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muffindaddystyles · 4 years ago

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KISMETS (Part 3)

Harry Styles x Preggs Fem!Reader.

Frenmies to lovers to parents, Dadthon!!H

Oral Smut, dirty talk and teasing.

Angst! Angst and fluff!! N' tooth rotting fluff.

Dadrry, bestie!h, boyfriend!h

Author's Note: The concept's kinda weird but if you've watched F.R.I.E.N.D.S and Phoebe Buffay carrying child for someone. You've got it my pal!

MASTERLIST PART 1 PART 2 LETS TALK/ ASK

The morning light cocoons them with softness and they don't care if they're sitting in a pool of blood.

"I love you too, so much." She hiccups pacifying down not wanting to never be to able say them again as Harry runs a hand at her back, limbs still tangled with eachother, whispering sweet things to her while Miss. Dori pulled her placenta out, "Y/N?" He panics when she dulls in his arms head lulling at his shoulder and heartbeat slowing down to feeble line. Gently pulling his face out from the cave of her neck he pats her cheek worriedly, again, at her unconscious state, her head dangling back over his wrist, "Y/N!?" His heart squeezing tight miserably into his ribcages when she doesn't respond to his calls.

Harry and Y/N are back being to besties and enjoying being pregnant together.

Warning: Mentions of blood, pregnancy trauma and natural childbirth hurdles.

Eyes gives it all. Even the hidden treasures get's looted from the mere mistake of someone's gaze just like right now when he's pretending to be confused as ever, "what? Called her myself . . ." He frowns and she sniffs frozen in her position feeling exposed from the vulnerability of being naked infront of him; tries to cover herself criss-crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why'd you d'that?" She hiccups wiping her blushed nose and his pupils bursts wide into realization. Immediately, cradles her face tenderly stroking the apple of her cheeks shaking his head vigorously, "Oh -— no. no. no baby told her to come over to take her leftover stuff if not I better give it to charity."

"O . . okay." She sucks in a breather. Without a word he removes hers arms away in a gesture that you never need to hide from me. Kisses her shoulder blade stroking her wrists and her pulse in circles.

"Don't cry, lil penguin. Why're ye' cryin'?" He asks in his most gentle voice feathering her cheek with the back of his hand, "'m . . . 'm scared." She tries to recoup her cries holding her breath causing her cheeks to puff like a fish.

"Let's get you cleaned warm and nice. Then we'll talk yeah lovie?" He slides her elbows behind his neck holding her strongly to walk them to his bedroom. Gives her a bath full of vanilla bubbles, essential oils, scrubbed her back and would trail kisses up her belly from under water making her giggle and weave her fingers into his own wet curls.

Him loving all three of them's the most adorable thing.

Got her ready for mid-nap with his sweater and boxers putting fur pads atop her ears, aloe fused socks on her feet and turning the heat a bit to sleepy temperature. Tucks a quilt under their chins and snuggles her closer to himself letting herself calm to his heartbeats before she speaks her heart out to him, "wanna talk? What you're scared of babe tell me all of it. Knows that I'll handle." He slips further into bed bringing her thigh around his torso and her head atop his buff chest.

She exhales loudly trying to subside the emotional feeling of crying along with each word that comes out of her mouth. Her bad habbit of grounding everything to the pit of her stomach until it blasts into a massive destruction always gets her into worst scenarios.

"'M worried about alot of things –- actually." She peeks up at him and he's already looking down at her genuinely with relaxed self to let her know that nothing has changes and he's still her bestfriend who'd wait for her till she manages to speak, "about what?" He encourages her petting down her hair.

"Everything like 'like future . . 'n — me being a good mum after all of that 'm uni too. . . the semester would start right after the month of my delivery." She furls her toes to keep her anxiety at bay level cocooning her womb cause she feels the safest with the assurement of her babies being with her, "about my career and what about me dreams? What if I'll never get to chase 'em?" He listens to her diligently boring his gaze to the way her lips mold with each word. Sighs gently rubbing her arms up and down salutating his palm around the side of her neck to tip her face towards him. His lips lingers at her temple murmuring against it, "Together we're gonna do this."

"You're gonna be the kindest and bestest mommy ever Y/N. I belive in ye' and about your dreams. I'll take care that nothing comes in the way to stop ya . . You'll attend UNI same as before 'cause 'm takin' a break to be with our babies till your done with your degree." He declares to her seriously and honestly running his hand all over her spine to assure her in every way possible, locking his ankles with her under the sheets.

"'M a big boy now! A daddy to two babies don't underestimate me miss gremlin!" He grins impishly smushing his cheeks into her side wide spreading his palm atop her tummy warmly with bare fingers, "'kay gotcha!" She giggles cuddling into him with droopy eyes inhaling the same scent she's lathered in from the sweet spot of his neck.

She wakes up in the evening satisfied and happy with the nap marks, sweaty baby hairs, a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth and Harry already awake but still spooning her. He's her pregnancy pillow.

Covers her mouth with his pinky and ring finger when she yawns cutely stretching beneath him slowly blinking. Proper stops with his intense loving gaze still on her and blushes hard when he pecks her dry lips after sleep. Her chest heaves with his kisses and snogs trailing down between the valley of her breasts making her card her fingers through his chocolate curls. Whimpers ever hoarsely raising her hips in air for some friction and to levitate the throb in between her legs asking for him to release the ache away.

He takes the hint scooching closer to her side nudging her knees wide stroking the flesh of her thighs with tickling pinches. She whines fisting sheets with yearning arch of her back, "insatiable lil thing aren't ya?" He gives a toothy grin wetting his lips making her pause in her heave of getting his fingers instead flickering her vision over his candy plush lips.

"Kiss me?" She whispers and how couldn't he when she's looking this soft, warm and full of blush from the nap. He was litreally nutters for not ever pondering over the thought how alluring and attractiveness her satiny features hold, "'course darlin'." He tips her chin towards himself letting her sweet cushiony lips fuse against his's into an ardent kiss shooting her libidos 100 times higher than before making her moan pathetically into his mouth.

Her forearms winding around his shoulders instinctively and exhales through her nose not pulling away from the kiss and squeaks lowly when he bites her lower lip pulling away, "'ve got asthma y'mad mad woman." He gapes down at her dramatically fiddling with the bow of her panties. They skim down to her mound feeling the slickness that has spread all around and the rough trim of hair, "and I've got an extravagant sex drive!" It whisks into a breathy gasp of dense air when he slid his digits in between her slick folds flickering her swollen clitoris and repeating till she's panting for more.

"Sad innit? 'S me fault. I should be the one to help my girl out." He mutters trailing sweet kisses down her swollen belly to her pelvis snapping the elastic with his teeth causing her to jolt under his firm hold. She's too floaty else the statement of him claiming her would have swiped her away into a paradise of never ending imaginations.

"Mhmp. What did ya had fo' lunch lovie'?" He licks her juices off from the inside of her thighs sending intense quivers to her core. His palms smoothes under her thighs to hike them up and over his shoulders nipping at her skin when all she did was responded with a gasp, "d- dunno forgot . ." He perks his brows to his forehead commenting playfully while dipping down to tickle her with his curls.

"Pregnancy made ye' loose your braincells, moppet?" She raises her hand to smack him at head instead tugs his hair when for finally he flattens his tongue thickly against her wet cunt to give a good mind boggling lick sucking her clitoris in the way, "asshole. . ." She moans squirming like leaf under him but he quites her by taking her sensitive nub between his teeth to give a little graze and pull. It makes her pussy lips flutter and her hole leak with so much wetness it sticks to Harry's chin.

"H – ha . . rry. Harry." She tries to grind her hips against his mouth but he tuts brushing his pads around her dripping hole to tease her, "yes baby?" Groans of annoyance fills the room and she shoves her face into the pillow bitting down the snarky insults thrown at the curly head.

"Not gonna give ye' me fingers till you ask fo' it." He smooches wet filthy kisses letting her stickiness coat his lips stirring a ball of fire in her pit, "shut up." She whines nudging him with her knee telling him to do something to relax her.

"Make me." He smirks tilting his head to suck her petal fold creating dirty seductive noises on purpose. She huffs taking the matters into her hands pulling him up towards her by a hard grip onto his hair, "ouch ouch!!" He quips shutting his eyes tight.

"Harry Styles you make me cum or I'm never letting you fuck me ever." She glares him and he gives out a defeated sigh naughtiness still lurking in his moss of irises, "bossy – kay! Sorry! Was kiddin' babe. 'M all here to please ye'." She nods her head curtly shoving him back down and he giggles at her when in an instant from an angry lil penguin she melted into a mush of gooe when Harry thrusted two fingers at once inside her curving them once they were buried snug deep.

"Yes. Yes. Yes." She gasps moving her hips along him that he stayed in his place eating her out while his fingers pushed in and out of her tight pussy with squelching noises, "fuckin' tight urghh." He grits rubbing her clit into harsh circles with his other hand, mouth on her cunt and fingers fucking her continuously.

"Want more?" He asks and she bobs her head not even processing what he said almost loosing the idea of her presence feeling too much ecastasy and over the clouds, "here take as much as ye' want baby." He slips another third finger admiring the way her pussy stretches swallowing his fingers, "'m gonna lick your little wet cunt off then clean it with me filthy tongue to make a mess of ye' all over again filling you full with me cock. Sounds good baby?" He knows she's the shy lil bean and his sweet enthusiastic words of vulgarism heats her up enough.

"Gonna come. Harry --" She tips her head down and back in air eyes rolling into her sockets. Harry rubs her outer thighs soothing her thrashing body, "shhh baby relax. You can cum on me fingers." She obliges him softening in his arms and her pussy makes soppy noises gushing with each wave of pleasure throbbing around his digits while he works her out to make her feel as giddy as he could, "That's it baby girl. That's it cum fo' me again?" He prods at the sponge of bump inside her seething through her twitching walls making it impossible for him to pull out and tent his cock against the bed leaving a spot of how turned on he's at the moment.

But, his first-most priority is her. It always was her maybe more than Chessie

"Happy my lil lioness?" He comes back on top of her arms digged on either side of her temple and she tries to squint from one eye pulling him to herself planting a rewarding kiss at his cheek, "how 'bout a pizza from Tommy's place?" He lays ontop of her (like half ontop of her and half on his side; just to share her warmth).

"Can I have an extra topping of olives, pretttyy pleaseee?" She makes a weird funny face to convince him, "but you're allergic to 'em." He frowns sitting up thumb hovering over the contacts popping on the screen. He has everything memorized she's allergic to; it's not much peanuts, olives and clay dough ( she claims that she ate it once when she was possibly 5 and it swelled her flesh up ) not that she's gonna nip at it now but Harry couldn't trust her cravings at all.

"But 'm craving them sooo baddd." She clutches the hem of his tattered shirt pouting but he retorts with the shake of his head intervining their fingers together to kiss her knuckles, "Nope moppet. We don't need another hospital visit at fou' in the morning like last time, do we?" She remembers it. A very angry Chessie at his doorsteps while he helped her walk inside this home post hospital visit.

"I hate this." She huffs folding her arms against her chest, "I know. How about we delay getting y'sick once babies are out?"

"You kidding?" Her mouth slacks turning into a widespread grin at last, "absolutely not. Pizza without olives yeah?" He smacks a kiss against her open mouth loudly before his phones rings at the pizza place.

Harry's the busy bee. From grocery shopping to making the list of all the organic food he needs to line up his pantry with, he took everything's responsibility on himself. Cause mama has a huge duty for wrapping two babies in her womb safe and heated. Even when she tries to bend down to put a plate in dishwasher he skates near her supporting her back and scolding her, "all you've t'do is eat and nap. Dunno fucks count 'cause we fuck alot — chill sweet baby. 'switch onto telly 'm bringing banana milk and cookies." She pouts because she doesn't want to be a burden on him. She wants to suspect any tiredness from his features — the way he's been on his trippy toes for her from eight and half months but how much she tries she couldn't instead he looks way more giggly and joyful than before with never ending dad jokes and teasing bum pats.

They indeed fuck alot. Harry loves that she's always sleepy and clingy — he thinks he's truly, deeply and madly in love with his lil penguin but they're in the middle of train's track whose destination is atlast confession of love but he wants to wait. He can't wait though. He's always been impatient and light from stomach can't sleep at night without sharing a word of his swimming thought with anyone. He shared it with Nialler, it was at three in the morning after Y/N sucked his cock dry with so much admiration for his prick he was bout to cry and blurt out but he didn't. Cuddled with her and oreo practically on his face then ringed his lad startling him up, "why did ya wake me up fo' something we all already know Harold? Do I've to teach ya lessons cause now that would be a shame to your kiddos." He grunted dropping the call leaving Harry baffled and alone to his thoughts again.

"Sweet angel . . " He cooes jarring the door to his room with his foot. She has moved in to his house, from guest room to his room and his heart. Told him she didn't like sleeping alone and gets the most amazing slumber squished up against his chest in his arms. He was ardent that she completes him. He's right. She does. Always had but this time it's till they're getting old and wrinkly.

Lilac walls glow from the telly's illumination and the flicker of light from their open wardrobe. His ears perks at a repulsive groan and his brows dips to tune into the situation, "what are ye' doin', pet?" He asks confused at the sight of Y/N in a funny position with a razor in her hand standing in the middle of their wardrobe trying to duck and see through her huge bump.

"'M tryin' to shave me legs — seems impossible though." She throws her head back to convey her annoyance and Harry chuckles placing the banana milk and the plate of dark chocolate cookies atop the drawer island taking her wrist which's holding onto the razor, "you don't 'ave to it's just a maternity shoot –- no biggie, moppet." She huffs. Their faces at level and intimately close to have a good stare in eachother's eyes.

"No biggie!? it's the first time I'll get to have someone take me pictures, all, personally fo' me." Her smile pouty as she tries not to break her disgruntled facade down.

"How 'bout the times, I was a victim of ye'r endless pictures taking sessions?" He squints down at her. Hands out of instinct fumbling by her sides to feel her warmth on his skin, "you were sooo shittt at that job."

"Kay, kay then, lemme just –- hand this razor, I'll shave ye'r legs pretty girl." Happily she shoves it in his grip while he knees down hiking her leg ontop of his knee. His pink tongue popping out in concentration. She trusts him in this because last time he was the one to shave herdown there. Taking a sip of her banana milk she taps the straw against his lips speaking, "a bestie in need is a bestie indeed." With his eyes on her ankle and his pretty hands which could make her come infinite times right now working so diligently, He gives her a high five taking a sip himself.

She breaks a cookie forwarding it to Harry and he looks up — so being all dramatic she acts shy and blushy turning her gaze away in a swift, "what baby?" He laughs putting her other foot on his knee his grip tight around her ankle.

"Don't stare at me calves like that you creep." He wipes away the crumbs from his lips giggling and making her giggle, "I've literally shaved your cooch days before." She jabs her big-toe against his nipple getting a high pitched squeak from a grown ass man in return.

"I hate you!" She says through the spurt of chuckles and his response in return turned both of them silent, "I know ye' love me." Their cheeks blazed. Eyes twinkling. Hearts doing lil dance dance but nobody from them tries to break the comforting silence knowing they'd word vomit the instant they'd.

They say "I love you." And "love you." in their normal routines without making it a mess of shyness. But the butterflies at that specific moment when the epiphany dawns on the pair that they really are in love with eachother makes their tummies float in void with butterflies.

"All done!" He announces enthusiastically kissing her knee like she's a princess in distress and the words burns at the plush of her lips, "love you."

"You too, lil penguin." He smiles boyishly.

"Oh fuck, I forgot we're gonna have shoot in our pyjamas." She yells in a low hum and he rolls his eyes slapping her ass, "rotten you're."

"Oopsies."

A maternity shoot in their back garden along oreo never seemed this fun when they were gushing about it days prior. Nialler gifted them cute baby pink coloured matching pyjamas with yellow peaches pattern, mommy and daddy embroidered on them. They even matched some fluffy kitten hats too!! A pair of yellow and pink with kitten ears with goggly eyes, big cheshire that of Oreo.

Their close friend Onna was all up for the shoot and nothing's more adorable than Harry's soft hands around Y/N's belly in a protective way, while they sat on the fluffy growing grass and cotton flowers. Her back resting against his taught chest, his legs wrapped on either side of her and oreo almost stretching atop her bump quenching loud belly ache laughs from them.

"Two pictures 'n 'm already tiredd, pff." She gasps shuffling a little to activate her sore bum and Harry pecks her shoulder cutely, "some more 'cause you'll grump later." Onna captures each every second of their tooth rotting interaction.

"Oi. I'll not!!" To avoid a banter Harry taps her chin pointing towards the camera speaking, "last one doll, one to show that we really are pregnant." Onna's laughing at their techniques. Shaking her head with each shot of overloaded sweetness she traps in her camera.

"I. Am. Indeed. Pregnant. Pet." She looks down with wide eyes rubbing her prodding tummy in circles, the top button litreally about to pop and Harry's face adorns with a naughty grin showing his bunny teeth, "Me too!!" He squeals rubbing his moth covered belly the same way she's doing and it sent both girls into fits of laughters.

"Sillllyyyyy." She sing-songs throwing an arm around the nape of his neck to bring him closer and smooch a loving kiss to his cheek, "you're gonna be the best dad." She whispers eyes closing into the diameter of his scent and he rests his lips against her forehead. Onna having a smile of adoration for her friends while she did her job, laying down to capture this one beautifully.

"Yeah?" His voice just audible to them. "Uhmm." She nods fiddling with the collar of his pyjamas and their bubbles pops when oreo tugs at Y/N's top revealing her graceful babies bump.

"You batty creature!!" She tries to grab oreo to smoosh her in her arms but oreo gallops miles away before it could happen.

The whole last night Y/N couldn't sleep. Tossing and turning with whines of complaints to a snoring Harry on her side. When Harry woke up she was already staring him like an owl scaring the poor thing, cause it wasn't a loving one. It was a proper creeping stare with baggy eyes and pouty lips, "can we have 'em out already?" She snuggles into his throat and he massages her head.

"In a week." He grogs out stroking his cheek against her's, "Have ya taken out all the required papers?" He asks her and she nods with a yawn. Today's the enrollment day for Y/N's next semester -- Harry will go to her UNI to talk to the administration instead of her.

"I'll be back in no time, till then try havin' a good rest, want some donughts from that one shop near ye'r UNI?" He thumbs at her baby locks. She shakes her head murmuring into his flimsy sweat shirt, "not feeling like it." Dunno what happened. She was alright after for finally her sickness went away but today she feels like shit because of her Braxton hicks climbing to painful peak.

Kissing her head last time he untangles himself to get ready and she watches him buttoning up his cuffs with his curl dangling over his eyes, he's looking handsome and a bit too out of her league with the crisp white shirt and chequered trousers.

He squats down pecking her lips. Her nostrils filling with cinnamon ocean-y smell soothing the tick of her nerves. Her body reacting to even the air pricking at her skin, "don't miss me too much, lil penguin." He gives her an eskimo kiss knowing she's feeling down and tired today the way she has her face squished into pillow and isn't trying even to cup his cheeks like she does everytime he leaves for something.

He puts her phone on the nightstand tugging her under the sheets, switching off the lamp and slowly exists the room not to disturb her. She doesn't know when he leaves but the pin-drop silence tells it all and she's half conscious half awake with fluttering eyelids.

She turns on her back with a groan to get rid of the dull ache in her pelvis and outer thighs — but then she feels something . . . . something wet between down there and it makes her snap open her eyes blinking blankly at the ceiling. Tries not to think of bad scenarios but it's otherwise.

"Holy cow of jesus." She fists the pillow under her sitting up with much difficulty and to her worst horrors the sheets are sploched badly. She stands up with her spine almost bending in two — staying calm and positive even when a heavy gush of water trickles down her legs soaking the rug. It has nothing attractive in it as they show in movies but rather feels like a dam leaking and a litreal adult peeing in their gowns.

She snatches the phone from nightstand putting a firm arm beneath her belly walking out of room, her maternity floral white gown clinging to her skin. A tinge of shock weaved through her bones but that didn't made her loose her balance. She wants to throw the phone against the wall when the line always beeps busy, "already missin — " his honey of voice bringing tears in her eyes.

"Get your ass back home!! Right fuckin' now!" She yells into speaker trudging forward with carefull steps. He pushes onto breaks hard, panicking into his seat, "What happened!?" He's quick in turning gears speeding back home. Her lips wobbles blue from pain and the unbearable throb between her thighs. Words struck in her throat as she tries to speak gripping the globe of stair railing leaning against it when a hard contraction striked against her spine.

"'M going into labour — " Harry's heart falls into his arse. His vision blurring from the intensity of the moment and he's thanking Gods for being five minute drive away from home. How many times they prepared for this time it all went in vain and now Harry's beating himself for leaving her side at all, "'m comin' home, it's okay baby, it's okay breath." His lips stammers from an invisible fear and fingers twitches around the wheel.

Wanted to shout at him "breath, my ass." Instead She gasps loudly in fright when she feels her cervix dilating to the maximum point and it did the last fireworks for her tears, "no, no, noo!!"

"'M giving birth!!" She shouts kissing her teeth together to keep the pain at the bay hooking a thumb into her panties, scrunching her dress up to press them under her armpits and squatting down with the heels of her palms pressed with so much strength over the last stair case, "what? oh my — 'm calling our midwife." She can feel a head trying to force it's way out from her vagina and it rakes out a sob from her chest.

"Please be gentle with mommy, 'm coming." Harry says and it comes out as a weak whisper while he drives sitting on the edge of the seat and Y/N's ears are ringing with white noise to even pay attention to what he's saying. Her gown drenching with sweat and she screamed at the top of her lungs pushing with her all might scaring a sleepy oreo in her bassinet, "Shit." He mutters tugging his curls back immediately calling their midwife. He wishes his babies could atleast wait for him to be there with their momma.

"Miss. Dori !! Y/N has gone into labour, 'm out, dunno —---" There's loud urgent shuffling on her side that of picking stuff and closing metal boxes as she assures Harry with firmness, "I'll be there in just 10 minutes, till then reach there as quick as possible. She needs you Mr. Styles." It collects sweat at the dip of his spine sky rocketing his anxiety. His breath elevating at the sight of his society's gate and if it was possible he'd have flown to her.

Parking hastily on the side of road and leaving his car's door open — dishelved he steps outside almost falling square on his face while the old couple that use to sit at their porch in mornings watch him with concern, "Is everythin' alright son?"

They ask and Harry nods yelling to them, "Y/N is in labour!!" His face blowing out of any color when his ears fills with painful screams of his lil penguin and his fingers jumbles with keys unlocking the door.

It's surreal. The realization not completely setting in that all of this's happening right at this moment, that he's going to be a daddy in some hours, Y/N hunched over the bottom stair squatting down with thighs wide apart and her gown soaked against her back. His breath knocks out of his lungs and eyes bursts into shock when he sees his baby's head pushing it's way out in between her legs.

"I can see it's head! I can see it's head oh m'godness." He announces rushing towards her and Miss. Dori guides him, "Harry help her pull it out, cup the baby's head and if it's shoulders are grab-able, have it out." He places the phone atop the stair sitting down beside Y/N kissing the side of her head quickly wiping her tears away.

"Hi baby, it'll be alright, 'm here now let's pull our bubba out mighty quick." He presses his chest to floor to look down there and if Y/N would have been in her good state of mind she'd have butt him in not to. His brows kinks tightly together as he tries to concentrate and not to pass out from the sight of blood and his blood covered infant half hanging in it's mother's v.

Gently he wraps his shivering palm around it's head and shoulder moreso figuring out if it could itself comes out, "push a bit more, moppet." She shakes her head furiously crying and trying with all her will, "It's hurts!!" He wishes the process wasn't that painful.

"I know, I know baby —- oh okay okay! We got him." He cackles through his worry taking him all out and in his arms having a good grip around it's tiny waist fearing it would slip. Y/N takes a huge sigh of relief muscles loosening and shoulders slumping. She could hear him sniffing close to her with little noises despite of how much she wants to hug him, she still has another one to bring out in the world.

"It's Elios." He grins with ablazed glossy eyes stroking his tweeny baby hair back. Though his excitement shatters into pieces as he cries to Miss. Dori, "He's not breathin, n'--not breathin' what do I do??" He has switched into his fight and flight mode. Fat tears spilling down his cheeks. Y/N wants to have him in her arms and make sure her baby's healthy but a hard contraction makes her bones jello with her another baby trying to pop out.

"Calm down Mr. Styles, Is his cord wrapped 'round his neck?" When Harry couldn't mutter a single word just shaking his head ear to ear staring down his little one with fear and sadness, Y/N screams for him, "No!!"

"It's nothin', clean his nose, it's probably some clotting blocking his breathing passage." Harry acts on her instruction without wasting a time and the threshold's walls bounced with prattle of his low coarse cries, "Oh my god!!" Harry gasps holding his baby boy closer to his chest not giving two fucks if his shirt and skin stains with thick blood.

In the meantime Miss. Dori and her assistant nurse tramps through their door. Cutting the cord Nurse takes Elios from Harry's arms and takes him for a cleanup as Harry leads her to their nursery. When he comes back Miss. Dori has their other bubba already out and it's worth watching him flying into clouds of paradise, full of glee, happiness, so much happiness has never experienced before.

"Hi. Victoria." He keeps his voice soft if she's a chinese porcelain doll and would break in his arms. He loves his son to core but the way his heart just swirled with fondness and love for his daughter the second she was layed into his embrace was something else. He's tender with her and from just gazing her it spurt out a sob from the deepest of his tummy, "she was so stubborn to come out rather than his brother." Miss. Dori tells him and his head perks up with proud adoration. Handing her to nurse he turns his gaze back to his exhausted lil penguin leaning against the wall now. And scoots closer to his bestfriend, the love of his life and the mother of his babies.

Hugging her warmly and affectionately, winding his arm around the nape of her neck to smoosh her into his chest while she cries against his throat. Being tender and the softest yet sweetest he could be with her, pressing his lips against her ear to whisper words that made her cry even more loudly into his bicep, "I love you, I love you more than anythin' in the world, 'm s' soo proud of ye' baby, me soulmate and the love of me life. I promise to love you forever and infinity." The world blurs around them and their heartbeats latches to sync in with eachother. The morning light cocoons them with softness and they don't care if they're sitting in a pool of blood, mess of the beautiful birth of their gorgeous twins.

"I love you too, so much." She hiccups pacifying down not wanting to never be able say them again as Harry runs a hand at her back, limbs still tangled with eachother, whispering sweet things to her while Miss. Dori pulled her placenta out, "Y/N?" He panics when she dulls in his arms head lulling at his shoulder and heartbeat slowing down to feeble a line. Gently pulling his face out from the cave of her neck he pats her cheek worriedly, again, at her unconscious state, her head dangling back over his wrist, "Y/N!?" His heart squeezing tight miserably into his ribcages when she doesn't respond to his calls.

"'M listenin', pet." She whispers smiling weakly and Harry's lungs nourishes with air, "Scared me baby love." He hugs her again with a wobbling pout and this time she tries to console him.

"Y'okay baby? Should we go to hospital? It's better if —--"

"'M okay!!" She simpers kissing the dip of his collarbone. Carefully he smoothes an arm down her back and knees picking her up bridal style to take her to their bathroom for a hot nice bath full of essential oils. He caress her face, trailing his knuckles down her cheeks, gazing her fondly while sitting down on the floor beside her with his one hand inside the warm water to lull around her calves.

"I love you, you've given me such beautiful babies. 'Ave ye seen Tori ? She's a proper you, that lil bunny mouth of yours, aish." He giggles and she squeezes his fingers in a silent gesture to tell him how happy she's. Drying her clean with a towel and moisturizing her body, making her wear her comfortable gown.

When he tucks her under sheets she babbles with droopy eyelids and tired body, "can I see my babies?" He smauches a kiss against her forehead, "After a teeny rest, yeah angel?" But, she was already out like a bulb making him chuckle softly.

Miss. Dori left the kind nurse behind with them till Y/N wakes up and with her help Harry lays down the twins on either side of their mommy. Deeply pondering how lucky he's to have his family completed and healthy, tucked into their mother's armpits.

He giggles and holds his breath in awe when Elio wriggles in his blanket, scootes his bum closer when Y/N yawns and stretches, "how ye' feelin'?" He brushes her loose tresses back and she nods attempting to sit up.

"Good." Thanking him when he gets comfy amount of pillows behind her, "wanna hold them?" He asks as she ducks down to kiss both of their soft skins.

"'M arms are still shakin' . ." She chuckles, "no biggie, I'll help ya out, a bestie in need is a bestie indeed." She giggles loudly startling Tori and Harry hushes her comically scooching behind her embracing her in a heated wrap from behind chin resting over her shoulder, "shh, gotta be quite with this one — such a light sleeper bub."

"This's Victoria Anne Styles and Elios Vincent Styles." He supports her one forearm with his's under: giving Elio to her and having Tori in his other, "are you presenting them to me as some kind of award for my bravery, pet?" She nudges him playfully and he shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Such nice awards, innit?" He gives her an eskimo kiss and she puckers her lips asking for a loving smooch of his candy lips, "absolutely."

They took their first nap together with Harry and Y/N on either side of bed with their babies in the middle of their warmth just like a nest of sparrows, safe, comfy and utterly snuggly with the couple protecting their dainty creatures of soft flesh from the storms of outside.

"C'mere baby . . " Harry usheres Oreo with the snap of his thumb as she tries to canoodle into the soles of his feet tickling him and she obliges his tone, "Good girl . ." His own voice tired petting her crown when she turns into a lil ball of fur beside Tori who's sleeping at her daddy's side, being ever hesitant and carefull with them making Harry smile at her thinking of giving her treats in dinner.

He almost slips from under the sheets when a shriek of cry jolts him awake and it's Tori crying loudly thrashing under the blanket while her brother kept on sleeping stretched over his mommy's chest, head tucked under her chin.

Ah! Here comes the real deal. Daddy Harry's about to face real challenges 'cause we all know he once promised that he's a big boy now, innit?

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all-the-love-harold · 5 years ago

Text

Chapter 3 - Christmas with the Cranks

Master Post

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings: None

December 25th 2019

Christmas was Poppy’s favourite day of the year, not because of the presents or even the food, it was having everyone she loved in one place that brought joy to Poppy’s heart. And this year it was even more special because for the first time since she moved to London six years ago, both her family and Harry’s were able to be there. With a fire roaring in the corner, the living room was filled with chatter and laughter. Linda and Anne were really hitting it off, like they had at the wedding, which, if she was honest, was still surprising to Poppy, since Anne was so lovely and Linda had a habit of being horribly self centred.Gemma and Addie were busy playing with Oli, whose giggles filled the space with so much joy that Poppy and Harry felt like their hearts could burst. The smell of Harry’s famous roast beef was slowly wafting into the room which had everyone’s stomachs rumbling, except Poppy’s. As soon as she found out that she was pregnant again, the morning sickness had set in, which had her wondering if it was all in her head.

“You good?” Harry asked, quietly, after noticing that her face had turned white for the fourth time that day . Poppy shook her head, quickly covered her mouth with her hand and ran off to the bathroom. The room went silent and everyone's eyes followed Poppy out of the room curiously and then they all turned to Harry.

“Is she OK?” Anne asked before anyone else could.

“Yep, she’s fine.” Harry nodded, turning on his heels “I’ll go check on her.” He walked out of the room and Oli toddled behind.

“Daddy!” Oli called after Harry as he walked down the hallway

“Hey buddy,” Harry crouched down so that he was on Oli’s level, wincing as he heard Poppy throwing up in the bathroom.

“Where’s Mum?” Oli said quietly moving closer to Harry

“She’s just in the toilet Bud, why don’t you go and show Nanna Anne your new blocks?”

“Yeah,” he smiled and ran off. Harry breathed a sigh of relief. That could have been much harder but the promise of time with his nan was enough to distract him.

“Can I come in Pop?” Harry knocked on the bathroom door once Oli was safely back in the living room. Poppy reached up and opened the door for him. He walked in and grabbed a cloth from the cupboard, soaked it in cold water at the sink, and draped it over Poppy’s forehead. “Everything’s ready to go, are you going to be OK to eat?” he said, sitting down on the ground next to her so that she could lean her head on his shoulder.

“That might fix the whole problem,” she admitted, smiling wanly, “your kid’s hungry.”

“Well Dad did cook them a mighty good meal,” he placed his hand on Poppy’s belly, laughing softly.

“I’m scared Harry,” she whispered

“Me too,” he said in hushed tones “but I’m trying to stay positive because they said the same things when you were having Oli and look how that turned out!

“But what if that was a one off?” Tears were forming in her eyes now, “what if I can never give you a baby?”

“Hey, hey, look at me, ” he waited for Poppy to turn her head so that they were looking at each other. “Whatever happens, as long as I’ve got you and Oli, I’ll be the happiest man in the world.” He wrapped his arms around her placed a gentle kiss on top of her head. Poppy wiped the tears from her eyes and sat up. “Let’s not leave them all waiting any longer.”

Harry stood and offered her his hand to help her up, “I’ll serve you round them up.”

The dining room was the most festive in the whole house. That’s where Harry had always put up the tree and this year, Poppy had decorated the table with red and green table runners, the fancy dinner plates that were only supposed to be for special occasions, like the Queen coming to visit, but since Poppy figured that that would probably never happen, Christmas was the next best thing. There were Christmas crackers at each setting and the velvet tones of Bing Crosby played softly from the stereo. With the whole family sitting in their places and the meal served on their plates, it looked like a postcard on the surface, but if you paid close attention, it wouldn’t take long before you notice cracks starting to appear. Harry stood and tapped his fork on his wine glass to get their attention.

“I’ll keep this short, I promise,” he chuckled and cleared his throat at the same time.

Linda scoffed, “Likes the sound of his own voice doesn’t he?” she whispered to John, loud enough for everyone to hear. Her cheeks were already flushed red, a sign of how much she’d been enjoying Anne’s homemade mulled wine.

“You’ve probably all heard enough of my voice to last a lifetime” he continued and stared straight at Linda, his green eyes piercing her with such intensity that despite the roaring fire, for a moment there was a palpable chill in the air. With a deep breath, Harry continued, “but I just wanted to thank the Thomas family for making the trip for Oli’s birthday and for Christmas it’s not an easy flight, so… Thank you for being here, we really appreciate your company and the same to the Styles and Twists, we see you all the time, but it means just as much to have you here. Uh, I’ve run out of things to say, so um, Merry Christmas and dig in!”

He raised his glass and everyone followed, even Oli who picked up his sippy cup and loudly called out “Cheers!” causing the entire table to erupt in laughter before they took their drinks. Poppy simply brought her glass to her lips to make sure no one was suspicious and put it down again right next to Harry’s hand so that he could subtly drink it throughout the meal. The table broke into smaller conversations, Poppy focused on making sure that Oli was eating, since it was his latest thing throw all this food on the floor and then ask for desert. Gemma spent the time talking to Addie about London and at the end of the meal Addie stood up and cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention.

“Since it’s Christmas and we’re all gathered here as one big family for the first time in ages, I thought it’d be the perfect time to tell you, I have some news.” She smiled at Poppy who watched her with excited pride and glanced nervously at her parents.

“Just before we left, I got my acceptance letter to The Norland College” she paused for a second before continuing “For Nannies” she paused again “In Bath”

“No” Linda interjected “No you’re not going”

“I’m 19 Mum, I’ve wanted to do this forever and Poppy’s here”

“No, I will not have another one of my children living away from home.You’re staying with me”

“Sorry Mum, but it’s not my fault Kai doesn’t visit you, or that Poppy moved over here the first chance she got. I’m doing this because I’ve always wanted to, and I’m not going to let you stop me, christ I don’t even want to go back with you tomorrow”

“You’re leaving tomorrow?” Poppy asked, confused because last she heard they were leaving after new years

“Yes. We changed our flights, I can’t stand being here any longer than I have to”

Harry and Poppy glanced at each other, both a little relieved that they wouldn’t have to spend the next week with them.

“I’m not going” Addie huffed

“Oh and where do you think you’re going to stay? You’re not a nanny yet”

John put his hand on Debbie’s shoulder “It’s ok love, she’s old enough to make these decisions herself”

“She can stay here” Harry said sternly, smiling at Addie “That room is yours Addie, for as long as you need it”

Linda took her napkin off her lap and threw it onto her plate “Well I might as well leave now then, you clearly don’t need your mother anymore” she stormed out of the room and left them in silence except for the sound of John huffing and puffing about as he followed her out.

“I should go fix that” Addie said eventually, standing up from her seat.

“Don’t” Poppy shook her head, “It’s not worth it, not when she’s in a mood like this, there’s no talking to her”

Addie didn’t say anything, but she sat down and Harry picked up Poppy’s glass of champagne and raised in the air, and the rest of the table followed.

“Congratulations Addie” he said, “You’re going to make a wonderful Nanny”

And just like that, the christmas cheer returned once again. Gemma was the first to pop her cracker but it wasn’t long before everyone was wearing a paper crown and laughing at the horrendous jokes that came with them. Even Oli laughed at the one about the penguin on the ice. He also thought it was hilarious when Anne bowed down to him in the crown and said “King Oli, I am at your service”

When the meal was over, they returned to the living room, to open presents and sing Christmas carols at the top of their lungs. Eventually Linda and John emerged from their bedroom, suitcases packed and ready to go. They didn’t say anything as they walked by, John simply waved and followed linda out like he always did. As they left Poppy stood from her place on the couch and chased after them.

“Before you go” she said to them just before they walked out the front door. Linda didn’t bat an eyelid but John turned around and smiled at her sympathetically. “I have something to tell you”

Linda huffed and turned around, “Make it quick we’re going to be late for our flight”

“I’m having a baby” Poppy said shortly “It’s early, I was going to wait to tell you but I thought you should know”

“Well congratulations” Linda said sarcastically, “You’ll be able to hire your sister to look after it for you. Because your mother won’t be” With that she turned around and walked out of the house, followed closely by John who turned around and mouthed a “congratulations” just before he closed the door behind him.

“Thanks for ruining Christmas” Poppy yelled as the door slammed behind them. She didn’t return to the living room where the festivities continued, for the first time in five years she’d had everyone she loved on one continent for christmas and it was her own mother that had ruined that for her. The tears started to fall slowly but before she knew it, she was sitting on the ground sobbing, like she’d just lost someone close to her. And in a way she had, her mother had effectively just walked out of her and her sisters lives without even a second thought. She was grieving the loss of a parent while she was still alive.

***

January 15th, 2020 - 4 Weeks

With Christmas and New Years over everyone had returned to their normal lives, the dullness that january usually brought with it had set in. Addie found herself a little lost, the idea of moving halfway across the world was far more exciting than the reality. With every one back at work and Oli back at daycare, she spent most of her days alone in Harry’s house, missing the summer she left behind at home. And on top of everything else, she barely had time to talk to her friends back home. It was an 11 hour time difference, so when Addie was awake they were asleep and vice versa. She hadn’t even told her best friend that she was staying in London for the foreseeable future.

“Addie, we’re going shopping” Poppy called as she walked in the front door after a short day at work.

“Don’t you have to be at work?”Addie called back, it was barely midday and she’d only just gotten out of bed she wasn’t expecting anyone home for at least another hour or two.

“No, I’ve taken the afternoon off , Ella’s there to answer the phones and I’ve done everything else that needed to be done today” Poppy walked into the living room where Addie was sitting

“OK” Addie nodded “and what or who do we need to go shopping for?”

“You.” Poppy said, matter-of- factly “All your stuff is in Australia and I don’t know about you, but I don’t really feel like asking mum to send it over…”

Addie’s stomach dropped at the thought of spending even a cent of the money she had left on clothes that she didn’t really need, since she’d just up and left her job “But I don’t have any money”

Poppy shrugged “It’s on us. And by us I mean Harry” she pulled his spare card out of her purse and held it up to Addie.

“Poppy, I can’t let you guys do that” she sighed and sat back down on the couch, “I’ll get a job and get my own stuff”

“Addie” Poppy sighed, “we’re not exactly struggling, I work full time in a very well paying job and Harry is Harry Styles, let us do this for you and if really want to get a job so you can stand on your own feet, then I’ll help you”

Addie thought on that for a second. She did need a few more things, in her wardrobe, another pair of jeans couldn’t hurt so that she could wash the pair that she’d been wearing almost everyday since they got here. “Are you sure? I’ll pay you back when I’m working”

“No need for that” Poppy nodded “Now what do you need?”

“Probably a few jumpers that aren’t christmas themed and maybe some jeans so I can wash these” Addie laughed

“That’s a good place to start” Poppy giggled “Shall we?”

Addie nodded and followed Poppy out the door “What about Oli?” she asked after just realising that Poppy didn’t have her son with her.

“Harry will pick him up when he finishes rehearsals”

“God I can’t wait until I’m settled and have a husband as good as him” Addie sighed, opening the car door and jumping in

“Whatever happened to Matt? He was your best friend right?”

“Yeah” her voice went quiet “He got a girlfriend though and stopped talking to me because she thought we were too close”

“Oh” Poppy sighed sympathetically “I’m sorry sweetie”

“Harry had girlfriends when you guys were friends right?”

“He did” Poppy kept her eyes focused on the road “and I had boyfriends”

“Did he ever do that to you?”

“No” Poppy shook her head “Kendall tried, but then he dumped her and married me”

***

February 18th 2014

After a week in her new flat Poppy felt more at home in London than ever, she had her own space and her own time to do what she needed to do for Uni and life in general and in a weird way, she felt even closer to Harry since moving out. They talked more now, and if Harry wasn’t over at the flat, they were texting about anything and everything. Which is exactly what was happening right now as poppy got herself ready to go to dinner to finally celebrate their birthdays.

What’s the attire for this occasion H? I’m not used to dressing for my birthday in Winter

Did you go to Pubs back home?

On the odd occasion, sure

Well wear what you would wear to the pub in winter

But with a few extra layers because you don’t know what cold is over there

Gotcha

What’s Kendall wearing?

She’s not coming anymore, there’s a fashion show she’d rather go to

Yeah, that sounds more important

She was with me for my real birthday

I guess

Do you want me to pick you up?

I think I’ll walk, I’m still trying to get to know the area

It’s just about snowing out there, you sure?

I’ve got gloves and a coat, might even break out that beanie you got me, but it might ruin my hair

Your hair looks great all the time, plus Lou will be there, she’ll fix it

I’m leaving now, I’ll buy the first round xx

The Spaniards Inn was closer to Harry’s than it was to Poppy’s but with her coat and gloves on she quickly made her way there, only taking the wrong turn once. The bitter wind struck her face and in the dark she felt like she was the runaway bride from a victorian romance novel, seeking shelter at the local Inn.

“Hi” she said to the bartender “Could I get five pints and a tequila on the rocks please”

“Coming right up” he poured the drinks and set them out on a tray that Poppy could carry to a free table, of which there were none . “Do you have a booking love?”

“Uhh yeah” Poppy nodded “Probably under the name Greenberg” That was the name that Harry used when he didn’t want to be found out and he never wanted to be found out.

He looked through the diary that sat next to the till and frowned when he couldn’t find the name, “would it be under another name?”

“Maybe Thomas”

“Nope” the bartender shook his head

“Twist?”

“Bingo” he laughed “we’ve got you on table 6 over in the corner, I’ll carry these over for you”

“Thank you” Poppy smiled and followed him to the table. It really was in the corner, and Poppy wondered if Harry had asked for that. This wasn’t exactly a quiet place, it was full and many of the people here were young, people that would know who he is. Poppy sat down and took a sip of her beer, taking in the space and a wave of sadness washed over her. It didn’t feel like her birthday, for starters it was cold and nothing about February in Australia was cold. But before she had too much time to dwell on her sadness, the rest of the party arrived, with smiles spread across their faces.

“Jesus Pop” Gemma said looking at the drink “Hope you plan on sharing those”

Poppy laughed shyly “They’re for everyone, and the tequila is for mr fussy over there”

“Mr Fussy is very thankful for his tequila” Harry smiled and kissed Poppy on the forehead “Happy Late Birthday Pop”

“You too H”

“It’s only two weeks off” Anne said

“Because someone” Poppy emphasised, looking towards Harry “had to go to LA”

“With his girlfriend” Gemma added in a childish tone

“Alright alright, none o’ that” Harry raised his hands in surrender. The sadness that had visited Poppy only moments ago had suddenly disappeared when she realised that it didn't have to feel like her birthday, being an adult meant that most years it probably wouldn’t feel like it, but she was surrounded by people she loved, who loved her back, and that was enough.

They scanned the menus and ordered their meals in between fits of laughter at one another. Lux and Harry stole the show after she insisted that she sat on his lap so that she could tell him all about her new doll. Their meals came and they were as delicious as Poppy had hoped and at the end of it all, Anne stood up and left the table, bringing a cake back with her. But Harry’s phone rang before the cake even made it onto the table, it was Kendall and he picked up immediately.

“What’s up?” he said softly into the phone “I can’t right now, I’m at dinner … my mum and Sister and Poppy ...no she’s not… we’re just friends...it’s her birthday too… I have to go, I’ll talk to you later”

“Are you done?” Gemma said sternly with raised eyebrows

“Sorry,” Harry cleared his throat “Cake!”

Anne shook her head at Harry and Poppy began to wonder if her and Gemma knew something she didn’t.

“Right you two” Anne pointed towards the two of them and moved the cake over so that it sat between them “Smile and then we’ll sing.”

Poppy leant over and kissed Harry on the cheek while he smiled at the camera. Poppy’s hand cupped his face and they burst into fits of laughter that almost blew the candles out.

“Happy Birthday to you…” Gemma began to sing to avoid a commotion

“Happy Birthday to you” everyone else joined in

“Happy Birthday dear Harry and Poppy

Happy Birthday to you”

“Make a wish Pop” Harry whispered before they blew the candles out together.

Harry cut the cake, and at the request of Lux, he and Poppy jokingly shared a kiss on the lips. But the timing couldn’t have been worse, because in the same second that their lips met, Kendall stumbled into the pub, locking her eyes onto their table immediately. Harry hadn’t seen her walk in, but he certainly heard her once she started shouting.

“Get off him!”

Poppy jumped, not expecting such a scene “It’s all in good fun” she said, trying to calm her down “the knife came out dirty so he had to kiss the closest girl, that’s the rules, right Lux?”

“Yep” Lux said shyly as she hid her head in Harry’s shoulder.

“That sounds like an excuse, you’re in love with him and it’s so obvious”

An uncomfortable silence fell over the table, like everyone drew in a breath at the same time and forgot to let it go.

“I think you should go now Kendall” Harry said harshly, like he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

Kendall pursed her lips, and turned around on her back foot, then she walked away.

The silence stuck, for a moment, until Poppy broke it “I’m not in love with you H”

He nodded and handed her a slice of the cake. “Happy Birthday Poppy”

***

“Matt didn’t even put up a fight” Addie said, trying to hide the tears that were now building up in her eyes. It wasn’t until now that she’d realised just how much she missed him and home, not that they were synonymous anymore.

“He’s not worth it then Ad” Poppy put her hand on Addie’s thigh “You deserve someone that’s going to drop everything when you fall pregnant with another man’s child and make that child his own”

“Yeah I don’t plan on getting knocked up to a stranger” Addie laughed

“Neither did I” Poppy pulled the car into its usual parking space at the radio one building because it was easier to park there than anywhere else in London.

London was bustling with people leading their busy lives and Addie and Poppy weaved their way in and out of the sea of people headed in the opposite direction to them.

“Where do you want to go Addie?” Poppy asked when they finally got to walk next to each other

“Is there a Primark around? I’ve always wanted to go there” She asked

“Really?” Poppy laughed

“I’ve heard good things!” Addie said

“Primark is like if Kmart and Cotton On had a baby” Poppy said a tone of distaste evident in her voice

“And they’re my two favourite shops back home” Addie laughed

“Alright let’s go then” Poppy shrugged

Primark was about a block away from where they were and Poppy lead the way, occasionally stopping and asking if Addie wanted to go into other stores. Addie knew that Primark was cheap, she knew that she would eventually be able to pay Poppy and Harry back when she got a job.

“You get whatever you want Ad, I’m going to go look at the kids stuff for Oli, he could use some new daycare clothes” Poppy said as they walked into the store

Addie nodded, immersed in her own world, and they parted ways. The kids stuff was up stairs and as Poppy stepped off the escalator the first thing she saw was the new born clothes and she couldn’t help but have a look at them. They were so tiny, it was hard to believe that anyone could be small enough to fit into them. She’d forgotten what it was like to hold a human that small, how fragile they feel and god she missed the smell, next to Harry’s cologne, the smell of a baby was her favourite smell in the world. She found herself staring at a pink baby grow with frills on the shoulders and even though she knew it was silly to hope for a daughter with her condition all she could think about for the last few days was having a little girl.

“I don’t think that will fit Oli” Addie said, standing over Poppy’s shoulder bringing her back down to earth

“But look how cute it is!” Poppy smiled, trying to play it cool.

“Someone’s broody” Addie rolled her eyes

Poppy took a deep breath, too excited to hold it in any longer. “Someone’s pregnant” she smiled, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She’d always hated keeping secrets.

“Holy shit” Addie breathed “Congratulations Pop” she wrapped her arms around Poppy in a big hug that felt like it lasted a lifetime.

“It’s early, like really early, I probably shouldn’t be telling you yet but I’m so excited”

“Does Harry know?” Addie let go of the hug

“He does, he’s more excited than I am”

“Were you trying? Or was it an accident again?”

Poppy let out a breathy laugh “No, this one was planned but we didn’t think it would happen this quick. We only started trying just before christmas”

“So is the timing going to work out with Harry about to start touring?” Addie asked, concern evident in her voice

“I don’t know, but it's way too late to cancel. He couldn’t do that to his fans ”

“Well you’ve always got a helping hand here Pop”

Poppy gigged “Our own personal Nanny.”

141 notes · View notes

heyyyharry · 5 years ago

Note

Blurb of Ria being possessive or protective of Harry?

It was Bring Your Dad To School Day and all the kids loved Harry and thought he was cool. At first, Ria was very proud, but then she got jealous and she didn’t want Harry to be the popular dad anymore.

“Daddy, let’s go to the aquarium tomorrow! Mum and Jas are going out with aunt Layla and Audrey, so we can—”

“Hey, sweetheart.” Harry grabbed her shoulders and got down on his knees in front of the little girl. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“About what?”

“About why you pushed Peyton earlier?”

“I didn’t push Peyton.” She snorted, but then Harry raised an eyebrow at her and she heaved a sigh. “Fine. I pushed Peyton.”

“Because she was sitting on my lap?”

“Yeah.” She nodded after a moment of thought. “And you said she had a nice bow.”

“I was being nice, love.”

“So that was a lie and you hated her bow?”

“It doesn’t matter if I thought Peyton had a nice bow.” Harry tossed his head back and laughed as he cupped her pouty face and kissed her cheek. “My Ria is number one in my heart. She’s my favorite girl in this entire world and I love her so so much. Just don’t tell mummy that, she gets jealous sometimes.”

“I won’t,” Ria said, grinning from ear to ear. “I love you too, daddy.”

“That’s my good girl,” Harry said as he got up and took her little hand. “I promise we’ll have the best time at the aquarium tomorrow.”

Ria’s face immediately lit up with excitement. “Maybe we can buy one of those giant stuffed penguins too! Peyton has one of those and she keeps bragging about it.”

“Okay, sweetie.” Laughing, Harry picked her up and opened the car door. “But we should also not tell your mum about that until…after we’ve bought it.”

“Got it!”

#flatmate talk #flatmate blurbs #ria #harry styles fluff #harry styles blurb

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thegreenfairy13 · 6 years ago

Text

Growing Up Together

This was written for the @dwsecretsanta for @jemsauceonice, who wanted Tentoo x Rose being domestic, a big revelation and a party. It turned out less fluffy than I originally intended but it's absolutely a happy fic. I hope you'll like it.

Happy Holidays!!

“Do we really have to go?”

Rose glances at the mirror, sees the man standing behind her. His hair is mussed, standing up in all possible and impossible angles, face still flushed from a recent shower and freckles visible quite prominently.

Heaving an exhausted sigh, she inspects the crossed “Cs” decorating her mascara much longer than exactly necessary. Not answering, she starts applying her lipstick. It’s a matte rose color, matching the natural shade of her lips. A couple of years ago, her make-up used to be over the top: too loud, too shrill, too much. Now, it’s more sophisticated, toned five notches down and truly elegant.

Rose Tyler has grown up. Her life forced her to. Despite what one could think when being faced with the petite blonde, the woman standing in front of the mirror is a fierce warrior. She had been in the center of a battle more than once, has faced the extinction of entire planets, has fought and bleed for the salvation of countless species more times than she can count. Rose Tyler broke through the walls of the universe to save all of creation but she had been selfish, too. If she’s being entirely honest, she fought for this universe and all the other universes to be with the man standing behind her. The one who’s currently pouting like a three-year-old child about to taste broccoli for the first time.

She never thought it would be easy when he promised her to accompany her to her universe, to live an ordinary life without a ship that could travel through space and time and the lack of adrenaline rushing constantly through his veins. She never thought it would be so hard, either.

It’s no use denying the Doctor is bored out of his brilliant mind living on the slow path. He’s tied down to one planet when the whole universe used to be at his beck and call. The ordinary world is much less terrifying than one would believe, it’s mundane and days tend to develop certain routines.

He’s a teacher now at the university and working in research for Vitex industries. Now and then some aliens would visit Earth but mostly, it’s peaceful. Constant imminent threats are a thing of the past, and the Doctor is struggling to adjust to this life that consists of family gatherings, meetings and fine dinners in exclusive restaurants.

Rose misses the old adventures, too. But unlike her Doctor, she has adjusted. This new life, at the side of her father, offers new opportunities, new chances to do good, to have some impact. The Doctor can’t see that, yet. But she can see it. Sometimes you don’t have to save an entire universe or a planet, sometimes just making the life of one human being better suffices - it has to.

Maybe it’s something entirely else, Rose muses. When the Doctor previously would jump in to save the day and move on, leaving anyone behind to deal with the consequences without ever looking back, he’s now condemned to observe the effect of each of his actions. Be they small or big.

“Honestly, Rose,” he carries on. “Wearing a tux is bad luck. Bad things happen when I’m wearing a tux. Like, a war would start or aliens would try conquering the Earth, again, or…”

“I bought you tailcoats,” Rose interrupts. Giving him a pointed look, she turns around. It’s the expression she usually has reserved for stubborn Daleks. Seeing it directed at him, the Doctor swallows heavily.

“I’ll look like a penguin,” he laments weakly.

“Everybody loves penguins,” Rose shots back, already slipping into her dress. It’s made of black velvet, high necked but short enough to show off her well-formed legs. The mixture of sexy and chaste convinced her to buy it. She smirks when her Doctor’s jaw slackens.

“They are cute, Rose. Cute! I’m not cute, I’m a time-traveling alien, defender of the multiverse, number one race driver on Gelemitanta six but not cute.”

“Right, you’re adorable,” she replies, giving him a tight grin while sliding her left foot lasciviously into her heel. She can see his cheeks burning, eyes following her movements wholly enraptured.

“Please, it’s going to be so boring. Pleasant, empty conversations on numbers, company’s performance, politenesses being exchanged to the point of pain and plans to increase profit. That’s downright torturous. We could go out instead, stargazing on the Mehir-hills. Today, we’ll be able to see some shooting stars. Not that they are shooting stars but remnants of the war from 567/omega. Rose, can you imagine the Merkerans and the Helphaistons conducted a war over a movie?! Their kings disagreed over the cast of the leading role and dragged their people into this pointless argument until I stepped in. Uh, or we could go into a movie. There’s a new Ryan Reynolds film. You like the actor, don’t you?” There’s a little manic light shining merrily in his eyes, the one that tells her he's out for adventure - or just being evasive on doing something domestic. God, how he hates that word. Domestic.

“You don’t know if that war ever happened in this universe,” she replies. The moment the words have left her mouth, she knows it was a mistake saying them. Her man’s shoulders slump and a defeated expression crosses his face. It’s like all the energy he’s constantly vibrating from is being drained.

Rose squints, trying to calm herself down. He’s being like that since arriving in what he still calls Pete’s world - peppy one moment, depressed the other. He’d do anything not to entangle himself too much with the ordinary world. Sometimes, he’d sweep her away for gorgeous dates, sometimes he’d whine and pout.

The TARDIS coral given to them by the other Doctor wouldn't grow, probably never will and the realization slowly sinking into this Doctor, is outright painful to watch. Actually, she’s terrified it will drive them apart.

Straightening her shoulders she turns to face him. Pressing a soft kiss to the tip of his nose she says, “please, it’s important we show up at the Vitex Christmas party.” Biting her lower lip and giving him her best puppy eyes, she convinces him to cave in. She wonders how long he’ll still relent before buying a surfboard and a jeep and leaving her behind. Tonight, the trick still works.

The Christmas party is like everything Pete does: over the top. He’s got ice sculptures, crystal decorations, desserts decorated with gold, tons of caviar, champagne that is worth more than Rose’s first car, rare wines, and cigars worthy of Winston Churchill. Pete greets each of his guests like old friends, remembers all the names and is - unlike her Doctor - the politest man one could imagine. Naturally, her Doctor has absolutely no understanding for such behavior. To him, these people are traitors, corrupt and only care for their own profit. Of course, he’s right to some extent but during the years Rose has spent hopping through dimensions and navigating the enterprise along with her new found father, she gathered a new understanding about what it means to have a legacy worth fighting for. Vitex will live on long after Pete is cold and dead. And it’s not just that. There are jobs on the line too. Thousands of people rely on the enterprise doing well, entire families live and eat thanks to Vitex products.

Besides, the Christmas party isn’t only about exchanging pleasantries - it’s also meant to introduce Rose officially as the future vice president. Unlike a few years ago, Rose isn’t riding the high moral horse, she’s overlooking certain flaws in Pete’s guests, arranging herself with the mistakes they made and probably will make. But it’s alright, cause the bigger picture matters and not some small detail, right? Plus, growing up also means to compromise, to accept that the world wasn't black and white but all shades of grey.

Of course, her Doctor would not ever share that train of thought. In this regard, he's still like a child. And as much as she loves him for being him, she also loathes that unforgiving streak of his.

As a reaction, he wanders off like she used to do all the time. And of course, it’s the port that catches his interest. And of course Pete only just offers the finest, sweetest there is to be found. Eyeing him suspiciously, she observes him drowning two glasses quite quickly. He's halfway through a third one, when Rose strides over, laying her hand on his. “It's quite heavy,” she warns.

The Doctor downs his glass, directing a wide grin at her. It’s all teeth and lacking any warmth. “I’m a Time Lord, Rose,” he chides. “I can metabolize alcohol much better than humans,” he scoffs. “Besides, that’s only wine - hardly more exciting than water.”

Rose leaves him be, frustrated, climbs the podium to hold her speech. Looking down at the crowd, she sees him dancing without restraint, black bow tie already hanging askew. Dipping back a gorgeous blonde woman, he earns himself a couple of scandalized hisses in the process.

The Vitex heiress should be jealous, yet she isn’t. It’s not his fault. It’s hers. She has changed so much while he is still the man he used to be, the one she literally loves more than the universe.

Finding his eyes in the crowd, the other woman still in his embrace, she starts holding her speech. “A few years ago, I would have never felt being worthy or being ready of being given the chance to manage a multinational company. I would not have been worthy of being given that chance. Yet, I was lucky enough to meet people who would believe in me. My father Pete, of course, my mum Jackie but above all - my Doctor.” Swallowing heavily, she directs an insecure smile at him, fidgets with her earring that is much smaller than it used to be.

“He met me when I felt worthless, when I was worthless and he gave my life it’s meaning back.” Holding his gaze, Rose makes sure he knows she’s being sincere, not only giving a show for the investors. Noting he’s still holding the other woman, his hands drop to his sides and he takes a step away from her, starts straightening his bow tie. “

“He showed me what I could be and what I could achieve. He’s the best man and he gave me a life I would have never had. Unfortunately, I can’t give my man the life he deserves in return.” Rose’s voice wavers as she says those words for she knows they are true. Her Doctor, the man who cherished his freedom above all, is now being trapped and it’s her fault. She should have known he could never be happy on only one planet, should have dragged him back to the TARDIS, should…

Sobering up and holding back the tears, she pushes through the last few sentences. ”But thanks to him, I can lead my dad’s company into the upcoming decades, I can make sure all our employees will have secure jobs and with our combined efforts, we can work on preserving this planet we all live on. Thank you!”

On unsteady feet, she makes her way down, right into her man’s waiting arms. He looks solemn and Rose thinks that must be it. He’ll confess that living with her was a mistake. Readying herself for the heartbreak, she sucks in a deep breath. Scooting a hand through his luscious hair, the Doctor opens his mouth yet is being interrupted by someone congratulating Rose on her promotion.

“I didn’t like your speech,” he then blurts out. “You were never worthless, not even when working for Henrik’s.”

“I know you’re unhappy,” she interrupts. “Don’t deny it.”

“I,” he swallows, looking away. “I miss my old life. And I’m being rude and I drink too much when I shouldn’t.”

“And you dance with other women,” Rose notes.

“Woman,” he corrects. “It was only one.”

“For now.”

“But I'm trying.” Holding up one hand, he silences her. “I'm not a good man, Rose. I did terrible things in my life. And you have to stop believing you're not good enough. For you are.” Stepping back, he gives her an admiring once over. “Look how far you've come. How confident you are. You have grown up, evolved while I'm still struggling.” He barks out a humorless laugh. “Nearly a thousand years old, me, but you are the adult.”

“And where do we go from here?” Rose wants to know, voice small.

“I don't know, Rose. But wherever, I want to go with you. I guess, what I'm trying to say is, I want to grow up with you. Want to grow old, if you still want me, that is.”

Getting down on one knee, he produces a small black box from his pocket and Rose's heart stops. “I guess what I'm trying to say is, would you marry me?”

She nearly can't hear him over the applause crashing over them and the roaring in her ears. Still frozen in shock, he slides the ring on her finger.

“I sincerely hope that was a yes,” he mumbles anxiously.

“I crashed through the walls of the universe to be with you,” she says, still frozen, in lieu of an answer.

“And I turned human,” he retorts, mouth twitching.

“So.”

And then they both double over in laughter, irritating Pete's guests thoroughly but not caring about them at all. They were engaged and whatever life would throw at them, they would manage it together.

#dwsecretsanta #Jemsauce #Tentoo x Rose

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quinlin-blog1 · 6 years ago

Text

The Lost Island ~ Chapter Three

Today is the day! We were taking our stuff out to our family’s large van.

But it was a slightly depressing day. Lily and Lysander have insisted on following me anywhere, like I was going to just disappear without saying goodbye, Uriah insisted on playing action figures with me all morning, and Maya refused to let me put her down, no one else could carry her but me.

“Addy!” Lysander little voice cried.

“Yeah Buddy?” I asked.

“You won't be here for my birthday,” he told me. I had already thought this through.

“Ah-ha! Being the amazing older sister I am, I've already gotten you your present, but you have to wait to open it.” I handed him a pre-wrapped present.

“But it won't be the same without you Addy,” he said tearfully

“Come on E.T It won't be that bad!” I said using his nickname “Maybe I can even convince the headmistress to let me come home for your birthday,” I offered.

Lysander hugged me and kissed my cheek.

“Ew! Brother Germs!” I exclaimed as he had done several days before.

The drive wasn't too tediously long, but in my point of view it was too short. It was only about ten minutes.

When we reached the port, and walked in I turned to my parents and family, close to tears.

“I'm going to miss you,” I choked out.

“We are too. But you can visit on birthdays, Christmas and spring breaks, always write and video chat. You'll be fine” My mother soothed, pulling be into one of her famous bear-hugs.

I then turned to my father, neither of us said anything but we hugged each other. Completely silent. No words were needed.

After I let my father go, from what seemed to be ages. I turned to my youngest brother. Uriah looked up at me, eyes brimming and over flowing with tears.

“Addy? Where're you going?” He asked innocently, though I had already told him several times.

“Addy has to go away for a while” I said speaking in third person “But Addy's going to be back soon OK?” I told him. I wiped away the tears that were streaking his face and pulled the small, five-year old boy into a hug.

I now turned to Lysander, who was still clutching the wrapped present tightly to his chest.

“Now remember, don't open it until your birthday, alright?” I asked him.

He nodded and hugged me. I picked him up slightly as I wrapped my much larger arms around the small Eight- year- old boy.

I didn't even have enough time to look at Lily before the ten-year old girl threw her arms around my neck, sobbing into my shoulder. I knew that I shouldn't have, but I felt guilty for leaving.

“I need you to hold the fort down alright? I'm relying on you to take care of everyone, be my informant. Make sure Maya doesn't chew CD's, that Lysander is playing nice and that Uriah is brushing his teeth OK?” I asked her as she silently nodded to all my words, still crying into my shoulder.

I took Lily a few more minutes to gather herself. When she did I reached behind my neck and unhooked one of the necklaces I was wearing. It was a simple chain with a small, glittery hair-bow that I had been given when I was five years old. I hooked to necklace around my little sisters neck a kissed her forehead.

During the goodbye, Maya had let Mum hold her, now my mother handed the small baby to me. A single tear ran down my face as I looked at the girl. Instead of me wiping away her tears like I had done for Lily, Maya reached up with her small hand and wiped away the tear that had made its way down my cheek. I think my mother want to picture us but didn't bring the camera. Personally, I am glad that she didn’t take a picture. I really didn’t want to have this sad moment documented for the rest of my life.

“Now. Be good for Mother and Father. Don't tear anything up. And behave. Listen to Lily and I'll be back for your birthday. I promise.” I said. My breath was catching by the end of it.

Maya, to my surprise, nodded like she under stood what I had told her. I hugged her close one last time and turned to see Catherine and Crystal saying goodbye to my parents.

I gave Maya to my mother. We all stood back and waved. This was it. We were leaving.

By the time we were settled on the boat, we were exhausted.

We were all in my room, preparing to just relax.

Alex was laying sprawled on the floor, already asleep.

Crystal was playing with Sparkle, her penguin.

Catherine was doing more research on the school.

And I was playing angry birds on my mobile. Soon enough we fell asleep. Not knowing what tomorrow would bring.

I awoke to the boat rocking uncontrollably. I got up shakily and looked out the window to see lightning striking the water close to the boat. Too close to the boat for my comfort. I went over to Catherine and Crystal, falling over onto the floor next to them as I did so. I shook them awake and they looked around sleepily, but then the boat lurched again and they were startled into full awareness.

The first thing we did, without even thinking was run to the front of the ship, trying to find the captain. Many other people had had the same thought.

All around us were families, couples young and old even crew members, freaking out, trying to grab onto the railings of the boat as the waves crashed onto the deck.

The three of us watched horrified as people were washed away by the water and pulled under the boat. I had never seen anything like this before and I knew that Catherine and Crystal had not either, probably since the only time we had ever been on a boat was the time where we had gone on speed boats with slides on the end with my family.

I turned around to see Crystal leaning over the ledge, throwing up, while Catherine had finally found the captain and was trying to get something out of him. I turned in three complete circles before I finally figured out what we were missing, or in this case whom. Alex had gone missing, so was Twilight.

“Alphs!” I said smacking her on the shoulder to get her attention. She looked at me.

“Alex is gone,” I signed to her. The captain looked at us curiously.

“Go find her. I'll meet you at the boats with Bets,” she instructed me and I nodded then ran.

I ran, yelling for Alex, trying to find her. Helping a few different families along the way. People were struggling, throwing up, freaking out or running. I saw a group of screaming, rampaging people in the dining hall.

“HEY!” I screamed And They all turned their heads to me.

“You all need to calm down! Stop running around like chickens with your heads off isn’t going to help, and screaming until the people around you are deaf and your voice is lost is the worst possible thing to do!” I shouted at them and they looked guilty and extremely insulted.

“And why would we listen to you!?” One raged voice from somewhere in the crowd asked

“Because I'm obviously the only one with the slightest brains about our situation!” I snapped back.

“But you’re only a child! Why should we listen even if you have brains?!” another asked.

“Because I can keep my head around things in the worst. I've lost my friends sister and I should be looking for her! But instead I'm stuck here arguing with you! So get to the life boats!” I could feel my eyes tingling and my eye sight was clouded over by a golden film, exactly like what had happened a few days before, once I was able to see I noticed that all the people filling the room or most of them at least, had the same golden color filling their eyes, then they looked around began to do exactly what I had told them to do, despite their reservations. Strange….

“Sissy! Check the arcade!” Cal suggested.

Why didn't I think of that before!

I ran towards the arcade, calling out Alex's name. When I arrived, I saw Alex with two other boys who looked to be around my age.

“Alexandria!” I shouted.

Alex turned to my voice, and ran to me. The little blind girl jumped into my arms and held onto me as I hit the wall from the boat rocking. Twilight scrambled towards me nudging me affectionately with her head.

“Thank you,” I stated to the boys that were looking after her.

“Don't worry about it. She had lost her way. She told us she was blind and we were trying to help her when the boat started rocking. What's happening anyway?” one asked.

“My friend, her elder sister is figuring that out, she's talking to the captain right now.”

“Cathy's OK?” Alex asked hearing my words.

“Her and Crystal and going to meet us at the life boats. Bets is a little sea sick but their otherwise OK. I would have been here sooner, but the dining hall was filled with morons,” I said.

The boys chuckled. I walked over, still holding the little nine- year- old girl.

“Adriana, but I prefer to go by Ads or Addy,” I put my hand out as I introduced myself.

“Sean. That's Dylan my younger brother.” Sean introduced himself and Dylan.

The boat lurched and the lights went out, the only light was what was coming from the lightning outside. I gestured for them to follow and we ran towards the life boats, Twilight following closely in pursuit.

Catherine’s point of view. When Adriana left.

I was speaking with the captain. Correction. Trying to speak with the captain.

We had to have Crystal come and translate for us after she finished hurling.

Adriana just told me that Alexandria was gone and I felt my world shift, though I kept my strong facade, I was worrying about my baby sister. Adriana had assured me that she would find her, if there was anyone that I would trust to run that through, it would be Adriana.

After my five minute long struggle to get something out of this idiot that was the captain, people started rushing up and they pushed me out of the way. Being deaf I couldn't hear what they were saying. So, Bets helped me up and we headed towards the life boats. I did not understand how small rubber boats were going to save us until I saw one. They weren't actually life boats, they were six person, little submarines! But they weren’t really submarines, although I never did find out what they really were. They were small enough to be about the size of a large van when they had gone under all the pressure. I was assured now that they would work. Thank who ever may be out there!

I tapped my foot on the ground waiting for Adriana and Alex to come back.

When they did, they had two boys with them.

“That's Sean, that Dylan. They were helping Alex” Adriana explained briefly, trying to tuck her soaking wet brown/blue hair out of her face. I nodded and smiled at them. They waved and Adriana told them something and they nodded understandingly.

“My name is Sean that's Dylan as Adriana told you” Sean Signed to me. Dylan seemed to be a bit shy.

“You know sign language?” I asked.

“I was bored as a child,” he said simply.

I turned to my little sister and hugged her. It was hard for us to communicate because she was blind, so since she could hear and I could see we used a special code that we made. Though Alex can see by using her hearing.

After I let Alex go, a little reluctantly, I went into the submarine, it had a small auto-navigational system, thanks who ever made it for that. Adriana led Alex in and helped her buckle in, Sean and Dylan got in next, buckling themselves in quickly, asking if any help was need.

“Just stay safe and help Dell” I said simply. Crystal was fiddling with some buttons next to me.

I looked back to see Adriana tucking Alex on to a bench, she was close to sleeping. The boat surged and lunged I quickly unlatched us and we started to free fall, when we hit the water the auto system took over. Adriana had closed the hatch and we were going under water. I felt lucky in that moment that I did not have to do much in the way of driving because I did not think I’d be able to if I tried for months.

“That was a rush,” Adriana stated breathlessly.

“No kidding,” Sean stated.

“What even happened?” Dylan asked.

“From what I got out of the Captain, the storm interfered with the systems and knocked everything out of order. The lightning struck the helm of the ship and knocked everything to bat poop. The waves began to get crazy and so big that they rocked the boat.”

“It's amazing how fast thing escalated. When I woke up it was calm and quiet. Dylan and I went to the arcade to play a few games when the boat started shaking, that’s when Alexandria came into the room she explained to us that she was blind and we waited there trying to figure out what was wrong” Sean explained to us.

I watched from out the window at the waves.

About fifteen minutes later I saw the boat that we had only just escaped from drop all the subs and only moments later did it become over taken by a wave and slink into the ever-lasting oceans that we were in. My eyes widened as did they others, we were all silently hoping that everyone had made it off the rocking death trap.

“This is going to be all over the news,” Dylan stated quietly.

“It probably already is. Our parents are going to freak out,” Adriana stated. Her lips were moving slowly, as she was making sure that I could understand what she was saying.

I wondered how my mother was feeling about this. My mother may be a little cold hearted. But she is my mother and she loves both Alex and me.

I could only imagine what Elena is feeling right now. She probably worried sick about Crystal.

And then there’s Adriana’s parents. They probably would have told Lily, Lysander and Uriah by now. I could only imagine how there feeling. Poor Maya.

I swiveled my chair around to see Crystal trying to hack into something using her laptop. I could hear the keys on the keyboard going tick tick tick tick tick.

“It's no use Delly. I’m not going to be able to do anything without signal, we're in the middle of the Indian Ocean and I can't do anything,” Bets said softly.

That did it for Adriana. She screamed out in rage and threw Crystal’s laptop at the wall, it bounced and landed on the floor, smashed. She continued to hit the wall, screaming out to, lord knows where and crying.

I was shocked. Adriana never cried. She always said she doesn’t like crying in front of people, she thinks that it makes her seem weak and vulnerable.

But here she was, completely breaking down at the mere thought of never seeing her family again.

Adriana’s crying knocked me out of my thoughts.

I quickly checked on everything and went over to where she was balling. She was screaming on curse words through her cries, her Aussie accent came through most when she yelled. Crystal and I both walked up to her and wrapped her up in a hug.

Sean and Dylan were trying to figure out what was happening, then decided to go to the front to monitor things. Alexandria was still asleep, though how she slept through Adriana's rage fit I have no idea.

Adriana was whimpering between Crystal and myself. I did not know what to do. Crystal was already on it.

“Delly? It's OK to cry,” she said softly. “I can't tell you that I’m feeling the same way. But I know that you are broken up about it, but we're going to make it out of this alright? You are going to see then again and when you do you'll see that I was right. I promise that everything will be fine. Catherine and I are here for you. We want to help you. You can cry, scream, punch, whatever you like! Just know that we're here for you. We love you Delly” Crystal comforted.

Adriana looked up at us, I almost made me cry. She looked so afraid and small, frail and fragile even. She threw her arms around our necks, hugging us tightly. Repeating “Thank you” Over and over again, mumbling it so quietly that I could barely understand it.

“It's true Dell. We'll always be there for you. And we will get out of this.” Although I wasn't sure of my words.

Adriana looked up, smiled, wiped the tears from the face and reached for her bag.

In that bag laid her laptop.

“Now's not the time for games Delly,” Crystal joked

Dell rolled her eyes and put on the maps.

“So, if we estimate that we're about here,” Dell signed, pointing to a place in between Australia and Europe. We were closer to the coast of Australia than Europe.

“Then we have a choice to either go back to Australia, or find that school. Where exactly is it Alphs?” Adriana asked.

“It was somewhere off the coast of Europe, the site wasn't very helpful when it came to exactly where” I sighed. It was true! No matter where I went, the websites never said where it was located, it was much less than helpful.

“Well that's less than helpful,” Crystal sighed.

“But if the school's expecting us then we'd better go. They'll be able to contact our families from there. It'd be better if we went,” Dylan reasoned.

“I agree.”

I walked over to where Dylan and Sean were sitting, trying to sort out the dry supplies from the wet ones.

“Need any help?” I asked. I couldn’t hear my words, I knew they must have been slightly messed up. It took a long time for me to learn to talk properly, a shorter time to learn how to read lips. Instinctively, I moved my fingers and hands to form the words that I was speaking.

“No, we got this. Go get some rest. We'll wake you in a couple of hours,” Sean reassured me. I guess I came out clear enough.

I nodded and smiled at them before laying down next to Alexandria and going to sleep.

Crystal’s point of view.

We had been on the sub for almost a week. Adriana had taught Alex all the card games that she knew, Sparkle, Dennis (Catherine’s bunny) and Twilight were always running around, though there wasn’t much room to do so. I tried to keep the mood happy. But as the week progressed my efforts were fruitless.

I heard a scream and I quickly got up and looked at Catherine who had screamed. I, too, then scream in surprise.

There, in the middle of the slightly deformed sub, was a woman, about five foot nine. Greying blonde hair tied up in what looked to be a painfully tight bun. Her face was wrinkled and worn, her brown eyes were dull and strict.

“How the Devil did you get in here!?” Adriana demanded.

“Language young lady, we do not tolerate that sort of language at Cartemen.” It took me a moment to realize that that was the name of the school. She worked there.

“Pardon my French,” Delly said sarcastically. Signing it too so that Alphs under stood.

“Excuse my friend” Catherine took over, her hands moving to make words like they usually did when she spoke. “But we're a bit confused as to how you got into this submarine. We've been stuck here for a while trying to get to your school”

“I know. I am here to take you there. I am Professor Mallora Dunchra, I am the headmistress of Cartemen.”

“How did you get in here?” Adriana repeated her question.

“We will have a lot to explain to you once we get to the school. I assume that you are Catherine and Alexandria Towle, Crystal Bray, Adriana Langster and Sean and Dylan Hook?” We all nodded “You have pets with you?” Catherine, Adriana and I nodded “Well then. I will take Sean, Dylan, Alexandria and the animals first, then I will return for you three” She said simply and suddenly with a blinding flash, that made Adriana, Catherine and I cover our eyes, Alex, Sean, Dylan, Twilight, Dennis and Sparkle were gone. We uncovered our eyes and blinked away the spots dancing in front of our eyes.

“Who the Hell was that?! How the Hell did she get in here?! And where did she take them!?” Adriana bellowed/signed.

“I don't know Dell, I really don't. But I think we should follow her,” Catherine stated.

“Well I don't like her,” Adriana pouted crossing her arms.

“Either way we have to go,” I stated.

“I wonder what'll happen to this place after we leave. I want to keep it. I wonder if she'll be able to transport it to where ever we're going so that it can be there if needed.” Catherine told us.

“It would be nice, we're familiar with all the controls already. We'll have to ask,” I suggested.

It was a few minutes before Professor Dunchra returned in another blinding flash of light.

“What will happen to the sub?” Catherine immediately asked

“We will leave it to drift where-ever it may,” Professor Dunchra shrugged

“You can't just do that! Not only is it a waste of perfectly good technology! It's littering! It'll eventually deteriorate leaving the ocean with random circuits washing around!” That statement the Professor made had an impact on Catherine, she was always the one that was against littering and pollution, she had a lot of knowledge about it too, and it was her passion to try to help people see things like this.

“They will deteriorate like you said,” Professor Dunchra said simply “What's any more going to do?”

Is it just my extremely over-active imagination or was Catherine just about ready to pull out her power point presentation and give lecture? Damn the otters and back if we were going to let her, we would be here for ages and I wanted to get out of here.

Hmm... Otters. I don't think I want one any more. I mean their cute and all but I must admit the obsession is very pointless.

But obsessing over baby ferrets isn't! I mean they are so cute and they are really smart! Who would want one!

“I want a baby ferret,” I said.

Catherine and Adriana looked at each other and shook their heads while Professor Dunchra looked confused.

Without another look, the professor shook her head and we were sucked into something and I felt sick.... Again.

Adriana’s point of view.

When we were pulled out of the light thingy ma-bobber, Crystal ran over to the nearest fountain (Which coincidentally was only a couple of meters away) and threw up into it. Crystal always did have a sensitive stomach and going through that felt, well, strange.

Catherine was trying to get her bearings and I was looking around, but before I could do so any longer I was knocked down by Twilight, who proceeded to lick my face affectionately.

“Gah!” I exclaimed as I tried to push her off me. I lifted myself up and patted her on her head.

I turned to Professor Dunchra for an explanation. I lifted my eye brow at her and saw, out of the corner of my eye, that Catherine and Crystal were doing the same.

“Care to explain?” Catherine asked.

“Haven't you noticed those people around your neighborhoods?” Dunchra asked.

We nodded.

“They're there to protect you! There are other people that want kids like you!”

“What do you mean kids like us?” I demanded.

“Those people were looking after you! The school of Cartemen is to teach young people like yourselves about these people!”

“What do you mean by like us? None of this is making any sense. Will you stop being so vague and get to the point?” I challenged.

The next thing that happened surprised us all.

My eyes began to glow a vibrant golden, like they had on the boat when those people were freaking out. Soon Dunchra's were the same.

“All the students at the school are like yourselves, but they are different. Everyone different things that they do, for some people they move water, for others they are completely made out of rock. Dunchra blurted out

“Like magic?” Alphs inquired.

“Kind of. The first thing that comes to mind when you think magic is, a wand, a word, element bending, and things like that. We're different from people are used to. Your abilities come from inside you. They are your DNA. Your abilities are what make you, you. Normal people's DNA encode their genes, that's what makes them who they are, what makes them have either blonde or black hair. Your genes aren't like that. They are literally made up of your abilities. If someone were to take them away from you would die because that's what you are made up of”

My friends looked at me, though I tried not to look at them. I was just as confused as they were, instead I looked at Dunchra.

“Don't you think that maybe telling people about themselves before you randomly abduct them?” I asked.

“I did not randomly abduct you! You are going to my school!” Dunchra faltered when she said that. I looked to Catherine and Crystal, knowing they were having the same thoughts as I was, they nodded.

“She's lying. She's not the Headmistress,” Tori told me.

“I think that I figured that out all by myself,” I commented quietly.

“You can't be trustin' 'er Ads,” Zell warned.

“What do I do?” I asked.

“Go along with her, Bloom and Carrie are informing Bets and Alphs as we speak.” Even Arrow sounded grave, that was bad.

“Do not lower you guard Sissy,” Cal warned.

I nodded without even thinking, making Dunchra look at me.

“Lead the way Dunchra,” I stated.

“Professor” She corrected, but this I ignored.

“I take it you still don't like her?” Catherine stated as we walked behind Dunchra, far enough away to not be heard.

“Nope, I just have even more reason to now,” I told her.

So, we walked along some sort of dirt path, though I had been on many paths some-what like this before, I could not help but feel a bit unsafe, considering I already knew that Dunchra was lying to us and we had no idea as to where she was taking us.

“I don't trust her Delly, Carrie said she was lying,” Crystal whispered to me.

“She is. Arrow, Cal, Tori and Zell told me the same thing. We need to be careful”

Little did I know that Careful wouldn't be enough.

I woke up. Jolting forwards, but something held my stomach down. I look around the room, figuring out that I did not know where I was.

‘Way to state the obvious Addy’

All I remembered was walking down some weird path with....

Dunchra!

That lying, sneaky, devil spawn of a cockroach!

“Easy Ads. We did expect this to happen. Trust us that we know about this and you are safe no matter what. We won't let anything happen to you or the others,” Arrow comforted.

That reassured me. But the fact that I was tied down still made me feel uneasy.

I looked around and saw Catherine looking at me. She raised an eye brow and I quickly signed to her, struggling against the weight of the restraints.

“It's OK. They know and we're safe. They won't let anything happen” I told her what Arrow told me. I struggled a little bit to preform some words, due to being tied down, but I think I got the point across.

She nodded and made a small gesture to Crystal who was still asleep, Alex who was also asleep and Sean and Dylan who were looking at us.

I shrugged. “They got to come in some time,” I stated.

As if on cue. Two people I did not recognize walked in, Dunchra following.

“Told you so,” I said.

“Yeah,” Catherine signed back, although she was struggling with her words due to her arms being held down as well “But what do they want?”

“I know just as much as you,” I told her.

“Well I can't bloody well talk, I'm deaf remember!?”

“Oh Yeah! That's the reason we're signing to each other” I responded sarcastically

“What’s with the jazz hands?” One of the men asked in a gruff voice, crudely imitating our finger speech.

“My friend here is Deaf. She can't hear us so I must use Sign Language to speak with her. Moron,” I rolled my eyes.

“You better watch your tongue little girl. We aren't afraid to make you”

“But you won't” I stated. “You’re not allowed to, something your boss said?” I asked innocently. I’d watched enough cop shows to know little bit about these sorts of things. At least I could hope that I did.

“How did you know that?” He demanded.

“A little birdie told me” I smiled coldly.

The man rolled his eyes and turned to a sleeping Crystal. I looked over to Catherine.

“Try using your abilities,” I provoked.

“I don't know how!”

“Well you’ll have to figure it out soon and fast because I don't think they’re going to be waking Bets and Alex up nicely,” I told her.

She looked wide eyed at the men and then turned to her belt that was tying her down. I do not know what she did but soon it made a faint clicking noise and she was free. Slowly she turned to me and fiddled with the lock of my restraints for a moment before they softly clicked open.

Once I was out, Catherine and I slowly walked along the dark edges of the room, remaining hidden from the eyes of the people who had captured us, until the very last moment when the first man raised his hand at Alex. Catherine lunged forwards, reaching out to grab his arm and hold him away from her little sister, but before she could encounter him, the air in front of her rippled and the first man was shot backwards off his feet into a wall.

The second man came at Catherine while her back was turned and I jumped onto his back, causing him to stumble and cry out in shock. This reaction gained Catherine attention and she turned to us. The second man stumbled backwards, not used to my weight on his back and rammed us into a wall, knocking the air out of my lungs. As he stepped forwards, I jumped down and shoved him forwards. He tripped and fell to the ground.

But this did not last long. Soon he was up again and ready to take a swing.

“Igroff! What did I tell you? You are not to harm them,” a loud, shrill voice came through.

“But they escaped!” Igroff stated.

“Yes, I can see that. But that just means that they are strong,” the voice replied.

The next thing I knew was I was gently being lifted off the ground. I saw a sweet looking lady approaching me from the doorway that Dunchra and company had come from.

“I am very sorry about them and our means of bringing you here. My name is Carmella De'linco. Professor Dunchra is indeed a Professor at Cartemen. But she is the logistics professor so she is not there all the time. I am the One that will be teaching you how to use your abilities.” She said to me. Something inside me told me to trust this woman, but after Dunchra I wasn’t so sure.

“Why did you bring us here?” Catherine asked obviously feeling the same as I did.

“As Professor Dunchra has already told you, there are bad people in this world that are trying to find us. The world does not know we exist, only few trusted people know who we are and where we are, but there are people out there that want to use people like us as power.

There is a man like you or me, he went to the school, even taught for a while. His abilities were to bring story characters from books to life. But that was not enough for him. As he taught, he met others that he thought to be better than him, He was intimidated by them, he wanted to be like them, we tried to convince him otherwise but nothing worked. He was driven mad and he left. Later on, we discovered that he was taking other people Abilities from their genetic codes”

“But Professor Dunchra said that our genes are made up of our specialties. If they were taken then-,” Crystal added groggily as she woke up.

“You would die. You would have nothing to be made from and you would simply disappear. But there is no coming back after being killed that way. It is the worst way to go. No coming back, not even in another life,” De'linco explained gravely.

“How - how many have gone?” Catherine asked shakily, I was barely able to make out the words her fingers were trying to form as her hands shook.

“Too many. Several dozens of people that had tried to free others that were captured disappeared soon after they left. They're hunting us down. We've set up protection around the school so that no one without a Professor or a cleared person, are allowed in. We bring new students here then take them to the school from here. It's the safer way. Their radars can't track us since we're underground.”

“How did you know to find us? I mean we were under water,” Dylan asked, looking around the room with curious, yet still droopy, eyes.

At first, there wasn’t much of a response, De’linco simply gestured for us to follow her out of the door.

Glancing around the room one more time, I helped Catherine get Alex up and followed them out with Crystal next to me.

“We knew that you were on that boat, so when it crashed we searched for you, yesterday we got Intel on where you were, so I sent Professor Dunchra to get you. We were relieved when she got back with you,” De'linco informed us as we walked through a tunnel.

I wasn't sure. I trusted this woman but I wasn't sure about the people we were around. Dunchra was definitely on my “Nope” List, along with Igroff and the other woman that tried to attack us, but on the other hand, I really was curious as to what they had to say to us.

“Are any of the other students at the school yet?” Catherine asked.

“Yes, they arrived four days ago. We told them that we had seven other children coming. You can introduce yourselves once you get there. We don't like to make a show.” De'linco told us.

Blargh!

I sat down at my bed that had been given to me. It was still early and we were due to be relocated into new bedrooms in about five minutes. Catherine looked extremely nervous fiddling with her fingers, Crystal looked- well, like Crystal really, she was walking around the room muttering to herself about something. I was a bit unsure. Alex was sitting on the couch, her empty unseeing eyes pointed to the windows which she sadly couldn’t see.

“What if we get separated?” I asked, knowing that I was speaking the question that everyone was thinking.

“We don't know that we will be.” Catherine stated.

“I hate to admit it girls, but we're not the same,” I said sadly

“But we never know,” Crystal said.

“As much as I don’t like it Bets, Dell has a point. Even if we do get separated we'll still be together. Just in different rooms.” Catherine said.

“Yeah. Aliens only know that sleepovers would be a weekly thing” I smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

But unfortunately, it didn’t work and we all found ourselves in the same places we were before.

A knock on the door got our attention. I went over and saw Dunchra, who looked no different than she had earlier that day, her face was completely void of any emotion, but in her eyes, anyone could see the irritation.

“It's time,” she said unemotionally and led us out of the room.

I glanced at my friends nervously and followed.

The school it was easy to say, was a pretty decent size.

As we approached one of the rooms, I saw De'linco next to a giant machine with ragged wires. There was beeping noises emitting from the main mechanism, metal pipes and tubes were sticking out of all sides. Some had sharp pointed ends, others blunt knobs. De’linco was running around it, twisting levers and pushing buttons. The main mechanism made groaning noises, like a weak protest as she finally turned to us, holding out a head piece with needles on the inside.

Nope, Nope, Nope, Nope, Nope! Uh-uh! Nada! No way! I am not going in that thing!

“Oh, yes you have to be Adriana”

My head came up to look at her, and it took me a moment to realize I had thought aloud again. Before I could respond, De’linco started talking again.

“Now Adriana I want you to go first since you're so keen and just remember to keep your mind clear. After that everything will be perfectly fine”

“One question. Who would be crazy enough to go on their head?”

“You” Crystal, Catherine and Alex said together.

“OK, Point taken,” I said as I hesitantly stepped up onto the platform the machine was located and sat down on the creaky metal chair.

De’linco took the helmet and put it on my head. I winced as I felt the needles scrape lightly against my skin, like little sharp feathers. But then De’linco started twisting the knobs at the end of the needles and I felt them enter my skin and puncture through my skull, but nothing hurt. I could feel something go through my head, something I had never felt before, it was like a wave of energy surging through the inside of my head. I could not tell what was happening, but soon, De’linco started talking.

“Your abilities are of none that we've ever had around her before. It seems to me that your abilities run off your mind. I cannot tell you anything about yourself or your abilities, that is for you to figure out, but I think that we will relocate you to the Mind.”

I sighed in relief, knowing that it was over. I felt the needles retract from the inside of my head and as soon as the helmet was off, I jumped from my seat. When I got out, I turned to Catherine and led her to the machine and then stood back.

We had to wait a few moments for De’linco to talk, Catherine winced like I did when the needles went into her head and I felt sorry for her, I wanted to help her through it, but I knew to stay away.

“You have a very special ability about you. You use your hands and your mind. This makes relocating you a tricky subject, there’s no way to tell in which you belong. But, of course, I must take in the fact of your- er Drawback- I think that you should be with someone you trust. So, we’ll relocate you to the Mind with Adriana,” De’linco said to Crystal, who was quickly translating the words into sign-language.

“Ads, Addy, Ana, Dri?” I offered in place of my name, but I was swiftly ignored.

Catherine quickly got up and ran over to where I was and wrapped her arms around my taller frame, her arms shaking lightly. I wrapped my arms around her and watched as Crystal eagerly sat down, her face not even changing as the needles went into her head and then De’linco started talking again.

“Well you're a funny one! Quite literally as a matter a fact. So, I see you love animals, especially baby ones, that’s not exactly a telling feature. Right then it's quite easy to see you with the Communication section. It’s an entire section filled with children who can communicate in different ways, or with different things.You’ll fit right in.” De'linco said smiling as Crystal got up and walked towards us, she looked slightly upset, but also happy.

“It's the best place for me! And I’m sure that Sparkle will love it too!” She said happily.

We watched as Alex climbed slowly and cautiously into the strange contraption. She sat down wearily. Catherine, Crystal and I gave her thumbs up and smiles. She smiled back at us and let the Professor put the helmet on her head, she bit into her lip when the needles went into her head and I saw Catherine become tense out of the corner of my eye.

“Well, you have a disability like your sister. Being blind has definitely been an obstacle for you, your entire life. But I see you've already discovered part of your abilities! That's a good start. I don’t think that we have a place to relocate you my dear. Why don’t we try you in the Mind, if you do not fit in, we will try again.” Alex smiled, jumped off and ran over to us.

So now that we all knew where to go, Catherine, Alex and I were walking to our new room, for convenience we were all put into the same room. We would be here, together, in this room, for the next three years. That was a long time looking at it from this place.

“Well, this is it guys. We're about to meet the people we have to spend the next three years with”

I wonder if I'll like them. I asked myself as we walked through the door.

But when we opened the door, I found myself appalled and in denial.

We had to have gone through the wrong door! Please don't tell me this is where I'll be stuck for the next three years!

The entire room . . .

Was pink! Neon pink! Bright Pink! Dark Pink, Pink, Pink, Pink!

Not one corner of the room was any other colour.

“Excuse me” A sickly sweet voice came. “Are you new? This is the place where designers go to, and, judging by your clothing, you don’t belong here.” The voice told us, but I highly doubted that this was actually for designers.

“Oh, Thank God we're in the wrong place!” I stated and pulled Catherine and Alex out.

“That was terrible!” Alex stated, her fingers moving to form the words so that Catherine could understand as well.

“I'm going to have nightmare for weeks!” I said.

We walked for a little longer until we finally reached the right door and walked into the room.

It was very nice. Decorated with, red, Blue, Green and White. Everyone seemed either really laid back like Catherine and Alex, or, well, like me, always doing something.

“Hello People of Earth! We come in peace!” I shouted and signed so that Alphs would know what I'm saying. Everyone looked up at us, but none of them looked anything less than friendly, which made me feel more at ease. Catherine and Alex smiled, knowing that we'd be alright here.

“You must be Adriana, Catherine and Alexandria. I'm Katelyn, it’s nice to meet you,” a girl introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you,” I translated for Catherine who smiled and said Hi!

Katelyn looked confused.

“Oh sorry. Catherine here is deaf and Alex is blind,” I explained.

“Oh, that’s alright. Anyway, your room is up there, meals are brought in here to the main room and classes are starting in one week,” Katelyn smiled and walked off.

I looked at Alex and Catherine and we all nodded. Alex jumped on my back and we walked up stairs.

The room had one sofa, a long coffee table and some chairs. This room led to five doors. When we looked, we found two bathrooms, one with a bathtub and the other with a shower. And then three bedrooms.

“Dibs on the one with the most windows!” I stated and ran off the search the rooms.

The first one I found was lined with bookshelves and had a four-poster bed right in the middle. This room, I thought, should go to Catherine.

The next room I found had lots and lots of pillows on the bed and on the floor, which I will admit confused me. But before I could look for long I as pushed back by Alex.

The last room I found, I knew I would have to take, but I didn’t have a problem with this. One wall had a large window that reached from the ceiling to around knee level. The bed was against the wall to my left, long twisting wooden headboard against the wall covered in a fluffy looking green and blue blanket. There was a little desk table in front of the bed and an old looking wardrobe across the room.

I opened my one suit case and took out my folding water sacks, they are like bean bag chairs but with water, I laid them out around in one spot of my room, a dragged the table in front of them and set my Laptop, which was more like a desktop, on the table connected to a USB stick to the port.

I set out my photos of my family, I had taken them the day before I left. Each one was of them doing something they loved, whether that was, playing video games, baking, making Lego things, Playing play mobile. Whatever. I smiled at them.

I should call them. I really should. I have been “dead” for a week, they really deserved to know that I was not really dead.

“Can I?” I asked the “Others”

“There your family Ads. Of course you can,” Cal told me.

“But you have to be careful about what you tell them” Tori warned.

“Tor Ye be worryin' too much. Ads ain’t goin' t' tell 'em nothin'” Zell told Tori.

“Yeah. They already think She's dead, it is good for them to know” Arrow stated, but this led to more arguments.

Alright I'm just going to call them. I thought to myself.

Sat in front on my lap top. I was fiddling with the hem of my top. I was wondering how they would react.

“Hello?” Lysander answered.

My heart stopped for a moment, he looked terrible. The rest couldn't be any better. My fingers twitched to fix his hair as I looked at him.

“Hey E.T” I smiled softly as he looked at me.

“Addy?” He asked

“Hi” I said, mentally face palming. “Hi? Really? Is that all you have to say?”

“The-they said you died,” he said. By now the rest of my family had joined and were staring at the computer screen with confusion and surprise written on their faces.

“The boat sunk yes. But we all managed to make it out, saving a few lives as well. We're at the school now, they found us, took us in, made sure we were taken care of, we just got settled and I just wanted to call, say that we were alright,” I said nervously.

“S-so, you guys are alright?” Lily asked.

“Would you like to see Cathy and Alex?” I asked.

I beckoned for them to come over and they popped their heads next to me, I saw them all relax a little.

“What about Crys?” Uriah asked.

��She's in a different room. But we're all fine and everything's dandy. I’m still coming home for Lysander’s birthday” I smiled.

“How's everyone there?” Catherine asked, her fingers moving for them and my mother spoke her question.

“Dry, boring. Everyone was a bit depressed that you had died. Elena has been so sick since we got the news. Even Delilah was upset to hear about you girls,” my father told us.

“Life must be boring without us,” I smirked.

My family smiled and chuckled slightly. Which made me feel a little bit fuzzy on the inside, like I had already missed the sound of her laugh.

“Yes, it was.”

“Addy!” Maya cried as she toddled over to the computer screen, reaching out to try and grab it through the camera.

“Hey Maya! Who's a good girl, have you ripped anything yet?” I asked.

“No” She smiled innocently.

I eyed her carefully, then smiled. I had missed my family so much that I was smiling till my cheeks were hurting.

“I'm glad to know that you guys are OK,” I said

“Shouldn't we be saying that to you?” My father asked.

“Hey, I'd worry about you guys even if I was dead” I stated and everyone laughed.

After speaking to my family for a few more minutes I hung up.

“Alphs. Do you want to go meet the headmistress?” I asked my friend who was reading . . . Again.

“Yeah, I'd like to at least be acquainted with the woman supervising us for the next few years of my life,” Catherine joked.

“Makes sense.” I paused. “I have this feeling though” I said.

“What do you mean?” Alphs asked.

“I don’t know, I get this feeling when I think about her or meeting her at least. It feels like I already know her,” I stressed as we walked out.

“That's not possible Dell. You can't possibly have met her already. You would remember.”

“Yeah I guess. Do you think maybe we should ask Professor Harget where the office is?” I offered as I realized we didn't actually know the way. Professor Harget was my personal favorite of all the professors that we had met. He taught sciences and fighting. Fighting was a new one because we had learn to defend ourselves. It's logical if you ask me, especially if there’s a person trying to kidnap children. But He's also very laid-back and willing to let us do our thing, I just get a good vibe from him.

We approached Harget's office and knocked. A soft “Come in” Sounded from inside and we walked in to see the professor in a tutoring session.

“Oh. Sorry to interrupt Professor but we were wondering where the headmistress' office is?” I asked.

“Ah yes. Her office would be two more floors up and four doors to the left,” He told us.

“Thanks professor.”

“Oh Adriana. Would you mind helping demonstrate during classes. Professor Dunchra informed me that you have experience in sciences?”

As this took me by surprise, I found myself unable to form simple English words. “Um-Sure, no problem professor.” I nodded and Catherine and I left.

I quickly explained the directions to Catherine and we went to the office.

Though it was not hard to find. It seemed the headmistress had a bit of a liking for lizards. The door was decorated with intricate designs that looked like dragons and lizards.

We knocked and went in after. Climbing yet another stair case to get into the large office. As I reached the top I stumbled and fell over my own feet. As I hit the floor and pillow appeared under me, breaking my fall.

“You always were extremely clumsy Dri.” I'd recognize that nick-name anywhere. I looked up from my spot on the floor, staring in shock at who the headmistress was.

I was right before when I had said that I had met her already.

Remember when I said that I had an older brother? Well when I was five he got married. And guess who his wife is?

Ding! Ding! Ding! If you guessed the woman dressed in a long old fashioned dress in front of me then you were right!

“O-O-Olive?! What the bloody devil are you doing here?”

“Language Dri, you are at a school now” Olive pouted.

“Do I get brownie points for being your sister?” I asked teasingly.

“Nope. Hello Catherine” Olive greeted, and then she turned back to me.

“Actually Dri, No one can know I'm you sister. When we’re not alone or with your friends, meaning Catherine, Crystal and Alexandria, you have to call me Professor Olive.”

“Well alright then.” I said, “Well we just came to get better acquainted, but it turns out that the headmistress is my sister in-law.”

Well this is a shock. Perhaps I will get something good out of this.

#Stories #writers #books #first story #third chapter #magic #superpowers #school

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thenotoriousscuttlecliff · 7 years ago

Text

Moffat Era Rewatch: Dark Water/Death in Heaven

To save Danny Pink, the Doctor and Clara go to hell..

Warning: Spoilers Sweetie

So glad Moffat decided to go back to two-part finales. They just work so much better.

First Doctor Who episode directed by the amazing Rachel Talalay. Again, Chibs, you’re a fool if you don’t keep her on the payroll.

Love that Jenny and Vastra get their own separate post its.

“Danny, I'll never say those words again. Not to anybody else, ever.” Never say never, Clara.

How does she not hear the car hit him?

Danny forgot to splink.

RIP Danny Pink.

Why’d she change his pic?

We still don’t know Clara’s gran’s name.

“It was ordinary. People just kept walking with their iPods and their shopping bags. He was alive, and then he was dead and it was nothing. Like stepping off a bus.”

“It’s rubbish.” He’s having ‘Inferno’ flashbacks.

"Danny Pink.” "Yeah?” "Is dead.” "And?” Doesn’t even pretend to care.

“One last chance. And I don't care about the rules, I don't give a damn about paradoxes. Save Danny. Bring him back or I swear you will never step inside your Tardis again.”

This moment is somewhat spoiled by the fact they can both open the doors by snapping their fingers.

Never play games with the Doctor. Don’t ever think you are capable of that.

“Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?” Closest he has ever come to saying “I love you” to her.

This is my idea of hell, a dull, grey office where you are made to fill out lots of forms and drink shit coffee.

Okay, that’s ominous.

So was this planned from the beginning or did Missy just decide on the spot to pretend to be a robot so she can better mess with the Doctor?

The little nose kisses have to be a Michelle Gomez original.

He’d rather face every Dalek in the universe wearing nothing but his socks than go through that again.

I used to work with someone who looked exactly like Dr Chang.

“You have Wi-Fi here?” The question we will all ask when we die.

Missy and Seb arranged for Danny to meet up with the boy he killed. Wow, that is just extra level mean.

“I keep saying they should use this stuff in swimming pools." “Why?” "Think about it.” "I am thinking about it. Why?” The Doctor is one confused asexual.

“Another government inspection? So soon? Why is there all this swearing?“

“Sounds like somebody left their body to science.”

Doctor Skarosa. Doctor Skaro-sa.

“Can you just hurry up, please, or I'll hit you with my shoe.”

This is a disturbing concept I’m not surprised it upset a lot of people.

“I promise you this is not a con.” Except it is.

“Who would harvest dead bodies? I feel like I'm missing something obvious.” *Cybermen theme plays*

Let us take a moment to appreciate that Missy chose to make the lift doors look like Cybermen. She is making no effort whatsoever to hide what is going on.

“Humankind, bring out your dead.”

“And I'm not going to kill you until you say something nice.” She did warn him, say something nice and you’re dead.

“The one you abandoned, Doctor. The one you left for dead.” Now is she talking about what happened in ‘The End of Time’ or ‘The Doctors Falls’?

DELETE

Penguin run!!!

“I'm sorry, everyone. Another ranting Scotsman in the street. I had no idea there was a match on.”

“Well, I couldn't very well keep calling myself the Master, now could I?” This is probably the most important plot twist in modern Who history. If the show hadn’t pulled this off as successfully as it did, it’s doubtful we’d have Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor.

Who you calling unimportant, mate?

“Oh, don't be so slow, it's embarrassing. Who could fool you like this? Who could hide right under your nose? Who could change their face any time they want? Hmm. You see, I'm not Clara Oswald. Clara Oswald has never existed.” “Identify.” "I'm the Doctor.” This is basically Moffat sticking his finger up at those who complain about the show becoming Clara Who.

“Nice bow tie.” “Bow ties are cool.”

“Kate Stewart. Divorcee, mother of two, keen gardener, outstanding bridge player. Also Chief Scientific Officer, Unified Intelligence Taskforce, who currently have you surrounded.”

Since the Cybermen only just revealed themselves, Kate obviously had her PA dash back to the office, dig a battered Cyberhead out of the archive just so can look like an even bigger BAMF than she already is.

The Doctor, the Master and UNIT all together again. Oh this takes me right back to my childhood.

Cybermen can fly now.

“Queen of evil.”

I’d say this was the creepiest thing the show ever did with the Cybermen but Steven and Rachel topped it two years later with ‘World Enough and Time”.

“Clara Oswald, your assistant?” "My friend.”

Seeing pictures of the Brigs always makes me sad.

Doctor Who references Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds. This really is my childhood in one neat little package.

“Well, gentlemen. Where to start? I was born on the planet Gallifrey, in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm a Time Lord, but my Prydonian privileges were revoked when I stole a time capsule and ran away. Currently pilot a Type 40 Tardis. I've been married four times, all deceased. My children and grandchildren are missing, and I assume, dead. I have a non-Gallifreyan daughter created via genetic transfer. How much more do you need? I'm the Doctor.” So he told her all of that but not about Amy?

“Look, ask anybody who knows me. I am an incredible liar.”

“We do have files on all our ex-prime ministers. She wasn't even the worst.”

By offering Osgood all of Time and space, the Doctor sealed her doom.

“Every cemetery, every mortuary, every funeral home, every hospital, the dead are returning to life as Cybermen.” That means not just the Brig but also Amy and Rory, Clara’s mum, Rose’s dad, I should stop before I make this worse.

Our entire concept of the afterlife comes from one Time Lord trying to give another a really disturbing birthday present.

“Hey, Missy, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind. Hey, Missy. Hey.”

“I'm going to kill you in a minute.”

Those guards behind her are really useless.

RIP Osgood. Or RIP Zygon Osgood.

“Do you know, that was always my dad's big ambition, to get you to salute him just once.” “He should've asked.” And you would’ve told him to get lost.

There’s something on the wing!

She’s lucky she’s his oldest friend because most people who get that look don’t last very long.

"What, you think I would give up the Doctor? Don't be daft. I would never, ever, give up the Doctor, because he is my best friend, too. He is the closest person to me in this whole world. He is the man I will always forgive, always trust. The one man I would never, ever lie to.” Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.

Michelle Gomez makes the best faces.

Since Clara didn’t recognise Missy she must’ve worn a typically over the top disguise when she gave her the TARDIS number.

You don’t want to know how pissed off I was when I thought they had actually killed off Kate.

"Boys, blow up this plane and, I don't know, Belgium, yeah? Kill some Belgians. Might as well. They're not even French. Byeeee!”

Gogglebox Missy Style.

The most Bondian moment in Doctor Who history.

Doctor, he’s dead, at least call him by his real name.

“I had a friend once. We ran together when I was little. And I thought we were the same. But when we grew up, we weren't. Now, she's trying to tear the world apart, and I can't run fast enough to hold it together.”

“And didn't all of those beautiful speeches just disappear in the face of a tactical advantage? Sir.”

“I wasn't very good at it, but I did love you.” At least she admits it.

“I'm never going to say that again.” Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Clara.

She’s Mary Poppins y’all.

“Happy birthday. Oh! You didn't know, did you? It's lucky one of us remembers these things. Happy birthday Mister President.”

“I need you to know we're not so different. I need my friend back.” And just like that you feel a sudden twinge of sympathy for Missy.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. I really didn't know. I wasn't sure. You lose sight sometimes. Thank you! I am not a good man! I am not a bad man. I am not a hero. And I'm definitely not a president. And no, I'm not an officer. Do you know what I am? I am an idiot, with a box and a screwdriver. Just passing through, helping out, learning. I don't need an army. I never have, because I've got them. Always them. Because love, it's not an emotion. Love is a promise.” How ironic that it took the Master of all people to help the Doctor realise who he really is.

Love this fusion of Eleven and Twelve’s themes.

“This is not the order of a general, nor the whim of a lunatic.” “Excuse me?“

RIP Danny Pink. Again.

“The current coordinates of Gallifrey. It's returned to it's original location. Didn't you ever think to look?” "You are lying!” Technically, she wasn’t.

No one has ever been this excited about being killed by the Doctor.

“You win.” “I know.”

KATE LIVES!

I’d love to know how Clara explained this kid’s resurrection to his folks.

“I've found Gallifrey.”

The despair of a Time Lord.

This is one of those moment that could’ve only worked with Twelve. I can’t see Ten or Eleven being so angry and distraught they’d just punch the console with their bare hand.

“Me and Danny, we are going to be fine.” Rule 1, Clara lies.

One more awkward hug for the road.

I’m so glad this wasn’t Clara’s end. It’s just too ordinary for her. Clara deserved a more epic farewell than this and she got one.

And then Nick Frost shows up as Santa, unquestionably the most “What the fuck?” ending to a Doctor Who episode ever.

Next Time: Last Christmas

#Doctor Who #DW #Moffat Era Rewatch #The Doctor #Twelfth Doctor #Clara Oswald #Danny Pink #Missy #The Master #Dark Water #Death in Heaven

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wickedwitch1997 · 7 years ago

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Katara, of the Fire Nation- Chapter 2

Here’s Chapter 1, in case you missed it.

Zuko stands awkwardly in front of the water bender.

“Um,” he starts, “My name is Zuko.”

“Katara,” the girl responds.

The two children stand together awkwardly.

“I like your… hair,” Zuko says, trying to be polite.

“Thank you,” Katara says, looking Zuko up and down, trying to find something to compliment him on, “I like your… palace.”

“Yeah?” he says, a sparkle comes to his eye, “It has one hundred rooms! I’ll show you.”

“Ok!” Katara says, the boy takes her hand and leads her out of the room.

Zuko shows Katara around the palace, pointing out important paintings of his ancestors and labelling all the rooms.

“Did you want to see the gardens?” Zuko asks.

“What’s a gardens?” Katara asks, her eyes round with wonder.

“Come on!” he beams, squeezing her hand and encouraging her to run with him.

Zuko takes Katara outside, and Katara’s little mouth hangs open in shock. There is so much colour in the gardens; she marvels at the flowers and trees.

“Don’t you have gardens where you’re from?” Zuko asks, Katara shakes her head, “Here!” the young prince leads Katara to a fire lily patch and picks a red flower, “It’s called a fire lily!”

Zuko hands the flower to Katara. Katara’s eyes widen as she touches the petal softly.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathes.

A strange noise catches her attention and Katara looks over to a large tree in the middle of the garden.

“What was that?” she asks.

“I’ll show you,” Zuko says, taking Katara’s hand again and leading her to the tree. Katara is surprised to find a pond in front of the tree. Swimming on the pond is a strange creature.

“It’s a turtleduck,” Zuko explains. He sits down at the edge of the water and pats the grass next to him.

Katara sits down and watches as the turtleducks swim around the pond, diving under the water every so often.

“ZUKO!” the Fire Lord shouts, storming into the gardens, “Get away from her!”

Katara and Zuko bolt to their feet, when Katara sees the look on the Fire Lord’s face, she drops back down to her knees and bows with her forehead on the grass.

“She is our prisoner,” Lord Ozai says, grabbing his son by his arm and pulling Zuko closer to him, “She is not some play thing to be your friend, do you understand me?”

“Yes…yes father,” Zuko stammers.

“Guard,” Ozai snaps, “Take the prisoner back to her room.”

Katara flinches as a guard grabs her and pulls her away, Katara steals one last look at Zuko as she is escorted back to her room.

Katara is thrown inside her room and she hears the door being locked by the guard. Katara sniffles and wipes tears from her eyes.

Iroh doesn’t come back to her room, Katara is left alone, she’s never been alone before, she always had someone with her, especially within the small tribe, and, even on the ship there was always someone close by, but now, she is truly alone.

Katara looks around, she goes to her bed and tries to go to sleep, but it’s too quiet and she is too scared.

At midnight, Katara’s door is unlocked and it slowly opens, creaking softly.

Katara dives under her covers as her little heart begins to race.

“Psst,” comes a voice, “Katara?”

Katara sits up and peaks out to see Zuko standing in her room with a small fire lit in his palm.

“Hi!” he beams, closing the door behind him as he sees Katara.

“What are you doing here?” Katara asks, getting out from under the covers.

“Shh,” Zuko whispers with a smile, “I wanted to see you again.”

“But your dad,” Katara whispers, watching the Fire Prince light a candle before extinguishing the flame in his hands, “I’m a prisoner.”

“I don’t think you are,” Zuko says, walking over to Katara and sitting on her bed, “Prisoners don’t get rooms, and they’re big and mean. Besides, uncle wouldn’t have left me with you if you were a prisoner.”

Katara stares at the boy as he smiles at her, he has his uncle’s kind smile.

“Tell me more about where you’re from,” Zuko says, “What kind of place has no gardens?”

“It’s too cold for gardens,” Katara explains, “It’s always snow.”

“Woah,” Zuko says, his eyes wide.

“And we don’t have turtle ducks,” Katara says, “We have penguins.”

“I’ve read about them!” Zuko says, proudly.

“My mum used to take me penguin sledding,” Katara continues, “We’d ride them down the snow slopes.”

Katara goes silent as she thinks of her mother and her family, Katara doesn’t remember what happened to her mother, she can’t remember what happened to her village.

“I’m sorry you were taken from your mother,” Zuko says, speaking softly, “My mum’s gone too.”

Katara looks to Zuko as he stares at the floor, kicking his legs over the edge of the bed.

Katara and Zuko spend the night together, talking about their homes and their families, eventually falling asleep in each other’s arms.

Iroh finds Zuko and Katara in the early morning, they’re sleeping next to each other; their legs are tangled together, and their hands hold onto each other.

“Zuko,” Iroh whispers, waking the young prince, Zuko groans as his eye’s slowly open.

“Uncle?” Zuko says, groggily rubbing his eye and detangling from the water bender.

“Come on.” Iroh picks Zuko up out of bed and carries him back to his own room without being seen.

“She smells nice,” Zuko says, stifling a yawn as he sits up in his own bed, “Can she be my friend?”

Iroh’s heart breaks for the young prince, he doesn’t know it yet, but he is falling for the water girl.

“Go back to sleep,” Iroh says, tucking Zuko in.

Iroh leaves his nephew and goes back to Katara’s room.

“Where’s Zuko?” the little water bender asks as soon as Iroh steps into the room.

“He’s back in his own bed,” Iroh explains.

“Is his dad going to be mad?” Katara asks, her face pales at the thought.

“No,” Iroh says with a smile, “It will be our secret.”

That day Iroh introduces Katara to her first set of water bending scrolls, scrolls he dug up from the archives of stolen treasures.

Iroh volunteered to train Katara, knowing his teachings would be kinder than that of anyone else, he helps Katara read the scrolls, fixing her punctuation on the words she doesn’t know.

Iroh then fills the bathtub with water and lets Katara stand in the shallow water. Unfortunately Iroh isn’t a water bender, but he reads through the scrolls and tries to help Katara as best he can.

Katara is a quick learner, by the end of the day, she is drenched in water, but she knows how to create small waves in the tub, the water follows the push and pull of her chi. She also knows how to pull water out of the tub and levitate for a few moments.

Katara and Iroh eat their dinner together in Katara’s room, he leaves as the sun sets and feels sorry for the girl, she doesn’t even have a window to watch the sun set.

But she does have Zuko, who again, sneaks into her room once everyone is asleep.

“Look what I can do,” Katara says, getting out of bed when Zuko creeps in.

Katara shows Zuko her new tricks. Zuko is mesmerised by the water, just as he is mesmerised by the one who bends it.

The days roll by, Katara learns with Iroh during the day, working hard and taking breaks to eat and play with Iroh.

Then at night, Zuko sneaks into her room and they show each other their ‘tricks’ before tiring out and ending curled up together, only to be separated by Iroh, who collects Zuko in the mornings; just like clockwork.

Except as the days go by, Iroh can see Katara slowly start to slip, she’s sick of being locked up all day, Zuko’s visits at night help, but Katara needs to see the sun, she needs to be outside in fresh air. Being a water bender, Iroh assumes it would probably help for her to be outside, under the moon once in a while.

Iroh fears for the girl’s sanity, so he confronts his brother, the Fire Lord.

@squishysuho @pepewntz @the-weird-fob-fangirl @thegaang6

The Painted Lady fic: 1.It’s the Painted Lady 2.The Blue Spirit 3.The Painted Spirit 4.The Blue Lady 5. The Water Bender 6. The Fire Lord’s Heart pt 1 7. The Fire Lord’s Heart pt 2 8. The Painted Lady and the Blue Spirit 9. The Fire Lady 10.The Blood Bender 11. The Family Reunion 12. The Water Bender’s Baby 13. The Avatar 14. The Lie 15. The Ice Heart 16. The Uncle 17. The Water Bender’s Heart pt 1 18. The Water Bender’s Heart pt 2 19. The Son of Aang

#Katara of the Fire Nation fic #chapter 2 #omg #they are such precious babies #such sweet cinnamon rolls #iroh is such a mother hen #zuko #katara #so precious #blessed

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blessed-but-distressed · 8 years ago

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#FindEmmaSwanAFriend

Feeling left behind by her more successful, settled friends, Emma Swan moves to Scotland on a whim. Sure, she’s winning at Instagram, but something is still missing from her new life. Fortunately, her friends back home are on it. #FindEmmaSwanAFriend goes viral. Enter Killian Jones, reluctant columnist, who is on the hunt for his newest subject, and may just have found her. CS AU.

also on ff.net

Tagging: @katie-dub , @wholockgal, @kat2609, @whovianlunatic, @optomisticgirl, @ladyciaramiggles, @the-lady-of-misthaven, @emmaswanchoosesyou, @ilovemesomekillianjones, @biancaros3, @cigarettes-and-scotch-whisky, @ms-babs-gordon and whoever else asks me.

Thanks always to the cool-as-fuck @lenfaz, for her tireless efforts in keeping me motivated.

Killian

He could feel it, the regret, welling up in his chest, his vision blurring as he scrolled through page after page of poorly punctuated text.

14,202 responses.

14,202 people who were up for being Emma Swan's friend, and for some reason Killian Jones had appointed himself their gatekeeper.

14,202 reasons to wish he'd never even heard the name Emma Swan.

The task itself was burdensome enough, a time suck if ever there was one. But it was the sexually aggressive come ons he encountered that really propelled it towards torture. There was no other way of saying it: Men were pigs.

Barely three hundred messages in, and he was already half prepared to hand back his testicles and start writing long-winded notes of apology to every woman he'd ever met. Yes, Emma Swan was gorgeous. Yes, the #FindEmmaSwanAFriend campaign had made it clear there was an existing vacancy in her social life. But why hundreds of men had taken that to mean she would suddenly welcome obscene pick up lines and unsolicited dick pics was beyond him.

At least he wasn't entirely alone in this second circle of hell. It hadn't taken much inducement to get the boy to forego his cartoons in favour of helping out. The vague promise of a zoo excursion at some unspecified point in the near future, and the lad was putty in his hands. Which was how Killian found himself scouring through responses at the dining room table, with his eldest nephew, Callum, sitting opposite.

Even at eight years old, Callum was already the more steady influence of the two Jones boys, quiet and bookish, and far less prone to the feats of daring which tended to land Lachie in A&E every other month. His enthusiasm for penguins notwithstanding, history had a way of repeating itself in the most interesting of ways.

Killian had originally set the boy up to go through the pre-approved responses he'd already printed out, and asking him to choose people he felt good about. Children, Killian had found, were a bit like dogs; they were often better judges of character than most fully fledged adults. But the task must have grown wearisome at some point, because there came a small voice from somewhere behind his left shoulder.

"Uncle Killian, what's an orgasm?"

Killian snapped the lid of the laptop shut in a hurry, turning to the boy with a painted on smile. He hadn't even seen him move. "You know what, lad? Perhaps you'd be better off helping your father with dinner. You know how he likes to burn things."

As if his words had summoned him, Liam suddenly appeared in the doorway, surveying the scene with cool suspicion. "What fresh hell have you dragged my eldest into now?"

"Research," Killian replied, affecting a casual shrug. "I thought you'd be pleased. I'm 'making an effort'."

"Hmmm," his brother replied, still unconvinced. "And yet, one has to wonder if the reason for this sudden work ethic has anything to do with the fact that Emma Swan looks like that," he said, pointing to a stray copy of the original #FindEmmaSwanAFriend advertisement laying open on the counter, Emma's unrestrained smile spilling out from the page in a way that Killian had yet to see from her in real life.

Killian opened his mouth to protest, but it was his nephew who spoke first. "Dad," Callum interrupted, tugging at his father's sleeve. "What does orgasm mean?"

Liam's eyes widened comically, caught unawares, but it took only a moment before his gaze shifted back to his brother, his expression darkening as realisation took hold. Killian held arms aloft in an unconvincing display of innocence, but if looks could kill, he'd already be as charred as yesterday's Beef Wellington.

"Ahm, that's a question for your Mum, I think," Liam said, grabbing the boy about the shoulders and steering him out into the hallway. "In about five years or so," he added wryly, giving the boy a little push back towards the living room, and the distractions of the television.

"I can-" Killian began, as his brother turned back to glare at him.

"I really don't want to know," Liam sighed, cutting him off with a weary shake of his head. "Just clean this mess up before Elsa gets home, alright?"

He looked stressed, Killian realised, and not just about Callum's naive question. Though Liam had adopted his usual post-work uniform of loosened tie and rolled up shirtsleeves, there was little else in his posture to suggested he was at leisure. If that wasn't damning enough, his hair seemed to be sticking up more than normal, as if he'd been running his hands through it for the better part of the day. Killian was willing to bet if he got a little closer he'd even be able to see the purple vein on his brother's forehead visibly throbbing.

"Everything alright?" Killian asked, unable to mask his growing concern. "Your meeting with Ingrid?"

But if he had been expecting a confidential chat, as equals, perhaps Killian had been reading from the wrong script.

"Everything's fine," Liam snapped, with the kind of brusqueness that highly suggested otherwise. "Just get this cleared away, and stop corrupting my children. Elsa will be home any minute."

Killian was tempted to press the point, but they were both of them interrupted by the intrusive blaring of the smoke detector in the next room. Followed immediately by the tell-tale whiff of burnt rice.

"Bloody hell," Liam swore, tearing from the room. "Not again."

Killian moved instead towards the windows, welcoming the icy blast of fresh air with a shiver. It looked like takeaway was on the menu. Again.

How do you feel about athletic types? KJ

…

You mean in general, or is this about your list? ES

I mean, do you have a particular aversion to people whose Instagram feed consists entirely of gym selfies using the hashtag #demgains and pictures of salads? KJ

I think exercise is the devil, CrossFit is a cult, and bagels are life. ES

So that's a hard pass, then. Good to know. KJ

It was Friday night, and the streets of the Old Town appeared as they always did come the weekend, rife with roving gangs of stag parties and hen dos straight out of Chester or Newcastle, resplendent in their matching commemorative T-shirts and sashes. Killian watched them as they struggled down Victoria Street in impractical shoes, and took turns throwing up into the West Bow Well.

"Five points to kiss a man in a kilt!" one of the women slurred as he passed, having grown bold under the influence of what seemed to be one too many margaritas, by the stain down her dress. Killian settled for turning his collar up against the wind, and searching out a quiet corner from where he could check his phone.

Why she had agreed to meet him in the Grassmarket of all places, in the midst of all this calculated debauchery, puzzled him. Aye, it was populated. Aye, it was well-lit, all the better to see the tourist hordes slowly sinking into extreme inebriation. But it was hardly the right venue for getting one's measure, he thought.

But Killian wasn't one to turn down a drinks invitation from a pretty lass. Not least from the pretty lass he'd somehow roped into being a willing participant in his little sociological experiment.

So he waited. And he waited some more.

It was a quarter past the hour when he finally spotted her, long red curls billowing behind her as she hurried up from Candlemaker Row wrapped in a fluffy green coat, three young men following in her wake.

"Killian Jones?" she asked, approaching him warily.

"Aye," he said, stepping forward to shake her hand. "Glad you could make it."

Merida, as he planned to name her in his article, was what Killian might call Proper Scottish. She had the red hair. The clan name. The distinctive burr that seemed to come right out of some remote Highland glen. She was the living, breathing stereotype of a milk-fed country lassie, and he could think of no more qualified candidate to introduce Emma to the wonders of Scottish hospitality. If for no other reason than she was the only one on his shortlist who'd actually responded to his email.

The trio that trailed after her were her brothers, as it transpired, rather than her bodyguards. Though it would be easy enough to make that mistake, what with each giving Killian a bruising handshake and some whispered threat or other over the course of one too many drinks at the Beehive Inn. Drinks Killian was apparently expected to pay for.

"You shouldn't encourage 'em," she chided over her barely touched pint of Guinness. "They'll take advantage."

Too late for that.

"So what brought you to Edinburgh, lass?" Killian ventured, figuring they'd wasted enough time making idle chitchat.

"A job," she shrugged. "There's no' exactly a lo' of work goin' back in Dun Broch."

A familiar enough tale. As pretty as the Highlands were, there wasn't much in the way of industry these days unless you were willing to waste your life away behind a counter, selling keyrings and commemorative shot glasses to passing tourists. Young people tended to get out early, and stay gone.

"And your brothers followed you?" he asked. "Must be nice, having family close by."

The lass snorted, her Guinness threatening to spill out of her nose. "Sorry," she said, wiping her face with her sleeve. "Do you have any brothers?"

"Two."

"The' you ken. You love 'em, but the' can also be…"

"A lot to manage," Killian finished for her.

"Exactly," Merida smiled. "So wha's she like, then? Emma?" Merida asked, curiosity finally getting the better of her.

Killian leaned back in his chair, considering the question properly. Aye, he'd already described her to his readers, but even then he'd felt his descriptions had been lacking, a poorly drawn caricature of who Emma Swan really was.

"She's complicated," Killian admitted. "Quick-witted. Stubborn. Strong. A rather developed sense of irony for an American."

"Nice?" Merida ventured, her uncertainty showing.

"Perhaps. With time. She's funny. Even without meaning to be. But I'm not going to lie to you, lass, she isn't the easiest person to get to know. At first she's a little brisk. Prickly, even. I get the impression she's been let down before, because she tends to automatically assume the worst of people, rather than wait around to be disappointed."

He knew he'd said too much when Merida leaned back in her chair, gaze subtly shifting over to the bar where her brothers stood, unsuccessfully trying to chat up a cohort of young women in matching pink tiaras and feather boas.

"I'm not doing a very good job at selling this, am I?" Killian said with a groan.

"You coul' be doin' better," she offered.

And yet, in that moment, he saw it. The flash of familiarity. Perhaps he wasn't entirely crazy for thinking these two might hit it off.

"Look, Emma doesn't make friends easily. That much is blatantly clear. But the ones she has made? It's clear they mean the world to her. And she to them. After all, they were the ones to instigate all of this, simply because they couldn't stand the thought of her being lonely out here."

"If my friends did tha' to me…" Merida shuddered.

"Agreed. But I'd like to think it takes a special kind of person to inspire that level of stupidity in others."

"Like decidin' to write abou' an American lassie finding friends for a whole year?"

"Like that," Killian conceded, with a smile.

"So you mus' think she's worth the effort, then?"

That pulled him up short. "I think…" he said, best trying to arrange his thoughts. " I think Emma deserves a real chance at happiness here. As much as anyone. And if my column can help with that, then all the better. So tell me, what made you respond to Emma's ad in the first place?"

I think I found a promising candidate for you. KJ

Oh? ES

Aye. I think you have plenty in common. Are you free tonight to discuss? KJ

It's Valentine's Day. ES

…

You have alternate plans? KJ

Of course not. But don't you? ES

After a fashion. But you're more than welcome to join. KJ

If that is a poncy British way of initiating a ménage à trois… ES

I'm babysitting. My brother is the one with the Valentine's plans. With his wife. I, on the other hand, am on nephew-wrangling duty, because apparently children can be a real mood killer. But as I said, you are welcome to come by. We're making tacos. KJ

Yeah, I'm not good with kids. ES.

Me neither. And yet, somehow, the little cretins haven't died on my watch yet. KJ

I don't know… ES

Aren't you curious who your new best friend is going to be? KJ

Not the gym bunny? ES

Perish the thought. KJ

And there will be tacos? ES

There will indeed be tacos. KJ

Hard shell or soft? ES

Both. KJ

Well played, Jones. ES

See you at 7 then, Swan? KJ

For only the twentieth time that day, Killian Jones wondered where exactly he got all of his bright ideas from.

Aye, he needed to convince Emma to give a meeting with Merida a shot. And he needed to extract some sliver of personal information out of her. He couldn't hope to sustain his column with his witticisms forever. At some point, Emma had to step forward and become a character in her own right, if he had any hope of appealing to his subscription base. And to do that, he had to get to know her.

So he did need to see her. And he was going out of town for a few days, so there wasn't a lot of flexibility in his schedule. But inviting her to help babysit his nephews? What had he been thinking?

It was a disaster waiting to happen. Not least because it required the permission of at least one of their parents. Neither of which was looking like an attractive option, considering the amount of grief he was likely to get over it.

He still hadn't made his mind up which one to approach when his decision was made for him, his sister-in-law calling his name from down the hall.

"Killian?"

Well, at least she was the more sympathetic of the two.

"You beckoned?" he asked, popping his head around the door frame.

Elsa stood in front of a full length mirror, fretting with the sleeve of her pale blue dress. As per usual, she looked ethereally lovely, a state which was at odds with the frown she wore in her reflection.

Killian whistled in appreciation. "You do realise it's not too late? You could always ditch Liam and run off with the younger, more dashing brother?" he offered sardonically.

She turned to him, her eye roll still managing to be affectionate somehow. "Thank you, I think. Can you zip me up?" She asked, gesturing to the back of her dress.

"As the lady insists," he said with an exaggerated bow, stepping closer to assess the task at hand. When he went out he tended to wear his prosthetic, but at home he often went without, switching it over for the more versatile, but slightly more discomfiting hook. The last thing Elsa needed was for him to tear a hole right through her shiny new dress.

"I appreciate this, you know," Elsa said suddenly, startling Killian as he reached out to take the zipper. "You taking care of the boys. I know there are probably other things you'd rather be doing. It's just, I know Liam's been stressing himself out with Ingrid in town. I want him to have fun tonight. Let it go for a few hours."

"I'm happy to help," Killian replied, pulling the zip up the rest of the way. And then sensing he wasn't going to get any better opening than that, he ripped off that plaster. "Having said that, perhaps there is something you can do for me?"

"Oh?" she asked, turning around to face him with an amused smile curving her lips.

"Do you remember Emma?"

"Emma?" she repeated, her eyebrows furrowing together. "You mean #FindEmmaSwanAFriend, Emma?"

"Aye," Killian said, reaching up to scratch behind one ear. "I've been meaning to touch base with her, but I'm off to Glasgow tomorrow for the film festival. I was sort of hoping I could invite her here."

She looked puzzled by his request. "This is your house too, Killian. You know you don't need my permission to invite someone over."

Killian took a deep breath. "Only, I might have mentioned I was babysitting tonight, and invited her to eat with me and the boys?"

"You invited her to babysit with you?" Elsa clarified, in such a way he couldn't be sure of her feelings on the matter.

"If you're not comfortable with that-" Killian began.

"Just to be clear," Elsa interrupted him. "You invited Emma Swan, the woman you agreed to write about all this year, home to eat tacos and watch Pixar movies with you and my sons. On Valentine's Day?"

This was exactly what he'd been afraid of. "Bloody hell, Elsa. It's not a date."

"But it's not exactly work either, is it?"

"It's a… it's a friendly gesture," Killian admitted. "But you don't understand. Emma is... she's guarded, alright? If I want people to really connect with her, if I want her story to truly resonate, then I need to know a little more about her. And there's no way she'll ever be comfortable enough to give me that, unless I'm prepared to do the same."

"So this is a case of 'I show you mine, you show me yours'?" Elsa asked, her tone still far too amused for Killian's liking.

"You make it sound crass, love."

"No, I think I understand. I do," she emphasised, when Killian shot her a look. "It shows you've really thought about it. About how you're going to sustain that relationship over the year. It's kind of impressive, actually."

"So you're okay with her coming by?" Killian clarified.

"Of course. I trust you to do the right thing."

"Thank you, love," he said, releasing a long held breath and leaning forward to brush a brotherly kiss to her temple. "I appreciate that."

"But Killian?" she said, stopping him dead in the doorway before he could make himself scarce. "It's okay if you just want to get to know her for the sake of it, you know?"

He paused for a moment, biting back a retort. "Have fun tonight, Elsa. And keep my brother out of trouble," he said, before leaving to her to get ready alone.

Emma

Okay, so Killian Jones was rich.

When Google Maps had led her directly in front of a two-storey Victorian in Merchiston, with honest-to-god ivy growing on the walls, Emma figured she had the wrong address. But after double-checking Killian's text, she couldn't see how she could've screwed up.

And as she walked down the paved drive, the impressive facade of the house looming over her, she wondered if she really had Killian Jones quite as figured out as she thought she did.

The entranceway was ridiculous. A church's worth of stained glass framing an imposing black door, a solid brass knocker in the center. Feeling a little bit foolish, she lifted the handle, bringing it down three times.

Why couldn't they just have a doorbell?

She heard a shuffle of movement from inside, and then Killian Jones appeared in front of her. He was minus the leather jacket she had come to expect from him. A waistcoat, it turned out, was what lay underneath, and he managed to make it work. His prosthetic, she noticed, had been replaced with some kind of metal attachment. But not wishing for him to catch her staring, she instead drew her eyes to her immediate surroundings.

"You neglected to mention you were loaded," Emma said, by way of greeting, stepping past him into the front hall and out of the cold. "This house is…" she trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Opulent?" Killian suggested, closing the door after her. "And I'm not loaded." Killian added with a smirk, taking her jacket from her. "My sister-in-law however… Let's just say, if anyone is the reacher in that relationship, it's my brother."

"Your brother, the editor?"

"That's the one. So," he said, rubbing his hands together, so much as he could. "Ready to meet the gremlins?"

"When you put it like that…" She grimaced, but allowed herself to be led down the hallway anyway, emboldened by the promise of tacos.

The living room itself was like something right out of a furniture catalogue, and not one from IKEA, either. The furniture all matched, the art on the walls was tasteful and there was a real marble fireplace, with an actual fire burning in the grate. The whole tableau wouldn't have looked out of place in a Burt Reynolds photoshoot, if it weren't for the two small boys clad in superhero pajamas sat around a small coffee table, fit to bursting with taco fixings.

They looked up as they entered, tiny faces lit with excitement and smeared with excess salsa.

"Lachie, Callum," Killian said, pointing to each boy in turn. "This is Emma. She's a friend from work. I've invited her to eat with us. And you're going to be on your very best behaviour for our guest, aye?"

Both boys nodded solemnly, before the oldest emitted a sudden and overloud burp, the two of them bursting into peals of laughter.

Ah, children.

"Hi," Emma said, her opening gambit as pathetic as her wave. "Thanks for letting me join you."

"They won't bite, Swan," Killian whispered from her side, suddenly much closer than she remembered. "Well, Lachie might. But you've had all your jabs, correct?"

And then before she could figure out if he was kidding or not, he pushed her into the open space beside the youngest, the aforementioned Lachie. Who may or may not bite.

"Hi," she said again, settling down on a cushion beside him. "Would you be able to pass me a plate?"

"You talk funny," the boy said, reaching over the extract a plastic plate from the stack piled high on the table.

Killian shot the boy a sharp look, but Emma waved him off. "Yeah, that's because I'm from America. Do you know where that is?"

"That's where Aunty Anna lives," came the voice of the eldest, Callum, from the other side of the table. "She lives in New York City with Uncle Kristoff. And they have a dog. His name is Sven and he's a Norwegian Elkhound. Uncle Kristoff says he can talk, but only to him. Aunty Anna thinks Uncle Kristoff is very silly."

The kid was clearly precocious, but not such a big fan of pausing between his sentences, making the entire spiel seem like one long run-on sentence.

"Oh," said Emma, not expecting this wealth of new information. "And have you ever gone to visit Aunty Anna?"

"We were in her wedding," Callum continued. "It was my job to carry the flowers. And I started sneezing all the time. Mummy said it was hayfever. And I remember the penguins at the zoo. And the big buildings. And the park. I remember, but Lachie was just a baby, so he doesn't remember it at all."

"I do so!" came the vehement reply of his younger brother, unhappy with being left out of the narrative.

"Do not!"

"Do so!"

"Boys!" Killian cried, causing both of them to abandon their mounting argument. "Remember what I said about best behaviour?"

The two boys fell into a sullen silence, but Killian on the other hand, merely looked amused. "Cheer up, lass," he said, as he leaned forward to snag a bowl of chopped tomatoes out from under her nose. "What would you rather be doing with your evening? Watching Netflix?"

Okay, so the tacos were pretty good. And when they weren't getting into arguments over inane details, the two Jones boys were kind of cute. Sort of. Emma wasn't really a kids person. Even when she was a kid, she hadn't been a big fan.

Fortunately, bedtime came around soon enough, Killian disappearing upstairs to tuck them in while Emma did a great job of pretending she wasn't snooping. It wasn't snooping if they had the pictures on display in the common areas, right?

Emma didn't recognize the couple in the wedding photo that took pride of place on the mantelpiece, but she recognized the best man easily enough. Killian Jones. He'd been younger then, his hair longer and shaggier, but it was undeniably him. Mugging for the camera with his arm around his brother's shoulders. One hand clutching a beer bottle, the other holding a bunch of flowers. Two hands. Not a prosthetic, back then.

So the missing hand hadn't always been missing, then. And it was a fairly recent development. She heard footsteps on the stairs and she turned away from the photograph, pretending to admire the Jones' not inconsiderable record collection. John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters seemed to come up a lot. She idly wondered if they belonged to the brother, or his wife. Or if it was an interest they both shared.

"Warm beverage?" came a voice near her elbow, startling her out of her thoughts.

"I think we should get you a collar with a bell on it," Emma said, clutching her chest, turning around to find Killian already holding out a mug, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "You didn't think two hot chocolates were enough already?" Emma asked, taking the cup from his hand.

"Third time's the charm," he shrugged. "Also I spiked this one."

Emma, who already had her mug halfway to her lips took an experimental sip, causing her to cough out loud. "Wow," she said with a little laugh, lowering the mug. "Yeah, you did. Do I look that terrified?" She asked, moving to take a seat on the designer looking couch. She was almost afraid to bring her mug with her, in case she spilled something on it.

"Only a little," Killian said, taking a seat on the opposite end, clutching a beverage of his own. How exactly he'd managed to carry both in from the kitchen in one trip, Emma couldn't say. "You put up a good front. Kids can smell fear, but I think you had them fooled."

"But not you, huh?" Emma said, curling her feet underneath her.

"Well, I'm quite perceptive lass," he said, with a smirk.

"And modest, too," Emma remarked, earning a chuckle in response.

"You're good with them," she said suddenly. "Your nephews, I mean. You seem really close. Do you babysit a lot?"

"Well…" This smile faltered a little, and Emma wondered if she'd made an accidental faux pas. Had she misread the situation? "Actually," he began again, looking visibly uncomfortable. "The truth is that I live here. In the guest room. It was supposed to be a temporary situation, but I suppose we're now entering the stage where it's hard to kid myself on that score any longer. So at this point I think they just consider me part of the furniture."

He seemed almost ashamed somehow. As if there was something wrong with wanting to live in a beautiful house, surrounded by your own flesh and blood.

"Neighborhood too bourgeois for you?" Emma asked, before she could stop herself.

She was rewarded with another laugh, the furrow between his brows disappearing. "Well, there is that," he smiled. "I don't know. Don't get me wrong, I realise this is a palace. Compared to the places my brother and I grew up?" He shook his head. "I suppose I just miss the independence. Miss having my brother's disapproving looks at more than an arm's length."

"It must be hard," Emma mused. "Your boss being your brother. Your brother being your boss."

"I think bossing me around comes quite naturally to him, actually. Only, I'm not quite as good at taking orders as I used to be. Sometimes for so large a house it can be suffocatingly small."

It wasn't really a confession you could build on. Emma didn't have any sibling stories to share, and she doubted he wanted to hear about her crappy childhood anyway. She settled for taking another sip from her mug, letting the amaretto warm her from the inside out.

"You're not really one for sharing, are you?" Killian noted, regarding her with more scrutiny than she was really comfortable with.

"Don't have much to share," Emma shrugged.

"I doubt that very much. You seem like many things, Emma Swan. But boring? I doubt it. Take this, for instance. How does a lass like you end up on the wrong side of the Atlantic anyhow, teaching American history to a bunch of kids who couldn't quite scrape into Cambridge?"

"I applied?"

"Oh, please," he scoffed. "No one leaves all their friends and family behind and starts a new life three thousand miles away without a reason. So what was it? Bad break-up?"

"No." Walsh's face flashed in her mind for an instant. "Well, yes. But no, I mean, that's not why I came here."

He looked unconvinced. "No?"

"No."

"Then might I inquire…?"

"So you can write it all down in your little article? I don't think so, Buddy."

"Off the record, then," he said, pushing his phone across the table towards her in a show of good faith. "Why Scotland? Why now? And I swear, if you say anything about Outlander, we're done here."

She poked her tongue out at him for that. Sure, Jamie Fraser was one fine slice of Highland prime beef, but he hadn't really figured much into her decision. Her own decision hadn’t been half so simple. But hell, he’d asked for it, right?

"The break-up wasn't the reason, exactly. But it made it easier. Less to leave, I guess. And then I lost my job. Voluntary redundancy, or whatever. But at least I got a payout. And my friends, well they've all got their own stuff going on. Mary Margaret's trying for a baby. Ruby and Victor are moving in together. August has his book. And I had this money, burning a hole in my pocket. I guess I figured I had nothing to lose."

"You do realise this is the most you've ever spoken about yourself since I met you?" Killian pointed out, setting his mug down on the coffee table.

"And you say you do this for a living?" Emma asked in disbelief.

"Well, I think I also implied I'm a bit of a problem employee. So I'm guessing you were the dumper, rather than the dumpee?"

"What, with Walsh? Why would you assume that?" Emma asked, feeling her hackles raise.

"Well, you're something of an open book, lass. For one thing, you don't seem all that cut up about it. And for another, I think if you were properly distraught you would have sought out the company of your friends, rather than choosing to isolate yourself in some far off place."

He was right, damn him. Why did he have to be right?

"Fine. I'm the one who broke it off, happy? He proposed, and instead of saying yes, like a normal person, I decided I'd rather break his heart into little itty bitty pieces."

"You were in love with him?"

What was with the men in her life, and their fixation with Emma's feelings about Walsh?

"Sure, I guess. He's a good guy. We just weren't… endgame."

"Hmmm," said Killian thoughtfully.

"What?" Emma asked, wondering if she was really ready for another one of his theories.

"He didn't really get it, did he? The orphan thing?"

She opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. "How the fuck did you know that?"

"Well I didn't, for sure. But I suspected. I've been around my share of orphans. There's a certain look, when you've been left on your own too long. And you, Swan, have the look."

Emma knew the look he meant. One part neglect to two parts chip on one's shoulder. It never entirely left you, no matter how many birthdays you had, or paychecks you cashed. An orphan was always an orphan.

"You're one to talk. Your brother raised you, didn't he?" Emma hadn't needed to meet Liam Jones to realize why he loomed so large in his brother's imagination. Not a case of sibling rivalry at all, but a lingering fear of not living up to his brother's expectations.

"He did," Killian confirmed. "But our father isn't dead. He just left, not too long after our mother passed. He turned up about ten years ago, out of the blue with a whole new family. A brother we never even knew existed."

"Ouch."

"Liam didn't take it very well. Not that I can blame him. They're still not on speaking terms."

"And you?"

"It's not our brother's fault his father is a coward. He's in his first year of university now, down in Exeter. We email sometimes. I can't quite bring myself to write to my father. I doubt anything I wanted to say could be expressed via email anyway."

For a man who might have been just about one of the most articulate people Emma had ever met, that might've been hard to swallow. But she thought she understood what he meant. Sometimes it wasn't about words. But sometimes they were all you had.

"I'm from Maine, originally," Emma blurted out. "You asked me once. That's where I was found on the side of the road, as a baby." She didn't want to play this game. This 'whose childhood was worse' game. But she felt compelled to give him something. "So, you were right about me. I grew up bouncing from foster home to foster home until I aged out of the system. Had a near-miss with the law and decided I didn't want to be a statistic. So I got my GED, applied to a bunch of colleges and took out a mountain of student loans. Somehow I ended up back in a small town in Maine about fifty miles from where I started, studying history, and I liked it there, so I stayed for a while. And now I'm here?"

"Here you are," Killian said, raising his mug to clink against her own. "Nice to meet you at last, Emma Swan," he said, piercing blue eyes meeting hers.

It would have been easy to lower her gaze, but she didn't, even as she drained the last of her cup. "Likewise, Killian Jones."

"So," Emma said, fingers tracing the rim of her empty mug. "You mentioned you found me a new best friend?"

Her name was Merida.

Or at least, that was what Killian was going to call her in his column. Anonymity apparently only an option for people who hadn't already had their real name splashed all over the internet.

"I can't decide if you're going to get along like a house on fire, or try to kill each other," he'd said, as if that was in any way a solid recommendation.

And then he'd suggested archery, of all activities. Because this Merida was apparently something of an expert. At archery.

"You really think it's wise sending me out into the hinterland with a complete stranger, armed with deadly weapons?" Emma had asked.

"You'll have deadly weapons too, Swan," he reminded her, in an overly cheerful way. As if that made it any better. It's wasn't like she knew how to use them.

The archery range was a long cab ride out of the city, set among farmland dotted with harassed looking cows and unsightly power lines. And just as Killian had promised, there was a young woman waiting by the front gate, immediately recognizable by her tangle of red curls.

"You're Emma?" the girl asked with a sideways smile, stepping forward to shake Emma's hand.

"I am," she said, grasping her hand in a firm handshake. "And I guess you're the person who was crazy enough to answer Killian's email?"

"Aye. Seems like. You ever shoot an arrow before, Emma?" Her accent was astronomical. Emma liked to think she had grown accustomed to the soft burr of the natives, but this was something else altogether.

"Uh, no. A friend of mine, um... back home. She went through an archery phase in college. I was much more into the spectating side of things."

"Well, there's no time like th' present," the girl said, leading the way to what seemed to be a storage shed.

"You're not worried it might rain?" Emma called out, pointing out the gunmetal grey of the clouds that were fast gathering on the horizon.

The girl shrugged, not even bothering to turn around. "It'll pass. Weather changes fast here."

With that apparently cleared up, Emma had no choice but to follow after her.

The weather did change fast. One minute Emma was being lectured to about her terrible stance in relative sunshine, the next the rain was coming in sideways.

Merida, on the other hand, seemed unconcerned, still focused intently on her target.

"This doesn't bother you?" Emma called, having to shout to make herself heard over the roar of the tempest beating down on them.

"It's Scotland!" the girl shouted back in answer, not moving a millimeter.

"It's freezing!"

Apparently having realized the shine had rather worn off for Emma, the girl gave a huff of annoyance, and let her bow drop back to her side. It was only when she turned around and saw Emma huddled there, shivering, that her face softened a little.

"Alrigh' fine," she said, holding her hands up in defeat. "We'll getcha warmed up."

They ended up taking refuge in Merida's car, a battered green Ford probably about as old as Merida herself. Emma felt a momentary pang of longing for her own ancient Volkswagen, probably still sitting under a dusty tarp in Mary Margaret's garage.

Emma wouldn't have minded a bit of heating to help with the whole drying process, but Merida never moved to switch on the ignition, and she felt she should be grateful she'd even gotten this far. Instead they sat in awkward silence, watching the first flurries of snow begin to fall.

"It'll pass?" Emma repeated. She couldn't help it.

Merida didn't say a fucking word.

So? KJ

How'd it go? KJ

...

Swan? KJ

Emma? Are you alright? KJ

Emma, answer your bloody phone! KJ

I have a class. I'll call you later. ES

Are you alright, lass? KJ

I'll tell you later. ES

There was that sliver of a moment, right after someone picked up the phone. That tiny breath of silence, when your heart leapt into your throat, and your nerve endings were shot. Where anticipation and fear started duking it out in your lower belly.

Emma wanted to live in that moment forever. Anything to delay the inevitable. But that was the thing about time. It didn't care what you wanted.

"Emma?" She sounded breathless, like she'd been running to grab the phone.

"Mary Margaret?" Emma said, not quite managing to keep the wobble out of her voice.

"Sweetie?"

That was all it took. One word. The confirmation that someone, somewhere, out there, gave a shit. She felt the tears gathering even before she spoke.

"You were right. I'm not okay."

#cs ff #cs au #cs au ff #FindEmmaSwanAFriend

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