#my dad just came down to talk disappointedly about

[casspurrjoybell-20]

Fools - Chapter 2 - Part 1

BOOK ONE: The 'Fools Fall in Love' Trilogy

*Warning - Adult Content*

Noah Wright

The first day of school was always ass but it was my senior year, so maybe it won't be too bad.

I just had to get through this year and I could finally leave this shit hole town.

I'd move to Chicago to be closer to my brother and get my own apartment and leave everything and everyone behind in this shit suburb but that's just a fantasy.

But who would take care of my dad?

I sighed as I already felt irritated at the inevitability that I'll live here for the rest of my life.

I put my toothbrush back in it's holder and spit the remaining paste out of my mouth.

Turning on the faucet, I cup my hand and use it to gather the Sulfur smelling water to rinse my mouth out before wiping my face dry with the towel that's probably past ready to be washed.

Walking out into the quaint living room, I almost curse under my breath when I see my dad awake.

"Hey, dad."

"Noah," he spoke my name in a raspy, disgruntled tone as he stood up, almost toppling over in the process.

Still drunk from last night, I presumed.

"Hey," he stepped close to me, a hand on my shoulder and his potent, dad breath, reeking of alcohol, fanned my face as he asked me...

"I'm a little late on the bills, spent too much last night at Devin's," he chuckled even though it wasn't even remotely humorous.

So that's why I had a cold shower this morning.

Devin's was the infamous bar where my dad spent most of his evenings and then came stumbling home roughly past one AM.

It was conveniently two blocks down the road.

"Mind helpin' your old man out? Just two-forty."

Great, I had just saved up enough money for a new battery for my shit-box of a car.

I tried not to sigh too disappointedly.

"Sure, dad."

I fished out my wallet.

"Ah. I meant three-forty," my father adds, when I began pulling out cash.

My dad doesn't believe in credit cards, said some shit about the government tracking them, so cash it was.

'Dammit, you lying bastard.'

I knew the extra hundred was going into his pocket, not for any bills but I didn't feel like getting hit that day, so I handed him three hundred and forty dollars anyway.

"Thanks, kid. So, uh, when you startin' school?" he asked me, his hand tightened on my shoulder.

I stepped out of his touch, hiking my backpack higher onto my shoulder.

"Today. I'll see you later."

I walked out of the house before he could ask me for any more money.

Not that I had any more money after he cleaned my wallet.

I sat in the front seat of my car, took a deep breath, then slammed my hands into my steering wheel but I really want to punch something instead.

I reversed and headed to my girlfriend, Kaitlyn's house.

I already knew this year was going to suck, just like every year.

********

"I'm sorry, Noah," Kaitlyn said as we walked down the hallway before first period.

I had told her what happened this morning with my dad.

She's the only one I talked about my dad with.

Her usual response to anything shitty my dad did was.

'I'm sorry, Noah'.

I wished she'd be a little more comforting.

"I'll just take more shifts," I said, shrugging.

I worked at Subway and it was absolute dog shit to work there but I worked with a good friend of mine, Jason, so he made it better.

Plus, I actually got paid a decent amount for working fast food.

"Maybe I can help you out, you know my dad will..."

"No," I shut her offer down before she could even complete it.

"I don't need your money," I snapped.

Kaitlyn sighed.

"Noah..." but I wasn't able to find out the rest of my girlfriend's sentence, when someone bumps into my chest, catching me off guard.

Not only did the person bump into me but their iced coffee did as well.

My hands are flung up in the air at the splash of cold liquid on me.

I heard Kaitlyn gasp beside me, her hand going to her mouth.

All the while, the dumbass that ran into me, stepped back with a horrid look on their face and exclaimed in panic.

"Oh my goodness. I am so sorry."

"What the actual fuck?" I yelled, glaring at him.

He was a good five or so inches shorter than me and I hoped looking down at him with my sharp expression made him scared but, he looked more frantic than scared as he started to ramble out a useless apology.

"It was an accident. I tripped because of my stupid new shoes," he was patting my soaking wet shirt as if that would help dry me off.

I was so fucking bewildered and fuming, I felt like punching him but I couldn't get suspended again.

"I was trying to see which classes I had and I wasn't looking and..."

"Clearly," I said through clenched teeth and shoved his hands off of me.

"Noah, it was an accident, relax," Kaitlyn said seeming appalled by my harsh tone.

Was she fucking kidding me?

"Says the one who didn't get coffee splashed on them."

"I'm so sorry," he apologized again.

I really did contemplate hitting him but then I felt Kaitlyn rub my arm and I remembered to take a deep breath.

"Watch where you're going next time," I warned him then bumped his shoulder before walking away.

I knew my first day was going to be shit.

I couldn't once get a fucking break.

I was still fuming when we got to Kaitlyn's first class of the day, she faced me.

"Noah," she rubs both of my arms.

"It's not the end of the world, okay? Chill out. Go to my locker, I have your hoodie in there, okay?"

My clenched fists unfolded.

"Yeah, okay. Whatever," I muttered.

My girlfriend gives me a soft, reassuring smile before kissing me and heading to class.

I never wanted to see that dumb, fuck-head again but of course, I did.

Later during Lunch period, my obnoxious friend, Emily invited him to sit with us.

Supposedly, Sam Moretti, which is the coffee-spilling dumbass' name, has an older sister, Haven who already became friends with Emily.

So yeah, I had to sit with Sam at my lunch table and to top it off, I had last period with him.

[theofficialpeanutgallery]

My parents: gosh look at that delinquent. *shakes their heads* so rebellious. I can’t believe her.

Me, suffering through multiple panic attacks a day for the past week, and having literal mental breakdowns bc I can’t handle things they’re forcing me to do:

[stray-cat-21]

Eggs in a basket 🍳

I’m not sure what this is it’s not an x reader but enjoy this little blurb of Eddie and Wayne. I may or may not make it into a fic later involving the reader. Maybe something like 5 times Eddie Munson has felt loved idk.

Wayne is finally sound asleep snoring logs after a long painful day of getting custody of his eleven year old nephew. His brother had finally been put behind bars for good this time so Wayne became his primary caregiver. The man was busy dreaming of a fishing trip when a small crash forced him awake. His eyes stuttered open before shifting to the alarm clock 2:15 AM. “Damn cats again.” He groans assuming it’s the trailer park strays again.

He was just about to try and sleep again when a small clattering came from the kitchen. Jumping up from the bed Wayne stumbled out of his room. Flicking on the hall light he lets out a held breath of relief spotting his nephew in the kitchen. Eddie was stood on a chair searching in a cabinet. The boy was so focused on whatever he was looking for he didn’t hear his uncle creep into the kitchen.

“Eddie what’re you doin kid?” He asked causing the boy to jump dropping a can of beans onto the counter. “U-uncle Wayne I’m sorry I woke you up I’m sorry.” He stuttered nervously. Wayne stepped closer to the boy observing the can opener and spoon sat on the counter top. “Woah slow down boy what are you doin?” He questioned helping his nephew get down from the chair. Eddie stared down at his feet not quick enough to hide his worry tear filled eyes.

“I-I was just hungry and um I thought maybe I could just grab something but then I couldn’t reach the can and I knocked some stuff over and I’m so sorry I woke you up.” Eddie stammered out. Wayne Munson took a deep breath placing his hands on his hips. He’s not mad at the boy not even a little, no he’s mad at his piece of shit brother who not only neglected the kid but made him be so fearful of getting in trouble for taking care of himself. Eddie let’s out a quiet sniffle hugging his arms around his body. Wayne sighed shaking his head disappointedly.

“Did you have to do that a lot at home, feed yourself?”

“Y-yeah some times dad would fall asleep before he could cook, or when he was out with his friends for a couple days.”

“Did you at least have something you could eat?”

“Sometimes there was spaghettios or cereal but I-I got good at heating up canned beans and stuff.”

“Yeah that stuff is good kid but that is not a satisfying midnight snack. Want me to show you somethin my father taught me to cook?”

Eddie looked up at his uncle confused by his kindness despite that the young boy had woken him. Wiping his eyes Eddie nodded his head unsure of what he was talking about. Eddie’s father didn’t talk about their parents much. Hell he hardly talked to him about anything but illegal shit. Wayne smiled moving towards the stove.

“Get me out the eggs and butter from the fridge.” Wayne instructed. Eddie did as he said placing the items on the counter top. Meanwhile Wayne pulled out a skillet, two cups and a loaf of bread as well as two plates. “What are we making uncle Wayne?” He questioned standing by Wayne’s side. “I’m gonna show you how to make eggs in a basket.” Wayne informed him placing a plate with a slice of bread on it in front of his nephew.

“Okay first things first we’re gonna heat up the burner to medium and we’re gonna spray the pan with cooking spray.”

“What’s the cooking spray do?”

“It stops the bread from sticking to the pan.”

“Ohh cool.”

“Alright so you take your bread slice and you’ll use a cup or something to cut a hole into the middle of the bread. Watch me then you do it.”

Eddie watched intently as Wayne tipped the cup upside down placing the rim onto the bread and pushing it down with small twisting motion. When he pulled the glass away a round piece was cut from the bread leaving a hole in its place. Poking his tongue between his lips in concentration Eddie copied his actions. “There you go just like that alright next now that the pan is warm enough we’ll set our piece of bread down in the middle and we’re gonna crack an egg into it.” Wayne continued. Eddie smiled with a hint of pride upon his uncles praise.

His big brown eyes eyes watched curiously while Wayne picked up an egg from the container cracking it right into the hole on the bread. “Now if if you like your eggs runny you just let it cook but if you don’t you can break the yolk. Personally I like mine runny but that’s just me. I also like to add some salt and pepper to mine.” Wayne explained further. Eddie nodded his head his stomach letting out a small growl.

Wayne added some spices before picking up a spatula. “Now we gotta give it a couple minutes to let the side cook then we’ll flip it to cook the other side.” Wayne said with a smile. There was a brief moment of silence between them Wayne wondering what else the boy had gotten used to doing for himself.

“Grandpa taught you how to make these?”

“Yeah he didn’t do a lot of cooking but he liked to take us camping and this was something he would make over a fire. Or when we were having a tough time or stayed home sick he’d make them at home and we’d watch some western.”

“A western?”

“Yeah like cowboy movies. Your dad never showed you westerns? Not even John Wayne?”

“Who’s John Wayne?”

“Oh kid we’ve got some work to do.”

Wayne flipped the bread resting the spatula on the counter top. He wiped the glasses off before heading to fridge. “Alright orange juice, milk, or water?” He questioned. “Umm orange juice please.” Eddie grinned. “Good taste kid.” Wayne chuckled pulling out the box and filling both glasses.

He poured the glasses full before Eddie returned the carton to the fridge. “We’ll go out to the grocery store on Friday and we’ll pick out some of your favorites alright?” Wayne suggested putting the now cooked food onto the plate. Eddie nodded excitedly about getting to help his uncle pick out food. “You can go ahead and sit down and eat if you’d like.” Wayne told him but Eddie shook his head. “Can I help make the next one?” He asked.

Wayne nodded stepping out of the way allowing Eddie to stand in front of the stove. His tongue poked out again and he focused on delicately cracking the egg into the bread. “Did you see that I cracked it perfectly!” Eddie cheered practically bouncing up and down. Wayne chuckled nodding his head. “Good job.” Wayne beamed giving Eddie a small or on the shoulder.

Eddie focused on cooking his snack before flopping onto his plate. It wasn’t quite as neat as his uncle’s looked but it still looked delicious. Wayne carried the plates while Eddie carried in their drinks. The two sat on the couch in front of two TV dinner trays. Wayne flipped on his favorite John Wayne tape. (I know vhs tapes wouldn’t have been out so let’s just pretend boss babes).

They were mostly silent as they ate just focusing on the movie and the food. Wayne would peak at his nephew to see him chewing a mouthful of food his eyes as wide as saucers watching the tv. When they both were done plates and cups empty Wayne cleared the dishes to the kitchen and cleaning up the trays. When he sat back down Eddie’s eyes were beginning to droop but would keep snapping open to watch the cowboys. Wayne handed him a quilt that rested on the recliner allowing the boy to cover up.

After a few minutes Wayne felt a small weight hit his shoulder. He turned and smiled seeing his nephew fast asleep against him. Wanting to make sure Eddie was fast asleep Wayne finished the movie with him resting right there. When the credits began to roll he flicked off the tv before scooping Eddie into his arms. Quietly making his way to the boys new room Wayne gently placed him back onto the bed making sure he was covered with the blanket.

“G’night Eddie.” Wayne smiled closing the door making his way back to his own room. Despite the reason for it he was honestly kind of happy about the current situation. After all it would be nice to have some company at the trailer. Someone to eat breakfast with and watch Westerns. Maybe his No good brother getting sent to jail wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

[t-lostinworlds]

Dear Santa (Tom Holland)

a/n: this made me want a baby, preferably with tom but anyway. here’s my gift to you lot for the holidays! i hope you enjoy this one <3

pairing: dad!tom holland x female!reader trope/genre: Dad AU; slight angst; fluff summary: It’s a yearly thing for Tom and your daughter to write letters to Santa together on what they want for Christmas. Only this time around, it was over video call given that Tom was miles away from his two—three, including Tessa—beautiful girls. Santa did get the letters though... warnings: tom being such a dad (which is a warning in its own right), a dash of ‘missing you’ angst, it’s so fluffy that i died a couple times, bad pun/dad joke & a lil steamy in the end. word count: 7.2k+

masterlist in bio & pinned post

-:-:-:-:-

"Dada!"

"Hello, angel," Tom gushed, heart warming up ten times over as he looked right at his four-year-old daughter's beautiful and chubby face. Her little hand waved enthusiastically while she sat on the tall chair in the dining area, her beam turning brighter at the sight of him. "How was your day?" He slid himself in the little nook he had in his trailer, placing his laptop on the table in front of him and getting himself comfy as he listened to her tiny voice babble. Some of her words were mispronounced, sentences cut short and randomly stringed together but Tom listened to every single one of it with much interest.

"What?! She didn't," he gasped exaggeratedly when she talked about Tessa sitting on her while they played in the living room, the pup barking soon after to make her presence known.

"She did! 'N Tessa so heavy dada."

The young lad heard your sweet giggle next and his whole body softened even more at the sound. He leaned back on the seat with the brightest smile he could ever wear. Although Tom could feel the sting in his chest gradually grow when you came into view.

The curve on your lips was tender and sweet, one that he could never get enough of even after years of seeing it, one that he's so dearly missed seeing in person. Tom felt his heart ache the more he stared at his two precious girls, both looking at him with smiles. But still, he can see it, the tiny specks of sadness in your eyes all because he was thousands of miles away, five days before Christmas.

He would absolutely do anything to be in the same room with you two right now. Hell, even to just be in the same country but alas, work and duties. Tom has been away for roughly five months and the last time he's seen you two in the flesh was two months ago when you came over and visited him on set. Now, it was the holidays and he's still not home. And Tom can attest that it's one of, if not the worst feeling in the world.

It wasn't in his plan to be so far away at this time but his schedule is ever changing which led him to still be at work nearing Christmas. He'd done the best he could to try and make it before or on the 25th but it wasn't set on stone. No real and solid plans until the actual day which was very gut wrenching.

It was the first Christmas he's away, after all.

But at this moment, Tom has been lucky enough to have a few hours off this afternoon given that night shoots were the agenda of the day. And even though he should be using this time to get a few hours of sleep in before a very long night, of course, Tom took this opportunity to video call over instead. He just got done eating lunch but it was already dinnertime back in London, and he so badly needs to see your beautiful faces before you went to bed.

"Thalia, sweetie, go wash your hands for a sec, yeah?" you hummed, running your fingers gently through her curly hair, one she got from him. Although her eyes, her smile and overall beauty? It was all you, Tom thinks so at least. Well, except for that cute nose that she got from him as well. The more she grows, the more it shows how she's the perfect mixture of her parents, and it honestly makes his heart soar. Thalia is the reminder of the love you and Tom have, one that's pure and strong that blossomed into this joyful, precious and beautiful little girl.

She looked up at you with a soft pout, pointing towards the screen as she shook her head. "Bu—"

"I'll be right here pumpkin, don't worry. Listen to mummy," Tom chuckled softly. Upon seeing the apologetic smile you flashed him, he knew that you saw the flicker of sadness that crossed his features. You always do see right through him. He shot you a small reassuring nod, a silent way to tell you it was okay.

"No go anywhere," Thalia warned, narrowing her eyes at him.

Tom felt his heart break even more but he flashed her a wide grin, crossing his finger over his heart and said, "I promise."

Thalia reached a hand out for you to take, a sweet smile on your face as you curled your fingers around her tiny ones. "There you go," you said, helping her off the seat.

"Thank you," she hummed, tugging your hand to urge you to lean down. A lovely giggle vibrated in your chest once Thalia placed a wholesome smack on your lips, the sight making Tom's heart skip a couple beats.

"You're welcome, angel," you said. Thalia disappeared from the screen, Tom assuming she had swiftly made her way over her little stairs that he had built for her a couple months back, just so she could reach the sink. "Careful," you called out, the soft grunts of the little girl echoing in the kitchen along with Tessa pitter-patters on the tiles. Tom knew she was in a rush up the stairs, eager to get her hands clean so she can go back to talking to him. He doesn't know if the thought made his heart soar or break a couple more pieces.

You turned back to look at him through the screen, a shy smile erupting on your features the moment you saw him already gawking at you with the proudest grin on his lips. He just can't help but admire the goddess before him. You just look so stunning and gorgeous in a simple knitted sweater, you, his wife.

That alone was honestly enough to make Tom combust with the love that fills him up ten times over. But then, by the heavens above, you're such an amazing mother. He genuinely doesn't know what to do with himself. You make him feel like he's on top of the world. Both you and Thalia make him feel so, so happy.

"Damn, how did I get so lucky," he gushed, gaze locked with yours with adoration coating his orbs. "I mean, look at you, the fact that I get to call you my wife? Whew." He shook his head in pure disbelief, blowing out his cheeks in the process. You let out a bashful laugh with a roll of your eyes, his smile only growing at your reaction. It makes Tom's heart melt whenever you get all timid when he showers you with compliments and affections, all the more reason for him to keep doing it as often as he can.

"All clean!" Thalia exclaimed as she climbed back onto her seat with your guidance, showing her palms to him with a bright smile.

"That's my girl," Tom said proudly, shooting her a wink with a grin to match.

You moved the laptop farther so Tom could see both of you clearly. Disappearing for a moment, Tom heard you speaking to Tessa, handing the doggo her dinner he presumed. You came back into view soon after with two plates on hand, placing one in front of Thalia—to which she adorably clapped with a soft 'thank you'—and setting yours right beside hers. Tom simply watched with a smug smile as you handed the young girl her utensils before you sat yourself down. Your little girl waited for you to get situated without touching her food. Then you and Thalia locked eyes, lifting your spoons and taking a bite at the same time with giggles coming out of you both.

The amount of times Tom could literally die and resurrect at the adorable scene before him was immeasurable. He was unable to wipe the love-struck grin painted on his lips, cheeks hurting but totally worth it.

"Oh, that was a very big bite," he commented when Thalia took another spoonful. Tom adjusted the sleeves of his flannel shirt, pulling it up his forearms for him to easily prop his elbow on the table, resting his chin on his palm as he admired his two precious girls.

"Hmm, so good!" Thalia nodded enthusiastically, eyes all squinted with her cheeks puffed out as she chewed her food as thoroughly and as carefully as she could. Although a little bit of it still managed to stick to her chin, Thalia quick to clean it up with the napkin you placed right beside her plate.

God she's growing up fast.

Tom felt his eyes sting at the thought of his little girl growing to be not-so-little anymore. Not long ago he was the one who'd wipe the little crumbs and mess off her face, but now she can do it all on her own. He could honestly cry.

"You know what, I'm so jealous of you young lady," he huffed, leaning back with his arms crossed and a deep crease on the middle of his brows. "It's unfair how you get to eat mummy's cooking every day."

"I sent Sam some of my recipes, didn't I?" you asked, amusement laced in your tone as you furrowed your brows at him.

"Yeah, but it still isn't the same when it's you cooking because then I can give you hugs and kisses during the process." Tom pouted. "That's one of my favourite parts aside from eating."

"Ew, dada, cheesy."

Tom's mouth fell agape as his gaze snapped towards Thalia and then at you—to which you only shrugged with a giggle—and back to his daughter. "Okay, who taught you that?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"Uncle Haz!" Thalia exclaimed proudly, nodding her head as she continued eating.

Tom shook his head disappointedly as he locked eyes with you. "I've been telling you, love, Harrison is a bad influence on her," he grumbled, jokingly of course.

"Oh hush, it's not like what she said was a lie," you pointed out with a knowing smile.

"Hey!" He pouted.

Thalia giggled at his reaction. "Dada cheesy," she repeated.

Tom sighed, shaking his head but the smile never did leave his lips. It never could whenever his eyes are on you two. He was going to confront Harrison about that though; makes Tom wonder what other things that blonde lad has taught his daughter.

"How was your morning, bub?" you asked with a soft smile.

Tom relaxed in his seat as he proceeded to recount the events that happened earlier all while you both continued to eat your dinner.

"—and then we got to visit the children's hospital and gave out presents, which was nice."

"They met Spider-Man?" Thalia queried.

Tom gave her a nod with a wide smile on his face. "Yes, they did."

It's still surreal to him how he's managed to now have the fifth movie of the franchise. It was the last installment which was somewhat bittersweet on its own right. Nonetheless, Tom was very thankful with the run of his career as the famous web-slinger. Lucky and blessed would be huge understatements to describe his life. Even more so now that he's got a wonderful, beautiful daughter and an amazing, gorgeous wife.

"Dada a real life superhero."

Yup, he definitely couldn't get even luckier than this.

Tom let out a coo, bottom lip jutted out as he looked at you and then at Thalia with a little gloss in his eyes. "I could literally burst into tears right now. You own my heart, darling," he gushed. Eyes glancing back at you, he sighed, "You both do."

The warmth and love you held in your eyes glowed some more, his smile widening at the beautiful sight as he tilted his head at you sweetly. Turning back to his daughter, Thalia flashed him a wide smile, setting her spoon and fork down with a satisfied hum.

"Finish already?" Tom asked.

She nodded enthusiastically. "It's letter time!"

Tom can't help but chuckle. It's been a yearly thing for him and her to write their letters to Santa every 20th, always the same schedule which was after dinner. Thalia has grown accustomed to the tradition real quick despite only doing it for only a few years. Well, she is just four.

"Alright, alright, why don't you help mummy clean up while I'll go get my pen and special paper," he said with a wriggle of his brows. The young girl clapped cheerfully as she grabbed for your hand before hopping off her seat, gently taking her plate from the table and carrying it to the sink.

"She's getting so big, love," Tom breathed out, looking at you with his bottom lip jutted out.

"I know," you sighed, eyes on Thalia before you tilted your head at him with that gorgeous smile of yours, nothing but adoration coating your orbs.

Smile turning into a mischievous smirk, he wriggled his brows at you. "Should we make another one?" he purred, voice low and guttural but quiet.

"Thomas!" you hissed as softly as you could. You looked at your little girl briefly and Tom literally saw the relief that washed over your face before you turned back to him with a death glare. "She hasn't asked about that yet and I swear if you're the reason why she starts now—"

"Tessa, not the spoon!"

Your head whipped towards the direction of that little voice before you turned back to Tom with narrowed eyes. "You behave yourself, Mr. Holland," you warned, raising a brow at him and then walking off screen.

"Love you, Mrs. Holland!" he called out with a chuckle.

***

"Dada don't peek!" Thalia gasped once she saw Tom craning his neck teasingly. She glared at him as she covered her paper with her little hand, which was honestly the cutest thing ever.

"I'm not, I'm not," he chuckled, going back to writing his letter.

He wasn't really asking for presents. Well, realistically, he doesn't need to. Of course he could pretend and not write anything at all but he feels a little bad lying to his daughter. So, he resulted to jotting down the things he already has rather than asking for more. All of his yearly letters had consisted of nothing but gratefulness as he lists down what he's been blessed with and was so thankful for, you and Thalia always at the top of that list.

The party has been moved to Thalia's room now, the little girl fresh out her bath and was wrapped in her PJs. The laptop was right on the little desk she had in the corner where she practices her writing, reading and even drawings.

It was where they always write the letters. The previous years, Tom would sit right beside her in one of the tiny chairs as he helps her write. But now, instead of side by side, they were looking at each other through the screen, which honestly makes Tom's heart ache. To add to that, she was writing on her own too, a bittersweet feeling coursing through his bones. Because as much as how he feels so proud to see his little girl know—slowly but surely—how to write, there's always going to be a part of him that clings to the memory of her little hand encased in his much larger ones as he helps her navigate the pencil around the paper, letter by letter.

God, she needs to slow down on growing up. Tom can't honestly handle it.

"You peeked again!" she squealed when she saw Tom lift his brows with widened eyes as he tried to get a look at her paper. Thalia quickly glanced over her shoulder, pointing at the screen with a pout, so obviously telling on him which made him let out a hearty laugh. You came into view right behind the little girl, toys on hand which Tom knows you got off from the floor. There's always so many of them littered around her room. Well, he admits, he does spoil his little girl, sometimes.

"Dada, no peeking," you scolded playfully, raising a knowing brow at him, Tom's heart melting at the seams at your use of the nickname.

"I didn't see anything, I promise." He threw both his hands up in surrender, scrunching his nose at Thalia who only stuck her tongue out at him in response. You disappeared from shot again, continuing what you were doing, Tom assumed. He turned back to his daughter. "Now, write your name at the bottom so Santa knows who it's from. And then put it in the envelope and give it to mummy," he instructed.

Thalia scribbled a few more lines before taking the paper in hand, folding it up as best as she could—all wonky and uneven which is so darn cute—and then carefully sliding it in the envelope provided for her. She then lifted it up to you once you made your way back over to her desk. "Done!" she exclaimed proudly.

"Great job, angel," Tom commended. "Now, time to brush your teeth."

Thalia nodded before turning behind her to catch your eyes. "Mama, help please." She pointed towards the laptop as a way for her to say that she wants to bring it with her, never wasting any time to talk or just see him. Again, Tom doesn't know if his heart could melt or break at the thought.

You nodded with a hum just as she rushed towards the bathroom across the hall, you right on her tail as you carried the computer in your arms.

"Ugh, my heart literally soars every time I hear her call you mama," Tom groaned as he shook his head. "Never gets old."

"Stop being so adorable when I can't kiss you right now," you muttered.

Tom smirked, shooting you a teasing wink to which you only responded with a playful roll of your eyes before you placed the laptop by the sink. Thalia was back on screen again, already brushing her teeth like a pro. Tom knows he's being a broken record but she genuinely needs to stop growing up too fast.

It's not good for his dad heart.

"Smile, sweetheart," Tom hummed once she saw her finish, the little girl showing her rows of teeth at him proudly. "Very pretty," he cooed.

"Thank you," she said with a cute giggle. The little girl bounded back to her room and climbed on the bed, you following suit with the laptop in hand. You gently placed it at the foot and on an angle so Tom could see you both clearly as you tucked her in. "Tessa!" Thalia squealed, tiny fits of giggles escaping her lips soon after as the pup circled around to find a comfy spot before settling right next to her.

The lovely doggo has become Thalia's best friend, personal cuddle buddy, and bodyguard. Wherever she goes, Tessa is always in tow. They always, always sleep beside each other every night and it's honestly the most wholesome thing in the world.

The room became dim when you turned off the main light, leaving the lamp on as Thalia wiggled a few more times before finally settling down. "Story, dada?" she yawned.

Tom nodded with a smile, leaning over the table as he switched up his voice a little. "In a kingdom far, far away..." he started, Tessa resting her head on the little girl's tummy as if she wants to have a piece of the story as well. His smile widened when you sat beside your daughter, your fingers caressing through her hair lovingly as you listened.

Tom can't help but pout at you, missing the way those same fingers feel against his scalp as you run them through his hair. You shook your head with a soft laugh, raising your brow to urge him to keep going with the story.

Gasps and giggles escaped out of Thalia as she listened to him all throughout his impromptu fantasy world. She made sure to throw in her two cents, turning the story to how whatever way she sees fit.

"...and then the princess climbed on her dragon with her new found freedom as she flew into the sunset. The end," Tom finished, his little girl letting out another yawn with her eyes now barely open. He can't stop his heart from melting at the sight. "Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you," he cooed.

"G'night dada. Love you too," she hummed, eyes fluttering close as she threw her arm over Tessa.

"I'll see you soon my princesses," Tom whispered, eyes flickering over at his pup and daughter with a bittersweet smile.

Tom caught sight of the stars that circled around the room when you switched off the lamp and turned her night light on. You flashed him a smile as you took the laptop in your hand and ventured out of the room, leaving the door slightly ajar behind you.

***

"How about you, my love, what's in your letter for Santa?" Tom asked as you settled yourself down on your shared bed, back against the headboard with the computer on your lap. The screen really doesn't do you much justice on how gorgeous you look, especially now when you got changed and opted on wearing his hoodie.

"I just want you home," you whispered, hand going over your mouth in realization that you said it out loud. Tom saw the guilt spread across your features once you locked eyes with him.

"I'm trying, darling," Tom sighed, hand running through his hair dejectedly, ache coursing through his chest at the sound of longing in your voice.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," you rushed.

"No, nothing to apologise for, love," he said, flashing you a sad yet reassuring smile. "It kills me too, being so far away from you both. But I'll see what I can do okay?"

You shook your head, brows furrowed in worry. "You've already done all that you could, Tom."

"But I feel like I should be doing more," he admitted, frown settling on his lips as he held your gaze. Oh how he wished he could take the sadness away from your orbs, to feel your warmth as he pulls you into his embrace. He wants nothing more than to cover you with kisses, to whisper sweet nothings onto your skin to replace your frown with those giggles he adores. "I miss you so much," Tom sighed.

"I miss you too—"

"Tom—oh, hey, Y/N."

You smiled softly. "Hi, Harry."

"I hate to be the one to say this but they need you on set now," Harry said in dismay, shooting you and Tom a guilty smile.

Tom looked at the clock, shock befalling him on how fast time had passed. It didn't even feel like he's been sat in this little nook for five hours, didn't feel like he's talked to you enough at all. He thought he had a few hours more, not a couple minutes left.

His eyes landed back on you briefly and you only flashed him a small smile. Tom turned to his brother with a nod. "Yeah, okay, I'll be right behind you," he said.

"Tell Thalia her favourite uncle said hi," Harry said to you with a proud smile.

Tom shook his head at his brother's bold claim given that Thalia hasn't said that at all. She hasn't shown to have favourites, nor does she have anyone who she likes to spend time with, more. But being competitive lads, it was natural for his brothers—which includes Harrison, Tuwaine and Jacob—to compete for the title of her favourite uncle. She's just spoiled to bits really.

You let out a laugh, though it was a faint one, smile not as wide as you nodded at the twin. "Will do, Harry."

Harry flashed you one last smile before he turned to give Tom a curt nod, hand coming up to give his shoulder a comforting squeeze. Tom smiled at him gratefully, patting his hand before the younger lad made his way out of the trailer. Turning back to you, Tom felt his heart drop to his stomach.

"Darling, please don't cry," he whispered, hand instinctively reaching for you, a harsh foot stepping on his heart when his fingertips only got as far as touching the screen.

"I'm not," you muttered, blowing out your cheeks as you leaned to the side, so obviously trying to wipe your tears off screen. Tom still saw it though, and even if he didn't, he knows you like that back of his hand. The smallest change in your voice could tell him all.

Tom did his best to keep himself together, flashing you a small, comforting smile once you met his gaze again. "I'll see you soon alright?" he said. "I love you so much, darling."

You nodded, frown settling in your lips as you sighed, "I love you too, Tom, oh so much."

"Goodnight, my love." Tom tilted his head at you with a knowing grin. "Dream of me," he teased, earning a small giggle from you.

"Always."

***

"Is dada not coming home, mama?"

It was the 24th of December and your heart could do nothing but ache at your daughter's question. You tried your best to not let your frown be so prominent while you tucked her to bed.

"We don't know yet, lovie," you sighed, hand caressing her cheek tenderly. "But maybe dada will be here the moment you wake up tomorrow," you added, shooting her a knowing wink despite the sharp stab in your heart given that it was still uncertain.

Tom hasn't called at all the whole day. He only sent you a text earlier this morning explaining that he was going to be busy, hence why he won't be able to call. Strings of apologies buzzed through your phone even despite telling him over and over that it was okay. You know that guilt is eating him up whole right now, know for a fact that he's beating himself up black and blue by still not being home on Christmas Eve.

Thalia flashed you her sweet smile and a nod in response, not pressing anymore about her father's absence.

She's really smart for her age, so you wouldn't doubt it at all that she understands why Tom is away right now. You did tell her that her dad wasn't going to be joining dinner this time and she simply said, ''S okay. Dada is a superhero and superheroes are very busy.' And it honestly took everything in you to not start bawling at the dinner table.

"Story time, mama," Thalia hummed, taking your hand in hers as she tugged you closer.

"Okay, scoot a little you two," you said, both Tessa and Thalia making room for you to sit on the edge of the bed. "Once upon a time..."

***

With Thalia fast asleep, you treaded towards the door, leaving it slightly open—for Tessa in case she has businesses to attend to in the middle of the night—behind you and made your downstairs, turning on the little lights on the steps in the process. You went inside the living room, walking over to the wooden stool by the Christmas tree to take the plate of cookies and the glass of milk. You emptied the glass as you made your way to the kitchen, placing the cookies back in the jar and then putting the dirty dishes in the sink.

Venturing into the guest bedroom, you took out the bag filled with the few gifts you had wrapped up the day before. It wasn't a lot, just a couple of toys for both Tessa and Thalia. The little girl really hasn't asked much this year aside from a few toys she saw on TV or at the mall. And what she had on her letter...it was a bit difficult to get.

You slipped back inside the living room, placing the gifts under the tree along with the few sweets inside the stockings. Once you've turned off the electric fireplace, you went over to the tree lights next. But before you could even get to the plug, you suddenly heard the creaking sound of the front door opening and then closing, making you shoot straight up and freeze in your spot. Your heart pounded against your chest, hands trembling at the thought of a break in. Your mind ran a hundred miles per hour as you thought about what to do, ready to sprint upstairs to get to your daughter. You felt your breath hitch when you saw a figure emerged in the entryway.

But then you saw that it was him.

"Tom?" you gasped, eyes wide and glossed up, mouth opening in closing in pure shock as you stared right at your husband.

His face was now in full view as he pulled the hood of his hoodie down. A loving smile played on his lips, one you missed seeing in person. Your heart stuttered as you held each other's eyes, so many emotions swimming in those brown orbs but the love and satisfaction outshined everything else.

"Hi, darling," he sighed in pure content, that voice you love so dearly clear and real, not muffled by the poor quality of the laptop speakers. "Do I not get a welcome home hug?" he teased when you stayed in your spot, unmoving and simply gawking at him. Tom opened his arms wide for you to easily jump into.

Once you've got a hold of reality, you just ran to him full sprint, a sob escaping your lips as he caught you right in his embrace. Tom wrapped his arms around you with a shaky breath, squeezing you oh so tightly as he rocked you side to side. You breathed him in, nuzzling your face in the crook of his neck, hands fisting the material of his hoodie from behind as your body raked with soft sobs.

Tom pulled away briefly to cup your face in both hands, thumb wiping away the tears that sat on your skin. He smiled at you all adoringly, eyes turning glossy before he swiftly pressed his lips right on yours. You let out a whine as you melted into the kiss, fingers taking home in the mesh of his curls on the back of his head as you held onto him, to physically feel him, just to make sure that he was actually real.

"I fucking missed you so much," Tom groaned against your lips, arms back around your waist to pull you inhumanely closer. His warmth was quick to coat you both inside and out, the feeling of his lips on yours familiar but never fails makes your head spin. His embrace felt like home and oh how much you've missed it.

You pulled away to give into your lungs' needs, but only just a little, both of you in dire need to keep each other as close as possible. The tips of your noses brushed against each other as your chests heaved, though the smile on your lips never did waver.

You stared into his brown orbs, your brows furrowed lightly in question. "But how—"

"Once they gave me the go I took the first flight home," he said, pressing his forehead against yours as he stared right into your eyes with utmost love and the widest grin on his lips to match. You placed your hand on his cheek, Tom turning his head to press his lips against your palm briefly before he leaned into your touch.

"I can't believe you're actually here," you whispered.

"I couldn't miss spending Christmas with my two—" Tom stopped himself when he heard the pitter-patter of paws down the stairs. You turned to see Tessa bounding towards your direction, jumping right at Tom as he crouched down to greet her with a chuckle, "Right, three favourite girls."

Then a small voice spoke, "Dada?"

Tom's head shot up, his handsome face glowing even more, remaining crouched on the floor as he spread his arms. "There's my sweet pumpkin."

Thalia ran to him as fast as her little legs would let her. Laughs came out of the young girl, the sweet sound echoing around the room as Tom lifted her up and spun her around.

"Yay! Santa got my letter!" she cheered, both hands up in the air.

Tom settled her in his strong arms with a soft furrow of his brows. He looked at you confused.

Later, you mouthed.

Tom nodded as he turned back to his little girl. "I missed you so much, my princess," he said, littering her face with loud kisses to which Thalia squealed and giggled in response.

You wrapped your arms around yourself with a satisfied hum and a wide smile on your face. To see Tom be such an amazing and loving father never fails to make your heart grow twice its size, never fails to make you fall even deeper for your man, your husband.

The lovely sight of him and Thalia made your body tingle in more ways than one, a thought crossing your mind, a feeling in your bones telling you that it was the perfect time. It made you smile wider, heat dusting your cheeks as you tilted your head at your husband and daughter.

Tom caught you staring, a proud smirk erupting on those lips of his as he shot you wink. You can't help but roll your eyes at his smugness.

Of course he knows the effects he has on you, knows how him being such a dad makes your heart flutter. But also, how it makes your body fill up with heat and want that you'd have to resist the urge to pounce on him. It probably was obvious in the way you look at him, easily sees it in your eyes because he knows you, he is your husband after all.

But then again, maybe he knows because he's just the same, if not much more intense. The amount of times he's gushed over and over how he wants to put another baby in you whenever he sees you taking care of Thalia goes to prove that point.

It's an equal reaction really, both of you just as whipped for each other.

"Come here, darling." He beckoned you over with a sweet smile, resting Thalia on his hip as he held a hand out for you to which you gladly took. He pulled you closer, giving you a soft peck on the lips before snaking an arm around your waist. You wrapped your arm around the small of his back, chin on his shoulder as you looked at him with utmost love. He shifted his eyes from you and Thalia as he sighed, "It feels so good to be home."

It was such a picture perfect moment, a pure family in love. There was nothing but wide smiles on all your faces, happy to finally be in each other's embrace after so long. Plus, Tessa sat right in front looking at her humans lovingly with her tail wagging enthusiastically.

Thalia's head fell onto her father's shoulder as she let out a loud yawn, tiny fists rubbing over her eyes before she wrapped her arms around his neck. Your heart melted at the adorably sight, a soft coo escaping your lips as you reached over to brush the stray her that landed on her face.

Tom chuckled, turning slightly to give his daughter a kiss on the forehead. "Let's get you back to bed yeah?"

***

Tom came inside your shared bedroom just as you slipped the envelope inside your drawer. Closing it, you leaned back against the headboard with a smile, eyes landing back on your man who stood still in his place.

Tom had his back pressed against the closed door, staring right at you with his bottom lip caught between his teeth.

"You going to join me in bed or are you just going to ogle?" you teased, raising your brow at him with a tilt of your head.

Tom chuckled, pulling himself off the door and sauntering over to you all while slowly stripping off his clothing, starting with his hoodie to his shirt and leaving them across the floor.

He's lucky you miss him too much to call him out on that, willing to give him a pass since he did just got off from a flight. He'll probably pick them up tomorrow though. If not then, he'll definitely hear from you.

By the time he's reached your side, he was left in nothing but his boxer shorts.

"She asleep?" you asked, looking up at your husband lovingly as he towered over you, standing on your side of the bed.

"Mm-hmm." He bit his lip with a smirk as he leaned down, hands on either side of your thighs that were hidden under the covers. "I've got such a beautiful wife huh," he muttered, brushing the tip of his nose against yours all adoringly before he captured your lips in his with a satisfied hum.

You giggled between the kiss, fingers lost in his hair as you pulled him closer, lips moving in sync like they've never been apart for so long. Tom nibbled at your bottom lip, a low groan erupting in his chest when you let him in, your tongues meeting as his hand landed on your thigh with a hot squeeze. You basked in his taste for a few moments more, letting him explore your mouth just to feel him closer, especially after months of being deprived from each other. Your hands slid down to rest on his broad shoulders, giving them a squeeze before you pulled away.

"Before you get too excited, I suggest you read Thalia's letter first," you said with a soft giggle.

Tom let out a hearty laugh, nodding in agreement and giving you once last peck before he jumped over you as threw himself on his side of the bed. The whole mattress bounced due to his weight, earning a pointed eye roll from you. Always a dork no matter what.

He slipped himself inside the covers, settling back against the headboard just as you rummaged through your drawer. You handed him an already opened envelope before you laid your head on his shoulder, slinging an arm over his naked torso as you snuggled to his side. Tom took out the piece of paper, a smile erupting on his lips once he unfolded it, eyes catching sight of his daughter's messy handwriting.

His strong arm wrapping around your shoulder, Tom pulled you closer, giving you a tender squeeze before he read the letter out loud:

Dear Santa,

Please bring dada home.

Me, mama and Tessa miss him so much and I don't want mama to be sad anymore.

Thank you, Santa.

Thalia

Tom tore his eyes off the paper to look at you with a pout, brown orbs glossing up as he placed the paper back in its envelope and set it aside. Snaking both his arms around your form, he gave you a loving squeeze. "Such a sweetheart with a big heart, just like her mother," he hummed, leaning down to give your forehead a sweet kiss.

"I read that at the mall when I did last minute shopping. I had to rush to the bathroom to get myself together. I got so stressed because I don't know if you were coming home or not. Which would then go down to explaining to her that Santa didn't get her letter and I really didn't want to break her heart like that," you elaborated, Tom's fingers caressing your arm comfortingly. "And then I was walking past this comic book store and saw this life size cardboard cutout of you as Spider-Man with the mask off. I was really contemplating if I should just get that instead," you laughed.

"You should've," Tom chuckled.

"And creep her out? No." You shook your head with a giggle. You pulled away from him slightly, his hands sliding down to rest on the small of your back once you did so. With your palm flat against his toned chest, you gawked at his handsome face with nothing but love. "Yet here you are, always here to save the day," you hummed.

Tom smiled widely at you, hand coming up to cup your face, his thumb stroking your cheek fondly before he pulled you down for a passion-filled kiss.

"Now," he murmured against your lips, hand sneaking down and under the covers, fingers hot against your bare thigh. He gave it a pointed squeeze before he pulled away slightly. "What do you want, my gorgeous wife?" he purred, a certain glow in those brown orbs as his smirk grew.

With a quick peck on his lips, you release yourself from his grasp for a second so you can reach inside your drawer. You gave him another envelope, a sealed one this time, Tom taking it with a confused look on his face. Lying down on your side, you propped your head up with your hand as you waited for him to read it.

Brows furrowed, Tom opened it and pulled out the letter, pupils moving slowly as he scanned the words. You can't help but giggle once you saw the shift of emotions on his face, his eyebrows rising as he stared at your handwriting wide-eyed.

Dear my lovely Tom,

Thalia is due a younger sibling, don't you think?

Love, Y/N ;)

Never have you ever seen Tom move so fast in your life.

Your sweet laugh echoed around the room as he immediately pulled the covers off your body so he could get himself on top of you without any hindrance. He hovered above you with a wide smirk on his lips, strong hands gripping your thighs as he threw them around his waist, body slotted in between your legs with ease.

He didn't waste any more time as he swiftly dipped his head to capture your lips with utmost love but also, need. The kiss was hot, rushed, a little messy and filled with absolute fervour.

Arms taking home around his shoulder, you pulled him closer into you, your heels digging into the small of his back, both of you groaning at the familiar closeness, bodies fitting perfectly together like two puzzle pieces.

Tom slipped his tongue in your mouth with ease when rutted his hip once which earned a gasp from you. He did it again with a low growl, to make you feel just how badly he needs you. And oh you can feel it alright, feel it really hard. There was the obvious desperation coursing in you both; it's been months after all.

Pulling away for a moment, Tom wriggled his brows at you with lust-filled eyes and a love-struck smirk. Your chest was heaving as you stared right into those brown orbs, ones that turned even darker as his hands took hold of the hem of your—his—shirt. He was ready to pull it off of you but not before saying,

"I guess Santa isn't the only one emptying his sack this Christmas."

"Thomas!"

-:-:-:-:-

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[maddrmatt]

The Gift From Beyond (SoKai Week 2022)

New to this fanfic? Click here to properly begin!

Greetings readers and fellow SoKai fans!  Thanks again for coming back for the next instalment.

In this chapter, to give the visit a few finishing touches, a particular wedding tradition is observed, and one last tale is told.

Enjoy!

________________________________________________________________

Chapter 5: Last Requests

Radiant Garden

A short while later, the five sat in silence. No one was sure what to bring up next. Having discussed both the past and the future, they were at a loss of where to steer the conversation.  It was dawning on all of them that their visit may have been nearing its conclusion.

“I hate to say this.  But since it’s looking like we’ve run out of things to talk about, do you think maybe it’s time we called Joshua so he can take you back to wherever you came from?” asked Sora reluctantly.

“I think you might be right about that. Sora,” Summer agreed.

Kairi sniffed.  “I really wish it didn’t have to end.  It’s been great having us all together here.”

“I know, my child.  We all feel that way.  Getting to see you again, especially on your wedding day, has been a wonderful experience. But you know what they say about all good things,” said Lillie causing Kairi to nod sadly.

“All right then.  I guess I’ll make the call,” said Sora as he stood up.  “Joshua, we’re ready for you to…”

Suddenly, Grant stood up.  “Hold on a second, Sora.  Don’t call him just yet.”

“Dad?” asked Kairi.

“Honey, what’s going on?” asked Summer.

“I just thought of something I’d like to do before we leave,” said Grant.

“Oh.  Well, in that case, we’re not quite ready yet, Joshua, so don’t come back yet!” Sora called.

They all waited in case Joshua hadn’t heard the retraction.  After a few moments passed and he hadn’t shown up, it was safe to assume he was not coming yet.

“Looks like he heard you, Sora.  So, Grant, what did you want to do?” asked Lillie.

Grant faced his daughter.  “Kairi, when a father’s daughter gets married, he always looks forward to the tradition of walking her down the aisle during the ceremony. Now, I don’t begrudge your adoptive father for being able to do that.  It just saddens me that I missed out on that”

“I know, Dad.  And now that I’ve gotten to know you and Mom, I really wish I could’ve had all four of my parents do that walk with me,” said Kairi sympathetically.

Then Grant smiled.  “But even though that opportunity has passed, maybe we could still share a different wedding tradition before we go, Kairi.”

He held out a hand to her.  “Would the bride care to dance with her father?”

Kairi smiled, rose to her feet and took her father’s hand.  “I’d love to, Dad.”

Grant started to lead his daughter in the direction of a more open area of the garden.  It would serve perfectly as a makeshift dance floor.  Sora and the others watched with touched smiles on their faces.

Then Sora suddenly stood up.  “Hold it!”

Kairi and Grant turned back to face him.  “What is it, Sora?” asked the Princess of Heart

“If you’re going to dance, you’re going to need some music,” said Sora as he reached into his pockets for something.

But to his dismay, he found them empty.  “My Gummi Phone!  It’s gone!”

“Sora, we both left them in our rooms because we didn’t think we’d need them today,” Kairi reminded her husband.

“Oh nuts!  That’s right!”

“Gummi Phone?  What’s that?” asked Lillie.

“It’s a special device that we use to communicate with each other within and between worlds.  But it also has other uses like playing music.  I thought we could play one of the recordings we had in our phones for their dance.  Especially one from our friend Miguel Rivera who’s a musician and songwriter in his world. Many of his songs are themed around family and I just thought that one of them would be perfect for this moment,” said Sora disappointedly.

Grant chuckled.  “Don’t worry about it, Sora.  I appreciate the thought.  But I can provide this dance with a song myself.”

“You sing?” asked Kairi.

“Oh yes.  Your father loved to sing when it was either while working on his garden projects or just to make me smile.  He’s always had such a charming voice,” said Summer as she exchanged loving glances with Grant.

With that matter settled, Kairi and Grant resumed their small journey to where they would dance.  In the meantime, Sora took upon himself to turn Lillie’s chair around so she was in a direction she could watch them before sitting on the bench with Summer.

Once Kairi and her father reached the center of their makeshift dance floor, they got into position.  Kairi placed her left hand on Grant’s right shoulder while Grant placed his right hand on her left side.  They then extended their free arms and grasped each other’s free hands.

“Kairi, the song I am about to sing to you is one I haven’t sung in a long time,” said Grant.

“Why is that?”

Grant smiled.  “Because it’s one I used to sing to you when you were just a baby.  I’m so glad I get to sing it to you one more time.”

The two of them began to slowly waltz around in a circular motion.  As they danced, Grant started his song.

(In-Universe Music: You’ll Be In My Heart by Phil Collins performed by Grant.)

The opening lyrics sounded like the words of a parent to a child who was crying.  They carried a vow of protection and assurance of being there for the child.

As she swayed with her father and listened to the lyrics from his gentle voice, a strange feeling came over the Princess of Heart.  Suddenly, she let out a silent gasp.

‘I…I remember!  I’m remembering moments with Mom and Dad!  But I was so young back then, it shouldn’t be possible!  But it is happening!’

Kairi was absolutely amazed by her earliest memories returning.  She desperately wanted to know how it was happening.

Then a possible answer came to her.  ‘Is it Dad’s song?  Is it causing all these memories to return to me?  It must be.  There’s no other explanation.  And I have seen this happen before when we saw Miguel sing to his Mama Coco to restore the memories of her father.’

She looked into her father’s eyes as he continued to sing to her.  Happy tears started to stream down her face as she smiled at him.

‘I guess there really is a connection between melodies and memories.  Oh, Dad. Your song has done something so wonderful for me.’

Grant truly had no idea about what he just done for his daughter.  He simply smiled back as he continued to sing about her being in his heart.

________________________________________________________________

From where they sat, Sora, Lillie and Summer watched the father and daughter duo dance.  All of their hearts were close to bursting with happiness at the beautiful sight.

“I knew Grant was going to sing that song,” said Lillie.

“It was always his favorite one to sing to Kairi,” said Summer.

“And even though it’s been a long time since she’s heard it, she seems to be really enjoying it.  Look how happy she is,” said Sora as he caught glimpses of his wife’s smiling face as she continued to twirl around with her father.  ‘Of all the times to be stuck without a Gummi Phone. Kairi would’ve loved to have pictures of this to remember it.’

As she watched her husband and daughter dance, something caught Summer’s eye as she looked to her son-in-law.  “Sora, can I ask you something?”

Sora turned to his mother-in-law with a look of confusion.  “Sure, Summer.  What is it?”

“I’d like to take a look at your wedding ring, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh!  Of course. Go right ahead,” said Sora as held out his hand that bore his wedding ring to Summer.

After looking over it, Summer said, “My, that’s an interesting engraving on it.”

“An engraving?  On a wedding ring?  May I see it?” Lillie asked causing Sora to hold out his hand to her so she could also take a look it.

There, plain as day, engraved in the band’s golden surface, was a perfect recreation of Sora and Kairi’s paopu drawing.

“It looks like you and Kairi,” said Lillie.

“And they seem to be offering…stars to each other?” asked Summer perplexed.

Sora chuckled.  “It certainly looks that way, doesn’t it?  This drawing’s been a very important part of Kairi’s and my love story because it was probably the earliest way that we showed our true feelings toward each other.  That’s why we requested the Moogles to engrave it on our wedding rings.”

“This drawing sounds it carries a pretty fascinating story.  If you don’t mind, Sora, would you care to tell us about it while Kairi and Grant finish their dance?” asked Lillie.

“We didn’t mention this drawing earlier when we were telling our story?  Or what those stars really represent?” Sora asked to which Lillie and Summer shook their heads.  “I can’t believe we forgot to tell you.  It’s actually one of our favorite stories to tell.”

“Yours and Kairi’s story was a large one, Sora. A few details falling through the cracks can be forgiven,” said Summer.

“I guess so.  But it would’ve been a shame had you not heard about it before you left.  Well, I’m certainly glad I have to opportunity to share it now so here it goes.  You see, back home on the Destiny Islands, there’s this particular island where all the kids like to go to play.  And on it, is a cave that we call the Secret Place.  One of the things we’d like to do in there, is use rocks to draw on the walls. The first time I brought Kairi there after she arrived on the Islands, we drew something together in that cave. I drew her face, and she drew mine. And as you can see from the engraving on the ring, she was clearly the better artist than I ever was,” laughed Sora causing Lillie and Summer to laugh as well.  ‘Naminè had to get her drawing skills from somewhere and it certainly wasn’t from me.’

“I can certainly believe that.  Kairi always drew so well despite being so young.  She must’ve a little artistic talent from her father.  But what are those stars you seem to be exchanging in the drawing?” asked Lillie.

“Actually, it’s a kind of fruit from the Islands that’s shaped like a star.  They’re called paopu fruit.  There’s a legend behind the fruit that if two people share it, their destinies would be bound together and they would remain a part of each other’s lives no matter what,” said Sora.

Summer giggled.  “The way you talk about that legend; it almost sounds like an engagement.”

“It does sound like one, doesn’t it?” asked Sora.

“And even though you were just young children when you drew it, you both wished to share these fruits with each other back then?” asked Lillie.

Sora laughed.  “Not exactly.  That part of the drawing wasn’t added until way later.  For a long time, it was just Kairi’s and my faces looking at each other. Until the day before the Heartless came to the Islands and I first gained the Keyblade.  I was in the Secret Place looking for mushrooms for our upcoming trip on the raft.  Before I left, I looked at the drawing and started to remember when Kairi and I first drew it.  The next thing I knew, I had picked up a rock and was drawing between us, my hand giving her the paopu fruit.”

Summer smiled.  “Sounds to me like you were starting to realize how much she truly meant to you then.”

The Hero of the Keyblade shrugged.  “Maybe I was.  Ever since we met, I sort of felt there was something more than just friendship between us and it seemed to be growing stronger as time went on.  And since I didn’t know how exactly to tell her, I thought adding the paopu fruit to the drawing was a way to express it without words.  It felt like a pretty good idea.  But at the same, it also frightened me.”

“I can understand why, Sora.  You and Kairi had become such good friends and I doubt you wanted to risk ruining it.  Especially since you had no idea then if she truly felt the same,” said Summer.

“That was part of it.  But a bigger part was that I also felt unworthy of her,” said Sora.

“Unworthy?  Why would you believe that?” asked Lillie.

“Because at the time, Riku also appeared to have feelings for Kairi and all of our friends seemed to think that if she were to choose between him or me, she would choose him.  And back then, I had always thought that Riku was better than me at everything, so even I believed she would choose him in the end.”

“Sora, listen to me,” said Summer causing her son-in-law to give her his full attention.  “After everything you’ve done for Kairi, let me tell you that you are definitely worthy of her.  More than worthy, in fact.  Don’t ever let yourself forget that.”

Sora looked at his mother-in-law’s insistent expression before letting out a chuckle.  “You know, Kairi always gives me that exact same look whenever I express those kinds of doubts and she sets me straight.  I see it runs in her family,” he said causing Summer to laugh.

Then he smiled gratefully.  “And yes.  I’ll never forget that.  But it’s always nice to hear it and it means a lot coming from her mother.”

“So, back to subject of the drawing, you’ve told us when you added the part where you offered the fruit to Kairi.  But when did you add the part where she offers it to you?” asked Lillie.

Sora gave a bright smile.  “Actually, I didn’t add that part.  Kairi did it herself.”

“She did?!” exclaimed Summer joyously.

“Yep.  It was one of the biggest surprises I ever got in my life.  After returning to the Islands after defeating the first Organization XIII, I went to the Secret Place one day.  And when I looked at the drawing again, that’s when I saw the addition of Kairi’s hand giving me the paopu fruit.  It was a shock at first.  But then I realized that Kairi must have seen my own addition and then added to it herself.  That gave me hope that perhaps she did feel the same way about me that I did about her. I wanted to talk to her about it. But before we could, we had to start preparing for the final battle against Xehanort so it kind of fell by the wayside.”

“That is unfortunate.  Did you two ever get to share them for real?” asked Summer.

Sora smiled brightly again. “Yes, we did.  In fact, as of today, we’ve actually shared them twice.”

“Twice?  Please tell us about both occasions, Sora,” said Lillie.

“Gladly, Lillie.  The first time we shared them, even though tragedy followed, will always be one of our favorite memories. In fact, we even celebrate the anniversary of it every year.  It was the evening before we faced Xehanort and his new Organization XIII.  We were sitting on our favorite spot on the paopu tree on the Islands and, to my surprise, Kairi just plucked two fruits off the tree and handed one to me.  I couldn’t believe what she was doing.  She was making such a bold move.  But after explaining how she wanted to be part of my life forever, I knew that I wanted the same with her.  We then promised to keep each other safe, and then we shared them.”

“How romantic,” said Lillie.

“But that certainly was quite a promise to make, Sora.  Especially on the eve of such a high stakes battle,” said Summer.

“I’ll admit, it definitely hasn’t been an easy one to keep for the both of us.  Especially since every time we failed to keep it, we would be torn apart.  But Kairi and I have always believed that with the legend of the paopu fruit on our side, along with the special bond between our hearts, we would always find our way back to each other no matter what.”

“Well, seeing as how many times you’ve accomplished that despite numerous separations, it seems that there may be something to this legend after all.  So, what was the second time you shared the fruits?” asked Lillie.

“This morning. During our wedding ceremony.  It’s a tradition from the Destiny Islands that if two people who have shared the fruits get married, they do it again on their wedding day as an act of renewal and strengthening of the bond between them.”

“That’s so sweet,” said Lillie.

“And does it feel like it has gotten stronger, Sora?” asked Summer.

The Hero of the Keyblade gazed over to where his wife was dancing with her father.  He smiled lovingly at her.

“Yes.  I truly believe it has.  And I have a feeling it’s only going to grow stronger as we continue to go through life together.”

Lillie smiled.  “I believe it will too.”

“So do I,” said Summer.

Sora smiled gratefully and nodded his thanks to both of them.  It felt good to know how much they believed in him and Kairi.

Nothing more was said between the three of them and nothing more was needed.  They just continued to watch the dance go on.

But as they listened the lyrics from Grant, a bittersweet feeling came over Summer and Lillie.  Being familiar with the song, they knew that both it and the dance were drawing to a close.  And what would follow next would undoubtedly be one of the most difficult moments they would ever have to face.

________________________________________________________________

As Grant sang more about always being there, the song came to its finish.  Both he and Kairi stopped dancing.

He then finally took notice of his daughter’s tear-streaked face.  “Are you okay, my precious girl?”

“Dad, I remember!” Kairi quietly exclaimed.

Grant looked confused.  “Remember what, Kairi?”

“Moments from when I was young with you, Mom and Grandma!  I remember how you used to rock me and sing that song whenever I woke up in the middle of night and it always helped get me back to sleep.  I remember how Mom would show me some of the flowers she grew and how the colors and scents used to make me so happy.  And I remember how whenever Grandma felt sad, likely from all the hardships she faced, she would cuddle with me, and it made her smile return.”

Kairi then threw her arms around her father’s shoulders and hugged him tightly.  “Your song brought that all back to me.  Thank you so much, Daddy.”

Grant smiled and stroked his daughter’s back in comfort.  “Happy to have helped you in that way.  Kairi? Can you promise me something?”

“Of course.”

“When you and Sora have children of your own, would you sing that song to them?”

Kairi drew apart from her father so he could see her smiling face again.  “I will, Dad and you can count on me keeping that promise.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Sora, it’s how to always keep a promise.  Especially since that song will always remind me of how much I was loved by my birth family.”

A tear dripped down Grant’s cheek.  “Thank you so much, my precious girl,” he said as he kissed Kairi on the forehead and then took her into another embrace.

But as Grant hugged his daughter, a somber look came to his face.  He knew what was to come next.

It was nearly time to say goodbye.

________________________________________________________________

Notes from the Mad Doctor:

I don’t think there’s any greater Disney song about parental love than Tarzan’s You’ll Be In My Heart other than Coco’s Remember Me.  I thought it was the perfect song for Kairi’s dance with her father and having him sing it would make the moment even more beautiful.

I hope you also enjoyed Sora’s retelling on the tale of the drawing and the paopu fruit. Those are such important parts of his and Kairi’s romance.

I give my thanks to whoever reads this chapter.

I also give my special thanks to @sora9090​ for liking the previous chapters as well as @blackazurebeast​ for reblogging the previous chapters.

Comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated! For the second last chapter, you might wish to have some tissues handy because, as you probably guessed, it’s going to be a real tearjerker.

Stay tuned!

________________________________________________________________

Onto the next chapter!

[teamhook]

Always, Always a Bridesmaid :: 27 Dresses Birthday CS AU

Hello! This is the final installment of my birthday fic for @ultraluckycatnd

Thank you to my beta @demisexualemmaswan

Much love and thanks for the help from @veryverynotgood and @karlyfr13s and the CSMM discord ladies that help with sprints and their encouragement.

FFN

AO3

The newly engaged couple wanted to share the joyous news right away with Mr. Goldman. The doting father was elated at the prospect of having his younger daughter back in town permanently. Emma’s obvious discomfort went unnoticed by her family. Midas without thinking passed down the bride-to-be her mother’s wedding gown, completely missing her fake smile. He was just happy at the thought of his little girl finding a good man and moving back to the States.

“Thank you, Daddy!” Kathryn said.

Graham smiled lovingly at his fiance as she showed him the gown.

Sitting across from the couple, Emma’s heart sunk even further. Not only had her sister swiped away her dream man but her mother’s beloved gown as well. She shouldn’t hold Graham against Kathryn because she didn’t know...but the dress was a different story.

Emma took a deep breath as she entered the bar. She still couldn’t believe she had taken the guy up on his offer for a drink. Who was she kidding? The moment Kathryn and Graham’s eyes met she had increased her alcohol consumption. She was not an alcoholic yet but she was enjoying the drink a little too often.

Killian waved at her from the bar.

Emma plopped down at the chair next to him.

“Hello, love.” Killian smiled widely.

Emma forced a smile. “Hello.”

Killian took a long, scrutinizing look at her. “I can’t help but wonder what deity I owe the pleasure of your company. Don’t get me wrong, love. I’m ecstatic, but you had been dodging my calls, and you suddenly called me to invite me out for a drink.”

Emma grimaced. “My baby sister is getting married.”

“Ah, before you.”

“That is not why I’m upset,” she defended.

“I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

Emma sighed and ran her hands through her hair. “You don’t know my sister. Kathryn is going to want me to do everything for her. I will not just be her maid of honor,” she said with exasperation.

“I don’t see the problem. You ‘love weddings’.” he reminded her.

“I do love weddings but I’m going to have to take care of everything .”

“Alright. How about you simply say, ‘No’?”

“What?” she asked confusedly.

“Love, you have said, ‘No’ to people before haven’t you?”

She scoffed. “Of course I have!”

Killian’s raised his eyebrow skeptically.

“Many, many times before but not in this situation.”

“But you want to say no this time?”

She nodded. “I wish I could. But I can’t; it’s my sister.”

“Alright. We are going to play this little game to practice saying ‘no’.”

Emma stared at him.

Killian took a big breath. “Emma, love, give me 50 dollars.”

“NO!” Emma said with a smile.

“Emma, darling. It’s only 50 dollars. I promise I’ll pay you back,” he said, holding his hand on his heart.

“No,” she said, proud of herself.

“Emma, love. I need you…” he said, licking his lips seductively, leaning closer to her, “To give me 50 dollars.”

“ No ?” she said hesitantly.

“Eh, not bad, darling,” he said proudly. “May I have your drink?”

“Yeah, sure,” she said as she pushed the drink to him.

He grabbed it and with a smirk.

“Wait, I meant no!”

Killian tsked. “You were doing so well. That's terrible,” he said as he enjoyed her drink.

“Mmhmm,” she sighed disappointedly.

The night came to an end not long after for the pair after the game.

Kathryn and Emma shared a walk through Central Park as they talked about wedding plans.

“Ems, did you go to the flower shop and order the favors?”

“Yeah.” She nodded.

“And the invitation mock-ups? Did you get those done?”

“Yes. Done.”

“This is so much fun!”

The girls kept walking.

“Oh, and I want you to ask your friend to be my bridesmaid. The rude one.”

“You want me to ask Ruby? My best friend.”

“Yeah, she is really pretty and she will not throw off the aesthetics. You know that I don’t have girlfriends. Girls, they don't like me.” Kathryn shrugged. “I just don’t understand why.”

Emma gave her an incredulous look with a raised brow.

Kathryn rolled her eyes. “Fine. I know why. Just ask her.”

“Of course.”

“I was thinking you should do a slideshow for the rehearsal dinner with pictures of Graham and me together and say funny things.”

“Okay, I will get the photos from Graham. I have our family photo albums.”

Kathryn squealed. “Before I forget, guess what.”

“What?”

“You know that writer you stalk…well, he called me because he wants to do a whole Commitments column on us for the Journal. Can you believe it?”

“Of course, at this point, I absolutely can. Why not?”

Kathryn stopped across the Boathouse. “I have been thinking and I think you are right. It would be a lovely wedding if I got married where mom and dad got married.”

Emma gaped at her sister for a second. “I didn’t think that was your style.”

“It isn’t but why not? I’m wearing mom’s dress,” she shrugged.

“You are always going on and on about how perfect it was. Tada!” Kathryn enthusiastically waved her hands in the direction of the venue. “We are getting married in three weeks.”

Emma gulped, “Three weeks?”

“Yeah. When I called they didn’t have any availability for 18 months. Then they called me to say they had a cancellation. So I had to take it. I know you can pull it together quickly. I don’t want to wait.”

Emma just forced a smile.

“I don’t get it. Emma, you could at least try to act like you are happy for me.”

Emma resorted to an old nickname from their childhood to appease her sister. “KitKat, you know I am…”

“I know that you wanted to get married at the Boathouse wearing mom’s dress but I’m really happy and I thought my big sis would be happy for me.”

“I am. I just didn’t know that’s what you wanted…”

“It is and you will get the dress after. Okay. Now can we talk about more important stuff?” Kathryn said as she resumed walking.

Emma stood on ceremony.

“Come on. Emma, you have a lot of work to do. I don't like the linens, and I think you need to rent new ones because they do not go with the color scheme that I picked out.”

The next day she met Ruby at the Yoga studio for their workout and she shared the news. She had to beg her to say yes to being a bridesmaid. She couldn’t be alone in this mess.

Finally Ruby relented only after being kicked out for talking.

“You want this cake in three weeks? Emma, I don’t know if I can do it. It’s just not enough time for what you want.”

“Tiana, I know you can do it. I wouldn’t ask otherwise. Do you remember the beautiful six-tiered heart-shaped cake that was commissioned by the Fisher’s or the tower of edible gifts for the Page-Booth outdoor fiesta. You can do anything, and we both know it.”

“ Three weeks?”

“Do it for your favorite maid-of-honor, please?”

Tiana caved with a smile.

“We have a cake.” Emma turned to her sister and Graham with a wide grin on her face.

The sudden clapping from the door alerted her of the newcomer.

“What are you doing here?” Emma asked, already exasperated by his presence.

“Hello. I’m James Rogers,” he said with a gleaming smile.

Emma’s mouth opened but nothing came out.

“Oh, yes. I’m Kathryn and this is my fiance, Graham.”

“Congratulations! Lovely to meet you both,” he said as charmingly as possible.

“ Thank you,” Kathryn and Graham replied together.

“Oh, and this is my sister, Emma. She is obsessed with your stories. She’s your number one fan. She is going to make a wallpaper with all your articles.”

Killian smirked at Emma. “Is that so?”

Finally, Emma found her voice, “Wait, you said your name was Killian. I’m confused.”

“Aye, my name is Killian. I use James for the byline so I don’t get stalked by the crazy brides,” Killian answered Emma.

Kathryn’s attention was focused on her phone.

Killian turned to Kathryn. “How did you lovebirds meet?”

Emma scoffed, “You are an asshole.”

“Emma!” Kathryn hissed.

“What? He is! He told me his name was Killian.”

“Wait, you two know each other?” Kathryn asked.

“We both work the wedding circuit,” Killian replied.

“Kathryn, can you give us one second? Tell Tiana what you want,” Emma urged her sister in the direction of her friend.

“I can’t believe it. You lied to me,” Emma accused.

“Ah, ah. Love, I told you I was a writer. Where is the lie in that? I just didn’t tell you what I wrote.”

“But…you write the most beautiful things. Which one is it? Do you only pretend to be a cynic… or are you a cynic who knows how to spin romantic crap for girls like me?”

Killian scratched behind his ear. “The second one, the spinning crap one as you so eloquently put it.”

“This is just great. I feel like I just found out my favorite love song was written about a sandwich.”

“James, can I steal you away for a second so we can talk about Graham and me?”

“Of course. That's why I'm here.”

Kathryn and Killian chatted away as they walked towards Graham, leaving Emma behind.

Killian walked with an extra pep in his step. He knew this story would get him out of the dreaded Commitments. He found the address that Kathryn gave him.

He knocked eagerly.

On the other side of the door. Emma groaned as she saw through the peephole. She opened the door just wide enough for her unhappiness to see him be on display.

“Kathryn is not here. You can go now.”

“I’m afraid I’m not here for her. I’m here to interview you for the piece.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Just go away, I’m not in the mood to talk to you.”

“Come on, lass. For Kathryn and Graham?” he asked, pouting.

Emma hesitated for a second. She knew Kathryn would be angry if she messed this up for her.

“Fine, let’s get this over with.” She opened the door wide for him to walk in.

Killian got his phone out and set it to record. “The maid of honor, although a lovely lass, is a little prickly. Emma, how do you feel about Kathryn’s whirlwind romance?”

Emma took a deep breath. “She’s my little sister. How do you think I feel? I taught her how to tell time, and how to ride a bike. I raised her. Please, don’t print that. It would break my father’s heart but to answer your question. I couldn’t be happier.”

Killian nodded as he listened to her but his attention wasn’t completely on her. His eyes roamed the apartment until they landed on the slightly opened closet. Love, what are those?”

Emma’s eyes followed his gaze and answered as she tried to make her way over to the closet to close the door and keep him away from her prized collection. “That’s nothing.”

Killian was giddy with excitement as he trailed right behind her. “Are those…”

“No!” Emma tried to keep him away by pushing him away from the door but she wasn’t able to keep him from opening the door.

“Bloody hell! Are these all bridesmaid dresses?”

“None of your business.”

“Good God, lass. Why? The closet is so full you can barely close the door.”

“I just have a lot of friends and I like keeping them,” she shrugged.

“Makes perfect sense because they’re bloody beautiful.”

“Some of them are not that bad.”

“I’d like to see one that is not bad.”

“Fine.” Emma started looking through the dresses, muttering not that one, or that one.

“Aha, this one is not bad.” She showed him a greenish dress.

“Love, we need to have those lovely eyes checked because that is the very definition of bad. What color is this? Vomit?”

Emma rolled her eyes. “No, it's an "olivey" green. The color is super flattering. I’m telling you. It looks great on.”

“I disagree. Love, that dress is one of the worst instruments of torture I have ever seen because the bride wants you to look ugly.”

“No, no. Ariel picked it because it looks good on everybody.”

Killian rolled his eyes. “The lass is delusional and believes anything anyone tells her,” he spoke to the recorder.

“I’ll prove it to you.” She grabbed the dress and headed to her room.

Killian kept skimming through the dresses, grimacing as he took them out to look at them. He kept taking pictures of the packed closet.

Emma came out of the room.

He had to agree the dress wasn't that bad but perhaps it was her .

“See?” she said, twirling.

He smiled. “You are right. The dress isn’t that bad but what about the color? He said as he took a picture and showed her the photo.

Emma groaned. “It’s your camera. It’s defective or something.”

Killian looked at her, unamused.

Emma sighed. “Okay, it’s not that good. Are you happy?”

“You look like a very beautiful shiny mermaid. You should be flattered.”

Emma bit her bottom lip. “It's really not the worst one.”

She went on to show him every dress in the closet and he took a picture of each one. They laughed and made fun of the themed weddings and the accessories.

“Love, you have twenty-seven dresses.”

Emma smiled and shrugged.

“I don't understand. You attend the wedding, why not throw the dress after? This is a huge closet.”

“I know you don’t believe me but I’ve had really good times in those dresses.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“It’s not about me. It’s about supporting them.”

“Alright, but how much time do you spend doing this for others? What about you?”

Emma sighed, “Someday… It will be my day and those people will be there for me.”

Killian’s camera flash took her by surprise. He couldn’t help capturing the image. The look in her eye spoke to his cynical soul. He thanked her for the hospitality but made his excuse to leave.

Emma arrived at Graham’s apartment. She could hear the loud music through the door. Emma rolled her eyes, Kathryn was too busy for the gift registry but she was okay taking full advantage of the fact Graham was out of town for business. She only hoped her sister wasn’t doing anything she would regret.

She rang the doorbell.

Kathryn opened the door enough to give Emma the list. “Here I thought you were going to wait for me downstairs.”

Emma knew her sister well enough to know she was trying to get rid of her.

Emma pushed past her. “Kathryn, what is going on here?” Her eyes landing on Henry vacuuming the living room.

Kathyrn scoffed. “What? He was looking for a part-time job to buy a new computer. He wants an Apple MacBook Air because he wants to be a writer.”

“You have a kid cleaning your fiance's apartment. Graham adores him. He has been his big brother for years.” Emma said in disbelief.

“It’s our secret. Henry’s and mine. Ems, don’t worry about it, okay. You should go, it’s getting late.”

Emma left, grabbing the list. She wondered if she told Graham the truth about Kathryn, what he would say. At the park, she had tried to make him see her sister’s lies but he was blind by his attraction for her.

Killian was looking through his notes and the pictures with a faint smile on his face.

Cora appeared at his cubicle suddenly, as if transported by magic.

A startled Killian snapped up from his computer screen. “Cora, did you need something?”

“The bridesmaid story you pitched, what do you have so far?”

“Ah, yes, it’s still a little rough. I’m working on it.”

“I want to see it now . Email it.” She said and walked away.

“Cora, it’s not ready! Bloody hell,” he muttered, Killian got up from his chair to chase after her after sending the email. She was a heartless woman and people had been fired for less. He had been lucky she had found value in him.

Cora was sitting down behind her desk when he arrived. “Cora, the email was sent with the draft. I hope you let me know what you think and just keep that in mind,” Killian said.

She just nodded a silent way to dismiss him.

“Hello, love. Did you miss me?” Killian whispered in Emma’s ear as she scanned the cookware.

Emma jumped a bit and almost dropped the crystal glasses.

She glared at Killian. “What are you doing here? I didn’t invite you. Go away, please?”

“Kathryn did.” He smiled. “I’m just doing my job. I have to see every aspect of the wedding.”

Emma rolled her eyes as she kept scanning things off of Kathryn’s list distancing herself from him.

“Your sister wants so many presents that she physically cannot register for them herself?” he asked when he caught up with her.

Emma stopped scanning and turned her attention to Killian. “It’s a short engagement so she is pressed for time.”

“How many casserole dishes does a person need? Kathryn doesn’t strike me as the cooking type,” he said as he trailed behind her again.

“This isn't just another vahze ." Emma turned to face him, annoyed at his comments.

“It’s called a vase,” he said matter of factly.

“You just don’t get it. These are the things you build a life with.”

“No, love. This is useless crap that the 70-billion-dollar-a-year wedding industry has conned you into believing that you need to have or you won't be happy.”

“No, you know what I think? I think that all your theories are just a smokescreen.”

“For what, darling?”

“Your secret, whatever it is. Maybe you haven’t found the right girl and you're afraid you never will.”

Killian sat down on a display couch. “And I think that you love weddings so much because you prefer to focus on everyone else’s Kodak moments rather than make memories of your own.”

“What do you want me to say? You're right? You are crazy. Weddings are the worst place to forget you are single.”

“Love, you want a wedding, not a marriage, a bloody wedding. The dress and the special day.”

“What is your problem, asshole? Let me guess you had a fancy wedding and your wife left you for someone else?”

Killian’s jaw ticked. “Aye, with my college professor by the way. They lived happily ever after with their son.”

“What? Oh, shit. I’m sorry. Killian, it was just a guess.”

“A good one,” he laughed bitterly. “For someone who has no insight whatsoever into herself, you nailed me right on the head.”

“Hey, do you want to find the ugliest stuff in here and register Kathryn for it?”

“Aye, let’s do it. I saw the most hideous crocodile gravy boat on the counter back there,” he said with a devilish smile on his face.

Killian walked to Cora’s office.

“Hey, you wanted to see me?” Killian asked as he opened the door and sat down.

“Wow,” she said.

“Cora, I told you I wasn’t done with it. I need to do some edits.” Killian said.

“Relax. I like it. It's a decent story. I have to admit, I was shocked. It’s smart and entertaining.”

“Thank you,” he replied.

“You really nailed this girl. We’re running the story Sunday, front page.”

“No, no. It’s not ready,” Killian insisted. “I still have some things to add and I know it will make it worth the wait.”

Cora crossed her arms over her chest and raised her brows. "You have been begging me for months for a chance. How about some gratitude?"

Mind reeling, Killian searched for any reason to stall Cora's decision. “I really want to get this right. Can you give me a week to make it perfect?”

“If I didn’t know you any better I would say you care for her. Did the girl get under your skin?”

He scoffed, “Of course not. I’m just trying to do my job. She’s more than this perpetual bridesmaid. There’s more to her tale. Just give me a week and you will not regret it.”

“Fine. Get out.”

Killian called Emma to see if they could meet to talk but was greeted with Kathryn’s voice instead. Kathryn had told him that Emma was meeting Graham to pick the menu for the reception. He truly wondered what she was doing for her own wedding. She was always doing something for her instead of for the wedding preparations. He understood what Emma had meant when she told him she would need to do everything.

Killian showed up at the restaurant and stopped in his tracks. Even from his spot, he knew the signs of a woman smitten with the man she was talking to. Emma was in love with Graham. Bloody hell, his stomach dropped for some unknown reason. She was smiling freely at something he said. He hadn’t dared to get closer to them. How could anyone else miss the obvious signs? How could he have missed it?

Emma and Graham were so busy in their conversation that they had not noticed Killian’s arrival. So he started to walk away.

After hearing Graham praising Kathryn, Emma wanted to tell him the truth. She is not who he thinks but stopped herself because he looked so happy. She will not be the one to break his heart.

“Emma, tell me what is your favorite part of a wedding?” Graham asked.

“My favorite part of the wedding is watching the groom’s face when the bride is walking down the aisle, and seeing the pure love on his face,” Emma said.

“I think it’s easy to look at your bride with love if she is like your sister. Kathryn is wonderful and I am very happy I found her,” Graham said with a loving gaze.

Emma smiled at him then lowered her gaze to her plate.

Graham turned away to get the waiter’s attention but noticed Killian walking away.

“Rogers, Is that you?”

Killian winced but forced a fake smile as he turned to face the table.

Emma glared at him as he approached them.

“What are you doing here?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“I have some more questions for you,” he said simply.

“You could email me the questions and I will return the email.”

“Where’s Kathryn?” Killian asked.

“She’s busy and couldn’t make it so she asked me to come in her place,” Emma said.

“Hmm. She couldn’t come to pick the wedding meal?”

“Emma is just helping out. Kathryn had a hair appointment; we are having dinner with my parents later,” Graham replied.

“I’m sure Emma was happy to oblige,” Killian said.

“Should we leave now?” Emma asked Graham.

“We should we're heading up to Rhinebeck to pick out

some linens from an antique store,” Graham said as he waved the waiter over.

“I have an idea, How about if I go with Emma in your place? I imagine you have things to do before your dinner.”

“No, no, that’s okay. We can make it back in plenty of time,” Emma answered quickly.

“I don't mind,” Killian said with a smile.

Graham nodded. “It would be a great help.”

“Mate, I insist,” Killian said.

Graham paid and went on his way.

Emma and Killian got in her dad’s car and drove away.

Emma was driving with a scowl on her face.

Killian laughed, “Of course you’re angry at having to plan your sister’s wedding to the man you love. The second I saw you mooning over him while you had your meal. It was like a bloody anchor was dropped. You won’t say anything because you are too used to facilitating others' happiness instead of your own.”

Emma scoffed. “You don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Hmm. You are miserable and unwilling to do anything about it.”

“You are crazy! I’m thrilled to be planning their wedding. She’s my baby sister like I have for every wedding that I've been a part of. You wouldn’t understand because you are cynical, mean, and dark. That’s your problem, buddy, not mine.”

“Buddy? Did you call me buddy?”

“I could have called you an asshole! Just shut up!”

“I understand you’re vexed. I ruined the day of you pining for somebody that will never be yours!” Killian roared.

“Stop!” Emma yelled back.

Killian’s attention turned back to the rainy road. Perhaps it wasn’t the best time to antagonize her.

“Love, you need to slow down so I can read the sign.”

The car kept picking up speed.

“Do you think you could slow down? Ease your foot off the accelerator.”

“Don’t you ever shut up?”

Killian checked his seatbelt. He should have waited to say his thoughts but she had given him the cold shoulder since they left the restaurant. He hadn’t noticed when the weather had gotten that bad. It was as if the rain was mimicking her mood.

“Emma, love. Slow down, we’re going to hydroplane,” he said in a soothing voice.

Emma rolled her eyes. “We are not going to hydroplane.” Her fingers squeezed the steering wheel tightly as she made a slight correction and the car started swerving out of control. “Shit, shit!! We are hydroplaning!!”

Killian hissed as he grabbed onto the armrest and gripped it as if his life depended on it. In a way it did, he supposed.

“Bloody hell! I told you to slow down! Lass, just calm down and ease your foot off the gas--”

“Shut it! I know what I’m doing.” She eased her foot on the break as she eased it off the gas like Killian suggested and maneuvered the vehicle to safety. “This is your fault if you would have stopped talking for a moment like I asked, I would have been able to focus on the road.”

Killian glared at her.

The car was stuck and they couldn’t get it out. It was too late for a tow truck and there was no cell phone service.

Killian spotted a bar not too far from them. “Come along, lass. Let’s see if we can get some help or at the very least get a drink.”

Emma hesitantly followed him.

The place was a small hole in the wall bar.

Killian found the payphone right away.

“You got anything?” Emma asked.

He shook his head no. “Mate, your phone doesn’t work,” Killian said to the bartender.

The man shrugged. “Nice detective skills. It has been out of service for a while.”

“Our car broke down and we have no cell service,” Emma told the bartender.

The man pulled out a phone from beneath the bar. “You will not find someone to come help you right now. The rain is bad and it’s getting late.”

Emma groaned.

Killian approached the bar. “Rum, three fingers, no ice, please.”He pulled a stool and sat down.

“What are you doing?” Emma asked, annoyed as she followed him.

“You heard the man, we are not getting a tow anytime soon. I’m going to enjoy a drink. There’s nothing you can do. You should have a drink.”

The bartender handed Killian his drink.

“Thanks, mate.”

Emma sat down next to Killian. “Fine, I’ll have one, let me have the same.”

After several drinks, Emma eyed him carefully.

“Jones, I have to know something. You once wrote a column that was so beautiful it made me cry.”

“Aww,” he mocked.

“The Zimmer-York article was full of emotion. It was the anniversary of the mother's death. The brother flew home from Afghanistan.”

Killian remembered the article but he would not admit it. “Sorry, I don’t recall.”

“How can you not remember it? You cannot fake emotion like that.”

“A talented writer like meself can.”

“You’re not that good.”

Killian signaled the bartender for another round of drinks.

“Be honest with me for once. What is your favorite part of a wedding?”

He stared at her. “My favorite part of a wedding is an open bar.” He smiled and waggled his eyebrows.

“No. Everybody likes that.”

Killian laughed. “Alright. The part when the bride is making her grand entrance. I like to glance back at the wanker getting married. He looks happy even though he is willingly entering into the last form of slavery.”

Emma’s eyes widened as he finished talking.

Killian scratched behind his ear nervously. “Why the bloody hell are you looking at me like that?”

“Are you serious? That’s my favorite part! I can’t believe it. We have something in common.”

“Aye, that must make us kindred spirits. Love, it was bound to happen.”

“Just admit you are a big teddy bear that the whole cynical thing is an act so you can seem wounded and mysterious… and sexy.”

“I’m sorry love, what was the last one?”

“ Huh ?”

“You think I’m sexy, love? I'm startling, aren't I? Some people say striking, but I will accept sexy.”

“No, I don’t. I think you think you are sexy.”

“Mhmm,” he said with a wide smile.

Emma’s cheeks blushed bright pink.

Benny and the Jets played loudly, filling the moment of silence between them.

“I love this song,” Emma said, swaying to the beat of the song.

“Aye, it’s a great song.” Killian hummed in tune then broke into song, “ Hey, kids shake it loose together… That's been known to change the weather.”

Emma snorts in an unladylike way. “Those are not the lyrics,” she giggled.

“Those are the lyrics. Alright, lyric police. What are the correct words?”

“You're gonna hear a handsome music… So the walrus sounds.”

Killian laughed. “Walrus sounds?”

Emma grinned and continued, “Say, Penny's no longer in a cement jet… Ooh, but you're so laced down.”

He shook his head, but joined her in the next line. “Buh, buh, buh, buh Bennie and the Jets…”

Emma continued belting out the lyrics, “O oh, in the wind and the waterfall… Oh, baby, she's a "revocaine"... She's got electric boobs.”

Killian laughed so hard with tears in his eyes. “Boobs?”

Sometime after, Killian found himself singing alongside Emma on top of the bar, dancing and enjoying the moment.

The crowd had become a rapt audience to the pair cheering them on after an encore performance.

Killian helped Emma get off the bar table. Once she was at eye level she was so beautiful. He blurted out, “I wept like a babe at the Zimmer-York wedding.”

Emma’s eyes widened at his confession and without thinking she grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him to her, melding their lips together. The kiss escalated fast as they found themselves in the back seat of her car fogging the car windows with their heavy breathing.

The sunshine woke up Emma from her sleep. She was trying to shake off the kinks. She looked around the scenery and decided that there are worse places to end up stranded.

“Morning, love. The tow truck is on its way,” Killian said as he handed her a cup of coffee.”

“Thank you, I just want you to know I never do this.”

“I know, lass, you kept saying that last night over and over.”

Emma groaned, her head pounded. Why was everything so loud? While Killian acted as if he was a two-hundred-year-old pirate with an endless supply of rum.

“I was wondering if you would like to grab something to eat while we wait for the tow truck?”

They found a small diner just down the block and placed their food order when one of the patrons from the bar last night approached them and reminded them of the rendition to Benny and The Jets. Emma grimaces at the thought of singing in public. The man left with a smile on his face while humming the song.

“Oh, why didn’t you stop me?” Emma asked Killian.

“I’m sorry, you looked so free.”

“Hey, you’re that girl! You’re famous.” A customer approached her with recognition in her eyes. “From the newspaper.”

Emma looked confused at the lady. “What paper?”

Killian groaned and muttered, “ Bloody hell .”

The woman had gone to find the newspaper for her to see.

"Always, Always a Bridesmaid by James Rogers? What the hell is this?” She asked, throwing the newspaper on his face. Emma got up from her seat and walked out.

Killian followed her after he paid the bill.

“Emma! Swan, please let me explain. I told my editor not to run it. Lass, no one reads it,” Killian said as he caught up with her and grabbed her arm to get her attention.

Emma whipped around and slapped him. She walked away toward the car leaving him behind.

Killian knew better than to try to talk to her again.

Killian stormed into work to confront Cora, she had lied to him. He had been blindsided when the article was mentioned. The look of betrayal he saw in her eyes made his stomach sour.

Cora’s door was open.

Killian didn’t even bother with any sort of civility. “What the bloody hell happened? I thought we agreed to hold it,” Killian accused.

“I thought the story was ready and I make the decisions here you don’t,” She said coolly.

“Cora, you don't understand. I didn't have time to warn her.”

“In case you forgot. You work for me, not the other way around. You should kiss my feet. I gave you 24 inches in the Sunday paper. Get out !” she said unamused.

Emma arrived at her place to be greeted with a string of shrieks and screams. “How could you let this happen?”

“I didn’t know he was writing a story about me,” Emma said.

“You?! Did you read it? If Emma is the typical, accommodating bridesmaid then her sister, Kathryn, is cast as the overbearing, overindulged bride-to-be who might start stomping around Manhattan at any moment."

“I’m sorry.”

“Emma, he called me bridezilla in the New York Journal!”

Emma stayed quiet as Kathryn scolded her, missing the hurt in her eyes. The phone rang interrupting her tirade.

“What?” Kathryn answered the phone.

“May I please speak with Emma?” Killian asked.

“Are you kidding? The only person you will be speaking to is my attorney! Asshole!” Kathryn yelled at the phone and slammed it down.

The week had started horribly for Emma. Kathryn hadn’t stopped her complaints about the article when all Emma wanted to do was forget about it. Not once had Kathryn shown her an ounce of sympathy there had been so many embarrassing pictures of Emma on the front page of the section. Kathryn had only been mentioned but no one knew what her face looked like. Emma however, was the damn star. Her head was starting to pound. She still had to face Graham. What if he felt like her sister?

Killian had been relentless with the calls and messages. Of course Ruby tried to cheer her up by making light of the situation but it didn’t help.

Graham called her to his office and was so caring and understanding that it made her feel as if someone had her back. He was right, no one read that section.

Emma had to rush to the bridal shop for her meeting with Kathryn.

“Johanna, can you hem this part? Emma, is that you?” Kathryn called out from the fitting room. Johanna went to do the alteration.

“Yeah, it's me,” Emma said as she walked to the back.

Emma sat down on one of the chairs.

“Emma, I have been thinking that it wasn’t your fault. You are just too trusting. I guess,” Kathryn said as she checked her list.

“Thank you. Wait. Is that your enemy list? The one from high school. Are you checking me off the list?” Emma said dumbfounded.

Kathryn gave her a small smile alongside a paper. “About the slide show, I want you to say that. Exactly as I wrote it, that is the script. Graham said he will give you all his photos.”

“Okay,” Emma said as she read over the script her sister gave her.

Johanna walked back in with the altered dress, “Hi, Emma.”

“Hi, Johanna,” Emma said with a welcoming smile and returning her attention to the scripted paper her sister gave her.

“Kathryn, here it is. Step in.” Johanna said as she helped Kathryn with the dress.

“Emma, what do you think?” Kathryn said, twirling in the dress.

Emma finally looked up to see the dress, expecting to see her mother’s dress with some slight changes but instead finding a completely different dress. “I thought you were wearing Mom's dress.”

“This is Mom's dress. Parts of it anyway. It was just too old-fashioned. We could just use a few pieces here and there,”

Kathryn said as she smoothed the material.

“I’m sorry... what ?” Emma asked as she approached her sister wearing a dress she no longer recognized. “You cut up Mom’s dress ?”

“Isn’t it pretty? You can wear it too. Technically Johanna cut it, not me.”

Emma didn’t think her sister could be any more selfish; she was proven wrong. “ No. No, no, no, no. No! God, you don't care. You only care about yourself, don’t you? I have made excuses for you since Mom died but enough is enough!”

Kathryn rolled her eyes. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“I can’t fix the dress but I won't let you hurt Graham. He thinks he knows you but it's all a lie. You even had Henry keep a secret from him. Tell him the truth or I will.”

“I don’t have to tell him anything and you will not either. You are my sister, you definitely wouldn't do anything to hurt me.”

“No, today you're just some selfish bitch who broke my heart and cut up my mother's wedding dress. You didn't even have the decency to ask me about it! You knew how much that dress meant to me but you just didn't care. You could have easily just picked a brand new dress to match your taste. Kathryn, you only get this warning, tell him the truth or a will.” Emma left her sister just staring at her back as she walked away.

Kathryn just groaned as she made her way to change her clothes.

On the day of the engagement party, Emma had been jittery all day but she wouldn’t be deterred from what she had to do. She gave her sister a chance to do the right thing, to be honest. She hoped she had come clean with Graham.

Emma had been getting pitying looks, and dealing with passive-aggressive comments about how terrible it must feel that her baby sister was marrying before her.

The last straw had Emma replying with, “ Yeah, but at least I still get to have hot sex with strangers .”

The stunned look on the old woman's face had been priceless.

The night progressed and it soon would be time for the slide show. Emma had kept trying to talk to Kathryn but her sister avoided her feigning she had to play host.

Ruby arrived fashionably late as always but quickly found Emma, a drink already in her hand. “Hey, you clean up nicely! You look hot! I might be persuaded to change sides,” she said with a wink.

Emma didn’t react with a quip of her own, making Ruby since her friend wasn’t holding up as well as she thought. “Emma, how are you?”

“I’m okay,” she said with a tight smile, grabbing the drink from Ruby’s hand while drinking it in one gulp.

“Hey, that is not water,” Ruby said as she saw her friend finish up to the last drop of her drink.

Emma turned to the guy helping her set up her computer for the slideshow. “It’s under Kathryn and Graham.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yep, I’m fine,” Emma insisted.

Graham approached Emma with a reluctant fiance on his arm. “Emma, thank you for a lovely party. You have gone above and beyond. Hasn’t she, Kathryn?”

Kathryn nodded her agreement while avoiding Emma’s eyes.

Emma got the confirmation she needed with her sister’s attitude. “You guys should take a seat. I’m going to start the slideshow.”

The restaurant was packed with family and friends. Emma gave a lovely introduction as the images played in the background. It started with oohs and awws which morphed into gasps as Emma unmasked Kathryn from her preferred food to her dislike of pets which included Graham’s beloved dog Hunter. The final straw was Henry’s sell pitch for the cleaning business Kathryn was helping him, in which Graham’s home was the first customer.

Graham furiously got up from his seat and left with Kathryn following close behind trying to explain herself.

A crying Kathryn returned alone, walked up to Emma. “I hope you are happy. He broke off the engagement. The wedding is off.”

Emma saw as her sister walked away. Ruby nudged her shoulder. “What happened?”

“He deserved to know the truth.”

“I agree but perhaps you could have told him face-to-face when this mess started. I know that my moral compass doesn't exactly point due north but if I can see there’s something wrong, there’s a reason.”

“Ruby, you’re the one who is always telling me to be brave and stand up for myself,” Emma said, hurt at her friend’s attitude.

“Emma, hun that's not what you did. You unleashed years of repressed feelings in one night. I admit it was entertaining but if you were sure you did the right thing you'd feel better right now,” Ruby said honestly.

Emma walked out of the building, she heard footsteps approaching causing her to turn.

“Oh, my God. What do you want? Can't you take a hint? Why are you here?” she said, rolling her eyes at the intruder.

He shrugged, “Love, you wouldn't return my phone calls.”

“Haven't you ruined my life enough? Let me guess, you want another picture for your paper?”

“Emma, I’m sorry.”

“Please, Stop! You used me to advance in your career. At least have the decency to admit it but don’t try to act as you care about me.”

“I just saw what you did there and all I can say is it’s about bloody time!”

“Stop, I'm not doing this with you again.”

“Do you want to know the truth, why I came here? Alright, I knew this would be a difficult day for you, and for the first time in a long time, I wanted to look out for someone else. I know I was a damn fool. I’m sorry. I will vanish from your life but I want you to know that I think you are amazing, a marvel, and I think you deserve so much more than what you settle for. You deserve to be taken care of like the princess you are.” He turned to walk away but stopped mid-step. “Sorry, love. I forgot to give you this.” He hands her a package. “It’s just something to make your life easier. A new beginning.”

She took the gift hesitantly and watched him walk away.

Killian stared at his computer screen. He had hated walking away from Emma but it was clear she was not ready to forgive him.

“Killian, your little bridesmaid story got a phenomenal response. Looks like you finally did it, you got yourself bumped from Commitments,” Cora said.

“Lovely,” Killian said with a depreciating smile on his face.

“Killian, you should be happy. Isn’t this what you dreamt of?” Cora said as she walked away.

Killian knew she was right, he should be happy. He should be celebrating but it was a hollow victory.

Emma was surprised when her father called the day after and invited her over.

“Emma, you have got to work this out,” Midas said as he hugged her to comfort her pain.

“You two need to talk and fix this. Remember you love each other,” Midas said as if talking to two little girls with pigtails.

They stood stubbornly at opposite sides as their dad gave them privacy.

Emma had grown up looking after her sister. She had no idea what had caused Kathryn to become as selfish as she was. Kathryn had become the person that only looked out for herself. Emma had let go of her hurt over Graham because she had no idea of her feelings for him but the dress. The wedding dress was part of her dream wedding and she took it knowing so. Not only that but she shredded it without concerns about her feelings. But as Emma stared into her sister's eyes, she recognized the pain that had reflected in her own. She had done the unthinkable and caused pain to the one she had protected all her life.

“Kathryn, I’m sorry. I feel terrible.”

Kathryn’s mouth opened. “Sorry? You humiliated me in front of everyone!”

“I know but --” Emma stammered.

“Just admit it! You have always been jealous of me!” Kathryn yelled as she threw bags of chips and anything she could find at Emma.

Ducking and dodging various items being flung at her from the shelves, Emma became aggravated by Kathryn's child-like tantrum, but once she picked up a family-sized can of vegetables to throw, Emma snapped. “Stop it! Kathryn, I’m sorry but you could have been honest with Graham from the beginning. We wouldn't be standing here if you had. Did you even love him or was it just convenient?”

Kathryn huffed, “Get off your high horse. Sweet Emma, kind and smart. Perfect Emma. You always thought my life was perfect. The truth is you resent me because you had to braid my hair, go shopping for my prom dress, and make my Halloween costumes.”

Emma sighed. “No, Kathryn, I never did.”

“You think my life is so easy.”

“Kathryn, you never had a care in the world. You did as you pleased, never caring for the consequences. You are beautiful and fun. Your life is perfect.”

“You have no idea, Emma. Do you want to know the reason why I stayed home? I got fired from my job and James dumped me. Then I met Graham and he was nice to me. I just wanted to be someone worthy of him. I was trying to be you.”

Emma asked, confused, “Why would you want to be boring me when you get to be you?”

“Emma, you have taken care of me since Mom died. You stopped being my big sister and became my surrogate mother."

“I had to. You are my baby sister.”

"No, you didn't. I'm sorry about mom's dress. I know how much that dress meant to you. I wasn't thinking," Kathryn sighed. "I was too busy enjoying my happy moment. I didn't care about you or anyone. You were right calling me selfish. I just never thought I would hear those words coming from you. I will not lie and say it didn't hurt. In a way, I'm happy you finally started saying what you feel. I will always be your sister and I think it's time for you to stop taking care of everybody. It’s time to focus on you.”

"Kathryn, I am sorry for what I did. I never wanted to be the one to cause you pain."

The girls hug and start cleaning the mess.

Emma was at home cleaning out her closet. Finally taking the advice she had been given. She decided to start fresh.

The phone rang several times before she answered it. “Hello?”

The familiar voice on the other side greeted her warmly.

“Hi, Graham. I can do that. No problem. I'll be right there.” Emma rushed to get ready and meet Graham at the office. It was the least she could do after her stunt at the party.

Graham was sitting at his desk trying to find his speech for the benefit. He looked up and saw Emma walk in. She looked beautiful. He was not blind but he never wanted to cross that line.

“Emma, you look--great. Wow!” Graham said.

“Thank you,” Emma replied. “Before we go, I want to say sorry about last night. I shouldn't have done that.”

“Emma, you did me a favor. I was about to marry a woman I didn’t know. It’s not your fault I got swept away. Let’s forget about the whole thing.”

“Only if you’re sure.”

“I hate to ask for another favor but I need to print up my speech for tonight. I looked but I couldn't find the file.”

“Sure no problem. I can get it for you.” Emma walked to his desk to find the file.

Graham sighed in relief. “Emma, I’m so thankful I could call you tonight. I love that I can always count on you to never say no.”

Emma froze and looked at him. “What?”

“I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong?” He asked, concerned.

Emma sighed. “Oh--”

Graham approached her with concern.

Emma stared at the computer screen. “Graham, I quit.”

Graham’s face turned confused. “What do you mean?”

“You hired me right after college. I was so blown away and caught up by the company and you. I never bothered to get my own life. Then I couldn’t leave because I was so madly in love with you.”

He takes one fluid step into her space. His right hand sliding to the back of her head pulling her into a kiss.

Emma froze for a second waiting for the fireworks to explode but it was a dud.

Graham noticed her reaction and backed away. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

She looked at him with understanding. “It’s okay. I always wanted to know what it would feel like.”She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, but that's not what it's supposed to feel like.” Her phone ringtone to Benny and the Jets went off interrupting them.

He smiled warmly as he saw her face brightened up with realization.

She smiled and left him behind.

Emma found the building easily enough. She approached the receptionist's desk interrupting a group of people deep in conversation. “Excuse me. I’m looking for Ki-James Rogers.”

The person that replied was a classically handsome man with a boyish quality and fair complexion with a bright smile. “He’s at a wedding. Wait, aren't you the girl from the article?”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m famous.”

Emma had been pleasantly surprised at how accommodating the guy, Victor, had been. He quickly provided the information to her with a smirk.

Emma ran out of the building hailing a cab.

The taxi came to a screeching stop.

Emma opened the door and got in. “Pier 17,” she said looking forward while waiting for the car to move.

The face of the cabbie that drove her the night she met Killian smiled through the rearview mirror. “I only have one dress tonight.”

The man grumbled in disappointment as the possibility of some extra cash disappeared and started driving.

They arrived shortly at the destination. Emma rushed out of the cab noticing the venue’s wedding sign, and asked the two valet workers to point her in the right direction.

Emma easily found the wedding on a ship and it was about to depart. Emma didn’t think twice and just jumped landing on the gangplank.

She landed safely, taking a deep breath and she started her search for Killian. The wedding was lovely. She was amazed by the magical feel of it.

“Hey,” a voice called out from behind her, Emma turned to face the voice.

The tiny blonde with a big smile greeted her. “I know you from the article. What are you doing here?”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Emma grimaced; she only hoped the bride was a romantic. “Long story short. There's this guy and he is here and I ...” Flustered at her own boldness Emma confided her story to the pixie bride who eagerly helped her.

Emma took the microphone nervously at the encouragement of her new friend.

“Hello. Good evening, I’m sorry to interrupt such a happy occasion. I promise this won't take long. I’m looking for someone, Killian? Killian Jones?”

The groom arrived and stood next to his bride, “Love, what’s going on?”

The bride said, “Shhh. Don’t worry, this is a good thing.”

Killian heard his name in a familiar voice and muttered, “Oh, bloodiest of hells…”

The Bride grabbed the mic from Emma’s grasp. “Can we have a spotlight, please? Killian Jones, come forward.” With an encouraging smile, she returned the microphone to Emma.

Killian begrudgingly stepped forward. The spotlight landed on him as the bride pointed him out.

Emma’s eyes met his and she continued to lower her armor. “I just wanted to say you were right about me. I wasn’t ready to hear it, especially not from you. I waited all my life for my prince charming. Then you showed up, a scoundrel, a pirate. The truth is, fighting with you is the best thing that ever happened to me. I think the chances of me falling in love with you are very good. That's all I had to say. I'll go now.”

Emma made her way through the crowd to meet Killian in the middle.

Killian smiled as she hesitantly arrived a few steps in front of him. “It’s about bloody time,” he said, pulling her as close to him as possible before he kissed her soundly.

After a few minutes of enjoying their kissing session, they are separated after hearing someone clear their throat.

“Little brother, I thought I taught you better manners. How about introducing me to the lovely lass that crashed my wedding to profess her feelings to you?”

“Leave them alone, Liam. They have a lot to talk about.”

“They can talk all they want but I feel like we deserve at least an introduction.”

Killian rolled his eyes as he hesitantly made space between Emma and himself. “Emma, this is my elder brother, Liam Jones. You have met my new sister-in-law, Olivia, but you can call her Tink.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry I interrupted your wedding. I wasn’t thinking. I never do stuff like this.”

Tink laughed, “It’s okay: you’re family.”

Killian shook his head. “Tink, I didn't know you were so intent on helping me find something as precious as my happy ending.”

A year later…

After quitting her job, Emma opened her wedding planner business: Savior Weddings. Soon enough, she found herself planning for a very special day.

You are cordially invited to the union of Emma Swan and Killian Jones.

Kathryn was the maid of honor, she smiled at her new boyfriend Frederick. A kind man that she met at her father’s store. He sat on the bride’s side.

Graham and his date Elsa arrived at the wedding with an excited Henry who happily tagged along for the special occasion. They were seated in the bride’s section.

Tink sat excitedly on the Groom’s side. She was so happy her brother-in-law found happiness.

Ruby smiled widely as she guided guests to their seats.

“Excuse me, what do you think makes this wedding special?” a voice got her attention.

Ruby turned to the source and smiled wolfishly. “And who are you?”

He smirked. “I’m the new writer of the Commitments column for the Journal, Victor Whale. I was hoping I could buy you a drink later.”

She laughed, “You do know it’s an open bar, right? I'll buy you a drink.” She winked and walked away. It was almost time for the ceremony to start.

Liam was happily standing next to his little brother as the music started. He joked saying he earned being the best man since his bride crashed his wedding.

Emma glided down the aisle. Her father proudly escorted her.

At that moment she didn't care if everything was perfect or not because the only thing that mattered was the way Killian looked at her, full of love. She looked at her bridesmaids. All twenty-seven of them were there to support her.

Once she arrived at her spot next to Killian he smiled lovingly as he asked her, “Is this moment everything you had hoped for?”

She beamed with happiness.“It’s so much more.”

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join Emma Swan and Killian Jones in holy matrimony. Marriage is a cause for celebration… I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.

The 27 Brides:

1 Lily/August

2 Alice/Robyn

3 Astrid/Leroy

4 Victoria/Flynn

5 Mary Margaret/David

6 Ariel/Eric

7 Aurora/Phillip

8 Ashley/Sean

9 Belle/Gaston

10 Anastacia/Will

11 Anna/Kristoff

12 Merida/Mulan

13 Gwen/Lance

14 Marian/Robin

15 Zelena/Hades

16 Tiana/Naveen

17 Regina/Daniel

18 Jacqueline/James

19 Nimue/Merlin

20 Jasmine/Aladdin

21 Wendy/Felix

22 Megara/Hercules

23 Cruella/Isaac

24 Fiona/Malcolm

25 Tamara/Greg

26 Ivy/Henry

27 Priscilla/Jefferson

Tagging:

@allons-y-to-hogwarts-713 @andiirivera @anothersworld @apiratewhopines @artistic-writer @batana54 @beckettj @bethacaciakay @bixisarusher @branlovestowrite @brooke-to-broch @captainodonoghue @carpedzem @chasedancer17 @cocohook38 @courtorderedcake @darkcolinodonorgasm @deckerstarblanche @demisexualemmaswan @djlbg @donteattheappleshook @dovelyheart @elizabeethan @gingerchangeling @gingerpolyglot @holdingoutforapiratehero @hollyethecurious @hookedonapirate @hookedonaswanprincess @hookedonhiddles​ @ilovemesomekillianjones​ @imlaxdris71​ @itsfabianadocarmo​ @jarienn972 @jennjenn615​ @jonesfandomfanatic​ @jrob64 @justanother-unluckysoul​ @k-leemac​ @karlyfr13s​ @kday426 @killian-will-do​ @klynn-stormz​ @kmomof4​ @kwistowee​ @kymbersmith-90​ @laschatzi​ @lassluna​ @let-it-raines​ @lfh1226-linda @lonelyspectator12 @mariakov81 @motherkatereloyshipper​ @officerrogers​ @ohmakemeahercules​ @onceratheart18​ @pirateherokillian​ @purplehawkcaptain​ @queen-serena88 @resident-of-storybrooke​ @revanmeetra87​ @rumdrum91 @sailtoafarawayland​ @sals86 @scientificapricot​ @scribomaniac​ @searchingwardrobes​ @seriouslyhooked​ @shardminds​ @shireness-says​ @snowbellewells​ @spacekrulesbians​ @spartanguard​ @stahlop​ @superchocovian​ @swanslieutenant​ @tehgreeneyes​ @the-darkdragonfly​ @thejollyroger-writer​ @therealstartraveller776 @thesschesthair​ @thislassishooked​ @thisonesatellite​ @tiganasummertree​ @tomeandflickcorner​ @ultraluckycatnd​ @veryverynotgoodwrites​ @wefoundloveunderthelight​ @wellhellotragic​ @whimsicallyenchantedrose​ @winterbaby89​ @winterbythesea​ @xemmaloveskillianx​ @xarandomdreamx​ @xsajx​ @zaharadessert​

[remmushound]

Rise/bay 23!! @brightlotusmoon @errorfreak88 @selfindulgenz

Donnie ran out of his room in an excited frenzy. His feet tip-tapped the happy dance he always did when he found a discovery. The light in his eyes, the flutter in his heart. The warmth overwhelming him. He ran right over to the cuddle pile, hesitating only to eye the strange scene curiously before prodding Donatello’s forehead.

“Mm?” Donatello’s eyes opened in an angry scowl at being disturbed.

“Hey!” Donnie was beaming, his eyes shimmering like dark pools of shiny chocolate, “Hi— here— here take a look at these!” 

Donatello grumbled through his sleep-heavy state and ignored the pictures shoved in his face, covering his muzzle with his arms to block out the light.

“Wha— hey, come on! I think I found your April!”

Donatello hardly heard him, and the fuzz of his mind wasn’t sharp enough yet to care. As the bickering continued with Donnie’s mouth running like a motor trying to wake up the sluggish softshell, Raphael opened his own heavy eyes and started to listen in. 

“Ugh! Make it stooooop!” 

Leonardo reached over and prodded Donnie where his tail would have been under the pants, making the box turtle yelp and fall forward. 

“There.” Leonardo snuggled back in against Raphael, “I found the off switch.”

Raphael was fully awake now and slowly started to untangle himself from his brothers. When he stood, the absence of his immense form made Michelangelo and Leonardo roll suddenly and slam into Donatello on either side. None of the three seemed to care. Raphael gave himself a minute or so to stretch and pop his joints before positioning himself behind his brothers, low to the ground. He sucked in a good deal of air, and then belched it back at his brothers.

The reaction was immediate. Screams of terror as the scent overwhelmed them and the panicked scrambling as his brothers tried to escape the stench. Their feet scrambled helplessly on the floor for a minute as the slick floor held them in place. Michelangelo was the first to find his footing, then Donatello, and lastly Leonardo. All scrambled to different corners of the lair.

“AH OH MY METAPHORICAL GOD!”

“THAT’S DISGUSTING!”

“DISHONOR ON YOU, DISHONOR ON YOUR FAMILY, DISHONOR ON YOUR COW!”

“You’re up now, antch’a?” Raphael laughed. “Whatchu got for us Don?”

“What? I don’t have anything for you.” Donatello answered.

“He meant other Don, Don.” Leonardo nudged his brother in the side, “Maybe we should mark you with paint or something— Don 1 and Don 2.”

“Not funny, Nardo!”

“No, it is extremely funny.” Leonardo laughed continuing to prod Donatello playfully.

“Nardo, if you keep doing that I’ll—“

“You’ll what?” Leonardo stuck out his tongue and bounced between legs as he continued to poke Donatello and avoid his swatting hands.

“Eh, ignore them.” Raphael smiled as he rubbed his neck and turned to address Donnie, craning his neck over to look at the pictures the box turtle reluctantly offered. “You found something?”

Donnie squeaked at the closeness of the snapping turtle’s head to him and pulled away quickly, dropping the photos in his panic. Raphael picked them up and his eyes lit up once he located the reason for the images.

“That’s April!”

That simple declaration was enough to make the other three forget about their playful bickering and hurry to Raphael’s side. The mutant held the proof of April low enough for his brothers to be able to look comfortably. Cheers sounded off seconds later.

“Yeaaah!”

“That’s April!”

“Oh, she’s okay!”

“Looook!” Leonardo prodded a finger against the paper at April’s chest, “She’s got the orb!”

“Ohh I hope she’s okay!” Michelangelo piped, crawling to hang over Leonardo’s shoulder.

“Time stamps from an hour ago.” 

“Do you know where she is now?”

“Can we get a pizza on the way to find her?”

The smaller mutants started to swarm Donnie with their questions, but Raphael was quick to separate them and give the box turtle some space.

“This is the last I saw of her— she was heading into an alley and I can just kinda see her going up the fire escape.” Donnie said finally.

“Hey, isn’t that where dad was?” Leonardo pointed out.

There was a symphony of agreement.

“I didn't see her come back down though, so she’s probably still up there.” Donnie said, “Unless she found a different way down, which I don’t see why she would…”

Donnie gave yet another yelp as Raphael’s hand fell onto his shoulder. Raphael laughed.

“You’re a jumpy one arencha?” He gave Donnie a few comforting pats to try and reassure him, “Great work Don! You don’t know how much this means to us.”

Donnie’s eyes glimmered with astonishment at the genuine praise.

“Yeah, that big head is good for something after all.” Despite the insult, Donatello’s words came off as a good-natured joke as he circled around Donnie and leaned his head on the box turtle’s shoulder.

“You’re one to talk, peanut head!” Leonardo laughed, “Your head looks like Stewie Griffin’s in reverse!”

“Ha ha.” Donatello faux-laughed, “Very funny, Leon.”

Donnie shivered as Michelangelo scrambled up his shell, using the older turtle’s tech for hand and foot holds. “You’re so smart, other Donnie!”

“Uh— heh— thanks?” Donnie’s cheeks hurt from smiling so wide. 

Raphael whistled, and his brothers all dislodged themselves from Donnie to heed his call. “Come on, Mad Dogz! April needs us!”

Another uproar of agreement sounded.

“I have an ideeeahhh!” Donatello purposely exaggerated the last word, “Let’s take the turtle tank!”

That suggestion sparked a series of cheers. 

“You do have a turtle tank right?” Donatello asked, his brothers excited cheering still sounding behind him.

“Well— yeah— but—“

“Great!” Donatello didn't let him finish, and Donnie couldn’t help but wonder if it was on purpose.

“Wait— you’re not really supposed to…” Donnie’s voice only got softer as the cheers drowned him out and the other four set off searching for the tank, “Take it out of the lair without… oh never mind.”

Donnie followed reluctantly after them. 

When they finally found the room they had been searching for, Leo blocked their path before they could enter. While the rest of the brothers stared at Leo— Donatello annoyed, Michelangelo concerned, and Raphael confused— Leonardo was quick to confront the box turtle.

“Hey guy, we were trying to get through there you know.”

“I know.” Leo crossed his arms pointedly.

“What, you the new door? Cause I’m not really seeing any working handles.” 

Leonardo pretended to look all around Leo for a handle before returning to stand in a similar stance as the older shinobi, except more relaxed. 

“Waiiiiit~ Are you like the sphinx? Gotta answer a riddle to get past you and if we get it wrong you just stare at us disappointedly!” Leonardo said the last part of the sentence in a low voice that tried to mimic Leo, standing up a little straighter and making sure to be loud. “Waitwaitwait, lemme guess: What’s green and uglier than a half-drowned mutant mole rat? And the answer is you! What’s my prize?”

Leonardo cupped his hands together and batted his eyes innocently, standing on one foot as he posed.

Leo didn't even address the annoying slider. “Donnie. What are you doing?” He asked slowly.

Donnie’s head shrank slowly into his shell. “Sorry Leo… I tried to stop them.”

“He spotted our April.” Raphael explained calmly.

“And so you thought you could just bully my brother into taking you out to get her?” Leo pulled up to his full height to try and tower over Raphael, even if the difference was only a few inches.

“Wha— bully?” Raphael frowned, not flinching at the attempt at a threat and looking more concerned for Donnie than for what Leo could do for him, “I didn't mean to bully him— did— did I?” 

Raphael looked back at Donnie with soft eyes. Donnie was looking incredibly guilty, his eyes locked on the floor as he sniffled softly and adjusted his glasses. Raphael gave a long, almost mournful sigh and approached Donnie.

“Gee, I’m sorry. I didn't mean to press you into anything.” Raphael apologized, “I just really wanted to find our April.”

The rest of the collection of mutants muttered similar apologies, Leonardo even giving a bow to the box turtle. Donnie looked to Leo to make sure he wasn’t the only one made uneasy by this strange situation. Leo seemed to carry a similar sentiment.

“Don’t worry— we’ll go out and find your April.” Leo said finally when he was able to, “But you all need to stay here.”

“Stay here?” Leonardo shot back, “Why?”

Leo was more than happy to challenge the slider again, almost glad he finally got the mutants attention. “My brothers and I know this city better than you.”

“Yeah, and we know our April better than you! And you’re not my leader!”

At a simple touch on the shoulder from Raphael, Leonardo immediately calmed down. “We won’t get in your way.” Raphael addressed Leo.

“You better not.” Leo said after a hesitation, so used to an aggressive remark that a kind one threw him off guard for a moment. “Suit up Don. We roll out in five. You two as well!” Leo called across the lair to Raph and Mikey.

“What?” Leonardo turned to Raphael with a hushed voice, “You can’t be serious!”

“I’m not.” Raphael whispered softly out of the corner of his mouth. “I said we wouldn’t get in their way, and we won’t. Never said we weren’t going.”

Leonardo understood immediately and gave a soft laugh, punching Raphael playfully in the shoulder. “April, here we come.”

[maybebanks]

Secrets Bring Us Together

JJ maybank x reader

“Thanks for letting me stay,” you whisper to John B.

You had came to his house in the middle of the night. Begging to stay after a fight with your father on your ‘dirty’ company as friends. He wasn’t a fan of the pogues, but they were a light in your life.

“No problem, you want to tell me what happened?” John B asks, eating a slice of bread.

“At home...” you say, trailing off, holding in some tears.

“Your dad?” He asked solemnly, you only answered with a nod. He didn’t have a dad, but honestly there was a part of you that wanted to be in his position.

“You can stay here for 2 days,” he says, tapping your shoulder gently as he passed you.

Your throat goes dry, “Uh-wait, actually...I was hoping to stay a little longer?” you mumble, settling into the couch.

He looks confused, “why?”

“I can..pay rent? Or-please I’ll do anything, I just can’t go home right now,” you plead.

He furrows his eyebrows.

You shuffle through your bag and pull out your wallet, then hand him 2 20s and a 50 dollar bill.

“Here,” you say eagerly, his eyes widen.

“Alright it’s cool, you can stay,” he laughs, “but I’m not taking your money, that’s not how we pogues do it,”

—

You woke up early to make breakfast. John B was still asleep so you started to get undressed.

Suddenly, the screen door swung open.

“Y/n?” I female voice asked, full of surprise.

You grabbed one of John B’s stray button ups and struggled to button it quickly.

“Where did you get all that cash?!” She asks, pointing to the dollar bills spilling out of your bag.

You shake your head, “nothing just forget it.” You has taken a lot of money because you didn’t know how long you would be away from home.

“Did you rob a kook or some-“ Kie starts but you cut her off.

“Please...just don’t tell anyone. Okay? I promise it’s nothing to worry about,” you reason.

She eyes you suspiciously, “I promise,” she mutters.

“Thanks! Your the best,” you say, starting to cook some scrambled eggs.

“What are you doing here so early?” You ask her.

“I could ask you the same thing,” she says, sitting down. Picking up a bag of your stuff from under the table.

“You’re not staying here...are you?” She asked.

“No,” you lie quickly, “I just brought over some clothes to change into after the boat today. If they get muddy or something,”

“Okay,” Kie responds.

John B walks out of his room. “Morning guys,”

“John B? Is Y/n sleeping here?” She ask, looking at you as if to express how bad of a liar you are, you roll your eyes.

John B looks at you, “Pft, no! She has her own place,”

“No secrets amongst pogues!” Kie shouts.

Before you can respond JJ and Pope walk in.

“Top of the mornin’ to ya!” JJ says cheerfully, you can’t help but smile at him.

Pope looks confused, “no secrets...what were you guys just talking about?” He questions.

“Y/n is being weird and so is John B,” Kie explains.

“Wait-you guys aren’t like, macking, are you?” JJ says holding a blunt.

“Seriously guys? It’s not a big deal!” You whine.

“Oh my god, you guys are totally-“ Pope starts.

“We are not macking,” John B states.

JJ mimics a blow job with his blunt and Pope laughs.

You quickly grab the nearest item and throw it at JJ.

“Really?” Kie says, not giving up, then explain this!” She says, pointing to your bag of clothes that could last a week.

“It doesn’t matter,” you say, “can we just go surfing? I need some sun,” you say, but your nerves were tensing up.

Pope jumps up and heads towards your bag.

“Hey! What are you doing?” You exclaim as he empties a few things from your bag.

“Searching for evidence...” Pope says.

“Ugh can you not be a nerd for like a second please?” You say annoyed.

JJ gets up and joins pope.

“Guys what the fuck! Seriously, stop! Stop!” You try to reason with the curious boys.

“Guys! I think I found it! The evidence we’ve been searching for!” JJ yells excitedly and everyone raises there eyebrows in anticipation.

Your hands shake nervously.

Suddenly, JJ pulls out a white lace piece from your bag. Your bra.

Pope says, “whoa!” Sarcastically.

And Kie rolls her eyes.

“JJ put that down,” you demand.

“Nah, I think I’m going to try it on, see if it looks as sexy on me as it does on you?” He says raising one eyebrow.

“No, don’t! You’ll stretch it out,” you say, no doubt in your mind that he will actually put on your bra.

He dangles it above your head and you swipe for it, “JJ!” You shout jumping for it. He was taller than you, and your chest brushed up against his every time you jumped up to reach his arms holding it up high.

Finally he lets you have it, laughing at your frustration. You return it to its rightful place, in your bag.

Pope mutters, “aww man!” When the fun ends.

“Sorry Pope, I know it was your first time seeing a bra in all, but I wanna go surf,” you say patting his head and signaling everyone to head out.

Jj and John B laugh at your comment. But Kie, still worried, finally gets up and joins y’all.

—

After a long day of laughing and surfing you all make it back to John B’s place for a movie.

After you all have settled down on the porch, JJ starts up a conversation.

“Guys, I think we should all just dip,” JJ says disappointedly.

“What?” You ask, you knew he was in trouble with the police, and maybe his dad, but it was nothing he hadn’t handled before.

“JJ what about the gol-“Kie starts.

“We lost the G-game, Kie! I don’t even know if things are going to work, I owe 25K as my restitution,” JJ reveals.

Everyone is in shock.

“25 K? Holy shit man,” Pope says.

“We haven’t lost the gold game, we just have to-“ you start, trying to get John B to support you, but Kie shuts you down.

“I know it’s easy for you to be all hopeful with the cushion you have, but not everyone can afford to waste their time,” Kie says sourly, she had a feeling you could help JJ but you were lying about something.

“Cushioning? What the hell are you talking about?!” You say back angerly, you had faith in the gold hunt, what was wrong with that?

“Don’t play dumb!” She demands, giving you a look like she wants to slap your face.

“Whoa, Kie. Calm down, she’s just trying to-“ Jj starts but she continues.

“Your keeping so many secrets! I can tell because I’m not an idiot like all the boys you have fooled. Admit it! You’ve been staying with John B!” Kie starts.

“What are you jealous? God Kie, I’m not sleeping with John B!” You shout.

“Why don’t you just go back to your own fucking house!” She says, in response your face blushes red and you look down at your feet, and away from Kie’s burning words.

“You know, I’ve never actually been to, or seen your house? Is there a reason for that...or are you just obsessed with keeping everything a secret,” Kie begins, standing up.

“Shut up,” you mutter.

“I wonder why?” She tries again.

“Shut up! Why are you trying to start something?!” You ask.

“Because your a liar! And I’m not friends with liars.”

“Kie just leave her alone,” John B says, but Kie didn’t listen.

“How did you get all that cash? You know how would be a good time to mention it, since JJ has 25K to pay,” Kie says, cornering you.

“Cash? What is she talking about,” JJ asks you.

You sigh, defeated, “Fine! If you want to hear me say it, then I’ll say it. I live a house in figure eight, but that doesn’t mean-“

“Your a kook?” a few of them say in unison. Even Kie was shocked.

“No! Guys, come on you know me! I surf, I don’t care about golf or clothes, money matters to me, I fish, the Cut is my home-“

“I can’t believe you were a kook this whole time,” Pope says sadly.

“Guys-“

“Liar...” Kiara mutters.

“You can’t-“ you stifle, your breathing was becoming difficult, was this the moment when your friends turned on you.

“Probably paid for surf lessons,”

That stung your heart, you loved surfing because the waves were an escape, the talent you had at it was all you.

You looked at everyone, they were mad, sad, even disgusted.

“You can’t be serious... wh-what you hate me now? Because I’m a kook?!” You ask your voice shaking, you lied, and they hated you now.

John B gets up and walks inside.

A few tears left your eyes, “please,” you say.

“You lies to us! Pogue life? You weren’t even a pogue! What are we to you then? A way to rebel against your parents? I’m done y/n,” Kie says.

“No, no you guys are my friends,” you say, letting a few more years fall.

“Pope?” You ask, he was looking at the ground.

“All those times we all had jobs to do, where we worked for the food on our table! Where were you?!” Pope asks, hurt.

All your friends hate you, “JJ? You ask slowly.

“She was helping us,” he pauses.

“W-What?” You ask.

“When we had our jobs...she was helping us,” JJ doesn’t make eye contact with you.

John B returns, “here,” he says, throwing you your bag of stuff.

“No,” you whimper, “guys it’s still me, Y/n!” You try and reason.

“You’re not just a kook, you’re a liar,” Kie says standing up and approaching the door.

JJ puts his hand on Kiaras shoulder and stopped her from leaving.

“Why do you think she lied, huh?” JJ breaks the silence.

Everyone looks at him, “Because we would react like this! Look at us, y/n has done nothing but been a good friend to all of us. Pope, she always helped deliver groceries. John B, she never once doubted your dad or the g-game. And Kie, she spent days teaching you how to surf, and protesting ocean plastic! And to me, she’s comforted me about my dad even when I pushed her away. God, I love her. I don’t care if she’s a kook, guys it’s just a name. She’s been a better friend than a kook. And you all love her too,” JJ says, angry at his friends for being so petty.

Kie looks at you crying quietly, “I’m an idiot,” she breathed, then she stands up and hugs you. You hug her back. John B joins next, muttering that he’s sorry, Pope joins. And after a few seconds you all pull out.

“Guys, I was never doing this to spite my parents or any of the kooks. You guys are literally the best friends I’ve ever had. I can’t loose you all,” you explain.

“Sorry we were so dumb,” Pope says, “well except jj,” he says, “that’s a sentence I never thought I’d say,”

You turn to JJ, he looks at you with a sweet smile, he basically saved you, with love you run up to him and jump into his arms, he supports your back, hugging you tight.

“I love you, JJ,” you whisper in his ear. He pulls out to see your face, within seconds, he presses his lips against yours, you moving yours along with him, accepting his kiss.

[robinofinashiro]

request from anonymous: “could i request something for shiggy? maybe she’s apart of Kai’s gang but friends with Dabi and when Overhaul asked for his help, Dabi mentions that he had connections to him and after the entire battle ends, shiggy somehow gets you onto his team?? sorry if this was confusing!!” 

request status: CLOSED 

pairing: shigaraki tomura x fem! reader 

“dabi, what are you doing here!” you asked, taking a sip of your drink, “I can’t just hang around here?” Dabi asked, taking a seat next to you. you rolled your eyes, handing your drink to the bartender to refill. 

you spun yourself to face him, “this is yakuza territory, Dabi. if I remember correctly, League of Villain members don’t usually hang around us,” you taunted. 

Dabi sighed as you grabbed your drink and let him pull you over to a more secluded corner. he knew that his boss had been in contact with yours over a few ‘endeavors’ lately.

“what the hell does your boss want with mine?” he asked a bit more seriously. you laughed a little too loudly, “why are you interested in Overhaul all of a sudden? I had no idea they were in contact,” Dabi could tell you were lying through your teeth. 

he stared at you more intensely making you sigh, “he wants to know if Shigaraki would be interested in working with him over something with the girl he has hostage,” you murmured. Dabi scoffed, “what girl?” he asked. 

you looked around for a moment, “I don’t know much but I guess she has something to get rid of quirks. truthfully speaking, the one you should be asking these questions should be Chrono. the only reason why I know any of this is because I watch over the child sometimes and just dragged into their meetings sometimes,” you explained sincerely. 

Dabi could tell you were telling the truth as you spoke up again, “so why are you talking to me specifically? for enough money, Chrono could have talked to you about this,” you mentioned. 

“well, that’s because Shigaraki would probably say yes if you went to that meeting at your bosses place tomorrow. he gets nervous around people like you and if you happen to be in the room, he might agree and stop being such a prick to everyone.” 

you gave him a look of confusion before sighing, “I’ll have to see if Kai even allows me in. the most I can do is lead them to the room. somethings even he won’t allow me to hear but I’ll try my best to introduce myself,” you mentioned.

Dabi nodded, taking a swig of his alcohol. you sighed disappointedly and he could tell the same thing was wrong. he didn’t need to know because he had already heard you complaints once before. 

you weren’t too happy about being apart of Kai’s gang. he knew you didn’t exactly fit into his kind of crime activity. the only reason why you even joined his gang to being with was because of your father. he had been great friends with Kai’s old man and when your father passed, you were the last ‘heir’ to your dad’s gang and stayed for comfortability reasons. 

“you know there’s always openings in the League. I’ve told you more than once to leave the Shie Hassaikai,” Dabi basically lectured. you shook your head no, “I’m basically tied to Kai until something happens. he knows exactly who to talk to if he finds out what happened to me and I don’t want anything to happen to any of you.” 

as Dabi was about to speak up, you cut him off. 

“call me soft, I don’t care but I can’t just leave the girl. I know what we do to others is horrible but the girl is six and being mistreated. the smallest bit of humanity left in my heart is begging me to make sure this girl is safe. even if it is in the hands of heroes.” 

Dabi didn’t understand your thought process but regardless, he tried too. he had known you for years now and knew you weren’t as harsh as Kai or Shigaraki. there was this soft side to you and he saw it from time to time. 

“but I’ll see if Kai lets me in. just try to warn your boss about Overhaul’s attitude. the way Shigaraki walks into that meeting will set the tone for everything that follows.” 

once you explained everything to Dabi, you quickly escorted him out the bar as you noticed Chrono walking in. you put on the beak mask and scrolled through your phone as he sat next to you. he looked to the door, a bit confused. 

“who just left?” he asked. you shook your head, “no one. why?” you asked back. 

the two of you stared at each other not bothering to say much else before you got up. you gave one final look to Chrono, “tomorrow should be interesting, right?” he remained staring at you as you laughed and finally left. 

+

the following morning, you got up and showered as you received the message you knew you were awaiting on. Kai had messaged you saying that the leader of the League of Villains was going to come to the hideout to give his answer. 

you put on an outfit, something you knew might give you an edge when Shigaraki first saw you. you knew that if tomorrows meeting went alright, both Kai and Shigaraki would get off be getting off everyone’s cases for the next few days. 

as soon as you finished getting ready, you received the message that Shigaraki, seemingly on his own, was ready to be let in. you had received a message from Dabi earlier in the day that Shigaraki was in an okay mood. 

being that Shigaraki believed he had the upper hand for the meeting, he was basically walking on cloud nine. 

you put in the passcode and walked to the gate to unlock it. you quickly fixed your hair one last time and opened the gate. you felt a bit stupid that you had even went out of your to do your face considering Kai had you walking around the hideout wearing the plague mask. 

“welcome Shigaraki,” you said ushering him inside. he stared at you without saying anything for a moment, “you’re Dabi’s friend, aren’t you?” he asked. 

you felt yourself falling stiff to his comment, not really knowing what to do besides nodding. “he’s told me about you. he’s mentioned that you aren’t exactly excited to be here,” he explained, “that you might feel the same way I do about your boss.” 

“I guess you could say that. Kai isn’t the most pleasant to be around,” you felt yourself wanting to shake Dabi by the shoulders the next time you saw him for outting you like that, “but I hear you and him have some unfinished business to attend to?” you mentioned.

Shigaraki nodded as you led him through multiple hallways, him complaining about how ridiculously long the walk was. you couldn’t help but laugh. you had never been around someone like Shigaraki before. the people in Kai’s gang were either very uppity and tight or nearing to be clinically insane. 

you could tell that from time to time, Shigaraki would look at you, almost as if he was checking you out. you wanted to call him out but you knew it was best to keep any comments to yourself until the meeting ended. 

“well, here’s the room you’ll be meeting Kai in,” you murmured as you opened the door. you saw Chrono, Kai, and Mimic already sitting down, “Shigaraki, sir,” you told Kai as he nodded. 

just as you were about to leave, you went to open the door when Shigaraki grunted, “the woman stays,” he practically yelled. you stared at him as Kai sighed and motioned you back in. 

you stood behind him and in the middle of Mimic and Chrono. the two of them got too speaking about the negotiations for when everything finally went down. you heard them bickering about Kai’s offer on Toga, Kurogiri, and Twice. Kai wanted all three while Shigaraki only wanted to give Toga and Twice. 

“fine, you can have the two as long as your assistant stays with us until the mission is completed.” Kai’s eyes widened, not expecting him to want you in return. he looked back at you, as if you had a say in anything, “Overhaul, this is your mission, whatever you choose to do with me, I cant say no,” you explained. 

Shigaraki saw you basically fall submissive to Overhaul and he wondered what the hell you owed Kai to make you so submissive to him. 

“no exceptions, the girl comes with us and in return, I’ll let you borrow Twice and Toga,” he restated. Overhaul quickly agreed as you felt yourself sigh in relief and nervousness. if Kai was this quick to get rid of you, you wondered if he even valued you as a member to the Hassaikai, “what is it that you even want from her?” Overhaul asked. 

“if any of my members die in the process of your mission being carried out, she immediately becomes a member to the League of Villains,” Shigaraki said as calm as possible. you felt yourself clutch Chrono’s sleeve in nervousness, “I know who her father was and I think you undervalue her power for someone who’s high up in the Yakuza. her connections could bring us more members to the League of Villains and who knows, maybe over power every other gang who’s attached to the underground crime syndicate.” 

Overhaul remained silent as you walked yourself over to Shigaraki and stood by his side. you had no idea of what to make of the feeling that was bubbling up in your gut but as you stood next to Shigaraki, you felt the overwhelming feeling of sudden power. you knew that the LoV only had one leader but standing next to him made you feel the same way Chrono must have felt next to Kai.

“and if our mission is successful, we get her back. no exceptions,” Kai replied as Shigaraki and yourself made your way out, “we might need her in the future,” he added.

Shigaraki couldn’t help but laugh as he looked back to Kai. 

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we? she’d look great as a member of the League of Villains.” 

+

the day finally came when the heroes and the yakuza were finally going head to head. you had been hearing all of the plans from Shigaraki who had been hearing them from Toga and Twice. 

within the few days that you were with Shigaraki, you got to know him slowly but surely. he wasn’t exactly an open book but Dabi did drop hints that you knew more about Shigaraki than maybe anyone else did in the league. 

“we have the bullets in our possession,” Toga said through the walkie-talkie. you quickly grabbed the walkie-talkie from Shigaraki, “Toga, do you know if they took Eri?” you asked a bit softly, “do the heroes have her?” you asked again. 

Shigaraki gave you a confused look, “yeah, they wheeled her away in the ambulance!” Toga exclaimed as you felt yourself sigh in relief, “thanks Toga!” you said before giving the walkie-talkie back to Shigaraki. 

between the two of them, you realized that Shigaraki was planning on stopping the ambulance that held Overhaul inside. you jumped inside of the truck with them, sitting next to Dabi and Shigaraki, as you ran your fingers through your hair. 

Dabi quickly stopped the ambluance as you and Shigaraki stared at each other, “I think he might be a little to hurt to do anything to you,” Shigaraki said as the four of you jumped out of the truck and walked towards Shigaraki who was pinned to the stretcher. 

you stood next to Shigaraki as he basically taunted Kai about having the bullets that he worked so hard to perfect. you didn’t feel the need to say much as Shigaraki grabbed Kai’s lower arms and instantly started to decay it, Kai letting out a piercing scream of agony. 

“I think she’ll be coming with us, isn’t she?” Shigaraki said as he slung his arm over your shoulder, “I told you, Kai. she’s better off in the League of Villains than she is in the Shie Hassaikai.” 

you stared down at Kai before crouching down, “sorry Kai but it’s time say goodbye,” you whispered in his ear before getting back up and standing next to Shigaraki, “it’s time my quirk and connections finally be used for something,” you added on as all four of you walked away from Kai who started screaming again. 

you looked to Shigaraki and gave him the tiniest smile, “welcome to the League of Villains,” he said proudly as you nodded. you had no idea what your future held with Shigaraki and Dabi but you knew that with Shigaraki’s urge to gain power, it was going to be a lot more interesting. 

plus, you knew that Shigaraki and you had a connection, not the same one both you and Dabi had together. this one was different. different meant good, right? 

[judylicious]

And When He Smiles I Swear I Can’t Breathe

Alan Rubin x fem!Reader

Word count: 1,647

Fandom: Blues Brothers

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Blues Brothers characters or movies. This refers to Alan Rubin as a character in the movie, not the real Alan (although he obvsly played himself but you know what I mean)

I’d like to add that I made everyone of the band a few years younger (so the age gap between the reader and Alan isn’t that big), so he’s approx. in his early 30s.

Sophia & Lisa are two OCs created by two lovely people within the fandom.

Warnings: guns, violence, swearing

Chapter XI

“I swear to God, touch her one more time and you’re a dead man.” “Ahh look who’s finally decided to join us, you’re little kike.” “Stop it, dad!” “I know you’d be here.”, Frank smirked, giving Alan a disrespectful nod. “You’re ex came to see me a few times, affirming what I thought was going on all along. And then I saw your precious car standing in front of the house, finally giving me a chance.” “A chance to do what, Sir?”, Alan asked in a calm tone. “To get rid of you, you dumb ass.”, Frank laughed before pulling out a gun from under his shirt.

 “Are you out of your mind?!” “Stay calm.”, Alan whispered to Charlotte and immediately took a step back, pushing her carefully behind him. “Sir, what exactly is your problem with me? I’m sure we can talk this out.” “You’re taking away my daughter.” “Sir, I will not. You can always stay in contact if both of you want it.” “You don’t get it. I need her, sooner or later. I need her close to me.” “Dad I don’t understand, what do you mean?” “I’m sick Charlie, very sick, I’ve already lost one kidney and it won’t be long til my other one will stop working.” He slowly sank the weapon. “So, we can start looking for a donor organ, the hospital will give us some support!” Charlotte was about to get closer to Frank but Alan stopped her. Frank shook his head “Don’t you get it? YOU are my donator. My tissue type is rare, so we were told to look within our own family. And you’re a 97% match, that’s as good as perfect.” “But when it’s time for your transplantation, you will always be able to reach Charlotte.” “Alan I don’t wanna-“ “Shh!” “Nah nah, that’s pretty unreliable, don’t you think?”, Frank raising his gun again. Before it was pointed at the two again Alan jumped at Frank, trying to get a grip on the weapon. “Alan! No!” Charlotte panicked. The two men were fighting wildly. Frank bashed his elbow into Alan’s face but his hands stayed on the gun. Both were shouting, hitting each other until Charlotte couldn’t see what was going on anymore. Then there was a loud gun shot and the two man stopped moving. “Alan? Alan! Alan no!”. Charlotte quickly made her way to her trumpet player. “Are you okay? Say something!” She turned him around and saw blood on his hands and on his shirt. “Alan talk to me!” The musician opened his mouth but no words left his lips. He tried to get a hold onto the drawer but sank to the floor. Charlotte kneeled on the floor beside him, stroking his face. “I- I don’t… .”, Alan stammered, looking over to Frank. It was only know when Charlotte noticed he had fallen on he floor, too. By now there was a small puddle of blood underneath his body and Charlotte realised the blood on Alan wasn’t his own, giving her some relief.Quickly the girl came to her senses and ran downstairs calling the ambulance before turning back to Alan. She stroke his hair “Are you okay?” “I- I killed him… I…” “Calm down, Alan.” Charlotte pulled him close. “It will all be fine, trust me.”It didn’t took the ambulance long to arrive and they quickly took care of Frank. They stretchered him off and brought him to the nearest hospital, while the police took care of Alan and Charlotte. The officers weren’t sure of what to believe yet, so they took Alan into custody until they had more evidence of the occurrence.

The next day Charlotte had to get to the police station to testify and broke into tears, telling the police about her father’s aggressive behaviour in the past not aware she was giving Alan a pretty good motive for murder. After that she was finally permitted to see Alan and was led into a small room with a table inside, the musician already waiting on her. “You’ve got 10 minutes, Miss.”, the officer told her. “Hey honey!”, he greeted her with a smile and was about to hug her, when the officer watching the two cleared his throat. “No touching.” So Alan backed off disappointedly. Charlotte smiled back at him, just happy to see him. They both took a seat at the table. “So, how are you?” “I’m okay.”, the girl murmured. “Alan… my dad passed away this morning. The doctors say there were complications with his wound due his his disease.” “I am so sorry, hun, I know you two weren’t close but-“ “Alan, that’s not the point! I don’t grieve for him, this is about you! You’ll be charged for murder now instead of attempted manslaughter!” He lowered his gaze. “Do you have any news from the police?” Oh God she wanted to hug him so badly. He shook his head, still looking down at his hands fidgeting. “And your lawyer?” “Advised me to confess.” “Although we don’t even know who pulled the trigger?” Alan was hit by a wave of panic and grabbed onto Charlotte’s arm desperately. “I can’t go to jail. Look at me! They’ll have me for breakfast.” He suddenly pulled away as the officer let out a sharp whistle. “I’m gonna face fuckin lifetime, here!” Charlotte could feel she was close to tears but told herself to pull herself up, for Alan’s sake. “I’m not the youngest anymore, I’m gonna die in here! Christ, this would never have happened…” but he stopped himself when he saw Charlottes face, looking at him teary-eyed. The girl quickly jumped up from her chair, making her way to the door. “Wait! Charlie! I didn’t mean it like that.” “Hell you did! Why don’t you just admit that I’ve been nothing but a big pain in the ass for you?!” And with that she yanked the door open and left.

As she reached Alan’s flat she finally had cooled down and came to her senses. Charlotte’s mother and sister didn’t spoke a word to her since Frank had passed, so after the police had finished turning upside down Alan’s flat, the girl sought refuge at his place. She knew Alan didn’t mean to say that. He was simply afraid and nervy about what’s going to happen to him and she felt terrible about the things she yelled at him. In the following days Charlotte did everything in her power to help Alan. She kept trying to reach his lawyer for any news and also tried to hire a different one but since Frank had such a high reputation no one was up to defending “his murderer”. Sophia and Lisa also did their best to give their friend any needed support but felt just as helpless as Charlotte in the end. 

Another week passed when Alan gave Charlotte a call. “Hello?” “It’s me, can you come and see me?” “Sure, you got any news?” “Er, yeah, yeah I do.” “So what is?” “I’d rather tell you in person.” “Why? Alan, please, is it good news?” “Just come by, will you?” “Of course, I’m on my way.” And with that she quickly hang up and hurried to the prison. There she was shown to the same room as last time. Again, Alan was inside already, waiting. “Alan what is it?”, the girl stormed into the room hysterically. “Hey, Charlie!”, he cupped her face with his hands and gave her a lingering kiss. “I - I don’t understand.” She gave the officer a confusing look. “I’m free. I can go.” “What? How? I mean.. why?” “They finally found out who pulled the trigger, something to do with burn marks on both Frank’s and my hands. However they know it was Frank who held the gun and pulled the trigger! I’m innocent!” “That’s amazing!” She pulled her man into a big hug. “You don’t seem too happy, Alan. What’s the matter?” “I am, I really am. I just-“ He took a deep breath in and out. “I’ve a difficult time believing all this. I thought I’d end up in jail for the rest of my life.” “But you’re not, God I’m so happy!”, she pressed her face against his chest, listening to the beat of his heart for a moment, before she pulled away again and the two made their way home, after signing a couple of papers.It took a few days for the report to be officially finished and published but when Sylvia read it, she felt awful for believing Alan killed his husband. In the end all he wanted was to help and protect Charlotte. So she invited the over, hoping he’d forgive her. Alan opened the passenger door and helped Charlotte out of his car. They both looked to the kitchen window and saw Sylvia waving at the two.“Mum really is sorry.”, Charlotte tried to comfort her man. “And when it comes to apologising she makes the best food, you’re gonna love it!” She laughed and gave Alan a soft dig with her elbow. She grabbed Alan’s hand, dragging him to the front door when he stopped in his tracks and pulled Charlotte close to him. “I’ve… I’ve never apologised for what I said to you. I didn’t.. I mean I never regretted letting you in my life. I’m really good at screwing things am I?”, he gave her an apologising smile. “And I’m pretty good at running away, too.”, Charlotte joked. “I’m sorry ‘bout my accusations. I know-.” Alan pulled her into a passionate kiss. “You’re so beautiful.”, he said in a soft tone and brushed one of her blonde curls out of her face. “I love you.” She smiled at him, her hands caressing his chest and some of his exposed chest hair. “I love you, Alan.”, before the couple walked inside the house. 

----

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

[wisdom-walks-alone]

we’ve got mistletoe and firelight

a christmas fic for my friend @queerbutstillhere! this was originally for the @damijonsecretsanta but i didn’t finish it in time fhnusihf sorry it’s a bit late korey but you know me DHFUSHYFSL

read it on ao3 The first Christmas was spent in Hamilton County, at Jon and his family’s house. It was snowing. Jon was just about to lose hope for a white Christmas, but mother nature seemed to pull through.

There was excitement in the air, as there always was during this time of year, and Jon was watching as the snow fell lazily outside the window.

"Down, boy," his mom chided, chuckling and putting a hand on his back as he realized he was hovering.

"Sorry, Mom." Jon lowered himself back onto the couch, a sheepish smile on his face.

Mom shook her head, smiling herself. "It's fine, Jon. You know powers are fine in the house, I just don't want you getting in the habit of using them without realizing."

"I know, Mom, I'll be careful," Jon assured her. She ruffled his hair, was met with his protests, then disappeared back into the kitchen to check on dinner.

Just then, Dad walked out of the kitchen, a steaming mug in each hand. He handed the one piled high with whipped cream to Jon, who thanked him avidly. "I would say it's hot and to be careful, but I'm not sure that really matters anymore," Dad commented, and Jon took a tentative sip of his hot chocolate to test it.

It felt fine to him, so he shrugged. "Don't think so. Tastes good, though."

Dad smiled. "You got a little something on your lip there." He pointed and Jon went cross-eyed for a second, then licked the whipped cream off his lips. "You're a bit too young to be shaving, still."

Jon rolled his eyes. "Daaad, you're not nearly as funny as you think you are sometimes."

"It's Christmas, Jon, humor me."

Jon stuck his tongue out and took another sip of hot chocolate.

When the doorbell rang, Jon was the first one up, at the door in a split second, mug left forgotten on the coffee table. “Damian!”

Damian stood in the door, wearing a long coat and a nice shirt and tie, contrasting Jon and his family’s matching sweaters. His dad stood behind him, dressed similarly.

It was a little surreal to have Batman over for Christmas Eve dinner, but then Jon was starting to get used to surreal.

“Bruce, Damian, thank you for joining us!” Jon’s dad came up behind him, placing a hand on Jon’s shoulder. 

“Thank you for having us, Clark,” Mr. Wayne replied, stepping inside and reaching to shake his hand.

“Hello, Corncob.” Damian brushed snow off of his shoulder before shrugging his coat off, handing it to his father when he held out a hand for it.

“You can hang those right here.” Dad gestured to the coat rack. “Dinner’s almost ready. And Lois made pie!”

“Can’t wait. It’s been too long since I’ve had Lois’s pie,” Mr. Wayne said.

“Me, too,” Dad agreed.

“Mom made pie last week,” Jon commented, looking at his dad quizzically.

“Exactly,” Dad replied solemnly.

Damian shakes his head. “Tt.”

Dinner went by without much fanfare. And Mom's pie was delicious, as always. Dad had three slices and Damian's dad had two. Luckily, Mom had thought ahead and made two pies. Always one for preparedness.

Once they were all full and done, Damian wiped his mouth and stood. "Now that dinner is finished, I believe it is time for the main event…" He paused, looking around at all of them. Drama queen. "Presents."

"Yes!" Jon leapt out of his seat and made a beeline for the tree.

"Just one, Jon!" Mom called after him. "It's only Christmas Eve!"

Damian met him by the tree, picking up a box that Jon knew wasn't there before. "Here, open mine."

Jon took the box slowly, looking at Damian. "Really? For me?"

Damian scoffed and turned away. "Yes, Jonathan, for you. Who else would it be for?"

Jon smiled widely. "So we are friends,” he said, smile turning devilish.

“Tt. Don't push your luck.”

“You loooove me,” Jon taunted, floating over Damian’s head. “Can’t get enough of me!”

“Just open your present, Hayseed.”

Jon laughed, landing cross-legged on the floor. He started tearing open the wrapping paper, eyes widening when he saw what was inside.

"Monk-E-Monsters! I've wanted this game for months! How did you know?"

Damian shrugged, a knowing smirk on his face. "I'm Robin," he said simply.

"But I thought it was all sold out until after the Christmas season," Jon remembered, looking at him quizzically.

Damian shrugged again. "I'm also Damian Wayne. I pulled a few strings."

Jon grinned and threw himself at his friend (they were friends, whether Damian liked it or not). "Thanks, Damian."

Damian froze for a second, then relaxed. "Of course," he replied, patting Jon on the back. "Merry Christmas, Jon."

-

Wayne Manor was always cold this time of year. It was an unbelievably old house, and unbelievably big. But gathered in one of the smaller living rooms by a roaring fireplace, it wasn't so bad.

Decorations covered so many of the rooms that Jon would have thought it impossible if he didn’t know who lived here. Even then, the bats must have really had to pull together for something like this—probably all under Alfred’s watchful eye, of course.

A good amount of the caped community was here for one big Christmas party. Jon and Damian's dads were talking with some other members of the League. Dick and his friends were testing how many ornaments he could juggle before dropping one. From his vantage point, Jon guessed they were up to eight or so. He could see some more of Batman's allies in the hallway, Kate and Duke sitting on the stairs chatting, Harper, Cass, and Steph giggling over something on their phones. Conner was hanging out with Tim and the rest of their Titans team, while Jon and Damian sat on the couch with their own Titans playing Super Smash Bros.

"Again?" Gar whined, throwing his hands up.

"Man, you gotta let someone else win every once in a while," Wally added, already resigned. He and Gar sat on the floor, Damian on the couch with Emiko on one side and Jon on the other. Raven sat on Jon's other side, her controller floating in front of her, most of her attention taken up by her drink and her book.

Damian shrugged. "Emiko wins sometimes. So does Raven, when she's paying attention."

"We mean you should let one of us win for once!" Gar wailed.

"You'd win if you were good at the game."

"You little sh—"

"Hey, hey, hey." Jon put a hand on Gar's shoulder to keep him from lunging at Damian. "We are not having a brawl on Christmas."

"But it would be so entertaining," Emiko said disappointedly.

"He is kinda right, though," Raven piped up, not taking her eyes off of her book. "Just get better at the game and maybe you'll win."

"Et tu, RaeRae?" Gar looked up at her, looking like a sad puppy. Literally. He had turned into a little green puppy and was staring up at her pathetically.

Raven wasn't even phased, just turned a page in her book. Jon snorted.

Gar turned back, but the pout remained.

Just then, somebody wolf whistled, and everyone in the room turned to the culprit: Tim. And once everybody saw who it was, they followed his line of sight, right over to Jon and Damian. Jon suddenly felt very vulnerable, which was ironic in of itself, shrinking in on himself a bit while he tried to figure out why everybody was staring at him.

"Hey, Rob." Gar grinned toothily, staring at the space above their heads. Damian's face turned beet red, and Jon looked up to see Kon floating over them, dangling what was unmistakably mistletoe over their heads.

Damian crossed his arms haughtily, pulling a leg closer to his body, clearly trying to downplay his embarrassment. "Tt. As if anyone would partake in your childish holiday games."

Jon couldn't help but laugh. He leaned over, pressing a quick peck to Damian's cheek. "Merry Christmas, Damian." Somehow, Damian's face had managed to turn a deeper shade of red, and he looked away as he pulled his other leg onto the couch.

"Tt. Whatever." Then, when the room had once again filled with chatter and they were about to start another round of Smash, Jon heard Damian mutter a quiet, "Merry Christmas, Jon."

-

Their first Christmas in their new apartment wasn't looking too shabby, if you asked Jon. He was quite satisfied with the way everything was decorated, by the lights laid out on the TV stand, the tree in the corner letting off a soft glow. Of course, Damian was a perfectionist, so obviously everything would look perfect.

Damian walked out of the kitchen with a mug of hot chocolate, sweater sleeves pulled over his hands, and plopped on the couch next to Jon. He pulled the blanket over his bare legs and tucked himself under Jon’s arm, turning his attention to the Hallmark movie Jon had put on. Jon still didn’t understand the point of wearing shorts with a sweater, and when asked, Damian would just shrug.

He leaned his head on Damian’s, nursing his own mug of hot chocolate. “This is nice,” he said, squeezing Damian a bit tighter.

“Arguable. This movie is maybe mediocre at best,” Daman replied, a smirk audible in his voice.

Jon rolled his eyes. “I don’t mean the movie and you know it.” Damian snorted. “I mean this. You. Me. Us. It’s nice.”

“You’re such a sap,” Damian said, turning his face further into Jon’s chest. “But I agree with the sentiment. I must admit, this is nice.” He played idly with the hem of Jon’s shirt, and Jon pressed a kiss to his head as the movie continued to play.

As the credits rolled, Jon stood up, earning him a whine, with grabby hands following after him as Damian flopped the rest of the way onto the couch. Jon chuckled, walking over to the tree and picking up a small box. He brought it back over to the couch, and Damian’s eyebrows scrunched. “It’s only Christmas Eve,” he pointed out.

“Yeah,” Jon agreed, “but I think you deserve to open one tonight. I hope you like it.” He smiled, holding the box out to his boyfriend.

Damian took the box gingerly, undoing the ribbon carefully and lifting the lid. He pulled out a silver charm bracelet, laying it out on his palm so that he could look at the charms. They were small, nothing fancy, just disks with their initials and a pair of green and blue jewels. “Like I said before, you’re a sap,” Damian told him, but he was smiling. “I love it, thank you.”

He pulled Jon in for a kiss, hand on the back of his neck, fingers tangling in his hair. When they pulled away, Jon gestured to the bracelet, and Damian held out his hand as Jon did the clasp.

Damian smiled. “It’s beautiful. Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome,” Jon said, taking his hands. “Merry Christmas, Damian.”

“Merry Christmas, Jon.”

-

Damian's never been one for mornings. So when sunlight spills in through the window, all he does is roll over and push his face into the pillow. It smells like lemon scented shampoo.

The bed dips behind him, and strong arms wrap around his waist, pulling him close to a warm body. Damian relaxes into it.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Jon mumbles into his skin, nuzzling into his neck.

Damian pulls Jon’s arms tighter around him, and he feels Jon press a kiss into his shoulder. “Morning, love,” he replies drowsily, his voice still thick with sleep. He twists and rolls over in Jon’s arms to face him, reaching up to brush a lock of hair from Jon’s face. Jon hums, pulling him in for a kiss.

“Daddy! Baba!” a little voice screeches from down the hallway. “Santa was here, Santa was here! Wake up, wake up, Santa was here!”

Damian groans, turning his face back into the pillows. Jon just chuckles. “Your son is calling.”

“Before 8 AM, he’s your son.”

“Was that a Lion King reference? Color me impressed.”

“Ari! Ari, Santa came!”

Damian sits up at that, Jon’s arms falling to his lap. “Sebastian Phillip Wayne-Kent, do not wake your sister up this early in the morning!”

Jon sits up next to him and drags a hand down his face. “It’s too late, she’s awake.”

An excited shriek sounds from Aria’s bedroom, and Damian sighs into his hands. “You heard her, Hayseed. I’m going back to sleep.”

“You can’t go back to sleep, you have to see what Santa brought you,” Jon teases. Damian flops back onto the bed.

“Nope, it’s too early for this, goodnight.”

Too quick for him to process, Damian is standing in Aria’s room, the excited and very awake toddler standing up in her crib, jumping and bouncing. “That’s cheating!” he calls out the door. Jon just cackles from down the hall.

“Ba!” Aria smacks him on the chest.

“Alright, alright, let’s go, you little terror. Santa came last night.” Damian lifts her out of the crib and settles her on his hip, making his way downstairs, the smell of pancakes, eggs, toast, and coffee flooding his nose. Of course Jon already made breakfast. He continues to the living room, where Jon is just barely managing to restrain Bash from opening anything too soon.

When he sees Damian he finally lets go, and Bash zooms over to the tree, floating around as he looks for which gifts are for him. Seeing Bash’s excitement and wanting to follow suit, Aria wriggles free from Damian’s arms and Jon has to use his superspeed to catch her before she hits the floor.

Damian sighs and drops onto the couch beside Jon, watching Aria toddle after Bash, trying to keep up.

“Look, Ari, this one’s for you!” Bash holds out a large box that’s almost as big as Aria. Damian knows there’s a doll in that one.

“Yay!” Aria sits down on the floor with it and starts ripping it open, and Bash finds one to tear open for himself.

“Hey.” Jon gets his attention and holds out a small box, a dopey smile on his face. Damian takes the box gingerly, taking off the lid. It’s a new ID tag clip for his scrubs, with a rubber cartoon cat. He laughs.

“Thank you, habibi, it’s perfect.” Jon clears his throat and glances up for a second, and Damian follows his gaze to where Jon is dangling a piece of mistletoe above their heads. Jon looks at him expectantly, and Damian laughs as he leans in.

“Eeewww,” Bash cuts in, making a disgusted face at them.

“Eeww!” Aria echoes happily, scrunching her nose in an attempt to copy her brother.

Jon rests their foreheads together as they laugh. He looks up at Damian through his lashes and says, “Merry Christmas, Damian.”

Damian smiles. “Merry Christmas, Jon.”

[tloujm]

Part XX: Champ de Pâquerette

Author’s Notes: This takes place a day after the previous chapter. This part is dialogue heavy and at 3,365 words. Because there is discussion on Joel’s background, it strays from canon. Is it considered “straying from canon” when certain details were never presented officially in the first place?

Genre: Can I get a McFluffy?

Summary: Just another day during the honeymoon. The two of you flirt and talk more about each other’s background. 

Ship: Joel x Fem!Reader

You woke up the next morning to the sound of hammering. You tossed sluggishly around the bed with the expectation of bumping into Joel. Instead, you’re met with an empty bed. As you pushed away the last bits of sleep, it made sense that he was responsible for the sound that woke you up. You walked up to the window with no more than your hair to cover your breasts. You opened it to let in the fresh morning air. You looked out into the backyard and found your husband off to the right fixing the fence blown down by the storm. It was a beautiful view. The backyard was basically a meadow full of wild flowers, mostly daisies. There were less trees in the back than in the front, however, so it was blanketed by rays of sunlight. You smiled as you watched on and you contemplated greeting him. You imagined his reaction; him turning around at the sound of your voice, a smile breaking across that hard exterior at the sight of your disheveled nudity. 

You decided against it in favor of surprising him. He’s surprised you enough these past couple of days; you figured he deserved a little something. You took a quick bath and went down to the kitchen. The refrigerator was one of the things he stocked before he brought you to the place. It wasn’t running, as the cottage did not have electricity, so half of the space inside was full of ice. Just that detail alone, Joel lugging ice from Jackson to this little house so the two of you could eat something other than canned food on your honeymoon warmed your heart. You didn’t know if he had eaten breakfast yet, but knowing him he probably didn’t, so you decided to make some food and bring it to him. Wanting to enjoy the day and eat outside as well, you put together a little picnic. You packed up one of the empty suitcases that he used to bring things over with plates, cups, cutlery and the food that you packaged up so neatly. 

Joel grunted in frustration after the nail he hammered split a piece of wood. He used the back hook of the hammer to take it out and he placed it between his lips. With the hammer still in his hand, he flipped the wood over and positioned it against the other part of the fence. A drop of sweat fell down the side of his face. He only wiped it off with the collar of his shirt after he successfully got the nail through. He took the baseball cap off that he was wearing to fan himself.

“Working hard, cowboy?” You asked as you walked through the back door.

He squinted his eyes to block the light. “Just fixin’ your fence ma’am. Your husband insisted I get’er done ASAP so the place could look nice when you got up.” He raked his fingers through his short hair and placed the cap back on. 

“Oh did he? Well why don’t you take a break from all this hard work and have brunch with me while my husband is gone. I made enough food for two and I hate eating by myself.” You stopped in front of him and the fence; He was still on his knees. You handed him a glass of iced tea that you brewed. 

Joel stood up and took a sip. “You sure your husband wouldn’t mind, ma’am?”

“Let me ask him.” You replied coyly. He let out a breathy chuckle as he watched you turn away from him then turn back around. “Joel, I’m sorry it’s come to this but I’m leaving you and running away with the handyman, but first I’m having brunch with him and there’s nothing you can say or do to change my mind.”

“Ouch.” Joel playfully grabbed at his chest. “You’re a natural heartbreaker ain’t ya?”

You shrugged playfully. “You started it. I just went with it.”

“Well that’s not where I was going.” Joel responded with a chuckle. “ ‘Sides, it’s never too early to start role playing.” He reached up and gave you a sloppy kiss. 

“Meet me ‘round front. We’re having a picnic.” You said with a smile. 

“A picnic?” He repeated.

“Yeah! Just wait. I’ll bring everything out.” You ran back towards the door.

“You need help with anything, (Y/N)?” Joel shouted.

“Nope, just relax in the shade.”

Joel watched as you struggled to bring everything out in one trip. He got up and rushed over to you, but you insisted that he sit back down. He couldn’t just sit and do nothing, so he compromised and stayed on stand by just in case you dropped something. He watched as you laid a blanket down and opened the suitcase full of picnic things. The first thing you took out was the iced tea that you made in what used to be a bulk pickle jar. You refilled his glass before unpacking everything else. 

The two of you ate in relative silence. “What are you thinking about?” You asked him. 

Joel let out a satisfying sigh after another sip. “You.”

“Oh? What about me has you so enthralled.”

“Everything, but I will admit I’ve had a question on my mind since you came out with the drink in your hand.”

“And what’s that?” You asked innocently.

He sat the cup down and leaned in. “When you broke my heart back there with such ease,” He offered a half smile. “I was wondering if maybe it was because you had a little practice back in the day.”

“Is that your silly way of asking me about all the men I had before you?” You winked. 

“You don’t have to share with me anything you don’t want to, but I do feel like you know more about my life than I do yours.”

“Do I? How many women have you been with between me and Sarah’s mother?”

He made a face as to say ‘touche’. “No more than I can count on my left hand.” He exhaled. “The first woman I’d been with after Sarah’s mom was a blind date. Tommy convinced me that I needed to get back out there. At this point Sarah was in kindergarten---”

“Kindergarten? How young was she when she left?” You asked. 

“Her mom left us without any warning, only a note saying that she dropped her off with Tommy and my dad. She couldn’t have been any older than 2 years old.”

“So, she didn’t grow up with any memories of her mom?” You asked. 

He shook his head. “No, and I was fine with that. It was just me and Tommy in her life.” He cleared his throat. “So, yeah, he called himself helping me out by setting me up on a blind date after I refused to try online dating. She was pretty, I’ll admit that, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that me and her weren’t goin’ anywhere past the first date.” He glanced up at you for a moment. He noticed how you were eating his words up before looking back down at his plate. “Despite that, we went back to her place at the end of the date and we slept together.” He sighed disappointedly at himself. “I don’t know why I agreed to go over. It’d been a while since I had any...fun I guess. Taking care of a baby by yourself is lonely.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself.” You spoke up. He shook his head.

“After her, I told my brother no more blind dates. On nights that my aunts or cousins would spend with Sarah, I would go on down to the bar. I’d usually just flirt with the women there, buy them drinks if it was going somewhere. One night though, a woman took me into the bathroom and we had sex in a stall. It wasn’t,” He shrugged. “Nothin’ special. It felt good in the moment, but as soon as it was over and we went our separate ways, there was this feeling of...I don’t know how to describe it.” He took another swig. “You know, I used to work in construction. The guys I worked with, most of ‘em weren’t fathers. The ones who were, were much other than me. I lost most of my school friends after I got married. It was hard for me to make more because all of my time was either at work or at home with the baby. The guys at the site were cool but I was never gonna meet up with them after work for a beer. I had to pick Sarah up from daycare. Imagine how hard it was to meet someone to be more than friends with. My loneliness made me crave those few minutes I had in the bathroom stall again, so the next time I had a free night, I went back to the bar. I was more confident because I knew what I wanted. I ended up having sex with another woman in her car in the bar’s parking lot. Sarah ended up catching pneumonia sometime soon after that. Scared and watching over her in the hospital caused me to realign my priorities. I felt guilty for not being there for her. I was away drinking and fucking to make myself feel better. As tough as it was raising a little kid, Sarah was the only thing that truly made me feel joy. So that was the last time until…”

“You’re telling me, no woman has come on to you? A tall, fine, good with his hands, rough-around-the-edges-but-really-a-big-softie like yourself?” You giggled, he smirked.

“Every once in a while a lady has slipped me her number, but nothing ever came of any of them?” He smirked at the confession.

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “Mostly ‘cause I convinced myself not to. I would tell myself that giving it a chance was not worth it. I’d only been with one woman after the pandemic. Her name was Tess.” With that sentence alone, you already knew that she meant the most out of all of them based off the fact that he remembered her name. “We met at a quarantine zone years after I left the fireflies. I was by myself after Tommy decided to stay with ‘em. I found myself smuggling things in and out of the zone to earn extra ration cards. That’s how our paths crossed. She was a smuggler too. She was one of my contacts. After a while of building up trust, we decided to team up and work together for bigger payoffs. I suppose it was only a matter of time that we’d get together. We had this silent pact that she wouldn’t ask about my past and I wouldn’t ask about hers. It wasn’t a relationship though, I don’t think, not in the traditional sense. We never talked about what it was before she died.”

“How did---” You began to ask.

“She got bit. She didn’t tell me until we were surrounded by some really bad people. She convinced me to leave her behind when she showed me the bite on her ankle. She said that I still had a chance to get away, that she was gonna hold the other guys off while I ran. I almost died that day, but I kept getting back up because I didn’t want her death to be in vain. After a while of hiding, I snuck into another quarantine zone and began smuggling there. I’d only done one job  before my contact told me that my next job was to smuggle a person. I immediately rejected the offer until I heard it was for the Fireflies. I wanted nothing more to do with them after I left their settlement in Texas, but I couldn't help but think about my brother. That combined with the payoff is why I decided to escort you across the whole damn country to their base in Utah.”

It was silent for a moment before you began to share yourself. “My first time was when I spent a few weeks in Britain. It was my high school graduation gift to myself. I wanted to do something fun and adventurous over the summer before starting college. I had never been anywhere before so I saved up for the plane tickets, booked the accommodations; I did everything myself and I was so excited. I stayed at this hostel in Brighton, a seaside city south of London. A Spanish man named David was staying there as well. We’d become friends off the bat and everyday we’d flirt and spend time together.”

“What did he look like?”

“Why? You jealous?” You teased. “He was a little older than me. I was 18, I think he said he was 25. So I guess I got a type.” You playfully wiggled your eyebrows at Joel. “He was tall and very slender and had long, dark, curly hair. So the night before I checked out, I told him I was leaving. He kissed me for the first time and you know what my response was? I asked him if he wanted to fuck! I wanted to be bold and I did have a crush on him. That’s not how I imagined my first time being. I’d only known him for a week. I mean we got along very well, but I always imagined it being with someone I was in a relationship with first.”

“You’d never dated in high school?” He asked.

“No, I had dates to school dances, but never dated. So I went back up to his hostel room. He rented a private room while the room I stayed in had bunk beds, so I was sharing it with others. I told him I was a virgin before anything happened and he was ok with that. He was gentle and kind and everything I needed that night to trust him. I didn’t expect much for my first time, like I didn’t think there were going to be fireworks. I didn’t ask how experienced he was, but I assumed he wasn’t a virgin. The experience as a whole was good. The guy that I was crushing on my whole stay in Brighton respected my mind and my body. That was more than enough to make me swoon. Still I had to leave in the morning. He invited me to stay the night with him and so I did. I had to leave early, just before dawn, so I planned on slipping out and leaving a note, but he caught me before I left and we hugged and said goodbye and he whispered something in my ear in his native tongue. I didn’t know what he said and to this day, I can’t remember the words, so I guess I never will. I’m glad he woke up though. I’m glad he did that.” Joel didn’t know if you had more stories, but he could tell already that this was the one that stuck with you the most. You took in a deep breath before continuing. “So, spring semester of my freshman year I got into my first relationship. He came up to me in the library. I was just watching videos on my laptop, killing time between classes. What’s funny was that I didn’t want to be bothered that day, and there this man was coming up to me saying that he saw me as I walked into the study quad and thought I was pretty. So I close my laptop and sit with him at his table. We ended up talking until I had to leave for class. He asked for my number before I left and the rest was history with that one.” You shrugged.

“That’s it? What happened there?” Joel asked curiously.

“We grew apart.” You shrugged again, thinking back on it. “He was more into me than I was him and after a while, I didn’t see myself getting serious like I knew he wanted and don’t you dare call me a heartbreaker for that.” A tight lined grin broke onto your face. “I didn’t want to dump him, but stringing him along would have been worse. I know what it’s like to be convinced someone’s into you when they’re really not. He was sad, but I’m sure he got over it. I told him we could be friends, but that never happened. I got into another relationship my junior year of college with a classmate from my photography class. I’d known him since my very first semester. We were in the same financial aid program, which meant we had to take a lot of the same gen ed classes. We were always just acquaintances until he asked me out before class one day. I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t find him physically attractive at first, but after we went on several dates and I got to know him, he was all I could think about. I was infatuated and we fucked everywhere.” You blushed. “We fucked in the dark room more than once, in my car, his car. We got caught by the campus police when it was in his car. We did it in the library stairwell, under a small bridge at a park across the street from campus. Things ended when we graduated. He was from out of state, so he was gonna move back home and look for jobs there. I wanted to travel more before committing to a job. I really tried to convince him to travel with me, at least for the summer, and he really tried to convince me to go move with him to his hometown. Neither one of us compromised so that was that.”

“Did you love him?” He inquired.

“I don’t think so. If we loved each other, I feel like we would have tried harder to find a solution. In the very least try a long distance relationship. We were infatuated, horny young adults. I loved my time with him and I definitely cared for him, like I did for my first boyfriend, but I don’t think I ever loved them. Did you love Sarah’s mom?”

“Tyra?” There it was. Now you knew her name. He looked down as he wrung his hands. “I thought I could, but she never gave me a chance to. We liked each other and I grew to care for her and I think she cared for me back. I grew to respect her a hell of a lot more after I watched her give birth, but she didn’t make the idea of loving her easy. Towards the end, we argued a lot and then not at all. There was just nothing until she left.” You took his hands in yours. He accepted your comfort, but did not want to dwell on it. “So where did you end up going?”

“Hmm?” You hummed in question.

“After you broke up with the second guy because you wanted to travel.”

“I had brought a plane ticket to Italy. Trieste, Italy. That country is like an art student’s mecca so I had to go sooner or later. But it never happened. About a week before I was scheduled to go, the pandemic hit and the borders closed. I only chose that date because the layover time was shorter. It cost me though. Just think If I had purchased an earlier plane ticket, because I almost did since it was cheaper. What if I would have gotten stuck in a foreign country when all this went down. Wouldn’t know anybody, wouldn’t know if my family was ok, wouldn’t know how to get back home.”

“We wouldn’t have met.” Joel commented.

“No, I don’t think we would have.”

“Well, I’m glad you bought the more expensive ticket. I’m sorry you didn’t get to see Italy though.”

“I’m sorry too!” You laughed. “I can’t imagine that being the worst country to be stuck in. But I would trade Italy for you any day.”

The two of you laid on the blanket and enjoyed each other’s company until Joel decided it was time to get back to the fence. You asked him if he needed help, but he declined. You settled for sunbathing while you watched him work. After a while, he called it quits for the day and he got cleaned up while you made dinner. 

[imagination-is-key-in-my-world]

Lockdown

Authors Note: I am a British writer and luckily enough I have never actually had to experience something like this happening. I cannot imagine what it must be like. There is reference to the ‘shooting’ during the fanfiction, therefore, I do not blame anyone if they differ from reading this. Nothing is graphic and if anything it only gets mentioned for a small portion and there is no one hurt either. I would really like to do a part two. Let me know if anyone is interested.

Summary: It was just a normal day in Beacon Hills. Y/N and her friends were going about her business when a gun threat disrupted the balance of things. Strangers and potential foes grew closer as their lives hung in the balance.

Warning: Gun Threat, Swearing, Adult Language and Themes

Pairing: Reader x Stiles Stilinski

Word Count: 3,787

“You can not tell me that you didn’t just see that look he gave you?” Jackson brushed up against my side as I tried to jot down the new notes that Coach was terribly transcribing on the chalk board. I mean was that even spelt correctly, how did this man become a legal teacher?

“It is probably just in your head Jackson.” I counter.

“No he is seriously giving you the stink eye. What is McCall’s problem?”

I shrug him off as he is up to his typical shit stirring mode. Jackson and I are neighbours and long-time friends. Since I was nine, we were barely ever apart, we shared our biggest secrets with one another. Mine was that I am the daughter of two illusive demon hunters. I am the only person who knows that he has been pretending to be someone who he is not. Jackson has been in a secret relationship with Ethan. Deep down Jackson was a sweetheart. A sweetheart who cannot control his mouth or fists but Ethan and I are working on that.

“Come on Y/N!” He bumped my arm which made my hand jerk and my notes start to resemble that of Coach’s horrible penmanship. If there is one thing that I hate, its when my notes are not written one hundred percent perfectly. I slam down my pen and turn abruptly in my chair to face Jackson, which sparks some attention from the brunette boy on the table in front. He did not fully turn his head around which was lucky for me as my cheeks immediately go red from embarrassment.

“What is your problem Jackson?” I enquire, nostrils practically flaring which only invoked a chuckle from my best friend.

“Take that chip off of your shoulder and listen to me would you.” He countered as he pushed a note into my hand. “Read this and tell me you wish I left you to copy down that gibberish from the board.”

I huffed and started to carefully unfold the piece of paper. Coach didn’t really care if we showed up to the lesson, let alone if we were actually listening. I read it three times before I actually registered what the words were telling me.

Hey Y/N If you could would you be able to meet me in the west stairwell after 3rd period? You look really pretty today, btw    

“Jackson, who is this from?” The boy shrugged and dropped his head to focus on the words coming out of Coach’s mouth. “Don’t pretend like you care about what he is saying” I gesture to the shaggy haired man “now tell me at least who you got this from.”

Jackson pointed to Lydia who was not at all aware of the two pairs of eyes on her as she casually scribbled in her journal. “But I have no clue who had the note before her. It was probably that McCall.” He sneered. I exhale disappointedly, as much as Scott was a nice guy and all, I don’t want this to be from him. I do not have anything against the guy, he is just not someone who I would want to be interested in me. He seems to always be around trouble, and that is something I cannot be involved in.

“Why don’t you just go and see who it is. I will go with you and if it turns out to be McCall, I will rescue you.” He gave my hand a slight squeeze for reassurance and gazed down at my notebook. “By the way what did you get for number four?”

I laugh a little too loud which causes the brunette to turn around and give me a quick glance that I couldn’t translate in time before he was facing the front again. Again, my cheeks flared, the same way that they do every time his eyes meet mine. I shake the thought away and turn back to my friend. “Jackson, did you think this was a test the whole time? Number four is literally asking you to write down your height.”

 _____________________________________________________________

I was packing my stuff into my bag as the bell rang. “So, are you going to meet this mystery person?” Lydia enquired as I put my water bottle into the slot at the side of my bag, looping the strap over my one arm.

Lydia and I do not really talk, but considering she was my only lead on who this note could have been from, I bit the bullet and spoke to my lab partner. As we were filling the beakers with corrosive liquid, I came straight out with it. “So, about this note you handed to Jackson for me? Do you know who it was from?”

Lydia shook her head, a little startled that I asked her a question that wasn’t ‘can you pass me the pipette?’ “No, to be honest I can not even say who had passed me the note. When I looked down from the board it was just there lying on top of my journal. I am sorry Y/N, I wish I were able to help more but I honestly wouldn’t be able to say who gave it to me.”

I was a little discouraged by only knowing what I did during first period and it was now third. I was meant to meet this person in only a matter of minutes. Lydia and I continued to talk throughout the class. She was really nice to talk to, but I could sense that there was something about her that wasn’t normal. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was something.

“I have no clue if I am going to go or not.” I admit, letting the anxiety slip in. It would be hard enough for me to go through with it even if I knew who it was I was going to meet up with. This person said I was ‘pretty,’ for all I knew this could be a joke. That’s all I needed, I was already the girl with all the ancient supernatural protection runes all over my person and possessions. My mum and dad are hunters, and I have been brought up in a world where I cannot go anywhere without some protection. The salt and holy water in my bag is proof of that.

“Well, I hope whoever it is, knows how amazing you are. If he doesn’t, he will have me to deal with.” She bumped my hip with hers and waved as she left the lab.

I picked up the last item on the table and turned to leave the classroom when I was knocked onto the floor, landing hard on my butt. At first, it felt as though I had walked straight into an invisible force field. Little had I registered that it was a person.

“Oh shit!” It was the brunette from this morning. ‘Dammit’ I thought. I could already feel my cheeks start to turn red. Why did this always have to happen. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to; I wasn’t looking where I was going.” The brunette boy bent down to help me up from the floor.

I brush off my jeans once I am back on my feet, avoiding making eye contact with the boy in front of me. He too looked really nervous as if this incident was his worst nightmare. “I- it’s o- okay.” I stutter. Really voice, of all the times you want to fail me, it’s now. “I w- was just going.” I try to walk past him when a blaring siren started ringing throughout the school.

Panic flashed across my face and his too. Everyone’s worst nightmare, a gun drill. The siren was one hundred percent recognisable. “Get down!” The brunette boy threw himself at me as I yet again landed flat on my backside but with him on top of me this time. We were both frozen for a couple of seconds, my eyes locked on his and it might sound girly, but I could literally lose myself in them.

Finally, he lifted himself up off me and slid underneath one of the tables. I copied and mirrored him under the table in front of his. “I’m sorry, I thought I saw someone walk past the window inconspicuously behind you. I just panicked.” His eyes searched my body, the way that I was now hugging my legs, resting my chin on top of my knees. “Oh God, did I hurt you?” Fear flooded his face at the thought that he may have caused me any pain.

I shake my head. “No.” I whisper. “I’m okay, thank you.” My hand instantly goes to play with the locket that hung around my neck.

“What’s that?” His eyes caught my fingers tracing the metal details.

I freeze. “What’s what?”

The brunette flicked his head towards the chain that was between my fingers.

“Oh, it’s a necklace my dad gave me, to protect me.”

The boy smiled. “That’s cool. My dad gave me a baseball bat to protect me.” I felt the corners of my lips rise into a slight smile.

“I bet you wish you had it now?” I enquire.

The boy sniggered. “If only a bat was an equal match.” I knew what he was on about. A bat could not compare to a gun. “Wanna know something funny?”

“Something funny would be great right about now.” I could feel my foot start to twitch the way that it did when my mum and dad were out on a hunt. Total and utter uselessness. I was a sitting duck.

“My dad once told me that I am always at the centre of some drama.” He let out a sigh. “That wasn’t really that funny was it?”

I shake my head but smile. “Your dad seems like a smart man.”

He smiled and raised a hand to ruffle his hair. God why did he look so good when he did that. “He has to be, I mean he is the sheriff.”

“You’re the sheriff’s son?” I question my eyes went wide in shock. I had heard a lot about this boy. He was best friends with Scott McCall and his dad is right, he always seemed to be in trouble.

He smiled beautifully if that were possible during a terrifying circumstance. “Yeah, you didn’t think it was a coincidence that I am called Stiles Stilinski and there would be no relation to Sheriff Stilinski?” His smile and baffled tone made me smile back at him. “It’s not as common as most surnames. I mean what’s yours?”

“Winchester.” I reply.

“Now that is not a common surname.” He leaned out from under the desk with his arm stretched out. I took his in return. “Nice to meet you Y/N Winchester.”

“You too Stiles Stilinski.” My eyes locked onto his and our hands clung to each other. It felt like we had been holding hands for hours, completely frozen in each other’s gazes.

Suddenly there was a loud pop that rang throughout the building. This tore our hands apart finally. I retreated under the table and moved my legs back up to my chest, creating a shield. Stiles did the same but did not take his eyes off me. I started gripping onto my locket as my breathing became more rapid. I was normally better at threats, my parents dealt with the supernatural world. They battled ghosts, demons, vampires and even werewolves and yet a civilian with a gun going around the school, finger on the trigger, changed me into a nervous wreck.

There was this scuffling noise and suddenly there were arms around me holding me tight. “Shh, its okay Y/N.” Stiles was holding onto me, trying his best to soothe my breathing down. “Breathe with me okay. Copy me. Y/N, you need to look at me.” His hands were either side of my face as he whispered to keep our location a secret. “You can do this. Ready?”

My eyes locked onto his, tear stains running down my cheeks. I watched him attentively as he took each breath. I copied never losing eye contact with those light brown eyes. “That’s it. One more time okay?” His thumb caressed my cheek as I nodded. My breathing finally falling back into place. I take my last breath and let it fall. “That’s it.”

I thought now that my breathing was back to normal that Stiles would release me, but he didn’t. He held his grasp onto my body and did not look away. “Are you okay?” He whispered, his voice getting caught in this throat. Part of me wanted to say yes, to pretend that I was this tough girl. But the boy had just seen me during a panic attack. Me saying that I was not okay wasn’t going to come to be that much of a surprise. I shake my head.

“It’s okay not to be okay sometimes.” I went to wipe a tear that was falling from my cheek but Stiles was there before I got a chance. “Do you want to know a secret?”

I nod, dropping my legs from my chest. “I’m afraid of a lot of things. My friends and I, we face a lot of scary things and for most of it, I feel like I will die. But the thing is, we could die. But that could happen any day and at any time. I believe that we live through the scariest moments in our lives so that we can tell people about them.”

“What was the scariest moment in your life?” I ask, my voice all croaky from holding back the tears.

“Well apart from this one?” He pauses as he gathers his thoughts. “The scariest moment in my life was the day that something possessed my best friend and it led him to almost commit suicide.” I gasp, shocked by what he had just confessed.

“What happened?” I have dealt with possessions before, that wasn’t the part that shocked me.

“Well we went on a school trip and there was something supernatural that had possessed my friends, they were driven to madness. Scott picked up a flare, he was covered in gasoline, it was all around him.” He broke off as his voice cracked. “I walked over to him and held his hand and the flare. I told him that if he needed to do it, then we were both going to go. I was and always will be by his side.”

I took his hand this time and I felt him jump. “I had no idea. I am so sorry that that happened.” Stiles was staring at our entwined hands.

“But the other scariest moment in my life was when I wrote you that note.” I felt a sharp thump to the chest. I was so stupid, how did I not know it was the cute boy who sat in front of me in practically every class that we had together. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.” I respond. Stiles had not lifted his head since our hands connected.

“Were you going to come and meet me? I mean obviously before all of this happened.”

I stop and think. Was I? I hadn’t given that moment another thought since the siren went off. It felt like days ago I had been handed the note. “I don’t know.”

“Oh.” Stiles’ tone was defeated and sombre. His grip on my hand also weakened the minute my response registered. “I know it was a stupid thing to do. I just thought that if I was going to take a jump and finally try to ‘make my move’ as they say.”

“Stiles, it’s not that I don’t appreciate the gesture-“

“It’s just you don’t like me. I get it. I actually get it a lot.” His head dropped and he tried to pull away. I feared that he was going to leave me alone under the table and return to his own.

“No stiles it wasn’t that-“

“Is it cause I’m weird looking? Dad and Scott say I look a little odd.” The boy was rambling.

“No you’re not weird looking-“

“Then it is because of the way I talk isn’t it?”

“No it-“

“It’s my clothes then isn’t it? I dress in a lot of tartan. You know some people say-“ I grab the boy, placing a hand behind his head I pull his lips towards my own. Stiles’ eyes widened the second my lips connected to his. But soon enough his hands drifted from his side and tied themselves in my hair pulling me deeper into the kiss. It was as if Stiles had come alive once we kissed. Our lips moved in time with each other almost as if they were made to do this and only this. The shy boy became more confident and definitely more dominant as his tongue lightly brushed my bottom lip. I let his tongue meet my own, and his moan vibrated against my mouth.

Our bodies moved in sync with each other. My one hand entwined in his hair while the other draped down his back. His were on my hip and the back of my neck as we both pushed ourselves closer together if that were possible.

When I broke the kiss, his pupils were wide in surprise and desire. “Why did you stop?” Stiles questioned, brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear.

“I would have met up with you Stiles.” I whisper into his ear. When I pull my head away from his neck his eyes were wider than they were when the kiss broke apart. “But maybe next time, you should author your notes, perhaps?”

A cheeky grin spread out across his face as my words registered. “Wait, does that mean I forgot to say it was from me, that you’d be meeting me.” I nod as the boy put the puzzle pieces together. “I am an idiot.” The boy slapped his own forehead at his carelessness. “Can I ask you another question?” I smile and nod. “Can we do that kiss again? I really liked it.”

The smirk on his face was enough for me to give into his charms. Before I could lean in, Stiles had grabbed me by my hips and pulled me onto his lap. I hooked my arms around his neck and allowed his lips to connect with mine, his hands firmly on the space between my hips and my ass. It was a bit of a squeeze under the table, the top of my head was rested on base of the table. I was aware that I may have gum in my hair because of this, but I didn’t care. Hearing his moans as my hands trailed from the back of his neck and down his spine was enough for me to crumble within his arms.

Stiles’ lips drifted away from my own but instantly connected into the crook of my neck. This time it was my turn to let out a moan. “Stiles.” I sighed when he hit the right spot and began to suck on it with his hot breath spreading across my skin.

Both of us jumped apart when we heard a cough from the front of the lab. There stood Scott McCall. I was just thankful that it wasn’t Coach or any other member of the School Faculty. I looked back at Stiles who for once didn’t seem happy to see his best friend. “Not exactly what we were taught to do during a school shooting, Stiles.” He nodded towards me “Y/N, Jackson is worried about you, he said you were not answering your phone.”

Stiles detangled me from his lap and helped me to my feet in front of the table rather than being under it as we had previously been.

I pulled out my phone and funny enough there was sixteen missed calls from Jackson and twenty-two messages from him as well as a couple from my own father. Not cool Jackson do not get my dad involved in this.

“What are you even doing out in the open, Scott?” Stiles grilled. “There is a school shooting going on you know.”

“Dude that ended about twenty minutes ago, your dad came arrested the guy. The teachers announced that we could all go home. I was on my way home when Jackson came up to me and asked me if I had seen Y/N. When I told him no, he went into panic mode and started running up and down the corridors.”

I felt my phone vibrate in my hands, Jackson again. “Hello?”

“Oh my God. Thank God you’re okay. Are you still in the school? Where are you? I will come and get you and take you home.”

I look up at Stiles who held onto my hand and gave me the sweetest smile. “Jackson I am okay. I think I am going to get a ride with someone else. Thank you for always looking after me. I love you.”

“It’s my job. Who are you with so I know you are safe, put them on the phone?”

I hand the phone over to Stiles who takes it apprehensively. “He wants to make sure I haven’t concocted some excuse to avoid listening to Taylor Swift in his car, again.”

“Hello?”

“Oh my God, Stilinski? What are you doing with Y/N?”

Stiles pulls the phone away from his ear and places a hand over the microphone. “I don’t think he is too happy that you’re with me.” I laugh and he put the phone back up against his ear. “Jackson I will look after her, I promise. Enjoy Taylor Swift though. I really like the one she sings with Ed Sheeran.” He pulls the phone back and hits the end call button on the screen.

Scott looks questioningly between the two of us. “So, what is going on between you two. Is this going to be a normal thing now? Am I going to have to write up a schedule for who gets Stiles during the week?”

Stiles slaps his friend’s back. “You still got me. But now she has me too, only she gets more kisses than you. I mean we could add more kissing sessions when we are together if you would really like?”

“I think I will pass.” Scott announced.

“Good because there would be no competition.” Stiles twirled me so that I was now pressed against his chest and laid another kiss on my lips. When he pulled away, his head was bent down to mine, eyes locked on my own. “You ready to go home?”

Part 2?

[phantomphangphucker]

Ectober Day 20: Energy - The Green Sun Project Chap.10: Time To Score For The Cannibal Core

Danny’s gonna need a bit to recover and recover his energy. Energy that is very ectoplasm focused.

“DANNY!!!”. Danny winces a bit on the ground from the volume of that, but he isn’t about to bitch about his heightened hearing anywhere near his parents.

Sam and Tucker immediately grabbing his arms while going a little wide-eyed over the horrid state of his shirt. He probably looks like he got mauled, which he kinda had. By a scythe. Which was still hilarious. Danny mumbling an, “I'm fine”. Which of course gets two, “bullshit”’s in response. While his parents kneel next to him, Maddie hovering her fingers over him cautiously for a beat before pulling his shirt. Everyone, including Danny, sighing over the complete lack of injuries. ‘Massive thank you for your crazy ass healing, little buddy’.

‘Home’s home. Safe’

‘Yeah. Safe.... hopefully’. He absolutely appreciates his friends pulling him to sit up but his parents just look like they’re studying him. Jack looking in the direction where he had flopped out of a portal, “he came through a portal...”, then giving Maddie a look.

Sam and Tucker both scowl at his parents, Tucker moving to grab his legs and the two of them carry him off inside his house and to the couch. His parents don’t even bother following in a surprise to no one.

Sam grumbling, “there are times I truly hate your parents”. Danny just hums at that while Tucker pokes his shirt where there’s not bloodstains, “why’s your shirt look like you attempted to send it through a meat grinder?”.

Danny chuckles slightly emptily, “oh I don’t know. I just got impaled by a scythe, it’s no big deal. And shot a couple times, no problems here. Little mild abduction happened too, but we’re all good. I know what it’s like die now though, so that’s something to stamp out on the injury bingo card”. Both of them glare at him and his Core gives him a seriously unimpressed bass-boosted whine. Neither get to ask what the Hell as his parents come back in. Maddie walking over and kneeling to be on eye-level. ‘At least she’s attempting to seem gentle and genuinely worried about me and me alone’. “Sweetie, feel like telling us what happened? Were you in the Ghost Zone?”.

‘Okay, to lie or not to lie... that is the question. Dad totally saw the portal though. There’s so not another explanation for that and saying I don’t remember is, like, a super bad idea’. Having to make a point not to roll his eyes over Little Star sending a sad whine and comforting nuzzle. ‘Oh, it’s fine’.

Danny shrugs slightly, very pointedly ignoring the everything he’s also seeing at the moment; it was oddly already seeming like easily ignorable background noise or something. Not that he doesn’t totally appreciate the easy adjustment, “ah yeah. Ghostly abduction-”, he doesn’t even get to continue as his dad bursts out. “WHAT!?! It didn’t do anything to the Zone Core or try to take it!?!”, lifting up a blaster, “where is It and when can I shoot It!”.

‘Of course that’s what they care about’, expected but it still stung a little. His Core obviously agreeing with definitely audible bass-boosted sounds. That makes Maddie give a relieved sigh though, “It’s still making sounds, Jack dear. I think It’s fine”. Danny just scowls over being treated like he’s not even here. Maddie standing up and looking down at him, “you should have called us”.

Jack adding in, “was it that new ghost we spotted!?”, and cocks the blaster a little.

Danny would seriously prefer to be in his bed than on the couch, but of course his parents wanted to keep an eye on him. For experimentation purposes probably or just making sure he -his Core, the Zone Core- didn’t destabilise. Rolling his eyes, “it’s not my fault some psycho ghost shoved me through a portal. But no it wasn’t that ghost, dad”. No way is he telling them he can make portals now, they’d abuse that in a heartbeat. Or try to. Not like Danny would let them.

Grinning a little when he gets smacked in the face by a t-shirt, which is definitely Tucker’s fault.

‘To protect’

‘Yeah. That. Those two using me, us, as some kind of screwed up all-access pass to the Zone is super not cool. They’ll be Zone damned before I let them use me like that’. Forcing himself not to smile at the nuzzling and faint hum. While he pushes himself to sit up and goes about getting out of his ruined shirt, pulling the new one over his head.

Only kinda listening as Maddie speaks, “you need to be more careful, Danny. Not only were you completely unprotected but who knows what could have happened to the Core in there”. Danny sighs as she keeps going, “I’m this close to making your wear a hazmat full-time”. Which just makes Danny groan tiredly as she snatched away his shirt and inspects it, handing it off to Jack who runs down to the lab. Hooray, he was providing samples.

Maddie looks back to him, “do you have any idea why you were targeted?”. Sam rounding on her, “he doesn’t need to explain to you. He needs to rest”. Tucker just nods strongly.

Maddie rolls her eyes disappointedly at the teens and sounds like she’s talking to naive children, “we need to know. Who knows what would happen if ghosts got their filthy ectoplasmic hands on the Zone Core. The energy in It is extremely powerful and pure, a ghost could raise the world into oblivion with that kind of power. Danny obviously knows better than to use such disgusting things but any ghost would eagerly try to take advantage of him if they found out what he has”, huffing, “that’s why It was supposed to be and stay in proper containment”.

Sam’s scowl deepens, “so what? Danny clearly handled himself just damn fine. You breathing down his neck doesn’t help anything”.

“He could have useful information!”.

“Is that all you care about?!?”.

Maddie looks appalled, “of course not! He’s my son!”.

Sam snapping, “sure doesn’t sound like it”, and turns her back on Maddie. Her and Tucker moving to yank him up off the couch and drag him up to his room. Which he is totally cool with. ‘My room would be seriously so much nicer’. His Core giving a soft hum in agreement. He does pause a bit, signally to his friends to hold up for a bit. ‘I should at least ease their worries, because they are kinda founded. Those ghosts did show up to steal Little Star after all. Plus... if I’m never ‘forthcoming’ with information they’re gonna get suspicious of me’.

‘Let. Mean’

‘Yeah but they’ll be worse if they think they can’t trust me. Plus maybe if they realise they don’t know everything they’ll maybe possibly be open to new ideas. Doubtful but it’s worth a shot’ only getting annoyed bass-boosting in return.

“Hey”. Getting his mom's attention while he can feel his friends giving him ‘I hope you know what you’re doing’ looks. “The Core did that zapping thing so no ghosts actually got close”.

She nods and hums, looking genuinely relieved which was nice to see even if it might not be over his well-being entirely or at all. “While I’m happy, that might have drained It, Danny”.

Danny deciding to stick with the sorta honesty train, “yeah it did. Kinda wound up in the centre of the Zone place and ‘restocked’ or whatever”. She just blinks, hums, and runs off down to the lab. The three teens all rolling their eyes and helping drag Danny up to bed.

He just lets them toss him down in bed with a tired groan. Tucker snorting, “wow you sound impressively tired. Coffee?”.

Danny grumbles into the blankets, “probably a bad idea. The freaking god of time -yes we meet- said Am needs to fix me up”.

“From... the impaling?”. Danny and his Core hum a yes. While Sam scowls at the now-closed door, “Zone do they have to be so, so, so self-centred! Their kid gets abducted and all they care about is their damn science project!”.

Danny lifts up a finger, “technically their son is the science project“. She chucks a slipper at him, “that is not what I mean and you know it!”.

Tucker pats Danny’s back, “so, god of time huh? Nice”. Danny smirks and gives him a weak high-five, “they're kinda the one that went scythe happy on me though, also saved my life though so I’m getting some serious mixed messages. But hey, the Observants wanted me super dead so I’ll take it”.

He can feel his two friends staring at him. Tucker falling on his ass on the ground laughing, “your first genuine ghostly encounter and it’s the freaking Observants and a mythological god. Your luck man!”.

Danny lifts his hand up to give a thumbs up, “and turns out the Zone Core needs to actually be connected to the Zone to do the whole supporting it thing. So that happened. I can see literally the entire Zone right now”, all of them chuckle at the sad whining, “hey now, it’s weird but I’m good. I don’t feel like I’m on acid anymore”.

Tucker actually sounds worried now, “maybe you should stay home for a while”. Sam scowls, “oh like his ‘parents’ won’t force him purely for observation. Have to make sure their precious little project is perfectly fine and dandy”, everyone can feel the sarcasm dripping off her words there.

‘Agree. Mean. No like’

‘You’re not wrong. But you can’t help who your parents are. Who made you. And technically they’re your parents too. They made you too’. He ignores the slight bass-boosted sound and yawns tiredly.

Sam sighing and sounding like she just kicked Tucker, “obviously we should let you rest, but is Am tired too? Considering what you told your... ‘mom’”.

Tucker perks up, “oh yeah, you said It replenished. You actively absorbing ectoplasm now? Like a sponge”.

Danny chuckles, that probably would have been preferable to being sorta force-fed even if it felt stupid good. “Let's just say putting ghost hunger on that test might have bit me in the ass”, he can easily hear Sam gag so he adds on, “only ghost flowers though, Sam”. His Core making a low content purr, obviously having no problem with Its enjoyable meal.

Sam absolutely notices, “why are you purring”, but sounds like she doesn’t actually want to know.

“Oh because it is positively delicious”. ‘Purr more just to gross her out’ and smirking to himself over his Core doing just that, though with added crackling.

“You disgust me”.

“I would ask to try but, you know, that would melt my stomach lining”.

“And you disgust me even more”.

Danny just laughs, passing out minutes later.

-

Is Danny surprised he slept for an entire day? No, not at all. Sure he had been stirred awake a couple times from coldness when his parents had come to check on him and had had a few groggy tired conversations. But for the most part, he slept like a rock. Though the entire time he was sleeping it was like he was having an out-of-body experience and floating around the Zone, his mind mentally focusing in on different spots and places. It was cool but also the weirdest ‘dreams’ ever.

He wouldn’t mind sleeping more though because even now he was still absolutely exhausted, which fine made sense. He appreciates being able to feel Little Star feeding him energy, definitely not enough though. But hey, he got the rest of the week off -which was honestly only one day but whatever- for ‘getting caught up in a ghost attack’. Downside? His parents hovering like they’re watching a Petri dish that’s not doing its shit fast enough. At least that’s what he remembers from his half-awake conversations. He’s also pretty sure his mom ran an energy scanner on him, which made sense considering he had told her about depleting his Core’s energy and just being in the Zone, in general, warranted getting scanned. He’s pretty sure he caught her muttering about him basically having an endless tolerance for ectoplasm. ‘Which I had kinda figured. Told ya you didn’t need to worry about me getting ecto in my system’

‘Good safe. Need rest’

‘Heh. You mother henning me is honestly hilarious. Humans can’t sleep endlessly though. Don’t think I even can sleep anymore for now’

‘Human, ???. Sleep, ???’

Danny can’t help chuckling at that, muttering tiredly into his blankets and scrunching them up into his face, “my humanness and human things will likely always be strange for you. Though I’m guessing my tiredness is entirely not a human thing. Low in ecto”. Rolling onto his back and bunching up his pillow some as his Core hums and pulses in that comforting way. Which yeah, he’s come to quite enjoy. Sighing in content tiredness, “yeah. So sleeping honestly probably isn’t helping me much”.

‘Help yes. Absorb ectoplasm easier’

“Huh”. ‘Guess I should try sleeping more then. Don’t go gettin’ your hopes up’. Chuckling a little over getting a bit of bubbling.

Not ten minutes later Maddie knocks and comes in, smiling when she spots he’s already awake, “still feeling tired, sweetie?”.

Danny nods, “yeah”, and yawns a little just because.

Maddie holds up a solid plastic cup with a lid and straw, “whipped up something that might help”. Maddie walks it over and Danny takes it gingerly. Danny guesses by the way she stands and watches him that she’s pretty well just testing something on him. Looking at the cup, which is obviously intentionally set up so he can’t see what’s inside, ‘hey, if this is purified Zone core ectoplasm -Defted ectoplasm?- you’ve got to not freak out on me. I don’t want her seeing me behave like that. Okay?’. Danny brings the straw to his mouth as the whine in his head changes to a slight accepting hum.

Taking a sip and yup, Defted ectoplasm. Opening and closing his mouth a few times and pulling away from the drink to make it seem like he’s never tasted this before, “uh, that’s a lot of lemon, lime, and... white chocolate?”; the lemon and lime telling him there was just plain ol’ regular ectoplasm mixed in. Weird choice but damnit, now he was hungry; and maybe this would actually help. His parents weren’t morons, they did have good ghost-related ideas.

‘CONSUME’

‘I know, I know. Wait for her to leave’

Maddie nods, and Danny doesn’t miss the slight smile, her speaking as she heads to his door, “well you should probably drink all of it. Feel better okay?”. Danny nods as she closes the door.

Waiting only a beat before physically tearing off the cup lid, licking his tongue around the straw and inside of the lid, before putting that to the side. He can feel Little Star trying to jerk his hands to his mouth, ‘slow slow, don’t wanna, spill. Want all, right’

‘YES’

Danny smirks as he bends the cup slightly to angle it so that he can get as much into his mouth at once. Gulping it down greedily and moaning slightly, Core practically singing with purrs and hums. Elongating his tongue so he can lick over every inch, before putting the cup on the side table; screwing back on the lid with a sigh. Patting at his chest, ‘better?’. Getting happy humming in return.

Licking his lips and turning back over, sigh another small moan and snuggling into the blankets again; falling back asleep pretty quickly.

-

The next time he wakes up, Sam and Tucker are chilling in his room playing on their handhelds in their beanie bags. Him watching them for a bit before deciding to chuck a pillow at Tucker, not Sam because he has some sense. Least he felt genuinely less tired now.

“What the! Ack!”, Tucker snaps his head to him, abandoning the game on the floor, “Danny dude! You’re up!”.

Sam smacks him as she gets up too, “quiet before you get his parents up here”. Tucker just rolls his eyes as they sit on his bed. Sam points at the cup on the side table, “your mom dropped that off”.

Tucker chuckles, “with a warning for us not to touch it, ominous as fuck”.

Danny chuckles, Core bubbling too, “well it’s pure purified ecto so that's fair. I don’t think she’s realised I know that though”. Sam immediately sends the cup a scowl, Tucker meanwhile nudges him to drink it. Which honestly just makes him chuckle more and go from just bubbling to crackling. Which Sam smacks him lightly for, “stop that”, pointing at Tucker, “and you, don’t encourage him. If he needs it that’s one thing, though he absolutely should be asking where it’s coming from. Because so help me if they are just bleeding some ghost dry-”.

Danny feels the need to butt in with that because no way would he drink that then, “Sam it’s mostly the stuff from the centre of the Zone, which is at most from some plants. The rest is absolutely just sapped from the portal. I would know if there was a ghost here, which right never got a chance to mention I can sense ghosts and how strong they are”.

Tucker claps him on the shoulder, “Zone damn that’s awesome man. Guessing that’s why your breath went all visible icy mist”.

“Bingo”.

Sam rolls her eyes though smiling, “alright that’s okay, sorta, then”.

‘Good. Ego one no mad. Drink now?’ Making Danny snort and roll his eyes.

“Hey, I said it was alright”.

Danny blinks at Sam and laughs a little, “no. Not rolling my eyes at you”, and laughs a bit more while he pushes himself to sit up. Tucker finger-guns at him, “half a conversation”. This time Danny is absolutely rolling his eyes at his friends as he grabs up his cup, ripping off the lid and looking down. ‘Yup. More ecto’

‘Want, ?’ The unsureness of that makes him chuckle a little, little guy was being considerate. Or as much as It could be past the instincts, though him feeling less tired probably helped in that regard. Weird that he was awake enough to actually be able to tell that that heavy wetness in his veins that he’s become used to was ‘lighter’ than normal. ‘Well that’s one way to know I’m low, huh’.

‘Want’

‘Geez someone’s pushy’.

“Do we want to know why you’re just staring at it?”. Danny jumps a little from Sam’s voice, spilling some on his hand, “oh damn”. Both of them lean away slightly but laugh a bit at him licking his hand off, him muttering, “damn”, again and humming to cover up the whole moaning thing; he does absently note the fizzing to his eyes though as he effectively dumps the cup in his mouth. ‘Well that’s new, guessing I was too, ah, low before to be all, eye sparky’ getting some agreeing humming but it’s mostly pleased humming and pulsing in his chest.

“Your eyes are all green again dude, also, ten bucks says you can’t stop drinking right now”. Danny flips him off but... doesn’t stop. Tucker immediately laughs at him.

Danny licking off the cup and pointing at Tucker as he puts the cup to the side, “shush, nothing from Mr. Meat Sense. None of us have normal diets, at least mine is just ‘cause I’m ecto-drained from, like, so much bullshit”.

Tucker smirks but points at him, “speaking of bullshit, so you lowkey fought an Observant? Badass man, put that on your resume”.

Danny blinks at him, “Tuck, I’m pretty sure all of them were there. It was like an army of floating eyeball assholes in cloaks and precisely one dude with a clock fetish”. Danny squinting at an image from the Zone getting pushed into the forefront of his sight by his bubbling Core, an image of ClockWork holding a sign reading ‘clocks are quite fashionable, Daniel’. ‘Oh my Zone, yes I like this bastard of a ghost’

“Wow. How did you not die”.

“I did. I explicitly mentioned that”.

Tucker sticks his hands out to the side, “I didn’t think you were serious”. Sam points at both Tucker then him, “to be fair, you have claimed to have been killed by a great many things not limited to: cold coffee, an old brown shoe, a hairball, the new ceiling fan-”.

Danny butts in there, “hey, the ceiling fan did try to kill me”.

She points at him, “but did it succeed? No”, putting her hands on her hips, “and Danny, you almost die at least once a year”. Everyone chuckles at his Core whining very unhappily at that, Danny giving his chest a little pat.

Danny flops to lay back down, arms spread out, “you know, kinda surprised Little Star didn’t wake me up when y’all showed. Did every time my parents came in”.

Tucker grins, “I think It’s saying It trusts us more than them”.

‘Yes. Good homes’ home. Orange, blue, bad’

‘Fair. And my friends aren’t about to stab me with a needle in my sleep or shoot me first thing in the morning might I add’

Grinning at the bubbling before looking to his friends, “yup, little guy approves of you guys”. Both of them grin stupidly at that.

Sam starts up as her and Tucker both flop down in the bed on either side of him, “we got back our test results by the by. Almost everyone failed”.

“If you guys did I am making you sit through one of dad’s lectures”.

Both of them immediately shouting, “oh Zone no! Zone be damned not happening”.

Danny smirks and chuckles, “why I’ll have you know I damned myself a long time ago”, earning a very satisfactory round of groans, “but seriously, am I about to bleed disappointment?”.

Sam rolls her eyes enough to move her head with the motion, “with us and Valerie? Naw. Everyone else? Very. I know at least four people who only got one right”.

Danny screws his face up ‘you've got to be kidding me’, “how the Zone does that happen? Half that shit was bare basic common knowledge! Most else was barely above that!”, groaning and getting crackled at, “man Lancer so won the bet”.

Tucker leans over him, “you made a bet against him? How much? Do I get anything?”. Sam leans up just to shove Tucker off the bed, “you idiot”.

Danny chuckles, “no, just means I’m stuck teaching a class now. Screw both of you”, while Tucker crawls back onto the bed. Neither give him looks of sympathy. ‘Those bastards’ his Core crackling more. ‘You bastard’.

Danny is perfectly content with the silence until Jazz busts in, without even knocking fuck you, “Danny, you need to do whatever hides that glow and turn off your eyes”.

All three jerk to sit up, “what? Why?”.

She crosses her arms looking annoyed, “G.I.W. are here, again. They picked up on the portal problem you caused. You better not make this a reoccurring thing, I like getting to study in peace sometimes”.

Danny rolls his eyes, “hey that wasn’t my fault”.

“Don’t care. Just be normal”.

Danny shakes his head at the closing door. ‘Aaaaaaaaaand she’s gone. Can’t let anything take her away from her schooling, can she? Ugh whatever. Hey bud? You good to curl up? Because yeah no, hard pass on those twats finding you even slightly’

‘Bad. Hide. Trick. No absorb ecto’

‘Ah well appreciate the heads up’

Danny sighs and rubs at the twisted up feeling, grumbling, “hooray. More hiding. Fun”, and wincing from his stomach dropping or something, putting his hand over his stomach, “oh”.

Tucker laughs, “what? Can’t handle the ecto now?”, and laughs more. Danny laughs himself, “I very much feel like a human with a stomach full of ecto yes”.

Sam scowling, “could we not?”. Making both boys snicker at her; Danny giving his chest another comforting pat letting Little Star know he’s alright. He could feel the ectoplasm rolling and bubbling, which was weird as shit. ‘I’ve eaten weirder. Rather this over the rotten underwear again’

[unemployedlibrarian]

Damn The Tea

Pairing: Giles/Jenny

Words: 2,742

Content: Check Tags

Summary: Giles pays Jenny a late night visit, and does some much needed talking about his feelings. Jenny acts on her feelings. Oh, and there’s tea… damn it.

Note: You can also go give this fic some love over on A03 :) >>link

It was late, the moonlight cast itself over Sunnydale, and Jenny was still up grading her students’ papers when she’d much rather be sleeping. The escapades of the night had kept her from getting her work done any earlier than now. It wasn’t anywhere near over, the initiative was planning something, and the scoobies still had no helpful leads on what 314 might be. Most of her time now was spent averting disasters and apocalypses with Giles and the scoobies, and over the past two years her and Giles had become close friends, regardless of their opposing personalities. To think, when they first met they despised each other. Or at least, that’s what they’d wanted to believe. She’d noticed Giles seemed off lately, and she couldn’t help but worry about him, even with everything else going on. She couldn’t get too caught up in worry right now, though. Papers to grade. 

She hummed along to soft music playing in the background to help her focus, when she heard a knock at her apartment door. She paused, there wasn’t a second knock for a while, but she figured she’d check anyway. She hesitated. It could be anything. She’d seen the world of monsters time and time again and she couldn’t be sure it wasn’t something out to get her, especially this late. At least she wouldn’t be surprised, assuming the worst case scenario usually helped in situations like this. She brandished an old baseball bat she kept around, and cautiously made her way to the door. It was too quiet. She inched her way up to the door completely and BANG!! Well, knock. There was another knock and she nearly fell over. If it was a monster, why would it knock twice? Then again, why would it have knocked in the first place? Nevertheless, she held tightly to the bat and pulled the door open swiftly to reveal-

“Rupert!” She hid the bat behind her back, which he’d clearly already seen. “Oh, hah- can’t be too careful! Come in.”

He smiled almost painfully at her and came in. He seemed to stammer with his steps the same as he always did with his speech. Jenny closed the door behind them and turned, setting the bat down against the wall. Giles was standing awkwardly in the front room looking like he hadn’t slept in days. She reached out for his coat,

“I can take that, you just make yourself comfortable and I’ll… do you need anything? water, tea? I have chamomile.”

She always kept tea in the house in case he paid a visit. Now she could finally use it.

“Tea would be lovely, um- chamomile, yes.” He stuttered.

He looked like he had something to tell her, and there was no way it was going to be good news. He still hadn’t sat down and his right hand kept going in and out of his pocket like it couldn’t decide where to go. She hung his coat up by the door and made her way to the kitchen for tea. The coat smelled like scotch and old books, a scent she had grown fond of.

“Feel free to sit, you look like you need to, well, you look like you need to sleep, actually.”

She smiled.

He nodded.

“So, chamomile coming up!” She hummed in the kitchen and put the kettle on.

“Uh, sorry to er, barge in… at this ungodly hour.” He apologised, barely loud enough for her to hear from the next room.

Jenny glanced over her shoulder at him. He had taken his glasses off and his head was in his hand. Something was wrong for sure. 

“No worries, I was going to be up all night grading these papers anyway. Now I’ve got company!” She smiled again, and her smile faded when she looked at him once more. 

She entered the living room to wait for the water to boil. 

“Which brings me to the question, what’s up?” 

She found a seat next to him on the couch.

Giles brought his glasses back up to his face and looked at Jenny, she had a sympathetic look across her face. He managed to get something out. 

“I… couldn’t sleep.”

He raised his eyebrows and it looked almost painful.

“Headache?” 

“Yes, splitting.” 

A sort of distressed smile crossed his face for just a moment, and Jenny nearly smiled back. She brought her hand up to his forehead to feel for a temperature, at which point she wasn’t sure if she did it to check, or if she was simply trying to get closer to him. It seemed to take him by surprise for just a moment. He sighed. 

“I’ve got just the thing.”

She quickly removed herself from the sofa and grabbed some pain killers as fast as she could. She returned with the pills and a glass of water for him. 

“Extra strength.” She proudly announced, handing them over.

He grinned and took them, his hand gently brushing against hers in the midst of it. 

“Thank you, Jenny.”

She nodded and took a sofa cushion into her lap. 

“So, does the headache and all the not sleeping have a source that we could tackle tonight?” 

“Well, I can assure you I won’t be needing any tackling.” 

Another smile found itself across his face, and he nearly laughed. She wished he would let himself.

“I’m not sure this can even be tackled.”

He looked so forlorn. She wanted to stroke his cheek and rub his back, to whisper to him and comfort him. She held back, and listened.

“It’s Buffy.” He looked down. “It’s always Buffy.”

She hummed in response and dragged her fingers across the cushion in her lap absent mindedly, eyebrows strained in concern.

“I feel… and this is absolutely ridiculous, but I feel that I’m losing her.”

Jenny continued to drag and circle her fingers along the surface of the cushion, and waited for him to continue. She dare not interrupt in the midst of him opening up. She hoped he felt comfortable. 

“She’s off to college… Not only that, but she’s doing most of her slayer duties without needing help now. I’m no longer her watcher, and I can tell she doesn’t need me anymore. None of them do. I feel she’s relying on me less and less now, and… that’s wonderful. She’s grown up, she’s learned enough from me and she can move on- on her own, and I.. Dear god, this must sound so unbelievably stupid.”

He rubbed his temple and laughed disappointedly at himself.

“No, Rupert.”

Jenny instinctively placed her hand on his, which was resting on his knee. He lifted his face up to look at her and on the way up, glancing at where she’d placed her hand. 

“You’ve watched over Buffy for almost four years now. Before the school was destroyed, you had a system, a routine. Buffy, Willow, Xander, and the library… slaying demons. Things are different now, and that’s always hard. I’ve known you for a little while, and… I know she’s like a daughter to you. I think I know what it is.”

She paused.

“You have dad shock.”

She gently squeezed his hand in reassurance. He had a terribly puzzled look on his face.

“Dad… Shock?”

She held back a smile, she didn’t want to look too amused at his confusion.

“Yeah, it’s when a child is all grown up and it feels like they were just five years old, and you blink and now they’re off on their own. It can sometimes leave a father feeling… Shocked. Dad shock!”

He scoffed as politely as one can and smirked at her answer.

“I’m- I’m hardly a father.”

“Not legally.” She smiled.

He chuckled and looked away once more.

“I suppose you are right, in some way.”

Jenny let the smile remain on her face and subconsciously rubbed gentle circles into the back of his hand.

“I know you’re proud of her for growing up, and you’re happy with who she’s become, so… What’s the punchline? You know, what about all this is really keeping you from getting sleep?” 

She asked this as gently as she could, she didn’t want to pry, but she knew there was more. 

“Well I- I feel lost. To put it simply.”

He stared off at the coffee table in front of the sofa as he spoke.

“Now that she doesn’t need me, well I’m at a complete loss. The past three years, I had a purpose, a- a role to fill. A part to play, and now… Now I’m nothing. Buffy and the rest of them, they hardly come to me anymore. My existence has just become unemployed, sadly playing guitar, and watching quiz shows. I’ve found myself drinking too much, re-reading the same books, my mind keeping me up all night and by morning I have to force myself out of bed. I am utterly useless.”

That last sentence sounded so matter-of-fact, it took Jenny by surprise. Giles was never the self deprecating kind. There was a pause. It almost lasted for too long until Jenny spoke,

“I think you’re wrong.”

He looked at her with a ‘hm?’ and waited for her to continue.

“When I look at you, I see the real Giles.”

His face softened.

“I see brilliant, wise, loving, gentle Giles. Talented, amazing guitar player Giles. Proud father Giles. Wonderful, beautiful Giles.”

At ‘beautiful’, she took his cheek in her hand. It was soft and warm against his skin. His face broke into a smile and his eyebrows upturned. She loved it when he did that. The uncontrollable smiles that forced themselves onto his face in response to compliments. Small giggles escaped his chest, and it looked like he tried to speak his protests and failed to get anything out at all. His cheeks flushed a delicate shade of pink and he angled his face down in an attempt to hide, but his uncontrollably wide smile refused to be hidden. Jenny smiled back at him fondly. 

“I mean it.” She stroked his cheek gently. “Beautiful, beautiful Giles.”

She let her hand wander to the hair behind his ear and she toyed with it gently. He softened and leaned ever so slightly into her touch.

“You’ll always be that to me. And those kids, they care about you, I’ve seen it. You’ll always be a father figure to them, and a damn good one. Aside from that, you’ll find your way, Rupert. There’s always more life to live.”

She continued to play with his hair, and gazed absentmindedly at him as she spoke. She continued, almost completely zoned out.

“We… You and I, we could- I don’t know, go out sometimes. I mean, coffee, dinner, anything.”

She suddenly snapped out of her trance, realising what she’d been doing. She quickly removed her hands from him. He immediately longed for her touch again. 

“Anything to get you away from those quiz shows.”

She chuckled, attempting to save the conversation.

“Those things can be dangerously addictive.” She added.

“Yes, quite.” He replied, smiling once more.

She wished she hadn’t removed her hands. She wished she could run them through that hair of his and feel his gorgeous upturned lips against hers. She needed to stop these thoughts. She couldn’t be too forward. They were friends, that was all. Her usual confident self was stunted by that thought.

“Sorry.” She wasn’t sure why she was apologising. “I… Hope this helped. Is there anything else bothering you?”

“That’s all, I suppose. It was good to get out, thank you. I should let you uh- get back to your grading, shall I?” 

He looked like he was ready to bolt.

“No!” Too eager. “I mean, no, it’s alright. I can do all that tomorrow. And, tea is still coming. How’s your head?”

“Honestly?”

She nodded.

“God awful.” He let out  a laugh at his own statement. “But better. Thanks to the um, extra strength.”

Jenny found herself gazing at him again. It must have been that smile of his, it had to be. Or his undeniable charm, or his adorable stutter, his genuine heart, gorgeous face, the mystery of what lies beneath…

He removed his glasses and began to clean them. They were already spotless, she knew he was doing it to fill the short silence that fell between the two of them.

Before he could bring his glasses back up to his face, she stopped him delicately with her hand. He looked up at her with curiosity, his expression soft and his lips parted ever so slightly. Enough to be agonizingly tantalizing. She let herself fix her eyes on his lips as she brought her free hand back up to play with his hair. She leaned in a little closer and took the hand that rested on his, and slid it up to his wrist, pushing the sleeve of his sweater up slightly. He leaned in as well, seeming a little unsure. Their faces met, and their lips brushed together softly, their breaths alternating. She could feel his quickened pulse through his wrist, and her lips curled up into a smirk. She closed the gap between them a little more eager than she meant to, and he responded quickly. A low hum escaped his throat. She kissed him gently with a slow rhythm, and he returned the kiss beautifully and expertly. Suddenly, he was ahead of her. He’d taken control of the kiss seamlessly, and he was a damn good kisser. She’d never expected him to be this good, but here she was, melting into a puddle at the mercy of his quite frankly fantastic lips. His free hand found itself resting on her back just behind her shoulder with a gentle grip, and Jenny let her hand fall to his neck, then to his chest, where she had to restrain herself from tugging at the collar of his sweater. Suddenly she was thinking too much, she couldn’t let this go any further, what if this made things awkward between them, what if she’d made the wrong call or what if he didn’t want to, what if, what if, what if.

She broke the connection between their lips, and pressed her forehead to his. They took a moment to catch their breath and sat in each others’ embrace, Jenny running her fingers across his chest like she did the sofa cushion before. They sat in silence for a long moment. 

“I- I’m sorry,” Jenny blurted, and leaned away from him. “I don’t know where that came from, I… wow.”

She smiled. She wasn’t sure if it was a nervous smile, or if she was smiling because she couldn’t believe she’d finally mustered up the courage to kiss Rupert.

“No, no. Don’t apologise. It was um… it was very-” He cleared his throat. “It was lovely.”

He smiled, his eyes lazy and gorgeous. He looked completely dazed. He brushed some of her hair behind her ear. That alone was enough for her. In seconds, their lips were intertwined once more. Only now, the kiss was filled with want. It was intense and hot and wild. His hand found the back of her head and tangled in her hair, and she tugged at his collar to bring him closer. She found herself moaning into his lips, and she could feel subtle groans come up from his chest. His sounds only made her want more. In the midst of it all, she reached for his other hand and guided it to her thigh, where he quickly took the hint and firmly gripped her there. A sound escaped her throat and it seemed to drive him wild. He found himself kissing at her neck and the ache between her legs became almost unbearable and-

“What’s that?” 

Everything came to a halt, and through their breathing they could hear a high pitched whistling coming from somewhere in the house. It got louder and louder and more intense. It sounded like it was coming from the kitchen. Jenny returned her eyes to Giles.

“T- Tea’s ready. The… kettle.” The sentence struggled to escape her lips through her heavy breaths.

Rupert let out a slow breath and replied,

“Damn the tea.”

And with that, their lips clashed once again. Their hands wandered about with confidence. As they kissed, Rupert leaned backwards onto the sofa, pulling her on top of him. And in that moment, Jenny thought too,

Damn the tea.

—————————————————————————————————-

Thank you for reading!

[felixa2728]

Part 1/? Francois Cevert/Chloe

Helen is an angel

"I learned the song, Jackie," I came into the kitchen. Helen was sitting at the big round table and next to her was a man with big ice-blue eyes. He was incredibly handsome and my breath was taken away. "And this is my niece Chloe," Jackie introduced me and pointed at me. Those blue eyes hit me and, startled, I wanted to lean on the kitchen rail, but it seemed to have left its place and I fell into it. It must have looked funny because the man was laughing, not maliciously but genuinely amused. Helen jumped up and tried to help me up: "Are you OK Chlo?" I nodded, still a little dazed. "I'll give you a cold cloth," with a French accent, the man spoke to Jackie, a little worried, and jumped up. He handed it to me and continued to introduce himself with a very strong French accent: "I'm Francois." His eyes met mine again and our hands touched briefly. "Francois is staying for dinner! Maybe you can play him one of your piano pieces, he can play too." "Sure," I had barely listened but nodded eagerly. "Well then," Jackie pointed. I looked from his hand to him for a moment: "What? Oh, yes.Um the piano is in the living room." I set off and Francois followed me. "How old are you?" he eyed me as I walked. "Seventeen and you?", I opened the living room door and asked, "How do you know Jackie anyway?" "I'm going to ride in a team with him next year. And I'm 25," he replied as I sat down at the piano. I started the Moonlight Sonata and he asked, "Why are you staying with Jackie, so yes you are his niece..." "My mum died when I was born and my dad died in a race. Actually Helen is more involved in that than Jackie too. He's just better with boys," I interrupted him as my hands danced faster and faster over the keys. I didn't know whether he was amazed by the music or my story, but he didn't say anything more and his blue eyes seemed even bigger. "I tried to play this, but wow," so amazed at my music, he sat down next to me and waited for me to finish. He started to play Rondo alla Turca with his right hand. I grinned and took over the right while he started the left hand accompaniment. "You're the guy Jackie keeps talking about... because you drive in Formula 3," I remarked. Francois concentrated on the last part and just mumbled: "Maybe." When we finished the piece, he looked at me, nodded appreciatively and asked: "Not bad. What do you want to do later? Professionally, then." As I strummed the first notes of my favourite piece, claire de lune, I smiled: "You'll laugh at me, but I want to study engineering. "Why should I laugh? Because you're a woman?" he joined in. I shrugged and studied his eyes fixed on the piano. I lost myself for a moment and, ashamed, turned my attention back to the piano: "Claire de Lune is my favourite piece. "So I've heard. You play the other one very faithfully, but you're varying it now." No one had heard or noticed that yet, but it was true. "What about current songs?" he finished the last few moves. I shook my head: "Jackie doesn't like it when I play current songs. Francois shook his head. His fingers fumbled haphazardly for a moment, finding harmony in when a man loves a woman. I couldn't help but start singing. "Oh wow.", he stopped playing in amazement. "What?" "You sing beautifully?" he remarked with raised eyebrows. "And current songs go, too." He laughed in a way that was simply infectious. "And Jackie doesn't like it?" he shook his head in disbelief. Suddenly Paul came rushing in and called for dinner. Francois stood up and I followed him. "So you and Francois are going to tyrell next year? Can you give me a lift next week... I wanted to make some notes on the Chapman front spoilers," I dried the plates Jackie had just washed. Helen took Paul to bed with Francois. Jackie eyed me: "Have you been studying for your performance?" "Yes!" "Play it for me." I went to the piano and played Claire de lune. I didn't mess up once, but I didn't forget to play my variation. "And you want to come next week? You can't play the piece properly!", Jackie began to grumble angrily. I tried to explain that it was

only a variation, but gave up unsuccessfully. With "Yes, Jackie good night" I disappeared into my room and slammed the door behind me and locked it. There was a knock at the door. "I'm tired," I said loudly. But I saw the door knob slide up and turn slightly to the left twice. Helen was the only one who knew this trick and I sat up straight candles. My suspicions came true and Helen entered followed by Francois: "Someone here wanted to say goodbye to you! She smiled and went back into the hall. Francois looked at my walls covered with pictures of cars and pointed at them. I explained: "Helen drew my ideas and the ones I can't draw. He grinned and continued to inspect the works. Francois had unbuttoned the first button of his light blue shirt, rolled up his sleeves and was casually wearing a leather jacket in his left hand. I got up from my bed. "Don't you think your shirt doesn't match your eyes?" I eyed his outfit. He looked at me in confusion: "Oh, the lady wants to know something about fashion now too? For the first time since we started talking, I was afraid I'd said something wrong, so I added shyly, embarrassed: "I noticed it all the time, I'm sorry. "Okay, if you say so," he just laughed and began to unbutton his shirt theatrically. I was taught manners, so I turned away from him with my arms crossed. "Don't you want to see my torso?" he played a slightly hurt undertone. I realised he was playing with me and asked him straight out, "Why are you playing with me?" "you know? I think you're really nice and it was mega cool to play the piano with you," I heard him take a step towards me. "I'm looking forward to seeing you more often now. And I know you're smiling right now." He touched my shoulder briefly with his hand and I turned around. Now with his leather jacket on and closed, he waved goodbye. "See you Francois," I looked into his blue eyes one last time. He turned as he walked away: "Can you..." "Francois, you really have to go!" Jackie rushed over. I closed my eyes a little disappointedly and formed the words "I'm sorry" with my lips. Jackie hurried him out of my room and I was about to close my door when Helen came in. "Please take this with you Jackie..." "Nothing personal," I finished the sentence I'd been hearing from her for a year. I nodded and tried to suppress the sobbing that came up inside me. Helen sat down on the bed with me and put an arm around me. "Could it be that you have a little crush on Francois?" she raised her eyebrows. I looked at her amused and shook my head laughing: "Yeah, sure, he's cute and all, but come on, he's eight years older than me and can't play the Moonlight Sonata." "Your standards are..." she laughed and continued, "And you want to get married someday?" I looked at her and grinned, "Oh, you know, I wasn't really planning to." We both burst out laughing and hugged each other. "Helen pulled a very familiar blue shirt out from behind me, "Does François think differently?" I knew she wasn't serious, but I could see a little concern in her gaze. I told her about the thing with the inappropriate colour and how I had recognised very clearly that Francois was playing with me. Helen listened with interest and added: "When I took Paul to bed with him, he talked about you in a very positive way.""I see." "Is that all?" she asked. "What do you want to hear?" i asked as i took the shirt in my hands. "That I think it's wonderful that you, as an underage girl, seem to want to set me up with an eight year older super hot heartthrob french guy?" She pointed at herself with an expression of mock surprise. "I would never do anything like that." We both laughed and she clarified, "You know I'm only making fun of it to cheer you up and because I don't think you're seriously into him and if you are I'm sorry." "No, no, don't worry," I waved it off. She kissed me on the forehead and said, "Good night. I need to get some sleep." "Good night," I called after her as she walked out the door. I stood up for a moment, locked the door and fell onto the bed. Francois' shirt lay next to me and I

pulled it close. It smelled incredibly pleasant and attractive. With the shirt in my arms, thinking of François and his smell in my nose, I fell asleep.