#it was cool taking insp from a bunch of different places ^_^

[atomiccattus]

Divine Calling

[likeit-or-leaveit]

Pairing:

Aimee Carrero as Skylar Muñoz / Lucas Till as Paul Deckery

Insp: “The Mechanic” by Rascal Flatts

Word count: 2400

Series: theElementalProject

Tag list because I used your gifs

@theclassymike @fyeahlucastill @nintendo @macgyvercairo @macspaperclips @playbucky @thisgameissonintendo

The Mechanic

Paul POV

When I'm broke down, you're the mechanic

“Paul. You’re overdoing it again.” Skylar scolded. I could hear her feet patter on the cold concrete as walked into the shared garage. I didn’t say anything, just tinkered with the car above me. Thinking. Times like these my friends would find me in the tinkering in my own head.

Life hasn’t been easy for me for the past 14 years. My dad left my mom, my brother Jack and I when I was 8. When I was 12 and 17 Jack, he and mom were doing their best keeping the house afloat. I picked up a hobby at the age of 12 fixing cars here and there to do my part to keep the house a float. High school came and I found my tribe 8 people that 4 girls and 3 guys who were my chosen family.

I felt especially close to two of them, Cooper and Skylar. Cooper was my right hand man and although our childhood lives were completely different we still understood each other. Then there was Skylar, she also had the same upbringing as Cooper but she was understanding. She looked out for me but let me keep my pride.

Like the time I lost my day job because I had been with my mom In the hospital, someone had to be with her Jack was deployed. He couldn’t be there. Someone had to stay and wait for results, look out for her. Cooper and Skylar were by my side taking turns bringing me food and checking on me. Lord knows, I wouldn’t have eaten if it wasn’t for them. I wasn’t hungry, just anxious. But they were there, nonetheless.

And now, this past week I’d gotten broken up with. Stephanie Daniels left me for this karate sensei guy. I guess her mechanic boyfriend wasn’t enough. I kept thinking about her. I had planned to propose this summer. We would’ve been together 6 years in June. Now, a little velvet box sat in my sock drawer taking up space. I kept replaying all the happy times. Then watching her walk away with guy. My eyes teared up a bit. I blinked then back quickly.

I felt a little nudge on my outer thigh.

“Paul.” She cooed softly changing her tone. I slid out from underneath the car, she gave me soft smile as she knelt down beside me. I looked like a deer hit with headlights. “You alright? You always come down here and hide when you’re thinking.” She asked softly. I nodded, still in my thoughts.

“Yeah, uh fine. Doll, I am fine.” I stammered, my voice broke a bit. Then I, slid back under the car. Truth was, I wasn’t fine. I was in my head again. Coming into my powers had me a mess. I didn’t know when I’d lose my cool next and turn to stone or leave a muddy mess anywhere. I didn’t like her seeing me out of it. I didn’t want her to have to fix me.

When I'm broke down, you're the mechanic
And when I'm mean, you're romantic
And when I cry, you're the sexiest clown ever seen
You fix me

“Paul, you’re using the pet names again.” She called out to me before she squeezed my thigh softly to get my attention. “Hiding in the garage, tinkering and using pet names. Decker what’s wrong?” She asked softly.

None of them knew Stephanie and I had broken up. I still did my rounds at the club as Cooper’s wingman, on fridays as per our usual trips. Dating someone or not. It was guys night. I sat at the bar drinking, watching everyone dance.

I went this Friday, last night, drank more than usual. Feeling lost, got drunk. Came home at 2 am, was walked to my room by Cooper. He didn’t expect to babysit me. He didn’t have to babysit me. But, he did. Making sure I got into bed and had aspirin waiting me in the morning.

I took it without food. I wasn’t hungry. I just got up and made my way to the garage before anyone got up. I wanted to be alone. “Deck— errrryyyyy,” she sang my name trying to draw me out of my thoughts.

“Yes, Doll.” I said, my voice a lot steadier than a few minutes ago. She tugged on my jeans again. “I am fine. Stop fishing for info. Okay, doll?” I heard a sigh, fall from her lips. She knew something wasn’t right. I didn’t want her to push.

“What time did you guys get in last night?” She asked.

“Two am. Why?” I murmured, hoping she’d drop whatever she was about to ask. “Do I have a curfew, mom?” She couldn’t see the grin playing on my lips.

“Since, you’re calling me mom. When was the last time you ate? If you say last night at 6ish during dinner, I am kicking your ass.” She stated matter of factly. “I know you spent the whole night drinking. I heard you drunkenly arguing and moaning at Cooper about something.” Shit. That caught my attention. My eyes started to water again. “I know something is up. Might as well spill.” She snarked with a chuckle.

When I'm a sinner, you're a King James
And when I'm lost, you're the map's missin' page
And when I'm shakin', you're steady like stone
You see, you fix me


I rolled out from under the car again, sniffing back a few tears then looked at Skylar. Her face fell seeing mine. My eyes welled up with tears, her whole expression soften. I sat up beside her and pushed my hair back. By now I was covered in sweat and oil. I was dirty, sweaty and now willing myself not to cry. I swallowed back a sob. I knew she was still next to me, I didn't want to make eye contact.

I couldn’t help it anymore, I let out a strangled whimper and cried quietly with my arms on my knees supporting my body. I just let it out. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me into her chest. I cried into her she just ran her fingers through my hair, and ran her fingers down my back soothingly.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay, Paul. Let it out.” She said not knowing why I was crying. She was just there as she always was. Calming me down.

“We were gonna get married.” I cried into her shoulder. I felt her nod then she placed a kiss on my dirty hair, not caring about the grease. “Skyyyyy, I bought a ring. I was gonna propose, in June. She left me.” I cried harder, she wrapped her arms around me whispering into my hair, things like ‘it’s okay,’ and ‘it’s gonna be okay’ I just sobbed into her body. “I know it hadn’t been easy for us since the powers. I was gonna tell her about them. But— but — she’s gone. She wanted someone else.” My voice fell into a whisper. I knew there was no way to get her back. I looked back up at Skylar who was now teary eyed.

“Stephanie doesn’t know what she’s missing out on.” She affirmed, I looked down at my hands. “You’re a great man, sweet kind and caring man. Look at me,” i locked eyes with her. “If she can’t see that her loss. Okay?” I nodded then cried into my hands some more.

I'd be crazry baby, lost forever
Blowin' around in stormy weather
Like a bunch of dead leaves


“It’s been one week since she left me. It hit me last night. I got drunk,” I divulged to Sky, who nodded understandingly as I sniffed tears and wiped the tears from my face. “Like really drunk, sloppy drunk. Skylar, I didn’t even tell Cooper last night. I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts this morning.” I confided, She mouthed an ‘I know’ before caressing my cheek. I leaned into the touch, bowing my head into her hand.

It had been awhile since, almost 2 months actually, Stephanie and I were intimate, she was always busy with her karate, her job and apparently that guy. I had been touch starved.

“I didn’t mean to break down in front of you. You didn’t need to see this. I just— uh— I don’t know,” I stammered again my voice cracking. I was starting to fall back into the depression that went along with the break up, wanting nothing more than to be held, to be comforted.

“Hey, hey. None of that.” She said opening her arms again. I melted into her body again, my face buried into her shoulder. It’s like she knew without me having to say a word. “It’s okay,” she whispered, carding fingers through my hair again. “Just relax. Okay?”

Truth is, if she hadn’t come here to check in on me I would’ve suppressed it for a little until someone would’ve done something to piss me off. Then, I would’ve lost my shit. The walls I would’ve created would’ve fell. I would’ve punched an actual wall to feel something. After that, I would’ve probably came to Skylar like a pup with my tail between my legs asking to be mended. Asking her to clean my wound. We would’ve sat in silence, in our shared bathroom. She’d clean the wound and bandage it, then pull the plaster bin that I had hid under the vanity. She’d watch me fix the wall. This happened every time I got too angry or too sad. All in silence. No tears on either end. No pity from her. Just a quick fix.

I'd be a boarded up house on a dead end street
Old Chevy on blocks, leakin' gasoline
Oh it ain't hard to see
Broke down is where I'd be
Baby you fix me

This time it wasn’t a quick cold fix. This was the slow warm reassurance I needed. I needed to feel loved, wanted and cared for. I had felt like a Chevy on blocks for a while. The past few months had been cold, in my relationship. Stephanie and I had been like ships passing in the night, cold but cordial. One sided love, I still loved her although she had been cold. I felt I would die alone

Skylar brought me out it, bringing me back to life. Her arms were always warm and inviting.

“I don’t want to die alone, Skylar.” I blurted into her shoulder. She was startled by the comment pulling away from the hug. I felt like my tires had gone flat in a rainstorm.

“Don’t you ever say that.” She said, grabbing my chin, softly with one hand. “You won’t die alone. You’ve got people who love you and who understand you. Never say that.” She searched my eyes. “Do you understand me?” I nodded. “As long as I am around you will never die alone. Okay? I mean it.”

When I'm cold, you're on fire
And when I'm flat, you're air for the tire


I nodded in response. She stood up beside me and held a hand out for me I took it. “Let’s go grab some snack then get you cleaned up. Then watch a movie. It’s just us today. Everyone is working except Coop he’s out with Tyler.” She informed me. “So, Adam Sandler movies and snacks?” We passed the kitchen, grabbing drinks and snacks. Dropping them onto my bed grabbing a sleep shirt as I was dragged along by Skylar

She pulled me into our bathroom by my wrist. I took of my shirt and sat on the toilet, she sat on the tubs edge filling a small bucket with warm water and soap from the tub tap. She ran a washcloth across my cheeks, humming softly content with the seeing the scum slowly leave my skin.

I grabbed her wrist softly as she brought the wash cloth one last time to my face. “Thank you,” I murmured. She smiled softly not saying a word, wiped my face. Emptied the bucket cleaned up after us. I sat on the toilet, watching her, flutter around the bathroom putting stuff away. “I know that I don’t tell you enough, how thankful I am to have you in my life.” I said dropping my head again. “I never said thank you, for dealing with me after Jack left. Or even, for staying at the He hospital with me while I waited on mom’s results. For feeding me, making me eat when I waited, I know I am difficult.” I rambled, fiddling with a hand towel she had given me to dry my face. “Being my friend can’t be easy.” I chuckled humorlessly, rambling on. “I can’t imagine how Stephanie felt dating me. She always complained about everything I did but, you never have.” I didn’t notice she came back to sit next to me taking the towel from my hands softly.

“It doesn’t make sense to complain.” She smiled.

“I’ve crushed my hands on walls. You’ve had to clean my wounds.” I argued.

“I don’t have to you up. I want to.” She said, taking my hands in Hers inspecting some of the scars that now decorated my hands.

“You bought, spackle to fix walls and hid it in our bathroom.” I whined.

“Because, I know you waited until everyone went to bed before fixing the wall, Paul.” She winced, looking up at me. “You’d act so embarrassed after punching the wall, you acted like you were taking the walk of shame to the garage to get the spackle.” She ran her thumb across my knuckles. “I know how you get. I figured I’d save you from that.”

I laughed a bit my face red.

“Go get changed, get in bed and pick a movie. I’ll join you in a few. Changing into shorts.” She went out her door, I went into my bed sat under the covers. I picked Billy Maddison. She came out a few minutes later and sat beside me.

“Can I lay my head on your lap?” I asked softly, expected to say no. Instead she pulled the covers off and patted her lap to invite me in. She carded her fingers through my hair until I fell asleep.

And when I'm rain through the clouds your sunshine screams

You fix me

‘Cause

When I'm broke down, you're the she’s my mechanic

[smollmikey]

sorry!! it was "I don’t owe you an explanation.” and “It was you the whole time.” ☺️

insp.

a/n: lowkey, i never reblogged that list before, but it was linked in a prompt i just now reblogged from my girl over at navylukes, so I hope you didn’t mean for the request to go there– either way I’m giving you this! x :)

When it came to Ashton, you tried to remember only the good times you two shared.  The evening a while back where he had you sneak out from your bedroom window to share a milkshake at the McDonald’s down the road, the time you made him laugh hysterically by showing up at his locker with a bouquet of fried chicken from the place he worked at back in the day, or when you and a group of friends spent the evening at a house empty of parents, but with a few bottles of cheap wine and booze and the pair of you ended up a giggling mess on the swing bench in the backyard were all memories you liked to think of when your mind roamed around Ashton. Anything was better than the last night you saw him before he moved to London.

There wasn’t a simple way to letting go of him; he was your best friend. That being said, he still needed to go. In order to go and grab hold of his dreams, he had to take that chance. Leaving you behind was necessary.

Still, you needed to make sure there were no doubts left in his mind, hence the events that occurred. You didn’t want to go to the airport and see him off– you wouldn’t be able to without becoming a teary mess in front of Ashton, so instead you opted from the day before. Everyone knew the two of you were almost a couple, even in those awkward high school days it was pretty evident you both were closer than just friends. When Ashton started becoming invested in the band, you simply let the title slip out of your mind. After all, it didn’t really matter.

“Wow, I haven’t seen you in forever.” You looked up from your textbook, a pencil between your fingers that felt like it would break when you saw Ashton standing mere feet away from the booth you were situated at. He looked so much different than the posts you saw on Instagram, and even more different than how he did the last day you were both friends. 

“When did you get back to town?” You asked as your mind still tried to catch up with the scene in front of you. Ashton merely shrugged, stepping out of the line to order as a family walked inside. 

“A while ago,” He vaguely spoke, but you could swear the corners of his lips were curled even just a little bit upwards. “I didn’t know if you still lived in town, or I would’ve texted.” You nodded slowly, a little taken back at yourself for being so surprised by Ashton’s presence, but it made sense considering how badly things ended. Either way, there was no reason to not catch up, 

“Do you wanna sit?”

With your backpack slung over your shoulders, the two of you eventually crossed the street over to the park that was more a set of swing sets and monkey bars than anything else. You laughed as he recounted one of the many events that took place on your, and smiled as he stared at his shoes when talking about the band’s achievements. Gripping lightly onto the metal chains the swing you sat on hung from, you watched on at the street lamp lit up the area just enough to see all the ways he spoke beside you.

“I wish I could’ve told you everything right after they happened though.” He said after a few quite moments of listening to drifting tree limbs, and cars that passed along behind you. You lost the traces of a smile, and mimicked his action of staring at the shoes you wore. “I just…” He inhaled, and shifted around on the swing, rattling the rusting metal. “Wish you explained what the hell was going on that night.”

“I don’t owe you an explanation.” You mumbled in response, gripping tighter and tighter so that all the coolness of the chains was lost in your palms. How were you supposed to explain to him everything that you had to cover up when he looked so conflicted about whether to get on the plane the next day.

“Seeing as I lost my best friend, I think you do.” Your eyes narrowed, trying to keep the sudden weight of tears within the ducts, nearly cracking from how hallow the words fell into the air.

“You,” Whether to begin or not was a big cloud in your mind. What did it matter anymore? It had been years already, and it almost felt like everything from when you were both teenagers was a bit of a dramatic mess. “You needed to go to London, Ash.” You released the tension your hands felt, and arched your neck upwards. “And sounded like you wouldn’t because of me. Because of us.”

“I felt like I was in love with you.” You turned to look at him, searching for eyes to connect you but they were still aimed down at his boots, but perhaps heavier like your own. “You’re right, I didn’t want to leave you behind since we weren’t ever really able to start dating properly.” You frowned, trying to block that night where you told him a bunch of lies to make him feel like staying behind was worthless compared to going off with his band. 

“That’s why I told you everything I did,” You sighed, pushing hair out from your face as the wind began blowing it around. “That’s why I lied and hurt you so much, like an idiot.  Why I told you to just go to London and not worry about me, and why I told you that I didn’t like you the way you liked me even though I had feelings for you for at least a year before that-” You stopped midway, realizing what you were letting out as Ashton’s head whipped up to look at the confession. “It-It was obvious, I bet.” You swallowed thickly, shaking your head, and standing up to create more space between you two, “And I always wanted to apologize, but I figured you hated me.”

“I never did.” He spoke back without hesitation, getting to his feet and leaving the swing shaking behind him. “We were both idiots thinking we both hated each other, and maybe you don’t feel the way you did back then anymore, but I never stopped.” And when you looked at him, you knew he was as genuine as he was when he said it back then. Stepping towards you, you recalled the moment he stormed out from your house, and what you thought would be out of your life. Ashton stopped an arm’s length from you, his fingers seemingly antsy to reach, but instead he spoke again, barely getting the sentence out before you filled the gap and hugged him tightly, just like you wanted to when he left the first time, “It was you the whole time.”