#off to the side Liv is promising someone that she’ll help them
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
Astarion disapproves.
#astarion#bg3 astarion#astarion bg3#baldur's gate 3#baldurs gate fanart#bg3 fanart#off to the side Liv is promising someone that she’ll help them#figured I write enough about him having a bad time#I’d paint him also having a bad time#based on one of my screenshots I took in game#anyway here’s the feral rat bastard man#I love him#slothquisitordraws
45 notes
·
View notes
Text
Always The Babysitter - Chapter Thirteen: Dig Dug
Author: @harringtonstilinski Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) (eventually) Word Count: 1,406 Warnings: lil' bit of fluff, lil' bit of angst, the smallest mention of mews blood, nothing really; it's a pretty tame chapter lol, Smut: no | yes; A/N: Hi, friends! This chapter is a little bit on the shorter side. Steve and Dustin isn't really in this episode a whole lot, hahaa. Remember, if you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊
prev | current chapter | next
season masterlist
series masterlist
series playlist
Dustin somehow was able to contain Dart last night long enough for us all to sleep and not get gutted like our poor cat. Mom was outside looking for our dead pet cat, so Dustin and I came up with a plan that we were absolutely sure would work.
“Okay, I’m gonna pretend to call someone from Loch Nora while Mom is still outside,” Dustin said. “Tap me on the shoulder when she comes back in.”
“Alright,” I sighed, feeling bad for our mom. “She’s so worried and delirious, she’ll believe anything at this point.” Looking off to the side, I crossed my arms and sighed once again, being the lookout for our dear mother. When she came inside, I quickly tapped his shoulder, letting him know it was game time.
“Dusty, Livvie, you’re sure she’s not in either one of your rooms?” Mom asked.
Dustin held a finger out to her before saying, “Uh-huh,” as I said, “I haven’t seen her since I went to school yesterday.”
She came and wrapped me in a hug as Dustin was on the phone pretending to talk to one of the neighbors. I had to put my tears to the test as I willed them to come to my waterline as Dustin continued his pretend phone conversation.
“Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Thank you so much, Mr. McCorkle. Thank you so much. You are a true lifesaver. Alright, this was great. Thank you. Alright. Have a good one. Bye-bye, now. Alright. You, too.” He hung up and looked mine and Mom’s way. “Alright. Great news.”
“They found her?” Mom asked, voice straining from tears.
“No, but they saw her wandering around Loch Nora.”
“How did the poor baby get all the way out there?” Mom cried.
“I don’t know, Mama,” I said. “Lost, I suppose. But they’re gonna look for her, I’m sure.”
“Yes,” Dustin said. “And Liv and I will stay here just in case they call again.”
“And you’re gonna go help look?” I asked. “Okay? Okay?”
When Mom leaned in to give Dustin a hug, he said, “Give us hugs, give us hugs.”
Mom gave me a hug as I said, “Go get her.” Pulling away, I added, “You’re gonna find her, alright?”
“We can find her.”
“We can find her,” Mom repeated.
“I love you,” Dustin and I said, both of us blowing her a kiss.
“I love you both.”
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
“Mama, go,” I said.
She closed the door behind her before I looked at Dustin with a deadpan expression, voice laced with it as I said, “You’re going straight to hell.”
“I know. Now, come on,” he said. “We got work to do.”
I went outside with him to help him open the storm cellar, before moving back inside and grabbing old baseball gear, and some bologna, placing it on the floor in front of Dustin’s door before moving outside to the storm cellar.
As Dustin put on his old catcher’s gear, I heard my landline ringing. Quickly, I went into my room to answer it with a breathless, “Hello?”
“I need you to help me with something.”
“I can’t right now. I’m helping Dustin.”
“With what?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Liv–”
“Steve–” I sighed. “I promise I’ll tell you later, okay?”
“Okay. Uhm, be safe.”
“Thanks. I’m gonna need it.” When I hung up the phone, I heard Dustin repeat, “Oh, my god,” which was my new cue to run like hell out of the house and into our wooden shed, “shit, shit, shit,” on repeat out of both of our mouths.
Looking out in between the wood panels of our shed, Dustin said, “Come on, come on, I know you’re hungry.”
Dart came out of the house, following the trail of bologna I left out.
“Yes,” Dustin said. “Yes, yes, yes.” He repeated the word to himself, moving a couple feet over from me to look out between the panels of the door.
I was watching from where I was standing as Dart moved towards the cellar, eating the piece of bologna before turning to face us, causing Dustin and I to jump back, saying, “Shit!”
We looked at each other before moving to look between the panels again, not expecting Dart to be a lot closer this time.
“Fuck,” I exclaimed, turning to face Dustin. I breathed a heavy sigh, whispering to him, “Get rid of him!”
With a triumphant yell, Dustin charged out of the shed towards Dart, hitting him with the hockey stick he had in his hands. I ran after him, helping him close the cellar, Dart banging against the door once.
We both laid on the doors, Dustin on his stomach, and me on my back, our breathing heavy as he said, “I’m sorry. You ate our cat.”
~~~
A few minutes later saw us burying our cat while Dustin tried to get ahold of one of the boys before we moved inside to clean his bedroom carpet that was covered in Mews’ blood.
“Alright, it’s Dustin, again,” he said. “Seriously, I have a Code Red.”
From his headset I could hear, “Could you please shut up?”
“Erica?” my brother and I said.
“Erica, is Lucas there?” he asked. “Where is he?”
“Don’t know, don’t care,” Erica said.
“Is he- is he with Mike?”
“Like I said, I don’t know, I don’t care.”
“Please tell him it’s super important. Please tell him that I have a Code–”
“Code Red?”
“Yep, Code Red. Exactly.”
“Mmm-hmm,” she sassed. “I got a code for you instead. It’s called code shut-your-mouth.”
“Er-Erica?” Dustin said, looking at me.
“She turn the radio off?” I asked.
“Yep.” He got up, causing me to stand and follow him.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re riding to Mike’s to look for anyone,” he said, walking out of the house and straight for his bike.
I got on my own bike, following him to Mike’s. Once we got there, we both got off our bikes and walked to the front door, where Dustin rang the doorbell about five times before Mr. Wheeler answered the door, looking very bored.
“Your line has been busy for over two hours, Mr. Wheeler. Do you realize this?” Dustin said.
“Oh, I do realize,” Mr. Wheeler replied.
“Is Mike home?”
“No.”
“No?” Dustin said. “Well, where the hell is he?”
“Karen, where’s our son?” Mr. Wheeler yelled.
“Will’s!”
“Will’s,” Mr. Wheeler repeated, going to close the door.
I sighed. “No one’s picking up.”
“Nancy,” Dustin asked. “What about Nancy?”
“Karen, where’s Nancy?”
“Allie’s!”
“Allie’s,” Mr. Wheeler said. “Our children don’t live here anymore. You didn’t know that?”
“Seriously?” Dustin and I said.
“Am I done here?”
“Son of a bitch,” we said in unison. “Ya’know, you’re really no help at all.” We walked away, hearing Mr. Wheeler’s “Language!” aimed at our backs, my hand waving in the air to… well, wave him off.
Dustin and I walked back towards our bikes before I heard a car pull up, the all too familiar maroon BMW coming to a stop. Steve got out with a bouquet of flowers, saying to himself, “Listen… I’ve been thinking… I love you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry? What the hell am I sorry for?”
“Steve?” I asked, confused, walking towards him.
He looked my way, stopping his walk to the Wheeler’s front door, the same confused look on his face that I was sure I was sporting staring right back at me.
“Are those for Mr. or Mrs. Wheeler?” Dustin asked, walking towards Steve.
The older teen looked at the flowers then back at Dustin, saying, “No.”
My brother took the flowers from him, and handed them to me, saying, “Good,” before walking towards the car.
I just stood there with Steve as he said, “Hey, what the hell? Hey!”
“Nancy’s not home,” I said, holding the flowers down at my side.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“Doesn’t matter,” Dustin said. “We have bigger problems than your love life. You still got that bat?”
“Bat? What bat?”
“The one with the nails,” I said, shaking the flowers a little.
“Yeah, why?” Steve asked.
“I’ll explain it on the way,” Dustin and I said, my brother getting in the front seat.
“Now?” Steve said, grabbing my hand on the way to his car.
“Backseat,” I said to Dustin, pointing to it.
Dustin stayed in the front, so I sighed, saying, “Why am I always stuck in the backseat?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
prev | current chapter | next
season masterlist
series masterlist
series playlist
~~~
A/N 2: hi, friends! what do we think about hop trying to keep liv's language in check? please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox.
Additional Note:
~~~
Forever / Everything Taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24 @stixnstripesworld @fandom-princess-forevermore @quanticobae @mischiefandi @kellyashcroft @lauren-novak
Steve Harrington Taglist: @madaboutjoe
If you’re tagged and didn’t want to be, please let me know.
~~~
*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski.
All characters, story lines, and plot aside from y/n and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of The Duffer Brothers.
*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.
No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.
Posted on January 30, 2024
#steve harrington x olivia henderson#steve x olivia#steve harrington x oc#steve x oc#steve harrington#olivia henderson (oc)#stevia#always the babysitter#atb#dustin henderson#lucas sinclair#will byers#mike wheeler#max mayfield#erica sinclair#nancy wheeler#jonathan byers#joyce byers#chief jim hopper#eleven hopper#season two episode five#original character#home slice olivia was all me#stranger things imagine#stranger things fandom#stranger things fanfiction#stranger things fanfic#steve harrington imagine#steve harrington fanfiction#steve harrington fanfic
22 notes
·
View notes
Note
Some hc's for rita dating someone who is really reckless on the job always acting before they think please
Assuming this is for a detective!reader cause that makes the most sense for this situation?
When it comes to the legalities of it, Rita doesn’t really care all too much. Hell, if it’s a case you’re working on that she’s defending, she REALLY doesn’t care if you’re out there without a warrant because she can get it thrown out in a matter of seconds. You definitely get more than enough lectures on that from Liv, especially once your relationship is disclosed Liv brings up that it looks like you’re doing it on purpose because of your gf (which obvi you aren’t, you’ve been doing this shit long before you met Rita)
When it comes to doing stupid shit in the field involving a perp, like, putting yourself in harms way, negotiating them to let a kid go and take you instead, or walking into something without your vest. Rita’s livid. She knows that part of it is your job, but you have a tendency to go above and beyond. She knows that you’re doing it to help the victims, and to save their lives, and that you’re trained for it, but she absolutely hates it with all of her being, and honestly, blames Liv/your parter (or lack there of if you went in alone) the first few times.
The first time you land in the hospital she’s absolutely freaked out, a hot mess of tears, instantly calls for a continuance and races down there to be by your side. You insist that you’re fine, that it was just a scrape of a bullet, you barely felt it. She wants you to take time off, properly heal, time where she’ll pamper you to shit because she wants you to be healthy. You fight her on it and end up back on desk duty far before she would like you to be, but she makes sure your partner keeps a closer eye on you (and honestly, they’re low key scared of her, so they do exactly that).
By the third time it happens, you at least had your vest on, but still land in the hospital. By this time, she’s not racing down there, she’s finishing up her day, and meeting you when she’s finished, whether thats in the hospital or at your apartment, and she’s much less impressed all “i thought we talked about this and said no more dangerous stunts?”
Each time it happens you try and explain it through your eyes/from your side, but you usually earn a hard glare and a threat of her talking to Liv to have you benched if it happens again.
It isn’t until the time you take a nasty fall from a fire escape, and if it wasn’t for Carisi you’re sure your neck would be broken that you realize maybe you should think a little bit before you jump into action. You and Carisi keep the near death part to yourselves, but Rita can see that you’re shaken and eventually gets it out of you (she then buys Carisi something really fancy for keeping his word of keeping you safe)
It isn’t until Rita puts herself between her client and a perp (when she’s defending someone good/in family court/etc) and nearly takes a hit that you catch yourself being all “what the fuck were you thinking?!” You’re halfway through your rant when she gives you an “i told you so” look as you realize you’re giving the lecture you usually were on the receiving end and finally see it from her perspective, of how scared you were and promise that you’ll *actually* behave more from now on.
#rita calhoun#rita calhoun x reader#law and order svu#rita calhoun head canons#rita calhoun x Detective!reader
41 notes
·
View notes
Text
“Helpless” *Part 8*
Note: I really wanted to get to the REAL crescendo, but it was already getting long so-- look forward to it! I promise it’s worth this work up.
Mater List:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 9
Tag List:
@wanniiieeee
@chasingeverybreakingwave
@word-scribbless
@dumauier
-----
The rings felt like they went on forever; one, two, three, four….SHIT please please please…
Hello you’ve reached Rafael Barba…
You dropped the phone, tears stinging your eyes. You debated texting him, but what would you say?
“Hey Raf so my insane roommate is holding me hostage with a gun, so if you could call me back that’d be greeeeaaat!”
He had to answer, he just had to. You didn’t know what you’d do if you were forced to take Arianna alone. Actually yes you did, you’d go with her. And you’d never see Rafael again. Maybe if you texted him.
“CALL ME. ASAP. 911.” send.
Not 30 seconds later, your phone was vibrating in your hand.
“Miss me already?” You heard him smiling through the phone, but there was no time.
“Raf, listen to me. I--I-I….God I don’t even--” You got up and started pacing the room.
“Wow okay calm down, breathe carino. What’s going on? Was Arianna upset?”
“Yeah you could say that,” you tried remaining calm. “She’s holding me hostage,”
“....What do you mean by she’s ‘holding you hostage’?”
“I mean she put a gun to my face and told me to pack all my shit because we’re leaving New York forever!” You shook your hands, despite the fact that he couldn’t see you.
“WHAT?! Please tell me you’re being dramatic--”
“Do I SOUND like I’m joking, Rafael?”
“I don’t understand, you said that Arianna would never--”
“Yeah well, I said a lot of things. And I really didn’t think she would hurt me. Actually I don’t entirely know she’ll actually use it on me, but I’m not about to take any chances,” You twisted your hair in your fingers nervously.
“So how are you calling me?”
“I told her I’m packing,” You started putting clothes in one of the boxes Arianna had given you.
“You’re going with her?!”
“What choice do I have right now, Raf?! What did you want me to say ‘No Arianna I’m sorry I can’t do that, please shoot me right here,’?” You scoffed, grabbing more stuff and tossing it in the box.
“Okay I’m calling Liv--”
“NO! You can’t send cops here. I'm not entirely sure she won’t shoot cops. I’ve never seen her like this before,” You stopped what you were doing and put both hands on the phone.
“Ok well I’m coming back there then--”
“NO, she will ABSOLUTELY shoot you,” You hissed into the phone.
“Then what the hell am I supposed to do?!”
“I DON’T KNOW!!!! I didn’t...I didn’t think that far. I just-- needed your voice,” you started to cry, sinking down to the floor.
“Y/N….” Rafael’s voice tried to soothe you, he hated hearing you cry.
“Y/N? Do you want this straightener?” You heard Arianna open the door, and you dropped the phone.
“Uh….Um, what?” you poked your head up over your bed.
The straightener? Yeah sure,” you faked your best fake smile.
“Are you crying?” Arianna stepped into the room and walked towards you. Panicked she’d see you talking to Rafael. You pressed END on the call and slid the phone under the bed.
“Um, yeah Arianna my best friend just held a fucking gun to my face, that tends to be upsetting,” you snapped.
“Aw, sweetie. I’m sorry. You know I didn’t wanna do that,” she offered you a hand.
“Right,” you rolled your eyes but let her help you up.
“I didn’t! I just...I need you to do this, okay? It’s for the best,” she assured you.
“Look Arianna I’m already doing what you want, can you please at least leave me alone to...come to terms with it?” you snapped again, grabbing another box and shoving stuff in it.
“Sure baby girl, I’m sorry,” She nodded and headed towards the door, but her eyes noticed something on the floor.
“Hmm...I guess you won’t need this right now,” She bent down and picked up your phone that had slid straight through to the other side when you tossed it. Damn wood floors!!!
“I...I…” you had no words; this was like a nightmare. Even worse, it began vibrating in Arianna’s hand.
“Well well well, someone’s popular,” She smirked, answering the phone on speaker.. “Y/N’s phone!”
“Ari? Ari, where's Y/N?” you could hear Rafael’s voice.
“She’s right here, abogado. She’s busy right now,” she spoke into the phone, looking at your sad face.
“What did you do to her?!”
“Me? What did YOU do to her?! Two days ago she was my ride or die, now you stick your tongue in her ear and she wants to run off into the sunset with you,” she yelled into the phone.
“Raf I’m fine,” You called out.
“See? She’s fine. I would never hurt her. I’m taking her away so you can’t hurt us anymore,” she scoffed.
“She’s not yours!”
“SHE IS MINE,” Arianna screamed, then looked at you shocked she had just lost it like that.
“I’m sorry, babe. I mean you’re your own person, you’re just….my best friend,”
“Yeah sure that’s what you meant,” you could just hear Rafael rolling his eyes.
“SHUT UP. I won’t hurt my best friend but I will hurt you, and anyone you decide to send after us,”
“Look, Arianna. I get it, you’re scared. You feel backed into a corner, and you’re just reacting. I understand…”
“Are you seriously trying to use the ‘hostage speech’ bullshit on me? We know ALL about mind games, asshole,”
“No! I’m--Okay fine kind of, but I just--- look I swear to God I will leave you alone, just let Y/N go and you can leave town,”
“No no no, see I can’t do that. I need her,”
“Yeah you need me to manipulate people for you,”
“Really, Y/N? I could do a lot of things for money,” She acted hurt. “I just want the one person in this world who I love with me,”
“You don’t love me Ari, I don’t know if you ever did,” you bit your lip.
“OF COURSE I DO!! How can you say that?!” she cried.
“You don’t do THIS to someone you love, Ari!!” you screamed.
“Desperate times, babe,” she nodded her head.
“NO! Not desperate times! Nobody is threatening you with ANYTHING, Arianna!! It’s in your head! We both already told you, nobody is going to come after you,”
“I swear,” Rafael chimed in.
“SHUT UP, the both of you!” Ari screamed. “Look, I’m sorry that you two started some kind of little rom com, but if my life has taught me anything is you never trust ANYONE, let alone a COP,”
“He’s not a cop, he's a lawyer,” you muttered.
“Really? You wanna argue semantics with me right now?”
“She’s just nervous, Ari calm down don’t do anything stupid,”
“I’m not going to hurt her, dickhead. She’s my collateral,” Again, Arianna tripped over herself after speaking before thinking.
“I mean, my best friend,” “Look I’m sorry, but she stays with me. We’re a packaged deal, and you’re not going to come between us anymore. Lose this number,”
“No no no Ari--!!!” Rafael’s voice was cut off by the smashing of your phone all over the floor of the apartment.
“God DAMMIT Ari!!! Really?!” you screamed, gathering the pieces as if they would materialize in your hands.
“I’m sorry, that was harsh baby girl. I’ll buy you a new one when we get outta here, I promise,”
“I don’t want a-- you have lost it, Arianna,” tears choked your throat angrily.
“Yeah, well, it is what it is. And now, thanks to your little shenanigans, we have to speed this up,” Arianna walked back to her room and started putting her full boxes in the living room.
“Be ready in an HOUR, and whatever is not packed is getting left here!”
---
After an hour, all of your belongings were divided up into 3 boxes in your now mostly bare living room.
“What are you gonna do about the furniture, just leave it?” You gestured to the still fully furnished living room. All of your knick knacks may have been packed, but there was still a giant TV and a couch along with a futon and a chaise lounge.
“Don’t you worry about it, I’ve got it covered,” Arianna replied, gathering more of her boxes. How did she have so much more stuff than you?
“Covered HOW?” you raised an eyebrow.
“I have people,” she simply replied.
“What people?”
“The same people that are going to help us out until we find somewhere to live,” she explained.
“We HAVE somewhere to live, Ari,” you gestured to the apartment.
“Not anymore we don’t,” she shook her head.
“Why is it you know so many ‘people’ but I was never allowed to have friends other than you?”
“Pfft allowed, Y/N? Really? I’m not your mother,” she rolled her eyes.
“Could’ve fooled me…” you muttered.
“Look it’s not my fault you don’t know how to interact with human beings unless you’re scamming them or falling in love with them,”
“That is so--”
“Yo Arianna,” a guy in a leather jacket appeared in your doorway. He couldn’t be more stereotypical, his hair slicked back, a cigarette in his left ear, a red bandana sticking out of his jean pocket.
“Hey love, just take it all downstairs. We’ll be down in a second,” She sweetly told the guy, blowing him air kisses as he grabbed a box.
“...Are you for real with that guy?” You tried not to laugh.
“HEY. Frankie is a nice guy,” Arianna defended him.
“Yeah, a nice guy who’s probably killed ten people,” you rolled your eyes.
“Not TEN, maybe two…”
“Oh my god,”
“Just...shut up and grab a box,” she hit you and gestured towards the boxes.
You grabbed a box of your stuff and headed downstairs, where you were met with three more thug looking guys.
“I don’t like this Ari…” you whispered.
“Hey, we’re safe with them,” she assured you.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” you muttered, looking down the street. You knew Rafael would come for you; you hated that he would, but you knew it.
You just hope it wouldn’t be too late.
#rafael barba#rafael barba x you#rafael barba x reader#rafael barba imagine#law and order special victims unit#law and order svu#law and order svu fanfiction#helpless
29 notes
·
View notes
Text
This is the night, it’s a beautiful night and we call it bella notte
Summary : When just a tiny push was what missed to make Sonny ask the new SVU detective out.
Pairing : Sonny Carisi x reader
Warnings : None I think
Word Count : 3 721
Author’s note : For the Anonymous who asked for the prompt : “Somewhere deep down, there’s good in you. Pretty far down”. I hope you will like it. Slightly inspired by Lady and the Tramp at some point. Pick a prompt or two or three and send an ask and a character or you can ask for stories with original characters Don’t forget that feedback is appreciated and really important.
Song of the title : Bella Notte - Ruby Summer
Masterlist
Buy me a ☕
“Somewhere deep down, there’s good in you. Pretty far down”, detective Y/N Y/L/N says, looking at the teenage girl at the other side of the table in the interrogation room.
The dark haired, tanned skin girl wears a NYPD hoodie and a pair of sweatpants that the detective in front of her gave her when they both arrived at the precinct two hours ago, in replacement of her ripped one. She was covered in blood and bruises.
“Listen Sira, if you don’t tell me what happened and who did this to you, I can’t help you. I can even help you to find your family again and make sure that something like that doesn’t happen to you again. So, tell me. Like I said, I know that there is good in you, even if it’s deep down. If you help me, I can talk to my ADA and we can find a solution if you don’t want to go back with your parents. I’d do anything to help you but in exchange, you have to help me.”
Sira looks at Y/N. She’s pretty, she thinks, with her Y/E/C eyes and her mid-long Y/H/C hair, her pink lips, and she looks brave too, what happened to me would never had happened to her. On the other hand, Y/N wants to slap herself, she referred to Carisi as “my” ADA, instead of “the precinct’s ADA”, feeling her cheeks blush. But it seems that Sira didn’t notice and she’s glad to have her back on two-way mirror, so nor her captain or the ADA would have noticed her slight blush at the mention of him.
“I’m starving”, Sira finally states after a few minutes. “I want to eat, and then, I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
“Well, that’s a first step”, Y/N says, rising from her chair. “What do you want ? Chicken ? Ham ? Tuna ? Veggie ?”
“Tuna, with a Cherry Coke please.”
“I’ll be back in ten minutes”, Y/N tells her, taking her notebook with her and exiting the room.
Meanwhile, in Olivia’s office, the captain and the ADA are looking inside of the interrogation room, watching, and listening to Y/N trying to convince Sira to tell her what they need.
“She’s good”, Sonny turns to his former captain when he sees Y/N looking at Sira, who seems to be thinking about the detective’s offer.
“Why do you think I hired her, Carisi ? Not because she’s good looking. I mean, she’s a beautiful young woman, but that’s not the reason why I hired her”, Olivia tells him.
“Where did you say she worked before ?”
“Interpol.”
“Why would an Interpol agent leave her post to work for NYPD ?”, Sonny questions.
“I don’t know”, Olivia sighs, “Maybe she was only tired of it”, she shrugs.
“I’ll be back in ten minutes”, they hear Y/N say to Sira, making them looking back in the interrogation room, where they see Y/N getting up from her chair, her notebook in her hands.
Olivia turns off the intercom when Y/N opens the door.
“It seems that you managed to convince her to tell us things.”
“Well, I can be very persuasive apparently”, Y/N answers to her chief. “I’ll probably need your help for her when she tells me what we need to know”, she adds, turning to Sonny. “I have to go for a few minutes, she’s hungry and I promised her a tuna sandwich and a Cherry Coke.”
“You should eat something too”, Liv tells Y/N, removing her glasses and sitting behind her desk.
“Yes mom”, Y/N replies, smiling playfully at Olivia.
Y/N exists her captain’s office and goes to her desk to take some money in her wallet, Sonny looking at her from the inside of Olivia’s office.
“You should go with her, instead of watching her from afar. As she said, she’ll need you for Sira. And you should eat. I’m sure she would be glad of the presence of her ADA”, Olivia says, smiling to herself, insisting on the “her ADA” to give Sonny a hint.
“See ya later Captain”, Sonny grabs his suite jacket before taking the same way Y/N took two minutes before.
“Those two, not even seeing the oblivious”, Olivia sighs, watching Sonny jogging towards the elevators.
A few minutes later, and thanks to his long legs, Sonny manages to catch Y/N at the store down the street.
“Hey, do you mind if I join you ?”, he asks her, after he spots her in the snack area.
“Not at all”, she smiles up at him, hands full of food. “Sonny can you take a can of Cherry Coke up there please ? My hands are kinda occupied and I’m too tiny to grab one.”
“Sure, let me help you”, he says, taking her burden, in his big hands after grabbing some food for himself. “Do you intend to nourish a regiment ?”, he playfully questions, looking at all the food Y/N took.
“I don’t know how long Sira stayed without eating, so I might get carried away with all of this”, she motions to the food. “But I rather have too much than not enough.”
“My treat”, he says when they reach the checkout and Y/N takes her wallet out of her purse.
“You don’t have to”, she looks up at him. “I can pay for my food and Sira’s.”
“Let me buy it for you, it’s my pleasure.”
“Dominick Carisi, you’re too good to be true”, Y/N says, taking a shopping bag out of her purse to put the supplies in it.
Sonny takes the bag of food from Y/N’s hand, his fingers grazing hers, and without knowing it, they both feel their cheek heat up at the light touch of their skins.
“Do ya think she’ll tell you want you want to know ?”
“I hope so. I just want to help her, she seems lost and she needs us to help her.”
“Us ?”, Sonny raises one of his eyebrows.
“Yes, I thought that, as you are the ADA, you could help me with her, or help her with me. I… I just…”
“I see what you mean, and for the record, I’ll help you, don’t worry”, he smiles down at her.
“Thank you, Sonny.”
Back at the precinct, the detective, followed by the ADA, goes back in the interrogation room.
“Here for you”, Y/N says, handing the food to Sira.
“Thanks”, the teenager takes the sandwich from the Y/H/C haired woman in front of her, rips open the package and starts to devour it, barely taking time to chew.
“Slow down, you’ll choke”, the detective tells her protégée, putting down the can of Cherry Coke in front of her, along with a bottle of water.
“Sorry, I was hungry, haven’t eat for three days”, the teenage explains, her mouth full of bread and tuna, while Sonny and Y/N take a sit in front of her.
“Sira, I’d like to introduce you to someone. This is Dominick Carisi, the Assistant District Attorney I told you about.”
“Hey !”, she stops eating for a few seconds, just to gulp her Coke. “He’s cute, I understand better when you said he’s your ADA, and why you blushed”, Sira shoots at Y/N, with a sly grin on her face, looking at the two grown up in front of her turning red.
“No, I… Hum… When I said my ADA, I meant the precinct’s ADA. He’s a former cop, he used to work here before I arrived, so he knows everyone pretty well”, Y/N explains to put up a front.
“So Sira, detective Y/L/N told me you probably will have something to tell us. In exchange, as she said, we can help you. This is particularly important to be sure that what happened to you, never happened to anyone else.”
“Okay, I’ll tell you”, the teenager says.
And she told them everything she knows. The name of her pimp, how many girls he has, what he makes them do and the way he treats them when they refuse. By the end of the day, Y/N has enough information to arrest the man.
“Well, it should be enough to arrest him and lock him up for a while”, she tells Sonny after Sira left with a social worker that will take her in a shelter for the night, while she’s walking back to her desk in order to collect her things.
“You did a good job there Y/N.”
“Thanks.”
“Wanna have a drink ?”
“No, not tonight, I’m tired, and to be honest, I would have rather go with the others and arrest that bastard, but Liv said I earned my rest, so I’m going home”, she smiles up at him.
It’s now or never, Sonny thinks, gathering his courage.
“Y/N ?”
“Yes, Sonny ?”
“Would you like to have dinner with me on Friday night ?”
“Dominick Carisi, are you asking me out ?”
“Yes, I’m totally asking you out.”
“I’d love to”, she answers. “Friday night, I finish at six. I’ll text you my address and you pick me around seven ?”
“Sounds good to me”, he answers.
“See you on Friday night then”, she kisses his cheek and leaves the SVU floor, a smile on her face, leaving behind her a grinning Sonny, who reaches with his hand the spot when she kissed him.
“Are you okay Carisi ?”, Olivia asks, coming behind him.
“More than okay”, he answers, putting his suit jacket on one shoulder and going out, humming.
Friday night seems not to come fast enough for Sonny, who barely had a glimpse on Y/N for the rest of the week as she’s busy with the victims and Sira’s testimony. She made an amazing work, what he mentioned to the court, while she was trying to reach all the families of those girls, kidnapped to serve as sex slaves. Most of the families were glad to find their children again, some other were unreachable, but he knew that Y/N wouldn’t abandon those girls until she finds a solution for the last one.
“I’ll never be out of her”, she complains to Amanda, who’s finishing some paperwork at her desk.
“You’ve got something planed tonight ?”, the blonde detective asks her friend.
“Yep, going on a date with Carisi”, Y/N answers, making Amanda spitting the water she’s drinking.
“What ?!”, she says, wiping her chin and moping her desk. “You’re freaking kidding me ?”
“I don’t.”
“Jeez, he finally made his mind up to ask you out, was about time. I was tired to see him staring at you with blankly, and even if you didn’t notice it yourself, you definitely had a thing for the guy too.”
“Thing is, I’ll never be out and ready for him to pick me at seven… It’s almost six thirty…”, Y/N sighs.
“Okay, you know what, give me your size and there’s a store down the street, I’ll pick a dress for you, something that could do with your faux leather jacket and the shoes you’re wearing, and I’ll text Carisi to take you here instead of at your apartment. I’ll help you get ready and I’ll even help you to finish that case. Which girl do you have to finish with ?”
“Sheena Cassady, she’s the last one, I couldn’t reach her parents yet. I don’t understand if they don’t want to see her or don’t want her back or if there is another reason, but I don’t want to give up on her.”
“Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be back to doll you up for Carisi. Don’t worry, I have some make up in my desk, just in case.”
Y/N just nods, not really knowing how to stop or answer Amanda who rushes outside of the precinct. She sighs and returns to her work, still trying to reach for Sheena’s parents. After ten minutes of tone in her ear, she decides to stop, feeling bad for Sheena. The detective gets up from her desk and goes straight to the break room, where Sheena is waiting for her to know if she has news from her family.
“Hey Sheena, I hope you’re okay”, Y/N says, entering the room.
“It’s getting a little long detective Y/L/N, did you manage to call my folks ?”, she asks.
“I’m sorry sweetie”, the older woman apologizes. “It seems that I can’t have them on the phone. I tried the neighbors too, but nothing. I’ll have to call social services again for you, and I’m sorry.”
“That’s alright, don’t worry, I knew that they would probably don’t want me back”, Sheena shrugs.
“Okay, I’m back”, Amanda shouts from behind, going to the break room. “And I’ve got the perfect dress for you”, she adds, pulling a wine-red dress, with a fake leather brown belt. “I know you have a pair of black ballet flat in one of your drawers. Just a little make up, and he’ll fall at your feet.”
“I heard you had a date with the cute ADA”, Sheena smiles at Y/N.
“Yes, I do, I hope this will be okay.”
“I’m sure it’ll be. He seems to be a decent guy”, the teenage adds.
“He’s more than decent”, Amanda answers. “Hey Sheena, wanna help me doll Y/N up ?”
The young girl nods and rises from the couch, a smile on her face, following the two detectives in the bathroom, picking up Y/N shoes on the way. A few minutes later, Sonny, dressed in his blue three-piece suite, goes out of the elevator, looking around for Y/N, or at least Amanda to tell her where the Y/H/C haired woman is.
“What’s up Carisi ? I heard you got yourself a date with Miss Interpol”, Fin greets him, clasping his shoulder. “Be nice to her, she’s a great girl.”
“I know Fin, don’t worry I’ll treat her well”, Sonny responds to his former coworker and friend.
“Great, you’re here !”, Amanda states coming back to the bathroom, Sheena on her heels.
“What are you doing here ?”, Sonny asks his friend.
“Me ? Just playing fairy godmother for your date”, she just replies.
“You’re playing fairy godmother, you ? That’s new. Not a role I would see you in”, Sonny mocks her, but his voice fades when Y/N passes the door of the bullpen, leaving him speechless.
“We should have made a princess out of her before, I’ve never seen Carisi shutting up that long before”, Fin says, from behind the still silent ADA. “You look stunning Y/N”, he adds, moving towards his coworker to have a better view of her.
He’s right, Sonny thinks, she’s stunning. Rollins really worked well.
“Hey.”
“Hey. You look, magnificent.”
“Thanks Sonny. You don’t look that bad either”, Y/N smiles at him.
“I booked a table in an Italian restaurant if it’s okay for you.”
“Perfect. Have a nice night everyone”, she waves at her colleagues, before taking the tall and handsome Italian’s arm.
From the precinct to the restaurant, Sonny acts like a real gentleman with Y/N, who tries to remember if she already has been treated that well by a man once in her life. Sonny is perfect, holding the door, letting her walk in or out before him, pulling her chair once they’re settled at their table.
“May I ask you something ?”, Sonny questions while they’re eating their pasta plates.
“Sure”, Y/N answers, taking a bite of her pasta dish, and humming in delight.
“Why did you leave your last job ?”
“I felt like, something wasn’t here anymore. A sense of weariness. I was tired. Tired of being constantly chasing after bad guys.”
“Well that didn’t really change”, Sonny laughs.
“You’re absolutely right about that. I was never home, I didn’t really have a social life, couldn’t really see my family, couldn’t have a love life”, she adds, looking up at him. “So, after seven years, I decided to resign. I wanted stability, to see my family more often, finally settle down somewhere, have a pet, find someone to spend my life with, maybe getting married and have children. It was hard for me, I didn’t have the impression to be useful. When I left, I took some vacations, because I really needed it. I came back here, looked for a place to live and one day, my former boss sent me an email with a job opportunity, saying that SVU needed a detective and that I would be perfect for the job. And to be honest I love it, I finally have the impression to do something good, to be useful.”
“And he was right”, Sonny states, “you’re damn good with the victims, the way you investigate. How you managed to convince Sira, Sheena and all the other girls to testify. How it made possible to dismantle that network. You’re an amazing cop.”
“Thanks Sonny, but to be honest, I would never have managed to convince Sira if you refused to help me.”
“I can’t refuse you anything”, he blurts, taking another bite of his plate, before realizing what he just said. “I mean…”
“That’s okay Sonny, I’m not going to demand you to offer me a ring just because you gave me a compliment”, Y/N says, taking a sip of the Italian wine in her glass, watching Sonny turning red. “Can I taste those ?”, she suddenly points at his plate.
“Sure, be my guest.”
Y/N leans a little over her plate to sink her fork in Sonny’s, who wraps a bit of his own spaghetti on his fork. Neither of them notice that one particularly long spaghetti wrapped itself on both forks. And the particular way this restaurant places people, helps a lot in what happens next. As they both eat the spaghettis, musicians come around, distracting them from looking at each other, the spaghetti disappearing in both their mouths, until their lips are pressing against each other. They both move back, looking at each other with a small smile, and start to eat again, in a comfortable silence.
After dinner, Sonny takes Y/N to an Italian neighborhood party in East Village. The street is full of people, music and there are some attractions here and there. A carrousel, a Ferris wheel, a band playing music and people dancing around the square. Fingers intertwined, Sonny and Y/N, wander through the fair, their eyes trying to watch everything. With the warmth of the evening, both of them left their jackets in Sonny’s car, enjoying the mild temperatures.
“Do you want to dance ?”, Sonny asks, after a moment, pointing at the people dancing and at the band.
“I’d love to”, Y/N answers.
He grabs her hand and leads her to the improvised dancefloor in the middle of the street. Sonny takes Y/N’s right hand in his left and put his right hand on her waist, while Y/N lays her left hand on his shoulder. As the band starts to play a very familiar tune, they start to sway, looking at each other, a small smile on their lips.
Oh, this is the night, it's a beautiful night
And we call it bella notte
Look at the skies, they have stars in their eyes
On this lovely bella notte
Sonny spins her around, while the two singers continue to sing the main theme from Lady and the Tramp. When Y/N is facing Sonny again, she moves closer to him and wraps her two arms around his neck, laying her head on his shoulder, letting the words of the song lull her, wishing that this moment never ends.
Side by side with your loved one You'll find enchantment here The night will weave its magic spell When the one you love is near
For this is the night And the heavens are right On this lovely bella notte
At some point, she rises her head and Sonny kisses her tenderly. At the end of the song, Sonny takes her hand back in his and they leave the now crowded dancefloor.
“What’s next ?”, she asks with bright eyes.
“Well detective Y/L/N, what do you think about this ?”, he says, showing her the Ferris wheel.
“I think this is a very good idea ADA Carisi”, she smiles at him, pulling him towards the merry-go-round.
Sonny buys two tickets, and they are seated in the cabin, enjoying the view as the wheel goes up. When it stops at the top, they can see a few neighborhoods, and look up at the stars.
“This night is perfect”, Y/N says, leaning into Sonny’s side. “I don’t want it to be over. I’m so glad you finally asked me out.”
“I’m glad I did it”, Sonny answers, putting his arm around her shoulder, his chin on her head. “I should have asked you long before if I knew this would be so perfect.”
After another hour spent at the fest, and after two gelatos, Sonny brings Y/N back home.
“This was the best date I’ve ever have”, Y/N says when Sonny stops in front of her building’s entrance, his car parked a little lower down the street. “Thank you, Sonny.”
“Me too”, he replies, scratching the back if his neck. “Does this mean I can have hope for a second date ?”
“I’ll gladly go out with you again Dominick Carisi, a second time, and a third time and a fourth time”, she pulls him down to her by his tie, her lips crashing on his.
She releases his tie when he kisses her back, wrapping her arms around his neck, to pull him further into her, while his hands find their way to her hips. When they pull away, lips swollen, Y/N smiles up at him one last time, before climbing the few stairs to her building’s front door.
“I’m waiting for your call ADA”, she playfully says.
“And I’ll call you detective”, he answers, on the same tone.
Y/N blows a kiss and closes the door. When the door closes, Sonny goes back to his car, almost dancing on the way, already planning his next date with Y/N. He is more than happy to finally have been able to ask out the woman of his dreams and to have make it the start of something that he knows he’ll cherish for the rest of his life.
Taglist :
@bastard-man-barba, @storiesofsvu
#Justine's writings#Prompt Game#This is the night it's a beautiful night and we call it bella notte#Law and order : SVU#Dominick Carisi#Sonny Carisi#dominick sonny carisi#Sonny Carisi x reader#Dominick Sonny Carisi x reader#Sonny Carisi fanfiction#Law and order : SVU fanfiction#Law and order : SVU imagine#sonny carisi imagine#Dominick Carisi x reader#Dominick Carisi fanfiction#dominick carisi jr x reader#Dominick Sonny Carisi imagine#Dominick sonny carisi fanfiction
82 notes
·
View notes
Text
tears ricochet
The shrill of the phone jolts him awake, “ ‘m yeah, mate?” He’s groggy and wonders if what he said was coherent. He’s on a newborn’s schedule, and his eyes are heavy with the thought of the sweet embrace of sleep.
“She’s awake.” If his eyes were barely open before, they must be coming out of their sockets now. And it only took two words. He must have sat there for ten minutes before, “Be there soon” comes out of his mouth. It’s the only words he can get out, his mind is too busy reeling from the news. He smashes the phone in its cradle, as he flings the covers off him.
Dom must have been up the whole time, but he didn’t notice. His mind was occupied with the memories, and the thoughts of what if. Must have been the phone piercing her once sleepy state. “Where are you going?”
He is putting on his coat, as he watches her settle back in the bed, “Gotta help with something, I’ll be back sometime this evening.”
“Hmmm, must be important.” She muses, as she pulls the covers up over her head; probably praying Felix didn’t wake from the sound of the phone call.
“She’s awake.” Those words jolt Dom up from her position. Of course she knew what those words meant. She wondered what it meant for her. Would this development change what they had? Because what they had, she thought was something that could last. If Rog kept his indiscretions discrete, they could make it. But now, could they make it? She pushes those thoughts out of her head, when the baby monitor starts to crackle with her son’s cries.
The drive to the hospital, he spent a better part of 1975 at, is a familiar one. He can remember the last time he drove here, not even realizing that would be the last time. He hadn’t meant for it to be the last time, but life seemed to get in the way.
“You should live your life.” The sound of another voice over the beeping of the machines causes him to stir. He has been sitting by her side, since before the sun came up. “Seems like all you do is record, tour, and spend your time here.” The statement was true, Roger went from being the life of the party to not even going to it.
Roger looks at the doctor, the one who's been there since the day she was brought in. He’s an older gentleman, salt and pepper hair and beard. “ ‘S like I’m letting her go? What does that say about me?”
His hazel eyes look at him with a softness, “You don’t have to let her go, she’ll always be right here. But you won’t be.” the man’s hand is on his shoulder, “it doesn’t make you a bad person to live your life. She’d want that? Wouldn’t she?”
501, 502, 503, 504…. 505.
The number is still fresh in his mind, as if he was told yesterday. His hand is on the door knob, when someone reaches to stop him. He turns to see Brian, Freddie, and Deaky. It’s Brian whose hand is covering his own, keeping him from opening the door.“Rog, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to go in there”
“Why the hell not?” His eyes are hidden behind sunglasses, his clothes while stylish are haphazardly thrown on. His blonde hair is sticking up, he couldn’t even remember the last time he washed it. He reeked of spit up and dirty nappies.
“Darling, Liv still thinks it’s Wednesday, March 9, 1975.” Freddie says with a forlorn look in his deep set brown eyes. “She thinks it’s the day after the accident.” The accident was a drunken hit and run that left Liv comatose, for five years. “She still thinks you two are together, Rog.” Those words hit him like a truck. It was as if a thousand pounds of metal was hurtled at high speed towards him.
His hands find his way through his spit up laden hair. His mind is racing with the revelation that Liv thought it was still March 1975. She still thought they were together. “She askin’ for me? She wanna see me?” He starts pacing, because she has to want to see him. Right? “I know Liv” he thinks for a moment on those words, mumbling “I knew Liv..” But those don’t seem like the right words either, so he settles on what he knows, “ I know she would wanna see me.” His blue eyes, shadowed by dark bags underneath. Freddie turns away, and Brian doesn’t seem to meet his eyes either. It seems it’s up to Deaky the deafening blow. “There is a difference between what Liv wants and what Liv needs.”
Roger winces he once was all those things for her, once. “I don’t belong in either of those columns?” He laughs, “Guess not anymore, huh?” He hates this feeling, “She’s gonna hate me either way.”
Brian sighs, “You can’t tell her about Dom and Felix, at least not today. Not when Liv is so...fragile.” Fragile was not a word he would correlate, with the girl that used to push him down grassy knolls as a child. The girl who had no problem getting her clothes dirty. She had been anything but fragile, until the accident. She looked helpless in that hospital bed.
Chrissie, Mary, and Veronica all file out of the room. Their faces flushed with the promise of renewed hope.
If he was honest, everyone wore that look; everyone but him. He knew he would have worn that look, if the world had not been cruel and time had not marched on. It wasn’t as if the love wasn’t still there, he just didn’t know what to do with it now.
The doctor, the one who spoke to him all those years ago is no longer here, he’s replaced by a young chap. Dark hair and piercing green eyes. “Dr Styles.” He says with an outstretched hand, which Brian takes without missing a beat. With the pleasantries and introductions, basically who was who to Liv out of the way the doctor said Liv was ready to know what year it was. “It will be better for her if it’s from someone who she’s comfortable with.” All eyes land on Roger, and he knows he has to do this.
The door felt it was made of bricks and not mere wood. When he opens it up, grey eyes and a huge smile blind him. Her dark hair is pulled into a side braid, long bangs falling out. Her skin is alabaster, nose dusted with a few freckles. She looks exactly like she did, when he saw her that last day. “Rog!” She opens her arms up wide, and he obliges. His nose is buried in her hair, which smells like strawberries. “Liv.” He holds her tight and for far longer than he should have.
She pulls back, “You cut your hair.” Her hands are running over his hair. Her face twists up in disgust, when she retracts her hand to see it covered when some sticky substance. Rough night?”
“Something like that.”
She cuts right to the chase, “Is that why you weren’t here when I woke up?” He knows he shouldn’t be taken aback by that question, it was so stereotypical Liv. But here he was, almost five years later and reeling from that one single question. If she notices his reaction, she chooses to ignore it. Or maybe she’s still foggy from coming out of her coma. “I have a sinking suspicion that it is no longer 1975, however, no one will give me a straight answer.”
He’s sitting on her bed, her hands in his, “It’s 1980.”
“Oh, a whole new decade.” She’s shocked, gray eyes harboring so many questions. “Explains why everyone looks older.”
“I look exactly the same.” He says trying to lighten the mood.
She wears a crooked smirk, “Mmm, no modesty? Or did you have any to begin with?” She tilts her head, “Hmm, I can see more wrinkles than I used too.”
He laughs, “Rockstar lifestyle.”
“Same Rog, always using that excuse.” She smacks his shoulder, causing both of them to laugh. She was right, it was his excuse for everything.
“Do I look… older? Bad? Different?”
“No, you look exactly the way you always have” His hands ghost her cheeks, and she leans in, “beautiful.”
She rolls her eyes, “Nice one, casanova.”
It was odd to be in this room and have a conversation. When in the past the conversations were one sided, met with the beeps of monitors and the slow rise and fall of her chest.
Before he can say anything else, the door flies open with a scurry of colorful language.
Fuck!
Dammit, Fred!
I got him by the legs Freddie, Run!
Freddie is basically falling in the doorway, with the boys falling in the room in different positions. The scene is actually quite amusing, Freddie is tumbling in the door, Brian is holding him back by pinning one of his arms; and John is tugging at Brian’s legs.
“I see time hasn’t dulled you three.” Liv says with a smirk on her chapstick coated lips.
“Darling, Liv, time could never dull me.” Freddie says as he swats Brian off him.
“I wish it would.” Brian grimaces as he is dusting invisible dirt off his pants.
“Wouldn’t be half as fun.” John says with a smile, that makes Liv feel like nothing has changed. Even though she knows so much has, she wonders just how much has changed. And what they are trying to save her from, by busting in here like this. This was the boy's MO, their way of making her laugh. Especially when Roger and her would be fighting, before or after a show. Most of the time, it was because of some groupie, and the fact that Roger was undeniably Roger. Once the thrill was gone, he always came back.
Her weeks are spent at physical therapy accompanied by an ever revolving door of visitors. She notices Roger doesn’t come as often, always phoning her with an excuse about his solo projects. Nor does he stay as long as she assumes he would, and doesn’t arrive as early as she thought he would; when he does visit. She wants to ask him about it, but she just is so wrapped up in having him with her. He tells her of the tours and the albums, the countries they have seen. She can tell that he leaves out chunks of the story, thinking she wouldn’t notice; but she does. However, she chooses to dismiss it. Chrissie and Veronica fill the void, they stop by everyday. Since the two did not have a job, like Mary, they can come by whenever they want. Veronica in the morning, Chrissie in the afternoon. They bring their children for Liv to meet, after Dr Styles approves it. It’s odd to see time in human form, it’s a remainder of all she missed. A remainder of how the world kept spinning. She chides herself at the thought of something so selfish. The world doesn’t revolve around her. It is an easy notion to think, but hard to face the reality of.
Mary and Freddie bring her a new magazine each time they visit. The two always seemed to visit as a pair. She enjoys that time spent with them, the three of them reading about the latest fashion like they used to do.
“Oh, a different one.” Liv says with a hungry smile, as Freddie puts the magazine in her hands. It’s a trashy one, something not very polished. And for some reason, Freddie always associated Liv with a polishedness.
“Yes,” He says with a huff. He’s perturbed, “The old bitty at the corner shop sold her last Vogue.”
“Tragic.” Liv’s tone is drenched with sarcasm.
Freddie sends her a huff, as he sits down in the standard issue hopital chair deemed comfortable enough for visitors to sit in for hours on end. Mary makes a cross between a giggle and snicker, as she sits in the chair opposite of him. The three fall into their well known routine.
She’s flipping through the pages when the headline catches her eye.
QUEEN DRUMMER, ROGER TAYLOR & GIRLFRIEND ENJOY DATE NIGHT AFTER BABY.
Her face doesn’t fall, instead it’s painted with a confused look. Instead of asking the two people, who would know in the room with her, she decided to read the article. She’s in the middle of it when the door opens, and Brian stumbles in with Chrissie. Ah, yes it’s the afternoon shift.
The four of them are chatting animatedly, when she breaks her silence. “Is this why Roger doesn’t visit?” She holds up the picture, eyebrow arched as she looks at the four sets of wide eyes. The room is quiet, as they all rack their brains for what to say. “I’ll take your silence as confirmation.” She looks at all of them, “Could have told me, ya know?” She looks at Brian and Freddie, “I know you two think I’m fragile, and I can’t handle it.” She sighs, “But Roger is Roger, I know him. And I know how he is. He wouldn’t wait forever. No one can wait forever, no matter what they promise themselves. Time marches on.” Forever is a funny word, it can be soothing and unsettling all at the same time. Freddie won’t meet her eyes, and Brian believes the ceilings tiles to be the most interesting thing in the room.
“Are you okay?” Chrissie breaks the silence. Her green eyes, filled with worry.
Liv closed the magazine, placing it on her bedside table. “I don’t know.” It was a truthful answer, it's the best one she could muster. “How am I supposed to feel?” Her eyes are downcast now, “Cause, I just feel lousy. Like I am just an inconvenience,something that popped up at the most inopportune time.”
“No!” Chrissie all but yells. “Why would you ever think that?” Green eyes are a cross between being pissed and sad, that she would even think that. “How could you ever think that?”
“Kinda obvious, Chris.” Liv shrugs, wrapping her cardigan around her. Something she did, when her nerves got the best of her. “I mean I just popped back in, and messed up this.” She motions to the four of them, to how much changed. “I woke up and there are more babies.” She looks at Freddie and Mary, “You two aren’t together.” Her head is in her hands, “Everything I thought I knew it’s not true, at least not anymore.” She pauses thinking maybe it’s time to tell them. “I heard the nurses talking about how Roger would visit everyday, and the one day he didn’t come back. He forgot about me, so he could live his life.” She’s smiling through the pain, “I’m sure all of you followed suit, and that’s okay.”
Chrissie’s arms are folded, she’s taken a more defensive stance. She looked rather funny compared to Brian, who was a giant. “Who do you think put your hair in a braid?”
“What?”
“When you woke up, your hair was in a side braid.”
“Yeah?” Liv wonders what the point of her hairstyle is, when she woke up.
“Who do you think read to you to keep your brain stimulated?” She can picture Brian, with a thick book about outer space, sitting at her bedside reading to her.
“Who do you think brought those flowers you saw when you woke up?” Mary asks quietly.
Freddie chimes in, “Who do you think painted your nails, showed you the latest fashions? Do you honestly think I wouldn’t keep you updated, darling?”
“Just because Roger moved on, it doesn’t mean we did.”
.
Roger comes the next day, sunglasses hiding dark circles caused from another night of sleep he didn’t get.
“She’s up today, been walking around more than usual.” The nurse says as he comes out of her room. And before he can ask his question, it’s answered “She’s in the garden.”
He makes his way to the garden, and he sees her dark hair among the greenery.
“Liv.” He shouts her name. And for the first time since he can remember, she doesn’t stop walking. She had never done that, not even when they would fight as kids in Truro. Not even when he would show up at her door, drunk and smelling like some groupie’s perfume. She doesn’t turn around, welding a witty remark aimed at him. “Liv!” He is running after her now. He wonders how he must look to the people passing them by. He reaches her, he grabs her wrist spinning her around to face him. “Why didn’t you slow down? Didn’t you hear me calling?”
She looks at him with the most forlorn look he’s ever seen. “It’s always you slowing down for me, Rog. I think it’s time you stopped. Your world doesn’t have room for me, not anymore.”
“What? No. That’s not true, I don’t slow down for you. And my world will always have room for you, ‘cause you are my best friend.” I slow down because of you, you made my world steady.
“Nothing is like it was.”
“Doesn’t mean it hasn’t changed anything-”
“Look at us!” She yells, “Yes! Yes, it has!” She backs away from him, before he notices he’s let go of her. “Everything has changed. And I can’t blame you for moving on, cause when I put myself in your shoes; I would have done the same thing.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” His hands are in his hair, he’s pacing around the spot of gravel as she stands there. “I never wanted to hurt you. It was hospital, album, then tour. And you know me I can’t do a routine. Couldn't even sleep with groupies.” He says with wink, making her eyes roll. “And you…” He looks at her,big blue eyes shimmering with tears. “I didn’t know if you’d ever wake up. And it was like, I just existed with no direction.”
Her hands are on his shoulders, “When have you ever had direction?” She gives him a wink, making the mood jovial once again.
He snorts, “Never.”
“You always threw caution to the wind.”
“Because... I had you to be the mature one, the responsible one for me.” He laughs, “Who else would have convinced me to tell old Mr Durham I broke his window? I will always need you.”
She has a small smile on her lips, her mind replaying the memory. “And yet, here you are. You survived without me.” She chuckles, “You don’t need me, not as much as you thought. Your world kept spinning, and you lived your life. You did what I wanted you too. I just don’t fit in your life like I used too.”
“That’s not fair!” He throws his hands up. “You can’t just leave me now that I have you back.”
“Life isn’t fair.”
“I guess that’s why I never stopped...” he’s looking into those gray eyes he grew up with. “I never stopped loving you.” Was that a lie? No. It was more of a half truth. He sees Dom in his mind, remembering all the truly good times he had with her. He does love Dom, she’s the mother of his child. She helped him feel something again. Somehow, looking at Liv was like looking at who he used to be. It was like looking at the things he always wanted, all he needed for the majority of his life. But he just doesn’t know, he doesn’t know what to do.
“Yes, you did.” She says so quickly and matter of factly. “And that’s okay.” She says with a tinge of sadness in her voice. “I think that's why you have been avoiding coming here to see me.”
What was he supposed to say to that? What could he say to that? Tell her she’s right? This whole situation was so convoluted.
“You know, I’m right.” It’s like after all this time she can still read his mind. “I can see it on your face.”
“Always been good at reading me….still are.”
“How I always knew you stole my candy.” She said, digging a finger in his side. “Even if you claimed, “Liv, swear ‘s not me!” How I knew you lied to me about Rich Davies standing me up. How I knew a lot of things.” It was how she knew he loved her, she could read him. But now, she’s not so sure he does.
He smiles at her, “Always me, messing up your life.”
“Guess we are even, huh?”
“Liv.” He sighs, not wanting her to think she ever messes up anything in his life.
“What’s her name?” He didn’t expect her to ask, or to even want to know.
“Dominique.”
“That’s a pretty name.” She starts walking again, and he falls in pace with her. He must look ridiculous in his outfit,compared to Liv’s cardigan and jeans. He’s in a rainbow blazer, shirt half buttoned up, and bell bottoms.
“Yeah, she’s French.” He tells her how they met, and he notices Liv’s gaze stopped meeting his eyes somewhere in the middle of it.
“Do you love her?” There it was the one thing she wanted to know, she needed to know.
“Liv.”
“It’s a simple yes or no.” But for him, it wasn’t simple. Nothing about this was simple.
“You really want the answer?”
She stops in her tracks, “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have asked.”
He knew the truth would hurt her. “Yeah, I do.”
She winces, but she smiles all the same.“Good. I’m glad.”
“What?” He looks over to her, can’t believe she’s saying that.
“I’m happy you love someone,” she takes her jab at him, “honestly, I was worried you couldn’t love anything but your car, your drums, and me for a time. And yes, in that order.” She’s reaching behind her hair, undoing the clasp. “I think she should have this.” It’s his grandmother’s engagement ring. It wasn't the promise of marrying eventually. It was promise that he’d always come home to where his heart was. To who his heart was. She places the necklace in his palm, “Who knows maybe this one will even change your mind on marriage. And if you haven’t, it’s a promise you’ll come back home.”
Home seems like a foriegn place, now. Home had once been her, then it was Dom and Felix. “I can’t take that.”
“Why not?”
“Because.” He couldn’t even finish the sentence.
“Rog.” She’s holding the necklace in one hand, trying to pry his fingers open with the others. “You aren’t giving anything away, you are making sure the mother of your child knows you love her.”
“Livie.” He hadn’t used that name in a while, and it makes her stop. Only Rog called her Livie. “It’s yours.”
“But it’s not.”
“I’m not taking it.” He’s resolute in his actions. He can’t take the last piece of him, she has to hold onto. He won’t. He’s already done so much, he can’t do this.
“Fine!” She says with a huff, rolling her eyes at him. She stuffs the necklace into the pocket of her cardigan.
The walk around the wooded path is filled with an awkward silence. “I, uh, I have to go. Left Dom with Felix, ya know newborn and all.” It was a horrible excuse to leave her, but it was the best he could do.
“I don’t think you should come back.” That rattles him from his thoughts, “At least not alone, it’s not fair to your girlfriend or you son.” And it’s not fair to make me hope.
“Guess, I’ll see you around then?”
She smiles at him, and he wonders if this would be the last time. It made him think about all those years ago, when the last time was really the last time.
#roger taylor imagine#queen imagines#roger taylor x reader#roger taylor#queen fanfiction#roger taylor x y/n#roger taylor angst
70 notes
·
View notes
Text
Dare To Forget Me
Ch. 17: Shadows of the Past
// Previous Chapters //
Fandom: Law & Order SVU
Pairing: Rafael Barba x Original female character
Warnings: Due to the nature of the series’ plots, I do have to rate this as ‘mature’ for constant mentions of rape.
~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ` 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~
Chapter Summary: As Lewis' trial continues, Montserrat has gone M.I.A. and that's something that Rafael can't accept. With Carisi's and Casey's help, he tracks the missing detective down and talks with her. And just as the trial comes to as a close, Montserrat slips up.
Olivia wondered what was worse: having Lewis cross-examine her right now or dread the moment he would? Unfortunately, she was dealing with the latter. Lewis was forcing her to wallow in her fear for his questioning for a few more days.
"You'll be prepared," Rafael's assurance did little for Olivia. She was tired. So, so tired. "We've gone over this enough times."
Olivia wanted to be as sure as he was, but he wasn't going to be the one answering Lewis' questions. He wasn't the one who would be lying on the stand. In her thinking, Olivia didn't notice the rest of the squad approaching them in the hallway.
"Liv, you want us to drive you home?" Fin offered twice before Olivia came back to the present. They were all looking at her in concern.
"Uh...I can get there on my own," she answered quietly but distractedly. Later on, she wouldn't be able to remember if she said goodbye to her friends before leaving.
"Lewis not wanting to cross-examine her right now is a tactic isn't it?" Sonny asked Rafael once Olivia was out of hearing distance.
Rafael gave a tilt of his head. "Could be. And it would be a very smart one too. make her think about all the questions is going to ask her, make her more nervous in the span of these days and then once he has her up on the stand…" he didn't finish.
"That's not going to happen," Amanda said with certainty. "Olivia is stronger and she's a hell of a lot smarter than that guy. As are you councilor, don't let him take her down."
Rafael nodded and let them go all except for one. "Carisi," his call was sudden and quiet that the detective in question hesitated to stop and glance back. "Yes come here," Rafael said once he sensed Sonny's thoughts.
Sonny let the others continue on their way and turned back for Rafael. "What do you need, councilor? Something for the case?"
"Yes - well no, well…" Rafael bobbed his head, the uncertainty in him was a novel sight for Sonny. He was struggling to say something, that much Sonny could tell. "You're, um...you have a...relationship with...Montserrat's roommate? Right?"
It took a moment for Sonny to process the question, but when he did he noticed the uncomfortableness in Rafael. Apart from novelty, it was almost amusing. "Well, we're getting there. Sort of. It's a process-"
Rafael raised a hand to cut him off. "-yeah, okay, it's a yes or no question, Carisi."
"Then I guess yes...why?"
"So you have to know more about Novak's lack of presence here, right?"
"You would think that, huh?" Sonny all but snorted. "Not even Kara knows why. She says that Montserrat called her and said she would be staying with Casey instead. And Montse called in sick for these last couple of days. I didn't really think she was sick the last time I saw her."
"Yeah," Rafael agreed, his mind was already turning wheels as he thought back to the last day he saw Montserrat. The last time he saw her she had left and in such a hasty manner. She looked really pale to as if she really was sick but that wouldn't make sense considering she had been fine the entire day. "Doesn't make a lot of sense. A lot of things don't make sense about Novak."
A brief silence passed while he thought some more, leaving Sonny to make his own conclusions about this entire conversation.
"Find out what's going on," Rafael made the order sound so calmly and...friendly.
"What?" Sonny blinked while Rafael took off. "Wait - councilor, what for? She's not testifying anyways-"
"-I want to know what's going on. She was meant to be here for Olivia and then suddenly she disappears? I don't accept that." Behind Rafael, Sonny made a face at his words. "Reminds me too much of the first time she disappeared after going into labor." He stopped at the elevator and pressed the button.
"You afraid she'll disappear again?" Sonny's subtle tease was met with a straight face.
"That is not what I said," Rafael snapped, almost warning Sonny not to even go down that road. "I want to know what's going on but I have my hands kind of full at the moment. Simple as that. Will you do it or will I have to do it myself?"
Sonny knew exactly what Rafael was doing and it was frankly amusing. Either way, Rafael planned on reaching out to Montserrat. The question was would he have to go around the long way, or would he, Sonny, help him out with a short cut?
~0~
"I'm sorry, but I haven't seen Montserrat this week. I'm almost as worried as you are," Kara admitted to Sonny in her living room.
As promised, Sonny was following up with Kara but apparently there wasn't much to follow. Montserrat had been staying with Casey this week, only coming back for new clothes. And when she did come back, Kara was at work.
"So she hasn't talked to you at all?" Sonny took the seat next to her.
"Well…" Kara bobbed her head, "She called to tell me that she was staying with Casey and then she called again a couple days ago to tell me she was fine and that she was just going to stay with Casey a couple more days. But... I don't know…" She sighed and brought a hand to the side of her head while she thought. "It sounded like - like if she was upset. You know the way your voice kind of cracks when you want to cry or you are crying? That's what it kind of sounded like the last time she talked to me."
Someone interrupts their conversation with a knock on the door. Kara told Sonny that she wasn't expecting anyone else but that it could be monsterrat. she got up to go answer the door and, to her surprise, she found Olivia standing on the other side.
"Liv?" Sonny blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here? Barba told you to take it easy."
"And when do I ever listen?" Olivia still had some of her humor despite the awful week she was having.
Kara, who was still surprised, cleared her throat and stepped to the side to let Olivia in. "I wasn't expecting you…"
Olivia smiled. "Yes, I but you weren't. I just stopped by to see if once a lot to lose here? I haven't seen her all week and I heard she called in sick."
"Umm...well, you're going to have to get in line cos apparently a lot of us are looking for Montserrat right now," Kara closed the door.
Olivia crossed glanced with Sonny, clearly confused and now worried as well. "Montserrat isn't here?"
"No, she's been staying with Casey this whole week," Kara sighed and walked towards the sofa again. "I was just telling funny that I was kind of worried the last time that she called me. It sounds like she been crying."
"Do you have any idea why?" asked Olivia.
"No," Kara plopped on the couch with a deep sigh. "I love Montse, I really do, but she is not the same person that she used to be," Kara hated to admit, especially when she couldn't tell Montserrat face to face. "This whole year she's just been... Different. If you had met her last year you would have seen her in a completely different way. She always smiled, she laughed a lot more. She used to love her job at Homicide. And she was always hanging around her co-workers there. Sometimes I got a little jealous because it looked like she wanted to spend more time with them than with me," Kara smiled at the memories. "And then, all of a sudden...she just kind of changed. It's like she cut all ties with Queens."
"Well…" Olivia move to sit on the other couch, "...Montserrat had been eyeing the vacancy in SVU since last year. If she did change I don't think it was after taking the job here."
"Yeah, I know that she was looking into SVU but...it was just kind of out of curiosity. I never thought she would actually transfer."
"She put in her papers, Kara," Olivia said gently. "She was pretty serious before retracting."
"Tell me about it," Kara rolled her eyes. "That whole surrogacy pregnancy thing came out of nowhere. One moment she's just doing her job and then the next day she tells me that she's pregnant? I think that's really when it all started. When she changed. After that pregnancy, I don't think Montserrat has ever talked about going back to Queens. She doesn't even talk about her friends anymore there. I wish I knew what was going on."
Olivia seemed pensive when she glanced at Sonny. She was thinking but there wasn't a lot she could come up with...in that moment.
~0~
Despite the turbulent week she had, Montserrat was in a much better mood than the last time dr. Weslin had seen her.
"I took my cousin's advice to stay away from the trial for at least a couple days and I have to say that it's done me some good," Montserrat admitted without trouble. "I'm... distracted. And I've even been productive."
"How do you mean?" Dr. Weslin inquired.
"My Sergeant is pretty attached to this baby that she found during a case so she's been going to his family court hearings. He's had trouble finding a good foster family. Turns out she had a hearing this week and I went to it since Olivia couldn't. And... they found him a new home and I have the address so that Olivia can visit him after the trial is all done."
"That's a nice thing you did," Dr. Weslin noted. "But I do have to ask if you did this out of guilt because you didn't attend her trial."
Montserrat expected the question and she wasn't at all offended. It was a reasonable question. "NO. I did it to show my support in a different way. Olivia is not only my sergeant, but she's also my friend. And my friend happened to have missed this hearing, so I went in instead."
Dr. Weslin liked what she heard. "Do you intend on returning to that trial?"
Montserrat lowered her head in thought. "I haven't decided. It ends this week and from what the news says, it'll be Olivia's turn to be cross-examined by Lewis. That's going to be hard…"
And a big part of her wanted to be there that day, because if she didn't have the courage to face her attacker...She could be there for someone who did have that courage.
"Montserrat? Have you thought about that?" Dr. Weslin asked again.
Montserrat shrugged her shoulders and admitted that she hadn't. "I was so caught up with this baby boy Doe case that I didn't really think about anything else. But I'm definitely going to think about it."
And she was.
~0~
With what Sonny had gotten from Kara, he went to Rafael. It just took the ADA five minutes to realize Sonny had virtually nothing.
"Are you sure you're a detective?" he asked just to make a point.
Sonny rolled his eyes and leaned back on his chair. "I did what I could. And to be honest, I don't know why you had me do it in the first place. Do you need Montse for the trial?"
"No-"
"-then why are we doing this?"
"Because I want to know, that's why," Rafael was plain and simple with his intentions, as odd as they sounded. It irked him that Montserrat would just disappear like that.
"Sure that's it?" Sonny couldn't help that smirk on his face.
"Watch yourself, detective," Rafael warned and pointed his finger towards his office door. "You're free to go."
"Fine," Sonny raised his hands in defence. "You're welcome, by the way. See you tomorrow for court."
"Mm," Rafael was distracted with something else, and Sonny had a good idea of what it was - who it was. He was bothered, yes he was bothered, and he had to do something about it. Get ahold of yourself, he thought.
He tried that.
His fingers tapped against his desk. The work on said desk still remained untouched, not even looked at. Five minutes later, Rafael gave up.
"No." He made the decision to get up and leave the office. He walked out into the hallway and made a straight way towards an office. Much like the detectives he worked with, he barged into Casey's office without so much of a knock. "Where the hell is your cousin?"
Casey lowered the papers she'd been looking at and processed what just happened. "Um...good afternoon…?"
Rafael made a gesture for her to stop. "I need to see Montserrat. Where is she?"
Casey raised an eyebrow at him but, unlike Sonny who'd taken a lighter mood with it, she was more serious. "She's...having lunch, I assume. Probably having dessert first, if I know her any good. Why do you need to see her?"
"I just do!" Rafael answered rather fast. "I'm...there's some things I needed from her for another case…" he was spewing out this God awful lie and he still didn't know what the urgency of this was for. "Where can I find her right now?"
"Working through lunch again? Must be really important, then," Casey reached for her phone in one of her drawers. "She did call in sick, you know."
"It won't be long," he promised.
Casey went over the last text her cousin sent her earlier. "Oh, right, she's at her favorite place having dessert first no doubt."
As soon as she gave him the place, Rafael was gone from her office.
~ 0 ~
Montserrat rocked on her feet while she gazed at the menu above her. To her luck, there was no line which gave her free reign on her decision making process.
"We got new almond fudge brownies," the teenage boy behind the counter offered.
Montserrat briefly looked at him and smiled. She knew the boy well now and he knew her enough to know she loved anything chocolate. "Give me that, Justin," she nodded. "But I'm having an extra sweet tooth today so let me see what else."
"Is the chocolate mousse making it into the cut?"
"Why the hell not? I'm thinking…" Montserrat moved her attention to the display of sweets under the counter, "...it's a cookie day too."
"How do you not throw up?" Justin wondered out loud, much to her offence.
She set her hands on hips and gave him what Justin would call a 'mom look'. "How about you take my lunch order without criticism?"
"That's your lunch?" Rafael's sudden input startled Montserrat out of her 'mom look'. "Are you serious?"
"How'd you find me?" she blinked.
"Your cousin. And I didn't know one would need to go hunting to find you."
"Well...I didn't know I was needed," Montserrat crossed her arms, suddenly shifting on her feet.
"You are," Rafael said so bluntly it startled him. He hated to admit that the moment he saw her he was finally able to calm down a bit. She looked fine, but the fact she'd gone to such measures not to be found was troublesome for him.
Montserrat didn't know how to respond right away. She thought she would have a little more time before seeing any of her friends. "Uuh, Justin just get me what I ordered."
"That cannot be your lunch," Rafael insisted but she scoffed in return.
"Haven't you heard breakfast for dinner? It's kind of like that, but better," she shrugged. "But I doubt you came all the way here to criticize my lunch. What do you need?"
"For you to quit hiding," he was straight forwards in what fit. Her reaction was wide, blinking eyes but that didn't stop him from continuing. "You have us worried over you when there's an important trial going on."
"I didn't know my absence would be such an impact on a case I'm not involved in," she said quietly and turned for an empty table if only to avoid his hard gaze.
"Oh stop with the sarcasm and be honest," he followed her to the table. "Olivia is going to testify tomorrow and she's looking for you too."
"She is?" Montserrat practically fell on her chair when she felt the guilt creeping over her. "I didn't...I didn't think it would matter if I…" She trailed off and looked to the side.
Rafael watched her for the minute she stayed silent. It was so odd the way she went into these moments - because he knew for a fact these moments were not often but every once in a while. And just like before, it irked him that he couldn't figure out what it was. What had her so reclusive sometimes? So secretive? So...distant?
"Montserrat?" his call was enough to turn her head.
"Sorry," she apologized and nervously bit her lip. "About Olivia, I'll be there tomorrow. I promise."
"Yes, but will you be okay to do so?" his question came as a surprise since he would hardly ask anyone that.
"Of course," she put on a smile for him.
"Montserrat, sometimes I feel as if you're in another world. I assume this world is not a happy one because every time you leave for a few minutes...you get this...look in your eyes," Rafael leaned forwards on the table, specifically looking her in the eyes just to confirm his words. "If I didn't know any better, you'd resemble the clients I see."
"Stop," her order came in a low voice but a hard one nonetheless. "You're trespassing into a place you don't belong."
Her change in demeanor and voice was dark enough to make a point. Rafael pulled back and upheld her look. "Alright. Sorry."
Montserrat pushed some hair behind her ear and tried to ease up, but it was as if the moment someone treaded close to her secret...she went into defense mode. "It's fine. I'll be there tomorrow, I promise. I've taken enough sick days, I believe. I appreciate you coming to find me. You shouldn't have gone to the trouble."
"I think I had to," but even when Rafael said this he was pretty sure things were worse now.
"Montse?" Justin called from the counter with a white bag in the air.
"Gotta go," Montserrat stood up from the table.
"Montserrat," Rafael stood up with her fast.
"I'm fine," she assured with a more genuine smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"I...okay," Rafael decided to stop insisting before she completely shut down on him again. He didn't want to see her farther away from him - er, the group. He didn't want to see her farther from them.
~ 0 ~
"Seriously?" Montserrat was too tired to argue with anyone else that day. Casey got a free pass that dinner. "You told Rafael where to find me?" she plopped down at the table where their Chinese take out food was spread out.
Casey shrugged and reached for the soy sauce. "Thought it might help you to snap out of your gunk."
"It's not gunk and you know it," Montserrat grimly said.
"I do," Casey clarified. "But I also know that you want to get out of it so I did my bit to help. Plus," she smiled for a moment, "Rafael seemed worried about you."
Montserrat didn't even dignify Casey's smirk with a look. She took the soy sauce bottle from Casey's side and poured some over her rice. "You screwed me over, Casey," - she went on as if Casey had never said anything - "Now I have to show up at court tomorrow."
Casey's smirk wasn't completely gone, just the necessary to speak. "Why? Is he threatening you?"
"No. He got to my conscience," Montserrat said with a frown. "I know Liv is facing off Lewis tomorrow and I can't miss that. I told her I'd be there and I want to be there."
"Okay, so I did do good," Casey nodded proudly to herself.
"No!" Montserrat quickly pointed at her. "No you did not!" Casey's laughter only irritated Montserrat more since the former kept ignoring her. "Casey, just stop!"
~0~
Olivia was front and center the morning of her cross examining. She hated it and she wanted to be in another country, but that would mean Lewis would go free and she was not going to let that happen.
"You're going to do fine," Rafael was persisting with that idea, hoping to ease some of her nerves. Truth be told if Lewis got his way, he'd be able to show Olivia lied to the grand jury.
"I'm hoping too," Olivia stared at the court doors that were waiting for her to cross through. She knew the rest of the squad were already waiting inside. They weren't going to leave her alone and she knew it. "Because if I mess up-"
"-you won't," Montserrat's voice startled Olivia but she was overall happy to see the detective back. Montserrat approached them with a usual smile of hers, as if she wasn't carrying her own demons at the moment. "Because you are incredibly intelligent and Lewis is a...well, I'd rather not use that type of vocabulary here."
"When has that ever stopped you?" Rafael asked, rather straight-faced too. He'd been on the receiving end of some of that vocabulary on occasion. Montserrat smirked, knowing exactly well what she'd done before.
"Are you okay, though?" Olivia thought to ask since Montserrat had basically disappeared for a while.
Montserrat shook her head and set a hand on Olivia's arm. "This is about you. Don't worry about anything else. Plus, I'm fine, so…" her shrug wasn't very well believed but Olivia's time ran short when the court officers opened the door.
Olivia drew in a small breath before turning to the doors. It was now or never, basically.
"She's got this...right?" Montserrat quietly asked Rafael before they had to go inside as well.
"Yes," he answered without a doubt, as much as he could portray. He side-glanced her for a second to see if he could decide whether or not she was actually better than yesterday.
"I showed up out of my own accord," she suddenly said and met his gaze, assuming he was thinking he'd won their little disagreement yesterday. "Course I thought that if I didn't show up today you might come and argue with me again." Her small slip of a smirk was enough for Rafael to decide she was better, and since that was all he was going to get he gladly took it. He wouldn't risk upsetting her again.
"As long as you know," he said instead, following her game.
Montserrat smiled wider and moved for her seat. She found Amanda already sitting at a bench so she took the seat next to the blonde.
Once court began, it began. Lewis took the reigns as soon as he could and commanded Olivia to take her place at the witness' stand.
"We've heard a lot of testimony in this case. But only two people know what happened over those four days," Lewis made good on his innocent track as he gazed at the jury. "I know exactly what happened, and that's what I told the jury." His attention then flickered to Olivia. "I can see how that's the story you'd want the jury to believe. The truth is embarrassing. That you, an experienced but lonely SVU detective, consumed by her work, became sexually obsessed with a man you believed to be a rapist."
There was a lot Olivia wanted to do at that moment, screaming would be one of them, but she contained it all to just say, "That's a lie."
"Is it? Can you tell me, are you married? Do you have children?"
"Objection," called Rafael. "Relevance?"
"It speaks to her issues with intimacy and sexuality, your honor," Lewis was quick to explain, not that it mattered for Olivia since she knew his game already.
"Tread carefully, Mr. Lewis," warned the judge. "May I remind you, she's your witness."
When she had to, Olivia finally answered, "I'm not married. I do not have children."
"What about a family? When we spent time together, you said you didn't wanna talk about your father. Why was that?"
Montserrat couldn't believe Lewis was actually going with the "we spent time together" as if he hadn't threatened Olivia all the way. As Lewis went on, Montserrat was almost scared to admit she was getting just as furious as Olivia was. She also didn't want to admit that perhaps her own flashbacks were getting in the way.
"So your life is your work, isn't it? Over time, your world view has narrowed to victims and rapists."
"I wouldn't say that," Olivia shifted in her seat.
"No? Well, the jury has heard your captain testify that he was worried about you after your second case against me was dropped," Lewis threw a look at the jury. "Isn't that right?"
"My whole squad was upset-"
"-yeah, but you were the only one who he ordered to go home, take some time off, weren't you?" Olivia had only just opened her mouth to respond when Lewis leaned forwards - an action that actually made Olivia recoil from the counter - and put a hand behind his ear. "I'm sorry, I can't hear you. Can... can you speak up?"
"Yes, I was!" Olivia snapped.
"Thank you. So, social isolation, long-term immersion in sexual assaults, and a recent public loss of face. All of that preceded our four days together. Is that right?"
"You broke into my apartment, tied me up, and held a gun to my head."
"We know that's your story, but none of your fellow detectives could find or even fake any signs of forced entry, could they?" Lewis was proud to say that one out loud.
And that's where Montserrat started remembering more. His smugness...oh, that disgusting smugness.
"I don't know how you got in...but you did!" Olivia repeated.
"I teleported myself, maybe!" Lewis exclaimed "Or maybe you invited me in-"
Olivia gritted her teeth together as she glared at him. "You were the last person that I wanted to see that night."
"That night, when I "broke in," were you armed when you came home?"
"Yes."
"So why didn't you just pull your gun on me?"
"I froze!"
"An experienced detective didn't hear me come in, didn't see any signs of forced entry," Lewis' condescension was unbearable and yet the jury seemed to be buying it. "She froze. So you're telling me that you didn't invite me in, but clearly, you react differently to me than you do to hundreds of other men that you've-"
"-don't," Olivia warned.
"No? What about your partner? Your partner testified the first time that you interrogated me, you were flirting with me. You were trying to arouse me-"
"I was playing a role," Olivia snapped again.
"Were you? The first night we spent together, you said that I tied you up, that I was forcing alcohol down your throat and you didn't resist? Was that part of your role-playing?"
Montserrat hadn't realized she'd been shifting in her seat too much until Amanda's hand touched her arm. "You good?" the blonde detective whispered. She was noticing Montserrat's unusual paleness alongside the jittering.
"I-I think…" Montserrat couldn't be honest with Amanda. What the hell was wrong with her!? She was supposed to be there for Olivia's sake but her body and mind were betraying her. Each time Lewis delved deeper into the case, showed more of his manipulative self, Montserrat saw him. And when Olivia had her turn, Montserrat saw herself. The victim trying to prove that she was okay.
You need to stop, she berated herself.
But Lewis kept going. He turned a potential rape into some type of fantasy Olivia initiated. It was vile. He was vile.
And Olivia was innocent, frustrated...to the point of crying out of anger that the most terrible event in her life was being turned into something that never happened.
At some point, Montserrat crossed gazes with Olivia. In two seconds Montserrat knew where Olivia was and it was the breaking point. She knew it all too well... because that's what Olivia was seeing in Montserrat right now. As Lewis was shouting in her face about being a liar, Olivia zoned in on Montserrat's face. The expression on Montserrat's face...the shiny eyes...the pursed lips...the cross of anger and pain…
Olivia's eyebrows raised together once she realized. And when she realized, Montserrat knew.
She knows. Montserrat's body jerked up from the bench. She attracted some attention, including Lewis', Rafael's, and the jury. Montserrat made the fastest turn in her life and sprinted towards the doors. She couldn't wait to see the corridors.
Montserrat made the rush for the nearest restroom where she could let go for a bit in order to make it home looking decent. She planted her palms on the marble sink and let some tears out. She didn't realize how her body trembled, and much less how much time she was spending in there. But when she heard the restroom door open up, she knew court had adjourned and that she'd royally messed up.
Quiet heels walked into the restroom, soon making Montserrat see it was the sergeant herself. Montserrat was too tired to deny, even to try and hide it. She raised her head up to see her messy reflection then to see Olivia's coming near her.
To be polite, Montserrat would leave it as: Olivia looked like a mess as well. She'd gone through hell. But instead of talking about it, Olivia put a hand on Montserrat's arm and quietly asked, "When?"
Because that's who Olivia Benson was. She could go through hell and still have desire to care for others.
Montserrat shut her eyes for a moment when she felt new tears threatening to come down. "...last year." She found a voice to use, a frail one but an audible one. "On the job.'
Olivia nodded. For the time being, there was a silent agreement that this was enough.
But it wasn't over.
#svu#rafael barba#ocappreciation#ocapp#svu fics#rafael barba imagines#rafael barba fics#svu imagines#oc: Montserrat Novak#fic: dare to forget me
28 notes
·
View notes
Note
How about one where Olivia gets jealous when another mom (one of Noah’s friends) flirts with fem!reader at one of Noah’s games (you pick the sport) especially when Olivia has been working really hard on a case, so she has been missing out on spending time with them. Angst + fluff at end pls I hope this makes sense because it sounds better in my head. Anyways, love your writing! You are really good!
Thank you so much!! This is a really great prompt, sounds great on paper too lmao. I chose dance because that’s what we saw most recently on the show...and also it made a neat storyline in the fic. Hope you enjoy!
Noah’s mid season performance review at the dance academy was today. You had informed Olivia of this last week, and she had promised both you and Noah she would be there. You hated to say it, but you weren’t sure if she’d show. She’d been at work constantly since the beginning of the month working this new case, and while you understood the importance of her job, sometimes it felt like she shoved the two of you to the side.
On the way to the academy, Noah had seen upset in the back seat, so of course you inquired as to why.
He said, “I don’t think mommy is gonna show up...”
Your eyebrows furrowed in sadness , and you sighed. “Noah, she just texted me that she’s leaving work in ten minutes. She’ll be here.”
He sighed, looking out of the window, and didn’t respond.
Yeah. You didn’t exactly believe your words either. But you could hope.
When you arrived, there were parents lined up against the massive wall to wall mirrors. Olivia wasn’t here yet. You took your seat at the end of the line, although Noah hadnt left your side.
“Mama,” he pouted, “where’s mommy?”
“She’ll ve here, love.” You hugged him tightly. “Go see your friends, okay? I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
All of a sudden, a woman and a little girl entered the room. She gasped at the sight of Noah and ran toward the two of you. “Noah! Look! My mommy got me a new leotard. Wanna see?”
Noah turned his head toward his friend, and almost as if he forgot entirely about his nervousness, he grinned. “Hi, Lilliah! Yeah!”
The girl named Lilliah took him by the hand and dragged him over to the cubbies where she practically ripped off her coat and began modeling her new sparkly leotard.
You felt someone take a seat next to you, so you turned your head and almost gasped at the sight.
“Y/N?” Grace laughed in surprise.
Grace was...an old friend of sorts. You were a dancer growing up, and had made it into a company by the time you were eighteen. Grace and you had made this accomplishment together, but once you left the company, you’d completely lost touch.
“Grace!” You smiled happily, bringing the woman into a huge hug.
“My God it’s been so long.” She squeezed you tightly. “Where have you been?”
You pulled away, your eyes searching her person. Her thick blond curly hair was swept into a messy bun, her sparkling blue eyes were alive with excitement as they usually were. Her white teeth broad in a grin. As much as you were friends, Grace was also your ex girlfriend.
“Ah, around.” You shrugged. “I actually teach dance at another studio.”
“Very nice. I always expected that from you.” She chuckled, squeezing your thigh.
You looked down at the sudden touch with raised eyebrows.
“I guess my daughter is friends with your son.” She mentioned, motioning toward the two little kids who were running around together giggling.
You smiled. “I guess so.”
“Makes sense. We were always good friends.” She winked.
You blushed. “Yeah. We were huh?”
“I met Lilliah’s dad not soon after you dropped out of the company. He was sort of a cope, I think. We became...acquaintances with benefits.” She shrugged. “I got pregnant with her, he skipped out.”
You frowned. “I’m sorry, Grace.”
“It’s okay.” She chuckled. “Lily is the best thing in the world. Im glad it happened. But I do wish you’d been around.”
You sighed. “I’m sorry, I just...when I left, I didn’t want any reminders of why I had to go.”
“I know.” She nodded, her hand on your thigh ran inwardly. “I don’t blame you. I’m just glad fate brought us together again.”
You cleared your throat, pushing her hand away. You looked toward the door, and Olivia was standing there, staring at you, hurt in her eyes.
Fuck.
“That’s my wife, actually.” You mentioned to Grace. “My sons other mother.”
The blond raised her brows. “Oh...”
You stood, going over to Liv, and making a point of hugging her tightly. She hugged you back.
“I’m glad you’re here.” You mumbled.
“Who is she?” Olivia questioned. “I don’t like the way she was touching you.”
You sighed. “I’ll tell you later.”
Suddenly you had a small child crash into the both of you. It was Noah. “Mommy!” He grinned wildly. “You really came.”
“I really did.” Olivia grinned down at her boy, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m so excited to watch you.”
Almost immediately after she said that, Noah’s dance teacher called out for the kids to take their places, as well as the parents.
***
After watching the performance, Grace had slipped you her number in your back pocket when you weren’t paying attention. She sent you a wink before saying, “If you ever wanna grt coffee anyway.”
Olivia had took note of this, and was upset all over again.
The three of you went out for dinner and ice cream, and then went home. Olivia helped Noah with his bath, and then put him to bed. You were in your room that the two of you shared, cuddled into your side of the bed with a glass of red wine, in one of Olivia’s NYPD t shirts that swallowed you whole.
Olivia came into the room, and eyed you. “We need to talk.”
You blinked, placing your glass on the night table. “Okay.”
“Who was thet woman?” She questioned, shutting the door behind her. “She seemed like she knew you. She could hardly keep her hands off of you.”
You sighed. “Grace is her name. We knew each other at the company, before I left.”
“Knew each other?” She questioned, rummaging theough her drawers for pajamas.
“Shes my ex.” You said softly.
Olivia scoffed. “Of course.”
“Excuse me?” You raised a brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You were completely content with letting her practically finger you in a room full of kids.” Olivia stated nastily. She began undressing, changing into her pajamas.
“What the fuck?” You scoffed. “I shoved her away. You know that.”
“When I got there. How do I know how long it went on before?” Olivia spun on her heels, staring at you.
“Maybe you would have known if you were there!” You exclaimed. “You’re never here. You’re never around to touch me like that, you’re never around to watch Noah. It’s just the two of us all of the time.”
“Y/N, you know how important my work is...”
“And we arent!?” You asked, full of emotion. “Liv, all i want at the end of every day is to cuddle with you, kiss you. Make love to you. But I don’t get to do that. I don’t get to tell you how hard my day was, I don’t get to lean on you, and I live with that because I love you and I know how much your job means to you. But we have to mean something to you too, and it feels like we don’t.”
Olivia’s face became forlorn. She sighed, rubbing a hand through her hair.
You rolled your eyes, turning over on your side so you faced the wall. “Whatever, though. None of that matters. Keep practically pissing yourself all because one woman, who I haven’t spoken to, who I don’t love, touched me the way you should be.”
Olivia was silent, but she walked over to the bed, crawled under the covers, and pressed her body against yours. You melted into her warm touch. She curled around you as your big spoon, her leg going between your two legs, her arm wrapped tightly around your waist. With her other hand, she brushed away your hair, and pressed kissed to the nape of your neck. “I’m sorry. I know I haven’t been around. It’s not fair to you or to Noah...”
Your eyes filled with tears now.
“I love you, Y/N. I’m sorry i got mad, it’s just...when I saw her like that, with you...I hated myself. I should’ve been with you, holding you. She didn’t know you were married because I wasn’t there to let everyone know you’re mine.”
You sighed as she kissed your neck, softly sucking on the skin. “You’re my one and only love, Olivia. I’m proud of you for what you do, I love that you protect the unprotected. I just need you to be with us more than you have been.”
“I will be. I promise. I’ll be here more than I have been.” She mumbled, squeezing you tight. “I love you so much, my love.”
“I love you too.” You turned over, wrapping your leg around Liv’s waist, pulling your body flush against hers. Her hand slipped under your shirt, caressing your back, your side, your tummy.
“I’ll make it up to you tonight, if you let me?” Olivia said softly.
You smiled. “I’d love that.”
129 notes
·
View notes
Text
Tomorrow Never Knows (President!Harry) Chapter 4: Yesterday
(Banner by the wonderful noblewomankat!)
***
Masterlist
***
Friday, October 3, 2008
There are a few outstanding moments in his life that Harry can recall having screwed up beyond belief.
The first time was when he was four years old and had let Gemma’s hamster, Crumb, out of her cage because he thought she needed some fresh air and the wide-open space of their backyard back in Holmes Chapel. Just hear him out for a second! For months he had been training her to do tricks, like how to jump over his Legos and even how to play dead (she was really good at that one). So, of course he thought she could handle herself outside! His sister had arrived home from tennis practice just in time to see the defenseless Crumb be snatched from the ground by an unforgiving hawk.
The second time had been when he was eleven and he had spoiled his nan’s surprise party despite his mum having specifically instructed him to shut his mouth about it. Preparation had started well over seven weeks ago, with family coming from all over England to celebrate her sixtieth birthday bash. His job was to run around and help her run errands while everyone set up for the party back at the house. It had started off fine, really! They had gone to the farmer’s market in Sandbach to get the freshest ingredients for Nan’s special eggplant parmesan that she was going to make that night for a mini celebration. And maybe –– just maybe, since he can’t quite remember the exact event –– he had said something along the lines of “I dunno why you’re cooking when Mum’s already having food catered for the part” as she was sorting through tomatoes for the ripest ones. (Although, he’ll be the first to defend himself and say that leaving him in charge of distracting his nan was just a disaster waiting to happen... so, maybe that one wasn’t entirely his fault.)
Finally, and quite possibly the absolute worst of them all is right now. He feels completely paralyzed. A pair of sticky glossed lips pressed firmly to his, and the cheers of the crowd on their post-game high roar through his ears, and yet he can’t distinguish a single sound. Arms limp at his side, his football helmet hanging only by the tip of his pinky finger. For a moment, it’s like he doesn’t know where he is. If it weren’t for the screech of a clarinet’s tune gone wrong from the sidelines, he would have remained in such a comatose state.
When his mind finally decides to cooperate with him, he’s able to blink his way back to reality, and with it is shoved back to how awfully wrong this all feels. Looking immediately in front of him, it all becomes that more real. Everything comes back to him, and it’s like all these senses flood into his consciousness. It all makes him feel woozy. His helmet falls to the ground, and he fights off the arms that insist on keeping him in their grasp until he’s free and his lips feel relief in the exposure of cool air. Like touching fire, he recoils, taking a huge leap back.
“Zoey,” he says so exasperatingly with his hands flying up to his head and running through his hair, “I... I’m not...” How is he supposed put this in a way she’ll understand? Without sounding like a complete arse? “I don’t-” But his jaw becomes slack as he’s brought to an abrupt halt when he catches glimpse of the pink and grey checkered scrunchie briskly making her way in the opposite direction. No! This was not meant to happen, or if it were to have gone his way, it would’ve been her stood before him instead.
Harry had it all planned out. The best game of his life had just been played, and it wasn’t for the glory or the bragging rights or even to make Coach Davis crack his first smile in over twenty-two years. It was meant to give him the confidence to finally tell the girl that he’s completely fallen for that she’s all he ever thinks about since the moment she’d almost knocked him over on that first day of school.
“Wait!” he yells after her, dodging yet another one of the redhead’s persistent attempts to bring him back in. He ignores all those who call his name, doesn’t even apologize for having accidentally bumped his left shoulder pad into a school reporter’s back. Her image is quickly lost, and he starts to grow more nervous because he can feel her getting farther away and all hope of catching up to her seems to be slowing vanish. All he can do is repeat her name over and over and count on her hearing him and turning right around.
But she doesn’t.
Once he’s able to escape the congested field, it’s like she’s completely vanished. She’s nowhere in sight. He looks all around, spinning in a complete circle just to find her amongst the hundreds of people in attendance, but none of them are her.
***
“Y/n...” Cici tries, turning to her in the back of her mom’s SUV. “Are you... I mean, do you want to talk about it?”
Y/n continues to stare intently out the window, only letting out a breath once the lights of the school fade away. She wipes along her lower lash line before slowly shaking her head. No order of words can be used to describe how she feels right now. This feeling is so unfamiliar and such a burden to carry in her chest. It makes her feel tired and hurt and hysterical all at the same time.
“There’s nothing to say,” she whispers, her voice cracking mid-sentence. She shuts her eyes tight, trying to appease the sting behind her irises before she completely loses control over the reign on her emotions.
But that awful image seems to be permanently embedded behind her eyelids like the most frightening of nightmares. No matter how hard she tries, it’s as though nothing can erase the memory. Seeing him with someone else –– it doesn’t even matter who it was –– was like having the rug taken from under her feet only to let her fall without sight of where she’ll land. Just having stood there, watching as he had just let her kiss him so easily had been too much for her to watch. And maybe it’s because that could’ve been her in Zoey’s place had she told him sooner that she’s been having these feelings for him that don’t seem likely to fade as much as she wants them to.
“Well how was the game, girls? I heard at the PTA meeting that the new quarterback is supposed to be the best Ashwood has seen in a long, long time.” Cici’s mom, Mrs. Fenderson, peeks at them through the rear-view mirror. She hadn’t been able to attend due to her son having just had his wisdom teeth taken out not even five hours ago. Cici tries to sign to her to stop, waving her hand back and forth below her chin.
Breathing deeply in through her nose, Y/n exhales in a sad chuckle before meeting the older woman’s eyes in the mirror. A weak smile decorates her otherwise saddened face. “He was great. Really, really great.”
***
It’s only when Olivia opens up the front door after having heard the Fenderson’s car park in the driveway that Y/n launches herself into her mom’s arms. At first, she’s taken aback, almost losing her balance and toppling over.
Y/n cries uncontrollably into Liv’s nightshirt with incoherent mumbling in between each choked out sob. And it only takes the mention of his name to catch Liv up to speed on the who ordeal. Mother’s intuition just knows, and like magic, she’s already equipped with the right things to say and the right things to do to make the sting in her daughter hurt just a little less, even if it is for a just a little while. This is one thing that all parents have to be prepared for. It’s one thing for your child to fall in love, but a broken heart is a whole new ballgame.
“Oh, my girl,” she coos, stroking the back of her head and gently massaging her scalp with her rounded nails. “I know it hurts, so you cry as long as you need to.” The same things that her mother had spoken to her during her first heartbreak are now being reiterated to her own daughter. If there’s one thing she can remember from her own childhood, it’s how much these feelings can hurt, especially when the heart is genuine and lost. And she continues the string of comforting words into the shell of her ear as they stand clinging to each other in the middle of the foyer.
“I was gonna...I was gonna tell him tonight.” Y/n pulls back slightly, just enough for Olivia to get a good look at her face lined with tears. And they just continue to fall. “Mom, I was gonna tell him!”
Liv hushes her, simply nodding her head and bringing her back into her embrace. “Maybe...” she trails off, biting her on her bottom lip as she tries to carefully organize her thoughts. “Maybe it’s just not the right time for the two of you.”
“Or maybe we’re just not meant to be anything more than friends,” the younger girl sniffles, burying her face in her hands. Her shoulders begin to shake uncontrollably.
Just then, Jeremy’s heavy footsteps sound from the top of the stairs, a desperately concerned expression stamped onto his features as he looks to his wife. He had just tucked Mason in for the night after having read the little boy three bedtime stories when he heard his daughter’s tragic cries from downstairs. If there’s one thing in this world that he can’t take –– aside from when his fantasy football league does shockingly bad –– it’s when his children cry, and there’s nothing he can do to make it better. It makes him feel so inadequate that he can’t protect his own daughter from all this.
Olivia holds up her hand to stop him from descending from the remaining steps and mouths for him to go back to the bedroom. She knows well that he’ll probably say something like how he’ll hunt down the bastard that made his little girl cry, and that’s just not what Y/n needs at this moment.
***
Saturday, October 4, 2008
From: Harry
Hey, I missed you after the game...
From: Harry
I asked Maxxie where you went, but he said you weren’t feeling well
From: Harry
Are you okay? I can bring some soup over if you’d like :( I know how much like chicken noodle :)
From: Harry
That thing with Zoey...it wasn’t what it looked like. I promise.
From: Harry
Are we okay? I know we were supposed to talk about something last night
From: Harry
Y/n, please say something...
From: Harry
Please just let me know you’re okay
The cellphone falls from her fingers and onto the floor. She pulls the blanket up to her chin and stares at the phone as it continues to light up in alert of new incoming messages. He’s been sending her texts all morning, but she can’t find it in her to reply to any of them. There had been instances where she had typed out a response, but just as quickly as she had formed it, would she delete each character. A simple and quick “I’m fine” had caused her such distress that she couldn’t help but press down on the red end button. Every time she thinks she’ll press send, it’s like there’s something stopping her. It’s the part of her that doesn’t want to give in because she knows it’ll just be harder to talk to him without that image of him and Zoey coming back to memory. There’s this question that persists in her mind, and it’s been driving her crazy since she woke up. Is she allowed to feel so upset when there might have never been anything deeper between them?
Say the answer to the question is no, how is she meant to pretend like everything about her is more than an ‘okay’? Just because they were never anything more than friends does not mean she’s allowed to feel any less hurt.
The rest of her feels numb inside, even though her eyes sting from having shed multiple tears throughout the night. Cici had tried to call her a few times, but she had sent the call straight to voicemail. She’ll reach out to them once she can talk about it without her bottom lip quivering before a single word is uttered out.
A scuffle of small footsteps behind her door distracts her from her thoughts. The shadow of figures appears in the crack that separates carpet and door. “But Daddy! These are my cookies!” Y/n smiles at the whiny voice of her brother.
“What happened to being a good sharer? And don’t think I haven’t found your little stash in the toy chest,” the second voice, her dad, says firmly. “Besides, your sister is a stress baker, so she’ll probably make you more if you ask nicely.”
“More peanut butter chocolate chip?”
“You know it.”
Suddenly, the door bursts open and bounces off the stomper from the force. “Y/n?” Mason calls, peeking his head in. “Are you awake?”
She can’t help but chuckle softy. “Yeah, Mase. I’m up.” She pulls the sheets down to prove it to him.
Her little brother gives her a toothy grin before he runs over and squirms his way into her bed. Something is clutched tightly in his small fists, and his unwillingness to release it prods her to help him up onto the mattress.
When he’s sat comfortably next to her, he holds his baggie up to her, his rounded eyes looking at her so happily. Another gentle giggle sounds from her, and she graciously takes it from him.
“Are these for me?” she teases, pushing the bangs away from his eyes.
“Mhm!” he hums, crawling closer until he too is buried under her heavy blanket, his head nudging her into her side. “Daddy said you were sad, and I don’t like it when you’re sad.”
She glances down only to find him pouting at her. He’s always been the sweetest whenever she’s had a rough day. Like when she’d sprained her ankle after a cheerleading accident a few years ago, he’d been there to cuddle with her and watch all the romantic comedies that looped on TBS and feast upon a few pints of Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey. Or even a few weeks ago when she’d had the biggest headache and he’d offered to take a nap with her on the couch. “Hey.” She lifts him up and places him in her lap and squeezing lightly on his nose. “I’m feeling a lot better now that you’re here.”
Mason gasps excitedly. “Really?”
“So much better,” she confirms with a nod of the head. Even if it is just for that moment, she’s able to forget about all that’s troubling her.
“Does that mean we can we watch...13 going on...on...” His brows furrow as he tries to remember.
“30,” Y/n giggles. Reaching for the remote on her bedside table, she flicks the television on. The little boy cheers, taking the Ziplock from her and helping himself to one of her delicious peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. She looks at him knowingly. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Um...oh!” He bounces up onto his feet and shouts towards the door. “Daddy! I forgot the milk!”
***
“How do I tell a girl that I like her?”
Harry stands, looking so unsure of himself, in front of her recliner where Gemma sits, not even able to look up as he stares down at his sock-clad feet. All morning he’d tried to get a hold of her, but each time he had sent a text and received nothing back, he grew more and more anxious about all the things that had happened within the last twelve or so hours –– he stopped counting after sending the eighteenth message because now he’s just starting to annoy himself.
“Being honest with her is always a start,” she responds, shutting the book she’d been reading and placing it on the table. “What’s her name?”
Sighing, he plops down on the couch, his eyes focusing on nothing but the ceiling. “Y/n.”
“Was she the one you were snogging at the game?”
“No,” he says. He turns on his side, tucking his hand under the decorative pillow. “And that’s probably why she won’t answer any of my texts.”
Had he just pushed Zoey away as soon as she had come on to him, maybe this wouldn’t be happening. Y/n was going to tell him something, and now he realizes that he might have just blown his chance.
***
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
“Are you sure you want to go today? I can call the office and say you’re highly contagious and need to be put in isolation,” Jeremy suggests as they park outside the school’s entrance.
This manages to make her smile. “I have an Algebra test after lunch, but I’ll hold on to that offer,” she smirks. After the weekend, she was able to somewhat clear her head and come to terms with the truth. It sucks, that’s a given, but the sooner she accepts it, the sooner this ugly feeling can go away. After spending the rest of her Saturday watching movies with Mason, followed by helping her dad make a birthday dinner for her mom –– thank goodness she had bought her present months in advance –– and slowly did she start to keep all thoughts of Harry shoved into the back of her mind.
Besides, she had already stayed home yesterday.
Jeremy places a hand on her shoulder, his eyes still showing worry as he studies her. The last few days had been rough for the entire household, and not to make it about him, but he had somehow become both her and Mason’s personal butler. (He won’t even get into how the little boy had tricked him into buying both pizza and tacos on Saturday night when it had been Jeremy’s turn to pick dinner. Definitely gets it from his wife’s side of the family.) “You’re sure?” Y/n nods, but something in him refuses to let go. “I can work from home today to keep you company. You know how those college interns always stress me out with all that entitled talk.”
“Dad,” she warns. His lips purse to the side, and he falls back in his seat, his hands gripping the steering wheel. Obviously, she can’t allow for this to affect her schooling, especially since Mrs. Phillips makes it nearly impossible to make up a test, no matter how many mocha macarons she leaves on her desk! Although, it’s incredibly sweet of her dad to let her skip another day of class in favor of staying home with him and most likely ordering Chinese from Jade Garden. “If I want to go home, I’ll call you. Kay?”
A few seconds pass and more cars begin to queue behind them before he forcibly agrees and unlocks the door. He really is easy to convince. She smiles and leans over and kisses him on the cheek.
“Promise you’ll let me know if you’re not up to it?”
Opening the car door and hopping out, she turns back. “I promise.”
***
“Now remember what I told you,” Gemma tells him as they park behind the car ahead of them. Usually it’s Anne that drops him off, but his older sister had basically lifted him into her car (he didn’t even she was so strong) and buckled him up herself. “And don’t be dramatic about it, yeah? That’s why movies last so long, because no one can ever spit a bloody thing out!”
“I heard you the first twenty times,” Harry sighs, playing with straps of his bag. They’ve probably rehearsed everything he’s going to say to her over a hundred times already, and that’s not even an exaggeration. In fact, now he’s afraid that when he talks to her it’s going to sound completely scripted and she’ll probably think he’s mocking her.
Gemma whacks up upside the head. “Don’t use that tone with me, not after I listened to you go on and on about how cute you think Y/n’s nose is.”
“Say it louder, I don’t think she can hear you.”
She ignores him, and squints as students appear in bulks by the steps. “Okay, so which one is she?”
***
All anyone is talking about is the victory against Pleasant Valley, as well as added gossip pertaining to what had happened after. It’s like everyone wants her to be fragile in front of the whole school, and it’s a bit tempting for her right now if she’s being honest. She does her best to avoid listening, really, she does! But no matter how high she turns the volume up on her iPod –– it’s okay, she loves David Archuleta –– she can still hear his name being followed by someone she had once considered to be a friend.
“Are you sure you should be here?” Maxxie presses, pulling her left earbud out. “I mean, you’ve already finished your test. Why don’t you just go home? Relax! Take a nap! You know, that sounds like a fabulous idea!”
“You’re starting to sound like my dad,” Y/n arches her brow. “And just like I told him, I’m fine.” The day’s almost over and she’s succeeded in avoiding him. It started with Mr. Noone cancelling class due to a family emergency, so she was able to hideout in the courtyard behind the big oak tree. Next, she had purposely gone to Algebra a minute before the bell and finished the test in about thirty minutes (don’t worry, she’s almost positive that got everything right). During lunch, she had decided to hide in the Home Economics room, which wasn’t all too bad since she was able to finish spreading the chocolate on top of the eclairs (usually she has to come back after dismissal to do it). But she knows she can’t play this game forever.
Maxxie clicks his teeth together, all thoughts of going to Geometry forgotten as he follows closely behind her. “But think about it!” He pulls on her arm to turn her around. “Class?” He holds his hand, palm up. “Nap?” The other hand does the same. “Class?” He shakes his head. “Nap?” He nods. The scale fluctuates for a bit, until he ultimately decides which one has more power over the other. “I think the choice is pretty obvious here.”
“I changed my mind,” she says airily, and he smiles brightly thinking about how Cici won’t yell at him now that he’s convinced her to skip her last class with Harry. They had made a plan to keep the two apart until they’re sure Y/n is okay. “You’re way worse than my dad.”
His grin quickly loses its cheer as she walks past him and walks into Señora Gustavo’s room without hesitation.
“Cici’s gonna chop my balls off,” he whimpers, covering his vulnerable self.
***
“I like you.” He keeps repeating it under his breath. He just wishes he’ll be able to say it once she’s in front of him because he doesn’t know if he can take much more of this.
When she walks in, he’s ecstatic. It’s been three whole days since he’s last talked to her, and as she approaches her seat, he can feel his heart thud faster and faster. Right now, it’s a no brainer, he needs to take his sister’s advice and not chicken out because he’s sure if he waits any longer, she’ll probably think he’s not interested. Which in his head, might be the absolute worst thing that can happen because he’s practically bursting feeling the exact opposite. If he were a little more courageous, he would’ve shouted the contents of his heart when he had seen her this morning at her locker.
“Hoy quiero que hables sólo en español por favor,” Señora Gustavo says cheerily. The rest of the class groans, pulling out their notes. “A partir de aquí, no se permite inglés.”
“For fuck’s sake...” he grumbles, his hand comes and slaps over his eyes. Great, because he totally prepared this speech in Spanish. It’s like the world is conspiring against him, he’s sure of it! He glances at her, and briefly do their eyes meet before she quickly looks away. Flipping through his notes, he looks for something that may guide him in this situation.
“Uh, Y/n?” He slowly reaches for her hand. “Necesito decirte algo muy importante.”
She tucks her lips between her teeth. He squeezes her hand, and before she can stop herself, she faces him. Almost instantly, it becomes too much. Just looking into his seafoam green eyes that stare back at her the way he always does when they’re together makes her weak at the knees. Except this time, it’s different. All she feels is the constriction in her chest. “¿Qué?” she replies quietly. “Dilo ya por favor.”
“Sobre ese tiempo en tu...” He quickly peeks at his notes about parts a house. Fuck. What’s the damn word for living room? Of all the days for their teacher to have them practice their conversational skills, it just had to be when he has to do this. “...en tu sala de estar. Yo quería-”
“Creo que deberíamos olvidarlo.”
“W-What?” he stutters, and she looks away. Why would she want them to forget about it? “Y/n, I’m trying to tell you that-”
“Ah, ah, ah,” Señora tuts from her desk. She gives him a warning look and points to instructions on the whiteboard where she had written today’s rule. “No inglés.”
Y/n thinks she might end up hating herself for this, but she needs to stop this before she hurts ever more. If she can tell him that, then maybe she’ll start believing it and move on from all this. “Fue un error.”
It was a mistake.
Harry lets go of her hand, turning back in his chair to face the front of the room. His head is spinning, and he thinks he might not have heard her correctly. “¿Es eso lo que ibas a decirme? ¿El viernes?” But she doesn’t respond, just continues to avert her eyes from his. “Dime...” it’s barely above a whisper because he might not want to hear it. He’s afraid of hearing it.
“Lo siento.”
***
#president!harry#harry styles#harry styles imagine#harry styles smut#harry styles au#harry styles fanfic#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles fluff#harry styles drabble#one direction#one direction fanfiction
189 notes
·
View notes
Text
[DANIELLE ROSE RUSSELL, CIS FEMALE, SHE/HER] have you seen ARDEN ROCKEFELLER around sedona? ARDEN is an PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR AT SCC, but they're also THE SKEPTIC in the sedona sleuths, so you've probably seen them around the firehouse shed. they're known for being PERSONABLE and CHARMING, but they're also known to be PERFECTIONISTIC and CUNNING. when they're not at the shed, i can usually find them at the TOWN HALL. i can always recognize them by their ( tart strawberries dipped in sugar, high-waisted jeans, standing outside during the middle of a sun-shower, & iced coffee in mason jars ).
go on, replace me, when you’re craving something sweeter than the words i left in your mouth, go on and spit me out
name — arden olivia rockefeller.
nicknames — liv
pronouns — she/her.
age & dob — 21 & august 23, 1998.
place of birth — new york city, new york.
nationality — american.
major — psychology
education — sedona community college.
extracurriculars — soccer, the sleuths.
* BACKGROUND OVERVIEW !
she might have been born with a silver spoon close to her mouth, but an epic fall out between her father and her grandfather left her family severed from his side of the family. in a wave of fury, her dad picked up his family and moved them to sedona, adamant that he could be successful without his father’s help.
and he was. william opened up his own chain of small businesses across kansas, but kept his family right in sedona, promising he would teach them to be grateful for the things they have.
arden is twins with her brother, both first born to their parents (he’s older by several minutes, but she’ll never attest to that) they’ve always been kinda close but never attached at the hip.
you know, i honestly feel like she had a fairly decent? childhood? like nothing was really wrong, just that her parents were always busy and never really gave the attention they should’ve to young children.
when she and her brother turned 16, her paternal grandfather reached out to their dad. not with the intent to mend their relationship, but to invite his grandchilden to new york with him for the summer and try to turn them into his little prodigies.
sometimes, they could shorten their sentence and were able to stay longer in sedona, but found themselves being dragged back and forth from time to time.
she was typically always very bright and cheery to everyone, evoking a “your daughter’s so sweet” from most people she met, which felt like the biggest compliment to her, because it meant that someone thought she was nice even if they disliked the rest of her family for any given reason (they were not the kindest people in the world), kind of like a twisted self worth?
her parents definitely would’ve preferred she did something that seemed more feminine, but arden found a love for boxing and later soccer, the two sports a great place for her to channel her energy into, letting her mellow out when she’s going through her day to day routine.
arden’s still figuring out how to be both who she’s expected to be and who she wants to be but hasn’t quite gotten that part down yet.
she had the opportunity to attend a larger university, but she wanted to take the time to simply experience life and do so with people she considered her friends.
she probably joined the sleuths a little bit later, i imagine it was some point after her brother as well. there’s always liked to think that she’s brought a little bit of an outside perspective to the cause, since she was able to step back and at least attempt to analyze things in a different light before jumping in head first.
although now, they are a big part of who she is and why she’s still in sedona.
* PERSONALITY !
she used to be like aggressively happy and cheery and nice, she’s definitely chilled out some and fallen into a calm medium of the two.
she’s always hated being seen as weaker than or less than anyone else, which is partially why she went with soccer and boxing, much to her mother’s distaste.
now she’s more focused on herself and is able to brush off any kind of comment that comes from people she doesn’t feel like directly affect her, which isn’t a great mentality to have but neither is caring too much about what other people think.
the part of her that was very kind and viewed life with a sweet naivety is there, but heavily guarded and buried. she just feels like, it’s not something that’ll do her much good rather than leave her looking a mess or fool when someone takes advantage of it.
she’s like,,,the person that isn’t afraid to knock you down a few pegs but will do so with the sweetest smile on her face to really seal the deal.
she found an interest in psychology and realized she did well in the classes so she decided to pursue a degree there.
arden tries to be super independent and not ask for help unless she really needs it, but knows her limits
she’s loyal as all hell to her loved ones. like will literally help you get away with murder if you asked her for help, once you’ve reached that point you are absolutely important to her.
* (SOME MORE) AESTHETICS !
candle lights, the breathlessness felt when seeing big city skylines, scrunchies, tart strawberries dipped in sugar, iced coffee in mason jars, long swooping cursive, high-waisted jeans, half opened jewelry boxes, setting a new pen against fresh paper, standing outside during the middle of a sun-shower, tucked in shirts, a hand reaching out to catch you when you fall, golden hour.
1 note
·
View note
Text
Growing Pains. Part 19b
"Hi." Duffy smiled. The baby had awoken again so Duffy was giving her a cuddle. "Isn't she just a precious little poppet?"
“You seem quite content. How’s Sarah?” He smiled at the baby, “She’s beautiful.”
"Physically fine but she won't even look at her daughter." Duffy sighed.
He sighed sadly, “Baby blues do you think?”
"Maybe. I'm not sure. She has previously mentioned the idea of putting her baby up for adoption..."
“You think she’s still considering the idea?”
"It would explain why she doesn't want to hold her or look at her. She doesn't want to risk getting attached."
“Hmm.” Charlie sighed.
Meanwhile Sarah had woken up and was sat up in bed. She was angry and frustrated as well as upset. She slowly moved her legs to the side of the bed.
"I tried everything. Poor lamb doesn't even have a name yet." Duffy sighed.
“Sometimes all you can do, is try.” Charlie said gently as he kissed her cheek.
Sarah slowly made her way down the corridor. It hurt to even walk! She was trying to find the nursery. Eventually she found the right room. She was about to open the door when she spied Peter's parents through the window.
She instead found herself crying and turning around to go back.
She sat on the floor by the door. She was torn. Part of her wanted to flee, the other part wanted to see her daughter.
A few minutes later Charlie left the nursery and began to wander down the corridor ready to go start his shift downstairs.
Sarah remained on the floor, her head rested against the wall, her eyes closed. Tear streaks evident on her cheeks.
As he drew closer Charlie spotted Sarah.
She banged the back of her head against the wall in frustration.
"Sarah?" Charlie asked, grunting slightly as he sat down on the floor next to her.
Sarah turned her head to look at Charlie and then turned away again, not even saying anything.
"Do you need me to help you get back up? You should be in bed recovering." Charlie told her kindly.
“No, I’m fine.”
"The floor isn't the best place to sit when you've just had a baby..."
“I’m fine!”
"I can't just leave you here..."
“Why not?” She paused briefly. “Do you have a cigarette on you?” She asked.
"No I don't, I quit years ago."
She sighed, “I could really do with one.”
"I know that feeling! When you last have one?"
“Nine months ago. I stopped cos I was pregnant.”
"Sensible. I've been caught by Duffy a few times over the years sneaking the odd crafty fag."
“Is the baby ok?” She asked quietly.
"Yes, she's doing very well. By the looks of it I think she's going to have your colouring."
“Ok.” She sighed, “Would you and Lisa adopt her?”
"What?!" Despite his wife's earlier comment Charlie was still shocked. "Is that what you want? Honestly?"
“Why wouldn’t I be serious?” Sarah replied with a frown.
"Its a big decision."
“Yeah, well. Do you want her or not?” Sarah asked sadly.
Charlie didn't know what to say. "Maybe we should talk about this again in a couple of days once you've had time to recover more..." He replied hesitantly.
“Fine, whatever.” Sarah slowly got up from the floor, taking a deep breath because she was sore.
"Sarah? Where are you going?" Duffy asked as she left the nursery to head to the toilet.
“To the off license.” Sarah replied back. “That’s allowed, right?”
"You need to stay here Sarah. Your daughter needs you. She wants her mummy." Duffy replied.
“Don’t! Don’t say that!”
"Say what?"
“She doesn’t need me!”
"Every baby needs parents."
“She deserves better than me.” Sarah answered. “I want a drink and a fag.”
"You're just struggling coz you've had such a hard time of things lately. We can help support you in whatever way you need."
“I don’t want her!” Sarah yelled which just drew more attention to her. She fell to the floor and began to sob.
Duffy crouched down to wrap Sarah in her arms. "Ssh, it's OK, this is perfectly natural, your hormones are all over the place right now. Just let it all out."
“She’s supposed to have a mum and a dad! I wasn’t supposed to do this on my own!!” Sarah began to get more and more agitated. “AJ lied!!”
"Is this because of him being in such a state when he got home earlier?"
“He promised us.” Sarah said sadly. “He promised us, we’d be enough.” She whispered.
"For him to grow up and start behaving responsibly?"
Sarah nodded sadly. “He’ll never change.” She sighed and closed her eyes on Duffy’s shoulder. “Will I stop feeling so tired?” She mumbled.
"Eventually. How about we get you back to bed and then get you something to eat?"
“I want to see my daughter.” Sarah whispered.
"We can bring her with you to your bed."
Sarah nodded, “Please.” She smiled sleepily.
Whilst Charlie helped Sarah back to bed Duffy went and fetched her baby girl from the nursery.
“Olivia.” Sarah said quietly as she sat in bed. “Olivia Lisa, that’s her name.”
"That's beautiful Sarah." Duffy smiled as she held the baby out towards the young woman.
Sarah took her daughter into her arms. “Hello beautiful girl.” She rested the baby against her chest. “Thank you.” She looked up at Charlie and Duffy, “Both of you. For everything.”
"You're more than welcome. We're here to help whenever you need us. Don't forget that." Duffy smiled, stroking her finger across Olivia's cheek.
“Can I ask you a question about feeding?”
"Of course, what do you want to know?" Duffy asked.
“How do I know when she’s hungry and how do I breastfeed?”
"She'll start to nuzzle and stick her tongue out when she's hungry. I can help you latch her on when she next needs a feed if you like?"
Sarah smiled, “That'll be great, thanks.”
Duffy smiled warmly.
"Well I best leave you two ladies to it, the ED won't run itself." Charlie chuckled.
“Oh crap. Sorry Charlie.” Sarah smiled shyly before she looked down at Olivia. “We’ll be ok, won’t we Liv?” She kissed her daughter’s head, her heart wanting to be burst!
"Its ok. Luckily for you my right hand woman here has today off so you're welcome to hang onto her for a while longer." He smiled.
“Thank you, Charlie.”
After giving her husband a quick kiss goodbye Duffy settled into the chair next to Sarah's bed.
“I was scared.” Sarah admitted as she glanced at Duffy. “Still am terrified.”
"Its ok to be scared. I still get scared sometimes."
“You do?”
Duffy nodded.
“I keep thinking I can’t be enough for her. I saw you and Charlie with her before and it made me upset.” Sarah admitted.
"Oh Sarah, we never meant for you to feel like that!"
“I know but... That’s how it’s supposed to be. Mum, dad, baby but it’s just me. Me and Liv.”
"For three years it was just me and Peter. It wasn't how I'd wanted it to be but looking back I did OK. Hell I did more than OK! And so will you."
“I just feel...” Sarah shrugged, “Useless. I have nothing to give her except love and what if that’s not enough?”
"That's a good start and the rest you'll figure out along the way just like the rest of us." Duffy smiled.
“Why do you think I can do this?” Sarah looked up to hold Duffy’s gaze.
"I've known you since you were thirteen years old Sarah, I think I've got the measure of you by now."
Sarah sighed and nodded. “I don’t want to let you down, like I’ve let everyone else down.”
"You haven't let anyone down."
“I let my parents down. But I don’t regret it.” Sarah smiled, “I’ve loved her from the minute I found out I was pregnant.”
"I feel the same about Jake. I may hate his father but I've always loved him and always will."
“I’m sorry I’ve been... Hard work lately. I keep thinking she’ll be better off without me, not because I don’t love her but because I love her so much and I only want what’s best.”
"Its ok, I know its difficult what with me being Peter's mum but regardless of that we want to help you and Olivia however we can."
Sarah nodded, “I appreciate that, thank you.”
"I had friends who helped me a lot when I needed it. I know how it feels to struggle and want to help if I can."
“There’s something else I should have mentioned months ago.”
"What's that?"
“The doctors said I have... Erm, prenatal depression.”
"Well, that makes a bit more sense now." Duffy replied, squeezing Sarah's hand.
“I... I’ve really struggled.” Sarah smiled sadly.
Duffy stood up and wrapped her arms around Sarah's shoulders, careful not to squash Olivia. "Oh pet."
“I was struggling before I got pregnant.”
"Have you seen a therapist?"
Sarah shook her head, “I thought I could do it on my own.”
"In my experience that doesn't often go very well."
“No, it didn’t. I...” Sarah sighed and stroked her finger against Olivia’s cheek.
"You'll be a priority for help now you have Olivia."
“What if they take Olivia away from me?”
"They won't. I won't let them."
“I don’t want them to take her. She’s my baby.” Sarah said.
"They won't. I had postnatal depression after Jake was born."
“You did?”
"Yes. It was tough but things eventually started to get better."
“I just can’t seem to shake the darkness.” Sarah said quietly.
"The darkness will always be there, you just learn how to keep it at bay."
Sarah nodded sadly, “I wouldn’t take any medication when I was pregnant because I wasn’t sure if they were safe or not. And I didn’t want to risk hurting her.”
"There's medications you can take now though."
“But there’ll be traces in breast milk won’t there? I’d like to breastfeed as much as I can.”
"There's some that are suitable to use whilst breastfeeding. I'm not an expert but I can speak to a friend who knows more and can come talk to you?"
Sarah nodded. “Thank you.”
"I might not always know the answer but I usually know someone who does." Duffy chuckled.
Sarah smiled and was about to say something when Olivia began to fidget. “I think she’s hungry?”
"I'd say so." Duffy agreed.
Sarah managed to gently move Olivia and her top. It took her a couple of minutes, but she was able to get Olivia to latch onto her nipple.
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
iZombie 5x13 "All’s Well That Ends Well" Review
Hello friends, are we ready to say goodbye? I was a little nervous coming into this finale, seeing as there was so much to wrap up, and therefore...much to mess up. As a result, the pacing was indeed a little strange, but some minor characters get some hero moments, and it was all setting up a final ten minutes that essentially functioned as an epilogue that sealed the series.
Okay, let’s dig in. Enzo has taken over Fillmore Graves and has declared war on humans. Dolly and her people have responded in kind, going around New Seattle taking out high ranking zombies. While gunfire rains over the city, Ravi, Clive, and Liv are returning from Atlanta with the vial needed for the cure.
Even though it’s risky, they choose to fly to get back faster. Liv’s plane seatmate is suspicious, insisting she’s seen Liv before. Even though the official heist is over, the trio show they still have a few smooth moves, and manage to slip a sedative into the woman’s drink so she’ll stop asking questions. As she sleeps soundly, her iPad drops to the floor of the cabin. She must have figured it out right before she’s knocked out — the flight attendant picks up the device and sees the browser is open to an article about Liv and her work as Renegade.
When the plane lands, the flight attendant pulls Clive, Liv, and Ravi from their seats and introduces them to a Portland police officer. After a brief moment of anxiety, the flight attendant reveals they are siblings, and Liv saved their younger sister’s life by smuggling her into Seattle and turning her into a zombie. The officer offers to escort them to the Washington border as a thank you, and in hopes they can get back to Seattle quicker. Clive is happy to hear this, as he gets a message that Dale is labor with their baby.
Major turns himself in to get a shot at securing the Max Rager, and luckily he still has one more ally back at Fillmore Graves. Lieutenant Collins has always been a steadfast supporter of Major, and she truly comes through in his hour of need. She helps him get past Enzo and his lackeys so he can get to the precious energy drink needed for the cure. As a result, Enzo executes her. Lieutenant Collins was always a background character, but she was one that I always respected and appreciated, and without her, Major wouldn’t have been able to make it out of Fillmore Graves alive. We’re pouring one out for her tonight.
Meanwhile, Peyton is still being held hostage by Blaine. She helps the Freylich kids make a distraction by conking him over the head, and tossing the keys to Oliver, the older boy with a terminal illness. He drives the getaway car, but Peyton doesn’t quite make it out with the rest of them. The Freylich smuggler shoots at Peyton, and while she takes him out, he gets her too. Blaine runs out to see Peyton bleeding out on the ground.
The kids make it back to the safe house, just as Liv and Ravi are arriving. When they realize Peyton didn’t return with them, they get emotional. Ravi nearly falls apart before Liv reminds them they have an important job to do. She tells Ravi to get to cooking the cure, and she would deal with Blaine. She promises to show no mercy.
Luckily, Blaine’s obsession with Peyton serves her well in this instance. He turns her into a zombie and forces to eat a meal with him. It’s pretty incredible Peyton has survived this whole series without becoming a zombie, but I guess the virus comes for everyone eventually. Unfortunately for Blaine, he should have been more calculating about the brain he fed her. Don E watches Peyton while Blaine goes to visit the well on his father’s property (the one that also used to serve as his father’s prison). Don E is delighted when Peyton has her first vision, but in a dead-panned voice, she tells him she saw Blaine suffocating a girl with a pillow, wearing a wedding dress and calling for Don E. While we still never see the true circumstances of Darcy’s death on-screen, I’m more inclined to trust Peyton’s version of things than Blaine’s. It’s the last straw for Don E, who storms to the well and unceremoniously pushes Blaine in. “No one was ever going to love you,” Don E screams down the well. “I’m the only person who could stand you, and you killed my fiance.” Liv shows up just in time to see the show and she hesitates even less. She hurls a rock at Don E and her aim is true. Don E goes in the well right after Blaine. “Enjoy eternity together!” she sneers, just as she bursts into tears, grieving Peyton. One has to wonder, if this was all that it took to get rid of these two, perhaps it should have been done a long time ago. It certainly would have saved Liv a lot of headaches. I find that even though it was a simple death, it was a deserving one for Blaine and Don E. I was hoping for more of a redemptive moment for Don E, but it took him way too long to see the light, and he’s been complicit in Blaine’s schemes since the very beginning. By the end, he was a richer character, but still an evil one. I’m okay with those two being a little closer to hell now.
Besides, it was all worth it for the moment right after. “How funny would it be if now I knocked you in,” Peyton says. Liv turns around to see her best friend, and the two reunite in a sweet hug. This moment made me a little emotional. These two college buddies have morphed into two very capable and clever young women, and they’ve been by each other’s side through the worst of it.
Blaine and Don E may be out of the picture, but we but we aren’t even close to the end yet! Clive and Dale deliver a beautiful and healthy baby. It essentially takes them out of all the action, but I thought, for better or worse, it was a strong choice. I was glad I didn’t have to worry about either of them dying in the eleventh hour, and they were able to watch everything from their television screens without being in danger.
Ravi finally creates the cure, and he and Major dramatically roll up to the local TV station. After a brief attempt at convincing Johnny Frost to take the cure, Major takes matters into his own hands. “I’m here to prove to the people that it’s over,” he says. He strikes a deal. Major will take the cure, and Enzo can shoot him in the chest in front of everyone. If he dies, it proves he’s not a zombie. It’s just the kind of stupidly heroic thing that Major would do, and Enzo takes him up on it. Major takes the cure and Enzo shoots him more times than can be counted. It’s traumatic, and they really had me believing that our boy was probably dead. Ravi tackles Enzo and manages to cure him. Graham, who had been sneaking around the background the entire episode, appears and shoots Enzo in the head, avenging his boyfriend. A Fillmore Graves officer takes him out, and chaos breaks out. RIP sweet teacher Graham. Outside the TV station, there’s intense gunfire being exchanged between Fillmore Graves, Dead Enders, and Dolly’s CHICS. Inside, the power goes out.
Ravi crawls over to what appears to be a lifeless Major, while we listen to a voicemail he left for Liv. He says goodbye because he doesn’t think he’ll survive his latest world-saving stunt, but she’s always been the love of his life. Just when I was beginning to choke up and start preparing for a life without Major Lillywhite, he softly croaks, “You tricky son of a bitch, what was in that syringe you gave me.” Ravi admits that he gave him a vial of straight up Max Rager, but promises him that “next time, it’s all yours.”
Liv is back at the station, bawling while listening to the voicemail and believing Major is dead. Strangely, Michelle comes into the morgue and asks Liv if she’s okay. The moment is brief and someone breaks into the morgue and sets off a huge explosion. And then suddenly, we are ten years into the future.
At first, I was a little let down. This is absolutely the easiest way to wiggle out dealing with the aftermath of Dolly, the other fringe human groups, and all the other plotlines that iZombie didn’t feel like it wanted to deal with neatly. We don’t get to watch how Seattle apparently “repopulated, rebuilt, and rebranded” as we hear in a moment later. But my frustration was short lived, as the last ten minutes were devoted to my beloved core characters that I adore so much.
Clive, Peyton, and Ravi appear on a virtual reality talk show, where a charismatic host asks them questions about their lives after the cure. As three people who had a front row seat to the events, the host wants to get their perspectives. It’s revealed that none of them stayed in New Seattle after the war, but they all went on to have very successful careers and marriages. Ravi and Peyton are a married couple living in Atlanta, she’s a lawyer and Ravi is head of the CDC. Clive and Dale are co-captaining San Francisco PD while raising their kid, as well as Michelle’s. Besides their lives prospering, the world has recovered from this chapter of history. The cure was distributed, and while some were cured, some are still living full lives as zombies. Dolly is still out there, but not causing trouble as far as we know. While this is all lovely and good, this show really makes us sweat here. Where are Liv and Major? The host wants to know as well. The three of them insist that they are both lost to time, legends in their own right, and they miss them just as much as anyone. Liv died in the morgue’s suicide bombing, and while Major never lost hope that she’s alive, no one has seen him in ten years. They’ve accepted that Liv isn’t alive or that Major will never resurface, America will have to accept it too.
Unless...
We see a flashback of Major returning to the safe house with the kids, and Liv meeting them there. They reunite with a passionate kiss, and even though things are still burning and they are covered in dirt and exhausted, things are right again.
In the most “happily ever after” ending the show could have possibly delivered, Liv and Major are living their lives in private, in a huge mansion by the water, with all their little zombie children. Their friends are well aware of this, and are protecting them from the world at large with their reunion interviews. After the host disappears, Liv and Major appear in the virtual reality space, and after some light teasing amongst the group, they invite Clive, Peyton, and Ravi to their personal zombie haven. “All it takes is a scratch,” Liv says with a knowing smile.
This show tackled more than it had a right to. It was convoluted, goofy, strange, exhausting, whimsical, outlandish, absurd, dark, and hilarious, all at the same time. But what grounded it at the center was the fact it never forgot about its core cast. At times they were given unfortunate character arcs, undercooked plots, and under-serving love interests. But in the end, we saw who they truly were. Ravi, the scientist with a moral compass. Peyton, the lawyer with clever smarts. Clive, the captain with a discerning spirit. And Major and Liv, the nurturers and protectors of zombie-kind, the best mom and dad friends you could ever ask for. I can’t express how happy I am the show ended with these five, standing tall and in love with each other, looking well-rested in paradise. It wasn’t an easy road, in fact sometimes it was a very frustrating road. But when I remember iZombie, I’ll remember it was a show about heroes, good over evil, and a really, really good meal. I’m always going to have a soft spot in my heart for it.
Stray thoughts
“She’s googling The Good Place. She thinks I’m Kristen Bell.” “She’ll be sorely disappointed.” This gag was straight up gold.
Those flamethrowers seemed especially cruel? Fire doesn’t kill zombies, but sure seems to be painful
Collins, Graham, Oliver, and Michelle. All minor characters this season that had a Moment this episode. While most of these characters were overall underutilized in this series and season, I liked how each of them were used to tie things together. Oliver was the only one who made it out alive, however, and the rest of them definitely deserved better.
Did the suicide bomber think that blowing up the morgue would prevent creating more zombies…? That’s the only reason I can think why blowing up a fridge full of dead people could make sense.
Wait this actually reveals a strange plot hole. Is there a limit to how long you’ve been dead before you can be scratched and be a zombie? I don’t remember this question ever explicitly being addressed. There was never an instance where anyone considered creating a zombie army from Liv and Ravi’s morgue.
Clive and Dale named their daughter Olivia. My HEART.
Even though Peyton was okay, I’m glad we got to see Major comfort Ravi. Their bromance is truly one for the ages.
“The way I make my decisions these days is asking myself what would Liv Moore do.” This couple is THAT supportive ship.
I wish we had gotten better promo photos for this finale, or at least some more variety of scenes
Even though it’s a little thin to believe that some people never turned back human and there are zombies still peacefully living among us (as well as Liv and Major, living outside), I actually didn’t mind it. They had to have some way to wrap up the problem of people who would die if they turned back into a human.
“I do miss you, partner.” “Vice versa, Clive.” Wow, ten years without Liv’s antics. I imagine that Clive’s productivity at work has gone way up, although I’m sure he sorely misses her crime-solving visions.
That’s a wrap for iZombie. What did you think? Favorite brains? Worst plot holes? Best shipper moments? Let me know your thoughts!
Haley’s episode rating: 🐝🐝🐝🐝.5
42 notes
·
View notes
Text
That’s not why I’m going (36)
Won’t be broken
Book: The Royal Romance
Pairing: Drake Walker x Amara Suarez
Rating: some foul language, some extremely suggestive. This is absolutely NOT appropriate for people under 18.
Word count: about 5,400 (let me know if the ‘keep reading’ cutoff isn’t working well!)
Notes: This picks up pretty much where we left off, after the massive shitshow that happened at the rehearsal dinner, starting with Drake’s POV. This, once again, is a lot of filler, but it’s important to set up the Decision Ball, so bear with me :)
*****
‘Thank you,’ Amara says to Hana, who is giving her a cup of tea. Hana plants a sweet kiss on the top of her friend’s head. Amara offers her a faint smile.
Drake has had a knot in his stomach ever since they left the Palace, ever since he saw Amara’s pain, obvious on her face, in her eyes. He wishes he could take on her suffering, take it upon himself, and set her free from it. But all her can do, all he’s been doing since Michael showed up, is hold her hand, hold her in his arms. That’s what he did in the car, which Liv drove like a mad person, with Hana in the front. Drake and Amara were in the back, their hands intertwined, Amara’s hand shaking against his. He did what he could to stabilize it, but nothing worked. Occasionally, throughout the drive, she would smile at him and say ‘Babe, don’t worry. I’ll be ok.’
That’s the woman he loves. She’s having a PTSD episode, she had a panic attack and could barely breathe out there at the Palace, but she still wants to reassure him. When all he wants, all he needs, is to protect her. He and Max had promised it to each other. Amara comes first: her well-being, her recovery, her happiness. Max is handling the Michael side of things, which Drake is grateful for. The poor guy must not know what happened to him, he’s been catapulted into this mess of a courtly life, probably lured in here by ill-intentioned people such as Madeleine, and God knows who else.
But they’ll figure this out later.
For now, he needs to be here for her. All the time, always, even when she says she’s ok and does not need to be coddled.
He sits even closer to her on the sofa and wraps his arm around her. She looks up at him and smiles. Her face is beautiful, torn, raw, and tired. The tears have dried, and she looks calmer now than she did at the Palace during her panic attack, but she looks exhausted. ‘Hold me,’ she says softly.
Drake is happy to comply. Liv is pacing angrily in the living room, she has been ever since they got back and Amara looks better. Olivia was a true rock at the Palace, but now that Amara’s attack has faded, her anger has come out.
‘Liv,’ Drake says calmly, ‘sit down. You’re making me dizzy.’
Olivia snorts. ‘I should have used my daggers on this bitch while we were still there.’
Amara lets out a long sigh. ‘It’s ok, Liv. Thank you for dropping everything to come with me. You guys didn’t have to,’ she says as she looks at Liv and Hana.
Hana waves her off. ‘Are you kidding? There’s no place I’d rather be than with the people I love. I could give two shits about the rehearsal dinner.’
Drake will never get used to Hana’s sudden swearing. He chimes in, ‘Suarez, we’re here for you, you don’t have to thank any of us.’ He kisses her cheek.
Olivia plops down on an armchair. ‘Yeah, as if I wanted to hang out with those fucking traitors. Of course we came with you. I knew it, they’re afraid of the three of us and tried to break us because we represent a threat. Those fucking weaklings.’
Amara laughs sadly. ‘Well, I might qualify for that too.’
‘What?’ Liv asks abruptly.
Amara shrugs. ‘Seriously. Not that I care that much about what everyone thinks, but… they’d be right to think I’m weak. Look at me,’ she gestures at herself. ‘My brother-in-law shows up, and I have a full-on PTSD episode.’ She scoffs. ‘So fucking pathetic.’
Drake sits up and takes her hand. ‘Suarez, stop saying this. You’re not weak. It’s not just about Michael showing up, it’s about the fucking speech that was fed to Liam. About those words he said, about what they represent for you. It was violent, we all felt it, so I can’t even imagine how it must have felt for you. No one is judging your reaction. Especially not those of us who know what happened to Sergio.’
Hana nods furiously, and Drake notices that her eyes are wet with tears under her angry frown. ‘Exactly. What kind of monster would trigger you like that? And trick Michael into doing this to you? No one is judging you, and if you must know, Liam was the one who looked like a fool. You just looked like you were suffering, which makes a lot of sense given the situation.’
Drake and Hana turn to Olivia. ‘What?’ she asks. ‘Obviously Suarez is not a weakling, she’s a beast of a woman who has been wronged. Everyone knows that.’
*****
‘Here,’ Maxwell says as he hands Michael a glittery business card with a turquoise squid logo on it. ‘Here’s my number. I’m only about a ten-minute drive away, if you need anything, let me know.’
Michael takes the card and nods. ‘Thank you, Maxwell. I don’t know how to express my gratitude, you took the time to talk me down and you got me this hotel room,’ he says as he gestures to the room all around them.
Max shakes his head. ‘Amara’s family is also my family. I wish I could put you up at Ramsford, but again--’
Michael nods and interrupts, ‘I know. Too soon. Max, I feel like shit, I made her suffer, when all I wanted was to apologize. That speech, what that sash guy said… it’s not at all what I wanted.’
Maxwell smiles at the ‘sash guy’ comment. ‘I know. On some level, I’m sure Amara knows too. And if she doesn’t, I’ll make sure to tell her.’
Michael looks like he’s about to cry. ‘Thank you.’
Maxwell smiles faintly at him. He wishes he could do more, but he’s anxious to get back to Amara, who must be back at the manor by now. ‘Michael, I mean it, if you need anything, you call me. Promise?’
Michael nods. ‘Thank you so much. I really don’t know how to thank you. At least let me pay you back for the room. Do you have PayPal?’
Max smiles. ‘It’s my treat. I get a discount here anyways. Please don’t hesitate to order food or to raid the minibar. I know you probably need a big fat drink.’
*****
Liam went straight to bed after talking to his father. He tosses and turns, but he can’t sleep. The events of tonight haunt him. He should not have read this speech out loud, not when he had just been handed the sheet of paper a mere moment prior. But the pressure from his father…
He feels responsible. But also, he feels like he’s missing a part of the story. What had Amara done? Clearly, it elicited a strong reaction from her. She had to leave the room in panic, followed by her group of friends. It can’t have been nothing, right? Maybe she really did make a mistake.
The King doesn’t see her as a fit Queen, and Liam knows she doesn’t love him, so it should be a straight shot, he shouldn’t pick her. And yet… something in him wants to, still.
At the very least, he wants her to stick around, get to know him, and then maybe… even if he marries someone else…
A Cordonian marriage doesn’t sound so bad.
In the light of his talk with his father after dinner, there seems to be only one viable solution.
*****
King Constantine walks to his bedroom, slowly. He has trouble breathing and moving, but he’s still standing. He won’t let go until he knows his country is safe.
‘Do you need anything, Your Majesty?’ Bastien asks him, walking right behind him.
Constantine waves him off. ‘No, Bastien, you can go.’
‘Very well, Your Majesty.’
Constantine turns around. ‘I’m satisfied with how things went today, Bastien. Thank you.’
Bastien nods curtly. ‘I’m just doing my job, Your Majesty.’
Constantine turns back and continues his walk. ‘That, you are.’
Even opening the door is a struggle, his movements are jagged and they hurt constantly. But he won’t admit that to anyone, not yet. It was necessary for Liam to know how dire the situation is, so he can get serious about his future, but no one else needs to know that King Constantine is reaching his last weeks.
He sits on the bed, too tired to get out of his clothes yet. He looks at the big, fluffy sheets. They’ve been empty for months, ever since Regina started sleeping in her own room again. His night terrors are getting to be too tough to handle for anyone, and he needs his wife to be well rested. After he’s gone, she’ll need to be there to help Liam make the right decisions.
The King removes his shoes, painstakingly, as slowly as he can. He would certainly need help, but he doesn’t want the servants to start talking. He stretches his legs on the bed, just for a moment, he’s not ready to get back up and get ready for bed yet. The walk from his study to his bedroom has taken a lot out of him.
Thank God for tonight’s events. Everyone involved has done their job well. The Mexican had to leave the room, she couldn’t even stand up on her own, and now she looks like a weak fool. Not to mention that the speech read by Liam suggests that she did something terrible to her family. No one can trust a foreign woman who is not family-oriented, and who cannot handle disruptions.
Still, Liam seems worried about her. The King makes a mental note to remind his son of his duty yet again tomorrow. Liam needs to understand that his country simply needs to come first, and a Mexican whore with no principles and no decorum cannot be trusted with Cordonia.
If he still doesn’t believe it, not to worry --more proof is coming his way tomorrow. He won’t be able to deny it much longer.
*****
‘How are you, babe?’ Maxwell asks as he gives Amara a long, tight hug.
‘I’m ok,’ she says unconvincingly.
He smiles. ‘You look a bit calmer. Need a drink?’
Hana says, ‘I’m making more tea.’
Max gasps dramatically and says to Amara, ‘Don’t tell me these guys haven’t broken out the good stuff yet!’
Amara laughs. ‘Not yet, no. But I wouldn’t say no to something a little stronger…’
Maxwell winks. ‘I have some cognac somewhere.’
‘Thanks, Max. Bertrand went up to bed, he wanted to wait for you, but his eyes were closing, se we told him he could go.’ She smiles. ‘He gave me a bear hug and asked me five times if I needed ice cream.’
Maxwell bursts out laughing. ‘Did he get these tips from Bridget Jones?’
Amara shrugs. ‘It was sweet.’
Max disappears into the kitchen. Amara, still seated by Drake, nervously plays with a button on his shirt. He strokes her hair reassuringly, and occasionally kisses her cheek. She’s so grateful for him that her heart might explode. His concerned face makes her love him even more. She feels guilty for making him so worried -- her panic attack caused quite a stir among her friends and she feels terrible about it. She feels better now, though. They helped her calm down, and they also made her rationalize what happened. Michael had obviously been tricked into coming under false pretenses. She needs to be stronger, and then the joke will be on them, on the people who leaked Hana’s and Liv’s pictures, and who were likely to be at the origin of her problem, too.
Max comes back with a tray, with cognac and glasses for everyone. He distributes them, starting with Amara. ‘Here you go, honey. Drink up, there’s plenty more where that came from.’
She smiles. ‘Max, I didn’t even get a chance to tell you how proud you made us all, today. Bertrand was beaming with pride. We all were.’
Maxwell blows her a kiss. ‘Thank you, love. It feels good to be out.’
‘I’m sorry that my personal shit overshadowed your moment,’ she adds, looking down at her glass.
‘Oh please. I’m glad that it wasn’t the center of attention, but if I could, I’d divert focus from you, so you can be in peace.’ He gasps. ‘Oh! Should I put on an Elton John suit and parade around the Capital on a peacock?’
Drake chuckles. ‘That’s animal cruelty. You can’t ride a peacock, Maxwell.’
Max nods seriously. ‘True, true. Well, we’ll find something.’ He smiles at Amara. ‘Love, do you want to talk about Michael? It’s ok if you don’t.’
Amara looks at Drake, who nods at her encouragingly. She nods at Max, too. ‘Thank you for taking care of him. I appreciate you being there, Maxxie.’
‘Of course. I put him up at the Squid. He’s got my number if he needs anything. He feels terrible about the way it all went down. I’m sure you realize that he didn’t sign off on the speech.’
Amara nods and says, ‘I figured. He said very hurtful things back in New York but I know he wouldn’t do that to me.’
Maxwell smiles faintly. ‘Exactly. Well, he was told that you had talked about him to everyone and were adamant about wishing he could come. He was misled, for sure.’
Amara nods. ‘I feel bad. I didn’t even want to talk to him.’ She sighs. ‘I’m not sure I can, right now…’
Drake tightens his grip on her hand, protectively. ‘It’s ok,’ he says, ‘take your time, baby. You don’t owe him anything right now, and I’m sure he understands.’
Maxwell nods. ‘He knows it’s too soon. But he said he’ll be here when you’re ready.’
*****
Michael paces in his room, a glass of tequila in his hand. He feels guilty for spending more of Maxwell’s money, but he really needed to calm his nerves. At least ten times, he almost clicked on the FaceTime button for his father-in-law’s phone. He needs to talk to him so badly, only Jorge would understand. He needs to see his daughter’s little face, the only person capable of drawing a smile from him right now. But he doesn’t want to worry them. They don’t even know where he is, what he’s doing. Confessing to Jorge would upset him, and maybe it would even reignite his cardiac problems. He would tell him eventually, but not tonight, not when Michael’s face is obviously a mess, and his eyebrows are completely unable to do anything but frown.
He simply texts Jorge to reassure him.
Hi Jorge - all is well, the wifi is sparse, I will call you soon. Give my love to Nancy and tell Callie that Daddy loves her. Love you, Mikey.
Jorge was the only one besides his own parents who called him Mikey. He had hated that nickname growing up, but now he had embraced it. He adored his f ather-in-law, a sweet man with a heart of gold. Jorge looked manly and severe, but truly, he was a softie. He called everyone he loved ‘sweetie’ or ‘sweetheart’, and when he had first started saying that to Michael, he knew he had made it into the family.
Jorge texts back with an out-of-focus picture of himself, Nancy, and little Callie, captioned:
We love you too, Daddy.
Michael sniffles. The tequila isn’t helping much. He feels so alone, the one person he knows in this country is not ready to talk to him, and he doesn’t want to hurt her more.
He sits at the desk, and pours himself another shot. Why the hell did he believe the bitch who had contacted him? That’s what desperation does to you, he thinks. He was so miserable about having alienated Amara that he had jumped on the occasion to make amends, without thinking much.
‘Fuck, I’m so stupid,’ he says to himself. He pulls his phone out of his pocket again, and looks through his old pictures, his sanctuary. Family photos of him, Sergio, and Callie. Amara and Sergio in their police uniforms. Even those pictures were comforting, although right after Sergio passed, Michael couldn’t even look at them. Now, everything that reminds him of his husband is like a reassuring blanket, wrapping him in warmth and memories.
He grabs the remote. Maybe TV will help lull him to sleep, or better yet, oblivion. He turns it on. He settles for a Friends rerun and watches it absentmindedly. Chandler is trying to break up with Janice and tells her he’s moving to Yemen.
His eyes land on the glittery squid logo on the card that Maxwell gave him.
*****
Amara washes her face and puts on her night cream. Drake is watching her from her bed, visibly still worried. She smiles fondly.
‘You can stop worrying. I’m feeling better, I promise,’ she says as she walks towards him.
He opens his arms to her. ‘Let’s leave tomorrow. Let’s just blow this popsicle stand,’ he says as he holds her tight.
She smiles. ‘Drake, there’s nothing I want more than just being with you, away from this shit. But I think I need to face things, now. There’s only one day left in this fucking competition, and I’ll be damned if I let everyone think that they’ve broken me.’
Drake lets out a long sigh, and Amara can’t decide whether he’s relieved or annoyed. He says, ‘God, you’re so amazing.’ He kisses her neck. ‘You’re so fucking strong. You’re right. Let’s face those bitches, and whenever you’re ready to get the fuck out, I’ll be ready.’
*****
Michael opens the door nervously. ‘Hi, Maxwell, thank you so much for coming.’
Maxwell walks into the room, a bottle of cognac in hand. ‘And I’ve brought a nightcap!’
Michael thanks him profusely and closes the door. He can’t believe he had the guts to text Maxwell, who had already done so much. He curses himself for being such an imposition. That’s not what Michael usually does. He’s a provider, someone who fixes problems for people, not someone who creates more trouble.
Maxwell sits at the desk. ‘How are you holding up?’ he asks.
Michael nods. ‘I’m ok. Just...restless. I can’t believe I’ve caused Amara so much pain. How is she?’
Maxwell smiles. ‘Our little blossom is very resilient, you know.’
Michael smiles at the nickname. ‘Yes, she is,’ he says. ‘I’m sorry for calling you and putting you in an awkward position, Maxwell.’
Maxwell cocks his head. ‘What do you mean?’
Michael gives him a guilty smile. ‘Well...you probably had to lie to Amara and make up a reason to leave--’
‘Oh, not at all!’ he exclaims, interrupting him. ‘I told Amara you needed to talk, and she completely understood. I didn’t lie to her at all.’
Michael’s heart relaxes a bit. The ache falters, just a little. ‘Really?’ he asks, hopeful.
Maxwell nods. ‘Of course. She loves you, Michael. She’ll come around. She feels extremely guilty, and she definitely needs a little more time to muster up the courage to face you. But I promise you, Michael--and I wouldn’t say this lightly--that she will come around. She told me and Drake that she wishes she could talk to you. She’s still in shock, and frankly, she was embarrassed and humiliated that her personal life got spilled at court.’
Michael nods. ‘I get that.’ He pauses. ‘Drake is the dark-haired guy I saw running after her, right?’
Maxwell gives him a bright smile, but restrains himself a bit, as if he were trying not to say something. ‘Yeah, that’s him.’
Michael nods absentmindedly, thinking back on what Jorge had told him, about the FaceTime session he had with Amara, and the nice man she was with. Jorge had expressed his hope that they were more than friends. He had been worried about Amara being alone ever since she left Rick, in the wake of Sergio’s death. Michael was, too, but he gets it. She wasn’t ready to share her life, especially the baggage it came with: the guilt, the grief… But maybe now was the time? He hoped it was. So he asks Maxwell, ‘Is Drake someone special?’
Maxwell opens his mouth and closes it, then mimes a zipper closing his lips. ‘I mean…’ he says maliciously. ‘He’s one of my best friends, so I’d say he’s very special.’
Michael smiles. Clearly, Maxwell values friendship. He’s grateful for the flock of people around Amara. The way they all followed her out, the scary redhead holding her up and guiding her outside, Drake and that beautiful Asian woman following suit, it was heartwarming amidst the heartbreak. ‘But is he special to Amara? Jorge--her father, he told me that she called him and introduced him to a guy, a very nice, handsome man named Drake. He was hoping… you know. He’s been worried about her being lonely.’
Maxwell smiles even more brightly, so much that he could light up the room. ‘Alright, if Jorge wants to know, who am I to stop the truth… Yes, they’re together. But we’re still keeping it a secret, until the end of the competition, just so Liam--the Prince, he’s pretty obsessed with Amara-- just so he doesn’t kick them both out. But yeah. Long story short, they’re together, and Michael, it’s a sight to behold.’ He pauses dramatically. ‘They love each other, it’s an inspiration, really.’
Michael feels a tear in his eye. He’d never really seen Amara happy with someone. Rick was a nice enough guy, he and Sergio liked him, but he remembers how Sergio constantly said, in private, that Rick and Amara were not endgame, that she had yet to meet her soulmate the way Sergio had met his. The tear falls.
‘OMG Michael,’ Maxwell says, getting up to come sit by him on the bed. ‘Are you ok? I didn’t mean to upset you.’
Michael smiles through his tears. ‘I’m ok. Thank you. I’m just--I’m happy she’s found someone. I’m happy she’s loved.’ He takes a deep breath, realizing that Maxwell’s hand is resting reassuringly on his shoulder. ‘I failed her lately. She’s my sister, she’s my family. Sergio would be ashamed of the way I’ve treated her.’
Maxwell gives him a benevolent smile. ‘No he would not. He would understand that you’re grieving. You’ve never stopped loving Amara, you just haven’t had the space in your heart to show her.’ He squeezes his shoulder before letting it go. ‘But you’re back now. You’re here.’ He chuckles. ‘You’ve created quite a commotion, but maybe it was necessary. Maybe you can both turn it into something positive.’
Michael nods. ‘That’s one way to see things. I’ll try to see it as an opportunity to patch things up with my sister.’
Maxwell smiles some more. ‘You know, I haven’t known Amara for very long, but I do see her as my sister. So, you can rest assured, I’ll do everything in my power to help you guys move forward.’ He raises his glass. ‘To family.’
*****
The next morning, Liam wakes, still not at peace with his decision, but knowing it will be the best thing for his family, and for Cordonia. He’ll figure out the rest later, when things have calmed down a bit. Before falling asleep, he came up with a solution to have his cake and eat it too. Let’s hope his father is on board. He needs to be firm, and to tell him that it’s non-negotiable. He’ll tell him after the Decision Ball, once his father is pleased with his selflessness and his focus on Cordonia.
Liam calls for breakfast and settles down on his balcony, ready to be served. Someone knocks, right on cue, but they don’t wait for him to answer, they just barge in. He frowns, and gets up from his chair, ready to rip them a new one, but he quickly realizes that it’s not a servant.
‘Hey little bro,’ Leo says cheerfully as he wraps him in a bear hug.
‘Oh! Hi, Leo,’ Liam responds, surprised.
Leo lets him go and gives him a dashing smile. ‘You look...regal,’ he says as he looks him up and down, and pokes his ascot.
Liam protectively puts a hand by his neck. ‘Thanks, I guess. What are you doing here? I thought you were in South America.’
‘I was, I just left Brazil yesterday. I wouldn’t miss this for the world, you know, this whole charade,’ he gestures all around him.
Liam rolls his eyes. He has to keep his mouth shut --all he wants is to yell at Leo, to tell him that nothing would be the same if he hadn’t given up on the throne. Maybe Liam would have a normal-ish life, and would have been able to date Amara without the games and power moves. Maybe she would have liked him.
The two brothers sit down at the table and wait for the staff to show up. The servants arrive and give them their coffee and pastries. Liam catches him up, Leo’s eyes increasingly big through the stories.
‘Jeez, Li,’ he says, once his brother has finished retelling the events of the competition, ‘it’s so much worse than when it was me! And, I mean,’ he gestures at his own body, ‘you just know those ladies were throwing themselves at me. But this…’ He takes a sip of his coffee. ‘You’re deep in shit, kid.’
Liam frowns. ‘I’d like to see how YOU react to the same situation. I don’t have a choice.’
Leo shrugs. ‘We always have a choice.’
Sure, Liam thinks. Leo always has a choice. But his choice annihilated Liam’s. So, now...here we are. ‘I guess. But Dad is in a bad place, Leo, and he needs to know Cordonia is gonna be taken care of. It’s the least I can do to alleviate his anxiety.’
Leo nods. ‘You’re a good egg, Liam. I knew you’d step up.’ Liam remains silent, and Leo continues. ‘How’s Walker? I was expecting to see him here!’
Liam takes a bite of his croissant, not in any rush to tell Leo about the new developments in his friendship. But also, how to explain them? There’s no rational explanation. He swallows hard. ‘Drake and I took some distance, for some reason. Since the beginning of the competition.’
Leo looks surprised. ‘Oh? You did?’
Liam shrugs. ‘Drake did, mostly. He, um. He got closer to Maxwell and Bertrand, and he hasn’t stayed at the palace a while. We had words a while ago, about…’ he thinks about the best way to explain it, but remembers this is his brother, and mincing words is not necessary with Leo. ‘He became friends with a contestant, Amara, the woman I told you about. One night, I got a little too close to her and tried something, and she rebuffed me. Drake did not appreciate how’ he mimes air quotes, ‘entitled I was acting. We’ve talked ever since, but I guess it hasn’t been the same. He’s made it clear to me that he doesn’t appreciate how the competition allegedly changed me.’
Leo’s eyes are as wide as saucers. ‘Oh wow… I never expected this sort of thing to happen. So, he took this girl’s side rather than yours?’
Liam shrugs again. ‘I suppose you could say that. Since then, he’s invited me to the cabin with everyone and we had a great time, but I guess he hasn’t been the same with me as he always used to be. I think his hatred of court has flared up since the beginning of the competition.’
Leo throws his hands in the air. ‘Maybe it was bound to happen.’ He pauses and makes solid eye contact with his brother. ‘I can talk to him if you want me to.’
*****
Amara sighs, happy and relaxed --finally- in Drake’s arms. They woke up together this morning and made love lazily, initiated by Amara. She needed to be close to him, to feel him near, to be with him. She looks at his blissed out face, still reeling from their pleasure, and takes in the view. Drake’s hair is a mess, which Amara loves, and his smile betrays his happiness at the moment they just spent together. She plants a kiss on his lips, and she lingers there a while.
He whispers, ‘I love you.’
‘I love you too.’ She hugs him tighter. ‘Maybe we should take a shower and make our appearance downstairs.’
Drake sighs. ‘Maybe. Don’t get me wrong, I love these guys, but I would love to be alone with you today, away from everything.’ He looks at her and twirls a strand of her hair around his finger. ‘I suppose we’ll have to wait a bit for that to happen.’
Amara nods sadly. ‘We’ll be able to steal moments here and there, we’re good at this. But yeah. We have shit to face. Especially me.’
Drake kisses her forehead hard. ‘I’m proud of you, Suarez.’
*****
‘Maxwell, finally!’ Bertrand exclaims, as he pours coffee for Hana and Liv, both already awake and dressed in their casual clothes.
Maxwell emerges with difficulty --he came home quite late after his long chat with Michael, and only slept for a few hours. He’s usually a morning person, but today, he feels tired. ‘Hi guys,’ he says as cheerfully as he can. ‘Sorry for keeping you waiting. You should have started.’
Bertrand hands him a cup of coffee, and Max adds the milk. Liv looks at him quizzically and finally asks, ‘So? How was the guy?’
Maxwell takes a sip, and it’s as if his brain opens up through the caffeine molecules. ‘It was good. I’m glad I went. Michael feels terribly about putting Amara in this situation, and he needed someone to talk to.’
Liv scoffs. ‘So does she!’
Hana puts a calming hand on Liv’s arm. ‘Amara has all of us. She was not alone last night. Michael doesn’t know anyone here. I’m also glad you went, Max. He needed support.’ She turns to Liv. ‘Olivia, he’s suffering too. He’s trying to fix his family.’
Liv opens her mouth and closes it. She nods, sipping on her coffee. ‘I guess,’ she mutters.
Hana’s face lights up as she sees Drake and Amara coming down the stairs. ‘Morning, guys!’ she beams.
Maxwell notices right away that Amara’s face is a lot more relaxed than it was before. ‘Hey, little blossom, hi Drake!’
Drake pats Max and Bertrand on the back and hugs Hana. Maxwell can’t help but notice how far his friend has come. He used to be so closed off, so bored with the world, and now he gives morning hugs. With everything they’ve all been through, it’s not that surprising, but for anyone who knew the Drake from before, it’s a miracle.
Bertrand smiles nervously. ‘How did you both sleep?’
Drake smiles faintly, and Max knows right away that he didn’t sleep much. ‘Pretty well,’ he says, ‘right Suarez?’
Amara nods. ‘Yeah, I feel better, thanks Bertrand.’ She sits down silently and takes the coffee cup held out by Hana. After a bit of silence, she finally speaks. ‘Guys, no need to walk on eggshells. I’m fine. Right, Drake?’
Drake nods. ‘Hmm. We talked a while last night and Amara has decided to still go to the Decision Ball.’
She gives a slightly brighter smile and turns to Olivia. ‘You were right, Liv. I won’t be broken.’
Liv smirks. ‘I knew it would be a matter of time til you start listening to my wisdom, Suarez!’
Amara chuckles. ‘Don’t get me wrong, if I stop and think about it…’ she looks at Drake and gives him a sad smile. ‘I just have to fight myself a bit. And there’s something else I need to do, too.’ She turns to Maxwell.
He understands right away. ‘You sure, honey?’ he asks. ‘You can take your time, he understands completely.’
Amara nods. ‘I’m sure. I can’t ever thank you enough for holding down the fort, Maxxie. But now it’s time I talk to Michael.’
Maxwell nods enthusiastically, and takes his phone out of his pocket. ‘That’s great, babe. I’m gonna text him that I’ll pick him up as soon as he’s ready.’
*****
Taglist:
@drakeandcamilleofvaltoria @andy-loves-corgis @jovialyouthmusic @mariahschoices @drakesensworld @thequeenofcronuts @notoriouscs @drakewalkerisreal @nikkis1983 @simsvetements @alesana45 @iplaydrake @emceesynonymroll @lily1999love @drakewalkerwhipped @drakxwalker @drakewalkerrosenberg @drakeswalkers @drakelover78 @silviasutton1989 @dcbbw @carabeth @furiousherringoperatortoad @hollygirl1269 @sirbeepsalot @ladyangel70 @thisperfectmemory @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @i-bloody-love-drake-walker
Thank you for your encouragements, everyone! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist :)
#that's not why i'm going#dramara#drake walker#amara suarez#drake x amara#drake walker x amara suarez#drake x mc#drake walker x mc#drake trr#drake walker trr#trr drake#choices trr#trr fanfic#the royal romance#the royal romance fanfic
39 notes
·
View notes
Text
for @aarondingel who requested a scene filler of the phone call between robert and aaron discussing the jacob/maya/liv situation <33
Aaron’s thoughts are travelling at a hundred miles an hour, his eyes are damp and there’s a thud echoing in his ears, heavy and unnatural. He’s not entirely sure where the feeling has come from; Liv’s been stupid, she knows that, he knows that. But he’s confident she’ll get off lightly this time - she’s not the one who’s been doing the majority of the manipulation here; no the manipulating has come at the hands of Maya.
Then, reality crashes back into him, a tidal wave that washes away the initial worry for his sister and is replaced by thoughts of Jacob. Of a young boy facing abuse at the hands of someone he should be able to trust; someone he still believes he can trust.
It feels as if his chest is cracking, peeling apart at the mere thought.
Aaron takes a deep breath in and holds it for a moment, before releasing it slowly. He repeats this a few times until his heart rate normalises and he doesn’t feel like he’s going to crack in half.
He makes this futile attempt to abandons his thoughts and leans back in his seat, trying to put all this focus on breathing. Just breathing and nothing else. Naturally, that’s easier said than done.
There’s only one way, one person, that can calm Aaron when he gets like this. Robert. He fishes out his phone from where it had slipped down the side of the sofa and scans through his contacts, until he finds the one with a blue heart beside it.
And so he phones him. It’s not unusual, considering they’ve shared at least two phone calls a day since Robert’s been away.
The call connects within seconds, as if Robert was expecting him. This funny static sound takes over the line for a while, a result of calling across the water, before he hears Robert’s familiar greeting.
Aaron opens his mouth, to say whatever will come out of him, but he can't make his mouth work. All he can hear is the echo of his own erratic breathing and Robert’s worried tone calling his name.
The anxious coil in Aaron’s chest tightens a little. He’s not sure he wants to tell Robert anymore - it’s heavy on Aaron’s chest, the weight of it almost crushing him and he doesn’t want Robert to feel an ounce of it. Not when he’s already carrying so much.
He closes his eyes momentarily. "Rob," he says weakly. “Hi.”
He rests his head against the back of the sofa, suddenly exhausted.
“Hey, you scared me for a second,” Robert says, but it’s more of a question than a statement.
“Sorry,” he replies, trying his best to keep his voice from cracking, but there’s no point - he’s hopeless at hiding things from his husband.
“What’s the matter? Aaron?” Robert waits; one, two, three. “Has something happened? Are you alright?”
The burning in his throat subsides a fraction, soothed by the calmness that’s slowly inflating inside Aaron’s chest as Robert’s voice fills his ears.
“I’m alright, I…” he trails off, staring at a spot on the wall. “It’s not me - it’s - it’s Liv - and - and Jacob,” he says, not really doing a good job of explaining the situation - but he can’t find the words to do so.
On the other end of the line, Aaron can hear Robert draw a shaky breath, as if he’s part relieved; part horrified.
“Jacob? What’s he done now? Honestly Aaron, I’ll kill the little shit.” Robert says, in that tone of voice which scream protective big brother. “Liv doesn’t deserve this.”
“Don’t Robert -“ Aaron interrupts, blinking back tears, “just - don’t.”
Silence.
“Aaron?”
Silence.
“Aaron, what’s going on?” He hears Robert plead, and immediately Aaron recognises the panic seeping through his voice. “Please?”
“Liv, she’s um - well she - she’s been blackmailing Maya.”
“What? Why on earth would she do that?”
“To give us money for the surrogacy.”
“Ok? You’re going to have to backtrack a bit Aaron - whats Maya got to do with anything? She’s not put Liv in sententious, has she?” Robert attempts with a laugh.
But Aaron can hear the underlying tone of something creeping into his voice, something that sounds a lot like concern, worry, panic.
And how do you put something like this into words? There’s isn’t a way - Aaron knows that all too well. “She’s been abusing Jacob, Rob - she’s - she’s brainwashed him.”
It doesn't bear thinking about.
He tells Robert what he knows, which admittedly isn’t much. He tells him about Liv catching them, blackmailing them. About Maya and Jacob running away together, held up in some grotty hotel room. About how she’s exploited his trust, manipulated and indoctrinated him like the monster she is. It all comes tumbling out of him, as if he can’t keep it in any longer.
He takes a deep breath, shifts his phone from one ear to the other, his arm aching from holding it up so long.
And then Robert’s voice is filtering through his speaker again, telling him that everything will be fine; that Liv will be fine, and Jacob too. Aaron wishes, desperately, that that were true. He even tries to convince himself of it, but he knows all too well that something like this is never just fine.
Something like this. Something he’s all too familiar with.
“Aaron, are you still there?” Robert interrupts him, just as the painful memories start to rear their ugly head, and pulls him back to the surface. “Listen to me, it’s going alright. It might not be right now - not for anyone involved, but in the end, it will be. I promise.”
Robert, even all these thousands of miles away, can be so gentle, so thoughtful and knowing - so aware of Aaron and his needs. It should scare him, how well Robert can read him - like his favourite book - but it doesn’t, in fact, it only serves to remind Aaron how amazing Robert is.
And to Aaron’s own horror, he finds himself tearing up.
“I wish you were here,” Aaron states, glancing over at the empty space on the sofa Robert usually occupies.
“So do I Aaron - I really do. But Vic - she’s -”
“I know, I know - she - she needs you. But you’re so much better at this stuff than me - you always know what to say - and when to say it.”
“Only to you Aaron. I only know how to help you because I know you.” And Aaron’s never really looked at it from that perspective before, it makes something inside him collapse. Or burst. “And Liv - well there’s no one she trusts and adores more than you, Aaron. You’re doing a brilliant job.”
“Really?” Aaron questions, unconvinced.
“Really,” Robert replies, and adds: “really really,” just to hammer it home.
And that's enough to get Aaron believing again, for the first time all day. He still feels raw, like he’s taken off a bandage after too long and every touch of air hurts, but talking to Robert - his supportive words and his calming tone - makes it all that bit easier.
“And how are you, really?” Roberts asks, that concern for Aaron ever present.
“This isn’t about me,” Aaron states, because it isn’t. This is about Jacob. And Liv. And David. And everyone else caught up in the manipulation of that woman.
“That’s not to say it can’t affect you also, Aaron,” Robert countered, “and it has, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah - yeah I guess you’re right,” Aaron said quietly down the line, trying to hide the shake in his voice as he finally said it aloud, admitted that all of this had affected it, dredge memories up from the soil.
“I’m always right,” Robert said lightly, Aaron knew it was his attempt to lighten the mood - and it worked, it always does.
“Alright, Mr Cocky”
“I was thinking of going round to see David later,” Aaron continues, “offer him a shoulder or whatever - I dunno. Do you think I’d just make it worse?”
“Aaron, I don’t think it can get any worse for David.”
"I just - mean - maybe not" he sighs, switching the phone to his other ear.
“You know what I think?” Robert questions.
Aaron doesn’t answer, only hums, contemplating.
“That you’re so - so caring and brace and David will respect that. If anyone can offer him some words of comfort now Aaron, it’s you.”
Aarons about to respond, but he’s stopped by a voice distance, summoning Robert into the kitchen.
“Sorry that’s Gran - I said I’d help with tea - I’ll just pop down and tell her I’m busy.”
“No don’t be daft, you go - go show them your magic, Gordon Ramsey.”
“Are you sure? Gran is more than capable of boiling some pasta on her own.”
Aaron squeezes his eyes shut, balancing the phone on his shoulder. “I’m positive.”
“I’ll call you later,” Robert promises.
There’s a pause, silence on the other end of the line before Robert says quietly, “I love you so much.” And Aaron’s heart stutters, as if it’s the first time he’s heard it, and not something he hears multiple times a day. Played on repeat, over and over; like his favourite song.
“Right then - I best got show them the magic, hey?” Robert says, referring back to Aaron’s earlier comment. “Although I fancy myself as more of a Gino D'acampo.”
And Aaron can’t help but laugh at him, all worries melted away for a mere second.
“That’s my favourite sound in the world.” Robert states, so casually.
“What?” Aaron asks, foreign indifference.
“Your laugh, you idiot”
Aaron can almost here smile in Robert’s voice - it’s like a sudden like a flash of lightning, there one minute but gone the next, electrifying Aaron to the tips of his fingers. His fingers which clench tightly around the phone - if he squeezes hard enough maybe Robert will feel it.
They’d been on the phone for 40 minutes already, but to Aaron, it felt like 40 seconds. No time with Robert, talking to him, sleeping next to him, kissing him; was enough.
But he really needed to go now; they were both needed elsewhere, Robert in the kitchen, Aaron at the shop.
“Right I best go,” Robert says, sounding hesitant. “Are you gonna be alright?”
I’m not sure, Aaron thinks, “I’ll be fine,” is what he says instead.
“I love you so much.”
“Love you millions m,” Aaron replies, can’t quite put into words just how much he means it.
And then he puts the phone down with a sigh, wishing his husband was here more than anything.
It’s only seconds later when his phones flashed to light once again, the low battery altering him of just how long he and Robert spent talking.
He tentatively unlocks his phone and reads the text from his husband.
Call me if you need, whatever time, day or night. Love you loads. Xxx*
#i've had to write and edit this on my phone so there's deffo#loads of mistakes#sorrrrrryyyy#(it's also pretty shit and took way too long to write)#anyway#robron#robron fic#my words
55 notes
·
View notes
Text
(More Hospital!AU)
Glad to be on days for the foreseeable future, Santana gets back into the swing of work. Sometimes, while she’s there, she can’t help but peep outside of Shelby’s office, hoping she’ll get a peek at who she’s interviewing. She’s really hoping for someone good, someone she can trust fully to share cases with and although she knows that Shelby is going to hire the best person she can, Santana can’t help but feel anxious. But home life keeps her sane. She’s really gotten the balance thing down and while she’s home, she doesn’t think of surgeries all the time—though if she’s being honest, when she’s at work, she thinks of Brittany and the boys all of the time.
“Hey.” Brittany comes into her own office, where Santana has camped out to pump. “I haven’t seen you all day.”
“I know, it’s hectic on my floor. It seems like every kid who’s ever needed surgery needs it today.”
“Are you okay? Are you stressed?”
“I’m not, I learned after the Cecile Frank thing just to let it roll. I have a surgery in twenty minutes but my boobs were killing me and I just couldn’t deal with doing a four hour procedure without pumping first.”
“Yeah, that’s probably not a good idea. Is it okay if I sit with you for a few minutes?”
“Britt, you don’t have to ask. I’m your wife and also...this is kind of your office.”
“True.” Brittany laughs. “So, my mom wants to know if we can come to Boston this weekend. You can totally say no, I know you’ve been working late every night and—”
“We haven’t been to Boston since before I went on bedrest. The twins have never been there. I’m okay with going.”
“I’ll drive, you can totally sleep in the car.”
“Baby, stop trying to sell me on it, I’m sold.” Santana smiles. “We can leave Friday after work.”
“That’s what I was thinking, then the boys will sleep for most of the ride and it won’t be a total nightmare.”
“You sound like you don’t want to go.”
“No, I do. It’s just that my parents want to talk to us about something and that stresses me out, you know?”
“Oh.” Santana nods. “Yeah, but it’s probably not a big deal.”
“I hope not. It just seems like if they can’t do it over the phone...”
“Don’t worry.” She leans over to kiss Brittany. “Whatever it is, we’ll get through it together.”
Santana can’t help but notice that Brittany is immensely stressed out over the next few days. She knows that it has to do with going to Boston, so Santana tries to give her as much space and patience as she possibly can. Brittany has always done that with her throughout their time dating and especially since they’ve been married, so it’s about time, Santana thinks, that she return the favor. Each and every night though, when Brittany comes in to bed, she squeezes Santana tightly and Santana hugs her back as hard as she can. Friday finally comes and Santana has four surgeries. She gets out of her last one later than she would have liked and she texts Brittany to ask if she wants to go home and pick up the boys and then come back and get her to save time. Brittany is quick to agree and Santana does her last set of rounds before she goes back into her office to change into yoga pants and a Columbia Pres sweatshirt for the car ride. When she exits the hospital, Brittany is double parked and Santana quickly jumps in the car, not wanting her to get a ticket and be more stressed out.
“Mommy Noodle, why did you take so long?” Liam asks.
“I’m sorry, Sir, I had a patient who needed some extra help. But I’m here now and we’re ready to be on our way.”
“I stopped to get sandwiches.” Brittany gestures to the bag at Santana’s feet. “Your mom fed Liam his dinner so we don’t have to do that.”
“Saved us from having to drive through M-C-D-O-N-A-L-D-S.” “Exactly. Did you get a chance to pump?”
“No, but it’s fine, I’ll do it in the car. Max and Oliver ate too?”
“Your mom said right before I came home, so they should make it to Boston. I think all three of them will be asleep once we get on 95.”
Nodding, Santana opens the bag of sandwiches and hands Brittany half of hers before she opens her own. Brittany is quiet as they eat and much as she suspected, by the time they make it over the bridge, Liam has passed out, Max is on the verge and Oliver just stares out the window, looking like he’s just about to follow. With their dinner gone, Santana reaches over and takes Brittany’s hand on the center console, just squeezing it.
“If something is wrong with one of them, I’ll feel so guilty about living in New York.” Brittany confesses quietly. “It would be different if Liv was still alive...”
“If we need to go to Boston, we’ll go to Boston. I’m sure Brigham would hire you back and I can get a job.”
“The thing is though, Santana, I don’t want to move back to Boston. I love our life in New York, I love Columbia Pres, we’re both on really good career tracks there. And that just makes me feel guiltier.”
“It’s okay that you moved away.”
“Sometimes I feel like it’s not.” Brittany sighs. “They lost Olivia and then I took their grandson and moved five hours away.”
“You did what you had to do. The job at Columbia was a huge step up for you. They understand that.”
“I know they do, I really do. I’m just concerned how they’ll be able to manage if something is wrong with one of them.”
“We know some of the best doctors in the country, you’d be able to do your part that way and you’d make the trip up as often as possible.”
“I can’t honestly expect you to want to go back and forth to Boston all the time.”
“I love your parents. And more importantly, I love you. Two minutes ago, I told you I’d move there. I can manage going back and forth with you. But for the record, I still think you have nothing to worry about.”
“I hope you’re right, Santana. I really do.”
For the rest of the drive, they talk about less intense things. Work, the kids, where they’re going to go when they both take a week off over the summer. Santana thinks that it calms Brittany down a little and by the time they pull into her parents’ driveway a little after eleven, she seems to be doing okay. The Pierces are already asleep when they get there, so they slowly bring everything upstairs before Santana picks up a sleeping Liam and Brittany gets the two car seats. Brittany’s dad had set up the playpen next to their bed before they got there so Brittany puts the twins in and Santana carefully lays Liam down in the center of their bed. Not wanting to wake any of the kids up, they wash up and change for bed in silence but once they’re laying down, Santana grabs Brittany’s hand over Liam’s sleeping form and just squeezes it tightly.
It’s early the next morning when Liam starts rolling around in bed and once Santana manages to rouse herself from sleep, still tired from the three times she woke up with one of the twins, Brittany is up and trying to keep Liam quiet. Santana can smell coffee from downstairs and she knows that Brittany’s parents are already awake, so she tries to keep herself from falling back to sleep. Liam bounces over to her side of the bed and crawls into her arms, wrapping them around her neck. With a smile, Santana hugs him back and she’s glad when Brittany leans over to kiss her.
“You don’t have to be awake, honey.” Brittany tells her softly.
“Mama, Mommy Noodle’s already ‘wake. I want to see her.”
“I’m good, Britt.” She promises, then lowers her voice once she grabs Liam’s trains from the nightstand and he starts rolling them over the comforter. “My left nipple is just a little sore this morning.”
“It’s been bothering you all week. Do you think you have an infection?”
“I don’t know, maybe the start of one. Would you mind grabbing me my cream from the red bag?”
Brittany complies immediately and Santana pops open the top of the totally organic and everything free nipple cream that she’s been using, scooping some onto her fingers and putting her hand up under her shirt. She hisses out a little in pain as she rubs it on herself and Brittany looks over at her in concern. Santana just sighs and puts the cap back on her cream, knowing that this was probably caused by the days where she had long surgeries and let herself overfill. She’ll probably need to see Roz and get antibiotics when they get back to New York, but until then, she’ll try to manage it as best as she can on her own.
“Do you want me to bring you up coffee?” Brittany asks.
“It’s okay, I’ll brush my teeth and come down. I know you’re anxious to talk to your parents.”
“Mama, I’m so hungry.” Liam whines a little.
“Okay, let’s all brush teeth and then we’ll go down to have breakfast.”
While they’re brushing their teeth, Oliver wakes up and before that can get to him, he has Max awake too. Because Santana’s nipple is so sore, she wants to do the first feeding in the privacy of the bedroom so as not to concern Brittany’s parents. She puts Max on her left side, because his sucking reflex is stronger, and Brittany takes Liam downstairs to get him food while Santana nurses. When both boys are finally done, she brings them downstairs and Liam has already finished his breakfast and has found his way into the living room and into the new toys the Pierces have bought him. Brittany brings Santana over a hot cup of coffee and then takes Max from her arms and sits down beside her. “Mom, Dad, tell us what’s going on.” Brittany immediately says, once Santana is done telling them how she is.
“Cutting right to the chase, aren’t you?” Pierce laughs. “Okay, Whitney, you lost Rock Paper Scissors, you get to do it.”
“You seriously played Rock Paper Scissors to decide who gets to tell us the bad news?” Brittany sighs.
“Honey, it’s not bad news, but some of it might upset you a little.” Whitney purses her lips. “We’re selling the house.”
“Okay...” Brittany takes a deep breath and Santana knows she’s never one to be reactionary, even though it probably devastates her to know that her parents won’t be living in the house where she and her sister grew up any longer. “Why?”
“We just thought we ought to move closer to you. Maribel is helping so much and we’re kind of just...here.”
“Besides,” Pierce interjects. “The pizza is better in New York.”
“Mom, Dad, your whole lives are here. We don’t expect you to give that up.” Brittany looks over at Santana, who takes her hand. “And...Liv. There are just...a lot of memories here.”
“We know that.” Whitney nods. “And we’ll take all of her things with us. But to be honest with you, Brittany, sometimes it’s difficult to live in a house surrounded by so many memories of her. It’s been four years and you’ve done so much to make a new life for yourself, I think it’s time we do that too.”
“Okay...okay.”
“Honey, we figured this might be difficult for you.”
“I just need a minute.” Brittany gets up from the table, puts Max down in his seat and walks to the front door, opening it and stepping outside, leaving Santana alone with the Pierces.
“I’m sorry about that, Santana.” Whitney offers, looking down into her coffee.
“It’s okay. I don’t know if I should go to her or give her space. I’ve never seen her like this.”
“It’s why we wanted to tell her in person. She never really had a chance to grieve Olivia’s death because she jumped right into taking care of Liam.”
“I’m going to go out there, I think maybe it’s best if she has some time alone with me. Do you mind watching the boys?”
“Go.” Pierce nods, taking Oliver from Santana. “We got this.”
Santana walks out the front door and finds Brittany on the steps with her head in her hands. She sits down beside her and rests her palm on Brittany’s back, just silently letting her know that she’s there. Brittany doesn’t say anything but Santana can tell that she’s crying and she longs to make it better for her. She’s always so strong, her Brittany, so seeing her break is so difficult for Santana to do.
“This is the last place that still exists where she was.” Brittany murmurs. “All the Thanksgivings, the Christmases, the Sundays where I’d get here late after work and they’d all be around the table...it’s all I have left. I miss her every day, Santana, and I just have to go on living.”
“I can’t imagine how you feel.”
“She was my best friend. I mean, we weren’t sisters that fought all the time, we were so close from the time we were young. I thought she’d get to be the maid of honor at my wedding, see the birth of my kids. God, watch Liam grow up. There’s just so much she never got to have and I get it that it’s hard for my parents but they’re going to sell this place. I’d love to have them in New York, but I’m not ready to let this go.”
“You could talk to me about her, Britt, whenever you want. I know you don’t, very often.”
“When I talk about her, I feel like I’m going to fall apart. I had to compartmentalize all of my sadness when she died because Liam needed me and my parents needed me, so now, I feel sometimes like grief is going to swallow me whole.”
“I didn’t know that, I’m sorry I haven’t given you a safe place to come.”
“It’s not you, I know I can talk to you, and eventually, I’m going to have to tell more stories about her to Liam and even Max and Oliver but I don’t know how.”
“What if...we helped your parents go through everything? Maybe that physical act will help you be able to talk.”
“Or it might make me more mad that they’re selling the house.” Brittany sniffles. “I’m so glad that neither one of them are sick, but this is a tough blow.”
“I know.” Santana wraps her arm around Brittany and pulls her close. “You lost the most important person to you and then you stepped up to be the mother of her son. Now you’re losing a place that you shared with her.”
“They’re moving to New York to be closer to us, I should be thrilled.”
“You’re allowed to have mixed emotions. You’re always an emotional rock for me, but I’m here for whatever you need.”
“Thank you.” Brittany nods and rests her head on Santana’s shoulder. “I need to know that.”
Once Brittany cools off a little, they go back inside to find Brittany’s parents in the living room with all three of the boys. Liam is building a train track and Max and Oliver are laying side by side on their backs on the floor. Santana knows that Whitney knows Oliver doesn’t like tummy time, so she’s glad she didn’t put him on his stomach when she wasn’t there to comfort him. Brittany sits down on the couch and Santana joins Liam on the floor, helping him to attach his tracks.
“I’d like to help go through Liv’s stuff.” Brittany tells them. “If it’s okay, there are some things I’d like to take for Liam.”
“Of course, honey. And I promise you, we’re not going to get rid of any of it. It means a lot for us to have it.” Whitney sighs.
“We just lost so much of her stuff in the fire, all of what’s left of her is here.”
“Where’s a fire?” Liam asks, lifting one of his fire trucks. “I’ll do it!”
“Oh, Li.” Brittany gets up and lifts him into her arms. “There was a fire a long time ago.”
“I hope the firemans put it out!”
For the rest of the day, Brittany is quiet. Santana doesn’t try to urge her to talk, she figures she’ll do it on her own accord and if she’s still upset with her parents, that’s okay. They end up going out to dinner, but Brittany spends most of her time outside of the restaurant with a crying Oliver—and existing that Santana stay and eat her dinner. When they get back to the Pierces, Liam is falling asleep and Max and Oliver aren’t far behind so they say goodnight to Brittany’s parents and quickly bathe all three boys, Santana feeds the twins and they get them into bed, putting Liam on the little cot that Pierce has remembered to bring up, instead of putting him in the middle of the big bed.
Santana changes into her pajamas, takes her pills and brushes her teeth and Brittany follows suit, clearly not wanting to go back downstairs to her parents. Feeling bad that it’s been a rough day for Brittany, Santana goes to massage her shoulders as soon as they get into bed. Brittany leans back into her touch and Santana can’t believe how much tension she’s holding there.
“I was thinking about Liam.” Brittany whispers, clearly not wanting to wake the sleeping kids. “And how he heard us talking about the fire.”
“And when you, or we, if that’s what you want, have to tell him?”
“Yeah. I can’t keep this from him forever. As soon as he’s old enough to realize that his scars came from somewhere, he’ll have to know. And I don’t want him to think of my sister as anything but his mother...but how do you tell a kid that their parents died?”
“Babe, I don’t know. Maybe there’s someone we can talk to, just to figure out the best way to go about this. I mean, you always point out your sister as Mommy to him, I guess it just hasn’t sunk in.”
“It’s only a matter of time before it does. I just won’t lie to him, but I also don’t want it to scare him, thinking that something might happen to one of us.”
“I know.” Santana digs her thumbs into a knot in Brittany’s back. “I really, really know.”
“Do you know any child psychologists that work with patients on your floor? Maybe you could ask one of them what the right thing to do is.”
“I could definitely do that. Britt, no matter what, I’m here for you through this. I know you adopted him before me and Olivia was your sister, but I promise you don’t have to do this alone.”
“Thank you for that.” Brittany sighs. “It’s just been a really long and emotionally draining day.”
“Let’s just go to bed, you could really use the rest.”
“You’re right. We have to drive back tomorrow and I need to not be a jerk to my parents. Come here.”
Santana stops massaging Brittany’s shoulders and curls up in her arms. Even on the rare occasion where Brittany is going though something, she still prefers to be the big spoon and Santana is perfectly okay with that. She feels Brittany’s lips on the top of her head, feels the way she squeezes just a little tighter and she closes her eyes, already feeling the effects of her Ambien. Now that the twins are mostly sleeping through the night, she can take it regularly again, meaning she actually wakes up well rested.
The bed is empty when Santana gets up in the morning, but Liam is still asleep on his cot and Max and Oliver are in the playpen. Santana notices that Brittany’s sneakers aren’t at the foot of the bed and even though it’s before seven in the morning, she assumes that Brittany went for a run to clear her head. Max wakes up first and Santana lifts him from the playpen, careful not to disturb Oliver, and lifts up her t-shirt. She sits with him in her arms, humming softly as he nurses, and she’s surprised by a knock on the door.
“Come in.” She calls out softly, not wanting to wake Oliver or Liam. When the door opens, it’s Whitney and Santana gives her a small smile.
“I expected to see Brittany in here, I woke up early hoping we could talk.” “I think Britt must have gone for a run. Her sneakers aren’t in here and it’s too early for her to have gone anywhere else.”
“Santana, do you think we’re doing the wrong thing?” Whitney asks, eyes pleading.
“I...think it’s really amazing that you want to move to New York. I love the idea that Max and Oliver will get to have you regularly like Liam did when he was their age, and you’ll get to watch all three boys grow up in a way you couldn’t all the way from Boston. I do really think that Brittany will be okay, it’s just, like you said, the process of grief that she never really got to experience.”
“If we could afford to keep this house and buy something in New York, we would. It’s hard for me to give up the place we raised our girls. But I think it will be a good, fresh start. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to put you in the middle of this.”
“You’re not.” Santana shakes her head. “I want what’s best for all of you, I really do. And we’ll come up and help you pack, that way Brittany can go through what she wants to.”
“I’ve begun to go through her things, things Pierce and I will keep, things we want Brittany to have, things we want to save for Liam when he’s older. I meant it when I said we wouldn’t get rid of anything of Olivia’s, I haven’t been able to in the time she’s been gone and I won’t now.”
“I think that’s important for Brittany. She’ll be okay, Whitney, I know she will.”
“Thanks for being a good wife to her, the monster would have expected me to throw everything out and Liam with it.”
“I know, I’m really glad Brittany didn’t marry her ex. Anyone who wouldn’t want her to have Liam and those memories of Liv doesn’t deserve to have her.”
“Mom, what’s going on?” Brittany walks into the room, sliding her shoes off.
“Mama, shh, I’m sleepin’.” Liam rolls over with a frown.
“I’m sorry, bud. I’ll go downstairs with Mommy and Grandma.”
Santana checks on Oliver to make sure that he’s still sleeping and grabs the monitor before she follows Whitney and Brittany out of the room while carrying Max. They go down to the kitchen and Brittany pours hot mugs of coffee for the two of them. Whitney sits down at the table across from Brittany and Santana catches her wipe a tear from her eye.
“I just went up to ask Santana if she thought we were making the wrong decision. She knows you better than anyone and—”
“You’re not, Mom. I can’t expect you to stay here forever just because we lost Liv. I’m sorry about yesterday, I just needed time to process. I’m still...dealing with losing her.”
“I know, kid. We had more time to process, you stepped right up and took on Liam.”
“I had to be okay for him. But I know it was hard for you when we moved to New York and I’d be so happy to have you closer. I miss you and Dad every day.”
“We miss you too, Brittany. I know that you have your life with your wife and your family, but...I just want to be closer to you, Santana and the boys. We won’t move into the city, but Maribel has raved about her town in Westchester, and there’s always Long Island.”
“I’m happy you’re coming.” Brittany smiles and Santana thinks that she’s not even forcing it.
“We’ll always keep Liv with us, you know that, right?”
“I know. And I get it, that I’m in a totally different place, both physically and emotionally than when she died and if you think moving will help you get there too, then I’m all for it.”
The sound of Oliver crying over the monitor tears Santana away from the table and she hands Max to Brittany before she goes upstairs. When she gets in the room, she lifts him up from the playpen and sits on the bed to nurse. She thinks of how he’s Olivia’s namesake, how she never got to meet Brittany’s sister, but she’s so present in their lives. She’s not quite sure what she believes in, in terms of religion, but somehow, she feels that Brittany’s sister has especially watched over her fragile son. She leans down and gently kisses the top of Oliver’s head and he gurgles up at her, smiling as he nurses.
“Mommy Noodle?” Liam lifts his head from the cot. “Can I sleep in my own bed tonight?”
“You can, Sir. We’re going to leave to go home just after breakfast. How does that sound?”
“I’m gonna miss Gramma and Grampa, but I like goin’ home and I miss Gramma Maribel.”
“She’ll be happy to hear that when you see her tomorrow. Do you want to come sit with me while Ollie eats, or do you want to go downstairs to Mama?”
“I will stay here with you. I like to see them babies eat.”
Liam curls up with Santana as Oliver finishes eating and then she gets both of them dressed before dressing herself. She figures the easier she can make getting out of the Pierces, the better it will be for Brittany and before she goes downstairs, she leaves an outfit on the bed for Max and puts the rest of her things in the suitcase. She brings the boys downstairs and things look good with Brittany and her mom. Brittany takes Max back upstairs to dress them both and by the time they’re done, Pierce is awake and they can start packing the car and saying their goodbyes. Once they get on the road, Santana passes Liam back the iPad and Max and Oliver are content in their seats. Santana grabs Brittany’s hand on the center console and Brittany turns her head a little to smile at her.
“Thanks for putting up with me being a little out of sorts this weekend.” Brittany says softly.
“Britt, you put up with me being out of sorts for long stretches at a time. You were fine, just a little upset.”
“It’ll be good having them in New York, won’t it?”
“I think it really will. Not just for them, but for you too. You uprooted your whole life to come to New York.”
“It was really a job offer too good to pass up. And I spent my my whole life in Boston, it was an adventure.”
“Me aside, do you ever regret it?” Santana purses her lips.
“Honestly? I don’t. Like I told you on Friday, and I love the hospital, I love our house, I love our kids, and being with you is not something I can separate from any of that. If I loved nothing else about New York, I still would have come just to meet you.”
“I’m glad you did, I can’t imagine my life without you and our kids.”
“Neither can I.”
39 notes
·
View notes
Text
Aaron week day 1 - “It’s okay. You don’t have to love me”
A/N: ok I’m really not sure about this anymore. It’s kind of Aaron centric, kind of Liv centric, with a side of robron and Seb. it was the first idea I had when I saw the prompt but now I have a feeling it all worked out better in my head...
Life with Lola AO3
Liv had had a few more minor seizures since the first one in the café, and after endless tests and doctor’s visits, epilepsy was the official diagnosis. Only they still didn’t know exactly what triggered her seizures. It had been a month or two since they’d found out and it had scared all of them to bits. Most of all Liv. Even though she pretended it wasn’t a big deal, Aaron had seen the search history when he’d borrowed her laptop. He knew she wasn’t alright.
He'd talked about it with Robert while they were in bed. They were both desperate to help her somehow but neither of them really know how.
They’d asked Liam for advice and Aaron had ended up on a message board with people with epilepsy but all of them had basically said the same thing. Let her come to you and tell you what she needs, when she needs it.
So that’s what they were trying to do now. Even though it was easier said than done.
Liv came stumbling into the kitchen, poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table, ignoring her brothers.
“Do you want a lift to college?” Robert offered as he put Seb in his highchair. “I have a meeting in Harrogate, I could drop you off on the way.”
“I’m alright.” Liv mumbled. “I’ll take the bus.”
“You sure? It’s on the way…”
“It’s fine Rob.” She sighed. “I can take the bus by myself, I don’t need you to hold my hand. Either of you.”
“I didn’t say anything!” Aaron protested.
“Didn’t have to.” Liv said. “You two share a brain anyway and I bet you put him up to offering to take me to school.”
“We just want to help you.”
“Help me with what? I have epilepsy and they don’t know what’s causing it so there is nothing they can do about it! I’m a lost cause!” Liv snapped, making Robert sigh and Seb give her a fearful look, not sure what was going on but at the same time being sure the adults in his life were not happy.
“Liv…”
“I have to go or I’ll miss the bus.” She said and dumped her half eaten bowl of cereal in the sink before all but running out the door, slamming it shut behind her.
“She’ll come around.” Robert said in an attempt to make Aaron feel better.
“Hmmm.”
“You know she’s just scared and pushing us away. Just like a certain someone else I know.”
Aaron raised an eyebrow at him but didn’t say anything.
“Daddy. For you!” Seb said, holding a piece of his toast out for Aaron which made him smile.
“Thank you little man, but I have my own breakfast that your other daddy made for me. We can’t let that go to waste, can we?”
Seb seemed to consider this for a moment only to decide Aaron definitely had to take his toast.
“No. For you!”
“You’re stubborn aren’t you? Just like your dad.”
“I hope you mean yourself by that.” Robert said laughingly as he watched Aaron take the toast from Seb’s little hand, taking a bite of it and making him take a bite as well.
“What about daddy Robert?” Aaron asked Seb, ignoring his husband. “He’ll go hungry now. We don’t want that.”
Seb looked back and forth between his parents before deciding Aaron was right and offered Robert some toast too who took it from him and pretended to eat the boy’s entire hand, making him laugh.
“I have to go too.” Robert said, getting up from the table. “I won’t be back late.” He promised, leaning down to kiss both Seb and Aaron.
“Well it’s just you and me now mate.” Aaron said to Seb after Robert had left. “I suppose we better start looking for your swimsuit or we’ll be late for your lesson.”
Swimming lesson was a big word. In reality it was more like a couple of toddlers splashing around with their parents, but Seb loved it. And seeing Seb happy always put Aaron in a good mood too.
He kept to himself most of the time and the mums only really knew him as Seb’s doting dad. A few had asked him about his wife in the beginning but he’d shrugged off the question and they’d stopped asking when Robert had come along once.
“Oh Aaron, I’m so glad I caught you before you left.” Louise, one of the mums from the class said just as he walked out the changing room with Seb. “What are you doing the 15th?”
“Uh… nothing I think…”
“Perfect! Casey is turning two on the 16th and we’re having a little party for his friends on the 15th. He’d like Seb to come too. You and your husband are both welcome too of course.” She handed him an invite. “It’s no big deal. Cake and lemonade and some games.”
“Right. Well… thanks for the invite. I’ll talk about it with Robert but I’m sure we can sort something out.”
“Great. My number is on there, just give me a call when you have so we know how much cake to buy.”
“Sure. Should we bring a gift?”
“I’ve made an online wish list, the link is on the invite. But don’t feel like you have to pick the most expensive thing on there.”
“We’ll have a look tonight.” Aaron promised but just as he was about to say goodbye to Louise his phone rang. “Excuse me.” He said and frowned at the unknown number. “Hello?”
“Hi, I’m looking for Olivia Flaherty’s guardian…”
“Uh yeah that’s me. I’m her brother. What’s going on? Who is this?”
“Sorry, I should’ve said. My name is Frank Wilson, I’m a nurse at Hotten General. Your sister was just brought in after having suffered a seizure.”
“What? When? What happened? Is she alright?”
“She collapsed at a bus stop. Bystanders called an ambulance that brought her here. She’s awake and lucid but she has some scrapes on her face and hands. Are you able to come in?”
“Yes. Absolutely. I’m on my way. Please tell her Aaron is on his way.”
“I will.” The nurse promised. “Please drive safely.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Aaron said and hung up. “Come on Seb. We need to go see auntie Liv.” He picked the boy up and all but ran to his car, calling Robert as soon as he’d strapped him into his car seat. “Rob, it’s me. Liv’s in hospital. She had another seizure. Seb and I are on our way there now. Call me when you get this.”
By the time Aaron got to the hospital and got someone to take him to see Liv, she was sitting up in bed and someone was cleaning up the wounds on her face.
“Liv!” he said, rushing over to the bed, wanting to hug her but changing his mind at the last second. “How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?”
She shrugged.
“Just another one isn’t it? I suppose I should be used to it by now.”
Aaron carefully put Seb down on the bed and let him crawl up to Liv to hug her – just like he usually did at home.
“Hi little monkey. What are you doing here?”
“We were at the pool when the hospital called me. We came straight over.”
Liv sighed and rolled her eyes.
“I told them they didn’t have to do that.”
Before Aaron could reply and tell her they definitely did have to do that, his phone rang.
“Rob thank god.” He breathed.
“Ugh you told him too?” Liv complained but Aaron ignored her.
“I’m on my way to the hospital now.” Robert said. “How is she? Is she alright? Have you seen a doctor yet?”
“No not yet. She’s ok I think. Complaining about me telling you she’s here.”
Robert chuckled.
“That’s good. That’s how we like her.”
“Yeah I suppose so. Where are you now?”
“On my way. I’ll be there in 20 minutes. Fifteen. Do you need me to bring you anything? Food? Coffee?”
“No… just yourself.”
“I can do that. See you in a few. Love you.”
“Love you too.” Aaron replied and hung up.
“Is he coming too?” Liv asked.
“Yep. And before you say he doesn’t have to and that you’re fine, I want him to come.”
“Fine…”
About fifteen minutes later a stressed out Robert walked into the room after an even more stressed out looking nurse.
“Hey.” He said and pulled Aaron into a hug and kissed him hello. “I came as fast as I could. How is everything here? How are you feeling?” He asked Liv.
“Fine. You two can just take the little monkey home and I’ll get the bus.”
“Like hell you are.” Robert told her.
“IF you get to go home today, I’m driving you home.” Aaron added. “And the same goes for any other time you’ll be getting out of here.”
“Have you seen a doctor yet?”
“I believe that’s me.” A friendly woman in her 30s said as she walked into the room and shook hands with Liv and Robert and Aaron. “I’m doctor Patel, neurologist. Sorry to have kept you waiting. It’s busy and it’s only my first week here. I’m still finding my way around.”
“That’s ok.”
The doctor talked them through the scan results and asked Liv some questions about how she felt before the seizure.
“So nothing really stood out today?”
“No… I was a little tired this morning… but that’s it.”
The doctor nodded.
“Have you ever considered getting a service dog?”
“What? I’m not blind and I don’t need anyone to open doors for me.”
“I meant a different kind of service dog. There are dogs that are trained to detect seizures in humans. It would warn you when one was coming so you could get somewhere safe or take your medication.”
“I’m not on any medication…”
“Yes, I’ve seen your file, but I think you would benefit from anticonvulsants. To stop the seizures.” The doctor said and Liv nodded.
“So what about this dog then?”
---
Two months later
“Lola, come here girl. Breakfast.” Aaron pleaded. “Look, bacon. You like bacon don’t you?”
“They said not to give her too many snacks or she’ll become too focused on food.” Liv reminded him.
“Well at the moment I’m not feeding her anything because she won’t come near me.” Aaron argued.
They’d had Lola for a few weeks now and she was a happy Labrador who took her job seriously. She followed Liv everywhere she went. School, home, Gabby’s, around the village, and even the pub.
The first time she’d come with to the pub was something Aaron still wished he’d gotten a video of.
Charity yelling about environmental health while Ryan informed her that she couldn’t refuse service dogs entry. The look on her face had been priceless and made Aaron laugh whenever he thought about it.
Only Lola still didn’t want to come anywhere near him.
Besides Liv she loved Seb and seemed tolerate Robert for the most part. She’d sit by his feet if Liv was sitting next to him but nothing in the world seemed to be able to convince her to come to Aaron.
At first he put it down to new surroundings and having to settle in, but it had been long enough now and she still didn’t want to have anything to do with him.
Aaron sighed and slid the piece of bacon towards the dog and got up from the floor.
“I guess there is a limit to your magic touch with dogs after all.” Robert joked, earning him a glare from his husband.
“Now she’s eating it!” Aaron said exasperated when he looked over his shoulder and saw Lola eating the bacon.
“I guess she just wasn’t hungry before.” Liv shrugged and put Lola’s harness on. “Come on Lola, we have to catch the bus.”
They left and Aaron sighed.
“Don’t. I know you’re dying to say something… but just don’t.” he warned Robert.
“I didn’t say anything!”
“I just don’t get it. She likes everyone. She likes you, she even likes Paddy and he gave her, her vaccinations!”
“Don’t try so hard. She’ll come around eventually.”
“What if she doesn’t?”
“Then… I can always put on a collar and bark if you like.” Robert said, and actually barked in an attempt to cheer his husband up, but only made Seb laugh.
“Idiot.” Aaron said affectionately and shook his head.
A few weeks passed and it seemed Lola was warming up to Aaron. A little.
He decided to join her and Liv on a walk through the fields around the village after they’d come back from a day of training.
“So what did they teach you?”
“I don’t know, just stuff on how Lola is supposed to warn me when there’s another one coming. She has to get to know me better so she can warn me sooner.”
“Yeah? What is she supposed to do then? Is there anything we should know too?”
“No I just have to keep my meds on me and make sure my phone is charged. She’s doing well but she’s only at about 10 to 15 minutes warning now. The ideal is about 50. So you have time to get somewhere safe.” Liv explained.
They’d ended up at the cricket pavilion and sat down with Lola at their feet, who even went as far as letting Aaron stroke her back.
“See? She likes you.”
“Yeah… we’re getting there, right Lola?”
Suddenly the dog got up and started licking Liv’s hands and face.
“Lola get off.” Liv said laughingly and pushed Lola away. “No playing now. I’m tired. Go find a stick. You’re free. Go play.”
“Yeah come on Lola, go find a stick. Come on.” Aaron said, getting up and patting his thighs but Lola ignored him and just went back to licking Liv and pulling on her clothes.
“Lola NO! I’m tired and I have a headache, just let me sit here for a while ok?”
“Headache? Are you ok?” Aaron asked but Liv didn’t reply. “Liv?”
The girl’s eyes rolled into the back of her head and she started trembling.
“LIV!”
Aaron rushed over to his sister and laid her down on the grass in front of the pavilion as Lola barked and tried to lick her face.
“Liv! Liv come on, can you hear me?” He put her in the recovery position like he’d learned in the first aid course Robert had insisted they’d both taken a while ago, given how accident prone their family tended to be.
After a few minutes Lola started to calm down and Liv’s trembling stopped.
“Liv? Can you hear me?” Aaron asked again. “Should I call an ambulance?”
“No…” Liv said and sat up with Aaron and Lola’s help. “It happened again didn’t it?”
“Yeah… I think Lola tried to warn you but we didn’t understand her…”
“Sorry Lo…” Liv mumbled and stroked Lola’s head.
Aaron tried to do the same but Lola backed away and sat down on Liv’s other side.
“Yeah you’re right. It’s okay.” He told the dog. “You don’t have to love me, you don’t even have to like me, you just have to look after our Liv.”
4 notes
·
View notes