#one of my coworkers offered to pick up my shift tomorrow so i don't have to call in sick

[greatbigstorm]

/ /

[where-ismydonkey]

DCA PROMPTOBER - DAY 3

GOOGLY EYES

"Sun, we need to have a serious talk." you walked up to him one morning, arms crossed. It was too early for any parents or children, but they'd be arriving soon. So you needed to have your talk with him either now, or never.

Well maybe not never, but later in the day would be such a drag.

The bot was too busy rearranging a nearby tower of blocks to pay attention to you, though. He was sat on the floor, staring intently at the wooden structure as one hand reached out and placed another block on top. His other hand tapped a rhythm against the mat, "Good morning to you too, and I'm surprised you're capable of such a thing."

"Huh, snark before the morning even starts," you noted as you approached him, before settling across the robot on the floor. His rays, fluttering like always, stuck out from behind the tall blocks as you sat cross legged. You smiled and said, "Anymore and I'd say you're deflecting."

Sun was unfazed as he picked up another block, "Humor me for a moment, and let me know what on earth I would be deflecting?"

You squared your shoulders, staring at him like it was obvious, "Uh, I dunno? The fact that Claire informed me you requested for seventeen boxes of googly eyes! Which is obviously not in her already batshit budget for the daycare, so would you like to pay for them or should I?"

He placed the block on top of the current stack, "Well, if you're offering—"

"Finish that sentence and I'm telling the children it's slime day."

"Your threat is ineffective," Sun scoffed and waved you off, "You would also have to clean up afterward."

"Not if I leave, I don't," you stuck your tongue out. He huffed, and you added seriously, "But come on, what the hell?"

"Language!" he chided. And he hesitated for a second until he admitted, "And if you must know, I wanted to order them for arts and crafts."

"Well, no shit."

"Language!" he scolded, exasperated.

"Fine, fine," you sighed, and realized he had shifted to fully face you. Moving over to meet his gaze, without anything in between you two, you rose an eyebrow, "But seventeen boxes?"

"I thought it would be nice for the children and Moon and I. We'd like something to pass the time too," he went on, "And since we typically aren't allowed anything for ourselves, we thought..."

You furrowed your eyebrows as he trailed off. And contemplatively, you frowned. The next words to come out of your mouth would not be good for your bank account.

But they were your coworkers and since you saw them everyday, the two of them being sad wasn't an option. If only for your piece of mind, you would help him and Moon out. Yeah, that made sense.

Totally.

"So, I dunno about seventeen boxes," you began unsurely, "But, uh, maybe I can help with a few?"

Sun went quiet. But it took you longer to realize since he couldn't move his face, and you were waiting for his response. But the perpetual motion of his rays halted, and instead silence took over the playroom. Almost completely, as you two continued to stare at one another.

And it wasn't until you awkwardly coughed, however many minutes later, that you tried to joke, "Hey, anyone in there?"

"Hm?" like lightning, he shot up straight. And his rays spun once more as he sputtered, "Yes, we'd like—That would be nice—Thank you."

Weird, you'd never seen him like that.

"You're welcome." you said, observing his suddenly jittery movements. And he was quick to reach over for another block, intent on continuing the stack. And from where you sat you held back a smile, because what was some money for a few boxes of googly eyes and happiness?

—

WOOO DAY THREE!!! i just started typing and ended up with this, and im pretty happy with it hehe. and alas i work tomorrow but im gonna try my hardest to keep up with this!!!

[aitathrowaway987654]

Hello, this is me! I know this is quite early in the submission's existence to be writing in with more information, but honestly I forgot that I submitted this (I was tired and upset at the time so I don't remember much) so it was a shock to stumble past this on my dash. It was very much a *Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme* moment. Thank you everyone for all of your responses so far! Just here to clear a few things up that I didn't think to mention in my submission. In no way trying to justify anything! Just providing some extra context. Also giving you a little update, since this ask was written a week ago.

The main thing that everyone's bringing up in the comments is that I should have told my work that I had prior commitments during my interview. I did not have an interview for this job. I was planning on creating a resume and searching around to see who was hiring. My mum happened to be walking our dogs past the cafe one day, and went in quickly to see whether they were hiring, so I could know whether I should bother putting a resume in. She asked to talk to the owner, and then told him that I was going to be looking for work and asked whether they were looking for casual employees. The owner was basically like "We're always hiring. Send her in for a trial shift tomorrow, and if she likes it, she can start working". So that's what happened. There was no sort of interview or application process at all. If there had been, I almost definitely would have mentioned during that that I did have prior commitments and wouldn't be available. But because everything was so abrupt, I didn't think to bring it up during my trial shift (and the fatigue and burnout didn't help this), and by the time I was even finished I had already been rostered. Obviously if I could change that I would have let them know (hindsight's a bitch isn't it), and everyone is absolutely right in saying that it was my responsibility to do so. I just thought I should explain that I didn't have that typical application or interview process that everyone is mentioning.

The second thing is people saying I should have tried to reschedule my shifts. I did mention it in my ask, but I didn't really say it explicitly enough, but I did try to reschedule and couldn't find a way to. My paperwork was a mess, which meant that I never received the contact information for my manager or for the owners. Even now as I'm typing this over a week after I submitted this ask, I still have no one's phone number, email, or anything. This meant that I had no way to contact my manager and ask her to change my shift. I then tried to talk to one of the owners about it in person after my first official shift, who insisted that the manager's phone number was on the paperwork and that she was the one I had to ask. I double-checked the paperwork once I got home, and it was definitely not there. I then tried to talk to an owner again at my next shift, but they were busy and then had to leave early to pick up their kids so I didn't get the chance to ask them. When I wrote and submitted this, I also hadn't met my manager yet because she was away, so I couldn't contact her in person either. I tried asking one of my coworkers for the manager's phone number, and she said that she'd contact the manager for me. I tried to say that it'd just be helpful for me to have the manager's phone number for the future anyway, but she insisted on just doing it herself. And then she never did. That was my final shift before the day I was supposed to have rehearsals, so it was my last chance to talk to anyone in person. Once it became clear that my coworker hadn't contacted the manager for me, and I had no way to do this myself, this was when I decided that I had to text S and tell her I wasn't able to make it to the rehearsals.

One person also mentioned that I should have bowed out of the solo part — I offered to let someone else play the solo. After I missed the rehearsal that I wasn't aware about, a different music teacher (who was conducting the piece) contacted my mum because she was worried about me not knowing my part. I replied back to let her know that me and S had been rehearsing it in our lessons, but if she thought it was best if someone else played it instead, I would completely understand and be fine with it. Also worth mentioning is that it was not a big or difficult solo part at all — it wasn't the type of solo that was really exposed and everyone would be able to here, more just a slightly more melodic part than the rest of the cello section that complimented the violin solo part (which was a lot bigger). So I was confident that I could play it, but even if I wasn't, there were other people who could have done it if needed, and I expressed that I would be willing to bow out if that was what was best.

I think those were the main points being brought up, so now the update, since it's been a week since the concert itself. The piece I had a solo in went fine! No dramas in that. The Year 12 piece ended up getting cancelled — only one of the four of us showed up to that first rehearsal and the other two people didn't even tell S that they weren't coming, so she decided it was for the best that we just called it quits. I explained everything about not being able to cancel my shifts to S and she was a lot more understanding about it in person. So basically everything turned out for the best (which I'm extremely grateful for).

Thank you for everyone for being empathetic but honest — I've got a lot less going on now than I did when this was written, so I've had the time to acknowledge and understand that there were a lot of things I could have done differently. If this had been posted a week ago when all of those emotions were still flying high, I would have been a lot less receptive to the criticism, so it's definitely for the best that there's a delay in the queue. As I said, I'm not supplying this information in order to try and justify anything — I'm happy to accept the YTA verdict if that's what everyone thinks — just adding some info I should have included originally. If there's anything else I can make more clear, feel free to let me know.

@am-i-the-asshole-official

AITA for missing rehearsals for a concert?

I (17X) play the cello and am participating in my local conservatorium’s string ensembles concert in three days. I have been aware of the concert since the start of term (aka four weeks ago). For the first three weeks of this term, I have been completing my final high school exams (I can’t be more specific because it differs wordwide, but they’re the exams that acknowledge that you’ve fully completed your secondary education y’know) so that was obviously very intense and I had a lot on my plate. At the start of term, my cello teacher S (late 20s?F) told me that I’d be playing a solo in the big finale piece that everyone from every ensemble plays in, as I’m one of the more advanced students. I was given the music for this at the start of term, and we have been practicing it in our weekly lessons so that I am prepared. There will be a rehearsal for this piece a few hours before the concert begins. I was also aware that I was performing in my school strings ensemble (which is a piece I have played before with the ensemble and am familiar with), and S also organised that the four Year 12 students (including me) would play a piece together. She organised to have three rehearsals for this on the three days before the concert (aka today, tomorrow and the next). As by this time I knew I would have finished all my exams, I told her that I should be free to be at these rehearsals.

Since finishing high school a week ago, I have gotten a job at a local café, as I haven’t had a job in high school like most people due to not having time with my music commitments. Unfortunately, I was rostered to have work on the days of the first Year 12 piece rehearsal (aka today), the third Year 12 piece rehearsal, and the day of the concert itself (so I would miss the finale piece rehearsal beforehand and would just make it on time for the concert). I considered trying to swap these shifts so that I could go, but A) given that I am brand new (today was my third ever shift) I didn’t think it would be a good idea to try and get out of it so early on in my employment, and B) I didn’t actually have any way to contact a manager and ask for shifts off until today because they hadn’t properly sorted out my paperwork and information yet. I tried to look for solutions for this, but yesterday I decided that I just wouldn’t be able to make it, so I message S to inform her and apologise. She obviously wasn’t happy about this (she started her reply with “yikes”), and checked to see whether I was still happy to play in the school string piece (which I confirmed) and asked whether I was able to play in the concert with another ensemble that I used to play in (I said yes, and she said she’d get the music to me). I left it at this, with the intention to practice my pieces a lot over the next few days.

Today, both me and my mum received an email from S. She was quite angry about the fact that I wasn’t able to attend two out of the three Year 12 piece rehearsals, calling it bad etiquette and saying that it “reflects poorly in the professional world”. (I agree that it wasn’t great for me to have to pull out of those rehearsals when I had previously said that I should be available, but as I said above, I wasn’t really in a position where I could change this). She also said that I was supposed to be at school strings rehearsals yesterday, and at rehearsals for the ensemble I’m no longer in and was only just asked to play in. In this ensemble’s rehearsal, they also ran through the finale piece that I am playing a solo in (which I wasn’t aware they would be doing). S claimed that I had been told that I was supposed to be at these rehearsals this week — I have absolutely zero recollection of this, to the point where I doubt I was asked, but if I was, it was before or during my exams, in which case it doesn’t surprise me that I forgot, as I was highly stressed and just trying to focus on getting through school. I was never given another reminder to be there, so I had no idea I was supposed to be at the rehearsals yesterday. Because of how annoyed she was, I was forced to speak to someone about leaving my shift on the concert day early so that I can attend the rehearsal beforehand, but I’m still not able to attend the Year 12 piece rehearsal in two days time.

I feel really bad about the whole thing, because I genuinely am quite close with S and I know she’s put in a lot of effort to this concert. However, I feel like she’s being unfair in her annoyance. I was unaware I had to be at any rehearsals yesterday because this wasn’t clearly communicated to me (and even if to others it was implied that I should be there, I’m not the kind of person that will pick up on this — I need to be explicitly told). If I had known I was expected to be there, I absolutely would have been there. And obviously not being able to go to the rehearsals because I’m working is frustrating, but I really don’t feel like I had much choice in the matter. If I had been working there for a while, I absolutely would have asked for the days off, but I feel like it’s unfair to expect me to try and cancel those shifts when I’ve only just started the job. I’m glad I’ve managed to arrange to be at the concert day rehearsal, so that I can practice the solo with the rest of the ensemble, but even if I hadn’t been able to, I’ve been practicing the piece and I’ve done performances where I haven’t had a proper rehearsal before, so I think it would have been fine.

Hopefully this made sense, I tried to provide as much detail as possible but I’m very tired and am struggling to be coherent, and it’s also hard to explain the situation through text. So, tl;dr, AITA for:

Not being at rehearsals yesterday that I was unaware I was supposed to be at?

Having to cancel rehearsals because I was rostered during those times?

What are these acronyms?

[brideofcthulhu10]

The Lost Boys Find Out Their Fem!S/O is Pregnant [4/4]

SUBJECT WARNING: PHYSICAL AGRESSION, SEXUAL THEMES AND A WHOLE LOT OF SWEARING. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

Alrighty then, my lovely fang babes! Here we are, we have the last of the first edition of the pregnancy saga! Worry not, dearest readers, for there is hope! I plan on doing a separate series about going through the pregnancy, and maybe even going through the childbirth with how the boys are as new dads. Let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more, and by tomorrow night we'll have a whole new set to love!

It was such a blast writing Paul's, I'm not gonna lie I got lost in the magic! We have a cute little character cameo for all you 80s movie nerds, lemme know if you can figure out what it is! So, without any more delays; here he is. The gorgeous, the goofy, the one, the only:

PAUL

Today had been an unexpected challenge. You barely got through your shift at the record store, every time you were in light it made you dizzy. Hangovers had nothing on this! Did you drink too much the night before? No, now that you thought about it any attempts to drink had you hugging a toilet. Not to mention your period was late as hell! Well, not the cramps, go figure. Just no blood. None at all. 

You never let on to your beau, Paul, though. The party boy vampire would become overly worried if you told him you were sick, and you weren't about to spoil a good time with a bit of nausea. So here you were, stumbling about the day into the late afternoon absolutely miserable. Your manager Iona offered you some crackers and ginger ale during your lunch break. No dice, within an hour you were running to the bathroom again. 

"Gosh hon, I dunno what ta tell ya. Maybe you ate something nasty, I told you that boardwalk food was fishy," Iona sighed, poking at her own lunch with a fork. Currently your coworker Andie was watching the front until you were feeling better.

"Kill me now, Iona," you groaned, chin resting on the table with your arms laid over your head. Then there was a smell. The greatest, most flavorful, mouthwatering scent you've ever experienced. Like a honey baked ham and a New York sirloin had a glorious new baby drizzled in ecstasy. Glancing over, your stomach growled at whatever it could be. If this were a cartoon you'd be flying to what it was.

Oddly enough, it was coming from Iona. Well, whatever black stuff was in her little plastic tupperware dish. Who cares what it was, it smelled incredible.

"Hey uh..," you asked, leaning over towards the sticky, mysterious delicacy calling your name. "You wouldn't mind if I had a bite, would ya?"

"You sure, hon? This isn't exactly your average dish, it's kinda weird," she tried to explain. God you couldn't take your eyes off it! Finally, your merciful manager pushed it your way, and you couldn't resist any longer. 

"I don't even care, this is the first thing in the past two days that hasn't made me nauseous," you muffled between cosmic bites.

Oh shit, this was heaven! It had to be some sort of meat, it reminded her of a nice spicy kielbasa, a slow roasted brisket, every second it changed to some new world of food you had never tried. What it was didn't matter by this point.

"Wooow. I've never met someone who liked black pudding that much."

Pudding? "I thought it was meat or something? It doesn't taste anything like pudding," you insisted, polishing off the very last specs of it. "Got any more?"

"No, no, not like chocolate pudding or stuff like that, kiddo. black pudding. It's this dish from the UK my new boyfriend made me. It's congealed pig's and cow blood mixed with spices."

You made a face. Blood? Like, blood blood? The cow equivalent of what Paul drank on a daily basis? Yet this was the first time you didn't puke, in fact, you kinda wanted more. Even knowing what is was made of.. for some reason you craved more. Meanwhile Iona continued to talk on and on, until one phrase caught your ears. "Yea, ya know my mom was so into for the longest time. Said she craved it her whole pregnancy, I never got a taste for it honestly."

A single thought popped into your head. A dangerous, foreboding thought that your intuition said was very much a possibility. In a flash you jumped up, nearly slamming your hands on the table. "I gotta go. Oh shit, I gotta go! I'll be right back, I swear, I'm so sorry, I swear to god I'll be right back," you shouted as you bolted out of the store.

"Wait what-?!"

You'd make it up to her once you got back. You had to know! You had to be sure..! Please just let it be paranoia! Please let it be anything, anything at all besides what you thought it was!

Once you reached the nearest CVS you made a B-line to the women's health section. Your hair clung to your face, your lungs stung like crazy but all you could think about was getting answers. And cue the disapproving glare of some old bat picking out a box of pads. Alright being 17 in front of the pregnancy tests looked bad. You weren't just a high schooler, you looked it too. "What're you looking at, " you snarl. Immediately she clutched her pearls, startled by this abrasive youngin' in no mood for dirty looks. God why'd there have to be so many options? Pink boxes, purple ones, bright yellow insisting it worked the fastest. The heavy fluorescent lights were no help at all, it made your head spin. You had no time for this crap. In a sweeping motion you grabbed three different brands and threw them into your basket, all you needed was….where was your wallet? Shit... Glancing around you checked for any nearby cameras or staff. Karma be damned, it was an emergency! Five finger discount it was. 

Once again you made a mad dash back to the record store as the sun finally set. All three boxes were crumpled in your hand, your boots running so fast it you hit a rock that'd be it.

But getting back to the record store was your best bet. You weren't about to pee in some dirty, old, nasty pharmacy bathroo- oh fuck. There was something that finally slowed your steps, nearly making you trip in the process. Four bikes parked right outside. Three of which were occupied by by Dwayne, David and Marko all talking amongst themselves.

Shiiiit, shit, shit! All you could do was swear repeatedly. Before they could spot you, you practically dove into the alleyway behind the store, rapidly disabling the alarm. If that went off it'd be a dead giveaway. Quickly you looked left and right before you slammed the door shut behind you still trying to catch air.

But there, right past the door to the employees lounge, over by the counter you could see a mass of blonde hair chatting away with Iona about Led Zeppelin's best album to date. Paul, gorgeous as every, laughing. It made your heart flutter, but then it sank. What if it was a-... He was never the type to run away from a challenge. But then again, a kid wasn't a challenge, it was a massive ordeal. It would take a huge chunk of his life- well, afterlife! Boozing and cruising would be switched out with drowsy days and busy nights. You weren't sure if you wanted him to know if you were, it would take all that from him. Unfortunately, he must've smelled you or sonething, because immediately he turned around like a puppy being called.

"Babe," he cheered with delight, rushing over to hug you. Rather squeeze you by your hips and lift you four feet off the ground. Quickly you stuffed the skinny boxes into your back pocket, now smushed up against his chest. "Where were you? Ion's said you just bolted mid-shift, we were worried sick! Well, I mean, I was more worried though, cuz I can't stand you bein' gone, kitten."

"Well, yeah uh, I forgot something I had to get at the store, and I forgot what time I got off," you hesitated, still antsy to escape to the bathroom. Truthfully you didn't actually want to, you had to! If you could, you'd just kiss him and ride off into the night to raise some hell like you always did. But this was too big to ignore.

Paul raised a brow. You weren't known for being this jumpy. You wouldn't look him in the eyes, they just kept darting towards the bathroom. Boy, you really did look sick, though. Pale, almost greenish with dark circles under your eyes. You even felt colder than usual. "Am I uh, interrupting something, babe?"

You managed to work out if his arms, giggling nervously. "Actually I-I had some of Iona's lunch earlier, and I just, gotta- be right back!"

With that, you bolted into the bathroom and slammed the door behind you. Again, weird. Paul just shrugged, maybe you had some bad Mexican.

 Iona wasn't convinced. Little miss jumpy-pants skipping out on her, you owed her an explanation. While Paul perused the albums she sunk over to the bathroom, rapidly tapping on the door. "Y/N! Psst! You good in there, hon?"

You were most certainly NOT good! Your hand shook, the third test finally finished. Not like it mattered! They all said the same thing. Every fucking one of them.

Positive. Positive. Positive.

No, no, no!

"Shit," you hissed. "Shit! Oh shit, oh fuck! Fuck-fuckity shit fuck fuck! Dammit." That's all you could do! You swore over, and over, and over, rapidly kicking the wall in front of you. Stupid pink plus! Why? Why did it have to be a plus?? Immediately you threw it in the trash and scooped up the other two. Maybe they were all flukes? Maybe only a doctor could tell you! You had to get home. Like now. Right now, you just had to rush home, make an appointment at the doctors, maybe hide in shame for a few days just until you could figure out what the hell to do with all this! Once again you wedged the tests in your back pocket and nearly tripped, cracking open the door to face your boss. "Iona, I gotta get home."

"Seriously, Y/N?? Why? What is with you?"

"Please, I swear I will make it up to you, I'll take a double shift, I'll wash your damn car-"

"Oh no, nuh-uh. Not until you tell me why you're being such a spaz," she practically shouted in a hissing whisper, absolutely exasperated. You teens and your drama, when she always said she wanted to fell young again this is NOT what she meant!  

"Listen i-... iyay amyay egnantpray," you whispered. Pig latin. It was a little code you two usually reserved for secrets. Well, that and talking smack about snotty customers. But wow was this a big ol' secret. 

Iona covered her mouth. Oh, you little idiot! You poor little idiot. Looking over at the unsuspecting boyfriend she sighed, looking you in the eyes. She wanted to just tell you to come clean to your man. The boy hung around you constantly, you two were the ultimate it-couple, there wasn't even sparks it was like watching supernovas. Something this big.. it shouldn't be left in the dark!

But that pitiful expression on your face just begged her to keep quiet, and frankly it wasn't her place to tell you what to do- well, at least in this regard. "Alright, alright. This saturday you're taking my night time shift, there's a big concert I wanna go to. And you gotta wax my car, it's gettin' nasty. And you better write the best damn apology note in the history of apology notes, sweetie. This is huge, you better come clean to him eventually, or I'll kick your little butt you hear me?"

"Yes. Absolutely, fine, deal. Just please, please keep him busy, I'm not ready to tell him," you whined, clutching the door. Frankly it sounded like a piss poor plan, but it couldn't be helped, not right now at least. You didn't have the strength to confront the situation head on, you were barely keeping it together. You wanted to cry all over, jump into his arms and come clean now, but this was neither the time or place.

As soon as Iona went to go over to Paul you stuffed the tests into your purse and bolted out the back door, only this time stealth was not on your side. Right at the mouth of the alleyway, just as you were about to be home free- you ran smack dab into a particularly lithe blonde that felt like a brick wall. You went flying onto the ground, your purse crashing onto concrete with a hundred pieces of your privacy going every direction. In a panic you began to rapidly stuff it all back, barely able to hide the first two tests as you threw some half baked apology Marko's way. Honestly he deserved a better one than that, but you were too frazzled to be fair at the moment.

"Oh shit, Y/N," Marko exclaimed, immediately kneeling down to help you gather the scattered remains of your purse. "Sorry, I didn't even see you, I was coming back for a smoke. Big Ed is such a douche, can you believe theres no smoking on the-..." His words trailed off, and you shortly saw why. Grasped between his pointer finger and thumb was the little pink strip, and a look of complete disbelief. All you could do was snatch it from him, a heavy moment of silence magically muffling the wild noise and shouts of the busy boardwalk. 

"Do...D-Don't worry about it. Look, I gotta get home, I'll see you arou-," you started, trying to jump up, maybe catch him off guard and make a run for it. Not this time. 

You hadn't even noticed he grabbed your wrist, it was such a blur. He stayed silent, standing up and looking right into your eyes with hidden malcontent. You swore if you answered wrong this mischievous cat would tear your throat out. After all, you were his best friend's girl. If you did anything, ANYTHING, to hurt him... Well, let's just say a pregnancy would be the least of your worries. "Why are you running, Y/N? What the hell is this thing," he asked quietly, eyes flickering between red and blue. "Did you…?"

"Oh don't fuckin' even," You snapped, smacking his arm, yanking your hand out of his grasp. "Of course not! You butt! God, are you serious? What do you take me for- No! I- fuck I just- no!" You kick the tin trash can beside you, watching a plethora of trash fly into the air. "I am freaking out! Of course it's Paul's. Oh fucking god, it's Paul's and I don't know what to do!"

Marko's expression softened, placing a hand on your shoulder. "Hey, I didn't mean to make it sound like that, Y/N. Paul's my friend, I just had to be sure you weren't sneaking around, you know?"

You sighed, pushing back your mess of a hair with misty eyes. This was perfect, a real big screw up from start to finish. All you could do was look over at Marko with pleading eyes. "You can't tell him yet. Please, just please please PLEASE, Marko, don't tell Paul yet!"

"Tell me what, babe?"

Shit. Shit on a stick. You looked behind to see Paul halfway out the back door with a look of concern, one that he rarely carried. You and your dumb mouth, go figure.

The blonde pushed through and let the door close behind him, looking over at his best bud standing alone with his girlfriend who was begging him to keep something secret, from him no less.

 "Marko?"

"Nah, nah, don't look at me man, this is all on you guys," he sighed, hands up in a shielding motion. "Good luck buddy. Gotta go, Y/N." with that the young vampire excused himself from this melting pot of drama, hands stuffed in his pockets. 

You just stood there, keeping the little strip tightly grasped behind your back. Paul was silent, but glancing at his hands you saw they were balled so tight his knuckles were white. "P-paul…," you hesitated, biting down on your bottom lip. "I should really… get home.."

Paul only raised a brow, glancing at your arms still tucked behind you. This wasn't like you to hide from him, and that alone frightened him. Nothing had ever frightened him before. And he didn't like the taste of it one bit. "What's behind your back, babe?"

"What?"

Again his spoke, this time his voice lowered into a low growl. "What... do you have... behind your back, babe?" The way he said it was so firm, it made you shake a little. You didn't like stern Paul. They way he hissed the word "babe", practically spoken through clenched teeth

Your throat ached, eyes darting across the ground struggling to think up a good excuse. Anything. A book, your purse, a surprise for him! Anything!

"N-nothing." Apparently, you failed to find any excuses. Great.

Paul's knuckles began to crack, jumping forward to try and snatch it from behind you. When you dodged him, he grew even more furious. You both began to struggle, pushing him away, insisting he just stop and let you leave. But every attempt to reject him only upset him further. Why were you hiding things from him?! How could you just ditch him at the record store when he was worried sick about you??

The struggle built up until finally he had enough. His eyes turned white with rings of fire, brow looming heavily over his eyes and fangs jutting out where his incisors once were. In a flash he grabbed you by you wrists, pinning you so hard to the wall it shook. You still tried to struggle. Thrash, kick, squirm! Steel wished it could be so strong, your muscles ached. This probably wasn't even his full strength, but it dwarfed you in comparison. This terrifying side of Paul you had certainly seen before, but never had you been on the receiving end. It was in all sense of the word, predatorial. He'd never try to kill you, but you still felt that horror build up inside. Rapid, sharp breaths made your chest heave, too afraid to look up at those red eyes still fixated on whatever you kept hidden from him. He continued to pry your stubborn fingers open, ignoring your shaking whimpers. He squoze your wrist, the tendons aching and contracting until your fingertips began to lift up. Any resistance was pretty much useless at this point, but dammit you still tried everything to worm out of his grip. But he had finally had it, you weren't gonna be keeping secrets from him. Now your last finger was pushed off, and he could see what was so damn important that you physically fought him to keep it secret. It was almost slow motion the way the strip spun to the ground, clattering down and landing beside his mud caked boots. He froze, slowly looking down at it. That's it? That's all you-...

You could barely read his face, so many different emotions flashing across it all at once. Occasionally he'd look back up at you, then back down at it. To the point you almost got annoyed that you were still being stuck to a wall while the reality set in. After all, it didn't take a rocket scientist to know what that was, just put you down already!

Paul looked at you still pinned beneath him, horrified at how he lost his temper and immediately released you. Still rubbing away the pain across your wrists, you watched him pick it up. A wave of guilt swarmed your body, you didn't know whether to hug him or punt him in the chest.

Hell, a massive tidal wave of guilt overflowed him too. It'd been such a long time since he got that angry.. but worst of all he'd never been like that with you. Never grabbed you so forcefully and ignored your pleas, it was a dark side of him he never wanted to display in front of you. Glancing at the little pink plus at the end of the stick, his mind swirled with a plethora of questions. But slowly he stood up, looking down at you still really trying to process everything that had happened in the past few minutes. "I don't… I don't understand.."

"You- You are such an ass," you shouted out of nowhere, enough that it made him jump. There you were. That's the fiery girl he knew, not the one he exactly wanted to be on the opposing side of at the moment, though.

Paul wasn't surprised you were pissed, but he definitely didn't expect you to start punching his arm. Again. Then again, and again you just kept hiting his arms, his chest, pushing and crying, you were so mad you wanted to chuck him in the ocean! It didn't really hurt that much, but he felt awful he drove you to that point.

Tears blurred your vision as you lashed out on him. All you could do was yell names between sobs, even whack him with your purse. "Paul, you absolute jerk! Butt! Jackass! You smarmy, half wit, blood-sucking tool! You said you were packing blanks, you absolute liar! I was gonna tell yo-! I mean, I know I shouldn't have run-! But you just couldn't wait- and then Marko- and you! You ! Jerk ! Butthead !"

"Hey, ow! Ow! Ow, dammit! I know, I know I went to far-ow not the hair dammit," he demanded, grabbing your arms before you could lay another mighty blow. "Babe! Babe, stop! I thought I was! I swear I didn't know- I-..I never thought that I could get you...." His hands slowly released your shoulders, moving to your hips. "I'm so sorry, baby. I swear, I didn't know.. I'm so sorry."

The way his voice softened only made you want to cry more. This whole day was a mess. You didn't mean to try and run.. You never should've tried to in the first place. God, you were so tired. All this running around, all this secrecy, the fighting, it was exhausting. Paul was the last person you wanted to fight. Sure you had spats and a few heated arguments. Every couple did, even vampires. But this, it was just so.m draining. With a firm thud you plopped your forehead on his sternum, your fingers tightly clinging to the upper sleeves of his jacket. "Wh-what am I supposed to do-… what are we supposed to do now..?"

Paul pondered his options with a solemn face, but there was only one that made him happy. Only one that sat right in his heart. What else could he possibly do, there was only ever going to be one answer even if you told him right away. Most of all, he couldn't stand the sorrow in your eyes. A frown never suited such a beautiful face. He never expected there to be anything to come from your heavy sexcapades, it never seemed like there was any risks in it. He'd never seen a vampire munchkin, least of all he'd never even heard of a vamp conceiving with a human. All he knew now is you, crying in his arms, terrified of what you were carrying. What it could mean. In that moment, he steeled his resolve and came to a final decision.

Silently he tilted your chin up, using his thumb to brush away all those tears staining your cheeks. Those blue eyes, you could get lost in them. Swallowed up by the sea. It wasn't hard to read his mind when he held onto your hip with one hand, while the other that pushed away salty droplets now cupped your cheek. Within moments you crashed your mouth into his, wrapping your arms around the back of his neck.

Warm. A surge of heat filled your body. It was the first time you felt truly alive all day. You could feel your chest heave against his, you didn't want any space between the two of you and only pressed tighter until there wasn't anything left. Each kiss gave momentary breath before you dove in for more. Neither of you could stop. You didn't want to pull away, not even for a split second. The way he smelled, the way he tasted, the way he touched you, the way he felt beneath your fingers; it made your head spin. His hands began to wander, you clutched at anything you could get a hold of. Your body burned, so sweet and long. In those moments the world stopped, it just melted away in streams of light. No one was there but you two. 

It was over too soon, both of you rapidly panting for breath still intertwined. Oh, how you could stare into his eyes forever.

That frown was long gone, replaced by a tender smile. The one he had come to cherish. Paul chuckled softly, breathlessly nuzzling against your collar bone. Slowly he leaned in close to your ear, his disheveled blonde hair brushing up against your cheeks. Lips trailed up flesh, reavhing just beneath your ear. And then you heard those three forbidden words. Such sweet, tender words, you hadn't expected him to say. Although he whispered them so softly they might have gotten lost in the wind, to you they were as clear as the moon on a cloudless night.

"Y/N.... I love you."

It made your heart throb, you thought you might even faint. A lifetime of struggles led up to this beautiful moment. You never expected it to be a half-undressed heavy make out session with your vampire lover, the father of your unborn spawn, in the back alley of a record store on the Santa Carla Boardwalk. But here you were, nestled between him and an old brick wall. Paul loved you, he had said it, he finally said those words that could destroy any doubt you had. And more than anything in the whole wide world, you knew once and for all, you loved Paul.

[pbandjesse]

Sweetp was laying on my face and now my allergies are going wild. I am very annoyed. But there are bigger things to talk about.

Today was a rollar coaster for me. I slept okay at James's since the heat didn't come on at all for once. Comfy sleep. He let me sleep until 9. Which only gave me a little stress but it wasnt because of anything. Just stress. But he made me a waffle. And i got a shower and got dressed. And he walked ne home.

I spent the morning picking outfits. It was beautiful out. But it was chilly in my apartment. But like a comfy chilly. I did my make up real nice. And then the reply email came in.

Im not going to get into a whole lot. But Brian emailed me back. And offered me $13 an hour. But made it seem like i was out of line for expecting that $12 bump 6 months ago when we talked about it. Then told me i should be grateful that i was making more then some od my coworkers. Um excuse me. That is fundamentally the wrong thing to say to me. I care so so so deeply for my coworkers. And then to try tell me that its unprofessional to talk about wages. I was just sitting in my living room sobbing repeating the phrase "but discussing your wage if a basic labor right" just on repeat but like,blubbering. You know.

So for thr nezt hour im sobbing and typing up my letter of reply. Like I had to take a break a few times I was so upset. I was messaging people and getting other information but I had to stop looking at their comments so that I can write with a clear head. And I said everything I needed to say. It was bigger than pay at this point it was everything. Museum is broken. And if nothing else I am grateful for the time I got to spend there. The weird job I got to have. Meeting James and making friends. It was a great time. But it's not going to survive the way it chews people up. It has such a bad reputation and if they can't afford to pay people that can't afford to stay open. Switch to a volunteer system or closed. It's not sustainable. So I guess I'm done. I'm a Speedway toy last two shifts of the schedule but I'm not even sure at this point. We'll see what happens.

I felt very calm that after I sent my email. I manager Brian asked me not to send his email to other people. Do not share it. And I wont. But I will share mine. I disseminated that email 1st to all of the girls in the girl chat and then then to Jordon and then to James. And now about 12 hours later with a clear head I have now posted on to the community board for ships. We're all employees past and present can see what I said. And honestly I hope things change. Because they need to. I need to listen to us they need to tell us what's going on. We cannot be working blindly and then blamed when things go wrong all the time. And I love that job. But it did not love me back.

And so I cleaned up my face. My new primer work very well in my wings were still intact. And after 45 minutes of crying I was very impressed.

I had to work and I had a really good day. It started rough because there was two children fighting in the hallway I had to separate and then the mother got involved and hit her kid in front of me and then I had to go to the principal. It was a whole thing but everything calmed down after that. My kids cutting line right away and we went upstairs and I got to talk to them about why I quit my job. And I know that sounds weird but we sat down and we talked about why I would quit. And I told them that sometimes you have to do things that are hard because of something you believe in. I asked him what it meant to be ethical. I asked them what they thought a bribe was. And we talked about how you can show Justice in your everyday life. One of my favorite quotes is " Justice is what love looks like in public." And I wholeheartedly believe that. And at this moment I knew if I continue to work at this place I could not in good conscience do that job any longer. The museum has failed and I did not want to be there hurting any longer. And the kids were sad because they like that I can blow up a cannon. But I promised them that we can watch the video on my phone anytime.

The kids got to work on their stop motions today. Mostly they worked with clay and started setting up the stop motions. But it was good. They were really cool and they seem to have a really good time. We watch some videos about how clay mation works and I just had a really good time with them.

And the day ended smoothly. They did a really good job. They got to take their post test today to and they all did Super well. There was only like one or two questions that seem to mess everybody up. But I was proud of them. And then it was time to go home.

I got the 545 bus which is my favorite one. I met James at streets where we got soda. And then we went to taste of Nepal to get dinner. He had ordered online so we just waited in the restaurant to pick it up and it was really cool in there. We talked about everything that happened and what I was going to do moving forward. I sent an email to the BMI and told them that I could to get more hours there. I really need 15 hours or so a week to get to the full 40 so I gave them pretty open availability on the weekends and I gave them my mornings again once my bike is fixed. And everything's going to be okay.

We came back to my place and we had dinner. And he hung out for a little bit and walk to the CVS with me on his way home. I picked up a couple things I needed. Just milk and yogurt in the chocolate bar. And then I came home and I've just been enjoying my night. Sweet peas been running outside and running inside. I've been watching videos. I take a bath. My stomach started hurting really bad. I don't know what's up. But it's fine. I'm always in some kind of pain so who knows. James thought that I was saying I thought I was pregnant. Which is hilarious. But I have an IUD and it's probably not true. I do say probably but unlikely is more the case. I can already hear the text messages from my family tomorrow after reading that sentence.

Hoping to do laundry in the morning and vacuum. James is going to come by at lunch time to drop something off before I go to work. And the kids are just going to keep sculpting. Going to be a good time because I don't have to have as many jobs anymore. Good night everyone.

[pbandjesse]

Today has been a steller day. Its raining outside and I just feel really cozy and good. And I get to go home tomorrow!! Im really happy.

I slept okay last night. I didnt want to get up. But James was up already and we both had to go to work. I went and got dressed. My hair was bad because of the humidity. But i still felt cute.

James left and I finished getting myself together. It was raining but only a little. I put on a rain coat and headed out. I went to mcdonalds and had breakfast. And got to work right on time.

I was mostly training today. I got to learn about game making and the group was really sweet. A Jewish school and the kids taught me some words in Hebrew. It was neat.

Half way through the class I got a phone call. I missed the call but he texted me right away. I called him back but he didn't pick up. So I texted him and then he called me again. And it was Marshall's manager from the actual teaching position. And he offered me the job. They got the funding. I'm so excited. It just like all feels like it's settled in side of me that everything is okay. Like this is what was supposed to happen. So I just got to be like wildly excited but very soft way if that makes sense. Like I don't feel jumping around the room excited. But I feel like yes this is what was going to happen.

I went back to the class and told to other girls I was teaching with and they were so excited for me. I emailed my manager there to let him know that my schedule will change again. And going forward I'm going to be working at the BMI Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Feels nice to have and idea of where my schedule will be.

Today was also really good there because I got to see my embroideries in the shop for the first. And that was really cool to see. There are three of them there and I took some pictures of it so that James can put them on the Etsy Instagram. All of my coworkers are also really supportive about it.

The rest of the day there was good. I got to assist with the balloon powered car project. And then I got to lead one. I still have trouble getting the class to hear me in that big room. But all the kids were very sweet and we actually got more done in my class then we had in the one I shadowed. So that was nice.

Once the kids were gone I didn't really know what to do with myself. There wasn't really much supplies to be done. I had my salad. And then I cut some straws and then I left. So I actually had time to come home before my planned interview with the Walters today.

I got back here at like 2:15. And I made a hot dog. I was so overheated. So I fix my makeup and try to cool off. I'm really glad I ate. And then I walked over to the coffee shop.

I never been in the shop before because it looks really really fancy from the outside. But the prices are actually very reasonable and I think I'll definitely go back. They have lots of vegetarian food on their menu. I knew I was meeting with Annie but I didn't exactly remember if she was the blond woman I talked to you before. So I Googled her and I found her LinkedIn profile. Turns out yes she was exactly what I thought she was. And then she walked in the door not long after that.

I was straight up with her. I had got a job today. She bought me an iced tea. And we talked. We talked about art and my background. My passions. Things I love to do and the things I love to share with other people. We looked at some of my art. And I showed her the video of me firing the cannon. She asked me a million questions about working on historic ships. And honestly I would love working with her. But I'm just so busy. And now that I have this other job plus I've moved historic ships just to the weekend. She kind of was like let's just keep an open conversation about me possibly coming on at some point. And I felt good about that but then I asked what day of the week would be best for her. And she said Saturday or Sunday. And I said I can work with that. So right now if I do get an offer from them. Or a second more formal interview. I'm going to ask historic ships to add me scheduled Fridays and Saturdays. Including a Saturday overnight. And then I will work at the Walters a couple Sundays a month. I'm going to try my best to always have that one weekend a month off so that I don't die. Or just get burned out. But I really think it's important that I get into the Walters. And maybe at some point all transition more over to there. She said some really really nice things about my passion for programming. And she really thought that that was something I should do. That it's not as scary as I have built it up to be. And that She understands where I'm coming from with my insecurities about it. About being in charge. But she made me feel very confident.

I left an interview with really good feelings. I was so jazzed. And I came home and felt really really good. I talked to Dad for a while. And then I went and worked in my studio. I'm almost done my diorama for this week. I'm actually going to go down and paint a few more things that should be dry now. Cuz I really need to be done tonight. There isn't going to be a lot of time to do it tomorrow.

I vacuumed and hung out. James came to give me hugs and congratulations. He picked up his laundry in his bag. And he headed back home. And I've just been chilling since then. I took a shower and wash my hair. I've made sure that my bag was all the way packed. And it's really just been a really nice night.

I'm working historic ships tomorrow but it's a weird shift. I'm only working till 1. But I think that's fine. It actually works out really well for me because the new job wants me to come in to sign paperwork. He hasn't sent me an email yet to tell me when I'm supposed to come in. So I'm going to email him in the morning if I don't hear from him. He said around 2. But he also said somewhere between 2 and 4. So I'm not entirely sure which end of that Spectrum. But it'll be really good practice from getting downtown over there. And then around 6 me and James are heading to Philadelphia. Us. So that'll be good with me and not here alone for 4 days. I'm really excited for this whole weekend. I think it's going to be really nice. Even if James is very nervous about meeting my parents again.

I hope you all have a great night tonight. Sleep well. Stay dry out there. And have a nice day tomorrow