#my mom is refusing to eat or sleep more than a few hours at a time because she wants to be here with her

[roboraindrop]

I slept for 12 hours and I am So Tired still. I don't know how I'm supposed to go home and get to work tomorrow knowing that this is happening back home.

[pnutbutter-n-j-elyy]

When You Need Me Most| Pt2

Jeongin x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of Cheating, Mentions of Physical Violence, Cursing, Talks of Death

Pt1 Pt3

MASTERLIST

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The clock clicked tirelessly, making you even more tired than you already were.

You were back home at your apartment after two days at the dorm, even if Chris had insisted you could stay as long as you needed. But you didn't want to seem a burden.

You were close with Chris, but you were closer with Hannah to begin with. So regardless of how much Chan assured you, you felt as if you were loading on problems to him, and he was helping you with them in respects of his sisters close confidant.

It was only 8 a.m. You had called off of work for the next two weeks, deciding that even though now was not the time to give yourself even more time to sit home alone; you didn't think you would be able to focus much at work which in the end would jeopardize your job. So, you found the rest of your shifts to be covered for the past five days you had been on the couch and submitted your vacation time for the weeks following.

You hadn't gotten much sleep considering how uncomfortably shaped your couch was -but refusing to sleep on the bed - and you hadn't eaten much. Overall you felt absolutely shitty.

Every hour or so your phone buzzed with a notification. Hannah had been informed of what had happened, and for the past few days was texting ever hour or so to make sure that your were getting up and eating. She knew you weren't the fondest of constant check ins during your darkest time, but she wanted to make sure her friend was okay.

Although you found it rather annoying that she kept texting even though you hadn't responded. Deep down you knew that you would look back and be appreciative of it, but right now in this moment it just seemed cumbersome to even acknowledge how great of a support you had.

So when she called, you answered in hopes to quell her worries long enough for you to just let go.

Let go.

"Hey, I know you probably don't feel like talking right now, but maybe it'll be good to get your mind off of things. I wanted to gauge your interest in a idea I had for my Blues."

You closed your eyes and listened to Hannah talk about everything under the sun minus the state of your distress.

And for a while it worked.

All throughout you last few of your high school years a first year of college, Hannah did this. She knew that the way you dealt with things was with distraction rather than direction.

She could give you the clinical ways of getting through and past things; but she knew you preferred to just have your mind preoccupied with other things while you worked on what you needed to work on by yourself.

If you needed help you'd ask for it. Thats how it had always been.

While Hannah was in the middle of talking about a slightly Adventure Time themed music video you spoke.

"I feel like dying Hannah."

The line went quiet on the other end and Hannah's voice came through softly.

"I don't blame you. This was your first big relationship. And by that I mean you truly loved him. Everything else you had before was puppy love, so I can understand why this breakup is the most difficult- especially considering it wasn't a clean one or for a neutral reason."

You heard her shift and her voice changed slightly, the clarity lessening and the echo and reverb growing slightly.

"But are you safe now Y/N. While I can validate your feelings, I don't want you to harm yourself in any way shape or form."

"I'm not going to do anything Hannah." You groan. "It slipped out I didn't mean it." You mumbled.

"Regardless Y/N-ie."

"I'm not. So please, stop worrying." You rubbed the patch of skin between your brows. You were starting to get a headache from this. "I'm gonna go now-"

"Ah! Wait Y/N my mom wants to talk to you! MOTHER!" You heard Hannah wail across her home. You mentally face palmed. It had been a minute since you talked to Mrs. Bahng and she was sure to use up that minute and double.

And you just weren't in the mood. But it's not like you had much choice because after a muffled conversation between Hannah and her mom you were subject to listening to her rant about something that had happened to her recently.

You zoned out slightly while she was talking, wanting to get back to your sulking. But you didn't have the heart to tell her that so you just listened.

You were praying for her rant to end just minutes after it started when you heard a loud knocking at your door.

"Oh! Mrs. Bahng, I am so sorry but someone is knocking at my door! I'll make sure to call you back! Much love!" You hung up and went to the door, not thinking much of anything other than going back to your couch, when you opened the door to a smiling Chris.

"Alright! Up, up, up!" He said flicking on the lights in every room while clapping loudly and picking up stray things off the floor. "Get up, get showered, get dressed, you're coming to work with me!"

You looked at Chris as if he had four heads and a tail.

"Chris I don't-"

"Ahhh tatatatata tsk tsk tsk. Don't wanna hear it. Hurry up since Jeongin is waiting. We have to be at the studio for 9:45. It is 9:04. 41 minutes get to it!" He said pushing you towards your bathroom.

"But what about makeup and-"

"Nope! No time!" He said closing the door. You groaned, and got in the shower, thankful that you had a spare change of clothes laying around, or else you would have had to ask Chan to grab them for you, and although you loved and trusted him you didn't really feel like letting him rifle through your drawers.

Soon enough you were outside, letting your body consume it's vitamin d.

Jeongin was standing outside of Chan's car, having walked from the dorm since Chan had left in a rush.

"Is everything okay, you rushed out quickly-" Jeongin said scrolling through his phone but pausing when he looked up and saw you.

"Hi, Y/N how are you?" He asked politely, looking at Chan.

"Y/N's coming with us to work." He said ruffling your hair.

"You can get front." Jeongin says almost immediately, but Bangchan shakes his head.

"I actually have a bunch of crap thrown up front- do you guys' mind sitting in the back?"

You shook your head, although you were quite irritated about having to get up and out of the house.

The ride to the company was quiet but Jeongin's mind was loud.

Chris's car seemed even smaller when sitting in the back, the taller boy struggling to fit nicely in the space- resulting in him having to sit in the middle seat for the slightest bit more leg room. Which meant he was squished up next to you.

You smelled like green apple shampoo and cucumbers, with the slightest hint of sea salt. He credited that to the exfoliating soap you had once mentioned you used when Hyunjin had commented on your fresh scent.

Your hair was slightly wet, and it made him shiver slightly when it fanned against him on a sharp turn.

Keep it together.

He thought to himself.

Multiple times by the end of the day.

Because everything you did- the way you smiled at Felix regardless of your mental state, the way you chewed thoughtfully on your kimbap, down to the way your tongue poked out slightly when you tied your shoes- made his heart do aerials.

Jeongin had been made aware of the situation as did the other boys.

And unbeknownst to you Chan was slowly building your ex's demise brick by brick along with his new interest.

You had been with the rest of the guys when the trainee girl's group had met with 3Racha for some production help.

And needless to say the boys treated the group with respect minus the trainee who had messed around with your boyfriend. The passiveness aggressiveness from Jisung and Chan and the complete lack off attention Changbin gave the specfic girl didn't go unnoticed by her, nor the group. But as her group had no clue of her actions, nor did the girl have a clue of Chris' relation to you; they were all at a loss.

As the girls had settled into the studio, Chan greeted them with his usual warm demeanor, but when his gaze landed on the trainee who had been involved with your ex, his expression subtly tightened.

"Let’s hear what you’ve got," Chan said, gesturing for the group to play their track. His voice was friendly as he addressed the other trainees, and they beamed at his encouragement.

The song began to play, and the first few verses flowed smoothly. Chan nodded along, occasionally glancing at the screen in front of him to follow the track. When it was time for the problematic trainee’s verse, the atmosphere in the room shifted. Chan’s expression grew hard as her part filled the studio.

As soon as her verse ended, Chan paused the track abruptly. The room went silent, the sudden stop causing the girls to exchange nervous glances.

"That part right there," Chan said, his voice calm but laced with an unmistakable edge, "is a complete mess. The flow is all over the place, and it’s missing any sort of cohesion with the rest of the song. It’s like it doesn’t even belong there."

The trainee's face paled, but before she could respond, Jisung chimed in. "Honestly, it’s pretty horrendous. It feels like you’re trying too hard to stand out, but instead, you’re just not fitting in." His words were blunt, his tone leaving no room for misinterpretation.

Changbin, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke. "There’s no emotion behind your rap. It’s flat, lifeless. If you can’t bring some genuine feeling into your performance, it’s going to drag the whole group down." He didn’t bother to look at her as he delivered his critique, his attention already shifting back to the other trainees.

The other girls sat in stunned silence, clearly uncomfortable with the harshness of the feedback directed at their group mate. But Chan, Jisung, and Changbin seemed entirely unfazed, moving on as if the criticism they’d just given was nothing out of the ordinary.

As they continued reviewing the track, Chan made sure to lavish praise on the other members of the group. "Great job with that harmony, really tight," he said to one of the other trainees, his smile genuine and encouraging. "And your timing is spot on," Jisung added to another, his voice warm and approving.

But when it came to the problematic trainee, it was like she wasn’t even in the room. The boys would skip over her entirely, asking the other members about their parts or offering advice, all while completely ignoring her presence.

At one point, the girl tried to ask a question, her voice small and hesitant. "Chan-oppa, do you think if I adjusted the rhythm a bit here, it would—"

Chan cut her off with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Honestly, there’s not much you can do to fix it," he said, not even bothering to look up from the console. "It’s not about tweaking one part. The whole thing just… doesn’t work. Also it isn't Chan-oppa to you, I would suggest you learn to rrspect your superiors or you'll make a bad image for JYPE. Although it seems like you might have already..." Changbin and Jisung gave sarcastic faces and chuckles as Chan turned back to the soundboard, leaving, the girls confused as to how one of their members had already been completely iced out by three of the best producers in the industry.

And it wasn't much better in the upcoming days, your ex boyfriend feeling the wrath of Lee Minho as he demeaned the leader's dancing ability and took his ego down a couple of notches.

"Your dancing is immaculate...for someone who is destined to be a backup dancer for JYP." When the boy stuttered, asking for help Lee Know just gave him a cold shoulder and turned his focus to the other members of the group, praising them for their skills.

And to top it off they were both met with swayed public opinion after Seungmin decided to make a few passive aggressive comments in one of his lives.

"Yeah, I've talked to all the new trainee groups. But the boy group? They're good but if I had a bias it wouldn't be their leader. And I like the new girl group, they remind me of a group like Blackpink, but their rapping isn't like Blackpink. The only similarity they have is they're both maknaes." He pinched his fingers gently. "Maybe this much progress. Being an idol is hard." He dismissed the skill of the rapper; that woman so easily and said it all so quickly fans were confused.

seungmins.untied.left.shoe: Why does Seungmin seem mad?

big.binn3e_jiddie.tiddi3s: What did he say someone translate?

lalalalalisa143: BLACKPINK MENTIONED RAHHHHHH

You spent your time off going to work with Chan. He wanted to make sure that you were okay, and not going to do anything to hurt yourself. And being around the boys did help you feel better.

But strangely it was Jeongin who helped the most.

Chris had yet to clean his front seat oddly, so every morning you were in the back with Jeongin. It was odd that something so simple brought you so much comfort. He had noticed you were skipping breakfast, so every morning he brought you a homemade yogurt and fresh fruit drink.

"Mmm! This is really sweet! You must have gotten fresh fruit!" You sipped happily, blissfully unaware that Jeongin would add in two extra scoops of sugar, and taste it every time to make sure it was sweet enough, even if it made his jaw hurt slightly.

Or how he would make sure to ask the staff to order you food at 3:45, since you were always hungry.

Or how he would purposefully leave out his jacket in the sound room, since he knew you always got cold in there.

Or most importantly how he made sure you would never have to run into either of the two people you diliked, by figuring out their schedules, and making sure you were no where near where they would be.

He was quietly loving a supporting you from afar, and while you may have been oblivious to the action, you weren't oblivious to the feeling; even if you hadn't pinpointed just where it was coming from.

But as your vacation time was winding down, Jeongin decided to treat you.

"Y/N, Channie-Hyung is working with the others right now, but I've already recorded my part. He gave us his card." He waved it and grew a mischievous grin. "Want to go get strawberry cheesecake?"

"I love strawberry cheesecake!" You exclaimed, jumping up on your toes twice.***

"I know that's why I suggested it pabo!" He laughed as you made your way to the cafe near the building.

Soon enough you were standing in line, waiting to order. Jeongin was behind you, wearing a mask and beanie that covered all of his hair minus the small tuffs of black hair at the nape of his neck.

He had an odd feeling, as if someone was watching him and you. But he shrugged it off, since he doubted anyone would recognize him. With what he was wearing. He looked like any normal person on a date.

Date...this couldn't be considered a date could it? He smiled under his mask as he moved forward in the line absentmindedly. Well, maybe it isn't a date but it sure does look like one to outsiders. Ha, they're probably so jealous that I'm with someone as beautiful as Y/n-

"Hey do you-" You let out a small "oop" since you hadn't realized how closely Jeongin was standing behind you, which in turn allowed you to fling your hair at him, getting a large strand tangles in a button miraculously.

"Ah.." You groaned, your ear to his chest slightly. You tried to pull away but the cashier called "next" and Jeongin moved up not realizing your hair was stuck and accidentally letting it get tangled more. He winced when he noticed but saw the growing population in the cafe and just moved his large hand up to cup your head gently.

"Sorry, Nabi." He whispered quietly, not even realizing the pet name slipped out. Your eyes widened and you stayed with your ear pressed against his chest, hearing the rumbles as he ordered for both of you.

His heart thumped with a steady rhythm, and you were more than sure that your heartbeat was far from that.

Rather it was erratic and loud and wild.

Nabi. He had called you so sweetly, so purely. With the gentleness of what he called you. Butterfly.

After he finished ordering and paid, he stepped aside with you to help get your hair unstuck.

His long and slender fingers worked as quickly and as gently as they could. He released the top button so he could get to the root of the problem.

"Almost...tell me if I'm pulling too hard, m'kay?" Only his eyes were visible above his mask, but they harbored something you couldn't pinpoint, something you weren't used to.

After the last piece of hair was untangled his eyes narrowed in happiness.

"All free!" The way his voice sounded made your stomach twirl in a good and warm way. But you didn't think much of it.

It must be since he's being kind...

After your order number was called out Jeongin and you chose a two-person table away from the people, so he could take of his mask and enjoy his dessert.

He set your cheesecake in front of you, and his pastry in front of himself, handing you a fork.

The moment he pulled down his mask he had an odd feeling once more. But ignored it once more in favor of watching your immense joy as you devoured your treat.

"Thank you." You said in between a bite. "It's been rought the past few weeks...but...I've found comfort in being around all of you guys. To be honest I kind of relied on Chris and my ex to be the closest to me but...we're really close too."

Your smile warmed his heart, and he opened his mouth to speak. "Y/N I have some-"

"It's nice to be able to go out to a cafe and not feel scared. There was always this one sasaeng who followed my ex around..." You hummed thoughtfully. "It's nice not to be on edge."

Jeongin paused. "Sasaeng?" He said quietly.

You nodded. "She was obsessed with him. I got a threat from her once...I didn't take anything from it because I knew she wouldn't act on it but still was a little nerve racking." You looked up and saw a worried expression on the boys face. "Inni-"

His eyes had connected with a phone that was sticking out of purse in a discreet manner.

"Y/N what did she look like."

Your eyes widened and trailed to where Jeongin was looking. She wasn't facing in your direction but you knew.

"We gotta go." He said pulling his mask up. "Don't move to quickly though just act normal." You got up and made you way out.

"I'm sorry- I'm sorry I didn't think she would follow me if I wasn't with him-"

"You're fine Nabi, it isn't your fault." He said as you made your way back through a back way.

He instinctively grabbed you your wrist to lead you, his grasp gentle but firm, his hand sliding down into yours as he pulled you along.

By the time you made it back to the building there was a slight buzz and while Jeongin immediately went to look for his Hyung, you went to go with Felix.

There was definitely and underlying issue going on, and you wondered if the sasaeng had already leaked photos or videos to the press.

Felix tried his best to quell your worries but nothing would do. You felt as if you just caused an issue that would ruin Stray Kid's reputation Jeongin's reputation.

You left Felix to go pace around, which proved to be the wrong idea. The minute you turned the corner you ran into the one man you didn't want to see, the one who has sparked a chain reaction of issues.

He sneered at you, getting close to you, causing you to flinch slightly.

"You happy Y/N, huh? You happy that you're going to ruin my fucking career?!" His voice rose and you slunk back even more. His hand immediately went to your chin and pushed your face up harshly.

He was angrier than on the night you caught him, and it scared you.

"You're trying to throw away my life's work!" He steeped even closer, his grip tightening. "I'm not going to let that happen you hear me?" He shoved you as you were stepping back, causing you to lose your balance completely and fall backwards, landing on the ground, your ankle twisting in an uncomfortable - but not entirely odd - fashion.

Before you could even look up you heard a sickening crunch and your ex stumbled back. Within seconds he was up again lunging at whoever punched him but just as quickly as all this happened you were be scooped up and Jeongin and your ex were both being restrained. Two of the Day6 members held back your ex while three NEXZ members held back Jeongin as he was yelling profanities at the one who had shoved you. Their arguing voices were loud enough to have those in the surrounding halls come rushing in and security on site. Both boys were trying to get at each other, and security had to break it up, the anger of your friend making it extremely hard for them to restrain him.

"YOU FUCKING COWARD! FIGHT ME LIKE A REAL MAN INSTEAD OF PUTTING YOUR HANDS ON A GIRL!" He shouted. You saw Chan, Minho and Changbin rushing over. Jeongin was still yelling insults, getting out of the grips of those pushing him back. So Changbin instead pushed through to wrap his arms around the baby of their group, easily lifting him as he flailed.

"Let me at him Hyung! Let me at him!" He reminded you of an angry chihuahua. But on a larger scale. He wasn't a fighter, but he had immediately turned to violence when you got involved.

The lobby area was filled with people now and Jeongin was crying inpure anger and overwhelming emotions.

"Let me at him!"

Changbin stood in front of the door of the room they brought Jeongin and and Christopher went to go scold him for his actions. Gentle but firm nonetheless.

"You can't hit people Jeongin, regardless of how much you want to. Trust me I want to hit that bastard everytime I see him."

"He hit Y/N! I'm tired of him. I'm tired of hearing talk shit about someone I love! I wasn't going to let him hit someone I love!"

Bangchan stiffened when Jeongin mentioned the word hit.

His jaw clenched and he wiped a few tears off of Jeongin's cheek before stepping out of the room. Minho sat next to Jeongin and patted his shoulder comfortingly.

Your mind was racing at a million thought a minute, but they were all tracing back to what Jeongin had said.

Love. Love. Love.

You sat down alongside the wall until staff came in and whisked Jeongin away, without as much as a word. You stood up abd tried to follow but Minho stopped you.

Love. Love. Love.

"Will he be fired?" You heard yourself ask. You didn't hear Minho's response as your mind became loud again.

If he gets fired...it's because he defended me. Out of love. Love.

You swallowed and followed Minho back to his and Jisung's dorm the latter asking questions about the situation he missed.

If he's fired its because of love. Love will ruin his career. It's my fault. What a stupid thing that makes people do stupid shit. Irrational.

Love.

What a horrendous thing.

@abovenyx @wolfs-archive @oddracha

@iyeeeverydee @parisanmorovati @seungmincenteric

@panbish-1209 @fxiry-vtt @sseawavee

@shuporanporang @amarecerasus @softkisshyunjin

@whoa-jo @meanergreener @rikibun

@ayyonoona @shinywombatcrusade @y4yayael

@skzstan12345 @mariteez @allys-reads

@jazziwritesthings @skzstannie @yongbokkiesworld

@kkkeopi @neverendingstay @moony-9

@minsungsthirdwheel @everlastingspring143 @joyofbebbanburg

@leezanetheofficial @yaniiiiism

[b0r3dtod3ath]

mother is mothering.

A/N: A little drabble I came up with while washing the dishes :)). I'm gonna re-read this and edit it tomorrow.

Word count: 665

F1 masterlist

Today was exhausting. Daniel left for a race weekend leaving you with your two tribble twos. Sure, you love them with whole your heart and would protect them with your life but they were a pain in the ass when their dad wasn't there. They started off the day with waking up way earlier than usual causing you to end your sleep. During the breakfast they refused to eat and had a food fight causing the kitchen to turn into a mess. While you were cleaning up they had an argument and one of them started crying because the other didn't want to give them a teddy bear back. Other than that, their dad hasn't called all day which made them even more fussy and left you with not having exchanged a word with an adult for some time now. After over a hour of trying to put them to sleep it finally happened. You quietly made your way downstairs to quickly clean everything. You put away the tv remote, collected some toys and folded the blanket. You turned on the kitchen light and let out a long breath when you saw a pile of dishes in the sink. You stared at your nemesis for a moment and you started washing them trying not to make any sound. The comforting silence was interrupted with a ring of a phone. You picked up with your hands a bit wet just to end the noise that could wake up your kids. "Hi, honeeey. How are you doing?" Daniel's happy face filled the screen. "Hey, badger. The kids just fell asleep and I'm organizing here. Wait, what is that on your face?" You said noticing something different. "Oh you mean my mustache? You don't like it. I thought you loved my facial hair." You laughed under your breath and he talked to you about his day as you continued to do the dishes. Once his rambling about the car and teammates ended, comfortable silence filled the kitchen once again. He looked at you for a while. "Is everything okay?" he asked with a more quiet, soft tone. "Yea, I'm just a bit tired. Twins really got on my nerves today." you quickly said not looking away from the dishes "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone to work" he said as a sudden wave of guilt rushed over him. "No, it's not your fault. We knew what we were signing up for but everything's fine. It was just a rough day, okay? Tomorrow is going to be better." "You are such a good mother and the best wife I could ever ask for. I'm sorry you have to do this alone." He felt really bad for leaving you with twins though even when he was there it was still hard. "No, Daniel. I said it's not your fault. It really isn't. You're great and you do a lot. You are going to be back in a few days and everything will be alright." You said with a faint smile. He adored that even when you were tired you managed to have a bit of optimism left in you. "I swear I'm going to make it up to you once I come back." "No need to but okay, Ricciardo. Now shut up, I'm going to the bedroom so don't make any noises and don't wake up the gremlins". He laughed and pretended to zip his mouth. Once you reached your bedroom you said "I call that a great success." "God it felt like years ago, remember? When I was at work and you used to call me at night and later sneak into the kitchen trying to not wake up your parents?" "God, I was trying to be sneaky but I swear they knew. Alright, I think I'm going to sleep." "Want me to stay on the line for a bit?" "Yea, that would be perfect." You placed your phone on a pillow next to you. "Goodnight, honey" "Goodnight, super mom".

November 2 2023

[rosypenguins]

Day 13! Jomies Headcanons! (I got quite a few!)

Jake:

💛Unironically listens to boy bands.

💛Has Spotify open 24/7. Is always looking for new artists and songs, and probably has over 3000 songs liked.

💛He’ll listen to any song of any genre, but tends to lean more towards alt-rock.

💛Used to listen to Billie Eilish in Middle School.

💛Whenever it’s too quiet, he’ll either hum to himself or make random noises with his mouth.

💛Physically incapable of standing still.

💛Probably ate an eraser as a kid.

💛Does not believe in closets. Keeps his clothes either on the floor or in his chair. (If it’s in his closet he’ll genuinely forget he even owns the item.)

💛”Processing your emotions? What the hell’s that?”

💛Oh yeah, he definitely has ADHD.

Drew:

🖤Really likes FPS games.

🖤Always has to have his weight shifted on one leg. He cannot stand up straight to save his life. (Heh cuz he’s gay-)

🖤Small waist. (He’s a twink in my eyes.)

🖤Could probably be picked up by the other Jomies. (Has yet to be tested due to safety concerns.) (The concerns being Drew beating the shit out of them.

🖤Doesn’t like black coffee but drinks it anyways. (Why? We don’t know.)

🖤TERRIBLE eating habits. He’ll literally just have a piece of toast and be like “welp that’ll last me for the next 48 hours.”

🖤Those hot-pink girly desserts are his guilty pleasure.

🖤Listens to a lot of rap music. Mostly emo rap. He says it’s cuz it sounds cooler but it’s actually because he finds the lyrics relatable.

🖤Stalks Jake’s instagram for purely platonic reasons.

🖤Doesn’t know how to show affection so he’ll sometimes just randomly punch Jake in the arm. No warning, no explanation.

🖤Cat person. Doesn’t really like dogs. (Terrified of Oreo but would rather die than admit it.)

🖤Bullies cats relentlessly, but will also meow back at them if he thinks no one’s around.

🖤Likes being cuddled way more than he’d like to admit.

🖤Having his hair played with puts him right to sleep.

🖤Struggled to make friends in Elementary school due to his temper. (His lack of attention at home led to him lashing out a lot.) Other kids found him to be intimidating so Drew didn’t really have any friends until Middle School.

🖤Was put in time-out a LOT in Kindergarten so it basically just became Drew’s Corner.

🖤IPad kid. Definitely had a mascot-horror phase when he was 10.

🖤“Processing your emotions? What the hell’s that?”

🖤Oh yeah, BPD. He has BPD.

Liam:

❤️Hands are always fucking clammy it cannot be helped.

❤️Definitely listens to Breakcore.

❤️Has a bunch of those weird, perverted anime stickers somewhere in his desk drawer because he thinks they’re funny. (They were included in a random anime sticker pack Henry bought online.)

❤️Had a super edgy werewolf OC back in Middle School. Drawings of it still exist in that same drawer.

❤️Lets Henry play with his hair when they’re alone together.

❤️Refuses to use chairs properly.

❤️Has so many 0.5 photos of the Jomies. (Except Drew because Drew threatened to break his phone if he ever took one of him. But Liam still managed to sneak a few bad photos of Drew as well.)

❤️Type of guy to moan when someone’s on the phone with their parent.

❤️Knows how to drive a manual. (I imagine his mom’s car is an older one soooooo if Liam wanted to drive around he had to learn.)

Henry:

💚Baby face. (Liam likes to hold his face.)

💚Wears anime merch with pride.

💚Pretends to be a girl online sometimes so people give him free shit.

💚Almost always hits Drew with the 🤓 emoji anytime he says something smart/logical in their group chat.

💚Would definitely like matcha because it tastes like g r a s s.

💚He ate grass as a kid. And leaves. And dirt.

💚The type of kid that always had to be the dog in any game he played.

💚Really likes bunnies. He held one once and felt his life was complete.

💚Oh, and frogs too. He loves frogs.

💚Typically takes the role of mediator during fights, even if he has no context on the situation.

💚Relies way too much on being funny. If a joke doesn’t land he genuinely hates himself for a couple seconds.

💚Sensitive to loud noise. (Unless the loud noise is on his terms.) (Like, he’ll have his music on full blast and shout at his friends standing right next to him and be completely fine, but if a balloon were to suddenly pop right beside him, it’d startle him quite a bit.)

💚Drew glaring at him and telling him to shut up hurts a little more than he’d like to admit.

💚Probably also has ADHD.

Zoey:

🩷This bitch knows how to steal shit. You got a necklace she likes she will find a way to take it.

🩷Can and will find a way to make everything said against her about her gender.

🩷“Oh my God, I am LITERALLY just a girl.”

🩷Definitely took dance for a P.E credit.

🩷Almost everything she owns is covered in flowers.

🩷Everything has to be aesthetic.

🩷Always had to initiate any sort of affection between her and Drew. She was always the one asking him out. Always the one to kiss him first, or reach for his hand. (Whereas Drew never really thought about that sort of stuff.)

🩷Her views on relationships were also very different from Drew’s. She wanted excitement and fun. She wanted to go out and do things. And whenever they were home alone, she wanted to make out with him and stuff, meanwhile, all Drew wanted to do was cuddle and watch stupid videos on his phone with her. (But she just found that boring.)

🩷Honestly, their best dates were their at-home ones. Where they’d watch movies together and Zoey would bring some face masks and they’d pamper each other and cuddle and whatnot. (Fun for Zoey and relaxing for Drew.)

🩷And because of their height difference, Zoey would sometimes grab Drew’s collar and pull him down to her level to kiss him. (And this definitely never once flustered Drew.)

🩷Probably knew Drew cared more about Jake than he did her and that pissed her off.

Lia:

💜Big fan of Olivia Rodrigo. (And one time, while her and Drew were waiting for the others after school, she was listening to one of her songs and singing along, and Drew ended up correcting her on a lyric, causing her to realize he ALSO listens to her music, and he was super embarrassed about it afterwards and made her promise not to tell anyone.)

💜So anyways Lia now wants to take Drew to an Olivia Rodrigo concert.

💜She’s also a big fan of Nessa Barrett.

💜Surprisingly really good at singing. She never took lessons or anything, she just sings in the shower a lot.

💜Sprays perfume on herself like 50 times in a day.

💜Always comparing herself to people online.

💜“Self-esteem? What’s that?”

💜Genuinely could not describe herself if she was asked to. She’s so used to changing herself for others she doesn’t even know who she is or what she wants to be.

💜Imposter Syndrome 100%

💜Had a huge crush on Hailey in Middle School but didn’t even know being gay was a thing so she didn’t really know how to explain her feelings at all.

@31days-of-freakblr

[littleplantfreak]

Okay, as a certified ume lover (you), I had this thought and decided you had to know too, imagine you end up getting pregnant and ume is like tears and shit and considering his backstory, he genuinely looks at you and loses his shit, and HE WONT EVER LET YOU GO OUT OF HIS ARMS, go everywhere with you, not a step out of the house without him, hugging you more tighter in his sleep cause he doesn't want you to fall over accidentally and end up hurting yourself, he will be there for EVERY single time you are suffering with morning sickness, and hear all the complaint on how much you are peeing and how you can't reach the floor and see your own feet and go behind and lift your belly to lessen the burden and pain on your back as you melt into him. Let's not talk about the fact the baby is born and he gets to hold them? He would melt and have a breakdown so bad that gets the nurses smiling so bad seeing such a reaction from a father, he will be hugging you and kissing you thanking him for giving him this life and OMG IMAGINE MAKING A WHOLE NURSERY ROOM WITH HIM, FILLED WITH BABY SHOES, PAINTING IT, BUILDING EVERYTHING.

Or imagine he gets so overly protective and worries fills his mind when you tell him you are pregnant, and you just sit on his lap and hold his face every so gentle and kissing him between every sentence all over his face and comforting him that it will all be alright and that you know he is gonna be the best father ever and that he doesn't have to go through this whole experience with worries eating him up considering he already experienced losing his mom, dad and his unborn sibling.

OKAY FORGOT TO ADD,

Him just talking to your belly whenever you are sleeping and see it when you wake up and him telling the child to "don't bother your mom so much" while gently kissing it. I AM SO NOT NORMAL ABOUT IT AND I, GENERALLY DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT PREGANANCY, BUT ITS SO DIFFERENT WITH UME, I AM SORRY ‼️‼️

(I didn't read the ask after typing it , so if I made any mistake, my bad bestie)

Nonnie come sit with me on the couch lets chat so much ive got snacks and blankies 😎

I do think although he’s pretty well adjusted when it comes to his past, he WOULD have a few noticeable changes because if you went through what he did who wouldn’t have some residual issues? The tension in his shoulders when you’re both walking in a city or if he hasn’t gotten a text back in more than a few hours while he’s at work? An anxious mess, Hiragi give him some medicine or something. He’s never been so stressed and ecstatic in his life its exhausting for him but he refuses to ever say the stressed part out loud you just gotta talk him through it and be stubborn about it because otherwise he’s trying to take care of you TOO much.

It’s not your pregnancy with him it’s OUR pregnancy he’ll get sympathy sick when you’re puking your guts out or cry like he’s in pain when you get IVs or shots for it (dont even get me started on the epidural i didnt know the catheter stayed IN your back when you got it wtfff till like…last year) best guy to be pregnant with though and he won’t stop talking about how brave and sweet and perfect you are or how pretty you look despite how you feel like none of those words.

He’s ALL up in the delivery room despite the horrors and he’s apologizing profusely when you’re crying that he did this to you and that hes the worst and then you’re like baby i dont really mean that but this is fucking terrible rip he knows you dont mean it and you can squeeze his hand, hit him, yell at him he doesn’t mind at all if it makes you feel even just a little bit better

He tries your weird cravings with you no matter what it is or what time it is. You wanna eat peanut butter and pickles at 3am? Lets go bby we’re taste testing.

He’s getting up in the middle of the night as much as possible when the baby’s born so that you can rest, you have to force him back to bed sometimes because he’s sleep deprived eventually.

[plotting-against-you]

My Own Worst Enemy

Fandom: One Chicago

Characters: Halstead Sister Reader, Jay Halstead, Will Halstead, Dr. Charles, Ethan Choi, Maggie Lockwood

Summary: You have a relapse in your anorexia, and no one knows until you show up at Med.

Warnings: Eating Disorders (i.e., anorexia) and their symptoms and habits.

Author's Note: I know nothing about anorexia, so I had to google it. If this comes off in any way incorrect, please know that I'm sorry. Also, if you ever find yourself in this situation, please seek help...I know it's hard, but we want you safe and healthy.

It started with a harmless comment. That’s what anyone would have thought, though you knew it wasn’t harmless. Not to you at least.

You had just gotten a full-time job at your local library, which seemed heaven-sent. You’d always loved being around books, so it all seemed to click when you found this job online.

Then the comment came.

You were eating during your allotted thirty-minute lunch break in the staff break room a week after starting when two women walked in from another department. You hadn’t met them yet but cringed when you saw their figures.

You hadn’t had the easiest time growing up. You were constantly picked on and developed an eating disorder at sixteen. Coincidentally, that was when your mom got sick, so you hid your illness in an attempt to keep the focus on her. It worked…until it didn’t.

You’d landed in the hospital where they diagnosed you with anorexia, and you’d had to work extra hard to come back from it ever since.

Seeing the women and their “perfect” figures didn’t make you recoil as it once would have, but their comments did.

“Girl, you brought a whole package of turkey to work? How many sandwiches are you planning on making?”

The other woman shrugged. “Don’t make fun of me! I like my turkey sandwiches, okay? Besides, you know I could eat a whole horse and not gain a pound.”

You looked down at the leftover beef stew in front of you and slowly laid down your fork. You had been having a stressful time recently with the new job, and your already fragile psyche took the hit as if it were a personal attack on you.

Boxing up what was left of the dinner you’d had at Jay and Hailey’s the night before, you tossed it in the garbage and grabbed a water.

“This is all I need today.” You told yourself. “I’ll do better tomorrow.”

…

You hadn’t done better tomorrow.

In fact, it had been weeks since you had started up your old habits. Luckily for you, it was easy to hide the signs from your family since it was just Jay and Will, and they’d both been working weird hours, making it impossible to see each other.

You had just gotten home from your day at work, having had nothing more than a bottle of water for lunch, and leaned against the couch in exhaustion. Though you grew increasingly tired every day, you found it hard to sleep at night.

You knew that was a symptom of the disease that had come back in full force, but you refused to accept it.

Dropping your bag, it made a thud on the floor, and you blinked your eyes a few times to clear them of the dots that danced in your vision. You were dizzy, but you refused to call your brothers for help.

Just as the thought entered your mind, your phone rang, and everything went dark as you reached to answer it.

…

You woke up on the floor behind your couch, your head pounding, your stomach growling, and your phone still ringing.

Reaching out an arm to search for your phone, you pulled it to your ear and scrunched your face in annoyance. “Hello?”

There was a pause. “Thank fuck.”

You continued to lie on the floor but opened your eyes in confusion. “Excuse me?”

“I’ve called you like twelve times.” Jay’s voice said on the other line. “I thought maybe you had been hurt or something.”

“I was napping.” You lied, though you figured it was close to the truth. “It’s been a long day.”

Jay snorted. “You work at a library. How hard can that be?”

“You’d be surprised.”

He ignored you. “Well, did you forget that you were supposed to meet Will and I at Molly’s for a drink tonight?”

“Shit. That was tonight?” Between focusing on work and spending your free time counting your calories, you’d forgotten about the invitation from your brothers. “I’m sorry. I’m exhausted.”

“Are you sure nothing’s wrong?” Jay’s voice sounded concerned.

“I’m fine, honest. Just tired. Rain check?” You ignored the fact that you were still lying on the ground.

Jay sighed, disappointment filling his tone. “Okay. We’ll do it another night.”

“Thanks, Jay.” You told him as you hung up.

Then you lay on the floor, resting a hand on your aching stomach. It had been some time since you’d put anything other than water and some nuts into it but couldn’t bring yourself to care.

You would soon be at your ideal weight, and everything would return to normal.

…

You nearly screamed when you brushed your hair the following day and found a large chunk of it tangled in the brush. Your hair started falling out again, as it had when you were younger, and you sighed.

You knew you needed help, but you didn’t want any. You liked this control, and you liked having this ideal image in your head.

Ignoring the anxious pit in your stomach, you continued to get ready for work and left your apartment. Everything would be fine, you told yourself.

And it was…until midday.

You had been in the stacks trying to locate a book for a patron when the dizziness set in. Blinking it away, you reached for the top shelf when the world tilted on its axis, and you were suddenly lying on the ground staring up at the ceiling.

People were around you immediately, but everything sounded like a train flying past your ears. Sitting up, you waved everyone off but let your director pull you into the first aid room.

He grabbed a bottle of water and had you sit while he pulled out your emergency contact information. “You’re okay, Y/N. I’m going to call your emergency contact to pick you up and get you checked out.”

Groaning, you tried to stop him. “It’s okay, really. My brother is a doctor. I’ll just get him to check me out after my shift.”

The last thing you needed was for him to call Jay, your first emergency contact, or Will, your secondary contact. They would freak out, and you didn’t want them to know anything about this.

“Y/N, you collapsed. That’s not something we play around with here.” Your boss told you.

You shook your head and went to stand when the world went black again, and you crumpled to the ground.

…

“Dr. Choi! We’ve got incoming.” Maggie yelled to the physician and turned to the ambulance bay as the doors opened.

“What do we got?” He asked, running over and meeting the eyes of the paramedic.

“Thirty-year-old female collapsed at work twice. Lost consciousness on the second fall. Severely malnourished and dehydrated. BP is low, and so is her blood sugar.”

Looking down at you, Ethan sighed. He knew what this probably meant and knew your brothers would be worried. “Mags, keep them out of my treatment room until after I’ve finished.”

“You got it.” She told him and looked at you worriedly.

As they transferred you to a hospital gurney, Ethan shined his pen light into your eyes. “Y/N? Can you hear me?”

Your face contorted in disgust, trying to escape the light as you nodded. “Hmm…yeah.”

“Can you open your eyes for me?”

“If you stop shining a light in them….” You muttered but instantly felt terrible. “I’m sorry….”

Ethan shook his head. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for, Y/N.”

He rattled off a bunch of tests to the nurse before you bit your lip. “I’m screwed, aren’t I?”

He sighed. “Y/N…you know how this looks. You can either let me run a bunch of unnecessary tests, or you can let me call Dr. Charles, and we can get this over with sooner.”

“What about my brothers?” You asked meekly.

“I can keep them out until after you talk to Dr. Charles if you want?” He suggested though he knew he’d have a battle on his hands.

You nodded. “Please.”

“Okay. I’ll have Maggie page Dr. Charles, and we’ll go from there.”

…

While he usually walked into work at a leisurely pace, Will found himself rushing inside to meet his brother. “What happened?”

Jay shrugged. “I don’t know, man. Her boss called and said she’d passed out twice at work today, but when I got here, Maggie and Ethan told me I had to wait out here.”

Turning to look at the nurse, Will’s eyes held fury before Ethan stepped in. “Will, she asked for some time. Dr. Charles is in with her right now, and then you can go in.”

“Dr. Charles?” Jay asked him. “But why would-”

The thought dawned on both brothers simultaneously, and they looked sadly at each other. It had been nearly fifteen years since they had dealt with this, but it looked like your worst enemy was back and swinging.

The door opened, and Dr. Charles walked out of the treatment room. “Boys. You can go in now.”

Jay took off the second the words came out, but Will stayed back, looking at his colleague in fear and anguish.

“Is it…it’s back, isn’t it?” The redhead asked him.

The seasoned doctor sighed. “She’s permitted me to tell you this, so yes…her anorexia is apparent again. She said she’s been dealing with it for a few weeks now.”

The eldest Halstead looked towards your room and sighed. “I wish we’d known. It’s the same thing that happened before, you know? We didn’t know until she ended up in the hospital.”

“This can be a tough thing.” Dr, Charles told him. “But you know as well as I do that recovery is possible, and you had to know that a relapse could happen.”

Will nodded. “Yeah, I just thought we were in the clear.”

“Well, I can tell you that we came up with a therapy plan and scheduled a meeting with a nutritionist. I can also tell you that your sister is very strong but very scared of what you might be feeling, so please…go in and see her.”

Nodding almost robotically, Will moved over to your room and sighed as he took in your appearance. “Hey, kid.”

You raised your tear-filled eyes to him but kept your grip on Jay’s hand. “I’m so sorry.”

Will moved forward instantly and came to your side, brushing the bangs out of your face. “You have nothing to apologize for, Y/N/N.”

“What happened?” Jay asked quietly.

You bit your lip. “I’ve been really stressed lately, and then someone made a comment at work…it just slid away from there. I didn’t mean for it to get this bad.”

“When I called you last night, and you said you’d been napping?”

You looked at Jay sadly. “I had passed out in my apartment and didn’t want to tell you.”

“Y/N…you can’t be doing this to yourself,” Will told you. “I know you’ve started on a plan with Dr. Charles, but will you let us help you, too?”

You nodded slowly. “Please. I need help.”

“And you’re going to get it,” Will promised his little sister.

Jay sighed. “Listen, I think you should move in with Hailey and I…at least for a little while. It might be easier to handle if you have support around you.”

You snorted. “You just don’t want me home alone in case I relapse again.”

He looked at you sadly. “Can you blame me?”

You shook your head. “No…no, I can’t. And I will take you up on that offer so long as Hailey’s okay with it.”

“She will be. You know she loves you.” Jay smiled, though it was strained. “You know we love you, too, right?”

You nodded. “Yeah. I love you both right back.”

[wumblr]

every couple of hours i walk silently in the dark down the spiral staircase in my mom's friend's unbooked airbnb past my mom, who is sleeping 20+hrs a day at this point, holding my breath to check whether i can hear hers to try not to wake her, 20+hrs sleep deprived, and inevitably i make one noise and she wakes up and i ask her if she's hungry and she asks for morphine and i say i never expected you to exhibit that kind of junkie behavior and i ask if she wants an ondansetron first except i call it a stomach pill and after i repeat myself three times because her hearing is gone she takes it because the morphine puts her stomach off and she can already only eat a tablespoon of the blandest possible food with no variation in texture which i've been fucking up for a week barking up the wrong tree trying to put spices and flavor in things she refuses to eat at all and i keep telling her if we don't figure out how to get her to eat i'm going to call the nurse and ask her to bring a nutritional IV and she says that might be okay and that's how i know it's really starting to go south, because there are very few things she hates in the world more than keeping a needle in her arm. if i had to guess, that's why she refused treatment, not really anything about the treatment itself. and i go out to smoke and i mull over being in the downwinder state the year RECA expires unexpanded with the lowest cancer rate in the country because it's been over thirty years since the comprehensive test ban and the risks from smoking or drinking vastly outweigh the risks from radiation exposure at this point, and nobody here smokes or drinks, and i think about whether i will be so lucky to catch mine at stage 1 when i get it and thus have the option to beat cancer on the first try by surgical intervention just like everybody else in my family did except my aunt who went for chemo instead of an oophorectomy because as her doctor friend advised her it would "probably work, like dropping a nuke on an anthill" but due to the state of my life i don't think i'm going to have regular cancer screenings, so it doesn't really matter. then my mom's friend comes by with her dog and talks about how she has to cash out her stock portfolio because she only has $5k in charles schwab and she hates whatever the other account was but they'll freeze her withdrawals for a week if she tries to transfer it out and she can't do that while her property holdings are as curiously unrented as they've been this year. and i think about how i've never even had $5k. and she asks if i want them to start over bridget jones' diary because she's trying to make my mom watch the raunchiest comedies she can find and they only just started it and i say no thanks and silently go back upstairs to not sleep, punctuated by soundtrack clips of chaka and aretha

[chicgeekgirl89]

Read Chapter 8 on AO3!

Carlos has never hated his condo more in his entire life. Why did he pick so much grey when he decorated this place? And black? And  beige? He’d thought it was sleek and modern at the time. Now that he’s stuck here recovering he feels like he’s trapped inside the pages of a newspaper. 

He hates to admit it, but he kind of misses his mom and his sisters. It took a week for them to start leaving him alone again. Considering his sisters both live more than an hour away, they’d done an admirable job tag teaming coming into town to pester him and make him eat his vegetables and take his supplements. He’d been relieved at first to have some space, but now he’s so bored he’d take their nagging again in a heartbeat.

T.K. had come by with the supplements as promised, but Carlos hadn’t seem him because he’d been sleeping and his mom had refused to wake him up. He’d been annoyed when she’d told him, especially because T.K. had left two days later for New York. And without a cellphone Carlos has had no way to communicate with him at all.

His new phone finally shows up halfway through his second week of recovery. When the doorbell rings to announce the delivery driver, Carlos whips it open so fast he scares the shit out of the guy and has to apologize.

It takes three tries to get it set up and he almost throws it against a wall and smashes it all over again in frustration. But then it finally comes life and he’s relieved to find that all his contacts populate back into place automatically. He won’t need T.K.’s post it note after all. 

The first thing he does is send him a text.

Carlos

[2:35pm] How’s New York?

T.K.

[2:36pm] Sorry, who is this?

Carlos

[2:37pm] Haha very funny. I’m the one whose phone broke, not you. And my number is the same.

T.K.

[2:38pm] Sir, I’m very sorry about your broken phone, but you have the wrong number.

Carlos snaps a selfie of his frowning face and sends it. The response comes back seconds later.

T.K.

[2:40pm] Still no idea.

Carlos sighs and unbuttons his shirt, then snaps another selfie.

T.K.

[2:43pm] Ooooooooh, hey Carlos. How’s it going?

Carlos

[2:45pm] You’re such an ass.

T.K.

[2:45pm] *smirk emoji*

[2:46pm] New York is fine. My favorite Thai place closed. But I’m finally eating decent bagels again.

[2:46pm] How are you? Stitches driving you crazy yet?

Carlos

[2:47pm] God yes. They hurt. And they itch. I want to rip them all out.

T.K.

[2:48pm] I can’t recommend that.

[2:49pm] Your mom and sisters still around?

Carlos

[2:50pm] They have finally decided that I can be left alone for several hours at a time. Thank god.

[2:51pm] How’s your mom? I’m sure she’s happy to have her favorite son home.

T.K.

[2:52pm] Lol yeah she’s happy. Actually, I need to get ready to go. We’re seeing Wicked tonight. It’s her favorite.

Carlos

[2:53pm] A classic. Have fun Defying Gravity.

T.K.

[2:54pm] The Texas boy knows his musicals. I’m impressed.

Carlos

[2:55pm] It’s Texas, not the moon.

Their texting is sporadic over the next week. T.K. is busy, and with the time change it makes it hard to send more than a couple texts before one of them is needed somewhere else. 

It’s crazy how much he misses someone he’s only spent about twenty total minutes of time with. His texts with T.K. have become such a safe space. He feels seen and heard when they talk. Not having that and being forced to stay home for days on end makes him realize how lonely he’s been the last few years.

He’s also bored out of his freaking mind. His stitches come out after two weeks and he’s allowed to return to light duty at work, which is a good distraction as he eagerly counts down the days to his date with T.K. like a kid waiting for Christmas. 

When the day finally arrives he is a mess of nerves. He changes clothes three times before settling on a green shirt, jeans, and a pair of boots.

In a burst of creativity he’d suggested a honky-tonk for their first date. It seemed appropriate that T.K. get a strong reintroduction to Texas culture after being back in New York for so long and T.K. had eagerly agreed.

Carlos pulls up to the honky-tonk ten minutes early and grips the steering wheel tightly, sucking in deep breaths. This is going to be great. They’ve waited so long. The universe has to finally throw them a bone tonight, right?

…not THAT kind of bone. Although…he wouldn’t say no. In fact he would say a very enthusiastic yes. The thought of T.K.’s lithe body in his hands…

There’s a tap on his window that scares the shit out of him and immediately douses his lust fueled imaginings. Mischievous green eyes peer at him through the window and he pushes the door open, unfolding himself until he’s standing in front of T.K. Strand. 

“Hi,” he says, aware that he has a very stupid smile on his face.

“Hi,” T.K. says. “You looked like you were pretty deep in thought in there.”

His face flames. “Just um, thinking.” He blows out a breath and takes in the cute little patterned button down T.K. is wearing. “You look great.”

He smells incredible too, like he’s just been in the shower. There’s a silver chain glinting around his neck in the lights of the parking lot and Carlos longs to find out where it disappears to underneath his shirt. 

Fuck. He has got to get control of himself.

“You look nice too,” T.K. says, biting his lip.

Carlos wonders if he’s having similarly lusty thoughts. He hopes so. “Is this really happening?” Carlos asks. “There’s no injuries or work things getting in the way this time?”

“Not a thing,” T.K. says, taking a step closer. “Just you and me. On a date. For real.” He taps a finger against Carlos’ chest. “Lead the way officer.”

Carlos holds out a hand and when T.K. takes it he feels like his heart might explode. 

They step inside the honky-tonk to a whirl of sound and color. The place is already jumping, busy on a Friday night, and Carlos has half a second of doubt. Maybe they should have gone somewhere quieter. But one look at T.K.’s face, his eyes bright with excitement, tells him this was a good choice. T.K. Strand is clearly here for a good time. 

“Do you want something to drink?” Carlos asks as they head toward the bar. “Club soda?”

“Shirley Temple?” T.K.’s eyes twinkle. “I’m feeling festive.”

Carlos laughs. “Shirley Temple it is. Do you want to try and find us a table?”

“On it.” He disappears into the crowd as Carlos maneuvers himself to the bar. 

It takes forever to get the drinks and the bartender gives him a weird look when he orders the Shirley Temple. It makes him wonder if that was T.K.’s strategy all along: to make him feel awkward in front of a stranger as a cute little joke. It feels like something he might do. He’s for sure a tease.

He finally grabs hold of both their drinks, then searches the crowd for T.K., spotting him standing next to a table across the room. He carefully slips through the crowd, struggling to keep the drinks level. “Hey,” he says when he gets close. “Did you find us a spot?”

T.K. turns around an odd expression on his face. “I’m so sorry,” he says.

Carlos’ heart plummets and cold sweat breaks out on the back of his neck. Is T.K. chickening out? Did he not want to come here in the first place? He’d seemed so happy on their way in, what could have—

“I didn’t know they’d be here,” T.K. says, shifting to the side and revealing a table full of people.

Carlos catches sight of a face he knows. “Oh, Paul, right?” he says.

“Yeah, hey Carlos. Good to see you again,” Paul says.

“Carlos, this is my team,” T.K. says. “Meet the 126.”

He introduces them and Carlos gets to put faces to the names he’s learned over the last month and a half. Mateo, Marjan, and Judd all smile and wave casually, but there’s an oddly eager energy to the group that makes Carlos wonder exactly how much T.K. has told them about what’s going on between the two of them. 

“Well here, grab a seat,” Judd says as they all scoot around to make room in the booth they’ve claimed.

T.K. looks at him and turns his back on the group so they can’t hear. “We don’t have to sit with them.”

Carlos smiles. “It’s fine. Really,” he insists when T.K. doesn’t look convinced. “They’re your friends. And it’s pretty full in here anyway.”

The booth is already crowded and they have to sit very close together to fit. T.K.’s thigh presses into Carlos’ and he has to work very hard to keep his mind on track and in the moment. “Soooo,” Mateo says, wiggling his eyebrows, “is this finally the big date?”

Marjan smacks him. “Shut up probie!”

“What?” he asks, offended. “It is right? T.K.’s been talking about it for weeks.”

Carlos feels a laugh bubble up deep inside him and has to swallow it back down. T.K. may not have been raised with any siblings, but it’s obvious that his teammates are enthusiastically fulfilling that role in his life. 

“I haven’t been talking about it for weeks,” T.K. says, taking a sip of his drink, his cheeks a touch pink despite the calmness of his tone.

“Yes you have,” Judd says immediately.

“I have not!”

“You really have,” Paul says. 

T.K. glares at them. “I hate all of you.”

“Mmm be careful,” Marjan says, her eyes lighting with teasing. “We’ve got a lot of dirt on you T.K. So many things Carlos could learn tonight…”

“Like the time he backed the engine into the side of the garage,” Mateo says.

“Or the time he swore he could run around the entire building in under a minute, tripped over his own two feet, and fell face first into the asphalt,” Judd says.

“Or,” Paul says, “the time—“

“Okay, that’s enough!” T.K. declares. He pushes against Carlos, trying to make him slide back out of the booth. “Let’s go, we’re leaving.”

“No, no come on!” The protests from the group are genuine and full of laughter and T.K. settles back into his seat.

“You’re all just jealous that I have a date and none of you do,” T.K. says, affecting a superior tone.

“Hey I got a permanent date,” Judd says. “She’s just working tonight.”

“Judd’s wife Grace is a 911 dispatcher,” T.K. explains. 

“Nice,” Carlos says. “That’s a tough job.”

“She was made for it,” Judd says proudly. 

T.K.’s friends are great. They laugh and joke and talk with ease, including him in the conversation like he’s always been part of the group. Judd buys another round for the table and then they get some appetizers to share. It’s not exactly the date Carlos had in mind, but it’s good nonetheless.

T.K. is snarky and fun; everything he does is charming and adorable. If Carlos wasn’t already completely besotted, he definitely is now.

It’s ridiculous how comfortable it all feels. Like this is the most normal thing in the world. Like they’ve done it a thousand times instead of just one. 

A little voice in his mind whispers that this is all he’s ever wanted. To feel like this. He’s craved this type of casual intimacy in his life and it’s surreal to finally be experiencing it.

“Oh my god, I love this song!” Marjan says, shoving Paul so she can get out of the booth. “Come on! Let’s go dance!”

The rest of the group follows her, leaving T.K. and Carlos alone. “I really am sorry,” T.K. says. “If I’d known they were going to be here I would have—“

“T.K. it’s fine,” Carlos soothes, placing a hand on T.K.’s knee under the table and squeezing gently. “I picked the place. And they’re nice. I’m having a good time.”

He moves his thumb back and forth over the fabric of T.K.’s jeans without even thinking about it and something in T.K.’s eyes lights up. “Wanna dance?”

He looks T.K. up and down, his face twisting into a delighted smile. “Yeah.”

They stand and T.K. grabs his hand, pulling him toward the dance floor where dozens of other people are starting up a rowdy two-step country dance. “Do you know how to do this?” Carlos asks as they join the throng.

“Not a clue.” T.K. sticks his tongue out and wiggles his eyebrows comically, making Carlos laugh. 

“Copy me,” Carlos tells him, turning around so T.K.’s behind him and can follow his moves.

He’s actually not half bad. He’s not exactly half great either, but he bops along easily enough, at least from what Carlos can tell every time he turns around and catches a glimpse of him. It’s a little graceless, T.K. is all bouncy fun, like a puppy, but it’s pretty cute and he doesn’t run into anyone or step on any toes. 

The next dance requires a partner, so Carlos turns around to face T.K. and watches in amusement as T.K. does the required shimmy to one side and then the other. “Not bad for a New Yorker,” he calls over the noise of the crowd and the music.

“Hey, I’ll have you know that I was the life of the party at every bat and bar mitzvah I ever went to,” T.K. says.

“I believe it.”

He leans close, his breath warm on the side of Carlos’ neck. “But you know, the real reason I wanted to come out here was to watch your ass move around in those jeans.”

Desire, hot and strong pours through him. It must show on his face because T.K. cocks his head to the side, his eyes dropping to Carlos’ lips like he’s having the same kind of feelings.

“And? What’s the verdict?” Carlos asks, feeling a little light headed. All the blood in his head is quickly rushing somewhere else.

“I think…” T.K. meets his eyes and purses his lips in exaggerated, fake thought. “It’s a pretty spectacular ass.”

The room is crowded, there are people bumping up against them, but Carlos is so intensely focused on T.K. he barely notices. This feeling, this want, this ache of desire has been building for so many weeks and if he doesn’t do something about it soon, he might explode.

As if T.K. senses this he reaches for Carlos’ hand and begins pulling him through the crowd. God help him, Carlos doesn’t have the strength to stop him and the next thing he knows they’re moving down the small, dark hallway that leads to the bathroom. It’s obvious what’s going to happen next and Carlos is weak as fuck because he’s going to let it. 

T.K. shoves the door open, thank god it’s an individual bathroom and no one is inside. Carlos flips the lock and the second he turns around T.K. is on him, hands grabbing his hips for leverage as he crushes their mouths together. 

Carlos sees fireworks. They explode throughout his body wherever T.K. touches him, fizzing and popping and taking his breath away. His own hands come up, one of them cradling the back of T.K.’s neck, pulling him closer, while the other clings onto his bicep for support just in case his knees go weak from lack of oxygen. 

T.K. opens his mouth and Carlos doesn’t hesitate to deepen the kiss, sighing into it as their tongues slide together, hot and wet and so much better than Carlos has imagined in his shower fantasies. T.K. tastes sweet from his drink, cherries and sugar, and it only makes Carlos even more desperate to drink him in.

He reaches for the top button on T.K.’s shirt, needing to touch him, needing to feel the softness of his skin underneath his fingers. He manages five of them in record time, an amazing feat considering he’s only going by feel since he can’t stop kissing T.K. long enough to look. He shoves a hand inside the fabric to wrap around T.K.’s ribcage and pull him even closer.

T.K. huffs a laugh into his mouth and Carlos grins into it their kiss. This is crazy. He’s never felt so reckless. So free. He loves it. It’s like T.K. has unlocked a part of himself he didn’t even realize he’d hidden away.

He pulls back, barely taking a breath before nipping at T.K.’s earlobe and then scraping his teeth down his neck. T.K. makes a sound that goes straight to Carlos’ dick and then ruts his hips forward into Carlos, causing more stars to explode behind Carlos’ eyelids. 

His hand fists into the back of Carlos’ shirt, pulling it tight and Carlos takes that as his cue to keep going, following the line of T.K.’s collarbone with his tongue, pressing a kiss into the hollow at the base of his throat. 

His plan is to continue working his way across T.K.’s chest, but T.K. has other ideas, grabbing his face and hauling him back up into another bruising kiss before his hands find Carlos’ belt. The second he gets it undone he starts to drop to his knees, but Carlos grabs his arm, keeping him upright.

“The floor is filthy,” Carlos says.

T.K. looks at him like he’s crazy. “I have done this in much dirtier places Carlos,” he says, trying to go down again.

The thought makes Carlos sick to his stomach and he grips T.K.’s arm more firmly, refusing to let him move. “But you don’t have to,” he says gently, but firmly. 

He knows T.K.’s past. He knows how he’s been used and treated like garbage, and he is never, ever going to treat him that way. T.K. doesn’t exist for Carlos’ pleasure. They’re not starting their relationship this way. Making out is one thing. Forcing T.K. to his knees on a disgusting bathroom floor is another.

T.K. takes a step back looking hurt and confused. “Are you saying you don’t want—“

“No, I definitely do,” Carlos says quickly. “I just…not here. I don’t know if other guys made you feel like that’s all you were good enough for but you deserve better than a dirty bathroom floor T.K.

The guarded look in T.K.’s eyes goes soft and his body relaxes again. “You’re really sweet. You know that?”

Carlos blushes. Which is crazy since this man just had his tongue in his mouth and was about to put it somewhere else much more intimate. “I want this to be a partnership,” he says. “I’m not using you T.K. I want you.”

T.K. crowds up against him and kisses him again, gently this time, his fingers cradling Carlos’ face. “You’re one a million Carlos Reyes,” he says when he pulls back. His smile turns mischievous. “Fine. I won’t kneel on the dirty floor.”

“Good,” Carlos says. “I don’t need you to.”

“But,” T.K. says, his hands sliding down Carlo’s chest, “there are plenty of other things I can do just fine standing up.”

Before Carlos can protest T.K. has undone the button and zipper on his jeans, his hand teasing along waistband of Carlos’ boxer briefs before sliding inside. Carlos’ head slams back against the door, a sound ripping from his throat that he’s never made before in his entire life. All thoughts of germs or bathroom floors or anything other than the feel of T.K. taking hold of him are immediately driven from his mind.

He’s brought back to reality all too soon by a series of sharp knocks on the door just behind his head. 

T.K. withdraws his hand. “Be out in a minute,” he calls, then bites his lip, studying Carlos’ face. “Well that was fun.”

Carlos swallows, trying to find his voice again as T.K. turns and heads for the sink. “Uh huh,” is all he manages to get out.

T.K. chuckles. “I’ll take it that’s a five star rating?”

“Yes. Definitely,” he says, finally regaining enough presence of mind to start zipping up his jeans as T.K. redoes his own shirt buttons.

The knocks sound again, more insistent this time. “We should um…do you want to get out of here?” Carlos asks, his brain soaked in lust fueled dopamine. He’s not nearly done with what they’ve started.

“Eh, I don’t know. It’s kind of nice in here,” T.K. jokes, looking around.

“T.K. Do you want to come back to my place?” Carlos says, too far gone to play games right now.

T.K. kisses him, chastely this time. “Yes,” he says. “I do.”

He opens the bathroom door and Carlos tries not to make eye contact with the person who was waiting outside. They’ve nearly made it down the hallway when they bump into Paul. “I was wondering where y’all went,” he says.

“Just taking a little break,” T.K. says easily, while Carlos squirms internally.

Paul’s eyes travel over the two of them, a knowing smirk growing on his face. “Your buttons are done up wrong,” he says, nodding toward T.K.’s shirt.

“Are they?” T.K. glances down, but doesn’t fix them. “Huh. Wonder how that happened?”

“Mmm, I could hazard a guess,” Paul says.

Carlos’ face is on fire and he tries desperately not to fidget. He has no idea how T.K. can act so calm and innocent. Even in in the dim light of the hallway he knows everything about them screams ‘bathroom hookup.’ 

“So Carlos and I are going to head out,” T.K. says, still nonchalant. 

“Oh are you? Do you need a ride home or anything?” Paul asks, still playing the game T.K. is crafting.

“I think we’ve got it covered,” T.K. tells him.

“Uh huh, I’m sure you do. Nice seeing you again Carlos,” he says.

“It was nice to see you too,” Carlos manages, his voice sounding a little strained in his own ears.

“Don’t get into too much trouble!” Paul calls after them, amusement coloring his voice.

“Well that was embarrassing,” Carlos says when they finally make it outside. 

“Paul won’t say anything,” T.K. says. “Not to anyone else. He’ll tease me about it forever. But I don’t care. It was worth it.”

“Was it?” Carlos asks as they reach the Camaro.

T.K.’s eyes are bright even in the darkened parking lot. “Definitely.”

[kickthecan-revolution]

I was running an errand when suddenly a little brown kitten dashed in front of me. I pulled over and it scattered under a trailer, I was in a part of town that has a lot of unhoused people and extreme drug use. I went to the store across the street and got some cat food, and it ran out immediately and started devouring it. It’s not in great shape. Then suddenly a second appeared, more beautiful than the first. It’s a high traffic road and just a matter of time before they die, so I went home, got more food and carrying cases and decided I’d try to grab them. They are super skittish and refuse to let me touch them but came up very close to me to eat, so I figure I just had to be patient. So I sat there for about an hour while they both ate two cans of food each and downed some water. I slowly inched the food bowls in the cat carriers but they are Maine coons who are super smart, so no go.

A woman came out of a trailer which looks more like a chop shop. She’s doing a lot of meth. I asked if she knew whose cats these were and she said “those are mine, Minnie and Peekaboo. My cat just had kittens they are about 5 months old, I just don’t know where the mom went.” I immediately apologized and started packing my stuff up, so bummed because it’s a terrible life for them but it’s their property. I asked if I could just stay until they were done eating, and she said it was fine. A few minutes later, she said her husband agreed that if I could catch one, I could take it home because ‘I had a nice voice’. Relieved, I this led her, we exchanged names and chatted a bit. She went inside and I just hung out.

I had the grey one in a carrier so carried it to the car, thinking I’d just try to grab one at a time. But she slipped out! UGH. I could tell they were full so I decided to go and come back later. I just have my vet subscribed wet food which might not be good for them so just door dashed some kitten food and I’ll try again tonight. I’m not sure what I’ll do when I get them, I’d love to keep one but that might kick Bud’s feline leukemia into gear, and Minnie would hate it. So my plan is to take them to the ASPCA, they are a no kill shelter and these cats are so beautiful, someone will give them good homes.

I hope I’m doing the right thing. The place they are in now is essentially a junk yard and there are so many cars. And, Theresa is feeding them and they sleep on her bed at times so they aren’t totally exposed. I just don’t think cats should live in the streets but I’m absolutely open to some advice if you think any classism or prejudice is showing up. Thank you.

[russellsppttemplates]

Hi! Would you consider writing one of those smaller pieces about Mom!reader and Dad!Pierre being soft with their little baby being sick?

Tw: kids being sick with the flu

It's only logical, it happens all the time, kids get sick. So when you got off of work and picked up little Alexandre from nursery, you noticed he was a bit sleepier than usual, giving you a small smile when one of the teachers handed him to you before he cuddled up to your chest, his hand going immediately to fist the fabric of your top.

When you got home after a cranky drive, Alexandre not enjoying the drive like he usually does, you calmed him while going up the stairs from the garage to the living area of the house, Pierre already in the kitchen when he noticed his usually bubbly son latched to you, "I think he caught something in school, the teacher was saying it's just the flu all kids seem to have", you explained, Pierre dropping what he was doing carefully as he approached you, pecking your lips before stroking Alexandre's pink cheek, "He's a bit warm, no? Maybe we should take his temperature", he said as you moved to his bedroom, grabbing the thermometer from the drawer as he still held on to you, his droopy eyes staring at Pierre as you waited for the beep, "Oh, he's getting feverish", you checked the temperature.

He didn't seem to be in a particular discomfort, not crying and just wanting to be close to you so you did exactly that, Pierre heading to your bed while you changed out of your work clothes and into something more comfortable, watching your two boys laying down as Pierre kept kissing his son's head, "I'm going to grab a damp cloth to see if he cools a bit", you said as you made your way upstairs. After a few hours of many cuddles, kisses and lullabies, Pierre had Alexandre close to his chest on the bathtub, the lukewarm water helping him back to normal temperature and, despite the cute sight of your husband craddling your son on his naked chest, your mama heart was still tight, wanting him to eat something but he kept refusing, "buddy, it's soup mama made for you", Pierre said as he propped him up once they were back in bed, the baby's back laying on his father's chest as he refused yet another spoonful, "you have to eat so you don't feel sick anymore", you tried to reason with an eight month old. Giving up, you rocked him in your arms soflty as you got him to fall asleep on your chest, not really minding the fact that he had settled there since you were pretty sure you wouldn't sleep at all tonight, "I can stay awake and watch over him", your husband said as he held you in his arms, "I'm not going to fall asleep all that easily", you said softly as you kissed his stubbly cheek.

.

Years down the line, Pierre gets a call from Élodie's school saying that she was not feeling well and that rhey recommended that she would go home, your husband picking her up as soon as he was able to, arriving home with her after a drive full of shivers and sneezes, "ma belle, you want some cuddles?", he asked as his daughter cuddled up to him, her head on his chest as they watched her favourite princess movie. Calling you when she fell asleep after fighting it for a little bit, Pierre explained, "Can you stop by the store and get the ingredients for some chicken soup?", he asked, "I already did that, did you read my mind?", you asked, "really? Élodie was sick in school and maybe some soup would help her", he said and he heard a small groan on your part, "what?", he mused, "Alexandre and Louis are a bit under the weather too, we left the store's car park not even 5 minutes ago and they're both out like a light", you said as you looked in your rearview mirror, the boys sleeping on their seats, "well, seems like we've got the weekend cut out for us".

You got home with the boys, laying Louis on the sofa as Alexandre joined his siblings there, Pierre pulling a blanket over them before he kissed their foreheads, coming to join you in the kitchen while you prepped the chicken soup, "so every kid is snotty again?", you asked, cutting the carrots, "yes, Élodie's classroom was all pretty much like that, full of snotty kids", he expressed his slight disgust with his face as you shook your head, tossing the ingredients in the boiling pot.

Arriving in the living room, you handed Alexandre the tissue box so he could wipe his runny nose, giving Louis his water bottle and tucking Élodie a little bit better in the blanket, "mama, my tummy doesn't feel good", Louis mumbled before he shot up, your reflexes managing to grab him in your arms and just about making it to the toilet so he could empty his stomach, Pierre watching the scene from the door as you both shared a knowing look, yes, tonight was going to be one of those nights.

You all had the chicken soup on the sofa, the bowls discarded on the coffee table as you had a big family cuddle, Louis latching to your side while Alexandre sat between you and Pierre, who had Élodie on his chest, and watched a Disney movie, "Are you feeling better?", Pierre asked, the kids all nodding, albeit not convincingly, latching closer to their parents as sneezes and coughs rolled around for the next few hours.

Going back to school a few days later, you and Pierre walked the boys inside, "that was a very snotty child", he said as one of the parents walked in too, the look on his face telling you without words that your last few days hadn't been different from his own, "just a few days ago your children were part of the snotty ones", you teased him, "yeah, but they were my snotty children".

(Thank you for submitting an ask 🤍)

[arizona2004]

Courts of Love and Hate CH5

Nyx x Juniper (Tamlins daughter)

WC: 2411

Chapter 1

Nyx

It takes me several hours before I come up with a way to make my father think of an arranged marriage as a solution to uniting our court with Spring and a whole day before I get my parents alone to bring it up.

My aunts and uncles lurk around the entire afternoon and evening following my stay in the Spring Court. It’s annoying, but it’s not like I can blow up at them and tell them to leave without making them worry, so I just wait anxiously. 

I barely get any sleep that night as they drink and joke. Tomorrow at lunch is my chance; Uncle Cas will leave for the Steppes in the morning, Mor is on her way to the continent, Amren is headed to the Summer Court, and I can only hope Az doesn’t stop by for lunch. Though, I could probably bring up the conversation without him dissuading my parents.

So in the morning, after barely sleeping and being completely unfocused while training with Dad and Uncle Az, I eat a quick breakfast and go to my room to memorize exactly what I’m going to say at lunch. 

As we sit down at the table, I barely pay attention to my food and try to look like I’m thinking. It takes a few minutes, furrowing my brow and barely eating my food, for my mother to speak up. 

“Nyx, baby, what are you thinking about?”

“Hmm?” I ask absentmindedly as Az walks in and try not to seem annoyed by it.

“You look like you’re thinking pretty hard. What’re you thinking about?”

“Oh, um, just how to make peace with the Spring Court,” I say, “but that’s difficult because we don’t trust one another. The only way we’d ever be really civil, I think, is an unbreakable bond between courts.”

“There’s no such thing, Nyx. Unless you mean marriage,” Dad says. I try to look like I hadn’t even thought of that and hope the surprise shows.

“And we would never ask you to do such a thing-” Mom says from his side.

“I would do it. Marry someone if it means peace between our families. If it means we don’t have to wonder if the Spring Court will decide to attack us or our people in the future.”

“Nyx-”

“You don’t have to ask. I’m offering. If you think this could solve the issue, then I’ll do it.” 

They look at one another for a moment, conversing in their heads before my father says, “We’ll think about it.” I can feel uncle Az looking at me but refuse to meet his eyes. It was stupid to think I could bring this up with him in the room; he’ll surely know I’m lying about something.

-

Juniper

I don’t get a new letter from Nyx for a while after he leaves, but when I do, he tells me it went well, bringing the idea up to his parents and that they’re thinking about it. I hope everything continues going well and they agree to the marriage because I’d hate to live a lie, but not for the first time, I’m considering running away if I have to.

Shortly after Nyx and I first started writing to one another, I got into an argument with my father, and he grounded me. That’s the first time the idea popped into my head. I can shift, not as much as my father or Kai, but I have some powers.

I’m certain I could change some of my facial features and the color of my hair. Maybe even the size of my breasts or waist. Or even my height. I had planned it all out. I’d change my name and enough of my features to look like a different person then I’d run away to the Night Court.

In the end I didn’t go through with it. I was a little scared Nyx wouldn’t want me to come to his court to be together, but more than anything, I knew Kai and Oak would worry. I didn’t want them wondering if I was dead or alive, and I knew I’d miss them. 

Now, though, I’m seriously considering it again. I know Nyx would want to be with me, and I even think I could tell Oak about my plan, and he would keep it secret. We could write letters back and forth to one another under my new name, and no one would be the wiser. Then, one day, he could tell Kai without making my older brother think I’d been kidnapped. 

I didn’t want to tell Nyx about my backup plan yet because it would do nothing for the relationship between our courts, so instead, I wrote to him about trying to put the thought in my fathers head and told him I really hoped it worked, but that I was working on a back up plan in case it didn’t. 

I didn’t say anything else about it and hoped, beyond reason, he wouldn’t ask unless our current idea failed. 

Nyx

Another day and a half goes by before my parents ask me to meet them in their office. Mother above, I hope Az didn’t tell them about his suspicions. I have no idea what Juniper’s back up plan is, but if it’s taking a back seat to our current idea, I probably don’t want to have to resort to it. 

Both of them look up as I walk into the room and take a seat in front of them, preparing myself for an interrogation, but I’m completely wrong, apparently.

“How many friends do you have?” my father asks.

“What?” I ask, confused and completely caught off guard.

“Friends. We know you have one penpal but do you have other friends? How many people have you met since we’ve given you less work? Have you even left the house since we gave you time off?”

“There was that time he disappeared for almost 24 hours,” my mother says. 

Shit! No one mentioned it, so I was hoping they hadn’t noticed.

“Of course we noticed, Nyx. We were worried sick.”

“And a few hours away from sending people outside the court to search for you,” Mom adds, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you guys would freak out so much. I’m nineteen; I can make my own choices.”

“We know that, Nyx, but we couldn’t get ahold of you. Do you know what that tells us?”

When I don’t say anything he continues. “Either you were ignoring us, too far away to speak to, or dead.”

Mom takes a deep breath in as he speaks the last word, and suddenly I realize just how much trouble I’m in. Everything else makes sense too. My aunts and uncles checking in on me the past couple of days, Mom asking if I want to paint with her like I used to, Dad opening my bedroom every night to make sure I’m in bed sleeping. 

“I’m sorry,” I say, honestly, “I promise I won’t go away for long periods of time without leaving a note or something.”

“Where did you go?” Mom asks.

I open my mouth to respond but realize I haven’t come up with a good lie yet. “Um, hanging out with a friend. In the Summer Court, so I was too far away to notice if you were trying to speak to me.”

“You know we’re supposed to run it by the Highpeople if you go into their court. Otherwise, they’ll have reason to think you’re sneaking around.”

“I know. Sorry,” I say again. “It was just a last-minute meet-up. It would have taken days if not weeks for Tarquin to agree.”

Mom starts drafting a letter to him as we speak, probably calling me out for my insolence and making me seem like a spoiled brat in the Highlord's eyes. “If it happens again, Nyx, we’ll have to-” she hesitates, looking up from the paper, “ground you,” she finishes sounding unsure of the decision herself. 

“You’re going to start grounding me at nineteen.”

“I don’t know, Nyx. You’ve never done anything punishable before.”

“We can’t ground him,” Dad says, “he never leaves the house anyway.”

“I think I need to take offense to that.” I frown.

He just shrugs. “To punish you, if you do something like that again, “I’ll get some information about a few party’s and force you to attend.”

“Are you serious?”

“Absolutely.” 

“Dad, you can’t-”

He cuts me off, “you wanna bet?” he smirks, so I just stay quiet and cross my arms.

“Fine,” I agree, “no more misbehaving.”

“Alright, you can go then,” dad says, returning to the work on his desk.

“What about- Have you made a decision about the arranged marriage?” I try to keep my expression neutral.

“If you’re certain, Nyx, we intend to arrange a meeting with Tamlin as long as he is willing.”

“Good,” I say. “Do it.”

-

A few weeks go by with letters to Juniper and anticipation of the day Tamlin has agreed to meet us in the Court of Nightmares. I anxiously stay up at night wondering about the decision and wishing Juniper would tell me about this backup plan she has.

When the day finally comes, I'm practically shaking from nerves. In my room, picking the most professional outfit I have, I take deep breaths and think about the arguments that may need to be made to convince the High Lord of Spring. 

“Are you ready, Nyx,” Mom asks after a knock on the door.

“Yeah,” I say before leaving the room to meet my parents and Azriel in the foyer. 

We winnow to our home above The Court of Nightmares and sit in the meeting room, placed above the rest of the house with no walls at all, it's only accessible by staircases. A pillar of dark stone stands in each corner, and curtains billow between them as we take our seats along half of the rectangular table. My father to my left, and Mom on my other side, Azriel stands behind us.

We expected Tamlin five minutes after our arrival, but eager to take control, he shows up 20 minutes late. Dad just decides to fill the time reminiscing on his childhood and how he ‘kicked Azriel’s butt’ in a game of Illyrian hide and seek, which my uncle just rolls his eyes at.

He stops, though, when the distant tap of footsteps sound a few floors below. A minute passes as they get closer, and we all look to the door as Tamlin enters with a few of his guards and one of our own-Lillian. She could probably take them all down without losing her breath, and none of them even realize it.

“Alright,” Tamlin starts, immediately taking a seat while his guards remain standing, “Are you going to tell me about your plans for a peace treaty or not? I don’t have all day.”

My father only waits a few more moments and looks at both me and my mother before explaining to the other highlord how we could make a deal uniting the courts through the marriage of me and his daughter. 

When Dad finishes speaking Tamlin looks contemplative for a second and remains silent before finally speaking.

“How is that fair,” he says gruffly. “If you get my daughter, then I want yours promised to my son.”

“We don’t have a daughter,” Father says, and I can hear the frustration and anger rising just by his tone.

“Not yet,” Tamlin agrees, “but you could, and if you don’t, then it should be the next female born by your blood.”

“That could be your own daughter's child,” Mom pipes up. “She would be marrying her uncle.”

Tamlin just shrugs. “Thicker blood has been crossed.” He’s not wrong, it wasn’t long ago that courts tried to maintain ‘strong blood’ by marrying within families. It still isn’t that outdated, honestly.

My parents share a long look, and I know they must be speaking to one another. It’s not difficult to figure out what they’re saying either. I signed up for this, whatever daughter they may have did not. If they agree, they’re doing the one thing they never wanted: keeping their child from finding love, from choosing love.

“We need to think about it before we decide,” Mom says, breaking eye contact with dad, “but if we agree, you do too? Your daughter Juniper will marry Nyx?”

“Yes,” Tamlin says simply with the wave of his hand, “that’s no problem.”

Anger rises in me at his dismissive tone. How can he care so little about setting his daughter up for an arranged marriage? I tamp the feeling down, though. I can feel my magic rising, and don’t want to lose control in front of anyone.

Mom see’s Tamlin out not long after, promising to send word if they come to a decision, and dad goes to the table at the back of the room to grab a drink. Uncle Az, with his eyes glued to Tamlin until the second he vanishes from our court, plops down in a chair beside me. He doesn't relax, though, until his shadows return to tell him, saying Tamlin is back in his own court. 

“What is everyone thinking?” Dad asks, a drink in each hand as he and Mom return to their chairs. 

“I understand if you don’t agree to his offer. I’m a willing participant, but whatever daughter you have won’t be,” I say.

“It’s not just our daughter,” Dad says, “maybe we don’t have any daughters, then it’s your daughter in an arranged marriage.”

“I think I’d do it,” I say after a moment's thought. “Maybe that’s selfish of me but-”

“It’s not selfish, Nyx,” Mom says, “you’re trying to unite our courts, that’s the opposite of selfish.”

If only they knew my true reasons. Uniting the courts is just a bonus, really. Would they still agree?

“A part of me thinks we should agree too,” Mom faces Dad as she says it.

“I’m going to get some information on both of Tamlin's sons before you make a decision,” Az says. “If they both seem decent enough to be a good husband, then you can decide what to do.”

With that, we all go our separate ways, winnowing back to Velaris and whatever waits for us there. For me, it’s nothing but a lonely house and a lifeless bedroom.

[sinofwriting]

The System Has It's Ways - Juice Ortiz

Words: 1,087 Summary: Juice left someone behind in Queens, his mom.

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Juice turned away from where the rest of his brothers were standing, voice lower as he tries not to be overheard. “No, momma, I’m doing okay. I’m getting my hours and three meals a day, promise.” “Juan Carlos,” she starts, seeing through him perfectly and he cuts her off. “Look, I’ll call you later, alright? I love you.” She sighs, “love you too.” The words are begrudging, but they make him smile. It was still surreal even after a decade to have someone who cared if he was sleeping and eating enough.

“Girlfriend we don’t know about Juicy?” Tig asks, when he turns back around, eyebrows wiggling and a twisted smile on his face. “Or some poor girl who has to answer when you call her mommy.” His grossed out face at his first sentence, changes to shock. “I don’t have a mommy kink.” For once he’s thankful that his words don’t come out in a splutter. “So you’re just calling some random girl mom?” It’s Jax that speaks, which makes him want to pout, because Tig he got. Tig loved to tease him and give him shit. He was pretty sure it got the guy going sometimes. “No.” The word is firm, probably the most firm he’s ever said anything.

He lets out a sigh, avoiding the eyes of Chibs, who seems to be laser focused on him. “After my mom died, I was in the system. I bounced around for a couple of years, before I got put in this weird home.” He smiles. “It was the home of this girl who was just a little over ten years older than me. She was the youngest foster parent I had ever seen and I pushed her to what would’ve been the breaking point for any other foster parent, but she kept me. I was fourteen. She even tried adopting me before I became legal, but the state refused. She’s the only mom I’ve ever really had.” “Shit.” Tig says, unsure of what exactly to say, and it’s clear that Jax doesn’t know either, but Chibs somehow does. “I’m glad you had her, Juice. You need someone in your corner.” Juice can’t help but look at the man that’s pretty much become a father to him, with wide eyes, the silent really clear in them and the older man nods.

In the days that follow he expects some teasing to ensue. He put himself pretty firmly in the momma’s boy camp, but nothing happens and it makes him worry. The last thing he wanted was pity from his brothers due to his rather rough upbringing. It’s Chibs that he brings it up too, stopping the man before he climbs onto his bike to go home for the day.

“No one’s given me shit about my mom.” He’s quiet, unsure how exactly to ask the older man if they were pitying him and he’s thankful that he doesn’t have to. Chib realizing what exactly this is about. His hands comes up and rests on the back of Juice’s neck, the weight reassuring. “No one’s pitying you, if that’s what you were thinking. We were worried about you before. So quiet about your past, we’re just glad you’ve got someone in your corner.” Tears are building, but he refuses to let them fall. “Thanks Chibs.”

A few months later, as his twenty-fifth birthday is only a few days away, his mom goes silent.At first he thinks nothing of it. Sometimes she gets so involved with her work that she doesn’t hear her phone, but then an hour passes. And then it’s lunch time in New York and she hasn’t sent her usual text saying good morning.

It has him on edge. Since leaving Queens and finally settling in Charming, his mom was constantly contacting him. Texts good morning and good night, little anecdotes, or things she thinks he might like. A phone call a day, which was probably excessive to some, he knew that a majority if not all the other guys in the club would think it was too much, but he needed those reminders that she was thinking of him and was still proud to be his mom.

When more hours pass and it’s lunch time for him, he forces the new prospect, Half-Sack, to call all the hospitals in Queens, having him ask if she had been admitted. Every single one turns up empty and he doesn’t know what to do. They didn’t have any charters in New York or near. He had no one he could call in New York to check on his mom, and going himself would be a death sentence.

It’s as he is trying to talk himself out of sending someone to New York, maybe Happy? He had enough money to supply the trip and he could think of a hit he could give the other man as a reason to go, when Chibs shows up.

“What’s going on with him?” The heavy accent brings Juice out of his head. “Hasn’t heard from his mom all day. He had Half-Sack call all the hospitals, no one with her name and matching her description.” Jax tells the older man. “Shite.” He curses. “What do you think?” “I don’t know. We got two different things to worry about, is this maybe because of the club or from what sent Juice running from Queens?” “You really think it could be club business?” Juice interrupts before Jax can’t reply. “It can’t be club business. Her name and mine aren’t attached in any way. Records for minors are sealed normally, but I got rid of mine shortly after I left. There’s no trail connecting us.” “And why you left?” “They’ve waited a long time then.”

Juice’s phone ringing distracts him from seeing the look that Chibs and Jax exchange.

“Hello.” “Juice,” A sigh of relief leaves him at the familiar voice. “Momma, I was worried sick. What number are you calling me from?” “I’m sorry, I lost my phone. I’m using a payphone.” “But you’re okay?” “I’m okay, just a little stuck.” “What happened?” “I didn’t realize that Charming didn’t have any places to stay. You still have a guest room, right?” “What?” She chuckles, “You didn’t think I was missing another one of your birthdays did you?” He ignores that, focusing on her previous words. “You here? In Charming?” He doesn’t even wait for her to answer. “Where exactly are you? I’ll come get you.” “I’m right behind you, baby. Right behind you.”

[theninjasanctuary]

It's a bit sad how little I've managed to post in May and June, considering I've mostly been having a good time, and it would be good to recap that so I can remember later.

Threw myself a late birthday garden party towards the end of May, when the apple trees were still in bloom, the weather was lovely, as were my friends and fam who showed up, and we had nice food and a good time. This also served as summer garden party season prep, finding all the gear, dusting it off, etc. And so it was pretty easy to set up the solstice celebration garden party yesterday - pretty low-key, but sweet, with lovely weather and lots of blooming peonies. The ones I planted last August are not blooming yet this year, just gaining strength and hopefully growing strong roots in all the good soil, perhaps I can hope for a few blossoms next summer?

Thought to myself that the current year seems to be pretty good to me, all things considered. I'm making decent amounts of money, work is going okay-ish, and I'm not super-stressed about my prospects at the moment, Mom's doing okay, keeping busy, taking care of her place and enjoying life, and can cat-sit when we travel. I'm aware all of this might not last, I'm obviously in line to be the primary caretaker should Mom's health decline, and I cannot be too certain about my career outlook. And, well, apparently my big brother's marriage is in crisis and the drama might spill over even though they live in a different country, so who knows, might not have the peaceful second half of the year I hoped for.

The work trip to NYC and New Haven went kind of well. I didn't get sick, which alone is a massive upgrade compared to the last time I went to the US. The flight experience was so-so; picking a seat yourself is now ridiculously expensive (40+ €, do fuck off with that, Finnair), so I went with randomly assigned seat each direction, and of course they were in the middle 4-seat section of the cabin. On the flight over, had the middle row 4 seats all to myself, which wasn't too bad, but on the way back, the plane was pretty full, and I'd been placed into the extra legroom row in one of the middle seats, and after boarding was completed, a random dude made a beeline for the empty middle seat next to me because of the extra legroom, so then I was sandwiched between him and a hefty lady for the entirety of the flight; I was fuming internally, but also exhausted, and somehow managed to sleep for most of the nearly 9 hours. Another grumble about Finnair, they've cut the meal service so you get one meal for the transatlantic flight, and then a round of coffee or tea with an option of buying snacks - and the selection is really unappealing. On the way over, I had packed a couple of snacks, which helped. The leg back home left 11ish in the evening, and the served a warm meal at midnight NYC time or early morning destination time, and loads of people actually refused that, probably without realizing this would be the only meal on offer, because transatlantic overnight flights always used to serve breakfast before. I woke up enough to eat, although the food was less than impressive. It's a good thing we'd had a decent dinner at a Thai restaurant before leaving for the airport.

I had a work friend on the same flights, staying at the same hotel, which was even better than I expected, since it turns out he's a bit of an alpha dog when it comes to travelling, does his homework, knows exactly where to go, etc. Usually I have to do all of that, so having someone else lead the way was an interesting change. And he's chill, and a foodie, so it was nice to have someone to go to dinner with. We didn't hang out the entire time though. I shopped a little bit and very blandly (this is highly on brand), but mostly spent time diligently visiting art museums. Spent an entire day at the Met, but I think even so I only saw about 70% of their display, and that's with just walking through a lot of the rooms. Overall, more relaxed and less anxious than previous trips to the US have made me. The last time I'd been to NYC was 10 years ago, and it was stressful, with a work friend who I've since confirmed dislikes me, so it felt good to get a do-over with far less worries.

Stayed in three hotels; the NYC one was the smallest and most expensive, but clean, neat and fine, and very conveniently located, I'd gladly go back. At New Haven, the first two nights were at a four-star hotel, and they gave me an upgrade (I'm assuming they were overbooked for standard rooms and had to bump some people up; I'm cute, well spoken and take the trouble to sign up to memberships, which presumably helps). So I had a plush corner room with two walls of windows and a giant bed all to myself, it was bigger than the first apartment the boyf and I rented together. And I ordered room service one night, too, fish tacos with finger limes, I think it was the best thing I ate all trip and my mouth waters just thinking about it. Had to move hotels for the final night to a three-star one, and that was a standard room, but also rather nice. My body was trying to sabotage the entire thing by rescheduling my period, and I actually managed to leak through a tampon & Uniqlo period panties whilst sleeping there - not much, and it was on the sheets, not mattress or duvet, so I had to do some very-early-morning, half-asleep emergency washing in the sink, but hey, an anxious overpacker like me had brought a tiny bottle of stain remover that's very effective against blood stains (it's been in my travel bathroom kit just in case for a while). So that was another example of a dreaded thing actually happening to me, and managing to deal with it and move on.

All three hotels had flattering bathroom mirrors. And then I came home and weighed myself and set a new record. OTL

And it would be nice to get the expenses paid on location refunded to me ASAP (submitting all the paperwork was a hassle, but I hope everything is acceptable).

[casspurrjoybell-27]

Our Hearts Collide - Chapter 29 - Part 1

*Warning - Adult Content*

Vince

Simon stayed at Aspen's house to chat; it took some convincing that I was not 'running away' from them, as Aspen 'kindly' joked.

While being around Aspen was a little less nerve-wracking, I was certain there were things they wanted to catch up on.

They insisted I could stay but there was one pressing issue I wanted to address.

Well, issue was an exaggeration, it was more of an opportunity to interrogate Xavier about Sam.

The more I thought about it, Simon was correct in assuming 'something' was happening between them.

Simon would've enjoyed being there for it but double-teaming the interrogation seemed excessive.

That and I hardly ever got to spend time with him alone now that I had Simon here.

The last time we talked in private was probably when our mom passed.

I pulled out my cell-phone to check my messages, ensuring he was at home instead of the office.

Xavier responded to my text with a curt 'I'm home' just across the street from Aspen and Sarah's place.

Though I knew where his spare keys were, obviously in a ridiculous place that anyone could easily find, in the hands of a silly garden gnome he had bought on impulse right under the doorbell, I knocked on his front door.

I had warned him about the key placement more times than I count but at this point, it was useless reminding him about it.

I could hear his footsteps approach the door before swinging it open.

A silly grin was plastered on his face.

"Hey, that was quick."

"I was just at Aspen's."

"By yourself?"

He made a face.

"And you're still alive?"

"Simon was with me and he's still there.."

I rolled my eyes.

"They're catching up."

"Well, come in," he said, stepping away from the door to let me in.

"The kids are with Grant and Dwaine for a couple of hours. Just needed some time to wind down after today's meeting. I might take a nap before I pick them up. Anyway, how are you?"

"Good and you?"

Xavier raised a brow.

"Me? The usual. Definitely got to get used to the kids growing up and expressing their opinions. Even Jonah is getting picky with things. He refuses to eat anything green these days. He was fine with it last week, so I have no clue. Water?"

I nodded, pulling up a seat at the counter.

A few toys and empty dishes were lying around on the counter and floor.

"And being the pack's Alpha?"

"Stressful," he said before handing me a glass.

"I don't know how you did it for almost two decades."

A grimace worked its way to my face.

Though it's wild to think I had done it for that long, we both knew that I had no clue what I was getting myself into when I was sworn in as this pack's Alpha many years ago.

"You know," I hesitated.

"If you ever need help, I've got you."

Xavier tilted his head.

"With the pack," I added.

"I know being the Alpha is hard but raising Jonah and Lilah is important too. You're doing fine but I'm here if you want a break from these pack meetings."

"I think I can manage both," he said.

"Eventually. Just need to balance my time, just an impossible task, no biggie."

I shook my head.

"While Simon and I don't mind babysitting them, It'd be nice to take a break from work now and then to spend more time with them."

Xavier had a pained expression.

"I know, it definitely feels awful having people babysit them all the time. I barely have time to sleep some nights."

"Or clean?"

I pointed at the pile of dishes behind him.

He glanced at it before sticking his tongue out at me.

"Whatever."

"Little time to date, either?" I added.

"What?"

"You heard me."

He narrowed his eyes.

"I have to set an alarm to remind myself about dinner half the time, of course, I don't have time for dating."

I raised the glass of water to my lips.

"But you have time to invite Sam over?"

He blinked, his mouth gaping like a fish before clamping them down. Flustered, he said...

"I mean for pack business, yes. He's been incredibly helpful with the Rogue Center, you know this."

"Is it really just pack business at this point?"

Xavier gripped the edge of the counter.

The whites of his eyes showed, his cheeks tinged pink.

"Why are you bringing Sam up?"

"Well, you're seeing him, right?"

"No," he said a little too quickly.

"No, I'm not."

I held in a laugh.

"What's so wrong about seeing him?"

"Nothing," he admitted.

"It's just so complicated."

"What's so complicated?"

I raised a brow.

"You both like each other, right?"

"Yes. I think so?"

I gave him a knowing look.

"You think so?"

"It's not like we don't like each other."

He held his hand up in the air.

"It would just be weird if we dated."

"How so, Xavier?" I asked but he ignored my question, mumbling...

"Then again, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing we've done together."

Xavier held a hand over his mouth as if he had accidentally spilled a secret.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Did you two..." Xavier blinked.

"No. No, no, no."

"You did go upstairs together that one night. It's okay if you..."

"Pack business, remember?" his voice rose, evidently a lie.

He gulped before holding his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, we might've cuddled for a bit but that's it. I swear. I was just feeling stressed and..."

I hummed incredulously, letting him ease his nerves for just a second.

"Big spoon or little spoon?"

His cheeks pinked.

"Obviously little. Haven't you seen how tall he is?"

"There's nothing wrong with shorter people being the big spoon. Simon's been the big spoon multiple times."

[pierce-04]

Thank you all!

I cannot write it all down, so I will just start from the turning point. Around 4 months back, I was diagnosed with an osteoclastoma (giant cell bone tumor). Well, what can I say about my unpredictable life? It was a luck-by-chance diagnosis. I mean, this was the last thing I expected when I started complaining about my knee pain. We didn't know what kind of tumor it was for a month or so. My mom had brain cancer, so you can guess how long that one month was for me. We sought many opinions; my dad searched through Google like a maniac. And then, the day arrived with the truth: I found out that my tumor is benign. That was a relief for my family and me. Now, the next challenge was the line of treatment. Well, it turned out that surgery was the only option right now.

I had the longest night the day before my surgery. Had to go through a lot of tests before the operation. I couldn't sleep and was prohibited from eating or drinking for at least 12 hours prior to the surgery. I was mentally prepared for everything. It's my dream to be a surgeon one day, so entering an operating theater was kind of a thrill for me. My doctors were quite amazing and cool. Trust me when I say if there is anyone who can completely comfort you during such times, it's your doctor. You have to trust them and let them do their magic. So, let's come back to the day I waited for. My dad was my ray of positivity that day. We somehow compiled our strength together and distributed it among ourselves equally. He had tears in his eyes; I think it was more difficult for him than it was for me. I mean, come on, watching your little girl go through something like this takes a lot of guts, but he was strong for me.

As I entered the room saying, see you soon papa. The doors behind me closed. I was fascinated more than scared to look at those huge machines and needles and lights. I kept talking to my doctors about the procedures and the instruments they were going to use. Like I said you have to trust your doctor which I definitely did so it kept me out of stress.

Let me give you a little about the procedure. When it comes to bone tumors like this, there is usually curettage and bone drafting. Curettage is the removal of the affected bone using a curette and bone grafting calls for the filling that space created after curettage with a bone graft or an implant. A graft was prepared from my pelvic floor and then placed in my femur.

I was out of the room after 4 to 5 hours and for about one hour under observation. The anesthesia worked for quite a while. I was really proud of myself to get over with this and God my dad was so happy. Well, the next challenge starts right from here.

I was instructed not to put my operated leg on the floor for about 1.5 months to prevent major fractures. As and when the effects of anesthesia ran down the meter of pain ran high. Oh, it was horrible. Had many sleepless nights and days of breaking down. I cannot write down about the pain I felt all those months. The trouble was still not over, there were still a 50% chance of a recurrence or a malignant growth.

I have always liked a maintained body, but this bed rest just changed me completely. I couldn't even look at myself in the mirror. I just hated it. I had a few follow-ups, and my reports were quite impressive. Had my stitches removed after a month of surgery.

Another challenge, every time I watched those scars, I cried. I cried because I didn't want them. I stopped getting dressed for functions, refused to click photos. I hated my body and myself. Having someone do all my work irritated me. From brushing to sitting straight, I needed help. I felt like a burden, a hopeless and helpless person. My sleepless nights got into a lot of overthinking. My career path was kept on hold. I couldn't concentrate, couldn't do anything I enjoyed doing. Just wait for my medicine hours to take them and fall asleep for hours to avoid all this.

There were times I felt that maybe this will never end, maybe I deserved all this, maybe it was all my fault. Months passed by staring at the ceiling and waiting for the day to hear it's over now. I didn't want to talk to anyone at times. I was against having a good time. I wanted to be left alone and feel this pain and think, "Why me?" There was unnecessary anger and frustration and no one to blame it on but myself.

Not only was the physical pain eating me up, but the mental disturbance ate me up equally. Watching my legs made me want to chop them off. I just wanted to feel them again and run. I wanted to wake up and think it all to be a nightmare. There was a sudden rush of pain when I would wake up from sleep; at some time, I didn't want to sleep as waking up would be painful. Talking for more than 15 minutes would make me restless. There was no routine, just getting up, eating, taking medicines, crying, and sleeping. I was off track in life.

Today I am standing on both my feet and under physiotherapy for a quick recovery. Therapy too is a headache but it's all worth it. It feels so great to write all this down with a smile on my face. I passed the most difficult exam of my life. Only blessings, prayers, and an ounce of hope got me through all this.

All this taught me a lot. I am grateful for this life and everything in it. Now I know that it's not only about achieving your goals and becoming something. It's about appreciating, it's about loving, it's about living and enjoying. It's about everything but quitting.

I love my body more than I used to. I am proud of having these scars as they are the sign of struggling, of hope, of light in the darkness. Now I know I am strong and capable enough to face anything. I don't need armors to be protected.

Thank you, doctors. Thank you, dad. Thank you, my family. And thank you all.

[novelmonger]

Tagged by @rainintheevening

Rules: Pick an oc you'd like to talk about and answer the questions for them! Then tag ten people, or as many as you can. 'Underdeveloped character I adopted' is fine, too! Absolutely no pressure to play, though.

Also, if some of it can't apply to your ocs, just answer what would be the answer - like if they're in a historical setting, they likely can't watch movies, but what is a movie they'd like?

(Also, most people have many ocs, so feel free to retag people and answer as many times as you get tagged! Or get really wild and just answer for as many ocs as you'd like! :D)

For this one, I'm going to do Korey Johnson from my Captain America WIP Take Me In.

1. What is their favorite movie?

Some Indiana Jones movie, or maybe the Bourne movies? Some action/adventure-type thing that takes you to a bunch of different countries and beautiful locations. I feel like Korey is more into TV than movies, though, and I don't watch enough TV to pick one for him. (Like, I would say The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but that's quite a bit before Korey's time ^^') How about this? Korey likes [insert TV show that is funny and relatable to a Gen Z kid in New York City].

2. What is their favorite season?

He likes summer the best. Korey dropped out of high school, and is also short and skinny for his age, so he would attract suspicious looks if he hung around the wrong places during the school year. In the summer, though, no one looks at him like they're about to ask why he isn't in school. Also, he can stay out for hours and hours and not have to stay cooped up at home.

3. What do they find annoying?

If we're being honest, his little brother Kevin. He loves his brother, and Kevin practically idolizes him, but...Kevin never shuts up. Korey is also annoyed by people who "disrespect" him - sometimes, that's actual disrespect, but his definition also extends to people telling him what to do, or refusing a request he makes (even if it's unreasonable). After the events of the story, Korey also finds his previous friends and their favorite pastimes (e.g. doing drugs and sleeping around) rather annoying too. He's trying to stay clean, and his old friends wheedling him to come and "hang out" irritates him as much as it tempts him.

4. How would they like to spend their Christmas or equivalent holiday?

Having spent the past few Christmases high as a kite and then coming home to his mom screaming at him, Korey really just wants to go back to being a kid on Christmas morning again. To look up at a beautiful Christmas tree with wonder and anticipation, and unwrap his presents (however few) and then go outside and have a snowball fight if possible. He wants to make-believe that Santa is flying overhead in his sleigh, and not have to feel guilty about how much Mom spent on presents and Christmas treats, and worry about whether that will put them behind on rent payments. Again.

5. Do they play an instrument? If so, what? How good are they at it?

No, he doesn't play an instrument. He likes to sing along to the radio and try his hand at freestyle rap, but he isn't very good at it XD

6. What's their favorite meal to eat?

Deep-dish pizza. Korey is a New Yorker through and through :P He likes just about any kind of pizza, as long as there's nothing green on it. He likes to pair it with orange soda.

7. Do they have a favorite video game or board game?

Korey's family has never been able to afford a video game console, so most of his gaming is done on his phone. Unfortunately, I don't do mobile gaming, so I'm not sure what titles he plays ^^' My guess would be various sport and racing games. I'm not sure exactly how he'd get exposure to it, unless maybe just watching playthroughs or streams, but I think he'd love the Uncharted games.

8. Do they celebrate their birthday?

Korey's mom always tries to get something special for him on his birthday, but often she has to work, and so he has to spend his birthday alone or just with Kevin. In recent years, that would usually mean he would celebrate by going out and partying with his friends. After the story, I think he would spend his birthday at home, thankful for what he has.

9. What's their bedtime routine?

Korey is a talker. He likes to lie awake in the darkness and talk with whoever is there. At home, he and Kevin would often talk in whispers late into the night, at least until Korey started drifting away from his family and ended up coming back at some ungodly hour of the night, if at all. After the story, he ends every day according to some advice he got in the program he went through to help him get off drugs - he keeps a simple journal, writing down a list of successes he had that day, whether that's "I got the job!" or just "I apologized to Mom for yelling at her yesterday." Then he writes down a handful of things he wants to improve on for the next day, and turns out the light.

Once Kevin pesters him to explain what he's writing, Kevin starts doing the same, only instead of his goals being things like "apply for a job" or "remember to wait five seconds before responding if I'm angry," Kevin's goals are more like "practice interview answers for when I'm famous" and "think of more things I could do if the Force was real" :3

10. What's an oc (or canon character) that they like to spend time around? What do they tend to do together?

Korey becomes friends with Bucky through the course of the story, and they end up spending an awful lot of time together for a while. Because they're bored and have nothing else to do, they end up playing a lot of card games. Eventually, Bucky convinces Korey to get his GED, and helps him study for it. Korey thinks the world of Bucky, not least because he's best friends with Captain Freaking America ;) Different in almost every way, they make a rather odd pair, but they have a bond of shared understanding and concern for each other. I like to think they'll stay friends for years to come, even if they don't hang out super often.

Tagging anyone with an OC who ended up being a much bigger deal in your story than you realized at first.