. You felt his breathing slow as he exhausted himself further.

“Lonely rivers sigh

Rivers sigh

Rivers sigh.

"Wait for me, wait for me, wait for me.”

Peter was almost asleep now.

You finished the song quietly before falling asleep yourself in Peters bed.

“I'll be coming home, wait for me.”

Tag List 🏷

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[goldeneyedgirl]

Ficathon: Mad World

I’ve spent today on uni work and chipping away on Shadow to Light, so instead of a prompt fic, have a sample of one of my WIPs - this one is Mad World, a fic where Alice is the daughter of Charlie Swan’s estranged sister who goes to live with Bella and Charlie. It was an experiment in gothic horror/romance, tbh.

“If you don't know where you are going any road can take you there.” - Lewis Carroll

When I look up at the sky in Forks, I don’t see clouds. Or I do, but they’re obscured by leaves and branches; the forest stretches above me and it’s nice. Private and safe, even though it makes it feel a lot later and darker than it really is. It’s like we’re in a cocoon, and there’s no one else in the world.

I return to reality as his teeth rasp against my stomach, above my belly button, and I giggle, ticklish. I’m splayed across a rock, and it's scratching my back - my sweater is balled up in the dirt, and my shirt is pushed up above my bra.

My fingers twist in his hair and I smirk as he looks back up at me. Jasper Hale; who I sit next to in History and in Trig. His shirt hangs open, revealing a body that will be taking pride of place in my fantasies.

“You okay?” His voice is low and even, but his eyes are sharp. Dark, and watching me. For a moment, I see calculation and something I should react to. Something dangerous. Like he could kill me right here and now; fuck me and choke me; rip me into wet, meaty pieces; beat my skull into dust with a rock. This boy, this man, is dangerous, and I have invited him to get much, much closer. He could do whatever he wanted to me, and he wouldn’t be the first.

And I don’t care. That darkness, that rage, and potential for violence, I’m not scared of it. I haven’t been for a long time. It’s easier to consent than to resist. And more than that, I like that darkness. I like that sharp edge. And what I know of Jasper Hale, I like.

Whatever I am feeling twists and fades into the steady thrum of lust, of confidence and willingness.

“Absolutely nothing,” I say, and tug his hair to bring his face closer to mine.

And that’s how I spent my third afternoon in Forks; fooling around with Jasper Hale in the woods behind the high school auditorium.

—

It’s a rainy Thursday night when I finally, finally arrive in Forks. And in that moment, it is the most beautiful place on earth - the green of the forest, the grey of the rain, the fresh air. It is Shangri-La on Earth, and I am apart of it.

I left North Carolina on Monday, and since then have taken a bus, a train, another bus, another train, and a third bus. I have layers upon layers of deodorant and grime upon my skin; my phone is dead; my hair is greasy from the endless styling tutorials I looked up to combat boredom, and all I want is something to eat and a shower. Anything that isn’t itchy seats, never-ending road, or snack foods would be heaven upon earth at this moment.  

In truth, I don’t feel human anymore. I feel like a transient spirit, a modern-day gypsy, a lost girl. That for the rest of time, this will be my life - dirt and fuel and waiting for an end that never comes. But somehow, I have made it to Forks; the red ‘x’ on my photocopied map is finally a real place, with buildings and streets and people. Forks isn’t home, but it is the most welcoming sight I have had in years.  

I jump down from the bus; a backpack on my shoulder, a satchel across my chest and a duffle bag in one hand. For all intents and purposes, this is all I own in the world. Twenty-three dollars in my wallet, and my entire life in my bags. I could go anywhere I wanted, except twenty-three dollars won’t take me many places.

No one else on the bus carries as much luggage as I do, and no one is dressed alike either - I changed at the Seattle bus station into my second-to-last clean outfit, to try and make a good impression. Everyone else is wearing a jeans-parka-boots combination, which is probably smart with the horrible weather. Not that I will miss the hideous summers of North Carolina. But I get the sense that this bus is full of locals, who busted happened to be travelling from Port Angeles or Seattle. There’s something about them, like the green of the forest, the dirt and mud of the ground, the rainwater has sunken into their bodies and marked them invisibly as belonging to the town of Forks. I wonder if I’ll be here long enough to be marked too.

The bus station is the smallest I’ve been to on this whirlwind road trip - a tiny convenience store, a spinning rack of postcards, a payphone, and endless wooden benches.

Uncle Charlie is right there, waiting for me - sitting on a bench with a paper cup of coffee. Even if he hadn’t been wearing his uniform, I would have guessed he was my uncle. He doesn’t strictly look like my mother, but there is something in the way they carry themselves, the way that they fill space. I don’t know. I just know that he is definitely Mom’s little brother, one Chief Charlie Swan of Forks, WA.

My new guardian - saviour or gaoler is yet to be determined.

“Uncle Charlie!” I put a big smile on my face and march straight up to him - if life has taught me nothing else, it’s that first impressions count.  And not to piss off the person in charge of your welfare. “I’m Alice.”

Uncle Charlie looked up at me, and for a moment, just stared.

So, my outfit wasn’t the best first impression I could have picked. But it was the only one left that I could wear in public - my beloved, holey galaxy leggings; ancient floral Dr Martens that I had laced with pink ribbons; a giant purple and black sweater, and a black miniskirt. Combined with the pancake make-up I had used to cover up my blotchy-skin and dark under-eye circles, my greasy hair knotted in two buns with my collection of dollar-store butterfly clips, and the fact that I smelt like four days of bus, sweat, and fried food, I definitely looked like the devil child my mother probably portrayed me as.

“Mary Alice!” Uncle Charlie recovered. “How was your trip?” He smiled awkwardly and stood up.

“Long,” I said ruefully. “But I’m here now.”

—

Uncle Charlie tried to make conversation as we drove back to his place, as if a truncated game of ‘Twenty Questions’ could undo the awkwardness of not knowing about each other for seventeen years.

And it wasn’t like I could abridge my messy, ridiculous life story into a fifteen minute car trip, anyway. Or that Charlie Swan could become a beloved uncle between the bus station and his home.

Who was I?

I was Mary-Alice Brandon, eldest daughter of Annette Marie Swan-Ackerman, the only child of the late artist Nicholas Brandon. Resented step-daughter of Stephen Ackerman. A granddaughter and a niece and a half-sister. Former prisoner of a remote reform school. Epileptic. A secret keeper, and an artist.

How could I tell Uncle Charlie all the tiny details that made up me, and the reason I was here with him now?

That my mother is no Swan, but a chameleon, a snake, a cuckoo in the nest?

That the last of my stitches came out last week, but the scars still itch like crazy?

That I used to love gas-station slushies, especially pink ones, until I was twelve? That now I love soda, so cold it makes your brain and teeth hurt, and tastes like static?

And besides, what do I know about Charlie and my cousin? He’s a divorced police chief, and his daughter Isabella is also seventeen years old - five months older than me - and lives with him full-time. She attends the local public high school. That my grandparents are dead, and my ex-aunt has since remarried.

That’s it. That’s all I really know. And I am about to live with them.

If I think about it too much, it just feels like another trap.

—

The Swan house was small, but then, so were all the houses on the street. It was old, too, but I’d always known that was a probability. It didn’t make it easier, though. I’ve never done well in old houses. It needed a few repairs - the paint was peeling off, one of the shutters was hanging at an angle, and the front garden was dirt, grass, moss and ferns. Uncle Charlie struck me as a neat and practical kind of person, so this was surprising. But maybe in the spring, I could coax some kind of garden to life, as a way to say thank-you.

We walked in the backdoor, letting it swing shut behind us with a bang.  Inside, the hallway was narrow and dark, with stairs leading up, and a few aged pieces of art hung on the plaid walls - mostly landscapes, and several of fish that were very good, if hideously ugly.

The first thing my eye caught was the mantlepiece in the sitting room, above the fireplace - a shrine to a teenage girl who bore a startling resemblance to Mom.

“Wow,” I said, moving closer. The eyes, the smile, the brown hair - this had to be my cousin. “Is that Isabella?”

“Yeah, that’s Bells. She’s out with her boyfriend at the moment,” Uncle Charlie said, setting down my duffle bag.

“She looks just like Mom,” I said, amazed. It was uncanny - Bella looked more like Mom’s daughter than I did.

“I guess she does,” Uncle Charlie said. “Bells is much prettier than Annette was at that age - but that’s all Renee.”

Charlie sounded uncomfortable, and I had to admit to myself that I was uncomfortable hearing my mother’s name. Turning away from the photographs, I pasted a smile back on my face.

“Sorry, I’m easily distracted,” I said. “You were going to show me my room?”

“Yeah. It’s not much,” Uncle Charlie began. “It’s pretty small…”

“You’re taking me in. That makes everything else perfect,” I said firmly, grabbing my backpack again. “Lead the way.”

—

Well.

Uncle Charlie had warned me that my bedroom was tiny.

It was more than tiny – more like a large alcove with glass doors. The walls were off-white, and a square window looked over a tiny yard and the forest. A narrow bed was wedged against the wall, made up with a hideous yellow bedspread. A dresser was arranged against the wall between the bed and doors. Opposite the dresser was a tiny desk and chair. Jammed in the gap at the end of the bed, next to the desk, was an old laundry hamper.

I was betting I could touch the window and the door with my arms outstretched.

Luckily I was used to small living spaces. I wasn’t sharing with anyone; that was enough to make up for the fact that this room would have been a better closet. Or window box. Apparently, Uncle Charlie had used it as an office when he needed to bring work home.

I set my bags on the bed. This was going to be my home for the next year and a half. It felt overwhelming all of a sudden, that I would be living with an uncle and cousin I had never even met before. It wasn’t like school, where I had shared a room with seven other girls, and we’d all been strangers.

I could do this.

It was only eighteen months. I had been away at school nearly three times that long, and if I could survive school, I could survive living at Uncle Charlie’s.

I had intended to unpack and settle in before dinner, but in the end, I just changed into some pyjamas, shoved my bags under the bed, and fallen asleep nearly instantly. I didn’t wake up until much later, almost midnight, starving and disorientated. I crept out of my room, making a note to buy some kind of curtains for the glass doors to give myself some privacy.

Uncle Charlie and my cousin were clearly already asleep, so I got myself a glass of water. There was a note scrawled out for me, telling me to help myself to food, and that they’d see me tomorrow. I felt bad for vanishing without spending time with them or even meeting Bella, but there wasn’t much I could do about that now.

The house was quiet in the darkness, but I used my phone to carefully navigate - and look around. The shrine held a wedding photo of a much-younger Charlie, and the woman who was my ex-aunt; a sad memento when I knew that Uncle Charlie had been divorced for quite a long time. An off-brand recliner sat near a small, out-of-date television, the remote on top of a TV guide, with various sports matches circled in pen. Several pairs of shoes sat by the front door - my cousin was clearly a strong supporter of Converse sneakers.

The leftovers in the fridge looked kind of suspect – some luminous mac and cheese, a chicken that was nearly picked clean, and some greasy looking Chinese. I ended up slapping some peanut butter on some bread, and drinking nearly half a carton of milk, before vanishing back into my new ‘bedroom’ for some more sleep.  

Peering out of the uncovered window into the night, I could see beyond the fence line into the black of the forest. The tops of the trees cut the bottom half of the sky off perfectly, like an old-fashioned silhouette. It was strange to imagine my mother living in this kind of town, growing up here. But then, I had a hard time picturing my dad and her being married, too.

Lying back, I stared out at the night sky, the slow movement of clouds over the stars lulling me back to sleep.

[sundropscribbles]

Never Liked A Rom-Com | Eleven x Reader | 4.1K

A little request for @cassie-the-human! Just some timey-wimey stuff, really. I really hope you love it! 🖤

It wasn’t terribly common in your endeavors with The Doctor that you wound up with a deciding vote of any kind. Not in situations of great importance, or in any situations at all, really. It hardly ever happened, in fact, and you couldn’t honestly say that you had a problem with that. You weren’t particularly accustomed to having that sort of authority, and more often than not, you didn’t want it. It was a tremendous amount of pressure to put upon any human’s shoulders, the fate of any one planet or person or species, and you were always more than happy to hand the responsibility over to The Doctor when it came to these types of things.

He was always happy to oblige, too, as he was much more the grin-and-bear-it type than you could ever have been. That, and saving various planets and people and species from destruction was sort of what he did for a living.

This, though…

This particular thing, you couldn’t hand off to anyone else. Not really.

The Doctor had always warned you against going back on your own timeline, from the very first day you had begun traveling with him. It was a personal rule of his, one of the few: Don’t run off, don’t go into the third room on the left side of the TARDIS’s fifth hallway, and never, ever go back on your own personal timeline.

In your defense, you had honestly believed that this particular event wouldn’t have counted as your timeline; it was roughly four and half years before you would even come to exist in the world, after all. And also in your defense, The Doctor’s aim had been a bit off.

You had meant to land in the year 1993, three years prior to the year of your birth and the year that your parents had met. Both your mum and dad had always told you such wonderful stories about their early days together, about the way that they had met and the quirky dates they had gone on, and all you had wanted was to see some of it.

“C’mon,” you had pleaded with The Doctor, who had up until this point kept a very stern face on about the entire situation. “It’ll be like a real-life romantic comedy! No life-threatening cyber-bots or danger. Just… my mum and dad. Falling in love.”

“First off, they’re called cyber-men, and secondly,“ he‘d counted, gesturing with his hands the way he tended to do when he wanted to make a point. He had suddenly stopped his pacing about the console room a moment later, and turned to face you instead. “It’s dangerous, Y/N, one of the most dangerous things that a time traveller can do. I know you think you know what to expect, but I can tell you from experience, these things never go to plan.”

You had made a face and grumbled, both at the fact that you had nearly run face first into him, and in response to his dismissive words.

“S’not really a plan to begin with, though,” you had murmured, and dropped your gaze to his new bow tie, busying yourself studying the deep purple color of it as you went on. You weren’t going to pout — you weren’t a child. But you were disappointed, and you weren’t afraid to let it show. “I don’t understand what the big deal would be, me being there — past me wouldn’t be around yet, and I already know not to meddle in my parents timelines and that, yeah? No paradoxes.”

A couple of moments of thick silence had passed (well, silence apart from The Doctor’s thoughtful grumbling), but eventually he had heaved a thick sigh. He’d reached out and tipped your chin back upwards with one finger so that he could look you in the eye.

“No meddling,” he’d said simply, his gaze pointed, still, but significantly softer than before. You had blinked and nodded your head without thinking, even though you hadn’t been sure if you’d been meant to respond or not. “No meddling. We keep our distance and watch. No more, no less,” he went on. “Like... like a rom-com.”

He had said the words begrudgingly, with a crease in his brow that said he still didn’t like the idea, but you had lit up like Christmas. You’d agreed to his terms — to what you had already promised — and he had sighed softly once more, smiling a fond little smile and bopping you on the nose before whirling back toward the console and flipping a switch or three or four.

You had stood there, grinning like a fool and feeling so very grateful to have this wonderful man as your best mate — your partner. Partner in crime?

Well. No matter who or what The Doctor was to you, you loved him with your whole heart.

“Alright, then. Where and when to?” he’d asked and looked at you like he knew exactly what you were thinking — like he felt just the same, whether it had been vocalized or not.

You had pressed the matter, at the time, because you truly hadn’t understood what the big deal would be. You did now, though,— you definitely did now — and it made you wish that you had just trusted The Doctor’s word.

On account of the mix-up with the date, you had wound up barging straight in on your own timeline, whether you had meant to or not.

It had gone something like this:

The Doctor had busied himself with the TARDIS, turning knobs and hitting buttons so as to get you to the correct time and location. You had gone to the wardrobe and changed into some clothing that was more 90’s appropriate (as well as you could with the TARDIS jumping and lurching about as she did, anyways), and when you had returned, The Doctor had informed you with his usual wide, goofy smile that you had arrived.

You had been in a bit too big of a hurry, so caught up in your excitement that you had caught The Doctor by the arm and hurried toward the TARDIS doors in one quick flurry of movement. He had given into your good mood and laughed happily along with you as you stepped out into the open air, just outside of the pub where your mum and dad had first met. You had been here plenty of times before, of course, but never like this. You couldn’t have been more excited.

In retrospect, you should probably have realized that something was off straight away; it had been warm and sunny out, and if you had stopped and given it a moment’s thought, you’d have realized that the time of day and the weather alone were all wrong. By the letter of both of your parents’ stories, they had met on a very gloomy, very rainy night — the rain and gloom had been the start to it all. Your mum had been without a parka that particular night, your dad had offered her his and a walk home to go along with it, and, well. As they say, the rest was history.

Everything had felt wrong, the moment that you had set foot inside of the pub. There was an air about the place, something… uneasy, that you hadn’t been able to put your finger on until you had taken a few steps inside. The place wasn’t much different than it was in your present day, 2019; it had the same unusually small bar, the same deep red walls — even the fairy lights, which had always looked more like an afterthought than anything else, were there, strung up along the counter.

It wasn’t terribly crowded (another thing wrong), and it was because of the lack of people at the bar that you immediately noticed what it was that was making the atmosphere feel so heavy.

It was your mum.

You’d have known her anywhere. Even twenty-something years younger, she looked just like the woman you had grown up with — the woman who had raised you, who had tucked you into bed at night and told you so many wonderful stories about her youth.

Her hair was the same soft (H/C) color it had always been, if a bit less gray, and you even recognized her blouse; she still owned the old thing, even though the most use it had seen in a decade or more had been one of the nights you had gone through her closet trying things on, in search of something to where out after you had failed to find anything suitable in your own wardrobe.

There was just one thing off: She was crying. Openly.

You had seen your mum cry once, maybe twice in your lifetime, and it had sunken a deep pit into your stomach each time, without fail. It wasn’t a common thing, nor was it a thing you liked to see, and this was no exception.

You hadn’t stopped to consider a consequence of any kind when you had left The Doctor’s side and gone strolling up to the bar — up to your mum. You had heard him hiss your name, panicked, but you hadn’t responded save for throwing a quick glance over your shoulder, looking back at him long enough to mouth the words “something’s wrong”.

“Hi, mu— um. I mean, hello,” you had said, only just catching your slip-up. No meddling be damned. “Pardon me for asking, but... are you alright?”

She looked up from the half-empty glass in front of her with wide, wet eyes. You’d have sworn that you saw a glimmer of recognition in her gaze, just for a moment, but you chalked it up to wishful thinking, in the end. She sniffed just a second or two later, smiling half-heartedly.

“Pretty obvious, innit?” she said, swiping an already-dried tear track from one cheek. She stirred the half-melted ice into her drink — vodka tonic, it looked like — and glanced at you out of the corner of one eye, like she was sizing you up.

“Well,” you had begun, not exactly sure where to go from there — comforting other people had never been a strong suit of yours, not really, so you decided to take the obvious route. “D’you wanna tell me about it? I might just be a bit more help than a watered down tonic and a bartender.”

She had given you an odd look, then; the smile slipped from her face, just for a split second, and she raised an eyebrow, looking contemplative. In the next moment, though, she was grinning again — a hollow facade — and taking a swig of her drink as she leaned back in her chair.

“Fella done me wrong,” she drawled in a faux southern-American accent, and something about that particular line hit you. Something... familiar.

You had heard it before, definitely, and you paused for a moment to consider it. Fella done me wrong.

A second later, it hit you like a train.

“‘Fella done me wrong,’ I said. I was quite a drama queen then, mind you. And this woman, she just looked at me like it was the strangest thing she’d ever heard in her life.”

It was your mum. Your mum was where you had heard that line before.

Your blood ran cold.

You had heard this story a thousand times before, because your mum had told it to you. A strange woman in an empty bar on a hot afternoon. A vodka tonic and a faux southern accent. You knew exactly where you were, and it wasn’t summer of 1993.

This was the summer of 1992, a full year before your mum had met your dad, and just a day or so after your mum’s boyfriend, the man she’d been with before your dad, had very thoroughly broken her heart.

Your first instinct, in your mildly panicked state, was to look for The Doctor. He’d know what to do, surely — he had warned you about this, and god, you just — you needed him to tell you what to do.

“I’m, uh — I’m going to get a drink of my own,” you spluttered, your smile hurried. “And then you can tell me all about this, uh. This fella.”

You couldn’t remember, here and now, if this was how the story had gone, if this was what the woman — no, what you had said to your mum — but you couldn’t think too much of it right now, when you couldn’t be sure how much of your own future you were altering.

You waited for your mum’s nod of agreement before turning and going in search of The Doctor. The smile that you had put on in the face of this terrifying situation fell like a stone, and you tried not to let your fear show as you found him, sitting at a table in the corner. It must have shown through anyhow, though, because his thoughtful expression went a bit sour the moment you approached.

“Never did like a rom-com,” he muttered. “Far too much rom, not nearly enough com. Never feels right.”

“Don’t say I told you so,” you murmured, avoiding his gaze. He softened a bit at that, and drug a hand through his brown hair as he looked you over, presumably looking for tells in your appearance as to what was happening.

“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll do my best,” he promised with a hint of a smile, and leaned forward onto the table. “What’s happened?”

You took a shaky breath in as you thought through the best way to explain the situation. “I was wrong, this is definitely a part of my timeline“ might help you escape the I told you so’s. “I have to talk my mum out of leaving town” would probably require a little bit more backstory than you really cared to share right now. In the end, you settled for the closest thing to a happy medium that you could think of.

“I think I might cease to exist in a few minutes,” you said.

It wasn’t the most graceful approach to the situation, you’d admit. It did effectively get The Doctor’s attention, though.

“Sorry, what?” he blanched, eyes wide and startled. He clearly hadn’t expected those particular words to come out of your mouth, and it showed in the way that he immediately stood from his seat and gave you his full attention. In spite of the serious nature of what was going on, you laughed. It was empty, and a bit hysterical, but it was better than crying.

“Right, so,” you started, and met The Doctor’s eyes as you spoke. “Long story short, I think I need to talk my mum out of leaving town. Or, well — I know I need to talk my mum out of leaving town.”

He blinked, cocking his head to one side in that way that made him look more like a curious puppy than an ancient, thousand-year-old Time Lord. You took that as your cue to go on.

“My mum’s boyfriend, the bloke she was with before she met my dad — he cheated on her. And she told me this story all through my childhood, yeah? A story about a woman she met in a bar, who talked her out of leaving town afterwards. She used to talk all the time about how grateful she was for that woman, because if she had left town, she would never have met me dad,” you clarified, trying not to be too long-winded with your explanation. It was a brief chunk of your family history, but definitely an important one. It didn’t seem that you needed to share more, anyhow; the moment you got the last bit out, The Doctor made a soft, disgruntled noise and smacked one hand to his forehead.

“Blimey,” he muttered, letting his hand drag downward across his face and settle at his chin. “Timelines. Always a doozy, aren’t they?”

His clipped response didn’t do much to reassure you, and you dropped your gaze to your feet once more.

“So on a scale of one to ten, how much trouble am I in?” you asked, somewhat rhetorically. The halfhearted sarcasm in your voice came across more like defeat than anything else, and you cringed at that. You really had been wrong, this time around.

“Well, theoretically, you’re only at a one or a two — right now, that is,” The Doctor said matter-of-factly. “But if you don’t get a shift on soon, it’ll probably be a three or a four. Maybe even a five.”

“Brilliant,” you muttered, dragging one hand through your hair. You smiled humorlessly at your own expense and took a step back from The Doctor, letting your gaze slide from the floor to the ceiling as you attempted to stomach it all. “I don’t suppose there’s a chance that the woman my mum met in this bar, on this night, isn’t actually me, is there?”

The Doctor made a thoughtful sound and watched you carefully as he spoke his next words. “Are you willing to take that chance?” he asked.

You could tell that it was a baited question — as so many of The Doctor’s questions were — but even so, you couldn’t help but stop to think about it for a moment. You spent a good few moments really, genuinely considering your options — one of which was walking away. Feasibly, you had the option of walking out of the bar, getting back into the TARDIS and getting as far away from this time and this place as you could. It wasn’t impossible; if there was anything you had learned over the past few months, it was that nothing was really impossible.

In the end, though, you decided against it, and not just because of the mildly worried look that The Doctor was giving you. You couldn’t bet on your own fate like that, and when it came down to it, you didn’t like the idea of changing your mum’s fate, either. Even if things played out the way they were meant to, and she did decide not to leave your hometown, these were stories that you had grown up hearing. You had heard them a thousand times, from both of your parents, and there was a reason for that. They were treasured memories. Those stories had been the reason that you had wanted to do any of this in the first place.

Your own fate aside, you couldn’t risk losing those memories — those stories.

“Definitely not,” you said, finally, and smiled a more genuine smile at The Doctor. He beamed at you, then, absolutely exuding the giddy optimism that you loved so much.

“Good. Never doubted you for a moment, Y/N,” he said, and you snorted. You couldn’t help but think, sometimes, that he believed in you enough to compensate for every doubt you had ever had in yourself. It was a good thought. “Right, then! Let’s get this sorted, shall we? First thing’s first, how much of your mum’s stories about this night do you actually remember?”

“I know the story front to back,” you assured him. That much you didn’t need to think about. “She said something to me at the bar that I recognized from the story — that’s how I knew.”

The Doctor clapped his hands, clearly pleased by your answer. “Oh, good! Good news! That’s definitely good news, that means it won’t be terribly difficult for you to reenact,” he says with a nod toward your mum, who was still sitting patiently at the bar. You wondered privately if it really counted as “reenacting” the story, here and now, if it technically hadn’t happened yet.

You nodded your head regardless. If this was going to play out properly, you had to put your doubts aside, no matter how inconsequential they seemed.

“Alright. I’ve got this, I do,” you said, and honestly, you weren’t sure if it was The Doctor you were attempting to reassure or yourself. “Timelines. No problem. Is there anything I should, I don’t know… look out for? Or be aware of?”

He was quiet for tick, appearing to think your question over before giving his answer. “Yes. Well, no, but yes. Sort of. The only thing you really need to be careful about is sticking to what you know. Keep your words, your actions, everything as close to the stories your mum has told you as you can. You said you recognized something that she said from her stories, yes?” You nod. “That’s where it gets tricky. This encounter is a part of your timeline, and the fact that you know specific details, like that bit that your mum said to you — that makes those details fixed, which means you can’t stray from them. They can’t be altered.”

You blinked, just a touch taken aback.

“So,” you began, but paused briefly as you thought for a moment about what he had just told you. “It’s like there’s a script, then? Is that it?”

He nodded his head . “If it helps to think of it that way, then yes,” he confirmed, and smiled. It was an unusually gentle smile, and there was an apologetic glint in his green eyes.

It didn’t much help to think of it that way; not in the grand scheme of things. His explanation definitely raised more questions than was really ideal, and you couldn’t help but reel, just a bit.

What if the way you remembered your mum’s stories wasn’t the way that things had actually gone? What if she had told the story slightly differently than it had happened? It wasn’t like that was uncommon. And if that was the case, were the details that you remembered really fixed points in time at all? How were you supposed to know if what you were doing was right or wrong? You didn’t know what being zapped out of existence felt like, but you couldn’t imagine it would be a pleasant experience.

You had just begun clawing your way free from the vicious spiral of thoughts when a hand reached out for yours, and effectively brought you back to the present with a gentle squeeze.

“Oi,” The Doctor said, leaning in a bit closer to you and catching your gaze. “You can do this, Y/N. Don’t overthink it. The worst thing you could do is overthink it.”

You broke eye contact with him momentarily to look toward your hands, clasped tight. It was a rare show of affection, definitely — you didn’t hold his hand often. Not really. Your relationship with The Doctor was odd, as relationships went, and there wasn’t an abundance of physical affection at any given time. You had always felt that it made you just a little too vulnerable, and The Doctor either shared your feelings, or understood the way you felt and kept a fair distance. All that aside, though, you couldn’t deny that in the midst of situations like this — situations where everything was just so overwhelmingly complex — strengthening your bond with him through something as simple as holding hands was an enormous comfort.

“Just… stick to what I know,” you said, more to yourself than to him.

“Stick to what you know,” he echoed. You responded by tightening your grip on his hand, just briefly, and smiled when he brushed his thumb across your knuckles as if to say “you’ve got nothing to worry about, you’re brilliant.”

“I can do this,” you said, your smile widening as you met his eyes once more.

“Well, go on, then!” he laughed, releasing your hand in favor of waving you back toward the bar. “Break a leg! Knock ‘em dead!”

You laughed happily along with him as you turned and made your way back toward the bar. It looked like your mum’s younger self was just getting ready to pack it in and head out for the night, which meant that you would need to act quickly — if you wanted to avoid the possibility that she was going home to pack her bags, that was.

You took a deep breath in, and steeled yourself as you slid back onto the scene and coughed to get your mum’s attention.

You weren’t going anywhere anytime soon — not if you could help it.

<—————>

“And I swear to you, Y/N, I still think about some of the things that woman said to me, to this day. It was almost like she knew what kind of future I was capable of having here, at home. I don’t think I’ll ever forget her.”

[lonelypond]

Can’t Get Started, Ch. 5

NicoMaki, RinPana, Love Live, 1.7K, 5/6

Chapter 5

Summary: The morning after the night before...

Nico’s phone went off. She grumbled and reached for the...nightstand? No, Nico opened her eyes, couch, phone on floor...right, Maki...Maki, barely wrapped in a robe, gorgeous hair twisted up in a towel, mostly asleep and giving off levels of sexy cute like Nico would kill to be able to pull off on or off screen, had stepped out of Nico’s bath and into Nico’s dreams forever. So Nico, recognizing exhaustion when she saw it, had tucked her...girlfriend into her bed alone with just a quick temptation of a kiss, claiming she was too awake now to go back to sleep. Maki had had too crazy an evening to object so Nico took a blanket to the couch and settled in. It was more comfortable than some of her sleeping arrangements on location in the early days of her career.

More angry buzzing. Oh right, phone...Nico grabbed it, saw Nozomi’s pic, and swiped, “What?”

“Let me in.” Nozomi sounded too amused.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I’m in the lobby of the Peninsula and you need to give me the private elevator code.”

“How the fuck…” Nico sat up.

“You’re all over the Chicago Red Star’s social media. You’ve made a whole bunch of new fans.”

“Why are you even in Chicago?”

“I’m crashing a wedding.”

“No.” Nico liked short answers.

“Look, if you’re letting random strangers sleep in your hotel room, I have to meet the girl you’re trying to impress.”

“Nico is not trying to impress anyone.”

Nozomi snorted, “Liar.”

“Why aren’t you in…”” Nico couldn’t remember where Nozomi and Eli were currently orbiting the art scene of.

“Detroit, Nico. It’s practically right next door.”

“You’re into cars now?”

“No. Taking pics of black women entrepreneurs for a serious magazine spread. And Eli’s consulting with some local art and dance studios. She loves it there.”

“Tell her Nico says hey. And to keep you at home.” Nico closed the call.

An immediate text.

N: THE CODE, NICO-CHI, OR ELSE (ง ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)ง

Nozomi would find a way up and be banging on the door sooner than Nico would be able to think of a plan to divert her. So Nico typed in a string of numbers.

And opened the door to Nozomi sweeping in and hugging her, “You looked so happy in all those pics, Nico-chi. I just had to see why. Usually candids show the grumpy gremlin I’ve known for years.”

Nico broke Nozomi’s hold and stomped through the foyer. Nico had ordered an array of breakfast pastries after Maki’s arrival. And there was a coffee maker. As Nozomi was likely to continue to ignore Nico’s invitation to leave, Nico was going to need coffee. Maybe she could send Nozomi to the Orrington before Maki woke up. Nico glanced at the clock, a little after nine, hangover victims should be wandering through anytime now. And the bride. Nico grinned, RIn had looked like she was having the time of her life last night. Nico had certainly gotten Maki’s best friend on her side, so her sudden ascension to the spot of the Chicago Red Star’s most famous fan was worth it.

Nozomi, unwrapping her practical army green parka to reveal a gray wrap blanket skirt and a bright purple cowl neck sweater, settled into the table, “Why yes, Nico, I will take a coffee.”

"Hmmmppffff…" Nico sputtered, loading a pod.

“Nico?” Nico froze, that wasn't Nozomi’s voice, that was sleepy cute confused Maki bumping into the doorframe, her robe falling a little open. No pajamas. Suspicion confirmed. Nico heard clicking, saw Nozomi’s hand moving, and leapt to grab the phone. Delete. Empty trash. Then, as soon as possible, take out the non digital trash that masqueraded as her best friend.

“If you ever ever do that again, I will kill you. Literally.” Nico hissed, her tone frozen lake cold as she stashed Nozomi’s phone before smiling at Maki. “Good morning, Maki!”

“You’re not green anymore.” Maki giggled.

Nozomi spun to stare at Nico, her turquoise eyes mischievous, “Oh, this is too cute, Nico-chi. It was worth the early flight.”

Maki jumped slightly, refocusing on the person sitting at the table who wasn’t Nico. “Hello?”

“This” Nico had her arm around Nozomi’s shoulder, ready for a chokehold, “is the person Nico mentioned last night, the unavoidable pestilence that Nico can't shake, Nozomi Tojo." Nico took a big breath, not minding if she sounded smug, "Nozomi, this is Nishikino Maki, Nico’s girlfriend.”

Maki blushed, glancing away, fingers discovering a knot in the rock star worthy bedhead. Nico wanted video.

Nozomi stood, shaking off Nico, extending a hand, “Very pleased to SEE you.”

Nico kicked, Nozomi yelped, Maki looked confused.

Nico stepped smoothly between Nozomi and Maki, shoving Nozomi’s hand aside, “Nico is making coffee. Want some? There’s a bakery's worth of breakfast too. And since your clothes were wrecked, one of the early rising Red Stars messengered some gear over.”

Maki blinked, yawning, then frowned as she woke up enough brain cells to process Nico’s statement. “I’m a Seattle Reign fan.”

“Nico will make a note.”

Maki smiled, nodded, and leaned over to kiss Nico on the cheek.

Nico glanced back over her shoulder, Nozomi was making coffee, eavesdropping, and ogling with equal skill, “But, put on a t-shirt for Nico, okay? And maybe sweats. Until we get you to your wedding gear.”

“Wedding.” Maki straightened, her jaw setting, amethyst eyes hardening, “I have to talk to Rin. Where is she?”

“Whoa.” Nico put out a hand, “what’s the rush?”

“I um…” Maki looked angry, but while her hand gestures indicated agitation, no coherent sentences were being produced. “After how Hanayo…”

It was going to be a bathrobe only breakfast Nico realized so as she sat Maki down in a chair, she mostly blocked Nozomi’s view. Fortunately, Maki was now disgruntled enough to be fully awake and had retied her sash, actually closing the robe.

“Ooohh, I should have crashed the bachelorette party.” Nozomi brought the coffee over, carefully avoiding any glances toward Maki’s cleavage as Nico was still glaring death threats, “What happened?”

“Blue Zoo.” Nico stated simply. Maki picked up a donut. She definitely needed calories if she was going to have to remember last night.

Nozomi whistled, “You’ve found a very interesting crowd, Nico-chi.”

“Nico didn’t go.”

“Smart.” Nozomi nodded, suddenly sober, “that would have really dented your rep.”

“Nico knows.”

Maki felt like yelling that someone should have warned her, but Nico might have kinda did and Rin had certainly been worried almost exactly the right amount and Kotori...Maki put her head in her hands, cue memory induced hangover throb, “What do I tell Rin?”

Nico and Nozomi exchanged a glance, then Nico spoke, gently, “If you want Nico’s advice, talk to Hanayo, not Rin.”

Maki’s head fell to the table, and after a yelp of pain, there was a reluctant ‘yeah.’

“Maki Maki Maki” Rin bounced into the room, with enough energy to power a hyperdrive, her short hair out of the shower wet, “Nico is the best. You should get married too. We had so much fun. I can’t wait for your bachelorette party,”

Maki tensed and Nico wondered how close they were to an outburst, but Maki just lifted her head, eyes sad, and ran a hand through her hair, “No. No parties. Ever.”

Rin froze, her face sliding into disappointed worry, “What did Kayo-chin do?”

Maki’s eyes met Nico’s, desperate. Nico reached out for Maki’s hand, and Maki squeezed so hard Nico couldn’t hold back the wince. Then a huge inhale and Maki slid the baked goods toward Rin, “She got drunk and very silly.”

Rin frowned, sitting and biting into a donut, “Handsy, right?”

Maki nodded, not sure what else to say.

Rin sighed, but then she reached over and ruffled Maki’s hair, “But she loves me, Maki, she really does. She just gets stupid sometimes.” Donut gone in two bites, “I’m sorry you had to see it.”

“We got arrested.” Maki stated so solemnly Nico wanted to send a sympathy card.

Rin’s eyes went wide, then she started pounding the table and laughing, “Oh my god, that’s the best. I want to see the mug shots.”

Maki shot up from the table, furious, “I can’t believe you.”

“But Maki, that’s so funny. Kayo-chin in JAIL.”

Maki growled, “Good bye, Rin, I’m going back to LA.”

Rin kept laughing, “That’s okay, I’ve got Nico now, she’s not a criminal.”

Maki remembered she had half a donut in her hand, crumpled it, and dumped it in Rin’s wet hair on her way out the door. “You and Hanayo deserve each other.”

Rin, looking as pleased as a person could, leaned back in her chair as she brushed most of the crumbs out of her hair, “Guess I’ll have to tell Kayo-chin she needs to apologize so Maki doesn’t glare through the whole ceremony.”

After a pause, Nozomi glanced at a bemused Nico before deciding to contribute to the chaos. “You’re crazy. I like you.”

Two thumbs up from Rin. “Come to the wedding. You’ll love me. We got the best cake maker in the whole Great Lakes region.”

Maki shouted from somewhere, “YOU CAN’T INVITE ALL OF CHICAGO TO YOUR WEDDING.”

Rin jumped to the door, “YES I CAN.”

“GO HOME!”

“YOU’RE MY RIDE.”

“BITE ME.”

As Nico and Nozomi watched in a state of awe, Rin came table-ward, grabbed a scone, broke off a piece, sat back down, tossed the carb in the air, caught it in her mouth, chewed, and swallowed before declaring. “Maki’d be lost without me.”

Nico grabbed the rest of the scone out of RIn’s hand, “Nico believes it. But now you can rely on Nico.”

“Good.” Rin nodded, serious, “Me and Kayo-chin’ll be keeping an eye on you.”

Nico saluted. Nozomi shook her head. Maki could be heard shouting “We are the Reign, the Mighty Mighty Reign.”

“Maki’s gonna start a fight.” Rin zipped out of the room.

After a long pause, a raised eyebrow, and maybe an aura addition of slightly impressed, Nozomi went back to chat mode, “So, what’s new in your life…” Nozomi sipped her coffee, obviously waiting for Nico to fill in details.

Nico grinned and bit into breakfast.

A/N: This gets us back in the zone. So I hope you enjoy.

Also, you're getting another chapter...sue me ; )

[nctxnation]

Serendipity

➳ Pairing: Johnny Seo x Female Reader

➳ Genre: Romance | Fake Dating AU

➳ Word Count: 3.5k

➳ Serendipity (n): finding something nice while looking for something else

“You’re drooling.”

“Huh?” You turned your head to the side the flashing lights of the television blinding you momentarily.

“You got a little something right there,” Your best friend Johnny said pointing at the corner of your lip, “Is the movie that boring?”

“Oh, shut up,” You nudged him with your shoulder, simultaneously rubbing off the nonexistent drool. “I’m just sleepy. Finals are really stressing me out, all I do is breathe and study.”

“Ditto,” Johnny said grabbing a chunk of popcorn and shoving it grossly into his mouth, “Professor Lee has been getting on my ass for sleeping in class, but I’ve been studying so much for other classes I have no time to sleep.”

“We should probably get some sleep,” You jumped onto the balls of your feet, stretching the soreness out of your muscles and raising your arms high. “At least we can sleep peacefully during Winter Break.”

“Yeah, speaking of Winter Break,” Johnny turned off the television and draped the blanket you two were using over his shoulders, “my mom wants me to visit.”

“That’s nice,” You smiled knowing how much Johnny missed his family. “You can spend time with your family.”

“Yeah, but you see…” He drawled on, avoiding your inquisitive stare.

“What is it Johnny?” You tilted your head to the side in curiosity, urging him to spit it out.

“My mom sort of thinks I have a girlfriend,” He blurted sheepishly, his cheeks taking on a pretty rosy hue that reached his neck and ears.

“Oh.”

He sighed, shutting his eyes and face turning redder, “I told her I was bringing you over for the holidays.”

“You what?” Your eyes bulged out and your eyesight wobbled. The hot fury burning inside you was ready to erupt and Johnny wouldn’t survive. “What do you mean? Johnny, what have you done?”

“She was just talking about how all her friends son’s had nice girls and you know how much she likes you,” He explained rapidly. “We’ve been friends for a long time and you know she adores you. Your name was literally the first name that popped into my head so please don’t kill me, I’m trying to stay alive for at least another birthday.”

You watched his features twitch through a series of emotions, his eyes silently pleading you.

“Fine,” You finally let out after a pregnant pause, “but you seriously owe me big time, Suh.”

His face lit up and he swept you up in his arms, tangling the blanket all over your body and pressed you tightly to his chest.

“Thank you! Thank you!” He grinned and kissed the top of your head sloppily, “You’re the best Y/N! I swear I’ll make this all as painless as possible.”

“Bring all your coats,” Johnny said as he watched you pack all your clothes that were currently strewn across your bed. He sat on your roommate Wendy’s bed. “I don’t need you freezing before we make it back home.”

“I think I’ve grown accustomed to the cold,” You told him ironically packing your best parka, “Wendy’s gonna kill you for messing up her bed with your giant limbs.”

“It was like this when I got here,” He winked at you before grabbing your favorite teddy bear that he gifted you when you broke your arm in high school. “Take this. We can use it as a device to make my mom all soft and gush about how you fell in love with me for the first time when I gave it to you.”

You took the bear and placed gently into your suitcase, “So, then what’s our story? How did we happen?” You motioned to the both of you, “When did we develop feelings? When did you realize you loved me?”

The pale winter glow of the sky filtered through Wendy’s shimmery curtains, casting a heavenly shine on Johnny’s skin. He looked so angelic perched on a pile of pastel pillows surrounded by cute plushies. His eyes sparkled and you marveled at how much they looked like the night sky you were so fond of.

His gaze was on you, unwavering, “When I could put words to how I felt for you.”

You stood there breathless and disoriented, not knowing what to say next. He watched you attentively gauging your reaction with raised eyebrows and a playful smirk.

“How grossly cheesy.”

You felt the oxygen rush into your lungs and you let out a light chuckle as Wendy walked into the room, immediately shoving Johnny off her bed.

“I can’t believe you two are actually going through with this,” She said reclaiming her bed and rearranging the order of pillows and plushies Johnny had knocked askew. “Johnny, you idiot, how could you just blatantly lie to your mom?”

“She sounded so sad,” Johnny climbed onto your bed, flicking the extra clothes aside. “She just doesn’t want me being alone, I guess. She’s a big romantic and I think she just hopes I find the same kind of love she has with dad.”

“Which is understandable and sweet,” You inputted giving him a soft smile, “I don’t mind doing this, but you still owe me big time. Now leave I’ve got other things I need to pack that I’d rather you not see.”

Johnny blinked slowly, a smirk creeping up his lips, “But I’m your boyfriend.”

“Fake boyfriend, you pervert!” You cried out smacking him with one of your jeans. “Leave before I change my mind and call your mother to tell her the truth.”

With the speed of lightning, the tall boy rolled off your bed and held his hands up in the air in defense. His hair was sticking up every which way and his shirt rumpled, you found it a rather endearing look on him.

“I’m leaving, I’m leaving!” He made a dash towards the door, waving goodbye at the two of you.

“Taeyong and I made a bet with the other guys that you will return from break as couple,” Wendy stated impishly, eyeing you in a way that made you want to hide behind your luggage. “Doyoung thinks you guys are too slow and oblivious so nothing will happen. Jisoo says it won’t happen until a week after you come back.”

“What in the world…” You felt your cheeks heat up. “Are you guys seriously taking bets on Johnny and I getting together? What kind of nonsense is this?”

Wendy shrugged, “We’ve been doing it for years, we just think you guys will finally stop dancing around each other.”

“Johnny and me are not dancing around each other,” You grumbled irately, “There is nothing going on between us. We’re just friends.”

“Mhmm sure,” Wendy didn’t fight you on this, but she didn’t look convinced, “Well at least I can tell Yoona that Johnny is available. She was wondering if you were finally going to snatch him.”

“W-what?” You felt your soul crumble a little. “Yoona and Johnny?”

“Yeah,” Wendy beamed up at you, she nonchalantly began to pick at her nails, “wouldn’t they make a cute couple?”

“But we’re dating...”

“Fake dating,” Wendy’s stare was devilish and you knew she had you were she wanted. “All our friends know it’s fake. You and Johnny know it’s fake. So, why not right?”

“Right.”

“Unless…” Oh, no here it comes. “Do you want to date Johnny? I mean really date him, not fake date him. Do you want Johnny Suh to be your boyfriend?”

“N-no,” You rushed out hastily, shoving the remnants of your clothes and undergarments into the luggage. “Johnny and I are friends. He can date who he wants. We’re just doing this for show.”

You hurriedly snapped the luggage shut and grabbed your towel. You were in serious need of a soak in the tub with warm water, fruity bubbles, and sweetly scented candles. You felt a headache coming on and you had an inkling it was all due to Wendy.

“Okay,” She said as you collected all your toiletries, “Y/N just remember don’t fall in love with, Johnny.”

“You make it sound like my life is rom-com,” You grunted.

“Actually do fall in love with him that way I can win the bet!” She cackled as you closed the door behind you.

Yes, the headache was definitely a cause of Wendy’s unnecessary words. You didn’t love Johnny in that way and you were certainly not going to develop any such feelings. Although, the thought of Johnny being you boyfriend did make your heart flutter.

“Just give me your hand,” Johnny whined as you wobbled out your house carefully treading over the icy terrain of your yard, “Your mom is watching us from the window. She’s going to think I’m a horrible boyfriend who let her daughter fall face first into the snow.”

“Your fingers are cold,” You cried out as Johnny slipped his fingers through yours and pulled you closer to his body to steady you, “Who wears fingerless gloves in the dead of winter? There’s snow on the ground and ice in the air, John!”

“It’s fashionable,” Johnny protested, “Okay, just try to hurry we’re already running late. Aren’t your parents going to join us?”

You two were going to the small party Johnny’s parents were throwing him. They threw him a welcome home party every time he came home from college, it had been cemented into their yearly tradition at this point.

“Dad’s working but my mom might drop in later,” You explained climbing into his car. You could feel your mom’s eyes on you as you did so. “I can’t believe your mom told my mom we were dating. You know she yelled at me when I got home the other day for not telling her.”

“What does she think about us dating?” He asked casually, turning on the air.

You placed your hands over the hot air greedily blocking it from warming anything other than your frosty fingers.

“She was pretty happy, I suppose,” You shrugged trying to come off as nonchalant as possible, “She thinks you’ll make a wonderful boyfriend, her words not mine.”

“So, you don’t think I’ll make a wonderful boyfriend?” He pouted, successfully pulling out of your driveway and starting the ten minute journey to his house.

“You pushed me off the slide in sixth grade,” You deadpanned. “Such a gentleman.”

“That was sixth grade!” He exclaimed making a turn, his house coming into view. “My actions at that time aren’t who I am now. I’ve changed. I can be romantic. I was voted most romantic in high school, remember?”

“Yeah, but I’ve never seen that side of you,” You defended.

“Sure you have,” Johnny insisted parking the car in front of his house. “You’ve just been to blind to notice it,” He whispered to himself hoping you wouldn’t hear.

You didn’t, you were too wrapped up in staring at the beautiful house in front of you. From your view, you can tell the party was in full swing as the windows were glowing gold from the inside and you could see misshapen shadows moving about. On the outside, his house was alive with festive lights and decorations a dusting of snow covered everything, making it look like an enchanting picturesque setting of a Christmas movie.

He hurriedly rushed to your door to open it, flashing you a gleaming smile.

“See romantic gentleman,” He winked at you, looping your arms together and hauling you inside.

Immediately, the both of you were assaulted by the warm smell of spices and sweets, then by the arms of happy woman. Johnny’s mom nearly tackled you out of her son’s grip, showering your cheeks in wet kisses.

“Y/N,” She gleefully pinched your cheeks, “I’m so happy my favorite daughter could make it.”

“Don’t let all my exes hear you say that,” Johnny said cheekily earning a slap on the arm by his mom. “Ow, mom, I was joking.”

“Don’t you know not to talk about ex girlfriends in front of your current one,” She reprimanded. “Plus you’ve only ever had three and I don’t think middle school romances are all that serious.”

You giggled suddenly remembering, “Oh I remember the girl telling him she loved him after a week and a half.”

“They broke it off right after,” She laughed along with you, “Poor girl kept coming back asking to see him, he had the audacity to send her a letter telling her he was moving out of the country.”

“Okay, okay, let’s not bring back unwanted memories,” He said, “My high school romances were much better.”

“Eh,” You laughed, “I don’t think they were all that much better.”

“You weren’t lucky in love then, sweetie,” His mom patted his cheek tenderly, “but maybe it was just the universe’s way of holding you off for the right girl. Everything happens in a way we don’t expect it, but we end up being happy over it. It happens serendipitously. See, you’ve got the right girl right here.”

You nearly choked on your own spit. Johnny began coughing wildly, his face flushing ruby red as he refrained from meeting your gaze, too embarrassed to do so. His father came and steered him away, claiming that Johnny had guests to greet. You only wished you’d be whisked away too.

“Can you help me bring out more snacks, sweetie?” You followed Johnny’s mom into the kitchen.

“You know when Johnny told me you two were dating I was so happy,” She piled on a plate of freshly baked cookies onto your waiting arms, “I always knew you two would end up together. You two had something there, you were just too blind to see it. I always thought you would make a lovely couple.”

“Thank you,” You felt your shoulders dipping at the disappointment that stirred in you. You told yourself that the reason behind it was for lying to someone so kind and that you knew, not the fact that Johnny wasn’t really your boyfriend.

“I was waiting for it to happen,” Her eyes had a faraway look. “Ever since Johnny came in one day barging through her like a tornado after finding out you were going to the school dance with some guy. He said he wasn’t jealous, but I knew otherwise.”

“Oh,” You distinctly remember Johnny disapproving of your date, but you hadn’t thought much of it. By the end of that night, you had ditched your jerk of a date and had spent the rest of the dance with Johnny. “I think he was angry because we always went as friends, I don’t think he liked me.”

“The night of the dance he ended up distraught and confessing he felt something he couldn’t put into words for you,” His mother said staring at you knowingly, “I told him it was love.”

When did you realize you loved me?

When I could put words to how I felt for you.

The words that you two spoke jokingly that day in your room came crashing into your head like a wrecking ball. You suddenly felt as disoriented as that day.

“Mom, what embarrassing things are you telling my girlfriend,” Johnny groaned striding over towards the both of you, “Mom, look you broke my girlfriend.”

My girlfriend. The words sounded so beautiful coming out of his mouth.

“Oh, it was just us reminiscing on stuff,” You told him handing him the plate of cookies, “Help your poor girlfriend out by carrying this for me. It’s too heavy.”

“It weighs as much as a feather,” He deadpanned but obliged, his mother watched the two of you happily as you left the kitchen. “What did she tell you?”

“Nothing,” You told him as you reached the refreshments table. He place the the cookies onto the table before pulling you to the corner of the room.

“It didn’t seem like nothing,” He whispered, he took your chin in his hand and forced you to stare at him, “You looked so shocked. Did she say something weird?”

“No,” You shook your head grabbing at his hand but he only took it as a cue to interlace your fingers together and pull you closer. “She was just talking about how cute we look together and how happy she is that we’re finally a couple.”

“Oh,” He nodded understandingly, a shadow of hurt flickered over his eyes, “I’m sorry if she made you uncomfortable by saying that. I know us acting as a couple is probably weird for you.”

You felt yourself being honest, you blame it on woozy you were by an indirect confession of love, “That’s the thing, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable…”

And it didn’t. It made the flutter in your heart return, which only increased at the proximity of Johnny’s face.

“What?” His eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

“Oh, mistletoe!” You heard his mother shrieking from across the room.

The whole room full of guests turned to look at her and then at the pair of you, as you slowly rose your head to face the little plant that was causing all the commotion.

“Oh my God…” Johnny croaked out uncomfortably as the whole room watched, he leaned closer to whisper into your ear, “I know this is weird, but can I kiss you?”

You nodded silently, not finding the strength inside you to form actual words. Your throat felt dry and your heart was beating wildly in your chest.

Johnny leaned down and pressed his lips softly on yours. The kiss was chaste at first, then he began to move his lips, savoring the moment. He was deliberate and gentle with his lips then when you pushed yourself onto him, his movements became erratic and fervent. All the years of feeling something akin to love that he had suppressed came pouring into the kiss and only he knew.

You on the other hand, were feeling everything differently. It was all new, or perhaps it had always been there just dormant. Suddenly there was a word for the flutter in your heart whenever you saw Johnny. There was a word for the way you wanted his happiness and the way you always found yourself searching for him amidst a crowd.

It was love. His mother had said he knew he loved you when he knew what to call it. Know you knew what to call it and it all had happened serendipitously because of a lie and mistletoe.

You pulled away, overwhelmed with the realization of knowing that you were in love with your best friend. You sprinted out of the house, gasping for air and dizzy from the kiss.

Johnny followed you into dimly lit street littered with fresh snow that was falling at a leisurely pace.

“I’m sorry,” He apologized, his brown eyes was begging you not to run off towards your house. “I shouldn’t have let it get this far. I shouldn’t have kissed you knowing you don’t feel the same.”

“Johnny…”

“I should have just told my mom the truth,” He rambled on. “I just--she seemed so happy thinking we were dating. Then before I know she hung up and I just didn’t have the heart to call her back and tell her. I think a part of me let it happen because I always wanted it to be real. I wanted us to be real.”

The truth was out there now, he couldn’t take it back.

“For how long?” Your voice never rose. You blinked away the snowflakes that collected on your lashes. “How long have you felt this way?”

He stared solidly at you, right through you, and you met his stare equally as powerful, “I’ve been in love with you the moment I knew what love was.”

You were breathless and disoriented again, the man in front of you really knew how to get that reaction out of you.

“I know you don’t feel the same way,” He never once broke eye contact with you. He was being very brave about the whole ordeal, dealing with the outcome of his words head on.

“I think I do,” You murmured creeping closer towards him, the slush of the snow seeping into your socks. “I didn’t have a word for it but your mom made me realize it was love.”

Johnny smiled brushing away the snowflakes sticking to your hair, “I guess it is then.”

“Kiss me,” You told him finding confidence you didn’t think you had.

“I will,” He pressed his forehead on yours, the smell of gingerbread cookies washed over you as he spoke, “but first let’s actually date. No fake dating, real dating, and let it last more than half a day.”

You giggled, “Is that your way of asking me to be your girlfriend?”

“Yes,” He grinned, “Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Yes. I love you, Johnny.”

Then before he can blink, you kissed him first. You felt him smile into the kiss. The swirling snow above and the cold that came with it did nothing to budge either of you. The warmth that spread through you due to the sheer happiness that you felt was what kept you from freezing.

If Johnny hadn’t accidentally said he was dating you, you wouldn’t be truly dating now. It was truly something serendipity.

[lemonandhugs]

Stars Align: Chapter 6

Sam and Caitriona walked outside of Edinburgh Airport and the freezing cold wind hit them in the face, causing them to both squint and grimace. Caitriona gasped and hugged her own body, after placing her luggage on the ground.

Sam still felt extremely embarrassed about what happened on the plane, despite Cait’s reassurances. He felt guilty, and just awkward around her, which he hated. He stood quietly next to her, with his head down, burying his mouth into his scarf, his hands shoved in his parka pockets. Cait picked up on how he was acting immediately and peered over at him. The wind blew Sam’s curly hair away from his left temple and she could see the large marble-size bump and light blue-purple bruise that had developed.

“How’s your h-head?” she asked him through a quivering jaw.

He shyly looked at her, “I’ve uh…I’ve got a bit of a headache, and it’s throbbing a bit, but I’ll be fine. I’ll take something for it when we get there…I deserve it though…what happened.”

Cait exhaled, turned towards him and held on to his forearm, “Sam…please, it’s alright. There was no harm done. It’s not like your hands landed in any awkward places, none of that. You haven’t offended me, or pissed me off, or given me a reason to not trust you. It was completely harmless. Please, don’t feel bad.”

Sam looked into her eyes then, seeing the pleading in her hypnotising blue-grey eyes, and it made his insides melt like warm butter, and his tension and embarrassment melted with it. He smiled crookedly.

“Well, alright. As you say,” Sam smiled wider at her and twisted slightly so the elbow she was holding onto gently nudged her.

The worry dissipated from Cait’s eyes, as her smile reached them, “good.”

She let go of his arm and shoved that hand into her pocket and began shivering again, as she was no longer distracted from the cold.

Sam looked at her with a knowing and concerning smile, “yeah, still as cold as I remember. I haven’t been back here for a few years.”

Cait’s teeth began to chatter, and her body began to tremble as she hugged herself. She nodded, “well…I s-suppose I’m going to h-have to get used to th-this. No d-doubt I’ll be wearing a lot l-less on set in those early s-scenes of block one.”

Sam’s mouth went into a straight line, and he nodded, “the things we do as actors,” he cheekily smiled at her.

Cait smiled back in between her teeth clicking together, “mhm.”

“At least you dressed warmer this time, and at least it’s not raining. It would be bad if we got our hair wet, yours more than mine. The car will be here s–, oh here it is,” Sam tilted his head upwards, gesturing towards the Audi coming towards them.

“Oh, thank g-god,” Cait murmured.

Then they noticed another Audi, exactly the same and directly behind. They both looked at each other confused.

“We must be taking separate cars?” Cait questioned.

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed.

The two drivers got out and hurried over to introduce themselves as Sam and Cait’s drivers for the duration of Season 1 filming.

“Are we travelling separately?” Sam asked his driver.

“Yes, we always have actors driven separately, in case of any accidents,” Sam’s driver stated.

“Oh, that makes sense,” Cait nodded.

“Okay, yeah I was wondering why two cars pulled up. If you’ve got this, man, I’ll help Caitriona’s driver with her luggage,” Sam asked his driver, pointing to his pile of luggage on the ground.

“Oh, S-Sam no. You don’t h-have to do that, it’s f-freezing, get in y-your car,” Cait shook her head, and attempting to stop him after he already had two pieces of her luggage slung over his shoulders, ignoring her.

Walking quickly to the boot of the car, with Cait’s driver, he put the luggage in and opened the door for her.

“In you get before you turn into an icicle,” Sam smirked at her.

Cait both pouted and smirked at him, and playfully hit him on the arm.

“See you when we get there, and thank you,” her smirk disappeared, and she gave him a small, sweet smile.

“No worries, Caitriona Balfe, see you soon,” Sam winked at her and brushed her back gently, up, and down.

He ran over to his car and quickly got in. Cait smiled to herself as a quiver ran over her spine, from his touch.

It was an hour drive to where their trailers would be located, and where the writer’s studio was, in which they would be going to their first read through, the next morning.

Twenty minutes into the drive, after small chit-chat with her driver, getting to know him, Cait was distracted by her phone going off. She picked it up from inside her handbag and saw a text from Sam on her screen. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face, and the excited feeling that formed in her stomach.

 -          Have you thawed now? :P

 -          Ha ha, very funny...! But yes, I’m quite toasty now, thanks for asking :D

  -          Good to hear. We can’t have Claire looking like those creatures in Avatar, now can we? :P

 -          :O but thank you for your concern, lol…I think Claire could rock blue skin!

  -          Mmm…you’re not wrong there. It’d make for an interesting series! Haha

 -          The stones did it :P

  -          Ah! Now THAT’S an interesting concept, Caitriona Balfe! We must tell Ron!

 Caitriona giggled quietly to herself, and she and Sam joked back and forth for ten minutes more.

‘Alright, alright. Leave her alone now. Professionalism, a respectful distance…don’t get too close off-set!’ Sam thought to himself as he typed out one last text to Cait saying that he’ll see her when they arrive.

A half hour later and they had arrived. The drivers got their luggage out of the cars and lead them towards their trailer. They came to one very large trailer that had both their names on it.

‘Sharing a trailer?!’ Cait panicked, and side-eyed Sam.

Ron walked around the corner a couple of seconds after Sam and Cait had reached the trailer. He beamed when he saw them both.

“Sam! Caitriona! How are ya?! Glad you had a safe trip. The hair looks great!” Ron exclaimed, shaking their hands.

He looked at the large trailer and back at Sam and Cait.

“So, you two will be sharing a trailer. All the trailers will be shared between two cast members. Starz could only get us a limited number of trailers, but they got us the very biggest ones. They’re so large, you will have plenty of your own space,” Ron explained.

‘Breathe, Caitriona, breathe. You’re sure to be used to him in no time now! Fuck, I hope we don’t become sick of each other…’ Cait thought, biting her bottom lip.

‘So much for a respectful distance off-set…fuck…it’s okay, it will be fine. We’ll become very comfortable with each other and it will be very good for the show and our on-screen chemistry,’ Sam calmed himself, determined to think rationally.

Sam and Cait both nodded at Ron while he was speaking. Sam was wringing his hands nervously and peered over at Cait. She caught his eye and gave him a shy smile. He smiled back but noticed the worry in her eyes. She quickly looked away and Sam’s attention was caught by Ron walking up the three steps and opening the front door of the trailer.

“Come in and have a look! Really nice inside, more modern than you would think,” Ron waved them forward, ducking his head inside as he spoke.

As Sam and Cait walked slowly towards the steps, Ron quickly climbed down.

“I’ll let you two get settled. I have to run, I have a few meetings to get to, one with Diana herself. You’ll meet her on Wednesday, Caitriona…All the cast will be arriving later, so you’ll get to meet everyone. It’ll be good. Can’t wait to see the book come to life, essentially,” Ron expressed with a lopsided smile on his bearded face.

Sam and Cait both smiled at that.

“I’m excited, this is all so new to me. It’s so beautiful here,” Cait said biting her lip and smiling, taking in her surroundings.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a hell of a journey, I think we’re all going to have a great time. It’ll be great experience for you as an actress, I’m sure you’ll learn a lot,” Ron nodded.

“Oh definitely,” Cait widened her eyes and smiled cheerfully at him.

“Alright, I’m off. See you in a couple of days,” Ron said putting his thumb up, before quickly turning and walking with large strides to his car.

Sam cleared his throat awkwardly, then stretched his arm out for Cait to walk up the stairs first. Cait smiled crookedly at him, looking up at him through her lashes, and ascending the few steps. Sam followed close behind, and upon switching the light on, they were indeed both surprised at how big and modern it really was. Colours of grey and white, a good-sized bedroom area that was split into two and identical on both sides, with two queen beds and a sliding dividing wall in the middle. That was the left side of the trailer. A doorway from the bedroom led out into the dining area, with a small bathroom running off just behind, with a surprisingly large shower. To the right of the dining area was a very impressive marble-top, large kitchenette.

“Wow. I cannot believe how huge this is,” Sam raised his eyebrows and looked around and up at the ceiling.

“Yeah! It doesn’t look like it from the outside. It’s lovely though. Definitely big enough for two,” Cait said as she ran her hand along the marble bench top, her back to him.

“So, uh…I…I guess we’re…living together. How do you feel about that? Since it was kind of just sprung on us…” Sam uttered, rubbing the back of his neck and carefully peering up at her.

“Well…I think…you know, we’re going to be on set together all day anyway. Sharing a trailer will give us a chance to get to know each other on another level. Which…I think will make us more comfortable with each other on set, especially in maybe the more…intense scenes. Obviously, we’ll give each other space when we’re in here. And…there’s an understanding between us. A trust,” Cait crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged one shoulder. She gave him a nervous smile through tight lips.

“That’s true. Yeah, you’re right. I promise I won’t intrude on your space, and I’ll wash my own dishes and won’t leave my clothes lying around. Oh, and I won’t leave my towels on the floor,” Sam grinned at her, rather cheekily.

Cait giggled freely and peered down at the floor before licking the corner of her top lip and looking back up at him.

“Well, ditto,” Cait nodded.

The sun suddenly crept out from behind the gloomy, grey clouds that were threatening rain, and it shone through one of the windows, catching both their eyes.

“So…if you’re not too tired, and because it’s rather beautiful outside now and the rest of the cast don’t arrive until later, maybe now is a good time I take you up on your offer on showing me around…?” Cait asked a little nervously but couldn’t help but smirk at him.

This took Sam by surprise. He didn’t actually expect her to take him up on that offer in which he felt stupid for suggesting.

“Oh,” Sam expressed with genuine shock, his eyebrows shooting up, “okay, yeah, of course. We can walk over to a park in Craighforth, and walk along the River Forth? It’s very beautiful, it gives a great view of the mountains.”

“Yeah, that sounds lovely,” Cait nodded, turning around to grab her phone out of her handbag.

They both descended the stairs of their trailer.

“I’ve got the key,” Sam said, holding up the key before shoving it deep into the front pocket of his jeans.

Cait looked back at him and smiled, “good, I don’t think Ron would be too impressed if we lock ourselves out already.”

Sam giggled, and the two walked side-by-side, hands deep in Parka pockets, out of the trailer lot, deeper and deeper into the countryside. They spoke mostly about little details of their life that they hadn’t yet shared; filling in holes of mystery about one another. They were showing more of each other, inch by inch, in the moments they spent together. Sam told Cait about his childhood spent scampering about the countryside on his own but having a ball. He told Cait about this place, historical anecdotes he was told by his family. Cait looked up at him, listening intently, admiring how his entire face lit up when he spoke about Scotland, how happy it made him, how his teeth and bright blue eyes shone in the sunlight. How he smiled so wide, she could see the creases on the corners of his cheeks.

After an hour of walking, they came to a completely open, wooden, rail-less bridge, and a wider part of the river, running wildly beneath them. They both stepped onto it without hesitation and continued to walk and talk, not really paying attention to the water beneath, or the bridge itself.

Sam, so focused on what Cait was saying, wasn’t aware enough of his footing. Being on the left side of the bridge, his left foot suddenly slipped slightly off the edge. He gasped sharply and grunted loudly. His body instinctively leaned over to the right side to prevent him from falling over the edge. His arms flailed outwards, and he bent down quickly, clutching the planks of the bridge. Before he could register what had happened, before his adrenaline had stopped surging through his veins, all he heard was a petrified, high-pitched shriek, and all he saw was Cait’s body be flung, head first over the right side of the bridge, into the gushing river; not even a splash was heard. His heart stopped, his breathing ceased, he froze. His hands started to shake; all he could hear now was a painful ringing. Half a second later, and he was on his feet, looking into the water, breathing heavily. All he could see was a gushing pool of white and black.

“CAIT?! CAITRIONA?!” he screamed at the absolute top of his lungs, over and over, until his throat and lungs started to burn.

He finally heard a gasping sound, then coughing, then screaming. He found Cait, already pulled twenty metres down the river in the matter of four seconds. The river was deep and had such force that she was unable to stand. She was struggling to swim properly and keep her head above the water.

“SAM HELP ME! PLEASE HE–,” Cait shrieked, and then she was gone, swallowed by the water.

Sam turned completely white, he felt physically sick as he sprinted, with everything he had, off the bridge and down the river, coming to where he spotted Cait in the water. He ripped off his Parka, threw his phone without looking, squatted, and slid down the grass, reaching the water. He dived underneath the water and let it take him downstream to Cait. Keeping his eyes open and his arms outstretched. Five seconds had passed, and he saw a dark shadow, trying desperately to fight against the stream and swim upwards; legs and arms striking against the water, but also being dragged further, deeper, underneath. Sam kicked his legs hard, hoping to reach her sooner. When he was close enough to reach her, his body slammed against hers by the force of the water before he could grab hold of her. She jolted sharply away from him, but then reached back for him, as he reached for her. Their hands gripped together so tightly, and without letting go, Sam attempted to touch the bottom with his feet and push himself up to the surface. He coughed and inhaled sharply, grunting, kicking, and fighting against the water with one arm. He pulled Cait up towards the surface, but their hands started to slip. He took in a large breath, submerged himself back into the water, reached out and grabbed Cait by the waist, pulling her towards him with one arm, then quickly let go of her hand and grabbed her waist with that same hand. Cait kicked and clutched his shoulders tightly. He pushed off the bottom with his feet again, with all the power and energy he had, and launched them to the surface. Cait coughed violently and wheezed loudly, before water gushed from her mouth. She inhaled and coughed again. Sam held her up high above the water, his hands underneath her arms. He was unable to move sideways against the water, so in one swift movement, he angled Cait towards the grassy side of the river and threw her towards it. She landed close enough to grip the grass and mud, clawing and trying to grip with her feet to pull herself up. Sam was again submerged underwater when Cait looked behind her. Sam had decided to try and dive deep down and swim sideways, where the force wasn’t as strong. A few seconds later, his hands shot up out of the water and gripped the grass, rocks, and mud on the side of the bank, ten metres downstream from her. He coughed, breathed heavily, and grunted loudly. He was able to get a good enough grip and pulled himself up out of the water. With shaky legs, he sprinted over to the side where Cait was still trying to pull herself up. He reached down, grabbed one of her wrists, strongly pulled her up towards him, then grabbed hold of her other wrist and pulled her completely out. He pulled her to her feet so swiftly, and without thinking, he scooped her legs up with one arm, and held her torso with the other and ran towards where he left his Parka and phone. She gripped around his shoulders and neck tightly, nails digging in, not daring to let go. When he reached his Parka, he bent down and gently sat her on the grass, ripped off her own Parka and put his dry one around her, then pulled her tightly against him, rubbing her back and arms vigorously. He shook and coughed as he did so before he could say anything. His brain couldn’t reach his mouth at this point. After a minute, Cait pushed against Sam’s chest, bent over to the side, coughed, heaved and more water gushed out of her mouth. Sam firmly pounded her back, hoping he was helping to expel the fluid from her stomach. Cait, still bent over, close to the earth, gasped and breathed heavily. She continued to cough intermittently a few more times, until she could no longer feel any fluid in her belly. She harshly exhaled. Luckily, she wasn’t under very long, and was able to hold her breath and didn’t inhale any water, but some did force its way into her mouth, giving her no choice but to swallow. She knew there wasn’t any fluid in her chest or lungs, as she was able to breath easily.

Exhausted, Cait’s breathing started to finally slow. Sam rubbed her back gently, and she carefully pushed herself back up to a sitting position.

“Caitriona…” Sam began with a shaky voice, “I’m so sorry! You could’ve drowned, and I…! If anything happened to you! I…Caitriona, I’m so so sorry. Are you alright, did you hit your head? Do you think anything is broken?” Sam’s hands were shaking very visibly as he held Cait’s shoulders.

Cait was trembling all over, both from the cold water and the shock from what just happened. She had her head down and her eyes closed. Sam searched her face desperately while he waited for a response, still white as a ghost, icy water dripping from the tip of his nose.

After a few minutes, Cait took a deep breath in through her nose and breathed out through her mouth. She slowly opened her eyes but kept them facing down. Sam let go of her shoulders, and continued to wait patiently, his hands still trembling in his lap.

“I…I’m alright. It doesn’t feel like anything is broken…I know I didn’t hit my head on the way down…the water was too…deep...too strong…it…” Cait described with a shaky voice and hugged herself with her own trembling hands, trying to stop the rest of her body from shaking.

“…it was an accident Sam. It’s alright,” Cait slowly moved her head up to look at him. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, all the colour was drained from her face, and her lips were now a blue-tinted pink.

“No, it’s not alright. I’m a…fucking idiot! I wasn’t paying attention to my feet; I knew I was too close to the edge! You could’ve broken your neck because of me. And…your hair!” Sam clenched his jaw and violently rubbed his forehead with his hand, eyes shut.

“Oh! Oh…fuck,” Cait exclaimed with widened eyes and a horrified look on her face and she grabbed two fistfuls of her hair.

“Caitriona, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I don’t know how you’ll ever forgive me…I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I mean I…” Sam broke off with a huff. He shifted away from her and held his head in his hands.

“Well, Sam, I didn’t break my neck. And…you saved my life, Sam. You risked your life to save mine. You got me out of that water just as quickly as I fell in…” Cait reached a trembling hand over and touched his bicep.

“Caitriona, I’m the reason you were in that river in the first place. Of course I was going to do everything in my power to save you…I mean…of course I would do everything I could to save you even if I wasn’t the reason,” Sam turned back towards her and shyly looked down at the wet grass between his legs, his arms resting on his knees.

Cait smiled lopsidedly, “I know. Thank you, Sam, for saving my life. All I know is that I could not, for the life of me, keep myself above the water. I was…stuck. Completely stuck underneath. If it wasn’t for you…you got to me so fast, like you didn’t even hesitate to jump in,” Cait raised her eyebrows in question.

“I didn’t,” Sam shrugged, “I’m just glad you’re alright. Well, I hope you are. That’s what we’re going to find out,” Sam stated as he grabbed his phone, scrolled through his texts with Ron to find the numbers of the drivers.

He typed in the number and asked his driver to immediately come to where they are. After he hung up, he screenshotted their location on Google Maps and sent it to his driver. His driver responded within a couple of minutes.

“My driver will be here in ten minutes, then we’re going straight to the ER. You’ve swallowed a lot of water. I want you to get checked out. I want to make sure you’re alright,” he said with a determined voice, looking at her with guilt in his face and concern in his eyes.

Cait nodded, “I…I don’t know what I’m going to do about my hair…” Cait hesitated, biting her lip.

“Yeah, I don’t know what I’m going to do about mine either. I’m going to call Ron right now and explain everything,” Sam put the phone to his ear again, then reached over and pulled his Parka tighter around Cait.

She gave him a shy smile as she put her arms through the sleeves.

Sam spent the next eight minutes on the phone with Ron, explaining the whole situation. Cait watched Sam’s face closely. His different expressions, his hand movements as he spoke, the way he chewed his thumb nail when he was nervous.

‘He saved me…he jumped right into that fucking death trap of a river and saved my life in the space of five minutes. What if he got stuck underneath after throwing me over to the bank…what if he broke his own neck trying to save me…the way he held me above that water…the way he was able to pull me to him against that heavy stream…he just…he amazes me…is he real?’ Cait was completely lost in her thoughts as she watched him.

Sam hanging up the phone snapped her out of it.

“Ron is really concerned about both of us, but he’s happy we’re both alive and going to the hospital. He wants to be updated with all results, and how we are tomorrow. The read-through may have to be pushed back, depending. He’s also going to call the stylist in London about our hair. He’s going to call back later about it,” Sam informed Cait, still with a look of remorse and embarrassment.

“Alright…was he pissed about our hair?” Cait asked.

“Nah, he just said ‘accidents happen’. He was more concerned with our health. I just…this is a big deal for you, Cait, and if I’ve ruined it for you, I wouldn’t ever forgive myself –,” Sam started, shaking his head.

“Sam,” Cait cut him off, “you haven’t ruined anything. It’s fine, everything will be fine.”

Sam gave her a small, lopsided smile, “I really am sorry though, for all that water you had to throw up, for any cold you get because of this, for everything. I suppose you don’t want any more Sam Heughan tours,” Sam looked down sheepishly.

Caitriona reached back over and patted his hand, then squeezed it slightly before letting go.

“I do, just, maybe no more dangerous bridges,” Cait smirked at him.

Sam laughed, “deal, I promise,” he looked at her and smiled.

Her face broke into a smile back at him, and just like that, they were stuck in a moment. No one was able to move. Not until Sam’s phone rang, and they both flinched, snapping out of it.

“Hi, Ron,” Sam answered, a little nervously.

He spent another minute on the phone, which left Cait’s thoughts to drift again. She cleared her throat and turned her head away. She smiled to herself briefly, then sucked her lips into her mouth and looked down.

‘He really is a great guy. It’s going to be a lot of fun working with him. We’re going to be great working partners and friends. That’s it though Caitriona, that’s all he is and will ever be to you. Just a co-s –,’

“Okay so with the hair appointment, the stylist has told Ron that you’ll need to get it redone, but I don’t because my perm isn’t as intense, and because of the amount of hair I have. So, your appointment in London is in a few days. It would just be a fly there, fly back kind of day,” Sam explained, breaking Cait from her self-pep-talk.

“Oh, okay. It has to be done,” Cait nodded and shrugged.

“Yeah, only if you’re well enough. Otherwise, that can be pushed back as well,” Sam reassured.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Cait half-smiled, and checked her phone for the time.

“I hope so. Oh, car’s here,” Sam said as he jolted to his feet.

He put his phone in his pocket, then reached down and put his hands out to Cait. She took his hands and he gently, but strongly eased her up.

“Are you alright? How are your legs?” Sam asked, steadying her.

Cait peered up at him, “yeah, uh…a little shaky but…I’m okay,” she nodded, looking down shyly.

As the drive to the hospital wasn’t a short one, both cars and drivers arrived. The drivers quickly got out and ran over Sam and Cait. They frantically asked what happened and if they were hurt, with concern and shock.

“It’s alright, I’ll tell you on the way,” Cait said to her driver.

“Yes, me too. We need to get her into the warmth right now,” Sam said to his driver, then looked at Cait’s.

Sam walked Cait to her car and opened the door for her. He held her elbow as she weakly climbed in.

“Are you warm enough? Do you think you’ll be sick again? I can see if they have a bag somewhere,” Sam half turned to look at Cait’s driver.

“No, it’s okay, Sam. I’ll be alright. It’s really warm in here,” Cait reassured.

“Alright, keep the parka, and I’ll see you when we get there,” Sam brushed her knee slightly, before closing the door.

Sam handed Cait’s soaked parka to her driver, “would you mind just putting this on the front seat, in front of the heater, where it can dry a bit?”

“Sure, sir,” Cait’s driver nodded and took the parka.

“You can call me Sam,” he said politely.

Sam ran and jumped into his car.

 **

 Upon arrival, Sam jumped out of his car, ran over to open Cait’s door, then held out his hand for her. Cait exhaled out of her nose and smiled at him.

“Thank you, Sam, but really, I’m alright,” Cait tried reassuring again.

“I just didn’t want your legs to lose balance or anything,” Sam said, concern in his baby blues.

“Well, I appreciate it,” Cait said shyly.

“It’s the least I can do, Cait. Sorry, I mean Caitriona!” Sam quickly tried to patch his slip-up.

‘Oh, fuck!’ Sam tensed.

Sam and Cait checked in and walked towards the waiting room.

Cait smiled widely, “you DID call out ‘Cait’ when I fell in! I heard you, even under the water, but thought I was going crazy.”

“Sorry, I…it was just quicker to say in the moment, I panicked,” Sam confessed, embarrassed.

“And now?” Cait asked teasingly, smirking at him.

“Now…well that was an accident,” Sam bit his lip and smiled nervously.

Cait giggled, “you can call me ‘Cait’. I like it. Believe it or not, I’m not often called that. My family doesn’t believe in shortening names, I guess. And it’s only a few of my friends who call me ‘Cait’, and you’re my friend,” Cait gently nudged his shoulder with hers, smiling a little too flirtatiously.

‘Thank Christ for that,’ Sam thought, feeling instantly relieved.

Sam laughed, then sighed, “well, I’m glad we’re still friends, even though I barged you into a dangerous, dirty river,” he gently nudged her back.

“Caitriona Balfe?” a nurse suddenly came out.

“I’ll meet you here when we’re done, okay? Good luck…Cait,” Sam gave her a shy smile.

Cait returned the smile, “you too, see you after.”

 **

Cait was checked over with a routine blood test, an X-ray, and an ultrasound of her stomach to see if there was any damage from the river water and how much she swallowed. They wanted to test for any lurking contaminants in her stomach, and intestines, that could potentially travel to her bladder and urinary tract. They also checked for any fluid on her lungs.

Sam needed less invasive checks but was also examined for any contaminants in his body, from the river.

They both received their results within the hour.

**

 Sam was already in the waiting room, scrolling on his phone, trying to distract himself from worrying about Cait.

‘Please let her be alright, please let her be alright, please let her be alright!’ He begged, with every heavy thump of his heart.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the deep green of his parka that Cait was still snuggled into. She smiled crookedly at him and sat next him.

“Hey! Did everything go alright?” Sam quickly asked.

“Just a few tests, I’ll get the results soon,” Cait expressed.

“Me too. How are you feeling?” he asked, turning more towards her.

“A bit better, now. Not so shaky, and I’ve warmed up. I think it was just shock, more than anything,” Cait shrugged, “and, how are you?”

“Och, fine,” Sam nodded.

“Hopefully. You were in that water too,” Cait raised her eyebrows, concern spreading across her face.

“I didn’t swallow any though. I’m sure I’m all good, but we’ll find out soon enough. I…I hope you’re okay…Cait,” Sam said sheepishly, still feeling a little nervous about calling her that.

Cait gave him a look that said, ‘it’ll be okay’.

“Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe?” a doctor came out and said.

Sam and Cait stood up and followed him into his room.

The doctor informed Cait that they couldn’t find any contaminants in her system, luckily, she vomited all of them out. They were both right as rain. The only recommendation the doctor gave Cait was to take a good probiotic for a week, and to have steaming hot shower, get a lot of bed rest with a lot of layers and a hot water bottle over the next 24 hours, to avoid getting a chill and then the flu.

Sam let out a sigh of such relief, knowing she was okay and that he hadn’t ruined everything for her.

‘I hope she doesn’t get sick…I’ll do everything I can to make sure she doesn’t! What if she does…what then? It would be inappropriate to kind of…take care of her…but…we share a trailer…we live together…fuck. Please don’t get sick…Cait,’ Sam struggled, then smiled, knowing he had full permission to call her by a nickname.

“That’s good news,” Sam said grinning at Cait, as they walked back towards their cars.

“Yes, see? Everything is fine. I just need to get out of these wet clothes…” Cait started, and immediately caught herself. It was too late.

‘What? What the fuck did you just say? Oh my god,’ Cait cursed herself internally.

Sam widened his eyes, then giggled quietly when he caught Cait’s face over what she just said.

“Uh…I mean…I need to put on something dry and curl up in bed…do you think there’s a hot water bottle in the trailer?” Cait asked, deliberately changing the subject.

“I’ll have a look for one while you’re in the shower. Are you hungry?” Sam asked.

“A little. Soup or broth is probably what I need the most right now,” Cait replied.

“Yeah, I saw heaps of cans of soup in the little pantry,” Sam nodded, opening the car door for Cait.

Cait smiled at him, “thank you. Alright, well, I’ll see you in a little bit,” Cait gently touched his forearm and climbed in.

Sam closed the car door and when she made eye contact with him out the window, he winked and waved, before running to his car.

Sam rang Ron and filled him in on the details.

“Alright, good news! I’m glad you’re both okay. We’ll have the read-through in three days, if Caitriona is up to it, and then she’ll go to London two days following that. I’ll flick her a text now, and I’ll check in tomorrow evening. Goodnight, Sam,” Ron replied on the other end of the phone.

 **

 Caitriona wasted no time in gathering her warmest pjs and toiletries and hopping straight into the shower. The hot water took a while to heat up, and Caitriona stood just outside the shower, covered in goosebumps, arms wrapped around herself, bouncing up and down and shivering. When it was finally hot, Cait pounced underneath and lavished the steaming hot liquid covering her body. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, inhaling the steam. Her fair skin was quickly becoming red, but it was a very welcomed contrast from turning blue from the icy water today. She relayed the experiences in her head, as she stood under the hot stream, concentrating on her breathing. Today was certainly a terrifying experience, being trapped underwater. However, she felt no trauma over it. All she could think about was how quickly those strong arms grabbed her before there was enough time to actually start to really panic. How quickly he got to her, pulled her from the jaws that wanted to swallow her whole. How he swept her up like she was weightless, held her close.

‘Yes, he’s very thoughtful and caring. I’ll forever be grateful for him. I’m lucky to have someone to work with who will have my back,’ Cait thought, as she lathered soap on her body, determined to not let her thoughts drift.

Cait put on her fresh, warm pjs and wrapped her washed hair in a towel and walked out of the bathroom. The clouds of steam broke out behind her. Her cheeks were rosy, red from the heat. Then she saw Sam. He had changed his clothes and was now wearing tracksuit pants and a loose, long-sleeved shirt. He was standing in the kitchenette sipping coffee. He turned around once he heard her. He couldn’t help but look at her from head to toe and then back up again. Cait was wearing black cuffed sleep pants, thick purple bed socks, and an oversized fleece top.

‘Adorable creature! Look at her, so snug…no, stop looking!’ Sam caught himself and he cleared his throat and briefly looked away.

Sam stuttered and struggled to get his words out at first, “Uh…I…uh,” Sam pointed to the little dining table.

Caitriona looked over and there was a steaming bowl of soup, a mug of black coffee and some chicken bone broth, waiting for her. Cait’s eyes lit up. Then she looked back at Sam and smiled. Sam shyly looked down and smiled, taking another sip of his coffee.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33179176/chapters/82373872#workskin

[thedyingmoon]

🖤 I See My Future Before Me 🖤

~ A V X Reader set in an Alternate Universe wherein ugly feet are a big deal (?!) 🤔

~ "Too Much Fluff Can Kill You" Volume 2. 😂

~ Tagging my friends, @heaven-on-a-landslide , @krazy06 , @diabeticsugarush , @ehrzeth , @ceruleanworld , @lessy86 , @simmy-ships , @boundbysoul , and @gxthghoulfriend . 🖤

~ Once again helped by my special anonymous adviser who stayed up late with me! And it's all worth it! I hope you like this. ❤

~ Just an important piece of instruction: Please watch the video below before proceeding to the next paragraph. 🖤

~ LET'S DO THIS! 🖤

***

XIV

***

Dante stood in the lobby as he read the latest issue of his favorite magazine.

Already in his best formal attire, the man unceremoniously waited for you. The gig this time required the two of you to infiltrate a party to rat a certain Demon out, and at the mere thought of you in a dress had him intrigued.

Of course, he found you quite fetching. But, the clothes you wore on a daily basis? With your fondness for loose, oversized, and unflattering pieces of clothing, he honestly thought that you got nothing compared to either Trish or Lady, who were two of the most beautiful, if not lethal, women he had ever seen.

Yes, he thought that all the beauty you got were wasted on your conservative tastes,...

"Are we gonna go, or what?" Dante, who failed to notice you as you came down from your room, heard you loud and clear and turned.

"Hey, what took you - ?"

The man stopped dead in his tracks, for there, right before his very eyes, was,...

You raised an eyebrow and placed your hands on your hips. "Are you gonna stare at me the whole evening? We still have a job to do."

"The lady is right." Morrison, who just entered the building, said. And when he saw you, his eyes widened in complete awe. "And surprise of all mother of surprises. You look like the most gorgeous star in the galaxy, my dear."

"Thank you, Mr. Morrison." You said, taking the Broker's hand and letting him lead you outside towards his car.

"Your partner seems to be tongue tied."

"Yeah, he's busy with that magazine of his."

You carefully entered the vehicle as Morrison opened the door for you. A few moments later, Dante followed.

The ride towards your destination was a really quiet one. You would occasionally look at the front at Morrison as he drove but, most of the time, your eyes were just glued to the window beside you. Despite that, you could not shake the feeling of heaviness in your body. It's as if you have been the subject of someone's intense stares for far too long.

Still, you smiled, not letting yourself be tempted to indulge your silent companion.

Your resistance persisted until you two reached the place.

And Dante could not hold it in any longer.

"Hey," he began, isolating you from the other guests by leading you to an empty hallway. "You've been keeping things from me."

"Wha - ?" You started to argue but, then, realized he was right. "Well, yes."

"What else can you do?" Dante demanded, your overwhelming scent of a very addictive vintage wine assaulting his nostrils and driving his patience to the limit. "Witchcraft? Sorcery? Voodoo?"

You only chuckled at his question. "They're the same thing."

The man grabbed your shoulders and made you look up at him, his light - colored eyes more intense than ever before. "Tell. Me."

Unfazed, you only smiled up at him, grabbed his huge hands, and removed them gingerly off you. You then took one of his hands and led him back towards the living area where the party was taking place.

"What are you doing?"

"See that lady?" You whispered to him in a lover - like fashion so as not to make yourself obvious that you're plotting something dangerous. "That's your target."

"How did you even - ?!"

"Sshh! Don't ask. Okay?"

Dante looked at the said female, who happened to be the host of the party.

"So, in two minutes, she will come our way, introduce herself to you, and start flirting with you. You will flirt with her for, like, five minutes."

The man looked at you suspiciously. "Why did I suddenly feel nervous about this?"

"Oh, you'll be fine. Anyway, her lover will come out of hiding. You will kill him."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who said anything about killing an innocent man?!"

"And," you went on, ignoring Dante's complaint. "... you will use the Rebellion and drive it through his skull, then she will attack you. You will use the Ebony and Ivory against her. And, guess what, all the guests in here? They're all Demons. You will finish them in, like, ten minutes, tops. Then, you will join me in the balcony and wipe Demon blood off your face."

"And why am I supposed to believe you?"

"Because your two minutes is up and she's coming towards us."

And surely enough, with hips swaying seductively and eyelids fluttering like butterfly wings, the gracefully tall and slender host of the party was coming towards the legendary Devil Hunter. Dante looked back at you and realized you weren't there any more.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, the man, who was covered in Demon guts and chandelier glitter, came out to join you on the balcony. He wiped the Demon blood off his face and leaned against the railing beside you.

"You didn't even help me." Dante told you wih a huge sigh. "And we're supposed to be partners."

"Convinced?"

"Whatever."

"Hey, at least you got to flirt with her, right?" You cheerfully answered.

Dante looked at you with every intention of giving you a piece of his mind but, you were already walking away from him.

"Hey!"

You turned back, winked at him, and held up a finger to your lips.

"Sshh,..."

***

You and V hustled towards the empty building, sheltering yourselves due to the very sudden and heavy rainfall.

Once inside, V heard you grunt in dismay and as he turned to look at you, he saw you as you put your black violin case down on the cold floor and strip off your wet parka, revealing your simple white dress underneath.

Now, V may have no idea, whatsoever, what you'll need the violin for during the Demon hunt, but he was definitely flabbergasted as to your taste in clothing. It's as if you were not going on a Demon hunt, at all.

You felt a pair of eyes boring down on you as you picked up your violin case, and when you looked up, you ultimately saw him staring at you.

Then, there was that feeling again - of your cheeks burning, of your heartbeat going wild, of your knees getting weak and wobbly.

It's as if the man's mere gaze put your mind in a trance, and your senses into a total discord.

You shyly looked away, trying to escape his longing look, until you finally noticed where you really were.

"Hey, this is a dance studio!" You exclaimed breathlessly as you ran towards one of the doors that led to a huge rehearsal room. You entered it and took in the achingly familiar atmosphere of the place, from its floor, the huge glass windows, to the mirrored walls.

The exact moment when V entered the room after you, Griffon materialized and flew towards you.

"Where did ya just take us to?" The bird irritatingly questioned. "It's too damn creepy in here!"

"Why? You afraid of mirrors?"

The bird squawked and flew towards one of the abandoned chairs, perching and settling himself comfortably.

You ignored the Demon and went towards the window, seeing the angry outpour outside and the eventual streak of lightning from the sky, followed by the loud boom of the thunder.

"It seems that we have become stranded here for a while." You heard V's low voice as you sensed him walking closer towards you.

You simply nodded, still unable to look the man in the eye. "I hope it stops soon."

"I wish for the opposite."

The very noticeable purr in the man's voice made your heart do flips. You turned around, and as another streak of lightning painted the sky, you saw the unmistakable mischief in those eyes and grin of his.

Suddenly feeling both nervous and giddy, you hastily walked towards one of the chairs near Griffon, sat, and removed your boots.

"Okay, these are getting heavy as hell!" You said, unintentionally making your voice loud due to your nerves. "I'm taking these off!"

"Ew!" Griffon exclaimed as soon as your feet came into view. "Did ya step on a fuckin' corpse or are those yer actual feet, eh sweet pea?!"

You narrowed your eyes at the demonic bird, who started laughing at your pitiful, scarred little feet.

"Hahaha! Ah, haha, eh, well, no offense, sweet pea. Just sayin' the truth."

"Beauty cannot be comprehended by small minds, my Demonic friend." V, who, of course, followed you, fortunately came to your rescue.

You gave Griffon a triumphantly evil grin as you placed your wet boots under the table. "I'm a dancer. It would make perfect sense for me to have ugly feet." You looked up at V and spoke with him instead of the bird who got grumpy. "I got these scars from years of dedicated dancing."

"Hmm,..." V mused as he sat on a chair beside you. "Those scars,... symbolize the true enjoyment and will that you felt doing that special something you adore." He uttered, then leaned closer towards you. With a soft whisper, he said, "Those feet, my Lady,... I would kiss,... over,... and over again,... if I could,... "

Thump!

"Shoes! Shoes! The floor is cold! I need shoes!" You literally yelled, feeling your traitorous heart triple in heartbeat. With hot cheeks and trembling limbs, you hastily stood up and roamed aimlessly all over the room in search of those shoes you mentioned. As lame as you might have looked then, you knew what's truly going on between you and the poet, you just could not handle your own chaotic feelings. And now, you must have looked like a total mess right before him.

"Yeah, no shit, Shirley!" Griffon sarcastically whispered at V. "Ain't that right, V? I mean, if ya like her, just tell her already! Dangit! Fuckin' stop beatin' 'round the fuckin' bushes! Look at her, ya broke the thing!"

Surely enough, V saw you wandering around the room, muttering something uncomprehensible under your breath.

Taking pity on you and feeling guilty at himself for making you uncomfortable, he stood up and walked to where you were.

You felt the man as he neared you and instinctively halted your silly, panic mumblings. You cleared your throat, bravely faced him, and saw the worried look in those deep green eyes of his.

"Well, I do not exactly enjoy it. Dancing, I mean." You told the man, making yourself as calm as you could. "It was more like a,... survival kind of thing."

"Survival, you say?" V answered, instantly feeling intrigued. How would one consider dancing as survival? But, of course, he had no idea what you've been through as a child. "Can you, please, explain?"

You slightly got nervous, feeling as if you revealed more than what was necessary. You were only talking about your ugly feet, damnit! No need to drag the man further into your own, dark past.

Once again, you looked around for something, anything, that could save you from your blunder. And there, right on the corner, you saw, as the lightning lit up the dark sky, a pair of forgotten ballet shoes. You looked at the thing with much intent, then back at your male companion.

"Shall I just show you how they made us dance, instead?" You offered. Well, since you'd be moving a lot from now on, you might as well have a sort of a warm up.

And what a perfect way to do that than that accursed piece those pale people made you dance for six whole years.

On the other hand, V felt concerned about you. You considered dance as survival, and yet, here you were, offering to open up what must've been a deep wound from the past.

Then, he had an idea.

"If dancing felt like a challenge to you," he said, suddenly offering up a hand. " ... then, would you allow this fool to ease the burden and join you for this dance?"

Thump! Thump!

Went your heartbeat once more. But, this time, escaping and saving your shy self would not do you any good. So, instead, you took a deep breath, nodded, and looked up at him with much resolve. You took his hand and began with the simplest of steps.

Well! The man surely had instruction! He was sensitive enough to know when you'll turn, when you must be lifted, and when you'll change positions. Not to mention his graceful movements! Where the hell did he learn ballet?!

Meanwhile, V only had to thank the endless dance lessons he took when he was only a boy! And not only that, he also had to actually thank his stupid twin for skipping them, for, if not, he would never have received more difficult extra lessons that involved doing a pas des deux ! And who knew it will become useful in the future?!

For a while, it seemed as though nothing could disrupt the little, yet warm environment that engulfed the two of you. Not even the bleak weather. Even the foul - mouthed Demon perched on the chair close by dared not utter any piercing word.

Everything seemed at peace, the steps you made, perfect. The lightning streaked the sky once more, splashing very little light into the cold, studio. You made another pirouette, longing to end the little dance with flourish, until the loud bang of the thunder came booming down, startling you and making you stumble on your feet. V thankfully caught you just in time before you fall.

"(Y/N),..."

"I'm fine, thank you." You reassured the man, at the same time getting back up on your feet with his help. "You know, my body's condition was not how it used to be compared to when I was a bit younger."

The man smiled gently at you as he took your hands once more, pulling you closer. "Age matters not, as long as you enjoy dancing."

You sheepishly smiled back at him. "Now that you mentioned it, yes. I enjoyed this dance."

The man may not have chosen to mention it to you but, he definitely enjoyed the little performance with you. Much more so than you did. For you were there with him, smiling, and forgetting the chaos of this world.

For at least a few minutes, it felt intimate for V.

However, he saw the smile on your face slowly vanish as you let go of his hands. The man looked at you in confusion, then you told him, "There is, was, only one person in the world who could outdance me in the past."

The man's face fell, seeing the sadness that was creeping up on those (E/C) eyes he had come to adore.

With glistening eyes, you simply uttered, "My sister."

"I'm so sorry." V whispered achingly at you. "It must be,... "

"She was," you went on, managing a smile despite the hurt that suddenly made its way onto your chest at the reminder of your lost, beloved sibling. " ... how to put this? She was perfect in every way. She was the most beautiful girl in the world, and everybody adored her. She,... died,... to save me, V."

V looked away from her. He had,... someone,... very special whom he lost a very long time ago. Hearing you tell your own tale regarding the person you lost brought back those hurtful memories of the one he loved above all else,...

... her,...

He took a deep breath and faced you once more, not wanting you to worry about him.

"What matters is that you still have precious people around you, my Lady." He said, his voice hoarse and raw with untold emotions and unshed tears. "You must focus on not losing them, as well."

You smiled at him, aware of the melancholic feeling you had evoked in the already cold and lonely atmosphere. You took both his hands and guided him to sit on the floor.

Confused, V glanced at you as you positioned yourself in the middle of the empty dance floor. Griffon noticed this change and flew towards his master, settling himself right beside him.

"V," you began. "... let me tell you the story of a man who regrets the loss of a loved one and the woman who loves him the most. The love of his life. Whom he could no longer be with."

You took a deep breath and began a slow movement that gradually turned into a series of steps that seemed to tell a story, like what you mentioned.

Every turn, every gesture, every sweet and graceful hand movement told V some numerous, little words forming into silent sentences that seemed to whisper directly at his heart. The steps to the very raw yet beautiful dance you performed honestly moved him, feeling a different kind of an ache within his own heart. The steps turned more radiant as it came to the heart of the story,...

... of a very graceful woman,...

... and the man,...

... who was foolish enough to let her go.

And when you finished, he was both speechless and mesmerized. You looked at him with concern, confused by his uncharacteristic silence.

That was when you saw it,...

... genuine tears falling down his face.

"Ah!" You stuttered, not knowing what to do upon the realization that you just made V cry. "I'm so sorry! I would never do this again! I - "

You were immediately silenced as V stood and gave you a hug so tight, yet so gentle, that you felt that he did not want to let go of you.

Like he did not want to ever lose you.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

You knew he was still crying, so you took the initiative to wrap your arms around him and pull him closer.

"Hey, it's okay." You gently whispered at him, calming him down with your caress. "I'll never leave you. I promise."

And just when things were getting more and more cozy between the two of you, Griffon, who seemed to get touched by your performance, as well, flew towards you with large, melancholic eyes. How strange for a brazen creature such as him!

"Hey, do ya know any more stories that won't make ya cry?" The bird asked in a sad and weird tone.

"Okay! Let's see,... "

V smiled as he let go of you, wanting to hear what you were about to say. He just could not help but become excited for your story.

"There was a warrior who was protected by three Goddesses." You began. "However, he mysteriously vanished, making the Goddesses scatter all over the world in search of a temporary vessel until he returns. They found her and dwelled within her for a hundred years.

"Then, one day, he returned and two of his Goddesses returned to him. Aside from the last one who got attached to the woman. But, to gain complete power, the man must have all three with him. So, he took the third Goddess from the woman by force."

"What happened?!"

"Ah,... she died."

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SHITTY STORY?!"

You became nervous as cold sweat trickled down your forehead. "I made it up,... "

"WHAT IN THE FUCKIN' - ?!"

"Hush, you Demon,..." V chuckled as he watched the two of you argue,...

But, the fun and peace of mind you had didn't last long,...

For, only after a few hours, Griffon, who was rendered useless by the Diabolical Amalgam, was screaming your name as you made your way towards the frightening creature, unarmed, wounded, vulnerable, and above all, stripped naked.

"SWEET PEA!" Griffon pleaded as he tried once more to attack, only to fail yet again. "YOU WILL FUCKIN' DIE! STOP!"

But you only looked back at him, winked, and held up a slender finger to your bloody lips.

"Sshh,..."

***

🖤🖤🖤

Note: That's Simone Cameresi for you! A very graceful dancer. I imagine her as the Reader in that very sweet and heartfelt moment as she danced for V. So, I hope you followed my instruction and watched her before reading the next paragraph. 🖤

Another Note: The title of the song is Turning Page by Sleeping At Last. 🖤

P.S.: In ballet, a pas de deux is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The pas de deux is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well - known ballets, including Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Giselle. Yeah, the more you know. 🖤

🖤🖤🖤

[babbushka]

S prompt with Flip 😘

Thank you for requesting this dear anon! I hope you enjoy it :) 

Prompt from this list! 

Word count: 1300 

Warnings: None 

Flip was not, by nature, a sour fellow. Anyone you asked would saynothing but good things about your husband – how he was always eager to help,always friendly. But some days, he really just got into the crabbiest moodpossible, and today was shaping up to be one of those days.

You didn’t know of course, because you were still gently snoring, tuckedaway in the blanket cocoon that was your bed, but Flip could feel himselfgrowing more and more irritated with each pile of snow he needed to clear away.

Flip was starting to get really tired of winter. He loved anyexcuse to wear his flannels, and his favorite sheepskin parka that you hadgiven to him some Hanukkahs ago, but he was officially over the ice and thegrey gloomy skies and the snow.

The snow, and having to shovel it, was the straw that finally broke thecamel’s back.

He had woken up much too early totake care of the driveway and more importantly, the roof, and had put himselfin a bit of a sour mood. A mood that would probably fester unless he finishedup quickly enough to salvage some of the morning before he had to go to work.

Normally he spent his morningskissing you awake, rubbing his ankles against your calves and tucking the hairaway from your face. Normally, he would just pop downstairs, start the newautomatic drip coffee maker and join you in the bathroom for some morningkisses while you both showered. Normally, he would be giving you blindingorgasms like a champ.  

But this morning, he was coveredin bits of ice and snow and his fingers hurt despite wearing gloves, all so thedamn roof wouldn’t cave in.

Giving the roof a once-over, hewas glad to find that he had mostly gotten everything. On numerous occasionsyou had suggested hiring a professional, to which Flip took mild offense in thesame way that he did when you suggested he bring the Chevy to a mechanic formaintenance. You were probably right, but he couldn’t deny the pride that hegot when he finished a job. It was just doingthe fucking chore that annoyed him.

Making sure to properly put therake and shovel back into its proper place in the garage, he carefully made hisway around the house and was glad to step through the threshold into the warmfoyer.

He stood in the doorway, stompingthe snow out of his boots, when you descended the stairs like an angel all wrappedup in Flip’s big fleece robe.

You had taken a liking to it morethan your own robe, because it smelled like him and was large enough on you toswallow you whole. You often wore it as a blanket when you took naps on thecouch while waiting for Flip to come home from work, he would find you soundasleep, Charlie’s Angels playing softly on the TV.

The robe was so big that it keptslipping off your shoulders, and Flip could see one of your pretty pert nipples.He longed to bury his face in your neck and suck at the skin there, fondle youand feel you up.

“Good morning handsome.” Yougreeted him with a sleepy smile, your hair still mussed from where it hadsplayed out on the pillow.

“’Morning honey.” He grumbled,shrugging out of his parka.

“Wake up on the wrong side of thebed?” You teased as you helped him shed the rest of his layers until he wascomfortable, and hung them up in the mudroom where they wouldn’t drip water allover or track snow into the house.

“Snow is overrated.” He huffed,making you chuckle.

“Aw, you’re just grumpy ‘cause you’re cold. C’mere.” You smiled, openingyour arms.

He scooped you up in a big bearhug, making you squeal, and peppered kisses all over your face before carryingyou to the kitchen and setting you down on the counter near the fridge.

“What do you want for breakfast,ketsl?” He asked.

“French toast.” You decided rightaway, making him shake his head fondly.

“Don’t you remember what happenedthe last time I tried making French toast?” He asked with a laugh, grabbing theingredients from the fridge and pantry anyway.

Flip was trying to learn how tocook more than just his three standard dishes – scrambled eggs, pasta, andsteak. You were more than happy to teach him, and had started by splitting thecooking responsibilities so that twice a week Flip was the master chef.

The last time Flip had made Frenchtoast he burned it so badly that it actually crumbled into little charcoaltasting pieces. You didn’t even know how it had happened, figuring the recipewas simple enough – make batter, dip bread, put in pan.

“Now is your chance to redeemyourself.” You grinned, watching him take everything over to the stove on theother side of the kitchen.

“Isn’t it enough that I clearedthe drive-way?” He whined, making you laugh, suddenly hit with realization.

“Is that what you were doing out there?” You asked, making him turnaround and look at you like you were the one being silly.

“What else would I be doing baby?”He asked back, an amused smile on his lips.

“I don’t know, I saw you throwingsnowballs. Figured you were playing with the neighbor’s son, David.” Yourecalled, making his face go bright red. “Didn’t know why you were out there at the crack of dawn, but then again you arean enigma.” You teased, and he turned back around.

“No, I was just angry.” He said,embarrassed that you had watched a little temper tantrum of his. He had thrownthe snow because he had gotten so sick of looking at it. You burst out laughing,doubling over and hopping off the counter so you wouldn’t accidentally slideoff. “Don’t laugh at me!” Flip said, even though he was laughing too.

You crossed the kitchen andhugged him from behind, shoulders still shaking from giggles that you triedvery hard (and ultimately failed) to suppress.

“I guess you didn’t check theradio before shoveling, but they’ve closed the town down.” You said, yourcheeks hurting from smiling.

“Really?” He asked incredulously,making you laugh loudly all over again.

“Really. You, detective, don’thave to go into work today.” You said, not at all surprised that Flip didn’t checkbefore getting himself into work that could’ve definitely been put off foranother couple of hours.  

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.”Flip groaned, looking at the clock. It was only eight in the morning – normallyhe would still be tangled up in the covers with you.

“Turn the toast.” You said, wantingto make sure he didn’t burn this batch like the last one.  “Perfect.” You beamed, proud of him when itrevealed itself to be perfectly golden brown on the other side.

“Well at least something wentright.” Flip joked, getting the next slice of toast ready.

“Don’t be such a grump. How aboutwhen we finish eating, I give you a rewardfor doing such a good job?” You asked, slowly rubbing your hands up the sidesof his arms, making goosebumps appear in your wake.

He hummed at the implication, takingone of your hands and bringing it to his lips to give it a smacking kiss.  

“You keep distracting me likethat ketsl, and we won’t have anything to eat in the first place.” Flipchuckled.

You tried to step away, but hejust tugged you back into place, like the tease he was.

You couldn’t blame him, after allhe did go out and brave the no-good, terrible, overrated snow.

As always, tagging some peeps! Let me know if you’d like to be added or taken off the tag list :) @fullofbees @spinebarrel @oh-adam @dreamboatdriver @bad–bad--man @thecurlycaptain @bourbonboredom @driverficarchive @aweirdlookingtree@rosalynbair @redhairedfeistynerd @adamsnackdriver @glitzescape @arwarz

[onestowatch]

Aly&AJ Talk ‘Sanctuary,’ Touring the World, and Their Highly Anticipated Return to Music [Q&A]

Beloved sister duo Aly and AJ Michalka carry an enormous amount of nostalgia. After breaking out as teen stars on Disney Channel, they launched a wildly successful pop-rock music career with their 2007 album Insomniatic. We know you listened to “Potential Breakup Song” to cope with your failed 7th grade relationship; we did too. After a decade of silence, they released the suitably titled Ten Years EP, delighting fans with their indestructible bond as sisters and updated synth pop sound. Their latest work, an EP titled Sanctuary, sparked their Sanctuary Tour, which took them all over the United States before heading to Europe for upcoming shows. Many of us grew up with Aly & AJ, making their return to music both evocative of our childhood and empowering as we see them evolve into something new. 

We met up with Aly and AJ in the green room of The Fonda, in actuality painted a Canary Yellow, where they played their first show ever over a decade ago. After getting some kisses from their pup Bix, we sat down to discuss how they find sanctuary on tour, the perks of releasing music independently and their fight against conversion therapy.

OTW: You two have been busy! Tell us about the tour so far. 

Aly: It’s been awesome. We haven’t had any blowout sister fights. 

AJ: Yeah for 40 cities in two months there was no drama. It was a really great run. So we’re about to finish the US tour and head to Europe.

OTW: Where are you most excited to go in Europe? 

AJ: We’re only playing five shows there, we’re just kind of dipping our feet in that territory because we’ve actually never played in Europe. I’m really excited for London. We’re playing Manchester, Dublin, Paris and Amsterdam and I gotta say I’m so stoked for Paris and Amsterdam. 

OTW: You two have been steadily on tour since May. Where do you find sanctuary when you’re on the road?

Aly: Honestly having our dog around has been a massive sanctuary for all of us. Even the band would admit that it’s been nice having a little buddy with us.

AJ: Oh he’s completely been the emotional heartbeat of this tour. 

Aly: We also decorate our bunks and having books in there and inspirational cards and notes.

AJ: I have some polaroids posted and some twinkly lights and even some succulents. Honestly I just get in there and it’s about sleep and rest and rejuvenating for the next show. Also good food. We’re big foodies so finding great restaurants is a big thing for us. 

OTW: Is there a moment in your set that you look forward to?

AJ: I think “Church” is a special song and it opens the set. It grounds us and sets the pace for the show. 

Aly: It’s hard to choose! We also love performing “Sanctuary.” It’s the second to last song that we perform and it says so much in terms of what it means to us and also to our fans. It’s really like a love letter to our fans for sticking it out all these years and being there for us. It’s also a safe place for them to come and be themselves, so it really works both ways which is really neat. 

OTW: Have you had any moments that stood out to you with fans during this tour? 

Aly: I think we’ve had a lot. One moment that we’ve had specifically was in San Diego the other night. We have The Trevor Project out with us on the road and we talk about them at every single show. We’ve been getting every audience to help by not only signing a petition to end conversion therapy, but to also donate to The Trevor Project. We’ve raised almost $40,000 which is really exciting, and last night someone came to our meet and greet and said “I appreciate what you guys are doing with Trevor Project because I was actually sent to conversion therapy. My family didn’t approve of me being out and I think what you’re doing is important.” It struck a chord with AJ and I because we can be some small part in ending conversion therapy and making sure our fans are aware that that’s still happening and shouldn’t be.

AJ: We’ve had incredible fan encounters. It sounds cheesy, but in a weird way I think that’s also been our sanctuary. It truly means so much that people have cared about our music this long and have continued to sustain the excitement seeing as we took such a big break. 

OTW: You guys are doing things independently. Why was that important to you?

AJ: I think it’s given us a really clear-cut form of freedom to be independently putting out this music. Being that Aly and I have been doing this for so long and we have a lot of opinions of what we like and don’t like, it’s been important that this first batch of music comes out independently. It’s given Aly and I the freedom to control where we want our career to head. We do work with AWAL, who distributes all of our stuff, and they’ve been amazing.

Aly: And it’s given us the ability to try things and see the response, whereas I don’t think that you get that in the record company umbrella. It’s kind of like, you succeed or you fail which is really unfortunate because a lot of times being an artist takes an arc to find your sound. Especially for these EPs, it’s been great to put them out independently. I think overall we wouldn’t be opposed to being signed, it’s just wanting to know that it’s the right deal and doesn’t take away our creative control. The goal is to continue releasing good music however that may be, and AJ and I have never been more proud of the music that we’ve made than these past two EPs. 

OTW: “Potential Breakup Song” and “Church” were released over a decade apart. How have your music tastes changed since the start of your career and how has that influenced your sound?

AJ: We’ve definitely grown a ton in this interim of taking such a large break. And I do feel like our taste has grown. We really leaned into 80s synth pop on the Ten Years EP and realized that a lot of the artists we were listening to were artists that we look up to from the 80s and early 90s. I wouldn’t say one band dictated the sound but I do think there’s a collection of singers from the 80s, male in particular, who drew out this sound in Aly and me. 

Aly: I feel like we also started to back off of the pop rock music that we were making when we were younger. I don’t think that genre should exist. I think it should either be pop or it should be rock. If it’s a rock song, let it be a rock song. It’s kind of like saying “smooth jazz,” like just say jazz ya know? As AJ and I go forward, I would like to see it lean slightly alt, but only time will tell what we’re inspired by and who we collaborate with. 

OTW: You two have been juggling busy schedules, with both music and acting endeavors. Do you set aside time to write together or are there a whole lot of voice memos being texted back and forth?

Aly: It’s all about trusting that our vision will come across even if it’s one of us. We don’t both have to be in the room to get a song finished or get it to a place where we’re both really happy with it. If AJ can’t come to the writing session or I’m unavailable, one of us will do the first day of the session and the other will come for the rest. 

AJ: The collaboration is constant. There have been so many times where I’m on the Sony lot in between takes listening to Aly talk about a new song or idea. There’re no set rules, we make music however we need to make it and if that means that one is there and one is not, then that is what it is. The collaborative effort is always there. 

OTW: Can we expect a sibling collab with the Jonas Brothers? 

AJ: They’re like number one right now!  I think we’d be open to it, but I’m not sure if they need us. I mean, if someone wants to campaign for it then sure. We were actually the first tour they were ever on.

Aly: Only OG fans know that, but yeah. It was Cheetah Girls for the first part and then later on they opened for us. 

AJ: I’ll never forget how we all met. It was an East Coast show, freezing out, and they were in giant parkas eating lunch in a cafeteria space at a shitty venue. They were super sweet, we were all babies. 

OTW: Who are you Ones to Watch?

Aly: Honestly I think Armors are mine. Their music is great and they’re all really great dudes.

AJ: I agree. My friend Hayley Orrantia is also one to watch. She just released an EP called The Way Out, about how she dealt with a horrible breakup. It’s been a beautiful way for her to release some of the pain. If you’ve been through a bad breakup you should definitely give it a listen.