#that's the most astonishing thing that's happened in this story so far hahahahaha

[angelasscribbles]

Ya, no, there was no way in hell Max would be home early.

hahaha, of course not! Get it, Max!

Bertrand took a piece of the grease drenched abomination between his thumb and forefinger and dropped it onto his plate. “I forgot utensils.”

hahaha, I can picture this so clearly!!

Bertrand looked down at his plate with a faint grin.  “She was caring and humorous, but also very strong and tenacious.. Quite like someone else I know.” He looked at Riley pointedly and she nudged him with a grin.

OMG 🥹 This...this....the sweetness and fluffiness and the freaking tenderness of this moment!!! My heart is gonna explode!

Bertrand’s heart hurt deeply for her. How could someone not love Riley? “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine.”

Ah! Her pain! His angst!

Bertrand shook his head sadly. “But still.. It is something that hurt you and you’re still dealing with the repercussions to this day. I would hate for you to keep all that pain bottled up inside of-” He paused as realization washed over him. “Ah.. I see..”

oh hahahaha I LOVE this so much!!! She got him!!!! HA! Take that, Bert! Now open the fuck up!

“I.. care about you too,” he replied, heart pounding in his chest. That was the first time he had ever spoken those words to another person.

oh my gosh! It's too much! AAAHHHHHH

“Well done,” Bertrand chuckled. “Although it’s too bad King Constantine will have to do without his Bordeaux tomorrow.”

WHAAAA???? This is the most astonishing part of this chapter!

But it really shows his feelings for her

Suddenly she had that predatory look in her eye that he knew so well. That look that he loved.. That he craved.

ohhh yes, bring on the homerun!!!!!

This was a fantastic chapter because it shows us their growing emotional attachment to each other!

They can both keep lying to themselves that it's all physical or all fun and games but we know the truth and we can't wait for them to figure it out!!

Ready for the smut now....

Never Have I Ever

Chapter 12 - Converging

Book- TRR

Series- Never Have I Ever

Pairings- Bertrand x MC 

Chapter Synopsis- Bertrand and Riley get some alone time and have a heart to heart.

Chapter Warnings- drinking, language, mentions of sexual acts, tw: child abandonment issues

Rating - Mature

Word Count- 2,340

A/N- thanks @angelasscribbles for bouncing around ideas with me!

Chapter 12 - Converging

It was the day before the court's arrival, and things were running smoothly. Riley and Maxwell insisted on helping with the preparations.. At least as much as Bertrand would allow them to help. He still took on the majority of the tasks alone.

Not only was Bertrand busy with preparations, but he had doubled down on finding Tariq. He couldn’t get the image from his nightmare out of his head, and needed to question Tariq himself on what his intentions were with Riley and how he really got into her room. But for some reason, the man seemed to have vanished completely. 

By the time evening came, the staff and planners had cleared out, and the estate was immaculate. Riley sat in the large, fully stocked kitchen alone and hungry. She thought about cooking something for herself for dinner, but Bert would probably lose it if she dirtied up a dish.  He would surely be running around like a chicken with its head cut off for the rest of the night, and Maxwell was probably going to be out until morning. 

Max had immediately hit it off with one of the acrobats they interviewed for the Beaumont Bash, and was out on a date with him. The guy had flat out told Max that the way he could twist and contort his body would ensure that they had a good time tonight. Ya, no, there was no way in hell Max would be home early.

Riley heard a noise coming from the wine cellar adjacent to the kitchen and hoped that it was Bertrand and not a murderer. Something about being in that huge house was always a little creepy.

“Uh.. Bert? You in there?” She peeked around the corner and found him writing on a clipboard.

“I am.”

Riley walked inside, taking in the hundreds of wine bottles, some of which had to be pricier than an entire year's rent on her apartment in New York. “What are you doing?”

Bertrand reached up and examined a bottle, dusting it off with a cloth. “Inventory.”

“Didn’t the staff do this already?”

“They did. But they couldn’t find the eighteen year old Bordeaux, which I specifically purchased because it is King Constantine’s favorite. And I know it’s in here.” He stood on his toes and felt around on the top shelf, suddenly breaking out in a grin. “Ah, here we are.”

Riley leaned over his shoulder, examining the bottle. “What’s so great about this wine?”

“Other than the fact that it is a favorite of our monarch, who will be here tomorrow for dinner? Nothing.”

Riley chuckled, “I expected you to give me a history on the grapes and the type of soil they were grown from.”

Bertrand met her eyes with an amused grin. “I could have, but I figured I’d spare you another wine lesson.”

She laughed, “I wouldn’t have minded! Sharing all of the knowledge you have on every subject is very.. You.”

“Yes, I am aware that being overly loquacious is one of my many character flaws.” 

“No.” She met his eyes with a smile. “It’s not a flaw.”

Suddenly Riley’s stomach rumbled loudly and she giggled. “I forgot how hungry I am! You want to eat with me?”

“I did skip dinner tonight.. What did you have in mind?”

Riley grinned, “I’ll order pizza and you pick us out a bottle of wine!”

“Pizza?!”

“Yes, Mister fancy pants! We’re gonna have a regular meal..” she gasped excitedly, “and we're gonna have it on the floor!”

“Why would we ever want to eat on the floor?!”

“An indoor picnic!”

Half an hour later, Bertrand and Riley sat on a blanket in the great room by the fire, pizza and wine at the ready. Riley rolled her eyes in delight as she took a bite of the cheesy goodness. “It’s been waaay too long! Mmm.. come to mama.”

Bertrand arched an eyebrow in amusement, “you certainly are enjoying that, aren't you?”

“God yes. Now start eating!”

Bertrand took a piece of the grease drenched abomination between his thumb and forefinger and dropped it onto his plate. “I forgot utensils.”

“No utensils!” Riley shouted. “We’re having a regular meal tonight and eating it like regular people.”

Bertrand sighed, “If you insist.” He took a small bite and couldn't help but smile.“It has been nearly.. twenty years since I ate pizza.”

“No way!”

He nodded, “My mother called it her guilty pleasure. If the menu at a formal event wasn’t particularly suited for young children, she would always sneak a pizza for the three of us after. She set up chairs and draped a blanket over the top and pretended we were camping.”

Riley smiled, watching him reminisce happily. “Tell me more about your mother.”

Bertrand looked down at his plate with a faint grin.  “She was caring and humorous, but also very strong and tenacious.. Quite like someone else I know.” He looked at Riley pointedly and she nudged him with a grin.

“So she was clearly amazing.”

Bertrand chuckled softly, “Indeed she was. She had a good heart, just like Maxwell. I am grateful that he has so much of my mother in him.” He looked away, suddenly very solemn. “I only hope that I didn’t get too much of my father.”

“Oh Bert..” Riley reached out to put her hand on his, but he quickly picked up the wine bottle and poured them each a glass.

“I apologize. I didn’t mean to start an unpleasant conversation during our dinner.”

“Don’t apologize,” Riley said sadly, “I want you to be able to talk to me. We’re friends. You can tell me anything and I won’t judge you.”

“If that is the definition of a proper friend, then I suppose I’ve never had one.”

“That’s horrible. Not even when you were young?”

Bertrand shrugged. “When you’re a future duke, most of your ‘friends’ are assigned by parents who are looking to benefit themselves and their status.” 

“Well that’s seriously fucked up.”

Bertrand took a sip of his wine and shook his head, “It is quite alright. No sense in dwelling on things that can’t be changed.”

Riley took a drink, watching him curiously. “That’s the second time you’ve said that to me. ‘No sense dwelling on things that can’t be changed’. But I think it’s perfectly fine to have feelings about things, regardless of whether or not they can be changed.”

“I..” Bertrand paled, “I hadn’t realized I even said that. I suppose no matter how long he’s been gone, I still can’t escape him.”

“Your dad?”

Bertrand stood abruptly, “I should go.. Thank you for dinner, but I really need to get some sleep tonight.”

Riley scrambled after him, grabbing hold of his arm before he could run away. “Bert please, please talk to me. This is clearly something that's been bothering you a lot lately!”

He shook his head, “I can’t, don't you see?! You already had to witness my pathetic display the other night, and I would rather die than have you pity me, Riley!”

“I don’t pity you!” She took hold of his face with both hands. “I told you, you’re my friend and I.. I care about you.”

Bertrand looked away, trying not to meet her eyes, because he knew if he did, he couldn’t deny her anything she wanted. “I don’t want to burden you with my trauma.”

She sighed, and dropped down onto the couch, her expression melting into one of resurfaced pain. “How about if I go first?”

Bertrand furrowed his brow, “I don’t understand.”

She smiled sadly, “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

Bertrand sat down beside her hesitantly. “Riley, you certainly do not need to bring up pain from your past on my account.”

“I can’t keep telling you that it’s not healthy to bottle it all up, if I’m literally doing exactly that. So.. I'll start at the beginning.” Riley took a deep breath. “Did you know that I’m adopted?”

“I.. didn’t.”

“I’m surprised. I mean, I never told anyone, but I assumed you had looked up everything about me from the moment Max brought me into your home.”

Bertrand looked away awkwardly. He definitely had, but that was not something that he came across on the extensive background check he had done on her. He waited for her to continue, embarrassed to confess how much he distrusted her in the beginning.

“So.. My parents got divorced when I was five, and as soon as it was finalized, my dad left.. Literally just left my mom alone to raise three kids. But instead of going out and getting a job to support us, my mom decided what she needed was another man to take care of her. Which is how we ended up with a new ‘daddy’ every few months.”

“Wow.” Bertrand had no idea what to say, but he longed to comfort her in some way. A hug? An ‘I’m sorry’? Before he could think of something to say, she continued.

“She didn’t care how these guys treated us, as long as they paid her bills. None of her boyfriends ever really paid any attention to us kids, but she let herself be treated like a doormat. So anyway, we lived this way for a couple years, barely scraping by. But after a few months with no one supporting her, we were out of food and money. We got evicted from our apartment in Jersey and had to move in with a friend of hers in New York... That’s when she decided that it would be easier to take care of herself, rather than a family.”

“So.. she just got rid of you all?” Bertrand asked in disbelief.

Riley shrugged, forcing a smile. “Eventually we each got adopted into different families, which is how I ended up with the last name Brooks. I talk to my older brother and sister occasionally, but they both have their own lives now... Married with kids and all that.” Riley looked away, trying to keep the tears at bay. “I used to pretend that giving us up was a difficult choice for my mother. I told myself that she was trying to do what was best for us.. But the truth is, I don’t think she considered anyone but herself.”

Bertrand was silent for a long moment, mind reeling. “Whatever became of your parents?” 

“No idea. And I’m pretty ok with that.. Most of the time.” She swallowed down the lump that was beginning to form in her throat. It had been twenty years since her life had so drastically changed, but some days the pain resurfaced just as fresh as ever. She took a slow breath to compose herself before speaking again. “Sometimes I have to wonder how they could just stop caring about us. It’s made me pretty jaded, you know? Like.. if my own birth parents didn’t love me, then why would anyone else.”

Bertrand’s heart hurt deeply for her. How could someone not love Riley? “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine.”

“I didn’t tell you this to get sympathy,” she said, grasping his hand.

Bertrand shook his head sadly. “But still.. It is something that hurt you and you’re still dealing with the repercussions to this day. I would hate for you to keep all that pain bottled up inside of-” He paused as realization washed over him. “Ah.. I see..”

She smiled and squeezed his hand. “When you care about someone, their feelings matter to you. And I do care about you, Bert.”

“I.. care about you too,” he replied, heart pounding in his chest. That was the first time he had ever spoken those words to another person.

They smiled at each other for a moment and Bertrand stood up. “Well, if we’re going to do this, then I better procure another bottle of wine.”

One hour, one pizza, and two bottles of wine later, Bertrand and Riley had stripped their souls bare. He told her about the nightmares he had about his past and the impossible standards he had been held to growing up. She told him about her siblings and her adoptive family. They sat next to one another on the plush couch in the great room, the fire crackling across the room while they relaxed in comfortable silence. 

“That wine was pretty damn good..” Riley finished off the remainder in her glass and lay back against the cushion, scooting closer to Bertrand. “Or should I say - the tasting notes of plum and raspberry in this full-bodied blend are pleasing to the palate.”

“Well done,” Bertrand chuckled. “Although it’s too bad King Constantine will have to do without his Bordeaux tomorrow.”

Riley gasped, “You didn’t! After all that trouble you went through to find it, we just polished it off!?” She dissolved into giggles.

The wine had Bertrand feeling giddy and he fought the urge to giggle along with her. “I figured we would need something good to counteract the mental anguish that was sure to ensue this evening!”

“You rebel..” Riley sighed happily, “I think I’m a bad influence on you.”

She blithely turned to look at him and found his eyes were already on her. They were mere inches apart, watching each other as the firelight danced across their faces.

Bertrand swallowed hard and reached up to brush a strand of hair from her face, earning a smile in return. He looked away shyly, “I, uh, didn’t want your hair to get in your eyes.”

“Thank you.” She placed her hand on top of his, and their eyes met once more.

The space between them crackled with just as much intensity and warmth as the fire, and Riley couldn’t stand it any longer. “Would you like to have our next lesson now?”

At her words, a raging heat surged through him. “The next lesson,” he repeated breathlessly.

Suddenly she had that predatory look in her eye that he knew so well. That look that he loved.. That he craved.

“Bertrand.. Do you want to have sex tonight?”

[sundaynightnovels]

11/11/11

i’ve been tagged by the ever-so-amazing @kidsarentallwrite , so thank you! love seeing your answers as always hahaha and am always thankful that you remember me for these games <3  1. Go to song when you need to get into the mood to write? sad songs. usually my favourite jay chou song, or some really sad hua chenyu pieces. but yea, always sad mandopop.  and then i write a funny scene right HAHAHAHA ok no not always (my recent snippet was following a sad hcy song and it is ... hm. is it sad? i don’t know.) 2. Dream director for a film/television adaption? taikaaaa yoooooo!!! shout out to my best boy i can’t wait to watch jojo rabbit!  edgar wright in the lines of the cornetto trilogy &/ scott pilgrim like man the cornetto trilogy was l i f e  stephen chow for the most ridiculous nonsensical situational comedy that takes place in my wip (i’m thinking the fish scene, yall know that elusive fish scene that i always name-drop but never go into specifics about - gimme that in the style of kungfu hustle’s strongest woman!) 3. If you ever saw your WIP go to stage, is more likely to be a play or a musical? musical. it’d be a very boring play since nothing happens, and it’s ridiculous enough for the characters to break out in random musical numbers and still be valid. on immediate thought i can imagine teng wailing into the night singing a song about a forlorn love while zhen throws a shoe at him and jun sings a bad back-up harmony and ren is just there in the corner, rubbing at his temples and shou will act the part of the audience on stage and cheer and throw flowers and wail equally loudly in tears of absolute astonishment and delight yes. 4. Favourite thing you’ve written? eh. in my wip, or in general???? honestly i can’t think of anything. sometimes when i’m re-reading my writing / drabbles / whatever, in hindsight im like ‘whoa i wrote that??’ and then i re-read it AGAIN and im like ‘ew, i wrote that?’ and the cycle repeats x100 my favourite thing from my wip so far though, i think i have an actual scene for that. it’s this scene after all of them listens to this story. they are really affected by it, though none of them show it, and the next day shou just goes wandering around the streets and has this sorta experience and  it’s written a little vague, a little dazed and confused but also really... hm. kinda magical-ish and surreal and i think it was written pretty ... nicely. yea. HAHA. (maybe i’ll let you read it someday *winks* HAHAHAHAHA) 5. Top five authors, go! ME.  jk hahahahahaha. do i mean just kidding or do i mean jkr? who knows?? okay in all seriousness i love leigh bardugo, i love marie lu, ofc i love my man rick riordan and my childhood hero roald dahl. the last one’s for grabs, who wants to throw their name into the hat?  6. Biggest influences to your writing? idk, a lot of things. music and musical scenery (as in, yknow, certain visualisations you get when listening to songs & its mood and atmosphere etc. also i was watching pavarotti the other day for work, yknow the film about italian opera tenor luciano pavarotti? and in that film they mentioned something pretty interesting, in that in italian opera they first write down the lyrics, and then only after do they compose music to go with the lyrics so that each music strand is as evocative of the feeling of the word as possible, and i think that’s really cool) humour, definitely. most of my OCs came about from a line of dialogue that i just needed them to say. yes they are all manifestations of words. isn’t that all characters?  but really. mostly just a sort of feeling. can’t really describe it. that’s why i have a hell of a difficult time getting inspirations huh? 7. What do you use more, first/second/third person? when i was younger i used to do first person, but now i can’t stand to do first person hahaha it’s just a little odd for me i need my third-person. sometimes i can’t really bear to read first-person either, at least since i’ve grown older. i don’t really know why, can’t pinpoint it. some first-persons are really good though. 8. What social media would your OCs have? uhhhh i’m not a big social media person, so i don’t really know. i’ve stopped using instagram since the beginning of this year, and it’s odd because people never remember that i don’t use instagram. it’s like a thing that everyone assumes that everyone has and uses, i guess -- it just can’t stick in their minds that i’m not anymore. just an interesting observation 9. Why do you write the genre you write? the more important question is, what is my genre? HAHAHA. okay i don’t know, i just like writing character and character interactions and i love introspective pieces (even though mine, arguably, isn’t particularly introspective since no one wants to think in that, tsk, typical humans) 10. Team Edward or Team Jacob? when i read the books i was a 100% team jacob, until he went and imprint on a newborn baby and i was like ew bro what’s wrong with you so i’m team no-one now. both sides are creepy, unfortunately. 11. What’s your guilty pleasure movie? no guilty pleasures! not ashamed of letting people know what films i enjoy watching HAHA  i am a very conventional film-viewer and i like commercial stuff with mass appeal. sue me. like even though i’m writing film reviews for my internship right now and you’d assume i’d be all art-house and stuff, but like, no that stuff takes up too much brain energy i like fun, mass-appeal commercial stuff that forces you to engage in it and use your brain, whether during / after the film. that’s why parasite is fking amazing and it’s my favourite film of this year. if you haven’t watched it, WHY THE HELL NOT?  tagging a few peeps at @coffehousecreations @bahay-kubo @insearchof-solace @kaigods @aslanwrites @bookenders @mvcreates @tenacious-scripturient @inexorableblob @focusdumbass questions under ‘read more’!

1. why did you choose writing as a medium instead of other artistic endeavours? 2. what language(s) would you love your wip to be translated into, and why? 3. how would you describe your own writing? 4. who do you look up to the most in the writeblr community, be it their energy or personality or writing? 5. give yourself three compliments in terms of your own writing ability! you deserve it!  6. how much does real-world events translate into your writing? 7. what is your all-time favourite film? 8. how would you rate your writeblr experience as of now? how has it differed from your prior expectations? 9. what trope / inspired scene do you want to put in your wip, but haven’t? 10. give us a summary of one of your earliest wips! 11. what do you enjoy reading most from another person’s writing? bonus question (for, ahem, personal reasons): have you watched parasite? why / why not? what do you think of it?

[crashpaddiaries]

Dear Crashpad Diary #33

Yoooooooyoyoyoyo beasts!!!

Ha… our trip back home is approaching fast and I´m actually looking forward to see yas all back in Ireland! =)

I hope you are all fantastic and having a blast everywhere!! =)

Today I´m gonna tell you the story of an enchanted waterfall / the attack of the fish / tang shake / jumpstarts or the tale of the bull bus / the highlander of the buses / the long journey to Chiang Man / Hell on earth hostel / Going to Pai by bike

Wow… so much to tell!! I defo should stop more often and write about the trip… otherwise, the stories get accumulated haha

So.. since I wrote last time we´ve been to the most beautiful waterfall on earth!! I know… some will tell me... but you haven’t been to everywhere… man… you know when it can´t get better!! hehe We can find sth similar… but Kuang Si Falls is from another world!! Do you know those long exposure pics… where the water gets blurry and kinda fairy tale style? Yep… this cascades are like that but naturally!! =)

Well… I could be telling many many beautiful adjectives to describe it for yous… but it would be only being unfair to the waterfall.. nature and to you… that should grab your backpack and head there before the tons of tourists that visit the place without a bit of care or conscience destroy it. Unfortunately, we´ve seen people getting into the water even though there were signs prohibiting it… =(

Anyways, there were areas that you could go for a swim and enjoy the blue/green-ish waters… and that my friend… is where the danger lies hehehe we met a girl that crashed her bike few weeks before getting there and her legs were… I'd say… grated hehe and the scabs were covering the legs… until she got inside the water haha the fishes “attacked” her and ate… yep…. ate the whole thing… eeeeew!! hahaha

She got those fish massage for free hehehehe In fact… if you stayed static for few secs the fishes would start biting you haha weird sensation hehehe but totally worth it!! haha

As I have mentioned maybe 2000 times already… we are living on fruit shakes and smoothies… my bro even got some sore throat due to that haha… worth it again!! haha But you know… the more you get… the higher is the chance of going wrong… and that happened when I asked if the guy had coconut… he said yes… way to go!! Coconut and avocado shake… the perfect match!! Like heel hook and roofs… Bonnie and Clyde (the rocklands ones!!)…. you got me!!

But nope… when you get tang shakes… you know those powder thingy??? The guy were courageous giving me that shit… man… you are in the middle of a food market… in Laos… with tropical fruits falling on your head as you walk on the streets…. plus… there are maybe other 4000 stalls making juices… and you give me a tang shake?? Fuck off!! hahaha I gave the shake back… 2 steps to the right and 3 minutes later I got a real and scrumptious avo shake with his neighbour!! Hooooooray!! and Booooooo for that guy!! man… you must rethink your business!! haha

Unfortunately, our trip in Laos came to an end… and what an epic ending!! hehe I really do not understand how the buses there deal so well with the roads… We got a last one… after many… from Luang Prabang to the border with Thailand… man… there was a little road in all those holes… some parts of the road looked like a canyon on its own… it could also be treated as an attraction!! hahahaha

That bus specifically was way to strong… I think that one os the Highlander of the buses… it didn’t have any problems with the bumps… however… all the impact seemed to be transferred to our bodies hahahahaha what a massage!! hehe

As usual… for the entire trip, we kept the feeling that we would have trouble with it and sooner or later it would stop broke for good… but nope… it was brave and brought all of us to Thailand… that does not mean it was easy though…. every single stop the bus had to be started with a jumpstart… hehe The whole thing was shaking and whenever there was a stop for toilet or anything else we knew we would feel like a cowboy sitting in a bull… I´m not kidding… I think we got a new world record!! The normal cowboys get maybe 8-9 seconds riding a bull…. I wanna see these guys riding a Lao Bus for 10 hours hahahahaha

AAAAnd after the Highlander/Bull bus, we got to the border… bruised and tired… had to wait about 2 hours for the border to open… checked out from Laos… Checked in Thailand… another hour or so to get the van from there to Chiang Mai… 6 hours later we got to the Thai city in the north… awesome!!!

There we met Dai again… we had spent few days at the begging of our Thai trip with her in Koh Phangan and after 3-ish months we gather together once again… good vibes! But not good hostel choice hehehe She found this place and the pics were good (never go for the pics!! haha)… and we booked at the same place… I mean… not considering all the rats, dirty and mosquitos… the place would be fine!! hehe And we were thinking we would sleep well after the long trip from Laos hahahaha Oh boy!! haha Few days later we checked the reviews on this place online and the very first one had the funniest title ever: Mojito Garden… Hell on earth!!

Now you can only imagine hahahahahah And the worst part is that we had already paid for the 5 days upfront!! shit shit shit!! hahahahah

Well.. we survived and few days - many mosquito bites - all the rats - later, we separate again… Luh and I rented a bike and headed north… To Pai… what a wonderful city… small… awesome atmosphere… surrounded by nature and sweet landscape!! Another adventure to get there tho… as you have to drive through exactly 762 curves in an astonishing road going up there!!

We had driven through the loops in Laos and in few other places… but this one had won our choice of the most fantastic and enjoyable road trip so far! What a beautiful path!! =)

As most of the people are not able to drive with such a technique and skills (myself included)… a big percentage of tourist go there by van… you can only imagine the level of motion sickness… hahah they have even signs that alert the drivers where they should and could stop the vans for people to puke!! hehe I´m serious… there are signs where there is one person vomiting… you don´t believe me??? Check this out and have fun >> https://goo.gl/images/s7Hd2C. hahahahahahahahah

haha after this one I feel I should stop writing hahaha

We still have from this point on… a month or so of trip and loads of adventures… I´ll post more stories soon so… stay tuned and have a great life wherever you are!!

I´m sending all my best vibes and smiles!!

Cheers beasts!! Luv yas =)

Evan