#sometimes especially on my mom's side I can track this shit down to a specific small european towns and I can find neat historical stuff
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an-incoherent-mess · 6 months ago
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So I'm really into genealogy and have been for a few years now and I'm blessed with being really good with names and dates etc. So in conversation I can remember like a ridiculous amount of:
Jane Doe Smith Johnson
b. 1805 Tennessee d. 1879 Missouri
Married 1828 to John Patrick Johnson. Had five children. Died of TB
Etc etc
And that's cool enough apparently but I've mostly been using it for
A. Making up bullshit but real sounding names for stuff (i.e my name is Emily Stewart, Grace Kolár, etc). The point is that they're normal sounding and varied.
B. Having a bizarre frame of reference for historical events. Like "oh [small town],[state] 1942 had [random] event happen? My 1st cousin 4x removed got married there that year, small world!"
It's so dumb, like I'll read about some historical event from my area (where I've had family in the vicinity of since the 1840s) and I'll link up the time frame in my head and be like hmm... I wonder what 3rd great aunt Helen thought about that happening next door to her church.
#anyways im haunted by my ansesters and their lives#and driven actually crazy when i hit a dead end until ive solved it#like if i dont figure out credibly who my 3rd great grandfather's parents are soon im genuinely going to lose touch I'm serious.#i realized the other day that id been 'investigateing' it since Jan 2021 DO YOU KNOW HOW DIFFERENT MY LIFE IS COMPARED TO THEN?!#and I'm not like casual.. I am multiple times a week searching the LoC as well as physical genealogical libraries for records#it lives in my brain like a tumor#he was born in 1857 in 'western' America this isn't fog of shit#its goddanm out there!#part of the obsession is because this particular ancestor is where my surname came from#he's my paternal paternal paternal grandfather.. yea... I'm just like curious as to specifically where my surname originated#sometimes especially on my mom's side I can track this shit down to a specific small european towns and I can find neat historical stuff#but this guy is just a fucking mystery#he appears in Oklahoma in the 1870s has like 15 children and then offs himself after losing money gambling#oh my god im actually ranting#and I guess it bugs me more than others because he has a very prominent newspaper trail#there are tons and tons of mentions of this guy#he has a long ass obituary but nobody ever fucking mentions where he came from other than like vague ass statements#his obituaries literally contradict each other too#I have searched everywhere for any misspelling of this guy's name#but his name is very easy to spell it's freaking William and the last name is very easy as well its a third person singular verb#ugh#anyways#ive cooled off#geneology#is interesting as fuck honestly
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avengersapology-vid · 4 years ago
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Avengers: College Edition
Steve: Criminal Justice and Studio Art double major. He doesn't want to torture himself with anything difficult and still wants to study what he loves. He is still an over achiever though. Highkey hates frat parties, saw someone twerking upside down and almost cried but stayed because hes the designated driver (responsible KING). prefers small get togethers with his friends. Roommates with sam and bucky!! Joins Criminal Justice club, jokingly rivals with Engineering (Tonys Club) Everyone on campus loves him including the professors, wins Homecoming king and is very happy. Sam jokingly asks to be his queen, Bucky butts in and says "NO, im his queen". Can be found in the library or art studio, usually with ink or pencil markings on his hands.
Tony: Obvi an engineering KING has physics as a minor. procrastinates to the max "No Bruce I have everything under control" *crams for 46 hours straight on a constant IV drip of Redbull and coffee* Super smart and helps draw the blueprint for the new engineering building. Roomies with Bruce! Tony was in a frat for a bit his freshmen year but hated it and wanted real friends (Throws better parties anyway) met Bruce and all the other avengers during a 1301 intro class. Pulls women like no tomorrow. On the presidents list every semester and tutors math for free on the side. He is basically the Dad in STEM. Tries hitting on Natasha but she is just like :/ nah, when her and bruce start dating tony is surprised because bruce is his "quiet little cinnamon roll." Tony constantly teases bruce and is like "yall fuckin (;" Steve butts in "tONY PLZ I JUST WANT TO WATCH THIS MOVIE" Bruce is thankful for steves intervention. You know how he rivals Steves Criminal Justice club? He butts heads with Business Clubs leader (Pepper) until everyone catches them together at a party. Has a caffeine addiction. Works out with Thor and Bucky one day in the rec and almost dies.
Bruce: Physics and Engineering double major (Hardworking KING) In math club with Vision and Wanda. He loves being roomies with Tony because it helps him out of his shell. Likes to draw with Steve sometimes and enjoys the quiet. Doesn't procrastinate and gets things done in a timely manor. 4.0 icon we all strive to be. Him and Nat already know each other, but bond and get a lot closer while studying in the library and they eventually start dating. He takes her coffee when she works across campus and is always almost late to class because of that (He doesn't care though bc thats his BABY) "Um.. Bruce your class is in 5 minutes" "Okay and?.....Wait I have an ex-" *Sprints to his building* Takes boxing at night with Thor, Bucky, Sam and Steve!!! Loves sparring with Thor and can surprisingly take the big buy on pretty well. Gets his butt kicked by Natasha in a MMA class though.
Natasha: Majors in Criminal Justice and Minors in Psychology. Ballet club AND MOCK TRIAL!! Has a Job at the Criminal Justice Deans office and takes MMA classes on the side. She is on Mock Trial with Loki and they actually get along quiet well once they stop butting heads about the case. Introduces Sam and Wanda to dance and they have so much fun. Coffee dates with Bruce!! Her and Steve become RAs in the following years and are the coolest RAs you know. Prefers night classes, Bruce walks her to all of them. Psychology classes are her favorite and really wants to help children one day. Volunteers at a daycare during breaks. Sis can really out drink Tony and Thor. Puts Wanda under her wing and helps her with fafsa and what not. Her and Bucky get the Russian language credit by simply testing out. Has her sh!t together and while she has a lot on her plate she can take it. She is really the Mom of the group. Can be found dancing or with Bruce. Her and Clint are icons in psychology classes.
Clint: Deaf Studies with education minor! (we stan deaf clint in the comics) In the Archery club and wins nationals for the Uni. Loves to draw with Steve. Helps Bruce ask Natasha out! PRANK ICON! loves to do prank wars with tony, bucky, loki and sam. Was in the same frat with Tony but hated it as well. While he seems to have a more reserved demeanor he is still the life of the party. (Like he knows people at the clubs ya know?) Can get in anywhere and helps everyone rent out a club for the night in celebration of midterms being over. Loves reading in the library and loves morning classes and being productive early in the day. Cracks Tonys netflix and hulu passwords (no tony... tonyr0cks69 is not good enough) Wants to teach at a school for the Deaf. Bruce sets him up with a girl from engineering and that is his future wife.
Thor: Physical Education major and Communications minor! Here on a football scholarship and is in a frat (not the asshole one tony was in) and is a partying ICON. Tries to get Loki to party but Loki just wants to drink wine with the cat he snuck into his dorm. Learns Sign from Clint to prepare for his career in education. Loves working out with Bucky, Sam and Steve. Takes up boxing during football off season and spars with Bruce. Despite being everyones fav himbo he gets really good grades and is a very good writer. Loki dorms across the hall from him. Thor actually rooms with Peter. Peter is the freshman baby and Thor takes peter under his wing and introduces him to everyone and helps him with college stuff in general. Also hooks him up with MJ and brings him to the occasional boxing session. Has a loud booming laughter you can hear in all floors of the library when he sees a funny meme. One time he actually makes a very good point and notices a flaw in one of Tony and Bruces projects leaves everyone stunned. Picks on Loki in big brother fashion. Unironically calls weed the devils lettuce.
Loki: Pre-Law and Criminal Justice. LOVES to argue. (Devils advocate ass) In Mock Trial and Criminal Justice Club. Tony jokingly calls him steves sexy secretary in CJ club. Loves Mock Trial and is the president with Nat as his right hand woman. Sneaks a cat he found at the shelter into his dorm and names it muffin. Stays in the Library writing or going over cases. The one time he was taking Natasha a copy of the Mock Trial case packet and caught her and bruce smooching. (He screeched) "Haha funny joke yall heres the case packet BYE." He automatically texts the group chat "i think nAT AND BRUCE HAVE SOME TEA FOR US HMM". Lets Peter and Bruce come over to his dorm because he knows their roommates can get a little too much sometimes. Loki also becomes an avid twitter user and thats how he gains popularity on campus. (He called the uni out for their awful and expensive parking) Was able to convince the Dean with tony and steve to create a new parking lot. Caffeine addict!!! Him and Tony always bump into each other at the coffee shop. Brings baked goods to meet ups with the gang. Loves to play pranks (especially on Tony) Him and Bucky come up with a genius prank on him and even get pepper involved. Best dressed on campus and is in the fashion club. He is the embodiment of dark academia.
Sam: Criminal Justice Major with Aerospace Engineering minor. Gets introduced to Bucky and Steve during move in and they literally become brothers. Is both in Criminal Justice Club and Engineering Club. In the Historically Black Frat on campus and takes huge pride in that. Parties with tony and thor BIG TIME. Procrastinates by throwing paper airplanes at Bucky until Bucky is like "Um...dude your paper is due in like two hours." At that moment Sam got into work faster than he ever had. Loves gossip sessions with Loki and Wanda. Works out a lot with Bucky, Steve and Thor to get rid of stress. When he and Bucky finish a final they go to loki's dorm and ask "Hey can we see your cat." Helps prep food for friends-giving and decorates the dorm for holidays. HATES 8ams so so so much. Steve promises him pancakes if he gets up and goes. Binge watches shows during weekends and screams when Destiel is finally canon. Loves running and gets a Track Scholarship when Thor gets him to join a sport. Gets Peter to join track.
Bucky: criminal justice major and psychology minor. Buck is also in ballet club with Nat, it really helps him relax and gives him a free space to think (also he runs that shit like no ones business) Criminal justice club as well and LOVES to work out and box. One time Sam accompanies him to ballet and Bucky pushes Sam into a split... the scream was heard for miles. "Sam ballet is good for athletes it helps w-" "Yeah but its not good for my balls" Doesn't willingly procrastinate but once in awhile he will forget an assignment, you best believe his eyes will snap open from his nap and get to work asap. For one of his psyche labs he had to question Steve as if he were Steve's therapist to which Steve responds "Hey bro you dont have to hit a nerve that deep" He also likes to do dance with peter since it helps him get away from Thor for a bit. Not a big partier but once the weight of finals are off his chest you best believe he will go all out. Picks on Nat and says hes gonna steal her man, to which tony interjects and says "Not if I do first" Bucky also has a very comfy dorm, comfy lighting and tons of pillows, the man loves his sleep... and so does everyone else. Sometimes he finds peter, sam, THOR, tONY EVERYONE just napping in his bed before their study time. Overall, bucky is a smart boy and his time in college is kind to him.
Wanda: English Major and Education Minor. After being an orphan Wanda knows what it feels like to not have a parental figure there and she wants to change that for other kids by becoming an english teacher. She volunteers at an orphanage, specifically the one her and pietro were in for a brief moment when they came to the states. She loves to draw as well and takes plenty of art classes with steve. She paints a portrait of the entire gang and gives it to tony as a graduation present (he cried). She loves to do volunteer work for children and also spend a lot of time in the library, She helped Nat calm down before Bruce asked her out. Her and Loki are in constant competition for best dressed. "Loki ill let you win best dressed but you have to let me see your cat" "ugh fine... btw your shirt doesnt match your boots" "hEY" Her and Peter take alot of intro classes together and are constantly running around craft stores trying to get the right stuff for projects. Visits Vision at his Job on Campus and he visits her where she volunteers and eventually they start dating. She is constantly getting visited by pietro at 4am asking "Um do you have milk" "Pietro its 4am what do you ne-" "my OREOS"
Pietro: Track star business major, frat ICON with Thor. poor boy is STRESSED he hates college and is here on a track scholarship, constantly late and running around getting shit done. Queen of late assignments but still gets them graded because he is in Track. Yeah he has alot on his plate but he still parties with thor for hours. When he is drowning in assignments Clint is always there to help him, Bruce also helps him with biology and the more science-y classes. Likes to mess around and race sam at track practice. Not into coffee but will run on all the monster energy drinks you could possibly buy. Seriously is tired of 8 a.m courses, he just wants to nap after practice. Walks into the study room that everyone was in and actually looks more sleep deprived than tony. He gets a lot of tips from steve on how to have an easier time in college and it really helps him.
Vision: Grad student working on a civil engineering masters and a TA. Meets Wanda in the library and she asks him where the biographies are. He mistakenly says they are on the 2nd floor "Uh theyre actually on the third" "Then why did you ask?" "Cause I wanted to talk to you :)" He swooned. Through Wanda he met Tony and Bruce and became their best friend, He helped out a lot with engineering club and got them far. He spends a lot of time doing research for his masters degree, he loves relaxing with the group on weekends and picks on pietro as if he is already apart of the family. Him and Loki bond over intellectual conversations from time to time. Bruce and Nat go on double dates with him and Wanda. Went to a bar once with tony and bruce and had to stop tony from singing Queens entire discography, he had the best night that night. Helps everyone with getting into jobs and into grad school in general while everyone helps him let loose and have some fun.
Peter: Peter is a Physics major and eventually works his way up to biochemistry. (hardworking icon) He is the freshman baby of the group and is introduced to them through Thor. He dances with Buck and Nat sometimes as well. Tony obviously takes peter under his wing and helps him with assignments. One time everyone was in the same study room and him and pietro have a redbull shot gunning challenge. When Peter wins Thor picks him up and almost yeets the poor boy into the ceiling. "VERY WELL DONE YOUNG PARKER YOU SHOULD BE DOING THAT WITH BEER IN NO TIME." "Thor plz" Tony and Thor help him ask MJ out and even spy on them during a dinner date. (Imagine thor with sunglasses and a scarf around his head pretending to be tonys date) He feels so accepted in college because of the gang and gets all his work done on time. Goes out of his way to get everyone christmas presents and is so excited for friendsgiving. Becomes a little stressball during finals and midterms and stays in the library till it closes. He spots loki alot in there and helps loki with science classes while loki helps him with political science classes. He meets MJ through wanda and is obviously blushing the whole time while being introduced. Gets embarrassed when the guys flirt with aunt may. "guys plz stop" This is when Sam earns his "milf hunter" nickname. "Pete hows your aunt?" "She doesnt want you sam i-" its not like that... actually it is like that"
Coulson: Alumni Icon. Is the gangs Intro professor and is the reason why everyone meets eachother. (the class was chaotic indeed) Coulson loved that class so much and he still gets visited by everyone from time to time. He is obviously close with Nick. They were there that night when Tony was signing Queen at the bar and couldnt help but laugh.
Nick Fury: Dean for criminal justice and is heavily involved with criminal justice club and mock trial. He is tired of everyones shit as always. Makes a tiktok account for the criminal justice club and has no idea how to manage social media so gets Loki to help. Has to delete it when Loki commented "hah losers" on the engineering tiktoks page. He looks intimidating but in his office he has a picture with the club and has all the gifts he gets on display. (He even framed lokis comment because it was hilarious afterall)
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thatbloodymuggle · 5 years ago
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the one with the cheeto puffs
Tongue Tied (jj maybank) 2/?
masterlist
word count: 2.6k
warnings: cursing, drug use, mentions of death
read it on wattpad
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If there's one thing you should know about Rosie, it's that she hates crying.
It made her feel weak. And she hated feeling weak. She especially refused to cry in front of others. Because once you've seen someone break down, it changes your view of them—intentional or not.
The last time she'd cried in front of her friends was in the 8th grade. JJ had shoved her off a boat and she cut her arm open on the blade of the motor. Granted, Rosie did cry February 14th as the life slowly left her mother's eyes. But she was alone then. And ever since, Rosie had come up with a routine to avoid crying at the thought of her loss.
When she felt her eyes beginning to water and her throat tightening, Rosie would pick up her least favorite book (one she'd stolen from a library a long time ago), Twilight. She'd divert her mind to Bella Swan's stupid life until she couldn't remember what she was upset about in the first place.
So it was no surprise when Rosie scrambled for the cursed book upon entering the house she hadn't been inside since the day her mother passed. She wasn't sure what had triggered it specifically: the dying vegetable garden her mom had worked so hard on, her mother's forgotten glasses on the kitchen counter, or just the overall feeling that something was missing. But sure enough, Rosie snatched the stolen book and flipped to a random page.
"Your scent is like a drug to me, like my own personal brand of heroin."
Rosie turned her nose up at the line.
"At least he's hot," she grumbled to herself.
The 17-year-old flipped mindlessly through a few more pages until she couldn't take it anymore. She thoughtfully placed the book in the front room of the small house, in case she'd need it again soon.
The four-room house felt odd. Rosie felt as if she didn't belong, despite having lived in it for nine years. She knew she would have to box up and clear out her mother's things at some point, but the thought weighed her down and made her long for her book again.
Rosie pushed the uneasiness to the back of her mind and set to finish her unpacking.
Before she knew it, it was already 8:00 PM and her stomach was rumbling. She'd have to go out and get groceries tomorrow, but until then she'd snack on something at John B's. The teenager quickly put a swimsuit on underneath her outfit and set out for the Chateau again.
The 3-minute drive was quick, and Rosie was glad to be out of the suffocating house. She pulled the Mini-Cooper into the familiar gravel driveway for the second time that day and killed the engine. Rosie skipped up to the front door and swung it open, not bothering to knock. She frowned at the empty room before her.
"Hello? Anybody home?" she called out.
Silence.
Rosie huffed and walked back out to the porch. She squinted her eyes into the distance, trying to catch sight of her missing friends.
"JB? Kie? Pope?" she paused, before adding, "JJ?"
Her yells echoed and she was met with a few moments of silence before a voice replied.
"Do you have to be so fucking loud?"
Rosie's head shot towards the source of the noise. Lo and behold, there sat JJ in the back of John B's van with the side door wide open. His arms draped along the back of the seats, and his legs were in a complete man-spread. He held up a silver lighter to the joint between his lips.
"Where'd everyone else go?" Rosie rolled her eyes and strode towards the van.
JJ shrugged, "Dunno. One minute I'm napping, the next they all leave me. Shitheads," he grumbled, discarding the lighter and taking a deep drag.
"Well, I'm starving. Gonna go make myself something to eat," she began to walk back towards the house but was stopped again.
"Unless you want a ketchup-on-moldy-bread sandwich, you're not finding anything in there," JJ watched in amusement as she huffed and kicked a rock in frustration. "The best thing you're gonna find is in here," he held his joint in his right hand a pulled a bag of Cheetos Puffs out from underneath his seat with his left. Rosie nearly ran forwards, but was stopped in her tracks.
"Ah ah ah," JJ pulled the bag out of her reach with an infuriating grin, "I can share but you have to be nice."
The girl cocked an eyebrow at him, "Can't make any promises, but I'll try."
Rosie didn't wait for his reply. She hopped into the van, slumped in the seat beside him, and ripped open the bag of chips. She didn't hesitate to shove a handful of the cheesy goodness into her mouth, moaning at the taste.
"Ay, keep your Cheeto dust off me," JJ made a show of wiping the crumbs that had fallen onto his lap.
Rosie ignored his protests and sucked the orange dust off her fingertips.
"Puff for a drag?"
JJ held up his joint to Rosie's lips while simultaneously snagging a couple of Cheeto puffs from the bag in her lap. She took a deep drag and nodded to signal she'd gotten enough, cueing him to pull his hand back.
Rosie began to cough violently at the tickling sensation in the back of her throat. Her eyes watered and she struggled to catch her breath.
"Gone for four months and it's like you've never smoked before," JJ smirked at the struggling girl, "thought you could handle yourself, Connolly."
"Shut up, I'm out of practice," Rosie croaked, forcing herself to settle down. "Here. Hit me," she sat crisscrossed and turned to face him.
JJ gave her a 'whatever you say' shrug and took another drag from the joint. He deeply inhaled, making a show of taking as much as he could. He turned to face Rosie with mischievous eyes. He leaned towards her and blew out the smoke. She leaned in, just inches away from his face, and inhaled the smoke emitting from his mouth. Rosie forced herself to take it all. The pair of teenagers were nose to nose.
A now foggy-minded JJ leaned back into his seat. Rosie held in his second-hand smoke for a moment. She formed her lips into a tight 'O' and blew it out in rings.
"Ay, she still has it," JJ laughed in a very dazed manner. Rosie couldn't help but giggle, the familiar foggy feeling taking over her as well. She slumped back into her seat beside him and rolled her head back.
"Told you 'M just out of practice," Rosie mumbled with a dopey grin.
JJ grated on her nerves 85% of the time, but she genuinely enjoyed moments like these. She liked not having to think every once in a while. It was refreshing. Sometimes (maybe more often than she should), she just wanted an escape. JJ was the only one of her friends who never questioned her motives. Rosie and JJ had an unspoken rule. If one was rolling a joint, the other always joined; no questions asked. I mean, two potheads are better than one. Right?
The pair of teenagers watched with hooded eyes as the smoke drifted from inside the van to the starry sky above. Rosie subconsciously let her head fall onto JJ's shoulder, who barely noticed. He was too busy focusing on how he could literally feel his toes tingling. They sat in relative silence for who knows how long, munching on Cheeto Puffs and running the joint out.
But too soon, they were pulled out of their comfortable silence.
"JJ, you better not be crossed. We could smell your weed from, like, a mile back," John B's voice penetrated the night air.
Rosie and JJ lazily turned their eyes to John B, Pope, and Kiara who were now standing outside the van. John B and Pope laughed at the sight of the two stoned teenagers.
"We've made the discovery of the century," JJ laughed with a lopsided grin, "Cheeto Puffs and kush are just a.. an...," his voice wandered, "they're an immaculate combination."
Rosie burst out in a fit of laughter, nearly rolling off of JJ who was quick the join in. Their three friends stared at them incredulously, but couldn't resist joining in their laughter.
"Why do you two idiots only get along when you're high?" Pope laughed, climbing into the backseat with them. Kie took the passenger seat while John B situated himself behind the wheel. He revved the engine and Rosie bounced in excitement.
"Oooh, Johnny where are you taking us?" she giggled. Suddenly, her face switched from dazed to serious. She grabbed JJ's bicep and turned him towards her so they locked eyes, "Oh my god, JJ! He's kidnapping us! He's gonna take us to the cops!"
The blond mimicked her concern and threw his arms in the air, "Stop the damn car, JB. We're not going anywhere with you!"
"Would you two shut up? We're going cliff diving, remember? And if you two don't sober up in the next ten minutes, you're gonna be watching us have fun from the top," Kiara laughed.
"Oh sorry, Kie! We'll be quiet now. Quiet as mouses—mices—mice—which one is it? Shit, JJ, I forgot which one," Rosie whispered to the boy next to her who merely covered her mouth with his hand and leaned back in his seat.
Pope dug out two water bottles from a cooler and handed them to the stoned teenagers. "Drink these."
Rosie fumbled around with the cap but did as he said. The next ten or so minutes were filled with mindless chatter between Kie, John B, and Pope while JJ and Rosie downed their waters.
"All right," John B pulled the van into an empty clearing about a hundred feet away from the edge of the cliff, "we're here."
The Pogues all piled out of the car, but JJ and Rosie were stopped by Kie.
"Not just yet, you two. You're not about to drop down 30 feet if you're not in your right minds."
The two began to protest, but she shut them up again.
"Follow my finger," she moved a finger from side to side, watching their bloodshot eyes struggle to keep up.
"You need more water. And ibuprofen. Here," she dug through her bag and pulled out a bottle of the painkillers. "Take two each," she shoved the pills in their hands and pulled out two more bottles of water. "And drink these. If you're better by the time we get back, we'll let you come with us second round."
She pushed her friends back inside the van and shut the door behind them. Rosie whined in protest, but her cries were ignored. She slumped back into her seat next to JJ and set to work downing her second water bottle instead.
JJ and Rosie sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping on their waters and listening to the muffled screams of their friends. The silence was broken, however, once Rosie had drinken about ¾ of the bottle.
"JJ, I need to pee so bad," she slapped his arm.
"No one's stopping you," he grumbled, nudging the girl off. He seemed to have almost completely come down from his high. Rosie, on the other hand, was only about halfway there.
"I need help," she cried.
JJ scoffed, "Fuck that, I'm not helping you pee. Do I look your bitch?"
"Please," Rosie drew out, tugging on his shirt. "Just help me get behind a tree. If I go alone I'm gonna get lost and then it'll be your fault for not helping me."
The boy groaned but reluctantly slid the door open. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her towards the wooded area a few yards away. Rosie struggled to keep up with his quick steps and ran into him when he came to an abrupt stop in front of a crowd of bushes.
"Make it quick," he let go of her and leaned against a nearby tree.
Rosie carefully made her way behind the covering, careful not to trip over any roots. She struggled to do her business and took much longer than necessary, much to JJ's displeasure.
"Finally," he sighed as she approached him. "Come on, I'm not missing the second round."
He led them back to the clearing. Just as they were about to exit the woody area, a devious smile creeped onto JJ's lips.
It all happened in slow motion. First, he stuck out his leg in front of Rosie. Then, Rosie shrieked as she tripped over it. Next thing she knew, she was lying face first in a pool of mud. JJ's booming laughter filled the area. Rosie pulled herself up in shock and wiped the mud from her face. Then, rage took over.
"What the fuck, you asshole!?" Rosie let out an ear-splitting scream.
At least she'd finally come down from her high.
JJ's laughter heightened, but was abruptly stopped once Rosie yanked his leg, causing him to slip and join her in the mud pile.
Now it was Rosie's turn to laugh, "You're a colossal idiot," she began to pull herself out of the mud, only to be pulled back down again.
Cue JJ's laughter, "Worth it."
And so they continued. Pulling each other down, back and forth in an endless cycle of wet mud and screams. They would've continued for hours if their friends hadn't shown up.
"What the hell?"
Kie, John B, and Pope started incredulously at the two idiots for the second time that night.
"She started it," JJ shoved Rosie's face down and jumped out of the mud.
"Liar!"
"Bitch"
"Well looks like you two are back to bickering again which can only mean you're sober. Good enough for me," Kie laughed and helped Rosie out of the mud. "Come on, let's go jump. The first round was amazing. The water was so warm."
The group of Pogues ran to the edge of the cliff. Rosie peered down at the soft waves below and grinned. She didn't hesitate to strip herself of her muddy clothing until she was only in a swimsuit. The five friends stood in a horizontal line and linked hands. Pope next to Kiara next to JJ next to John B next to Rosie. They braced themselves from the drop. John B began a countdown to jump.
"3... 2..."
"Here's to the best summer ever!" Kie cried.
"...1!"
The teenagers took off in sync. A chorus of cheerful screams filled the night air. The exhilaration was like no other as they crashed through the water and were submerged. The group of friends floated back up to the surface and swam to shore with adrenaline coursing through their veins.
Rosie couldn't wipe the smile off her face. This was her home. Doing stupid shit with her friends was her home. The Outer Banks was her home.
And she just knew Kie was right—this would be the best summer ever.
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taglist:
@tangledinsparkles​
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and there's part 2! 
feel free to message/pm me if you’d like to be added to the taglist
enjoy :)
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letsbenditlikebennett · 4 years ago
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Wolf, Bat, & Rat || Ariana & Harsh
TIMING: During Sweet Dreams POTW PARTIES: @notsoharsh & @letsbenditlikebennett SUMMARY: Ariana and Harsh run into each other while looking at knives. No wrong assumptions are made and no rat kings show up in the store. 
Humans and their fucking birthdays. Why did they even make such a big deal about them? Well, maybe when they only had about forty of them to look forward too, they were more important. Harsh didn’t care much about his own, he had forgotten when it was some hundred years ago. It didn’t matter. He kept track of the years in a vague sense, but after two hundred had gone by, the precise number was less and less important. The gap between 29 and 30 seemed much bigger than the one between 262 and 263. But Kaden was closer to the former, so he needed some kind of present. Something nice, something he could probably use to kill people. That’s what hunters liked, right? Harsh didn’t really know where to start. He had picked the store at random. Their stuff looked relatively high end, decent knives at least. The door at the bell rang, new customer probably. Harsh let his eyes drift over. Huh, she looked kind of young to be checking out weapons, but… she could be a hunter, they started young. He didn’t pay her much mind, instead keeping his attention focused on the knives lining the wall before him. This would be a lot easier if he had any idea where to start. “I wish these things had better labels,” he said, more to himself than anyone else. 
 If how things were going lately was a sign of anything, Ariana was about 95% sure she was cursed and she was almost positive the mimes had something to do with it. Every time she actually needed to use all the random shit that seemed to be popping up around town lately, it conveniently vanished from her pocket like she was in some sort of nightmare. Sure, she had other assets she could rely on, but she couldn’t just casually turn into a wolf in the middle of town. Or maybe she could. It’s not like she’d be the craziest thing anyone was seeing. There was another man over by the knives, but she mostly minded her business looking over the non-silver knives until she heard him speak. She looked to him with an amused grin on her face and joked, “You mean, you can’t tell what type of metal it is just by looking?” She picked up one of the ones in front of him and ignored the mild irritation from the silver before placing it back down. “Are you looking for something in particular? I’m no expert, but I have a decent enough idea of what I’m looking at.” 
 Oh shit, this kid actually knew something. She probably was a hunter then. Harsh gave the blade another look. It did look kind of silvery. God, he needed to be better about this. He had never really cared about the kind of wood stakes were made out of as long as they weren’t pointed his way. But he should. He flashed her a sheepish smile and shrugged. “They all kind of look the same to me. I go more on the weight and feel. Knives aren’t really my area, I’m looking for a friend. He’s got a birthday coming up and he’s really into all this stuff.” Harsh gestured to the wall, which was almost entirely covered in hunter tools. Really, he should have been more careful walking into this place. They didn’t have a wall for stakes, but he wouldn’t be surprised if there were tons in the back just waiting for slayers to ask. “What about you? Is this where cool kids hang out after school now?” She looked young… ish. He had never been great at guessing human ages even when he was one. She was sort of small, but that could mean anything. Maybe high school? Middle school age? That was probably a weird thing to ask. There weren’t any parents trailing after her waxing on and on about silver and cold iron, so she was probably at least old enough to walk around town without a babysitter. When did they stop babysitting kids now… twelve? Maybe she was twelve. 
 Judging by the lack of knife knowledge, Ariana felt herself relax a bit as she realized this man was decidedly not a hunter. Especially not a werewolf hunter. While her luck with hunters and winning them over was going, odds are the ones shopping for knives would be plenty eager to stab her. Which was something she largely preferred to avoid. She laughed a bit and said, “You’re valid. Do you know what type of knives your friend normally goes for? What does he like besides knives? Some of the engravings really give extra personality.” It dawned on her that Kaden had a birthday coming up pretty soon. She was, after all, nearly done with the final touches on his gift. What were the odds this random guy was friends with Kaden? He looked like he was maybe about Kaden’s age, but it was hard to tell. She’d still probably pick something she knew Kaden would probably like and hoped it wasn’t going to a werewolf hunter who would actually use it on her. Or one of her friends. She refrained from sighing as she picked up another nice looking knife that slightly irritated her skin. The remark about after school made her laugh a bit. “Oh yeah,” she joked, “Knives are the new makeup because why should your looks be the only thing that kill?” 
 Glancing at the selection, Harsh carefully picked up a blade. It was… very shiny. Great. Wait, the label there said silver. That might be good. He cast a glance at the kid. If she was a hunter, she would probably know what he was after as soon as he tried to get specific. “I think he’s a fan of silver or iron. It’s tough, he’s got a lot already, but that’s a good point. Maybe I could get one of these engraved for him. I should get one with stripes, he would hate that,” he said, with a soft laugh as he set the knife back down. Maybe he was going about this all wrong. Kaden had knives, he had weapons. And lately he seemed… less than enthusiastic when they talked about hunting. But what the hell else did hunters need? “You mean killing a guy with eyeliner isn’t enough now? Damn, kids have it rough these days,” he said, shaking his head. He picked up another knife, faintly trying to test the weight of it. It felt even, nice and balanced. That was probably good, even if he wasn’t sure what the hell it was best used on. Maybe he should just get Kaden something he could drink instead. “You here for knives too? Or are you more of a crossbow person?” He glanced at the kid again, she seemed nice enough… probably harmless. Or as harmless as any hunter ever was. If she was one. Hunters really needed to wear nametags or something. 
 This man was clearly going for hunter metals which wasn’t the most comforting thought, until he mentioned the stripes. Ariana grimaced at the thought of stripes and how she had almost been stuck with them. You ghost one mime on Tinder and suddenly they were all out to get you… or maybe they realized she also ate one of them once. Not that it really mattered. “Silver or iron, huh? And stripes… someone who likes silver and iron knives, but hates stripes. Wouldn’t also happen to be grumpy and French, would he?” Was this one of Kaden’s friends? If she helped pick a knife for Kaden, it was a lot less likely to end up in her own side. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but her brow raised in question all the same. She picked up another one of the silver ones despite the minor rash beginning to form on her hands. It had some nicer designs along the handle though she wasn’t sure how much Kaden really cared for aesthetics outside of his hair and pies. The smile that thought started only grew as this man joked around with her. “I know, it’s a tragedy… or maybe not, I’ve never been great with makeup. Knives are a little more straight-forward.” Not as much as teeth and claws, but they did the job. And were a lot less obvious. She handed the knife over the man and made sure to not show her now slightly irritated palm. “Nah, I was actually looking for the candy store,” she said with a smirk before she gave the real answer, “But yeah, never know when you’re gonna get attacked by a mime or some shit in this town. I can throw a hell of a punch, but… better safe than sorry. And yes, I do know how to use a knife. Both for cooking and as a weapon.” She realized they were having a pretty good back and forth, so she added, “I’m Ari, by the way.” 
 French? Harsh blinked. It was a small town after all. A smile snuck onto his face as he nodded. “He is. Although, I think he’s faking, I speak French better than he does. I bet he’s Canadian French,” he said, voice dropping slightly, as if conveying a deep secret. So she knew Kaden. That figured. Well, as far as hunters went, he wasn’t so bad. Huh, the more he looked at this kid, the more she kind of looked like Kaden. Shit, how old was Kaden? If this kid was twelve… Kaden could’ve had a kid young. Humans did that sometimes. Her not being all French was weird, but maybe she grew up here. Shit, why didn’t Kaden ever tell him he had a kid? “Oh yeah, the mimes are a real hazard, gotta keep an eye on them. Y’know, the first time I ever met Kaden, we got attacked by one. Good times.” He took the knife, testing the weight. It seemed fine too. Maybe a little unbalanced. “I’m Harsh, nice to meet you. I don’t think Kaden’s mentioned you before, but I get it. Probably doesn’t want you hanging around his hunting buddies. Do you take after him?” If she was a hunter, she was still dangerous, even if she was just a kid. Maybe her mom was normal though. That would be just like a hunter, train them young even if they don’t get the hunter powers. 
 Making fun of Kaden? Ariana decided she liked this man already. That paired with the fact she could practically hear Kaden cursing in French at the thought of this whole conversation. It brought a devious grin to her face as she agreed, “You know, I always knew his French accent sounded phony. And he does talk about poutine a lot.” Another knife caught her eye as it had a nice leather cover for the blade. She picked it up and it reminded her eerily of one of Celeste’s which probably meant it was good though it wasn’t the most comforting thought. Clearly this guy knew Kaden was a hunter though, why else would he be gifting him knives for his birthday? Still, he didn’t seem ready to use one of the knives on her and didn’t quite have a feel for them so that pointed to the conclusion that he probably couldn’t detect her no matter how many times that fun little paranoid thought popped right on up. “That sounds like the worst first meeting ever, but for Kaden, that doesn’t surprise me. I think we’ve both pissed the mimes off at this point. Talk about silent but deadly.” Then it came, he indicated he was one of Kaden’s hunting buddies and boy was he fucking right. Kaden didn’t want her hanging around his hunting buddies. Probably because a good chunk of them would want to kill her. And wait-- did this Harsh guy just ask if she took after him? Did he think Kaden was her dad or something? How old did he think she was? Actually, this probably wasn’t a bad rouse to keep up. “Nice to meet you, Harsh,” she said brightly, maybe even a little too much so, “You know Kaden, that sounds about right. He can be a little protective. But yeah, you could say that I take after him. We’re both pretty good at taking down beasts… and mimes. What about you?” Way better for this hunter to think she was a beast hunter than a werewolf, right? 
 “Right? He’s definitely just from Quebec.” Kaden was going to hate this. Harsh couldn’t stop grinning. This kid was pretty okay. He had never cared much for kids one way or the other. They weren’t really an option for him personally and a lot of them kinda seemed annoying, but Ari was alright. And she seemed to be buying the hunter thing so far, so that was a big plus. “It wasn’t great. The mime looked just like him. Worst date ever. Uh, not that it was a date. Cause dating Kaden would be gross.” That was close, good save. It hadn’t been a date, not really. Harsh had maybe been angling for that beforehand, but Kaden hadn’t gotten the hint. And it was old news anyway. Plus, his kid probably wouldn’t want to hear about that. Better to move on and just not talk about that. “I’m alright with mimes. I do better with bloodsuckers. Which is why I’m a little lost here with the knives. I usually stick to stakes. And usually it doesn’t matter too much what kind of material those are made out of.” There were a few exceptions to that, as he had learned. This whole ‘fake slayer’ thing took a lot more research than he would have expected. He had to actually sound like he knew what he was talking about. Such a pain. He picked up another knife. Looked like silver too, with a little wolf etched into the hilt. That seemed offensive somehow. Maybe Kaden would like it. “He’s a good guy, I feel like I should get him something nice. But you know him better than me. Do you think he already has enough knives?” He probably did. What else did Kaden like? Maybe something obnoxiously French. Harsh frowned, brow furrowed as he tried to think. It was hard with that soft, weird noise coming from the back of the store. Something was squeaking up a storm back there. He glanced over the counter. “Do you hear something?”
 “Someone better update his Yelp reviews,” Ariana quipped in response. The smile on her face only grew. Even when he wasn’t around, there was something fun about messing with Kaden. It was probably all the French swearing. Then, here eyes widened like saucers when Harsh said the word date. Kaden had gone on a date with this guy? What? It dawned on her she didn’t actually know how long he and Regan had been dating, but it was definitely as long as she had known him. Clarification soon came albeit in a manner that wasn’t the most convincing, but she’d take it at face value. The moon knew she didn’t always say the right fucking thing. “Oh yeah, the fucking mime twins. Those were the worst. I had to e-,” she cut herself off quickly and tried to recover, “Fight my mime twin, too. She wasn’t cute. But hey, Kaden’s not totally gross. He makes good pie. Still mimes are not a fun way to meet.” The last bit came out a bit rushed as she literally almost told a hunter that she ate her mime twin. Ate. Not stabbed or shot. Ate. A very distinctly werewolf thing to do. Good going, Bennett. There was a slightly puzzled look on her face about her knowing Kaden better but she decided to go with it. “He does enjoy a nice knife though I think the wolf may be a little too… not in good taste,” she noted biting back any hint of anger the knife made her feel, “He really likes baking, too. And flannel. I think a knife fits though-- for your friendship with him since you know, hunting buddies. Gifts aren’t so much about what they are as much as they’re about who they remind you of.” A chorus of squeaking caught her off guard and her head whipped over to make out what the sound was as she caught wind of an animal-like smell. “I definitely hear something,” she said as she followed the sound as she heard a scream, “Oh, what the fuck?” Was that… a bunch of rats? That seemed to be morphing into a larger, scarier rat? “Well, I guess it’s a good thing we’re in a knife store,” she said, gripping the knife she had in her hand still as she lunged toward the rat monster.
 Why had he said it like that? In front of Kaden’s fucking kid too. It didn’t matter that Harsh had maybe thought the meeting was a little more than it actually was. That was so far in the past. Kaden was his buddy, against every rational thought and hint of self preservation he had. And now here he was, chatting with his daughter. When the hell had his life turned into some kind of bullshit sitcom? But it probably wasn’t going to have a great season ender if they ever figured out the real reason he could never grab a round of drinks down at the local hunter bar. “Shit, you had one too?” Maybe that was a family thing. “I killed Kaden’s. Which was… kind of horrifying.” Harsh found himself frowning, a little annoyed at how that wasn’t quite a lie. Which was fucking strange. He didn’t actually care about Kaden. That soulless gaping void inside wouldn’t let him. But there was no thrill in the rearview mirror, no rush at the thought of taking out something that even looked like a hunter. Hell, talking to this kid, there was no urge to take the knife in his hand and see if it worked just as well on hunters as it did on wolves. That should be there. But… nothing. The idea was actually… not pleasant if he let it sit there. Weird. He was getting soft in his old age maybe. “Yeah, no on the wolf then,” he said, setting the knife down. “Flannel might be good. You think they have any plaid knives?” The squeaking was getting louder and weirder until the mound of twisting, shrieking rats burst in. Oh. Gross. It figured even the pests couldn’t just be normal here. “Shit--” This kid was definitely a hunter. Someday he would hang out with someone who’s first instinct wasn’t to launch themself at the closest source of horror as soon as it walked into a room. Oh well. Harsh snatched up the blade he had just set down, rushing after Ariana. He slashed, cutting through a few rats twisted up in the growing snarling mass. But some of them were way more than rat sized. One nearly Ariana’s size leapt at her. Harsh moved without thinking, taking a mouth of sharp teeth to the arm. “Fucking rats--we can’t stab all of them. There’s gotta be something--”
 “Yep,” Ariana said matter of factly, “And damn, talk about a first meeting. At least you got rid of his mime.” She was pretty sure Celeste had also encountered Kaden’s mime twin. At least from what she was able to gather from her sister. It was just a relief to be past the point where everyone had their own murderous mime twin out for blood. Stripes and murder looked good on no one. Briefly, her focus shifted back to knives and she laughed at the idea of a plaid one, “A flannel knife, now that’d be unique. Maybe they have a flannel cover for one? Or maybe you just get one engraved to say ‘putain’ along the handle or something.” All talk of knives was gone now as she found herself lunging toward a… pile of rats? Even with her sharp senses, it was hard to get a read on how this rodent mob was moving. Every way it jerked was erratic and had a tendency to take shelves down with it. Great. At least Harsh was following given he was a hunter. A hunter and a werewolf could definitely take on a bunch of rats magically tied together, right? As a rat leapt toward her, she found Harsh intervening and her grip on the knife in her hand tightened. They seemed to move together with purpose, but so chaotically she couldn’t keep up with their next move. She took a step back, kicking one on her way for good measure, “I mean, we could stab all of them, we just might also end up scratched to all hell,” she said incredulously, “I’ve never seen something like this before, but maybe, I know Kaden used fire on a hedgehound before. Since there’s so many, it may be more effective than, well, sta- Ow!” Apparently the rats didn’t like her idea and were nipping at her ankle. The one time she didn’t wear high topped boots. She lifted her foot up to stomp on the ones at her foot, “Fuck off you stupid rat,” she grumbled as she refrained from letting out a more animalistic sound. A wolf was not about to be taken down by a bunch of rats. She was a wolf, for fuck’s sake. For good measure, she kept her knife drawn. “You got a lighter? I’ve got some spray deodorant in my backpack if the- I swear on Post Malone’s life if you don’t stop trying to bite my feet I’m going to turn this joint into a rat barbecue.” 
 It was probably better to leave out the part where a second weird mim Kaden had walked in the door just after the last one was dispatched. That made him sound a whole lot cooler anyway. If there was a way to be cool when fighting some kind of horrifying mime clone. Harsh certainly hadn’t felt cool at the time. He also very much did not feel cool now. The rat that had sunk its teeth into him was a persistent little fucker, taking at least three sharp stabs before it finally let go and dropped to the floor. Jerking back, he kept the knife in front of him slashing at any of the vermin that tried to leap at them. “Yeah, I’d like to look for a plan B. There’s too many of these fucking things.” Should he be swearing in front of her? Whatever, Kaden cursed like a French sailor, he probably wouldn’t care. So not the time to worry about that crap. Kids seemed more desensitized to that now anyway. She probably heard a lot worse at school. “Fire? That could work. Hang on.” As luck would have it, he did have a lighter on him. Harsh didn’t smoke much, not breathing made it sort of hard, but it never hurt to have a light and a few extra smokes on him just in case. Plus, it made him look cool. Aesthetic was important, even if he couldn’t see himself in the mirror. He fumbled at his jacket pockets, finding the lighter and pulling it free. “Here, this should work.” Even as he said it, he couldn’t stop glancing around, looking for something bigger than a knife. There was an axe on the far wall. It probably wouldn’t do much more than the blades, but maybe they could hack the mass of rats apart if the fire didn’t take care of them first. 
 Anyone else visiting the shop had long since cleared out. Ariana could hardly blame them. She would much rather be far away from whatever the fuck his rat atrocity was. It was hard to keep track of its movements as tails, claws, and fur scurried around her. Which was bullshit. A pile of rats attacking a wolf. While Ariana didn’t necessarily consider herself to be inherently better than others, it really wasn’t too much to ask that rodents and produce knew their place in the food chain. It took a concentrated effort to keep her claws in place and not accidentally go a little wolf-y in front of this hunter guy who thought she was a hunter. At least she could still stab the little shits and she did as they lunged toward her again. “Too many is an understatement,” she grumbled as she just barely dodged more tiny yet surprisingly fucking sharp teeth. “Hanging on here but quicker we get some fire the better,” she said as she kept swatting at rats with her knife. Once the lighter was out, she grabbed it and directed, “Watch my back for a minute.” She fumbled around in her backpack momentarily before pulling out the spray can filled with deodorant she had on her for rainy days. Here goes nothing. She held the lighter up far away from her and carefully aimed the spray nozzle toward the slew of rats charging her. “Harsh, keep your distance,” she said quickly and confidently before she pressed down on the spray nozzle causing a large frame to hit the rats… And singed her fingers, but that hardly mattered. A storm of squeaks erupted through the shop followed closely by the pungent smell of burning rats. She stood her ground and tried to concentrate the flame toward the rats, but some of the fliers and carpet were decidedly also toast. Literally. It didn’t take too long for the squeaks to fade and the rats to turn to ash. She turned to Harsh as she let out a sigh. “Something tells me we should probably ditch the scene before cops and firefighters get here.” 
Of course a hunter kid would know how to make a homemade flamethrower. Not that Harsh was complaining. Hell, he should have been taking notes. He ducked back, staying well clear of the flames. They did the trick, quieting the squeaking a little gruesomely. If he were human, the smell of burning rats probably would’ve turned his stomach. Grimacing at the pile of ash, he nodded. “Yeah, don’t really want to stick around to explain this. C’mon, lets head out the back.. Less questions that way,” he said, already making for the door. It looked like whoever was supposed to be running the store had headed out when the rats made their way in, leaving the back door wide open. Either that or… maybe the rats ate them. Probably better not to think about it. He shot Ariana a grin. “It was cool meeting you. I’ll see you around, yeah? Hopefully… with less killer rat piles next time.”
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wendibird · 4 years ago
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SPN 15X17 Observations
Well, watching this week went pretty smoothly (and I was actually able to get my little bluetooth keyboard thing to talk to my tablet so I was able to watch on my big TV screen and type up notes fairly easily. :) 
And just to clarify, sometimes my notes as I took them were VERY brief, and in some cases I’ve gone back and added in a few details or explanations to make clear what I meant by what at the time. 
I’ve also come to the conclusion that I don’t always remember to take notes, especially if Important Things are happening. (Do people even like the notes section? Or would you just prefer reading my odd takes on everything after the fact?) 
Anyway, here’s what I have for 15X17 “Unity”. Well, I do have more thoughts drifting around, but I’m always concerned that I’m going on too long as it is. *LOL*  (Under the cut for length and spoiler aversion)
Okay, going in I’ve heard rumors that this is a “Sam Heavy” episode, so we’ll see. *fingers crossed* 
- wow, is Chuck starting in on this world already?
- Silent treatment.
- I wonder if she’s guessed.
- fuck you Dean!
(but I’m not surprised. it just confirms what I’d already suspected about how Dean really feels about Jack.)
Commercial Thoughts:
Yeah, so, I’m firmly in Sam and Cas’ camp here. Jack may not be family to Dean, but he is to them. He’s their Son. 
I also think that though he hasn’t talked about it, Sam regrets his part in the Drama Coffin plan involving Jack last season. Think it’s one of those cases where he realized too late he was on the wrong side, and he doesn’t want to be there again.
As for Dean��� I get that he wants to see the people he cares most about make it out of this. (Sam and Cas.) And I get he’s doing the tunnel vision thing. I think he knows that Sam’s right but he won’t let himself admit it.
- Wow….. The fanangels are kinda creepy.
- They’ve lost all their nuance with Chuck. Or my theory is right and Chuck has actually shifted darkside.
- Oh wow…. Amara is really going to bat here.
Commercial Thoughts:
Still not sure how much she’s (Amara) really guessed. She’s acting as though the whole “trapping him” idea is still a go, but what she’d said to Dean, as pointedly as she did, it seemed like maybe she suspected what was really going on and was still trying to give him the option to go a different way.
And even if this is Chuck having shifted dark, it could still be written with more nuance than this crappy villain schtick.
I mean, even in S11 when he’s all but given up on humanity and existence and was going to let Amara win, it was written with there being a depth to him about it.
- Don’t know if Dean’s trying to convince himself that he doesn’t care as deeply to make this easier or what.
- HOw is ADAM still alive?! And she’s an angel?
- Interesting behavior for an angel. *LOL*
- “Then he moved on to our sons.” Hints of Cain and Abel?
- Okay, so the angel kept him alive. (Sure, I can buy that.) 
- Pretty Crystals!
- He’s (Dean) heard those lines before. And Dean’s feeling uneasy about it.
- Amethyst! (Sorry, always had a thing for Amethyst and it’s my birthstone)
- (oh, okay, all of them)
- Ewww….. Open heart surgery
- Rib!
- Dean doesn’t like being rail-roaded.
- Talk time.
- I don’t like this…… (Jack using the rib and starting the suicide-bomb process.) 
Commercial Thoughts:
Okay, so, what Dean said, I’m glad he said it. And I have been getting hints of that feeling from him the whole season, about feeling disconnected because of what they found out about Chuck and their lives. I just… I still think he’s willfully blinding himself to what’s really going on. That even this version of “Free Will” is a script that he’s following. (Well, I think he’s starting to have misgivings about that.)
- Uh-oh! Ideas! 
- I love two researching nerds!
- Were we supposed to understand the Latin? *LOL* I caught “Mortem” in there a few times.
- Yey door!
- “your internal compass is functioning perfectly”
- I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!
- Who dat?
- Dead someone or other
- W section.
- Reapers maybe?
- Who’s thinning the ranks?
- Empty!Meg!
- Sam is good! (At bluffing the hell out of an ancient cosmic being.) 
- IT’S A LITTLE LATE TO STOP IT!!!!
Commercial Thoughts:
*FREAKING OUT!!!*
Jack already started it! OG!Adam said that once started the reaction couldn’t be stopped.
Okay, deeper thoughts. Everyone’s playing chess. Still. The game is just bigger.
OG!Adam wants God dead because of stuff that happened. And Billy is following his plan? (Did I get that right?) The plan will make Billy the next God. (Not surprised there honestly.) Her world will be a lot more “orderly” no doubt.
The Empty just wants to sleep. (Honestly, can relate.) 
But everyone’s just using them all as gamepieces again. Dean’s getting that feel from things OG!Adam and Whatserfaceangel said. Sam knows now too. They’re still stuck in someone else’s story. They’re still not gaining true “Free Will”. I’m hoping that the route they take will actually get them off this train track.
- DUDE - WHAT (was in reference to Dean pulling a gun on Sam)
- Go Sam! He’s not letting this one go. (Referring to my feelings on Sam feeling bad about Jack and the Drama Coffin thing from way before, and him NOT settling for Dean’s plan this time, him sticking to his guns and saying what he feels and taking action.) 
- Chuck played her (Amara) too.
- Not again! (Oh Jack, will this forever be your fate?)
- FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!
Holy shit! That episode!
Okay, it actually did a good job of wrapping up a lot of ideas. Like, big-picture ideas that have been themes throughout the run of the show. 
Also, apparently this was the only world where Cas and the Winchesters broke the mold? Didn’t play by their roles?
Also, minor point but it made me happy: Chuck pointed out how it’s Sam who needed to find things out. Sam who kept digging. I made mention of it last episode how Billy kept going to Dean, because he was easier for her to manipulate. But Sam asks more questions. I think part of it is what Cas said about his internal compass. I think another part is his experiences. He’s been the brunt of the cosmic plot-lines a LOT of the time. So he does keep asking questions because of all the times he hadn’t and things went badly. (Like end of S4 with killing Lilith.) 
And let me be clear, it’s not that I think Dean is dumb. He isn’t. And he and Sam both make decisions a lot based on their feelings. (Sometimes it’s all you have to go on.) But he’s shown a tendency in the past several years especially to be more likely to make them based on anger. And he doesn’t get called on it often. And I don’t know if this is TOO meta (is that even a thing with this show anymore? *LMAO*) but I feel like part of that is written into the script. Of their world. Even when Dean’s wrong he’s often proven “right” by the narrative. He very rarely is made to face up to his mistakes. (Not saying he never is. But it definitely doesn’t seem to happen as often.) And I’m wondering, is that because up till now, he was Chuck’s favorite? We saw that Chuck can manipulate a LOT of things. And events, and even some people. 
How often have we noticed and commented on how the Narrative backs Dean up so much of the time, even when he might be in the wrong? Or even just questionable? Or morally grey? How much of that is possibly now supposed to be due to Chuck’s meddling? Because I’ve also seen it mentioned (and have also noticed) that although Sam winds up the “wrong one” a lot via the narrative, he’s actually HAD to learn and grow because of that. But because Dean is rarely shown as wrong, he hasn’t had to, and his character has stagnated a lot in the last several seasons. Of course, in reality, that’s due to the writing/show-running/powers-that-be making those decisions, but in-show could it possibly be something to do with Chuck? Maybe at first because he liked Dean more? But as time grew on, and he kept trying to set up his Cain and Abel plot with them, maybe it was to reinforce Dean’s self-image that he’s Right? 
And also by contrast, we had the end of last season where so many of Sam’s decisions which had been made with best intentions and best information/resources at the time wound up blowing-up in his face. As if to say "Ha-HAH! That's what you get for thinking you could lead people! That's what you get for thinking you could save Jack! That's what you get for thinking someone like Nick could be redeemed! That's what you get for talking your brother out of the Drama-Coffin plan!" It felt like it was specifically intended to make him severely doubt his own judgement. And it worked. After all that shit went down, one thing after another, culminating with their mother's death, he didn't trust himself. He didn't believe in himself. So he put all his trust in Dean. And Dean was full of RAGE. (I don't blame him. His Mom has been a keystone of his life, even when she wasn't there.) But Sam didn't give the objections he normally would have to Dean's plan to box-up Jack. Even though it was CLEAR how much he didn't like it. How wrong it felt to him.
Basically, what I’m trying to say is, I think Chuck has been nudging and manipulating a LOT of things in order to get the Winchesters to behave how he wants them to. 
IDK. My head is hurting from some of these meta thoughts. *LOL*
SO! Back to what happened in the actual episode.
I thought the format was interesting, focusing in on the different POV characters for their spans of the story until it all came together. (Wondering if this is going to continue into the next episode…) 
I liked that we got a lot of reveals about what is (possibly) really going on, in regards to the grand schemas. Because there are several at play here. But now we're at least getting glimpses of them. 
Even though we didn't see Billy, I thought the reveal about her plans were interesting, but definitely fit with her character as established so far. I know a lot of people are saying she's gotten drunk with her power or she's "turning evil" but I don't think that's the case. It's true that she hasn't told them everything about her plans, but that's because she's also using them as pieces in her game. But her goal is the same as it's always been since we first met her. She has ALWAYS been about the Natural Order. She never liked how the Winchesters (or anyone else) flaunted death again and again. So once she's in charge? Everyone and everything goes where they belong. The demons stay in hell, the angels stay in heaven, souls go where they're meant to, people from other universes go back (even if there's no universe to go back TO. Tough shit, they'd be dead anyway according to her) and those who have already died and been resurrected? They go back to wherever they should be. (At least, I THINK that was the implication made, with Sam asking Dean if he'd be willing to trade HIM to take-out Chuck. Sam was definitely realizing a LOT when Empty!Meg told him what Billy's plan was.) 
This isn't her turning Evil like has been done with Chuck. It's more, her becoming a more extreme version of what she already was. When she got her promotion, she found out a LOT more things. Including this option of events for taking Chuck out and putting things back to how they belong. And it even started with Dean's aborted Drama Coffin plan. Which eventually fails, because Sam, but it then leads to Jack sacrificing his soul to take out AU Michael, which eventually leads to Mary's Death and Chuck's opportunity to manipulate things more and so on and so forth until we wind up here. 
(Also, just wanna say, absolutely LOVED Rachel as the Empty again!) 
And also, having just watched that scene again, can I just say again how awesome Sam is? He straight-up told the Empty that even if he WAS lying, their best bet is to let him go with the book. And it couldn't really argue with that because he was right! (Well, if it had killed him then and there, Dean probably wouldn't have known right away and probably would have been able to carry out the plan. So there is that. Buuuuut none of them knew that either at the time.) 
And in general, I love how Sam just would NOT give up. This is the Sam Winchester I've come to love. He could feel in his bones that this plan was wrong so he was doing everything he could to not only stop it, but to find some other way to get what they truly wanted. 
I also loved his and Cas' interactions. They were supportive of each other and both were trying to find a way to save their son. (Dean has officially forfeited his Dad-Card in my book. Hell, in his book too.) Also, I remember hearing someone from production, or who was maybe on set or something mentioning something about the Holy Grail in this episode? Well, in that scene where Sam and Cas are looking through those old crates and trunks and boxes, when Cas finds the key Sam is holding this really old looking chalice. Wonder if that's supposed to be what that is. *LOL* I mean, the Spear of Destiny (or at least, the head of the spear) was there in the Bunker, so why not I guess? *LOL*
We didn't get a lot of Sam and Jack interaction, but I liked what little we had. Sam made it clear to Jack that he wants to save him. (I'm really hoping we get SOMETHING more of them in the next episode or two but... yeah. Not a lot of time left.) 
I could go on for some length about my feelings on Dean and how he's been this season. But I don't want this to turn into a fully anti-Dean rant. I will say though that I'd definitely gotten the impression before this that Dean has different categories of people he cares about, and in his mind, he also has them ranked according to how expendable they are. And I'm not just talking about Jack here, though he is a major part of it. But at the end of the episode when he and Sam are having it out, Dean says he's basically willing to sacrifice EVERYONE to get what he wants. 
(I don't think he's actually willing to sacrifice Sam for it though. And yes, I know, he was waving a gun in Sam's face. But I don't believe for a moment he had any intention of killing his brother. Not when Sam asking point blanc if Dean is willing to trade him for killing Chuck, and that seems to be what causes Dean to start listening to what Sam's saying. Also, in the past, Dean hasn't been above threatening people to get what he wants. Like with Kaia. Also in S8's "Trail and Error" when he and Sam were talking about taking out the hellhound, Dean pretty much said if Sam even tries to get close to it, Dean would shoot him in the leg. Now, we never got to see if he actually would have or not, but regardless, it was a case of Dean being willing to hurt Sam a little in order to protect him from something he saw as a bigger threat. In that case it had been taking on the trials. In this case, it would have been to win their shot at freedom. At least in Dean's mind. Not saying I approve! Just, I think that's where his mindset was.) 
And this is a far cry from the Dean who, just a few years ago was willing to be a kamikaze bomb in order to save the world. And yes, Dean has mentioned "Saving the world" this season too. And I'm sure he means that too. But when he was at his most emotional, what he was talking about wasn't saving the world and everyone in it. It was freeing him and Sam from being Chuck's entertainment. And he's willing to sacrifice nearly anyone to accomplish that. At least, he was up til now. I hope that they're going to give him a change of heart before the end because I really REALLY would like the show to end with me not despising Dean and what he's become. Yes, I'm a Sam-girl, but I do care about Dean too. 
Also, I feel bad for Amara and what wound up happening with her. Like many other characters, she fell victim to Chuck's manipulations, and now I'm guessing he's even stronger than before. But also, Chuck wasn't the only one manipulating her. And maybe if they, (Dean especially, since she had a soft-spot for him) had actually been trying to find another way earlier, she wouldn't have fallen to despair when finding out the truth. 
Aaaaaanyway, I think I've rambled enough about this episode as it is. Thank you to whoever actually bothers to read all of this. *LOL*
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jamielea81 · 5 years ago
Text
Conversations
Chapter 7
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Description: You accompany your friends on a day trip to Animal Kingdom Theme Park where you meet Scott Evans by chance. This one afternoon leads to a year long friendship with both Chris and Scott over text messages and phone calls.
Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader
Warning: Cursing, drinking, fluff!
Word Count: 8,000
A/N: I know nothing about the lives of the Evans family and mean no harm. This is purely fiction and for fun. Reblogs and comments are much appreciated! The tag list is now closed. Each chapter tends to get reblogged from me a few times, so if you’re following me, you can’t miss it.
*Italics are internal thoughts
Catch up with chapter 6
“I swear I’ve never seen it,” you said.
“How can that possibly be true? That makes zero sense. You did go to elementary school, right? I’m pretty sure I watched that a few times when we had a substitute in fifth and sixth grade,” Chris exclaimed.
“Har-har. Yes, I went to elementary school, but you are a few years older than me Mr. Evans. Must not have been as popular by the time I was in fifth or sixth grade.”
“Whatever,” he scoffed. “M’not that much older than you. You were born in the eighties and the Princess Bride is an essential piece of classic cinema.”
“The numbers still count,” you chided.
“We’re watching it. And you’re going to like it,” Chris sternly said.
“Well you better visit. Otherwise you won’t be able to enforce that...what are we calling this? A punishment?” you offered.
The two of you had been back on your daily phone calls for the last few weeks. It felt as though you had never stopped. A part of you did worry that he would revert back to the acquaintance like relationship the two of you had the last four months if he started dating someone again. The two of you really need to have that conversation to completely clear the air. You and Chris talked about everything, just not about Courtney and Ethan. It was as though the last four months didn’t exist. You hated the idea of bringing in any negative energy to your friendship, but avoiding it felt worse.
“Punishment? Sweetheart, you’re hurting my heart,” he sighed. “And I’m working on that. Almost done filming.”
You perked up instantly. Chris visiting sounded like a dream. In a friendship way, of course. Maybe both Evans brothers liked dance parties. You’d just have to wait and see.
“Ahuh. I’ll believe it when I see it,” you replied.
“I don’t see you coming to Boston,” he retorted.
“It’s not Fall, babe. I have specific instructions on when to visit this national treasure.”
“We’ll see.”
 Screaming. That’s all you could hear and make yourself do. Sea World Orlando was hosting a media day to preview their new coaster Barracuda. This was not a fun family coaster like the Disney parks had, minus Everest of course. But this coaster was on a completely different playing field than Everest. It had a chest harness for goodness sake. A chest harness!
This is how I die.
You rarely covered actual ride openings, with the exception of Rise of the Resistance back in December. Okay, really you covered all ride openings at Disney. But in general, when it came to all other theme parks it was new lands, restaurants, hotels, that kind of thing. You especially didn’t cover coasters. This sort of thing was often saved for the local morning news channels. Sea World invited you out personally, and since you didn’t want to stop getting invites to their various food and music festivals, you accepted.
The ride started by being catapulted forward, then into a barrel roll, a loop, and to make master worse, the coaster rotated and it ended in a drop going backward.
You were given a card that allowed you two purchase five food and beverage offerings, but after riding Barracuda, you were feeling a bit green. Using one of your punches for a bottle of water, you quickly found some shade and sat down. You may have dry heaved. Thank goodness the spot you found was a little secluded.
Grabbing another chair, you put your feet up and tried to relax as best you could in a theme park nearing the end of May. Many schools were already on summer break, so the parks were definitely picking up on visitors. Fishing your phone out of your crossbody, you saw that you had a text from Brooks. He had officially left the Sentinel three months ago, but made it a game to text you random work-related questions almost daily.
Brooks: Can you run down to the first floor and grab that package their holding for me? I’m swamped.
Y/N: I’m on assignment smartass. How’s working from home?
Brooks: Glorious. I showered this morning and put my sweats back on.
Y/N: I’m sure that gets Jana’s engine roaring.
Brooks: I don’t believe you’ve seen me in sweats. I look damn fine.
Y/N: Gross
Brooks: 😈
Brooks: Lunch on Wednesday?
Y/N: Yes, but wear actual pants
Brooks: Maybe
 During your lunch date with Brooks, which you somehow got suckered into buying, Brooks told you that he and Scott were kind of friends and had been texting since he left Orlando almost a month ago. The two of them had exchanged numbers when you and Jana were in the bathroom. Per Brooks, one of their favorite things to talk about was you. Of course. You’d have to think of some way to get them back.
 It was suddenly Monday again, funny how that happens, and you were busy editing your latest article when your phone buzzed with a call on your desk. Seeing Chris’ name, you swiped to answer it.
“Hey babe.”
“Hi sweetheart. How was your weekend? Sorry I didn’t call,” he replied.
“I’m good. And no biggie. I had other boys to entertain me,” you said.
There were no boys. But he didn’t have to know that. You had to give it to him when you could.
“Boys, huh? Well, it’s a good thing you got a man right here.”
I walked right into that one.
If you could audibly swoon, you would have done it.
You let out a nervous chuckle. “Hmm. Okay.”
“Listen, last minute trip this weekend. My mom is taking my niece and nephews to Disney World. Could you meet up with me?”
“Um…”
“I wasn’t even going to go, but I figured my ma could use the help and thought maybe we could hangout. If you wanted to, I mean,” he quickly added.
Of course, you wanted to see Chris. You’d be crazy not to. All this time talking on the phone, even when you weren’t talking, all you thought about was seeing him face to face. But goodness, do you feel queasy all of a sudden.
“Like, Friday or Saturday?” you asked.
“We get in Friday morning and leave Monday morning,” he said.
“Wouldn’t I just get in the way of your family time? I don’t want to intrude.”
“No way. I want to see you. Besides, I need a ride buddy. We have an uneven number,” Chris said.
You could just see him beaming, perfect grin and all.
“I could meet you Saturday, I need to be in the office on Friday for a meeting.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment and you worried he had a change of heart.
“Ye-yeah, that works. I was hoping to see you sooner, but I’ll take what I can get,” he said.
“Geez, Evans. Really turning up the flirting, huh?”
Oh, shit. Did I really just say that?
Chris was flirty. Even Scott said he was. The two of you were nothing more than friends. Sometimes even great friends.              
It was his turn to let out a nervous chuckle. “Maybe,” he replied simply enough.
“Where am I meeting you?” you asked.
“Let me check with my ma, and I’ll text you the details when it gets closer to Saturday.”
“Sounds like a plan,” you replied.
“Now, tell me about these boys that were entertaining you,” he teased.
“You wouldn’t know them,” you teased right back.
 As the days inched closer to Saturday, you became more and more nervous. Like, palms sweating nervous. To your dismay, Scott was not joining his family on this trip, so you wouldn’t have him as your go to in case you spazzed out or said something stupid. Was this just friends meeting up or was this possibly something more? That’s what you couldn’t reason through. You didn’t dare ask Scott. That family shared way too much with each other for you to say anything about Chris. It would no doubt get back to him making Saturday more awkward than it was already was. Your logical side said this was just you hanging out with your buddy Chris. That’s all this was. Chris split his time between L.A. and Boston. You were all the way in Orlando. While you had vacation funds, you didn’t have funds to fly out once or twice a month to meet up with someone. This couldn’t possibly be anything more. But the romantic side of you fantasized about this being something more. Even for just a day.
 Chris sent you a text Friday morning when you were still in bed. It was seven in the morning and he apparently was wide awake.  
Chris: It's Friday, Friday Gotta get down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend
Holy geez.
You should have silenced your phone before going to bed. That wasn’t worth waking up to, even if it was from Chris.
Y/N: How do you even know that song?
Chris: Everyone knows that song.
Chris: I’m at the airport getting ready to board.
Y/N: Have a safe flight. I’m going back to bed.
Chris: Sassy…be more excited!
Y/N: Goodnight. Love you.
“What the fuck did I just type?!” you shouted, sitting straight up in your bed.
Even though you were tired, you never imagined being stupid enough to type that. Sure, you said that Jana, Brooks, even Scott, but that felt different. This was completely different. It came out so easily and you and Chris just never said that to each other. You couldn’t think of a way to back track that sentence. Seconds ticked by and you still had no clue.
The phone dinging with a new message catching your attention.
Chris: LOL love you too
LOL? How do I take that? At least he didn’t freak out about your response.
Well, now you couldn’t fall back to sleep. Instead you laid in bed contemplating the simple text you received. It was going to be a long day.
 Chris had sent you a few texts throughout the day. He and his family were at Magic Kingdom and were apparently hitting every ride. It sounded both fun and exhausting. He sent you a reminder text just as you were getting out of work to meet at Epcot at ten tomorrow. Epcot was your favorite park, but mainly for the drinking in various “countries” aspect. You imagined it would be quite a different day with kids in tow. Besides, you weren’t planning on drinking a drop of alcohol while out with the Evans clan. You didn’t want his mom to think you were a partier because you totally weren’t. Having a glass of wine after a tough day or out with friends once a month didn’t mean you drank a lot by any means.
You gave Scott a call when you got home. It was much earlier than your normal call time, but your nerves were shot and he was usually pretty good about grounding you.
“What’s wrong? he asked.
“What makes you think anything’s wrong?” you replied, chewing on the inside of your cheek.
“Being that you’re calling me five hours earlier than you usually do, I’m pretty sure something’s up.”
You let out a breath. Damn him being so preceptive.
“I’m meeting up with your brother tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I know. We’ve already talked about that.” Scott said.
“It’s just…I’m just so nervous about it. I really wish you were going to be here,” you whined.
“It’s Chris! You guys are friends. What are you even nervous about Sassy? You and I hung out all weekend alone. I didn’t pick up on any nervous energy from you then,” he said.
“You’re right. It’s dumb. Never mind.”
“The two of you are dumb. Now, tell me what’s really going on,” he demanded.
“Ugh, you’re so annoying,” you groaned.
“You’re so annoying,” he mimicked.
“Chris and I were barely friends for what, like almost four months? Yeah, we texted, but weren’t close, barely spoke on the phone. And now we’re close again and it’s great, because if I’m being honest, I really missed him. But I’m just worried that seeing him will change things. I know that sounds stupid, but what if he meets me and decides I’m boring. Or I’m nothing special and he’s wasted all this time getting to know me. You and I never had a break, so it didn’t feel awkward to spend time with you. Plus, your mom, niece and nephews will be there. It’s just added pressure,” you spit out all at once.
“You done now?” Scott asked.
“Jerk,” you replied.
“Finally,” he said, choosing to ignore you. “First off, you are not boring. If he isn’t bored already, he’s not going to be. I didn’t tell you this because your head is big enough, but you are pretty terrific. I promise I’m not coming on to you, but you need to know I had a such a great time with you. I was there to cheer you up, instead, you gave me a fabulous weekend. We were already close, but that weekend brought us closer. And don’t even worry about my family, my mom is going to love you. This weekend is only going to cement you and Chris’ friendship. Trust me.”
Scott is amazing and you are damn lucky to have him. Not only were you feeling better, you were kind of bummed you didn’t try to hang out with Chris tonight. It was fine though. Work was a little stressful and your hair was doing that weird thing it sometimes does. That’s not a first, no, second impression you wanted to make.
 After parking your car in the parking lot at Epcot, you took a few moments to calm your breathing. Fixing a couple smudges from your mascara in the rearview mirror, you took one final deep breath before getting out of the car.
It was nine forty five in the morning and it was already eighty degrees out. Temps were set to rise to close to ninety. Why the Evans clan didn’t take trips in the winter was beyond you. The crowds were generally lighter in early January and the weather was a lot more comfortable, but who were you to judge? You lived here year-round. Jana suggested wearing a cute sundress, but knowing it was going to be hot and you’d be running around with a few kids, dressing up didn’t seem sensible. You opted for jean shorts, a light gray tee with Mickey on the front, and a pair of slip on sneakers. The outfit was cute, but it didn’t make it seem like you were trying too hard.
Y/N: I’m here!
You made your way through bag check, skipping the line by stuffing your keys, license, and credit card in your front pockets.
Making your way to Spaceship Earth, you stopped in your tracks when your phone buzzed in your hand.
Chris: Just grabbing a couple of those spray mister fans for the kids. They’re already hot.
Chris: Where are you?
Y/N: In front of Spaceship Earth.
Minutes ticked by without a response from Chris. With one hand holding your phone, the other anxiously kept touching your hair. The humidity was already in high gear so you kept touching it, making sure it wasn’t being temperamental.
Clicking on the camera app, you switched the camera to selfie mode and used it like a mirror to check your hair and overall appearance. And then you saw him. He was attempting to sneak up behind you but failing as you could see him just slightly in frame of your camera. You didn’t mean to, but you had memorized that smile. You snapped a quick picture before turning around and startling him.
“Boo!” you shouted.
“Jesus! How’d you know I was here?”
You turned your phone to face him, showing him the selfie you captured with him in the background.
“Our first picture together,” you teased.
He grabs your phone out of your hand, throwing an arm around your shoulder. He snaps a picture, his megawatt smile on full display. In the one you captured, he was unprepared, and this one was no different, you were unprepared. So now you have two selfies on your phone with neither turning out just right.
You pull away slightly, grabbing your phone back.
“Can you warn a girl? I’d like to be prepared to take a picture. You know, maybe slap a smile on my face,” you scolded, smile peeking out even though you were trying to come across as serious.
He shakes his head at you.
“It’s nice to see you too, Sassy.”
You offer him a smile and take a step forward to hug him. The two of you don’t quite have the coordination down. Arms and shoulders bumping each other while you switch the position of your hands and finally get it right. He pulls you in tight, the brim of his ballcap hitting your forehead. The two of you chuckle at the exchange before pulling away.
He’s dressed casual in black basketball shorts, navy blue tee, sneakers, black ballcap low on his face. Even dressed so casually, he’s very easy on the eyes. Your tummy does a summersault as he takes you in.
Chris almost reaches for your hand, but then remembers that your surrounded by hundreds of onlookers who may have not noticed who he is yet, but could at any moment.
“Shall we?” he asks.
You nod your head and follow beside him, the two of you weaving in and out of the morning crowd. He stops next to a cart selling bottle water and misting fans. A woman you assume is his mother is next to three kids, all playing with their own misting fans.
“Ma,” he said, causing the woman to look up. “This is my friend Y/N. Y/N, this is my mother Lisa.”
You extend your hand for her to shake. She reaches out and does the same, offering you a smile, but it seems hesitant.
“Nice to meet you,” you offered.
“You as well,” Lisa replied.
“And these munchkins are Stella, Ethan, and Miles.” Chris said, pointing to each as he said their names. “This is my friend Y/N.”
“Hi guys!” you greet, waving at them with your hand.
The three of them all offer you a wave back.
“Should we go finding something fun to do?” Chris asked, mainly to the kids but he does glance at you and his mother.
A chorus of yeahs are said along with a fist bump or two. Chris grabs Stella and Miles’ hands and starts to walk, Ethan and Lisa walk along side of them while you trail a couple of steps behind.
The six of you make your way to Test Track where a cast member is waiting for your party. He introduces himself as Michael before leading your party through a side door you had never paid attention to before. There’s a whole design your own virtual car experience that you end up skipping since you are skipping the ride queue. Michael leads you to the side of the platform that the ride exits from. You wait one cycle before you’re allowed to load into the car. There are three seats in the front and three in the back. Chris gets into the front sliding all the way over, Stella gets into the middle seat and you next to Stella. Lisa, Miles, and Ethan slide into the backseat. Once everyone’s seatbelt is in place, the car advances forward.
As the car goes through twists, turns, and sudden stops, Stella giggles next to you while you hear Lisa say “oh no!” a few times from the back. You look at Chris who is grinning like a fool. He throws his hands in the air when the car flies through doors that open last second, leading you to a track that runs the outside perimeter of the building. The car reaches a peak speed of sixty-five miles per hour which isn’t necessarily fast on the open road, but in a convertible without a wheel or brakes, it’s pretty intense and fun. Your hair of course is shot. The wind having taken it in all sorts of directions.
The next attraction you hit is Mission: Space. Lisa opts to sit this one out with Stella, leaving you, Chris, Miles, and Ethan to ride the orange side. The orange side spins an extraordinary amount as it makes its way to Mars, while the green side is a lot tamer. The boys all wanted the orange side, so who are you to complain.
As the four of you file out the exit with Michael leading you, Miles complains that his tummy hurts. Chris picks him up and carries him the rest of the way to meet Lisa and Stella.
“I think we need to take a break. Miles isn’t feeling too well,” Chris said.
Lisa places, her hand on Miles’ head. “Are you not feeling well, sweetheart?” she asked.
He shakes his head no.
“There’s a shady spot with some tables over there,” you said, pointing to your left.
“Yeah, let’s do that,” Chris said.
“I’ll grab some waters and meet you all over there,” Michael said before dashing off.
Chris pushes a couple of the small tables together while you grab an extra chair. Michael is back before you know it, carrying a bag filled with water bottles. He takes them out of the bag one by one setting them between the two tables.
“Chris, why don’t you and your friend go on without us,” Lisa offers.
“No, Ma. I’m sure it was just the spinning. He’ll be fine in a few. Besides, I don’t think he’s letting me go anytime soon.”
Miles clings to Chris as he sits on his lap. It’s the sweetest scene, seeing Chris hold onto Miles, while gently touching his forehead, brushing his har to the side. But you can’t help feeling like you’re intruding. While Lisa has been nice, she hasn’t given you the most welcoming vibes and you can’t miss the way her body is angled, essentially leaving you out of the conversation.
Only a few minutes have passed when you start to notice that a woman at a table a few away from your group is taking pictures with her phone. She isn’t being sneaky by any means. You’re really wishing you would have worn a ballcap today to hide your face. You don’t particularly care if your face ends up in a photo with Chris, but you don’t want to have him deal with that. October wasn’t that long ago, so you in another picture with Chris at Disney will only lead to more rumors. You turn slightly in your seat so that you’re facing away from him.
“Something wrong, Y/N?” he asked.
“Someone’s taking pictures.”
“Of course. Fuck,” he mutters before quickly closing his mouth, forgetting that Miles is right there.
He stands up, still carrying Miles.
“Michael, can we find another spot?” Chris asked.
Lisa gets the other two kids to grab their bottles of water and out of their seats.
“Yes, Mr. Evans. Follow me please,” Michael answered.
He leads your group through a maze of turns, eventually entering into a door labeled “Cast Members Only”.
“Well just hang out here for a few minutes. I’m sure Miles needs the air conditioning,” Chris said.
The six of you plus Michael stand in a wide hallway just past the door. There’s a row of lockers on the wall with various open doors you can see in the distance. It’s a bit uncomfortable standing there and with no one speaking it’s downright awkward for you.
After a few minutes, Miles starts to perk up. Chris sets him down on his feet and Lisa asks if anyone is hungry.
The kids all agree that they are suddenly starving.
“Michael, is there any reservations available at Coral Reef or Garden Grill?” Lisa asked.
“I’m sure I can find something,” Michael said, pulling out his phone. “For six?”
“Just five,” she replied.
“Ma! Y/N is joining us.” Chris said.
“Oh, I didn’t know if she was spending all day with us or just the morning,” Lisa replied.
Well, now you know that uncomfortableness was with reason.
“It’s okay. I’m actually going to take off,” you said, patting your pocket to make sure you had your keys.
“Sweetheart, no. Stay with us.” He takes your arm and pulls you down the hallway a bit. “Have lunch with us. You’re welcome to. I want you to.”
You look back to his mom who quickly looks away. It’s a family trip so while she’s been a bit cold, you understand that she doesn’t know you and is probably protective of her family.
“That’s alright. This is your family trip and I’m a bit tired. I didn’t sleep so well last night,” you lied. “You guys go have a nice lunch. Call me before going to bed tonight.”
You pull Chris into a hug before he can protest. He places a kiss on your forehead before you pull away. He has a sad smile on his face that you try your best not to match.
As you walk past the group, heading to the door, you stop in front of Lisa.
“It was nice to meet you.”
“You too dear,” she replied.
“Have fun guys!” you said to three kids before pushing open the door, the sun slightly blinding you for a moment.
 Sitting at home and sulking was doing nothing to brighten your mood. Frankly, you felt like shit. You felt bad for leaving the park without spending nearly enough time with Chris. And you felt bad for not just pushing through the uncomfortable vibes Lisa was putting out. What if you would have stayed and she had gotten to know you? You were friends with both Scott and Chris, there may come a time where you would see her again and now it’s going to be just as weird.
Scott texted you around dinner time.
Scott: How’d today go? Did you and Chris get matching ears?
Y/N: It went fine.
There. That was a reasonable answer. It was fine. Sure, you only saw Chris for like two or so hours, and they were mostly fine.
Your phone buzzed in your hand. Of course, it was Scott.
“Look at you calling me so early,” you answered.
“What do you mean fine? That’s it? All this build up to fine.”
“It was just weird and I made it weirder by leaving early,” you sighed out.
“Why’d you leave early?” Scott asked.
“It just seemed like your mom didn’t want me there. And I don’t blame her. It’s a family trip and who the hell am I really?” you quickly spit out.
“Hey! I’m sure that’s not how she felt. You’re one of my best friends, she knows that. I’m sure somehow this is Chris’ fault. I’ll call you back.”
“No, Scott. You don’t have to do that,” you said.
But he didn’t reply back. The little shit hung up on you.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Scott hit the contact button for Chris, the ring sounding too many times for Scott’s patience.
“Hey, Scott,” Chris answered.
“Hey, jerk,” Scott replied.
“Why am I a jerk? Jerk!”
“I just talked to Sassy. Doesn’t sound like it went well. What happened?”
Chris sighed. “Yeah, it could have been better. Miles didn’t feel well and it kind of just went downhill from there.”
Scott groaned. “That’s too bad. She mentioned something about Ma not wanting her there.”
“I don’t think that’s true. I mean, she wasn’t acting like they were best friends. They just didn’t get a lot of time to get to know each other. Sassy’s just overthinking it,” Chris said.
“Yeah…You’re probably right. It’s just too bad you didn’t get a lot of time together.”
“Me too,” Chris said softly.
“Have a good day tomorrow.”
“Thanks, bud. Bye,” Chris said.
“Bye,” Scott said, ending the call.
“What’s going on with Sassy?” Lisa asked, startling Chris.
“Geez Ma! Ya scared me,” Chris hissed.
Lisa chuckled at her son’s response, putting her hands up. “Sorry.”
“She’s just disappointed with how today went,” Chris replied, running a hand through his hair.
“I didn’t even know you knew Sassy,” Lisa said.
“What are you talking about?” Chris asked, suddenly really confused.
“Well, Scott talks about Sassy all the time. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention her.”
“Ma, you’re giving me a headache. I introduced you to Sassy today. What are you going on about?” Chris asked.
“Christopher, are you telling me that Y/N is Sassy?”
“Yes!” Chris half chuckled, half groaned out.
“Oh no.” she mumbled. “I didn’t know they were one in the same! Christopher, I thought she was just some girl you met. I didn’t know she was Scott’s good friend Sassy!” Lisa exclaimed.
“Well, geez Ma. Thinkin’ so highly of me that I’d bring around just some girl on a family trip.” Chris said, running his hand through his hair once again.
“You boys don’t tell me these things. Now I feel so bad. Please apologize to her for me. Actually, you should apologize as well,” Lisa said.
“Me? What did I do?” Chris shouted.
“You didn’t make her stay,” she said matter-of-factly. “Take her out tomorrow. Go spend time with your friend. I can handle the kids just fine.”
Lisa left the room, calling out to the kids who were suddenly too quiet in one of the bedrooms.
Chris hung his head low. His mother was right. This was his first time he’s seen you since your quick meeting last fall. He didn’t want to go home leaving today as your only impression.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Scott had sent you a simple text that made you smile a short while later.
Scott: My brother’s a bone head
Y/N: Not disagreeing
 The last Hallmark Christmas movie you saved to your DVR was playing on the TV. Something about a singer who was trying to catch his big break and ends up skipping Christmas. By now they storylines were all starting to blur together. Your phone buzzed with a message, dragging your eyes away from the TV.
Chris: You float like a feather In a beautiful world I wish I was special You're so fuckin' special
But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here
What’s he going on about?
Y/N: Radiohead?
Your phone rang about a half a second later.
“So, you’re a creep huh?” you answered.
“Feeling like one,” Chris sighed out. “I’m sorry sweetheart. I wanted our day to be better.”
“Babe, it’s fine. It wasn’t bad. I’m sure you’ll be in town again,” you replied.
“My mother says sorry by the way. She didn’t realize you were THE Sassy. Apparently, Scott goes on and on about you.”
You chuckled at that. “That’s not embarrassing at all.”
“My mother doesn’t think to highly of me as she thought you were just someone I met and asked to hangout with us,” he groaned.
“I didn’t think my Mickey tee gave off that vibe,” you chuckled out. “Tell her it’s fine and it was still nice to meet her.”
“You are such a sweetheart,” Chris said.
There goes your stomach again. You really wished that hug earlier wasn’t so short and sloppy.
“I was wonderin’ if I could see you again, tomorrow?”
“Oh, I don’t know Chris,” you said hesitantly.
“Please? Just the two of us. Just me and you. I want to see you again before I had back to Mass.”
“But it’s your family time and I don’t want to take away from that,” you reasoned.
“Sweetheart, my ma told me she can handle tomorrow by herself. Not that I don’t want to see you.” He lets out a breath. “I really want to see you.”
There’s so much conviction in his voice. It’s so gravely that your finding yourself gripping the side of the couch cushion to stay grounded.
“Okay,” you sputter out. Clearing your throat, you try that again. “Okay.” It’s firmer and much better than screaming “yes, please!”
“Great!” You can hear the smile in his voice which instantly puts one on your face. “Can you, ah, could you pick me up? We did a car service and I figure it’s probably easier if you just come and grab me?” he said.
“That’s not a problem. Dork.”
“Oh, are we back at that again? I’m pretty sure you were the one in a Mickey Mouse t-shirt today.”
You scoff. “Mickey is your idol. Don’t even!”
He chuckles low and deep. “You got me.”
 Since it’s just you and Chris and you aren’t running around a theme park, you chose a white t-shirt dress with navy blue stripes. You added a thin brown leather belt to give the dress some form and pair it with brown strappy flat sandals. You’re picking Chris up at the villa they rented at one and then off to lunch. He’s letting you pick since you live in the area. Adding a touch of gloss to your lips, you grab your bag and walk out to your car.
 After putting your car in park in the driveway, you fire off a text letting him know you’re there. Even though you received a sorry via Chris from Lisa, you didn’t want to chance another odd meeting. They probably were at the parks anyway, but you didn’t want to take that chance.
A minute later her comes jogging to your car. The goof. He’s dressed casually but put together in navy colored shorts and crisp white V-neck t-shirt. The fact that your coordinated doesn’t slip past you.
He gets in, immediately pulling you into a hug. Chris kisses your forehead for the briefest of moments before letting go. You manage a dopey smile because damn if you aren’t smitten. Generally, you are pretty quick on your feet and would have already had something witty to say, but that kiss, even though it was innocent, really threw you off.
“Hi,” you manage to squeak out.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
You stare a little too long at his lips before shaking yourself out of it and slapping a smile on your face.
“So, lunch?” you asked.
 The two of you dine at Four Rivers Smokehouse which is one of your favorite spots for a quick bite. The food is always great with a good mix of people stopping by on their lunch break and families enjoying a meal out.
He chooses the ribs and you the brisket before grabbing a table in the corner, offering him the seat facing the wall, hoping it brings a little anonymity. The idea of being recognized in public didn’t even cross your mind as it’s not something you ever have to worry about. You regret your decision of choosing a restaurant with so many windows and frequent turn over. Despite your worries, Chris has not alluded to any discomfort as he happily eats his food. He’s added extra barbecue sauce to his ribs. Squeezing a bit from each of the six bottles at your table, sampling each one before choosing the one labeled ‘smoky’.
“This is really good. I mean, really good,” he said, sauce smeared around his lips.
He’s adorable and it takes everything in you not to reach forward to wipe the sauce from his face. You lick your own, it’s an involuntary action that his eyes get drawn too. At least you’re not the only one finding yourself distracted.
“I come here like once a week. But we keep that between me and you,” you said with a smirk. He chuckles before grabbing a napkin to wipe his face.
 Lunch has long been finished but the two of you stay seated at your table, enjoying just being together face to face. Your conversation is much like it is via phone call, but now you get to study each other’s facial expressions. Loving how his eyes crinkle when he really smiles. How his eyebrows raise when he gets serious. He’s a work of art and doesn’t even realize it.
It’s already four in the afternoon and the restaurant is in that between time after the lunch crowds and before the dinner rush. You somehow manage to remove your eyes from his and see that there are only two other tables occupied.
“I didn’t realize we’ve been here for so long,” you said, stretching your arms. “I’m also impressed you didn’t get any of that sauce on your white shirt.”
Chris chuckles and shakes his head. He reaches his hand across the table, taking yours in his.
“I don’t want to say goodbye yet.”
“We can go back to my place,” you offer, your face instantly heating up at the implication. “I mean, because I live nearby. Not that you need to come back with me. I-I just want to hangout longer,” you stutter out.
Chris smiles wide, squeezing your hand a few times. “Let’s go hangout.”
 “Cheers!” Chris said, clinking his bottle of beer against yours.
It’s the second bottle for both of you, but probably the last for you as you still need to drive him back and the whole “not drinking for a long time” promise you made yourself.
“Cheers,” you echo before taking a long pull from the bottle.
“Didn’t picture you the beer drinker, Y/N.”
“Oh, yeah? Why’s that Mr. Evans?”
“Mr. Evans? Someone’s mighty formal,” he said. You shrug your shoulders in response before taking another sip. “You just seem like wine is more your speed. Perhaps raspberry vodka,” he chuckles out.
“I could just kill your brother,” you groan out. “Pretty sure I have at least a third of the bottle left in my fridge if you want any.”
Chris shakes his head, taking a drink of beer. “I’ll leave that for you.”
“So, kind. So, kind,” you snicker.
He’s reclined on your couch while you sit in your comfy blue armchair, feet folded up under you. Chris is skimming through the music on your phone, picking a new song after the last is done rather than letting it play through.
“You wanna sync your phone to my speakers? We can play something from your phone,” you offered.
“Nah, I like a lot of your stuff.”
You hold your hand in front of your face and pretend to blow on your nails while winking at him, in that “I’m too cool” kind of way.
 The sun is starting to set and you have a good view of the painted sky from your backyard. It’s still plenty warm, but with the sun down and your ceiling fan on, the two of you are comfortable sitting on your loveseat on the lanai snacking on pizza rolls because that’s all that you had that didn’t require defrosting.
“It’s beautiful out here,” Chris said.
“Yeah, it’s not a bad view to have. Should’ve had you bring your suit. It was hard to drag Scott out of the pool,” you replied.
“How’d you put up with him the whole weekend?” Chris asked. He said it so seriously, but you can see a hint of a smile.
“Well, I’ve managed so far with you, so I can pretty much handle anything.”
He bumps you with his shoulder and shakes his head. “So, sassy.”
“That’s what they call me.”
“Who’s they?” Chris smirks.
“Just you and Scott.”
You let out a little chuckle and you notice those eye crinkles reappear.
“Good,” he agrees.
 It’s late, nearing eleven. Chris stopped drinking after three beers, the two of you switching over to water.
“You want to watch a movie?” Chris asked.
You had gone back to your living room an hour prior. Sitting in opposite corners of the couch, but facing each other, your foot bumps his leg once in awhile causing you both to blush.
“Don’t you have to get back? You have an early flight, right?”
“Not until eleven thirty. We can go if you want me to or if you’re getting tired, but I rather stay here with you,” he replied, sincerity in his voice.
Fuck. He’s going to be the death of me.
Honestly, you’d stay up for the next two days if it meant spending time together. And the fact that he wants to stay makes you want to weep tears of joy. But that’s just a little too dramatic.
“I want you to stay.”
“Yeah?” he asked.
“Yeah,” you agree, lightly slapping his bent leg resting on the couch cushion.
He grabs your hand before you can pull it away, holding it there, just resting on his leg. You shyly look up and see him looking at you. The only words that matches the two of you is heart eyes and you pray that you aren’t imaging it.
After what feels like several minutes but more like mere seconds, your mouth opens up and you break the spell.
“What do you want to watch?”
Chris lets go of your hand and your heart instantly crashes at the loss of contact.
“I think you know,” he replied. Your mouth quirks to the side while you try to figure him out. “Come on! You know.”
You put on a fake annoyed look and shake your head. “Really? Do we have to?”
“I’m pretty sure you said if I visited, we’d watch it,” Chris said.
“Fine. I’m a woman of my word,” you said.
Grabbing the Roku remote, you clicked on your Amazon app, finding The Princess Bride, and renting before Chris could offer you five dollars to pay for it.
“I’m the host! I don’t need your money babe,” you reasoned.  
The movie played on and you slowly found yourself leaning on Chris more and more. Not that he minded. The closer you got, the more hands on he became. Half way through, you were completely laying on his chest, both your legs out stretched on the couch while his rest on the floor. His left arm is stationary on the arm of the couch while the other was wrapped around you. Your right hand laid on his chest as your fingers lightly rub it without even realizing you were doing so. Chris would quietly hum now and then, bringing a smile to your face.
Friends cuddle. They totally do.
Before you even reach the end of the movie, you’ve fallen asleep. So much for seeing it all the way through. Chris readjusted so that the two of you are laying comfortably.
You awake sometime later to Chris brushing his hand through your hair. The TV is still on but nothing is playing.
“M’sorry,” you mumble. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”
You sit up slightly, taking in his tired eyes. He looks back at you adoringly.
“It’s okay. I’ll make you watch it again next time,” he said softly.
The words next time make you beam inside. You sit up, setting your feet on the floor.
“Want me to bring you home?”
“Nah, we’re both too tired. Take me in the morning?” he asked.
“Of course. Do you want to go to bed? What time is it anyway?”
“I think about three.” Chris sits up on the couch, running a hand down his face. “I’m actually a little more awake after our nap,” he quietly chuckled.
“You want to pull an all-nighter?” Well, kind of all-nighter since we did sleep for a little bit.”
“Yeah, if you’re not too tired,” he said shrugging his shoulders.
“Oh, shit! Did you tell your mom you weren’t coming back?”
Chris throws his head back laughing. “It’s my ma. Of course, I sent her a text. Once we started the movie, I figured I’d be staying over.”
“Good. I don’t need her thinking I’m a bad person. Taking advantage of her baby boy.”
You get up, walking to the kitchen to grab a couple of more water bottles. Chris swats your ass just as you pass him.
 The two of you have the music back on, sitting close to one another, choosing to talk through the early hours of morning. It’s nice and you can’t help but feel closer to him. Part of you is worried that this is a one-time thing. Chris comes to Orlando once or twice a year, but probably can’t get away to spend time with you each trip. You start to do the math on your own vacation time, trying to think if there are events out of state that a publication will pay you to write about. But it’s way too early to be thinking this much, you just need to be here in the now.
You shift your focus back to Chris who’s looking at you with a dopey grin.
“So, will you?” he asked.
Huh?
“Will I what?” you asked.
“Did I lose you for a minute?” he chuckles out.
“I’m sorry. Lack of sleep. I’m with you now. What’d you ask?”
“I said.” Chris stands up. “Do you want to go for a walk?” He takes your hand and pulls you to your feet, not letting you answer. “Sun’s almost up.”
You nod your head, walking to the door to slip on a pair of sneakers. They don’t quite go with your dress, but you’ve essential been up for almost a full day.
Grabbing your keys from the table near the door, you lock up and pass your keys to Chris since you don’t have any pockets. You live on a residential street that’s a mix of vacation rentals and long-term residents like yourself. There are a few joggers out, but besides them, it’s just you two.
Chris takes your hand in his as the two of you stroll slowly around your block.
“I’m really glad you were able to hangout today,” he said.
“Me too. I actually wish you were staying longer.”
“Me too sweetheart. I don’t want to wait another seven months to see you,” he confessed.
You stop in your tracks. Keeping a hold of his hand, you turn to face him.
“You don’t?” you asked.
Where this doubt is coming from, you’re not so sure. The two of you are friends, so of course you’ll see each other again. It’s just this in between flirting and touching that has you all mixed up.
Chris gently rests his other hand on your face and leans in, slowly bringing his lips to yours. They’re soft and smooth, just like you’ve imagined. You eagerly kiss him back but don’t want to push it, so you remain solid where you stand, letting him do the work. He slowly pulls away, but not far because you can feel his warm breath on your face. His eyes are intense, asking for permission. You slightly nod your head and before you know it, his lips hit yours. It’s so quick you’ve barely shut your eyes before his other hand takes a hold of your face and he kisses you more intensely. You’re not complaining, but you are thankful it’s so early, the neighborhood is barely awake. You wrap your arms around his back and hold him tight as he kisses you senseless. He pulls back again, still holding your face gently before planting a chaste kiss on your lips.
You flutter your eyes open to see a soft smiling Chris. He’s still lightly holding your face and you hope he doesn’t stop.
“Was that okay?” he asked softly.
He knows it was. He’s just being a little shit per the usual.
You give him a small frown and quickly see a tiny bit of doubt in his eyes.
“I think I need to try that again,” you said, grabbing his face and bringing him to you. You kiss him softly on the lips. Once. Twice. Three times before you feel him smile against you. He leans his forehead against yours as you both stand there like two smiling fools.
“Of course, I don’t want to wait this long to see you again,” he breathes out.
“Me neither,” you agree.
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demonytekav · 3 years ago
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Katsuki Fucking Bakugou
Got myself thinking today. Well…every day.
FYI these are my personal thoughts - so take it or leave it I guess I’m not stating this as a fact and your do opinions matter. These are just my thoughts….
So like I’ve seen his home life be taken 2 different ways. A lot of people see the more comical aspect of his mom being aggressive and yelling at him, which to be fair YES it can be fucking hilarious. And I see that too, I find it funny he’s aggressive like her and they fight yada yada.
But I also see the other side of this. The accidentally abusive side. I say accidentally because I do not think his mom is purposely abusing him.
See I grew up in a house with a very dominant and aggressive step dad. He yelled, cussed, and was controlling as all hell over everything. He was always aggravated by me (just breathing was enough let me tell you). And his feelings ALWAYS came first. He CARED (very difficult to see unless you look for it) but has ZERO idea on how to be someone who puts others first. We were always on his timeline. He doesn’t know the meaning of the word “sorry”.
The difference here I think is that my step dad beat me down. Didn’t challenge me to do better just out right told me I was shit at whatever I was doing. Or bitched when I didn’t know how to do something. Vs Katsuki’s mom seems like the person who would say “My kid wouldn’t suck at this” and proceed to PUSH her little shit of a son in an aggressive way to do better. And she’d talk him up so much so that he’d get an ego boost about it.
I don’t even want to imagine what it might have been like had he messed up or wasn’t that good at something. I wonder if his mom would give him hell about it unintentionally. And I can almost guarantee the word “sorry” was never uttered to him by her. One thing to note too, is that Katsuki himself is unapologetic about his own behavior and that stems from his own ego/confidence as well as his environment. He grew up in a space where it was natural to yell, cuss, and be violent when getting a point across. For me it was similar but my confidence was never cultivated and instead it was crushed - so I learned to handle others in a softer way but I still come off as stiff.
It’s why I find myself half the time identifying with some things Katsuki does. I have a HORRIBLE time connecting with people and would often rather NOT deal with people especially if they are friendly and nice. Sometimes im inexcusably over confident and arrogant, and have down right asshole-ish behavior on some things. I pick on people I like (friends or romantic interests) in a way to get attention on me for even just a moment. I don’t have the intention of being mean but can come across that way. Or I tend to stay away all together. I get irritated easily over small shit and I have resting “I fucking hate you stop talking” face. Sound familiar?
Getting side tracked. I feel like Katsuki is very similar to me and yet different. I can SEE why he would have been a bully especially to Deku. I can see why he has a complex about being the best and not wanting help. It’s how he grew up, Katsuki doesn’t necessarily understand being the victim, only knows the stance of the abuser and thinks he’s “right”. Where as I have been given the unique perspective of both, I have been forced to understand my step dad as well as be the bully victim (mostly the victim).
Just like Katsuki I CANT STAND asking for help and I HATE people thinking I need it. Abuse does weird things to you and messes with your perception in these things. Help comes across as a weakness or being made fun of. Or as leverage against you. Sometimes you even feel like a burden and that shit just don’t fly.
Katsuki got arrogant as a kid being around those who weren’t as ‘brilliant’ as he was and especially having a home life like he did only fueled that. So it’s understandable that he WOULD see Deku as a cry baby or weak. His perception of strength came from his mothers unintentional abuse and over inflated ego he was given by the adults around him. It doesn’t help that he IS a natural leader. His suspicion of Deku is also pretty on point for this.
I won’t lie here. I didn’t trust ANYBODY growing up. I can imagine Katsuki being very similar, thinking people are wearing masks. Seeing Deku smiling so happily and being constantly nice and helpful would definitely confuse him. Why? Because growing up in an abusive house means at times the abuser is kind to you, sometimes for lengths of time, usually with a goal in mind, before ripping the rug out from under you and they show their true intentions. Katsuki was /is afraid of Dekus selflessness because Katsuki can’t afford to be that way. Cant afford to let his guard down and he probably was afraid of what intentions Deku had. In other words “looking down on him”.
Katsukis anger toward others is another thing I find interesting especially when as a little kid he smiled all the time and walked with his head up high. After the issue with Deku trying to help him as a kid it gave him a very specific (and incorrect) reality check. It also made him even more angry/suspicious of Deku specifically. In high school he wanted NOTHING to do with other people other than for them to worship him and his skills (in a way). He was entering a school where he would have to compete to show he was the best, it was a new experience for him as he has ALWAYS just been the best being as they grew up around all the same kids and nothing ever changed.
But people want to get close to him. It’s a distraction and waste of time, it makes me wonder if this is partly because he knows when school ends they won’t be together anymore. Maybe his separation from Deku as kids (their friendship I mean) actually impacted him in such a strong way even if he was the one to end it. It hurts to no longer have that friendship that was built- he probably saw Deku as a lifelong companion up to a point as a kid- when they discovered he didn’t have a quirk Katsuki probably had another boost to his ego about being better than Deku and at the same time knowing they were not longer on the same path. After the log incident and they were no longer friends in his mind (due to his insecurities and thinking he was being played?) it probably hurt him a lot internally but he didn’t realize it. And maybe later during high school he looked at Deku as actually betraying him, again probably thinks people are nice to get something out of it (thinks he’s being made fun of or looked down on like my point from earlier) and to learn that Deku hid his quirk only solidified that Deku might have been playing him all along (until he learns the truth), and doesn’t want to feel like that again? So he pushes people away? Regardless he is rude and mean to everyone but over time he gets closer to people.
Another thing to note, I think the more un-confident he is the more aggressive he is in regards to some things, so I feel like the way he snaps at his friends is a good tell that he’s not comfortable being close to others. Especially with how he refuses to acknowledge the word “friends”. (Small thought but is he afraid to use the word friend because of losing Deku as friend in the past and the pain/hurt that caused when he thought he was being looked down on and they went their separate ways? Like I said, he may have thought Deku would be his companion running along behind him all his life at that point and then they realized he didn’t have a quirk AND Deku tries to help him and etc that happened so is he afraid to get close to someone again - be ‘played’ - and worried he will just get hurt?????)
I get like this too. My initial response to unknown or uncomfortable situations is to be on guard and prickly. Katsuki when embarrassed would be explosive because that’s much easier to understand. When there are things I don’t understand I get mad or irritated immediately. It’s easier than crying or smiling. Don’t even fucking get me started on hugs because I love them but I HATE them because they make me too emotional and I cry and then I get pissed. Katsuki probably gets weird about physical affection because to him the only affection he’s known is the angry kind. He probably doesn’t understand fundamentally what being in a normal and close friendship is and thinks his way has been right this whole time and everyone else is wrong. Which is why he act like a rabid bear when confronted by affection to him it makes NO sense.
I saw people be ANGRY over him goading Deku in the latest chapters. Calling out his behavior as regressing back to his old ways and how it’s proof he’s not changing.
Personally, I don’t see that. Just from my own self indulgent take on Katsuki here is what I think is happening.
Katsuki is angry. He finally UNDERSTANDS everything and realizes Deku was NOT trying to hurt him and has been genuine this entire time. He understands his behavior/treatment of Deku was misguided and WRONG.
But he’s ANGRY that after everything HE isn’t being trusted (Deku has always had blind faith in him before now). HE is being looked at as weak, we know he’s not but imagine it from someone who is just out of the hospital and had just risked his life and is basically being BENCHED with Deku being in the same state he is in. He probably feels like he’s being viewed as weak. HES worried about Deku 1st and foremost because he knows it’s going to end badly, maybe with loss of life and he can’t STAND to be benched when he could be helping his friend. Yes friend.
Katsuki took it upon himself to atone for what he did and right now his charge has left him behind. His FRIEND left him behind and is doing DANGEROUS things and tying in what I mentioned above. The fact that he didn’t outright attack Deku when their eyes met says it all for me. Katsuki is FURIOUS. But he’s not the little kid who would have tried to beat Deku up because of his anger.
So, he smack talks. He goads Deku. I mean FUCK, I’d bitch out my friends too and antagonize them (it would come off as me making fun) but Katsuki KNOWS it would get to Deku. Knows it would press buttons and he does it BECAUSE he knows Deku isn’t going down without a fight. And also, HES MAD and he’s probably HURT at the least he’s offended.
He is allowed to be MAD at his friends. How many times have you sat and complained or royally bitched out a friend in your head because of something dumb as hell they did? I’ve done it so much.
Thing is, I’m not saying he is doing the RIGHT thing. No no. I’m just stating a fact as to what he is DOING. But he’s not doing what he WOULD have done in the past which would have been to immediately and literally fuck Deku up and yell at him and BRING HIM DOWN verbally and mentally for the sake of BRINGING HIM DOWN.
No he’s mouthing off to show he’s mad plain and simple. He’s wanting Dekus attention on him and Dekus acknowledgement of his mistakes/Katsukis anger.
(Side story, in freshman year of high school a friend of mine made some DUMB as fuck choices. I found out about it between classes from another person. I literally RAGED out loud in the hall way, got some interesting looks, and STOMPED MY FURIOUS ASS 3 floors down to cuss and spit at her like a demon child for it in front of everyone because of how dumb she was. I then spent the next several periods of class steaming and fuming before walking *stomping* her ass home and bitching at her the whole way. Yes we talked about it. But the point still stands that I get why Katsuki rages because I fucking do it too especially the more I care….I’m a lot older now and I don’t yell anymore nor do I let my anger control me)
Katsuki in my opinion is growing, slowly, but he’s growing. This is different than the past. In fact he came with the class as a whole. That itself says everything because he’s always about doing things on his own. It also makes sense that he isn’t dramatically different…..I think that would be almost to disingenuous to his character and wouldn’t show the growth or show he EARNED anything. It would come off as almost….fake. If he acted any differently. I think the only other way I would accept him behaving is for him to be completely SILENT until the right moment and say very specific things. But again, that might also be too far out of his current character.
Katsuki is a tough one. The only reason I feel connected to him is because I can equate my own circumstances and feelings to his due to the similarities of his upbringing. I feel like we are the same coin but each a different side.
I guess I’m saying it’s understandable why he’s such an aggressive ass and why he was a bully and is still being a mouthy shit. He didn’t grow up in a fluffy loving household. So it makes sense for him to be this harsh.
Another thing to note: 1st. He’s a fucking kid. And kids sometimes can not distinguish between right and wrong. 2nd. He IS showing maturity in his actions and growing but again, it’s slow LIKE IT SHOULD BE. He’s learning. In fact, it’ll probably take him years to learn certain things and I bet some stuff he won’t really get the hang of. I know I fucking didn’t. I still come off as an ass. And I’m emotionally constipated. I still can’t fathom certain social interactions and I can’t not be suspicious of peoples kindness. I can’t be outgoing and show affection (like seriously don’t cry near me because I don’t know what the fuck to do with you). I’ve learned how to handle people better and treat others better but unfortunately when you have lived with an abusive parent there’s no telling how exactly you will come out of it or how long it will take you to UNLEARN that garbage and input the correct things.
And it’s going to take him some years to make some corrections. I don’t think he will ever be a fluffy touchy feely guy. And I bet he will still snap and snarl at times. But I can see the way he is being written and it’s showing growth. Subtle as it is. But it’s there.
I’m just saying that if my perspective has any truth to it for this character, then cut the kid some slack. Not too much because hey he still needs to grow and we don’t want to see him regress.
Idk…what do you think? I’m always curious about others perspectives because everyone is so different yet similar. Even in writing I can easily channel Katsuki (to an point) but Izuku or some of the other more friendly characters are VERY difficult for me.
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skye-maxwell · 5 years ago
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Mostly You
Persona 4 | Souyo | Third year, pre-relationship | Rated F for Fluff
Happy birthday, @livefreeordie13! You are my friend, and I like you a lot! \o/
For prompt #6: “I think about you all the time.”
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It was Yosuke’s turn to call him today, so Souji sat on the floor of his bedroom, patiently folding paper cranes while he waited. 
They had spoken to each other on the phone nearly every day since Souji had left Inaba, and Souji was grateful that Yosuke always seemed eager to hear from him. Even if it was just a quick call after school on his way to Junes, or while he was drifting off to sleep after a long day—Yosuke made time for Souji, and that meant the world to him.
The ringtone Souji had specifically assigned to Yosuke started playing, and Souji smiled, like he always did. It was a song Yosuke had shared with him to cheer him up when things had been at their worst, and now Souji knew every word and every note of the track. 
“Hey, Yosuke,” Souji greeted warmly, putting his phone on speaker and setting it on his desk so he could keep folding. 
“Hey, Partner!” Yosuke said happily, and Souji smiled again. He would never get tired of that enthusiasm. “What are you up to?” 
“Cranes.”
“Haha, again? Are you trying to set a world record for ‘most paper cranes folded’ or something?” 
“No, but now that you say that, it sounds pretty good. I think that’ll be my goal now.” 
Instead of dismissing the joke like Souji expected him to, Yosuke said, “Well, if anyone can do it, it’s you. I believe in you, Partner!” 
“Thank you,” Souji said dumbly, becoming flustered for a moment before he could think of a better reply. “If I do break the record, you’ll be the first one I invite to the party.”
“The party?” 
“Yeah, to celebrate my success.” 
“Oh man, a party thrown by you? I can see it now. It’s gonna be a total rager,” Yosuke laughed.   
“Of course. It’ll be the most enraged of ragers.”
“That doesn’t even make sense!” 
“Honestly, it would probably just end up being you and me sitting in a room drinking something like, not even alcoholic, and we would try to clink our glasses together and probably spill lemonade everywhere—”
“When did it turn into lemonade?”
“—and then you’d be all ‘Congrats, Partner,’ and yeah, that would probably be it.” 
Souji expected Yosuke to laugh at the image he had created, or to call it lame and throw out ideas for an actual rager… 
“I mean, as long as I’m there with you, I’m down for whatever.” 
Souji dropped his paper crane. 
Why? Souji mentally asked Yosuke, picking his crane back up off the floor. Why must you say such cute things?
Not about to say anything remotely like that out loud, Souji asked, “So what are you doing right now?”
Not seeming to notice the abrupt change of subject, Yosuke answered, “I’m doing homework! Kind of.” 
“Are you just doodling in the margins?” 
“Not just the margins, Partner—the whole paper! Because, you know, there’s no notes on the page…” 
Souji sighed. “Do I need to hang up so you can get your homework done?”
“No! No no no! Please don’t hang up! I’ll actually do it later, I promise!”
“Calm down, I’m not actually gonna hang up on you.” 
“Okay, good.”
“That does remind me, though… Lately I’ve been daydreaming in class a lot. Sometimes I’ll just completely space out, and by the time I space back in, I realize I haven’t been paying attention for an entire lecture.” 
“For real? Did my bad habits rub off on you?”
“Why do you sound like that? What are you doing now?”
“Finished drawing. Balancing a pencil on my nose. Crap! I dropped it. Anyways, you’re supposed to be the good student between the two of us, man! We can’t both be slacking off!” 
“Sorry, Yosuke.”
Before Souji could say anything else, Yosuke suddenly asked, “What do you think about?” 
“Hm?”
“When you’re daydreaming all that time—what are you thinking about?”
“Well… I think about last year a lot, and how I wish I was still there with everyone, and I think about recipes I want to make, and movies I want to see, and what I want to do after high school, and… you. Mostly you, actually,” Souji accidentally admitted. 
“Me? What about me?” 
Now that Souji had let the cat peek its head out of the bag, he wasn’t entirely sure he would be able to keep the rest of it in the bag for much longer. 
“I think about all the crazy and terrible and amazing times we had together last year, and how I wish was still there with you. I think about recipes I want to make for you to try, and the faces you’ll make when you’re eating them. I think about movies I want to see, whether or not you would like them, the discussions we would have after we watched them together… I think about how badly I want to do whatever it takes to have more of you in my life after I finish this stupid third year… Yeah, all the time. I think about you all the time.”
“Partner, that’s… um, unexpected. I’m sure someone like you has better things to think about than me.”
Souji shook his head. “No. I don’t. Not more important than you, no.” 
“You’re exaggerating, right? To make me feel good?” 
“I’m not. Does it make you feel good?”
“Well, yeah, sure it does. Being on someone’s mind makes me feel special, y’know? Especially your mind.”
“You seem surprised, Yosuke. You really don’t have any idea how important you are to me, do you?” 
“I guess not? I don't know, it’s just… hard to believe. Do you know why I always make sure we talk to each other like this? I mean, obviously I don’t want you to be lonely, and I want to make sure you’re doing okay, but also like, I just don’t want you to forget me.”
Souji scoffed, immediately covering his mouth afterwards because he definitely hadn’t meant to do that, even if what Yosuke had said was completely ludicrous. 
Forget you? With the amount of running around you do in my mind, how on earth could I possibly forget you? 
Souji quickly tried to find a way to convey that sentiment to Yosuke in a less creepy way. 
“The only way I could ever forget you is if I had a major head injury, like blunt force trauma, and I forgot everything… or, if I, you know, died.” 
“Partner! Don’t say shit like that!” 
“My problem isn’t forgetting you; my problem is remembering you too much. Seriously, it’s constant. But actually, yeah, no, I don’t want to think of you any less, not really…”
“Heh, is this what it feels like to be flattered? You’re really something else, Partner. Oh hey, I’ve gotta go; my mom’s calling me for dinner.”
“Okay,” Souji sighed, feeling like he had sort of just poured his heart out (in a subtle yet super vulnerable and embarrassing way?), and yet the conversation had not come anywhere close to a satisfying resolution. “Tell her I said hi.” 
“Will do! She’ll be thrilled, haha. She’s actually trying out one of the recipes you left her, so I’ll let you know how it goes. Don’t worry though; it’s definitely not gonna be as good as when you make it.” 
Souji rediscovered his smile, happy that Yosuke would be thinking about him after he hung up—comparing his mother’s cooking against Souji’s own while he ate, remembering the times Souji had made the dish for him, coming up with an evaluation to share with Souji after the meal was done… 
“Your loyalty is appreciated.” 
“All right, Partner, thanks for talking to me.”
“Yosuke? I’m sorry if anything I said was too weird.” 
“All you ever say is weird stuff, man. I’m used to it.” 
“Pfft, okay, bye.” 
“Talk to you later!” 
Yosuke hung up, and Souji finished off the crane he was working on, setting the red paper bird on his desk in a row with several other red cranes. He took a photo and sent it off to Yosuke with the caption: “It’s like your shirt.” 
Satisfied with that, Souji stood up so he could go make his own dinner, but a text from Yosuke stopped him in his tracks. 
Instead of a reply about his picture, he opened up an unexpected picture from Yosuke. 
It was of his notebook, the one he had been doodling in at the beginning of their conversation. 
The first thing that caught his eye was a big-headed (chibi?) doodle of himself (the distinct bowl cut was a dead giveaway) in the middle of the page, holding his sword and wearing his TV World glasses. He also appeared to be on fire? Or maybe that was a representation of Persona power? 
Whatever it was, it was adorable.
Souji’s gaze flitted across the full page, his breaths growing more shallow as he took it all in: Izanagi and Jiraiya doing cool(?) action poses next to each other, a bento box that looked very much like the ones Souji used to prepare for Yosuke every day, a half-melted snowman wearing Souji’s grey scarf and Nanako’s Loveline hat, a Mega Beef Bowl from Aiya’s and stick figure versions of all their friends drowning in it… 
It took Souji a minute to realize it, but every single doodle across the page was somehow related to himself, and the memories he and Yosuke shared together. 
In the bottom corner of the page, one doodle was squeezed in that must have been the last one Yosuke drew. It was the two of them standing side-by-side in front of a house (but it didn’t look like any house that Souji recognized?) with their arms around each other’s shoulders. They were wearing big happy faces, and one of Yosuke’s arms was in the air, as if he was waving. 
The circular sun with squiggly rays coming out of it was in the sky above them, smiling and wearing sunglasses, ironically. There was a thing in front of the house that Souji didn’t recognize at first until he saw the bike next to it; it was a half-pipe. 
Then Souji squinted at another part of the doodle and zoomed in on the image, not quite believing his eyes.
In the front window of the house, there was a cat peeking through, big and fluffy just like Souji liked. 
Was that supposed to be… their house? 
“No way,” Souji whispered to himself.
Then he scrolled down to the caption and completely lost his breath. 
“I think of you too.” 
And with that, Souji’s fate was sealed—he was going to be thinking about Yosuke—his Partner who he was in love with (who thought about him too!)—nonstop for the rest of his life. 
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hank-mcdankblade · 5 years ago
Text
I Know A Bottom When I See One Princess (Part 3)
Pairing: Dean x Reader
Summary
Chapter 1: You and Dean have been pals for as long as you can remember, practically raised together. Are things still the same as you remembered when you reconnect with him after a couple years apart? Well there is one thing you see differently and you’re about to call him out on it.
Chapter 2:  After you flirt back with Dean you start to rethink all of your life choices. Why did you flirt back instead of making fun of him? God it would be so much easier if you were just a genderless blob. Hopefully the new supernatural case a friend of your mom’s gives you will distract you from all this romance mumbo jumbo.
Chapter 3: You and Dean both start to realize your feelings are not what you both originally anticipated them to be. If only you two could actually talk like adults instead of bantering like childish 8 year olds. The case picks up when you see a certain someone’s name over every case, a certain boomer’s name.
Chapter 4: You and Dean do some sleuthing into Chrissy’s apparent death. After learning the truth your trip to Wendy’s/Jack in the Box gets interrupted by Chief douchebag. Rick takes the three of you on a nice drive to the mountains to introduce you to his daughter.
Word Count: 5,041
Warnings: Many, Many swear, Dean being a little shit, pg-13 thoughts from a certain green eyed hunter.
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      The car was quiet. You couldn’t help but wonder if maybe you were the cause of it. You reminded yourself that there were a million other reasons as to why the drive was silent. Hell there were hours spent in this car with nothing but the sound of guitars and dig of the tire against the road as background noise. All you needed was each other’s company and nothing more. The rational part of your mind was scolding you to shut the hell up about it and stop worrying, pointing out multiple pieces of evidence disproving your original theory. Meanwhile your much less rational side disagreed. She was a bit of a dumb bitch, but very persuasive. It was practically her superpower to ignore all the facts and blindly believe in her opinions.
        “Hey, sorry about springing the whole relationship thing on you. Just thought it’d be easier to fly under the radar as a couple….” You clenched your hands and wrung them together. Your eyes glanced at Dean to your left, quietly gauging his reaction. 
       “Don’t apologize, it’s ok. It was quick thinking. And who knows how suspicious detective douche would’ve been if you hadn’t.” Dean only took his eyes off the road for a moment to look over at you, lying through his damn teeth.
       “True…guess Jen was right about the cops being jumpy here.” Finally, with that off your conscience you could relax into the leather seats with ease. Things were fine. You were just putting way too much thought into this flirting with Dean thing. It was just how your relationship with him was and everything was ok. 
       You were fairing much better than Dean though. Dean’s grip on the steering wheel could be described as vice-like. The insides of his fingertips could feel the stitches in the fabric of the wheel. It felt like he had cotton shoved into his head, there was only one thing consuming his thoughts. Was he really interested in having you the way you spoke of the other night? Bent over and vulnerable while you took advantage of him? Thank god that his right foot was preoccupied with the gas pedal or his entire leg would be bouncing. 
        To you his face looked stoic, and void of emotion. Dean’s eyes were painted with a foggy filter. Mentally he was miles away from the Impala. Every couple of minutes or so he would come back and hyper focus on a different part of the reality in front of him. Dean sometimes focused on the way his joints bent or how his skin felt, and other times focused on how you were too close to him and too far away at the same time. Dean’s hand was shaking, aching to have it on your leg, give you a good squeeze or anything just something to feel you and your skin on him. He wanted to feel your firm grip on him, on his legs, his hands, around his throat. He wanted so badly for your hips to be driving his into the mattress, coming up and down bouncing on his cock until he came closer and closer…
        “Ready to head in and get some info.?” Your delicate voice slowly reintroduced him to the present. Dean looked in front of him and saw a beige building that looked like it was built in the 60s and was never remodeled since. The black letters on the brick wall by the front door read, ‘Grand Mesa County Libraries Central Library.’ His body was slowly returning to its normal temperature as he stepped out of the car. 
        “Yeah, let’s do it.” Getting back on track Dean prepared himself for the first step in every hunting trip you two took, do some re-con and get info about the case. He was gonna have to put his thoughts of you on the back burner for now, which was easier said than done. Once you passed the threshold, the smell of old carpet and moth balls slapped you in the face. It was a nostalgic potent smell that reminded you of your kindergarten years and would haunt you for the rest of your life. Looking around, the place did not seem too busy. There were a few people scattered across the building casually mulling through books and movies to check out.
        “Wanna check the newspapers and I’ll look into local lore?” You two nodded to each other and went your separate ways diving deep into yellowed paper and books with broken spines. Soon enough you could no longer hear the soft thumps of Dean’s boots.
        After scanning the isles you checked out a couple books and started a nest by the computers. The first thing you knew you had to check out was the case at hand. You tapped away at the very out of date computer keyboard.
        Disappearances Grand Mesa National Forest
        There were about a thousand hits online for disappearances. The hard part would be finding information from a reliable source. The first few minutes into researching changed your posture as your spine straightened up and mind shifted into its case-mode. Everything in the world went blurry except for the books and screen in front of you.
~~~~
        ‘Newspapers…newspapers.’ Dean’s fingertips brushed over the tops of age softened newspapers. Once you spend months in different libraries you tend to pick up what their usual lay out was, so the newspapers were an easy find. Thankfully instead of having to search through the records by hand, this library had a computer to search key words in to find articles. If Dean ever went to hell, he was sure that being forced to dig through newspapers by hand would be his torture. 
        ‘Newly-Wed couple from Illinois vanished without a trace. Last seen in Grand Mesa National Forest.’
        ‘Scouts No Longer Holding Summer Camp in Grand Mesa National Forest After Four Scouts Lost to the Curse.’
        ‘The Grand Mesa Curse strikes again with the disappearance of a family of three.’
        Seeing the pictures from the crime scenes made things real. Of course Dean knew the hidden reality that the supernatural world truly was, but sometimes it was easy to forget. It was easy to forget that there was true evil in this world, that there was evil more than just a greedy billionaire or corrupt politician, but pure evil that only sought to drag as many souls to hell as possible. There were so many families that had their loved ones ripped from them without a reason, completely unknowing of the darkness that lurked so closely to them. They would be driven mad with the lack of ‘logical’ facts in their eyes, cursed to never know what really happened and given answers that felt bitter to the taste. Others had their eyes opened unwillingly, shown what was behind the curtain before they could even sputter out an answer. Dean wondered what he would’ve chosen had he been given the choice. Would he rather know what killed his mother and spent his life fearing those that hid behind human faces? Or would he rather go on with his normal apple pie life never finding closure in the death of his mother? Neither option had more pros or cons than the other. He could spend a lifetime mulling the answer over and never find one that felt fight.
        “Excuse me, are you looking for something in specific? You look a little lost…” Dean turned his attention upwards and saw a young librarian. She looked like she was probably a couple years older than him, a native here for sure.
       “Huh?” Dean blinked a few times before really processing what she said to him while he was on autopilot. “Oh, no. I’m alright but thanks.” Dean offered her a smile before going back to flipping through the stacks of old newspapers. 
        The librarian nodded before looking at what headlines he was choosing. She raised a brow as assumptions about who this mysterious man was filled her head. “Interested in the Grand Mesa Curse huh?” Now there was something useful that he needed. 
        “Uh…yeah. Somethin’ like that. Know anything about it?” Dean leaned his arms on the newspaper stand. Any info you two could get would make this whole operation go smoother. 
       The woman let out a short breath of a laugh and shook her head. “It’d be impossible to live around here and not know about it. Around this time of year nobody really goes up into those woods, and especially near the mine shafts.” She paused for a beat and then continued. “My name’s Shan by the way.” Shan looked at Dean with an eagerness in her eyes. The gesture fell on deaf ears and Dean simply smiled back at her.
       “Dean.” He held out his hand to hers, and gave her a firm shake. “Well, I’ve got all I need for now.”
       “Feel free to call me if you need anything.”
        “Will do, thanks.” What a nice lady. 
~~~~
        After collecting a handful of articles from different newspapers, Dean headed back to you ready to get down to business. You were hunched over a loud keyboard like a goblin, typing away all the notes you were compiling for future use. There were probably about 15 tabs open on one browser and 17 pages from various books that had been dog eared. From the looks of it, Dean could tell you were already on a roll. Not wanting to disturb you, he silently pulled out a chair next to you and started to flip through and score the articles he had. 
        About an hour later you two felt confident enough in your information to start piecing something together. 
       “Hey.” An unfamiliar voice interrupted your work process forcing you out of your thought bubble. When you looked up you saw what you assumed was a librarian who worked here looking right at Dean with some form of recognition lighting up her features. “Thought I’d check in to see how you were doing with the Grand Mesa Curse.” There was something in the tone of this girl’s voice that really put you off. Instinctively you tried not to reveal your true thoughts with your facial expressions. There was nothing on her, or within her, that was tripping up your Slayer signal, so she definitely was not a monster. Regardless, something was feeling weird as you looked between the two of them.
       “Pretty good actually, just getting some basic information.” The two of them chatted for a bit before the girl eventually left to actually do her job. Ok there was a possibility that you were being harsh, but this girl was interrupting your research session so regardless she’s being a bother. Human or not.
       Ok…
                Deep breath….
       You took a moment to restart yourself in a sense. She was human, and she wasn’t even at your table for too long so why were you so on edge around her?
        Next to you, Dean felt something in the air shift and looked over to you. Your eyes were still glued to the computer screen but your vibe felt different, more ridged, and that worried him. Still looking at you, Dean nudged you with his elbow.
        “Hmm?” You hummed, still focused on your research.
       “You ok? You seem…upset.” Damn him for knowing you so well. Hunting together had given him the skill to pick up on all your tells. You didn’t know whether this was a blessing or a curse.
        “What? No I’m ok.” You spared him a moment of your attention before returning to work. Dean slowly narrowed his eyes at you. The slightly higher pitched bubbly-ness in your voice was not genuine. You were lying, but he wasn’t going to press you on it in such a public place. 
        The moments drew longer and blurred together as you two eventually got back into the swing of things, but there was something that caught your attention as the hour flew by. It happened every fifteen or so minutes when you would catch a glimpse of that girl that talked to Dean. She would linger by the book stands and rearrange the books there, giving herself an excuse to look at Dean while she ‘worked.’ With each time she stalked near, her act became less and less convincing and it was starting to tick you off. You had work to do and she couldn’t take the hint with the piles of books you two had. Not to mention how little Dean seemed to pay attention to her advances. If she was a monster, she was a very poor one at that, but if she was a human then you had an idea of what she was after. Either option made you want to pull Dean’s chair closer to you, look over his shoulder to see what he was working on even though you already knew. A burning feeling started to ignite with every trip she made past your table. 
        Annoying woman aside, you two had found some important information. The history of the Grand Mesa National Forest was pretty plain. The forest was created by President Benjamin Harrison in 1892. No amount of digging brought up any supernatural affiliation. No massacres of any kind, no Native American burials, and no cults made that forest their home either. So this meant no large scale hauntings, which honestly relieved you. This narrowed the field down. Looking over articles from books and online and newspapers brought to light what was commonly known here as the “Grand Mesa Curse.” 
        It started about two decades ago when a group of college kids traveled up into the mountains for Christmas break. According to their parents they only planned on staying for a couple of days. Things took a turn for the worse when it had been three days after the kids were supposed to be home and no one heard from them. Entire search parties of police officers, family and friends, and many other volunteers combed the forest the best that they could. No bodies were found but their campsite was destroyed and barren. The press and police chalked this up to be the fault of the bears that roamed around, and the same was happening with the most recent case. Luckily this time around there was one girl who survived the attacks, Chrissy Hamilton. 
        There had been a couple cases before this particular one as well that dealt with bear attacks and missing people, but the thing that made it stand out was that the disappearances grew in number afterwards. They were all around the same time and similar location. Something that caught your eye immediately was that a girl from the group of college kids had the same last name as the sheriff you and Dean saw. 
        Lydia Sullivan, daughter of Rick Sullivan, went missing two decades ago and was never found. Her mother, Emily Sullivan, passed away soon after not being able to handle the death of her child. “Ok so if his daughter got merked, why is Sullivan Chief of Douchebags so lax with all these cases? You’d think he’d take his time.” Your tone of voice was low and gravely coming out slowly. That ass hole’s name was popping up everywhere. Rick Sullivan oversaw every single disappearance case in the Grand Mesa National Forest district since his daughter went missing. The man was seen as a determined father that wanted to keep Colorado’s kids safe. He may not have worked every case personally, but the records stated that he went over the paperwork and guided his officers. 
        “Maybe he’s luring kids into the forest? What purpose would he have to cover all of this up though if he wasn’t involved?” Dean leaned his forearm on the back of your chair to get a closer look at what you had. 
        “Doubt it, on all their suspect lists they show alibis too and his checks out. So that means that all of this is coincidental. He could be overseeing every case because he feels guilty for letting his daughter down?” 
        “Like a coping mechanism?” Dean sat back in his chair, eyes focused on a blank part of a wall as he tried to process everything. 
        You nodded. “Yeah, those things that normal people have.” You gave Dean a smirk knowing full well that both of your coping mechanisms included heavy amounts of alcohol and repression. Dean rolled his eyes at you with a smile that mirrored yours, remembering all the countless nights where you two would stay up far too late with a bottle of whiskey. Many times at the end of those nights the thoughts and pictures that kept you up at night would tumble out from your mouths. Subconsciously the space between you two would shrink, physically and emotionally. Dean could count on his left hand how many people he trusted and felt safe enough around to be vulnerable with. After all the shit you’d been through and years you’ve known each other, if he didn’t trust you he would never trust anyone. 
        “Hey, me again. Wanted to let you know that I found a couple of stragglers for the paper you two are putting together.” Jesus Christ this librarian really couldn’t see a moment when it was right in front of her could she? You had had enough of this girl’s talking. You thin string of will power snapped and opened up the lines from your direct thoughts to your mouth.
        “Why are you here?” Your eyes narrowed. Dean was taken aback. He had seen you lose your temper before, but only on those who truly deserved it. I.E. bar assholes, clowns/mimes, and religious nuts trying to convert you. This wasn’t the usual anger he was used to seeing before you knocked someone out, it was a silent subtle kind that would creep up on you if you didn’t watch for the signals. He was seeing all of them in slow motion. 
         Your jaw was clenched, no doubt thinking of biting her head off if she didn’t scamper off back to the corner she came from. What was usually a smile was replaced with a thin line that showed no welcome. But the thing that scared him the most was your eyes, cold and distant. Those eyes had never been directed him, eyes void of compassion. 
        Shan flinched just the slightest, brows pulled together not expecting such a reaction. “Uh-um, I’m here to help. It’s kind of my job.” She bit back at the end of her sentence, though her stare was not nearly as intimidating as yours. When she talked to Dean earlier she assumed that the two of you were merely classmates or just friends, but she had a bad feeling that she barked up the wrong tree. Your aura seemed dangerous, like a crazy jealous girlfriend. 
        “It’s your job to creep around the patrons and watch them from afar while you pretend to do your job?” One brow was quirked as you leaned back with your knees open and arms crossed. The attitude you were throwing was one that would rival middle schoolers and mothers looking to talk to the manager. It was very out of character for you to be petty, it always made you feel sick afterwards.
        Shan narrowed her eyes back, cheeks flushing a deep red. “Excuse me-”
        “Listen sweetheart, my boyfriend and I have a lot of work to do and you’re being a bother. So how about you get back to your real job and stop making googly eyes at my partner huh?” Your bite was sharp as a knife, cutting deep into Shan’s emotions. She took one look at Dean, who was currently preoccupied with staring at you, and quickly scampered off. You shut your eyes and opened them with only one goal in mind. The faster you knew about this case, the faster you could get the hell out of this library.
        Those thoughts that Dean were having to put on the back burner suddenly moved to the front. “So…..was she somehow endangering our hunt that you had to cover for us again?” The smug bastard was referencing what you did because of Detective Sullivan.
        “Yes. She was endangering our efficiency.” Your fingertips flipped through a book closest to you, anything to not look at Dean. In the tone of his voice you knew he was pleased. 
        Dean was more than pleased, albeit a little confused about his feelings but pleased nonetheless. He loved hearing the commanding tone of your voice, telling some other girl to back off of him. Telling that girl to back off because he was yours. A needle pricked at the back of Dean’s mind as he replayed the rollercoaster of emotions he felt. He liked that moment. He liked your tone of voice, but why? It was because of the insinuations he could make. You wanted him. You wanted him to yourself, there was a possessiveness to what you said and how you said it. It was dominant and commanding. 
        No. Dean liked it because it meant you wanted him. He was not a bottom, and he did not like that interaction because you were possessive and domineering. 
        ……
        “Mmmhhmmmm,” Dean hummed, his inflection rising up and then down. Now it was his turn to lean back into his chair. His perfect lips were pursed with a small smirk, one brow quirked with intrigue. “You sure someone wasn’t jealous of a pretty lady giving me attention?”
        “Sorry but the only pretty lady I see in this library is me,” Your voice attempted to make you seem preoccupied with cleaning up your space. Your fingers moved a lightning speed as you emailed yourself all the notes you had taken and shut down all the programs you had opened. “So I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Your facial features moved in a comical way depicting a dramatic expression of confusion, with a hand on your hip. The table was finally free of all your possessions, the last notebook was zipped up into your backpack.
        Dean had you right where he wanted you, embarrassed and caught. He knew you would dodge and change the subject as quickly as you could if confronted with a topic you didn’t like. “I’m gonna remind you of this!” He shouted to you with his hands cupped around his mouth.
        You were already speeding off to the car, desperate to run away from this conversation and what it could come to. If anyone was going to be in control of a situation, it was going to be you and you’d fight anyone and everyone for that control with your bare hands. 
        “I’ll forget it!” You yelled back at him over your shoulder, bleaching your mind of any itchy feelings you were experiencing. 
        “Constantly!” Dean yelled back, only to receive the bird from you. He laughed and tumbled after you, happy to finally have some new material to ruin your day with. 
~~~~
        After five minutes of Dean looking like the cat who got the cream, white all over his smug stupid whiskers, you arrived at a locally owned diner. If you rolled your eyes anymore you were certain that you would go blind, and yet it would still be worth it just to let Dean know that you were mildly inconvenienced by his existence. The hum of the impala came to a soft halt. With the combination of Dean teasing you and your hunger, you may have strangled someone if you didn’t get fries in you soon. 
        A bell attached to the door rang out once you two stepped foot inside. Only the waitress on staff bothered to look up from her post behind a counter, the other employees were too engrossed in just making it through another eight hour shift without losing their minds.
        “Seat yourself wherever you like, I’ll be with you in a second!” She flashed a bright smile before dipping into the back of the kitchen. You and Dean nodded before following her directions and finding the corner booth in the back, cause that’s where all the cool kids sit. And with you two sitting there, only the coolest of kids sat there. 
        Dean leaned his chin on his hand and gazed at you. “So do you wanna talk more about how you secretly have a crush on me?”
        “No.”
        “Maybe about how you were totally going to duel that hot librarian for my hand?”
        “Rot in hell.”
        “Oh! Oh! Maybe we can discuss your feelings on a certain other topic that’s definitely unrelated.”
        Your unamused eyes continued to look at him, giving him no response hoping that he’d take the FUCKING hint. “Oh yeah? And what topic would that be?”
        “Me, and my cute face.” Dean winked and did his signature blue steel look. With a loud bang you hit your head on the table, laying your arms on the table around your head limp.
        “Deaaannn, I swear to god I will strangle you until the last breath from your lung is used.”
        “So what you’re saying is that you want your hands on me? You want to touch me?” Dean leaned closer and dropped his voice as low as he could go with every word that came out of his mouth just egging you on to do something. “You wanna put your hands all over my body?” 
        You whipped your head up, eyes wild and craving revenge, and you were just about to open your mouth and verbally destroy this stupid boy’s whole career when your waitress popped herself in front of the table. 
        “Hi! I’m Audrey, and I’ll be taking care you guys tonight. Have you been here before?” She had the whole speech memorized and recited it off as she handed you both a menu. 
        “Why no we haven’t! Darling aren’t you so excited to be here?” Dean grabbed your hand across the table affectionately with a huge fake smile. The weird vibe Audrey got from this table was throwing her off but regardless she had a job to do. 
        ‘Some of us will never eat again…’ You thought to yourself, thinking of all the places you could stab Dean with a fork. 
        “Thrilled.” You stated, pointedly glaring at Dean and his boyish charm getting the best of you. Audrey smiled to herself and started to understand what was going on and dismissed her earlier thoughts. After getting you two started with drinks she left you to look over the food options. 
        “Can I guess what you’re gonna get?”
        “As long as I get serve you cyanide afterwards.” 
        Dean settled into the booth and looked off into the distance to pretend to think very hard. “You are gonna get a cheeseburger with everything on it, as rare as they serve it. Side of fries and a large lemonade because even at age 23, you’re still an 8 year old.” 
        Damnit he was right. 
        You shared Dean’s smug look, ready to dish back what you were served. “Ok fine, you’re going to get the most overloaded bacon burger in order to cash in on that heart attack you’ve been waiting for forever, but hold all the vegetables because we want this one to be a big one. Side of fries and a shitty great value coke.”
        Dean nodded slightly and clapped quietly for you. “Right you are.” A moment was spent in silence, just the two of you laughing at each other smiling like love struck idiots. Your eyes tore away first, landing on a newspaper that was from today. The headline was the real reason you decided to pick it up.
        Local Crazy Believes Creature of the Night Kills Friend
        You flipped through the pages to find the story. It was published today and showed a picture of your sole survivor, Chrissy Hamilton.
        In a sad attempt to get some attention, Chrissy Hamilton offers her break out story. 
        “It was like my friends’ voices were coming from two different directions!”
       “This thing was too fast to see…”
       Clearly this is just another example of our country’s failed mental health system…
        “I wouldn’t spend too much time reading that malarkey…” Audrey said with her eyebrows pulled together, eyes cast down as she refilled your water glasses. 
        “Do you know her?” You asked, laying the paper flat on the table for Dean to see too.
        Audrey sighed as she stood back up, water pitcher straining her left wrist. “She’s my best friend. I’m not sure what really happened up there, but the newspaper doesn’t have to ruin her reputation like this and publish a drag story.” Her jaw clenched at the mention of the newspaper.
        “Does she have any enemies at the newspaper, maybe that would want to defame her?” Dean spoke up. Audrey eyed Dean caught up in her own thoughts.
        “We’re trying to run a counter story to get the Denver Times to redact the article.” You butted in, if this girl was going to give you anything it had to seem like she wasn’t gossiping with customers but giving info to fellow truth seekers. 
        Audrey pursed her lips in thought for a moment. “No, but the police chief doesn’t seem to like her. I don’t have any evidence to back it up, but I’m pretty sure he went to the head news correspondent and told him to run the article.” As more information poured in, the two of you couldn’t seem to figure out what the hell this cop’s problem was. He seemed to do everything in his power to derail this investigation, the dude was definitely hiding something. 
        “You’re pretty sure?”
        “Yeah…they’re drinking buddies so it wouldn’t surprise me.” Audrey’s attention was pulled away when the bell at the front door rang again. “If you guys have any more questions I can answer them after my shift.” 
        You and Dean shared a look. “The same voice coming from two different directions and super fast? I think I have an idea of what we’re looking for…”
        “Can we please talk to that Hamilton lady first, I’d very much like to drag this out before I freeze my balls off…”
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msragdoll · 3 years ago
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Personal stuff (TW death)
So today I went to a get together for my cousin Nick who was killed in May. I say get together because it wasn't really a funeral or service. More of a 'lets gather at Nick's favorite restaurant and be together for his memory."
And, I've got so many emotions about everything. And so I'm just gonna type it all out here and throw it into the wind so I feel heard...
I'm so mad at myself right now. I feel guilty. The last time I talked to my cousin was in 2019. I walked into the pawn shop that he (basically) owned and asked for advice on how to track down some things that were stolen from @r-ochoa . He told me he'd keep an eye out at his shop and the other one nearby and told me to check out sites like 'Let Go' but in different zip codes and counties nearby. And that was the last time I saw him.
Previous to that, maybe by a year? I saw him at his rehearsal dinner for his wedding. I hadn't even known it was happening until my mom called me and told me I should come and that an old family friend was there that I hadn't seen since I was 11 was there too. I rushed over, moreso happy to see the old friend. While I spent most of my time talking with that friend Nick made a point to hang out with us and talk too. The whole evening was about him and his soon to be bride but he made a point to join in with our catch up, spend time with my daughter and share in our time.
I didn't go to his wedding the next day...I hadn't gotten an invitation (I found out alot of people didn't, it wasn't that formal) and I'm so mad that I didn't ask him that night if I could come...
I'm mad that I never took a moment to tell him that he was the one out of two cousins I had that didn't treat me like garbage. The second cousin got frustated alot with me as a kid though, where Nick was always patient. Growing up I had 5 cousins. 4 boys; the only girl being the oldest so we never really hung out unless she was babysitting, but that rarely happened. I was the youngest. One of the boys (that 2nd cousin) was from a different part of the family so hanging out with him was usually just the two of us.
That left Nick and the two other cousins and those 3 plus me often hung out together. The other 2 cousins teamed up alot and would pick on me. They'd take my favorite stuffed animal that I insisted on treating gently and kindly and throw him up and down the stairs and push me away when Id try to get him back. Or they'd play hide and seek and ditch me. Sometimes they'd put me in dangerous situations that as a 7 year old I didn't realize how dangerous they were. They'd even steal things from me or break my things. And I wanna say I have no hatred towards my cousins for these things, as an adult I understand that kids do fucked up things, especially when they don't know how to process what theyre feeling.
But Nick. Nick never did any of those things. In fact if he was there, he'd intervene. He got my stuffed animal back for me. He'd come find me if he realized I had been ditched or put somewhere dangerous. He never took things from me, and would actually give me random things he thought I'd like from his own stuff.
Maybe it was because both of us had influences in our lives that encouraged kindness, where as the other 2 cousins didn't. Whatever it was, Nick was always there. I remember going to his grandma's house, with his sister (his sister had a different dad so I didn't see her as often as I saw Nick) and the three of us would always have a blast.
In fact, it was Nick who helped me get over my fear of motorcycles. Nick's dad, my uncle, had taken us out on bikes and I was on the back of my uncle's ATV. My leg kept getting sucked into the wheel and it hurt so bad. I kept crying and asking my uncle if we could go home, that I was hurt. But we didn't go home until later. I don't know if Nick had seen what was happening. Later on, at Nick's grandma's house (she had a HUGE property that had a track on the grounds) he asked if his sister and I would like to ride on the back of his quad and take a few laps and jumps. His sister was all for it but I was so scared. I didn't want my leg to get hurt again. I didn't want to fall off the back going off jumps either.
But he told me not to worry, he would take it slow and only go as fast as I told him. So I got on. When we got to the first jump on his track he stopped and asked if I wanted to stay on the ground, go in the air or go really high. I told him just to start out on the ground...and he listened when I asked him to take it slow. Not to go too high in the air. And by the end of it all he had built up so much confidence in me thay I had asked him to take those jumps higher and higher. I wasn't afraid anymore because he didn't throw me into a situation I had no control over....in fact... thinking about it... I think this was the first time in my life where I was allowed control over a situation....that I wasn't just plopped into something because the grown ups wanted to do it and I had to just accept it and deal with no say.
(TW: Menstruation) Nick was also there when I got my first period. He was probably a teenager by then but he didn't get weirded or grossed out. We were all having a campout sleepover at his grandma's house before his sister was moving away and I can remember the girls she had invited being kind of weirded out and me trying to hide it. I remember just kind of sitting away from them feeling gross and Nick being like "yeah, my mom told me what's going on. Mind if I sit with you and just hang out?" And so we did.
There's so many other memories I have him him, all of them good. I can't remember a single time where he was mean to me or frustrated with me. He never told me to leave him alone or to go away. If I was afraid or worried about something he never made fun of me or brushed it off. He took the time to show me how it'd be okay. I remember my mom freaking out that I was going to have this specific teacher she had growing up who was a total hard ass and Nick reassuring me that Mr. Roach was one of the kindest, coolest teachers at our school and was not the same man he was however many years ago. And Nick was right, Mr. Roach was the best teacher I ever had.
And I never told him how much it all meant to me. How his kindness always shown so bright to me, especially after losing my dad. I feel like all the fucked up cousin shit happened as soon as my dad died, especially cause he wasn't there to intervene anymore. (My dad didn't really like that side of the family so when they were around he was pretty vigilant about how they behaved) but Nick was always kind and friendly. I never felt like a burden, or 'just a girl' or annoying or all that general 'youngest one nobody likes' vibes.
And I never told him that it meant so much to me. And now I can't. And I hurt because I can't tell him and I also hurt because I feel like I shouldnt feel as sad as I do because as we grew up and my mom married and moved us away and we grew apart. I saw him less and less. The tight bond we had growing up faded as we aged and wasn't maintained. Sure everytime we saw each other we always fell back into that bond, but those times became so few and far between...and...how can I be so sad when I hadn't seen him for over 2 years? I didn't even know his wife outside of her name.
And I know that feeling that 'undeserving of feeling sad' is super irrational. But I just...I can't seem to turn it off. And it couples with the guilt and anger of never telling him how he was such a beacon of kindness growing up and how as an adult I realize how important that was for me as a child to have.
I have so many emotions about him dying right now and I've kept it all mostly to myself. But it's mostly regret and frustration at myself...I'm hurting for sure right now...
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whirlybirbs · 5 years ago
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⋆    —–   CARHOP COOL, 3 and a 1/2.
summary: it’s time for a two day vacation to the beach, aka lake tippecanoe. pairing: steve harrington x reader, au!post season three word count: 1.8k, mostly world building a/n: have some good ol’ establishing-the-au fic! and billy! and steve’s mom! things are gonna get a little freaky up at the lake. here’s a filler chapter. 
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Steve’s driveway is crowded.
Tippecanoe, two hours North from Hawkins, was home to the Harrington family’s lakehouse. His mom had asked, earlier in the summer, if Steve would be willing to ride up and make sure everything was alright between rentals -- she’d cheerily added, “Go up for a day or two. Bring Dustin, Robin, whoever -- you kids need a vacation after everything that happened, y’know?”
(Janine Harrington had, in recent weeks, become infinitely closer with her son -- when men in suits had brought a bloodied Steve home that night in early July, priding him as a hero, a lot of things changed. He’d opened up about everything in the days following, spurring Janine to reach out to Mrs. Wheeler and Mrs. Henderson and Mrs. Byers and even Hopper, whom her husband couldn’t stand, with kind words and promises that their children were allowed over anytime -- they were bound together now, by Government NDA’s.
It was a nice change, though, between her and Steve -- there was a lot more trust now.)
His mom is chatting happily with Mrs. Byers by the mailbox as Will grabs his towel and cooler, loading the stuff into the Wheeler family hatchback. Nancy unlocks it for him between chatting with Jonathan. Mike helps, grin turning upwards as Dustin arrives with Lucas on his heels, bikes dropped by the mailbox as the boys laugh and launch into one another’s arm.
“Vacation, baby!”
Steve, carrying his own towel over his shoulder, laughs when Dustin finally calls out, sneakers pounding across the hot asphalt of the Harrington home’s driveway.
They both meet half-way.
“Steve!” he gets a toothless grin, “It’s vacay time!”
“Oh, you know --” the handshake is quick, calculated, and well-practiced, “We’re gonna get our tan on --”
The roar of a Camaro startles the group from their laughter.
Billy Hargrove rolls around the cul-de-sac, pulling up behind the Byer’s car and the mailbox before promptly cutting the engine and the Judas Priest track.
Max, with dueling, flaming red braids, hops from the front seat with a beaming smile.
The boys give a victorious cry.
“Zoomer!”
Billy’s slow to exit the car, aviators perched on his nose. The Def Leppard shirt’s sleeves has been chopped off, really hammering home the whole ‘suns out, guns out’ motto the lifeguard seems to be living by this summer. 
After the Battle of Starcourt, a lot of things changed. 
The biggest change, though, seemed to be in Billy Hargrove -- post Mind Flayer, he’d been exposed to the world the Upside Down created, the world his sister and everyone else had been living in for the last year; he’d come out of the haze, out of the flayed, and cried into Max and Eleven’s arms, nothing but apologies on his mouth in the wake of the destruction.
Steve remembers seeing him in the back of one of the ambulances, holding Max’s hand, talking. 
Not fighting, not screaming, not... being Billy.
Steve and Billy shared a look, then. Truce was what it meant. 
At first, Billy tried to pretend the whole ‘Mind Flayer’ thing never happened. 
But pretending didn’t get rid of the nightmares. And soon, Billy Hargrove was knocking on Will Byer’s door mid-D&D game looking for help, for someone to talk to.
The apology had come a few days later.
Billy had strolled up the Family Video, scaring the shit out of Steve, before offering his hand and a genuine apology. Robin watched on, a bit slack-jawed.
“I was a fucking asshole,” the blonde said slowly, “I’m sorry, man.”
Steve blinked at his hand.
After a moment, he shook it.
“It’s cool, dude,” Steve said before he could stop himself, “You didn’t know.”
“Doesn’t excuse the fact I was a dick, though.”
A look of surprise fleeted across Steve’s face. “Fair.”
Billy smiled, then, different from every other time he’d seen it. It wasn’t for show. It was... real. When Billy left, Robin had made a sound of pure shock before asking what the hell that was about.
“He beat the shit out of me,” Steve said, watching him drive away, “Tried to beat up Lucas, all while we were being hunted by Demogorgans... Just, y’know, was a genuine shit-bag.”
“Seems like he’s changed.”
“No kidding.”
“Trauma,” Robin chirps as she moves to sort the VHS’s, “is a hell of a thing.”
The malice that was there before the Fourth of July is gone. Instead, Billy smiles as he hauls Max’s cooler from the trunk of the navy sports car, offering Lucas a causal knuckle-touch before clapping Steve on the back.
“Hey man.”
“Hey Billy,” Steve chirps, “Nice outfit.”
“It’s hot out, alright,” he battles back, clearly amused, “I gotta work on my tan.”
“You coming with?” Steve asks, lips pulled into a smirk as he crosses his arms and shifts from foot to foot. His white converse are stark against the dark driveway, “We’ve got room.”
“Naw,” Billy breathes, crossing his arms, “I gotta shift at the pool -- thanks for the invite, though.”
“Yeah,” Steve shrugs, “It’s cool -- You’re one of the gang now.”
Billy’s lips quirk. Steve can tell that means something to him. Another clap on the back. Billy begins heading to his car, calling out to Max as he does. 
“See ya, kid -- be safe, alright?” he waves his finger across the group, “All a’ you.”
She gives her brother a grin. “’Kay, loser.”
“‘Kay, brat,” he snaps his gum, shoots her a smile, and falls into the driver’s seat.
As Billy leaves, the familiar rumble of Chief Hopper’s Blazer arrives to the drop-off point. Jim makes the small-talk quick, thank god, he’s terrifying, citing that he’s late for work and Mrs. Johnson has already called the station three times about her cat getting out, but makes a point to shake Steve’s hand as he leaves, telling him to look out for El.
Eleven has her dad’s pair of aviators on and an old baseball cap. She’s grinning.
“Vacation,” she says.
Steve’s got his hands on his hips, eyeing the growing party, when Dustin speaks.
“Hey,” he says slowly, looking around, “Where’s your girlfriend?”
Steve stammers. “She’s not --”
“Robin?” Mike asks, confused.
“No, not Robin --” Steve makes a face. “That’s gross.”
“Ohhhh,” says Lucas, pointing, “The one with the hair.”
Will makes a face of genuine frustration. “With the hair?”
“Real specific, Lucas,” jabs Max.
“Y’know,” he waves his hands, “Roll-o girl!”
The group exhales “oooohhhhh” at once. Steve’s face is in his hands. 
He’s just glad Nancy didn’t over the conversation -- she’s too busy with Jonathan, chatting with his mom and saying good-bye. 
(Though things were fine between them, it was still awkward -- the break-up was a one-sided-sort-of-rough, especially with the Jonathan being thrown into the mix. But, Nancy was happy and that was really all Steve cared about -- she was nice and smart and kind and she deserved to be happy especially after everything, and despite the wound it had created in Steve’s chest, he couldn’t hold the break-up against her. 
That was a weird time... things were weird. Things sometimes are still weird, but to her credit, she still treats him like a good friend and he tries to do the same. Just... sometimes it’a a lot. Especially when Jonathan is around.
Steve just opts to keep a polite distance, y’know?)
“Can I just say, one,” Steve raises a finger, “She is not my girlfriend --”
“But, you like her, right?” says Dustin, completely serious, “She’s cool, she’s cute, she can rollerblade, all great traits in a girlfriend --”
Steve narrows his eyes, finger still in the air. “I’m talking right now, Dustin, okay, I’m talking.”
“Right, sorry.”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” he repeats, hissing, “And two --”
Steve doesn’t get to finish his sentence, because the blaring of Duran Duran’s Girls on Film fills the entire neighborhood as you pull into the cul-de-sac. Robin is in the passenger’s seat, sunglasses pulled down her nose as she dances and mouths the words into her suntan lotion. You’re driving, snorting at her moves as you park the car and pop the trunk, mimicking Robin as you get out of the car -- you can barely do it you’re laughing so hard.
The cabbage patch dance move has never looked worse. You don’t really care. 
Mostly because you see Steve and he’s grinning. You wave. He mirrors.
“She is cute,” says Max, leaning against Lucas and watching the exchange, “Your girlfriend’s cute, Harrington.”
“Shut up, Max.”
She mimics a zipping motion over her lips with her hand as Steve strides by. She tosses the imaginary key.
You move to cut the engine, spurring Robin to move up the driveway with a smile -- she’s quick to greet Steve’s mom with a hug. 
You’re quickly swept into a handshake by the older woman in question.
She looks like Steve -- they have the smile doe-eyes and dark hair, same nose and same excited demeanor -- and you can’t say you’re surprised when you give her your name and she sweeps you in a hug. 
“It’s so good to finally meet you,” she says warmly, “Steve’s told me so much about you!”
You’ve seen Janine Harrington around before at baseball games and after-school functions. Back then, though, you were dodging any interaction you could with her son. Now, you’re excited to him idle up beside his mom with a grin. He rocks back on his heels. 
“Ready?”
You nod. Robin pats your back, holding onto your arm before turning on her text-book parent charm. “Mrs. Harrington, is it alright if she drives, as well? We figured it might be better than all packing into Nancy’s car -- safer, too.”
“Of course,” she says with a smile, “Steve knows the way, he’s been going up there with us since he was a little baby --”
“Yep,” he chirps, cutting that off quick, “I’ll just, uh, I’ll ride with you -- Nancy can follow us.”
“Cool kid mobile, assemble,” Robin calls out, breaking from Steve, yourself and his mom, “We call Dustin!”
“Drive safe,” Mrs. Harrington offers as the group splits into the separate hatchbacks, “Call when you get there!”
“Alright, mom!”
“Bye, Mrs. Harrington!”
Robin shoves Steve into the passenger side of your car, winking, as you clamber into the driver’s seat. Robin happily sits between Dustin and Will, mirroring Steve as she drops her sunglasses down from her hair. 
The other car, quickly named The Couples Car, holds the rest of the party -- Lucas, Max, Mike, Eleven, Jonathan and Nancy.
It’s 10am by the time you all hit the road, ready for a night over at Tippecanoe.
Steve nudges your elbow.
You blink over at him.
“Radio?”
“Hit it, Harrington.”
GIRLS ON FILM!
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normal-thoughts-official · 4 years ago
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aaaand we are back back again with malec livewatch! you can read the first and second parts before if you wanna, or filter out “malec livewatch” if ur tired of this absolute bullcrap
yes i know it’s been years. not my fault okay i was studying
today: post-wedding 1×12! and finally freedom from the terrors of s1
forever a slut for that scene where Magnus just does that hand movement and a bunch of shit starts showing up in the conveniently empty table ugh we stan. imagine if the special effects had been this good all the time they really used up 10 out of their 15 dollars and all the two favors from cousin Mike for this one. 1×12 was so inspired tbh only valid episode
Alec's clothes look so much better without the stupid ugly blazer? could do without the high waisted pants (why) but he looks so much better and also more comfortable. again i hope the costume department staff got a big, fat paycheck because the difference we see in him during the wedding vs post-wedding alone is just insane. he looks so much better and more comfortable and more himself, the blazer made him look stiff and again DOESNT MATCH THE REST. also nice touch that the blazer is the only part of his clothing with gold, the sh wedding color. he gets that off and everything looks so much better
Magnus looks even better post wedding too. like the clothing is already *chef's kiss* but he looks even prettier afterwards somehow. the hair is a little softer and he's less stiff as a whole (for obvious reasons), and aaaa hes so beautifulllll he's so prettyyyy look at his perfect soft little hair falling softly over his head and the PINK STREAKS possibly the best Magnus look i said what i said. especially with him all soft and smiley like that i big love him
sexiest thing about Magnus is how Jace does anything and hes like NO BITCH
the way he says "warlock tracking is stronger" with that smile......... hes so prety
that's a deep inhale he makes before using the tracking spell lmao u ok buddy?
oof i can only imagine how he felt when he was doing the tracking and he was suddenly hit with an image of Camille screaming and hitting in his direction,,,....,,,,,,, Fuck
love how Raphael just locked her in the basement thats so sexy of him we stan
"i punched her there's no way she'll help me" ugh still salty that clary of all ppl got to punch her but not Raphael or Magnus fuck this tbh
STOP MAKING ME LOOK AT CLACE
they both look so giddy and happy to be talking after the whole wedding thing + camille drama like don’t look at me. alec can barely look at magnus because he’s so agitated but you have the smile on his face and magnus is also smiling disbelievingly and i just doaudjsuoiadsa i love they
seriously tho the way magnus smiles..... so private and disbelieving but also so obvious and he’s even looking down like he never expected stuff to go down this well..... bro i stan
i had forgotten about the specific cadence in which alec talks? lmao. there’s a certain tilt to his voice when he says “it’s so INTENSE” that i really love
also that’s a really funny line like honey who the fuck are you to complain about anything being intense. ur the most dive or die bitch in this entire building. and we stan
alec’s WIDE ASS SMILE when magnus says “you certainly know how to make a statement” I CRY. magnus looks so proud of him and still disbelieving that alec went this hard for him and alec is just still on cloud 9 that he really Did That and came out and magnus is just proud of him and wow he really gets to have this and duahdsudhsadajsas???? i adore everything about them
the way maryse shows up and magnus immediately recoils and alec immediately straightens up like magnus is lowkey expecting rejection and alec is just bracing himself for one of the hardest fights of his life
also their expressions are so funny like maryse is LIVID she’s absolutely losing her mcfucking mind with anger homegirl’s head is about to explode and robert is just looking like he pissed on the carpet or something
the way alec doesn’t back down at all is so admirable too like!!!! it’s one thing to make a big fuck you gesture, it’s another to still hold your ground against your abusers after that fact. but he really stands there and goes “this isn’t about you” “i’m the same person i’ve always been” and doesn’t give her an inch of room for clownery. like again once alexander gideon lightwood makes up his mind there’s no stopping him and there’s no going back and he’s just so fucking strong??? he really said “from now on i’m out and you’re going to absolutely deal with that and i will not compromise a single thing” and the lightwoods just had to deal with that lmaoooo 
you can see it in maryse’s face too, like after the “i’m the same person i’ve always been” she just pauses, realizing that she lost this battle without even knowing, she was on top of it a second ago and now there’s nothing she can do anymore and she’s just shook. and all that’s left for her is to scoff at magnus and leave, because that’s it, she lost every hold she had on him
alec’s little mouthed “what?” at “and all for a downworlder” too. i think part of him was like “wow she’s backing down already?” because you know he expected this to be a lot harder i think lmao. but i also like to think that there’s a side of “mom what the fucking fuck have you seen him he’s gorgeous and kind and smart and amazing and literally the best person i could have fallen in love with but go off i guess”
robert going all “just give her time” like he doesn’t understand what’s happening here at all. he clearly plays the “good cop” in the lightwood’s abusive dynamic tbh, like people often brush him off as being just spineless but i honestly think that he’s just the other side of her manipulative coin. specially with izzy, like, when izzy said fuck it and completely let go of maryse’s hold on her? that’s where robert came in, being the accepting, “nice” parent who listened to her and cared, and making sure she’d keep her loyalties. because he didn’t really stand up for izzy either and in the end he kept her still glued to the lightwood family through that, and kept defending maryse and izzy listened to him because he was robert. and i think that’s what’s happening here too, him trying to frame this as “don’t worry, she’ll come around” because he knows right then that alec is absolutely going to turn their back on them if that’s what it takes for her to be happy so he immediately slides in and reframes this under an affection light where everything will be alright! even if honestly i don’t think that’s what alec is really thinking about at all, i think he was 100% ready for a showdown 
and robert is clearly so disapproving and yikes at the whole thing too but he pretends he isn’t and like lmao
shoutout to their faces when robert asks “are you two in love?” like magnus just turns around like oh hell no we’re not gonna have this conversation and alec lights up for just a second with a small smile before he’s like wait wait no shit shit shit we’ve just met no of course there’s no love (and like... i don’t think there is per se, because i think love is something that takes longer to settle in, specially for alec, but i think the idea that he could talk openly about being in love with a man and even fall fully in love with magnus one day makes him super happy you know?) lmao dorks
tho tbh i think magnus shuts down that conversation immediately to avoid heartbreak. because i think that for this whole thing he was expecting alec to say something he’d hate hearing to get his parents’ approval, you know? like like i said it’s really unexpected and surprising/inspiring that alec didn’t back down an inch there, and i think he was expecting alec to kind of fall back slightly now, like, he played his cards and now he would negotiate with them, you know? find a place to make them comfortable. instead alec gives them a complete fuck you and he’s like... damn obviously super pleased but also waiting for the other shoe to drop
he just steps in like “pls no” and stops that conversation right there 
the way alec takes a deep breath and magnus opens his mouth then closes again quickly not knowing what to say and then changes the subject.... he’s really so scared of this talk and i just aaa
alec literally never fucking stops going from magnus’ eyes and lips in quick succession like alec. alec please. stop being horny for just a second man. please alec i’m begging you
it’s so cute how magnus mentions a date and alec is immediately like “hell YEAH we should do that” no hesitation like he’s 100% ready to leave immediately right now (i see his pause between “wanna... i don’t know, get a drink?” and “....sometime?”, i see it, you can’t fool me alexander) and also the fact that his first suggestion is something that he hates but that he knows for a fact magnus likes is so cute, like he immediately goes for magnus’ interests here and we stan
i also think that he’s come to associate drinking = dates after 1x06 and the way magnus called him specifically for a drink before he showed up too, like... it’s cute how he immediately came to associate those things because of magnus and just jumps into that because that’s what he knows. he’s so eager and like good for him
magnus’ SMILE when he says that like bro he can see how stoked alec is to go on a date with him they are adorable he is so fucking HAPPY i doubt he expected such a great outcome from this and yet here they are
ALEC DOES THE WHOLE LOOKING AT HIS LIPS IN QUICK SUCCESSION THING ONE LAST TIME BEFORE THE SCENE ENDS SHUT UP OH MY GOD HE NEVER STOPS. MATT DADDARIO THANK YOU FOR MY RIGHTS
next part
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thechildoflightning · 5 years ago
Text
Tectonic Plates- Ch2
Title: Tectonic Plates [Masterpost]
Fandom: Sanders Sides
Pairings: None
~~~
Chapter Title: Convergent
Summary: 
Patton visits the doctor, gets ice cream with his siblings, and works on the group project. It's a lot more stressful then it seems.
Warnings: Memory Loss, Tics, Racism, Ableism, Dead-Naming
[ao3 link]
~~~
Chapter Two: Convergent
“Hi Patton,” the doctor greets, and he notes how she doesn’t even have to glance down at her sheet to remember his name. He’s here often enough.
“Hi,” he responds.
She starts with basic questions and Patton answers as normal. He’s already been asked the same by the nurse who came to check his blood pressure earlier.
“So you’re having larger memory gaps?” she finally gets to.
“Yeah,” Patton agrees, “Sometimes more than an hour long.”
“How often is that happening? And how long on average?”
“I don’t know,�� he admits, and looks over at his mom. She has his journal out, and the stats ready to go.
“About once every week, averaging about fifty minutes that we’ve noticed,” she responds. The doctor nods and makes a note.
“Okay. And describe these gaps to me a bit more. Do you remember anything during that time?”
The conversation carries on, Patton and his mom receiting medical information as the doctor tries to piece together what’s going on.
“I think from here I’m going to order a blood test, a CT scan, and an EEG,” she tells them.
“That uh, seems like a lot,” Patton comments.
Holy shit his brain is really fucked up isn’t it?
“What are all those for?” his mom asks.
“Well these larger memory gaps are concerning- and considering we haven’t seen them in you before, Patton, I want to get a blood test to make sure we’re not overlooking any infections. The MRI we’ve down before and with that we’re looking for any noticeable changes in your brain. I also want an EEG, and this one specifically to track electrical ability in your brain to see if this is maybe the result of seizures.”
“You think I’m having seizures?” Patton asks.
“To be completely honest Patton- we don’t quite know what’s going on. We know your history of memory issues and loss is linked to you contracting meningitis at such a young age. Memory loss with meningitis isn’t unheard of. It does concern me that this seems to be getting dramatically worse, especially over a recent short period of times. That’s why I’m calling for these tests. And I do think there’s a potential that this new form of memory loss is in fact seizure activity, which you are also at increased chances of having due to meningitis. Hopefully these tests will allow us to get a clearer picture of what we’re looking at, so we can better deal with the issue on hand.”
That meant that they don’t know anything now.
And if they don’t know anything now, after sixteen years, that probably meant they weren’t ever going to know.
It’s one thing to adjust to new medical information, to get used to gaps in time and increased memory loss with results guiding them, tell Patton what was happening. 
It’s a whole different thing to have to get used to that without any further information, completely lost, stumbling through the dark.
Patton thinks he probably shouldn’t be wishing for a reason. Because a reason means something’s wrong with him. But, he already knows something’s wrong. At least a reason would explain that. Is it so bad to want a reason?
They set up the blood test, CT, and EEG appointments. Patton gets to go home after. He doesn’t feel up to homework, so he takes his binder off and lays down to take a nap. He’s so tired.
Of course, those plans are quickly foiled by his phone buzzing on his bedside table.
Patton groans but sits up carefully and reaches for the object. He opens it and reads through the texts.
It’s from a person named Sabrina, in a group chat, but Patton doesn’t know of any Sabrina’s. He scrolls up through past texts and quickly finds his answer. He’s in a group project with these kids for a class. 
He sighs and gets up to get his notebook for the class.
With the notebook now in hand he sits at his desk with it and his phone.
Sabrina has sent a long list of things they each need to do, spelling out each of their work in the project in exact detail. Patton’s a bit frustrated that she didn’t even bother to ask his input on what he wanted to do, but quickly brushes it off. He understands that it probably has to be incredibly frustrating to be in a group with him. Patton works at almost half the speed and has to constantly check with partners that they’re on the same page.
It’s- he wishes she would have asked him. It would have been nice. But he gets why she didn't. It isn’t a big deal.
He opens up his computer next to his notebook, and starts to work. He has the spoons to do work today, might as well.
Not much later, the door swings open and the dog starts barking, alerting Patton to the fact that his younger siblings are home. He can hear Liam chattering loudly and greeting the dog even as Dani stays silent at his side. Patton listens to their fading voices with a fond smile.
Except, their voices aren’t actually fading as they go up to their respective rooms. Instead, they’re getting closer, and suddenly there’s an excited knocking on his door.
“Eileeeeen,” Liam sings, “Can we come in?”
The use of his deadname twists in his stomach for a minute. He knows Liam doesn’t mean it, they’re all learning. Patton still finds him misgendering himself on occasion. 
Even so, it still hurts.
He could correct Liam. It’s just- Patton doesn’t want to make him feel bad. Plus it takes effort and it’s-
“Door’s open,” he replies, ignoring his thoughts.
Liam and Dani tumble in.
“Pat!” Liam says, zooming over to where Patton sits at his desk. He does a little bounce. “Can I give you a hug?”
“Course,” Patton responds, grinning down at his little brother easily, “Just be gentle please.”
Liam nods and embraces him, being especially careful around his back. Patton remembers how much he loves him as he holds him close.
“So? What’s up with the two of you?” Patton asks when Liam breaks the embrace.
“Me and Dani had an idea!” Liam announces.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah,” Liam agrees, “We thought the three of us and Blythe could go out for ice cream!”
“It was Liam’s idea,” Dani quickly affirms, as if somehow trying to get out of going out for ice cream.
“Yeah it was!” Liam’s quick to agree, “Because Dani did really well on her math test today!”
Dani’s cheeks instantly turn red and she ducks her head.
“Liam,” she hisses out, “You said you wouldn’t say anything.”
“You did?!” Patton exclaims, “Dani that’s awesome!”
“It’s only because you sat and helped me,” she grumbles, “I couldn’t figure it out myself.”
“I barely helped,” Patton and insists, “and either way, you did it yourself on the test. And it’s not a bad thing to need help.”
Dani ducks her head again and continues to blsh vibrantly.
“So can we go for ice cream?” Liam pushes.
“Go get Blythe and we can,” Patton tells him. 
Logan immediately leaves Patton;’s side, sprinting out of his room and upstairs to locate Blythe, shrieking all the way.
Dani rolls her eyes at Liam’s actions.
“Hey don’t roll your eyes,” Patton teases, “Who was it that tried to sled down the stairs in a bucket of stuffed animals?”
“Patton!” she groans, “That was one time!”
“And who is it that helps Liam wake up everyone with ear-piercing screeches on Christmas morning?”
“Ugh!” she groans, and storms out of the room, but the small smile on her face doesn’t escape Patton’s notice.
Patton stands to put on a bra before following her out of his room. He meets her in the living room just as Blythe and Liam are coming down the stairs.
“I- huh- heard we’re getting ice cream apparently- ah?” she says.
“I guess so,” Patton agrees.
She sighs, smile also fond if a bit exasperated, and herds them all to the car.
Patton forgets the ride there. He writes himself a note and pulls Blythe quietly aside to inform her so he doesn’t forget to add it to his log.
Liam leads the way to the ice cream parlor and he’s about to race the final stretch to the door when a woman stops Dani.
“Are you okay?” she asks, peering intentionally at Dani.
Patton’s big brother instincts step in full speed, he scans Dani over looking for any signs of harm, physical, emotional, or otherwise.
But Dani just seems confused.
“What, yeah I’m fine?”
The woman purses her lips and leans down to whisper- though it’s plenty loud enough for Patton, Blythe, and Liam to hear.
“Do you know these people?” she asks, eyebrows knitted in tense concern as her eyes scan the three of them warily. Patton feels his stomach sink. Blythe takes a half step to the side to block Liam from view.
Dani looks outright murderous.
Patton internally begs her to think before she speaks.
“Yes,” she says, “I’m getting ice cream with my siblings. I’m fine.”
The woman blinks.
“Oh these are your siblings? But you’re…” she trails off, but all of them knew what she was going to say. White. Dani’s white. Blythe, Patton, and Liam aren’t. 
“Bye,” Dani says coldly, and turns away.
The woman mutters something and leaves. 
Exactly after, Blythe shakes her head with a suppressed tic and her arm follows. She lets out a loud yelp and immediately slams a hand over her mouth as she turns to watch the still retreating women in fear. She doesn’t turn around. Blythe takes her hand away. Liam’s smaller one clings onto it.
Besides Blythe’s tics, they’re all silently frozen for a minute.
“Hey Liam,” Dani asks, “What ice cream are you going to get.”
Liam looks up at her and pushes a smile back on his face.
“I dunno,” he says, and his cheerfulness only seems a little bit forced, “There’s so many choices. There’s strawberry but I also really like chocolate, but the sherbet is so pretty. Oh! And the cotton candy made my tongue turn blue once! That was fun!” he rambles, and the four of them continue towards the store.
Liam, predictably chooses rocky road. He almost always does, no matter how often he talks about all the other flavors. Patton doesn’t really get it. He gets cookie dough this time.
Patton’s knee is starting to hurt, so he takes his ice cream and herds his siblings to a table as Blythe pays.
“How’s your day been?” Blythe asks at one point when Dani is busy scowling at Liam as he tries to convince her to play a game with him.
“Eh,” Patton admits, because Blythe he’s always been able to be honest around, “Doctor went fine, but was frustrating. Same thing as always- they have no clue what’s going on. But I’ve had a surprising amount of spoons today which has been nice.”
“Spoons,” Liam speaks up, “But you only have one?” He stares in confusion at Patton’s spoon in his ice cream.
Patton smiles at him.
“Yeah. This is a different type of spoon.”
“What other types of spoons are there?”
“Lemme show you,” Patton. He looks around, but doesn’t find any spoons. But Blythe is a;ready way ahead of him, speaking to someone at the counter with a smile. The person’s face is drawn and they are a bit, but they pass over a large handful of spoons regardless.
“Okay,” Patton says as Blythe hands him the spoons. “This is something called spoon theory. I’m going to have you hold the spoons, and then we’re going to talk about your day.”
“Okay?” Liam says, confused even as Patton hands him the spoons. His smaller hands hold them awkwardly.
“So walk me through your day, share everything you did.”
“I got up and went to school today?” Liam says, almost like it’s a question.
“That’s good,” Patton encourages, “but more detail. What did you do very first today?”
“I woke up and got out of bed.”
Patton nods, and reaches over and takes a spoon from his brother’s hands. Liam looks up at him in shock.
“You took the spoon!”
“Yup,” Patton agrees, “What’s the next thing you did?”
“I took a shower.”
Another spoon is taken away. Liam doesn’t say anything this time, but watches Patton. Dani, who was previously looking at the window, tries to subtly focus her attention on what’s happening.
“I ate breakfast. I got my backpack ready for school. I walked to school. I went to all my classes. I walked home from school.”
Five more spoons disappear. Liam has less than half left.
“What happens when the spoons run out?” he asks.
“What do you think happens?” Patton encourages. Because there’s no real way for Liam to understand his life, there’s no way for Liam to understand the constant pain, the draining energy, the calculations Patton puts into each day. This is the best metaphor he’s heard of.
“Well you’re taking away spoons when I do something,” he says, “So… if I run out I can’t do more things?”
“Exactly. Good job,” Patton praises.
Liam grins at the attention, but his expression quickly morphs into a frown.
“What if I run out of spoons before the day’s over? And I can’t do anything? What happens if I don’t have more spoons?”
“You have to wait until you get spoons back,” Patton explains. “Sometimes resting helps, sometimes you just have to wait. Sometimes you wake up and you start with more spoons, or less.”
“I don’t- I don’t think I run out of spoons?” Liam says. “I don’t get it.”
“That’s okay,” Patton encourages, “It’s not supposed to be you, it’s supposed to be me.”
“Well why do you have spoons and I don’t? Am I going to get spoons one day? It doesn’t seem very good.”
“I have spoons because I’m disabled. It’s how my life works. I start with spoons and I have to learn how to use them and manage them so I don’t run out. And that can be really hard.”
“So you rest more. And can’t do as many things sometimes,” Liam adds on.
“Yeah,” Patton encourages.
Liam frowns and quickly whispers some things to himself, setting down spoons as he does so. Eventually, all of them rest on the table.
“There’s not enough spoons for ice cream,” he realizes. “I’m sorry. I made you come.”
“You didn’t make me come,” Patton tells him, “Ice cream did take a spoon. But I have a bit more spoons today, and it was a spoon I was willing to spend. I’m okay. I just need you to listen to me when I sometimes say I can’t do things or need a break or need more time. Okay? Can you do that?”
“Yes!” Liam is quick to reassure. Dani nods slightly off to the side.
“Awesome,” Pat says, “Thank you.”
Soon enough, Liam is rambling about his day again, even getting Dani to chip in about hers as they finish their melting ice cream. It’s a nice moment.
-
The next morning Patton wakes up to a screeching alarm clock and a buzzing phone. He groans, shutting the alarm off first before checking his texts.
It’s a group chat, with three names he doesn’t recognize, asking him about dates for something. He frowns and opens it, scrolling up the chat to realize it’s a group project for one of his classes. They’re asking him about dates to meet up. 
But the dates they sent don’t work for him, Patton knows they don't. Why don’t they?
He checks his phone calendar, realizes that’s when he has to go back to the doctor. He- he has to get some tests done, right? 
He’ll check his notes later to be sure. Right now he needs to text the group chat that he can’t do those dates
To: Group
Patton: Sorry cant do those times. Doctors appointment.
Now that that’s done, he gets out of bed. 
And the moment he stands a spasm of pain rolls through his back. He catches himself on his bed before he falls over and hisses through grit teeth. The pain starts to subside. Somewhat.
He takes a breath. He waits a minute. Then, he carefully stands full upright, focusing on each tiny movement his back makes.
It feels like it’s on fire. But at least now it’s starting to simmer versus torch him. He carefully rolls his shoulders. His back settles somewhat, settling at a low familiar ache. Patton doesn’t risk his binder today. Dysphoria sucks, but the chance of causing further damage to his back and increasing his pain isn;t worth it. He grabs his cane.
-
Patton’s day sucks.
His back continues to spasm at random points, sending harsh shooting pains all across it. He doesn’t want to risk stretching out at school, where he doesn’t have a place to lie down or someone to help him if he needs it. But he’s pretty sure that sitting all day is making it worse. 
It hurts.
But finally it’s his last class of the day and the bell’s ringing and Patton can finally go home and there’s a person approaching him and she’s saying his name and Patton really does not want to talk to anyone right now he wants to rest.
But Patton doesn’t know what she wants, maybe she needs something, so he puts on a bright grin and nods in her direction from his seat.
“You can't keep flaking,” she tells him.
Patton blinks- unsure what she’s even talking about. She seems to know him but Patton has literally zero clue who she is and he doubts she’d be okay with him asking if her aggressive attitude is anything to go off of.
“What?” he says instead.
“Look. This is a group project. That’s two days in a row you’ve said you can’t meet up during, with the same excuse of a doctor’s visit. You need to put in effort here.”
Oh. Patton knows who she is now.
There’s a little bit of anger that comes with her statement too. Because here she is, coming in with anger and aggression because Patton’s missed two days and automatically assumes he’s lying. He gets it- most people don’t go to the doctor as often as he does. But she could have been nicer.
Patton doesn’t blame her though. Maybe she’s had a bad day. Most people do use the “I have to go to the doctor” excuse. 
Either way, she does need to hear the truth.
“I wasn’t flaking,” he insists.
“Really?” she asks, an eyebrow raised and shaking her head, “Two doctor’s appointments in two weeks?”
“Yes.”
“What could you possibly need to see a doctor about twice in two weeks now?”
Patton admits that at this point his patience is thinning. He’s telling the truth and now she’s pressing into his private medical information and it’s not fair. It’s not fair, Patton shouldn’t have to share this with her but she expects him to. Why is Patton expected to share everything medical with everyone?
She doesn’t know though. She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know.
That makes it okay?
“That’s private information,” he eventually settles on.
She’s not going to believe him. She’s not- Patton can see it on her face, her disbelieving eyes, her scorn. She doesn’t believe and there’s no way she will unless Patton tells her everything- about how his memory doesn’t fucking work and sometimes he forgets huge chunks of times and he still doesn’t know her name and forgets that he’s even in a group project because his memory doesn’t even work-
She huffs.
She doesn’t believe him.
“This project is really important,” she tells him, “And I need an A in this class. Get your shit together.”
She storms out of the classroom.
Patton sighs, takes a breath. It’s surprisingly hard to breathe. He stands carefully, watching his back for any signs that it doesn’t like what he’s doing. It hurts. He stands, grabs his cane, leaves the classroom. He goes home. He’s not sure what else he can do.
~
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write-havoc · 5 years ago
Text
The Glasswing Butterfly Part 18
Summary: Chuck has never thought of herself as anything special. Just an average beta living her life next door to a womanizing alpha named Negan. But her life, and Negan’s too, are turned upside down when Chuck suddenly presents as omega.
This is a non-zombie AU featuring A/B/O dynamics.
Fandom: The Walking Dead AU
Pairing: Negan/Original Female Character
Status: Ongoing
Contains: swearing, smut
Intended for readers 18+ of age only
Masterlist in my bio
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“Have you thought about what we wanna do for the wedding?” Chuck asks Negan the next morning as they sit at the dining room table eating their breakfast. Chuck has her bowl of Cocoa Puffs and Negan has just finished his eggs and bacon. “My mom is getting impatient,” she explains.
Negan chuckles as he looks up from the newspaper in his hands. “I haven’t really. I thought I’d leave that shit for you to do.”
She lets out a little huff. “Gee, thanks.”
“Well, I didn’t wanna be in the fuckin’ way. It’s usually the woman that wants everything just perfect.”
“Not this woman. I’m fine with something simple, like just having it in the back yard. But when I told my mom that, she tried to convince me to do the whole church thing.”
He takes a sip of his coffee as he thinks that over. “I like the idea of doing shit here. I did the fuckin’ church thing with Lucille and I fuckin’ hated it. All pomp and circumstance. Her parents even insisted on the traditional mating ceremony, which is long and fuckin’ boring. I didn’t enjoy one minute of that shit.”
“I don’t want all that. I just want a simple thing with us and our family.”
“Fine by me. Besides,” he gives her a smirk, “the less money we spend on the wedding, the more money we can spend on the honeymoon.”
At that, she takes in a sharp excited breath. “Ooo. Honeymoon,” she draws out. “Let’s get mom to plan our wedding so we can plan the fun stuff.”
“You know it won’t be simple if we give her full reign.”
“You’re right. We’ll have to supervise, set out some parameters. But I definitely want to get our honeymoon sorted really quickly.”
“What are you thinkin’?”
She only mulls it over for a moment before she blurts out, “Hawaii!”
“Hawaii?” he repeats, not quite as enthusiastic as she was.
“Yeah, Hawaii. I’ve never been to any place tropical.” She continues to look at him, searching his face for his true thoughts. “You don’t like the idea?”
He shrugs nonchalantly. “Lounging on the beach sounds fuckin’ nice. Especially if you’re there in a skimpy ass bikini.”
She laughs. “I’ve never worn a skimpy bikini in my life.”
“There’s always time to start,” he quips with a quirk of his eyebrow.
“Then you have to wear one of those Italian model speedos.”
He laughs out loud with his head thrown back. “I don’t think so.”
She shrugs a shoulder. “It’s only fair.”
He lets out a final chuckle before getting the subject back on track. “So when are we planning on doing this?”
“When do you want?”
He thinks a moment. “Sometime before the school year starts probably. Since I won’t be fuckin’ working yet. And summer will be nice weather.”
“I think I should be able to take some time off, too.”
“Sounds fuckin’ good to me.”
After a little bit more discussion, they decide on June 15 for the wedding. The honeymoon would come right after, of course. Chuck calls her mother as soon as they have the date set in stone and tells her about what she and Negan discussed. Even though Diane would rather have a more traditional wedding for her daughter in their neighborhood church, she’s still excited to go through with what Chuck and Negan want. She’s also glad that they are including her on the planning, even if they’ve specifically told her to keep things simple (and put her on a strict budget).
That night while Chuck and Negan are getting into bed, he pulls her into his chest and lets out a content sigh. “Mr. And Mrs. Negan,” he says softly, thinking about all they’ve discussed today. “I fuckin’ like the sound of that. All this wedding talk has me excited about this marriage shit.”
Chuck’s eyes go wide, then she lifts herself up to look at Negan. “Yeah... I’m excited, too. But... I, uh, was actually thinking about keeping my name, though,” she admits hesitantly.
“What?” He moves to sit up quickly, his brows furrowed in a mixture of anger and confusion. “You don’t wanna take my name?”
She straightens herself up beside him to answer. “I just... I like my name,” she says as gently as she can, since it seems like Negan isn’t very happy with this development. “And my dad was an only child. I’m the only Langdon left,” she adds. 
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me, Chuck?” he bites back. 
She’s taken aback by his strong reaction. “Are you really that upset about it?”
He scoffs. “You think I wouldn’t be?!”
“You always said you hated your father. I didn’t think you’d really care much about passing on his name.”
“Negan was not my father’s name,” he explains with some venom in his voice. “Negan is my name. That’s the name I chose and now my mate is saying she doesn’t want it!”
Now Chuck feels a little bad. She didn’t know any of that. “I’m sorry. You never mentioned your father’s name. Or that you changed yours.”
“Well, I didn’t think it was fuckin’ important,” he spits out. 
“Please don’t be mad at me.”
He throws his arms up in frustration. “What the fuck did you expect?”
“I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal!”
“Not a big deal? Are you fuckin’ kidding me? How the fuck are you still this goddamn clueless about all this shit? You’re not a stupid fuckin’ beta, Chuck. You’re an omega. My omega. And I’m the alpha. It’s time you started to fuckin’ act like it.”
She’s shocked, not only by his words, but the harsh tone he uses to spit them out. Tears start to well up in her eyes as she struggles to respond to him. Negan can see how upset she’s getting, but before he can try to fix it, she jumps out of bed and rushes out of the room.
“Chuck, wait!” he calls out, but is only met by hurried footsteps down the hall and the guest bedroom door slamming shut. “Shit,” he mutters, sobering some at her reaction. Even through is anger, he knows he’s messed up. And upsetting Chuck is the last thing he wants to do.
Once Chuck gets into the guest room, she whips back the covers on the bed and gets into it, angrily pulling the comforter up under her chin, as if she could just go to sleep after what just happened. But she’s too angry and upset about the situation, both with herself for misjudging what Negan’s reaction would be and with him for being so harsh with her.
Just a moment later, Negan’s soft voice calls out from the other side of the door, much calmer than it had been just a minute ago. “Can I come in?” he asks, not even trying the handle to see if it was locked. He figures barging in without permission wouldn’t garner him any favors at this point.
She sniffles and sits up, giving it serious thought to deny him. “Yeah,” she finally croaks as she wipes the tears from her eyes and moves to lean back on the headboard.
He walks in slowly and stops right beside the bed. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I shouldn’t have said what I fuckin’ did.”
Chuck just nods, unsure of what to say.
“You just need to understand-” he sits down on the edge of the bed to face her. “My alpha took over. All he heard was that his mate wanted nothing to do with him.”
She shakes her head. “That’s not what I meant at all.”
“I know it isn’t, but...” He lets out a heavy breath. “Please take my name, Chuck,” he says softly, almost begging. “It would be like I failed as a fuckin’ alpha if you didn’t.”
“Failed at what?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know. Keeping you, I guess.”
“ Keeping me?” she questions.
“I know that sounds fuckin’ bad, but...” he rubs his his hand down his chin. “That’s the alpha instincts in me. Every time I see my mark on your neck, it makes me feel like I won the goddamn lottery. And hearing you say, ‘I’m Mrs. Negan’ will do the same fuckin’ thing. Make me feel like I’m the luckiest fuck in the world, like I’m the best fuckin’ alpha cuz I got the most beautiful, amazing omega at my side.”
Chuck’s known that Negan has a possessive streak, just like almost every other alpha, but she’s never really thought about how ingrained that is in his personality. It’s not just possessiveness, it’s tied into his sense of self worth as an alpha.
And in a way he was right about her being clueless. She has become more comfortable with herself as an omega, but she hasn’t really been too open to learning about the alpha world. She realizes that should probably change if she wants to be able to understand Negan better.
Since it means so much to him, she makes the decision to take his name, though she really doesn’t want to drop her own family name completely. “Can we compromise?” she asks hesitantly.
“Compromise how?”
“I take your name, be Mrs. Negan, but I keep mine, too. Charlotte Josephine Langdon Negan.”
“What would our kids’ names be?”
“Negan. But they would have Langdon as like a middle name. If that makes sense.”
He thinks a second. “Yeah, I’m okay with that.” He leans in to give her a kiss. “I’m really sorry for being a dick,” he says without pulling back much from her. “I fuckin’ hate to see you upset.”
“I’m sorry for not thinking about how you would feel about it. I guess I should be more considerate.”
“It’s alright.” He kisses her again. “Can we go back to our room, now? I fuckin’ hate the guest room.”
She giggles a little. “Yeah.”
 Negan’s ping pong table arrives a few days later and the newly formed Alexandria High School Table Tennis Club is set to hold their first meeting. There are only six of them, all the students that had told Negan about the ping pong table in the first place plus one extra girl. So maybe people weren’t clambering to get their names on the sign up sheets like Negan had hoped, but at least there’s more than a few kids here. And it’s an even number, so there’s that.
Carl and his two friends live close by in the neighborhood, so Negan offers to drive the three boys home from school. There isn’t enough room for the three girls, too, but fortunately, one of them has a car and offers to drive the others. Once they all get to Negan’s house, he parks his car in the driveway and invites the kids inside.
As soon as the front door opens, Chuck stands from her seat on the couch to meet Negan at the door.
“Hey, baby,” he greets her with a quick kiss then gestures for the kids to enter. “Come on in.” Once they all pile in, Negan closes the door behind them. “This is Chuck, my mate,” he throws out casually as he moves across the room to the door leading to the garage. “I’m just gonna move my girl’s car to give us more fuckin’ room out there,” he throws back to the students.
With Negan now out of the room, Chuck feels a need to fill the awkward silence. “Hello,” she greets the students herself.
The kids, with the exception of Carl, just stare at her without moving, unsure of what to say. It’s awkward being in a teacher’s home to begin with, but now they’re in a mated pair’s home, which is a first for all of them.
“Hey, Chuck,” Carl says back, breaking the tension.
She gives him a warm smile, thankful to have some of the pressure off of her. “How’s your dad and Michonne?”
“They’re good,” he answers, then looks around at his classmates. “This is,” he starts to point the kids out, since they aren’t taking the initiative to introduce themselves, “Isaac, Luisa, Renee, Oliver, and Tatiana.”
“It’s very nice to meet you all.” Chuck clears her throat nervously and gestures back to the kitchen. “I, uh, I made some rice krispy treats if you guys want a snack.” She hadn’t been sure what to do to be a good host for the students. Providing finger food seemed to be like a good bet. And rice krispy treats are something she can actually make. “I have chips, too,” she adds.
That was apparently the right thing to say because the kids push their way into the kitchen and lay into the spread of snacks that Chuck had laid out for them. With the junk food loosening them up, they actually start to talk.
“How old are you?” Oliver asks Chuck suddenly as he stuffs his mouth with chips.
The girl closest to him, Renee, smacks him on the arm. “You don’t ask a woman her age.”
“What?!” he bites back, then swallows his mouthful. “She’s a lot younger than Negan.”
Chuck laughs at the exchange. “I’m twenty six.”
Isaac looks up, his curiosity piqued. “How old is Negan, then, exactly?”
Before she can answer, the man himself steps into the kitchen. “Don’t you fuckin’ answer that.” He reaches over everyone to steal a chip from the bowl on the counter.
Chuck giggles at his reaction. “You don’t want them to know that you’re twenty nine?” she jokes.
Carl jumps right in, not believing Chuck’s quip. “He’s not twenty nine . He’s my dad’s age. At least.”
“You calling me old, kid?”
Carl just shrugs his shoulder, not backing down. “I’m just sayin’. There’s no way you’re twenty nine.”
“Alright, alright. Smartass.” Negan steals another chip, stuffing it into his mouth casually. “Everyone, thank my beautiful wife for providing this shit.”
There’s an unenthusiastic chorus of “thank you, Mrs. Negan”s from the teens, which makes her chuckle. 
“You’re welcome. But ‘Chuck’ is just fine.”
Negan points to the boys then gestures to the snacks. “Carry this shit out to the garage. We got work to do setting shit up.” Once all the kids’ backs are turned to go to the garage, Negan wraps his arms around Chuck and gives her a not-so-innocent kiss. “You gonna watch me kick those kids’ asses?”
She laughs and returns the hug. “I might peek my head in.”
“Alright.” He kisses her again. “Make sure to stare at my ass when you do.”
Chuck has a smile on her face as she watches him leave the room. The smile only gets bigger when she realizes that Negan had called her his wife in front of the kids. It came so easily and seemed so natural that it hadn’t even registered to her.
She giggles to herself and moves to go into the garage, too, taking Negan up on the invitation to see him in his own element instructing the students.
 “Happy birthday,” Chuck whispers in Negan’s ear once she feels him finally stir awake days later.
He lets out a soft groan and smiles as he opens his eyes to see Chuck leaning over him. His voice is low and gravelly with sleep as he says, “Whatcha gonna give me?”
She giggles and bends down to give him a quick kiss. “I just said ‘happy birthday.’ Isn’t that enough?” she jokes.
Stretching out a little to wake himself up, he places his hand on her back and gently caresses her. “Bounce on my dick a little bit and we’ll call it even.” He nudges her to shift positions so that she’s straddling him.
She giggles, already figuring that he would request some sort of activity this morning. “Well, guess what?” she draws out playfully, bending her body down so that her face is close to his.
Letting his hands wander up her thighs under her nightgown, he bites his lip at the feeling of her soft skin under his fingertips. “What, dear?”
She moves to place her lips near to his ear and whispers, “I’m not wearing any underwear.”
The words no sooner leave her lips when Negan flips them both over and settles between her legs. She giggles at the impatient motion, but once she sees him pull his already hard flesh from his boxers and position himself, her eyes go wide.
“Negan, what are you doing?” she says as she leans up on her elbows.
He pauses. “I thought we were getting our fuck on.”
“We’re not ready yet. Unless you want me to get pregnant.”
“Shit.” He pauses as he realizes that in his excitement, the thought hadn’t crossed his mind. “I can be careful. I’ll fuckin’ pull out.”
“Are you sure? You can’t knot me then.”
“I got plenty of time tonight to knot you. Besides, you’re not near your fuckin’ heat right now, so even if I did cum in you, I bet we’d be safe.”
That is true, Chuck thinks. Her period is due in just a couple days. Besides, she’s been fantasizing all morning before she woke him, so she’s more than ready to go. And a little impatient herself.
“Well, then. Get on with it,” she says in a breathy whisper as she lays back down.
With a bite of his lip, Negan takes ahold of her waist with one hand and uses his other to guide him into her slowly, making sure that she’s really ready for him. He’s not met with much resistance and when he’s fully sheathed inside her, he lets out soft grunt.
“Shit, you feel so good like this,” he breathes out.
It does feel a little different to Chuck, having his skin in direct contact with her own for the first time. It feels almost like it’s even more of an intimate act. Like being able to feel all of him completely unhindered is how it should be. If only it weren’t for her condition, that’s how it could be from now on. She could take the birth control pills and they could have completely spontaneous sex without having to waste the time in getting ready with an omega condom. Not to mention that Negan wouldn’t have to go through the hassle of picking them up from the pharmacy anymore.
“Chuck?” Negan’s voice draws her out of her thoughts. “You with me?” he asks, having seen the look on her face as if she was miles away.
“Yeah,” she answers. 
“If you don’t wanna do this, we can stop.” 
“No, no,” she’s quick to reply. “I was just thinking that this feels good,” she fibs, not wanting too tell him the extent of what she really was thinking.
“Really?” he skeptically asks. “You looked completely lost inside your own fuckin’ head.” He bends forward a bit over her to caress your cheek. “If you’re freaked out about raw dogging it, we can slip a condom on.”
When he starts to move away, she grabs his arm to stop him. “No. I want to do this.” To punctuate her point, she starts to move her hips up to meet his, causing him to sink back into her.
“Mmm.” He moves back to sit on his knees so he can get a good look at her. “You’re so fuckin’ beautiful spread out for me.”
As he starts to thrust inside her again, she lets out a little whimper and closes her eyes. “That feels so good.”
He runs his hands up her hips to grasp her waist to give himself more leverage to go faster. “Shit. I love this pussy.”
She giggles, but it quickly turns to a moan as he starts to hit the right spot. “Ah. You’re so good to me.”
“You bet your fuckin’ ass I am.” He moves to lay on top of her, never losing rhythm. “You getting close, baby?” he asks, though he can already feel that she is.
“Keep going,” she gasps. “Don’t stop.”
He chuckles into her neck, right on the spot that holds his mark. “I wouldn’t fuckin’ dream of it.”
With her orgasm quickly approaching, she grabs onto the hair at the back of his head as she meets his thrusts. “Oh, god!”
“That’s it.” He moves his mouth close to her ear and growls, “Cum for daddy.”
That hurdles her over the edge, sending her into a powerful orgasm. Through the lustful haze, Chuck calls out, “Knot me, Alpha!” not fully aware of what she’s saying. 
That itself nearly sends Negan to his end right then and there, but his rational mind somehow wins out and he manages to pull out to spill onto her stomach.
Once they both come back down and catch their breaths, Chuck sees the mess Negan made on her. “Why didn’t you knot me?”
“Because you told me you didn’t want me to before we started fucking,” he answers from his spot on the bed beside her.
“But I said you could.”
“Yeah. When you were fuckin’ cumming. I know shit gets intense between us and our bodies take over, overriding our fuckin’ brains. I wouldn’t ever want to do something to you and have you regret it when your goddamn senses come back.”
She looks over to him with a lazy smile. “I love you, Negan,” is all she can say in that moment as she thinks about how amazing he really is to her. He’s done so much already, literally saved her life even. Him not going against what they had initially agreed on just shows how much he really cares about her. “I’m so lucky to have you.”
He leans over and kisses her deeply. “I’m the fuckin’ lucky one, baby girl,” he whispers and leans back from her. “And I can’t fuckin’ wait to knot that pussy after our date tonight.
That makes her laugh. “My mate, the romantic.”
“Damn right.” He steps out of the bed and holds his hand out to her. “Let’s jump in the shower then I’ll make you some breakfast.”
She allows him to pull her out of her comfy spot on the bed. “It’s your birthday. I should be cooking for you.”
“You know I like cooking.” He leads her into the bathroom and starts the shower, dialing it in to the right temperature. “Why don’t I take you out on my bike after we eat. It’s supposed to actually be fuckin’ warm today.” He lets her step in first to stand under the water. “And you haven’t gotten to ride on it yet since I fuckin’ finished it.
She turns around, not only to answer him face to face, but to wet her hair under the stream of hot water. “That sounds really nice,” she replies, though she is a little nervous about the motorcycle. She’s only ever ridden on one the one time with Negan. It was really fun, but it’s still a little nerve racking being perched on top of an engine with wheels and no other protection around you besides a helmet.
After their breakfast (which they both actually have a hand in making), they get ready for their ride. The weather is rather mild, perfect for Chuck’s denim jacket over a light hoodie and jeans. Negan, of course, wears the black leather jacket he always does when he takes his bike out, but Chuck isn’t complaining. He always looks really good in it, whether he zips it up fully or leaves it open. And there’s also something about the red scarf he alway wraps around his neck that she really likes, though she’d never actually say that to him.
“Ready to go, baby?” he asks as he hands over her helmet to put on.
“Yup.” Once she puts the helmet on, Negan makes sure it’s buckled right and helps her onto the back of his motorcycle.
After putting on his own helmet, he hops on himself and starts the machine up. “Hold on tight.”
She giggles and cuddles up to his back as she wraps her arms around him. “I’m ready to go when you are.”
Negan kick starts the bike and pulls out of the garage, using his remote to close the door after them. As they travel the roads, Chuck watches the scenery change from the suburbs she’s used to, to places unfamiliar. Negan had specifically told her that he wouldn’t say where they were going, so she knows it’s useless to even ask. 
Less than an hour later, the land turns more rural and she notices a big sign off to the right saying “Great Falls Park”. Negan continues on leisurely through the mountain roads until he gets to a small parking lot. Once the bike is stopped, he hops off and helps Chuck to do the same. 
“This place is gorgeous,” Chuck comments after they both remove their helmets and hang them on the handles of the bike. 
Negan takes her hand and the pair starts to walk the trail. “Rick suggested it.”
“He did?”
“I fuckin’ asked him where a good place to ride a motorcycle is and he said,” he puts on a southern accent, “‘I don’t ride motorcycles.’” He shakes his head with a little laugh. “But he said it was nice as fuck out this way.”
“It was a nice ride getting here anyway.”
“I might take Aaron out here once he gets his fuckin’ bike done. You think he’d like that?”
She laughs. “You trying to get romantic with my uncle?” she jokes. 
“I wouldn’t have to try too fuckin’ hard. You know he wants my dick so bad,” he retorts without missing a beat. 
“Just because he’s gay, that doesn’t mean he’ll go for just any man,” she says through her giggles. 
He gestures to himself. “You don’t think he’d hop on this if I offered?” 
“No!” She slaps him on the arm. “You’re not his type! And, oh yeah, you’re my boyfriend. I don’t think he’d be a home wrecker.”
Negan wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her in to kiss the top of her head. “I don’t know. Still think I could hit it,” he adds, joking further. 
Chuck laughs and playfully smacks his chest. “There’s this guy he’s been talking to, anyway,” she finally comments, moving past Negan’s joke. “Friend of a friend kinda thing. I think he wants to start dating him, but he feels weird about it.”
Negan nods in understanding. “Shit’s weird for a while after you lose a spouse.”
“He says this guy’s nice.” She chuckles a little. “And that everyone calls him Jesus because he... kinda looks like Jesus, I guess.”
“Jesus, huh. That’s fuckin’ funny.”
They continue to follow the signs saying “scenic overlook” for a ways. Once they get to their destination, they’re met with an amazing view of the falls that the area is named for. The water from the Potomac River rushes through the rocky gorge creating a pleasing white noise that fills the area.
“Oh shit,” Negan calls out as he leans on the railing to look at the feature. “Rick was right. This shit’s beautiful.”
Chuck can’t help but giggle at him. “It really is. This reminds me of the first time you took me out on your bike.”
He turns to shoot her a smile. “Oh yeah. I took you out to the fuckin’ boonies.” 
“I was so nervous,” she admits through a laugh.
He moves to stand behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. “About being on the bike?”
“A little bit. But I was more nervous about being with you.”
He chuckles a little. “You were nervous about me?”
“Yeah.” She places her hands on his arms around her. “I was nervous about being so close to you.” The realization of how silly that sounds makes her giggle.
“Didja think I was gonna bite?” he jokes.
“More like, I thought you were gonna suddenly realize that you really didn’t want anything to do with me and abandon me somewhere.”
He scoffs. “Like that could ever fuckin’ happen.” He turns to kiss her cheek. “You now you got me wrapped around your fuckin’ finger.”
She laughs. “Well I know that now . I didn’t back then.”
He kisses her again, hoping that she truly knows how special she is to him. “So which ride was better, do you think?”
She thinks about it for a second. “This one,” she answers as she hugs his arms around her a bit more, “because I get cuddles this time.”
He laughs at her answer. What he was really asking was which bike she liked better, hoping she’d praise all the work he’s done on his Harley. But her sweet answer has him squeezing her a little bit tighter and kissing her temple.
“Fuckin’ adorable,” he says almost to himself.
After a few moments of silence, she asks, “Could we keep this up? Like take a ride every Sunday or something?”
“That sounds fuckin’ good to me. I’d love that.”
She turns back to look at him. “I would, too.”
Later on that night, Chuck and Negan get ready to go to dinner for Negan’s birthday. She had made the reservation for them at a highly rated restaurant in D.C. right on the Potomac River, though she hasn’t told Negan where they’re going. They both dress up a little, Negan in dark slacks, white button up, and a blazer, Chuck in a black and white polka dot sundress with a cardigan.
As Chuck finishes putting her hair up as she stands in front of the mirror in their room, Negan walks in. “I’m almost done,” she informs him.
He just watches her for a moment as her delicate fingers pin up her waves away from her face. “When do we gotta leave? If you’d tell me where we’re going, I’d fuckin’ know how long it’d take to get there.”
She shoots him a look. “I told you-“
“I know, I know.” He hold his hands up and walks closer to her. “It’s a surprise.”
With her hair finished, she turns to face him. “I think you’ll really like it. But we should get going now if we wanna beat D.C. traffic.”
“D.C., huh? Want me to drive?”
“No,” she draws out as she moves to pat him on the chest. “You don’t know where we’re going.”
“You could tell me...”
She laughs. “You really hate not being in control, don’t you?”
He just shrugs as she moves past him to leave the bedroom, since she’s not exactly wrong. But he decides not to push it and allows her to drive him north into the city. After they park the car, Chuck leads Negan down a busy boardwalk along the river. With the sun setting, the whole area is bathed in reds and oranges. The last sunbeams of the day bounce across the water making everything look almost surreal.
“Here it is,” Chuck finally points out as they come up to the restaurant. “It had a lot of good reviews. And they have surf and turf, so I thought-“
She doesn’t even get to finish before Negan is calling out, “Shit, I love surf and turf!”
Giggling, she admits, “That’s what I was gonna say. I thought you’d like that.”
Once they get inside and speak to the hostess, they are led to their table on the patio overlooking the water. Overhead string lights above the tables add soft lighting as the sun is almost completely below the horizon. Chuck thinks to herself that the ambiance must be good, since almost every other table is taken. She’s glad that she made the reservation in advance so they didn’t have to wait. 
As Negan pulls out the chair for Chuck, she momentarily makes eye contact with the older woman at the table next to them, but her attention is quickly brought back to sitting down in the chair as Negan is waiting for her.
After they get their drink order in (a couple glasses of a nice red wine), Negan gets the chance to look around at the scenery. “Shit, this is nice.”
“It really is.”
“Hope I can afford it,” he jokes. 
“I’m paying, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“I’m not gonna make you pay for all this.”
“Well, you’re really hard to shop for, so this is your birthday present from me.”
“You never have to buy me anything, sweetheart. I’m fuckin’ pleased as punch just to have you with me.”
No matter how long they’ve been together, when Negan says things like that, Chuck still blushes hard. Since she’s still a little flustered when the waitress comes over, she just quickly doubles Negan’s order of the surf and turf, though she does request the steak be well done rather than Negan’s medium rare.
Negan shakes his head at her as the waitress walks away from the table to put the order in. “You should try it not burned to fuckin’ death,” he comments with a chuckle.
She gives him a little shrug. “It’s not burned , it’s just cooked.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing.” He takes a gulp of his wine. “Am I driving home?”
“I can drive if you want another glass of wine. You know this’ll be my only one.”
“Sounds good to me.” With another gulp, he practically empties his drink.
As they wait for their meal to arrive, the waitress comes back onto the patio carrying a very fancy looking dessert. She walks over to the older couple sitting at the table beside them and sets it down.
“Happy fortieth anniversary!” the young server calls out cheerfully.
“Oh, Harold!” the woman says to her husband. “Did you tell them to make my favorite?”
Negan and Chuck watch the scene as the long married beta couple enjoy their anniversary dessert, all the while looking lovingly at one another.
“That’s so cute,” Chuck leans in to whisper to Negan. “That’s gonna be us one day.”
“Shit, I’ll be pushing ninety in forty years.”
“How long have you two been married?” the woman from the other table asks them, bringing them both out of their conversation.
Chuck feels a little embarrassed that the couple must have heard her talking about them. “Oh, uh... We’re not married, yet,” she answers.
“I’m sorry,” the woman replies. “I just assumed, since I saw your mark.”
Negan jumps in to explain. He knows that people, especially old fashioned ones, can get judgey real quick when it comes to alphas and omegas. He’s just hoping to cut the conversation short if these two betas are assholes. “The claim came first. The wedding’s in a couple months.”
The man speaks up for the first time. “Our son just got married a few weeks ago. He and his mate decided to have the traditional mating ceremony.”
“It really was beautiful,” his wife comments.
“Your son is an alpha?” Chuck asks, knowing that it’s rare for beta parents to have anything but betas as children. She herself is one of the very rare exceptions.
“We adopted him when he was two,” the woman explains. “Had no idea he would present alpha.”
“Shit,” Negan says with a little chuckle. “I bet that was quite the surprise. Dealing with a newly presented alpha is hard as it is. Throw in that you’re not ready for it...” He lets out a low whistle.
“It was hard, but he’s grown up to be an amazing man,” the woman says, her voice full of pride. “Are you doing the traditional ceremony?”
“We’re just doing something simple at home,” Chuck answers. “We’ve been mated for months now, so... it’s just going to be a family get together, really.”
“That sounds nice,” the woman comments as she spies the waitress coming out with Chuck and Negan’s food. “Good luck. And enjoy your meal.”
“Thank you,” both Chuck and Negan reply.
The couple bids their farewells as Chuck and Negan accept their orders from the server.
“They were really nice,” Chuck says as she starts to dig into her meal. There’s so much food that she knows some of it’s going to be coming home with them. But she’s sure Negan won’t mind the leftovers.
Negan, of course, cleans his plate fairly quickly without much other conversation. Chuck doesn’t mind, though, because it’s obvious he’s enjoying it. And that is the whole reason she wanted to come here.
“That was fuckin’ delicious,” he finally voices his opinion after he wipes his mouth clean. “Thanks for finding this fuckin’ place.”
“You’re welcome. The food is really good. I’m getting full, though.”
Once Chuck finally decides to throw in the towel, the waitress comes back over with a doggy bag. “Anything else tonight?” she asks.
“Just the check,” Negan answers.
The waitress gives him a smile. “That table beside you already took care of it.”
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” Negan responds in his usual way.
The young waitress is taken aback a bit by his language, but answers nonetheless. “They told me to tell you to it was a wedding present.”
Chuck is flabbergasted. “Oh my god. That was so nice of them.”
The waitress just smiles back, saying, “Have a good rest of your night,” before leaving.
Negan scratches the back of his neck. “Shit. Now I really feel like an asshole for thinking that they’d be assholes.”
“You thought they’d be assholes?”
“When they first started talking to us, I thought they’d be like those fuckin’ bigot betas that think we should live like it’s the 1800s. Do everything the traditional way and keep out of beta society.”
“Do you get that a lot?” Chuck has had a few run ins with jerks since she’s presented, but she wouldn’t exactly call it a common occurrence.
He shrugs. “I guess not. Twenty years ago, I definitely did get shit all the time just for being an alpha. Got in my fair share of fistfights with betas with an alpha complex, thinking they could take me on. But I guess shit’s changed now. At least for the most part.”
“That’s a good thing. I’m kinda glad I’m getting to live in a better time for omegas.”
“You and me both.” His face turns from his serious expression to a smirk. “I guess you dodged spending your money,” Negan jokes.
“That means I technically didn’t get you a birthday present,” she comments while scrunching up her face in an apologetic way.
“I think I know how you can fuckin’ make it up to me. With some fucking.” Negan wiggles his eyebrows. “If you get what I’m sayin’.”
Chuck laughs. “You’re so great at subtlety.”
 Over the next few weeks, Negan and Chuck try to get ready for their wedding. Negan, of course, excuses himself from most of the planning, even if he tries to make a case that that’s not really what he’s doing.
“If we’re gonna be entertaining, our backyard needs some fuckin’ work,” he explains to Chuck one day. “I’m thinking... I could lay some bricks down and make a nice fuckin’ patio. Put a fire pit in.” He thinks a moment before his face lights up in excitement. “Oh fuck! I can put in a kickass grilling area. Then we can have bbqs and shit!”
“For the wedding,” Chuck comments dryly, bringing his focus back on what it should be on.
“Of course!” he says immediately. “The weather should be fuckin’ nice for the wedding. We can have a cookout for the guests instead of fuckin’ paying a caterer or whatever. We’re not gonna have that many people over anyway. I can grill burgers and shit easy.”
Chuck giggles at his reasoning. “We can do that. Though I have the sneaking suspicion that you just want to use our wedding budget so you can get a new grill.”
He just shrugs, not trying to fight her. “But it would be for the fuckin’ wedding. Technically.”
She laughs. “Okay. You can have your patio.”
“Fuck yes!”
As Negan spends his time doing that, Diane takes the reins on figuring out how they are going to decorate the back yard. Since they’re on a budget, she decides to make most of the decorations themselves. Crepe paper flowers, diy chair covers for the cheap folding chairs they have, goodwill candle holders, nothing too fancy. But Chuck thinks it’s all perfect. She doesn’t want her wedding to be about the ceremony; it’s about her and Negan along with their extended family.
One thing they don’t really have to worry about is who they’re going to get to officiate. Since it’s not really a religious ceremony, they don’t need to worry about getting a pastor or priest to marry them. And since they’re already mated in the eyes of the law, they don’t need any paperwork or anything. Their wedding is more like a celebration of their coming together, so Aaron says he will be the one to say a few words and lead the wedding.
Once it comes time to pick out the wedding dress, Diane takes Chuck to a small, secondhand dress shop in D.C. Chuck already knows that she wants something simple, not to mention, something that she won’t have to make payments on for several years.
“What about this one?” Diane says as she holds up a floor length monstrosity straight from the eighties, big puffy sleeves and all.
“Oh my god, Mom. That’s horrible.”
Diane laughs. “It’s not that bad.”
Chuck takes the garment from her and puts it back on the rack to punctuate her point. “It’s the worst.”
“Well, what are you looking for, then?” Diane asks as she continues to peruse the dresses.
“I don’t know. Maybe something with lace. I don’t really want that shiny material. It doesn’t even need to be like a wedding wedding dress. You know? Any white-ish dress could work.”
“Why don’t we just pick a bunch out and you can try them on. Maybe if you see them on you, we’ll find the one you want.”
With that suggestion, Chuck starts picking out any dress that even remotely catches her eye. Diane does, too. With their mountain of dresses, Chuck heads off to the dressing room to see if any of them stand out. Ten dresses in, Chuck still hasn’t found it.
“I liked that second one,” Diane comments once she sees the frustration on her daughter’s face.
“I don’t know,” Chuck says, dejected. “It was alright.” She happens to look off to her right to see one of the shop workers putting a dress back on a rack. She’s not sure why, but she can’t take her eyes off of the garment.
Diane follows her gaze and takes notice of the dress, too. “Want me to get that one?”
“Yeah. Might as well try it.”
Diane heads over to the rack and picks up the knee length dress. It’s white, though it’s covered with a light champagne lace that starts at the collar bones and makes up the 3/4 length sleeves as well as covering the skirt, which is built up with tulle. The dress underneath the lace has a very feminine sweetheart neckline and is cinched at the waist.
Once Chuck slips it on and takes a peek in the mirror, she instantly knows it’s the one. It may not be the traditional type of dress, but it’s perfect. She steps out of the dressing room with a big smile on her face to look to her mother. “Do you like this one?” she asks.
The older woman can’t help but tear up at the sight of her daughter. “You look so beautiful, sweetie. It’s perfect. I love it.”
“Really?” Chuck looks down as she smooths the skirt. “I think it’s the one.”
“I think it’s the one, too. Negan is going to love it.”
Luckily for Chuck, the dress is only about $200, but it’s still beautiful despite the price. It does need some alterations (that, luckily, can be done in the shop), which will add a little bit to the price tag, but Chuck is still very happy with it. As Chuck is in the back with the seamstress taking measurements, Diane sneakily goes to the counter and requests to pay for the dress. Even though Chuck was adamant about not having Diane pay for anything, her mother still wants to provide something for her only daughter. Once Chuck emerges from the back and tries to pay a little while later, she’s, of course, surprised that Diane had taken care of it. She decides not to fight her mother on it, though, since she looks so happy about it.
With the dress crossed off the list, the wedding planning is just about finished. And Negan’s hard work in the backyard has certainly paid off. With the help of Simon, Rick, and Carl on the weekends, Negan’s turned their rather plain backyard into the perfect place to entertain. His brand new grill sits on their covered porch with enough space to do his thing when he feels the need to cookout. The steps lead down to the patio/fire pit complete with seating enough for any fireside chats or storytelling they might want to do. There is, of course, an open area in the middle that will be where the actual wedding will take place, but Negan has still worked on it, making sure the ground is nice and even and the grass is lush and thick. Once Chuck sees the finished product, she’s filled with pride for Negan with how he’s transformed the area so beautifully.
It’s a few weeks before the wedding, but Negan knows Chuck’s heat will start pretty soon. That, paired with their upcoming honeymoon means that he needs to make sure he’s stocked up on protection. They’re not completely out yet, but he knows they’re going to be going through a lot of them pretty soon, especially with the fuckfest he’s planning once they’re in Hawaii. And that means Negan has to head down to the pharmacy.
As soon as Negan walks in, he sees the asshole pharmacist that refuses to fill his prescription for omega condoms on “religious grounds”. Which everyone knows is bullshit, but it’s, somehow, not illegal, even though it’s blatant discrimination. Instead of walking out right then and there, Negan waits in line on the off chance that the other pharmacist had refilled his prescription before the asshole one got there. Once he gets to the front of the line, the usual young woman cashier is at the counter.
“Should I even bother asking?” he says to her. He doesn’t hold any ill will towards the girl. She doesn’t have anything to do with the actual prescriptions. And it’s obvious that she feels bad about the hoops Negan has to jump through.
The cashier gives him a less than hopeful smile. “I can check.”
Negan waits patiently, knowing that the girl will most likely come back empty handed and he’ll have to come back tomorrow. Which is an annoying nuisance. But when she comes back with the bag in her hand, he’s pleasantly surprised.
“Here we go,” she says cheerfully, handing it to Negan.
“Was the other guy here today?” he asks as he gets his wallet out to pay.
“No. It’s been him,” she nods to the asshole pharmacist in the back, “all day.” She accepts Negan’s money and puts it in the register. “Maybe he’s changed his mind about... you know.” She points to the bag now in Negan’s hands. 
“I guess.” He turns to walk away, not much caring for the reason that douche bag decided to finally get with the times. “Have a good day, darling,” he throws over his shoulder to the cashier. He’s just glad he doesn’t have to do this all over again tomorrow. Not to mention the fact that his mind is already thinking about just what bedroom activities he’s going to get up to with Chuck. 
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surveys-at-your-service · 5 years ago
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Survey #253
hope everyone is staying safe through this quarantine. wash your hands.
Which band do you have more music of than anyone else on your computer? Ozzy. Who’s your favorite philosopher? *shrugs* I don't know any's ideals well. How old were you when you learned how to read? I'm not sure, but I know I was exceptionally young. What’s the coolest Halloween costume you’ve ever worn? I don't think I've ever worn something rather cool. Who’s your favorite painter/artist? If we're talking about well-known, "popular" artists, I'm not sure. Maybe DaVinci. What’s your favorite song lyric- ever? ARE YOU??????????? FOR REAL?????????? Holy FUCK I get goosebumps from lyrics SO easily, this is like impossible. Probably an Otep lyric, though. I really don't like her personally, but goddamn can she write. What’s your dream tattoo if you don’t have it already? I've linked it before, so I'll just remind it's "Denialism" by deviantART's NukeRooster on my entire, upper left arm. I've already gotten her permission (I don't like just... stealing artwork to put on my body), now just comes the day I can pay for it by a top-tier pro. What’s the coolest screen name you’ve ever had? I don't think any have been necessarily "cool." Who do you think was the most badass serial killer? (Real life.) I'm not well-versed in serial killers honestly, but I can say Charles Manson was a C A S E. I think we can all admit he was... interesting. Just the epitome of weird. Most badass fictional serial killer? ig Jason; again, I don't know a lot off the top of my head, but I like him. How many bank accounts do you have? I don't have one. Have you ever been falsely accused of starting drama? Yep. Have you ever found a song that describes your whole life? Parts of it, sure. What kind of car do you drive? I don't drive a car, but Mom's is a... Honda? Kia? Idk. I'm bad with car brands. What kind of car would you like to have? Average size, pretty simple. Burnt orange or red. I know I want one of those screens you look into to see what's behind you when backing up. Have you ever been to Dairy Queen? If so, what’s your favorite thing to eat from there? mmmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. So unhealthy, but I will destroy and Oreo Cupfection. Try. That. Stuff. Their milkshakes are also great. Which website do you email from? Outlook. Do you enjoy receiving souvenirs? Sure, it's nice. Have you ever had the flu? No. What about strep throat? Maybe once? Do you normally have a lot of homework, if you’re still in school? Kinda, yeah. Did you ever enjoy gym class? Fuck no. Even when I was healthy. What is your biggest insecurity? My body. Have you ever painted a room alone? No. How many huge secrets do you have? Huge? Uhhh, none, I think. Have you ever painted something and been impressed by it? Yes. Would you rather go out to eat or stay in? I prefer eating out because yummy food, but considering I'm working on losing weight, I avoid it. Do you have any younger siblings? One. Have you ever considered bleaching your hair? To the point of being snow white. Considering my hair is super healthy and bleaching so heavily would destroy it, I'll be avoiding that. I DO want to bleach my hair to do other colors, though. Brown hair sucks. Do you drink vitamin water? No. Are there any old movies you absolutely love? Oh sure, a good handful. The Outsiders probably tops it. Have you ever had a Big Mac before? No, doesn't appeal to me. I don't like veggies on my burgers... despite eating veggie burgers when I was vegetarian lmao. Do you think you attract the opposite sex at a reasonable rate? I doubt that. Have you ever filed a lawsuit on someone? No. Do you enjoy reading often? I'm finally back into it!! Lately all I've been wanting to do is READ READ READ. Have you ever had a deadly illness? Well, I consider depression (among other mental illnesses) to be very deadly, but on a literal level, no. I mean I have dormant MRSA, which can kill if active, but it never has been. Most people carry that dormantly anyway, if I remember correctly. Ever had food-poisoning before? No, thankfully. Where did you last eat dinner at? Mom bought Nicole and me Sonic. Have you ever had someone pick you up off the ground & carried you? When I fainted, yes. Are you a flirty person? Not really. A name you hate with a passion? Edward, to name one. Erwin. A lot of old names. What is your favorite type of water (ex. arrowhead)? Essentia mmmmmmmmmmmmm,, Have you ever been to Warped Tour? I WISH. :( Do you know anyone who wears fur? I fucking hope not, because I wouldn't associate with them anymore. When was the last time you were on myspace.com? Damn yo, millennia ago. How often do you cuss? Too much. I mean, I don't even believe "profanity" is a thing by our definition of "that word is magically bad," but still, it's like when people say "like" too much. Have you ever cussed out a teacher? No. What did you think of the movie Juno? I never watched it. How often do you eat meat? Sigh, more than I wish. What grade did you meet your best friend in? We didn't meet in school. Last time you cleaned your room? Couple days back. I'm honestly bad at dusting regularly in here, but that's gotta change with Mom having chemo now. Her immune system will be compromised so this house needs to be as pristine as it can. When you were little, would you have rather watched Cartoon Network or Disney Channel? Disney Channel. We weren't really Cartoon Network kids, actually. It was Disney or Nickelodeon. Do you shave your arms? No. Are you a big fan of the Harry Potter series? Never read a book, never watched any movies; the first one was playing in my presence once, but I paid no attention. How often would say you pulled all-nighters, if you ever do? Shit man, never, nowadays. I don't think I've had one for two years now. My youth is escaping. Has a friend’s boyfriend/girlfriend ever had a problem with you for any reason? I don't think so. How many times a day do you find yourself cracking your joints, if at all? Maybe not even once a day. Only my big toes and upper back can pop. Is there a particular sport you follow on a regular basis? No. Are you 100% over the last person you kissed? No. Do you put ketchup on top of your french fries or on the side? On the side. Who was the last person you talked to in person? Mom. Do you have a dog? Not anymore, thank fuck. Do you like orange juice? Yes. Are you one of those people who obsesses over Hollister? I never liked it. They're not inclusive at all towards fucking NORMAL bodies, nevermind plus size. Apparently even their rules on looks for workers are absolutely horrible. Ashley liked them though, so sometimes I just had to go in with her. If money was no object, would you change your wardrobe? My goth could finally  E S C A P E. How do you/did you get to school? My mom drives me. Have you ever had to have a pet put down? Four times that I remember off the top of my head. What candy cane flavor is your favorite? MMMMMMMMMM get the pink Starburst kind. Do you get angry when fast food restaurants mess up your order? It's annoying, yes. Angering when you've already driven away, especially when you really wanted something. What was your favorite elective class in high school? Art. Did you ever wish you could be homeschooled? Yes. I was homebound for a little while. Have you ever had a dream so realistic you could’ve sworn it happened? Yes. Do you have any mental disorders? I'm a walking mental disorder, lmao. Y'all know the biggies, and now ADD and especially DPD (dependent personality disorder) are being considered. Do you feel comfortable talking about these disorders, if you have them? Yeah, I really don't care. Where did you go on your last field trip? I want to say to a band competition in high school. Are you able to agree to disagree? Or do you have to have the last word? Yeah, pretty easily. Is there a cover song you like better than the original version? A whole lot, actually. Do you have a hard time talking about sex with the opposite gender? I have a hard time with anyone. Have you ever had major surgery? Major, no. Is there any food you don’t like that a lot of others do? Here in the South, everyone is most surprised when they hear I hate fried chicken. What was the last thing you bragged about? Hm. I'm not sure, actually. I don't make a habit out of doing that. Can you do a backflip? Hell no. Are you listening to anything right now? I have a video up of relaxing tracks from Silent Hill 2 + 3. Great shit. Has anyone ever tried to tell you you were adopted? No. How many doors are in the room you’re in? Two, but one's just the closet door. Have you ever been engaged and broke it off? No. Has anyone ever drawn a picture of you? Yes. Do any of your friends have children? Yep. Is there anything you’re craving right now? Not really. Who got married at the last wedding you attended? A family friend. It was the second wedding I shot. Is happiness something to be achieved and sought after or is it something to be retained and held onto always, no matter what happens? The former. You can't just stay happy when, like, your grandma dies. What gives you a peaceful feeling? Nature. Hearing water and birdsong, specifically. Are you a Toys-R-Us kid? Hell yeah I was. My sisters and I would go crazy if we had the chance to go there. We were SOOOO upset when it closed down. If you believe in Heaven, are there separate heavens for different animals (kittie heaven. dog heaven, bird heaven, etc)? I don't know if I believe in a "heaven," but some sort of peace after death, yes. I believe it's one, unified "heaven." When you sleep next to someone do they fall asleep first usually or do you? They always do considering it takes me ten years to fall asleep. If they do, do you watch them sleep? I have. Not in a creepy way, but rather a "wow I love this person" sorta way. What is your usual breakfast? Usually apple and cinnamon oatmeal What do your salt and pepper shakers look like? They're nothing special. The salt is a blue ceramic, and the pepper one is just what you get from the store. Have you ever had your car towed? I've never had my own car. What band or singer do you believe started rock and roll? I'm pretty sure Elvis is given that credit. Whose voice irritates you like fingernails on a blackboard? The female singer of Mother Mother's voice. Mom and I can't stand her singing. All I songs we enjoy feature almost solely the main singer. I can *tolerate* it in some songs, but. What do you contribute to society? Ha. Do you take naps? Almost daily. Do you have any cavities? Not to my knowledge. Do you believe that there has been a man on the moon? Yes, though I do believe the "first" landing was faked in competition with Russia. It sounds ridiculous, but I'm so serious, look into the theory - there's incredible evidence. Would you ever go into a sex shop? I'd be too self-conscious to. I'd just order online. Let’s just say your school team is on a winning streak. One of the cheerleaders cheers both for your team and the other team during games. Does it make you angry? I don't care enough about sports to even consider how I'd feel. Do you prefer carnivals, festivals, circuses, parades or faires? To be real, I only know the difference between parades and circuses. What even distinguishes the other three from each other. Do you believe in psychic ability or is it a sham? I lean towards no. What is your favorite classic rock song? You CANNOT ask me this question. Classic rock is some of the best music there is.
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princessmovieticket · 6 years ago
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Just a vent
Fucking pharmacist, skimming medications.
I take lorazepam for these catatonic state I get into. Muscles spasticity happens (extremely tight muscles), my whole body goes ridged, my mind does too, it's hard to process actions, I get a fixed stare difficult to break.
It's almost impossible for me to do anything without it.
(Which sucks. I wish I could take something else because the memory problems have become crippling. But for the time being, this is what I'm perscribed, and I need it).
I break 1 pill into 4 pieces, and almost never go over two of those pieces a day, so it last a long time, should last 60 days.
Or so one would think.
A year ago I started realizing it was running out insanely fast, it didnt make sense.
I'm alone nearly 24/7. No one's around to take it. And I have my med schedule down.
I can't pick up my scripts because I am physically unable to leave my apartment, so I'm unable to count in person.
Eventually I started counting when I got the bottle.
Then I had whoever was picking it up count in person. (But if I forget to remind them, they forget to do it, mom).
Sometimes many were taken, sometimes it was 1. Then there would be none taken. The next time 4.
I went about almost 4 months back because I had an appointment the same day. Since I was there I asked the woman ringing us up to count it out, sure enough 2 weren't there.
The pharmacist said "Oh no, so this has happened before? Okay. Well we'll fix this for today."
There was a moment of, "is someone here stealing meds, does the girl in front of me potentially have a problem, or was this just a mistake."
So she tried to brush it off, as it was only 2 pills, and hopefully a mistake. If someone working there was taking medications that's a big deal. And if it was just a mistake, looking into this could cause unnecessary problems.
I don't blame her.
I also do not like starting shit and will avoid it if possible.
Ever since they haven't been missing. The bottle lasting as long as it should.
But fuck.
Alas.
It has happened again.
And I wasn't looking for it.
I didn't want to be looking for it.
And hey, It's not a good look needing a control substance medication because it ran out several days before I can get it refilled.
And weirdly, even though I need it, I feel way too vulnerable to put myself out there and do anything.
I get to withdrawal from a benzo I have to take daily. While already having a nervous system that acts like it's in continuous benzo withdrawal.
There should be Joan Jett type grit and strength coming out and saying "Ya know what, motherfuckers? No. This ends now."
But see, I normally leave the house once a month and spend a week recovering. Howeves, in the last two weeks I've had to leave 5 times all for medical appointments. (Granted, one was dental) but 3 were for severe migraines. I'm having a hard time willing any activities at the moment, even if not doing them makes things shittier.
And I'm terrified of summing energy I don't have to go to the pharmacy and say
"someones been stealing my lorazepam"
And them saying
"Maybe you lost track of how many you were taking, you know memory loss is a major side effect"
Or
"Uh, I think YOU'RE trying to steal lorazepam."
*severe migraine intensifies. Sensory overload over loading. Emotionally and physically so done I just give up and proceed to lay against a wall in the pharmacy, no longer communicating*
*sigh*
Listen. I know I didn't do enough to make sure I was getting the correct amount and document when there wasn't. It's on me for not pushing for people to count when they are at the counter.
But in my defense, it already sucks I have to ask someone to run errands like picking up my meds for me. Specifically my mom. She takes care of 5 children, basically by herself. She's raising my older sisters kids. And when she has the time to do something for me, I just don't want to add stress. She has got so much to do already, it is absolutely unfair how much she has to handle, and I'm greatful for when she fits me in to make sure I have meds and food. I'm pretty sure my mom is running on sheer will power and is able to to so because she literally doesn't have a second when she can stop and emotionally process, or reflect on life.
(It's kind of terrifying to be honest. Especially since she has her own medical problems. The amount of strength she summons, holy shit. It would be wild to see where that inertia went if she didn't have to take responsibility for so many humans. Super Sayian midwest mother).
She shouldn't have to count to make sure the correct amount is in there. Neither should I. Neither should any one getting their meds.
So fuck you. Whoever you are, anonymous pharmacist.
I'm throwing these words into the tumblr void. You may never know it, but somewhere on the internet is a small post voicing how you fucked them over.
I hope someone with more energy pulls a sting on your operation. Buys back their own pills from you and gets you shut down.
And for the off chance you are doing it for some kind of legitimate need,
I hope that whatever is medically or financially needed for you or someone you care about, becomes possible for you to get.
But either way,
Stop.
Stealing.
Meds.
These are not just the "fun drugs".
Some of us, rare as we may seem, need them to function. To do basic and essential things like making a meal or showering.
You're profiting off hurting people.
Please be better. This isn't worth it.
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