#theodore hook (oc)

[vampiregeese]

hello my favorite children please accept post-war theodore as a treat

[nevernonline]

✧.* what’s your number?; kmg

synposis: after finding an online article about the number of sexual partners a woman should have, your day with your neighbor turns into him being lucky number eighteen.

paring/s: model! mingyu x afab! reader, ft. little brother! chan.

genre/s: humor (sort of lmao), neighbors2lvrs vibes, fuckboy&girl reader and gyu.

warning/s: alcohol consumption, sexual content (minors - dni), talks of broken bones, oc has female genitalia

word count: 3.8k

content: seggsy times, idiots being besties, reader loses her job, all the vibes.

note/s: loosely based on one of my fav movies, what's your number with anna ferris. lmao enjoy. also def unedited so srry. xo.

“Miss. Y/L/N. I’m very sorry but we have decided to let you go.” 

Your boss put down a brown cardboard box that once held wine from a staff party about a week ago. You stood in silence, why were you being fired? You’re one of the only executives who does their job. All of the other employees sit around and drink whiskey and flirt with the other women on your floor on company time, go home to their wives, and make six figures. 

“Sir, can I ask why?” 

“Budget cuts, sorry honey.” 

Honey of course. Not only is he himulating you, he’s also being condescending. 

“Why not fire Ted? He does nothing but use his company card for ‘business expenses’ like taking his different fucks to exotic vacations and restaurants.” 

“Our female clients like Theodore. Sorry it has to be this way. Here’s a check to keep your rent underway and for any troubles. Good luck.” 

You picked up the brown cardboard he handed it to you and dumped the white envelope into your bag as you stormed out of his glass chamber. 

Perfect timing, your brothers getting married and you’re getting fired. Your mother will surely love to hear about this. 

After gathering the contents of your desk you found your way back to your white and gray covered apartment, sinking down into the perfect couch you bought yourself as a reward for your first month in the job. 

Pulling your laptop from the pocket of your work bag, you scrolled through the news on your side widget . Coming across an article written in some stupid lifestyle magazine about ‘the appropriate number of sexual partners for women.’ 

“Okay, so society is regressing.” 

Curious enough you scrolled through to a small section with a quiz, childish, but probably suitable for women over 50 or under 21. 

Following your finger down the various categories that pertained to you until it came to the bottom of the page pointing out your result. 

“15 and over, women with this number often have difficulty finding a spouse and are unlikely to ever settle down. Are they fucking serious? Men can fuck 50 women and still are fine.” 

A vibration came from your phone, a text from your neighbor. 

[3:44pm]. 

Mingyu: Mind helping me out? New girl won’t take the bait about my “emergency” 

Y/N: what’s the issue with her this time? 

Mingyu: nothing, just too clingy. I’m expecting you in five, say our dad fell in the shower. Thank you, owe you. 

Y/n: got it see you in five. 

Mingyu and you met often when you were ushering out hook ups or crazy exes show up to your door. You didn’t know much about his life, other than he’s a model, and obviously has bad luck with women. 

Pulling yourself up off your couch and throwing a blazer back over your shoulders you strode off down to the other end of the hallway. 

“Mingyu? Mingyu seriously answer your phone? Hello!” 

The door opened revealing a semi-naked girl, she was pretty sure, blonde, tall, nice eyes, but boring. 

“Who the fuck are you?” 

“Mingyu’s sister, who the fuck are you?” 

“Oh my god! So sorry, hi so nice to meet you, I’m Ailee his gir-“ 

“My friend, y/n. What’s wrong?” 

Letting yourself passes the bra sporting blonde you looked Mingyu straight in the face and pulled out your best crying face, it was easy today being that you’re pissed about work and that stupid fucking quiz. 

“It’s dad, he fell. I don’t think it’s good, we have to go.” 

“Oh. Okay, let me change.” 

Mingyu pulled in his jeans and a white t-shirt, grabbed his fancy leather wallet from the counter and pulled you through the front door of his condo. 

“Ailee, let yourself out okay?” 

“Call me?”

“Uh, maybe it sounds like this is bad, maybe we should stop seeing each other? I’ll call you.” 

The truth is Mingyu was never going to call her, he said that to all the others. Yet, you never saw them again. 

Silently you open the door to your place and shut it behind you. 

“She seems nice.” 

“Yeah trust me, she’s not.” 

“Noted. But, better than that crazy red headed girl, Cass was it?” 

“We don’t have to talk about her.” 

“Missing that jacket still?”

“Yes.” 

Mingyu took his place on your leather armchair and sipped the coffee you had initially made for yourself. 

“What is this? What’s your number?”

“Oh my god. Stop looking at my shit.” 

You whipped the lid of your laptop close and stole it out of his hands

“Do you really think anyone cares how many people you sleep with? Isn’t that kind of fucked up?” 

“You can only say that because well, one your a man and two you’ve fucked basically half the women in this city.” 

“Not true, we haven’t fucked.” 

“Right and we will not.” 

“Sure, sure keep telling yourself that. So what is it? 12?” 

“Do you really need that answer?” 

“Yes. And I will bother you until you tell me.” 

“17.” 

Mingyu laughed, not because he felt bad for you or that you were going to hell for fucking 17 people, but because he didn’t see the big deal. 

“Oh come on, that is not that bad.” 

“What’s yours?” 

“Maybe 20?” 

“We are way too close in number for me to not feel weird about it now.” 

“Because it doesn’t matter, why do you think you couldn’t get a husband or boyfriend or whatever the fuck you want because of that?” 

“I don’t know, I didn’t until today I guess.” 

“Bad day?” 

The dark haired man’s head nodded towards the unpacked cardboard box sitting on your dining table. 

“Weird day. And now I have to go see my family at an overly fancy party and sit around clutching cocktails and lie that I didn’t lose my job, just until their precious boy is married off.” 

“Ah, the black sheep of a rich family huh?” 

“Shut up, no. They’re just judgmental is all. Well, my mom is anyway.” 

“I see. What are you wearing?” 

“I don’t know? What’s wrong with what I have on now?” 

Mingyu looked you over in your semi unbuttoned dress shirt and oversized trousers, sexy and sophisticated, but a little boring for a party. 

“Actually you look good. But, it’s not exactly giving a cocktail party for the sister of the groom. Especially if your mom is as judgmental as you say.” 

“Okay, go in my closet then. Work your weird model magic or whatever, Mr. Jeans and white tee.” 

“Anything for you, rich girl.” 

You walked Mingyu through your bedroom into the oversized walk in closet, filled to the brim of clothes, half of them with tags still on. Gifts from boyfriends, friends, your mother. 

“Wow, I didn’t expect this.” 

“And what did you expect?” 

“A closet turned into an office and like five pairs of the same pants, maybe matching pajama sets. But not this.” 

Sitting down on the small stool you let the man rifle his way through the various colors of fabric. 

“Okay, so this black dress. It’s tight but not overwhelmingly, it’ll show your figure and still make you appropriate. These tall black boots, sexy to show off your long legs and make you look even taller, a nice bag, maybe.. this red one? Or the green, just for a pop of color. Put it on.” 

“You finish quickly .” 

“Never had a woman say that to me before. Hurry up.” 

Smirking, you run back into your bedroom, out of sight from the man tapping his fingers on the marble countertop of your dressing room, sliding into the outfit he picked out. 

“Okay, I look-“

“Beautiful.” 

“Really? Don’t you think this is a little much? I mean, for this?” 

“Not at all, it’s actually really simple. May I?” 

He held up a silver chain necklace in his hands and waited until you nodded as he strung it around your neck. 

“Perfect. Now, leave your hair up. Maybe a nice bun and curl the front pieces? You look nice without makeup on, but do that cute winged liner look you do with a nude lip.” 

“Okay, since when did you become a stylist?” 

“I’m a model, I know what I’m talking about. Come on, chop chop.” 

“Okay, mom. Jesus.” 

“Dad. Daddy, actually.” 

“That's never happening.” 

Doing his instructions as he asked, you curled the front pieces of your hair letting it softly dangle in front of your face and placed the rest up on the crown of your head in a loosely tied knot. 

“Okay. So maybe you’re good at this.” 

“I know. If you need my help further, you know where to find me.” 

“You’re leaving?” 

“Aren’t you?” 

Holding up your phone you realized how much time has passed and grabbed your keys. 

“Right. Thank you.” 

“My pleasure. See you soon, y/n.” 

“Bye, Gyu.” 

Walking up to the front steps of your parents luxurious brown stone, you felt the cold sweat under your armpits before walking in the front door. 

“Y/N holy shit, where have you been? Mom is going to kick your ass.” 

“Sorry, Chanie. I had something going on. Where is she?” 

“In the dining room with Marnie and Seungcheol. Talking about wedding stuff, please save us.” 

Coming to your brother's rescue was part of the job of being an older sister. Seeing him settle down and get engaged to a girl like Marnie was amazing for you, she was everything he needed, and it was nice to have another girl in your family. 

Grabbing  a glass of champagne from the silver tray of a waiter, you strode up to your mother in your childhood home, still as nervous as you would have been as a little girl to be under her gaze. 

“Aw, my baby. Finally arrived. Hello.” 

“Hi, Mom. Hello, guys.” 

You mom hugged you giving a kiss on both of your blushing cheeks passing you along to greet your brother's future wife and his friend Seungcheol. 

“Y/N, you look amazing. Where did you get this beautiful dress?” 

“Thank you. My friend helped me pick this out actually, I don’t remember where it’s from.” 

“Friend? Which friend is this, darling?” 

“His name is Mingyu, he’s my neighbor.” 

“Gay? He has wonderful taste.” 

“No, not gay mom. He’s a model.” 

“Oh wow, can I see a photo? Why didn’t you bring him?” 

“Maybe next time.” 

After downing the first glass of alcohol you quickly look for another, Seungcheol already holding a glass in his hand for you with a wink. 

“Thank you.” 

“Anytime.” 

“Y/N, can you go find your father? Now that you're here we can start dinner.” 

“Yep.” 

Strolling throw the various rooms full of priceless knickknacks and photos of your youth, you stop at the open oak doors of your fathers study, looking at him for a moment, behind his desk, glasses on, reading his book. 

“Hello, Dad. May I come in?” 

“Y/N, yes of course. Just hiding out here until I can eat some dinner. How are you?” 

“I’m okay, mom sent me to get you to come eat. What are you reading?” 

“Oh, just some Orwell. Relaxes me.” 

“Shall we, sir?” 

“Yes, my girl.” 

You held your arm out for your father, he was always your best friend, someone who no matter what supported everything you wanted to do. He was stern, but even after parenting you he would end it with a hug and a piece of candy, seeing him grow older had your heart in pain. 

Searching the table for your placecard, it sat you right in between your brother and Seungcheol, his best man and best friend for longer than you could ever remember. 

“Are you coming to his bachelor mixer?” 

Seungcheol’s long eyelashes fluttered in front of your face and you noticed how much more mature he looked, he was always cute, but it’s grown on you now. 

“Are you going to embarrass me?” 

“I’m not the one who got drunk in college and broke her arm trying to dive into the fountain.” 

“Ouch. At least I haven’t shit myself drunk as an adult and embarrassed myself in front of the girl I liked.” 

“I did not shit myself. It was a fart.” 

“A fart with a little poop, a shart if you will. What did they call you? Shart Seungcheol?” 

Your mother interrupted the light flirting you two were enjoying and gave a speech about how lovely it is to see her baby marrying a second daughter and so on and so on. 

After everyone downed their salmon and fancy finger food, you got into the silly party bus along side the rest of the bridal party, moving on to the night of drinking ahead of you. 

“Guys let’s play a game on the way to the bar.” 

Your brother's fiancé spoke, turning down the music and passing around multiple bottles of tequila and glasses. 

“Everyone right down a confession on your paper. If we guess whose it is, they have to drink, but if you get it wrong you drink.” 

Looking down at the small pink sheet of paper you wrote about your day, your sex number, and you losing your job. Maybe nobody will get it, maybe nobody will care because they’ll be equally as drunk. 

The game went on as your anxiety grew and nobody had chosen your confession yet, that was until your brother pulled one of the last sheets of paper out from the bowl. 

“Today I lost my job, I let a stupid magazine article tell me how women who have sex with more than 15 men means they’re unloveable and unwanted. I can’t wait to get fucked up. Congratulations! Well that’s my sister.” 

“What? How did you guess that?” 

“I know your handwriting dumbass, drink, everyone drink.” 

Your night continued, nobody mentioned your failure as a person, they just celebrated the happy couple. 

More and more drinks in, maybe the same amount of people you’ve had sex with. You took it upon yourself to get people on the dance floor, when you felt a pair of hands coming up on your hips, turning around to curse them out, you recognized the eyes staring back at you. 

Mingyu. 

“What the hell are you doing here!?” 

“Birthday party, we always come here. What the hell are you doing here?” 

“Mixed sexes bachelor party.” 

Mingyu's hands were still resting on your hips, on top of the very dress he helped you pick out hours before. 

“Exciting. Want to get a drink with me?” 

“I have one.” 

You held up the half empty glass of your Negroni and Mingyu snatched it from your grip, downing it for you. 

“You’re paying.” 

“Yes. That was the plan.” 

His hand pulled out off the dance floor and back over to a pair black leather bar stools, waving the bartender over. 

“Two whiskey sours please.” 

“No, one whiskey sour. I’ll have a whiskey neat.” 

The bartender nodded working his magic for the two rocks glasses. 

“Here you go, tab Mingyu?” 

“Yes, thanks John.” 

“Wow first name bases?” 

“I told you we like to come here. Who’s the pale dude staring at us?” 

You turned around to look at your brother, cheering you from across the bar. 

“My brother, Chan. His wedding party.” 

“Yes, I remember. I meant the one next to him?” 

“Ah, Seungcheol. Best man.” 

“He wants to fuck you, maybe he’s lucky number eighteen.” 

“Maybe he was lucky number ten back in the day.” 

“Do you remember his number?” 

“No, but I’ve already fucked him. In college.” 

“Ah, I see. Still on the hunt?” 

“Not at all actually, I’m celabte now.” 

“No way, I bet you could find many dudes who’d want to fuck you here.” 

“It’s a matter of if I want to fuck them no?” 

“Touchè” 

“What about him?” 

Mingyu pointed to a tall blonde, long hair, and pretty lips. 

“Gorgeous. But not my style. I’m not really in the mood to get laid.” 

“And let my work go to waste?” 

You smiled, sipping your drink and feeling the warm liquid enter your body. 

“You didn’t give me my beautiful face and fat ass, you just put it in a dress. And as my dad says, leave them wanting more.” 

“You’re a very funny drunk, she shocks me even more.” 

“Can I ask you something?” 

“Mhm.” 

“Do you ever get tired of having me save your ass from all those girls? Don’t you want to settle down and not have your neighbor coming over to rescue you all the time?” 

“Maybe the reason I do it is so you’ll save me.” 

“Shut up.” 

“No. I’m serious. I like hanging out with you, I enjoy seeing you, and you’re very entertaining. I like role play.” 

“I see, you have a kink.” 

“All jokes aside, I like seeing you.” 

You were surprised by his gentle voice and nature, you always knew him from the outside, a beautiful guy who has bad luck getting girls out of his apartment for whatever reason. 

“I like seeing you too.” 

Mingyu's hand rested on your thigh as he looked towards the same dance floor he pulled you from before, basically begging you with his eyes to come back out with him. 

You agreed, holding his hands through various sweaty bodies, some you knew and some you didn’t. Dancing along with them to the rhythm of the song, holding yourself up on Mingyu's large frame 

“Surprised to see you in something other than jeans and a tee.”

“You like?” 

“If I say yes are you going to fuck with me over it?” 

“Maybe. Are you going to let me be your lucky number eighteen?” 

“If you promise you don’t have some random girl barge in your door tomorrow to get me to leave?” 

“She’ll be tied up.” 

“Let’s go. I have to say bye to my brother first. Come on.” 

Walking towards the door you spot Chan playing darts with Marnie, who was obviously kicking his ass. 

“Hey! I’m going to head out, I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Is this Mingyu?” 

“Oh shit, yes Marnie, Chan, this is Mingyu. Mingyu, this is my brother Chan and his fiancé Marnie.” 

Mingyu outstretched his hand to the couple, shaking it kindly. 

“Nice to meet you man, my sister talks about you a lot. Be good to her.” 

“Chan, shut the hell up. Love you both, mwah mwah.” 

“Mingyu if you’re free tomorrow, y/n has a plus one. We’d love to have you.” 

Smiling and whisking Mingyu out of the front door, you began to run together through the light rain falling, two blocks to your apartment. 

“Sorry, my brothers, an idiot.” 

“He seems nice, his wife to be too.” 

You felt your hands shaking in nervousness riding up the elevator to your shared floor. Stepping off and standing in the hallway between your two front doors. 

“Your place or mine?” 

“Well, I picked you up didn't I? Come to mine.” 

Mingyu led you through his familiar front door and helped you out of your wet clothes, throwing them in his washing machine. 

Now standing in his living room, just in your black lace bra and panties, feeling like all those other girls before. Almost in fear of someone knocking to kick you out of his dimmed apartment. 

“Come on.” 

You giggled as he picked up your half naked frame and carried you into his bedroom. 

“Lay down. Off the edge of the bed, trust me.” 

You didn’t say anything just followed his instructions as his fingers came and wrapped themselves around your lace underwear, blowing on your clit with his soft breath as he pulled them down your freshly shaved legs. 

“Fuck.” 

His lips came in contact between your heated center, splitting his kisses between your aching parts and your thighs. 

Your hands working their way through his hair as he used his tongue to work his way around your clit and between your folds, pushing you closer and closer into your own euphoria. 

Maybe you understood why girls didn’t want to let him go, if this was his head game, you can’t even imagine what could come next. 

“You taste so sweet, I should’ve known better to be careful, I might get addicted to you.” 

“Stop with the niceties, Gyu. Can you please fuck me?” 

“Eager are we?” 

“Yes.” 

Mingyu pulled you up by the back of your neck, forcing your head near the top of his dick, waiting for you to wrap your mouth around it and get it sopping wet so he could enter in between your legs. 

“Oh, baby, that feels so good. I love watching you on my dick, but we have to stop before you get me going too much.” 

Your head turned up at him, mascara slightly spilling under your eyes, as you opened your mouth searching for the feeling of his lips on yours, before he planted in on you he spit into your mouth, and inserted himself between the same thighs he was kissing before, slowly entering inch by inch, making you wait to feel him fully inside of you even more. 

“Comfortable, baby?” 

“Yes, faster please.” 

“So polite, but as you said before, leave them wanting more and more. I want you to get riled up.”  

“Yes, sir.” 

“Mmm, I like the sound of that.” 

His thrusting became more rapid with your soft moaning, kissing your neck in the process, riding out your high with you, you felt him begging to slow down as his teeth wrapped around your hard nipples, sucking softly at them. 

“You’re so delicious, I don’t think I can last much longer.” 

“Me either, but it’s only round one.” 

“Do you want to do this again?” 

“Eighteen has always been my lucky number, now fill me up.” 

With your final words, Mingyu rode the rest of his high before finishing inside of you, placing a soft kiss on your perfectly pink lips, and dipping his head back down to your center to clean you up with his mouth. 

“Want to stay?” 

“Is that alright?” 

“Yeah, come on. Let’s shower.” 

The tall man led you into his beautiful marble bathroom and turned the water on in his shower built for two. 

“I meant what I said at the bar, you know. I like being with you.”  

Your long arms reached up to his hair, massaging his scalp with shampoo. 

“I meant what I said too, lucky eighteen.” 

“So I’m your lucky number?” 

“Yes, don’t tell my mom tomorrow.” 

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell her that you called me sir and the ass she gave you is indeed perfect.” 

You planted a soft kiss on his lips, before pushing him back under the warm water of the shower head. 

“I dare you.” 

[esta-elavaris]

I won't list all of my stuff here - just the things that I think are worth shouting about. Organising it all via fandom, with some little sub-categories within those because some of them *cough*James/Theodora*cough* have decided to become ungovernable.

Where to find me: AO3 -- IG -- Goodreads

Catch the Wind-verse:

Catch the Wind - James Norrington/Modern!OC Status: Complete. [400k+ words] AO3 The behemoth that started the absolute sickness in me, and probably where you should start if you want any of the rest of my Norrington stuff to make total sense to you.

When it was completed, I also did a read-through on here talking about some behind-the-scenes type stuff. The tag is here, but it's obviously reverse-chronological order so spoilers abound! I plan on doing this for other fics when they're complete!

Sainted by the Storm - James Norrington/Modern!OC Status: In progress, updated sporadically. AO3 The home for any random snippets of this pairing that I write - there are a few AU chapters here and there, mostly it's flufftober fills, or pieces not long enough to warrant their own story. Wicked Game - James Norrington/Modern!OC Status: In progress. AO3 Semi-sequel to CTW, just a very small smutty series set after the events of the main story. Red Thread of Fate - Theodore Groves/Pirate!OC Status: In progress. AO3 Vague companion piece to CTW, taking place in the background of that story, and then branching into the timespan that follows it - with appearances made by Norrington and the OC I write for him.

Catch the Wind AUs

Fallen Through Time - James Norrington/Modern!OC Status: In progress, on a break. AO3 -- Tumblr An AU of Catch the Wind, exploring what might've happened had Elizabeth Swann been the one to find Theodora when she fell into the world of POTC.

As It Was - Modern!James Norrington/Historical!OC Status: Planning - a teaser can be found on tumblr for now. AO3 Another AU of Catch the Wind, where James Norrington is the modern character, and Theodora Byrne is the "canon" character from POTC who is fated to die.

Here, Where Fire Grows - Boromir/Modern!Amnesiac!OC Status: In progress AO3 Writing Catch the Wind didn't get the "modern girl falls for fictional dead man" trope out of my brain, so I had to inflict another on Boromir - but this time with an amnesiac twist, just for some added fun. Other mini-stories for these two written during flufftober can be found here.

Flufftober '23 The non-Theorrington flufftober fills can be found in this series on AO3, but all of the fills also be found on Tumblr where they have pretty banners to go along with the chapters.

About a Girl Captain Hook [Peter Pan 2003]/OC AO3 Hook sets out to manipulate a former member of The Lost Boys in order to gain the upper hand against Peter Pan…and learns the hard way that it's best not to underestimate one's opponent. Manipulations, trust issues, lots of "falling for you would be the worst possible idea so I won't do that haha...unless 👀" on both sides.

Obscure, Plain, and Little Aemond Targaryen/OC AO3 A Jane Eyre-inspired fic -- probably won't follow the events of the show/book.

Absolution Dracula [Van Helsing 2004]/OC AO3 Set in the modern day, lots of cliché favourites with (hopefully) some added twists to spice things up a bit! Free Cullen Rutherford/F!Inquisitor AO3 Modern!Royalty!AU which will eventually follow the events of the game.

List of ideas for tentative future pairings and fandoms I want to go into can be found here. I'm also always open to suggestions, so don't feel too shy if you want to send me an ask or a message 💜

[storiesofmyhead]

Masterlist

Jujustu Kaisen

Gojo Satoru

Gojo Satoru X OC

Sukuna

Outer Banks

Raf Cameron

JJ Maybank

Hazbin Hotel

Alastor

Blurb Pt.1 Pt.2

Angel Dusts sister also being Val’s biggest star, who also just so happens to be Alastor girlfriend.

When Alastor's wife goes out on a shopping trip, only to remember it was extermination day.

Angel begs Charlie to let his friend Malice to stay at the hotel. Only one problem is the Alastor seems a bit hesitant to let the girl in. Once Alastor sees the girl, though he acts as if he doesn't know her, she seems to know him. And well too.

Descendants

Harry Hook

We're All Insane Here Pt.1 Pt.2

Alice In Borderland

Chishiya Shuntaro

Chishiya gets jealous when Arisu tries to bring Y/n with him to open the safe

Harry Potter

Draco Malfoy

Draco Malfoy X Hufflepuff Reader

Theodore Nott

Mattheo Riddle

Tom Riddle

Cedric Diggory

[bubblegump-1-nk]

As She Walks By

this is my first time writing for Theodore about so bare with me please.

summary: Theodore and you are just best friends (or not), but when he finally hooks up with the Hufflepuff girl who’s had a crush on him for years, things may start to change

based off of the song Heather by Conan Gray (a little bit), set in three perspectives: yours, Theos, and the Hufflepuff girl (an OC I called Althenea Circ). I made you a Gryffindor but if you want to change your house just imagine whatever house I want.

warnings: insecurity, angst, not really cheating but idk, typos probably, cussing, toxic relationships (these warnings apply to the upcoming parts so you might not see some of them in some of the parts, if that makes sense) I think that’s all but tell me if you find anything else pls!

I was in my dorm getting ready for dinner after a long day of school. I had had 3 tests and 2 pop quizzes, I were certain that wasn’t even legal. I took my time as I brushed and braided my hair, since Hermione was telling me an interesting story.

“… and then the girl, the Slytherin I was telling you about before, threw her wand at Seamus. And I mean threw it at him. He had to go to the hospital wing after.”

I burst out laughing, which made Hermione laugh, which then only made me laugh harder. In the midst of our laughing, my other dorm mate, Lavender walked in.

“What are you two silly’s laughing at this time.” She said, smiling as she could hear you’re laughter all the way down from the common room.

“Hermione was just telling me about Seamus encounter with Cat Griffens.” I managed to get out in between laughs.

“Oh my god, that was hilarious. His face after she hit him with her wand was priceless!” She said, giggling at the image in her head.

We sat and laughed some more until we began to get even hungrier than we had been before and decided to head down to the Great Hall. On our way down the corridors which led to the delicious buffet that was awaiting us, we heard rackets of laughter behind us. I turned around, since I recognized the cacophony immediately, and sure enough it belonged to Mattheo Riddle and Theodore Nott.

“Damn it, we were trying to scare you.” Said Mattheo, defeated face after I discovered them.

“God, you guys really need to work on your sneaking skills.” I said, giggling.

“Oh come on, our sneaking skills are great.” Said Theo, putting his arm over my shoulder as him and Riddle caught up with me and the two other Gryffindors.

“If that’s great then Snape is the kindest teacher at Hogwarts.” Said Hermione, giggling at the boys antics.

“Alright then, why don’t you find me some library books to study then.” Theo said, teasing her and he lightly pulled a piece of her hair, causing Hermione to laughingly slap his hand away.

“And you Lavender, what do you rate our skills?” Asked Mattheo, having noticed how quiet she got as soon as they showed up.

She blushed and sheepishly said “I think they’re great.”

The two boys looked at each other and laughed at her response, obviously knowing that she found them very attractive.

I poked Theo’s side at his response to Lavender, noticing she had gotten even redder after they laughed at her.

I tried to ease the tension by saying “You two are only laughing because you know she’s lying.”

“Well then, maybe we’ll have to pull out the Veritaserum at the Slytherin party tomorrow!”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. What time should we get there.” Hermione asks.

“Well, for our VIP guests you two can get there as early as you want.” Said Theo.

I rolled my eyes playfully at him and soon enough I had entered the dining hall.

Theo unsnaked his arm from around my shoulders and playfully kissed the top of my head, which caused me to lightly slap his shoulder. Mattheo and him jogged over to the Slytherin table, their laughter being heard all around the dinner room.

Hermione and I went over to where Harry and Ron were sitting, already mostly done with their plates.

“What was that all about?” Asked Ron.

“What was what all about?” I responded.

“Oh you know, the kiss and the arm around your shoulders. Last time I checked you two were just friends.” He responded.

“And why do you care so much Ronald.” Hermione asked sternly.

“I don’t! Just confused on the whole Theo-y/n relationship.” He said which made Harry nod intently in agreement.

“We’re just friends. Anyway, Slytherin party tomorrow at 8.” I responded. Me myself trying to convince myself that that’s all I thought of Theo, because I knew he didn’t feel the same way about me.

“Fraternizing with the enemy I see.” Said Harry playfully.

“I thought you and Draco had worked things out in like, third year.” I said, loading my plate up with pasta.

“We did, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s still a git.” He said, finishing off his cup of pumpkin juice.

Us four continued to talk and eat, and then eventually walked back to the common room together to hang out until finally going our separate ways to our dorm rooms.

-the next day-

I woke up to Hermione shaking me awake.

“Whattt.” I said groggily, rolling around as to try to get away from Hermione’s shaking.

“Come on y/n, we have to go know if we want some breakfast.”

“Ugh, fine.” I said, slowly opening my eyes and getting up.

I got ready for the day, and packed my schoolbooks for this Friday’s classes. Hermione and I walked to breakfast (Ron and Harry had eaten early so they could finish a potions essay they had forgotten about). We ate quickly before heading down to the dungeons for class with Professor Snape.

I walked into the almost full classroom, and made my way to my shared table with Hermione, right behind Theo and Draco.

“Wow, no good morning for us?” Said Theo playfully.

“It’s too early to be nice.” I said, putting my head down for some attempt at extra sleep.

“Wow, I see how it is.” Said Theo chuckling.

….

The day ended quicker than I was expecting and before I knew it, Hermione and I were getting ready for the party in our dorm.

“What do you three think of this?” I asked Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati, wearing a red corset and a little black skirt.

“I think Theo’s going to love it” Parvati said with a wink.

I huffed and threw a book at her, which she dodged.

The girls started laughing and Hermione said, “Oh right, we forgot, it’s Mattheo isn’t it?” Which caused the girls to laugh even more.

“You guys are so annoying!” I said playfully, trying not to giggle.

“Well I think you look great, y/n.” Lavender said.

I thanked her and finished doing my makeup and hair, which I had put in some hair rollers.

“Well you three have fun, I’ll just be here finishing this damn Transfigurations project.” Said Lavender, annoyed she couldn’t attend the party with her friends.

“We’ll miss you Lav.” I said, the other girls agreeing with me as we walked out of the common room, meeting Ron and Harry, as we all walked towards the dungeons.

-Theo’s POV-

I sat on the couch with Mattheo, looking at the entrance every time I heard it open, hoping it was y/n. But it hasn’t been you, not yet. I wondered what was taking you so long, because you could show up in sweatpants and a shirt covered in pasta sauce and you’d still be more beautiful than all the girls in this room. The door opened again, and this time I knew it was you, because I heard your church bell laugh bouncing off the walls. I turned around quickly to look at you entering the enlarged common room.

“And then…” Draco began, cutting himself of after seeing my sudden uninterest in his story.

The cutoff caused all the boys who had been listening to Draco turn to me, and then turn to what I was looking at.. you, of course.

“Oh come on Theo.” Said Draco, exhausted with my interest in you.

“What?” I said, turning around again, trying to play it off.

“Just go fuck her already.” Said Blaise.

“It’s not like that! You’re all a bunch of gits.” I said, annoyed because I had been caught.

“Why are they a bunch of gits?” You said, appearing at my side with Hermione, Harry and Ron having gone off to get drinks.

I gulped and my palms were sweaty, “Well, uh, they were just making fun of me.. because, er, because I don’t..” I trailed off, eyes darting to my friends for help.

“We were making fun of him because he won’t do more than two rounds of shots.” Matthew said, noticing my panic.

“Oh Teddy, you have much to learn.” You said, your sweet voice and the sweet nickname intoxicating me.

“Don’t call me Teddy.” I said, quickly fixing myself after I almost dropped his act.

“You know you love it, Teddy.” You said, laughing.

“Got your drinks.” Harry said, handing you a fire whiskey whilst Ron handed Hermione some kind of drink.

“Thanks guys.” You say, taking a drink from the cup.

“Well, Hermione and I are going to go dance. You all have fun.” You say, grabbing Hermione’s hand as you walk away to the dance floor.

I stare at you more intently than ever, I had no idea how someone could be so beautiful. And what makes it even worse is that I’m not the only one who sees it. I can see all the guys, trying hard not to stare at you for the sake of their girlfriends, and I can also see the guys who have no shame in hungrily raking their eyes over your body. None of those guys deserve you, none of them could treat you like I would. No one could make you feel as good as I could. My wild imagination is cut off by Blaise’s inaudible voice

“Er.. sorry what was that?” I ask.

“I said, Draco and I are going to go and get drinks. Do you want anything?” Blaise asked again.

“Er, I don’t know. Just give me the strongest thing there is.”

“Alright mate.” Blaise says, shocked at my choice.

“Uh oh mate, looks like someone forgot about you.” Mattheo whispers to me, lightly chuckling.

I looks at him confused, then I follow Mattheo’s eyes to you… and Dean Thomas. Hermione long gone, probably hooking up with that Ravenclaw girl she’s been obsessing over to me. Dean was saying something that invoked your beautiful laughter. His arm was snaked around your waist, your waist that would look so good.. maybe I shouldn’t think about you like that. Why was I so mad? You and I were just friends, we’ve always been just that.

“Here you are mate. It’s some brew the Weasley twins made so be careful” Blaise said, tapping my shoulder and handing me a red cup full of an unknown liquid. I grabbed it and downed the cup in 2 gulps, never taking my eyes off of you and that fucker Dean.

“Wow, slow down. Don’t want to end up like last time.” Draco said, some blonde attached to his hip.

I flipped Draco off before plopping myself down on the couch. I tried hard not to look at you and.. goddamn you and Dean were snogging like a bunch of animals. I turned around and saw someone’s eyes on mine. I turned to her fully, her eyes swiftly leaving mine as I turned to her. Althenea Circ, I think her name was. According to Mattheo she’s been practically in love with me since 3rd year. I don’t know if it was the jealousy or the mystery drink, probably a mix of both, which caused me to walk over to her.

Before I knew it we were in a corner, snogging just like you and Dean.

-The next morning-

“Pass me the eggs.” I said to Draco as I loaded my plate with bacon. Hopefully the salty food would make my hang over go away, and the awful memory of having hooked up with that Hufflepuff girl.

“Easy on the bacon mate. We all want some.” Said Mattheo, wearing a pair of sunglasses, he’s always so dramatic.

“It refills magically you fucking idiot.” I said, annoyed at his antics.

“Damn, no need to be so damn rude just because you hooked up with that nasty girl yesterday.” Mattheo said, grabbing bacon off my plate.

I slapped his hands away, sending him a glare.

“Don’t fucking talk about her like that.” I said.

“Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were in love. What’s y/n going to say?”

“Just shut the fuck up. And I’m not in love it’s just rude to talk about someone that way.” I said, biting off a piece of my toast.

The four of us were silent and tense for about 10 minutes, eating our breakfast and trying to forget about how much we all drank last night, until we were interrupted.

“Hi Theo!” Said Alth… oh god I forgot her name.

“Er.. hi.” I said, looking up.

“Would you maybe want to go to Hogsmeade with me later today? We could go for lunch.” The girl said, her voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard compared to your beautiful, sunshine voice I was used to hearing. I sat there for a few beats before responding, astonished that a girl like her would ever think that a boy like me would want to be around her. But I couldn’t say no, it would be too mean. Plus, I could finally pretend to be over you.

“Sure.”

part 2 coming (mayb) soon 😋

[isa-ah]

Theodore is a cushy little pillow prince living in (several) laps of luxury. He has a no nonsense attitude and is far too in love with himself to end up in any long term relationships. His suitors don't seem to mind.

Alejandro is Lemurs best friend, and likewise absolutely broke and living out of a bachelor pad. He's a notorious leather daddy in the local scene and often hooks up with his friends for the fun of it. He takes great care of his mane!

[twistedtummies2]

What would TW OCs favorite genres of video games be?

Well, to be honest, I'm not sure about ALL of my lads, but I can tell you a few of them...

Billy would probably like games that are competitive most of all; things he can play with his "little friends" and enjoy doing with them, and which probably have a sense of innocence or fun to them. So kart racing games, DDR-style games (Billy is bad at them, but still), things like that.

Reno loves playing all kinds of video games, but he also likes competitive games most of all. Games are just more fun if you're playing against someone else. However, unlike Billy, he'd like his games a little more "serious," so things like POV shooters and more "adult" racing games would be more his speed. He'll play other things, too, but I'd say those are his primary places to be found. I think he's big on online gaming, especially; he and Idia play against or with each other pretty often. ;)

James, I think, enjoys games themed around action/adventure, with a swashbuckling style. Elias most enjoys the same, but also enjoys games that involve stealth action. So, naturally, both of them love Assassin's Creed, or whatever equivalent to it exists in this world. XD James has also started trying to get into some online games, and being based on Captain Hook, you can probably guess some of the titles he likes most. ;)

Smitty I've actually headcanoned also likes online games, and is surprisingly good at them for such a little sweetheart. He's also surprisingly cutthroat; the kinda guy who'll giggle like an imp after blowing up somebody, but you can't really be mad at him. It's all in good fun, after all. He likes all kinds of online titles, too, but he probably likes things themed around pirates and the ocean, in general, most.

Theodore I think loves horror games, especially those with a Gothic sensibility. Incidentally, I actually answered an Ask a while back on what my OCs' favorite horror games, SPECIFICALLY, would be. And while I think the majority of them have probably played horror or just spooky-themed games at some point (and most of my choices are still on point), I think Theodore legitimately LOVES horror games, IN GENERAL, as his favorite genre.

I'm not sure about Maelstrom or Grit yet. As for Nakoda...I've actually stated in the past that Nakoda isn't much of a gamer. BUT, I can see him sort of cautiously enjoying (if you get my meaning) some mobile otome and gacha style games, specifically. Why, you may ask? Mostly because Hot Mama, snakey boy gets LOTS of eye candy that way. XD

[shadowbrn]

new  muse  alert  a.k.a.  your  semi  regular  please  don’t  look  at  me  post:  romeo  montague  (  romeo  &  juliet  ),  randall  carpio  (  the  order  ),  harry  hook  (  descendants  ),  draco  malfoy  (  harry  potter,  anti  jkr,  werewolf  theory  ),  theodore  ashdown  (  dark  artifices  oc  ),  ian  gallagher  (  shameless  )  &  niklaus  mikaelson  (  tvd  verse  )

[breaniebree]

Thanks, Mr @tomjamesavery for the Tag!

Three ships: Hinny (Harry Potter & Ginny Weasley), Remadora (Remus & Tonks), and Romione (Ron & Hermione) -- I will also add Theobas which is a ship of my own creation (Theodore Nott & Sebastian Kane my OC)

Last song: L-O-V-E by Richard Rankin from the season five soundtrack of Outlander.

Last movie: Hook. My sister-in-law had never seen it before and it so holds up from my childhood. Hands down, my favourite Peter Pan movie ever made. BANGARANG!

Currently reading: An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaladon (reread of the series); The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly; Every Last Second by AE Torre; The Worst Wedding Date by Pippa Grant; Defying Logic by Nicky James.

Not currently reading any fanfiction except my own as I work on writing Third Times the Charm.

Currently watching: I am doing a rewatch of Supernatural with my bestie (we're just about to start season 11). She's never seen it, but I've seen it multiple times.

Currently consuming: A bottle of coca-cola.

Currently craving: A baked calzone with shredded pepperoni, extra cheese, and canned mushrooms. Yum! 😋

Tagging some people, you don´t have to tho haha, and sorry if already tagged! @celtics534 @bellmel @hp-2001-katie

Aaaahhh! Thank you so much for tagging me @holbytlanna!! 💙

Three ships: Captain Swan (ouat), Dick and Babs (DC), and Faramir and Éowyn (Lotr)

Last song: I think it was “In Christ Alone”? It was something from my sleep playlist.

Last movie: Return of the King!

Currently reading: So I have a tendency to read several things at once so I’m currently reading

The Fields of Clon Miarth by Samuel schiller

Setting Our Sights on Heaven by Paul D. Wolfe

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

Currently watching: Stargate Sg1!! I am LOVING it so far!

Currently consuming: I’m making egg rolls at the moment! Gonna have those for supper!

Currently craving: well, the egg rolls, and also some hot tea!

Nine tags: aaahhh well I’m not sure who all has been tagged but tagging some people (with no pressure!)

@madsophiehatter @called-kept @duchess-of-mischief @kazoosandfannypacks @mrgartist17 @a-marble @impossiblepluto and anyone who wants to do this! Seriously please consider yourself tagged!

[wiypt-writes]

Riding On

Ch 8- Buns (And Cookies) In The Oven

Summary: Frank and Fliss attend Mary’s end of year fundraising gala at school, the Nursery is finally finished and plans are made regarding Mary’s adoption.

Warnings: Bad Language words. Smut (NSFW, NO UNDER 18s!).

Pairing: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N:  LONG update here guys but a lot happens! First off, please bear with me if the legal terms are a little off- from my research they seem to be similar to the UK ones but if I get some things wrong…just go with it! Also the photo I used for the Nursery inspiration was found in another fic on Tumblr- I can’t for the life of me remember which one. I did, however, ages ago ask permission so if you recognise it that’s why. 

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding On Masterlist // Main Masterlist 

Chapter 7

  “You braved the outhouse yet?” Bill asked as he skimmed that last bit of the wall he had been working on, the trowel he was holding sliding in a large arc, spreading the plaster evenly.

“Had a brief glance but there’s all sorts of shit in there.” Frank said, dropping his tools onto the dust sheet as he stood back to admire their work. “Some larger pieces of wood and a few engine parts I had spotted that might come in handy but other than that think it’s all for the dump.”

“We can hit that this weekend if you want?” Bill added, hopping down from the step ladders.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind helping?” Frank looked at him and Bill shook his head. “No problem.” He said. “Still thinking about getting a boat?”

Frank gave a smile “I thought about getting one and doing it up. The garage is big enough to use as a workshop." "Well it’s good to have a hobby.” Bill nodded.

“Plus if I get one it will stop Lissy converting it into stables.” Frank said, looking around the room again. “She still wanting to expand?” Bill asked.

“Yeah, she’s talking about buying more of the land that surrounds the yard but…” Frank scratched at his chest “I told her to wait until Bean is here.”

“Good plan.” Bill smiled, before he turned to Frank “Speaking of Boston Bean, any ideas on names?”

Frank smiled “We had a few but we need to give it some proper thought. Mary wants us to call him Theodore.” “Theodore?” Bill arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah, Teddy for short. Something she saw on TV.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s not going on the list, trust me.”

The two of them cleared away their tools, tipped the pots of water down the sink in the main bathroom before Frank quickly cleaned up after himself, heading back into the nursery where Bill was taking a look at a patch on the wall. Deciding it was ok he turned and nodded and the two men made their way downstairs and into the main area at the back of the house.

Frank opened the door to their kitchen living area and the smell of baking hit the pair of them immediately, but it was the view that made Frank stop in the doorway. Mary was stood on a chair at the kitchen counter, mixing something in a bowl. To her left Verity was supervising, nodding when Mary showed her whatever it was she was mixing, and to Mary's right, Fliss was wiping the surface down, one hand resting on her belly. It was the sight of his girl stood there, in that gorgeous blue and white checked sundress, all barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, with her mother and Mary that had him feeling suddenly quite emotional. Mary giggled and looked at Fliss who smiled at her, reaching out and brushing her cheek with the back of her fingers. Nanna, Mom and Daughter, a matriarchal trio Frank never imagined he would ever get to see Mary part of. And it was beautiful. "You OK lad?" Bill looked at him and Frank blinked and turned to face him, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Yeah, sorry. Was miles away" "I noticed." His future father in law smiled softly, squeezing his shoulder before he loudly asked if there was any chance of beer before he died of thirst. "You know where the fridge is." Fliss shot back. "I just spent all afternoon with Frank plastering the walls in that Nursery and that's the thanks I get?" Bill shook his head as Frank chuckled and walked to the fridge. He opened it, grabbed 2 beers and once he popped the tops off he passed one to Bill. "All finished?" Fliss turned to look at Frank as he gave her a soft peck on the lips. "Yeah." He smiled as she rubbed her hands up his arms to his shoulders "Once its dried out which should take a day or so we can paint." Flies smiled and was about to say something when they heard Mary and Verity yelling, their shouts punctuated by Bill's loud guffaws as he jumped back, a freshly baked cookie in his hand as he ran away from Verity who was swatting at him with the tea towel. "There's like a hundred of them!" Bill sniggered shoving the cookie into his mouth. "You can spare one." "We actually made extra." Mary looked at him, hands on her hips "Because Fliss and Nanny V said you and Frank would both walk in and rob some." Frank looked at Fliss, his eyebrow raising as she grinned before he glanced at Mary who smirked back. "Well in that case..." he mumbled before he grabbed Mary easily, hooking the arm that held his beer round her midriff, swinging her off the chair as he snatched a cookie with the other, taking a huge bite. Mary's giggles died down as he set her on the floor and made an appreciative noise. "These are good." "You sound surprised Francis..." Verity pointed the wooden spoon she was holding at him and he shook his head. "You know what I think of your cooking V..." he flashed her a wink and she rolled her eyes and turned back to whatever it was in the bowl. "OK Mary, this frosting is ready so you wanna do the cupcakes?" She nodded and the two of them moved, Verity handing Mary a little spatula so she could start to dish out the yellow frosting. "Shall I ring through to The Shack and order us a burger each?" Frank asked, and everyone made appreciative noises. Already knowing his, Mary and Fliss' order by heart, he ordered what Bill and Verity wanted before the two men strode out to Bill's car to pick up their food.

“You sure you’re alright, Frank?” Bill asked, and he turned to him, smiling.

“Yeah, honestly I’m fine.” Frank smiled. Bill looked at him before he turned his head back to the road.

“It’s overwhelming isn’t it.” The older man said gently and Frank looked at his hand, shaking his head as he gave a soft laugh.

“You can say that again.” He said “Doesn’t seem five minutes since our first date and here we are. Our own home, weeks away from our baby being born and me taking a weeks’ worth of annual leave to finish the decorating.” “You’ve done it once.” Bill said gently. “The baby thing I mean, not the decorating…although we did do that once too…”

Frank chuckled before he took a deep breath “Not like this.” Frank shook his head “Never done the first 6 months. Not really. I mean I helped Diane but…” “Well you got us to help out.” Bill spoke again, taking a right turn “I know Verity can’t wait. Another grandkid for her to spoil.” “I do appreciate everything you’ve both done for us Bill.” Frank looked at him. “I mean the money, helping out with the decorating, everything you do for Mary.”

“I know son.” Bill smiled, “And it’s our pleasure.” Frank smiled and looked back out of the window.

“What else is on your mind?” Bill probed gently and Frank looked at him, giving a little scoff.

“You’re just like Fliss.” He said with a chuckle and Bill grinned.

“Well you’ve been a little quiet all afternoon.” Bill said.

Frank studied him for a moment, and then realised that he actually had a perfect opportunity here to talk to someone who had been through something a little similar to what he was struggling with. And he trusted and loved Bill, like a father.

“We had an incident with Mary, last week at school.” He took a deep breath he explained to Bill what had happened and the decision he and Fliss had come to about the adoption. “We were planning on asking her at some point but…well, the time hasn’t bene right you know. We don’t want her to think it’s a reaction to what happened at school.” Bill looked at him before he slowed the car to a halt at a red light. “That makes sense.” He said gently “But I’m getting the impression you’re not so sure.” “It’s not that I’m unsure as such…” Frank sighed, “I just…Oh I don’t know Bill, the whole thing just seems so fucking shitty and complicated. How did you know it was the right thing to do? With Fliss and Steve I mean?”

“I just did.” Bill shrugged. “Our circumstances were slightly different thought. I met V when Fliss was 2. Steve's mother, my first wife, Andrea, she died when Steve was 3. Brain tumour. I never thought I'd love anyone again but then when I met Verity one evening 2 years later through friends she blew me away.” Bill smiled and Frank watched as his face went softer before he continued “We dated for 3 months before we met each other’s kids and the first time I saw Lissy she was fast asleep in the car seat in the back of Vs battered old fiesta and...” Bill sighed “I loved her from the minute I laid eyes on her. So did Steve.”

He set the car into drive again and they continued down the road as Bill spoke again.

“She started calling me dad on her 4th birthday. I’d been with V just over 2 years then and it was at her birthday party and we told her to make a wish. She blew her candles out and then later that night I was tucking her in and she said to me that she knew she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone what her wish was, but if she didn’t tell me then it wouldn’t come true.”

To Frank’s surprise the man’s eyes misted over and his voice became a little bit croaky.

“She’d made a wish that she was my daughter.” Bill shook his head “That she wanted to call me dad. So I told her I didn’t have a problem with that as long as she didn’t and…” he smiled “But I get that your situation is different. Fliss’ shitbag father walked out on Verity before Fliss was even born. You’ve got a whole other scenario you’re dealing with.” “Mary told me months ago she wishes I was her real dad.” Franks sighed “You know I explained to her that a label doesn’t matter and then the whole thing with the kid at school kicked it off again and she broke her heart to Lissy that evening. It got me thinking that I’d bene so wrapped up in my own worries about Diane and whether it would be right to allow Mary to refer to me as her dad that I hadn’t really given much consideration about how my refusal to do so was affecting her.” Bill pondered something for a moment. “You know I had the same concerns over Steve. I know that sounds hypocritical because I was over the moon when Lissy first called me dad but, well Steve was

3 when his mum died and had a few vague memories of her. I was worried that by letting him refer to V as his mum those memories would fade and it would in some ways disrespect her, you know? Almost like it would invalidate who she had been.”

“But you did it anyway?” Frank asked.

“With Steve it just happened.” Bill said, “He started naturally slipping into calling Verity Mum, and we just decided not to make a big deal out of it and let him do what he felt was right for him. Even now he alternates sometimes, calls her Verity instead of mum but I know it doesn’t change a thing. He loves her like she is his mother, and she loves him like he’s her son, which he is anyway of course as she adopted him too.” “And that felt right?”

Bill nodded “It did to us, but the most important thing was it did to Steve and Fiss too. So we floated the idea a year or so before we got married. Fliss...well she had no reservations at all. Burst into tears and hugged me saying she couldn't wait for me to be her proper dad and have the same surname but Steve was a little more subdued, I suppose, is the word. We assured him if he didn't want V to then she wouldn't be offended. He took his time to think about it. Came to his conclusion a week or so later and announced over dinner he wanted to do it. So that was that.” Bill pulled up outside the shack and cut the engine, turning to Frank. “I guess what I'm trying to say is Mary will let you know if she's not happy. From the sounds of it I don't think you'll have any problems, but the important thing is like Titch said, you give her the choice...” “I know.” Frank nodded, “Liss and I discussed this. I don't want to make her call us mom and dad either it she doesn’t want to. To be honest, I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about that but I suppose if we do adopt her then…” “You still worried about how it would make your sister feel?” “A little.” Frank smiled softly. “I'm sure she would be happy Frank.” Bill said gently “This is the same internal debate I had about Ange. But you have to remember, she left that little girl with you for a reason. If you ask me, the very fact we're having this conversation proves she was right. I think this is exactly why she chose you, because she knew that whatever decisions you make regarding Mary are done with love and care, and this is the best outcome she could have hoped for.”

Frank felt the lump in his throat again and Bill gently reached over and grabbed his shoulder.

“Thanks Bill.” Frank smiled at him.

“Any time, now let’s go get this food, I’m starving.”

It wasn’t long before they were all sat outside back at home, eating happily as Mary filled them all in on what she was going to be doing at the gala the next day. Frank watched her, smiling to himself at how excited she was. Such a contrast to the sullen, obstinate 7 year old that he’d had argument over argument with about going to school. But then again their entire circumstances had changed, dramatically, and for the better he may add.

His heart to heart with Bill had made him feel a little more at peace with everything. If truth be told, since Mary’s little breakdown last week he’d been worried about a lot of things. Worried he was making a mess of things with her, worried he was going to do the same with Bean. But he realised now he wasn’t doing it on his own anymore. He had Fliss and her family to help him, and even his Mother too if he so required. Whatever bump in the road the encountered in the future then they would face it as a family, and this eased that nagging, gnawing anxious feeling a hell of a lot.

At just before 8 Mary was dismissed to bed, despite protests, and a little after 10pm Bill and Verity also decided to head home. Frank thanked them both for their help, Verity for giving up her entire afternoon by shopping, picking up Mary and then baking enough treats to feed a small army, an Bill…well, for just about everything he’d done that day.

They stood on the porch area of their home, waving the two of them off and Fliss turned to Frank.

“I can almost hear your mind whirring from here, Sailor.”

Frank chuckled as Thor headed back up the path, having given up chasing the car down the drive. “Yeah, I had a moment before. But your dad set me straight.” “Moment? About Mary or-“ “To be honest about everything.” Frank looked at her as they headed back inside, closing the door “Mary, Bean, about not fucking everything up.” Fliss looked at him before she shook her head “Baby that’s not gonna happen.” “I know.” He smiled “I just had my worries, that’s all.” “You don’t think I worry at times too?” she asked him gently “I’m fucking petrified about him arriving and how I’m gonna cope with a baby but…” she stepped forward and took his hands “I know that as long as we stick together an work through whatever we face together, we’ll be fine.” “Yeah, we will.” He smiled, bending down to give her a soft kiss. “Wanna sit outside?”

She nodded and together, Thor padding behind, they made their way out to the back garden. Fliss dropped heavily onto the wicker garden sofa and Frank lifted her feet up setting them in his lap. He expertly ran his thumb up the arch of her right foot and she gave a little groan of satisfaction.

“Back still sore?” he asked glancing over at her and she shrugged a little.

“A little, nothing major though.” She sighed “I’d kill to get in the hot tub though, unwind a little. So not fair I can’t.” “There’s always the pool.” Frank suggested and she looked at him.

“How is going in the pool going to help me unwind?” she looked at him and he grinned, arching an eyebrow.

“You’re a bad, bad man.” She snorted as she swung her legs off his lap and moved to straddle him.

“And?” he smirked as his hands ran up the side of her thighs, creeping under the hem of her dress which had ridden up.

“Just pointing it out.” she grinned, leaning down to kiss him. His hands came to a rest on her hips, squeezing gently as his mouth moved from hers to find that spot just below her ear. With a sigh, Fliss tilted her head back as he continued to nibble gently at her skin, her fingers tangling in his hair. She gave a soft pull, tugging his head back so she could kiss him again, pushing down on his lap as he thrust his hips up to meet her, the pair of them giving a little groan at the contact. And that was it. Hormones raging, sending a fire through her entire body, Fliss stood up, slipped off her panties and then reached to Frank’s jeans, undoing the button.

“Ok, so no foreplay then?” he asked as he lifted his hips so she could slide his jeans and boxers down, his already hard cock springing free.

“Less talking, more fucking…” she reached down, wrapping her hand around him. Frank let out a hiss as she gave him a few tugs before she straddled him and lining him up sunk straight down, letting out a groan as he tilted his pelvis upwards, filling her as he bottomed out.

“Fuck, Lissy…” his voice was gravelly, his head falling back against the rear cushions of the garden furniture, hands on her hips as she rolled them forward, finding a rhythm that was soft, deep and perfect for the quiet, late summer evening.

Despite the fact they were outside and Fliss’ earlier demand, there was no rush to any of their love making. It was slow, gentle and sweet. Frank’s thrust’s upwards weren’t measured, he hardly put much effort into moving, keeping in synch with the rolls of her pelvis, rocking them together as Fliss leaned over, capturing his mouth again. The gentle breeze from the night air ruffled through her hair whipping it around her face and Frank moved his hands, brushing it away as he cradled her face, his nose brushing against hers. After a particularly deep push upwards Fliss let out a shaky moan into his mouth, tightening her fingers in his hair as she felt him striking her spot again and again. Her bump was causing her to lean forward slightly, which meant he was hitting her as deep as he possibly could and the feeling was intense, her toes curling slightly as she could feel the heat in her belly burning, the slick from between her legs rubbing off on his thighs slightly which was driving Frank wild.

“So wet baby girl…” he mumbled as she slid a hand between her legs, his fingers gently teasing her clit.

“Who needs a pool?” she manged to quip between her gasps, and Frank smirked a little, watching her face intently as her eyes locked onto his. His fingers never once quickened, his touches light and teasing, and their pace continued on to that very end, until with a breathy gasp and a shudder it became too much and she surrendered to the inevitable bliss that washed over her entire body as she came hard. Her hips stilled and Frank moved his hands back to her hips, pulling her down onto him as he bucked upwards, his thrusts now quickening as he chased his own end, spilling into her with a loud groan before his eyes flickered shut, his head falling backwards.

Fliss leaned forward, peppering soft kisses up his neck to his jawline and he let out a smile as she dropped her mouth on his, biting his bottom lip softly his hands rubbing at the base of her back.

“How was that for un-winding?” he asked, opening his eyes to see her smiling at him. She bit her lip and smiled, kissing him again.

****** “Where do you want all these?” Fliss asked Bonnie as her and Frank walked across the school yard, Frank’s arms laden with the various boxes of baked goods.

“How much did you bake?” Bonnie snorted as Frank set them down on the wooden tables that Bonnie indicated

“My mum does nothing by halves” Fliss smirked as she glanced around. Mary was stood showing Frank something on a chalk a-board, Rosie interjecting here and there.

“Hey Stack.” Fliss stepped over to her “All set?”

“Yeah we were just working out the pricing and what best to charge if we wanna make a certain percent profit.” Mary said.

“You suss it?” Frank asked, “Although that’s a stupid question…” “Yeah, it is.” Mary shot back, causing Frank to smirk a little as he glanced at Fliss “Bo-I mean miss Stevens we thought a dollar a cookie, or 3 for 2 and then 2 dollars a cupcake or brownie, and 3 for 5” “I think that’s fair.” Bonnie nodded.

“Ok, cool… “ Mary grinned standing the board up and giving Rosie a high five.

Bonnie and Fliss helped set up the cakes on the stall and Frank found himself getting roped into helping one of the male teachers set up the field where a few events and fun races were going to take place, the man thanking him profoundly when he headed over, spotting him struggling to set the soccer nets up.

“We had someone due to help but…well, most parents shy away from this stuff.” He sighed “They want their kids to enjoy and experience it but don’t wanna help us out.” Frank smiled “Well, to be honest I’m happy to be here. This is the first one Mary’s taken part in.”

The teacher smiled “Yes, she was a bit of an enigma when she started but she’s come out of her shell recently. Lovely girl too Mr Adler, always polite. You must be very proud.”

Frank beamed and turned back to where Mary was behind the stall, Fliss talking to her with Bonnie and Rosie both listening and nodding before he turned back to the man and smiled “It’s not all down to me but…yeah, yeah I am.”

Hour or so later more people had arrived and Frank and Fliss wandered around a bit. They chatted to Rosie’s mom and dad, a dark haired, bespectacled man called Phil and a smaller, red haired woman called Melissa, and the couple invited them over for dinner in a week or so which they both accepted. Whilst Mary and Rosie were close, Frank’s interaction with her parents had been minimal simply because Fliss had fallen into that role of being the one that set up the girls’ little togethers, and he was keen to get to know the couple simply because Mary seemed to be taken so much with their kid. They were inseparable at school, and Mary had already said that over the summer she wanted Rosie to come for a sleep over which, given her previous position on such things had knocked Frank for 6. Of course they had said it was ok, and Fliss had simply told her that Rosie was welcome at any time over the holidays, even saying she’d arrange for them to do something with one of the riding school ponies.

As Frank was mid conversation with Phil about a boat he was currently repairing, Fliss excused herself to go to the toilet. On the way back she decided to detour to the cake stall to see how Mary, Bonnie and Rosie were getting along, and as she passed 2 women stood a little way away, deep in conversation, she heard something that stopped her in her tracks.

“Child prodigy, apparently.” One of the women was saying.

“Well whichever way you dress it up I feel sorry for her.” The other sniffed, flicking her blonde hair behind her shoulder, the ridiculous sized ring on her left hand catching the sun as she did so “I mean, her Dad, sorry, Uncle is a total fuck boy and only went and got his new girlfriend pregnant a year or so after they got together…no wonder the kid’s apparently a screw up. Did you know a when she first started here she broke a boy’s nose?”

“Excuse me?” Fliss blurted out, her neck and cheeks flushed with anger. Both women spun to face her, the blonde one looking at her “Who the fuck are you calling a screw up?”

“Erm, private conversation…” The woman looked at her and Fliss snorted

“Yeah well maybe you should keep your shitty opinions to yourself, just in-case that Fuck Boy’s pregnant fiancée overhears you.” She shot back, and the woman’s face slipped a little as she suddenly realised who Fliss was. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

Frank, meanwhile, had finished up talking to Rosie’s parents and was now looking around for Fliss. He spotted her pale green maxi dress in the crowd as she stood talking to two women, and then frowned as he realised she wasn’t talking as much as angrily ranting, her hands flying out to her side before she pointed at one of them directly. He had no idea what the fuck had sparked her off, but he jogged quickly over, catching the end of the rant.

“I don’t see any of your kids going to university 2 days a week or being asked to run a stall handling money because they can do sums in their head like that.” Fliss snarled, clicking her fingers “So keep your shitty, horrible comments about my family to yourself.”

“Hey, hey…” Frank gently grabbed her arm. “Honey…come on.” “You know nothing about us. Any of us.” Fliss shot at her as Frank looked at the women, realising instantly he recognised one. With a groan he moved himself in front of Fliss his back to them and looked at her.

“Stop.” He said firmly but calmly and she looked at him, her eyes blazing with an anger he had never seen before. “Come on.”

She shot a glare at the women before she turned and allowed him to steer her away. He dropped an arm round her shoulder and gave her a squeeze “What the hell set you off into momma bear mode?”

“Her!” Fliss seethed as she shot a final glare over her shoulder at the bitch "She was making shitty comments about you getting me pregnant and saying it was no wonder Mary was a screw up…I mean who the fuck does she think she? I swear to god if I wasn’t pregnant I’d kick her ass." "Don't let her get to you honey." Frank said softly, kissing her temple.

“Does it not bother you?” “Only because it’s got you so wound up. I’m not going to let the opinions of two Stepford Wives bother me. They clearly have no idea what they’re talking about.” "Bet she's called Karen." Fliss spat. "Carly, actually." Frank replied without thinking and Fliss stopped to look at him. "How the hell do you-" she groaned "tell me you haven't!" "It was a drunk night a very long time ago!" He began to protest and Fliss shook her head making a noise of disgust.

“Well suddenly that makes a little more sense.” She said, before she snorted "Is there anyone in this State you haven't shagged?" "I love it when you swear in British." He grinned before sighing as his attempts at humour fell flat. "Oh Lissy come on...it was years ago. I was a total fuck up till I met you." "Was she married back then?" "I don't know!" He shrugged "not exactly a great topic for pillow talk is it?" "You're disgusting." She rolled her eyes before she stepped away from him and headed over the stall that had been or original destination, leaving Frank wondering what the fuck just happened. With a sigh he followed her over and smiled at Verity who had just arrived with Bill, who was at that moment teasing Mary, trying to haggle with her over the price of the Brownies.

“Hey…” he tugged on Fliss’ elbow “Are you seriously pissed at me?” She looked at him, pushing her shades up off her eyes “I just don’t like being reminded of your Four F stage.” “My what?” he looked at her, blankly. He had no idea what she was talking about.

“The Friday Fergs Fuckboi Frank stage” And at that Frank snorted, shaking his head.

“Ok, well, I can categorically tell you that now I’m in a double F stage.” “What?” it was her turn to look puzzled.

“Yeah, the Fliss’ Frank stage” He flashed her a cheeky grin and she blinked before she snorted and shook her head.

“I hate you.” She mumbled as he pulled her in for a hug, giving her head a quick kiss, the chuckles vibrating from his body to hers.

*****

The rest of the week passed fairly uneventfully. Mary broke up for summer on the Friday and Frank finished the painting and the wallpapering in the attic. On the Saturday he got 3 out of 4 of the walls in the Nursey painted, leaving just the feature one for Sunday, which he was ridiculously excited about. However, his plans of an early start were derailed when he slept in a little later than he had anticipated. Fliss was still out for the count when he climbed out of bed, and he dressed as quietly as he could, dropping a kiss to her cheek before he headed down to the kitchen and was joined by Mary a few minutes later. For whatever reasons she was in a particularly raucous mood, probably because she had realised she didn’t have to go to school on Monday, bouncing around the kitchen telling Frank loudly what she was going to do that afternoon which involved riding Monty and swimming in the pool until it went dark. Then, apparently she was going to watch a load of movies and stay up all night…Frank didn’t bother to tell her there was no chance, as both he and Fliss still had to go to work. As with the previous Summer, Roberta was looking after her Monday to Wednesday, and Verity and Bill had her on Thursday and Friday, which meant she was basically going to be up the same time as normal every day so he could drop her off.

However, that was an argument for later. Right now he was simply trying to get her to calm down.

“Mary, for the last time, be quiet!” Frank groaned “Fliss is still asleep.”

“But it’s almost 10 am.” Mary whined.

“It’s Sunday and she’s cooking another person, she can sleep however long she wants” he replied “Now come on, we got painting to do.”

Mary looked at him and let out a groan. “I’m 9. Making me paint this house is child labour”

“You wanted to help with the nursery.”

Mary glared at him “He ain’t even gonna be here for another like 7 weeks or whatever.”

“Yeah, and the rate you’re going it’s gonna take us that long to sort it. Come on it’s the last wall.” He cajoled as she bit into her toast “We did your room first, then the attic. I even let you pick that horse wall paper for up there.” Mary shoved the last of her toast in her mouth and hopped down off the stool “Fine…” she said with an exaggerated eye roll. “I’ll go change into my painting stuff.” He watched her go, tossing the crust from his toast to Thor who caught it expertly, before he headed upstairs. Fliss wandered out of the bedroom and onto the landing, still in her sleep set, yawning.

“Hey…” she smiled at him and he beamed back as she shuffled to him for a hug.

“Did Mary wake you?” he asked and Fliss shook her head.

“No, I was just dozing.” .

“Ok, well we’re finish painting the nursery.” He smiled and she pulled back grinning. “Want me to get you breakfast first?” “I’m good.” She smiled “I’ll sort myself out and then come help”

Pressing a kiss to her head he stepped back and watched as she headed down the stairs before he walked into the Nursery, joined shortly by Mary. All bar one of the walls were painted a cream colour, and he checked the paint for patches, happy that it looked ok before he looked pulled the print out of the theme they’d looked at on Pinterest and handed it to Mary once he’d taken a look at it. Grabbing the stepladders he set about marking squares out on the wall where the crib was going to lie against with tape. Then with a pencil he supervised as Mary checked the photo and wrote a letter in each square to signal what colour they were going to be painted to make a block pattern of different greens, browns and blue.

Once the squares were marked out he handed Mary a paint brush and told her to keep between the lines. He knew he might have to go over a few patches on the areas she did, but even that was quicker than him doing it all himself and it was important to both of them she felt involved, even if it was under duress.

Half an hour or so later Fliss joined them and the 3 of them finished the wall in little over 2 hours, standing back to admire their handy work. Fliss beamed as Mary nodded in satisfaction.

“Can I go see Monty now?” she asked.

“Yeah, we’ll head over.” Fliss nodded.

“I’ll get the furniture up whilst you’re gone.” Frank smiled.

“Sure you can manage?” Fliss teased. “We’re supposed to be at my mum and dad’s in 4 hours.”

Frank shot her a look and she grinned cheekily before she headed out of the room to change into her stable gear.

With the radio on, Frank unwrapped the packaging to the crib and got to work, humming gently to himself as he powered through, following the instructions. It was fairly easy all things considered, and he had the crib fully assembled and in position in 45 minutes. Smiling to himself the chest of drawers were next, then the little wardrobe and the changing unit. Then he fixed the blind to the window and added the stencil he’d bought over the top. All in all it took him just under 2 hours until he jumped down from the little step ladder and looked around.

Now it looked like a nursery.

He took the cardboard boxes and wrap down to the garage and slung them on the pile of other garbage that needed slinging during the week and then back into the nursery, removing the dust sheets from the new carpet and then he set about unpacking the various bags and items of things they’d bought for bean. He placed the blankets in the crib, the lamp on the table, shuffled the rocking chair around and then stepped back to admire his work.

“Oh my God…” He jumped a little and turned to see Fliss blinking. He’d been that wrapped up in everything he hadn’t heard her come in.

“Frank, you did everything...”

“I’m sorry.” He blurted out, cursing himself. “I got carried away. I didn’t think. Did you want to do the accessories or…” “No, I mean yeah, but…” she shook her head, stepping into the room “It doesn’t matter. Sailor, it looks great!” She slid her arm round his waist as he dropped a kiss to her head, her eyes scanning the room. She stopped and frowned at the stencil above the window blind. Frank swallowed a little nervously, that was one thing she hadn’t seen before. He watched her profile as she read the cursive writing, which spelt out the words ‘All because two people fell in love’, and she turned to look up at him, tears in her eyes.

 “Oh, Frankie…”

He smiled at her, his own eyes threatening to fill up again as he pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “It’s true.”

She turned back round to look once more at the room, her hand falling to her bump as they simply looked around the bedroom that would soon enough house their little baby boy.

“It’s perfect.” Fliss said, and Frank smiled, his arms wrapping around her from behind, his hands cupping her bump as he pressed a soft kiss to her neck.

After the usual Sunday roast Verity’s which was filled with the normal laughter, teasing and also some cooing from Verity over the photos of the nursery which Fliss had taken they headed home and after breaking the news to Mary that she was up early, which resulted in a mini- melt down until Frank threatened to send Monty to the dog-food factory if she didn’t stop right away.

“Whatever Frank, Fliss will never let you do that.” She glared at him, hands on her hips.

“Fliss won’t have a say in the matter.” He shot back, “Bed, now Mary. Don’t make me count to three.” “You know, I really don’t like you right now.” She glared at him.

“Well that suits me fine, because right now I’m not your biggest fan either.”

With a filthy look she turned on her heels, stomping from the room and muttering something under her breath, from which Frank made out the words Uncle and douchebag.

“I might be getting older but I can still HEAR YOU!” he yelled after her.

“GOOD!” came the shout back before the stairs thudded under her feet and her bedroom door slammed shut.

Frank exhaled, ran a hand through his hair and then checked all the doors were locked before he headed upstairs. “What was all that about?” Fliss asked as she emerged from the en-suite dressed for bed.

“Her being a pain in the ass about going to bed.” He grumbled, face planting onto the bed with a groan “Do we really want another one?”

“Too late for that now Sailor.” She chuckled. “She called me a douchebag.” He said, rolling over onto his back and Fliss let out a laugh.

“No comment.” “Hey.” He pouted, a hurt expression on his face. Fliss stuck her tongue out at him before he sat up with a heave and stripped off ready for bed.

They lay awake for a couple of hours, chatting, and talk turned to baby names after Bill had teased them over dinner that they still hadn’t decided on one. They had discounted a few, but had yet to settle on any that really grabbed their attention.

"What about Max?" Frank asked. He raised his head from where he was led, nose pressed against the curve of Fliss' belly as his hand gently tracked the movements his son was making. Boston Bean was being fairly active considering it was past 11. Fliss, who was sat propped up by a mound of pillows against the headboard looked down at him, her hand pausing where it has been raking through his now very fluffy hair and she wrinkled her nose. "Mmm not keen" she mumbled. "Although I like the X. The way it melts into Adler." Frank blinked before he snorted and Fliss laughed "God you talk some shit" he chuckled and she swatted at his head as he moved back to where he had been before, nose brushing her skin. "Benjamin..." he offered again, "Benjamin Billy. Then we can keep calling him BB" "That's actually kinda cute." Fliss said. "And its after my dad, although he's William." "William." Frank rolled the name around a little "I like that." "Could be a middle name." Fliss said "I don't really like Will, which is what it will no doubt end up shortened to and Bill...no, that's dad. And an old man's name" "I'll tell him you said that." Frank smiled and she shrugged. "I tell him he is an old git all the time" she retorted. Frank's hand stopped as Bean gave a particularly harsh kick and Fliss jumped a little. "Jesus..." she groaned. "Looks like we got a future footballer on our hands. You gonna be the next Tom Brady huh buddy?" Frank chuckled talking to her bump before he stilled "hey, what about-" "No." Fliss said, shutting that suggestion down immediately "We are not calling him Tom or Brady. Besides, that abomination you refer to is not football..." "Excuse me." Frank scoffed "It’s better than that damned shit you Brits play! Soccer." He muttered the word, shaking his head. "No, THAT’S football!" Fliss said indignantly. "Soccer" "Football!" Fliss repeated "it's a ball you kick with your foot! We invented it, we named it!" "Okay, okay!" Frank chuckled "Calm down before you go into labour!" She swatted playfully at his head as she grinned. "You know I would have loved you to have met my granddad and had this debate with him. He'd be spinning in his grave if he could hear us. You know he was actually a professional at one point?" "No kidding?" Frank askes and Fliss gave a hum. "Way before I met him, obviously" Fliss sighed "he played right back for Preston North End but had to retire early when he broke his leg. Never recovered from the injury. Dad said he had a pretty mean right peg on him. I mean leg..." she corrected her slang. "He was their designated Penalty taker. In the 10 years he played he took 60 penalties and missed a total of 2" "That's pretty cool." Frank admitted. "OK, so maybe if he grows up playing soccer that wouldn't be so bad..." "Alex Gallagher." Fliss chuckled "not quite as famous around here as Tom Brady...but still the GOAT. Well, in my eyes anyway." And then she took a deep breath. Frank paused, his hand staying still as he looked up at her smiling softly. "Alexander." They both said at the same time, Fliss' mouth curling into a little smile, her hand falling on top of his. "Alexander William Adler." She beamed down at him and Frank nodded, his own smile growing wider. "Yeah. Yeah I like that." He leaned up to give her a gentle peck, smiling against her lips "I really like it. Alex for short..." She smiled at him as he gently cupped her face. "Alex Adler it is." She nodded, her eyes misting up slightly before he kissed her again. ***** The next morning they packed Mary off to Roberta’s. She wasn’t in quite as bad a mood with Frank as she had been the previous evening. She was talkative enough to ask who had been on the phone when she had walked into the kitchen and why it meant Fliss had ended up re-jigging her morning around. The told her they had some stuff to sort for Bean, but in truth they were heading to see Greg who had called following Frank’s text message to say he could fit them in to talk about Mary’s adoption before his first appointment that morning.  

"Hi guys!" Greg strode out of his office greeting the pair of them with a smile "Damned girl you getting bigger by the day?" He teased, gesturing to her bump. "Bloody well feels that way." She grumbled. Frank placed a hand on the bottom of her back and guided her into the room where they both took a seat at one side of Greg’s desk.

“So…” he smiled “Tell me then, what’s sparked this off?” Frank briefly explained about the school and how he’d been thinking about it for some time as Greg smiled, pausing only to thank his PA who walked in with two coffees and an apple juice. Once Frank had finished Greg leaned back, a finger trailing over his mouth before he smiled.

"So the process you’ll go through, if you decide to go through with it is called Kinship adoption." Greg repeated "In general, the procedure of adopting a family member’s child is considerably simpler than other types of adoption because some parts of the domestic adoption process will not apply ergo it is normally easier and faster. And given the fact that you already have legal guardian status this negates any requirement for home studies, nor will there be any need for a supervision period post an initial care placement period as she is already in your care." "So what do we need to do?" Fliss asked. "First off we need to obtain permission from Polland." Greg said "He needs to surrender his legal parental rights by law." Fliss frowned and Greg looked at her before he began to expand on his explanation. "A child can’t have more than two legal parents at a time." Greg looked at her "So as you both would be Mary's legal parents via adoption, it means that Polland's legal rights to her will be completely severed." "I thought they were already terminated?" Fliss looked at Frank who shook his head. "We discussed petitioning for it but it would have prolonged the whole hearing process." Frank looked at her. "I just wanted Mary to settle and legally be allowed to stay, and, well to be honest, it didn’t feel right to sever him completely whilst she was so young, even though he is a total dick. Mary could have changed her mind down the line about all sorts of things so…” he trailed off.

“So all that means that technically he still has the right to apply for visitation if he so wishes." Greg looked at Fliss “But an adoption would stop that." "What if he objects?" Frank asked, the thought suddenly springing into his mind. "Then we would file to the court to have his objection overruled, and request they sever his rights regardless of what he says." Greg said "And given the history with this case, I think there's a pretty good chance we would win." Frank nodded "Ok, so rights removed one way or another. Then what?" "Then we petition the court, file the paperwork, all the boring stuff like the welfare checks will happen, which, will predominantly focus on you Fliss as Frank went through all of this already. They may want to meet your family but I wouldn't worry about it at all. It’s a safe, stable and loving environment that Mary has. That's clear to anyone." Frank gently took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together as he gave her a smile. "And then, once that's over you’ll attend a finalisation hearing where you’ll be granted legal parental status." Greg says. "It sounds complicated but it’s fairly straight forward because, as I keep saying, she's been with you for a while now and she's a relative." "So how long would it take?" Fliss asked. Greg wrinkled his nose "if Polland doesn't object I'd be surprised if it took longer than 3 months. Given that Bean is due to arrive in just under two, you might wanna hang off until things have settled down a little. Maybe kick it off at the end of September, give you both time to get to grips with the fact you have a new baby. Leave it with me, I’ll speak to one of the guys at the Welfare department, see exactly what parts of the process they will need to do and then we’ll take it from there.” “Sounds like a plan.” Frank smiled, as Fliss squeezed his hand.

*****

"I prefer Theodore" Mary shrugged when they told her over dinner about the name they had settled on. "But William is cool, after Bill." "Well when you grow up and have your own kid, and by grown up I mean 35 on account that you won't allowed to date until you're at least 30..." Frank pointed his fork at her "...you can call your own kid that." "I might have a girl" Mary shrugged, the towel she was wrapped in slipping from her shoulders slightly. "Theodora then" Fliss said, shoving another fork full of chicken into her mouth. Mary pondered this for a second before she shrugged and Frank simply arched an eyebrow as he looked at Fliss who leaned back in the whicker chair and grinned. "So why can't I tell anyone the name?" Mary asked after she swallowed more of her dinner. "Because we want something to stay a surprise Stack" Frank explained "everyone already knows he's a boy. We just wanna keep a little something to ourselves for the 5 weeks or we have before he arrives." "But we wanted you to know." Fliss smiled. Mary grinned "Ok. Secret's safe." She placed her fork down on her empty plate "I'm finished, can I go back in the pool?" "Give it 5 minutes for your food to settle yeah?' Frank looked at Fliss who nodded at him and he cleared his throat slightly. "And while you're waiting, there's something else we wanted to talk to you about." "Ok..." Mary looked at him. "You know how you asked us where we were going this morning?" He looked at her, his hand dropping to Fliss’ knee under the table and she tangled her fingers with his, giving them an encouraging squeeze. "Yeah" “And I said it was to do with Bean?”

“Yeah…” "Well, it was actually to see Greg. And it was about you." Her eyes widened and she swallowed her food with a gulp. “They're not taking me away again are they?" "No, no nothing like that." Fliss soothed her quickly, "In fact...kinda the opposite." "I don't understand" she frowned. "We went to see Greg to ask him about how, if you want us to, we can start the process to adopt you." Frank looked at her. Mary blinked and she looked at Frank who held her gaze before she turned to Fliss. "Adopt me" she whispered. Frank nodded. "But only if that's what you want. It won't mean anything will change, not on a day to day basis anyway, it just means that me and Fliss will both have full-“ He was cut off as Mary jumped up out of her seat and flung herself at him, wrapping her arms round him, pressing her face into the crook of his shoulder and neck as she began to sob. Fliss watched them both, a lump forming in her throat as Frank glanced at her, his eyes glassy. "I'm hoping they're happy tears." He said, clearing his throat. Fliss smiled gently as he simply sat rocking Mary slightly till she calmed down enough to sit back, her hands reaching up, fingers threading into his beard. "So..." she sniffed "you would be my mom and dad?" "Baby we already are." Fliss leaned forward as much as she could to gently rub her back. "I told you that a few weeks ago." "But legally?" "Yeah." Frank nodded. "It will take a little while but Greg says that it will be quicker than usual considering its something called a Kinship Adoption." "What does that mean?" Mary asked quietly. "Basically because you're a relative to me and you've been living with me for so long, some of the process may not be needed." Frank explained. He hesitated for a moment, debating how honest to be before he decides to explain fully to her. She had to understand, she deserved to. "What it does mean, however, is that to allow both Fliss and I to become your parents, they have to completely cut your father off. Which means he has no rights to see you at all going forward. He might refuse our application because of that." "He could refuse?" Mary frowned. "Yeah, but I don't think he will." Frank shook his head "And even if he does we can fight it." Mary nodded, her head bowed a little "He never wanted me anyway..." "Well we do." Fliss said firmly. “And he’s a jackass for not wanting anything to do with you Mary.” "If he does refuse will I have to go live with him?" she looked up her eyes wide. "No." Fliss shook her head "it just means things stay the same as they are now." "That's not so bad." Mary shrugged and Frank gave a huff of a laugh. "Glad to hear it." Frank raised an eyebrow as Mary began fiddling with the collar of his t-shirt "Now, we're going to need to wait until after Alex is born as things are gonna be busy for us all when he arrives but we wanted to give you chance to think about it and make sure it’s what you want. And whatever you decide it doesn't change a thing, ok? You'll stay here and we will still love you no matter what." Mary swallowed and looked at Frank earnestly "I do want. I know already. I don't need to think about it." Frank smiled and brushed her hair back off her face which was getting rather long now and she beamed back at him. "Will I still need to call you Frank?" Frank took a deep breath "that’s up to you. Why don't you see how you feel OK?" She nodded and reached up to kiss his cheek before she hopped down and turned towards Fliss. She chambered onto her knee as best she could and wrapped her arms around her neck, hugging her tight. "I'm so happy." She sniffed and Fliss let out a little noise that was half laugh, half sob and she held her back tightly. Frank wiped his eyes, sniffing a little as he fought to keep it together. He had expected an emotional response from Mary, but it still hadn't prepared him in the slightest for how he was going to feel. For so long he had resisted being referred to as her father and now here he was about to embrace it, and make it 'legal'. Whilst he still had that tiny little bit of guilt regarding Diane, he was pleased to find he didn't feel a shred of doubt, nor after all the soul searching and conversations with Bill last week, and then his mother this afternoon who had, rather emotionally, told him she thought it was a ‘wonderful’ idea, even stating that if Polland did object, she was ready to go onto battle alongside him. Greg was convinced they would have a great chance of winning if it came to it, and even if they didn't, like Fliss said, nothing would change. But for now, he pushed all that to the back of his mind, focusing on the here and now as Mary sat on Fliss lap, her hand skating over her bump as they both giggled, Mary pulling her arm away and squealing. "He just kicked real big!" She looked at Frank, drawing out the word real as he smiled. "Clearly he likes the idea too." He quipped as he stood up "and you know what I like the sound of?" He whipped off his t-shirt and in a flash plucked Mary off Fliss' lap and ran full pelt to the pool with her in his arms as she shrieked and swatted at his back playfully, Thor running behind them, his loud barks booming around the garden. With a huge jump Frank propelled them straight off the side and under the surface of the cool water. They both emerged a second or so later, Mary spluttering as she splashed him causing him to reach out and grab her leg, pulling her back under. "I’m going to be living with 3 children Bean." Fliss patted her bump, just as Thor gave one final frustrated wine before he launched himself into the pool too. Mary let out a huge laugh and pointed to him and Frank grinned as she chambered onto his back. "Hey Frank look..." she giggled loudly "doggy paddle" Frank found that far more funny than he should.

**** Chapter 9

[vampiregeese]

my (first... of a few drawings probably...) part of an art trade with @vrysorcha, who asked for more art of Theo

[loredumptime]

taglist

ORIGINAL

20s STORY: clarice, [southern man], iola kleeman, petra aveson, cleo aveson

APAMA STORY: apama, iotape, roxane, kleandros

APOCALYPSE STORY: foyoko suzuki, nguyen duong, ramona ahmad, roxanna, maisel, pablo

BAND STORY: electra, andromeda, venus, juno, bijou, milan, kiki, amber, dorian

BASIL LOUISE: basil louise callaway, maxine greer

CIRQUE NOELLE: mellie patch, leo fig, noelle tuleja, quura, areck johansen, mirissa acquati, orion floros, lula marinos, prissy, the lemon girls

COLD WAR STORY: lukas petrauskas, alexei, nadia pavlovsky, annika, sasha petrauskas, natasha petrauskas, tina petrauskas, valentina campos, ximena aguado, ilya bykov, ona petrauskas, lyosha petrauskas, vladimir, svetlana

DYSTOPIAN DELILAH: lemonade blackstone, eun-ha park hakim, jared smith, alexander moore, delilah yoshida, andreaus choi, emil olsen, erzsebet kemeny, zsofia kemeny, liam kishka, cory anderson

EZRA AND THEO: ezra ramirez, theodore rundle, ebony wilson, madeleine drozdov, jade wu, maple wells

HELL STORY: ashari astiela, baphomet, azri diotallevi, lia diotallevi, ark, the devil

HOMEFRONT STORY: henri, tucker, mirabelle

HONEYPOT: eleanor sabina, carlotta fernandes

KING TUT STORY: king tutankhamun, [girl] 

KORE’S UNIVERSE: kore mariangela, gertrude muller, leon ryland, dyani chuchip, hanzou kenta, aurelie babineaux

LESBIAN PIRATES: maeve finch, mariana finch, elena-rose finch, aerynthe milleny

MARY STORY: mary, [killer], [brother], hotaru saito, magnolia lewis

PANDORA STORY: william vasilescu, adam lysander, pandora chung, [pandora’s mom]

PETER PAN RETELLING: pan, wendy, hook, [hook bf], tink

PROFESSOR STORY: [professor], [inspector]

RAVIOLI: aika, augustus, olympias, [augustus sister], [evil prince]

RHIANONH: rhiannon mitchell, micha amos, lark beaumont, micha amos, richard mitchell

SACRILEGIOUS KIDS: lamb, rowan march, belle melangell, finn laurier, shiloh st. james, adam page, marley grey, haniel, gabriel SADIK STORY: ahmed, mihr nush, sadik bin abdullah, roshanak, fatima 

SLASHER KIDS: milo saint, charlie messer, jack colton, eli shaw, oliver shaw

TUTOR FROM CORINTH: philippos, tullia, calidus, berenike, galene

WEREWOLF STORY: alicia hughes, marlene hughes, wolfsbane hughes, alfred hughes

WILD WEST STORY: wes, beau, lottie, eve

WOODSTOCK STORY: annamae sinclair, jolene dixon, [hippie mother], [hippie cult leader], [hippie girl], [hippie boy]

WW2 STORY: wilfried achterburg, pepper porter, felix alberton, kostya vasiliev, luciano vargaz, carla neguirra, gwendolyn achterburg

YOKAI STORY: rio watanabe, sol costa, sumi ito, chiyo ito, hana ito

FANDOM

ARCANA OC: amaris natale, rishva bakhshi, tallulah devorak, maksim devorak, nyneve satrinava, lorelai natale, asanna natale

BREAKING BAD OC: cager myers, elise myers

DC OC: phoebus, constance, ella nashton, duela dent, cyril bloom, elsa king

FICTIF OC: diego perez, beatrix sparks, malou rossi, heidi dunajski

FNAF OC: trixy cat, ollie, hope

GORILLAZ OC: margo green, lemonade blackstone, jackson haywood, anita baker, connor bailey, eun-ha park hakim, marla kekoa, mason kekoa, delilah yoshida, jemima green, etienne green, catalina, francesca, camila, louis miller, juliet

HARRY POTTER OC: freya thrawcliffe, fern marden, circe ellis, yoon hye-in, aiden carter

HETALIA OC: agnes escalona, carla / andorra

JOJO OC: cecilio grande, delia sallow, miguel, jean, consuelo grande, maria grande, leandro 

MARBLE HORNETS OC: nicholas hill

SLENDERVERSE OC: alice burns, beam, [the rest of these guys aren’t my ocs, i just want to reblog stuff with their aesthetics] sally williams, jeffrey woods, tim wright, brian thomas, jane richardson, kate milens, tobias rogers, nina hopkins

SOUTH PARK OC: coral kelley, nia valez

UNDERTALE OC: kitty

WAKFU OC: hanezil the xelor, amodri the osamodas, nella the cra, rook, isre, fionan, milien, cleora, totio the ouginak

WARRIOR CATS OC: roseleaf, foxtail, frostspeck, snowpaw, [df mentor], sheep, lily, [riverclan guy], violetpelt, goldenfur, hawk, sardine

YURI ON ICE OC: leena makela, wynn virtanen

MISC.

DEAD OCS: sheena, hina takahashi, jazmin lafleure

[lizzieehearts]

I have not heard about your ocs before and I am v v v interested pliz ramble about them (if you want)

okay so they’re all ever after high ocs, and they’re split up into three categories; oz ocs, wonderlandian ocs, and disney fairies ocs

i talk mostly about my oz ocs as ive had them for the longest, and they are eleanor, the daughter of dorothy (she/her, bisexual), eli, son of the wicked witch of the west (he/xe, trans, panromantic greyace), lio, the cowardly lion’s kid (he/they/it/fae, boyflux, can’t remember it’s sexuality rn) and sierra, the child of the scarecrow and the tin man (they/them, nonbinary, aro lesbian). they’re a family, a weird one but a family all the same. they’ve stuck with each other throughout everything they’ve been through, and are all the better for it

my wonderlandian ocs are wyatt and winter whiteford, twin kids of the white queen (wyatt - he/they, gay asexual, winter - she/fae, aroace), theodore o’hare, son of the dormouse and the march hare (he/him/xe/mad, idk his sexuality yet) and jeyna jabber, child of the jabberwocky (they/she/mad, aroflux ace lesbian). i also have cari pillar, the child of the blue caterpillar (they/them/mad, aroace), who was originally meant to appear at some point over the course of the series but didn’t, so i adopted them as my oc

then we have my disney fairies ocs, which there is a lot more of so im only gonna talk about a couple. clary, daughter of zarina and james hook (sea/she, unlabelled), flo, child of silvermist and clank (who are in a qpr) (she/wave/sea/fae, lesbian), veronica, daughter of vidia (she/they, polysexual) and celeste, child of iridessa (they/she/fae, demigirl, lesbian aceflux) are my main ones

[briarrosescurse]

Yandere AU

i’m kinda getting hooked on the thought of yandere again, so here, take little descriptions of my ocs as yandere - more under the cut!

just a warning tho! since this is about yandere, please be aware that this isn’t all candy dandy. there are mentions of violence, manipulation, abuse and the such.

rozalina: roza is unsuspecting, you wouldn’t peg her to be this kind of person. it starts “slowly” - while she may be a little pushy with her affections, constantly smothering you with love, attention and gifts, only later her dependence on you starts to show. phrases like “i’m so glad i have you” or “i’d be so, so lonely, so lost without you” start to be thrown around by her.

pay her less attention, give her less love and she’ll notice it - she’ll beg you to stay, she’ll let you know that you just can’t leave her like that. her dependence is supposed to guilt trip you. she is oh-so helpless without you, in this cruel and cold world; you wouldn’t be so heartless and leave her all in the dark, no? roza, despite her looks, knows how to use her words, and even if she makes impulsive decisions when it comes to you, she knows how to work her way towards her goal. and not to mention, she is quite relentless. 

and soon enough, a sort of cycle of dependence develops. her dependence on you turns into your dependence on her. it’s hard to let go now. it’s hard to leave, because god, you’d lose so much, wouldn’t you? you’re attached, you have fallen deep. you need her and she needs you. that’s all that matters in the end.

xiang: take a man who is out of touch with his feelings, mix it with intense obsession and what do you get? a destructive ‘love’ that you cannot even call ‘love’. xiang is his own kind of yandere, really. the fact he feels so awfully attached you drives him nuts. he doesn’t know how to deal with this, but he can’t help but give into his addiction - you. and yet, you give him a high, he can’t get enough of these things you make him experience. you’re fun, you’re interesting, so unpredictable and yet he wants to know everything he can about you. you amuse him, entertain him - once his attention is locked on you, pray to the gods you can keep him entertained as long as possible, because once he’s bored of you? he’ll toss you aside. he doesn’t care if he breaks you, he doesn’t care if you retaliate, fight him all in want, in fact. it’ll just make things more fun for him. his methods are much more calculated and mental, but if he has to, he’ll take it up a notch and break you physically, too. he knows he can repent in hell later for all he did to you.

don't think xiang isn't aware of what he has done is immoral. but right now, it could bother him less what happens next to you, as long as you’re right here. and if he’s tired of you, then looks like you’ll be another one of many.

balgair: at first glance, balgair doesn't seem to be… too different? he still is good ol' balgair - a friendly and welcoming boy, a façade for his true nature - a lot more calculating and cynical. however, yandere balgair is a lot more extreme, so to say. his loose sense of morals and narcissistic ideals become very clear once he reveals his true nature. he is very intend on keeping you safe and keeping you with him. his upmost priority is to ensure your safety, even if he has to go against your will. anyone, who dares to put you into harm's way, will be dealt with, quickly.to you, he'll be the ideal boyfriend you always dreamt of - whether it'd be coddling and loving or cold and cool. he'll adjust himself, to whatever your preferences are, and make you happy, the way you wish - unless you happen to put yourself in danger. that includes turning your back to him. all he asks of you is to put your hands in his, close your eyes and trust him.

but really, every child knows that foxes are never to be trusted.

theodor: theodor is another one who is peak unsuspecting. his kind, innocent behavior, his gentle soul, you'd never think he'd able to bring harm onto anyone. unless you'd ask him to. theodor wants to fulfill your every wish and make you the happiest you can be. he doesn't care how little he'll get out of it, as long as you're happy, he'll listen to your every request. he'll drop anything for you. he'll do any task for you. he'll make sure to always put a smile on your face. it's sweet - until you realize that theodor has completely given up on himself in order to please you. you can't call him a loyal servant at this point. he is much more like a marionette - he'll dance to any tune you'll sing. he'll follow your every move, your every word. theodor is just a shell of he was. all that matters to him now, is you. nothing else.

chloe: out of the bunch here, chloe is the most harmless one you can get. she seems to be fascinated by you at best, at worst goes down to take care of anyone that appears to be a nuisance to you. she is hiding in the shadows for the majority of the time. she’s clumsy with her emotions, so for her to express any form of open affection towards you may be extremely rare. and you may ‘mistake’ her as some kind of stalker, since she only keeps an eye on you, but never bothers to approach you. chloe hates being anyone’s shadow, but this one time, she willingly turns herself into one. if it means to confirm your wellbeing, this is fine for her. she doesn’t even expect anything in return - at least, according to her. but aren’t you a little worried that this might change one day?

madeline: madeline’s mood swings are intense and terrifying. he seems to treat you with a bias, holding you to a high regard, complimenting your beauty, encouraging your dreams, valuing your talents and always holding you up to another standard than with most others. but in case you disappoint him and defy his ideal version of you? he grows angry, he becomes petty and he resorts to threats to keep you in line. he expects so much better of you. furthermore, he is insanely possessive. he becomes terribly jealous with ease, especially if people, against whom he has a personal vendetta, talk to you so casually, so friendly. they taint your image, according to him. madeline wouldn’t touch a hair on your head if you didn’t want him to. he’d never resort to anything physical. however, he makes sure to let you know that this ‘wonderland’, just for the two of you, is something he built with his whole pride - don’t trample on it in order to escape, as his wonderland has no escape.

briar: briar is the one of the two of the bunch who is entirely aware of his actions - but unlike xiang, briar is repulsed by himself. he used to pride himself in who he is, what power he holds, what he can do. that's all that mattered, all that defined him, only he. he was so independent, not in need of anyone's reassurance to confine himself in. but then, you entered his life and you were all he could focus on. briar, while also repulsed by the moral implications of this, he is also repulsed by what he has become. you changed him, for the worse, and he can't take it. he adores you, with all he is, and yet despises you, with all he used to be. briar is not keen on using violence or force with you, but if he is in a foul mood and you decide to step on his toes on purpose, he thinks that punishing you by locking you up is absolutely appropriate. other than that, he doesn't hesitate to go back to dirty methods like blackmail or threats. he wants you to know your place - you can't disobey an ancient, noble fae after all, can you now?

[bubblegump-1-nk]

As She Walks By pt. 4

- summary: Theodore and you are just best friends (or not), but when he finally hooks up with the Hufflepuff girl who’s had a crush on him for years, things may start to change

- based off of the song Heather by Conan Gray (a little bit), set in three perspectives: yours, Theos, and the Hufflepuff girl (an OC I called Althenea Circ). I made you a Gryffindor but if you want to change your house just imagine whatever house I want.

- warnings: insecurity, angst, not really cheating but idk, typos probably, cussing, toxic relationships, kissing(?) (these warnings apply to the upcoming parts so you might not see some of them in some of the parts, if that makes sense) I think that’s all but tell me if you find anything else pls!

- Your POV -

“This way!” I whisper to Hermione, both of us trying to hold in our giggles.

We were running through the corridor trying to find a bathroom, an activity that can be quite hard when drunk.

“I think it’s this way!” Hermione whisper to me, our arms linked together.

We go down a hallway and begin to turn the corner when we hear voices.

“Who is it?” I asked Hermione, who was closer to the noise.

She discreetly turns her head around the corner and sucks in a breath when she sees the culprits.

“What? Who is it?” I ask, interested by her reaction.

“Althenea and Wesley!” She says, looking at me with wide eyes.

“Merlin! Ok, be quiet so we can hear.” I say, and we shuffle closer and get very quiet to be able to hear the conversation.

“I mean why would he even kiss me? I’m not even half as pretty as her. And he thinks I don’t notice how his eyes wander to her whenever she’s in the room and the way he tries so hard to just be close to her or… or to make her laugh! And the worst part is I can’t even hate her because she’s such an angel. But honestly at the same time I kind of hope she gets hit by the Whomping Willow or something!”

Wesley softly giggles at the comment and then says “Look, I know this is hard and I’m sorry that Theodore is annoying, but you are so perfect. And if he can’t see that then he’s twat!”

Althenea stays silent for a moment her sniffles echoing throughout the corridor. Then, she finally says, “No, I’m the twat. For thinking that I could ever have a chance with Theodore when perfect Y/n L/n is running around.”

Hermione and I looked at each other. I had a suspicion she was talking about me but this just confirmed it. The other two girls are silent so I quickly grab Hermione’s hand and say “C’mon!”

She follows me absentmindedly and we walk towards the two girls. When they see us their eyes to wide, and their breath hitches.

“Excuse me, do you know where the nearest bathroom is?” I ask.

Wesley let’s out a breath, thinking I hadn’t heard the conversation and begins to respond but Althenea quickly interrupts her.

“I’m sorry y/n! I really am. I didn’t mean any of that, I just… I’m just angry that Theo doesn’t want to be my boyfriend. And I’m just jealous because he seems to like you.”

I stare at her for a few seconds, not knowing what to say.

“Don’t worry, I understand. But I think it’s best you tell him that, otherwise the three of us will continue hurting.” I say, and after a few beats of silence I leave, dragging Hermione behind me.

-Althenea’s POV-

I walked back into the party, focus only on finding Theo. I had wiped my eyes to the best of my ability but I seemed to be losing the battle against letting my tears out again. After a few quick moments, I found him playing beer pong with a bunch of other guys. I mustered up enough courage to do what I needed to do, and walked up to him.

“Theodore, we need to talk.” I said, loudly enough for him to hear.

He looked surprised at my confidence and quickly nodded before putting his cup down.

“Uh oh, someone’s in trouble.” Said Dean, which caused all the boys to laugh. Theo sent them a look before following me into a corner.

It was quiet for a bit, Theo looked at me expectantly. I just wanted to bask in the last few moments of us. The Theodore Nott and Althenea Circ I wished would happen. The one that never would.

“Well, get on with it.” He said, trying to sound kind.

“I… we’ll I just think we should stop seeing each other.”

His eyebrows shot up and he let out a breath, “Well alright then.” He said trying to hide a smirk.

He began to leave but I put my hand on his shoulder, stopping him. “Wait! I’m not done yet.” He turned around, exasperated.

“Listen. What me and you had it was nothing special, I know that now. But I didn’t then. I thought that we could be something but I was wrong, I can admit that. But can’t you admit that maybe you were wrong to for leading me on?”

He looks at me softly and then says, “Yeah. You’re right. I shouldn’t have led you on. Sorry.”

“Thank you. And I think we both know the reason why we didn’t work out. There might be other reasons but I’d like to think this was the only one. So, for me or for you, it doesn’t matter, but, just please, don’t mess it up with her.” I say, I look into his eyes for one last time and see only confusion. Then I get on my tip toes and give him a kiss on the cheek, the last one, before leaving the party.

- Theo’s POV -

I sat in the fairly empty courtyard on a bench doing my Divinations homework. The sun was shining bright but there was still a light breeze which made the weather bearable. I hadn’t seen much of Althenea since our “break up”, but when we did see each other a small wave or smile was usually given and returned. After that night nothing had really changed, other than my strange relationship, but I had noticed something different between us. We weren’t fighting or anything but I felt a rift. It was small, really small, but I could tell you were pulling away. I was trying everything to stop it, and even more than everything to get my mind off of it. That’s what I was doing now, but reading tea leafs wasn’t helping.

Suddenly a shadow came over my face and I looked up for the reason. It was you. You’re beautiful face. The one person I was truly, 100% sure I loved, my beautiful y/n.

“Teddy, I have to tell you something. And I’ve tried to hold it down but I can’t. I just can’t. So I have to tell you now. Or else I’ll regret it. But you just have to promise me something. If you don’t agree with me please, please promise me we can go back to normal.”

I looked up at you confused and worried. Nothing you could say could make me think of you differently, but either way I nodded and held out my pinkie for your to grab with yours. A smile spread across your face and after we let go of each other you took in a deep breath and wiped your hands on your skirt.

“Ok, um… well before I say anything I just want you to know that I’ve put a lot of thought into this, so it’s not a mistake or anything. I’m sure of it. So well here goes, I love you Theodore. And not in just a friendly way, I mean I really love you. And well, I just had to tell you because I would hate myself if I never told you because there’s always that tiny, tiny chance that you feel the same way.”

My heart dropped.

- Your POV -

I stared at you and you were silent. Completely silent. My heart was beating so fast and so loud I was sure it was going to pop out of me. And I sort of hoped it did because by your lack of response I thought you didn’t feel the same way. After a few more moments of silence, i got my answer. And I couldn’t take it any longer, so I gave you a tight smile and then walked away.

I felt dizzy and my hands were clammy and shaking. My whole body was shaking. I felt like I need to vomit and my eyes were welling up with tears. I was almost to one of the hallways when I felt your grip on my hand. Great. You turned me around so that I was looking directly at you. It was taking everything in me not to cry. You grabbed my other hand and held them up to your chest.

“I-I thought that I was dreaming when you said you loved me. And I had to take a moment or two or three to realize I wasn’t. Because y/n, I’ve dreamt of this moment for years, and I couldn’t believe it had finally come. And you know why I dreamt of it? Because I love you y/n, more than I ever thought possible.”

I looked into your eyes, and suddenly I was smiling, I was smiling so wide it hurt.

“I love you!” I exclaimed, fore jumping into your arms.

My arms were wrapped around your neck, and yours around my waist. You spun me around as we both laughed before you set me down.

“Can I kiss you now?” You asked, your firm hands holding my cheeks.

“Please.”

Our lips crashed together, and nothing had every felt so right. Your lips were soft and the kiss was tender yet hungry. Our lips moved in a synchronized fashion, as if we were meant to kiss each other. My hands found your neck and I held onto it firmly. As if if we let go of each other we would fall apart. I deepened the kiss and soon our tongues were discovering new parts of each others mouths. After what seemed like ages we had to pull apart, no longer able to ignore the fact that we were out of breath.

We stayed looking at each other, our eyes searching each others faces and our smiles wide. Then you went back in for a second kiss, and just as you did so a cheer was heard.

“Wooohoooo, finally!” The voice said, which caused us to pull apart to find the culprit.

Althenea Circ.

I cant believe I just wrote two parts in one night, I should probably get some sleep. But I hope you enjoyed the ending and this series as a whole! Love ya.

[curiousconch]

Lions on the Prowl

Chapter 7 of Ricochet (An Open Heart AU)

Catch up here: Series Masterlist

Chapter Synopsis: Bryce and Rafael go on the hunt to unravel the sinister truth, hoping that what is revealed leads to Heather.

Pairing: Rafael Aveiro x MC (Dr. Heather Song) | Bryce Lahela x MC (Dr. Heather Song)

Words: 1.8k+ | Genre: Crime, Suspense/Thriller, Romance

Rating/Warnings: Mature (16+) / language, violence

Author's Notes: As promised, here's chapter 7. It has minor references to canon, but I did some tweaks to fit the overall storyline. Thank you so much for taking time to read this series. Please let me know if you want me to include/remove you in the tags list. Also, disclaimer: Majority of the characters are owned by Pixelberry, except the main character Heather Song and an OC Jordan Anderson.

Bryce slipped his phone into the pocket of his suit after his call with Rafael. He got into his car and punched the coordinates of his destination, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for the GPS to load. Once he heard the first set of directions, he turned on the ignition and drove off. As the miles went by, he began to map out his strategy to interrogate the person who started it all - Travis Perry.

After half an hour, he was let into the maximum security facility. He went through the strict visitor SOP before he was led into a small room, devoid of anything cheerful. He tried his best to shake off the inherent thoughts he had about Heather's current situation, focusing instead at the matter at hand. Several minutes passed before he heard a click and the door opened, revealing a dank and skinny figure.

When Travis realized who was visiting, he rolled his eyes.

Bryce watched as he sat down while his handcuffs was hooked at a protruding hole in the center of the table. He waited for the guard to step outside before he leaned forward, switching into full-on lawyer mode.

"You better tell me what you know now, Perry."

Travis smirked, looking ominous.

"Desperate much, are you, ADA Lahela?" he leaned back, slouching. "Why come to me so early on in the game?"

The answer was easy, he was desperate. Every passing minute that Heather was missing reduces the possibility of finding her alive. He knew that much. And Bryce was willing to risk anything to see her breathing again. Even endangering his career or his dignity.

"You know very well why I'm here, Travis," his fingers ran up his blue tie, loosening it a little, hoping that he was playing his cards right. Bryce knew Perry's confidence came from the knowledge that he had nothing left to lose. He can't put him at fault though, his sentence were pretty much signed, sealed and delivered. However, the ADA didn't expect him to give up anything without a fight. He was the criminal who attempted to kill a senator, after all. So he came prepared.

Bryce shook his head, sneering back, a finger pressed lightly on his chin.

"Travis, Travis, Travis..." he stood up, circling around the prisoner like a lion on a prowl. "Aren't you forgetting something? I'm just a man who can offer you something that is going to be very hard to turn down," he stopped once he stood directly behind his prey. He then crouched down and leaned forward, his smug face inches away from Perry's. "So, you interested?"

Perry hissed, a look of disdain overcoming his previously confident composure.

"I thought so," Bryce smiled, satisfied. His work wasn't done yet though. He put the tips of his fingers together, pulling back so he can continue to prance around. It was the signature Lahela move.

This was a signal to anyone beyond enemy lines that Prosecutor Bryce got you in his grasp. That's why they call him magic hands.

"You better start talking then. Clock is ticking," he returned to stand opposite him, the palm of his hands pressed flatly on the metal table. "Well, that is, if you choose to cooperate."

The perp he worked laboriously to convict fell into a contemplative silence. Bryce watched intently, as Travis closed his eyes and took deep breaths before sitting back up, determined not to say a thing.

"I take it you don't want to talk then?" Bryce pursed his lips in an attempt of mockery. "Why? Suddenly grown a conscience after being caged for a few months? Wanna make Jonathan proud?"

At the mention of his younger brother, Perry abruptly stood up causing his chains to rattle against metal. He lost control, as he screamed to the young ADA's face.

When he lost his steam, Travis eventually backed down looking pleased with himself as he found Bryce's stunned expression.

"You will never catch him! Jordan is more cunning and more capable than any of you pieces of shit!" Travis roared, startling Bryce. "You're all just as worthless as that fucking senator! You think you're so different? Well guess what, you're all the same!"

For a few long moments, Bryce did seem like someone who just lost a battle. The convict sat down and pressed the button under the table to call in his escort. But before anyone came back in to get him, the cunning golden boy mimicked his movements and stared back at him.

"Well, thank you, for your kind assistance," Bryce said quietly as a guard entered and uncuffed Perry. Travis looked back at him, puzzled. He was ordered to stand up, and when he was about to leave the room, Bryce quirked a brow, his lips twisting into a smirk of a cheshire cat.

The mouse just fell into the trap.

"Jordan, huh? I wonder who that is."

Perry's face drained of all color. Bryce chortled in reply before he continued his celebratory address.

"And since you didn't agree on anything, I'll consider it an early holiday gift that doesn't need to be repaid," the lawyer brushed back his hair and stood up, straightening his dark grey suit. With a shrill scream, the heavy metal door closed upon Travis Perry's face, leaving Bryce alone in the room. He waited for a few moments, fixing his tie, then walked back out to the correctional's office.

One more thing before we're done here.

He requested for Perry's files, browsing through his phone records and visitor logs for the past 6 months. When he turned to the third page, he found exactly what he was looking for. Bingo. He fist bumped the air, then took pictures of the pages where he found the matching name. As he set out to collect the rest of his belongings, he quick dialed Rafael and reported his findings.

"We have a name," he walked back to his parked car and got in, turning the ignition on. "It's Jordan Anderson. Look for any records related to him and how he connects with Travis Perry, I'm coming over." he backed up the car out to the road and drove to town.

Hold on, Heather. We're coming for you.

***

Rafael reopened Perry's files for the tenth time since tonight after he ended his call with Bryce. It was a breakthrough, after hours of not being able find anything of value since the investigation started. The name didn't ring any bells, but he was confident he's going to find something. He had to.

Before he closed the file another time, he read a single phrase in the page about Travis Perry's family background. There it was listed:

Parents: Theodore Perry (Deceased), Jenny Perry (deceased)

Siblings: Jonathan Perry (deceased), foster brother (presumed alive, identity unknown)

He highlighted the two words - foster brother.

Is this him? Did we find the kidnapper?

He beckoned the agent beside him who was poring over Farrugia's phone logs. "Marshall, can you find out if Travis' parents took in kids for foster care?"

The agent nodded and opened the application for the National Foster Care directory. Raf watched as he browsed per county, directing him to a site containing Boston's list. Time seemed to slow down for Rafael as Agent Marshall typed in the parents names into the search criteria. He pressed enter, and together they watched the loading icon, as the app attempted to pull up any matching records.

After an excruciatingly long 10 minutes, the application displayed a single name: Jordan Anderson.

This was the solid lead they needed.

He directed half of his team to find anything they could regarding Jordan Anderson. One by one, they pooled in the data and eventually created the most accurate biography of the man who just became Boston's most wanted.

Raf asked for his image to be emailed to the IT guys to run facial recognition on surveillance footage around Edenbrook and Bryce's condo, marking it as urgent. He approached the whiteboard, and began to write a summary of what they knew so far:

JORDAN PETER ANDERSON

* Foster brother of Travis Perry

* Aged 29

* Last known address: Everett, MA

* Last known occupation: Maintenance Crew, Stintson and Co. Cleaning Agency

* Criminal records: Juvenile detention for Shoplifting, illegal drug use, stalking, trespassing

He also listed down the number of restraining orders issued against him, painting a picture of a long history of offenses and a troubled life. He read the accompanying material that they were able to dig in the last half hour and built a psychological profile of the suspect.

Several minutes after, ADA Lahela walked into the room. Bryce nodded to him, before perusing the bulleted points on the board. "This is good work," the prosecutor said.

Raf handed him some of the printouts, allowing him to make his own analysis. The special agent began to discuss his.

"He appears to have a close bond with his foster family, seeing that he didn't move out of Massachusetts. As to how much contact he had with Travis, we're uncertain yet," Rafael said.

With that, Bryce pulled up the pictures he took at the correctional facility. He showed it to Raf.

"There were several rows of the same number in the call logs starting a few months back, starting on the day Perry was transferred," Bryce pointed at the records in contention before proceeding. "So I trailed a pattern. I tried looking at the days when that same number didn't appear in the call logs and looked at the visitor records instead. The name Jordan Anderson came up every single time."

"We received a tip!" an agent stood up and approached the two conferring men, interrupting their discussion. "Apparently, Dr. Song called for a car to bring her to the airport this morning. The driver waited in front of ADA Lahela's complex and was about to leave when he saw a suspicious guy in an overall leaving a side entrance. He was carrying a black luggage bag and a woman who the driver thought as drunk. The woman matched her description."

They shared a look, prompting them into action. Rafael pulled up his phone to dial the surveillance room, but before he could, it pinged for an incoming email. It was from an anonymous sender. It contained a video file attachment. He tapped the play button.

It was a dash cam footage. The first few seconds were dim, but it wasn't long before a black car pulled up into the empty road. The vehicle stopped, a male figure emerged from the driver's seat. He opened the backseat door and there was Heather, limp and unconscious, being dragged by a man who shared the same face as the picture in the printouts. Both men's breathing hitched.

The video finished playing when they heard another ping. It was another email from the same sender. This time, it only contained a single line:

24th Avenue, Panacea Pharmaceutical Boston Tower.

"Panacea? Why does that sound familiar?" Bryce questioned, frowning.

"Panacea, as in the Panacea Labs?" the agent inputted, looking at each of them. "Panacea Labs partnered last year with Edenbrook and Mass Kenmore, prompting the construction of a new office downtown. But the company was shut down due to ethical and regulatory violations, halting the project. It was never finished."

"Can someone put up a recent image from 24th Avenue?"

Another agent walked up to them, showing his laptop screen.

There in the image was a faint sign, Construction Ongoing. Underneath it was the word Panacea.

Rafael raised his phone beside the computer, comparing the still frame from the video.

There it was, at the upper left side, the same sign and the same word.

At that moment, both men knew they were only scratching the surface. But they can deal with that later.

Right now, they knew where Heather was. And it's about damn time they get her back.

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