#parker made tanner... look

[faeryworlds]

TAG DROP PART 1

[webslingingslasher]

heyyy I was just wondering WHAT THE HELL DO YOU PUT IN THIS FRAT!PETER FICS BC I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT TROUBLE AND PETER! I just melt for them together😭😩❤️

I swear when I'm about to fall sleep he just pops into my head and HAVE to grab my phone to reread some of them. Your writing is just soooo god and I wanted to thank you for creating such a work of art🥵🥵🥵

Also I can't stop thinking about frat!peter being jealous like finding a guy talking who hooked up with trouble and overthinking how different they are from each other? and if the ex fling keeps trying to talk with trouble in a friendly way, he would play it cool? i feel like he would look at them talking and he knows about what happen between them but is kinda nervous? idk

I LOVED BRUJA THANK YOU SO MUCH I HAVEN'T ENJOY READING LIKE THIS IN SOOO LONG🥹🥹🥹

first, peter and trouble are crack. second, thank you very much for enjoying!!!

---

peter knows what it looks like to awkwardly chat with an old hookup, he’s done it more than a few times. so, when he watches your eyes dance around the room while you politely laugh in response to the guy in front of you, he just knows.

he’s taller than peter, and he’s not one to be self conscious about his height, but he might now. and he’s got bigger biceps, peter’s spider-man and doesn’t have the build this guy does.

and he’s got nice hair. really nice hair. the kind of hair he knows you love. it’s like peters, but longer and a bit more curly. peter pats the hair on the back of his neck, he’s been growing it a little longer, but apparently not enough.

in a desperate attempt to keep your attention on him tonight, he takes his hat off to throw it on top of the fridge. you always beg him to take it off, it’ll work. he’s sure of it.

it doesn’t. you’re unable to stand still, if he was projecting, he’d say you went from awkward to uncomfortable. peter’s not going to be the guy to barge in, but he takes a step forward, just in case.

it’s like you can feel him, your eyes shoot to his across the room. no words are said or mouthed, but your eyes said enough. ‘help.’ its all he needs.

peter cuts the guy right off, slinging an arm low around your waist. a kiss to your temple, ‘hi, trouble.’ you relax into his touch, you hold on tight to his arm. ‘have you met tanner?’

he hasn’t, and he really doesn’t care to. it looks like tanner doesn’t either, they’re both sizing each other up. peter’s putting on a brave face, but he knows tanner's thinking he’s no competition, and peter can’t help but feel the same.

still, he throws a hand out. ‘sup, man. i’m parker.’ tanner shakes it, ‘sup.’ peter holds his hand a bit too tight, he’s trying to subtly prove that even if he was smaller, he could kick his ass if needed.

tanner asked peter how he knew you, he had to bite his tongue on the disrespect. he knew exactly how peter knew you, his possessive hold tells it all. ‘i’m her boyfriend.’

you dig your nails into his arm, you were caught off guard with the statement. he said it like it was obvious, tanner smirked. ‘ah, lucky man.’ peter really doesn’t like his face.

‘yup. sure am.’ you nudge back against him, peter takes it as a hint to get out of there. he couldn’t agree more. ‘wanna get a drink?’ you nod quick, 'yes, please.'

your 'boyfriend' made a small show of spinning you in his hold, you laughed at the twirl and balanced yourself on his shoulders. 'nice seeing you again,' you forgot who you were with for a second.

'you too, tanner! have a good night.' peter nudged your lower back to get you walking, you didn't make it four steps until you were pulled in for a bruising kiss. every thought melted away, there was only one person on your mind.

'peter,' it puffed out, just like your lips.

'trouble,' he said it like a greeting. you shook your head, leaning in for another, you were lucky tonight, he supplied.

'thanks, boyfriend.'

'that was a typo.'

you scoff. 'no it wasn't, that was you acting like you have one foot up so you don't feel as threatened.'

the choice of words make his skin crawl. peter knows it's not exclusive, exclusive. but he at least thought you both were on a similar page, one that didn't include saying 'so you don't feel as threatened.'

'what the fuck is that supposed to mean, trouble? so i don't feel as threatened? i was doing you a favor, but feel free to go entertain whoever you want, i'll do the same.'

peter's sudden aggression had your head spinning, you tried to grab onto his arm before he left you entirely. 'did i say the wrong thing? i didn't mean to say the wrong thing!'

'i didn't feel threatened until you said i should be. i just really don't like being reminded that i'm a choice you can change your mind on at any time, it's not a good feeling.'

sometimes when he says something to that effect, you want to tell him he could do something about it. sometimes, you let it go and remind him you're not looking for anyone else, if you were, you would've stopped putting up with his shit ages ago.

this is one of the times you put his fears at bay.

'look, peter, that guy, tanner? he's all talk, he seems like some cool guy but he really kind of sucks. in the least commitive way possible, boyfriend, there are no threats.'

'you keep talking about threats.'

'cause you have none!' you exhale deeply, 'i don't like anyone else, okay? and talking to other guys makes me wanna bash my head into a brick wall.'

'you talking to other guys also makes me want to bash my head into a brick wall.'

you grin and smooth out a wrinkle on peter's shirt. 'good, we're on the same page, then.'

peter throws an arm around your shoulder while he guides you to the kitchen.

'i'll deny it if you say anything, but i quite like reading at the same pace as you, trouble.'

[transformation4life]

Thinking Straight

"Hey Faggot, bet you want these guns?" The gymbro flexed to Parker.

Parker was your average gay twink trying to get some muscle at the gym much to the dismay of the straight homophobic gymbros. Even with that in mind he still came back every single time. Even with their comments he couldn't help but keep drooling at their bodies especially with their asian heritage.

"Yes I do. Now keep belittling me please," Parker didn't hesitate to keep staring.

The gymbro snarled and grabbed Parker by the neck.

"You. Faggot. Shut up! You will be like us soon enough and understand how much faggots like you deserve to suffer." The gymbro let go of Parker as the words left Parker with a terrible feeling in his stomach.

The collective bunch of gymbros all laughed and pointed at Parker soon after and Parker's hard on quickly faded and the poor skinny guy was filled with embarrassment and left the gym to go back home. Usually Parker would be filled with lust after the gymbros insulted him, but after getting grabbed he felt... different. Either way Parker needed to be alone for a while.

Parker arrived at his apartment and opened the door and was quick to collapse onto his couch.

" *Groan* That was so weirdddddddddd. What did that guy even meannnnnn? I'm as gay as can be!" Parker didn't want to think about what happened anymore so he resorted to his usual at-home activity of watching videos of male bodybuilders to get a hard-on.

So Parker pulled out his phone and was quick to search stuff like "Bodybuilder Flexing" and "Bodybuilder Posing" and "Pec bounce" hoping it would give him the desired tent in his pants. Much to Parker's dismay though, that tent never appeared even when it usually should have. Parker felt like something was off. The words the gymbro said to him ringed in his head again.

"AUGHHHH This is infuriating!!! Y'know what I'll just go to bed now. It's getting late anyway," Parker closed the YouTube app and made his way to his bed.

An urge quickly took over Parker as he out of characteristically decide to sleep nude.

"I-It's a bit hot in here this is perfectly fine..." Parker told himself.

Parker closed his eyes thinking of strong, large, and muscular men hoping he could maybe stroke his cock before bed but he still felt nothing. Infact he felt more challenged that he wasn't like them.

"I'll show them tomorrow. No more horny," He mumbled before drifting off to sleep as his life would soon change drastically.

As the night continued Parker kept rolling around in bed as he kept twisting and turning his sleeping position as he tried to think of large men in order to calm himself down but it still wasn't working.

"You will be like us soon enough," The words suddenly entered the thoughts of Parker making him sweat. Almost sweat too much.

Parker's face began to morph as his eyes became thinner and his lips a bit plumper and more changes to give his face a more asian look. Although his eyes were closed Parker's vision started to worsen while suddenly a pair of glasses appeared on his nightstand. Parker's pale white skin was slowly becoming much more tanner and much like he's been out in the sun for a lot longer than he actually has. Memories of being a Thailand immigrant quickly surfaced into Parker's brain as they replaced the ones of being born in the United States. Still as gay as ever, Chet Wong still wanted to get big and stare at men all the while.

"เชี่ย…" (Fuck...) Chet moaned in perfect Thai as he was about to get a hard-on thinking of the same asian gymbros before something stopped it.

The next most important change become evident as Chet began to pack on TONS of muscle. As the muscles packed on so did the memories of Chet going to the gym at young age of 14. It wasn't before long that Chet had two massive suckable tits, washboard abds, pythons for biceps and thick juicy thighs not to mention the bubble butt of all time along with other ultra masculine features.

And now... the star of the show couldn't wait much longer as Chet's currently small dick erected and grew into a thick girthy 10 inch monster just waiting to fuck.... something. Boys! Girls? Chet was a bit fuzzy on his sexuality as he continued to moan as he remembered his long rod and hanging out with... those asian gymbros?! Wait... that's right those were Chet's friends. Have been for a while now. But why would those homophobic shitstains want to hang out with-

-and understand how much faggots like you deserve to suffer." Chet grabbed his rod thinking of how hot his gymbros were and how lucky a gay bodybuilder like him was lucky to be around them until his stopped in his tracks and his dick softened.

"Why am I thinking like a Fag? I'm no Fag!" Chet's homosexuality quickly became 100% heterosexuality.

Thoughts of men pecs and hairy bodies were quickly replaced with the thoughts of busty women and their curvy bodies that Chet needed to seed with his 10-incher. Chet adopted every single toxic masculinity trait in the book as he thought about all the women he fucked and all the fags that he turned down. Chet's rod quickly rose to it's full girth as he began to masturbate until releasing a sea of cum onto his bed.

"ที่รู้สึกดี….." (That felt good...) All of Chet's worries were gone as he finally drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Morning arrived as a flurry of notifications brought Chet awake. Chet groaned a bit as his morning wood was evident due to his thoughts of women last night. Chet grabbed his glasses from his nightstand and went for his phone.

"Wonder what Fag texted me last night. Let's see..."

Much to Chet's betterment it was one of his gymbro friends also from Thailand.

GB: เฮ้ Faggot พร้อมที่จะทำซ้ำแล้วหรือยัง? (Hey Faggot, ready to do reps?)

BigDick: ฮ่าๆ! แน่นอน ขอแค่ให้ฉันเตรียมไม้เรียวให้สาวๆ แล้วฉันจะไปที่นั่น (Haha! Of course just let me get my rod ready for the ladies and I'll be there.)

Chet put his phone down and got out of his bed to give a good look of himself on his closet mirror. He was feeling cocky and ready to seed.

After a self-obsessed ten minutes Chet put some clothes on, but making sure his prized schlong was big and out there. Chet then grabbed his gym bag and set out for where his bros were at.

"ไอ้เหี้ย! นั่นแหละ!" (Faggot! There you are!) One of the gymbros shouted as Chet approached

"ฮาฮาฮามาก. ฉันไม่ใช่ตุ๊ด แม้กระทั่งยกออกเมื่อคืนนี้กับผู้หญิงบางคน" (Haha very funny. I am no faggot. Even jacked off last night to some ladies.) Chet smirked.

"และนั่นคือเชตที่เรารู้จัก!" (And that's the Chet we know!) The gymbros all cheered.

"มาปั๊มกันเถอะ!" (Let's get our pump on!) Chet cheered back.

The thai gymbros worked out for hours as they built their muscles to show off to the ladies. A couple ladies at the gym even noticed the group making some comments about them. This caught the attention of Chet as he was ready to get some pussy tonight. While the other gymbros were distracted with their workouts Chet stripped of all of his clothes except for his underwear poorly keeping his rod in check.

"Hey ladies. Like what you see?" Chet did a little flex.

The girls giggled and nodded. Chet was ecstatic and made his move.

"So how about you feel this 10 incher in ya later tonight at my place?" The girls giggled again but politely decline much to Chet's rage.

"What?!?!?! You bitches don't know what you're missing on!!!" Chet walked away to his bros absolutely fuming.

"What's wrong bro?" One of the gym bros asked.

"Ladies didn't want my seed it was not fun!!!" Chet replied solemnly.

The bros showed deep concern for Chet and began to hype him up.

"You got big ass Chet! Those bimbos know nothing!!" One of the gymbros said prompting Chet to look at his ass in the nearby mirror.

"You are right!"

Almost as if right on cue another set of ladies walked by and Chet's libido was higher than ever. Chet adjusted his loose underwear ready for a seeding opportunity.

Surprisingly one of the ladies actually agreed to a date later tonight and the whole gymbro group cheered.

"นั่นคือเชตของเรา!" (That's our Chet!) Any sign of Parker was long gone as Chet pulled down his pants thinking of all the ladies he was going to fuck.

Chet's prize swayed back and forth as Chet began to smile as he moved his legs in excitement.

"ฉันรักการเป็นผู้ชาย!" (I love being a man!)

[televinita]

Top 100 Ladies of TV

Looking at old blog posts, many years ago I did a "100 favorite female characters" list, but I have met so many wonderful new ladies now that it is quite out of date and needs a major update to accommodate them. International Women’s Day seems like the perfect time to do so!

Only this time I'm restricting it to TV characters, or I will die of Overwhelm.

NOTE: This list is not in any kind of order, I just wrote them down as they came to mind. I considered alphabetical, but found it was nicer to keep everyone from a given show together. And rather than starting from scratch, I kept as much of the original list as I could and just added newer favorites on at the end, if you're wondering why some of these Very Old Fandoms are clustered at the top.

Rose Tyler (Doctor Who)

Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

Sarah Jane Smith (Doctor Who/The Sarah Jane Adventures)

Kimberly Hart (Power Rangers)

Katherine Hillard (Power Rangers)

Pamela Beesly Halpert (The Office)

Kelly Kapoor (The Office)

Angela Martin (The Office)

Amita Ramanujan (Numb3rs)

Abby Sciuto (NCIS

Ziva David (NCIS)

Abby Lockhart (ER)

Neela Rasgotra (ER)

Sarah Riley (ER)

Rachel Berry (Glee)

Quinn Fabray (Glee)

Tina Cohen-Chang, respect (Glee)

Marley Rose (Glee)

Juliet Burke (Lost)

Alex Rousseau (Lost)

Kensi Blye (NCIS: LA)

Nell Jones (NCIS: LA)

Marisol Delko (CSI: Miami)

Alexx Woods (CSI: Miami)

Calleigh DuQuesne (CSI: Miami)

Samantha Spade (Without a Trace)

Miranda Bailey (Grey's Anatomy)

Cristina Yang (Grey's Anatomy)

April Kepner (Grey's Anatomy)

Addison Forbes Montgomery (Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice)

Sara Sidle (CSI)

Jess Angell (CSI: NY)

Dana Scully (X-Files)

Summer Roberts (The O.C.)

Charlotte "Chuck" Charles (Pushing Daisies)

Olive Snook (Pushing Daisies)

Joan Girardi (Joan of Arcadia)

Kat Miller (Cold Case)

Tru Davies (Tru Calling)

Elaine Benes (Seinfeld)

Daphne Moon (Frasier)

Carla Espinosa (Scrubs)

Jordan Sullivan (Scrubs) -- it's either her or Ellie Torres from Cougar Town, real 6-of-1 situation

Donna Pinciotti (That 70s Show)

Jackie Burkhart (That 70s Show)

Kitty Forman (That 70s Show)

Kara Danvers (Supergirl)

Stephanie Tanner (Full/er House)

Grace Adler (Will & Grace)

Lexi Vaziri (Blood & Treasure)

Jaz Khan (The Brave)

Lux Cassidy (Life Unexpected)

Rachel Matheson (Revolution)

Julia Shumway (Under the Dome)

Nancy McKenna (L.A.'s Finest)

Paige Donohue (Scorpion)

Happy Quinn (Scorpion)

Max Black (2 Broke Girls)

Penelope Garcia (Criminal Minds)

Jennifer "JJ" Jareau (Criminal Minds)

Emily Prentiss (Criminal Minds)

Mae Jarvis (Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders)

Reba Hart (Reba)

Cheyenne Hart (Reba)

Jess Parker (Primeval)

Abby Maitland (Primeval)

Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones)

Tani Rey (Hawaii Five-0)

Kate Beckett (Castle)

Alexis Castle (Castle)

Kat Warbler (The Class) - FOREVER UPSET we were robbed of more than 22 eps of her snarky glory!

Ivy Lynn (Smash)

Elizabeth McCord (Madam Secretary herself)

Carrie Heffernan (i'm sorry i LOVE HER) (The King of Queens)

Frankie Heck (The Middle)

Sue Heck (The Middle)

Mindy Lahiri (The Mindy Project)

Lisa Miller (News Radio)

Beth of no apparent last name (NewsRadio)

Sabrina Spellman (the Teenage Witch, Good Version [WB])

Tia Landrey & Tamera Campbell (Sister, Sister) (I know it's rude but they're both aces and this way my list is secretly 101!)

Jade McKellan (Family Reunion)

Holly Tyler (What I Like About You)

Anathema Device (Good Omens)

Eve Baxter (Last Man Standing)

Sabina of no official last name (Siberia)

Ryan Clark (Off the Map)

Phoebe Buffay (Friends)

Monica Geller (Friends)

Rachel Greene (Friends)

Janine Teagues (Abbott Elementary)

Melissa Schemmenti (Abbott Elementary)

Barbara Howard (Abbott Elementary)

Ava Coleman (Abbot Elementary)

Molly Flynn (Mike & Molly, a terrible show made watchable by its women, though I only have room for 1 today)

Henrietta/Hetty Woodstone (Ghosts [CBS])

Shirley Bennett (Community)

Alex Russell (Maid)

Jenny Hoyt (Big Sky)

Cassie DeWell (Big Sky)

In conclusion:

[chex-nix]

them

(don’t repost any of my art, reblogs are ok)

//MAPs, LGBTQ+phobic, TERFs, racist, minor/adult shipper DNI

[the-real-tc]

Bad Business Ch. 10: There the Vultures Will Gather

Author's note: Again, I'm issuing a trigger warning, as there's stuff in here that might make some people squeamish. You've been warned.

To the childless wife he gives a home, and gladdens her heart with children.

- Ps. 113

Chapter 10:

There the Vultures Will Gather

***

Hudson Police Headquarters

The morning debrief with his team was beginning to bring Chief Parker a glimmer of hope they were making progress on the investigation into Val Stanton's death.

"Okay, how's the 'money' angle coming on the Stanton case?" Parker asked, as he looked around the room.

Detective Benoit answered for the rest of them. "Okay, as far as the financial benefits go, our friends at the International Claim Association confirmed two policies existed for Valerie Stanton. The first is a family policy taken out years ago when both Stanton and her husband were alive. That was through Booker & Sons Life Insurance."

"And the second one?"

"That one was through a different insurance company in Calgary," replied Benoit. "Canadian Rockies Life Insurance taken out maybe six months ago. I spoke with both companies, and no surprise: they're reluctant to put the payouts through since Stanton's death is suspicious and is being investigated as a possible homicide."

"Okay, obviously Stanton's children would have put in the claim for the one with Booker," Jim rightly guessed. "Who made the claim on the non-familial one?"

"We haven't been able to find out yet," Benoit replied. "But the premiums were being paid through an offshore numbered account."

"But someone still had to request Stanton's medical death certificate to make the claim and then file the claim," Parker said.

"Right, and we're waiting for the court orders to come through to access that information. I expect to have them by this afternoon."

"Good work, Benoit," Parker said. "Do you, by chance, have the dollar amount on that second policy?"

"Two million dollars," Benoit answered. "Not bad for a financial motive if you're looking for one."

"Nope, not a bad motive at all," Parker said. "Let me know as soon as you hear back about who requested Stanton's medical death certificate for that second claim."

"Of course, Chief," said Benoit, though both men and the rest of the team had a strong hunch who that person might be.

***

At noon, Calgary detective James Prescott called with an update for Chief Parker.

"I can't thank you enough for the heads up with that investors' group list," Prescott said. "The stuff we're digging up about Tanner Gunn, well, it's leading us down a bit of a rabbit hole."

Parker felt his pulse quicken. "What have you been digging up?"

"My undercover guys said Tanner Gunn was in the hole to the tune of around 900K over a year ago with one of the underground, high-roller poker tables in Calgary. But get this: the loan shark who staked him apparently got all his money back, with interest, no problem."

"A 'year ago' also being right around the time Lanny Barick wound up shot to death," Parker said.

"Rather convenient, wouldn't you say?" Prescott said.

"A little too convenient," Parker commented wryly.

"And you're going to love this one. The International Claim Association confirmed policies exist for every single member of that investors' group through various insurance companies," Prescott added. "Which is not unusual on the surface, but what is a little unusual is they all have more than one policy to their names. And the second policy for all of them—all taken out within the last year or so—is with the same insurance company in Calgary: Canadian Rockies Life Insurance."

***

Heartland Ranch House

"I got your text about Remi, Georgie. Are you doing okay?" Adam asked as he hopped off his bike, having just come from school.

"Not really," Georgie replied with a slow, miserable shake of her head. "Everything is just awful."

"I know. I'm sorry again about Lisa," Adam said sincerely, reaching over to give her a friendly hug. "I'll never forget her crazy aunt who brought all those wacky presents that time."

"Yeah, Aunt Evelyn," Georgie said wistfully. "Crazy. She's supposed to be getting here in a few days. Lisa's sister and nephew are supposed to fly in tomorrow."

"Do you know anything more about Remi? Your text said she had a seizure last night."

"Ty says she was poisoned. Strychnine," Georgie said, eyes downcast. "But he said she hasn't had another seizure since then, so that's a good sign. He doesn't know the source of the poison yet, but he and Cassandra are running tests on stuff like her stomach contents to figure it out."

"I guess that's good news, right?"

"I guess," Georgie said, still sullen.

"Hey, do you want to go for a ride?" Adam suggested brightly. "It might take your mind off things."

Georgie looked at him doubtfully. "You're not exactly the biggest horseback riding fan. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, but you like it," Adam said. "C'mon. Let's go."

The pair saddled up and took a path out in the direction of the Dude Ranch, maintaining a slow pace and an easy silence. Georgie was grateful for this, as she was not in the mood for idle chatter. Simply having Adam's company was enough.

Her phone buzzed a message at that point. She looked at the screen and saw it was from Wyatt.

"It's Wyatt," Georgie said to Adam, reining in Phoenix. "Do you mind?"

"No, go ahead," Adam replied. He was relieved for the opportunity to rest, as he still was not entirely comfortable being bounced around in a saddle, even on an easy ride through the woods.

Wyatt: Hey Georgie that totally SUCKS about remi and I hope she gets better

- Mom needed me to babysit Brick after school or I'd be there

- Missing u at class and hope ur back soon

Georgie: Thnx Wyatt that means a lot

- No worries about not being here

- Adam is over right now so between the two of u looking out for me its not so bad

- I hope I'm back soon too maybe tomorrow or something

Wyatt: OK great!

- See u soon

- bye

Georgie: bye

"Hey, Georgie, look!" Adam said, just as Georgie put her phone away.

She glanced up to see Adam pointing at several black birds that were wheeling in the air a short distance away.

"Those are turkey vultures," Adam explained, pulling out information from his encyclopedic memory. "They're carrion birds. Something must've died out there and they're ready to feast."

"Oh, gross," Georgie said, grimacing.

"It might be the bear that's on the loose. It could have killed something and left behind a carcass," Adam posited.

"Again, gross," Georgie said, eyeing him in the hopes he would quit.

"I'm serious," Adam said. "I think we should check it out. You're not missing any Dude Ranch horses right now, are you?"

"No..." Georgie said slowly. "But-but we are missing a Dude Ranch guest. Oh, no. You don't think..."

Despite not wanting to get close to anything that might be deceased, Georgie nudged Phoenix onwards. Adam followed, scanning the foliage ahead.

Following the direction the birds seemed to be flying would take them off the marked trail into the bushes and more wild, overgrown vegetation. The teens decided to dismount and continue on foot. After securing the horses, Georgie and Adam trudged through the bushes and came upon a small natural clearing beneath the canopy of a grouping of trees. Moments later, they sighted an almost unrecognizable but nevertheless very human heap lying prone on the grass, partially obscured by some shrubbery. Their nostrils were soon assailed by the stench of decay. Flies buzzed and were clustering all over the rotting mass of flesh. Two turkey vultures descended on the body, flapping their massive wings as they settled to begin their meal.

"I-I think you'd better call your mom," Adam said shakily, averting his glance from the stomach-turning spectacle. "And I'm calling my dad."

***

Hudson Veterinary Clinic

"Great. The rest of the lab results just came back for Remi," Ty said, clicking on the report in his email Inbox.

Interest instantly piqued, Cass looked over at her colleague. "So, what was the source of the poison?"

"Her dog food," Ty said, staring at the lab results as if to be sure his eyes were not misleading him.

"How did strychnine get into her food?" Cass asked, equally puzzled.

"I don't know," Ty said tersely as he pulled out his cell phone and hurriedly dialled home. "It's a bag she's been eating from for nearly a week. If it had come contaminated from the production line, she would have been sick a long time ago."

Cass stared at him. "Who are you calling?"

"Home," he replied, exhaling sharply. When Amy answered, Ty did not waste time with pleasantries. "Amy, I need you to grab the open bag of Remi's dog chow right now. Don't touch the contents. In fact, use gloves when you handle the bag. Put it in a heavy-duty garbage bag and seal it tightly. Get it down here to the clinic as soon as you can."

"Ty, slow down, please,"Amy begged. "What's this all about?"

Ty caught himself and scaled back his agitation. "The strychnine poisoning," he stated, his spoken pace this time more slow and deliberate. "We tested the water in her dish, and that came back negative. The only other thing in Remi's stomach was her food, so that means her food was the source of the poison."

"What? Are you sure?" Amy's own shocked reaction was not lost on Ty.

"Without a doubt," Ty answered, looking back at his computer screen.

"All right. I'll get the food. Lyndy just woke up from a nap, so she'll have to come with me."

"Okay, thanks, Amy," said Ty gratefully.

***

Lou could not have been more shocked when she received Georgie's call about a dead body near Heartland Equestrian Connections. She had just finished speaking with Evelyn about her travel details and how she would be more comfortable in the house than at the Dude Ranch. Cabins Three and Four were already made up and waiting for Rachel and Ben to occupy when they arrived in Hudson; Cabin Two was still off-limits.

Chief Parker and his forensics team were already at the site when Lou arrived.

"Mom," Georgie called upon spotting Lou, and quickly went to her for a comforting hug.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Lou asked, holding her daughter close for several moments.

Georgie nodded. "I'm okay," she said at length. "At least I'm better now that you're here."

"Thanks for coming, Ms. Fleming," Jim said. "I really need you to be present when we talk to Georgie about all this since she's still a minor."

"Of course," Lou said, sending her daughter a look of maternal concern. Parker summoned Detective Constable Patterson to assist in the questioning. Lou stood by quietly while Adam and Georgie answered Patterson's questions as best they could.

"We touched absolutely nothing," Adam said in response to her query about their actions upon discovering the body. "I know you're not supposed to contaminate a possible crime scene."

"I know you know," Jim interjected patiently, "but we don't always follow logic when we stumble upon something like this."

"As soon as we realised what it was, we halted where we were right away," Adam continued.

"Yeah, there's no way we were getting any closer to that," Georgie said, her stomach still churning uncomfortably. "That's when we called you all to come."

"Okay, thanks," Patterson said. "Tell us what led you to finding the body in the first place. We're really off the beaten path, here."

"There were some turkey vultures," Adam explained. "I saw them flying around. They're not too common in this part of the province; that's why I noticed them. Since they're carrion birds, I figured something was probably dead out here. That's when Georgie mentioned the missing Dude Ranch guest."

"Carrion birds," Parker muttered with a shake of his head. "Of all things."

"I'm satisfied with what they've had to say, Chief," Patterson said to her boss. "Are you good?"

"Yes, I'm good," Parker said to his subordinate. "You can head back to the scene."

"Will do," she said, and moved off to rejoin the forensic team's efforts.

Jim returned his attention to Adam and Georgie. "Thanks, both of you; you did great today. You called immediately and kept your cool. I know plenty of adults who would not have reacted in as level-headed a way that you have."

"Thank you, sir," Georgie said demurely.

"Thanks, Dad."

"I'm going to talk to your mom now, Georgie," Chief Parker said. "You can wait for her if you like, but the two of you are free to go now if you want. I may have questions later for you, and you can call me if you think of something you didn't mention here."

"Okay, sure," Georgie said. "I think I'll go."

"Yeah, I'd rather go, too," Adam said in relief.

"All right," Parker said. "Be careful on the ride back."

"We will," Adam said.

With that, the teens returned to the horses and rode back to the ranch house, still not completely over the shock and disgust of discovering the corpse.

Chief Parker now focused his attention on Lou. "Georgie tells me you've been missing a Dude Ranch guest," Chief Parker said.

"That's right," Lou said. "Dov Grosvenor. He's been missing for several days. My manager said one of the guests saw him either late on Friday night or very early on Saturday morning out by the firepit. It's all in the information I gave to one of your constables. He came out here yesterday when I called; I filed a Missing Persons report with him."

"About that," Parker said, "it turns out the name 'Dov Grosvenor' is an alias of some kind. No one exists with that name that we can determine."

"He registered under a false name?" Lou's surprise was evident.

"So it would appear, Ms. Fleming," Jim said. "We're of course working on the assumption this is your vanished-into-thin-air Dude Ranch guest, whatever his name really is. Not a pretty way to go."

"No," Lou said, shuddering at the grim realisation her guest had probably met his horrible end due to an encounter with the roving bear.

As Chief Parker feared, the body was far too bloodied, marred and mauled to be positively identified by anyone. There had been no wallet, but a phone with a cracked screen along with other items had been taken by Parker's forensics team.

"Do you get many hunters out here at the Dude Ranch, Ms. Fleming?" he asked.

"Never," Lou said with an instant negative shake of her head. "Why do you ask?"

Parker looked over at his forensics team. They were still gathering evidence, bagging soil samples, and taking photographs. "I ask because we found a rifle near the body," Parker replied.

The chief was referring to the Special Edition Tikka T3x Compact Tactical rifle, mounted with a Steiner Military 3-15x50mm MSR scope and an Ase-Utra SL5i suppressor, which was discovered a short distance from the corpse. This weapon was of great interest to Parker and his team as they quickly noticed the absence of any serial numbers that could indicate license and ownership.

"No, no hunters," Lou repeated with emphasis, surprised at the news the dead man had been armed. "We've never advertised the Dude Ranch as such, either. It's not like we're a big game resort. At most, our guests do a little recreational fishing out on the pond."

"Hmm," Parker murmured. "You see, I don't like the coincidence of this rifle, the bear attack, and the recent death of Val Stanton. Next question: Do you get many trespassers at Heartland or the Dude Ranch?"

Lou gasped, an awful possibility dawning on her.

"What is it?" Parker asked.

"Um, I'll have to check my bookings, but, if this really is my missing guest, I—I think he was also checked in here during the time Val was killed," Lou said, gulping uncomfortably.

"I'll need to see those booking records, Ms. Fleming," Parker said. "Unless, of course, you'd prefer I get a warrant first."

"No, no, I'll gladly volunteer that information if it means we'll get to the bottom of who this guy is and what happened to Val," said Lou.

"Thank you," Parker said. He then beckoned to his forensics team to join him. "While you dig up those records, I'd like to look at the cabin he was staying in right away, please."

"All right," Lou said. "Cabin Two. Follow me. Oh, this is his truck, by the way."

Parker looked at the Ford F-150 that Lou was pointing to. He remembered how his rookie constable had taken the time to inspect the registration sticker when he came out to speak with Lou and found it to be a fake. Now Parker wondered about the license plate itself. He realised Becket had not mentioned anything about it—just the phony registration sticker. He would have to ask the kid what he found out about who the plate was actually registered to when he got back to headquarters.

"Ms. Fleming, when your missing guest first drove up here, did you notice if he had anything loaded in the back of his pickup? An ATV or a dirt bike, or something like that?" Parker questioned.

"No, why?" asked Lou.

"See these straps and this ramp?" Parker said, pointing to the items in the truck's bed. "He may have had something secured back here."

Lou looked for herself. "He couldn't have been bringing an ATV or a bike," she said in reply. "We don't permit those kinds of vehicles to go zooming all over the place here. Heartland Equestrian Connections is meant to be for peace and quiet. If either Jen or I had seen him pull up with something like that, we would have made him fully aware of our policy, in case he missed it on the website."

"Okay, thanks," Jim said, putting the issue on his mental back burner for the time being. "Let's see the inside of his cabin now, please."

"Let me get the master key," Lou said.

"Just unlock it, but don't touch the handle," Parker said in warning.

"Okay," Lou said. She climbed the steps and unlocked the door without touching the handle, as requested.

"Wait outside, please, Ms. Fleming, while my team goes over everything," said Jim.

"Of course." Lou stood back to let the forensics team first dust the handle for fingerprints and then enter the premises.

While Parker and his team pored over Cabin Two, Lou was gripped with apprehension. I can't believe this is happening. This is going to absolutely kill the Dude Ranch business. Who is going to want to stay here after people find out one of my guests was killed by a bear?

She pulled out her cell phone to access the bookings app to get the information for the chief. Sure enough, the name 'Dov Grosvenor' appeared as having reserved Cabin Two earlier in April, coinciding with the date of Val Stanton's death. Lou shivered at having that piece of information confirmed. Who was this guy, and could he really be responsible for what happened to Val?

Inside Cabin Two, Parker was initially disappointed. A pair of khaki-coloured pants and black cotton T-shirt lay folded crisply on the bed, the latter of which was also made up neatly.

"Chief, we've got something under the bed," one of the forensics team members named Corey Fraser stated. "It looks like a couple weapons cases of some kind."

The forensics photographer, Jason Pruitt, immediately dropped to the floor to snap images of the location of the cases.

"Let's pull them out and see what we have," Parker said, once Jason was finished.

Corey reached in and dragged the larger case out first.

"Empty," Corey said after snapping it open. The interior held sturdy foam packing, the contours of which very obviously matched the tactical rifle they discovered earlier near the body. There were also indentations that matched the shape of the weapon's scope and suppressor.

"Let's have a look inside that second case," Parker said.

Corey flipped the tabs and opened the lid to reveal a pair of Glock 17 pistols.

"Let's get pictures and bag and tag," Parker commanded. His team immediately complied with the instruction.

***

Hudson County Morgue

"Jim, we won't get anything from his fingerprints, unfortunately," the coroner Harlan Blackburn said as the two men stood in front of the stainless steel slab upon which the dead man's reeking remains were laid out, covered by a sheet.

"Why is that, Harlan?" Chief Parker asked, doing his best not to breathe through his nose.

"Not enough left of the fingers. Our guy must have put up his hands and arms defensively to protect his head and neck when the bear attacked. Chewed up his fingers and hands pretty bad. See?"

Harlan raised the sheet to show what was left of one of the dead man's hands.

Jim had seen his fair share of dead bodies in his career, but this was the first bear mauling he had come across, and he felt his stomach flip at the sight of the mangled, rotting digits.

"He didn't leave any prints in the cabin or in the truck, either," Jim said, swallowing hard against the tide of bile rising in his throat.

"I'll get you some dental X-rays and see if we get lucky," Harlan said casually.

"Great," Jim said. "Have you been able to determine a time of death yet?"

"From the observed rate of decay and the stage of the life-cycle of the flies present, I'd say he's been dead close to three or four days, give or take."

"So that would mean he's been dead since Saturday or Sunday," Jim stated.

"Yeah. Plus, turkey vultures tend to be picky about what they'll consume," Harlan continued. "They usually turn up their beaks if something's been dead past the four-day mark. Mind you, overnight temperatures have been close to freezing these past couple nights, which would of course also slow the decomposition... But I'd still say three or four days."

Jim said, "That pretty much squares with what one of our witnesses says about the last time this guy was seen alive. Thanks, Harlan. Let me know when your report is done."

Harlan gave him a thumbs-up. "You're welcome, Chief. The report will be ready lickety-split barring any surprises."

With that, Parker beat a hasty exit out the door. A few breaths of non-decay-scented air later, and he was on his way back to police headquarters to question his procedurally lax rookie constable.

"Becket," he said, upon finding the hapless young man. "About that Missing Persons report you tried to file for the name 'Dov Grosvenor' ... you did actually run the guy's license plate through the database, right?"

A beat of silence passed. "No, sir," Becket said as he visibly paled. "Once I realised the registration sticker was fake and didn't find his name anywhere, I just assumed the plate was fake, too—"

"Rookie," Parker growled. "Never 'assume' anything. Run that plate now and find out who it's supposed to be registered to!"

"Yes, sir. Right away, sir," Becket said meekly.

"Chief, that name 'Dov Grosvenor'..." Benoit said thoughtfully, having heard the exchange.

"What about it?"

"I knew a guy in high school back in Montreal named 'Dov'," Benoit recounted. "I remember it because it was so unusual. He told me he had Jewish ancestry and that the name means 'bear' in Hebrew."

Detective Constable Patterson picked up on this. "How about we see what the name 'Grosvenor' means, too?" she asked while tapping an inquiry into the Google search engine. Two seconds later, she had the result. "You're not going to believe this, but 'Grosvenor' means 'chief or royal hunter'."

"A guy registers under a fake name that essentially means 'royal bear hunter' only to end up getting mauled to death by a bear? If that don't beat all," Kavanaugh said with a dry laugh.

"Now that's what I'd call poetic justice," Parker said.

"Chief," said Becket, coming back with the results of his own search. "The license plate on the truck comes back as being registered to a beige 1998 Toyota Corolla belonging to 79-year-old Mildred McCann of Grande Prairie, Alberta."

"Stolen plate?" Benoit asked what everyone was thinking.

"Maybe," Parker said pensively. "Let's get Grande Prairie RCMP on the line, please, Constable Becket. You're going to explain to them that we have a truck here in Hudson with a license plate that should be on a Toyota in their city. Find out everything you can about the owner and how she might be connected to our dead guy."

"Yes, sir," Becket said, and retreated to his desk to do just that.

***

Half an hour later, Becket reported his findings to Chief Parker.

"Grande Prairie RCMP think they can ID our body," Becket said.

Parker was instantly alert. "Who was he?"

"They think it's Mildred McCann's son, 36-year-old Earl McCann," Becket said. "He's got several outstanding warrants for theft, assault, uttering threats, fraud, and so on. They said he was dishonourably discharged from the Armed Forces years ago for insubordination and pretty much being a violent, loose canon.

"Mildred has Alzheimer's and is in an assisted-living facility. The RCMP corporal I spoke with says Earl never visits, but somehow the bills get paid. RCMP in Cold Lake almost had him a while back when he was stopped for driving around in the truck with the plate registered to his mother's sedan. Those cops let him go because Earl reportedly claimed he had not had time to get to the registry office to make the switch. Those Cold Lake guys assumed he was telling the truth and let him go with a warning to get it done. They didn't realise their mistake until he was long gone."

"See how assuming something can lead to bigger problems?" Parker said, knowing the lesson would not be lost on his rookie.

"Yes, sir," Becket said solemnly.

Parker sighed. "Eh, for what it's worth, Earl McCann does not sound like the kind of guy who would have let himself be taken in because of a petty registration violation. He most likely would have shot and killed those cops in cold blood if they had pulled up his warrants at the time."

Becket's eyes went wide. "I hadn't thought of that, sir."

"All right. I'll let Harlan know to send the dental X-rays to the Grande Prairie detachment," Parker said. "I'm sure they'll be able to confirm it's Earl McCann."

"Yes, sir," Becket said.

Turning to the rest of his team, Parker said: "Now we get to figure out why Dov Grosvenor, aka, Earl McCann, was staying in Hudson and how he managed to get himself killed by a bear. We've got lots of evidence to process, so let's get moving."

***

Heartland Ranch — Barn Loft

Ty was dreaming in the early morning hours. An open country road stretched before him as he rode his treasured Norton motorcycle. Someone's arms held onto him tightly from behind. Without turning to look, he instinctively knew it was Amy. Such a feeling of freedom coursed through him, he did not even wonder for a moment where they were headed, or that none of this made any sense since he was no longer in possession of the Norton.

As is sometimes the case in such dreams, Ty's point of view shifted. He was now observing the ride rather than experiencing it. He noticed with a touch of confusion it was not Amy who was snuggled up close to him, but rather Ashley Stanton. Repulsed, Ty brought the motorcycle to a halt and planted his feet on the ground.

"Get off the bike, Ashley. I'm supposed to be giving Amy a ride."

"What?" Ashley whined. "But this is my brother's bike. You promised me you'd take me out for a spin."

"No, this is my bike," Ty argued indignantly. "Get off!"

"You can't leave me stranded on the side of the road," Ashley complained. "Take me back to Briar Ridge."

Ty thought to himself this was a reasonable request since he really could not just abandon Ashley in the middle of nowhere.

"Fine," Ty heard himself saying. "But if Amy shows up, you're getting off, and I'm taking her."

"Fine," Ashley said.

Ty started up his bike again and turned around, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of Amy.

The dream then seemed to morph into other images and sights that no longer had any connection to the original theme. When Ty awoke, the dream was already fading. By the time he had brushed his teeth and washed his face, he had already forgotten most of it. However, a small voice nagged in the back of his brain he should have paid attention to something important in that dream, but that detail remained elusive.

***

May 8

Hudson Times—Online Version

Man Mauled to Death

Nadir Jutley

Hudson Police along with Alberta Fish and Wildlife are issuing an urgent alert to all residents of Hudson county after a grisly discovery. The body of an unidentified man, badly mauled, was found in a wilderness area near the Heartland Equestrian Connections resort yesterday afternoon.

The owner and operator of Heartland Equestrian Connections, Samantha Fleming, declined to comment on the situation due to the ongoing investigation by Hudson police, but did say the resort will be closed to the public for the next two weeks.

If you see the bear, contact Alberta Fish and Wildlife immediately at 555-625-1540. Do not approach the animal under any circumstances.

More details to come as information is released by authorities.

Email: nadir_jutley

***

Hudson Police Headquarters

"I've got the ballistics report on the rifle we found yesterday at the Dude Ranch, Chief," said Kavanaugh as his boss walked into the room for the morning briefing. The team had been burning the midnight oil working on the evidence collected from the Dude Ranch, and results were beginning to filter through.

"Let me guess: Earl McCann's rifle is the same weapon that killed Valerie Stanton," Parker said.

"You got it in one, Chief," Kavanaugh said, "it's just as you suspected."

"What about the pistols we found in the cabin?" Parker asked. "Anything special about them?"

"Well, we already knew those Glocks—untraceable of course—were the wrong caliber for the Stillman shooting," Kavanaugh said. "But we did get a hit on an unsolved murder on one of the Glocks. I've just shared that information with Detective Prescott in Calgary."

"Oh?" Parker said, interest aroused.

"You're probably not going to believe this, but the ballistics on one of them came back as a match on the Barick murders."

"You're saying McCann was responsible for Stanton and the Baricks?!" Parker exclaimed.

"So it would seem," Kavanaugh said. "Why else would he have been in possession of those weapons?"

"But he didn't shoot Lisa Stillman," Parker spoke, more of a statement than a question.

"Doubtful," Patterson chimed in. "The kind of professional, high-end firearms McCann had, no way he would have been using a pea-shooter like what was probably used on Stillman on the road that day."

"Which means we still have more than one shooter on our hands," Parker said gravely.

Patterson nodded back in silent acknowledgment of this fact.

"Hmph," Parker sighed. "Benoit, tell me you have good news about that phone we found on McCann's body."

"I was just coming to tell you, Boss," Benoit said hastily. "We worked all night. Finally cracked the encryption a couple minutes ago. Look at what we pulled off his message history."

"Show us."

Benoit flashed an image file up on the screen. "That's a picture of Lisa Stillman," he said. "It was received the day of the attempt on her life in the hospital. And then there's also a picture of Val Stanton, received shortly before she was shot."

"A killer for hire, right here in Hudson," Parker said with a shake of his head as he stared at the images. "Okay, so we can tie McCann to Stanton's killing with the photo he was sent, and with the ballistics match on the rifle. He was obviously the one to go after Stillman in the hospital. But if he didn't shoot her, who did?"

"That is a mystery," Benoit said with a shrug. "But that's not all. Two more pictures were sent this past Saturday. Are we seeing a pattern, yet?"

All eyes focused on the two additional pictures Benoit pulled from the phone.

"Our very own Hudson veterinarians," Parker said in recognition of Drs. Scott Cardinal and Ty Borden.

"Who both happened to be on the scene when Lisa Stillman was shot," Patterson said.

"Looks like Stillman's shooter is trying to eliminate any possibility of being identified," Kavanaugh added.

"Tell me you have a bead on who was sending McCann those pictures, Benoit," Parker said.

"We're still trying to figure that out, sir," Benoit answered ruefully. "Whoever sent the pictures was using a burner phone. Unless he tries to make contact again, we can't trace him."

Another thought suddenly occurred to Parker. "What's happened to the court orders to get the ID of the person who requested Val Stanton's death certificate and who filed that second insurance claim?"

"Oh!" Benoit exclaimed. "Those probably came through yesterday right when we were called out to deal with the situation at the Dude Ranch. I'll get on that right away, sir."

***

Hudson Funeral Home

Stanley Belmont could feel a trickle of perspiration starting to make its way down the side of his face. Faced with questions about his involvement with Tanner Gunn's investors' group and his recent application for the medical death certificate for Val Stanton, he nevertheless tried to keep his panic and his indignation in check.

"Of course I requested Val Stanton's death certificate," he said testily in reply to Detective Kavanaugh's question about it. "As the owner and operator of this business and as the one entrusted with handling Val's funeral arrangements, I had every legitimate right to request it."

Patterson and Kavanaugh nodded in agreement, hoping to keep the man at ease before they dropped the next question.

"Yes, we know Ms. Stanton's will stipulated that your business was to handle everything at whatever time she passed," said Kavanaugh.

"Well, then, what's the trouble?" Stanley asked, clearly exasperated.

"The trouble is we can't seem to find a reason why you also applied to receive a copy of Lisa Stillman's medical death certificate," Patterson said, looking him squarely in the face.

Stanley swallowed.

"Lisa's family says she stipulated she wanted a funeral home in Calgary to handle her arrangements," Patterson said. "So I ask you now: why did you request a copy of Lisa Stillman's death certificate when you didn't need it?"

Both Kavanaugh and Patterson noted the nervous shift of Belmont's eyes.

"We also have questions for you about your gambling habits, Mr. Belmont," Kavanaugh said. "You and Tanner Gunn like to frequent the poker tables, don't you?"

Belmont pursed his lips. "And what if I do?" he challenged with a question of his own.

"Nothing, really," Kavanaugh said, "except if those poker tables are illegal. How much are you in the hole for, Mr. Belmont?"

"Um, I think I'd like to contact my lawyer before I say anything more," Stanley eventually uttered after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

"Fine," Kavanaugh said. "That's entirely your right. But you're treading on dangerous ground, Mr. Belmont, and I think you know you are."

"Call your lawyer, Mr. Belmont," Patterson said. "We can all meet together down at police headquarters."

"Am I under arrest?" Belmont nearly squeaked, his voice nervously rising in pitch.

"That all depends on how you answer our questions," Kavanaugh said.

"Call," Patterson said, nodding at the phone on Stanley's desk. "Then you're coming with us for more questioning."

With a resigned sigh, Stanley picked up the phone and dialled.

***

Calgary International Airport

Lou watched carefully for Rachel and Ben Stillman at the Arrivals gate. She recognized Ben on sight, though it had been years since she last saw him. The handsome, yet arrogant lad she remembered had grown a few more inches since then, and had matured into a young man with rugged good looks. The dark blonde woman nearly hidden behind his tall frame could only be Rachel. Though they had never met, Lou could see the family resemblance instantly, as Rachel's looks were strikingly similar to Lisa's.

Not that they'd ever be mistaken for twins, Lou now thought, but it's clear they were related...

Lou waved to get their attention. As soon as they saw her, they quickened their pace to meet up.

"Hi, Lou," Ben said.

"Hello, Ben," Lou responded, giving him a brief hug.

"Thanks for coming for us," he said. "This is my mother, Rachel."

"Hi, Rachel," Lou said, choosing to give the other woman a quick hug as well. "We spoke on the phone, obviously..."

"Yes," Rachel said. "It's nice to finally meet you face to face after all the times Lisa shared family photos..."

"Your, uhm, the flight was okay? You got everything?" Lou asked awkwardly, indicating their luggage.

"Yes, thanks," Rachel said, in answer to both questions.

"All right, good. Follow me and we'll be off."

The ride back to Hudson was spent mostly in silence. No one quite knew what to say as the subject of what brought them together at this time was still too raw and too devastating to address head-on, though Lou could sense Rachel was brimming with questions she desperately wanted answered.

Rachel did speak once when she mentioned how much certain areas of Calgary they passed along the way had changed, and how much larger the urban sprawl had grown since she was last in that city.

"Hudson has changed quite a bit too," Lou commented. "Especially since all the flooding in 2013."

"Yes, I remember that," Rachel said contemplatively. "The footage we saw on the news was just awful."

"But we pulled through," Lou said, thinking of how members of their community had indeed joined forces to help each other, including the local Hutterite colony.

No one said anything more until they reached Heartland.

"Wow. Are those my old jumps?" asked Ben upon seeing them in the yellow glow of the fading afternoon sunlight when Lou pulled up.

"Yes," Lou responded.

"Who's that riding in the pen right now?"

"My daughter, Georgie," Lou replied with a touch of pride.

"Oh, yeah," Ben said. "She's the kid you adopted, right? Lisa mentioned her a few times. I'm glad someone's making use of them... and since Lisa's technically her family... was her family..."

Ben morosely stopped talking.

"Well, here we are," Lou said clumsily, putting the SUV in park and shutting off the engine.

"You know, I wasn't sure when I'd ever see this place again," Ben murmured.

"I heard so much about it from her," Rachel said as she stared out the windshield at the ranch house. "She told me she was so happy when she finally moved in here with Jack... It's just as 'homey' as she described it. Thanks for bringing us here and for offering to put us up at your Dude Ranch, Lou. I don't think I'm emotionally ready to be at Fairfield just yet. Not when she can't be there with us anymore."

Lou sent a sympathetic glance at Rachel. "Come on. Let's go inside. Amy will have supper ready by now."

They followed Lou up the porch steps. She held the screen and the kitchen door open for them to enter.

"Our stuff will be safe in the SUV, right?" a worried Rachel asked while looking over her shoulder, thinking at once of her luggage.

"You're out in the country again, Rachel," Lou responded. "This isn't the city. No one's going to break in here."

"Right," Rachel said with a wry smile. "I'd forgotten what it was like to leave your doors unlocked."

"Ben," Amy said warmly upon seeing the young man step foot in the kitchen. She approached right away and embraced him as if greeting an old friend.

"Hey, Amy," Ben answered back. "It's good to see you, even under the circumstances."

"I know," Amy said after pulling away. "I'm sorry it took something like this for us to meet again."

"This is my mom, Rachel," Ben said, gesturing to his mother. "Mom, this is Amy. She and I also used to compete against each other on the circuit."

"Hi, Rachel," Amy said, deciding to give the woman a hug as well. She, too, noticed how similar in appearance Rachel was to Lisa.

"Nice to meet you, Amy," Rachel said. "Lisa told me so much about you—about all of you—over the years. I almost feel like I know you."

"Excuse me while I go call my daughter in for dinner," Lou said, hoping to avoid any further mention of difficult topics. "The bathroom is just down there around the corner if you want to freshen up."

"I'm fine," Ben said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I could use a bathroom break," Rachel sighed, and made directly for the facilities.

"Why don't you have a seat either here in the kitchen or in the living room, Ben?" Amy suggested. "I'm just going to go check on my daughter."

"Sure," Ben said easily, deciding to lounge on the couch.

A minute later, Amy returned with a still-sleepy Lyndy, who had just woken from a nap in Katie's room.

"Ah, who's this?" Ben asked with a smile upon seeing mother and child.

"Meet Lyndy," Amy said. "She turned two in December. Say 'hi' to Ben, sweetheart."

Lyndy rubbed the back of her hand over her eyes. "Hi," she whispered shyly.

"Hi, Lyndy," Ben answered back with a smile. "She's super-cute, Amy. I bet she's got Ty wrapped around her little finger."

"Oh, does she ever," Amy said with a roll of her eyes and a soft laugh.

"Where is Ty, anyway?"

"Working. He had the day shift at the vet clinic in town, but he's supposed to be on his way home now."

"Right, he's 'Dr. Borden' now," Ben said. "Lisa sent photos of the graduation ceremony."

"It sounds like she kept you up-to-date," Amy said.

"She did," Ben confirmed with a short nod. "Aunt Lisa was proud of all of you; proud to call you her family. It made me feel a little jealous sometimes, to be honest. Made me wish I was back in Hudson, even if I didn't exactly enjoy it when I was sent here during my parents' divorce."

"That was a rough time for you, Ben," Amy said in sympathy. "You know my parents split up too, so I understand. It's hard to appreciate anything when your whole life is being turned upside-down."

"No kidding," muttered Ben.

Presently, Lou returned. "Georgie should be in here soon," she said. "Thanks for taking care of dinner, Amy. I guess we can start as soon as Ty gets in."

"And he should be here any time," Amy stated.

"Is Rachel still — ?" Lou began to ask, jerking a thumb in the direction of the bathroom.

Amy nodded.

"Should I check on her?" Lou asked. "I'll check on her."

Amy was about to protest, but realised the woman had been in there a while.

Lou tapped lightly on the bathroom door. She could not be sure, but she thought she heard the sound of muffled sobs before the sudden flush of the toilet followed by the noisy gush of the faucet.

"Are you okay, Rachel?" Lou called.

"Be out in a minute," Rachel replied in a nasally, constrained voice.

"Okay, we'll be at the dinner table," Lou said before turning away.

***

The meal started out in a subdued fashion. Nobody seemed willing or ready to talk about what had been happening over the past week. They ate and drank in silence, until finally Ben broke the ice. He cleared his throat before beginning to speak.

"You know, I just wanna say to you guys I was a real brat when I was sent to stay here," he said solemnly. "And I'm sorry for all that."

"Oh, that was long ago. You don't have to apologize for anything, Ben," Lou said kindly.

"Yeah, but still. I could have been more gracious about, well, everything," he said. "What's happened... it's been a huge wake-up call for me. I thought at the time Lisa was just trying to get rid of me by dumping me here. But I get it now. I get it. Even then she saw something special in this family. She wanted me to experience that also. I didn't appreciate it enough."

Amy noticed Lou's eyes were brimming, and she could feel the moisture building beneath her own lids.

"Anyway, that's all I wanted to say," Ben said.

"Thank you, Ben," Amy said, giving him a smile of encouragement. "Lisa... was very special to us, too..."

Georgie was starting to get weepy. Ty blinked back his own tears.

"My sister," Rachel began shakily, "was never able to have children of her own. But she regarded all of you as if you were her own. I hope you know that."

Silent tears slipped from Amy's eyes as she recalled the very candid conversation she had shared with Lisa not so long ago about her miscarriages. "We know," she said with a sad smile and a nod.

"All right, enough emotional stuff," Rachel declared. "I want to hear about all of you. I mean, Lisa would call and talk about what was happening with the family, but I want to hear details."

"No, first I want to hear about you two," Amy said. "I have a feeling Lisa probably shared a lot more about us with you than she did about you with us."

"That'd be my fault," Ben admitted. "I didn't communicate with Lisa nearly as much. She'd send emails all the time, but I don't think I sent many back."

"So what's been going on with you, then?" asked Amy.

"Well, I got my MBA as you may know," Ben replied. "I've been working as a financial analyst for a startup in Montreal for the past year. Keeps me busy."

"You should talk to Lou," Amy said, looking over at her sister. "She got her MBA. Put it to good use, too."

"Oh, I've done all right," Lou said, flipping a hand dismissively. "Nothing crazy."

"That's not what Aunt Lisa told me," Ben said seriously. "She told me all about how great the Dude Ranch was. Said you were one of the smartest and most competent women she knew. I think that was after she sold her share back to you. You handle people's financial portfolios, and you also published a book, right?"

"Yeah," Lou said slowly. She was struck by the fact Lisa had taken the time to share such things with her nephew, and that he remembered them.

"And Lisa said that Maggie's Diner is a franchise now," Ben continued.

"It is," Lou said.

"I bet Mrs. Duval never dreamed her little diner would be a franchise in Times Square," Ben said. "You're living the dream, Lou."

"'The dream' is also very busy," Lou said. She looked over briefly at Georgie. "It takes me away from my family much more than I wish it did. I was actually in New York dealing with the franchise when I got the call about Lisa..." her voice trailed off. Unable to continue, she instead took a drink of water.

"Uh, speaking of Maggie's," Ben said to move past the uncomfortable moment, "How's Soraya?"

Amy answered: "She's doing great. Loves London."

"Ontario?" Ben asked.

"England," Amy corrected. "It's where her husband, Dillon, is from."

"Wow. I didn't even know she got married," Ben expressed his surprise. "Time flies."

"Maggie moved out there, too. It's why Lou bought the diner in the first place."

"Crazy decision," Lou said with a shake of her head.

"Hey, Lou, maybe I'll open a Maggie's Diner location in Montreal," Ben quipped. "How much to become a franchisee?"

"Don't encourage her," Amy chuckled with a grin and a roll of her eyes.

***

Hudson Police Headquarters

Stanley Belmont, owner and operator of the Hudson Funeral Home business, tried to decide what his best course of action should be. Sitting beside him in the cubby-hole of a room reserved for questioning suspects was his lawyer, Patrick Randall. For the time being, Stanley had not said a word, choosing to take his Charter-guaranteed right to remain silent.

Detective Constable Patterson looked steadily at Stanley. "We know you had a legitimate reason for getting Valerie Stanton's medical death certificate. But why did you request a copy of Lisa Stillman's death certificate, Mr. Belmont?"

"You don't have to answer her question," Randall advised his client.

"What did you do with the copy of Lisa Stillman's medical death certificate?" asked Patterson.

"He's not answering that one, either," said Randall.

"Fine," Patterson said, splaying her hands on the surface of the table between them. "Look, we know you're not in this alone, Stanley. We know someone either asked you or coerced you into putting in that request for Stillman's certificate. You're the one with the credentials as a funeral home director to legally request such a document. Anyone else would need to be either a family member or they'd do it through a court order, and that sort of thing. The only reason someone would want that document at this point would be to file a claim on a life insurance policy. Money is a very good motive for murder."

"Murder?!" Stanley yelped, forgetting his resolve to remain silent. "I didn't kill Lisa Stillman."

"But maybe you hired the man who did," Detective Kavanaugh broke in.

Stanley shook his head. "I did no such thing!"

"We know about your gambling debts, Stanley," Patterson said. "You and Tanner Gunn are pretty well known out there for your love of the illegal poker tables. He roped you in to that underground scene, didn't he?"

"Don't answer that," Randall warned.

Patterson narrowed her eyes.

"Detectives, this is a fishing expedition," Randall said impatiently. "Either you charge my client with something, or you let him go."

"We're getting to that. We know you're in the hole for a cool 1.2 million to a certain loan shark in Calgary," Patterson said to Stanley.

"Who's this loan shark?" Randall asked sharply, eyebrows instantly pinching together.

"Oh, someone your pal Tanner Gunn introduced you to, isn't that right, Mr. Belmont?" Kavanaugh asked. "Does the name 'Mick Osbourne' sound familiar, Mr. Belmont?"

Stanley's face went pale.

"You don't have to answer any of that, Stan," Randall repeated his predictable line yet again.

"Mick Osbourne told our Calgary counterparts you've borrowed heavily from him on a number of occasions," Patterson said. "You've been racking up the debt. Mick's enforcers are vicious. Were you being threatened?"

Stanley's eyes swept over to his counsel.

"Did Tanner Gunn ask you to request Lisa Stillman's medical death certificate?" Patterson asked. "Did he promise to get Mick's guys to back off if you did?"

"Um... I'd like a private conference with my lawyer now, please," Stanley murmured weakly after a period of dead silence.

"Granted," Patterson said. She and Kavanaugh got up from their seats and left their suspect alone with his counsel.

***

Chief Parker was waiting for Patterson and Kavanaugh when they reappeared in the bullpen.

"How's the interview with Stanley Belmont going?" he asked.

"I think we've got him," Patterson answered. "He's asked for some private time with his counsel."

"He hasn't admitted anything yet," Kavanaugh said, being more cautious. "But he's definitely spooked."

"Think he's going to spill what he knows?" Chief Parker asked.

"Hopefully," Patterson said. "Because he's definitely not going to want to be the one to take the fall for a murder conspiracy charge."

"He won't if he knows what's good for him," Parker commented. "Good work, you too. We'll see if his lawyer talks some sense into him."

"Okay, since we've been away dealing with Belmont, let's get up to speed. Where are we with our dead hitman's case?" Kavanaugh now asked.

Detective Benoit looked up when he heard this question.

"As you know, Earl McCann's phone was all busted up, so we've taken the SIM card out and popped it into another phone on the off chance the sender will try to get in touch again, but so far, nothing," he said.

"Then maybe it's time we went on the offensive," Parker suggested. "Can you try reaching out to him?"

"I don't think that's a good idea, sir," Benoit answered. "The call history shows there were never any outgoing calls. It might be a giveaway if we try to make contact."

Parker considered this. "You could be right..."

"Hold on," Benoit said excitedly. "Someone is calling right now. ID is blocked. It could be the middle man."

Kavanaugh raced over to help his colleague with setting up a trace.

"All right. Accept the call, Benoit," Parker advised.

Benoit tapped the screen to answer. Before he could say a word, the mysterious caller barged ahead without greeting.

"Hey, remember those two loose ends I told you about? They've still not been taken care of!" the voice barked menacingly. "The client is pissed. I told you on Saturday those had to be taken care of ASAP. You are still in Hudson, right? I told you the client said to stick around, didn't I?"

Benoit did not know if he should chance a reply. "Uh-huh," he eventually mumbled.

"You're makin' me look bad. Do what you're being paid to do!"

The line went dead.

"Did we get him?" asked Parker.

"No," replied a disappointed Kavanaugh. "Whoever this is, he's still using a burner phone. GPS and location services have been disabled. Best we can do is triangulate off the closest cell tower."

"How close can you get us?

"The call pinged off a cell tower around 7th Avenue and 8th Street in the downtown Calgary area," answered Kavanaugh. "He could be anywhere within a three city block radius."

"Get Detective Prescott over in Calgary on the line," Parker ordered. "They'll have the resources and the manpower. We need to find this guy before he disappears."

***

Calgary Homicide Detective James Prescott listened intently to what Chief Parker was telling him. He mobilized his teams as soon as he learned of the active cell phone signal potentially belonging to the individual involved in the hiring of a professional killer.

"Do you have any likely suspects on your radar in the 'middle man' department, Prescott?"Parker asked.

"A few come to mind," Prescott responded, as he and four separate groups of plainclothes detectives converged on the area in downtown Calgary that Kavanaugh had identified.

The light rail passenger trains traversing 7th Avenue that hummed along at 15-minute intervals at this hour of the evening were sparsely filled. Prescott said a silent prayer their quarry did not decide to hop on one of those trains while they searched for him. The man could quietly disappear into any quadrant of the city if they allowed that to happen.

Prescott and two others now crossed those very tracks on foot. "Heading north on 8th Street," he spoke into his concealed comm. "Approaching the Dominion Centre Building with the pharmacy, Tim Hortons, and the Community Corrections Centre."

"Copy," the dispatcher's voice spoke in acknowledgement.

The Tim Hortons franchise caught Prescott's attention, or rather, one of the patrons did. The detective continued walking for a few more paces before silently indicating to his two colleagues he wanted to double back. They understood immediately what he was planning. There was only a pair of street-level doors being used as an entrance and an exit. One of Prescott's colleagues named Koch casually took up his position near that exit should the suspect try to bolt.

"Possible suspect sighted," Prescott whispered into his comm. "William Ulrich. He's in the Tim Hortons."

Chief Parker and his team in Hudson, also linked in to Prescott's feed, heard this announcement. All waited with bated breath to hear how this would go down.

Prescott and the second cop named Diaz swung open the entrance door and made their way inside. The aroma of brewing coffee, sugary baked goods and toasting sandwiches wafted in the tiny space that seated maybe 40 at capacity. The man they were after sat alone in a booth situated right up against one of the windows by the exit door. Prescott and Diaz ignored him for the time being and instead made for the lineup as if they were going to order something.

Known on the streets as 'Billy the Bulldog', it was not a stretch to see why ex-felon and known middle-man William Ulrich had been saddled with that nickname. Small in stature, compact in build and with a prominent underbite, Billy had spiteful black eyes and a mercurial temper.

Prescott pulled out his cell phone and sent a quick text to Benoit.

- Call the number now.

Benoit responded from his desk in the Hudson police headquarters.

- Copy. Calling now.

Prescott turned slightly to see Billy pull out his phone. "What the hell are you calling me for?" he snapped.

Benoit terminated the call without saying a word.

The 'Bulldog' scowled at his screen, put it away, and went back to sipping his double-double*. It was the confirmation Prescott was looking for. He left the queue and made a beeline for his suspect with Diaz right behind.

"Billy, Billy, Billy. Little late for a caffeine fix, wouldn't you say?"

Billy jerked his head up at the sound of Prescott's chiding voice. He saw the two plainclothes cops, instinctively recognized them for what they were, and realised he was cornered. A look of wild panic crossed his features.

"Don't make a scene," Prescott said gruffly, shoving Billy back into his seat as he tried to stand up.

"This is harassment," Billy howled. "I was just minding my own business here."

"Sure you were, Billy," Diaz said, sliding into the seat opposite the others in the booth.

"I had a meeting earlier with my parole officer over in Corrections," Billy said, jutting his generous chin in the general direction of the Corrections Centre. "You can call and ask him. Now I'm just having some coffee and a bite to eat."

"Must have been a really long meeting, Billy," Prescott said.

"Yeah, the Corrections Centre has been closed for hours, Billy," Diaz added.

"So time flies!" Billy protested. "What do you guys want, anyway?"

"Oh, you're coming with us," Diaz said.

"What for?!" Billy yapped.

"See, you're under arrest for suspicion of soliciting murder," Prescott said, pulling Billy up and handcuffing him while informing him of his rights. "Let's go."

***

Heartland – Ranch House

Lyndy was starting to nod off in her booster seat. Despite the afternoon nap, it was now long past her usual bedtime and sleep was beckoning.

"I'll take her back to the loft and put her to bed, Amy," Ty offered. "Plus, I've got some paperwork I've been neglecting that I should take care of."

"Thank you," Amy said, giving both her husband and her child a kiss. "See you when I finish up here."

"Goodnight, everyone," Ty said, giving a short wave to them all while picking up his sleepy daughter, cradling her head against his shoulder and supporting her back.

The rest of them said their goodbyes and watched Ty depart with Lyndy.

They lingered at the table for about a half hour longer, making idle chat about nothing of any significance until the travellers' exhaustion began to take over. Lou noticed, and politely suggested it was time to head over to the Dude Ranch.

Rachel yawned her assent. "I'm ready to turn into a pumpkin," she said.

"Same here," Ben said. "Thanks for the meal, Amy. See you tomorrow."

"Yes, thanks, Amy," Rachel said. "You've all been wonderful. I can see why Lisa loved you all so much... and why she loved being here."

"You're welcome," Amy said. "See you tomorrow."

***

The dog was nowhere to be seen. He heard through the grapevine about the possible case of strychnine poisoning, and he patted himself on the back for that one. Stillman's sister and nephew had spent dinner at the ranch house, but the elder Fleming sister had just taken them somewhere; maybe to that hole of a place she called "Heartland Equestrian Connections" like it was some five-star resort. He was slightly surprised they were even using the place since the news earlier that day said some dead guy was found nearby yesterday, but he figured that was none of his business.

The old man still had not come back, so that meant another possible threat was cleared from his list of concerns. Now all he had to do was make sure he could get to Borden in the barn office, then he could focus on Dr. Cardinal in the clinic. Things were approaching a critical juncture now, but there was no turning back. He could no longer let them live when the chance remained they could identify him, no matter how remote that possibility.

He readied his weapon, slipping it into his jacket breast pocket once again. His aim had not been as perfect as he had wanted when he fired at the Stillman woman, but in the end it had not mattered. She was dead, and she would never again be talking about who might have shot her.

I won't mess up this time, he vowed, picturing in his mind how he would take out Borden. He would shoot him, then trash the barn office, paying special attention to the medicine cabinet. Make it look like an attempted robbery gone bad by a desperate junkie. Nope. I definitely won't miss this target, and the same will go for Cardinal.

***

With the dishes washed and put away, Amy sat tiredly in the ranch house kitchen. She entertained the thought of brewing a cup of tea, but decided she should just head back to the loft and decompress there. She was about to do just that when the kitchen telephone extension rang.

It was getting to be a little late for anyone to be calling since it was already past nine o'clock, but Amy nevertheless checked the call display.

HUDSON POLICE

She picked up the phone right away.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Good evening, this is Chief Jim Parker. Is Lou Fleming available?"

"Sorry, Chief," Amy said, "she's stepped out for a little while."

"I see," Jim said. "I was hoping to talk to her and provide an update about the body we found by the Dude Ranch. But I'm glad I caught you at the house, too."

"Why is that?" Amy asked.

"We're convinced the dead man we found was hired to kill Valerie Stanton, and we're almost certain he was the one who attacked Lisa and assaulted Jack in the hospital. We found evidence on a cell phone belonging to him—photos of Val and Lisa. The timeline of Val's shooting and the incident at the hospital line up with when the photos were sent."

"That's crazy," Amy said, blood running cold at this revelation.

"There's more, I'm afraid. Your husband and Dr. Cardinal also seem to have been targeted," Parker said.

Amy almost could not believe her ears as she listened to what the chief was saying. His call that evening had been most unexpected, as was the information he was now sharing.

"The latest pictures he was sent before he died were of Ty and Scott, so it's highly likely he was being paid to kill them, too."

"Are you sure?" Amy asked, her heart skipping a beat as this message sank in. When will this nightmare end? "But who was he?"

"We've been in touch with another RCMP detachment about that," Parker said, not yet wanting to disclose what they discovered to a civilian. "I can't share those details about his identity at this time, but the police in Calgary have the man who sent the pictures in custody right now. Unfortunately, he's just a middle man. Even so, he's refusing to talk right now about who's behind all this."

"Chief," Amy said, trying to calm her nerves, "is my husband still in danger?"

"Until we know for certain who initiated the hits, we can't be sure," Parker admitted. "My advice would be to take whatever precautions you deem necessary. I unfortunately can't spare or justify the manpower for a protection detail at this time based simply on broad speculation. That said, I have to say I am still personally worried. If this dead guy truly was contracted to take out your husband and Dr. Cardinal, chances are whoever did the contracting might simply hire someone else to get the job done. We should not assume the threat has passed. Stay on the alert while we work on it."

At these words, Amy sent a furtive glance out the window. The security lights illuminated the expansive yard. She glanced up at the loft above the barn, suddenly thinking how very exposed it was. The distinct lack of a secure door leading to her living space with her husband and their child was troubling. If someone breached the barn door during the night, it would be very easy for that person to come creeping up the stairs unnoticed and unhindered.

"Chief, thank you for telling me," Amy said, having already made up her mind what she was going to do.

After she ended the call, Amy quickly made her way to the barn. Ty looked up from his paperwork as soon as he heard her. "What's going on?" he asked, confused by her anxious appearance.

"I just spoke with Chief Parker," Amy said hurriedly. "Ty, he was calling about the dead guy they found by the Dude Ranch... he said they think someone contracted him to kill Val and Lisa. They found Val and Lisa's pictures on his phone."

"You've gotta be kidding me," Ty said, staring at her, mouth agape.

"No," Amy replied grimly. "That's not all. Chief Parker said there were also pictures sent recently to the dead man's phone of you and Scott. I don't like how vulnerable we are in the barn loft. I think we should all stay in the house tonight and lock the doors, or at least until Chief Parker and his team get to the bottom of this. I'm packing an overnight bag for me and Lyndy; you should do the same."

"All right, you go ahead with Lyndy. Has Chief Parker contacted Scott?"

"I don't know," Amy said with a shake of her head.

"I'll call him," Ty said, rising to his feet. "Let me finish up here, and I'll join you in the house soon."

"Okay," Amy said, and kissed him quickly before heading up the stairs. After filling a bag with clothes and other necessities for herself and her child, Amy gathered a sleeping Lyndy in her arms, hefted the bag onto her free shoulder, and made her way back down.

***

He watched as she walked at a brisk clip across the yard from the house to the barn. He had been about to make his move, but stopped in his tracks when he saw this. The vet was no longer alone now, much to his frustration. He would have to wait to see what happened next. Had he missed his opportunity? He decided to wait a little longer. His patience was rewarded when about ten minutes later, she reappeared, this time with the kid in her arms and a bag on her shoulder. He watched as she nearly ran back into the house. A vile smile spread across his face. The vet was finally by himself in the barn! It was now, or never. Still, he waited for a few minutes to be sure she was not coming back. He wanted no witnesses. But ultimately, if she did come back, and if she interrupted what he was about to do, he had no qualms about ending her on the spot, too.

***

Scott, having just got off the phone with Chief Parker, was nevertheless grateful for Ty's call.

"It's crazy," Scott said to Ty. "But I think I'll be okay at the clinic tonight. The police station is a couple blocks away, anyway, right? Nobody could be that stupid to try something with the cops so close."

"Right," Ty said, hoping Scott actually was right about that. "Be careful, man."

"I will," Scott said. "You, too."

***

Amy knocked on her niece's bedroom door.

"Come in," Georgie answered.

"Georgie, we're staying in the house tonight," Amy announced upon opening the door.

"Uh, okay," Georgie said in surprise. She stared at Amy whose body language spoke of pent-up tension. "What's going on?"

"I just spoke with Adam's dad," Amy explained. "That dead guy you two found? It turns out he might have been hired to kill Val and Lisa. The police found their pictures on his phone."

"What?!" Georgie exclaimed.

"But that's not all," Amy said. "They also found pictures of Ty and Scott, so I'm thinking we'll all be a lot safer together here in the house until the police figure out what's going on."

"You know, you guys really do need to get a door with a lock for your loft," Georgie said.

"Yeah, yeah," Amy muttered. "I've put Lyndy down in Katie's room for now and Ty and I will be in my old room."

"Okay. I really wish Jack and Tim were here," Georgie said wistfully.

"Me, too," Amy said. "But for now I'm just going to sit in Katie's room and be with Lyndy until Ty arrives." She was grateful her younger niece was still staying with Peter in Vancouver.

"And Lou had better get back here soon from settling Rachel and Ben in at the Dude Ranch," Georgie added.

"Maybe you should call her," Amy suggested.

"Yeah. Okay, I will," Georgie said, pulling out her cell phone to do just that.

***

He watched for any sign she would be back. When five minutes passed, he decided the coast was clear. It was time to finish this. It was time to clean up the mess for which he had only himself to blame. And after handling this job, the last item on the list was Scott Cardinal, but making that one also look like a burglary gone wrong would not be too much of a problem either, he figured. He crept out of the shadows towards the barn, hand inside his jacket breast pocket, ready to pull out the pistol.

***

"Mom, you need to get back here," Georgie said.

Lou could not mistake the urgency in her daughter's voice.

"Why, what's going on?" asked Lou, who had just finally bid goodnight to Ben and Rachel in their respective cabins.

"Adam's dad thinks the dead guy we found is the one who killed Val and Lisa," she said.

"Val and Lisa?" cried Lou.

"But Mom, there's more," Georgie continued. "Chief Parker says Ty and Scott could also be targets. Amy just brought Lyndy to the house and Ty's coming, too. They're all going to stay in here tonight. For safety."

"Um, okay, that's a good idea," Lou said, already approaching the SUV. "I'll be there soon—"

"Hang on a second, Mom," Georgie interjected, "Amy's trying to tell me something."

"It's okay, honey," Lou said, "you go ahead. I'll just hang up now."

Lou ended the call without waiting to hear Georgie's reply.

***

He could hear the vet scuffling about up in the loft. That was fine. He would just wait until he came back down. Then, bam! He would shoot him right between the eyes. He would never know what hit him.

***

Ty noticed Amy had already packed both their toothbrushes and toothpaste as he made one last sweep of the loft to make sure he had not forgotten anything essential he might need for an overnight stay in the ranch house. He swung his duffle bag over his shoulder, unlatched the baby gate, and began to head downstairs.

***

His ears picked up the sound of footfalls. Borden is coming down, he thought, feeling his pulse start to race with excitement. He slid the gun from his breast pocket and steadied his hand, pointing the piece up at the staircase in anticipation of his target's appearance.

***

"Drop the gun and step away from my husband!" Amy's command was crisp and unwavering.

The interloper paused, arm still outstretched, weapon aimed up at the nonplussed Ty.

"Drop the gun," Amy ordered again, measuring every word, her own arms steady as she held Jack's rifle on the man threatening her husband. "I'm warning you: I know how to use this, and the police are on the way."

The balaclava-clad, would-be killer turned slightly to face Amy. He seemed to be considering his options. Perhaps he doubted Amy's skill with the rifle and figured he would be able to carry out his deadly task. Or perhaps he knew very well that she could kill him with one pull of the trigger. His shoulder eventually drooped, seemingly in submission, followed by a lowering of his pistol.

Ty let out the breath he was unaware he had been holding.

In a flash, the stranger twisted away from Amy and once again raised his weapon to Ty. An ear-splitting blast ripped through the barn office. A cry of agony escaped the lips of the masked stranger. He stumbled to the floor, clutching at his shoulder. A few horses neighed in surprise as the explosive ka-boom echoed through their stalls.

Ty dropped his bag and sprang from the steps towards the downed man. He kicked aside the small pistol, whirled around, and drove his foot into the small of his back. "Stay down," he growled.

Knowing the other weapon was far out of reach and Ty's sturdy boot was keeping the villain pinned, Amy crept forward and yanked the balaclava from his head.

"Jesse!" she gasped upon recognizing him.

Jesse Stanton craned his neck and glared back up at her sideways, eyes revealing a mix of shock and torment. Shock that Amy had carried through with her spoken threat; torment due to the bullet that had torn through his shoulder.

"That was you that day, wasn't it?" Ty snarled in an accusatory tone. "Riding your Ducati when Scott nearly plowed into you. You shot Lisa!"

Jesse could not deny it. "Yeah," he muttered, not bothering to meet Ty's infuriated gaze.

"Did you also go to the hospital to finish the job? Huh?!" Ty exclaimed.

"No, that wasn't m-me. Someone else." Jesse mumbled.

"You're lying," Ty said. "You went in there, you snuffed out her life, and you escaped on your bike again."

"No, I swear that wasn't me!" protested Jesse. "I wasn't anywhere near the hospital."

Ty clamped his mouth shut. Jesse seemed to be telling the truth.

"Let me up, will you?" he begged.

Ty considered the request. Every bone in his body wanted to continue keeping him jammed squarely to the floor, but mercy prevailed. "Okay, I'm letting you up, but I'm warning you Amy won't hesitate to shoot again if you try anything. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah," Jesse grumbled.

Ty lifted his foot carefully. Jesse scooted himself up and scrambled against the barn wall like a rat being let out of a trap. He pressed his hand to his bloodied shoulder, wincing in pain as he did so.

"If it wasn't you who attacked Lisa and Jack at the hospital, then who was it?" Ty asked.

"I don't know," he replied, not meeting Ty's gaze. "It just wasn't me, all right?"

"You might not have gone after her in the hospital, but you're still the reason she ended up there in the first place," Amy said angrily, thinking of what Chief Parker told her about the pictures on the dead man's phone. "You're the reason someone else got to her. You're the reason she's dead."

"Whatever," Jesse mumbled.

"After all these years, Jesse," Amy said. "Our families. You know us! You-your mom! She and my grandpa and Lisa—they all knew each other for years. They were friends!"

"Don't even start, Amy!" Jesse snapped contemptuously. "'Friends'? My mother—my mother hated Lisa Stillman."

He caught the expression of astonishment on their faces at this revelation. "That's right," he continued, enjoying this last taunt he could needle them with. "Oh sure, she was friendly to her face in public. But… You should have heard the things my mother said about Lisa when she got into her liquor—some friend! And I… I hated my mother."

"So, did you kill her, too?" Amy ventured to ask, her voice brittle.

"No," Jesse replied through gritted teeth. "But I sure didn't shed any actual tears when I heard she was dead."

"You're lying," Ty countered as he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "You were the only one who knew for sure when she took Herring out for that ride. You're the one who reported her missing. You're the one who told the police where they should conduct their search. You purposely directed their search away from Lookout Point, didn't you?"

"Doesn't mean I'm the one who pulled that trigger," Jesse said with a leer, though he was still visibly in quite a bit of pain. "Wish I was, though. Briar Ridge… was supposed to be mine to run as I saw fit! She was supposed to… grrr… be living full-time in Florida. Instead, she just kept coming back here, hanging on, telling me what to do, interfering in my decisions... treating me like some clueless child! Gah! I actually thought I would be free of her when she had that s-second bout with the cancer, b-but she beat that, too."

Ty had heard enough. "Stop talking," he snarled. "You're making me sick listening to all your crap!"

Amy had also heard enough. She handed Ty the rifle. "The police should be here any minute. I'm going to go back to check on Lyndy and Georgie."

"How 'bout an ambulance?!" Jesse hollered desperately.

Amy ignored him as she scurried out the barn door, hoping Georgie was not too freaked out by the loud report of the rifle.

"How 'bout you shut up!" bellowed Ty, keeping the rifle trained just to the left of Jesse's ear. "You're lucky she didn't take off your head when she shot you."

"You-you're enjoying this, aren't you, Borden?" Jesse sniveled.

"No, I am not enjoying this," Ty hissed. "None of this is enjoyable. What did Lisa Stillman ever do to you? Was shooting her some kind of thrill-seeking game for you? Jealousy over Fairfield's success?"

"Borden… Your guesses are so cold, you… heh… make Antarctica feel like a sauna," Jesse laughed feebly.

"Do you have any idea what you've done to this family? What you've done to Jack?"

"That old m-man can die and go to h-hell," Jesse grunted, his teeth chattering now. "The w-way my mother pined away for him… even-even after he m-married Lisa… it was em-embarrassing… sickening… Dunno what she s-saw… He was nothing like m-my father…"

Ty noticed Jesse's shivering. What with the pain and blood loss, he was probably starting to go into shock. "Okay, just keep quiet now, all right?" Ty said, using a gentler voice he was surprised he was able to muster. "You don't want to bleed out here before the paramedics come."

"H-how 'bout some pain k-killers in the meantime, Borden?" Jesse asked with a lop-sided smile. "Y-you got some of the good stuff here, don't you?"

Ty glowered at Jesse. "I said keep quiet. You're not getting anything from me."

"Worth a try." Jesse gave a weak laugh, then finally shut his mouth.

After checking to ensure her niece and child were fine back at the house, and after hastily explaining why there had been a weapon discharged, Amy returned to the barn. "I have the 911 dispatcher on the line," she advised, holding her cell phone to her ear. "An ambulance is heading here, now."

The shrill whine of a police siren caught their attention next. Red and blue lights splashed brightly against the walls and reflected in the windows. The cruiser came to a halt in front of the barn. Car doors opened and slammed shut; footsteps crunched the dirt and gravel.

"Everybody okay in there?"

Ty recognized the voice of Chief Parker; Detective Kavanaugh was right behind the senior officer. Jesse's head sank to his chest in utter defeat at their appearance.

"Chief! Jesse just tried to shoot Ty," Amy said, pointing at the weapon. "That's the gun right there."

Chief Parker looked on the barn floor and saw what he recognized as a Raven MP-25. He bent to retrieve it, gingerly picking it up with a gloved hand by the trigger guard.

"And um, I just shot Jesse," Amy admitted, noticing for the first time her hands were shaking.

"He, uh, he also just confessed to shooting Lisa out on the road that day, Chief," Ty said quietly as he handed over Jack's rifle to Parker's other gloved hand.

"You mean he confessed to killing her," Amy uttered furiously, feeling an overwhelming sense of grief and anger cascading over her. "He's the reason she ended up in the hospital in the first place. He's the reason that guy was able to get into her room and–and—"

She could not continue. All the stresses and tragedies of the past few weeks seemed to descend on her at that moment, crushing her with their weight. Tears she had not known that were still in reserve spilled out. Ty's own eyes clouded as his heart ached for all the losses the family had endured. He crossed over and gathered her up into his arms.

"And she's not dead," Parker announced.

He was met with stunned silence from them while Kavanaugh knelt to take Jesse into custody.

"What are you sayingؙ—Lisa's not dead?" Amy gasped, gazing now at the senior officer.

"H-how?" Ty asked shaking his head. "I thought she..."

"That's what we needed everyone to think," Kavanaugh said, being careful not to jostle his prisoner too harshly. "Well, almost everyone."

"I can't believe it!" Amy exclaimed in jubilation. "She's really alive?"

"Yes, really," Parker said. His face broke into a wide smile, pleased he could finally bring some good news to this long-suffering family. "She's still in pretty rough shape, mind you, but your dad and your grandfather are with her right now at the hospital under police protection."

"This is incredible!" Ty said. "But why make us think she didn't survive?"

"All in good time, Ty," Parker said calmly. "Our investigation is still on-going, but catching Mr. Stanton red-handed here tonight has certainly blown things wide open for us, and we expect to be making another arrest in Calgary very soon."

"Who?!" Jesse dared to ask.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Kavanaugh quipped dryly. "But maybe you'd like to guess?"

Jesse pursed his lips.

"Not even one guess?" Kavanaugh goaded. "Aw, you're spoiling my fun."

But Jesse refused to speak.

"Jesse Stanton, you're under arrest for attempted murder," Kavanaugh said. "It is my duty to inform you that you have the right to retain and instruct counsel of your choice in private and without delay. Before you decide to answer any questions concerning this investigation, you may call a lawyer of your choosing or get free advice from Duty Counsel. If you wish to contact Legal Aid duty counsel I can provide you with a telephone number and a telephone will be made available to you. Do you understand?"

"Yeah," Jesse mumbled. "I wanna call my lawyer."

"Fine," Kavanaugh said. "We'll make sure that happens while we wait for the ambulance to get here. Let's go."

Kavanaugh started shuffling his prisoner off towards the barn's open door.

"Amy? Ty?" Lou's voiced called out.

"In here, Lou!" Amy called back. She was so wrapped up in what had just happened, she did not even hear when her sister pulled up in the SUV.

Lou jogged over to the entrance only to stop in her tracks as Kavanaugh hauled Jesse out. "I thought I heard a gunshot just now—" She stared at the arrestee and his bloodied shoulder. Now she chanced a look inside the barn and saw Jim holding the rifle in one hand and a pistol in the other.

"We're okay, Lou," Amy said to assure her sister. "But, um, Jesse just tried to kill Ty. I shot him with Grandpa's rifle."

"You!" Lou cried. She glanced back over her shoulder at Jesse, who was being made to sit inside the cruiser. "Jesse came to kill Ty? Why?"

"Because he didn't want any more witnesses around who could ID him as Lisa's shooter," Parker said.

"Jesse shot Lisa?!"

Parker nodded. "We'll have to wait on the ballistics to confirm," he said, indicating the Raven he was holding. "But he's already admitted it."

"And Lou," Amy said, brimming with joy, "Lisa's alive. She survived the attack in the hospital."

"Lisa's alive?" Lou repeated, dumbfounded.

Parker nodded, a smile still pasted on his face. "I'm sorry we had to do that to all of you, but between my department and the Calgary police who were investigating that attack, we agreed it was the best option to keep her safe until we caught all the ones responsible."

"And have you caught all the ones responsible?" Lou asked tentatively, looking once again over at the cruiser where Jesse Stanton was bring granted a privileged call with his lawyer.

"We're close," Parker admitted. "This thing is still in motion, but we're hoping to have everyone in custody by tomorrow. Arresting Mr. Stanton here tonight is already a big win for us."

"He probably also poisoned Remi," Amy said, as all the pieces were starting to fall into place in her mind. "That's why he came over to visit the other day."

"Your dog was poisoned?" Parker asked in surprise.

Amy nodded.

"Strychnine," Ty explained. "We don't keep that at Heartland. She's going to make it, but we were really concerned for a while there."

Lou put her hands to her temples. "This is too much. I think I'm getting a headache."

The whine of an ambulance and another police cruiser filled the night air.

"That would be the paramedics for Mr. Stanton and my backup officers," Chief Parker said. "It's going to be a long night while we get everything straightened out here."

***

Canadian Rockies Life Insurance — Calgary Branch

5:00 a.m.

The young woman switched on the desk lamp at the workstation. Using the overhead lights, especially at this early hour, had the chance of attracting unwanted attention, and she needed secrecy for what she was about to do.

Using the credentials she had spied long ago from an unwitting co-worker, she logged into the company mainframe and accessed the Policies database. She quickly located the one she had specifically come to find:

LISA RENÉE STILLMAN

Hurriedly, she began entering the required data to kickstart the claims process. Now that she had the medical death certificate information, things could finally proceed.

Date of Filing:

The field automatically populated with the current date of May 9, 2019.

Policy Holder:

Here, she input the name of the dummy corporation she was instructed to use in this scenario.

Date of Death:

She consulted the copy of the certificate and typed "03/05/2019".

Place of Death:

"South Calgary Health Campus".

Cause of Death:

"Cardiopulmonary cessation".

Next, she entered the certificate number and pressed ENTER to continue.

When presented with the options for the payout, she immediately selected "Lump Sum" over the other choices. She hovered the cursor over the "Process Now" button and clicked on it. As soon as she did so, the overhead lights glowed to life in the room without warning, causing her to gasp in surprise.

"Getting an early start to the day, Ms. Haywood?"

Tessa Haywood jumped at the unexpected question. She swiveled around in her chair to see Kavanaugh and Patterson standing a few cubicles behind her. Her eyes darted to the exit. Calgary detectives Prescott and Diaz guarded that escape route. Tessa guessed right away why they were all there. She spun back to the desktop monitor. There was nothing she could do now about the Stillman policy, but the rest of them... Tessa tried to access the policy database again.

"Hudson Police! Step away from the workstation, Ms. Haywood," Patterson said loudly.

Tessa ignored Patterson. She had to eliminate any evidence of the fraudulent policies for all those other members of that investors' group before these officers could uncover them.

"I said: Step away from the workstation, Tessa," Patterson commanded again. She began her approach with Kavanaugh following.

Tessa's level of panic skyrocketed.

"Stop what you're doing now!" Patterson ordered. "Tessa Haywood, you're under arrest for insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit murder—"

"They made me do it! They made me do it! Tanner and Jesse made me!" Tessa screeched desperately, perhaps hoping this admission would grant her some kind of immediate leniency.

Patterson nevertheless yanked Tessa up from the chair and secured her wrists in handcuffs, giving her a quick pat-down in the process.

"You need not say anything," Patterson intoned gruffly, knowing she had to legally issue this warning. "You have nothing to hope from any promise or favour and nothing to fear from any threat, whether or not you say anything. Anything you say may be used as evidence. You have the right to retain and instruct counsel in private without delay. Do you understand?"

Tessa merely nodded her head.

"I need you to answer either 'yes' or 'no', Ms. Haywood," Patterson said.

"Yes, I understand," Tessa said, barely above a whisper.

"Good. Let's go."

***

*double-double: How you order a coffee with two creams and two sugars at Tim Hortons

Chapter 11: Sing Me to Heaven

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

Rambling About 1998 Casting

Having seen a ton old, Broadway-based productions, and a ton of newer, London-based productions, so I now have a general idea of what the differences between the two are, I’ve noticed just how much adding Broadway cast members to a mostly London-based show affected the VHS version.

Three Broadway actors were cast in 1998, one from the original cast, and two who were performing at the time.

Ken Page was the original Broadway Old Deuteronomy. Old Deuteronomy’s role is pretty much the same in London and Broadway versions, so there’s not much to comment on with him. But, Munkustrap and Mistoffelees are characters with tons of little differences between versions, so Michael Gruber and Jacob Brent changed more.

But, Michael Gruber’s casting actually didn’t change much. The biggest difference between London Munkustrap and Broadway Munkustrap is the Macavity Fight. Broadway Munk is taken out of the action much earlier. Someone cast as Munk in London would have to learn more fight choreography than someone cast on Broadway. But, the London version of the Macavity Fight was used in 1998. Michael Gruber learned the new choreography for the filmed version.

Mistoffelees is different. Virtually every time the choreography and staging of the character differs between London and Broadway, 1998 uses the Broadway version. Misto’s opening line is Broadway. A large portion of Jellicle Ball choreography (Fugue, Girls, Mungo Entrance, Boys Jump, Tours) is Broadway. Mistoffelees is absent during Skimble’s number, because Broadway had a longer break for Misto actors to change costumes for Misto’s number than London did. The pacing of Misto’s number comes from the Broadway variant where Misto sings the second verse, even though he doesn’t sing it in this version.

There are a lot more changes between London and Broadway with Misto’s stuff than with Munk’s stuff. Munk’s changes were one fight scene. I’m guessing there was too much London choreography for Jacob Brent to learn during rehearsals, so they switched it to what he was already familiar with. 

When Misto was given his Broadway role, if his London role was still needed, it was given to Tumblebrutus. This put Tumblebrutus in many places where I’ve never seen him appear onstage. In Broadway-based productions, “have you been an alumnus of heaven and hell?” is Plato’s opening line. In Broadway-based productions, Munkustrap holds the light at the front of Skimble’s train. In London-based productions, those are both Mistoffelees. Instead of just imitating Broadway and putting Plato and Munk in those places, which would’ve been very easy to do in Munk’s case, they swapped in Tumblebrutus.

Tumblebrutus was played by Fergus Logan, who played Mistoffelees in London at the time, so he was more familiar with these bits, though it must’ve been weird doing them as a different character. He also had to learn the rest of Tumble’s track, but only parts that didn’t overlap with Misto’s track, or with Pouncival’s track when those were swapped out.

Then there’s that reworking of the Jellicle Ball. In every version of the ball, we start out with the entire cast together, but eventually the crowd disperses. 

In London-based productions, Carbucketty/Pouncival has a ballet solo. He crosses the stage and one of the girls, usually Jemima/Sillabub, runs past him. They briefly acknowledge each other. Carbucketty/Pouncival reaches the other side of the stage and Mistoffelees runs out. Weirdly, this step is called “Mungo’s Entrance”, even though I’ve never seen Mungojerrie be the one who enters here. Anyway, Carbucketty/Pouncival and Misto jump around a bit and the Jerrie tumbles out (maybe this should’ve been called Mungo’s entrance), followed by Cassandra. Jerrie tries to hit on Cassandra and gets rejected. This is when Bomba’s section starts up.

In Broadway-based productions, the bit where Jemima/Sillabub runs by (literally named Girls) is cut and replaced with Alonzo. Mistoffelees gets the ballet solo, crosses the stage towards Alonzo, and they seem to dance the idea of making polite conversation. Pouncival runs out for the Mungo Entrance and the Boys Jump features three cats, instead of two. Tumblebrutus tumbles out and we have a bit that I’ve dubbed the Antagonistic Waggle, where Tumble gets in a bit of a fit with the other boys. The fight breaks up when Cassandra comes out and then Bomba starts up her section.

If you took a Carbucketty, cast them as Pouncival and gave them the Broadway choreography, it’d be easy. They don’t get their ballet solo, but once they get onstage for the Boys Jump, it’d all be pretty familiar. However, London Alonzo isn’t in this section at all, so this would be new stuff to learn. The 1998 version added a moment where Alonzo hits on Bomba and gets rejected, possibly to match the Jerrie/Cassandra bit that would have in London, and when Cassandra comes out, Alonzo is far more successful with her than Jerrie is, because Casslonzo is basically canon in London-based productions.

So, there was a lot of rearranging to mix some Broadway into the 1998 film, even though the Broadway cast members were outnumbered. 

This is all interesting, but I sometimes wonder why they made this decision. I’m not at all complaining, because it turned out great, but it wasn’t the most convenient decision. Since the filming was based out of London, you’d think they would’ve just gathered the London cast, reworked some of the choreography for film, and left it at that. Most filmed recordings of plays don’t mix and match their casts. I think they wanted the show they filmed to sort of represent all shows up to that point. But how did they pick which characters to use the current London cast for vs. the ones to get someone else for? And why cast several roles with actors who’d never played them before?

I honestly don’t know, but I have a few observations.

So, if they went to represent all of Cats, getting someone from the original London cast was vital. Since Grizabella is the character with the iconic song, the song that made the show a hit outside of theatre circles, casting the first person to sing that song in an official production makes perfect sense. Thus, Elaine Paige as Grizabella. Also, Grizabella is an older character, so casting someone in 1997 who first played the role in 1981 would mean casting an older actress. That works perfectly here.

In fact, most of the older characters were cast with older actors. Ken Page first played Old D in 1982. For Gus, instead of a casting an actor who’d played him before, they actually cast an old actor, someone who could represent a human version of Gus. This completely changed the tone of the number, but in a way that people liked. When watching bootlegs, I tend to skip over Gus, but it’s one of my favorite numbers in 1998.

The other characters on the older side of the cast are Bustopher, Asparagus, Skimble, Jellylorum, and Jennyanydots. James Barron (Bustopher) and Susie McKenna (Jenny) were playing the roles in London at the time. Tony Timberlake (Asparagus), played the Gustopher (Gus/Asparagus/Bustopher) role in London directly before Barron did. Geoffrey Garratt (Skimble) first played his role in the 1989 UK tour. Susan Jane Tanner (Jelly) was from the original London cast. So, there’s a mix of old and new.

I don’t actually know the ages of most of these actors, so I can’t give exact numbers of how old they were when they first played their roles vs. when recording for the VHS. Also, Garratt is not the only actor who came from the 1989 tour. Rosemarie Ford (Bombalurina) spent most of her Cats career playing Grizabella, but she began as Bomba in 1989. Aeva May (Demeter) started even earlier, being cast as Demeter in London in 1986. Both played adult, but younger adult characters for the VHS at 35. 1989 was still less than a decade before the VHS and 1986 only slightly before.

So, Grizabella, Old Deuteronomy, and Jellylorum were the three older characters cast with actors who’d played their roles a long time before the VHS, meaning that their actors were a bit closer to the age of their characters. I’m not sure why Jellylorum in particular got this emphasis, other than that it just works. It just does. But, this does cause this weird effect with my brain when actors played Jelly too young. I also get annoyed when Jenny’s played too young because she’s the OLD Gumbie Cat. It’s the title of the song. How could you miss that? But, neither Skimble nor Jelly have their ages made nearly as clear, so it should be understandable when 30 year-old actors don’t know how old they’re supposed to be and just play them at 30. This is easy to accept with Skimble, but not with Jelly, entirely because I can recognize from 1998 that she both aligns herself with older characters and is played by an older actress. She doesn’t look 30. If a 30 year-old is cast as Jelly, and has seen the 1998 version, they should probably know that. If Jellylorum was meant to be younger, they wouldn’t have cast the role the way they did.

Now, back to Misto. I called this “rambling” for a reason. I’m writing off the top of my head here.

Mistoffelees is a really weird case. They cast the Broadway actor, but still brought in the London actor to play a different character, one he’d never played before. Fergus Logan wasn’t the only actor playing a role he hadn’t played before. Rebecca Parker (Cassandra) began as a swing and then played Bomba. Frank Thompson (George) started off as Admetus/Macavity and then became a swing. As swings, they could’ve played their filmed roles before, but I have no proof of that. (As a side note, I wonder if Thompson being an Admetus has something to do with his George being credited as Admetus).

But, Parker and Thompson seemed pretty comfortable as Cassandra and George, while Logan struggled a bit with Tumblebrutus. I think this is because, half the time, 1998 Tumblebrutus isn’t even Tumblebrutus. He’s a stand-in for London Mistoffelees. Having to be a stand-in, and having more experience in his stand-in role, I don’t think Logan was given a whole lot of room to develop his Tumblebrutus, so the role felt reduced and inconsistent. Parker just had to play Cassandra, so she developed her Cassandra. Thompson just had to play George, so he developed his George. 1998 basically tried to have a Broadway and a London Misto at the same time and sort of lost Tumblebrutus as a character along the way.

Tumblebrutus isn’t a major character, especially in London-based productions, so this isn’t a major problem. Some tours and smaller productions actually cut Tumblebrutus in favor of Electra. Pouncival is never cut. He seems to be the preferred tom kitten in general. But, the reduced role of Tumblebrutus is the result of casting a Broadway Mistoffelees when it seems like they wanted a London one. But, they cast a Broadway Munkustrap and had him play a London Munkustrap with no one cast as a stand-in, while they made changes to Misto’s role to match the Broadway version. They wanted both versions so badly that they basically refused to choose just one.

With the casting of Michael Gruber, from what I can tell, Gillian Lynne just really liked him in the role.

(Interview tidbit is from Michael Gruber’s page on the Cats Wiki)

This might’ve been the case with Jacob Brent as Mistoffelees as well, but I think there was more to it than that. Technically, Brent and Logan were both great in the role. Seeing Misto and Tumble in the Boys Ballet, which Brent said Logan had the timing for better than he did, Logan might’ve actually been better at dancing the role. 

But, I think what decided Brent’s casting was his acting of the role.

The role of Mistoffelees evolved a lot over time and London and Broadway evolved in different directions. By the time Brent was cast, Broadway Mistoffelees was a mix of the very dramatic, theatrical character Broadway started with and the younger, more awkward version that Lindsay Chambers brought to Broadway from Zurich. Brent was Chambers’ understudy and their versions of the character are similar. There are no full recordings of Chambers as Misto on Broadway, but there is a bootleg from Zurich, so the two portrayals can be compared.

Zurich was Vienna-based. The 1983 Vienna production was mostly based off of Broadway, but with a few changes. One of these changes is that Mistoffelees, who had a large singing role on Broadway, became completely mute. Mute Misto soon spread to Amsterdam and Paris. In Paris, the character was aged down and given more of a character arc where magically recovering Old Deuteronomy becomes a coming-of-age moment. Zurich took this characterization and ran with it. Both Paris and Zurich opened with Tibor Kovats as Misto, but the bootleg was filmed after Lindsay Chambers took over. The younger, coming-of-age aspects of the character were doubled down on. On top of that, Chambers’ Misto is an outcast, often scolded by the older cats in the tribe for what appear to be misunderstandings. Munkustrap is particularly harsh with him, and after he brings Old D back, Munkustrap dances with him and leads him to the tire for Tugger’s “ladies and gentlemen” finale. Munkustrap took the lead in honoring Misto at the end. Gaining Munk’s respect in particular is Zurich Misto’s arc.

Jacob Brent also plays Misto as younger and prone to awkward mistakes, but the tone is different. His Misto is more Broadway theatrical, with a small singing role. This makes him seem a bit more confident, and he at times appears to have a bit of an ego. Most of the older cats seem to like him. Munkustrap, the complete opposite to his Zurich counterpart, is very patient with Misto and seems to understand him a bit better than some of the other cats. Instead, Misto doesn’t really seem to fit in with cats closer to his own age and it’s the entire tribe he has to impress, without focus on a specific character.

All in all, the storyline with Zurich Misto is a bit more obvious. But, Brent’s Misto is more energetic, more dynamic. He makes facial expressions that make for great close ups. The combination of the clear story arc, which can be made even clearer on film, and that energy and expressiveness, make for a character that works really well on film. He’s the ideal Misto for a recorded production.

So, it was less Jacob Brent as a dancer, and more Mistoffelees, the character as played by Jacob Brent, that they were looking for.

I’ve run out of things to ramble about for now. I’ll just add on at the end that all of these people are awesome.

[spine-buster]

m a d e  o f  o u t e r  s p a c e | elias pettersson

Summary: Brock Boeser invites Elias Pettersson and his childhood best friend, Svea Nilsson, to his place on Prior Lake for the weekend.  Petey is feeling some feelings.  So is Svea.  And in a big group of twenty-somethings at a cottage on a summer weekend, what could go wrong?

Word Count: 14.8k

A/N: Some tropes here, definitely some character archetypes, but an overall good time that includes Incredibly Soft Bitch Hours™ because I’m an Incredibly Soft Bitch™ for Elias Pettersson. 

Svea Nilsson decided to go to university in Vancouver and Elias Pettersson decided to follow her.  Not the other way around.

Svea and Elias had been best friends since childhood – when Elias saw her faceplant on the ice at the local rink and he helped her up.  Simple as that.  They had the exact same temperament, and everyone would comment about it.  Their parents, their teachers, their mutual friends, their classmates – everybody would always say something: how so very quiet they were; how shy they were; how so very nice they were; how calm they were; how focused they were; how mature they were; how so very humble they were; how dry their sense of humour was; how they would open up when they got to know you.  The only difference between them was hockey.  When Elias began to take hockey more seriously, and play hockey more seriously, it didn’t change things.  Svea only took hockey seriously because Elias did.  She went to his games.  She would watch him.  She’d offer words of encouragement.  But she was the academic.  She was the one with her nose in a book in the stands in-between periods.  She was the one who got straight A’s and helped Elias with his abysmal English grades and had all the teachers loving her because she was so academic, so driven.  

So when Svea chose to go to Vancouver for university, where her mom was from, instead of Stockholm, where all her other friends were dying to go to get out of Ånge, everybody was shocked.  Except for Elias.  He was the first person she told, and the first person who told her to go for it.  She admitted she was a bit nervous to apply, and even more nervous about getting in.  It would mean she would have to leave him in Sweden.  But Elias wasn’t scared about any of that; he wasn’t scared of much, really.  “I’m going to follow you, anyway,” he’d said to her.  “When I play in the NHL.”

And then she got in.  And she had to leave Elias in Sweden.  

But that’s when happens when your mom is Canadian and she moved half around the world for your dad – you choose to rediscover your roots and see and live in the city your mom once called home.  You choose to move half-way across the world despite the fear and despite the fact that you’d leave your best friend behind, relying on May to August to spend as much time as possible with him.  Even though Svea was closer to Elias than she was to anyone else in the world, including her sister; and even though, like Catherine Earnshaw said in Wuthering Heights, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same”, she was leaving him.  

It was the hardest year of Svea’s life, when she was in Vancouver her first year and he stayed in Sweden to play with Vaxjo.  They would call and text each other constantly, with FaceTimes and Skype dates written into their schedules as easily and frequently as grocery shopping.  That spring, after finishing her exams on April 21st, she returned to Sweden on April 22nd, making it just in time to watch Elias score the game winning goal and the rest of the Vaxjo Lakers win the Swedish championships.  She was so happy for him she cried.  And when she surprised him on the ice – before all the gold paint, before all the champagne – he cried too.  He hugged her for so long she thought he wouldn’t let go.  And truthfully, she didn’t want him to.  

When he signed his contract with Vancouver and moved to the city, he asked – practically demanded – that she live with him.  She agreed because she didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to live rent free with her best friend in a beautiful condo that was bigger than the house in Ånge she grew up in.  She practically had her own wing, with a giant bedroom with floor-to-ceiling windows, her own bathroom, and Elias even let her have the den for all her studying.  They’d cook together, go out for sushi and waffles together, and Svea would even go to some games if she wasn’t busy studying.  When she was busy studying, Elias would leave her alone, which was what she loved most.  He understood her.  He never pressured her about anything.  But when she did go out with him – to games or afterwards – he’d made sure she made friends with the team.  So it became not just Elias – it became Brock, and Jake, and Marky, and Bo and Holly too, sometimes even Loui and Adam and JT.  

But in the end, it was Elias.  It was always Elias.  

It was Elias leaving with her when she wanted to leave early from Canucks events she’d inevitably be at or just regular nights out with the guys.  It was Elias calling cabs to take them home.  It was Elias making sure she got tucked into bed safely, leaving an Advil and a glass of water on her bedside table.  It was Elias making breakfast in the morning to cure any hangovers she got.  It was Elias bringing her snacks or making sure she got a good night’s sleep before midterms or exams.  It was Elias hugging her and telling her everything would be okay when she got stressed about a bad mark or an awful professor.  It was Elias who would help celebrate her highs, and would be there for her lows.  

It was always Elias.

>< >< >< >< ><

Friday

When Elias and Svea walked through the arrivals section of Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport, Brock Boeser was already waiting for them, holding a homemade sign that he had definitely scribbled in the car before getting there.  They immediately walked over to him, giant smiles on their faces.  He gave them big bear hugs – Brock always gave the best hugs, Svea thought, besides Elias – and grabbed Svea’s bag for her.  

“It’s only about a half our drive out to Prior Lake,” he said as they walked out into the parking garage.  “Did they feed you on the plane?  You guys want to grab something to eat now?”

“We can just wait and eat something at the house,” Svea said.

“All my friends are at my place already.  I told them to get lunch ready so hopefully they listened.”

“And if they didn’t we’re out of luck huh?” Elias joked as he settled into the passenger’s seat.  Svea slipped into the back.

Svea had never been to Minnesota before – she hadn’t been anywhere in the States besides the Pacific Northwest – but she enjoyed the drive out to the lake as much as she could.  When they finally arrived at the house, Svea admired the beautiful architectural design and big tree in the front.  She knew the house backed onto the lake, so it would be nice to see what the backyard looked like if the front was this beautiful.  

When Brock opened the front door, there was already music playing and a lot of commotion in the kitchen.  Svea, on instinct, instantly became a bit nervous at all the voices she heard.  She looked over at Elias quickly.  “We’re back!” Brock yelled out over the music.  Suddenly, a rush of people came from the kitchen.  Svea was sure she was clutching onto her luggage so tightly her knuckles were white.  “Did you guys make lunch?” Brock asked.

“Parker’s just finishing up,” a beautiful redhead said as she approached them.  Svea could see the pattern of her bikini through her tank top.  The girl stared directly at Elias, not giving her so much as a glance.  “Is this Elias?”

“Okay, everybody!” Brock called out.  “These are my friends Elias and Svea!”  She and Elias smiled politely at everyone, and Elias even gave a dumb wave.  “Petey, Svea…okay, we’ve got Kyla, Hallie, Marcus, McKenna, Brayden, Tanner, Brett, Parker’s outside on the barbecue I guess…and of course, you know—”

“Meeeeeee!” Brock’s girlfriend, Grace Gillespie screamed as she rounded the corner with her arms wide open for hugs, shoving past the crowd to get to her friends.  After having not seen them for a couple of weeks, she was happy to be hosting them in Minnesota.  “How was your flight?  Everything go well?”

Svea gave her a warm hug.  She was so glad to see a friendly face in Grace.  Despite their personality differences Svea loved her and always had a good time with her.  They were fairly close, especially while in Vancouver together trying to navigate the lives of Brock and Elias.  “Everything was nice,” Svea nodded her head as Grace hugged Elias but kept her attention on Svea.  “I’ve never been to Minnesota before.  The drive out here was nice, too.”

“Okay, good,” she said, turning her attention back to Brock.  “Babe, can you make sure Parker’s not burning his face off on the barbecue?  I can show Elias and Svea their room.”

Brock ran out to the back while the group dispersed, Kyla and Hallie’s eyes watching them.  Svea tried not to look, but she couldn’t help it as they made their way through the house, following Grace.  When their eyes met, it was like Kyla and Hallie were hawks and Svea was the prey.  Or was it Elias?  Either way, she didn’t know, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to find out.  And when she looked at Elias again, he didn’t even seem to notice – either that, or he did and just didn’t care.  As a young, star hockey player in Vancouver, he was used to people staring at him by now.  There were even times where they’d be out for dinner together and people would approach their table asking for autographs or photos.  Svea knew Elias wasn’t any more comfortable with it, despite it happening so often now – he was still very much uncomfortable with it – but he was learning to take it all in stride.  Her, not so much.  She didn’t know if she could ever get used to people wanting pictures and an autograph of her best friend.  Because that’s what he still was to her, despite all his success and fame – her best friend.  

Grace led them down into the basement of the house.  Thankfully, it got quieter and Svea was actually able to hear her thoughts over the voices and the music.  “Okay, so there’s five bedrooms upstairs and most of us are staying up there, but Brock and I know you guys, and how you like your own space and aren’t loud like the rest of them are, so we put you down here for your benefit,” Grace explained.  “You’ve got the double bed and your own bathroom down here.  And nobody can disturb you, so if you want to, like, take a breather, you can,” she continued, looking directly at Svea as she said the words.  Svea thanked her lucky stars for Grace.  When Grace opened the door, they were met with a plain but cozy bedroom.  Because the basement was technically a walkout, one wall had a massive window, looking out on to the lake.  There was another door that led to said washroom.

“This is so cozy,” Svea heard Elias say as he walked further into the bedroom.  “Tell Brock I want him to bring me breakfast in bed down here tomorrow morning.”

Everybody couldn’t help but laugh.  Svea couldn’t help but admire Elias’s smile.  “Okay, well, I’ll let you two unpack and get settled,” Grace said.  “Lunch should be ready in about fifteen minutes.  And if I were you, I’d put on your bathing suits now because Brock’s gonna drag us all into the lake afterwards.”

She left without saying another word, leaving Svea and Elias looking at each other as they stood alone in the room.  “I think I might have a headache by the end of the weekend,” Elias said.

Svea couldn’t help but snort.  “I think we both will.”

“At least Grace will tell people to be quiet.  Brock will only get louder,” he said as he lifted his suitcase and put it on top of the bed.  Svea followed, lifting her own onto the opposite side of the bed.  “You want to change and go back upstairs with everyone?  I can unpack everything,” Elias offered.

“I’m not going if you’re not going,” she shook her head.  It was the theme of their life together, really.

Elias smiled.  “Suit yourself.”

They unpacked in relative silence, slipping past each other every so often and in and out of the washroom to put away their toiletries.  Eventually Svea escaped inside the washroom to put her bathing suit on under her clothes.  Elias changed while she did.  When she emerged, she found him wearing an obnoxious pair of Hawaiian print swim trunks.  “Did Brock buy you those?”

“He did,” Elias nodded, his smile telling her he knew they were ridiculous but there was no way he couldn’t wear them.  He looked at her, standing near the doorway of the washroom, her hands adjusting the dress she’d changed into.  “Are you nervous, Svea?” he asked suddenly.  She couldn’t help but nod her head.  “I won’t leave your side, okay?”

“Don’t worry about me, Elias.”

“That’s impossible,” he chuckled slightly, approaching her.  “I worry about you constantly.”

That made Svea furrow her brows.  Why would he worry about her?  She didn’t think she ever gave him anything to worry about.  She knew she was really reserved in big groups of people, preferring to just watch and listen rather than act and talk, but so was he.  “Why do you wor—”

“Petey?  Svea?  Lunch is ready!” Grace called down the stairs, interrupting their conversation.  

This would clearly have to be discussed later.  

Elias led them back upstairs, and they looked at the back deck to see everyone congregating near the giant table as they last of the food was being put on plates by Parker.  Grace grabbed Svea’s hand and led her around the table to sit next to her; Elias made sure to follow so he wasn’t stuck with any of the loud and boisterous others.  Brock settled in across from him, which meant the redhead, Kyla, slid in beside him, getting a bit too close for his liking.  She looked at him and smiled and he gave a tight-lipped grin back, trying to be polite, but also trying to tell her he needed more room for his elbows.  He knew he wasn’t a big guy but he could barely get his hands onto the table – he’d look like a t-rex eating at this rate.

“Brock says we can call you Petey – is that okay?” Kyla asked, cocking her head to the side as she touched Elias’s forearm briefly.

“That’s fine,” he nodded quickly.

“How do you pronounce your name in Swedish, anyway?  Cause I definitely want to learn how,” she continued.  

“Wait!  Let me do it!” Brock yelled, interrupting whatever moment Kyla was trying to create.  Brock took one last look at Svea and Elias before taking a dramatic pause and saying it.  “El-ee-as Pet-ter-shon.”

Svea and Elias began to clap, and Brock bowed in his seat.  Elias’s smile was wide at Brock’s pronunciation.  “Good job.  Now we can move on to our ABCs.”

After lunch, Brock took Elias, Svea, Grace, Kyla, and Parker out on the boat.  They zigzagged around the lake, the hot sun beaming down on them as Brock eventually stopped in the middle of the lake so they could swim and sunbathe for a bit.  He cracked open a couple of beers and stripped down to his swim trunks.  Kyla stood up in front of Elias and took her shirt off practically right in front of him, exposing her bikini.  Svea couldn’t help but watch, wondering if Elias noticed how well Kyla filled it out.  Svea never filled anything out.  Whereas Kyla had a beautifully athletic body, Svea had nothing of the sort.  She wondered if Elias noticed the difference between them.  He’d known Svea practically his whole life, but Kyla would be a shiny new toy.  Kyla seemed pretty dead set on getting his attention at lunch, and she was clearly taking the next step.  Even when she jumped into the lake from the boat and came back on, soaking wet and body now practically glistening in the sunlight, she made sure to dry herself in front of Elias too, perching her leg on the edge of the boat to show off her long legs.  

When they got back to the cottage after a few hours of being out on the lake, homemade pizzas were waiting to be devoured as dinner.  And when dinner was over, Grace suggested an innocent movie night before the rowdiness of tomorrow, so everybody changed into their pajamas, poured bowls of popcorn and chips and Skittles, and sprawled out over the couches.  Svea had a bowl of chips in her hands as she watched Kyla settle in next to Elias on the couch, almost instantly beginning to chat him up about the movie.  Elias smiled and nodded but was soon looking around the room.  When his eyes found her, he got up from the couch.  Kyla was mid-sentence.  

“You coming to sit?” he asked, grabbing the chip bowl and leading her to the armchair.  He sat down first, scooting over to the edge until Svea sat beside him.  Brock threw a blanket at her and she unfolded it right before Elias grabbed her legs and swung them over his lap.  She laid the blanket on top of them.  

Kyla was glaring at her.  Nobody else seemed to notice, but Svea felt Kyla’s eyes burning a hole into her.  Svea tried as much as possible to ignore it, but she could still feel it.  

“Comfortable?” Elias asked.

Svea nodded her head.  “I think you were meant to sit beside someone else,” she quipped, quickly and in Swedish so no-one else would understand.  

Elias followed Svea’s line of site and saw Kyla staring, but the second she saw Elias staring too, she looked away, her face softening from its previous glare.  Elias chuckled slightly.  “Her forwardness scares me.”

“She’s flirting with you, you know.  She’s got the hots for you.”

“I don’t care.”

She felt his hand rest in-between her legs, just above her knee, still shielded under the blanket.  When she settled into his chest, and the movie started, she felt his thumb rub circles along her skin.  It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary – he did this all the time – but in a room full of people, and one girl in particular who seemed to want to get him into bed with her, it was a bold move.

Svea sighed.  This was going to be an interesting weekend.

>< >< >< >< ><

Saturday

Svea barely remembered falling asleep during the movie, and she barely remembered being led downstairs to their room by Elias who proceeded to tuck her into bed and cuddle against her in bed, pulling her back against his chest as he wrapped an arm around her.  When she awoke the next morning on her back, Elias’s one arm was still draped over her while the other was underneath the pillows.  His blonde hair – usually combed back into his signature slick look – was everywhere, sticking up in every direction because of the pillow.  His face looked so peaceful as he slept, the softest of snores escaping him.  

Svea and Elias did this a lot: cuddle on a couch and be a bit handsy before sleeping in the same bed together, then wake up with their limbs all tangled and their faces so close to each other if they moved one inch forward, they would kiss.  Maybe they shouldn’t, because it could lead to complicated feelings and mixed signals and messages, but they did.  It was what they did.  It started so long ago in Ånge and followed them to Vancouver and Svea didn’t—couldn’t—never wanted to stop.  Did that make her selfish?  Did it hold her back from meeting a nice guy?  Did it hold Elias back from meeting a nice girl?  

Elias never really asked, but neither did she, about any of that sort of stuff – mostly because they both knew.  They both knew the other didn’t do stuff like that – hook up with people randomly, or without thought.  They weren’t like that and weren’t those types of people.  The last time they’d asked each other about that, the outcome was much, much different.  

It was a quiet night in Ånge, with their parents both out for one reason or another.  Emil was out for a friend’s birthday, and Sigrid was already in Stockholm for university.  They were watching a movie, cuddled with her legs in his lap and his arm around her back under the same blanket on the couch.  Truth be told, she hadn’t been paying much attention to the movie – she had other thoughts on her mind, ever since they started cuddling and Elias had put his arm around her and settled it on the hem of her pants, his fingertips grazing her skin every so often.  This wasn’t the first time they cuddled together underneath a blanket.  This wasn’t even the first time his fingertips touched her skin there.  But because they were alone, and because Svea was…well, curious, she couldn’t help but have that curiosity get the best of her.

“Elias?” she asked in a fake-sweet voice, turning her attention away from the TV and to his face.

“Svea?” he asked back, using an equally-fake-but-sweet tone, but not looking at her.

“Do you like any girls at school?”

That caught his attention enough to have him look down at her skeptically.  “What’s this about?”

She didn’t know what to say, because it’s not like she wanted to actually tell him what was really on her mind.  She should have thought this through much more.  She shrugged her shoulders, trying to seem nonchalant.  “I’m just wondering.”

“Why?  Did you hear something?”

“No.”

“Good,” he sighed out of relief.  “And to answer your question – no.  I don’t like any girls at school.  You know I only have eyes for you anyway.”

“Oh shut up, Elias,” Svea slapped his chest and rolled her eyes at him.  “You’re so full of shit.”

“Am not!” he argued, a smile playing on his face since he knew by her tone she was joking.  “You’re the only girl that’s worth my time, Svea.  You know that.  I wouldn’t be cuddling with anyone else but you.”

“But do you think…” she found herself saying, unable to just shut the hell up.  “Like, you’re not interested in the girls in our grade, but what if a boy is interested in me?”

Elias looked down at her again, brows even more furrowed and an angry look on his face.  “Who?!”

“Nobody, Elias.  Calm down,” she said.  “I’m just saying.  Is it horrible that I wouldn’t feel comfortable if a boy in our grade wanted to kiss me or something?  I mean I’m sixteen but I haven’t even had my first kiss yet,” Svea knew she was just word vomiting now.  She couldn’t help herself, but besides Sigrid, Elias was the only person she could have these conversations with.

“Of course it’s not horrible,” Elias said.  “You’re too good for everybody in our grade anyway.  Nobody should be kissing you.”

“I don’t think I’d feel comfortable with anybody besides you,” she mumbled absent-mindedly.

“What was that?”

She sighed heavily, not wanting to have to repeat herself since she was instantly embarrassed that she’d admitted those words out loud.  But she knew Elias wouldn’t let it go, so she met his eyes shyly.  “I said I don’t think I’d feel comfortable with anybody besides you.”

Elias paused, realizing the weight of her words as they hung in the air.  He barely even blinked as the words ruminated in his mind.  Svea almost wanted to pinch him because he was too quiet – even for him.  All anybody ever said about him was that he was quiet, but he was being too quiet now.  She was about to impulsively just get up and leave when he finally spoke.  “I wouldn’t feel comfortable with anybody besides you, either.”

“Really?” she asked softly.

“Of course not,” he said.  “I wouldn’t…I wouldn’t even want to,” he expressed sheepishly.

Svea shivered.  She looked into Elias’s eyes and saw everything she loved about him.  His humility, his sense of humour he only reserved for her and a select few others, his sense of self.  There was a reason they had stayed best friends all these years, and that high school hadn’t changed anything.  “Elias…” she gulped.

“Svea,” he mimicked her tone again.  

“Elias…if…do you want to—I mean, would you—I—I—if we could lose our virginity to each other, would you?”

*

Svea and Elias found themselves in his bedroom, staring at the other as they stood a few feet away from each other.  Both were barely breathing, too focused on the emotions being shown on the face of the other to think about something as trivial as breathing.  Svea knew she didn’t want to be doing this with anyone else besides Elias, but she was still nervous.  What if she didn’t kiss well?  What if her breath smelled?  What if Elias wasn’t attracted to her once he saw her naked?  What is she did something wrong and—

“Svea?”

“Elias?”

“Are you really nervous like me?” he asked sheepishly.

She nodded her head.  She could almost feel her insides trembling as much as she was on the outside.  “Maybe we should start kissing.”

Elias nodded his head.  “Kissing is a good start.”

They stepped towards each other until they were chest-to-chest.  Elias brought his hands up slowly to cup Svea’s face before he craned his neck down.  Their first kiss was soft, their lips barely touching before Elias pulled away slightly to make sure it was okay with Svea.  When she saw the look in his eyes and she nodded her head, he continued, deeper this time, and they continued like that for a while, kissing as Elias cupped her face.  

It was Svea who first dragged her tongue against his bottom lip, and he pulled back momentarily.  He looked at her.  “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she nodded quickly.  “And, um, Elias…”

“What is it?”

“You can—you can touch me places besides my face.”

Elias nodded his head nervously.  “Okay.  Sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“Are your hips okay?”

“Everywhere is okay.”

He nodded again, their lips coming together again with Svea’s tongue automatically snaking its way into Elias’s mouth.  He began to do the same, his hands dragging down her sides and settling on her hips, pulling her body against his even more.  

This felt nice to her.  Everything with Elias felt right.  Was this what she had been missing out on these past few years with boys?  Svea mentally punched herself for not doing this sooner.  Well, not doing this sooner with Elias.  His lips were so soft, and they moved so in tune with hers.  His hands traveled up her back underneath her t-shirt from her hips, making her shiver slightly.  She liked how his hands felt against her skin as they grazed higher and higher, eventually meeting the bralette she was wearing.  She moved her own hands down to the hem of his pants before tugging on the bottom of his t-shirt.  “Can I take off your shirt?” she mumbled against his lips.  

Elias didn’t say anything – he just helped her tug off his shirt before his hands went to the hem of hers and he pulled hers off as well.  As her top was discarded to the side, she looked at him looking at her exposed body.  He’d seen her with this much exposed skin before – in a bathing suit though – but this time was obviously different.  This time was much more intimate.  He feasted on the site before him, breathing heavily as he noticed the goosebumps on her skin.  He looked her in the eyes and didn’t speak a word – but in that look, she knew he was telling her she was beautiful.  He began kissing her again, wanting to feel her entire body with his hands and beginning to undertake that mission.  

Svea tiled her head back and took in the sensation of Elias’s hands wandering all over her body, and suddenly she could feel his lips on her neck, putting her into another state of exhilaration.  He kissed all the way down to her collarbone while she sunk her nails into the skin of his back.  She let out a small moan as Elias sucked on her neck, not knowing that simple act could pour so much passion and energy into a person.  Her hands grazed the waistband of his sweatpants.  She could feel his breath hitch in his throat.

“Is that okay?” she asked, to which he nodded his head.  She pushed them down gently, leaving him standing in his underwear.  His hands mimicked hers.  She stepped out of her pants and was now left in only her bralette and underwear.  “Can we lie down on the bed?” she asked, not even bothering to wait for his answer before she sat down on the bed.

Elias looked down at Svea, and he couldn’t help the smile that overtook his face.  “Oh my God…” he mumbled to himself.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, a worried look on her face.

“Your lips are so red from all the kissing.  I kind of feel bad,” Elias giggled.

Svea couldn’t help but giggle as well as she brought her hand up quickly to feel her lips.  They didn’t feel any more swollen, but what did she know?  This was her first time, after all.  She still had a burning question on her mind though.  “Does—Does it feel okay?  Do you like it?” she asked timidly.

Elias looked at her as if she were crazy.  “You mean you can’t tell?” he asked, looking down to his lap.  

Svea snorted at his crassness, shaking her head at him as they continued to giggle.  Better giggling with your best friend in bed, she thought, rather than having anxiety and being uncomfortable with someone else.  “Kiss me, Elias,” she smiled, and Elias was all too happy to comply.  

They started by lying beside each other, kissing some more as Elias felt her up through her bralette and she palmed his hard-on through his boxers, but soon enough Elias was on top of her, and she could feel his entire body against hers.  She felt like she was on fire – but in a good way; like a jolt of electricity had just shocked her.  The best part of the experience was that she was doing everything subconsciously.  She wasn’t thinking, for once – she was just doing.  It gave her confidence to know that despite a lifetime of inaction, somehow her body knew what to do with how she was feeling.  Nothing was forced.  Everything felt natural, like it was supposed to be happening, and supposed to be happening only with Elias.  

Then, he helped her take off her bralette.

Then, she helped him pull down his boxers.

Then, he helped her pull down her underwear.

“Did you get the condom from your brother’s room?” she whispered, and Elias nodded his head.  He rolled off of her momentarily to reach over to the bedside table and grab it, opening the package and taking it out.  “Do you need help?” she asked again, her breath heavy.

“I think I’ll be okay,” he said.  She tried to give him some privacy by looking away, but she was too intrigued and ended up just staring.  She hoped he didn’t feel embarrassed or anything – it was more of an education for both of them, really.

When he was finished, he kissed her again before getting back on top of her.  “Svea…”

“Yes Elias?”

“If you ever want to stop, we can stop, okay?”

Svea nodded.  “Okay.”

“Like if it hurts – we can stop.  It’s not gonna be awkward if we stop.  So just tell me.”

“Okay.  Okay.”

He entered her slowly.  It felt like nothing Svea had ever felt before, and she didn’t even know how to describe it – only that it felt right.  There were no other words she could use.  He pushed in a little bit further and there was a little bit of pain.  She closed her eyes and winced.

“Svea?” Elias’s frantic whisper made her open her eyes.  “Svea are you okay?”

“Yes, yes I’m fine,” she said unconvincingly.

“Am I hurting you?”

She couldn’t lie to him, so she nodded her head slightly.  “But it’s okay.”

“I can stop—”

“Don’t,” she cut him off.  “It’s okay, Elias.  Just keep going.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.  Don’t worry.”

He kept pushing.  He hated to see the winces on her face so he decided to give her light kisses in hopes of easing the pain.  When he was fully inside of her, they both stayed still to adjust to the new feeling.  They were barely breathing, but had locked eyes with one another.  “I love you, Svea,” he whispered tenderly.  

They said those three words to each other all the time, because they did – they did love each other.  What kind of love that was still remained to be seen, but because there were so many different types of love, Svea and Elias knew they loved each other in certain ways.  It was why Svea had absolutely no hesitation in responding to him.  “I love you too, Elias.”

As he looked into her eyes and she gave a slight nod of her head, he began moving in and out of her slowly, making sure he wasn’t hurting her or going too fast.  Soon, instead of pain she began to feel pleasure, and it felt good, and she began to try to move in sync with his body.  She could hear Elias grunt slightly as she did so, and she thought that he must be feeling some pleasure too, to make that noise – well at least she hoped.  “Does it feel okay?” she couldn’t help but ask.

Elias nodded his head dramatically.  “You feel really good.”

“I do?”

“Yeah…it…fuck, you just feel really good,” he said.  She brought her hands up to cup his face.  “Does it feel good for you too?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“I want to make sure it feels good for you,” he admitted.  “Will…will you tell me?”

Svea nodded and Elias kissed her again, continuing to move in and out of her and making her feel good.  Their soft moans became more laboured and heavier, and Svea could feel herself getting close.  What her friends had always told her would happen was happening, and she almost didn’t know how to cope with the feeling.  “Elias…Elias…”

“Are you close?”

“Keep going, Elias,” she closed her eyes, ready for the feeling to take over her.

“Look at me.”

She was shocked by his request, but she opened her eyes to find him staring at her.  “I love you,” he told her again, and every inch of her body – from the blonde hairs atop her head to the tips of her toes – knew he meant it.

“I love you too.”

Svea felt a wave of pleasure wash over, and she arched her back and moaned out as it overtook her entire body.  She felt Elias pulsating inside of her, and the desperate noises he was making, along with the heavy breathing and the trembling of his body as he buried his head into the crook of her neck meant she knew he’d just experienced the same thing.  

He collapsed on top of her gently, his body still shaking as he tried to regain his breath.  She wrapped her arms around him and tried to remember how this all felt – the feeling of his lips on hers; the feeling of his hands all over her body; the feeling of his hand on her breasts; the feeling of him inside her, which she knew would end soon when he’d have to pull out and they’d have to clean up.  Selfishly, she wanted this moment to last forever.  It was the sweetest, softest, most incredible thing she’d experienced in her short life.

Elias pushed himself up slightly, just enough so he was able to look her in the eye.  “Did it feel good?” he asked.

Svea nodded her head.  “It was the best feeling I’ve ever felt.”

“Me too,” Elias admitted.  “I…I just wanted to make sure it felt good for you.  I wouldn’t have cared if I didn—”

She couldn’t help but raise her head to kiss him to get him to shut up.  She didn’t want him to ramble in this moment.  He readily reciprocated the kiss, eventually pulling out of her and laying on his side.  They kissed for a few moments longer before Svea pulled away.  “Should we clean up?”

Elias seemed a bit taken aback by the question.  “Uh, yeah, of course,” he said, trying to make it seem like he wasn’t.  “But um, afterwards…can we—do you want to keep kis—I mean, do you want to stay tonight?”

When they cuddled afterwards – after cleaning up, and after Elias methodically disposed of the condom so nobody in his family would find out – Svea put on some of his old clothes and slipped into his bed.  Elias followed close behind, wearing a pair of a boxers and an old t-shirt, and he cuddled up to her automatically.  

Elias and Svea fell asleep like that, and when Emil got home that night and checked Elias’s bedroom to make sure he was home and saw them cuddled in the bed together, he smiled to himself.  

When Svea woke up the next morning, Elias was using her chest as a pillow.  And when he woke up after feeling her move, he gave her one last kiss before hearing all the noise in the kitchen.  They went about their day normally.  His parents didn’t think anything of it because Svea slept over so often; neither did her parents, really.  They just smiled and fed her breakfast and treated her like family, as they always did.  She and Elias always acknowledged what happened with each other (they didn’t tell a soul what happened – no friends, no family, nobody) but didn’t make a big deal out of it.  There was no reason to.  They’d done it out of love, out of some curiosity, but mostly out of love.  It didn’t complicate things.  If anything, it reinforced their love for one another – that they could do something so intimate, and experience it for the first time together, and not have it change things between them.

“What are you thinking about?” Elias’s soft mumble surprised her.  His eyes were still closed but she could feel his legs move slightly, brushing up against hers.

“Ånge,” she lied – only slightly.

“Do you miss it?”

“Yeah,” she said softly.  She missed not having to worry about Elias getting a concussion or injured in hockey.  She missed how simple their lives were when they were sixteen and thought to themselves one night, “let’s have sex”.  

“We’ll be home soon,” he said, finally opening his eyes.  They were so sleepy as they looked right into hers, and he shifted so he could pull her body closer to his.  “I know that you miss your mom and dad and that you miss Sigrid.  I’m sure you miss Sundsvall too.  Being by the water.  When we stay at my place I know that’s your favourite part.  It’s why I bought it.”

She felt a shiver run up her spine at his words.  He’d never told her that before.  “Do you ever get sick of me, Elias?”

“Never,” he replied automatically, nestling his head down so it was almost in the crook of her neck.

“Not even when I’m stressed about university?”

“Never.”

“Not even when you have to drive me around places because I’m scared of driving in Vancouver?”

“Never.”

“Not even when we spend time together in Ånge, then in Sundsvall, then in Stockholm, and we’re like, always together, even in the same room, all the time?”

“Never.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because we’re the same, Svea,” he said, like it was so simple.  “We’re an extension of the other.  And if you can’t be in the same room with yourself – if you can’t be with yourself all the time, then who can you be with?”

Another shiver ran up her spine – more powerful this time – and Elias could tell because yet again, he tightened his grip around her.  He rested his lips on the exposed part of her skin where her neck met her shoulder and kissed her lightly.  She looked down at him.  “For the record, I never get sick of you either,” she said.

“Good,” he said.  “Because I’m dragging you with me everywhere.”

“Oh yeah?  And where are we going?”

“Upstairs to get coffee.”

Svea giggled as Elias rose from his position, looking down at her as his hair fell in front of his face.  It was only then that should could smell the distinct aroma of the coffee he mentioned.  He didn’t bother brushing his hair, instead settling with just pushing it back with his hands.  Svea took a hairband and put half of her hair up in a messy bun before she followed Elias up the stairs.  Luckily, they came face to face with Brock and Grace as they were pouring themselves the first batch of coffee.  

“Where’s everyone else?” Svea asked, even though she was grateful for the quietness they had now.

“Still sleeping, probably too hungover to get up this early,” Grace whispered, handing Svea the cup of coffee she just poured.  “Want to come out on the deck with me?”

“Of course.”

The girls went out on the deck and sat at the table; the last thing heard being Brock chirping Elias about how bad his hair looked.  “Did you guys have a good sleep?” Grace asked.

Svea nodded her head.  “Thanks for putting us down there.”

Grace gave her a knowing nod.  “I knew, don’t worry.”  She paused as she took a sip of her coffee.  “So you and Elias…” she began.

Svea knew immediately where the conversation was headed.  Although Svea loved Grace she wasn’t going to tell her what he’d said to her that morning.  It was a personal moment not meant to be shared.  Grace had been telling her for months that it was clear Elias felt something different, but Svea wasn’t so sure.  He’d always acted the same around her, so she honestly couldn’t tell.  “Still nothing, Grace.”

“You guys are going to be the death of me,” she was exasperated.  “Do you honestly think he feels nothing for you?”

Svea shook her head.  “I know that Elias loves me,” she began.  “That’s not a question.  But does he love me the way you’re implying?  I don’t know.  We’ve known each other for so long, Grace.  We’ve been through everything together.  It’s different when you literally grow up with someone.  But like…dating?  Romantic love?  We’re only twenty-one.  I don’t know if Elias even wants that with me.”  She paused to fiddle with her hands.  “Besides, I think Kyla is really into him.”

“Kyla and McKenna werent’t even supposed to be here.  And if Kyla tries something with Elias, I will throw her into the lake,” Grace deadpanned.  Svea couldn’t help but laugh.  Grace reached over and placed her hand on Svea’s forearm.  “Svea, come on.  If you think Elias doesn’t want that with you, you’re wrong.”

Svea looked at the window, seeing the boys talking about something while standing next to the stove.  She could only imagine how much Brock was chirping Elias about his hair – he probably hadn’t stopped.  Sometimes, at night, she truly did wonder if Elias saw her in any other way besides his best friend – if he saw her as a romantic interest, as a partner – hell, sometimes even just as a woman.  But she tried not to dwell on those thoughts for too long, because she knew they’d overtake her more rational thoughts eventually, and then she’d have a mess on her hands.  Elias, in many ways, was her everything, and more than anything, she wondered if she was his everything too.

*

“So you and Svea…” Brock began, his voice low so no-one upstairs would overhear, and so Svea and Grace outside couldn’t hear him either.  Even though he would love to see them together, and thought they were taking their sweet ass time (obviously) and were made for each other (obviously), he wanted to stay out of it and let things happen naturally.  If there was one thing he knew about Petey, it was to not force him into things.  Grace had other ideas.  She wanted Brock to help her get to the bottom of it.  She wanted to know all the details.  And, well, Brock loved his girlfriend, so here he was.

“What about it?” Elias asked.

“Bud, you can’t stand there and tell me there’s nothing between you.”

Elias sighed.  “I don’t want to get into it.”

“That’s great, ‘cause I do.  You mean to tell me nothing happened last night?”

Elias gave Brock one of his infamous death stares.  He knew Brock wouldn’t let it go and that they death stare had no use.  He shook his head slightly.  “No, nothing happened last night.  I don’t want to risk it.”

“Risk what?”

“Losing her.”

Brock furrowed his brows.  “What on earth makes you think you’d lose her?  Do you honestly think she doesn’t have feelings for you?”

“We’ve grown up together, Brock.  It’s different.  I know Svea loves me.  She’s been there for me through everything, through all the hockey, and she never complained once,” Elias shook his head again.  “I can’t be selfish and demand this from her too.  Besides, I don’t know if she wants that with me.  It…I…just…I love her, Brock – in all the ways a person can love another person, but—”

“But do you love her romantically?” Brock asked.

Elias paused.  His mouth dropped open, about to say his answer that he knew definitively in his heart, until out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure.  He looked over to his right to see Kyla stretching at the foot of the stairs, her pyjama t-shirt riding up to expose her midriff.  It was very obvious she wasn’t wearing a bra.  “Good morning,” she cooed after she finished her stretch, looking directly at Elias.  

Brock looked like he was about to punch a wall.  Elias looked away from what she was trying to show off.  “Good morning.”

“Is that coffee I smell?” she asked, walking into the kitchen.  

“Just made,” Brock said, his voice monotone.  “Are the others up?”

“McKenna’s just about to come down,” she said, stepping in between Elias and Brock.  Brock left the situation.  She peeked up at Elias through her eyelashes.  “Have a good sleep?” she asked.

“The best.”

“Is it cold in the basement?” she asked, her voice low so only Elias could hear her.  “Need some warming up?”

Her forwardness really did scare him.  “It’s not cold down there when Svea’s there,” he said.

Kyla’s face immediately dropped.  Before she could try to flirt some more, Grace and Svea walked back in from the back deck.  Svea was almost immediately looking at Elias, trying to survey the situation.  “Should we start breakfast?” Grace asked, moving past Kyla towards the fridge.  Grace gave her a death stare for being so close to Elias.  “What do you want to work on?”

As more of the guests made their way down the stairs, every chose a job to do – Svea and Elias worked on the bacon; Brock and Grace the scrambled eggs; Kyla made toast; Marcus worked on setting the table; Brayden made the sausages; Brett and Parker cut up fruit.  McKenna and Hallie made more coffee.  Breakfast was ready in no time.  

When everybody began to sit around the table, Svea was shocked to see Kyla sit beside her.  “So Brock told us you live in Vancouver, too,” she said, smiling.  “Whereabouts?”

“Oh, um, Yaletown.  Same as Brock and Elias,” she said, omitting the face that she lived with him.

“Oh my God, that’s so cool,” Kyla put some scrambled eggs onto her plate.  Svea knew she didn’t really care.  “And how do you know Elias?”

Svea knew Kyla cared about that, so she gave into the questioning because she knew everyone else in the house save for Brock, Grace, and Elias would think she was a bitch if she didn’t.  “We met when we were three – we grew up together in Sweden.”

“And then you followed him to Vancouver?”

“No no no,” Svea shook her head vehemently.  She could see Elias smile as he settled in on the edge of the bench beside her.  “Elias followed me.”

“Elias followed you?”

“Svea always wanted to go to UBC because her mom is originally from Vancouver,” Grace piped in, stuffing a piece of strawberry into her mouth.  “Svea got accepted first.  Then Petey was drafted, but stayed in Sweden for a year.  Then he signed with the Canucks and the rest is history.”

“Svea could have told me, Grace,” Kyle said teasingly as she gave a look to Svea.  “You’re so quiet, girl.  Speak up a bit.”

“Svea speaks when she wants to,” Grace quipped again.  “And more importantly, when she needs to.”

When breakfast was over, everybody showered, got ready, and changed into their bathing suits before heading outside for another day out on the water and patio.  Brock commandeered his boat and suggested some wakeboarding and other watersports out on the lake.  In the smaller boat, Brayden, Brett, Parker, and Hallie followed them out onto the lake.  There was no way Svea would wakeboard, but she knew Elias liked it.  She opted to take photos and videos of Elias doing so instead.  His parents were going to kill him.

They were out having fun on the water for so long – diving off the boat, swimming, wakeboarding, tanning, drinking, relaxing, talking – that nobody noticed they didn’t have lunch.  They just kept up their activities, with Elias wakeboarding a few times, followed by Brock while Marcus commandeered the boat.  Parker did a few cool flips while he wakeboarded.  It was hot, the sun was shining, and Svea was having the time of her life.  For those hours they were out on the lake, what Elias had said to her that morning in bed, and what Kyla had said and done (and continued to say and do) didn’t matter; she was just a girl out on a boat with her friends, and life couldn’t get any better.  

But then, of course, reality set back in.  More hours isolated on the boat meant more drinking.  Not from Svea, of course, because she knew her limit and because she didn’t want to get drunk in front of, statistically, more people she didn’t know than did; and not from Brock or Brett, because they had to drive the damn boats; but from the others – Marcus, before he drove the boat; and Grace, because she wanted to have fun; and Kyla, because she was Kyla; and McKenna, because Svea had no clue anymore because it wasn’t like McKenna spoke three words to her since the moment she got there.  

Svea was expecting nothing when everyone wanted to take one last dip in the lake before they went back to the house.  So when they all stood at the edge of the boat, and when Brock was finished taking the Instagram picture for Kyla of all of them with their hands around each other’s backs, they all jumped.  Svea hit the water hard and deep, like divers usually did, but something felt different.  Something felt…off.  And when she emerged from the water, wiping her eyes and trying to figure out what it was, it hit her like a tonne of bricks.  

Where was her top?

She felt everything in her stop.  When Elias emerged from the water and looked around to find her, the first thing he noticed was the petrified look on her face.  “Svea?” he asked.

“Yooooohooooo!” McKenna’s giggles were loud.  Svea turned around to face everybody else: Grace, Kyla, Marcus, Brayden, Brett, Parker, Hallie, and McKenna, only to see McKenna waving her bathing suit top above her head.  Svea’s bathing suit top.  

She was absolutely mortified.  

She screamed out in fear, finally having the wherewithal to cover her exposed breasts by hugging herself.  Kyla’s laughs and enthusiastic woos filled her mind as McKenna whipped it around like a lasso, like it was some prize they’d won.  In a way, it was: she’d won in making Svea feel completely embarrassed and uncomfortable and humiliated.  

“What the hell McKenna!  Give it back!” she heard Brock scream from the boat.  Svea watched as Elias swam over to McKenna and snatch the top out of her hands.  Grace looked like she was going to perform a ritualistic murder right then and there.  

“Oh come on!  It’s just a little bit of fun!” McKenna tried to defend herself.

“It’s how you get christened in Minnesota!” Kyla added.  “Everybody knows that!”

Svea tried not to focus on them anymore; they would defend themselves to the last second before the door dropped for the noose, so there wasn’t any point in listening.  Instead, she tried to focus on calming her emotions that she knew would bubble over – the tears that were threatening to escape, the flush of red to her cheeks, the nervous shaking from all the embarrassment of these girls and these men probably seeing her practically naked body underneath the water before she even realized what was going on.  She tried to focus on Elias, swimming back to her with her bathing suit top in his hands.  “Elias…” she said her voice extremely shaky.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he cooed, swimming up to cover her before handling the bikini top, trying to figure out which part went over her head.  She grabbed it from him to try to help.  “I got you, it’s okay.”

“Elias I’m so embarrassed,” she cried, her hands trembling too much to do it.  “I can’t—I can’t—”

“Here, let me,” he mumbled, taking the top back from her.

“Could they see everything?  Be honest.”

“No.  You can’t see anything in lake water Svea,” he said quickly.  

She knew he was probably lying to her – the lake water was clear as fucking day.  “Elias—”

“It’s okay—”

“Elias I’m mortified.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he kept repeating, putting the top back on over her head before turning her around without warning so he could tie it for her.  “You’re okay, Svea.  You’re okay.”

“Everybody saw my boobs Elias,” she cried again, still clutching onto them through her bikini top like they were going to fall out again.  He wrapped an arm around her and began swimming back to the boat.  “Only you’ve ever seen my boobs.”

Elias looked at her when she said the last sentence.  She couldn’t discern the look on his face.  “And it stayed that way,” he said.  “Nobody saw, Svea.  The water was all…wavy.”

Elias let her climb back onto the boat first, where Brock was ready with an open towel for her.  “Here you go, sweetheart,” he said, wrapping her in it.

“Thanks, Brock.”

He absolutely hated hearing the defeat and embarrassment in her voice.  “Grace will take care of Kyla and McKenna, don’t worry,” he said quickly as everybody else began climbing up the ladder and back onto the boat.  

The first thing McKenna did when she got back on the boat – even before drying herself off, which was what you were supposed to do – was finish off her beer.  Grace glared at her once she finally grabbed a towel.  “You need to apologize,” Grace said firmly, looking right at McKenna.  “What you did was so mean.”

“Oh come on, it wasn’t a big deal,” McKenna rolled her eyes.  Svea wondered if that was the alcohol talking or if McKenna was really like this.  She couldn’t imagine Brock being friends with someone like her.  But then she remembered that Kyla and McKenna weren’t even supposed to be here this weekend, and it all sort of made sense.  Maybe they were friends of friends, and Brock was too nice to say no.  Maybe he knew them only casually, and they tagged along unannounced to take advantage of being at an NHL player’s house for the weekend.  

“It was a big deal to Svea,” Grace continued, her voice still firm.  Grace looked at her to see her face still sullen.

“It’s fine,” Svea mumbled out, Elias’s arm wrapped tightly around her shoulder as she sat on his lap.  She didn’t want to cause any trouble, regardless.  She was a guest at Brock’s house as much as McKenna was, and didn’t want or need the added attention on her.

“I’m sooooorrryyyy, Svea,” McKenna laughed through her apology.  “But you’re considered a Minnesotan now, so take that a bonus.”

Svea didn’t respond.  She just nodded her head down and nestled further onto Elias, letting her head lean against his as Brock navigated back to the house.  McKenna and Kyla didn’t have a care in the world as they continued to talk to each other the entire way back, shooting a few looks her way throughout the journey back.  They disembarked the boat first before running into the house.  Brock helped Svea get off the boat, where she immediately went down to the basement to take a shower.  She felt like she had to get all the lake grime off of her before everybody started prepping for dinner.

As she changed into regular clothes and stood in front of the mirror trying to French braid her hair, she heard the hustle and bustle from upstairs.  She tried to pay it no mind until she began to hear voices – all too familiar voices.  

“Petey is so hot and cold, don’t you think?” Kyla voice was a bit muffled, but it definitely sounded more sober than what it sounded like half an hour ago when she issued her fake apology.  Svea stood silent.  Maybe eavesdropping wasn’t the most noble of things to do, but she was going to do it anyway.  “I don’t know if he even registers that I’m flirting with him.”

“I think that alien is hot for only one person here, and that’s Svea,” she heard McKenna retort.  

“You think so?”

“You don’t see the way he looks at her all the time?  They’re even sleeping in the same bed.”

“Yeah, but Brock said they grew up together in Sweden—”

“So?” McKenna retorted.  “That ‘she’s like my little sister’ line guys always pull is bullshit.  And Petey didn’t even say that about her.  They’re best friends.  Well, best friends.  You know what that’s code for.”

“Well, hopefully by the end of the weekend he’ll have a new best friend,” Kyla chirped.

“Listen, if anybody in this house could pull it off, it’s you,” McKenna encouraged her.  “He was eyeing you in your bikini yesterday.  I mean, you’re much more appealing that way than she is.  Every guy loves a good flirt.  Just use what you’ve got and I’m sure he’ll open up to it.  Only problem is Svea’s gonna have to sleep on the couch when you do.”

The girls giggled and Svea could feel her blood boil.  Elias wasn’t hers by any means, and she didn’t own him in any way, shape, or form, but Elias was hers.  In every sense, he was hers, and she was getting angry at herself for getting angry at these girls for wanting him.  Who was she to stop him from getting what he wanted if he really wanted Kyla?  And who was she to cry and be upset about it when Elias was a grown man and she was a grown woman capable of making their own decisions about who they liked and who they slept with?  She quickly fastened the end of her French braid with an elastic and wiped away the angry tears that fell, trying hard not to cry so she wouldn’t go back upstairs with red eyes.  She’d already been embarrassed once today; she didn’t need to be embarrassed again.  

She waited a few minutes until her emotions subsided before she walked back upstairs.  Almost everybody had congregated in the kitchen.  She saw Elias sitting outside on the deck.  Kyla was already all over him, pressed up against him.  She didn’t quit.  Svea had to at least admire her persistence.

*

That night, after dinner and drinking and drinking games and loud music and laughing and singing and even some drunken dancing, Svea watched as Kyla plopped herself into Elias’s lap as they all sat in Adirondack chairs around the firepit near the water.  Grace bought boxes of smores kits and they were wrapping them in foil for everyone to toast over the fire.  The boys were still drinking and finishing off the rest of the beers; Kyla was finishing hers as she sat on Elias’s lap.  Kyla was looking into Elias’s eyes as she sat on Elias’s lap.  Kyla was giggling and flirting as she sat on Elias’s lap.  Kyla wiggled her butt suggestively as she sat on Elias’s lap.

And as long as Kyla was going to sit on Elias’s lap, Svea couldn’t be there.

She wondered if Grace could see her almost constant glances in their direction.  She felt a rumbling in her stomach, probably from all the alcohol that was now mixing with the jealousy that roared in her belly.  A lethal combination for anyone, Svea thought, least for her, who’d grown up with him and watched him mature and was now watching as another girl was trying to take him from her, slipping him through her fingers like sand on a beach.  

“Can you save mine?  I just want to go to the washroom for a quick second,” Svea said as she stood up.

“Don’t be long.  There’s only so long I can wait to have chocolate,” she smiled and winked.

Svea walked the path up to Brock’s house and walked inside.  Luckily there was nobody else inside, so she was free to be alone – alone with her thoughts, her emotions, and the tears that threatened to spill, yet again.  Did she have a right to be jealous?  Did she have a right to feel these feelings for Elias and have them bubble up because of the persistent actions of another girl?  She didn’t know what to do.  She didn’t know what to think.  

Svea didn’t know how long she was in the house alone for.  But as she was lost in her thoughts, she heard the screen door open.  She looked up to see Elias.  He was glad he didn’t have to look hard to find her.  “Hi.”

“Hi Elias.”

“What are you doing in here?” he asked, closing the door behind him.

Svea shrugged her shoulders.  “Just thinking.”  She used that answer a lot on him.  He was used to it.  The alternative to talking, which she expected Kyla did a lot of outside with him anyway.  He walked over and sat beside her on the couch – right beside her, leaving her no room.  He took her hand and held it in his.  Her brows furrowed slightly.  “Why’re your hands so clammy?” she asked.  

“Why do you think?” he asked.  “I had to spend twenty minutes outside with Kyla on my lap trying to get me hard.”

The jealousy roared in her belly again.  Here it was.  He came in to ask her the inevitable request for her to sleep on the couch tonight so he could bring Kyla down to the basement instead.  Grace would have to get her an extra blanket and pillow.  Her back would hurt tomorrow morning.  She’d have to wake up whenever the first person came down and offer to make coffee and—

“Are you here to ask me to sleep on the couch tonight?” Svea blurted out.

Elias furrowed his brows, looking at her like she had three heads.  “Why would I make you sleep on the couch?”

“Because you want to sleep with Kyla,” Svea said matter-of-factly.

Elias froze.  “Svea,” he deadpanned.

“Elias?”

“Svea, you’re the smartest person I know, but you can be incredibly dumb sometimes.”

Svea was taken aback by his words.  He often teased her like this, maintaining that she often didn’t see things that were right in front of her.  Maybe it was one of her many faults, along with so many other things she was learning about herself this weekend, perhaps the worst being how possessive she was over him.  “What do you mean?”

“Svea—” Elias tried to begin, but he couldn’t find the right words.  He sighed before continuing.  “Do you remember that night in Ånge where my brother rented all the Austin Powers movies and we spent the entire night watching them?”

“Yes…”

“Well here’s a line for you,” he said, trying to remember it word for word.  “If I was the last man on earth, and she was the last woman on earth, and the future of the human race depended on our having sex to keep the population going, I still would not sleep with Kyla.”

Svea’s breath hitched in her throat.  “But Elias—”

“How could you honestly think I’d want to have sex with her?”

“She’s into you.  And she’s pretty, Elias, and tanned, and fit…and she’s—”

“No, Svea,” he interrupted her firmly.  “I would have rather had you on my lap out there.  You know that.”

“I can’t get you hard,” Svea mumbled.

Elias smiled amusingly at her words.  “You don’t think so?”

She didn’t appreciate him mocking her.  She rolled her eyes at him and his attempt to make light of this situation.  “Elias—”

“Svea, you’ve been getting me hard since we were sixteen and we were each other’s first,” he finally confessed, albeit a bit crassly.  It wasn’t the way he wanted it to be out in the open, but right now, there was no turning back.

The words hung in the air as they looked each other in the eye.  Svea couldn’t believe what had just come out of his mouth.  Elias was always honest with her, always, so to say that she was shocked he’d just admitted that out loud was an understatement.  Elias was a quiet guy, always, and she was a quiet girl, always, and that was…new.  “Are…are you s-serious, Elias?” she stuttered out. 

“I would never lie to you, Svea,” he said.  “Now can you come back outside and sit on my lap?”

*

When Elias and Svea walked outside, he brought her directly onto the dock, right to the end so they were looking out at the lake.  She made eye contact with three people on the way there: Brock, who sent a wink her way when he noticed the two of them together; Grace, who sent her own wink and wiggled her eyebrows; and Kyla, who sent her a death stare when she noticed Elias was holding her hand to guide her through the relative darkness.  When they finally reached the end of the dock, Svea saw one of Brock’s Adirondack chairs and a blanket.  Elias adjusted it so it faced the lake.  Svea looked back towards the backyard; everyone was dispersed in their own little groups, allowing them the alone time and privacy Elias apparently wanted.

“What are you looking at?” Elias asked quietly, trying to preserve the tranquility of the dusk.  

“Nothing,” she brushed him off.  She wasn’t going to tell him she was making sure Kyla wasn’t stomping down the dock to join them.  

“Then come sit.”

When she looked back at him over her shoulder, he was already sitting on the Adirondack chair, unfolding the blanket.  It was a scene Svea had encountered countless times before – in Sundsvall, specifically, on the balcony of his apartment when they’d go out at night and look out at the water and the lights of the city across the Bothnian Sea.  She moved to sit on his lap, settling into him as he wrapped an arm around her and lay the blanket over them.  He draped his other arm across her lap while the one around her back snuck underneath her shirt, rubbing the skin at the small of her back.  When he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck, his nose and lips grazing her skin, a shiver ran up her spine.  She was sure he could tell.

She began to remember the things he’d said since they got to Minnesota: how he always worried about her, about how they were an extension of each other, how he bought his apartment in Sundsvall because he knew being by the water was her favourite.  And now, with the comment said not even five minutes ago about her getting him hard since they were sixteen.  She thought about the implications of it all, and what it meant for her – what it meant for them, really, because she agreed with what he said about being an extension of each other.  

She was apparently lost in her thoughts – too lost for a few moments, because when she finally came to, she felt his lips graze the skin between her shoulder and neck.  “What are you doing, Elias?” she asked, her voice as quiet as his was before.

He didn’t answer.  Instead, they made eye contact and he looked at her for a few moments before leaning in and kissing her.  Like everything Elias did, he was perfect at it.  Soft lips, a passionate touch, and a tenderness nobody else could duplicate.  Much like when they were sixteen, she didn’t want it to end.  But when it did, with Elias pulling away first so he could look her in the eyes again, there was something else to be said.  “I love you.”

They were words Svea had heart countless times before – countless – but this time, it felt different.  Completely different.  She froze slightly.  “You love me, Elias?”

“Of course I love you.”

“No, Elias,” she bit her lip.  “You, like…love me?”

“Yes, Svea,” he said, his hand traveling further up her back.  “If you ever want to thank Kyla for one thing, it’s for making me realize how much I love you, and how long I’ve loved you for, because all her attention made me realize that I only want that kind of attention from you, that I only want you, and nobody else, and the thought of being with anyone else, or the thought of you being with anyone else makes me sick to my stomach.”

She felt a rush of blood to her cheeks as she blushed.  How long had she been waiting for him to hear those words and she didn’t even know?  How long had she wanted him to say those words to her, deep down inside somewhere within her?  Had she known this entire time and just not realize it?  Had she felt the same this entire time too and just didn’t verbalize it?  She couldn’t help but think he was being a bit of a drama queen about it though.  “You brought me all the way to Brock’s house in Minnesota to tell me this?”

Elias giggled like a schoolgirl.  “I guess I did.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“I never said I was smart like you,” he said.  “Remember when all the kids in class would call me space boy and alien boy because they said I looked like an alien?”

“You do look like an alien.”

Elias nudged her.  She laughed before snuggling back into him.  “If I’m the alien, you’re the stars, Svea.”

She smiled.  This time, it was her that moved to kiss him, doing it by her own accord and with such conviction she surprised even herself.  It was like she was sixteen all over again, except she wasn’t; she was still Elias’s best friend; still the most important person in his life; still getting him hard, apparently.  Yet now, she was twenty-one – older, somewhat wiser; a university student, not some precocious high schooler; living in Vancouver, not in Ånge; having Elias telling her he loved her – loved her loved her – not just as friends.  That he made clear.  And although she was still coming to terms with it, and still couldn’t really wrap her head around it, at least her body was reacting to the news appropriately, much like her body had reacted appropriately all those years ago in Ånge, when she came up with the brilliant idea they’d acted on.  

The only thing that could interrupt their kissing was Brock screaming at the top of his lungs.  As Elias and Svea pulled apart, they watched as Brock ran down the dock in only his boxers, somersaulting into the lake like some sort of Olympic diver.  They couldn’t help but laugh out loud as he came back up, whipping his hair to the side so it was out of his eyes.  

“Brock!” Grace yelled, grimacing as she ran after him.  “You’re going to smell like a wet dog!”

*

Tanner had passed out on the bathroom floor, and everybody decided to leave him there just in case.  Marcus faceplanted into the couch, saying he couldn’t deal with stairs.  Brock said the dive into the lake sobered him up, so Grace dragged him up the stairs into their bedroom.  McKenna and Kyla were the first to shut their bedroom door, but not before Kyla gave one last look at Elias’s arms wrapped around Svea and wishing she was in that position.  

When they descended down into the basement together, Svea could barely get a word in edgewise before Elias shut the door and his lips found hers again.  No less passionate and no less soft, his hands attached themselves to her hips, almost immediately finding their way underneath her top while his tongue slipped into her mouth.  His hands felt warm against her skin but they still sent shivers down her spine.  She ran her fingers through his hair, pushing it back so it wouldn’t tickle her like it sometimes did.  

He guided her towards the bed.  When the backs of her legs hit the edge, Elias’s hands traveled higher.  Svea’s breath hitched in her throat as his fingers traced the edges of her bralette.  He noticed and stopped kissing her.  “You’re not scared, are you?” he asked hesitantly.  

“No no no,” she whispered as she shook her head.  “Just…nervous.”

“Why would you be nervous?”

“I…don’t know,” Svea said.  She did know why.  She just didn’t want to say it out loud and risk embarrassing herself.  “I…I haven’t been with anybody besides you, Elias,” she finally admitted.  

He seemed sort of shocked for only a moment.  “You never did anything first year university when you were here alone?” he asked.

“No.  I couldn’t bring myself to.  I didn’t…I didn’t want to if it wasn’t you.”

Elias nodded his head.  He understood.  “Me too.”

Her brows furrowed.  “Me too what?”

“I haven’t been with anybody beside you,” he confessed.

Svea couldn’t hold back her shock like he could.  “What?  Not even in Vaxjo?  You were the star of the team,” she reasoned.  She found it hard to believe because there was no way – no way – that he didn’t get offers left, right, and centre while he was playing for them, especially during their championship run.

“I never…no,” he shook his head.  “I didn’t want to if it wasn’t you, either,” he used her own words.

Svea took a deep breath.  God, they were so stereotypical.  They were such losers.  A star hockey player and a first-year university student living away from home for the first time and they didn’t take advantage of their situations because they didn’t want to without each other.  “We’re so lame, Elias,” she deadpanned.

Elias couldn’t help but laugh at her words.  “I know, right?  We’re pathetic.”

“So pathetic.”

Elias gave her a quick kiss as they giggled.  “Svea?”

“Elias?”

“I love you.”

Svea smiled.  “I love you too.”

“Can I make up for lost time?  Can we make up for lost time?” he asked softly.

Svea took another deep breath.  Her hands rose to rub his chest as she nodded her head, momentarily forgetting the small little detail that they were at Brock’s house.  In the basement.  Just as Elias dipped down to continue kissing her, she brought her hands up to his lips.  “We’re at Brock’s house.”

Elias furrowed his brows.  “So?”

“Won’t it be a bit awkward?”

He laughed again.  “Svea, come on.  More awkward than doing it in the bed I slept in as a kid?”

“Elias!” she exclaimed, the both of them giggling uncontrollably.  “Well when you put it like that—”

Elias couldn’t wait any longer.  He dipped his head down so he could start kissing her again, his tongue slipping in with ease.  With his hands travelling higher and higher, he eventually helped tug her top off, letting it fall by their feet.  He could feel the goosebumps along her skin.  He could feel her tugging at his shirt, too, and helped with taking it off.  

When they moved to lie down on the bed, Elias made sure to kiss at Svea’s neck and collarbone.  The little sighs and gasps that escaped her was his fuel to keep going, travelling lower and lower until he reached her chest.  “What do you like?” his voice husky.  

That was a mute question.  Not only could Svea not think right now with Elias’s lips so close to her boobs, and it wasn’t like she had the experience to know what she liked and didn’t like so she could tell him.  “I—I don’t know.  Anything.”

“Anything?”

“It’s you, Elias.  Anything will feel good.”

He started to touch her more as his lips found her neck and clavicle again.  He could feel her back arch and her hips pushing into his as his lips got close to her breasts again.  When he pushed the material down and kissed a path down, he heard her sigh.  “Is that okay?”

“Yes yes yes,” she said quickly and successively, the sensation clearly new to her.

He continued his handiwork expertly, his tongue grazing along her exposed skin.  The mewls she let out almost drove him insane, and he could feel himself getting harder by the second.  He had waited for so long that he wasn’t sure if he was going to last as long as he wanted to and do all the things he wanted to do to her, with her.  He kissed a trail back up to her lips and his hands wandered down to her shorts, unbuttoning them as quickly as he could.  

When he slipped off her shorts, she worked on his.  “Do you have a condom, Elias?” she breathed out.

He did – he was prepared – but he froze momentarily.  “Of course, but—”

“But what?” she asked worriedly.

“No no,” he said, trying to backtrack.  “I’m not—it’s—I want to do so much,” he admitted.  

Svea shook her head.  “I can’t wait.  Please just…just—”

“Svea—”

“Please Elias, I just want you inside me right now,” she practically begged.  “We have all the time in the world to do so much.  I just want to feel you inside me.”

Elias didn’t need to be told twice.  He understood where she was coming from – he knew that, at least for him, he’d been waiting a long time to do this again, and although he wanted to savour the moment, he also didn’t want to waste any time.  So he came back up and rolled over slightly, reaching down into his bag and grabbing a string of condoms.  Svea couldn’t help but smile as she saw all the packages.  He leaned back on his knees and ripped the first one off and ripped it open.  Svea sat up to take it from his hands and help him roll it on.  She even pumped him a few times when she was finished, kissing him fervently.  

Maybe she had the right idea, to just go for it and not wait.  Because if she kept doing that, Elias knew he wasn’t going to last long.  

As she lay back down, Elias slipped off her underwear and loomed over her.  On instinct, one of his hands went to her thighs and she wrapped her legs around him.  His hand travelled from her thigh to her hot centre, and she flinched at his touch.  He couldn’t help but smile down at her at how sensitive she was.  “You okay, pretty girl?”

“I need you, Elias,” she huffed out.

When he entered her she cried out in pleasure.  He kissed her passionately as he pushed further and further in, and when he bottomed out, he made sure to give her time to adjust to his size.  Due to their confessions earlier, he knew it had been a while for her – a while for both of them – so he’d need to adjust too.  He’d almost forgotten how good she felt; how perfectly she fit around him.  It wasn’t like he dreamt about how she felt around him for four years now.  “You alright?” he asked quickly.

“You feel so good, Elias,” she said, her eyes still closed.  

“Does it hurt?” he asked quickly, wanting to make sure he wasn’t hurting her like he had the first time.

She shook her head and finally opened her eyes.  “No.  It feels good.  It feels…it feels right.”

Elias gave her a quick kiss.  He began moving in and out of her slowly, and she began to roll her hips in tune with his movements.  “I love you, Svea,” he whispered against her lips.

“I love you too, Elias.”

“When we get back to Vancouver I’m going to make love to you on every inch of our apartment,” he said.  “And then when we get back to my place in Sundsvall, there too.”

“You promise?” she asked, her smile cheeky, the possibility of making love to Elias over and over and over again giving her so much joy.  

“We have to make up for lost time, don’t we?” his smile became equally as cheeky.  “Besides, we need to live out the first-year university year and the Vaxjo year where we did fuck all because we’re so lame.”

The both of them giggled, and Svea remembered back to their first encounter at sixteen, where she thought it was better to laugh with your best friend in bed than to be nervous with somebody else.  She hoped that they’d continue to giggle; that they’d continue to laugh together during their most intimate moments.  She ran her nails up and down his back before digging them into his shoulder blades.  “Make love to me, Elias,” she bit her lip.

Elias did just that, increasing his pace as he moved in and out of her, his small grunts and her small moans filling the room.  After a while, when Svea felt herself getting close, she arched her back and brought Elias’s face down to kiss him.  “Cum with me.”

“You’re close?”

She nodded her head.  “I want you to cum with me, Elias.”

Elias couldn’t hold back.  She felt so good and there was no way he’d be able to last any longer, so he let go completely.  As she made him see stars, he felt her walls tighten around him.  She cried out in pleasure as she came with him, holding on to him tightly so she could feel his body pressed against hers.  She kept her limbs wrapped around him as he collapsed on top of her, trying to catch their breath.  She played with the hair at the nape of his neck as they both calmed down.  

“I love you so much,” he mumbled into her nape of her neck as his breathing finally began to steady.  “You have no idea Svea.”

“I think I do,” she responded softly.  

Elias pulled out and quickly ran to the washroom.  Svea – too hung up on trying to savour the feeling, and too tired to care – stayed in bed and watched him through droopy eyes.  When he came back, he slipped into bed and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck.  As they drifted off to sleep, Svea couldn’t help but think that she was the luckiest girl in the world.  Elias, conversely, affirmed his own thoughts that he was the luckiest guy alive.

>< >< >< >< ><

Sunday

When Elias woke the next morning, he was using Svea’s chest as a pillow.  He didn’t remember how they got in that position, and truthfully, he didn’t care to.  All he cared about was the feeling of her skin beneath his touch, how her breathing was slow and steadied, and how one of her hands was conspicuously still at the nape of his neck, like she’d been playing with his hair all night.  Intoxicated by it all, he couldn’t help but graze his lips over her skin lightly, wanting to wake her up as slowly and peacefully as he could.  

His lips grazed and kissed along her collarbone, then moved up to her neck before dipping down again.  He could feel her move slightly, her foot dragging along his leg as she sighed slightly, finally opening her eyes.  “G’morning,” she mumbled, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Good morning, pretty girl,” he mumbled against her skin, craning his head up so he could kiss her on her lips.  

They gave each other long, lazy kisses for a while, until Elias moved down to her neck again, cupping her breast underneath the covers.  Svea moaned softly.  “We’re going straight into this, aren’t we?”

Elias gave her a quick kiss.  “Like I said last night, we have to make up for lost time,” he reasoned.  He’d spend the entire summer making up for lost time if he had to (read: wanted to).

She smiled.  Before she could say anything else, loud footsteps could be heard upstairs.  Elias groaned, because it meant people were up.  And if people were up, it meant they wouldn’t get the privacy he wanted to do what he wanted.  Svea giggled at his groans, which only made him do it louder.  “What the hell are they doing up so early?” he mumbled.

“I don’t think it’s early,” Svea said.  “I think it’s us.”  She looked over to her side to see the time on the alarm radio.  “It’s definitely us.”

“What time is it?”

“Almost 9:30.”

Elias grumbled again.  Svea laughed and slipped out from underneath him, not taking her eyes off of him as he nestled back into bed.  “Elias?”

“Svea?”

“I love you.”

He smiled like a schoolboy – like he was a kid again and stole a cookie from the jar.  “I love you too, Svea.”

“You guys awake yet?!” Grace’s voice boomed down on them from the top of the stairs.  She was smart enough not to descend.  “Breakfast is almost ready and Brock won’t save you bacon, Petey!”

They gave each other one last kiss before quickly washing their faces and going upstairs.  Almost everybody was already seated around the table for breakfast, so they took their seats and filled their plates with the passed food.  Elias’s hand grazed Svea’s thighs underneath the table.  Svea tried not to let it show.

“What took you guys so long?” Hallie asked as she bit into a piece of toast.

“We were just talking,” Elias was purposely vague.

“What the fuck do you two even talk about?!  Neither of you talk!” Tanner exclaimed.  “You’re both so quiet!”

Elias smiled.  At any other point in the weekend, he probably would have gotten mad at the comment.  He probably would have gotten defensive or uptight or however he usually got when people told him he was so quiet and needed to talk more; he also would have been protective of Svea, who took those types of comments more personally, and called the other person a gaphals or something equally as Swedish in frustration because when he was frustrated he couldn’t find the English words for things as easily.  

But this time, things were different.  None of that mattered anymore.  Anybody could say whatever they wanted, make whatever observations they wanted about the two of them as people, but all that mattered, whether the outside world cared or not, was that he and Svea loved each other.  Simple as that.  It was corny, and it was cliched, but Elias didn’t care.

[peachyparkerr]

voicemail (p.p.) | 2

part 1 can be found here part 3 can be found here

summary: after peter parker’s failed attempts to get in touch with his high school girlfriend, she returns to New York. 

note: hi hi I've been working on this for awhile and there will be one more part. hope you enjoy! (^▽^)

Without a second thought I picked up the phone. 

“Peter?” And there it was. Y/n’s voice on the other line, finally, after months of calling. 

“Y/N. It’s so nice to hear your voice. I’ve been calling you. Did you get my messages?”

“Peter…”

“I’ve called many times. I know that it may have been a lot but I just needed to talk to you.” I was too happy to notice that I hadn’t even given her a chance to speak.

“Peter. That’s why I called.” Her tone was stern and short as she cut me off. “I asked nicely for you to stop calling and you didn’t. Please, Peter, I don’t want to have to ask again. “

“Wait! Please don’t hang up. I just want to talk. I miss you. “ I begged as I heard her sigh on her end of the call.

“You’re making this way more difficult than it has to be, Pete.”

“Well you can’t just expect me not to try to win you back. I love you. “

“Don’t say that.”

“I love you, Y/N. I never stopped. I just want to talk. I just want to understand why we broke up. “

“You know why we broke up.” She said harshly 

“Can we at least talk? I’m sorry, truly, for that day and everything leading up to it. Please, give me a chance to make it right. “ I missed her more than anything, I knew it was my fault and I didn’t want to downplay that or say it wasn’t, but if I could make it right or take away any of the pain I caused her…I’d hoped she wouldn’t deny me that at the least. 

Her silence was making me nervous until she finally spoke up.

“I’ll be back in the city on Saturday. I’ll text you where to meet, we’ll talk then, okay?” She propositioned. 

“Great! It’s a date.” 

“Not a date. Just coffee. “

“Coffee. Just coffee, see you then. “

“See you then.” 

I ended our call with a smile on my face. It was just coffee, but I couldn’t help but get excited at the thought of just seeing her again. 

||.

Trying to go into our non-date coffee meet up with no expectations was challenging. We were meeting at this small, quiet cafe on 29th street I’d never been to before. Yet I still got there early to order for us while waiting in anticipation for her to show up. 

When she walked through the doors and our eyes met my heartbeat sped up. She smiled softly at me as she took a seat at our table.

We said nothing at first. Our glances travelling from our beverages, to out the window, and each other. I studied her as we sat in silence. Her hair was longer, darker even. She wore it down instead of up like she used to always do and she was slightly tanner, and her once bright eyes were now shrouded in darkness. 

“It’s nice to see you.” I finally spoke, grabbing her attention.

“It’s nice to see you too. Your hair is curlier than before. “ She said quietly as her fingers traced the inside of her mug’s handle—something she always did absent mindedly when she was nervous. 

“Yours is longer. I like it. “  My compliment made her smile but only for a second before it disappeared. 

“Peter you know I didn’t come here for small talk…”

“I know…I’m sorry. For the small talk, firstly, but mostly for the way I acted that day at your house. I was selfish. I should’ve been more supportive of you choosing Stanford. I shouldn’t have even considered asking you to give up your dream. “

“You’re right. You were selfish. You were only thinking of yourself, and I understand fear or whatever you would say it was that put you in that mindset, but it’s me, Peter. Your girlfriend of three years, best friend of five. I’ve stood by you through worse things. Not to mention your specific…job occupation…putting us in more actual danger than me moving cross country ever could. Yet, not once did I ever ask you to give it up.” 

“I wish I could take it back, but I know it can’t. I was wrong to do all those things, especially since I should have just been honest about what I felt. I’m so sorry, Y/N, I really am. Please, please believe me when I say I never wanted to hurt you. I know I did. I can’t undo that but I hope that you could give me the chance to prove to you that I know better now. I can do better. Let me take away any pain I caused you. I really miss you, I love you” I held her hand in mine in an effort to grasp at what little was left of us. 

“How would you do that?”

“I’ll hang up my suit…I’ll transfer to Stanford. I’ll wait as long as it takes.” The promises I were making were bold but I was willing to make them. 

“Peter, you can’t give up the suit. I am not asking you to, I would never. Asking each other to give up our dreams for the other is how we got into this mess in the first place...”

She let go of my hand and sat back in her chair and sighed. 

“But I’ll do it. I will. “

“But you shouldn’t.”  She leaned forward and reached her hand to rub her thumb across my cheekbone, moving my hair out of my eyes, to then rest her hand on my face. The oh-so familiar act of endearment of her’s had me melting into her touch in seconds. “You have your own dreams. If I won’t accept you holding me back from mine, I refuse to hold you back from yours. “

“I love you, Y/N. Please let me fix this. Just give me a chance to. Let me fix this, save what’s left of us.” I put my hand on top of hers and looked at her with pleading eyes.

She sighed deeply and wiped a stray tear from my cheek. 

“I love you, forever, Peter Parker. Sixteen year old Y/N Stark would have done absolutely anything to get sixteen year old Peter Parker to stay with her, but nineteen year old Y/N knows better than to expect nineteen year old Peter to give up everything for her. I would want nothing more than to fix the mess we got ourselves in, but we shouldn’t have to give up our dreams to be together. We will resent each other for the rest of our lives if we did that. And if that’s the only way, then what are we saving?” 

Her phone then rang and she said it was something important with her dad that she couldn’t miss. I begged her not to go, but I didn’t get far. She said she was sorry for her abruptness and rushed out the door. 

And just like that, like a flame that goes out too quickly, she was gone. 

[tkmedia]

NHL Expansion Draft 2021: Full list of players available for Seattle Kraken

The NHL announced the protected lists for the 30 teams involved in the NHL Expansion Draft. (Vegas is exempt.) With the names of those protected come the guys who could be snatched up by the Seattle Kraken. There are a number of big names that have everyone trying to figure out just what general manager Ron Francis will do. Will he take Canadiens netminder, and future Hall of Famer, Carey Price and his hefty cap hit? Is Vladimir Tarasenko the sniper he needs or is his health a big question mark? There's also a number of guys who would fit in nicely but are free agents and the chances of signing them are not high (i.e. Alex Ovechkin).  EXPANSION DRAFT: Date, time, rules & more for Seattle Kraken team selectionRegardless of what Francis, coach Dave Hakstrol and Co. end up doing, there's a good chance the Kraken will be a playoff contender in just their first season. For now, let the intrigue and the guessing WWRFD (that's: what will Ron Francis do?) begin. Here's a look at every player they can pick.

List of players made available by all 30 NHL teams

Anaheim DucksAndrew Agozzino (F) David Backes (F) Sam Carrick (F) Chase De Leo (F) Ryan Getzlaf (F) Derek Grant (F) Danton Heinen (F) Adam Henrique (F) Vinni Lettieri (F) Sonny Milano (F) Andrew Poturalski (F) Carter Rowney (F) Nick Sorensen (F) Alexander Volkov (F) Trevor Carrick (D) Haydn Fleury (D) Brendan Guhle (D) Jacob Larsson (D) Josh Mahura (D) Kevin Shattenkirk (D) Andy Welinski (D) Ryan Miller (G) Anthony Stolarz (G)Arizona CoyotesDerick Brassard (F) Michael Bunting (F) Brayden Burke (F) Michael Chaput (F) Hudson Fasching (F) Christian Fischer (F) Frederik Gauthier (F) John Hayden (F) Dryden Hunt (F) Andrew Ladd (F) Lane Pederson (F) Tyler Pitlick (F) Blake Speers (F) Tyler Steenbergen (F) Jason Demers (D) Cam Dineen (D) Alex Goligoski (D) Jordan Gross (D) Niklas Hjalmarsson (D) Ilya Lyubushkin (D) Dysin Mayo (D) Aaron Ness (D) Jordan Oesterle (D) Vili Saarijarvi (D) Josef Korenar (G) Marek Langhamer (G) Antti Raanta (G)Boston BruinsAnton Blidh (F) Paul Carey (F) Peter Cehlarik (F) Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (F) Taylor Hall (F) Cameron Hughes (F) Ondrej Kase (F) Alex Khokhlachev (F) Joona Koppanen (F) David Krejci (F) Karson Kuhlman (F) Sean Kuraly (F) Curtis Lazar (F) Greg McKegg (F) Nick Ritchie (F) Zach Senyshyn (F) Chris Wagner (F) Linus Arnesson (D) Connor Clifton (D) Steven Kampfer (D) Jeremy Lauzon (D) Kevan Miller (D) John Moore (D) Mike Reilly (D) Jarred Tinordi (D) Jakub Zboril (D) Callum Booth (G) Jaroslav Halak (G) Tuukka Rask (G)Buffalo SabresDrake Caggiula (F) Jean-Sebastien Dea (F) Cody Eakin (F) Steven Fogarty (F) Zemgus Girgensons (F) Andrew Oglevie (F) Kyle Okposo (F) Tobias Rieder (F) Riley Sheahan (F) Jeff Skinner (F) C.J. 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[rosesnink]

Revealings Of The Heart (Hayley x Ernest)

A/N: A few weeks ago, I got this ask of my dear friend @missameliep​ asking about Hayley and Ernest’s first kiss. So I thought to make a whole one shot so it is better explained, because it has been in my mind for months how they could kiss and in a better, more appropiate age for both of them. 

Summary: Hayley graduated a few days ago and is about to go back to England to start her adult life, but an unexpected visit with a very shocking revelation makes her life make a spin of 365º. 

Hayley packed the last piece of cloth, hoping that she packed her necessities and has sold some things she didn’t need: uni books she didn’t enjoy to new fellow students, clothes she grew to loathe, ugly presents from former relationships and even has made some essays to lazy but rich people who had nothing to lose. Of course, Directora Nieto suspected, but found no proof because uni teachers did not pay attention to anything that were plagiarism on online essays, not even the detail of handwriting or narrating.

“Tú, Hayls, ya tienes todo listo?” Her roomie, Andrea, asked.

“Si, todo listo. Mi vuelo vendrá a la tarde-noche.” She replied.

Andrea sat on the luggage, knowing well what came next: closing off everything.

“Oh, boy, here we go again.”

She was taking her last stroll over the city when she got a call “Hol—”.

“Hayley! Remember me? I’m Lydia Sinclaire!” Mrs. Sinclaire beamed.

“I do! I do.”

“I’m in Madrid now on a business trip on my husband’s behalf. Please tell me I can see you!”.

Hayley chuckled “Sure, no problem. Let me text you an address and I’ll meet you in twenty.”

Hayley sent her the address to Gran Via and she lost no time, taking a taxi and stopped on that famous building of Madrid everyone started to go. She found her visit in the middle of the street, looking anxious. She caught her arm and the woman twisted it and she cried of pain! Then, she let go of it and gasped “Oh! Sorry, darling, I thought you were an attacker.”

She winced before laughing “Don’t worry. That was actually impressive. Shall we?”.

The woman nodded as they both walked towards the fancy building and got into the elevator, where it was just the two of them. Hayley then fished from her bag a dress and took off her shirt and pants, startling Mrs. Sinclaire! She put on the black dress and placed the clothes on her back. She fished her small make-up bag and put on red gloss and a quick and accurate eyeliner of the shape of an eye cat. She finally let her hair loose and put on some perfume from a very tiny bag. She placed it all in her bag and laughed at Mrs. Sinclaire’s shocked expression “What? Don’t tell me you never did this when my age?”.

“No! I was too much of a good girl. Good Lord, when did you learn these things?!”.

“Before renting a flat, I lived with my maternal grandfather who is very conservative, but my grandma taught me a trick or two. He never found out of our schemes.”

Lydia laughed shocked but amused at it “And why do you still do it?”.

“Because you never know when you’re invited to a drinking in the street in twenty minutes or to a clandestine party at a forbidden place?”.

“My God, and I thought English women were rebellious…”.

“Spanish people love three things: food, parties and holidays, and everything free. Drinking is their culture. There are some those who don’t like it or stay in, but some of them are known for that, especially the Southern! Partying in Andalusia and Valencia is the Spanish Vegas, and in some occasions, the European Vegas.”

The elevator dinged and they both entered when they saw Hayley’s attire and passed them to VIP.

After some chit-chat, Mrs. Sinclaire shook her head in disbelief “So you’ve graduated top of your class in Complutense but haven’t got a job yet? Need I to put you in good word with anybody?”.

“No, but thanks. I don’t want my rich family to interfere, I wanna earn it, like my friends here.”

The woman raised the glass “I’ll drink to that.”

When her pint returned to the table, she asked “How’s your family? I understand they’re all well?”.

“Hm, my husband is resisting cancer and my son is growing taller and more handsome by the day. Already 23 and showing a great promise in the family business!” She fished her phone and showed a pic of him where he wasn’t aware he was being photographed. He looked very handsome, really: his curls were now softer and he was taller than before -he couldn’t be more than 6’8 or how Spanish said, 1’90 metres- and his features had hardened and there was a hint of a beard on his chin.

“He is… taller. Last time I saw him he was 6’5 feet tall and I was, like, 5’8.”

“My dear, you were 17 by then! You’re 21 now. He won’t admit it, but he has missed you.”

Her heart accelerated, but kept a poker face “He did?”.

“Yes! Always asking if you’d be home by Christmas or the festivities. His birthdays haven’t been the same without you there.”

She chuckled bitterly “I highly doubt that…”.

She pulled her shoulder teasingly “They have been! He was always so sad he didn’t have any present of yours…”.

She shook her head in disbelief and Lydia looked at her earnestly “During years, he has awaited for your reply to his mobile message. He was a bit depressed that you didn’t answer, even though he told you he was in love with you!”.

Her head whipped to her direction “He what? W-what message?”.

“One call he made you when you first got to Madrid! Here, I’ve got a copy.”

She played it and Hayley could hardly believe it.

Hayley, I know I should feel ashamed. Our age difference is concerning, but you’re leaving now and I cannot hide it any longer. I must unburden myself before it consumes me: I am courting a woman, yes, but she is not you. Every time I look at her, she reminds me that she isn’t you. That she doesn’t have your mysterious green eyes I could get lost looking at all the time, or your lips, or the way you speak, so hypnotic… It is no secret to anyone but you that I am in love with you, and I wish to be yours in the most respectful way. Please call me back if you hear this. If your feelings aren’t the same, I will remain your most ardent, humble and loyal friend.

The message ended and Hayley was wide-eyed, in complete disbelief and speechless. She remembers the kind guy, Carlos, who turned out to be obsessed with her escorting her and left her phone there with him, when one of the reasons she went to study aboard was that the man she was in love with and had broken up a relationship with didn’t like her back, indeed liked her back all this time!

“How long?”.

“Since he was 14.”

She rested her head on her palms “Fuck.” She was stunned, very stunned and undone “I must go to England now. I have to tell him before I bury it deep again. Here, have some euros for the ride and the check, I have a flight to take.”

Mrs. Sinclaire smiled, knowing she did well in telling her, knowing that hours ago, Ernest was aware that Hayley returned his affections too. Her plan was almost complete.

Five hours ago, in England

“You’ve got it all, Mother?”

“Yes, I’m waiting for one last mail, can you grab it yourself?”

Ernest frowned “Why?”

“Because I have to go to the bathroom and I’ll tell you anyways the content of it.”

He shrugged “Fair enough.”

He snagged some letters that he passed through: bills, more bills, a letter from Hayley Parker—he stopped in short.

Yes, that was indeed Hayley Parker’s handwriting. He opened it, taking care that his mother wasn’t staring before he read it.

Dear Ernest:

I know I have no right, that I am far too young to you, but I don’t think I can ignore this any longer.

I’m in love with you, Ernest. It was never Louis, or James, or Peter. It was you, Ernest. It was you all along, it has always and will always be you. And if there’s someone else, I do not want them, I want you.

I am aware that you are with someone else, but I must know before I decide before I go. I must know what it’s in your heart.

Maybe I was afraid that you’d reject me for being too young or childish for you, but I know you’re not that kind of guy. I know it. I know you.

If there is any chance that there could be a you and I, please meet me at the gates of my flight.

Love,

Hayley.

His heart raced as he started to take it all in.

All this time, she felt the same! But then, who avoided him receiving this letter those five years ago?

He thought as he tried not to sound too interested in when would Hayley come back.

Then, his phone rang. Felicity Holloway. He answered politely “Yes?”

“Hello, Ernest! I was thinking about whether we should get a coffee and talk. Remember that my father said five years ago that I’d be a good girlfriend to you in that dinner? Well, I was thinking—.”

“Felicity, may I know when was that dinner? I’m in a bit of a hurry. Business to get done.”

Could she be cruel enough to do that?

“Oh, that was in the 12th of December, after we got rid of that scum of Parker—.”

He couldn’t even stop himself “So it was you, then?”

“I-I’m sorry?”

“You knew about the letter. The one where Hayley confessed she reciprocated my feelings for her!”

“I—.”

“We will talk soon about privacy… and boundaries.” And then, he hanged up.

His mother emerged and placed a hand on his shoulder “Go, my boy. Run to her. Do not become her father. No matter what, go to her.”

He didn’t know how, but he understood that weren’t for his mother, this couldn’t be happening.

So he ran. And ran. And ran. He didn’t stop, even though there was a small drizzle going on.

He arrived at Westminster Bridge, a bit soaked and panting. He couldn’t believe his eyes. There she was, older, a bit tanner and more beautiful than ever. They looked at each other in the eyes. She approached him slowly, and so did he. And then, they were close. Two more steps and he was all hers.

“Ernest, I—.”

He kissed her, without thinking, he just kissed her. And she kissed him back, her hands on his shoulder and hair, not noticing that some paparazzis followed them. Ernest felt like in heaven. Her lips, with the taste of mint as he dreamed many times, duplicated, now mint and a bit of coffee and cherry lipstick. And it tasted so good. He begged her closer and she obliged, biting his lip, making him shudder. They finally separated, now noticing that people were applauding and it was raining heavily, but his mind was too fuzzy, his only thought Hayley.

“Hayley… Hayls. I must know… do you truly have feelings for me?”

She kissed him again, now a bit shortly, a small smile on her lips “I do. Do you?”

“For longer than I care to admit.”

She chuckled, noticing that her makeup was now a mess all over her face and the powerful rain now sent her a chill through her body. Ernest quickly gathered his jacket and placed it on her shoulders and scolded the paparazzis for interrupting a moment.

He called a cab, paying the ride as he handed her a napkin to clean her face. Even though she was all a mess, she was still beautiful. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She smiled at him “So, what does this make us?”

The cab stopped on her townhouse and he took her hand and guarded her on the porch and looked at her “It’d make you my girlfriend, if that is what you want of me.”

She beamed at him, encircling her hands on his shoulders “I’d like nothing more.”

And with that, they kissed again, under the rain, happily knowing that somehow, this wouldn’t end.  

[andrcmedax]

Tanner got out of the shower, drying himself off quickly and wrapping the towel around his waist. He looked in the mirror and suddenly thought that thirty one really was showing his face today. He sighed and shook it off, his muscles still slightly sore from the work-out he just had before. He dried his hair and put on a simple black shirt with jeans hugged his legs tight and made his way to HQ. Ready for his annual check-up.

He walked the grand, clean halls of the massive building and made his way to the R&D floor he needed to be. It was the first time that Quinn Parker wouldn’t be doing his annual, which was weird. She was the mother of the solder serum, his creator, sort of. He knocked on the familiar door and opened it, finding Dr. Johnson-Smith. Tanner flashed her a smile. “Good morning, gorgeous. Where do you want me?”

@strength-in-healing​

[parkneroses]

parkner week day 1! i can’t believe i actually got this done. mucho thanks to @parkner-stuff and @emptycanoflizards for being lovely to talk to while i struggled with this :) <3 

word count: 1.3k | if you enjoy this, buy me a coffee? | read it on ao3

day 1: road work ahead/parades/identity porn

Let’s get one thing straight: Peter Parker never swore.

Ever since he was a kid, there had been a little orange stained wooden box on the kitchen counter in May’s apartment. It had a thin slot in the top that Ben had carved with a kitchen knife and it was decorated with crayon scribbles and spare buttons from May’s (never used) button collection. A post-it note Peter had stuck on the front when he was seven marked it the “Swere Jar Box”.

Peter had lost many a dollar to the swear box in his time. One unfortunate incident involving him stubbing his toe on the couch leg, and thus letting out a horrendously creative string of profanity, resulted in him not having enough money to see The Force Awakens on opening night with Ned. On that day, Peter had vowed to never let a foul word slip off his tongue for the rest of his life.

But, in this cruel and desolate world, sometimes drastic times called for drastic measures.

“Mr Stark,”

“Hm.”

Peter smacked a tattered, soaking copy of the Daily Bugle down on the lab table in front of Tony.

“What the fuck is this?”

Tony didn’t spare the paper a glance as he moved it to his left and continued picking at the inside of the Iron Man faceplate.

“Newspaper. Wet newspaper.” He said. “Why’s it wet?”

Peter huffed and crossed his arms. Tony didn’t even look at it. He didn’t even care that Peter had just wasted a whole entire dollar on him.

“It’s wet because I’m wet. Read it, asshole,” Peter said. He was two bucks poorer now, but even that couldn’t curb his rage.

Tony looked up at him incredulously. “Are you swearing at me to get my attention?”

“It’s working, isn’t it?”

Tony huffed and grabbed the paper off the table. In big bold writing, spread across the top of the page, the headline read:

Spider-Man’s Secret Identity Revealed? Leaked Photos from Tony Stark’s lab show that the Spider-Man is a Child!

Well, that wasn’t ideal.

Under the ridiculous headline (on the front page, might he add) were two blurry pictures taken through the window of Tony’s lab by drone. The first picture was Tony standing next to what seemed to be the spider suit, but the second one-

“That’s not you,” Tony muttered under his breath. The picture showed a kid about the same height and build as Peter, but with curly blonde hair and tanner, freckled skin.

���Yeah, no shit, Sherlock, who is he?” Peter asked. Three whole dollars gone down the drain.

“Okay, first of all? Watch your potty mouth. I know you don’t have three dollars to put in your swear box, and I’m not about to cover that for you if it’s me you’re getting mouthy with. And how is this my fault?” Tony scoffed, setting his faceplate aside to give his full attention to Peter- a rare, but welcomed occurrence.

Peter’s straight face morphed into a cutting glare. “How is it your fault? That’s not me in the suit! I didn’t put that other kid in the suit, it’s my suit. Plus now, whoever he is, he’s in danger from everyone I've ever locked up!” He took a deep breath, “Tell me how this is my faut Mr Stark because I don’t see it.”

“Last week. You said you couldn’t come over on the weekend to fit the new suit, so you gave me your measurements and told me to put it on something else. Not my fault I had a spare kid lying around with similar measurements to yours. What did you want me to do?” Tony asked nonchalantly, as though he couldn’t see Peter falling apart in front of his eyes.

“A mannequin, Mr Stark. Or a trash bag stuffed with paper, or a CPR dummy. Or literally anything other than an actual real person,” Peter whined. “Where did you even find him?”

Tony sighed. If it were up to him, he never would have let Peter find out about this. Lord knows how possessive he was of his suit, not to mention how he’d feel knowing someone else had had access to Karen.

“His name is Harley, and I’ve known him since he was... somewhere between the ages of eight and twelve, I can’t tell the difference. He’s upstairs.” Tony looked up in thought, considering the consequences of his next question. “Wanna meet him?”

Peter sputtered for a second, before nodding his assent with confused eyes.

Tony hoped he wouldn’t regret it. Both of his boys were such a huge part of his life, and he didn’t know if his heart could handle them not getting along. Although, there was no real reason for them not to. They were so alike, around the same age, had similar interests and life experiences. In a perfect world, they would have been introduced at a gala, or movie night, or some kind of happy occasion where Harley wasn’t half asleep and Peter wasn’t soaked to his socks, but for now, this would have to do.

*

Although Tony had brought the boys into the lab together, he couldn’t help but feel like he was intruding. They were staring each other down so intensely, that if Tony didn’t know better he’d think they were checking each other out. Neither of them were exactly at their best- Peter looked like a wet dog with water still running down his face and arms, and his dirty grease-stained sweatpants were a darker red in patches where the rain had caught him. Harley had forgotten to bring any clothes other than work gear on his visit from Tennessee, and was forced to wear the spare Hello Kitty pajama pants Tony had bought for Peter as a joke.

“Spider-Man? Meet Spider-Man!” Tony joked.

“Not funny,” Peter muttered under his breath, and Harley stared him in the eyes.

“Nice to meet you too, sunshine.”

“Those are my pants.” Peter met his heated gaze.

Harley studied Peter carefully, considering his options. When Tony had mentioned his other mentee, Harley had just been jealous. But standing in front of him now, he could feel that tension slipping away. The boy he was looking at was cute, and Spider-Man was known for being kind and caring. He was a catch, and Harley figured it wouldn’t hurt to shoot his shot.

“I can take them off if you want.”

Peter smirked. Of course he was mad at Tony for letting someone else wear his suit, but Harley seemed nice enough. He was pretty, and he had a southern accent that made Peter’s insides melt. Add his snarky sense of humor to the list of things Peter liked about him, and he might as well have been Peter’s dream guy already.

“At least buy me dinner first,” he said, savouring the horrified look on Tony’s face.

Harley smiled, stepping forward and taking Peter’s right hand in his, before kissing it like the gentleman he was. He was clearly laying it on thick for Tony, but Peter still blushed and looked away. He caught Tony’s eye for a split second, and the pink of his cheeks darkened.

“At eight tomorrow okay?” Harley asked, and Peter nodded happily.

Tony was- well, shocked or surprised didn’t exactly fit the bill. Other than desperately holding back from forcing Harley to put a shirt on, he was kind of happy. They weren’t fighting, and nothing had been blown up. All the stress he had had, the excuses he had made to stop his two protégées meeting, had been for nothing. All was well.

Until the news vans started piling around the tower. Cameras flashed, and reporters screamed for the chance at one of the biggest headlines of the year. And in the middle of it all, like a god rising from the abyss, stood J. Jonah Jameson in all his hellish glory, with his stupid ugly mustache on his stupid pancake face. Tony would deal with him later. For now, he had two lovebirds to control before they did something stupid, like blow up his lab or try to take over the world.

[quxntumvandyne]

ferris // peter parker oneshot

words: 2.3k 

warnings: little bit of anxiety and all fluff of course

summary: After a long day at the beach, you decided you would go to Coney Island together and it was Peter’s first time on a ferris wheel. Of course he didn’t tell you that it was until you got stuck at the top, and he didn’t trust carnival rides very much.

a/n: another one shot, who guessed it?? i’m a predictable bitch but it’s been a minute since I’ve done a peter parker one-shot. I’m finally starting to write without people coming up with ideas for me and that’s exciting so more coming soon! I’ll be posting one or two one-shots a week so get ready! love to all, lena

. . . . .

Walking down the beach, you felt sand kick up into your sandals and on your calves, knowing it would wash off as soon as you hit the water. It was one of the busiest days of the year at Coney Island and the entire beach was covered in a sea of people and colored umbrellas, shading from the sun and the waves.

You never understood why people went to the beach and didn’t swim, but thankfully your best friend Peter was not one of those people.

These days it was hard to find a day that you could spend together since he was always off working on his Stark Internship. It was difficult to spend as much time together as you used to because of the internship but now every moment that was spent together was treasured.

“Come on Peter! You’re so slow!” you yelled back at him, who was carrying two chairs and pulling an entire wheelbarrow full of crap that you insist on bringing with you.

He groaned and tried to catch up but you threw your towel on the sand, exposing your body to the hot sun. Peter stopped suddenly, watching you run past people straight into the water with your hair all over the place and only leaving footprints behind.

Neither of you were aware of the undeniable feelings you had for one another, with all of your friends already being able to tell. They had tried to convince you but neither of you could ever imagine it happening. You didn’t want to ruin your friendship, especially not by revealing your feelings.

Peter snapped back to reality after watching you disappear into the crowd in the water and quickly set everything up to join you in the water.

“Look out!” he said, running down to the water but face planting right into the next wave, causing you to laugh hysterically for longer than Peter would’ve liked.

“It wasn’t that funny.”

“Yes, it was,” you replied, shoving him and making him laugh too.

“Okay, yeah it was.”

You both swim in the bay for hours together, both having pruney fingers and toes once you get out and a few shades tanner but both your faces were slightly burnt. You walked together back to your stuff, your skin gleaming in your red two-piece swimsuit with high waisted bottoms. You would like to think you looked like a Disney Princess walking back to get your towel but you knew you looked like a hot mess.

“Do we have to go?”

“Aunt May said she wanted me home by five and I’m sure your dad wants you home soon too. We’ve been here for like four hours.”

“Why do you always have to be the good child?”

“Oh trust me, I am not a good child, just ask May. I get into trouble all the time.”

“Why?”

He hesitated before saying, “Stark Internship takes a lot of time and um, I get home late sometimes, that’s all.” He looked at your pile of stuff under your umbrella and took off, this time leaving you in the sand trying to catch up.

You could tell he was hiding something but Peter could be stubborn so you just brushed it off.

Peter looked like something out of Baywatch, running in front of you to get his towel and shake the water out of his hair, his swim trunks completely soaked.

It wasn’t until recently that you noticed your feelings for Peter when you just couldn’t stop yourself from thinking about him. The way his hair moved when he turns to you, the way he talks so fast with his strong Queens accent when he’s excited about something or how never fails to stand up for you at any cost. He truly was your best friend but you didn’t want to show your feelings for him so you always just kept it hidden.

You walk beside him and grab your towel, drying your body and hair before wrapping it around your shoulders and grabbing the chairs while Peter got the wheelbarrow.

You walked together to your car, piling stuff into your Jeep and blasted “Youth” by Troye Sivan, as you and Peter screamed at the top of your lungs driving down the street.

You were coming up on your favorite ice cream place that Peter might as well have taken the wheel himself and driven there because he wouldn’t stop talking about. He jumped out of the car and opened your door, oddly romantic, but appreciated by you. You jumped out of the car and locked it, turning around to see Peter’s face right in front of yours, immediately being able to smell the salt water still trapped in his hair.

Your cheeks turned pink as you stared into his coffee-colored eyes and he stared right back into yours, and Peter was about to reach out and grab your hand but not before you set off your car alarm.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP

You scrambled to get it to stop, Peter doubled over laughing at your now cherry red face, embarrassed from all the people staring.

You managed to get it to turn off and you turned around to find Peter on the ground, crying from laughter and you glaring at him.

“Not funny,” you said now smiling at him, helping him up from the ground.  

“That so makes up for my face plant earlier,” he said, still wheezing.

“Not in the slightest,” you replied now laughing with him.

You walked in and stood in line behind a husband and wife who let you go in front of them while you decided. You could hear them talking about the two of you while you and Peter chose flavors to eat.

“They are so cute, hon look,” said the older woman.

You immediately blushed knowing that she was referring to you and Peter as a couple. You looked over at Peter who was staring at you, and frantically looked away when you noticed he was. It only made you blush harder and the couple behind you looked on.

The husband said, “Young love,” only making you blush harder if that’s possible.

“Are you ready?” said the young man behind the counter, to which you and Peter quickly replied “Yes!” in unison.

After you left with your strawberry ice cream in a cup and Peter’s chocolate in a cone, you sat at a table outside and ate your ice cream in awkward silence, obviously avoiding the scene the happened inside. You looked over at Peter who was completely focused on his ice cream not melting, causing him to have chocolate ice cream all over his face.

Has he even eaten any of it? you thought to yourself, quietly laughing at him.

He looks over at you, pausing and wondering why you’re laughing.

“What?”

“Your face.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

“I got it,” you said, getting a napkin and wiping his face. You have to scoot closer to him to reach his face, putting your legs on either side of the bench and grabbing his face to turn it away from his ice cream.

As you wipe the ice cream off his cheeks he stares at you with flushed, not sure how to react about the small space between your bodies. You don’t notice until you start to wipe off his lips and stare back at him, that he was staring at you. You let your hand stop wiping and your eyes flicker down to his lips and back up into his eyes.

Peter puts his hand on yours, the one that was still on his face and intertwined his fingers with yours. You looked at the hand and back at him. He was smiling at you now, and you smiled back, but nothing more could happen before Peter’s phone started to ring. It was from Aunt May.

“Shit,” he said, picking it up immediately and unlocking his hand from yours. Your fingers were tingling and your stomach was doing backflips, only thinking about what your friends had told you.

He is literally in love with you, Y/N.

How can you not see it?

You’re both crazy about one another.

“Were they right?” you thought you said to yourself but actually out loud.

“Right about what?” Peter said, coming back to the table.

You shook your head, “Nothing. What did May want?”

“She said we can stay out until 10 tonight, her and Happy are going on a date now so we can do whatever we want.”

You both smiled at each other, knowing exactly what you both wanted to do.

“Coney Island.”

. . . . .

“I cannot believe you like cotton candy.”

“I can’t believe you don’t like cotton candy, weirdo.”

“I’m not the weirdo in this friendship.”

“You always have been.”

You shove Peter while you snack on your cotton candy while he drinks a slushie, just after getting off the tilt-a-whirl. Peter always seemed nervous to get on a ride but always talked about how much fun he had after getting off. Strange, but you never really discussed it.

“Is there anything we haven’t done?”

“Yes, the one thing I’ve been telling you I want to do the entire time,” you complained to him.

He sighed, “I told you Y/N/N, I’m not going on the ferris wheel. I don’t trust them.”

“But you trust a tilt-a-whirl?”

“No, but I will go on anything you want to just to make you happy. Except for that ferris wheel.”

You stopped. “Wait, you only go on them for me? Why?”

He looked back at you, “Because I like seeing you happy.”

You smiled at him, “You’re insane.”

“What? I can’t do nice things for the people I care about?”

“Well, there is one thing.”

“No.”

“PETER PLEASE!!!” you shrieked, now getting the attention of people around you. You started to dance around him and sing the word ‘please’ at the top of your lungs before he finally gave in.

“FINE!”

“Really?” you asked, hoping he wasn’t bluffing.

He sighed again and sipped his slushie after saying yes. “But only one time and never again.”

“Deal. You’re the best,” and without thinking about it, you kiss Peter’s cheek and grab his hand, heading straight for the ferris wheel, not seeing Peter drop his slushie and hold his cheek right where you kissed it.

. . . . .

It was finally your turn to get on the ferris wheel and you were the last two in line for the night so you got your own cart to watch the sun go down. You look over at Peter who swallowed his nerves, stepping in the cart and sitting down, fingers intertwined and clenched so hard they were white.

“Hey Y/N?” he said, sounding scared.

“Yes?”

“Can you sit next to me?”

You looked at him while getting on and saw just how scared he was. “Yeah, sure. Peter, we don't-”

“No, I’m doing this,” he said not sounding very confident in his statement but when Peter wanted something, he was usually pretty stubborn about it.

“Okay. It’ll be okay.” The bar closed and you were locked in for the short ride; or what you thought would be a short ride.

The ferris wheel then started to move and Peter instinctively grabbed the hand that was on your knee and once again entangled his fingers into yours. You look over at him as he notices what he did and starts to remove them but you hold on tighter.

“It’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

You smile at him, feeling confident. “Yeah, actually.”

He smiles back at you as you approach the top of the ferris wheel and suddenly right when you reach the top, everything stops and you hear a voice come over a speaker from down below.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing some technical difficulties but we should have you down in about 15 minutes, we are sorry about the delay.”

Groans came from everyone on the ferris wheel but when you looked at Peter, he looked like he was going to throw up.

“Peter?”

“Hmm?”

“You okay?”

“Could be better.”

You sat face to face with him, crossing your legs in criss-cross applesauce position on the sit and forcing him to look at you.

“Just look at me, everything will be fine okay?”

“Since when are you the rational one?” he joked.

“Since you need me to be,” you said, squeezing his hand gently. You could almost feel his body get less tense the more you talked and distracted him from the fact that you were stuck 150 feet in the air.

You scooted over to sit right next to him and put your head on his shoulder, to which he leaned his head on you.

“The sunset is so beautiful tonight,” you said, looking at the sky painted in orange, pink and purple.

“Not as beautiful as you.”

It took you a minute to realize what he said, everything now rushing back to you about you both having feelings for each other.

“Wait, what?”

He looked at you and said, “We are both really oblivious aren’t we?”

You know knew that he could see it too and this was really happening. “Yeah, we are.”

Staring back into his eyes was now different, only being able to tell how beautiful they were and how intently he was staring into yours. There were multiple times today where something almost happened but didn’t and now, you both finally were in that moment.

Peter leaned forward and held your face in his hands, attaching his lips to yours and you could’ve sworn your heart exploded right then and there.

It was an awkward kiss but both of your first, meaning that you would remember it forever. You were frozen for a second before kissing him back, and once you pulled away, the ferris wheel began to move again, causing a loud cheer from everyone in a cart except the two of you. You were both too distracted with one another to even notice it, with Peter’s hand still on your face. He leaned up to kiss your forehead and you smiled harder than you ever had.

“Peter?”

“Yes, Y/N/N?”

“Aren’t you glad I made you get on the ferris wheel now?”

He laughed and said, “Shut up, weirdo.”

. . . . .

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[twins2994]

Twins Stave Off Late Orioles Comeback Attempt!

Twins 8 Orioles 7 W-Berrios (3-0) L-Yacabonis (1-2) SV-Camarena (1)

The Minnesota Twins headed out for their last road game of spring training tonight. They made the trip up to Sarasota to play the Baltimore Orioles in a night game at Ed Smith Stadium. A good game ensued with lots of scoring. The Twins would strike first in the third inning. Jonathan Schoop led-off with an infield single to bring up Jason Castro. Jason Castro then smoked a Jimmy Yacabonis offering out to left-center for a two-run blast. This put the Twins up 2-0, but they were done yet in the third. Byron Buxton walked and Nelson Cruz doubled him home with two outs. Eddie Rosario hit a run-scoring single to center and the Twins were up 4-0. The Orioles would answer in the bottom of the third. Dwight Smith smoked a Jose Berrios pitch out to left-center for a solo shot. Two batters later, Chris Davis took Jose Berrios deep on a ball out to left-center. The two homers pulled the O’s within two runs after three innings. The Twins got back to work in the fourth. Jonathan Schoop lined a one-out single to right and Jason Castro walked. Byron Buxton lined a single to center that scored Schoop and the Twins were up by three. The next batter, Max Kepler smoked a Tanner Chleboarad offering out to center for a three-run home. The Twins now had a 8-2 advantage, but the Orioles would slowly chip away at it. In the bottom of the fourth, Chance Sisco walked and Jace Peterson was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Dwight Smith hit a grounder to second that Jonathan Schoop booted. That scored Chance Sisco and the Orioles were within five after four frames. Baltimore would not go away in the sixth. Renato Nunez took Taylor Rogers deep for a solo blast. Andrew Susac followed with a single to center and Yusniel Diaz walked with two outs. Dwight Smith delivered a two-run double to center and Baltimore was within two runs. In the seventh, Rio Ruiz drilled a Mike Morin pitch out to left for a solo homer. The O’s were within a run as we headed into the final two innings. Preston Guilmet had a scoreless eighth and Daniel Camarena had a 1-2-3 ninth to secure the win for the Twins tonight.

-Final Thoughts- Jose Berrios looked alright in his last tuneup before Opening Day. He went 4 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on four hits with a walk and six strikeouts. Blake Parker got out of the fifth with a strikeout, Taylor Rogers gave up two runs in 2/3 of an inning, and Ryan Comer got out of the sixth. Mike Morin allowed a run in the seventh, Preston Guilmet had a clean eighth, and Daniel Camarena had a perfect ninth for the save. Jonathan Schoop led the team with three hits on the night. Eddie Rosario and Jason Castro had two hits each. The team hit 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. The Twins have made some cuts this week with releasing Lucas Duda and Adam Rosales. The team also traded Michael Reed to the Giants for John Andreoli. They now have 39 spots filled on the 40-man roster, so one of the non-roster invitees can be added. I hope it’s Ryne Harper, who’s had a great spring. Tomorrow, the Yankees come to town to play the Twins on a Sunday matinee. 

-Chris Kreibich-

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: NEW YORK RANGERS MADE THEIR FIRST ROUND OF CUTS

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The New York Rangers made their first round of cuts on Thursday and Friday, sending plenty of players to the Hartford Wolf Pack. Physicals for these players will be Sunday, with training camp beginning on Monday, with the lineup in flux with more cuts in New York coming until the regular season starts. Among the forwards returning to Hart City are; Tanner Fritz, Austin Rueschhoff, Patrick Khordorenko, Bobby Trivigno, Alex Whelan, and Cristiano DiGiacinto. Newcomers include off-season signees Zach Jordan and Ryan Lohin. Also making their way to Head Coach Kris Knoblauch's training camp are Junior draftees Ryder Korczak, Matt Rempe, and Swedish import Karl Henrickson. Heading to training camp after being sent to Hartford by the Rangers are Defensemen returnees; Zach Giuttari, Matthew Robertson, Brandon Scanlin, and Hunter Skinner. Newcomers and off-season signees include Louka Henault, Blake Hillman, and Luke Martin. The club also assigned goaltenders Talyn Boyko, Parker Gahagen, Olof Lindbom, and Dylan Garand. Unless something unusual happens, the four goalies are earmarked with different destinations. Garand is ticketed for Hart City, while Gahagen and Lindbom are likely headed to the franchise's ECHL affiliates, the Jacksonville Icemen. Lindbom may go back to Europe or be one of the two potentially reassigned to another ECHL club. Because of his age, the 6'8 Boyko will be heading back to junior and the Kelowna Rockets (WHL) at the end of camp. The NHL contract agreement with the CHL (Canadian Hockey League) mandates that 19-year-olds cannot play in the AHL until their junior season ends. Newcomer forwards C.J. Smith, Turner Elson, defenseman Andy Welinski and returning top player Tim Gettinger must pass through waivers before they can be formally assigned to Hartford. Adam Edström, a 21-year-old, 6'4 center, heads home to play for Rögle BK (Sweden-SHL) on loan from the Rangers. Surprisingly, also sent to Europe was last year's first draft pick Adam Sýkora. He also returns home to play for HK Nitra (Slovakia-SLEL) on a loan basis. The thought was that the 18-year-old, the first overall selection in the CHL Import Draft, would be heading to the Medicine Hat Tigers. Brennan Othmann was returned to juniors and the Flint Firebirds (OHL). The Wolf Pack's roster currently has four goaltenders, seven defensemen, and thirteen forwards. Several of these assignees will be heading to Jacksonville with only so many openings for GM Ryan Martin and limited ice time available for the recently arrived Knoblauch and his staff to carry on the roster. Monday, the team will release the training camp roster. As of late Friday, the team was still finalizing those players they will invite to camp on Professional Try-Out contracts. Given the collapse in the second half of last season, this training camp in Hartford is expected to be highly competitive with a comprehensive screening of the competitors. The Rangers presently have 34 players still in training camp, including 20 forwards, 11 defensemen, and three goaltenders on the roster. Another round of cuts is expected either late this weekend or as late as mid-week after the team plays in Boston against the Bruins. A final cut to get to the CBA-mandated roster of 23 and keep within cap space compliance will occur just before the season starts. Final rosters must be submitted by October 9-10 to certify all contracts. The Rangers will likely go with 22 or 23 players depending on those two factors' status. Several players are informally skating at the XL in preparation for the opening of training camp. Ice was laid down ice last week. The Wolf Pack will have a closed-to-the-public exhibition game next Thursday in Bridgeport against the Islanders and then have a game against Bridgeport at the Koeppel Community Center at Trinity College next Friday (6 PM). It will give fans their first look at the Wolf Pack as part of the Annual Ryan Gordon Foundation event with a suggested $5 donation. NOTES: The Rangers have already sent two players back to juniors. Bryce McConnell-Barker was sent to Sault Ste. Marie (OHL), where he had current new Hartford assistant coach Jamie Tardif as his assistant coach last year. Also returning to junior hockey is third-round-draft-pick forward Jayden Grubbe. He goes to Red Deer (WHL), where he will captain his Rebels team again for the second year in a row. He is WJC eligible, whose 20th birthday is a week after the tournament ends. Former Wolf Pack/Bridgeport Sound Tiger Matt Lorito and his wife are expecting their first child shortly, so his next hockey destination is on hold. Instead, expect he will likely head to Europe as an injury roster replacement/last import quota player. Jake Elmer is the only other ex-Wolf Pack from last season who is still waiting on a new destination. He is said to be unofficially heading to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in South Carolina, the former ECHL affiliate for Hartford. Released and assigned to AHL camps were ex-Pack's Ty Ronning (Minnesota-Iowa - AHL), Darren Raddysh and Daniel Walcott (Tampa Bay-Syracuse-AHL), and Peter Diliberatore (QU) and Mason Primeau, nephew of ex-Hartford Whaler Keith Primeau, who both head to (Vegas/Henderson-AHL). After singing with Adirondack Thunder (ECHL), Luke Stevens (Yale) signs a training camp try-out PTO with the Coachella Valley Firebirds (Palm Springs)-AHL and Callum Booth (Salisbury Prep) (Seattle/Coachella Valley-AHL). Goalie Spencer Knight (Darien/Avon Old Farms) signs a one-year ELC contract extension with the Florida Panthers. Jeff Kubiak was sent to Bridgeport by the New York Islanders. They signed Matt Maggio, a fifth-round Islanders draftee this past summer in Montreal, from Windsor (OHL) to a try-out PTO deal. He is a younger cousin of former Sound Tiger and Ranger draftee, the retired Daniel Maggio. He signed a provisional contract with the Adirondack Thunder (ECHL) to cover his bases last week. Another junior PTO signee for Bridgeport is Daylen Kuefler from the Kamloops Blazers (WHL). Shane Sellar (Canterbury School-New Milford) signs a try-out deal with the Hershey Bears and already has a contract with the Reading Royals (ECHL) to start the year. AHL players to Europe have risen to 108 as ex-Pack as Josh Wesley, the son of former Whaler Glen Wesley departs the Springfield Thunderbirds for HC Litvinov (Czech Republic (Czechia)-CEL). He is the first Thunderbird from last season to go to Europe, and now 29 of 31 AHL teams have lost at least one player overseas. Former Wolf Pack Tyler Brown is named scout for the Barrie Colts (OHL) covering the GOJHL after being the head scout last year for Stratford (Ontario) Warriors (GOJHL) and was a regional scout for Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL) as well. If this report from Eliott Friedman of Rogers SportsNet is on the mark, the NHL and AHL future will change in a big way salary-wise in two years. He is usually very accurate with such info. The league's salary cap, which will set a record of $82.5 million this year in the 2022-23 season, could rise around nearly $10 million over the next three years, sources told Friedeman and SportsNet, the Canadian TV rights holder. However, teams have reportedly been given guidance on the cap's future, and upward is the word. Our long-time source confirmed this is the word on the street. "I've heard its going up, how much and when, I'm not sure, With the TV deals kicking in, the money will start coming in." According to Friedmann, the cap could elevate another $1 million in 2023-24, then jump up another $4 million in each of the following two seasons. That would place the spending limit at approximately an astonishing $92 million by 2025-26. In addition to the cap, the NHL will have a spending floor, which is $61 million this year. That would primarily affect the Arizona Coyotes, who will play at the new 5,000-seat college-level ASU-Arizona State University Mullett Center starting this year for the next three years. How they can exist in that world is anyone's guess. "I don't have first-hand knowledge. In the short term, they're staying in Arizona in Phoenix. Long-term, they have challenges as they always have. Some of this is above my pay grade. If all goes well, you're still looking at five years for this team. They're committed to the (ASU) arena for three years, and IF Tempe approves their new building plan, and that's not a given, a new building will still take two years to build, despite the good weather for construction out there. The other factor is fielding a competitive, winning team, which they don't have presently. The current new building handicaps them from signing free agents. Players want to be paid, and they want a winning team, and they will wrestle with that, and that's part of the equation going forward," remarked our source, who requested anonymity. The league instituted a $39 million cap for the 2005-06 season. However, the cap has risen steadily before freezing at $81.5 million for the three pandemic-affected seasons, beginning with 2019-20. The NHL hit $5.2 billion in revenue last season on the strength of the new media deals as they returned and finally had a full schedule. The league took in $5.1 billion in revenue 2018-19, and the escrow is still a thorny and complicated issue. Disney, owners of ESPN/ABC, is paying the league $400 million annually, while Turner Sports, the other holder of the US broadcast rights, is forking over $225 million per season. Both were seven-year deals signed last year. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article