#my grandma had her sewing room where she could have everything

[bookwyrminspiration]

You feel like you’d crochet

I would. I have thought about it. I simply haven't yet because I don't want to ask my sister to borrow crochet hooks. And I am satisfied enough for now with my sewing and those projects :)

[sturniozo]

Could you do a fic where you spend Christmas eve and day with the triplets bc she isn't around her parents anymore pleaseee? Like you can dig deep into trauma or something like that

Aaaahhh! Yess that’s so cute!

Here you go. Just an fwi, this is not proofread and I am still a little rusty with writing. I hope you enjoy :)

masterlist

Sturniolo Christmas

When I was a little kid I loved Christmas. I loved the lights and the decorations. My dad used to drive around the streets at night while everyone’s lights were on and we’d see their beautiful decorations.

But that changed a few years ago. My mother got caught with another man, and left immediately after the divorce was finalized. She was the big part of Christmas in my house. She did the cooking, the decorating, the everything. Last year was the first year me and my dad had Christmas without her. It was minimal, a tree with tinsel and a few ornaments, and take out.

This year my father decided not to do Christmas at all. No light seeing, no decorations, no nothing. I guess it reminds him of mom too much.

I met the Sturniolo triplets a few years before my mom left. They’ve been the best friends I could ever ask for, and completely supportive and kind during my hard times. And this year, they’ve invited me to spend Christmas with them.

“I think it needs to go higher. People are gonna get their hair bought in it if you let it droop that low.” Nick says to Matt as he hangs up some tinsel on the doorway to the living room.

“Alright” Matt mutters and he steps higher in the stool to keep the tinsel out of the way of fresh victims heads. “This good?”

“Looks great!”

Chris walks in with a tin full of cookies. “I thought this was a sewing kit?!” He says confused. “It looks just like grandmas sewing kit? Why are there cookies in here?”

“What do you even need to sew?” Matt asks and he steps down from the stepping stool.

“Nothing, I just found this in the kitchen and was baffled.” Chris takes out a sugar cookie to eat.

“It’s never been a sewing kit, people just use them for storage after they’ve eaten the cookies” I say to Chris.

Nick steps back and looks at the decorated living room. “Looks good, what do you think?” He asks me

“I like it.” I smile.

“Good. I’m hungry, let’s get something to eat.” Nick turns around and heads to the kitchen and we all follow him.

After dinner, which ended up being take out because none of us can cook for shit, we all say on the couch in the living room watching Christmas classics.

It gets late, and Matt falls asleep in his seat. Chris ends up snuggled up to Matt and falls asleep as well. Nick lays sprawled out on one end of the couch, and I fall asleep in my spot.

When we wake up Christmas morning, the sun is rising and light shines through the curtain. All three boys are groggy and tired, but overall happy.

I’m happy. Happy to have my Christmas again.

[thedaddycomplex]

I've been trying to figure out how to write this, but I can't get a handle on it, so I'm just going to write and hope I get this across…

My mother-in-law Joie Collins passed away earlier this month. Believe me when I say she was quite simply one of the loveliest human beings I've ever known.

To meet her, you'd immediately find her kind, humorous, determined—a supportive friend right away. You'd never know unless you asked just how extraordinary her life was.

Her sister, Sharon Sheeley, was a songwriter and penned "Poor Little Fool" for Ricky Nelson, which, for a time, made her the youngest woman to ever have a No. 1 Billboard hit. Because of their close relationship, Mary Jo (as Joie was called then) was thrust into the world of teen idols at a very young age.

Her second kiss ever was from Elvis Presley. In fact, in the film Jailhouse Rock, when the D.J. Teddy Talbot lists off the song dedications, one of the names he mentions is Mary Jo. That detail was requested by Elvis himself.

She befriended other legends such as Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Everly Brothers. Later in her life, those relationships and others led to a career in the music business, where she worked with artists like The Kinks, Randy Newman, Ry Cooder, Rickie Lee Jones, Neil Sadaka, and even discovered Jim Croce after hearing a demo he recorded in his bathroom. (Yes, you know "Big, Bad Leroy Brown" because of Joie.)

She was also married to rockabilly pioneer Larry Collins and they had a daughter named Larissa. Joie instilled in her an unwavering sense of kindness, justice, and commitment. And it is no stretch to say Larissa and Joie were not just mother and daughter, but best friends.

Some years after retiring from the entertainment business, Joie created The Salux Shop, a boutique company that sells imported Salux cloths, simply because she liked the product. She grew it from a small online shop into a globally recognized company used by clients like Cameron Diaz and Emma Stone.

Of course, those are all professional achievements. For me, those stories were fun, but what I enjoyed most about Joie was her boundless love and joy. If you had a funny story, she wanted to hear it and she would fill the room with her laughter as you told it. And when prodded, she would tell stories that were bafflingly entertaining—maybe about how she methodically stole an entire flatware set from a fancy English hotel or about how she accidentally wrecked her ex's brand new Jaguar.

And, my god, she loved her grandkids. No matter what was happening in her life, if the boys were visiting their "Mimi," everything else took a backseat. The boys once asked her if she could make stuffed animals for them. I thought it was a bit too much to ask, but she showed up 30 minutes later with her sewing machine, fabric, stuffing, and everything else you'd need to create a plushie of any size or design.

When our boys started playing music, she marveled at their performances and gushed more than I ever heard her talk about any of the literal rock stars she knew and worked with. Of course, that's what wonderful grandmas do.

I loved her endlessly and the reason it's taken me this long to write anything about it is because it all happened so fast, we're all having a hard time processing the loss. Last June, she came to visit us, then mere weeks after that she was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. A little more than 6 months later, with her longtime partner David and daughter Larissa by her side, she passed.

She was gone. And the massive, joyful, magnificent place she held in our lives was suddenly empty.

Nothing can fill that void or take her place. But, I do love that I can see the bemused twinkle in her eye when I look at our boys or my wife. And I can hear her big untethered laugh when they find something funny. They have her kindness, her humor, her determination.

And because I had the privilege to know and love her, I do too.

[hateswifi]

Twice Fated: Chapter One

Another multi-chapter fic, hahahaha i can’t commit to much. @salty-fang is writing the sugar part! Go checkout my masterlist i’ll be updating both halves there

Twiste Fated: Master List

The Master: Master List

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

Marinette has everything she could ever want, her commissions are doing amazing, because of Jagged’s upcoming tour, she’s dating her dream boy, they have a nice apartment near the center of Paris, and best of all Hawkmoth is defeated.

“Hi, my Lady,” Adrien purrs, entering the apartment. “How was your day?”

“Pretty good, just lots of work,” Marinette yawn, putting her pencil down. She stands up and wraps her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. “Did your dad have you modeling with girls again today?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You reek of desperation,” Marinette giggles, walking into the kitchen. “Are you staying for dinner tonight or do you have another meeting?”

“I have a meeting for an upcoming shoot that’s out of the country,” Adrien says, walking down the hall to get changed. “I should be home by eleven.” He says, fixing his collar as he appears from down the hall.

“That’s a long meeting, don’t die of boredom,” Marinette giggles, earning her a chuckle from Adrien.

“Trust me, I won’t die,” Adrien says, kissing her forehead before rushing out of the apartment.

“Umm… goodbye,” Marinette says, the slamming door echoing through the apartment. She was once again left to work in the deafening silence of their apartment. She sighs before going to continue her work. It was an hour or two later when she was disturbed by her ring tone.

“Hello?” Marinette greets, holding her phone between her ear and shoulder as she continues to sew.

“Hello, my little fairy!” Her grandma’s cheerful voice rings through her phone filling her work area.

“Hi, nonna, where are you this week?” Marinette asks, putting her stuff down, deciding now was the perfect time to take a break.

“I’m outside of Italy, I’m heading to see your parents real soon, so I’ll be able to see you as well if your commission doesn’t take too much time up,” Gina says.

“Nonna, I will always make time for you,” Marinette giggles.

“What’re you doing right now?”

“I’m warming up some dinner.”

“Ooh does that mean I get to say hello to my little fairies boyfriend?”

“No, nonna he’s at a meeting right now, I’ll let him know you said hi, ok?”

“Of course, well enjoy your dinner, I just wanted to say hello,” Nonna says.

“Bye love you, Nonna!”

“Bye-bye.” Marinette hangs up and turns on the t.v. to watch whatever’s on. She sighs and eats her food in silence. She gets annoyed and just leaves her food and lays down. She hears Adrien stumble into their room about an hour or two later.

She sits up, “How was the meeting?” she asks with a yawn.

“Ahhh yeah, yeah that was great,” Adrien chuckles, swaying as he enters the room.

“Are you drunk?” Marinette asks, sitting up.

“No… no no I’m just a bit tipsy,” Adrien says, attempting to pull his shirt, but almost fall over in the process.

“Your father saw you like this and you made it back here?” Marinette asks, standing up. She helps him undress. “Go take a shower. I’ll bring you some water, food, and medicine.”

“Thank you, Princesssss you’re so good to me,” Adrien says in a sing-song voice.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, just go wash yourself,” Marinette sighs. He gets out of the shower fifteen minutes later all dressed. “Here you go.”

“Thanks, Marinette,” he says, plopping down on the couch, he runs his temples before running a hand through his still-wet hair.

“This is the third time this week,” Marinette sighs, putting her head on his shoulder.

“I know, I know I’m sorry, it’s just these meetings have been getting to me,” Adrien says, taking a bite from his sandwich.

“It’s only Wednesday, and the only reason you didn’t drink on Sunday was because we had family dinner, are you ok?”

“The meetings have just been long and boring,” Adrien says.

“And the easiest thing is to drink?”

“Makes listening to my father more bearable,” Adrien shrugs. “Well, I’m going to go pass out.”

“It’s fine, I’ll just put this away, night,” Marinette sighs as he disappears into their bedroom. For third time this week alone, she left to clean up after him. She puts the plate and glass away, she picks up his clothes from the bathroom and puts them into their room. She heads back to the living room to turn off the lights but was distracted by a call from Adrien’s phone.

“Umm hello?” Marinette asks, picking up the phone to see who the number was as it wasn’t saved in Adrien’s phone.

“Hi, I just wanted to make sure that Adrien made it home alright,” A feminine voice comes from the line.

“Who is this?” Marinette asks, fully awake now.

“Oh you’re his girlfriend, right?”

“Yes, this is she, who are you?” Marinette asks, pacing around the living room a bit.

“I’m one of the model for an upcoming photoshoot, he was drunk and I wanted to make sure he got home safe,” the voice said.

“Umm ok, well, he’s home safe and is asleep, good night,” Marinette says, hanging up quickly. She knew she should trust Adrien, she trusts him with her life. She couldn’t sleep that much that night, her thoughts kept her up. She trusts him but she doesn’t really trust the other models. She tries to give the models the benefit of the doubt because not everyone has bad intentions. She decides instead of sleeping, because there was no use, to work on her commissions.

Adrien walks into the living room in the early hours of the morning as she was finishing one of the outfits. “Good morning, how’s your hangover?”

“Ah! What are you doing up this early in the morning?” Adrien yawn, rubbing his eyes. He starts brewing a pot of coffee.

“Couldn’t sleep so I’m working on Uncle Jagged’s commissions,” Marinette shrugs, putting her work down. “You got a call last night after you passed out.”

“From who?” Adrien yawns, grabbing a mug from the cabinet.

“I didn’t catch her name, it was the model from your meeting last night,” Marinette says, standing up to grabbing her own mug.

“Did she say what she wanted?” Adrien mutters, pouring himself a cup.

“No, she was just making sure you got home safe because you were a bit drunk. Oh, by the way, Nonna called last night. She said hi, and she also said she’s going to be in Paris next week so we’re going to have dinner with her,” Marinette says, pouring her own cup of coffee.

It was another week and another couple nights of Adrien coming home drunk. She hated how much he drank, she’s tried to help him but he’s never listened.

“Adrien, just remember we’re going to my parent’s house because my Nonna is in Paris,” Marinette says, putting on her clothes, she has a meeting about a commission in the early afternoon.

“Yeah, of course,” Adrien mutters, getting dressed for work. A couple of minutes after Adrien left, she throws up the little she had eaten for breakfast. She had been feeling nauseous recently, she chalks it up to stress of commissions and a drunk Adrien before brushing her teeth. She later grabs her sketchbook and swatches of fabric. She sighs, and even though she feels sick, she continues to go on about her day.

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

Permanent Tag List:

@ash-amg @bee-wrecker @damianette-is-life @mjisntme @i-will-be-your-ace @k-poplunardreams @chocolateherringtacofan @toodaloo-kangaroo @i-is-mysterious @zambie-trashart @imnotfluffy @nanakeid @animegirlweeb

[zeppelin-and-unicorns]

Yesterday I introduced you guys to the Hyde family, and now it’s time to introduce you to the new generation of the Forman family!

Again, click on the thingy if you want to know more about them!

On the top row, we see Eric and Donna, and on the bottom row, we see their two children, Lucas and Hannah (there’s no hearing aid option on picrew so just imagine Hannah’s wearing one, okay?).

Eric and Donna have overall a nice marriage. I tend not to focus much on them in my stories mostly because I’m indifferent to their relationship. After s5 I completely lost interest in them, and there was a point where I didn’t even want them to end up together anymore on s7. But I do believe that they love each other and that they can end up together if given a nice storyline, which is what I tried to do.

TSG is mostly focused on Jackie and Hyde, so we don’t get a lot of details about Donna and Eric other than they’re together, married, and have children, so I’m going to give you guys a brief summary of what happened between them after the season finale.

Eric and Donna talked about everything when he came back for the New Year’s, and they decided to try again. Eric went back to Africa to finish the program, and Donna went to college. When Eric came back, he went to the same college as she did and they started living together. Donna became a journalist, Eric became a teacher, and they moved back to Point Place when they graduated.

As soon as they moved back, Donna got pregnant with Lucas. They lived in a small apartment for a while, until Lucas started running around everywhere and they bought a house across the street from Jackie and Hyde.

They did not plan on having other children until Lucas was older, but well... Accidents happen and Donna had Hannah in 1987, when Lucas was 3 years old.

About their children... they are something else, I love them so much.

Lucas, just like Dylan, has a lot of pent-up energy, but he’s also an introvert and not a prankster at all, so he uses most of his energy in sports (for Red’s delight lol). He’s really into hockey, like, really into it, and he starts taking hockey lessons from a young age.

When he’s older, Lucas joins the school’s track and field team, mostly because there’s no hockey team in Point Place High and he absolutely hates football and wrestling.

Lucas is a bulky guy, but he’s also geeky and he and his father are addicted to video games. They spend countless hours every week playing Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros on his Nintendo 64 (Eric loses every single time lol).

He’s smart, not only is he great with numbers, but he’s also great at chess. Seriously, he won countless chess matches against his uncle Hyde (who’s half-proud and half-bitter about it), and he was like, 10.

His dream job is to be a video game developer, and considering how he’s a math whiz and how he’s a great athlete, he gets a scholarship to study computer science at college.

He never gets into trouble, mostly because people are smart enough not to fuck with him. He’s quiet and not prone to violence at all, but he’s also huge and he could probably kill someone if he wanted to.

When Lucas graduates from high school and goes to college, some bullies start to mess with his little sister Hannah, but Dylan quickly puts an end to that.

Hannah is a sweetheart, she’s an animal lover and she’s probably the sweetest person from the series.

Oh, and Hannah is also hearing impaired.

One of the things that bother me a lot in the fanfiction world (actually in the whole entertainment industry), is the lack of representativity of people with disabilities. I live with people who have disabilities, it’s something I literally see every day, and sometimes I am genuinely shocked by the lack of information (and empathy) people have when it comes to that subject.

So I decided I wanted to include a person with a disability in my story, and I am going to make you guys love her.

Hannah was born healthy, she learned how to talk and she listened to things normally up until she was 5. But as she grew older, she started developing some behaviors that concerned Eric and Donna, like watching the TV too loud and not replying to them when they called her. They took her to the doctor, they found out she had severe hearing loss and would need to use a hearing aid probably for the rest of her life.

Eric and Donna were crushed (it even causes some problems in their marriage in the future), but Hannah never cared much about it, because she was too young and she could hear just fine whenever she had her hearing aids on. She’s overall a happy kid who loves playing outside and is completely in love with everything related to nature.

The Forman family has three cats, all of them were cats that Hannah rescued from the streets and begged them to adopt. Hannah’s also responsible for bringing Zeppelin into the Hyde’s lives.

She was playing outside with Dylan and Jordan when they found a cute little black puppy all alone, searching for food in the garbage. Hannah took the puppy and begged for her parents to keep him, but they already had three cats and they couldn’t keep him. Jackie and Hyde were in the same room when she arrived with the cute little puppy, and they decided to adopt him (for Hannah’s delight). The puppy was named Zeppelin (Hyde was the one who named him, by the way), and Hannah visits the Hyde’s almost every day just to play with their dog.

Hannah loves picnics and walks at the park, she loves watching the trees changing according to the seasons, she loves to stargaze with her aunt Jackie, she loves hearing Layla’s romantic stories, she loves babysitting the younger kids, and she loves spending time with her grandma Kitty, learning how to bake and how to sew.

When she grows older, Hannah becomes a vet and opens her own animal shelter.

Hannah never let her disability stop her, she’s incredible.

And again, I got way too excited, sorry.

If you have any questions about this universe please don’t hesitate on sending them to me.

Posting the Kelso’s picrews soon :)

[ourloveisforthelovely]

This or That. Part 8

Harry Potter Marauders Era 

Link to Part 7 

Pairings: Regulus Black x Reader. Sirius Black x Reader 

Rating M: Sensitive Themes

________

Once Sirius was out of the room you were kneeling in front of Regulus and gently began to unbutton his dress shirt.

“This is kind of a bad time to be wanting to get me naked.”

Regulus said with a pain-filled smirk. You had to fight the smirk that was threatening to take over your face. That sounded like such a Sirius-like comment.

“I need to see how badly she hurt you.”

Regulus winced as he leaned back enough for you to finish unbuttoning his shirt. As gently as possible, you eased the black dress shirt that he was wearing off. The moment that you saw the huge gash on his left arm it took all that you had not to cry.

“What happened?”

You finally were able to ask. Regulus shrugged.

“I’ll tell you later.”

Before you could protest, your mother and father came into the room. Both stopped at the sight of a half-naked boy sitting on the sofa. Your father turned to Sirius.

“This is your brother?”

Sirius nodded,

“And what’s left of his arm.”

Lyall Lupin nodded before turning to his wife.

“Hope, darling, go get some bandages, please. I have a feeling that we will be needing them.”

Your mother nodded before motioning you to come with her. Your attention flickered to Regulus. He gave you a nod.

“I’ll be fine.”

When you left the room with your mother, Lyall took the place that you had been sitting in so he could get a better look at the injuries the boy had sustained.

“Does your family run an underground fight club?”

Regulus smirked.

“It might look that way but no.”

Lyall chuckled. He had seen enough injuries that Sirius had received when he would sneak to the Lupin family home to be with Remus.

“I’ll be able to get you fixed up momentarily. So you’re the boyfriend? I have heard your name leave my daughter’s lips at least a thousand times since she’s come home.”

Normally this kind of conversation would strike fear in the hearts of most teenage boys but to Lyall, the boy in front of him was eerily calm. He wondered if Regulus was expecting another beating for agreeing to be your boyfriend.

“You can relax, son. We aren’t going to hurt you. You have been through that enough. I have one request to make of you when it comes to my Y/n.”

Regulus nodded. He decided not to reply as he had a feeling that he knew where this was going.

“Yes, sir?”

He questioned softly. Lyall took out his wanted and quietly uttered a healing spell to sew up the exposed flesh and muscle on Regulus’ arm.

“Y/n has been through a lot in her life. She has had to deal with things that no child should. Her mother and I have always had to keep a closer watch on Remus. I think you know why too. Sometimes Y/n fell through the cracks. I’m fine with you being with her but I don’t want her harmed. She doesn’t deserve to have a broken heart when she’s had to deal with those enough in her short life.”

Regulus swallowed back a groan as his arm healed a little quicker than he was prepared for. He shouldn’t have been surprised either. Lyall Lupin was probably a master of healing wounds since he had a son that was a werewolf. The man probably spent the days after the full moon patching his eldest son up.

“I would never hurt her intentionally. Mr. Lupin, I love you daughter.”

Lyall nodded.

“Well, since we have an understanding of Y/n I suppose you’ll see my point when I say that I can’t let you go back to your family. If you get hurt worse, my daughter will never forgive me for allowing you to go back to a viper's nest.”

Regulus was a bit surprised by your father’s proposition. Lyall and Hope Lupin were stretched thin with two children to take care of. How were they going to care for a third? There was no way. Regulus knew that your family was on the poorer end of things. Caring for a third teenager seemed a bit crazy.

Sirius’ voice pulled Regulus from his thoughts of being a major inconvenience.

“Reg, I wrote uncle Alphard. He is going to be dropping by tomorrow morning.”

That answered Regulus’ next question. He knew that Alphard Black had been financially caring for Sirius since his brother left home and had low key offered Regulus the same support should he ever decide to leave “the crazy.”

(meanwhile)

You stood beside your mother as she went through her stash of first aid supplies. Her kind eyes were taking in what bandages would do and what wouldn’t do.

“Mum, you can tell me what you are wanting to say.”

You said softly. Hope looked up at you with a soft smile. She hadn’t stopped feeling “happy” since she saw the way that you were looking at Regulus. In the beginning, when you wrote and told her that you were dating Sirius, she was nervous. While Hope adored Sirius, she couldn’t help but wonder if his younger brother was as reckless and “wild.” Hope had been worried the moment that Remus brought Sirius home but things were different for her son. Remus would be able to handle whatever Sirius threw his way (and he did). Things were different for you, however. Maybe it was a bit of a double standard or slightly sexist but you were her only daughter.

“He is cute.”

You grinned.

“Cute? He’s perfect in every possible way.”

Your mother smiled. She had never heard you talk this way about any boy before. You didn’t even seem to be phased by them. Maybe it was having Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter for friends?

“You’re really happy aren’t you, darling?”

You nodded. Despite all of the bad things that had happened in your relationship with Regulus; you were very happy. You weren’t thrilled that he turned up injured at his parent’s hand but now you wouldn’t have to let him go anytime soon. There would be no way that your father, being the good man, that he was would ever let Regulus return to his parents.

“I am.”

Hope put the bandage that she was holding down.

“Are you being safe?”

Your face immediately went scarlet.

“Oh, mum!”

You whined. The last thing that you wanted to do was discuss your sex life with your mother but this talk was bound to happen.

“Y/n, things are different with you than your brother. I don’t have to worry about him and Sirius. You are different. I don’t want you to be a mother as a teenager. I don’t think Regulus would want that responsibility either.”

You put a hand over your face.

“Mum, I know plenty of contraceptive charms.”

Hope turned with her warm motherly smile.

“I would like it if you would consider taking some other forms of birth control too.”

“You mean the muggle stuff?”

Your mother nodded. She wanted to giggle at the expression of sheer dread on your face. The two of you had never had this clear of a discussion on sex before. Now that the two of you were, Hope could see that she should have had this conversation sooner.

“I’m not going to tell you to stop having sex with the boy. That will be counterproductive because you are going to do what you are going to do. If I know one thing about my daughter, telling you not to do something is the encouragement that you will need to go and do whatever the task is.”

You smiled. Hope was right on that one. If your parents didn’t want you to do something, telling you not to do it was all of the fuel that you needed.

“Mum, I’ll take it! If it makes you feel better, I will gladly take it. Besides, you’re right. I don’t need a baby right now. There’s a lot that I want to do. Getting out of school before I take that step is a big one. I’m sure that you want to be a grandma but not tomorrow.”

Hope reached out and tucked your messy sandy curls behind your ear.

“My sweet wild girl.”

She leaned down and pressed a kiss to your forehead before placing the bandages in your hands.

“Go patch him up. I think by now you know how to patch people up well.”

You smiled and quickly went back to the room where Regulus sat with your father. His stormy eyes rolled up as soon as you walked back into the room. Your father stood up from his place on the floor.

“I was wondering if the two of you had gotten lost.”

You had to resist the urge to tell your father that you were getting the birth control talk. Lyall Lupin may have been cool in a lot of ways but he wasn’t that cool. He would probably faint at the idea of you no longer being a virgin. Maybe it would be a good idea to tell him so he would come out from under the rock that he was living under?

“Sorry...mum was talking to me about…”

Your father held his hand up shaking his head.

“I don’t want to know. Have a nice night kids.”

Lyall backed out of the room to go back to the book that he was reading. Remus, who had come into the room, was looking as grossed out as his father when you sat back down beside Regulus.

“Merlin, Y/n just scar our poor parents.”

Remus muttered. Sirius chuckled.

“I think they get the idea that you two know what sex is. If they don’t...well Regulus and I need to do our jobs better.”

“Can we not talk about this right now?”

Regulus questioned as you gently lifted his arm to wrap the bandage around his healing skin. Sirius elbowed Remus in the side.

“Let's go back to the party. Prongs will probably be wondering where we have made off to. I think Regulus and Y/n won’t be joining us.”

Remus nodded and looked back at you with a smile. You were gently wrapping Regulus’ arm as you had his multiple times. If you didn't become a healer in the future then you would truly miss your calling.

“Yeah, they are busy.”

Remus said before following Sirius out of the room.

Once the door closed, you finally met Regulus’ gaze. He didn’t have to tell you that he was still in pain. His eyes told you everything that you needed to know. It wasn’t physical pain but mental pain.

“Did she hurt you anywhere else?”

Regulus shook his head as you reached down to help him up.

“Come on, we’ll go to my room. It will be quieter there. “

Stepping into your room, Regulus couldn’t help but smile. This room screamed “Y/n.” Everything seemed to radiate your sweet scent. Pictures lined the wall opposite of a cozy looking window seat. You quickly tugged back the quilt that your mother had made you years ago. Slightly blushing at the realization that your boyfriend was looking at your “pony quilt” was a tad embarrassing.

“I like it.”

Regulus said, softly. You blushed harder.

“You like pony quilts.”

Regulus chuckled.

“Well, it's not really my style but it's all you. That’s why I like it. Everything here is all you and I like it. It's all comforting.”

You smiled before pushing a strand of hair away from your face before taking his hand in yours. The realization that his family ring was gone struck you as surprising. Even with all that his family put him through, this was an indicator that Regulus really had “enough.”

“Tell me what happened. I need to know, Reggie.”

Regulus’ peaceful smile faded and his “Black family scowl” took over.

“I told my mum and dad about us. I told them that I would not give you up no matter what they or any other member of our family had to say about it. My mother had a tantrum. Apparently, she has been diligently working to find a suitable wife for me. She was on the floor screaming like a spoiled toddler because I was marrying a half-blood. She said some crap about Remus and I told her to shut up. After that, my father decided to use the cruciatus curse on me a couple of times while mum beat the crap out of me.”

Your hand had covered your mouth as Regulus quickly took your hand in his.

“Being with you is worth it though. You’re the only one that gets me, Y/n. You don’t care about the depression or the cutting. I know that you don’t like it…”

You shook your head. No, you didn’t like it. In fact, knowing that he was causing himself that much pain made your heart physically hurt. The most that you assumed that you would be able to do was be there for him when he needed you (which you would do with no complaints). If you could help Regulus enough to stop the cutting, you would do anything that he asked of you.

“I don’t like knowing that you are in that much pain that is the only outlet but I know that you are trying to stop too.”

Regulus was silent as he rubbed his thumb over your palm. He wouldn't tell you that he wanted nothing more than to find something sharp to dig into his arm. His brain had gone into overload with everything that had happened that day and he didn’t know how to deal with it all.

Another thing that Regulus wasn’t ready to tell you was the fact that Evan was pressuring him to join the death eaters. At the moment, Regulus had no plans of saying yes. He knew if he said yes to that it would mean losing you. You wouldn't support him with that dark mark on his arm.

Regulus and Evan had words the night before over you too. Evan had told Regulus that he needed to cut ties with you.

“A Slytherin dating a Gryffindor is laughable. That girl is wasting your time. You need to say yes to whatever girl that your mother finds for you. She will find someone who is worthy of you.”

It had taken all Regulus had not to punch Evan in the face. He politely told Evan that he was wrong about you and that there was nothing that his former best friend could say to sway him. It was Barty Crouch Jr who actually saved that day. Barty had followed Regulus after he stormed out of the room and offered his compliments on you.

“Y/n is a nice girl. I don’t care much that she is a Gryffindor either but I like Y/n enough to overlook that detail.”

“You know that I love you.”

You said, gently. Regulus nodded.

“I know. I love you too. I really do. Hey look at that, I was wrong about something. Love is actually a real emotion. Look at you, you perfect half-blood angel, you proved me wrong. That’s a feat in itself.”

You smiled at the comment before gently climbing on Regulus’ lap. Taking extra care not to hit his sore arm, you wrapped your arm around his waist and snuggled your face against his.

“I’m glad that I proved you wrong on that one.”

You said with a smile.

“Me too.”

Regulus replied softly before pulling you into a soft kiss. Wrapping your other arm around his neck, you were desperate to deepen the kiss. Having not kissed him properly since the night before the Christmas holidays, you wanted to take whatever chance that you could.

“We don’t have to say goodbye anymore.”

Regulus said in a soft whisper. His grey-blue eyes fluttered open and met yours.

“Your father said I can stay here if I wanted. Sirius is in touch with my uncle who is supporting him. He’s apparently going to be dropping by tomorrow sometime. We don’t have to worry about my stupid parents. We can be happy.”

You didn’t have the heart to tell Regulus that the two of you would still have to say goodbye at school. Maybe that would be healthy though? The two of you would need to have some time apart. You also didn’t see Evan Rosier being too thrilled to have you tagging along with his group. Something would never change.

“Yes, we can be very happy.”

Regulus gently laid the both of you back. You waited all of two seconds before snuggling back to his side. Both of you lay in silence until you felt Regulus’ even breathing let you know that he had fallen asleep. You sat up enough to press another kiss to his cheek before snuggling back down against his side.

You weren't sure how the meeting with Alphard would go the next morning. Part of you was worried that he would be like the rest of the Black family. So far their reputation wasn’t so great in your eyes. You tried to push the worries from your mind as you drifted off to sleep.

“We’ll be happy.”

________

@iamashlynmarie

@fairywriter-oracle

@amelie-black

@velveteencurls

@realgaytrash

@swinginsoulbailiffrascal

@brokencasbutt67-writer

@authoressskr

@fandom-trash-worth-it

@summer-novak

@shaylybaby2032

@marichromatic

@maggioli-m

@li0nh34rt

@tas898

@emiwrites3reads

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts

@stuckinsaudi1

@knight-of-gleefulness

@wontlookaway

@hankypranky

@shitfaceddaniel

@untoldshortsofthefandoms

@sprnaturallover

@mycuddlycorner

[maria-scribbles]

stitched together

being the only one in an ugly sweater at your friend's christmas party sucks...until he walks through the door.

fandom: outer banks

ship: pope heyward x reader 

word count: 1.2k+

featuring: pope being disgustingly adorable, scenes blatantly inspired by dash & lily, shitty friends, inaccurate info about nyc probably, references to high school musical and julie and the phantoms (in this house we stan kenny ortega)

a/n: day 6, late again 'cause work gave me overtime and i'm ✨tired✨ this is my first time writing for pope so i hope i did him justice! unbetaed as always

come join my holiday challenge!

December 2020

The moment you walked through the door of your best friend's apartment, you knew you'd made a mistake. Your fingers unconsciously twisted themselves into the hem of your long sweater -your green, sparkly, tinsel-y, twinkling sweater- as you waded further into the sea of classily-dressed college students gathered in Kayla's living room, for the first time feeling out of place in the familiar setting.

You didn't mean to show up more than fashionably late to the party but you'd had to make some last minute additions to your outfit, namely the star ornament that dangled from one of your wrists, and trying to hail a taxi in New York City after 8 was a challenge you regretted taking on so close to the holidays. You made it, though, ready to apologize to Kayla...if you could ever find her, that is; trying to ignore the feeling of multiple pairs of eyes on you that made your skin crawl, you made your way into the kitchen in search of your best friend. 

"Nice outfit." A sarcastic drawl came from a giggling group huddled by the island as you poured yourself a cup of hot chocolate from the crock pot on the counter and topped it off with a generous pour of whipped cream vodka.

"At least mine doesn't make me look like a douchebag, Chad." You took a sip to hide your satisfied smirk as the boy -a typical upper class white kid you already couldn't stand- sputtered and flushed an impressive shade of red while his friends laughed hysterically.

"You- I- bitch."

You just rolled your eyes as you left the room in search of your friend once again. "Don't hurt yourself, Todd."

Cup cradled in your hands, you followed the sound of Kayla's giggles drifting down the hall from the dining room and she spotted you the second you turned the corner, her face lighting up like the skinny Christmas tree in the corner. 

"Y/N, you're actually here!" She crossed the room in a flash and threw her arms around you, almost spilling the drinks in both your hand and hers with the force of her hug. "I was worried you were gonna bail, like usual."

Okay, so that stung, but you brushed it off and briefly returned her embrace before pulling away to take another long sip of cocoa. "Never, Kay. Why aren't you wearing your sweater, though?"

Kayla shrugged and glanced down at her slinky gold mini dress, then flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I don't know, this was just so much cuter than that ugly thing! Plus, Zach's here and there's no way I'd even have a chance to hook up with him if I had worn that."

'That ugly thing' being an exact copy of the very sweater you had on, of course; you'd made it for her as an early Christmas gift after she'd complimented the half-finished version she saw at your place a few weeks ago during a sleepover, both of you wine drunk on the bottle of Moscato she had stashed in her bag. You thought you'd agreed to wearing them at this very party, too, but apparently you were alone in thinking that.

She'd obviously already had one glass of it tonight, considering the complete lack of any type of filter on her big mouth, and you knew you shouldn't have taken those words to heart but you did. Still, you managed to hide your hurt and forced a grin onto your face as you said, "Go put that dress to work, then! And stay away from the wine!"

Kayla giggled again and squeezed your wrist before flouncing off to the living room, calling back over her shoulder, "You're the best, Y/N!"

You sighed and headed to the snack table pushed against the wall, fully intent on eating your weight in cookies and drinking until you were only just sober enough to remember how to call yourself a cab home; grabbing a plate, you were about to reach for the platter piled high with snickerdoodles when a voice came from your right and almost made you knock the whole stack over.

"I like your sweater."

You turned, steeling yourself to deal with another arrogant rich kid let loose with daddy's money, and came face to face with the last thing you ever expected to see: another ugly sweater, this one a pretty shade of deep blue and covered in twinkling stars and snowflakes, rivaling yours in its holiday cheer and the boy wearing it offered you a shy, adorably sweet smile that instantly put you at ease. 

"I like yours, too. Wanna see something cool?"

He visibly brightened at your words and at his nod, you clapped your hands together and held them straight up, the ornament on your wrist hanging perfectly over your head. "I even have the star on top." 

"I see your star and raise you this," He said, turning around to show you the hand-stitched sleigh flying across the full moon on the back of his sweater, complete with Santa and all nine reindeer.

"Shit, you can't really call it an ugly sweater with that on it, it's gorgeous!" You couldn't help reaching out to run your fingers over the carefully embroidered Rudolph, the stitches smooth and neat and obviously done with the utmost of care. 

"Is it cheesy to say that my grandma made it for me?"

"Dude, you should be proud as hell! She's so talented," You said, drawing your hand back as he turned around to face you once again. "I can sew a bit -I mean, I made this but it definitely fits 'ugly' more than yours."

"Is there really such a thing as an 'ugly sweater?'" The boy asked as he surveyed the snack table and grabbed a few chocolate chip cookies. "They're kind of like hairless cats: most people think they're ugly, but to some, they're beautiful. It just depends on the person."

Would it be bad to say that you were already the tiniest bit in love with this guy already? Kayla would judge you for sure -that girl spent all her waking hours being critical of everyone and everything around her- but you really didn't give a shit about her opinion anymore, not after tonight left you wondering if she was ever actually your friend in the first place.

"I, for one, happen to love both hairless cats and ugly sweaters." You said around a mouthful of snickerdoodle, hoping you didn't spit crumbs all over yourself like a fool and from the way the boy smiled and offered you his hand, you mustn’t have looked as stupid as you felt.

"Then you're my kind of person. I'm Pope."

"I'm Y/N." His hand was warm and way softer than you expected and you both held on for a beat longer than necessary, unwilling to let go, like you both knew that this was the start of something new, something big and crazy and exciting, that you were standing on the edge of something great.

And after you got home, his number in your phone and the lingering, unforgettable taste of his lips on yours, you couldn't wait to see where the two of you would go.

[shortyisweird9]

'Lonely ghost serie'

You don't know how lovely you are.- part VI

Tw⚠️: swearing, medical inaccuracies(on my part)

You moved your hair away as the cold Siberian winds freeze you to the bone. You were anxious to get back home so you can finally talk with Corpse on the phone. You been talking a lot since you last called him, embarrassingly to help you deal with a baby.

This week beat your ass, tests and assignments left and right like they are Oprah. You desperately wanted to go home where is warm and where you can chat your night away with Corpse.

You finally managed to open up a Netflix account so maybe you two could watch something or talk away while you had background noise.

"I swear to God..."

- Ştiu,nu? ("I know right?")

Sabrina said as she sat on the couch, a book in her lap and a hot coffee cup on the table near her.

"Heyyy!"

"Hello,girl!"

She got up to hug you,gasping when her warmth was meet by your cold grey coat , red bare hands and shaking legs dressed in a black striped suit pants and wearing platform heels.

"My , you are practically freezing. Come ,come!"

She grabbed the blanket she's been sitting on and wrapped you with it moving you to sit down.

She left towards the kitchen to your left , you could hear her taking the kettle from one of the cupboards. You shook profoundly as you harshly rubbed your hands, you stared at your dark grey nail polish, twisting it left and right to see the light bounce on it. You lost yourself in thought:

A tattoo on them wouldn't look so bad. Maybe...

"Here."

A cup of green tea, your favourite, was presented before you. You licked your crack lips as you moved your hand to grab it, only to hiss and curse when the heat proved to be double edged.

Sabrina tried to hold her laugh but one look of your pained and disappointed eyes sent her into a burst ,snorting and laughing like a jackass. You began to laugh with her shortly after.

She puffed as she took the armchair in front, the beige coloured of it and the blood red floral blanket draped all over made it stand out. She was so small in comparison with the gigantic size of it. Still you were the shortest of the group.

"How was your day?"

"Switching to English?"

She nodded.

"Hmm..fine.It isn't like I been speaking it for like 6 hours. My day went on,hmmm, ever washed a cat?"

"Ever washed a llama that simply disdain the idea of being even remotely washed?"

"W-What? Nu,deci,nu. You washed a llama?!"

"Yes,ma'am. Got the scar to prove it."

She jumped a bit off her bent leg ,to bring the polar white sweater up , a deep scar healed in a shaky circle stood there. Your eyes blinked in shock.

"Tell. Me."

"Of course, m'lady."

Her cheery tone lighted the grave tune of your morbid curiosity, you did like crime related shows after all.

————————————————————

"How?!" Corpse said in bewilderment, laughing in between.

"I know right? She said she felt every bone in her body putting itself back in the place. Even those in her ears."

Your hands covered by your oversized warm black sweatshirt went crazy as you said the story, stopping only to take a breath or to let the burst of laughter die down.

"Man, your friends are crazy."

"Pleease, when I was like 11-"

"I'm eleven so shut the fuck up."

"Shh, Corpse." You said smiling. "Anyway, when I was eleven years old, I used to play with some girls hide and seek or v-ați ascunselea and somehow my stupid ass managed to land into a tree branch."

"What?"

"Yeah, but not like with my chubby ass body ,noooo sir. With my eye."

"What the fuck, which one?"

"The right one, I have a scar running down it till the start of my lips."

"Wait,how? Do you still see?"

"Oh,yeah."You dismissed the question with a shake of a hand, getting back into the story.

"My folk were so scarred and they have a huge fight with my grandma who was busy with gossiping her neighbours. "

"Oh my fucking--Did it hurt?"

"Oh ,yeah but luckily it healed pretty quickly and now I got a sick scar."

"Do you have other scars?"

"Hmm, hella. My hands and arms are littered with them."

You laughed but stopped yourself when you didn't hear anything from Corpse.

"Um, my petit orchid? Are you..are you there?"

"Did you do them because you...you w-were.. um...um..." His voice ran on jittery and trembling in panic as he haulted to draw a breath and calm whatever nerves caused him to panic.

"Self harming?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Oh! No ,of course not. I hate pain. I have them because I cut myself a lot with my butterfly knife."

"W-With your knife?" He still spoke in shaky syllables.

"Yeah, I learn tricks like pinwheel , helix aerial, kiss goodbye and such."

"And you didn't taped the blade?"

"...I am a very chaotic and lazy person, Corpse."

You two laughed the intensity of the room. Your heart blooming at the idea that Corpse was genuinely worried about you but you sighed, getting ahead of yourself only landed you for disappointment and realistic bitterness.

"You...You were really worried about me there, weren't you Corpse?" You rhetorically asked in a shy manner, your mind and ,more,your heart needed to hear this for some reason.

"Y-Yeah, goofball. You got me there for a second. "

"Awww, don't worry my petit orchid. I ain't going nowhere. "

Not with my heart beating so fast and the pressure I have on my guts and the end of my lungs.

"P-Promise?"

"I would pinky promise the fuck out of you, my little orchid. Unfortunately ,I cannot. "

"Maybe some time in the future ?"

You could hear the smile in his voice, your own grin becoming bigger because of that. This manz raises my serotonin like no one's business.

"Of course, Corpse. Whenever you are ready ."

————————————————————

The rest of the night was spent watching cheap movies ,roasting the unrealistic characters and taking occasional breaks to regain your brain cells back.

"You been quiet."

You jumped ,stabbing your pointing finger with a sewing needle. You hissed as you moved to pull it out of your finger.

"Ghost ,what happened?"

"I was...ah shit...this will hurt."

You clenched your teeth and groaned as you pull the long glimmering needle out ,your skin reddening immediately as a bit of blood sprung out.

"Ghost? Goofball,please answer. "

"Y-yeah, I am fine. You scared me when you started to so the needle I am using went into my finger. It hurts."

"I am sorry,but what do you use the needle for?"

"Decorative sewing. "

"And whatcha making?"

"A flower ...for you!"

"Awww....that's so cute. You don't have to."

"BUT I WANT...I mean it's cool ,don't worry about it."

You stupid fucking dinosaur... You mumbled under your breath as you continued on your work, red cheeks of pure embarrassment.

Your pitiful attempt of covering your slip up was rewarded with one of his angelic chuckles, you seemed to make him laugh a lot. That's a good thing,right? Maybe he's just laughing at your clowny ass...

You huffed, eyebrows knitted in annoyance. Oh how you hated those belittling thoughts, they did nothing but ruin everything for you.

Or maybe you ruin them yourself..

"Shut up!"

"What?"

Ah,shit!

"Sorry ,Corpse, not you. I just...I lost myself in thought, hahaha...yeah thought. "

You slapped yourself so hard,your head was dizzy for it.

"Are you sure everything is fine ,goofball. I am always here for you."

Aww...

You sighed, tired all of sudden. "Yeah, orchid. I am fine,thanks for asking. "

"No need.I care about you, you know? A lot."

The last part was said in such a low tone that your ears couldn't pick it up. Unfortunately for Corpse who was busy playing with his sweater paws to calm his nerves.

"I care about you too ,Corpse. I think I will go. Good night !"

"'Night."

The reason why I am so worried about you ,Ghost, is because I don't think you realise ...

"... how lovely you are."

————————————————————

Hey, guys!💖

Hope you enjoyed the part six of this serie, it's bit shorter but I wanted it to be after the last part.

I am interested in what do you think will happen next.

Stay safe!💗

Tagged💖:@moolujk @magenta-skyline @cherry-piee @yoyoanaria @yikesyikesyikes95 @softboiicorpse @heavenly3308 @simonsbluee @mythicalamphitrite @gaysludge

[johnsbleu]

Hold My Hand: John Wick x Reader Chapter 87

warnings: nsfw hmh masterlist

It’s the day before your wedding and as happy as you are, you’re starting to get stressed out. John is being an absolute saint and doing everything that you’re telling him to do, but even you can tell that he’s a little nervous. He finished cleaning the living room floors, he swept the patio, and even tested the lights out to make sure they work. You don’t know who is more excited to get married: you or him.

You had ordered some cookies from the bakery down the road that were for your gift bags, and you also had some cupcakes made instead of a wedding cake. You and John will have a small cake that the two of you will cut, of course, but as for the guests, you felt it was a better idea to just get cupcakes.

You’ve just stopped by the bakery with Tess to get all of the desserts, and now you’re on your way to her in laws so she can get Finn. Since she’s been so busy with helping you out, she brought Finn to their house and he stayed there for the night. It’s only been less than 24 hours, but you can tell she misses him a lot.

“Okay, I’ll just go grab him and then I’ll be back out.” she says, hopping out of the car.

You watch Tess as she walks into the house, then you sit back a little and relax, taking a deep breath to try and calm yourself down, “You’re getting married, but there’s no need to be so stressed out. Everything is going according to plan. Mom is here, Tess is here, John is a saint -- how the hell did I get so lucky?”

You feel your phone vibrating in your pocket, and you pull it out to see that John has texted you.

By this time tomorrow, you’ll be Mrs. Wick. I can’t wait. I love you.

You smile as you read the text, then you text John back: I’ll be home in 20 minutes. I demand a big kiss when I see you. I love you endlessly, Jonathan.

The back passenger door opens and Tess hooks Finn’s car seat in, then she gets back in the car and exhales loudly, “I’m exhausted.”

“Good thing we’re done for the day.” you say as you back out of the driveway, “John has taken care of everything already. He’s been up since 5. Actually I’m not entirely sure he even went to bed.”

Tess laughs, “He’s so excited for tomorrow.”

“He is, but he’s also very nervous. I don’t know why, but John can’t seem to wrap his head around the fact that I’m…” you look over your shoulder a little when you remember Finn is in the car, and Tess waves her hand.

“You can swear. He’s a month old, he doesn’t know what the fuck you’re saying.”

“Okay, well, John can’t seem to wrap his head around the fact that I’m fucking crazy about him. I am head over heels in love with him.” you say, letting out a small laugh, “I mean, I get that he’s nervous. Last time he got married, he didn’t really get that life for very long.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Tess nods, looking over at you, “Have you written your vows yet?”

You grimace a little and shake your head, “No. I know that’s terrible, but I sit down to write them and my mind goes blank.”

“You could write them with John. That’s what Jimmy and I did. We riff off of each other, so it felt a lot more natural when we read them.” she says, shrugging a little, “You and John are doing them in private, so I guess you don’t even really need to write them.”

Exhaling loudly, you shrug a little, “Yeah, I don’t know. I’m sure John has his written, and I’m sure it’s beautiful and I’ll cry.”

Tess laughs, “John could read the recipe for how to bake a cake, and you’d cry.”

“Shut up!” you laugh loudly as you pull into your driveway. John jogs over to your car when you park in the garage, then he smiles and opens your door, “Hi, John.”

“Hi, baby.” he leans in the car and presses his lips to yours hard, then he leans back to look at you as he smiles. He laughs, leaning back in again, “One more.”

You rub your thumb against John's bottom lip and smile, “Your lip healed up nicely.”

“Yup,” John nods, leaning in for another big wet kiss.

“God, save it for your wedding night.” Tess teases as she gets Finn out of the car.

You smile when John winks at you, and you kiss him once more before you walk inside to see your mom and Jimmy sitting on the couch talking. He gets up and walks over to get Finn from Tess, then they all sit back down on the couch. John puts the sweets in the kitchen, then he grabs your waist and pulls you into his lap when he sits down on the chair.

“So, baby, do you have all of your little…things? You know, those things…” your mom says, snapping her fingers.

“Really narrowing it down there, mom.” you laugh, and you scoot back in John’s lap a little. “Oh, ‘something old, something new’, yeah, uh, no, I don’t have all of those things yet. Something new, I suppose would be my dress.”

“I gave you something borrowed. I gave you my bracelet that I wore on my wedding day.” Tess says, taking Finn out of his car seat so she can feed him.

Your mom smiles as she pulls out a small box, and she gets up to hand it to you, “This was the fabric from Grandma’s wedding dress. I unfortunately never got married, but before she passed, she gave me this. I figured I could sew it around your bouquet, or even into the bottom of your dress. Tess already had a piece for her dress.”

You pull out the white lace and smile as you rub it between your finger and thumb, “Thanks, mom. I love it. So I have something old, something new, something borrowed, but now I need something blue.”

John sits up and little, then he pats your leg so you’ll get up, “I’ll be right back.”

“Are you getting nervous, honey?” your mom asks, and you nod.

“A little,” you shrug as you exhale, “I just want everything to go well, and I just want John to be happy.”

Looking up, you see John coming back out with a smile on his face, and you furrow your brow a little when you look at him. He gestures to Bleu as he trots over to you, and you laugh when you lean forward to pet him.

“I got something blue,” John laughs, kneeling down in front of you and pointing at Bleu’s nice blue collar.

“Oh, yes, how could I forget my handsome guy?” you say, scratching his ears. “He’s our something Bleu.”

__

You’ve been clinging to John’s side all day since you know that the two of you won’t spend tonight together. You’re not very traditional and you don’t really care for all that stuff, but your mom said that the two of you shouldn’t see each other before you read your vows at least, so John will be staying with Jimmy.

“I hope the bed will be comfortable enough for you.” you frown a little, “I don’t want you to be in pain tomorrow.”

John turns around and wraps his arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer to him, “I’ll be fine, peach. Don’t worry about me. I want you to get some good rest tonight.”

“I’m going to be home alone.” you lean against John and frown even more. “Just me in this big house.”

“Not so fast!” Tess says, walking over to you, “I will be staying here with you, and you and I can get shit faced and do face masks, and we’ll have a dance party.”

You smile, looking over at her, “Really? You’d stay with me?”

“Of course! We can order a pizza and talk about John.” she says, nudging John’s arm. “You can tell me all of his secrets.”

Nodding your head, you laugh loudly and look at John, “Yeah, definitely.”

“Well, I can’t wait to hear what these two boys will tell me about my girls.” your mom says, and you cock up an eyebrow to warn John not to share too many details.

John smiles a little and hugs you tighter to his side, then the two of you walk down to the pavilion by yourselves to check it out. The tables and chairs that you’ve rented were dropped off earlier this afternoon and they’re already set up, thanks to John and Jimmy.

In less than 24 hours, you’ll officially be Mrs. Wick, and it’s kind of hard to wrap your head around. A year ago, you never even imagined that this is where you’d end up. You met John and instantly fell in love with him, which is understandable. Look at him!

John walks around the pavilion to make sure everything is set up perfectly, and you smile a little when he fixes a chair. He looks up at you and stops what he’s doing, and he stares back at you as you both start to smile.

“Tomorrow, Wick.” you say softly as you begin to tear up a little.

There’s a bit of pep in John’s step as he walks over to you and throws his arms around you. He lifts you off the ground and you wrap your legs around his waist as the two of you kiss passionately. You cup John’s face in your hands as you lean back to look at him, and your heart nearly bursts when you see the tears in John’s eyes.

“I can’t wait to marry you.” he whispers, then he kisses your cheek and sets you back on the ground. He pulls you closer to him, then he slides his hands into your back pockets, “I can’t wait to see you in your dress. I’ll never be able to keep my hands to myself tomorrow.”

You cock up an eyebrow, “Who says you have to? I’ll be your wife. Can you believe that? John, you’re getting married. I think I’m more excited for you than I am for myself. Well, I am pretty excited for myself. I can’t believe I’m getting married, and on top of it, I’m getting married to you. Jackpot!”

John cups your face in your hands, then he tilts your head back a little, “I can’t believe I get to marry you. I really lucked out this time.”

“I’m gonna miss you tonight.” you whisper as you stand on your tiptoes to kiss John, “Wish I could sleep in your arms. I hate that my mom convinced you that we shouldn’t see each other.”

“Well, we’re not doing anything the traditional way, we might as well have one tradition.” he laughs.

“We are doing plenty of things the traditional way, but I get it.” you roll your eyes playfully as you look away from John.

“I should go pack my bag.” John says, and he holds tight to you as he starts to walk back to the house. He turns around for you to hop on his back as the two of you laugh, and you bury your face in the crook of his neck, kissing him and tickling him.

You start to get off of John when he gets to the stairs, but he keeps a tight grip on you to keep you from getting down. When he gets into the bedroom, he finally plops you down on the bed, then he widens his eyes when he sees your dress is in a black garment bag hanging in the closet.

“Don’t peek!”

“I won’t, I won’t. I want to, but I won’t.” he laughs and pulls out a duffle bag to pack some things that he’ll need.

You watch John as he grabs out some boxers and a nice pair of dress socks, then he walks over to the closet and pulls out the garment bag that his suit is in. He opens it to make sure everything is okay still, then he squints his eyes at you a little when you lean over to look at it.

“Hey,” you whisper a little and look up at John, “Where do you want to read our vows? In here? Or maybe somewhere else?”

John sits down next to you and puts his hand on your thigh, “I was thinking that maybe we could do it down by the lake where I proposed. No guests will be here yet, so it might be kind of nice down there. The weather is supposed to be really nice too, so Tess can get some pictures.”

“Yeah, I want her to get some pictures of you seeing me for the first time.” you smile, feeling your cheeks turning red, “You’re gonna cry, I just know it.”

John nods his head, “I will, without a doubt.”

You lay back on the bed and close your eyes, and you feel your head spin a little. The bed shifts as John lays down next to you, and you open your eyes to look at him, holding his gaze for a moment before he leans over to kiss you.

“I wish I could marry you this very minute. I don’t want to wait any longer.”

You laugh, “Well, Jimmy is just downstairs.”

John immediately sits up and widens his eyes in shock, “Wait, can we?”

“So, you don’t want to have a wedding? You want to just sit on the bed and say ‘yes, Jimmy, I do take this wonderful woman to be my wife’?”

John flops back next to you and looks over at you again, “No, I want you to have the wedding of your dreams. I know you want this.”

“I do.” you nod, looking over at John, “But I would also be more than happy to sit on this bed right here and marry you.”

As fast as he can, John gets up and lays down on top of you, and you grunt a little under his weight. The two of you start to laugh when you hear the noise you’ve just made, and you’re almost in tears because you’re laughing so damn hard. John puts his forehead against yours as he laughs, then he presses a kiss to it as he gets off of you when he hears people coming up the stairs. You and John are still laughing as your mom and Tess walk into the room, and Tess looks at you both and smiles.

“What’s so funny?” Tess asks, and John begins to laugh again as he stands up to finish packing his bag.

“Just John being a goof.” you say as you sit back on the bed a little, “We were just talking about where we want to read our vows, and we decided on the lake since the weather will be nice and you can get some good pictures of us.”

Tess nods, “That’s a great idea. I’ll get some pictures of him when he sees you, then when you do your vows, I’ll just…back up a little to give you two some peace, but just know that I will still be taking pictures.”

“Sounds good to me, Tess.” John says, then he zips his bag shut.

“Got your toothbrush?” you ask, and John nods. “Toothpaste? Deodorant? Shampoo?”

“Baby, I’m just across the street. If I need anything anyway, I’m sure Jimmy would let me borrow something.” he says, cupping your cheek.

You lean into his palm a little more and smile when you look up at him, “Okay, just making sure.”

“And I’m not leaving yet, it’s 2 in the afternoon. I’m just packing my bag.” he says, sitting down next to you. “I actually was wondering if you wanted to grab some dinner tonight.”

Looking up at John, you smile and nod, “Of course.”

John smiles as he leans down to kiss you, “It’s a date then.”

Your mom is standing in the doorway with her hand over her mouth to keep herself from sobbing uncontrollably, but she sniffles and causes you to look over at her, “Damn! I said I wasn’t going to cry yet.”

“Mom!” you laugh as you walk over to hug her, “Don’t cry.”

She shakes her hands a little and laughs, “I’m sorry, I just can’t believe my girls are both married. Tess has a baby, and I’m sure you won’t be far behind.”

“Well,” you shrug a little, “We hope.”

“They’re definitely trying, mom.” Tess says, and you jab her with your elbow, “What? God, you act like mom doesn’t know that you have sex.”

“Tess!” you shove her again and look over at John, who has hidden in the bathroom. You look back at Tess and give her a disapproving look, “I know you just do that stuff to embarrass John.”

She laughs, “It’s just so fun.”

__

John planned a nice romantic dinner for the two of you to help take your mind off of the wedding planning, and the restaurant he chose in the city is one you’ve never been to before. The atmosphere is nice and romantic with candles and dimmed lights, and there’s even a little dance floor with a band. Your booth is tucked away in the back to give the two of you some privacy, and instead of sitting across the table, John is sitting right next to you.

“This was really good.” you say, relaxing back against the booth. “Thank you.”

John nods as he continues eating, “Sorry, I’m starving.”

You laugh as you lean forward to take a piece of bread from John’s plate, “It’s okay, keep eating.”

“Here,” John cuts a piece of his steak and feeds it to you, then he presses a kiss to your lips, “It’s good, huh?”

You nod, “It’s very good.”

John continues eating for a few moments, then he sits back and looks at you, “Would you like to go for a walk down by the river?”

“Where we went on our first date? It’s not far from here.”

“Yeah,” he nods, wrapping his arm around your shoulder, “What do you say?”

Looking up at John, you pop the piece of bread in your mouth and nod, “Sounds perfect.”

__

You and John are walking hand in hand along the river, and he stops to lean over the railing and look down at the water. There are a few boats on the river still and since it’s getting dark out, they all have their lights on. There’s one boat that’s lit up pretty brightly, and you smile as you nudge John.

“Looks like a wedding.” you look up at him and laugh, “Should have done a wedding on a boat.”

John laughs, “Someone would end up getting sick and throwing up all over everything.”

“Probably Jimmy.” you say, and John laughs quietly as he nods his head.

Leaning against John’s shoulder, you wrap your right arm around his bicep and intertwine your left hand with his. He leans over to press a kiss to your forehead, then he smiles when you look up at him.

“I can’t believe we’re getting married tomorrow.” he says quietly, keeping his gaze straight ahead. “I can’t believe you haven’t run away yet.”

“John,” you say with a sigh as you nudge him, “I’m not going anywhere.”

He nods his head, then looks down at you, “I know, I just…still think this isn’t what I deserve sometimes. A nice peaceful life. A nice peaceful life with you most of all. I’ve always had this sense of normalcy that I’ve craved, and even when I was with Helen, I still didn’t quite have it because I never told her about my life.”

“Yeah, I understand that.”

John turns to face you and reaches for your hands, “You’re not a replacement to me, you’re not just someone I picked to help replace the life that I had with Helen. You’re someone who I want around, you’re someone I want to share my life with, you’re someone who I want to bring children into this world with.”

You smile as you nod, “I know, Jonathan.”

“Those five years that I had with Helen were amazing, and I can say that I really did love her. I did. I loved her so much, and I loved the life that she and I were building together. But she’s not here anymore.”

You look over your shoulder at the bench behind the two of you, and you pull John to sit down, “John, why are you saying all of this?”

“Because I want you to know that I’m marrying you. I am all in.”

You chuckle a little, “I know that, babe. Of course I know you’re all in. I don’t think you’re the type to do something if you’re not all in.”

John nods, then he looks up at you, “I know you sometimes wonder if I think about Helen and how my life would be if she were still here, but I don’t think about it. I know you very well, and I know you’re too good of a person to ever bring it up because you’d never want to hurt my feelings.”

“Well, yeah.” you shrug.

“I love Helen, but it’s not the same anymore. I can look back on my years with Helen and think about what a great time we had together. Even though I was with her for five years, it flew by. It was a fleeting glimpse of happiness, which is now proceeded by my endless happiness I have with you. And…” John looks down and takes a deep breath, “This might sound…bad, but here goes, I guess. If Helen…hadn’t died, I wouldn’t have met you. So, in a way, I’m thankful that that happened, and now I know how that sounds…”

You nod as you look at John, “I get it. You went through a lot, and it hurts and it sucks, but everything you went through, it led you to me.”

“As time has gone on, I think about her less. I still love her, and I always will. That will never change. Her passing seemed like the death of me as well, and the death of a life I so desperately wanted, but I walked outside one day and I saw the most beautiful woman,” he says, rubbing his thumb against your chin, “And I realized companionship, family, happiness, it was all something that I could still have. And I have it all with you.”

Sniffling a little, you look up at John and smile, “I love you.”

“I love you.” he says firmly, almost like he’s trying to get it through your head -- as if you didn’t already know John loves you. “I love Helen, but it’s nothing compared to how I feel about you. If all that has happened in my life hadn’t happened, you and I wouldn’t be here, and we wouldn’t be bringing a child into this world. We are together because we’re meant to be together. We are meant to bring a baby into this world. No matter the time, no matter what universe. You and I are meant to be. There’s no other explanation.”

You laugh a little, “Pump the breaks there, Wick. We’re not bringing a child into this world right now.”

John laughs as he leans back on the bench, “Well, we will eventually.”

“We have been having a lot of sex lately.” you say, sliding your hand up John’s thigh as he looks at you. “Yeah, we’re not pregnant, but we will be soon. I feel it in my bones.”

Chuckling softly, John wraps his right arm around your shoulder and pulls you closer to his side, and the two of you look out across the city at the skyline.

“I know that you love Helen and I in different ways, and I’ve always appreciated how you’ve always made me feel special no matter what.” you smile at John and turn to him, “You’ve allowed us to create the relationship that we want. You’ve allowed us to fall in love in our own way. I have never felt like you didn’t love me, and I’ve never felt like you loved Helen more. To be honest, I never really thought about who you loved more, because I never felt like I was in competition with her in that way. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I totally felt a little competition.”

John laughs, “Oh, I definitely remember the night you found the picture in the safe. Very dramatic, Mrs. Wick.”

Looking down, you let out a small laugh, “I really love how much you loved Helen, and I know how big her impact was on your life. She helped shape you into the man you are today and I’m forever grateful for that. I wish she could be here to see how happy you are, which makes absolutely no sense, because if she was here, I wouldn’t be here, but you get what I mean.”

“I get what you mean.” John laughs, and he looks over at you and tucks your hair behind your ear. “She really would like you, baby. I think she’d be very happy for me.”

You nod, “There’s no doubt in my mind that she would be happy for you. I love you, John, so fucking much. I truly appreciate you, and I’m proud of you.”

John pulls you back into his arms and leans his head against yours as you look out at the horizon again, “Yeah, I’m proud of me too.”

__

After you and John got done with dinner, he went over to Jimmy’s house for the rest of the night, and he’s been gone for a few hours now. Tess came over to spend the night with you, and what started off as one glass of wine ended up as several glasses of wine and maybe a shot or two of John’s expensive whiskey. You’ve prank called John and Jimmy four times already, and Tess was laughing hysterically when you came out of your bedroom in one of John’s suits.

Your phone ringing catches your attention and you shuffle over to grab it to see John facetiming you, “Hi, John.”

John cocks up his eyebrow and laughs, “Are you drunk?”

You laugh and shake your head, “No, definitely not. I mean, I had two glasses of wine and a shot of whiskey, but I’m not drunk.”

“She’s love drunk, John.” Tess says, then she laughs hysterically at her own joke.

You look back at your phone and laugh, “Tess, on the other hand, will wake up with a massive headache.”

It’s almost midnight, so you’re sure that John is probably going to bed soon. You grab your phone, then you walk into the kitchen for a little bit of privacy.

“I was just thinking about you.” he says, trying his best to whisper so he doesn’t wake up anyone in the house, “I was hoping you’d be up so I can see you.”

You smile and nod your head, “I’ll meet you outside.”

Tess is laying on the couch as she falls asleep, so you tap her leg and wait for her to open her eyes, “Go lay in my bed. I’ll be up in a minute.”

You watch Tess as she slowly walks upstairs and into your room, then you turn around to head out of the front. It’s only been a few hours since you’ve seen John, but you’re more than a little excited to see him since you’re getting married tomorrow. You slide your feet into your sandals, then you almost run down the driveway to see John. You smile wide when you see John standing at the end of the driveway waiting for you, and you run a little faster to jump into his arms and wrap your legs around his waist.

John laughs as he stumbles back a little, “You look so small in my suit.”

“I was being you.” you laugh, then you kiss John, “I was pretending to be Mr. Wick.”

“Yeah? And what does that look like?”

You puff out your chest a little and walk around, then you try your hardest to talk in a deep voice, “I love to bind books. My dog? His name is Bleu. He’s a good dog. Have you heard I’m engaged? She’s the love of my life. I call her peach all the time,” you stand on your tiptoes and put your arm on John’s shoulder, “Let me tell you, her ass…it’s out of this world.”

“Okay,” John laughs as he shakes his head, “I would never say that to someone.  You look pretty cute though, peach.��

“Ah, I can’t take it anymore.” you whine loudly as you jump up so John can hold you, “I miss you.”

“You’ve been very clingy lately.” he laughs, and you lean back when he tries to kiss you, “No, no, I love it.”

“This is the first time in a long time that I’ve had to sleep without you.” you lean forward to kiss him, then you wrap your arms around him tighter, “Tess is actually sleeping in our bed.”

John laughs, “Figures.”

“I don’t like to be alone!” you laugh as you get down, “I’m gonna sleep on your side though. I can’t wait to snuggle into your pillow and smell your cologne and shampoo.”

The way John is looking at you right now, you already know what's going through his head: he wants to have sex with you. He always gets this certain look in his eyes.

Reaching out for John's waist, you pull him closer to you and tilt your head back so you can kiss him passionately and tide him over for a few more hours. The problem now is that you're getting turned on when his hands begin to explore your body. He wraps his arms around you and carefully tries to lay you down on the ground, but you stay frozen in place.

“Lay down,” John whispers as he kisses your neck.

“On the grass?” you ask, and John nods his head. “Isn't it wet?”

John sits down on the ground and puts his hand in the grass, “No, so come here.”

You hold John's hands as you straddle his waist, then he immediately starts to unbutton the front of your shirt. He pulls it open to see you're wearing a lacy black bra and your breasts are nearly in his face, which John loves. From the light of the moon, you can see John just enough as he pulls down the lace of your bra to expose your nipple. He kisses down your breast to your nipple, then he flicks his tongue over it slowly, and it elicits a small moan from you when he sucks on it.

“You love them, don’t you?”

John smiles, looking up at you, “You have amazing tits.”

“Tits.” you laugh as you look down at him sucking on your nipple, “I love that you always say tits.”

Keeping a tight grip on you, John lays flat on his back and moves your hair out of your face so he can look at you as you slowly grind against him. Placing one hand in the grass and one on John’s chest, you maintain eye contact with him as you slowly rub yourself against the growing erection in his pants. His hands move from your thighs to your ass, and he pushes you down on him so he can feel you more. You're not going to have sex with John on your front lawn, though it's very tempting. You press a kiss to John's lips, then you sit up straight and smile when he stares blankly at you.

“I should probably head inside.” you say, and you start to laugh when John pulls you flush against his chest again.

“Don't go yet.” he says, bucking his hips a little. You sit up as you roll your hips against John, and he closes his eyes and bites his lip. “No one can see us, it's pitch black out. Keep going.”

“And what? You're just gonna come in your pants?” you ask, and John smiles at you, bucking his hips under you. “Oh, you are? Okay, well, I can help with that.”

The friction between you and John as you roll your hips is turning you on even more, and when he slides his hands up your chest and onto your breasts, you begin to roll your hips faster. He pulls the lace from over your other breast and sits up to suck on your nipple as you continue to grind on him.

“Fuck,” you push John down and scoot down so you can pull him out of his pajama pants. You quickly pull his cock free from his boxers as he watches, then you pull your pants off and move your underwear to the side so you can sink down on him, “Yes!”

“Oh, shit.” John moans, then he shakes his head, “You're killing me, baby. You're killing me.”

It’s quiet outside, which means your voices will carry -- which means your moans will carry. As you continue rolling your hips, John sucks on his thumb, then he reaches down to rub circles on your clit, and you immediately press both hands to your mouth to muffle the moans.

“You wanna scream, don’t you?” John asks, sliding his hands to your waist to help you bounce up and down on him, “Fucking scream for me.”

“I can’t.” you manage to choke out, squeezing your eyes shut as the pleasure begins to take over. “God damn, you feel so good between my legs.”

John chuckles softly, “You know the best thing about it being so quiet out here?”

“What?” you ask, breathlessly.

“I can hear how wet you are for me.” he says, and your eyes roll shut as you tilt your head back and moan.

Holding tight to your waist as you roll your hips, John bends his knees and begins to jerk them with no restraint. The sound of John's hips slapping against your ass gets louder the faster he moves them, and he wraps his arms around you tight as he lets out a thunderous moan and spills inside of you as you come moments after him.

You lean your head against John's chest and laugh, “That was the last time we'll ever have sex as an unmarried couple.”

“It was good.” he says, leaning up to kiss you.

“I did not think…” you swallow hard to try and slow your breathing, “We’d have sex in our front yard, but there’s a first time for everything.”

Wincing a little as you slide off of John, you hold tight to his hands as he helps you stand up, then he keeps his hand on your thigh so you don't fall over when you put your pants back on. He stuffs himself into his pants and groans loudly as he gets up, then he laughs when he sees the grass has an imprint of his body in it.

John looks down at his watch and sighs a little, “I’m gonna let you go so you can get some sleep. I can’t wait to see you in the morning, and I can’t wait to hold you and kiss you. I can’t fucking wait to marry you.”

“This is where I say something cheesy like, ‘I’ll be the one in white’.” you laugh as you lean up to kiss John. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jonathan. I love you.”

“I love you more.” he says, and the two of you slowly back away until your fingers lose touch. “I’m gonna wait here until I know you get in the house safely.”

You let out a small laugh and blow a kiss to John before you turn around to head up to the house. You get to the door and look back at the end of the driveway to see John still standing there watching you. Since it’s a little after midnight now, you don’t really want to yell, but since it’s so quiet out, you can hear John as he whispers loudly.

“Goodnight, baby. I love you.” John whispers loudly, and you smile as you wave. “Make sure you lock up.”

“I love you.” you blow him another kiss, and he waves as you close the door and lock it. You head upstairs to find Tess sprawled out on your side of the bed, which you’re more than fine with since you want to snuggle with John’s pillow.

After heading into the bathroom to go pee, brush your teeth, and wash your face, you change into your pajamas and carefully crawl into bed so you don’t wake up Tess. You pull the blankets over yourself, then you bury your face in John’s pillow and inhale deeply, smiling to yourself because tomorrow…you become Mrs. Wick.

__

taglist:  @callmeglenncoco @ficsnroses​ @tnu-ree​ @keanureevesisbae​ @rubywantsafuitgummy​ @cheekybluefox​ @hylianhbu @re-florescer-a​ @tea-time-fun-posts​ @star017​ @fangirl-fantasize​ @wheretheriversrunintothesea​

[cordonian-literature]

The Aftermath - Ch. 7

Photographs

Summary: Gabe’s having a difficult time at school, and Olivia gets some suspicious information

Word Count: ~3.3k

Warning: Mention of character death

*All characters belong to Pixelberry, except those that are unique to my story (I’ve also used some characters and fictional instances from Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch”)*

Catch up here! 

Tags: @captain-kingliamsqueen​ @marshmallowsaremyfavorite​ @gkittylove99​​ @lovablegranny​​ @loudbluebirdlover​​ @mom2000aggie​​ @kingliam2019​​ @queenrileyrose​​ @shanzay44​​ @cordonianroyalty​​ @hopefulmoonobject​​ @hopelessromanticmonie​​ @cinnamonspongecake​​ @queenjilian​​ @kuladekiwi​​ @twinkle-320​​ @iaminlovewithtrr​​ @charlotteg234​​ @amandablink​​ @texaskitten30​​ @tinkie1973 @louiseingram1208 @queencatherynerhys​​ @pens-girl-87​​ @missevabean​​ @ladyangel70​ @sanchita012​ 

I hope I got everyone tagged! If I missed someone, or if anyone wants to be added/removed, let me know!

- Eleanor - 

Gabe and I go back to school on Monday. It was uneventful, but all of my friends were especially nice to me and my teacher told me that I didn’t have to worry about any of the work I missed. In the middle of math, the school counselor took me out of class and told me I could come and talk to her if there was anything I needed. I told her I was alright and walked back to my seat, feeling the eyes of the entire class on me.

Around noon, it was time for lunch. Grandma had packed our meals the night before. I took my lunch bag and started walking with my class to the cafeteria where we would eat. We passed by the main office, where I saw Gabe, sitting along the wall of the room with his backpack on the seat next to him. I ran up to my teacher and pointed out my brother, asking if I could sit with him for lunch. 

“That’s fine, Eleanor,” she allowed, “but make sure you come back to line up with us when the bell rings.”

I go into the main office, and the secretary smiles at me. I tell her that I was there to have lunch with my brother, and she nods. 

I sit down in the seat next to Gabe. Both of our classes had lunch right now, but it didn’t look like he had eaten. “Aren’t you hungry?” I ask him. 

He shakes his head. 

I take out my sandwich and start eating, glancing at Gabe to see if he would reach for his own lunch. When I was done with my sandwich, I threw out my wrapper in the trash next to the secretary’s desk and opened up Gabe’s backpack to take out his lunchbox. 

Mama and Daddy had bought us our lunchboxes when I started kindergarten. We found one with my name on it, and since we couldn’t find one with Gabe’s name on it, Daddy bought him the Avengers one and Mama later sewed his name on. 

Remembering Mama and Daddy together, when they were both alive and well, made me sad again. I had so far gone the whole day without feeling any hints of tears. Now, standing in the office, with Gabe not talking to me and the reminder that Mama and Daddy were both technically gone, I wanted to cry again. 

I forced myself not to. Instead I placed Gabe’s lunchbox on his lap. I had to show Gabe that everything was alright, and I couldn’t do that if I was crying. 

I start eating the cookies that Grandma packed me. I take out an Oreo and wave one in front of Gabe’s face, hoping that he would take it, but he just shakes his head. 

I put the rest of the cookies back into my bag, feeling weird about being the only person in the room eating — especially since I wasn’t even sure if we were allowed to eat in the main office — and then the secretary turns to me and asks, “Honey, what’s your grandmother’s phone number? I called her workplace and they wouldn’t put me through.”

I give her the number. Gabe continues to stare down at his lap. 

“Hi! Mrs. Brooks?” the secretary cries. “This is Miss Newman, Mr. Henderson’s secretary from Gabriel’s school? Yes I’m just calling to ask if you could pick him up? Oh, no he’s been an absolute angel! It’s just that, he had a nervous breakdown during science and disrupted the class.... Yes, he’s here in the office with me. Oh, you would like to speak to him? Sure!” She motions at Gabe to come over to her and take the phone, but he still hasn’t looked up from his lap. “Gabriel!” Miss Newman violently whispers. 

After a few more moments of her trying to get Gabe on the phone, she begins talking to Grandma again. 

“Gabriel’s not in too good of a mood right now. Principal Henderson asked me to call you. Yes, he spoke with him. No, he won’t be suspended, but we’re asking you to keep him home for a few more days until you’re sure he’s doing better. He’ll be home without consequences, yes. Oh, you’ll pick up Eleanor as well? Great! I’ll have her collect her things.” 

As soon as she hangs up, I nod at her and then walk out of the office, leaving my lunchbox with Gabe. I go to the cafeteria where my teacher is and tell her that I’m being picked up and need to go back into the class to get my things. Another teacher watches the class as I’m led back up to the classroom. I give my thanks to her for opening the door, and then dash back down towards the office.

When we get in Grandma’s car, Gabe’s head still hung low. I wanted to give him a hug, mostly because I wanted one, but I decided against it. 

We don’t talk during the drive, and we don’t talk on the elevator ride up. Once we’re inside our penthouse, Gabe goes towards his room, but Grandma calls him back. 

Gabe shrugs his bag off and falls back onto the couch, staring at his shoes. 

Grandma sighs. “Gabriel, Eleanor. I have something important I need to talk to you about.”

“Is it about what happened at school?” Gabriel mumbles.

Grandma sighs, but doesn’t answer. “Gabe, baby, do you remember where you and I went on Saturday after dropping off Ella for a ballet class?”

He nods. 

“Well, we went over there to get a test taken. To see if that man, Liam, was your father.”

“But...,” I say, frowning. Neither of them had told me where they had went. “Isn’t... Daddy Gabe’s father?”

Grandma ignores me. “The test came back positive, which means that Liam is your dad.”

“Both of our... dad?” Gabe and I look between each other and Grandma. My heart was racing. How could Liam be his father if we didn’t know who Liam was? And what about Daddy? Did suddenly not exist for Grandma?

“No, baby,” Grandma explains. “Your mother was with Liam before she was with Theodore, which means that Liam is your father, Gabe, and that Theodore is Ella’s father.”

“But... but...,” Gabe sits forward, panic and heavy tears in his eyes. “Does that mean... wait... Grandma do I have to go live with him?”

Grandma doesn’t answer, and Gabe starts crying. 

“I don’t wanna do that Grandma, I don’t wanna leave. I don’t wanna leave you and Ella, I don’t wanna leave Mom,” he pleads.

My breathing quickens. I don’t want Gabe to leave us either. If he was going to leave, then I’d have no more siblings to play around with, or tease, or cry with, or laugh with, or talk about my day with, or ask for help, or anything. I couldn’t do those things with Grandma or Mama. I would be alone.

Grandma rushes over to sit in between us and holds Gabe in her arms. “No, baby,” she whispers. “I’m not going to let that happen.” 

She does her best to soothe him. The power of his sobs increases and decreases. When Gabe’s tears subside and the only proof of him having cried were his whimpers, Grandma grabs both of our hands. 

“Come on, let’s go visit Mama.” We nod. “Do you want to know what the doctor told me?” We shake our heads. “She said that showing Mama pictures can help bring her memory back. Do you want to try that?” 

We jump up from our seats and race into Mama and Daddy’s room, where all the family albums were. There are three: one filled with pictures of specifically Gabe and I, another with pictures of Mama and Daddy (which is thinner than the other two), and the last one was filled with pictures of all of us together. 

On Mama’s side of the closet we find an empty beach bag, so we put the albums in there. There were some framed pictures in their room and on the walls, and so we took those, too. There were pictures of me, Gabe, and Mama in Daddy’s office, which we also gently placed in the bag. 

The bag was so heavy that Gabe and I had to carry it together. When we got to the hospital, Liam and his friends weren’t there. I wanted to tell Gabe that maybe it was important to try and look for him and talk to him, but him and Grandma were already ushering me into Mama’s hospital room. 

“Hello, there,” she says to us, smiling. 

“Hi, Mom,” Gabe greets, we put down the bag and stare at her for a couple moments. 

“I hear that you guys have some pictures to show me?” Her tone isn’t motherly or cheerful like it used to be. Instead it’s... friendly... but not really. Like when a stranger in the subway asks for directions, or when the cashier asks if you found everything you needed. She sounded like she was obligated to be nice to us, and didn’t really want to. I wanted to understand her feelings, I really did. I tried to remind myself that Mama didn’t know she was a Mama. 

I just wanted to leave everything be and disappear, to fade from existence the same way that Mama’s memories of us did. 

But if I faded from existence, what would happen to Gabe? If Mama never gets her memories back, then what else would keep him here? He would have to leave Grandma and Mama and go with Liam. He would have to go alone. Just as if he left, I would be alone. 

And I hated being alone or even thinking of it. Mama and Daddy were always close to us, so I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to isolate myself from everyone. Even the word “isolation” made me think of how the police had told Grandma that they found Mama under a pile of rubble. Was Mama able to see before people pulled her out? If they didn’t pull her out, and she stayed there, and we never found her, and her name was never in the news, would she have technically existed? Would she have existed for the doctors and nurses and our family friends who sent her flowers? Would she have existed anymore for Liam and his friends?

Technically, she wouldn’t have. But right here, right now, she existed, Gabe existed, and so did I. We just had to remind her. 

I pull out the album filled with pictures of Gabe and I first, mentally marking us as the top priority. I walk over to one side of her bed and sit next to her. Gabe seems hesitant. He looks disconnected, just as he has the entire day. Now there’s a confusion mixed in with it, and I know it’s because of what Grandma told us about Liam. Gabe’s face represents all of the questions I have. 

Usually when he gets like that, I leave him be so I don’t accidentally make it worse. But this time is different. 

“Come on,” I call to him from Mama’s left side. 

“You can sit here, Gabriel,” Mama pats the right side of her bed, where there’s a space big enough for him to sit. 

My face falls a little when she calls him “Gabriel” instead of the sweet “Gabe”. The memories flash through my head, how Mama never referred to us as “Gabriel and Eleanor,” but always as “Gabe and Ella.” Her affectionate nicknames that caught on became a larger part of our identities than our actual names.  

But, still, it’s a step in the right direction. She’s trying to pull us towards her, which is better than leaving us on the side by ourselves. 

When Gabe sits down, I open the book up to his kindergarten graduation. She smiles and laughs at our stories, and for the first time during the longest, most helpless week of my life, I have hope that everything might just turn out okay.

- Olivia - 

Almost a week after Liam and Drake left for New York, a folder with pictures of them walking around Times Square was smacked down onto Olivia’s desk by her assistant and sidekick, Jacob. 

There were pictures of Liam, Drake, and Maxwell walking down a crowded street and into a store with stuffed animals. Olivia looks up at Jacob and asks, “Where did you get these pictures from?”

“Intercepted them in the capital this morning before they reached the palace.”

“Who in the palace would be trying to get pictures of the king?” Olivia wonders aloud. She suspected Madeleine, that good-for-nothing she-devil who never stopped delving into everyone else’s business with the intent of “making sure no one’s actions could embarrass Cordonia”. 

Liam and Drake hadn’t gotten back to Olivia since they had left to go find Riley. Olivia wanted to give Liam a call, but decided it was best to leave him alone. She already knew that nothing she could say would make him feel better. All of them knew that Riley was the only thing that could lift his mood. 

Olivia forced herself to understand that a long time ago. When Madeleine was no longer the Queen-to-be, Riley was nowhere to be found, and Liam was in need of a wife, Olivia did her best to hint towards them marrying. But Liam, in his state of heartbreak, didn’t notice Olivia, so she consoled herself that he would never be in love with her. It hurt, but pain wasn’t new to Olivia.

What she couldn’t accept was the fact that some commoner came in out of thin air and broke the only man Olivia had ever loved, and left just as she had arrived. Olivia made it her goal that not only would she do everything in her power as Duchess to make her king happy again, but she couldn’t wait to give Riley a piece of her mind as punishment for what she did to Liam. 

Yet as the years went on, the likeliness of them finding Riley began to decrease, and Olivia was almost desperate to get her back. Riley’s punishment be damned, Liam was going to lose himself.

She knew that having to bring back Riley after she had just been in an accident would be a challenge, but at least Liam would be more relaxed. At least there would be hope for a more secure government. 

But six days after she had sent them off to New York, she still hadn’t heard back from them. And seeing these images of them walking around the city without Riley was very concerning. Picking up her phone, she debates whether she should call Liam. Even though it was almost midnight in Lythikos, It would be around six in the evening in America. Would Liam, Drake, and Maxwell still be roaming or would they be with Riley?

She decided that calling Drake would be a bit better, considering that she could seriously use some entertainment. 

The line rings until finally his rugged voice goes, “Hello?”

“Drake. Where are you and Liam?” 

“My day was fine, thank you for asking. I hope you’re having a nice day, too, Olivia.”

She scoffs. “I don’t have time for pleasantries.” She pauses, listening closely to the song that was playing in Drake’s background. “Are you... watching a children’s show?”

“No!” he shouts. “We’re in a candy store. That’s just the... music they put on.”

“Shouldn’t you all be focusing on Riley instead of pleasing Maxwell’s sweet tooth?”

“For your information, we are technically focusing on Riley, and the candy isn’t for Maxwell. How’d you know he was with us, anyway?”

Olivia picks up a picture of Liam, Drake, and Maxwell inside a store with Maxwell holding up a stuffed animal at least two feet taller than him. “Just a hunch. If you’re not in there for Maxwell, then who are you getting candy for? Riley?” 

Drake doesn’t respond. She can hear him sigh, and then he finally says, “We found out that Riley has two kids. The older one is Liam’s.”

Olivia’s jaw goes slack. A moment later she breathes out the words, “Liam didn’t know, did he?” Olivia knew that the last thing Liam would ever be was a negligent or cold father — especially after they discovered what his own father had done to him and Riley. If Liam knew that he had a son, there was no way that he would have allowed such a distance to come between them for so long. But along with pity for Liam, a fire in her chest was lightened as well. How dare Riley keep Liam’s son from him?

“Nope. He didn’t. They took a paternity test to make sure. It came back positive this morning. So that conversation between Gabriel and Liam is going to happen eventually, and we thought it’d be better to surprise him and his sister with gifts. To think of it, Eleanor should be in that conversation, too.” She can tell Drake pulls the phone away from his ear, because his voice sounds distant when he yells, “Maxwell! Get some extra gummy worms for Eleanor!”

There’s a faint, “Got it!” from the other side. 

“Gabriel and Eleanor?” Olivia asks. “Are those the children’s names?”

“Yup.”

“Gabriel is suitable for the name of a prince. A strong name, part of Cordonia’s history as an honorable warrior.... But Eleanor? She isn’t Liam’s, is she?”

“No,” Drake answers. “Her dad’s name is Theodore Blaise. He died in the accident.”

“But Eleanor is also the name of Liam’s mother?”

Drake lowers his voice. “I know, I thought about that, too. That doesn’t seem like something Riley did without thinking. I wish we could ask her, though it’d be useless.” 

“Useless?” Olivia frowns. “Why wouldn’t she be able to tell you? Does she not want to talk to you?”

Drake sighs again. “She lost her memory.” 

“Oh,” Olivia states. She thinks to herself, A clean slate, huh? But she can’t bring herself to explain the sense of dread in her chest. Now what will happen between her and Liam? Will he give up on her? He wouldn’t, though. He’s not like that. He has a son with her. And a step-daughter. “Don’t get Eleanor gummy worms,” she speaks after a silence moment.

“What?” She can imagine the look of confusion on Drake’s face. 

“I said don’t get her gummy worms, get her gummy bears. Worms are sad. Bears are happy. Haven’t you heard that childish gummy bear song?”

“I’m surprised you’ve heard it, Olivia. But I disagree. Worms are for when you’re happy. Bears are for when you’re sad. She just lost her father and is probably still upset, and we’re here to try and make them happy. Cheer them up before a serious conversation, y’know?”

“Is that why you guys were in the toy store?” Olivia picks up the picture that shows the three men walking out of said store with shopping bags in their arms.

“Olivia, are you spying on us?” 

“No,” she states, “though I probably should be since you all aren’t bothering to tell me anything. Anyway, Jacob intercepted some photographs of you three going around stores in Times Square. The pictures were being sent to someone in the palace.” 

“Damnit,” Drake spits. “Who else knows that we’re in New York? Whatever. I’ll let Bastien know. In the meantime I think you should go over to the palace and check everything out. See if anything suspicious is happening.” 

“I’ll leave in the morning,” Olivia declares. “Oh, and Drake?”

“Yeah?”

She sighs. “Let me know if Riley’s condition improves. And tell Liam that I’ve been meaning to talk to him. It’s alright if he can’t, I know he’s got a lot on his plate, but... just....”

“Damn,” Drake comments. “Someone’s going soft. Was it the gummy bear song that did it?” 

Olivia scoffs and ends the call. 

[watchathon]

Halloween Special: Coraline

In case you’re finding this post just by browsing the tags I’ve used for this post, this is the Watchathon, a blog where I watch something and make a blog post where I write down my thoughts as I watch. Each new thought starts with a hyphen and a bolded first word.

- Like so.

Today, I’m celebrating Halloween with my favorite spooky movie: Coraline! 

I realize that it’s not actually a Halloween movie, and I’m hoping to do actually Halloween-themed movies in the future, but when I had the idea to do a Halloween special post, this was the movie that first came to mind.

It’s scary, funny, gorgeously animated, but I’m sure I’ll be getting more into that during the post proper. With that said, here are my thoughts on Coraline:

- Even the studio logos and opening credits for this movie have an unsettling vibe, with both the visuals and the background music.

- And that’s before we’ve even gotten into the scene of the doll being transformed slowly into a doll of Coraline by mysterious stick limbs.

- I know that when I move, I’d love to be greeted by the sight of a man doing yoga on the rooftop.

- Nice introduction to Coraline when we see her pull a stick off of a bush and use it like a dowsing rod. Really sets up her character as a kid who’s not averse to the weird. The kind of kid who might, say, make several trips through a mystical hole in her room that brings her to button-eyed “better” versions of her parents and neighbors.

- And here we see Wyborne “Wybie” Lovat, Coraline’s closest-thing-to-a-friend in her new town. He’s more logically-minded, able to tell that Coraline’s dowsing rod is poison oak, and even analyzing Coraline’s name (after he’s corrected that it’s not Caroline.)

- I like the transition from Coraline holding her ear to the well, to her washing her hands in the kitchen sink.

- And here we see that the Coraline doll from the beginning of the movie made its way to the trunk of Wybie’s grandma. Which is scary, as well as bizarre from Coraline’s perspective. You move into a new house, and it turns out your landlady (who doesn’t normally allow kids) owned a doll that looks suspiciously similar to you, including your outfit.

- I like the music during this scene of Coraline exploring her new house. It’s so serene and calm.

- Coraline just killed the bugs in the shower with her bare hands... Not much I can really say about that except: “Gross...”

- I know all too well the feeling Coraline’s dad has when his writing is erased. I said this is a scary movie, here’s the scariest dang thing. *shivers*

- The entrance into the Other World is the perfect blend of creepy, and beckoning, with the music and cool colors.

- As well as the first appearance of the Other Mother. There’s the buttons for eyes, and the very fact that she’s an identical copy of Coraline’s real mom in everything but the eyes, making her scary on simply the conceptual level. 

But she’s so much nicer to Coraline than her real-world counterpart, not to mention that she cooks much nicer-looking meals than Coraline’s dad, and resides in a nicer version of Coraline’s house.

- And then there’s the Other Father, introducing himself to Coraline with a nice peppy song about her. The lyrics are filled with foreshadowing, but it’s not like Coraline was going to dig that deep into it. Why would she? The Other World is giving her the family life she wishes she could have in the real world.

- I’d say that Coraline shouldn’t accept food from strangers, but I mean, it’s her parents. But not really her parents, it’s her Other Parents. But they seem to know her like they are her parents. But they don’t actually know her, because they’re not her parents. But they are alternate versions of her parents. But... Oh dear, I’ve gone cross-eyed...

- And the Other World is even complete with a way for her to talk to her old friends from Michigan! Granted, they’re not actually her friends, but they are exact copies of... Nope! Not jumping down that rabbit hole again.

- Coraline gets confirmation that the Other World was real when she wakes up to find that her poison oak has completely disappeared, without a trace. I remember when I first watched this movie, I was afraid it would turn out to be all just a dream, but this confirms right off the bat that the Other World isn’t just in Coraline’s head.

- I like that we’re getting introductions to Coraline’s neighbors, starting with the Amazing Bobinsky, who’s working on a mouse circus. And also misunderstands Coraline’s name to be Caroline.

- And Coraline gets her first warning about the dark secrets of the Other World from said mouse circus. Plus, as a bonus, the mice get her name right on the first try without needing to be corrected.

- Next up is Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, the former also getting Coraline’s name wrong.

- You’ve heard of crazy cat ladies, now get ready for crazy dog ladies who stuff all their dogs when they die!

- Second warning about the danger of the Other World, from Miss Spink reading Coraline’s tea leaves.

- One thing I never really noticed before: The cat’s already showing a personality of his own right now, even when he’s just Wybie’s cat friend who’s not technically owned by Wybie.

- Seems Coraline’s starting to grow fond of Wybie, thinking of him as a friend instead of the annoying kid who lives somewhere near her house.

- Looks like Other Mother is really trying to push the idea that the Other World is better than the real world, what with how she insists that the Other Father is the Better Father.

- The garden arranged into a picture of Coraline is so beautiful. And so impressive when you remember that this is a stop-motion movie, and that portrait had to be actually built for its few seconds of screen time.

- Another thing that the Other Mother offers to Coraline as a benefit of the Other World: A version of Wybie that’ll listen to her, that won’t change the subject to slugs or whatever.

- Plus a version of Bobinsky that not only gets Coraline’s name right, but trains his mouse circus to spell it out. It’s like the Other World is “fixing” all the things that bugged Coraline about her life in the real world.

- And all that temptation looks like it’s working. When Coraline’s mom buys her the same grey uniforms the rest of her school will be wearing, Coraline only responds that the other mother would buy her a better uniform.

- Looks like the cat’s kind of suspicious of the Other World when he sees Coraline crawling inside.

- And the cat’s the only living thing from the real world other than Coraline to come into the Other World. Or, well, the only still-living thing...

- The third warning about the dangers of the Other World comes from the cat, also the first warning given directly to her instead of secondhand or via tea leaves.

- This movie can be creepy in a lot of ways even before Coraline’s life is in danger. For example, one of tne of the “good” things in the Other World is Other Miss Spink and Other Miss Forcible’s skin peeling away to reveal that underneath they’re actually young beautiful women.

- Not everything in the Other World is just the Other Mother’s puppet. She created Other Wybie, but he’s still clearly concerned for Coraline, and needs to be implicitly ordered to keep up the cheery facade.

- And here’s the big wham scene where it starts to get real spooky: The Other Parents saying that they’ll need to sew buttons into Coraline’s eyes if Coraline wants to stay in their world and keep all the things she likes better about it. Luckily, Coraline’s smart enough to refuse and immediately decide she never wants to return.

- The Other Mother might not have total control over everything in the Other World, but she clearly wants to make it so she does. Denying Other Father the ability to speak, and as we’ll see later she’s sewn Other Wybie’s face into a permanent smile that he can’t ever move.

- “Mothers don’t eat... daughters.” “I don’t know. How do you taste?” The cat might not be on the Other Mother’s side, but he can be creepy, even if it seems like he’s just messing with Coraline.

-  - I like that the cat’s here to serve as a companion from the real world to Coraline, consistently on her side even after the Other World shows its true colors. In this case, he kills a circus mouse that was sounding an alarm. Meanwhile that idea didn’t even occur to Coraline, who probably figured it was just circus practice.

- “Good kitty.” You’re darn right!

- Oh, dang, I thought that the Other Mother’s monster transformation came later than this.

- I heard somewhere that in the book, the Other Mother just looks like this monstrous form off the bat. I have to wonder, then, why Coraline was so trusting of her. Maybe it was just a really good dinner she cooked?

- Here we see that Coraline isn’t the first little kid that the Other Mother lured to her world so she could take their eyes and keep there forever. Their ghosts still reside in the Other World, unable to rest in peace or even remember their own names, but able to give Coraline her final warning so she doesn’t share their fates.

- It’s so creepy to see Other Wybie’s face with his mouth sewn into a permanent smile. But even with that, and with his eyes being only buttons, it’s easy to see that he’s desperate to save Coraline from this world.

- Other Wybie even sacrifices his life for Coraline.

- As I said before, Wybie is more logically minded than Coraline. So, really, it only makes sense that he’d hear Coraline talk about the Other World and arrive to the conclusion that she’s crazy.

- It always brings tears to my eyes, seeing Coraline sleeping in bed with pretend versions of her parents made from the pillows and sheets.

- At least the cat’s still there for Coraline.

- The charming colors of the tunnel to the Other World have even turned to a dull grey. It’s like a visual representation of how the Other Mother has given up on luring Coraline into staying, and has moved onto the idea of forcing her to stay, even eating the only key that allows travel between worlds.

- You can tell how much Coraline doesn’t want to say that she’ll let the Other Mother sew buttons in her eyes if she loses. But she has no choice; the Other Mother wouldn’t agree to the game unless there was something she could win.

- It’s both creepy and sad to see the Other Father, forced into attacking Coraline and keeping the eye from her.

- It’s cool how Coraline used Other Spink and Forcible’s bat-dogs against them. Also unsettling like everything in this part of the movie, but really cool and clever.

- Other Father and Other Spink/Forcible were transformed into corrupted versions of themselves. Other Bobinsky? Erased and replaced with a horde of rats that had his voice come out of them.

- Again, good kitty. Even when Coraline thinks she’s lost the game, the cat’s there to lend a hand.

- Coraline even thinks of the cat as a friend!

- But the cat’s not Coraline’s only ally. The ghost of one of the other children advises Coraline to be clever, all too aware that the Other Mother wouldn’t keep her word.

- You’ve heard of throwing your SO, now get ready for throwing your stray cat friend who became one of your only allies in the Other World where your parents are trapped as well as the ghosts of children who came before you! *gasps for breath*

- The Other Mother’s now given up on any pretense of being Coraline’s mother, having gone full monster. But given how she still has that hairdo? I’ve got to imagine that she’s still not quite displaying her true form.

- It’s so sweet to see Coraline interacting with the cat. Even outside of the Other World they’re still friends.

- I understand why people are upset why they changed the climax from Coraline’s clever gambit to a battle with the Other Mother’s hand (and Wybie helping), but I think this works well for a movie adaptation. I haven’t read the book, so I could be wrong, but just from seeing the movie, I think this climax is good.

- I love this ending with Coraline and her neighbors having a garden party, Bobinsky even helping plant some berries. It’s so cathartic after all the trouble Coraline’s been through.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

To reiterate: This is my absolute favorite spooky movie! And my first pick when it comes to movies fit for the season.

The first Laika movie I watched was Kubo and The Two Strings, in theaters. Then I went back and watched Paranorman to celebrate Halloween. Then I watched Missing Link when that came out in theaters.

Coraline came last out of all the Laika movies I’ve seen, but it may well be my favorite, with its lovable characters, amazing music, and gorgeous animation.

It has just the right amount of scare for me, as someone who’s not generally fond of horror. And as a PG movie, it leans more towards scary and unsettling aesthetic than jumpscares or blood/gore, another thing that makes this just right for me.

This is the perfect kinda movie for the season, and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a spooky movie to watch tonight, on future Halloweens, or just whenever you’re in the mood for something creepy.

[thepickpocketofdreams]

See That Girl, Watch That Cat

Hey! So I know it’s been forever, but my friend @schemingweasel​ and I have teamed up to write/illustrate a couple things for Marichat May 2020 <3

Summary: Chat is on patrol, when he comes across a crying Marinette and resolves to cheer her up. Forsooth, hijinks ensue.

Day 29: Pyjamas

WORD COUNT: 1429

It was late. Later than his normal patrols. Paris glittered darkly as Chat Noir leapt from roof to roof, outrunning the challenges of the day. It wasn’t that he was upset, not exactly. He just needed to let off the excess steam. Tensions in the Agreste household had been running high, and the need to get out had overwhelmed him – hence the midnight sprint across the skyline.

           Panting, Chat spotted a familiar balcony and grinned. Since the first time he’d appeared a few months ago, both he and Marinette had gotten used to his habit of dropping in. Though, it was usually a lot earlier than this – she was probably asleep right now. He smiled as he landed and leaned against the railing anyway, enjoying the breeze on his face.

           It’s always here for you, Chaton, Marinette had told him, and somehow, he’d taken her up on it. It was safe up here. A tiny haven nestled in among the rooftops of Paris. Everything around him was quiet, but for the occasional car passing by on the streets below.

           His ears caught another sound this time though, quiet enough that his normal hearing would have missed it. Chat straightened, tilted his head – there it was again. A quiet, muffled sound, strangely like a…sob?

           Crouching next to Marinette’s window, he listened again and – yep, definitely crying. Had she been upset at school? He racked his brain, but nothing sprang to mind. No fights, no stressful akumatizations, no tests for another two weeks. Just an average day, right?

           Chat hesitated. Should he leave? No, he couldn’t, not is Marinette was upset. But maybe she wouldn’t want him to know? A louder sob echoed from below, making the decision for him. He tapped on the window.

           No response.

           He tapped again.

           This time, Marinette’s faced appeared. Red blotches surrounded her eyes, and she swiped at them furiously when she saw him, pushing the window open.

           “What do you want, Chat?”

           “I, uh…” He scratched the back of his neck. “Well I sort of…heard you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

           “Oh.” The annoyance vanished from her expression, replaced by tiredness. She picked at the hem of her pyjamas. “I’m fine.”

           “Why aren’t you asleep?” He asked.

           “I could ask you the same question.”

           Chat shrugged. “Late patrol. I had too much energy to get to sleep.” Somewhere below them, a bike whirred past. A bird chirped. Marinette sighed, scrubbing at her eyes, then dropped down as she gestured at him to follow.

Once they were in Marinette’s room, Chat understood. Fabric littered every surface; scraps of black and purple covered the desk, the floor, even the walls.

           “Mari, what happened?”

           “Jagged Stone happened.” Marinette sank onto the bed, the only patch clear from the tornado of fashion, and put her head in her hands. “I had so much to do that I completely forgot I said I’d design a jacket for him, but I’m just so tired, and I haven’t been sleeping and everything’s going wrong and I-”

           “Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Chat picked his way across the room to sit next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Do your parents know you’re still up?”

           “No, they’re visiting my Grandma and I didn’t want to worry them or anything so I’ve just kind of been here stressing by myself.”

           A pang of love for his friend hit Chat as he tugged her closer. She’d been struggling with this, all alone? “It’s okay, Princess. We can fix this.”

           “The deadline is tomorrow, Chat. I’ve barely started pinning the pieces together and even when the sewing is done, those rhinestones need sticking on, then the fabric needs distressing and-”

           “You need de-stressing.”

           “Chat.” Marinette sat up and glared at him.

           “I’m being serious! We won’t get anything done in this state. Hey,” an idea occurred to him. “Where’s your iPod?”

           “Now is not the time for your music, Chaton.”

           “No time for music?” He feigned offence. “There is always time for music. Come on.” He sprang up and launched himself at the desk, rummaging around in the mess of patterns and ribbons. It had to be here somewhere. Behind him, he heard Marinette sigh in defeat.

           “It’s in the top drawer.”

           “Aha!” He pounced on it and swiped the screen. Immediately, a playlist of Marinette’s recently played songs came up – Jagged Stone’s new album, naturally. Chat glanced over at his friend (who had flopped back onto the bed), then typed into the search bar and plugged the iPod into a speaker.

When the first few notes filled the room, Marinette covered her face with her hands and groaned.

           “Chat. Why.”

           “C’mon, Princess.” Chat struck a ridiculous pose. “You know you want to join in.”

           “I really don’t.” Her voice was muffled by her hands.

           “Of course you do.” He strutted – yes, strutted – across the room, avoiding piles of half-finished clothing, to pull a feather boa from her clothes hook. “There’s no way you can resist the power of ABBA.”

           Marinette responded by letting out a sound somewhere between a moan and a scream of frustration.

           “That’s not even close to the lyrics.” He wiggled his hips in time to the music. “Friday night and the lights are low-”

           “Chaton-” Marinette sat up, the rest of her sentence vanishing as she saw him attempt to do a slut drop. “CHAT OH MY GOD.”

           “What? It said the lights are low!” He caught her eye and grinned upon seeing the amusement behind her eyes, though she tried to hide it. “Come on, you know you want to – ooh, anybody could be that guy-”

           “You look ridiculous.”

           Chat didn’t reply – he was busy passionately mouthing lyrics into the boa. He danced his way over to Marinette and pulled a scarf from the bedpost, waving it in her direction.

           “Absolutely not.”

           “I won’t tell a soul. Cat’s honour.”

           It must have been his charming smile, because Marinette relented and took the scarf from him. “I’m not dancing though.”

“DANCING QUEEN, YOUNG AND SWEET, ONLY SEVENTEEN.”

           Within just two minutes, the dancing had proven contagious; Marinette was on the bed, dancing along to ABBA. At midnight. In her pajamas.

           “DANCING QUEEN, FEEL THE BEAT FROM THE TAMBOURINE – OH YEAHH.” Chat was having the time of his life – Marinette had thrown him a frilly dressing gown to wear as a robe and he was owning it.

           “YOU CAN DANCE.” Marinette struck a pose.

           “YOU CAN JIVE.” Chat joined her on the bed.

           “HAVING THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE, OOO, SEE THAT GIRL!” Marinette shimmied like no one had ever shimmied before.

           “WATCH THAT SCENE.” She pointed at Chat, as he did quite possibly the greatest air-guitar solo in his career.

           “DIGGING THE DANCING QUEEEEEEEEEN.”

           Together, they struck the most powerful ending pose Marinette’s bedroom had ever seen, before catching each other’s eyes and promptly collapsing onto the bed in a fit of hysterical laughter.

Once they’d lain there together for half an hour, and Chat had deemed her sufficiently de-stressed, Marinette had continued with her sewing. He’d stayed, of course – he was determined to keep her company through the night.

           She bit a piece of thread to break it, turning to where he was still curled up in her dressing gown on the bed. “Okay Chaton, I’m nearly there.”

           He made a tired cheering noise in response, cut off halfway by a yawn. Her lamp was bathing the room in a warm glow and it was proving difficult to stay awake.

           Marinette laughed. “I promise I’ll go to sleep the second I’m done. You don’t have to stay.”

           “I wanted to. You don’t deserve to be stressed out all on your own. Besides,” he grinned, “who else would let me play dress up in their pyjamas?”

           They both chuckled, then lapsed into a companionable silence. Marinette brushed dust from the shoulder of the jacket and cleared her throat. “Thank you for all this, by the way. You didn’t have to – well, for checking up on me, and cheering me up and-” a blush tinged her cheeks. “Thank you for everything.”

           “Anytime, Princess.”

Fifteen minutes later, she was done. “Oh, thank God.” Marinette stretched, cracking her shoulders. “Okay Chaton, time for you to go home and sleep yourself.”

           When there was no response, she turned around in surprise - and smiled. Curled up and passed out on the bed (still wearing her dressing gown), was Chat Noir. With a suppressed giggle, Marinette snuggled down next to him and pulled a cover over them both.

           “Sleep well, mon petit chaton.”

Credit to @schemingweasel​ for the artwork <3

[skittles1229]

THE EVER CHANGING STORY OF LUNARIS (reader insert romance)

SOME OF THESE CHARACTERS AND PLACES ECT. DO NOT BELONG TO ME, THEY WERE MADE BY LUNARIS GAMES FOR THE INTERACTIVE VISUAL NOVEL "WHEN THE NIGHT COMES" AVAILABLE EITHER FROM THIER WEBSITE OR ON ITCH. THE COVER IS ALSO FROM LUNARIS GAMES (ITS THIER PIN SET FOR SALE ON THIER SITE)

https://www.wtncgame.com/collections/pins-charms/products/wtnc-holo-sparkle-charms

This is a project I started to maintain my boredom so ill be using the characters from a really great visual novel called when the night comes written by lunaris. go check it out! ill be writing about all the characters including you being the x reader. after I've introduced the plot and characters and if i have enough readers, ill let you guys pick who I right the first romance ending with, the endings will probably have a bit of smut so if your just wanting to know the story you don't have to read the romantic endings

____________________________________

Chapter One: Unwelcome Start

        My feet are killing me and its hot and dark, I'm walking through unfamiliar woods. All I can smell is tree leaves decaying and pine. To fill you in without telling you my life story and having a pity party, I'm one of the few shifting Dire Wolves left. We are a dying breed since people and monsters were coexisting now, I'm over joyed about the mixing of the populations but as the wolves breed with humans our ability to shift is slowing leaving as the generations grow. I on the other hand wasn't liked by much of anyone. I grew up around old town human folk. Both parents had been killed by townsfolk and luckily the little who girl found me as a puppy was nice enough to bring me to her home. That little girl became my life. Her blonde hair reminded me of wheat in the fall and she smelled of old moth balls and freshly cooked bacon. Kasey was a lonely child born a bastard and then left alone when her mom left into town one day. She didn't come home that night. She had the kindest eyes. They say eyes are the window to the soul and hers was broken and glued back together so many times that you couldn't recognize her original beauty. She brought me to a little cabin back in the woods where I stayed with her and her grandmother.  I stayed out of school because at the time freaks weren't exactly normal. I learned everything through Kasey and her homework as I grew up. We played in the old field through the woods and down an old forgotten gravel road. She would always tease me about my ears but she loved my big bushy tail. Kasey was a pure soul and sometimes id have to remind her how special she was especially during the times to come. She became ill in late fall, losing her ability to walk and becoming more and more pale from the lack of sunlight. We were told she had an immune issue that couldn't be fix with the medicine we had then and magic was a cure but was also out of the question since anyone who was seen as a witch was seen as a harm to the community and burned at the stake. It wasn't that way in the big towns with lots of people coming and going bustling about, but down here in the boon dock of the forgotten swamp everyone had the same opinion. anything new and different was and and therefore had to be destroyed.

         When I was around six Kasey succumb to her unfortunate circumstances in her sleep and she took her welcome with her. I think that maybe it was one of the few mercies I've ever seen god do for someone. After she died the grandmother, already being on her last years, passed not long after that. With nothing holding me to that little shack in the woods I moved on. I was never given a name and so along the way I've figured out who and what I am. Remind me to tell you that one later on, I've been walking for a few days with my satchel made from rabbit fur with old shoe laces holding it together, Kasey in her better days stayed bored in her old pink bedroom reading the same book she had on the old bookcase in the living room. Her grandmother went to the market in town most days to sell her vegetables. she would bring us home sweets and toys. For Kasey's birthday she bought her a bag of fabric rabbit fur and some thread and needles to teach her to sew hoping that would cure her boredom. A few months before she passed, she hurriedly finished off the synch bag with one of her shoelaces from her boots. That bag is the one I have with me now. My clothes and few days worth of food is in it as well. I had been shifted into my wolf form going on 48 hours now and my (F/C favorite color ) fur was now stained with mud and leaves from the nights sleep in a dug out hole. The last sign of civilization was back in my home town. it was now night time again and had seen no sign of a town any where close. It was getting dark and my joints were burning from the pain of walking. I quickly found a soft spot in the ground digging up a little hole to lay in for the night. The woods around me creaked with shifting wood and wind rustling the foliage. Harry had become the governor a while back suddenly disappeared recently in his home base in Lunaris. That's where Kasey's grandmother went for hours everyday to be a part of the market so I decided to see if there was anywhere I could stay and maybe get a job and start a life for myself. All this time I had no real name, Kasey never named me. She wanted me to be able to choose it for myself and I'm now 20 in human years. Our bodies aged in human instead of dog years another kind of pro with the watering down of the generations. I had gone through all of Kasey's family and school friends, even people she heard the name of by passing by in church, I'd heard all the names and thought about them and said them all out loud the see how they role off the tongue and I finally settled on (Y/N) tonight. 

      I had fallen asleep at some point and shifted back into human form curling around my bag to protect it from the outside. Suddenly the ground around me started to shake and the foliage covering the entrance to the den started to shake loose and fall in. At this point I'm wide awake and have my back to the wall and head in a snarl towards the entrance not knowing why or what had shaken the ground so harshly. I smell a fowl smell that reeks of something I've never smelled before. It began to burn my nose like alcohol or whatever grandma had in the wash rooms for spring cleaning. I heard twigs breaking and a long groan that howled with the wind. My heart was racing not knowing what to expect to come through the entrance and that's when I saw the light from the moon blocked by a large shadow. I braced for a fight when suddenly it let out a yelp of pain as I see two or three other shadows chase it to the right of the hole. Lots of yelling from men and women can be heard along with lots of new smells. All of them had hints of sweat and fear but some of them were odd. One was carried in on a breath of lavender and honey and the other of burnt wood like a fire place. One also smelled like chocolate and for a split second I smelled the familiar canine sent, Another wolf or maybe a half breed Lykan. I laid there and listened as the group seemed to quickly dominate whatever that creature was and if there's a group of hunters then there has to be a town. I wait for the noise to die out before I stick my head out of the hole to check my area. I look at the position of the moon and start to get a better idea of how long I was asleep. I think it must have been at least 3 in the morning. I grabbed my bag and pulled myself out of the hole, shaking off loose dirt and changing myself back into that big furry wolf I've become used to and walk towards where I heard the commotion to catch the scent of where they had gone. The creature they fought was dead on the ground covered in its black oozing blood. It looked like a genetic mutation of some kind gone very wrong and the smell almost could knock you out, if your a dog that is. I heard a snap of a twig in the distance and that's when I caught the scent of a dying summer, decaying flowers and dying memories. 

      I see a blue glow coming from an object a few feet in front of me hidden in the darkness of the trees, whatever it was it made it very clear that I was unwelcome and that I was seen as a threat. I bent neck down feeling the hair along my spine start to stand on end as I snarled my teeth in the direction of the ominous blue glow. Suddenly the tense feeling in the air dropped, you could feel the tension melt away and in that second the strange creature pushes forward into the moonlight. A man with golden eyes and a mechanical arm moves forward looking with his hands raised. "My names Finnegan and I know you wont hurt me because your not just any wolf am I right?" The sudden question brushes me as weird and out of place but regardless it only makes me all the more persistent that he not come any closer. He stops in his tracks and sits in the tall grass he had been previously standing in. We sat there like that for what seems like forever and he seemed to feel talkative because he asked question after question. I looked around to think of what direction I wanted to go in order to get away from here .

     "You know it would be easier to go to Lunaris." he said picking at something under his nails. I look at him tilting my head, can he hear my thoughts? I didn't think humans could do such things but he didn't look like a human. Not with the fangs like that and those pointed ears. "No I'm not human I'm a vampire, I live in Lunaris with my friends. I actually have a Lykan friend as well so you wont be alone." I bent my ears back in annoyance, tired of the vamp imposing on my thoughts. I decided I would speak with him but not in this form. As a Lykan I could still stay able to protect myself and be able to speak to this other freak of nature in front of me. In order to do so I'd have to get away from this vampire long enough to cover myself. Almost instantly the vamp got up causing me to jump. "There's a graveyard a little ways from here, you can shift and change in the maintenance shed. As I'm sure you heard earlier there are some odd creatures in these woods so ill walk you to town myself. Then I can take you to Ezra and have him give you a once over." he began to walk and turned around about five feet away to ask if I was going to follow, I decide that this town might be a start to a weird series of events. We made our way through the woods to a small path of cleared trees and some sand, we followed that to the graveyard behind a large church like building and that's when I saw the small shed. "I'll stand behind the shed towards the woods I'm sure nobody is awake so you shouldn't have to worry about townsfolk." I shifted back into my Lykan form and hurry into the shed. My (hair length) (H/Color) hair fell over my face as I shoved myself into my tight jeans and put my long sleeve white shirt on. my ears still sat on the top of my head and my tail is swishing back and forth in anticipation of how this town was going to accept a new comer and a freak at that. I threw on the hoodie I had found hanging on a tree on my way out of my old town, probably left by one of the boys in the old town. I smoothed my fur down and walked out of the shed with my bag in my hands, I peaked my head around the corner and caught the golden eyes of the man called Finnegan as he's leaned against the shack with his arms crossed. 

      I walk up to him with my arm wrapped around my bag and offered him the other. "My names (y/n), sorry about the weird introduction but I really just have no clue where I am or where I'm going." he grinned and studied me before opening up and talking again. "You cleanup really well don't you (y/n)." I simply lowered my head as a response and shrugged my shoulders. " It would suck to have to stay as wolf all the time because I'm just to ugly to look at as a Lykan." he laughs flashing his fangs and approaching me and taking my hand pulling me closer to him to where we were inches apart. "Ugly is one thing you aren't, if your this pretty as a Lykan then I cant wait to see you in human form" he then snuck his arm around my waist turning me around as he began to walk to the town. "How did you know I could do that?" I stopped him and I could see his grin form as he turned around to meet my eyes. "I've been alive a long time (y/n).  when the old man who sired me was alive he'd tell us stories of the dire wolves that lived in the forest in the mountains. He would tell us stories of how they had almost repopulated in a town not far from here, completely unannounced to the world growing among the town folk." he looked away suddenly his essence changed from one of wisdom and confidence to one of remorse and sadness. He began to walk once again motioning for me to follow. "That is until the townsfolk caught wind  of such rumors. He banded together the higher ups and went through exposing half the town to be," he grimaces as if saying the name leaves a sour taste in his mouth, "werewolves as the humans put it."  We had just made it through a small alley leading too a large stone road. This is the first time I've heard the real story aloud of what happened to my parents that day. Suddenly I  didn't feel much like talking anymore and the vampire noticed this as we made it to the closed up and dark market side of town. Large tents and shacks were on both sides of the road, I'm sure it looks much nicer when its open and bustling with people. "I'll have to show it to you." he says suddenly again answering my thoughts as if id said them aloud. "You know Finn I love your interest in me but I think its kind of of rude to read others thoughts right?" His eyes suddenly dart away and clears his throat, "Not if the person has particularly loud thoughts but I do see what you mean. Nasty habit it is, been aiming to fix that." We both laugh for a bit and then he heads for a door on the right side of the road raising his metal arm to touch the door. When his hand makes contact, Finn says a few words in another language and his arm burst to  life flowing with blue lights. The door makes a noise and a shield seams to lower into Finn's hand as he opens the door. He pulls me in and I'm immediately overwhelmed at the smells around me, some fragrant like perfumes and others dirty like burning wood. He had shelves of boxes and books, homemade spells and food with jars of candy lining the shelves.

     Finn puts the wards back up and leads me to the kitchen where he sits me down at the wooden table across from the couch and the wall covered in art work, "Wait here while I run upstairs and get the witch you just relax and think if anything hurts or needs to be looked at." with Finns vampy speed skills he vanishes up the stairs to get this so called witch, I certainly do hope I don't meet the same fate as my parents once did in this town years ago. I here rustling and movement up the stairs as a dark skinned man comes running to me with worried eyes and open arms. he cups my face in his hands and scans me over for any sign of blood or wounds. "Finnegan she looks alright, you made her out to be as if she'd been attacked." He looks back at Finn letting go of my face in order to hit him in the head just enough to scuffle his hair. He then turns around to me and straightens up his robe and his curly mop of hair, I hold out my hand to introduce myself and he grabs it with both hands pulling me in with a smile. "I'm Ezra and this my little spells and Knick knack shop." he has a strange contagious happiness that causes my worries and doubts to slip away. He rubs his hand through my hair making his way to my ears checking for ticks and mites since my ears are much different  from human ears. "Are you ok," He says we a worry filled smile and motions me to sit down, I obey as my feet have become numb after so many days of walking. He reaches into his shelves and pulls  out a kettle and a metal box of herbs and tea bags for homemade blends. "Go on love what happen? Why are you out in the woods at this hour?" I yawned in response of all their questions and simply said, "No disrespect Ezra but I'm exhausted and my feet are throbbing, I think the walking has caught up to me." He nods knowing what I mean. Ezra hands me a cup of tea and some cookies from a jar up in the cabinet. "Right I'm sorry. Let me help Finn out and I'll come back and run you a bath with herbs and salts to get you well rested and ready for tomorrow." He and Finn stepped to a hatch underneath the rug in Ezra's common quarters.  I took a few cookies sneaking them into my bag so that I can eat them later as well, they were ( favorite kind ) cookies and i couldn't resist the temptation to stuff my face. 

        Finn calls my name waving as he disappears into the hole and Ezra closes it back up and covers it again. "Alright now to get you all set, come with me up stairs." I follow behind slowly hating every step up those stairs but it was well worth it when I made it. He had a big circle tub surrounded in stone, it looked to be able to fit two people and the water come up pretty high. The twinkling lights hanging from the ceiling were different shades of blue purple and pink with a magical blue flamed candle hanging on the wall in a glass case. The tub was filled with steaming water and flower petals, the room smelled of pine and mint with citrus chopped up into slices and dropped into the water. Bubbles had covered the top of the water like snow and smelled like lavender and honey. His bathroom was pure happiness and love expressed in his home. "Now this bath should help your muscles not be sore in the morning and it should help you fall asleep tonight, I hate to ask but should I check you for ticks or scratch's anywhere on you?" I shrugged as my body was still covered in fur and it could be hiding anything but I was so self conscious about my body that I wouldn't dare ask for his help with this task. I point my head down and hugged myself as if to comfort myself. Ezra looked at me with kind eyes and hands me a towel, "Its ok if you aren't comfortable with it, just promise me you'll come and let me take any off for you. They carry lime disease and other things that can harm you!" as he goes to grab the handle to leave I grab his arm. I muster up all the courage I can and whispered, "Can you stay and help me Ezra?" He smiles and blushes slightly, wrapping me in a hug, "of course!" He closes the door and stays turned around as I take my clothes that I have on now off and grab the robe from the wall and cover myself. "Alright your ok to look now." I say in a small voice. "Alright I'm gonna start with your legs and work my way up and after your done you can use my cats flea shampoo to make sure everything is clean and gone. I nod my head agreeing and let him begin, he rubs his soft hands over my paw pads massaging as he goes looking for any bumps or imperfections. He comes across a tick that had made itself at home on my inner thigh , he poked and prodded at it for a few minutes but it was resistant to all his attempts. "You know fur is great but I just don't think I could do a full body of it." He laughs and I return his joke with a giggle of my own. "Would it be easier if there was no fur?" I ask searching his face for his reaction.  At first he looks confused and he seemed to be racking his brain for what I could be saying. "Well I'm certainly not going to shave you if that's what your asking." he smiles and we both laugh. I trusted Ezra I didn't sense any type of misjudgment or threat coming from this simple witch. 

     I began to shift into my human form and my leg grew smaller in his hand and the once thick course fur is now bare soft human skin. The robe that was a perfect fit before, is now hanging down off my shoulders. It draped around me like a sheet and Ezra had stayed quiet so far, only staring wide eyed and enchanted at the sight. My hair falls in front of my face as I smile at him, "Is that any better?" He's still not said a word so far, just staring at my face and rubbing my legs searching for the fur that was no longer there. "Now how did you do that? spell? hallucinations? Are you even a wolf?" He seems stunned and unsure of what to say, he did however have lots of questions some of which I could answer and others was searching for myself. We talked while taking the ticks that had made themselves at home on me off finally, burning them as he went. his hands glided over me like soap and his hands felt like heaven against my skin.  "I'm honestly stunned I didn't think of it before you told me, I remember in school they use to mention small things about dire wolves but they never dove into that chapter which I guess was because you guys were believed to have died out long ago. but behold!" he places some bubbles on my he'd and smiles so wide that his eyes look squinty. "your here1 So obviously the world didn't lose all of its beautiful one of a kind dire wolves." What a sweet happy minded guy, he seemed to only be able to see the silver lining and if he could see the other side of things then he hides his emotions very well. It didn't take much for the mud and dirt that was previously there to fall away into the soapy water. Ezra had gone to make himself a cup of tea and was waiting in his room for when I was done. My hair had been shampooed and I washed my body with the bar of soap sitting on the side of the tub. It was green and purple but see through, there was a small flower in the middle and there seemed to be small beads in the soap that came out as you washed. It smelled like roses and vanilla, the smell reminded me of Ezra. Soon I got out and dried myself off with the lavender towel Ezra had left behind, throwing the robe on and heading to where Ezra had said his room was. He had laid out a large t-shirt and a pair of women's shorts? I hadn't seen a women in here before and no-one had said anything about a wife or girlfriend ... maybe they were a friend of his, at least that's what I'm hoping. As soon as my head hit the soft feather pillow I drifted off into a deep sleep, filled with dreams of of cookies, flowers, and Ezra? oh, Finnigan as well. Seems I simply cant escape the happenings of tonight or the past. My memories slowly drift back to that little blonde haired girl I had loved once before.

(A/N) The picture at the top is of the characters mentioned in this from the game when the night comes. if you haven't read it You should defiantly take a look before you dive into this so that you can fall in love with the characters before reading other peoples interpretations of their personalities. I personally feel like I couldn't dream of reaching the level of dedication that the creator of the game had for their characters.

I also have a second chapter out on wattpad you can find it here.

https://my.w.tt/i2iNayX8mbb

[gumnut-logic]

6. Which scenes did you cut, and which were added in Gentle Rain?  (for @janetm74 )

Okay, I can cheat somewhat with this one as I routinely keep a file for chunks of text I cut out of fics while writing. So I actually have a few of the scenes this question asks about (probably a good thing since my memory is useless).

One thing I must say is that the clincher scene where Virgil collapses in Thunderbird Two in Chapter Twelve didn’t originally happen there. I knew he was going to collapse from about Chapter Two or Three onwards, it was a target scene I was writing towards. However, he was originally supposed to collapse in Two’s hangar and be found later. The problem with that was the condition he developed (which evolved as I wrote) would have killed him if that happened. He needed someone there to save his life (sorry, Gords). So he didn’t make it back to Tracy Island before he found he couldn’t breathe.

As for scenes cut out, there were several, most of which don’t make much sense reading them now and some are just lines, but here are a few.

One of the initial challenges was finding a way to get Em and Scott to actually meet beyond the initial incident. Initially, I had Scott eager to meet her, but realised pretty quickly that the eldest Tracy wasn’t going to be that easy.

Scene: Em’s hospital room shortly when Kayo initially introduces herself.

The woman opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a beep. She sighed. “Yes, I am Kayo. Please excuse me.” And she turned away, holding her wrist up.

There was a flicker of light and a familiar voice spoke. “Kayo, have you found her yet?”

“Scott, have patience.”

“Kayo-“

“You are aware that she can hear everything you are saying?”

Em had to smirk.

“I would be if you had told me.”

“I would have told you if you hadn’t interrupted me before I could say anything. And no I haven’t asked her yet.”

“Kayo-“

“Patience, Scott.” And there was the click of an ended transmission. Kayo turned to face Em again. “My apologies. As you can hear, he is recovering well.”

“Still an argumentative brat apparently.”

“It’s one of his strengths.” She took a step back towards the bed. “He was wondering if you would be willing to meet with him. He wants to thank you for everything you did.”

Em blinked. “What?” She shifted her shoulders. “Um, er, okay.” Oh so confident and professional of you there, Emaline. She kicked herself internally.

But then she realised exactly what she now looked like. She bit her lip.

-o-o-o-

Em initially reacted completely differently to Kip’s sudden presence in the Tracy’s living room.

“What you be doin’ here, honey.”

“It’s Em, as you well know. And I’m here as a guest. What are you doing here?”

“Same.”

And the conversation ended there.

The silence was ominous. The Tracys in the room stared at each other.

Alan arrived on the scene a few moments later having secured Tracy Two. He stared at the tableau. “Okay.” He held up his hands. “I’m just going to back away quietly.”

Penny stepped around Em. “Crispin, dear, have a seat. Emaline, I advise you to do the same.” The aristocrat walked calmly into the sunken lounge and took her own chair. “Alan, do be a dear and find us some tea. I am absolutely parched.”

Alan appeared quite happy to play Parker if it would get him out of the room. Grandma and Kip took a seat together almost directly opposite from where Em came to a halt inside the circle.

Scott made a note to create a space in the lounge for ease of access, for either TB imPatient or Em’s hoverscoot. He himself pulled up beside Em and reached once again for her hand.

She responded and shot him a worried smile, her fingers curling around his.

The motion did not go unnoticed, but frankly Scott didn’t care.

Penelope, of course, was a picture of respectability.

-o-o-o-

At some point Gordon was appreciating his brother, but I’m not sure exactly what scene this was cut from. has some good lines though.

Virgil was the kind of guy you could tell your deepest problems to and he would simply listen, no judgement, no censure. Sure, get him before his coffee and you may leave minus a body part, but the man would sew it back on for you later.

Gordon and Virgil were so different, yet it was what made it work.

Of course, everyone raved about the ‘bond’ Virgil had with his older brother, sure. But Gordon liked to think that he had something with the Tracy bear, too. Something a little different, a little unique. And he knew Virgil trusted him, despite the pranks and the jokes and snide remarks. They were brothers and it went beyond all that.

So when Virgil sat down beside him at the helm looking like death that hadn’t been warmed up...

-o-o-o-

Originally, when Kay left Virgil’s hospital room when she told him she couldn’t handle him giving his life to IR, Virgil lost it and had to be sedated. This proved to be completely ridiculous and OOC and was dumped (I think one of my beta readers nabbed me on that one). The scene I have has been partially rewritten, but the remnants are there.

“What the hell was I supposed to do? If Brains dies, International Rescue dies with him!”

Kayo had tears in her eyes. “And what do you think would happen to International Rescue without you?”

His heart stuttered and it had nothing to do with his injury. He reached out to touch her but she stepped away. That hurt even more. “Kay? Please?”

“No, Virgil, you have to understand this.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “Without you, there is no International Rescue.” She swallowed and another tear drifted across her beautiful skin. He so wanted to touch her. “It shouldn’t be that way. I can’t share you that much. I want to share your life, you...you can’t give it all to iR. Please, Virgil.”

He reached for her again, desperate to touch her. “Kay!” She took another step back. Her head was shaking ‘no’, tears running freely. “Kay, no, don’t, please don’t!”

“It has to change. Things have to change. I can’t...I can’t...” Whatever she was trying to say dissolved into a sob and she turned away. “I can’t.” She ran from the room.

“Kay, no!” The machinery monitoring him screamed as he tried to get out of bed. A mob of nurses came running and he was buried under a sea of medical white.

“Mr Tracy, calm down!”

“Kay!” His face was wet. He struggled against hands. “Kay!”

“Mr Tracy!”

“Kay, please!” But his heart was hammering in his chest and he was gasping for breath. Spots danced in his vision. He couldn’t.

Please, Kay, I’ll do anything...anything...

“Mr Tracy, if you don’t calm down, I will be forced to sedate you.”

He stared at the blonde haired nurse so opposite from his Kay.

He let all his muscles go, falling slack back against the bed. A sound far too much like a whimper passed his lips.

Kay?

God.

Anything for Kay.

-o-o-o-

Words passed over his head, he ignored them, he needed to get to Kay.

But something flooded his system, a calming, sleep inducing cold. It wrapped around his mind and pulled him down. “No! Kay!” His voice was fading. He had to get to Kay. Please, Kay, I’ll do anything...anything...

But the cold seeped into his mind and took it away.

-o-o-o-

The Epilogue was rewritten a couple of times. I had an argument with it. In the process I killed off an entire original character, Frederico. Poor Frederico. I should revive him in another fic.

“Virgil’s a target?” Scott’s whisper was fierce. They were standing outside a meeting with the Colonel Casey, Lauren Davis and a representative of both the Western Australian Police and ASIO.  

John bit the inside of his lip. “Kayo tagged Em with one of Virgil’s trackers. The timing was just too perfect, too coincidental. Either the bombers were after Em or Virgil. Probability puts Virgil at the top of the list.”

“How did they get the frequency?”

“Unknown.”

“Re-scramble everything. I want everything changed. Start with the frequencies, but speak to Brains, I want everything upgraded, even the subcutaneous.”

John gave him a single nod. That was going to hurt. “Already in progress.”

“Have you told Kayo?”

“No, but I have no doubt she is fully capable of putting the pieces together.”

Scott nodded, but his expression changed, even more concern deepening his frown. “If they wanted Em or Virgil, why bomb a bridge?” He swallowed. “Why not just kill or capture? And it would have been obvious it was coming from Em not Virgil.”

The knot in John’s gut only twisted tighter, his brother was thinking out loud. “Perhaps they wanted to see how we would react? How important Em is to the organisation?”

There was so much anger in Scott’s stance, John fought the urge to take a step back. “Goddamnit.” He clenched a fist. “I want to know who, how and why. Full resources, John. Get Kayo and Penny on this. I want it fixed and I want them found.”

“FAB.”

-o-o-o-

Virgil found her in her office, hissing at one of their agents. “Frederico, so help me, if you don’t take this seriously, I’ll strip you of your IR credentials and throw you in the Atlantic.”

“Is that a death threat?” Virgil couldn’t help but smile. Frederico never took anything seriously, much less a death threat from his boss. He did, however, do an exemplary job at finding information to not be serious about.

-o-o-o-

But one of the scenes I had to cut quite hard was the scene where Em and Scott woke up in the same bed. Apparently, they were ready to take their relationship much further than I was and I had to draw their amour to an abrupt halt before it got entirely out of hand.

God, she was beautiful. Breaking off, he kissed her jawline, tracing it around to her ear and nibbling on her lobe.

Her fingers teased the hair on the nape of his neck, while her other hand slipped under his jacket, brushing across his shirt, around his ribcage to his back, fingertips digging in at his ministrations.

“Scott Tracy, you know how to drive a girl wild.” Her voice was rough and he took it as permission to continue a trail of kisses down her neck, nuzzling her collarbone.

His reward was a gasp at his touch. His left hand had found the bare skin of her back once more and was denting that softness enough to hold her close. His other hand was at her waist, satin between his fingers.

“You are one gorgeous man.” And her tongue was in his mouth again, urgent against his.

-o-o-o-

Please keep in mind these are all trash can scenes and were cut for good reasons.

I hope they provide a little amusement.

As for what was added to the fic...I write very haphazardly and by the seat of my pants most of the time. The whole fic was added after the first chapter really :D

Thanks for asking and for reading all that :D

Nutty

(Who should write more Em, I miss her)

[tjkiahgb]

Episode Recap: 3.18, “Something to Talk A-Boot”

I got sent this almost immediately after people were able to stream the episode last night:

First of all, thank you, anon, for thinking of me.

But also, honestly? This entire episode feels like it was written specifically for me. TJ Kippen being a hashtag good boi? Check. A bunch of Tyrus scenes? Check. A couple of random, nonsense plots that I could make jokes about for days? Check and check!

The episode starts with Andi, Jonah, and Cyrus hanging out, waiting for Buffy.

Andi is dressed like she just walked out of a punk show in 1970s London for some reason.

Cyrus says Buffy’s on her way. She’s coming from an appointment. Andi’s like, but she’s not doing her hair until next week and Cyrus notes that she just had her teeth cleaned.

Jonah notes how they seem to know everything about Buffy and they’re like, yeah, we do.

And then Buffy comes hobbling over on crutches and with her foot in a boot and Andi and Cyrus look around in confusion.

So it’s that level of closeness where you know someone’s entire schedule but don’t pay attention to them complaining about their foot pain for weeks or notice them badly limping around places.

They ask her questions about this mystery injury. Buffy explains it’s a stress fracture she got because she tried to run a marathon on a dare.

Jonah asks her if she’s going to be able to still play basketball and Buffy’s like, yes...

And Jonah’s like, “Oh you know what I meant.”

At school the next day, Buffy walks the long way through the football field to class, when TJ shows up in a golf cart like an angel sent from the country club.

Buffy wants to know what he’s doing. He tells her he’s there to give her a ride to class, since apparently Jefferson offers no assistance to injured students.

“Can we offer a way to help incapacitated students get around the campus easier?” asks one of the teachers. “So they don’t risk further injury?”

“No, sorry,” says Metcalf, staring at rows and rows of hundreds of white rabbits locked in cages, each one labelled with the name of a student currently attending Jefferson. “There’s just no room in the budget.”

Buffy tells him how it stinks she hurt herself right before the last game of the season and now she can barely get around. So, he tells her, get in the golf cart already so he can get her to class. She does.

Making sure she uses a seatbelt on a vehicle that’s going no more than four miles per hour? I mean, talk about good behavior.

Later at the Spoon, Buffy talks about how far TJ has come. He used to be the worst but now he’s the best and, really, that’s like as far as you can go. That’s the whole span.

Cyrus is like, lemme just take this modeling pose...

...and put another point up on the scoreboard for the ol’ C-dog.

Behind them, Amber comes and dumps some girl’s food on the counter.

Andi notices and says it seems like Amber’s still struggling because she’s being a terrible waitress, but not in the normal way that she’s a terrible waitress.

Jonah’s like, you think this is my fault? Buffy’s like, I don’t think it’s an existential crisis. Jonah’s like, huh?

Well, sure, it could be that, but, if you’re not feeling artistic, it could also just be locking yourself in a dark room for several hours and crying. It could manifest a lot of different ways! Don’t limit your existential crises.

Amber comes over and asks to talk to Jonah.

Jonah apologizes for doing a bad job of breaking up but Amber doesn’t want to go back over all of that. She just wants one thing from Jonah: for him to leave. Don’t come to The Spoon because it makes her sad to see him.

And now it’s costing her money!

Jonah says he’ll go then. Amber says he won’t have to be gone for long, but also can’t really put a time frame on when he can come back.

I wonder how the owners of The Spoon are going to feel when they learn one of their waitresses banned a frequent customer from eating at their establishment.

Jonah tells the GHC that Amber needs some space, so he gathers his things and heads out into the cold.

At Bex’s, Bex and Bowie watch something funny on a really old TV.

It looks like one of those old microwave-sized boxy TVs with antennas and dials and everything from like the 1960s. One of these things:

The kind that’s technically a color TV, but only like four colors, and most of them have a brown tint. The kind that’s so grainy it looks like you’re watching everything through a coffee filter. The kind that emits the constant low-hum of radiation to let you know it’s working.

Where did they even find something like this? It’s older than they are. And how does it still work? I want to say this is the kind of thing you only find at your grandma’s house, but even grandmas got rid of this outdated scrap 30 years ago.

Also, why?!

I’m not exaggerating when I say nowadays there are literally thousands of better options for entertainment than stacking a bunch of tray tables on top of one another and putting a 10 inch screen, piece of junk on top. What point are they trying to prove?

Anyway, Andi’s upset, and not just because she lives with a couple of weirdos. She finished her application to SAVA but she doesn’t know if she’s going to submit it. She’s worried she might not be one of the small group who gets accepted. She asks Bex what she thinks.

Andi’s like, EXCUSE ME?!

Andi wanted her to say that she was talented and that she believed in her. Bex is like, of course I believe that! Haven’t I said that to you like hundreds of times? Andi’s like, well, you didn’t say it in the last thirty seconds so do you really??

Andi gets up to leave. Bex is like, hey, if they don’t accept you, it’s because they’re wrong and dumb! Andi’s like, OH SO YOU DON’T THINK THEY’RE GOING TO ACCEPT ME!?

Bex is taking a beating like a boxer on the ropes here. It’s like, why is everything I’m saying wrong?! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT TO SAY SO YOU DON’T GET MAD AT ME!

Bex says she wasn’t saying Andi wouldn’t get in.

Andi leaves.

Bowie’s gotta be sitting there going, “Boy, I made the right decision to just not say anything.”

He asks Bex why she didn’t just tell Andi she’ll get in.

It’s a tough line to toe. You want to be realistic with your children, and not set them up for an emotionally crushing blow by telling them “Get all your hopes up! Nothing can hurt you!” but you also don’t want to damage their self-esteem. You can see Bex battling with the nuance of the issue.

Or, as Andi would’ve heard it:

At school the next day, Cyrus finds TJ out on the bleachers. TJ’s been summoned to Student Court, which is where a group of students figure out your punishment for a wrongdoing.

Mr. Bag is forcing TJ to go because TJ took his beverage transportation machine.

Cyrus is like, but you were just being a hashtag good boi! And TJ’s like, I know! And now I’m being hashtag persecuted for it!

Cyrus, seeing an injustice, decides he’s going to be TJ’s lawyer. TJ tries to tell him that’s not a thing, but Cyrus is like, too late! Train’s already left the station! I’m off to steam my lawyer suit. And he leaves.

TJ watches him like, “Uh oh, maybe I gave him too much confidence.”

Andi, meanwhile, debates with herself as she stares at the SAVA website.

Okay, I mean, in fairness to Bex, Andi’s awards are first place at a “Sew and Show”(?) and an honorable mention at the County Fair, so, you know, I wouldn’t say she’s a lock to get in.

Also, I like SAVA’s go big or go home attitude. There’s no save progress button. Submit your application or delete the entire thing and get out. Don’t waste our time with half-measures!

Jonah stops by to terrify Andi.

For old times’ sake.

She slams her laptop closed. He asks her what she was working on but she doesn’t want to say yet. She just says she has to make a decision.

Jonah’s like, don’t say the d-word around me. You know I hate that word.

Andi explains how she doesn’t want to say what it is because it might not happen, and she doesn’t want to open up to people about something personal like this, something that she’s so unsure about. And then she’s like, but I guess you couldn’t possibly have any idea what I’m talking about, JONAH BECK.

Jonah’s like, actually, that’s been my life for three years now so...

Andi’s like, okay, without me telling you any details, what should I do?

Jonah says this is making her tense and nervous, so forget about it.

Andi’s like, really? Jonah’s like, yeah, don’t do anything you have trepidation about. Andi’s like, sounds good to me.

Lemme just warn you, kids, following this advice is going to severely confine how you’re able to move through the real world. The real world is nothing but things that stress you out.

Andi thanks Jonah for helping her out and tells him to go.

Jonah’s whole storyline this episode is about people telling him to leave places.

Jonah heads off. Andi opens up her laptop and finds...

...that conversation was all for naught. Honestly, this is what you get for asking Jonah for advice.

Buffy meets with Kaitlin. Kaitlin sees her broken foot and goes, welp, guess that’s it then. We have no chance to win our last game, which she sees as a shame because they were getting so close.

Question: where is she getting this hope from? Last time we saw the team, they were in such shambles that Andi had to play and they lost so badly, they had to resort to celebrating just being alive. Good for her though, for keeping the faith.

Buffy says they still have a shot, that the team is light years better than it was before. I guess that happened off-screen. Either that, or I guess it’s like saying you’re light years better now at driving a car than when you were a newborn. When you start at the bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up.

Plus, Buffy adds, she made a playbook.

Like, yeah, she’s been trying to teach them plays for months and they just kept running into each other, but now that it’s in graph form? How could they not succeed?

Kaitlin’s not feeling it. She doesn’t understand all these complicated dots and arrows and it won’t matter because it’ll never replace having Buffy on the court anyway.

At the trial of TJ Kippen, Gus calls the court to order.

I have to know, how in the world did Gus end up a judge? Who looked at Gus and thought, “There’s a guy who’s got his stuff in order, let’s put him in a position of power.”

Cyrus comes running to the stage, pulling several boxes of files behind him. TJ asks him what all of that is and Cyrus says evidence, but then he’s like...

Where do you even get phone books, plural, in 2019? There’s gotta be a store in Shadyside that’s just called Retro Junk and it sells things like 1960s TVs and phone books and only the characters on this show are keeping them in business.

Cyrus says it doesn’t matter because it’s an intimidation tactic anyway. He’s come to fight to make sure TJ’s not kicked off the basketball team.

Cyrus announces himself as TJ’s defense council. Gus is like, is that a thing? Let me consult with my voiceless co-judges.

Gus’s co-judges voicelessly agree to allow it. Gus says TJ is here to answer for his crime of “Grand Theft Golf Cart.”

Gus asks him to explain himself, so TJ and Cyrus launch into his defense, which boils down to this: he saw someone in need and he did something hashtag good because that’s who he is as a person, and, really, isn’t the real crime here that the school was going to punish an injured child for not being able to drag herself across campus in an unreasonable amount of time? How could any morally conscious person just sit idly by and let that happen?

Gus feels he and his co-judges have heard everything they needed to hear, but Cyrus disagrees. He thinks they all need to hear from a key witness: Cyrus Goodman. Cyrus grills himself.

Gus asks him to speed it up but TJ’s like, I think we have to let this play out.

Then, as his defense attorney continues to argue with himself, TJ tries to come to peace with the fact he’s going to jail.

At Buffy’s house, Buffy hangs out in her room when there’s a knock at the door.

It’s the entire girls’ basketball team.

They were wandering the neighborhood together and wanted to celebrate a season of losing all their games before they lose their last game and then don’t want to celebrate losing all their games anymore. I know that sounds like nonsense but I just described the line of thinking perfectly.

Buffy doesn’t like that attitude as the team’s captain, but as a human being, sitting in the room with baked goods mere inches from her, she agrees to the party.

At Bex’s, Bowie tells Bex he found a postcard from SAVA in the mail.

They both get excited that she applied and she’s going after her dreams. Bex also thinks it’s great that she didn’t accidentally crush Andi’s hopes for the future.

They realize Andi didn’t tell them because she didn’t want them to know she applied, so Bex makes Bowie put the postcard back in the mailbox.

Back at Buffy’s, Kaitlin brings her computer by and asks who wants to watch videos of their old games. She says they’re hilarious. I don’t know about that. Entertaining maybe, in the way that videos of building implosions are entertaining.

They agree to watch the videos. Kaitlin pulls one up of her shooting a free throw in which she legit closes her eyes for a full two minutes before shooting.

Kaitlin’s like, ugh, I’m so terrible and I DON’T KNOW WHY!

Buffy, using all the knowledge and experience she’s picked up from her time as both a basketball player and coach, says hold on, I think I know what the problem is.

She makes her go back and look at the footage again.

OH?! YOU THINK?! COULD THAT POSSIBLY BE IT?! YOU CAN’T PLAY BASKETBALL WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED?!?!?

I’m screaming. This isn’t some subtle thing only a master of the sport would notice like, oh, you’re not lining your feet up right or you’re letting go with your guiding hand too early.

She shut her eyes!

For a long time! Like she’s trying to will herself to sleep.

She shut them before she even looked at the basket to aim for it! What did she think was going on?! When things went pitch black?!

“Okay, so, I’m holding the ball and want to shoot it into the basket. Then things go dark and when the lights come back, I’ve missed the shot. Just what in the world is going on here? Who keeps turning out the lights on me?”

How has this gone on the entire season? Better question, how is Kaitlin able to feed herself? How is she functioning in every day society? There are plants with better problem-solving skills.

Buffy guarantees Kaitlin if she just OPENS HER EYES TO PLAY BASKETBALL, her game will improve.

Then she tells Maria that she’s great at getting open, but that she never calls out to her teammates to let them know.

Buffy’s like, you have to use your voice, Maria.

And Maria’s like...

Lesson learned.

Buffy tells the girls they are better than they think. They can win if they fight for it.

Also, if they don’t shut their eyes for the majority of the game. Fight and keep your eyes open. 1a and 1b.

The girls agree and Buffy hands out her playbooks.

At the game, Buffy pumps up the team.

Armed with confidence and the newfound knowledge that being able to see what you’re doing vastly improves your chances at successfully doing it, the Spikes put up a fight.

Buffy coaches from the sidelines.

You know, I appreciate the wordplay of the “See you in court” sign that that girl is holding, and how it plays into the other storyline of the episode, but, honestly, who is that sign for? Which team wants that? Is that pro-Spikes or pro-Spartans or just... pro-basketball? Pro-wordplay? Does she just want one of the players on the court to see the sign and go, “Huh.” and give her a polite nod or something? What was the goal here?

Buffy continues to coach.

I’d say that’s over-coaching, but there’s a decent chance Kaitlin forgot between the sleepover and the game what the problem was.

The game nears to a close. Maria gets open and does some clapping, but doesn’t really call out to her teammates like Buffy told her to.

Half-credit, I guess. Light years improvement.

Speaking of credit, let’s give some to this loyal group of Spartan fans behind Maria, who show up to every game and sit in their same lucky seats, and wear their same lucky exact outfits.

Because they were there for the last Spartans/Spikes game, too.

You know what, if I had a cool shirt that just said “Weird” on it, I’d probably wear it all the time. I get it.

Anyway, Maria gets the pass and Buffy delivers her best bit of coaching advice yet.

Again, I don’t know that that’s over-coaching. That might be the exact right level of coaching for this team.

Maria’s shot goes in and the Spikes finally win a game. They all celebrate with Buffy.

Then Buffy’s friends storm the court and celebrate with her.

And credit to the girl who’s still waving the pro-Spartans sign even though the game ended several minutes ago. Keep up the spirit.

TJ’s phone buzzes. The court reached a verdict, so he and Cyrus run off to the theater.

Gus has TJ stand so he can read the verdict, and what he and his co-judges have verdicted is:

Cyrus doesn’t take it well.

Or, in other words, this is a KANGAROO COURT!

TJ tells Cyrus to stop fighting. He tells Cyrus he did his best, which... ehhh...

He kept his eyes open at least.

Gus sentences TJ to the harshest punishment allowed by Student Court:

TJ and Cyrus are surprised, but Gus explains they have very little actual authority.

So, wait, if they don’t really have the ability to hand out any kind of actual punishment, why even bother? If you can’t accomplish anything, then let him walk, otherwise you guys are just being jerks and ruining TJ’s lunch.

TJ grabs Cyrus’s shoulder.

I... think that was just supposed to be a joke about prison but... my God that got gay in a hurry.

Gus says court is adjourned and he and the other judges head off to return their robes to the choir while TJ and Cyrus hug.

This whole plot was silly. So so silly.

And I loved every second of it.

Jonah waits for Amber outside The Spoon. Amber spots him and she’s like, I thought I said to get! Scram! He’s like wait, don’t pepper spray me! I just want to tell you something. His dad got a new job and his parents rented a new apartment, which they’re moving into next week.

Amber says that’s great and she’s really glad for him.

Jonah says she really helped him through this tough time. She says he was there for her, too. Before he leaves, Amber offers to get him a milkshake. Not an invite back into The Spoon, mind you. Just a milkshake to go. The Spoon is still off-limits.

Back at school, Cyrus walks out when TJ shows up with another stolen golf cart like a demon sent from the country club.

Cyrus is like, did you learn nothing from your trial? TJ says he lives on the edge. Cyrus says he lives in the middle.

Cyrus gets in and he and TJ drive around the school with gay abandon.

I can’t believe I’m watching a gay teen romcom on the Disney Channel.

At Bex’s, Bex and Bowie spot Andi coming home, so they get in position to play it cool by turning on the TV and putting on one of their weird shows.

“It’s hideous!”

They ask Andi how her day was, hoping to hear about SAVA, but then Andi only tells them about the Spikes game and walks off.

Bex is shaken. Bowie tells her that’s okay. It’s the way it is. Kids don’t tell their parents everything.

Bex is like, yeah, I guess I just thought we were different.

The episode ends with Bex dealing with her greatest fear: she’s becoming her mother.

[llothlette]

I'm writing this because, I got some news today, April 4, 2020. I want to write it all down so I don't lose this piece of who she was. I don't want this truth to become muddied when the shit really hits the fan. TW: angst, abuse, disease

Mattie Ruth Fletcher

Grandmothers are probably one of the most beloved creatures. They have all the qualities of a mother, though tempered and slowed with age. They seem to delight in watching their grandchildren grow and learn. They have lived and raised enough children to adulthood to forgive more readily and cuddle more often. They give and they teach and they spoil and they love.

But they are also weak and frail. They are the wrinkled, weary shrouds of the brave, stubborn, and determined women they used to be. Many people take refuge and comfort in the presence of their grandmothers but often, especially near the end, they are often abandoned in their hour of need.

My grandmother was born somewhere on a reservation of the Choctaw nation. Her mother gave birth to her out of wedlock during a time when such things would see the mother and child scorned as vehemently as a pile of dog shit. An unwed mother wasn't fit to hire for maid services or other wholesome "women's work". She was used goods and the best she could hope for was to find some desperate man to take her.

My great grandmother was a child of freed slaves, working as a sharecropper in the south. She was as dark as coal, petite, but still strong and beautiful enough to catch the eye of a fairly well off man who's Choctaw mother found herself in the bed of a white man. She had been terribly in love with my great grandfather but when my grandmother was born, he denied her. Even though she had his thick, silky hair as black as midnight. Even though she had his light tan skin, and gracefully sculpted cheekbones. Even though she was clearly his.

His family sent my great grandmother money and food but continued to deny his child's legitimacy. My grandmother suffered. Her family disgraced, ostracized, and bullied. She tried her best to make friends, but the other townsfolk kept their children away. Each day she tried harder. If she was the best reader, they'd be her friends. If she was the best at sewing, they'd see that she was really a GOOD girl. If she went to church, they'd know that she too was a child of God.

It wasn't enough. It was never enough. There was little respectable work for her mother to do and the money, food, and occasional dress her former lover sent out of pity was never enough to keep them both fed, so she rushed to marry.

She married an awful man. Where home had once been at least some sort of refuge, it became a nightmare for my grandmother. Her stepfather was abusive... in so many ways and she had the misfortune of being "exotic" and pretty. He wouldn't keep his hands off her. She attempted to reveal what he had done but, she was a child of an "unscrupulous woman". She HAD to have seduced him herself. The abuse from the rest of their small community and home led my grandmother to seek refuge with her father's family.

At first things were fine, or at least better. She performed the role of the perfect little stepdaughter admirably. She, did whatever was asked, in hopes that they'd love her. But it did not last. Her father's family still saw her as a stain and his wife loathed her entirely. Once the novelty of his lovely estranged child wore off and the verbal abuse from his wife became too much, my grandmother was forced to return home. She knew she couldn't stay and so....She fled into the arms of the first decent man she found, hoping to finally be loved.

But...as romantic as being married to a military partner is at first, the neurotic need for structure, the outbursts of PTSD, and the resulting abuse proved to once again to be too much. She felt trapped and unloved and afraid. And then one day, after a fight with her husband, she packed just a few things, left their child with his grandparents and walked down the road. She walked until she found someone... and hopped into my grandfather's car.

He was understandably confused. A beautiful woman, sobbing, and shaking had appeared in his life, asking that he just take her anywhere. So, he did. He took her up north with him to Wisconsin, where he intended to make a good living at the steel mills. She settled down with him, still technically married to her first husband, and became his wife. They weren't quite so good at keeping and updating records back then. So it was easy to just walk off and get married again.

Their life was good. For a while. She birthed him a strong baby boy and soon was pregnant with another child. The second child didn't make it. She slipped into what she called "a deep hole, like the devil got a hold of me and wouldn't turn me loose". She couldn't find her way out. Her husband did the only thing he knew to do with a woman who wouldn't cook, clean, and was only slightly responsive to their living baby. He beat her.

That quick, painful shock jarred her out of her head, her depression and fear. It reminded her of the days she spent trying to appeal to her abusers and bullies to avoid the sting of another beating or indignity. If she was good enough, they wouldn't hurt her. If she was good enough, they would believe her. She resumed her domestic duties. And her new husband was immediately sorry, for hurting her at least.

For a while things were good. She fell pregnant again and upon the birth of this child, They found him sickly. He wouldn't talk when it was time. He clung to her. Her husband took to drinking. That deep dark hole threatened to swallow her again, but this time her husband was proactive. He cursed her, belittled her, hit her, degraded her. Only, no matter how good she tried to be, he did not stop. It just continued. She thought to leave... But somehow she fell pregnant again.

This became their cyclical love language. My grandfather would be happy, tender and loving, my grandmother would fall pregnant, if the child lived, they would continue to be happy and in love until some other man noticed she existed. If the child died and slipped into depression, he beat her. If he had a bad day at work he belittled and criticized her. When it became too much she ran away.

When she returned, they were in love again... until she was too tired, fearful, and doubtful of herself to run anymore. When that happened it became an endless slog of misery and pitiful dependence on a man who showed love with beatings, harsh words and strategic sex to keep her pregnant and uncertain. In total, my grandmother had 7 live children that made it to adulthood, that I know of. But between each child there is 1 or 2 that were lost.

Throughout my childhood I saw my grandmother as a harried, but capable woman. She always was trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Her husband and children always said she was crazy and making things up for attention. Even when her speech became slurred and her gait unsteady. She was making it all up. She was an uneducated woman. We knew because grandfather said so. Everyone talked over her all the time. She could only be part of the conversation if she was agreeing with everyone else. The only "good" thing about her was that she "always loved granddaddy".

It was the strangest of days when I learned the truth of their relationship. During my childhood, her pitiful pining, her fear, the accusations of him cheating or trying to leave her, her flinching if he ever moved too fast, all seemed to fall in line with grandfather's statements that grandma was crazy. She was strange, mentally. She always exaggerated everything... But that day, something was different.

I have always been the sort to listen and try to figure out how to fix the problem. That's how we had learned that her colorful descriptions of "things crawling under her skin and snapping in her face" was a series strokes and muscle spasms. So on this day, when her movements were clumsy and slow and she seemed so, so weak, I listened.

It was after my grandfather had died and no one was left in the house but the two of us. She heaved with great body shaking sobs, feeling along the dining room table as she eased into a seat. I assumed she missed grandfather. I... was wrong. "I've been abused. I've been abused my whole life. By everyone. Even my own children. They look down on me, treat me like a stupid animal. There's so much I wanted to see and do and I never will!" She declared between sobs.

"Because granddaddy is gone? Grandma, you can still do things! I miss him too, but I know he'd want me to be happy. So I keep trying, you have to keep trying."

"That man.... He took so much away from me. I ran from home to stop people from hurting me. I ran to my first husband thinking life would be better... I ran to your granddaddy thinking he'd save me. I should have stayed where I was." She, the woman who had cradled me in her arms and soothed me when I scraped my knees as a child, was now cradling herself...But without comfort. "At least I knew what ugly thangs they had for me. At least they wouldn't be able to break me down like this! He kept me full of babies, even when we couldn't afford them. My children were hungry because he'd spend the money, drinking, to keep me scared and desperate. I got a job, thinking I'd make up the difference. He couldn't let me have that, he clowned at my job every day until they fired me. I gave up on everything. Everything... until he was all I had. That's what he wanted. And now he's dead!"

I stared in shock for a while and asked her questions...and in turn she told me her story. It was long, disturbing and left my heart crushed. I knew it wasn't a lie because of the bits I had heard growing up. Great stories of my grandfather's wit, perseverance, and strength, finally had the plotholes filled in. The dam had broken in this woman but there was no relief. As i pressed on with encouragement to help her travel she confessed something she hadn't told a soul yet.

"Ain't no point in traveling now. Baby my eyes are going. I can barely make out the color of your shirt, it's all a fog. I ain't said nothing cause nobody ever believes me."

I told one of my aunts. And later that year we learned that my grandmother had multiple sclerosis. She probably had it the whole time, but the lack of education and the abuse she suffered rendered it difficult for her to communicate what was happening.

After her husband's death, her health declined rapidly. Her memory failed her and her sight completely left. Her children argued over who would shoulder the "burden" she'd become. No one wanted her. She was always too much. Eventually she was placed in a nursing home, to the lament of her grandchildren. But, let's face it, we're all struggling to carve out something for ourselves. We don't have the resources or the right to command more for her.

I consoled myself with the fact that my grandmother had found some peace in her old age. Perhaps some love. But... today, I learned that she's been diagnosed with COVID-19. She's scared, alone, and trapped in the looping nightmare of her MS and PTSD addled mind, struggling to live. I feel that I have failed her utterly. I feel that her family has learned nothing from her struggle.

But, I have hope that one day soon, she'll be discharged and I can hug her tightly again and hopefully she'll know that she is loved by someone.