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sidekick-hero · 10 months ago

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Written for @steddielovemonth, prompt: Love is being terrified but not letting that stop you from taking the leap

Steve screwed up, no way around it. Fucked up big time.

In his defense, he didn't know that Eddie was in love with him. How could he have known? For all intents and purposes, they were just two horny guys hooking up. Having fun, blowing off steam.

For Steve, it had just been some harmless fucking around with the pretty guy who sells weed at the Sigma Chi parties.

At least, that's how it started.

They met at the very first Sigma Chi party he attended after his initiation. Eddie had been making the rounds, trading goods for money, and Jason, the current vice president and right hand to their president Billy Hargrove, had told Steve to try some, the freak sold good shit. It was the only reason he was allowed to enter the Sigma Chi house in the first place.

Steve, who had vowed to make a good impression and earn the respect of his brothers, did as he was told, even though he knew what his father would say about him smoking pot. But he also thinks his father would approve if it helped Steve's chances of moving up in the chapter faster. His father was president of Sigma Chi when he was in college, and Steve knows that he expects Steve to follow in his footsteps.

It's rare that Steve's father even acknowledges Steve outside of snide remarks and orders, but the day Steve told him during their weekly Sunday family dinner after church that he had successfully completed his pledge and would become a Sigma Chi brother, his father had patted him on the back and said, "Well done, son."

He's been chasing that high ever since, and he won't stop until he's president himself. Maybe then his father will look at him with the same pride and affection he's seen other fathers show their sons. He can be as good as they are, even better. He will prove himself.

None of his plans had included Eddie Munson.

It wasn't like Steve hadn't fooled around with other guys, a quick handjob in the shower after practice, or that one time Tommy had gotten down on his knees for Steve after one too many beers by Steve's pool. None of those times counted, though, because Steve might not be as straight as everyone thought he was, but that didn't mean he was going to act on his desires once he was out of school and ready to take on his responsibilities as a man.

He would graduate with a degree in business, just like his father.

He would become president of his chapter of Sigma Chi, just like his father.

And he would marry a pretty girl with a respectable family and good connections, just like his father.

All of these plans took a back seat in his mind the moment Steve saw Eddie on his knees for one of his brothers. As he watched Eddie suck and lick Patrick's cock like it was a popsicle in the middle of summer, he was frozen in place, his eyes and mouth wide open. The look on Eddie's face was what got to Steve the most, completely blissed out, his eyes closed as drool and pre-cum dripped down his chin.

No girl had ever looked like that while blowing Steve.

Tommy hadn't looked like that either.

In that moment he knew he needed Eddie to look like that for Steve.

That's how it started, really. The next time Eddie was at one of their mixers, Steve couldn't look away, his eyes fixed on Eddie's full lips curled around the haughty grin he always wore when dealing with members of the chapter. The girl he'd been making out with just seconds before only got his attention back when she started kneading him through his jeans, and he told himself that's why his dick twitched in anticipation every time he saw Eddie from now on.

He took her to his room and made her come twice before sinking into her, only able to come himself when he thought of Eddie's brown eyes blinking up at him before closing in utter bliss as Steve fed his cock into his waiting mouth.

Afterwards, he walked her to her dorm because he's still a gentleman. He told himself he wasn't disappointed when Eddie was already gone by the time they made their way through the party, which was already on the wane by then.

She told him she had fun and that maybe they could do this again, to which Steve agreed easily, already knowing that they wouldn’t. He kissed her goodnight and waited until she was safe inside before he walked back to the house, deep in his thoughts. That’s why he didn’t even notice the dark figure waiting for him on their porch.

“You’re quite the gentleman, aren’t you, Harrington? Making her scream and then walking her home? Didn’t think a proper frat boy would do either, to be honest.”

Eddie emerged from the shadows, the light streaming out from the window casting a faint glow on his high cheekbones and round nose. His dark brown eyes seemed bottomless, their depths illuminated with a reddish hue as they reflected the glimmering tip of his joint.

“I don’t see why that's any of your business, Munson. You're overstaying your welcome here. We don’t need any more party favors. Piss off.”

Eddie clicked his tongue in mock disappointment.

"I don't think so. I have a feeling that I have left a customer unsatisfied. Isn't that right, big boy?"

Without Steve noticing, too caught up in everything that was going on, Eddie had come close enough for Steve to feel the warmth of his body against the crisp fall air.

Swallowing audibly, Steve willed his body to take a step back, only to have Eddie follow him until he felt the railing dig into his backside.

"I have no idea..." he stammered, his heart pounding in his chest and blood rushing through his body. To his abject horror, he felt his cock hardening in his jeans.

As if sensing this, Eddie moved even closer so that he could slip his leg between Steve's, his thigh pressed firmly against the bulge at the front of Steve's pants.

"Oh, but I think you do, Stevie. That," and he rubbed his thigh along the straining length of Steve's cock in a delicious drag that had him moaning before he could stop himself, "tells me you know what I'm talking about."

Eddie then started to move his leg, pushing up and basically forcing Steve to ride his thigh. At least that's what Steve told himself, he had no choice but to buck his hips and rub against the offered leg like he was in heat.

"I saw you. When you watched me blow Pat." Steve wants to be horrified, but his cock twitches again at the memory, even as he mentally scoffs at Eddie calling the guy 'Pat' like they're pals. "And I noticed the way you were watching me tonight. You're a naughty boy, aren't you? Did you think about me on my knees for you while you were fucking her, huh?"

Like an out of body experience, Steve had felt his hips pick up speed, those dirty, humiliating words spoken in Eddie's deep, slightly patronizing voice pushing buttons he didn't even know he had. He was close, just rubbing one out on a guy's leg on the front porch of their chapter house, where one of his brothers could walk in on them at any moment.

In that moment, he hated Eddie.

He also wanted to kiss him, so he grabbed the front of Eddie's shirt and pulled him in, biting his lips until they opened for his tongue. It was the safest way to muffle his moans when he came in his pants a few minutes later.

After that it became a habit and three months later fucking Eddie was as much a part of his life as going to church with his parents on Sunday.

And that was fine, he had become well versed in the art of compartmentalizing. A word he had learned from Robin, who sat next to him in his elective psych class and had become something of a friend. Not close enough to confide in yet, but someone with whom he could be a version of himself that he liked a lot more than Sigma Chi brother Steve.

But then Eddie had to go and change the script of their hookups.

It usually went like this: Steve would text Eddie, usually a simple "wanna fuck?" to which Eddie would almost always reply "sure" within five minutes. He'd come over to Eddie's because he couldn't risk one of his brothers finding out, so his room was off-limits, and Eddie would be waiting for him with lube and condoms ready next to the bed. At least Steve liked to think they were there for him.

He hadn't seen Eddie with any other guys since they started to hook up. Not that that would have been a problem, but it was just safer, Steve thought, that's why he liked that thought so much.

They would fuck, Steve would ask if he could take a shower, to which Eddie would always say yes, and then join him under the hot spray for another round. Then Steve would leave until the next time.

Only one day, Eddie had begun to change their routine. He had offered Steve something to eat afterward, claiming he had some pizza left over and asking if Steve was hungry. Which he was, they had been at it for two hours, and he didn't have much to eat for lunch anyway. So they sat on Eddie's bed, still naked, and ate pizza.

It became a habit.

It led to Steve staying longer and longer at Eddie's. Sharing a meal became eating while watching a movie on Eddie's laptop. And then, a few weeks later, after a particularly grueling week, Steve fell asleep while watching Friday the 13th. He woke up tucked into Eddie's side on the bed, a blanket thrown over them, and Eddie snoring softly next to him.

Steve watched him sleep for a long time before he silently slipped out of bed and into the night.

Another thing that had changed in the months they'd been together was the way they fucked. They had quickly worked their way up from hand jobs and blow jobs, and the first time Steve had sunk into Eddie's tight heat, Eddie on his hands and knees urging him on, he knew he would crave that particular feeling for the rest of his straight married life.

They never fucked face-to-face.

Until they did.

It had been Eddie who had pinned Steve down on the bed, back against the headboard, staring up at Eddie as the man coated Steve's hard cock with lube. He had thrown his legs over Steve's and sat on his lap, slowly sinking down onto Steve. It had been maddening. It had been so good that Steve had seen stars, so overwhelmed with pleasure that he had bitten Eddie's shoulder to keep himself from crying out.

Soon, face-to-face had become their new routine.

It was the beginning of the end.

The last time Steve had had Eddie like this, Steve had been on his back with Eddie between his legs, thrusting so deep into him that Steve thought he could feel him in his throat. The weight of Eddie on top of him didn't feel suffocating, it felt grounding. Safe.

Eddie had begun to feel grounding and safe, and Steve didn't know what to do with it, so he just wrapped his legs around Eddie's narrow waist to spur him on.

The way Eddie held him felt different, almost tender, even as he started to fuck him harder, finally fucking him like he meant it. Their chests were pressed together and Eddie's hand gripped Steve's shoulders for leverage while Steve clawed at Eddie's back as he flew higher and higher. One of his hands slid down Eddie's back and grabbed his ass to pull him further in, as if there was any way Eddie could go any deeper.

They both came within seconds of each other, their bodies shaking from the pleasure that was still coursing through them, and Steve never felt better.

At least until Eddie lifted his head and looked down at him and said with wonder in his voice, "God, I love you.”

It was as if he blacked out, someone else taking over his body as he pushed Eddie off of him, scrambling to get up and get dressed as he yelled, "No, no, no, no!"

"Steve?" Eddie had asked, his larger-than-life persona reduced to something small and breakable. "I know we haven't talked about it, but I thought... you can't tell me there's nothing between us but two guys fucking. Not anymore."

And he was right, that was the problem.

Everything Steve had worked so hard for and he almost threw it all away by falling for someone his friends or parents would never approve of. He just couldn't do it, it was too much to ask of him. Even for Eddie.

"There's nothing between us but two guys fucking. I'm sorry you caught feelings, Munson, but that's not my problem."

"'Sorry you caught feelings'? Are you kidding me?"

"I don't know what you want me to say. Maybe stay away from the house for a while and sell your shit somewhere else, yeah? Don't make it harder on yourself."

Steve walked out before he could see Eddie's reaction to his words, but he did as Steve asked and stayed away.

He should be happy, after all, he had dodged a bullet. Patrick might like to get his rocks off with another guy once in a while, but Patrick was no president material. Patrick was no Harrington.

So why was Steve holed up in his room while his brothers downstairs were celebrating the end of the semester like there was no tomorrow?

Because Steve screwed up, no way around it. Fucked up big time.

He fell in love with Eddie Munson.

Steve could have Eddie with him, in this bed, right now, if he hadn't pushed him away out of fear. And now, five weeks later, Eddie was going out with a guy Steve hadn't seen before. He'd seen them kissing outside the cafeteria, in broad daylight, with people milling around. No one had given a shit about it. No one but Steve, who had felt the pain of his heart squeezing in his chest. Squeezing his nose to hold back the tears, he rushed to the nearest bathroom and pressed his burning face against the cool tiles.

What was he supposed to do now?

Steve knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to leave that house that had felt more like a jail to him and go over to Eddie’s, climb into his bed, and let himself be held. There, in the safety of Eddie’s arms and the cover of the night, he could have told Eddie that he might love him, too. Steve could have admitted that he was scared, terrified even, and Eddie… Eddie would probably have teased him. He could almost have heard his voice, asking Steve, “And you were letting that stop you?” like the thought was laughable.

Maybe it was. Maybe it should have been.

Steve didn’t know. He hated that he didn’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t let it stop him.

Maybe some things were worth taking a leap and trusting that someone would catch you.

Before he could have let his fear stop him, he pushed himself off his bed and put on his shoes.

Maybe it was time to try to be the man he wanted to be, not the man his father wanted him to be. And that man was in love with Eddie Munson and willing to take a leap for him.

He just hoped Eddie would catch him on the other side.

#steddie #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie fanfiction #frat boy steve #steddielovemonth #nsft #my writing #open ending #but hopeful #like come on you know me #we all know what happens next #day 3

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overtaken-stream · 10 months ago

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This is just a random idea, not very likely to happen but with all the King having a little daughter asks I got "ideas". Honestly imagine reader finding out she's pregnant and no matter how much she loves king, in the end if he were to find out she's pregnant with him that means the chances of her exploring the world are 0%, since it's most likely King will keep them somewhere near him in Wano.

After finding out about pregnancy, let's say the reader used her "position" aka people seeing her often with King and realizing what they were to get aboard the ship. I don't think the chances are high because I do believe that someone would inform King about your whereabouts and he would fly to get you lol

With the slim chance you made it out of the Wano somehow, years have passed and you have given birth to a daughter who looks exactly like her dad, including his lunarian traits, the reader has no choice but to shield her daughter from the world and cover he true identity.

I believe that eventually this would bring attention to Big Mom pirates, who ended up taking you alongside your daughter. Big Mom bears no interest in reader, only her half lunarian daughter but the little girl protests so much when they threaten to separate her from her that Big Mom ends up marrying you off to one of her children just to keep the little girl quiet. Big Mom does plan on ending you once the daughter is independent.

Now, news travel fast around and once King is informed about Big Mom missing only 2 races instead of 3, he really isn't aware its his child.

Somehow I believe that Big Mom still asked King to join her crew but added the part about how "A father shouldn't leave his daughter alone." I won't elaborate much on his reaction, I love angst and the idea that King gained something finally and it got taken away from him breaks me. + The little girl holding onto Katakuri's pants (just an example for our "husband") and she calls Katakuri papa and is confused what does a man looking like her want from her (King)

Can't have him being happy, all the favourite characters have to suffer <3

Omg, the angst and drama.

The chances of the reader escaping Kaido's hold are very very slim, but let me add an alternate ending to this.

Imagine that The Beast Pirates, mainly King, placed an underground bounty on her (unaware of the pregnancy). The very act of escaping brought numerous obstacles and bounty hunters that were nearly impossible to evade. Surviving under these circumstances must have been incredibly challenging for any pregnant woman, but the reader's experience was the sole reason she managed to stay alive for 10 months. When the reader deemed an island safe, she gave birth on some island in the New World. This situation strongly reminds me of Rouge D. Portgas – a mother doing whatever it takes to protect her child.

That was until one of Big Mom's Officers showed up (probably one who was after Reader's bounty), In her weakened state, she fell prisoner to them. After discovering the newborn, the circumstances became complicated once the officer informed their mother. Big Mom uncovered the baby, who, mind you, would cry hysterically every time somebody who wasn't reader touched her. She deemed the child important, but not Reader. However, Big Mom was forced to comply and let her stay for the baby's sake. To be honest, she would NEVER waste her son Katakuri's talents and race on a normal human. Her main goal is to get the daughter on her side as soon as possible, be it through manipulation, threats to the reader's safety, brainwashing, or using just her biological mother as a weak point."

In any case, she would end up with Reader's daughter completely under her control and Reader getting handed over to the Beast Pirates (If they manage to survive the Straw Hats ofc + Big Mom probably fed lies to the daughter to convince her to let the Reader go) with King having no knowledge of his family, Reader will end up telling him at some point for her daughter's safety and the rest is history.

#one piece #anime #king one piece #king the wildfire #one piece x reader #king the conflagration #king the wildfire x reader #.my headcanon.#.my writing.#one piece spoilers

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catierambles · 10 months ago

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Blood Moon Ch.2

Pairing: Syverson x Annalisa Caulfield (OFC)

Warnings: uhh business speak? mentions of covid? idfk

She was gone when he woke the next morning, a folded up piece of paper on the nightstand with her number scrawled inside. Smiling, he grabbed his phone, punching in the number and holding the phone to his ear. It rang for a bit before picking up.

“Annalisa.”

“Hey.”

“Good morning.” Her voice had gone from professional to soft and it made his smile widen.

“When'd you leave?”

“Shortly after dawn.” She said, “Didn't want to wake you. How'd you sleep?”

“Better than I have in a while.” Sy admitted, “They get that thing figured out?”

“Yeah.” She said, “Some overly entitled trust fund baby was pulling the whole “do you know who my father is?” and trying to get special treatment at Pendulum.”

“Ah.”

“He also brought drugs into my club, which we do not allow for obvious reasons.” She said, “He just needed to be reminded that he's a very small fish in a very big pond.”

“You ain't in the mob, are you? The kid ain't wearing concrete boots in the river, is he?” He asked and she gave a soft laugh.

“No, Sy, I'm not in the mob.” She said, “He was delivered to the police along with all the drugs he had on his person. I doubt he'll face any real consequences, but now he knows where we stand.”

“Any plans for today?”

“Working with distributors for the clubs, mainly.” She said with a sigh, “Reasonably certain we're getting gouged by one of them, so I need to go over the most recent invoices, compare them against prior. You?”

“I haven't been able to get a job since leavin' the service. No one wants to hire a vet, apparently, so I just hang out all day.”

“Do you want to come over? I can send you my address.” She suggested, “I'm not going to be the most entertaining person in the world while I do this, but it's something.”

“Yeah, send me your address.” He said and his phone buzzed against his head a moment later. “Switchin' gears. Last night was...really nice.”

“Yeah, it was.” She said and he could hear the smile in her voice. “Not what I thought would happen when I came to your rescue, but I'm not complaining.” The tone came through that he was getting another call and he pulled his phone away, looking at the screen and seeing his brothers number.

“Hey.” He said, putting it back to his ear, “My brother is callin' me. I'll call you back when I'm on my way over?”

“Okay.” She said and they said their goodbyes quickly, Sy accepting the other call before it went to voicemail.

“What's up, Pete?” He asked.

“You wanna tell me why your ex is blowin' up my phone about some chick named Annalisa?” Pete asked and Sy gave a growling sigh, running a hand over his face.

“Jesus fuckin' Christ.” He said, “Okay, here's the deal.” He told him everything that happened last night at the bar, from Tiffany approaching him to Annalisa coming to his rescue. He didn't tell him that he took her back to his place, because he really didn't need to know that.

“Ain't it usually reversed?” Pete asked.

“Apparently I make an appealin' Damsel in Distress.” Sy said and Pete snorted, “Anyway, that's what happened and Tiffany is havin' an aneurysm at the thought that I moved on.”

“I told you she was wacked.” Pete said.

“I know, I know.” Sy said, “Shove it with the “I Told You So”s.”

“Have you, though?" Pete asked, "Moved on? Because, fuck, Kyle. I saw what Tiffany did to you and what she put you through. We all did."

"Yeah." Sy said, "And yeah, I think I have. I dunno, Petey, there's somethin' about her. Annalisa, I mean. She's just...fuck."

"Yeah." Pete said with a chuckle, "That's how I felt when I met Beth. Like I got sucker punched and I was down for the count. Can't wait to meet the lady who laid you out." Out of all his brothers, only one wasn't married with a pack of kids. Military life had made that difficult for him, and his youngest brother was too busy being a shithead to settle down. They talked for a bit more before saying their goodbyes and Sy laid in bed a bit longer, staring up at the ceiling. His phone rang and he looked at the screen, but declined the call when he saw who it was. He may not have her number saved in his contacts anymore, but he still knew it.

Getting up, he walked naked into the bathroom to shower, closing the bathroom door as his phone started to ring again.

Leaning forward, he looked out the windshield at the gothic manor that rose up in front of him, double checking the GPS on his phone. Yeah, this was the place. Parking in the circular parking lot, there only one other car there, a dark SUV. Getting out, he looked down the hill, the town stretched out below. Hell of a view, that's for certain.

Heading up to the front door made of heavy wood, he gave a solid knock. It opened a moment later and he felt the smile stretch over his face that was reflected on hers.

“Hi!” She mouthed and pointed at the ear piece she had in one ear. “Yeah, I know the market's been shit, Jack. Doesn't mean you have to be.” Sy snorted, following her into the house and closing the door behind him. It was richly furnished in carved dark wood and furniture that looked older than his grandma, but was still in immaculate condition.

At her beckon, he followed her up the stairs and into an office, one side taken up by a large heavy desk with two monitors on top, the tower probably hidden below. A plush couch sat against one wall and he sank down onto it as she went over to the desk.

“COVID hit all of the entertainment and hospitality sectors hard, you're not a special case. Fact of the matter is—fact of the matter is and don't interrupt me, I compared invoices from just after restrictions were lifted, not before lockdown, to the most recent you sent us and it's gone up dramatically. Did you think we wouldn't notice?” Kicking off his boots, he swung his legs up on the couch, sinking down into the comfortable cushions further.

His phone went off in his pocket and he dug it out, declining the call and blocking the number. Maybe that would force the hint into her brain.

“You're out, Jack. We're dropping you as a distributor effective immediately. Oh yes, I know we have a legally binding contract good for another five years, but you violated that contract. Would you like to whip it out and read the fine print? Let me save you the hassle, I have it memorized. Clause number one: the quality of the product delivered will stay on par with the quality given upon initial agreement. Clause number two: the price of the goods delivered—what did I say about interrupting me—the price of the goods delivered will stay on par with market average within a margin of five percent. Jack, you've been charging us fifteen percent above market average for watered down swill in a fancy bottle, and don't you dare try to frame it as you were doing us a service because it means the patrons would have to buy more. We have a reputation of quality and integrity to maintain, and you have damaged that reputation.” She paused, a look of annoyance crossing over her features. “You are aware that your company is public, yes? That means I have access to your shareholder meeting notes. Record sales and a sixty percent increase in revenue compared to last quarter? Is that ringing a bell? You're sourcing shit product and charging your clients more for it so you can buy another villa in the Bahamas. You're done. Even if you violated one of those clauses, you would be done, but you broke both. Oh, don't worry about me, Jack. I already have another distributor lined up. Better quality and ten percent below market average. It's a better deal all around. No I'm not going to tell you who, are you joking? But you should worry about yourself, because I will be letting my network know not to do business with you and why. It's nothing personal, Jackie, it's just business. You will be paid in full for the latest shipment, but we will no longer be placing orders with you and any gratis shipments will be returned unopened. Toodles!” Touching the earpiece, she ended the call and sat down heavily in the executive chair behind the desk. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Sy said, standing from the couch and heading over to the desk. “It was kinda hot watchin' you rip that guy a new one.”

“Yeah?” She asked with a snort, looking up at him as he turned the chair to face him, leaning over with his hands on the arms. “I'm glad you came over.”

“So am I.” He said, “Annalisa—”

“Annie, if you want.”

“Annie.” He said softly, “What happened last night don't feel like a one and done thing.”

“I wouldn't have offered that you come over if I thought it was.”

“I get that feelin'.” He said, “I wanna spend more time with you, while you're workin' or whatever, I don't mind. Call me clingy, but I wanna be around you.”

“Again, I wouldn't have invited you over if I didn't want to be around you.” She said and he gave a soft smile, reaching up to hold the side of her jaw before leaning down, pressing his lips to hers. Her eyes closed as she held his wrist gently, leaning into his kiss. She suddenly pulled away, touching the piece in her ear. “Annalisa. Yeah, Eugene, I just got off the phone with him.” Sy pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead before pulling away, heading back to the couch. “Of course he was pissed, but it's not our fault he didn't read the fine print before signing.”

#henry cavill #captain syverson #blood moon

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sunnyie-eve · 4 months ago

Text

16 | Explaining

Series: Unexpected

Paring: (Matt Sturniolo x OFC Brock!) (Chris Sturniolo x OFC Brock!)

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings: none

| MASTERLIST |

"Good Morning Campers, welcome back to Cut The Cameras Podcast. It's your favorite host Nick Sturniolo." Nick starts off.

"Matt's here, hello everyone."

"Hey Matt, you look good in your retro sweater today." Chris speaks up.

"Retro?" Dani looks at Matt's sweater. She didn't consider it retro.

"Thank you." Matt takes the compliment.

"Yeah, that's very vintage. I think it looks it." Chris says.

"Okay." Matt nods his head not caring all that much.

"Where did you get it? New? Brand new?" Nick asks him, "Did you buy it brand new?" Nick asks more so Matt shh's him.

"He got that vintage I know he did." Chris smiles.

"Brand new." Nick says again.

"Why are y'all so obsessed with a sweater?" Dani asks so confused and lost.

"Matt did you buy it or someone else?" Chris asks him, "Why is it a secret?"

"We're just curious." Nick adds.

"I did," Matt answers.

"Did you pick it because you liked it or was it because someone else might like it?" Chris asks bugging Matt and even Dani.

"Dani liked it." Matt says in a mono tone.

"I said he would look good in it because he likes blue and it would make his eyes pop more. Plus he wanted a sweater." Dani speaks up explaining.

"I'll tell you one thing. I wasn't the first person to wear it." Matt tells the guys then looks at Dani,

"Was I really?" She asks surprised since she thought he had already wore it by the time she wore it.

"Yeah because you were cold." He tells her.

"You had the AC set so low." She pleads her case to him.

"Yeah, but I had so many things and you picked this to wear." He tells her making her jaw drop.

"I didn't pick it! You handed it to me and said you can put this on." She sits up to correct him.

"What? I did not."

"You are such a liar." She laughs at him.

"I'm not listening."

"So much bickering." Chris shakes his head at the two.

"Yep." Nick agrees, "Such an old married couple."

"Whatever, what's our next topic?" Dani asks them, "Also yes, hello, Dani's here." She smiles/

"And Chris too." He adds.

"Here we go... Dani, people want to know why must you make yourself part of our group?" Nick reads off of his phone.

"Not this shit again." Chris huffs, "We already went over this!"

"For on, I'm not trying to be part of the group." Dani starts off, "You guys ask if I want to be apart of things. Like originally, I wasn't going to be on the podcast today. But the three of you asked me to so that's why I'm here."

"I've read that some people try their best to make you stop showing up in things." Chris looks for it on his phone. "I feel like they forget you're used to some hate by being in Sam and Colby videos."

"Especially when they started getting big." Dani states remembering back.

"Like they hated that you were Colby's sister." Chris adds, "It's not like you had a choice in that."

"It's because they didn't believe I was his sister. They thought it was a lie and I was just some girl who liked him and he had a small thing for me."

"That's so weird and uncomfortable for the two of you." Nick makes a face feeling bad.

"Oh, it was super weird. Seeing edits of people shipping you with your brother." Dani shakes her head, "I also grew up with unnecessary hate so you can't scare me off." She adds for the viewers.

"Give it up." Matt speaks up making Nick laugh.

"Like I said last time, she's staying." Chris tells the viewers.

"Oh, I've also been called jobless since I don't have my own place yet." Dani adds laughing.

"You're part of a modeling company..." Matt looks at her.

"It's a very unique company that's very diverse." Nick adds.

"The shortest model is 4'7 and the tallest is 6'10. We have from a size zero to 7X and up. They also let us come up with designs for the clothing brand. I mean, you have to work your way up to get you own line in the brand, which I'm almost there." Dani explains smiling proud of herself.

"You also have that little thing on the side that's in the works." Nick adds.

"That too. It's still a secret." She agrees, "Oh, off topic slightly! And I'm sorry if it makes you guys uncomfortable, but I'm gonna make this clear for some people out there. You know who you are... My boobs are not fake! People think I paid for them. No, I'm just a 4'11 girl with DDs and a descent nice ass, which also isn't fake." Dani looks straight into the cameras, "I'm sorry but I gotta make that clear."

"Trust her!" Nick gets loud with wide eyes, "They're real."

"Nick..." Matt looks at him.

"We were playing around and if they were fake... They would've popped." Nick laughs while Matt and Chris just look at him.

"His elbow landed so hard on my boob I cried it hurt so bad." Dani gives more context to what happened.

"Is that when she didn't talk to you for a whole day?" Chris thinks back.

"Yes,"

"He kept apologizing for the whole day." Matt remembers.

"She was so upset." Nick chuckles feeling bad.

"Let my elbow land hard on you nuts. Then you would understand and ignore me too."

After the podcast while Dani was in her Chris pokes his head into her room, "You busy?" He asks her.

"Nope, just listing to music while I type. What up?" She turns to face him as he comes into her room.

"Nothing just bored." He takes a seat on her bed.

"So you came to bug me?" She laughs at him.

"Well, Nick is editing and Matt is playing Fortnite so..." He messes with his hands, "Do you wanna go out?" He asks, "I mean like to the mall and stuff?" He adds quickly.

"I knew what you meant Chris." She can't help but laugh at him as he looked embarrassed, "But yeah I wanna go."

"Great, I'm gonna go get my stuff." He rushes out to go to his room while she gets ready to go.

When she was gone she walks to Matt's room since he was the closest, "Hey," She pokes her head in so he looks over at her, "Chris and I are heading out. We'll be back later."

"Okay, have fun." He gives her a thumbs up, "Wait, where are you guys going?" He asks before she closes the door.

"He wants to go to the mall so I'm taking him." She leaves as Chris comes up his stairs ready to go.

"That's a cute shirt. New?" Chris asks as they get in her car.

"Thanks and yes. Matt bought it for me. Like how I said said the sweater would look on him he did the same with this shirt for me." She explains starting the car so Chris just nods his head.

"He knew exactly what he was doing picking that shirt..." Chris thinks to himself glancing over at her. It was a cherry print buckle lace up cami top that hugged her curves perfectly as she matched it with a jean skirt.

#sam golbach #colby brock #sam and colby #sturniolo triplets #matt sturniolo #chris sturniolo #nick sturniolo #oc #sibilings #matt sturniolo imagine #chris sturniolo imagine #ff #fanifiction #fanfic #sturniolo fanfic #best friends #friends to lovers #chris sturniolo fanfic #matt sturniolo fanfic

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lunarhobbits · 11 months ago

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misc sweeney hcs

(disclaimer. i am new-ish here and have no idea how popular/prevalent any of these are go easy on me ok. also a lot of these are dadben related wh o o p s)

i've seen some variance of if this is canon in fics and stuff but i really do like the idea of the barkers also living above the pie shop in addition to the barbershop being there. similar situation w the pie shop/lovett living quarters. ig it's just easier to picture in my head then????

(p sure the b*rton film confirms smth like this but i'm ignoring it bc i don't like that guy. this idea is mine now)

part of the reason i like this so much is it means that benjamin barker had all the more time to have lovely moments with lucy and johanna when he wasn't busy with clients

(this also makes sweeney returning there without them all the more painful. if he sits and doesn't do anything then he's flooded by memories of the life he had in those same walls fifteen years ago. like no wonder sweeney's so bent out of shape by being forced to wait for the judge and the beadle to come to him)

johanna had only JUST started walking when ben was transported. he was so excited and happy and loved to try and assist her, encouraging her to take steps holding his hands. chattering away about her with any customer that would listen, perhaps even showing her off ("look at my jo! she's such a fine girl!" "i'm sure she is, mr. barker, but could you please finish shaving me?")

he bought johanna a little lacy bonnet when she was a week old. she didn't need something so fancy at such a young age, and lucy had already sewn her a few bonnets months prior. it wasn't the most sound financial decision he ever made. but oh, his girl just had to have it, and it's a little big, she could grow into it! (lucy admits she looks very cute with it on, even though she says johanna doesn't need it)

(the bonnet is left forgotten in a drawer somewhere for years, until sweeney opens that particular drawer and finds it gathering dust upon his return. he feels sick seeing it, reminding him again how much he missed. then he puts it back and refuses to give it any mind.)

nellie lovett was infuriated by lucy barker in that way that you can't quite pinpoint why you're mad other than they're "too perfect" or "too pretty" or something. ofc there was the fact she was married to ben, but i think there was a little "get out of my school" energy going on there too

idk exactly how lucy ended up on the street (or in bedlam, as lovett says in the finale) but i do think that nellie was, sadly, at least complicit in inaction to stop this from happening (if not having thrown her out herself)

anthony is the sweetest dude around and genuinely loves johanna. doesn't matter that he barely knows her when he says he'd marry her, he knows that he's going to be happy as long as she is

johanna loves him too, and she's surprised by it. not because of anything to do with anthony, but because she's felt so little real love in her life (that she can remember). it's a wonderful and frightening rush looking at him, sometimes, but then he squeezes her hand, or does something silly, or even just sneezes or clears his throat and she's brought back down to reality, in a good way. that anthony is real, and human like her. she doesn't have to "earn" his love by being utterly perfect.

they get out of london basically as soon as they can, just wanting to leave it all behind, at least for a while

it took a little time and arguing but anthony did end up getting a good sum of money from the judge's death, through johanna's inheritance going to her husband (him). they immediately used this money to finance travel. they both love to travel, anthony promising to show her the beauty of the world that, still, cannot rival her in his eyes

this is all i got that's coherent rn really lol. anyway here you go sweeney todd fans who liked/reblogged my post haha @demonbarberofbeepbeep @captains-clever-goose @little-lovett @fabulousairpirate @funnygirlthatbelle

#sweeney todd #benjamin barker #johanna barker #anthony hope #lucy barker #sweeney todd the demon barber of fleet street #headcanon

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clockworkbee · 2 years ago

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you're losing me was going through jude's head when cardan exiled her btw

More like, for both of them? I mean, for Jude obviously, in the time between TWK and QoN but both of them throughout QoN as well...?

We thought a cure would come through in time, now, I fear it won't

like that line speaks for itself??? She spent (who knows how much) time thinking for a way around Cardan's words and even when she did, she was just so mad at herself for falling for his trick that she thought it wasn't enough, fearing it wasn't going to solve anything.

Now, I just sit in the dark and wonder if it's time Do I throw out everything we built or keep it?

all of this fits how Jude felt during the time between twk and qon but oh, that last line? Imagine Cardan thinking the stuff he wrote in his letters, thinking she doesn't want to come back anymore because after all he told her about himself, she might have 'placed' her ambition in the mortal world, wondering if he should throw out everything they built or keep it after she's dealt the final blow ? (Because he doesn't know she's not getting the letters, only thinks she chose not to respond!) </3

I'm getting tired even for a phoenix Always risin' from the ashes Mendin' all her gashes You might just have dealt the final blow

not only that, later in qon when Cardan says you never break and Jude feels like she's barely keeping it together?

I sent you signals and bit my nails down to the quick

That's Cardan at the end of twk and later when writing those letters, btw 😭💔 he was so sure she'd get it and be impressed and then he was just panicking, writing her all those letters, not knowing she wasn't receiving them, only that she was choosing not to respond or return.

And the air is thick with loss and indecision I know my pain is such an imposition

I mean, Jude's pov after the ending of twk, sure, but also Cardan's pov when she was captured by the Undersea? Cardan's pov again, when she wouldn't respond or come back? Cardan's pov again when she's taken by Madoc? And then Jude's pov again when Cardan leaves her after confessing his love, then turns into a giant serpent leaving her to act as the Queen and with all the authority and power she'd been wanting for so long??? (I'm not crying!)

Now, you're runnin' down the hallway And you know what they all say "You don't know what you got until it's gone"

Come on, it's both of them! Both of them knowing what it feels like having lost one another?

And all I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier

alright, that's both of them again, and quite literally, it hurts. Jude bled and bled and bled, and Cardan turned into a serpent + got his head cut off, just for the sake of being done with that prophecy and his and Jude's home!

Fighting in only your army, frontlines, don't you ignore me

It really hits when you think that Jude fought half the time thinking of it as her home and in QoN, not only Cardan's kingdom, but also hers, and Cardan was there addressing her as his Queen but just being a simple faerie boy for her, her Cardan!!! But ofc. it's Jude coz being at the frontline, being the one to free him of the curse and all that?? ❤️💔

And I wouldn't marry me either A pathological people pleaser Who only wanted you to see her

Is that just Jude or Cardan as well? They both wanted to be seen and they both saw eachother and understood eachother best.

And I'm fadin', thinkin' "Do something, babe, say something" (Say something)

Jude at the end of twk and Cardan afterwards...

"Lose something, babe, risk something" (You're losin' me) "Choose something, babe, I got nothing" (I got nothing) "To believe, unless you're choosin' me"

that's literally Jude before cutting off the serpent's head because she'd rather lose him than keep him bound, she'd rather risk it all, she'd rather choose him to be free, she'd rather have nothing at all, if only she gets him back, if only he chooses her (which he did)!!! *Screaming!*

That was pretty long but omg, thanks for that ask. The moment I heard the song, I was all about them in my head and if not for you, I never would have put it into a post 🥺

#jurdan #you're losing me #tfota #the wicked king #queen of nothing #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #twk #qon #the folk of the air #holly black #taylor swift #midnights #tfota asks #bee's answered #midnights as jude and cardan’s version #tfota + lyrics

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yaraaflor · 8 months ago

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is there a reason you like dickhelena? what's your ideal idea of a relationship between them - a shorter thing or do you see them working out

omg tell me how this ask has been in my inbox a whole ass month and i never saw it... my bad anon i wasn't ignoring you lol i just never get asks ig. anyways! answer got long so it's under the cut.

dickhelena my beloved... well first of all i do NOT see them ever working out as a like. super long-term married couple type thing. i think their relationship could be functionally good in a lot of ways but they will always have a fundamentally different view of killing and the ethics of it. and i don't think dick would ever be able to fully get past that. like... how do i put this... i think he would be able to get over it TO A POINT out of love, but it would always be a source of tension between them, and at some point the issue would be forced, either by helena killing someone or them disagreeing about somebody else killing someone. i don't think dick's no-killing morality is quite as strong as bruce's, but it's not nothing to him. and i also think he would take issue with the why of it all - like helena killing people bc she believes they cannot be reformed, as opposed to like. idk kory who comes from a different culture and has had to kill her own oppressors.

and also i think bruce would be a permanent issue for them. like helena has a super complex relationship with bruce (and ofc dick does too but he's always going to be loyal to bruce, as his father figure), and bruce sure as hell would not approve of their relationship. which, dick wouldn't let bruce just trample all over his love life, but. at a certain point, having your SO and your family at odds with each other can become exhausting.

BUT just because i don't think they would last forever doesn't mean i don't think the relationship would be meaningful. i think they could have a lot of fun together, if they let themselves, and i think they could make each other happy for a time.

i think a key part of dickhelena is, even when they disagree, they're not incapable of understanding each other. they're both children of gotham who have lost a lot to violence and are trying to help others avoid that. and unlike a lot of the other bats, they both try to maintain an ordinary life and job alongside their vigilante work. they both have soft hearts and hard heads. the way they show it is pretty different, but it's there.

and i mean part of the draw of the relationship to me is the complexity of it. of being at odds about one or two major issues, but compatible in so many other ways. of having a kind of love-hate, flirting-fighting dynamic, and a bit of a messy history. but despite that, seeing the good in each other, and still seeing it even when things are over.

there's something to be said, imo, for relationships that don't work out, but don't end with bad blood either. like it's those relationships that often help people learn and grow, and i think they get overlooked in fandom a lot. for understandable reasons! we all have an otp we want to be in love forever. but for dick and helena, i think of them more as like a 'we didn't work out but it's not because the love wasn't there' type thing. love isn't always enough to make things last and that's important to realize.

....looking back i feel like to a certain extent my answer might not be satisfactory here bc a part of my reason for liking dickhelena is like... i just do? lol. like i love both their characters and i like them together and i think they have a certain chemistry that i can't really put into words. and i understand that not everyone feels that way about them which is fine.

but yah. sorry for making you wait for this anon lol

#ask #anon #my post #dickhelena #dick grayson #helena bertinelli

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yogorlhilanne · 8 months ago

Text

BREAKING MY SILENCE

I'll probably make this on Twitter also, though I doubt it'll really attract (on both Tumblr and Twitter) many people but OH MY FUCKING GOD. THIS NEEDS TO BE SAID.

I know OTHER people have probably talked about this (or maybe not)— plus the Harry Potter fandom is probably dead at this point or maybe still thriving somehow in ways I don't really know but LILY FUCKING EVANS MADE THE WORST DECISION POSSIBLE AFTER ENDING HER AND SEVERUS' FRIENDSHIP.

Look, she was like practically a minor character yet was kinda important to the plot but honestly she deserved to be with someone better than James Potter. No hate or dumb reasons are gonna be thrown at Lily but girlie was dumb as fuck entirely for having a kid with her friends bully who made his school life HELL.

It's been on my mind the more I think about Severus' past and James and Sirius bullying.

I genuinely like Sirius as a character but bro cannot be bullying Snape, like sweetheart we know your an inbred rich child but that doesn't mean you should bully someone who's the LITERAL opposite of you. (expect for neglect and abuse)

James was a fucking jock.

LISTEN & IMAGINE. A friend of yours who you've know for maybe about 6 years calls you the worst insult ever, in a fit of rage, you break the friendship and ofc, leave. That's genuinely completely understandable to one who has common sense.

BUT THEN, after that, you go on to marry your ex friends bully that HAS MADE YOUR EX FRIENDS SCHOOL LIFE MISERABLE AND SHITTY.

Sure it's COMPLETELY understandable how Lily can be mad at Severus for calling her a "Mudblood" because that's a canonical slur against muggle-borns, really, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN SHE HAD TO MARRY SEVERUS' BULLY WHO BULLIED HIM RELENTLESSLY, and that's so fucked up in many ways. And YES. As far as I'm concerned, Lily seemed to only like James because:

He wasn't strongly associated with the dark arts

Wasn't associated with future death eaters/followers of Voldemort

I don't think it's confirmed how long James and Sirius had been bullying Snape but it makes me SOOOO fucking livid that like... HOW THE FUCK DO YOU ACTUALLY LIKE A CHARACTER IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THEIR FLAWS AND HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS? (*Cough Cough* James and Sirius "fans" *COUGH*)

If I'm being 100% honest, I've never seen anyone say "James/Sirius is better than Snape" ever and not even ONCE in my lifetime being in the Harry Potter fandom.

There's really not much on Snape's past during his school years but in all honesty, Lily Evans was dumb as fuck for dating her friends bully like okay, MAYBE James and Sirius did take accountability at one point and confessed to Lily. JUST MAYBE. But I don't remember nor heard anyone saying that was true nor JK Rowling saying anything about them taking accountability.

AND I DON'T THINK THEY EVEN APOLOGIZED TO SNAPE EITHER. (Maybe regretted it but that's not taking accountability for one's actions, perhaps Remus did but never heard anyone saying that was true either because it's probably just a headcannon and Remus probably didn't even bully Snape at all)

Lily Evans... I love you and all and I don't hate you... You just disappointed me.

LIKE IF I WERE IN LILY'S SHOES I WOULDN'T GET TOGETHER WITH JAMES BECAUSE MY FRIEND HAS ALREADY LIVED A HARD LIFE AT HOME, (she probably didn't know but I would've ask Snape what his home life was and would've saved him unlike Lily) AND JUST BECAUSE SNAPE WASN'T RICH NOR GOOD LOOKING DOESN'T MEAN YOU GET A FUCKING PRIVILEGE TO BULL HIM. OR JUST BECAUSE HE FUCKING EXISTED.

Also I get that Lily was mainly mad at Severus because of his Slytherin friends and that he called her a "Mudblood" BUT IGNORING THE FACT HE GOT BULLIED RELENTLESSLY, NEARLY DIED TO A "prank", LIVED IN AN ABUSIVE HOUSEHOLD (she didn't knew that but imma just put it there anyways) AND THAT HE HAD HOPED THAT HOGWARTS WOULD HAVE MADE HIS LIFE BETTER BUT IT GOT DESTROYED, IS UTTERLY DISAPPOINTING AND FLABBERGASTING TO ME.

No hate to people who genuinely ship James and Lily (love the fanarts) but Lily deserved better than that. Perhaps she also knew about the werewolf incident but if I were her I would've BITCH SLAPPED Sirius to remind him of being inbred and stupid as fuck BECAUSE WHAT????

A prank—as far as I acknowledge, shouldn't put someone's life in DANGER and in a LIFE OR DEATH situation SIRIUS 'INBRED' BLACK.

I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYONE YET TALKING ABOUT THIS AND SHITTING ON LILY (for being flawed ofc yet dumb as shit). Lily in general is a good person but she had flaws that needed to be talked about and HERE I AM.

James & Sirius bullying was ignorant and really unjustifiable, Peter and Remus should've known better but I don't ENTIRELY blame them but they should've known fucking better. Lily WAS understandable up until she got together with James and I kinda wanna bitch slap her right now.

Honestly if I were Lily, I genuinely would've gotten together with Snape and ACTUALLY helped him like any person with COMMON SENSE would do.

And to end it off with a cherry on top. James and Sirius bullying Snape should be talked about more and we should shit on them for their flaws yet ignorance actions that they didn't even try to take any single OUNCE of accountability for. Just because you learned from your bullying mistakes and "becoming a more mature and better person" isn't justifiable and shows your blind fucking ignorance to your affects of bullying to other people you dumb dipshit fucker.

(Will possibly edit this again but I'll post this now bc it's been in my drafts for some time and it NEEDS to be sent out rn)

#breaking my silence #harry potter #hp fandom #james potter #sirius black #severus snape #lily evans #essay #rant post #ranting

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saiilorstars · 10 months ago

Text

Ch. 32: The Waiting Game

Fandom: Harry Potter (Hogwarts years 1-7) Pairing: Draco x OFC

taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic @kmc1989

Story Masterlist // Romina’s Masterlist

Fanfic • Ao3 • Wattpad

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know!

Book 4:

Romina held her tongue until the moment she got back home. Then, she let it all out. She had a lot of time to digest Rolf's confession on the train ride home and it helped her sort some of her feelings out. The truth of the matter is that she was angry. She was so, so angry.

As soon as she was home, she told her aunt and uncle everything. Needless to say, Sage and Lyonel were in a state of shock. It was clear to Romina that they never expected her to find out, and that just made her even angrier.

"So what, you expected me to live in the dark about this my whole life?" Her dark eyes shifted between the two adults incredulously. "Seriously?"

"I didn't know they had a child," Lyonel said, though it sounded like he was speaking to Sage rather than their expectant niece.

"We never really looked back..." Sage said, meeting Romina's gaze. "Sweetheart, we're sorry—"

"Are you?" Romina cut in sharply. "Because it sounds like you were never going to tell me! It looks like you were intending on lying to me for the rest of my life! How dare you!"

"Romina, watch your tone," warned Lyonel.

"My tone?" Romina was once again incredulous. "Are you kidding me!? You're going to reprimand me about my tone when I just told you that I know that I have a bloody cousin, grandparents, aunts and uncles!? My tone is what worries you right now!?"

"Romina, let's try to calm down," Sage said and moved towards Romina. The girl took the same steps back from her aunt. "Romina, please—"

"NO! According to Rolf and his family, you guys took me away from them! You never told me about them! You didn't let them see me!"

"I had to, Romina! You were in danger!" snapped Lyonel. "After the war, the ministry wasn't exactly giving our family much consideration!"

"But later you could have said something!" Romina argued. "You could have shown me pictures of them! You could have told me about them! It would've made a huge difference in my life knowing that I had another part of a family who weren't evil!"

"I couldn't trust anyone but myself and your aunt and I am not sorry about that!"

"What your uncle means is that we didn't know who we could trust after the war," Sage cut in just as Romina was about to shout again. "A lot of families claimed that they were under the imperius curse and that's why they did whatever the Dark Lord demanded."

"But you knew that Rolf's father wasn't part of that, none of his family was except for my mother!" Romina exclaimed.

"Romina, I couldn't trust anybody. I hardly knew them at that time!" Lyonel said. "Caplan and Elora weren't exactly all for family reunions. They got married without even telling us first!"

"You could have told me," Romina insisted. "Especially when I started Hogwarts."

"We didn't know that Elora's brother had a son," Lyonel repeated, "We don't know anything about them, actually. When we made the decision to leave the wizarding community, we followed through to every extent. We cut off all ties."

"Knowing that one day I would step into it," Romina frowned. "And that's when you should have told me. 'You have grandparents. You have an aunt and an uncle. You have more family'. But you didn't. You let me believe that the only family I had were Death Eater parents. You thought that would be the best for me. To let me wallow with that burden. You have no idea what it's done to me. This whole year—" she swallowed hard, pushing down the tears she felt stinging in her eyes. "This whole year, I've had the worst thoughts about myself."

"Romina...you should have told us," Sage said with a lamenting sigh. "I knew something was wrong...you can always tell us if there's something wrong."

"Like you guys did?" Romina crossed her arms. "You didn't even bother telling them about me — how I was doing, where I was. They didn't know about me until I started Hogwarts and Rolf told them! My grandparents — they've been writing to Dumbledore about me, asking about me! It sounds like they actually want me and...I think I want to see them too."

"What?" Lyonel looked like he had heard the craziest thing in the world. It just made Romina more adamant about her idea.

"I want to meet them. I want to meet my grandmother, my grandfather...I want to see them."

"Absolutely not!" Lyonel started shaking his head. "That's not happening!"

"Lyonel—"

"And why not!?" Romina went over her aunt's voice, glaring at her uncle.

"Because I said so!"

"Oh!" Romina brought a hand to her chest. "As long as it's bloody fair!"

"I said to watch your voice—"

"I DON'T WANT TO!" Romina screamed. "I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO MEET THE ONLY FAMILY I HAVE LEFT!"

"ROMINA—"

Romina didn't stick around to hear more as she ran towards the stairs, leaving her uncle to call after her. She did not come back down for days. Sage would try to coax her out for meals and resorted to just leaving the food outside her door.

The more that Romina thought about the situation, the stronger she felt about her decision. She had every right to meet her family, at least to ask the questions burning in her mind. How could they not allow something she had a right to? So, in the next days, she thought about her options. And she came up with a simple one, albeit a little out there.

Rolf,

I'm not going to lie, I didn't really see myself writing to you this early into break. It's been hard deciding if I'm upset or not with you, but I'm starting to look at the bigger picture here. I told my aunt and uncle about you, and what you told me. They weren't happy, unsurprisingly. My uncle is taking it the worst. He especially hated when I told him that I wanted to meet our grandparents. He's really against it.

If you were serious about, well, being cousins...help me out here. I truthfully don't know what I'm going to do if I get face to face with our grandparents but I feel like I at least deserve the opportunity to be there. I want to see them.

Romina.

Romina was nerve wrecked for the following days waiting for Rolf's response. She started wondering if she made a mistake writing to him. What if she'd pissed him off the last time they talked? Luckily, her thoughts didn't get too far from her because Rolf wrote back.

Dear Romina,

I hope you don't get mad but I told my parents about this. I think they're talking about it with grandma and grandpa right now. They told me to stay in my room. Don't worry, they'll figure it out. It's different now that you want to come. I think before they left all this alone because they didn't want to overwhelm you. Aren't they lucky I'm around?

Romina had actually laughed at that part. It almost felt like nothing had changed between them and they were just friends again. Your cousins, she soon remembered. Only now it didn't feel as shocking as it had before. Now she felt glee realizing there was someone else she could talk to, and someone her own age!

Just hang tight, Romina. We'll make this work, I promise. Keep writing to me and I'll do my best from over here. Or just write for the sake of writing too. I'd like to get to know you more, if that's alright. I know your birthday's coming around in July! Mine's in March! Guess that makes me older than you!

- Rolf

Romina found solace in his letter. If he could be lighthearted and funny, then maybe things weren't all that bad. She didn't have to be so bitter because at the end of the day, she had a cousin and nobody could take that away from her. She would just have to get smarter about getting to meet the rest of her family.

~ 0 ~

Later that afternoon, Arden was in Romina's bedroom listening to everything that had happened since they returned from school. Arden was shocked that she had found out just now. She was impressed that Romina managed to keep it all under wraps.

"Seems like this year you became an expert at hiding your emotions," she gave Romina a sharp glance. "No more of that, alright?"

Romina waved her off with a dismissive hand. "Just focus! I've been trying to come up with a way to meet my grandparents. I have so many questions and they're the only one who can answer. Merlin knows aunt Sage and uncle Lyonel are very tight lipped about the families."

"Okay, so how are we going to do that?"

"We?"

"Well, you don't think you're going to do it alone, are you? Sign me up!" Arden exclaimed. Romina chuckled. "Bet we can get Harry to help us too! Does he know?"

Romina shook her head. "You're the first I've told. Well, there was also Draco but he just happened to be there."

"And he hasn't said anything yet?" Arden snorted. "Did you have to pay him millions for that?"

"No, I just asked him not to say anything until I was ready."

"Seriously?" Arden said, unconvinced. "Must have caught him on a good day then. I didn't even know he could have those."

Romina laughed. "Okay, back to the point here. I gotta meet them, Arden. I have so many things I want to ask..."

"I bet you do," Arden mused on the list Romina probably had somewhere with questions. "Well hey, why don't we see if Harry can come with us to the parlor and we can talk about all this stuff. Maybe he'll have some ideas."

Romina liked the idea. She hadn't been out since the first day they got back from Hogwarts. As far as she knew, her going out privileges hadn't been revoked and her uncle was working. Aunt Sage was softer and was trying to be the mediator between the two. So, the girls left the room and hurried down the stairs.

"Where are you headed?" Sage called from the kitchen as they crossed the living room.

"To the parlor with Harry!" Romina promptly said. "I can go there, right?"

Arden blinked at the sudden edge in Romina's tone. Even more surprising was that Sage didn't say anything about it. They were out of the house in less than a minute.

"Wow, thought you'd be grounded for sure there!" Arden said as they headed to Harry's.

"Aunt Sage is trying to keep the peace and it's frankly annoying," Romina admitted. "I wish she would just step in already and help out. She knows as much as I do that I should get to meet my other family."

They soon arrived at the Dursley residence and knocked on the front door. Dudley opened up and at the sight of the girls, he whimpered and shut the door on them.

"Uh, okay?" Arden raised an eyebrow at the closed door. "What the hell was that about?"

Romina snickered. She'd forgotten that Sirius had encouraged Harry to use his identity to scare the Dursleys into giving him more freedom and treating him better. Clearly, Harry had taken Sirius' word. She wished she could tell Arden about it but nobody was supposed to know the truth about Sirius Black, at least for the time being.

After knocking a few more times, Harry opened the door next. "Hey Rom!" he greeted. "Hey Arden! What's going on?"

"We were heading to the parlor, wanna come?" Romina said. "Or do you gotta ask for permission?"

"Nope!" Harry said with a pleasant grin. "Let's go!" He stepped out and shut the door without telling the Dursleys anything.

"What had Dudley in such a twist?" Arden asked once they were heading down the block. "He didn't even insult us today. Is he alright?"

"Ooh, he's doing just fine," Harry's grin grew wider as he glanced at Romina.

They reached the parlor soon enough and got their usual orders after greeting the owners. Since they were gone for most of the year, they only really came to the parlor during summer. Once they were sitting together, Romina told Harry about Rolf and the Scamanders.

"Woah, Rom, that's...that's big..." Harry felt bad not having something better to say. Luckily, Romina didn't seem to mind as she just nodded and agreed with him.

She glumly stuck her spoon into her ice cream. "And so, I'm stuck waiting to see if uncle Lyonel will realize that I have every right to meet my other family."

Like Arden, Harry was sure that Lyonel eventually would. "If they went to the extent of keeping you away from the wizarding society for your own good, they'll realize that meeting your family is also for your own good. Especially if what you said about them being war heroes was true."

"I really wish I had that much faith like you two," Romina said with a heavy sigh. "This year has been challenging enough."

Arden snorted. "I'll say. Sometimes, I wish I was just in a regular school. I mean at least there, I could avoid Pansy Parkinson and her jabs."

"Don't ever let Parkinson make you wish you weren't a witch," Romina promptly said. "Plus, not everyone's bad."

Arden shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

Harry smiled at the pair. "You come over to the Gryffindor tower whenever you're that bothered, Arden."

"Oh, wouldn't that be nice," she mused. "But I don't think anybody would want me there. They barely want Romina in there and you guys love her."

"It's the prejudices they have against Slytherins," Romina sighed, very much tired of those prejudices.

"I mean, Rom, a lot of them have pretty much earned that," Harry remarked.

"A handful, Harry," Romina corrected. "I have met many people who are just there to study."

"Yeah," Arden said, "Just because you and Draco have an arch enemy relationship doesn't mean we're all the same."

Harry raised a hand to stop her from talking again. "Like you and Parkinson, I would like to avoid any conversation where Malfoy's mentioned."

Arden laughed. "Fair enough."

Romina shook her head at them both. She ate more of her ice cream, getting several brain freezes in the process, until she realized she had just stress-ate it all.

"Boy, I would not want to see you with some Fire Whiskey," Arden said when Romina pushed her ice cream glass to the side.

"Rom," Harry reached over the table for Romina's hand, "It's going to work out. I know it will."

Romina managed to smile. If Harry, who had gone through so much crap, believed in it then maybe she should too. "Thanks," she said and he patted her hand. "Since I've been locked in my room this whole — my choice, by the way —" she added as Harry gave her a look, "I started digging around the Scamander name. They seem pretty cool. They weren't kidding about being war heroes. They fought in some war before You-Know-Who's time. And they fought alongside Dumbledore."

"Wait, so he knew about your family too?" Harry blinked a few times.

"And he didn't say anything either," Romina said bitterly. "But anyways, my grandfather wrote one of our textbooks 'Fantastic Beasts and where to Find them'."

"No way—he wrote that!?" Harry paused just as he was about to have another spoonful of ice cream. Romina nodded proudly. "And Rolf never bragged about that? Wow, he really is one of the good ones."

Romina rolled her eyes at him. ""My grandmother started a fashion designing company—The Gejéls? My aunt is also part of it."

"Oooh!" Arden beamed at the idea. "Hot couture?"

Romina laughed. "Wizard's edition."

"Gotta say, that name sounds familiar, though..." But Arden couldn't quite put her finger on it yet. Romina, however, had figured it out a while ago.

"It's because that's Daphne favorite brand of robes."

"Ooooh, you're right!" Arden snapped her fingers. Daphne had countless magazines about the brand and she always boasted that it was the only brand she ever bought. "It's French! Hey, you're French, Romina."

"Half, but yeah," Romina nodded. "I've been digging through more and it's amazing, really. Rolf's dad is part of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures department."

"Ooh, was he in on the execution of Buckbeak, then?" Arden said.

"Almost execution," Harry was happy to remind them.

"Right," Arden thanked him for the reminder. "Lucky guy!"

"Mhm..." Harry started eating his ice cream again, exchanging a brief glance with Romina who was busy smirking.

They continued to eat their ice cream until they were all done. In the meantime, they tried helping Romina out with her problems but a lot of them involved them having her go back to her aunt and uncle to talk again. Romina didn't feel sure enough of herself to have a conversation without yelling again. At the very least, Harry suggested that she write directly to her grandparents asking for help. Romina said she would think about that.

The sun was setting when they started heading back home. Harry had started talking about some plans that Ron was making for the summer.

"Ron's mentioned that the Quidditch World Cup is this year. He's inviting us to go. Think it should be interesting."

"The what?" Arden raised an eyebrow at him. Harry shrugged. Like her, he still had some things to learn about the wizarding world.

"It's like their version of the FIFA cup," Romina explained, surprising them with her knowledge. "Unlike you two, I did have some knowledge of the wizarding world, alright? It's a huge Quidditch game."

"Oh, sounds boring," Arden promptly said then glanced at Harry skeptically. "You think the Dursleys would even let you go to that?"

"Oh, I think they will," Harry said, sharing a knowing smile with Romina.

"I'm sure you'll have fun," Romina told him. "I don't know if my uncle would let me step out of the house right now."

"It's next month, who knows how things will be by then!" Harry said, bumping shoulders with her. "C'mon, Hermione said she would go. And Ginny's going too. It won't be just us boys."

Romina shrugged. It was a possibility.

"Arden, you sure you don't want to come?" Harry soon asked the brunette girl.

Arden scrunched her face. "Eh, to be honest, the only reason I watch Quidditch games is to just follow the school spirit, you know? I think this summer I'm going to focus on my violin lessons."

"Can you ask Ms. Vallow if she still has any open spots for the summer session?" Romina startled Arden with the question.

"What? Seriously?" Arden gaped. "You want to do violin lessons again?"

Romina nodded sheepishly. "I figure I might as well try to do some of that normal stuff to help me, you know, get better?"

Arden beamed. She promised Romina that she would do everything in her power to get an open spot for her. She almost lost it when Romina suggested maybe they look up a few dance classes. It was led by the same teacher.

They parted ways in front of the girls' homes and when Romina stepped inside her house, she was surprised to find her uncle home. He usually worked late. Sage was also with him in the living room. It looked like they were waiting for her.

"I told aunt Sage where I was going," Romina said as she closed the door behind her.

"You're not in trouble, dear," Sage said and motioned Romina to join them.

"Really? Cos it kind of feels like it..." she mumbled. While her aunt and uncle sat on the long couch, she took the lone couch chair.

"Romina, I want you to be perfectly honest with us here," Lyonel said, his voice implying that there would be no chance if she were to fail and lie, "Have you been writing to Abigail and Newt?"

"What?" Romina blinked a few times until the names struck. "My grandparents? No, I haven't, why?" Lyonel held a piece of parchment out to Romina. Confused, she reached over for it and saw it was a letter.

Bonjour Lyonel and Sage Oswell,

I know it has been many years since we last saw each other but I believe this is very important. We have been informed that our granddaughter Romina has expressed interest in meeting us. You can understand that this changes everything. Romina was a baby the last time we discussed this but now it is neither up to you nor us. She is the one who gets to decide and if you do not abide by her decision, I will be forced to seek legal assistance with the Ministry.

Please do not misunderstand, I know you have taken very good care of my granddaughter and I understand why it was that you took her, but now she is ready to know more about her family. She deserves to know more of the truth. Do not deny her please. Romina would be safe while she visited, and you are more than welcome to accompany her. We do not seek to take her away from you but rather we would like the same privilege you have had having her in your life.

Please, let's discuss,

Abigail Scamander

Romina couldn't find her breath for a moment after reading the letter. She went over the letter twice more, appreciating her grandmother's handwriting. It was so elegant, so...French. And she was writing on her behalf.

When Romina looked up at Lyonel and Sage, she realized they were waiting for her confession. "What — I didn't write to them!" She tossed the letter back at them and crossed her arms.

"Did you write to anyone else, sweetheart?" Sage said. Romina felt bad watching her have to pick up the letter she threw.

"Well..." she sighed, "Yeah, I wrote to Rolf."

Lyonel groaned. "I knew it—!"

"I just told him what was going on!" Romina exclaimed and frowned. "And you shouldn't get mad. I'm not asking for something impossible! You heard my grandmother, I have every right to meet them!"

"Oh for God's sake, you don't even know her!"

Romina slammed her hands on the couch armrests as she jumped from her seat. "Because you never told me about them! I don't understand how you can be angry that I want to meet part of my family!? Like — I just don't get it! What do you intend? For me to stay alone or what?"

"Romina, we just...we don't want you to get hurt..." Sage said, glancing at her husband for some help, "We have done everything we can to keep you—"

"Shielded," Romina finished for her. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret: it hasn't worked. This whole past year, I have spent it trying to look anything but Elora and Caplan. I learned how to do transfiguration on my hair just to make myself look different!"

"You did what!?" Lyonel gaped and, like her, had jumped up from the couch.

"Because I hate where I come from, alright!? And now I have the opportunity to meet people like you" — Romina gestured at them — "who are everything that my bloody parents aren't! Please don't take that from me!" She ran into Lyonel and threw her arms around him, begging him to let her go. "Please, I just want to meet them! Just for a day, please!"

Lyonel and Sage looked at each other while Romina continued to beg. In the end, hearing her almost breaking down got the best of them...and their guilt. They did what they did for her, to protect her. Everything they did in the past had always been in the name of protecting their niece. But it seemed like today, they were the ones hurting her.

"I suppose maybe we could..." Lyonel trailed off as he met Sage's gaze again. She was nodding at him. It was the right thing to do. So, with a big breath, Lyonel finally agreed to get in contact with the Scamanders.

Romina immediately pulled away from her uncle to look up at him, her eyes wide as could be. "You mean it?" Lyonel nodded, and when Romina looked over at her aunt, so was she. "I'll-I'll get to see them? I can visit them?"

"We'd have to arrange it but...I guess so," Lyonel said, "If it's what you really want—"

"Yes, yes!" Romina exclaimed. "It's definitely what I want! Yes! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She hugged him excitedly and then reached for her aunt to pull her into the hug. "Thank you so much!"

A/N:

Book 4 is where all the real fun and drama start and these coming chapters are one of my favorites. I loved, loved, fantastic beasts and I'm still so bitter that the movie series was cancelled.

#ocappreciation #allaboutocs #ochub #fyeahharrypotterocs #harry potter #draco malfoy #harry potter fics #draco malfoy fics #draco malfoy imagines #draco malfoy x oc #harry potter imagines #harry potter oc #dm fics #dm imagines #dm x oc #hp fics #hp imagines #oc: romina oswell #fic: legacies

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middleearthpixie · 2 years ago

Text

Better Days ~ Chapter Four (was Human Touch)

A/N - I changed the title because I think this fits better. Sorry for any confusion. 😁

Summary: Frerin Durin had the perfect life, until he found out his wife was cheating on him. Now, he’s navigating uncharted territory as an about-to-be divorced single dad. Dating is a mess, he’s dealing with the fallout where his kids are concerned, and really, he would just love a vacation away from all of it.

Elena Madison is new to Sidleburg, new to the history department at the high school, and also navigating life as a newly single parent. The last thing she needed was for her daughter to come down sick, when she hasn’t even had time to unpack the moving boxes, never mind find a pediatrician. And the last thing she ever expected was to meet a man like Dr. Frerin Durin…

Neither Elena nor Frerin were looking for anything, but fate has a way of messing up even the best laid plans. However, both have been hurt and both aren't at all sure they trust themselves, never mind trusting someone else...

Pairings: Modern!Frerin x ofc Elena Madison

Characters: Frerin, Flynn, Maura, Jake, Elena, Alyssa

Warnings: None

Rating: T

Word Count: 6.9k

Tag List: @mrsdurin @i-did-not-mean-to @lathalea @linasofia @fizzyxcustard @legolasbadass @kibleedibleedoo @xxbyimm @arrthurpendragon @exhausted-humxn-being @rachel1959 @laurfilijames @sketch-and-write-lover @sherala007 @enchantzz @knittastically @notlostgnome @myselfandfantasy @medusas-hairband @guardianofrivendell @jotink78 @sorisooyaa @ruthoakenshield @frosticenow @quiall321 @dianakc @buckybarnes-thorin @glassgulls @evenstaredits @heilith @asgardianhobbit98 @albionscastle @absentmindeduniverse @way-too-addicted-to-fandoms @sazzlep

If you’d like to be added (or removed) to the tag list, please just let me know!

Previous chapters can be found here.

Frerin yanked off the black mock turtleneck he’d just pulled over his head and hurled it toward the hamper. Christ, it’d been two decades since he’d had to worry about making a good impression on a first date and he’d forgotten what a pain in the ass it could be. And while this wasn't his first date since he and Toni split up, it was the first one where he was this concerned about making a good impression. The last time he’d had to worry about it, he was a cocky nineteen year old more concerned with figuring out how to get into Toni Francetti’s jeans than he was with making a good impression.

Of course, he found his way into those Guess jeans and ten months later, he then found himself newly married, staring down at his newborn son, wondering just how the hell he was going to finish college and support a family at the same time. Toni wasn't supposed to get pregnant. They’d only been out a couple of times and he was seeing a couple of other girls on campus as well, and neither one of them had said anything about being exclusive. Never mind being young and stupid. Young and stupid and drunk at a frat party when they got carried away. But, her family had money and her father made it clear to him that walking away was not an option. So, thanks to Toni’s family, he was able to finish college, and medical school, while she stayed home first with Flynn, and then with Maura, and then finally with Jake.

He was far from a perfect husband. School, residency, working his way to an attending position meant time away from home, away from the family. He’d come very close to having an affair with a charge nurse, but stopped it before it went beyond a steamy kiss in the parking deck. He’d come clean to Toni and they tried to salvage their relationship, deciding to try for their third and final child, but in the end, it was Toni’s affair with a boy only slightly older than Flynn that delivered the final blow.

He had to admit, it was for the best for all of them. The kids were adapting to their new lives and with far less tension in the house, they were all better for it. If he was absolutely honest with himself, he and Toni never should have gotten married in the first place. They were too young. Too selfish. Too immature.

Of course, at the same time, he wouldn’t trade those kids for anything.

He sighed as he tugged open the door to the walk-in closet and flipped the light switch. The closet ran the length of the bedroom, and was almost a room in itself. When Toni still lived there, they divided it half but since she’d moved out, he’d taken it over and had more space than he really knew what to do with. Suits and trousers and shoes were on one side, more casual clothes on the other. He peered out the window overlooking the front yard to see it was snowing lightly. Maybe they’d have a white Christmas. It’d be the first one in years. He and Flynn spent the previous weekend putting out the Christmas lights, while Maura and Jake took care of decorating inside the house. They did their Christmas baking last weekend and they would spend Christmas Eve with him, but Christmas Day with their mother and he didn't want to think about that. It wasn't the first Christmas he wouldn’t see them, after all when he was an intern and then a resident, his schedule included nights, weekends, holidays. Now that he ran the department, he had a bit more say in his schedule, but he also made sure he pulled his fair share of crappy shifts along with the other docs on his service.

Frerin frowned as he flipped through the rack of button down shirts, then moved to the stack of cubes where he kept tee shirts and long-sleeved shirts neatly folded. He chose a black henley and tugged it over his head, then moved to the mirror in the middle of the closet. Better than the mock turtleneck by far. Why did he even still have those stupid mock turtlenecks? He never wore them. Toni’s mother bought them every Christmas for him and they remained folded and unworn all year long.

He flipped off the light as he left the closet and closed the door behind him, then moved to the chair under the dormer window in the far corner to pull on his favorite pair of shoes—brown Doc Martens Crazy Horse boots.

The kids were in the family room, and he paused in the doorway and just watched them—Flynn and Maura were watching The Mandalorian, Jake was doing his homework. “Okay, guys, behave. I’m heading out. Jake, Maur, Flynn’s in charge and don't give him any trouble.”

As Flynn offered up a smug smile, Frerin was quick to add, “And no abusing your power, or else I put Jake in charge next time.”

“Nice,” Jake said, offering up his best impression of an evil smile.

Maura looked over her shoulder at him. “Have fun on your date, Dad. Be careful.”

“It’s just dinner, I doubt I’m in any danger.”

“Still, be careful.”

“I will, Mom.”

That earned him a smile and she turned back to the television. “Have fun.”

“I will. I won’t be too late and I’ve got my cell on.” He lifted his jacket up from where it lay across the back of the sofa. “Jake, bed by nine.”

“Dad, can’t I stay up a little later?”

“No. Bed by nine.”

“Man…”

“I’ll see you guys later. Like I said, I won’t be too late.”

“Don't hurry on account of us,” Flynn told him with utter seriousness, “especially if she’s cute.”

“That’s enough.”

“He’s right, Dad. You have our permission to have fun.”

“What kind of fun can they have over dinner?” Jake asked.

“You’d be amazed,” Maura told him.

“Enough.” Frerin dug his keys from the jacket pocket, and moved to the front door. As he pulled the door shut behind him, it was as Jake was asking one of them to explain what kind of fun they meant.

A sigh touched his lips as he walked down to his car. In the year since he and Toni separated, Maura and Flynn seemed okay with the few dates he went on, but this was the first Jake really paid any attention to it. And while he’d been out a few times over the course of the last year, he hadn’t slept with any of the women he’d dated, and he had no intentions of bringing any women home to spend the night unless there was actually a possible future, and since that was something he was not looking for right now…

He sank into the leather seat and turned over the engine, then got the heat going. As he backed down the wide drive, he tried not think about how quiet the house would be in the coming days. He didn't like it when the kids were at their mother’s, when the house was too quiet for his liking. He and Toni had worked out visitation with only a little fighting, and while they’d been doing this since the summer, Frerin still wasn’t used to the silence that came with an empty house.

The only good thing was he’d be able to get his Christmas shopping done before his shift began Saturday. Of course, that meant he’d have to wrap everything, which he did not look forward to doing. He sucked at it and as a result, Toni usually wrapped everything but her own gifts.

“I’ll worry about that Saturday,” he muttered as he eased to a stop at the end of their street and peered into the mirror. He scowled, raked his fingers through the dark hair that would be curly if only he’d let it. That was how he knew when he needed a hair cut, when it refused to lay in any way that wasn't bushy. “I should do like Thorin and just let it grow out.”

He was just pulling into traffic when his cell rang. Leda. “Hey, what’s up?”

“I’m sorry to bug you, Frerin,” she said. “And I hope I’m not calling at a bad time, but Andrea’s temp has gone up.”

He shifted into Drive. “What’s it gone up to?”

“One-oh-one and she’s really cranky.”

“She’s most likely uncomfortable from the fever. Have you given her anything?”

“Some Tylenol about half an hour ago.”

“Give it some time to work. Do you want me to come by and take a look at her?”

Leda hesitated. “Are you home?”

“On my way out, but it’s no problem to swing by.”

“Are you on call tonight?”

“No. Believe it or not, I’ve got a date.”

“What?”

He grinned. “Yeah. But, she’ll probably understand if I call and tell her I’ll be a little late.”

“No, God, don't do that. I’ll give it another half hour or so and try her temp again.”

“Leda, it’s not a problem if—”

“No, Frerin, please don't change your plans. I know I’m just being a nervous mom, but—”

“Leda, it really won’t be a big deal. If it’ll give you some peace of mind, I’ll call Elena and tell her I’ll be a little late. She’s a mom herself. She’ll understand.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ll be there in just a few minutes.”

“Okay. But only if you’re sure.”

“Leda.”

“Bye, Frerin.”

He grinned as the call disconnected and he pulled up Elena’s number, smiling as she said, “Hello?”

“Hi, Elena, it’s Frerin. Durin.”

“I know it’s you,” a smile came through in her voice, “your name comes up with your number, remember. What’s up?”

“Uh, I’m going to be a little late. My sister-in-law, the one with the twins, just called. Her daughter’s temperature’s gone up again so I told her I’d stop by. I know you were planing dinner for six, so if you want to do this another night, I’d understand.”

“I’ll keep a plate warmed for you.” She hesitated, then added, “Unless you’d rather do this another night.”

“Whichever is easiest for you. I don't usually do house calls, but it’s my brother’s kids, so—”

“No, you don't have to explain. Family comes first.” She cleared her throat. “So, if you still want to come by—”

“I do, Elena. It shouldn’t take me long.”

“Okay. Then swing by when you’re done. Unless it’s really late, that is.”

“It shouldn’t be. But, what do you consider really late?”

“Eleven?”

He grinned. “I won’t be that late. I promise you that. I’ll let you know if anything changes, but I think my niece just has a cold.”

“Take your time. Chicken isn’t going anywhere.”

“I’ll call you when I’m leaving Thorin’s, okay?”

“Sounds good. See you later, then.”

“You will.”

She clicked off and he drummed his fingers lightly against the steering wheel as he made a left onto Willoughby and headed out toward Route Seven. Thorin and Leda lived on the northwestern side of Sidleburg, in a dark gray Victorian with Pacific blue trim on three acres of land. A silver Honda Accord and a white Jeep Grand Cherokee sat in the driveway, with Thorin’s antique Mustang most likely in the detached garage, and he eased to a stop behind the Jeep. Snow began falling as he climbed out and made his way up to the wide, wraparound porch.

Leda must have been watching for him, for the door opened before he could even reach for the doorbell. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, with dark circles smudging beneath them. She wore no makeup and her long blonde hair looked like she had a permanent case of bedhead. “Hey, Frerin, thank you so much.”

“No problem, Leda.” He stomped the snow from his boots before stepping over the threshold. “When was the last time you slept?”

“Uh… what day is it?”

“Leda.”

“I know,” she rubbed her face with both hands, then lowered them to add, “but Thorin’s got his hands full with the Dunraven and neither James nor Andrea is sleeping much, so…”

“I told her I can handle it,” Thorin thumped into the room, his screaming son in his arms, “but she’s fucking stubborn.”

“Thorin,” Leda spun around to glare at him, “that doesn’t help anything.”

Thorin rolled his eyes, gently bouncing James against his shoulder. “Neither does you being a zombie, Leda.”

“I am fine!”

“Okay, guys, don’t start fighting just yet. Let me take a look, okay?” Frerin cleared his throat as he reached for James. “Hey, little man, shhh… giving Mom and Dad a hard time?”

The baby let out a cry as Frerin laid his hand across James’ forehead. “He’s warm. What was his temp last time you took it?”

Thorin rubbed his forehead. “Uh… just below a hundred, I think.”

“Have you given him anything?”

Another shrill cry rang out, this one from the living room to his right and Leda tripped over her own two feet as she went to fetch Andrea.

“Thorin?”

“No. Not yet.” Like his wife, Thorin’s eyes were ringed with bruise like smudged and his forehead furrowed as if thinking was hard to do. “I’m sorry, Frer. I’m so fucking tired, I can’t even see straight right now.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling well.” Frerin sighed. “Get the Tylenol and let’s give him some and see if that helps.”

“I thought fevers were good?”

“They are. It means their immune systems are working, but they’re miserable, Thorin. There’s no reason for any of you to suffer if none of you has to. Give them the Tylenol and hopefully they’ll sleep. And you and Leda both need to get some sleep as well.”

“Yeah, tell me something I don't already know,” Thorin growled as he thumped toward the kitchen. “How did you do this and get through med school and residency? How do you work those shifts still?”

“Toni took care of the kids when I was a resident and now? I’m used to it, more or less. And trust me, it will get easier. Sooner than you think and faster than you can imagine.” Frerin smoothed a hand over James’ hair, which was thicker and even blacker than his sister’s. The baby quieted against him, while his sister’s screams made up for it, and Leda looked ready to cry as she came back into the family room.

Two pack’n plays were set up by the sofa, and Frerin carefully set James into the first one, then turned to Leda. “Let me see her, Leda.”

“She feels even hotter now,” Leda told him, rubbing one eye after he took Andrea from her. “Maybe we should just take her back to the ER.”

“Let me see first, okay?” He moved to the sofa to set Andrea on one of the cushions and unbuttoned her fleece sleeper. Andrea began fussing again, shoving a fist in her mouth to chew on. “Shhh, mimûna,” he whispered, laying his hand against her forehead, “You need to let Mommy and Daddy get some rest, too, honey.”

She let out another cry and Leda sank onto the cushion above Andrea’s head. “Shhh… baby… please stop crying…”

Andrea quieted for a moment as Frerin looked her over. “Get me the thermometer, please?” he said without looking up.

“Sure.”

“I got it.” Thorin came back into the room with a tympanic thermometer. He handed it to Frerin. “It’s got the little ear condom on it already."

“Thanks.” Frerin took the thermometer and gently slid it into Andrea’s right ear. She squirmed slightly, but then the thermometer beeped, so he eased it back out. “She’s at ninety-nine, Leda.”

Relief swept across her face as she sank against the arm of the sofa. “So, why won’t she stop crying?”

“When did she eat last?”

“About half an hour ago.”

“She might have reflux. It’s fairly common in babies her age. Are you still nursing?”

She shook her head. “No. It was killing me, Frerin. We put them on formula a few weeks ago.”

“You might have to switch it up, try a few different ones and see if that helps.” He refastened Andrea’s sleeper and scooped her up to rest against his shoulder. She snuggled up against him, with a soft, tired sigh, and continued chewing on her fist. “In the meantime, I can give you a prescription for something, but honestly? I’d try an over the counter gas reliever like Mylicon first.”

“I can just get this at the store?” Leda asked.

“Yeah. It should be with the children’s cold medicine and cough syrup and the like.”

Thorin sighed. “I’ll go pick some up.”

“It should help. If not, let me know and I’ll write you the scrip.”

Leda let out a long sigh as Thorin clumped into the kitchen and grabbed his car keys. The kitchen door opened, then closed and a few minutes later, the Accord purred to life.

“I’m so sorry I pulled you away from your date,” Leda told him, rubbing her eyes once more.

“It’s okay. She understood.” He carefully got to his feet to rock Andrea gently as she cooed and gnawed away on her fist. “She’s got a kid herself, so she knows.”

“Tell me about her.”

He grinned. “There isn’t much to tell, Leda. I met her the other night in the ER and—”

“You dirty dog,” Leda let out a laugh, “you hit on a patient?”

“No. I’m not a grown-up doctor, remember? My patients are all under eighteen and I don't hit on any of them.”

“So, a sick kid’s mother? I’m not sure that’s better, Frer.”

“I didn’t hit on her in the ER. I just met her there. Remember the woman who came in to ask me about the discharge papers? The one you told me to hit on.”

“Oh, so you did take my advice. Then it’s all good.”

“I sort of took it. I didn't hit on her in the ER, though. I actually hit on her in the gym, instead. Her daughter is down with the flu, and she invited me over for dinner.” He smoothed his hand along Andrea’s back as she drifted to sleep. “And when I told her what was going on with these little ones, she understood.”

“Still… she’s the first one since you and Toni split up, isn’t she?”

“No,” he moved to the other pack n’ play and bent to carefully set Andrea in it, offering up a silent prayer that she remained asleep, “I’ve been out a few times, but they never amounted to anything.”

“Why?”

“I just… I’m not really looking for anything serious and most of the women I’ve met so far are hearing wedding bells instead of the restaurant’s daily specials.” He moved back to the sofa and sank onto the cushion on the far end opposite her.

“At least tell me you’re getting hot sex out of it.”

He couldn't hold back his laugh. “I wish.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re not?”

“I’m not. And that’s okay, because I haven’t really been looking for that, either.”

“What?”

“I know, Thorin thinks I’m nuts, too. But to be honest, I don't have the time, Leda. Between work and the kids and boring-ass dates with women who don't really do it for me? Sex has fallen pretty low on the list of priorities.”

“It’ll happen again. Maybe with this new woman.”

“Yeah, maybe.” He raked his hand through his hair. “But if not, I don't even think I’d care a whole lot right now. I’ve got enough going on and this is only dinner. I’m not thinking much past it right now.”

Leda glanced over at the fireplace. “What time were you meeting her?”

“She’s cooking for me.”

“What?”

“Yeah. I mean, she’s not cooking for me. She was making dinner and just invited me to join her and her daughter.”

“Wait, she is cooking for you and you stood her up? Are you kidding me?”

He shook his head. “She isn’t cooking forme, Leed. And she understood.”

“Oh, Christ, Frerin, get out of my house and go have dinner. Thorin will be back in a few minutes and they’re both asleep, so get out while you can.”

“You sure, Leda? I can wait until he comes home.”

“Yes!” She laughed as she nodded. “I’m very sure. Go.”

He smiled as he rose from the sofa. “Call me if either one of them spikes another fever, okay, Leda? Don't worry about what time it is or where I am. If you need me, call me.”

“I will. Now, go.”

“What time is Dr. Hottie supposed to be here?”

Elena shot Alyssa a look. “I thought you weren’t going to call him that?”

“I said I wouldn’t to his face. And I won’t.” Alyssa didn't look the least bit contrite as she pushed her chicken around on her plate. “But, what time?

“He was supposed to be here for six, but his niece is sick and he was making a house call.”

“Mom, how cool would it be if you and Dr. Hottie got married? I’d never have to go to a doctor’s office again.”

Elena resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Okay, first off, Dr. Hottie and I are not getting married. We haven’t even gone out yet and I’m not looking for a husband, besides. I had one of those, remember?”

“Dad is an ass. It doesn’t count.”

“Watch your mouth, Alyssa, and whether or not he is an ass is immaterial. I’m still not looking to get back into any serious relationship right now. I’m fine with this—” She gestured between them. “And even if, by some crazy twist, I did end up with Dr. Hot—Durin, you would still have to go to the doctor’s office because you’re almost old enough to no longer see a pediatrician if you really didn't want to, not to mention, it would probably be weirdly uncomfortable for both of you and I can’t imagine he would be willing to treat you as a patient anyway.”

“Yeah,” Alyssa’s nose wrinkled, “it wouldn’t be cool to have to get undressed in front of my stepdad. Or,” she amended as Elena shot her a look, “my mom’s boyfriend.”

“Exactly. Even if your father was a doctor, he wouldn’t treat you, most likely.”

Alyssa set down her fork. “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m just not that hungry. I kind of want to just to back to bed.”

Elena bit back a smile. Alyssa did look utterly exhausted, her face still pale and her eyes still on the heavy-lidded and sunken side, with faint purplish smudges ringed beneath them. “Okay. Go get into bed. Do you want some tea or hot cocoa?”

“Maybe some tea?”

“Okay. Go get settled and I’ll bring you some.”

“Okay.”

Alyssa pushed her chair away from the table and made her way down the hallway to her room. Elena remained where she was for a minute, just staring at the empty chair in the tiny dining room that was really more alcove than room. It was a far cry from the five-bedroom beach house where Alyssa had spent her first thirteen years. The two-bedroom, first floor apartment was a fraction of the size of that house, and yet they’d both adjusted with relative ease. It was amazing, how the absence of constant friction, of constant tension, and of frequent fighting rendered the size of the living space perfect. Elena found she didn't jump at creaking floorboards the way she used to, she didn't hear a car drive by and have her stomach twist into knots. She didn't have to worry about strange voice mails or why Dan was suddenly so protective of his phone.

From where she sat, she could see the microwave on the counter beneath the cabinet that held their plates and bowls. It was nearly eight o’clock. Hopefully, Frerin’s niece was all right. Unless, of course, the niece was a ruse to get out of seeing her. That made her wince. It wouldn’t be the first time a guy lied to get out of seeing her, but she usually made it past a first date before being stood up.

Then the doorbell rang and a hint of shame swept through her. Not all men were Dan. She had to unlearn all of the self-preservation tactics being with him had left her with.

She stood and made her way to the front door, smiling as she peered through the peephole to see Frerin on the other side. She’d forgotten how cute he was, and for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, her belly felt alive with butterflies as she unlatched the chain, flipped the deadbolt and tugged open the door.

He jumped, but then smiled. “I know I’m really late,” he said by way of greeting, holding up a narrow paper bag, “but I brought wine so I hope that scores me a few points.”

“You’re late, but a sick baby is a perfectly good reason,” she pulled the door open wider, “and wine helps.”

“Good. I hope chardonnay works for you. Or did I just lose those points?”

“Chardonnay is fine, but the chicken might be a little cold.”

“Cold chicken is good.”

“Come on in.”

He stepped into the apartment as she said, “How is your niece?”

“She has a cold and probably reflux. She’ll be fine in time.” Frerin shrugged out of his black leather bomber jacket and draped it over his forearm. “Her parents might not survive it, though. Neither one of them is sleeping much and I’ve never been so thankful I didn't have twins.”

“That’s got to be rough on them, especially if they’re both sick. Here,” she reached for his jacket, “let me take that.”

She moved to the closet, pulling the door open as he said, “Yeah, their kids are not quite six months old, teething, and sick. The first year is always the roughest when it’s one baby. But two? No, thanks.”

“Right?” The jacket was heavier than it looked, and as she slid it onto a hanger, a softly spicy scent wafted from it. Frerin’s cologne, most likely. She couldn’t place the scent, but it was a nice one, whatever it was.

“How’s Alyssa feeling?”

Elena closed the closet door and gestured for him to come into the dining room. “She’s feeling better, but tired.”

“Yeah, the flu knocks you for a loop, even kids.”

“Sit down and I’ll fix you a plate.”

“Elena, just point me in the right direction and I’ll fix it myself. Sit down, have a glass of wine. You don’t need to wait on me.”

She smiled. “It’s only a plate.”

“I know.” He winked. “I can manage.”

“Okay. Then manage.”

“I will.”

“Would you like a glass?” She held up the bottle of chardonnay.

“I’d love one.”

She retrieved the corkscrew and two glasses, then came back to pop open the wine and poured it into both glasses. Then, she sank back into her chair and watched him fix a plate from the dishes on the table, then went into the kitchen. “Where do you keep your waxed paper?”

“Top drawer underneath the microwave.”

“Got it.”

A few minutes later, he settled in Alyssa’s chair. “See? I managed.”

Elena stiffened at the steam curling away from the potatoes and chicken on his plate. “Oh, damn… I told Alyssa I’d bring her a cup of tea. Excuse me a minute.”

“No problem.” He speared a bite of chicken. “I’ll be right here.”

She hurried back into the kitchen to set the kettle on the stove and turned on the burner, then came back to her chair. He smiled, lowering his fork. “This is delicious, Elena.”

“It’s just a roast chicken.”

“Yeah, but I do most of the cooking now and I am not a good cook by any stretch of the imagination.”

“Are your kids starving?”

“Jake might be.”

“How many do you have?”

“Three. Two boys, with a girl sandwiched between them. My daughter and Alyssa are in math class together. My oldest is a senior and my youngest is in the fifth grade over at the intermediate school.”

“Are you a weekend dad or full time?”

“Full time.” He lifted his wineglass for a sip. “My soon-to-be ex-wife gets them every other weekend for now.”

“For now?”

He lowered the glass, and sighed softly. “Our divorce is dragging out. She’s fighting me for custody. She should only know how I have to insist they go with her on her weekends.”

“How long have you been fighting over them?”

“Since day one.” He traced his finger along the glass’ stem. “They don't want to live with her. They’re in the house where they grew up and they’re old enough where I think a judge will ask them as well. But, Toni is stubborn, so…”

Elena didn't miss the way his jaw tightened with his words, the darkness that seemed to come to his eyes with them. “Can I ask what happened?”

“Sure.” He shrugged. “It’s nothing earth-shattering. Married too young. Kids too soon. We kidded ourselves we could work out all of the problems, but that was a lie, and then she had an affair. With a kid only a few years older than our son.”

Elena didn't know how to respond to that. What could she say? He said it bluntly, with almost no emotion in his voice, but at the same time, it hit her far harder. “What?”

“Yeah.” He rubbed his bearded chin with one hand, then lowered it to reach of his wineglass. “She was a stay at home mom until about two years ago. Then she decided she wanted to go back to school and finish her degree. Like I said, we got married way too young, and Flynn came only a few months after our wedding, so she didn't get the chance to finish college. The kids were old enough and I thought it was a great idea, so she went back. Then she gets paired up with this kid as her lab partner and the next thing I know…”

“An affair.”

“Yeah.” He met her gaze then, and offered up a humorless smile. “The kid’s younger brother was in school with Flynn. On the baseball team with him.”

Elena pressed her lips together at the soft words, at the pain that flashed in Frerin’s blue-gray eyes. “I can guess what happened,” she said softly.

“You’d probably be right. Flynn defended his mother and nearly found himself off the team as well.”

“Nearly?”

“Yeah. He got a two-day suspension, but the coach knows him, and knew what happened and let him stay on the team. It was a mess, but it’s all behind us now, thank Mahal. He’s doing a lot better than he was last spring.” He lifted the wineglass, took a sip, and lowered it to add, “And that’s a lot to drop on you and I’m sorry. You can just kick me under the table to shut me up.”

“No, it’s fine,” she said with a smile, shaking her head. “I appreciate the honestly. Too many guys would be all she’s crazy and fucked up and any other excuse they can offer to make themselves look good.”

He paused his chewing and just stared and for a moment, Elena wondered if she’d said too much. Then, he swallowed and with a shake of his head, said, “So, I shouldn’t tell you how you’re not like other women, then?”

“Only if you want me to toss out of my apartment.”

He smiled then. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

The kettle began whistling, so she said, “Excuse me,” and went to switch off the burner under the kettle and moved to grab the box of tea bags from the overhead cabinet. She set one in the cup she’d taken out for Alyssa and poured boiling water into it.

As she waited for it to steep, Frerin came into the kitchen, plate in hand. “I didn't freak you out, did I? I mean, I know my sad life story is really fascinating and all, but you didn't need me unloading like that.”

“It was fine,” she told him, leaning back against the counter. “And it’s not unloading. I asked because I wanted to know.”

“Yeah, but still…”

“No, no but still.” She smiled up at him as she took the tea bag from the cup with one hand and reached for the bear-shaped bottle of honey with the other. “I did want to know. And I’d like to know more about you.”

“More? Like what else?”

“Well, how long have you been a doctor? How long have you been at the hospital? What do you do when you’re not putting worried moms’ minds at ease with your incredible bedside manner?”

He chuckled. “I graduated med school ten years ago. Finished up my residency and boarded five years ago and I’ve been at the hospital for the entire time. I matched there out of med school, and they offered me my current position two years ago.”

“And what is your current position?”

“I run the pediatric department. So, when I’m not covering the ER or putting worried moms’ minds at ease, I’m stuck in budget meetings and buried under paperwork.”

“Poor Dr. Durin.”

“Hey, you should see what my in box looks like. I’m lucky I get out of my office alive some times.”

As he spoke he stepped closer, looming over her, all broad shoulders and wide chest. He was almost a foot taller than her, and seemed to block out the light from that single overhead fixture.

“It’s a good thing you’re surrounded by doctors then, huh?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He nodded, bending toward her. “It is. At times.”

He hesitated, but then leaned closer still. Her heart sped up, a thousand butterflies going wild in her stomach at the thought of his kissing her.

His lips were soft, his kiss gentle, and as he eased an arm about her waist, she did the same about his neck, and let her fingers creep up into his soft, wavy hair. His hand splayed across the small of her back, heat from his palm seeping into her as his lips parted, as his tongue eased between her lips to slick slowly along hers.

His beard scratched lightly against her skin. The arm about her waist tightened, the edge of the counter bit into her hip as he pressed her up against it. For the first time in well over a year, Elena’s body hummed with desire, her fingers twisted of their own into his hair, her back bowed and as her breasts pressed firmly into his broad chest, she didn't miss the way his breath hitched. His kiss deepened further, his tongue tangling with hers now, slow and thick and teasing, and the hand on her back slid down over her left butt cheek to cup it and gently kneaded it.

“Mom?”

Frerin pulled away, somewhat breathless as he nuzzled her and whispered, “The tea…”

Her head spun from the fire in that one kiss, the one that left her breathless as well, with a delicious heat swirling through her. Her face was warm as she cleared her throat and whispered, “I should probably take that to Alyssa.”

He drew back, his eyes heavy-lidded, his grin on the boyish side. “Probably.”

“I’ll—I’ll be right back.” She slowly pulled away from him, reaching for the mug with one hand, drawing her index finger along her bottom lip with the other. It had been a lifetime since anyone kissed her with that much fire, that much passion, and a hint of shyness swirled through her as she moved to the doorway. There, she paused, and smiled as he turned toward the sink and with a light whistle on his lips, ran hot water into the sink, then tackled the dishes in the basin.

“Where do you keep your dishtowels?” he asked, smiling at her over his left shoulder.

“The bottom drawer on your right. But, you really don't have—”

He winked. “Alyssa’s tea is going to be cold.”

She smiled back at him. “Well, far be it from me to stop you washing dishes.”

“They’re in good hands. Trust me.”

She ducked her head and made her way down to Alyssa’s room, which was dark except for the glow of the television on her tall dresser. “Did you get lost, Mom?”

“Funny. No, I didn’t. I had to let it steep, remember.”

Alyssa narrowed her eyes. “Why do I not believe that?”

“Lyss.”

“Okay, okay. You were letting it steep.” She sat up and flipped on the lamp on her bedside table. “Did Dr. Durin make it or are you still waiting for him?”

“No, he’s here. He’s doing the dishes.”

“What? What guy does dishes willingly?” Alyssa took the mug and sipped, then added, “Aside from one who’d probably hoping for a good night kiss.”

“Lyssa.”

“What? You should totally kiss him, Mom. I bet it feels weird because he’s got a beard.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never kissed anyone with a beard before.”

“Well, maybe tonight you’ll find out.”

Elena smiled as she smoothed the comforter across Alyssa’s lap. “Don’t you be worrying about that. You try to get some sleep.”

“I will, Mom.”

She took another sip of tea, then her expression grew serious—serious enough that Elena said, “What is it, Lyssa?”

“Well, I think you should let him kiss you. Then you can tell me if it’s scratchy and weird or not.”

“Why do you need to know this?”

“A few of the boys at school have beards, like Grayson Markham, and I don't think I’d mind it if he kissed me, but I think it would feel weird.”

Elena bit back a sigh. Her mother always described Alyssa as an old soul and more often than not, Elena agreed. However… “You’re not even fourteen years, honey. You should be thinking about school and homework, not kissing boys with beards. And how old is this boy, anyway?”

“He’s a junior. He just got his license on Monday.” Alyssa sighed softly. “And it doesn’t matter anyway. He’s got a girlfriend and even if he didn’t, he doesn’t know I’m alive.”

Thank God for small favors. But, of course, she could say that out loud, so Elena patted her through the covers. “Your time will come, honey. I promise you. Don’t be in such a hurry.”

“I know, but still…”

Elena smiled as she bent over to kiss the top of Alyssa’s head. “I know. Thirteen is a tough age. But, you’ll be grown up before you know it and I’m not at all ready for that, so let’s not hurry it along, okay?”

“Okay, Mom. You should get back to Dr. Hottie. He’s probably wondering if you’re ditching him.”

“In my own home?”

“You never know.”

Elena ruffled her hair. “I’ll come check on you in a little while. You should try to get some sleep.”

“I will.”

“Call me if you need anything.”

“I will.”

Elena flipped off the light and after a last look in over her shoulder, left the room, pulling the door by as she did. As she rounded the corner of the kitchen doorway, she smiled at the sight of Frerin stacking the clean plates in the cabinet.

Dr. Hottie, indeed.

“Tell me I’m not putting things in the wrong place,” he said without turning around.

“No, you’re fine.”

“Good. My former mother-in-law used to move things in my kitchen—would put them where she thought they should be instead of where we actually kept them, and it drove me insane.” He closed the cabinet and turned toward her, leaning back against the counter. “So, if I did that, please yell at me.”

“I’m still deciding where things should go, so I don't think there really is a wrong spot just yet.”

“Even so. Tell me, okay?”

“I will.”

“So,” he draped the towel over his shoulder as he towered over her, “I was thinking we should go out sometime, Elena. You free Sunday night? I know it’s a weird date night and ordinarily, I’d suggest something on Friday, but I’ve to work Friday.”

“I’m free most nights, so Sunday would be fine. It just can’t be too late, since I have to work on Monday.”

He smiled as he dried his hands on the towel. “Sunday it is. Dinner? Movie?”

“What’s playing?”

“I have no idea. I don't even remember the last time I was in a movie theatre.”

“Me, neither, so why don’t we skip the movie and just do dinner then?”

“Dinner sounds good to me.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “Dinner it is.”

“Good.” His eyes glittered in the soft glow of the single overhead light. “I’ll pick you up at seven?”

“You don’t sound so sure.”

“No, I’m sure.”

“Okay, so do you need to get home or do you want to maybe see what’s on television?”

“If you’re not throwing me out, I’ve got no where else to be.” He folded the dishtowel and laid it on the counter. “Do you watch The Walking Dead?”

“I thought that was on Sunday nights?”

“It is, and that’s why God invented On-Demand.”

“Oh, is that why?”

He nodded. “Oh, yeah. So, do you watch it?”

“No, but if you don’t mind my asking questions, I’m game.”

“I don't mind.”

“Then I’m game.”

#Gerard Butler #Frerin Durin #Frerin x OC #AU #Frerin Fic #Is it hot in here?#Romance #Modern AU #ER AU #Hospital AU #Richard Armitage #The Hobbit #Thorin Oakenshield #Hobbit Fin #Hobbit Fanfic #Fan fiction #The Hobbit fan fiction

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