#the 1st one was easy but took like 5 full minutes of just trying to hit it's tiny head hitbox

[roo-bastmoon]

Things needing immediate attention in MUSE era...

We have GOT to diversify streaming platforms. Last year as a present to myself I went ahead and purchased a premium family bundle (for 6 email accounts each) for YouTube/YT Music, Pandora, and Spotify--plus a premium Apple account hooked up to Stationhead, and I currently have free trials going for Tidal, Qobuz, and Amazon. Premium streams are essential for charts.

Every day I make clicking through playlists on all these platforms as part of my routine: before breakfast, at lunch, and before bed at a minimum.

We also need to be very diligent about voting. Once I sat myself down and took the time to download the apps, set up accounts, and watch a few YouTube tutorials about how to do it, it's actually pretty easy and usually only a once or twice a day sort of thing.

Then there are the polls that have unlimited voting. That is a numbers game, a war of attrition. So while I wait for my lunch to heat up? I vote. Stuck in a waiting room for an appointment? Voting. On the phone with someone who is just gabbing away? Uh huh, mm mhm, but clickity click, I'm voting the whole time. I aim to hit that Vote button about 100 times a day. All told, takes less than 5 minutes.

Also our boy just posted on Insta after 126 days of silence. Please interact with the story and show him the love!

All in all, I think we really need to get into a routine where we fire on all cylinders. Streaming parties, funding parties, outreach & hype parties... We are hyper-focused on Spotify and YouTube videos and that stuff is absolutely important, but it leaves too many gains on the table. Let's use every tool in the box, okay?

Finally, I want to wrap up this post with gratitude:

I know I encourage you guys a lot to push yourselves and work hard, and I don't mean to come off as your taskmaster, but rather as a cheerleader.

We took a mostly Korean song with an insultingly low level of promo, plus no ads, no playlisting, no radio, only one version, with less than a full week to chart, which dropped during a major US holiday -- and it's very likely it will land on the Hot 100. That is...outstanding.

If nothing else, Jimin will see that he's loved and appreciated and we have his back. Whatever the assholes online try to say about vpn and bots and other bullshit, it was your blood, sweat, and tears that gave Jimin his well-deserved seat at an otherwise unwelcoming industry table. I'm so grateful to you and to this community for that.

We all know that Jimin is organic, authentic, and uniquely talented, and therefore isn't even in competition with anyone else. But we can still get him some good wins. What we do for him, we do out of love--not obligation or bragging rights. His music and his artistry are a source of JOY!

WE ARE OFFICIALLY IN OUR MUSE ERA!

We have two weeks to study up and get premium accounts and gather all our energy to support a whole album. How lucky we are to be so well fed and loved.

FIGHTING!

[ilaiyayaya]

Ok after the castle, the 2nd half of the game feels kinda short, like in actual time spent, I don't think it actually is, I just did all of the 2nd half of the game in one sitting (except the final boss) which took about 4 hours, but I also didn't fully search every single area, I pretty much just got the major secrets. It's like, fine, but I don't really have much to say about any of the post castle stuff, all of the mandatory areas afterwards are very creepy and atmospheric and scary, but in terms of like, anything other than atmosphere, uhhh they kinda just, exist. Like they're not bad, but I literally just played all of them and the only specific things I remember are the cool desert temple, and the prison that was kinda lame. 2nd half definitely took a big dip compared to the first half, which a large part of that is probably just that my interest kinda just naturally wanes the further I get into most games regardless of the actual quality of the later parts, but like, idk I feel like the 1st half just had way more interesting areas. Like almost every area in the 2nd half of the game felt really similar, like they all had a similar color palette and general vibe going for them, and the ones that were more unique were really, really short, like the lava area, I think I got through that entire area in like 15 minutes and I think I found literally every secret. Also the funni tower, the Tower of Abyss, yea it was okay, like I get the idea, and if you care about leaderboards and improving personal times it's probably cool and all but like, it was really easy, I went in expecting the last couple of floors to get really difficult but no, the difficulty was kinda pretty consistently low throughout all of it, probably because I feel like most enemies aren't that hard, aside from a few annoying ones, which a few of those did appear in the tower but never enough to actually be dangerous. Even the final floor was just another Abyss Demon which like, the first time I fought I thought it was really easy, and this time it was just the same but I know it's patterns even more like none of the enemies in this game are really interesting or difficult enough to fight individually to make a combat-focused area like that fun, it was kinda just boring, and long, and tedious. The reward was cool tho, I never used it because it's really slow and I don't like slow weapons but like, it's stats are good, it's a good weapon it shoots a magic beam that's cool! I do plan to go back and get all of the secrets and go through the rest of the optional areas I missed next, but that's like, not right now I've played this for 5 hours straight today and that's like half of my total playtime, I feel like I'll probably enjoy that next play session a lot more, because finding secrets makes my brain go "waow! :D" and this game has a lot of cool secrets. I'm gonna have to change my computer's clock to be on a full moon for one of them tho I HATE THOSE TYPES OF SECRETS WHY IS THERE AN ACHIEVEMENT ON THE STEAM VERSION OF PSYCHONAUTS FOR PLAYING ON CHRISTMAS THERE'S NOT EVEN ANY IN-GAME CHRISTMAS STUFF as far as I'm aware AND IT'S NOT A CHRISTMAS THEMED GAME FUCK YOU PSYCHONAUTS yea i don't like those secrets they're unfun :c. I'll also get to level 99 which won't be hard because I'm already level 74 and leveling is pretty easy, but I also kinda wanna get all weapons and like, :( that requires just hitting things with a bunch of useless weapons to give them exp so I can upgrade them into new weapons :(. Maybe I won't do that, maybe I'll just do the fun extra stuff I think that would be a better idea :). Also this session I did 1 attempt of the final boss. I'm not doing a 2nd one right now that fight sucks I hate that guy he has too much health, why are the 2 bosses in this game the only even somewhat difficult combat challenges and they're both just massive damage sponges that aren't even fun???? Anyways good game fun game still, 1st half definitely better than 2nd half, but 2nd half still alright honk shoo honk shoo hooooonk mimimimi zzzzzzzzzz eepy time

Holy shit Lunacid is epic I can make my character portrait anything I can become Wedding Crasher in real life in game! I can make my character Six_Flags_Safari_Off_Road_Adventure.png!!! AND I can give myself pronoun yuo dont like capitalism yet you log by bulb!!!

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Sunday 23 July 1837

8 ½

12 ½

slept with A- second night but tired for tenderness – very heavy rain in the night or rather about 3 am   rainy morning – off with A- to church at 9 25 in the market cart (Mosey told me on Saturday it would never be liked here, they thought it so ‘ugly’) henceforward to be called the ugly  pronounced and perhaps written Hoogly  - told this to Frank this morning who drove – the 1st time of using the vehicle (had the gray horse) since Mrs. Heap’s breaking her arm (vid. Sunday 18 June) – the gray went very well – and the alteration in the hanging of the cart makes it comparatively easy – A- and I having gone in it first, the servants can hardly object to try again – set A- down at the church door in ½ hour – not open – she would go to the boys’ Sunday school? back in ½ hour – stood talking to Frank in the stable and breakfast at 11 – still rainy – damp and small rain – came up to my room at 11 ¾ - from then to 2 looking over memoranda and the plan of the borough lent me by Mr. Jubb on Friday – at 2 had A-s’ Hatters street tenant Hinton till 2 32 – about A-‘s tenants John Mallinson (Hartley) and Standeven – if A- would be contented to let them split their notes – no! – would say no more to the 1st or 2nd and the latter could not vote – might Hartley stay if he gave a split – no! let give a plumper for Wortley and then talk about staying – Hinton said he could get 20 votes for £100 – then said tell some of our committee – I think there are 20 blues who would be glad of the votes – off to church at 2 ¾ (took Mr. Gray and the Hoogly followed with Oddy and Sarah 1st time of the servants going in it to church) – took up A- at the turn of the 2 roads (Crownest and Cliff hill) – she thought us late – but we were in church just before the organ had done the introductory voluntary – Mr. Ramsden did all the duty – preached 25 minutes from Luke xvi. 2 – I asleep – A- wanted to write to Mr. Gray so we did not call at Cliff hill, and got home at 5 – then wrote the last 10 lines – then till 6 ½ wrote a ½ sheet note full and 1 p. of envelope pretty close to lady Stuart Easy chitchat –she is right – I should not be well without travelling – ‘my mind is so bent upon it, I feel as if it would fidget me into a fever, if I was to abide another unbroken 12 month in one stay – had written in my 1st p. ‘Here I am, and here I must be till near the end of the year – Surely I shall then see you, if I survive all my disappointments – and if not, I trust my next state of being will be infinitely more agreeable than my present one has been for the last year or two – DO not quite forget me’ – said when I wrote my note to Lady Harriet thought of passing thro’ Hamburg next month to Leipzig fair etc. etc. but luckily had not named it – ‘for my visions of Leipzig fair, etc were shortly afterwards dispersed’  - should have written Last Sunday but ‘fancied we might know better how we stood if I waited a few days – for the country, we hope Mr. Worltey is sure – for the borough, we must wait the event – I remember telling you about 12th month ago, there were great fears for Mr. James Wortley – opinion has made a great turn in his favour since them; but still I believe it would be impossible to say at this moment with anything like certainty how the contest will terminate – the fight will be a very close one; and if we do gain the day, it may be a 2nd time by a majority of one – the conservative interest has not yet had time to grow to its full strength, or to the strength I think and believe it will have by and by – I can improve my own interest very maturely in the course of 2 or 3 years – we had a few rotten boroughs before the Reform act – there will now be more and more; and we shall all be rotten ere long – the united whigs and radicals are buying up all the votes they can – they may outwit us – the whole thing depends upon management – but the weight of property in the borough, is decidedly conservative – it is very feverish work always dearest Lady Stuart, very truly and very affectionately yours AL’ – went into the cellar – sent off my letter at 7 to ‘the honourable Lady Stuart’ under cover to ‘Lord Stuart de Rothesay Carlton house terrace London’ dinner at 7 10 coffee at 8 10 – not A- and I had only 1 cup  and then came upstairs with A- (not having seen Mr. G- since dinner) before 9 – from then to 11 digesting A-‘s letter to Mr. Gray respecting Mrs. AW-‘s life interest in £4000 left to her by her sister Mrs. MW. deceased 13 September 1822 wrote rough draft of a new letter – fine day F54° now at 11 20 pm having stood talking ¼ hour to A-

[fandomscombine]

No, Not Like This [Part 2]

George Weasley x Reader

BG: Rewatched the New Girl S2x15. You know the one with the ICONIC Nick and Jess 1st  Kiss? Now make it the reader and Geroge!

a/n: This second part follows more on their realization of what tf just happened. As did in S2x16. (so they don’t have scenes together, just their brains going into overdrive thinking they screwed up. don’t worry I’ll bring them back in pt3 hehe but first here’s some chaotic fun!)

This part’s voices of reason are.... Cho and Fred!

WC:1330

Read PART 1

>>>MASTERLIST<<<

>>JOIN MY WRITING CHALLENGE!<<

George made his way back up to his dorm in a surprising cool calm manner. It was not until late the next morning did what he did sunk in.

What George had thought was a very nice, vivid dream- one he wish he would have the courage to act upon in real life, had actually happened, he panicked.  ‘OH MY GOD! OH MY-YOU KISSED HER! YOU IDIOT!’

Fred, who had just arrived in their shared dorm, toast in hand, laughed at his very dishevelled twin queries. ‘Kissed who?’

‘Y/N. I kissed Y/N’

‘ohhh…’ George’s forwardness made Fred drop his toast. ‘FINALLY!’ He exclaimed, scooting George over.

‘wait What?’

Fred places his palms under his chin. ‘Now tell me how this all went down. Y/n made the first move, didn’t she? Please tell me she did or else I owe Ginny 5 galleons.’

~

While George had a rather peaceful slumber, you on the other hand, did not.

Twisting and turning, mind still stuck on the same sentence. Ranging between the perplexity of ‘George Weasley kissed me?’ to the absolute euphoria of ‘GEROGE WEASLEY KISSED ME!’ .

You touch you lips, gently as if by the feeling of his lips on yours would be washed away if not treated with care.

‘I meant something like that. I didn’t wanna kiss you because of a game. I want to kiss you because you mean something to me’

His parting words echoed in your head.

You Mean Something to Me.

That means he likes you too right? He has to… the boy literally said it…well in the bare minimum implied it. Who in their right mind would deliver a world-shattering kiss to someone they do not fancy?

Though there is one slight detail that could offset this whole theory……

He walked away.

The boy kissed, professed his feelings then exited.

And people say that women are enigmas.

You sighed, you definitely need a fresh pair of eyes here.

The alarm clock on your bedside table flashes 6:39am.

‘Great…’ You muttered, the stupid kiss has kept you awake, overthinking for almost 4 hours.

Rolling over, you layered on a hoodie to your pyjamas. ‘Well, she would just have to deal with me this early.’

You silently make your way out, trying your best to not wake any of your roommates.

In your desperation, the fact that the Ravenclaw’s common room location albeit not a secret, it had completely flown pass your head that they had no password but rather a riddle.

‘Please, can I get an easier riddle’ you pleased to the eagle knocker.

‘Which came first, the phoenix, or the flame?’

You huffed, ofcourse it won’t go easy on you.

‘How would I know?!’ you scowled. The door not granting you entrance just further adds to tour irritable state. How many more things had to be confusing? First George and now this!

‘I wasn’t there! You didn’t even give me a time frame, you stupid door! Ouch!’ Recoiling back in pain, you were sent aback whether be it from kicking the door or it getting back at you for mocking it, you weren’t sure.

‘Give me the full picture. Like is the Phoenix dying? Then the phonics came first than came the flame. If not then it would be vice versa, only a pile of ashes is seen from which a phoenix would be born… or reborn.’

Gosh, were you thankful that it’s too early in the morning for someone to see you rant to a door.

‘You know what? Whatever!’ You sighed in defeat; you would just have to hide from George during breakfast.

However, as you turn to leave, the most extraordinary thing happened.

‘OH My---’ You gawked at the now opened door. ‘It WORKED?!?’

‘It was a valid argument to the constrains presented.’ The eagle knocker remarked, ‘Now it you please, enter quickly, you are letting a cold draft in.’

‘Th-Thank you.’

You’ve been into the Ravenclaw Common Room before and the rows of floor to ceiling bookshelves never fail to intimidate you.

Your eyes land upon the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw and the surrounding intricate tapestries, the soft glow of the sunrise transforming the circular room into a gallery fit for a palace.

‘Y/n?’ A voice called from the dark staircase.

‘AHH!’ You placed a hand to your chest. ‘CHO! What the heck?!? Don’t scare me like that!’

‘What are you doing here? How did you get in?’

‘OH uh… I ranted.�� You told her honestly.

‘You ranted.’ She said in disbelief.

‘Yes. But more on that later, I have more pressing matters.’ You stated, shaking the poor girl. ‘I NEED ADVICE CHO. CODE RED.’

‘CLEARLY.’ Cho sassed, dragging along to the sofa but you stood your ground. ‘y/n?’ Her tone now softer upon seeing your distressed face.

‘George kissed me.’

‘Whaaaaaaaaa?!’

~

You are utterly grateful for Ravenclaws minding their own business, a handful of early risers had gone out for breakfast passing you by. Ravenclaws no doubt has multitude of questions on what a Gryffindor is doing in their common room but had decided to not go down that rabbit hole and are more intrigued in guessing what breakfast specials there’d this last meal before Christmas break.

Though the more straightforward answer could be seen on Cho’s face.

It is too early to be dealing with this, but a friend is a friend. Though that doesn’t mean it stops Cho from internally swearing that her eyes are going to be permanently crossed from keeping up with your pacing about.

‘George kissed me and I didn’t even kissed me back-’ Pacing left, you recounted the previous night. As if sensing Cho call your bullshit, you caved.  ‘okay fine! I kissed him back!’

Plopping face down onto the sofa, voice muffled by the pillow. ‘Is that what you want me to say?’ you demanded.

’I literally haven’t said a word for like over an hour’ uttered Cho matter of factly.

‘Sorry…’ You gaze up at her, pouting your lips as to make her forgive you faster before resuming to your grunts of ‘stupid George Weasley.’

Observing that your rant was over, Cho needed actual details in order to best help you. To help you out of this sticky situation or better yet some….realization, introspection…..That would be up to how honest you are with yourself. ’How was it though, was it…?’

You flop unto your back, mindless playing with your fingers as you recall, ‘It was like I was hit with a bunch of Cheering Charms.’

‘Really?’ Cocking her head, she continued.  ’George was that good? How did he do it then?’

‘He just,’ Okay how were you to describe that magical moment? Wracking your brain but no words could do it justice. ‘He just like, grabbed me.’

‘uh huh’

Cho was unconvinced, so you decided to act it out.

Still lying down, you reach to the ceiling, clenching into fists. ‘and he took me, I mean it was strength, confidence.’

’mm hmm’

You brought your arms close to you, letting your eyes shut as you did so. ‘It was firm, but tender.’

 ’oh damn.’ Cho gasped.

‘oh yeah’ You hate how hot your face has become in a matter of seconds. ‘I saw through space and time for a minute, but that’s not the point.’

‘oh man what are you gonna do?’ Prompted Cho. This was it, the homerun, she thought.

‘I don’t know.’ You truthfully say. There are so many uncertainties, you genuinely don’t know. Wrapping yourself into a ball, you slip of the seat.

Leaning forward, Cho does the last trick on her list. The question that has been implied but left officially unanswered. ‘I mean do you…like George?’

You fake vomit. Your automatic defence system taking over. ‘bah yuck George? Ahhhh’ You tried to play it cool, chuckling.  ‘Nooo!’

You’ve never told a soul! You and George are the best of friends-that’s the story.

Yet Cho’s unnerving brow challenges that narrative.

Halting, you swallowed.

‘Yes.’

~

Part 3, at the burrow will be coming up. So yeah.

It was supposed to be in this but I got carried away and got more inspiration from S2x16 where Nick and Jess had moments of albeit very panicked self-realization on the meaning of the kiss.

Taglist for this fic ‘No, Not like this’:

Thanks also for the support in part 1 and interest in reading more of the fic!🥰

@l0ttadreamz​ @vintagecherrypie106 @remmyswritings @jenniweaslee @iluvharrypotter172 @miaafrances @strawberriesonsummer @stressisakiller

Taglist [All/General]: @gruffle1​

[wolfuckstar]

Handmade Heaven

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31377314/chapters/77593565

1st august, 1986, Friday, 4 days till New Moon.

Day after Harry's sixth birthday.

Keiss, north end of Sinclair's Bay, east coast of Caithness, Scotland.

Summer.

7 AM.

"When you learn to ride the bike, I will let you use the broom."

"I don't understand why I got a broom if I can't use THE BROOM."

Remus laughed from where he was sitting, the Daily Prophet covering his face from the wind, his winter robe over his sweatshirt.

"For the fifth time" Sirius yawned, probably still indignant at having risen with the sun on an unusually cloudy Friday for a summer. The man ran his hand over his beard, opened his mouth to continue talking, but seemed to think better of it and gave up.

"I want to fly on the broom!" As irritating as the boy could be, the two missing teeth in front of his mouth would not let any of the men present take him seriously.

"Well, I want a new record, are you going to give me one?"

Remus put the paper down and gave Sirius a dismayed look.

"I don't care about your record." Harry's bottom lip was almost quivering now.

"Don't you care about David Bowie's Labyrinth?"

The boy seemed to be in doubt now. And Sirius looked more awake than he did 5 minutes ago, which was great. But not that great, since he had forgotten the packet of cigarettes inside the house and the only place he could smoke was outside.

"Don't you care about Queen's Kind of Magic?!" He asked, his voice emphatic and a playful, slightly insane look on his pillow-stained face.

The six-year-old boy seemed to think for a moment, but his green eyes behind the round lenses of his glasses soon found the Nimbus 85 leaning against the entrance door of the house and his expression went rigid again.

"I want to fly! Moony!’’ Harry called.

"Harry, dear" Remus had already given up on finishing reading the news, and threw the newspaper on the woody floor of the porch while answering loudly so that they could hear him from the small road after the fence "If you manage to ride the bike till the lamppost and back three times, we'll let you ride the broom, okay?" He reached over to the small table beside him to reach for the cup of tea, trying hard not to sigh at the stinging pains in his ribs and elbows. The happiness he'd felt when they figured it out that the full moon was over a week before Harry's birthday had passed, and all he could feel were the consequences of the damage. He knew he should remain optimistic, there was no point in brooding over his sufferings, he and Sirius had learned that over the past six years. He could allow himself to feel the pain, but at some point, you just have to let it go.

Keiss had an elementary school, which was a surprise at first. On the outside, the building looked like just one of the small houses on High Street, two stories, two windows, simple plant pots made of clay scattered on the asphalt of the sidewalk. Harry had started attending school a year ago and frequently went to the small park next to it even on weekends, when they were too tired to walk to the ruins on the beach or when they just didn't want to eat sandwiches sitting on the stone wall of the harbor. Sometimes, they visited the field next to the school to teach him how to play football. Remus would teach them while Sirius would make contemptuous comments about how much better Quidditch was and how Muggles didn't use their imagination, but in the end, it was just because he didn't know how to play.

There was a church on South Street, parallel to High Street. And, like everything else in Keiss, you could see the church from the school, and the beach from the church, and the beach from anywhere in the village. There, the vastness of the sky, the grass, and the sea seemed to swallow up everything else, suffocating them with peace, freedom, and salt air.

They did not live exactly in Keiss’s downtown, but just a few minutes walking would take them there. They didn't have a car either. There was no need. They owned an old, faded blue and rusty bicycle that they used when they needed to go shopping. And now, there was the red children's bicycle, bought in Wick, a town to the south, also in Caithness County. Remus and Sirius had agreed to give Harry the broom, as long as the boy also learned to ride a bicycle. Once the two men understood that this was what Lily would like, it had been easy not to worry about the money that would spend on the present.

After a few minutes explaining the whole theory behind the practice, Harry seemed minimally ready to try it himself and Sirius removed his hand from the bicycle seat, where he was holding to balance it. The boy took half a step forward and fell to the side, falling obtusely on the asphalt.

The men waited a moment before making any moves or questions. They had learned that, depending on how they reacted, Harry tended to cry or not.

The boy rested his hands on the floor and looked at the godfather with a crease between his eyebrows as if he had understood something incredibly difficult.

"If I had fallen off the broom, it would have hurt more, wouldn't it?" Harry found out.

Sirius Black threw his head back in a laugh that reverberated through the silent properties around him.

"Come on" The man bowed, extending his hand, helping him to his feet. When Harry was already standing, Black ran his hands over his little legs, removing the dirt from the small pointed and scraped knees. Sirius saw that the glasses were slightly crooked and adjusted them, still laughing "If you pick up speed, the bike won't tip over."

"If I go faster ..." The boy thought out loud "How am I going to stop? I don't know how to stop.”

"Er ..." The man was clearly not a big bike connoisseur.

"Use the brakes, Harry." Remus replied as he approached, extending the second cup of tea to Sirius "Use the brakes and put a foot on the pavement slowly."

The boy nodded and picked up the bike from the floor. Black helped him to give momentum, accompanying him with his hand on the back of the bench to give balance. After a few steps, he released it again. Sirius went back to Remus and took the cup of tea as he said.

"Sometimes I forget that he is only six years old." He took a sip "He's so smart."

A few meters ahead, Harry fell again.

The boy stood still for a few seconds, probably wondering if any damage had been done that would be worth crying. Still lying on the floor, he looked back and smiled at the two men, then got up.

"At least, he thinks for a while before being dramatic." Remus smiled behind the cup "Unlike some."

Sirius shoved him lightly with his shoulder.

"Idiot."

They looked at the boy, who was now putting the bicycle in their direction to pedal back to the front of the house.

"I don't think I managed to say good morning to you with Harry jumping on the bed," Black commented, looking away from the boy.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to say good night too with the number of scratches that I will have to cure later." Remus replies, but leans in anyway, resting his chin on the other's shoulder, inhaling Sirius Black's scent until he feels ecstatic and whisper "Good morning."

"Good morning." As he leaned in to answer, Sirius' beard crawled along the side of his cheek, causing shivers on his back.

Some birds from the ocean sang above their heads. The green grass of the surrounding properties rustled in the wind. The sun was a bright spot in the cloud-covered sky. There were no mountains, just the immensity of fields interrupted by small lakes and the North Sea.

"Maybe we should tell Harry to start pressing the brakes now," Sirius murmured, his voice slightly concerned.

Lupin raised his head in time to see the boy speeding towards them.

“Moony! Pads! Look! Pads! At full speed!” Harry repeated the phrase his godfather had said. The wind laced his black hair back, and his toothless smile melted more than the surface of the hearts of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.

"The brakes, Harry!"

Unfortunately, Remus had to heal scratches on more than one person that night.

[miss-kittys-magical-library]

Indulgent Birthday Smut- Hers

(Nathan Young x Fem!1st Person)

Word Count: 618

Warnings: pure mindless smut and language

A/N: Things aren't always what they seem. From a Thirsty Thursday discussion over on @misskittysmagicportal 😉 This is just her POV.

I stared at my phone: 10pm. Nathan, as usual, was late. A real job, a proper 9-5, was a new concept to him. And when was a better time than now at 32 to finally sign up for the boring desk life? Not that he and Simon weren't committing a little fraud on the weekends. For old time's sake.

I know he told me he was just out for a pint with some people after work, but a day’s worth of suggestive emails had set me on edge. This last year showed me that Nathan, while still fundamentally himself, was more attentive to what I wanted or was curious about trying. It consisted more of letting me completely dominate him sexually; straps and strap ons and various toys. The catch was my allowance of Nathan’s occasional rabid dog in heat rutting until his face contorted in minutes while I laughed.

There were the blue moon nights where I thought he was slipping away from boredom. Those were the nights we each found porn to imitate. Sometimes it led to a third or hours of orgasm denial and teasing. Or just obscene, dirty and rough sex. Nathan's harsh, raucous Irish accent and filthy mouth doing the neighbor’s heads in. Our laughter drowning out their wall banging.

I still kept looking at the texts that I read with his voice in my mind. How he wanted to perfect the switch between his tongue and fingers when he went down on me. That it was his turn to get me in the leg spreaders, they were new and he hadn't had a go on the other end. Nathan teases me about fighting for control but never regretting it when I submit.

“The last time we had t’change the sheets. I rocked that fanny until it flowed like a broken dam.” I could picture his gesture of a two finger salute as he winked with his entire face. Nathan was 32, but only technically.

Those text messages inflamed my cheeks and parts of me swelled with the fantasy of what Nathan would do once he got home. I couldn't help it or wait anymore as I stood up and slipped out of my panties. I scrolled through saved videos on my phone and found one I was hungry for in particular.

I didn't mind, preferred almost, porn of the sapphic kind. When I watched alone or with Nathan, I easily swapped out one of the actresses for my partner’s full lips. As coarse as his words could be, Nathan’s mouth was soft. Like a woman's. He was complimented.

As the women in the video stroked and rubbed and pumped and explored each other, I did likewise to myself. On top of the covers with the lights on. Their moans and cries spurned me on, but so did the specter of Nathan’s curly hair against my inner thighs.

The way he would suck on the hood of my cunt, tongue inches deep between my clit and wherever else he desired. My index and middle finger matching the speed the memory of his mouth took when he could sense me cum. That must have been part of Nathan getting older too.

It was easy. Electric. I slid my phone to the side and grabbed my tit. I squeezed and twisted as my fingers moved at breakneck speed. Then it was like an explosion that rocked my entire body. I screamed Nathan’s name into the empty bedroom as I shuddered with pleasure and fire.

“Crikey motherfucker!” A reciprocated grunt and cry from just outside the door in what I thought was an empty hallway. I knew the sound of him cumming too.

“Welcome home, Nathan.”

@rob-private @sean-falco

[harry-styles-sunflower]

Wandering Hands Part 1

Hellooo everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely day! SO this is Part 1 of Wandering Hands. 

What it is: You and Harry become friends but you come with certain baggage that might make any other man run. 

Word count: 6.2k 

Warning: death and angst? (lmk if i forgot one!) 

Pls reblog if you like it :) Thanks in advance for the support! 

~~~

It was a long day after work and you had no one but yourself to worry about tonight. It was Friday, you were at Joe’s, the bar across your apartment. You’d come in regularly. Only about every other weekend. You were drinking your troubles away with a Manhattan. The bar wasn’t too full, it was only happy hour. You heard the bell ding behind you meaning someone walked in. Some man approached the bar as you finished your drink.

“Hello, can I get a glass of your most recommended wine?” You felt him look over at you, “and a refill on whatever she’s having” he paid Joe and sat a stool away from you.

“Thank you, you didn’t have to” you slid your glass away from you.

“No problem, I wanted to” you nodded and watched the tv. Joe served you your Manhattan and the man his wine. You knew it was a glass of his Château Cheval-Blanc because you had had it yourself once. 4 years ago.

“You know, I never understood baseball too much.”

You drank your drink and looked at him from the corner of your eye. Was he talking to you or Joe? You looked around you and you were the only one close enough to hear him and Joe was busy.

“It’s a good sport if you understand it” you shrugged.

“Care to explain it to me?” He moved to the stool next to you.

You swallowed your drink and looked at the screen. You had no interest in getting a good look at the man next to you anyway.

“English?”

“Precisely.”

“The Red Sox and Yankees played in London a few years ago.”

“Wasn’t home.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah”

“Well Um. 9 innings, 3 strikes you’re out. Guy on the circle in the middle? That’s called a mound. His position is a pitcher- “

“Isn’t that what you guys pour juice out of?”

“Yeah we use the same word for a lot of things, don’t interrupt,” he smiled at you, “he’s a pitcher. He throws to the guy across him, the catcher. Catcher signals him what kind of ball to throw in between his legs. He does it based off the batter’s weakness. There’re 4 bases. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and home. When the batter hits it, he hopes no one in the outfield catches it or it gets out of park. If they catch it while it was in the air he’s out, if they catch it after it’s hit the ground he can run as fast as he can to whatever base is available. But like in order. Oh, also if someone in the outfield catches the ball, they’re gonna throw it to one of the basemen so they can tag the batter running. But if the batter touches the base before they’re tagged then they’re safe.”

He nodded along so you knew he was listening.

“Can I ask a question now?”

You nodded and sipped your drink.

“How do you know it’s a strike?”

“Oh, my bad. See the box on the screen? If it gets in there it’s a strike. Outside the box it’s a no ball but we usually just say ball.”

He nodded and gestured to your drink, “refill?”

“Oh no, I’m good. I need water” He ordered one for you and Joe gave you a knowing look and you just shook your head at him. You two were basically friends now. He’d gotten to know you over the past 4 years. You lived across the street for 5 but you came in 4 years ago. Joe came and gave you your water and you drank it slowly and watched the game. It was Yankees v. Red Sox. The Red Sox made a homer and you shook your head.

“Yankees fan?”

“Yep. We’re in New York. Kind of against the law to be anything else.”

He laughed and sipped his wine. He hadn’t drunken much, he gave you all his attention while you spoke. “My dad was a big Yankee fan. I’ve been one since the day I was born. My mom says she pushed me out and when the doctor put me in her arms the Yankees had won the game. We used to go to a game like every year when I was a kid.”

“Are they as fun as they seem?”

“Even better. During the commercials on tv, sometimes the outfield players play catch with the people on the side or they play a video of the players talking or play a game with the crowd”

“That’s pretty cool,” he put his hand in front of you, “I’m Harry by the way”. You looked at his hand and put yours in it and shook it.

“Y/n” you looked over at him. You finally took a good look at his face. He was gorgeous you couldn’t deny it. He had strong facial features. Short stubble and green eyes. They were bright. Different than your own dark eyes. He made eye contact with you for a few seconds before you turned back to the screen and drank your water.

“If you’re from England, are you here for business or pleasure?” It was New York, people came and went. Travelled. But in your small town about 30 minutes north from the city, no one really came through here unless they knew someone.

“I uh I’ve been here for about a year but I just moved to the area recently. Got a little tired of the city life, but didn’t want to be too far. I work as an editor at Simon & Schuster.”

“Wow. That’s a good job. Hell of a commute I assume?”

“About 1 hour every morning. It’s worth it. Sleep without the sound of horns or sirens”

“True.”

He turned on his stool to face you and you faced him. Your knees were touching.

“So, what do you do?”

“Teach. I’m a teacher. 7th grade social studies. Actually, I taught the Boston Tea party today” you smirked at him and put one arm up on the bar and leaned against your hand and one hand on your knee. Some fingers accidentally touched his knee but your knees were touching. You couldn’t prevent it from happening

“Ahh” he moved a pointed finger at you. You laughed and so did he. He had dimples. Cute. “Such a petty thing if you ask me” he shrugged.

You laughed and shook your head.

“A lot of history is petty.”

“Do you like teaching?” He put himself in the same position as you, his fingers brushing yours too.

“I guess. I love my kids and filling their minds with knowledge but the standards and requirements are a pain in the ass”

“Oh yeah, I’ve heard about that. Not too much freedom”

“Yeah. Like if I want to take them to a museum, I need to find a standard that validates that museum will teach them according to that standard”

“Wow. The museums here are basically free too right?”

“Yep.”

He shakes his head and sips his drink.

“It’s been like an hour and you’re still drinking your wine”

“Well Ms. Judgey, it’s a good wine. I’m savoring it.”

“It is good. I’ve had it. And I’m not judgey. I was just saying it must be warm now.”

“Eh. It’s still chill. Thanks for caring though” he grinned at you.

You rolled your eyes and finished your water.

“When did you have it?”

“Huh?”

“The wine”

“Oh, um four years ago”

“That’s precise”

“It was on an anniversary of something.”

“Wedding anniversary?” He laughed.

“Death anniversary actually.” His face stilled and he became pale.

“Shit I’m so sorry for laughing.”

“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

“Shouldn’t have assumed.”

You saw him looking at you like he wanted to know who it was but would never dare to ask. You debated telling him. You turned back towards the screen, leaving his knees cold. He felt he had lost any chance he thought he had with you. He liked talking to you.

“Joe, jack and coke please”

He nodded and brought it to you. You chugged it down. Harry put his head in his hands. He had driven you to drink. Yikes.

“It was my husband. He died.”

He lifted his head from his hands and looked over at you. You were a widow. You looked so young. He felt bad you had to go through such pain.

“I’m sorry for your loss”

“Thanks. It was 5 years ago. I’m alright”

He nodded. Too scared to say the wrong thing.

“He was in the service. Died in Iraq.”

“Oh wow…” he was surprised you were opening up to him. Perhaps it was the liquid courage.

“Came with the territory, I guess. We were together for 10 years. Married for 5. Widowed for 5 now. If you’re trying to do the math we were high school sweethearts. Started at 15. Married at 20. He died at 25. Yes, I’m 30.” You drank your leftover water.

“Erm… Wow. Well you look good” he was nervous.

You laughed lightly and said thanks.

“Guess I scared you away now didn’t I?”

“No no! Not at all I just don’t want to fuck up and say the wrong thing.”

“Harry it’s been 5 years I’m good. I’m religious, I coped well”

“Oh okay.”

“Stop being nervous!” You laughed.

“I can’t help it!” He laughed lightly.

“I’ve got a big curveball for you,” you turned to face him and you put your hands on his shoulders as he faced you.

“I see what you did there. Curveball” he tilted his head toward the tv.

“Ooh yeah. I didn’t even notice. Well are you ready?”

“I think?”

“I have a son.”

It was what he thought. Didn’t know if he fully expected it though.

“Okay. Curveball caught? Strike? What’s the big deal?”

“Wait what? You’re not thrown off?” You were shocked. His face barely twitched or showed any surprised expression.  

“No?” He shrugged. “It’s a child. I guess I kind of expected maybe something after you said you were together for 10 years.” He finished his wine.

“Fair enough.”

“So, where is he? If you’re here”

“In-laws. They take him every other weekend. Or just from Friday till Saturday.”

“You get along with them?”

You shrugged. “I think they thought I wanted him to sign up for the force. I didn’t. Obviously. It’s a death sentence. I just wanted to support my boyfriend at the time,” He nodded as you spoke, “but they love Sam and are always there for him”

“Sam huh?”

“Samuel. He’s 7”

“Good age”

“Yeah. He’s a lil sarcastic but I blame myself. I could be that way so he’s only doing what he’s learned. But he’s really smart. He’s obsessed with rocks. Been that way since he could walk”

“That’s cute I won’t lie”

“Thanks” you laughed. You liked his company. He was easy to talk to. You had found it easy to open up. He didn’t seem creepy either. Like he just wanted to get in your pants.

“Well it’s been lovely boys, but I have a little boy I have to be up for in the morning. His grandma wants to have brunch”

You stood up and so did Harry.

“Wait let me walk you to your car.”

You lived across the street but he didn’t have to know that. Joe hid his smile when you said “okay”. Harry paid Joe for both of your tabs and walked out with you. It wasn’t too late, 6 pm. You walked to your car and his was coincidentally in front of yours.

“So um. It was nice meeting you. I enjoyed your company”

You fiddled with your keys and looked up at him.

“Yeah I did too.” you said.

“Would it be too forward if I asked for your number?” he was biting the inside of his cheek, you could tell.

Guys had hit on you before. But the wounds were too fresh and Sam was too young. He’s still young but he’s smart, and he knows some days you feel lonely. As much as you convinced him that he was the only man you needed he knew the truth. You liked his company and conversations. So, you said,

“I don’t think so,” you held your hand out for his phone and he placed it in your hand. You put your number in as “y/n 🥃🍷”. Ball was in his court now.

“Cute” you both laughed.

“I’ll text you” he said

“Mhm” yeah. Sure.

“Are you gonna get in your car?”

“Oh, it’s fine you don’t have to wait” please don’t make me get in my car. I live here.  

“What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t wait until you at least got in to your car?”

Okay you were a little impressed. Fair enough.

“Very true actually. Well bye, Harry”

“Nuh uh. It’s see you soon. I’m serious about texting you”

“Okay” you laughed and got in your car.

He got in his and you waited for him to pull out.

 Once he was past the traffic light you got out and went up to your apartment. You called Sam’s grandma the second you got in. He picked up with an ecstatic voice.

“Hi ma!”

“Hi baby, how are you? Everything okay?”

“Yeah! We’re bowling. I’ve gotten 2 strikes!”

“Oh wow. Look at you!”

“Grandpa says dad was good at bowling”

Your heart broke just a little. It bothered you a little when they spoke about him to Sam. You knew he was their son but they didn’t know how much Sam cried sometimes wishing he got to know his dad. You only spoke about him when Sam asked about him or mentioned him.

“Yeah he was actually. When we were younger, we went on a date and he won one round and I won the other. But we were too broke to buy another round so we left it a tie” you laughed at the memory. Just 15-year-old kids.

“You were broken?”

“No sorry hon, I mean we didn’t have enough money to pay for another round”

“Ohh okay.” You forgot sometimes Sam was only seven because he was so smart sometimes.

“Yeah. Well can you put your grandma on for me hon?”

“Yeah okay. I can stay over?”

“Yeah of course. As long as you want to and don’t feel forced to okay?” You knew sometimes he didn’t want to because of how much they spoke about his dad. On those weekends you faked he had a tummy ache.

“Yeah okay. Here’s grandma” he passed the phone to your in-law. You could never say ex. Your husband wasn’t an ex.

“Hello?” Her tone was already unwelcoming.

“Hey, just wanted to confirm we’re still on for 11?”

“Yeah. I haven’t cancelled.” Translation: did I tell you we weren’t going?

“Okay. Sounds great. See you there”

“Okay” she hung up.

“Yeah okay bye. Geez” you slammed your phone on the table and rubbed your temples. She was always so rude to you. When he died, she said it was your fault he left. She apologized for that but it was still something she said. You can’t take words back. You left your phone on the table and went to shower. You just wanted to take a warm shower, relax your muscles, wear some cozy pajamas, drink some tea, and watch friends until you fell asleep. Friends never did you wrong. So that’s what you did. You remember to set your alarm for tomorrow but you also remembered you left your phone on your kitchen table. With a groan because you found the position and you knew you wouldn’t find it again, you got up and got your phone. You saw you had a text from a random number. When you unlocked your phone, the message said

H: Hey, it’s Harry.

You felt bad for making him wait but whatever.

Y/n: hey

You got back into bed, not finding the position again and kept your phone next to you. Your phone lit up about a minute or two later.

H: what’s up? Did you get home safe?

Y/n: oh yeah. Thanks. You?

H: Yeah, I did thanks. So, what’s up?

Y/n: watching friends, you?

H: Same actually. Nick@nite?

Y/n: Yup 😂

H: I’m happy they play this. Especially since Netflix took friends off.

Y/n: Same. Friends is like my bedtime story now. I watch it every night

H: favorite character?

Y/n: I think it depends the season? Like I love Ross in season 9 and I love the rest. I couldn’t pick

H: I agree.

H: Would you want to FaceTime?

You thought about it. Did you want to?

H: We don’t have to if you don’t want to. (Sorry for the spam of messages btw)

You laughed at the last bit.

Y/n: we can FaceTime :)

“Harry would like FaceTime…” you slid your finger across the screen.

“Hello”

“Hey” he smiled into the camera.      

“You look cozy” he was wearing a brown robe thing w a hood from what you could see.

“Ooh I am,” he looked up at the tv, “why are birth control commercials so odd?”

They were playing a commercial for lo loestrin fe and the cartoon bought what was supposed to be lingerie and was showing her boyfriend you assume.

“I hated that pill. It was the worst one I’ve ever tried”

“Really?”

“Yeah it made me gain weight and tons of acne”

“It sucks that all that comes with just trying to prevent pregnancy”

“Yeah. You males have it so lucky”

“Well if they came out with a male one, I’d take it”

You laughed a little too loud.

“You think you’d be able to remember?”

“I’d just take it in the morning. Like a vitamin”

You noticed the way he pronounced vitamin. It was a little different. Cute different.

“I used to take mine at night, just before bed. It was easier that way for me”

He nodded at you and the show had come back. You think that maybe that whole conversation was TMI for your first FaceTime call. The episode The One in Barbados. You both laughed at Monica’s hair.

“Kind of didn’t like the whole Joey and Rachel plot line” He said while looking at the tv screen. It was like you guys were together in the same room and his company was nice on this lonely night.

“Yeah same. It was wack” he laughed at that.

“I think I love phoebe”

“Same, Regina Phalange”

“It’s actually princess consuela bananahammock.” He said with a straight face. You cracked up at his little joke and kept watching the tv.

 A few hours later and friends was over. You and Harry were basically playing 21 questions.

“any pets?” You asked.

“Nah, I work too long” you nodded.

“Favorite flower?”

“Sunflowers or tulips”

“Interesting choices”

“Thank you” you smiled. You were now in bed laying down against your pillow, “do you live in a house?”

“Yeah. Small but yeah”

“I used to, but a year after he died, I had to sell it. I like the small space better. It’s more homelike for just us 2”

He nodded and listened. “What time is lunch with your in law?”

You liked how he didn’t say ex in laws. It was a small thing but you noticed.

“11:00”

“Oh okay”

“Yeah”

“Y/n, um. I’d like to take you out. On a proper date. But I know you’re probably really busy. So, um do you think you could let me know when you’re free? If you wanted to go out on a date with me that is”

“Yeah sure” you bit back your smile. You had never done this before. Well not after your husband. It would be your first date in 5 years. You just got a good feeling from Harry.

“Oh okay” he was a little shocked.

“If not this week, then the next. Maybe Friday”

“Yeah that’s good with me”

“Well uh, I’m gonna go to sleep Harry. It was nice meeting you today”

“Yeah it was for me too, meeting you. Goodnight. Sweet dreams”

“Yeah thank you. Goodnight” you smiled and hung up. You felt giddy and happy. You looked at your bedside table and it was a picture of you on your wedding day staring back at you. You knew he would want you to move on already. You smiled and contently fell asleep.

~~~

You woke up around 9:45 to give yourself enough time to get ready. It was nice being able to sleep in a bit. Sam was always up by 8. You remembered your conversation with Harry last night. You haven't had a conversation like that in years. You'd just recently decided that you'd be open for a relationship but you weren't on any dating apps or anything either. Going with the flow you guess. You got ready quickly and drove to the restaurant where you were meeting your boy and your in-laws. You stepped out your car and so did they. Sam looked around before running to you. You opened your arms for him and he hugged you tight.

"Ugh my baby I missed you so much last night!" you kissed his forehead.

"I missed you too ma," he kissed your cheek.

You picked him up and spun him around making you both giggle.

"y/n", your mother in law said.

"Lydia, how are you?" She held her purse in front of her as you put Sam down.

"I'm good, you?"

"Good."

Your father in law approached you. He was quieter and more reserved. The loss of his son hit him hard. The two were close. He did watch out for you a bit more than Lydia. Lydia's priority was Sam, William's priorities were you and Sam.

"Hi William, how are you?"

He gave you a hug and you guys walked into the restaurant.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Good, thank you."

You guys got settled into a booth and you already knew what you all wanted. This wasn’t the first time.

"Sam told me his science teacher is being hard on him," Lydia spoke without looking away from you. She was looking at your clothes and makeup. Seeing if it was up to her standards.

"Yes, he told me too. I already told him what to do."

"And what was that?" Here we go. Here's the thing. Lydia was your husband's mother. When he passed, she wanted to be her grandson's mother as well.

You held in a sigh before speaking. "I told him to work hard during school but if she specifically targets him repeatedly to let me know and I'll handle it."

She nodded and stayed quiet. Thank God.

"Mami, your phone vibrated," Also, your husband was Italian. You were Hispanic so you were trying to teach Sam some of his Hispanic side as his grandparents taught him mostly his Italian side. They more so taught him stuff about the culture and food, but none of the language. They swore they knew it but you've never heard them speak it.

"Thank you for letting me know mijo, but since we're all together I'll check it later." you kissed his head.

You and your husband had done a good job. He was a perfect mix from both of you. He had brown curly hair, like you. Hazel eyes like his dad. Dark eyelashes like you. A button nose like his dad that was covered in freckles like yours. Plump lips like the both of you. The food came and you all began eating.

"We wanted to talk to you about something." you felt Sam put his hand on your knee. Uh oh. He was preparing you for something he knew you may not like.

"Okay, what is it?"

William spoke up, "Well, winter break is coming up and we wanted to take Sam away for a week."

You almost choked on your food. A week? Them? With your son? Were they insane? Okay maybe you were being a little dramatic but what?!

"Um, where?" you tried to seem open about the idea.

"Blue mountain. We would go snow tubing and other things in the snow." Lydia said.

"For a week? Snow tubing for a week? That sounds more like a weekend thing to me." you ate your eggs.

"Well we would look in the town for other things to do obviously," Lydia snickered like you had sounded ridiculous. She better not start with an attitude you thought. She was asking you for a favor not the other way around. So instead of giving her a direct answer, you said "I'll think about it." You needed to talk to Sam if this was something he wanted to do or they wanted to do.

You guys had finished eating and you all eventually said goodbye. Sam wanted to come back home instead of staying Sunday. Sometimes he just wanted extra time with you.

~~~

You were driving home from unsuccessful shoe shopping when you heard Sam's little voice come from the backseat.

"Are you mad?"

"No, I'm not mad. Why would you say that?"

"Because grandma was kind of rude to you when you said it wasn't a week long thing." Every year he became more observant.

"Well I mean I didn't like that but I'm not mad. I don't let your grandmother ruin my mood."

"Okay"

"Do you wanna go?"

"I don’t know… I do but not for a week. That's too long away from you."

Your heart warmed a little and you nodded. "I'd feel that way too."

"Did dad like snow tubing?"

"I'm not sure bud, we never went"

"Oh."

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't go. I went when I was younger with my mom and sister, we made it a girl's trip. It was a lot of fun."

"Really? What if we went just us two?"

"Hm I don’t know bud; I think your grandparents might get sad. I think I can tell them it will only have to be for a weekend and then you and I could go another time. Just us two."

"Umm okay that sounds good. I agree."

"Good." you pulled in front of your building.

"What was dad's favorite season?"

"Fall. He hated the heat, but he hated being too cold. And he'd get the worst allergies in the spring and he had this weird pet peeve for sneezing. It was kind of funny seeing him get frustrated though. He would look like he wanted to rip his nose off." You held his hand as you walked inside. He giggled at what you said. When you both got inside to your apartment you both took off your shoes and sweaters. You had a picture of your husband on a small table by your entrance. Every time you walked in Sam would say "Hi dad!" to it. He asked if he could watch some Disney XD for a bit and you said it was fine. You were going to make some dinner. You checked your phone and saw Harry had texted you. You were a little shocked he kept up with talking to you.

H: Hey, good afternoon. I hope brunch went well :)

y/n: Hey it did, I guess.

H: You guess?

y/n: Eh they want something, felt like a setup?

H: Ah. I get what you mean. Sorry it happened.

y/n: It's alright. I got my boy back so I'm happy.

H: Good. I'd love to meet him someday to be honest. He sounds adorable.

You thought about his text. How would Sam react? He's always saying for you to get a friend but what would happen when you actually did? It made you nervous to think about. You felt your phone vibrate again.

H: Uh sorry if that was too forward.

y/n: No, its fine. It was sweet.

H: Okay good.

"Ma?"

You jumped up slightly like you had been caught doing something bad.

"Who are you texting? You never text this much" he was grinning at you. He was happy?

"Um none ya beeswax"

"It is my beeswax when it's taking time away from you cooking my dinner," you gave him a warning look. Dang smart ass. Gets it from you. He mumbled a "Sorry" and sat up on the stool and leaned on your countertop.

"I made a friend that’s all okay?"

"A guy friend?" he smirked.

You turned to get a pot. "Mhm"

"What's his name?"

"Harry."

"I like that name."

"You would like any name if it meant I had a friend."

He giggled and nodded. "Does he know about me?"

"Of course he does. You think I could not talk about you?"

"Okay okay," he blushed slightly, "Is he nice?"

"Yeah he's pretty nice."

"Are you gonna go on a date?"

"Samuel! He's a friend!" you playfully yelled at him.

"Mom I'm not 5, I know you might want a little BOYfriend"

"Sam you are 7, and how do you even know what a boyfriend is." you were talking to him as you gathered all your ingredients.

"Grandma told me about boyfriends and girlfriends"

"Now what is she doing telling you about that?" you looked at him.

"Well we saw a couple at the bowling alley and they kissed and I said ew and she said it’s because they were boyfriend and girlfriend so she explained what that meant to me."

"Hm, okay." you trusted she gave him a good and appropriate definition.

"Do you have a picture of him?"

"We just met yesterday" you say as you open and close cabinets.

"Does he like baseball?"

"I actually had to explain the sport to him. He's not from here." you started cooking.

"Where's he from? Is he from where dad used to work?"

"No, way off. He's from a place called England."

"Where the Beatles are from!"

"Exactly," you smiled at him. He was a classic soul.

“That’s cool”

“Yeah his voice is different too”  

“I wanna meet him” he put his chin in his palm, “It’d be nice to be around another guy that isn’t grandpa.”

“He uh actually said he wants to meet you too but I think we should wait a bit. I think I should get to know him better before you meet him” You stir your pasta in the pot.

“Okay” he tapped your phone screen, “he texted you”

“Thanks, nosey” you took your phone and read his message. You had forgotten to respond.

Y/n: hey sorry was cooking dinner for the hungry boy and I

H: it’s alright. What’s on the menu?

Y/n: pasta. Penne ala vodka with some shrimp. Probably some garlic bread too. Lazy meal

H: lazy? sounds glorious.

You laughed as you texted.

“Oooh he’s making you laugh!” Sam giggled.

You covered your face and told him to go to his room to make sure he had done his homework. Tomorrow you were going to Chuck E Cheese so he wouldn’t have time to do it then.

Y/n: we’ll see how it tastes

H: do you like to cook?

Y/n: I do but I run out of things to cook so I get bored

H: yeah same. I like to experiment though.

You were feeling a little confident and flirtatious

Y/n: maybe you could show me sometime

H: yeah. That’d be fine with me 😊

You bit your lip unsure of what to say. It had been a while since you were back on the flirting scene. You felt your phone vibrate again.

H: are you vegetarian or anything? Gonna think of some ideas from now.

Y/n: I don’t follow any specific diet but I definitely don’t eat a lot of meat. More of a seafood person.

H: gotcha ;)

Y/n: ;)?

H: don’t like it?

Y/n: eh it’s alright 🤷🏻‍♀️

H: alright?

Y/n: mhmm

H: you’re teasing me, aren’t you?

Y/n: just a lil bit 🤏🏻

H: 😂😂

You finished up cooking dinner and called Sam. He came down quickly and mumbled a small yum.

Y/n: I’ll talk to you later. Gonna eat now.

H: okay 🥰

You served you and Sam plates and you both ate quietly as you watched some tv. You would say you were pretty lenient with Sam. He was very mature for his age and he respected you greatly. He barely gave you a hard time. You think he got that from his dad. His dad always wanted to please you any chance he got.

“Mami, can I sleep in your bed tonight?”

“How come, hon?”

“It’s comfier” you laughed at this because you would say the same thing to your parents when you were younger.

“Okay. But you know you can’t always sleep in Mami’s bed. You gotta sleep in your own some nights.”

“Yeah I know,” he smiled at you.

“Alright. Well can I trust you’ll bathe yourself good tonight? I don’t have to help you?”

“Yes ma, I’ll remember to wash myself good.”

“Okay, remember to get in between your toes and everything”

He nodded at you. You two finished your plates and you sent him off to shower. He kept the door open just in case he needed your help opening one of the bottles. You remembered the first bath you ever gave him. He was so much smaller compared to now and his dad kept complaining about how slippery he was. You were only 23 with a new job and new home but you were both so happy with your little boy. You cleaned up the kitchen and went up to bed where your little boy was already waiting. He had turned on the tv and was watching friends. You showered quickly before getting in bed with him. He cuddled up to your side and laid his head on your chest. You massaged your fingers into his damp curls until you heard him snore lightly. You fixed him onto your other pillow and fell asleep on yours.

~~~

The weekend had ended and you hadn’t heard from Harry. That was before you remembered you were the one who hadn’t answered. It was now Monday afternoon and you were picking up Sam from school. You worked at a middle school just a block away. Sam hopped into your car and told you about his day.

"Can I go to Justin's house tomorrow afterschool?"

"Is Justin's parents okay with this?"

"Yeah, we'll do our homework first too!"

"Alright, you better do it because when you get home I'm checking it all"

"Okay!"

You guys walked into your apartment and Sam went up to shower. That was the routine after school. He showers while you make a snack, after that he comes down and eats while you shower, you grade papers while he does homework, and then if he's done you let him watch some Disney channel while you make dinner. This is exactly how your evening rolls out and you decide to text Harry.

y/n: hey sorry. Busy day yesterday. You wanted me to let you know when I was free and I'm free tomorrow after 3...

You stop typing, "Sam, until when are staying at Justin's?"

"Until like 6? He said his mom was gonna cook"

"Okay," you continue typing,

y/n: Hey sorry. Busy day yesterday. You wanted me to let you know when I was free and I'm free tomorrow after 3 until like 6. I know its late notice so no worries if you're not free too.

You finish cooking, eating, and cleaning and you still hadn't heard from Harry. He was probably mad at you now. You sighed aloud and thought well it was nice while it lasted. You went over Sam's homework with him and then made sure he brushed his teeth before bed. You tucked him in and gave him a kiss on his forehead.

"Goodnight my love," you pushed his hair back off his forehead.

"Goodnight mami, goodnight dad" he blows a kiss toward the picture of him and his dad on his bedside table.

You walked out his room leaving his door ajar and walked down to your room. You grab your book and climb into bed. It was the book from Jane the Virgin. You related to Jane in multiple ways. As you were becoming a part of the fictitious world of the character Josephine you felt your phone vibrate.

H: Banzai, 3:30pm, Be there or be square.

You smiled at his assertiveness. It was kind of cute.

H: If that's okay with you.

y/n: Yes, that's fine lol😂😂

He could never be too serious you thought.

H: watching friends?

y/n: actually reading.

H: what are you reading?

y/n: snow falling, it’s from a show and stuff.

H: look at the publishing company

You looked and sure enough it was Simon & Schuster. Wow.

y/n: Wow lol, I never noticed.

H: I've read it, it's pretty good. More of a girly book, I think.

Y/n: I can’t imagine you reading this tbh.

H: it was a hard manuscript to get through. Kept me on my toes.

You continued texting and before you knew it, it was 2 in the morning.

y/n: wow its 2am.

H: I know. Time flew. You're so easy to talk to.

y/n: I could say the same about you.

H: I'm excited for later

y/n: so am I, free food.

H:😐😐😐

y/n: I'm joking!

H: sure you are.

y/n: I am, I'm excited too because I miss your company, its nice.

H: I don't have a company

y/n: Harry

H: okay okay, thank you. Get some rest, you've gotta be up early.

y/n: true, see you later! 😊

H: see you🥰

~~~

Part two is up now!

[madamwinchester67]

A Life With You Part 2

Hi Everyone. I just wanted to say that I’m so sorry it took me so long to update this story. I was busy taking care of my sick mother who just passed away September 1st 😭. I hope that i can continue to update this story more frequently, but if i’m being honest, i’m winging it as I go. But feedback will deff motivate me to figure out where this story is going 🥰 Thank u to those who like it so far and without further ado, here’s Part 2. 😘 (ha! that rhymed! 😉) *sorry for any mistakes*

Growing up, you were never the one guys went after. You were never flirted with, you were never asked out on dates and you were never one to be looked at twice. You were basically invisible... until you met Dean Winchester. Maybe it was because he doesn’t judge or because he felt bad for you, either way, Dean Winchester seemed to understand you and made you feel “seen”. He listened when you spoke, gave advice when he could and made you feel wanted.

Maybe that’s why you let yourself think that Dean had feelings for you. No one had ever made an effort to care about you or make you smile like he did. No one had ever gone out of their way to make sure you felt comfortable. No one had ever made you feel loved before. Sure, Sam, Cas & Jack all care about you, but none of them treated you like Dean has so you knew they loved you like family but Dean? That was a different kind of love, or so you convinced yourself....and boy, were you wrong.

So now, here you are, in a grocery store, with a cart full of junk you just threw in there, tears in your eyes, sadness in your heart and questions on your mind.

“How do I go back to how things were? How do I act like Dean didn’t just rip my heart out of my chest? How am I going to react when I see him flirt with random women now that my feelings for him are out in the open? Even worse, how will I react when he goes off to fuck some bar skank?”

That last thought brought a fresh new batch of tears rolling down your cheeks.

“What have I gotten myself into?”

You shake your head, wipe the tears and continue with your shopping, in zombie-mode, while you try to figure out how to fix the mess you created.

Back at the Bunker, Dean goes back into the library and he’s antsy. He can’t stop thinking about you and the look on your face when he told you he doesn’t feel the same way. He can’t stop thinking about you crying inside Baby. He needs to get out... He needs to clear his head.... He needs to hunt!

He immediately opens his laptop and begins looking for a case. It doesn’t matter what kind or how dangerous it is, he needs to kill something... he needs to get rid of the guilt that’s suffocating him. You’re his best friend, the person he can confide in, the best person he knows, and now he hurt you. He was always the one defending you and protecting you from those that hurt you, he never in a million years thought he would be the one you need protecting from. It took a couple of hours but he was able to find a Salt and Burn in nearby Junction City. He bolts to his room and packs the necessary weapons he needs and once he’s done, he paces, waiting for you to return with Baby.

An hour has passed and you finally return. Your eyes are puffy and your nose is stuffy from all the crying. You know you told Dean that you were cool but now that you’ve had a few hours to think about it, you don’t have the slightest clue as to how you’re going to act around him. I mean, before you opened your mouth and said anything about your feelings, you suffered in silence everytime he went off with some bimbo for the night. You never said anything and never showed how you felt because you had no right. He had no idea how you felt but hopefully, fingers crossed, he’ll be more discreet so he doesn’t hurt you any further. The more you think about everything, the more your head hurts. You still havent recovered from your slight hangover and now the added stress of “the situation” is giving you a migraine. You need a nap.

You put the groceries and first aid items away and you go to your room, which happens to be 2 doors down from Dean’s. The moment the door closes behind you, you throw yourself face first into your bed and try to fall asleep, which, surprisingly, happens within 2 minutes.

The moment Dean hears her door close, he waits 5 minutes before sneaking out of his room. He hops into Baby and speeds out of the garage to, hopefully, relieve the immense guilt he feels.

By the time he arrives in Junction City, the salt and burn was already taken care of, much to Dean’s dismay. Since he drove all the way there for no case, he figured a stop in the local bar was called for.

He walks into the bar and almost immediately someone calls out his name. “Dean!”

Dean looks to his left and spots Garth in the corner, waving a beer in the air.

“Dean! Over here!”

Dean walks over and greets him. “Hey, Garth. What brings you around?”

“Oh, you know, a salt and burn. You?”

“That was you?! Damn, I really needed that hunt.”

A waitress comes over and takes Dean’s order of a beer and 2 shots of whiskey, neat.

“What’s wrong?” asks Garth.

Dean sighs heavily and tells him what happened between the two of you.

“Huh.”

“What?” asks Dean.

“Nothing, just, I always thought you two would get together at some point.”

Dean chokes on his beer. “Wh-what? What do you mean? We’re just friends.”

“Well, yeah, but I mean, you two are practically attached at the hip. You know each other inside and out and you argue like a married couple, so I just assumed it was a matter of time before you two made it official.”

“We’re just friends” repeats Dean, in an almost rehearsed way.

“Well, if she confessed her feelings for you, I’m pretty sure she did it because she thought you felt the same way. If you’re just friends, then what gave her the impression you had feelings for her when you don’t?” asked Garth.

“I...”

“That’s a good question” thought Dean.

Garth gets up to use the bathroom while Dean sits at the table, thinking.... until it finally hit him! Everything he does for you, the coffees, the forehead kisses, the lingering touches, carrying you to bed when you fall asleep in Baby, everything he does for you has been giving you false hope. He’s been leading you on without even realizing it and he can’t believe he had to break your heart to realize the damage he’s been doing to you. He’s sick to his stomach. How could he have been so blind?! Of course you would think he has feelings for you when he was treating you like a girlfriend.

If he thought the guilt was bad before, its nothing compared to now. At least now, he understands the guilt. He walks up to the bar and order more shots of whiskey and tells the bartender to “keep ‘em coming”.

About 4 shots in, a beautiful, busty brunette makes her way over to Dean.

“If its a distraction you need, sugar, all you have to do is ask” she says as she downs one of his shots.

Dean takes one look at her, downs his last shot and leaves the bar with her. He knows going home with the brunette isn’t going to solve anything, but he’s clearly not thinking straight and decides to just “go with the flow”.

The next morning, or rather, early afternoon, you wake up with puffy eyes and a headache. You rub your eyes and take a nice deep inhale and exhale. You’ve had the night to sleep on it and you have come to a conclusion. You decided that your friendship with Dean was way too important to you and something you refuse to lose. So, starting today, you’re going to put your feelings for him aside and be his friend. You now know that his nice gestures were simply that.... nice gestures. They didn’t mean what you thought they meant and maybe if you act like everything is fine, then it will be. You got up and used the bathroom. You made sure to wash your face and tried to get rid those puffy eyes. When you thought you looked semi-presentable, you went out to the kitchen, where you found Sam.

“Morning, Sammy. How was the hunt? How are Jody and the girls doing?”

“Morning, Munchkin.” says Sam as he gets up and gives her a bear hug.

“The hunt was good. Easy vamp nest. Jody and the girls are good, they say “hi” and that they miss you”

“Aww. I miss them too! I’m going to have to go visit them soon.”

As you make your way over to the coffee pot, Sam is looking at you. Even though you’re trying to act as if your heart wasn’t broken, Sam could tell something happened while he was gone because when he got home, the impala wasn’t in the garage and it looks like you have been crying. Sam adores you and sees you as a little sister so if someone hurt you, he’d do anything to protect you.

“Where’s Dean?”

You look at him confused. “Dean’s not here?”

“No. The impala’s not in the garage.” says Sam as he gauges your reaction.

As soon as Sam said that Baby wasn’t in the garage, you immediately felt sick to your stomach.

All you can think is, “I drove him away. Literally. My confession made him so uncomfortable he couldn’t stand to be under the same roof as me. I ruined it. I ruined our friendship. I ruined everything!”

As you’re thinking, your eyes begin to water. You don’t realize it until Sam calls your name.

“Munchkin, are you ok?”

You realize you were staring off into space, so you look at him and will your tears not to fall down your face.

“Y-yeah, I-“

Suddenly, the Bunker door loudly opens and Dean’s footsteps can be heard coming down the stairs. You immediately stiffen and freeze, something Sam doesn’t miss.

Dean walks into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water but stops as soon as he sees you and Sam.

Acting as if nothing’s wrong he says, “Hey Sammy”. He looks at you, swallows hard and says, “Hey, Y/N”.

Those tears you were so desperately trying to keep at bay begin to fall down your face like a waterfall. Dean, almost forgetting what happened the day before, tries to comfort you but you just walk right past him and go straight to your room.

“What happened, Dean?”

Dean is at a loss. He simply shrugs his shoulders and walks past Sam and goes to his room as well.

Once in his room, he takes off his jacket and flannel and goes over to his sink and splashes water over his face. When he looks in the mirror his heart nearly stops, because right there, on the left side of his neck, clear as day, is the hickey the brunette from the night before left on him. He has to take a step back he’s so shocked!

No wonder you left the kitchen with tears cascading down your face. Not only did he reject your feelings and sneak out without you hearing or noticing, but you probably think he purposefully went looking to sleep with anyone that wasn’t you just so he could get your confession out of his head.

If your heart was broken before, it’s shattered into sand now and its all his fault. Tears well up in his eyes and they slowly start to fall down his face as he asks himself, “What have I done?”

@hobby27

@sacrosankta

@22sarah08

@alurits

@multi-fan-lover

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 5x12 Souls of the Departed

Currently reading (well, listening) to The School for Good and Evil Series. It’s so good! It’s basically Wicked the Musical and has a fairy tale element like OUAT. Can’t recommend enough!

I had the weirdest dream last night that Ouat’s Gothel was hiding behind my bed at my old house trying to scare me. She stayed up all night with some blankets, waiting to pounce. Also, she was naked. Jesus Christ, wtf is wrong with my dreams?! I do not see Gothel in that way at all!! I was so freaking disturbed! @fairytalepsuedonym​ this is all your fault for putting that dirty hippie witch bitch on my mind lol xD! /jk

Also guys, we’re getting Disney+ today. I’m so excited! Let me know if anyone has any recommendations.

And you know what I just thought of? It looked like they were implying that Merida and Lord Macintosh were gonna be a thing (possibly? I think it’s up for interpretation) but he outright shot an arrow at one of her brothers and wanted the others dead too. Merida would never! Her brothers mean too much to her to forgive such a thing. Also, she gives me gay vibes. I don’t make the rules. Alistair makes all the rules. 

Back to the rewatch.

Oh yeah! This is the 100th episode! The compilation for 100 episodes was so freaking epic!

Neal! Is that really him though?

She’s staring at his lips lol!

Omg! Emma would have come back for Neal if she could. That means she believes they were true love, and she could have split her heart with him, right?

So, he appeared to her? 

Omg! The way Emma is stroking his face and is staring at him, you’d never know she was working on saving her boyfriend lol.

You know what would have been so much better? If the underworld was perpetually dark and foggy (within reason) like the sims 4 Forgotten Hollow. That would have looked so much cooler!

Here comes the red filter. As a gifmaker and even as a viewer I wanna scream every time I see it but at least it’s not the Dark Swan arc.

I said it before and I’ll say it again: they should have let Regina’s and maybe even Rumple’s victims confront them! That would have been interesting to watch play out. I know we got Regina’s dad and Peter Pan but give me a family of Regina’s slaughtered villagers. What would their reaction be to seeing her?

Eww. I hate the way she dips her finger in that pie.

Guys. It doesn’t matter that you have Regina surrounded, she has pyrokinesis and telekinesis! Y���all are screwed! She blew the flames out? She had the advantage! I’m glad she didn’t hurt them of course, but as someone writing a book that consists of characters with magic abilities, you’ve gotta know when a powerful character has the advantage and when to use it. Where was Snow dodging a fireball as one of her arrows flies at Regina and it pauses in mid air only to sore back at Snowing and their friends, but they manage to outsmart her somehow? 

Woah. This is the boldest Henry Sr. has ever been. He’s really trying to help Regina out here. 

Cora!! My love!! I missed you!!

I love the Blind Witch. Does she have a name? I enjoyed her in ‘Regina Rising.’ I remember she’s quite a bit older than Regina

The Blind Witch: “What can I get you? Do you like gingerbread or children?” Omg Snow’s like “what the actual f**k??”

James, why are you like this?? Get off her, dude.

Those key rings are cool.

Why the hell didn’t Emma just tell Henry she saw his dad? I can think of absolutely no reason why she would keep that from him.

Lately all Robin has done is make random comments pointing out the obvious. “It’s uncanny. It’s so similar yet so off.” Yes, Robin we established that 9 minutes ago. His next line will be, “Goodness, is that a tree over there?” or “Regina, you were the Evil Queen”, mark my words. Where has his personality gone? I was never a big fan but at least he was kinda arrogant and cheeky before, at least in season 2 and 3. Now he’s just a dude that points on the ground and tells you there’s a stone. And they have the chemistry of a banana and a cheese cracker.

“Her puny army of sweaty little child beasts.”

Are those black roses? 

I may be wrong but wasn’t Cora trying to get Regina to stop hunting Snow White and find true love instead in 4x20 or am I making things up? And I wonder if this is before or after she appeared in 4x20. 

I just love Cora so much.

Is that how she got to the EF in 4x20? Through a looking glass?

The fact that she could so easily cross realms suggests that she willingly gave Regina her space. Which is something! But it feels like she’d have ulterior motives for that. Also Jefferson and Rumple would be screaming if they knew it was that easy to cross realms.

Regina: “are you threatening me?” Cora: “No. Of course not, never.” But you literally are though.

Peter Pan! He was under-utilised this season. Come on! They could have done so much with him! I’m glad at least Cora and Cruella got decent screen time.

Imagine watching OUAT for the first time with this episode and you see this full-grown man refer to a teenage boy as is father. I would be so confused lol.

I wonder if Rumple / Rumple’s father hail from Dunbroch originally. You know, with the Scottish accent. I’m kinda thinking about headcanoning that now. At least, I think Malcolm had a Scottish accent?

That got me! I forgot Cora had glamoured into Henry Sr.! I thought Cora had shapeshifted into Snow to trick Henry.

Oh, so Henry Sr. contacting her was the reason Cora could walk through the looking glass. If only someone had contacted Jefferson. And I’ve just remembered that in 4x20, she said a white rabbit brought her to the EF.

Killian looks creepy as hell here!

Lol Cora, you let Henry wrap the heart? What did you expect to happen!

Why did Regina need Snow’s heart to kill her? She could have easily killed her without even touching her. 

What the hell does Snow think is in there? She looks terrified.

Archie, wtf were you doing between Snow’s titties?! And what were you doing with a match? Gonna set some titties on fire xD? I bet she could never look at him the same again. 

He doesn’t want Regina to kill Snow because he thinks it will make her dark forever? What about all the other people she’s killed?! That makes no sense!

Okay, given that Grace didn’t seem to physically age much between the flashbacks in 1x17 and the present day in 1x17, this probably happened after the flashback’s events in 4x20. 

According to wiki, Regina’s birthday is February 1st. I’m only learning this now.

I’ve never seen Henry Sr. so bold and Adam end to help Regina.

Okay, so Regina shrunk Henry with her magic but she needed a mushroom to return him to his normal size?

Don’t lock him in that box omg!!

Cora: “when are you gonna get it in that thick head...” she’s so casually abusive.

Random thought but why is Henry’s surname Mills? It just seems like it’d be Cora’s surname. Maybe he took hers on but that seems strange for a Prince to do.

Cora, don’t!

Henry’s alright!

Aww. Henry got to meet his 3rd Grandpa! He’s so happy she named him after him. 

I’m tearing up.

“Remember who you are, Regina.”

Henry, honey, you need to go home.

Is that Persephone?

Oh my God! I’m so excited for the Cora and Zelena stuff!! By far my favourite thing of the season! To hear Cora say Zelena’s name- the fact she knows her name- I’d waited for so long for this! It left open so many questions!

And Hades infuriated with Cora on the love of his life Zelena’s behalf!! He loved her so much and would do anything for her. I don’t ship it as much as I initially did because of how it ended but that man freaking loved and cherished Zelena. He wanted everything for her. She desperately needed that and it was an emotional experience to see her get it.

That’s like her worst nightmare, being a peasant again. 

I can’t with the flame hair.

I forgot this episode was pretty good. I didn’t remember liking it but Cora saved it for me. I forgot she was in it because I have probably watch season 5 the least as I try to avoid it lol. 

[abrakophile]

I was looking through a bunch of junk and found some letters from my dad when he was in the army. I’m afraid I'll accidently toss them, so maybe I’ll put them here?

OPs Name JUNE 02 03

I LOVE YOU

THIS IS MY NAME IN KURDISH

*my dad wrote his first and last name, and under it, in Kurdish*

ILL TRY AND FIND OUT HOW TO WRITE YOUR NAME AND MOMS TOO.

ITS STILL HOT. I WORK AND READ BOOKS TO PASS THE TIME AWAY.

HOW ARE YOU DOING? GOOD I HOPE. WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN? DO YOU EVER HANG OUT WITH YOUR FRIENDS? TELL THEM I SAID “WASSUP?” NAH, DONT TELL THEM. TELL ME WHAT YOUR THINKING. I’M TRYING TO SEND YOU SOME MORE OF MY DRAWINGS. WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DRAW YOU? DID YOU LIKE THE DRAWING I SENT YOU OF YOU NAME? ITS ALRIGHT IF YOU DIDNY. JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU DO WANT ME TO DRAW YOU.

(Flip Page)

THIS IS WEIRD! (The page does not have lines on the left side of it) i WONDER WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS PIECE OF PAPER. HaHa

I MISS YOU ALOT. PLEASE SOND ME SOME MORE OF YOUR DRAWINGS, YOU CAN DRAW ME ANYTHING YOU WANT TO.

ARE YOU BEING GOOD FOR YOUR MOM? ITS NICE IF YOU HELP HER OUT WHILE I’M AWAY.

HAVE YOU BEEN ANYPLACE NEW? HOW IS SCHOOL GOING FOR YOU? IS MOMMY GOING TO SCHOOL? I KNOW I WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL WHEN I GET BACK. HOPEFULLY I GET THE CHANCE TO LEARN EVERYTHING THAT THERE IS TO KNOW. THAT WOULD BE GREAT.

ALSO, ID LIKE TO DO SOME FISHING? HOW ABOUT YOU? I GUESS ILL END HERE. BE GOOD AND STAY IN SCHOOL. AND JUST SAY NO TO DRUGS.

THEYRE BAD.

I LIVE YOU OP

*hearts and x’s* DADDY

---

(I don’t know if all these pages are in order or if it’s missing any, but this was the letter in the same stack as the last but this one was for my mom. In some places his indents indicate passage of time.)

I HAVENT HAD ANY TIME TO WRITE SINCE WEVE BEEN ON THE ROAD, NOT TO MENTION THAT WE CAN’T SEND MAIL WHEN WE’RE MOVING ALL THE TIME.

WEVE BEEN ON THE ROAD FOR ABOUT FIVE OR SIX DAYS, I HAVENT REALLY BEEN COUNTING. I KNOW I TOLD YOU THAT WE’D BE IN KUWAIT FOR A WHILE, BUT THAT WAS SO YOU WOULDNT BE WORRIED. I’M GOING TO KEEP THIS LETTER THOUGH, TILL I GET HOME.

ABOUT TWO NIGHTS AGO, WE DROVE THROUGH BAGDHAD, SOMEBODY SAID THAT THERE WERE PILED BODIES, I DONT KNOW IF IT WAS TRUE.

AND I GUESS YESTERDAY, A COUPLE OF PEOPLE SAID THEY SAW A MISSILE OR SOEMTHING SHOT AT US. I WAS TRYING TO FIX A TRUCK SO I DIDNT SEE IT.

ITS NOT AS DUSTY HERE IN IRAQ. IT REMINDS ME OF THE CONVOYS IN KOREA.

MOST OF THE PEOPLE WILL WAVE “HI”. SOME OTHERS DONT.

I SAW A KID OPEN HIS HAND ONCE WHILE MOVING, AND IT SAID “BUSH” THAT WAS KIND OF COOL.

OH YEAH. HERES A STORY. WHILE OUT DOING A MISSION, ONE OF OUR “BRADLEY” TANKS FIRED ON AN ENEMY AMMO TRUCK AND CLIPPED A KID. THE ROUNDS BLEW ONE OF HIS LEGS OFF AND SOME OF THE OTHER, FROM THE KNEE DOWN. SO THE MEDICS PICKED HIM UP AND BROUGHT HIM TO OUR RECONCOLIDATING POINT FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT. I GUESS HE EVENTUALLY DIED FROM LOSS OF BLOOD THE NEXT NIGHT AND YESTERDAY THEY TOOK HIM OUT AND BURIED HIM.

ALSO WE PICKED UP ABOUT 25-30 P.O.W.s AND SENT THEM SOUTH.

IT GETS PRETTY COLD AT NIGHT. AND THE DAY’S ARE VERY HOT.

SINCE WE LEFT KUWAIT ITS BEEN ME AND MENDOZA IN THE FIVE TON WRECKER AND I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT ITS BEEN EXCITING. WE KEPT GETTING SEPERATED FROM THE CONVOY AND BREAKING DOWN. BUT I THINK THAT WERE BETTER NOW. HOPEFULLY.

IM STILL WAITING TO BE AMBUSHED TO MAKE ALL THIS SEEM REAL TO ME. A PART OF ME WANTS IT AND ANOTHER DOESNT.

AND IT SEEMS LIKE ONLY OUR UNIT HAS TO STAY IN UNIFORM, EVERYONE ELSE WEARS T-SHIRTS AND BANDENA’S AND RAGS ON THEIR HEAD

WERE STILL GOING NORTH. NOBODY KNOWS HOW LONG WE’LL STAY. ITS NOT THAT BAD HERE. MEANING, IT COULD BE WORSE. 

I USED A “SHIT-CHAIR”. ITS JUST A METAL CHAIR WITH A HOLE CUT IN THE MIDDLE AND THE SEAT FROM A TOILET BOLTED TO IT, GROSS.

HELICOPTERS CAN BE HEARD ALL DAY AND NIGHT. I GOT TO SEE THEM DROP BOMBS ALL DAY ABOUT 3 DAYS AGO, FROM A DISTANCE OF COURSE.

ILL BE DRIVING AGAIN, IN A MINUTE. PROBABLY RE-FUEL AND BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN. IM ENJOYING IT.

I HAVE 8 MAGAZINES FULL OF ROUNDS. NO GRENADES, BUT I LIKE IT LIKE THAT.

SOMETIMES IT SMELLS LIKE SHIT.

I GUESS ILL END IT HERE FOR NOW

I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU TWO TWICE IF NOT THRICE AS MUCH AS YOU MIGHT MISS ME TOO.

HELLO AGAIN. WERE SOMEWHERE NEAR TIKRI + MOSUL. YESTERDAY, ME + MENDOZA WENT LOOKING FOR MOMENTO’S. WE BROKE A LOCK TO A NEAR BY BUNKER AND FOUND 6 A.K.47s! BUT ON OUR WAY BACK TO TURN THEM IN, MAJOR TATU GOT THEM FROM US. I WAS SO PISSED. BUT I GOT A GAS MASK w/ FILTER, A FULL MAGAZINE CLIP FROM ONE OF THE A.K.s AND A BERET WITH IRAQ 1 RANK ON IT.

I MADE A STENCIL FOR THE TRUCK WERE RIDING IN. ITS CALLED THE “GAMBLER.” YESTERDAY MENDOZA DROVE, SO TODAY ILL BE DRIVING.

IM NOT POSITIVE, BUT, I THINK WERE GOING TO TURKEY. NIETO SAYS THAT HE OVERHEARD SOMEBODY FROM S1 (or SI, I’m not sure) SAYING WE MIGHT GET PAID EXTRA FOR GOING THROUGH BAGHDAD.

I THINK NIETO’S MAD AT ME. CANT EXPLAIN WHY. MAYBE ITS BECAUSE IM RIDING WITH MENDOZA AND HE DOESNT LIKE MENDOZA TOO MUCH. OH WELL, WHATEVER REASON, HOPE THINGS GET NORMAL AGAIN. HAVE TO GO,

*hearts and xs*

TODAY IS THE 25th OF APRIL, I RECEIVED FIVE OR SIX (OR SEVEN) LETTERS YESTERDAY. THE LATEST WAS DATED 07 OF APRIL. THAT TELLS ME THAT ITS GOING TO TAKE A WHILE TO COMMUNICATE.

WE HAVENT RECEIVED MAIL BECAUSE WEVE BEEN MOVING NEVER STAYING IN ONE PLACE MORE THAN A DAY, OR TWO, UNTIL NOW. WE’VE BEEN IN THIS SPOT GOING ON FOUR DAYS TOMORROW?!

GIVE ME A MINUTE...

FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS IVE BEEN HELPING MENDOZA PULL THE ENGINE OUT OF A 5 TON TRUCK AND SWITCH IT w/ ANOTHER ONE. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY BUT THE FLY WHEEL SEIZED UP INSIDE THE BELL HOUSING. ITS FINISHED NOW AND THE RUMOR IS WE’RE LEAVING  (OR MOVING) AGAIN TOMORROW.

ITS 10:33 THURSDAY MORNING. YOUR TIME IS 12:32 JUST TURNING THURSDAY.

I ALMOST CRYED WHEN I SAW ELIS PICTURE. I REALLY MISS BOTH OF YOU. LET ME BACK TO BEFORE I GOT DISTRACTED. I HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO SEND MAIL BECAUSE WE’VE BEEN MOVING. BUT I GUESS THAT WHATEVER THREAT THERE WAS (IF ANY), ISNT SO THREATFUL ANYMORE, WE CAN START RECEIVING AND SENDING MAIL. NO PHONE TO CALL FROM, AND NO INTERNET TO E-MAIL FROM.

THE WHOLE UNIT IS SCATTERED, SO EVEN IF I GET WHAT YOU NEED IT’LL TAKE FOREVER TO GET IT TO YOU. LET ME PULL THOSE LETTERS BACK OUT. OH WAIT. I DID LAUNDRY AND SOME UNDERWEAR THATS DRY, FELT HARD, OH WELL, WAIT A SECOND, K

I HAD TO FOLD SOME T-SHIRTS. ALL MY SOCKS ARE STILL DAMP. 

YOU CAN USE MY CONTRACT TO SHOW THAT I ENLISTED IN TEXAS AND HOWS THIS

*On a separate sheet my dad wrote a detailed note for my mom to give to someone to confirm that he did want to buy a house. He writes “I AM ALIVE AND WELL.” and “PLEASE ACCEPT THIS PAPER”, then he signed it with his scribble signature, and underneath it wrote his name in print and added “1st SQUADRON 10th CAVALRY HEADQUARTERS TROOP (I have no clue what this means)*

HOW’S THAT? HOPE I SPELLED EVERYTHING CORRECTLY. IM ALMOST READY WITH A DESIGN TO COVER THE OTHER TATTOOS ON MY LEFT FOREARM.

I JUST FINISHED LOOKING OVER ALL THOSE LETTERS YOU SENT FOR ME

IM BACK! I GOT SLEEPY SO I TRYED TO LAY DOWN FOR A LITTLE BIT. NO SLEEP. I DONT THINK. I DIDNT HAVE ENOUGH WATER TO WASH MY DCV’S AND A PAIR OF BDV’S. BESIDES FOR DRINKING WATER, BUT WE HAVE TO CONSERVE IT.

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE RUMORS. TOMORROW WE’LL BE LEAVING FOR THE IRAN/IRAQ BORDER TO DO “PEACE KEEPING” FOR 3 TO 6 mths. OTHERS SAY THAT THE 4ID (i think is what this says) GENERAL WANTS TO KEEP US HERE TILL NOV., THATS WHEN 1 CAV WILL COME TO REPLACE US. WHILE OTHERS SAY WE MIGHT LEAVE BY JUNE. NOTHINGS FOR SURE.

SMALLER RUMORS FLOATING AROUND THE SITE ARE; RAMSEY AND SFC BACON ARE SLEEPING TOGETHER. SGT SIREK HAS PLANS TO TAKE NIETO AS HIS APPRENTICE AND PADIWAN LEARNER OF THE DARK SIDE. LITTLE BLACK ARNOLD IS MILITARY INTELLIGENCE FOR SPECIAL FORCES OPERATING UNDER COVER A SURVEILLENCE AS PART OF

*the rest of the page is blank*

IM BACK. TODAY IS THE 27th. I GOT BACK TO THE LITTLE CAMP AREA ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF AGO. I LEFT YESTERDAY MORNING TO, WELL, AS PART OF DE-CON (DE-CONTAMINATION) MISSION. HERES THE INFORMATION THAT I GATHERED.

A SITE HAD BEEN FOUND THAT WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE CHEMICAL WEAPONS AND 1-10 WAS APPOINTED TO GO TO THE SITE AND DE-CON THE CIVILIANS THAT WERE GOING TO OPEN THEM. AS IT TURNS OUT THE CIVILIANS HAVE BEEN DE-LAYED AND WOULD BE SET BACK 1 DAY.

THE NBC TEAM THAT I WAS WITH WERENT PREPARED TO STAY OVER NIGHT AND AS FORCASTED BY SSG MINOR WE MIGHT HAVE HAD TO STAY 3 TO 4 DAYS. EVERYBODY WAS PISSED.

LATELY ITS BEEN GETTING REALLY COLD AT NIGHT AND WE JUST HAPPENED TO BE NEAR A RUNNING RIVER. SO THE, ITS ABOUT 9 O’CLOCK AND IM BEAT, NO SLEEPING BAG OR ANYTHING TO COVER UP WITH AND I DECIDE TO TRY AND SLEEP. I GET AS COMFORTABLE AS POSSIBLE AND I GET ATTACKED BY MOSQUITOS. NOW IM PISSED SO I DECIDED TO JUST TO STAY UP ALL NIGHT. ABOUT 10PM ONE OF THE HEMTT (this might just say “hemi”, I don’t know) FUELERS SHOWS UP AND SGT TORRES SAYS HE HAS EVERYBODYS SLEEPING BAG! THE SITES ABOUT 45 MINS AWAY AND THEY LEFT SOMETIME MID AFTERNOON TO GET OUR SHIT, I HATE THESE PEOPLE.

RIGHT NOW ITS 9:01 PM AND ITS 11:02 AM YOUR TIME. I MISS YOU.

RIGHT NOW IM GOING TO ADDRESS AN ENVELOPE AND HAVE IT READY TO SEND TOMMOROW THE 28th. IM SORRY IF IT SEEMS THAT IM NOT WRITING VERY OFTEN. FOR A WHILE WE COULDN’T. AND NOW THAT IT SEEMS WE MIGHT BE HERE A LITTLE WHILE, THEYVE KEPT ME REALLY BUSY. LET ME ADDRESS THE ENVELOPES (he drew a star here)

ALL DONE. I THOUGHT ABOUT THE HOUSE A LOT TODAY AND YESTERDAY. IM SURE BY THE TIME THIS LETTER REACHES YOU, YOU’LL HAVE EITHER GOTTEN IT OR GAVE IT UP. IM O.K. WITH EITHER DECISION YOUVE MADE.

YOUVE KEPT THIS FAMILY TOGETHER, AND THAT MAKES ME PROUD. YOUR SMART, ATTRACTIVE AND FUNNY. AND YOU DONT TAKE ANY SHIT FROM ANYBODY. I LOVE YOU.

I HOPE THAT OUR DAUGHTER TURNS OUT TO BE LIKE YOU.

I GUESS ILL MAIL THIS TOMORROW, FIRST THING, SO

EVER YOURS

EVER MINE

*my dad signed it with his scribble, and wrote his name under it. under that are hearts and x’s with my mom’s name and then my name under hers.*

[deliontower]

1912 | part 2

Title:by the sea

Summary:  y/n and Dean start marriage life on their honeymoon, getting ready to start their new lives and y/n settles in her new home.  

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word count: 4K

Warnings: slow burn, a little fluff, some swear maybe, if you get all fuzzy from period dramas then there’s some of that going on and not much else

A/N: sorry this took so long to write, I like taking my time with this because I want it to be good and have a good story while the one shots I’ve been posting are fun to write and don’t need much work. Thank you everyone was has been waiting for this. <3 poof read but might of missed something 

Please remember to leave feedback as if keeps me writing x

 series masterlist |  MAIN MASTERLIST | REQUEST OPEN  

First Dean drove to the train station where he reluctantly left his car where it would wait for you to return. Over the drive you had tried to make conversation, but everything fell flat like the other times you had tried to talk.

While you waited for everyone to get off the train you stood against wall watching everyone passed by, families, couples and people on their own.  You looked over to your left and saw Dean helping with the bags, looking away you lent back and closed your eyes. All the noises and chatter around you faded away, all you focused on was you breathing and the feeling of the brick wall on your back.      

Your eyes shot open when Dean appeared at your side and put his hand on your arm. "already bored of me?" he laughed. You exhaled shaking your head, letting him take your arm and lead the way to the train carriage. 

"just taking a minute to think" you chuckled,  you walked side by side to the 1st class carriages. In Dean's free hand he held your bag containing some things you might need over the trip. You couldn't help but think about how well you worked together, his movements worked with yours. 

Once you reached the steps, he held your hand through your gloves you could still feel his coarse hand under yours. You swore you saw him looking at your joint hands when you looked away, something about the way his eyes moved, like they were hiding something.        

You sat opposite each other, the space in between felt too small and too big at the same time. As soon as he sat down, he started to bounce his left leg. When the train whistle blew, he stopped and looked out the window that looked it on the train hallway. 

you stopped watching him, reaching in your bag to pull out your book. As you read you clewed on your nails, mouthing a word now and then. Someone tapped on the cover of your book, making you look up. 

"Tea? Or something to eat?" Dean asked, gesturing to the carriage door where the trolley lady stood waiting.      

"oh" you smiled towards her putting your book down next to you. "Yes, tea and a sandwich would be lovely". You reached for your bag to get money but was met with Dean's hand over yours. With one hand still over yours as he  handed some money over to the lady in exchange for two teas and a sandwich.

After saying thank you were left alone again, resting the tea next to your book you ripped open the brown paper the sandwich was wrapped in.  Only then did you realized how hungry you were, skip breakfast was finally getting to you.

When you looked up you saw Dean watching your curiously, you laughed trying to hide the heat spreading on your cheeks. "I didn't have my breakfast thing morning. Just two cups of tea", you took a few bites before finishing, "I am regretting that though".

He drank his own tea watching you over the dim.  When he put the cup down, he chuckled. "what are you reading?", he nodded to the book next to you.

Looking down to the book you smiled, "Wuthering  Heights. It's one of my favourite". The copy was well worn, the cover was faded, the pages had gone from white to a light yellow and some of the quotes had been underlined.  "do you read?", you  looked up to Dean. 

He laughed again, shaking his head. "Reading is more Sammy's thing, I don’t have much time with the family business and the cars", he waved his hand in the air as he explained. You could ignore the sliver of disappointment in your veins, in a perfect world he would share the same hobbies as you and you would talk about them for hours on end, in a perfect world you would marriage someone you knew.       

After a few more minutes of talking, you went back to reading but Dean continued to watch you. He could see you were finding the day as hard as he was. Everything he or you brought up didn't catch and fell flat. He found it easier to sit in quiet and watch you.  He knew you were beautiful; your E/C eyes match your H/C perfectly. And when you smiled, he felt something grow in him. He couldn’t call it love; he didn't know this vison of you. You were still the girl from his childhood who he spoke of to his friends. 

His favourite story was for the last day he saw you, he was 12 and you were 13. He always hated how you were older than him, even if it was only by a year. You had climb up an apple tree in his back garden and had spent 5 minutes throwing apples at him before he spotted you. With a book held in one hand and the other holding another apple ready to throw, you smiled when you made eye contacted with him. 

He always remembered how your mother reacted when she saw the state of your dress after you fell from the tree, on to a small patch of  flowers. He was worried you were hurt but instead you leaped up and laughed. As you walked by you handed him one of the flowers, a wild rose. 

The memory was the reason why he picked wild roses for the wedding, something he hoped you remembered. Unsure why but when he was younger, he would always remember the image of you reading in a tree smiling down at him. 

And here you were again reading, he could help but smile a little at how you would mouth the words or reacted when something happened, like you were one of the characters living and breathing the story. The loud train whistle made you both looked from your spots and look to the window where your spot was coming into view.

  Standing out on the balcony that look out on the sea, you sighed breathing in the salty air. The cry of seagulls rang out louder than anything else. You hung your head back and looked up to the sky, the sky was nearly cloudless. 

You breathed deep one more time before turning around and going back into the room. The hotel  was classic, the room you were staying in was painted a deep royal blue, the jointed one bathroom was a lighter shade of blue but still felt too deep. Over in one corner of the room there was a folding screen, hanging off a hook beside it was your dress for tonight. 

When packing you had only chosen dresses that would be easy to get in and out on your own, this one was one of the nicer ones. It was dark green with a black mesh overlay; beautiful detailed leaf needle work was on the sleeves and the body of the dress.

Dean had said he was going to book a table, but you hadn't failed to see him seek a pack of cigarettes into his coat pocket.  You stood behind the screen and started to strip down to your underwear. You loosen your corset a little, ready for the dinner you were about to have. 

Lifting the dress above your head, you bushed  down any bumps or wrinkles. You walked out to sit by the vanity mirror, laying before you was the little pieces of jewellery you had brought. Matching the dress, you chose a long black beaded necklace with matching earrings. 

Pulling your hair out of the bun that rested on the top of your head and let in run lose down your neck. You worked with a brush and some pins until you were happy without come. Staring at yourself in the mirror. You studied every detail you look the same as you always did, you always thought there would be a change once you were married. like a new you would take over and know what to do next but you that had always been was the one staring back at you through the mirror. Maybe Dean had thought he was marrying someone different and that's why he was distant with physical affections. 

when dean did return to the room, he lingered by the door, you could see him watching from the mirror. you turned and smiled at him, "Can you help with the back button? I can't reach it" you asked walking over to him and turning you back once again. At the back of your neck you felt the ghost of his fingers, you could feel the hesitate in them, feel how he was holding himself back. He cleared his throat saying he was done. When you looked that him, you saw how his green eyes were wider than they had been, and the tips of his ears were redder than they normally were. you reached out to get your coat, but he beat you to it. 

you stood still, lips slightly parted as he hung the coat off your shoulders, he was also still as he watch you put an arm in each sleeve. "Ready?" his voice was horse, green eyes less wide than they had been but still not the normal size. You felt your heart flutter as you smiled and nodded. Again, he held out his arm for you and again your heart fluttered. Maybe you did doubt everything about this match when you were alone with your thought but when he did small things like this, when you saw the things he couldn't hide, you couldn't help but hope. His warm body was so close to yours; you could still smell the smoke on his clothes it wasn't overpowering like so many other, it suited the bourbon and metal that clung to him too.

  The restaurant was by the sea, tall windows made up a full wall so that the view could be seen from anyway in the building.  The smell from the coast was even stronger, you felt even more relaxed than you did back in the room.  

Dean pulled out a chair once you reached the table, the table match the theme of the sea. In the middle was a single candle floating in a small bowl of water with seashells at the bottom. Dean circled the table and sat down facing you. Smiling over to him, you both reached for a menu at the same time, you felt heat rush up to your cheeks and along the back of your neck. You tried to laugh what happened off, hiding behind your menu before you could even face Dean and see his own reaction.  

Halfway through the meal, the setting sun gave casted a soft pink light across the restaurant. Dean looked up from his plate and grazed towards you. You had your eyes towards the massive windows, watching the waves come and go from the sea. Your lips were parted and turned up at the corner.  In the soft pink light from the setting sun, he couldn't help but acknowledge the way your soft E/C eyes shone. the skin was glowing in the light, it looked like you belonged there like you were craved from sea glass.

Your chest up and down with a sigh moving your eyes from the sea, you smiled clearly shocked to find Dean looking right at you. “you look lovely tonight” the words left his mouth before he knew it. Your eyes widen and cheeks flush a bright red. Trying to hide your face you blushed some hair from your face that wasn’t there. While you were trying to find the right thing to say, he reached for your free hand that was on the table and took your hand in his. you swallowed a lump in your throat looking at your joint hands. His large rough hand around your small gloved hand, again you could feel the heat of him, and it was enough alone to make your shiver. You couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like if he touched your naked skin. “I hope we can grow closer over this break”.#

You could still feel a lump in your throat and with his hand still on yours, it was hard to speak. You licked your lips and nodded. “I hope we do too”. You sounded and felt breathless. Before you knew it, the meal was over, and Dean was helping you with your coat.

With the weather still being good, you chose to walk back to the hotel. You both hung your arms by your sides, your hands would brush pass each other gathering all your nervous into one move you took his hand in yours. Not having the guts to face him to tell his reaction you keep your gaze  forward, but you were glad when he squeezed your hand.

You were more tired then your thought when you got back. The day had just been traveling and eating but the call from your bed was deafening. Kicking your shoes off by the door you walked over to your vanity table, where you started to take off jewellery and hair pins. You reached to the back of your dress to undo it, you jumped when you felt someone else’s hands on your back. You looked in the mirror and felt a bit calmer when you saw it was just Dean, he was silently asking for permission to help, you nodded not breaking eye contact with him.

You kept your eyes on him as your dress loosen on your frame, you stood up and turned around as the dress fell to the floor. You breathe stilled as you looked at him, you could feel the goose bumps popping up on your skin from being dressing in nothing but a corset and thin grown. “can you manage it on your own?” his voice was sticky; his green eyes were following down your neck to your collar you could tell he was struggling not to look down future where your breast where slowly lifting and falling with each breath.  

You nodded your head and pulled the lace holding your corset together. You had yet to take your eyes off him and he hadn’t moved his eyes from your chest yet. When nothing was left to take off you didn’t dare to move. Your lips parted, eyes looking down to his lips. You stayed still as he took his hand from his side and touched your waist. The hard beating in your chest was all you could hear, you thought it might be the only thing he could hear.

This was the closest you had gotten to him, the closest he had gotten to touching you. His thumb drew a line over your hip bone, his eyes were taking you in something you hadn’t witnessed him do before. This was different from how he looked at you, your whole wedding day even the wedding night was different.

You took a sharp in breath when he tugged you closer to his chest. Your hand stuck out and went flat against his chest. You could feel him breathing on your neck, feel his steady heartbeat. Trembling a little you raised up your face to read his. you looked up through your lashes at him, searching his green eyes for the answer the questions running laps in your mind.

He moved slowly, his lips getting closer and closer to your own. Your eyes fluttered shut when you could feel his breath on your lips.  When they finally met you were taken by the feeling that over came you. His grip got tighter; your hands went to pull at the material of his white shirt.  He reached with his free hand and ran it through your free hand. Still kissing and wrapped in each other touch, he started to walk backwards until you were stood by the bed.  You only pulled away when  you felt like you couldn’t breath anymore, his eyes were fixed on your raising and falling chest. You took his hand from your waist and held it as you sat down on the bed and pulled him closer.  

You couldn’t say what was giving you the courage to be so forward and open. You fell back on the mattress with a pop, finding his lips again. Opening your legs so he could slide closer to you. The kiss grew hungry. The feeling of him in between your legs made your hands sweaty, and something was growing inside you.

you were shocked by the cold when Dean suddenly pulled away. Still lay across the bed you stared up at Dean who was studying you in his own way. “it’s getting late”. Your frowned at his words but quietly nodded.

He left you to change in the bathroom, you sat there for a few seconds trying to spot the reason of his sudden change of heart. You slowly climbed under the covers, still puzzled you watch the clock of the wall tick away. You felt the same as you did the night before, you thought things were doing well. He kissed you first after all, was it because you tried to take it further. Maybe he just didn’t feel things for you, and it was too hard to fake.

You shook away the questions and tried to sleep. When he finally returns you keep still hoping he’ll believe you’re asleep. Still not looking at him, you felt the bed dip and heard him sigh.

That night felt longer that any others.

The next day you were half awake when you heard movement, you groggily opened your eyes to find what was happening. “you’re up just in time, breakfast has just been brought up”. Mind still fuzzy from sleep, you use your arms to push yourself up in bed.

You blink at Dean as he places the tray on the bed next to you, “You’re up early”.

He sat down by you, you looked from your plate to his face. He was showing no signs of what happened last night. “thought we could spend the day at the beach”. You took a slip of tea and smiled. “it’s a shame we can only do a weekend away”.

You hummed, keeping your eyes on your breakfast. “Winchester guns won’t run by itself”. Aware he’s still watching you; you stop what you’re doing and tilted you head and smiled at him. “everything alright?”.

“’course. Just didn’t think you would want to talk about business” he looked away to the clock.

Silence filled the room, “I’m a Winchester now. I should care about the business” you said. Pausing after because it was the first time you had said that. He had turned now, watching you with curiosity, it was the first time he had heard you say it as well.    

“I leave you to get dressed” he said standing up quickly and leaving the room before you could comment.

You stayed and watched the door , thinking he would come back but he didn’t.

You took your time getting dressed, picking a plain green dress with puffy sleeves that cover half your arms. Keeping this simple you chose a small pearl necklace and matching bracelets. Brushing your hair until it was knot free you put in up in a low bun, you didn’t need to do anything fancy when you would be wearing a hat anyway.  

Dean was waiting by the doors outside stomped on a roll-up on the floor.  You chuckled looking at his sheepish expression. “You can hide that but not the smell”, you tapped your nose. He bites his lip outstretching his arm. Smiling you turned your head and took his arm.

“I hired a care for the day” his steps quicken. “I’ve missed driving”.

Just as you thought the beach wasn’t quiet. On a warm day in late March, you didn’t think it would be any different. After renting a pair of beach chairs you laid back. Children’s laugher draws your attention, a little boy and girl were building sandcastles together with their adoring parents watching close by.  Having children felt like a lifetime away, especially if all you did was share a few hungry kisses.  Smiling over at the picture-perfect family one last time before looking back to the sea.

When your legs started to go numb you kicked off you shoes and stood up. “I might go for a paddle” you mention still looking forward, you took your hat off and looked at Dean. “want to join or will you watch my things?”.

“you enjoy yourself, ill wait here”, he nodded to the cool waters. Smiling you walk forward.

From his seat, Dean watches as you lift your dress so it wouldn’t get wet. The soft breeze your baby hairs across your face. He doesn’t know what to think seeing you there. When he closed his eyes, he could feel your silky lips against his, he shook the feeling away. He knew you knew something was off, that there was something holding him back and he knew you deserved to know the reason but tell the truth would hurt more than one person. 

He watched as you knelt and handed a boy a shell they had dropped. You face lit up in laugher when they said something.  You turned to him and pointed for the boy to look over, when the boy did his own smile dropped.

 Waving goodbye, you walked back to Dean, “made a friend?” he raised an eyebrow when you sat back down. 

You smirk raising an eyebrow back. “what, you jealous of a 5-year-old?”, you laughed.

“no” he laughed.

You licked your licks shaking your head. “he said, ‘my papa said pretty girls shouldn’t be out alone’ and I told him ‘I’m not alone, my husband is over there’ and then I came back here”. You patted his hand without thinking “are you enjoying yourself? For some reason I feel like the beach isn’t really your ideal place”.

“I haven’t been myself since we were children. Just feel out of place” he shrugged, it made you feel sympathy for him. You hadn’t thought about what it felt like to be sent away to a school where you knew no one, coming back for the rare holiday, knowing people but feeling apart from it all. 

“well then, we’ll have too do more things like this” you grinned stretching out. “I’ll even let you drive; sure, you’ll like that”. 

You both lay in silent for the next hour before deciding to find a spot of lunch. The air around felt lighter, you had moved past event of the night before. Trying to accept the unknown reason why he didn’t want to take things far. You found yourself liking this version of him more, this version who would laugh and smile at you, he reminded you of the child you knew. You were willing to face the years ahead of you, willing to wait for the day he was ready to tell you what was holding you back. And in realty you were grateful because you weren’t even sure you were ready to share everything with someone.

 part 3 

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@clearhorseturtlecreator  

[lynelovespopculture]

THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF ZELDA-CHAPTER 11: ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!

LIFE IS NOT EASY FOR GREENDALE’S HIGH PRIESTESS. HER BELOVED STEPDAUGHTER KEEPS REJECTING HER, IT’S GETTING HARDER TO RUN THE ACADEMY AND WHEN LITILH FINALLY GIVES BIRTH, THINGS GO FROM BAD TO WORSE!

She was horrified. “Here, Father?! You want to spend the night here?!”

“Yes,” came the answer, “and as I’ve been trying to explain to you, it wouldn’t be only for tonight. I live here now and as of this moment, so do you.”

“But this the Spellman house!  We can’t live at the Spellman house! We hate the Spellmans! You most of all!”

“I don’t hate anyone and the Spellmans are my family now, our family.”

“Have you lost your mind, Father? The Spellmans are the enemy. They’ll silt our throats in our sleep. You taught us that!”

“I didn’t teach you anything, that’s kind of the problem,”  Faustus said with desperation in his voice.  “Also, for Hecate’s sake, lower your voice please.”

Yet, it was already too late.  The 1 person Faustus really didn’t want to hear this conversation was hearing everything and had been for the past 10 minutes. For Zelda Spellman, clad in her nightgown could hear the voices in the kitchen perfectly from she was, on the left bottom staircase before the stairs spilt. It wasn’t Zelda’s intention to spy on anyone. She had a valid reason to come downstairs, Zelda just couldn’t remember what it was at the moment. Instead, for the last 10 minutes, Zelda found herself listening to her husband and stepdaughter’s conversation, hoping to answer her burning questions. Questions like how on earth did she manage to escape Blackwood, the insanity curse that raised her? Where was her twin, Judas? And how did she come to live with Dezmelda again, the very witch that Zelda had entrusted Letitia’s care to? However, all Zelda was learning was how much anger and hate her beloved stepdaughter had toward her, and the rest of her family. This was not at all what Zelda had in mind for Letitia’s homecoming.  4 hours ago, when she, Faustus and baby Cordelia returned from their trip and found Letitia, the girl Zelda had loved since birth and thought of every day, had come home, at last, Zelda’s 1st instinct was to give the girl a hug. It hurt a lot when Letitia shrunk away from her touch when she figured out Zelda was going to hug her. Zelda also saw the fear in the girl’s eyes when she beheld Faustus.

“I’m sorry I ran away, Father,” the girl’s voice trembled. “Please don’t punish me.”

Everyone knew that this wasn’t going to be easy. Letitia would only talk to Prudence and her father, ignoring the Spellmans and refuse to speak to any of them.

4 hours later, Faustus and his daughter were still speaking in the kitchen. Hilda and Prudence had gone home, Sabrina and Ambrose were both upstairs, asleep and Zelda was only getting sadder listening to Letitia bashing the family. Giving up entirely on trying to remember what she came down for, Zelda turned and started back upstairs while still hearing yelling coming from the Spellman kitchen.

“Letitia, please calm down.”

“There it is again! My name is Judith, Father, not this Letitia you keep calling me!”

Letitia. The very name Zelda herself had given to the babe and now, only 2 years in Zelda’s timeline, but 16 to Faustus’s daughter, and she hated the name Zelda had given her. Zelda sighed as she opened the door that separated the funeral formal front from the family’s personal 2nd-floor hallway. Zelda let out another heavy breath as she leaned against her now closed bedroom door. She looked up as she heard baby noises.  She crossed the room and took Cordelia out of her bassinet. It was then that Zelda finally remembered what she forgot, Cordelia’s bottle!  Yet, it wasn’t that big a deal. Being a witch sometimes meant you could cut out the middle man. Once she relaxed on the bed with the baby in her arms, that bottle magically appeared. 

“You won’t ever turn against Mommy, will you Cordelia?” Was it Zelda’s imagination or was her baby girl snuggling up against her? 

Even after feeding her, changing her, and settling her daughter back into the bassinet, Faustus had still not come up. Zelda smoked an entire cigarette and found herself anxiously pacing up and down the room, absent mindlessly playing with her wedding ring when her husband, at last, came into the room.

“How is she?” Zelda asked the moment she saw him.

“Fine,” Faustus replied. “Letitia’s asleep now. I put a root of sage under her pillow. I put her up in the nursery on the roll away bed. I hope that’s okay?”

“Oh, of course, of course,” Zelda demised his concern quickly. “Now, please tell me all you know about Letitia. How did she escape from Blackwood? Where is Judas? Why was Letitia back living with Dezmelda again?”   

“Well, it’s a long story, but it all started the night of the twins’ dark baptism.”

“Their baptism?! But that was way back in December! That was over 6 months ago!” Zelda’s eyes widened.

Faustus knew that look. After so many centuries together, Faustus was still amazed by Zelda. She had long ago perfected her cold, hard outer shell. Yet, the ones who know her best, aka her family, knew that Zelda had a big, kind heart, especially when it came to children. Zelda had not only delivered his twins as part of her duties as a midwife. She had cared for Letitia and Judas as if they were her very own. First as their night mother and then stepmother. It wasn’t only the twins. Zelda was a perfect blend of supportive friend/concerned mother that Prudence needed. Of course, other than Hilda, there was no one Sabrina loved and trusted more. Faustus also felt honored that he not only fathered Zelda’s only natural child but Zelda also chose him to raise Cordelia with. Zelda was still looking at him for an answer, so he walked over to his wife and rubbed her arm affectionally.

“Just let me change and I’ll tell you all I know.”

5 minutes later, Faustus and Zelda lay in bed, talking.

“Just as I feared, Blackwood planned to marry the twins to each other on their 16th birthday. Apparently, Judas had no problem with this, but Letitia, rightly so, didn’t want to become her brother’s bride. So, before dawn that day, before Blackwood and Judas were awake, Letitia ran away.” Faustus explained.  

“Poor girl. What a horrible way to spend your 16th birthday,” Zelda shook her sadly. “I hope she wasn’t alone for long?”

Faustus saw the genuine worry on Zelda’s face and couldn’t help but smile.  Was it any wonder that he absolutely adored the ground Zelda walked on? “No, not too long,” he replied.  “Just for 2 days and a night. Dezmelda found her right before the 2nd sunset.”

Zelda frowned. “Well, then that begs another question if Letitia has been with her for over 6 months, why didn’t Dezmelda tell anyone?”

“Letitia told me that she begged Dezmelda not to tell anyone that she was there. Letitia was terrified of being taken back to me, er, Blackwood.”

“You did explain the insanity curse to her, didn’t you?” 

Faustus sighed. “I did but I don’t think she understood. I may have to explain to her all again. I mean, it is all very complicated. I really think that all Letitia needs is some”

“Time?” Zelda offered. “We can surely give her that. I’m just so happy that she’s here under our roof where we can protect her.”

Faustus stroked Zelda’s cheek and kissed her.  “My thoughts exactly. I love you.” They fell asleep shortly after.

Hours later, Zelda woke up to Cordelia’s cries and stepped from the bed to her daughter’s bassinet. After feeding the baby, Zelda realized that she had a perfect excuse to sneak into the nursery. After tiptoeing into the room and settled Cordelia in her crib, Zelda turned to look at the young girl that was asleep in the pale moonlight. Zelda longed to sit by Letitia’s side, stroke her hair, and kissed her brow. Yet she didn’t do anything like that for fear that Letitia would wake up and flinch from her as she did before.

“Sleep well, Letitia,” Zelda whispered softly. “I’m so happy that you’re finally home.”

Zelda sadly closed the door, went back to her room, and got back into bed. Zelda instantly felt a bit better when a still half-asleep Faustus wrapped an arm around her.

Despite the fact that she would have preferred to stay with Letitia, on her full 1st day home and was still tired from the trip from Rome, Zelda kissed Faustus and Cordelia goodbye the next morning before heading to the academy. Zelda froze at the front door when she heard Letitia asked her father.

“Are you really going to just stand there while that bitch steals your job?!”

“Watch your mouth, young lady! Zelda isn’t stealing anything!”

The redhead closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and forced herself to continue on her way.

 It was during morning assembly that Zelda got to tell the whole school, students, and staff alike about her trip to Rome and how successful it was. Zelda was touched when the whole crowd burst into applause and then Zelda kept on being stopped on the way back to her office to offer their congratulations. When she finally got to her office, Zelda saw her 1st appointment was waiting.

“Hello, brother Barker.” Zelda smiled. “Please take a seat.”

The warlock sat before the desk as Zelda went to sit behind it. “So, what can I do for you today?” Zelda asked.  

Barker sighed. “I hate to do this to you, Zelda. Especially when you’re just back from Rome, but I’ve thought long and hard about it and I’ve decided to retire.”

Zelda was shocked. “Retire? You? But you are the most experienced teacher at this school. You taught most of the staff, myself included.”

Barker nodded. “I know, I know. As I said, I hate to do this but I’m a whole century older than the rest of you and I just can’t keep up. Even with your sister and the young teachers in training, the student body still outnumbers us 3 to 1.”

Zelda raised an eyebrow. “So, your solution to a teacher’s shortage is to resign yourself?”

“I’m sorry but I can’t keep up this pace anymore.”

Zelda sat back in her chair, thinking. “Brother Barker,” Zelda said slowly, “if you were me, how would you solve this problem?”

The old warlock shrugged. “I don’t know. Take out an ad in the newspaper?”

Zelda laughed shortly. “Oh, that would go over well. Wanted: 2 or more experienced teachers for a secret witch’s school right in our own backyard. Oh, I can see that in the Greendale Gazette.”

Barker shook his head. “No, I didn’t mean the gazette, I actually was referring to the IWD. I’ve heard they had gone digital.”

Zelda closed her eyes. “The newspaper run by the International Witches Database, of course, that’s what you meant! Forgive me, Brother Barker, I’m afraid I’m still suffering from jet lag from the flight from Rome. Anyway, I think placing an ad in the IWD is a brilliant idea! I think as the most senior member of this academy’s staff, I think you’re the perfect person to write up the ad, or at least the 1st draft. In fact, what’s your next class?”

“Um..it’s casting 101,” Barker answered.

Zelda nodded. “I’ll handle your class so that you can get started on the ad.  Please feel free to use my office. I’ll also take a look at the schedule and see if I can divide the classes more evenly between the teachers. I just need to ask you 1 favor. Until the person who is selected from the ad is picked and settled, can you stay on?”

“Are you kidding? If this leaves off enough pressure, I may not retire after all.”

Zelda smiled. “Good.”

1 crisis down, about a million more to go. Barker was right; every teacher was stressed to the limit. Of course, the fact that the headmistress had been gone for a whole week, didn’t help matters. On top of her classes, Zelda also had a mountain of paperwork to get through. Zelda was so swamped that she had to call Faustus at home to tell him not to hold supper for her. Zelda sensed something in her husband’s voice, sadness perhaps, but decided not to pursue it. By 7, Zelda was still working at her desk and was not all happy when she looked up and saw the hell minion was right before her.

Zelda sighed. “What on earth are you doing here?” She demanded of the bellhop.

“Lilith is” the minion started and Zelda, tired and cranky, cut in rather quickly.

“Is not due for another 6 weeks and her last check-up is not for another 2 weeks.”

“Be that as it may,” the minion tried again. “Lilith said that she was bleeding and to fetch you right away.”

Zelda sighed as she opened her desk drawer, took out a pad of paper, and quickly wrote a note that she quickly spelled to the dining table of the Spellman house where Faustus was sure to find it. Then Zelda stood up and held out her hand until she felt the handle of the medical bag in her palm. Then she gestured to the minion. “Lead the way.”

Hell was the last place Zelda Spellman thought she would be tonight. All she wanted to do was go home, check on the children, have something to eat, cuddle up next to Faustus, and go to sleep. Yet, duty called. The minion was walking her down a palace hallway when Zelda felt herself being grabbed and pulled into a room. The next thing Zelda knew, she was face to face with Lilith.

“Did you find it? Did you bring it?” Lilith demanded.

“Did I find or bring what?” Zelda honestly didn’t know what Lilith was talking about.

“The spell!” Lilith cried as if it was the obvious thing in the world. “The spell that pauses my pregnancy.”

Zelda made a face. “No, I bring that!  The spell would be against nature.  There is no magic against nature! You know that! Every witch knows that!” It was only when Lilith threw up her hands and was walking away from her, that Zelda noticed something. “You’re not bleeding, are you?  You bought me down here for nothing.”

“Nothing!” Lilith turned back sharply. “I’m due in only 6 weeks! The moment after I give birth, my stay of execution will be over and Lucifer will kill me!”

“You’ve had 13 months to plan your escape,” Zelda pointed out, “why didn’t you?”

 “How can I plan anything with Lucifer watching me 24/7! Besides, why should I plan anything, when it’s your fault I’m in this mess!”

Zelda was so shocked she could only blink. “My fault?!”

“Yes!” Lilith returned with a hiss. “If you hadn’t turned me away, I wouldn’t be in this mess!”

“You having a baby, I hardly call that a mess, Lilith! And for the record, I turned you away because you are  untrustworthy, and as high priestess, I always have to put the safety of my family and coven first. Besides how was I to know when you left the academy, how was I to know you would run right into Lucifer’s arms!”

“I was trying to save my life!” Lilith defended herself.  “As Lucifer already showed, I wasn’t in his arms. I was in your husband’s and you say I’m untrustworthy.”

“Blackwood is not my husband, Faustus is!”

Lilith waved her hand dismissingly. “Same difference.”

“There’s a lot of difference!” Zelda instantly defended. “Blackwood is a soulless, evil parasite. A curse, who we would have been rid of by now if you haven’t of given him the mark of Cain.  Faustus is a real person, who has been through the darkest pain, has owned up to his mistakes and now tries harder to be better every single day, to redeem himself. That’s the difference.  Lucifer hasn’t paid me in information for months. The only reason I’m still your mid-wife is to protect my coven and family, including my husband, from the dark lord.” Zelda turned to leave but then turned back. “As you said, you’re due in 6 weeks, and if I were you, I’ld start planning something.” Then Zelda left.

Although she was tired and long to go home, Zelda returned to the Academy and managed to do another hour of paperwork. Then she went home. Stopping at the kitchen’s entrance, Zelda watched Faustus cleaning the island while Letitia fluttered around him. 

“I bet she’s not even a mid-wife. I think she been with her lover all night.”  Suggested Letitia.

Faustus didn’t even bother to look up. “Zelda doesn’t have a lover,” His tone was completely calm, if slightly annoyed. 

Letitia then lit up. “Why am I saying it like it’s a bad thing? The more time she spends with her lover, the more you can spend with your mistress. Maybe even invite her over so I can meet her. Anyone would be better than a Spellman.”

Faustus sighed. “I’ve already told you; I don’t have a mistress and Zelda doesn’t have a lover.  We are faithful to each other because we’re a happily married couple. We love each other and have no need for anyone else.”

It was a sweet statement but Letitia looked horrified.  “I don’t believe it. No man is happy with only 1 woman.”

Faustus shrugged. “Believe it or not, it’s true and as I’ve told you numerous times today, I’m very happy being married to Zelda, caring for Cordelia and being a house husband.”

His daughter frowned. “That’s not natural.  Women should stay in the home.”

“So, you’ve said numerous times today!”  Faustus forced himself to stay calm. “It’s late, Judith, maybe you should go up and get ready for bed.”

The girl left the kitchen and Faustus finished up and hung up the kitchen rag before he turned and finally noticed Zelda. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to know that you had a rough 1st day.” Zelda walked over to her husband, putting her medical bag on the island and then kissed him. “Feel better?”

“Much,” Faustus smiled and put his arms around her. 

Zelda smiled. “I’m glad to hear that you don’t have a mistress. If you did, you realize I would have to kill you.”

“As would be your right.” Zelda laughed and Faustus kissed her. “Listen, I only called her Judith just now is because she yelled at me all morning that her name was not Letitia.”

“There’s no need to explain,” She told him truthfully as he put an arm around Zelda’s shoulder as they left the kitchen. In the parlor, they found Sabrina bouncing the baby. Zelda lit up at the sight of her niece and her daughter.

“Cordelia! Did you miss mommy today? I sure missed you. Hello, Sabrina. How was your day?”

“It was good, aunt Z and Cordy is finished her night bottle,” Sabrina explained as she handed Zelda the baby and Faustus the bottle. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a little more homework to do before bed.”

“Goodnight,” Zelda smiled as Sabrina kissed her goodnight.

“Thank you for all your help tonight,” Faustus added.

With Sabrina gone, Zelda sat down and began to rock Cordelia. Faustus sat down on a stool, and he took Zelda’s foot out of its high heel and began to rub the foot.  The pleasurable moan that escaped Zelda’s lips made Faustus smile. “Feel good?”

“Like Hecate’s palace,” Zelda’s smile was one of pure bliss.

“Funny, there’s where I thought you came from,” Faustus got up and kissed her.

A little while later, Letitia was in bed, reading, however when she heard the door opening, she stashed her book under her pillow.

“Don’t mind me,” her father said softly. “I just need to put your sister to bed.”

Letitia was confused. “She’s not my sister. You told me yourself this morning that Cordelia was Zelda’s baby.”

Faustus put the infant in her crib before turning to answer Letitia.

“Yes, Zelda is Cordelia’s mother but I’m her father. She’s a part of us both.”

Letitia’s eyes widened as she got up off her cot to face her father. “Father, are you telling me that you actually mated with a Spellman? That is so wrong!” She wore a look of utter disgust.

Faustus sighed; his mouth was a thin line. “The only thing wrong here is that statement. I married a woman I loved and we were blessed with a child. It’s that simple.”

“But a Spellman!? To dirty our bloodline like that?! Father, you can do so much better.”

“That’s enough!” Letitia opened her mouth to say something else but Faustus held up his hand. “This is not up for debate, young lady. Now get back in bed and go to sleep!” Faustus closed the door behind him and went to his own room. There he saw Zelda, in bed, her arms around her knees, in a very un-Zelda like manner. In her hand was the 2-way baby monitor. She looked up at Faustus.

“She hates me,” Zelda was on the verge of tears.

Faustus went to her and took the monitor from her. He switched it off to ensure that they could talk in private. “She doesn’t hate you,” Faustus assured her. “She doesn’t know you. She doesn’t even know me yet. All she knows is Blackwood and his warped world view. After 16 years, it’s tough to overcome. Believe me, I know. Like you said last night, it’s going to take time.”

He was right, partly. Over time, Letitia did get closer, to some people. Like her sister, Prudence, and even Sabrina, once Letitia learned she wasn’t a true blood Spellman. As for Ambrose, Hilda, and Zelda, Letitia remained ice cold, no matter how much or how hard they tried to befriend her and it was breaking Zelda’s heart.

It was a few days after Dezmelda’s funeral, that Zelda was in the middle of teaching a class when something odd happened.  Zelda smelled the smoke before she actually saw it. Then the pain set in. It was only then that Zelda’s finger burst into flames. The screaming students certainly didn’t help anything.  Zelda ran out of the classroom and was thankful for whoever placed the water pitcher in the hallway. Dropping her whole hand in the jug, it did stop the fire but not the pain. Only when Zelda took off the boiling hot ring and dropped it on the floor, that’s the pain started to fade. Once she caught her breath, Zelda leaned down and saw her smoking, half-melted, and now utterly unwearable wedding ring.

Faustus looked up from his cooking and smiled. “Welcome home, dearest.” He kissed her hello. “So, how was your day?”

“It was fine darling, mostly.”

Faustus arched an eyebrow. “Care to explain that mostly?”

Zelda sighed and then dug into her purse.  “I was smoked,” She explained as she produced the ring.

“Is that your wedding ring?” Faustus asked and frowned when his wife nodded. “I was afraid of this.”

It was only then that Zelda noticed that Faustus’s hand was ringless as well. “What happened to you?”

“I was feeding Cordelia her bottle this morning when suddenly, out of nowhere and for no reason at all, my ring snapped in 2 and fell off. Alright, I’m going to fix this right now,” Faustus put down the wooden spoon and turned off the stove before marching out of the kitchen.

Zelda followed him. “What are you doing?”

“Going upstairs to talk to Letitia. It’s obvious that it’s her who did this. Who else would want to destroy the symbols of our marriage?”

“Faustus, no!” Zelda grabbed his arm. “We have no proof that it was her. And even if was her, I’m sure it was nothing but a childish prank to blow off steam. I’m sure the worst is over.”

How wrong Zelda was.

“So, what do you think?”

It was the following week and Zelda and Faustus were alone in their room. It was late at night and Zelda was asking her husband his opinion about Brother Barker’s newly finished teacher’s ad for the IWD’s newspaper.

“This is fine, very fine,  indeed. This should attract some excellent teachers. Yet, I’m afraid that Barker forgot something very important.”

Zelda took back the paper. “Really? I could swear Barker got in all the information.”

Faustus chuckled. “I truly do trust you, dearest, I do. But I do remember that the last time you hired a teacher, it was Mambo Marie and she was wildly attracted to you.  Not that I blame her.  I mean, any person with eyes would be attracted and since most teachers have eyes…”

Zelda smiled. “So, you think we mention that the headmistress is not available right in the ad.”

Faustus smiled back. “How about the headmistress is married?”

“How about the headmistress is in love?” Zelda suggested.

“Madly in love?” Faustus added.

“Passionately?”

“Completely?”

“Forever.”

Zelda allowed the ad to slip through her fingers to the floor and closed her eyes as Faustus began to kiss her deeply. They were in each other’s arms as they both fell backward toward the bed. The moment their bodies touched the mattress, Zelda and Faustus were torn apart. Due to some unknown source, Faustus was flung into the left side of the room; Zelda, the right.  

“Hey!”

“Ow!” After a few seconds, they got up, dusted themselves off, and looked at each other. “What the heaven was that?” Zelda asked her husband.

The next morning, after Zelda left for work, Faustus sighed as he went back upstairs, into his room and lifted up the mattress. His heart dropped as soon as he found it. There, right in the middle of the frame was a penny. One side of the penny was flat, the other side stood straight up. Frowning, Faustus took the penny and when downstairs to the kitchen was Prudence and Letitia were.

“Hello girls,” Faustus forced his tone to remain calm. 

Both of his daughters looked up and smiled at him. Prudence was helping Letitia with some of her schoolwork. It was hoped that if she worked hard enough that Letitia would be ready to attend the academy next term. Prudence gestured with her pencil. “What do you have there, Father?”

Faustus kept it cool. “Oh, this? This is a bent penny. I haven’t seen 1 of these in a very long time. That’s because a bent penny is used in a specific spell that is usually used by jealous teenage witches with cheating boyfriends. Anyway, the witch would enchant this penny and put it under the boyfriend’s mattress and if the boyfriend took another lover to his bed, he and the lover would be jolted off the bed and far away from each other.”

Prudence smiled. “Well, I’ll have to remember that if Ambrose starts acting strangely,” she joked.  However, Faustus was more interested in his younger daughter’s reaction. Letitia didn’t even look up from her schoolwork. However, when Faustus turned to leave, he saw in the glass above the door that Letitia wore a smile.

That smile told Faustus all he needed to know.

“I can’t believe it took a whole month for all of us to come together again.” Hilda declared as she and Zelda prewashed a few dinner dishes while Faustus and Dr. C got the cake and coffee ready.

Zelda smiled. It was true, the Spellmans had not been all together for a full 30 days, since the night Faustus and Zelda got home from Rome. That was 1 of the reasons for tonight’s get together. The adults made their way out of the kitchen and into the dining room where the kids were waiting but 1 had flown the coop.

“Where’s Letitia?” Zelda asked.

Ambrose shrugged. “She said didn’t want dessert and went upstairs.” 

Zelda sighed. Be it meals together or any other family event, Letitia would get away as soon as possible or not show up at all. Zelda hoped it would change over time but it was a month now but nothing was changing. Zelda smiled at Faustus when her husband took her hand. It was to focus on telling the family the news.

“Everyone,” Zelda began, “as wonderful as tonight’s dinner has been, Faustus and I have gathered you all here for another reason. You see, we have something to tell you, something we learned in Rome. We planned to tell you all the night we came home but we got sidetracked by Letitia being found and everything.”

“Is it about the council?” Hilda asked. “Did something happen? You are still a high priestess, aren’t you?”

“What? Oh yes, Hildie, of course, I am. No, this news has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with Cordelia. Do you remember what happened the night of her presenting? Her birthmark- “

“The mark of the divine,” Ambrose said, suddenly remembering a phone call he, Faustus, and Prudence had, “Did you find out what it all means?”

 “Yes,” Zelda had the whole table’s attention as she told the family everything. She told them all about Maxine and the secret sisterhood. How they freaked out about Cordelia’s crescent moon birth mark-the mark of the divine. Zelda told them all about her research, about Hecate’s grandchildren, the tale of the 2 cousins, the start of the Spellman and Blackwood bloodlines, and what it meant for baby Cordelia.

It was Prudence who first broke the shocked silence.  “My baby sister is fated to be the most powerful witch ever born?!”

“That is what all the prophecies I read said, yes.” Zelda nodded.

“I can’t believe it,” Prudence whispered.

“I can,” Said Hilda. “A lot of things make sense now. The reason why Cordelia has been so alert and awake since she was born. The reason the pregnancy was healthy and was able to survive even after you were shot, Zelds.  It makes complete sense now. Cordelia was meant to be born.

“I didn’t even consider all that, but yes, Hildie, I believe you’re right,” Zelda nodded.

“So, what are we going to do with this information?” Asked Sabrina.

Zelda shrugged. “I don’t know if there is�� anything to be done. I just remember how hurt Hilda and I were that Edward didn’t tell us about going to the dark lord for a child. So, this is us telling you all about Cordy.”

Ambrose frowned. “What about Cordelia herself?  When and what will you tell Cordelia about all this?”

“Faustus and I spoke about almost nothing else on the flight home and for the foreseeable future, we decided to say nothing to Cordelia. We want to give her as normal a childhood as possible.”

A couple of hours later, after the meal, after Prudence, Hilda and Dr. C went home and Sabrina and Ambrose were in their rooms. Zelda entered the nursery and smiled at her baby.

“Hello, Cordelia. Mommy going to give you a little bath and your bottle before bed. Won’t that be fun?” Zelda tried to pick up Cordelia but she just couldn’t. It was as if there an invisible wall around her daughter. “What the heaven?”

“I’d step away from the baby if I were you.” 

Zelda turned to see Letitia, her arms crossed and leaning against the door. “Letitia, what have you done?”

Letitia’s frown deepened. “Firstly, my name is Judith! Secondly, if what I heard  you say is true, I must protect my little sister. I can’t just let anyone come in off of the streets and take her.”

Zelda looked from Letitia and Cordelia and back again.  Her heartbreaking with every glance. “But I’m not just anyone. I’m her mother.” Zelda said firmly.

Letitia made a movement of dismissal. “You’re a Spellman! I made it so no Spellman will ever be able to touch Cordelia Blackwood ever again.” As if to rub it in, Letitia took the bottle from Zelda, made a show out of taking Cordelia out of her crib, and then sat down to feed the baby. 

Before a stunned Zelda could react, Faustus came into the room. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.

“Nothing, Father,” Letitia said calmly. “Just protecting your youngest from the Spellmans.”

Not quite understanding, Faustus looked to his wife.

“She cast a spell so I can’t touch Cordelia,” Zelda explained.

“It’s not just her, it applies to all the Spellmans.” Letitia seemed proud of herself.

Beyond annoyed, Faustus rolled his eyes. “Not 1 of your stupid, childish spells again! Letitia, I want you to take your spell off your sister and apologize to your mother! Right now!”

Letitia was seething. “HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS? MY NAME IS JUDITH AND SHE,” Letitia eyed Zelda upper and down in utter disgust, “IS NOT MY MOTHER!”

Faustus sighed deeply, trying desperately to keep calm as he reached out to grab Cordelia. “Please don’t scream in the baby’s ear. Now, why did you feel the need to put a spell on the baby?”

“I overheard some of the conversation that was happening downstairs. About how powerful Cordelia will be and I wanted to protect her. It’s like you always told us, it’s us or them. It’s the Spellmans or it’s the Blackwoods.”

Faustus sighed. “For the 10000th time, I didn’t tell you anything, the curse did. Also, there are no Blackwoods here. Like I’ve already told you, I’m a Spellman now, Cordelia is a Spellman and even you are a Spellman.”

“I will NEVER be a Spellman!” Letitia snapped.

“But you already are, isn’t she, Zelda?  Zelda?” Faustus wasn’t sure when but Zelda had left.

After telling Letitia they’d talk more about later, Faustus went looking for Zelda. He found her across the hall, in their own bedroom. Zelda was seated at the end of their bed. Her head was buried in her hands. Faustus could tell she was crying because her shoulders were shaking violently.

“Oh, dearest,” Faustus took Zelda into his arms.

“I’m such an idiot!” Zelda declared between sobs. “I truly believed that once we found the twins, we would be 1 happy family.”

Faustus found himself rocking his wife. “We will be, my dearest, I promise you. I just need to figure out how to get through to Letitia. Maybe a little time.”

“Time? It’s been a month already. Instead of things getting better, they’re getting worse. Letitia hates me, she hates me so much that she doesn’t even want me to touch her little sister, my own baby!”

“I will never allow the spell to stand!” Faustus soothed as he rubbed Zelda’s back. “I’ve Cordelia back in your arms before you know it.”

It was easier said than done. Letitia refused to take off the spell and Faustus was having trouble finding an anti-spell.  Father and daughter got into screaming matches. Faustus no longer trusted Letitia to be alone with the baby so Cordelia moved into her parents’ room. It drove Zelda absolutely crazy not being able to hold or touch her own child but Faustus made it somewhat better was when Faustus would lie Cordelia down to sleep between them and they could be near each other.  It was at the most heartbreaking when Cordelia would smile at Zelda and hold out her arms, obviously wanting to be picked up by her mommy. No matter how hard she tried, Zelda couldn’t, and it wasn’t just her. Both Hilda and Ambrose tried to hold the baby and all failed. This awful tension, which grew and grew, continued for 2 weeks. The tension in the house got so bad that certain members of the household, namely Sabrina and Ambrose, went out of their way to be out of the house. She would never admit it, but even Zelda was happy that the academy needed her more and more. They were starting the summer session and the responses to the teacher’s ad were coming in and there was much more than expected. This meant a lot of late nights for Zelda. It all came to a head 1 evening. 

Faustus was sitting at the table, feeding Cordelia her bottle while Zelda was at the stove, stirring the soup.

“Dinner, children!”  Zelda called out.  Ambrose and Sabrina presently came into the kitchen, smiling at and thanking their aunt as she handed them their bowls. A moment later, everyone heard a door slam and stomping on the stairs, Letitia came into the kitchen. Like she did for the other kids, Zelda held out the soup bowl to her stepdaughter.

However, all Letitia did was stare daggers at Zelda. “Whore!”

Hearing this, Faustus balanced the baby on his hip and went over to his wife and daughter. “Hey! What did I tell you about calling Zelda names?”

“But she is a whore!” Letitia insisted. “I was just in my room, doing a memory spell”

“You did a memory spell, all by yourself?” Zelda asked softly. She couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Yes, I wanted to see my mother and I did see her when she was pregnant with Judas and me and I found this 1,” She pointed at Zelda, “tending to her.”

Faustus shrugged. “So? I told you that Zelda was your mother’s midwife.”

“Yeah, but after the check-up, I followed her, down to the cells, where she promptly had sex with you.” Letitia turned her attention back to Zelda. “You killed her, didn’t you?  You killed my mother and blamed it on childbirth?!”

“No, I didn’t.” Zelda’s voice was reassuring but also very firm.

“Yes, you did!” Letitia screamed. “It shouldn’t have been her. I wish it had been you who had died!”

Sabrina gasped as Faustus took a step forward. “That’s it! Go to your room! Now!” Faustus watched his daughter stalk out of the room and turned to his wife. “Are you alright, dearest?”

“I’m fine,” Zelda said but looked anything but as she shut off the stove. “I’ve just remembered, I’m going to be late for an appointment.”

Faustus followed Zelda into the hall where she began to gather up her things. “What about dinner?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“So, are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

Zelda looked across the room at Lilith and shrugged.  “There’s nothing wrong. The baby’s fine and everything right on schedule.”

Lilith frowned. “I meant with you. You show up 2 hours early and that is the 1st sentence you said all the time you’ve been here. So, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Zelda cleared her throat. “It’s personal.”

“Zelda, you just finished working inside of me, I think we are beyond personal.”

Zelda sighed deeply. “Fine, if you really want to know, Letitia hates me.”

“Oh,” Lilith nodded. “Who’s Letitia?”

Zelda drew an even deeper sigh as she explained about the twins to Lilith.

Lilith was less worried. “Why should you care? She’s not even your daughter.”

Zelda rolled her eyes. “Why am I even discussing this with you? You’re due soon and I don’t even think you love your own baby. I told you it was a boy months ago. Have you spent 1-second thinking of a name?  Or even wanting to hold him?”

“I already told you, this baby is not for loving.”

“All babies are for loving!” Zelda snapped. “I remember when I was pregnant before finding out about the curse. I remember being terrified but ready to be kicked out my coven and disowned by my family, as long as I got to keep my baby.” And now I can’t even hold her anymore. Zelda thought to herself as she quickly wiped a tear away and went back to pack up her medical bag. Her back to Lilith.

“You know the difference between you and me?”

Zelda shrugged. “I’ve loved before and you haven’t?” 

“I’ve loved. I loved Adam!”

“Adam? As I recall, you couldn’t run away from him or the garden fast enough.”

“No, another Adam.” Lilith was afraid she had said too much so she lashed out. “You know what?  You’re a fool! That girl will never see you as anything but as an evil stepmother!”

Zelda said nothing; she just closed her bag and left in an annoyed huff.

“Now I know that we never talked about manners, young lady but calling your stepmother a whore, especially to her face, is certainly bad form.”

After having a quiet if slightly awkward dinner with Sabrina and Ambrose, Faustus decided to wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen before he called down his daughter for a stern talking to in the living room.

“But she is a whore!” Letitia insisted, rather loudly.  “She had sex, knowingly, with another woman’s husband. That’s the very definition of a whore!”

Faustus sighed. “Then what about me?” he wanted to know. “I was the 1 who was married during the affair. I’m married now and you been encouraging me to take a mistress.”

Letitia shook her head. “That’s different. You’re a man. All men enjoy sex but the only women who enjoy sex are whores.”

“That is your grandfather talking! I didn’t believe in that stupid double standard when I was 12 and I don’t believe it now.”

“Let’s leave,” she sat up straighter, “You, me, and the baby, let’s leave this house and never come   back.”

“We are not going anywhere. As a minor, you will live where I live and I’m not leaving Zelda.”

“Of course, you’re not leaving Zelda, because you’re under her spell. How else would you explain enjoying being a housekeeper while she’s at work every day?”

Faustus crossed his arms. “That’s ironic. Lately, the only 1 casting spells and trying to control things is you and that has to stop, Judith.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a ringing phone. Faustus walked in the hallway to answer it. “Hello?”

“Hello, darling.”

“Zelda, my love! Thank Hecate! I’ve been worrying about you ever since you left here 4 hours ago. Where have you been?”

“I went to see Lilith for her last check-up and then I returned to the academy to do some paperwork. In fact, that’s why I’m calling. I’m afraid it’s going to be another long night, Faustus. I’m going to stay here tonight.”

Her husband was not fooled, not for a single second, “Dearest one, I know you’ll still upset about what happened with you and Letitia and you have every reason to be so, but running away is not the answer.”

“No, I’m fine,” Zelda said but the tightness in her voice told Faustus that she was anything but. “I just have a lot of work to do.”

Faustus tried again. “Alright, I get that you have work to do. But even if it’s 3, 4, or 5 in the morning, please0 feel free to come home at any time, even if it’s just for a few hours. I love you. I need you.”

“No, he doesn’t!” Faustus was horrified to hear his daughter’s voice on the phone. Then he remembered. The Spellman house was an old house and as a result, it only had 1 landline. Faustus was using the phone in the hall, Letitia’s voice sounded like it was coming from the kitchen.

“That’s right,” Letitia continued to scream at Zelda over the phone. “No one needs or wants you here! The longer you stay away, the better! In fact, I suggest you never come back, mother killer!”

“What are you doing?” Faustus growled as he came up behind his daughter, took the phone out of her hand, and covered up the mouthpiece. “You have no right to attack Zelda like that. Go upstairs, NOW!” Faustus placed the phone to his ear. “Zelda? Honey?” All he heard was a dial tone. “Damn it!”

Although Faustus waited up for her, Zelda didn’t go home that night nor did she come home the next night even though she had called several times during the day to check on the family. It was becoming clear to Faustus that if he wanted his wife to come home, he would have to go get her himself. But first thing first.

Cordelia laughed wildly as she splashed in the water, Faustus couldn’t help but laugh too. Yet this was no regular bath. Faustus was bathing Cordelia in the strongest anti-spell he had ever come across. “Thank Hecate you’re such a water baby, Cordy.” He kissed her head before Faustus looked to the ceiling. “Ambrose! Can you come here for a moment?”

A second later, Ambrose appeared at the door. “Yes? What can I-Judas Priest, what is that smell?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t help it. It’s the anti-spell,” Faustus pointed to the sink where Cordelia sat.

Ambrose made a face. “That is foul! How can you stand it?”

“I spelled myself and Cordy before we started. I can’t smell anything right now.”

“Well, you could have warned me!”

“Sorry,” Faustus grabbed a fluffy towel and scooped up his daughter. “Anyway, you can go as soon as I figure out if the anti-spell worked. Can a Spellman hold this baby?”

Ambrose held his breath as he held his cousin.

“It worked!” Faustus took Cordelia back, kissed her, and gave her a proper bath to wash off the stench.

To avoid any more fighting, Faustus waited until nighttime to make his move. He checked that everyone was asleep before returning to his room. 

“Well, Cordelia, all is quiet and well here. Shall we go visit Mommy?” Faustus watched the 5 months old squeal excitedly. Faustus smiled and picked up the basket and teleported. A moment later, Faustus was walking into his old bedroom on the top floor of the academy. Faustus felt a little uneasy about seeing it again. After all, this was his 1st time in the academy in years. After a nervous breath, Faustus focused and noticed that the bed was littered in papers. Ad responses and corrected schoolwork. Zelda was in the shower; he could hear the water running. A moment later, Zelda appeared.

“Faustus?! What are you doing here?”

He smiled. “I decided that 3 nights without my wife is much, much too long. Plus I have a surprise for you.” Faustus picked up Cordelia and held her out in front of him.

Zelda tilted her head. “Faustus, what are you doing? You know I can’t touch her.”

“But you can, my love. I broke the spell today.”

Zelda was still doubtful but came forward. Her eyes lit up as she took Cordelia in her arms. “My baby!  Mommy missed you so much!” Zelda covered the infant’s face with kisses making Cordelia giggle which led to more kisses. Faustus watched the precious mother/daughter moment, put his hand on the small of Zelda’s back.

“I missed you too.” He kissed his wife and she smiled.

Since it was already brewed, they sat down and had tea while Cordelia curled up and fell asleep on Zelda’s chest. Later, when Zelda was settling Cordelia into bed, Faustus noticed the black and gold robe that didn’t quite fit her. He waited for Zelda to turn to him before Faustus tug the robe’s belt and Zelda was in his arms. 

He kissed her deeply before he asked, “Isn’t this my robe?” 

Zelda smiled. “Yes, it is and that 1 of the 2 reasons I’ve worn it all 3 nights I’ve been here. To remind me of you and the 1st time I wore this robe was to check on baby Judas and he gave me the cutest smile.”

As Zelda talked, Faustus kissed Zelda’s neck and untying the knot in the belt of the rope. When she mentioned Judas, he thought about when Zelda called home to check in, she never failed to ask about Letitia, no matter how badly the girl had mistreated her. The fact that she still worried and thought about the twins constantly proved that Zelda was their mother.

“I love you,” Faustus whispered against Zelda’s collarbone. “I could live a million years and never adore anyone half as I adore you.”

They undressed and made love all night long. Zelda had to leave the bed only once; to tend to the baby, but then happily returned to her husband’s embrace.

They met the dawn in each other’s arms.  “I have a favor to ask of you. Come home tonight.”

Zelda sighed. “Faustus, Letitia is-“

“A 16-year-old child,” Her husband rushed to remind her, “and we’re a family. As parents, we should correct, not reward Letitia’s bad behavior. Speaking of correcting behavior,” Faustus reached down into his discarded pants pocket on the floor and took out a small velvet box. “I ordered these weeks ago but they only came in yesterday,” Faustus explained and opened the box to reveal another pair of wedding rings that Letitia’s spell had destroyed.

Faustus slid the ring onto Zelda’s finger and kissed her. “Will you come home?”

Zelda smiled and put the ring on him. “I will.”

After a few hours of sleep, Zelda hurried downstairs to attend morning assembly while Faustus and Cordelia went home. Faustus spent all day working. Be it protection spells, sealing spells, anti-spells, and more, he makes sure that every inch of the house was ready to take on his daughter’s spiteful little spells. Faustus didn’t tell Letitia that Zelda was coming home until the very last minute. He also told her, quite sternly to be nice to her stepmother and to everyone’s surprise…she was.

5 days after Zelda came home, Letitia laid out a wonderful tea service and sandwiches and then invited Zelda to join her. Touched, Zelda accepted. Meanwhile, Faustus was upstairs, putting Cordelia down for a nap. Turning away from the crib, Faustus noticed that Letitia’s cot was unmade. He made the bed, but when he grabbed the pillow up to fluff it, a book hit the floor. The book fell spine up and pages spread out. Faustus picked it up, flipping the pages, thinking nothing of it until he got to the last page, then his eyes bugged out.

“NO!” He dropped the book instantly and ran downstairs.

“A toast,” Letitia raised her teacup, “To us and a new beginning.”  They clinked the cups together and  Zelda was just about to take a sip when the teacup flew out of her hand and crashed against the wall. Zelda turned and saw a panicked Faustus entering the room.

“Dearest, how much tea did you drink? Do you think you can bring it back up?”

Zelda shook her head. “I haven’t had any tea.”

“Father, I can explain- “

“I’m not even ready to talk to you yet!”

“What’s going on?” Zelda asked.

“I was making up Letitia’s bed for her and under her pillow, I found a book of spells and on the last page  was a cargarli spell and I thought that” Faustus waved an arm over the tray, making the tea and sandwiches vanish and then he flipped over the  tray, revealing a picture of Zelda taped to  the  bottom  of the tray, “she would try to use it on you.”

Zelda took a step back, her hand over mouth. When she looked at Letitia, her eyes filled with horror. “Is that why you been nice to me these past few days? To lull me into a false sense of trust?”

Letitia opened her mouth but it was Faustus spoke first. “No, I don’t even want to look at you now! Get upstairs!”  Letitia left in a huff and Faustus took a shaken Zelda into his arms.

Meanwhile, Letitia wasn’t in her room long before she had a visitor.

“What the heaven were you trying to do down there?”

Letitia turned and saw Prudence standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. “Where did you come from?” Letitia asked.

“I was in the attic, hanging out with Ambrose. I was just leaving with I saw Father running down the stairs, I followed him and I heard the whole ugly scene. Did you really try to put Sister Zelda under a Cargarli spell?”

Letitia shrugged. “So, what if I did?”

Prudence shook her head. “That’s not good enough, this time. Your other spells were childish and annoying but a Cargarli spell is dangerous and traumatic to those who already were under it as Zelda and Father both were. As a girl, you should stay away from that spell.”

“You know, as a girl, I was raised a different way.”

“Yes, and you know it was wrong, or you wouldn’t have run away. Letitia, you have to let go of this anger and stop pushing away the ones that love you the most.”

“Judith! My name is Judith and why do you care so much about Zelda Spellman? She’s not your mother, either.”

“No, she isn’t,” Prudence agreed.  “But if I had to choose my own mother, I would pick Zelda every time.”

Letitia scoffed. “I bet my mother was the better stepmother.”

“Before or after she tried to kill me?”  Prudence raised her voice, disturbing Cordelia. Prudence went to the crib and patted the baby’s belly. “Sorry, Cordy, we’ll keep it down.”

Letitia, however, wanted to continue the fight. “I see, it’s wrong when my mother tries to kill you, but it’s perfectly alright when Zelda Spellman actually kills my mother?”

Prudence sighed and rolled her eyes. “For the last time, Zelda did not kill Constance.”

“How would you know?”

“I know because I helped Zelda with the delivery, the night you and Judas were born.”

Letitia looked confused. “You were there?”

“How did you not know that? You said you preformed a memory spell. What did you do, you didn’t like the 1st memory so you ended the spell early?” 1 look and Prudence knew. “Oh, Hecate, that’s exactly what happened.”

“So?”

“So, doing a memory spell for 1 memory is as foolish as reading only 1 chapter in a book and then claiming you know the whole plot. You can continue to be an angry, misinformed girl or you can do another memory spell and face reality. The choice is yours, little sister.”

A week later, Zelda awoke in the middle of the night, to the sound of crying. Since it was her turn, Zelda took extra care not to wake Faustus as she slipped out of their bed and tiptoed down the hall and into the nursery. As Zelda got nearer to the crib, the little nightlight let Zelda see that Cordelia was sound asleep. The baby was not the 1 crying in this room.

“Zelda?” The redhead turned to see Letitia in bed, tears shining all over her face.

“I’m sorry, I thought Cordelia needed me. I’m going.”

Letitia sat up and reached out to grab Zelda’s wrist. “No, please. Don’t go.”

Despite herself, Zelda’s heart jumped with hope. “You want me to stay with you?”

Letitia nodded. “Yes, but I feel like I don’t have the right to ask you to stay. In fact, you could demand that I get out of your house right now and I wouldn’t even   blame you.” Letitia started to cry again as she buried her head into her hands. “I’m so ashamed!”

Zelda sat down beside her on the cot. “Slow down, child,” Zelda gently wiped away the tears. “Now, what bought all of this on?”

She told Zelda all about her fight with Prudence and how she just quit after just 1 memory.

Zelda nodded understandingly. “So, you went back and took a look at all your father’s memories.”

“Not only his but yours too. That why it took me all week long. You didn’t need to help me but you did. You didn’t need to love me but you did. And to repay you, I was an utter jerk to you.” Letitia started to cry again and Zelda took her stepdaughter in her arms. “I just don’t know how I’m ever going to make this to you.”

“You already have. You are letting me hold you, that’s all I’ve ever wanted. All the rest is water under the   bridge.”

Letitia sniffed as she moved to hug Zelda around the waist.  “You’re so wonderful. Why are you so wonderful?”

Zelda placed a kiss into Letitia’s raven hair. “I love you. I may have only have given birth to Cordelia but I love all you children.”

“You’re not at all what Fath, I mean the curse, said you were. But he lied a lot. He always blamed me for killing my mother but I learned quite surprisingly, that I was born first.”

They sat and talked for over an hour. Suddenly, Zelda felt a presence over them. She smiled; Faustus must have heard them over the baby monitor. Zelda looked up and her smile faded.  The man before her wasn’t her husband; it was the hell minion. 

“Ms. Spellman, you have to come with me. Something’s wrong with Lilith.”

“Now?! It’s the middle of the night.”

“Go,” Encouraged Letitia, “We’ll talk tomorrow.” Zelda stroked her cheek, got up, and went with the hell minion.

Lilith was lying on her side, moaning in pain when the minion led Zelda into Lilith’s bedchamber.

“What wrong with her?” the minion asked once Zelda had a chance to examine the patient.

Zelda looked up, annoyed. “Nothing. She’s just having a baby, right now.”

“No!” Lilith cried. “It’s too soon!”

“What do you mean? You’re due in less than a week.”

“I mean for me! I don’t want to die!”

Zelda sighed. Up to the bitter end, Lilith’s pregnancy was all about her. It was a long and difficult labor. In her long career as a midwife, Zelda had seen her fair share of stubborn mothers, but Lilith was the worst. She constantly screamed at Zelda to stop the labor and Zelda tried numerous times to explain that her body was preparing itself for the birth, whether Lilith liked it or not. By early evening, Lilith was delivering.

“Push!”  ordered Zelda.

“No! I am not giving birth!”

“You have to! The head is already out!” Despite Lilith fighting her all the way, Zelda soon delivered the rest of the child. “It’s a boy!” She announced, “born at 5:40 pm on August 10th.”

Lilith said nothing but only took a glance from Zelda to tell that Lilith was not happy. Zelda felt sorry for the infant was she cut the cord, cleaned him up, and swaddled him in a blanket. “Come with me, sweet boy.” Zelda bounced the baby gently as she crossed the room and put the babe in Lilith’s arms. Lilith beheld her son for the very 1st first time, a strange expression on her face.

Lilith looked up at Zelda. “Get me out of here.” And it still all about her. Zelda sighed, rolled her eyes, and started to turn away but Lilith grabbed her sleeve. “Okay, forget about me. You got to get him out of here, I beg of you.” And there it was. For months and months, Zelda had tried to see any little maternal instinct in Lilith, any little sign to prove Lilith cared for the life inside of her. However, as the pregnancy progress, all Lilith did was complain about how uncomfortable she was and how her delay of execution was drawing closer. But now, she was begging Zelda to get the baby to safety, with or without her. Lilith was prepared to make a sacrifice, a mother’s sacrifice. At that moment, Zelda knew what she had to do.

“Ok, I’m going to get you both out of here. But you have to help me by doing what I say. Now, scream!”

“Scream?”

“Yes. If you scream, Lucifer will think you’re still in labor and that will buy us some extra time.”

So, Lilith screamed and Zelda ran around, readying both mother and child. She bought Lilith slippers and a robe. Then both witches grabbed the baby and teleported.

“Penny dreadful for your thoughts, my dear?”

Letitia looked up to see her father smiling down at her.

Faustus handed his daughter a mug of hot chocolate and sat across from her in the living room. “Are you okay? Aside from telling us about the memory spells and where Zelda went to, you barely said a word all day.”

Letitia smiled, “I’m fine, just thinking. The memory spells made me see that most of my life was a lie.”

“How I wish I could be there for you.”

“We’re together now, that’s what matters,” His daughter said sensibly. “Besides, what I really been thinking about is my name.”

“You name?”

She nodded. “I now understand why you all call me Letitia, I do, but after 16 years, I got used to the name Judith, but I think I’ve reached a compromise.”

Faustus raised an eyebrow. “A compromise? On your name?”

She smiled. “Yes. Father, what do you think of LJ?”

“LJ, huh? I like it. Trendy.” That made her laugh, “LJ Blackwood.”

LJ frowned. “Actually, after all, I learned about our family’s past and the curse, I would prefer LJ Spellman but considering what I put them through, I don’t think the family would agree.”

“I love it and I think the Spellmans will too.”

They both looked up as Zelda and Lilith holding her baby appeared before them. Zelda stepped forward. “Okay, something happened.” Zelda quickly explained what was going on and then the family spent the next 2 hours preparing the house for an attack. 3 hours later, Lucifer showed up.

“LILITH! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

Zelda told Lilith to take the baby and go up to the nursery and look after Cordelia as well.

“Don’t worry, guys. He can’t get in here. I put the magic locks on myself.” Ambrose said proudly.

Everyone heard a loud crack and the dark lord appeared in the huge hole in what used to be the Spellmans front door.

Ambrose gulped. “Never mind.”

They tried to fend him off but they were pushed aside with a wave of Lucifer’s hand. He climbed the stairs to the nursery. When the family caught up with him, they all saw the was no sign of Lilith or her newborn.

“WHERE MY SON?!” Lucifer demanded. Before anyone could say anything, a baby’s gurgle was heard and Lucifer’s attention turned to Cordelia.

“No!!” Zelda cried. After magically throwing Zelda into a wall, Lucifer picked up Cordelia.

“She’s not my son, but she’ll do until you give me my son.” Cordelia opened her eyes and cried. Her cry was so powerful, it was like a sound wave, Lucifer dropped her immediately, was pushed across the hallway, downstairs, out the ruined door and onto the lawn. Zelda ran in and picked up her daughter. After Lucifer dropped her, Cordelia landed back in her crib, unharmed, and giggled.

Zelda hugged her baby. “Thank Hecate you’re alright.”

“Nice to know that the mark of the divine is already working,” Faustus added.

“He’s passed out,” Sabrina said as she beheld Lucifer lying on the grass. “That’s good, right? Easier to get him into a cell.”

“Yeah, cuz, but he won’t stay there long. You know, we need a body to trap him in.” Ambrose sighed and got an idea. “Blackwood would be perfect for the job. Too bad we don’t know where he is.”

From her place beside Sabrina, LJ smiled. “You might not know where he is, but I do.”

Faustus wouldn’t let LJ come with him to go get Blackwood, so they worked together to draw a detailed map, then LJ stayed behind to babysit Cordelia. Meanwhile, Zelda and the others rushed to get Lucifer into chains. They even spelled him to stay out cold longer. Zelda then went upstairs to take a nap. After all, she had been up for over 53 hours.

When Hilda woke her up, she had news. “Faustus found Blackwood.”

The sisters ran downstairs and sure enough, both were there. Everyone helped with the soul transfer and Ambrose had a bonus spell to send them to hell. Later, the family went home.  Faustus said he had to go get Judas. The other Spellmans went into the kitchen, while Zelda went upstairs to check on Cordelia.

“NO!”

The others could hear Zelda’s cry and they ran upstairs only to find Zelda crying on the floor of the nursery. 

Zelda looked up and held out a letter. “I found this in the crib.”

Hilda took the letter and the more she read, the whiter she got.

“What is it, Auntie?” asked Sabrina.

Hilda looked up. “Faustus never found Blackwood. He searched all over the hideout but there was no sign of Blackwood or Judas.

“But we just saw them together.”

Hilda nodded. “Faustus knew that we couldn’t hold Lucifer for long, so after looking for Blackwood, Faustus went down to the river, made a man out of mud, used a glamour spell to make it look exactly like him so the mud man could pose as Faustus so Faustus could pose as Blackwood. Saying he was going to get Judas was like code for the spell is over and I’m going back to being mud.”

Ambrose’s head was spinning. “So, the real Faustus is-“

“In hell, with Lucifer.” Sabrina finished.

“He saved us,” Hilda said.

As the others talked, Zelda got up and left the room.

“Where are you going, Zelds?”

“I’m going to hell and getting my husband back.” Zelda charged down the stairs, the others were at her heels. However, when Zelda opened the magically restored front door, someone fainted into Zelda’s arms; someone they all knew. “Elizabeth?”

“He stole my world” was all Elizabeth Tudor could say before she passed out cold. 

[blerdstatic]

Microsoft Surface Headphones Review: 1st vs 2nd gen, and why they're great to Work-from-Home or anywhere.

So you're on the market for some new gear, and in your search you stumbled upon Microsoft's Surface Headphones, but you're not ready to make the plunge until you get some more research under your belt, right?

I don't blame you. The right head candy can be an expense these days, but hopefully this short and concise review can help!

Let me start by acknowledging that sound and music are more personal in nature, and everyone has their natural preferences. I happen to dig all kinds of music from musical soundtracks and trap to neo-soul and hip-hop. That aside...

Let's begin!

How much do Microsoft Surface Headphones cost?

Surface Headphones (1st gen) - $139.89 on Amazon

Surface Headphones 2 (2nd gen) - $250 from Microsoft Store

What's the difference between them visually?

To be honest, not much has visually changed at first glance. The design was pretty slick the first time around, and was well received. Even as I rode the subway or walked through the aisles of the grocery store, you could tell people admired the unique modern look. It's simple and clean just like the original.

The first gen headphones are grey/off-white while the second gen are charcoal black. They are beautiful shades, however it does make me wish for more colors. It would kind of be a good look if Microsoft offered four more colors that matched the colors of their logo (red, yellow, blue, green). But, I understand the safer play as opposed to going bold.

So what are some key differences that stood out?

Buttons: The 1st gen headphones had buttons that were almost flush with the cup, which was annoying. There were plenty times where I had to search frantically for the power button. The second gen fixes that by making the buttons pronounced.

Ear-cup Size: The size/diameter of the 2nd gen earcups are definitely larger, which is welcome because I have Will Smith ears. But not only that, it makes for an over all cozier feel.

Earcup Swivel: The Surface Headphones 2 earcups can spin around almost 360, which is great because I have more ability to wear them comfortably around my neck! I'm glad they fixed it this time around.

Multi-Bluetooth Connection: I was easily able to set up multi-bluetooth connections to my various devices, including the Android Pixel4a and Pro7. It was amazing to listen to music or video on my phone, then continue right where I left off on the Pro7.

Grease: One other thing to note...don't touch the black Surface Headphones with greasy hands, it shows much more than if you did with the white 1st gens. That's a user issue though, not a hardware one.

How do they feel once you pick them up?

Without a doubt, the difference is night and day. The 2nd gen headphones are more weighty, and for me that's a great thing. I honestly don't like my hardware/electronics to feel too light, because it makes me think there's not much going on inside to produce a quality experience.

Once I picked up the Surface Headphones 2, then picked up the Surface Headphones (1st gen), I was properly excited to listen. The extra weight provided a sense of anticipation that there would be more UMPH, in terms of low, mids, highs and bass tones.

Setup Time?

It took literally less than 5 minutes to open and pair the headphones to begin listening to music. It was quick, easy, and intuitive for me. I enabled blue-tooth on my phone, then powered on the headphones. Found the name of the headphones from my phone's blue-tooth list, and followed the onscreen/audio instructions, and boom I was setup.

Now if it's someone older or unfamiliar with blue-tooth devices, they might need some help going into their blue-tooth settings, etc.

What about the Sound?

I preferred the sound of the Surface Headphones 2 over the 1st gen. During my test I played all kinds of music at a 95% volume (almost on max...yes mom, I know it's not good for my ears).

One of my main gripes on Surface Headphones (1st gen) was that on higher volumes, and listening to music with more bass, it started to sound like 'rattling', as if the headphones could not handle the true sound.

The Surface Headphones 2 fixed that issue completely. I listened to all sorts of bass heavy music and not a single time did I hear rattling.

The treble is also more solid this time around, and truly shines when listening to slower soundtrack or classical music.

I would say that I'm highly satisfied with the sound on both fronts. And if you're curious here are some of the songs I listened to on both Surface 1st gen and Surface 2nd gen.

And here's the rest of the list in case you're curious or want some new jams:

Story of OJ - JayZ

Cyberpunk 2077 - Pacific Dreams Radio Playlist

Father Figure - Tobe Nwigwe

Will (Remix) - Joyner Lucas & Will Smith

O-o-h Child - The Five Stairsteps

This Land - from Lion King original album

Black Panther - Ludwig Goransson

Break You Off - The Roots

All the Stars - Kendrick Lamar & SZA

Nothing Without You - Tanerelle

Adonai - Sarkodie

Be Here in the Morning - Joy Denalane

Noise Cancellation and Ambient Amplification:

The noise cancellation is solid. With no music playing and maxed out ambient filter on, I couldn't even hear myself snapping fingers next to my head, or my wife talking to me in her normal voice (which is occasionally kind of loud - no shade).

The noise cancellation was great on SurfaceMulti (1st gen) but it's now even better with the 2nd gen, especially when drowning out annoying sounds when walking outside (such as people, cars, trains).

I also love the ambient amplification feature, that's easy to use by dialing up the level on the left ear cup. I use that regularly if I'm listening to music, but want to also know if someone says something to me directly. Or the other day, when I was in the grocery store and walked up to the cashier to checkout, I didn't have to take the headphones off. I was able to up the ambient amplifier to max, and speak with the cashier. Once I finished, I immediately turned my music and noise cancellation back up. It was pretty seamless.

Charging and Battery Life:

Officially the 1st gen gets 13 hours and the 2nd gen gets 18.5. After a full charge, and then turning on the Surface 2, the voice said I had 17 hours left. I typically only listen in 1 - 3 hour spurts at my highest usage, so that pans out to about a whole week almost without needing to recharge.

Overall Verdict:

I'm highly recommending the Surface Headphones 2. For the price point and quality, I feel like the Surface Headphones 2 are your better buy, especially considering how they stack up against similar competitors. I felt like Microsoft paid attention to all the things that actually needed improvement, instead of trying to switch everything up. That impressed me more than anything honestly, how they paid attention to the minute quality of life details. Compared to other headphones I've tried in the same range, excluding the Sony XMs, I'd say these are very well priced and outdo the predecessors as well as the competition. But even compared to Sony XMs, which are prices $100 to $150 more, the sound on the Surface Headphones 2 are definitely comparable. I certainly don't think you'll be saying "I'm really glad I spent that extra $100+ on these Sony XMs".

I would have no problem recommending these to anyone trying to figure out what to spend their next stim check on!

[ayeateez]

The Hunger Games AU - Part 3 - Finale: The Final Fight

GENRE: Angst

PAIRING: None

WARNINGS: Major character death, sexual harassment, mentions of murder, weapons, and just harmful things in general

WORD COUNT: 3182

It had been days since Seonghwa died. It was miserable. I was too familiar with this feeling, I wanted it to stop, I wanted it to end.

Knowing the same man who killed Seonghwa was coming to my district today made me sick. I wanted to throw up, I wanted to kill him. He deserves it.

I’ve learned how to live with the blood on my hands. It doesn’t mean I still don’t get nightmares, or that I don’t feel bad, it means I can deal with it. Hongjoong had been so cocky on his tour, meanwhile I couldn’t even speak properly.

•

I was on the far right of the stage, where the only victors of 12 stood. I watched as Seonghwa’s family struggled onto the podium in front of the screen that had Seonghwa’s face on it. They were as broken as me. I couldn’t imagine how his brother or his parents felt. I looked away before I could catch myself crying, now wasn’t the best place or time.

Minutes passed as people got all settled in. I saw the face I never wanted to see. I wanted him to die. He deserves it. As we sit down finally, I zoned out, not wanting to hear his cocky ass speech about how good he is for killing Seonghwa. Then something caught me off guard. Something caught all of us off guard.

“I did it for y/n. I want her to be mine. If she accepts, of course” He smiles and looks towards 12’s victors, towards me. His smile was full off all the cruel things he has said about the other tributes, and the nasty words he said to Seonghwa came from the same mouth. He waved me over, on live tv as victory tours were aired, and I had no other option but to walk towards him.

“What do you say, Y/n? Will you be mine now?” He asked, oh so innocently. The smile was wiped off his face the moment I had slapped him, hands closing in on his neck. Peacekeepers immediately came to separate us as Hongjoong collapsed, half conscious as he tried to regain his breath and steady his breathing.

The peacekeepers dragged me off the stage, away from Hongjoong, and I let them. Anything to be away from him. I kept a straight face the entire time I watched him try to get back up.

•

“Please, I’d do anything BUT go out with him. I don’t fucking care about publicity, he killed my boyfriend then asks me to go out with him. Who in their right mind does that?” I yelled at my younger sister as she tried to help me come to an understanding. It was a bitchy move, but still.

“Y/n, what if they put you in that arena again? Hm? What would you do?” She asked.

“Why the hell would they put me in that arena? They aren’t allowed to! That isn’t legal!”

“It is when President Snow says it is” She shrugged.

“But why? They have no reason?”

“You slapped him and tried to fight him. They’re probably going to take that as a sign that you want to fight. Fight to the death. A special type of games”

•

I stared blankly at the holographic tv in my room, as it suddenly turned on due to it being ‘urgent’.

“Due to recent events while Kim Hongjoong was touring in District 12, we’ve decided to hold a - special games. There will only be 2 tributes, who shall not have a choice whether they participate or not and volunteers are not welcomed. The tributes are:

Kim Hongjoong, District 2

Y/n L/n, District 12

the games will take place October 31st at exactly 12:00 and shall only continue until November 2nd at 12:00. Dear tributes, may the odds be ever in your favor”

I dropped the remote as my breath shortened. No... no they couldn’t have. But the games just ended - this has to be a joke.

I’m going to fight to the death with him, Kim Hongjoong.

•

It’s didn’t take long for peacekeepers to

come break into my house to collect me and bring me to the capital. I really had no choice but to cooperate with them. I was back, back on the train for what seemed like the hundredth time. The first time I took this train to the capital, I was with Jongho. The second, I was with Seonghwa. Now, I’m here. By myself. Trying to mentally prepare to fight Hongjoong.

•

The 26 hours went by quickly as no one spoke to me. It was like they understood what was happening. He murdered my boyfriend, now I’m going to murder him.

The clapping and cheering and all the bright and fancy colorful things went by in a blur as I tuned out all the loud noises.

They took me to the place where I would be stayed for the next 3 days. They’ve given us less training as we’re both victors, I’m assuming. Last time we had 2 weeks. There’s no way I’ll even be close to in shape or prepared within 3 days.

I knew I should’ve head down to the training area, but I just wasn’t in the mood. I was about to go into a whole ass fight with the same person who killed Seonghwa. I wonder how they feel in heaven, San, Jongho, and Seonghwa? Are they okay? Is it alright up there? Whatever it is - they’re definitely doing better up there than down here.

“Y/n, I know you aren’t in the mood, but you have to train if you want to stay alive”

“I don’t want to be alive. I want to see Jongho, Seonghwa, and San up there” I sighed, noting even sparing a glance. Who ever it was, they gave up easily and left.

I eventually got up on my own, getting dressed and heading down to the small, enclosed, dark, training room. Deciding to test a new skill, I picked up a sword. It wasn’t too heavy, it felt just right. I swung my arm a few times, not that bad.

Walking up to a dummy, I worked on a stance, that would probably be useless, and well, kind of cut up the dummy. I don’t know how mad they would be to see their dummy all cut up, cotton spilling from all angles so I stuck to knives and throwing them.

•

It was the same. It was the exact same every time. I did the same thing for the past 2 days, while eating and drinking as much as I can. There were no parades, there were no festivals, nothing. Just announcing the games, that’s it. Of course though, my stylist still made sure I played and killed while looking good, so he came up with ways to make me seem less dead, more appealing to the camera, claiming that the prettier I look, the more sponsors I get, and I don’t doubt that. I mean, it’s the capital.

20 minutes.

Realization started to set in. I’m going back. I’m going back into the games, except this time? I’m targeted and targeting. There’s a 50/50 chance I’ll die and that he’ll die. What happens if I die? What happens if he dies? What will happen? I mean, either one of us will win but... what will happen?

“You’ll be fine in there, calm down. You’ve won one of these games before, haven’t you?” My stylist sighed, making an attempt to calm me down. I looked at him.

“What if I don’t make it out alive? I’m rusty, he just won the recent games-“

“Yeah, he’s still scarred and injured-“

“How many victors do you think have nightmares about the games? How many do you think can’t figure out a way to live with innocent people’s blood on their hands? Think about it. It’s not a lot” I snapped. Our silence last for minutes until the countdown from 30 started.

The arena was set up where our cornucopia’s were set up on opposite sides of the arena, and every day the arena shrinks until we fight to the death. But it’s not easy to get to the cornucopia. I think I heard them saying we have to get past landmines and some weird type of hyena that happened into the 67th games.

After putting the final touches onto me, I stepped into the tube as it shut around me. The remaining 5 seconds were counted out then it started to move up again. My heart raced as panic surged through my veins. This is it. I’m really getting my revenge now.

I was hit by the wind of the arena, the fake sun shining oh so bright, fake birds chirping. If I didn’t know what was going to happen, I just might’ve called this paradise.

The countdown remained only 10 seconds left. I unintentionally tuned out the counting, listening to my heart and the wind race.

“3”

“2”

“1”

The cannon went off as I avoided all dirt piles. Hopping over everything, I made it to the center, grabbing everything I needed and could hold. Grabbing the first backpack, it was empty but for a blanket and some matches. I grabbed 3 sets of 24 knives, just a guess. Stuffing more weapons into a backpack, I chose to carry a sword by hand. 3 weapons I could use, I had a choose from 3.

Realizing what was going to happen, I jumped down from the top, grabbing another bag as I sprinted my way to the forest, away from the growling.

Heavy. Weight. That’s all I could feel in my hands and on my back. I grabbed too

many things. I was going to have to abandon something soon.

I stopped at a tall tree, quickly grabbing any branches I could to pull me up, only hoping that there were no tracker jackers in this thing. I have 2 days to kill him. I need to get to him first.

•

Night came quickly, as I stayed in a tree all day. Far in the distance, I could see smoke. He started a fire. He must know I wasn’t going to come after him this early. The capital wanted a show? I’ll give them a mother fucking show.

I groaned as I leaned back against the uncomfortable bark again. I wanted to get up and walk around. I wish I was in my bed, maybe eating something and reading. But no, here I am, stuck in the middle of the games.

A sleepless, restless night passed and I hopped down from the tree in hopes of being able to walk around freely. It’s already the 1st, I have until tomorrow to kill him.

I saw the edge. The edge of the barrier, and I ran. I ran like my life depended on it, which it really did. Only god and the gamemakers know what happens when you touch the edge of the barrier, and I don’t want to find out. I realized that they were driving me straight towards the smoke, where Hongjoong was. At least that’s where I thought he was.

He wasn’t there. It was a trap. As soon as I realized the trap, I looked around, and ran, climbing up another tree. Another day in another tree? Thought so. This was boring people had to be losing interest or something. Maybe if people don’t watch, they’ll stop the games? No, they don’t care if people watch or not. They’ll kill both of us and erase this game from existence if they have to.

I heard a twig snap and my hand instantly flew to my belt, grabbing a knife as I sat there, eyes looking around sharply. I spotted something with crazy colored hair sprinting, and I could even hear him cursing. Hongjoong. As much as I wanted to throw, I didn’t. After I heard my name, at least. I couldn’t hear any more words come from his mouth. Audible ones, at least.

I sat back in my tree and waited. My stomach growled loudly. I just had to wait. But if I had thrown the knife, there was a high chance it would’ve hit him and at least would’ve slowed him down enough for me to kill him, but curiosity took over.

After having enough of my tree time, I slowly and carefully climbed down the tree. I made my way through the forest, occasionally leaning down to feel the dirt. It was damp, meaning water was nearby, but so was the barrier.

Deciding to continue on, I found the smallest patch of water. It was as clean as water in the games could be. I instantly dropped to my knees as I splashed water all over my face, a relief to have all the dried sweat off my face and having something to drink. Now? I just need something to eat, but I could actually survive without food. Food isn’t my bigger concern now, it’s Hongjoong. Hell, he could even be behind me right now, about ready to stab me. Becoming paranoid, I turned around only to see trees and the forest.

I watched the branches and leaves sway with the light breeze. I had to move. Something felt off. I took one last drink before getting up and moving quickly, killing a rabbit on the way.

It was hard without allies. No one to help you, no one to help, it was weird. I’ve only known playing in the games with others on my side.

•

It was boring. I’ve said this plenty of times before, but it was so boring. Watching me, at least. I did nothing but wander around the arena, secretly hoping to be able to stab Hongjoong in the back or something like that. Who knows what Hongjoong is doing? I could only guess.

A large noise scared me as I almost fell from my - you guessed it, tree and I was temporarily blinded by the flashing light. I was at the edge of the barrier, and I could see the other end. We were that close. I looked up at the sky to see a timer counting down. 59:37. It’s already 11 on the 2nd.

I climbed down, leaving everything but my weapons. I decided it’s time to end this man.

I walked through the woods, making as much noise as I possibly could to try and draw him out. I looked up, I looked down, but I couldn’t find him. Did they take him out of the arena and just leave me in here to kill or embarrass me? I heard a twig snap behind me and I quickly turned around, throwing my knife that pinning Hongjoong’s sleeve to the tree.

“Hey gorgeous”

I hadn’t ever thrown so quickly. He dodged my knife, throwing one back at me but his aim was way off. How did he win this again?

“Come back here!” I yelled, chasing after him. I spared a glance at the clock. 28:39. I still had time. He turned and threw another knife at me, and it grazed my arm, cutting my sleeve and leaving a painful cut. I cursed under my breath as he tripped in front of me and fell. I wanted to kill him with my own hands.

I held him down as my hands tightened around his neck, but he quickly flipped over so he was on top as he held my wrists down. I used every strength in every muscle in my body to get out, but I couldn’t. It was useless. I was going to die.

“What have we got here, hm? You see, princess, if you had just agreed we wouldn’t have been here-“

“If you had died in the 73rd games we wouldn’t be here” I growled back at him, cutting his words and he raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

“Feisty, are we now? Hmm, that Seonghwa guy was so lucky to have you. Look, you’re a gem” His smirk grew as he touched me places I never gave consent for.

“Fuck, let me kill you already!” I shouted, squirming under his grasp.

“I bet I could make a deal. If you date me, we won’t ever have to be in these arena’s again. Snow would probably agree, yeah?” Hongjoong looked away, as to show he was supposedly thinking. I wanted to slap that stupid smirk off his face.

“What time do we have left?” He asked, looking up at the sky.

“20:19, yeah? What could I do with you in 20 minutes. Angel, there’s so many things we could have done together. We would’ve been so so powerful, but here we are, fighting to the death - are you crazy?” His words bled into my brain.

“And look, you’re bleeding. How did that happen?” His finger traced the cut, spreading the blood across my skin.

“Stop it”

“But why? You look so nice under me like this... imagine-“

I suddenly jerked my knee up into his crotch, cursing at myself on why I hadn’t thought of that earlier. He fell into the dirt, groaning in pain as I took the chance to hit his elbow and making him release my wrists, giving me the chance to get up.

I smirked down at him, just kicking him repeatedly. No knives or sharp things, just my foot in his fucked up face. Satisfaction occurred when I spotted blood dribbling out of his mouth, nose, and other places. I pulled a knife from my waistband, flipping it a few times.

“Y-You don’t want to do this princess... you won’t be able to live with it...” Hongjoong’s words were slurred from the thick, red liquid filling his mouth.

“Are you sure about that?” I asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement. He opened his mouth to speak, but only screams of pain came out as my knife flew into his chest. Shrugging, I threw another into his stomach for extra measure.

The sound of the cannon I knew all too well sounded in the arena as the clock stopped.

Hongjoong was right. I couldn’t live with the blood on my hands. I couldn’t live knowing I had killed numerous people. The bitter feeling overcame the victorious one. I became nauseous at the sight of Hongjoong’s dead body right in front of me.

Slowly slipping my last knife from my waistband, I chuckled crazily.

“This one’s for you... San”

The pain burned in your chest as I fell to the ground with a crazy look plastered on my face. I looked down at the blood dripping down my body. I felt my heart stop and my brain stopped registering. My vision went in and out of focus, spots dancing around my vision. The urge to shut my eyes became so strong, so I shut them. Then I stopped. I just stopped.

[whiskynottea]

An Interruption in the 1st Law of Thermodynamics.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 25, Chapter 26, Chapter 27,  Chapter 28, Chapter 29, Chapter 30, Chapter 31, Chapter 32, Chapter 33, Chapter 34, Chapter 35,  Chapter 36, Chapter 37, Chapter 38, Chapter 39, Chapter 40, Chapter 41, Chapter 42, Chapter 43, Chapter 44,  Chapter 45, Chapter 46, Chapter 47, Chapter 48, Chapter 49, Chapter 50, Chapter 51

AO3

A huge thank you to all of you for sticking with me! And, as always, thank you to my beta, @theministerskat!

Chapter 52. Michigan Writing

Sassenach: I juuuuuuuumped!

My hands were trembling. It took me more than one try to write the message without mistakes. My fingers seemed to have a mind of their own, sliding on the screen, adding a stray H and two stray Os before I could command them not to. The moment the message was sent, I calculated the time in Michigan. Six-thirty. Still too early, but the first thing I wanted to do once I had land under my feet again was to share that moment with Jamie. Now, when my heart was still trying to escape from my chest -- as if I could share the feeling with him through a simple text message.

Bungee jumping was amazing. Better than I thought it would be. Even now that I was standing still, I could still feel the adrenaline running through every tissue of my body. Waves were crashing against my skin, fighting for release, making me invincible.

All due to those scary, exhilarating sixty seconds when I felt I was challenging death. Trusting a rubber band to keep me alive and feeling my heart beating wildly, the blood rushing through my body, my voice leaving my mouth in shrill cries. The wind rippling through my hair.

Elation. Freedom.

I had to do it again, but next time with Jamie. I needed to see his smile splitting his face when the crew would pull him up. To see happiness reflecting in his eyes the moment they found mine.

Sassenach: We’re definitely doing this together, too.

Louise’s voice pulled me from my thoughts and I looked up from my phone. The crew was working fast to ready her, not leaving time for second thoughts. Louise, however, was looking at me with panicked eyes. “I’m not sure about this…” she murmured, a question hiding behind the words. Should I not do it? She was close to backing out just before the jump.

“It’s awesome Louise!” I encouraged her, unable to erase the grin that was still on my face, lingering there from my own jump. “You’ll love it!”

A few moments later she was screaming “Merde!”, but I could hear the laughter in her voice.

Looking around, I saw Robert chuckling silently, while Jeremy was standing close to the edge, excitement clearly written on his face. Margaret, on the other hand, had shrunk into herself, standing as far as she could from the crew, as if they would suddenly grab her and throw her off the bridge without so much as a question.

“C'est magnifique!” Louise’s laughter interrupted her words, her hand secured over her heart as she stood again amongst us. “Best thing I’ve done in a long while!” she added, ecstatic.

A weird sound came from Robert’s voice that made Jeremy laugh. We were all aware that Robert was one of the things Louise had done lately, but it was nothing more than one drunken night, so none of us had mentioned it.

“No matter how good you are, mate, I don’t think you can really compare to bungee jumping.” To the challenging glance shot at him by Robert, Jeremy added, “No offense, St. Germain.”

Another sound came from Robert, but he didn’t reply to Jeremy’s comment. Jeremy turned to the crew. “Okay, my turn!” he said. “I’m so excited!”

“Can’t tell,” Robert drawled, looking bored.

“Oh come on!” I said, disbelieving. “You can’t pretend to be calm about this! It’s not called an ‘extreme sport’ for nothing.”

“Oui!” Louise agreed with me, pulling her hair up into a sleek bun, still smiling. “This feels so good!”

“I know,” he said plainly.

“You do?” I asked, surprised.

“I’ve done this before,” he deadpanned.

“And?” I couldn't hide the smile from my voice. It was as if he had resigned to showing no emotions at all, and it was getting ridiculous.

“It’s great, okay?” he said, his face stony, but his eyes grew wide, as if he had surprised himself by admitting it.

I smiled triumphantly, but didn’t continue the conversation. Jeremy was almost ready, and he was looking at me with a wide smile, waiting to take his picture so he would post it on Instagram.

“Got it,” I winked at him and smiled, and his grin became wider, if that was even possible.

Thirty minutes later, we arrived back at the volunteer house. Robert had jumped from the bridge in the most nonchalant way, but even he couldn’t control the grin on his face when the crew pulled him back up. Margaret had decided that she didn’t want to try, even though we had repeatedly assured her that the jump was perfectly safe and felt amazing. Robert had walked with her back to her room while the rest of us had stayed behind, having an animated conversation about seeing the ground coming closer and closer, and wondering where the hell the rope was that would stop us.

Jamie hadn’t mentioned my letter in any of his texts or during our calls, and I, wanting it to be a surprise, didn’t inform him of my old-fashioned means of communication. So I could hardly believe in my eyes when Robert gave me the crisp white envelope with my name written on it in Jamie’s beautiful penmanship.

“Mr Darcy sends his regards,” he said with a slightly raised eyebrow, but I didn’t have time to spend on his mockery. That he, of all people, would be the one to read Pride and Prejudice and use references from the book to tease me. Or maybe he had watched the movie. Having Jamie’s letter in my hands, I didn’t really care either way.

I ran to my bed, lay prone propping myself up on my elbows, and tore the envelope open.

My Sassenach,

A letter? Really? John is now calling me Napoleon and it’s all your fault. He says Napoleon was sending steamy love letters to Josephine and he’s sure that’s what we’re doing as well. If I’m going to live through that, you have to increase the level of naughtiness in your letters, babe. We have to live up to John’s expectations (and that’s the only reason I’m asking this of you, as I’m sure you very well know).

“Yeah, sure, Jamie Fraser. The one and only reason,” I  murmured, grinning. “I wonder who you’re trying to persuade with this.” Shaking my head, I continued.

What you also need to know, is that Hector has left two fake letters on my desk this week -- one featuring hearts of all shapes, the other full of ridiculous declarations of love. And a bit of sex talk. Really bad sex talk, if I may say so. We should have never helped these two get together. They are insufferable, and I have to endure their silliness all by myself now that you’re gone, Sassenach.

COME BACK. SAVE YOUR LAD. I’M SUFFERING HERE.

“You’re a ridiculous human being,” I whispered, smiling, although my heart clenched a little reading his words. I knew he was joking, I knew it, but I also knew he did wish I was there. My eyes glanced back to his words.  

To be honest, I never expected to get a letter from you. It was a nice surprise, reading you, though. Maybe I’ve read the letter more than once. Maybe I read my favorite parts every night. Maybe.

The groan left my lips before I could control it. Why does this man have to be so sweet? All of a sudden, my arms felt extremely empty.

I never expected to tell you that I’m happy you’re there, Claire, but I am. I am happy because you are. Because I can see the way you smile in the pictures you send. Because I can even read this joy, squeezed into the tiny white spaces between the crammed words in your letter, flashing as if it were written with fluorescent colours.

I can’t really explain it, but it makes me happy and sad at the same time. It feels like an ache in my chest. I’m happy you’re doing what you love, but I want to be there, with you. I have this constant feeling that I’m missing something really important, something we were supposed to live together.

But then, if I followed you everywhere, maybe you’d get sick of me and ditch me the moment you got bored. I’m staying here to make myself unattainable, that’s what I’m doing.

Here is where you say, “I’d never get bored of you, you fool.” (I do hope you’ve said this. Or at least thought it.)

R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S. “I’ll never ever get bored of you, you fool,” I said, feeling that I owed him that much. It was the truth, after all. Jamie’s letter continued in a more serious tone.

I know we need to make some memories that are ours and ours alone, mo chridhe, but I don’t want to. I want to be there, to see wild Africa as you see it, the people, the landscapes… To see you healing others, getting ready to become one of the best doctors in the world. I want to be there, to smell you at night when you lie in my arms, to feel your skin soft and warm against my lips. To feel you getting wet, as I run my fingers across your body.

My heart thundered inside my chest. Living up to John’s expectations, my arse.

Anyway. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I miss you terribly.

“I miss you too, you oaf. Why do you have to make this so hard?” My whisper was soon lost, as Jeremy burst in, laughing at something Louise had said outside. I swallowed hard, trying to master my feelings.

Things here are pretty much as you left them, Sassenach. Classes are relatively easy and the winter term ends next Tuesday. Coach has started pushing us harder. Training is exhausting and I often have no stamina to do anything more than go to classes and to the pool. I’m getting better, though. My time underwater is so much longer now! I still need to improve my turns, and coach says my back doesn’t have quite the right arch when I jump at the start. In Edinburgh, my coach had said I had the perfect start -- it appears not.

I could almost see him rolling his eyes. My poor swimmer, straining for perfection.

Other than that, we usually gather over at Hector’s for beers twice a week, as you already know. You remember Jim from when you were here? The complete arsehole? He’s starting to open up now, and he’s really not that bad. Oh, and I just hung up with Jenny. She told me she’ll send you some pictures of Lallybroch, to entice you to return home. Lallybroch is beautiful in the spring, remember the pictures I sent you last Easter? I’ll send you some pictures of me, to make you come here. Fraser measures, we call them.

Jenny said she misses you a lot, but she’s proud of you. She said I’m a lucky bastard to have you -- I needed to remind her I am her family, and not you. I talked with Ian, too. He has started looking for apartments in Edinburgh, so Jenny and he will live alone come September. He wants to find a job too, so he can pay for it, but Jenny has no idea about his plans. He’ll get her on a trip to Edinburgh so they’ll decide together which one they like once he narrows down their choices to three or four apartments. I told him that he’s making the rest of us seem inadequate as boyfriends, but he merely chuckled. He is, though.

Don’t get any ideas in that pretty head of yours. Ian is only one, taken by Jenny, and I’m the best boyfriend you can ever get. Right? Right?

You’re the best I can ever get, that’s for sure.

Your team of volunteers seems nice. Tell Louise I said hi! And keep a safe distance from the guys, okay? (I’m kidding. Or not. Okay, I am, stop staring at that piece of paper as if you’re going to put it on fire.)

I don’t know when this letter will be delivered to you. I’ll make sure you get enough of me through texts till then. I can’t wait for the weekend, so I can see and hear you again.

I love you. And I miss you. And I want you. God, I want you.

Time will pass and I’ll have your obnoxious curls getting in my face again. I can’t wait.  

Your beloved Scot.

I pressed the letter against my chest, breathing long and deep. A letter from Jamie -- who would ever have imagined that happening. I grabbed my phone, checking the time. He should have woken up by now.

Sassenach: Where are you, my sleepy Scot?

Seeing that he wasn’t online, I tucked the letter between the pages of my book and went outside to sit with the others. Louise gave me a sweet smile, and nodded towards the only empty chair, between her and Margaret.

“Happy?” she asked in a low voice once I was seated.

“Yes,” I said, but it was more of a sigh and less of a word. “I miss him.”

“I know.” She pressed her lips together, and her glance traveled to her phone. Charlie was back in France and he hadn’t taken Louise’s decision well. He blamed her for leaving their perfect life to go on an adventure without him, and they had broken up a few days before she left for Zambia. But she still loved him.

At least Jamie understood.

When the rest went back in the house, Robert and I were left alone basking in the sun.

“So,” I said, leaning towards him. “Pride and Prejudice? You?” I asked in a low voice, making sure I raised my eyebrow in a challenging way.

Robert looked at me for the briefest moments, then averted his eyes. If I didn’t know he had been lying under the sun for the past thirty minutes, I would swear he had blushed. With his gaze fixed on a puffy white cloud, he shrugged.

“You would make a nice Mr. Darcy yourself, you know,” I said without really thinking about it. Or, more specifically, thinking about his money and arrogance.

His eyes found mine, and the openness I saw there surprised me. “It was my mother’s favourite book.” He ran a hand through his hair, fixing his gaze on the cloud again.

I froze at his use of past tense.

“I’m sorry, Robert.” I reached out tentatively and squeezed his hand, feeling his fingers pressing hard against the arm of his chair. “I know how it feels like.”

He looked at me again, wide eyes glazed with unshed tears. He nodded, gulped as if to swallow the words and feelings that overwhelmed him, and stood abruptly. A moment later he left the house.

My gaze was fixed on the road for a while after Robert disappeared at the turn, thinking how proud and prejudiced I had been in my assessment of him. Everyone carries their own baggage, some people hiding their limping better than others.

Chapter 53

[poisonivysparks]

Not All Change is Good {Sam Winchester X Reader} Part One

So, this has been my baby for the past couple of months. I’m currently trying to work on a part two, but writer’s block has been hitting me hard lately. If you have any guesses to what the monster is, feel free to message me and I’ll tell you if you’re right!

The apartment was silent. The only noise I could hear was of the neighbors upstairs; The couple always fought, it was annoying when they first moved in, but as the years went on, it was tuned out. The apartment was cramped and nothing seemed to match, but it was home to me and my daughter. 

I was a single mother, and sometimes, I struggled to make ends meet for me and my 12-year-old daughter. She still loved me, even if her father, my ex, seemed to have a better home for her. He did everything better than I ever could. He had money, a good job, a new wife who seemed to be much better at being a housewife than I was. It made me feel unworthy compared to her, but one moment with my daughter when she got back was all I needed. 

Her freckled face slightly mirrored mine, but her smile was flawless. She didn’t inherit my crooked teeth or my blue eyes, but it all seemed to be alright. She had green eyes and blonde hair, cut short into a pixie cut. I didn’t mind it; she looked quite good, and I was in support of the change.

Her style changed shortly after her hair did, becoming more boyish and gender-neutral. She frequently “stole” some of my clothes, which I didn’t mind. She was much smaller than me by a few sizes, but she enjoyed the look, and if she enjoyed it, I did too.

I felt bad that most of her clothes were from thrift stores or were my old clothes from when I was in high school, and not pregnant. That was a bit hard to find in my closet since my clothes from high school and my clothes from when I was pregnant overlapped a bit. I got pregnant in the last half of my senior year, having Sadie in October. She was an October baby, and it was her absolute favorite month. 

Starting in August, she counted down the days until October 1st, and when it came, her face lit up in joy. She got out the big box of Halloween decorations I scrounged together over the years. It was bigger than the box of Christmas ornaments we owned. We had many traditions around Halloween, but Christmas was usually taken over by her father. 

When her birthday rolled around, she knew that I couldn’t afford big lavish presents, but when she asked for things, I tried to get them, but sometimes, that was not possible. For her tenth birthday, we ate cake together on the couch and watched her favorite movie. It was one of my favorite of her birthdays that we shared. 

Sadie slept peacefully as I got ready for work, rushing around with my uniform on while trying to stay calm and not wake up Sadie until 5 minutes before. I felt bad that I had to take her to work with me, but I was afraid to leave her alone all day while I worked at the diner.

She understood it and always brought a book with her and her music to entertain herself. She loved the obscure horror novels and adult books more than she should have at that age, but I decided to allow her, it kept her happy and entertained.

That morning, I was almost late getting her up “Sadie, honey, we have to go soon, you’re going to have to be even faster than you usually do, I’m sorry. I’m running late, you’ll get breakfast at the diner, I promise,” I told Sadie, shaking her shoulder gently as she groaned, but sat up, going over to her dresser. She always picked out clothes the night before, and I admired her for it. It was one of her little quirks that never ceased to amaze me.

“Mom, you couldn’t have gotten me up earlier? It’s so quiet still,” She said, going into the bathroom to change. 

I sighed, “Yes, I know, I’m sorry, I got up late myself, and I had to take the early shift this morning, Diane is sick, so I’m going to be pulling double today. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are still fighting upstairs too, they never seem to stop fighting. I can try to see if we can afford a different apartment soon, I just, money’s tight right now,” I explained to her, though I didn’t need to, she already knew my situation, and tried not to comment on it.

“Mom, it’s okay, we don't have to move, I like this place, even if it smells like old people sometimes or the hot water takes forever to get hot.” She said from the bathroom, laughing a little bit as she did. It made me happy to hear. Every laugh, smile, and joke made my heart incredibly happy. I loved my child and the fact that she was happy, and laughing made everything that was happening to us feel normal and nice.

Sadie came out of the bathroom, dressed in a baggy t-shirt, a flannel shirt, and jeans. Her hair wasn’t brushed, but it wasn’t too out of place, so I decided not to make her brush it. “Let’s go, hon, I might be late, we have to go. Just pray that the car decides to start. Alex always has to cover for me and it’s embarrassing. I need to bake her some cookies or something someday.” I sighed and grabbed my keys and purse, going out the door while Sadie followed.

We headed to the car, and I quickly went to work, maybe going a bit above the speed limit at times, but I could not be late. I felt bad enough about it all. I rushed into work, going to the back room and clocking in immediately. 

Alexis came to the back room as Sadie went to her tiny, two-person booth in the corner with her book and music. “Hey, Ivy, are you taking over for Diane?” She asked.

I nodded and ran my hands through my hair, a bit exasperated. “I have two shifts in a row. I feel bad for Sadie, she’s gotta stay here, and she’s almost finished with her book. She’s going to be bored all day. Maybe-maybe during my lunch break her and I could go down to the thrift store and get her some more books. I would never send her there alone though, I just, I can’t bear anything happening to her, there have been too many murders lately.” I said to my best friend and coworker.

“You don't have to do that, Ivy, I might have something for her, but I mean, no promises.” She said and went into the front. I followed her, grabbing a pitcher full of coffee. 

“That means a lot, Alex, thank you,” I said, noticing a nice-looking vehicle drive up. It was black and slick-looking. Somebody took very good care of it, and you could tell.

“Oh, wow, look at those two hotties, you don’t see people like that very often here,” Alex said, chuckling a bit. She was always the one to point out when a hot guy came in. 

Both of the men were tall, though one was taller than the other. The taller one had a more serious look on his face, while the other one seemed to be scanning the area. They walked inside, the bell above the door rang as I looked at Alex. “I’ll take it. You can fill up their coffee if you wanna flirt.” She nodded in agreement with my decision.

I smoothed out my apron and uniform before trying to put on my waitress smile for them. After grabbing two menus, I went over to them. They were talking amongst themselves quietly. I smiled and handed them their menus. “Hi, I’m Ivy. I will be your waitress today, if there’s anything I can get you, just let me know. Do you two have any idea what you would like for drinks this morning?” I asked them, trying to look happy and awake.

The blond one gave me a bit of a smile and said, “I'll just have coffee, thank you, uh, Ivy.” He said, his eyes drifting to my chest, where thankfully, for his sake, my name tag was.

“No problem, is there anything I can get for you, sir?” I asked the brown-haired one, brushing my hair back, writing what the blond one wanted on my notepad so I could remember it.

He seemed a bit nervous. “Sam, my name is Sam.” He said, seeming to blurt it out, which I found adorable.

“Well, Hi, Sam, I’m Ivy,” I said. “Is there anything I can get you to drink?” I asked him, glancing over at Sadie to make sure she was alright.

“Uh, yeah, just water, thanks,” he said, and I smiled, closing up my notepad. 

“Alright, one of us will be right back with your drinks,” I said and walked away, going over to Alex.

“The blond one wants coffee, and the brown-haired one wants just water,” I told her before going over to Sadie's booth. I sat down, and she took her earbuds out. “Are you hungry? I could get you something now, maybe some orange juice if you want.” I suggested to her as she bookmarked her book.

She nodded, “Yeah, I could eat, but you know that I don’t like orange juice.”

“I know, I just thought that maybe if I offered it, you would try it again, but uh, how about I get you your usual? Two pancakes and two eggs over easy?” I asked, just making sure I had the correct order for her. 

“Yeah, thank you, but you should get back to work, get everybody else's order before you get mine,” she said, being as selfless as ever. 

“Fine, I’ll be back, I’ll get your order in after these guys,” I said and ruffled up her hair a bit before I left to go up to the two men. 

I passed Alex on my way to the table. “Tall one is staring at you,” she whispered as she walked by. It made me blush a bit, but I tried to keep my composure.

“Are you two ready to order?” I asked them, my pen and notepad out.

Sam started, clearing his throat. “I’ll have the veggie omelet and bacon instead of sausage.” He said, and I nodded, writing it all down.

The blond smirked a bit “I’ll just have the special.” He said, his eyes following Alexis. “I’m Dean by the way,” he said, introducing himself. 

Sam then spoke up "yeah, say, uh, we came out here to investigate the recent murders. We're agents from uh, a couple of states over, do you happen to know anything about it? The people involved?" He asked me.

I thought about it for a moment. “Well, my neighbor’s husband died, it seemed like some freak accident. He got his hand stuck in the garbage disposal. It sounds like something out of a horror movie, honestly.” I sighed. “I feel bad for my daughter. I don't want her going out anywhere by herself, just in case.” I took a glance over at the booth that Sadie was in.

Sam followed my gaze. “Is that your daughter?” He asked a kind and warm tone laced in his voice.

“Yeah, it is, that’s Sadie. She-she’s a real horror junkie, and she could probably tell you about every monster ever. She’s only twelve and shouldn’t know about that stuff, but she loves it.” I explained, brushing my hair back a bit nervously. “She’s a sweetheart, and I’d do anything for her.” 

Dean nodded at what I had said. “That’s sweet, do you raise her alone?” He asked me.

“I, yes, I do somewhat, my ex has her two days a week, and then other days, she’s here with me. I don't think she minds it, but I feel bad for her. Yes, she has a lot of books to read, but nobody wants to stay with their mom all day at her work. I-I’m going to go put in your order now.” I said, feeling embarrassed for telling them so much, but it was nice to unload it on somebody that wasn’t my close friend. 

I put Sam and Dean's order into the chef, and then Sadie’s order. I knew it didn’t matter what order I put them in. Sadie’s would come out first, and then Sam and Dean’s. I got the water for my daughter, making sure she stayed hydrated. “Hey, mom?” Sadie waved me over, seeming to want something from me.

I handed her her water and smiled “Yeah, what is it? I have a few minutes.” I said and sat down across from her.

“I-I was thinking that maybe we could talk soon? Like tonight or tomorrow night.” She said, and immediately my heart dropped. I hoped that it wasn’t anything bad, I wasn’t sure how I could handle it exactly.

I nodded “Yeah, yeah, of course, we can, baby, I-I don't want you to feel like you can't talk to me. You always can.” I said and held her hand, wanting her to feel safe and secure with me. “I’m your mother. You know I will never judge you for anything you do,” I told her.

She nodded, a bit of a smile on her face. “I know, mom, you’ve said it before, and I trust you.” She said, which immediately made my heart flutter with pride. She was my child, and she said that she trusted me. It was a moment that I knew I was going to keep in my memories for a long time.

“Okay, well, I’m not sure about tonight, I have to work.” I said and sighed “I’m really sorry, but maybe-maybe we can do it tomorrow night, I won't have to work that night, just morning shift.” I told her, hoping that she wouldn’t change her mind about telling me what she needed to.

“It’s okay, mom, we can talk tomorrow night. I can make dinner.” She said, and I immediately shook my head.

“No, no, baby, I don't want you to do that, you know I like your cooking, but you don't have to do that for me,” I told her, brushing a piece of her hair back.

She nodded and gave a laugh, “yes, mom, I do, I want to,” Sadie said, being firm, so I backed straight off.

“Yeah, okay, you can make dinner, just don’t burn yourself like last time.” I smiled at her even though that was one of the worst experiences of my entire life. Though I’ll admit, I had majorly overreacted.

She laughed a bit. “Mom, it wasn’t that bad, you’re the one who freaked out about it,” She accused, making me shake my head 

“Sure, it’s not like-” I was cut off when the cook rang the bell, telling me that the food was done. “I’ll be right back,” I said and got up, walking off and getting the plate of food for my daughter, giving it to her. “Okay, now, eat it up. I’ll get you a grilled cheese later when it’s lunch” I told her before kissing her forehead as the bell rang again.

“Thanks, mom!” she called as I laughed and grabbed the two plates before going over to Sam and Dean’s table. Dean gave Sam and me a look, seeming to motion something to his partner through that.

I put down their plates. “Watch out, the plates may be hot you two,” I told them. “Do you need anything else? Maybe a milkshake or a slice of pie?”

Sam looked over at me. “Um, we were hoping that maybe we could schedule an interview with you here. How, uh, are you free after your shift?” He asked me, while I blushed slightly.

“My shift ends at 7, I have a twelve-hour day today, I'm sorry, but we could do one tomorrow if that works for you two boys,” I suggested. “Though if you wanted to do it tonight, I would be open to that,” I told them, looking over at my daughter and hoping that she wouldn’t mind it. It seemed important and Sadie seemed to understand what I had to do.

Sam nodded, starting to speak, but Dean cut him off. “Sam will be the one interviewing you. I have a couple of other people that we’re going to try to get statements from.” He said, a smug look on his face as if he had just done something.

“Alright, well, you two enjoy your meals, and I will see you tonight, Sam,” I said and started walking away. 

“Wait! Ivy, I’ll get a slice of apple pie.” Dean said and I smiled, nodding and grabbing one for him, serving it up and giving it to him. 

“Alright, I’ll be back with your guys’ check in a minute,” I said and walked off, going to the register and printing off their receipt. I was a bit nervous with Sam, and I knew it was a crush. I slightly fixed my hair, pulling it up a bit since I thought that I looked better that way. “Here you go, feel free to take your time,” I said, knowing that they probably would, they had books and newspaper articles out. Sam even had a laptop.

“Uh, thank you, Ivy,” he said, looking up from his laptop.

It made me smile “You’re welcome, Sam,” I told him and walked away, going over to Sadie’s booth.

Her book was already closed, and her earbuds weren’t in. “So are you flirting with him? The tall brown-haired guy?” She asked.

My eyes widened in embarrassment, my cheeks turning a light shade of pink. “I, maybe, he’s attractive and they’re both from out of town. They’re investigating the murders and after my shift, Sam, the taller one, he’s going to be the one interviewing me. I think he’s adorable, but I don't think anything would come from it, you don't need to worry,” I said and kissed her cheek, trying to be comforting. I wasn’t sure what she thought of me dating since I hadn’t dated since her father and I had broken up. “There’s no way that a man like that would be interested in your dear ol’ mom anyway,” I told her, trying to convince her that he wasn't. It was something I believed myself. Nobody that attractive would be interested in a single mother like me. I didn't wear makeup or dress nice. I never thought things through properly before I did them, I never was the most punctual, but in the end, I was always trying to be the best I could be for my child.

"Mom, don't say that. I'm sure he'd like you if he met you." She told me, trying to be encouraging, which made me smile. She had wanted me to date somebody for years now, but I was protective over Sadie. I didn't want my new boyfriend to somehow hurt her. It would hurt me deeply if something happened to her, that would be my fault in the end. Sam seemed nice enough, but I doubted that he was interested in something deeper than a surface level.

I shook my head. "I doubt it, but thank you, Sadie," I said, getting up and going to take another person's order. 

The day dragged on as I worked. Nothing seemed to go right, but I was thankful that once Sadie finished her book, she found one of the regulars, an old guy named Mr. Taylor. He was a regular customer, and when Sadie was there, they'd talk for hours. I had no idea how he could do it, but he did.

Once the clock hit 7, I took off my apron, hanging it up in my little locker in the backroom. The bell above the door rang, and I rushed into the front, spotting Sam, who looked a bit awkward while standing there.

"Sam, hi, I just clocked out," I told him, getting his attention before pulling him over to a booth that we could share.

He followed "Hey, uh, Ivy." he smiled at me. I looked back at Sadie, hoping that she was alright. She gave me a thumbs-up, embarrassing me a little bit as I waved her off. "So, um, how was your day?" He asked, most likely wanting to make a short conversation before we got into the heavier stuff.

"My day was good, thank you. It was a bit boring, but that's normal for me. My daughter finished her book, but she talked to one of the regulars here, they always talk together, it's sweet." I smiled at him, brushing my hair back in a bit of embarrassment.

He chuckled and gave me an awkward smile. "Yeah, that sounds exciting enough. Um, now about the, uh, murders, did you know the victims well?" he asked me, starting to get into it, which I didn't mind.

I shrugged. "I knew them, but I didn't know them that well. They have a son, and his name is Luke, he's quite the troublemaker," I said. "Cheryl and John never fought. I would know out of everybody since our walls are honestly paper-thin, and they always came into the diner. I, uh, remember the screams though, it was late and Cheryl was working like she always does. It was just Luke and John. I, uh, it was the middle of the night, Sadie was asleep, but I-I heard it. I could hear his screams." I said, taking a deep breath. "It was horrifying, I'm the one who called the police, y'know. Sadie was there, the sirens woke her up. I-I'm just glad they took the body away before she could see it." I ended, thinking about that night. "That's all I remember about it, Luke was in shock, I think, and Cheryl was horrified."

He sighed and we made eye contact. His soft, warm eyes reeled me in. That's when I knew that it was a crush. It was just everything. His hair, his eyes, oh God, those eyes. He just seemed so soft and friendly, but you could tell there was something off. “I’m sorry to hear about your neighbor, Ivy, that sounds horrible,” he said, his voice feeling comforting to me.

I nodded “Yeah, it was, luckily I didn’t see the body. I like horror movies, but I could never see that in person.” A shiver ran down my spine from just the thought of seeing it.

Sam nodded, seeming to understand what I felt with that. “Yeah, I’m sure. Uh, thank you, Ivy. I think this will really help our investigation.” He said, his eyes lingering on me. I didn’t mind it, it was nice to actually have somebody look at me and notice me instead of just writing me off as a random waitress or just a single mom.

“It’s not a problem, Sam,” I said and started to stand up. “Um, I’m sure that you two know where they live if you’re investigating it, if you want to question me more by chance, I’ll be home at three,” I suggested to him, not sure if it was the right thing to do. He could have a wife or kids and not be interested in me.

He seemed a bit embarrassed. “Yeah, I yeah, I’ll drop by, Dean and I were going to go over there tomorrow,” Sam said, standing up as I went to go and get my daughter so that we could leave. Luckily, she was already coming for me, the finished book in her hand. 

"Mom, are you done flirting yet?" She asked me, her arms crossed.

I gave her a playful glare so she knew she wasn't seriously in trouble. "Sam, this is my daughter Sadie, she's a bit... outspoken," I said, standing behind her. 

He smiled "Uh, hi, Sadie, I'm Sam." He said as my daughter stuck her hand out to shake his.

"Nice to meet you, Sam." She said as he shook her hand. "I guess we'll be seeing more of you around, huh?" Sadie asked, embarrassing me a bit, but I didn't mind, she was still my daughter.

He seemed surprised by her words. "Uh, I suppose, yeah. My partner and I will be in town for a few days." Sam said, looking around.

"Well, Sadie, you ready to go?" I asked her, wanting to get away from the embarrassment, but also sleep.

She nodded "Yeah, let's go." She then grabbed my hand and started pulling me away. 

"I'll see you tomorrow!" I said to Sam, walking with my daughter, a bit embarrassed, but leaving anyways, feeling fine about it.

We both got in the car, and I gave a sigh of relief. "So, you think he's hot right?" She asked as I rested my head on the steering wheel.

"Sadie, not now, please. I'm tired, and I want to get home." I said, a little bit annoyed with my daughter as I started up the car, pulling out of the parking lot. 

She sighed and leaned back in her chair, turning up the music. The music didn’t annoy me, though I knew most parents would turn it off at the end of a long stressful day.

We got home and were almost immediately in our respective rooms. I was incredibly tired, so I changed into my pajamas, not even bothering to get under the covers. My pajamas were enough warmth for me. Once I set my alarm, I laid my head on my pillow and let sleep take over.

In the morning, I was not woken up by my alarm, but rather a hand that was shaking me awake. “Mommy, I’m hungry.” Said a voice that sounded eerily like my daughter’s.

It seemed a bit off, but I sat up, smiling a little bit. “Well, you’re up early, sweetheart,” I said and got up. Something seemed off with Sadie, she kept staring, her eyes following my every move. “Go get dressed and I’ll make you some eggs,” I said and went to the kitchen. She followed me, though I had told her to get dressed. She usually listened to me with those things, so I didn’t understand what she was doing. “Sadie, go get dressed, you’re going to have to eat fast, I have to go to work.” I sighed, putting my hair up. Something hurt on my neck, but I just interpreted it as me sleeping wrong. I quickly fried up the eggs exactly the way Sadie always liked it. She was only gone for a moment before she came out, fully dressed and ready. What seemed unusual was the fact that she was wearing a dress. She never wore dresses willingly. It was always a nice button-up shirt and a bowtie if she really wanted to get fancy. “Oookay, you look cute today,” I told her and plated up the eggs, putting them on the counter.

She looked up at me with admiration in her eyes. It made my heart absolutely soar. “Thank you, mommy.” She said as I went over to my room, changing into my uniform, and putting my hair up nicely instead of just essentially throwing it up.

Contrary to what I usually did, I put on some makeup,  red lipstick, and some mascara. I hoped that Sam would be there, but perhaps they had found another breakfast place to eat. The only other place to eat breakfast was a Denny’s that really wasn’t all too good. 

I opened the door and jumped. My daughter stood right outside of the door, looking up at me. “I’m ready to go now.” She said, which was odd. She didn’t have a book in her hands or her music.

I nodded “O-okay, you got it, sweetie.” I said and grabbed my purse and phone before kissing my child’s forehead, and going out the door. I sighed a little bit and got in my car. Sadie climbed into the back seat, which puzzled me. She refused to sit in the back ever since she was eligible to move up in the ranks.

Something seemed off with her. It just didn’t seem right. She was doing things that I hadn't seen her do for a long time. We rode to work in silence, but I took glances back at Sadie every so often. We went inside, and I sat Sadie in her usual spot. 

Minutes after we walked into the restaurant, Sam and Dean were sitting down in a booth. I went over to them, a smile on my face. “Hey, guys, it’s nice to see you again,” I said and looked at Sam. Dean looked between us for a second, his eyes narrowed in thought.

“Yeah, uh, it’s nice to see you again too,” Sam said, giving me a good, genuine smile. It felt nice, and I could feel the affection bubbling up.

“Well, what can I get you two?” I asked, taking out my pad of paper and a pen.

Dean looked at me and said “I’ll have a coffee again and the meat-lovers breakfast, thanks” He said.

I wrote it down and then looked at Sam for his order. “I’ll have, uh, the veggie omelet again, and water, thank you, Ivy.” He told me as I wrote it down. 

“Alright! I’ll be right back with your drinks.” I told them and turned around. Immediately, they whispered to each other. I heard it but didn’t want to confront them about it. I grabbed the coffeepot and then water, going back over to their table.

I handed Sam his water and then poured Dean his coffee. Sam looked like he was about to say something, but a tap on my shoulder seemed to interrupt him. “Mommy, can we go home? I   feel good.” Sadie said to me, which just broke my heart. I never wanted her to be sick or hurting.

“Um, I have to go, I’m sorry, guys. My coworker Alex, she-she’ll um, she’ll probably be serving you guys, but, um, if you want to, you can still come over.” I said and went over to the back, telling the manager that I needed to leave work because Sadie was sick. She understood and let me leave.

We went to the car, and I quickly drove home, knowing that it would be okay for her there. She had been acting strange that day, after all. I was worried as we went inside our apartment. She was rushed into her bed, and I tucked her in. “Sadie, honey, how are you feeling? What hurts?” I asked her, hoping that she wasn’t coming down with the flu.

“My tummy hurts.” She told me, which was a bit odd, she was almost a teenager, she shouldn’t be using that language still. I would never judge her if she did, it just seemed odd to me.

I felt her forehead. She didn’t feel warm, or cold, exactly. She felt just fine. “I’m sorry, honey, you stay in bed, okay? Or we can set you up on the couch, watch movies.” I suggested to her.

“I want to go to the couch, mommy.” She told me, and I nodded.

We spent the rest of the day on the couch, watching movies, though Sadie seemed determined to keep my attention on her. I didn’t mind it until I wanted a few minutes of alone time. I wasn’t sure if Sam was still going to show up or not, but just in case he did, I went into my room and changed into my nicer lounge clothes. I sat on my bed once I was done, thinking of what I should do. I liked him, but he wasn’t from here, which meant that he’d be leaving. I didn’t want just a one and done relationship. At that moment, I decided that if that was what happened, it happened. Sadie would understand. I got up and opened the door. Sadie stood right in front of it, staring up at me. It was creepy and initially made me jump from fright. 

“Sadie, honey, go back to the couch, I told you that you weren’t supposed to be up and about,” I said, a hand on my chest as I shooed her back to the living room. 

She didn’t move, saying “But I wanted to see you, Mommy. I missed you.”

It was incredibly creepy and unsettling. I didn’t like it. It seemed like either she was playing a joke on me or something was wrong. It scared me, to say the least. She wasn’t one to do things like that. When I thought about it, nothing seemed right. Her behavior was completely off. She hadn’t called me mommy since she was 7 years old, and now she was constantly calling me it. What had happened to my daughter?