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A Room Away

Requested Here!

Edit: Part 2 Here

Pairing: Tim Bradford x fem!reader

Summary: Tired of Tim's bad moods, Angela gets him a new roommate: you. As Tim gets to know you and learns about your past, you slowly become more than his roommate.

Warnings: mentions of past domestic abuse (reader and Tim), reader has chronic migraines from past head trauma, nightmares, reader has a panic attack, angst, fluff, Nyla and Angela. (roommates to lovers)

Word Count: 4.2k+ words

A/N: Parts of this are so self-indulgent. The migraine depictions are based on my migraines, but I think they're some of the most common symptoms. I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think! (I'm still trying to get Tim's character down, so apologies if he's OOC.)🤍

Masterlist | Tim Bradford Masterlist | Request Info/Fandom List

Picture from Pinterest

Tim sits in the back of the room for roll call, his arms crossed tightly across his chest as unimpressed sighs escape him. Angela is getting tired of his seemingly perpetual bad mood. Clearly, he’s lonely, but he will never admit it. And that loneliness makes him mopey and broody (Angela’s official motto for Tim Bradford) until he has enough and snaps at someone.

Sitting at her desk, Angela watches Tim yell at a boot. He’s always harsh with them, trying to prepare them for anything, but now he’s using them as punching bags for his forbidden feelings. 

“What’s his problem? He’s grumpier than usual,” Nyla says as she joins Angela.

“He’s lonely,” Angela answers. “Won’t admit it or do anything about it.”

“That man needs a girlfriend,” Nyla muses.

Angela sits up straighter and smiles. “You’re a genius, Harper.”

“I know.”

Angela opens a website on her computer, and Nyla pulls up a seat to watch her intervention into Tim’s personal life.

“You’re going to rent out his spare room without telling him? This’ll be fun to watch,” Nyla says, laughing.

“He has way too much room for just one guy. Getting him a roommate and a girlfriend will surely help with.. that,” she finishes, gesturing toward Tim.

“A roommate and a girlfriend, or a roommate who becomes a girlfriend?”

“Either should work.”

“That’s your number.”

Angela nods, putting her contact information on the listing. “Tim would shut it down after the first call, so I’ll interview them, run background checks, whatever, and find the perfect one.”

“Well, Mrs. Right is always found on Craigslist,” Nyla jokes.

“This isn’t Craigslist.”

“Semantics.”

Angela posts the listing, and she and Nyla hope getting Tim a roommate will help nudge him out of his bad mood. He needs someone to talk to and bond with, but he’ll never come to that conclusion on his own. Which is why Angela considers herself to be such a good friend.

✯✯✯✯✯

Los Angeles is a big city, which is part of why you chose it without another thought. Full of opportunities and a chance of fading into the background, it’s the complete opposite of your home, which overflows with memories. The patched drywall you were pushed into, the stained tile where you thought everything was going to end, and the china cabinet with the shattered glass are left behind and traded in for a minimum wage job, a used car, and a lot of panic that you won’t be able to find somewhere to live.

You’ll need a roommate until you can save enough money for your own place. However, finding a decent place with a decent roommate is nearly impossible in your price range. Browsing online listings, you see one that could be promising. The information at the bottom says there is an interview process, which catches your attention. Sending a text to Angela Lopez, you cross your fingers for good luck before walking into work.

By the end of your shift, Angela has replied and asked you to meet somewhere nearby. You want to go home, a dull headache building at the base of your skull impairing your mood. But you also really want a better place to call home than the pay-by-the-month motel you’re currently living in.

Angela gives you a firm handshake as she introduces herself as an LAPD detective. She asks questions about your life, job, hobbies, and finally, why you moved to Los Angeles.

“I just needed a change of pace; was ready to leave my old life behind, find something bigger and better,” you answer, a simplified version of the truth.

Trying not to show it, Angela immediately takes a liking to you. Each of your answers solidifies her gut instinct that you’re a good fit for Tim. You ask why her name was on this listing if it’s not her house, and she follows your lead and gives you the truth, but not all of it.

“Tim, the owner of the house, is a coworker and friend, and I’m just trying to help him out while he’s busy with work,” she explains.

As you leave the meeting, Angela gives you her personal number, as well as someone named Nyla Harper’s number, “just in case you need anything.”

She texts you a time and address, telling you to meet her at your new place the following afternoon. You thank her repeatedly before driving to the trashy motel one last time.

✯✯✯✯✯

Parking outside the house, you fall in love with the neighborhood and the cute architecture of the home. Angela meets you in the driveway, seeming more nervous than excited. You realize she may not have been totally honest with you as you follow her to the door.

An incredibly handsome man opens the door, sighing when he sees Angela. He lets both of you in, seeming to trust Angela completely.

✯✯✯✯✯

Tim knows he will regret opening the door, but the woman with Angela is beautiful, and deep down, a small part of him wants to know who she is and why she’s on his doorstep.

“This is your new roommate,” Angela announces, giving Tim your name.

“You didn’t,” Tim responds. “Please tell me you didn’t rent out my spare room without asking me, Lopez.”

“I won’t tell you that, then.”

Standing quietly to the side, you anxiously watch their argument.

“Um, sorry,” you begin, interrupting them. “But I can go, and find a new place, since this is clearly not what you signed up for.”

You move toward the door before stopping when Angela demands, “Don’t go anywhere.”

She gives Tim a stern look before cocking her head to the side. He sighs like he has accepted his fate, a tragedy based on his reaction. Gesturing for you to follow him, he gives you a quick tour before showing you to your new room and bathroom.

“I’m not home a ton, but when I am, I’m usually watching a game or just hanging out, so,” he tells you before trailing off.

You nod before promising, “You won’t even know I’m here.”

Tim wants to believe you, but he also thinks you’re pretty and kind enough that he wouldn’t mind seeing you occasionally.

✯✯✯✯✯

You cross paths with Tim a few times in the first two days of living with him. He’s struck by your beauty each time but recognizes that you don’t open up willingly, so he never presses you to talk. Content to be ships passing in the night, Tim gives you a nod before continuing out the door.

It’s your third night in the house that Tim learns your reserved qualities may not be as simple as a personality trait. Waking when he hears a strange noise, Tim listens in the darkness before deciding it’s your footsteps he hears. Based on the sound, you're pacing, so Tim gets out of bed and walks to the kitchen. He walks right past you, and you give him an apologetic smile before slowing down. Tim makes you a mug of calming tea, sliding it across the kitchen island before sitting beside you as you drink it. Suspecting you had a nightmare or some similarly disturbing experience, Tim reminds you where you are and that everything is okay in his own way.

Over the next week, you wake him up a few more times, thrashing in your bed or exiting your room once you wake. He nudges each time, offering to let you talk about it, but you never do. You always apologize for waking him, thank him for keeping you company and making you tea before you disappear back into yourself and into your room.

✯✯✯✯✯

You’ve lost count of the days and nights spent in Tim’s house, your sense of time thrown off by the continued plague of nightmares and the monotony of your days. As you wake up after a surprisingly dreamless sleep, you immediately turn your face back into the pillow. Your heartbeat pounds in your head, and everything seems brighter and louder. The migraines have been nearly as consistent as the nightmares since before you left for Los Angeles. 

Tim knocks on your door, and you groan as the sound echoes in your brain. He cracks the door, concerned that you aren’t up yet.

“Are you okay?” he asks, seeing your current state.

“Migraine,” you answer. “I called in sick.”

He closes the door to block the light from outside and lowers his voice to ask, “Do you need anything before I leave?”

“I’m okay. Thanks.”

“Well, call me if you do, or if anything changes, okay?”

“I will. Thank you, Tim. Have a good day.”

Tim nods, even though you can’t see him, before backing out of your room and exiting the house as quietly as possible. He keeps his ringer on, looking at his phone every few minutes as his concern for you remains at the forefront of his mind.

Angela and Nyla notice his usual grumpy disposition seems to have been replaced with concern for something, or someone. After he checks his phone for the fifth consecutive time, Angela decides to pry.

“How’s the beautiful roomie? Still just a roommate?” she asks.

“She’s not feeling well,” Tim answers.

Angela waits for an elaboration, but Tim doesn’t offer one. She looks at Nyla, who gives a knowing look. It’s obvious that Tim is softening toward you, but you haven’t made enough of an impact that he’s less grumpy or snappy. As the day continues, his usual personality returns, convinced that you must be okay, or you would have called.

The next day, after learning that you are, in fact, feeling better, Tim is back to his pre-roommate levels of anger and high strung-ness. To worsen his mood, you wake him up with a nightmare but refuse to let him in, not even acknowledging his kind questioning as to how you are. He’s worried about you because you welcomed his presence before, but he is also angry that you changed so quickly, and now you don’t trust him. Everything is piling on, and Tim isn’t sure how much more he can carry.

✯✯✯✯✯

“Just tell me something,” Angela presses.

“Stay out of it, Lopez!” Tim yells, his emotions reaching a boiling point. “I didn’t even want a puppy- a roommate! If you like her so much, why don’t you take her in?”

Angela waits for his shoulders to drop slightly before asking, “Timothy… is this because you don’t like her, or because you do?”

Tim’s jaw clenches, and his nostrils flare as he turns away, offering to go on patrol while Nolan and Celina go to the shooting range. Everyone seems to think they know Tim better than they do; Angela is pushing him toward you while you’re distancing yourself, and the push and pull is tiring.

✯✯✯✯✯

Tim waits in his truck in the driveway for a few minutes before walking in. When he walks in, you’re standing in the kitchen. He hasn’t actually seen you since the day of your last migraine when you stopped trusting him, and your sudden willingness to be in the same area confuses him. Anger and confusion rarely mix well; with Tim, it’s a fatal combination.

You notice his tension and knitted brows, chewing your bottom lip before asking, “Are you okay?”

Stumbling to his tipping point for the second time in the day, Tim takes all his anger and confusion over his feelings out on you.

“What do you think? You can’t decide if I’m worth trusting with something as small as a nightmare, and Angela thinks that I’m practically neglecting you,” he begins.

You swallow harshly as his voice rises, stumbling backward when he starts moving his arms. 

“Especially considering I didn’t even want you here!”

Flinching, you snap your eyes closed and catch yourself on the corner of the wall. Tim freezes as he watches you. Everything begins snapping into place in his mind: your nightmares and the distance added to your reaction to him yelling and moving his hand are all signs he should have noticed sooner.

Your chest is heaving as you take short breaths, and when you finally open your eyes, you look terrified. Tim steps back, keeping his hands where you can see them. You focus on him as you slide down the wall, cradling your head in your hands as you fight off bad memories and a growing headache.

Tim watches you before sitting on the floor, keeping his distance. He waits for you to calm down, willing to let you decide whether or not you want to talk to him. You finally look back up at him, but he doesn’t move.

“I- I’m sorry,” you whisper.

“Can I come closer?” Tim asks.

You nod, and Tim slides across the floor, not wanting to stand up and look any more imposing than necessary. His knee presses gently against your thigh, and when you don’t move, he gives you a small smile – the first you’ve ever seen.

“I’ll leave in the morning,” you say, fiddling with your fingers.

“Please don’t,” Tim replies, shaking his head. “I’m really sorry. I wasn’t mad at you, just angry with a long day. But that’s no reason to yell at you or act like that. You confused me, and I didn’t know how to deal with it. That’s on me.”

“I’m sorry,” you repeat.

“Don’t. When I was younger, my dad took his anger out on me sometimes. I’m sure I deserved it once or twice, but I also know better than to treat people like an emotional outlet. If you ever want to talk, I’m here.”

You nod before saying, “My ex.”

Tim feels a protective surge at the idea of anyone hurting you, let alone doing it enough times that yelling pushes you to the point of a panic attack.

After comforting you with proximity and kind words, Tim offers to walk you to bed. Your hand brushes his as he opens your door, and you smile as you thank him for everything. It’s a minor change in your relationship but an important one.

✯✯✯✯✯

Tim leaves before you wake up the following morning, determined to find out as much as he can about you and your past. He’s not necessarily being nosy, but he wants to know if there’s anything specific that could help or hurt you.

“What do you know?” he demands as he storms up to Angela’s desk.

“About what?” she replies, raising her brows.

“What do you mean ‘about what’? Her!”

Nyla leans back in her chair, glad to watch the unfolding drama.

“Tim, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Angela explains.

“Why’d she move to LA?”

“Are you seriously trying to find something wrong with her? That’s low.”

Tim moves around her desk, dropping his voice to answer, “I’m trying to figure out who thought it was okay to put their hands on her. Because she won’t let me in.”

Angela begins connecting the dots you left untouched. You ran from the person controlling your life, not your actual life. She knew that you were omitting something during your initial meeting, but she didn’t expect it to be so big.

“Have you been open with her?” Angela asks finally. “Because that’s a two-way street. I’ll talk to her if you want me to, but she trusts you, Tim.”

“How do you know that?”

Nyla’s eyes bounce back and forth like she’s watching a tennis game. She sighs before deciding to interject. “She told her! Sent her a text one night!” she calls out, smiling and waving when Angela and Tim look at her.

Tim nods, giving Angela the closest she’ll get to an apologetic look before leaving.

✯✯✯✯✯

Returning home, Tim is surprised to find you on the couch, in your work clothes, with your face pressed into a pillow. You wave your fingers without moving to acknowledge him, and he remains silent as he walks to the kitchen.

“You don’t have to be silent, it’s your house,” you mumble. “I’ll figure out a way to get to the bedroom.”

“You’re fine here,” Tim answers, setting a glass of water beside you. “Another migraine?”

“Skull fractured from getting my head pushed through a window a few months ago,” you explain with a sigh. “The migraines have gotten worse since then.”

Tim lays a hand on your shoulder, giving you plenty of time to tell him not to touch you. You don’t, relaxing under his touch instead. Tim takes a seat beside you, hoping to comfort you once more.

“Your ex?” Tim asks. 

You hum a yes, and Tim’s jaw tightens, even as he comforts you.

✯✯✯✯✯

Walking into the police station, Tim’s wallet is tucked safely in your bag. Approaching the front desk, you say your name and are wordlessly handed a visitor’s badge before someone gives you directions. You don’t have time to argue, shrugging as you attempt to remember where to turn. Angela sees you before you see her, rushing to your side and looping her arm with yours.

“What are you doing here?” she asks happily.

“Uh, Tim forgot his wallet. I was just going to drop it off, but they sent me back here,” you answer.

Tim says your name, coming around a corner, and Angela pushes you toward him, joining Nyla as they watch your interaction.

“You know she was trying to get you a girlfriend and not just a roommate, right?”

Tim nods a thanks as he accepts his wallet, glancing over at your audience. “I’m half-tempted to make them think I kicked you out.”

You smile brightly, and Tim licks his lips to keep his smile from mirroring yours. His eyes tell you more than enough, and you’re happy to see him, too.

“Do it,” you whisper. “Just let me know when so I can play my part. Angela told me to call her if you were ever mean to me.”

“Have you?”

You don’t answer, opting to wink at him before stepping back. Waving at Angela and Nyla, you leave the station as they rush to Tim’s side. As they ask overlapping questions and talk about how cute you and Tim look standing together, Tim ignores them before walking away.

✯✯✯✯✯

Tim is pulled from his sleep by your panicked yell. He leaves his bed and barges into your room with no thought. His heart rate slows when he sees your teary face and tangled sheets.

“Sorry,” you mutter as you wipe your tears. “I just don’t know how to make them stop.”

Tim sits beside you, opening an arm toward you. It’s a bold move, especially for him, but you take his offer and curl into his side.

“Are- did you mean it when you said I could talk about it?” you ask.

Tim nods, and you tell him more, but not everything. You remind yourself that he’s your roommate and maybe, just maybe, he's your friend, but he’s not here to listen to all of your baggage.

“The last thing he said before I left was, ‘there is nowhere you can go that my love won’t lead me to find you.’”

“You know that wasn’t love,” Tim replies, waiting for your nod before continuing. “And I’ve got your back, Angela and Nyla are right here, and we won’t let anything happen to you. No matter what.”

Drifting back to sleep in his warm, safe embrace, you finally learn what it’s like not to be scared.

When you wake alone, neither you nor Tim acknowledge what happened. You’re okay with slow changes, as long as there are changes.

“Tim,” you say, interrupting him on his way out. “Thank you. For last night.”

“I’m only ever a call away,” he reminds you.

✯✯✯✯✯

Your head starts aching around noon, quickly worsening into a full-blown migraine. When you’re ready to go home, it’s bad enough that you can’t drive. Sitting in your car and resting your head against the steering wheel, you want to call Tim but can’t find the strength to move.

Tim, meanwhile, returns home and begins wondering where you are. He calls, and you don’t answer, so he lets his worry control him as he gets back in his truck and drives your usual route. Tim hopes to pass you or find you waiting as someone changes your tire. When he gets to the parking lot of your job and sees you slumped in your car, he has to fight not to panic.

Rushing to the door, he’s both grateful and concerned that it’s unlocked. He kneels beside you, saying your name before bending to see you. Your eyes are tightly closed, but tears are still leaking out. 

“I’m taking you to the hospital,” he says.

You whimper as he picks you up, clinging to him until he lays you down in the backseat of his truck, buckling you in as well as possible.

“Hospital can’t help,” you mumble.

Tim wants to argue, but remembers what you said about the skull fracture. You’ve already been to the doctor, so maybe getting you home and comfortable will be enough.

After a nap partially influenced by unbearable pain, you wake to see Tim sitting by your bed.

“Why are you so nice to me? You didn’t even want a roommate,” you mutter sleepily.

Tim smiles, making you think you’re hallucinating. “Yet I got something better.”

✯✯✯✯✯

You don’t quite make it to work the next day. Walking into the station, you’re surprised when Nyla greets you first.

“I’m assuming it’s a joke,” she says.

You furrow your brows in confusion before you see Tim leaning on a desk with his arms crossed while Angela yells at him.

“Unless he really kicked you out,” Nyla adds.

You nod, walking towards Angela and Tim.

“No, you don’t get to blame me! I got you a roommate, a friend, a beautiful woman who could have been more than a friend, and you’re mad at me?” Angela exclaims.

Tim locks eyes with you, not changing his expression as he gauges whether or not her yelling is upsetting you.

“Can I talk to you?” you ask Tim.

Angela steps back, hoping to hear Tim apologize, but he stands up and gestures for you to follow him without speaking. Worried that you’re sick again, Tim waits silently.

“I’m okay,” you promise. “I just wanted to see you.”

Not believing something so simple, Tim shakes his head. “Tell me what happened.”

“I saw a guy who looked like him while I was driving to work. He was yelling at a girl outside of a diner, and it made me nervous.” You keep your eyes on the floor, but Tim gently raises your head.

“You’re not alone, and I know that things still seem uncertain, and probably will for a long time, but you don’t have to be afraid of anything while I’m here.”

“Then why’d you kick me out?” you tease with a pout.

Tim shakes his head, telling you to go before following you out. You wipe an imaginary tear before waving at Angela.

“No, you’re not leaving,” she says, grabbing your shoulders and steering you toward her desk.

Nyla smiles at Tim, and he sighs before following.

“Tell me exactly what happened between you two,” Angela commands.

You look past her before tensing, and Tim immediately catches on. He follows your line of vision and sees Nolan and Celina booking someone. You shrink in on yourself, and Tim moves to block your view.

“Get her out of here,” he tells Angela.

Angela doesn’t wait before obeying, ushering you into the bullpen and out of sight.

“What’s the charge?” Tim asks Celina.

“Assault. Beat up a woman outside a diner,” she answers.

Tim’s jaw tightens at the knowledge that this man made you nervous this morning, reminding you of your ex. He hates abuse in every situation, but when you’re involved, his protectiveness and anger differ. Tim leaves before saying or doing something he’ll regret.

When he finds you in the bullpen, he takes one look at you before hugging you. It’s quick, but Angela and Nyla look at each other in shock.

“So, you’re good?” Nyla asks.

“We were never bad,” you reply. “Just wanted to get back at Angela for trying to set us up.”

“It worked?” Angela inquires excitedly.

“Not yet.”

“Not yet?” Tim repeats, looking over at you. He shrugs as he concedes, “Okay.”

✯✯✯✯✯

When Tim gets home, he drops his stuff by the door, raising his arms in question as he looks at you. “Not yet? What is that supposed to mean?”

“You haven’t made a move. How do I know you’re not just protective and caring under that handsome, gruff exterior?” you ask with a shrug.

Tim shakes his head, cupping the back of your head gently as he kisses you. You raise your hands over his chest to hold his jaw, pushing yourself closer as you reciprocate his every move.

“Because I don’t protect just anyone like this,” he says against your lips.

You kiss him again before asking, “Does this mean you can reduce my rent?”

Tim rolls his eyes, tucking you against his side where you’re safe from everything and everyone. 

[coolkaius]

Furby Resources!

Last updated 2/15/2024 with How To Dye Furby Fur

I added a lot of things since originally posting, so you may want to delete your last reblog and replace it!

Incredible Google Drive folder with a huge variety of Furby content and history

Guide to Furby Fandom Tags

Tips For Buying Furbies

Adult Furby Price Guide | Furby Value Guide For Dummies

Furby Discord Server | Furby Wiki’s Discord Server (direct invite)

Archived Furby content on archive.org

Colorful Google Doc to track Furby projects and collections

Furby Certificate Of Adoption | Furby Adoption Certificate

Images ripped from flash games

Official Furby Tiled Backgrounds

Furby Carrier Pattern | If that doesn’t work patterns are sold on Etsy

All Official Furbys

Eye colors on official models | Common 2005 Furby Eye Colors

Differences between Curly Furby Babies and Sheep Furby Babies

High Quality Transparent Furby Masks

Furbtober Prompts

Pixel Furby Page Dividers

Furby Sticker Scans

THE FURBY ORGAN, A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MADE FROM FURBIES

Lore

Furby Paradise Manga - 1 chapter scanned and translated

Desktop Furby - 2005 Burger King Freeware

A Deep Dive Into The Furby Fandom

Furby Island Movie Free On YouTube

Printable furbish-english dictionary | Official PDF Dictionary | All Known Furbish Words

Official Furby trainer's guide

Furby Songs YouTube Playlist

Dancing Furby Gameplay & Interacting with Furby - Game Boy Color Japan

Unofficial Guide To Furby Species And Biology

Furby Lore Zine

Every printable from Big Fun In Furbyland (contains lore, Furbish words, phrases, coloring pages and photos)

Make A (non-plush) Furby

Furby Bases Collection on deviantART | Extra Furby Base | Furby Bases on Toyhou.se

Design A Furby Shockwave Game (pictured above , also has a few old Furby mini games) | Can be played through Flashpoint which archives old web games

Official Coloring Pages

AdoptAFurby.com Coloring Pages | List Of Official Coloring Books

Color A Furby Online (pictured above)

Furby's Design-o-Matic (pictured above) | Works with Ruffle’s browser extension

Make A Furb Game (pictured above) | Preview Video

Furby Creator Games on Picrew

Origami Furby Tutorial

Big Fun In Furby Land CD-ROM has a very limited Furby maker pictured in a gif above (works with Windows 10, just right click, click “Mount”, then open Furby.exe it’s an application file)

Furby Patterns on Etsy

Real Life Furby Mods

FURBY TUTORIAL MASTERPOST

3D Printable Face Plates and Furbys

1998 Furby Pattern

Long Furby Pattern

How to Long Furb |  Longifying Your Furby

How To Skin A 1998 Furby

Eye Chip Tutorial

How To Make Accurate 1998 Eye Chips

Furby Buddy Pattern

replacing a 1998 furby’s speaker

~ furby beret - crochet pattern ~

Curing Me Sleep Again (when you’re Furby won’t stay awake)

How To Skin A Shelby

How To Dye Furby Fur

Real Life Furby Care

How To Find Your Furby’s Birthday

Furby Name Generator | Another Furby Name Generator

How To Brush Your Furby In Depth Guide

How To Clean A Tilt Sensor

Sync Screw Adjustment

Please suggest additions!!

[syoddeye]

everything I was, burning slow

price x reader. 1.2k words. title from 24thankyou.

tags: implied/referenced illness+surgeries, implied/referenced self-harm, established relationship, panic attacks, brief vomit mention, nonsexual nudity

banner from @/cafekitsune

Your mouth is dry and gritty as if you inhaled half the desert and, after a swallow, as tacky as a bowling alley floor. The side of your face is cold and wet, but you’re too busy mapping your molars with your sticky-shriveled tongue to bother lifting it. Once you confirm that all your teeth are in their crooked places, your limbs return online. You push, arm shaking, yourself onto your back. Another swallow. Tastes bitter.

When you were dragged to church as a kid, you’d lean in your seat and gaze at the vaulted ceiling and the murals of angels. Did the same with the open sky, staring at rolling clouds or blinking stars. No matter where you were, you relished how small you felt. How insignificant.

The view from the bathroom floor is a lot like that, too. Lends perspective. Partly under the toilet bowl (you’ve got to clean under here better), you stare at chipping paint and watch particulates float lazily on by. You lay there, telling yourself you’ll get up when the world stops turning. But it won’t, will it? It’s spinning and carrying on. You hear the neighbor mowing the lawn and the dog across the street barking at him. The radio is on in the living room, transitioning from music to a talk show. This is all going to carry on without you, and—

Your jaw pops, hinging open to suck in a sudden, desperate gasp for air as if you’re a fish dropped unceremoniously onto the deck of a boat. What you get, what you taste, is turbid and stifling. It tickles your windpipe and forces you to choke as your chest tightens. You clutch your shirt and silently beg the invisible fist around your heart to loosen its grip. Not again, your thoughts slur. Not again. This is getting embarrassing.

It passes. Eventually.

How long you lay there, you don’t know, but the sound of the front door opening and closing a floor down stirs you out of your stupor. You’re dimly aware of John calling for you, his voice steady and level–your name, maybe? Sheer terror and embarrassment keep you pinned on the tile, though at least it lets up just enough to let you curl into the fetal position. It’s gut-wrenching to hear his tone gradually swell from curiosity to concern. 

The bathroom door opens at last, and your eyelids squeeze shut.

“Oh, sweetheart.”

Before he touches you, the light flicks off, and he turns on the tap. He crouches. His knee skims your calves, and a warm hand slides up your back. He fixes your slightly bunched shirt, tugging it down, then rubs circles above your tailbone how you like. He’s talking, too, whispering something you know is kind and tender. It’s an internal tussle of whether or not you want to hear him. The brush of a knuckle over your temple pulls the cotton from your ears.

“–member we’re supposed to take deep breaths, yeah? Can you do that for me? In your nose, out your mouth. C’mon, with me,” He murmurs, tracing the shell of your ear as he demonstrates.

“Can’t.” It’s the first word you’ve spoken in hours. It tastes sour.

“‘Course you can. Like me, babe.” 

In. Out. In. Out. In—

“I got my results.” You croak, eyes opening in slivers. Blearily, you turn your head, looking past him to the corner of the bathroom counter.

“In a minute.” 

The hand on your back completes a few more figure eights before John hauls himself to his feet. The dull, muted sound of him punching in your passcode and typing keeps you tethered. You both hold your breath for very different reasons.

“I see,” John says a moment later, “I see.” 

With some convincing, he maneuvers your body into a seated position, leaning you against the tub. He doesn’t complain, scrubbing the toilet and floor clean of your sick and taking breaks to rub your shins and give you sips of water.

“Bed or bath?”

“Bath.”

He hoists you by the armpits and sits you on the toilet, briefly cupping your face in his hands. Scarred knuckles and palms thickened with calluses; they’re the softest things you’ve ever felt. After checking your eyes and pressing a kiss to your forehead, he starts the tub and carefully undresses you. 

“Join me?” You ask, leaning into him as he helps you step out of your jeans and underwear, fingers skimming the keloid on his shoulder blade.

A warm puff of air and a kiss to your neck. “Need or want?”

Sometimes, you need him in the shower when the shampoo bottle is impossible to lift.

“Both.”

He hums, sits you back down, then strips.

John climbs in first, offering his arm and supporting you by the hip as you follow. He situates your back to his chest, rubbing your elbows after you adjust. It’s a tight squeeze in a tub realistically meant for one, but he never complains. Steam curls off the water’s surface, and sweat beads at your neck. He kisses it anyway.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks after a time, voice rumbling through your spine.

Tracing the scars on his arm and comparing them to your own, you consider. 

When you first started dating, it took months for you to let John see you with the lights on. So used to partners seeing the brutal constellation of marks, self-inflicted and surgical, and finding reason to flip off the light. Used to them suggesting clothes with sleeves and layers. You can’t recall what changed your mind to let him have you in the morning light so long ago, but you remember how he looked at you. How, before he even really touched you, he studied each of them. Invited you to do the same. A new kind of intimacy that told you how well your bodies fit together in more ways than just the one. It lent perspective.

“Later, in bed. I’m tired.”

An arm bands around your stomach, settling you closer. You don’t feel small with John. You don’t feel insignificant.

“Alright. I’ve got you.”

You feel like the world.

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Hiii, do you have any tips for drafting out embroidery patterns? I've got one in mind, but drafting it out and color picking is so nerve-wracking!!

[Hi!!!! this got kinda really long so I'm gonna crop it under a read more. And I honestly don't have any real training/instruction in fiber arts so this is just how I do things, and probably others do them very differently!]

Haha so my fandom embroideries are VERY different from my non-fandom personal pieces in this respect. For non-fandom things i just kind of throw myself in like WAHOO FREEFORM LETS GO and go for a kind of messy colorful approach that ends up as things like this:

Versus my fandom stuff is way more structured and designed to fill space, be very precise, etc. So for those I do go in with a digital mock up of the design I make in photoshop, that I then color in, and then as my last step translate to thread colors.

For my Dragon Age series. this has been because I'm specifically trying to mimic the stained-glass style of art you see in parts of the game like the dialogue wheels, some icons, windows, etc. The icons in particular were really easy to copy into embroidery because they already come in handy circles:

This is mostly because I have desperately wanted to pick up stained glass work as a hobby for like 6 years now. As in once every 3-6 months I put everything I'd need to start doing it into an online shopping cart and look at the price total and then sadly close the window because I just don't actually have any space I could do it in (I live in a 2bed apartment so i have no garage or yard or anywhere it wouldn't make everything else a mess or be a hazard). The day after one of those events I impulse bought and completed a floral embroidery kit from the craft store and kinda was like... ok, well, I did this once how hard can it be to use this medium to mimic the hobby I wish I could be doing? Plus, it's only like 60 cents per color! I can afford that! So I took the first design I wanted to do, the romance icon, and basically redrew it sloppily in photoshop, then freehand-copied the design onto fabric and stitched it the next day:

I learned a lot from this piece and changed my approach a little. Here you can see I tried shading in the parallel direction to my thread, which looked messy and added texture, so now I shade horizontally to my thread direction instead.

But it gave me a basic approach for turning the Tarot cards or DA Keep tiles (or any other art!) into embroidery patterns, which I couldn't copy as directly into this really smooth stained-glass style. There's a basic process I follow when doing these conversions that generally follows the same order, which I'll go through below.

STEP 1: SHAPES

The first thing I do is pick the shape of my display frame which is usually a circle, but could be an oval or rectangle too, since I hang the finished pieces on my wall to have nice way to show them off. I like to fill the whole space so knowing the size and shape of what I want the finished project to look like is a good goal for me. Since I am doing fandom pieces I want to be recognizable, I do stick pretty close to the "original" character design/art, but you can absolutely change as much as you want and freehand draw your own interpretation instead. If you're doing original art just substitute the below composition notes with "sketch out roughly what you want it to look like". I personally do my pattern drafting digitally as I find it easier, but you can do this part by hand too.

First, I keep the reference image I'm working off of open next to me while I work, and draw in the shape of my frame (here, a circle). If I'm adding in the little border to be fancy, I add a second inner circle. I keep these as their own top layer so I always know I'm working within the final "frame" and don't spend time designing any section that will fall outside it. Then I will take copies of the reference image and knock the layers down to 25-50% opacity, and start moving them around underneath the 'frame' layer until I like the way their positioning looks as a composition. Sometimes elements of a card I want to include don't all fit in, so I'll chop the section out and add an additional layer to throw in (like the background circle things in the Hermit design below). Or I'll just freehand things like adding much bigger diamonds behind Solas in my Hierophant design because I did NOT want to do 1000 tiny ones. Then once I'm satisfied with the general composition, I'll use the plain ol circular brush tool to trace out the major shapes of each element. I try to keep in mind that I can't go too small, and curvy lines are more difficult to fill in than straight ones. I usually do a rough messy version first, make it mostly transparent, and then a cleaner and more precise one over that.

(you can see parts of the rough one on the left and the fully 'cleaned up' on the right for the Hierophant design)

Now: depending on what you are doing next with the pattern, this might be where you stop and start coloring. If you are planning to freehand your design or just trace it onto fabric (or even print it onto fabric here), there's no need to do more than this kind of lineart! However, if you are working digitally and want to create a scalable vector so you can print it at different sizes, you can use the pen tool in photoshop to trace your design and make a "work path" of the lineart. However, another note: THIS PART IS VERY FRUSTRATING AND TEDIOUS BECAUSE THE PEN TOOL WAS CREATED BY THE DEVIL TO TORMENT US. It is so so so easy to accidentally delete a line or even the whole path and not notice later on. Ask me how I know 😭 Anyway I'm not going to include a pen tool tutorial because I don't even know how to use it well and have to google or watch videos every other time I try to use it. But if you can muddle through it gets you some really clean lines that eventually look like this:

With the work path selected, you can select the brush tool/size/color and use the "stroke path" option to create lineart of the vector. Then you can save this as a transparent png file for use at different sizes and for printing and it looks so nice and clean! one of the big benefits to this is that you get really fine lines that are easier to be precise with stitching on. This is extra perfect if you are printing the design directly onto your fabric (which you can do with an at-home inkjet printer for designs under 8inches wide, as long as you stick a piece of stabilizer on the back of your fabric and cut it down to printer sheet size--this is what I do and can make another post about that process if people want haha), or if you are printing onto transfer paper like you can buy at craft stores.

This is where I end the lineart for my designs. After I have this, I move on to the next phase, which is...

STEP 2: COLOR

For interpreting my designs into thread, I start by thinking of it as flat colors first. You can't "shade" as easily with threads as you can with things like paint or brushes in digital art (though you can A Little, which I will get into), so to start color planning I pick the "main" color each section will be in the piece.

For the existing icons this was simple--I kept the same sections as the original designs, so for each I just color picked or eyeballed the color in photoshop and colored it in (but you could do this on paper with pencils, markers, whatever as well--they don't need to match your threads exactly and usually won't, it's just to give you an easy reference to follow as you go). For the tarot cards which were more complicated in coloration, I just did my best and went with what looked good next to each other, even if it was a little off the original art. It will be off more later anyway when you have to pick threads so don't stress it too much honestly. I will often make layers with different color options and turn them on/off for direct comparison to try to determine what I think looks best as well, like below where I was debating between more blue/desaturated for the background or brighter colors.

I do wanna note I have regrets about the color selection, shapes, or shading in EVERY SINGLE ONE of my finished pieces. But no one else ever comments or probably even notices! One aspect of this hobby is just learning to be satisfied with what you've made and using what you learned to get closer to your preferences next time. I'm only going back and redoing some of my designs' colors because I want to make it easier for others to choose on the patterns I sell, more than I care for just for myself. Also since I'm doing this lineart/stained glass looking approach where I go over the distinct shapes with black thread at the end, it means I get these clear delineations between sections you might not necessarily have in your own pieces, and that's ok.

Ok right. Now while shading/coloring in detail is hard with thread, you CAN make whats essentially dithered gradients. "Dithering" in the concept of art means using 2 (or more) colors to give the impression of a third color, or to gently scale between the existing binary rather than a hard line. Think of it like blocky pixel art or gameboy game images. If you're doing needlepainting, you use really small stitches close together to get this effect, which translates to "smaller pixes"--if you look at the jellyfish in my first photos that's a very messy casual version of that. If you want a better example, I recommend looking at @ammocharis 's pieces like these in her pinned post, which are truly amazing! I simply do not have the patience myself 😂 For my stained glass style, I work only in very long straight stitches, so I can only shade in one direction and have to be a little more precise with it.

So for shading, I think about in each section which direction my threads might go. Then perpendicular to that direction I pick which side will be the light one and which the darker one. Sometimes I color this in on my pattern mockup, but sometimes I don't! Or I'll only do it for certain sections to make sure I don't forget. Like for my Tower design I only colored it as flats, and waited until I selected threads to decide how the shading would go. I am currently working on a smaller, simplified version of my Hierophant design and I did add shading digitally for that one just for fun. But it's not as important as having the flat color version you can use to quick-reference how you want your design to go while you're stitching. You might also notice I don't actually color my gold--I just throw in a stock image of gold foil for that layer so I can't confuse it with any of my yellow thread sections.

Here's a close up where you can kind of see what I mean by the "dithered" effect between colors--some are more obvious (like the red on the far left or middle orange) and others pretty subtle (dark grey to dark red on the wolf face):

Now, while I use single layers of satin stitches for this, and just alternate thread colors increasing/decreasing as I go, you can accomplish the same thing with short overlapping stitches like with needlepainting, or with clusters of french knots, or whatever else. But in GENERAL you are going to be able to trick people into seeing gradients out of dithering best when you are using the same type of stitch for that whole area. So if I was using multiple stitch types like having french knots, daisy chains, ladder stitching or whatever else for some sections, I would keep those to contrasting areas/colors. A fantastic example of using different layered types of stitching to create more intricate color/texture in an embroidery would be these incredible tarot card depictions by @hattedhedgehog, which I like even better than my own embroideries. Here's his take on the Tower card as well for comparison to mine (I'm so in love with it!!!).

But anyway, at this phase, your design is actually still digital--the above is just to explain how it translates later in the process. The next step is...

STEP 3: THREAD SELECTION

I will admit here I am not great at this part. I am constantly second guessing my thread colors, and can spend over an entire hour in the thread aisle at the craft store agonizing over choices. Really, I think this is just one of those things that takes practice and you get better at it over time. What I have had the best luck with is actually printing out a reference photo of my design/the original artwork and taking it with me. If you already have threads you can do this part at home too, but DMC alone has over 500 colors and I definitely don't even own half that so I like to torture myself by looking at them all together on the thread racks. Plus Anchor and Artiste and whatever other brands there are out there. One approach is to just sit there and pick out what you want for each section and line it all up together on top of your printout. Or in the case of my Tower I laid a bunch of options out on top of my template in the hoop to guess how they'd look in the frame.

For me since I am also doing this dither shading thing, I also need 2-3 colors per sections depending on its size. Sometimes it's easy and the threads have a color just a little darker or lighter right next to them in the numerical lineup! Other times, there is no good match, or it looks too far away to shade nicely, or I want one to be a warmer or cooler tone than the other... which means a lot of standing and fretting to myself over it. I actually take a lot of photos at this stage because it can be easier to see how they will look in the end from a photo than in person to me? Idk why. Plus then after they get scrambled in my bag I remember wtf order I meant for them to go in later. But as long as you're not preventing other customers from shopping themselves, you can spend as long as you want staring at thread in the embroidery aisle and they won't kick you out unless it's closing time, so take your time.

Now, IN THEORY, you can sort of combine steps 2 and 3 by color-selecting from your threads and using that to color in the design. However I have tried this and it led to mixed success because the photoshop eyedropper brush simply isn't actually that exact (in my experience, it desaturates compared to what we actually see). And because then you have to have the threads on hand while you're coloring... which means you might buy ones you don't end up using if you don't like them. So I prefer to just use this as a refinement step where I pick threads based on the design colors, then will re-color the design a second time to match those threads more closely to be sure I like the effect.

I've even used this as a tool when I needed to adjust my color choices mid-project, by digitally coloring over over my WIP:

Or here's a design (but I haven't posted the finished piece yet bc it's a gift so shhh) I made with certain color tones initially, but after buying thread I re-did the color mockup to be more vibrant, because I liked those threads better in the store:

Once you have your thread, you can make yourself a little reference chart with the colors you intend noted on the sections you want them, like below:

(note: i didn't end up sticking to these colors because I ended up dying my own thread for several sections. And then forgot I made this entirely and picked new ones because I put the project down for a year between design and stitching. Sigh).

Or for my Solas pattern I did this in a really detailed way, which i am sorry but i have redacted because... i have it for sale now and don't wanna just give that away haha. But if you buy the pattern from my shop this is one of the files you'd get with it, for ease of reference. I do also include a text-only list of them as well.

Now I don't go to this much trouble for all my designs, just the ones I put up for sale (or plan to). You can also just make a text list of your color plans if you want. Though for fun I also have been using my scrap thread to make these little "color palette" keyrings for my finished pieces, so if I ever remake them or update their patterns I will know what the original colors were, plus I can compare what i used to other threads if I wanna change part of the design up. This step is absolutely not necessary and I'm just doing it because I'm selling the patterns now, but they are kinda fun to look at.

And don't forget.. if you start a section in a certain color and decide you don't like it, you can just cut the threads and pull them out! I did that with my original hierophant piece actually. I had an entirely different color for one row of diamonds i thought just clashed way too much with the others, so I used photoshop to paint over it with some alternate options until I found one I liked better. Then I cut away all the old threads and put in the new color. It can be a little harder to fill a piece the second time since the fabric will have stretched out a little, but as long as you're using a good stabilizer it usually doesn't move too much.

You can also just make test swatches on spare fabric to test before you add them to your real piece. I wish I'd done this for some color transitions that didn't end up looking the way I wanted, but I am simply too lazy most of the time. My exception is usually for metallic, satin, or sparkly threads, because I want to know how they feel while embroidering. But if you're really worried about a certain color or shade it's a good thing to remember you can just do.

SO yep, that's my general process for drafting patterns. I start with the shapes/design, then do my flat color version, then I pick my threads. Makes it sound easy and short when phrased like that :) But I can honestly spend 8-10 hours just on making the lineart and coloring it in. If I was better at art, probably this would be less, but I'm working with what I've got (not much) 😂 I think all aspects of this are also something that gets easier over time, but it will probably never look as bad as you worry when you start out. I think all my pieces look awkward and rough right up until I do the finishing steps and move them to the display frame sometimes.

I hope this was helpful and answered your questions!! Feel free to post/share your WIPs to ask for feedback or advice ever too :) I've only ever had people in the embroidery community on tumblr be encouraging and helpful to me, and I'm happy to answer any questions myself when I can or if parts of this were confusing

[easternmind]

TRIPITAKA - the lost spiritual sequel to Cosmology of Kyoto was found

This post is a compilation of a series of tweets I have composed over a period of weeks during this summer.

For years, it was uncertain whether TRIPITAKA 玄奘三蔵求法の旅, by Soft Edge, had in fact ever been published. I remind the more absent-minded readers that this is the studio responsible for the mythical CD-ROM Cosmology of Kyoto, originally released in Japan in 1993, later published in the United States by Yano Electric in 1995. Knowledge of this their second and final production comes solely from the online CVs of producers Hiroshi Ōnishi and Mori Kōichi. No other information could be found online, and no actual copy of the game was known to exist.

Earlier this year, this disc surfaced at Yahoo Auctions. It sold for nearly $300 after 24 bids.

As suggested by its tile, which translates to Xuanzang Sanzo's Dharma-Seeking Journey, it was always assumed that the game illustrated episodes of the life of the celebrated Chinese Buddhist monk, particularly his 7th century pilgrimage to India. The captures printed on the back not only show a character highly reminiscent of the ancient scholar, they depict a variety of scenes taking place in China and India.

According to the severely incomplete archived version of PD Inc's website, the Japanese publisher responsible for this digipack, it was available for sale at museums hosting the 1999 Silk Road Journey To The West exhibition, which suitably matches the date printed on the back cover. However, this date presents yet another open question, as the Ōnishi-San and Kōichi-San bios both list it as a 1995 production.

The technical specifications may provide an enlightening clue, as they refer to Windows 95, 640x480px resolution and an 8-Bit color mode. This indicates that TRIPITAKA was indeed developed sometime between 1993 and 1995, although it was never published in the CD-ROM game circuit, certainly not in the immediate years after its development was completed. Combined with the data retrieved from the publisher's website, the edition shown here appears to have been produced solely for the occasion, as a means to diversify the museum shop catalog for this major exhibit, given the shared theme.

It would have been nearly impossible, had the program been in fact published in 1995, for a single copy to not have been spotted or mentioned online by the many Japanese collectors who have attempted to locate it for decades, unsuccessfully. On the other hand, a CD-ROM that was sold at a museum exhibit is likely to be purchased by visitors who were entirely unaware of the item's relevance as an elusive multimedia gem.

If a tangent is permitted here, both productions are inextricably linked with the museum space, and as far as I can speculate, Cosmology of Kyoto was, itself, also published with the intention of being made available in gallery stores in addition to computer game retailers. I say this because this was a production made possible by collaborative efforts including a variety of Japanese museums, to the extent these are referenced by name in the game's credits.

Considering the price at which the item was sold at auction, I was fairly certain that it was purchased by one such video game collector who knew exactly what they were bidding for. Later in July, I was able to locate the buyer and establish contact. Initially, the buyer was only able to produce this screenshot of the disc program launcher. The title reads "Cosmology of Asia", validating the claims that Soft Edge was in effect planning for series of edutainment software prior to its demise in the mid-90s.

In my second contact with the owner, I asked if he was available to produce a disc image and share it online for purposes of software preservation. The owner politely declined, stating that this was not something he was willing to do but offered to record the following gameplay video instead.

At a glance, the art style of Tripitaka is unsurprisingly similar to that of Cosmology. Most of its episodes occur during the day, whereas the latter was mostly played under the dark cover of night. The first scene depicts a dying Xuanzang reminiscing on his journeys in the company of a young chronicler. Structurally, both games are also nearly indistinguishable from one another, producing ample historical information for context, including detailed maps and chronologies.

TRIPITAKA was considered to be lost media for decades. As such, the importance of this footage could hardly be overstated. I would not hesitate to compare this development to the unearthing of Osamu Sato's Chu-Teng, the Eastern Mind sequel that was also deemed lost for many years, miraculously found during the time this blog was inactive.

I am delighted to have played a minor role in the unraveling of this thirty year old mystery, and can hardly contain my enthusiasm, as I now find myself equipped with sufficient information to produce a full post concerning a game about which I could not have written more than a sentence, just last year.

I would also like to thank the author of the @mendelpalace Tumblr for his timely alert regarding the Yahoo listing.

[sirenyizuo]

the space in between; jennie ruby jane

actress!reader x idol!jennie

jennie knows that privacy isn’t something easily rewarded to those loved by many. y/n knows that with fame always comes with a price. finding love in the spotlight isn’t easy, but they just might be perfect for each other.

tw: implied sexual content

word count: 1261

previous

cool air twisted around the tall trees surrounding the bleak, gray building in front of jennie. if someone told her that the flashes from the cameras played a part in feeling like everything around her was twisting as well, she wouldn’t doubt it. the red eye flights to make all of their comeback stages that had been so unfortunately scattered amongst their tour dates weren’t exactly kind to her. a gentle touch to the small of her back was the only thing that commanded her attention more than the constant clicking and snapping coming from the media pit directly in front of her. turning quickly, she was faced with a soft smile coming from a taller, blonder woman.

“you okay?” rosé chirped, placing jennie’s left hand into one of her own. they locked eyes, and the trembling in the other girl’s fingers was an answer enough to rosé. jennie leaned into the gentle touch and rested her head on rosé’s shoulder. she could hear the clicks of the cameras increase. her eyes smiled as she giggled to herself, ‘the blinks will love it’, she thought.

these moments were the ones she held onto when things got hard. on the outside, things were perfect; worldwide it girl, chanel’s princess, goddess of the online world - what more could she ask for? she couldn’t lie, the attention felt amazing. for a while, of course. after “the idol” debuted, it felt like the slut-shaming hate train had returned in full force. god forbid a girl wants to expand her horizons.

she could remember the comments after the first two episodes premiered at sundance like it was yesterday. it was baffling how cruel people could be when their words were coming through a screen - whore, slut, and bitch had become the common tongue once again. the late night talks with lisa became more frequent, the two of them joking to help jennie cope. she found herself thinking, ‘they could at least be more creative.’ the ‘lazy jennie’ jokes were completely overdone - questioning the validity of her health issues was one of her anti’s most favorite activities.

her manager’s voice broke her train of thought as she beckoned her into the SBS building. turning her back, she heard the clicking come to a roar once again.

after exchanging her usual pleasantries with the music show staff, jennie made her way towards their dressing room. a familiar sight that meant at least an hour of peace and quiet while her makeup artist and hairdresser created the cool girl persona the public had grown to know her by oh so well. she could feel her shoulders drop back down and her headache start to clear at the thought of it. rushing to put her bag down, she grabbed her purse and phone and made her way to the restroom a couple paces down the hall.

her boots clinked sharply against the linoleum tile as she stationed herself in front of the mirror. sitting her things down, she turned the cold water on full blast. gathering the liquid into her hands, she splashed it across her cheeks and forehead; finally - relief. she sighed, her eyes resting shut. she almost felt a smile reach her face until the sound of a door opening shattered her bubble of tranquility. she jumped up slightly, an anxious habit. she felt some of her worry ease when a soft voice breached the silence,

“i’m so sorry, i didn’t know anyone else was in here,” the stranger across from her grinned softly, her eyes apologetic.

“it’s alright, i mean, i don’t own the bathroom.” jennie mused, a flush lighting up her face.

the two women shared a laugh that fell into only a somewhat awkward silence. jennie watched shyly through the mirror as the other woman leaned over the marble to wash her hands. her eyes darted away as soon as the other women straightened up to walk towards the hand dryer. she left jennie with a small wave as she exited the bathroom. jennie felt her breath force its way out of her mouth. ‘what about that interaction was so nerve racking?’ her thoughts were racing, her heart was pounding. she quickly wrapped up what was supposed to be a moment for relaxation and timidly walked back to the dressing room.

something about her demeanor immediately peaked the interest of jisoo. “jennie-ah, what’s on your mind?”

“nothing much, just a little jet lagged.” she knew she wasn’t the best liar, but how could she explain how she was feeling when she wasn’t even sure herself.

she could tell jisoo knew it was a lie. however, she knew that when jennie felt ready, she would come to her to talk. sending a sympathetic smile jennie’s way, jisoo set her attention back to her phone.

jennie finally sat down and let her team get to work. usually this silence was comforting, a moment for her brain to rest. today, however, her thoughts wouldn’t stop racing about the woman she’d only seen so briefly. she could even recall the scent of musky bergamot in the air from her perfume as she walked past. the way her skin reflected when the fluorescent lights connected to her. was she a staff member? had they just not met before? surely she would remember.

jennie had a penchant for getting to know the beautiful women she crossed paths with. this time was different, though. the meetings usually occurred somewhere dark, loud, sweaty or sleazy. she’d find two hands wrapping around her waist, feel warm breath touch the back of her neck, enticing her to a bathroom just off the dance floor. she couldn’t lie, there were times she would indulge. it’s hard to resist letting yourself enjoy something so tempting, so fully. all those girls felt the same, though. it was meaningless, fleeting and done for the cause of chasing a high she couldn’t reach. never once had she felt nervous.

had she just been taken off guard in a private moment? or was this something more? she didn’t give herself a chance to ponder on something as trivial as actually wanting to engage further with someone. emotions weren’t practical with a life like hers. she pushed the heart flutter aside and shut her eyes tight. she was on stage in less than a hour, she had a job to do.

as her hairstylist curled the last strand of hair, she smelled the familiar scent of berry hair spray - her quiet time has concluded, it’s time to get back to work.

she followed closely behind her three band-sisters and worked her way onto her place onstage. sauntering, her eyes low in a seductive gaze. this was where she was born to be, nothing could take her out of her zone now.

the show returned from commercial and the spotlights went up on the MC’s once again. she smiled, knowing the familiar sound of, “welcome, blackpink!” was about to ring in her ears once again. what she didn’t expect was the words coming from a honeyed voice she had heard not so far in the past. her heart dropped in her stomach.

“hello, it’s y/n l/n bringing you back to SBS Inkigayo; please welcome, blackpink!”

the crowd roared at the sight of the princess of korea’s acting scene and jennie realized why the stranger from the bathroom was so captivating.

the pink venom intro began to seep from the speakers, and jennie felt her heart drop into her stomach.

like she thought before, feelings don’t work in a job like hers.

[i-eat-deodorant]

Ooo please tell me about Pumping Ass part 2.

I'm invested.

[WIP ASKS]

The stars aligned when he received an email at noon a couple days later, telling him not to come to shift today, that someone had backed their truck directly into the front entrance (gods, what he would pay to have been there to see that clusterfuck) and they were replacing the sliding doors that should’ve been replaced years ago. Normally he’d spend his break arguing online over stock prices with people whose opinions don’t matter, but the moderators of his latest circle had banned him (over threats of violence—what was he about to do, strangle someone over the screen?) and he was still fuming too hard to find a new one. 

So when he slipped out of his pants and saw a white card fluttering onto the ground, he picked it up. The cardstock was wrinkled and soft from how he’d shoved it in his pocket, but Lambert’s name and address were still visible. Driving distance. Walking distance, if he was willing to suffer an hour in public in exchange for saving gas. 

Which is how Narinder found himself slouched in front of a tacky McMansion in broad daylight, judging the topiary. 

Seriously, how were they not embarrassed to put these things in public? He could flash himself and retain more modesty than what these trimmed bushes were doing to their property. And then there was that eyesore set of marble columns, scrunched halfway into the wall next to windows that looked to be drawn on blindfolded. Then there were the four garage doors on the side; if Lambert admitted to him that they were housing a small army for war in their garage, he’d believe it over the cars. 

A towering black bull in a suit answered the door when he rang. He took one look at Narinder, then began to close the door.

“Wait!” Narinder shoved his foot inside. “I have an appointment with Lambert.” 

“We do not accept solicitors nor beggars.” Already he could hear a tinge of irritation in the bull’s voice. 

Rude. He’d actually dressed nice for this: black pants and a blazer that had been in the laundromat instead of on the floor, and an undershirt that wasn’t stained with anything.  “I’m not, Lambert said I was welcome. Here, I have their…” He reached for the card, but realized that handing someone a crumpled piece of paper wasn’t exactly solid evidence. “Just. Just let them know I’m here, they know who I am.” 

“You can contact them through the proper channels then.” 

It was getting difficult to keep the door open with how hard the bull was pushing it closed. Narinder was about to step back before his foot got smashed before another voice joined in from the back. 

“Thoryn! Let him in pal, I told him he could come here whenever he likes.” 

Narinder stumbled a bit as the bull, Thoryn, swung the door inwards. Standing at the foot of a grand staircase was Lambert, clad in fuzzy white pajamas and slippers. They smiled upon seeing him. “Great timing, you caught me on one of my days off. I don’t have anything planned until evening.” 

“Sir—he—” Thoryn looked between them, before understanding quickly dawned on his expression. “Understood. I’ll leave you to it, sir.” With that, the bull walked away with far more speed than necessary, hooves clicking against the tiled floor. 

Narinder watched him disappear off into a corner. “He doesn’t think I’m a hooker, does he.” 

“Hopefully not, but the circumstances fit—” 

“I’m not a hooker.” Narinder spat, hands shoved tight into his pockets.

-

"Bastard broke all of his bones falling. You know what they say about the impact on the water, from high up. Nobody can bounce back from that."

"But you're still here," Lambert said. A hand gripped Narinder's wrist, solid and real. "Maybe the myth was wrong. Maybe Icarus drowned, but in the middle of the pain all his ribs fracturing he realized that one of his arms wasn't broken, and he dragged himself to shore."

Narinder sat up, blankets falling off his figure. It was too dark to make out more than shadows, but he traced silhouette of Lambert in greyscale, the rise and fall of their chest. It all felt like a surreal dream, a hell he'd wake up from and be back in his mansion with his wife and kids. "Life should've pummeled that kind of blind optimism out of you decades ago."

"It's helped, though." Lambert was looking at him as well. His eyes adjusted to the darkness just enough to catch their smile. "Wouldn't be where I am without it."

Maybe he didn't want this dream to end.

yeah it's just a potential continuation of Tropical Sunset (aka gas station au). can you tell i browsed McMansion Hell posts before i wrote this haha. need to absorb angry architect power.

i'm actually kind of excited to write it because there's a scene i have planned that just. gets really dark and serious all of a sudden that i have planned and i wanna tackle something that i don't particularly see people portraying. gas station au is my silly little test au and i'm taking it for a roller coaster ride.

[adghomes]

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[foap-enjoyer]

Anxiety - Soap Mactavish

Real tiny semi-finished drabble I conjured up for the fun of it at 1am ;)

One would think the John ‘Soap’ Mactavish wouldn’t have anxiety. Much less social anxiety. He was too loud - too boisterous. The whole base knew the famous sergeant and his childish, bombarding personality. Recruits would often feel a clasp of a hand on their shoulders, a warm smile guiding them through their learning, teaching them to create makeshift weaponry or explosives, telling them outlandish stories of fights and battles that couldn’t have possibly existed within their universe, with a laugh that could raise the ceiling off of the building like the lid of a steaming pot. 

So if someone were to say that John ‘Soap’ Mactavish had social anxiety, they’d, generally, be laughed at. No one would believe them, like children refusing to accept that Santa was, in fact, not real, and that it was their tired parents working constantly to fulfill their little needs and wants.

But he did. It wasn’t something he spoke about, wasn’t something that was known about, but he did. He’d buried that detail of his when he’d left for the army at the ripe age of eighteen; he wouldn’t let some trembles and awkwardness define him. So he changed, forced himself to, beat that big chunk of him until it shattered into smaller pieces that he could shove into a closet somewhere and hide. Changed his nervous rambling into confident storytelling, his trembles into excited non-stop movement, his nausea into pretend hunger, anything that made him anxious had to go, and he made it go. It didn’t matter that at the end of the day, when he could finally send off the recruits marching back to their own quarters, giggling and chatting amongst themselves, when he could finally move back to 141’s personal building, back to his own room, back to his bed, that he broke down. Every time, without fail. 

He would close his door, and tears, no matter how hard he tried to distract himself, would quickly sprout and run ugly lines down his cheeks as he sobbed. His confidence faltered every time, his trembles became quakes that wracked his body, his nausea staining his teeth, dripping down onto the tiled floor of the bathroom, over the porcelain seat, everywhere. It was pathetic, and embarrassing. Shamefully, so. It made him feel like a baby, a fragile little child who needed their mother to hold them and soothe them with soft lullabies. Which was ridiculous, because he was Sergeant Mactavish, one of the toughest fuckers in the military. A member of 141. He’d survived so much, only to be taken down each night by his own failing body. 

141. He couldn’t understand why, when he spent time alongside Gaz, munching stolen food from Price’s secret stash, watching movies on their shared, crappy, off-duty laptop on some very-much illegal site, talking quietly as they sat on the sofa of their common room, eyes wide in the darkness as they took in the film, he didn’t tremble. He couldn’t understand why, when he was with Price, sorting out long-overdue papers at the Captain’s desk that he was certain didn’t matter anymore, he didn’t ramble gibberish to fill the silence. He couldn’t understand why, when he was with Ghost, sat up late-at-night playing cards on Soap’s bed, dim moonlight being their only friend, he didn’t feel like crying until he threw up.

But he did, he did understand why. He knew why because it had bothered him so much he’d looked online, desperate to find a reason. Google, ever the provider, gave him that reason.

They made him feel safe.

[momo-de-avis]

hi! I hope you're having a lovely day :) feel free to ignore this if you don't want to do more work on tumblr lol, but you seem very knowledgeable about all sorts of historical and touristy things in Portugal, so I figured I'd ask anyway!

I'm going to north Portugal in September on my honeymoon, we're spending 5 days in Porto, then a couple of days near the Douro valley, and then a few days near Manteigas in the Serra da Estrela national park.

me and my husband are both very into museums/art galleries and historic buildings - is there anything in Porto that we absolutely shouldn't miss whilst we're there? is there any particular food we should try? do you have any recommendations for cafes or restaurants to visit?

Hi! Very glad to answer!

Porto is beautiful and I promise you are going to love it, and I admit I'm excited about you going to Serra da Estrela. It's so quiet at that time of the year, all you hear is nature, it's just so peaceful. Also, please try the cheese. Serra da Estrela cheese is a sin, it's so good, and you can go straight to the source there.

In Porto, there is a lot to see, especially if you enjoy museums, monuments and galleries, so I'll list a few things:

Palácio da Bolsa is a must, in my opinion. I believe they have guided tours, if you are interested in that.

Clérigos Church, Hospital and Tower. The view from up there is amazing, but the whole building is rich with history and super interesting, and the church is beautiful.

Porto's Cathedral, which includes the Chapter House and has some amazing artworks inside.

The entire area of the old Borrough of Porto, which is the hill where the Cathedral sits on. That is where the oldest house in Porto is (in Beco dos Redemoinhos, it's about 700 years old), or where the "stairs of the queen" also are, said to have been the stairs taken Countess Teresa on her way to the church that would later become the Cathedral, and the watch tower in front of it.

There are points of interest you might come across as must-sees in Porto but you're better off standing there looking at it cause they're either expensive or they're a McDonalds. The McDonalds building is beautiful, yes. Majestic café is a unique art nouveau building, but it's SO expensive.

On that note, Lello. Lello is interesting and super beautiful, I am not one to discourage people from visiting it. But expect a long line. (it's right next to Clérigos and you can see it from there...). However, you can buy the tickets online (I think they're 5€) and that allows you to skip the line, and if you buy a book, the price of the ticket is deducted from your purchase.

For museums, Soares dos Reis has a lot of art, from painting to sculpture to decorative arts, and it's rich with some of the most important portuguese artists, focused mostly on the circle of Porto, especially from the 19th century.

Porto is known ofr being a vast sea of blue and white tiles. You don't have to look for them, you will just find them. However, Capelinha das Almas and Church of Santo Ildefonso are a good example (Ildefonso stares at Clérigos directly... they were once rivals).

And on THAT note... São Bento Train Station. It is worth it just standing there admiring the architecture and the tiles (keep in mind a lot of these things are stuff you can just include on a long walk)

Some streets... Rua das Flores, or famously Rua de Santa Catarina (where you'll find Majestic and Capelinha das Almas) they're all just very nice walks. Same for Ribeira (the riverside). No plans, just a walk while enjoying the view.

If you are interested in Contemporary Art, Fundação Serralves. At the very least, the gardens are wonderful and they're just a great place to rest and enjoy the afternoon (I think they have cafés there too, but I haven't been there in years, now).

Go on a Douro Valley tour. I cannot emphasise how great these are. You get to visit a handful of cellars, try several wines and enjoy a ride across the Douro. In Porto itself, they also have boat rides across the Douro, some might have wine, I'm not sure, but I find it so much more enriching to do a Douro Valley tour and be able to visit the cellars.

As for food and where to eat, I am not going to give you any restaurant names because I KNOW I have people from Porto who follow me and they can answer that better than I can, but there's 2 things I usually tell people to try in Porto.

One, of course, is Francesinha. It's going to feel like it's a lot. I call it a tower of bread with fibre for days. But try it, because nowhere else in Portugal can they make them as well as they make them in Porto. Besides it's one of the most important hallmarks of Porto culture, and I find that it's a fundamental experience in your journey to try Francesinha. It's like going to Valencia and trying Paella, you just HAVE to.

The other one is a personal opinion and choice of mine because, well, Portugal is known for codfish dishes and my all time favourite codfish dish was born in Porto and it's Bacalhau à Gomes Sá. If I'm not mistaken, it was born on a restaurant that was nearby Ribeira, somewhere in that area, and they actually put up a goddamn plaque celebrating this

Ribeira is the easiest place to find this dish, but it's going to be above average in price (I can guarantee you someone will come into this post to scream that it's a complete theft how expensive it is, but we're just poor and cheapskates, and the restaurants aren't bad. Again, they're going to be above average but not all are ridiculously overprices).

On a final note, if you're interested in doing a walk tour of Porto, there are several companies that do so, but I happen to know a guide who is currently living and working in Porto and I can ask her availability and you guys can agree on something if you're interested. Just let me know!

I hope you have an amazing time!!!!

Anything else, let me know!!

[dubairealestate24]

The Ultimate Guide to Selling Your House Quickly

Selling your house quickly requires a strategic approach and an understanding of the real estate market. This comprehensive guide provides essential tips and strategies to help you achieve a fast house sale.

1. Understanding the Real Estate Market

The first step in selling your house quickly is understanding the current real estate market conditions. The market can fluctuate based on various factors such as the economy, interest rates, and local demand.

Market Analysis: Conduct a thorough market analysis to determine the current trends and the best time to sell. Look at recent sales in your area and compare similar properties to set a competitive price.

Seasonal Trends: Real estate markets can have seasonal trends. Spring and summer are typically the busiest times for home sales, while winter can be slower.

For more insights on the real estate market, visit Home Loans in Dubai.

2. Setting the Right Price

Pricing your house correctly is crucial for attracting buyers and selling quickly.

Competitive Pricing: Set a competitive price based on the market analysis. Overpricing can deter buyers, while underpricing can lead to a quick sale but at a loss.

Price Adjustments: Be open to adjusting the price if you’re not getting the desired interest. A slight reduction can attract more buyers and lead to a faster sale.

For assistance with pricing strategies, visit Buy Houses in Dubai.

3. Enhancing Curb Appeal

First impressions matter. Improving your home’s curb appeal can attract more buyers and facilitate a quick sale.

Landscaping: Maintain a well-manicured lawn, trim bushes, and plant flowers to enhance the exterior appearance.

Exterior Maintenance: Clean and paint the exterior, fix any broken fixtures, and ensure the front door is inviting.

For more tips on enhancing curb appeal, visit home mortgage uae.

4. Staging Your Home

Staging your home can make it more appealing to potential buyers.

Declutter: Remove personal items and excess furniture to create a clean, spacious look.

Neutral Decor: Use neutral colors and decor to appeal to a broader audience.

Professional Staging: Consider hiring a professional stager to highlight your home’s best features.

For staging tips, visit Rent Your Property in Dubai.

5. High-Quality Photos and Virtual Tours

In today’s digital age, high-quality photos and virtual tours are essential for attracting buyers.

Professional Photography: Hire a professional photographer to take high-quality photos that showcase your home’s best features.

Virtual Tours: Offer virtual tours to give potential buyers a detailed view of the property from the comfort of their own homes.

For more on marketing your home, visit Sell Your Property.

6. Effective Marketing Strategies

Marketing your home effectively can significantly impact the speed of the sale.

Online Listings: List your property on popular real estate websites and social media platforms.

Open Houses: Host open houses to attract multiple potential buyers at once.

Agent Network: Work with a real estate agent who has a strong network and can market your home to a wider audience.

For effective marketing strategies, visit Home Loans in Dubai.

7. Flexible Showings

Being flexible with showings can increase the number of potential buyers who view your home.

Open Availability: Offer showings at various times, including evenings and weekends.

Accommodate Requests: Accommodate last-minute showing requests whenever possible.

For more on showings, visit Buy Houses in Dubai.

8. Quick Repairs and Updates

Making quick repairs and updates can make your home more appealing to buyers.

Minor Repairs: Fix any minor issues such as leaky faucets, broken tiles, or peeling paint.

Cosmetic Updates: Consider making cosmetic updates like new light fixtures or fresh paint to modernize the space.

For repair and update tips, visit home mortgage uae.

9. Negotiating Offers

Be prepared to negotiate offers to achieve a quick sale.

Multiple Offers: If you receive multiple offers, compare them carefully and choose the best one.

Counter Offers: Be willing to make counter offers to reach a mutually agreeable price.

For negotiation tips, visit Rent Your Property in Dubai.

10. Closing the Sale

The final step is closing the sale, which involves several legal and financial processes.

Title Transfer: Ensure all legal documents are in order for the title transfer.

Final Walkthrough: Conduct a final walkthrough with the buyer to ensure everything is in order.

For more on closing the sale, visit Sell Your Property.

Conclusion

Selling your house quickly requires a strategic approach, from understanding the market to effective marketing and flexible showings. By following these tips, you can increase your chances of a fast and successful sale.

For more information and assistance with selling your house in Dubai, visit Home Loans in Dubai.

[callsign-magnolia]

I Hope You Dance // Ch. 41

MATURE CONTENT (18+)

A/N: This is cross posted to my Wattpad, so if this seems familiar that is why!

TW: Mental abuse, emotional abuse, slight physical abuse, death and loss.

Description: When Caila meets Rooster, sparks fly. But, she's already married, to a man who she thought loved her, and won't let her go. Rooster will fight for her, he just has to convince Caila to fight for herself.

Word Count: 7.0k

Chapter 40 | Masterlist

It was a warm and sunny day in San Diego, perfect for viewing venues. I pulled the Bronco up next to Penny’s Porsche, her and Mav leaning against it and talking. “There she is! The Bride-to-be!” Mav yelled as I got out, wrapping me up in a hug. Once he let go, Penny hugged me. “So, how’d you find this place?” She asked, turning to look at the victorian home in front of us. “Passed it on the way back home from looking at that last hotel.” She nodded as we walked onto the porch. I caught sight of the Kingston Estate as I sat in traffic coming back from the last venue I checked out. When I looked online they had a garden in the back, as well as a hillside that gave you a view of the ocean, perfect to get married in front of. We walked inside as a woman in a suit walked up to us. “Hi, you must be Miss Motley.” I nodded, shaking her hand. “I’m Margaret, will your fiancé be joining us?” I shook my head. “He’s currently deployed. He’ll come back in April.” She smiled and nodded. “Well here. These have our package options, we offer catering, a photographer and videographer, and we can even make your cake in house.” I raised my brows as she went over everything they did, and the prices on the sheet weren’t that bad.

“Now let me show you the ballroom.” “Oh, can we actually see the garden and the outdoor space first?” She nodded, having us follow her outside. We walked out a large set of gorgeous french doors, leading into a large open space. “Now this is where you would have the ceremony outside. We supply chairs as well as an archway that you can decorate as you, please. If it is too windy that day, we can move it inside, but hopefully we wouldn’t have too.” It was so open and spacious out here, the grass was soft and green, and you could smell the flowers from the garden when a breeze blew by. “You think Bradley will like it?” I turned to Mav who nodded. “Oh yeah, this is something he’d enjoy.” I smiled, nodding. “Okay, let me show you the garden.” We followed her around the corner and all kinds of flowers in many different colors invaded my vision. “Oh wow!” Penny gasped as we walked around. Rows on rows of flowers were everywhere, and there was even a small pond with fish inside. “I really really like this.” The smile wouldn’t leave my face and my muscles were aching. “Would you like to see the inside now?” I nodded and we followed behind her. “Okay, this is our main ballroom.” She opened the double doors to reveal a large room with white and black tiled floor. Tall windows allowed for the sunlight to pour in which made the room seem so warm.

“This is where your reception would be. We provide tables, chairs, a screen for pictures or videos, and space for a band or DJ. We can decorate however you wish. A lot of people these days like the bright neons, but we do have some warm yellow lights that we can hang.” I nodded. “Warm lighting for sure, I’m not a fan of a club element at weddings and neither is Roo.” She nodded. “We have a list of bands and DJ’s that have worked with us, and we recommend as well.” I nodded, just amazed at the room. “Against this wall here we have the bar. You don’t have to use it but if you do you have the option of an open bar or guests paying.” I nodded still mesmerized by the room. The gold chandelier hung over the center of the floor, the morning sunlight bouncing off it. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to our bridal suite and our grooms suite.” We followed her up the grand staircase, the windows showing a beautiful view of the ocean. She took us to the right, towards the groom’s suite, swinging the door open and allowing us into the large room. There was a pool table, a wet bar, a large bathroom with a shower, darts, a large couch and a few chairs and a tv. “There is a bedroom through here, many grooms decide to stay here the night before.” She opened the door to see a smaller bedroom that had a queen size bed. I nodded, as we looked around. “We also have a large closet with a steamer for tuxedos.”

It was nice, nicest I had seen yet and the best price for what we were getting. “Now, the bridal suite.” I was excited to see this, almost skipping behind Margaret on the way over. She swung the door open, and I gasped. Everything was white, bright and beautiful. Tall windows like the rest of the house with sheer white curtains around them, plush white carpet, a wet bar, tv, a living room set up, and a few vanities spread throughout the room. “The bathroom has everything the groom’s suite does, as well as a king-sized bed in that room.” We walked over and it looked so plush and soft, white blankets making it look crisp and clean. “Here we have a hook that you can hang the dress on, a lot of women love to have pictures of just the dress. These are bow windows, and they look beautiful at any time of day, and they make for great pictures.” The excitement was building in my chest. “What do we think?” I asked, turning to Mav and Penny. “Rooster is obviously going to like whatever you like,” Mav said as he tossed his arm over my shoulder. “But I genuinely think he will love this.” I nodded as Penny stepped up next to him. “This screams you guys. It’s classic but not super formal, I can see you guys getting married out there.” I nodded and we followed Margaret down to her office.

“So, what do we think?” I nodded. “I like it, a lot. It’s just screaming at me, but I do have to talk to my fiancé before I book anything.” She nodded, clicking around on her computer. “Okay, well we book out fast and far. When do you talk to him next?” I looked at my phone, looking for the date. “Tomorrow actually.” She nodded, looking up at the clock. “I have four more couples who are looking today. If they all book with us, this can book us out another five months because we already have stuff booked for next year.” My face fell at her words, I was worried we wouldn’t have the short engagement we wanted. “Is there any way I can hold a spot?” She pursed her lips, looking at her computer. “I’m not supposed to, but I’ll tell you what. The next available day we have for a wedding is Saturday December thirty-first. If you put down a deposit on that day, I won’t let anyone else book it. You can talk to your fiancé and call me, but if you don’t call me by Monday, you won’t get that deposit back.” I nodded, whipping out the cash I kept in case I found a venue. “If you do book on the 31st and hang around till midnight there will be fireworks.” I smiled as I handed her the money, nodding. “Thank you so much, Margaret.”

As we got outside, I couldn’t help but do a little dance. “Ah! I found a venue!” Penny and Mav laughed. “It’s really great, Magnolia.” Mav said and I couldn’t help the sigh that escaped me. “I know, and I can’t wait to talk to Rooster about it! I’m gonna go home and email him all the info!” They smiled as I got into the Bronco, tearing down the road, joyful as ever. I was surprised when I got home to find a small SUV in the driveway and an older woman standing on the porch. As I pulled in, she turned to me, her facial expression being unreadable as she did so. “Hi, can I help you?” I asked slowly, a little nervous as to why she was here. “Is Bradley here?” She was snippy, rude even. “No, he’s not. But I’m his fiancé, can I help you?” Attitude was dripping from every word as I crossed my arms over my chest and my hip popped out. “You-you’re the fiancé?” She asked, pointing a chubby finger at me. “I am. And you are?” My eyebrow raised as she seemed to huff. “I’m his aunt Matilda, but he calls me Tilly.” So this was his aunt Tilly, I haven’t seen pictures but she was not what I was expecting. “Well, why don’t you come in and I’ll make lunch.” I said as I walked by her, unlocking the door. She seemed a little stunned at my actions but soon turned and followed me.

The dogs were happy I was home, but they were even more excited that Tilly was here. “Oh! Oh! Good doggy.” She said slowly backing away from Dahlia. “Dahlia. Bed.” She slowly turned, ambling over to her bed before flopping down on her side. Sadie had herself propped up on Tilly’s leg, expecting attention. “Sadie.” She got down, looking at me with a side eye before crawling into Dahlia’s bed and curling up next to her. “I’m sorry. Everyone is so used to them that I forget that some people aren’t fond of dogs.” She seemed to calm down once the dogs did, her shoulders visibly relaxing. “Mangy mutts.” She muttered, making me stop, and turn around. “I’m sorry?” She gave me the fakest smile I had ever seen. “Beautiful dogs.” I huffed, getting fed up with this woman already. “Thank you. Bradley has quite the relationship with them, especially Sadie. The little one.” She followed me into the kitchen, a confused look on her face. “Oh no, my Brad Brad is scared of dogs.” I cringed at ‘my Brad Brad’, pulling out some chicken to cook. “Mm, no he’s not. At least if he is he has an odd way of showing it seeing as the dogs’ sleep in the bed with us.” I was getting frustrated wit her. She shows up to our house, being rude and acting like she knows everything.

“Sleep with you? Do you live here?” It sounded incredulous. I nodded as I pulled out some veggies. “Yes, I do. Bradley and I share a house, a bed. We live together and we love it.” She scoffed, leaning back from the island that she leaned on. “In this house? My sister’s house? Which doesn’t even look like her house anymore! Bradley would never make these changes so I can only assume you pushed it on him! Disrespecting my sister and brother in laws memory!” I slammed my knife down, turning to her as she jumped in surprise. “Shut up! The renovation was Bradley’s idea and yeah, I had some input, but for the most part this was him! And disrespecting their memory?” I stormed back out to the living room, pointing to the pictures placed around the house. “Does this look disrespectful to you? Putting pictures of them and Bradley around the house so he can always see them? I dug these out, making sure that they had a special place in this house.” I stormed over to the fireplace. “Their wedding picture, this is Bradley’s favorite and I wanted him to be able to see it whenever he wanted. So don’t come into our house and start talking shit about how we’ve done things.” She seemed taken aback by my words.

“I can’t believe you would talk to me like this! Bradley wouldn’t stand for it!” “Oh, I know all about your relationship. How you shamed him for following his mother’s wishes and all but abandoning him at seventeen. You’re a piece of fucking work and at this point, you’re not welcome in my house.” She was shocked at my words. “I told him not to marry you! You broke his heart too many times! I don’t trust you!” I laughed as I swung the front door open. “I don’t give a fuck if you don’t trust me. Bradley knows I’m not going anywhere. Now, leave.” She huffed before walking outside. “I’ll just come back when he’s home. I had some stuff to give him anyway.” She was fuming as she stormed towards the car. “Well then see you in April, he’s deployed.” She glared at me before huffing. We stared each other down for a minute before she sighed. “Can I at least leave this stuff here? It’s the rest of his mom and dad’s stuff that was at my house.” I pursed my lips. I couldn’t let my feelings towards her keep Roo from getting stuff that means a lot to him. “Of course.” I helped her tote everything in before setting it in the living room. “Thank you.” I nodded at her. “I’d never stand in the way of what he wants.” She sighed, standing up straight. She turned towards the door, grabbing the door handle and swinging it open, gasping when she saw Maverick standing on the other side with his fist up. They stared at each other for a moment before she spoke up. “Pete.” There was so much malice in her voice, it almost made my skin crawl.

“Matilda.” There was just as much venom in his voice. “What are you doing here?” She asked, her hand on her hip. “He came to discuss wedding stuff with me. He’s been a big help since Bradley is deployed.” She huffed, looking up at him. “You will never be able to replace Nicholas.” Mav seemed shocked, so I stepped in. “Okay. First off, he’s not. Rooster asked for him to assist with the wedding while he was gone. No one could ever replace his dad and Maverick is not trying to.” “You don’t know what he did while my sister was sick.” It was taking a lot to bite back my anger at this point. “You mean like how he took care of Bradley while you bitched about Carol’s wishes?” I asked as I took the door from her. “You don’t know anything!” She yelled. “I know enough. Now, please leave. I don’t want to have to force you out.” She stormed past Mav, almost knocking him over in the process. “Have a nice day, Matilda.” Mav yelled after her. She just gave him the middle finger before tearing out of the driveway. We just laughed as I let him in. “Why was she here?” He asked and I motioned to the boxes. “She wanted to drop the rest of the Nick and Carol’s stuff off for Roo. I don’t know what’s in here.” I said as I walked over and opened the top box, gasping when I saw what was inside. “Carol’s wedding dress.” Mav looked at it as tears sprung to his eyes. I grabbed the pile of tulle on top, lace lining it on the outside. “This is her veil.” It was soft and Mav helped me pull it out completely. “I forgot how long it was.” He chuckled before wiping his cheeks. “You think Rooster would let me wear it?” Mav seemed surprised by my question, but a soft smile graced his features. “I think he’d love that.”

Mav originally came over to retrieve a pair of shoes Penny had loaned me, and he stayed to help me hash out a few small wedding details. It was nice to spend this time with him, I’ve known Mav my whole life, but since being out here he really feels like family. The next morning, I sat at the island, my computer in front of me as I sipped my coffee. I emailed Rooster all of the information on the venue yesterday in hopes he got to read it, and now we were about to finalize a few decisions on this call. I opened the kitchen windows while I sat here to let the warm breeze in as well as listen to the waves crash on the beach just out back. The call was loading, all Rooster had to do was pick up on his end. After a few minutes, the constant swirling circle on the screen disappeared and the face of my handsome fiancé replaced it. “Hey, pretty girl!” The screen was a little grainy but I could tell his smile overtook his face and his eyes had a certain glimmer to them. “Hi honey!” I said excitedly. “How’s your morning?” I smiled, picking up my laptop to show him the windows. “I have the windows open, there’s a warm breeze, and I can hear the waves crashing on the beach. Perfect for a Sunday morning!” He gave me a dopey smile, resting his face in his hands. “God, I love you.” I giggled as I sipped my coffee. “I love you too.” I grinned. “So, I did get to look at the venue and the pictures look amazing.” I nodded excitedly, grabbing the paperwork. "It’s even more amazing in person! They have Bridal and Groom’s suites so if one of us wanted to stay there the night before, we could. The ballroom is beautiful, with room for everything. The gardens are magical almost, I figured we could sneak in there right after the ceremony for a few minutes. Just to take a breather and be with each other for a minute before we dive back into the madness.”

He nodded, listening intently to me. “I think that’s a great idea.” I nodded, writing it down. “Okay, so she told me she would hold the one available date they had if I put down a deposit. I can call her after I talk to you, and if we want it it’s ours, and if we don’t she said she would refund us. She’s not supposed to do that but she’s making an exception.” He nodded. “So, what’s the date?” I sighed, not sure he would be on board with it. “December thirty-first.” I bit my lip, staring at him. “Of this year?” I nodded. “Book it! Take it!” He yelled out, making me giggle. “We wanna get married on December thirty-first of this year?” He nodded, and I jotted it down on the notepad in front of me. “I know it’s not the shortest engagement like you wanted, but I’m excited to get to marry you this year.” I shook my head. “I’ll wait a hundred if it means I get to marry you in the end.” His hand flew to his chest, clutching his heart as he leaned back. “It’s so sweet, I’m gonna die.” I laughed as I looked at the paper with notes I took with Mav last night. “So, you know how we were trying to figure out a second color for the wedding?” He nodded. “I was talking with Mav yesterday and I mentioned that, and he had quite the idea.” He raised an eyebrow. “What about Navy and Champagne?” He raised a brow in surprise. “Mav came up with that?” I nodded. “Sure did.” He chuckled. “I’m impressed, and I really like those color ideas.” I nodded. “So, JJ is gonna be the ring bearer.” I nodded, my bottom lip jutting out. “He’ll be able to walk by then.” Roo mimicked my face before laughing. “I don’t know how you can look so cute like that.” I shrugged with a grin at his words.

“I considered asking Amber and Kim if Anita and Isabella could be flower girls.” He sighed. “The only thing is, Anita is super shy. How’s she gonna act if all these strangers are staring at her?” I pursed my lips. “I had thought about that. Maybe have Jake sit up in the front row, that way if she gets overwhelmed, she can run to him. These ceremonies can be long for kids, so I don’t really expect them to stand with us. They can go sit in the front row if they want.” He nodded. “I considered having Jake be a groomsman.” I raised a brow. “I know you guys are getting on a lot better now, but I didn’t expect that.” He shrugged. “We’ve been emailing back and forth while I’ve been deployed, and we’ve just been getting closer.” I nodded. “Either way, he’ll be at the end of the aisle if Anita gets overwhelmed.” He nodded. “You know, I joked with Coyote, Bob and Payback that they would be flowers boys.” I laughed out. “I think Harvard, Yale, Fritz, and Omaha would be a better fit for that. I was gonna ask Coyote, Bob and Payback to be groomsmen.” I pursed my lips. “Who says we can’t have flower girls and flower boys?” He laughed. “We’ll work that out closer to time.” I nodded. “Okay, so I think that’s it. We will figure out food, flowers, photographers and everything when you come home.” He nodded. “But I was thinking we could do the engagement party not long after you get home. Do you have an idea of when you’ll be home?” He shook his head. “Just April. That’s all I know.” I nodded, my smile falling slightly. “Well then, we’ll just plan it for the first weekend in May to be on the safe side! Penny offered up the bar for anything we needed, and I may take her up on that for this party.”

I looked up, to see he had that dopey smile back on his face. “You’re so cute when you talk about our wedding.” A laugh escaped me, loud as I threw my head back. “You’re so cute with that dopey smile on your face.” He chuckled as Dahlia padded over, propping her legs in my lap so she could see the computer. “What is it? You hear daddy?” Her large nose almost covered the screen as she sniffed it, very confused as to why she could see and hear him but he wasn’t here. “Say that again.” I raised a brow. “What? Daddy?” A large grin grew on his face as mine heated up, the blush creeping up my neck. “Rooster, you’re nasty.” He shook his head with a laugh. “I mean, I was the one thinking about how when we have kids that’ll be my new title. You’re the one who made it dirty.” It’s like someone turned up the heat, I started feeling even hotter at his words. “Speaking of daddy.” I said as I reached behind the computer, grabbing the stick. I held it up, showing him the bold negative in the tiny window. “Wait, did you think you were pregnant?” I nodded. “I had the flu this past week and some of my symptoms could’ve been pregnancy related. Natasha was the one who suggested I take a test.” He sighed, leaning back. “I wanted to talk to you about it though. I think we should stop trying.” His face fell in surprise. “Not permanently. Just until after the wedding. I don’t wanna have to move our wedding around if I do get pregnant because I’m not walking down the aisle with a baby bump.” He nodded, still looking sad. “I also don’t think I’m ready to give up flying yet. My eye doctor told me I’d be lucky to fly after thirty-five anyway, and I want to do it as long as I can.” He bit his lip, looking down at his hands that were folded in front of him. “I forgot about your eyesight deteriorating.” I nodded. “I’m just not ready to give it up, Roo.”

“And I’d never ask you too. But if we did have kids, we would make it work. But I agree, maybe we should stop trying until after the wedding.” I nodded with a sigh as I propped my head on my hand. “So back to condoms, and I’m gonna get on birth control. I have a gynecologist appointment in a few weeks, so I’ll ask then.” He nodded. “Sounds good, pretty girl.” He looked just behind his computer sighing. “One minute.” I pursed my lips. “I love you, and I’ll see you on our next call. One more and then you’re home.” He nodded. “I know, I can’t wait.” I bit my lip. “You know when you come home, we’re gonna be in bed most of the time.” He nodded. “Oh, I know, trust me. It’s all I think about some days.” I smiled at him. “Bye, Roo. I love you.” He gave me a big smile, leaning back in his chair. “I love you too, pretty girl.” With that the call ended. A few tears slipped from my eyes as the call ended. “Fuck.” I muttered, wiping my eyes. Dahlia whined as she propped her head on my leg. “I know, baby. I miss him too.” I said as I pet her head and played with her ears. “Okay, now to call and confirm the venue.” The words alone made my excited. I paced the kitchen as I called Margaret who was ecstatic that we were booking for the thirty-first. As soon as I hung up, it settled in me. I was actually getting married to Bradley Bradshaw. The excitement was so much, I thought my chest would burst open. “I’M GETTING MARRIED!” I screamed as I danced around the kitchen. “I’M GONNA BE MRS. BRADHSAW! FUCK YEAH!”

That week I called mom, telling her we had a date and a venue, which she raved about. Almost more excited than me. I told the rest of the team the date, and they were excited as well. “We should grill out to celebrate.” Payback said as he stood from his seat. “We can do it at my place, tonight. I have all the food.” They nodded. “But we’re cooking. You shouldn’t cook for your own party.” I held my hands up in surrender. “I’m a-okay with that.” After we all finished our hops for the day, we went to the locker rooms, showering and changing into more comfortable clothes before heading out. “We’re all gonna drive back to our places and just ride in one car, so we’ll be behind you.” Payback said and I nodded. “Well, Coyote, Bob and Phoenix rode with me this morning.” Jake said just as I pulled the Bronco door open. “Well, if any of y’all wanna ride with me, you’re more than welcome too.” Phoenix immediately crawled into the backseat as Bob took passenger. “I see how it is.” Hangman huffed as I cranked the engine. “I love you, baby.” Phoenix said, blowing him a kiss. We pulled out and off base, taking in all the warm air that whipped around us. As we went down the road, Hangman passed us, blowing his horn as Coyote waved from the passenger seat.

“Guess they’re gonna wait in the driveway.” Bob chuckled. “Nah, we have a key. Rooster gave it to me just before he left for Texas. It’s on Hangman’s key ring.” I nodded. “They’ll probably let themselves inside, raid my cabinets for anything to cook.” The rest of the drive was spent with the radio filling the silence between us. Some seventies station Rooster keeps it on. As we pulled into the driveway, we saw Hangman and Coyote standing on the porch, staring at the front door. I furrowed my brows, getting out and grabbing my bag. “Figured you two would’ve been inside already.” As they turned around, I saw the door was open. “Did you open that?” Jake shook his head. “It was open when we got here.” My heart was racing. I probably didn’t shut it all the way, that had to be what happened. I stepped onto the porch reaching for the door handle when Hangman stopped me. “Hey, Magnolia, you don’t wanna go in there.” I furrowed my brows in concern. “It’s not pretty and the police are on their way.” My heart was thumping around in my chest. “Hangman I need to go in there. My dogs are-“ I stopped, realizing how quiet it was. “Oh my god.” I dropped my bag and shoved the door open. There was glass everywhere, pictures were smashed, the teddy bear Rooster sent me for Valentine’s Day was shredded and all over the floor. “Dahlia?!” My voice cracked, worried I was gonna walk up on my dog dead in the floor somewhere.

But I was relieved to hear a deep bark from the kitchen. I sprinted over, tossing open the laundry room door and there they both were, safe and sound. “Hi girls.” Tear rolled down my cheeks as I bent down, both rushing to me. “What happened? Huh?” Dahlia licked my face as Sadie nuzzled into my hand. “Okay, come on.” They both turned for the living room, but I caught their attention and sent them out back so they wouldn’t step on the glass. “They’re okay.” I said as I walked back through the living room. There was so much glass everywhere, it looks like all the windows in the house broke. “Who the hell would do this?” I asked to myself as I walked over to the mantle. The pictures of Goose and Carol, and pictures of my parents were fine. But any picture that involved Bradley and I were destroyed. “Magnolia.” I turned to where Phoenix had walked over to the piano. She was crouched on the floor, swiping some glass away. I walked over, careful not to step on any frames on the floor. “Dammit.” I muttered as more tears streamed down my face. I bent down next to her picking up the frame with my pregnancy test in it. The test was gone, and the frame was destroyed, the picture was scratched up from the glass. I wasn’t upset anymore, I was angry. I stood up, rushing up to the bedroom, seeing the same thing in there. Pictures were destroyed, the bedding was ripped apart, even a few of his Hawaiian shirts were ruined. I quickly rifled through my jewelry box, seeing that all the jewelry he gave me was still there.

I sighed, looking around the room. It was absolutely trashed and I had no idea who could’ve done this. I walked downstairs, running my hands through my hair. “This has to be tied to Aaron somehow.” Phoenix tossed her arm over my shoulder, pulling me close. “You think so?” I nodded quickly. “If any random stranger did this, that big ass tv would be gone, all my jewelry would be gone, hell they probably even would’ve taken the dogs! But all things relating to Bradley is destroyed. A few of his shirts are torn upstairs and someone shredded the bedspread. I’m just glad I managed to put away all the stuff his aunt brought over the weekend. If it was laying out, who knows what they would’ve done if they found that stuff.” I heard a car pull up and groaned. “Is that the cops?” Jake nodded as he walked outside. “What did she bring?” Bob asked, using his foot to sweep some glass away from the door. “Mostly stuff of his and his parents. His mom’s wedding dress was in there.” I heard a low whistle and turned to see the same two officers that showed up the night I saw someone sneaking around. “Miss Motley.” They nodded at me, looking around. “So, what happened here?” It was obvious but I knew it was a question they had to ask. “We showed up and the door was open, we peeked inside and saw the place was trashed.” Jake said as the officers wrote it down. “I came home and walked in and saw everything, I’ve walked the house and our bedroom is trashed as well.” They nodded. “If you guys can wait outside, we’re going to do our own walk through.” We all nodded, walking outside as they went around the house.

“Oh my god.” I groaned as I stood in the front yard. “I can’t believe this.” It felt like one thing after another. “I’m just trying to figure out who could’ve done this for Aaron if it was him.” I shrugged. “He has so many connections, and he’s in a federal prison, so he’s probably got some free reign. I’m sure he’s gotten a hold of someone.” Jake nodded. “It’s just so violating. This creep went through the house finding anything to do with Bradley and I, and destroyed it.” I sniffled, trying to keep the tears at bay. Bob came over, hugging me tightly. “You think they took that pregnancy test?” Phoenix asked and I shrugged as I leaned back on Bob. “I don’t know. What would they want with an old positive pregnancy test?” Just as I said that the two officers came out, a manila envelope in hand. “Okay, we haven’t found any clear evidence of who did this. We have a crime scene unit coming in to dust for fingerprints and things like that. But we did find this, it was under one of the pillows on your bed.” He handed me the envelope, and I popped it open. I felt sick to my stomach at what I pulled out. Black and white photos of me leaving the house, out at the hard deck. Rooster in the Bronco, even of him pulling the airstream. There were a few of us through the windows, one of him carrying me inside after the Halloween party. This guy has been watching us for months, and that scared me.

“This person seems to have been watching you for months.” Jake snatched the stack of photos, flipping through them, his face tensing more and more with each photo. “Once the CSI team gets in here, they will take a while to go through everything. We are going to go around and ask your neighbors if they saw anything, once the team is done then we will let you back in.” I nodded. “And what about after? She has some creep stalking her and you’re just going to leave her here all alone?” Jake snapped. “We will have an unmarked patrol car parked out front of her house for a few nights, see if we see anything and we will be making rounds through here during the day.” The officer nodded. “Damn right you will.” “Okay, you’re walking away.” Phoenix said, taking his hand and pulling him over to his truck. “Now do you believe me when I say someone has been creeping around my house?” I asked. “I'm sorry. What?” I squeezed my eyes shut at Jake's voice. “Yes and we'll do our best to catch this guy.” I nodded. “Look, my suggestion would be to go and get some food. We’re gonna be here a while.” I agreed and gave the officer my number before turning and getting in the cars as Payback and Omaha drive up. “Change of plans, we’re going out to dinner.” Payback nodded before I turned. “As soon as we get to the restaurant you’re spilling everything.” Jake snapped before opening the jeep door for me. I just nodded, not wanting to argue. There was a fire in his eyes that almost scared me. I had never seen him this angry and I never want to again. I got in, Bob joining me and we took off for a restaurant. We arrived at some Mexican place that smelled divine and that's when I realized how hungry I really was. Once we got inside and sat down, that’s when the grilling started.

“Does Rooster know someone’s been sneaking around the house?” Hangman’s questions triggered everyone else’s questions. ‘What?’ ‘When did this happen?’ ‘Should someone stay with you?’ I was grateful for their concern but I didn’t want everyone worrying about me. “No he doesn’t, and I would appreciate it if no one tells him. I’ll tell him when he comes home, cause I don’t want him worrying about me while he needs to be focusing on his mission.” I didn’t eat him to be distracted. Distractions cause accidents. “You’ve been keeping too many secrets from him.” He huffed and I scowled. “I’m telling him everything when he comes home.” Hangman crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You could’ve told him at Christmas.” I scoffed at the thought alone. “Yes, because on Christmas, after he proposed I was supposed to say, ‘Hey, by the way, your buddy Buck pinned me to the wall and kissed me and I got into a fight with him after.' No, we were enjoying our time together.” I snapped. “Look, just promise me you’ll tell him eventually and we will all make sure you’re taken care of till he comes home.” Everyone agreed, giving me soft smiles. “Okay. I’m gonna look into getting a security system as well.” Everyone agreed that was a good idea.

We had a good dinner, even had a few drinks before we went back to my house. They apparently found some finger prints but it would take time to run them through the database. Once they left I went back inside to the mess. It was now seven o'clock, and I knew I wouldn’t have this all cleaned in an hour. “Want our help?” Bob asked, leaning against the door frame. I just shook my head. “No, it’s not your responsibility.” He scoffed and I looked at him in surprise. That’s very out of character for Bob. “It’s not yours either. Someone forced their way in here, it’s not like you made this mess yourself. So let us help you.” I sighed but reluctantly agreed. Soon everyone came in. Halo helped me clean up my room while everyone else cleaned downstairs. “Whoever did this really hates Rooster.” She said as she yanked the bedding off. “Either that or they were paid to destroy everything relating to Rooster.” I said as I looked at his shirts. I wasn’t sure if I had the sowing skill to fix them. I just hoped and prayed they weren’t some of his dad’s. Halo helped me make the bed, making sure the new sheets and bedspread we put on was nice and clean. Once that was done we went downstairs to see everyone cleaning up the last of the mess. “I um, kept all the pieces of the bear he sent. I didn’t know if you’d wanna try and fix it.” I nodded. “I’m gonna try, I’m also gonna attempt to sow some of his shirts back together. My mamaw taught me well but it’s been years since I’ve had to sow anything.” She nodded before everyone plopped down onto the couch. “It’s getting late, I’m sure y’all wanna go home and get in bed.” Everyone just shook their heads. “We’re not leaving until that officer shows up.” Fanboy said and I nodded, opting to sit between Coyote and Phoenix.

I held the shredded bear in my hands, realizing I couldn’t tell what pieces attach to which. Tears sprung to my eyes as I stared at it. Phoenix ran her hand through my hair, leaning her head on my shoulder. “Let it out, Magnolia.” Her words were like an earthquake causing a dam to break. Sobs racked my body as my cheeks got soaked with salty tears. Coyote pulled me down to his shoulder as Natasha adjusted herself. Her arms wrapping around my torso and her head on my chest as Javy held me close. “Why me? I just want to live my life and people keep messing it up!” I sobbed. Javy shushed me as Natasha squeezed me. “I know, I know and I’m sorry.” Her own tears covered doused my shirt as she cried with me. After about twenty minutes I had calmed down and the officer showed up. “I’m officer Watson. I will be parked just a few houses down.” He handed me a business card. “That has my direct number on it. If you hear anything, see anything you can call me, and I will come running.” I nodded. He seemed nice enough, but he also seemed young. “Thank you.” He walked back towards his car, and I turned back to everyone. “Well, now, we will leave you.” Fritz said as he stood, pulling me into a tight hug. “We’re all going to keep our phones on tonight. So, if you need us, you can call.” I nodded as he squeezed e one last time. Soon everyone went outside except Hangman and Phoenix. “Are you sure you’re gonna be, okay?” He asked and I nodded. “I still can’t believe they didn’t believe you.” I sighed and nodded.

“Well, I had a manic episode, and I was hallucinating from lack of sleep. I’m just glad they seem to now.” He nodded. “You sure you’re gonna be okay?” Phoenix asked, taking my hands in hers. “I’ll be fine. If I need you, I’ll call.” She nodded, hugging me tightly before stepping outside. “We’re a phone call away.” Hangman said before hugging me as well. Once they left, and I shut and locked the doors, I noticed how dark and eerie the house could be. I let the dogs out one more time before double checking that all the doors and windows were locked. Once I did, we went upstairs and got ready for bed. As I laid there, staring at the ceiling, I couldn’t help but think how this creep touched my bed, how he destroyed it simply because Rooster and I share it. When I realized I wasn’t gonna sleep much that night, I grabbed my phone, pulling up my email. Quickly I typed out a very short email to Rooster. ‘I love you, and I can’t wait for you to be home.’ Once I sent it, I felt a little better, but not enough to make me sleep. “You’ll let me know if you hear anything, right Dahls?” She just huffed as I ran my fingers down her spine. “Atta girl.” With that, I laid there, hoping for sleep, knowing it may not come.

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