#leo just lies so hard to everyone all the time in the early days | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mercurytrinemoon · 4 years ago

Text

Another post on Moon signs you can drag me for

Before we get into the actual thing, I'd like to say this post initially started as something else but ultimately, what I tried to put across is, sometimes Moon signs aren’t that easy to decipher. It’s easy to grasp overall characteristics of the signs and then learn how to identify their specific traits. But what people seem to forget it that Moon represents the deepest side of us & our inner world - it’s uncommon to really see someone’s side of it unless you really pay attention. Sometimes I’m surprised to see what someone’s Moon sign is even if I know this person well. Meaning, people usually hide that part of them - or they just simply process it internally and others can’t see their emotional reactions. It’s also uncommon for folks these days to fully express their emotional needs so it gets even trickier to pin-point their Moon characteristics. I don't think I have to mention this but, of course, your entire chart should be taken into account, as well as house placement, aspects. Personally, I like to also look at Moon's dispositor.

Let’s start from my friends, Gemini Moons, who, I feel, get a bad rep for not showing their feelings and scanning every emotion like an AI. Nah-ah. I know this one Gemini Moon whose immediate emotional reactions aren’t very cerebral in the sense of processing everything in the mind and intellectualizing it aka, what people like to label as being un-emotional. Instead her reactions are often fast (air energy) but physically expressed through Mercury (Gemini Moon’s dispositor) and Sun (overall identity) – she has them both in Aries. She’s a crybaby who can burst into tears in a matter of seconds. So she’s not something that would stereotypically be assigned to a Gemini Moon. But what I did notice is that all Gemini Moons tend to have this weird look on their face when they’re processing stuff. As if they were about to have a brain malfunction; they stop and have that specific worried look. They also like to either gossip or tell stories (either real or made up lol); they’re great with words - they can talk for hours if they feel comfortable with you. They just crave interaction and mental stimulation. Their quick reactions tend to make them effortlessly witty. Even if they’re a withdrawn Gemini type, they make up for it through social media and technology or just a quiet exploration. My shy Cancer pal with Moon in Gemini is now a brand/website designer and an instagram queen who travels the world. This is great energy for content creators in general. And don’t forget that Geminis need to have their fingers in many pies. It’s because they always have a backup plan… and they get bored easily so they need that chaos around them to feel at home. They like to have options in everything, which is kind of funny cause it’s hard for them to make up their minds and actually choose something. And they store a lot of information in their brains… I feel like it must be exhausting, no?

On the other side of the axis, whenever I see someone with a Sagittarius Moon, I can immediately say “yup, a Sag Moon indeed” (probably thanks to my Sag stellium), meaning, they all seem the same to me. Sag Moons often find comfort in exploration - best if it’s literal travel. They always seem to need to free themselves from their surroundings, family, roots or their own culture to discover something new and exciting, even if it’s only in the imaginary words - through books, movies and other medias. Their happiness always lies somewhere else from where they currently are. Like, I think all Sagittarius Moons that I know have left their parents and went their own paths early on. And they have this yolo attitude. Just like Sagittarius Suns, they’re massive dorks, probably also obnoxious… sometimes in a REALLY annoying way. They’re either a) very wise and curious b) lil preachy and stuck up c) just plain dumb clowns with no filter. But they’re all funny. And they take things lightly, with a natural ease. This means sometimes they may offend other people just because they assume everyone’s as chill as they are; „relax! I was just kidding!” - that’s a phrase you’ll hear from them often… I mean, unless you’re a jokester yourself and you’re unmoved by their sarcastic or teasing words. They have somewhat spiritual or philosophical nature so besides making you laugh, be prepared for deep monologues. They want to believe everything will eventually fall into place. It’s also hard to bring them down - or I should say, it’s hard to make them acknowledge that they're feeling down - they always try to distract or cover it up with a joke, usually a self-depricating one. If Sagittarius Moon (or Sagittarius in general tbh) is telling you that they’re unhappy, then it’s serious.

I’ve noticed there comes a point in life for a Libra Moon where they just have enough. They’re too nice for everyone and one day they wake up and yell about how they have to do everything for everyone and everyone wants something from them and bLah bLah. Makes me think of when Bieber was this overly nice kid and then he was like “I’M NOT TAKING PICTURES WITH FANS ANYMOREEEE AAGhJFJFUWIUq”. Yup, a Libra Moon, everyone. They know how to charm and appeal to people, I think overall they’re easily liked by others. Sometimes it’s simply because they like to kiss people’s ass just to avoid being rejected. That’d be a Libra Moon’s nightmare. They like other people’s company too much. And they thrive in relationships and in a big circle of friends. What they hate is confrontations (like every other Libra placement omg). They may be good mediators when it comes to other people but if they’re involved in an argument they get sooooo passive aggressive. They just don’t know how to handle conflicts - it’s as if their nervous system wasn’t designed for emotional outbursts (because, you know, everything needs to be peaceful and harmonious Venus-style). A fussy or angry Libra Moon will suddenly get loud as they blame someone for something… and then they’ll leave the room cause they’re scared to even hear the other side of the argument. Or, alternatively, they’ll make a doormat out of themselves just to stay quiet and avoid causing any rift. And making decisions? I think it’s common for them to have two different romantic interests and feeling so dramatically torned between them *Alexa play Agony from Into the Woods*. Then when they decide, they have problems breaking the bad news to one of them.

On the other end we have Aries Moons. *deep breath* Listen, I think I’ve said enough about having Moon in Aries (or rather purely dissing it) but last time it made a bit of controversy so why not wreak even more havoc. I have a good description for this one: I will punch you but be gentle with me cause it’s easy to break my fragile heart. So basically, imagine putting Buttercup and Bubbles into one person. And honestly, I need to say this, women with this placement are just hot badasses, look at friggin Angelina Jolie. The queen of badass. The queen of hot. People say because Aries folks move quickly (literally and figuratively lol), they often get bored with whatever got them excited last week... or yesterday. Ha, yeah, right. You get their heart to open up and they’re going to have their eyes for you ONLY, like a lil puppy. Give us treats and we’ll build our world around you. But NOT in a clingy way by any means, we need our space and independence after all. My lil niece is an Aries Moon and ever since I started playing guitar with her, she became my #1 fan or something. That’s the energy. But we get easily bored with day-to-day stuff so yeah, there’s that. Innocent and clumsy yet raw in their emotions - so there’s potential to make mistakes sometimes (or a lot of times) or having this tunnel vision, like „I want this and I don’t care about anything else!”. And then excusing it with some „but the heart wants what it wants” crap (looking @ ya, Selena Gomez). They experience constant inner movement and turbulence that needs a physical outlet in order to feel satisfied. WE NEED PASSION IN OUR LIVES, OKAY?!?!?? now leave me alone

Aquarius Moons aren’t as cold as you might think. People like to describe them as if their Moons actually disappeared from their charts: dEtaCheD, uNeMotiOnaL, tHey fEeL nOtHinG. It’s just they don’t sit and dwell on things, they find solutions to the problems. If something doesn’t make them feel right, they just leave that situation. They do care about other people’s well-being, they’re very sensitive in that regard, they’re humanitarians after all. Yeah, they detach, but from their own emotions - in order to make sense of them. They may seem like snow queens sometimes (and this comes from an Aqua rising) but they’re really friendly and if you pique Aqua Moon’s interest, they’re going to be curious about you. They like new exciting things so if you’re cool enough, you have their attention. Usually they’re pretty progressive as well and can’t stand injustice. That’s why you’ll see them standing up for those who are in need. Uranian energy gives them a specific type of sharp intuition and wit. Idk they’re just cute in a quirky way. But this buzzing, fast energy is a great recipe for anxiety, over-thinking and frequent changes of heart. Similarly to Sadges, they need constant exploration and stimuli. Intelligent, people-oriented (but not people-pleasing! Look to Libras for that), individualistic. They definitely need their own space and independence. Their decision-making is fast and it’s easy for them to just say „screw it, I’m doing this”. My Aquarius Moon friend just casually decided that she’s moving to Turkey cause nothing in our city (or even country) seems interesting or helping her expand… So she was like, see ya suckers, I’m leaving.

Leo Moons shine from within. You’ll spot them from a mile away even if they’re on the shyer side. They’re all lil stars no matter their profession. Very expressive people & easily excitable. Art galleries, live shows, theater - they love a creative environment even if they don’t pursue that lifestyle themselves... One of my Leo Moon friends is an art junkie – suggest taking her to an obscure play at the local bar, a music festival, a weird museum – she’ll say yes in the blink of an eye. And she loves discussing these things. A Leo Moon may not see themselves as artistically inclined, but usually sooner or later they at least try dipping their toes in music, arts, acting, dancing... you name it. They’ll learn a simple 3-chord song on a ukulele and then play it to you in excitement. Imagine a lil kid making you a puff piece and being super proud of it. Sometimes they just need some encouragement. Remember, Leos feed off of praise, that’s their fuel. Doesn’t mean they’re all proud, egotistical people but what it does mean is that they need a lil assurance to gain their self-confidence. I lived with a Leo Sun/Moon for almost 15 years (who’s a musician btw so yeah, a classic creative Leo type) - he did have some issues lol but ego wasn’t one of them. Drama followed him everywhere but I’m pretty sure he disliked it himself. BUT, with that being said, I feel like Leo Moons tend to dramatize themselves internally. People say it’s something Virgos or Geminis would do - because of their tendency to overthink, but Leos can just go straight to a worst-case scenario in their heads simply because they exaggerate everything. So don’t be surprised to see a Leo Moon feeling down and anxious. On the bright side, be their cheerleader and they’ll give that to you in return. They need sparks and dullness kills their upbeat spirit. They need to feel their own heartbeat so the feeling of excitement is crucial for their well-being. Romantic, giving and kind. They’re fixed fire so once they’re set on something or someone, they give their all and are rather loyal.

I feel like my chart low-key tells me I should dislike Taurus Moons but I just want to melt in their arms and just stay there? Like, forever? Low maintenance but a bit slow-moving and stubborn. They won’t settle easily, at least not officially, so you need to have a lot of patience with them. They need 3 things to feel secure and at peace: physical stimuli, time and a stable place they know they can always come back to. And it’s not like all of them are total lazy homebodies, they may be active spirits & travellers but they are going to have a reallyyyyy nice cosy flat somewhere near their childhood place (gotta be be close to their moms, you know). Not necessary materialistic but they may have one thing that they collect throughout their entire life and they won’t. ever. get. rid. of. it. There needs to be at least one constant in their life - like you know when Elton John decided to go to therapy but one thing he stuck to was shopaholism? Very Taurus Moon of him. Also, they’re very affectionate. In fact, may have issues differentiating between affection and passion - this is actually something Taurus Moon and Aries Moon have in common. Pro tip - and this is in regard to all Taurus placements - don’t smell bad when you’re around them (I mean, don't smell bad in general, no one likes stinky people lol). They have a sensitive smell. Doesn’t help that they like to smell everything. EVERYTHING. I swear, Taurus, stop sticking your nose in every single thing!!! You don't need to know how that piece of utensil smells like. Jeez.

Scorpio Moon (shoutout to those who remember me accidentally calling them sporpio last time I made a post on Moons lol). I honestly don’t know what to tell you... I feel like all you hear about Scorpio Moon is 100% true, there’s nothing to debunk here. It’s the Moon of extremes. Prone to jealousy and surpressing emotions; severe trust issues; they’re instigators. I was low-key bullied by a few Scorpio Moons when I was in school so there’s that. Very secretive and private. Scorpio Moon will be like “I’m in control of the situation!!!!” and you’ll just look at them and think, yeah, right, looks like the situation is controlling you. But keep being in denial, sure. Like, don’t get me wrong, Scorpios in general can be TOTAL SWEETHEARTS OMG but ya’ll have issues. Even celebrities who have this placements... Think Beyonce or Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus... I feel like they have issues lol, especially with control and the need for everything to be perfectly the way they want it to be. To be fair, that’s probably why they’re all so influential and high status: it’s either their way or highway. They need constant reinvention; they’re the ones to wake up one day and decide they’re going through a spiritual awakening blah blah. They also like to talk about dark and shocking topics while having casual lunch with you... So like, be warned that you may end up with a depressed mood after talking to them for 10 minutes. And their mood swings... don’t even get me started on that.

I don't know where to start with Virgo Moons... I feel like they're very calculated and nit-picky but they're a lot warmer than Virgo Suns. I think I called them softies in my last Moon post. Very sweet people but prone to anxiety. You gotta experience seeing them having a heart attack over someone mixing bananas with milk or messing with their stuff that’s been put in a perfect arrangement. I saw a Virgo Moon once literally squealing shouting "YOU'RE GONNA RUIN YOUR LAPTOP WITH THAT SUPERGLUE!!!" Highly entertaining to watch, not gonna lie. Gordon Ramsay has his Moon in Virgo - it’s conjunct Uranus and Pluto so that’s an extreme but I think him being fed up with people over small inconsistencies in their food prep is a perfect example of this energy (btw his chart is hilarious, it literally explains EVERYTHING). They're VERY picky with their food as well, just as Virgo Suns tend to be. Like, they’ll only have a specific type of single origin coffee or they’ll be vegan or something. Self-critical over their work, which is a plus... except for when finishing a simple task takes them a few hours because they want to make it perfect. They take everything seriously. This of course doesn't mean they're total bores - on the contrary, Mercurial energy gives them witty approach and a talent for choosing the right words at the right time. Tho they can be a bit awkward or shy with it. Can be as bubbly as Gemini but the grounded earthy energy gives them more practical and almost nurturing nature - earth signs are providers after all and Virgo is the sign of service - helping others is like their second nature. I’ve noticed they often find comfort in devoting themselves to a choosen task - this is why if they pursue something, they’re really good at it. They’re also very likely to dissect their emotions.

I’m not a fan of water Moons in general but Pisces Moon is the best water Moon in my opinion. Maybe because I like Pisces overall. I think it’s like a tweaked Sagittarius Moon - just more internalized, withdrawn & gloomy. But unlike Sag, who has a tendency to be an adventurous optimist, Pisces likes to focus on the negatives instead. Obviously, they can be very upbeat, they’re Jupiter-ruled after all, but there’s somehing whiny about them lol. Just like Sadges, they dream big and have their standards put up sooo high but if there's not much active energy in their charts, they’re often too passive to actually fullfill any of that - or I should say, they’re stuck daydreaming about it, believing it’ll just magically manifest for them... OR they do everything with an apathetic approach. What I do like about them is that they’re funny. And really chill - sometimes to the point of coming off as confused or hazy. I feel like a lot of them would just love to sleep all day... or sit by the lake and just think about the world. Most of them are also compassionate folks - again, maybe a bit too much. Hey Pisces, you don’t have to take everything to heart, it’s okay. On the bright side, they have big imagination and the ability to disconnect and just create. I have a few Pisces Moons in the family: one’s that sleepy artistic type with grand visions, one is an asshole-ish but funny entrepreneur with a questionable work ethic and one is a witty IT guy who’s actually a workaholic and likes to shut in his own world of computers and numbers or whatever he does there... So there’s this factor of tunnel vision, escapism and, on the more negative side, being kinda iffy and almost addicted to the way they want things to be. Once they set their eyes on something it’s done deal…

My issue with Capricorn Moons is that they're often trying to be sooooo mature omg, like, loosen up a bit. It usually starts when they're in their later teens... They can be the most rebellious kid that likes to have fun and suddenly they'll be like "I'm too old for this ugh grow up" *judgmental stare*. My 18-year old niece once literally roasted my sister that she's in her 30s and still doesn't have her own place (well so do I so I guess she also indirectly roasted me as well???). And she was SO deadpan with it. Because she herself wants to be independent and start a family before turning 25. This is classic Capricorn Moon energy. They suck out joy out of everything lol. Of course, OF COURSE, it depends on the whole chart but I feel like worst-case scenario is that at one point in their life (or maybe even a few times throughout it) they go through a massive shake-up that makes them change their attitude and re-evaluate their structures. There's this multi-instrumentalist Yvette Young - she's a sweet, funny Cancer/Leo mix but her Moon is in Capricorn. She used to be a competitive pianist but the pressure that was put on her has led her to severe health issues. Like yes, she’s now an extremely talented musician - thanks to family’s expectations & a rigid schooling system (Saturn) but it did cost her a lot. She has recovered since then but I think it's a perfect example of this energy. It’s very ambitious and hardworking but emotionally demanding in the sense that you have to actually put your emotions aside in order to deal with the rest. Another thing, because Moon can be associated with family, there's often a weird dynamic surrounding this topic. I don't think I've met a Capricorn Moon that had a completely healthy and happy relationship with their fam or one of the family members. Or, alternatively, there can be a strong bond between one of them but usually created in the atmosphere of hardships.

Last but not least, Cancer Moons. I had three school friends with this placement and all of them made this sad, whiny face as they said „oh I don’t knoooow anymoreee” when they were feeling torned or frustrated. To be fair, two of them are water Suns so for them, it added to the mushyness. All Cancer Moons I know are family people or better yet, baby people. One of those school friends is now a guidance counsellor, working with kids; the other turned her instagram into a gallery of her own child after she gave birth. So much kid content, omg. There’s also something very indecisive about them… or I should say, hesitant. They’re not very fast at making decisions. Also, what’s interesting, they’re kind of like walking libraries, they remember a lot – so they store a lot of information in their brains just like air signs but they process it in a completely different way – emotional, obviously. I think this also makes them hold grudges a lot. For them it’s more of a question of „how does it make me feel?” rather than „how valid is it?”. There’s certain stubborness in them in that regard because they don’t keep their minds open. It’s also hard for them to walk away from people and situations, like a crab pinching you with its claws – it won’t let go. Sensitive but not easy to open up; very protective of themselves and their loved ones & they tend to shut down in their crab shells. But they may crave connection and the feeling of belonging. Also very caring and with a big imagination. They’re very receptive of their environment so mood swings are a thing for them.

1K notes · View notes

spookypotato · 4 years ago

Text

Leo’s 20th Birthday

Sooo It’s already the baby’s birthday here and I dont want to wait, so let the fluff begin!

Happy birthday, Leo! ☀️💛 Nutter butter baby! He will always be the baby, but technically he’s not even a teen anymore. Anyway. I hope you enjoy.

Birthday-boy and boyfriends by the incredible @lumosinlove

Idea from @noctualilith thank you

Yes, I am excited about a fictional characters birthday. Everyone that knows this ray of sunshine would fall in love.

CW: there is a bit of food mentioned

When Leo was 13, he celebrated his birthday with all of his best friends. Eloise made him a lemoncake and Wyatt took them out on the boat to go swimming. It was the last birthday, where he felt completely free in his actions.

When Leo was 14, he got his first crush. The first one he realised was a crush at least. He told no one. He was too afraid, not even of the teesing. He was afraid, because it was a boy. His friend to be exact. His birthday party was fun for him, he didnt know about the other guests. He focused on his friend. He wanted to spend the whole party with him. And they were friends, he could. So he did and he had fun.

When Leo was 16, he decided to tell his friend. Since they spent so much time together, his crush never really faded, so after two years he just decided fuck it. If it went horribly wrong, he didn‘t care anymore. He needed this out of his system. So Leo told him. His friend didn‘t feel the same, but he didn‘t seem to mind about Leo. He did tell him however, that it should rather be kept a secret, because if the others found out, he might even be thrown off the team. This was what terrified him. Before, he was scared of maybe loosing his friends, now he was scared of loosing everything. He‘d worked so hard for being where he was. He had a chance of playing in the NHL, if he kept it up, at least that‘s what his coach was telling him. So he decided to hide it.

When Leo was 17, he told his family. Leo gathered all his courage and told them at a family lunch. They had the best reaction he could have wished for, really, but he had lived to long thinking it‘s a bad thing, so he assumed they were just being nice parents. When they made him a bracelet however, he knew they hadn‘t lied. They wouldn‘t have thought about giving him this gift, if they had been disapointed in their son. They showed him, they were proud. He knew now, whatever happend, he would have his family standing behind him, supporting him. He could at least be open about his feelings, where it mattered the most, home. He could let himself go, gush about that cute boy he saw in the coffee shop and feel excepted everytime his father mentioned Leo at his age, settled down with his maybe-husband by then, possibly with children, running around in their backyard.

When Leo was 18, he got drafted into the NHL. His dream came true. All the sacrifices he had made to get there, were finally worth it, because he could turn his passion into his career. All the boys, he had forced himself not to look at for too long, so people wouldn‘t even question him. All the girls he had pretended to be interested in, those moments were worth it. He felt amazing. He achieved what he had worked for, but now he was facing a new problem. Even though Leo was a gay teenager, the naked guys walking around weren‘t actually a problem for him. Well, not all of them. Of course, the world was against him and chose two incredibly attractive people, who he couldn‘t even look at too long, nevermind kiss or date, to go with his NHL-goalie-gryffindor-dream package. He had to prove everyday how much he wanted to play hockey and how much he was willing to sacrifice.

Before Leo turned 19, he was hiding. He lived a dream, that slowly broke his heart. He was playing professinal hockey and loved it everyday, but he was also pretending everday, that he didn‘t want. So he hid it, because hockey was his dream and now was the time for hockey. He could probably still find a nice boyfriend at 40 years old, if they even kept him that long. For now he planned on staying focused on his career.

But before Leo turned 19, he also decided to just throw those plans out the window and kiss Finn. He hadn‘t planned it- not to say he didn‘t want to do it- it just shouldn‘t have happen, but it did. The second their lips touched though, he forgot why he shouldn‘t have done it. How could this not be right, when Finn and Leo both wanted it so much.

For a moment, at the airport he was reminded, why it was wrong. Why he couldn‘t risk it now. But then he thought about it. Thought about how much happier Sirius had been, how even a NHL player could have, what Leo wanted. And so he tried his best to get it.

And he did.

His 20th birthday was a wednesday.

Leo‘s eyes opened in one go and his feet jerked up.

„Logan!“, he groaned sleepily. The brunet had bellyflopped onto him, shaking him awake in an instant.

„Leo, Baby, Peanut, Nutty, Butty!“, Logans face looked like he had surprised himself with the last name, „That‘s a new one, but it works“, repositioning himself better on his boyfriends chest, hands supporting his head, he smiled dopely up at Leo.

Leo let his eyes slip closed for another second, Logans weight grounding him and his warmth surrounding him. It was too early. They had practice and he knew that, but it seemed earlier than usual. He slowly opened his eyes and stared at their alarm clock.

„Logan!“, he groaned again, as he saw, that they were awake an hour too early.

Logan shifted, having layed down his head on Leo‘s chest, he tilted his head up to look at the blond. „As much as I love that my name is the only thing on your mind right now, a, Finn must be getting jealous and b, we did actually have a reason to wake you earlier.“ Then Logan leaned up and started trailing lingering kisses up his boyfriends neck over his jaw, finally reaching his mouth.

Leo happily complied and kissed him slowly. They broke apart to soon in Leo‘s opinion, but it was all worth it to just see as Finn came in through the door, still only dressed in his underwear. He was carrying a small box, wrapped in newspaper and a bright yellow bow tied around it. He sat down on the end of the bed and Logan moved off of Leo and next to the red head. They looked at him expectantly. He sat up slowly.

„Happy Birthday, Baby!“, both Logan and Finn more or less shouted as soon as Leo looked at them. He was a bit overwhelmed, but then remembered. Today was his birthday. He hadn‘t really celebrated it for a few years, he didn‘t even know why. This however, warmed his heart. Both the boys he loved so much, beaming at him from the end of the bed.

„You know how hard it is to keep up a normal conversation with you, before saying that? I promised this one though“, he shoved Finn playfully, „that I would wait for him to finish everything. But I had to wake you! It‘s your birthday! Happy birthday, Peanut!“

Leo wasn‘t even sure if Logan had taken a breath in between his rambling but he smiled softly at them. Felling their love warming him, even through the distance between them.

„You already said that.“, Leo commented, but smiled, „Thank you both so much. Come here.“

They both more or less jumped at him, Leo recieving the best cuddles and a few more whispered ‚happy birthday“s from Logan and Finn, until they were all wrapped around each other, Leo in the middle. It felt nice to be in the middle for once. He held Logan securely in his arms, slowly stroking a hand over his side, Finn wrapped up around him, making him feel warm and protected. He liked being the big spoon and having Logan in the middle, but he could see himself sneaking in the middle every once i a while.

„We can still sleep for a bit.“, he heard Finn say from behind him. He had gotten the blankets over them again and was already burrying his nose in between Leo‘s shoulder blades. „Sorry for waking you this early, Nutty. We had to prepare things.“, Finn stopped for a second, like waiting for Leo‘s reaction, but then continued, „and we just couldn‘t wait to cuddle you.“

Leo made a soft noise, his hand combing through Logans hair, who was already back to sleep, really more like you expected from an excited baby, rather than a professinal hockey player. It was only then, Leo thought about what Finn had said. Under normal circumstances Leo might have sat up upruptly and ran to the kitchen, to the inevitable mess that must be there.

„Whatever it is you did-“, Leo started, but then thought again.

He was surrounded by love, on his birthday. The love he had always desired to have, espcially on his that day. All the fun events couples in movies had planned for each other to make their birthdays special, he had always wished for that. He had always thought, he could never have that, but now he did. He had it doubled.

Snuggling back further into Finns chest he repeated, already drifting back to sleep, „Whatever it is you did, thank you.“

#leo knut #finn o'hara #logan tremblay #birthday #written by meee #fluff #leos birthday #lumosinlove #coast to coast #oknutzy #o'knutzy #cw:food #food #leo baby #20th birthday #leos 20th birthday #birthday love

146 notes · View notes

heyitssmiller · 4 years ago

Text

Clandestine - Chapter Two

Alright people, say it with me: Trust Issues. Also Finn goes from zero to one hundred real fast.

This is definitely a filler chapter; we’ll get to more spy stuff next chapter.

@lumosinlove

Chapter One

Finn made sure to get to the office early enough to have time for a trip down to the Archives, his second cup of coffee in hand as he took the elevator up to the fifth floor of the building. He needed intel. Not on the Snakes – they were getting briefed on them later today. No, he was looking for files on his new partners.

Granted, he could learn a lot from observing them on his own time, but that could only give him so much. In order to get the full picture, he needed their hometowns, history, information about their families, jobs they’d done in the past, you name it. Because, for one of the only times in his life, he was stumped. His entire job was based on how well he could read people; this was frustratingly unusual.

Unusually frustrating? Finn questioned as elevator opened with a ding.

It was both frustrating and unusual. There.

Figuring Logan out was harder than he’d thought it would be. Finn was having a really hard time connecting the Logan he knew from two months ago to the one he was trying to get to know now. He was so different compared to the version of Logan he’d met at the New Year’s party… but alcohol tended to have that effect on people. The guy who cuddled with him on that ratty old couch while nursing a rum and coke now kept his distance. The easy smile and contagious laugh Finn remembered hadn’t been seen or heard since. He was so guarded. About everything, it seemed like. That made him hard to get to know, hard to predict.

And then there was Leo. Leo made absolutely no sense, in Finn’s opinion. With constant movement but controlled, practiced actions, he was a paradoxical combination of restless and serene. His nerves pointed towards inexperience, but his eyes told a different story – one with complete confidence of his capabilities. He was an enigma. And Finn couldn’t seem to get a read on him.

That was important to Finn. He needed to be able to read and understand his partners. He needed to be able to know their thoughts, predict their every move, trust them. They wouldn’t work together otherwise.

So he woke up at a god-forsaken hour – it was still dark outside – and here he was, outside the Archives.

Staring at the back, broad shoulders, and brown hair of one of his new partners.

Fuck.

He put on a smile. “If I’d known I was meeting you here, I would’ve brought coffee for you.”

Logan didn’t tense, exactly, but his shoulders stiffened slightly. He turned and smiled back. It still wasn’t the smile Finn remembered from that night, wasn’t the one he wanted to see again so badly. “Hey. I see you had the same idea as me.”

“And what’s that?”

He shrugged, indifferent. “Getting intel on your new partners.”

“Nah,” Finn lied as they walked side-by-side to the front desk, “I’m here to brush up on the previous missions against the Snakes’ before our briefing this afternoon. But it’s nice that you want to do your research on us.” He winked. Logan’s lips twitched in an attempt to withhold a smile.

“Can I help you boys?”

Finn turned his bright smile to Lily Potter, who was manning the Archives desk. “Hello, my fellow redhead! We would like the files on past Snakes’ missions, and then the files on Knut, Tremblay, and yours truly, please.”

She arched an eyebrow. “How much time do you have on your hands?”

“Don’t have anything on my schedule until this afternoon. Why?”

“The missions will take you at least two days to get through. It’s probably eight, ten years of files.”

Finn whistled lowly. “Holy shit.”

He hadn’t really thought this through. In his defense, though, it was a spur of the moment idea.

“Well, just the other files, then. Someone over here wants to do research on his new partners.”

Lily sent Logan a curious glance, but left to grab the files. Finn turned to Logan with a flirtatious smile, resting his arm on the desk. “So, what all do you want to know? I’m an open book.”

“I seriously doubt that.” Logan snorted, nose crinkling in the process.

Finn’s smile turned more genuine. God, he was cute. “Ok, then ask away. Here, I’ll help you out. I’m a Gemini, I graduated from Harvard, I’m a sucker for green eyes, I enjoy long, romantic walks on the beach as long as there’s no seaweed-”

“Why would you think any of that is relevant?”

“I give you all this information and that’s the first question you ask? I’m offended.” Lily chose that moment to return with three files, two significantly thicker than the other one. Finn thanked her and grabbed Logan’s file for himself before passing the other two to Logan.

“Have fun researching!” Finn said as he turned to head for the elevator again. He paused before looking back at Logan and adding with a wink, “Oh, and pass along Nut’s file to me when you’re done reading it.”

***

Remus stepped foot into the briefing room to find Sirius already there, messing with a laptop. Where he got said laptop was unknown. And a little worrying, seeing that he’d shown up in Gryffindor with a bag of clothes, some cash, and nothing else.

He glanced up at Remus and looked him over with a smile. “Good afternoon. Long time, no see.”

“What are you up to?” Remus asked as he set his bag down, clutching his cup of tea in his other hand and looking back at Sirius. There were bags under his eyes, reminding Remus of the fact that he was still sleeping on his couch. Sleeping was a loose term, though. He had also been awake when Remus had gone to bed and when he got up in the morning. Did the man ever sleep?

“Oh, nothing much.” Sirius said, hitting a few keys on the laptop in rapid succession. “Getting ready to brief the cubs.”

“The cubs?”

“Your logo is a lion. And they’re the youngest ones here, right? Hence the cubs.”

“Cute.” Remus sat down in one of the chairs with a sigh and took a sip of his tea. “So what are you briefing them on today?”

“Members of the Snakes. I have a powerpoint with pictures and everything.”

“Oh god.”

Sirius rolled his eyes at Remus. “Oh, come on. It’ll be fun. Better than me droning on and expecting them to stay focused.”

“They’re spies. Sometimes, that’s part of the job.”

“Sure. But it doesn’t have to be.”

Remus smiled a little at that. “How thoughtful of you.”

“I try.”

He hummed, cupping his mug with both hands. “You know, if you were really thoughtful you’d stop leaving your dishes in the sink.”

That startled a laugh out of Sirius. “Now, why would I do that when it’s so fun to get on your nerves?”

“You don’t get on my nerves.”

Sirius arched an eyebrow. “No?”

“No.” He took another sip of tea to hide his smile. “I’m a very patient man.”

Sirius was still laughing by the time Knut, O’Hara, and Tremblay entered the room. They all sat side by side, not really talking much and still a little unsure of each other. That needed to change soon. You couldn’t afford to be doubting your partners while on missions like the ones they’d be getting into.

“Alright, cubs! Let’s get started, shall we?” Sirius asked, connecting the laptop to the room’s projector. “Today we’re going over the members of the Snakes and what all you need to know about them.”

An animated picture of a snake in a party hat showed up on the projector. Remus sighed.

“Ok, so we’ll start at the top.” He switched to the next slide. “This is Riddle. Fuck Riddle. He’s in charge of every little detail of the Snakes, and very paranoid about handing over tasks to other members. He’s got a lot of messed up ideas about ethics and – well, pretty much everything.”

“What’s wrong with his eyes?” Logan asked, still staring uncomfortably at the yellow eyes on the screen.

Sirius shrugged. “I think it’s a genetics thing. Something about liver issues. I never really paid attention. On to the next member!”

A picture of a greasy-haired man with a sour expression on his face glared back at them.

“Snape.” Remus said with disdain. At Sirius’ look, he just shrugged. “Pots has gone up against him a few times. He hates the guy and makes sure everyone knows it. He works in the drug side of their operation.”

“Exactly.” Sirius smiled, which proved to be more distracting than Remus thought it would be. There had been teasing smiles, flirty smiles, sarcastic smiles, but this one was new. This was one of the first genuine smiles he’d seen from the ex-Snake. “I think I like Potter a little more now.”

“I think you two could actually be really good friends, and that terrifies me.”

“Ok, next is Bellatrix. Please, please avoid her as much as possible. She’s certifiably insane.”

Finn frowned. “She’s got one of the flash drives, right?”

“Unfortunately, yes. So it’s going to be up to you to distract her and Leo to grab the drive, probably.”

Both boys paled a little, then looked to each other, seeming to have a silent conversation all their own.

Sirius moved on to the next slide, where a man with cold eyes and a feral smile looked back at them. “This is Fenrir Greyback. Don’t fuck around with this one, he’s ruthless.”

Finn and Logan’s eyes snapped over to Loops, who looked pale and slightly nauseous. His hand was on the juncture of his neck and shoulder, massaging the muscle absentmindedly. Not for the first time, Finn wondered what exactly happened on that mission. All he knew was that Loops was supposed to take Greyback down and he came back with a mutilated shoulder and new cuts on his face that were sure to scar. He hadn’t been back in the field since.

Leo’s gaze moved from one person in the room to the next, slowly piecing together the story. He didn’t know all the details yet, but he knew they couldn’t be good.

Sirius, who was still talking, finally seemed to connect the dots. His eyes got wide and his sentence trailed off to remain incomplete. He stared at Loops in horror. “Fuck.”

“I think that’s enough for today.” Leo said quietly but firmly, getting out of his seat while giving Remus a meaningful look. His partners followed suit. “We can pick this up again tomorrow.”

The three of them left in a hurry, leaving Sirius and Remus alone. Remus started grabbing his meticulously organized notes and shoved them in his bag. He could feel Sirius’ gaze on him, but he refused to look up.

“Listen, Remus, I had no idea –”

“Of course you didn’t.” Remus cut in calmly. “How could you have known? Hell, you probably congratulated him after that mission –”

“That’s not true –”

“But you were there. You knew what he did to people and yet you just stood by.”

“Why do you think I left?” Sirius demanded, his voice raising. Remus finally met his gaze. “You weren’t the only one who got screwed over by the Snakes. I grew up watching that shit, just assuming it was normal because that’s the way it’s always been there. And then I realized my parents were monsters and started thinking for myself and realized how fucked up that organization is. Do you really think I’d be here if I condoned that sort of shit?”

“Honestly? I wasn’t sure you cared. The only motivation for wanting to take the Snakes down that you’ve deigned to share with us is that you want your brother safe. You’ve never said anything about how you feel about the organization itself.”

“What are you smoking?” Sirius asked with an incredulous laugh. “I want my brother safe because he’s in that hellhole. What other reason –”

“Then tell us that!” Remus shouted, finally getting Sirius to stop talking. “You keep everything so close to your chest, you don’t seem to want to interact with any of us, and you don’t tell us anything but the bare minimum. How are we supposed to get anything done if we can’t trust you?”

“That’s a bit hypocritical, don’t you think? I swear, you’re one of the most guarded people I’ve ever met!”

“Well, you don’t really need to get to know me, do you?” Remus fired back. Sirius froze. “You’re here to take the Snakes down. That’s it. When all this is done, it’s not like you’re going to stay. You don’t have to trust me as a friend, but trust me as an agent.”

“That’s it, huh?” Sirius asked, voice dangerously blank.

“That’s it.”

“Fine.” He said gruffly, slamming the laptop closed and grabbing his jacket from the back of a nearby chair. “I’m headed out. Don’t wait up.”

Remus sighed, staring down at his mug and swirling the now-cold contents. Even though they’d gotten along surprisingly well the past couple of days, they weren’t friends. And they didn’t need to be friends. This was business. They were working together to get a job done. That was all.

Remus knew that the two of them getting along so well was like an already-lit fuse - it was bound to blow up in their faces sooner rather than later.

***

Finn walked into the safe room, whistling lowly as he looked around. He’d never been in here before – he hadn’t had a reason to. There were safes of all different types and sizes littered around the room. On tables, on the floor, embedded in the walls. He wondered how many safes there were total, and how long it had taken to collect them all.

Leo was seated criss-cross-applesauce in front of one, pressing a stethoscope against the door of a safe and rotating the dial slowly. Finn smiled a little at the sight. This made more sense, seeing it in action. The constant fidgeting was replaced with stillness, the only movement being those of deft fingers against the dial. All that motion and pent-up energy were now focused solely on the safe.

He walked up to Leo, completely unnoticed, and tapped on his shoulder. Leo jumped a foot into the air, yanking the stethoscope out of his ears and whirling around to look at Finn. “Fuck, you scared me.”

“Sorry, Nut.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Coming to see you, obviously.” Finn said with a wink. “Tremblay and I were wondering if you wanted to get dinner with us. You know,” Finn made a weird motion with his hand and then cringed, moving his hand behind his back and grabbing it with his other hand to keep from performing any more weird, random movements. “Get to know the team and all that.”

Leo’s smile lit up the room. “I’d love to! Y’all headed out right now?”

Y’all.

Wow, his genteel southern-boy routine could really take him places in this profession. With that combined with his looks, no one would ever think he could possibly be guilty of anything.

“Probably. It’s almost seven.”

Leo blinked, confused. “Is it?” At Finn’s nod, he uncrossed his legs and stretched, his back popping in the process. “Guess we should get going then, huh?”

“Yeah.” Finn held out a hand and helped the blond to his feet. He really was just a giant. How did he find clothes that fit him? Finn glanced down at Leo’s shirtsleeves and - sure enough - they were an inch or two above his wrists. He realized he was sort of staring at this guy’s wrists, of all things, and his eyes shot back up to meet kind, albeit confused, blue eyes. “We were thinking Sid’s for dinner? You been there before?” When Leo shook his head, he groaned. “You’re missing out, Nut. We’re fixing that right now. Come on.”

He led Leo back down the hall to the bullpen, where Logan was still pouring over files. How he ever expected to get through the huge pile of files on his desk, Finn had no idea. “Look alive, Tremblay. We’re getting pizza.”

Logan instantly looked up with a hopeful smile. “Sid’s?”

“Where else?” Finn laughed as Logan shot out of his seat and grabbed his coat. He’d never seen the other agent move so fast. “Hungry?”

Logan turned to look at him, his arm getting stuck in the sleeve of his coat. He grumbled under his breath in a language that definitely wasn’t English and shoved his arm into his sleeve. “I’m going to eat an entire pizza and you can’t stop me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

They stepped out of the building together, taking a right and heading down the street. It wasn’t actually that cold outside, for a Gryffindor winter – only thirty-five degrees or so. But Nut still shoved his hands into his pockets and nuzzled his nose into his coat. Finn couldn’t hold back the smile at the sight, noticing red-tipped ears and a slight shiver.

“Cold, Nut?” Logan asked, also noticing the blond’s hunched shoulders.

He looked at his new partners, then buried his nose again. “Don’t judge me. New Orleans winters aren’t nearly this bad.”

“New Orleans, huh?” Logan questioned, although Finn knew he was already aware of Leo’s hometown. It was in his file, after all. “I’ve always wanted to visit.”

“Ooh, yes!” Finn agreed, leading them around a corner. “The home of Mardis Gras.”

Leo shrugged. “If we’re being technical Mobile, Alabama had the first Mardis Gras celebration in the States. We just do it better. There’s a ton of people, though. If you really want to see the city, come at a better time in the year.” He sent the other two boys a smile. “Maybe summer, so you can experience real southern heat. And humidity.”

“No thanks.” They said in unison, making Leo laugh. The conversation trailed off as they waited for the sign at a crosswalk.

“Where are the two of you from?” Leo finally asked as the red hand morphed into a walking man and the ticking from the crosswalk speakers changed tempo. They stepped into the street with Logan staring down cars that could potentially start moving again and hit them.

Finn thought that was cute.

Maybe Finn was looking at his personality the wrong way. Guarded wasn’t the right adjective for him - protective fit much better.

“New York City.” He rushed to answer Leo’s question as they reached the other side of the street, pointing out the Sid’s sign for Leo.

“Canada.” Logan said a bit gruffly, but you could hear the fondness in his voice.

Leo arched an eyebrow. “Now I understand why you’re so accustomed to the cold.”

Finn held open the door to Sid’s, motioning for the other two to go on ahead. “You’ll get used to it, too, Nut. Logan, can you believe he’s never had Sid’s before?”

Logan went off on a tangent about the perfection that is Sid’s margherita pizza as they were led to their table by a young waiter, who eyed them curiously. They sat down and Finn noticed Logan choosing a seat facing the rest of the restaurant, back to the wall. He looked around at the others in the building, only relaxing when he deemed the coast to be clear.

They quickly looked over the menu, Finn and Logan giving recommendations about their favorite dishes (practically all of them) and began telling lighthearted stories about where they were from and how they grew up while waiting for their food. Leo’s leg was constantly bouncing under the table, but he looked happy and relaxed, which Finn took as a good sign. Finn finally, finally got one of those rare New Year’s party smiles again, as well as a new sunny, dimpled smile from Leo - both of which he really wanted to keep seeing.

He didn’t understand why he was making such a big deal of causing his partners to smile.

Ok, he might’ve had a slight idea. But he didn’t want to think about it too hard. Not yet, at least.

It was only when their pizzas arrived that Logan brought out the big guns.

“So what made you decide to do this for a living?” He asked, sticking his tongue out to catch a stray string of cheese from his pizza slice. Finn tried not to follow the motion too closely, for his own sanity. “For me, it was Dumo. He was our next-door neighbor growing up, after we moved from Canada. I remember he was always away on business trips, but he would come back looking exhausted and a little beat up. I’d go visit Celeste while he was away – she was always so worried, so I knew something was up. I can’t remember exactly how I found out, but I think I was thirteen or so when I figured out what his job was.” Logan shrugged. “Nothing else really interested me after that.”

“You guys are close, then?” Leo asked, maintaining eye contact with Logan and grabbing the container of red pepper flakes, liberally adding it to his pizza. Finn watched on in horror. Had he previously burned all his taste buds off or something?

Logan smiled. “Yeah. He’s like a dad to me. The whole family’s great. I babysit their kids all the time.”

That was a mental image Finn would be thinking about for the foreseeable future. God, he was screwed, wasn’t he?

He hurried to talk and take his mind off of it. “I got recruited right out of college. I’ve got a good memory and a knack for predicting people and how they’ll react to things. I jumped at the opportunity.”

He smiled fondly at the memories his mind brought up. “My brother and I grew up on James Bond movies. How cool would it be to do that for my career? So I joined. The obvious next step was becoming a conman, I guess. It’s where I fit best.”

They looked to Leo, who seemed mildly embarrassed. “My Mama caught me pickpocketing on Bourbon Street.”

Logan and Finn took a moment to process that, and then cracked up. Leo waited for them to calm back down, smiling sheepishly before he continued, “She said if I was going to do stuff like that, I should at least be doing some good in the world. So she googled and found Gryffindor and asked some recruiters to meet with me. I came home from school one day to Blizzard and Talker sitting on my couch, eating my mom’s jambalaya.” Logan and Finn laughed again while Leo dragged his crust through some marinara sauce. “Next thing I knew, I was driving a moving truck across the country.”

“Do you miss home?” Logan asked, finally shoving his plate away.

Leo shrugged, looking back and forth between the other two knowingly. “Doesn’t everyone miss home, in one way or another?”

Finn wasn’t even sure what home was to him anymore. Maybe he’d figure it out one of these days. He glanced over at his new partners. Logan also looked pensive, apparently grappling with Leo’s words as well.

Leo seemed completely unfazed, his leg bouncing again. “Does anyone want dessert?”

#lumosinlove #sweater weather #coast to coast #coops #sirius black #remus lupin #o'knutzy #finn o'hara #logan tremblay #leo knut #clandestine

201 notes · View notes

peterxwade24 · 4 years ago

Text

Safety Found in Red Sleeves

Chapter 6

So, who’s ready for chapter 6? We get to see all of temp heroes. (Brielle, Alicia and Bellamy belong to @soap-lady and her lovely fic “Fashion Upgrade” go give her some love).

Anyways, onto the fic.

You’ll notice minor edits, such as Kim’s hero name. He went through a very minor edit after I discovered the Vietnamese zodiac.

Renarde Véloce looked at Alicia, her Miraculous, a yellow circle with the Leo star sign, hung against her chest, before nodding. “Say Mullo get squeaky to activate the Miraculous. When you’re ready to detransform, without your timer being up, say piailler.”

Alicia nodded and smiled, bouncing on the pads of her feet and shaking out her hands. “Mullo, get squeaky.” Alicia was consumed in a sardine gray light and when it disappeared she was no longer Alicia.

Standing in her place was a hero in her own right. Her hair was piled atop her head in a beehive, her hair was an ombre of violet to pale purple to gray. She wore a white long sleeve jumpsuit that was tight around the arm but loose fitting after it reached her waist. Over her jumpsuit she wore a green shawl with a thick white ribbon along the top edge that ended just before her waist. Her hands and feet were covered in a thin skin coloured material to give extra protection. She had a thin green headband a few inches away from her bangs and an even thinner ribbon wrapped around her waist three or four times. She had a pale yellow-green veil around the bottom of her face with a purple masquerade mask which had light purple details.

Renarde Véloce smiled and twirled her finger in a circle. “Turn around.”

She spun in a slow circle before finally facing Renarde Véloce. “What do you think?”

“Very good. What’s your name?”

“...Sournoise.” She responded before tapping her cheek and nodding. “Yeah. Sournoise.”

“Cool.” Renarde Véloce smiled and grabbed Sournoise’s hand. “Let’s go.”

---

Trâu looked over Bellamy, his Miraculous, a thick leather arm band, seemed to give off a puff of steam, before a tiny smile grew on his face. “You say Longg bring the storm to transform, clear skies to detransform before your timer runs out. Have at it.”

Bellamy smiled. “Longg, bring the storm.” He was consumed in a crimson light and when it disappeared, he was no longer Bellamy.

He had a large straw hat atop his head with a thin white veil around the brim. He had a red tank under a dark brown robe tied with rope around his chest and upper arms. The rope was tied with a smooth white stone in the shape of a club or a mushroom. He had three red claw-like marks on each shoulder and fanciful designs in the same red up his neck and across his face. He had black on his eyelids and his lips while his eyes were slitted like a dragon’s. His eyes glowed golden through his veil, an unimaginable heat radiated from his pupils.

Trâu nodded, stretching his arms over his head. “Punaise will want you to have a hero name. Have you thought about it?”

“Colchis, it’s a dragon from mythology. I figured, being a dragon and all, that I’d do a little bit of research.” He smiled and bounced on the balls of his feet, despite the fact that he wore geta.

“Cool.” Together, Trâu and Colchis went off to train.

---

Althaeban lazily watched Brielle fret over her Miraculous, a yellow and brown striped scrunchie around her wrist. “You transform by saying Pollen buzz on and detransform before your timer runs out by saying buzz off. The team and I wouldn’t have chosen you if we didn’t think you would be able to handle it.”

Brielle nodded. “Pollen buzz on.” She was consumed in a warm yellow light and when it disappeared she was no longer Brielle.

She wore a long-sleeved loose-fitting yellow jumpsuit with a red-orange sash wrapped around her waist. She had an orange shawl wrapped around her shoulders which covered her entire back. She had gauntlets on her forearms similar to Poulain Rouge’s but yellow with orange bands around her wrists. Her feet were clad in brown flats with light brown socks. She had a chunky red necklace around her neck with a bee on the pendant which hung against her chest. Her hair was pulled back into a ballerina bun with brown streaks throughout it. Her face was obscured by a brown mask which stretched from her cheekbones to her forehead with black hexagonal patterned eye lenses and three black dots between her eye lenses. Two of the brown streaks in her hair stood up as though they were antennae.

Althaeban flicked her eyes over her suit and nodded. “Cool. What’s your name? BugBoy’s gunna wanna know.”

“Bumble Bee.” She smiled and did a quick twirl. “Let’s go.”

---

Thana shouldered her bag, a soft brown faux leather computer bag, filled with her emergency supplies. She grabbed her suitcase, a black twenty-one inch hard shell modeled after Batman’s suit, and left her room. “Bye Sabine. Bye Tom.”

Thana left the bakery and smiled at Chloé’s limo, which would be taking her and her friends to the airport. She loaded her suitcase into the trunk, beside Chloé’s white twenty inch hard shell suitcase. She closed the trunk and slid into the back seat beside Chloé. “Who’re we getting next?”

“Our boys had a slumber party last night so we’ll get them first before we go to get the Pinkette and Adrikins.” Chloé smiled at her friend and tapped on the divider between the driver and the back. “To the Lê Chiến residence please.”

The girls sat in companionable silence in the backseat, their phones plugged in to finish charging.

Kim and Nino were waiting on the sidewalk outside of the building. Kim had a navy twenty inch hard shell suitcase while Nino had a green twenty inch hard shell suitcase. After Kim loaded the suitcases the two boys joined the girls, plugging in their phones as well.

“It is too early to have make up on Chlo.” Kim grumbled as he laid his head in the blonde’s lap.

“Why are you so awake Chlo?” Nino asked as he grew comfortable in Thana’s lap. “It’s like three in the morning.”

“You think all of this happens naturally?” Chloé scoffed goodnaturedly. “Agreste Manor please.”

The four friends rode in silence, the two boys slowly falling back to sleep.

Adrien opened the door as Alix loaded their suitcases into the trunk, his was identical to Nino’s but red while hers was bronze.

“Hey guys.” Adrien greeted.

“Everyone wrote the address for Chloé’s dad’s hotel as the return address on their luggage tag, right?” Alix asked as she slid into the car and laid her head in Adrien’s lap.

Chloé nodded. “If your luggage tag falls off we have back ups,” she gestured to the bag of neon orange circle tags with a picture of part of the earth on them, “but try to keep track of them.”

Chloé’s carry-on bag was a yellow tote bag, Kim’s was a red backpack, Nino’s was a blue backpack, Adrien’s was a green backpack, and Alix’s was just her gray and pink sports bag.

---

Thana smiled at the informational representative as she placed her suitcase on the scale. “M. Bourgeois has kindly offered to cover the checked luggage fee for not only his daughter but also for myself and our three friends while M. Agreste is paying for his son’s.”

The woman behind the desk nodded. “Of course.” She smiled and motioned Thana on. “Find your gate, and the rest of your party, and wait for the boarding call. Have a nice flight.”

“Thank you. Have a nice day.” Thana went in search of the gate, grimacing as she found the rest of her class in the waiting area. She rolled her eyes and sat down in a chair a short jaunt away from the class, but close enough to overhear their conversation.

“-of course when I asked Bruce he just,” Lila snapped her fingers and smiled, “snapped and made it happen. He would do anything for me.”

“You see, that’s funny. Since I’m the one who wrote the essay and submitted the essay.” Adrien approached the group and smiled at Thana. “Hey Thana.”

“Adrien.” Thana waved. She went back to her Instagram feed, watching soap making videos and getting ideas for what to give her uncles and aunts for Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Ōmisoka.

Chloé, Kim, Nino and Alix joined the duo soon after. The six friends calmly waited for the boarding announcement for their flight, continuing to shoot down all of Lila’s lies about how she’s the one who got them the trip.

---

Thana took a deep breath of the polluted Gotham air, the slight hint of familiarity soothing her. A small smile took over her face, and she adjusted her red hoodie, pulling the hood over her hair, as she stood just outside of the airport with her suitcase next to her waiting for her friends to collect their luggage. She looked to the rooftops, hoping to see her brother but knowing if he was running with the Bat then they were probably back in their cave, before a tap on her shoulder made her turn to look at Kim.

Kim gave her a smile, a sad smile but a smile. “Looking for him?” Kim draped an arm across her shoulders and gave her a light squeeze. “According to the email that Wayne sent Adrien, one of his sons will be guiding our tours while another one of his sons will be acting as a bodyguard.”

Thana nodded. “He’s got four sons, one’s our age and the other is younger. Best case scenario, Dick will be the guide and Jay-Jay the bodyguard. Worst case scenario, Tim will be the guide and Dick will be the bodyguard.” She shrugged and looked for their friends. “We should get on the bus before Lila and her court get the good seats in the back.”

---

Thana looked up at the building, her eyes filling with tears. “Kim. Kim, I can’t go in there. Before this was a hotel, before Wayne bought the building, I got shot at in there. I’ll give you my luggage, put it in Chlo’s room and I’ll just, I’ll just sneak in change before the morning headcount but I cannot sleep in there overnight.” Her voice was low, barely above a whisper, and it cracked with emotion, pulling a deep frown from not only Kim but also Chloé.

“Of course Fragolina. We’ll cover for you.” Chloé grabbed Thana’s hand, giving it an affection squeeze, before helping their friends form a wall to allow Thana to slip away from the group and fade into the crowd rushing past them.

-*-*-*

Jason paced his apartment, trying to decide if he actually wanted to do this favour for Bruce before remembering the possibility that his sister could be amongst their ranks. He sighed and shook his head, he’d just do what Bruce asked him to do.

He turned away from his windows, unlocked with the curtains open to give his siblings easy access to his apartment if they need to crash while they’re out, to walk into his kitchen. He set to work making a lunch for Damian, reminding himself to toss in a couple extra snacks because Damian was going to be out with Ed and John for the day tomorrow. He wrote a little note for Damian in Arabic and tucked it inside the lunch bag before putting the bag in the fridge. Jason had some business to attend to, some Red Hood business, that he couldn’t bring Damian on so he’d asked Ed and John to take him because all of his siblings were going to be busy tomorrow.

---

Jason in his full Red Hood gear, stood in the alley across the street from the dumb building Bruce bought. He’d renamed it, of course, to the Wayne Enterprises’ Kaya Hotel but that didn’t take away the memories he had. Bruce had only cared because he knew Jason had gotten shot at in there, he hadn’t cared that it was the nth time that jackass had shot at kids nor did he care about all of the other kids who’d gotten shot in there, namely Thana.

Jason tightened his grip on the can of spray paint and waited until more people had cleared out of the way. He double checked that no one was going to see him as he sprinted across the street to the side of the building. He grit his teeth and he surveyed the side of the building, he needed to make it big enough to memorialize all of the people but small enough that Batman wouldn’t know he was the one who did it.

He pulled the top off of the can of spray paint, a metallic silver, and began throwing up the rough shape of several bullets, one bullet for every kid who was ever shot at in the building, while keeping an ear out for the sound of one of his look outs letting him know someone was approaching.

He smiled as his vision was coming to life, the silver bullets getting a black outline before he numbered them in a matte fire red. One of his look outs, a twelve year old girl named Taylor, alerted him to the incoming presence of the authorities. Taylor’s siblings, Jesse and Morgan, who were located closer to his position because they weren’t quite as loud, let him know when they were closer.

Jason collected his supplies, remembering to grab the spray paint caps, before he ran off. He’d come by later to cover the bullets in a waterproof sealant to protect it from the weather. He smiled as he scaled the side of a building, going back to the rendezvous point to wait for the trio of siblings.

He tucked the cans of spray paint into his bag, waiting a short five minutes before the three siblings appeared. He smiled and tossed them a wad of cash, the exact amount unknown. “Payment for standing around and keeping an eye out for pigs.”

Taylor smiled at him and nodded. “Thanks.”

---

Jason sat in the coffee shop again, a cup of black coffee in front of him as he waited for Harvey. There was a second cup of black coffee waiting for Harvey, accompanied by a blueberry scone. Jason tapped his fingers against the table, his nerves getting the best of him.

Harvey walked into the coffee shop, his eyes landing on Jason’s black and white hair before he made his way over. Harvey sat down in the chair opposite Jason with a small smile. “Mr. Todd, what can I do for you?”

“I was wondering if you knew any really good private investigators. It just, there are some sketchy circumstances surrounding my sister’s relocation and I wanna look into them.” Jason batted the handle to his cup between his hands before looking up at the other man. “If you don’t know anyone personally, do you know anyone who would?”

“I might know a guy, and Cobblepott might know a guy.” Harvey sipped at his coffee. “Selina probably knows a few.”

Jason nodded. “Okay. Thanks. Do you have his card?” Jason looked at Harvey, his green tinted blue eyes boring into Harvey’s blue orbs.

Harvey passed over a business card and smiled. “Give him a call after you talk to Selina and Cobblepott.”

“Thanks Harvey.”

Jason took a minute to finish his coffee and shoot a text to Ed, who was more likely to have his phone on him than John.

Jason frowned at his phone and sighed. He shook out his shoulders and walked up to the counter. He smiled at the barista and waited for her to finish doing her task. “Hi. Can I get a venti caramel brulée crème frap to go for Selina?”

“I’ll get right on that.” The barista smiled as she started Selina’s frap.

Jason smiled and slipped a twenty into the tip jar before swiping his card to pay for the coffees he had ordered. He graciously accepted the frap from the barista and smiled at her. “Thank you so much. Have a nice day.”

---

Jason slowly jogged to Selina’s apartment. He had a few hours to chat with the woman, who for all intents and purposes was his mother, before he had to go talk to Oswald. He caught the door as a resident left the building with a smile directed at the resident, who just scoffed at him.

Jason climbed the stairs and when he stopped outside of Selina’s door.

“-come on Lina! Come out with Red and me! We’ll have fun.” Harley’s voice sounded from within the apartment.

“Selina! Come on. We never have fun like we used to.” Pam’s voice sounded from close to Harley’s.

“Girls.” Selina’s voice washed over Jason, she had always been his favourite of the women his sister claimed as aunts, letting her have the other two. “Do you two want to be in Arkham when Thana comes home?”

Jason knocked on the door, which caused all three women inside to freeze. Jason gave a tentative call of “Mom?”

Selina seemed to stumble over herself to rush to the door. She flung it open, not hard enough for it to bounce off of the wall but rather forcefully. “Oh kitten.” Selina wrapped Jason in her arms, before pulling back to look at his face. “What’re you doing here?”

“Mom, I called you. I um, I brought you coffee.” Jason held out the cup to Selina and watched as Harley and Pam peaked around the corner.

“Oh kitten, thank you.” Selina accepted the cup and took an appreciative sip. “What’s up catnip?”

“Harvey said you might know some guys, some PIs. There was some sketchy circumstances surrounding Thana’s departure from the city and I wanna look into it.” Jason looked at the floor. “B’s making me act as the class’s bodyguard while they’re in town and I, I just need to know if he had anything to do with her being removed from the city. After I leave here I’m gunna go talk to Oswald, see if he can give a couple names. I figure, the more guys searching, the better the information will be.”

Selina looked at the boy who was practically her son and felt dignified rage well up in her being. Rage at her on-again off-again boyfriend and his stupid morals. “I swear, if he had anything to do with getting Hatter’s girl outta Gotham, I will break up with him for real.” She took a breath before glancing over her shoulder at the other Sirens. “You two need to make sure you’re not in Arkham. Stop Jerome from whatever plots he’s got so he isn’t in Arkham when she gets here.”

Pamela nodded while Harley glowered at the floor. “We got that.” Pamela pulled Harley out of the open window.

“Mom, you’re friends are so extra.” Jason smiled.

---

Jason waved at Selina, who was waving at him from the window in her apartment, as he walked to the Iceberg Lounge. He had a lot of things he still had to do.

Jason walked into the lounge, waving to the bouncer posted at the door as he passed, and started looking for Oswald, Pere or Gale. He passed by several people he recognized, giving only a nod in recognition.

Jason spotted either Pere or Gale, he never could tell them apart, and started making his way over towards her. “Hey. Can you direct me to Cobblepot?”

She nodded, the grey moon on her forehead the only clue of who she was, before incling her head to indicate that Jason should follow her. She walked back to Oswald’s office and knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Oswald’s voice burst from the room.

Jason followed either Pere or Gale into the office, where she bowed and ducked out of the office.

“Hey Oswald.” Jason greeted while he sat down in the chair across the desk from Oswald. “Harvey said you may have-” Jason was cut off by his phone ringing, prompting him to hold up a single finger as he pulled out his phone. He sighed and answered the call. “John? I’m kinda-”

“Do not. Jason, we have a situation. The Bat is out and about.” John cut him off. “Ed and Itty Bitty are in a restaurant.”

“I’ll shoot Mom a text. She’ll take care of him.” Jason sighed. “Keep me updated.” Jason hung up the phone and shot a text to Selina. She shot him back a text letting him know the Sirens were covering it. He looked back to Oswald and smiled. “As I was saying. Harvey said you may have a couple PIs in your pocket.”

“Of course. In regards to Hatter’s girl.” Oswald nodded and pulled open a desk drawer. He rifled through the documents within for a moment before pulling out several business cards. “Any of these guys, they owe me a favour.”

---

Jason sat on the couch in his apartment. All of the business cards were laid out on his coffee table, Tim, Steph, and Cass sat on the opposite side of the coffee table while Damian was asleep on Jason’s lap. “Everyone pick two or three?”

Tim shrugged while Cass nodded. All four of them grabbed a few cards before the other three shoved them at Jason.

“Okay. Everyone grab a drink and a last snack. Then it’s time to go to bed.” Jason grinned, he piled the chosen cards close to the corner of the table and pulled Damian to his chest. He stood up and carried him to bed, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Jason went around the apartment to clean up a little before stopping in the two other rooms to press kisses to his siblings foreheads. He knew that everyone would be fine as long as they stuck together.

Taglist

@southamericangothamite @maribat-is-lifeblood @mystery-5-5 @our-preciousss @mochegato @chocolatecatstheron @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @2confused-2doanything @wannajointhecrabcult @dreamykitty25 @tomanyfandomsonmymind @moonlightstar64 @justafanwarrior @mialuvscats @pheony1882 @pepelachanel @moongoddesskiana @abrx2002 @ladybug-182 @greatcatblaze @thatonecroc @vixen-uchiha @superbwhispersconnoisseur @lilkymilky @susiej1118

#maribat #ml crossover #mlb crossover #ml x dc #mlb x dc #Safety Found in Red Sleeves #SFIRS #mouse!Alicia #dragon!Bellamy #bee!Brielle #vandalism is only okay if you're righting a social injustice... (aka when your adoptive father buys the building you got shot at in #and completely renovates it so it doesn't retain any of the previous bullet holes)#Oswald Cobblepot is Danny Devito #Selina Kyle is Halle Berry #original Gothamite street kids

48 notes · View notes

sigmadecay · 4 years ago

Note

You said you can info dump about Jonestown massacre? I'm here to learn about Jonestown massacre.

OHOHOHO YES

okay so if I start from Jim Jones’ early life this is literally gonna take me hours to write and probably take you forever to read so I will try to cliffnote the context of....y’know, his life

He didn’t have super present or even very parental parents, his mother worked a lot & his father was a disabled WWI vet. A neighbor took him to church w her family on Sundays and that began his interest in religion. He went to different churches all the time to see what they were about but had a particular interest in the Pentecostal church, it was loud & interactive & joyful but they did get a bad rep for “speaking in tongues”

Jim married his wife Marceline when he was 17 or 18 and she was like 20-21. She was working as a nurse in a hospital that Jim did custodial work in while he was trying to get himself through school. I have a lot of thoughts about Marceline Jones and most of them are “she deserved better” but we will come back to Marceline later.

Fast forward fast forward and Jim & Marcy have a number of kids, their “rainbow family” which consists of one bio child and a number of adopted children I think?? Listen in my defense he ended up with nine (!!! NINE) kids and they’re hard to keep track of but I know Stephan was their biological son and they adopted Jim Jr. who was black and Lew & Suzanne who were Korean which was a bigass deal at the time. More kids cropped up over the course of things but y’know. When Jim founded the Peoples Temple he got the MLK Jr award for racial equality because his church was the first fully integrated church at least in Indiana which was fucking nuts at the time??? Lots of people liked him. It appeared that he was doing good things.

And then shit like faith healings started where he would stage religious healings from cancer and shit and his congregation began regarding him as a deity. Someone would be blessed and would spit out a “tumor” (a piece of chicken liver) or the woman in the wheelchair who got up and walked turned out to be Jim’s secretary. Completely bogus nonsense, but it was a good, integrated church and they all thought he was a good person.

So, (and I’m leaving out details here sorry) Jim starts teasing like an escape to a “promised land” type deal. And he goes to a bunch of places looking for one—he spends time in Brazil especially—until finally settling on Guyana. The Guyanese govt was excited to have Americans coming bc they were at war with Venezuela and it was...sort of like insurance, but yeah. They gave the Peoples Temple a couple hundred acres in the middle of basically the fucking rainforest. And it was touted as like this socialist utopia and shit. It’s work but there’s housing and you grow your own food, and it seemed nice! Especially for people who were so disillusioned with the government and racial inequality. So they move out to Guyana and start to build houses, and shit is pretty alright at first, but...The soil isn’t fertile and almost no food actually grows. The hours are long and the work is backbreaking, not to mention the HEAT, but it’s like, deal-with-able until Jim Jones gets there. At this point Jones is like completely totally paranoid and he’s losing his grip on reality. He’s been doing drugs for years and his sermons have gone from “the US government is bad because it’s capitalist and racist” to “the US government is literally plotting to kill us.”

Some people managed to get out, and formed a group called the “concerned relatives.” They were, you guessed it, concerned relatives of the members who’d been whisked off to the Guyanese wilderness. Lots of people wrote off their concerns because of how many people, namely politicians, liked Jim Jones for his work in racial equality, but the one guy who listened to them was Congressman Leo Ryan, who was by all accounts a Pretty Solid Dude. He didn’t think anything fishy was happening, necessarily, but his whole stance was “I hear you & your concerns, and we should check it out to put your mind at ease! :)”

By this point, life in the Temple is falling! the fuck! apart! Jim Jones has a PA system set to run 24/7 that either play a) recordings of past sermons or b) his announcements happening Right This Second. People work for like 16 hours a day, there are armed guards at the entrance and around the fields to keep people in, the housing is cramped and overcrowded and they do Not have enough food for the almost 1000 people there. They are also getting record low amounts of sleep because Jim Jones, Nutjob Extraordinaire, has gotten into the habit of blaring the air raid siren at god knows what our and calling all his followers into the pavilion for a White Night. Which is, if you can even fucking believe it, a PRACTICE MASS SUICIDE BY KOOL AID.

Talk about foreshadowing.

So anyway, Leo Ryan rolls up to the compound, relatives and an NBC camera crew in tow, and is like “hey what’s up! :)” Jim Jones has been COACHING PEOPLE to tell him how much they love it. It’s fucked up. But okay

So they put on this dinner and a show type deal for the congressman and all the visitors, and Marceline (remember Marceline?) gives them a whole tour and shows them her pride and joy, the school she’d built and helps teaches at, and the medical center, and the daycare, like Marceline ADORES children this cannot be overstated. There are about 300 children in Jonestown and she loves them with her whole heart. ANYWAY

And everyone is having a funky good time, except Jim Jones, whose sanity is coming unraveled like an old sweater and his 950-ish overworked undercompensated cult members

But as Leo Ryan is leaving, someone slips a note to one of the reporters, BEGGING him to get them out of there. And then someone else comes forward. And then another. There are like....maybe 10 people total that come forward? Jim Jones loses his mind, naturally, but Leo Ryan is still like “hey, 10 out of 950 isn’t bad at all! They just miss their families :)” and they get going.

Unfortunately, because the number of people traveling back to the US from Guyana is greater than before, and they came on a small plane, they’re all posted up at the Port Kaituma airstrip waiting for a second aircraft. And this is when shit gets fucking real.

Jim Jones secretly sends his Red Men (read: “guards” with shotguns) to the airstrip to kill everyone because they’re going to give their secrets to the CIA or whatever. So they fucking roll up in this trailer and...open fire. Leo Ryan is killed, an NBC cameraman is killed, some of the defectors and concerned relatives are killed, many of them are wounded.

The Red Men return to the compound and report back to Jones. And then he gets on the PA and tells everyone that the USA’s destruction of them is imminent. He lies and tells them that the pilot will be shot and the plane will go down, and the US government will come into the compound for retribution and kill their seniors and kidnap the children and rape the women. You can hear a recording of this on YouTube! It’s called the Jonestown death tape and it will absolutely ruin your day if you listen to it. Anyway.

People are panicking. It’s time for the real White Night. Jones gets a vat of Flavor-Aid (off brand Kool-Aid) filled with cyanide and narcotics and says “drink :)” and...everyone is...understandably afraid. They’re tired and exhausted and terrified and have no idea what’s true or not. One woman, Christine, argues and pleads for another solution, like running off to the Soviet Union. The entire rest of the compound shouts her down.

So, finally, people drink. Those who won’t, and young children, are injected with it. The death is not painless. People suffer for a long time, and move to the back of the line, lie down, and die. At a reception house in Georgetown, one of Jones’ aides kills her three children and then herself with a steak knife.

A handful of people get out. Maybe five are able to hide, and three of Jones’ sons are away at a basketball game in Georgetown while this is all going down, so they live.

Jim Jones does not drink the poison. Jim Jones shoots himself in the head, and his private nurse does the same.

Marceline Jones screamed, sobbed and struggled until every single child had died, hoping at least one of them would be spared. And when none were, she dried her eyes, resigned herself to her fate, and drank the Kool-Aid.

The 900-something bodies, about a third of which were children, began rotting in the tropical sun almost immediately. Many of them were decomposed beyond recognition by the time the US troops got there. Those unidentified are buried in a mass gravesite in...California, I think? It was the largest loss of American life not due to a natural disaster up until 9/11. The place is still there, though now it’s overgrown, and it’s just...haunting. There’s a number of documentaries on it (recommend) and if you have a really masochistic streak, the Port Kaituma airstrip shooting and the Jonestown death tape audio are both on YouTube the last I checked.

Thank you for indulging me my special interest, and I’m happy to expand on anything here or give more details :3

#ask #anonymice #jonestown #also sorry for the delay. we had dinner guests #kenny.txt

25 notes · View notes

gorogorogorochansan · 4 years ago

Photo

CP2077 OC ask game *:･ﾟ✧⚔️🤖🔮 [x]

PERSONAL.

1. what is their full name? do they have any nicknames? what are they and why did they get them? His full name is Maximilian Noirceuil Roquentin Vandermeer. Vandermeer to others, Max to his family. His mother just loves French literature and culture.

2. how old are they? how long have they been living on their own? 33 as of 2077. He’s been living on his own for 15 years since he joined Arasaka.

3. what are their astrology signs? sun/moon/rising. He was born on May 2nd 2044, which makes him a sun Taurus, moon Cancer and ascendant Leo.

4. what tarot card from the major arcana would you associate with them? The Devil.

5. are they religious or spiritual in any way? Not at all. Max is rather materialistic and self-indulgent at times.

6. which of the four elements would you associate with them? Air for intellect and mental intention.

9. which of the nine alignments are they? (lawful good etc) Lawful neutral.

10. which of the myers-briggs personality types are they? ESTJ, the Executive.

11. do they have any cyberware? is it cosmetic or is it weaponry/armor? He’s not into combat much, he prefers doing his job quietly if he can. Better yet - a silver tongue coupled with unsettling look can achieve a lot more than a weapon. Hands: Smart Link; Ocular system: Kiroshi Optics; Nervous system: Kerenzikov; Cyberdeck: Stephenson Tech Mk.2; Integumentary system: Optical Camo; Skeleton: Endoskeleton, Bionic Lungs; Legs: Lynx Paws.

12. what is their occupation? He likes to call himself a free artist but technically he’s a solo. Murder, sabotage, thievery, recovery, delivery - you name it and he’ll do it, quick & clean. A man of high standards he prefers to be silent, precise and effective about his work. Even during his Arasaka days he never shied away from hard or morally repulsive (to some) tasks. A job is a job and needs to be done.

13. if you were to choose a class for them, what would it be? The closest would probably be a Stealth Solo.

14. what is their weapon of choice? HJKE-11 Yukimura pistols & Electric Baton.

15. what is their preferred vehicle or transportation of choice? Black Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech.

16. how would you describe their style? Neomilitarism. Corpo chic through and through.

17. are they a early riser or a night owl? Normally he’s an early riser but not averse to adapt if work demands it.

18. share three songs you associate with them. Eisbrecher - Verrückt [translation] Dorothy - Wicked Ones Oomph! - Augen auf! [translation]

NIGHT CITY.

19. is your character from night city? if no, where were they born? what brought them to night city? if yes, what area of the city did they grow up? He is from Charter Hill, Night City. His maternal family is from North Oak but his parents moved to something more affordable before he was born. He worked his ass off to stay in Charter Hill on his own but after his boss Jenkins lost the power struggle in Arasaka, Vandermeer had to survive and look for a cheaper place.

20. where do they currently live? describe their home. Watson, Little China, near Sutter Street. He rents a small apartment that satisfies his needs, which turned out to be rather simple - a quiet (as much as possible), clean and efficient space that is suitable for living and working in.

21. do they have any favorite spots around NC? Lele Park in the evening and night. And Dark Matter club.

22. do they like to cook for themselves, or eat out? do they prefer restaurants or street food? and how do they feel about vending machine food? He can cook a few things thanks to his mom but generally prefers street food and restaurants. He finds vending machines repulsive.

23. do they prefer the city or the badlands? The city. He loves comfort, hygiene and availability of things only megalopolis can offer.

24. what gang/faction/corporation do they align with, if any? He prefers to keep balance and mutually beneficial relationships with everyone strictly for business. He always looks for people reasonable enough to bargain with.

25. which radio station(s) is their favorite? If it’s a car radio then it’s Vexelstrom most of the times. He likes hearing heavy rhythms in the background. When it comes to listening to music at home he has a variety of genres in his playlists from classics and jazz to heavy metal.

26. if they do merc work, do they have one dedicated fixer? if so, who? It’s Rachel Vogelman (another OC created by @bnbc). They used to be corporate rivals during their Arasaka days. To add fuel to the fire their colleagues believed them to be siblings because of certain visual similarities between the two. When Max lost his job Rachel was the only person he could ask for help. It wasn’t easy, and it still isn’t but they focus on the business side of things. Or at least try to.

27. have they ever had run ins with the badges? He doesn’t like to attract unnecessary attention. Nobody likes when you’re the star of TV news.

28. are they quick to help a stranger in need or do they prefer to stay out of other peoples business? He most likely won’t help unless it can benefit him in any way.

29. do they have any favorite celebrities that frequent or live in NC? how would they feel meeting them? He doesn’t give a shit about celebrities. But he knows Michiko Arasaka, and their first meeting face to face left him baffled to say the least.

RELATIONSHIPS.

30. is your friend a social butterfly or more of a loner? Something in between. He hates useless small talks and fake politeness but understands their necessity when required.

31. who are their closest chooms in NC? He doesn’t have any. Never cared enough to rely on people and always expected a knife in the back. His most regular stable contact is probably Rachel Vogelman but they’re not even close to being chooms.

32. do they have anyone they would consider family? His mom and his sister are the only family he needs.

33. what is/was their relationship like with their parents? He loves his mother Jessica who raised him to be a well-rounded personality that can always land on his feet. She’s an economist with a good sense of humor and interest in arts. But he doesn’t have much emotional connection with his father Mark, since the guy is always busy with his retail business.

34. do they have siblings? He has a sister named Brit who is 15 years younger.

35. how would you describe their relationship with their family? Max is close with his family, although they’re all often too busy to meet regularly but they keep in touch.

36. who is their biggest enemy? Detective Marc Sanderson? Hard to say for now because there’s no official lore information on him yet.

37. tell a short story about your character with their best choom. His rivalry with Rachel Vogelman was almost comic at times, which only worked against them as their colleagues called them siblings on purpose. But since the two have mutually beneficial relationships now he can admit Rachel is pretty good at what she does. He won’t tell it to her though to avoid giving her the pleasure. They have both grown up after losing their corporate jobs but some habits die hard.

38. do they have a love interest? if so, who? His current LI is Michiko Arasaka. Initially he'd met her as Ichigo (a Japanese name that means strawberry) in a cyber sex VR club while he still worked in Arasaka. It was a series of encounters they both enjoyed until he abruptly put an end to it during his unemployment. He suspects she started digging info on him because she reached out to him some time after he had made a small name for himself as a solo.

39. are they in a committed relationship or do they date around? Given the social gap between the two and solely sexual nature of their affair it’s implied they’re in open relationship. Besides it’s unknown if Michiko is still married. However, despite loving sex Max can be picky because he’s slightly fixated on hygiene. Michiko also sparked genuine curiosity and creativity in him with her wild and magnetic personality.

40. has your character ever been in love? if so, with who? No, what is love? He won’t recognize it even if falls in it.

41. do they believe in soulmates? No, he believes in shared goals.

42. do they believe in love at first sight? A ridiculous notion.

43. describe their ideal date. Their idea of romantic evening is to hook up in clubs where it’s noisy and crowded enough to ignore them but also to tickle their nerves. Sometimes they have a follow-up in motels (Michiko knows all the right places) if they can afford it. I don’t mean financially of course. Currently such state of affairs suits both of them perfectly.

44. would your character ever get married? Theoretically he can but marriage is a serious commitment, and right now he’s not interested in making one. And when it comes to Michiko it’s a no-no for a variety of obvious reasons.

45. what was your characters first impression of their partner(s)? Michiko Arasaka was not someone he expected to see when Ichigo asked for a real life meeting. She definitely enjoyed the effect she made while Max was trying to figure out in his mind if this was a setup. She was bold, straightforward and irresistable - not like anyone he has ever met before. The whole situation felt like getting into a sports car without breaks. Once in a lifetime opportunity, a one-way ticket. And he took it. He suspects he’s not the first and not the last such input for her but life is too short for missing out the fun.

46. are they open about their relationship or low key? how would other people feel about them together? Somewhat semi-open. Max’s mom knows and she’s worried for him, although she knows he can take care of himself. And Michiko doesn’t mind him telling about her to his family as he has no friends and isn’t the type to brag, and she doesn’t care if anyone recognizes her in public. Her social circle wouldn’t care about him, and those who might won’t be able to do a thing about it.

47. share a headcanon about your character and their partner(s). Just one? I’ve already got plenty. • Michiko calls him Max and he calls her Ichigo or Ichi (one) because that’s how they’ve met and it's something of their inside joke, a secret; • Michiko keeps him at distance on purpose. She studied his profile long before they’ve met face to face and probably knows what he wants for breakfast before he even wakes up. So she knows Max has opportunistic tendencies like majority of mid-tier corpos. But another reason is that she also doesn’t want things to get serious and complicated between them because it can ruin the fun. She appreciates he doesn’t ask stupid questions or demands more attention than she can give him; • Michiko likes to подъебывать Max. I guess the closest English equivalent would be to tease - cracking suggestive jokes on him, giving him simple presents she finds hilarious, sending him nudes and demanding payment with his in the most inappropriate times. She is amused Max tolerates her shit so stoically - but she’s never malicious, disrespectful or obnoxious. In return Max knows it’s hard to impress someone who comes from the Arasaka bloodline & that it would be safer not to get on their bad side, so he focuses on making her feel good. And strangely it makes him feel good too. • Max loves to touch her hair. Michiko always looks flawless when they meet and he adores her for it. • When Arasaka Tower was under attack Max called her until she finally picked up as he was genuinely concerned about her safety. He asked if she was alright and offered to take her home but she refused. She doesn’t know he was waiting outside.

48. share three songs you associate with your character and their partner(s). Garbage - Bad Boyfriend Eisbrecher - Exzess Express [translation] Eisbrecher - Rot wie die Liebe [translation] Bonus: Dinah Washington - Relax, Max - a song Michiko likes to tease him with.

NSFW.

49. name three of your characters biggest turn ons. Mature, confident women who know what they want and don’t waste anyone’s time.

50. name three of your characters biggest kinks. Touching Michiko in public - it’s the kink of kinks.

51. do they like having multiple partners or do they prefer monogamy? He doesn’t like being in relationships. The secret to his successful affair with Michiko is that both are totally free of any commitments and expectations from each other. Normally he prefers flings, BDs and cyber sex. But currently his mind is occupied with one specific woman with blue hair.

52. do they watch porn or braindances? Porn is ancient, BDs are far more superior.

53. would your character ever make an explicit braindance? He doesn’t have the right implant for that. He might though but not with Michiko - he’s not that stupid.

54. do they have any cybernetic enhancements that serve sexual purposes? He’s no netrunner but he got himself a Stephenson cyberdeck that supposedly prolongs orgasms. Turns out the cyberdeck can be useful for other things as well, even moreso as now he doesn’t have a corpo protection and needs to be more careful.

55. do they have a preference for ‘ganic bodies or do they like modifications? He doesn’t like cheap implants. Other than that he doesn’t care.

56. name three of your characters biggest turn offs. Poor hygiene, naivete and girls who don’t know when to quit.

57. what is their ultimate fantasy? or ““secret”“ kink? Michiko is his ultimate fantasy now. There’s something liberating and intoxicating about having her at the tips of your fingers moaning your name. He feels like he can try anything with her and she won’t say no, although he is aware it’s an illusory freedom.

58. would they ever use any substances like aphrodisiacs, alcohol or drugs during sex? Yes because why not? It’s not necessary but it can’t hurt.

59. what is their wildest sexual experience? A corpo group sex party. It was fun but he doesn’t like joytoys, even premium ones. Had to do a medical check-up afterwards.

60. are they more submissive or dominant? Dominant. But one time Michiko cuffed him to bed and he didn’t mind.

61. does your character need to have an intimate relationship with someone to have sex? or do they prefer being unattached? Unattached is best at the moment. Though he’s not fully aware he’s currently attached.

62. has your character ever participated in group sex? In the past, during his Arasaka days.

63. do they like to sext or play over the holo? Why not both, depending on situation.

64. has your character ever ghosted someone after a sexual encounter? Yes because he doesn’t like attachment. The reason he didn’t ghost Ichigo was that she was always creative during their virtual meetings.

65. how would they react if they were ghosted by someone they like after a sexual encounter? If Michiko ghosted him he’d be probably pissed and then upset. But he suspects she’d tell him first because there’s a certain amount of trust between them.

66. do they prefer kink oriented sex or spontaneous passionate sex? Usually the latter but the former is good too.

67. how do they get down on their own? quick and easy or do they have to romance themselves a little? It depends on a moment.

68. in what outfit do they feel sexiest? how do they dress to impress? Naked is the best. He dresses sharp because that’s how he was raised and also because it makes him feel good about himself. He mostly prefers clean black suits.

69. do they like having music on while they have sex? share three songs they’d play while getting down. He usually doesn’t care but Michiko likes to put on something energetic and loud when they’re in motels. This is just to give the idea of the mood: Fatboy Slim - Ya Mama Beastie Boys - Sabotage Mylène Farmer - Des larmes

#oc: vandermeer #Michiko Arasaka #OTP: Michigo #Rachel Vogelman #others' OCs

11 notes · View notes

anjanettexcordonia · 4 years ago

Text

Chapter 8: Thanksgiving

Book: The Royal Romance A/U

Catch Up Here The Spare Masterlist

Rating: Mature (18+); NSFW; some language; suggestive language; self-confidence issues

Characters/Pairings: Liam x MC; Liam x OC

Word count: 1685 (+/-)

A/N: Liam annoys me so much in this chapter. But it’s necessary.

Disclaimer: Some characters & some scenes belong to Pixelberry.

Tags: If you would like to be added or removed please let me know.

PermaTags: @yourmajesty09 @gkittylove99 @kingliam2019

Series Tags: @mom2000aggie @indiacater @sfb123 @hopefulmoonobject @cordonianroyalty @texaskitten30

The next morning Liam woke to an empty bed. There was a note with a glass of water on his bedside table,

Early flight home this morning, didn’t want to wake you. I couldn’t find any aspirin. Sorry.

-Cam

P.S.

We need to talk about last night.

Liam rubbed his throbbing forehead. Fuck last night. He regretfully remembered every detail of last night. Princess Maria and he met in his study. One drink turned into two, they talked about the past. Maria apologized for her indiscretions and Liam accepted. He remembered kissing her before she left his study. FUCK! How could I be so stupid. Liam shot out of bed looking for his cellphone. He needed to call Cami and explain before things got worse. He remembered yelling at her. He remembered her asking him if he still loved Maria. Idiot! Liam chastised himself for his stupidity the previous night. Cami’s phone was going straight to voicemail. She must’ve already be in the air. He had no idea of her flight planes except she left a couple days early. For good reason.

Liam dressed for the day. He decided he would call Cami tonight when he knew for sure her flight had landed. He headed for his study to try and make sense of the night before. Mostly he needed to find something to keep him busy. “Prince Liam,” Liam was confused that his father, brother, and Princess Maria were waiting for him in his study. “Your Majesty.” Liam bowed to King Leo. “Father, Prinkípissa” he nodded to Constantine and Maria, “What’s going on?” “The Princess here told us of your rekindled relationship,” Leo raised his eyebrow at Liam. “And on behalf of Queen Mother Regina and myself we would like to congratulate you both my boy.” Constantine clapped him on the back. “Maria, no, I.. uhh.. I.” “Liam, can I talk to you in private.” Leo interjected and pulled Liam into the hallway. “Li, are you sure about this? I’ll banish her if you want.” “Fuck, Leo, Cami was here, Maria showed up.. I got drunk.. I kissed her. But I’m in love with Cami.” “Tell her Li now. She’s telling everyone. Cami finds out and you’re fucked little brother.” Liam rubbed his chin and exhaled deeply. “Father, I need to speak with Maria in private.” “Good luck, son. Perfect timing that the American left.” Constantine clapped Liam on the back and gave him a large grin. Liam nodded his head with a half grin.

Leo and Constantine left Liam and Maria alone in Liam’s study. “Maria, you and I.. aren’t going to work out. I’m sorry.” “Liam, just wait. The night you proposed I was confused. I never thought we had a future. Now I see things differently. I had to find my way back to you. syngnómi” “Find your way back to me? By riding someone else’s dick? One of MY security detail?” Liam scoffed. “Is this about the American?” “Excuse me?” Liam’s voice rose an octave. “It is, isn't it? She’s holding you back. Amerikanoí” “I don’t know what her and I are but it’s none of your fucking business.” Liam seethed. “Liam,” Maria calmly spoke, “this isn’t over.” “Just get out Maria.” Liam sat in his chair with his head in his hands. “I’m going back to Greece for a few weeks. Maybe the time will give you some perspective. Se agapó.”

Liam spent the next two weeks torn between his feelings. He longed for Cami, but he also felt something for Maria. The something he didn’t know what it was. He spent most of his time drowning his feelings. He would be going to America for thanksgiving with Cami. Her family would be going on a trip abroad so she was planning a traditional thanksgiving for the two of them. Liam arrived at Cami’s apartment a few weeks later just the day before thanksgiving. He had put off coming sooner in fear of what seeing her was going to do to him. They had decided to have the conversation they left in Cordonia after the masquerade ball in person over the holiday.

“Camilla?” Liam walked into her apartment the evening before the holiday. The smell of turkey took over his senses. “Hey baby! I missed you!” Cami was in a more cheerful mood than Liam had, expected bringing weightlessness over him. Cami stood on her tiptoes and planted a sweet wet kiss on Liam’s lips that sent a tingle down his spine. He dropped his bags at his feet and picked her up and carried her to the kitchen counter. Their lips connected in a passion neither had felt before. Liam could feel himself coming alive like never before as he touched every inch of velvet skin. He lifted her to the counter and dropped to his knees running a finger over her laced cover center. “Liam,” Cami moaned. He slid her panties to the side with his fingers and slipped a tongue into her wet slit. He licked and lapped at her clit until her body was quivering. He moaned as he nibbled her clit sending Cami over the edge as she covered his lips and tongue in her nectar. “Liam, fuck me now.” Cami screamed. She lifted her hips so he could pull her red laced thong off. He kicked his dress pants off and slid his hand up the length of his cock coating it with his precum. He bit his lip as he looked at Cami, sitting with her legs spread on the kitchen counter fully exposed to him, with her palms against the counter as she leaned on her shoulders. He slowly pushed his engorged head into her, then with a hard thrust he pumped into her. Cami screamed at the welcome intrusion. “Fuck me, my Prince.” Liam gripped her thighs as he pumped into her watching himself disappear into her. “You’re so fucking tight,” Liam moaned,“Fucking you feels like home.” He rubbed circles on her clit and picked up the pace of his deep thrusts. He felt her walls start to flutter. He pushed Cami back until her back was flat on the counter surface. She lifted her legs to his shoulders granting him deeper access to her body. “Cum for me baby.” At his words, Cami came unglued. He leaned down swallowing her screams for him. His thrusting came more frantic until he shot his strings of milky seed deep within her.

They laid on the kitchen floor listening to the sound of each other’s heartbeat and the slight sizzle coming from the oven that was cooking the turkey for tomorrow’s holiday. “Cami, I think we should talk.” Liam mumbled as he ran his fingers through her silky locks sprawled across his chest. “About the night before I left?” “Yes.” Cami and Liam stood. Liam threw his pants back on and Cami pulled his dress shirt over her head. They made their way to the living room’s white plush couch and sat down facing each other. “I think I should start by explaining my past relationship with Maria. I know I haven’t been very forth-coming about it.” “You haven’t at all.” Cami snapped already irritated by the direction of their conversation. “She and I we’re together for two years. We were expected to get married. I expected we would get married. The night I proposed, I caught her in a compromising position with one of my security detail.” “Is that why you don’t have security?” “It is.” “She broke my heart and made a fool of me in front of my entire country.” “I’m sorry, Liam.” “I’m not. It led me to you. The past few weeks, I’ve been conflicted about my choices since Maria’s return at the Masquerade Ball.” “You’ve been conflicted?” Cami asked, confused. “The night before you left, she kissed me.” “She kissed you?” Cami’s eyes grew wise, she could feel the bile forming in her throat. “SHE KISSED YOU?” Cami screamed with rage. “I realize now, it meant nothing. It’s you Cami.” “You realize NOW? You yelled at me that night, you made me feel like I did something wrong. I pried too much. Your world and mine are much different.” Cami turned her head trying to hide the tears forming in her eyes. “I’m sorry Cami, I should have told you.” “Cami, no, I love you.” “NO YOU DO NOT GET TO SAY THAT.” Camilla stormed to her bedroom and slammed the door. Liam ran after her, hearing the lock click as he reached the door. “Camilla, open the door please.” “Get out Liam.” “No, Cami open the door.” “GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY APARTMENT.” “I AM NOT GOING ANY-FUCKING-WHERE, NOW OPEN THE DAMNED DOOR.” Liam bellowed. His temper getting the best of him. Cami ignored his pounding. “I’LL BREAK THE FUCKING DOOR DOWN.” Cami slung the door open, her face was swollen and red from crying. She had put on shorts and a t-shirt. She threw his shirt in his face and dug her pointer finger into his chest, “You’re no better than your precious princess. You can have her. Get out of my apartment. New York. MY FUCKING LIFE.” Liam stumbled back as she pointed her finger into his chest pushing him back towards the living room. “Good thing you didn’t unpack.” She quirked an eyebrow and turned and marched back to her room slamming the door again. “Fuck you Camilla Whatever this is, it’s fucking over.” Liam yelled seething through his anger. “Whatever this was?” Cami stormed back out of her room, “Whatever this WAS… if you don’t know.. You’re right.. This is OVER!” Cami screamed with tears running down her face. She ran to the oven and pulled the small turkey out of the oven. “Here’s your fucking traditional Thanksgiving, asshole.” She threw the turkey in Liam’s direction. “You’re fucking crazy Camilla.” She opened the door and threw his bags into the hallway. “Get out.” Liam grabbed his bags and walked out of the apartment building. He loved her, why couldn’t she see it? What did he do so wrong?

#trr #theroyalromance #princeliam #liamxmc #liamxoc #cordonia #thanksgiving #fanfiction #ff #fanfic #choices #pixelberry #turkeys #toxic #kingleo #toxicrelationships #angsty

30 notes · View notes

axwalker · 5 years ago

Text

Tears in Heaven 4: Start Over

Synopsis: Alexis O’Brien is about to get married but memories of her old life are coming back to haunt her.

MASTERLIST

Pairings: Liam x MC, Drake x MC (TRR)

Warnings: NO ONE UNDER 18 should read this story. This is an 18+ blog.

This story will deal with very dark subjects such as death, severe depression and suicide attempt (among others) if you’re triggered by any of those issues, PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS STORY

A/N: The story will go back and forth between three different periods of time (2010 / 2015 / 2020)

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Word count: 5,010

Songs inspiration: Tears in heaven by Eric Clapton

THANKS TO: @burnsoslow Thanks for beta reading and correcting so many mistakes. I love you!

And to @pedudley your comments and feedback are the best. LOVE YOU BOTH! ❤️❤️❤️

March 2015

Bastien was extremely worried about Drake. He thought that some time and distance would help Drake heal, but he seemed to get more and more depressed every day. He spent his days on the couch or in the hammock looking at the sea with a bottle in his hand. His gaze was lost, empty.

The nights were even worse; he didn’t sleep, and the rare nights where he was able to close his eyes for more than a few hours, he woke up sweating with a nightmare - reliving that day, over and over again.

He had barely spoken since he had arrived in Spain. Andrea, Bastien’s wife, had convinced Bastien to try and reach Alexis in Cordonia, but Liam had told him that she was as destroyed as Drake was. Bastien suggested bringing them back together, maybe flying Alexis to Spain. He was convinced that seeing her would help Drake, and vice versa, but Liam had said that Alexis was too weak to travel.

“Son, you can’t keep going like this. You’re going to kill yourself,” Bastien said one night, tired of feeling useless.

“What difference does it make?” Drake took a swig directly from the bottle. “Why should I live after … after what I did?” He felt empty; the guilt was eating him alive, and the only person that could have saved him hated him even more than he hated himself.

“Drake, I’m sure that if you reach out to her- “

“No! I told you already. Do not contact her! I’m not good for her.” He noticed that his bottle was empty, so he stood up and lurched into the kitchen. Bastien followed him. “I destroyed her life … I … destroyed everything ...” He opened the bottle and took a big gulp. “Everything I touch … it dies. My dad died, my mother left, and now T … T… Fuck! I can’t even say his name.”

Bastien placed his hand on his godson’s shoulder. “Son, it wasn’t your fault.”

Drake barked at him, “What the fuck do you know, Bastien? It was my fault, only my fault. I swore to her that I’d protect them. It was my job to keep them safe.” It hurt too much to even breathe. He laid on the hammock again. “Please leave me alone.” He closed his eyes, trying to remember them: his pure laughter and her beautiful face, his little hand gripping his or her soft body against his at night, all the Sunday mornings taking him to the forest and the spicy breakfast waiting for them at the cabin. Maybe if he focused hard enough, he could make time go back.

June 2010

Drake and Alexis had been living together for two days. After another horrible fight with her father, she had finally had enough, and, tired of the way he treated her, she had left to live with Drake at his cabin.

They spent their first 48 hours completely lost in each other. Their second night together, they were both wrapped under a blanket watching the stars on the terrace, when it hit him. All he wanted from life was already there in his arms. So he held her even tighter and, after only eight months since meeting her, he whispered the question in her ear. She couldn’t believe it at first - it was too soon, they were too young, there were a million reasons not to do it - but she was completely crazy about him, too. Her eyes watered before she screamed a loud “yes” into the night. He kissed her deeply and ran to get his grandmother’s emerald engagement ring. It suited her perfectly. It was meant to be.

The wedding preparations had been hectic. They didn’t see the point of a long engagement, so they had set the date for two months from then: the 18th of June, a Saturday.

“Are we completely crazy?” he asked her, grinning after they had gone to the town hall to register their marriage application.

She laughed. “Yeah, completely,” she said, snuggling against him as they walked, “but I love you so much.”

“Me too, baby.” He kissed the top of her head. He was the happiest man in the world.

They didn’t have a lot of money, so they were going to have a small wedding in the forest behind their cabin. All their friends had offered to cooperate, but Drake and Alexis were adamant: They were only going to accept manual labor as wedding gifts. Drake, Liam and Leo brought the tables and chairs for the ceremony and the reception. Bertrand helped them with all the wedding documents, Maxwell was in charge of the music, Savannah decorated the place with Alexis, and Olivia was paying her chef to make the wedding cake. Bastien was working on a special surprise in his woodshop and would be in charge of the BBQ for the big day.

One day before the wedding, Drake was preparing the salads for the BBQ while Alexis and Maxwell chose the songs for the party.

“Guys!” Maxwell said, panicked. “You don’t have a song?”

“Not really,” Alexis paused. “We danced for the first time to ‘She Will Be Loved,’ though.’”

Maxwell grimaced before speaking. “Really? Maroon 5, Blossom?”

“Hey! I love them!” She laughed.

“Don’t get me wrong, Lexie. Adam Levine is the sexiest man alive. But ‘She Will Be Loved’ is not a wedding song.”

Alexis was about to respond when Drake intervened, blushing. “I have one.”

Max and Alexis turned their heads in unison. “You have a wedding song?” Max arched his brows.

Drake shook his head, exasperated to be having this conversation with Maxwell. “It’s not a wedding song, Beaumont. It’s just a song I like.”

Alexis looked at Max meaningfully. “I think Bertrand was looking for you outside to help with the flower arrangements, Max.”

He winked. “Of course, Bertrand is looking for me, riiight.”

When he left, Alexis circled her arms around her future husband’s waist. “What’s the song, babe?”

He sighed, wondering when he had become such a damn softie. “Van Morrison, ‘Crazy Love.’ He looked into her bright eyes and smiled as he cupped her face. “Do you like it?”

“I love it; it’s one of the most romantic songs ever. Why do you like it?”

He smiled sheepishly. “One night after I dropped you off at your father’s house, I put the stereo on, and that song started playing. Listening to it I realized how well it suited you, us.”

That man was going to make her crazy. She crashed her lips against his as he grabbed the nape of her neck and deepened the kiss, letting his tongue meet hers. After a few seconds, he gripped her hips and lifted her to sit her on the counter. She straddled him, while his lips and teeth explored and bit her neck and her hands roamed over his back.

Max cleared his throat. “Fuck! Leo was right. I owe him $20.”

Leo entered the kitchen with a screwdriver in his hand. “Li and I set up the bar …” He stopped to see Alexis combing her hair with her hand. “I told you, Maxwell, you can’t leave these two alone - pay up.”

“Fuck off, Leo.” Drake exchanged a wink with Alexis and went with Leo to check on the improvised bar the brothers had set up in the garden.

The rehearsal was fast; after it, everyone went to sleep early as the preparations had left them exhausted.

The next day, Alexis woke up at Olivia’s apartment feeling giddy with happiness.

“I can’t believe I’m getting married today.”

“If you want to bail, I have the getaway car ready, darling.” Olivia was only half-joking.

Alexis shook her head before she warned her best friend, “You’ll understand one day, Liv. You’ll fall in love like we did, and all of this will make sense to you, I promise.”

“Shoot me if I ever get that sappy. You have my permission.” Olivia opened the door and let a woman in. “This is Clara; she will do your hair and makeup.”

Alexis was about to protest, but Olivia raised her hand. “I know you said you didn’t want this kind of gift, but it’s your wedding day, and you deserve this, Alexis.” She looked at her friend through the mirror of the dresser as she talked. “I can’t cook a BBQ or build improvised bars, but please let me do this.”

Alexis understood what her friend was trying to say. “I love you too, Liv.”

Olivia waved her hand, smiling. “Shit, you’re going to be cheesier than usual today. God help us.” She squeezed Alexis’s shoulder. “Still no news about your father?”

Alexis shook her head. “Not yet. He said that if I married Drake, I was dead to him. He hates him only because he has no money. If he knew him better …” She sighed sadly. “Anyway, it'll all be okay; maybe he’ll show up at the cabin.”

Olivia disguised her sadness for her with a smile. “Maybe, darling. I’ll go change.” She called Drake the minute she left Alexis’ room. Olivia knew George O’Brien, and she was sure he wasn’t coming.

Alexis texted her father the address of the cabin; she was sure he’d regret his decision and would arrive at the last minute, or at least she hoped he would. She hadn’t asked anyone else to walk down the aisle with her.

Drake intercepted Bertrand when he arrived at the cabin.

“Alexis’s father won’t come; I know she was still hoping that he would, but that fucking asshole doesn’t give a damn about her.” Drake’s heart broke just thinking about her waiting for George. “Could you walk her down the aisle? Max is officiating the ceremony, but I know Lexie cares a lot about you, too.” Bertrand assured him that he was proud to accept.

Bastien had built a beautiful arch for the ceremony, and Liam and Leo had placed chairs all over the lawn for their 30 guests.

‘Here Comes the Sun' started to play. Drake waited at the end of the aisle with his heart beating as hard as it could without actually leaving his chest.

After what felt like an eternity, she appeared on Bertrand’s arm. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was; she was gorgeous. Her long white dress made her look like she was floating, her wide smile illuminated her whole face, her dark eyes were glistening with happy tears. Suddenly, he noticed his own eyes watering for the second time in his life, and he didn’t care. Her. All he cared about was her. He couldn’t wait to have her next to him.

Finally, they reached him, and he felt like his heart was going to burst with the smile she reserved only for him. He squeezed her hand, and they stood in front of Maxwell, who had gotten ordained on the internet for the ceremony.

Maxwell took his role very seriously. “As the great poet George Eliot once said:

What greater thing is there for two human souls

than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen

each other in all labor, to minister to each other in all sorrow,

to share with each other in all gladness,

to be one with each other in the

silent unspoken memories?”

Drake and Alexis exchanged a loving glance, as Maxwell proceeded with the ceremony until he reached the part where they had to share their vows.

“I think we’re all impatient to hear Drake’s vows, so let’s start with him.”

Drake turned to face Alexis, who was staring intently at him through her eyelashes. “Fuck, Lexie, stop looking at me like that or I won’t be able to say this.”

She beamed at him.

“I’m not good with words or feelings, so when you suggested that we should write our own vows, I almost choked.”

Their friends laughed.

Drake locked eyes with her. “But then I realized this wasn’t difficult at all. Because the truth is that I love you. I love your beautiful smile, your bright eyes, and the fire in them when you get angry.” Alexis shook her head, smiling through her tears. “I love how much you enjoy every single moment of your life.” He grinned at her. “I couldn’t live without smelling your cherry scent in our pillows or without you dancing all around the house.” He gently stroked her cheek. He was dying to kiss her, but he kept talking. “I love the light you have cast into my life since the second we met, and I swear I’ll always protect you, take care of you, and make sure that your beautiful light keeps on shining.” His voice betrayed his emotion, so he paused for a second. “I’m eager to start our lives together because I’m not sure about a lot of things, but I know without the shadow of a doubt that I’ll love you until the day I die.” He leaned and kissed her forehead.

“I love you too.” Alexis was crying. “Shit! I won’t be able to do this.” She took a deep breath as a grinning Drake gripped her hand reassuringly. “Every day I spend with you is the happiest day of my life. You’re strong, smart, and the most beautiful soul I’ve ever met, even when you try so hard to hide it. I love that smirk that is so you -” she caressed his face tenderly - “those crinkles around your eyes when you smile, your strong hands and your legendary stubbornness. I’ve never felt so safe and so loved before, and I want you to know that I love you with the same intensity, the same fierceness. I promise I’ll always be your partner, your best friend, your lover. I can’t wait to be your wife because I know I’ll love you until the day I die.” She smiled through her tears pronouncing the same words he had told her a few seconds ago.

Maxwell was crying, unable to proceed with the ceremony for a few minutes. “I don’t think I was the best person to do this. You’re so adorable, guys!”

Drake and Alexis laughed with the rest of the guests.

They exchanged their rings, visibly excited, promising to love and cherish each other for the rest of their lives. Finally, Maxwell declared them husband and wife.

“Drake, you may kiss the bride.”

He cupped her face and whispered so only she could hear him. “You have no idea how much I love you, baby.”

Before she could answer, he kissed her softly, slowly deepening the kiss until they heard Maxwell cheer with the rest of their friends.

“I’ve never been this happy, Drake.”

“Me neither, Lexie.”

The party was exactly what they wanted: stress-free and laid back. Bastien was in charge of the BBQ, and they had set up a salad buffet to go with it. Fordessert, they would serve wedding cake and had set up a corner next to a bonfire where guests could prepare their own s’mores. Liv and Liam gave their toasts, and soon it was time for their first dance. Maxwell gave Drake a knowing look before playing their song. Drake stood up and offered his hand to her; she grinned at him and followed him to the improvised dance floor Drake and Liam had set up.

I can hear her heart beat for a thousand miles

And the heavens open every time she smiles

And when I come to her that's where I belong

Yet I'm running to her like a river's song

She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love

He placed his hand on the small of her back and pulled her against him, letting his eyes roam over her beautiful face as they danced. “You look so gorgeous, baby. I can’t wait to have you all to myself tonight.”

She bit her bottom lip, blushing. “You’re much better with words than you think, Drake.” She placed her head on his chest as he led her across the dance floor, the sandalwood invading her nostrils. “And me neither, I can’t wait.”

She's got a fine sense of humor when I'm feeling low down

And when I come to her when the sun goes down

Take away my trouble, take away my grief

Take away my heartache, in the night like a thief

He spun her around confidently. “Wow, I didn’t know you were such a smooth dancer, Walker.” She winked at him, making him laugh.

“I might’ve received a tip or two from Maxwell,” he admitted sheepishly.

He looked so adorable when he was flustered. “Fuck, Drake! I love you so much.”

“I love you too, baby.” He leaned down to her face and gave her a nose kiss before spinning her again.

Yes I want to throw my arms around her

Kiss her hug her kiss her hug her tight

And when I'm returning from so far away

She gives me some sweet lovin' brighten up my day

Yes it makes me righteous, yes it makes me feel whole

Yes it makes me mellow down in to my soul

With the last notes of the song, Drake asked h,er smirking, “Are you ready?”

She nodded, puzzled, and he elegantly dipped her at the end of the song, making her laugh with that throaty laugh he loved so much.

“I’m happy to see I can still surprise you, Mrs. Walker.”

She beamed at him. “I’ll never get tired of how good that sounds.”

April 2019

“Alexis.”

“Hello, Drake. We need to talk.”

He opened the door and gestured for her to come in.

When she entered the cabin, a hundred memories came flooding back: the day she had moved in, the nights they had spent stargazing, the day they had married, and so many others that she tried to avoid because they were too painful. She couldn’t avoid a quick glance to the floor upstairs, but turned her head fast, refusing to think about that room.

Drake watched her move around the cabin, without sitting, her eyes darting everywhere. She’s nervous.

Without a word, he went into the kitchen, took a bottle of whiskey from a cabinet, and poured two glasses.

He came back to the living room and saw Alexis still standing next to the door, like an uninvited guest in her own house. In her old house, Drake corrected himself. He gave her the glass and she gulped it.

“Thank you, I needed that.” She pointed upstairs. “Still the same?”

He took a sip of his whiskey and nodded, still silent. He fixed his piercing eyes on her; she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever met, but her beauty was different now, miles away from the lively, sunny girl he had met. Drake watched her bite her bottom lip as she always did when she was nervous. He knew that the next step would be to twist her ring … except it wasn’t his ring anymore. She was wearing a huge diamond engagement ring, and he immediately guessed the reason she was there. Savannah had warned him a few months back.

The faster they’d get to it, the faster she’d be out of his life again. For good this time. He gulped his own glass and asked her, “What are you doing here, Alexis?”

“Um …” Her heart was still racing; she didn’t want to cry, but being there brought back every painful memory she had in that cabin - every laugh, every look, every word. She swallowed hard and forced herself to talk. “I need the divorce papers; we never signed anything.”

“Of course,” he smiled bitterly; “you need to be divorced to get married again.”

She hugged herself, knowing how hard the situation was for both of them.

Drake poured himself another whiskey before adding contemptuously, “That’s a nice ring. I wonder when he bought it.” He downed the content of his glass in one gulp. “I wonder how long he had been waiting to make his move, to take you away from me.”

Alexis couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Do not speak of Liam like that! He was always a good, loyal friend to you and to me. He was the one here picking up the pieces when you left.” She hadn’t realized that she was almost yelling or that her eyes were full of tears. “You left and never once looked back!”

Her words infuriated him; he didn’t yell, but his voice was full of anger. “What the hell, Alexis? Did you just say that I left and didn’t come back? Me?”

She turned her back, angry - not only at him, at herself, too, at their damn fate that had played such a cruel, horrible joke on them.

He cut the distance between them and stood in front of her, making her face him. “I left?” he asked again. “And what about what you did?”

She recognized the pain in the eyes she had avoided looking at for so long, and the anger faded. “What if I say it’s my fault? What difference does it make? It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Drake shook his head, frustrated; as much as it still hurt, as much as he hated to admit it, they didn’t belong together anymore. “You’re right, it doesn’t.” He sighed; he was eager to see her leave and take all the painful memories with her. “Did you bring the papers?”

She took a deep breath before speaking. “It’s more complicated than that. We never made our separation official, so as far as the law is concerned, we’re still together.” He kept staring at her with his arms folded over his chest. His gaze made her extremely nervous, but she forced herself to finish what she needed to say. “I spoke with Rashad, we need to file an application and set a date with a judge for a … meeting.” She put a strand of hair behind her ear.

Drake frowned. “What kind of meeting?”

“It’s called an “attempted conciliation” meeting. It’s mandatory in Cordonia if we want things to go faster. After the meeting, we only have to wait 15 days to sign the papers and everything will be over.”

She seemed cold and distant, talking about the life that they had shared together like it was a simple legal procedure. “Send me the date and I’ll be there, the sooner the better.” He watched her twist his ring again and couldn’t avoid the surge of anger. “This marriage was a fucking mistake anyway.” He regretted his words as soon as he said them, but it was too late.

She looked at him sadly; he had never shown her cruelty before. “Maybe it was a mistake for you.” She took her purse and walked to the door.

“Alexis!” he called before she left. “It might have been a huge mistake; I don’t know. But I don’t regret a single minute of it.” He fixed his chocolate eyes on hers; she seemed so vulnerable again that he had to actively stop himself from taking her into his arms.

She answered through her tears, “Me neither, Drake. I don’t regret anything.” She threw a last glance at the floor upstairs and left.

She drove for a few miles until she was forced to pull over. Her hands were shaking; she couldn’t drive anymore. Forcing herself to steady her voice, she immediately called Liam because she knew how worried he would be about her. She told him that she was all right and that he should go to his meeting with Bertrand and Francesco; she would see him later at her apartment.

When she hung up, she called Max. He arrived an hour later with Olivia, and they took her to Maxwell’s loft in the capital.

“Something to drink?” Maxwell asked.

“Whiskey, double.” She took off her coat, still shaking.

“Here, Blossom.” She gulped it fast.

“Now, tell us everything, Alexis,” Olivia said while she prepared a vodka martini.

“It was so surreal to see him again. He looked …” she sighed, “older, obviously, but still very handsome.” She couldn’t avoid the sorrow in her eyes. “He hates me.”

Olivia arched her brow and simply stated, “Liam.”

She nodded. “Yes, partly,” she shrugged, “but he’s also angry about the last time we saw each other.” Her eyes watered, but she rubbed them hard. “I’m not going to cry. Liam is in the middle of some intense negotiations for the duchy; he doesn’t need to worry about me, too.”

“You can be so fucking frustrating, Alexis.” Olivia looked at her, exasperated.

Maxwell shook his head. “Bravo, Olivia, subtle.”

“I don’t give a damn if I’m subtle or not. Alexis, you need to stop worrying about Liam, or Drake, or anyone else, for that matter. How do you feel? What did you feel when you saw Walker?”

She stared back at her best friend, twisting her ring. “Nothing. I mean, I felt sad for us, and going back to the cabin, to the last place I saw Tho- … him was extremely hard. But I feel absolutely nothing for Drake anymore.”

Olivia squinted at her. “Please, Alexis. You saw Drake again. The man that we know you loved like crazy, who you shared your life with for five years, and you pretend that you didn’t feel anything? You’re shaking, for Christ’s sake. You need to talk, darling.”

Alexis turned to Maxwell for support, but he shrugged. “I don’t approve of her brutal interrogation techniques, but I agree with her; you had to feel something, Lexie. That doesn’t mean you’re being disloyal to Li.”

She dropped the glass on the table and stood up, angrily looking for her coat and purse. “I have no feelings for him anymore. Nothing. He left me without a fucking regret.”

Maxwell shook his head. “You know that’s not exactly true, Blossom. You know why he left.”

Alexis was furious. “I can’t even believe what I’m hearing. If you’ll excuse me, the man that loves me, that I love, is worried sick waiting for me. Have a good night.”

She left, slamming the door.

Liam spent the afternoon working in his office in Cordonia. He was very satisfied with the deal he had made with Francesco and the Italian government. He had already succeeded in making Valtoria the richest duchy in Cordonia, and his new goal was to transform it into the most successful business center on the Mediterranean coast.

While he was searching for the contracts, he came across the invitation Bertrand had given him for his fifth wedding anniversary party. He was in quite a conundrum; on the one hand, it would be inappropriate for them not to show up. Bertrand was his number two, his closest employee. On the other hand, Drake was back in Cordonia, and he was surely going to go too; after all, Savannah was his sister.

His memory drifted back to that day at the clinic. He had been so confident that it was the right thing to do that he hadn’t doubted his actions, but now he wasn’t so sure about it. Drake’s grief still haunted him. He wondered how their “reunion” had gone. He decided to cut his day short and go check on Alexis.

Her job as a freelance translator allowed her to work from wherever she wanted, but she spent most of her time in her city’s loft. Liam hoped she would easily accept her new role as the duchess of Valtoria when the time came, but he was aware that it was going to be a tough adjustment. As much as she tried to hide it, the weekly royal etiquette lessons she took with Regina were torture for her.

She was already in her room when he got home. He undressed and went to join her in bed. When she sensed his presence, she turned around and laid her head on his chest.

He caressed her face with the back of his hand. “How did it go, my love?” he asked softly.

“As bad as expected, but I don’t want to talk about it, Li.” She looked for his lips, and he immediately kissed her back.

He needed to claim her as much as she needed to forget. He took off her silky robe and made love to her passionately and lovingly, trying to make her forget about everything else.

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

Drake sat in front of the fireplace with Savannah's invitation in his hand. He refused to go back to those days where alcohol was the only thing he used to numb the pain. He let himself get lost in the flames while he thought about them, about all the nights they had spent exploring each other in front of that same fireplace. About all the stories she had read to him while she snuggled on his lap. And now that life was gone, and she was with Liam.

With Liam.

When Savannah had called him all those months ago, he had refused to believe it, but then she had sent him their picture in an email, and everything had fallen into place. Especially that last day at her clinic.

Well, if she could move on, he could do it too. He had a new life, a new job, and was dating someone new.

He had come back to Cordonia determined to get a semblance of a life back. He knew himself well enough to realize that he would never love again, or at least never with the same force, with the same intensity, but if he was going to fulfill the promise he had made at his grave, he needed a new life.

The job he had gotten at Ezequiel’s clinic was the first step; dating Kiara was step two. He wondered if he would truly forget her one day if one day he would wake up to realize she didn’t occupy his every thought. He certainly hoped so; she was marrying Liam soon.

A new family or kids weren’t even a possibility. He might forget Alexis one day, but he would never forget about Tom.

Tagging: @ao719 @yukinagato2012 @kingliam2019 @texaskitten30 @cordonia-gothqueen @bebepac @nomadics-stuff @hopefulmoonobject @gardeningourmet

Permatag: @ac27dj @twinkle-320 @kimmiedoo5 @marshmallowsandfire @loveellamae @burnsoslow @mskaneko @pedudley @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore @lauzales @pug-bitch

#tears in heaven #tw death #tw depression #tw suicide #axwalker writes

86 notes · View notes

kaitycole · 4 years ago

Text

Changes in Attitude (Part 2)

Summary: Jackson lets his mind wonder back to his days in Cordonia.

Word Count: 3178

Pairings: Constantine x Eleanor, Eleanor x Jackson, Jackson x Bianca

Warnings: Mention of s*x, Mention of pregnancy, Mention of violence, Mention of arguing, Mention of alcohol

A/N: In this series/universe, Constantine had -one- social season where he chose Liana and then just had a courtship with Eleanor.

Song Choice: Fall Apart by Post Malone

Part 13.5 of WP. To catch up read here.

Tag List: @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore @kingliam2019 @texaskitten30 @glaimtruelovealways @bobasheebaby @bascmve01 @burnsoslow @the-everlasting-dream @ao719 @sirbeepsalot @janezillow @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @kimmiedoo5 @choices97 @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @lodberg @edgiestwinter @marshmallowsandfire @hopefulmoonobject @iaminlovewithtrr @cordonianroyalty

For the next several weeks, the royal family spent more time together than ever before. Constantine seemed to really mean that he wanted to start over and made it a point to be finished with his daily tasks by dinner. On the nights when he was held up late, he also made up for it the next day. There had even been some days where Constantine allowed the boys to leave tutoring early; Leo immediately went to hang out with Bertrand and Damien but Liam often hung out with his dad. Twice a month, the five of them sat down for game night; making sure to rotate which game they played.

As for Eleanor and Constantine, they had their weekly dessert date, which sometimes was just them sitting and talking; sharing small details about themselves that had gotten skipped over during their brief courtship. The royal couple spent a huge majority of their time out in the courtyard with the children; Eleanor expressed her idea of the courtyard being turned into a garden with a hedge maze.

Over those weeks, the palace grew to see the old King Constantine. The one who believed in love. Some guards swore they heard the king whistling through the halls whereas maids gushed about how the queen turned a shade of scarlet every time the king came by. It was a nice change of pace for everyone in the palace and there were even whispers about the possibility of a new prince or princess.

Even with the new atmosphere, there was one guardsman who wasn’t thrilled at the new attitude of the king. Jackson couldn’t believe how quickly things had changed between El and Constantine as well as her and him. He wants to be happy for her, that she’s getting what she deserves, but his jealousy keeps getting in the way. He thought there was a spark between them during their talk in the courtyard, however it didn’t seem like it now.

Jackson is waiting by the courtyard gate when Eleanor finally heads his way to return inside. Constantine likes her idea to turn the old courtyard into a garden, so she often sat outside sketching different plans.

“Oh, Officer Walker.” She jumps back, not expecting to see him.

“Queen Eleanor,” he bows.

She looks around, “Would you escort me to my study, Officer Walker?” Lately it seems that the queen has more work since Constantine spent more time with her; he asks more of her opinion on diplomatic matters.

“Of course, your majesty.”

They walk in silence, both knowing whatever he wanted to talk about didn’t need extra ears. Her heart starts to thump loudly in her chest, was she nervous? Or ashamed? Maybe it was a mixture of both, whatever it was though, she didn’t like it.

“Thank you, Officer Walker.” She smiles at him, but he keeps looking at the ground.

“El…” He trails off, he knows he’s getting emotional.

She chews on her lip, there was never any intention on hurting him. The atmosphere that surrounds them is similar to one of a break up causing both of their hearts to break.

“Officer Walker…” Her voice breaks, this isn’t something she wants to do, “I think it’s best…”

“No!” He raises his voice to cut her off, “You don’t need to do this.”

“Whatever we thought was there, just isn’t…”

“Stop, El. You’re not thinking straight.”

“It’s best we go back to before.”

“It’s not just your call, El!”

She slams her hands down on the desk, “I’m trying to protect you! Why can’t you understand that?”

“Because I’m the one who swore an oath to protect you, not the other way around.”

“When I lied to the KING about a court rumor, that was my oath of protection. For you and your family.” She turns to face him, anger covering her face.

“I never asked you to lie.”

Tears cloud her vision as she slams her fists into his chest. “He would’ve killed you, Jackson,” she begins to sob, “I couldn’t bare losing you that way.”

He pulls her into him, letting her cry into his chest. Could he ever truly protect her? If Constantine found out she lied, there’d be consequences and Jackson was the reason she had to lie. Maybe she was right about them keeping their distance. Going back Queen Eleanor and Officer Walker.

“Is this all why you’ve been keeping up with the king’s charade?” Jackson had assumed that Eleanor had fell Constantine’s new attitude, but now he thought that he might’ve been wrong. That she was just going through with it to keep him safe.

“His charade? You can’t be serious about that.” She knew Constantine’s behavior flipped drastically, but he has been consistent and that’s what matters most to her. And in her defense, they were both married and she saw nothing wrong with trying to make things work with her husband; the same thing that she thought he should be doing with Bianca.

“He’s just playing you. You’re smart enough to know that.”

“Don’t say that!”

He shakes his head, “It’s true. You just won’t let yourself see it.”

“Why are you being like this Jackson?”

“Or are you just too blind by the possibility of having another child that you choose to ignore the signs?”

“I can’t believe you would say that. Not even because it’s towards the queen, but because you are speaking to me.”

“I can’t believe you are acting so stupid!”

Eleanor raises her hand and strikes it across Jackson’s cheek. Never in her life would she have thought Jackson would speak to her like that. It was no one’s business how she acted to or around her husband, especially not a guardsman.

“Is there an issue here?”

Neither of them had heard the door open or the man step into her study. Immediately she tried to think of how much he could’ve heard, hoping all she worked hard to protect didn’t unravel. He walks further into the room, stepping close to Eleanor’s side; almost in a territorial manner.

“No issue, just a slight misunderstanding.” Eleanor puts on her diplomatic smile, “Right, Officer Walker?”

“Right, your highness.”

“What kind of misunderstanding did you have?” Constantine is genuinely curious, up until now he didn’t know his wife and lead guardsman were on such talking terms.

“Officer Walker disagreed with how I handled a guardsman situation,” she pauses before elaborating, “I dismissed my nightly guard leaving, myself in here unguarded. He felt it wasn’t an appropriate call to make.”

“And that warranted a slap? He was simply doing his job which is to make sure you’re protected at all times.”

Eleanor and Jackson share a look. How many times would they hear or say the word “protected”.

“I came off more aggressive than I should have, sir.”

“Regardless, I am extremely sorry for my reaction, Officer Walker.”

“It’s quite alright, Queen Eleanor.” Jackson bows in front of both of them before leaving the study.

“Are you feeling well, love?”

She looks up at him, tears in her eyes, “What?”

“I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay. You’ve had a few outbursts lately.”

He wasn’t wrong, while the two biggest outbursts she’s had were at the ball and today, lately she has been snappy and short with people. She wasn’t sure at all where this irritability was coming from.

“I’m pretty sure it’s just stress.”

Constantine’s face drops, immediately feeling he was to blame. Before now, he made sure to handle most of the royal affairs but he wanted to share that with Ellie now. He no longer wanted to hole up in his office when he could spend some of that time with her and finish sooner to spend time with his family. He always had trust towards her, if he hadn’t they wouldn’t be married. But now he allowed matters involving budgets and local disputes to land on her desk as well. Though now, he felt he was causing her more harm than he intended.

“Forgive me,” he drops to a knee, grabbing her hands, “This is all my fault.”

“I’m fine, I swear it.”

He doesn’t stand up, instead she watches him crumble. A few tears fall from his eyes, him truly taking all the blame onto himself. Feelings as though these few added tasks had been taking a huge toll on her.

“I should’ve asked if you could handle those tasks, if you even wanted them.” He sniffs his nose before wiping his cheek, “I put more on your plate than a husband should.”

She tugs on his hands so that he stands up and she wraps her arms around his waist. His head hangs down next to hers; he whispers ‘I’m sorry’ over and over into her ear.

“Connie, it’s not your fault.” She unwraps her arms and lifts his head up so she can meet his eyes, “If I felt I couldn’t do those things, I would’ve told you.”

His face turns red, feeling completely embarrassed. Not only did he fall apart in front of her, but he implied she wasn’t strong. He’s slightly startled when she gently wipes his cheeks before smiling at him. “I don’t deserve your kindness, I was awful to you for years.”

“Everyone deserves a second chance, sweetheart.”

He leans into her and presses his lips to hers. While the couple has been more intimate than usual, the most they’ve done is hold hands, hug and a few kisses on the cheeks. Other than that, the two haven’t shared an actual kiss in some time. For a second, he thought he overstepped, hoping the display wasn’t awkward for her. All those thoughts vanish when Eleanor grabs the lapel of his suit and deepens their kiss. To increase his surprise, she pushes her tongue between his lips. He wraps his arms around her waist as she deepens the kiss even further.

The couple pulls apart, breathlessly. Being intimate hadn’t crossed his mind in weeks, but after that heated kiss, it was the only thing on it. He didn’t want to bring it up though, afraid of pushing things too far.

She looks up at him and bites her lip, knowing exactly what he’s thinking by the look he’s giving her. Walking over, she shoves a stack of paper off her desk.

“Ellie!”

“You said I have too much on my plate.” She winks before letting out a squeal as he picks her up.

“I admire the creativity, but I’d prefer a different venue.” He walks out of her study; carrying her over his shoulder.

She huffs loudly enough for him to hear her.

“Next time, my love.”

She lets out a giggle as she tries to cover her bright red face. She may feel lonely in the palace, but the amount of guards posted around it didn’t actually allow her to be alone.

Constantine clears his throat as they approach their sleeping quarters, “You are both dismissed for the evening.”

“Yes sir.”

“Didn’t I just get told not to dismiss guards?” She playfully crosses her arms and makes an angry face.

“Yes, but you were alone.” He kicks off his dress shoes before wrapping his arms around her waist, “I’d like to make love to my wife without prying ears.”

Blushing, she begins walking backwards, pulling him down with her onto the bed.

* *

When Jackson leaves the study, he doesn’t immediately go home. While it seems that Eleanor could easily switch off her feelings for him, the same couldn’t be said for him. He loves her and he meant that. Constantine didn’t deserve her, his treatment recently might’ve changed, but Jackson knew he’d go back to his old ways before long.

He constantly thinks back to their secret meet-ups, their exchanged glances, the kiss before the ball, the way she felt when he held her at the ball and he couldn’t allow himself to think it was all in his head. There’s no way it was all one-sided, right?

Shaking his head, he walks to the pier at the edge of his property. He used to come here when he needed to unwind from work, but nowadays he’s here every night. Hoping that maybe El will come back like she did before; the night she told him she shared his feelings. Tossing a rock into the water, it plops as soon as it hits the surface. His mind is completely wrapped up his thoughts about Eleanor that he doesn’t hear the person coming up behind him.

“Jack?”

Startled, he turns around and sees his wife looking at him intently. He doesn’t say anything, to be honest he isn’t sure he could form a sentence if he tried.

“Is everything okay?”

“Why do you ask?”

She looks at him with a puzzled expression, “Well, for one you stay at here all hours of the night and then when you finally come home, you drink until you pass out on the couch. The kids never see you; you’re gone before they wake up and they’re asleep when you come home.”

“Guess I’m just a shitty parent, huh?”

“I didn’t say that, but they miss you, Jackson. Drake really wants to see his father.”

He shakes his head, irritated. He’s irritated with El, himself, Bianca, just everything and everyone. The whole reason they moved here was so he could give his family a good life, yet that same job was taking his family away.

“I’m just stressed, I’m sorry.”

She gives him a small smile before she sits down next to him. “I know I don’t understand everything about your job, but maybe you could take some time off. The kids would love seeing you for a few days.”

He lets out a deep breath when she feels Bianca rest her head on his shoulder. She’s right, he did need to see his children more and maybe a few days away from the palace would do him some good. If Eleanor wants to repair her marriage and ignore her feelings, there was nothing stopping him from doing the same.

“I’ll speak to the king tomorrow. Let’s head inside.”

As they open the cabin door, they see two little brunette children attempt to run and hide. It was close to 1AM, far past both of their bedtimes.

“Drake Thomas and Savannah Jane!”

They both stop and look at each other; immediately they begin to blame the other for getting caught.

“That’s enough, what are you doing out of bed?”

Savannah looks at Drake who tries to hide a nod before she puts on her best puppy dog eyed look, “We miss Daddy.” She even pokes her bottom lip out for added flare. Bianca looks at her daughter, unimpressed since she sees it daily, but it melts Jackson and he becomes putty in their hands. Just as they planned. Bianca shakes her head at her husband who is now squatting down in front of them.

“I miss you, Vannah. And you too, Drake.” He wraps them both into a hug, he smiles when he feels them wrap their arms back around him.

“Alright you two schemers, let’s get back to bed.”

“But Mom!” Drake protests.

“That’s enough of that, son. If you go to bed now, you can skill tutoring tomorrow. Both of you.”

“Jack…”

“Because Dad is staying home all day.”

The kids squeeze him tighter before jumping up and down. After goodnight kisses and hugs, the two trot off down the hall back into their rooms.

* *

The return to work feels weird for Jackson. Two weeks away makes him feel as if it’s first day on the job. He’s resumed his everyday tasks, though he is surprised to learn Bastien was the one who temporarily replaced him. Timothy caught him up on everything and Jackson was a tad shocked when he learned he wasn’t asked back early even though the royal family took a trip to Fydelia.

“How was the vacation?”

“Surprisingly relaxing. It was nice to spend time with the kids.”

“And Bianca?” Timothy nudges his shoulder causing Jackson to chuckle, shaking his head,

“We really need to get you someone.” Jackson jokes.

“Oh c’mon, you seem to be in a hell of a better mood that the last few months.”

“There was some adult time,” he laughs, “But after all day with the kids, I was exhausted most days. I don’t know how she does it every day.”

Their conversation is interrupted by laughter and squealing. Jackson looks to Timothy who seems completely unfazed much to his surprise.

“You’ll see.” Timothy laughs as they continue walking. Soon they are watching the scene and Jackson isn’t what to think.

Queen Eleanor has a huge smile on her face as she tries to catch her breath from laughing and running. He assumes that she’s playing with Liam but does a double take when he realizes that it’s Constantine. Constantine scoops her up and twirls her around as she bursts into a fit of giggles. With her still in his arms, he backs into a wall and kisses her while she wraps her arms around his neck.

“I thought you said nothing strange happens while I was gone?” Jackson wants to looks away, but he can’t.

“They’ve been like this for weeks.” Timothy lowers his voice, “And based off how many times he’s excused the guards for the two of them to have privacy, I’d say we’re looking at welcoming another heir soon.”

It felt as if someone had just punched him in the stomach and he takes a step back. He assumed that over those two weeks without seeing her that he was over her, but clearly the saying was true: you weren’t truly over someone until you could see them and not feel anything.

“I really should go look at ,” she interrupts him with a kiss, “the proposal for the new treaty.”

“Another stuffy treaty. Can’t it wait?” She pouts.

“I wish, my love. I’ll be all yours tonight.” He kisses her on the forehead before untangling himself from her. He waves as he walks back towards his office and she watches him until he’s inside.

Letting out a sigh, she begins walking back towards where Timothy and Jackson have been standing.

“Your Highness.” Timothy bows.

She lets out a gasp, clearly not expecting anyone to be in the grand hall. Her face begins to burn, thinking about how much they could’ve seen.

“We just walked down here. Only stopped to address you, ma’am.” He elbows Jackson, “Right Walker?”

“Oh…uh…uhm…yes.” He stumbles over his words, immediately telling Eleanor they had seen the whole display. Part of him wishes he could’ve lied better to protect her feelings, but the other part of him is glad he couldn’t. He wants her to feel the way he does, the aching feeling in his chest.

She clears her throat, “Well, I should get going.” She starts to leave before stopping, “I hope you enjoyed your time off, Officer Walker. The palace wasn’t the same without you.”

36 notes · View notes

buuttercup · 4 years ago

Text

My laziness needs to end and this weekend needs to absolutely not happen. I do stupid things when I'm bored. I dangle my carrot in front of anyone I can as if that will make me feel okay. When I speak to anyone about B and I, I say I'm doing better than I am; I don't say we've fucked, obviously, because that's fucking laughable; I say I know I'll be able to find someone better for me, even though I don't think that's true; I say I'm never going back to him, even though I want to every day and every second. Everything I say is the antithesis of what is actually true. And that's fucking typical.

This new guy I've been talking to must find me so cringe, always posting vain photos and videos of myself now. I can't be bothered with what he thinks of me other than his opinions on my appearance but I want to see him again just to see. It's kind of funny how calculated and predictable it all is, my process of trying to heal after a breakup. I reduce myself every time. Feeding off attention from people that do not matter serves no one. Fucking randoms, promising things I can't keep, frivolous spending, painting myself to be more okay than I am. It’s all methodical.

I'm so fake on top of my shit and drowning in responsibilities I'm avoiding, but I don't really know what I'm waiting for? I wake up and run through a list of the things I need to take care of, but I'm still in the mindset I was when I was in 4th grade: convinced I will die at a young age, so why bother? I can't explain why I used to feel this way but I always felt I was meant to die at a young age, almost like I wanted that for myself. An escape to avoid the pain adulthood and wisdom bestows on you.

Myriad relationships with past friends and lovers have been reemerging as of late. I should be gracious of these people reaching out, as it comes from a place of love, but I actually hate it. These people from the past are all reminders of a version of myself that had less fortitude and self respect. That version of myself has admittedly become a victim of the harsh voice I speak to myself in. How stupid could you be? To be convinced that I found my one and only so early in life, right under my nose. I held onto him because I thought his lack of experiences would guarantee his loyalty and devotion. I thought, "I'll show him all that he hasn't seen or felt. I'll make him obsessed with me. I will secure my place in his heart." Naive and reluctant to the idea of him stepping outside of me. I am so tired of feeling not enough and making myself to be this diminutive version of myself that does not exist.

I have nothing to hide... except all the things I have to hide. Such as the shame and degradation I bring onto myself.

My life is sickeningly ironic at this point. Laughably, actually. My roommate has started up with a new boy. It's heart eyes, cuddling, and coffee made by 7am type of love right now. I'm not jealous. I don't want the guy. I'm not bitter about the fact that she keeps comparing her experiences with this guy with me and B. (I miss the ring 'me and B' had to it.) I'm really not. What I have been clinging onto however, are the parallels in her feelings and spoken words about this guy in comparison to my guy. Memories of excitement and lightheartedness can only be recalled as though it was another person living through them. I can't imagine myself boo'd up, laughing, secured... enamored with someone at all. Much less B. It's like, who was that that was living through all that sweetness? The irony lies in me knowing that that sweetness is what I'm holding onto. They are my favorite scenes from my favorite movie that I keep rewinding. Experiences unique to me n B. Although I'm broken, I can't dismiss the love and care B showed me. There’s a reason why I stuck by him for as long as I did, and there's a reason why I was more than happy to for the rest of my life. To make myself ashamed of the love I experienced with this person is wrong of me to do. I won't lie; it does hurt to see her so happy and nonetheless compare my happiness and optimism to what she feels. I promised to myself that I wouldn't project any of my own negativity and cynicism onto her.

This season isn't about he and I. It's about me.

Every moment I spend not working or working out feels like a waste. Even when I’m deep in my most depressing and lonely thoughts, I feel like I should be working out.

I think sick things. I think sick things to convince myself to be okay with what he did or.. the exact opposite.. to convince myself to banish this person from my heart forever. I asked him, when did you do this? Where? Did you show yourself? Either situation feeds into my insidious thoughts. If he showed himself, he shared his beauty and had that connection with someone else. They saw him and he saw them. I try to put myself in his shoes in that moment, I think, "well at east if he showed himself, I know human tendencies and that everyone looks at themselves during most of a video call, right?? At least he was probably looking at his own dick part of the time?? Yeah, at least he wasn't entirely focused on another body during that entire time.." The other option is that he wasn't on cam, and that is was only her. Still shit. To think of him being so primal and lusting for other parts, another body, anther person, kills me. I am too obsessed with the superficial connections he had with other people, but that is only because I feel THAT IS ALL I HAVE TO OFFER! I fooled myself into believing his lack of experience would minimize his hunger for other women, because I assumed he didn't know what else was out there. I assumed he would see me and have me and that that would be enough. We told each other about our past; I was his first serious girlfriend, I thought at the time, so I felt safe in the delusion that I wasn’t competing with memories of someone before me. I ransacked all parts of him in search of safety and fidelity. Nothing I thought about him was true.

And yet, I’m the I am still so hungry for him. He is more than his beautiful exterior; I crave his voice, his comfort, pragmatism, and his warmth. I have never given love an honest go like this. All my time spent with him was always sweet; I never felt blessed in my life, but I felt that way with him. I am convinced I won't ever be able to find what I found in him in anyone else. The narrative that there is only one person made for us is naive and impractical, but I really do feel that way with him. He checks my social media often; I know that. I am scared for the day it all ends because I know that when that day comes, I will not be in the same place. I will still be waiting. Perhaps it's my self cruelty speaking for my whole self, but I honestly believe I will always be waiting for him. I thought I'd be the same way with Leo. I was scary scary obsessed with him. Hastily convinced that this is the person for me; there are still times I think that... but all those fallacies are crowded out the second I think of B. Am I missing being loved or and I missing being loved by this person? How could I have aggrandized someone so small and immature? Who am I even talking about?? All of them.

Hearing of my mother's heartbreak is more painful than listening to my own. I don't think B has any idea of the ripples of pain he's caused around me. When I speak to my mom, I hear the hopeless romantic in her. She is waiting for this guy to prove himself in ways my father never could. She speaks about he and I as if she knows and wants for us to get back together again. She is waiting for a grand gesture, as was I. She is waiting to see if this guy will prove to be different, in ways my father could never be. I think she wants that just for my own sanity, so I don't go off to asume every man will only disappoint me. It's too late for that. Although I already believe that of men, part of me is still holding out for this person. Why was I robbed of my happiness and future experiences with this person??

I get so bitter when I start to think of everything I missed out on with B. Every relationship I see makes me think of what could’ve been. I'm like, that fucker didn't even get to see me dance, get to feel me grind on him while we were out, he didn't get to feel me eat his ass and suck him raw like I wanted, he didn't get to see me actually dolled up in that dress I saved for just him, he didn't get to feel me fully, we didn't get to vacation together, he didn't get to have the full me. Is that why this all happened? I get so angry at all that he didn't get to experience with me, as if it's my own fault that he's not trying as hard as I want him to be. A larger part of myself is convinced that he didn't get to experience these things with me because he didn't deserve to. I am so ready to put myself on display, to serve myself on a platter. The second I am made to be the fool, I carry the blame on my back as if it was my own faults that put us here. I feel this is the only way someone will see me and want me and only me. This will never be true; it's not like I want this to be my narrative, I really think it is though. If I'm not waiting for B to be at my door, I'm waiting for the day to be fully healed; neither seems reachable. Am I feeling this way because he is actually the one that is meant for me or because I've never been betrayed to this degree, and I'm yearning for an absolution? Way beyond the clouds is where I'll find my answer, by the time my head is light and empty enough to float high enough to find these answers, I think it will be too late. Every day, every second I have to fight myself to call him, to tell him to come over, to let him know about his secured spot in my heart. I can’t do that because I know it’s not true. It was not true with Leo, and although I know it’s unfair to compare B with L, both are in the same category; undeserving of me. A part of me wishes I could rush his growth so that it would alleviate some of the shame I might receive from getting back with him but I know that’s selfish. More of me wants the whole process to be rushed because I believe what we had was unique and beautiful and that it was the security that he and I deserved. The idea that he still wants me too makes it all worth it. I will be taken for granted again if that were to happen though. My feelings of heartbreak aren’t unique; I know I have felt this way before, and I might feel this way again.

I feel the ghost of his hand on my waist all the time.

#screwdriver diaries #paletas #i hope he stopped checking my blog tho

11 notes · View notes

msjr0119 · 5 years ago

Text

We Belong

Part 8

Evangeline Bruley returns to Cordonia to take over her families Duchy. She was betrothed to the now King, however he is engaged to Duchess Riley but still has lingering feelings towards his first love. What will happen during her time back in Cordonia?

Just using combined tag list- if you want to be removed just let me know 😊

@pedudley @kacie-0156 @loveellamae @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs @yukinagato2012 @dcbbw @qammh-blog @nz1091 @cordonianroyalty @custaroonie @seriouslybadchoices @rainbowsinthestorm @princess-geek @jared2612 @desiree---1986 @gardeningourmet @twinkle-320 @queenjilian @forthebrokenheartedthings-blog @princessleac1 @scarletreesex

Warnings: Swearing, alcohol abuse, mention of murder, potential murder. Long chapter- sorry! There’s lots of skipping time...

*****

“Oh really Bast. Care to explain why I was the reasoning behind my husbands death?” Denial had set in, as it had done all these years- providing a confident smirk she couldn’t wait for the guard to elaborate on his assumption.

“Your problem with alcohol, Bi. He was too worried about you and your children’s welfare that he wasn’t concentrating that day... he failed the royal family...” Letting out a sinister laugh, Bastien looked at her frustratedly- he knew the real Bianca and this wasn’t her. When he had first met her, she welcomed everyone into her family home- she mothered everyone, she put her family as number one priority.

“Fuck the royal family. They wouldn’t give him time off, that’s why he died...he was tired... I don’t see how it was my fault. Then the Bruleys stole my kids off me...” Knowing whatever he said, she was going to respond with denial- but he needed to defend the people that were there when she wasn’t even if it took him the rest of his life for it to sink in.

“They did no such thing! They were good people who looked after your children along with the King and Queen. All because you cared more about the booze. Now I will escort you to a spare room. Then you will go home to Texas.”

“I’m here for the wedding, and to see my children and my grandson.”

“You have never cared about them. So what is the real reason as to why you are here?” To bring down the crown, and Evangeline. I’m not the only one- let’s hope your tired and not concentrating during this important event, head guard.

*****

Evie began to stir, dreaming about her passionate night with Drake- she didn’t want to wake up. Feeling content with her life at the moment, in her dreams and thoughts she regretted wasting all these years without Drake as they are now. Wondering what their future held, could they be happy like all their friends are? Was Toby cheating on her fate? Was him and Kiara not working through their relationship fate? Was all of Olivia’s meddling fate? The answer to all those questions were, yes- and now she couldn’t wait to finally settle down. The strong scent of whiskey surrounded her waking her up from her slumber, blinking as she checked her phone she realised that it was only 7am. Too early for drinking, seriously Drake?Turning around there was no sign of Drake- suddenly she was alert and awake, wondering where he was and where the sudden smell of whiskey had vanished to. Putting the satin babydoll dress on, she took some painkillers before searching for Drake.

“Hey, what are you doing out of bed?” Facing away from her, he could sense her presence as soon as she entered the kitchen- pouring her a coffee, he eventually turned around giving her the newly brewed drink and a kiss on the cheek.

“I wondered where you was. I smelt whiskey...” But it’s not you. Am I dreaming about whiskey now?

“Must be your imagination. I know Olivia thinks that I’m an alcoholic but I know it’s too early to have a drink. Although I feel drunk around you when you are wearing that...” Damn these painkillers must be strong, imagining whiskey. She was snapped out of her thoughts as Drake lifted her up on to the table.

“Can your imagination predict what I’m about to do to you Duchess?”

*****

Liam woke up debating what to do about Bianca, internal thoughts battled against each other- not knowing which was the right path to follow. There was a slight bit of jealously that his friend was with his childhood sweetheart, but he cared for Drake- and didn’t want to ruin his happiness or friendship. Besides he had a beautiful fiancée and child on its way.

“Li?”

“Sorry, did I disturb you?”

“No... okay - yes you did. You’ve been fidgety all night. Is it because of Tariq’s and Neville’s funerals next week or because of Drakes mom?”

“Both. Especially Bianca. I can’t tell Drake and Savannah that she’s here. But I can’t send her away whilst she’s like this.” Liam wrapped his arm around Riley, hoping that she could help him decide on what to do. Drake had briefly informed her about his relationship with his family- how she ran away when life got tough, then how Savannah did the same. But he failed to mention to her that his mother was an alcoholic- Riley now realised that it was probably to do with embarrassment, or to protect himself and Savannah.

“How long has she been like this? Did it start when Jackson died?”

“No. I think we was about ten when she became dependent on the alcohol. Her sister was on the verge of losing their ranch, she couldn’t cope with Jackson working long hours. Two days before he passed away, she showed herself up in front of Evie’s parents- they took Drake and Savannah in for the night. I don’t know what to do Ri. Do I tell them or not?” In the back of her mind she believed that he should inform them of their mothers impromptu visit- especially to warn them. But on the other hand would that warning cause trouble, she didn’t want her to become a burden on everyone especially Drake. She was thinking about why people had left her to continue struggling with the addiction and why no one had convinced her to attempt counselling and rehab.

“When’s Savannah and Bertrand back?”

“They are coming back for the wedding. I’m not sure the exact date, as far as I’m aware they are returning the night before. She seems to only show up back here when it’s a special occasion.” Hearing a knock on the door, Liam immediately shot out of bed. Ready to berate whoever it was.

“Sir? Sorry to disturb you so early. I have some bad news.”

“Is it Bianca? What has she done now?”

“No, she’s sleeping. It’s your father. He passed away in the night. I’m so sorry, Liam.”

*****

The King father’s funeral took place a few days after his death- the whole country were in silence, mourning their “beloved” ex monarch. Shock was also a common expression throughout the country- the only people that was aware of his illness was his family, but they believed he had a longer lifespan- so were all also shocked at the news. Liam and Leo supported their step mother throughout the ceremony, she explained how Constantine wasn’t thrilled about Riley being his choice- but he would have loved to be at the wedding and support them.

Tariq’s and Neville’s funerals were quick and short. Many people providing crocodile tears- the two men were despised within court, but the majority of people just attended out of curiosity. Hoping that the truth regarding their deaths would come alight. Liam provided a speech, not wanting to criticise the deceased instead turning negative factors about their lives into positive ones. Many ‘mourners’ now expressed the same expression- grimace but deep down were relieved.

*****

Liam and Riley had decided to postpone their wedding due to all the deaths that had unexpectedly occurred- it was now taking place two months later than its original date. It was a hard decision to make, especially as Riley was beginning to grow a slight baby bump. They were due to go for her first scan today, if everything was adequate with the baby’s health- they had decided to announce it at their wedding rehearsal dinner that was taking place later that night.

“Your majesty, Duchess Riley. Are you both ready to see your baby?” They both nodded, both excited but also nervous at the same time. Liam had believed that when he was younger that this would have been him and Evie. Now it was reality with Riley, his fiancée- he understood that fate had a way of changing destiny, in a positive way. He was finally getting the family that he had always dreamt of- with everything that had happened the last few weeks, this was now something positive to look forward to, not only for himself and Riley but also for Cordonia. Holding her hand, he slowly began to lose his usual stoic expression- worrying about this, as most new parents would do.

“Are you okay?” Riley asked cupping his cheek, knowing that he wasn’t as his whole body was tense.

“Yes love. I love you both. I’m just nervous.”

“We love you too daddy.” Hearing her say this made it finally sink in- he was going to be a father.

Placing the gel onto her stomach, Riley flinched at the sudden coldness even though she had a pre warning. After a while, they heard noises escape the machine- both their eyes formed tears as they looked at their child for the first time.

“The baby is fine, all measuring correctly. Is there anything you’d like to ask?”

“No.” They said in unison, both jaws nearly hitting the ground- disbelief still surrounding their minds that they had created this little miracle.

“I love you my Queen, are you ready to go back. We can then announce to everyone our news.” Looking at the photo, she traced her fingers along it.

“Yes, lets hope our closest friends can act surprised.”

*****

Everyone arrived at the rehearsal dinner, they had decided to add an American tradition for the Queen to be. The guests all congratulated the happy couple, all looking forward for the nuptials that were taking place the next day.

“Drakey!” Bianca ran up to her son, he wasn’t sure how to react. The anger towards her that lingered every day since his childhood. The confusion as to why she was here. The frustration that she was drunk as always. Placing his arm around Evie he whispered in her ear, I’ll see you in a bit- I need to sort her out. Evie was hesitant about leaving him, knowing how she ruined his childhood as well as Savannah’s- but eventually agreed. Kissing her on the cheek, he had hoped that his mother’s visit was just a flying visit and that she would become non existent again.

“What are you doing here?” For the first time in a couple months- his infamous scowl had returned.

“No kiss for me, but a kiss for the little bitch who’s parents tried ruin your life- her parents who tried to take you and your sister away from me.”

“They did no such thing.”

“Oh please tell me you and Evangeline aren’t....”

“What if we were? It’s none of your business. I love her, Mom. Now answer my question. Why are you here?”

“I’m here for Liam’s wedding obviously. You can’t love her. Would you love her if your father didn’t stop the arrangement?”

“Im actually surprised you’ve turned up, oh silly me- you only come back for special occasions that provide a free bar. I loved her when she was in that arrangement. I am going to spend time with the woman that I love, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t follow me.”

“Oh Drake, let me in to a little secret.... I killed Michaela and Alexander. Alcohol and driving doesn’t mix. I paid someone to cover my tracks. Why do you think I insisted that you came to Texas when the was funeral taking place? Who do you think started those rumours off about the Bruleys- the rumours that turned everyone against them. I’m not leaving Cordonia- it would be a shame for anything to happen to poor little Evie. Goodnight son, I’ll see you at the wedding.”

Evie had been watching the interaction between Drake and Bianca from a distance- noticing how his expressions were originally anger but confident, then how it turned into shock.

“Hey handsome.” Fuck, I need to protect her.

“Evie I can’t be with you... I’m so sorry.” Evie’s eyes widened, immediately searching for Maxwell- assuming that he would be stood in the corner laughing at this practical joke. Trying to convince herself that this was something Maxwell would do for entertainment. There was no other explanation as to why their relationship should abruptly end.

“Excuse me?” Were the only words she managed to express, as Drake looked at her with sorrow in his eyes.

“My mom has some vendetta against you. I can’t ....”

“Yeah I heard you Drake. You can’t be with me...” Not realising how loud she was, everyone turned their heads towards the two of them. “How could you humiliate me like this? What was I Drake? Just a fuck? To get back at Liam for stealing the girl you love?”

“No. I love you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Too late.” Fighting the tears back was proving a difficult task, hoping that this conversation wasn’t ruining the night for her friends. Remaining in silence, she couldn’t comprehend what was happening- Drake tried to comfort her, but she pushed him away.

“Is everything okay?” Bianca asked as she smirked at Evie, before standing next to Drake placing her hand on his shoulder. Grimacing at his Mom, he brushed her away from him- not wanting to be anywhere near her.

“The best mother and actress award goes to Bianca Walker. See ya around Drake.” Regretting what he had done, he was undecided whether to follow her or not. Deciding how to grovel for forgiveness. Bianca watched Evie storm out of the room, with Olivia following her- she knew Nevrakis wouldn’t be an issue. Her focus was to brainwash her son against them all. Maybe get him on her side to accomplish her vengeance.

“Don’t worry about her. All these nobles care about are themselves. Come back to Texas with me darling. Where you belong.”

“You got what you wanted Mom. Why couldn’t you die instead of dad? I hate you. You are not my mom anymore, goodbye Bianca- enjoy the flight back to Texas on your own.”

*****

The day after the disastrous rehearsal dinner was the wedding of the century, all of Cordonia was relieved that this day had finally arrived.

Leo and Drake went up to Liam’s study, both already suited and booted.

“Don’t you both look dashing. Are you both trying to upstage me?”

“Well I did that a long time ago little brother, but I’ll let you have the spotlight today. Just this once though- I’m the more handsome brother.” Leo knew Liam was nervous, so decided to keep the upbeat attitude rather than provide a heart to heart conversation.

“Drake? Are you okay?” Liam hadn’t heard from neither Drake nor Evie after the commotion that Bianca had caused- he even had doubts that the two of them would even turn up.

“Yeah Li. It’s your wedding day, it should be me asking you that.”

“You need to fix things with Evie, I don’t know what you was thinking. All I wanted my whole life was for her to love me back, you had that and you let her go.” Drake felt guilty, knowing that he had a diamond - a diamond who the king, his friend had pined for all those years- and he let her go in an instant.

“Li, my mom hates her.. I don’t want my mom’s vendetta to cause trouble between us. You don’t know what she’s capable of. Could you imagine if we got married or had children... my mom would destroy us. So I’m saving her and myself from the heartache now.”

“No offence Walker but is your mother in this relationship too? No she isn’t.”

“Leo’s right. She will going back to Texas, and who knows when you’ll see her again. I still don’t understand why she’s here- we didn’t invite her to the wedding.”

“You didn’t?”

“No. Listen, I’m sure Evie will have calmed down- at the reception, try and talk to her. Ask her for a dance. Myself and Riley won’t be offended if you both sneak off.....” Straightening his tie, he closed his eyes. It’s time. “I think I’m ready. Leo are you ready to marry me?” Leo nodded, the three men had a scotch before making their way to the cathedral.

****

Arriving at the cathedral with Olivia, Evie was in a trance- not really wanting to attend, not wanting to see Bianca again.

“Are you okay? Fuck Bianca, Drake is a jerk- but he does love you and you love him. Just talk to him now you’ve calmed down.” I’m not wasting anymore time watching you cry, I sacrificed my love life last night to comfort you.

“I feel really sick. I don’t want to be here. I’ll listen to their vows and then I’ll leave. I’m sure they won’t mind.... Liv pass me your bag quick!” Olivia passed her best friend the bag, not really understanding why- until she heard Evie use it as a sick bag.

“For fuck sake Evie, it’s Prada!”

“I’m sorry, I’m just really nervous. I don’t want to see him.”

“Are you sure it’s nerves? It could be a stomach bug, or alcohol poisoning after the amount you consumed yesterday. I better give the bag to Riley in case she wants to use it too...”

“It’s nerves. Trust me.”

Walking down the aisle the two duchesses took a seat, Olivia smiled at Liam and Drake whilst Evie stared off into space.

“Look at you two, don’t you both look lovely.”

“Fuck off!”

“That’s no way to talk to people Duchess Evangeline.”

“I can talk to you however I want Mrs Walker. Excuse me I’m going to be sick.”

“What is her issue?” Bianca asked Olivia, in an innocent tone of voice.

“You are. You are everyone’s issue. I’m surprised you’re not stumbling around yet. Or is it because you don’t want to make a scene in front of the press?”

“Duchess Olivia, I can behave when I need to. Besides my daughter and grandson are on their way- I don’t want Bartie to inhale my alcohol breathe.”

“Oh but it was okay for Drake and Savannah when they were kids to inhale it. Go away Bianca no one wants you here.”

****

Leo made the ceremony entertaining, with laughter echoing throughout the cathedral- the emotions soon changed the moment Liam and Riley said their vows to each other. There was tears throughout the cathedral, it truly was a fairytale love story.

“What’s up Evie? You’re pretty emotional- that could have been you.” Bianca asked as she lent forward, intentionally ready to cause trouble yet again.

“That would have never been me.”

“No you just prefer Dukes who cheat on you. Shame really, the Bruley name would have disappeared in a flash if you stayed in London and married him. Like your parents disappeared, they thought they could steal my children off me.”

“Don’t talk about my parents. They did a lot when you was absent along with Constantine, Regina and Bastien.”

“Bianca shut the fuck up because I’m going to do it for you if not. Leave my best friend alone.” Before Bianca could respond, Savannah squeezed in next to her mom after overhearing the conversation.

“Mom, you’re embarrassing me. Everyone helped myself and Drake- you need to make it up to these people. And please get some help.” Evie turned around, shocked that savannah had defended her, providing a half hearted smile- she turned back towards the happy couple.

“You ready to go?” Olivia whispered, with a smirk- as she pulled out the hip flask.

“I’m a Duchess, get me out of here- get me to the champagne that’s at the end of the bridge.”

****

Throughout the reception, everyone mingled with each other- The congratulations continued for the happy couple. Drake stood in a corner, his eyes focused on Evie- admiring her beauty, his heart just wanted to take her away from all of this. Liam had noticed what Drake had been doing ever since they arrived- giving his friend a nudge, he knew what to do. Feeling like he had to drag his feet forward, it was as if a magnet was pulling him away from her.

“Duchess Evangeline, may I have this dance?” Drake wasn’t aware about how many whiskeys he had consumed to pluck up the courage to speak to her.

“Sir Walker, thank you. But I have to decline. I promised a dance to Lord Maxwell.”

“He’s dancing with Hana.”

“I meant Leo.”

“He’s with Penelope.” Fuck.

“Rashad. This champagne has gone straight to my head. Rashad... I meant him.” Drake looked over towards Rashad, who was whispering into Kiara’s ear before leading her on to the balcony- Evie noticed too, knowing there were no other options apart from Toby and the mysterious man stood with him. But she wasn’t going to go down that route.

“Evie, please. I know my mom has caused trouble, I want to rectify it. I wasn’t thinking straight. I love you. I can see a future with you. Hate me all you want, I deserve it. I just want you to know that I love you, and I’ll carry on fighting for you. Even if it takes me another ten years....”

“Evie! Dance off?” Maxwell shouted as he bounced towards the two.

“Sure Maxi. See ya Drake.” Max jumped up and down like an excited puppy, Drakes heart sunk watching the Lord place a smile across her face. He was extremely disappointed that she couldn’t provide a bit of an inkling that she still cared for him.

“Give her time Drake, she’s not feeling well. She’s been sick three times today- once in my Prada bag, she’s lucky she’s still walking.” Drake wondered why she would be sick, why she was in fact still walking if anyone else had done that they’d be planning their funeral. Leaving Olivia, he went back over towards Liam- knowing full well he had failed Evie and was potentially going to get a lecture off of his best friend for not trying hard enough.

Evie had finished her dance with Maxwell, and noticed Bianca pestering the Queen. Making her way over, she grabbed another glass of champagne- hoping it would blank Bianca out of her mind- luckily for her Bianca created a distance.

“Congratulations Riley. Your vows were beautiful.”

“Thank you Evie. I’m glad you came.”

The two women spoke comfortably in other’s company, with Bianca lurking in the shadows. Evie informed Riley about Liam’s childhood- the times they shared together with the rest of their friends, all the embarrassing memories of Liam. Then the conversation turned into the future heir, Riley showed Evie the photo of the scan that they had. “Aw. Riley, I’m so happy for the two of you. I’m going to spoil him or her.”

“Myself and Liam were talking last night... I’m sure he won’t mind me telling you. But we wanted to ask you to be godmother. You’ve had my back, protected the baby before it’s even born.” Evie remained silent, not knowing how to respond at first. Wondering what people would think about her being her ex’s child’s godmother.

“Id love to be its godmother. Thank you so much, Auntie Evie can’t wait to meet you little one.” Uncontrollably crying, she didn’t know what had come over her- maybe it was just the reason as to why they chose her out of everyone.

“I’m glad. I didn’t think you’d get this emotional though.. I’m the pregnant one.”

Before Evie could respond, Bianca knocked into Riley sending her straight to the floor- her head narrowly missing the vase that stood next to them.

“Oops! Did I hurt you, your Majesty.”

****

“Riley! Are you okay?” Evie helped the Queen to stand before providing Bianca with dagger eyes.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Do you want me to get Liam for you?”

“Do you want me to get Liam for you... because I’m little miss perfect... why do you care about her?”

“Bianca shut the fuck up! I’m caring about my godchild too!”

“I’m glad my son humiliated you... he deserves better than you. You would put everyone first before him- are you jealous that she achieved the crown and not you. You’re abnormal Evangeline.”

“Drake deserves a better mother. I think you should leave. You wasn’t even invited.” Riley defended Evie, knowing that the woman had got under her skin.

“Trust me Evie, my little stumble with the Queen was nothing... I’m not going anywhere...”

Evie snatched the drink out of Biancas hand, if it was anyone else she would potentially have empathy towards them- try and help them battle their demons. But not Bianca Walker, the woman who for over a decade had caused trouble due to her alcoholism.

“What the hell do you think your doing?”

“You’ve had enough, and you are going to kill yourself.” Beginning to shake, Bianca watched Evie pour the liquid in the nearest plant pot. Anger began to build up, how dare she- she thought in her head on repeat. Seeing the man walk towards her- she knew his intentions, she was involved as well. Taking her opportunity, the original plan had changed- Bianca was after vengeance, not only on the crown but on the last remaining Bruley.

“How dare you humiliate me?” Pulling Evie’s hair, she dropped the glass- before being forcefully pushed into the man. Evie, this wasn’t what was supposed to happen. I was just needed to threaten the Queen with the knife not cause harm.

“EVIE!” The ballroom suddenly went silent, hearing the Queens voice. Liam and Drake immediately witnessed Evie fall to the ground.

“Bastien get the medics now!”

“Mom- Bianca what happened? Who the fuck are you?”

“Duke Tobias... he... he... I couldn’t stop him Drake... he came over to Evie and just stabbed her... for no reason.” Bianca smirked discreetly as Toby removed his balaclava- horror written all over his face.

“Evie, I didn’t mean to... she fell into me... your mother.... id never hurt her... I love her...”

“What happened?” Liam asked Riley as she stood shaking, whilst watching the guards remove Toby from the situation.

“She fell into me before- Evie defended me.... again...she was horrible to Evie....so she took the wine off her. Next minute he’s there with a knife, and Evie was pushed into him by Bianca. I thought you had security scrutinising the palace Liam! What if that was for me? Or you?”

“Bastien, take Mrs Walker to cells too! And get my Queen to safety. That’s your kings orders.” Bastien nodded, feeling like he had failed everyone- looking at Evie laying in a puddle of blood, he then focused his gaze onto Drake who was applying pressure to wound whilst cradling her.

“You better hope she survives Walker!”

“I know Liv, this is all my fault... and you’re gonna stab me for hurting her... I already know.”

“Well yes... but if she dies... the Bruleys wrote in their will that you will become heir to their Duchy.” What the fuck? “Savannah can’t do it because she’s soon going to be Duchess of Ramsford. I know you’re not into all this court shit- but you better get praying now.”

“Liv shut the fuck up! If you’re not going to help go away!” Looking at her friend, she tried to hold the tears back. Ready to kill Bianca and Toby herself. Leaving the crime scene, she assisted the majority of the guests outside to give Evie some privacy.

“Evie you can’t leave me, one reason- I don’t really want to be a Duke... unless I marry you. Two, I’m sorry for trying to protect you and finishing us. I love you so much... I’m a dickhead for letting you go. Please don’t leave me... I love you.”

Evie it’s time.

Mother?

My darling daughter, it’s time to come home to us. We’ve missed you. We love you.

Father? Both smiling softly at her, they held their hands out in the distance.

I’ve missed you both so much. I love you both.

“Evie get that stubborn ass up. You’re a fighter! I can’t cope with Walker crying. I’m beginning to cry- and I don’t cry. Please...you’re my best friend.”

It’s time. Come with us. We will be together again- as a family.

I’m sorry if I’ve disappointed you.

You haven’t, you’re a fantastic caring friend to everyone. But it’s time to let go.

“Evie, come on. Wake up. Who’s going to cry over titanic with me? Come back jack. Come back Evie.”

I can’t leave my friends.

You will be reunited with them when their time comes. You saved Cordonias Queen and the heir.

I don’t know how much more I can fight. I’m going to be a godmother. I can’t fail it already.

“Evie, thank you for saving my wife and child- but you are going to survive this. We all love you. We need you to fight.”

Liam’s right, you need to fight.

“Walker?”

“She’s just said Walker... Drake talk to her again.” Olivia said as she dragged him down towards Evie’s body.

I’m surprised you didn’t call me Sir. You’re a fighter Evie Bruley. I love your parents, but they are incorrect. It’s not time.

I’ve got nothing left, I may as well give up.

You’ve got your friends. You have my son, Drake.

“Where are the fucking paramedics? Evie, I’ve known that I’ve loved you since I was probably about thirteen. I waited years to have you in my arms. You and I have a great future. Just us. I fucked up, please forgive me. Maybe in time we can have a little Gracie and a little Tommy. You can’t give up, I’m not leaving you...”

Drake doesn’t think, he was protecting you from my wife. She hates your family because you all looked after him and Sav when I passed. He gave you up out of love. I saw you both at my cabin, the whiskey you smelt was me, the door suddenly opening was me, the cold breeze after you two- you know what- that was me. Myself and your parents are always watching over you all.

He should have fought for me, not given up - even if Bianca is forever causing trouble.

“Your majesty, the paramedics are here. I’ll escort everyone into the back room. Who’s going with her?”

“Drake.” They all said in unison.

It’s time Evie. If you decide its time, we will wait for your spirit to leave. If not, we are so proud of you- keep making us proud. We love you.

Evangeline, don’t give up. I’ll keep an eye over you, my son, my daughter and my grandchildren.

Grandchildren?

Yes. My grandchildren. Bartie and.......

#trr #trr choices #trr we belong #drake x evie #drake x mc #drake walker #trr evie bruley #liam x riley #liam rhys #riley brooks #maxwell beaumont #duchess olivia #trr bianca walker #trr savannah #leo rhys #trr bastien #trr jackson walker

38 notes · View notes

imthequeenofcordonia · 5 years ago

Text

My world ended that day- part two.

This is my contribution to @choicesfebruarychallenge The prompt is: rain. Thank you for including us all.

Paring: Drake x OC (Lily Rys)

Word count: 8.304

Warnings: Infant loss, drinking to cope, angst, panic attack, brief talk about an eating disorder and abortion.

Song inspiration: Leave a light on by Tom Walker.

A/N: This part was especially hard to write. All characters belong to Pixelberry other than Lily.

Permatag: @desiree---1986

Drake and lily tags: @addictedtodrakefanfic, @msjr0119

My world ended that day tags: @drakeandcamilleofvaltoria @kimmiedoo5 @cordonianroyalty

Soon Wednesday rolled round which meant Drake would be arriving back in Cordonia with Bianca. Which meant she would be seeing her husband again, which was something she was completely and utterly dreading, that was if he wasn’t just going to avoid her, like she was considering doing to him.

Lily dressed and walked down to the dining room for breakfast. When she walked in, Regina, Liam, Riley, their three children, Leo, Katie who had arrived over the weekend and the twins since Nathan had an important case come up so he was unable to look after them and her twin sisters were both busy too, Bertrand, Savannah and Bartie were already sitting and eating their breakfast.

Leo’s full attention was on his daughter, Eva, who was talking away at him about nothing important. Katie was talking to her son, Lewis, who was talking to her about his best friend, Jack, at school.

While the rest of the adults were talking about Drake’s arrival and the funeral on Friday morning, with Leo and Katie chiming in now and again.

Liam happened to look up and caught sight of her in the doorway. She gave an awkward smile at everyone then took the empty seat beside Leo. They stayed silent, the adults anyway, as Lewis continued rambling.

Lily swallowed hard as she looked at Caitlyn, John, Harry, Bartie and the twins. Tears welled in her eyes. Lewis caught sight of the tears streaming down his aunts cheeks getting out his chair and trotting over to Lily, holding out his arms to her.

Lily gave him a sad smile and picked him up to sit in her lap wrapped his arms around her neck, Lily eagerly returning the hug. She felt Leo place his hand on her back, rubbing affectionate circles along it. She caught her brother’s eyes and gave him a smile.

“Are you okay, Aunt Lily?” Lewis asked.

“Yeah,” Lily said, wiping her face and smiling down at him. The adults all knew she was lying and that the smile was forced but the young boy didn’t.

“Why are you crying?” He asked.

“Erm…I er…I’m crying because I’m happy to see you and Eva,” she lied, “You’ve gotten so big,” She said, bouncing the young boy on her knee. Eva jumped down off her chair, Lily picked her up to join her brother on her lap.

Lily wrapped her arms around her niece and nephew tightly, crying silent tears into Eva’s long brunette hair, much like Ellie’s hair was.

“Alright you two. Come and finish your breakfast,” Katie ordered. The children hugged their aunty tightly then jumped off her lamp returning to their seats to dig back into their cereal.

Lily wiped her eyes once again turning to face everybody else. Savannah gave her a sad smile. “Have you heard from your brother?”

Liam noted that she didn’t call him Drake, he found it odd. Maybe something had happened between them that he did didn’t know about, he concluded.

“He’s on his way. They set off early this morning,” Savannah explained.

Lily simply nodded.

She greeted the rest of her family. Savannah, Bertrand, Bartie and Maxwell had been staying at the palace, so Sav could be closer to Drake when he got back and could do anything to help Lily in the meantime.

Staff soon brought out Lily’s breakfast. Lily nodded a ‘thank you’ at them as they left, leaving her staring at it as everybody else continued to eat theirs. The adults engaged in meaningless conversation, everyone except Lily anyway, as the children talked amongst themselves.

Leo kept glancing at his sister. Noticing she hadn’t actually eaten any of it, only pushed it to the side to make it appear like she had. Leo caught his brother’s eye across the table, having a silent conversation with him. Leo cleared his throat and stood up.

Katie looked up at him giving him a questioning gaze, he simply just smiled at her. He picked up his plate with his half eaten breakfast with one hand, placing his other hand on his sisters shoulder, leaning down to speak into her ear.

“Come on,” he said, moving toward the door with his plate and cutlery. Lily rolled her eyes, knowing what he was doing.

She looked at everyone who all seemed otherwise occupied and weren’t looking at her. She picked up her breakfast and cup of tea following her brother out the dining room.

Leo led her to the ballroom. He placed his plate down onto a table that sat on the outskirts of the room, dragging it near into the centre, then grabbed two chairs from a stack near the other tables placing them on either side, then plopped down into his seat.

Lily stood staring at him. He nodded to the chair. “Sit down.”

She did as she was asked. She took a sip of her tea then looked up at her brother, her brow raised. “When you were ill, what was the thing that we always did to get you to eat?” Leo asked.

“We’d go and eat away from everyone else and talk as we ate. It helped. It only being me and you and I knew that you weren’t going to judge me if I ate a lot. The only time you’d step in was if I barely ate anything. Leo, you don’t need to worry. I’m not starving myself again. I promise.”

“Good,” he nodded.

“Then why-?”

“Why drag you out the dining room?” She nodded. “Because Lily I’m the one person that can actually get through to you. I’m worried about you, you’re not looking after yourself. I just want to talk to you. Away from everyone. What’s going on?”

Lily shrugged, “I got a text from Drake. He said he’s not sure if he wants to go on Friday.”

“Okay,” Leo nodded, taking a bite of his eggs. He nodded to Lily’s plate, telling her to do the same. Lily stabbed the yellow yolk with her fork and cut it in half with her knife, then placed it into her mouth, chewing and swallowing. “And?” Leo asked, “Have you heard from him since?”

“No,” she shook her head.

“There’s no right or wrong thing to do, Lily. Drake is going to do what he thinks is best for him. Like you’re going to do what’s best for you. Talk to him though.”

“And say what? ‘I don’t even know if I want to go myself?” she scoffed, “I know that this is fucking hard but he can’t keep running away and avoiding this. I’d like to but sooner or later we are going to have to talk about this.”

“So talk about it. Nobody is going to judge you if you don’t want to go.”

“She was my daughter, Leo. Of course people are going to judge me if I don’t go. I’m expected to be there. I-I have to be there. I- the bloody press would have a field day if i didn’t go. It’s bad enough there’s a funeral in the first place, then because of who I am the press are going to be all over it. Like they were when it happened. Like they were when dad died and his funeral, then mom’s.”

“They’re dickheads. You know that. Lil, yes it’s going to be hard but if you talk to Drake, make up, he’s had time to think, time to calm down and so have you, maybe it’ll be marginally easier if you’re both their for each other. You are going to need each other. At the end of the day only you and him understand what you’re going through.”

Lily pondered over what her brother had just said. She did need to talk to Drake, she knew that, but it wasn’t that simple. He blamed her, she blamed herself, she was scared if she did talk to him then it would just lead to another argument one that she just didn’t have the energy for.

She looked up to her brother her blue eyes meeting his. He gave her a small smile. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

*********

Lily paced around the living room in her quarters. Drake would be arriving back at the palace in the next half an hour. He had rung Savannah saying he was back in the country just over an hour ago.

She was scared to see him again. He was so angry the last time they saw each other, with good reason.

Lily had never been scared of Drake but she found herself being scared of him when he was yelling at her. She felt guilt over feeling like that. She knew Drake would never do anything to hurt her.

She was snapped from her daze when someone started knocking on her door. She walked on over to it, staring at it, debating whether or not to open it.

The knocking was insistent and loud. Maxwell, she concluded, sighing and opening the door.

“What?” she snapped, without entirely meaning to.

Maxwell looked slightly taken aback by her tone but shook it off nonetheless. “Drake will be back in a minute. Are you coming to greet him?”

Lily thought for a second. She couldn’t keep avoiding him, they needed to talk and that needed to happen sooner rather than later.

“Yeah,” she nodded, following Maxwell out.

*********

Lily rubbed her bare arms as the nighttime crisp air stung at them. She followed Maxwell outside to the main entrance to the palace, where Liam, Riley and Savannah already stood. The rest of the group had debated greeting him but decided against it, not wanting to overwhelm him after the long flight.

Lily stood next to her brother on the steps. He turned to look down at her. “You okay?”

She nodded.

No, she wasn’t okay. She was anything but okay but Liam didn’t need to know that. Knowing him he probably already knew anyway.

“I’m okay,” she affirmed.

“Okay,” Liam nodded, knowing his sister and that she wasn’t going to talk if she wasn’t ready and wouldn’t be forced into talking about it.

After Leo’s conversation with his sister earlier that morning, he had told Liam what was bothering her. Liam had already known about the text from Drake though. Drake had told him about not being certain whether he could attend or not. He knew that was bothering her but that didn’t explain why Olivia was acting weird too. He could practically see steam coming out of her ears when Drake was mentioned. Olivia was Lily’s best friend, she was protective of her, but it was more than that, he was sure.

Lily’s attention was drawn from her brother to the oncoming headlights of the SUV coming up to the steps. This moment had been one she had been dreading since her husband left. It was going to be awkward, she knew that. Like Leo said, they needed to talk.

The SUV came to a stop in front of the steps. Drake’s door was thrown open and he jumped out.

Drake in marrying Lily had been given a title, he was now royal but you would never know as he never acted as if he was.

Drake looked up to the top of the steps, briefly catching Lily’s eye. He looked better than when he left. He’d shaved, had a haircut by the look of it, didn’t have dark circles beneath his eyes- he looked like he did before all of this happened.

Liam, Riley, Savannah and Maxwell walked down the steps. Savannah threw her arms around her brother, pulling him into a hug as Bianca’s door opened and she stepped out.

Savannah finished greeting her brother then turned to their mother, as the rest of the group spoke to Drake then turned their attention to Bianca, but Lily stayed fixed on the top of the steps.

He looked fine. Happy.

Lily could read that man like a book. He was either a hell of a good actor or he was over it. She felt herself getting angry. How could he come back looking like he’d just been on some kind of vacation when their daughter was dead? They were burying her at the end of the week.

Without greeting either of them she turned back and headed inside. She felt tears prickling and stinging at her eyes, from the anger and sadness she was feeling at that moment.

She jumped when a hand clamped around her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. She’d recognise that touch from anywhere. Drake.

She slowly turned to him, fighting like hell to keep her tears at bay. “Hey,” he said.

Lily took a moment to steady herself. She was so close to crying that if she spoke she was sure the tiny droplets would come tumbling down her cheeks.

“Hey,” She whispered.

“Can we talk?” he asked, letting go of her arm. She looked down at the floor, wiping her eyes then looked back up at him.

“Yeah,” She nodded, leading him through the palace and into the dining room. He gave her a questioning gaze. “Neutral ground,” she explained.

“Fine,” he shrugged. “You okay?”

“Do I look okay to you?” she asked, gesturing to herself. Drake took notice of the dark bags under her eyes, the eyes he loves so very much, her hair brushed but greasy. She looked skinnier to him, she’d lost some weight while he’d been gone.

“No,” he mumbled.

“And you? I mean you look…fine. Happy. Like you’ve just come home from a holiday.”

“Would you prefer me to still be drinking myself to death? To look like I did when I left?”

“No. T-that’s not what I’m saying,” she explained, shaking her head. She looked around the room, not daring to look at her husband. She sighed, ran her hand through her hair then looked back up at him, shrugging. “I-I just- Drake I- Are you going on Friday?” She asked, finally having found the courage.

Drake thought for a second. “I don’t know if I can,” he said honestly. “What about you?”

“Do I have a choice? She’s our daughter, we have to go, we at least owe her that. I know that it’s hard and the thought of the funeral is- the thought of burying our little girl is…horrific? I don’t know how to explain it. I spoke to Leo and he said ‘there’s no right or wrong thing to do’ but of course there is. We have to go. You can yell at me and tell me it was all my fault there’s a funeral to begin with or say you wish it was me. You can’t say anything to me that I don’t already know, but…I can’t do this without you.”

Drake was taken aback by her words. He didn’t really remember yelling at her or what he had said for that matter. He was drunk- the alcohol had been doing the talking.

He reached up to place his hand on her shoulder. “I don’t wish it was you,” he said, his chocolate brown eyes meeting her bright blue ones. “I’d never even think that, you know that. I was angry and drunk and I shouldn’t have said any of it. I’m sorry. I don’t blame you, of course I don’t.”

She scoffed. “It sure sounded like you did,” she shrugged his hand off her. Stepping back from him. “Don’t worry about it though, Drake. It’s fine.”

“Lil-”

“No,” she cut him off. “You left me! I understand you needed a time out, sometime away, well done for knowing you’d had enough. Admirable, it really is how you can just up and leave after everything that has happened, like it’s…irrelevant. Like it doesn’t matter.”

Lily, listen-”

“I’m not done! You ran away. You ran to Texas, to the woman who abandoned you when you were a child, after your own dad had died. I needed you! I still need you. I know Ellie was your daughter too, i know it’s fucking hard, believe me-”

“Listen to me for a minute!” he yelled, “I didn’t know what else to do, Lily. I-we were just pushing each other away. You barely left our bed and I was just drinking the days away. It was becoming toxic. I’m sorry for snapping at you. I said i’m sorry for what i said. Maybe going to Texas was the wrong thing to do but there’s no fucking guide of how to deal with your daughters death!”

They locked eyes. Both their chests rising and falling quickly from their outbursts. “ Stop being a coward and man up,” she snarled, turning away from him and heading out the dining room, slamming the door behind her.

Lily ran to her quarters, pushing the door open and slamming it shut behind her. She was angry, upset and countless other things. She wanted to hit something. No, actually she wanted to beat the shit out of something in that moment.

********

Leo, Katie and the twins sat in the living room. The adults on the sofa and the kids sitting on the floor in front of the tv. Eva was drawing as Lewis watched the tv intently. Katie’s legs lay in her husband’s lap, Leo rubbing his hand up and down her bare calf.

Leo and Katie split their time between the states and Cordonia. Katie didn’t really have family back home anyway. Nathan, her eldest brother was busy with his job, his wife, Elena, and their daughter Rosie and her twin sisters, Jess and Kelly, were both off living their own lives. Kelly was at school finishing her degree and Jess had decided to go travelling.

Like Lily and Drake, Leo, Kate and the twins had a little cottage on the palace grounds. Of course, there was more than enough room in the palace for all of them but they had wanted a place to call their own. Constantine had gifted the cottage to the couple shortly after they had married in case Leo ever decided to come home, whether just for a visit or to stay.

The Children loved the palace but it wasn’t exactly the safest place for children. They would run around, even had gotten lost on a number of occasions, there were weapons on the display- no where near how Olivia’s estate was but still the couple found it unsafe for their curious five year olds.

Leo groaned when somebody started tapping on their front door. Katie was about to get up but Leo got to his feet first. “I’ll go.”

Leo opened the door to find his sister stood on the other side, cradling her left hand in her other one. Leo’s gaze drifted down to her bloody and bruised hand. “What did you do?”

“I might have…punched a wall. Multiple times.”

Leo shook his head in disapproval. “That wasn’t very clever was it?”

“I know!” she snapped.

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” she shrugged, not really needing a lecture from Leo about what she had said to Drake a she really wasn’t in the mood for it. “Look it’s cold out here, can I come in?”

Leo moved to the side to allow his sister entry. “I’ll get you an ice pack,” He said, closing the door. “The kids and Kate are in the living room. Just don’t let the twins see your hand.”

She nodded heading into the living room. Katie perked up seeing her sister-in-law, they both had become reasonably good friends through the years. Kate’s eyes widened seeing Lily’s hand as she pulled down the sleeve of her jumper, to cover it, causing her to wince, before the twins saw.

Lily plopped down onto the sofa beside Katie, the children seeming to still be occupied with what they were doing. Katie leaned in closer to Lily.

“What the hell happened?” she asked, nodding to her hand. The bruises were climbing up her fingers peeking out from the jumper sleeve.

“I hit a wall,” she explained, “I know it was stupid. Leo has already told me as much.”

“Are you okay?”

“It looks worse than it is,” she shrugged.

“You know that’s not what I meant. Did you talk to Drake?” katie asked.

Lily shook her head as if that action would make her forget that disaster of a conversation that had taken place only an hour ago.

“I’d rather not talk about it,” she said, looking down into her lap and away from Katie.

Leo walked back in handing his sister the ice pack. She took it from him, mumbling a thanks and placing it onto the mess she had made out of her hand. She winced as it made contact.

“You okay?” Leo asked.

“Yep,” she nodded, it was then the kids decided to look up. Eva looked at Lily quizzically upon seeing the ice pack on her hand as Lewis just smiled at his aunt and turned back to the TV.

“What happened to your hand?” she asked.

“I banged it,” lily lied.

The girl nodded in understanding. “I banged my hand the other day when we were at the park playing with Bartie. It hurt. Does your hand hurt?” Eva asked.

“It does,” she nodded.

“That’s not good. I’m going to draw you a picture to cheer you up,” Eva explained, turning away from the adults to get drawing. Katie smiled at her daughter and then turned to look at her husband.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” She asked.

“I’ll keep an eye on them,” Lily said. Leo nodded and left the living room with Katie trailing behind him.

Thirty minutes later.

“Aunty Lily look at my drawing,” Eva said, holding the drawing if the entire family including even Ellie. Lily glanced at it but turned away, not paying attention to Eva’s insistent pleas her aunt look at her drawing.

“Aunty Lily?” The girl asked, still trying to show Lily what she had drawn, obviously not getting the hint she didn’t want to look.

The sound of the children’s show that Lewis was watching echoed in her ears. It was loud, too fucking loud in her opinion and it was annoying the hell out of her amongst her nieces pleas she look at a drawing.

“Aunty lily please look.”

She didn’t know why but something inside her snap. She jumped to her feet, throwing the ice pack down onto the sofa. “SHUT UP!” she screamed at the kids. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!”

Leo walked in after hearing his sister yelling. He took Lily’s expression go from pure anger to guilt then turned to see Eva tearing up and Lewis looking at his aunt in shock.

Lily looked from her brother back to her niece who was still trying to keep her tears back. “I’m sorry. I-i’m really sorry,” she mumbled.

Just then Katie walked back in, “What is going on?”

Lily looked to her brother.

“With me. Now.” Lily followed her brother out the front door and onto the porch. He paced for a second then turned back to her. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I’m sorry i don’t know why I yelled at them.”

“You just scared the shit out of her.” There were very few things that pissed Leo Rys off. He didn’t get angry or upset over a lot of things but he would if someone upset his kids or wife. Leo ran his fingers through his hair.

“I know. Leo, i’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare her or Lewis. I just-”

“Did something happen with, Drake?” he asked, the incident momentarily being forgotten. Lily hesitated.

“No.”

“Bullshit. Talk,” he ordered.

“We had an argument, okay? He wanted to talk and I lost it on him. He just wanted to have a conversation about the funeral, explain why he left and I told him to stop being a coward and to man up,” she explained, shaking her head and looking down to her feet. She sighed, rubbing her hands over her tired eyes then reverting them back up to her brother.

“I know you. There’s something else. What is it?”

“Nothing,” she lied.

“Wow second time i need to call you out on your bullshit. Talk to me.”

“I erm…When Drake left, Liv and Max came to check I was okay, I wasn’t I- by the time Liv got there i was having a panic attack- Liv and I- I was pregnant,” she explained, stuttering.

“What do you mean was?” Leo asked, his brow furrowing.

Lily swallowed thickly, looking down to her feet again. “Liv took me to see Dr. Ramirez to check everything was okay- it was by some miracle. On Thursday morning after I had the night to think I made the decision to have an abortion. Liv took me. It’s why you didn’t see me over the weekend- I needed some time to process all of it.”

They stood in silence for a few moments. Lily looked back up at him after finding the courage to do so.

“Why?” Leo asked.

“Because look at me, Leo! I am…broken! It’s my fault Ellie is dead! It’s my fault we have to bury her on Friday. I had an abortion to spare that child from having a mother like me! To stop him or her getting hurt because of me,” She screamed, her voice cracking whilst saying her last sentence. The tears soon came falling.

“What are you talking about?” Leo asked with genuine confusion. “I’m going to say this one more time: it wasn’t your fault. Yes, you were driving but that car crashed into you, not the other way around. Ellie loved you, she adored you, you know that, Lily. Deep down you know that.”

“Do I?” she asked, her voice cracking and tears spilling when she looked up at him again. Leo took a few large strides over to her, pulling her into him. She wrapped her arms around him as if she was clinging to her brother for dear life as she cried into his chest.

Leo rubbed circles along her back, whispering reassurances into her ear. In that moment that’s all he could do.

“I didn’t even tell Drake,” she mumbled into his chest. “He doesn’t know, Leo, I-”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he told her. He squeezed her tightly one more time before pulling away. “It’s freezing out here. Let’s go back in.”

They returned inside. Lily gave both children a cuddle and said sorry for yelling and had a look at Eva’s drawing, thanking her for doing it and finishing watching the children’s show with the twins.

********

Thursday evening- Lily had finished making her tea in the kitchen then walked into her bedroom, swallowing thickly at the sight of the black dress hung up on her wardrobe door.

She couldn’t explain how she felt, it was like someone was squeezing her heart, she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, all she felt was numb.

It was like she was having a constant panic attack, like she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t catch her breath. Her world had ended that day and she still wasn’t sure nearly three weeks later if there was any coming back from it. Ever. How was she supposed to wake up every morning without her little girl and go about her day?

She took the dress down and put it inside the wardrobe- wanting it out of her sight, no longer needing any sort of reminder of what was going to be taking place the next day.

She sunk down on the end of her bed, gripping the mug tightly in her one hand as the other was still sore from the wall she had assaulted the evening prior.

She hadn’t left her quarters that day, spending the majority in bed and looking through old photographs from when she was a child. She often wondered if her mother and father would be proud of her. She used to believe they would be but now she wasn’t so sure.

It was an indescribable feeling that she felt went her parents were ripped from her but this didn’t even compare.

She had spoken to Leo that morning to assure him she was okay and that he didn’t need to worry, although she was certain that he would- that’s what big brothers were for.

Leo had had a point about Drake and lily needing to do this together, to be there for one another in their darkest hour but She didn’t know how they would do it. Every time they seemed to speak it just ended up in having an argument and one of them storming off.

She still needed to find out if Drake was going to attend. She understood very well were the apprehension came from. She understood that having the funeral was saying goodbye, a final goodbye and she wasn’t sure whether she could bear it either.

She was only eight when she attended her first funeral- her mother’s funeral. It was…she had nightmares about it for weeks afterwards, it was traumatizing for the young girl. She had witnessed things her brother’s hadn’t.

She, like Liam, had met with their mother in the ballroom and then went their separate ways.

Later that night, Lily had awoken from a nightmare and went to find her parents. She found them in the dining room with some friends. She peeked into the ballroom and Eleanor had seen her and offered to take her back to her room and stay with her so Constantine could finish his conversation with the Duke of Karlington.

On the way back to their royal chambers Eleanor started to feel unwell and ended up collapsing. Lily had run back to the dining room to fetch her father by the time Lily had led her father to her mother, it was too late.

Just a week after she was made to attend her funeral, she hadn’t even processed any of it, that her mother was dead, what she had witnessed and she had to say goodbye. Her last goodbye to the woman she looked up to, who she admired endlessly.

Then it was her fathers. It was easier for her, the Rys siblings had known their fathers time was coming to an end, they were prepared for it as much as someone could be. Even then he was ripped from them suddenly, without warning. All she had wanted was to hold his hand and say goodbye, like she didn’t get to do with her mother, but she didn’t even get to do that in her father’s final moments either.

Yes, lily was an adult when she attended her Fathers funeral but it was still as traumatic as her mothers. She had so many nightmares after it. So many nights of waking beside Drake in a cold sweat yelling for her father to come back but during that time she had Drake to sit with her and comfort her that was the biggest difference to now. Drake.

All those memories she had of her mother and father were awful but what she was in for tomorrow would be so much more painful. It would be something she never, ever would forget.

She didn’t know how long she had been sat there when she was brought out of her daze by somebody knocking on her door.

She sighed, placing the mug with the now cold tea onto her bedside table and headed over to the door. She placed her hand on the doorknob looking out the peephole. Drake.

She hesitated to turn it not in any way shape or form in the mood for another argument but the conversations she had with Leo yesterday morning and the evening prior swirled around in her head. Against her better judgement she opened the door.

Looking down at the floor before gathering the courage and the strength to look up at him. They locked eyes briefly before she turned away, reverting her eyes down the long hallway instead.

“Can we talk? I promise not to yell this time,” Drake said.

She nodded in agreement, stepping to the side to allow him entry. “Good. I’ve got a headache,” she said, her voice quiet and sounding defeated- that being the way she talked now anyway.

She closed the door and led him into the living room.

Drake and Lily both sank down onto the sofa. Drake leant forward, resting his elbows on his knees as Lily brought her legs under her.

“You were right: I have to go tomorrow. I owe her that,” Drake said. Lily turned to him, giving him an appreciative nod.

She took the pillow from behind her and brought it to her chest. Drake noted that was only something she did when she was anxious.

“I’m not going to yell at you again,” he repeated.

She looked down, playing with the tassel attached to the corner of the pillow. “I wouldn’t promise that just yet if i were you.”

Drake’s brow furrowed when he turned to her. “What the hell does that mean?”

Lily turned back to look at the tassel she was playing with in her hand.

He needs to know, Lily. You have got to tell him. It was his baby too.

She swallowed thickly. Took in a deep breath and looked back up at him. “I’m not going to…plead with you that you don’t hate me. You very well might do. You will. I’m not going to ask you to look at this from my point of view either-”

“What are you talking about?” Drake asked essentially cutting her off.

“Last week when you left I-” She stopped talking. She hadnt thought this through. This wasn’t how she wanted to tell him.

“Will you just say whatever it is,” he demanded.

“Last week after you left I-I discovered, along with Olivia, that I was pregnant.” She swallowed thickly, taking in another deep breath to steel herself. She locked her blue shiny eyes with his chocolate confused ones. “I had an abortion late last week,” she whispered.

“What?” he asked, his voice calm but she knew it wouldn’t be for much longer.

“I had an abortion,” she repeated, her voice cracking. Drake sat there in stunned silence. “I know that now probably wasn’t the time to tell you. I know that. I-I couldn’t keep this from you, it wouldn’t be fair-”

He held up a hand to stop her. She looked back up from her lap to him, her heart shattering at seeing his eyes dancing with unshed tears. “I-I don’t know what to say,” She stuttered.

“Did anyone go with you?” Drake asked. Confusion flitted across her face.

She nodded her head slightly. “Liv took me but why does that matter? Why aren’t you yelling at me?”

“What good would it do?” Drake shrugged, “It won’t change it.”

“But-”

“But nothing,” Drake cut her off. “Am i pissed off? Yeah, I am. Would I have liked to be involved in the decision whether my child had a future or not? Yes, I would’ve liked to at least have been consulted. It was my baby too but…I don’t want to argue with you, Lily. I really don’t. I just- Why? Why did you do it?”

She thought the question over. “Because when you are pregnant that baby relies on you- for everything- to feed them, protect them- you have yourself to look after and the little person inside of you. That doesn’t stop when you give birth, Drake. They get older and don’t rely on you to do everything but you’re still responsible for them. They still rely on you to protect them and I failed to do that for Ellie. She trusted me to keep her safe and I couldn’t protect her. But that’s not why I did it. My heart is still full of her, she’s all I think about from the moment I open my eyes in the morning until I close them to go to sleep, I didn’t- I don’t have room for another baby, not while I’m grieving for her. Maybe not ever again because I don’t think I could ever go through this again. You can hate me if you want, I wouldn’t blame you but still come tomorrow. Please.”

Drake got to his feet. “I- I just need sometime to…process that,” he mumbled and then left. Lily heard the door click into place.

Great…another thing i’ve fucked up

********

Lily glanced at the clock on her bedside table: 5:43. It had nearly been six hours of tossing and turning, falling asleep and waking back up again

She threw the covers off her, her bare feet meeting the plush carpet as she headed into his kitchen. She opened the fridge taking out the orange juice and poured herself a small glass. She put the carton back in the fridge, picked up the glass and headed to her living room, taking a seat on the sofa.

Today was one that she had been dreading for three weeks, from the moment Drake hold told her that her baby girl was dead. It was also one she never thought would happen either. It wasn’t right. This wasn’t the way it supposed to be.

One day Ellie was supposed to attend Liy’s funeral, not the other way around.

She put the glass down onto the table then picked up her journal and pen, laying it open in her lap.

It’s funny how life turns out. Four years ago tomorrow I gave birth to my beautiful little girl. That was the best day of my life, I know all parents say that but it really was.

Who knew such a little person could change everything? Change your entire life?

You’re so happy when you bring a child into the world. You know one day they’ll have to go through losing you but you never stop to think it might be the other way around because that’s not how it’s supposed to be. That’s not how it works. You are never supposed to outlive your child.

People say it wasn’t my fault- it feels like it is, not just because I was driving the car but because I protected her from everything for nearly four years, I grew her inside of me for nine months, kept her safe, gave birth to her and I was supposed to do that, protect her until I couldn’t anymore.

Because my mother died when I was a child I never really had an example of what a mother was supposed to be like. From what I remember my mother was kind, passionate, assertive when she needed to be, not afraid to be the ‘bad guy’ when things called for it, taught me right from wrong then she died and i didn't have her anymore, that role model, then I had my daughter and I didn't know how to be a mom. Regina was the opposite of my mother, cold, decisive, calculating (I’m describing Regina not Madeline- i know it sounds like the other way around) but I didn’t want to be her. I tried to be my mom and I failed.

I’m starting to think I’m cursed. Everything goes wrong in my life but Drake and Ellie were what went right. They were mine and now I don’t have either of them.

Today I have to go to my little girls funeral. I have to say goodbye but I can’t. I don’t know how to.

Saying that to my parents was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do but I did and I found some kind of closure along the way but I can’t do that with Ellie.

Everything revolved around her. She was everything to me. She made me want to get out of bed in the morning, to see her cheeky grin and hear her laugh- I’ll never hear that again. I’ll never overhear her playing tea parties with her bears and dolls, I’ll never hear her plotting things with Leo or see her laugh when Maxwell does something silly or play with her cousins, i’ll never see her squirm when Drake tickles her tummy. It’s all the little things, the moments in between that I’ll never get again. That I’ll miss the most.

A few tear droplets hit the pages, smudging some of the ink on the page, much like the other pages in the book.

It was something a therapist had suggested when her mother died- to write it all down, to get it off her chest that way instead of talking about it because that was something she struggled to do.

The same therapist had suggested that Lily write a letter, even though the receiving party would never read it, that maybe it would grant her some closure. She had done that for both her parents when they died. She wrote down all those unspoken words, everything she wished she could’ve done with them. She also wrote them one when she got married, had Elie, on their birthdays. There was something about it that gave her comfort. It helped her.

She turned the page and pressed the pen back onto the paper.

To my little Ellie,

You’re safe now sweetheart. I promise, nothing will ever hurt you again.

I miss you. Everyday. I think about you all the time and so does your daddy. He misses you. Everybody does, baby girl.

Lily took the pen off the page, putting the lid on. She wasn’t ready. It was too soon. She made herself a promise in that moment that one day she would get that letter written. One day.

********

Lily stood in front of her mirror in her bathroom staring at her reflection. She reached up to adjust the matching black fascinator on her head, before looking back into the mirror solemnly.

This wasn’t right. Any second now she was hoping she would wake up from this twisted, sadistic nightmare.

She saw Leo come up behind her in the mirror, dressed in his black suit and matching tie. He placed his hand on her shoulder, she looked up at him as a tear trickled down her cheek.

Leo wiped it away. “Come on.”

“I can’t do this,” she said. She was starting to panic, it felt like somebody was sitting on her chest.

“Lil, calm down. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay, I promise.” Lily wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tightly. He patted her back affectionately.

“Where are the kids?” Lily asked as she pulled away. Thankful the mascara she was wearing was waterproof. That was a minuscule thing in the grand scheme of things but she was royalty, she was expected to look presentable even in her darkest and most painful hour.

“Joanne has got them.”

“Good,” she nodded, “They’re too young for this. They don’t need to be there.”

Leo nodded his agreement, “The cars will be here in a minute.”

She swallowed thickly and nodded. Leo led her out of her quarters and to meet the others on the steps.

********

Drake stood in front of his mirror doing up his tie and adjusting it so it was straight, then slipped on his black blazer.

He took in a deep breath to steel himself as he ran a hand through his chestnut coloured hair. His eyes moved to Bianca stood in the doorway in the mirror’s reflection. Drake swallowed thickly, licking his suddenly very dry lips.

“It’s time. The cars will be here in a second,” Bianca explained. Drake nodded, allowing his mother to lead him outside.

********

Lily arrived with Leo outside out onto the steps where Liam, Riley, Hana (who she had become quite good friends with) Maxwell, Bertrand, Savannah and Regina all dressed in their appropriate jet black outfits stood,

Lily felt tears pricking at her eyes when she noticed Drake wasn’t there. Despite the disappointment she was feeling that her husband wasn’t there she greeted the rest of her family.

They stood there for a few minutes after they had all exchanged the most simple of pleasantries, because there was nothing anybody could actually say. Lily kept looking to the doorway, waiting, hoping that Drake was coming.

Lily’s attention was drawn to the two black funeral cars and matching hearse pulling to a stop in front of the steps. Her attention was drawn to the oak coffin in the back, surrounded with different coloured roses and mixed coronations. She felt a small smile tug at her lips when her eyes landed on the single sunflower.

All the young rys children used to grow a sunflower each and see whose would grow the tallest just like lily used to do with her brother’s when Queen Eleanor was still alive.

She felt someone grip her hand. She looked down at it, her brow furrowing as she turned her head to look behind her. Drake.

She squeezed his hand back tightly. She could read him and she knew he was fighting like hell to try and keep it together.

“You okay?” Lily asked.

Drake shook his head, his eyes drifting to the wooden box again. He wanted to believe that his little girl wasn’t in there but she was and that was just the hard truth of it.

Drake looked back to Lily when she squeezed his hand.

“Are you alright?” Drake asked, she shook her head. They were not okay, none of it was okay.

With one last look between the couple, the group headed down the concrete steps and got into their respective cars.

******** Lily felt herself completely break when she saw the coffin being lowered into the cold, damp earth. She couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst into a heartbreaking sob, most of the people there had never heard anything like it, they had never seen a woman so completely and utterly broken.

Drake immediately wrapped his arms around her as he broke himself, resting his chin on top of her head as his own body wracked with sobs.

“It’s okay,” Drake whispered to her. The group of friends and family turned to look at the couple as they both completely shattered in front of them, all of them shedding tears of their own.

Lily’s knees buckled from beneath her and Drake let himself fall down with her, still holding her tightly. “It’s going to be okay,” He repeated quietly to himself rather than her. “Everything is going to be fine.”

****Six years later****

Lily woke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Another nightmare. She was back in that car again but it wasn’t Ellie sat next to her.

Lily turned her head to the side- Drake was still fast asleep. She carefully threw the blankets off her and climbed out of bed and made her way to her daughter’s bedroom.

Rosie Connie Walker was now the couples pride and joy. She was nearing her fourth birthday like Ellie had been when she died and now Lily felt those memories and feelings rearing their ugly head.

In her nightmare it was Rose sat beside her. She was scared that something was going to happen. Last time broke her nearly beyond repair and if it happened again there really would be no coming back from it. Ever.

She picked the blanket up from where it had started to fall onto the floor and covered the young girl with it. She leant over and kissed her forehead. “I love you,” she whispered as she quietly snuck out.

Lily headed to her study, took a seat behind the pine desk and took out her journal from her top desk draw and a black ink biro from the pet pot.

She flicked through the pages until she reached those few words she had written on one of the hardest days ever- she had a promise to keep.

Her eyes scanned over those words.

To my little Ellie,

You’re safe now sweetheart. I promise, nothing will ever hurt you again.

I miss you. Everyday. I think about you all the time and so does your daddy. He misses you. Everybody does, baby girl.

She steeled herself and pressed the pen tip against the page and started to write.

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything. Six years, I wasn’t ready then but i think i am now.

You, little madam, would be ten in a couple of weeks. Double digits.

I still think about you every single day. I haven’t forgotten you and I never, ever will. I love you and I miss you more than words can ever express.

I hope that wherever you are now you know that me and your dad, your uncles and aunties and everyone misses you so much and love you endlessly.

You’d be a big sister. Her name is Rosie because you loved roses, didnt you? Your grandmother, Eleanor, loved them too, you must’ve gotten that from her. Her middle name is Connie, my dads nickname.

You’d be the best big sister, kind, cheeky, maybe a little bossy but you’d be the best big sister a younger sibling could ever ask for.

Your uncle Leo just had another little girl. He has three girls and one boy now- quite the handful he’s got- Luckily they seem to take after their mother.

Uncle Liam and Aunty Riley had twins last year, two girls.

Your aunt Olivia got married, properly this time and they had a son together a couple of years ago. He’ll be two next month.

Guess what? I haven’t told your dad yet but I think I’m pregnant. I hope so. Maybe it’ll be a boy this time, your dad is a little outnumbered at the minute. He’d appreciate a boy i think.

Just know that wherever you are sweetheart that Rosie and this baby (if there is one) aren’t replacing you. Nobody ever could. You were my first born. I was so scared but so excited when i found out about you.

It’s been six years and the pain hasn’t gone away, it never will but that’s okay because you’re my little girl and I am never going to forget anything about my little petal.

I miss you sweetheart.

Goodbye

Mom xxx

#choicesfebruarychallenge #drake x oc #trr #the royal romance fanfic

32 notes · View notes

celestines · 5 years ago

Text

have you seen JUNG SOMI around campus ? i hear they’re a SECOND YEAR , SUMMER witch with a specialty in FORTUNE TELLING . i almost never see them without their FENNEC FOX . if they ever want to be a FORTUNE TELLER someday they should ease up on being OVERSENSITIVE & POSSESSIVE . at least you can say they’re ANIMATED & LOYAL , too .

hello angels ! im xan and im late as usual but that’s just the way it is … 😔 im 22 , from the est timezone & i go by she / her pronouns ! i truly … never know what im doing with intros they just turn out super long & messy so aha … are u ready for this ? here is intro number one out of two baby ! 😋

━ ˙ ˖ ☆ QUICK STATS !

full name : jung somi .

nickname(s) : mimi .

zodiac : leo sun , sagittarius moon ( click ! )

sexuality : bisexual .

alignment : chaotic good .

pinterest : ( tba ! )

━ ˙ ˖ ☆ BACKSTORY !

she was an accidental pregnancy , born shortly after the marriage of her parents , but they were far from mad about it . her father was a well regarded summer warlock , a famous entertainer known for his long and successful career in the spotlight with his sister , a man who’d been the object of many summer witches’ affections . it was a shock to everyone when he retired from show business to settle down with his old academy sweetheart , a soft spoken spring witch with a passion for healing .

somi’s father was delighted that their first born was a summer witch , but her mother intended to raise all their children with a blend of beliefs from both the spring and summer covens , and that’s exactly what they did . since her father had been a famous entertainer , his social circle extended far beyond just the summer coven . although it was obvious he had pride as most summer witches and warlocks do , he was never the type to discriminate even against those from the winter covens , a habit he learned from his wife .

somi was their only child for the first half of her life ( as her parents were relatively young when they’d had her ) . because of this she was spoiled by the excited new parents , attention and support never lacking at home . she was raised to believe she could do whatever she put her mind to , no matter how big those dreams were .

however , once she entered her teenage years and her baby fat was gone , and she could no longer rely on being “ that cute and friendly girl ” to get her where she wanted to go , things got a little harder . she had no problem with confidence , but motivation was not one of her strong suits , unintentionally growing up with the mentality that things would just magically fall into place if she wanted them hard enough .

this was also around the time her parents had their second baby , a boy born in the spring . naturally he became the object of her parent’s attention which only made somi feel more lost , like maybe she wasn’t as special or important as her parents had made her feel . but when her parents had another child a little over a year later , another summer witch , somi realized it was pretty dumb to be jealous of babies , and that it would be better if she focused her time on becoming the type of older sister her siblings could eventually look up to !

once she started at arcane somi vowed she’d take her studies more seriously and not get too distracted by her social life . while her talent for fortune telling had manifested pretty early on in her life , and while she was good at it , she would be lying if she said she was interested in studying it in a scholarly way . ( she has way more fun sneaking off the island with her best friend and fortune telling for humans for some quick cash ) . still , she’s trying her best to keep her grades up , all the while making sure she doesn’t miss out on a single party ... and boy are there lots of parties ...

━ ˙ ˖ ☆ PERSONALITY + TIDBITS !

she’s a leo and it shows JWDBJWDBJWDW full of energy and confidence at almost all times so it’s pretty easy to tell when she’s upset because she’ll finally be quiet . a big social butterfly with no real opinions about house rivalries , BUT she’s super proud to be a summer witch so if you try to put her down because of it that’s when she’d be upset /:

she might be the oldest sibling in her family but that definitely doesn’t show . has big i’m baby energy and is quite literally the embodiment of this emoji 🥺 at all times but especially when she’s trying to get out of trouble .

blindingly loyal to her friends and the people she loves to the point where if they murdered someone she would wholeheartedly believe they were right in doing so . friendships are very important to her and so is getting back the energy she gives out . she’s the type to drop anything to help a friend in need !

struggles a lot with acting out when she feels neglected or like someone doesn’t care about her as much as she thought . usually it’s short lived dramatic bursts of anger , and she might give you the silent treatment for an hour or two before finally confessing how she’s feeling ( and yes , asking you for reassurance ) .

she can also be a little possessive at times both platonically and romatically . absolutely loves the thought of being everyone’s favorite person but she’s also aware it’s highly unrealistic </3 still , that won’t stop her from being a little dramatic about it ... as a treat .

she has a huge heart 😌 and it would be easy to just cast her off as a softie because in lots of ways she is one . eliciting real anger from somi is pretty rare , but hurting someone she cares about is the quickest way to get you there . she’s 100% the type to not like someone because one of her friends has a problem with them which can sometimes be hard considering she’s also the type to try and be everyone’s friend ... it’s complicated 😭

she hates bullies 😡 will threaten to fight them despite having no combat skills .

her love life is also complicated ... she gets crushes super easily and her infatuations are always super consuming , like she swears she’s gonna marry the person consuming , but her attention is always broken by someone else so they never last . she wants to find her true love at the academy the way her parents found each other 🥺 she’s a romantic and proud <3

gets grumpy when she’s hungry

her familiar is a fennec fox named pancake and they’re the best of friends except when somi is acting up JDBWJDBWJDW

she’s in the art club ! originally joined because she thought she could be a muse and sit in the middle of a circle and have everyone paint her ... but she stayed because she really does love art !

so lazy and she says she’s trying but she’s probably rotated through at least 3 different tutors because they couldn’t stand it /: she just thinks the classroom isn’t the right place for her and that’s ok

will tell you your fortune even if you didn’t ask ... it’s her party trick she’s still going strong

nothing good happens when she drinks . is a lightweight AND a chaotic drunk but it’s pretty fun to watch

has a lot of respect for anyone older than her in grades above her UNLESS they use their seniority to be assholes , then she’ll no longer look up to them </3

━ ˙ ˖ ☆ WANTED CONNECTIONS ! ( all open to all genders )

tutors ! past failed ones who tried to help her out & maybe a current one whose patience she’s testing SJDBJWDBJWW

someone she defended once and ever since then she keeps asking them if there’s someone they need her to fight even though they literally did not ask and they both know somi would lose

unlikely friendships ! maybe your muse usually steers clear of summer witches , or maybe your muse and somi just have opposite personalities , either way they became friends despite their differences

maybe an ex or two . their relationship would have been short lived despite how into it somi seemed . maybe they’re still kinda resentful about it , or maybe they feel as if they dodged a bullet . or maybe an ex that dumped somi before she could dump them and she hasn’t been able to let it go

current infatuations ! her list of crushes is ridiculously long , but there would be a handful of people who have surpassed crush status and she’s full on head over heels for . i feel like this would work really well with 3rd or 4th year witches since somi already tends to idolize them , but it definitely isn’t exclusive to older witches ! maybe they have no idea how she feels ( although she makes it obvious ) , maybe they pretend not to notice to tease her , maybe they try and use her feelings to their advantage , or maybe they just think it’s cute the possibilities are endless hehe

second years she can bond with 🥺 maybe a first year she’s taken under her wing despite only being grade above them and acts like she’s showing them the ropes SJDBWJDBWJDW but they’re realizing her best places to nap and not get caught tour won’t really help them ...

people who only really know her from parties ! maybe they don’t really hang out outside of parties so it’s kind of awkward when they bump into each other , but as soon as they’re in a setting with alcohol it’s all good again

sibling like friendships ! i would definitely love some older sibling figures in her life since she’s never had one 🥺

people who were big fans of her dad JWDBWJBDWJ since he was well known i think it would be funny to have people know her because of him and even more funny to have them be fans because somi would pretend to be grossed out if they ever tried to tell her how awesome they think he is </3

enemies (:< she tries not to have any , but she’s bound to butt heads with people . she can definitely be a lot ... maybe it’s a personality thing , or a we have different values thing , or maybe there was an unfortunate incident where your muse stole somi’s favorite pen then lied about it to her face and to this day they are her sworn nemesis because of it ...

a sub point to the enemies ... JDWJDBWJD i think it would be so funny to have someone she started out as enemies with but who she’s starting to realize she might actually have a lot in common with and actually get along with but they both try to deny it because they’re so used to hating each other although it’s clearly not the case anymore

i wont lie to u this got longer than i thought it would 😭😭😭 im sosososo sorry for the length … also i feel like my charas always change a lil once i actually start plotting & writing so sorry again if u see me finally writing as somi on the dash and ur like literally who is that … JSDBWJBDWBDJ PLEASE come message me on discord to plot ! if u prefer im’s that’s perfectly ok too im just warning u now it’s gonna be a much slower process so if u want speedier replies … u can message me @ glo lovecore ʕ´• ᴥ•̥`ʔ#8172 maybe … give this a like if u wanna … plot hehehe thank u for reading all this im sorry again ur so brave for making it x

#aa:intro #╰ ♡ . 𝒊 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒊 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏��𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 ── ooc !

11 notes · View notes