#me and my dad went to my grandmas house to clean up the trash my tia left and my cousins loved to throw things in their floor vent

[this-doesnt-endd]

Also like my family didnt leave much of anything/didnt get to pass things down and the stuff they did the oldest children refused to share and like my dad has like nothing of his mom other than memories and my parents came from big families like my mom was 1 of 8 and my dad was 1 of 7 and they both moved a lot and didnt have much as kids/young adults that they were able to hold onto then they became adults and were able to and now its gone and my stuff is gone and obvi i have things now that hopefully ill get to pass down and like my family history is so hard to figure out and i have like no contact with people anymore and it kinda comes down to like yeah this was my moms hat then mine and now its yours and now its gone

[casspurrjoybell-24]

My Unwanted Mate - Chapter 8 - Part 1

*Warning Adult Content*

Calvin Frey

Mom stood at the counter, a large knife cutting through a carrot with enough speed that I was worried it would be her finger next that the knife went through.

Just because she knows what she's doing doesn't mean there aren't accidents.

She hasn't lost a finger yet but there had been plenty of near incidents.

Ones that included lots of blood and her cursing under her breath.

Hopefully that won't happen today.

"So when are you going to properly introduce your mates to the family?"

The question came out of nowhere and made me jerk.

My mug of black coffee tipped and I rushed to set it up right even though the contents had already been spilled.

Tearing off a bunch of paper towels to clean up the mess I made it a point to appear busy and ignore Mom's question.

I had yet to tell her that I sent them away.

Shit, if I could I'd never tell her but I knew she'd get suspicious if she didn't see them around.

It wouldn't be hard putting two and two together.

The biggest clue being that we'd never be seen together.

She'd mentioned that she'd seen them working at the pack house.

Which was good for me because she wasn't suspicious about their absence.

Although my first thought had been worry.

'Why did they need to work? Did they not have any money?'

I remember them saying they had to leave their pack.

What about family? They shouldn't have to work.

Which was a ridiculous thought... they weren't mine to be worrying about.

I didn't want them to be.

"Oh," Mom turned to me, her large knife pointed at me.

"Your dad wants to talk to you. Why don't you bring Benjamin and the twins over to the house and we can have dinner together."

Tossing the soaked paper towels in the trash, I kept my back turned to mom.

What could Dad want to talk about?

When he does talk, it's about something serious.

He's not like Mom who has something to say about everything.

He's more of an observer.

Turning back around to face Mom, I finally realized what she had said.

She wanted the twins to come.

That wasn't going to happen.

I've done good avoiding the need to go out and get my mate's to bring them back home.

I had to keep reminding myself that this isn't their home.

They're not mine.

I don't want a mate or mates in this case.

But I can't tell mom that.

"Maybe another day."

"I understand," Mom said, smiling at me.

"You've just found them and want them all to yourself."

If that's what she wanted to believe, I wasn't going to correct her.

Not when I knew she'd freak if I told her the truth.

There's going to be a day sometime soon when she does find out what I've done.

I didn't want that day to be today.

Or ever if I had it my way.

My pup stumbled into the kitchen before mom could ask anymore about the twins.

Benjamin's big hazel eyes were drooping from the nap he'd just woken up from.

His dark hair was all over his head and he'd somehow lost his bottoms.

"Papa," his little whine had me picking him up, trying to see if there was something physically wrong.

'Did he run into something? Did he fall?'

He hugged me, his head resting on my shoulder.

"What? Grandma gets no love?"

Mom put down her knife and came to stand beside me so she could get a look at my pup.

"Hi Gammy," Benjamin spoke softly before tucking his head in my neck. I frowned at mom, worried for my pup.

"What's wrong, pup?"

Rubbing his back soothingly, I tried peaking at him without moving him back.

"Belly hurt."

"What have you been feeding him? See this is why I came over. Your cooking is killing him," Mom complained as she went back to cutting vegetables for the roast she insisted on making us.

Frowning, I kissed the top of my pups head and sat down at the table with him in my lap.

All he's been eating is kiddie snacks and the pizza I had delivered.

It probably wasn't all that healthy or fulfilling for a growing pup.

But like mom had said, my cooking wasn't any better.

Sitting down at the table, I continued rubbing Benjamin's back until he eventually drifted off to sleep again.

He's been sleeping a lot the past couple of days.

Could he be catching a cold from playing out in the snow?

I know it was a common thing for humans but not wolves, our immune systems are strong and fight off the common viruses.

He hasn't had his first shift yet though, so maybe it could be a cold?

Mom had brought over her large crockpot and had a roast going.

She reminded me multiple times to cut it down to warm when it finished cooking. It was enough to last us a few days.

I never asked Mom or Torin to come over and feed us but they'd started doing it some time last year.

Apparently they thought we weren't eating enough.

It was a relief when Mom left... not because I don't like seeing her but because I didn't want her to ask me anymore questions about the twins.

I wish I hadn't met them while family was around, it would be so much easier getting rid of them.

Laying Benjamin on the couch and covering him with the blanket, I pressed the back of my hand against his forehead.

He felt a little warm but we're Werewolves.

We're always a little warmer.

Hopefully with sleep, he'll feel better later. 

The back door opened and I groaned, thinking Mom had come back.

I didn't expect to see the naked male who was standing in my kitchen going through the fridge.

"You don't have shit here but apple juice," Robbyy complained but continued to drink straight from the jug.

"What the hell do you want?"

Going into the laundry room I grabbed a pair of jogging pants before going back into the kitchen.

"Your brother is being a pain in my ass."

"One I'd prefer not to see."

Throwing the pants at him, I turned away and occupied myself with pulling a cup from the cabinet.

Robby chuckled under his breath.

"Right, you prefer when they come in pairs."

My jaw clenched but I chose to ignore the jibe.

"What did Torin do?" I asked, taking the jug of apple juice from the Alpha male and pouring some in a cup for him.

Robby frowned down at it and stayed quiet for a while.

"It's nothing," he groaned, clearly irritated about something.

"He won't let me touch him," he blurted out and I quickly shushed him, listening out for my pup.

"He says it's the month of the Moon Goddess, so we can't fuck," Robert continued complaining.

My brows furrowed as I thought over his words.

I didn't want to hear anything about my little brother's sex life.

Then I thought about all the holidays Mom had us celebrate while we were growing up and I couldn't remember there ever being a month dedicated to the Moon Goddess.

Especially one that kept you celibate.

If anything, the Moon Goddess encouraged her children to mate.

It took everything I had to hold in my laughter and keep the smile off my face.

Apparently the Alpha had done something to piss off Torin.

"This isn't fair," Robby growled and paced across the kitchen.

"It's already been a full six hours. He won't even let me use my mouth."

"Gross, I don't care."

I shook my head and took a sip from the drink Robby abandoned.

"This is an important month to those that celebrate. It means a lot to them."

I forced myself not to laugh and had to turn away to hide my smile.

"I know," Robby sighed, his shoulders sagging as if giving up.

"I'll just hang out with you," he decided.

"We haven't done that in forever."

I had a feeling this wasn't going to go so well.

Robby had the ability to get up to no good even when he wasn't trying to.

It's been a long time since the two of us had time to hang out alone.

A recipe for disaster.

Maybe this was something I needed.

A way to get my mind off... things.

"What do you want to do?" I asked, knowing Torin would be eager to have Benjamin for a day.

[subpar-ghoulfriend]

Live In Nanny Pt 2

Villain!All Might x Reader

All Might raising baby Deku but is in desperate need of a nanny (Pt 2). The morning after and basically wayyyy to long so the smut is gonna have to be in pt 3. (word count: a little over 2k)

pt 1 here

TW: Yandere themes, day after dub con, reader is held against their will

You were sore. Your hips, wrists, back, pussy, everything ached. A silky sheet was the only thing covering your bare form. You could feel that you were alone in bed, Toshi's bulkiness was no longer weighing down the mattress. It must be mid morning because light was streaming through the curtains. Maybe if you remained still you could absorb into the mattress. Not only because of your tender body, but because you would prefer to never see your boss again. But speak of the devil. "Are we staying in bed all day?" You groaned. Hating how he worded his question. We. It was condescending, patronizing, and somehow filled you with butterflies. Something was placed on the bed, definitely not heavy enough to be Toshi. And then you realized, not something but a tiny someone. Baby Izuku crawled over to you, babbling, and tapped your sore shoulder. "Morning, Zuzu," You mumbled. Your joints crackled to life and you tightened the covers so you could face the little one. Behind him the clock read 11:00 am. "I need to get dressed." The villain cocked his head, "I tossed your clothes in the laundry do you want me to go get something from your closet?" No, you didn't want him running through your belongings. He would probably make a mess. "Just give me one of your shirts." That provided you enough modesty to get to your room and you were surprised the menace didn't follow. You scrubbed your body raw under the shower, subconsciously punishing yourself for taking pleasure from the night before. You were frustrated. Clean and covered in giant sweat pants and a hoodie you stormed into the living room where Toshi sat watching izuku entertain himself. "I quit." There was a pause. You tried not to look at the child. He would sway your resolve. This didn't have anything to do with him, it was between you and his father. "Alright." Oh. He wasn't going to challenge you? Figures, the man got what he wanted from you. You turned on your heels and rushed back to your room. You didn't own much so it wasn't hard to shove your belongings back into the suitcase. Opening your bedside drawer you froze. Your keys and phone were missing. This was their spot. The dedicated key-and-phone drawer. You check the room once, twice, then Izuku's room, the playroom, the kitchen. "Where are my keys?" You hissed, to hell with the phone you could buy a replacement. "Why would you need those," His voice was taunting. You felt your fists ball up and your nails dug into your palms. You stomped your foot like a frustrated child. "Because I'm leaving, I quit, now give me my keys." "I agreed you can quit, if that's what makes you feel better. I didn't say anything about leaving." The tension could be cut with a knife. He wasn't speaking or moving, he was eerily looming. In the other room Izuku was getting fussy. It knotted your stomach not going to check on him, but you kept your eyes on the villain. Toshinori was the first one to move, he went to check on his son. Clearly you weren't a threat. You could do without the keys, even sacrifice your suitcase. You made it all the way to the front door where you expected him to be, but he wasn't. He was with Izuku. With a twist at the knob the door didn't budge. You tried once more before angrily shaking the door. All Might called for you, "I told you that you aren't leaving. It's a two way security system but feel free to keep trying." When did he install this? You didn't see anything obvious like a box or camera indicating a security system. You could've thrown a fit or tried to break open the window but you had a feeling you wouldn't make it far. "What are you getting at?" You asked, rejoining the father-son duo. "Nothing aside from what we discussed last night in bed," he was making your cheeks burn red. "Making sure we stay a happy family." By the tone of his voice you knew there was no room for discussion. He didn't chastise you for slamming the door your room. He didn't pester you through out the day. He didn't even open your door to tell you he made dinner. He came by later to tell you (through the door) that he left you a plate in case you get hungry. By midnight you were. You tip toed down the hall, peeking into to the nursery to see Izuku fast asleep. You scarfed down the food before crawling back to bed. --- The next day you shuffled out of bed and into Izuku's room where you picked up the quiet but awake baby. You were gentle as you combed through his green curls with your fingers. He was still warm the way babies gets when they sleep. Holding him soothed you. Toshi melted when he saw you two curled up on the couch. He didn't want to ruin the mood so he stayed out of your line of sight for a few more minutes. Finally he entered the threshold of the room, "I'm heading out for the day but I won't be out late." You could've ignored him, but Izuku's grubbing hands were grabbing for his daddy. You had been defeated by the toddler. You weren't a monster. You moved toward your now ex-employer so he could tell his son goodbye. Goodbye before he goes off to commit atrocities. Toshi kissed the child’s chubby cheeks without removing him from your arms. He was too close for comfort. You took an awkward half step back before his huge hand caught your hair. With a tug, your chin jutted forward and he pressed his lips to yours. "Zuku, keep an eye on mommy," Chuckling as he stepped out the front door. Your mind was fuzzy for a moment before looked down at the boy on your hip who was giggling and clapping his hands together. --- The jovial villain was focused at work. He was on edge, quiet and irritable. Eager to return home and help you with his son. All Might wasn't delusional — well at least not entirely. He anticipated that this would be a rough time for you, but you were a good girl, you would adjust.

When he placed that ad to scout for someone to watch Izuku he didn't plan for this. But you were so perfect. He ached for you in a way he never hurt before. Had you been anyone else he would've killed you when you found out his villainous ways. But no, he could never bring himself to harm you. God, you even took the news in stride. Yeah, you weren't thrilled and may have walked out of their lives if he hadn't stopped you; but you weren't trashing his house or treating Izuku any differently.

And you were so pretty underneath him, whimpering while you took his length, your nails digging into the man's shoulders when he released into you. You slept like a rock afterwards, rolling unconsciously into him. Your body sought his comfort, knowing you were safe with him. He just needed to give you time to adjust.

--- It didn't take long for you to stop leaving the room any time he entered. And soon you were back to your normal routine of caring for the child and keeping up with the house. You resumed playing around with Izuku and began reading a ton of books to the boy. You told Toshi that Izuku could even pick which books he wanted you to read. It was nice that you were talking to him again, sometimes making jabs at his life choices and always kept a distance between yourself and him. Izuku was becoming quite the talker, well the babbler because he hasn't said his first word yet. He was figuring it out though. He knew he could say 'Ap-ap' for apple or to get picked up. You were sure he would say his first word any day. --- The three of you were in the living room when it happened. Izuku was watching some baby show, the first "lesson" was colors and the little one did his best to make nonsensical noises. The next subject was family members. Siblings, sister, brother. Parents. Mom, mommy, mama. Dad, daddy, papa. Grandma, grandpa. Aunt, auntie. Uncle. Over and over again until the show was done. Toshi looked at the izuku who was wearing the face of a thinker. He looked at his dad, the little one was trying to get something of importance out. You both cheered for him once he finally got out the word "papa." It was cute to see the man beam with pride, even though he was a villain. The butterflies were breaking out of their cocoons again. --- Toshi didn't get much alone time with his son and he liked it that way. That meant you were with them. But when he did get time with son he worked on teaching the boy that you were the mommy. Mama. And Izuku would try to repeat but hadn’t quite got it. --- You were struggling to maintain your composure in between watching the news and cooking dinner. All Might was robbing a bank. There were hostages. You recognized the location immediately as a bank you passed almost daily before working for Toshinori. Did you know anyone inside? A small part of you worried for the man, probably because you were thinking of him as Izuku's father rather than a villain. You shut the TV off when you heard Izuku start to wake from his nap.

That night you couldn't help but notice a slice on his arm; it was superficial, not even bleeding but enough to draw out the question: Why do you do it? It's easy, he shrugged. All Might never initiated an attack unprovoked nor directed his actions towards helpless civilians. He stole, dabbled in the black market, and made sure everyone knew not to mess with him or anyone in his circle.

You just couldn't understand. When Zuku gets older he will ask questions. All little boys idolize their dads. What if someone tried to hurt the boy? 

The two of you were whisper yelling with each other. You more so than Toshi but he was still running low on patience; it had been a long day, after all. Izuku was picking up on the changing atmosphere, watching you both through furrowed brows, the quiver in his lip worsening. You stopped when you heard the whimpering begin. He was a sensitive child. Maybe you just needed to sleep. Toshi picked up the baby, bouncing Zuku in the way that always prevented tantrums and wails. He kept babbling and you could tell he was doing his best not to cry. You started to head towards your room when a cry broke out for 'mama.' This time it wasn't Toshi “putting you in your place”. This time it was Izuku.

"It's okay, Zuzu," Toshi soothed. "Mommy just needs a minute."

The crushing realization of just how trapped you were knocked the wind out of you. You couldn't leave the house. Toshi was always being too kind and patient. Somehow he managed to teach Izuku that you were his mommy. The most infamous villain had ensnared you and no matter what he wasn’t letting go. You would never be able to convince him to leave you alone and you'd never be able to leave Izuku.

You were tired of stubbornly holding out. Pathetic tears cascaded down your face, gentle and oddly relieving. Izuku practically leapt into your arms. The tot clung to you and his crying calmed down. you turned away, not able to look at the man.

"Are you going to think the worst of me forever?" Toshinori whispered. Maybe? Probably not. It was hard to tell. You didn't want to.

He continued, "I'm a good father, I would never let anyone hurt Izuku. Or you. Sure I don't have a lot of redeeming qualities but there are some."

You were tired of being stuck inside. It wasn't good for Izuku either. You wouldn't admit it but you weren't so sure you would abandon them even if given the chance. You were tired of trying to hate the man behind you. Tired of pretending you didn't fantasize about that night when you were alone in bed. Toshi moved right behind you and you relaxed against his huge chest. He was surprised and hesitant to move in case he frightened you to your senses. He couldn't just stand there though, that would be weird. Two thick arms wrapped around waist. "Tomorrow I wanna take Izuku to the park," You whispered. Toshi was equally defeated.

"Okay."

---

After putting Izuku to bed you made your way down the hall. The shower in Toshinori's bathroom was running. That was fine. You needed a moment to collect your thoughts. If this was going to work without you feeling like a hostage he was going to have to be open to loosing the reigns. 

He was surprised to see you in his room when he exited the bathroom in nothing more than a pair of sweatpants. 

"More fighting?" He cocked an eyebrow. 

You shook your head, "I hate All Might, just as much as I hate every other villain. But when you come home I don't see All Might, I just see Toshinori, Izuku's dad. That's the man I care about and no matter how much I fight it I can't stop caring."

It was hard to keep eye contact with him but you continued, "I want to be with you and Izuku, not with All Might. And I want to be here on my own accord. I want to be able to go out with Izuku and with you. Can't we just try that?" 

You didn't come in here to berate him again? Or to demand to leave? His heart softened as he realized that the person he wanted, wanted him back. You were willing to remain in their lives. 

"I can try that." 

Toshi trained his eyes on your body, fighting every instinct to close the space between. But you moved first, gingerly placing your hand on his shoulder to steady yourself as you straddled his lap.

"Can I sleep in here tonight? I want you to hold me," You whispered.

He nodded and rested his forehead against the crook of your neck. "Is that all you want from me tonight?"

[rimouskis]

lol so:

my grandmother was regrettably redpilled by right-wing talk radio over the last several decades of her life, and while it was hidden pretty decently from us grandkids (aside from the, like, shelves of right wing personality memoirs she had on her bookshelves), it DID cause strife in the family, the most prominent piece being: she excluded one of my uncles from the will over a political disagreement they'd had years prior to her death.

my dad was the one to get the call from the hospital that she'd passed; he was at her home, and when my mom drove out to go be with him, the thing she found him doing—the FIRST thing he'd thought to do after learning his mother was dead—was throwing out all those trash right wing books she'd collected.

when my dad and I cleaned out her house after she died, we found chests full of bunk "supplements" and scam products she'd been led to buy. she was the type to buy up weird products... and she was both strangely susceptible to buying weird shit AND incredibly stingy (every gift she ever gave a grandchild for holidays was from the dollar store, and yet she'd bought what was undeniably thousands of dollars' worth of fake pills). she had picked up weird self defense tools and bogus q-anon-adjacent shit and had even bought a HANDGUN, like she would even survive the recoil if she pulled the trigger.

This is to say: she had odd spending habits AND odd gifting habits. I ended up finding a few thousand dollars in loose cash hidden in the strangest hidey-holes of that house. [I still maintain I should have pocketed that money as payback for finding the "marriage = one man + one woman" pin in her basement.]

anyways, I bring this up because today, to fill out my mail-in ballot, I looked at my container of pens and smiled to myself as I chose the stupidly heavy, hilariously "tactical"-looking, sharp-ended "self defense pen" she bought me when I went away to college

(because of course my very safe college was where I was going to get murdered, and to protect myself I definitely needed a really heavy pen)

and I used that pen she bought me to vote for a pro-lgbt, pro-universal healthcare, pro-weed democrat lol

take that, grandma

[axwalker]

If The World Was Ending: Even if he was wicked

Synopsis: When Bianca leaves her son without looking back, Drake has to live on the streets until he finds a home with Angelica Ortiz--Lexie’s grandmother and a foster mom. With the Ortiz, Drake finds a family and falls madly in love, until a tragic night changes everything, threatening the life Drake fought so hard to get.

To catch up (HERE)

Pairing: Drake Walker x Lexie O’Brien (MC) The Royal Romance.

A/N: This will be a very angsty, full of drama, small town romance.

Words: 4,120

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Pixelberry, except for Lexie’s grandmother and mother.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Child neglect, abandonment, sexual assault, prison and a very entitled, “evil” Liam

Due to the several trigger warnings and some of the subjects I’ll be dealing with, I will only tag people who actively asked for it. If you want to be tagged in the following chapters --or untagged, please leave a comment. 

Drake

2008

When I was 12 years old, my mother took off with my little sister leaving me in Cordonia with my father's best friend. I reminded her too much of my father, too much of a life she would do anything to forget. That "anything" included abandoning her oldest son. I'd like to say I was surprised, but the truth is I wasn't. Bianca Walker had never been a motherly woman. The only reason she had taken Savannah with her was that my Aunt Leona adored her. I was sure my mother would dump my little sister on her and never look back. I hoped that was the case, Leona despised me, but she was great to Savannah. 

A short time after that, Bastien passed away and my mother was nowhere to be found. That's when I started to go from one home to another. The first year and a half were the hardest ones. I lived with four different families, each one worse than the last. First, the Lockes, where the family barely talked to me. Then, the Ruiz that made me take cold showers and sleep on the floor. The Godwins where the “mother” used the check the state gave her to buy alcohol instead of groceries. And finally the worse, the Fields. They seemed nice enough when I met them. Not kind but polite. The first few weeks everything seemed normal. Then one day, I got in trouble at school, and Mr. Fields --the pastor of his community, beat me up to “teach me some manners.” His punishments became a usual thing after that. 

Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I escaped. Better to be on my own than believe some family was going to love or adopt me. Obviously, there was something very wrong with me. My own mother had left me, and I had never found my place anywhere else. 

I lived on the streets for 6 months. I did all kinds of jobs. Not a lot of them were legal but there were few opportunities for a 14-year-old runaway kid. The most money I got was when I stole car parts that I got to resell to a gang called the Mercy Park Crew. The boss, Mr. Kaneko was fair and paid well enough. I could’ve kept living by myself if something hadn’t got terribly wrong at my last job. One of the boys from a rival gang decided to teach me a lesson and I ended up in the hospital with a concussion. A nurse called social services so here I am in a car with another social worker on the way for another foster home. It doesn’t matter, I know it won’t last anyway. 

When you’ve been in the system as long as I had, you learned to look for certain warning signs when placed in a new home. Drugs, ulterior motives, threatening fathers, drinking mothers. After an hour, we drove through a town looking like something straight out of a movie. Valtoria. I’d heard of it before. The family my dad had been protecting when he died lived there. The house we pulled up to, was a large two-story construction with dark brown siding and an immaculate green lawn. 

Joelle, my new caseworker had popped up out of nowhere in the hospital and told me I was coming with her. Just like that. From the way Joelle talked about the new place, I figured it was some sort of transitional home for rejects like me. Too old to get adopted and too troubled for anyone to voluntarily take on. I didn’t ask her anything else because I knew I didn’t have a fucking choice. Besides, I knew words don’t mean anything. I was a kid in the system. I went where they took me. Sometimes, I hated it. Sometimes, I really hated it. This time was different. In more ways than one. Usually, I was dropped off by my caseworker, and the people receiving me were about as excited as they were about junk mail. No one has ever come out to greet me before. As long as the woman at the door wasn’t sizing me up for a skin suit, it didn’t matter.

The social worker got out of the car as I grabbed the trash bag that I used to carry my shit around. She rang the bell, and a small, older woman opened the door. Joelle had told me in the car that the woman fostered several boys and I knew what that meant. She wanted the money the government gave her for keeping us. Well, I wasn’t going to make it easy for her. If she wanted to cash a check at the end of the month it was going to cost her. I’d make sure of it. 

I had seen it all, but I still was caught by surprise when the tiny woman opened her arms at me and gave me a one-sided hug. A fucking hug. 

“I’m very happy to meet you, mijo,” she said in a strong accent. “My name is Angelica Ortiz but everyone here calls me Abuela. Grandma in Spanish.” 

The woman was deluded if she thought I’d call her grandma. She was obviously trying to impress the social worker with her fake kindness, hugs, and stupid names. I wasn’t going to be fooled that easily. 

I didn’t even answer her as we stepped into the house. Another woman, a younger version of the one staring at me was waiting for us in the living room. 

“Hi, you must be Drake. I’m Elena. Welcome.” She gave me a smile. Fake, I was sure but at least she hadn't tried to hug me. The older woman was talking to Joelle about me. Probably about my problems with authority, anger issues, and lack of communication skills. I knew my file by heart. 

I barely nodded at Elena, and the three women exchanged a look. “Let me take you to your room, Drake. You’ll be sharing it with Maxwell. He’s doing his homework with my daughter in our house across the street. You’ll get to meet all the boys and my daughter Lexie tonight.” 

She walked me to a room on the second floor of the house. It seemed clean and comfortable. Another ploy for the social worker. Two bunker beds with blue blankets and a wooden desk full of books were the biggest pieces of furniture. The left side of the room was covered in posters of who I figured were famous boy bands. There were a few of David Beckham, the only guy I recognized. Other than that there were clothes everywhere. That Maxwell dude was a fucking slob. Great. 

“I told Max to take down some posters so you can decorate half of the room to your liking; This is your room as much as it is his. He's usually much more organized than this." I notice she speaks with a sort of fondness. "It was picture day for the school yearbook and he took hours getting ready. ” 

I shrugged. I wasn’t planning to stay long anyway. I couldn’t care less if that Max kid left his posters on the walls or not. 

She glanced at my garbage bag. “Are those your clothes, mijo?” 

I scowled at her. I knew what mijo meant and I was nobody’s son. “My name is Drake.” 

She smiled. “Of course, Drake. So, are they?”

I didn’t bother with an answer. A nod was enough. 

“I cleared you this part of the closet, so you can keep them there. When you’re ready come downstairs; my mom and I will show you the rest of the house. The boys are out but we’ll all diner together tonight. Do you like Mexican food?”

I shrugged.

The woman smiled. “Shrugging is not an answer, mij- Drake. Either you like it, you don’t, or you haven’t tasted it in which case I can tell you, you’re missing out. Especially when mami cooks.” She winked at me as if we were friends or something. The woman was insane. “So, what is it, Drake?”

I’d never had it before, but she wasn’t going to tell me how to answer a damn question. “I hate it.” 

She frowned --clearly disappointed, and I almost felt bad for her. Almost. “I’m very sorry to hear that. We already made Enchiladas for tonight and we don’t waste food. You can tell us your favorite dish though so we can make it for you.”

I shrugged again. Generally, that's when the person talking to me loses her patience but Elena Ortiz only smiled at me again. “Think about it. Every Sunday night, we pick someone’s favorite and cook it. It’s really fun. Next Sunday will be your first here, so you get to pick. Mami is a great cook and she can make anything from a mean chocolate cake to the best cheese pizza. See you downstairs, honey.” 

Great. I’ve only been in this house for a few minutes, and I already hated it. The only thing worse than a home where you were beaten up as a welcome was a home where people pretended to care. My third foster home had been like that. Ms. Godwin had been all kind and nice at first. I almost felt like she cared about us. A week later, she had gotten drunk. For two days, neither I or the two girls she fostered had anything to eat because she hadn’t bought any groceries. I had to steal a twenty euro bill from her purse to buy food. She got angry and called the social worker who had come for me and taken me to the Fields. The worst home I ever lived in. 

I wasn’t going to go downstairs but I decided that if I wanted a chance to escape it was better if I knew the house. Before I could explore a little, I heard my name from what I assumed was the kitchen. 

Elena was crouching in front of the oven. “Drake has such sad eyes, mami. He’s only 14.” 

The woman that had asked me to call her abuela, answered as she chopped an onion. “This boy has been living in the streets for more than a year. Do you realize it? Pobre angelito. So young and he has already seen more horrors than most people see in a lifetime.” 

“Joelle told me that he had escaped from his last foster home.”

The older woman scoffed. “Home? If that’s how you call people that foster kids only for the money, they get in exchange. I don’t want to imagine why he fled those places." She turned to her daughter who had finished whatever she was doing in the oven and was drinking a bottle of water. "Stop watching me work, Elena and help me with diner, por Dios.”

Why was she pretending she didn’t care about the money? It was obvious. No one did anything for free. There was always a catch. 

“Dónde está mi venadito?”

“Lexie and Max are at our house doing homework, mami. Be careful, though, if Lexie hears you calling her “your little deer” she’ll kill you. The boys called her Bambi for months after they heard you the last time.”

“Nonsense. She’s my venadito and that’s that. You two will come to eat here tonight. I want Drake to meet everyone.”

Elena rolled her eyes but patted her mom on the back. “Yes mami. Lexie is dying to meet him, she and Max made a chocolate cake for him. I’ll call her in a minute. Where are the boys by the way?” 

“Bertie is trying to teach Leo how to drive. Poor boy, I hope he makes it alive.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure Leo will be careful. Bertrand will be fine.”

“Oh, it’s not Bertie I’m worried about, it’s Leo. Bartie has no patience with him.” 

I left the kitchen before they said anything else. I was sure I was going to hate this stupid place. I was angry. More than angry. Furious. After a year of successfully running away, I was back in the damn system. Back in yet another home where people seemed to care about me in front of the social worker just to ignore me –or worse, once she left. I had to admit that my new foster “moms” played their part better than most. The old one had hugged me and the other one had given me a smile that seemed real. But I knew better. No one really cared for me. No one gave a shit where I slept, what I ate, or if I was ill or scared. Not that I was ever scared. I had seen everything. 

The front door was locked so I went to the backyard. I saw a small wooden house on top of one of the trees. I decided it was a good place to hide and be myself. 

I sat there for a few moments when I heard someone climbing the tree. 

“Hi!”

I looked up and saw a girl a couple of years younger than me. She had the biggest pair of brown eyes I’ve ever seen and was smiling at me as if I was her best friend. 

“I’m Lexie! I live across the street. I’m Angelica’s granddaughter. You’re Drake, right?” I didn’t think it was possible to smile more but the girl proved me wrong when her grin widened. I simply nodded. 

“Welcome! I know that it must be hard for you to feel at home because you like just arrived but you’ll love it here. I promise. Valtoria is great. We have lakes and the mountains and when it’s warm enough we can go camping all night. You’ll love the house too. I mean between you and me the boys are kind of a pain in the ass but they’re pretty great when they want to. Or when they're not teasing me. Especially Leo and Maxie. Bertrand is a know-it-all. He thinks because he’s sixteen he knows everything." She rolled her eyes clearly offended by the idea that someone could know more than her. "Abuela, that how we all call her because she’s Mexican and would murder us if we call her grandma, is amazing. I mean don’t get me wrong, she's super strict, and as my mom says the woman is never wrong but she’s the best person I know.” 

I blinked. I didn’t know a person could talk that much without taking a single breath. 

“Do you camp?” She asked as she folded her legs in front of her.

I did before. Before my dad died and my whole life blew up in a million pieces. Not that I would explain any of that to the chatty girl, so I just nodded again. 

“Great! It’s getting warmer and Leo wants to go to a new camping site next weekend. Don’t tell him I said this but he’s like the worst camper ever. I have to double-check everything he does but I don’t tell him anymore because my mom said it wasn’t nice.” 

I wondered how could someone carry a whole conversation by herself. I hadn’t pronounced a single word since the girl had shown up. 

“I want to be your friend but I can see we’re about to have our first fight.” She told me in a teasing tone. “You’re wearing a Liverpool t-shirt. We worship Barcelona in this house. Well, Abuela, Leo and I do. The others couldn’t care less about soccer.” 

I looked at the shirt she was wearing. It read "If they don't have soccer in heaven, I'm not going." 

She noticed I was looking at her shirt and beamed. "Abue said my shirt was disrespectful to God but mom thought that was dumb and bought it for me anyway." 

"Do you like soccer?" I finally asked. 

“Like it? I love it! Did abuela saw your shirt? She hates European teams. She thinks Tigres is the best.”

“Tirgues?”

She laughed, and the sound of it did something weird to my stomach. “Tigres. It’s a Mexican team. She goes crazy when they play.”

“What team you like?”

“Barcelona, obviously.”

“Liverpool made it to the finals of the last Champion’s league.” I pointed out. 

She shrugged. “They lost so it doesn’t count. Do you play?”

“Sometimes.” I tried not to show how much I loved it. It was something else my dad and I shared that had stopped when he died. 

“I play too. How old are you?”

“Fourteen.”

“I'm twelve. Well, almost thirteen, my birthday is in May.”

I frowned. “It’s November.” 

“I know. I’m almost there.” She beamed. "I'm almost closer to thirteen than twelve anyway." 

“Do you always talk this much?”

She laughed and my belly did that weird thing again. “My mom says I was a parrot in another life. I talk more when I’m nervous.”

“You're nervous?” I liked that I could make her nervous but I didn't know why. 

She blushed and I liked it too. “A little. What happened to your eye?” 

“I got into a fight.”

“Wow. You can’t do that here. Leo is always getting into fights and abuela has to ground him.”

She sure mentioned that Leo guy a lot. “Is Leo your boyfriend?”

“Gross!! Leo’s is like my brother. He, Bertie, and Max live with abuela. We’re a family. You’re family too.”

Fuck that. No matter if the girl was sort of cute. I didn’t have a family. “No, I’m not. I’m not staying.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I don’t belong here.”

“Yes, you do; I swear. Plus, I need someone to coach me, so I can get into the school team next year. Leo promised he would, but he never has time.” 

“I suck.”

She shook her head and smiled at me again. “Somehow I don’t think you do.” Then she gave me a conspiratorial look as she pulled out something from her jacket pocket. "You can't tell my mom about this but I took this from her room." It was a white iPod. After scrolling a little through the screen she settled on The Beach Boys. She couldn't possibly know it but they were my dad's favorites. She passed me an earbud and we didn’t talk after that. We just sat together for a while hearing music until we heard our names being called. 

“That’s abuela. We should go. She hates to wait. Plus, I'm starving and we're having enchiladas. You'll love them.” 

Lexie ran to her house to --as she put it-- 'hide the evidence.' I went back to her grandma's house and stepped into the kitchen. 

“Drake, pass me the salt, mijo. It’s next to you on the counter,” Angelica said as she kept on turning the sauce she was making. “You like enchiladas?” 

What was with all these women asking me what I liked to eat? I leaned against the black counter while she opened the lid of another steaming pot on the stove, and stirred its contents with a long wooden spoon. I shrugged. I didn’t know if I liked it. But it smelled better than anything I ever tasted, so it couldn’t be all that bad. My mouth started watering, and my stomach growled. Come to think of it, it had been a while since I’d last eaten.

“You know, I know you feel weird now. And you don’t like to talk a lot. Soon, you’ll learn that this is a safe place. We aren’t gonna judge a single word that comes out of your mouth or any of them that don’t.” 

I suddenly felt like I owed her a verbal response in exchange for her kindness. Fake or not. Besides, I just knew the chatty girl I’ve just met wouldn’t be happy if I was rude to her grandmother. “Yes, ma’am.”

She smiled at my verbal response. “But just so you know. We do have a few rules in this house.” 

Here it comes. The catch. Angelica put the lid back on the pot and leaned over the counter on her elbows. “You just need to go to school, find a hobby or sport you like, don't swear, respect the curfew and keep your room clean. Every child in this house has chores but it’s too soon to figure out yours. For now, you only have to get to know us.” Her eyes crinkled as she smiled at me. At that moment the timer of the oven rang and Angelica took a huge dish out of it. She covered it with more steamy, tomato sauce, sour cream, and grated cheese and put it back in the oven. At least, I might get some good food while I figured what I was going to do next. Because no matter how nice and kind everybody acted, I was not going back to school. I used to be good at it without much effort; I had friends and a soccer team. But I had missed a lot in the last two years. I felt dumb and stupid. 

Suddenly, the front door slammed open. “Cuidado muchachos! Be careful with that door against the wall, or you’re going be spackling and repainting this entire house,” Angelica yelled out. Three teenage boys filed into the house, followed by just as many apologies. 

“Sorry.” “Oops.” “It was Max’s fault.” “

“These are Maxwell, Leo and Bertie,” Angelica introduced. “Boys, this is Drake.” 

“Hi, man!” The blond one said with a shit-eating grin. “Abuela, Lena, you guys didn’t tell me you were buying a Liverpool fan.” 

“Adoption is not a purchase of people, Leo” the oldest one --Bertrand, corrected. 

“Yeah, cause if it was, then you got Leo from the clearance rack,” the youngest one joked, checking his reflection in the hallway mirror, smoothing back an out-of-place dark hair. “I hope you kept your receipt.” 

“Fuck, off,” the blond one replied with a middle finger. 

“Watch it, Leo,” Angelica warned. “Boys.” 

Max kissed her on the cheek. “Sorry, abue.” She forgave him with a smile, then swatted at his hand with her spoon when he dipped his finger into the pot. 

“I’m glad you’re here, bro” Leo said. I stood, and he gave me a fist bump without touching my hand. 

“Me too! And we’re going to be roomies,” the kid named Max said. He grabbed a stack of plates from the counter. I followed him over to the long dining room table and helped set the table for seven people.

2020

I lost count of how many days I’ve been in the hole. It wasn’t my first time in here and it sure as hell it wouldn’t be the last. It was always the same routine. Days and nights blended into one making it impossible to know what day it was or how much time I had been in here. 

I have been in jail for six excrutiating years. I had known from the day I heard the sentencing that the only way I was going to survive was if I didn’t think about her. It was the hardest thing I had to do but after a while, my routine was running smoothly and when my head hit the pillow at night, I was too fucking exhausted. She haunted my dreams and my nightmares, but I didn’t think of her beyond that. Except for the hole. Locked up there, cold, hungry, and utterly alone her face, my memories of her were the only thing that helped me go on. 

I replayed in my head our first encounter, our first kiss, our first time. I obsessed about her full lips, her expressive brown eyes, her gorgeous smile. I could spend hours picturing every single corner of her soft delicate curves. Sometimes, I wondered if --maybe, I didn’t start fights in the hope of being sent to the hole where I could spend my time fantasizing about her. It was pure torture, but I couldn’t help myself. The memories I had of her, of us and our short time together were the only light in my otherwise bleak life. 

She still wrote me every week but I hadn’t open any single one of her letters. I didn’t want to know if she was moving on with her life or worst if she was waiting for me. Because that was what Lexie didn’t understand. Even if nothing happened and I was released in one year, I would never be that boy again. The Drake Walker she had known and loved was dead and she wasn’t going to like the man that had been left in his place. I was damn sure about that. 

Tagging:

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@twinkle-320

@thegreentwin

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@lovingchoices14​

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@nomadics-stuff​

[maknaesdancersrappers]

beneath the daylight moon;

CHAPTER 1.

“Why do we sometimes see the moon, even during daytime?”

Jaehyun doesn’t know, nor did he care to notice that such a thing existed; it was a mystery to him, but you were a bigger enigma.

for the man who deserves the sun, the moon, and the stars; happy birthday, jaehyun ♡

“Why do we sometimes see the moon, even during daytime?”

It was a nice day out; sparse clouds rolled along the vast, celeste sky like cotton floating adrift in the cool breeze. As they pass by, the image of the moon appears stagnant behind them. It was bright enough to see the dark craters on its face, but not enough to outshine the warm sun on the opposite horizon.

Jaehyun returns his attention to you, unable to answer your question.

He walked up the two extra flights of stairs up to his apartment’s rooftop to scope out the area, eager to rent the space out for an area where he could garden. He hadn’t expected someone else to be here.

You sat on an old crate, leaning back on your arms, and staring up at the sky, wearing dark denim short overalls with dried splashes of paint over a white tee. You looked entranced by the scene above you, enough for Jaehyun to peek up as well and expect to see something like a plane passing by or a balloon a child had accidentally let go of.

Instead he saw a moon present during daytime. It wasn’t new to him, but it wasn’t necessarily something he paid attention to either. He was about to mind his own business until you asked him the question.

“Well?” You turned your head to him, maintaining your position.

“I—” Jaehyun stuttered, “I don’t know.”

You stared at him, stunned, before you pouted, bringing your attention back to the moon above you. “That’s no fun.”

He frowns, is it that fascinating? It’s barely even noticeable; just a transparent circle in the blue sky. “It’s just a moon. It’s there every night.”

You gasped at this, sitting up straight and putting a scandalized hand over your chest. He flinches in his place, surprised at your reaction. 

“Yes, we see the moon every night, but it’s daytime—” You gestured to it, “It’s a daytime moon!”

Jaehyun looked back up, warily watching the waning moon for a moment, before returning his attention to you. You were pointedly staring at him, waiting for a response. When he’s confused once more on what to say, you let out a dejected sigh. 

“No one understands.” You mumbled under your breath, standing up and dusting your bottom off. With one last look at the moon, you spun to face him, “You’re new here, aren’t you? I’ve never seen you before. What brings you up to the rooftop? No one ever goes here.”

“Oh, yeah, I moved in a few days ago. I was just checking it out to see if it’s good enough to be a garden space.”

“Garden space? Oh no…” You spun around, “That means this place will be a restricted area.”

“Not at all!” He said, “You’re free to keep coming here. I’m willing to share any of the fruits of my labor as long as it’s not abused. I’ll start with herbs, though. Actual fruits might take a while.”

You giggled, appreciating the little dimples on his cheeks as he joked. “Do you plant flowers?”

“I don’t.” Jaehyun replied with a little shake of his head, but when he sees your lips fall to a frown, he immediately takes it back, “But I’ve always wanted to. I don’t know what I should try first. Would you like to recommend some I should try?”

He wasn’t eager to take care of flowering plants. He picked up gardening so he could have fresh herbs and produce for cooking. Nevertheless, seeing your eyes brighten up after he asked you made him feel happy.

“Personally, I love Four O’clocks.” You told him, bashfully shrugging your shoulders, “I don’t know if they’re easy to grow though.”

“Four O’clocks?”

You nodded your head, “They bloom from four to eight in the evening. If they’re too difficult to grow, I heard sweet peas are easy to care for.”

“Sweet peas.” Jaehyun repeats, “Alright. I’ll keep those in mind.”

A blanket of silence fell between you with only the whispers of the wind and sounds of cars driving down the streets filled the air. He avoided your gaze, suddenly overcome with shyness, ears blushing with his cheeks.

You smiled to yourself, “Well, I should get going now.”

As you started to walk towards the only exit, he startled you by asking for your name.

“I’m Jaehyun.” He held out his hand to you.

Your eyes warily ogled his hand, pressing your lips together. Reluctantly, you stuck your hand out and softly gasped as he curled his fingers around your palm and shook it. “I’m… [Y/N].”

He smiled, cocking his head to the side as you both retracted your hands from one another. “Well, it’s nice meeting you, [Y/N]. Give me a couple of weeks and I’ll have this shabby rooftop brimming green. Maybe get fake grass for you to lie on to see your daylight moon better.”

He looked up above, catching sight of the faded moon peeking behind another cloud as it rolled by.

“I’d like that.” You sighed, following his gaze. “Well, I’ll have to go now. It was nice meeting you again.”

“Likewise.” Jaehyun raised his hand to wave you off, but you were briskly walking out of there before he could even do so. You were weird — not in a bad way. You were endearingly eccentric. He hummed to himself, glancing back up at the sky, pondering on the question you had asked him beforehand.

“Why do we see the moon during daytime?”

Jaehyun finally rented out the rooftop and two days after meeting you, had begun cleaning up the area. A part of him hoped to see you that day, he wished he had asked what your apartment number was, but then he remembered how hesitant you were to even shake his hand. That night he met you, he told his grandmother about you and the conversation you had about the moon. He thought his grandma would agree with you being a little odd, but instead he got scolded for his answer.

Now that he had time to think and look up the scientific reason behind daytime moons, he has an answer for you that he hoped you would like. 

After a few hours of tossing trash and debris into boxes for easy disposal, he took his work gloves off and sat down on the crate you used before. He wiped the sweat of his forehead with his forearm, panting loudly as he caught his breath. The rooftop was the perfect level to be cold when the wind blew, but still be warmed by the sun’s rays.

He peered up towards the sky, looking for the daytime moon. From what he understood from his google searches, today would be the last day to see it properly until the full moon passes. As he waited for a large cloud to pass, he felt like someone was watching and turned his head to the entrance.

You flinched when he turned to you, clutching the pale blue handkerchief to your chest. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Jaehyun swung his legs over the crate’s corners to face you properly, “I thought it would be you.”

“How would you know it’s me? There’s 15 other tenants here.”

He shrugged his shoulders, “I had a feeling.”

“Like, you sensed me? Like a… ghost?”

Jaehyun chuckled, shaking his head, “I wouldn’t go that far. You have a peculiar aura to you.”

“I get that a lot.” You curtly laughed.

He patted the empty space beside him after scooting over the edge and moving his water bottle to the floor. You took up his offer and sat beside him, folding your hands on your lap.

“I wish I could help you, but I only came out here for a breath of fresh air.” To demonstrate it, you inhaled deeply, slowly releasing it through your mouth. “It gets suffocating in my room.”

Jaehyun wanted to ask why, but you quickly changed the subject.

“Is gardening your hobby or is it related to your job?”

“Both — er, well, more of the first one. I want to start a restaurant; a classic Korean restaurant using my grandmother’s recipes. But being in a foreign country, the ingredients to make the recipes truly authentic aren’t readily available. And if they were, they’d be so expensive.”

You watched him swipe the bottle from the floor and take a lengthy gulp of it, nearly downing half of it. His Adam’s apple bobbed with every gulp, protruding out of his thick, creamy neck. You snapped yourself out of it, handing your handkerchief to him when he proceeded to wipe his brow with his forearm.

He quietly thanked you, dabbing the cloth over his mouth before dragging it over his forehead.

“What brings you to this small city anyways? I’d do anything to get away from here.”

“Came from Korea when I was just 5 years old, moved every few years because of my dad’s job, and eventually settled here with my grandma to take care of her.” Jaehyun turned his attention to the cityscape, “It’s nice and quiet, but not too rural.”

“Do you ever wish to go back to Korea?”

He didn't reply immediately as he continued to stare off into the distance. There was a large lake in the heart of the city; people fished there no matter what the season, they swam during spring and summer, and went ice skating during winter.

“I think if I ever went back, I’d feel like a fish out of water, you know?” He looked down to the water bottle in his hands, “It doesn’t matter if I have relatives I’m close to there or I’m fluent in speaking the language, I’ll still feel like a foreigner.”

You offered him a smile, “Well, that’s a given. Especially if you have that kind of mindset. You said you moved every few years, but you eventually settled in long enough before the next city, right? You’ll be able to call your ancestor’s land home eventually. I mean, you live in one of the apartments that predominantly houses Koreans.”

Jaehyun glanced at you, nodding afterwards, “I guess you’re right. But I don’t think I want to go back to Korea just yet anyways.”

“That’s understandable. You haven’t even started your garden yet.” You giggled, gesturing to the empty space in front of you. “I should be heading back anyways. It was nice talking to you.”

“It was. Next time, we’ll talk about you, alright?” He laughed, “Not fair that only I get to talk about myself.”

Once again, you hesitated, biting down on your bottom lip, “Alright. Next time then.”

He watched you slip through the open door, careful not to trip the heavy rock that kept it open. Dejectedly, he sighed at the mess he had yet to clean up. A part of him wanted you to stay longer, not even to help, but just accompany him. When he stood up, the handkerchief you lent him fell to the ground and he grabbed it, running after you.

“Hey, [Y/N], wait!” He yelled down the stairwell. You should have probably gone down just one flight of stairs since you left, but his voice just echoed back at him. Were you that in a hurry to leave? Confused, he resolved to wash your napkin first before giving it back to you.

Going back outside, he put his fists on his hips and studied the rest of the area he had to clean up. He could finish this in two — three days, tops. But the seeds, soil, and pots are coming tomorrow and he doesn’t want to bother his grandma by dumping all those in their tiny apartment. Like the distant sound of a telephone ringing, he got an idea and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

After half an hour and phone call later, Jaehyun’s close friend, Mark, comes to his rescue — although unwillingly.

“I can’t believe I let you convince me to help you out,” He grumbled, hoisting a trash bag full of dust over his shoulder, “For free.”

“I promised you naengmyeon, didn’t I? Besides, don’t act like it’s all heavy lifting.” Jaehyun swept the ground with a broom.

He overheard Mark grumbling under his breath and chose to ignore it. He met the young man in college through his best friend, Johnny, who is Mark’s older stepbrother, and it was from them that he heard about this city. Mark’s only here for the summer break before finishing his senior year in college in the bigger state and Jaehyun’s going to make sure he utilizes him well.

“Yo! It stinks here!” Mark exclaimed, traversing to the other side of the rooftop he hadn’t even gone to yet, “Ew! Man, there’s a dead rat! And a bird!”

Jaehyun just laughed, “Just pack them up with the rest of the trash!”

“I’m not touching those!”

“Mark, you have gloves on, plus you can just push them into the bag.”

The younger man just grumbled again, “Those better be the best damn naengmyeon I’ll ever have!”

“Subak naengmyeon!” Jaehyun retorted, bursting out laughing when he caught the excited, surprised look on Mark’s face before he turned around and picked up the carcasses right away after placing a secondary barrier in the form of an extra trash bag over his gloves.

The next hour or so goes without a hitch and they finally cleared the entire rooftop before the 2 hour mark. They tied the trash bags together to make it easier for them to haul down to the floor below to toss it in the trash chute. 

“Was that so hard?” Jaehyun chuckled, breathlessly, while he pulled out your handkerchief from his back pocket and started to wipe the sweat build up all over his face. “Let’s drop this in the chute and I can make those cold noodles.”

“Yes!” Mark cheered, eagerly grabbing two bags and heading to the door.

After that was settled, they washed up in Jaehyun’s apartment and Mark played games on his phone while Jaehyun got to cooking. He would have asked him to help out, but based on experience, the younger man is better off not doing anything inside the kitchen aside from eating.

Halfway through preparing the meal, Jaehyun’s grandma came out of her room and Mark enthusiastically greeted her.

“Oh, Little Markie.” She fondly cooed, “I didn’t know you were here.”

“I helped Jaehyun clean up the rooftop and he’s repaying me through cold noodles.”

“It’ll be ready in a while!” Jaehyun chimed, “This is exactly for 3 people.”

“Go on ahead without me, I’m going to head down to do laundry.” Jaehyun’s grandma gestures to the small basket of clothes by the door.

“Wait, grandma, can you wash this for me?” He fished out your handkerchief out of his pocket and jogged over to her, “Someone lent it to me earlier and I forgot to give it back, so I wanted to wash it before I run into her again.”

She took the cloth from him and tossed it into the basket, “Alright. I’ll be back later. You two enjoy now.”

“See you, Mrs. Choi!” Mark waved his hand and Jaehyun bit his tongue to stop from laughing; his friend seemingly reverts back into a child every time he interacts with his grandma, but then again, his grandma is known to be endearing and fond towards all his friends.

When his grandma took her leave, Mark eyed him suspiciously, a sly smirk on his face.

“What?”

The younger of the two narrowed his eyes, “You were with a girl before I came over?”

Jaehyun knew where this was going. He shrugged his shoulders, “Yeah. Met her the other day when I checked the rooftop. She’s… eccentric.”

“So she’s weird?”

He instinctively scowled at him, “In a good way. I caught her staring up at the moon.”

“Bro, that’s creepy, you met her at night on the roof? She could have been a ghost.”

With every fiber of his being, Jaehyun fought the urge to roll his eyes, “I don’t believe in ghosts, and no, I was checking out the roof remember? Why would I do that at night? I met her during daytime.”

Mark pursed his lips, “But the moon is also out?”

“It happens. Apparently, it’s a pretty common phenomenon for the moon to appear even if the sun is out.” He lifted a spoon to his lips to taste the sauce and nodded his head in approval, “Hey, grab me two bowls?”

“Is she hot?” Mark jumped up to his feet and went straight for the cupboard to grab two bowls as requested. He set it by the noodles and began to fill both up.

“She’s pretty.” Jaehyun paused; that seemed like an understatement if he were to be honest, but he doesn’t want to give his friend any ideas. “If you keep helping me up on the rooftop, you could meet her.”

“Ayy,” He held his hands up and stepped away from the bowls while Jaehyun poured the soup on them, “You’re just tryna get me to do free labor for you.”

He laughed, nodding his head because he got caught. After pouring the soup into both bowls, Jaehyun arranges the toppings on each of them, “But is it really free labor if you get to eat good food afterwards?”

Mark threw his head back and groaned, “Stop baiting me with food! I’ll get fat before grad pics are taken.”

“You can’t get fat on Korean food. Not with the recipes I make. Besides, once I get the garden thriving, it’ll be a lot healthier.” Jaehyun huffed, “Also, I only need help setting up; make plant boxes, arrange some pots. I’m not asking you to plant, water, or harvest — although I won’t decline if you want to.”

“Fine. Just because you make Michelin star quality food—”

“— have you ever even eaten at a Michelin star restaurant?”

Mark tsk’d at him, “I also wanna meet this girl. You haven’t dated anyone ever since—”

“I’m not looking to date anyone.” He cut him off, handing him chopsticks. “And I still don’t plan to.”

They took their bowls to the small round dining table and sat down. Mark thanked him for the meal and they started to eat. The loud slurp and satisfied moan from Mark brought a smile to Jaehyun’s face. Those kinds of reactions are what drives him to cook even more and he hopes he’ll be hearing them reverbing off the walls of his very own bistro.

As Mark took a bite out of the watermelon Jaehyun used to garnish, he asked, “I can’t wait for you to start your own resto, man. I’ll be there every week — dine in, take out — I’ll have it delivered, too. I’d take my girlfriend to your restaurant for dates.”

This made Jaehyun burst out laughing, “You need a girlfriend to do that, Mark.”

“Shut up! I’m tryna hype you up!” He snarled, “It’s not like you’re opening your restaurant tomorrow, are you?!”

“Point taken.” He shrugged, picking up a hefty amount of noodles with his chopsticks and shoving it into his mouth.

It’s the perfect meal after working hard under the sun; cold and refreshing. He didn’t like eating them at first, finding it weird to eat something he’s accustomed to eating hot now ice cold. Eventually, the dish grew on him, especially on summer days he spent with his grandparents.

For the rest of the meal, they filled the silence with slurping and talked about his plans for the restaurant. Somehow, he ended up giving Mark a part time job in the restaurant that’s yet to be established as either a busboy or a waiter in case he doesn’t find a job yet.

“So worth it.” Mark sighed after he brought the bowl to his lips and threw back his head to finish the soup. “Damn, fine, I will work to eat this kind of food everyday. I should have taken a pic and sent it to Johnny! He’d be so jealous.”

“You can take a picture of my grandma’s bowl if you’re sticking around long enough for her to come back.” Jaehyun suggested, gesturing him to hand his empty bowl over so he could put them away.

“Thanks for the meal.” Mark clapped after pushing his bowl towards him. “Bro, I’m so excited for you! Your resto is gonna pop off, no doubt. And because of you, Johnny’s gonna come back home to handle the business shit.”

Johnny promised to save up to help him with the lease and other financials so he’d been working two jobs in a completely different state to match up the savings Jaehyun had from all the jobs he had previously worked. Jaehyun could easily pay off most of the things needed, but Johnny reiterated that this is a joint business and he won’t let him do so. Even though they both graduated with a degree in business management, Johnny said he’ll take care of all the paperwork while Jaehyun can cook his heart out.

Jaehyun will always be grateful he ran into Johnny during the first class of their freshman year and clicked with him because they shared the same ethnicity, more so that he supports him with everything he does. Admittedly, he’s sad that his best friend had to work so far away from them, but he’ll be home soon and help achieve his dream, plus he had Mark as the best hype man. With no pun intended, he can taste the future.

It’s been nearly a week and Jaehyun hasn’t seen you. He’s worried for some reason; did something happen? Are you alright? He always brought your handkerchief with him so he could return it and some food he made for you to try, but you never showed up. Even Mark doubted your existence when he kept coming over to help build the plant boxes that were finally delivered.

They were just finishing up, deciding where to place the plant boxes with trellises — whether up against the parapet or with the rest of the plant boxes in the middle — when he had the urge to look back at the door and found you watching them through the door.

“[Y/N]!” He exclaimed, face breaking out into a tired smile, only for it to fall when you ran away just before Mark turned around. “Hey, wait!”

Jaehyun tried to run after you, taking large strides, but like last time, when he leaned over the banister to find you, you were gone. He called out to you, but all he saw peeking up the stairs was a scruffy-looking man from four floors down. Jaehyun apologized and the man retreated. He returned to Mark, who decided to move one of the ceramic pots to the other side of where they were originally placed.

“Did you catch her?” He asked, dusting his hands off.

“No. I wonder why she ran off like that. I didn’t even catch her running down the stairs… maybe she lives just on the floor below.” Jaehyun frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He was sure it was you; you were wearing the same denim overalls.

Mark’s phone rang and he cursed at seeing the notification, “Gotta go. I forgot I had to pick up groceries for my mom.”

“Thanks for today. Tell her I said hi.” He waved as he watched the younger man run to the door as if his life depended on it.

Alone, Jaehyun turned back to check the work they’ve done today. Aside from the trellis, all the plant boxes had been laid with all the proper layers for drainage and just needed to be sowed. He wanted to plant everything all at the same time, but he could plant the Four o’Clock seeds you requested. He had already soaked the seeds overnight and even sanded it according to the google searches he made to plant and care for them. He walked over to the collapsible table he set up and took the flower seeds off the paper towel he left them on.

“You’ve started planting?”

Jaehyun jumped away from you, flinching at your sudden appearance.

“Oops,” You giggled, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You have light footsteps, huh? I’m only planting the Four o’Clocks today.” He showed you the seeds in his palm, “Why did you run off a while ago?”

You blinked at him, “Uhm, well, I thought I left the iron plugged in a-and I didn’t want to bother you and your friend.”

“We were done anyways and you wouldn’t be a bother if you decided to come up here. He wanted to meet you, you know.”

“Oh… I’m… just extremely shy. You just caught me off guard the day we met.” You squat beside him as he sowed the seeds into one of the little ceramic pots, “I would have run off if I had the chance.”

Jaehyun chuckled, “Well, I’m glad you didn’t.”

This made you pause, repeatedly blinking at his hands as they gently folded the soil over the seeds. The other day, you would never admit to it, but you were secretly watching him and his friend — Mark, as you heard him call the other — and you were astonished at how strong Jaehyun was. Compared to his friend, he pulled and carried materials on his shoulders with ease. It was a stark contrast to how he planted the seeds just now.

“I believe I owe you a short narrative of my life.” You cleared your throat, looking for somewhere to sit on, and walked over to two collapsible chairs that matched the table. You sat on one while you waited for Jaehyun to dust his hands clean.

Once he sat down, you shrugged, “What do you want to know?”

“Anything you’re comfortable with sharing.” He mirrored your action, “I would have brought extra snacks if I had known I’d be running into you again. Oh, shit — I forgot your handkerchief back in my room.”

“It’s fine.” You shook your head, “I’m in no rush to get it back.”

You let yourself get distracted by a cat’s loud meowing somewhere below, thinking of something to share to him.

“Well,” You started off, “I was supposed to start my Master’s degree for education 3 months ago, but I chickened out the last minute. I just felt like… it’s not something I want to do at the moment.”

“So what have you been doing? Painting?” Jaehyun gestured to the paint marks on your clothing, “Your clothes always have paint on them.”

You stuttered, “Oh, uhm, yeah — just getting the creative juice flowing. Never liked anything to keep it, though. I think I’m more into photography.”

“Like portraits? Landscapes?”

“Anything.” You paused, “Haven’t really found a niche yet. That’s why I’ve been painting.”

He nodded, understanding your situation. “Hey, there’s this mural on the other side of that wall—”

“Yeah, I know. It’s such an eyesore.”

Jaehyun blinked at you, “Oh, I don’t think so. It’s just unfinished. Maybe the person who started it moved out or maybe they just lost motivation. But I think it still looks great; just unfinished.”

Unfinished, you repeated in your thoughts. It’s such a sad word for you; incomplete, undone.

“You could paint over the mural if you think it could be better.”

The mural was yours to begin with. You started it half a year ago when you went up here to escape reality. It was just a mess of angry, distressed brush strokes of a multitude of colors overlapping one another; what made it look incomplete in the first place? You just kept adding layer after layer, never satisfied with how it looked.

“Maybe.” You croaked out, realizing you hadn’t responded to him. “I’d need to buy all the paint though, so I can’t work on it immediately.”

“No rush. You can’t force art.” He said in a comforting manner. “I didn’t learn to cook right away. My grandma has unlimited patience with me every time I burnt something.”

“I wish my older sister had the same patience as your grandma.” You fiddled with your thumbs, “I live with her — uh, well, technically, she lives with me… with her boyfriend and baby.”

Jaehyun gave you an awkward smile, “They live with you?”

You shut your eyes, hanging your head low, “I love my sister and I love little nephew, too. But her boyfriend is a piece of shit. Absolutely useless. Doesn’t even consider moving since he considers me free housing even though he can afford it. He doesn’t even help pay rent!”

“So it’s that kind of situation, huh? Your sister must love him for staying with him.”

You averted your attention elsewhere, biting down on your lip with guilt. She’s still with him because of you, she wants to leave him but she can’t because of you. It’s not your place to tell Jaehyun about the real cruelty your sister’s boyfriend does to her, not to mention he’s a shitty father to your nephew, but you don’t want to drag him into this mess.

“I wish she’d wake up.” You grumbled. You wished you would wake up, too.

“If there’s anyway for me to help, just tell me.” Jaehyun put his hand over yours, the sensation of his skin against yours still confounding you.

You met his gaze, reading the sincerity in the dark chocolate pools of his eyes. You barely know him, but why does it feel like you’ve known him all your life? “Thank you.” You whispered and you watched him retrieve his hand.

“Whatever happens, you can also escape to my place. My grandma loves to meet new people. I’m sure she’ll love you. I can introduce you to Korean food, too. Are you okay with spices?”

“It really depends.” You bashfully admitted, hoping it doesn’t sound like you were turning his offer down.

“Well, if you come over, we’ll see it ourselves.” He beamed at you, dimples flashing in full display. “I live in room 307.”

This caught you off guard. You lived on the same floor as him. Why haven’t you noticed?

When you didn’t say anything after him, even though he had hoped you would reply with your room number, Jaehyun smacked his thighs. He doesn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable for disclosing your room number to him. “I have to start cooking dinner. Are you going to stay longer here?”

“Uh—” You followed his movement as he stood up, “Y-yeah, I will.”

“See you later. Don’t stay for too long. It gets cold up here.”

“I’ll be fine.” You smiled, waving at him as he slowly inched towards the door.

After he left, you stared at the door a little longer before looking down at your hands. You could stay for as long as you want because the cold doesn’t bother you. You can’t feel the cold or the heat or anything… aside from him.

It was a little alarming to Jaehyun that you hadn’t been up on the roof for two weeks. Yes, he counted the days. Did something happen with your sister and her boyfriend? Did you two finally escape him? Did he do something bad? Are you safe? So many questions plagued his mind but he doesn’t know what to do to get answers to them. Mark is no help because he has to see you with his own eyes to even believe you were real.

After your last talk, Jaehyun had made it a point to bring your handkerchief with him so he can finally return it to you. He even washed it again despite not using it just in case the sweat from working under the sun seeped through his pants.

It was a shame though because he’s proud of the progress of his little rooftop garden. All the plant boxes have been sowed with their respective seeds, he purchased a picnic set so he could have meals up here with friends and family, and most importantly, the 4 o’clocks have started to germinate along with the sweet peas that he decided to plant as well. His grandma liked to take afternoon tea up here as well, hoping to meet you after he had spoken often about you, but fortunately doesn’t doubt your existence just because of your absence like Mark.

Jaehyun didn’t have much work to do these days aside from watering and making sure there were no pests since the materials he needed for the pergola hadn't arrived yet. It was a good thing the past days were cloudy enough for his grandma to rely on just sunscreen and not tire herself from holding an umbrella.

Another day is about to end, the sun setting across the horizon. Even Jaehyun hadn’t seen the daytime moon the past week — or maybe he just didn’t bother to check during the prime hour when it’s clearly visible. Heaving a dejected sigh, he goes back to his apartment. He should have really asked for your number — to, you know, check up on you.

Arriving on his floor, he took his time to walk up to his door, briefly glancing when he heard a door open. He didn’t pay much attention to it at first, but did a double take when he saw you.

“[Y/N]?” He exclaims, a little too excitedly, and took three long strides towards the woman he thought was you.

She turned to face him, alarmed and confused.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were someone I knew.” Jaehyun stepped back, sheepishly rubbing his neck. He bows his head out of habit, “Sorry again—”

When he looked back up at the woman, he faltered. She really did look like you.

“Wait, I’m sorry, but are you…” He licked his lips, “[Y/N]’s sister?”

The woman watched him apprehensively as she closed the door but kept her hand on the knob, “I am. And you are?”

“I’m Jaehyun. I moved here just a month ago. I was wondering where [Y/N] is. I haven’t seen her in awhile. Is she okay?”

She looked at him like he had grown two heads. “I don’t understand.”

“Uhm, well, we met up on the rooftop and she’d drop by every now and then. It’s been awhile since she went back up so I got a little worried—”

“Look, boy,” Your sister dismissed, “You’re not making sense to me and I’m busy. You’re wasting my time.”

Jaehyun bit his tongue; did something happen between the two of you? “Okay, I’m sorry again. But could you return this for me? She lent it to me a few weeks ago and I keep forgetting to return it.”

He brought out your blue handkerchief from his back pocket and your sister’s eyes grew wide with alarm. She snatched it from him, making him flinch, and inspected it, revealing the little embroidery of your initials on the corner he had never seen before.

“Where did you get this?!” She hissed, vigorously shaking the fabric in her fist. “I kept this in her drawer!”

“I-I told you! She lent it to me a few weeks ago and—”

“That’s impossible! She couldn’t have!” Your sister’s eyes started to well up, “I don’t understand— she couldn’t have— but how?”

Jaehyun ogled her warily as she examined the handkerchief once more, “I… I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m telling you the truth. She lent it to me herself.”

He described you to her to prove himself; from your hair, to your clothes, to even the reason why you were up on the roof the first time he met you, and that’s what caught your sister’s attention.

“Daytime moon?” She quietly repeated, cutting him off. “Di-did you say she was up on the roof, looking at the daytime moon?”

He nodded, gasping a little when she faltered back and lost her balance, making him reach out to help her stand up properly.

“That can’t be… my sister… [Y/N]... she’s… it’s been three months...”

“What?” Panic gripped at his chest. Three months? He hasn’t even moved in three months ago. “What happened with [Y/N]?”

Your sister looked up at him, visibly perplexed at the situation. Her pupils shook as she stared right at him.

“My sister has been in a coma for three months.”

Chapter 2 by @smileyjaeminies

​cc: @moonttaeil​ @wonjaekook​ @lovestrucked-again​

[inseongsfoxybae]

My human kitten

Pairing: Boyfriend Zuho + Female Reader; established relationship

Genre: Fluff + a pinch of angst

Warnings: None

Words: +1,2k

Requested by @daeunhye: [...]  so, i'm thinking about requesting about a scenario when Juho and his gf almost got into a fight because of a misunderstanding but quickly reconcilliated because his cats (Huru and Pang/Komppang) suddenly broke something then they laughed and scolded the cats instead of fighting [...]

Author’s message: Hey, babe! Your sweet request is finally here hehe. I was so soft while writing it, so I hope you like it and enjoy readint ti. Thank you so much for this request, Chel, really! Love you, cutie ❤❤ Foxy kisses 😘

P.S: As english is not my mother language, it may contain misspelled. Also, sorry for any other mistakes :)

Synopsis: Your cats did a mess, but your love can deal with everything :3

look at this cute pie 🥺

You were having a stressful day at work, your mind racing like crazy and you couldn’t wait until your shift was over, so you could grab your things and rush to your boyfriend’s arms. 

Juho sent you a message and at the slightest buzz of your phone made your heart skip some beats at the thought of him caring for you even with his busy schedule. 

Baby, can you buy some cat food before going home? I’ll leave work a bit later today TT

You couldn’t help the small smile tugging up on your lips, though your heart ached a bit with his delay tonight. 

You knew all the favorite foods of your kittens, but seeing so many options made you want to buy some new flavours for them, to help them to grow up stronger and with a diversified appetite. 

Okay, baby, don’t worry. I’ll wait for you for dinner <3, you answered, reaching for your purse before heading to the nearest market. 

As soon as your feet stepped into your apartment, Huru and Pang ran to you, rubbing their little faces and fluffy fur on your legs. 

“Hey, babies! Mom is here with new delicious food for you. Wanna try them while daddy’s not at home”, you patted their heads, chuckling at how his ears perked up at the mention of food. 

They followed you into the kitchen, curious eyes watching you poured the soft ration on their bowls. As your kittens smelled and ate their portions, you heard the keys open the door and heavy footsteps entered your house. Apparently, your boyfriend finished work earlier than planned.

“Hi, love”, Juho smiled at you before getting closer to softly kiss your lips, your sweet “hey” against his mouth. “I see our babies are devouring their food already… Wait, what’s this cat food?”, he inquired analyzing the packaging on top of the island. 

“I thought it would be good for them to try different flavours, so I bought this new one”, you simply answered, watching as how Juho expression changed abruptly. 

“Y/N, you know they always eat the same brand. It was their vet recommendation. Why did you change it?”, Juho questioned you with anger in his eyes. 

“Ju, it’s now a poison, it’s just something different. They won’t die because of this”, you started to get mad too, all your stress hitting you. 

“How do you know that? They could be sick and only God knows what could happen to them after this…”, Juho snorted, reaching for their bowels and throwing the food away. 

“Why did you do that?”, you exclaimed. 

“My cats won’t eat this”, his deep voice was higher now, his tall frame towering over you. 

You were about to complain when the sound of something breaking filled the room. Both of you turned only to see Huru and Pang playing with each other next to a broken vase - the expensive vase Juho’s grandmother had given to you when you moved in together. 

“Shit”, you whispered in disbelief, your breath hitching your throat as your eyes wandered between the broken piece and your boyfriend’s shocked face. 

“Oh no, my parents are gonna kill me… this was a family heirloom… Baby, what do we do?”, he reached out for your hands, desperately waiting for a miracle to happen. 

“I fear we can’t make anything, bae. It's in a thousand pieces now”, you carefully said, trying not to freak him out. 

Juho groaned and turned to stare at your kittens dumbfounded, those big brilliant eyes acting like nothing happened. 

“Baek Huru and Baek Komppang, come here!”, Juho called them with a serious expression. “Look what you’ve done…”, he pointed to the broken vase all over the floor. “Do you know how precious this vase was to our family? It was a special gift my grandma gave to me and to your mommy and now you broke it and act like it was nothing?”, he exclaimed exasperated. 

You could feel his disappointment, but your heart couldn’t ignore when he referred to you as their mommy, jumping in joy at this small word. You got closer to him and put a hand over his shoulder, trying to calm him down. 

“It’s okay, Ju. There’s nothing else we can do now. Take our cats to their beds, I’ll clean this mess”, you softly said. “And you guys… No more messing around today, okay? Go to sleep before your dad scolds you again”, you looked straight to their eyes and they got the message, heading to their place as Juho followed them.

You took the shovel and the broom and focused on gathering all the pieces to avoid causing any accident afterwards, humming a random song while doing the task. Once everything was clean and you turned around, you found your boyfriend looking at you with loving eyes, a small grin on his lips. 

“What?”, you asked, smiling back. 

“Can't I admire my woman's beauty?”, he wondered, getting closer to you. “Give me, I throw this in the trash”, he took the objects out of your hands and did the rest of the job. 

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier”, Juho murmured when he heard your footsteps enter the kitchen. “I didn’t mean it”, his guilty eyes met yours and you couldn’t help the small smile forming on your lips. 

“I know, Ju. You don’t need to worry about it”, you approached him, watching a little pout growing in his mouth. You cupped his face between your hands and pulled him closer, feeling the warmth of his arms wrapping around your waist. “Let’s take a shower together and cook dinner?”, you asked, nose brushing his as he only hummed in response. 

You took a relaxing shower together, scrubing each other’s body, massaging each other’s scalp and playing with bubbles, your giggles filling the bathroom. 

“Y/N”, Juho called you while drying your hair with a towel, cupping your cheeks and admiring your face. “You’re my special kitten, you know?”, he said softly, both of you smiling.

“Why are you like this all of the sudden?”, you asked, burying your face on his neck, cheeks burning with shyness and love. 

“Because you’re the cutest girlfriend I could ask for and I love more than anything”, he squished your cheeks again. 

“More than Huru and Pang?”, you looked at him playfully suspicious. 

“More than Huru and Pang”, he confessed, chuckling at your surprised eyes. 

“Well, I love you too”, you whispered, eyes closing as Juho kissed your forehead. 

After that, you ate something and went to bed to watch some random videos while talking about your day. You loved listening to Juho bumbling about his routine and the songs he was working on and about his love for all his loved ones: your cats, family, members, friends, Fantasys, you.

And you loved to play with his thin fingers during these moments, your head resting on his chest, his heart steadly beating against your ear. The rise and fall of his rib cages making you feel loved, secure and relaxed, your eyes slowly getting heavier and your mind cloudy, 

You fell asleep right there, snuggling closer and deeper into his body as you felt his arms embracing you warmly. Juho smiled seeing your small sleepy pout, melting in love for you. 

“Good night, my little human kitten”, he mumbled, sweetly kissing the crowd of your head. 

“Night, bae”, you sleepy murmured back, nuzzling your face on his chest. 

Juho chuckled softly and closed his eyes,  quickly falling asleep with you in his arms. And he knew: as long as he has you beside him, everything is going to be alright. 

[lozzypoz321]

Ransom’s young daughter gets sick and he has to take care of her, only to have to take her to a family party because he can’t get a babysitter. The rest of the family is confused when they see him acting so carefully.

Word Count: 3K!

Warnings: None, other than pure fluff and some sickness.

A/N from ssebstann: This our first collab fic! This came from an anon who asked me if I would ever do this and here we are! I’m so proud of how this turned out and I hope you all like it and more writers would like to collab! I had so much fun doing this!

A/N from lozzypoz321: I’m really happy with how this turned out and I owe it all to the queen up above, I loved this and I hope everyone does too!

-

Sickness Struggles

Ransom groaned as he woke up, it wasn’t his normal time, though. It was barely 6 am, and he knew it wasn’t your time to get up either, you had just fallen back asleep after climbing out of your bed and complaining to your dad that you didn’t feel well. It wasn’t that Ransom didn’t believe you, he just hadn’t fully woken up yet and wanted to go back to his peaceful, sleeping state. But, here he was about 2 hours later, hearing you crying from your room. Before he could get to your room, you ran past Ransom and straight into the bathroom that was beside your room.

“Y/N, what’s wrong?” Ransom asked. His stomach flipped when he heard you heaving and coughing, he grimaced. Ransom went into the bathroom and pulled your hair away from your pale face. You coughed again and fell back, your dad caught you in his arms from banging your head on the marble slates. “You really are sick, aren’t you?” He looked down at you, your hands were shaking and you looked utterly miserable.

“I tried to tell you, but you didn’t believe me,” You weakly pouted as he picked you up and put you on your unsteady and trembling legs. “Bet you believe me now.” You sassed him.

“I kind of have to. Look at you, you’re whiter than a sheet, honey,” He said, looking at you pitifully. “Alright, let’s get you back to bed.” Ransom took your hand and you trailed behind him, your small feet padding on the wooden planks of the houses’ hallways. You stood back behind him as he opened the door of your room and waited expectantly.

“I don’t wanna sleep in my bed,” You said confidently. Ransom cocked his eyebrow at you and walked towards you. “It’s too cold.” Ransom finally caught on to what you wanted and he nodded in understanding.

“Oh, so what you’re saying is that you wanna sleep in my bed and get your sickness everywhere?” He asked you, jokingly, of course, he didn’t want you to feel bad. After all, it wasn’t your fault that you were sick. Ransom looked at you and noticed the sick puppy look you had on your face and he instantly felt guilty, he didn’t want to upset you. “Hey, I was only joking, honey! You can go and sleep in my bed, alright?” You smiled gratefully and lifted a weak hand to rub the excess sleep out of your eyes. Ransom picked you up and you wrapped your shaking arms around his neck, clinging to him like a koala.

“Are you leaving today?” You asked him, you didn’t want him to go. If he did, you would be left with a babysitter who only sat and watched the TV in the living room, you know, the huge one that had all of the movies on it.

“No, but I have to tonight, I have to go see grandma and grandpa at a party,” He said, laying you on his bed and pulling the soft comforter up to your chin. You looked up at him with tears in your eyes, Ransom frowned and wiped them away with the pad of his thumb. “It’s alright, honey. You’re gonna be okay.” He assured you.

“I don’t want you to go,” You whimpered. Ransom smiled at you sadly and kissed the top of your head.

“I’ll be back before you know it, I won’t be there long,” He said. You sniffled and nodded, rubbing your runny nose with the sleeve of your pyjamas. Ransom brought your sleeve away from your face. “No, no. Don’t use that, Y/N.” Your eyes filled up with wet tears again, thinking you were in trouble.

“I’m sorry,” You cried. Ransom pulled the box of tissues out from the drawer of his bedside table and put one in front of your nose.

“You gotta blow your nose, baby. Otherwise, it’s gonna get all sticky and make you uncomfy,” You looked at the tissue in front of you and blew into as hard as you could. After Ransom put the tissue in the trash can, he turned the TV on for you. “I know I shouldn’t be letting you watch TV at 6 in the morning, but I don’t exactly know what else I can do with you this early in the morning.” He mumbled. Sniffling, you put your small arms up at your dad, signalling that you wanted to cuddle.

“Please?” You stuck your bottom lip out and pulled the best puppy dog face you could muster. Ransom sighed, knowing he probably shouldn’t, but would anyway. He budged you over gently and got into the massive bed, settling you in beside him with his arm around your small frame protectively.

Without trying to disrupt you, he leaned over to the oak bedside table and retrieved the TV remote and began to flip through the channels. After a while, he settled on a F.r.i.e.n.d.s episode. He didn’t like the show but knew it was one of your favourites. He slid down the sideboard where his back had been rested and laid down on the fluffy white pillow that made him sigh in content. About halfway into the show his eyes began to get heavy and your breathing began to slow down, and soon enough both of you were in a deep slumber.

-

Ransom mumbled sleepily when the sound of a ringtone woke him up. He blindly threw his arms out without opening his eyes, trying to find the source of the incessant noise. When the ringing didn’t stop blaring in his ears, the man had no other choice but to open his eyes and ignore the resistance in his body that begged for him to lay back down and go to sleep.

“Shut the fuck up,” He groaned and fumbled with the phone to answer the call from the baby sitter, Morgan, he had booked for you. When he successfully swiped the answer button and the noise stopped his mind was put at peace.

“Hello?” He tried not to sound as if he had just woken up but failed miserably, from the other side of the call he heard the woman quietly chuckle before going back to being serious.

“I’m sorry for such short notice, Mr. Drysdale but I’m afraid I can’t take your daughter today, I didn’t realise I was double-booked for the day” Ransom inwardly cursed, thinking of ideas of what he could do with you. Not needing to listen to her apologies, he hung up the phone and chucked it on the bottom of his bed, which he now remembered upon seeing you, all the night's events that occurred previously.

As though you had read his mind, your body suddenly awoke from unconsciousness and you lurched forward involuntarily and vomit spewed out of your mouth and onto the freshly vacuumed carpet. At the sight, both of you grimaced, you using the back of your sleeve to wipe the excess from your mouth which made Ransom scrunch up his face in disgust.

“Oh God, honey,” he sighed, feeling sorry for you before going back to the current matter at hand “I am definitely not cleaning that up” You used all the strength you could possibly muster to push yourself up off of your fathers bed and set your feet onto the ground, carefully making sure not to land on the pool of sick. You looked back up to Ransom, tears once again filling your eyes as the thought of being away from him flooded your mind.

“Please don’t go, I don’t want you to go,” You whined. Ransom took a deep breath at the nagging reminder of figuring out what he now had to do with you. He knew he couldn’t call another babysitter, it was far too late for that, and he had no friends that could look after you for the short time he was going to be gone, and he couldn’t possibly leave you alone when you were sick, so the only option left was to take you with him to the family gathering. The sigh that left his mouth was one of someone who had given up on life. He took your hand to guide you past the vomit and took you to the bathroom next to his room so you could brush your teeth and get rid of the after taste, although stopping halfway to pick you up so you didn’t collapse onto the hard wooden floor and knock yourself out. Ransom was surprised at how hot your forehead felt and instantly retracted his hand making you shrink back into yourself, thinking he was scared of you. He sighed, and quickly retrieved your toothbrush from your bathroom so you could get rid of the sick stench that he was sure was the reason your breathing had got noticeably heavier. Your hand shakily found the mint toothpaste that your father used and weakly squeezed the tube, only a small amount of past leaving the bottle but you didn’t care enough to waste any more of the limited energy that you had left in you. About halfway through the slow brushing Ransom mentioned to you that you weren’t going to be home with the babysitter.

“What do you mean?” You spat the toothpaste out into the sink and looked up to your dad. Ransom looked at you with an almost guilty expression, but also he knew that you wouldn’t be that bothered about it, you would be with him all night and not some stranger.

“Well, Morgan kinda cancelled and now I don’t have a babysitter for you and you need to come with me tonight,” He explained. You nodded slowly, taking in what you could from your father’s quick explanation.

“Alright. Just please, don’t leave me with Jacob,” You requested. Ransom nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “He keeps going on about all of this political stuff and I don’t understand.” Ransom couldn’t help but chuckle at your childish innocence.

“Good, you don’t want to. Not his side of politics anyway, I don’t even think it is politics, more just mindless drooling,” You giggled. “Now your breath doesn’t smell like acid and whatever you ate last night, we should probably actually get you cleaned up.” He said, turning the shower on.

“Can’t I just stay in the car and not see anyone? It still counts as being there with you!” You pointed out. Ransom threw a towel at you, and you caught it with an oomf. You sighed in defeat. “Fine.”

“Okay, shower. You smell,”

-

“You better hope you don’t sneeze when I’m straightening your hair, I’ll end up burning your ear,” Ransom taunted you, looking at you in your mirror. He was standing above you while you sat at your vanity table in your room.

“Dad! Don’t say that,” You whined. You sniffled and rubbed your nose with the tissue on your table. “With my luck, I will and you then you’ll burn me.” Ransom laughed quietly and shook his head.

“I was kidding, Y/N,” He deadpanned. “And anyway, you’ve taken medicine, so you should be fine. And with any luck, you might give it to your best friend Jacob!” He cheered sarcastically.

“Do you like anyone?” You asked him. He shook his head.

“I like you, but that’s really it,” He shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal.

“You must lead a sad life,” You mumbled. Ransom feigned shock and offense, before realising your point wasn’t too far off. “But you live a sad life with an amazing child.” You gave him a smug smile.

“Oh yes, definitely,” Ransom said, dragging your straighteners down your hair.

“I’m your favourite child!” You exclaimed. He hummed and nodded, putting your straighteners down and placing his hands on your shoulders.

“Y/N, you’re my only child,” he reminded you, and grabbed a bobble from the wooden surface to use to tie your hair back. “But, I guess you are my favourite.” He confirmed, pulling half of your hair up and tying it up.

“I don’t look sick, do I?” You asked him. Ransom shook his head.

“No, you look perfect, Y/N. You managed to get a bit of colour back onto your face and you don’t look like you’re at death’s door anymore,” You gave him a glare. “Again, I’m kidding.” He kissed the top of your head and gave you your jacket. “Alright, let’s go.” You put your jacket on and followed him out to the beamer. You put your head against the window, your eyes following the scenery as it passed. You were trying to concentrate on not bringing up any possible bile that was in your system, with your luck it would happen in your dad’s other most prized possession.

“I don’t know why I’m shaking,” You said, looking at your dad with confusion written on your face. Ransom turned to you as he pulled into the estate, putting the car into park.

“Probably because you’re still sick. We won’t be long, I promise,” He assured you, putting his large hand over your much smaller one that rested on your leg. You nodded and got out of the car, following your dad into the house. The symphony of the dogs barking together made you jump and grab onto your dad’s arm. “It’s alright. I think they’re tied up.” He said.

“It’s not that I’m scared of them, they’re just really loud,” You mumbled. Ransom nodded and made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth. “Can we go in now, it’s really cold out here.”

“Alright, let’s go then,” He said. You walked up the front steps of the mansion and your dad opened the door, seeing that everyone was already there, and you were both fashionably late, as per usual for you both.

Your grandma, however, wouldn’t let you call your lateness fashionable. Linda looked over your way and clenched her jaw.

“Always late. I’m not surprised”

Your Grampa, Richard, shook his head at her and stood up to greet you both.

“Now, now, Linda” He walked halfway to the door and motioned you further into the house. Ignoring the stares from the rest of the family, you wrapped the nearest hand around your dad's leg and let him guide you over to an armchair in the corner. Him not bothering to greet his father back, or carry a conversation with Walt who was now looking at him with his bottom lip curled. You tried not to peak at what was on Jacob’s phone as he stood near you, while he typed furiously over something, but it was no use. You lifted your head and instantly regretted it. Without trying too hard you caught sight of the words Hitler, Syria and #4chan so you decided not to indulge any further. Part of you wanted to know what he was talking about, but for the most part, you were fearing what he was looking at.

“I hate this place” Ransom muttered and lifted up his arm so that you could pull yourself up onto the chair arm where he sat.

“Can we go now? ” You whispered back to him, making your dad chuckle. Just after he did, his eyes narrowed at someone across the room. Looking over, you found that Walt was glaring at both of you, but mainly you. You felt your cheeks heat up and you hid your face behind the top of your jacket.

“Walt, why are you eyeing up my daughter?” Ransom asked. All of the conversations in the room ceased and all eyes turned to you and your dad in one corner, and Walt in the other.

“Why did you bring her? She’s clearly sick, we don’t want whatever sickness she has!” He yelled. Ransom chuckled.

“Then why are you here? Everyone must have surely caught whatever you have by now, I mean, you must have something to make you like that,” Ransom motioned up and down at Walt. Linda and Richard wanted to hide and never be found. “And, she has a name.” Ransom finished with a hard stare on his face, if looks could kill, Walt would have been six feet under on the damn spot.

“I don’t even know the kid’s name!” Walt yelled.

“It’s Y/N,” You said quietly, only loud enough so people could hear you. Walt smiled at you sarcastically.

“Thanks, but I didn’t ask,” He said snidely. A grim smirk grew on Ransom’s face.

“Walt, if you even dare try to talk to Y/N again, I’ll shove my foot so far up your ass, people are gonna think that I’m making hats,” Ransom threatened. “Now, if we’re all done. Me and Y/N are going to be leaving now.” Before Harlan could object and try to calm things down, your dad grabbed your hand and began to pull you to the door and out of the house. Ransom let you go and get into the car while he got in the driver’s side.

“You handled that well,” Ransom commented. You slid part way down the seat and slightly shook your head

“I was dying inside,” You murmured. Ransom rolled his eyes and gently pulled you up by the collar of your jacket. “I’m not lying, is Walt always like that?” You asked him. Ransom shrugged.

“Maybe he finally found out what all of the shit that Jacob says online,” Ransom said, making you laugh.

“I saw that, it was disturbing. I’m gonna lie at school and say I’m related to Meg instead.”

-

A collab between me and @ssebstann ! 💞

Written by both of us. Wattpad; @Lozzypoz321 Tumblr side acc; @padfootbuckster Pinterest; @lozzypoz321

@marvel-ous-hobbit @snarky--starky @rae-is-typing @stargazingfangirl18 @canadianhufflepuffavenger

[j0elmill3r]

Sickness Struggles

Ransom Drysdale x Daughter!Reader

Knives Out Masterlist

Ransom’s young daughter gets sick and he has to take care of her, only to have to take her to a family party because he can’t get a babysitter. The rest of the family is confused when they see him acting so carefully. 

Word Count: 3K!

Warnings: None, other than pure fluff and some sickness.

A/N from ssebstann: This our first collab fic! This came from anon who asked me if I would ever do this and here we are! I’m so proud of how this turned out and I hope you all like it and more writers would like to collab! I had so much fun doing this!

A/N from @lozzypoz321: I’m really happy with how this turned out and I owe it all to the queen up above, I loved this and I hope everyone does too!

-

Ransom groaned as he woke up, it wasn’t his normal time, though. It was barely 6 am, and he knew it wasn’t your time to get up either, you had just fallen back asleep after climbing out of your bed and complaining to your dad that you didn’t feel well. It wasn’t that Ransom didn’t believe you, he just hadn’t fully woken up yet and wanted to go back to his peaceful, sleeping state. But, here he was about 2 hours later, hearing you crying from your room. Before he could get to your room, you ran past Ransom and straight into the bathroom that was beside your room.

“Y/N, what’s wrong?” Ransom asked. His stomach flipped when he heard you heaving and coughing, he grimaced. Ransom went into the bathroom and pulled your hair away from your pale face. You coughed again and fell back, your dad caught you in his arms from banging your head on the marble slates. “You really are sick, aren’t you?” He looked down at you, your hands were shaking and you looked utterly miserable. 

“I tried to tell you, but you didn’t believe me,” You weakly pouted as he picked you up and put you on your unsteady and trembling legs. “Bet you believe me now.” You sassed him. 

“I kind of have to. Look at you, you’re whiter than a sheet, honey,” He said, looking at you pitifully. “Alright, let’s get you back to bed.” Ransom took your hand and you trailed behind him, your small feet padding on the wooden planks of the houses’ hallways. You stood back behind him as he opened the door of your room and waited expectantly.

“I don’t wanna sleep in my bed,” You said confidently. Ransom cocked his eyebrow at you and walked towards you. “It’s too cold.” Ransom finally caught on to what you wanted and he nodded in understanding.

“Oh, so what you’re saying is that you wanna sleep in my bed and get your sickness everywhere?” He asked you, jokingly, of course, he didn’t want you to feel bad. After all, it wasn’t your fault that you were sick. Ransom looked at you and noticed the sick puppy look you had on your face and he instantly felt guilty, he didn’t want to upset you. “Hey, I was only joking, honey! You can go and sleep in my bed, alright?”  You smiled gratefully and lifted a weak hand to rub the excess sleep out of your eyes. Ransom picked you up and you wrapped your shaking arms around his neck, clinging to him like a koala.

“Are you leaving today?” You asked him, you didn’t want him to go. If he did, you would be left with a babysitter who only sat and watched the TV in the living room, you know, the huge one that had all of the movies on it.

“No, but I have to tonight, I have to go see grandma and grandpa at a party,” He said, laying you on his bed and pulling the soft comforter up to your chin. You looked up at him with tears in your eyes, Ransom frowned and wiped them away with the pad of his thumb. “It’s alright, honey. You’re gonna be okay.” He assured you. 

“I don’t want you to go,” You whimpered. Ransom smiled at you sadly and kissed the top of your head.

“I’ll be back before you know it, I won’t be there long,” He said. You sniffled and nodded, rubbing your runny nose with the sleeve of your pyjamas. Ransom brought your sleeve away from your face. “No, no. Don’t use that, Y/N.” Your eyes filled up with wet tears again, thinking you were in trouble.

“I’m sorry,” You cried. Ransom pulled the box of tissues out from the drawer of his bedside table and put one in front of your nose.

“You gotta blow your nose, baby. Otherwise, it’s gonna get all sticky and make you uncomfy,” You looked at the tissue in front of you and blew into as hard as you could. After Ransom put the tissue in the trash can, he turned the TV on for you. “I know I shouldn’t be letting you watch TV at 6 in the morning, but I don’t exactly know what else I can do with you this early in the morning.” He mumbled. Sniffling, you put your small arms up at your dad, signalling that you wanted to cuddle.

“Please?” You stuck your bottom lip out and pulled the best puppy dog face you could muster. Ransom sighed, knowing he probably shouldn’t, but would anyway. He budged you over gently and got into the massive bed, settling you in beside him with his arm around your small frame protectively. 

Without trying to disrupt you, he leaned over to the oak bedside table and retrieved the TV remote and began to flip through the channels. After a while, he settled on a F.r.i.e.n.d.s episode. He didn’t like the show but knew it was one of your favourites. He slid down the sideboard where his back had been rested and laid down on the fluffy white pillow that made him sigh in content. About halfway into the show his eyes began to get heavy and your breathing began to slow down, and soon enough both of you were in a deep slumber.

-

Ransom mumbled sleepily when the sound of a ringtone woke him up. He blindly threw his arms out without opening his eyes, trying to find the source of the incessant noise. When the ringing didn’t stop blaring in his ears, the man had no other choice but to open his eyes and ignore the resistance in his body that begged for him to lay back down and go to sleep. 

“Shut the fuck up,” He groaned and fumbled with the phone to answer the call from the baby sitter, Morgan, he had booked for you. When he successfully swiped the answer button and the noise stopped his mind was put at peace. 

“Hello?” He tried not to sound as if he had just woken up but failed miserably, from the other side of the call he heard the woman quietly chuckle before going back to being serious. 

“I’m sorry for such short notice, Mr. Drysdale but I’m afraid I can’t take your daughter today, I didn’t realise I was double-booked for the day” Ransom inwardly cursed, thinking of ideas of what he could do with you. Not needing to listen to her apologies, he hung up the phone and chucked it on the bottom of his bed, which he now remembered upon seeing you, all the night's events that occurred previously.

As though you had read his mind, your body suddenly awoke from unconsciousness and you lurched forward involuntarily and vomit spewed out of your mouth and onto the freshly vacuumed carpet. At the sight, both of you grimaced, you using the back of your sleeve to wipe the excess from your mouth which made Ransom scrunch up his face in disgust.

“Oh God, honey,” he sighed, feeling sorry for you before going back to the current matter at hand “I am definitely not cleaning that up” You used all the strength you could possibly muster to push yourself up off of your father’s bed and set your feet onto the ground, carefully making sure not to land on the pool of sick.  You looked back up to Ransom, tears once again filling your eyes as the thought of being away from him flooded your mind.

 “Please don’t go, I don’t want you to go,” You whined. Ransom took a deep breath at the nagging reminder of figuring out what he now had to do with you. He knew he couldn’t call another babysitter, it was far too late for that, and he had no friends that could look after you for the short time he was going to be gone, and he couldn’t possibly leave you alone when you were sick, so the only option left was to take you with him to the family gathering.  The sigh that left his mouth was one of someone who had given up on life. He took your hand to guide you past the vomit and took you to the bathroom next to his room so you could brush your teeth and get rid of the after taste, although stopping halfway to pick you up so you didn’t collapse onto the hard wooden floor and knock yourself out. Ransom was surprised at how hot your forehead felt and instantly retracted his hand making you shrink back into yourself, thinking he was scared of you. He sighed, and quickly retrieved your toothbrush from your bathroom so you could get rid of the sick stench that he was sure was the reason your breathing had got noticeably heavier. Your hand shakily found the mint toothpaste that your father used and weakly squeezed the tube, only a small amount of past leaving the bottle but you didn’t care enough to waste any more of the limited energy that you had left in you. About halfway through the slow brushing Ransom mentioned to you that you weren’t going to be home with the babysitter. 

“What do you mean?” You spat the toothpaste out into the sink and looked up to your dad. Ransom looked at you with an almost guilty expression, but also he knew that you wouldn’t be that bothered about it, you would be with him all night and not some stranger.

“Well, Morgan kinda cancelled and now I don’t have a babysitter for you and you need to come with me tonight,” He explained. You nodded slowly, taking in what you could from your father’s quick explanation. 

“Alright. Just please, don’t leave me with Jacob,” You requested. Ransom nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “He keeps going on about all of this political stuff and I don’t understand.” Ransom couldn’t help but chuckle at your childish innocence.

“Good, you don’t want to. Not his side of politics anyway, I don’t even think it is politics, more just mindless drooling,” You giggled. “Now your breath doesn’t smell like acid and whatever you ate last night, we should probably actually get you cleaned up.” He said, turning the shower on.

“Can’t I just stay in the car and not see anyone? It still counts as being there with you!” You pointed out. Ransom threw a towel at you, and you caught it with an oomph. You sighed in defeat. “Fine.”

“Okay, shower. You smell,” 

-

“You better hope you don’t sneeze when I’m straightening your hair, I’ll end up burning your ear,” Ransom taunted you, looking at you in your mirror. He was standing above you while you sat at your vanity table in your room.

“Dad! Don’t say that,” You whined. You sniffled and rubbed your nose with the tissue on your table. “With my luck, I will and you then you’ll burn me.” Ransom laughed quietly and shook his head.

“I was kidding, Y/N,” He deadpanned. “And anyway, you’ve taken medicine, so you should be fine. And with any luck, you might give it to your best friend Jacob!” He cheered sarcastically. 

“Do you like anyone?” You asked him. He shook his head.

“I like you, but that’s really it,” He shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal. 

“You must lead a sad life,”  You mumbled. Ransom feigned shock and offence, before realizing your point wasn’t too far off. “But you live a sad life with an amazing child.” You gave him a smug smile.

“Oh yes, definitely,” Ransom said, dragging your straighteners down your hair.

“I’m your favourite child!” You exclaimed. He hummed and nodded, putting your straighteners down and placing his hands on your shoulders.

“Y/N, you’re my only child,” he reminded you and grabbed a bobble from the wooden surface to use to tie your hair back. “But, I guess you are my favourite.” He confirmed, pulling half of your hair up and tying it up. 

“I don’t look sick, do I?” You asked him. Ransom shook his head.

“No, you look perfect, Y/N. You managed to get a bit of colour back onto your face and you don’t look like you’re at death’s door anymore,” You gave him a glare. “Again, I’m kidding.” He kissed the top of your head and gave you your jacket. “Alright, let’s go.” You put your jacket on and followed him out to the beamer. You put your head against the window, your eyes following the scenery as it passed. You were trying to concentrate on not bringing up any possible bile that was in your system, with your luck it would happen in your dad’s other most prized possession.

“I don’t know why I’m shaking,” You said, looking at your dad with confusion written on your face. Ransom turned to you as he pulled into the estate, putting the car into park.

“Probably because you’re still sick. We won’t be long, I promise,” He assured you, putting his large hand over your much smaller one that rested on your leg. You nodded and got out of the car, following your dad into the house. The symphony of the dogs barking together made you jump and grab onto your dad’s arm. “It’s alright. I think they’re tied up.” He said. 

“It’s not that I’m scared of them, they’re just really loud,” You mumbled. Ransom nodded and made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth. “Can we go in now, it’s really cold out here.”

“Alright, let’s go then,” He said. You walked up the front steps of the mansion and your dad opened the door, seeing that everyone was already there, and you were both fashionably late, as per usual for you both.

Your grandma, however,  wouldn’t let you call your lateness fashionable. Linda looked over your way and clenched her jaw. 

“Always late. I’m not surprised”

Your Grampa, Richard,  shook his head at her and stood up to greet you both.

 “Now, now, Linda” He walked halfway to the door and motioned you further into the house. Ignoring the stares from the rest of the family, you wrapped the nearest hand around your dad's leg and let him guide you over to an armchair in the corner. Him not bothering to greet his father back, or carry a conversation with Walt who was now looking at him with his bottom lip curled. You tried not to peek at what was on Jacob’s phone as he stood near you, while he typed furiously over something, but it was no use. You lifted your head and instantly regretted it. Without trying too hard you caught sight of the words Hitler, Syria and #4chan so you decided not to indulge any further. Part of you wanted to know what he was talking about, but for the most part, you were fearing what he was looking at.

“I hate this place” Ransom muttered and lifted up his arm so that you could pull yourself up onto the chair arm where he sat. 

“Can we go now? ” You whispered back to him, making your dad chuckle. Just after he did, his eyes narrowed at someone across the room. Looking over, you found that Walt was glaring at both of you, but mainly you. You felt your cheeks heat up and you hid your face behind the top of your jacket.

“Walt, why are you eyeing up my daughter?” Ransom asked. All of the conversations in the room ceased and all eyes turned to you and your dad in one corner, and Walt in the other.

“Why did you bring her? She’s clearly sick, we don’t want whatever sickness she has!” He yelled. Ransom chuckled.

“Then why are you here? Everyone must have surely caught whatever you have by now, I mean, you must have something to make you like that,” Ransom motioned up and down at Walt. Linda and Richard wanted to hide and never be found. “And, she has a name.” Ransom finished with a hard stare on his face; if looks could kill, Walt would have been six feet under on the damn spot. 

“I don’t even know the kid’s name!” Walt yelled.

“It’s Y/N,” You said quietly, only loud enough so people could hear you. Walt smiled at you sarcastically.

“Thanks, but I didn’t ask,” He said snidely. A grim smirk grew on Ransom’s face.

“Walt, if you even dare try to talk to Y/N again, I’ll shove my foot so far up your ass, people are gonna think that I’m making hats,” Ransom threatened. “Now, if we’re all done. Me and Y/N are going to be leaving now.”  Before Harlan could object and try to calm things down, your dad grabbed your hand and began to pull you to the door and out of the house. Ransom let you go and get into the car while he got in the driver’s side.

“You handled that well,” Ransom commented. You slid partway down the seat and slightly shook your head 

“I was dying inside,” You murmured. Ransom rolled his eyes and gently pulled you up by the collar of your jacket. “I’m not lying, is Walt always like that?” You asked him. Ransom shrugged.

“Maybe he finally found out what all of the shit that Jacob says online,” Ransom said, making you laugh. 

“I saw that, it was disturbing. I’m gonna lie at school and say I’m related to Meg instead.”

-

Permanent Taglist; Open!

@an-adventureland @demons-hunt @eviemarvel @avenging-natasha @bonkybarnes107 @this-kitten-is-smitten@justrandom02@lozzypoz321@herecomesthewriterwitch@tomms-h @40srogcrs@kashoot-me-now-please​ @ellehooo​ @rororo06 @just-one-ordinary-fangirl @bval-1 @marvel-ous-hobbit

[songtoyou]

Epiphany - Part Two

Paring: Luke Crain x Female Reader

Chapter Rating: PG-13

Word Count: 2,001

Warnings: Talks of drug use and recovery, mention death of family members.

Description: Life has never been easy for Luke Crain. After the death of Nell, Luke realizes that he needs to make some changes. He decided to stay in Massachusetts and attend rehab. He was determined to remain on his path of sobriety. When you get assigned to be Luke’s sponsor, it opens a new door of possibilities that neither you nor Luke expected.  

A/N: I finally watched the Haunting of Hill House a while back. I found Luke to be very interesting. This is my take on how Luke would go on with life after Nell’s death and how his continued path to remain sober would look like.

Feedback is wonderful. It is nice knowing if people are actually liking this fic.

I do not permit my work to be posted on any other site without my permission.

“Hey,” he said to get your attention. “I promised that I’ll come to talk to you if I ever feel like I might…. Or if I just feel like I need someone to talk to.”

Sure enough, Luck kept his promise that if he ever needed to talk, he would call you. The two of you have talked almost every day since your first meeting two-weeks ago. For Luke, it was nice being able to talk with someone he could connect with. While Steve, Shirley, and Theo were more supportive of him than ever before, his siblings still could not fully relate to his ordeals.

Theo mentioned to Luke that he could be open and honest with her about his past experiences, his current feelings, and how he was coping with Nell’s death. “I appreciate it, Theo, I really do,” Luke told her over the phone. He just got back from class and was getting ready to head out to see you.

“I feel a ‘but’ coming along,” Theo lightly said.

“But…it is just hard talking about this stuff with someone who…”

“With someone who doesn’t necessarily share the same experience or feelings,” replied Theo and added, “Talking about Nell…and dad…is hard for all of us. However, I do understand that we all have our own ways of coping. I’m only glad that you aren’t…you know…”

“Me too. I told you guys, that I’m serious about remaining clean. It’s my last promise to Nell and I intend to keep it. Plus, my sponsor is…she’s awesome. Definitely been a nice help with having someone to talk to who understands.”

“Well, that is great, Luke. I’m glad you have someone who you are comfortable talking to about these things. So, your sponsor…what is she like? What’s her name?”

After telling Theo your first and last name, he went on talking about how you have been clean for the past three years, that your family lives in Wilmington, you work at a bakery part-time, and that you are a current art student at Middlesex Community College.

“Lowell campus or Bedford campus?” Theo continued to pry.

“Bedford.”

“What does she plan on doing with an art degree?” asked Theo.

“I don’t know! Probably because she likes art,” Luke replied. He was starting to get a tad annoyed at his older sister.

“Can I meet her?”

“You know what…wow…look at the time. In fact, I gotta start heading out,” Luke mentioned as he saw the time on the clock. “Talk to you later, Theo.”

Before Theo could try to pry more information about you, Luke hung up. Theo was intrigued about you but would not pry. At least for now.

You asked Luke if he had ever been to the Lexington Venue, an old theater seventeen minutes outside of Wilmington. He had not. You mentioned to him that you were planning to see the new Marvel movie, ‘Avengers’ Endgame, and if he wanted to join. Luke happily accepted your offer.

Since you had been to the Lexington Venue numerous times, Luke suggested that you drive. He heard a car pull up Shirley’s driveway and looked out the window to see that it was you. Luke grabbed his coat, checked to make sure he had his wallet, and headed out the door. Awkwardly, it was at the same time Shirley stepped out her front door.

“Oh…Luke…hey, where are you heading out to?” Shirley inquired as she strolled with her younger brother to your car.

“Uh, we’re just heading to the movies,” Luke replied. He waved and said ‘hi’ once he got closer to your car.

“We? Who’s we?” Shirley asked. When she saw you, she gave a wave herself and looked over at Luke, waiting to get introduced.

“Oh right. Sorry, my bad,” said Luke with an awkward chuckle and introduced you to Shirley and vice versa.

“It’s nice to meet you. Luke hasn’t told us much about you. From what he has mentioned is that you’re his sponsor…”

“Shirley,” Luke said in a warning tone. The last thing he wanted was his sister to embarrass you in any way.

“Yes, I graduated, you could say, from the same program Luke is currently in. and have been clean for three years,” you mentioned. You figured it would be best to help ease Shirley’s tension by being honest with how long you have been clean. “Luke, we better get going if we want to make the matinee show.”

Luke bid his sister goodbye and got in your car. “I’m sorry about Shirley. She’s…well…she’s Shirley. Very much a Type A personality.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I totally get it. My mom is the same way. She kept asking me questions about you. I told her she just needed to relax and that all we are doing is going to the movies. She sort of does that with everyone I hang out with. It’s like she is just waiting for something to happen, you know.”

“But you’ve been in recovering for a long time,” Luke pointed out. “Your mom should see that you have made a real effort in maintaining your sobriety.”

You let out an exasperated sigh. “Here’s the thing Luke, we are always going to be addicts. It isn’t going to go away. It is an incurable disease. It is no different than cancer. The only difference that the world doesn’t view addiction as a disease.”

Luke contemplated what you were saying. He never thought of his addiction as a disease but rather a symptom of Hill House. That house was never a home. It left a stain on his childhood that penetrated adulthood. While Luke no longer felt the presence of the “Tall Man” haunting him at every turn, he could never shake the feeling of the coldness in his limbs or the stiffness of his neck he felt that particular day at the rehab center in Los Angeles. He often wondered what his life would have turned out if his father never insisted on buying Hill House. His mother would still be alive, along with Nell and his dad. The Crain family would be whole rather than broken.

“What do you know about this so-called ‘sponsor’?” Theo asked Shirley over the phone.

“No more than you know. I actually got to meet her in person when she stopped by early to pick Luke up. Apparently, they were off to go to the movies over in Lexington. They were in a hurry, so I didn’t get to talk very much with her. She seems nice, though. Luke seems to have really bonded with her. That’s good, right? We should be happy that he has a friend he can confide in…you know…now that Nell is…. gone,” replied Shirley. It was still hard for her to say her baby sister was dead.

“Luke is coping better than any of us thought he would. It isn’t like the previous times. I see the commitment he has to stay clean. I don’t think he and his friend are doing anything they shouldn’t be doing. I don’t think Luke would lie to us,” Shirley added.

“No, I don’t think he is lying to us at all, “Theo immediately interjected. “Like you said Shirl, I think Luke is committed to his program. It is just…my protective instincts are on high alert…with all of you. I just want to know who this person Luke is hanging out with. Maybe we could get Luke to invite her over for dinner? Aren’t Kevin and the kids going to visit his mom over the weekend? We could do it this Saturday.”

“Okay. That could work with not having Kevin or the kids around. Please let me be the one to ask Luke about dinner. Theo? Theo, you’re not texting Luke, now are you?”

~Luke, bring your friend to dinner this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. – Theo~

“That movie was so long,” you said to Luke while walking out of the theater.

“Way too long and kind of boring, especially in the beginning,” Luke replied throwing out his trash.

“Definitely could have cut at least 35 minutes from the film. What time is it?” you asked exiting the building with Luke following behind.

Luke dug into his coat pocket to retrieve his phone. When he logged in, he saw a text from Theo.

“Fucking eh. You are not going to believe this?”

“What? Everything okay?”

“Everything is fine,” reassured Luke and let out a chuckle. “My sister, Theo, is asking me…well more like telling me to bring you over for dinner this Saturday. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

You stopped mid-walk to turn towards Luke. “Do you not want me to meet them?” you asked and continued when he gave you a skeptical look, “I can kind of sense that me meeting your family…well I can sense a rush of anxiety coming from you.”

Shuffling from one foot to the other, Luke contemplated how best to explain his family to you. “Let’s get in your car. I will tell you everything. You deserve to know the full truth.”

Boy, Luke laid on the truth. From the “Tall Man” to Abigail and how everyone thought she was imaginary because her parents never allowed her to leave their home, and how Theo struggles with heightened sensitivity. “It is one of those things that kind of runs in the family,” said Luke and continued, “Our mother and grandma were…they had similar abilities. Anything Theo touches, objects, or places, she can feel the emotions from people. The House killed our mother. It tricked her into believing that killing her children would wake us from this nightmare…that it would save us. Our dad got us away in time, but it was too late to save mom. She was dead by the time dad got back to the house. Then it got Nell. The way it Tricked her the same way it tricked mom. I tried burning it down, but nothing happened. The House would have gotten me, Steve, Shirley, and Theo if our dad hadn’t…he sacrificed himself to save us.”

After telling you everything, Luke let out a deep breath. He looked over at you and let out a laugh. “I don’t blame you for wanting to drop me as your mentee. I totally understand. My bag of crazy is hard to handle sometimes.”

In the past, it would have been a lot for you to handle someone like Luke. His issues far exceeded your capabilities when it came to helping someone maintain their sobriety. However, you were older and no longer ran or made yourself numb in fear of feeling peoples’ emotions. Instead of viewing your empath abilities as a curse, you saw them as a gift. As a way to help those in need. The thing about Luke was that he did not need saving. He did not want some to swoop in and save him from his problems. No. You were able to sense that the man before just wanted someone to believe in him. To know that he is telling the truth and that he was not making any of it up.

While Luke was telling you about his past, you saw everything. You saw the “Tall Man” as he haunted that little boy with glasses up until he reached adulthood, you saw him play with Abigail and drew pictures in his treehouse. You could see his mother as she poured the tea for him, Nell, and Abigail that last night at Hill House, and how as an adult he tried to set it ablaze. You saw it all. You felt it all.

“I believe you, Luke. I’m not going anywhere if you don’t want me to,” you told him earnestly.

He turned to look into your eyes to make sure you were telling the truth. “Are you sure?”  

“Yes,” you easily said and started your car. “You better text your sister back that I would love to come over for dinner this Saturday.”

[tsarisfanfiction]

WIP #47

(Send me a number 1-60 [or a fandom/character I guess] for the corresponding wip) because I’m bored and brain-fried and have too many wips that’ll otherwise never see the light of day.

For @misssquidtracy who asked for “Number 47 - Thunderbirds (specifically da Gords)”.   Luckily, this happens to be a Gordon PoV wip, so it’s all Gordon!

It’s also a Scott!whump, because it’s me and I’m terrible and I have way too many of these lying around, so watch out for that.  There’s also a lot of this.  Nearly 6k words, so enjoy :D

Gordon hated it when his squid sense started to tingle for no discernible reason.  On a rescue, his squid sense was invaluable, warning him just in time that a building was about to topple, or that an aftershock was on its way.  Lives had been saved by his mysterious power – hardly a power, more an instinct honed by too many years of military precision combined with a predisposition for pranks whilst living in a house with three older brothers.  Alan joked about him being bitten by a squid, like that old superhero story about the guy and the spider.

It was easier to laugh it off than get into a debate with the astronaut about the biting habits – or lack thereof – of aquatic creatures his younger brother knew nothing more than the required basics about.

However, joking aside, Gordon’s sixth sense was particularly active, and while usually it was a life-saving boon, this time it was just a nuisance.  He was at home, safe and comfortable in the clean water of the pool. He’d opted for lazy backstrokes, taking his time to reach from one end of the pool to the other before executing a neat flip to repeat the stroke back the way he’d come.  None of his brothers were on missions, either.  John was as ever up in Thunderbird Five, but from the far end of the pool he could see the holographic form of his brother just visible in the den.  Alan was, last checked, also in the den – the two space mad brothers had decided to watch a documentary on, surprise, surprise, space, during what downtime they had – while Virgil had decided to do some maintenance on Thunderbird Two with Brains.

Scott was away on boring business, a stuffy CEO meeting that he couldn’t palm off onto the board of directors that were supposed to be handling that sort of thing for him, or even attend via hologram.  They had insisted on a personal touch – literally – and as it was, apparently, a big deal, that meant Scott had to ditch the blues, send one last longing look at Thunderbird One, and let Kayo escort him in Tracy One to the meeting place.

The meeting had been due to start about an hour ago, if Gordon was getting his timezone calculations correct.  Why Tracy Industries still had its headquarters in America, far too many hours behind Tracy Island, when there was a perfectly respectable landmass or two closer to home, he couldn’t quite fathom, but when he’d raised the point Scott and John had both fixed him with tired, don’t be an idiot looks, with just a hint of be glad you don’t have to deal with this nonsense to stop him from pestering further.

Kayo herself was who-knew-where, sneaking around in her sneaky Kayo way.  He’d seen Tracy One return several hours ago, Kayo’s taxi service duties over until Scott called for her.  Apparently, head of IR security did not equal anything in terms of Tracy Industries security, a fact that he knew grated on her.  Still, she and Lady Penelope had run multiple background checks on all the men and women that made up Scott’s official security, and were as assured as they could be with Kayo not amongst their number that he was in good hands.

So if his squid sense could stop tingling randomly, that’d be great, thanks.

It didn’t, and annoyance turned to dread when the emergency signal went off, summoning them all to the lounge.  A tingling squid sense, and an emergency?  Gordon had a really bad feeling about that.

He made it to the den in record time, more damp than not with a beautiful trail of drips across the carpet that Grandma was going to murder him for later, and still in nothing but his swimming trunks.  Alan made a face of disgust as he threw himself down onto the sofa next to him to face John.  The documentary that the two astronauts had been watching was paused on what his old school lessons told him was a supernova eruption.  The imagery of an explosion did nothing to help his jittery squid sense.

Virgil was last to join them, grease streaking up one sleeve and smearing onto the sofa he chose to sit on – at least he wasn’t the only one that would be facing the wrath of Grandma later.

“What have you got, John?” his eldest currently-home brother asked, looking far too laid back for Gordon’s liking.  Not that there was anything wrong with it – Virgil still was far from relaxed, alert and ready for the briefing before launching himself down the slide of death – but Gordon found himself tense in comparison.

“A plane’s gone down in America,” John told them.  “I intercepted a mayday call from the pilot; the GDF have already responded but it’s a bad one and they don’t have enough resources to get everyone out.   Gear up; I’ll give you the details on the way.”

One of those, huh? Gordon flew towards the fish tank that housed his launch tube, slapping his palm against the hidden sensor and feeling the familiar downwards rush towards the hangars, splitting off from the route to Four and instead making a beeline for Two.  He met Alan on the platform, his youngest brother jittering excitedly as always, just in time for Virgil to retract it, bringing them up into the cockpit.

Co-pilot was his chair, and the only person annoying enough to turf him out of it on ‘superiority’ grounds was Scott.  Even Kayo knew better than to steal his chair, so Alan settled happily enough into the navigation chair behind Virgil, pulling up the screens ready for John to transmit the data straight though.

“You alright?” Virgil asked him as the hangar door rolled down, revealing rows of palm trees ready to bow in homage to the green beast.

“My squid sense is going haywire,” he admitted, no point in lying.  Not on a mission.  He expected John to scoff – his second eldest brother always slightly more dismissive of it than the rest of them.  After all, there was no scientific explanation.  All joking about fish and gills aside, Gordon was one hundred percent human.  John didn’t scoff, and that made his squid sense reach an uncomfortable level.  In fact, John didn’t say anything at all, his hologram not paying them any attention at all as he fiddled with something invisible up on Five.

“Well, it’s a plane crash,” Alan pointed out, his voice somewhat subdued.  Virgil made a noise of agreement as Two’s engines roared to life behind them, punching them into the air.  She was no rocket, but Thunderbird Two could still produce a decent amount of Gs. Gordon wished that was it, but the tingle had started before John briefed them.

“Guys,” John finally said, once Two was cruising at full speed towards America.  “I’ve got hold of the flight details for the plane.  It wasn’t easy; turns out it was a top-secret flight even the GDF didn’t know about.”

“That sounds ominous,” Virgil observed.

“It gets worse.” John’s face was grim.  Really grim.  Bearer of terrible news grim.  “It was a private flight chartered for a top secret business meeting between the biggest aerospace companies in the world.  Four CEOs were on board, including-” his voice broke in a very un-John-like manner, and Gordon’s stomach dropped.

“Don’t say it,” Alan begged. In front of him, Virgil’s knuckles were white on the yoke, Thunderbird Two’s engines whining as they went just that little bit faster.

“Including Scott,” John finished, visibly pulling himself back together.  “In total there were thirty people on board, including the pilots. The reports from the GDF so far say that the rear of the plane is trashed but the cause isn’t yet clear. Two bodies have been recovered so far – neither of them Scott – but they can’t get into the main body of the plane. Scans suggest that approximately half of them survived the initial crash.  I’m picking up fourteen life signs; two of them in the cockpit area so they’re most likely the pilots.”

“Scott’s communicator?” Virgil asked as sea gave way to land beneath them, the American coast looking unfairly beautiful.

“I’m not getting a response,” John admitted.  “I’ll keep trying.”

“Anything from the telemetry?”  Alan was tapping away at the screen by his chair, clearly manipulating the data John was sending him.  Gordon envied him the distraction.

“It’s offline,” John sighed, rubbing his face tiredly.  “Seems like it was damaged in the crash.  EOS is attempting to reconnect but no luck so far.”

“Do you have any good news for us, Johnny?” Gordon asked hopefully.

“Colonel Casey is one of the GDF officers at the scene,” John offered, notably not rising to the bait. Well, Gordon supposed that was better than random officers, or worse, the ones that weren’t overly fond of International Rescue and didn’t fully co-operate.  “Kayo’s just launched in Thunderbird Shadow for the airport they took off from.  Lady Penelope is also on the way; she and Parker are already making enquiries to find out what happened.”

“They think sabotage?” Virgil asked.

“The CEOs of the four most powerful aerospace industries in the world were on that plane,” John pointed out.  “It’s suspicious, at least.”

“Do you think it’s the Hood?”  Gordon sent Alan a withering look.  Not everything was the Hood’s fault, even if it felt like it.

“I don’t know, Alan,” John said.  “Kayo thinks it isn’t his style.  He’d have been looking to get money from them, not kill them.”

“He killed Dad.”

Gordon flinched.  He wasn’t the only one.

“No-one said Scott’s dead,” Virgil said, voice steady even though Gordon couldn’t remember the last time he’d looked so tense.

“He’ll be okay, right?” Alan asked.  “I mean, it’s Scott.  If anyone can walk away from a plane crash, it’d be Scott, right?”

“Let’s hope,” John replied.

The co-ordinates John had programmed into Thunderbird Two’s navigation system flashed up, warning that they were on final approach.  Slowed to subsonic, they came to a hover alongside a GDF flier and got their first glimpse of the downed plane.  It wasn’t pretty.

The final third of the plane no longer resembled the tail of anything remotely flight-worthy.  Twisted and warped metal was crumpled and torn ragged. Men and women in GDF uniforms were hovering around the area, large lasers deployed to slice their way in. Gordon knew instantly that no-one who had been in that part of the plane could possibly have survived.

At the other end of the plane, the nose was also crumpled but not as far back as the cockpit windows. It looked as though whatever had downed the plane had occurred at the back, with the damage to the nose only made by the impact of the crash.  More GDF were swarming the cockpit windows, cutting their way in with infinite more care than their counterparts were cleaving the rear.

The area of most interest to them was the middle third.  While not the complete write-off of the rear, massive dents and warps in the metal warned of a serious crash.  Any survivors would be in that area, but the condition of said survivors was unknown. All of the emergency exits were untouched; from a distance, Gordon couldn’t tell if they were wedged shut by warped metal, or if there was another reason that none of them had been opened.

“International Rescue!” Colonel Casey flagged them down, guiding them towards a space just large enough for Thunderbird Two to land.  “You boys are a sight for sore eyes,” she greeted.  “The fuselage is too thick for our lasers to get through without endangering the survivors inside.  We’ve got the pilots under control, but we haven’t been able to make contact with any of the passengers.”

“F.A.B.,” Virgil answered her.  “We’ll get them out.  John said fourteen life signs?”

“Affirmative,” she said. “We have visual on both pilots. The other twelve are randomly positioned within the front half of the plane.”

“We’ll get them out,” Virgil assured her, and ended the call.  “Gordon, Alan, get as much cutting gear and first aid supplies as you can carry.”

“You didn’t mention Scott,” Gordon observed, and he sighed.

“No point worrying her. You two know we have to treat him the same as the rest?”

Alan frowned.

“But couldn’t he help us?”

“If he’s fit to help, then that’s one thing,” Virgil told them.  “But I don’t like that none of the doors are open.  Don’t get your hopes up; this is a nasty crash.”

“Come on,” Gordon muttered, grabbing Alan’s arm and tugging him towards the module.  “Faster we get in there, the faster we’ll find him.”

“I know that much!” Alan grumbled, yanking his arm back.  “I can walk by myself, Gordon!”  He stalked off ahead.  Gordon let him, hearing Virgil catch up with him from behind.

“You don’t think Scott’s okay,” he said, quietly.  It wasn’t a question.

“If he was, he’d have got word out somehow by now,” Virgil replied.  “Even if his communicator’s broken, there are GDF swarming the place. He’d only need to catch their attention through a window.”  He made a beeline straight for his exosuit, pulling on the heavy gear with the ease of practice and charging out of the lowering module door.  Gordon collected their last hand-held cutter and shouldered a medical pack before following alongside Alan, who was kitted out the same.

Virgil’s shoulder laser was powerful and made short work of the fuselage that the GDF had been too reluctant to touch.  A wrench with the claw arm and a thick wodge of metal slammed down on the ground in front of him.  The opening wasn’t huge, too small for Virgil with his suit to fit through comfortably, but it was the largest they’d been willing to risk with the unknown structural integrity of the fuselage.  Gordon slipped through first, hand laser in hand for any further obstacles, and let out a shaky breath.

“Woah,” he muttered, pulling his helmet on.  The air was murky, dust kicked up and swarming around from the warped metal. None of the seats were upright; sheered metal struts protruded from where they should have been, in a circle around what was once a table.  That had broken in two, the far end buried under the start of the truly warped area. “Hello?  International Rescue!”

Silence.

Alongside personal effects and broken pieces of aircraft, the floor was strewn with bodies.  Some were obviously dead, impaled by shrapnel made from the very plane that should have been protecting them.  One in particular was grotesque, a metal strut that had once supported a chair stuck straight through his chest from where he’d been thrown on top of it.  Gordon recognised him as part of Scott’s security detail and had to fight to hold back the bile.

Scott.  Where was Scott?

Despite Virgil’s words, he wasted a moment looking around the scene, but there was no sign of his eldest brother.  Unable to justify hunting for him before checking for signs of life in those immediately visible, he crouched down by the nearest person not obviously dead and checked their pulse.  It was weak but there.

“Woah!”  Alan mimicked his own reaction upon entering.  “What a mess.”

“Alan, I’ve got a survivor here!”  Gordon called him over immediately.  “Mind your step.”  His youngest brother picked his way over to him.  “Find a way to get him out.  I’ll look for more.”

“Have you found Scott yet?” he asked, kneeling down and opening his med kit.  Gordon shook his head.

“No sign.  I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”  Alan nodded, and Gordon continued his search.  It was a grim one.  He’d suspected as such when no-one had responded to his call, but even when he found a warm body, they were unconscious.  Virgil joined him, exosuit stripped off and replaced with more medical kits and a small group of GDF personnel courtesy of Colonel Casey. Between them, it was a far more manageable task to carefully remove the survivors from the wreckage.  Those pronounced as dead were left for the moment as John’s countdown of life signs inside the remains of the plane slowly ticked down.

All in all, they’d so far found eighteen of the twenty eight passengers, including the dead pulled from the ruined tail section.  Ten to go, two of which were still alive according to Thunderbird Five’s scans. One of the ten was Scott.  Gordon felt cruel when he found another breathing body and mentally cursed her for not being Scott.  It wasn’t her fault; she was lucky to be alive herself, torso contorted in a way he knew meant a broken back.  He should be relieved to find any survivors at all, not cursing them for not being the one he wanted to be alive.

He flagged her up to one of the closest medics and moved on.  It was almost too dark to see at the back of the plane, up against the crushed wreckage.  His toe snapped on something soft and he tripped.  Landing in a crouch, he turned around to face the obstruction.  A dead body.  He didn’t even need to check the young man’s pulse; the poor guy had been caught in the mangled metal and torn in half.  His face was twisted in pain and terror, blue eyes wide and glassy with death.  It wasn’t Scott, but Gordon knew he’d be seeing those eyes in his nightmares nonetheless.

Turning back around, he moved to stand before realising he was by part of the fallen table.  Various limbs had been protruding from beneath the large slab at intervals during Gordon’s search, but here there was a gap. A seat, wedged beneath it, had left part of the table at an angle.  It was too dark to see into it, so Gordon palmed a glowstick and snapped it, illuminating the area in an eerie green.  Immediately the silhouette of a body greeted his eyes.  Mindful of additional shrapnel, he reached in carefully, fumbling until he found their wrist.

Thump… thump…

Slow, but there.  At the same time, a GDF woman called in another survivor.  One more than expected.

“Virgil!” he called. “I’ve got someone under the table with a pulse.  Going to need some heavy lifting to get them out!”

“F.A.B.” his brother replied.  He raised the glowstick above his head with the hand not measuring the pulse and waved it around.  “I see you.” A moment later, Virgil and a trio of GDF officers appeared.  “How much of this are we going to need to shift?” he asked.  Gordon shrugged.

“I can’t see.  Got a silhouette but not much more.  Give me your torch.”  He dropped the glowstick and kept his hand open for Virgil’s gear. It landed in his hand and he carefully manoeuvred it down before turning it on.

A once sharp grey suit was covered in dust, but that wasn’t what caught Gordon’s breath in his throat. It was the dark brown hair, and the broken but unmistakable International Rescue communicator on his forearm, less than an inch from Gordon’s fingers on the slow pulse, that made him gasp.

“Gord-?”

“It’s Scott.”  He cut Virgil’s query off.  Behind him, the GDF murmured in surprise.

Virgil didn’t ask anything more.  Gordon stayed where he was, watching the limp form of his eldest brother with a lump in his throat as they moved around him.  His fingers didn’t budge from the pulse, a fear gripping him that if he stopped measuring it, it would stop altogether.  Orders barked and a concert of groans resulted in a large part of the broken table slab being cut up and lifted, letting what pitiful light had reached so far back into the cabin illuminate Scott’s body.

It wasn’t good.  Blood matted his hair, a mark of something striking him in the crash.  One leg was twisted almost completely around, a dislocated hip at best, and more blood stained his arm.

Virgil took charge, nudging Gordon out of the way.  He went willingly only because out of everyone in the world, he only trusted Virgil or Grandma to handle his brother in such a broken state.  He tapped his communicator.

“John, Alan?”

Both answered immediately, eager for news.  Inwardly he was glad not to be the bearer of tragic news, not sure he could have managed it.

“Found him; he’s alive.”

“How is he?” Alan demanded over John’s sigh of relief.  Gordon winced.

“Alive,” he repeated. “Virgil’s got him.  It’s too dark back here to tell past that.”  That was a bare faced lie; even as he spoke he could see Virgil attaching the medical scanner to him, still glowing glow stick highlighting the frown on his face.  Neither brother called him out on it.

“I’ll update the others,” John said instead.  “Keep looking for survivors; you’re on one more than our scans showed.  There might be more.”

“F.A.B.”  He ended the call.  “Virgil?”

“All in hand,” his older brother said shortly.  “Keep looking.”

“Yessir.”

Seven dead bodies later, all thirty crew and passengers were accounted for.  He exited the craft, removing his now filthy helmet, only to almost collide with Colonel Casey.

“You knew Scott was on board the flight,” she said without greeting.  Her face was displeased, and he figured he was the first Tracy she’d managed to collar.

“Of course we did,” he confirmed.  “But that didn’t change how we operated.”

“I can see that,” she said. “Why didn’t you tell me?”  He glanced back at the corpse of the plane, where Virgil was still inside with Scott, carefully transferring him to a hoverstretcher, last Gordon had seen.

“Because it didn’t change anything,” he repeated.  “Excuse me, Colonel, but my job isn’t over yet.”

He didn’t wait to be dismissed, heading towards Thunderbird Two’s open module to prep it for Scott’s transport.  The GDF might be taking the other injured to hospitals, but there was only one craft their brother would be travelling in, and that was their own.  He wasn’t naïve; Scott’s injuries were bad, beyond anything Grandma and Virgil could handle at home.  John and Kayo were already working to locate a hospital both capable of treating him, and with enough security that he would be safe from ill-wishers during his recovery.

None of them were convinced this was a simple accident.  Not with so many high profile individuals on board.  The Hood aside, there were many people that stood to gain from the deaths of the four CEOs.  Lady Penelope was already digging into the employees from the other three companies who stood to benefit from the deaths.  Regretfully, the only CEO still with a pulse was Scott.  All four of them had been towards the back of the cabin, all bar Scott caught up in the twisted metal that was the final third of the plane.

Scott had been lucky, for all that he wasn’t out of the woods yet.  Gordon wasn’t a medical professional, but Virgil’s face told him that much.

“The medical carrier is ready to leave,” Colonel Casey told him.  He assumed she’d followed him to Thunderbird Two, although had at least refrained from entering uninvited.  “As soon as Scott is on board, they’ll be on their way.”

“They can leave now,” Gordon retorted.  “We’ll handle Scott.”

“I know you are concerned, but this crash is a GDF investigation,” she told him.  “All casualties fall under GDF jurisdiction.”

Gordon was shorter than her – the only one of his brothers bar the still-growing Alan with that distinction – but inside the module bay he could still look down at her.

“Scott is International Rescue jurisdiction,” he corrected her.  “And as the CEO of the family business, also Tracy jurisdiction.  He’ll be treated at a location approved by us, not the GDF, and if the GDF have an issue with that, they can take that up with our head of security.”

“And your other employees?” she challenged.  Gordon pushed away the memory of a man impaled by a seat strut.

“None of them survived.” He turned his back on her, readying the finishing touches.

“I’m sorry for your losses,” she said, and he heard her walk away.  He’d barely known them, the six men and women wearing Tracy Industries logos, but Scott had.  John, too, and Kayo had hand-picked the four members of security.

Alan appeared beside him, putting away what remained of the medical supplies he’d taken out earlier and locking the hand-held laser back where it belonged.

“Is he going to be okay?” he asked, and Gordon shrugged, putting an arm around his shoulders.

“I don’t know,” he admitted.

“Do you think this was sabotage?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why would anyone do this?”

Gordon sighed.

“It might have just been an accident,” he reminded him, even if he doubted his own words.  Alan looked equally unconvinced.  “Come on, let’s get her ready to go.”

“F.A.B.,” Alan said quietly, and they headed out towards the loading platform, only to be brought up short at the sight of Virgil approaching them, hoverstretcher alongside. Immediately they got out of the way, letting their older brother brush past and secure the stretcher to the wall.

“Gordon, pilot,” he said. “John and Kayo found us a New Zealand hospital.  It’s a fair distance, but it’s secure.  Scott should hold on long enough to get there as long as you don’t dawdle.”

“F.A.B.”  Gordon wasn’t a fan of the implication that Scott might not, but had no choice but to trust Virgil as he jabbed the button to raise the platform.  Alan stayed behind – understandable, as he hadn’t seen yet seen their eldest brother – but Gordon didn’t say anything.  He could pilot Two solo.

There were many words that could be used to describe the speed they left the crash site and headed for the other side of the world at, but ‘dawdle’ was not one of them.  She was no rocket like One or Three, but Two was still one of the fastest planes in the world, and Gordon was determined to get as much speed out of her as he dared.  Virgil could take her faster, another Mach at least, but he wasn’t Virgil and didn’t trust himself to keep her flight smooth at top speed.  He just hoped it would be fast enough.

About halfway there, somewhere over the large expanse of water that Gordon would much rather be in than over, Virgil contacted him, a hologram flickering into life in his periphery.

“If I send Alan up, will you go faster?” he asked.  Gordon’s heart sank.

“Is he getting worse?” Please no, please not Scott.

“I’ve got him stable,” Virgil reassured him.  “But he’s still critical.  The sooner we get him to the hospital the happier I’ll be.”

“More speed coming up,” he confirmed, reaching for the throttle.  “Uh, yeah, send Alan up, would you?”  He could probably do with a co-pilot if he went any faster.

“Sure thing,” Virgil agreed. “He’s on his way.”

Sure enough, no sooner than his older brother ended the connection, the door opened and Alan stumbled through it, all but collapsing into the co-pilot’s chair.

“He hasn’t woken up,” the astronaut offered as he reached forwards to power up the co-pilot controls. As soon as the second set of lights lit up, Gordon accelerated the craft towards top speed.  “Virgil’s worried about the head injury.”

Gordon grit his teeth, remembering the red matted into the brown under the powerful beam of Virgil’s torch.

“Head injuries are tricky,” he agreed.  “But Virgil knows what he’s going, and John’s found a hospital that specialises in them.”

“I know,” Alan replied quietly.  “That’s what worries me.  They’re not telling us something.”

“The hazards of being the youngest,” Gordon groaned, unsurprised but as annoyed as Alan about it. Scott was their brother too, dammit. “So, what are they not telling us?”

“Have you seen the results of the scan?” Alan asked him.  Gordon shook his head.

“Nah, had to leave to look for other survivors once Virgil was dealing with him, and haven’t seen him since.”  Five seconds of hoverstretcher rushing past didn’t really count.  “What came up?”

“No idea,” Alan sulked. “Virgil’s been keeping it out of my sight all journey.  But I know John knows.”

Gordon growled and slammed the comm button.

“John, Virgil, I want the result of those scans,” he demanded.

“You’re piloting,” Virgil responded immediately.  “No reading while you’re controlling my ‘bird.”

“Then summarise for me,” he retorted.  “Starting with that head injury.”

“Just get us to the hospital,” Virgil ordered.

“Already doing that,” he ground out, hackles rising.  “Stop trying to keep us in the dark!  He’s our brother too!”  Thunderbird Two lurched under his grip before Alan hastily stabilised them.

“What are you doing up there?” Virgil demanded.  “Be careful!”

“Letting my imagination fill in the blanks,” he lied – he was, in fact, keeping his imagination carefully blank.

“Is it that bad?” Alan interrupted before Virgil could find a fresh retort.  “Is he dying?”

Silence filled the cabin, and Gordon’s temper flared.

“You said he was stable!” he yelled.  “Dammit, Virgil, don’t lie to me about that!”

“I said critical but stable,” Virgil corrected.  “He is stable, Gordo, but…”  He trailed off, and Gordon glanced over at Alan to see his own growing panic mirrored back at him in blue eyes.

“He’s comatose,” John said quietly.

“What?” Alan yelped. Gordon stiffened, hands threatening to crush the yoke in his hands before he forcibly relaxed them.

“You didn’t think I might like to know that?” he growled, flashes of hospitals and white coats and bodiless voices stirring in the back of his mind before he trampled them down ruthlessly.  Not now. Silence answered him.  Clearly both his conscious older brothers knew they were in the wrong, and that whatever nonsense they fed him about not wanting to distract him while he was piloting wouldn’t pacify him in the slightest.

Alan’s face had gone white, big blue eyes focused on him, and he knew his younger brother was remembering the last time he’d had a family member in a coma – him.  He forced a smile for his benefit, which had about as much of an effect as any pacifying words John or Virgil might have tried to use.

“Why?” Alan asked, voice shaking.  “Who would do that?”

“Kayo and Lady Penelope are looking into it,” John told them.  “Whatever happened, they’ll find out.  I’ve got EOS doing some digging of her own, too.”

“But… is Scott going to be okay?” Alan pleaded, looking back at Gordon, who was clearly the resident expert on comas.  He remembered the fight for consciousness, pleading voices turning to resigned ones as they talked about their day yet again.  He remembered wanting to respond so badly but being trapped by his own body.

The idea of Scott going through that filled him with dread – if he even did.  Comas were different for different people, he’d found out later, when he’d torn through everything he could get his hands on in a desperate attempt to understand what had happened to him.  He wouldn’t wish that on anyone, except maybe the Hood but then even only in his blackest moods.  Scott had done nothing to deserve that.

“He’s a fighter,” was all he could say.

The hospital staff were ready and waiting for them when they finally arrived, a two hour flight that had felt far longer.  No sooner had he touched down and opened the module than they were swarming, hurrying Scott inside with Virgil hot on their heels, presumably talking doctor-speak and filling in anything they hadn’t already been briefed about.

Gordon and Alan were left in Thunderbird Two’s cockpit, watching out of the windows as their elder brothers vanished into the maw of the hospital.

“Do we follow them?” Alan asked after a moment.  Gordon looked at the doors with no small amount of dread, and shook his head.

“They won’t be allowing visitors just yet,” he said.  “Virgil will have a fight to stay with him, and he’s our medic.  We’ll just get shoved in a waiting room with sympathetic looks and no news.”

At least, that was the stories he’d heard from his brothers, regarding his own accident. International Rescue might have more weight than merely the Tracy name had back then, but a patient was a patient.

“Come home,” John said, popping up from the dashboard and looking them both over.  He looked tired, too, and Gordon wondered how much worse it was for him, stuck up in space and fully reliant on holograms to see Scott. At least the rest of them had been able to see – and touch – him.  It didn’t take much for Gordon to recall the thump-thump of a faint pulse beneath his fingers as he clung to the sign that he hadn’t lost anyone else.

Not yet, a nasty voice whispered in the back of his mind.  He silenced it sharply.

“But-” Alan protested, clinging to the edges of his seat as though it was the hoverstretcher carrying Scott’s limp body.

“Come home and get cleaned up,” John said firmly, reminding Gordon that he’d spent several hours in a wrecked plane with dead bodies.  It was hidden slightly better on Alan’s uniform, but a glance at his own showed red drying into brown on his yellow baldric.  “By the time we get back there, they might have news for us.”

“We?” Gordon locked onto, and John crossed his arms.

“I’m not staying up here waiting for news to trickle in,” he snapped, and Gordon raised his hands in surrender.

“Never said you were, big bro,” he soothed.

“What about the investigation?” Alan asked, even as he started flicking switches and preparing the massive craft for lift off once more.

“I’ve got EOS on that,” John replied.  Following Alan’s lead, Gordon took control of the massive Thunderbird again, her VTOLs roaring as they peeled away from their landing spot back into the sky.  “I’ll let Virgil know where you are once he gets in contact.”

“F.A.B.,” Gordon acknowledged.

He pretended it didn’t hurt to turn their back on the hospital where Scott lay comatose, but even if it fooled his brothers (doubtful), he couldn’t fool himself.

...tbc..?

[purplesurveys]

1277

Who are you most nervous about introducing potential significant others to?  Ooooh moving forward, probably Angela hahahaha I have no idea how I’d break it to her if ever I do start seeing somebody again. She’s well aware of all the shit that I let slide so she might get intense with the scrutineering.

What is the most exciting thing about your life right now?  Just the fact that I feel on top of the world these days. My days of being depressed and picking at my insecurities seem to be far behind me and the change has looked to be apparent coming from friends who’ve told me I seem happier, louder these days.

What was the most important non-academic thing you learned in high school?  To not be scared to fight harder for the things you believe in or what make up your identity, coming from having to hide a same-sex relationship during that period. That feeling of being constricted and having to hide to stay on some conservative seniors’ good graces really pissed me off so high school was really crucial in letting me discover just how much I’d be willing to fight and test the waters to be able to live as me.

Have you ever had a job that deeply affected your personal life? How so and do you still work there?  Hmm no, not really. If anything my job is one of the things that helped make me a lot livelier and happier.

Do you have a “one who got away”?  It felt that way at the start when my view was still skewed, but it didn’t take long until I realized she was not a loss at all.

If you were in a superhero movie, would you be the hero or the villain? Hero.

If you found a mouse in your house, would you be frightened?  Mice or rats are the literal worst fucking thing I could see in my house. I definitely see myself making a big deal out of it lmao, especially rats.

Have you ever tried to perform magic tricks?  Nobody ever taught me, so no.

Can you do more with a yo-yo than just "go up and down"? Nah, which kinda makes me feel ashamed because considering it was a Filipino who invented the modern yo-yo, I feel like it should be my responsibility to know a few tricks LOL.

What is one form of technology that you wouldn't be able to live without?  Instant messenger.

Did you get an allowance, growing up? Why or why not?  Starting high school. Before that I was living in our family’s duplex, so my grandma could make packed meals for all of us – not to mention the fact that my parents were also still on their way to establishing themselves at their respective workplaces so we weren’t all that well-off yet. 

When we moved into our own place, we started with my mom making our meals but eventually it just proved to be time-consuming and a lot of work considering she also had a job to go to. With that and the fact that both my parents at that point already got a couple of promotions, we switched to allowance.

Would you rather go to a water park or an amusement park? Why?  Amusement parks though I would only probably head to the safer rides and food stalls with all the deep-fried offerings haha. I cannot handle more intense rides. On the other hand, water parks have always sounded nasty to me.

What is one instrument you wouldn't mind learning how to play?  Piano.

What's the longest amount of time you've had to wait in line for something?  The stupid LTO, because you can never count on government agencies to be efficient. Technically my whole time in there took a couple of stages, but all in all I spent eight hours there.

What is something that you would like to learn more about?  Korean. I just graduated from my Basic Korean 1 class but I already have plans to enroll in the following course, since I seemed to do well and I want to keep the momentum going.

What is something that one of your family member collects?  Mom has a large collection of chef-themed figurines and other sorts of trinkets like a chef timer, shot glasses, etc - but mostly the figurines - that she has displayed in a glass case. I should keep that in mind for when I start Christmas shopping, actually...she hasn’t updated that collection in a long time. Thanks for the idea!

Have you ever moved to a new school before? If so, how did it feel?  No, not in the middle of the same period since I went to the same school from kinder to high school for 14 years. I only “moved” when I started college. Like I’ve said in previous surveys, it felt freeing to finally not under be the hands of an environment ran by...well, Catholics. It was a culture shock to see rallies everywhere, to find out I could wear short shorts or even go to school naked if I wanted to, and to see boys in my class (I went to an all-girls), but it was all the good kind of shock.

Have you ever legitimately forgotten to do homework?  Always, because I never wrote them down.

Do you enjoy autumn leaves or spring flowers more? Why?  I experience neither season.

Depending on where you live, why might a day of school get canceled? Typhoon.

If you could meet any fictional character from a book, who would it be? Melanie Hamilton from Gone with the World.

What are some common places that people tour when they come to your city?  I rarely see foreigners here since my area isn’t particularly known for tourism; most go to the island provinces like Cebu, Aklan, Palawan, etc. If I had to recommend spots here, I’d tell them to go for Pinto and maybe the rooftop bars that offer a view of Manila’s skyline. 

What's one food that you did not enjoy as a child, but do as an adult?  Chicken curry, which I used to dread.

Would you rather have a mermaid tail, a fairy's wings or a unicorn's horn? I guess the wings just because I feel like it’s the only practical one.

What is an animal that you'd like to have as a pet but it's not allowed?  I don’t think that way about animals I can’t keep as pets anyway.

What are some things that you do to make the world a better place?  I always clean up at restaurants (my mom doesn’t understand why I do it because “the servers are here for a reason, Robyn”) but I always see the relief on their faces when they see I’ve stacked up the plates and cups so I don’t see a reason to stop doing it. I keep the door open for people who happen to enter/exit a building the same time as me, share dog adoption posts, don’t make a fuss about or towards a shop staff who messes up...things like that. I hope it’s able to help, even if just in a small way.

Has the last person you had sex with ever had sex with someone besides you?  I don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has already.

What’s your favorite store at your mall?  We have several malls within the vicinity but I like frequenting NCAT.

Have you ever done a workout DVD?  No but my mom is fond of those.

Who usually takes out the trash in your family?  Either of my parents.

What song are you currently obsessed with?  My Universe is soooooo good. It’s Coldplay’s classic sound but they somehow managed to perfectly blend in BTS’ style as well, so I love how it turned out.

When you go fishing, do you make someone else get the fish off the hook?  I've never gone fishing.

Do you take any prescription meds?  Nope.

What happens if you don’t take them?  Who was the last person you dreamt about?  My dad.

Do you prefer your tea sweetened or unsweetened?  Sweetened, though I don’t usually actively look for iced tea. I’d have it if it was served, but I don’t typically order it for myself.

How often do you honk your horn?  As long as I am annoyed, which gives my mom a mini heart attack every time because she insists I just let people have their way to avoid getting into fights. Sometimes when she’s driving and someone’s being stupid on the road I lurch forward to do the honking for her and it pisses her off soooooooooo much but it also gets the job done so *shrug*

Do you have any children? If so, names and ages? I don’t.

Have your parents ever witnessed you doing something inappropriate? What?  TMI but I almost got caught doing the m-word once but my reflexes were at lightning speed that day so when my door opened I was able to fix myself up and appear as though nothing was happening lol. My mom also saw a hickey on me once but I was able to veer the conversation away when she started inquiring.

Did you get babysat a lot as a kid?  No, I did the babysitting.

If you were the principal of a school, what would you do differently? Actually deal with teachers who mistreat or make issues towards their students. I had several teachers I know didn’t like me but I could never do anything about it because there was no way in hell the school was going to take my side.

Are you doing anything fun tomorrow?  Continued from yesterday. If I took this question yesterday to refer to today I would’ve answered yes because we actually have a really fun PR stunt scheduled for execution today, wherein we get to sponsor someone’s whole wedding from food to flowers to the host and fillm crew :D :D But tomorrow is just Monday so the real answer to this is no.

What is something you'd like to receive as a housewarming gift?  I dunno the usual housewarming gifts, but I would appreciate anything practical, or anything that you’ll need at the least expected times, like batteries or even like Sticky Tack.

How old were you when you first experienced the effects of puberty?  Oooh I was an early bird – I was 9 when I could first tell my first period was on its way; it came a month after I turned 10.

What is your least favorite holiday, and why?  I don’t dislike any holiday because they all mean a day off work lol.

What were some outdoor games you played as a child?  We usually played piko (hopscotch), our local version of freeze tag that we dubbed “Ice ice water” for whatever reason, and a garter game that we call 10-20. Dodgeball was a favorite during recess and lunch, too.

Did you accompany your parents on "Take Your Child to Work" Day? That’s not observed here, but my mom did use to take me and my siblings to her first workplace. Are cemeteries peaceful to you, or do they freak you out?  They’re actually more interesting to me than anything else. I like learning about the different lives of many different people, even if I only technically know them by their birthday and date of death. Sometimes the inscriptions would be more detailed and tell more about their life, sometimes I’d come across babies who only lived a few days...and it’s just interesting to have those glimpses into life.

Which ancient civilization would you be interested in learning more about?  Filipino, because Western colonization destroyed proof of most of it. 

Do you have better long-term memory or short-term memory?  Long.

What was the last situation that made you cry? Describe.  I cried this morning. Nothing bad or heavy, I just found myself thinking again about my mental state last year.

Which forest animal would you be most afraid to encounter?  Anything that wouldn’t hesitate to tear my limbs apart.

Do you believe in anything supernatural? (ie: spirits, etc)  No.

Has anyone close to you ever gone to war?  No. The closest link I have to the military, other than my dead great-grandfather, is Angela’s uncle who’s like a general or like a colonel or something, idk titles.

Have you ever experienced altitude sickness?  Yeah, occasionally. Pressure in the ear is a bigger nuisance to me, though.

Is there anything, any event, you wish you could remember more clearly?  The last time I saw my grandfather. My only clear memory of him that day was stepping out of the house to leave (my mom and I were visiting) and him sending me off with the message to always be kind and good. If I had known I would never see him again, I never would’ve left.

Have you ever rubbed anyone’s feet?  Hmm no, not that I can recall.

If you had to get advice from someone of the opposite sex, who would you go to?  I’d go to Hans for certain advice, but not for every single situation. He’s the only person that comes to mind.

What was the last new food/drink that you tried?  So last Wednesday I finally got to try this Instagram-based doughnut shop that I’ve been eyeing since August and it turned out to be even MUCH BETTER THAN EXPECTEDDDDDD. Like yeah their photos were always mouthwatering but I didn’t expect it to taste as good as it looks, since most pretty food I’ve encountered usually end up just tasting meh. Anywho, I got two orders of their sampler box and they served me their specialty bacon doughnut, signature brown butter, and a bunch of their chocolate and peanut butter variants and I loved every single fucking thing.

Have you had a good day today or was yesterday better?  Oh it’s hard to tell, it’s only 9:05 AM. Both days might be uneventful, though.

Have you ever played Sudoku?  I don’t actually get how to play it hahaha. I feel like I’m too stupid for sudoku.

Do you ever take surveys for money?  I tried it last year when applying for jobs was still a bitch for me, but the thing is most of those surveys look for employed participants so there was rarely ever a survey that fit me anyway.

Do you like Barbie or Bratz better?  Bratz.

Do you prefer purple or green grapes?  I don’t like grapes.

Who was the last person that made you laugh?  Idk, probs one of the boys since I was watching videos of them earlier today.

Where does your best friend live?  A nearby city.

Who did you last confide in?  Angela.

Does your car have an alarm?  Sure.

Where was your mom born?  Somewhere in Metro Manila.

What can always make you feel better no matter what?  My dogs.

What is something you’ll never eat again? Why?  I don’t think there is anything. I feel like I’m always bound to retry things and that I would be open to doing so, even fruits. One thing I’m firm about never drinking again, though, is coconut water. Get that SHIT away from me.

What is currently happening that is scaring you?  I’m not feeling scared these days.

Have you ever found a stranger’s note somewhere? If so, what did it say?  Probably. But nothing sticks out.

[blackmommingdaily]

Can I share my story? This is a long post & im hoping my story will inspire someone.,

Tonight God led me to post my story. I don’t know why but here it goes.

Growing up:

Growing up I didn’t come from a stable home. My mom is OCD Paranoid Schizophrenic & my father is an alcoholic. You can imagine how their relationship went.

They divorced when I was two due to my dads abuse & controlling ways. (For example: he locked my mom on the property with a barb wire fence. Because he believed she was cheating with the father of her first child who’s deceased).

I moved around from family members homes after my dad threw my mother and I out in the rain when I was barely a toddler.

CPS:

Fast forward I was taken from my mom in elementary school because she was bathing me in bleach 😭😢. Destroying my school property, paranoid that my deceased sister had been kidnapped. ALLOT!!! My dad gained custody of me through DCFS & life grew worse.

The step mom:

He cheated on my mom with a woman who later he deemed as my step mother. He forced this woman to accept me even though she wanted nothing to do with another child.

Emotionally as a kid I knew I didn’t belong in her house or her life. I struggled allot especially knowing this woman HATED ME. I remember her forcing me to pick up microscopic pieces of paper out of the carpet on my hands and knees, even though she owned a vacuum. Not allowed to open the fridge, cupboards, deep freezer or pantry. I wasn’t allowed in her room or her daughters room. If I sat on the floor I couldn’t sit on the sofa. If I was thirsty, I had to ask someone to give me a cup to drink warm faucet water because I wasn’t allowed to get ice.

If I told my dad he’d tell her & she’d confront me calling me liar making my punishment worse for speaking up. I remember I’d write notes to her saying “Thank you for letting me stay here.” In hopes that she’d be “nicer” to me.

I didn’t have a bed. For 4years I slept on a Futon in her spare room, the lining I was given was raggedy & every morning I’d have to put all of my bedding in a trash bag next to the sofa.

I’d beg my granny to please let me stay at her house. I’d cry my eyes out every Sunday night because I knew that woman did not want me there.

My Granny ❤️:

Fast forward my dad pulled a shot gun on her daughter & she threw us out. 🙏🏽 (Nobody but God) I remember God answering my prayers that I’d live with my grandma ❤️

After being unloved for so long my granny was the best mom & dad. Entering middle school I was considered the weird bum kid. 😢 or whatever.

I remember my granny made me sleep in the bed with her until I was in the 6th grade. When I finally got a room she made sure I locked my door every night. 🧐🧐 I never understood why. I remember things like my dad being upset because I wouldn’t sit in his lap. The one time I did I felt something hard & jumped up😞. He blew a vein because I refused to let him rub vicks on my chest when I was “developing” & remember my granny bringing me in her room & locking the door.

Running away from home:

At 15 almost 16 my granny went into the nursing home. I was pulled from regular school (beginning of 7th grade) & had to be homeschooled to take care of her. But in reality my dad could’ve cared LESS about me learning. I wiped, cleaning, bathe, fed my nanny like her own children should’ve been doing.

I graduated from high school early because I forged my dad’s signature to enroll in online public school & got a family friend to pretend to be him on the phone 🤷🏽‍♀️ God forgive me because I wasn’t about to stay in that house with roaches 🪳 his dirt & filth (I won’t go into details but he was a drunk that couldn’t hold his bodily functions at all!!) when my granny was sent to the nursing home I lied and claimed my mom had a illness & I needed to see her. (He would lock me inside of the house with master locks & would leave me without food or clean water).

When I ran away to live with my mom I weighed 92pounds 😞😢

Moving with my mom:

At 16, I moved in with a combative schizophrenic, started trade school, found a job as a receptionist at a pediatrist office. ❤️ I was okay with my mom fighting me & cursing at me, because I knew she was truly sick 😞 I felt responsible for my parents being the way they were.

I blamed myself and carried that burden because I thought that would FIX my parents or make them “love” me. I cried SO MANY nights because I was convinced I was the problem. If I didn’t exist as a child everyone would’ve been better off.

Now I’m almost 23, married with a child and it took time and therapy for me to realize IT WASNT MY FAULT. Your child hood was NOT YOUR FAULT. Your parents being dysfunctional isn’t your burden to bear. Let go and let God. I wanted to prove to everything I wasn’t crazy & I wasn’t going to be like my dad.

I didn’t owe anyone anything. I didn’t owe my dad an apology for being born, escaping & disconnecting myself from toxic behavior. I wasn’t wrong to grieve our relationship and accept that I wasn’t in his eyes good enough. It’s been years since I’ve spoken to him one because I physically fear him & two because I OWE HIM NOTHING! I wish nothing for him. I only ask that God bring me peace daily.

My message to you is you’re growth isn’t measured in what you’ve obtained. You’re not your parents & you owe them nothing. You don’t deserve to be abused because “they are your parents”. No title should keep you from fully loving yourself & saying enough is enough. God said to respect & love. Not that you must continue a relationship that only brings you harm. Your body is a temple & so is your mind. Anything that disturbs your peace, GET RID OF IT, TOSS IT OUT, PRAY & Let God handle it!!

[blackmissfrizzle]

Once Upon A Time

Summary: The reader has a cleaning tradition that she’s embarrassed for the boys to find out about.

Pairing: Dean Winchester x black!reader

Warnings: Violence and mention of smut

A/N: 2 Dean fics in one week? Who do I think I am???

Ever since you were a child obsessed with fairy tales. Not the Grimm brother versions, but Disney’s family-friendly versions. You had your mother to thank for that. She painted her love story with your father as her own fairy tale.

Your mom came from a family of evil witches, but she didn’t share the same values and wanted to help people instead of harm them. As she told it, she didn’t see a way out until she met her own knight in shining armor, your father. He was a hunter and fell in love with your mom while he hunted her family. She helped him defeat them and they ran off to live their own version of happily ever after.

They both hunted until your mom became pregnant with you, their little princess. Even though, they retired from the hunter lifestyle they taught you all about hunting; they always knew there was a possibility for their past to haunt them. While your dad stuck to teaching you about hunting in particular, your mother taught you the art of witchcraft. “There’s a beauty in magic.” She always said.

Unfortunately, your parents happily ever after didn’t last forever. They were right to worry about their past coming back to haunt them. You came back from a sleepover excited to dress up in your princess ‘rags’, sing Disney songs, and clean up the house with your mom. Instead you found their mauled bodies. The remaining werewolves from a pack they killed came back with a revenge. They even tried to kill you when you discovered the bodies, but due to your extensive training you killed them before they got the chance.

Years later you found yourself and your familiar, Aladdin, hunting and living with the Winchesters. To keep the memory alive of your parents, you kept up your mom’s cleaning tradition. Only thing was you always waited for Sam and Dean to go hunting on their own. You may be a little extra with this tradition, so extra Aladdin refused to participate. Sometimes you’ll cast a spell on some birds and sing with them as if you were Cinderella or Snow White. So, if the boys ever caught you, you would never hear the end of it and be deeply embarrassed.

Currently, you were singing your heart out to Part of Your World and washing the dishes when you heard the clearing of someone’s throat. Turning around you saw a set of hazel and emerald eyes filled with mirth and a pair of poorly hidden smirks. “I thought you two wouldn’t be back til tomorrow?” You asked, fidgeting with the hem of your dress and then remembering the bandana a la Cinderella you had on and quickly removing it.

Barely containing his laughter Sam answered you. “You know Dean. Speed limit laws don’t apply to him.” Just as Dean was about to say something, his eyes went wide and zoomed on your shoulder. Raising a hand, he pointed in your direction, “Is that a crab on your shoulder?”

Looking down in fact you saw an annoyed crab glaring at you. In the midst of getting caught, you forgot you turned a reluctant Aladdin into a crab for your Little Mermaid set. “Oops, I’m sorry, Al.” With a wave of your hand you returned your familiar back into his canine form. “Looks like the mutt wasn’t happy being turned into seafood,” Dean muttered as Aladdin stalked off. Your familiar had excellent hearing and growled at the eldest Winchester before returning back to your room.

“Your highness,” Dean bowed before you. Snatching the towel from the sink you balled it up and threw it at Dean’s head.

He caught it instead of letting it hit his face. “Hey, that’s not princess-like,” he reprimanded you. Just to tease him some more you gave Dean the middle finger and he clutched his imaginary pearls.

“What’s up with the Disney routine anyway?” Sam asked, trying to stop you two before y’all got too childish. While you explained the backstory of your cleaning tradition, Sam stood back and mentally shook his head at Dean, who looked at you like a doofus. Sam tried multiple times to get his big brother to admit his feelings for you, but he refused.

Done with your story, you noticed Dean looking at you with that funny face you sometimes catch him with when he thinks you’re not paying attention. “What’s with that stupid look,” you asked him.

Caught off guard, Dean had to quickly come up with an excuse. “Um, I’m just confused about how someone so badass is still obsessed with princesses who always need saving.”

“First of all, me being a badass and loving princesses are not mutually exclusive. Second of all, you must be talking about them older white princesses, because my girls with color didn’t come to play. Tiana, a true boss bitch, Mulan saved a whole country, Pocahontas looked out for her people, and Moana got a whole god together. And third of all, I don’t know why you’re trashing them when you have so much in common with them.”

Dean crossed his arms in disbelief. “Please explain to me how me and a Disney princess are alike.” Chuckling to yourself, you proceeded to explain to Dean. “On the somber note, you have the requirement of at least one dead parent growing up. Sam’s your sidekick, Castiel’s your fairy godmother, Rowena is sorta the wicked witch, just depending on the day, and I’m your knight in shining armor.” Dean couldn’t believe his ears and was about to counter your claim when you interrupted him. “Oh, and you have Rapunzel’s eyes.”

Pointing between him and Sam, Dean responded. “Listen, we don’t need saving that often.” Without saying a word, you cocked and eyebrow and a hip, silently challenging Dean’s claim.

“Ok, you win. I’m a stupid princess, but I’m gonna be Snow White!”

Looking to Sam he had his bitch face while you were confused. He must’ve known why he choose Snow White. You looked to him to ask why and he mouthed ‘You wouldn’t want to know.’ Going against his advisement, you asked Dean why he choose her.

“Because the version I watched, the wicked stepmother was wicked.” His smile suggested it wasn’t the G-rated version you’ve seen before.

With a sway of your hips you walked up to Dean and stared up at him devilishly. “Well, you gotta show me that version. I need to spice up my porn playlist.” Instantly, Dean’s face turned red and Sam off to the side muttered, “You two are perfect for each other.”

You walked off to your room, beginning to sing Kiss the Girl, while leaving the boys in the kitchen dumbfounded. Halfway to your room, you remembered your surprise for Dean. Sticking your head in the kitchen doorway, “Oh, there’s pecan, sweet potato, and apple pie in the oven.” Both boys stared at each other and ran to the oven to get to the treat. Even Sam couldn’t resist your baking.

--

Back in your room, you found Aladdin in his human form laying in your bed and watching tv. He rolled his eyes as he listened to you sing another Disney song. It wasn’t your voice that he was annoyed by, because you had the voice of an angel, but it was who the song was directed to. Al didn’t understand your attraction to Dean, but he supported you, nonetheless.

“Jordan text you. She needs help with a coven of witches in New Orleans. And she said leave the Winchesters at home if you come,” Al informed you in the middle of your song.

“That would’ve been nice to know earlier. Why didn’t you come get me?”

“I was giving you some time with your precious Winchester.”

Deciding not to address that statement you asked Aladdin if he wanted to go with.  “Nope. I got a crazy ass ex down there and I’m having a Smart Guy marathon.”

“Hey! You were supposed to wait for me.” You pouted.

“That was before you turned me into a crustacean.” Knowing that it was fair, you told him bye and went on to tell the boys you were leaving.

“You sure you don’t want us to come?” Sam asked clearly concerned. They didn’t know your friend and were overprotective of you hunting without them. Standing on your toes, you gave each boy a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be fine boys, promise.”

Just as you opened your car door, Dean tugged on your wrist. “Be safe and call us if anything’s fishy.”

Snatching your hand back, you laughed at your friend. “Ok, mom.” Crowding your space, Dean looked at you hungrily. “I preferred to be called daddy.” Cheeks heating up quickly, you turned around and rushed into your car, waving bye to the boys while you heard Dean’s deep chuckle as you drove away.

--

It was setup. Jordan wasn’t just your friend, but your cousin from your mom’s side of your family. The little traitor knew who you were when you ran into her in Atlanta when you were working a job. She continued to earn your trust until she could find the right moment to kidnap you.

Turns out your mom and dad didn’t get rid of the whole family and your grandma somehow survived. The old woman had been plotting against you, since Jordan told her of your existence.

Struggling against the cuffs, you were looking for an escape. “Its useless, my dear. Those cuffs are spelled to imprison supernatural beings.”

Great, the one time being a witch was a bad thing. “Well, can you just kill me now?”

Your grandma turned away from the potion she was concocting and caressed your face. Her amber eyes that reminded you of your mother’s softened. “Don’t be silly, girl. You’re family, even if that didn’t mean anything to your momma. Our coven is growing weak, but you’re the strongest witch ever in our bloodline. With you joining us and the Book of the Damned we’ll return to our former glory.”

All this trouble for that damn book. Even though it saved Dean, that book has been causing so much trouble ever since it came into you and the boys’ possession. “So, this is why you want me. For the Book of the Damned. Well, newsflash no matter what you do to me the boys won’t give it up.”

Stepping away from her potion once more, she knelt down in front of you. “It’s a shame, really. All your power gone to waste. When Jordan informed me of your existence, I thought I would just kill you, but then you got involved with those Winchesters and we were still too weak to deal with them and you. But then I heard Rowena took you under her wing and I felt hope again. I thought Rowena would surely teach you the dark arts, but once again I was wrong. Those damn Winchesters sure do know how to suck out all the fun.”

“If you know I’m so good, then it’s a waste to try to get me to join the coven.” Levitating the mortar, she used to make the potion, your grandma had it in her hands. “Chile, I know I can’t make you do things on your own free will. That’s why I got this little potion for my spell. It’ll make you more malleable to my will. Now open up, girl.”

Refusing to be anyone’s puppet you shut your mouth close. Your grandma was frustrated with your antics and didn’t have any time to play with you. The cuffs dampened your own magic, which allowed your grandma to use hers and get your mouth open. The vile taste of the potion slithered its way down your throat and you knew when you woke up you would be a different person. Hopefully, Sam and Dean would be able to fix you.

--

Once you returned to the bunker, the boys instantly knew something was off about despite you saying nothing went wrong with the hunt. “Man, something’s up with Y/N.” Dean whispered to Sam while you were in the library.

“I know. Something had to have gone with that hunt.” Their whispers died down when they heard you walking towards them.

Holding the Book of the Damned, you made a beeline to the stairs, but Sam stopped you. “Y/N/N, what are you doing with the Book of the Damned?”

Annoyed but also prepared for this moment you threw the boys against the wall. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

With a flick of your wrist the door opened up, letting in your grandma and Jordan.

“What a cute little place! We’ll have to set up base here, Y/N. That’s after we kill the Winchesters of course,” your grandmother informed you while inspecting the bunker.

“Yes, grandmother. Would you like me to dispose of them now?”

The elder Winchester scrunched up his face in anger. “Grandma??? Y/N/N this isn’t you. Break out of it!” He pleaded with you, but his words had no effect on you.

“You evil bitch! What did you do to Y/N?” Dean asked your grandma.

She stood in front of Dean and traced a finger across his face. “Hmmm, I can see why my granddaughter is in love with you. Such masculine features, so handsome that you’re almost pretty. And the passion that radiates off of you, hmph, you must be an excellent lover.”

Dean turned his head away to escape her touch. “Get your filthy hands off my brother! And what did you do to our friend,” Sam reminded her of the more pressing issue.

“Oh, I just made her more pliable to my will. The girl is headstrong like her mother. Too bad I didn’t discover the potion I used on Y/N when I had those wolves kill her mother.” Your grandmother revealed which stirred a little something in you, but you must complete the mission for her. “Y/N, be a dear and kill these oafs. We have important work to do,” she ordered you.

Imagining liquefying their insides, the hunters started to cough up their blood, but as you saw them struggling you started to feel bad. Something didn’t feel right, but you had to press on.

“Y/N, you’re in there I know it. I know you heard her. That wicked bitch killed your parents! Come out and fight, damn it!” Dean was screaming at you, it seemed that the emotional torture was more painful than the physical torture you were dishing out.

Seeing that Dean wasn’t getting through to you, Sam joined in at trying to break through to you.  With each passing second, they were chipping away through your grandmother’s defenses. It worked well enough for your hold to weaken and the boys fell to the ground. The boys easily incapacitated Jordan, leaving your grandma with no backup.

“Y/N, what are you doing? Kill them!” Your grandmother ordered, terrified of what a free Sam and Dean Winchester could do.

You paid her no mind and pinned her to a wall instead. Dean approached you carefully, as if you were a scared animal backed into a corner. “Sweetheart, I know you’re in there.”

Your eyes darted between your grandmother and the Winchester. You didn’t know who to believe with both of them talking to you simultaneously.

Sensing he was losing you, Dean got desperate. “God, I hope this works,” you heard him murmured before he grabbed your face and mashed his lips to yours. At first, your lips you were stiff, resistant to the kiss, but soon it started feeling right, like home, like your lips and his were meant for each other. Your hands snaked up to the back of his head and you pulled Dean closer.

The screaming of your grandma alerted you and made you and Dean break the kiss. Caressing your face, Dean whispered against your lips, “You back?” He asked, his hopeful searching yours.

“Yeah,” you whispered back blinking through tears.

“I should’ve known. You’re weak, just like your mother!” Your grandma somehow pulled herself halfway off the wall, but you pushed her back.

Taking out your gun from the back of your jeans, you pointed it at an unconscious Jordan and shot it right in the center of her forehead, feeling no emotions for so-called friend.

Next, your sights turned onto your grandma. “What?! You can’t grant me the decency of killing me like a witch? You’re gonna kill me like some filthy hunter?” She screamed with her grey locs falling in her face, spit foaming at the mouth, truly looking like a wild woman.

Raising your gun, you only said a few words to her before granting her the same death as your cousin. “Its more than you granted my parents.”

For awhile you stood above your dead grandmother’s body, grieving the life you could’ve have. Standing there reflecting on her need for power it finally hit you, she was the cause of your parents’ deaths. The emotions overtook you and you cried until Dean carried you away and let him fall asleep in his arms.

Waking up hours later you found Dean gone, but the smell of his famous burgers told you exactly where he was. Making your way to the kitchen, you were granted to the scene of Dean cooking, singing along to an old rock song, swinging his hips.

“Wow, you’ve been holding out on me. Who knew you had such killer dance moves?” Placing your hand over your heart, you acted as if you were offended at this great tragedy.

Rolling his eyes at you, Dean lowered his music and started to make you a plate. “I can do that.” You attempted to grab the plate, but Dean moved it out of your reach.

“I got it. Go sit down, pretty girl,” Dean ordered you before he leaned down and gave you a kiss. You guessed that the kiss from earlier wasn’t a one-off and discreetly smiled to yourself, wondering what this means for you and Dean.

Taking your seat, Sam entered the kitchen and began making a plate of his own. “Hey, Y/N, how you feeling?”

“Mmmm, better now. It still hurts, but I know that my mom wouldn’t want me to dwell on it too long. She lived the life that she wanted, even if it was cut short.”

“Between Samuel and your grandma, we had some crazy ass grandparents,” Dean referenced to his grandfather that would’ve let them die in exchange to have Mary back. Little did he know if he could’ve waited a couple of more years, he would’ve had her back.

Setting down his plate and yours, the three of you began eating dinner. Talk varied from when y’all would take the next case, when you should visit Jody and the girls again, when would Cas and Jack get back, and even a little argument about how turkey burgers taste the same as regular burgers.

At that moment you were trying to convince Dean to watch The Little Mermaid with you, but he refused, saying he was too grown to be watching fairy tales. Deciding that he wasn’t too grown, Sam poked fun at Dean. “So, Dean, how did you know how to break the spell put on Y/N?” Sam knew the answer, Dean confided it in him earlier, but he wanted Dean to say it in front of Y/N.  

Looking at his baby brother as if he could strangle him, Dean dropped his burger. “Lucky guess.” He grunted before picking it back up and biting into it.

Your eyes switched back and forth between the brothers. Obviously, Dean was holding something back by the way he was giving Sam bitch face.

“That’s not what you said earlier,” Sam retorted, hiding his smirk by taking a bite of his own burger.

“Oh, Dean, c’mon tell me.” You pleaded, giving him your best puppy dog eyes that he couldn’t resist.

“Truelove’skiss.” He mumbled quickly.

Hiding a giggle, you asked him to repeat himself, “Excuse me, what was that?” You knew exactly what he said, you just wanted him to be louder.

“True love’s kiss, ok! Now can we drop it?” He snapped, embarrassed he knew this little fact and that he was basically announcing his feelings to you this way.

Abandoning your seat, you jumped into Dean’s lap and kissed him all around his face. Sam silently left to give you two privacy and also, he didn’t want to see anything if you two decided to get explicit.

“I love you, Dean Winchester,” you whispered into his ear.

Dean’s eyes lit up as if you told him he had an unlimited amount of pie. He knew that for a true love’s kiss to work, both parties had to love each other, but hearing you say it confirmed it for him. “I love you, too.”

Wrapping your arms around his neck, you snuggled into Dean deeper. “So, does this mean you’ll watch The Little Mermaid with me?”

“I guess,” Dean accepted defeat as you squealed in his lap. “But only if you sing along. I can’t get enough of that voice of yours.”

“Of course, my knight in shining armor.” Dean put an arm behind your back and the other under your knees to carry you bridal style to his cave.

“And at the end of the night can I kiss the girl?” Dean asked with a mischievous grin on his face, glad that he made at least one reference.

Making your voice a bit softer to sound like a princess, you replied, “Oh my dear sir, you can do whatever you like to the princess. She’s forever in your gratitude.”

“Well, princess, be prepared not to finish that movie, because I got other things in mind.”

Soon, Ariel and her pals became a distant memory with the opportunity of a better time spent with Dean. “If that’s the case, then how about you show me how wicked that stepmother was in Snow White?” You offered, suggestively raising your perfectly arched eyebrows.

With that suggestion, Dean changed his course and headed for his bedroom. “Anything for the lady.” Passing a conversating Sam and Al in the hallway, you conjured up earplugs in their hands. Of course, you could’ve soundproofed the room, but you wanted to gross them out instead.

“Dudes, disgusting!” Sam groaned, but you could barely hear him over yours and Deans’ laughs. This is what happily ever looked like and you wouldn’t trade it for a thing in the world.

Tags: @titty-teetee​ @nervouspetsonanime​ @thefaithfulwriter​ @nerd-lovely​

[myeyesarebrighter]

We finally did Christmas with my family this weekend. We went north and stayed with my parents. My mom got drunk and picked at children until they cried, each for different reasons. She started towards mine and I ushered them from the room. Not here. It’s not happening. She knows I won’t deal with it.

This morning I convinced her to come to my grandmas house to replace her phones. She’s 89 and has advancing dementia. She was gone when we got there - miscommunication with my dad and he took her before we got there. Her house was ... gross. I looked at my mom and told her we couldn’t leave it like this. She protested (!! I have two houses to clean and too much to do already!) and i basically told her to go wait for me in the car or come back in a couple hours. I vacuumed and washed floors on my hands and knees, washed a load of laundry, took out a bag of trash. She finally got up and went to clean the bathroom.

Near the end, I was dusting her dresser and grabbed an old bottle full of change labeled “MOM” with taped on paper. It hit me like a pile of bricks. I understand her as a woman more than ever before. She is a mom. The framed photo next to her bed of her deceased son as a little pip... her baby! Dead. Her husband, dad, gone. My mom, her daughter who has hassled and challenged her forever, since the beginning. She’s a mom. She was just doing what I am, caring for these little kids who seem to take everything you have, and today here she is confused and lost and alone. That’s how life goes, isn’t it?

My mom is not doing well. My sisters life is in shambles (sent off her addict partner and is trying to deal, very poorly), so my parents are having to do a great deal to help her. My grandmother needs a lot and can be very hard to handle. She’s drinking a lot. She’s quit her cholesterol meds because she “researched” it. She dislikes obligation, commitment, and responsibility and wants to live her life for only herself ... this hard work doesn’t suit her. My grandmother has no one else. My siblings are nearby but similarly disinterested in the inconvenience.

I need to find ways to help from away but I’m not sure. There are trust issues and concerns with having help in her house - dementia means she can never find anything and always believes someone has taken it. It’s heartbreaking.

[galaxyshine24-7]

The Mountain Man

Slasher OC Brenden Locklear Story

Warnings: Blood, Animal Abuse, and Violence

There are many stories about Everest Natural Park. It's the largest in the state and is home to many protected wildlife. It's been around for hundreds of years; the Natives of the land would tell stories to travelers making sure to advise them to be respectful of the land and the animals, or they would awaken evil spirits that would bring them harm. Green eyes dart over the phone screen as she looks at the most recent story. A woman was found hacked to pieces after she dumped all her trash into one of the park’s lakes. The police wrote that she was barely recognizable, her remains getting eaten by the Vultures in the area looking for a quick meal. 

Jenny’s stomach churns just reading it as she turns off her phone curling herself in the car seat as her head leans against the window of the back seat. The window feels cool against her skin as fog surrounds the old van wagon. She holds back food from coming back up her through as she tries to focus on the landscape instead. With her body feeling like it was cold and then hot she needed something to distract her from the changing discomfort. Her long auburn hair rests under a soft beanie as she scans the tall pines that pass as the van takes a quick turn through the mountains. 

“Damnit Joseph I’m trying to sleep back here!” A woman raises from the back of the van taking off her boot and throwing it to the front window. The car sways as Joseph tries to get control of the car again. With a deep breath he turns around glaring at the women. 

“Carrie are you fucking crazy?! Are you trying to make us drive off the cliff?!” Carrie huffs at him laying back down. Jenny pulls herself closer as Joseph softens at her. 

“Hey, I’ll get you some medicine when we reach the cabin okay?” He reaches back and pats her leg as she nods looking out into the forest. The park is massively bigger than anyone she’s been to. They had several campsites with cabins and lodges along with cave tours and rock climbing. There was so much to do, she closed her eyes as her stomach twists again. 

“Dude we should seriously do shots when we get there.” Joseph’s friend slurs in his sleep sitting up a bit. 

“Go back to sleep Aiden.” Joseph pushes him back in the seat as Aiden falls back to sleep snoring.

“Urgh typical.” The girl next to Jenny said reading a book as she adjusts her glasses shaking her head at Aiden. 

“What’s wrong Elizabeth, still got a stick up your ass.” Carrie sits up again poking her face as Elizabeth slaps her hand away. 

“Yes, I’m still upset, you slept with my boyfriend!” She yells as Joseph lets out a sigh. 

“He wasn’t that good.” Carrie shrugs her blonde curls falling around her shoulders. 

“And my girlfriend.” Carrie laughs at her. 

“She wasn’t that good either.” Elizabeth turns around tackling Carrie to the ground.

“Guys can you please put all our issues aside for the next few days you know why we're doing this right?!” Joseph shouts at them all. Aiden comes out of his slumber as the car comes to an uncomfortable silence. Elizabeth gets back in her seat as Carrie hands her back the book she was reading resting her body on the back of the seat. 

“Yeah we remember dude.” Aiden rubs the back of his head. 

“Good.” Joseph saids speeding down the road as Jenny holds herself closer.

The entrance to the park was seen after by a bubbly woman with soft red hair and a bright smile. Joseph pays her for the admission as she gives them the cabins keys and directions. 

“Oh, and we just installed a curfew for the time being. All residents should be inside their sites at 10:00pm.” 

“Why is that?” Aiden asks.

“Well we've been having some incidents with poachers and vandalism and until it dies down, we want the park goers to be safe.” She smiles, Joseph nods thanking her as they drive through the park. They pass by many sites and activities as they make it to their two-story cabin. 

“Woah not bad Joseph.” Aiden whistles as he gets out once the van is parked. 

“Thanks parents paid for it.” Jenny looks over at Joseph as she gets out of the car stumbling a bit. Joseph takes notice helping her stand as he gets her things out the car. 

“Can you guys start unpacking please I’m going to take Jenny up.” He looks back at the other three. 

“Sure, we got it.” Elizabeth looks at Jenny with concern as she starts to open the back of the van. Joseph takes Jenny to the cabin up the stairs to a nice room cleaned recently. He starts to unpack her sleeping bag and pillow along with a stuffed turtle.

“You took Gregory with you?” He lets out a laugh looking back at Jenny. 

“I never leave home without him.” Jenny’s cheeks flare up. She thought she hid him well enough. Joseph places the turtle on the bed as he gets her to lay down. She starts to feel a bit better sleep drawing closer. Joseph sits on the edge of the bed fiddling with his fingers. 

“Joseph?” Jenny bites her lip, but opens to speak again. “I want to tell Mom and Dad where we are.” 

“We can’t do that.” He states coldly. 

“Why?” She asks sitting up. “Whatever is happening we can work it out.” 

“No after this we're going to Grandma’s and we’re finding you a new college to go too.” He looks at the wall. 

“You said this was just a fun trip to the park.” Jenny sits up straighter her voice raising with the upcoming headache.

“Well I lied; you're going to thank me one day Jenny.” He gets up going to the door. 

“But I want to stay with our parents.” 

“It's not safe anymore.” He states clutching his fist. “They’re not safe.” 

“Joseph what are you-?” Jenny gets up holding onto the railing of the bed.

“I’ll explain it when we get to Grandma’s house.” He closes the door leaving Jenny in the room by herself. She lets out a sigh changing into her pajamas, crawling into the bed holding Greagory close as she closes her eyes. 

The sound of the door opening alerts her as Elizabeth walks in her deep brown hair tied in a high ponytail as her turtleneck complements the rest of her black attire. She holds a glass of water and a pill placing it on the bedside table beside her. Jenny reaches over to take it then drinks the water afterwards.

“Thanks Elizabeth,” Jenny smiles up at her. 

“Your brother wanted me to give it to you. Are you going to be able to go on a hike with us tomorrow?” She feels her forehead.

“I do feel a little better.” Jenny saids.

“Don’t overwork yourself okay. This is probably from all those all nighters you pulled. The stress over exams gets intense.” Jenny nods at her as she pats her arm heading out the room to let her sleep again. 

The next day Jenny got dressed and went downstairs. As Carrie made breakfast.

“Hey kiddo feeling better?” She ruffles Jenny’s hair. 

“I’m feeling better, but still a bit hot.” She takes a seat next to Aiden. He lazily feels her forehead, his green hair messy and shaggy as usual. 

“Take it easy today Jenny.” He saids as Carrie starts putting the food on the table. 

“Where is Joseph and Elizabeth.” Jenny looks around not seeing the two. 

“They’re outside getting ready for the hike.” Carrie saids.

Jenny nods making her plate of food as she hums at how good it is. Joseph and Elizabeth come in soon after taking a seat at the table with the rest of them. After they head out making their way up the trail. Jenny stays in the back feeling the fresh air helps her a bit. 

“Hey look.” Joseph points through the trees at a small owl huddled in a nest. 

“Aw,” Jenny coos.

“Those are protected right?” Aiden places his arms behind his head. 

“Yeah all the animals in the park are protected.” Elizabeth informs as they go along their way. They cross a creek and walk under the shady pines  has the cloud's rest in the sky. They get to a path with branches sticking out of the ground. There are signs warning park goers to be careful as on the side of them is a steep hill. Jenny tries her best, but she takes a wrong step and a branch breaks from under her making her tumble down the hill.

“Jenny!” Joseph yells after her. Jenny doesn’t know how long she fell but she lays on something soft. The smell reaches her nose as she jolts back seeing blood on her hands as she lets out a scream throwing up soon afterwards. There are bodies of moose around her with the antlers cut off as their insides spill on the ground. Jenny moves away shaking, feeling a pain shoot in her leg and arm. The sound of a motor reaches her ears as a green four wheeler drives across the creek to reach her. On the wheeler rests a man wearing brown aviators. He spots her and the moose getting off the vehicle. He towers over Jenny, long blonde hair tied in a braid rests behind his back. His park ranger uniform is just a loose green coat with the badge on it as he wears a red flannel and ripped jeans and heavy boots. His gaze makes Jenny freeze as tears roll down her eyes.  He reaches down stretching out  his hand, she sees the tattoos that litter all up his arm as she flinches back. 

“Jenny!” He retracts it at the sound of her brother as he rushes down the hill running over to her. He gets to her side glaring up at the man. 

“You work here.” He spats as the others come up behind him.

“Are you okay?” Aiden helps Jenny up as she limps a bit. 

“I’ll probably just have a bruise.” Jenny stands by herself. The man looks at her brother as Joseph glares back. 

“You kids camping here?” His voice is deep and slow like he had just woken up from a nap. 

“Yeah in the cabin down the road.” Joseph answers. Jenny looks down at the moose corpses. 

“Urgh gross!” Carrie holds her nose.

“What happened?” Jenny asks looking at the man. 

He looks at the moose, his expression not really seen under the aviators. 

“Poachers,” He growls, taking off his ranger hat to wipe his brow. “You all best get back to your cabin. Poachers aren't too kind to others.” He states crunching down to close the moose's eyes.

“Yeah thanks we will.” Joseph tells them to come on as they leave to head back to the cabin. Jenny looks back at the men as he takes off his glasses feeling along the cut antlers. 

“Jenny, come on.” Elizabeth grabs her shoulders. “Something about that guy gives me the creeps.” She glares back at him as Jenny nods her head. 

Back at the cabin Jenny rests on the hammock outside as Joseph starts to set up a campfire for dinner. She stares up at the sky, her mind full of questions. Joseph comes to rest on the hammock with her as they stare up at the sky. 

“Hey I’m sorry about yesterday and dragging you here, and I can’t explain everything now, but I will someday.” He saids holding her hand. 

“Are mom and dad bad people Joseph, is that why you're not telling me anything?” Jenny doesn’t look at him taking a deep breath. 

“They are involved in some bad things, and some bad people. I wanted you to get away from it before it came out or anything happened.” Jenny holds his hand letting out a deep breath.

“I had to take some of their money and we need a bit more to make it to Grandma’s, but don’t worry we’ll get it.” He rests his head on hers.

“Do you trust me?”He asks in a shaky voice. 

“Yes I do Joseph.” Jenny nods trying not to cry. Her parents were bad people? Sure they had their flaws, but they loved them, comforted them when they were sad, and always supported them. Joseph rubs her shoulder as they rock in silence, as the sun starts to go down over the mountain range.  

“Wanna help me get dinner set up?” He turns to her.

“Yeah,” Jenny gets up her limbs only a little sore now as she helps him start the fire and get dinner ready. The others bring out chairs and beer as Joseph cooks over the fire. Jenny relaxes as Elizabeth pours her some coco into a mug handing it to her.

“Look, I brought smores.” Aiden pulls out a bag of marshmallows. Carrie grabs the bag starting to stick the marshmallows on pokers. They eat and talk and around the fire. Aiden would bring up the times Joseph, Elizabeth, and Carrie would go on trips around the states during their summers in college. Jenny listens laughing along with them. She lets out a yawn, putting her mug off to the side as she leans back in the chair. The sounds of them talking helps her drift off to sleep not realizing how tired she was in the first place. 

She wakes up on the couch in the cabin with a blanket over her. She rubs her eyes looking around. The only light she has is the one in the kitchen. 

“Joseph?” She calls getting up off the couch looking around. The cabin is silent as she walks around. She calls out for the others but they don’t answer. A howling wind rings from outside as she stares out the window to see that the fire was out and the chairs were put away. She looks to the front door thinking for a moment. She didn’t want to be alone at least not right now. She let out a deep breath going over to the door to step out into the night air. She pulls her jacket close as the wind kicks up. She cries out to them again but still no answer. Her heart starts to race. Her thoughts go to poachers or the people involved with her parents as she hikes up the trail they went on earlier, bad scenarios playing through her mind. 

“Joseph!” She yells but still no answer. A howl startles her as she makes her way deeper in the trail. They couldn’t have gone far she hopes as she hears a twig snap in the trees. 

“Hello?” She calls out. “Guys is that you?” She hears a deep growl as she starts to dash back the other way through the trees. She feels something gaining on her as she stops in a bit of a clearing turning around to see nothing. The forest comes alive with noise as she continues forward wanting to get as far away as possible from whatever that was. She calls out again but stops at the sound of a laugh. 

“Aiden,” She walks forward through the brushes pulling them away. She covers her mouth at the sight of four individuals wearing Halloween masks standing around the corpses of a few owls. Three babies all chirp at them as a person steps up taking one by the neck and snapping it in two. Jenny steps back flinching at the sound. She steps on a branch causing the others to turn in her direction. One grabs a large machete from their bag walking forward.

“Dude leave it alone it's probably another animal or something.” One of them takes off the mask to reveal Carrie.

“This shit is hot, are we done?” She throws the mask on the ground. The others take them off as well. 

“This is enough right?” Aiden asks. Jenny’s eyes went over to the one that snapped the owl’s neck, it  was Elizabeth wearing a constant frown. Aiden kicks a dead owl over watching its head tilt in a untarual angle. 

“Kill the rest of the babies, that will be enough.” Joseph holds the machete looking out into the woods. 

“These buyers sure spend a lot of money on these birds. Kind of weird if you ask me.” Carrie says, picking up an axe placing it behind her head.

“Everyone wants things they can’t have in human nature.” Elizabeth picks up another baby bird that squeaks under her gripe. 

“Hey what the-!”Aiden exclaims, Jenny rushes over to Elizabeth prying the owl out of her hand picking up the other one. As she backs away from the group.

“Oh hey Jenny.” Aiden tries to soothe her.

“Back the fuck up! What do you all think you're doing!” She screams, shaking where she stands. 

“Hey, Jenny, calm down okay let me explain.” Joseph drops his machete holding up his hands to plead with her. 

“I-I don’t understand.” She steps back, her head throbbing.

“It's going to be okay you just-” He starts

“No it's not okay! My parents suddenly became bad people! You all are killing endangered animals, you can go to jail for that Joseph, all of you can!” She looks at the rest as they look down. 

“Jenny please.” Elizabeth outstretches her hand, Jenny steps back.

“No stay away all you.” She glares holding the owls close. 

“We need those to keep going Jenny. They are a lot on the black market, their feathers and everything. All we have to do is kill a few and we can get out of here all the way to Grandma’s and start over.” Joseph smiles. Jenny’s eyes scan down at the owl bodies her stomach churns. 

“We all get some money to split Jenny, you can use it for a college fund.” Carrie saids in a calm voice. Tears start to fall down Jenny’s eyes. 

“Please not like this guys this isn’t like you.” She chokes. 

“I’m doing this for you. You’ll thank me later.” He grabs her arm tightly trying to pry the owls out as Jenny lets out a scream. They drop to the ground whimpering.

“No Stop please!” She pleads to get down to protect the birds with her body. 

“Jenny God dammit! Why do you have to get in the way!” He yells Elizabeth grabs his shoulder. 

“Calm down we still have the antlers lets just sell those and the leftover bird bodies.” She saids. Jenny  softly sobs lifting up her head placing the birds close against her chest. 

“Fine round up everything we leave in the morning.” He sighs. The others start to gather the corpses. Aiden picks up a big one with wings hanging down as he wiggles it around. 

“Weird ass looking things-” Something wisps in the air as the sounds around them fall into an eerie silence.

 Jenny looks up more and screams. Aiden drops the owl falling to his knees as an arrow sticks out of his neck blood oozes from his mouth as he lets out one gurgled groan falling to the ground to take his last breath. 

“Shit!: Carrie starts toward him but an arrow shoots into her arm as she screams, dropping the axe to take it out. 

Jenny feels her heart stop as she looks toward the direction the arrow came  as she sees a looming figure in the trees. It starts to growl coming closer. The figure is covered in furs with a giant bear head for a face. They put their bow behind their back taking out a large silver axe advancing toward Carrie. Jenny gets up as Joseph and Elizabeth watch in horror as in a flash the figure is on her. She goes to swing her axe at him but she misses as they bring it down to fall square in her forehead. Blood spills everywhere and Jenny gets pulled away as the figure kicks Carrie’s body down getting her off their blade. Joseph rushes Jenny through the woods as Elizabeth takes out a gun from her side as she shoots at the figure. Jenny turns around to see the figure rush toward them, the bullets hitting but not slowing them down. They run faster into the road after taking many twists and turns. They stop to catch their breath not seeing the figure anymore. 

“Who the hell was that?” Joseph huffs leaning on a tree and Jenny steps back still holding the owls. They nip and bite at her but she’s too shaken to care.

“I think that was a guy.” Elizabeth breathes looking back at them. 

“Let's get out of here.” Joseph looks toward Jenny as she steps back a bit more. 

“Jenny, come one. There are just some owls, there are plenty more in the forest.” Elizabeth finishes as an arrow goes through her head and her glasses. The arrow goes straight through landing in the tree Joseph is resting on, with Elizabeth’s brown eye in clear view on the tip. Jenny screams as the figure appears again. Joseph roars at the figure going at him with the machete cutting his arm. The figure lets out a deep groan as his axe collides with Joseph’s Machete. In a split moment the man's head butts Joseph catching him off guard enough to swing the axe across his neck watching as he falls to the ground. Jenny cries out to him as the man drops his axe to rip his head clean off with grunts and groans. With a horrortic tear Joseph’s head swings in his hand as the man throws it behind him. Jenny walks back stumbling a bit. 

The man turns his gaze toward her walking forward to her form.

“Please,” She whimpers, tears falling down her face as he takes the owls gently placing them in a pouch on his side cooing at them. Jenny looks at him surprised, but in a quick motion he grabs her neck lifting her off the ground. She claws at him looking into the dark holes of the bear mask as she feels her vision darken and her airway close until she blacks out hearing a howl in the distance. 

Jenny wakes up in a hospital room feeling sore and broken. A nurse walks in seeing her state as he rushes over to her. Jenny tries to speak but it doesn’t come out. 

“Your windpipe has been damaged, it's going to be awhile until you speak again.” The nurse saids. He gets out a pen and paper from the side and hands it to her. The memories rush back as she starts to cry trying her best to write straight as tears begin to fall. 

“What happened?” The doctor looks at the paper reading the words as she nods.

“I’m sorry but your friends are gone.” He saids. She writes again wanting to know what happened to them. A news story picks up in the room. She looks around grabbing the remote to hear the tv. 

“Last night four young adults involved in a poaching ring were found dead and mutilated in Everest National Park. The bodies were dismembered and decorated along the forest with their heads on spikes. Only one survived and is recovering in a hospital.”  Jenny covers her mouth watching the news station as she looks out the window to see the fog covering the pines.