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katefiction · 1 year ago

Text

Those eyes (Chapter 4 - Chapter 7) by @a-lifelessface [English]

Thank you so much to @clmarelich0824 for the translation!

Chapter 4

“The day Catherine was seen as the most beautiful work of art in the place and everything made sense.”

The National Gallery

When Catherine entered through the door of the National Gallery office, she was greeted by two pairs of very curious eyes.

“Good morning, Miss. Middleton.” said August with a naughty smile. John was just watching.

“Good morning. What is it?” she replied suspiciously as she approached her desk.

“Who is it?” August got up to go to her table.

Catherine widened her eyes when she finally understood August's behavior. On the table, there was a flower and a small package, Catherine sat down putting her bag on the floor and took the small package in her hands, it was quite obvious that it was a book. Carefully, she undid the green bow and unwrapped the book that was accompanied by a handwritten note.

"I was remembering our conversation in the park, you mentioned that you needed this book and I knew I had kept it here. I hope it will be useful to you. See you at night." W.

“He remembered!” Catherine spoke to herself and kept the note inside the book. It was a book about history of photography. She had mentioned that she needed that book for a project with her students. Catherine took the only rose he sent. A white rose: simple and discreet. Just like his gesture. Catherine was so happy that he remembered what she had said.

“Aren't you going to talk?” August spoke, making Catherine remember that she was not alone.

“Ah, so... It's just a friend...” She said blushing.

“What a friend is this who sends orders here to "Miss. Middleton"? ― August shot.

“Yeah, Kate... Tell us.” John got into the conversation.

“You don't have any work to do, do you?” Catherine got up and looked at August and John.

“Okay, mysterious cat.” August returned to his desk and Catherine took the notebook out of her bag. John watched Catherine in silence.

“Let's get to work!” Catherine put an end to that subject, but gestured to August without John seeing: “I'll tell you later.” August nodded smiling.

Kate: You remembered.

William: Of course I remembered.

Kate: Thank you for the book and the flower. I loved it.

William: I'm glad you liked it.

Kate: Will, good luck with your appointment today. In uniform, right?

William: Yes. Do you like it?

Kate: I like it. Tell me later how it went. Now I'm going to work, I have a lot to do around here.

I can't wait to see you.

William: Good job, Kate. Take care. I'm counting the minutes to see you.

William left the phone on the bed and went to the bathroom smiling. The weekend was all like this, after the small meeting on Saturday night, they didn't let go of their cell phone, they exchanged several messages, it was so easy to talk to her. The prince dressed up wearing his uniform for today's appointment, he would carry out the review of the Welsh Guards who was Colonel of the Regiment. The Prince of Wales decided to focus fully on the commitments he needed to perform, with everything going well, time would certainly fly by. And that's what he wanted the most.

The National Gallery

“DIDN'T HE KISS YOU?!” August screamed, making several heads turn in their direction

“Sshhhh!” Catherine scolded him. “We are in the cafeteria, Augus! Keep it down, damn it!

“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Whispered August. “I can't believe he didn't kiss you.”

“He gave me a kiss on the forehead, it was cute.” Catherine confessed, taking a sip of juice. ― And we'll meet here today

“HERE?!” August felt a punch in the shoulder.

“I won't tell you anything else, you don't know how to talk.” August shrugged.

“Here? What do you mean?” He said softly.

“He called me on Saturday for us to schedule, he said that for him he would take me to the best restaurant in London, but he doesn't want to expose me, he is afraid that the press will discover and make my life hell, I told him that I don't care about these things, and you know I really don't care. Then I proposed that we meet here, the Museum will be closed, and I already have in mind where I'm going to take it. He will bring the food, we like the same thing, can you believe it? But you know, I hadn't stopped to think about the exhibition, but after he told me that, I kept thinking about his mother. The media destroyed her life, right? ― Catherine spoke in a low tone.

“From what I understand, he is very discreet, it must be precisely because of that. And he already cares about you, even before kissing you, which I still don't believe he didn't do.” August replied.

“Ah, something else... Don't tell this to anyone, for God's sake. I didn't even tell my sister, you're the only one who knows.” Catherine stopped talking when she saw John approaching behind August.

“What are you talking about?” John sat next to August.

“About the new exhibition at the end of the month.” August replied. Catherine got up.

“I will finish cataloging the works that arrived last week.

“Wow, haven't you finished doing this yet?” John held her by the arm.

“If you hadn't interrupted me on Friday, I would have already finished.” She replied, pulling her arm and left the cafeteria.

“John, what's wrong with you? I know about your thing with Kate and you crossed the line, man. I'm trying to be patient because I promised her I wouldn't do anything, but if you touch her with a finger again, I'll end your life. Are we understood?” Murmured August. Getting up from the bench, he gave John a push on the shoulder and left behind Catherine without hearing any answer.

It was after seven forty-five at night when Catherine left the employees' bathroom, wearing a blue midi dress with thin straps, it was hot.

Catherine was already alone in the office and everything is happening as expected, she went to her closet to store some belongings and then went to the Museum parking lot.

Another spring Monday was ending, everyone was making their way home after a long day of work, and those who passed through that region were totally oblivious to the prince who parked the car for a meeting with the one who captivated his heart.

Catherine was standing on the sidewalk and William stopped the car in the parking space next to her. He got out of the car folding the sleeve of his white dress shirt and walked to her. His eyes connected.

“Wow, you look stunning. Good evening, Kate.” William approached to greet her with two kisses on the face.

“Good evening. Thank you, you too.” She replied by running her hand over his right shoulder. “Didn't you come by motorcycle today?”

“Not today, I want to hang out with you and then take you home safely. I brought our favorite food. Do you want to come in?” William said, taking her hand.

“Yes, I do.” She smiled.

“Okay, let's get things.” They went to the car, William took the bag in the back seat. He set off the car alarm and signaled to his security guards.

“Oh, today you are accompanied.” She said surprise. He stopped everything he was doing and looked at her.

“Ah... So I didn't want to be interrupted, so I thought it was better to bring them, but don't worry, they are very discreet and will stay out here. Is that okay with you?” William scratched the back of her neck, she kept smiling.

“All right, Will. So... Isn't your cell phone going to ring today?” He turned red.

“Kate, I'm sorry for that... It's just that if I don't answer they get desperate, especially if I go out alone, by motorcycle...” She laughed and squeezed his arm.

“It was nothing. All right, I understand. I was just playing with you. Come on, let's go in.” He nodded smiling and they entered through the back of the Museum.

Catherine guided William to a corridor, everything was very quiet.

“There are no ghosts here?” William whispered in the foot of Catherine's ear. She jumped. It.” Calm down, it's me. “He laughed.

“What a scare! I wasn't expecting you to talk!” She replied with her hands on her chest. He laughed.

“Isn't it for me to talk? I'll be very quiet.” He placed his index finger covering his mouth. Catherine slapped him. They kept walking.

“It's here.” Catherine stopped in front of a door and turned the handle. William stood in front of her.” What is it? Aren't you going to talk anymore? ― He opened a naughty smile.

“I love being beaten by a beautiful woman.” He whispered. She crossed her arms.

“Get in soon, creature!” He smiled.

“Only after you.” He ran his hand over her back and gave a slight push.

“I think we will have privacy here, I use this room to catalog some works and I find it very comfortable. What did you think?” She asked.

“I thought it was great. It looks cozy.” William looked around, and followed Catherine to the small cream sofa.

William and Catherine organized the food on the coffee table. Catherine had taken two glasses of wine. William filled them up.

“And then... Shall we eat?” William motioned for her to sit down. She nodded and after she sat down, he settled down next to her. “Wine?”

“Of course, thank you.” She took the glass from his hand.

William brought fish and chips, a typical and simple dish. The favorite dish of both. They wanted to ask each other a lot of questions, but decided to eat in a comfortable silence, sometimes interrupted by some William joke and banal conversations. Catherine felt very good next to him.

In the third glass of wine, Catherine practically couldn't take the smile off her face.

“Shall we go to the questions?” She drank a sip of the wine and raised an eyebrow.

“You're the boss, Miss. Middleton. ― He also drank a sip of his cup and crossed his legs.

“Okay, I want you to talk about yourself. ― She smiled.

“Well...” He settled down on the couch, and looked at her. “I went to college at the University of St. Andrew's, I have a degree in Geography, and as you may know I don't work in the area, but I use it a lot in some projects I'm developing. It's... I love soccer, I'm a Villa fan. I have already completed my training in the Armed Forces and I am a helicopter pilot.” He took a short break to take another sip of wine. “I served as an air ambulance pilot until the beginning of this year, but unfortunately I had to leave. I love driving, it's one of my favorite things. I like to be useful.” Catherine looked at him in admiration. “Your turn.”

“As you know, I have a degree in Art History.” She swallowed it dry, but continued. “I studied at St Andrew's in the same years as you.” He looked at her shocked, but didn't interrupt. “I teach Photography: Theory and Practice at the University of Richmond and work here at the Museum since I graduated. I love photography and I love sailing and Rugby. I live alone, but I'm a good family. I'm very close to them, I have two siblings; James and Pippa.” She stopped talking and smiled at him.

“I can't believe we studied together, I can't remember you. “William put a hand on his head in an attempt to try to remember something.

“We never talked there. I've seen you a few times.” She spoke timidly. Catherine told a half truth, they had never talked, she saw him practically every day in the library studying or in the cafeteria, but she never had the courage to talk about it. Catherine concluded that he had never really noticed your presence.

“I will never forgive myself for that.” He took another sip of his wine. “Anyway... Sailing? That's pretty cool. You are a very interesting woman.

“Thank you. You are too. Some things about you I already knew, because of the news, but hearing you speak it is very clear that you really care. That's wonderful.

“Thank you.” William blushed with the compliment. He felt really flattered to hear a compliment coming from her.

“Do you have plans for the future?” She said of guessing. William laughed.

“Much of my life is already all scheduled. It's not something I like, but I accept what was entrusted to me, I have no choice.

“What about the other part? What does William want?” She looked him in the eye.

“I have a very privileged life, so I want to help as many people as I can, launch my project on the environment, and you know... Falling in love with a beautiful woman, who understands me and disappears with me, building a family. A different family from the one I had.” He put the cup on the coffee table. “And what are your plans, Kate?”

“I love my life, it's been wonderful so far... And I want to fall madly in love with a nice guy, who treats me with a lot of love and respect, I want to build my own family, I want to have children.. Three to be exact. Working with children is a dream, which has not yet come out of the role... But one day, who knows...” He smiled openly.

“That's amazing.” He said softly. William was referring to everything and she understood.

“Yes. Amazing.” Catherine deposited the cup on the coffee table and looked at the dessert. “This Crumble looks so tasty, the only thing missing was an ice cream, don't you think? ― William reached him for the spoon.

“What do I want?” He replied confused. She laughed.

“Open your mouth.” She approached and took the spoon to his mouth.

“Hmmm, that's delicious.” He put his arm on the couch, behind her. She finished eating dessert, while they played conversation away.

“Do you want to take a walk around the Museum”. Catherine asked.

“Of course, we can do whatever you want.” He replied.

Catherine put the empty dessert pot on the table, and drank the last sip of her glass of wine.

“What do I want? Anything?” She asked turning her gaze to him.

“Yes.” He said. Catherine got a little closer to him and put a kiss on his cheek. William took his hands and kissed his right hand.

Catherine and William got up and cleaned up the little mess they made, then hand in hand they went to the Museum, just as was Catherine's wish.

Throughout the course, she explained to him that the National Gallery of London exhibits pictorial works of European precedence from 1250 to 1900 and that the permanent collection consists of more than 2,300 paintings, among which stand out are the works of Rembrandt, Tiziano, Velázquez, Van Gogh and Michelangelo. William listened to everything attentively, and he looked at her in amazed by her intelligence and her sweet way of speaking.

“... The National Gallery is of remarkable quality and artistic variety that encompasses the totality of the history of painting in the Western world, and it is possible to observe the evolution of pictorial styles from the Renaissance to Post-Impressionism.

“Ah Kate, only you make it interesting.

“Ah, I'm chattering, I'm sorry.” She smiled blandly.

“No, no, no. I could listen to you for hours. I even accept a podcast. ― He touched your left cheek.

“It's all so beautiful, isn't it? I've been here for four years and I'm still delighted.” She looked around.

“You are the most beautiful work of art in this place.” She turned her gaze to him and her eyes connected. The blue in the green. The green on the blue. Again.

William gently pulled her closer to him and Catherine moistened her lips by passing her arms around William's neck that wrapped around her waist. William brushed her lips on Catherine's delicately, she sketched a small smile before deepening the kiss. William felt like he was in paradise. The sweet touch of Catherine's lips made her whole body on fire and everything happened slowly and deeply, a delight for both. Catherine could feel her hot breath tickling her mouth as she moved away an inch to breathe. William opened his eyes and stared at her, his penetrating eyes looked at her as if Catherine were something different. Everything made sense.

“Ah Will.” She whispered. “I thought you would never kiss me. Now I don't intend to stop anymore.” They smiled at each other. And William kissed her again, Catherine returned immediately.

After a series of kisses, Catherine went to her office with William behind her.

“You told me you would do anything I asked for, right?” Catherine said of the way when she entered the office.

“Yes?” William spoke a little suspicious.

“Would you agree to do a rehearsal with me?” She said putting a lock of hair behind her ear.

“What kind of rehearsal?” He took her by the waist.

“I wanted to take pictures of you... Your eyes... They are beautiful... I have an idea in my head, I wanted to photograph you. Don't worry, I won't disclose anything. I would never do that.” She put both hands on his chest and her eyes in his eyes.

“I'm not photogenic.” He said timidly.

“Just be yourself. I have a studio in my house, think carefully about my proposal, okay? Remember that I went riding a motorcycle with you, I thought about your case.” She spoke sweetly trying to convince him and filled him with kisses.

“I'll think about it, Kate.”

“Shall we go?” William took Catherine's bag and went to the parking lot

William opened the car door for Catherine and they went to her apartment. About twelve minutes later, William parked in front of the address.

William took off his seat belt and she did the same.

“Did you like it?” He said softly, smoothing her cheek gently

“Yes, a lot. It was even better than I imagined.” She smiled as she ran her hands through his arms.

“I have a lot of plans for us, if you want of course, but let's go slowly... What do you think?” He glued his forehead to hers.

“Slow is perfect.” She kissed him.

A fairy tale kiss. Once upon a time and it happened... And the end of the story is still being written, by two lovers.

Chapter 5

“When everything starts to work out, but not so much.”

Chelsea, London

“We're almost done, okay?” Catherine said softly, as she placed the camera on top of the shelf. He nodded.

William was sitting in a black leather armchair and looked closely at Catherine, she approached stopping in front of him, her soft hands went up to her shoulders, squeezing affectionately. William held her by the waist.

“Will... Let's open...” His hands flew to his collar. “some buttons?”

“Go ahead.” His gaze was penetrating.

“It's just two buttons...” She slowly dislodged and ran her hands over his neck.

“Ahhh, Kate.” He shivered at her touch and brought her even closer to him, squeezing her waist.

“Will, let's continue with the photos.” Catherine said smiling, she was loving that.

“Sit here a little bit, we'll keep going.” William pulled her into his lap. Catherine let out a scream of surprise, but was silenced by a burning kiss from William.

Catherine passed her arms around his neck, while William squeezed her even more against him.

“How nice it is to kiss you, my beautiful.” William whispered very close to his left ear then deposited small kisses on his neck going up to his chin, and then again kissed his mouth. Catherine moaned softly on her lips.

“You're addictive, William.” She kissed his neck, making him throw his head back. “We need...” one more kiss. “stop.” she pulled his head gently, making him look into her eyes.

“Ah, Kate.” He slid his hands down her back.

“Aren't you enjoying doing the photo shoot with me?” She moved on his lap, making him sigh.

“It's the first time I've had the photographer sitting on my lap, and I want you to know that I'm really enjoying it.” His left hand slowly climbed to the back of Catherine's neck, making her shiver.

“William.” Catherine whispered.

“What is it?” His voice sounded confused. Catherine glued her body to his and her mouth very close to her right ear.

“You will get up, turn that chair over there, ― Catherine pointed with her left hand to the other side of the room. “you will sit on it and support your beautiful arms on the back of the chair, okay?” William's body was on fire, he swallowed it dry.

“Kate...” His voice failed. She started talking next to the other ear.

“Will, forget the camera and look at me the way you always look. I want you to see it the way I see you.” She put a kiss on the foot of his ear and got up.

William felt his whole body tingle, Catherine made him feel a whirlwind of sensations and he loved it.

“Like this?” He positioned himself the way she asked and directed his eyes to her.

“Now I want you to look at the camera, but don't think about it. I want you to look at me as if you were seeing only me. No camera. Do you understand?” William nodded.

William looked at her. Catherine was a few steps away from him, with her hair stuck in a ponytail, her thin neck was adorned by a discreet necklace with a gold pendant, her white t-shirt was wide, William noticed that she only wore this type of t-shirt at home, and wore denim shorts that highlighted her shapely legs. Amid the flashes, which in a way he had already become accustomed to, William noticed that Catherine moved slowly, changing her support foot several times and all her movements were sweet and delicate. Catherine was art in his eyes. William was lost in thoughts, now thinking about his face... That he had already decorated. Since the meeting at the Museum, she has made a home in her thoughts.

“Ah Will, it was perfect.” She confessed, making him get out of his daydreams.

“Is it over yet?” He asked, signaling for her to approach.

“Yes, you did very well.” She approached to kiss him. “Thank you.” She stroked his face.

“What I don't do for you, right? Can we stay in the living room now?” William looked at the clock. “The game is about to start and you promised you would watch it with me.”

“Only if we watch a movie later.

“Anything you want, kitty.” William got up from the chair and took it by the waist. Catherine filled him with kisses all over his face.

Both left the room, which Catherine called the studio and went to the living room, William turned on the TV and settled on the couch, after making a bucket of popcorn,” which practically only she ate, Catherine sat on the opposite side to his with her notebook on her lap, stretched her legs on his lap, while William watched the game and did not stop talking to the television, Catherine edited the photos she took earlier.

From time to time, she would stop what she was doing to look at him, his black polo shirt contrasting in her light skin, his very blue eyes shone towards the television, the way he gestured was funny and attractive at the same time. Catherine thought he was beautiful.

The game was already in the second half when he started a massage on the brunette's feet.

“I want to eat pizza.” Catherine spoke, suddenly.

“So let's eat pizza.” William replied, looking in his direction. Catherine put the computer on the floor and stretched towards him to pick up the phone.

After making the call, Catherine took a quick shower and put his sweatshirt over her pajamas.

“Every time I come here, I lose a shirt... E... My God, every minute you get more beautiful.” William said, when he saw her appear again in the room. She smiled and went to him to kiss him.

“I promise I'll give it back to you.” Catherine felt his hands surround her by the waist. “Feel free to take a shower if you want. Then we can watch the movie, eating pizza.” She framed his face with her hands.

“That would be perfect.”

William went to Catherine's room to pick up his backpack and headed to the bathroom, while Catherine stayed in the living room waiting for the pizza.

A few minutes after Catherine heard the noise of the shower, the doorbell rang and Catherine got up to answer. Upon opening the door, Catherine was startled when she saw the figure standing outside her house.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you. Can I come in?”

“No, John. After what you did to me, we can't even be friends.”

“Do you have company?” John said trying to look inside the house.

“It doesn't matter, go away!” His tone sounded firm, but inside she was terrified of him.

“Ah.... I knew you were already with someone. Who is it, Kate? Why are you hiding it?” John's voice sounded bitter.

“I don't owe explanations, John! Please leave my house.” Catherine tried to close the door, but John held it with only one hand. He was much stronger than her.

“Come on, tell me who it is and I'll leave.

“It doesn't matter! GET OUT!” Catherine screamed in distress. While fighting a small fight with John who insisted on entering.

“Kate?!” William appeared in the room. Catherine slammed the door hard and turned the key.

“Hi, dear.” Her chest went up and down quickly, and she tried her best to disguise that everything was fine.

“What happened? Who was it? You're pale, is everything okay?” William hurried to get in front of her and held her by the arms. Catherine moved to get out of the door.

“It was nobody, I thought it was the delivery man.... I got confused.” She lied.

“Kate... I heard voices, you slammed the door. Who was it?” William looked at her very confused.

“It was nothing, I just got confused. Come on, let's choose the movie.” She tried to pull him towards the couch.

“Kate, does anyone know I'm here? Was it paparazzi at your door? You can't hide that from me...” He let go of her and opened the door. Putting his head out, he began to observe the street, there was no one outside. He closed the door. “Kate.”

“Will, it was nobody! I swear to you. Nobody knows that you are here, you know that I only told about you to my mother, my sister and August.

“My angel, are you okay? I'm not doubting you.” He said going to her and taking her hands. “I only asked you because I heard the noise and thought there was someone at the door, I just want to protect you, you need to talk to me, I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I just want to keep you safe, do you understand?” Upon hearing this, Catherine felt very bad for hiding his truth. She knew William was afraid of the press, but she didn't want to talk about her past with John. Catherine wanted to deal with John alone, and didn't want to make John another problem for William.

“Sorry if I implied that something had happened. I'm fine. “She tried to smile, and hugged him hiding her face around his neck.” The noise was probably from the TV.” William's heart was racing and so was hers.

The doorbell rang again.

“It must be the delivery man, go to the couch and I'll answer the door.” Catherine said softly. William kissed his head and went to the couch.

It was past nine o'clock at night when the movie started, they ate pizza and then William lay down with Catherine nestled in his arms, Catherine could hear the sound of his heart, William caressed his hair with one hand while the other landed on his back. Their bodies together, covered by a thin dark blue blanket.

When William woke up, the movie had been over for a long time and Catherine was asleep on his chest, he stretched his arm to look at the clock, it was two fifteen in the morning, he snuggled more on the couch. William should leave, but he didn't have the courage to get out of that comfort, being like this with Catherine was paradise, with this thought he fell asleep almost instantly.

It was already clear when the Prince of Wales woke up feeling a floral smell so close to him, one of Catherine's hands ended up inside his shirt, William could feel his warm and light breath on his neck, Catherine's legs were between William's legs, he was literally attached to her. William raised his head a few centimeters to kiss the top of her head, making her move over him. William sighed loudly with her movement, making her wake up. Catherine, still with her eyes closed, clung even more to his body and gave several kisses on his neck, making him shiver from head to toe.

“Good morning, my beautiful.” William spoke softly, his voice sounded hoarse. Catherine put both arms to lean on his chest and raised her head to look him in the eyes.

“You slept here! Good morning.” She spoke sweetly, Catherine was still dying of sleep.

“What a delight to wake up and have you in my arms.” Catherine moved again, and William closed his eyes.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Speak.

“It's nothing.” He smiled with his eyes closed.

“Speak, William!” She moved again. He turned red.

“Kate, don't play innocent, I know you're not.” Catherine finally understood and blushed instantly.

“Ah.” She laughed and sank her face between his neck and shoulder. Catherine felt his hands slide directly to her butt.

“You're not helping.” He whispered. She nibbled on his neck.

“Ohhh, Kate.” He moaned. His hands began to caress his abdomen under his cotton shirt. William held her firmly and in a single movement turned them on the couch, standing on top of her, Catherine moaned surprise at the unplanned movement. William kissed her fiercely, explorer hands were all over the place, sighs and light moans filled the room.

“William.” She whispered, between the kisses.

“I love it...” He nibbled on your neck. “the way you say my name.” Catherine put her legs around William's hip. Their intimacies were separated only by thin layers of clothing.

“I really want to...” Catherine was interrupted by the ringing of William's cell phone. They both sighed heavily.

“Just ignore it.” William spoke in her ear, kissing his neck again. The phone stopped ringing. “You really want to... What?” He nibbled on her ear.

“Ah Will, you know what I want.” Catherine bit her lips and the phone started ringing again. “Answer that, for God's sake.” She rolled her eyes.

“Shit. ― He stretched out his arm and picked up the phone. It was Rob. ― HOLY SHIT! ― William's heart skyrocketed

“Hello?” He said apprehensive.

“Ah, FINALLY! WILLIAM, WHERE ARE YOU? DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES WE TRY TO CALL YOU? YOU WENT OUT YESTERDAY AND SAID YOU'D COME BACK, FUCK! DO YOU WANT ME TO BE FIRED? WAS IT COSTING TO REPLY TO THE MESSAGES?” Rob shot. William got up from the couch.

“Calm the fuck down. I'm at Kate's, you know I would come here.”

“Yes, William, but it turns out that you said you would come home and since you are no longer 12 years old, I trusted your word. I went to my house, but I couldn't sleep because they kept calling me because Your Royal Highness never arrived. For a month now, you've simply forgotten the rules you created yourself.”

“I didn't intend to sleep...” William started talking, but was interrupted by Rob.

“You don't owe me explanations, you're the boss.”

"We are friends, Rob.”

“William, we are friends, but I am your secretary, I am responsible for your safety, our communication is fundamental. We need to align these things.

“Ok.

“I need you to be here at 10 a.m., you have a meeting scheduled here at KP.

“I know. We'll talk later.” William turned off the phone, and put a hand on his head, letting out a heavy sigh. Soon he felt soft hands hugging him from behind.

“Sorry for getting you in trouble. You were already tired and I made you do the rehearsal and when we started watching a movie it was already very late.”

“No, Kate.” William said turning to look at her. ― You don't have to apologize at all, you didn't do anything wrong.

“Do you already have to go?” William unlocked the phone again to check the time, it was eight o'clock in the morning.

“I need to go back, I have a meeting at 10 a.m., but first I want to talk to Rob and Natalie.” William spoke while looking at his cell phone.

There were 16 missed calls and more than 25 messages from Rob and Natalie.

“I'll prepare a quick breakfast before you go, I can't let you go out without eating.”

“Okay.” He hugged her. “I didn't want our morning to end like this, everything was so perfect.”

“I didn't want to either, but we'll have other opportunities, right?”

“Of course, my beautiful. It was the first of many.” He kissed the top of his head and she squeezed her arms around him even more.

They both went to the kitchen, and Catherine prepared breakfast, between banal conversations and William's jokes.

Since the first official meeting where they promised to go slowly, they have met several times, so much so that Catherine told about William to her mother and sister, there were no secrets between them, and obviously told August, her best friend. William didn't care about her having contact with them, because they are people she trusts. He had not yet met her mother and sister, only August at the Museum's appointment last month. William had not yet taken her to his house, only Rob, Natalie and some security guards knew about Catherine and her secret encounters. It was all very new and they were both comfortable like that.

“I have to go.” He said putting the cup in the sink.

“Unfortunately.” She got up and took off her sweatshirt, revealing a thin silk t-shirt in her pajamas. “Here's your sweatshirt.” William approached the trapping between his body and the kitchen counter.

“If I had known you were wearing pajamas like that, I would have made you take off your shirt yesterday.” Her hands were caressing her back. Catherine was laughing in her chest

“I really like being with you.” She looked at him.

William chose to demonstrate rather than speak, and kissed her affectionately trying to pierce everything he felt in a single kiss.

Kensington Palace

As soon as William passed through the office door, Natalie and Rob got up from the couch and looked in his direction.

“Good morning.” He tried to smile.

“Good morning.” They answered in unison.

“Don't look at me like that.” William said going towards his desk.

“William, we need to align some things.” Rob's tone was serious.

William sat in his chair and put his elbows on the table with his hands on his forehead.

“You're right, I'm sorry.” He was being sincere.

“William, we care about you.” Said Natalie.

“I know. I wasn't wandering the streets, I just went to her house and stayed there. We were watching a movie and ended up sleeping. I was planning to come back.

“But do you understand that this girl is an unknown to us? No one really knew where you were, you left alone saying you were coming back. That's the problem, William. We understand that you want privacy, you want to go out alone, you want to enjoy your life, but understand that we need to do our job.” Rob said with caution. William listened carefully.

“She's special to you, right?” Natalie intervened.

“Yes.” He replied.

“So why are you hiding her as if you were doing something wrong? William, you are a free man to date, enjoy your life, have fun, go out with your friends. Until a month ago you lived your life normally, what has changed?” Natalie questioned him. William turned red.

“I'm afraid that the press will find out and ruin everything. It's the first time I've felt that, fuck.... I don't want to ruin it.... I'm not hiding it out of shame or anything... It's just that... I'd rather be in her world than bring her to mine. What's the problem with that?” William shouted.

“Will, we understand you. No one here is criticizing you for relating to her, let alone for keeping away from the media. I agree with you about maintaining secrecy, it's all very new, but William.... You can't hide her reality, keep the girl only closed inside her house, you can bring her here, we need to meet her just as we know her friends. I know you know how to be discreet, you always have been. We will always protect you.” Natalie replied.

“The problem is not in protecting me. I have no doubt that you will do that. I'm talking about her. Kate. Who is going to protect Kate, Natalie? I can't stick her like that in my world, hoping that everyone respects her privacy. I don't want them to see me with her for that. I can't allow it.

“But William, we can help you. What happened today was a communication error that I almost couldn't get around. Natalie and I did everything so that it wouldn't leave KP. We were lucky. And I swear to God, that I'm not doing this in evil. You are my boss, but I consider you as a friend, you know that. If you disappear again, I don't know how I'll help you.

“But what do you want me to do?” He threw his arms on the table.

“All we ask is communication. We will never invade your privacy. Never, okay? I understand that Kate is important to you, we will do our best to protect her as well.” Natalie spoke calmly.

“I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.” He got up and went in the direction of Rob and Natalie. “It's just that everything seems so right next to her, I don't want to ruin everything.... I've never felt that before.” He vented.

“Ah, William. Everything will be fine!” Natalie smiled at him. Rob nodded.

“Communication, are we understood?!” Rob said

“Communication.” William ended that matter with a handshake.

The rest of the Prince of Wales' morning was all inside the office, where he met with some people to talk about the environment. William's ambition was to launch an environmental award, with innovative solutions to repair our planet.

Chelsea, London

After William left, Catherine lay back on the couch and turned on the notebook, she opened the photos she took of him again and loved the result. It was an incredible feeling to photograph him. Being with William was inexplicable, everything with him no matter how simple it was turned into something incredible, he made her feel unique. It was wonderful. Catherine mentally went over the events of the night before. John almost ruined everything, just remembering him holding the door and questioning who was with her made her shiver with fear. With each passing day, John has behaved in an extremely bizarre way. Her constant changes in mood, her aggressiveness and her threats left Catherine terrified, but without the courage to tell anyone. August knew a little about the story, but since she began to relate to William, things got worse and she was ashamed to tell the things John did. And telling William was out of the question, the last thing she wanted was to bring him problems.

Catherine noticed that her phone vibrated, smiled thinking it was William, but when she unlocked the screen, her whole body stiffened.

John: Good to know that you've already surpassed me, Kate. I just don't understand why you're hiding who the guy is. I know you, in your way you must be lending yourself to the role of lover. If you don't want to speak for good, you'll speak for bad.

Catherine was in shock, her body trembled and she felt an uncontrollable urge to cry. She felt fear and guilt because she had no idea how to deal with John.

In an attempt to remain calm, Catherine called the one who was often her calm, after three touches he answered.

“Hi, princess.”

“Hi, Dad.” She tried to smile, to disguise the panic in her voice.

“How are you, daughter? It's good to talk to you.”

“All right, Dad. What about you?”

“Everything is great. Do you need anything?”

“I wanted to see you, Dad. Are you staying at home?”

“Oh, my love, even if I were to go out I would uncheck everything to be with you.” She laughs lightly when she hears that.

“Oh dad, so in about ten minutes I'll be leaving the house, okay?”

“Perfect. I'll ask your mother to prepare a special lunch.”

“I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, Kate.” Catherine let out some tears and sighed softly.

“Is everything really okay, daughter?”

“Yes.”

“We are waiting for you! Bye, my love.”

“Bye.” Catherine hung up the phone, changed her clothes and drove to her parents' house.

Catherine went to take refuge in her parents' house, where she was sure that John would not go after her. At least for a day, she would have peace.

William: Today is such a beautiful day, I really wanted to see you in a summer dress. Would you like to have lunch with me here at KP?

Kate: Of course.

William: What if I call you to sleep here? Do you accept?

Kate: It depends. Are we going to sleep in the same bed?

William: Obvious.

Kate: Deal.

William: I'm in soccer with the guys. Leaving here, I'll pick you up, okay?

Kate: OK. What time?

William stopped responding, probably must have started the game, Catherine left her cell phone in bed and went to pack her belongings to take to William's house, it would be the first time she would go to his house. William lived in one of the apartments alone, but other family members lived there too, including his brother, he had already talked about it with her.

Catherine decided to please William, so after the shower she put on a flowery dress at the knees and left her hair loose the way he has said several times that he liked.

Catherine was putting on her earrings when her cell phone rang. Immediately she thought it was William who was already arriving, it was an unidentified number.

“Hello?” Catherine's voice was sweet.

“Why didn't you use that sweet tone with me, Kate?” Catherine turned pale recognizing his voice.

“What do you want?” He practically whispered.

“You're back.” His tone of voice was melancholic.

“John, I don't want anything to do with you anymore. Please stop it. If you don't stop, I'll report you.” Catherine was terrified, but tried to sound firm.

“You're not going to do anything, Kate. You're a coward. I'm sure you didn't even tell your boyfriend, because you know that if he knows about me, he'll break up with you. Come back to me and I'll stop it.” Catherine didn't let him finish and hung up the call at the same time the doorbell rang. Catherine couldn't move and tears wanted to spill down her face.

The doorbell rang once again and after a few minutes, your phone rang again. Catherine's body was stiffened and with a little effort she created the courage to look at the flashing viewfinder, William's name shone on the screen, a wave of relief passed through her body. She answered.

“Hi.” His voice was still trembling.

“Hi, beautiful. Where are you?” William's tone of voice was so cheerful. Catherine wanted to cry.

“I'm sorry, I'm going to open the door.”

“It's okay.”

She hung up the phone, and in less than a minute turned the handle revealing a William with a charming smile and very blue eyes, standing on the sidewalk with his hands on his waist. She tried to smile as naturally as possible, but her body was still tingling in panic, when she saw William it made her even more want to cry, because he was so beautiful and so good for her, and at that moment John's words echoed in her head.

“Kate? What is it?” William looked at her confused and worried. He stepped forward and held his arms delicately.

“It was nothing. I... I was in the bathroom, so it took me a while to answer the door. Sorry, Will. I'm sorry.” His voice failed. William came in and closed the door.

“Kate, come here.” He pulled her for a hug, and caressed her hair.

“Ah Will.

“Don't worry about me. I'm sorry, if I implied that. It's okay... Do you still want to take me to your house? I put on the dress to please you.” Catherine tried very hard to say the words.” William released her from the hug, Catherine looked down, gently he stretched his left hand and with his index finger ran his hands over her face, from her forehead to her chin and then raised her chin to look into her eyes.

“Kate...” William used his softer tone. “If there is something bothering you, I want you to tell me. I can help you. If you don't feel comfortable going to my house, that's fine.

“There's nothing bothering me.” Catherine tried to smile.

“On Friday when I got out of the shower you were acting strange, now when I arrived you also acted differently from your normal... You seem terrified, my angel. If I question you, you keep apologizing to me, as if you were afraid of me

“I'm not afraid of you.”

“Kate, I would never do anything to you. And for God's sake, don't apologize for everything, you're not doing anything wrong, my angel.” William kissed him on the forehead. “I know there's something bothering you and I'm here if you want to talk to me. I will always respect your space and your decisions, okay?”

“Ah, Will.” She hugged him. In William, Catherine found peace.

“One more thing... You look so beautiful in that dress.” William smiled at her, and for the first time since she opened the door, Catherine really smiled. “Ah, I was looking forward to seeing your smile. The most beautiful smile my eyes have ever seen.”

Catherine stood on her toes and melted in a passionate kiss.

Chapter 6

“When everything is perfect. (At least in William's head)”

William was on his way to his apartment in Kensington with Catherine by his side, she caressed the back of his neck while he drove with one hand and the other independently possessively on his thigh. William told about the conversation he had with Rob and Natalie and also about the meeting about his project, Catherine told about the visit to her parents' house and all the interrogation they did about him, William planned to meet them soon. Catherine didn't comment to anyone about John's threats.

“Are you going to introduce me to anyone today?”

Catherine asked him. William took his eyes off the road for a few seconds to look at her.

“Do you mean my family?” she nodded. He continued. “I plan to do this soon. Is that okay with you?”

“It's okay. I need to prepare myself psychologically for this.”

“Nonsense. There's no way not to like you, it's just you smiling that will hypnotize everyone, just like you do to me.” she smiled.

“You're so silly, I'm serious.” she put her hand on top of his hand, who, when she felt her touch, turned her palm up and intertwined her fingers with hers. His hands fit perfectly.

“I'm serious too.” William shook her hand. They stopped at the traffic light. William looked at her. “You hypnotized me.” He kissed her hand. She smiled.

“Will, you are receiving several messages.” she pointed to the cell phone vibrating, when William was going to pick up the cell phone, the signal opened.

“Read it to me, please.” he unlocked it and handed the cell phone in her hand. Catherine looked at the screen and stopped smiling.

“Hi, dear, I have news, call me when you're free, kisses.” she read. William did not express any reaction.

“Ah. Who is it?” he looked at her for a few seconds.

“Who is Jecca?” Catherine tried to sound indifferent.

“Ah, it's Jecca. She's a friend.”

“Um.” she blocked his cell phone and put it where it was.

“Do you only have a message from her?”

“Yes.”

“You said several.”

“I thought there were several, it's not my fault if your friend doesn't know how to write everything in the same message.” she put her hands on her lap. He looked at her again. He laughed, she didn't.

“All right.” he tried to get her hand, Catherine took her hand off her lap and started straightening her hair.

“I asked Jecca for a favor, she's just a friend.” William started speaking after a few moments of silence.

“You don't need to explain yourself to me.”

“It's just that you got serious.” he stroked her right shoulder.

“I'm normal. ― she looked out the window.” Ah, we're almost there.

John's words echoed in her head, making Catherine insecure, but she tried to ignore recent events, she didn't want to ruin her Sunday with William because of such a Jecca, which she had no idea existed, let alone John, she had to find a way to get his voice out of her head.

“I hope we can have fun together.” William spoke kindly. Since he arrived at the door of her apartment and found her that way, he was apprehensive. William knew there was something wrong with Catherine's life, he had no idea of the seriousness of the matter and did not want to force her to speak, but he would do anything to make Catherine feel good and trust him.

William passed through the gates and drove to the parking lot, he turned off the engine and Catherine looked all around. They got out of the car, William took his belongings and Catherine's.

“Wow.” Catherine spoke, breaking the silence.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Now I realized that his love for motorcycles is more intense than I thought.” she looked towards the five motorcycles in the parking lot.

“Ah.” he smiled. “A little bit.” she took one of the bags from his hand so she could intertwine her hand with his.

“I understand Natalie's concern.” they both laughed. He approached and kissed the top of her head.

“For God's sake, don't tell her that.” he joked. And they walked to his apartment and had a chat.

It was the first time William took a woman to his house in this way. He saw something special in Catherine from the first time he saw her and wanted to explore it. William felt much more than physical attraction to her. Catherine was a woman's show, but for him it was much more than that. William felt that he could talk about any subject or just stand next to her in silence and that would be the best thing in the world. Catherine was always so receptive and partner in every way, that William finally realized that he was madly in love with her.

William came out of the bathroom and saw her standing in front of the mirror of her closet, she ran her hands through her hair, she looked away from her own image to look at him, he walked to her stopping behind her and ran his arms around her waist. They both looked in the mirror.

“You are so beautiful. You look even more beautiful in this dress. Look at those legs, WOW.” she laughed in his arms

“We agree, look.” Catherine put her hands in his arms.

“Yes. I'm lucky to have found you.” he turned her in his arms and kissed her passionately.

“What are we...” she said in the middle of the kiss. “are you going to do today?” she had her hands on the back of his neck, he held her by the waist.

“First I'll introduce you to Natalie and Mary, then we'll have lunch here. ― he kissed the tip of her nose. ― The rest of the day is still open, the only certainty I have is that I want to kiss you a lot. Is there anything you want to do?

“I wanted to walk through the gardens, can we do that?

“Of course.” she pulled him closer and filled him with kisses.

“With you kissing me like that, it's hard to want to leave the room.” he had his eyes closed.

“Will?” she whispered.

“Yes?” he also spoke with his eyes closed, feeling her affection.

“Thank you.” she spoke softly and William immediately opened his eyes.

“For what?” he looked at her.

“For being like that.” she didn't let him answer and kissed him. He intensified the kiss and glued his body even more to hers, Catherine understood the message and in an impulse raised her legs and surrounded his waist that lifted her as if she weighed nothing. William carried her to bed and laid her on top of him. The kiss was now full of lust, William's hands climbed under her dress to her breasts and when the air became necessary, William distributed several kisses on her neck while caressing her breasts. Catherine had her legs open and his body was between them, his member was fitted exactly on her intimacy, William pressed her body even more on hers.

“Kate, you're going to drive me crazy. Are you feeling what you're doing to me?” William spoke with a deep tone of voice close to his ear.

“Ah, Will. It's so good.” she sighed. And he kissed her fiercely. One of William's hands came down caressing her belly and when he felt the fabric of her panties, he stopped

“Can I?” his intense blue eyes went against hers.

“Don't you think it's better for us to do this at night without anyone waiting for us?” Catherine spoke with shortness of breath.

“Do you want to stop?” he spoke with some difficulty. With the tip of his finger he made circles in his belly, making her move under him.

“Don't we run the risk of being caught in this situation?” Catherine's hands walked on his back under his shirt.

“No one enters here without knocking on the door. It's one of the rules.” he said nibbling on her neck.

“No. I don't think so.” she whispered. Upon hearing this, William took his hands off her body and leaned on the bed to look her in the eye.

“All right.” he put a peck in her mouth and got up from the bed and looked at Catherine lying down, her dress all wrapped above her waist, revealing her red lace lingerie matching the tone of the dress.

“William.” She called him.

“For God's sake, don't look at me like that.” he closed his eyes, she started laughing out loud.

“Will, let's go there and when we are alone we can try again.” she said smiling. He bent down before her, placed a kiss on her belly and another on top of her panties and then lowered her dress. Catherine got goosebumps all over.

“I just need a moment.” he threw himself face down on the bed. She turned on her side and began to caress his back. “Your beautiful little hands are not helping.” he said laughing.

“Why?

“Because you're so hot and I'm trying to think of something other than your delicious touch and red lingerie... Ahhh, the red lingerie, God help me. ― she laughed. Catherine knelt on the bed, running her hands through her hair called him, he raised his head to look at her, they couldn't stop smiling at each other.

“Let's go, William. Get up.” he stood up and tried to pull him.

“Ah, I'm already well up.” she laughed and slapped his arm

“I'm serious, I wonder what will they think of me, arriving here and going straight to your room.” he sat on the bed

“Don't worry about it. I'm sure they didn't even notice that we arrived.” he got up and went towards the bathroom, William threw some water on his face, with the towel he dried his face and hands and left the bathroom as if the gesture had erased everything that happened a few minutes ago. Catherine looked at her and started laughing at him

“William, washing his face didn't help at all.” she looked towards his bulge. He laughed and took her by the waist, leaving the room looking for Natalie and Mary.

William introduced his house a little while he was looking for the women, found Natalie in her office and Mary in the living room. The three got along right away and got together to pick up William's foot.

During lunch, they exchanged passionate glances and played conversation away, Catherine felt special for being the center of his attention, he made her feel unique. It was amazing

“Shall we walk in the gardens?”William asked.

“I'd love to.” she replied smiling. He took her by the hand and guided her to the exit.

It was the first time in his life that William let someone out of his bubble enter his life in this way and he was being wonderful.

Catherine spoke non-stop, smiled, pulled him back and forth to see the flowers up close, William was loving that. Catherine had an easy smile and curious eyes, talked about everything and listened carefully, was incredibly beautiful... Everything William once dreamed of.

“Do you remember that night I went after you?

“Of course I remember.

“When I was leaving I told you that you had no idea how long I waited for that.” Catherine stopped walking and pulled him close to the lake, facing him.

“I still have no idea?” She asked smiling.

“I've never fallen madly in love with anyone, until the day I saw you. You're everything I've ever dreamed of.” Catherine stared at him. ― And when you look at me and smile at me, I feel like the luckiest man in the world.” He pulled her gently by the waist to put a kiss on her lips.” You are my love.

“Ah, Will... I always... I'm in love with you.” She stood on her toes and kissed him. William hugged her and turned her in the air, his laughter filled the garden.

Natalie and Mary watched through the window William and Catherine in the garden and smiled proudly.

“Finally our boy found someone special.” The older one said with tears in her eyes.

“Yes, Mary, he deserves so much to be happy and she seems to be perfect for him. I've never seen him like this before.

“I've been with him practically since he was born, Nat. And unfortunately there are few moments that I saw him genuinely happy. He had a troubled childhood, an even worse adolescence added to the death of his mother and grandmother, but he was so strong... Look at the man he became.” The women were leaning on the office window, looking at the garden, when they heard the noise of the knob spinning, they turned at the same time towards the door.

“What are you looking at?”

“Hi, Harry.” Mary spoke smiling.

“Oh, hi.” Natalie said. “We are looking at the garden.

“Where's William? He doesn't answer me, he doesn't answer my messages. Jecca wants to talk to him.”

“He's outside, leave him there. Jecca, wait.” Mary answered him.

“Is he alone?” Harry asked going towards the window. “Wow! Who is that?” Harry kept looking in the direction of the garden, specifically at the brunette with loose hair and flowery dress in her brother's arms.

“It's Kate. Harry, please, is the woman your brother is dating, stop looking like that.” Natalie scolded him.

“Is he dating?” Harry finally looked away from the window.

“It's like that... I thought he had told you.”

“He doesn't tell me anything.” Harry lay on the office couch, crossing his arms. “Do you have anything to eat?

“There is. Let's go to the kitchen, you know William doesn't like them to eat here.” Mary hit his legs, intending him to take his feet off the couch. Harry got up and the three of them went to the kitchen.

About 15 minutes later, William and Catherine appeared in the kitchen, both stopped laughing when they realized they were not alone.

“AHHH, HELLO!” Harry said loudly, getting up from the chair and went towards them.

“Hi, Harry.” He looked at the woman next to him. “This is Catherine.” He let go of Catherine's hand. “This is Harry, my brother.”

“Hi, Harry.” She reached out to greet him. “Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Kate.” He took her hand but pulled her to give two kisses on her cheek. Catherine was surprised by the gesture. William watched everything in silence. ― It's a shame you met the wrong brother first. “Catherine smiled blandly.”

“Harry, don't be an idiot.” William murmured.

“It doesn't start. I only came here because Jecca called me. She's trying to talk to you, she said it's urgent.” Harry turned his attention to Catherine. “You really caught his attention, because William never fails to answer Jecca. He does absolutely everything she wants.”

“Ah.” It was the only thing that came out of Catherine's mouth. William turned red. He wanted to punch Harry for leaving Catherine embarrassed and for insinuating meaningless things about Jecca.

“Jecca is just a friend...” William started.

“All right, Will. Call her, it seems important.” He nodded and was taking his hands in his pocket to look for the phone, but was interrupted by Natalie.

“He's in the office. Yes... We're here too.” Everyone smiled at the way Natalie spoke.

“Thank you, Nat. Are you coming, Kate?”

“I'll be right there, first I want to learn how to make the sandwiches that Mary said earlier, okay?”

“It's okay. Would you make one for me?”He pouted.

“For God's sake.” Natalie and Mary spoke at the same time. Catherine laughed.

“I do.” she patted him on the arm. “Now go.”

“Nobody asked me, but I want you to know that I don't want a sandwich and I'm not coming home today either. Bye to you.” Harry spoke and had a glass of water.

“Where are you going?” William was leaving, but turned his gaze to Harry.

“Where the fun takes me.” he replied ironically. William looked at him disappointed.

“You could at least think before acting.” William started talking but Harry had already left without even looking back. Catherine looked at William and gave him a welcoming smile.

It was already late afternoon when Harry left aimlessly, Mary and Catherine started preparing the sandwiches, Natalie said goodbye to everyone to leave and William went to his office to call Jecca.

“Mary, forgive the curiosity, but how close is William to Jecca?” Catherine questioned her while washing dishes.

“Ah, my daughter... I'm not going to lie to you. They are very close, William met her in Africa when he was still a boy, they are very good friends, but it has always been friendship on William's part, I don't think you have to worry about it.”

“But I'm not worried.” Catherine lied. Mary smiled at her.

“William is in love with you.” Mary spoke smiling.

“He told me that today, Mary.” Catherine's face lit up with a smile shared with the older one.

“What are the ladies gossiping about?” William appeared in the kitchen.

“About how boring you are.” Mary spoke and Catherine laughed.

“Your offenses don't hurt anymore, Mary.” he pretended to cry. They laughed.

“Will, I made it for you.” Catherine pushed the plate in his direction.

“It looks delicious. Shall we eat?”

“Let's go.”

“Well, I'll make you comfortable. Kate, come here more often. I loved meeting you.” Catherine hugged her.

“Bye, my loves.”

“Bye.” they answered at the same time.

As soon as Mary left the kitchen, William and Catherine prepare the table for a meal. William opened a wine and Catherine laughed because the meal did not match, but both agreed that everything was wonderful because they shared together.

Everything was perfect that the night followed, time flew by and they only noticed because of the empty bottle.

“The day went by so fast, it's so wonderful to be with you.” Catherine commented.

“I want more of that. Much more.” he kissed her.

“Will... Can I ask you something?” Catherine said with caution.

“Of course.

“What did Jecca want to tell you? And why have you never told me about her?“ William gave a small smile.

“Jecca is a friend, there had not yet been the opportunity to talk about her... And she wanted to talk to me about the project about the environment, this I had already commented to you... We are developing a kind of award and she is part of the team behind it...”

“You've talked several times about the award, about the project... Never about Jecca, who is part of the project, but anyway... That's wonderful, I say the project... Environment...” Catherine looked at it.

“She wanted to tell me some wonderful news about a survey, I'm even going to travel to see it up close.” William spoke excitedly.

“Travel to where?”

“Africa.”

“Is Jecca going along?”

“Actually, I'm going to her house.”

“Ah... You're staying at her house... With her...”

“She will introduce me to the project of the Conservation Corps, a non-profit organization dedicated to wildlife conservation through education and the bridge between communities and conservation.”

“William.”

“What is it?”

“The project is amazing, but you don't realize?”

“I understand that?”

“That Jecca likes you.” William laughed out loud.

“No. Jecca sees me as a friend, maybe even as a brother.

“And how do you see her?” she raised an eyebrow.

“A friend, just a friend.”

“It's okay. When is the trip?”

“I need to organize myself with Natalie and Rob, but I want to go as soon as possible.”

“Hummm.” Catherine murmured.

“Kate...” he took her hands. “I want to go as soon as possible to get back to you soon... Remember I told you about the chalet in Balmoral? I really want to take you there and to other places too... But for that, I need to finish the pending work, you know? I'm going to travel for work.”

“It's okay. ― She smiled at him.

“Let's not spoil our night with future worries.” He kissed her hand. “Do you want to go up?”

“You know what I want...” Catherine blinked at him and William felt like the luckiest man on the planet.

William took her by the hand and in the midst of kisses and hugs they went to William's room. He gave her privacy to take a shower in his bathroom, while he went to his office to check tomorrow's schedule, after that he went back to his room and as soon as he entered he heard the noise of the shower, he thought about asking to come in, but as he had promised her privacy he did not dare to go back, so he waited.

Catherine left the bathroom with a towel on her head and his robe.

“Beautiful even with a towel on her head.” William spoke behind her. He was sitting in the armchair, with a towel in his hand. Catherine jumped when she heard his voice.

“Don't be silly.” He got up and went to her.

“I'm not being silly, seriously... I think you're so beautiful.” He stole a kiss from her. ―I'm going to take a shower.

Catherine smiled at him and as soon as he entered the bathroom, she finished getting ready. While she was getting her hair, her phone rang.

“Hi, August.”

“Hi, Kate. Is everything okay?”

“Yes? Why? Did something happen?”

“John stopped by the house to see if you were here, he seemed very drunk and said meaningless things.” Catherine turned pale. “Kate, is there something going on that you're not telling me?”

“There's nothing going on, August. I'm at William's. Everything is perfect. Tomorrow I'll tell you everything.”“Kate... Is John doing something for you? Threatening you or something?”

“No, August. He doesn't even talk to me anymore, everything is fine.”

“I'm your friend, Kate. Don't lie to me.”

“I'm not lying. We'll talk tomorrow, William is taking a shower and I think we're going to have sex.” August laughed.

“Do you think so? Your prince is very slow, Kate!” They both laughed. “Seduce him, and you know... GO GO GO.” Catherine laughed loudly.

“How stupid you are, bye.”

“Bye, naughty.”

She hung up the phone, went to check the messages and calls and had several of John's. She decided to ignore them all, she didn't want to make a scene at William's house, so she decided to pretend she wasn't terrified of the idea of having John chasing her. Tomorrow she would think of a way to make him stop it once and for all.

As soon as she finished drying her hair, she lay down on his bed practically at the same moment he left the bathroom.

William stopped at the door and the steam from the bathroom invaded the room, he had the towel wrapped around his waist and droplets of water flowed from his abdomen getting lost to the towel. The smell of aftershave lotion hovered in the air.

“Wow...” said Catherine.

“What?”

“The view from here is wonderful. ― she bit her lips. He laughed.

“You can look at your leisure.” he slid his hand from top to bottom over the breastplate. “It's all yours.” Catherine lost her breath.

“Will I be able to play?” She said when he entered the closet to get dressed.

“Ah, Kate, you can do whatever you want!” he screamed. And a minute later he went back to his room.

Catherine sat on the bed, her back resting on the headboard and William walked to her. Standing, he took one hand to his face and stroked, his hand gently went down to his chin and with his thumb he drew the contour of her lips as he looked directly into his eyes, Catherine opened her lips and nibbled his thumb, making him sigh.

“Are you going to give me what I want?” she whispered, as he caressed her neck.

“Everything... Everything you want, my love.” she pulled him to bed.

And Catherine gave herself to him.

It was intense, full of love and meaning.

Somewhere in London

John was upset with the idea that Catherine was with another man. It was unfair, it seemed unfair to him, she found happiness with another man.

Since they broke up, John felt that she was happier without him, but it's been about a month since Catherine turned into someone else, she looks even more beautiful, always smiling and in a good mood, walking back and forth talking on the phone, exchanging messages... And John feels entitled to know who is the person who managed to do what he was not able to do.

He approached Catherine several times with the intention of knowing, for some reason he thought he had this right, after all she had already been his.

John spent the whole weekend drinking and after Catherine. On Friday he knocked on his door and they argued. On Saturday, he tried otherwise, did not knock on her door, but kept watching her from afar and there was no movement. On Sunday, he called and he can hear his sweet and calm voice and knew it was not intended for him because when she heard his voice, her tone changed. John hated that, hated the fact that she didn't want it, so he drank it. John drank so much that he couldn't stand up, he drank to forget that Catherine was once his, but the more he drank, the more he remembered her, so he went to his house and couldn't find her, he called, texted and had no answer. John didn't want to give up on Catherine, so he left to think of a way to get her back.

John stopped by her house at the time she usually left to go to work and found out that Catherine didn't sleep at home. John felt betrayed.

He went to college where she taught, John knew that Catherine was extremely responsible, he knew all her routine and it was obvious that she would not miss work.

University of Richmond

William turned off the car's engine in the University parking lot.

“Thank you, love.” Catherine said, taking off her belt.

“Better than hearing you calling me William, it's hearing you calling me love.” He smiled.

“You are my William, my love.” Catherine stroked his face. William took off his belt and pulled it to himself.

“How lucky I am to have you.” William kissed her.

“Will...” She spoke in the middle of the kiss. “Someone can see us here...” She gave him another kiss.

“You are irresistible.” He slightly bit her lip. She ran her hands through his abdomen. “Oh, don't do it like that, babe... It brings back memories of you last night.

“Was it bad?” She pretended to be offended.

“Wow... It was horrible... My God, it was so bad that I had to repeat it three times.” She laughed and hit his arm.

“I need to go, I can't be late.” Catherine spoke and he took her by the back of the neck.

“I need to go too, I'm going to meet my father.”

“Have a good day, Wills.”

“After a wonderful night, I woke up with you in my arms... Another hot sex session... Yeah... My day will be excellent.” She laughed and opened the car door. “Have a great day, my beautiful.”

Catherine closed the door and passed in front of his car, William opened the window.

“Kate!” He called her and she looked back, with his index finger he motioned for her to come to him and Catherine went. “I'm not going to get one last goodbye kiss?” Catherine smiled, bent down on the car window and kissed him.

“Good work, love.” William said goodbye. Catherine threw a kiss in the air and headed for the entrance.

A few meters from there, John was leaning behind a dumpster watching everything.

“Damn, Kate... Did you just go to change me for a prince? It can't stay that way.” John spoke to himself as he looked at the photos he had taken on his cell phone.

Chapter 7

“When everything falls apart.”

Catherine has always been very organized, she has always planned everything in advance, especially with work-related things, so after passionately kissing William, she was ready to start another day. Catherine was walking towards the room, focused on getting everything ready for the class that would start in 20 minutes, who didn't even notice the tall brown-haired man practically entering behind her inside the building.

When she entered the classroom it didn't take long for her students to start arriving, everyone talked excitedly, Catherine's classes although almost always very theoretical were quite fun, the students liked her very much and her classes that time passed very fast and today it was no different. The class started punctually at the scheduled time and when it was two minutes until the end, Catherine did the division of teams for the following week's seminar and was frightened by the figure standing at the door looking in her direction, some students even asked the reason for the sudden change in behavior but Catherine disguised with a smile and said that everything was fine, she was only distracted by someone who passed in the hallway. The brunette finished the class with her heart beating so fast that she felt like he was going to come out of her mouth.

The class dispersed so quickly that when she gathered her belongings to leave the room all the students had already left, leaving Catherine with a tall man with brown hair. Taking advantage of the students' exit, John came in and sat next to the door. When she saw him again, now inside the room, she didn't emit any and didn't move a single muscle either.

“What are you doing here? ― said Catherine, she trying to sound calm.

"Good morning, Kate," replied John, still sitting.

“Good morning... What are you doing here?” Catherine asked again, she wanted to run away but did not dare to take a single step, standing on the opposite side to his.

“Ah, Kate... You were so predictable, I don't know how I didn't find out before.” John spoke in such a polite and low tone, that anyone who wanted to pass through the corridors would never see danger in that conversation. Catherine turned pale and her mouth was dry.

“What are you talking about?” said Catherine, practically whispering.

“I was such an idiot. My God, I can't believe I let you fool me like that.” said John getting up from the chair.

“Sorry John, I don't understand you.” Catherine spoke and the panic was visible on her face and in her tone of voice. John began to walk calmly towards him.

“Kate, Kate, Kate.” said John stopping in front of Catherine who was shaking from head to toe. ― Do you think he really likes you?

“John, why all this?” she spoke very softly. John laughed bitterly.

“Answer my question.” John ran his right hand over Catherine's face, and she could notice that he was also shaking.

“I don't understand anything, John.” just a thread of voice came out of her mouth, Catherine couldn't move.

“Kate...” John took a deep breath. “You don't have to pretend to be an idiot anymore, I saw you both. Now answer me.” he squeezed Catherine's jaw, making her moan softly. “Do you think a prince will like you or does he just want to fuck you?”

“John...” Tears began to drip from his face. ― You're hurting me.” Catherine spoke, while trying to take his hand off her chin.

“Now everything makes sense... Since the present day in the office... Little secrets, code conversations with August, all this in secrecy... ― he let go of Catherine's jaw to hold her in his arms. ― I'm sure this whole secret was his idea... Ah, Kate he just wants to fuck you and when he gets tired of you he will dismiss you as if nothing had happened.”

“No.” Catherine whispered and John laughed again.

“Am I wrong? It's been more than a month since you found him in hiding. Why?” said John, squeezing her even more in his arms.

“I don't owe explanations to you! Let me go, John!” Catherine exclaimed desperately.

“The more you deny it, the more I know I'm right...” John started talking close to her ear.

“I'm going to scream, John.” Catherine said.

“No, you're not going to scream!” John interrupted her and began to speak much closer to her ear as soon as possible. “Here's the thing...” He sighed smelling her perfume. “You're going to break up with him, because I saw you two in the car there in the parking lot, I have pictures of you... And if you don't obey me I'll sell all this to the newspaper, I'll tell you that you cheated on me with him, which is not a lie! You're mine, Kate.” he put a kiss on her neck and Catherine wanted to vomit. “I'm going to turn his life into hell and yours too. It's up to you.”

“Please, John! Leave me alone...” she looked directly into his eyes. “What can I do for you not to do this?” Catherine cried copiously.

“I already told you, my love!” John framed her face with his hands. ― It ends with him.

“Please, John... We had already finished, why don't you let me move on? Don't you realize how much it hurts me? We...” she pointed her finger at his chest. “We will never be able to be happy like this.” John started crying.

“I wanted you back, but when I saw you kissing another...” he let her go as if he was disgusted with her, and spoke with his head down. “Just imagining you having sex with someone else... Kate, you took happiness away from me. I will never be happy again and it is unfair for you to find happiness after you have done this to me. I just can't allow it. “John raised his head, and a gloomy air appeared on his face. “You took everything from me. You left me for someone I can't compete with...”

Catherine couldn't stop crying and her whole body hurt. She didn't want to end that conversation, she didn't know what to do, what to say... She just wanted to go back in time and never get out of that bed, from those warm arms surrounding her body. Catherine thought of William for a few seconds and her heart froze. Everything was perfect that morning, until John entered that room. Now Catherine was in a dilemma, to do what John asked her to do or simply to let fate decide? Would John be able to sell these photos? A whirlwind of thoughts crossed his mind.

“John... Why do things need to be like this?” Catherine wiped away the tears that fell non-stop. “Don't involve William in this, I'm sure we can both solve this.

“William...” John let out a bitter laugh, his tone of voice was gloomy. “I want this worm to go to hell!” John approached Catherine, making her take a few steps back, hitting her back on the wall of the room, he trapped her between the wall and her body. “Kate, I'll still be nice to you... I'll let you say goodbye to him, so break up with the prince... If you choose the most difficult way, I'll force myself to sell the photos to some newspaper, I'll tell the story I want and you know I know all your steps, you won't get rid of me.” John spoke and after kissing her forehead he walked away. Catherine couldn't move.

John left the room as calm as he entered, leaving Catherine desolate behind, as soon as he passed through the door she sat on the floor and cried. Her mind emptied, she didn't think of anything else, she just knew how to cry, everything seemed dark and empty.

August: Newton told me that John resigned. We are free from this unbearable! We have to celebrate, let's have coffee?

Kate: Great news, Augus! But the coffee we'll leave it for another day, I'm full of things to catalog, I'll stay here in the living room until it's time to leave.

August: Is everything okay?

Kate: Yes.

The National Gallery

Catherine was sitting on the cream sofa in the comfortable room where she always used to catalog the works of the Museum. Newton had given him a free pass to use that space, so much so that his first official meeting with William was there in that room. The walls of this room have already witnessed so many conversations and laughter from Catherine, but all they saw now was her silent crying.

Since she arrived at the National Gallery, she locked herself in an attempt to work, but all she did was lie on the small cream sofa hugging her own body. Catherine thought about her relationship with John, thought about everything they lived and came to the conclusion that in fact she could count the days she was happy next to him and felt guilty... Guilty and horrible for letting herself be in a situation like this, everything in her life has always been organized and she felt terrible for letting it go. Catherine didn't want to think about William, but it was inevitable. Thinking about William hurt, because everything with him was wonderful, ever since. If Catherine had to choose between the two, it was an obvious choice, John and William were like water and oil. It was easy to choose, but of course that had consequences. Catherine knew of William's fears and insecurities with the media, he had already commented to her several times and she did not want to bring problems to William, much less be another problem in his life. Until today she had not seen it as a bad thing to keep everything secret, but John filled her head with assumptions that she became suspicious of William's true intentions. Did he really want to protect her? So many questions were going on in his head. Catherine was afraid of what John could do, would he hurt her? Would it be that even if he didn't sell the photos, would it force her to stay with him? All the alternatives were horrible. Catherine was tired, tired of thinking, tired of crying, tired of everything. With great commitment, she sat on the couch, her face was swollen from crying and her eyes burned, her appearance at the time was deplorable, but she did not care, Catherine could only stare at the screen of her cell phone that blinked the name "William". It was the second time he called and all she did was look at his name on the screen until the call dropped. Catherine unlocked the device and contemplated William's selfie with the Aston Villa shirt and immediately her eyes filled with tears, she remembered exactly the day he took the photo with her cell phone, it was just to make a joke, but it became one of her favorite photos, his smile was so beautiful, his beautiful blue eyes overflowed happiness, she loved that photo. Catherine shook her head in an attempt to erase that memory and opened his message box again, he had sent several, but she felt unable to respond.

William: I loved hearing you call me "my William, my love". I loved our weekend and I loved having you that way. I hope you have a good day and a good job, my love.

William: Love, I talked to my father about us. He really wants to meet you and suggested a dinner... A dinner with your family too, if you want. I was thinking of getting everyone together at once, what do you think?

William: I organized my schedule and thought about traveling on Thursday, I can do everything in two days, I would come home on the weekend to stay with you again... When does your vacation start? I'm going to take you to Balmoral, but I was thinking of taking you somewhere with a beach too so I can see you in a bikini. Any suggestions

William: Kate?

William: Did something happen? I'm worried, my beautiful. You always call me at your lunchtime and always send me messages and so far you haven't sent anything. I'm sorry to be annoying and keep asking, but I'm finding your behavior strange. Is everything okay? Did I do something you didn't like? Please tell me.

William: Call me when you can.

Catherine blocked her cell phone and threw it on the couch, starting to cry copiously. Again.

Kate: I need some time alone.

Mayfair, London

It was past ten in the evening when Catherine finished washing the dinner dishes - which she practically did not eat - and sent that message. Not even a minute passed and your phone started ringing.

“Answer. ― John stretched the phone in her direction.

“If I answer he will notice that there is something wrong and runs the risk of him wanting to look for me. ― Catherine spoke terrified.

“Wow, how attentive... ― John spoke with disdain. ― Answer this shit soon, and finish with him at once. ― John pressed to answer and put the phone in her ear.

“Hi.” Catherine said trying not to cry.

“Kate!? Hi, my beautiful. What happened?” the tone of concern in his voice was clear.

“Nothing happened, William.

“How did nothing happen? Why do you need time alone? I've thought about you all day.” William began with his gallant tone that Catherine loved to hear, but even so there was concern in his voice. “I was worried. I did, no... I'm worried, actually. I thought of a thousand things. Is that your job? Did I do anything to you? Did I force you to do something you didn't want?”

“I wasn't ready, William.” said Catherine and these words hit William in the depths of his soul. John held the phone without sketching any reaction.

“Kate, I...” William began to speak and the regret in his voice was clear. “I... I'm sorry, I really thought you wanted it and that you liked it. I myself had told us to go slow with our relationship and... And you agreed, but Kate I thought it was what you wanted too... My God... I'm sorry, there are no words that can erase what I did to you, but know that I'm sorry.” Catherine heard everything and felt like the worst person in the world, because she knew she had spoiled one of her best memories. Her first time with William had been perfect, exactly the way she wanted, William was a caring and loving partner. Catherine knew she had snatched this good memory from him too, maybe things would never be the same again, it was all so horrible that it didn't seem to be real.

“I need some time... “ Catherine said swallowing her tears. John sketched a discreet smile.

“Kate, I can give you the time you need, just answer me one thing... Did you regret it later? Or on time? You know you could have told me, right?” William said. “I should have noticed, damn it. “He completed talking to himself.

“It was later.” Catherine spoke softly and John gestured for her to close soon.

“Kate? I'll go to your house so we can talk and then if you want, I'll give you the time you need.

“No, no, no, no.” Catherine spoke desperately. “I don't want to talk to you. I just want space. Go to Africa, William.

“I don't understand you.” William said disappointed.

“Just leave me alone!” Catherine spoke loudly, her tone of voice was sharp and William felt as if she had stuck a knife in his heart.

Catherine can't even hear an answer from him because seconds after she spoke the cell phone was already in John's pocket and he stared at her.

“It wasn't that hard, see?” John spoke while taking a sip of water.

“I want to sleep.” Catherine said robotically.

At the end of his shift at the National Gallery, John showed up to pick up his belongings and along with them took Catherine. She was not threatened with weapons or violence, it seemed stupid to obey everything John ordered, but Catherine felt psychologically imprisoned. It was something in John's voice that made her obey him, so she went to his apartment and when she got there she was surprised to find out that she already had a suitcase of her clothes, but Catherine felt too tired to argue so she just went to take a long shower, and by the water falling in abundance on her body, warm tears flowed from her eyes, once again. Catherine felt guilty, sad and abandoned. She knew there were several people around her who could help her, but she just couldn't ask for help, the feeling of fear and shame for letting it get to this point consumed her. Catherine did not want to leave the bathroom, everything seemed so calm locked inside, but as nothing can be good John gave light knocks on the door taking her out of her reflective state, at great cost she left the bathroom and soon smelled food, it was at that moment that Catherine remembered that her last meal was at William's apartment, he had made her breakfast with everything she liked the most. The memories with William seemed from such a distant past even if they had happened in less than 24 hours. Catherine didn't feel hungry, but John made her eat, she rolled up and gave only a few fork because she felt too nauseous. As soon as he left the Museum, John took Catherine's phone that he delivered without any protest, so after dinner Catherine asked to send a message to William explaining that she would end everything with him, as long as John did not involve William in this story. John accepted Catherine's request who soon after sending a message received a call from William. Catherine didn't want to answer the phone because she knew it would be torturous to do this with William, but she needed to do it. I needed to break up with William at that moment, for the good of both of them. Catherine was playing John's game and handing over her destiny to the universe, rooting a lot for chance to be her friend again. Catherine had a plan. A crazy plan, that could go all right or all wrong and she no longer had time to think. It was all or nothing. After breaking up with William over the phone, she hoped he wouldn't call back. All she wanted was for him to go to Africa as soon as possible. Catherine would start her game, and play alone, but with the hope that at the right time someone would come to her aid. She only had one chance and wasn't willing to make mistakes.

Catherine asked to sleep and John led her to her room, lying with her. John hugged her leaving her trapped in his arms and Catherine felt so disgusted, but pretended to sleep instantly.

She felt like she was tangled around a barbed wire and needed a lot of self-control not to move, in fact she didn't even dare to move, Catherine didn't want to touch John's body, her body repelled his. After about 3 hours, she raised her neck to see if John was sleeping, his breathing was slow and deep, Catherine realized that he was sleeping, so she gently took his arms off his body and carefully got up from the bed, it was dark, but the bedroom curtain was clear letting the street light precariously illuminate the room, with steps calculated not to emit any sound, Catherine located his phone, it was her only chance to try to solve everything. On tiptoe she went back to the edge of the bed and gently took his hand and very calmly pressed the fingerprint unlocking the cell phone, Catherine thanked God for the phone not making any kind of noise. With her cell phone unlocked, she went to the bathroom and accessed the photo gallery, being surprised to find out that John had been following her for days, there were several photos of the front of her house and her and the Museum, but Catherine only deleted the photos of the parking lot, where she appears laughing, talking and kissing William. Catherine could not take long and put her plan at risk, so she looked quickly if there was nothing in any drive or e-mail, she breathed relieved to see that at least on that phone there were no other indications of photos. Catherine located August's number and sent him a message asking for help, deleted the message and left the bathroom, putting the phone exactly where it was. Catherine was going back to bed, when John moved she lay down quickly and nested in her arms. His stomach turned with disgust, but for the sake of his physical integrity, the best thing to do at the time was to pretend that everything was fine with that gesture. All Catherine had to do was hope for August to understand the message and wait for his help. That would be your last chance.

Intense knocks on the door of John's apartment in Mayfair made him wake up practically jumping out of bed, Catherine who pretended to sleep got up scared too.The time has come.

John ran to the door to dismiss anyone, but when he opened he was surprised by police officers accompanied by August and Pippa.

A policeman gave him a voice in prison and John looked at everyone shocked. He offered no resistance when he was handcuffed and taken to the car.

Catherine was standing at the living room door, watching the scene. A wave of relief consumed her. At least the first part of your plan worked. Accompanied by August and Pippa, Catherine went to the police station and reported all the threats and violence she suffered with John, from the time they dated until that moment. Throughout her account, which lasted about fifty-five minutes, Catherine received support from her best friend August and her sister Pippa, who hugged her and cried with her. Catherine omitted William's name.

She left the police station with a protective measure against John, just in case since he would spend some time behind bars.

August took Catherine to her apartment in Chelsea and the first rays of sun already appeared in the sky indicating that another morning was starting, the brunette went straight to the bathroom and when she turned on the shower and the hot water fell on her body she felt as if she had woken up from a nightmare, a horrible nightmare that finally came to an end. Catherine felt exhausted, as if she hadn't eaten and slept in days. It was a quick but invigorating shower.

Leaving the bathroom wrapped in the towel, she saw her favorite pajamas in her bed, smiled with her sister's affectionate gesture. Pippa and August appeared in the room with a breakfast tray, limited themselves to talking about what happened, just made Catherine eat and showed her support and love.

August confided to Newton - the head of the National Gallery - about what happened and he promptly released Catherine from work. August said goodbye to them on the promise to come back after work.

Pippa lay down with Catherine to watch a movie, and was happy to see her sleeping for the first five minutes. Catherine deserved this rest after all these events.

William: I'm going the day before the deal. How are you?

Jecca: Even better, Will. You know you're ALWAYS welcome here.

Kensington Palace

William closed the trunk and put on his sunglasses, checking the phone once again. There was no message from Catherine.

William got in the car, heading to the airport, his destination was Africa. His destiny was... Jecca's house.

#cambridgepride #alifelessface

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nel-world · 6 months ago

Text

I'm o… I'm okay. Can I ask why you're standing outside? They closed the station. You planning on standing out here all night? My purse was stolen. Oh, damn. Yeah, I was in some bar, so, now, all I have is this $13 train ticket and my broken phone. Shit. Sorry. It's okay. I'll figure something out. I don't need your pity. Well, I wasn't gonna offer pity. I was gonna offer to split a cab. You can't help me. No, come on, let me do a nice thing. You got your purse stolen, I got like…

80 bucks, give or take. How far you going? Boston, give or take. So, north of Harlem. All right. Hang on. Excuse me. /////// Do you have anything at all that works? Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was taking up all the space at the front of the line of guys trying to help you. You know, there are other things I could be doing, surprising as it may seem. Okay. Well, I'm sorry for holding you up. Well, the feeling's mutual. Hey, honey, sorry I'm late. That happens, just stare straight ahead, keep walking strong.

Thank you.

Sure. I'm sorry about back there, 'cause I was rude and I shouldn't have been rude. It's okay. I get it. Shitty nights all around. Believe it or not, this morning, I actually had working credit cards. So what do you want to do? You want to get a hotel room or something? Excuse me? No, not, not… Jesus. Not for us, for you. In case you don't have friends in the city. I don't have friends in the city and I don't have a cell phone. And then my I.D. and my credit cards were in that purse, so I am screwed. Okay. Want to go try and find your purse? What, like the person who took it is just gonna put it back? Well, no, but sometimes, they just take the cash. Dump the purse. You check the trash barrels at the bar? No. No. What bar? You remember the name? Um… Yeah, it began with an "L." Um… I-I can't remember. It was down… it was downtown. Downtown. Well, that's on my way. It's on your way? Want to come with me, have a little adventure? Find your purse? Okay. Okay. Let's go. Where are you going? Downtown is south. Right. Downtown. I'm Nick, by the way. Oh, hey, I'm… I'm Carrie. Carrie. It's nice to meet you, Carrie. Anything? All right. I got an idea. Hasn't turned up, sorry to say.

///// I appreciate you doing this. I know that you weren't planning on spending your night rummaging through filthy garbage bathroom trash cans. Well, I didn't plan not to. Well, what about all the other things that you could be doing? Well, you didn't say trash can treasure hunts were on the menu. I'm actually in town for an audition… tomorrow. I was in Grand Central Station, just kinda… trying to piece together what I want to play. So, trumpet? Yeah.

I don't think that I've seen anyone play trumpet since eighth grade band. Well, we're still around. We just don't, uh, march as much as we used to.

Jazz.

Yeah.

You listen?

I like it. I like jazz. I-I don't know it.

I know "My Funny Valentine."

A classic. I actually did it one year at summer camp. I serenaded Jonathan Weinstein from behind a tree. Jonathan Weinstein behind a tree. What was your encore? A strip tease to… Oh, wow. Brave. So embarrassing!

Brave! He ran away. And… that was the end of my jazz career. Yeah. Well, that's a shame. What was the next career?

I'm an art consultant.

Really? I'm actually in the city buying a painting. Oh, yeah? What's the piece? I don't know if you'd know it. Well, that's probably true. Um… who's your favorite painter? Or would I not know him, either? No, no. But if I did tell you that, I'd lose all credibility. Oh, come on! You got to now. You're stupid. Well… we may be in luck.

//////////////////////////////////////// And is the audition the thing or the sign? The sign. There's this really influential band… Duke Terry?

No…

It's all right. He's this amazing piano player. Lost his trumpet player about a month ago and I love the guy's music and I thought… why not? And… the thing?

"The thing"?

The thing that you needed the sign… Oh, the thing! Right, right. That's, uh… ////////////////////////////

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dzpenumbra · 2 years ago

Text

4/30/23

Last night was difficult.

I don't think I mentioned it in my journal, maybe I did and I don't remember, idk, I'm going to tell the story anyway. I was watching a Red Dead stream last night and a girl who had been a subscriber in that channel for 7 consecutive years accidentally wrote a private message into the Twitch chat. And I mean really private.

(side note - ctrl+b, which is used for bold is right between ctrl+v [paste] and ctrl+n [new window in chrome]. And the undo on Tumblr is fucked. So... just... gonna point out how frustrating and inconvenient that is if you just slightly miss the b key and suddenly you either have a new window pop up or a paragraph of text just appears.)

This chick posted about like... really bad medical news. Like organ disease news. That she got that day. And she immediately asked mods to delete it, because she couldn't. And no one did. And there were like over 1000 people in there. And then these assholes started copying and pasting her message. At first just one. Then one who spent "channel points" to actually highlight the copied message. Then like 5 more. It... was really disturbing. Like... I struggle to see any humor in it, and I have a pretty open mind about humor. It really felt like someone saying "haha look, this chick has cancer!" As though... anyone is going to laugh about that...

Now... I know a thing or two about humor. Humor used to be my primary coping mechanism. And most humor is just that, it's a way of diffusing something incredibly uncomfortable or painful, and transforming it into something funny, something palatable. Something positive, even. And sometimes that can be a... compulsion for some people, a reflex, that they're not even really conscious of. But there's a skill to doing that. It takes effort, it takes practice, it takes skill. And there is nothing... buckle the fuck up, I'm going loud here... THERE IS NOTHING FUCKING LAZIER THAN COPYING AND PASTING SOMETHING AND CALLING IT FUNNY. <catches breath> Okay, just had to get that out. People man, I just don't understand. Do these fucking imbeciles really lack the brain cells to understand that making a joke about a serious medical condition should... I dunno... maybe be handled a little more tactfully than treating it like retweeting a fucking meme or something?

Again, I am not against jokes that test the line, and even outright cross it. At all. Pushing those boundaries is important, in its own way. But there's a goddamn reason why we only had one Don Rickles. There's a reason we had one South Park. One Jackass. There is an art to pushing boundaries, and it requires skill, charisma and confidence. And these people had none of the above. They were just... schoolyard bullies, trying to impress other schoolyard bullies. They were literally grown-ass schoolyard bullies, likely piss drunk at 4AM, watching a 38 year old man pretend to be a cowboy in a video game, and stumbled across what was pretty obviously a private message between a long-standing paying community member and likely a family member... and they decided they wanted to pants her in front of class. Like... this is a fucking cartoon of schoolyard bully behavior. And people were fucking laughing! People were like... chuckling and going along with it

I... I pulled up a private message to her. And I typed out "hey, what they're doing is really not cool and I'm really sorry all this is happening to you. It's really fucked up." And... I didn't send it. Any other lifetime, I would have sent it. But I didn't. And I don't even know why I don't anymore. I definitely didn't stand up for her in chat. I didn't even support her behind closed doors. But when she put a message in chat saying it was fucked up? I immediately tagged her and sent a heart emoji, like... lightning speed, to show she has my support. I just... I feel bad. It's self preservation, it has to be. Like... I don't want this mob turning on me... So I don't stick up for the grown adult that's being bullied by grown adults. Because there are people there whose job it's supposed to be to moderate that, and they were asleep at the wheel, and... I didn't want to overstep, and they sure as shit won't respect my opinion if I don't have a sword icon next to my name.

And the streamer, when he noticed? He chuckled. And was like, "come on guys, knock it off..." Like... it was a bunch of kids playing in the backyard by throwing knives at the dog or something, and that's his response. It made me super uncomfortable. That and the shit that went down in his Discord? Blatantly saying "we're mob-mentality around here, okay?" And the Native American character he made, and how... really insensitive he was with it... and how he pretty obviously got reported several times on it but straight up lied to his audience about it and has doubled-down so many times I can't even count. "Nah nah nah, Moondance isn't going anywhere guys, I'll play him whenever I want, I just don't feel like it tonight..." RIIIGHHHTTT... I just... I'm really turned off by it.

Fuck the internet, man. The internet is very blatantly advertising directly to children, who are the most profitable demographic on the internet, if you weren't aware... and Twitch specifically has developed a wagering system with fake internet points that you accumulate by spending time watching a streamer (more time = more ads = more $$ for Twitch = more fake points for the kids). And they call them. Get this. Tell me this isn't disgustingly corporate Amazon cliché. They call them "Predictions". It's not gambling marketed towards children to keep them on a website that makes money off of feeding them ads, no no no, it's placing a wager on a "Prediction". I'm not gambling on what the outcome is, with a payout ratio identical to a fucking horse track, nope, I'm just predicting what the outcome is going to be and if I get it right I get a neat prize! They specifically market their site to children. How have they not gotten this shut down yet?!

Okay, got a bit of that out of my system. Why the fuck am I telling this story from last night? Well... I had a night terror. I got about 4-5 hours of sleep, and I had a super intense nightmare. It was very vivid, but I didn't remember much except for the last bit. And... it took me a bit of journaling (I did dream journal, so yay on that) to really start to understand what it was about. I might as well paint a picture for you, it was super vivid and deeply meaningful for me.

I was in a location that represented my parents' basement. I grew up in that house from the ages of 11-18, very formative years. My parents are closeted hoarders, they hide it well. The basement was where everything went. I was down there with someone else, I don't remember who it was. I had found a book that was for me, that I felt bad I hadn't read because, when I was down there and started reading it, it was really interesting. It was part of a series, and it was an exploration and interpretation of the Bible through historical record, plausible science and comparison with other cultural ideologies/mythologies. It was... really cool, and right up my alley. Almost like something I would write, if I felt qualified. I read the part about Genesis I and as I was reading... I got that thing I get sometimes where the mental imagery gets really vivid. And this moment was really disorienting in a dream, and is even disorienting just trying to process how it even happened, because I was... dreaming... which is my imagination, my subconscious mind... and then within that dream I was reading a text and... my subconscious in the dream was conceptualizing the text visually. It was like a Russian Nesting Doll of subconscious visualization, it's absolutely mind-boggling that that's even possible. And this visualization was... essentially an early proto-Earth colliding with a very water-dense celestial object. My brain interpreted this very metaphorically, like big blob of water. And then the combination of these two qualities ended up nurturing an environment like hydrated and nutrient enriched soil. Again, a metaphor, like... water and collision were huge components in setting off the chain reaction that resulted in... life. And... there was some part in the text that was referring... where either that water-dense body or the proto-Earth likely came from. I don't really remember the details on that.

And then... after that... I remember the person I was with upsetting the streamer (who was there with a bunch of his friends in-character), and they left. And after I read and visualized all of that, as though I had read it out loud... he kinda knew. Honestly, I'm struggling to remember it, I'm going to get the journal real quick to refresh.

Okay, it looks like even in the journal right after I woke up I wasn't sure what had upset the streamer and the people he was with. I was reading that passage in the book in the moments leading up to him getting upset and leaving. The book had this section in it that was like MadLibs... like a simple mini-test to sorta... jog and concretize your memory of what the previous passage was about, so you could sorta... use your own brain to make the connections rather than just reading his wording. So, like... I wasn't sure if I upset him, or he witnessed the surreal visual experience I had and it upset him (because it was super vivid, like panic attack vivid, and very emotional), or maybe he knew what I read and that upset him? Maybe I accidentally read out loud and didn't realize? Or... maybe the person I was with upset him... Which, with this much time between me and the dream, seems like the most likely factor... But, either way, he got upset and left. Then... I could sorta... sense through the ceiling and walls in an almost x-ray kinda way that he was like... glaring at me. In a... judgmental, suspicious, skeptical way. In a "I'm on to you..." way. In a witch-hunty Inquisition kinda way. And that set off a massive panic response that immediately woke me up.

You know what? I reflected on this when I woke up, and it's actually really well put for 4 hours of sleep coming out of a panic attack. <pats self on back> So I'm just gonna transcribe it. Fuck it.

"I felt like I needed to impress him, and like I fucked up... which was embarrassing but passed quickly... but that turned into... genuine concern that I was in danger. Like lynching kinda danger, mob violence danger. And that's because I witnessed that last night. And the chick who was being bullied? She was like me. This crowd? These streamers? I keep gravitating towards confident bullies. Andrew Santino types. They're very talented, but their skill is a coping mechanism developed through trauma and conflict. Unprocessed trauma, typically. Because the coping mechanism is their greatest gift, and really their whole life and identity are built on it. I gravitate towards that talent. Being this aware of how these people think (because I was one of them) and how much influence they have, how followers will blindly obey them and they have thousands, made me scared of... as that guy so poetically said in my Twitch chat "(being) thrown in a river with a mill stone tied to (me)." For learning, and exploring ideas that they may consider heretical. But, more specifically, sharing them and being associated with them."

So... you can imagine how hard writing a journal entry like this can be sometimes. It feels really serious and risky, and really silly at the same time. It's not like the context I'm referring to is even... heretical, really... if anything it's trying to prove the Bible's validity! But... I've just seen a lot of dark shit in my study of humanity. A lot of dark, ignorant, zealous things that people do. And seeing that mob mentality last night? It just brought me back to that same old familiar fear. And that shit sticks, and can be hard to shake.

I'm getting really tired, so I want to kinda wrap up, so let me get to the crux of all of this.

Besides the obvious, this journal and this post, why would I be so anxious about sharing my personal beliefs publicly? 1). Family-induced trauma, let's just get that out of the way, so that explains the life-shattering severity. But the focus - I made my desire path project public today. I posted it. It was my only goal for the day. And I did it.

I put it on YouTube. It currently has 3 views and no one has watched it all the way through. I fucking hate analytics and I don't want to watch them anymore. So fucking stupid, as though you have any control over whether people give a fuck about your work. Yikes.

Then, I went into this whole pros and cons list of posting the full project on Instagram. Insta won't let you link shit, and I wanted to keep my videos all on YT because... habit, I guess? Maybe because my Rimworld series is still over there and I was hoping someone might actually give a fuck about that again someday. But after a long time going over it, I decided instead of trying to direct people to go to my profile, then go to my YT link... fuck that. I'm just going to post it there in full, too. And I did. And the grand reception? I got 2 likes. And a comment from my former "best friend", my former goddaughter's mother. And I do appreciate the sentiment. It's just been hard to process those memories.

I always wanted to be a dad. And in my 20's, I got to be her nanny for most of the week when she was around 1 year old. I was working nights and inverting my sleep schedule to drive up an hour each way to watch her during the week. I still have a picture from when I got there one day and comedically, melodramatically collapsed onto the couch in exhaustion and actually fell asleep with my legs hanging in the air off the couch and shit, right next to my goddaughter who was also passed out. And she fired me. Because I didn't "take her outside enough", which she never instructed me to do or taught me how to do. Not to mention the fact that she never paid me once, and I just... didn't ask for money? Because I was trying to be nice? Because both her and her husband were like... not parenting their infant child and just going and working jobs instead, while I watched their kid for them.

Meh, enough about that. See what it does to my head though? Nostalgia is nice... sometimes... but it can be bitter, and if you have an especially dicey past, it can turn sour real quick. So... I do appreciate her sentiment, she left a really kind compliment that seems sincere. And the emotional processing from the past? That's my job, I gotta just remember... that's in the past. I just... I feel bad for my goddaughter, and I miss her. She was the closest thing to a daughter I've ever had, besides my dog and cat, of course. The closest thing to a human daughter I've ever had. And she may not have a great role model for like... healthy emotional regulation. And I worry about her. And I do kinda feel like... that's kinda part of the godfather thing, to step up and like... be there. But at this point? I was envisioning this when I was making dinner. I feel like if I ever even do that, I'm going to be the uncle or aunt figure at the family dinner that they haven't seen in 10 years and pulls the teenage kid aside and goes "you know, I used to change your diapers, do you remember me? No? It's okay, well... if you ever need to like... talk or anything, I'm always here for you." And they'll wince through the awkwardness and then go off and play something on their phone and sigh and mutter "weirdo". But like... is it worse to not even try?

That's a quandary for another day, I just went down that line of thought because I was kinda imaginatively strategizing what might happen if my former friend messaged me. To... prepare myself.

So yeah, lots of ups and downs today. Sleep deprivation, panic, nap, social media strategy, posted the video, made dinner, watched streams, Risk of Rain, journal, and off to bed we go.

Gonna try to sneak a quick shower in before bed, screw it, see if that helps with more relaxing sleep.

To end on a more uplifted note... The Path was one of the more ambitious projects I've taken on. It was very new, super conceptual, very "risky" regarding whether anyone would "get it", also very tedious and demanding. I did the 100 runs in Minecraft, with 3 screenshots per run. I hand-drew each path, twice. I animated each path individually. I composed, played and recorded 12 minutes of original music for 4 guitars, bass and drums. I wrote the script, I recorded the voiceover (on Easter day!). I hand-drew and animated the parts of the voiceover that I couldn't really figure out what to put under, as though they were being drawn on a whiteboard. I shot cinematic B-roll in Minecraft, Google StreetView and a real life National Park. I edited it all together.

And now... it's done.

Fuck crowd reception, this was months in the making. I am goddamn proud of myself.

#diary #journal #online journal #stream of consciousness #stream of thoughts

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lisacatara-actress · 2 years ago

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Almost Lisa: Pt 14, “The Book of (most) Fuckary”

*I retain all rights to my photography and story, story details, biographical information, fashion designs, art work, and anything and everything I have posted which is my own creation*)

Fuckary: 1. Pertains to a person, situation (or place) that considered ridiculous or nonsensical · 2. An alternative to the word "Bullshit" · 3. Injustice

I don't know about you, but this post-pandemic world comes standard with a surmountable amount of unnecessary fuckary. Every simple service call I need to make is first met with a long prerecorded messages, followed by series of automated number-punching which inevitably lands me in the wrong place with someone who has a bad cell connection or bad WiFi and can not answer my question (or is ill equipped to). That's if they don't hang up on me when transferring/putting me on hold. I've spent entire days attempting to find proof of life in human form. From power to cell service to online orders. SO> MUCH> FUCKARY.

Here lie a partial list of the recent fuckaries to which I refer...

Tax Prep:

No one likes to prep or pay their taxes (it’s painful. Especially when you use your body as a battering ram for a living). Since moving from California to Georgia, I get to enjoy a surplus of extra fuckary. For one, I dissolved my old corporation and opened it anew in GA to cut ties clean from the greedy hands of the state of California. It took countless phone calls with each and every payroll company by which I’ve been paid over the last 19 years to make sure I’d now be paid royalties to me as a person, NOT my new corporation (which bears the same name). Despite assurances, these things are still not resolved a year and a half later. Additionally, I am now paying personal and corporate taxes in two states. On the day of my appointment with my CPA, we realized that one of the payroll company still failed to correct my information in their system, causing an unwarranted corporate tax form and more calls to get it corrected. The wait to receive this new- correct- document is rumored to be up to 12 weeks. I will have to file late and I will be charged by my CPA for the correction. Thanks California!

Investments:

Took me years to gain trust in investing my hard-earned dollars. Finally managed to find an investment broker to handle my “fortune” (ha!), and he called shortly after to say he's leaving the firm for another. Insisted that was good news and asked me to trek along. I checked them out and wasn't interested. Now what? The investment company randomly assigns me to another rep. Then another. Then another... urgh. I picked one and needed to vet him to be sure my cash is in competent hands. He checked out! Honestly, this one fuckary may turn out to be an upgrade. Whew! On to...

Mortgage:

My mortgage lender failed to pay my home insurance on time, resulting in the insurance carrier dropping me. I found another and signed, only to receive an apology from the former policy company for their mistake and a reinstatement of benefits. Okay, I canceled the new policy and waiting for their refund check to ad back to escrow. And bring my account back to green again. The check came. But didn't reflect the total refund. So I've spend countless hours, days, on hold... with the insurance broker trying to get a human being to help me fix things. Meanwhile the mortgage company which caused me the problem in the first place reevaluated my account, saw my escrow in the red (their fault), and assessed me at an additional $200/ month. I was told this would be remedied when the insurance check from the 2nd company was refunded and applied to the account. Well, I sent the partial refund (while attempting to get the rest) and asked for it to be applied to escrow as requested. Yesterday I was told someone applied the payment to principal instead. Long story shorter: My mortgage lender ran another early annual off site analysis, showing my property value increased. Now I'm paying a higher monthly amount based on increased value which I wouldn't have had to do until many months later when the annual analysis was scheduled. It’s all even more fucked than this, but I’ll end this section by stating I reported the mortgage lender. Ive no doubt nothing will come of it. I'm just paying more. Feels like fraud (turns out this is very common). You think this is nuts, wait’ll I tell you about...

Medical:

I've been seeing a Doctor at a local hospital in GA. He ordered a bevy of labs and tests based on symptoms I told him about and past records I brought with me. He had a suspicion about what was causing them and said we were going to look for it. Because of pandemic shutdowns and continued loss of work/income, I told him I would do the tests which are covered by my insurance. He checked and told me they were. So we proceeded. I have not stopped receiving bills since from the laboratory which processed my blood work, that was 9 months ago. Each bill comes with the same codes and dates of services but claims to be a new invoice. I've paid several in full, another comes. Insurance says some tests are not covered (yet, or at all), that they're awaiting an explanation of benefits. My doctor says he isn't responsible for how much or the way the laboratory charges, to call them. The laboratory says they're just billing what was ordered, to call insurance. Insurance says some invoices were flagged because they don't look right. There are questionable charges. Meanwhile, after all these evasive (and unbelievably expensive) tests, my doctor tells me he found what he was looking for! But not to worry about it because he doesn't think it's causing my symptoms. WHAT!!!! Why the fekkkk did he order these tests and labs? This goes on, around and around for many months. My insurance has been billed over $100,000 in services from this Doctor. Services I was told were covered. AND- it seems- have nothing to do with my symptoms.

At the suggestion from my plan provider, I filed a grievance against the doctor and was told not to pay any further bills until the situation was looked into. My hospital bills (which arrive between 4-8 months after services rendered) include all services rendered within the facility, including this Doctor. When I paid my last bill, the hospital applied payment in portions to each department, including this doctor, resulting in a balance due which was immediately reported to collections. Apparently no one is responsible for fixing this error. I’m now expected to pay the bill in full or suffer “consequences”. The amount I was reported for is under $200. After 9/11, I made sure my credit was perfect and that I owed no one for anything (even paid off my substantial student loans!). I pay bills early, every month. This situation reeks of a special kind of fuckary.

And, finally...

Work:

Remember what happened to me in 2007 due to the Writers Guild striking? How it all but ended my acting career? Well, there’s another writers Strike looming right now. In preparation for what will bring a shutdown on production, producers have been busy stockpiling content to air, planning for more reality programming and “real people” casting (we- actors- are not considered real people) in order to remain unscripted (without writers). Work has already been slow throughout 2022. Now, its eerily quiet in the Entertainment biz yet again. I was blessed to land a couple of projects recently. But my days were just cut due to production being behind schedule and wanting to wrap things up. A global pandemic shutdown wasn't enough. Now this. While I will be eligible in April, the nightmare which is Georgia Unemployment maxes out at an annual $4500 (CA is more then twice this). Who can survive on that? That’s about a month of bills for me. I could cancel my health insurance, I suppose (lol). Not much else to sacrifice and still remain relatively healthy.

*******

Is it me? No. Am I just complaining? No. Am I unreasonable? NO.

I have a feeling, many of you can relate. Some things have changed for the worse since this Pandemic began. Everything is challenging now. Simple communications aren't simple. Easy transactions, aren't easy. I long for the days people helped people. Not robots and AI. There are plenty of jobs for humans, but they don't pay livable wages. Not because the companies cant pay fair wages, but because they won’t. Investing in AI and tech is a write off. Investing (aka PAYING) people, isn’t. And those corporations want their multi-billion dollar profits. “Fuckary” everyone else.

Sigh. Back to our regularly scheduled program.

(To be continued...)

*PS If you like what you're reading, I welcome contributions to the efforts via Venmo @LTarantinoDesigns)

#Hollywood #actress #stunts #film #movies #filmmaking #life #blog #Lisa Catara #medical #health care #finance #ai #technology

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cursed-rat-of-homosexuality · 2 years ago

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Okay so... here are my favorites, take it *throws them at you and jumps out the window*

=> all you left me was a pearl - by JustStandingHere (M, 87K)

Stede takes in a deep breath and smiles. “Ed, I—” he says, but that’s as far as he gets before Ed’s pulling the gun out of its holster.

He aims, and Stede manages to yelp and duck just in the nick of time. The wood behind him splinters. “Fucking hell!” he yells, and springs back up into standing position. He takes a second to mourn the scarred wood before turning to Ed. “I know I cocked things up, but there’s no need to be dramatic!”

1717. The Golden Age of Piracy. Stede Bonnet sets about wooing the love of his life through any means necessary.

Things do not go as planned

(Honestly this is my favorite fic, like in general. I've read it more times than I can count. The characterization is on point, there are no "He wouldn't fucking say that" moments, it's such a good extension fic I might actually get disappointed when s2 comes out. If you haven't read it yet I am BEGGING you to do so, really you won't regret it, it's so so so so so good.)

=> this is not your grave, get out - by morian (M, 10K)

This and the next one are best read together, this one being the first

"So, this… look you're going for," Lucius starts, testing the waters.

Blackbeard stares at him with vacant eyes. Jesus. Lucius is viscerally reminded of the man's dead-eyed look before he pushed him overboard.

"Does it feel like the right choice for you? Are we happy with it?"

"Do you have a fever?" Blackbeard asks, voice hoarse.

Lucius cocks his head and says, "Don't think so. Do I look hot?" He winks.

Blackbeard lifts his hand and presses his fingers roughly against Lucius' forehead.

"What are you—"

"No fever," Blackbeard grunts and draws back. "Good. Didn't want to cut off your fucking hand."

Lucius drawls, "I'm touched."

Or: Lucius survives. For better or for worse

(It's really good and well written, sometimes a bit too violent for my taste, but that's a me problem, overall it's a fun read and I really like how this writer explores the characters in these situations, although it does deviate a little from the comedic nature of the show. veeeeery angsty)

=> teeth marks - by morian (M, 11K)

This one is the continuation from the previous one, again, they are better read one after the other

Edward is pushed unceremoniously into a small, dark room and lands on his knees, then his hands. He stares down at the floorboards and the door falls shut behind him with a heavy thud.

"Oh, hell," says a familiar voice like a gut punch. "I was really hoping for a nicer reunion than this."

(Reaaally good reunion fic, don't think the summary helps a lot, so basically: Ed gets shot by the spanish navy and is taken prisioner, the thing is, Stede was taken as well and they get stuck in the same cell. It's very angsty, just like the other one. I really like the way this author writes dialogue and the way that they make the characters sort out their issues, also I have a soft spot for hurt/comfort, so this is right up my alley.)

=> Wayfaring - by Justkeeptrekkin (E, 34K)

The downside to being stuck on a desert island is that Stede's not awfully good at adapting. The upside is that he and Ed can finally have some peace and quiet– that is, if Ed ever wakes up from the gunshot wound in his stomach.

Stranded in the middle of who-knows-where, Stede learns the art of reflection and how to embrace the man who looks back.

(A bit angsty sometimes, but mostly fluff, and a shit ton of fluff at that. Really fun, especially at the start. U know when you just want to put two characters in a box and see what happens? This fic is literally it, plus what would happen if the firing squad ended up shooting Ed)

=> damn your love, damn your lies - by ObssessedWithFandom (Teen and Up, 7K)

What if Badminton pulled the trigger?

(A LOT of hurt/comfort, also has Ed and Mary meeting so that's fun. Not necessarily my favorite, more of a honorable mention really, it's short but sweet)

=> Aftercare - by perkynurples (E, 173K, WIP but nearing the end)

In the aftermath of some life-altering decisions on both sides, Edward and Stede navigate reuniting, learning what it is that they really want and how to ask for it, as well as surviving in a world that is nowhere near ready to just let them rest. Or, finding their way back to each other is only the very beginning.

(If you want an absolutely humongous fic with a lot of plot, that is IT. It's good, although I think it starts to drag a bit as you near the end, but I really love how they write the crew and some of the plot points. Also it has the lesbian pirates cottagecore style, shall I need to say more?)

So, that'it. You might have already read most of them, but in any case, here they are!

hate to be that person but... yous got any gentlebeard fic recs? Im horrible at finding them on my own and im absolutely desperate for something to sink my teeth into lol!

#Was I just looking for an excuse to share my favorite fics??#Pff what?#Of course not #hehe #ofmd #ofmd fic recs

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silkwingfood · 4 years ago

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Eyes Wide Open

the complete collection of my art surrounding those weird eye surrealism things i do (and more will likely be added)

i do these drawings to try and capture complicated feelings that are sort of impossible to put into words and for some reason i can't stop

1. Bittersweet

this is the first one i ever did, and i personally think it turned out awesome. it took me a whole week. i was feeling a weird kind of sad, like there was happiness at the bottom of it. basically, i felt something and i drew it, and this was the result

2. Empty

when i made this, i felt kind of nice and fancy and refined, but there was a feeling that just said off, so yeah. and then i tried to show emptiness in it too, and once again, i think it turned out alright

3. Heat of the Moment

alright, so for this one, i did my best to draw confidence with hidden uncertainty and self doubt that recently i've been able to ignore. also it turned out real cool

4. Out of Control

the first one i did from a side view, which also turned out nice. but it's less being out of control and more not being in control if that makes sense, and so as a result the little world falls apart. so uh, yeah

5. Incomplete

looks really neat, this was my least favorite one to draw, because my determined one-track artist brain kept arguing with my symbolism brain. anyway this one's just feeling broken and incomplete and there's pieces that fit in the spaces but don't match the picture

6. Hidden Fears

okay so this one was inspired by my friend who was very clearly upset but didn't want to talk about it. also drawing every one of those diamonds was a pain in the ass, however my statement about "incomplete " still stands

7. Overwhelming Glitch

i really like the way this one turned out. first one that shows the whole mouth. basically just being overwhelmed and having your brain kind of glitch as a result. (the background was inspired by some random vision i had, courtesy of my brain)

8. Eyes Wide Open

the first poem of the bunch! i'm aware i forgot to type a word for one line but i already printed it so it's too late. anyway, pretty much the only piece in here so far that doesn't have some kind of pain surrounding it and is actually kind of hopeful as of right now

9. Indecisive and Torn

first one with more than one eye! yeah it's being unsure and indecisive but also it's just not knowing and just literally being torn apart inside, anyways

10. Restraint

i don't particularly mind the way it turned out, but i did have a different vision originally. anyway this one's just kind of me dying inside due to resisting the urge to murder someone because apparently i'm the only one in my entire school with a brain cell.

anyway that's all i have for now, so yeah

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writergirlworld · 4 years ago

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LOVE IS A DANGEROUS THING

(Stefan Salvatore x Klaus Mikaelson x you)

*I don't own the gif*

Part 1

Summary : Stefan shuts off his humanity to save you, the last thing he told you was to bring him back, and that's what you try to do but will your feelings change when Klaus gets involved?

"Tick-tock Stefan the clock is ticking," Katherine said while some random guy that she compelled was holding a knife to your heart.

"Stefan listen to me, don't do it" you groaned in pain "It's okay... I promise, stay for me" you felt the knife cut through your clothes and pinch your skin.

"NO" Stefan screamed "Katherine, stop it"

"You know what to do, just turn it off" she smirked.

"Don't listen to her, please" you sobbed in tears "Just kill me already, leave Stefan out of this"

"As you wish" she turned to the guy "Kill -"

"Stop" Stefan grabbed Katherine's arm and then turned to you "Y/N remember I love you, bring me back" he said as he closed his eyes, turning it off.

"STEFAN NO" you tried to release yourself from the ropes, crying desperately, watching him fade all his emotions away.

Typical Stefan, saving everyone but himself.

"Good job, now leave and forget this ever happened." Katherine said to the guy that held the knife. He dropped the knife and left, just like Stefan and Katherine.

You were standing there all tied up, alone, your guilt eating you up from inside. And no matter what you said in those moments was worthless, you remember you love each other and he doesn't. He gave up on his humanity for you.

***

That was the last day you've seen or heard from Stefan. You looked at all the newspapers that mentioned animal attacks in the past two weeks. All of them were dead ends.

"Y/N you need to get some rest" Bonnie pat your shoulder.

"We're going to bring him back, I promise" Damon said in a worried look.

"You promise? Where did all your promises get us? You promised you won't let Katherine out of the cell. I've had enough Damon, he is your brother at least try to do something good for once" You slammed your hand on the table.

"I didn't mean to, it all happened so fast..."

"I honestly don't want to hear it" You got up leaving the room, Bonnie followed you.

"I don't have my magic but I will find a witch to do a locator spell" Bonnie put her arms in your shoulders to assure you "I need you to get some rest"

"No need for that love" you turned your head to see the one and only hybrid Klaus.

"What do you want?" you turned furiously at him.

"The same thing as you" he smirked.

"I doubt that" you responded arrogantly.

"I can help you find Stefan love" he raised his eyebrows.

"And what's in it for you?" you questioned because you knew he wouldn't appear out of nowhere for nothing.

"Let's say me and Katerina have some unfinished business " he responded, "so what is it gonna be love?"

"Deal, just don't ever call me that" you scoffed.

***

"Alright I'm leaving without you" you started to walk away after Klaus was taking too long just staring at some dude paint.

"I could stare at art forever love, it is fascinating" he chased after you.

"Remember why we're here Klaus" you opened the car door.

"A little appreciation to the culture wouldn't hurt" he said as he sat at the passenger seat.

"Yeah right Picasso"

"We're almost there love, be easy on yourself" Klaus said as he looked at you, while you were driving hella fast, at night in an empty road near the woods.

"I'm not stressing out" you sighed "It's just that...-" the car started to slow down and it turned off.

"What the...?" you tried to start the car but it didn't work.

"Stay here, I will check." Klaus got out to check the engine. "Well it looks like something there it's broken, and I'm sure it's your fault love" he smirked from the window.

"Screw you" you got out of the car and pulled out a map. "How far are we?"

"We could walk, or we could run in vampire speed" he smirked "Oh right... you are a human love" he tried to be sarcastic.

"You'll be the death of me" you gave him a death stare.

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ladywaynebr · 4 years ago

Text

Love at Chance - CH 02

Chapter 02: Jump and Pumps!

Word Count: 1.6 k

Warnings: None yet, just someone coming out from under the stone.

Summary: Dog, a gift and a super attentive mother.

Author’s Note: This is my first story in English, you will certainly notice. I hope you like it and forgive any mistakes.

Chapter 01 Link

NOTE: THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION.

Thank you for reading! Whoever wants to be marked in the chapters leave a request in the comments. If you enjoyed this please LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG. THANK YOU!

My day at the office was terrible, my share of arrogant clients is reaching its limit. I just don't throw it all away because the bills don't pay themselves and I like the little luxuries that my salary provides. One of them is the wine I'm drinking. Delicious, full-bodied, with a slight oak aroma. If this wine were a man, I would literally be on my knees for him. After all, the ideal would be a good wine and a hot night with some hot guy. But the resolution I made on my last birthday, prevents me from going to a bar and meeting someone. My new self doesn't spend time with imbeciles. I was tired of booty calls and all those fuck boys. I want someone to stay, someone I can trust.

I was dozing on the couch when I heard the barking from the apartment next door. I ended up discovering that the condominium allows animals, I went to make a complaint with the administration, I left there, embarrassed. The new neighbor and the dog, have been here for almost a month. They spent a few weeks away, and returned a few days ago. He still hasn't fixed my door.

I slept too much, it was certainly the wine. Late for work I left without having breakfast and finishing my makeup in the elevator mirror. They are renovating the parking lot of the building, we residents have to leave our cars near the leisure yard. Last night it rained, which makes the floor slippery and the enemy of high heels. I was walking slowly despite the rush. My cell phone started ringing like crazy in my purse, my boss must be furious with my delay. I answered without looking at who it was.

- Sorry, I'm on my way!

- What?

- Mom, I thought I was someone else. I'm late for work, I can't talk now.

- I just want to confirm our dinner today, I will cook for you. - She increased her tone of voice, my mother thinks that speaking out loud is more agile.

- Yes, but I don't have much in the fridge. - I'm basically living on frozen food.

- Don't worry, I'll stop by the grocery store. - Said the loud voice.

- Okay, see you later!

Hanging up, I stopped for a few moments to put my phone in my purse.

- Dodger, no! - The male voice roared.

The pile of hair leapt over me again, with its paws against my belly.

- Jesus! - I screamed.

The dog's paws are wet and dirty with sand from the yard. That combination created an abstract art on my silk blouse. I felt my face tremble with rage, the animal stopped in front of me with his tongue hanging out and the tail swaying.

- Please, forgive me! - His owner approached, wearing a blue sweater and Patriots cap. - I don't know what happened to him, Dodger is not to go around jumping on people.

- I find it hard to believe. This is the second time he attacks me, use a collar or something. - The damage to my shirt was great.

-He's wearing it, but when he saw you, he let go of my hands and ran towards you. - The man is also confused. - I don't understand, he's not like that.

- Your dog must hate me. - I turned around, I need to change.

I heard his footsteps behind me. In an attempt to hurry and stay away from them, I stepped up.

- Be careful, the floor is slippery and your heels are not the most suitable shoes. - He warned me gently.

It just made me more nervous.

- If you were able to control your dog, I wouldn't need to be running. I'm late for work. - I said annoyed.

- It was an accident, I already apologized. - He's still after me. - What is your size, I'll buy you another shirt.

We arrived at the entrance to the building, stopping and I looked at him.

- The same way you fix my door? - His cheeks were flushed. I confess I didn't expect that reaction, I found it a little charming.

- I forgot, I've been traveling for work and with so many things happening. I'm sorry again, I'll take care of everything. - His tone embarrassed.

He disarmed me, I don't like to embarrass people.

- Don't worry, just make sure Dodger stops jumping on me. - Hearing his name, the dog wagged its tail.

- I think he likes you. - He said with a smile.

I just nodded, shooting for the elevator. Impossible for that dog to like me, I barely know him.

When I got home I came across a new door installed and my mom in the kitchen.

- Good night mom.

- Hi darling. - She smiled while chopping carrots.

- Who installed the door?

- Some men, I was entering when they arrived. - She said. - What caused that hole?

- I'm not sure. - I lied, putting my bag on the counter. - The smell is great.

- It is your favorite, go take your bath soon it will be served.

- Right!

- I was forgetting, the mysterious gift is in your bed. - She smiled excitedly.

- What a gift?

- A delivery boy brought a beautiful Prada box. With a card!

Jesus, he kept his promise. I shot into the room.

After the shower, I picked up the box and the card, which I opened first. The message was handwritten.

“I hope I got the size right. This is an apology from Dodger and me.

C.E "

A kind and polite gesture on his part. I opened the box and got a surprise. He didn't buy me another blouse, which wasn't even a designer, but a beautiful flowered dress with a blue background. He got the size right, I'm not tall and I have my curves and volumes. What drove that man to do that, to buy me such an expensive apology gift.

- What did you win? - My mother curious as soon as I sat at the table.

- Something I will return. - I answered. - I can't accept it's inappropriate.

- Don't tell me it's your boss, that asshole is trying to get into your pants again. - She was annoyed.

- No mother. Daniel never approached me again after I threatened to tell his wife. - I regret telling her. My mother can't forget - The gift is from someone else, but because we don't know each other very well, I can't accept it.

- It does well, you are a Christian girl and should not be accepting gifts around. - She took my hand to pray.

She will spend the night here I don't like that she travels by car at night. While Mom chose a movie, I washed the dishes and made popcorn. I hope she doesn't choose anything biblical.

- Did you put butter?

I settled on the couch next to her.

- No, your cholesterol needs to be under control. - She made a face. - What is the movie?

- One with Captain American, he will rescue some people in danger. - She said picking up some popcorn.

A few minutes of the film passed and I was shocked.

- Jesus! It's him! - I screamed.

- He who?

- My neighbor. - I went back to the scene, pausing on his face. - He has long hair, but it's him.

- Chris Evans is your neighbor, how did you let that pass “y / n”?

So that's why he signed the card with the initials.

- I do not follow the world of Hollywood and celebrities. - He certainly realized that I didn't recognize him. - I thought I recognized him from somewhere, but I didn't associate with any of that. After all, what does a star living in this condo?

- I don't know about that, but it's proof that you need to stop working so hard. You are becoming isolated from the world, even the church ladies are able to recognize this man.

- What a small world. - I mumbled looking at the screen.

- Is he handsome like on TV? - She asked curiously. - For a white boy, of course.

If I say I didn't realize it is a lie.

- Yes, actually even more beautiful. - She laughed.

We went back to watching the movie, which took on another meaning for me.

#chrisevans #chris evans x black reader #black fanfiction #black author #black woman #chris evans #slow burn #fluffy

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odyssey-system · 4 years ago

Text

Enchanted: Part of Your World #1

"Can you do me a favor, sweetheart?"

Fiona Seville was on the phone with her father Dave as she sat on the couch in her apartment. Her frizzy hair was a slight mess as she adjusted her legs. "Y-Yeah, of course, Dad."

She could hear him sigh on the other end of the phone, along with a cough. "I was supposed to go to a benefit masquerade ball tomorrow night. The one that I go to every year."

"Right! The one for state arts programs?"

"That's right. Well... I can't make it this year. I ended up with bronchitis and your brothers have to take care of me at home."

Fiona frowned. "I'm sorry, Dad..."

"It's alright. I was just wondering, since you were closer, could you make the donation in my place at the ball?"

She bit her lip. She was not typically a person to deal with large crowds, but for the only parent in her life, she'd take a leap of faith. "O-Okay but if I make the donation for you, can you transfer me replacement money after?"

"Of course, sweetheart. You have my word."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After a few phone calls with her agent, Ethan Blake, Fiona was able to donate money, book a ride and acquire an outfit for the night. She'd spent the past few days looking around for pop culture tidbits she might have missed over the past week or so. She practiced talking to people in the mirror, and she arranged to get out an hour early from work that day.

So now, here she was, sitting in the front seat of a Dryve car in a stunning silver ballgown made by one of Ethan's friends, Addison Sinclair. The driver wasn't much for conversation, preferring to listen to the radio, but she didn't mind.

Eventually, the car pulled up to the designated drop-off point for the masquerade in front of the Sheridan Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, a line of paparazzi along the velvet roped red carpet. Fiona put on her mask and took a deep breath.

Showtime.

Fiona made her way out into the stream of flashing lights, walking toward the start of the red carpet. She only recognized one face in the line of paparazzi: Ana de Luca of Trend Magazine, one of her favorites. She put on her sweetest smile as she heard murmurs about how no one knew who she was, and she prepared for the barrage of questions with a nervous glimmer in her eyes.

Surprisingly, none of them approached her but she was asked to pose for pictures, to which she obliged.

What mattered more to her was getting inside after speaking to both of the hotel's front door bouncers and the bellhop, who helped her find the ballroom in which most of the event was held.

The ballroom was massive, much more extravagant and intimidating than Fiona could have ever imagined. It felt like she was walking around in a fish tank full of people.

It terrified her.

"This place is pretty cool, isn't it?" A young man in his early twenties asked her confidently. "Definitely better than my prom."

Fiona smiled, the conversation alleviating some of her nerves. "Yeah, it's beautiful in here."

"Is this your first time going to this?"

"Yeah."

The man gave an understanding smile. "Me too. I'm Chadley."

"I'm Fiona." She fixed her hair and her mask, shifting her remaining nerves into movement.

Chadley smiled. "Do you want to go get something to drink?"

Fiona nodded back at him. "I'd like that."

The two made their way over to a table with refreshments, Chadley immediately going over to the flutes of champagne. "Bubbly?"

"No thanks." She tried looking for other drinks but only ended up finding water on the table. She grabbed a glass and a reusable straw kit, following Chadley.

"How'd you get an invite to this party? Did you have to pass some initiation or something?"

Fiona laughed. "No. Why, did you?"

"Yeah, kind of! Mr. Groot said that I needed to start sharing my brain cells with my kind and jump into a canyon with no braces for my teeth." He said it with nonchalance, making Fiona recoil a little. His eyes widened. "No no, it's okay! My agent Ethan told me that it was his way of saying I needed to venture out of my comfort zone or something.

She sighed in relief. "This Groot guy might need to find a better way to come across with what he's saying correctly... But at least you have Ethan. He's my agent too."

"Oh sweet! He always has the best suits."

Fiona could think of a few other outstanding qualities about Ethan that would rank higher, but she did have to give Chadley that. "What do you do?"

"I'm a film actor. What about you?"

"Oh! Um..." Fiona's cheeks tinged pink slightly. "I'm a barista but I do have this character acting gig. I do birthday parties and stuff."

"That's cool! Do you like it?"

"Yeah! It's fun to make characters on your own that you can help people with, you know?"

"Hell yeah! So are you working during this party then?"

She shook her head. "No, my dad's a composer. He comes here every year, but he got sick and couldn't make it this time. He wanted me to make a donation this year for him, and I'd do anything for my dad."

"I get you. I'm gonna go talk to more people but-" He took a napkin and wrote down a set of digits. "Here's my cell phone number if you need something. I've gone to some stuff like this, I can help you."

Fiona smiled warmly. "You're so sweet, Chadley! I appreciate this, thank you."

"No worries, Fiona! Hope I see you around." He went off into another portion of the ballroom.

Afte watching him go and making sure he was alright, Fiona went to go sit next to the stage. It was sparsely used at the moment, a few musicians tuning and doing mic checks. She took a few minutes to browse her Pictagram feed idly, pausing on a post by the Wilshere siblings when she noticed something familiar about the backdrop.

"Excuse me." A tall male with shoulder-length hair and a beard said as he approached, gentle and calm with his security badge visible on his belt. "I need you to not block the stairs, ma'am."

Fiona blushed and glanced at the stairs. "Sorry, sir..."

"It's okay. Some of the acts are just ready to sound check."

"Right, of course." She followed him out of the way before spotting a pair of blondes approaching the stage: the Wilshere twins.

Fiona was in awe.

The male of the pair nodded to the security guard. "Thank you, Damien." He turned to Fiona. "Sorry for making you find a new wallflower spot. We just don't want anyone to get hurt, especially a charming young thing like you."

"Arthur! Don't tease the poor girl!" His sister strode over and gave a wide, warm smile. "Sorry about him." She took Fiona's hands. "You seem overwhelmed, love. Are you alright?"

Starstruck but true to Avery's observation, Fiona bit her lip. "I'm not used to navigating parties like this."

"I understand. These things can make a girl feel so small in a world so big, especially for your first time at one of these parties." She squeezes her hands. "There's a few different rooms next to the ballroom being rented out for the ball as well. Those might help you find a smaller group of people around here."

"Avery? Your turn for sound check," her brother called out.

The blonde sighed. "I have to go. But you've got this. I believe in you."

Fiona watched Avery go onto the stage, still anxious but more hopeful than before. She gave both her and Arthur a wave before walking around the ball a bit more.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After half an hour of roaming all of the other rooms, Fiona found herself in one that resembled a casino. It was a bit smaller than the other rooms, which helped her anxiety, but it felt very much like a boys' club in there with the amount of older men. Several men stared at her as she walked in, appraising her like jewelry. Or worse. She did her best to not give them any ideas or pay them any mind.

Unsatisfied playing games with any of the older men, she made her way over to the bar that was for the most part unoccupied. She sat on the other end of the bar, ordering a coffee instead of alcohol because of her need to have a clear head to survive the night.

When her coffee arrived, the waitress also placed a notebook in front of her, a pen tied to the spiral. She opened it cautiously, seeing neat handwriting on the first page.

Are you alright?

Fiona looked up from her spot and noticed the only other patron at the bar: a younger male but still considerably older than her, nursing a glass of scotch in his hand. His eyes met hers, and he smiled genuinely back at her. She pointed to him and then down at the notebook. He nodded in response. She quickly wrote a response after grabbing a pen from her purse:

Yeah. My first time at one of these events. It's a little scary.

She slid the notebook over to him so the waitress didn't have to do it. She watched him write, moving his hand in a gentle and elegant fashion, before he slid it back to her.

I understand. I didn't want to scare you and add to that. Do you want to sit with me?

Fiona took a moment to collect her thoughts before sliding her purse onto her shoulder. She collected the notebook and her coffee, walking over to sit next to him. "Sorry. I-I just figured if my answer was yes, I didn't want to be redundant.

He nodded in reply. "That's alright. I'm Thomas, by the way."

She smiled. "I'm Fiona."

I want you to know I'm a mirrorball I'll show you every version of yourself tonight

Thomas crossed his legs, right over left. "So what got you to come out here tonight, Fiona?"

"I-I came for my dad. He normally comes down here but he's sick this year."

"What's your last name?"

"Seville."

The name seemed to click in Thomas's head. "Ah yes, I believe I'm somewhat familiar. Dave's his name, right?"

"Y-Yeah."

"I remember him. We've met in passing before, I believe. The most I know is that he's a composer. Are you in the music industry as well?"

I'll get you out on the floor Shimmering beautiful And when I break, it's in a million pieces

Fiona shook her head. "Not exactly. I'm a barista most days, but I also do children's birthdays and other stuff like that as a costume actor. Sometimes it involves singing, but it's not the bread and butter of what I do."

Thomas smiled. "Impressive. You definitely achieve the Disney princess aesthetic tonight."

She blushed. "Thank you. You look nice too."

Hush, when no one is around, my dear You'll find me on my tallest tip-toes Spinnin' in my highest heels, love Shinin' just for you

The two could hear the bartender turn on the television, and a picture of Thomas without a mask on flashed across the screen as part of a television tabloid, along with his full name.

Mortified, Thomas partly covered his face with his hand.

Fiona looked at him sympathetically, reaching for his empty hand. "Is everything okay?"

Hush, I know they said the end is near But I'm still on my tallest tip-toes Spinnin' in my highest heels, love Shinin' just for you

"I... I have a problem with fangirls sometimes." He held her hand gently. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "D-Don't be." She looked around. "In all fairness, half of the people here look like you because of the masks and everything."

He uncovered his face. "You're not even a little starstruck at me?"

Fiona smiled and shook her head again. "I-I mean, I *do* know who you are now. But... I mostly look at Trend and music industry magazines, so I don't get your exposure a lot."

I want you to know I'm a mirrorball I can change everything About me to fit in

Thomas took another sip of his scotch, contemplating her words. "Well... What is your impression of me, then?"

You are not like the regulars The masquerade revelers Drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten

She looked at him thoughtfully. "I-I think you seem like a hard worker. You have ambitions that aren't always in the realm of reality, but you try. And you make every effort to keep your private life and your work separate. You think art is a second life in and of itself."

Thomas sat silent for a moment, stunned. "And how did you manage to decipher all of that?"

Fiona's smile hinted at a hidden laughter. "You don't seem like you've sold your soul to any towel rack of a tabloid, Mr. Hunt."

He knew the game she was playing now. She seemed to warm up to him quickly, something that could hurt them both if they weren't careful.

But the angle she was going for now? Two could play at that game.

Hush, when no one is around, my dear You'll find me on my tallest tip-toes Spinnin' in my highest heels, love Shinin' just for you

"You'd think correctly, Ms. Seville," he said with a regal and teasing side-smirk. "However, seems it's my turn to pick your brain."

Fiona flushed, almost retreating from the teasing as her fingers on one hand started playing with the edges of her frizzy hair. "G-Go ahead."

Thomas was gentle as he shifted on the barstool, taking a full look at her. "You are definitely in touch with your inner child in a way I don't see often around here. Not necessarily the innocence, but you tap into that with your curiosity, your sincerity, your kindness."

Fiona shied away slightly at the very accurate read of her.

He let her have a moment to recover before continuing to speak. "I would love to have more time to figure you out fully, to get to know you, person to person... if you'll have me."

Hush, I know they said the end is near But I'm still on my tallest tip-toes Spinnin' in my highest heels, love Shinin' just for you

She looked up at him with soft silver-blue eyes, searching herself for the answer as she contemplated his request. "O-Okay. Can some of that time be without a crowd...?"

He smiled. "I know just the place." He took her by the hand and led her out to an open balcony, pulling her into a slow dance as the door closed after them when they got outside. He led her, one arm around her waist and the other holding her head protectively to his chest.

And they called off the circus Burn the disco down When they sent home the horses And the rodeo clowns I'm still on that tightrope I'm still trying everything to get you laughing at me

She pulled away from the close embrace, moving to hold his hands again. "I-I..."

Thomas smiled, a patient ease to his posture. "Yes, Fiona?"

"Can we have... more than just tonight to know each other?"

He held her cheek. "I would love nothing more."

And I'm still a believer, but I don't know why I've never been a natural All I do is try, try, try I'm still on that trapeze I'm still trying everything to keep you looking at me

In an instant, her lips tilted to reach his.

And nothing else that night mattered for a weightless, ethereal, eternal moment.

Because I'm a mirrorball I'm a mirrorball I'll show you every version of yourself tonight

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canyouevenwritebro · 5 years ago

Text

Sunflowers (pt. 1)

Summary: The reader has been with the Avengers since they rescued her from HYDRA. She has joined them on countless missions since then but this may be the hardest one yet. Set in 2016 CA:CW.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. It’s purely fiction.

Characters: steve rogers, tony stark, natasha romanoff, bucky barnes, sam wilson, wanda maximoff, clint barton, peter parker

Word count: 4.5k

Warnings: angst, depression, violence, death

a/n: hey!!! i did it! my first fanfic.

When the Avengers raided the HYDRA base you were kept in, they found you inside a cryo-chamber sleeping peacefully. After every personnel was captured, they transferred you to the compound along with artifacts and files of experiments they performed. Eventually, they found your file. It was quite lengthy. Your father was working for HYDRA but he turned on them and planned to take them down. As a result, they silenced him and your mother. They knew that whatever he knew about HYDRA, he told her. They spared you because you were just a kid. Instead, you were out on the Thanatos program. It was your father's project and it was almost done up until his betrayal. They thought you would be perfect for the program. They could groom you to the perfect obedient soldier they needed. On top of that, what could be more cruel than using your father's work to torture you?

They gave you a version of the serum used on the winter soldiers, with their own upgrades of course. They incorporated it with the Extremis serum and that left you with a super soldier that can breathe fire. Phoenix, they called you. The ultimate weapon of death.

After briefing everyone on your situation, they woke you up. You stepped out of the chamber confused. You were met with unfamiliar yet kind faces that it overwhelmed you. You made a run for it and nearly burned down the entire medical wing before they tranquilized you again. You woke up in a small glass cell where they told you that they meant no harm. Somehow, you believed them.

That was a year and a half ago. Now, here you were walking around New York and trying your best to be part of society. After extensive amounts of therapy of course. You were on your way back when you saw an old man in a flower shop organizing his stalls. You were mesmerized by the flowers' beauty and found yourself crossing the street to get there.

"Looking for anything specific, ma'am?" he asked

"No, not really. Maybe something cheery?" God, why are you so socially awkward?

"Well, in that case," he said, "here are some sunflowers." He handed you a bouquet.

"My wife loves them. When she's upset, I get her these because they always look towards the sun and the color brightens up the room," he said with a smile.

"Thank you so much," you said as you handed him a $20 bill "Keep the change"

You were now back at the compound and you were rummaging through the kitchen in search of a vase. You didn't find any (Seriously? a state of the art training compound owned by a billionaire doesn't have a vase?)

"I guess a pitcher would do," you whispered to yourself as you headed to your room.

"What is that?" asked Tony.

"Sunflowers. Got it from the guy near the train station. It's a good metaphor when you think about it. They're always looking on the bright side. I didn't get many opportunities to go sunbathing when I was at HYDRA." you said with an awkward chuckle.

"Alright. Fair enough. I'm headed to MIT for the speech thingy. Wanna come?"

"Nah. I still have to catch up on culture." you giggled. Years of working for HYDRA also didn't give you a lot of me-time.

"Okay well if you change your mind, you know how to get there."

"Copy that."

You headed to your room. Yours. You actually owned something. You turned on your TV and scanned through the channels. Doctor Who reruns? Sure. Hours had passed and you've scanned through hundreds of channels. You decided to turn on some news in the background while you read.

"On breaking news, eleven Wakandans are amongst those confirmed dead after a violent clash between the Avengers and independent mercenaries in Nigeria." Your head bolted up and you reached for the remote to turn the volume up.

"Brock Rumlow, former SHIELD agent, led the team of mercenaries to procure a biological weapon being tested at the Center for Disease Control Nigeria Division. It was believed to be a suicide mission as eyewitness account said Rumlow wore a type of bomb in his vest. Avenger Wanda Maximoff contained the explosion only to have the blast thrown into a building killing a total of 30 people. We have yet to receive an official statement from the Avengers. More details tonight only on Channel 6 News at 8." You listened with intent and your heartbeat was beating fast. Those poor victims. Is the team on their way home? Are they okay? How is Wanda doing? Your mind formed a million questions.

"FRIDAY, call Steve Rogers." a faint ding let you know that your request is being done.

"Y/n." Oh, thank god he's okay.

"Steve! Are you guys alright? I saw what happened. I am so sorry."

"We're alright. Search and rescue was already on the scene when we left."

"How's Wanda? Do you need me to do anything?"

"Physically, she's safe, y/n. Emotionally? This is gonna take a toll on her."

"What about the others? Nat? Sam? You?"

"We're gonna be fine. We're on our way home."

You met the team on the law of the compound. They were visibly stunned and you cut through them to hug Wanda. She was your best friend and you know that this was going to affect her greatly. You were right. She locked herself in her room and the only thing you heard was the sound of the news and sobbing.

In his office, Steve kept replaying what had happened in Lagos. Knowing him, he was gonna blame himself for this. You wanted to leave him be but your concern for Wanda kept you standing by his doorway.

"Steve? You got a moment?"

"Y/n. Do you need anything?" he said as he paused the video on his computer.

"No. I just wanna say I'm sorry about Lagos. Sam and Nat told me what happened."

"It's not your fault, y/n. It's mine. Rumlow mentioned Bucky and all sense of the mission disappeared in my head."

"Don't blame yourself. Bucky was or is, your best friend and he's still missing. You have a right to have emotions."

"Thanks. I... uh... I needed that. Have you talked to Wanda yet?"

"No. Her room is locked. Maybe you should try talking to her. Both of us saw you as a mentor. She'll listen to you."

You gave him a faint smile and headed for the kitchen. Maybe some food could help them. You moved the vase of sunflowers from your room to the middle of the large dining table.

Tony walked in and asked everyone to meet in the conference room. He got the news as he was coming home from Massachusetts. After a brief interaction with a grieving mother and the news of the mission, he knew what he had to do.

Inside, you were met by General Ross and his assistant. Rhodey was already inside and the rest of the team followed suit. Wanda had stopped crying but you knew she would never get over this.

The general discussed the Sokovia Accords with the team. As much as you'd like to be on Steve's side, you knew the team needs to be put in check. One more incident like this and the world might lose their trust in you. You agreed with Tony. Rhodey and Sam were discussing, or perhaps fighting would be a better word, over the Accords. Tony just sat there looking like a rebellious teen listening to his parents' lectures.

To prove a point, Tony showed the team a picture of Charlie Spencer. He died in Sokovia after Ultron planned to drive the human race into extinction. You felt your heart drop. He just wanted to do some good and he was caught in the crossfire.

At that point, the fighting and bantering was too much and you just zoned everyone out. You wanted to cry and you knew that the team was slowly drifting apart. Steve walked out after receiving a text. You didn't ask why. He has a private life after all.

You decided to take your frustrations out on the punching bags. You finally had a home. A family. But you feel the world caving in around you. With one last punch, the punching bag came flying through the room engulfed in flames. You fell to your knees as tears clouded your vision. Dum-E, who Tony programmed to follow you around with a fire extinguisher as a joke, finally put his programming to use.

"Y/n." a familiar voice called to you

"Nat. Hey." you struggled through the tears.

"Talk to me."

"I- I just want the team to stay together. You guys are the only family I have."

"Me too, y/n. I used to have nothing till I found this family."

"I want to help. What can I do to help?"

"I'm off to Vienna for the signing of the Accords. I'm meeting Steve on the way to try and change his mind. Maybe you can help."

"I'll try."

Nat took you to a cathedral. Steve was on the other end by himself. He looks... tired. On the altar was a picture of Agent Carter.

"Oh. That's why he left."

"Hi, Steve. I just wanna say I am so sorry for your loss," you said as you walked towards him.

"Nat. Y/n. What are you doing here?"

"We didn't want you to be alone and I'm also taking y/n with me to Vienna for the signing of the Accords."

"There's plenty of room on the jet," you said

"Who else signed?"

"Tony, Rhodey, Vision."

"Wanda?"

"TBA."

"Clint?"

"He said he's retired."

"There's still time to change your mind, Steve. Come with us to Vienna." you pleaded one last time

"You know why I can't do this y/n. If I sign, we're surrendering our freedom to people with agendas different from ours."

You felt a lump in your throat. "I'll be in the car." You said to Nat as you turned around not looking at Steve once as you walked out of the church.

"She hates me now, doesn't she?"

"No, she doesn't. She's just scared."

Nat was right. As always. You got in the car and tried to meditate. You didn't want to cry. Not when cameras surrounded you. You tried to steady your breathing but your brain seemed to do the exact opposite.

~~~Flashback~~~

"Injecting serum in five seconds." an emotionless voice said. You tried to break free but you were strapped down to the table. Even if you weren't, it was like you were trapped in your own mind. You couldn't move. The next few hours were a blur to you. The only thing you remember was the excruciating pain coursing through your veins.

"Serum successfully administered."

"Good. Take her to the cell for the remainder of the process."

You woke up in a pool of sweat inside a dark room. Alone. Like you have been since you were a kid. You don't remember much of it. Sometimes you see your parents in your dreams. You were 5 years old and they took you to the park. Your mom was helping you get to the other end of the monkey bars while your dad went to get snow cones. You were happy. But that memory was soon followed by the sound of gunshots and screaming. You couldn't understand what was said but you didn't need to be a genius to know it was full of anger. Your mom told you to hide and you did. But they found you anyway. Since then, you were subjected to vigorous training. You now know 30 languages and deadly fighting skills. You became a weapon and today was the final step of your transformation. Eleven years of training and they deemed you ready. After they reprogrammed your brain to be obedient, of course.

The man in the army uniform handed you a folder. "Your first mission, soldatin," he said, "Procure the obelisk. No survivors. No witnesses. You have 48 hours. Report back here as soon as it is finished." You nodded and opened the folder. It was of a tiny village at the base of the Swiss Alps. In the middle of it was the said obelisk encased in glass. You took a handful of soldiers with you and you headed for the village.

You succeeded in your mission. The obelisk was safely placed inside a containment unit in the jet. The village was burned to the ground. Bodies were piled on the streets and the only sign of life was your team and a handful of livestock the villagers kept. With that, you headed back.

"Very good, soldatin. Go with the doctor." and like the good soldier that you were, you walked behind the man in the lab coat.

You passed by a few offices on your way to the medical wing. Amongst other things, the serum enhanced your hearing. The faintest whispers sounded like normal talking.

"You heard about the mission?"

"Yeah. I heard y/l/n didn't even show mercy for those villagers." the voice chuckled.

"Bettenhauser's gonna be pleased." said another.

"I bet. He and y/f/l/n worked together on the program and seeing it do its purpose mus be so satisfying"

"Her father was an asset for us. That was before he betrayed us, though."

"Well, we got her now. She is an even bigger asset than her father ever was."

You kept walking and you ended up in a room with four other people in coats. In the middle of a room was a large glass case with a chair.

"Step inside the chamber, soldatin. You need to rest." and just like that, your feet dragged you inside. One of the coats placed a mask on you amongst other things. You felt your eyelids getting heavier and heavier and heavier. Gone.

The glass chamber now safely enclosed your unconscious body. Your body was now as cold as ice.

~~~End of flashback~~~

Since that first mission, you had killed hundreds of people for HYDRA. Innocent people. They haunt your dreams to this day but what's done is done. All you could do is help as many as you can.

You were taken out of your trance by the sound of the car door closing. Nat now sat beside you.

"Eagle Hangar please," she said to the driver

The drive to the hangar was silent. So was the flight to Vienna.

"Here goes nothing," you said to Nat as the elevator doors opened. World leaders were gathered in the room and cameras were flashing everywhere. A lady with a clipboard checked you in and quickly walked away.

"I see you are not fans of the spotlight." said the man in the suit. You later learned his name was T'Challa. Prince of Wakanda.

"It isn't very flattering," Nat said to him.

"Well, considering your last trip to Capitol Hill, you seem to be doing great so far." you chuckled at his response. You read about that months ago. You even saw it on YouTube on "Black Widow most iconic moments compilation.

"You don't seem like a big fan as well." You told him

"The accords, yes. The politics? not very. Two men in the same room can get more done than a hundred."

"Unless you need to move a piano." the voice behind you said

"King T'Chaka. This is Y/n Y/l/n. Allow us to apologize for what happened in Nigeria."

"Thank you, Ms. Romanoff. I'm sad to hear Captain Rogers won't be joining us."

"That makes three of us." You replied to him.

Just then, you heard a voice come on through the speakers asking everyone to take a seat. King T'Chaka was giving a statement when both yours and Nat's attention was drawn to his son who was looking out the window.

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" He screamed as he bolted for his father.

Like instinct, you threw yourself in front of Nat. It's something that you started doing after you joined the team. You thought after all the lives you've taken, protecting as many as you can could "wipe the red off your ledger" as Nat put it. You were a very effective human shield as a result of the serums. You weren't immortal nor did you have instantaneous healing due to the reaction between the two serums but you still healed faster compared to average humans. You felt a spray of glass cut through your skin and a searing heat touched your skin. Search and rescue came after the explosion and took you and Nat to get medical attention. You were perfectly fine but Nat had a few cuts and bruises. In typical Nat fashion, she walked it off like it was nothing.

You were taken to a tent to get a fresh set of clothes while Nat talked to Prince T'Challa, now king under horrible circumstances. When you got out, he was gone and she was on the phone.

A few minutes later, your phone rang.

Captain Grandpa calling...

you dropped the call and went to check on NAt

~~~BUCHAREST~~~

News outlets revealed Sargeant Barnes, Bucky, was behind the bombing. You knew Steve was gonna go after him. He'd been looking for Bucky since SHIELD fell. Now, he found him in Romania. Orders were given to shoot him on sight and Steve wouldn't let that happen.

~~~BERLIN~~~

Bucky was now in custody.

"What part of don't make things worse didn't you understand?" you asked Steve

You were in one of the offices watching Bucky getting evaluated by the doctor. You were in the other room talking to Tony about what would happen to your teammates.

"We're lucky they aren't in jail," he said

This was all too much. You went to the bathroom to splash some water on your face. You hadn't slept in 24 hours nor eaten anything. You looked in the mirror and fixed your hair as best you could.

BLACKOUT.

What was happening? You ran out and saw a lot of commotion.

"Get me eyes on Barnes," yelled Everett Ross.

You saw Nat and Tony walking towards the exit.

"What happened? What can I do?" you asked

"Don't know. We need to find Barnes." Tony said

"Please tell me you brought a suit," said Nat

"Sure did. It's a lovely Tom Ford three-piece two-button. I'm on active duty non-combatant."

Just as he said that Agent Carter, the younger, ran past you "follow me," she said. The three of you did and she led you to the facility's lobby.

You had never met Sgt. Barnes but from what Steve told you, he was a good man. The person you saw in the lobby was not him. He reminded you of your time at HYDRA. Cold and merciless. A soldier.

Sharon and Nat ran in and tried to fight him to no avail. You managed to get him down but he pinned you n the floor. He was trying to choke you and as a last effort to break free, you took a deep breath and exhaled a stream of fire. He dodged out of the way and you managed to get up. The next thing you saw was T'Challa going after him. You set fire to the staircase to slow him down but he still got away

You went outside only to see Steve on the rooftop pulling a helicopter from the sky. Sometimes you forget that he's a super-soldier just like you.

"Y/n coordinate evac. Get civilians as far away as you can," said Tony through comms. You wanted to help Steve but you got your orders.

~~~Fast forward to Berlin~~~

You did what Tony said and got civilians to a safe distance. When you went to meet with Nat and Tony, they told you Steve and Bucky were gone. They assumed Sam was with them too.

~~~Steve's POV~~~

"This would've been a lot easier a week ago," said Sam

"If we call Tony or maybe y/n--" he cut you off

"Who knows if the accords will let them help." he had a point. After everything that's happened, the UN would not listen to them even if they found out about Zemo.

"We're on our own."

"Maybe not." you looked at him questioningly. "I know a guy"

~~~End of POV~~~

You were now back in a conference room with General Ross. He gave you 36 hours to bring the three men in. He wouldn't hesitate to kill Steve if it meant bringing Barnes in.

"My left arm is numb. Is that normal?" he asked. Nat put her hand on his shoulder.

"You alright?" she asked

"Always." you knew that was a lie. Numbness in the left arm was a sign of a heart attack. But he's Tony. he could be bleeding to death and still say witty sarcastic remarks. You wish he didn't do that. You wished he'd open up to you more. "36 hours. Geez."

"We're seriously understaffed," said Nat. It was just the three of you there now.

"Would be great if we had a hulk right about now. Any shot?" Nat shook her head

Not even the Hulk. It would be nice if just Bruce and Thor were there. Maybe things wouldn't be as bad. Bruce and Thor would've deescalated matters before you could say Mjolnir.

"You really think he would be on our side?" she asked. You hadn't thought of that but knowing Bruce, he would want the team to be together.

"I have an idea." Said Nat

"ME too. Where's yours?

"Downstairs. Where's yours?" said tony.

~~~QUEENS~~~

"Spiderman? really?" you asked Tony in the car.

"HE stopped a 3000 lbs car going 40 miles an hour wit his bare hands and he swings from webs."

"But he's dressed in a red hoodie and swim goggles." you chuckled. It was probably the lightest moment you had in the last week alone.

You and Tony knocked on the apartment door. It was answered by a middle-aged woman. She was beautiful honestly. She had those kind motherly eyes that reminded you of your mom.

"Hi. I'm Tony Stark. This is y/n y/l/n. Is Mr. Parker here? we have some good news for him." Tony sad

"I'm May., his aunt and no he's not here. He should be home soon though. You're welcome to wait." she invited you in and served you some walnut and date bread. It was horrible but you didn't have the heart to tell her. she was so nice.

"So what is this good news you're here about?" she asked. Tony didn't actually tell you what his plan was. Not in full anyways so you were just as curious as her.

"Oh its a grant from the September foundation that he applied for. I approved." as far as bullshit made-on-the-spot excuses go, that was pretty good.

"Oh, he never told me that.

"He probably wanted to surprise you," you said to her

"Probably. Are you also a receiver of the grant?" she asked

"No. I'm interested in how the foundation is run so I asked to be here" she nodded. You didn't think she'd buy it but she did. Just as he said that the front door opens and a young guy walked in. He couldn't have been much younger than you. He had his earphones n and he was going on about this nice car parked outside. Tony's of course.

He saw the three of you on the sofa and he was clearly starstruck upon seeing Tony. He couldn't even speak without stuttering. He repeated his excuse to Peter and he surprisingly went along with it. Tony asked for five minutes alone with him and you were left in the living room with Aunt May. When they got out of the room, Peter informed his aunt that Tony invited him to the compound to talk more about the internship. You knew it was a lie of course because just a few hours later, Peter was standing next to you on the car to the airport.

~~~BERLIN~~~

Vision informed you that Clint came to get Wanda at the compound. Immediately, you knew this wasn't gonna end well. You don't want to fight her but you don't have a choice

As a last effort, you tried calling Steve but hews just declining your calls. Eventually, none of them would even go through.

~~~Fast forward~~~

"Steve, you know what's about to happen. Do you really want to punch your way out of this one?" Nat said.

"Just come with us. Please," you pleaded. He looked at the both of you

"Alright, I've run out of patience. Underoos!" yelled tony. just as he did, Peter grabbed Steve's should and landed on top of the helicopter

"Nice job kid"

"Thanks. I could've stuck the landing a little better. It's just the new suit but it's perfect, Mr. Stark" he went on this babbling for about 45 seconds. You thought it was funny.

~~~

"I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart," Tony said. You wanted the same thing. You all do.

"You did that when you signed," said Steve

"You're gonna turn Barnes over and you're gonna come with us now because it's us" You could hear the sadness and frustration in Tony's voice. "Come on" he whispered

You heard Sam's voice through Steve's earpiece "We found it. The quintet is in hangar five. North runway." you let out a deep breath. This was it. Steve raised his arm as Redwing cut through his restraints.

"Alright Lang," said Steve

"What the hell was that?" asked Rhodes

"I believe this is yours, Captain America"

"Oh great. There's two on the parking deck. One of them is Maximoff. I'm gonna go grab her. Y/n come with me. Rhodey, wanna take Cap?" said Tony as he grabbed you by the arm and flew towards Wanda... and Clint?

"There's two on the terminal. Wilson and Barnes"

"Barnes is mine," said T'Challa

~~~Fast Forward~~~

"Wanda. I think you hurt Vision's feelings"

"You locked me in my room."

"I did it to protect you."

"Wanda, stop this now. I don't want to fight you but you know I will."

"I can't live in fear anymore, y/n." and with that, she used her powers to drop cars at you.

"I'm done playing nice. You want a fight? I'll give you a fight." you said as you aimed fireblasts at her and Clint.

A fight has now ensued between the two teams. Tony attached a miniaturized jet pack to your back so you could chase after the others. Steve and the others were making a run for the hangar when Vision used his laser to stop them in their tracks. You landed in front of them, skin now glowing red from the fire inside you. The others followed suit.

"You must surrender now." Vision's voice thundered over you despite being in an open space. You were now face to face with your friends.

"What do we do, Cap?" asked Sam

"We fight."

"This isn't gonna end well," whispered Nat

"They're not stopping," said Peter

"Neither are we."

a/n: what do you guys think? I hope you like it. it's my first time writing fanfic. criticism would be greatly appreciated. part two coming soon depending on the response to this...

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nel-world · 6 months ago

Text

away we go

Thank you.

I don't think that I've seen anyone play trumpet since eighth grade band. Well, we're still around. We just don't, uh, march as much as we used to.

Jazz.

Yeah.

You listen?

I like it. I like jazz. I-I don't know it.

I know "My Funny Valentine."

Brave! He ran away. And… that was the end of my jazz career. Yeah. Well, that's a shame. What was the next career?

I'm an art consultant.

//////////////////////////////////////// And is the audition the thing or the sign? The sign. There's this really influential band… Duke Terry?

No…

It's all right. He's this amazing piano player. Lost his trumpet player about a month ago and I love the guy's music and I thought… why not? And… the thing?

"The thing"?

The thing that you needed the sign… Oh, the thing! Right, right. That's, uh… ////////////////////////////

0 notes

raisinbran79 · 4 years ago

Text

((( Please give feedback!! I'm a sad writer))))

The day came late for Jack Brown. The afternoon sunlight shot through his broken blinds pulling him from a restless slumber. Sometimes before he opens his eyes, he’ll forget where he is. He’ll forget his dread of embracing the day.

Jack opens his eyes and in a haze looks towards his smartphone. His skeletal fingers were shaking and the camera app on his phone flashed a reflection at him. Jack brown could be mistaken for a corpse if it wasn’t for the bright, ice blue of his eyes. He cringed at his reflection and went to check the time.

Sitting up in his single bed, his lungs felt full. He pushes out a strangled cough. Jack wiped his face and saw the black sludge that had leaked out of his lungs. Jack felt a lump in his stomach whenever he thought about his grandmother dying of lung cancer. even though his grandmother had passed from lung cancer when he was 21, hence the reason he is now the sole resident of her rent-controlled apartment. Jack remembered the day he had found her in the kitchen slumped over a bowl of cheerios with her oxygen tank screaming for more air, as her lungs probably did.

Jack looks around her apartment: It was a small place stacked with his grandmother's old paperba and erotica novels, her moth-eaten old furniture, and pictures of her friends and family that he had never met. Evidence of a long and happy life should have been a comfort to Jack. He wanted to erase all the evidence of her. Make this his real home, yet he couldn’t bear to do it. These photographs lined every wall, even in the bedroom. He felt like a stranger here, like he didn’t belong. Like everywhere else, even in his own home, he had strangers staring at him. The constant loneliness of a million eyes glaring was now the only comfort he held inside of himself.

Jack pulled himself out of bed, groaning with each pop in his bones. He picked up his uniform from the floor, A grey pinstripe button-up with SECURITY detailed on the front pocket and black slacks. In the pocket were a crushed pack of cigarettes and his father's red pocket knife, a reminder of the man he would never be. Beside him on the nightside table was a photo of Jack and his father. When his father was younger you could’ve sworn he was a movie star. Long blonde hair, and not even one crooked tooth. Jack pushed a hand through his dusty blond hair and ran his tongue over his yellowing teeth. He cleared his throat again and placed a cigarette in his mouth. One of his darker fantasies involved him waking up one morning and coughing so hard bits of his lung would spill out of his mouth, at least he wouldn’t have to go to work.

Jack made his way to the kitchen and opened up his fridge. The only thing cast in the fluorescent light was a dilapidated birthday cake. It had been Jack's birthday less than a week ago. Some of his coworkers had got together and purchased it for him. It was a vanilla cake ( he hated vannile) with pink icing. On the top of the cake, in red swirly lettering was “ Happy Birthday Jake!” The mistake did not bother Jack, the subject of birthday cake had always been a sore spot anyways.

His father Bo Brown, smelled like cheap barley and stale tobacco. A cigar always seemed to be perched in between his index and pointed finger. Jack, had always thought the way his mama, Eleanor Brown, was different and more delicate. As if in between those red painted fingernails she was holding a daisy. It was Jack’s sixth birthday and Eleanor had baked him a vanilla birthday cake with cream cheese frosting. His father, always being one for celebration, was very very drunk. What Jack didn’t understand was that drunkenness was the closest thing to goodness his father was capable of. The alcohol disillusioned his ambitions making him an unpredictable and stupid man.

In the doorway of the kitchen his mother stood with the birthday cake. She was a round woman.

Her eyes were like two round blue and green globes like the one in his classroom, and her cheeks round summer peaches. Jack did not receive his mother’s body type, instead he was cold and angular like his father. Eleanor stood with the cake on a platter and six red candles illuminating her smile in a heavenly halo. Bo sat at the kitchen table tapping his yellowed fingernails on the table and sipping his drink. The ice cubes clinked as he clapped his son on the back and yelled drunkenly

“ Well, Ellie, our sons are finally a man!” he shouted, “ and a man deserves a man’s gift.”

From his work jeans Jack’s father brandished a black box. When he opened it, a tiny red pocket layed there peacefully.

“ Now Bo, don’t you think he’s a little.. Young” his mother laughed sheepishly, her eyes brandishing terror.

“ Now Bo, don’t you think he’s a little young” Bo mocked as pure rage flashed across his face and he flicked open the knife and pointed it towards his wife.

“ Don’t you ever tell a man what to do and what not to do with his son!” he drove the knife down into the table.

The room was so quiet Jack could hear the blood pumping in his father's veins. His father’s face erupted into a tepid smile as he handed Jack the knife

“ I’m only joking Jackie” his father clapped him on the back once again.

Jack was too afraid to cry. However as his mother placed the birthday cake in front of him, he saw tears in her eyes.

“ Happy birthday Jack”

He was too young to feel this old, but even the twenty-minute walk to the bus stop winded him. He passed young millennials with their smartphones and turtlenecks. He didn’t know who he was a part of, 23 is an ever confusing age anyways. If Jack had it his way he’d be seventy already so there would be an excuse to be so miserable.

Jack sat toward the back of the bus as he always did. In front of him was a younger couple. The girl had short bleached hair and was wearing an oversize jean jacket with the words `` Reject society!” painted in bright red. The boy had a shaved head and was wearing a green knit sweater. His large combat boots were sticking in the aisle. As the bus started to roll the girl pulled out a cell phone and a set of headphones. She put one earbud in his ear and one in hers. The boy smiled at her, and she giggled. She set her head on his shoulder and even though Jack couldn’t see her, he knew she was smiling. He felt strange looking at them. As if he was eavesdropping on their little world. Jack was jealous of them. He was jealous he didn’t have someone to rest their head on his shoulder. To hold hands as they walked home together. To smoke cigarettes on his balcony with. Jack wasn’t unattractive. It was that Jack was terrified of people. Isolation, Jack realized, brings a lot of things. Jack thought he would forget how to speak. That his words would shoot up in his throat, and stop just behind his teeth and he`d choke on them. That his tongue would never move again and turn to cement, that`d he'd die struggling for breath. Even if those things happen .. then he wouldn’t mind too much.

The bus slowed to a stop and the young, in-love couple scurried off. Once again as Jack stood up, his bones popped and cracked. He exited the bus, gently apologizing as he bumped into people. They said nothing back.

Most people were exiting the museum as he hurried up the steps. Jack loved how it looked. It was reminiscent of the old homes in the south. Tall white, marble pillars in front of the doors, large glass doors with gold trimming that never chipped. Long flower boxes on each of the windows that always held cigarette butts and grocery store flowers. The building itself held an undeniable glow to anyone that stood in its shadow.

As he entered the building one of the curators, Quinn, gave him a polite smile. Quinn was tall with dark, dark brown hair. For what Jack knew, she was nice and very very smart. Quinn always knew when to speak and she was the best with guided tours. Jack thought maybe he could ask her out for a drink one night. Maybe they'd start talking about art, and the music they liked and what he wanted in ten years. Maybe she would kiss Jack outside of his favourite Chinese restaurant and maybe Jack would meet her parents. If not that, maybe they could just be friends.

Jack didn't have time for all that, if Jack had the right words, maybe.

He set his bags down on the front desk and clocked in at the computer. Jack sat down and stared at the setting sun through the long windows. It was just about time to lock the door. He crossed the large entrance hall, his work boots echoing through the museum. Jack pulled his ring of keys from his belt when all of sudden Quinn was barreling up the stars. Beige high heels in hand. Jack opened up the door as she reached the top.

" Jack!" She shouted, " You're a damn lifesaver!"

" Is everything okay?" He said

" Yes, yes I just forgot my wallet"

Jack let her in, and she pushed past him walking toward the front desk.

" It's my anniversary tonight, and I didn’t want to be without" she chuckled

" Congratulations Quinn" he smiled

" Thank you, thank you. Were going to his favourite Chinese place on the upper side -"

" The Golden Castle?" Jack asked

" Yes! That's the one?" She asked

There was a silent pause as Quinn dug through the drawers at the front desk.

" Is it only you here tonight?" She asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

" Always is"

Quinn lifted her wallet into the air triumphantly. Smiling beautifully.

`` Well, Jack if you get too bored, there's a new exhibit just down the hall..``

She came close to him, too close. Jack tried not to be weird. But He saw her crystalline eyes reflect from the dying sunset and the small scar above her top lip. She had freckles too, hundreds of them dotted all across her face. When she smiled, her top teeth were crooked, it made her face look kind and warm. Jack looked up from her lips.

`` Technically it’s a preservation piece, I haven’t even seen it. But, since you’re all alone” she said “ Maybe you could take a peak and tell me all about it.”

Her body pressed against his as she leaned into his ear

“Just don't let anyone find out, it`ll be our little secret. Okay?”

Jack beamed at her request . He put two fingers to his lips and then into the air.

“I promise, Scouts honour,” Jack said with fake confidence

There it was again, that little laugh, and that gorgeous smile.

“ Have a good night Jack” she moved past him and out the door. She fluttered down the stairs quickly.

“Hey, Quinn!” Jack called after her horsley

“ Yea?!” Quinn called back from down the stairs

“ Try the eggrolls”

Quinn looked up at him, smiled once again and slipped into a taxi. Jack was still smiling when he closed and locked the door. He turned away from the door, and finally his cheeks fell. His face burned from smiling so hard.

“Jesus Jack,” he thought to himself, ``Try the egg rolls?`

The night rolled on as it always does, slow and with no mercy. Jack had his feet up on the front desk and was scrolling through the 10 cameras set up on an old computer monitor. He moved his hand onto the mouse and clicked through the cameras carelessly.

Jack knew that there was no way that anyone could get in or out of this place. His job was merely peace of mind to the faceless millionaire that owned this place. While he had never met his boss, he always pictured him as an overweight man in a tight navy suit. Usually smoking a thick cigar and having a large shiny bald head. Kind of like the old mob bosses in his father’s favourite movies.

All of a sudden, there was a slight itching behind his ear. He dragged his dirty fingernails behind his ear, trying to soothe the itch. The more he scratched however the more that erupted into a burning hot inflammation. He whipped his head around and smacked his ear violently.

What the fuck, What the fuck, what the fuck? Jack screamed to himself in his head.

Without warning, a tiny black beetle fell from Jack’s ear and into the palm of his hand. Its exoskeleton was hard and smooth. It’s mouth curled into two lewdly sharp pincers,

Jack’s heart leapt into his throat and he threw the beetle on the ground. It scurried toward the far end of the hallway. Panting, Jack watched as it’s tiny body disappeared into the shadows.

It was then that he noticed that there was a long shadow running up the hallway walls. Had he forgotten to turn off a light? No way Jack thought to himself. All the lights in the museum only used two switches. One for one-half of the museums’ lights, the hallway on his left, and another the hallway on his right. But one ominous light burned through the darkness. Jack stood and went to investigate. Just as he stood from his chair, the burning in his ear ceased.

Once again his boots echoed in the empty hallways. Clump..clump….clump.

The source of the light was nowhere to be seen. Yet long shadows still ran up and down the walls. Jack turned a corner and finally there it was. The light was shining behind a large security door labelled " The Art of curse and passion DO NOT OPEN"

This was the new exhibit Quinn had told him to venture into. Jack had made it a habit to stick to the rules. Even though Jack didn't move an inch, the door seemed to be getting closer to him with every beat of his heart.

Lub dub….lub dub...lub dub

He outstretched his palm now drenched in sweat and grasped the polished door handle.

When he pushed open the door, a blinding white light pierced into his eyes. Jack screamed at the pain and tried to cover his eyes but it seemed as if his hands had melted to his sides.

In a matter of seconds, his eyes adjusted to the light.

The room was empty except for one painting. It was in a midsize thin brown frame. The painting depicted a woman. Her face was cold each angle smoother than the next. The woman's hair was deep deep obsidian and her eyes crystal white, almost as translucent as glass. A melody of flowers pooled around her, encircling her in the richest colours of flaming crimson Rose's, Bold purple violets and sapphire forget me not. She was the most beautiful woman, Jack had ever seen and once again without moving a muscle, the painting seemed to move closer to him with each beat of his heart.

His hand hovered to her face, begging to touch her skin. Jack's body burned for her, itching like a junkie wanting a fix he yearned for her more than anything he's ever wanted.

A soft voice came slithered over Jack's neck and into his ears

Touch She begged Touch me

With no second thought, Jack was removed and there only lay his desire. His long skinny finger brushed what he hoped to be canvas but instead was supple flash. Jack jumped back his heart hammering in his chest, closing his eyes tight praying hoping that this would all be a dream. He dug his fingernails deep into his palms praying that maybe that would wake him.

Yet when he opened his eyes, the painting had gotten closer and closer. The fear left his body as a receding tide. He was left face to face with Her. Jack’s breath left him in fleeting gasps. Her face moved, looking through him and at him all the same. Her blushing rose lips grazed him. Jack melted at the feeling of her tongue grazing his bottom lip.

She tasted like springtime. Fresh warmth after months of bitter cold and for the first moment, Jack's world was no longer colour blind. He was locked into her.

Help me Jack her voice was smooth and kind, I know, I know how lonely you are. How your heartaches as mine does. How the emptiness fills you like desire, I feel it too Jack. Please, please let me out.

I can’t Jack thought to himself I’ll lose my job

Please Jack, she begged, you hate it here, you despise this place.

From the bottom corner of the painting, a milky white hand appeared. It outstretched and wrapped itself around Jack’s cheek. Digging her palm into his jagged face, seemingly touching him from the inside.

I’ll save you Jack if you save me first.

There was no more Jack, only the paint that had seeped from her lips into him. Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out his father's pocket knife, assuming his destiny and releasing Her from her cage.

Jack rolled her up and cradled her in his arms. He felt her warmth radiate all over him.

Jack left the room, now dark as if the lights had never been on. His boots clomped once again, faster as he sped towards the door. Jack saw that hours had passed by him while he was in the room ; dawn illuminated the museum. To the front doors in which he quickly unlocked and threw open. The screech of the security alarms rang in his ears and he pumped his legs, not worried about turning off the alarm, not worried about anything. Jack's lungs felt as if they were made of lead and his blood pure and burning adrenaline

Feeling the bright morning dew slick on his skin and the light finally breaking through his fog.

Faster Jack, they can’t catch us

Jack ran so fast that the gods would never touch him. His long legs burned and begged him to slow down but Jack had what he never did, purpose and love.

It was too early for passersby to see him. The occasional morning jogger passed judgement at his uniform. They assumed he was just another nighttime degenerate crawling into the day.

He ran even faster.

Jack entered his apartment. The silence was crowded by the blood pounding thick in his ears. Jack stood for a moment. Revealing how the faces in all of his grandmothers' photographs seemed to smile at him now.

Unravel me Jack she said

All at once Jack rushed toward his kitchen table, swiping the ashtrays and stacks of paperbacks onto the ground. He opened her onto the table and was once again swept by her burning beauty.

He pulled up a chair and sat there at his table staring intently at the painting. Memorizing each curve, each line of her face. Tears burned at his eyes, and he wept onto her.

It’s okay Jack, You’ll never have to feel that way again, I just need one more thing

Anything, absolutely anything Jack smiled though his gut-wrenching sobs.

You must devour me

The life he lived before her was black and grey and now he breathed technicolour.

Dust settled on the table around him and on his fingertips. Spider’s and dust mites scurried up and down his furniture and the carpet. Large moths had fluttered onto my clothing, slowly but surely tearing away my cotton uniform. Leaving me a bare corpse dissolving into dust. I was disappearing as if his body was becoming weaker, and weaker with each passing breath.

You must devour me. Her voice echoed through his brain, and Jack became aware of what he must do.

Jack moved his skeletal frame towards his fridge. His stomach was caved inward, and his ribs jutted out at all angles. Jack’s stick-like fingers grasped the door and opened it. The cartilage in his knuckles cracking like ice on a pond.

In his fridge, behind the cake, there was a glass cup of cream and a mason jar of honey. Jack used his failing strength to set the cream and the honey on the table. He slumped down once again.

Jack lowered his head to her face one last time. Pressing his forehead to hers and his chapped lips to hers. All he tasted was canvas.

Please don’t leave me he thought, I love you

Jack, don’t you see, now I’ll always be apart of you

You’ll never be alone again

He stuck his fingers into the jar of honey and slathered her face encompassing her in sweetness. Delicately he ripped a piece of her and stuffed it past his lips. Dissolving the canvas into a soft pulp. His back molars did not dare tear the paper to bits. His stomach screamed for fullness. The ball of dissolving canvas lodged itself below his Adam's apple. Jack poured the cream down his throat and colour entered him. With ravenous lust , piece after piece Jack began to gorge himself stuffing every last piece inside him. He ate around her face, devouring the prismatic flowers first. Slathering each piece in gobs of honey and gulping down cream. Sputtering whiteness from his full mouth. Jack paused when it came to her waxy and pointed face. He ripped larger, and larger portions from her face until the only pieces left were her eyes. He held the last pieces of her in his hands and dipped her in the honey. He swallowed so much of her she gripped his throat. The yellow liquid dripped down his chin and onto his wrists, the long self inflicted scars of his youth were bathed in sweetness.

Never again Jack promised himself,

Never again the woman's voice promised him.

If alone was a feeling, loneliness was a hole in the bottom of his stomach an ache in his tooth. An itch in the back of your eye. I had always had this hole, this ache and this itch.

As she entered me, as her color filled me….

Jack brown was never lonely again.

….

#writer #writers on tumblr #writing #writeblr #love #horror #harry potter

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lightsorigins · 4 years ago

Text

Smiles

A good two hours had passed after Sara had left. On his laptop, Kieran had chosen to change the music. A calmer atmosphere spread through the room. A mixture of melancholy and bitterness. It was "Way to Go" by the band "Empire of the Sun". He was in bed, on his back, with a red pillow over his face. It had been several weeks since Sara had been cracking down on his behavior. Already that he supported badly this natural authority, in this recent period, that became for him too smothering. "Seriously, what does she care if I miss my life? " He asked himself in various ways, since he had locked himself in his room.

Enervé, he then seized his pillow and threw it on the door of his room with all his strength while letting escape a light growl. A message arrived on his cell phone, which he opened immediately.

"Still ok for tonight at home? :) »

It was Malden, one of his best friends. They were putting together a band, accompanied by another friend, Teano. On a good day, Sara would come and watch them play with the rest of the band. The two boys had met a few years earlier when they joined the athletics club for the youth of Lausya.

"Yeah, that's good. See you soon."

"No smiley face? Are you sure you're ok? :o ! »

"I tell you when we meet"

"Okay! »

Just as he was about to leave his bed, his mother knocked loudly on the door.

- What? Kieran shouted, not without making his annoyance heard.

- Kié, Amaëlle has arrived for your class. She's waiting for you in the living room, come.

Kieran took his head in his hands and took a deep breath. Then, holding his breath, he rushed to the pillow he had just thrown and started screaming into it with all his might. After that, he grabbed it and slammed it to the ground several times until he was out of breath. Kieran had completely forgotten that Amaëlle had to come. He was no longer willing. It was wearing him down, especially with the altercation he had just had.

Five minutes were enough for Amaëlle's presence to leave his mind. Kieran had turned on the music and was strolling in the room. Calmly, she knocked and opened the door.

- Can I come in? she asked very gently.

Without stopping his activities, Kieran nodded. Amaëlle took off the long fir-colored coat she was wearing, as well as her beret of the same color, to put them on her bed. Her long ebony hair was styled in a lovely bun, while her azure eyes always seemed to shine. Without saying a word, she sat down on her student's computer chair and crossed her legs, swinging her green pumps to the music. Aware that something was wrong, Amaëlle took care to close the door behind her.

She was a holoron with syor skin, very lightly made up. While she was also bobbing her head from left to right as she played the notes, Kieran watched the reflection of the light come and go on her face, which was like a vase of earthenware. This detail amused him. He addressed a very weak smile to her, then rose to turn off the music before returning to his bed.

- You don't look so good. Your mother told me about you and Sara. I passed her on the way over.

- Yeah, I'm sick of her. I can't get any peace... she's a pain in the ass.

- Don't you understand that she is worried about you?

He hesitated before answering, looking away to stare at the window before continuing.

- Yes, but it's been a few days... She's abusing me now. It's like she wants me to do what she does. I don't want to do that.

- You don't have to be like your sister Kieran, since you are not your sister. She just wants you to work on your speaking and writing skills and develop your concentration. You remember that you were the one who asked her to find someone to come and help you in the first place, right?

- I wanted her to help me, not order me around and embarrass me in front of the guys outside.

Amaëlle gave him a pinched smile.

- I know the context of the situation. You didn't honor your agreement so that made her angry. Why don't you try explaining yourself next time? You are capable of having fun when everything is going well. Don't ruin it. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a big sister who takes care of you you know?

- I know. Kieran replied, very quietly.

- I have to help you tonight. It would be a shame if your sister paid me to just come and look you in the eye. But since you probably need some quiet time, I suggest we take less time than we planned. How about it?

He nodded slowly and stood up. Together they went into the dining room and sat down facing each other. Kieran had dyslexia, as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). During part of his schooling, the manifestation of this disability put him in many difficult situations. His clumsy diction and impulsive attitudes were often the cause of mockery from his peers, and therefore a lack of confidence. It didn't take long for these challenges to lead him into bad company, and for him to participate in acts of vandalism in the city.

Amaëlle - who was contacted by Sara almost three years earlier - committed to training Kieran through diction exercises, concentration exercises, as well as giving him vocabulary to learn from time to time, essays and other types of activities. She was a Nerial (Water) Aphorist and Atmologist, who was perfecting her teaching skills. She was 25 years old and was like a caring and always available big sister to them. Over time, Amaëlle gradually became a support to the Farrian family, rather than just a private teacher.

That evening, she simply had him read out some gap-fill texts and comment on them, choosing his words carefully. Despite his bad mood, Kieran had been persistent and calm. He had cut in less often and only got up from his chair once.

- You were exemplary tonight, even with that pig-headedness you pulled throughout the exercises. I am proud of you!

Kieran did not answer for all that. Amaëlle always reserved him a small surprise after the exercises. This made him smile a little before she left.

- I have something to show you. Call your mother too! She said, cheerfully, taking her wand out of her bag.

- Mommy! I believe that Amaëlle will make a stylish turn!

Fond of these little improvised shows, Naska rushed to come and see. As always, it was more pleasant to admire her performances with the lights off. Kieran then pressed the switch and sat down on the leather sofa of the living room, stamping with impatience. His good mood had returned, at least until he saw this.

Amaëlle's tall, slender figure now stood before them, wand in hand, against the light of the hallway. In silence, she seemed to start writing in the air. The ystic symbols - the language of the mystic - gradually took shape, like threads of smoke of a dreamy turquoise blue. The colors were reflected in the eyes of Kieran and Naska, revealing their fascination. They could read "I am extremely proud of you". Amaëlle waited a few seconds, then drew a circle around the letters of Menha that she had formed. Little by little, she formed signs with her fingers, which stretched the circle into a thick bubble of water. She then took a deep breath before blowing very gently on it. The bubble with the magic letters went towards Kieran. When it reached the tip of his nose, it burst.

Suddenly, a festival of positive and deep

emotions invaded him. He felt an intense and yet discreet joy, a certain fullness and a lot of admiration. Amazed, Naska turned the light back on and gave a big smile to Amaëlle.

- How did you do that? Kieran asked, impressed.

- I learned it a short time ago, I'm perfecting it. An Aphorist's art. I tried to share with you how you made me feel tonight.

- Wow! This is really classy! How did you get to be an Aphorist? Now I definitely want to do this.

- I had to practice a lot! She answered with a laugh that brought her back to her student memories. You'll have plenty of time to find out if you want to become an Aphorist. It's not that I don't like your company, but I'm going to have to get out of here fast.

- Me too," said Kieran. I'm going to Malden's tonight.

- The building is on my way there, I think, do you want a lift? I'll go back to Welliyo afterwards, what do you say?

- Is that right? So cool!

- I've got your stuff ready, Kie. I put everything in the bathroom, in your backpack.

- Go get it all quickly Kieran, or I'll change my mind and leave without you! In the meantime, I still have some stuff in your room.

Before they left, Naska had prepared a small box with part of the dish for Amaëlle. Knowing that Sara hated boiled food and that Kieran often ate out, she preferred to offer her some of it.

Once in Amaëlle's car, it was not long before Kieran's good mood faded again, which was not lost on the young woman. The snow had given way to a driving rain, which the windshield wipers struggled to clear from the window. Kieran remained silent, waiting patiently to arrive at Malden's house. -

I have rarely seen you so worried and upset, Amaëlle admitted to him. It's not the first time you and Sara have had a fight.

- This year, it's worse. She doesn't care how I feel. All she does is yell at me whenever she sees that I can. It's as if she's shooting me in the face every time I appear.

Amaëlle paused to think of an appropriate answer. She herself had noticed that Sara was much more emotional when she had met

her before arriving at the Farrian home.

- You know, your sister is growing up and starting to have other responsibilities. She's studying for exams and may have other concerns that we don't know about.

- If she would just talk about it calmly instead of using me as a punching bag, things would be better. But as soon as I talk, I can see that she thinks I'm a jerk. You know, sometimes I wonder if she's just paying you because she's ashamed of me as a brother. I'm not sure she's really interested in my condition. But the idea of Kieran, the town jerk, being her little brother... that's got to be getting to her, so I've got to make some headway for her shitty little reputation.

- Kieran...

- I'm sure that's it.

There were two minutes left in the journey, during which Kieran continued to express what he was feeling and thinking about the situation. Nothing would change his mind at the moment, not even the best of wills, and Amaëlle understood that. She stopped in front of a damaged sidewalk, littered with scrap metal and chewing gum. A few meters further on was a neighborhood where middle-class Lausans and Malden's family lived. Kieran opened the door to get out.

- Thank you for dropping me off, Amaëlle.

- Instead of thanking me, promise me something.

Since he sensed that this would have something to do with Sara and him, he sighed quietly before answering her.

- Well, okay. But it depends on what.

- If there is any problem between you and your sister, or even if there is something else you don't feel you can handle, promise to tell me about it. I don't want you to carry this around by yourself. Is that okay? Even if it's not mine, at least talk to one of your friends. Even Renyu for example.

- Oh no, not him. He's the first one to make fun of me for every mistake I make.

- I forgot, that's true... well, is that okay?

- Yes, I'll try to do my best. See you later, Ama.

- See you later, Kiki!

- Not that nickname!

Amaelle laughed out loud. She stuck her tongue out at him, closed the car door and went on her way. These little light attitudes she could have reassured Kieran a lot, even if he didn't always say so. During the short walk to Malden's house, he lost himself in imagining what he could achieve if he ever became an Aphorist. The idea of making up for his lack of expression, of one day being able to show others that he could handle himself and that they should never have laughed at him, was a very pleasant prospect. Since he was young, he had dreamed of studying Fothîol, the Fire Atmology, to become a great adventurer. In various broadcasts, he had heard about the fighting contests between atmologists and martial artists, the squads of adventurers going to the famous Domains, where incredible creatures, treasures and the legendary Incarnations were hiding. Just imagining all that energy flowing through his body and intoxicating him, Kieran was ecstatic. This was the life he wanted to live, not just hang out in Lausya, go to college and argue with his sister.

His phone rang as he approached the Cly

home.

- Where are you? Malden asked

- I'm on my way, I'm almost downstairs.

- Okay, well, I'll be right down. Don't ring the bell, my father is taking a nap and it might wake him up. Then, my mother will bother me again.

- A nap at 7pm?

- Not always easy to be a gardener, I guess," said Malden, laughing. Well, I'm coming, see you soon!

Kieran reached the big gate: a copper

fence several meters high, impossible to cross without having the right pass, or without ringing the bell at one of the numerous apartments that were piled up behind, in the big park. He saw the light of a distant hall, and someone opening the door coming in his direction. It was Malden. He had taken a worn red raincoat and an umbrella. When he opened the door, Kieran walked in without looking at him.

- Hi," he said quietly.

- It's a good thing Ama dropped you off. Why didn't you take something to cover yourself ?

- I don't know.

Without a word, Malden handed him his umbrella. The two boys continued down the hall without talking, and once they were in the elevator, the conversation started again.

- Did something happen outside? Malden asked.

- Nah, it's Sara.

- Again? But that's all the time?

- I guess so.

Kieran still wasn't much of a talker. When they arrived at the apartment, they went silently to Malden's room. When Malden opened the door, he was surprised to see his brother emptying one of his closets.

- Isaac, what the hell are you doing in my room?

The young boy was startled and stood up like a post in front of his brother and Kieran. -

Oh oh...

- What did you come for now? I already told you that I didn't want to see you here! -

I needed a pen to write something and...

- Don't fuck with me, there are plenty of pens everywhere! Just ask Sawako or Hayate!

Akane, Malden's mother, arrived with a heavy step. She had long black hair, some of which fell over her face, and a dark, piercing, often angry look. When he saw her, Malden put his hands over his face and blew out a loud breath. -

Damn, here we go...

- How do you address your brother Malden? I've told you to talk different!

- How many times have I told him to stay out of here?

- You don't set the rules in this house! You don't pay rent, you don't do the shopping! If your brother has something to look for he does it, whether you like it or not! This is my home!

- No, but he can at least ask me!

- You weren't there!

- Then he should have waited! -

Do you have something to hide in your room to put yourself in such a state just because Isaac entered? Just because Kieran's here doesn't mean you can start messing with me, Malden, you hear me?

Isaac hadn't moved an inch, watching the whole conversation carefully. A sardonic laugh escaped from between his lips, then he took a notebook out of his pocket before writing down a few sentences in a table named "Malden", and ran off. The argument continued for a few more minutes.

- If you keep yelling like that you're going to wake up Dad! Malden said.

- By now it's about time he got up.

Still with the same energy, she closed the door and went to wake up Richard Cly, the father of the family. Kieran sat down on Malden's bed and laughed nervously.

- It seems to be a good vibe in here too. - I don't know what's wrong with her right now, it seems like Isaac gets to do everything. And me, no privacy.

- Why are you so upset about him coming into your room?

- Because he lies and acts so weird. He writes things about me in a notebook and talks about them with Suzanne without telling me what they are. They think I'm a freak, and I don't even know why.

Kieran frowned as he imagined the situation.

- Okay, yeah. It's pretty weird.

- Anyway, that's how it is. What about you and Sara?

Once again, Kieran explained his altercation with his sister, and how he felt about it. The simple fact of being so little considered, and especially of being locked in by precepts he did not share, made him hateful. -

Sara and I used to have a lot of fun, but I have a feeling it will never be the same. All he cares about now is getting rich and doing biology.

- There will always be Teano and me just in case!

- I know, but this is different. -

I understand that, and I'm sorry. I feel like that sometimes with Melva. I feel like it's never going to get better. If you want, I'll talk to Sara if I get a chance. -

You know what, we weren't supposed to meet for this tonight. We should put on "Alvist War"! We have a fight to watch. I'm tired of being pissed off from earlier, I want to think about something else!

A big smile appeared on Malden's face. Without a word, he went to get his laptop and put it on the bed. "The Alvist War was a television program that was shown every evening, but was also broadcast on various platforms on the Internet. Atmologists of varying levels took part in clashes every venckelbuth, broadcast live, and this throughout the year! They judged the quality of the atmos used, their choice, and not necessarily the damage caused. On this night, a Heroine (Fire and Sun atmology) was to face a Cantator (Lightning and Lightning atmology)! Malden checked the website to be sure of the time of the confrontation.

- There's plenty of time. I know they were planning to move the time exceptionally because of the problems with the GCA, but we still have thirty minutes.

- Do you think your mom will let us watch this in the bedroom?

- Either she'll let us, or we'll watch it in the living room with everyone else, or we'll watch the replay. - Oh, the replay sucks. I want to live the thrill of the moment, when you see them doing crazy things!

- Yeah, I agree, but thanks to Isaac, my mom's all fired up tonight. I'm not sure she'll choose to be nice and leave us alone.

A thought crossed Kieran's mind. He squinted his eyes and gave her a big smile without saying a word. - I don't like it when you make that face, Kié. What are you thinking about?

- I don't know, your mom seems pretty busy, your siblings too, your dad's in the coltard after a nap at the worst time of the day...

- Yeah... so?

He checked that Malden still had his shoes on his feet.

- And so I'm going to use my superpowers.

Without warning, Kieran leapt onto the bed, shut Malden's laptop and put it in his bag. He grabbed his arm and pulled with all his might. Malden slipped off the bed and rolled a few inches.

- What the hell are you doing?

- Let's go! I've got some more nanthilia at home.

- You know how to talk to me.

- You got your clip? Quick, grab it and let's go.

Malden was still putting on his raincoat in the middle of the hallway. He pulled up his slightly baggy pants and almost tripped twice as he caught his feet in his shoelaces. Kieran opened the front door, when Akane's voice rang out from the other end of the house.

- Who's going out at this time of the night? she shouted.

- It's Malden! said Isaac, who was not far away.

Already on the landing, Kieran signaled to Malden to hurry up. Seeing that his friend hesitated, he grabbed him again and pulled him with all his strength before closing the door behind him. They made their way down the three flights of stairs, nearly falling again several times. They ran through the park, opened the door and started running through Lausya. -

This is what track and field is for! Kieran exclaimed with a laugh.

- When I come back tomorrow, they're all going to kill me.

- Just come home!

- I can't spend my life at your place, how am I going to paint and do my sports? I have to see Sylva too!

- We'll find a way!

That evening, Akane made several phone calls to her son, but Malden never picked up. They had arrived home soaking wet. Naska was happy to know that her son would spend the evening at home, and especially that his boiled Yone would finally be consumed. When she asked why the boys had returned, a simple, poorly crafted lie had been enough to convince her.

As Malden began to eat the yone with his pakato puree with pavarus and echex, Kieran pulled out the nanthilia he had hidden under his desk. For a moment, he remembered the discussion with Amaëlle, who told him that Sara was worried about him. He hesitated. But the memories of his screams and his persuasion about Sara's true motives came back to him. The wound that had been growing inside him reopened immediately, and anger rose. He got up to lock his bedroom door and rolled two joints. He gave one to Malden before lighting both.

- It's going to start in a few minutes," Malden said after thanking him. Who do you think will win? -

My money is on Syzia, the Heroine. Already, she's using Hanoma atmos that no one has ever seen. When she introduced herself, she said she had done a lot of research in Nelthis, with the Grimoire of Balance, and had spent a lot of time learning old Hanoma. - It's not dumb, but in a way, we've already seen Albert come through a few times and win his matches. He sings great and people love it. And don't forget that he also uses Hanoma, some of which he developed himself!

- Yeah... It's tight though. But he's old Albert, I think he's over 60 years old. Syzia, I think she's even younger than Amaëlle!

- So what?

- People prefer to give their chance to the younger ones. -

I hope they won't vote like that, it's not very fair. Or maybe they should make a "War of the Alvists - Senior Edition". That would probably be better. The older ones have so much experience in general...

- Yeah, but they're usually doing the same things, so you don't learn much from them, I think.

- Well, it's starting!

The Alvist War took place in Susalia, in Sei-Galtar. A big kingdom often considered as the mysticillian capital. The credits were presented with a dynamic and very rhythmic music, and a short presentation of the candidates. Malden and Kieran were never able to sit still each time they found themselves in front of the show. For a few minutes, the show's host spoke about the situation that had caused the show to be moved. A group of arcanists called "Black-Wings", a branch of the infamous "Guild of Antis", had stirred up trouble for reasons still unclear.

- Yes, yes, we know about that! Kieran persisted. I want the fight!

The introductions went on and on, even though the challengers were known to the public. The two boys knew that this process was supposed to make the viewers reconsider their preferences and make their judgment more difficult. But with them, it didn't work!

After long minutes, Syzia and Albert arrived at the big field where they would compete. They were given five minutes, after which the other challengers came to replace them for their own fight. At the end of the show, the votes would be revealed to everyone, as well as the decisions of the jury.

- He's pretty good-looking for his age, Albert," says Malden. Well dressed, little jacket and shiny shoes, the little groomed haircut and all. The well-trimmed beard and the winner's smile. -

He is a nogdarr at the same time, they are always stylish! And Syzia is a class act too !

It was a young anekionne dressed with an armor of Almandol and Helyor, where were engraved runes in hathôm language. The alloys with which she was covered shone with a red and orange glow. Her face was thin, her skin black, and her eyes a piercing yellow. There was nothing but cold determination, and nothing else.

- Her chelicerae give me the creeps. Look, it looks like she cut them to kill the people she kisses. I can imagine her leaning over to kiss Albert and then bang: she pierces his cheek.

- You're disgusting, man! You know that with our animal barriers, these things can't happen.

- Yeah, but imagine: there, she puts him on the ground, he has no more Anima, and she comes to kiss him.

While they were talking, the fight began. Without a word, Syzia rushed towards Albert while executing a series of signs with her fingers. When everyone expected her to deliver the kick she had enchanted with pink flames, a wall of pale green light blocked her path. Albert was standing in front of her, unperturbed, still smiling. He began to sing a short sentence with his tenor voice. Small emerald sparks began to converge in the sky. Sizya looked around, worried.

- What a handsome kid Albert is! Malden exclaimed again. He masters, you see, he doesn't even have to move!

- It's true, he's super stylish.

As the lightning was about to strike Sizya, the young anekonia jumped at the last moment to avoid the blast. Several times, she tried to come back to the charge but Albert's protection was very strong. However, everyone could see that as time went by, her shine was fading. Soon, she would have broken this damn protection and could reach the old man!

- She's going to make it," said Kieran. Everyone knows her, she won't let go.

Rather than strike again, Sizya took some distance. Closing her eyes, she crossed her legs and sat on the floor, then began to levitate. The audience began to raise their voices. Kieran's eyes widened.

- No? Is she really going to do that now?

- It's a very good idea. If she invokes an afterglow, things could be totally different for Albert.

Lest she cause too much damage, Albert readjusted his defenses by erecting variable shapes around him. Diamonds of emerald light, spheres, circles and a whole bunch of random creations weaving together and resulting in a magical and brilliant tapestry. The whole thing was nimbed with sparks and shimmering of all greens, which greatly impressed the spectators.

- She better do something worthwhile," Malden commented. People want to be wowed, and Albert understood that. Look what he did.

- Hell, yeah! He's really good, I'm starting to think he has a chance.

- He's always had a chance!

The art of the Heroines was to invoke afterglow from other times or dimensions, where various deities were believed to exist. The Heroines manage to channel the essence of the faith of these individuals across space and time, and invoke the crystallization of what they believe in. Thus, behind Sizya, the silhouette of a huge colossus was outlined by dots of pink Menha. A man of thick musculature, with a full beard and long hair flowing down behind his bare back. His face seemed marked by an unspeakable fatigue. He carried a forge hammer in his right hand and an anvil in his left.

- I think I know this invocation," said Malden.

- Which one is it?

- Hephaestus. Renyu told me about it once, they had come across images and treatises from the Heroines' classes while researching the dragons of the Mystician. The downside is that it's not Hanoma! It's classy, but not as bold as Albert's creations.

Hephaestus' remanence, once fully drawn, put his foot heavily on the ground. As he did so, a powerful, fiery shockwave crossed the battlefield. When it met the shapes created by Albert, more than half of them went up in smoke. Hephaestus raised his hammer and threw it straight at Albert. Opening his arms wide, he let out a mighty howl, ready to act again. Kieran and Malden looked at each other in amazement.

I'm not sure if summonses normally do that," Kieran remarked. Are you sure she's not doing a Hanoma?

- I don't know, but it's really shocking. It could be.the remaining time, Albert and Sizya continued to battle, bringing to life phenomena as surprising as each other. The summoned Hephaestus remained on the field until the announcer announced the end of the battle. It was rare for the audience to make so much noise in the stands. The two challengers shook hands before leaving. Regardless of the outcome of the votes, they seemed to be mutually satisfied with the experience, and to have impressed each other so much. Kieran and Malden spent the rest of the evening watching the other matches, which were all equally interesting.

When the show was over, they decided to go to sleep, but it was impossible for them not to discuss everything they had seen. They spent most of the night talking about these incredible shows, and then they went into their most incredible daydreams. Every time they found themselves in complete darkness, they had this urge to remake the world.

- So you want to be an Aphorist now?

- I don't know. Now that I've seen all the fights I still want to do something else, I can't decide.

- It was atmology, that doesn't prevent you from being an Aphorist on the side. It's a martial art. -

And you, are you still in the idea of being an Inleier?

- Yeah, I think it's going to stay. I like the idea of using my emotions to do something with them. I know that at the Inleier house, I'll get what I need. - Doesn't it scare you to know that you have to dip into your animal reserves to fight?

- No, since I want to do lightning atmology as part of the healing. If I have a problem, I can fix it.

- Or Sylvania can heal you! Kieran exclaimed in a burst of laughter.

Malden laughed in his turn with an embarrassed air before kicking him.

- You're an idiot! Anyway, she has a much better future ahead of her.

- Aren't you supposed to meet tomorrow?

- Yes, she's got a few things to teach me on the piano. And then apparently she composed another song. Maybe she can join the band with Teano and us. It would be great if she could come with us, but she's still got some crazy restrictions with her mom...

- You'd be happy if she was there, right, Kieran said.

- Yeah, I'd be happy if she joined us.

For the past few weeks, Kieran had suspected that Malden had feelings for their friend. Although he denied it, the young man was still very attracted to Sylvania, but the nature of this attraction was still very unclear to him. Only one thing was clear: something in Sylvania reminded him a little Mélva, his twin sister. He missed her a lot. Because of Kieran's teasing and this unsettled feeling, Malden fell asleep dreaming about them.

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