#penelope park edit

[fordpinesmpreg]

the old man with the purple shirt is Shermie btw

[maylas]

Penelope & Josie | The Story Of Us

[pensbridge]

S3 First Reactions 🪞🐝🦋🪶

❤️ Already fangirled about the whole engagement night - the hugs, Hyacinth!!!

Colin not being able to stay away for that long after their engagement announcement and immediately excusing himself at Anthony's suggestion is exactly what I'd expect of him. ×

❤️ Colin calling out Portia. "out of love." 😢

❤️ "OUR BRIDGERTON NAME" is so important, because it's reiterating that Penelope's getting to choose her family when the one she was born into is so awful

He was so nervous when she didn't respond to their new home.

"Because I love you...Pen." 😢

"Are you sure?" PEN, no 😭😭😭

❤️ That mirror moment (i love how he said "the way your eyes shine when you look at me..." callback to her complimenting his eyes) "...And other things..."

bxtch they stuck with the thread of Colin not opening his eyes to stay in the dream and Pen checking to see if it's real when they kiss

The eye acting of Nicola and Luke! (they are being doe eyes x the intensity of his gaze or w/e it is)

The gulp <3 Nicola

"You are so beautiful."

❤️ The first time!!!

"I hope my husband.." - Fran, AND John -"I would not dream of it" 😯 asdfjgkglyl

Kate & El (got their s2 vibes)

Ahh, the "Do I look a mess?" "You are my mess" was delivered so perfectly.

cute, cute, cute riding through town in carriage (no personal space)

The hand kiss in front of portia!

Colin handing Eloise the spoon 🤣

❤️ the charades game - the cutest thing (they're holding hands)

Also, fuckin Anthony being tooo competitive 😆

Peneloise rights! The back 'n forth in the game 😬

The panic attack was high-octane; the concern in the scene was cute xxx

❤️ Fran looking at John & Violet hating this story lol.....and then, me noticing her realization to another child in love

❤️ The look & collar tug in the church (polin is so dorky & domestic already)

❤️ Soooooo....the spontaneous dance in the church is better than I thought it was gonna be...their goofy footwork, spinning in a multitude of circles "dancing with MY FUTURE WIFE in THE CHURCH WHERE WE WILL BE MARRIED" bye

Part 1, the ton jokes and bullies them and Part 2, we just see people that can't help but get happy and giddy when they see their young love. Violet and Lady Danbury awwing at polin and embracing them in the park!!!

❤️ "I am going to look at the very fine wainscoting" -John, please! 😅

"Not every attachment must be dramatic and hard-fought." - Francesca 😢 bby, you're right

I legit went from this man has the crazy eyes ppl talk about to *tired eyes Wide-Open*... Bi Benedict?! ..I'm getting Bi Benedict?! (I was like: Why?Is?He?Staring?at?him?Like?That? (i knew i sensed the vibes! The Best Surprise!!!)

"This dance does not compare to a private waltz in the church where we'll be married." She's SO cute! "Well perhaps we shall have to add some flourish." Stop. km now (that's so him! he is so dumb; they're married already and dumb as they should be! ×)

Props again with the deaf representation & the sass when Miss Cressida enters the ball

"A scandal writer for a daughter. Can you imagine?" - Portia (i'm sorry i love this whole sequence)

Polin gets more perfectly dork w/stepping on feet being included during their dance at The Mondrich Ball (that's very them)

Thank god for Bridgerton giving us hour long episodes in this 2nd part.

❤️ Eloise admitting she's wrong (and so casually) 😢 ps i think they both have faults but i just love this

❤️ "The column began because I felt powerless in my own home." - Pen (well, i'm glad she said it!)

ok, now Pen admits her faults. all is right again

❤️ Irish accent again

"You are Lady Whistledown." This reveal was everything

omg, was this the scene where he wasn't supposed to cry, but did?! What would I have done without this reaction in such an important moment?! 😢

I love how Penelope highlighted the voiceless as she said she should with Eloise in her new edition of Whistledown

Violet to Agatha - "..but I hope you know that my care for you is not contingent on your aid." 😢 (she sees her)

This whole fight outside the modiste's. 😭

"I have been careful. You have been foolish.."

❤️ "I LOVE YOU" and he was shocked (an 'ily for you' moment) [i was not expecting the follow up to his line to go like that]

❤️ They deserve a hot passionate makeout before they are married where they get completely caught up after fighting.

"What am I chopped liver?" yes Anthony in this situation you are.

❤️ Violet calling in Kanthony for Colin marital advice

❤️ Yellow

The look at each other down the aisle.

❤️ Vows. Weddings on this show are usually so unhappy, but I appreciate that Colin is still so reassuring & clearly beaming about this when there is residual upset/confusion.

❤️ Eloise cryyinng

Ben's line to El- "..The friendship you have with Penelope... As the one you have with Colin." xxx (she doesn't wanna lose them)

"OUR child will always be a Bridgerton, but I should like them to know that they are a Sharma as well." fxck 🥲

"I should like to dance with my husband.."

The disappearing people in the wedding dance. like they're the only 2 ppl in the room! (Bridgerton either has it out for me [to cry] or loves me so much)

ANTHONY 👁👁 Marcus & Violet

Colin's hand caressing on Pen's face at the end of the dance they're really coming for me (bro did he almost kiss her?!??? i freaked out; had to rewind)

The queen excusing all non-Bridgertons + "Penelope, you are a Bridgerton now."

I kind of love that "Everyone except the Bridgertons are to scatter," but Lady Danbury's just there

GOD (I knew it as soon as it was coming) Eloise hugs Pen <3 🥲

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod bi Ben

❤️ The hair grab!

This printer's assistant is on my shit list

SCOTLAND!!! JOHNCESCA

"It is not up to you what we do." 🤭❤️🤣 Colin mad but still ready to defend his wife (as it should be)

"I know my father was a good man and you are a good friend." Violet-Agatha feels

🙀He kept the letters!

💛John's words to Mama Bridgerton (her children's traits)

She said she was a fumbling mess in front of Edmund like 5 minutes before she is fumbling in front of Marcus

"Then how am I meant to help you?" ❤️ "By loving me."

❤️ Pen's love confession

"....to be a young lady to whom no one listens." - Pen!~Eloise shared look

Philippa + her "bugs"

😲 Lady Danbury x Pen (she knew! ❤️)

❤️ Colin's love confession (them crying together x)

El traveling with Johncesca

Mi-MICHAELA Stirling ... Bridgerton I swear if you are queerbaiting

OH MY GOD! Mama Bridgerton's words -FRANCESCA is fumbling her words.

❤️ Colin focussing on the hands in bed

Pen on top!

"Your father is always trying to distract with a clever word &..." "You think my smile is beguiling?" x "I could not have written without the help of Auntie Penelope." They are so obsessed with each other

Philomena?! did i hear that rt? omg Philippa

Yay we got confirmation of Colin's book! (I can only hope they're sitting in bed reading next season).

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading roundup: june 2024

before I get started on June, I have to issue a correction from May: I forgot to include a book!

last year I backed Iron Circus Comics' erotic anthology My Monster Girlfriend, edited by Andrea Purcell and Amanda Lafrenais, and it finally arrived just ahead of pride. My Monster Girlfriend contains 15 stories by all by different artists, and features protagonists who get it on with everything from the classic ghosts, werewolves, and vampires to a reality-warping angel (?) who contains infinite dimensions, a sleep paralysis demon, and an all-consuming flesh monster hivemind.

while I would have liked to see a little more variety in the freakishness of the actual sex, the anthology is a lot of fun and shows off a great diversity of art styles and scenarios in which one might get down to clown with a monster girlfriend. my personal favorites were Feather by Kanesha C. Bryant, in which an intrepid pervert boldly attempts to locate their girlfriend's genitalia; MonsterHER Under the Bed by Bont and Wes Brooke, which puts a cute, sexy little spin on the monster under the bed; Forest Wedding by Otava Heikkilä, which reads like an old timey fable except it ends in a giant forest woman getting crazy fisted by her new trans husband; and Girl Fiend by InnKeeperWorm, which is infinitely jackoffable even though, frankly, the hellhound should have stayed in her more monstrous canine form to fuck.

okay, now onto the June reading! I found myself reaching the end of the month surprised that I had added so few books to my 2024 spreadsheet, and then I realized: it's fucking PRIDE MONTH and I'm a career queer. I spent most of June either busting ass working various events or in a coma recovering from said events; no wonder I didn't read as much as I thought I would. I also gave up on one novel after sinking close to 200 pages in it, which means the list is even shorter, but trust me: the DNF was the right decision.

so, who made the cut for pride?

The Monsters We Defy (Leslye Penelope, 2022) - this book was a romp! it's fun! it's a hoot, dare I say! this is a historical urban fantasy that takes place in the Black society of 1920s Washington, DC. protagonist Clara and her band of ragtag magical misfits have a heist to pull off against one of the most powerful Black women in DC, with their own curses and powers at stake. it's a fun story with a neat magic system and lots of words that are capitalized so you know they're Magical and Important, and it's a read that goes down real easy. strong recommendation if you find yourself in a slump!

Just for the Cameras (Viano Oniomoh, 2023) - my first foray into independently published romance! and it was... fine. the plot's a little patchy, sure, but it's definitely not the worst romance I've ever read, and at least a throuple made for a nice change of pace. AND nobody's seething with jealousy or insecurity about multiple partners? you love to see it. this book was apparently originally intended to be a novelette and it definitely could have stayed that way, but if bisexual Black hotties sucking and fucking is what you seek then you're going to have a great time. TW: 2/3 main characters are British.

Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs (Ina Park, 2021) - to the surprise of absolutely no one who knows me, this is one of my very favorite nonfiction reads of the year so far. I cannot emphasize this enough: if you like the way that I talk about STIs and sex ed on this blog then I think you'll really like this book, because having read this book I desperately want to be her friend. she brings so much passion and energy to her work that it bursts right off the page and is - pardon this awful pun - absolutely infectious.

Survivor (Octavia E. Butler, 1978) - for those you not in the know, this book is kind of a get. it's the only book of Butler's that was never reprinted, so now you can only read it if you get ahold of a super expensive original edition OR if you, hypothetically, find a PDF online and print off the entire thing on your work printer. and I'm so glad I did the latter, because holy shit this book whips ass. the book was apparently disavowed for its lack of connection to the rest of the Patternist series, which is true but oh my god, the story is SOOOO cool anyway. we've got a human woman named Alanna who grew up feral on Earth only to be adopted by a Christian cult who are GOING INTO SPACE to preserve the human race, but it turns out there are already intelligent people on the new planet and they have Feelings about what the future of these human missionaries is going to be. it's on Alanna to navigate the clashing cultures and tension between the humans and two warring groups of aliens, and it is fucking URGENT. I don't say this lightly but I think this has ascended to be in my top three Butler novels.

No Name in the Street (James Baldwin, 1972) - ooooooh my god you guys!! oh my god!!! I've never read any of Baldwin's long form nonfiction, but within pages I knew that this was going to pretty permanently change my brain. this memoir-ish book delves into, among other things, Baldwin's witnessing of the American civil rights movement, including the deaths of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers. woven around that is the alienating experience of being a Black man with exactly enough cultural cache and social clout to sometimes isolate him from the people he grew up with but not nearly enough to buy acceptance or safety in a white society, emphasized by Baldwin's unfinished struggle to free a friend from prison after a wrongful murder charge. and somehow that's barely doing the book justice! it's so vast and incisive and weary and impassioned and it did, truly, have me jotting down the names of everything Baldwin ever wrote to make sure I can read it all. as much as I bemoan my habit of impulse reserving books from the library, I really am indebted to the Stacks podcast for getting this on my radar.

[ddejavvu]

Hii~ It's my birthday today, and I was wondering if you could write me just a little thing about the bau aknowledging it? I know it's short notice, but it didn't cross my mind until I started getting emails about free gifts from stores lol

aw omg happy birthday!!

JJ: brings you flowers!! she definitely sets up a little bouquet and writes a pretty sweet card, she wants to hand-deliver it to you but she'll leave it on your desk if you're too caught up in talking to everyone else

Emily" she supplies the treats!! she comes in with donuts, one of everyone's favorite flavor, and then the rest of the box with only yours, so that you can take the extras home or just munch on them throughout the day as a little treat :') she'll stick candles in there too!!

Penelope: what doesn't she do? she decorates the bullpen with streamers, a banner, balloons, confetti (that hotch would disapprove of for any other occasion), and she definitely buys those little photobooth decoration things, like little paper hats on sticks to take pictures with - she probably buys real party hats too, though! and she will police rossi when he tries yanking his off without her noticing

Rossi: He probably asks everyone over to his house to celebrate your birthday over dinner! he makes you your favorite dish, even if it isn't pasta (<3), and he breaks out the good wine for you <3

Spencer: is there a book you've wanted to read for a while? A first edition you've been searching for? Or maybe a movie you want to see, something no one else wants to go with you to watch? He's your guy :D he'll take you out for the day, he'll pop by the bookstore in the morning and let you browse (and definitely tell you about all the books he's looking at or which ones he thinks you should read), or if that doesn't interest you, then just a coffee run! he'll buy you a pastry to go along with your drink and you guys can sit and chat, then it's movie time!!

Hotch: we know he's stoic, but i think that he lets himself go for birthdays!! maybe he'll buy a cake, have it personalized with your name and a nice little birthday message, and he probably buys you a surprisingly heartfelt gift. maybe a watch if he notices you always ask what time it is? or a cover for your keyboard because you keep complaining about dust jamming the keys. he's definitely good at his job, he'll pick up on the little things and plan a gift accordingly.

Derek: he takes you to an amusement park or buys you a weekend at a nice hotel!! if you go to an amusement park he'll buy all the food and probably lets you ransack the gift shop. he'll drag you on the rollercoasters too, though, and he'll rub your back/hold your hair if you end up getting sick </3

[shmaptainwrites]

𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 [𝐀 𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘]

PAIRINGS — Violet Bridgerton x fem!Reader [Modern!AU]

SUMMARY — The Bridgertons take some time to do things they enjoy among the media circus caused by Landon's statement.

WORD COUNT — 3.5K

WARNINGS — none

NOTE — Another Friday, another chapter! Thank again to flock for taking care of the beta read and editing :)

𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐀𝐎𝟑

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑽𝑰: 𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑹𝑰𝑬𝑺 𝑰𝑵 𝑷𝑨𝑹𝑨𝑳𝑳𝑬𝑳

The click of the camera shutters had become incessant since Landon’s statement broke the UK news. Unfortunately, it had not faded out, like they had hoped, after one cycle, due to the fact that it seemed like anyone who had ever had any qualms with the Bridgertons were now offering their opinions on the situation and keeping it in the front of everyone’s minds. 

Violet’s lawyers had managed to convince the authorities to do their interviews at the firm in exchange for full cooperation, which the firm was willing to give because Violet was innocent (at least her lawyer had said even an idiot could see that, and you had emphatically agreed with him). 

Stepping out from what felt like her thousandth interview, you followed closely behind with manila folders and a briefcase, the cameras were quick to come out and follow the two of you towards the car Violet had acquired the service of until things died down. 

She could hear her name called at her from all directions, and she tried to hold her head high on Pat’s advice, knowing that if she hunched away the media might take her simple body language as an admission of guilt. 

She was about to step into the car when she heard your voice behind her, but not addressing her. 

“Hey, watch it!” 

She turned around and saw you standing between her and someone who was trying to get a little too close. 

“You know, while I’m at it, why don’t you all listen up?” you said, the frustration on behalf of Violet evident in your tone. “Keep your bloody cameras away from the Bridgertons or else I’m sure we can find a way to press charges for harassment. And while you’re at it, stop calling her Violet, it’s Lady Bridgerton, show some respect.” 

Violet bit back a smile and finally opened the car door, stepping inside and sliding over the seats so you could place your things down and join her, closing the door, muffling the sounds of the press outside.

“You know, nobody calls me Lady Bridgerton,” she said while looking over at you.

“I know, but maybe they should,” you shrugged. “Maybe it will get them to remember all of the wonderful things your family has done with that title and that none of this is actually tied to you. Landon is just trying his last shot at bringing someone down with him.” 

“At least the police said this should be cleared up and sorted soon, but I know the cameras are going to linger,” Violet sighed. “Daphne was telling me she saw someone following her while she was taking the children to the park with Simon the other day. She almost called the police; I had to arrange to get her a security detail.” 

“Really?” you looked astonished and Violet nodded. 

“They wanted information about me,” she added. “And were willing to take away my daughter’s, my son-in-law’s, and my grandchildren’s privacy to do so.” 

You sighed and pressed your lips together. 

“And Eloise has people following her around campus, Benedict has had his home vandalized, thank God Colin and Penelope left on another work assignment. I can’t imagine what they might have run into.”

You reached out your hand to take Violet’s and offer some comfort. 

“I haven’t let Hyacinth or Gregory leave the house,” she looked over at you. “They’re going insane, but I can’t…” her voice trailed off. “They’re still so young, I can't have this happening to them as well.” 

“I’m sure they understand,” you assured her. “This is no small thing. At this point, we’re talking about safety. You don’t even leave the house without security by your side anymore, that’s a clear difference from your circumstances before.” 

“Yes, which is why I think we all need a break,” Violet sighed. “Benedict is coming to pick up Gregory and Hyacinth this afternoon and they’ll go to the country estate for a week or so, and Agatha and I have dinner planned at the house tonight.” 

“That should be good,” you nodded. “Everyone gets a little change of pace, Benedict can be the one to make sure Hyacinth and Gregory don’t kill each other,” you teased, and Violet chuckled. 

“When you put it that way, I might lose three children by the end of the week.” 

You scoffed at her words and looked outside the window for a moment, your hands still interlocked. 

“I know it’s hard, but we should focus on the positives. We still have the gala we need to think about. I know we were hoping for the fall, but with everything that is happening, I was wondering if it makes sense to do something over the holidays? It should add more time for us too, which frankly, we could use.” 

“I was thinking that as well,” Violet agreed. “We haven’t sent out invitations so it wouldn’t be hard to shift dates as long as the venue is available. We’d just have to do some coordinating with all the logistical things, but I think that’s better than rushing it.” 

“I’ll make sure the venue is available, you take a break and prepare for your dinner tonight. I hear Agatha is expecting you to cook.”

“She usually does, it’s a little deal we have,” Violet explained. “And she likes my cooking, so, I won’t turn down an opportunity to be complimented.” 

 “What’s your specialty?” you asked.

“Yorkshire pudding, but that’s not quite a meal on its own,” Violet chuckled. “I’ll figure something out to go with it.”

“I’m sure you will,” you squeezed her hand and let go, both of you feeling the immediate loss of warmth and comfort when the contact ceased. 

When you arrived back at the house, Benedict had come to pick up Hyacinth and Gregory, neither of whom were ready to leave, much to his dismay. 

“Mum, can you please get your children to bloody hurry up?” Benedict complained. 

“Lovely way to greet your mother after she’s just come home from being interviewed by the police,” Violet teased and Benedict sighed with a chuckle, pulling his mother into a hug and pressing a kiss to her cheek. 

“Hi Mum, how are you?” he changed his greeting, and Violet smiled. 

“As good as I’ll be, given the circumstances. Let me go see what I can do about your siblings, and oh-have you two met yet?” 

Violet looked between you and Benedict, and you nodded your head.

“Briefly, actually,” you said.

“Yes, you were at the gallery,” he noted and you confirmed with a nod. 

“Pure coincidence. I realized who you were a few moments after we stopped talking,” you chuckled and gave him your name again.

“So, you’re working as the new financial manager?” Benedict asked, while Violet left you both to go find Hyacinth and Gregory. 

“Yes, that would be me,” you nodded. 

“And what was a financial district woman such as yourself doing in a small independent art gallery? Or working for my family, for that matter?”

“One, financial district women can have hobbies,” you started. “Two, I was looking for a change of pace and this is certainly that.”

“Getting bossed around by my mother? God give you strength.”

“Oh, come on,” you rolled your eyes and laughed. “It’s not that bad, we make a good team, I think.”

“If you’re saying that? Clearly you do,” Benedict teased. “No, but in all seriousness she’s a hard worker. Her nagging is out of love.”

“Benedict, did you just say I nag you?” Violet asked, stopping by the front door after overhearing the comment. 

“No Mum, not at all,” he shook his head. “I said bagging, like when you pack us food to take places.”

Violet pressed her lips together. She seemed unconvinced and you laughed at Benedict’s terrible lie. 

“Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle Greg and Hyacinth for a week?” you asked him, and he shrugged his shoulders quite exaggeratedly. 

“I guess we’ll find out.”

“If they’re trying to kill each other, call me,” you told him. “I’ve learnt sibling crisis management 101 from those two.”

“Will do,” Benedict nodded and patted your back. 

You heard your name called from the door and saw Hyacinth running outside. 

“I thought I was going to miss you before we left,” she pulled you in for a hug which you accepted, one hand still occupied with full manila folders. “It’s going to be weird not seeing you every day.”

“Sure, but it’s only a week, and you have Benedict. You can make plans for the Beyoncé concert.”

“That is true,” Hyacinth nodded, still holding onto you. 

“Hyacinth, goodness, you’re going to suffocate her,” Violet chuckled as she came outside with Gregory, seeing the tight grip her daughter had on you. 

“I’m fine, I’m going to miss her hugs anyways,” you squeezed her back. “Okay, both of you should get your stuff in your brother’s car. He's been waiting patiently for you.”

The two youngest Bridgertons listened and threw their stuff in the trunk of Benedict’s car before saying their goodbyes and heading off with a final reminder from their mother not to kill each other. 

You and Violet entered the house shortly thereafter, and she went on to prepare dinner while you did some work in the office. 

After the day had ended, you were about halfway home when you realized you had forgotten your phone and had to turn back around to get it. 

Security let you inside without a fuss, and you could hear chatter and laughter coming from the dining room, presumably from Violet’s dinner. 

You tried to sneak in and out quietly, not wanting to interrupt, but Violet caught sight of you from afar and called out your name. 

“What are you doing back here, is something wrong?” she asked. 

“Just forgot my phone, I’ll be out of your hair in two minutes,” you assured her. 

“Oh, there’s no need for that,” another voice chimed in, which you assumed was Agatha’s. “Violet wouldn't be able to cook for only two people, even if a gun was put to her head. It’s ten or nothing, there’s plenty of food to share, come eat with us.”

“I shouldn’t stay,” you shook your head. 

“My dear, one does not turn down an invitation from Agatha,” Violet chuckled. “Just come sit with us.”

You pressed your lips together and began to walk towards the dining room, seeing the chair Violet had pulled out for you next to her and took a seat with them at the table. 

“Christ, you were right. Violet, this is enough food for a small dinner party,” you said while looking at the spread in front of you. 

“I, unfortunately, never unlearned how to portion for ten people,” she said while grabbing you a plate and some cutlery. “I will be sending you both home with leftovers.”

“And I will not be complaining,” Agatha smiled. “So,” she turned her attention to you. “Violet has been telling me how great of a help you’ve been the past few months.”

“Oh, it’s nothing really,” you shook your head. “Just doing my job.”

You knew as soon as you said it you didn’t believe it. Sure, a part of it was doing your job, but another part was always something a little extra. You had come to care very much for the family whose employ you were under and it meant a lot when you were able to help them through difficult situations. 

“Have you and Violet known each other for a long time?” 

You tried to divert the line of questioning from yourself.

“Since I was a teenager,” Violet answered. “Our families ran in the same circles, but we became more acquainted after my marriage, and even more so after Edmund’s passing.”

You could feel Agatha’s stare on you, and it made you a little nervous. It was almost as if she was very closely judging your character, but whether it was for your position with the family or something else, you were uncertain. 

Violet offered you some wine, realizing you didn’t have a glass, and you accepted, watching her go back to the kitchen to fetch it for you, so you quickly filled the silence with another question for Agatha. 

“What made you grow closer after Edmund’s passing?”

Agatha pressed her lips together and took a sip of her wine. 

“My husband had also passed away when I was young,” she said and you nodded your head in understanding. “But that is not why I could relate to her.”

You paused, looking up from your food and making eye contact with Agatha whose gaze had seemingly softened. 

“I had an arranged marriage,” she explained. “I did not love my husband. In fact, I loathed him, but due to my family, the only way out of that relationship was in death. My father passed shortly after he did and then, all of a sudden, I was free.”

You put your fork down, placing your hands in your lap, listening intently to her story. 

“For years, I had been…close with Violet’s aunt, Lily, her father’s sister, and over time, that friendship turned into something…more than,” she said. “When she passed away, I felt like my world had been ripped in two and I couldn’t quite publicly grieve her loss, in part because I wasn’t yet ready to admit to the world that I loved her.”

You pressed your lips together, a surge of hurt in your chest at the story she shared. 

“When Violet lost Edmund, I saw that same thing in her. She was still expecting and the world turned her grief into a spectacle.”

“I understand,” you nodded your head, it was implicit. Agatha was trying to protect Violet. 

“I hope you do,” Agatha sipped her wine again. “Our stories often tend to draw on more parallels than we initially realize.”

Violet returned to the room with a glass of wine for you, and a bottle for the table, a bright smile on her face while she tucked her hair behind her ears and sat back down. 

“Why the long faces, did something happen?” she asked, concerned.

“No, not at all,” Agatha shook her head. “We were just disappointed we can’t have your cooking every night, it really is quite exceptional.”

“Yes, I agree,” you said truthfully. “You were right when you said Yorkshire pudding is your specialty, I think this is the best one I’ve had in a long time.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Violet smiled. “So, have you two spoken about art yet?”

“No, I don’t think we have,” you shook your head. 

“A fellow appreciator of the finer things, I see,” Agatha smiled. 

“Agatha has quite the collection at her home. I think you would love it, actually.”

“Really?” You looked at Agatha. “What era?”

“Mostly early 19th century, some late 18th,” she said. “Do you have much art in your home?”

“Not a lot, I can’t quite afford the things I enjoy,” you admitted. “But I frequent museums and galleries quite often which helps fill that void. I love being in this house in particular, there’s always a new piece in some corner that I haven’t seen before.”

“A lot of those are Benedict’s,” Violet said. “He refuses to pay for a storage space so he ends up giving them to me on loan until they sell.”

“I seem to recall some of the paintings around the house are yours,” Agatha noted. 

“You didn’t tell me that,” you looked over at Violet. “Which ones?”

“Anything signed Ledger,” she admitted. “I did them all before I was married.”

You chuckled a little to yourself. There was one painting in Violet’s office, nothing too extravagant, just an assortment of plants in what looked like a wildflower bouquet resting on a table. If something was stumping you or your eyes needed a break from the many hours of staring at the computer, your default was to look at it. You had always meant to ask who the artist was; you just couldn’t seem to fathom that it was Violet. 

“You didn’t think to mention it?” you chuckled, sipping your wine. 

“I didn’t think it was relevant,” she shrugged innocently, and you laughed at the clearly coy comment. 

Agatha watched the interaction between you both closely. There was a certain familiarity, an ease and comfort she hadn’t seen in Violet in a long time. 

“So, I think we now know where Benedict gets his artistry from,” you said. “Does he know where he gets it from?”

“We’ve all made a point to make it very clear to him any talent he got was from me,” Violet teased, and you laughed again. 

“Seriously though, once things settle again and you have more time on your hands, you should consider taking it up again,” you suggested. “It’s good to have a hobby.”

“I agree,” Agatha nodded. “Hobbies are a wonderful way to pass the time.” 

“Agatha’s main hobby is hustling people in poker and pool,” Violet informed you. 

“All the money goes to charity,” she assured. 

“At the expense of the dignity of others,” Violet countered. 

“She lost to me in both,” Agatha filled in the blanks and you snorted while lifting your wine glass to your lips and Violet’s ears became tinged with a soft pink colour. “And made the mistake of chalking it up to beginner's luck.” 

“Oh, Violet,” you attempted to sound sympathetic, but it came off more like pity with the chuckle that was laced in your voice.

“No, I know I brought it on myself,” she nodded, picking up some vegetables with her fork. “I just don’t understand how I fell for it three times, and how you didn’t say anything,” she motioned to Agatha with her chin. 

“You just seemed so determined, I didn’t want to burst your bubble.” 

“Three times? Violet, that’s just…” 

“Embarrassing? Demoralizing? Absolutely humiliating?” she filled in the blanks. 

“No, I was going to say sweet,” you chuckled. “You didn’t give up, I mean, you never do. I admire that about you.” 

“Oh,” Violet was visibly surprised by your response and you were too focused on her to notice Agatha’s knowing expression from across the table. “I-Well, thank you.” 

“I would have gone with humiliating, too,” Agatha teased before eating another spoonful of food. 

“Hush, you,” Violet frowned and sent her friend a playful piercing stare. 

Dinner ended up being very enjoyable, but as soon as the dishes were cleared and you saw the time, you excused yourself from the group. 

“Are you sure you can’t join us for another glass of wine?” Violet asked.

“I shouldn’t,” you shook your head. “My family’s coming to visit tomorrow, and I still have a few things to arrange around the apartment so I should get back to that before it’s too late.” 

“Family? You didn’t mention your family was visiting. Do you need time off?” Violet asked. 

“No, we’d run ourselves mad if we were together non-stop,” you shook your head. “If something comes up, I’ll ask.” 

“Okay,” Violet smiled. “But before you go…” she slipped past Agatha and over to a pan that was by the stove, taking a container from one of the cupboards and placing what looked like a few slices of cake inside and grabbing some food she had packed away from dinner already. “For tonight. A cleaning pick-me-up,” she handed it to you. 

“Thank you, Violet, really both of you for including me tonight,” you said. “I know I was the reason you got pulled away from your tea together in the first place, so I’m happy for the chance at redemption.” 

“Consider yourself redeemed,” Agatha assured you. “I’m sure we will talk again soon.” 

“I hope so,” you smiled. “Goodnight.” 

Agatha and Violet returned your smile and wished you goodnight as you left the room, heading out the front door and going back to your car to head home. 

“So,” Agatha began a moment after hearing the front door close. “She’s quite…” 

She paused in hopes that Violet might fill in the blank, letting her in on what her feelings were towards you. 

“Lovely?” Violet looked up at Agatha with a smile. “She really is.” 

“You seem to have gotten closer over your time working together.” 

“I think we have,” Violet agreed. “It’s odd. It’s almost as though I hired a financial manager and a friend, but it doesn’t feel forced.” 

“It doesn't look forced,” Agatha agreed. “And she’s aware of your…long term financial plans?” 

Violet nodded her head, serving Agatha a piece of cake. 

“Yes, but we still have some time before that becomes a reality,” she said. 

“And do you think your friendship will last past that?” she asked. 

Violet paused for a moment, thinking about the question that was brought up before placing her hands flat on the counter in front of her, leaning on the support of her arms. 

“I really do hope so.” 

TAGLIST —

@paola-carter @madde11 @thesamesweetie @cherrysxuya @philocalistwrites @mako-mermaids2021 @oh-mydarling @courtneyteal @amethyst-bitch @etherynn @lilisdarling

[seenoversundown]

Sparrow Of the Dawn : Chapter 1

Sam x Willa (Fem OC) Warnings: Alcohol / Mentions of drinking, brotherly banter, dark humor/mentions of death (if you squint), otherwise silly boys being boys.

Word Count: 3.9K

Summary : Sam unfortunately finds himself in not so meet cute with Willa. Hopeful that he doesn't cross her path again; the world works in mysterious ways and not always in your favor.

Authors Note: AHHHHH I can’t wait for everybody to read and I hope you all love it as much as I do!! I’m so excited and nervous, feels like I’m waiting for the midnight premiere of Deathly Hallows (part 2) all over again 🥹😭💜

Flower Power - Greta Van Fleet “She’s a sparrow of the dawn, our love is born”

“Oh, HEY,” Jake says sarcastically the second he opens the front door, “Nice of you to show up, Jackass,” huffing out a laugh as he shuts the door behind me. The scuffed-up cherry wood floor creaks under the weight of our feet as I follow him over to where he had been organizing new stock behind the bar. 

“Right.. aaand where’s my paycheck again?” I retort, sliding onto my regular spot and dropping my camera bag next to me. The spot in the dead center of the bar has been claimed as mine since before Jake even opened, the stool now complete with my etched initials SFK under the cushion. 

“Time is money, brother, and I lend you mine for free, so you get me when I’m free. Which apparently to you means 9 a.m.?” I say, clasping my hands on the bartop, “So please, tell me what is so important that I needed to be here so early.” He sourly smirks back at me.

“Yeah, yeah. I have a few new ones in for you to shoot, and I’d like to get it done before we get busy today.” He picks up his clipboard, eyeing his stock list.

 “We finally got the pomegranate Downeast released last month that was on backorder, as well as the pear and the guava passion fruit. Then we have ‘Reciprocal’ from Bissell Bros here in Portland, and ‘Interchangeable #7’ from Blaze Brewing in Biddo. I’d really like to get the blaze shot for our ads because it has the most interesting can art. But, ya know, I trust you.” He reads off.

A year ago, Jake, my older brother, bought this bar located right here in the heart of the Old Port. Back in his senior year of high school he got really into “Black Sails”, this pirate TV show; he practically made it his personality. Naturally, he decided he wanted to run a bar for the rest of his life, so when old man Chuck decided to retire, Jake jumped at the opportunity to purchase it. “Caravel Tavern” has only been open for 6 months and It's been his baby ever since. 

“Wow, Jake Kiszka putting trust in ME? Are you feeling okay?” I feign shock grabbing at my heart.

“Just get it done, you idiot,” he says with a roll of his eyes.

“Alright, alright,” I say, glancing over the options. “Give me like an hour. I have an idea that might work. I need to head to the farmer’s market in town, but I can have the best shots edited and emailed to you tomorrow, and then we can pick the best ones for print.” I grab my bag, digging around for my car keys. “Hey, when is Josh in today? I’d like to get some shots of you guys pouring drinks for the website and Instagram for Josh’s intro post.”

“He should be here by the time you’re done with everything. That is if he’s on time. But let's be realistic, when is a Kiszka ever on time?” He replies as he breaks down boxes with a box cutter. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

I take a right onto the gravel that’s set behind the farmers market, my rusty 92’ Ford F-150 rattling as I park. I hope to god it’s just a heat shield making that noise. I cannot afford another repair on Edith. She may be an old crotchety bitch, but she has my whole heart. Well, right behind Penelope, my Bernese mountain dog, Penny girl will always be my number one.

Ding 

I put her in park and shove my hand into my backpack blindly searching for the source of the text tone. Finally finding my phone Tweedle Dum🦞 appears on the screen.. I let out a giggle. 

We’re running a special on whiskey sours tonight pick up some eggs, princess.

I switch Jake and Josh’s contact name back and forth between tweedle dee and tweedle dum mainly to keep them on their toes, but I’d be lying if I said tweedle dum isn’t just whoever has pissed me off or been dubbed the biggest dumbass that week. The emojis always stay the same so I can keep them actually straight though. 

You got it, boss, I send back to Jake, winning the title this week for making me wake up at the ass crack of 9am. Which absolutely is early for me. 

Gathering my things, I step out of my truck, immediately being hit with a cold gust of wind, the air causing my eyes to water slightly. I brush away a tear forming in my eye before it threatens to fall down my cheek. For it being the end of March the air is crispier than normal. I pause a moment too long, and a shiver runs through my body. I zip my jacket up a little higher, trying to preserve my body heat. Making sure I have my mesh bag with me, I shut my door and head over to the booths. 

I make a beeline for Linda, a sweet older woman who is here every week selling chicken eggs, various fruits from her garden, and some knick-knack crafts she makes. I have about seven bowl koozies, though I’m not sure I even own as many bowls considering it’s just me, but they are really good for ramen and ice cream. Which I do not eat together. Jake and Josh live in the apartment above the bar, so when I moved back after college, I got an apartment a couple roads away to stay close. 

Our parents moved out of our small hometown, which sits just on the other side of Portland. Padded off to Apple Valley, Georgia trying to settle into a warmer climate or something. They bought a house big enough for just the two of them and a guest room on an acre of land, “just in case any of you boys come to visit” Mom said. In all honesty, Apple Valley is just the same town, different state. They always said they didn’t like the city because it was too big, which is funny to me after spending the last four years in Boston. Everything here seems much smaller now.

“Morning Linda!” I smile and wave at her.

“Oh, Samuel. You’re up early this week. How are you doing, Sweetheart? How’s my Daniel?” She flashes me a warm smile. She’s also Daniel’s biggest fan. Pretty sure she only comes into the bar to see him, even though I met her first. But what can I say? I’m apparently an excellent matchmaker; we just won't mention the fact that she's 72.

I chuckle, “I’m just out running some errands for Jake. I’m on call today, apparently. Daniel’s good though! He misses you, ya know.” I finish flashing her a wink.

She lets out a high-pitched laugh, “I’ll be down to visit with Miss Eleanor. You tell him not to worry.” She raises an eyebrow and smirks at me, “Anyway, what can I get ya my dear?”

“Think two dozen will do it for today.” I hand her a crumpled ten-dollar bill in exchange, “Keep the change, Lin. I’ll see you at the bar or next Saturday, whichever comes first.” I set the eggs carefully in my tote and head toward my next stop, the flower truck.

The beer I’m photographing for the bar has a brightly colored logo in a style reminiscent of comic book art. A bold red can with yellow, blue, and purple adorning the signature name. My idea is to use a bouquet of different flowers to accent the colors and make the can pop. 

I scan through the metal buckets, trying to mentally piece together an arrangement without disturbing the flowers too much. They are far too delicate to be pulling and yanking on them just to try them out for size. Some of the people here, like Linda, make their living posting up every Saturday. 

I reach for a bundle of forget-me-nots, settling on those along with the last of the remaining Irises, a few red Dahlias, Daffodils, and Butterfly Milkweed. Taking a step back slightly away from the displays, I start to rearrange the bouquet to my liking. Extending my arms out in front of me, and changing my angle to make sure I like how the flowers look together. Just as I decide that, yes, these will do for what their intended purpose is, I feel someone aggressively poking my bicep. 

I turn toward the person attached to the finger. Not going to lie; I’m a bit impressed by the force of it, considering I’m wearing a sweater under my quilted jacket, and the woman who’s doing the poking is standing at about 5 foot nothing and looks like a swift breeze might carry her away. I blink slowly at her a few times and raise my eyebrows waiting expectedly.

“Did someone die, or did you just fuck up like, wicked bad?” the snark heavily laden on her tone. 

I close my eyes and let out a long breath, “Uhm, it’s uhh –” I stutter a bit, really trying to play it up, “My grandma died last week, actually. Did you know her? Her name was Althea.” I gaze down at my shoes and drop my head a bit, taking a moment before I attempt to look for her reaction through my eyelashes. If I held my breath long enough, I might just be able to work up a tear. Would that be too dramatic? .. maybe.

“Oh.. uh. No, I didn’t. I’m sor–” Regret immediately paints her face.

“I’m fucking with you.” I let out a small laugh

“What?” her eyes narrow at me, trying to figure out if I’m lying or telling the truth.

“I’m joking, my grandma is fine. Are you okay? Or is it a normal occurrence for you to ask a complete stranger if they’re mourning a dead relative?" Amusement settles on my face.

She lets out an audible groan. Why is she so angry? She tugs down at the sides of her short floral dress and waves a hand out toward my arrangement. 

“Why on earth do you need every single purple flower!?” She exclaims, “And who jokes about their grandma dying?” stamping her beaten-up Doc Marten into the patchy grass. She actually stomped her foot at me. What are we twelve?

I roll my eyes and attempt to alleviate the situation, “Bachelor Buttons.” 

I have work to do and absolutely do not need an attitude from a complete stranger, even if she is cute. I have brothers for that purpose, and they do their jobs well enough.

 “They’re mostly purple but with a bit of blue. They symbolize love if you’re trying to give them to someone important.” I scratch the back of my head and briefly hope she says she’s not. I immediately throw the thought away with a shake of my head. Nope, not opening that door.

“I don’t need Bachelor Buttons.” 

“.. ookaay. You could always d –” 

“I need Irises.” She says, cutting me off, “Specifically. Okay? And I’m fine, but if I can't find irises today because of you count *poke* your *poke* days!” she ends her sentiment with a final sharp poke to my chest and storms away. God damn, her finger is like a tiny dagger.

Listen, growing up without any sisters means I don’t know much about women, but what I do know .. is definitely never believe one when they say they’re fine. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

As I walk through the door of Caravel Tavern for the second time today, I call out, “Okay, Jake, I’m back with your eggs, Asshole. Where are you?”

I set my camera bag and the eggs down and lean over the counter, checking to see if he’s kneeling behind the bar top.

 “.. Jake?” I look side to side. Where the hell is he? It’s the middle of the day, not nearly early enough for lunch.. Not like the guy takes a break anyway. 

“JAKE WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” I yell through my cupped hands. The sound echoes through the empty space.

He comes running from the back room, a panic written on his face. “Jesus Christ, Sam, what?”

“Got your eggs.” grinning wildly at him. I swear I'm actually his favorite brother. 

“Well, thanks, Samuel, for being useful for one thing today.” He says, before changing his tone, “You okay? You look a bit tense?”

“Yeah,” absentmindedly, my hand drifts to my shoulder, rubbing at the area where angry-flower-girl poked me earlier. “Actually, you’ll never believe what happened to me at the farmers market.”

He’s not looking at me when he hums his response, just putting the eggs in the mini fridge next to the ice well. I slide the second carton over to him.

“I ran into this girl, actually, she ran into me rather. I was picking out the bouquet arrangement for the photos I want to take and she sorta.. Came at me poking?”

He slowly stands and looks at me, his brow furrowed a bit. “She.. came at you?” He pauses. “Poking?”

“Poking,” I point to my shoulder in disbelief.

“Okay, and what did this poking girl want?”

“To yell at me for taking all the irises. I tried to do the gentlemanly thing and suggest an alternative, but she poked me some more and stomped off. She was hot as hell even if she was a bit psychotic.” 

“Well, why did you take all the irises? You also could have taken the other- wait, “ Jake pauses, turning to face me head-on. He sets the empty carton on the counter, “No, whatever you’re thinking about, cut it out,” He points at me, “Did you forget about the last ‘cute but insane’ girl?” 

“Hey, she wasn’t that bad! AND she was really hot?!” both hands raised.

“Sam, she cracked your windshield” he pinches the bridge of his nose.

Just as I’m about to further protest, “Cracked windshield? We’re not talking about ‘the Bride of Chucky’ are we?” Josh says

“Oh, come on guys, you can say her name. And again.. She wasn't that bad.”

“No, every time you say her name she comes back like Voldemort, and none of us need that shit.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Get your ass clocked in so I get your headshots done, and you can get to work lest Jake have a stroke.” I lean toward Josh and whisper, “You’re already late.”

“When isn’t he late?” Jake sighs and rolls his eyes.

“Well,” Josh claps his hands together, “it is clearly time for my close-up. Sammy, let’s get this shit fest over with.”  

Oh, Josh, ever the dramatic brother.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

I don’t spend a ton of time taking Josh’s photos, grateful that he isn’t afraid of the camera. I barely have to direct him, which makes my life that much easier. If he could work on just not being a pain in the ass the rest of the time, that’d be great. 

A few goodbyes later, and I’m finally off to edit. Putting all my things into the passenger seat and giving my truck some words of encouragement, the engine turns over. Thank fucking god. I live fairly close to the bar, so I decide to not bother with the radio and just listen to whatever comes my way. 

Still thinking about the poking girl, mostly because my chest was sore. I didn’t expect to be stabbed today. I do hope she found her Irises…  

‘Now I don’t hardly know her, but I think I could love her,’

I turn the volume up on the radio, hoping it’ll help me focus on driving and not thinking about her.  

I make it back home, throwing the truck in park and hustling up to my apartment. I’m quickly greeted by my bundle of joy. I set all my things out to edit on the counter and take care of Miss P before I start working.

Taking a walk is probably what I needed to do anyway. 

I got Penelope right after I graduated and moved back up here. Being used to a house full of people to just living alone was.. well, lonely. I think I lasted only a few months living alone before I gave in and went to find a pet. The twins suggested a cat because they’re fairly low maintenance, and their plan was to get a couple cats once their lives settled a bit. Settled ended up being right around when Jake bought the bar, I would hardly call that settled, but it worked out for them. Me on the other hand, I’m more of a dog person. As soon as I saw Penny, I knew she’d be my adventure buddy, coming with me on my walks and hikes and photography trips. It’s definitely easier with a dog, despite what Josh says about how easy it is to train a cat with a harness to adventure with you.

Once she is settled in after our walk, I sit down to edit for a while. Pulling up the photos of Josh, something seems off. Why are half of these out of focus? I think to myself, scrolling through the options. If he could have just stopped talking for two seconds, this one would have looked good.  The longer I scroll through the options, the more annoyed I get. Why did she poke me so fucking hard? Finding myself rubbing the spot on my chest, I force myself to get up for a minute. Maybe I just need to walk around. Wandering into my bathroom, I pull the collar of my shirt down to see the spot, if it doesn’t actually bruise, I’ll be SHOCKED.  

Sitting back down, I take one look at the photo I've been trying to salvage, letting out a sigh. This is awful. 

Me: hey I’m not super happy with how Josh’s pics came out.. Do you care if I just borrow him in the morning to get some new ones? 

Me: Not at 6am tho-  it’ll be Sunday, The Lord’s day, and he would want me to get my beauty rest. 

Tweedle Dum🦞: lol that’s fine bud 

Me: I may come back for a drink tho. Shit has me STRESSED.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

“God, Sam, don’t you ever leave?” Josh calls from behind the bar. 

“You’d think I was tired of looking at your ugly mug all day, but guess not.” My lips wind into a tight smile. “Can I actually get a drink? I’m annoyed as fuck that I hate all the pictures I took today, and a drink sounds like the perfect remedy.” 

“Turning to alcohol to solve your problems, hmm?”

“Shhhhh,” I wave my hands in front of me. “Can I get a Clover Club, maybe? In a whiskey glass.. No garnish. I don’t wanna look like a little bitch.” I groan 

“Let your freak flag fly, brother,” spinning away to go make my drink and tend to the other patrons seated down the bar top. 

This drink really better do the trick so I can relax for five minutes. Honestly, the pressure I put on myself to make sure I do well for Jake’s pride and joy, along with trying to find my own way with a full-time job is a little exhausting. It’s hard knowing that Caravel is his baby; he really doesn’t have much else going on. I swear if he got laid, he’d be a hell of a lot less uptight about it, but I digress. I don’t totally feel like I’m the most reliable person, but I try to make sure he can count on me and I don’t contribute to his stress. Ya know, he’s my brother, and I want him to be as proud of me as I am of him for doing what he loves so much. I don’t think I tell him enough how proud I really am of him. He’s someone I look to for inspiration for trying to pave my own way. I’d never tell him that though, because he’d probably think I was yanking his chain or something. I have a job trial-type thing down in Boston later this week, and I’m really hoping it turns out to be something good. I could use something good right now.

Josh interrupts my thoughts, setting my drink down, “Just how you asked for it in a cocktail glass with extra garnish.”

I sigh audibly, “Ya know, I don’t even care. Gimme it.” I gulp it down in nearly one go. Josh looks surprised at me. Whether it’s because of my eagerness or because he knows I’m terrible at holding my alcohol, I’m not sure. I don’t care. 

“One more.” I close my eyes, waiting for the gin to work its magic on me. Feeling my muscles relax bit by bit, my brow finally straightens out, and I sink down against the wall closest to my seat. I sigh audibly again, though this time it’s one of relief.

The longer I sit here, the more people are trickling in. Sipping on my drink this time, I notice people in all sorts of outfits looking vaguely like anime characters. Gathering in little cliques of friend groups, a few interesting folk bouncing from table to table. I can't tell if time is moving incredibly fast or if the alcohol has made me move slower, but suddenly, I have the realization that it’s packed in here. Since opening, they’ve been able to handle everything behind the bar, just the two of them, with Daniel manning the door, but I don’t think they’re equipped to handle whatever event these people are overflowing from. 

I swig back the last sip of my drink, grab my glass, and make my way to the back room. I toss the raspberry garnish before setting the glass in the sink to be washed. Grabbing the ice bucket, I start to fill it to make sure the front is stocked for them; ice is usually always the first thing to go. I lug the full bucket back behind the bar, and refill the ice well. 

“Thanks, Sammy. Hey,  would you mind bussing some of the tables and asking the people with tabs if they need any refills, please? I’ll make sure I put you on the payroll for the night,” Jake asks, eyes pleading and desperate for help. And really, who am I to say no to him?

“Of course I can. I’ve got nothing else better to do anyway.” I start to reach for a tray. 

“Thanks. I mean it.” he says, squeezing my shoulder, “I forgot PortCon was happening, and we’re close to one of the hotels.” He explains before returning to the drink he's making. 

That explains the costumes. I do my rounds checking to make sure everyone seated in the booths are okay, grabbing the empty drinks out of their way, making light conversation when I can. I bring a tray of glasses, napkins, and various random trash items back behind the bar and set them in the bin next to Jake. Just as I go to take another trip, my eyes catch the door. Of course. Of course, this would happen to me. I can’t have a single day go smoothly if my life depended on it. Good God, someone is out to get me, I swear. 

“Fuck me,” I say out loud. 

“Who is that?” Jake says to me as he’s working on his current drink order. 

“The angry-flower-girl with the dagger fingers,” I pause, looking at the dude standing next to her, “annnd her date.”

“Oh shit.”

Crimson and Clover - Tommy James and the Shondells

“Now I don't hardly know her But I think I could love her Crimson and clover”

&lt;- Prologue Chapter Two ->

Masterpost | Taglist | Jukebox Playlist

Taglist:

@gvfsstardust, @myleftsock, @mindastreamofcolours, @dont-go-home-without-me, @literal-dead-leaf, @lizzys-sunflower, @threadofstars, @mackalah, @klarxtr, @edgingthedarkness, @writingcold, @i-love-gvf, @takenbythemadness, @ladywhimsymoon, @earthgrlsreasy, @ourlovesdesire, @peaceloveunitygvf, @anythingforjtk

[fallinfor-youreyes]

You Took Me By Surprise

His words are not working, his brain just screaming her name on a loop. His entire being just in awe of her. In awe of how long it took him to realize that he wanted Penelope to be his. His. “Don’t marry him.” Or Penelope ends the lessons and Colin finally realizes he can't let her go.

Ao3

Something, Colin thinks, is decidedly off.

He has been known to make mistakes in his past, but usually, he doesn't realize they are wrong until he is thoroughly encompassed in them. Like his unfortunate fling with Mariana, or when he decided to follow some local boys in Greece to a ‘super secret’ hidden cave, or when he was 11 and Anthony and Benedict told him they hid his birthday present in the coat closet on the 3rd floor, only to leave him locked up there for hours.

But recently, he thinks he has been doing a better job. He made it home just in time for Franny's debut. He had surprised his family, started flirting with eligible ladies, started making something of himself among the ton.

The only thing he had slightly messed up was his relationship with Penelope. But he fixed that! They are friends again, possibly closer than ever, and he is useful. To his family, to himself, to Penelope. And in exchange for the lessons, Pen is helping him edit his journals. He has a plan to meet with an editor next month about publishing, and everything is looking up.

Penelope is smiling again, brighter than he has ever seen, and well, seeing her happy made him happy as well.

So why does everything suddenly feel off?

He's not used to feeling so uncertain. It makes him restless.

Colin wants nothing more than to go to Penelope and ask her her opinion, to see if she has any ideas of what he could have done wrong, but...

Ah, the but.

The main reason he cannot go to Penelope is Pen herself.

Pen.

Penelope.

Penelope Featherington.

His friend, his wallflower turned talk of the ton, thanks to his lessons. His... well, his Pen.

Not really his Pen anymore. Never really his anything, if he is honest with himself. Colin likes to think himself an honest man, but the thought of Penelope being just his sister’s friend does not sit right with him.

Just that afternoon, she found him walking in the park, attempting to plan their next lesson. And she told him she no longer needed his help.

“I think we should end the lessons…. They’ve worked wonderfully….

You've been a great friend.…"

Friend.

Full circle moment really.

She shook his hand and smiled at him, lovely as a the first blossom in spring, and then she walked away.

Away from the lessons, away from their time together, away from him.

And Colin could not think of anything else since. Except for the fact that somehow, along the way, he made a mistake. But he still could not put his finger on exactly what went wrong.

"Oh, how exciting!" Franny plops down onto the couch next to him, stirring him from his thoughts.

"What is?"

Franny slaps his shoulder, rolling her eyes. "Do you ever listen? We've been invited to Lady Danbury's ball."

"Why is that exciting?" Colin asks. They've been invited to so many balls this season, he had lost count.

"Well, I suppose because Lord Debling might finally propose." Lady Bridgerton says, settling into her chair across the room, pouring a new cup of tea. "Are you feeling okay, dear? You've been out of sorts all afternoon. I’ve called for more biscuits.”

Colin waves his mother off. "Fine. Who is he proposing to? Has he been courting you, Fran?"

All of the Bridgerton women in the room laugh at him. Even Eloise, and she is pretending her hardest that she is not listening to any of them.

"No, you idiot," Hyacinth says, throwing part of her own biscuit at him. "Penelope."

"Penelope? Featherington?" Colin sputters. He tries to keep his voice, calm, even, free of any sort of emotion, but something terrible and ugly grows in his chest. The minor off feeling tingling the back of his brain grows into something closely resembling dread.

"Who else? Gosh Colin, you really are out of it." Fran attempts to place a hand on his head as if testing his temperature, but he shoos her away and pushes himself off he couch. He cannot sit still any more. His entire body feels tense, stressed.

He doesn't like feeling this restless. The last time he did, he sailed halfway across the world and disappeared for several months.

"But it's barely halfway through the season? What of her other suitors?"

Everyone stops talking at once, an odd quiet falling over the drawing room.

Violet stares at him, a moment too long, before her face softens. Colin doesn't like that look. He's never liked pity from anyone, especially his mother. "My dear," she says softly, placing her teacup down almost too gently. "While I very much admire and adore Miss. Featherington--"

Eloise scoffs, saying something under her breath that makes Colin wonder once again what happened between his sister and Pen, but he doesn't have the time to think about that right now.

"No matter was my daughters have to think about it" Violet continues, sending Eloise a sharp look that has her sinking further down into the couch and silencing her snide remarks. "As I was saying, I don't think Miss. Featherington has any other suitors. And Lord Debling is everything one could wish for in husband."

"But we'll never see her again!"

The little feeling in Colin’s brain lights up like a candle, as if proud that he finally figured some part of the issue out.

"Good riddance," Eloise scoffs, again, and it takes everything in Colin to not run over and push her out of her seat like he used to do when they were kids.

Violet takes Colin's hand, and for just a second, the world falls into a more peaceful state. His mother will know how to fix this. She has always fixed everything.

"Dearest, I think this is a fine match for Penelope. I know you are good friends. You should want what is best for her."

The ugly feeling rears up again, larger and more terrible than before.

He's jealous.

Being a third son in a family of eight, Colin learned early on that jealousy was not something he wanted to participate in. He became the easy-going one, the charming one.

Jealousy is not something he is used to. Being jealous over Penelope Featherington, well, that is just something he never saw coming.

Violet squeezes his hand, once again bringing him out of his thoughts. "Colin. This was always going to happen, eventually.”

He kisses his mother's hand and then let's her go. Sometimes, a mother cannot fix everything.

Sometimes, he has to fix things himself.

He can fix this. He has to fix this.

How, he doesn't know yet, but, he knows he cannot do it sitting in his mother's drawing room.

"I'll see you later." He says, ignoring all of his surrounding siblings and stalking toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Hyacinth calls to him, and if he knew any better, he would say she sounded delighted.

"Out."

XXX

He needs to walk. His brain is in overdrive, thoughts full of Penelope.

Penelope.

Penelope kissing Debling.

Penelope being married.

Penelope never answering his letters.

Penelope leaving.

PENELOPE.

His body is restless, so he walks.

Colin doesn't have a plan. Or even an idea at this point, but he needs to do something other than just stare at the wall, letting the terrible, off feeling take over his entire being.

So he walks. And walks and walks and walks, not having a destination in mind, or a thought on which turn he should take until he has already taken it.

He walks until the sun starts to set, walks until his legs are tired, walks until he realizes the only thing he can think about, or probably will ever think about again is Penelope.

He's not sure how he didn't realize it before now, but the thought of never seeing Penelope again, of not being able to hear her laugh or see her smile, or send her another letter, or not being able to call her his friend, is just unacceptable. He’s been thinking about her all season, he realizes. Even when he wasn’t thinking about their lessons, his thoughts would turn to her, to the dress she wore to the last ball, to the way she would laugh at his jokes, to how she would find his eyes in the crowd, even when dancing with another man.

He can't just let her go. Which is how he assumes he ends up outside the garden gate of the Featherington's house. He didn't plan to be here. But apparently, this is where his mind decided he should be.

It's dark. Colin knows he should not be here. He had snuck into the garden several times over the past few weeks for lessons, so he knows how to get in. Before he even has a chance to think of the consequences he is marching through the gardens, intent on… well….

That's the part he has not figured out yet.

She told him she no longer needed him. Called him a good friend. Just friend.

Was that not what he had said to her at the beginning of this foolish deal. Friend.

Friendship in marriage was rare, his mother had said, but wonderful.

Friend.

Her hand in his, bare, warm. Her smiling up at him, happiness exuding from her very soul.

Dancing, laughing, talking...

She isn't just his friend.

Penelope is his world.

And now, he's going to lose her because he might have taken too long.

The sounds of the carriages making their way to the balls for the night spurs him into action. Colin's running before he knows exactly what to do, but he has to find her. He has to stop her from going, stop her from marrying someone else, stop her from leaving London forever.

He needs to tell her she isn't just his friend. She's everything he has ever wanted.

Colin knows the way to her room, which is scandalous in itself, but before he can make it to the servants door, a different door opens.

And like a goddess walking out of paining, Penelope is there. Beautiful as ever, her skin glowing in the firelight.

She looks nervous. Wringing her hands and tugging on her dress, and he's moving again, slower this time but still moving, toward her, toward his best friend, toward his Penelope.

But his thoughts are still out of control, his brain and his body having trouble connecting like they should.

She is all he could think about all day, but now that she is here, now that he realizes that he wants her as more than just a friend, he doesn't know what to say.

It is all too new, all too mixed up and he doesn't know how to be eloquent.

He watches her take a steadying breath, one he has seen her take all season every time she enacted one of their lessons in public, and before she turns away from him again, he calls for her.

"Penelope.”

She startles, and within seconds he’s right next to her, close enough he can smell her perfume, close enough he can see the uncertainty in her eyes.

Close enough, that he could kiss her with almost no effort at all.

His eyes drop to her lips, and he can hear the sharp breath she takes.

“Colin what are you doing here?”

He wants to reach for her, but she is still startled, still poised to run at a drop of a pin.

“I- um.” His words are not working, his brain just screaming her name on a loop. His entire being just in awe of her. In awe of how long it took him to realize that he wanted Penelope to be his.

His.

“Don’t marry him.”

Penelope’s body tenses, and tears instantly fill her eyes. “Why not?"

Colin is still struggling with the thoughts and the urge to hold her and the confusion in his own head that he just stares at her, mouth open.

“Why, Colin. Give me on reason why.” Penelope pushes past him, putting distance between them with every step. "Why do I not deserve to be married to a kind man, who will take care of me, who will let me move out of my mother's house, away from the stupid antics of the ton. Just because you do not want to court me, or find me marriageable doesn't mean another man can't." Penelope pushes the tears angrily off her cheeks, and crossed her arms in front of her, closing her off from him.

"I never said i didn't find you marriageable." Colin says, finally finding his words. "And I only said I wasn't courting you, at that time, not that I wouldn't. Fife is bloody idiot, and he saw us sneak away together to confront your cousin. I was trying to protect you."

"I don't need you to protect me, Colin. I don't need you."

Her words sting.

He has been thinking of nothing but her all day, hell all season. Colin doesn’t need her to need him.

He would just like her to want him at least half as much as he wants her.

And if she doesn’t, then he needs to know.

He knows it's his fault, that he really has no right to ask for anything from her, but he needs to know. Know that he is not losing her for nothing.

"Do you love him?

Penelope freezes. The tears are still falling down her cheeks, and she look beautiful. He hates that she is crying, but her eyes are glittering in the firelight, and the moon is making her skin glow, and Colin Bridgerton realizes, he wants, no, he needs to kiss Penelope Featherington.

He takes another step closer to her, and she does not back away.

"Tell me, Pen. Do you love him?" Another step. Penelope's breath catches in her throat.

"Because if you tell me you love him, I will turn around right now, and I will watch you marry him, and watch you leave, and I will let you go." Colin swallows, and slowly closes the distance between them, reaching out for her hand. "But, if you do not love him, do not marry him." He takes the final step toward her, until she is close enough that he can see the freckles dotting her nose. "Do not marry him and I promise I will spend everyday for the rest of my life making up for how stupid I have been, Penelope."

Colin lets his fingertips brush against her cheek, and Penelope leans into his hand, eyes fluttering closed, tears stuck like diamonds on her eyelashes.

"And if you still do want to marry him, I have just one request."

Penelope's eyes snap open as his thumb dances over her bottom lip. "Just one kiss. One kiss for me to cherish for the rest of my life, to remind me how utterly daft I have been when it comes to you."

Penelope takes a step closer to him. "What do you mean?"

Colin lets his fingers tangle in her hair, doing his best to be gentle. "You, Penelope Featherington, are my world. The thought of you leaving, and me never being able to see you again has led me to a point of near insanity. I walked all over London, for hours, after I heard that you might be engaged. I walked and tried to clear my head, but all i could think about was you. All I can think about is you. I do not know why it took me so long to realize, Penelope. I had no idea where I was going until I ended up here. Looking for you."

She bites her lip, and it's takes everything in him to not push her against the closest wall and kiss her until she forgets about all other suitors and potential husbands.

"I don't love him. We’ve talked about it. He know I do not love him, and I know that he does not love me, but we could be happy together." She looks away from him, and his entire heart shatters. "I cannot be in this house any longer, Colin, and no one else has even thought to court me, let alone marry me.

"Let me court you. Let me show the entire stupid ton that I want you, Penelope. We can marry before the end of the season, and I will buy us a house, and you can come with me when I want to travel, and-"

She's crying again, but this time she is smiling, and then before he knows what's happening, she pulling him down and her lips are on his.

Colin is kissing Penelope Featherington, and for the first time in what feels like weeks, months, hell, maybe even years, his brain slows down. There is a quiet that fills his soul, a happiness that radiates from the spot where her lips are on his. The feeling that has been hovering over him all day disappears.

Pen.

Penelope.

Penelope Featherington.

His Penelope.

Colin lifts her up and spins them around, and she's laughing, the most wonderful sound in the world.

"Okay," Penelope says, her cheeks flushed, and eyes glittering, this time with happiness. "Okay, I won't marry him."

Colin kisses her again, sneaking his tongue out to taste her, and she's giggling again, pushing him away.

"I still have a ball to go to." Penelope attempts to brush her hair back, but it's come completely undone from his hands. "There's a lot to do, and there's bound to be talk and-"

"I don't care about the talk." Colin says, wrapping his arms around her.

"I know, I know, but it will happen, and I don't want Debling to be hurt by a scandal..."

He kisses her again, because he can, because she is not going to marry Debling, because he woke up in time to realize that what he was looking for has been Penelope all along. She sighs into him letting herself enjoy the kiss this time.

“We’ll figure it out.” Colin says, wrapping a stray piece of her hair around his finger before tucking it behind her ear. “Together.”

"I have loved you since the first moment I saw you, Colin Bridgerton."

"And I am going to make sure you know I love you every day going forward."

Penelope smiles.

And Colin is home.

[little-diable]

Be aware of the strangers watching - Spencer Reid (1/2)

Another month, another mini-series. @hidingsikki and I kept watching Spencer TikTok edits those past days, so we came up with this idea. Please like and reblog if you enjoyed reading this! Enjoy my loves. xxx

Summary: The reader has a feeling that she's being watched, so she finally opens up to the team, asking them for help. With Spencer staying in her apartment to help her, their emotions finally come to the surface, resulting in a confession or two.

Warnings: 18+, smut, p in v, drunk sex, stalking, panic, CM themes

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader (3k words)

header by @hidingsikki

dividers by @firefly-graphics

Part Two

It was early in the morning as (y/n) left her home, running on the caffeine she had just poured into her system. Her tired eyes were focused on her phone screen as she walked towards her car. The sound of a nearby car honking ripped her out of her state, gaze wandering from her phone to her surroundings. 

The sun was blinding her for a moment, forcing (y/n) to blink a few times to adjust to the brightness. A few familiar faces walked past her, neighbours that greeted her with gentle words, allowing a smile to widen on her lips. Her gaze kept wandering, trying to focus on her car, already dreading the upcoming minutes of traffic she’ll be stuck in. 

Perhaps she could use the upcoming moments to call her family, going after her weekly check-in, perhaps she could even order a few things she’d need for the next few days. Anything to distract her tired mind. 

Only now did her gaze seem to find the black car parked near hers. She froze in her step, mind racing, fuck, it couldn’t be, could it?

For the past weeks (y/n) had noticed a certain car following her around, and yet, even though Penelope couldn’t find an owner of the car, (y/n) couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable whenever she returned home from a case, whenever she found the car close to her home. It was always empty, at least when it was parked, not allowing her to figure out who was watching her. 

For a moment she debated waiting till whoever was owning the car to come around, so she could talk to them, perhaps even arrest them. And yet she knew that she couldn’t waste any time, forced to make her way into work. She took a picture of the car, adding it to the folder filled with similar pictures, trying to figure out if there was a pattern to it, anything she could use to decipher what was going on. 

Her heart kept racing as she drove to work, deep down (y/n) knew that she should finally talk to the rest of her team about it. But something had held her back those past weeks. If there was one thing she hated, it was asking them for help. She hadn’t been around as long as the others, had tried to fit right in, nevertheless, it always felt like the others would pay more attention to her, trying to support her, as if she truly needed it.

And yet, the anxiety thumping through her veins seemed to be enough to urge her on, trying to pick the right words she could speak, not wanting to come off as clueless. Deep down she feared that the others wouldn’t understand her struggles. She was an agent after all, should be able to take care of herself, and yet she couldn’t.

Before (y/n)’s thoughts could try and distract her, she called Penelope, asking her to assemble the others, only needing a few minutes of their time. She was trembling, hoping that she’d be able to ask them for the help she needed, even though she didn't know what kind of help she was desperate for. 

“Are you okay?” Derek was the first to break the silence, eyes focused on (y/n) who was standing next to Penelope, taking in the team. They were all staring at her, waiting for an explanation, wondering why she had asked them in here. Her eyes found Penelope’s, silently begging the woman to start this conversation, mouth too dry to pronounce the words burning on the tip of her tongue.

“(Y/n) needs our help. We think that somebody is watching her.” The pictures (y/n) had forwarded Penelope were now being projected onto the big screen, drawing the gazes of their team members away from her. And for the first time since entering the room (y/n) found herself able to breathe, deeply inhaling the air now filling her lungs as if she was drowning. 

“When did this start?” Aaron’s voice rang in her ears, not carrying any emotion. Their eyes met, and as he was staring at her with something laced in his gaze she couldn’t decipher, (y/n) found herself stumbling over her words, only able to murmur a soft “For a few weeks”. 

“You have a stalker and you didn’t think you should tell us?” 

“A stalker?” (Y/n)‘s laugh clawed through her, not able to express the nervousness rising in her system. The team was staring at her, gazes flickering between one another, unsure what they should say to her. She was tense, and had been since she had asked her colleagues for help.

“The signs are there, think about it.” Derek spoke up, eyes finding her widening ones. It took (y/n) a few more moments to reply, gaze wandering from one team member to the other. Perhaps she should have kept this to herself, not wanting to add more stress to their daily routine. Though with a defeated sigh rumbling through her, (y/n) nodded her head, giving in. 

“I have been trying to figure out who it could be, but I can’t think of anybody.” Her words hang in the air as they were surrounded by silence once again, wrecking their brains for any possible unsubs. 

“Maybe somebody who watched the press conference you held with JJ?” 

“Maybe? I don’t know. Should I change my routine? Should I stay in a hotel for the next few days? But what if they,” her rambling was cut short by Spencer, he called her name, turning his body fully towards her so he could find her panicked gaze. Without giving it much thought, (y/n) reached for his hand, needing to feel him close. 

“Leaving will just anger him, you’ll stay, but we won’t leave you alone.” Spencer kept staring at her, watching her deeply inhale, seemingly trying to distract her racing thoughts. “Why don’t I stay with you for a few days?”

“Look at that, loverboy is here to save the day.” Derek’s laugh echoed through the room, shaking up the tense atmosphere that lingered. And yet (y/n) stared at Spencer, wondering if she should say yes to his offer, not wanting to play the victim. 

“Are you sure? You don’t have to, Spence.” The tall agent only shook his head, squeezing her hand before he let go. 

“I’d love to, we’ll have our fun, why don’t I bring a few movies with me and some puzzles?” 

Tiredness clung to her as she closed the last file she was supposed to go through today. Her eyes struggled to stay open, grateful that Spencer would be the one to drive them home today. (Y/n) couldn’t wait to spend the evening with him, excited about the movie they’ll watch and the facts he’ll share with her. 

“(Y/n)?” Aaron’s voice forced her to open her tired eyes, focusing on the tall man. He tilted his head towards his office, watching her walk closer with slow steps, clearly exuding the tiredness that feasted from her bones like a parasite. 

“It won’t take long, I promise.” Aaron squeezed her forearm as he walked past her, plopping down in his chair. “I wanted to go through some details with you. If we want to figure out who is watching you, we should focus on the things you’ve picked up so far. Do you think you’d be able to share some of that with me?”

A shaky breath was inhaled into her lungs, no longer did she feel tired, body and mind fully awake at the mere thought of whoever was watching her. 

“There’s not much I can share.” She tensed in her seat, wrecking her brain for any information they could use. “I noticed that the car keeps coming closer. Every week it's parked a bit closer to my home as if it's some kind of countdown.” 

“That’s good, thank you. Do you have any idea who could be behind this? Any suspects you’ve talked to that stand out? Family members of unsubs?” All (y/n) could do was shake her head, not able to give an answer to the question that has kept her awake for the past weeks. 

“Alright, we’ll find them. Thank you, (y/n).” 

“Coffee?” Her tired voice echoed through her apartment, eyes focused on Spencer. He had awoken a few moments ago, ripped from his sleep by her alarm going off. With a nod thrown her way, Spencer moved closer, rising from her sofa to join (y/n) in the kitchen.

Spencer had stayed with her for the past few days, keeping close to protect her from whoever was lingering outside her house. For the first time in weeks, she felt somewhat safe, protected even, truly relishing in Spencer’s closeness.

“Thank you.” He reached for the warm cup of coffee, sending a smile her way as they fell into a comfortable silence. By now they had adapted to some kind of routine, spending time together without feeling the need to engage in endless conversations to distract themselves from an eventual silence falling upon them. 

Both found themselves wandering back to the sofa, reading the daily news, catching up with their preferred type of media, using the time before they’d make it to work. Deep down (y/n) found herself excited about the minutes she’d spend with him in her car, driving to the BAU with music echoing through the small space, minds wandering to the topics that wouldn’t let them rest. 

“Are you alright?” Spencer’s voice ripped (y/n) out of her thoughts, gaze wandering from her window to his curious eyes. They were just about to leave for work as her eyes had found the car, parked closer to her home than it had been all those weeks before. No words were shared as Spencer reached for her hand, gently squeezing her fingers to communicate that he was here for her, always close to protect her from whoever was watching her. 

“Maybe we should put up a camera?” She could only nod her head, not able to express what kept her thoughts racing. And with one last glance thrown out of her window, she followed Spencer to her car. 

“No, don’t.” Spencer’s laugh was met by a few chuckles rumbling through (y/n), both were drunk, sitting on the floor with a puzzle between them. Neither of them could remember when they had started drinking, neither of them could remember when they had started trying to clumsily solve this 1000 piece puzzle, and yet neither of them wanted this very moment to end.

“See, I knew it would fit.” (Y/n) murmured as she pressed two pieces together, proudly presenting them to Spencer. She didn’t feel his gaze on her, burning through her with as much strength as he could muster, no longer able to stop himself from reaching for her. (Y/n) kept trying to push more pieces together, oblivious and drunk as one could be, and yet, she froze as Spencer reached for her chin, tilting her head upwards. Their eyes met, shooting tingles down her spine as if she had shocked herself. 

“I,” Spencer cleared his throat, gaze flickering down to her mouth, watching her tongue dart out to run along her lower lip. And before (y/n) could even try to ask Spencer what was going on inside his mind, he had pushed his lips against hers, kissing his friend breathless. 

The puzzle was long forgotten, just like their drinks, minds fully focused on one another and the kiss growing rather heated. Moans rumbled through the two, moans so sinful they should have broken from their state. But they were in too deep, already caught on one another’s touch, not able to focus on anything else.

“Bedroom,” she murmured the word against his lips, chuckling as he rose with her clinging to him, not wanting to waste any time. Drunkenly they helped one another out of their clothes, barely giving them time to admire their naked frames, fully working on the adrenaline pumping through their veins as if they were working a case.

And yet there was no killer to hunt, there was no victim needing to be safed, it was just the two of them, colleagues that have always fostered a crush on one another. 

“You’re so gorgeous, fuck, did you know that there are only 10 percent,” Spencer’s drunken rambling was cut short by (y/n) pressing her swollen lips against his once again, desperately needing to shut him up. Their hands explored one another's body as they fell onto her bed, allowing (y/n) to straddle him, hand finding its way to his twitching cock.

Spencer’s moans rang in her ears like shots going off, body on full alert, not wanting to miss one single fraction of a second. She pumped him slow at first, teasing the agent whose moans grew raspier with every breath sucked into his aching lungs. The atmosphere was crackling, filled with the energy buzzing through them, the heat that stuck to their skin as if the sun was burning down on them. 

(Y/n) only let go of him to reach for a condom, not breaking eye contact once as she ripped it open with her teeth, rolling it down his cock. Trembling hands supported her, keeping her close to feel her soft skin beneath his fingertips as (y/n) slowly sunk down on him. Their moans kept clawing through them like the screams rumbling through the victims they'd save, and yet neither (y/n) nor Spencer ever wanted to be saved from this very moment.

“Shit, you’re so big.” She whimpered her words, head rolling back to give her moans enough room to claw through her. Spencer supported her movements, eyes caught on her face, not wanting to miss the expressions tugging on her features. No longer was he able to properly read her, to profile the one he’d always try to protect, not wanting to watch her get hurt. From the moment they crossed paths, Spencer had sworn that he’ll be right there for her, the shoulder to cry on, the arms she could fall into when her world started spinning too fast. 

“So pretty, fuck, my beautiful girl.” Heat flushed through her as his praises grew louder, urging her on to move faster, trying to push them both over the edge. Without another warning, Spencer reached for her middle, to flip them around, allowing him to hover above her. He fucked her fast, not holding back as his drunk thoughts commanded him to leave his marks. 

“‘M close, don’t stop, Spence’.” She trembled beneath him, eyes fluttering close to hold onto the feeling that started to rock through her system. Spencer kept watching her fall apart beneath him, choking on his name as the feeling got too intense. He fucked her through her high, not daring to let go till he no longer could hold back. 

With her name rolling off his tongue, Spencer gave in, collapsing on top of her with a smile stuck to his features. Both were heavily panting, unsure if the past moments have really happened or if their drunken minds have perfected the art of painting a picture so clear, so raw. And with one last smile shared, (y/n) found herself falling asleep in Spencer’s arms. 

“I just need a minute, then we can leave.” Spencer called out, leaving (y/n) behind in his living room as he disappeared down the hallway. Both were about to leave for work, called in because of a new case, stopping at his apartment to grab his go-bag. 

(Y/n) found herself wandering around, fingertips gliding along the endless row of his books, reading the titles as she walked past them. A smile found its way to her lips as she came to a halt in front of the picture of the two of them Spencer had placed on the shelf. She could still remember the day as if it had been yesterday, they had celebrated her birthday at Rossi’s, capturing a carefree moment. 

Before (y/n) could stop herself, she reached for the box placed next to the picture, opening it in hopes of finding more of their polaroids, of the pictures they have taken over the course of the past years. Though the box wasn’t filled with pictures of the two of them, no, it was filled with pictures of her, clearly taken from outside her home. 

“What?” The question rolled off her tongue as (y/n) roamed through the box, pulling out pictures that showed her wandering around her home, going about her business. 

“What are you doing?” Spencer’s voice rang in her ears, wide eyes drawn from the box to his frame. He was standing a few feet away from her, holding onto his go-bag with one hand, while the other grasped his phone. 

“Why do you have those pictures of me?” Her voice dripped with confusion, unsure if she was truly understanding what was going on. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be. No, it couldn’t be. “Spencer, why do you have those pictures? Answer me!”

“I’m sorry.” No longer did his voice sound like him, raspier than she was used to, pronouncing words as if he was a stranger she had been hunting down. She backed away, gaze flickering to his door, no longer feeling safe around him, but rather confused, hurt, angry even. Though she didn’t get far, ripped close by his hand clamping down on her wrist, pulled against his chest. 

With her breath hitched in her chest, (y/n) tried to speak up once again, though without any luck. The last thing she saw was Spencer raising his hand, and with the back of his gun coming in contact with her head, the world around her began to fade to black.

[underratedandoverit]

Endings

~2,6k words penelope ford/kris statlander

we brain stormed something so hard with bugs today that i just had to write it like, immediately. we have a new rarepair in our hands fellas and we are going down hard for these gay girls lmao

i hope this makes sense and its worth something, ive been living in depression brain fog today so words are difficult, also its like half four in the morning and i didnt edit or really proofread this sssooo yeah. it is what it is, i dont think i can make it much better tbh, the brain rot was strong enough to help finish it so here 💜 (i also hope the ending is clear enough, but in case its not - its a string of texts sent by kris to whoever is holding this thing together with kip at the other end of this chain of events going down)

its wedding themed btw, so if thats not your cup of tea heres your warning!!

on ao3

@midnightpretenders0 @stormbornpirate @ss-trashboat

---------------------------

Her heels frantically clicked against the floor, her steps clearly hurried as Penelope tried to gather the hems of her dress in her hands as she was moving, hoping she wouldn’t trip on any loose garments. Blue eyes darting around the hallways around her, trying to focus on the exit signs hanging on the ceiling level, trying to find the door leading outside.

She wasn’t sure how she ended up here, but Penelope knew she had to get out before she would regret this.

Finally pushing open the correct door, a wave of relief washed over her as Penelope spotted a familiar face outside. She stumbled out the door, barely keeping her balance in her heels as the steady hardwood flooring suddenly changed to a gravel pathway underneath her. She basically ran across the yard, not stopping until she almost crashed into Kris, Penelope being thankful that the strong arms of the other woman were able to keep her up on her feet.

“What are you doing out here?” Kris’ voice was laced with obvious concern, even more so as she spotted the half finished makeup on her face. “Is everything alright?”

“No.” Penelope didn’t need to say anything more, her heavy breathing and the frantic wide eyed gazes thrown around the yard being more than enough to give Kris the answer she needed. Her arm quickly wrapped around Penelope’s waist, keeping her upright as the woman dressed in white tried to catch her breath after the race she had just had with herself. “I need to get out of here.”

Kris’ eyes narrowed at her a little, but she didn’t question it. Penelope was clearly distressed, and as much as she would have liked to have more answers, Kris knew better than to ask anything right now. Instead she just nodded her head, letting Penelope lead the way – she knew better than Kris did with what she wanted and needed right now, and where she wanted to be.

Her steps were still hurried, it being very clear that Penelope just wanted to get off the area as soon as possible. Kris didn’t question it, just followed her lead, following in her suit as Penelope walked them to the parking lot, bee-lining for Kris’ car. Kris let her in the passenger seat without a word, only after closing the door glancing around herself. The parking lot was empty apart from the two of them, it being fairly obvious that despite the amount of people that were supposed to be here today, everyone else was inside or somewhere else in the yard. It was only the two of them out here, and Penelope was lucky to have caught her outside, or who knows where she would have ended up in her frantic running by herself.

Kris quickly slipped in the car as well, trying to keep it calm as she fished her keys from her bag, eventually starting the car and getting them out of the parking lot. Almost as soon as they left the driveway there, she could hear Penelope’s breathing easing a little, her deep exhales calming a bit by bit as she relaxed on her seat as moments passed her by.

Penelope’s eyes stared out the window, the tree lines passing them by calming her a little bit. At least unlike them, when she changed her mind about growing her roots together with someone else, she was able to escape. The trees, they were stuck there, until cut down and removed. At least she had options, she thought, letting out a little sigh as it was finally sinking in what she was doing here.

She could feel Kris stealing looks towards her, but the brunette didn’t say anything. The silence was more comfortable than it was not, and Penelope was very thankful for it. Even after everything, Kris was someone she could trust to help her out, no extra questions asked or pressure being put onto her about when, what, or why. At least for now, Penelope knew eventually she would have to answer for something, especially if other people started to reach out to ask those questions when they realized they were both gone from the venue.

After a while Kris pulled the car over to a rest stop. As the vehicle came to a halt, Penelope finally looked at her. Kris didn’t look mad, or even disappointed, she was more curious than anything else. The small smile she sent to her was still soft, almost comforting, basically wordlessly begging Penelope to talk to her, asking her questions that she needed answers to.

“I…” She almost immediately regretted saying anything, eyes darting out the window to scan the tree lines again. Penelope could hear faint buzzing coming from Kris’ bag, presumably her phone as someone might have already noticed that they were gone. “I can’t… I can’t do it.”

Kris took her eyes off of her for a moment, digging her phone into her hands to check the incoming texts, confirming Penelope’s suspicions as she turned back towards her, watching Kris type up a few words before dropping the phone back into her bag. The eyes looking back at her were still understanding, but now Penelope was sure she could see a hint of sadness in them.

She didn’t blame Kris though. This was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, and it was very obvious now that it wasn’t actually going to be.

“How long?”

Penelope blinked at her blankly, processing the question for a moment before Kris repeated it. “How long have you known that you don’t want to do this?”

“About… About a month.”

Kris nodded, glancing back at her bag as her phone buzzed again. Now Penelope was sure they were being missed by the rest of the bridal party. “When we first did the in-ring wedding. It felt weird then, but I just thought it was because it was being televised or because I was nervous about it or something. But no, it’s… It’s actually because I don’t want to marry him.”

“And you didn’t tell him?”

Penelope shrugged, avoiding eye contact as she looked outside the window again. “I tried. Kip always said it was just because I was nervous, and that it would be okay. He was so excited about all of this, I didn’t think much more of it.”

She sighed, carefully brushing her hand through the free coils of her platinum hair, biting her pink painted lower lip a little bit. “And then I saw him in that suit all happy and excited back there and I… I just couldn’t. I had to get out.”

Kris nodded again, hand reaching for her phone again as it wouldn’t stop buzzing at her. Penelope watched her type in a few more messages, giving her some more time to breath and organize her thoughts. Not that she really needed to, Penelope was already sure that she didn’t want to do this. That she didn’t want to go back, to face the rest of the party, to face her fiancé. Well… From this point forward ex fiancé, to be precise.

And no amount of time was going to change her mind about it, when she had honestly doubted it since the very beginning, just being too afraid to actually say anything about it. Why, she wasn’t sure. Maybe at some point in time Penelope had wanted to do it, get married with Kip and start a life and a family, but the closer that time came the more she doubted herself about it after all. Everyone around her didn’t seem to notice, and the people she mentioned it to just told her she was nervous about finally being a bride, especially with a public wedding first and a private one second, and that’s all.

She should have just trusted her guts about it, and Penelope was more mad at herself for letting it all go this far than for anyone pushing her to keep going with it and not taking her seriously about it.

Until Kris came along and was willing to take her away from the venue on her actual wedding day without getting any explanations beforehand.

“So… What now?”

Penelope shrugged, motioning a little bit towards Kris with her hand. “I don’t know. You’re the driver. I guess it’s your choice if you want to take me back there or not.”

Contemplating her options Kris pushed her phone away once more, her hands grabbing onto the steering wheel, fingers tapping against it as she thought a little.

“Did you really just not want to marry him?”

Penelope looked at her, watching as this time Kris glanced around the empty road and tree lines surrounding the two of them, clearly curious but at the same time somewhat uncomfortable asking the question, no matter how important it sounded. “Or was there… Something else?”

Penelope’s brows furrowed but she stayed silent, Kris just shrugging her shoulders a little bit as she could feel the eyes of the blonde on her, almost waiting for a follow up to her question. “I mean… I thought you two were doing great together. Kip has been talking about how over the moon he is for you and everything, so… It’s just kind of odd to suddenly hear all of this. Especially when you haven’t mentioned any of it before, either.”

Yeah… Yeah she was a bit guilty about that. As close of friends as they were with Kris, Penelope just had found this topic to be very difficult to talk about with basically anyone.

Let alone with someone who she had been more than sure enough even before today that she felt something more than a strong friendship for.

“There might… Have been other reasons.”

She was hoping the half done makeup did its job of covering her blushing cheeks as Kris suddenly whipped her face towards her, eyes almost glistening with interest as she scanned the blonde’s face, trying to find the hints on it before asking her question.

“Is it Allie?”

Penelope blinked at her, clearly taken aback by the sudden question. “A-allie? No, it’s not Allie, what does she have to do with anything?”

Kris’ eyes narrowed, the cogs in her brain clearly now turning. “…Orange? It has something to do with Orange, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

Kris leaned back on her seat, arms crossing over her chest as she pouted a little. “Well there has to be some reason why you changed your mind so suddenly! And usually that ‘some reason’ is someone, so I’m just trying to figure this out!”

“Will you stop before you even start, please?”

“Then tell me, who is it?”

“That’s not important --”

“You left a man at the altar, I think it’s pretty important!”

“I don’t --”

“If there is someone, I think someone should know about it!”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Penelope, please.”

“…You.”

Kris stared back at her, watching as Penelope inhaled deeply, eyes turning away from the brunette as she bit her lip a little, clearly having given up this war of words that she knew she wasn’t going to win against Kris. “It’s… It’s you. It’s been you for a long time now.”

The truth was now eventually going to come out at some point, so at least Kris should hear it directly from her and not secondhand elsewhere.

“What…” Kris shook her head a little, trying to register the words that had been just said in the heat of the moment so suddenly. “What do you… What do you mean?”

“Since the first day I met you.”

Penelope didn’t look back at her, but she could feel Kris’ wide eyes burning holes to the side of her face. “I… I think I always knew whatever this was with Kip wouldn’t last. But I thought if I tried to commit to it, maybe it would work out after all. But then you came back and I knew I should have said no when he proposed but I thought…”

Her voice trailed off. Not that there was much that needed to be said, the situation was becoming fairly obvious to Kris, now that Penelope had finally found some words for all of it.

“And… And I wasn’t sure if leaving him would have been worth it because I didn’t know how you… You know.”

She finally looked back at Kris, the brunette pondering over the sudden confession that had been thrown at her. The last thing she had expected coming to a wedding was the bride confessing her love to her out of all people, and not saying “I do” to the man she was supposed to marry. And yet there they were, sitting in her car, running away from all of these arrangements, having this conversation where Penelope was basically admitting to three years of bad decisions and buried feelings.

“So I guess… This is the part where it’s up to you how this chapter ends.” Penelope locked eyes with Kris, not being able to read much else than confusion out of her expression. “Where we go. What we do. Or what we don’t do. I… I have nothing left to lose. It’s up to you.”

Kris looked at her, the obvious shame and guilt painted all over the blonde’s face as Penelope tried her best to retain eye contact, clearly wanting to break it up though. There was something very sincere in her, Kris had to admit that, and honestly… Under different circumstances she was sure she would have already said something. Done something. Right now the moment was a little bit awkward, but at the same time…

“I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about this before.”

Penelope looked at her, head tilting slightly in confusion as she watched Kris lean slightly towards her, a soft smile crossing the brunette’s lips. “If I said I wasn’t slightly jealous when I heard you and Kip got engaged. I didn’t think I’d ever stand a chance but I was still jealous about it.”

Penelope could feel her cheeks heating up, her mind having a hard time believing the words she was hearing, even after everything. Surely, she was talking about Kip, right?

“At least we could still be friends. Not that it helped a lot with the way I felt about you, but --”

Before Kris could finish her sentence, Penelope reached forwards, hands gently but firmly grabbing the back of her head, pulling the brunette closer and locking their lips together. Kris didn’t resist, she smiled a bit against the sudden show of affection, her hands reaching over to Penelope to mirror the hold she had on her, slowly responding to the soft kiss.

After a brief moment Penelope pulls back first, staying close as she observes Kris’ surprisingly calm demeanor compared to her flustered face, getting a soft giggle back from the brunette.

“I… I guess that settles where this story goes next, huh?”

Penelope nodded quickly, Kris leaning back closer, closing the gap between them as she stole another kiss on the blonde’s lips. “I’m sorry you’re not getting your fairy tale ending, but --”

“No,” Penelope whispered, mimicking her motions as she silenced Kris with a quick kiss of her own. “This is better. So, so much better.”

She said she loved me. She had as long as she’s known me, actually. She didn’t want to break his heart, but didn’t know how to tell him. She wanted to tell him she’s sorry. She’s really, really sorry she couldn’t do this sooner. She loves him, but in a different way. She hopes he can forgive her. I… I do love her though. I really, really do. Tell him I’m sorry too.

[fordpinesmpreg]

“Attention! Would Captain Valentino escort his guests to the Council Chamber? And DO IT NOW!”

[vancethehuman]

Hyper Specific Poll Time! 🎉🥳

Feel free to pick one if it closely aligns, even if not perfectly, or it just fits a vibe. Just curious if anyone understands me LOL

Thought it was stupid because "of course the dinosaurs would attack people; what did they expect"

2. Overthought it and was like "How can a reality tv show be a cartoon, that ruins the point" only to feel stupid later cause that IS the point considering how scripted reality tv is

3. The game over screens were so unsettling to me that, even though I owned them, I never played them until I was a teenager. Even with negative nostalgia, they are still in my top ten tho 4. You know those daily questions you'd get in elementary school that the teacher would check over every so often? One day it was "who would you bring to space with you if you went?" and I wrote out this whole thing about how it would be unwise and I wouldn't want anyone I loved to go up there

5. "What do teachers talk about in the break room?"

6. I printed out stuff from Nick.com and everything. It was just me and another friend, and honestly the 10th anniversary episode wasn't even that good, but I had fun :)

7. Titanic is actually a pretty good movie. I was just a weird kid. I have no excuse for this LOL

8. I LOVED Boomerang in general (Flintstones, Jetsons, Tom and Jerry, etc) but Pink Panther just hit different

9. One of my favorite memories was watching my mom play Toontown into the wee hours of the night. Penelope the yellow bunny will always have a place in my heart <3

10. I wish it wasn't weird to ask him nowadays cause I miss doing that. They were huge on me and I felt all warm and safe :)

[penelopetheconartist]

Orange Porch Light : Part 5

Coral Island Fanfiction by a Rafael simp. Rafael and OC. I needed more Rafael content so I wrote some for funzies. This is one of the cuter parts of this lil story imo. Work and classes have been kind to me so I've been able to indulge in writing for myself.

This fanfiction is from my google keep. Edited to make sense but not to be fancy :)

Scene setting. Raf and Pab are decorating for the cherry blossom festival. Mayor and Betty are there helping Millie with planning and coordinating the games n shit. Penelope is out walking and sees that stuff is happening in the park, so she wanders that way. Betty and the mayor are all OMG look at all this prep for the festival. They call over Pablo and start talking about him and praising him for all the help he does around the town. Literally the whole time Penelope keeps looking at Rafael who is ACTUALLY DOING THE WORK! So, while the oldies are talking about how amazing Pablo is, Penelope removes herself from the conversation and approaches Rafael who was up on a ladder hanging decorations. As she approached, he came down from the ladder to grab some more decorations. He did not see her.

“Hi Rafael”, Penelope said just as he turned around. He quickly turned, startled but smiled, “oh! Hey Penelope.” “Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you.” He laughed shyly, “ah. No worries. Uhm what are you doing here?” “I was walking and saw that the park was busy.” “Oh yeah. The cherry blossom festival is soon”, he smiled more. “Would you like some help?” Rafael was a little surprised at the offer but as soon as he saw Pablo still surrounded by old people praising him, Rafael sighed, “Uh help would actually be really nice”, he rubbed the back of his neck as he felt himself get flustered, “if you could hand me decorations as I need them, that would be great.” “Sure thing!” Penelope smiled, eager to spend time with him. He climbed back up the ladder and Penelope would pass him whichever decoration he needed next. They chatted and it was easy because they were busy doing work so they could distract from the shared shyness. So, I don't see you out much. What do you do for fun? Rafael leaned forward on the ladder to look down at her, “uh. I watch movies mostly.” Penelope handed him another decoration, “oh yeah? What kind of movies?” He reached up to place the decoration, “Uhm, mostly horror.” Penelope smiled, “do you have a favourite?”

Yeah, uhm, Alakazam, he started to grin, it has a lot of jump scares so its pretty fun.”

Penelope nodded thoughtfully, “I don’t think I’ve seen that one yet.”

Rafael lit up. Yet!? “You like horror too?”

“Yeah, although I think I lean more towards thriller than jump scare”, she smiled Then they started talking excitedly about all their favourite horror movies while they continued decorating the park. Penelope went on a tangent about different directors and their different takes on what makes a thriller and Rafael stared at her dreamily. Penelope noticed he looked a little out of it, "you alright?" Rafael snapped back to reality pink tinting his face, “uh yeah. Let's take a break.” They sat on the grass and looked towards Pablo still getting praised by the old people. Rafael rolled his eyes. “I take it this happens often.” Rafael laughed to himself, “yeah”, he took a drink of water and then held it to Penelope, “Uhm do you want some? I'm sorry I only have my water bottle. Some people think sharing drinks is gross.” Penelope laughed and took the water, “I don't think it's gross unless you're sick.” She took a sip. He grinned relieved. “So, are we gunna have a horror movie marathon on Halloween?” Penelope gave him back the bottle. Rafael lit up, “uh we could! That sounds like fun.” Penelope's smile changed into a more mischievous one, “and then we could dress up in really gory costumes and hide in the woods and scare people!” Rafael's brows went up, Uhm. Maybe...., he laughed nervously. Penelope laughed, “I wouldn't. Well....” Rafael shook his head and took a final sip of water on their break. “So how long is that gunna last”, Penelope pointed to the old people and Pablo. Rafael sighed and looked around the park, “if you want to keep helping me....uh we could probably have the park done before they're done talking.” “Well”, Penelope stood and offered a hand to help Raf up, “shall we get back to it?” Rafael smirked and took her hand but did not use her for help standing, He appreciated the gesture though. Rafael was right, they did finish the park before Pablo was finished being praised. This whole time Penelope kept up with Rafael hauling all the heavy decorations. He was impressed and thankful. Raf hated when Pablo got distracted and then he would do most of this himself. Before long, Penelope and Rafael were done. They stood beside each other admiring their hard work. All that's left is to make sure the lights are connected, Rafael walked towards the power and Penelope followed. The sun had begun to lower so the lights would be somewhat noticeable. He handed her the cables, “would you like to do the honours?” Penelope grinned in excitement, “sure!” Rafael's seen the park lit up before so he peeked at Penelope's expression as soon as everything lit up. “Wow”, she sighed, it's so pretty! Rafael felt his face turning pink. She was so cute it was hard not to stare at her. Finally, he also looked at the lights, “they look even better in the dark.” They smiled at each other and went back to looking at the park. “Thanks for the help, Penelope”, Rafael said rubbing his arm, “I really appreciate it.” Penelope smiled at him, “You’re welcome! This was fun!” Rafael snickered, “I owe you one for sure.” “Oh no don't worry about it.” Pablo came running over to them.

“I'm so sorry Raf!” He cried out of breath, “Betty and Connor wouldn't leave me alone! Let me cook dinner. Penelope, I owe you too. Will you join us?” Penelope shrugged, “uh sure.” “Awesome”, he smiled his big, charming smile, “the park looks great! You two did a great job!”

While Pablo was cooking, Penelope and Rafael hung out in the kitchen and all 3 were chatting. Pablo kept apologizing about Betty and Connor. Rafael brushed off the apologies and Penelope accepted the apologies. Pablo noticed Rafael appeared almost a bit more confident around Penelope. Maybe it was a good thing he slacked off this time. After dinner, Penelope went home, and Pablo cleaned up the dishes as part of his apology to Rafael. Rafael still felt he owed Penelope since he didn't cook the dinner so the next morning, he got up extra early to make some food and go buy coffee. He really hoped Raj knew how Penelope liked her coffee. Thankfully they did and all Rafael had to do was walk to her farm. And not chicken out. Penelope was hard at work, and she didn't notice Rafael until he was at her doorstep. He waved and a confused Penelope dropped what she was doing in her garden and approached him. “Rafael? It's 7 in the morning. What are you doing?” He blushed and handed her the coffee, “I uh wanted to show my appreciation for your help yesterday.” Penelope took the cup, “Rafael. This is so kind of you, but you really didn't---" “I also made extra sashimi”, he interrupted and handed her the container. She just looked at him surprised and he glanced away shyly.

Penelope took a sip of her coffee, “Mmmm, this is perfect.”

“Yeah?” Raf was relieved she said something.

She smiled and nodded.

“Cool, uh. Well, I’ll see you later.”

“See you later.” Although Rafael brought her coffee and lunch earlier today, he still didn't feel like he had thanked Penelope enough but what else could he do? He and Pablo sat in the living room watching TV. Raf, in his ponderings, looked around and noticed it was quite dark outside. Suddenly, Rafael had the most perfect idea and whipped out his phone to text Penelope. He was just dramatic enough that Pablo glanced over his shoulder to see his bro texting like a madman. He didn't ask. Freshly showered and in her snuggly pajamas, Penelope was getting ready for a cozy solo movie night. She had a beer ready, some popcorn ready, and her squishmallow, Francine on the couch. Before she cracked the beer, she noticed her phone had a message. Oh, from Rafael? <Can you meet me at the park? It's urgent> Penelope was worried. What could've happened??? Did something happen with the decorations?? She didn’t ask, he said it was urgent. <Be there in 10> She threw some shoes on and bolted out in her jammies. What could be urgent this late? It was so dark Penelope was squinting to try and see Rafael anywhere. “Rafael?” She called out to the void, “Is everything okay?” All the lights suddenly came on. Penelope gasped in awe; the lights were so much prettier in the dark. Caught up in the surprise and the beauty Penelope wandered the park admiring the decorations. Pink petals danced around her in the chilly spring night air, and she was caught up in the magic. Penelope finally saw Rafael standing by the power generator and she smiled at him. “Rafael, this is really beautiful. But you had me worried. I thought something was wrong.” “Uh sorry”, Rafael rubbed his neck, “I wanted to surprise you.” Penelope laughed and approached him, “why?” “I wanted you to see the lights when it was dark. Uhm when it's not busy. Like tomorrow will be. As a proper thank you. For the help yesterday.” Penelope smiled but omg, “Rafael, the coffee this morning was enough. Seriously.” Rafael just made a hmm noise in disagreement. Penelope shook her head and walked around a little more to admire the lights that were all for her tonight. He finally noticed what she was wearing, “Uhm. Are those pajamas?” Penelope face palmed realizing she booked it here in her jammies, “yes. Because you said it was urgent ...” Rafael smirked a bit embarrassed, “ah I'm sorry.” Her jammies were so cute, fuzzy with little duckies all over them. “Do you always wear such cute pajamas?” He asked without thinking. Penelope rolled her eyes and answered without thinking, “I usually don't wear any.” Rafael coughed not wanting to picture that but also really wanting to picture that. “Oh! Uhm.” His voice was higher, “uh. Caught you on a good night then??” Penelope started to laugh so hard which helped Rafael come down from whatever high he went on and he joined the laughter albeit awkward because he was still fighting the mental image. “This is much prettier at night”, Penelope finally said, “thanks for showing me.” Rafael was blushing hard, “no problem. Sorry I made it sound like an emergency.” Penelope elbowed him, “yeah don't make it sound like an emergency next time. I'll still show up.” Raf gulped.....next time?? She wants there to be a NEXT TIME! He rubbed the back of his neck, he was so flustered, “got it ... no fake emergencies.”

They turned off the lights and strolled together to the graveyard. Rafael was still flustered but managed to maintain some composure.

“I’ll see you at the festival tomorrow?” Penelope half asked as she wasn’t sure if Rafael attends festivals.

He rubbed his neck, “yeah.”

“Cool”, she smiled, “sweet dreams.”

“Sweet dreams”, he stuttered.

Penelope was more embarrassed that she ran out in her pajamas to realize how romantic the whole evening was. This realization hit her like a ton of bricks as she stepped on to the first bridge near her home. Was that a romantic gesture???????!!!!!!! Because she’s an idiot, she decided to ignore this question and have a stronger drink for her solo movie night.

Pablo was upstairs when Rafael got in.

“Oh, where did you go?” he asked in passing.

“Nothing!” Rafael stammered and disappeared into his room. Pablo did not ask.

[brokehorrorfan]

Carlito’s Way will be released on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on September 26 via Arrow Video. Tom Ralston and Obviously Creative designed new artwork for the 1993 crime thriller from director Brian De Palma (Carrie, Scarface).

David Koepp (Jurassic Park) wrote the script, based on the 1975 novel by Edwin Torres. Al Pacino and Sean Penn star with Penelope Ann Miller, Luis Guzman, John Leguizamo, Jorge Porcel, Joseph Siravo, and Viggo Mortensen.

The limited edition version includes reversible artwork, a double-sided poster, seven double-sided lobby cards, and a booklet with writing by Barry Forshaw and original production notes, all packaged in a slipcase.

Carlito’s Way is presented in 4K with HDR and original stereo, 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, and DTS-X audio options. Special features are listed below.

Disc 1 - 4K UHD:

Audio commentary by film critic Matt Zoller Seitz (new)

Audio commentary by Brian De Palma’s Split-Screen: A Life in Film author Dr. Douglas Keesey (new)

Disc 2 - Blu-ray:

Audio commentary by film critic Matt Zoller Seitz (new)

Audio commentary by Brian De Palma’s Split-Screen: A Life in Film author Dr. Douglas Keesey (new)

Interview with author Edwin Torres (new)

Interview with editors Bill Pankow and Kristina Boden (new)

De Palma’s Way - An appreciation by film critic David Edelstein (new)

All the Stitches in the World: The Locations of Carlito’s Way - Filming locations then and now (new)

Interview with director Brian De Palma

The Making of Carlito’s Way - 2003 featurette with cast and crew

Original promotional featurette

Deleted scenes

Theatrical trailer

Teaser Trailer

Image gallery

Also included:

Reversible artwork

Double-sided fold-out poster

Seven double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproductions

Booklet with writing by Barry Forshaw and original production notes

Gangster Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino) gets released early from prison thanks to the work of his lawyer, Kleinfeld (Sean Penn). Vowing to go straight, Carlito nonetheless finds dangers waiting for him in the outside world. As Carlito works toward redemption, Kleinfeld sinks into cocaine-fueled corruption. When Kleinfeld crosses the mob, Carlito gets caught in the crossfire and has to face a hard choice: remain loyal to the friend who freed him or protect a new life with the woman he loves (Penelope Ann Miller). With enemies closing in from all sides, Carlito must find his way before it’s too late.

Pre-order Carlito’s Way.

[burygods]

MEET MORE OF LOUISE'S YEEHAW BASED ( primarily chestnut springs, but not limited to ) OC'S :

levi ashby, aurora teague and naomi sasaki edition

levi xander ashby. 30. rodeo king. son of matthew and rita ashby, two very prominent figures in the rodeo circuit. he is one of many sons and one daughter ... it's not rodeo if you don't see an ashby involved. he's reigning champion and going for his third win in a row ... until micaela jean arlington, who essentially makes everything a challenge and actually has him having to work for his third win. something that otherwise should have been a walk in the park.

aurora penelope teague. 22. student nurse. daughter of the new chief of police in chestnut springs, jennifer teague. moved to the small town for a fresh start with her mother and brother. not entirely happy to have moved, loved her city life, but did it for her younger brother who is ten years her junior. running from an abusive father, had never raised a hand to her or dylan, but their mother didn't want to risk it. befriends bailey jansen almost immediately, and falls into a relationship with carter perez ... two people that aren't universally liked due to bad family reputations. her mother absolutely loves that.

naomi mai sasaki. 30. kindergarten teacher. daughter of second generation japanese immigrants, kenji and hina sasaki. parents owned a flower shop and that's where naomi spent most of her time growing up. her brother, kenzo was a big up and coming name in the rodeo scene. a talented bull - rider, until he had an awful fall and the bull managed to stand on his back ultimately paralysing him ... so naomi and the rodeo scene is just a no - go. until a little boy by the name of jeremy joins her class and she starts falling for his father, beckett ashby.

[sea-owl]

So I had a weird thought about what if they made Felicity one of Polins kids. Imagine post season 2 the Featheringtons are deep in debt that even Whistledown can’t save so Penelope’s agrees to marry a wealthy merchant 12 years her senior who will pay off their debt. The only catch is she has to move to Australia with him but seeing nothing left for her in England she agrees and leaves with her new husband. Flash forward eight years where Colin gets knocked off his horse by a little girls bonnet. Only to look down to see a five year old girl resembling Penelope. At that moment Penelope comes rushing over to check on her daughter and Colin is shocked to find 1) Penelope is back 2) apparently widowed 3) she has a spitfire of a daughter named Felicity and 4) she’s definitely no longer a girl but a beautiful woman whose blue eyes are filled with sadness. But Colin’s not the only one shocked. Eloise is shocked to discover her friend no longer writes anything (her husband beat that out of her long ago) and flinches when anyone touches her or Agatha. All Penelope wants is to retire to the country with her daughter while helping to run her dead husbands shipping company as she tries her best to forget the nightmare that was her marriage. She’s long since given up on love stories and lives only for her daughter but with the Bridgertons suddenly back in her life that’s not any easy task.

P.S- Felicity isn’t Colin’s but Penelope’s dead husbands. Penelope tried to shield the girl from seeing how her father treated her but Felicity could still hear her father beat her mother at night. So she trusts very few men especially the ones who are trying to steal her mama!

Anon, please understand that when I say this, it is not directed at you, I do like the premise of Felicity being Penelope's daughter instead of sister, but why, whenever one of the couples marries someone else (especially with the ABC wives) that other person is almost always abusive? I'd rather see Penelope and said husband treating their marriage like the business transaction it is and have them becoming business partners rather than her get beaten to the point she's a shell of a woman.

I can work with this though.

Post season 2, 18yr old Penelope is helping her mother run the numbers of the debt her father left behind, and it's not looking good.

Enter Penelope's first husband, Mr. Alexander Williams. He was an acidemically inclined second son of a lord, around Anthony's age, possibly a year or two older, and he was interested in Penelope for a wife. He was honest with her he was looking for a marriage of convince to produce a spare heir in case his older brother never had children. Being more forward-thinking, he did not care if their child was a boy or a girl (legally, daughters could inherit, socially, it was frowned upon) In exchange he would pay her family's debt. The catch was that he was required to travel a lot due to his work. If Penelope were to become his wife, she would be required to come with.

Seeing no other way to pay off the debt without causing even more whispers around her family, Penelope agreed.

During their marriage, Alexander learned Penelope has a talent for business and writing. She slowly becomes a partner and ends up writing a lot of their proposals and helps edit contacts. They never fall in love, but they do respect one another and trust each other enough to work as business partners. Eventually, Alexander will die from a foreign illness during their travels and by that time Penelope believes the business is doing well enough that she can permanently move back to England.

8 years later, Colin Bridgerton is riding his horse through the park when a stray bonett unseats him from his horse. The culprit ends up being a seven year old girl with familiar red hair.

Felicity stares at the strange man her bonnet had unseated. Face growing red with embarrassment. She thought for sure this man would yell at her. It would be only fair. So imagine her surprise when he just laughed.

"Well, that wasn't well to do of me." He said. He hands Felicity back her bonnet. "May I know your name, little one?"

"Felicity Williams," Felicity answered. "And what is your name?"

"Colin Bridgerton," Colin said. "Where is your nanny? Or your mama?"

Felicity looked around like she just realized she was alone with a stranger. "I don't know."

Felicity holds out a coin to Colin. "If I give you this, will you pick me up? I want to find Mama."

Colin tried rejecting the coin. He does not need paymemt to help the little girl, but Felicity was serious about giving it to him in exchange for being able to see more.

"Mr. Bridgerton, you will take this coin as payment!" Well, he can hand it back to her parents when they find them.

Colin "accepts" the coin and lifts Felicity onto his horse while he leads on foot. They search for a few minutes when a familiar voice reaches their ears."

"Felicity!"

Felicity's face brightens. "Mama!"

Colin's heart almost stops when he sees Penelope come into sight. It has been 8 years since he saw her last and those 8 years have definitely shaped her into a lovely woman.

Colin helps Felicity down, and after handing him another coin, the little girl races towards her mama.

Penelope wraps her daughter in a hug. "Oh Felicity you can't scare me like that."

Felicity pressed a coin into her mother's hand. (How many of those did she have?) "I'm sorry, Mama, but Mr. Bridgerton helped me!"

Penelope blinked. "Mr. Bridgerton?"

Brown eyes met green as Colin gave Penelope an awkward wave. "Hey Pen."

Felicity is suspicious of Mr. Bridgerton. She saw him give the money she paid him back to her mama. So what does he want? Does he want a favor instead? Why is he consulting a deal with Mama instead of her?

Felicity's sense of relationships is kinda screwed as she believes every relationship has a give and take like a business transaction. It's the kind of relationship her parents have, so she really doesn't know what partners in love look like.

Penelope stopped any hope for a love match after the Featherington ball eight years ago. She is debating getting married again in another marriage of convince for a son this time to inherit Featherington estate, but maybe it's better to just get pregnant, disappear for two years into the country for year or two and then come back claiming her husband died then. After all, no one outside her mother and Felicity knows that Penelope is now a widow.

Her thoughts start to travel down a dangerous road before she shuts the thought away. No, a Bridgerton baby would not be ignored by the family. No matter how good she makes the contract. She needs to find a rake or a man she can buy off.

Colin wants Penelope in his life again even if she's married to a husband he's never seen. He has missed her, and he finds himself enjoying Felicity's attempts to pay him every time they meet. Honestly this absent husband of her's truly does not know the treasure he has.