#might clean this up and color it properly but for now i’m v tired

[johnbleepingzoidberg]

this started out as vent art but it just turned into a cool bowser sketch featuring a teeny luigi LOL

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 33

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: What happens after Leo returns? (At Waystation, pt 1234)

A/N:  What is this? A new chapter? I know I probably apologize too much but still, sorry for the long wait! Writer's block is not fun, you guys. It seems that I'm getting more and more insecure about where I should take this story by each chapter, but I did get a couple of encouraging comments while I was writing it and they motivated me to keep going! Extra special shoutout to my bff Cris(sy) for both recommending me the song that eventually helped this chapter to be born, and also helping me edit yesterday because I certainly wouldn't be posting this right now without you. (((((((((huug))))))))))

Disclaimer: The song New Year's Day obviously belongs to Taylor Swift and I definitely recommend listening to it while reading this chapter (specifically the scene where it's mentioned).

Words: 3300+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

…

Leo stayed at the park for a while longer, but eventually he knew he had to return to Waystation. The talk with Piper had made him feel a bit better, but he was still worried about how Calypso would react to his meltdown. In his opinion, she had every right to be mad. He would have to explain his behavior, but how? That was the big question.

It was already well past noon when Leo showed up at Waystation again. The building was surprisingly quiet when he entered, hoping the others were looking for him. Usually Georgina was all over the place around this time, sugar high from the chocolate she had eaten and making a mess with her new presents. Luckily, once he had removed his coat and his hat, he started hearing some clunking from the kitchen, indicating someone was there.

Instead of just bursting into the kitchen and announcing that he had returned, he stopped to watch by the doorway. Only Calypso and Georgina were in there, the younger girl chatting enthusiastically while the older one was instructing her with baking. They were standing with their backs towards the door so they couldn’t see Leo. The smell that was coming from the oven somehow felt very familiar… something he associated with Calypso. It wasn’t until she bowed down to take something out of the oven that he realized what it was. The cookies smelled the same as the cake Calypso had baked a few times at their flat, and the shampoo she used: cinnamon-y.

“Look, Georgina!” Calypso showed her the cookies. “These ended up pretty good.” It sounded like she was hesitating a bit before she continued: “Hopefully your brother will like them as well.”

“Oh, he will, Calie! He’d probably like anything you do!” Georgina noted in the straightforward style she was used to.

“But I didn’t make these alone,” Calypso reminded her. “I had a good helper.” She put the oven pan on the table and reached to ruffle the top of Georgina’s hair a bit.

“Where do you think he went, anyway?” Georgina asked. Leo wasn’t sure if he just imagined it but to him she sounded pretty worried. “I’ve not seen him that way often…”

Calypso sounded pretty cautious when she answered. “I’m sure he will be back soon. He must be tired because he’s been working a lot lately and that’s why he’s a bit on the edge… but he wouldn’t want to miss your gingerbread cookies. Hey, what color should we use to decorate these?” She turned Georgina’s focus back to the cookies again. “Do you think pink would be cute?”

“No, I want all the different colors! Blue, red, purple, green, yellow…” Georgina started listing all the colors that she could remember.

“I don’t think we have that many food color bottles here,” Calypso pointed out with amusement. “But you know, we can try to mix some together!”

“That sounds great! Hey, is pink your favorite color?” The girl asked suddenly.

“Hah, what gives me away?” Calypso chuckled. Even the apron she was currently wearing happened to be pink, although Leo knew that was probably purely coincidental because she was using one of Emmie’s aprons.

“You’re always wearing something pink and you even wanted pink gingerbread cookies,” Georgina noted while she started mixing the sugar frosting very eagerly.

“You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” Calypso teased. “I do really like pink, though. I don’t know. Maybe it reminds me of the sunsets back in my childhood home… But lately I’ve noticed that I have quite a lot of red things in my wardrobe too. But what about you? What’s your favorite color?”

Georgina gave Calypso a long and colorful answer, which Leo only half listened to. He started thinking about Calypso’s statement. He wasn’t completely dense; he had noticed that Calypso had often picked those outfits that he may have complimented at some point. But could it be that she had even started using more red because of him? Nah, he shook his head, that was a selfish way of thinking. Her outfit choices were probably purely coincidental.

Suddenly Leo realized that he had been standing there eavesdropping the girls way too long. When he was about to leave, though, he heard Georgina say: “my moms try to hide it from me, but I know that Leo is not OK. I mean, maybe he is, sometimes… but I remember that last Christmas was a lot like this one.”

“What do you mean?” Calypso asked.

“He didn’t yell at anyone, but… when he is in a bad mood he either shuts down and avoids us or is even louder than usual. But between the jokes, he doesn’t look happy at all. Moms would probably say ‘Georgie, you’re too small to understand that stuff’, but I’m not a baby anymore. This one golden haired dude visits us sometimes and he knows a lot about health things and he’s been teaching me as well. I know sometimes people get depressed, if for example something really bad has happened to them. And I think something very bad happened to big bro before he came here.”

“Yeah… sometimes things like that happen, sadly… But you know what?” Calypso said, probably attempting to sound more cheerful. “I think your brother is really trying. He cares about you so much he puts your happiness before his. He doesn’t want you to worry about him. But he’s strong, just like you, right? He’ll pull through.”

At this point Leo felt he had heard enough. He had been expecting some talk about him; after all he had just caused a scene in the middle of the present opening. But to hear Calypso talk about him that way? So sweetly? That he hadn’t expected. He had imagined she’d be mad at him after the ‘incident’ of that morning. Maybe she was just trying to be nice simply to calm Georgina down, but that he would never know.

He slowly started backing up, so that the girls wouldn’t notice his presence. However, just when he was nearly by the stairway, his foot hit a box that someone had left on the floor, making a loud noise. Cursing himself in his head, he quickly looked up to see that the sound had piqued the girls’ interest and they both tried to see where it had come from. He hid upstairs as quickly as he could, but that didn’t change the fact that Calypso most likely knew he had been listening to them.

Great, he thought, as he closed his bedroom door behind him. As if things hadn’t already been awkward enough even before this…

… (Calypso POV)

Once she was done with baking with Georgina, Calypso withdrew into her guest room for some ‘me’ time. She had a lot to think about. Leo hadn’t been around for the lunch, which meant that the Waystation group had been unusually quiet while finishing their meals. She knew everyone must have been thinking about him, but no one dared to bring him up. After the lunch, Georgina had asked Calypso to bake with her and she had agreed, welcoming the distraction. But Leo still hadn’t returned so she had started playing with the idea that she wouldn’t listen to Jo and Emmie’s advice, instead going to look for him after cleaning the kitchen. Before she had gotten that far, though, she had heard him in the hallway, but he had disappeared from there before she had time to even properly see him. However, she knew it couldn’t have been anyone else.

While she was relieved that he had finally come back, one part of her was also kind of mad that he had been eavesdropping and hadn’t even told them that he had returned. She was pretty close to just marching into his room and letting him hear it, but eventually she decided she wasn’t quite ready for that talk yet. If only there was some machine that would allow them to exchange their thoughts without the actual confrontation… But that was a naive thought, Calypso knew.

Finally, she decided that dwelling on the issues the whole day wouldn’t help anything. Since the Waystation family would get some Christmas guests for the evening, she decided that she should probably change out of her baking attire (a simple t-shirt and sweatpants) that had gotten a bit floury despite the apron that had covered it. Thankful for having taken several outfits from her flat (see, Leo, they were useful for something after all, she thought), she was drawn between blue jeans and a white blouse and a pretty 50ies style red dress she had only recently sewn for herself. It had sleeves that reached her elbows, a ribbon around the waist and a v-shaped neckline. Calypso wondered if the dress was a bit ‘too much’ for a family dinner but she liked how it had ended up looking and felt pretty confident in it. That’s why she ended up picking it instead of the more casual option. Besides, a tiny voice said in Calypso’s head, it didn’t hurt that Leo liked that color...

Tying her hair into a small braid pun and adding a ribbon around it, she was finally happy with her look. Then her gaze fell into the silver bracelet Leo had given to her that was still around her wrist. Briefly, she wondered how he’d feel about seeing it after their earlier incident, but she decided to leave it on. She had kind of expected Leo to give her something silly, like a CD of him singing Never Gonna Give You Up or chili seeds as a joke, but the jewelry box and the bracelet had been very thoughtful. Leo really knew how to surprise her – in a good way – sometimes…

Realizing that she had already been spending over an hour in her guest room, Calypso decided it was time to go back to socialize with her hosts. She heard Georgina’s voice coming from the living room and decided to go check up on her. The young girl was sitting by the piano, singing one of those more modern Christmas songs that she herself wasn’t crazy about, but somehow it sounded a lot more bearable when Georgina performed it. But what really surprised Calypso was Georgina’s pianist. Leo was sitting there next to his adoptive sister and focusing on running his fingers on the instrument. For some reason she hadn’t expected him to be musical and especially not interested in playing Christmas songs (Calypso knew he was more of a rock ‘n roll type of guy). She wasn’t sure what to think of this discovery.

Calypso had always loved music and she had even attempted to learn to play the piano with the help of a nanny for a little while, but when her dad had discovered what they did, he had immediately told them to stop. To this day, Calypso couldn’t understand why; she just assumed that maybe her beloved father hadn’t wanted her to learn something so ‘useless’. Thankfully, her voice wasn’t something her father could take from her so she had kept singing mostly out of spite, and became pretty good. Now she began wondering if Leo would ever mind teaching her to play… that was, if they were able to have a normal conversation again.

Georgina’s song ended and Calypso stepped forward to let the others know she was there, applauding the girl.

“That sounded good!” She encouraged her. “I’m not a fan of Christmas songs but you did well.”

“Thanks, Calie!” Georgina beamed at her. “Leo has told me you can sing too. Can I hear some? Please? Leo can play!”

“I… uh… wasn’t expecting to see you here.” Calypso turned to Leo. “Since when have you been playing the piano?”

Leo ignored Calypso’s first remark and replied: “Since I was a kid. Yeah, I bet you thought I’m more like a drum person or something but it was my mom’s idea I’d try this. Well? Are you gonna sing something?” He asked when Calypso remained quiet.

“I don’t really know that many Christmas songs…” she replied hesitantly. “Georgie, do you have any suggestions?”

“I love Taylor Swift’s songs!” the 9-year-old announced. “Do you know any of them?”

Calypso nearly burst out laughing. “Of course I do! She’s one of my favorite artists. But I thought we were going to sing Christmas songs.”

“Nah, I think I’ve already had enough of them,” Georgina stated. “But TS has made some holiday themed songs as well. Like New Year’s Day. I have the piano sheet for it!” The girl showed her a book she had borrowed from the library.

“You’re a real Swiftie, huh?” Calypso couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s enthusiasm. “But fine, I actually quite like that song so I could sing it.”

Leo had been following the conversation quietly but now he took the book from Georgina and eyed the sheet.

“Let me practice a little; I haven’t even heard this song before so I have no idea how to play it.”

“Sure, take your time,” Calypso said carefully. She was relieved to see that Leo was acting that calmly now despite the morning’s incident but she couldn’t help but wonder if that was just the surface. Surely he couldn’t have just completely forgotten about it? She would have to bring it up at some point, but now was not the time. Even when she attempted to read the lyrics her thoughts kept going back to him.

She was so lost in her thoughts that Leo had to raise his voice before she noticed he had stopped playing. “Hey, did you hear me? I asked if you’re ready.”

“What?” she shook her head. “Sorry. I was just wondering something. But yes, I’m ready now.”

Calypso noticed that Georgina kept looking at them curiously, but for once she didn’t say anything.

“Good. Let’s go,” Leo said in a neutral tone.

As she started singing, the lyrics started sinking into her differently than before. Suddenly she felt like she was the narrator, singing about the aftermath of a party she had attended. Even though Calypso wasn’t big on parties, and the latest one she had been in – the Halloween one – hadn’t gone ideally, when she kept picturing herself among her friends that she had gained during her time in Indianapolis, smiling, carrying their shoes because their feet hurt from the dancing, she felt… happy. Adding to that the image of spending time with Leo cleaning up their home while he made his snarky comments and probably tried to sabotage her cleaning process, she felt warm in a way she hadn’t expected. However, she tried to stop that track of thoughts because she realized what it implied. The narrator of the song was singing about her significant other, and Calypso had decided a long time ago that she shouldn’t get one.

As Leo kept playing, Calypso tried to keep her focus on his fingers running on the keys. For a while it worked; Calypso was amazed by how fast they could move, but then again, she supposed that all those years of building things with his hands really helped him develop that skill. Calypso could spot some stains on his hands from the machines he had handled that would barely leave even with soap, and the under nail area could definitely have used some proper scrubbing, but he wouldn’t have been Leo without those things. She couldn’t imagine him not fiddling with something 24/7. That was one of the reasons she admired him; she valued hard work pretty high and couldn’t imagine being with someone who was just sitting still.

”But I stay when you're lost and I'm scared and you're turning away…”

When Calypso reached that part, she felt chills go down her spine because of how well that line described her and Leo’s current situation. He felt lost because of some past traumas. She was scared of both letting him too close and losing him and everything she had gained since that fall. He had turned away from her and his family already twice that day. But there was hope; maybe, if they managed to finally communicate properly, they’d find a way to even deal with the ‘midnights’.

“Hold on to your memories, they will hold on to you.”

Calypso stopped to think about that line. At first her thoughts went to the badmemories such as the times when she had been living with her father. But when she repeated the line, she understood the song was talking about the good memories that would carry you even in your worst moments. Before she knew it, she was filled with flashbacks. Yelling at Leo after Festus broke her desk. The weird warm feeling after she saw the fixed desk. Casually spending time together; cooking, cleaning, playing, watching shows together… That time when Leo had given her the seeds of her favorite flower… The ‘therapy’ sessions… The Halloween party and the almost kiss after that… the weird tension they’d been having ever since that moment… His smiles and laughs… No matter what would happen, she would always hold those memories close to her heart.

Suddenly, Calypso knew. This wasn’t just some infatuation that would go away with time. She had learned to appreciate Leo’s company more and more, the good and the bad sides, to the point that she was now in love with him. Back in August she had thought that they would probably never get along, but to her surprise they had more in common than she had expected and he had become a big part of her life. Lonely, unsure about their futures, past traumas… that’s what tied them together. And even if she wanted to, she wouldn’t be able to deny that what she had been afraid of had already happened.

“And I will hold onto you.”

Those five simple words made Calypso’s voice crack. With frustration she swept the corner of her eyes quickly and attempted to clear her voice for the last lines of the song.

“Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere.”

She looked up from the lyrics with blurry eyes and glanced at the boy with the piano. Some months ago, she had told herself that she wouldn’t let anyone get too close to her. But somehow Leo and all her new friends had just snuck into it, and she couldn’t imagine her life without them. She wanted them to be a permanent part of it, but with so many uncertainties in the future, could she count on it?

“What’s the matter, Cal?” Leo asked when she very clearly had difficulties pronouncing the last few words of the song.

Calypso knew the words she was going to say were probably unfair, but she couldn’t stop herself. The frustrations of that day just demanded to get out. “What’s the matter, Cal?” she mocked him. “I don’t know, Leo. You just… freak out all of a sudden and run away and then you come back and act like nothing happened?! Don’t you understand at all how worried we all are about you?!”

“I…” Leo stammered but didn’t finish his sentence.

“Well? Are you gonna explain yourself?” Calypso asked.

“Listen, you need to understand…”

“Understand what, Leo?”

Calypso waited for a little longer, but when the answer never came, she said: “You know what? Never mind. Clearly I was a fool to think that you care about us… about me the same way I care about you.”

“Calypso…”

Calypso turned her back to him and muttered: “I’m going to see if Jo and Emmie need my help with something. Do not follow me.”

In reality, Calypso withdrew into the closest bathroom and finally let the tears come.

[ppaltagon]

September - Yanan (pt. 3)

Part 3 out of 3; ~ 4.6k words

[Part 1]; [Part 2]

The days after spontaneously moving in with Yanan went by surprisingly fast, despite me burying myself in my studies. I was determined not to fail this class again – not because of my parents or because I was hoping they would take me in again, but because I didn’t want to look like a failure in front of Yanan. Though he assured me he didn’t see me as one, no matter what, I felt better about myself when I was studying instead of lazing around in my free time. He even offered to help me with it, though he had said previously that he was bad at business maths, but somehow he was able to explain to me the bits that I did not understand by myself. As for my living situation my grandma had contacted me a few days after getting kicked out. She had sounded super worried on the phone, more than I had ever experienced her worry before, and she had offered to take me in, because she couldn’t just let her granddaughter sleep on the streets. I hadn’t dared telling her that I was actually living with a young man, or she would have gotten a heart attack – and above all, a completely wrong idea. I remembered the story of when my mother suddenly didn’t come home anymore in her early twenties because she had moved in with her boyfriend at that time, who had turned out to be emotionally very unhealthy for her. She had never explicitly told me about that last part, but from the many stories I had heard about him from mostly my grandparents, it wasn’t hard to put the puzzle pieces together.

Understandably, my grandmother was traumatized after that, so I had spared her the unnecessary details that would’ve only lead her to believe the same was happening to me. I remembered her words after the phone call and arriving back from school that day, Yanan was waiting for me with a gentle smile on his face and two cups of coffee in hand. As I took the soothingly warm cup from him, I spent a while peering up at his beautiful face, probably a little longer than I should have as he cocked his head and raised his eyebrows as if asking me what I was staring at him for. I shook my head.

“Let’s go,” I said and started walking into the direction of his flat, with him following a few steps behind. I knew that he wouldn’t treat me badly, no matter what. I trusted him.

We took a little detour to go shopping for some groceries. I wanted to make proper dinner tonight, as a thank you for letting me stay with him. As we were walking home from shopping, bags in hand, I noticed he started humming a familiar melody, and it didn’t take me long to recognize the song. It was the same song we had already talked about briefly when dancing together and I decided to sing along a little. “...fighting against all odds, I know we’ll be alright this time…” Upon hearing my voice, Yanan looked over to smile at me, then started singing the lyrics as well. We walked like this the rest of the way, quietly singing together, and I couldn’t keep the broad smile from appearing on my face when I felt a sense of unity because of it.

Arriving home, after we put the food where it belonged in his kitchen, I cleared my throat to tell him that I had an announcement to make.

“Um… I talked to my grandmother today,” I started explaining and found a hint of an emotion in his expression that I could not interpret. “She said she would take me in. So I thought living with her might be smarter than continuing to freeload here…” I saw his face drop, but when answering he made sure to keep his voice stable.

“That means… you’re leaving…?” he quietly asked. I could swear he was disappointed, even though he did his best to hide that. I glanced over at the bundle flowers on the table, one or two of them starting to wilt slowly, and bit my lip.

“It’s better if I live with family,” I reasoned. Silence followed. Then he took one step towards me, then another one, until he stood right in front of me. Slowly, his big hands wrapped around mine and brought them up between us, his soft fingertips sending warmth and an almost electric feeling through my skin. Not daring to look me in the face he took a deep breath and called out my name.

“Stay with me for a while longer,” he asked and added after a short pause, “Please.” I watched as the features on his face changed slightly. Barely noticeable they went through all kinds of complicated emotions one by one, but I saw all of them, until his eyes finally met mine and for a moment those warm brown pupils loaded with all the emotions his face wouldn’t let show properly wiped all my thoughts clean and for a while I thought I could feel what he was feeling. And it almost ripped out my heart, clenching it and wringing it out, trying to drain it of all good emotions so that only pain was left. I didn’t quite understand that the thought of me moving back out brought him so much agony, but I understood that it did, and tears of sympathy started welling up in my eyes. I got a little closer and carefully wrapped my arms around his tall body, embracing him while leaning my head into his chest so I could feel his heart slowly beating against my ear. He too put his arms around me, holding me while leaning down so he could bury his face in my hair.

“Then I’ll stay… maybe it’s better if I avoid running into my mother for a while longer anyway,” I mumbled and felt him softly nod. My curiosity as to why he didn’t want me to go so badly grew, but I figured it would be better not to ask. So I made dinner as planned and managed to put a huge smile on his face with it, which made me feel relieved in return, and while he did the dishes as he insisted, I buried myself in studying once again. It didn’t take long until he sat down next to me on the ground, helping me solve the more difficult problems and praising me when I was able to get the answer right by myself.

“You’re really getting better and better!” he exclaimed, his chin resting on my shoulder. “Keep it up, you’re doing well like this!”

“You think I can ace the class next semester?” I laughed, thinking that would never happen anyway. However, he took a hold of my shoulders and answered in a completely serious tone.

“Yes. I think you can if you keep working hard like this.”

The following week I had my day off on Tuesday as usual and sat down to begin studying right after breakfast, but just as I was about to open my textbook, Yanan put his big hand down on it to prevent me from doing so. A questioning expression in my eyes, I looked up at him.

“You’ve been studying so hard non-stop. How about we use today to take a little break?” he offered.

“Like what?” I asked him, curious as to what he had planned.

“Well, we could go into town, do some window shopping if you like, get us some sweets,…”

“So like… a date?” I asked and noticed his cheeks lighting up immediately.

“Y-yes,” he stuttered, turning away shyly. “If you want to call it that then it’s a date.” I chuckled and jumped up to take his hand.

“If you want to go on a date with me, then just ask!” I laughed at him, but added on a more serious note and in a way he couldn’t have possibly made out the words exactly, “I couldn’t say no to your handsome face.” As I went on to change into more suitable clothes in the bathroom, he remained standing there as if he was in shock, then silently muttering,

“Only my face…?”

As planned, we took the fastest way into the shopping district of my hometown and we went down the same street where my mother bought the dress for his aunt’s party for me. I sighed at the thought of my home and my family, and realized that after all, I missed them a little. Walking closely next to Yanan, the backs of our hands were bound to touch every now and then, until somehow we ended up holding hands and I couldn’t hold back a smile while passing by the big shopping windows and the colorfully flashing and blinking signs overhead.

“Found anything you want?” he asked me after a while.

“No, I’m just looking. I can’t afford anything here,” I chuckled back.

“I’ll buy you something,” he offered and I looked at him in disbelief.

“You can’t…!” I protested. He was already doing so much for me, I couldn’t let him buy presents for me as well.

“My relatives are rich, remember? And sometimes they spare me some of their… leftovers.”

“You saying it like that doesn’t make it sound shady at all, you know…” I remarked, causing him to laugh a little.

“Maybe it is shady. Who knows?” I raised my eyebrows at the answer, but he immediately denied it himself. “It isn’t, don’t worry. Me and my cousins just get a lot of financial support from them.”

“…then why does your cousin’s flat look so plain?” I wondered out loud. “If he has the money, shouldn’t he at least decorate his home accordingly?” Yanan let out a sigh.

“I’m not sure. I suppose he just doesn’t like all that colorful stuff around him all the time. His parents’ house is filled with decorations. Maybe he got tired of them. But that aside, my offer still stands. Let me buy you something.”

“Then…” I looked around carefully and found a street vendor selling candied fruit and pointed at his stand. “I want strawberries!”

“Huh?” Slightly confused, Yanan followed where my hand pointed, then let out a sound as he understood what I meant. “That’s not a lot though…” he commented.

“I don’t need much,” I stated. “But what I do need is my regular dose of sugar!” I laughed and we walked over there. Yanan bought two servings of the candied strawberries, all lined up on a stick and the smooth surface reflecting the sunlight coming from above. We decided to sit down on a bench nearby and after enjoying my first strawberry, I stared off into the distance for a while, getting ready to talk.

“Say, Yanan…” I started and had his attention immediately. “What do you do if there’s something you’re just not good at… or that just doesn’t work out for you, and you keep failing at it? Like, what would you do if you were in a situation like I am with that maths class?”

“Hmmm,” his voice resounded next to me while he was visibly thinking about how to answer, obviously aiming to pick the right words carefully. “I guess I just try over and over again, until it works out someday. I can’t keep failing forever.”

“You keep trying? Even if it takes years?” I asked, amazed by his answer.

“Even if it takes years,” he said, his facial expression determined.

“That’s a lot of dedication,” I remarked and took the next strawberry into my mouth. “Isn’t that draining?”

“It is,” he admitted. “Of course it can be draining.”

“Then why hang on? It has to be enough at some point…” But he shook his head, maybe with a little too much force.

“No. Not with everything. There are certain things I would never… I could never give up,” he stated, looking at something far off in the street, but I couldn’t make out what it was that he was staring at.

“Wow… what is that thing you would never give up, even if it takes years to achieve it? Is it okay if I ask you that?”

“It’s…” Yanan slowly let his eyes sink to the ground. “Nothing.” I couldn’t bring myself to believe that. But I hesitated to pose any further questions. He must’ve had a reason why he didn’t want to speak about it.

We both finished our snacks and I held out my hand for him to give me his wooden stick the strawberries had been carefully lined up on, so I could go and throw them away. Just when I was standing right in front of him and he passed it to me, I caught a glimpse of his tongue licking the remaining sweetness off his lips. Unconsciously mimicking his movement, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would taste like to kiss him with the flavor of the sugar and the strawberries still lingering. He slightly raised his eyebrows as he must’ve caught on to what I was thinking and he leaned back a little, holding out his hand to gesture I should come closer. Blushing and my heart rate speeding up, I leaned down to him and closed my eyes, waiting for him to make our lips meet. I heard him let out a soft laugh right in front of my face and a kissing sound, followed by the feeling of his fingers across my lips. I opened my eyes in disappointment and looked at him angrily.

“That’s not what I was hoping for…” I uttered, trying to hide my disappointment.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. Let me do it properly,” he gave me a mischievous smile, but I wasn’t having any of that. Just when I was about to shake my head and straighten up, I felt his hand behind my neck. He pulled me closer so my lips landed on his, and as soon as I sensed the softness of the kiss combined with the sweet taste of the treat we just had, all my anger washed away immediately. When he released me, I remembered he was toying with me just a few seconds ago, so I awkwardly walked over to the nearby trash bin, not sure if I should still be angry or just let it slide. He too got up and approached me from behind.

“Let me carry your bag as an apology,” he said, but I refused.

“Leave it, it’s not heavy anyway. Also, I don’t want to seem like the evil girlfriend that makes her boyfriend do everything for her like a slave,” I answered and turned to look at his bright face.

“Oh, so we’re a couple now?” he asked, and upon realizing we hadn’t officially talked about our relationship status yet, I blushed madly.

“W-well…!” I stumbled over my words. “O-only my boyfriend is allowed to kiss me like that, y-you know-“ Before I could do anything else, he shut me up by leaning in and placing another lingering kiss on my lips.

“Like this?” he asked, whispering while the distance between our faces was still small enough that I could feel his breath on my skin while he spoke. As soon as he had taken a step back and I had time to breathe properly, I yelled at him.

“Since when are you so overconfident?!” He only answered with a sweet smile, looking to the side in his usual shy manner, confusing me even more. While reaching for my hand and intertwining our fingers, I could hear him mumble into a different direction,

“It’s all because of you.”

We got back from our little date in the afternoon after having lunch outside, which I couldn’t keep him from paying for me. I immediately went back to studying, and even though he tried to convince me to take it easy for the rest of the day as well, he understood that I would feel guilty if I didn’t at least revise the stuff I learned the day before. He sat down with me to see if I needed help with anything and come evening, we prepared dinner together and let the day come to an end naturally, both going to sleep in our separate spaces, feeling content with the successful day.

That night I woke up from one of my usual nightmares. I opened my eyes, the petrifying fear slowly letting go of me as I scanned the apartment shrouded in the dim light of the moon and stars entering through the thin curtains. When my pulse was back to a rather normal pace, I tried falling back asleep with the sheets pulled over my head, but somehow the unsettling feelings which the nightmare brought with it came back every time I closed my eyes and had nothing but darkness in my vision. Sighing, I eventually gave up and got my tired body out of bed, walking over to the kitchen to get a glass of water. But even then I couldn’t quite calm down, and on the way back to the couch, my eyes landed on the door to Yanan’s room. With silent steps I tiptoed over there and put my hand on the handle, before carefully opening it, trying to make as little sound as possible. His room as well was partly veiled in the moonlight and I could make out his figure lying on his side in the bed, peacefully sleeping. As I set one foot in front of the other, I noticed a book and loose sheets of paper lying next to him on the bed. Huh? Was he reading something? Getting a little closer, I recognized the cover, and letting my eyes scan the notes on the sheets and the highlighted parts, the realization hit me. I took all of it into my hands and recalled doing the first few calculations with him just a few hours ago, leading me to believe that the rest of the notes would be what I would study later on today. I looked up at him and his slightly messy hair and my chest filled up with warmth and thankfulness. He’s studying all that so he could help me with it… I carefully placed the study materials onto the floor next to the bed and crawled in, resting my body right next to his and placing one hand on his upper arm, that slid to his chest when he suddenly rolled over and opened his eyes a little. He gave me a confused look before he understood what was going on.

“I-is it okay if I stay here…?” I whispered. A sleepy smile curled up the corners of his mouth and he nodded barely noticeable. The next second, he put his arm around me and pulled me closer, so I was lying half on top of him. I lifted my head to look at his face and let him brush his fingers through my hair. The feeling in my chest from earlier appeared again, and this time it spread all throughout my body, and I smiled to myself when I finally realized what that really was. I brought my lips up to his and placed a gentle kiss on them, and again we locked eyes when we parted.

“I love you.”

His eyes grew wide upon hearing me say those words and I repeated them.

“I really love you.” With one hand behind my neck, he led me into another kiss, slightly tracing his thumb over my cheek while moving his lips against mine and our mouths opened slightly to deepen the kiss further.

For a while that felt like an eternity, but still far too short, just like back then in the pouring rain, I felt him close to me, closer than I ever thought I would. His gentle touches gave me nothing but reassurance, his soft lips exploring my body never failed to send shivers down my spine. With every little movement of his he poured in so much care, and I felt overwhelmed with love, that I did not want to let go of him ever again. And after that night shared in the dim moonlight, weakened by the swaying curtains, I wouldn’t see him the way I saw him before ever again. We both knew we’d cross a border we couldn’t just return from, and neither of us thought twice about the kiss that carried us somewhere different, and the connection that would bind our hearts together unlike anything else. And when I woke up in the morning, lying in his arms skin on skin, I knew I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

The days living with Yanan passed by faster than ever. Sometimes I felt like they were flying away too fast, as if there was something we could lose, something that was waiting for us at the end. What end? As October progressed, the days got colder and the coffee he always bought for me while he was waiting for me to return from college was more appreciated than ever. I wanted to repay him somehow, but he just brushed it off, telling me in sincerity that he was content just having me with him. In the meanwhile, my grandparents tried convincing me to come back once more, but I wasn’t even thinking about returning to them. For now I was happy living together with Yanan and sharing my days with someone who I felt cared about me more than anyone in my life ever had. We started sleeping in the same bed regularly, and ever since then my nightmares had gotten fewer. And even if I woke up from one, having him right there next to me filled me with a feeling of safety and washed all other negative emotions away.

There was only one thing I noticed. I was probably interpreting too much since I was used to worrying more than I should. But still it made me think. As it got colder he would hug me more often, holding me longer than he had, and for some reason it had a hint of a sad feeling to it. When I asked him about it he insisted it was nothing, but still that lingering unsettlement didn’t go away, no matter how much I tried to make it disappear with reason. Until I came back from college late in the evening on the last of October. As per usual, he picked me up at the station, patiently waiting for me in the cold night. We held hands and walked home in silence, and from the way the air around him felt strange that day I vowed myself I would ask what was up with him these last days as soon as we got home. However, after we both took off our shoes and had put aside our coats, I looked at him standing there in the dark living room and a bad premonition came with the way he looked at me from a distance that felt bigger than it was.

“Don’t you wanna turn on the lights?” I asked, but he cut me off.

“Y/N, come here for a moment,” he said while doing a hand movement to underline his words. Surprised, I left the light off and approached him with unsure steps. He cupped my face with his big hands, movements careful as ever.

“I just…” he started a sentence and his voice broke off. He took a deep breath to collect himself while I furrowed my eyebrows.

“Yanan, what’s wrong with-“

“Shhh.” He put his index finger in front of my lips. “It’s okay.” He looked at me fondly while his voice carried a deep sadness, but in his brown eyes looking directly into mine I found nothing but warmth and love. “Remember what I told you back when we first got to know each other?”

“What do you mean?” I whispered back.

“I said I was from both the past and the future.”

“What about it? Wasn’t that just a story you came up with?” The confusion started tying knots in my brain and thinking about it became painful. He shot me an apologetic smile but didn’t further answer my question.

“I just want you to know that I am thankful I got to know you,” he said.

“Stop it, Yanan! This feels like you’re breaking up with me!” I shouted, and he took a strong hold of my shoulders.

“That’s not what this is. It really isn’t, please believe me,” he explained as if pleading that I would understand. Then he added more silently, “I would never want to leave you.”

“Then what is it…?” I dared to ask, preparing myself for all kinds of wild reasons, but getting none of them in return.

“It’s the same thing that always happens on this day when the clock hits midnight…” he said, giving the one hanging in the kitchen a look. I knew it wasn’t long until then, but I didn’t want to know how long exactly. “I’m so sorry I’m doing this to you over and over again…” he then muttered.

“What do you mean by ‘this’? Please tell me! What is going on?” I begged him, taking a hold of his shirt and clutching the fabric in my hands.

“I can’t explain it well either, but… let’s just say I need to move on.”

“Move on? From what…?” Was this about… the dimension thing he mentioned when we first sat down and talked? Was that all… real? He shushed me again while slightly shaking his head. His hands wandered to behind my back and I let him pull me close. I felt like crying but the confusion wouldn’t let any tears come out. Instead I felt his hand starting to slowly pet my head, and focusing on just his touch as I closed my eyes, I calmed down a little. Holding each other tightly, some time passed until he whispered right next to my ear with a clear voice and unmistakable words.

“Please… continue to do well, as you’ve been doing up until now. I know you have the strength within you. And thank you. Thank you for lighting up my life. When I first came to this town I really didn’t like it. I felt like a stranger among all those people I’ve never seen before. But then there was you. You made my days a little brighter. You brought me joy and a reason to look forward to the next morning. So thank you. Thank you for letting me love you.”

Having said those words he could never say enough, he couldn’t hold back the tears that had welled up in his eyes any longer. As if she wanted to comfort him, she wrapped her arms around him more tightly. Even just that little gesture of kindness made his heart overflow with warmth. As he was embracing her tiny body and a bitter but thankful smile formed on his lips, his eyelids fell shut and the clock hit midnight.

It was the 30th of September. He set foot into the cursed town in the early morning hours and made his way to the station where he would get a bite to eat and then wait to bump into her by the staircase to platform B, just as he had done so many times before in the past, and would continue to do for who knows how long in the future. But for now, he still had some time, so with his take-out coffee in hand, he leaned against the brick wall of the station building and sighed, unbuttoning his long brown coat with his free hand. It was unusually warm that day.

~Admin Salty

[trksterlokid]

By the Roots (pt 13)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12

Summary: When a case pops up in rural California, it seems like a normal gank and get the hell out of dodge for you and the Winchesters. However, with mysterious circumstances surrounding the bodies, and a certain archangel popping by, things don’t go exactly as planned.

Word Count: 3116

Tags: Gabriel, Gabriel x Reader, Reader Insert

Author: Stephany

A/N: Hello everyone! I’m both sad and happy to say that this is the final chapter of By the Roots. It has been an interesting journey, if not a long one to keep up with. I’ve enjoyed seeing your comments and messages and knowing how many of you really loved this story. It won’t be my last by any means and keep up with my one shots as well. If anyone has any requests I’ll be happy to look them over. Just send a message or ask my way :) 

It wasn’t a far cry for you to have expected Gabe to ride home with you. After all that had happened you’d been looking forward to sitting in the backseat of the impala with him, your head on his shoulder where you could close your eyes and lose your worries for just a moment. But it seemed Gabe had clearly different expectations.

Which is why on the ride home you sat in the backseat, alone, listening to the Winchesters with their muffled mumbling. You were still wrapped up in Sam’s jacket and you pulled it closer around you. Despite no longer being injured, you were dirty and tired. It would have been nice, you thought, to have had Gabe zap you clean too. That way when you got back to the motel you could have crawled right into the bed.

Instead the second the door was opened you made a beeline towards the bathroom. Neither Winchester stopped you or seemed to oppose the idea. Some of your clothes stuck to you with dried blood as you attempted to peel them off, wincing only slightly at the tug it gave. Those clothes quickly landed in a heap to be disposed of later.

Just as after many hunts before, you relished in the after hunt shower. The warm water hitting your skin, despite how tired you were, soothed aching muscles and allowed you some form of comfort. As did the idea of getting clean in and of itself, washing away the events of earlier.

But of course it wasn’t long before you heard something starting up out in the hotel room. It started with a knock on the door and muffled voices but was quickly escalating. You turned off the shower and stepped out, wrapping the towel around yourself after drying off. It was easier to hear now that Dean was definitely telling somebody off.

“-come in here and act like everything's just peachy!  Newsflash, it’s not.” You caught the tail end of what was only one of many short bursts.

The other voice was too muffled and getting cut off repeatedly. But you had an idea of who it might be and after making sure your towel was properly secured you stepped out of the bathroom, gently squeezing the ends of your wet hair to drip onto the carpet.

As soon as you stepped out all the other voices ceased and you cleared your throat, glancing up at Dean who was red faced, standing in front of one archangel who was looking smaller than usual. Then Sam who was sitting at the desk chair, alternating between watching them and eyeing you.

“What’s going on?” you asked, voice small and tired for the time being.

Gabriel’s head lifted and he looked over to you, clearly wanting to move around Dean. But it didn’t look like Dean was going to let him around anytime soon, even as the elder Winchester glanced your way. “It’s nothing. Gabe was just on his way out,” Dean said gruffly and you crossed your arms over your chest.

“I said, what’s going on?” You persisted, voice gaining a little traction. Gabe opened his mouth but seemed to reconsider what he was going to say before anything actually came out.

“He’s right. I just stopped by to uh...” Gabe shifted his feet and gently laid something similar to a bouquet of flowers on the desk next to Sam. “I’ll catch you around later...” he offered you a small smile.

You were about to argue when Dean cut you off, loudly pushing Gabe towards the door before closing it behind him as if that would keep an archangel out if he really wanted in. But the action in itself annoyed you and you shot him a glare as you went to grab your clothes.

“What the hell, Dean?”

“The hunt is over and I’m sick of him. I can tolerate him when we need his help, but all he did was nearly get you killed,” Dean narrowed his eyes. “He needs to stay away and you need to stay away from him, do you hear me?”

Suddenly you were wide awake as you walked up to Dean whose gaze seemed to waver. “You need to realize, that you don’t get to tell me what I do or don’t need to do. I’m not your daughter, or your sister. I’m not your family and you have no control over what I do or don’t want or do.” Before he could respond this time you turned around, going to the mirror and leaving Dean speechless behind you.

You’d grabbed the comb from the counter and stared at your reflection in the mirror as your face sagged. Dean was still staring at you, looking as if you’d slapped him. Even Sam looked shocked and before you managed running the comb through your hair you turned back around.

“Dean... I didn’t mean it that way. I get you’re trying to protect me but you have to understand-”

“You’re a big girl. Yeah, you don’t need us. Just that psychopathic angel.” Dean’s voice had become gruffer as he turned away and you set the comb down behind you.

“I am a big girl. But no one ever said I don’t need you, either of you. And you may not be my brothers but you damn well feel like it. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry, Dean. I know how much family means to you, but that’s why you have to trust me to make this judgement for myself. You boys taught me how to fight. You taught me everything about this life which is why you have to trust me, and trust yourselves, to realize I know when to draw a line. I’ll be careful.” You’d taken a few steps closer as Dean was rifling through his suitcase that he’d managed to toss onto the bed while you spoke.

At first he just gave a soft grunt of recognition before he stood up straighter and turned around. “Fine. I trust you. Just promise me... us, that if he ever does something even slightly out of line you’ll tell us so we can kick his ass back into shape.” The corner of his mouth twitched up and your own broke into a grin.

“That is a promise I can happily keep,” you nodded, uncrossing your arms from where they’d braced themselves across your chest. Without prompting you happily wrapped your arms around him for a quick hug before the room fell silent again and you went to finish combing your hair as if nothing had happened. You figured you’d need to contact Gabe at some point or another to talk about this again, when emotions weren’t as high strung,. However, you also figured that could wait until you slept a good ten hours and it wasn’t long before you were peacefully curled up in the motel bed.

Above the mountains in the distance, the sun was just breaking through the cracks, spreading light to the sleeping world. Despite how exhausted you had been the night before, your mind had woken up before the sun greeted the sky and you’d slipped out of bed as quietly as possible, grabbing the flowers Gabe had left on the desk the previous night, and going to sit on a grassy hill.

It had still been quiet when you walked out, the only sound was the wind whistling through the trees. But now bugs were starting to buzz and birds beginning to chirp. The wind was still cool and you turned your face towards it. You weren’t entirely sure how long you’d been sitting outside but you’d needed time to think.

You supposed that perhaps your encounter should have soured you on the outdoors, the trees, the grass and roots that grew beneath it. But it didn’t. You still found it just as comforting as you had before and you’d sat there for nearly an hour, staring at the flowers in your hand. Each one was different in shape and color. There were six of them.

One was a dark rose color, the center of it faded into yellow, the stem short and stubby. Each petal was ruffled at the edges giving the appearance of a ribbon that had been curled into a bow as they fell out from the center. The next was pink with layers upon layers of petals. It was soft and very fragrant. The tips of each petal were a softer pink yet, almost white. The next flower was the most elegant of them all. It was long and a light indigo color, some petals falling back towards the stem like rain, others raised up to the sky. One of the flowers looked similar to a rose in shape, except the petals nearest its base flared out like a lion’s mane. It was pure white and nearly the size of the palm of your hand. Then there was a flower where the stem led to a column of lilac colored flowers. The shape of it reminded you of cattails in the pond where you grew up, but the tip came to a point with the help of the long petals on each top flower. And the last, the final flower, looked like something that would grow in the water. Many fine, thin petals, jutting upwards. Each individual seemed sharp but together they made the flower grow round. This one was bright pink.

You weren’t quite sure as to where Gabe had acquired this assortment of flowers, nor why they had come together like that. Despite how beautiful each of them were, they didn’t quite create the flow of a beautiful bouquet you’d get at the nearest florist. If there was even a florist here in this small town.

“Gabriel,” you sighed to yourself as you looked over each one in your hand. “How far did you go to get these?” It was more of a rhetorical question though you’d noticed the flutter of wings behind you and you figured that it wasn’t the nearest cardinal taking flight.

“Every corner of the Earth,” his voice was smooth, but still quieter than usual when he spoke.

“The Earth doesn’t have corners,” your voice was just as light as you finally turned to look at him over your shoulder. He was standing there, hands folded in front of him, his eyes, the color of buttered rum, watching you carefully. Somehow his gaze made you feel just as warm inside as the holiday drink did on the bitter winter days you’d drink it with your family.

“I know that... I was just trying to-” Gabe cut himself off when he heard your slight giggle.

“Well what are you standing all the way over there for? Come on, sit down. Explain it to me,” you lifted up the flowers as you patted the grass beside you.

Tentatively he settled down on your left side and he reached out to take the flowers from your palm. As your fingers brushed, he seemed to jump just slightly as if he’d been shocked and he looked at you expectantly as if he expected you to retreat. Instead you shifted until you were arm to arm and you slid your hand to his knee.

“This one,” the first one he pulled from the stack was the white one and he rolled it between his fingers. “Is a Gardenia. I flew to Australia to get it for you.”

“Why did you go all the way to Australia?” you asked and as he relaxed you moved to rest your head against his shoulder. “Can’t you get them around here?”

“I could, but it wouldn’t hold the same meaning. I want you to know that I’d go to the ends of the Earth for you. Even if the Earth doesn’t have an end. I’ll go wherever you want me to, do whatever you want me to do. I feel like I need to prove that. And this flower, it has a special meaning. The Gardenia means ‘secret love’. I feel like it’s the beginning of our story. I kept it a secret for so long... it felt like that’s all it would ever be. But it isn’t, is it?

“And that’s where this one comes in.” Gabe picked the ruffled one from the bunch and held it up. “It’s called Ambrosia. This one comes from Greece, and it means reciprocated love. It’s probably my favorite because it represents that you actually like me back. I thought it was impossible.”

“Out of all the tricks you have, and you though that this was impossible?”

Gently, Gabe took the short stemmed flower and tucked it behind your ear. “I did. Good things don’t just happen to me. Not anymore.”

“Well maybe, then, your luck is about to change,” you blushed lightly. It had been a long time since you’d had a conversation like this, since you talked about feelings freely and without restraint. It was both surprising, and freeing.

“Let’s hope.” Gabe smiled down at you before he picked up the next flower. It was the one in the shape of a cattail, with purple flowers creating the head. “This is the Water Hyacinth Flower. All the way from South America. This one is important. It holds a heavy question that you don’t have to answer right away.”

Blinking, you pushed yourself upright, clearly a little more than shocked at what you presumed he was about to ask. Upon seeing your expression he chuckled and shook his head. “Relax, I promise it’s not that. This one... I feel like I should give you a thousand of them for every time I’ve ever wronged you but I don’t know how you’d take them all with you when you go back to the boys’ bunker. But it means, ‘Will you forgive me?’” He laid it in your palm, watching you intently. “The question itself is meant for last night. For not protecting you when I should have. For being too angry to make sure you weren’t in any danger. And I know you told me it wasn’t my fault, but I had made a promise. I broke that promise just because you told me something I didn’t want to hear. And I’m so sorry I let that ever get in the way of keeping you safe.” His teeth scraped across his bottom lip nervously and one hand dug in the grass at his side as if it were a nervous tick but the second you looked up from the flower and to his eyes he froze.

You understood where he was coming from. You saw the same kind of guilt in Dean’s eyes every time he let someone down, whether or not it was truly his fault. Gabe was like him in some ways. He held onto things too tightly, especially when those he cared about got hurt. The last thing you wanted was for Gabe to hold onto that guilt.

“I forgive you, Gabe,” you spoke, hoping to free him of the emotional chains that bound him. It seemed to work because he quickly broke free from his staring spell and wrapped his arms around you, tucking your head under his chin and letting the rest of the flowers fall by the wayside. Your own arms wrapped around him and you gently nosed the spot by his collarbone, closing your eyes and letting his warmth envelope you. He almost seemed afraid to let you go, but after a moment you shifted in his arms. “Come on, now. Tell me about the rest of them.”

Gabriel then proceeded to show to you a Siberian Iris from Asia that meant a promise. One he assured you he would keep. His promise itself was represented in the form of the Arbutus, from the eastern coast of the United States.

“It means ‘love for only you’,” he explained, his eyes sincere. The final flower, the bright pink one was a Day Water Lily from Africa. It meant ‘Devotion’. Five of the flowers were in your hand by the end of his explanation, one still tucked behind your ear. “I got one from every continent that has actual flowers,” he gave you a small smile.

“Damn you Antarctica,” you muttered jokingly and his smile grew.

“But I do... actually have one more flower for you,” he sounded hesitant, more so than he had this entire conversation and it made you clearly interested. It seemed as though he had pulled it out of thin air, a long white Lily. It was the only one of the day you recognized but it seemed to almost glow with how bright it was. He held it for a moment and looked at it.  It seemed to hold all kinds of importance that you couldn’t realize, if the look he was giving it was any indication.

“It’s a Lily...” You said, trying to prompt him into giving you a better idea of why it seemed to be so important.

“Yes it is. Back when the world was right and everything was still being created, well Lilies were kind of my thing. A symbol of mine. They’re supposed to represent truth. Each and every Lily is of some kind of lineage to this single one. It was the first Lily, it came from my... garden so to speak. This flower will never die, but it is as real and fragrant as any other Lily you may pick straight from the ground. If you decided to plant it, you could have a whole garden of them in no time. It’s just... special. I’ve held onto it for a long time. But I trust you to hold onto it for me,” he held it out to you but now it was you who hesitated.

“Gabe, that sounds awfully important. I’ve never been very good with flowers... I don’t know how to take care of them or...”

“Y/N, it’s alright. Like I said, it will never die. Just don’t lose it. Keep it someplace safe and it will be there. And this way, if you keep it with you, I’ll always be able to find you because I can feel it anywhere. I won’t ever lose you again, and hopefully, when I’m not right here, then you won’t feel so alone.”

And with that you took the flower, and made a promise of your own. “I’ll never let it leave me side.” Before you could say more, Gabe’s hands were on your face, his lips meeting yours and you barely registered the sun now far above the mountain peaks, or the sound of the motel door opening somewhere behind you.

Tagging: @heaven-bound-angel, @fand0maniac, @andtheraincamefalling, @exactlyhappystranger, @molly-hooperific, @negansgrimes, @fayemenelmir, @crowleysprincess159 @neeadinghugs, @vanessawolfblue, @sumara62

[jesusvasser]

An Original 1966 Shelby GT350H That’s a Movie Star

During his stay overseas with the military, Gino Lucci developed a love for the Ford GT40. “I used to read Playboy religiously while stationed in ’Nam, and they would advertise the GT40 in each issue,” he says. “I knew when I got home to New York I had to have one.”

Gino squirreled away every penny he made in the service, and in the fall of 1968 he was back home and ready to make a purchase. The $3,500 he’d saved during his tenure in the Navy was a nice sum back then, but not nearly enough for what he wanted.

“The asking price was $16,000 for a slightly used model,” he recalls. “The dealership wanted $10,000 down, and I needed a cosigner since I was under 25.”

That left Gino with a big question for his father. “I sat at the table and popped the question to my dad: ‘Can I borrow $7,000 for a GT40, and could you cosign the loan?’”

His father turned to him and gave him a smack across the head. “Are you crazy?” he said in disbelief. “Our house cost less than that. I’m not giving you that money.”

Deep down he knew his dad was right, so Gino returned to the Ford dealership and looked over the remaining cars. Sitting right next to that GT40 was a brand new 1968 GT500KR. “The car was beautiful. It was Dark Green and grabbed my eye immediately once I looked away from the GT40.” And it was closer to his price range. He decided to take the Shelby home.

From day one he was driving it on the street and also at the track. “I would take it to the dragstrip constantly, and ended up blowing motors frequently, going through one big-block after another,” says Gino.

To finance his racing, he took out student loans each spring before the start of race season to purchase needed parts. He soon found himself in some hefty debt. “I sold the car to a friend, for $700 and a 1968 Ranchero in return.” And the original motor? “I pulled it early in its life, and it went into a dumpster,” he sadly admits.

Gino Lucci’s GT350H is among the best known (and likely most often seen) of the “rent-a-racer” Shelbys. Tom Cruise drove it in the movie War of the Worlds. The car has appeared in other movies and TV shows and was on display at the 2006 New York Auto Show to provide historical context for the introduction of that year’s new Hertz-Ford collaboration, the Shelby GT-H.

Props Are Tops

Gino wasn’t sure what he wanted to do in life, but he knew it had to revolve around cars. He decided to open a body shop, not knowing a thing about how to run it properly. “I started buying cars and started flipping them as well,” he says. One car he bought was a “Frankenstein” 1940 Ford—a car with several different colors laid out on its panels. “I would push it out of the shop during the day and push it back in at night.”

One day a man came knocking about the car. Not to buy it, but to rent it. Turns out he was looking for prop cars for a film they were shooting locally. Gino agreed to rent him the car for $100 a day and went along for the ride. “One day turned into five, and I ended up making $500.”

From there Gino started getting steady movie and TV feature work, and soon the rental part of the business eclipsed the body shop. He decided to close the shop and key on TV and film rentals. From that one old Ford, Lucci Auto Props was born.

Shelby Love

Gino admits that since he was a teen he’s had a soft spot for Shelbys. Anytime one would come up for sale, he was definitely interested. “One day back in 1999, I was in a doctor’s office, and I started reading a car magazine there. In the back of the magazine were for-sale ads. I saw a picture of a 1966 Shelby GT350H for sale and quickly became engrossed in the car.” When the doctor called him in, he tore the page out, folded it up, and stuffed it in his pocket. At home he put the ad in his drawer for safekeeping.

A year went by before Gino, while cleaning out the drawer, spotted the folded-up magazine page. He’d forgotten about the Shelby. Now that it was a full year later, he figured the car was probably sold, but decided to call the number anyway. Much to his surprise the car was still there and the owner was willing to sell. Gino did what any real car guy would do: He packed up and headed out to see the car in person, 800 miles away in Kentucky.

Gino was impressed with the black-and-gold-striped Shelby, which was one of the 1,001 “rent-a-racers” that Shelby American had built for Hertz. Without a second thought, he made an offer and purchased it. Along with the car came plenty of paperwork. Turns out the car was a New York City native, and was once stationed in Hertz’s Manhattan location on 40th Street (which still exists today). Gino brought it all back with him to Staten Island, New York, and added the car to his permanent collection.

Even though the car was mint, with just 17,000 miles on the odometer, he wasn’t afraid to drive it. But it would take him some time—and attending a few car shows—to understand exactly what he had bought and how original his Shelby was.

“I decided to bring the car to a Shelby meet at Lime Rock in Connecticut. It’s there that I learned a lot about the car.” To one of the judges, he mentioned he might remove the “extra” passenger-side mirror this car now sported. “Please don’t do that,” said the judge. “There’s history that comes with this car.” Turns out this particular car was well known in the Shelby world, and any change would be detrimental to its heritage and value.

But Gino still toyed with the idea of “repairing” the car. He swore up and down that the car was not original and had probably been hit hard in the rear at some point. He thought the quarter-panels didn’t look right, that there was a seriously defected look to them. He told this to a judge at another meet, who insisted, “That’s how all the cars came . . . This car is original.” The judge pleaded, “Please don’t change it in any way.”

Gino then dug deeper to find the history of the car. Like all the other GT350H models, this car underwent its transformation at Shelby American. Then it headed to a distribution dealer, in this case Larson Ford in New York. From there, 100 GT350Hs hit the New York City area, with this one ending up in Manhattan.

Gino says, “Having seen firsthand what these rental cars went through on any given weekend, it’s a shock that this one survived New York.”

Not only did it survive, but it became a true survivor in every sense. This car, wearing Shelby serial number 6S1886, retains 100 percent of its original paint and interior. The mechanicals are also mostly original. Only a few pieces are repops: the tires, battery, and exhaust had to be replaced. “The exhaust system just crumbled apart,” says Gino. Amazingly, most of the wearables, even in the engine bay, are still intact, including the hoses, belts, and even plugs!

You’d figure that a car this original would live a life of luxury, tucked away for safekeeping. That’s not the case. “This car was the Shelby Tom Cruise drove in War of the Worlds, directed by Steven Spielberg,” says Gino. “I found another GT350H in New Jersey that had been restored, and I used it as my backup car.”

Cruise was so smitten with Gino’s Shelby that he wanted to take it off his hands. Of course Gino balked at the offer, but he set up the purchase of the backup car for Cruise. The car was then passed on to Spielberg as a gift from the actor.

This amazing Shelby is the cream-of-the-crop of Gino’s collection. He has retired, sold his business, and culled his inventory down to a select few, but Gino remains a full-out car fanatic. The Hertz Shelby isn’t going anywhere; it’s still hitting the streets under Gino’s command.

At a Glance

1966 Shelby GT350H Owned by: Gino Lucci Restored by: Unrestored original Engine: 289ci/306hp Hi Po V-8 Transmission: C4 3-speed automatic Rearend: 3.89 gears Interior: Black vinyl bucket seat Wheels: 14×7 Magnum 500 Tires: F70-14 Goodyear reproduction

This is about as original as it gets. Belts, hoses, and even spark plugs are still original issue from 1966. The 289ci powerplant has never been rebuilt and still purrs like the day it was first delivered.

Nothing’s been changed here, which is very rare for any muscle car cockpit 50-plus years old. The bucket seats have little or no wear. Only the carpet is faded from the sun. The original Shelby tach and racing-style seatbelts are still with the car and functional.

Many Hertz customers weren’t familiar with how metallic racing brakes needed to get hot to be effective, causing a number of accidents—some before the customer even left the Hertz lot! As Shelby tried various mechanical fixes, these gold foil decals were put on the car’s dashboards as a warning.

To cement the car’s movie pedigree, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg signed the visors after the wrap of War of the Worlds. And of course no Shelby is complete without a little script from the chief himself. “I got to be good friends with Carroll. He was a great guy through and through,” says Gino.

All of the Hertz cars (except for two prototypes) were shod with 14-inch chrome-plated Magnum 500 wheels. All the Hertz cars also received the Hertz Sports Car Club wheel-center treatments.

The passenger-side mirror is not stock; it was added sometime early in the Shelby’s life, possibly by Ford employee Marvin Neele, who bought it after the car’s term with Hertz was up.

Gino may be retired, but this stunning example of Shelby’s venture into rental racers is not. “I love to drive the car. That’s what it was made for,” he says. We couldn’t agree more.

The Rent-a-Racer

It’s hard to imagine now, but in the 1960s Shelby American was little known outside the West Coast racing community. The 1965 GT350 raised awareness, as did that car’s 1965 SCCA B/Production championship. But the idea of putting a special version of those winning cars in the hands of hundreds of Hertz rental customers across the country was a stroke of marketing genius by Shelby’s sales manager, Peyton Cramer. Hertz welcomed the idea, too, seeing in it the potential to revive Hertz’s flagging Sports Car Club.

Hertz ordered 1,000 of the cars. Ultimately, 1,001 1966 GT350H models were built: two prototypes and 999 production versions. Mechanically they were very much like the other GT350s built for the year, though there were some running changes, primarily to suspension and brake components. All received the Mustang’s folding rear seat, and all were equipped with AM radios. Most (nearly three-quarters) wear the iconic Hertz colors of Raven Black paint with gold stripes, while others were delivered in Wimbledon White, Sapphire Blue, Ivy Green, and Candy Apple Red. The red and green cars did not receive the gold Le Mans stripes over the hood, roof, and decklid. And some of the white cars were delivered with standard blue GT350 side stripes (a corner cut by Shelby American to help fill the Hertz order more quickly).

There are all kinds of myths and legends of GT350H models being rented on Friday, raced on Saturday and Sunday, and returned to Hertz, sometimes broken, missing parts, or even with the wrong engine underhood. Greg Kolasa, the Hertz Shelby registrar for the Shelby American Automobile Club, wrote an excellent book, The Definitive Shelby Mustang Guide, 1965-1970 (cartechbooks.com), which debunked and confirmed some of those tales.

It is true, per Kolasa, that there were myriad problems with the rental fleet. Renters without racing experience had all kinds of trouble with the car’s competition-oriented metallic brakes, forcing a number of changes. Hertz agencies also received little or no training on how to tune the high-performance car, so some ran poorly or were robbed of parts to keep other H cars in the fleet running.

Not true, says Kolasa, is the story that Hertz lost its shirt on the Shelby deal. He crunched the numbers. Considering what Hertz paid for the fleet, what it got when it sold the cars back to Shelby, the maintenance costs, the daily rental fees ($16 average), and so on, Kolasa figures that Hertz made on the order of $1.25 million all told. “Not bad for a program with the money pit image that it had,” he writes. —Drew Hardin

SAAC’s Hertz Shelby registrar, Greg Kolasa, explained the mystery of why the GT350H in this Ford archival press photo wears 10-spoke wheels when the Hertz Shelbys were shod with 14-inch chrome Magnum 500s: “That’s not a GT350. While we don’t have the paperwork explaining it exactly, details of the car (like the pony inside door handle visible in some other shots) tag this as one of the two Mustang GTs that Shelby American purchased to mock up the 1966 GT350 before production started. The 10-spokes are the prototype set that Astri Wheels furnished to Shelby American. The car was painted black, likely as a ‘show to Hertz’ exercise before they actually built the first real GT350H prototype.”

The post An Original 1966 Shelby GT350H That’s a Movie Star appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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[eddiejpoplar]

An Original 1966 Shelby GT350H That’s a Movie Star

During his stay overseas with the military, Gino Lucci developed a love for the Ford GT40. “I used to read Playboy religiously while stationed in ’Nam, and they would advertise the GT40 in each issue,” he says. “I knew when I got home to New York I had to have one.”

Gino squirreled away every penny he made in the service, and in the fall of 1968 he was back home and ready to make a purchase. The $3,500 he’d saved during his tenure in the Navy was a nice sum back then, but not nearly enough for what he wanted.

“The asking price was $16,000 for a slightly used model,” he recalls. “The dealership wanted $10,000 down, and I needed a cosigner since I was under 25.”

That left Gino with a big question for his father. “I sat at the table and popped the question to my dad: ‘Can I borrow $7,000 for a GT40, and could you cosign the loan?’”

His father turned to him and gave him a smack across the head. “Are you crazy?” he said in disbelief. “Our house cost less than that. I’m not giving you that money.”

Deep down he knew his dad was right, so Gino returned to the Ford dealership and looked over the remaining cars. Sitting right next to that GT40 was a brand new 1968 GT500KR. “The car was beautiful. It was Dark Green and grabbed my eye immediately once I looked away from the GT40.” And it was closer to his price range. He decided to take the Shelby home.

From day one he was driving it on the street and also at the track. “I would take it to the dragstrip constantly, and ended up blowing motors frequently, going through one big-block after another,” says Gino.

To finance his racing, he took out student loans each spring before the start of race season to purchase needed parts. He soon found himself in some hefty debt. “I sold the car to a friend, for $700 and a 1968 Ranchero in return.” And the original motor? “I pulled it early in its life, and it went into a dumpster,” he sadly admits.

Gino Lucci’s GT350H is among the best known (and likely most often seen) of the “rent-a-racer” Shelbys. Tom Cruise drove it in the movie War of the Worlds. The car has appeared in other movies and TV shows and was on display at the 2006 New York Auto Show to provide historical context for the introduction of that year’s new Hertz-Ford collaboration, the Shelby GT-H.

Props Are Tops

Gino wasn’t sure what he wanted to do in life, but he knew it had to revolve around cars. He decided to open a body shop, not knowing a thing about how to run it properly. “I started buying cars and started flipping them as well,” he says. One car he bought was a “Frankenstein” 1940 Ford—a car with several different colors laid out on its panels. “I would push it out of the shop during the day and push it back in at night.”

One day a man came knocking about the car. Not to buy it, but to rent it. Turns out he was looking for prop cars for a film they were shooting locally. Gino agreed to rent him the car for $100 a day and went along for the ride. “One day turned into five, and I ended up making $500.”

From there Gino started getting steady movie and TV feature work, and soon the rental part of the business eclipsed the body shop. He decided to close the shop and key on TV and film rentals. From that one old Ford, Lucci Auto Props was born.

Shelby Love

Gino admits that since he was a teen he’s had a soft spot for Shelbys. Anytime one would come up for sale, he was definitely interested. “One day back in 1999, I was in a doctor’s office, and I started reading a car magazine there. In the back of the magazine were for-sale ads. I saw a picture of a 1966 Shelby GT350H for sale and quickly became engrossed in the car.” When the doctor called him in, he tore the page out, folded it up, and stuffed it in his pocket. At home he put the ad in his drawer for safekeeping.

A year went by before Gino, while cleaning out the drawer, spotted the folded-up magazine page. He’d forgotten about the Shelby. Now that it was a full year later, he figured the car was probably sold, but decided to call the number anyway. Much to his surprise the car was still there and the owner was willing to sell. Gino did what any real car guy would do: He packed up and headed out to see the car in person, 800 miles away in Kentucky.

Gino was impressed with the black-and-gold-striped Shelby, which was one of the 1,001 “rent-a-racers” that Shelby American had built for Hertz. Without a second thought, he made an offer and purchased it. Along with the car came plenty of paperwork. Turns out the car was a New York City native, and was once stationed in Hertz’s Manhattan location on 40th Street (which still exists today). Gino brought it all back with him to Staten Island, New York, and added the car to his permanent collection.

Even though the car was mint, with just 17,000 miles on the odometer, he wasn’t afraid to drive it. But it would take him some time—and attending a few car shows—to understand exactly what he had bought and how original his Shelby was.

“I decided to bring the car to a Shelby meet at Lime Rock in Connecticut. It’s there that I learned a lot about the car.” To one of the judges, he mentioned he might remove the “extra” passenger-side mirror this car now sported. “Please don’t do that,” said the judge. “There’s history that comes with this car.” Turns out this particular car was well known in the Shelby world, and any change would be detrimental to its heritage and value.

But Gino still toyed with the idea of “repairing” the car. He swore up and down that the car was not original and had probably been hit hard in the rear at some point. He thought the quarter-panels didn’t look right, that there was a seriously defected look to them. He told this to a judge at another meet, who insisted, “That’s how all the cars came . . . This car is original.” The judge pleaded, “Please don’t change it in any way.”

Gino then dug deeper to find the history of the car. Like all the other GT350H models, this car underwent its transformation at Shelby American. Then it headed to a distribution dealer, in this case Larson Ford in New York. From there, 100 GT350Hs hit the New York City area, with this one ending up in Manhattan.

Gino says, “Having seen firsthand what these rental cars went through on any given weekend, it’s a shock that this one survived New York.”

Not only did it survive, but it became a true survivor in every sense. This car, wearing Shelby serial number 6S1886, retains 100 percent of its original paint and interior. The mechanicals are also mostly original. Only a few pieces are repops: the tires, battery, and exhaust had to be replaced. “The exhaust system just crumbled apart,” says Gino. Amazingly, most of the wearables, even in the engine bay, are still intact, including the hoses, belts, and even plugs!

You’d figure that a car this original would live a life of luxury, tucked away for safekeeping. That’s not the case. “This car was the Shelby Tom Cruise drove in War of the Worlds, directed by Steven Spielberg,” says Gino. “I found another GT350H in New Jersey that had been restored, and I used it as my backup car.”

Cruise was so smitten with Gino’s Shelby that he wanted to take it off his hands. Of course Gino balked at the offer, but he set up the purchase of the backup car for Cruise. The car was then passed on to Spielberg as a gift from the actor.

This amazing Shelby is the cream-of-the-crop of Gino’s collection. He has retired, sold his business, and culled his inventory down to a select few, but Gino remains a full-out car fanatic. The Hertz Shelby isn’t going anywhere; it’s still hitting the streets under Gino’s command.

At a Glance

1966 Shelby GT350H Owned by: Gino Lucci Restored by: Unrestored original Engine: 289ci/306hp Hi Po V-8 Transmission: C4 3-speed automatic Rearend: 3.89 gears Interior: Black vinyl bucket seat Wheels: 14×7 Magnum 500 Tires: F70-14 Goodyear reproduction

This is about as original as it gets. Belts, hoses, and even spark plugs are still original issue from 1966. The 289ci powerplant has never been rebuilt and still purrs like the day it was first delivered.

Nothing’s been changed here, which is very rare for any muscle car cockpit 50-plus years old. The bucket seats have little or no wear. Only the carpet is faded from the sun. The original Shelby tach and racing-style seatbelts are still with the car and functional.

Many Hertz customers weren’t familiar with how metallic racing brakes needed to get hot to be effective, causing a number of accidents—some before the customer even left the Hertz lot! As Shelby tried various mechanical fixes, these gold foil decals were put on the car’s dashboards as a warning.

To cement the car’s movie pedigree, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg signed the visors after the wrap of War of the Worlds. And of course no Shelby is complete without a little script from the chief himself. “I got to be good friends with Carroll. He was a great guy through and through,” says Gino.

All of the Hertz cars (except for two prototypes) were shod with 14-inch chrome-plated Magnum 500 wheels. All the Hertz cars also received the Hertz Sports Car Club wheel-center treatments.

The passenger-side mirror is not stock; it was added sometime early in the Shelby’s life, possibly by Ford employee Marvin Neele, who bought it after the car’s term with Hertz was up.

Gino may be retired, but this stunning example of Shelby’s venture into rental racers is not. “I love to drive the car. That’s what it was made for,” he says. We couldn’t agree more.

The Rent-a-Racer

It’s hard to imagine now, but in the 1960s Shelby American was little known outside the West Coast racing community. The 1965 GT350 raised awareness, as did that car’s 1965 SCCA B/Production championship. But the idea of putting a special version of those winning cars in the hands of hundreds of Hertz rental customers across the country was a stroke of marketing genius by Shelby’s sales manager, Peyton Cramer. Hertz welcomed the idea, too, seeing in it the potential to revive Hertz’s flagging Sports Car Club.

Hertz ordered 1,000 of the cars. Ultimately, 1,001 1966 GT350H models were built: two prototypes and 999 production versions. Mechanically they were very much like the other GT350s built for the year, though there were some running changes, primarily to suspension and brake components. All received the Mustang’s folding rear seat, and all were equipped with AM radios. Most (nearly three-quarters) wear the iconic Hertz colors of Raven Black paint with gold stripes, while others were delivered in Wimbledon White, Sapphire Blue, Ivy Green, and Candy Apple Red. The red and green cars did not receive the gold Le Mans stripes over the hood, roof, and decklid. And some of the white cars were delivered with standard blue GT350 side stripes (a corner cut by Shelby American to help fill the Hertz order more quickly).

There are all kinds of myths and legends of GT350H models being rented on Friday, raced on Saturday and Sunday, and returned to Hertz, sometimes broken, missing parts, or even with the wrong engine underhood. Greg Kolasa, the Hertz Shelby registrar for the Shelby American Automobile Club, wrote an excellent book, The Definitive Shelby Mustang Guide, 1965-1970 (cartechbooks.com), which debunked and confirmed some of those tales.

It is true, per Kolasa, that there were myriad problems with the rental fleet. Renters without racing experience had all kinds of trouble with the car’s competition-oriented metallic brakes, forcing a number of changes. Hertz agencies also received little or no training on how to tune the high-performance car, so some ran poorly or were robbed of parts to keep other H cars in the fleet running.

Not true, says Kolasa, is the story that Hertz lost its shirt on the Shelby deal. He crunched the numbers. Considering what Hertz paid for the fleet, what it got when it sold the cars back to Shelby, the maintenance costs, the daily rental fees ($16 average), and so on, Kolasa figures that Hertz made on the order of $1.25 million all told. “Not bad for a program with the money pit image that it had,” he writes. —Drew Hardin

SAAC’s Hertz Shelby registrar, Greg Kolasa, explained the mystery of why the GT350H in this Ford archival press photo wears 10-spoke wheels when the Hertz Shelbys were shod with 14-inch chrome Magnum 500s: “That’s not a GT350. While we don’t have the paperwork explaining it exactly, details of the car (like the pony inside door handle visible in some other shots) tag this as one of the two Mustang GTs that Shelby American purchased to mock up the 1966 GT350 before production started. The 10-spokes are the prototype set that Astri Wheels furnished to Shelby American. The car was painted black, likely as a ‘show to Hertz’ exercise before they actually built the first real GT350H prototype.”

The post An Original 1966 Shelby GT350H That’s a Movie Star appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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[itsworn]

Unrestored Original 1966 Shelby G.T. 350H Is a Movie Star Too

During his stay overseas with the military, Gino Lucci developed a love for the Ford GT40. “I used to read Playboy religiously while stationed in ’Nam, and they would advertise the GT40 in each issue,” he says. “I knew when I got home to New York I had to have one.”

Gino squirreled away every penny he made in the service, and in the fall of 1968 he was back home and ready to make a purchase. The $3,500 he’d saved during his tenure in the Navy was a nice sum back then, but not nearly enough for what he wanted.

“The asking price was $16,000 for a slightly used model,” he recalls. “The dealership wanted $10,000 down, and I needed a cosigner since I was under 25.”

That left Gino with a big question for his father. “I sat at the table and popped the question to my dad: ‘Can I borrow $7,000 for a GT40, and could you cosign the loan?’”

His father turned to him and gave him a smack across the head. “Are you crazy?” he said in disbelief. “Our house cost less than that. I’m not giving you that money.”

Deep down he knew his dad was right, so Gino returned to the Ford dealership and looked over the remaining cars. Sitting right next to that GT40 was a brand new 1968 G.T. 500KR. “The car was beautiful. It was Dark Green and grabbed my eye immediately once I looked away from the GT40.” And it was closer to his price range. He decided to take the Shelby home.

From day one he was driving it on the street and also at the track. “I would take it to the dragstrip constantly, and ended up blowing motors frequently, going through one big-block after another,” says Gino.

To finance his racing, he took out student loans each spring before the start of race season to purchase needed parts. He soon found himself in some hefty debt. “I sold the car to a friend, for $700 and a 1968 Ranchero in return.” And the original motor? “I pulled it early in its life, and it went into a dumpster,” he sadly admits.

Props Are Tops

Gino wasn’t sure what he wanted to do in life, but he knew it had to revolve around cars. He decided to open a body shop, not knowing a thing about how to run it properly. “I started buying cars and started flipping them as well,” he says. One car he bought was a “Frankenstein” 1940 Ford—a car with several different colors laid out on its panels. “I would push it out of the shop during the day and push it back in at night.”

One day a man came knocking about the car. Not to buy it, but to rent it. Turns out he was looking for prop cars for a film they were shooting locally. Gino agreed to rent him the car for $100 a day and went along for the ride. “One day turned into five, and I ended up making $500.”

From there Gino started getting steady movie and TV feature work, and soon the rental part of the business eclipsed the body shop. He decided to close the shop and key on TV and film rentals. From that one old Ford, Lucci Auto Props was born.

Shelby Love

Gino admits that since he was a teen he’s had a soft spot for Shelbys. Anytime one would come up for sale, he was definitely interested. “One day back in 1999, I was in a doctor’s office, and I started reading a car magazine there. In the back of the magazine were for-sale ads. I saw a picture of a Shelby G.T. 350H for sale and quickly became engrossed in the car.” When the doctor called him in, he tore the page out, folded it up, and stuffed it in his pocket. At home he put the ad in his drawer for safekeeping.

A year went by before Gino, while cleaning out the drawer, spotted the folded-up magazine page. He’d forgotten about the Shelby. Now that it was a full year later, he figured the car was probably sold, but decided to call the number anyway. Much to his surprise the car was still there and the owner was willing to sell. Gino did what any real car guy would do: He packed up and headed out to see the car in person, 800 miles away in Kentucky.

Gino was impressed with the black-and-gold-striped Shelby, which was one of the 1,001 “rent-a-racers” that Shelby American had built for Hertz. Without a second thought, he made an offer and purchased it. Along with the car came plenty of paperwork. Turns out the car was a New York City native, and was once stationed in Hertz’s Manhattan location on 40th Street (which still exists today). Gino brought it all back with him to Staten Island, New York, and added the car to his permanent collection.

Even though the car was mint, with just 17,000 miles on the odometer, he wasn’t afraid to drive it. But it would take him some time—and attending a few car shows—to understand exactly what he had bought and how original his Shelby was.

“I decided to bring the car to a Shelby meet at Lime Rock in Connecticut. It’s there that I learned a lot about the car.” To one of the judges, he mentioned he might remove the “extra” passenger-side mirror this car now sported. “Please don’t do that,” said the judge. “There’s history that comes with this car.” Turns out this particular car was well known in the Shelby world, and any change would be detrimental to its heritage and value.

But Gino still toyed with the idea of “repairing” the car. He swore up and down that the car was not original and had probably been hit hard in the rear at some point. He thought the quarter-panels didn’t look right, that there was a seriously defected look to them. He told this to a judge at another meet, who insisted, “That’s how all the cars came . . . This car is original.” The judge pleaded, “Please don’t change it in any way.”

Gino then dug deeper to find the history of the car. Like all the other G.T. 350H models, this car underwent its transformation at Shelby American. Then it headed to a distribution dealer, in this case Larson Ford in New York. From there, 100 G.T. 350Hs hit the New York City area, with this one ending up in Manhattan.

Gino says, “Having seen firsthand what these rental cars went through on any given weekend, it’s a shock that this one survived New York.”

Not only did it survive, but it became a true survivor in every sense. This car, wearing Shelby serial number 6S1886, retains 100 percent of its original paint and interior. The mechanicals are also mostly original. Only a few pieces are repops: the tires, battery, and exhaust had to be replaced. “The exhaust system just crumbled apart,” says Gino. Amazingly, most of the wearables, even in the engine bay, are still intact, including the hoses, belts, and even plugs!

You’d figure that a car this original would live a life of luxury, tucked away for safekeeping. That’s not the case. “This car was the Shelby Tom Cruise drove in War of the Worlds, directed by Steven Spielberg,” says Gino. “I found another G.T. 350H in New Jersey that had been restored, and I used it as my backup car.”

Cruise was so smitten with Gino’s Shelby that he wanted to take it off his hands. Of course Gino balked at the offer, but he set up the purchase of the backup car for Cruise. The car was then passed on to Spielberg as a gift from the actor.

This amazing Shelby is the cream-of-the-crop of Gino’s collection. He has retired, sold his business, and culled his inventory down to a select few, but Gino remains a full-out car fanatic. The Hertz Shelby isn’t going anywhere; it’s still hitting the streets under Gino’s command.

At a Glance

1966 Shelby G.T. 350H Owned by: Gino Lucci Restored by: Unrestored original Engine: 289ci/306hp Hi Po V-8 Transmission: C4 3-speed automatic Rearend: 3.89 gears Interior: Black vinyl bucket seat Wheels: 14×7 Magnum 500 Tires: F70-14 Goodyear reproduction

Gino Lucci’s G.T. 350H is among the best known (and likely most often seen) of the “rent-a-racer” Shelbys. Tom Cruise drove it in the movie War of the Worlds. The car has appeared in other movies and TV shows and was on display at the 2006 New York Auto Show to provide historical context for the introduction of that year’s new Hertz-Ford collaboration, the Shelby GT-H.

This is about as original as it gets. Belts, hoses, and even spark plugs are still original issue from 1966. The 289ci powerplant has never been rebuilt and still purrs like the day it was first delivered.

Nothing’s been changed here, which is very rare for any muscle car cockpit 50-plus years old. The bucket seats have little or no wear. Only the carpet is faded from the sun. The original Shelby tach and racing-style seatbelts are still with the car and functional.

Many Hertz customers weren’t familiar with how metallic racing brakes needed to get hot to be effective, causing a number of accidents—some before the customer even left the Hertz lot! As Shelby tried various mechanical fixes, these gold foil decals were put on the car’s dashboards as a warning.

To cement the car’s movie pedigree, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg signed the visors after the wrap of War of the Worlds. And of course no Shelby is complete without a little script from the chief himself. “I got to be good friends with Carroll. He was a great guy through and through,” says Gino.

All of the Hertz cars (except for two prototypes) were shod with 14-inch chrome-plated Magnum 500 wheels. All the Hertz cars also received the Hertz Sports Car Club wheel-center treatments.

The passenger-side mirror is not stock; it was added sometime early in the Shelby’s life, possibly by Ford employee Marvin Neele, who bought it after the car’s term with Hertz was up.

Gino may be retired, but this stunning example of Shelby’s venture into rental racers is not. “I love to drive the car. That’s what it was made for,” he says. We couldn’t agree more.

The Rent-a-Racer

It’s hard to imagine now, but in the 1960s Shelby American was little known outside the West Coast racing community. The 1965 G.T. 350 raised awareness, as did that car’s 1965 SCCA B/Production championship. But the idea of putting a special version of those winning cars in the hands of hundreds of Hertz rental customers across the country was a stroke of marketing genius by Shelby’s sales manager, Peyton Cramer. Hertz welcomed the idea, too, seeing in it the potential to revive Hertz’s flagging Sports Car Club.

Hertz ordered 1,000 of the cars. Ultimately, 1,001 1966 G.T. 350H models were built: two prototypes and 999 production versions. Mechanically they were very much like the other G.T. 350s built for the year, though there were some running changes, primarily to suspension and brake components. All received the Mustang’s folding rear seat, and all were equipped with AM radios. Most (nearly three-quarters) wear the iconic Hertz colors of Raven Black paint with gold stripes, while others were delivered in Wimbledon White, Sapphire Blue, Ivy Green, and Candy Apple Red. The red and green cars did not receive the gold Le Mans stripes over the hood, roof, and decklid. And some of the white cars were delivered with standard blue G.T. 350 side stripes (a corner cut by Shelby American to help fill the Hertz order more quickly).

There are all kinds of myths and legends of G.T. 350H models being rented on Friday, raced on Saturday and Sunday, and returned to Hertz, sometimes broken, missing parts, or even with the wrong engine underhood. Greg Kolasa, the Hertz Shelby registrar for the Shelby American Automobile Club, wrote an excellent book, The Definitive Shelby Mustang Guide, 1965-1970 (cartechbooks.com), which debunked and confirmed some of those tales.

It is true, per Kolasa, that there were myriad problems with the rental fleet. Renters without racing experience had all kinds of trouble with the car’s competition-oriented metallic brakes, forcing a number of changes. Hertz agencies also received little or no training on how to tune the high-performance car, so some ran poorly or were robbed of parts to keep other H cars in the fleet running.

Not true, says Kolasa, is the story that Hertz lost its shirt on the Shelby deal. He crunched the numbers. Considering what Hertz paid for the fleet, what it got when it sold the cars back to Shelby, the maintenance costs, the daily rental fees ($16 average), and so on, Kolasa figures that Hertz made on the order of $1.25 million all told. “Not bad for a program with the money pit image that it had,” he writes. —Drew Hardin

SAAC’s Hertz Shelby registrar, Greg Kolasa, explained the mystery of why the G.T. 350H in this Ford archival press photo wears 10-spoke wheels when the Hertz Shelbys were shod with 14-inch chrome Magnum 500s: “That’s not a G.T. 350. While we don’t have the paperwork explaining it exactly, details of the car (like the pony inside door handle visible in some other shots) tag this as one of the two Mustang GTs that Shelby American purchased to mock up the 1966 G.T. 350 before production started. The 10-spokes are the prototype set that Astri Wheels furnished to Shelby American. The car was painted black, likely as a ‘show to Hertz’ exercise before they actually built the first real G.T. 350H prototype.”

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