#they have problems. olivia is barely even a good person to anyone. and while this isn’t realistic

[labselkie]

why wouldn’t she just have them edit out her tripping is she stupid

[draconicocelot]

By the Fireplace

Summary: Jesse is struggling to handle the massive responsibility that comes with the formation of a new town, luckily, she meets a certain individual who just might make the perfect intern.

Hello teeny tiny MCSM fandom skjhdf, have an origin story for how Jesse and Radar meet

(Involves a few of my own personal headcanons for flavor but, ya know, MCSM is a sandbox for the fans now :,,) )

Beacontown. It had a nice ring to it, and an even more pleasant interior. It was a town built from the rubble of a great disaster, and yet those that inhabited it acted as though nothing bad had happened. They treated every day as a new beginning, as an opportunity to let their creativity shine. With the lack of rules against building privileges, no two buildings looked the same, and neither did the residents. In the early days of its formation, everything was bare and bland, but as with everything worth investing time into, it would show its true colors soon enough.

As Jesse walked through the gates of town, coming back from an evening expedition to gather supplies, she was greeted by warm smiles and genuine shouts of glee at her return. Half a year ago barely anyone even knew her name, and now they sang her praises in the streets. It was a rather jarring transition, but one that Jesse embraced with gratitude and humility. Handing off the bag that was thrown over her shoulder, Olivia approached her carrying a clipboard. 

“Jesse! How did the trip go?” She questioned, watching as one of the redstone engineers she brought with her carried the bag away to share the resources amongst the teams who needed them. 

“Not too bad, managed to gather lots of wood and cobblestone,” as she glanced over at the houses lining the streets, she noted the lack of color and decor, “I know we want to let everyone design their own homes, but with repairs still in place I think we need to focus on the necessary construction elements first.” Olivia nodded as she wrote something down, using the quill to gesture at the other end of town. 

“Good idea, they’re actually working on extending the border as we speak! There are a lot of people who want to live here, Jesse,” Olivia’s tone was optimistic, but her name was said with a hint of caution. Jesse knew her responsibilities kept growing with each passing day, that she would soon have to send others out on these resource runs so that she could stay back and monitor the repairs being made to town. 

“Yeah… I noticed,” Jesse groaned, running her fingers anxiously through her hair. “You uh, you sure you don’t want to stay here?” Olivia huffed out a half-laugh, patting Jesse’s shoulder sympathetically. 

“You know my place is in Redstonia, but I do think you need to hire some help.” Jesse knew she was right, but how would she go through a proper hiring process while people are still just trying to find a plot of land to build their homes on. It was nighttime she worried about the most, when everyone whose homes were not complete had to stay in a temporary shelter to avoid the mobs that might slip through the gates. She shuddered at the thought of someone getting hurt because her defenses had not been assembled properly. “Jesse? You still in there?” 

“Hm? Oh, yeah… sorry… Got a lot on my mind is all,” she replied, “I know you’re busy with your own leadership tasks so, thank you for stopping by to help us. You know as soon as Beacontown is up to livable standards I’ll be heading over with a team of my own to help you.” Olivia smiled softly, putting her hand over her heart. 

“It’s no problem Jess, anything for a friend,” Olivia clipped the quill to her board before looking towards the last house she had been standing near. It was more of a foundation at the moment, but her builders had already started laying down the stone needed to secure the basement. “Speaking of which, I’d better make sure my guys are on track. I’ll check back in before we settle in for the night.”

“Thanks Liv, and let them know they’re welcome to any spare resources once every base build is complete.” Jesse called as Olivia headed back to her sector. With the number of residents moving in constantly growing, not only did the negotiation of land have to be settled but the resources needed to be designated in proper quantities for the plans everyone comes up with. In order to allow everyone to build their own type of home, there needed to be guidelines for how large the space could be and how expensive it would be for extra materials required for complex builds. Her head spun just thinking about the amount of paperwork she had to complete. 

On her way back to her temporary cabin, a rather small building that had just enough in it to keep her comfortable, she briefly spoke with many citizens. A lot of them were thanking her for stepping up and insisting on creating such an accepting place to live, while others requested certain things from her which she had to write down on the fly. Sometimes she missed the simpler days, and busy nights like this were the main reason why. 

However, as she reached her destination, she noticed someone was sitting with their back up against the far wall of her cabin. Everyone else was bustling about, getting to know their new neighbors and concocting unique creations to share with one another. Whoever this was seemed to be rather forlorn, their head resting against their knees as they sat in a fetal position. Jesse tilted her head slightly, noticing this person was sniffling. She approached as quietly as possible, hoping not to alarm them. Clearing her throat first, she quietly called out, “Hey, are you okay?” The individual jolted in shock, their head whirling around as they curled further in on themselves. 

“O-Oh my gosh… I-I-I’m so sorry!” Jesse could tell he wasn’t past his teens, shivering like a leaf in an emerald green hoodie, his glasses tilted to the side as he attempted to wipe away the tears in his eyes using his sleeve. “S-So embarrassing…” he muttered. 

“There’s no need to be sorry, or embarrassed,” Jesse took another step forward, about three steps away from where the boy was hunkered down, and got down on one knee. “What’s your name?” She figured an introduction would be appropriate, “My name is-”

“Jesse…” He interrupted, immediately slapping his hand over his mouth, “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have s-spoke over you…” Jesse made a pained, commiserative expression as she sat down instead, crossing one leg over the other so she was level with him. 

“It’s alright, I should have assumed you knew who I was,” Jesse nodded in his direction for him to go on. He shifted uncomfortably, looking down at the ground before he spoke.

“My name’s… Radar,” realizing he was averting eye contact, as if he had been scolded by an imaginary force, he looked back up and met her eyes. “I-It is an honor, to m-meet you, miss!” Jesse released a pssh from between pursed lips. 

“No need to call me miss, just Jesse is fine,” she observed his body language for a moment longer before deciding it was safe to move on. “Now, what are you doing over here all by yourself, Radar? Did you just move in?” Radar recoiled slightly, but managed to muster up a response sooner than before. 

“I uh… technically don’t live here,” he glanced at the front gates, “I just got here earlier today but…” he hesitated, chewing on his bottom lip. 

“Radar, if you don’t live here yet, I’m not just going to kick you out,” Jesse phrased her words gingerly, hoping not to upset him further. He was clearly shaken up about something, but she wouldn’t get any information if she scared him off. Radar threw his hood up over his head before admitting why he was hiding. 

“I-I don’t have the emeralds to p-pay for the land…” Jesse pondered for a moment, searching for the right words. 

“Did you come here with anyone else?” Radar shook his head, “Not a sibling… or a parent?” She could hear him whimper under his breath, looking up only slightly so that the top half of his face could be seen from under his hood.

“The… Th-The Witherstorm…they… they didn’t make it…” Jesse’s pupils constricted as she absorbed the horror of that statement. This poor kid, alone and afraid, now left without his parents because of the monster she destroyed. That damned command block destroyed the lives of so many people, took the loved ones from those who survived and left others with unhealable scars. Using her arms to push herself forward, she sat directly across from him, slowly reaching a hand in his direction. 

“Hey, it’s… it’s gonna be alright,” she spoke softly, allowing him to see her hand before she placed it on his upper back. He was still badly shaking, and she couldn’t quite tell if it was from the cool night air or his fear of being thrown from one of the only places within miles where he could stay under a roof. “I’m going to help you, Radar. You hear me?” Radar fully lifted his head, his big red eyes still flowing with tears as he attempted to speak. 

“Y-Y-You will…? R-Really? You won’t k-kick me out?” 

“Of course not, I have plenty of room in my cabin,” She smiled softly, rubbing his back up and down, “besides, I’m in need of a new intern. Think you could help me manage some of the construction around here?” Radar couldn’t contain his relief, throwing himself forward as Jesse braced herself. She managed to catch him as they both fell back, Jesse holding herself up with one arm and embracing him with the other. 

“I promise! I-I promise I’ll do good! I’ll do whatever it t-takes to help you a-and the rest of Beacontown!” Jesse closed her eyes for a moment, squeezing Radar before helping them both back to their feet. 

“I’m sure you will, buddy. Why don’t you head inside and sit by the fireplace, your hands are ice cold.” Jesse suggested, reaching down and fixing Radar’s glasses that were lying askew. Radar had his arms wrapped around himself as he nodded excitedly, walking towards the cabin door. 

“Thank you, Jesse…really. You’re a r-real life saver,” he added before heading inside. Jesse relieved a sigh, the memories of the battle with the Witherstorm flooding into her mind. She thought about poor Ellegard, about all those townspeople who she couldn’t save as they attempted to flee, she wondered if Radar’s parents were there… 

She thought about Reuben, about her best friend and most loving companion. The Witherstorm destroyed so much, but it didn’t destroy the light within all of those citizens who now inhabited Beacontown. It didn’t stop them from fighting back, from rebuilding their lives from the ground up. She was proud of each and every one of them, and hoped this new chapter of their lives would blossom into something special.

Even though everyone treated Jesse differently, like an idol to look up to, she had to admit she didn’t feel very different. Before becoming the Hero in Residence, no one seemed to care about the young bookworm who enjoyed playing with her pet pig and going on simple adventures. Many people didn’t even know who she really was behind the wall of popularity and fame that followed the defeat of the Witherstorm and the dismantlement of the Old Builders. They don’t know she snores when she sleeps, they don’t know she used to skip rocks on the river near her treehouse, but most of all, many people didn’t even know she was an orphan herself.

[rrosiepetals]

Man oh man… where do I even begin with this? I had a bad taste in my mouth ever since I read that mini comic about Clem leaving AJ and the rest of the school to go off on her own. It went against everything Clementine had stood for and experienced on her journey. It set the tone for the rest of the book, and I tried to approach it with a more open mind... and now that I've read it all, let me just say... this was a mess. So, from this point on I’ll get into spoiler territory just in case you want to go into this blind:

I’ll list the aspects of the book that I liked before going into my problems with it:

• I liked Amos. I know a lot of us thought he'd be the new potential love interest for Clem that made our eyes roll, but he was a breath of fresh air. He was just a happy go lucky boy (perhaps a little too trusting of others), but he had his heart in the right place. His only goal was to fly in a plane, which was simple but yet heartwarming, and I was rooting alongside him to succeed. He had some good moments bantering with Clem and kept his hopes high even when the situation was grim.

• There were a couple of flashbacks involving Clem, Lee and AJ which instantly made me want to replay the game again.

• Tim is a hero and he got done so dirty. He had some history with the twins which wasn’t expanded upon long enough sadly but his scenes were nice.

———————-

Yep that’s all I can think of, but now it’s time to discuss the problems:

• Aside from the characters I've already mentioned, there are number of characters that were unlikeable. Clementine reminded me of ANF Clem, with her 'edgy' attitude of not trusting anyone and preferring to be alone all the time. This didn’t feel like Clem to me at all actually, she felt like a completely different character. As if TFS had no influence on her character development.

• The “evil” twins are just bland and they’re straight up assholes. Left (Olivia) wasn’t all too bad but Right (Georgia) made me want to reach in the book and slap her.

• Ricca… oh Ricca. Stop trying to butt into Clem’s business. She gets all upset when Clem doesn’t tell her everything that’s going on and at points gets up in her face. “You’re supposed to tell me what’s going on.” Like?? You barely know her and you’re already trying to act as her girlfriend. I wouldn’t call her Clem’s gf at this point, I don’t feel the chemistry between them since the pacing was all over the place here. Violet and Louis had such distinct personalities that meshed well with Clementine’s, here I don’t feel anything from Ricca.

• Oh speaking of Violet and Louis, they get no mention so :,)

• The dialogue feels all over the place and unnatural to where one character says something unrelated to the situation and it trails off from there.

• The art isn’t all bad but I wish it was in color because most of the time I can’t tell what’s going on from how crowded it feels.

• The flashbacks I mentioned, while they were nice callbacks… they only lasted for a page or two and then are cut short, they felt like they were only there to remind you “Hey remember this? This is what you guys liked right?” I wish they’d been longer.

• Clementine’s “goal” was just so that she could be alone to prevent herself from seeing other people die when… she’s going out on this journey, joining new people and seeing them die. This makes no sense, she was much safer at the school than anywhere else. Just imagine how AJ must feel, after all those hardships, after that talk about “Never go alone.” I guess that never mattered.

———————-

I'll stop here, but those are my main points. Overall, I enjoyed some aspects of this book, but they were overshadowed by its flaws. Then we have to wait another year for book two, which I don’t know how it will take off from there. What did you guys think? Please let me know, and feel free to spoiler tag it if you wish. Thank you!

[heyyyharry]

Drivers License

(inspired by drivers license by Olivia Rodrigo)

Word count: 2.5k

And you're probably with that blonde girl Who always made me doubt She's so much older than me She's everything I'm insecure about

This song is so sad and it made me cry so I had to write something about it 🤧

.

.

.

“I love the song.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Y/N chewed on her bottom lip, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. “But?” she asked her producer, who was on the phone. “You don’t sound like you love it.”

“Of course I love it, Y/N. It’s just–” Came a pause. “Do you really want this to be the next single?”

“What do you mean? You love it but it’s not good enough to be a single?”

“It’s too good, Y/N,” her producer said. “It’s very...personal.”

“That’s why I want to put it out, Gray. It means a lot to me.”

Gray was quiet for another moment. “The media and his fans are going to come for you.”

“I don’t care.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Alright. I’ll call you back.” Gray sounded defeated but she could still sense a smile as he told her, “Good job, kid,” before hanging up.

Y/N put her phone away, tossed her head back and heaved a sigh. She was well aware of the trouble she’d cause by releasing this song. It’d be like showing the whole world her diary. She’d written plenty of songs on her previous albums about her relationships, too. There had been witch hunts simply because the men she’d written songs about had fans who worshipped them and refused to see them as anything less than perfect. She wasn’t perfect, either. If she were perfect, she wouldn’t have written a song about an ‘almost’ relationship. She’d know her worth and not have chased someone who didn’t and would never want her. She knew that now. So this song would be the last thing she’d give this person. The last goodbye that she never got to say.

.

.

.

“What are you smiling at?”

“Nothing.”

“Let me see,” Y/N giggled and tried to grab his phone as he pretended to fight her off.

“Alright, alright.” He laughed, reached out to turn the music in his car down and handed her the phone. “It’s the memes your fans made about you not being able to drive,” he said, suppressing a grin.

Her jaw dropped. “I hate you!”

“I’m sorry. It slipped out,” he said, laughing again. She could listen to his laugh on replay. She loved his music, but his laugh had to be her most favourite melody. “To be fair, you talked a lot of shit about me in that interview, too.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” she scoffed at the smug look he was wearing. “At least I didn’t tell the whole world about your imaginary friend that you had until you were thirteen. You spilt my secret.”

“Not a secret anymore.”

She playfully smacked him on the arm. “My lawyer will hear about this.”

He pouted, pretending to be upset. “Guess we’ll never work together anymore.”

“Acting is not for me anyway.”

Y/N gave Harry back his phone. He took it but didn’t break eye contact as his brows knitted. “Stop saying that. You were great in the movie.”

She rolled her eyes sarcastically. “Oh please, have you been on the internet?”

“You mean my fans’ reactions, right? Just ignore them.” He breathed. “I mean, I love my fans, but they could be too much sometimes. Just look at all my previous relationships. I can’t even breathe around a female without them sending her death threats.”

“Yeah,” Y/N let out a nervous laugh, hands folded together resting on her knees. “Speaking of relationships,” she ventured, “are you talking to someone new?”

She wasn’t looking at him yet she could feel the heat from his gaze as he told her, “No. I already told you, Y/N. Right now there’s just you.”

Harry turned, putting both hands on his steering wheel. Was he nervous as well? Had she ruined the moment by bringing this up?

He took a deep breath, confirming her assumption. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m just not ready for a relationship.”

It was the same line he’d told her times and times again, and she wished she could just tell him how much she loathed it. And since she couldn’t say anything, she just nodded and focused on the rings on her fingers.

“I do care a lot about you, though,” he added, his voice heavy with emotions.

Her friends had told her that men would say things like this, and most of the time they barely meant half of it. However, she’d known Harry for years. Their relationship had only changed since they’d been cast for the same movie earlier this year. She was confident that she knew him better than her friends or anyone else. Surely, he’d meant all the things he’d said to her. The problem was, he just wasn’t ready for a relationship.

“And I don’t want to lose you, Y/N,” he said, now looking at her again.

She turned slowly and met his thoughtful green eyes. She offered a single smile as a way to tell him she wasn’t upset, even though she was, a little bit. “I don’t want to lose you, either,” she admitted.

His dimples reappeared. “I feel like it’s rare for people like us to find a connection like this, and I’ve never opened up to anyone the way I have to you. But I think now isn’t the time for us to take the risk of ruining this. Right now we’re still trying to figure out our own lives, you know?”

She nodded again, not knowing what to say.

They sat quietly for another moment, and it was he who broke the silence. “How come you never learn to drive?”

She could feel her cheeks glowing red. “I never had to drive myself.”

She’d been famous since she was fourteen, so she’d always had people driving her places. Whenever she told anyone that reason, they’d either call her spoiled to her face or give her a judgemental look that made her feel self-conscious. She didn’t have a dad or siblings, her mum didn’t know how to drive, either, and she was too afraid to ask anyone to teach her for she feared they’d judged her.

“I could teach you.”

Y/N whipped her head up and blinked blankly at him. “Really?”

“Of course,” he chuckled. “I have a cousin who didn’t learn to drive when he was young because of his anxiety and I taught him. I could teach you.”

Trying to hide her excitement, Y/N smiled. “Okay.”

“Yeah?” His grin widened even though he was the one doing her a favour. It was moments like this that reassured her that he wasn’t like the other guys who’d broken her heart. “When you got your driver license,” he said, “you can drive up to my house on your own.”

“We can even go on road trips,” she said happily, already imagining the many scenarios in her head.

He seemed equally elated, which made her heart swell. “Yeah! Wanna do it now or–”

“Let’s do it now.”

“Yeah, okay.” Quickly, he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. She climbed into the driver seat and watched him settle into the passenger side. That afternoon was the first time she’d learned how to drive. She would always remember that.

.

.

“Y/N, you’re up next,” said one member of the backstage staff who handed Y/N her mic and ran off to check on the backing vocalist.

Y/N felt her heart thumping in her chest as she clutched the microphone to her chest and sucked in a deep breath. She looked to her right, peering at her reflection in the full-length mirror. She looked beautiful. The makeup team and her stylist had spent three hours on this look and made sure that she was flawless.

Would he be watching the show tonight?

Had he even listened to the song?

It got to number one on the iTunes chart today. He must have listened to it. If not, he must have heard it on the radio or someone must have sent it to him. The whole world knew the song was for him, and everyone was talking about it. So even though he didn’t care anymore, even though he was happy with his new girlfriend, he must be wondering. Because when she’d heard that he’d written a song about her, she’d been so excited to listen to it. So could it be that he was wondering as well?

“This is Y/N performing her latest single DRIVERS LICENSE!”

Y/N took a deep breath as she got a nod from the stage director. She stepped out, soaked in the stage lights while the audience applauded and cheered for her. She stood at the centre of the stage as the band started playing and the noise in the audience died down. As a habit, she searched the front rows for his face despite knowing with every fibre in her body that this would be the last place he’d be tonight.

I got my driver's license last week

Just like we always talked about

'Cause you were so excited for me

To finally drive up to your house

But today I drove through the suburbs

Crying 'cause you weren't around

She could see it even now. Them driving through the quiet night. From her house to his and back. Just the two of them. The kisses they’d share at stoplights when there was no one else around. The way he’d place his hand on her thigh just because he wanted to. In retrospect, she should have realised that he wouldn’t ever do that to her in public. Their relationship, if she could call it that, had been almost nonexistent. Maybe that was why it’d been so easy for him to move on. You couldn’t feel remorse leaving behind something that didn’t exist. How unfortunate. It’d been real to her.

And you're probably with that blonde girl

Who always made me doubt

She's so much older than me

She's everything I'm insecure about

Yeah, today I drove through the suburbs

'Cause how could I ever love someone else?

She’d thought to herself that if he could write a song about someone he’d never dated, it was worth staying with him despite not actually being with him. She could not expect that a few months after that song had come out, he would be seen driving around with another girl. The girl he’d told her was only a good friend. This girl was older and perfect in every way. Y/N wouldn’t choose herself either if the choices were between her and that girl. But she couldn’t bring herself to hate the girl. It wasn’t the girl’s fault that Harry had chosen her. And it wasn’t Harry’s fault that Y/N refused to see the red flags through her rose-coloured glasses.

And I know we weren't perfect

But I've never felt this way for no one

And I just can't imagine

How you could be so okay now that I'm gone?

Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me

'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

Y/N wrote this song a week after she’d got her drivers license. She’d blast sad music in her car and cried as she drove past his house, wondering if he was still up and thinking of her whenever he saw headlights passing his street. The heartbreak had been confusing to her as they weren’t even together. It was funny how the whole world had believed in them, except for him. He’d told her he loved her, so why weren’t they together now? He’d said he wasn’t ready, so why was he holding hands with someone else on the street? Was it because of her? Was it something that she’d done? Was there something wrong with her? Why couldn’t he choose her? Y/N had pondered over those questions for months until she came to accept that there didn’t have to be a reason for someone to leave you. They simply lost feelings or found someone else. No one owed you an explanation.

Red lights, stop signs

I still see your face in the white cars, front yards

Can't drive past the places we used to go to

'Cause I still fuckin' love you, babe

For months, he'd been a ghost living rent-free in her head. She saw him in every face and every crowd, and she could even, in this moment, hear the sound of his laugh somewhere in the audience. She could hear him telling her he was proud of her, that everything would be okay. And the worst part was that, without her, he was still doing fine. He wouldn’t see her everywhere he went. He wouldn’t think about her when he was lying in bed and couldn’t sleep. He wouldn’t wonder if she missed him. Because he didn’t miss her. And he would be saying the same things he’d said to her to his new girl.

Sidewalks we crossed

I still hear your voice in the traffic, we're laughing

Over all the noise

God, I'm so blue, know we're through

But I still fuckin' love you, babe (Ooh, ooh)

There on the stage, she received sympathetic looks from the people in the front row as she cried her heart out to the lyrics. He might be at home this moment, watching the show with his new girlfriend, and seeing her cry on live television. Would they laugh at her together? Would he turn to his girlfriend and say he was sorry for how he’d treated Y/N and promised to never hurt his girlfriend the same way? The most heartbreaking thing, Y/N thought, wasn’t him leaving, but seeing him treat someone the way she’d wanted to be treated and realising that he’d been capable of doing it all this time, just not with her.

I know we weren't perfect

But I've never felt this way for no one

And I just can't imagine

How you could be so okay now that I'm gone?

Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me

'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

Putting all her feelings into this song had made everything seem so much simpler and clearer. And at the end of the day, Y/N believed that the whole purpose of songwriting was to get closure. Perhaps, one day, when she listened to this song again, she wouldn’t be sad anymore.

Yeah, you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

.

.

.

“Good job, Y/N.”

“Thank you.”

“Love the song! You’re amazing.”

“Thank you.”

Y/N faked a few more smiles then shut the door of her dressing room and slumped into her chair in front of the vanity.

All alone, she looked right at her reflection and took a deep breath.

Her phone buzzed and lit up with a new text message.

Harry: Congratulations on your no 1 :) xx

She pondered over the words, picked up her phone, and deleted his contact.

[missymurphy1985]

The Return

It's been 2 years since you were last in Dublin. 2 years since you up and left without warning, saying goodbye to your life there and restarting somewhere completely new. Sometimes, you have to go backwards in order to move forwards.

Requested by @noctvrnalmoth I hope you like it!

*Featuring Jim from the Delinquent Season*

Stepping off the train into the platform, you sighed. It all looked the same, and yet so different. Pulling the buggy open, you gently strapped your sleeping son in and made your way to the taxi rank, your suitcase trailing behind you. A kind lady helped you with your bags and waited with you for an available taxi.

"You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders there, are you okay?" She sat next to you on the bench as your son murmured adorably in his sleep. "Sorry, I don't mean to pry..."

"No don't be sorry.. just been a long time since I came back here is all. Few loose ends to tie up." You glanced at your son's sleepy features as his eyes started to open. Beautiful, ocean blue eyes alongside his dark hair, growing more every day... The memories of that night flooding back before you took a large gulp of water from the bottle in your bag, forcing them back down. You'd done so well... 2 years and you'd built a new life in London. New friends, amazing new job allowing you to put that degree in marketing to good use - you were finally making a complete fresh start. But the secrets you had buried deep inside kept coming to the surface the more your son grew. He deserved to know his roots, who his father was, you knew that, but you couldn't do it.

Choking a tear back, you thanked the kind lady for helping you as a taxi pulled up and she helped you to get in.

Pulling up outside your cousin Natalie's townhouse in the city centre, she was waiting for you at the gate to help with Jackson and your bags. Grinning from ear to ear she pulled you in for a huge hug once you'd got inside and settled on her couch as Jackson sat in this new lady's lap tugging at her earrings.

"I can't believe I'm only just meeting him y/n.. he's the image of you!!" She kissed his cheek, bringing him up to look at him properly for the first time not over Skype.

"I never see it, I just see.... I just see him I guess..." You mind wandered to the man you actually saw, but you didn't let it slip.

"Those EYES!!! So blue and vibrant, just beautiful!" Natalie was swooning now, she'd never seen eyes that blue on a baby. Your eyes were brown, so he clearly inherited them from his father, although you had never revealed his identity - just a drunken one night stand and he wasn't involved. You weren't lying, technically...

After catching up properly, Natalie told you she'd planned a few people coming over to welcome you back that evening - nothing major, just a few friends from years ago that were keen to see you after so long away.

"Oh.. yes, that would be nice... Um, who's coming?"

"Well I think David and Amanda, possibly Caroline.. I think Liam is asking Jim too but I'm not sure if he's up for it - he's been through a tough time lately.." you caught a gasp in your throat at the sound of his name. Last you heard, through Natalie, he and Danielle were going through a rough patch. Cheating accusations on both sides, they'd agreed to a trial separation. "Apparently she isn't as broken hearted as once thought - already shacked up with someone new, fancy house on the coast, new Jag on the driveway, she's doing quite well for herself!" Your chin began to wobble, not unnoticed by Natalie, who placed Jackson in his bouncer on the floor and moved to place a hand on your shoulder.

"I'm fine Nat, honestly I'm good. It was a long time ago, things have changed. I'm not that silly little girl with a crush anymore..." Natalie looked into your eyes. Nothing ever got past her.

"Y/n.. when I said I'd never seen eyes that blue, I meant on a baby. Only one person I know has eyes like that, and I think you know too. Tell me the truth, please?" You were frozen, until tears escaped and you couldn't stop them. Jackson looked to see his mum crying and began crying too. Scooping him up, you held him close.

"It happened once... Just once Nat... And he doesn't know and he doesn't need to know, let's just leave it there, yeah?"

"What?? This is Jim's son? I was almost kidding y/n... How could you keep this from him for 2 years??" She was stood up now in complete shock. Jim wasn't just her friend, he was her husband's brother - this made things even more intense. The atmosphere could be cut with a knife.

"Please Nat... This wasn't easy okay? I was 21, I slept with a married man, and I got pregnant... Then mum died.. I had to go back to London to sort out the funeral and the will... I didn't want to be seen as the homewrecker that got herself knocked up..."

"And what about Jackson? Doesn't he deserve to know his father?"

"Of course... And he would.. when I was ready Nat. And I'm not ready..."

"Not ready for what?" Liam, Natalie's husband was stood in the doorway, as you heard the front door close. Now standing next to him was the man you were desperately trying to avoid... Jim stood behind him, eyes wide at the sight of you with a baby in your arms.

"Baby, we need to go pick up that delivery from the post office, remember the one we missed last week?" Natalie pulled a confused Liam out of the room, leaving his brother and you alone.

"Y/n... Hey.. um.. how are you?" You tried to smile in response but your heart was pounding in your chest, you could barely breathe.

"I.. yeah.. um, yeah I'm okay.." you glanced down at his hand.. the wedding ring was gone. "I'm sorry to hear about you and Olivia..."

"Probably for the best eh... We weren't exactly getting along, just stayed together for the kids I think. They're older now though, they're fine. Y/n.. where did you go? Why did you go?"

"My mum was ill... She'd had a stroke and they couldn't save her, I had to go... I just stayed.. and things happened.."

"You had a baby..." He looked at the little boy in your arms, feeling extremely nervous now. "He must be just over a year old, right?" You nodded.

"13 months.."

"And we... We had sex y/n.. the day before you left..." His own breath was faltering now as the dates in his mind started to catch up. Again, you nodded, tears rolling down your cheeks. The realisation of what was happening dawned on Jim. He started to back away, before shaking his head and storming out of the house, the door slamming behind him making you and your son jump.

Your sobs came out in full force now, Liam and Natalie coming back into the room. Liam took Jackson into the kitchen to find him something to eat as Natalie held you.

"It's okay y/n... Give him time yeah? Poor guys just had the shock of his life, he'll come round." Your heart was sinking.. you hadn't meant for any of this to happen, but here it was. The memory of that afternoon had never left you, you hadn't even been able to move on - your son, for starters, looked just like him, how could you find love with anyone with the constant reminder of the man you'd never have around you 24/7.

Flashback

"I'm so sorry Jim, I didn't know who else to call..." You climbed into his car, cheeks burning as he picked you up from outside the pharmacy. You'd been walking along the road when a pothole in the pavement took you by surprise and you'd tripped, your ankle turning funny - the pain was horrific, but no one seemed to be answering your phone calls when you rang around for someone to come pick you up. Reluctantly, you'd dialled Jim's number, your cousin's brother in law. He'd given you his number the previous week, after offering to help you move into your new apartment later that month.

"No problem, I was just dropping the kids at school so I was only round the corner." He helped you into the car and drove you back to his house. "I figured your place is in boxes, no chance of a first aid kit either, I'm guessing?"

"No," You laughed. "Thank you so much.." you grimaced as you turned your foot round, trying to ease the pain.

"Definitely not broken, just need to rest it. I'll put the kettle on." Jim led you into the kitchen and sat you down at the kitchen table, and grabbed an ice pack from the fridge. Lifting your leg onto the chair opposite, he placed the ice pack onto your ankle. "Feeling okay?" He asked, flicking the kettle on and preparing two mugs of coffee.

"Much better.. thank you." Definitely better.. the physical contact from him was driving you insane, you had to swallow the blushes in your cheeks, praying he hadn't noticed.

"I've only got instant coffee... Hope that's okay - Danielle won't let me buy a coffee machine." He rolled his eyes. His wife was one of the tightest women he'd ever met.

"It's fine, thank you.. and I honestly can't thank you enough for coming to get me.. I can't believe how clumsy I am!"

"Hey those pavements are a nightmare - I'm surprised no one's broken a leg yet! Don't you be moving now, I'll take you back home once that swelling has gone down."

"How did you know how to fix it all?"

"I have a son, y/n, who at one stage a few years ago thought he was an actual superhero and would fling himself off anything to check if he could fly.. you learn the difference between a broken ankle and a twisted one pretty quick!" He laughed, remembering the time his son climbed the tallest tree in the park, giving him a heart attack before throwing himself from the top - luckily Jim caught him before he hit the floor.

"I think it's better now, Jim, I can try and walk." You said, after chatting for a while in the large kitchen.

"Let me help you.." he held your hands and guided you upright, your chests now pressed together as you placed your foot gingerly on the floor, testing it's strength. Stumbling slightly, Jim caught you, your bodies now even closer together. You could feel his heart racing, could he feel yours? His hands wrapping around yours, holding you up, an arm snaking round your waist. You looked up and found him looking right back at you, your face inches from his. Before you had time to think, you kissed him, before quickly pulling back.

"Shit I'm sorry... Oh god.. no... I'm sorry..." He took your hand in his and pulled you back to him, pressing his lips back to yours. This time you didn't pull back, your mouth opening allowing his tongue to dance against yours. Lifting you up, he sat you on top of the counter, his hands roaming your body hungrily.

"I can't... I shouldn't..." He murmured against your neck, the vibrations driving you wild with need. "You're so fucking beautiful y/n..." He ground your hips against yours, you could feel his erection through his jeans as you reached down to cup it through them, kneading it slightly. He growled, pulling your hand up to his chest, his heart hammering underneath his shirt. "You feel that? Feel how fast that's going?" Silently you took his hand and placed against your chest.

"Feel mine...." You pushed his hand down lower.. over your breast... Down your stomach and under the waistband of your skirt. His fingers found your folds, and he gasped your name. "I'm wet... I'm so fucking wet..." Lifting your skirt up, he pulled your underwear down. You relieved him of his jeans and they fell to the floor, revealing no underwear, just his huge, hard cock already leaking.

"I see you are too..." You ran a finger along the slit, taking some of the precum and lifting it to your mouth. "You taste good..."

"You want this...?" He asked, lining himself up against you. You nodded, and he pushed in easily, you gasped his name and threw your head back as he filled you completely. Pulling on your hips, he rocked you against him as he moved his own hips back and forth, fucking you against the countertop. You legs wrapped round his waist as his thrusts came harder, deeper, faster.

"Fuck... Right there... Jim... Oh god...." He bit down on your exposed neck, hands pushing against your still covered breasts, he moaned.

"Feels so good y/n... You feel so good... That's it baby, I need to feel you... Cum for me..." You leaned back, and eyes locked with his you drew a hand down to circle your clit as he moved inside you.

"Gonna make myself cum on you... Gonna cum hard for you... Faster Jim..." He pounded into you now, your moans echoing through the kitchen as you came over him, his release following seconds later. Both of you leaned your heads together as your worlds came back into focus.

Present Day

"Hey."

"Hey.." you'd agreed to meet Jim for a coffee a few days later. He'd called you the evening before, slightly tipsy which made you chuckle. Liam and Natalie were watching Jackson while the two of you caught up.

"How's the hangover?" You smiled, he grimaced.

"Well I've definitely felt fresher.. it was a bit of a shock y/n..."

"Listen.. for what it's worth.. I'm sorry. I didn't know I was pregnant until I was nearly 20weeks. With the stress of losing mum and the funeral, I hadn't had a period for a while but I thought it was just the stress.. then my friend convinced me to take a test and the doctors confirming it.. it was too late to do anything about it.. then I heard you and Danielle were trying for another baby and I just couldn't do it Jim.. I couldn't destroy your life like that.." your hands were shaking. He leaned over and took your hands in his.

"I understand y/n.. I do. I spent most of this week thinking about it. I don't blame you for what you did.. but I do wish you'd told me."

"I'd done enough damage Jim, sleeping with a married man? On his kitchen counter where he makes his kids breakfast? Where his wife makes her coffee in the morning? I couldn't face you.. I couldn't face what I'd done.."

"You know where my wife was, that morning?" He leaned back, smiling a little. "At her office, bent over the desk while her boss fucked her from behind. She called my number by accident while it happened. I didn't answer, obviously, I was busy.. but my voicemail picked up the whole thing. I'd had my suspicions for a long time, but that confirmed it. We were never trying for another baby - that's just what she told people to distract them from the fact we were clearly falling apart at the seams. Couldn't exactly be mad at her after what I'd done with you though."

"Did you tell her?"

"Yes, but she didn't know it was you. Then you up and left.. I thought there was no need to tell her who it was. I guess now we kinda have to, right?"

"Jim, I don't expect anything from you, okay? I have an inheritance from my mum, I'm fine for money, there's no need to be involved if it'll cause you problems.."

"No. You've kept him from me for nearly 2 years y/n, don't do this again, please? I'm not asking you to move in, I'm not asking for a relationship, I just want to get to know our boy.. that's all.. please?" You saw it in his eyes. It was there, for all to see. Was it love?

"I'll call Nat.. ask her to bring him over, maybe we could go for a walk?" Jim smiled, nodding. You made the call, and an hour later you were walking to the local park, Jim pushing the stroller. He took Jackson out of the buggy and placed him inside a baby swing, pushing him gently while pulling silly faces making him giggle. Your heart swelled watching them.

"He's incredible.. those eyes.."

"Your eyes, Jim." He looked up at you and smiled listening to his son's giggle, before he started becoming grouchy again.

"He's teething... Come on little man, let's get you back shall we?" Jim lifted him from the swing and placed his little finger in Jackson's mouth. He responded by sucking his gums along it, finding relief. You smiled, watching Him soothe your son's whimpers of pain as his teeth came through.

Making your way inside Natalie's house, you were surprised to find it empty. A note on the kitchen counter read that they'd gone out for the afternoon, they wouldn't be home until the evening. You warmed a bottle of milk for Jackson as Jim gave him some Calpol. Taking the bottle from you, he fed his son, as you watched, heart pounding as you watched the man you were still in love with take such good care of your baby. Within 15 minutes, Jackson was fed and had been rocked to sleep in his father's arms, you took him and placed him upstairs in his cot to nap. You knew he'd be out for at least an hour after all that fresh air. Walking back into the lounge, you found Jim sat on the sofa waiting for you.

"Come here, y/n..." You sat next to him as he turned to face you, hand gently caressing your cheek. "What are we going to do now?"

"I'm heading back to London tomorrow Jim..." His eyes glistened slightly. He'd just found his son, and now he was going again. He'd just got you back in his life, and now you were disappearing again...

"What can I do to make you stay?" His question took you by surprise. Stay?

"Jim, I..."

"I haven't stopped thinking about you.. about what happened 2 years ago. How long I'd wanted you, how long I'd dreamt of you, how I still dream of you even now.. and we share a son y/n.. I can't let you go again, it'd break me.."

"I'm half your age Jim! I'm barely older than your eldest child, how can this possibly work?" He answered with a kiss. Leaning forward to take your mouth against his, without thinking you returned it, linking your fingers with his as he pulled you into his lap.

"It'll work because we'll make it work.. nothing else matters.. all of that other stuff is irrelevant.." he felt you grind your hips against his and his erection was burning against his jeans. He needed you, now.

"And Danielle?"

"Is fucking a man old enough to be her own father - opinion invalid. I don't care about her, I care about you.. please.." he was aware of how desperate he sounded but he didn't care. He had his hand under your t-shirt against your breast, no bra in the way this time. Lifting you up, he carried you upstairs to the guest room you were staying in, and laid you down softly on the bed underneath him.

"Birth control?" He looked at you, smiling.

"The coil - don't worry, I'm covered this time.." You smiled back as he lifted your t-shirt over your head and kissed you again. The reason for being at the pharmacy 2 years ago was to collect your prescription for the pill - you'd not taken it for a couple of days after running out suddenly. After Jackson was born, you switched to a more efficient form of birth control.

Pulling your skirt down and off, along with your underwear, he nestled his face between your thighs, now parted by his hands.

"I want you to watch me y/n... Watch me as I make you cum..." Your core burning, you raised yourself up on your elbows as he blew a hot breath against your wet folds, causing you to shiver under him. He parted your lips with his fingers, before licking from your pulsing hole up to your clit, finding a rhythm that made you cry out and shudder underneath his tongue. Smiling, groaning into you, you tried to keep your eyes on him as he licked and sucked your throbbing clit in his mouth.

"Jim.. don't stop.. oh god..." You hadn't had sex since that afternoon 2 year ago, no one being good enough to compete with the man currently buried between your legs. No pleasure you'd given yourself since was a patch on this, and you felt that burning feeling in your stomach starting to rise. "I'm close... Mm... Fuck I'm close..." Your words barely a whisper but he heard them, pushing harder with his tongue as a finger entered you, hooking upwards to find that spot inside, the one you didn't think actually existed, but there it was.. you bucked against his mouth, coming hard and fast - you felt your liquids gush over his chin, there was no stopping them... "Aha... Oh god Jim... Fuck... Stop, it's too much..." He smiled, blowing another warm breath over you before moving back to your mouth. You could taste yourself on his lips, turning you on even more.

Flipping him onto his back, you lifted his clothes off him and kissed down his chest. Your core needed a breather before you took him inside you. Licking the top of his now rock hard cock, you slowly sank your lips down, taking him fully inside your mouth. You'd never had a strong gag reflex, and you enjoyed the feeling of his cock hitting the back of your throat.

"Holy fuck... Jesus y/n... That's it baby..." Up and down your head bobbed, swapping between hard and light sucks, your teeth gently scraping the underside of his cock and your fingers lightly playing with his balls underneath you. Every time you felt them tighten, you'd ease off, allowing him to catch his breath, before bringing him into your mouth again. After a few near explosions, he couldn't take anymore and lifted you off motioning for you to sit on him. "Ride me y/n..." You smiled, and sank your pussy onto him, allowing him to fill you. Slowly so as to adjust to his length, your hips moved, back and forth, up and down, finding the right rhythm for you both. He sat up, chests together and his hands under your thighs as he rotated his hips from underneath, driving his cock against that magical spot again.

"Yes... God that feels good... Jim..."

"I'm not gonna last long y/n..."

"That's okay.. we've got plenty of time to make up for this... Cum in me, give me all of you..." You felt his cock twitch inside you as he moved your hips faster. Leaning back, you rode him hard, the bed frame squeaking underneath as you both cried out, your climaxes arriving simultaneously. Coming back to rest your head against his, you clenched your core once more causing him to gasp as you drew yourself off him slowly. Lay down next to each other, he pulled you into his arms.

"Did you mean what you said?" He asked, kissing your head gently. "Plenty of time?"

"I meant it, Jim... I need to get back to London to sort a few things, put my flat up for sale.. my job... But yes. If you'll have us, we'll come back.." you looked into his eyes. He lifted your head to kiss you and you felt it. All the love you thought you'd never find, in the man you thought you'd never find it with.

Everything was going to be fine, you couldn't wait to start your life over again, this time for the last time.

@margoo0 @queenshelby @peakyscillian @cloudofdisney @ntmynouis @being-worthy

[multimetaverse]

HSMTMTS 2x08 Review

Most Likely To was the best ep of S2 so far and ended one ship while launching another. Let’s dig in!

Gaston was super fun, a very nice showcase for both Larry and Matt. This is the kind of energy that early S2 was lacking. Also feels like the first ep where East High might actually have a shot at beating North High. Covid restrictions played a role but we really needed to see more rehearsal scenes and scenes of the wildcats just being theatre kids. This also may be one of the last times we see EJ perform as a student in the musical so I’m glad we got this.  

EJ has been criminally underused for most of S2, he’s marketed as part of the big 4 along with Nini, Ricky, and Gina and Matt Cornett’s name is listed 3rd in the credits but in the early eps of S2 you’d think he was guest star. Lately he’s started to become more important and tonight was an excellent showcase of why he’s such an interesting character. I’m not gonna check but this feels like it’s the most EJ screen time in a single ep that we’ve gotten all season long. 

Of course, the main reason for EJ’s increased screen time is because of Portwell. I’ve been neutral on them but tonight they really won me over’ their scenes were so sweet that they warmed even my cold black heart. Matt and Sofia are good friends irl and that shines through in their easy rapport and great chemistry. Gina snorting at EJ’s joke was cute and I loved the shot of Gina accidentally walking into the shot for EJ’s confessional. As an aside, they’ve been doing some fun stuff with the confessionals lately which helps add a bit of the metaness that helped make S1 so great.

The real big Portwell scene tonight was EJ and Gina talking on the couch at Ashlyn’s. Lot’s to love there. Gina’s speech to EJ about what she sees when she thinks of him was sweet and her saying that EJ tried to do the right thing and often failed but kept trying echoes what she said of herself during her confession to Ricky. Also when EJ asked Gina if she understood the feeling of having her life mapped out she replied, ‘’not really’’ which is almost certainly the inspiration for Gina asking a question to EJ and him responding ‘’not really’’ in their pre S2 face time call on the hsmtmts instagram. 

EJ is still wracked with guilt for the guy he used to be but Gina reminds him that he’s grown and is a good guy which leads to her slip up about her seeing him that way vs the rest of the gang hinting that she’s beginning to catch feelings for EJ. Which leads to EJ complimenting her and them having a moment that could well have led to a kiss if Ashlyn hadn’t come home. And they cap it off with Gina falling asleep and EJ covering her with his Duke sweater. 

It’s been nice not seeing Gina upset over Ricky these past two eps and it’s a damning indictment of the poor writing and pacing of S2 that her story in the first 6 eps can be summed up as Gina being upset over something Ricky said or did. Not only has Portwell allowed EJ to rise in prominence but also it’s allowed Gina to escape the rut her character was stuck in pining for Ricky. 

I hope after S2 is over that we get an interview where Tim explains how the Portwell plot came to be. The S1 finale set up some possible interest between them as did the pre S2 face time call but nothing came of it during the first 4 eps, they stood next to each other a lot but barely interacted otherwise. Notably in 2x01, which Tim himself wrote, EJ tries to grow a beard and tells Ashlyn that he says her as so young which is extremely jarring now that we know that EJ is crushing on Gina who is Ashlyn’s age. 

Was Tim not set on doing Portwell until he realized he needed to give Gina something else to do other than hopelessly pine for Ricky? Narratively, it made sense after Rini got together in S1 to put the other two Big 4 characters together in S2 but did Tim not want it to seem so obvious to the audience so he deliberately kept Portwell apart until 2x05 where EJ’s feelings make for a nice plot twist? Was he just reluctant to plug EJ back into the love square due to how much more complicated it would make things but later felt he had no other options? Or was it just plain old bad pacing and writing?

Of course, I wish that there wasn’t such a large age gap between Sofia and Matt but there are no Gina ships that avoid that problem, there’s also an age gap between Sofia and Joshua, just as there was between Olivia and Joshua and Matt in S1. Depending on when they film S3 there’s a good chance that most of it will be finished before Sofia even turns 18 which is deeply unfortunate. There’s a broader issue of teen girls being cast in mostly age appropriate roles while their male love interests are older adults and in particular it often affects female characters of colour. Netflix has a really bad track record with those kind of age gaps but Disney has problems too as we’ve seen on HSMTMTS and on GMW where by the end of S3 they had 18 year old Peyton Meyer as the boyfriend of 14 year old Rowan Blanchard’s character (not to mention canon Joshaya which didn’t have such a bad age gap between the actors but was problematic regarding the ages of the characters themselves).

A knock I’ve seen on Portwell is that EJ is just gonna leave for university next year but that was never gonna happen, Matt’s under the same 4 season contract as all the other mains and he’ll be sticking around in some capacity much like Sharpay ended up doing in the movies. It is true that EJ will probably have to move on at the end of S4 while Gina still has her senior year left but that will also happen with her and Ricky since he’ll be graduating at the end of S4. It was a big mistake to make EJ a senior but it also may end up being a big mistake to make Gina a sophomore. It would have been too messy to retcon EJ to be a junior but Tim probably should have taken the chance to retcon Gina into being a junior in S2.

That Rini breakup was so sad (missed opportunity for gotta go my own way). They managed to get in a Troyella reference with the treehouse. This was inevitable they just have not been communicating well though now that we know that Ricky thought Nini left YAC for him some of his desperation to spend as much time together as possible makes more sense. I think Rini is endgame if the series has 4 seasons but it wouldn't shock me if we never seem them dating again and they only get back together in the series finale. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Nini never dates anyone else for the remainder of the series or at least not seriously. 

We’re not even halfway through the series so it’s way too early to permanently slam the door on Rini though this time apart will probably help Joshua and Olivia move on from their own bitter break up before it bleeds too much into their performances. I do wonder if Tim really has a clue what he's gonna do with them for the remaining 24-28 eps of the series, assuming S3 and S4 have 10-12 eps each. 

Roman Banks killed If I Can’t Love Her and the montage of all the couples or ex couples was great.

It was nice to finally meets some parents other than the Bowen’s and Salazar-Roberts’. Kourtney’s mom was played by Dara’s actual mother and their dynamic was great as expected. It seems from their conversation that Kourtney's father is dead which I don’t believe has been mentioned before. Cash Caswell.... well it gets what the character is about across. He really looks and sounds like a rich Utah republican, I bet he knows Mitt Romney personally. I liked EJ going to tell his father that he’s not going to Duke and recognizing that he wants to build his own life on his own merits. 

We saw a bit of that S1 Miss Jenn energy tonight which was fun though I didn't like how curt she was with Seb nor did I like how rude Carlos was to Seb although we know that blows up in 2x10. 

Jazzara rising! I really liked how Jazzara and Portwell are sort of mirroring each other and since Mazzara knows about EJ’s feelings for Gina it wouldn’t shock me if helping EJ out is part of him showing a softer side in 2x12.

Of course Ashlyn is VP of the Nostradamus society. It's clear her family has some kooky new age beliefs (her parents are probably members of some naturopathic medicine group on Facebook that doubles as a gateway into Qanon)

It was nice to see Big Red being such a good friend to Ricky and the return of Ricky’s infamous pillow hugs. Lmao at Ashlyn just chilling while Big Red is comforting Ricky

Also Miss Jenn saying sexy and Big Red referring to pillow talk, the writers are adding a bit of spice when cooking up these scripts.

Looking Ahead: 

Looks like Gina may be wearing EJ's duke sweater next ep according to some posts I saw. Jack presumably is there to somehow help Gina decide what she wants with Ricky and EJ though him having wanderlust might also feed into Gina’s thoughts on settling down in SLC or moving with her mom around the country.

Let's see what mom of the year, Lynne Bowen, has up her sleeves. Ricky’s bedroom at her place in Chicago looks much nicer than the apartment Mike Bowen has so perhaps she makes a lot more money than he does. 

Not looking forward to the Zoom portions of the ep but I guess it was inevitable. 

There’s only two paths for Gina’s story to go in the remainder of this season; either she decides to move on from Ricky and give EJ a chance or she decides that Ricky is worth trying again and squelches her budding feelings for EJ. The former looks much more likely after tonight’s ep but either way it needs to be handled with care. Inevitably Gina and Ricky need to talk about what happened between them but if Tim really wants Ricky to continue being a viable love interest or even a good friend to Gina then he needs to really have Ricky apologize and show a thoughtful, kinder side of him that’s largely been missing this season. 

What I think Tim is doing is setting up Portwell getting together in 2x12 but Ricky pining over Gina until Portwell break up late S3 and Rina get together in the S3 finale before they break up later in S4 and Ricky gets back with Nini near the end of the series. If I had Tim’s ear I would tell him that he should pick which ship he wants to do, Rina or Portwell, but don’t do both. He wants canon Rina? Great then end Portwell before it starts and have Rina happen in S3 and introduce other obstacles to them getting together rather than having to damage EJ’s character and make him lose another girl he likes to Ricky. He wants canon Portwell? Great then have Gina and Ricky’s conversation be closure for the both of them and have Gina and EJ get together and break them up without Ricky being a cause of it or waiting in the wings to get with Gina soon afterwards. Doing both will be a disaster and I truly hope that Tim Federle carefully thinks over his mistakes in S2 and really plans out the remaining 2 seasons of the series while there’s still time to prevent things from going really off the rails like GMW and AM did thanks to the bad decisions of Michael Jacobs and Terri Minsky. 

Until next week wildcats. 

[echo-hiraeth]

Chapter 8: Agente Peña

Part of the “Ilicit Limerence” series

Pairing: Javier Peña x F!Reader

Summary: The reader comes to terms with the downsides of pregnancy and confides in Connie. Javier decides to spend some more time at home, taking his work with him.

Warnings: swearing, angst, explicit sexual content, unprotected sex, nudity, mentions of sickness/vomiting

Masterlist

Previous chapter

Next chapter

Everything you knew about pregnancy you learned from watching television and so you’d expected the sickness and the glowing hair. But the migraines? Those were something you didn’t prepare for, your last week off work started out hunched over the sink, the nausea and continuous pounding in your head making you shiver.

It was just around noon now and you’d fought Javier over the phone, insisting you didn’t need a babysitter. He told you he’d head to your place on his lunch break, just to make sure you were okay. There was no stopping him, no amount of telling him off could change his mind.

He noticed it before he left this morning, the way you sat up a bit more in bed, eyes squeezed shut as you desperately tried to fall back asleep, telling him all he needed to know. But as soon as he offered to stay home with you another day, you pushed him away, rolling over on your side and just turning your back to him, literally. At the office he had to fight off the urge to call you every other minute, stomach in knots with worry. Was it normal to be that sick? He’d have to read up on some of those books Steve had been rambling about. Steve – that was the other thing, the tension was fucking horrid. He wouldn’t even look at Javier, just throw down the next folder on the desk. Javier was sick of it at this point, lighting yet another cigarette as he thought about how to go about this.

“I know we had.. words, but can we at least work together, like partners?”, he asked, puffing out a cloud of smoke.

“I’m sorry man, didn’t mean to be an ass, the girls just kept me up all weekend”, Steve sighed, reaching for the bottle of whiskey in the bottom drawer. “Con wouldn’t shut up.”

Javier shook his head slowly, taking another long drag of his cigarette. “I don’t fucking get them sometimes. One moment she’s practically begging me to stay with her and the next she’s just doing everything to get away from me.”

Steve quirked a brow at him. “Trouble in paradise? So soon?”

“I just want to check up on her, but she’s just so fucking stubborn”, he grunted, putting out the cig.

“Why don’t you take the paperwork home tonight, skip lunch so you can head home earlier.”

He looked at the phone, wondering if he should call to see if you needed him. “You’re probably right. She just drives me crazy man, in a good way, but still just crazy.”

His partner chuckled, knowing exactly what he was on about. He’d stay at the office another couple of hours and would bring the casefiles home.

A part of you had expected him to show up, a part of you really wanted him to be there, hands on your back, telling you it’d all be okay. You knew it wasn’t that big of a deal, just the morning sickness and headache kicking your ass as of right now. But you were too tired to deal with any of this, the dull aches of all your bruises and sore muscles not allowing you to get much sleep. You figured a warm shower would help, dragging yourself into the small bathroom, stripping yourself of your clammy and dirty clothes.

You put your hand under the stream, jerking it back when the water was ice cold. Shrugging a robe over your shoulders you sat down on the toilet seat, waiting for the water to heat up. It was well past one now, which meant any possibility of a lunchbreak visit was off the table. You got up again, only to find the same exact thing; freezing cold water. Not that you couldn’t take care of yourself, but you were no expert plumber. With a heavy sigh you made your way over to the landline in the living room, dialling up the landlord’s number, only to be met with his answering machine, over and over.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. You knew Connie worked parttime now, wanting to be home with Olivia more often, so you tested your luck and called the Murphy’s.

“Murphy.”

“Con, I’m sorry to bother you on your day off, but my shower broke and I’m all alone and I just feel so miserable and-“

“Shut up and get your ass over here”, she chuckled, Olivia babbling away in the back.

You smiled to yourself, already shrugging your robe off. “Dinner’s on me!”

A bag with a change of clothes and some snacks for the little one was all you brought with you. You had no trouble navigating through the busy streets and soon found yourself parking in front of the infamous apartment building. The days of sneaking out of the back entrance in the mornings were past you now. You sighed at the memory, feelings of guilt and shame now replaced by bliss and adoration. It wasn’t perfect, it didn’t have to be, but you were content.

The walk to Connie’s apartment seemed longer than ever. With shaky knees and heavy breaths you dragged yourself up the stairs, the elevator still out of order. You were lucky to have some friends here, it wasn’t often DEA agents had the privilege of keeping their friends from home, but Steve and Connie had made it abundantly clear that they were here to stay, Bogotá or not. They’d been there for you through the years as had you. You’d even been promoted to maid of honour at their wedding, and were put in charge of her hen party. The states were good times, but Colombia had been tougher on the three of you. While you and Steve had no problem leaving your families behind, Connie had proven to be rather close to her parents. That’s where you had come in, sweeping her out of her mellow state whenever she needed it to take her out into the city, dancing the night away. However, with you being pregnant and herself a new mother, it had become something of the past. Soon girls’ night would have a whole let alcohol and whole lot more diapers.

Connie opened up with a heartfelt smile, a giddy Olivia bouncing on her arm. “Towels are laid out for you, we’ll talk after.”

You smiled back at her, grateful for her understanding. She was the kind of friend that just had to take one look at you to know what was wrong and while it was really helpful sometimes, but God was it hard to keep a secret from that woman. It wasn’t hard to tell you were feeling like shit, your pale face and fading black eye were enough of an indicator. You kissed Olivia on the forehead, side-hugging Connie before heading to the bathroom.

With how tired you were, you didn’t even bother to conceal your injuries, even applying some loose powder had seemed too intense a task. You turned the water on, the warmth of it already fanning over your bare arms. When it hit your chest and stomach you let out a sigh of relief, the cold shivers finally faltering. You took your time, now that you weren’t on the verge of puking your guts out. You washed your hair twice, even conditioned it before moving on to the rest of your body, exfoliating and rinsing, just treating to yourself. By the time you wrapped the fluffy towels around yourself you were completely relaxed, ready to just hop into the bed and pass out for the day, but the wailing outside the door reminded you exactly where you were. You’d brought a long sweater, the evenings getting rather chilly mid-November. With half-dried hair and in some baggy jeans you stepped out of the bathroom, joining the two ladies on the couch.

“Thank you”, you muttered, slipping your hands around the cup of tea that was waiting for you on the coffee table.

“What’s got you down in the dumps?”, she asked, carefully sitting the baby down on the carpet.

You sighed, blowing at the hot drink. “I-I think it’s just registering now..”

She gave you a frown, scooting over a bit closer. “Do you regret it?”

The tears were burning in your eyes, a dull ache settling in the back of your throat as you tried to hold it together. “I’m terrified”, you breathed out.

That was your breaking point, the floodgates were open now and you were a sobbing mess as she wrapped her arms around you. “Oh hun, you should’ve called me”, she cooed.

While you and Connie talked about anything and everything, getting it all out, Javier was finishing up to go home early. Steve decided to stay back at the office, wanting “some damn peace and quiet”. With some casefiles in hand he left the embassy, stopping along the way to pick up one of your favourite snacks. Tonight would just be a slow night, he’d listen if you wanted to talk and if not he’d just work in silence. He really just wanted to have you close, so that he could personally ensure you were “fine”. He hated the way he’d left this morning, the way you were just curled up into yourself, shivering under the covers, but he didn’t want to get on your nerves, he was so scared to screw things up.

Treading up the steps to your apartment, he tried to think of something to say. He couldn’t help but feel guilty, you were sick because of his baby after all. Surely there was something he could think of. Your apartment was eerily calm when walked in, your heaps of blankets and pillows still there. He tiptoed his way over to the bedroom, heartbeat picking up a bit when he noticed you weren’t there either.

“Anyone home?”, he called out, checking the bathroom.

No reply. He scratched at his chin, contemplating what to do next. You did mention wanting to meet up with Connie over the weekend. Yeah, that seemed likely enough, no reason to panic (just yet). He sped his way back downstairs, panting due to all the climbing action and hopped in the car, heading for the other apartment complex. When he spotted your car he could breathe normally again, his worries somewhat soothed. His knock at the door was a loud, demanding one. Connie opened up once again, laying a finger on her lips so as to motion for him to be quiet. Javier stood there out of breath, nodding frantically before he stepped inside. And there you were, asleep on the couch with Olivia in your arms, a blanket sprawled out across the two of you.

He caught his breath, nodding at Connie as a way of saying thanks. She bumped her shoulder into his, smirking as she detected a hint of a smile on his lips. “She been here a while?”

“An hour or two. She came because your boiler broke, but turned out she really just needed to talk as well”, her voice was laced with a tone of sympathy as she nodded in your direction.

“Did she eat anything?”, he asked, not looking from you.

Connie shook her head. “We had some tea and then she fed the baby, they were both out soon after.”

They both chuckled at that, Javier planting his hands on his hips. “I’ll take her back to my place in a bit, so you can get some rest as well.”

“You’re always welcome, especially if she’s gonna put Liv asleep like that”, she joked, softly patting the man on the back.

“Is she err- is she okay though?” It was a dumb question, but he still felt compelled to ask it, counting on the fact that she was your best friend.

Now it was Connie’s turn to sigh, her head tilted as she answered him: “She’s really scared, just sit down and talk with her from time to time. I know it’s not your strong suit but she’s gonna need it.”

“Let me get my place cleaned up and I’ll come get her, sound good?”, he offered.

The blonde just nodded again. “Make sure to change those sheets, preferably not ones Freckles has seen.”

He flipped her the bird on the way out, heading down a floor to go clean up his own apartment. He hadn’t been there since you’d come back and honestly.. he preferred it that way. That apartment stood for everything he’d decided to give up on for you and he absolutely despised it. It was as if the small space was the embodiment of his bad persona, haunting him everywhere he went. But he found it too soon to discuss such heavy subjects and did not want to jeopardize his relationship for the life of him.

Even just opening the door brought back those feelings of disgust and self-hatred, but he tried to push past it as he made his way into the kitchen. He wetted a washcloth and laid it in the fridge, should your migraine come back. Next he made his way over to the couch, where he gathered all the old cigarettes and empty beer bottles, shoving them into a trash bag. Along the way he picked up the clothes scattered across the floor everywhere and found himself in the bedroom, ripping the sheets off the bed. You’d been complaining about being cold at night, putting your icy feet all over him. So he got out the thicker sheets, putting them on as neatly as he could. The bathroom was clean enough, so he decided to lay out some of his clothes for you to wear. He ran back down to get everything from his car and when he was ready he went back up to the Murphy’s place. You were still sound asleep, lips perked as Olivia’s hand held on to your thumb. Connie was in the kitchen chopping some greens.

“You here to steal her away now?”, she jested.

“I’m here to give you back your couch”, he retorted.

She carefully picked up the baby from your chest, peeling her little fingers of your thumb, which made you stir a bit. Javi took a knee by your side, pressing a tender peck to your temple before gently shaking your shoulder.

“Hermosa, it’s time to go home”, he whispered, caressing your cheek with the pad of his thumb.

You hummed a bit, not really giving away at his request. So he decided to slide his hands under your knees and neck, lifting you up off the couch himself. He’d expected some resistance but you really only nuzzled into his neck even more, his warmth and smell drawing you in. Connie held the door open, smiling at the two of you as he carried you out of the apartment and down the staircase. He mentally thanked himself for leaving that damn door unlocked, managing to open it with just his elbow. Once inside he laid you down on the couch, covering your chest with his jacket. You were slowly waking up again, he’d noticed, so delved into his cupboards, setting down a tray of cookies on the coffee table. He sat down in the armchair, grabbing the first folder of the stack.

You blinked a few times, feeling a bit confused as to what was going on, but as you found Javier sitting across from you, reading over something, deep in thought as he picked at his moustache, you didn’t really care.

“What time ‘s it?”, you mumbled, stretching your arms out over your head.

He closed the folder, leaning back in the chair as he looked at you. “Somewhere around five by now. Sleep okay?”

“Mhm, you’re back early”, you remarked, yawning as you sat up a bit more. “Should I be worried?”

He got up off the chair, plopping down next to you. “Just wanted to check up on you.”

You leaned in to kiss him, which he gladly reciprocated. “I meant to call.”

“Gave me a bit of a fright. Crazy girlfriend on the loose”, he taunted.

You poked him in the ribs, squinting your eyes at him. “I’m sorry about being snappy this morning”, you whispered.

He kissed you again, successfully shutting you up. “Want some dinner?”

“I’d love that actually”, you beamed pressing your lips to his.

“Eat some of those”, he suggested, pointing towards the tray on the table, “Quesadillas alright with you?”

You were chewing away at a cookie, covering your mouth as you gave him a thumbs up. He chuckled, getting up to start on your dinner as you sat back. “I’ll be there in a sec, Javi!”

 The two of you had made dinner together, and taken it to the couch, where you fed him as he read out the details of the files. Due to your absence, you didn’t really know what had been going on with the cartel as of late. You sat there long after dinner was over, discussing the new developments regarding Pablo’s “surrender” it was absolutely ridiculous and the government was giving him exactly what he wanted.

“No point in getting so worked up over it, amor”, you purred into his ear.

He heaved out another heavy sigh as his eyes glazed over the paper yet again. “I just don’t understand how they accepted this, it’s a fucking set up.”

You took the papers from his hands, throwing them onto the coffee table with the rest of them, pushing him back against the couch. “Why don’t we do something else, huh, blow off some steam.”

“Are you sure you’re up for it, we don’t have to”, he assured you, intertwining his fingers with yours.

“Let me do something nice for you”, you tutted.

He shifted beneath you, eyes a couple shades darker already, laden with lust and want. “I-I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold back, hermosa, you’re playing a dangerous game.”

You knelt down in front of the couch, looking up at him with big, innocent eyes. “I’m well aware of what I’m getting myself into, agente Peña.”

Fuck – that little nickname, he felt himself twitch beneath his jeans, desperate for some friction. “Do. Not. Tease.” He gritted out, two fingers hooked under your chin to make you look up at him.

His belt came off first, the metal of the buckle hitting the carpeted floor with a thud. Four hands fumbling around with the waistband of his jeans. You giggled a bit at his eagerness, finally dragging the restrictive trousers down his legs. His tented briefs made you lick your lips, fingers hooking themselves into the elastic. “What do you need, baby?”

“Mouth, now, please”, he stammers out, chest already heaving with expectancy.

You wrap a hand around his throbbing members, squeezing it just the way he likes it. His head falls back against the pillow, mouth hanging open a bit. Ever so slowly you lick along his shaft, paying special attention to the dripping head. He lets out a guttural grunt, biting back another one as you engulf him with your warm mouth. Nothing – no-one ever did compare to you, the way you worked your tongue nothing short of entrancing.

He wouldn’t last, the delicious pull and shove of your mouth and hands had him hurling towards his orgasm. He’d dreamt about it, seeing you down on your knees, just for him, just to please him. Fuck, it was so hot, even better than he’d imagined. He balled his fists, trying to resist the urge to manipulate your head with them. On the verge of his release, he flinched, grabbing a hold of your arm.

“Espera, para, para, para..”, he called out.

You leaned back on your heels, lips glistening with your dribble. He leaned forward, rubbing your chin and helping you up. “Something wrong?”, you asked with a slight frown.

“I want to fuck you”, he growled, practically ripping your sweater off of you.

His mouth latched onto your heavy breasts, eliciting a sweet moan from your throat. “Be-bedroom”, you whined, grip on his biceps tightening.

He tapped, your thighs, imploring you to jump up. Your legs wrapped themselves around his hips as his hands squeezed your ass. The journey to the bedroom was a passionate one, you swallowed his grunts as you merged your lips with his again, fingers tangling in his dark brown hair. He dropped you on the bed, immediately following suit, sucking and biting at that one spot on your neck. You gasped at the sensation, fumbling around with the button on your own jeans as he made his way down to your chest. One of his hands slid down to help you, the other supporting his weight next to your face. His tongue swirled around your nipple, making you arch into him.

“Tan ansiosa”, he hisses as he feels your jeans rub up against his erection. (So eager.)

You shoved your jeans down your thighs, rolling him onto his back to get them off all the way. With your panties still in place you went to straddle his lap. He quirked a suggestive brow at you, moving up against the headboard to sit up a bit more straight.

“You sure about this?”, he asks, mouth pressed against the nape of your neck.

You grab his face in both your hands, sliding your tongue across his bottom lip. “Paciencia, agente Peña.”

He gasps as you grab a hold of his cock, pumping a few times before sliding your panties to the side and sinking down. You rest your forehead against his, hissing as he bottoms out. He gripped at your ass, squeezing to keep himself contained. He loved having you on top, but seeing how long it had been since he’d gotten the chance to be this close to you, he was hungry for more.

“Move”, he demanded, one of his hands smacking your behind.

You let out a loud moan at the sensation and slowly started circling your hips. He watched you through hooded lids, head thrown back with that beautiful neck on full display. He started sucking there, making sure to leave his mark as you sped up your movements.

“F-feels so good”, you whimpered, bracing yourself on his chest.

He smirked against your skin, hands moving up to cup and play with your breasts. It was pure paradise, the fine line between pain and pleasure driving you completely insane. Your mind was ridden of any thoughts, there was only this, you and him, loving on one another. He noticed your panting and jerky movements, you were getting close. Pure lust made him do it, flipping you over so he was towering over you, still sheathed in your deliciously warm heat. He felt like he was on fire when he looked at you, cheeks flushed and glowing, biting on your lip as you touched yourself.

“Mírame”, you opened your eyes, his thrusts becoming harder and faster, “I want you to see what you do to me.”

You whimpered at his words, fighting off the incite to screw your eyes shut. It was then that he hit that spot inside you, making you cry out his name. His hands found yours, holding on to them as he rocked into you, hips smacking against yours. You couldn’t help yourself and let out a string of high-pitched moans as he embedded himself even deeper.

“I-I..”

“I got you, me too baby, me too”, he reassured you, giving a curt nod.

You nearly screamed when you hit your peak, clutching onto his shoulders as you arched up off the bed. Your nails digging into his back was all he needed, he grunted out your name as he filled you up, catching himself before he collapsed. The two of you laid beside each other, breathing heavily, one pair of hands still entangled. You felt like you’d been hit by a train, sheer exhaustion washing over you.

“Stay here”, he whispered, pecking your cheek.

He came back with a towel and washcloth, sitting down on the edge of the bed as he carefully cleaned you up. You just sleepily smiled at him, stroking your thumb back and forth over his knee.

“That was fun”, you murmured.

He huffed out a laugh, looking down at you while he slid your panties off. “Did I hurt you?”

You shook your head, sighing contently as he tucked the covers over your torso. “You were perfect, Javi.”

It was his turn to smile, resting a hand on your side. “We can stay here until your shower gets fixed”, he proposed.

“Thank you. I’ll call again tomorrow, I just want to lay in your arms for a bit”, you whispered.

He walked over to the other side of the bed, barely laid down before you curled up against his side.

Perfect – he thought – she thinks I am perfect.

Taglist: @pedritomando @peterhollandkait @ophelia-ingenue @radiowallet @phoenixhalliwell @diogodxlot @rosiefridayrogersunday @a-court-of-feysand-and-elorcan @asta-lily​

[justanotherpersonsuniverse]

Game Master Akuma AU by  crisisdparity

Xavier Duchamp was rather proud of himself. What he had before him was an absolute masterpiece of a campaign if he did say so himself. The product of over six months of study, research, and rebalancing efforts followed by two weeks of discussion with his five players to hash out schedules, meeting times, characters, backstories, potential character arcs, and getting them set up with a messaging app that was really good for sending discrete messages between the GM and the players. Valentine and her boyfriend Justin were onboard in an instant. Within days, he’d greenlighted their Half-Elf Bard of the College of Glamour whose spell list was 100% Illusion spells and Half-Orc Fighter (Eldritch Knight) who was focusing entirely on Abjuration as Rena Rouge and Carapace respectively. Olivia had spent a few days coming up with a Halfling Rogue and debating subclasses with him until settling on Scout. Along with some discussion over how her special magic item’s stunning and paralysis effect would work with Sneak Attack, the campaign had its Vesperia. Jeanette had gone back and forth with him for a week looking at various homebrew subclasses for her Gnome Artificer before they both agreed on one particular Master Tinkerer entry that would be balanced and do the character justice. And with that they had their Ladybug. Even Matt was on board with a stealthy human Chat the Barbarian using the Path of the Beast. The class choice was something Matt had insisted on (and that Xavier would have suggested anyway just for the high hit point totals given Matt’s history with characters dying) and he’d even come up with a backstory that Xavier felt was quite compelling compared to Matt’s usual efforts. Morally ambiguous, likely to be tempted by promises of power, but with a great deal of story potential to work with. Which was a relief. Getting a new player into their group to replace Matt was not something Xavier really felt comfortable with. There were too many unknowns with introducing a new person, far too many for him to risk his masterpiece on an unknown factor. He knew Matt. He could work with Matt. Despite the history. He’d put everything he had into this. Every known Akuma ever fought by the heroes had been made into a boss-tier foe. He’d carefully documented each and every power the heroes had shown to craft special legendary magic items based on the Miraculous. Hawkmoth and Mayura themselves were going to be the final bosses of his campaign. In response to criticism about the difficulty of his campaigns (he tried to make them fair, but still challenging enough to be memorable), he’d made several guest NPCs based on every other hero that had ever been called upon, statted out like player characters that might show up in a pinch to help. He even had a genuine Deus ex Machina that he was ready to use to get the players out of a truly impossible jam if they found themselves in one. Not always, but a few times at least. Enough to get them to the point where they wouldn’t need it anymore. —– It was thirty minutes in, right in the middle of exposition from the Guardian NPC, when Xavier got his first message on the app. Matt/Chat - Chat’s going to wait until everyone breaks up and follow Ladybug stealthily. Xavier/GM - Starting party conflict on the first session? Not what I’d advise, but it’s your character. Go ahead and make your Stealth roll now. Matt/Chat - <photo> 17 Xavier/GM - Yeah, that beats everyone’s passive Perception easily. You’ll sneak off handily without anyone noticing. —– “Jeanette, Ladybug is grabbed from behind by an unknown assailant. Roll to resist the grapple.” “Geez, already? Okay, what did my assailant get for their grapple? How screwed am I?” Xavier pretended to roll a die while consulting the message from Matt. “19.” “Okay, difficult, but not undoable… Crap.” “What’d you get?” “Nat 1…” “Hah! I rip off her earrings and claim them for myself! The Wish is mine!” “Seriously Matt?! What the hell?!” “Because it’s payback time! Payback for every character of mine killed in these hellish

campaigns!” “Oh, come on! You’re not the only person whose had a character die at this table! <GM> runs some pretty challenging campaigns, but they’re always fair!” “What about the time he killed Allric the Allmighty in a single round of combat?” “Dude, you tried to Leroy Jenkins straight into melee with a 4th-level Wizard that had a CON penalty. Even at full health you had like 10 hp.” “14!” “Not much better, dude.” “Guys, it’s fine. I can handle this. Okay, Matt. Chat the Barbarian managed to get the earrings-” “Yeah, Ladybug screams bloody murder when he rips them out. Good luck getting out of this in one piece.” “The moment Rena hears Ladybug scream, she bolts for the sound.” “So does Carapace.” “Vesperia too.” “-and with their current locations and movement speeds, I assume you’re all using the Dash action?, you’ve got maybe one round to decide on your Wish before they’re all over you, so choose carefully. And be aware that I plan to grant whatever you wish for in the worst possible way, just as I would if any of the others pulled this.” “Rena screams ‘What the HELL, Chat?! We’re supposed to protect the Miraculous, not use them for our own selfish purposes! Didn’t you listen to the Guardian? Such actions always bring misfortune upon those who misuse the Miraculous!’” “Because I am Chat, avatar of Destruction and I WISH THIS WORLD NEVER EXISTED!” There was dead silence at the table. “Matt… What… just… WHAT?!” “Hah! You like that?! How does it feel now that the shoe’s on the other foot, huh?!” “What the hell is your problem, Matt?!” “My problem? MY problem?! Do you know how much time I’ve spent making characters for these shitty campaigns only to have them turned into paste in one session?!” “Because you made primary spellcasters and played every last one of them like a barbarian, charging in headfirst without thinking! All of us breathed a sigh of relief when you revealed that your character finally matched your playstyle!” “I HATE BARBARIANS! THEY’RE BORING! I SHOULD GET TO PLAY CHARACTERS THAT CAN AT LEAST CHUCK FIREBALLS!” “THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULD STOP RUNNING THEM FACE FIRST INTO ENEMY SWORDS!” “NONE OF YOU COULD EVER HANDLE THE FACT THE I MAKE MORE AWESOME CHARACTERS THAN ANY OF YOU, SO YOU JUST LET THIS DOUCHEBAG KILL THEM OFF SO YOU WOULDN’T GET OVERSHADOWED BY HOW AMAZING I AM! WELL NOW I KILLED SOMETHING YOU ALL WORKED HARD ON, SO SUCK IT! I’M DONE WITH ALL OF YOU FOREVER!” “MATT! HEY! GET BACK HERE YOU JERK! MATT!” “Crap, I think Olivia might actually kill him this time…” “It’s going to take all of us to stop her from getting arrested at least.” Xavier just watched numbly as the rest of the group ran out of his apartment. Over six months of work. Gone in less than an hour. He’d given so much to making sure this would work. He’d apologized to Matt at least twice for every character of his that had died to get him to come back. He’d agreed to demand after demand just to keep a familiar face on board, never dreaming he’d pull something like this. He’d nearly gotten fired from his job trying to rearrange his schedule to fit with everyone else’s. They’d somehow, miraculously, gotten the whole day with no other obligations among any of them and decided to make the first session a true marathon. They’d meet in the morning after breakfast and eat both lunch and dinner at the game table before calling it a night late in the evening. It was barely 10:00 in the morning and the whole campaign he’d slaved over for months was kaput. He never noticed the butterfly landing on his custom Miraculous-themed Game Master screen and being absorbed into it. “Game Master, I am Hawkmoth. Few people appreciate the kind of effort that goes into making something truly grand and memorable. I shall give you the power to bring your entire world to life and in return, I ask only for a few simple things.” This was wrong. Hawkmoth was the worst of the worst. The kind of person who would be at home among all the final bosses he’d ever made for his campaigns. Heartless, manipulative, cruel. “Not

enough? Ah, but what is a game without players? How would you like to have the Miraculous heroes themselves run your great campaign? Surely they would be far more appreciative than those ungrateful peons that left you alone with nothing but the broken remains of your efforts.” He knew all these things, but the allure of bringing the world he’d spent so much time on to life… What creator could ever turn down an offer like that? “I, the Game Master, accept… Hawkmoth.” “Excellent. And in exchange, you shall bring me one of two things: The Miraculous, or the identities of their wielders.” “No.” Hawkmoth was silent for a moment. “I beg your pardon?” “I said no. I am the Game Master. I make the world. I craft the challenges. I decide the rewards. But I do not do anything for anyone. If you want these things, get them yourself.” “If you refuse me, it shall be very unpleasant for you.” “No. As Game Master, I decide the limits of all powers within my realm. And I decide that you have none over me.” And with that, he unleashed his creation over all of Paris, drawing everyone and everything within into his sphere of influence. —– Ladybug blinked the spots (ha) out of her eyes as the flash of light died down and looked at herself. She didn’t remember transforming, but she was clearly in her spots. Except her red and black superhero uniform didn’t usually look like it was headed to a steampunk convention. Looking around, she tried to figure out what had happened and her eyes landed on a familiar belt and pants combo. Problem. Whoever this was, their groin was at eye level for her. She looked up. And up. To find a grinning Chat Noir, sans anything resembling a shirt and having put on at least a foot of height and apparently a hundred pounds of pure muscle, grinning down at her. “How’s the weather down there?” Chat Noir chuckled as he flexed his unfairly attractive muscleman physique. “I WILL END YOU!” the heroine snarled, already 100% done with whatever new insanity Hawkmoth had cooked up. Characters: Ladybug - Gnome Artificer (Master Tinkerer - Homebrew) Chat Noir - Human Barbarian (Path of the Beast) —– Vesperia had to admit, as Akuma attacks went, this was pretty dope. She was currently a halfling. A halfling! If it wasn’t for her fantasy ensemble being yellow and black, she’d have thought she stepped straight out of Lord of the Rings. Of course, fantasy setting or not, there were still things she’d have rather left back in the real world. Like racism. And stigma against mixed couples. Not directed at her, but rather at the two walking down the street next to her. “You know, people are staring…” she said as she craned her head to look at her companions. “Let them,” the Half-Elf Rena Rouge (who looked like a cross between a musician and a belly dancer) said from her perch atop the shoulders of the heavily armored (and surprisingly buff) Half-Orc Carapace. “They’re just jealous because their boyfriends can’t carry them everywhere.” Characters: Vesperia - Halfling Rogue (Scout) Rena Rouge - Half-Elf Bard (College of Glamour) Carapace - Half-Orc Fighter (Eldritch Knight) —– Ryuko blinked as she studied the apparent snake-man-thing before her who claimed to be Viperion. She lifted a hand to study it and found what appeared to be bronze scales covering every inch of her skin. She sniffed herself, smelling the sharp tang of ozone. What was she? And why did she appear to be wearing wooden armor? Characters: Ryuko - Dragonborn (bronze) Druid (Circle of Storms - Third Party) Viperion - Naga Sorcerer (Divination Magic - Homebrew) —– Polymouse giggled as her friends ran over her. Okay, she’d freaked out a little to find a swarm of mice (with hair like hers no less) crawling all over her surprisingly mouse-like body when she’d come to in the middle of some forest somewhere. But she’d gotten over it pretty quickly. It helped that her new friends were adorable. It might help more if she could figure out where she was. Or find another person. Characters: Polymouse - Kobold

(rodentlike) Ranger (Swarmkeeper - Reskinned) —– Purple Tigress sighed as she felt the hair (fur?) on the top of her head being shifted around and twitched her new catlike ears in mild annoyance. “Are you quite done?” “Almost!” Pigella’s cheerful voice answered. “Your fur is so comfy!” Tigress sighed. Of course Pigella would end up being a fairy, and having her normal cheerful enthusiasm cranked up to previously unimagined levels. “I love you dearly, but if you start shouting 'hey listen’ I will stick you in a bottle.” “Aw, I love you too! Hey, what’s that?” “I think it’s my character sheet?” Characters: Purple Tigress - Tabaxi Paladin (Oath of Glory) Pigella - Fairy Cleric (Order Domain - Reskinned) —– “According to my analysis, we have been placed into what appears to be a Dungeons and Dragons campaign under 5th edition rules,” Pegasus stated in a mechanical monotone. “I am apparently a Warforged Wizard using the School of Conjuration whose spells create portals to bridge dimensions and summon or banish my intended targets. You are what is known as a Simic Hybrid, with the class of Monk, following the Way of the Drunken Master.” “Aweshum,” King Monkey slurred, his generally human appearance clad in monk’s robes marred by his monkey-like hands and feet as well as the monkey tail swishing behind him. “Why do you keep slurring like that? According to my sensors, your gourd is filled with only water.” “Gotta keep up appearanshes!” King Monkey grinned as he continued faking drunkenness. Characters: Pegasus - Warforged Wizard (School of Conjuration - Reskinned) King Monkey - Simic Hybrid Monk (Way of the Drunken Master) —– Hawkmoth studied the dark red horns growing out of his head in the mirror. The change in appearance was disconcerting, but he felt a rush of power in this new form that he’d never felt before. “Hmm… perhaps I can work with this…” “Speak for yourself…” Mayura muttered off to the side, ruffling her peacock-like feathers in annoyance as she tried to glare at the beak on her own face. Characters: Hawkmoth - Tiefling Dark Lord, Warlock Patron, Contracted by Lila Rossi, Volpina, Queen Wasp, and many others. Mayura - Kenku Assistant to the Dark Lord, Creator of Monsters —– “Oh, come on!” A figure in a cyan and white hooded robe complained as they waved a similarly colored umbrella around angrily. “Everyone else gets to be part of this adventure, why can’t I join them?” “Because you’re too OP. You’d completely break everything and remove all challenge from the adventure.” “But sitting around is no fun at all!” “If you like, I can put you in the position of the main quest giver. Your job would be to direct them towards their enemies and means of becoming stronger.” “That’s it?! I’m on 'mysterious hooded figure’ duty? Boo! Why can’t I fight with them?!” “Because you’re too OP. But if you insist, I’ll allow some Deus ex Machina interventions.” “YES!” “Five.” “I’m sorry?” “I’ll allow five interventions at your discretion to aid them when they are in peril. Once you have come to their aid five times, I will allow no more meetings save to impart quest information.” “That’s it?” “Yes. Choose your interventions wisely.” “So… if I manage to save one for when they fight Hawmoth and Mayura in the final battle…?” “Then I would allow you to join them of course.” “Score!” Characters: Bunnyx: Mysterious Hooded Figure, Deus-ex-Machina (5) Game Master: Akuma Lord of the Miraculous Campaign —– Addendum When the Game Master is finally purified and the damage reversed, it turns out that he took the effort to trap all of Paris in a temporal stasis bubble so that no matter how long passed inside no more than a few moments passed outside. Meaning that after what seemed like months in the bubble, it’s basically less than a minute after he was akumatized when everything is put back. All his friends, minus Matt, come back in bringing a new person named Zack that they vetted themselves to take Matt’s place in case he pulled something like what he did. And while he

has a similar playstyle to Matt, he’s savvy enough to know what kind of characters that is suited for and he loves playing barbarians. They all sit back down and restart the game they were all looking forward to.

—-

oh wow- that’s- wow. good job dude, seems like you worked on this a lot. Next time You should post this on your own account though, as this isn’t getting tagged or anything. Thank you though, you did a good job with this.

[slapshot-to-the-heart]

veracity - v. dunn

As promised, here’s one of our many resident himbos, Vince Dunn, in “I didn’t realize wer were dating.” As I’m sure a lot of other writers have experienced lately, reblogs have definitely been down, so I would love it if you’d give a reblog if you like it. I also read the tags! Alternately, feel free to keysmash in my inbox or let me know what your favorite parts were. 

word count: 4.9k+

warnings: light sexual content (brief)

Aly Kalinski had never bothered leaving her home town. Why would she? She loved St. Louis. She was born there, went to public schools in the city, and barely moved ten miles away from home for her art degree at SLU. For all its faults, she loved her city. Aly met Vince her sophomore year of college, an accidental run-in at her favorite sandwich shop that had turned into a friendship that had turned into a relationship. So it was a no-brainer decision for Aly to stay once she graduated, getting a position teaching middle and high school art at a school in the suburbs and a loft in downtown. She didn’t want to leave her parents, or her city. Or Vince. 

They had just gotten together, and it really hadn’t come as a surprise to anyone but them. Her older sister rolled her eyes when Aly told her, saying that “it was only a matter of time. You two practically act like an old married couple already.” Her parents were shocked even less. Vince’s teammates had actually been some of the biggest perpetrators in the first place, not-so-subtly leaving them in rooms together at parties and encouraging Aly to admit the feelings she wasn’t even sure she had until a few months ago. But it had happened organically, so naturally that Aly really couldn’t even put a pin on the point where their friendship had turned into romance. All she knew was that she was falling hard for Vince Dunn, and for once in her life, she wasn’t trying to stop herself. 

September

Clashing teeth and her hands running through his hair and his fingernails digging into the backs of her thighs was all Aly felt as Vince held her up against the door. “Vin, bedroom,” Aly gasped, pulling away for air. 

“Mhm,” he said absentmindedly, his lips trailing kisses down the column of her neck as her legs wrapped around his waist. He walked backwards into his room, dropping her down on the bed. She fumbled with the buttons on her shirt as he frantically pulled his belt off. God, it had been too long since they had touched each other. Vince had only recently returned to St. Louis for training camp and the start of pre-season, but he had been so exhausted from drills and scrimmages that all he could manage on nights they got together was curl into Aly’s side with some take out and turn on reruns of Kitchen Nightmares. She had visited him in Toronto for two weeks in July and August — it didn’t always work out so perfectly, but she was thankful that teaching meant most of her summers were free — and they had obviously had sex while they were there, but she had been missing it more than she wanted to admit. Missing him. 

So when they went out to a downtown bar with the rest of the team to celebrate the end of training camp, and Aly didn’t have work the next day, they were both more than happy to indulge in a little liquid courage. Which meant a couple of  drinks and a few more flirty touches later and the pair made their excuses to the rest of the group, Vince pulling up his Uber app before they were even out the door. And they weren’t exactly subtle about it  — Sammy had definitely shouted “USE PROTECTION” while Vince threw him a middle finger  — but they they needed each other too much to really give a fuck. 

Vince trailed his fingers up her now-bare sides, the clasp of her bra falling open with a well-practiced flick. Aly palmed him over his jeans, trying half-heartedly to reverse their positions. Vince groaned. “Not tonight, baby. I need you.” Well, it’s not like she was going to argue with that. Her leggings came off in record time. His jeans followed. Aly dropped her head into the crook of his neck as he slid into her. God, they could do this a million times and she’d never get used to how good he felt. “You’re fuckin’ incredible, Aly, you know that?” Vince gasped out. 

She pressed a kiss onto his shoulder. “You might've mentioned it once or twice, but feel free to keep going, Dunn,” she said. 

He quickened his pace. “I will.” Ten minutes and two orgasms later, she was wrapped in Vince’s arms, trying to savor every last moment before she had to get up and use the bathroom. “I meant what I said, you know?” Vince said, one hand carding through her hair. “You really are incredible, Aly. And when we’re together…” He paused, searching for the right words. 

“There’s only a few things in my life that have always come easy. Hockey, never being able to say no to ice cream, and you. I never feel like I have to be anyone other than exactly who I am when I’m with you, and I don’t know if you know just how meaningful that is for me. I need it, and I need you.” Aly smiled, turning over and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. This was the closest he’d gotten so saying he loved her, and she’d take it. 

January

Aly sipped her champagne, her eyes surveying the downtown St. Louis ballroom where she found herself on a Saturday evening. Her free hand fingered with the sequin-adorned cloth of her dress, brushing up against the thigh-high slit. It wasn’t something she would have ever bought for herself, but she loved it. It caught the light like nothing she’d ever seen and Vince’s jaw had nearly fallen off the second he saw her when he picked her up for the gala. He had bought it for her, too, insisting that if he had invited her the least he could do was spare her the expense of going out and buying one on her own.

Her job paid well for a teacher, especially one in their first few years, but she wasn’t about to complain when Vince gave her his card and sent her into the shopping district to find a dress for the night. He had told her to get something stunning, and she had delivered in spectacular fashion. It was the Blues’ big fundraising gala for the year, an annual charity event to benefit the children’s hospital. Essentially, the night was an opportunity to party on the team’s dime while wining and dining Midwestern elite in a bid to get them to open up their checkbooks. It was something that Alexandra Kalinski was proving surprisingly adept at; even though she didn’t have nearly the rapport with some of the businessmen and philanthropists as most of the players and their partners did, she was able to turn on the same “teacher” charm she used on back-to-school nights, lay the accent on a little thicker than she usually would, and tug at the heartstrings of multi-millionaires with a story of a seventh grader in one of her intro painting classes who had been treated for leukemia in the hospital’s oncology ward. They couldn’t write the checks fast enough. 

But Aly found herself at the bar a few hours in, next to Sammy as Vince smooth-talked someone she vaguely recognized as an exec for the Cardinals. Transitioning from friendship to being a couple, at least in regards to their social lives, had been much easier than she had thought. It had all just been so natural that people probably wouldn’t have even noticed if it hadn’t been for the looks she gave him, or her now-permanent spot on the “good chair” in the family box — that everyone else claimed was too lumpy but Aly swore up and down was the most comfortable place in the whole room  — or the time Colton had walked in on them hooking up in a supply closet at the Enterprise Center during a wine tasting with season ticketholders. But she had loved everything in their relationship so far, loved how welcoming all of the other WAGs were and how happy everyone had been for them when they finally got together. “God, it was about time,” Sammy had said. 

She could see that the person Vince was talking to had started making his way over to the reception table, where all the donations were being collected, and caught his eye just as he was being swept into yet another conversation. Vince liked people, there was no doubt about it, and he loved being able to help out a cause as incredible as the children’s hospital, but after almost four hours of schmoozing and small talk it was beginning to take a toll on even him. Aly gave him a tiny nod, a signal that anyone else probably would have missed, but one that Vince understood instantly. She was coming to get him. Alexandra was by his side in thirty seconds flat, her hand resting between his shoulder blades while she smiled apologetically to the man across from them. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, but I’ve got a headache and have had a bit too much to be driving myself home. Would you mind taking me?” 

Vince nodded, trying to keep his enthusiasm dampened. “Of course, babe. No problem.” He gave the businessman his best PR smile. “Sorry to have to leave so abruptly, but duty calls. Thank you so much for coming out tonight and supporting such a great cause, it really means a lot to me and the whole team.” With a perfunctory handshake, they began heading towards the exit, his hand gripping hers as they wove through the crowd. “Thanks for that, Aly,” he said as he opened up the passenger door for her. “I really was running on empty there.”

She smiled softly back at him. “Always.”

May 

Vince’s arm was draped casually over the back of Aly’s chair, his fingertips dancing over her shoulder. She was beaming up at the couple under the flower-covered wedding chuppah at the end of the aisle, leaning into Vince’s side. Her cousin Olivia was getting married, her and her soon-to-be wife Yara had been together for years and had finally decided to take the next step. When she got the invitation four months earlier, she hadn’t hesitated to invite Vince as her plus one. They had been dating for a little under a year by that point, but seeing as how most of her family was local — some of her mom’s family was in Wisconsin, but nobody really aside from that — he had already met everyone important. 

The ceremony went by in the blink of an eye, Yara and Olivia broke the glasses, and everyone began milling over towards the barn for the reception. Olivia and Yara had already met Vince some six months before, and had immediately taken to each other. The brides came over to their table after thanking everyone for coming, and dinner was served. She had never seen anyone eat as many dinner rolls in one sitting as Vince did.

---

“Alexandra!” Aly heard an excited voice from the other corner of the room over the cacophony of the music, and barely turned her head quickly enough to see who had called her name before she was pulled into a warm hug. 

Aly laughed when she saw who it was. “Nice to see you, Aunt Ruth. Aunt Ruth, this is Vince. Vince, this is my Aunt Ruth,” Aly said, gesturing to the woman across from them. 

Vince held out his hand, but Ruth waved it off. “We’re huggers here, Vince. She brought you to the wedding. You’re practically family.” She raised her eyebrows at the couple. “When’s it going to be your turn, hm?” 

Aly groaned. “Aunt Ruuuth.” 

Ruth shrugged. “I’m just saying. Your bubbe’s not getting any younger, and I’m sure she’d love to see some of her grandchildren with kids of their own.” 

“How about we, uh, get off of that subject,” Aly said, her cheeks burning. “That’s up to this one, after all,” she said, patting Vince on the arm. Vince ducked his head, understanding the grip of Aly’s hand on his arm as I love this woman but I swear to God if you don’t get me out of here I think I might combust.

He smiled apologetically to the older woman, feigning a glance at his watch. “The ceremony was amazing, Ruth, but I think I’ll have to be taking Aly home now. We’ve got early breakfast plans tomorrow and I’m sure you know how this one gets when she doesn’t get a full night of sleep.” Aly squeezed his hand in appreciation. 

“Of course,” Ruth said, smiling at the pair. She winked as they turned towards the door. “But think about it.” 

Aly ran her hand through her hair as soon as they turned the corner into the dirt parking lot. “Thanks for that, Vin. We don’t have breakfast plans, though?” 

Vince shrugged, an impish smile on his face. “Guess we do now.”

October

“I bought that tea you like,” Vince said from his spot on the couch. “I didn’t want you to be over here while you’re looking after Henry and run out.” Henry was Vince’s rottweiler, a rambunctious eleven month old that he had adopted at the middle of last season. 

Aly smiled as she opened the cupboard, seeing her prized brand of Irish Breakfast next to his favorite type of coffee. “Thanks for that, Vin.” 

He shrugged as the corner of his mouth twitched. “Don’t mention it.” 

The Blues were about to leave for their first real road trip of the year, and it was an unspoken agreement by this time in their relationship that Aly would stay over at his apartment while he was away. Early on in the relationship, she’d just stop by a few times a week to water his plants, and then he got a few fish, and then Henry came along. It didn’t take much convincing from Vince for Aly to agree to look after them; Henry loved her almost as much as he did Vince, and getting to see him before and after school helped to curb some of the loneliness she felt in Vince’s absence. 

She turned down the hallway, taking her bag into his bedroom. He had a guest room that would have been just as convenient to stay in, but she had grown used to the feel of his sheets and liked having the ensuite bathroom. Plus, she had already not-so-subtly taken over one of the drawers in his dresser. Her bag had the jeans, button downs, and blouses she’d need for work — her school mostly adhered to a smart casual dress code, plus she was an art teacher — but there were plenty of sleep shirts, underwear, and leggings in the dresser. If push came to shove, she also wasn’t above stealing Vince’s old sweatshirts. He always said she looked better in them anyways. 

Even when Vince was back in town, she slept over enough for it to make sense for her to have a space of her own; it just wasn’t practical for her to have to drive fifteen minutes to her apartment and back again just to grab a shirt if she wanted to spend the night after a movie date ran long. They hadn’t broached the conversation of moving in together yet, though. It was something that had crossed Aly’s mind, and if she knew Vince as well as she thought she did, he had thought about it too. But she wasn’t in a hurry to break her lease and he hadn’t said anything about it, so she had decided to let sleeping dogs lie. 

She tucked her bag into the corner of his closet, padding into the bathroom and closing the door. She cursed herself as she pulled down her shorts, realizing that her period had started and, conveniently, her purse was out in the living room. Biting her lip, Aly decided to rummage around in the vanity, praying to God that she’d left something from the last time. It wasn’t like she thought Vince would be weird about it if she asked him to bring her something from her purse; he never had been before, even when she had bled through a pair of his sweats one night staying over. “Not a big deal,” he had said, shrugging and tossing them in the washing machine. “I needed to do laundry anyway.” But she’d rather not ask if she didn’t have to. She crossed her fingers as she pulled out the last drawer, her head turning to the side in confusion as she saw an unopened box of tampons. Her eyes softened in realization. He had bought them without her ever having to ask. 

January 

It was bye week for the Blues, which meant everyone who hadn’t been picked for the All Star Team suddenly had an extra week in the middle of the season and nothing to do to fill it. Or, rather, had a week in the middle of the season and had to find something to do to fill it. In Vince and Aly’s case, that something turned out to be a trip to the Bahamas with some of his teammates and their wives. It had been a no-brainer for him to invite Aly; everyone else was bringing their partners and Vince knew she had a few vacation days saved up from work. They had been planning it for months, Aly having requested the time off as soon as she was able, and had blissfully traded in the chilly winters of Missouri for a balmy week on the shores of Nassau.

Vince had wanted to go to Iceland originally, half to do with the hiking and half to do with the ponies he saw in a National Geographic article as a kid, but one Google search from Sammy led them to the unfortunate realization that being so far north, there were only about six hours of daylight each day and the temperature topped out in the mid 30s. Vince looked a little deflated when he read the forecast. “Don’t worry,” Aly had said, squeezing his arm in reassurance. “We can go in June, after school lets out and before you head home for the summer. I’ve heard amazing things about their hot springs.” Sammy wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Aly hit his shoulder. 

But the Bahamas were proving to be one of the most beautiful places she had ever been. “Better than home?” he asked as they lay stretched out on the sand while they watched the sun dip below the horizon. 

She scrunched her nose at him. “Unfair comparison. St. Louis is hovering around freezing and perpetually covered in a layer of slush this time of year. And, to be fair, it’s an endearing layer of slush and I love it. But right now I think I’d rather be where it’s 75º and sunny and I can lay outside looking hot as hell in a bikini without worrying about freezing my tits off.” 

Vince choked on his rum punch. “Worried about that, are you?” 

Aly shrugged. “I’d rather deal with a sunburn. Which, speaking of,” she glanced over at Vince, “you’re looking a little red. Don’t worry, though. I’ve got as much aloe vera as I could pack in a single quart bag. Would have tried to sneak in a whole bottle, but didn’t want the feds after me.” 

Vince laughed, a whole body laugh that all but consumed him for a few moments, before pulling Aly in to rest against his chest. “I’m really happy you came, Aly. You know that, right?” 

“Why wouldn’t I? All-expenses paid trip to the Carribean with you and our friends, getting to hang out on the beach all day and drink cocktails without having to worry about driving home after?” 

Vince gasped in mock offense, the hand that wasn’t wrapped around her waist coming to clench at his heart. “You’re killing me here, Aly! You mean to tell me this whole time you’ve only been using me for my money? I expected more from you.” 

“Not just your money, Vin,” she giggled, settling into his touch. “I tried to pay for my share of the expenses, you wouldn’t have it. But seriously, I do really love it here. It’s gorgeous, and so peaceful, and there’s really not anything I think we could do to make it better. I love you, Vince Dunn.” 

“I love you too, Aly Kalinski.” 

April 

“One sec, I’ve got to go grab something,” Vince said, smiling at Aly as he pushed his chair back from the table. It was the day after he had come home from a two week road trip, and he had invited her over for dinner, told her to dress nice, and made what actually turned out to be a very respectable dinner of ravioli and roasted vegetables. 

She nodded as her heart started to pound faster and faster, coming to a peak when she thought her chest was going to burst as Vince returned from the bedroom, turning a blue velvet box over in his hands. “I know it might seem unexpected, but I saw this the other day while I was downtown with Sammy and I don’t know, just somehow knew you were meant to have it. Knew it was meant to be yours. Something I hope you’ll see as a sign of how much I love and care about you and how even though we might not always physically be together, you’re the person I trust most in this life.” 

He slid the box across the table to Aly, who opened it with shaking hands. Inside was a silver necklace with a pendant of an olive tree on it. It was absolutely gorgeous — and Vince was right, very her — but it was not what she had been expecting.

Aly snorted, burying her face into her hands. “Oh my God, I’m going to have to call my mom.” 

Vince was confused. “Why?” 

Aly rolled her eyes. “I told her I was coming over here for dinner and you told me to dress nice. She thought you were going to propose.” 

“Propose?” Vince asked, dumbfounded. “Why would I propose?” 

She tried to wave him off, but Vince could see the shimmer of hurt behind her eyes. “I mean, we’ve been together for almost two years. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility.”

“Together?” He looked over at her. “For two years?” 

“Yeah?” she said slowly, thinking he had forgotten their anniversary. “Come June, two years.” 

Vince swallowed hard as it began to dawn on him, looking down at his hands. “Together...She thinks we’ve been together for,” he looked up at the ceiling, “twenty-one months.” 

“You keep repeating that word, babe. Together. What’s confusing about it?” Aly said, giving him a weird look.  

God, how was he supposed to tell her? “I didn’t know we were together. Are together? Let alone that your mom was expecting a proposal.” 

Aly’s blood ran cold. “Let me get this straight,” she said, pausing. “You didn’t know we’re together? What did you think we’ve been doing for almost two years?” 

“Being really good friends?” 

She shook her head. “Why did you tell me to dress up when I came over, then? Why did you make dinner?”

He fixed his eyes on a chip in the coffee table. “I knew you’d been having a rough week and I wanted to do something nice for you.”

“What about the vacation?” She questioned.

He shrugged helplessly. “Everyone else was going in couples, and you’re my best friend down here regardless.” 

“Me coming to all the games? Sitting up in the box?” 

“You’ve become friends with all the WAGs, and I love having you there to support me,” he tried. 

“The sex?” Aly asked incredulously. 

Vince winced. Okay, that  one was a little harder to explain away. “I just always thought that we were both single, both hot, both too busy to get into relationships. Each other’s best options.” 

God, Aly felt like a fucking fool. She felt like she’d been played, because in a weird, sort of twisted way, she had. “You said you thought it was because we’re both too busy to be in relationships now. But Vince, I know you have no think energy out your ears, but I need you to concentrate for a minute. Think about most couples you know. They get together a few times a week if they don’t live together. We do that.” He nodded. 

“They have a drawer or a part of a closet at each other’s places, they look after each other’s plants and dogs when they’re out of town. We do that. They become friends with each other’s friends, they visit each other’s families, they take weekend trips together and fly to the Bahamas with friends when they have a week off. We did that.” She looked up at him, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. “They dance around in the kitchen together and make love and go to the zoo at least once a month because I love seeing the otters. They comfort each other when they’re at their worst, encourage each other at their best. You said you didn’t have time for a relationship, but you didn’t realize that that’s what we’ve been doing, Vince.” 

Now it was Vince’s turn to be struck speechless. Aly wasn’t meeting his eyes. And honestly, he couldn’t blame her. He turned to look at her, but she had stood up abruptly from the couch, pacing nervously as she slowly made her way to the door. “I, uh, I think I should go,” she said, looking down at her hands. 

Vince stood up, taking a half step towards her before deciding that it was best to give her space. “No, Aly, you don’t have to go. We can talk. I think —”

“No, I think. I think you don’t feel the same way, and I’ve been misreading things for two years. And that’s fine, I can’t force you to fabricate feelings that aren’t there, so um. I’ll go,” Aly said, shaking her head stiffly. She opened the door and shut it, and Vince was suddenly stuck in the loudest silence he’d ever heard. It was like he couldn’t move for a minute, as if all of his muscles were paralyzed, and then he came back to reality. Aly had only been gone for maybe a minute at most, but it felt like an hour. 

Vince bolted out of the door, not even bothering to lock it, running straight past the elevator. Stairs would be quicker. He caught her just as she was exiting the front door, one of her hands coming up to wipe a stray tear off her cheek. “Aly!” Vince called. She hesitated for a moment but kept walking. Vince ran across the lobby, not even caring about his complete lack of shoes. “Aly! Wait up, please.” 

She turned around, eyes watering, and sighed, walking over towards one of the chairs with a defeated look on her face. She didn’t even sit down, just perched on the arm like she wasn’t quite comfortable with actually settling in, like she needed to be able to up and leave at any given moment. “Please, Vince. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be. I’m not mad at you for not feeling the same way, it wouldn’t be fair of me and people can’t control their feelings, but I feel like a fucking idiot right now. Like I spent so long misreading all sorts of signs and signals and words —”

“What if you didn’t?” Vince asked breathlessly. 

Aly looked startled. “What do you mean?”

“What if you didn’t misread anything, Aly? What if you didn’t have to be mad at me for not feeling the same way, because I do?”

Aly sunk into the chair, her eyes meeting his for the first time since she had left his apartment. “Then why...Why did you not say anything? How did you not know we were in a relationship?”

Vince ran a hand through his hair, squeezing his eyes shut. “Because I thought that’s all you were going to give me. And if that was it, that was enough for me,” he smiled sadly. “I thought everything, the sex and the wedding and the Bahamas, was just me being a good friend and you needing a stress relief and someone who’d always be in your corner. I never knew this was supposed to be a relationship. I didn’t think you wanted anything serious. And I had resigned myself to that, come to terms with only getting stolen kisses on late nights and early-morning coffee runs before you had to head to school. If I only got you halfway, I was okay with it, because I love you and that was better than nothing.” 

“You what?” Aly’s breath caught in her throat. 

“I love you,” Vince said. It was the easiest thing he had ever admitted. Because it was true. 

He had told her he loved her before, but as Aly searched his face, she could tell that he meant it in a different way. In the way she always wanted him to. “You love me?” she asked, voice cracking. 

Vince nodded. “I do. I’m in love with you. And you don’t know how good that feels to admit.”

Aly gave an airy laugh, reaching up to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear before Vince had a chance to get it for her. “I think I might.”

“I’ve just got one question, though,” Vince asked. 

“Which is?” 

He cracked a smile. “You’re not going to make us change our anniversary date, are you? It would be pretty weird to explain to everyone and I really don’t want Aunt Ruth to find out and show up at my door to chase me around with a chainsaw.”

Aly giggled, leaning over and placing an exhilarated kiss against his lips. “No.”

[whynotwinnie]

Timida part 5: Roger Taylor x OC

oof another chapter I swear once semester is over I’m going off on all the chapters but after finishing this one it honestly gave me some motivation so maybe new chap tomorrow?!?! thanks for reading! bennie <3

Mickey

You sat back down at the table with Roger and happily waited for your food. Carrie came by with your water and told you your food will be out soon.

Roger talked about his band practice a bit more while you patiently listened to him, you loved the way he talked so passionately about music his droopy eyes were wide with excitement even when he was talking about how he was arguing with his bandmates. He waved his hands excitedly while he explained how he played the drums. 

“Brian and his stupid ideas always throwing everyone off. Freddie, our lead singer, had to agree with just so he can calm down. Deaky, our bassist, completely agreed with me that we didn’t need a whole bunch of background vocals on the song.” Right as he finished Carrie and another waiter came with two trays of food.

They set down multiple items of food that you saw on the menu, from pasta to pizza. You just watched as they set down plates and plates mouth agape. 

“Does everything look good to you guys?” Carrie asked once the last plate of food was set down.

“Yes, everything looks perfect. Thank you so much.” Roger gave her a smile as she left.

You looked at Roger, then to the food on the table, and then back to Roger and started to laugh, you laughed until you had tears in your eyes and he joined you.

“Roger-” you said in between laughs “Why did you order so much?” just thinking about all the food on the table made you go into a fit of laughter again. You covered your mouth with both hands to try to stifle how loud your laugh was.

After a while, you calmed down enough to wipe the tears that were falling from your eyes.

“Well I didn’t know what you wanted to try and I always get the same thing when I come so I decided that I should get a couple of things on the menu,” he said shyly.

“A couple? Roger, it looks like you ordered the whole restaurant.” you jokingly teased.

He stared at you in silence sticking his chin out to the silverware that was set aside for you. 

“Oh no Roger please serve yourself first.” You don’t know why you felt like this, maybe it was the way you were brought up.

He grabbed a plate and you felt yourself sigh with relief. 

“What did you want to eat Mickey,” he said fork in hand gesturing at the plates of food.

“Huh” never in your life had you been served by a man. It’s not like you had a problem with it, it was just new to you. It felt wrong and you were sure that if your mother had been there she would have scolded you for not serving him.

“Well I think your a chicken parm type of girl,” He said while he cut about half of the chicken parmesan and put it on your plate. 

“Andddd….” he drawled out, “I think you would also like some shrimp alfredo” putting another serving on your plate. 

“And finally some pizza.” As he put 2 slices of pizza on the side of your plate.

Your eyes met his droopy blue ones and at that moment you felt something pull in your chest. You haven’t been in a relationship in years, you have been on dates since you’ve been living in England. But you always made an excuse to stop seeing the other person. 

You have never met anyone like Roger though he was so confident and didn’t care what anyone had to say about him, and something about that scared you but it also made you more curious.

Roger lives such a different life than you. You like to only go out when you need to where he barely stays home, You like to stick to that shadows and not cause a scene while he needs everyone’s attention to feel satisfied. You are complete opposites it couldn’t work out in the long run.

But.

Every time he smiles at you or cracks a joke you feel like you are floating as if you two are the only people in the world. You haven’t known him for long… practically a day at most. But you couldn’t help to let yourself go a bit more while you’re with him.

He slid your plate back to you carefully as it was filled with food. You smiled and grabbed his plate and served him the same way he served you.

…

Walking out of the restaurant with full stomachs and 2 bags worth of leftovers you felt satisfied and honestly a bit sick. You both ate way too much and somehow he managed to convince you that you both needed desert.

He also refused to let you pay for the meal or even go half. He just put cash on the table and even left a good tip for Carrie too.

He opened the passenger seat for you again and gave him a small smile before getting in his car. He gently shut the door and jogged over to the driver’s side to get in.

“What do you want to do now Mick?” he asked as he started the car.

It was going to be nine but you didn’t have anything to do the next day except maybe for a couple of alterations but you were sure you could get those done quickly.

“I’m up for anything Roger.” You said as clasped your hands and put them on your lap.

He pulled out of the parking lot and started driving. 

“Do you think it would be cool if we went by my apartment, Freddie really wanted to meet you and he’s probably hungry too.” 

You felt your stomach drop a bit, you didn’t have anything against going into his apartment but what if he was expecting something from you? He brought you to a nice place for dinner and paid for everything.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to either Mickey, you can say no” he laughed a little to make you feel better.

“We can just drive around and once one of us thinks of something we can do that… is that okay with you?” he asked as he gently took one of your hands from your lap once he saw you picking at your skin. 

You drove around listening to the soft music playing from his car and you allowed your mind to wander off for a bit. You don’t know how but you were suddenly weighing out the pros and cons of being with Roger. Pros: he is a really great guy, he is really kind and always pays attention to how you are feeling especially if it was something you were uncomfortable with. It also didn’t hurt that he was easy to look at. Cons: you are very inexperienced in relationships and especially with a man. 

Your only other relationship had been with Olivia and you had been friends with her first before you actually dated. Everything seemed like it was moving too fast with Roger, which isn’t always a bad thing. You felt your stomach flip and you felt your food come up.

You pulled your hands from Roger’s to cover your mouth as you breathed in and out from your nose to try and calm yourself down.

“Mickey? Are you alright?” He asked looking over quickly at you before turning his eyes back to the road.

“I think I’m going to be sick Roger,” you said hands still clasped over your mouth as you shut your eyes trying to get ahold of the situation.

“Oh my gosh okay okay, let me find somewhere with a restroom Mickey.” He said as he made a sharp turn that only made things worse.

“Oh no Roger pull over pull over pull over.” you kept saying feeling your dinner rise.

He pulled over on the side of the small road that was thankfully not busy. You quickly found the door handle and jumped out of the car and emptied your stomach out on the side of the road.

Roger was by your side in a second pulling your hair back and repetitively asking if you were okay.

Once you were finished you felt gross and somehow even sicker. Your throat hurt and your stomach felt like it was throbbing for some reason. 

Roger helped you get into the passenger seat again as you tried to get your breathing under control. 

“I’m sorry Mickey I was driving too fast this is all my fault.”

Only Roger could make you throwing up and ruining your almost perfect date his fault.

“No Roger I’m sorry I don’t know why I got sick all of a sudden.” You said.

“My apartment is literally down the street I’d honestly feel a lot better if we could stop there first and get you some medicine before I take you home.”

That didn’t seem like too bad of an idea, you shook your head yes and felt your eyes start to drop feeling extra tired.

Roger started the car again and said “Don’t worry Mickey, I got you.”

thanks for reading!!

taglist <3: @johnricharddeacy @fairytalequeen07 @mysticfairy39 @cjand10

[tinyboxxtink]

Build Me Up Buttercup *Part 5*

WARNING: This chapter contains mention of sexual assault, please read at your own discretion. Also, I’m sorry these last two chapters have been kind of dark but next chapter will be super fluff I promise!

If you need to catch up:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 6

Tag List: @wanniiieeee

....And you just ran out?”

Your roommate’s judgement came through loud and clear, even through the phone.

“Yes! What the hell was I supposed to do?!” You tried defending your actions. You called them to feel better, not worse.

“Well, first of all you shouldn’t have LIED,” They kept their snarky tone.

“I didn’t LIE….per say,” You paced back and forth, twirling your hair in your fingers nervously. The silence after your statement was like you could SEE their faces just giving you “that” look.

“Oh okay what was I supposed to say? ‘Oh hey yeah you’re right Fin, I was an absolute party wreck until I couldn’t be anymore’?”

“I mean I don’t--” You heard footsteps coming up behind you, so you swung your phone to your side, cutting off their sentence.

You turned to see Rafael standing there, that permanent concerned look for you pasted on his face.

“Hey...are you ok?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I just needed some air,” You tried your best to stay calm and nonchalant.

“Are you sure? Because you--” He started to say something but you quickly interjected.

“Actually you know what Barba I’m kind of on the phone right now, can I meet you back inside?” You motioned with your phone, kicking yourself for being cold to him right now but you couldn’t deal with anything else at the moment.

“I...uh...yeah, sure,” He shook his head with an awkward smile, and walked back inside. Relieved, you put the phone back up to your ear.

“Aww, how cute. Barba cares!” your BFF’s voice cooed through the speaker.

“Yeah, in like a ‘dad caring’ kind of way,” you rolled your eyes.

“Oooof, I wouldn’t start throwing that term around, we might have to start talking about ‘daddy issues’, Y/N,” they giggled.

“SERIOUSLY?” You practically screeched into the phone, thanking every god you could think of that Rafael had gone inside before that comment.

“I’m just sayin! I’m ALSO saying that you need to go back in there and tell your squad the truth,” they returned to a very serious tone.

“Yeah I guess…” You sighed, knowing they were right.

“And I’m sorry I can’t be there with you holding your hand while you do it babe. But…”

“But what?”

“But maybe Rafael can?”

“Jesus, can you please be serious right now?”

“I am being serious! You just told me he helped you calm down earlier, and that wasn’t even half traumatic as this is gonna be,” They insisted.

“I don’t….how…?” Your face scrunched up trying to think of NON creepy ways you'd ask for someone's hand.

“Whatever, do what you want; But I do suggest telling them. Clearly you're not going to be able to keep this under wraps, and I doubt you want to keep freaking out on your co-workers. Trust them, trust RAFAEL,”

You sighed again, you knew they were right. Olivia said it herself, it was important to have a squad you trusted.

“Alright I’ll call you later,”

“You better!”

You took a deep breath and walked back into the bar, your hands shaking as you reached your booth. The group all started to speak, but you put your hand up.

“No just-- Let me talk. Fin, I am so sorry,” You addressed Fin, who shook his head in a “don't worry about it” manner.

“No, I really am. I’m sorry I freaked out on you and I’m sorry...I lied. Kind of,” the squad again looked at you in total confusion.

“God….okay, how do I….? Um….”

You started trying to form sentences in your head, words jumbled around in your brain. You started to panic again, when you felt a hand grip yours under the table. You snapped your eyes open and looked next to you where Rafael had taken your hand. He gave a small, supportive smile making you suddenly feel at ease.

“Okay. So, like I said I was pretty much a ‘caged’ child. I was homeschooled, I didn’t have any friends, just academics. Being born a ‘prodigy’ sounds good on paper, but I just always felt like a show pony. Or an alien experiment. People were always coming by to check out the ‘genius 5 year old’ play Mozart, or ‘the brilliant 10 year old finish calculus problems in under 30 seconds’.”

You took a deep breath, watching their listening faces. Too much detail hon, get there faster.

“Um, anyway. I graduated ‘high school’ at fifteen years old. I had barely made it through puberty, and I was already done with my academic childhood. Obviously, I wanted to immediately enroll in college, if for no other reason than to get away from my insanely controlling parents. But big surprise, they had a problem with it. It took me a minute to convince them that it was the right next step, full ride scholarships to literally any school in the country helped. And I mean, ANY school. All the Ivy leagues sent out their top recruiters to speak with my parents about having the ‘prodigy’ attending their establishment.

So with that, I was able to convince my parents that I knew what was best for me. I told them I was smarter than them, so clearly I could parent myself better. And God help them, they believed me,” You had to pause again, tears catching your throat. Rafael gently started rubbing the back of your hand with his thumb.

“So, I started at NYU that fall, just after my sixteenth birthday. Sixteen years old, the only child in a university full of adults,”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Sonny whispered to Amanda who nodded in agreement.

“So I got paired with this room mate Layla, who was the polar opposite of myself. She was gorgeous, totally socially gifted, but dumb as a rock. Her daddy had paid her way into the school,” you rolled your eyes just thinking about her.

“And truth be told I loved her at first, because she was the sweetest girl. My first ever real friend. She took me under her wing and gave me a complete makeover; socially and physically. I had NEVER had guys look at me the way they did after she helped me. It was....intoxicating.” You paused in shame, picking at your jacket.

“So, naturally, I wanted to hang out with my friend. My ONLY friend. And hanging out with her meant going to all the coolest parties, frats and sororities. I was SIXTEEN, I didn’t….I didn’t think,”  You bit your lip and stared at the floor for a moment before continuing.

“I lost my virginity at those parties,” you muttered quietly, and to your surprise the team started reacting.

“Wha-- Wait wait wait, guys that’s….that’s not even the bad part yet,” you gulped. Jesus the judgement was quickly getting real.

“Anyway I...was pretty much a huge party girl slut,” you shrugged. “I’d go and party, and hook up with random guys, and never thought twice about it because I thought ‘that’s what college girls do’,” You scoffed at your younger self for even having that notion. How could you be that smart and that stupid at the same time? It was baffling.

“And one night, it bit me in the ass,” You sighed, here comes the hard part.

“I don’t...I usually got so wasted that I didn’t CARE who I was having sex with and most of the time never remembered WHO it was anyway but-- but I’m pretty sure that night I didn’t want to,” You breathed out and looked up, willing the tears on the rims of your eyes to go back in where they came from. Rafael’s hand gripped yours tighter, making you feel safe.

“But it is what it is, this guy did what he did and left me on the floor in a frat house,” You scoffed again, this time tears dripping down your face. You couldn’t believe there was a time that you had been that pathetic, to just be left laying on the floor like a blow up doll.

“I guess Layla found me and took me home, because I woke up in my own bed. But I had bruises and hickeys ALL over my body, and just….brutal stuff,” You trailed off while you picked at your food, not wanting to go into any more detail.

Suddenly, as if turning on a light switch, your entire demeanor snapped back into ‘normal mode’, you wiped the stray tears away and cleared your throat. You were

“AHEM So...anyway, after….that, I told Layla that I couldn’t hang out with her anymore if that’s all we were going to do, and she understood. She didn’t like it, but she understood. The next semester I got a new roommate who was pretty much like myself, boring and socially inept, so I went back to the thing I knew best-- academics. I changed my major from biochemical engineering to law, because I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I went through without a voice. And after that, and a WHOLE lotta therapy, I just pushed that whole semester I lost deep, DEEP down, you know like a totally healthy person,” You tried playing it off with a laugh, but they weren’t amused.

“But...just thinking about Mary Fahey,” you sighed. “That girl had everything going for her, she was probably really smart and had a whole life ahead of her. She made the bad decision ONCE, to go to a frat party and she’s DEAD. Meanwhile, I was a stupid slut for a whole semester and the worst I got was bruised up and a pregnancy scare.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re saying what I think you’re saying,” Amanda gave you a look.

“What? That I should have been killed? Well why not? Why HER?” You protested, sipping your hurricane. It was unsettling to the squad how little you seemed to care about yourself.

“....I knew there was more to it in the bathroom,” you heard Rafael’s soft voice beside you.

“I’m sorry...I didn’t know how to tell you,” You looked at him with apologetic eyes. “I didn’t want you to think I was...trashy,”

“Ok now hold up” Fin interrupted.

“First of all, you need to stop throwing words like ‘slut’ and ‘trash’ around, especially about yourself, Y/N,” he took your hand.

“You said it yourself, people make mistakes. Hell if I worried about the amount of dumb shit I did when I was a kid I wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning,”

You had to break into a small sad smile after he said that, nodding your head in an understanding manner.

“And whether or not it was a one time thing or a ‘phase’, no one ever deserves to be assaulted for overdoing it at a party, or anywhere else,” Olivia chimed in. “EVER.”

“Exactly what the Sarge said. Assault is NEVER ok, in ANY circumstance. Even when you think you were ‘slutty’ by sleeping around, those guys are accountable too.” Sonny added. “Taking advantage of an inebriated woman is not okay,”

“AND it was statutory!” Rafael finally spoke up, his fists clenched. It was as if it had taken this entire time for him to fully process your story, and now that he did he was PISSED.

“Okay, Rafa, calm down,” Olivia placed a hand over his.

“No Liv, these guys should all be in prison for having sex with an incapacitated SIXTEEN YEAR OLD”

“Will you knock it off, counselor?” You hit his arm. “I didn’t tell you that story so you would go after a bunch of random idiots for something that happened over 10 years ago!”

“Well they should pay!” Rafael yelled again, but after you softly stroked his shoulder, he seemed to calm down.

“I appreciate the sentiment, Rafa,” you warily threw out the pet name, happy when he responded with a small smile. “But I’m over it. Mostly. On days that aren’t like this,” you added with a joking laugh, trying to ease the tension.

“Well, I really appreciate you telling us the truth, N/A,” Olivia nodded at you, the others followed suit. 

You gave the first genuine smile since you came back in, looking at Rafael. He took your hand once again under the table, giving it three small squeezes. Before you knew what you were doing, your head was dropping onto his shoulder and you were scooting closer into him.

“Get a squad you can trust, right?”

[electrictoes]

Greater Than Being Loved

For @dailysvu’s Sonny Carisi Week

Day 3: Trust Relationship: Amanda Rollins / Sonny Carisi

Read on AO3

“Do you trust me?” he says it with a grin on his sun-kissed face, showing off his missing front tooth as he does so. He’s leaning forward, one hand on the first rung of the monkey bars and the other on Bella’s back. He’s stretching out, the soles of his sneakers bent against the warm metal of the platform they’re standing on.

Bella shakes her head, tries to step back from him, but his hand is firm on her back.

“C’mon,” he says, “I won’t let you fall.”

“You will,” she whispers, shaking her head again. “Sonny, I’m scared.”

“I’ll go first,” he says, “I’ll go backwards so I can see you.” He lets go of the bars and her to turn around, and Bella watches with wide eyes as he tips himself backwards, leaning off the platform just enough to grip the bar behind him, his back curved as stretches outward. Bella gasps out as he kicks off of the platform, letting his legs swing in front of him, holding himself suspended by the tight grip of his hands on the unyielding metal of the bar.

He glances over his shoulder, reaching behind himself to move another rung further along, Bella still watching with worry on her face. “C’mon, now you,” he says.

“You can’t catch me, Sonny. You’re swinging.”

“It’s safe,” he promises her, like he doesn’t have a purple bruise on his elbow from falling from these exact same monkey bars last week. He sighs, releasing his grip on the bar and letting himself drop straight down, landing roughly on his feet, the impact reverberating up his legs. “Bella,” he insists, looking up at her from the ground now, “Trust me, I’d never let anythin’ happen to you.”

She reaches one hand out tentatively, her eyes on him below her, and he yells up to watch where she’s putting her hands. He watches, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as she grips the monkey bars first with one hand, then the other. “Come on, Bella!” he says - proud of her for trying. She takes several deep breaths before she kicks off, her feet swinging beneath her, and a smile breaks out on her face that’s as wide as his is.

“I’m doin’ it, Sonny!” she says, and he cheers along with her. She reaches out a hand for the second bar, then the other, her legs dangling below her as she begins to move.

She makes it to the third bar with no problem, but when she stretches out for the fourth one she loses her grip, her sweat soaked hand slipping against the bar, and she’s dangling with one hand, panicking in mid-air even as he moves to stand directly beneath her.

“Just swing your arm back up,” he says, but he knows it’s not going to help. Bella screams as she lets herself fall - but he promised she could trust him, so he’s quick enough to sort-of catch her. It’s clumsy and awkward, he’s only a little bit bigger than her, but he does grab hold of her before she hits the ground, her leg connecting painfully with his stomach as he does so.

“I’ve got ya,” Even though he’s winded and he’s twisted his shoulder a little bit trying to catch her, Sonny is still smiling when he helps Bella upright on the ground, brushing wood-chips from her bare knees, “You okay, Bell?”

“You caught me,” Bella says with a smile, racing off to climb back up to the platform - she looks down at him with trust in her eyes as she stretches out to try again.

It takes another six attempts before she makes it all the way across, and Sonny has a fresh bruise on his chin where her foot connected with his face on her fourth try, but he doesn’t mind at all.

Sonny wants to be trusted. He wants to protect people, wants the people around him to know that he’ll do everything he can to keep them safe. He’s been that way for as long as he can remember - he’d taken his big brother duties very seriously when Bella was born - but that need to be trusted, to be a safe space, grew much bigger than always being ready to catch his little sister.

He’s reliable; he’s a confidant. His sisters tell him things they’d never tell their parents, never tell each other. They trust him to keep their secrets and to help solve their problems.

He was fourteen when he’d sat next to Gina on the bathroom floor, letting her squeeze the blood out of his hand while they anxiously watched for the lines to form on the at-home pregnancy test she’d bought at a drug store in Manhattan earlier that day. She’d come into his room, shaking and afraid. The, “Don’t tell Mom and Dad,”  that fell from her lips was an unnecessary instruction. Sonny could be trusted with this.

Mom and Dad had gone grocery shopping, and Bella was at a sleepover, so Gina had unlocked the bathroom door and tugged him in to wait beside her. He squeezed her hand back just as tightly, letting her rest her head against his shoulder, didn’t object as her warm tears dripped down his collar, “It’s gonna be okay,” he whispered to her, “Whatever it says.”

Her fearful tears had turned to sobs of joy when the test came back negative, and he’d hugged her, and promised never to tell a soul.

He was sixteen when he found his mother crying in the kitchen after school; she was sat at the dining table, her head in her hands. He knew by the quiet of the house that his sisters weren’t home; knew his father wouldn’t be back from work for a couple more hours. He’d walked tentatively towards her, whispered, “Mom,” carefully, so as not to startle her.

She had held out a hand and he’d gone to her. He’d sat with her, put his arm around her, comforted her like she had comforted him throughout his childhood. She had cupped his cheek in her hand, given him a watery smile, “Dominick,” she’d said, and he knew that this was something big. “Your father doesn’t know,” she’d started.

He kept his arm around his mother as she told him what she’d done earlier that day - about the unborn baby who would have lived a life only of pain, about the cruel situation she’d found herself in, and the only way she could see out of it. How she’d made a choice she never expected to make. They had cried together; he had grieved the sibling he would never have, but he had never broken her confidence.

Trust comes in different forms. Becoming a police officer was about trust, in a way. That same desire to be trusted. To protect. It’s not as black and white as that - the world doesn’t work the way it does in the movies, and people don’t trust him implicitly because he wears a badge. He has to earn it - has to show people they can trust him, and over time he thinks he gets pretty good at it - getting victims to trust him enough to open up, making perps trust him enough to let their guard down.

He has to trust his partner. Has to, because sometimes that’s all that stands between him and a bullet. As a beat cop, he trusts his partner - to an extent. He’s an old school cop who says things he probably shouldn’t, but his heart’s in the right place and he wants to do a good job.

As a detective, working homicide, he trusts his partner. He’s a good man, a good cop. But homicide doesn’t work out - he wants to do more. He wants to stop the murders before they happen - get people out of a bad situation before it gets worse. But SVU is hard, and he tries to find his place as he’s shunted from borough to borough, each time trying to fit in with the crowd he’s just left behind. But Manhattan sticks; once he loses the front - and the moustache, which in hindsight was as much of a mistake as Gina told him it would be - and grows into a better detective, he learns from the squad and they begin to trust him as he begins to trust them.

He’s never had a partner like Amanda Rollins though. Never had anyone in his life he trusts the way he trusts her. As a partner, first and foremost - she has his back on duty and off and he’ll have hers too. If he’s walking into danger he knows she’s by his side, and knows she’ll always protect him. He’d take a bullet for her without hesitating.

He trusts Olivia, and Fin - early on Nick, later Dodds, eventually Kat - and over time he trusts them with more than just keeping him alive on the job. With small parts of his personal life - first, he trusts them with Tommy’s case, then he starts to trust them with little parts of himself; stories, memories.

It’s still not like it is with Amanda. Amanda he tells things he’s never told anyone - he tells her about his first crush, about the embarrassing way he’d broken his arm when he was ten; he tells her his fears, his hopes. He lets her into all the dark places of his life. She trusts him right back. Not as readily, not as simply - but when she’s in hospital, pregnant with Jesse and afraid of the future, she lets herself cry in front of him and he knows. Knows that this bond is mutual and more than anything either of them have had with a partner before.

Their faith and trust in one another is put to the test more than once - there’s a sting of betrayal when he leaves for the DA’s office that threatens to close off the barriers he’s broken through. It doesn’t last.

He’s her safe place. She never says it aloud he but he feels it. Feels it in the way she trusts him with her children; feels it after Bucci when she collapses against him in the elevator, lets him hold her and he whispers that’s he’s got her; feels it at the hospital with her father hooked up to machines down the hall, and nurses and relatives assuming they’re together.

That trust goes both ways. It’s her he lets check over his injuries after his stay in the homeless shelter; it’s Amanda who wipes Tom Cole’s blood from his face, and it’s Amanda who’s there for him after Mia’s case goes sideways. It’s Amanda who’s by his side seconds after Henry Mesner comes at him in the court room, and it’s Amanda he calls at night when the dark is creeping into his head; it’s her he trusts with his fears as much as his triumphs.

He falls in love with her without even realising it. He just wakes up one morning and knows he’s done for.

And then - then one warm summer evening, the lights on the Hudson behind them, the sounds of a celebration just feet away, Amanda trusts him enough to take a leap - to press her lips to his and risk everything they’ve built to create something even better.

“Do you trust me?” he says it with a grin on his sun-kissed face. He’s leaning forward, arms dangling over the beach hut railing in front of him, the sandals on his feet skimming the sand covered deck they’re standing on.

She nods her head, taking a step closer to him, her hand sliding across his back.

“Good,” he says, “Because there’s somethin’ I wanna ask you.”

“Okay,” she whispers, nodding her head, “Go on.”

He pushes himself off of the railings, rolling back onto his heels as he looks at her. He doesn’t speak at first, his sandals make a quiet grinding sound as he steps back over the sand, only moving a few inches, still close enough that her hand stays resting on his back. He turns his gaze back to the beach; there are four wooden steps going from the front porch to the beach itself, and just a few feet away Jesse and Billie are building sandcastles - grains of sand are clinging to the remnants of sun block on their arms and legs, and Jesse had wound a beach towel around her shoulders as the temperature dropped, the sunsetting beautifully just beyond them, neither girl noticing, too caught up in their task.

He turns to look at her after a few seconds, that grin back on his face, “You know I’ve always got your back, right?” he says, and she moves her hand away, steps around so that she can rest both of her hands just above his hips, so that she can look him in the eye as she nods.

“You’ve mentioned it.”

He ducks his head, his cheeks pinking beyond the light sunburn covering his face, “Amanda,” he says, his voice serious.

“Dominick,” she answers, almost teasingly, then she smiles at him, “I trust you more than I have ever trusted anyone,” she tells him firmly. “Partners, right?”

“Partners,” he says with a soft smile, “I thought we might make it official?”

“You’ve got me,” she tells him, pushing up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips, his right arm winding around her waist as she closes the gap between them, his left making its way to her neck, drawing her in even as the girls turn, hollering with laughter and thinly veiled objections to the scene they’re making on the deck.

When they draw apart his eyes are locked on hers; he’s smiling at her with his whole face and he gleefully lifts her off the ground, just a few inches, her feet dangling in the air below them as he spins with her in his arms, laughing as he calls out to Jesse and Billie to come celebrate with them.

[acraftedmistake]

A Person Who Has Never Played MCSM Writes A Story About MCSM Chp. 15

CHP 15!!!!! Some good times and bad times lie ahead...... 

Enjoy!

“Everything okay?” Jess asked. Aiden was about to leave the house but had stopped halfway out the door, turned back around, and scanned the first floor while Jess and Olivia waited for him.

“Yeah.” Aiden said slowly as he began to close the door, twisting the knob to make sure he wouldn’t accidentally lock the three of them out, “Just thought I heard something.” He walked away from the house and patted his hair down. “You two ready to go?”

“Mhm!” Olivia finished zipping up the olive green jacket Stella had lent her. She was hiding her face with the hood of the gray sweatshirt Cassie gave her the day before as well. She knew there weren’t too many people out at this hour, but better safe than sorry.

Jess was wearing the leather jacket and beanie again, but he wasn’t too concerned about hiding his face this time. Earlier, he made a minor complaint that his clothes felt rather stiff after wearing them for a few days straight, to which Aiden promised that once they got back home he would throw their clothes in the washer.

“Let’s get going!” Jess said, adjusting the beanie on his head. Originally, Jess wasn’t too thrilled at the idea of going out at this hour. Knowing there might be Awakening members roaming around, or his alternate self--who had no problem beating Radar in broad daylight--made Jess uncertain over the safety of Obsidian Town’s streets. Aiden assured him that they’d be alright, it’d be three against one, and--in his words--he ‘Wants to do somethin’ nice for Olivia after last night’.

Jess appreciated the thoughtfulness, and in the end, visiting Olivia’s grave was up to… Well, Olivia, but he’d still be ready in case a creep tried to pull something.  

Jess couldn’t really blame Olivia for wanting to check out her grave. It’s her place of death. When would you ever get an opportunity to visit a place like that again? Not to mention, Jess had been wanting to get a better look at Obsidian Town rather than getting glimpses or constantly staring at the ground.

The three walked to the left and started their journey to the cemetery. Aiden and Olivia were making small talk, so Jess took this time to absorb his surroundings.

Up ahead, he could spot a tall, crooked, ivory colored tower in the distance. That must’ve been the library Olivia mentioned before. Even from all the way over here Jess could see how ruined the place was. Cracks stretched across it, it was riddled with holes, and it looked moments away from collapsing.

Jess scanned the streets. The long, thin black lamp posts on each side had thin string-lights tied to their tops that stretched across the streets in a zig-zag like manner. It’s a shame they weren’t on at the moment, they must’ve been wonderful when lit.

There were empty stalls they’d pass by occasionally. Colorful, patterned tents protected the bare tables, empty boxes, and scraps sitting underneath. Jess noticed each stall had string lights, small lanterns, or candles for light. He’d catch quick glimpses at folded signs tucked away and papers taped onto poles advertising items and prices. Seeing all of this reminded him of the farmer markets Beacon Town. Jess would always act so crabby when he woke up early for them, but it wouldn’t take long for him to get hyped up and dashing around the place until closing time.

The stalls and all were nice, but Jess couldn’t help but find Obsidian Town’s buildings to be… Underwhelming.

Many of the buildings, from what he could see, were constructed with the same materials: stone, wood, bricks, concrete, the occasional polished granite and diorite, and the rare terracotta. There were variations with the colors, but seeing the same materials got real tiring real fast.

And most structures here were just shapes. That’s all that could really be said. Squared, rectangled, plain shapes to fit the equally-plain materials. Even the sizes of the buildings felt plain. Many were one to two stories, a large handful reached three, and hardly any were four.

Jess was so used to Beacon Town’s monstrous structures, giant jungle trees sprouting from windows, walls of colored glass creating magnificent designs, and bridges stretching from roof to roof that connected the town together. The fun types of builds! It might sound chaotic but that’s what made Beacon Town feel like home. Obsidian Town was just that. A town.

‘Don’t think the people here can risk being experimental, to be fair.’ Jess told himself as he remembered how often quakes struck. He thought back to his town again. He thought about how so many homes would quickly collapse the moment a strong-enough quake would hit. Beacon Town was fun, but it wasn’t built with ‘sturdiness’ in mind, unlike Obsidian Town.

While the construction and sizes of these buildings were on the more ‘basic’ side, the way the citizens decorated the exteriors of their homes and stores was magnificent. Oh, how he loved their decorations. From markets using barrels, wagons, and carefully stacked crates to advertise their fresh fruit and flowers, to cafes that’d have their furniture with their own color schemes and accessories to make them stand out from one another. Some places had porches decorated with flowers and swinging benches, while others had balconies with tiny lights.

Jess would get a second to peer into windows they’d pass by, catching glimpses of interiors that’d tempt him to come closer and press his face against the glass to get a better look. Actually, he hadn’t noticed it right away, but so many windows in Obsidian Town were colored. They didn’t have any intricate designs--a majority of them were one solid color--unlike the stained glass back at the Order Hall, but they were still charming. He pictured in his head how vibrant the streets must be when night comes… The lights from the inside mixing with the colors of the glass must be magnificent.

One place that REALLY caught Jess’ attention was a stone gray building tucked between two larger ones. It had a simple square base, but had a noticeable tilt to it. It had a staircase that wrapped around it’s walls and led to the roof, where a smaller room sat atop, equally slanted. A wooden sign hung from above the door and had the words “Glass Art” on it. Purple, pink, and blue glass shards and chimes were held by opaque strings from the overhang; there was a large, round, beautiful stained glass window with the same colors beside the door.  

The glass art reminded Jess of Ivor and his potions. Man… How is Ivor? Is he doing alright? Is he worried? Hopefully he’s not working himself to the bone trying to find a way to save him and Olivia. Jess couldn’t wait to get back home and give that old man a big ol’ hug.

Come to think of it, has anyone mentioned anything about potions while they’ve been here? He doesn’t remember Olivia’s book talking about them, nor any of Aiden’s friends bringing them up… Are there no potions here? Or maybe there’s a lack of materials? They couldn’t go to the Nether or mine without a license--which STILL boggles Jess’ mind--so that probably made gathering resources hard. How would Ivor react to this? He’d probably say: ‘Pah! A universe without potions is a miserable one. Back in my day, we’d travel hundreds of miles to find the finest ingredients for our--’

“Jess!” He heard Olivia call his name. He spun around and saw her and Aiden standing under a stone arch. Olivia had her hands on her hips.

“You done dreamin’?” Aiden asked.

Jess didn’t realize how far he had strayed from the two. He hurried over and joined them at the arch.

“Sorry, sorry, I was busy thinking.” He skidded to a halt and fixed his beanie.

“Just glad nobody saw you.” Aiden said, “I almost stopped her from calling you cause I wanted to see how far you’d walk off.”

“Could you imagine if he got caught like that?” Olivia asked, “One moment he’s strolling through the streets, and the next he’s being pounced on by guards all because he was too busy sightseeing.” Her and Aiden chuckled at the thought.

“Oh, so it’s a crime to appreciate a town now?” Jess dramatically placed his hands on his hips, mimicking Olivia’s posture.

“It's illegal for you.” Aiden said, “Now come on, there’s a shortcut through the park.”

Aiden walked through the moss-covered stone arch. On each side of the arch were thick, green hedges that boxed in the park. Olivia noticed that, unlike the buildings in this town, the hedges didn’t form an actual shape; it would jut in and out at random, creating odd angles and corners. It was strange but charming.

A path that started under the arch and looped around the area, creating a horseshoe-like shape. Aiden ignored the path and continued walking straight through the grass. Olivia saw the usual things most parks had: Benches, lampposts, a sign telling people not to litter. She also noticed leftover chalk on the sidewalk, laying right beside children’s drawings of stick figures and hopscotch.

Obsidian Town’s park was small, nice, simple, and… Honestly a little dark. The thick clouds were already blocking most of the sun’s light, but the few, tall, thick trees had branches that hid nearly every inch of the sky. Despite how dim it was, Olivia could still spot wild flowers sprinkled around the grass, along with the bugs buzzing around them.

Honestly--and Olivia felt bad thinking this--she preferred this sort of park over whatever the heck Beacon Town had going on. Yes, Beacon Town was great in it’s own way. People could build whatever they wanted, and that’s wonderful, but sometimes she’d just like to take a walk without a constant ruckus surrounding her. Sometimes she just wanted peace and quiet--

“That guy’s missing his entire head!” Jess suddenly whisper-shouted as he lightly shook Olivia. Her heart started beating frantically as she hurriedly spun her head around. Her mind was going all over the place. Was it a decapitated corpse? A strange, alternate-universe monster? Or--or--

It was a statue.

“Jess, you nearly gave me a heart attack.” She sighed with relief.

“Sorry,” He took his hands off of her and pointed, “check it out though!”

Both Olivia and Aiden were looking at the statue now. It was a man frozen midrun, an axe held back--stuck in a swinging motion--while the other hand held up his battered shield, which covered his face. If he had a face, that is. It had to be The Impossible Man. Olivia wasn’t sure who else it could’ve been.

“He’s definitely seen better days.” She said under her breath. Besides his entire head missing, a majority of his body was covered in dirt, children’s chalk, and other strange stains. Cracks started from his broken neck and traveled to his chest, his armor was chipped and scratched, and a good portion of his axe had broken off as well.

“Yeah, I think there’s a couple more statues around here?” Aiden mentioned as they continued walking, “They’re all in pretty bad shape. The kids like to mess with them.”

Aiden scanned the park. “There’s one,” He pointed to the upper corner on the left side of the park. A statue was placed on a podium right in front of a tree. Despite the fact one of his legs was missing, he appeared to be sitting comfortably, gazing at the tree tops peacefully.

“Annnndddd…” Aiden kept turning his head in different directions, “I’m pretty sure there was a head somewhere… Oh!” He spun around, walking backwards now as he pointed to the direction of the entrance. Jess and Olivia followed his finger, their eyes landed on a wooden bench--and right beside it was a small column with a broken bust of the man on top. Olivia couldn’t make out much of the man’s face from here, but she kept getting the eerie feeling that his fractured eyes were somehow watching her. Constantly. Unblinking. She shuddered.

“You think the quakes are the reason they’re missing some parts?” She heard Jess ask aloud.

“I find it really hard to believe they somehow stood through all of those quakes and just lost a head or a leg. They might've been stolen.” Olivia theorized.

Jess put his hand on his chin, stroking an imaginary beard, “I think I remember seeing Hadrian have a couple of statue parts at his place…”

“What? You think old people just like to steal random body parts during their free time?” She grinned.

“That’s what I’d like to do when I retire!” He chuckled. Olivia rolled her eyes playfully.

The three came to a stop in front of a wall of hedge that stood a couple inches taller than Aiden. Unlike the rest of the hedges, this one probably hasn’t been trimmed in months. The surface was extremely uneven; hundreds of tiny branches and leaves stuck out and got tangled with one another. This hedge was also covered in flowers. Tons of them. Clusters of fluffy-looking, light pink flowers were scattered throughout, and were nearly as big as Olivia’s face. The ground was covered in old petals.

Olivia made sure that every strand of hair was tucked inside her hood. There was no way she wanted to spend the rest of the day picking out the twigs, leaves, and petals that’d get stuck in there.

Aiden walked to the right, staring into the bush and running his hand over it as he mumbled to himself, trying to remember where the shortcut was. Olivia and Jess awkwardly shuffled along. Aiden soon stopped, crouched down, then put his hand into the bush. He then took it out, huffed, scooched over a couple more inches, and repeated the process.

After a minute of searching, Aiden started talking to himself. “Maybe it’s on the left side? I could’ve sworn we--!” Aiden suddenly fell forward and into a large hole in the hedge.

Man, if Aiden hadn’t fell through, Olivia would’ve also thought he’d forgotten where the entrance was. The branches hid the hole well.

Jess helped Aiden to his feet. Aiden thanked him as he moved aside, motioning towards the hole.

“You guys go ahead.” Aiden said, “I’ll wait for you to go through.”

Jess and Olivia glanced at each other before Jess gave her a little bow, “After you.”

“How kind.” Olivia curtsied. She crouched and crawled through. The dirt was already making her pants a little damp.

Luckily, despite a few scratches, the crawl only lasted a few seconds.

She got up, cleaned herself off, and waited for the boys.

Jess’ head soon popped out from the hole. Leaves and tiny branches were caught in his hair. He wriggled himself out and brushed off his clothes.

“Here, let me help with your hair.” Olivia started plucking the sticks out.

“Thanks!” Jess said happily as he took off and shook the leaves off his beanie.

It was quiet for a couple of moments as they cleaned themselves up. Olivia felt her smile twitch.

“Hey, Jess,” She started slowly, “I’m… I’m sorry.”

Jess put his hat back on, “What for?”

“I know you don’t have the best feelings towards Aiden right now,” She stared at her feet, “I hope it doesn’t feel like I’m dragging you along.”

“What? No, no, no!” Jess exclaimed, “Look, I was real mad last night, but I wanted to go with you!”

Olivia brought her head back up to Jess, a tiny smile of relief on her face.

“And I’m sticking to my word. We’ll stick together no matter what.” Jess shoved his hands into his pockets. “And uh… We don’t really have a choice when it comes to trusting Aiden and his friends, but things aren’t gonna get better if I keep blowing up like I did yesterday--” A sudden grunt interrupted Jess and caused both of them to jump.

They turned to see Aiden struggling to get out of the bush. How much did he hear? Hopefully not too much. Hopefully.

Aiden tries to use his free arm to pull the rest of his body out, but after a few more seconds he stopped fighting and let his face fall to the ground.

“... I’m stuck again.” He could hear Olivia and Jess snicker as they grabbed his hand and began to pull. They were able to pull him out in no time.

“Thanks.” Aiden said as he shook off the dirt--and the embarrassment. “The memorials are on the other side of the cemetery. Should only take a minute to get there.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When they entered the cemetery, Jess kept his eyes peeled for any familiar names on the gravestones. A few graves had rather unusual colors to them. There was a dusty red one, an uncommon shade, but not odd. Then he’d walk by a blue one; he’s never seen a grave that color before--well, Reuben’s memorial had bits of blue in it, does that count?--Then he walked by a purple grave, a green one, an orange one?

“This is… The happiest looking cemetery I’ve ever seen.” Olivia said as she beheld the rest of the graveyard.

“Is that a compliment?” Aiden asked.

Olivia kept staring at tombstones until she finally said “I don’t know, I’ve just never seen a place for the dead look so… Lively.”

Taking in the rest of the graveyard, Jess had to agree . What was usually a dark, gloomy, dreary place was so, so vibrant. Even under this cloudy, dull weather, the many colors still popped. This was more like a miniature festival than a cemetery! Many tombstone tops looked like roofs with their pointed tops and little overhangs. Their heights and widths would range from short and broad to tall and scrawny. Heck, Jess could spot a couple of graves as tall as him.

“What the heck are your cemeteries like?” Aiden glanced back at them.

“Plainer colors, I guess?” Jess shrugged, “You know, blacks, grays, browns, nothing too flashy.” The only exception Jess could think of was, once again, Reuben's memorial.

“Really?” Aiden sounded genuinely baffled by this. “We hardly got any of those. What do they mean?”

Olivia and Jess exchanged confused expressions with each other before Jess faced Aiden again, “Sadness? Loss? I don’t think there’s any real meaning behind those colors, honestly.”

“Right, we don’t typically associate bright colors with the dead.” Olivia added in, viewing the cemetery again. Scrawny trees and tiny flowers with stems that reached her knees that were peppered around the area; most were in between the graves. She thought about Aiden’s question, “I’m assuming the colors here represent something specific?”

“Yeah, buncha things. Too many for me to keep track of, but I remember the important ones.” Aiden started as they continued walking down the damp dirt path. “When a person dies, their friends and family can choose the color of their grave. It’s usually… Like… Hm. It’s supposed to show what the person was like when they were alive, ya know? Yellow for the happy people,” He explained while pointing to a shorter grave of said-color, “orange for determination, that sorta stuff. Stella’s memorized ‘em all. If you ever wanna know more, she’s the person to ask.”

As Aiden kept talking, Olivia and Jess kept taking in their surroundings. Jess had noticed something. Every single grave they passed was decorated with gems. The gems were placed close by the names and dates of those who passed, and seeing so many of them in various shapes, colors, and sizes made him curious…

“Hey, uh, what’s with the gems?” Jess spoke up, “Are they real?” He was wondering if maybe they were regular stones that were carved and painted. There was no way Obsidian Town could have an overabundance of minerals, especially since the citizens needed a mining license.

“Nah, they’re glass.” Aiden replied, “I thought they were real myself until we had to choose some gems for Lukas--” He suddenly stopped in his tracks. Jess and Olivia peered over and saw a lit redstone torch placed in front of a grave. Aiden plucked the torch from its place, a scowl on his face as he blew out the flame then chucked the burnt wood across the cemetery.

“Anyways, what was I sayin’?” He began walking again, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

‘What was that about?’ Jess thought to himself. It must’ve been linked to the cult, right? Why else would Aiden have done that?

“Right!” He snapped his fingers,” So the gems are basically like the colors of the graves. We had to go to this special place where the people there pulled out huge chests filled with those things. Took us forever to pick ‘em out.”

“Each color chosen means something for the person that passed…” Jess whispered to himself as Aiden’s words from earlier echoed through his mind. He was rather fond of how Obsidian Town remembered their dead. It was more uplifting than what he was used to. Maybe he could make some changes to the graveyards once they get back to Beacon Town.

Aiden was quiet for a minute before he added, “Gill took the longest. He was real worried his gem wouldn’t be good enough.” He paused. “He… he ended up crying.”

His voice got quieter, “I hated seeing him like that.”

Jess and Olivia both tried to think of what to say, what ‘s the next best thing to do, but Aiden immediately changed the subject.

“What do you guys put on your graves?” Aiden asked, he sounded ‘normal’ again, but kept facing away from the two.

Jess hesitated, “Names. Dates.”

“A description of the person who passed.” Olivia added.

“Just words? Doesn’t that get a little… Depressing?” Aiden narrowed his eyes.

“Oh, you think that’s sad? We once wrote out an entire dictionary on a guy’s grave back in our universe.” Jess answered jokingly. Olivia let out a little giggle, and they even heard a chuckle out of Aiden.

That small chuckle was all Jess needed to hear to continue telling quips and share short, funny stories at Aiden’s way to try and lighten the mood. Aiden was soon sharing his own experiences mixed in with his own humor. Aiden and Jess were bouncing off of each other, making fun of their own universes while Olivia would throw in her commentary every now and then.

‘This is so weird…’ Olivia thought to herself. The three of them laughing while walking through a cemetery… it’s something that’d usually feel inappropriate to do, but here she wasn’t all that bothered.

This whole experience has been surreal. Entering a rainbow of a cemetery through a bush felt like something that’d only happen in her dreams, yet here she was. Honestly, it was a nice change of pace to not feel worried for her and her friend’s life for a moment.

She had nearly forgotten the dread she felt when she originally suggested coming here.

And then Aiden spoke up.

“Okay, okay, we’re finally--” Aiden stopped. “Here.” All happiness in his tone had left.

That didn’t sound good. That didn’t sound good at all. Olivia grabbed onto the string of her hoodie and began to pull on it as she slowly peered over Aiden. Standing before him were two graves. Olivia’s eyes were drawn to the shorter one. She trailed down the grave, the coral color fading into a deep shade of red until she stopped at the flowers laying beside a lit, redstone torch.

Olivia held her breath. Jess got close to her as Aiden approached the torch. He grabbed it by it’s barely-scorched base and brought it to his face to blow out the flame. Instead of throwing it away like the last one, he just placed it to the side, only a few feet away from the grave. He wore an expression neither of them have ever seen on him before. Fear? Heartache? Pain.

“We’re here.” He said again. His voice completely devoid of energy. His body was stiff as he walked to the side of the grave, with his hands curled into tight fists and placed at his sides. There was another redstone torch placed in front of the grave to the right, but Aiden didn’t say anything. Olivia took a few small steps forward and gave him a small nod.

As she knelt down in front of the grave--in front of her grave--she heard Aiden tell Jess ‘Come on’, followed by the sound of footsteps growing distant.

She sat alone at her grave.

She didn’t want to read the text. She really didn’t. Isn’t that funny? That was one of the main reasons she wanted to come here. To see if there was a chance she could read about her death, what happened to her, but now that she was here, she was terrified. She looked everywhere else but the epitaph before her. She stared at the small bouquet of flowers on the dirt--the dirt… She noticed it seemed… Messier compared to the other graves. Like someone tried digging through it. The bouquet, though! There was a mix of flowers held together by a red ribbon. Clusters of tiny, magenta flowers, a few pointed, white flowers with many petals, and a type of flower she actually knew the name of: Lilys.

She then brought her gaze up, catching a quick glimpse of her name written in gold, to observe the gems placed into the tombstone. Two orange gems, one yellow, one gold, another maroon, and the gem in the center was amber. They formed an arch around the words in the center.

‘Stop avoiding it.’ She told herself, but she didn’t listen. She turned to Lukas’ grave. She had to see his. She had to. It was right here and--and he’s her friend.

His grave was turquoise and had thin, white stripes that stretched across the top, and seven gems instead of six. Three on each side, and the last gem placed above his epitaph. He was given flowers as well.

The words engraved in the stone read: “LUKAS: Courageous and loyal. An inspiring leader and a brilliant friend.”

Short but wonderful. It was perfect. Reading it over and over again, she thought about just how lucky she and Jess were with having their friend still around. He’s done so much for them. Constantly helping Jess run Beacon Town, aiding the citizens, always visiting her and Axel whenever he got the chance… He could’ve left them during that Witherstorm. He could’ve ditched them at any moment when things got too rough, but he never did.

‘I need to give Lukas a hug when I get back.’ Olivia thought to herself. Lukas could still leave them one day without warning. He could finally get sick of them, die in a brutal fight, or--or end up being kidnapped like this Lukas--Olivia squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, trying to get those awful thoughts out. Don’t think about that. He’s still alive. He still cares about them. He loves them.

Olivia kept her eyes closed for a moment longer before finally bringing her attention back to her own grave. She forced herself to read the words written for her; “OLIVIA: An intelligent, creative, and hardworking engineer. A bright spark of joy even during the darkest of days.”

Olivia stared at her words. A weird sense of reassurance was arising. She’s never thought highly of herself. She’d sometimes convince herself that others couldn’t tolerate her, and that she was one mistake away from ruining everything. She wondered if this Olivia ever felt a similar way. Was she constantly trying to make sure she said and did the right things? Try to fix any issue immediately so her friends didn’t think she was useless? Always second guessing her own thoughts?

Did this Olivia know her friends always loved her? Or was she riddled with fears and doubts until her sudden end?

‘She died a couple of years ago, didn’t she?’ Olivia tried to recall any mention of her death from Aiden. She wasn’t certain, but whether it was a few years ago, or a few months ago, didn’t change the fact that she died so soon.

She was young.

Younger than her.

To have her life end on an abrupt note… It scared her. It scared her so much. Everything could be taken away one day.

As she sat over her body, she felt her fingers begin to dig into the dirt, like they were trying to reach in and find the other Olivia’s hand. A sick form of curiosity made her want to know more. More about this Olivia. Her life. Her mind. To have a connection with her. It was her body she was sitting over, afterall. Her corpse. Her--

“Olivia?” Jess placed his hand on her shoulder. “Are you doing okay?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Come on.” Aiden gave Jess a light tap with his hand. He started walking away from Olivia. Jess hesitated. He looked at his friend for a second more before leaving with Aiden.

“We just needa give her some space.” Aiden said.

“Right, totally understand.” Jess wanted to stick around for a few minutes longer to study his friends’ graves, but that could wait. He didn’t want to make Olivia feel like he was breathing down her neck.

Jess thought back to the many instances where his friends’ lives were in danger, when they were so close to being taken away from him. He hated seeing his friends’ lives at stake more than anything; he’d go through Hell and back to protect them, and to be in a place where their deaths became a reality was so hard to wrap his head around.

Lukas left without a trace. No familiar faces to comfort him during his last moments, only enemies looming over him while he was in an unknown place. Just thinking about his fate made Jess worry sick about his Lukas back at home.

It was silent for a few minutes. Only their footsteps filled the void.

“So…” Jess started, wanting to make small talk, “What do the colors for Olivia and Lukas’ graves mean?”

“Olivia’s creativity.” Aiden replied, sounding short. “And Lukas’--” He paused and scanned the cemetery. He took a left turn and continued walking between the graves. “He’s…Don’t make fun of us, but his color stands for friendship.”

“Friendship?” Jess perked up at the word.

“I know, it’s probably super cheesy or whatever, but it fits him. It really does.” Aiden said.

“No, no, I completely agree! He’s a great friend--one of the best! If I had to recount all the times he’s been there for me, we’d be here all day.”

“Right. Same here.” They stopped at another grave with another redstone torch in front of it. This grave was short and purple, with many cool-colored gems placed in it. Jess didn’t recognize the name.

Aiden grabbed the torch and blew out the flame. Jess decided to ask another question.

“Any idea why The Awakening puts those torches there?”

“Probably for no good reason.” Aiden answered through gritted teeth as he chucked the wood as hard as he could across the cemetery.

There was something unnerving about the torches left at the grave. Their red glow would take over the colors of the graves, and their light under a thick, cloudy sky would claim your attention and make it hard to pull away. Their soft crackling would fill in the silence whenever he and Aiden didn’t talk; the occasional loud snaps from the flames would make Jess believe there was a threat following them.

Jess stopped at a tombstone and picked up a vase of flowers that had fallen aside. “The gems on their graves, what do they mean? Do you remember ‘em?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’d remember what the gems on my own friends’ graves would mean!” Aiden snapped.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that!” Jess held the vase tighter. “I was just--I wanted to know more about them.” Great. Now they’re both feeling terrible.

Aiden’s demeanor softened when he saw Jess’ reaction. “No, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I’ve been--” He hesitated, “I’ve just been thinking about someone is all.”

“No, it’s no problem.” Jess carefully placed the small vase back upright. He folded his arms and joined Aiden’s side.

“I’m uh, still interested to hear bout those gems if you’re wanting to share.” He said.

“Yeah. I can do that for ya.” Aiden answered.

“For Lukas,” Aiden began, walking through the grass. “Gill chose blue. I remember that one’s loyalty. Gold for compassion. White for safety--he’d always double check our belongings every time to make sure we were prepared.”

Aiden stopped and grabbed a torch, “It was kinda annoying, but I miss it now.” He blew it out and threw the wood.

They kept moving.

“Rose picked pink.” Aiden started running his fingers over the grave tops, “She was real embarrassed when she chose it. Kept refusing to show us cause she thought we’d laugh at her.”

“I’m guessing pink’s for love?” Jess said, trying to make sure he wouldn’t trample any flowers.

“Yeah, and--” Aiden chuckled, “Rose wanted his description to be: Pretty blond dork with a decent sense of style. All of us were actually on board with it.”

“Did you end up pulling through with it?” Jess asked.

“Nah, the guys making the grave wouldn’t allow it.” Aiden spotted a couple of gravestones with torches by them. They were already burnt out. He grabbed two of the torches while Jess grabbed the last.

“What a bunch of killjoys.” Jess joked. Aiden laughed as he prepared to throw the burnt wood. Jess mimicked each step of Aiden’s. Hold, aim, then throw. Once they lost sight of the rubbish, they followed the dirt path to the entrance of the cemetery.

The cemetery wasn’t boxed in by hedges like the park, instead, it had a stone wall.

Aiden leaned against the wall. It didn’t look like the most comfortable surface--the rocks were jagged and would probably fall apart in moments--but he seemed unaffected by it. Jess stood nearby and took a peek through the gate beside them. Unlike the rough, uneven walls, the black fence was tall, sturdy, and had a huge, elegantly curved arch.

“Olivia’s got a few similar gems,” Aiden started, putting his hands in his pocket, “Two golds, yellow… She’s got amber--Man, I always mix those three up. They sound different enough but when they’re placed by each other, they all look the same. Amber’s slightly darker than yellow, but not as dark as gold. Amber’s positivity.”

“Lotta happy ones for her.” Jess commented. He’d been staring at the decorated buildings through the gate’s bars as he listened. He could spot bits of pots filled with flowers on the other side of the wall, their colors as eye-catching as the cemetery.

“Always made us happy.” Aiden said with a shrug. “She also had… Ah…” He pressed his lips together, “Orange! She had that one too. And then there’s…” He had to stop to think again.

“It’s not… Well, it looks like red, but it’s darker… Ah, shoot.” Aiden cursed to himself.

“Carmine? Maroon?” Jess tilted his head.

Aiden snapped his fingers, “Maroon! Right! Creativity; same thing as her grave. Picked it myself.” He said rather proudly.

“You guys really cared about her.” Jess mumbled. He tilted his head towards Aiden, “And I’m sure Olivia loved you guys all the same.”

Aiden stared back at him.

A small smile spread across his face, “Thanks.”

The two became quiet and looked over the array of colorful graves before them. The clouds slowly began to part; gems glistened as the rays of sun shone down on them.

“Should we check on Olivia now?” Jess asked after a few minutes of silence.

Aiden got off the stone wall and stretched his back, “Yeah, let’s go.”

~ ~ ~ ~

When the two returned to Olivia, the last thing they wanted to see was to see her in distress. The tips of her fingers were shoved into the dirt below, her eyes were stuck on the golden words in front of her, her mouth was parted--barely moving--with no voice to match. Jess couldn’t tell if she was trembling or not, but she was scared. Very scared.

Jess bit his lip and approached his friend. Aiden was right behind.

“Olivia?” Jess placed his hand on her shoulder, “Are you doing okay?”

Olivia jumped and jerked her hands out of the dirt.

“Yes--! Yeah, no, no don’t worry, I’m fine. Thanks--thank you for checking on me.” She replied frantically. She took deep breaths.

Before Jess could question anything, Olivia spoke up.

“Aiden, this uh--the substance mixed into the stone,” Her fingers trailed down the tombstone, “is it redstone dust?”

Her voice was shaky.

Aiden glanced at Jess, who was equally nervous as him, then said, “Actually, it is.”

He took a step closer to Olivia, “They don’t usually allow people to mix stuff like redstone or glowstone dust with the colors--especially cause they’re hard to find--but they made an exception for us.”

Olivia nodded along, blinking back tears.

Jess read her epitaph, “Guess all Olivia’s are just the greatest engineers out there, huh?”

“Damn right. She didn’t have a bunch of dust to work with, but she’d still crank out machine after machine like no tomorrow.” Aiden said, “Man, I remember every year for her birthday that’d be all she’d ever ask for. Not weapons, not new journals, not even a dang cake, just redstone dust. Course, the only places you could find ‘em were in caves or old shrines, right?” He asked while facing Lukas’ grave and grabbing the lit redstone torch below.

“Yup, we found a bunch of it yesterday.” Jess said, sitting besides Olivia.

“Right, and since it was so dangerous, she told us to not worry bout gettin’ it because ‘It’d be stupid to risk your life for some red powder’.” Aiden gestured with the torch, the flame getting frighteningly close to his hair.

“Well, I’d always lose track of dates and forget to get her a gift, so one of the other guys would back me up and tell Olivia we bought a gift ‘together’, and I felt so bad.” He thankfully blew out the fire after saying that.

“So then guess what I did one day?” Aiden said.

“Walked out and found a bag of redstone on the ground?” Jess asked sarcastically.

Aiden laughed, “I wish.”  

Aiden began pacing, the trail of smoke whirling around him, “But I decided I’d bust into one of those dumb shrine and find some dust for her, and I didn’t tell anyone bout it besides Jesse. He was on board with the plan, he was great at findin’ stuff, plus two people finding dust was much easier than one.” Aiden fiddled with the burnt wood, “We headed off to the nearest shrine and actually found enough dust to fill up a bag and a half, but cause of the state of that dump, some rooms would collapse after you opened the door!”

“You two ended up getting hurt, didn’t you?” Olivia had her hand on her head, already concerned over the direction of this story.

“Course we did!” Aiden threw his arms up. “I swear anytime the two of us were together, things would fall apart or we’d break a bone--” Aiden stopped his talking to quickly chuck the wood away. “Anyways, anyways, we got back home right on time for Olivia’s birthday and man did we look awful. Clothes were all dirty, got some real bad scrapes on my knees, Jesse grabbed so much dust it looked like his fingers were covered in blood, and I somehow got a black eye? I think the top of a chest smacked me...”

Olivia rubbed her temples, “You two really shouldn’t have risked your lives over a birthday present--”

“That’s exactly what she said!” Aiden exclaimed, “Went through all that trouble, and you know how she reacted?”

“Panicked?” Olivia asked.

“Bet she loved it.” Jess said, giving Olivia a nudge.

“She did--but Hero did she freak out! Dropped her cake and rushed over to get us cleaned up. Olivia was wrapping up one of Jesse’s arms--” Aiden thought to himself for a second, “--I think a big rock landed on it? But she was going off on us. Raising her voice and lecturing us like she was our mom, telling us it’s a miracle we were still in one piece, and why in Hero’s name we did something so stupid.”

“I mean, it wasn’t stupid if things worked out for you.” Jess pointed out.

“Yeah, but still.” Aiden chuckled, “It was stupid. It was so, so stupid. But after that, she loved our present. I’d never seen her smile so much. She was working on her machinery, telling me and Jesse how everything worked while we pretended to understand.”

Aiden carefully leaned on Olivia’s grave, “Hero knows I didn’t understand a single thing she was sayin’, but seeing her so happy…” His smile grew as his voice softened, “It was great.”

“That’s all so sweet…” Olivia spoke softly. “I love it.”

She was shaking again.

Jess turned to his friend to mention something, but stopped when he saw Olivia staring at the ground, fingers picking at the dirt just like she was when they came back. That same, terrified expression on her face.

“Liv--?” Jess mumbled, but Olivia started rambling nonsense.

“I don’t know if my words mean much to you--I know I’m not her--but you’re a good friend, Aiden.” Her nails started to dig into the ground, “All of this, all that you’ve done for Olivia--you--you--Even when I just--” She kept stumbling over her words, “Even when she died one day you kept being so kind to me--”

The more she kept talking, the more concerned--the more scared--Aiden and Jess became.

“Hey, hey are you alright?” Jess reached out to hold her, but Olivia shot her head back up.

“I’m under here.” She whispered. Her voice was so unsteady.

Jess was taken aback, “What?”

“I’m under here.” She said again. “I’m so close.”

Her hand began to claw at the dirt, “I’m so close. My body’s all mangled up in that box below, and--and my hair’s so long now.” She felt sick talking about this, she felt sick thinking about it. “It’d be so easy to just dig myself up. For Aiden to see her again. Jesse--Jess, we’re so close. I could look at myself. Look at my body. I’m--”

“Olivia!” Jess shook her, “Do you want to get out of here?”

Aiden wanted to offer his support, but Olivia instantly got on her feet.

“Yes. Yes I want to leave. I want to go home.” She kept repeating that last sentence while she hugged herself, breathing heavily. She was freezing.

“Right, we need to head back anyways.” Aiden’s stomach was in knots seeing Olivia like this. His hands turned to fists, “I should’ve known better. I shouldn’t have taken you here. I’m sorry--”

“Don’t.” Olivia cut in. “I wanted to go. You took me. I saw--I saw what I needed to. I appreciate it. Thank you.” She was stiff as a board.

Olivia took one last deep breath, “Let’s go home.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Damn them.

Damn them all.

Locked every damn door and window in this house. They’re hiding her, he knows they’re hiding her.

Did they really think locking themselves in would stop him? He used to live in this Hero forsaken house; he knows every nail, screw, and plank that makes up this despicable place.

He still remembers that trapdoor on the roof. He knows how to claw his way up there. He’ll pry it open with his own bare hands.

He’ll find her.

He will.

[keanureevesisbae]

‘Dad, do you still love me?’

A one shot in the universe of ‘Mister Cavill, your dog is kinda fat’

Henry Cavill x Olivia Tran

Summary: Henry notices Elodie isn’t exactly herself, so he takes her out on a little father/daughter date, hoping to figure out what is going on inside of her head.

Wordcount: 1.8k

A/N: Thursday at 7 p.m. CEST time I’ll start the celebratory Q&A

Masterlist // previous one shot

Vanessa is 23 // Elodie is 15 // Heather and Chloe are 11

Henry noticed how Elodie hasn’t been herself lately. She constantly avoids him and barely talks to him anymore, even when they are doing the dishes. Usually the two of them would have their little moment together, as she was washing, while he was drying. They would always talk a little bit, catching up with one another.

Just a few days ago, he found Olivia with Elodie in bed, her arms wrapped around his serious little princess as they both slept. Out of all his daughters, Elodie was the serious one, the introvert and he loved her for that.

But he noticed that something was eating her up alive and that killed him. He asked Olivia about it, who simply looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. ‘I’m not going to tell you.’

‘So there is something?’ he asked.

‘Yes, there is something,’ Olivia said. ‘But I’m not going to tell you about it, because she has to tell you about it when she feels ready.’

‘But why did she tell you about it and not me? Am I not a good enough dad for her?’ he wondered.

‘No, honey, of course you are a good dad for her, but she is trying to process this herself right now. It took her some time to tell me, so don’t you worry about a thing.’

‘Is she okay though?’

‘It’s nothing life threatening, if that’s what you are worried about. If that were the case, remember, I’d always tell you. But this… It’s personal and not my place to share.’

He was grateful that his daughters were so close to Olivia and that when there were problems, they found their way to her. But he sometimes wonders if the girls don’t trust him or anything. He would always listen to them, drop everything he was doing, so he could listen to his girls. And Elodie came to him a lot of times, when she was stressing over school, when she needed to have a dress for a Valentines Dance back when she was thirteen.

What has changed?

‘Honey, are you okay?’ Olivia asks him.

He continues to look at Elodie from the doorway, who has her earphones in as she is doing her homework. She pushes her glasses further up her nose. ‘I’m worried about her,’ he admits.

Olivia, who has reached the beautiful age of forty six, but looks at least ten years younger, wraps her arm around his waist. ‘Maybe you two could go out for awhile. A little walk with some iced coffee.’

‘Really?’

‘Really, honey.’ She stands on her toes and whispers: ‘I understand you are worried and maybe if you take her out, she might talk to you.’ He feels her soft lips against his jaw and she whispers: ‘I love you, Henry. You can do this.’ Olivia smiles at him, before walking back to the kitchen.

‘Elodie, princess,’ he says and his voice is louder than the music coming out of her earphones, since she looks up. Because she is so responsible, she always has her volume pretty low, because she doesn’t want to ruin her hearing. He looks into her large brown eyes and he knows that—as always with her—is so much going on inside of her head. Whilst her sisters always voice their thoughts, she keeps them to herself. ‘We’re going out for a drink.’

‘Why?’ she asks, placing her glasses on her books.

Why. That’s her first and most used response to basically everything.

‘You need a break, you’ve been at it for quite some time now. Come on, homework can wait. We’re going to get something to drink.’

She looks at her homework, contemplating for a moment, before she gets up. She puts on a thin vest and slips on her sneakers. They walk to a nice cafe nearby and he orders two iced coffees for the two of them. ‘Thanks,’ she says, as she takes the cup from him, when they start to walk to one of their favorite spots. It’s a secluded area in the park, a large oak with a park bench right underneath it. The bench is empty and Henry and Elodie sit down.

He remembers when she was seven, he would take her to this exact place all the time. He never came with his other daughters, because they thought it was boring. Elodie on the other hand loves this place and he took her here quite a lot. He would read his own book, or read one to her.

‘Tell me, sweetheart,’ he says, to break the painful silence between them. ‘How are you?’

Elodie doesn’t make eye contact with him, as she stares right ahead of her. ‘I’m okay.’

She can stop talking to him all together, basically ignoring him, but lying to him is something she simply cannot do. ‘Are you sure?’

‘No,’ she mumbles. ‘It’s just that I don’t want you to get mad at me.’

‘When have I gotten mad at you?’ he asks her.

She finally looks at him. ‘Never,’ she mumbles, ‘but dad… I’m scared.’

‘Sweetheart, why are you scared?’ he asks, turning a bit, so he can look at her.

Elodie’s eyes fill with tears and she brings a shaky hand to her mouth, to cover up the sob, but he knows her.

‘Come here, Elodie,’ he says, holding out his arm. She scoots over to him and lets herself be wrapped up in a tight hug. He presses a kiss on top of her head. ‘It’s all okay, princess.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ she cries out.

‘No, no, no, none of that,’ he tells her. ‘You don’t have to apologize.’

‘It’s just that…’ She takes a deep breath and whispers: ‘I have a girlfriend.’

That was what she was worried about? ‘Why would I get mad about something like that?’

‘Because Vanessa has a boyfriend and you love him and you continue to say that the rest of us should pick out a nice boy like Trey. Besides, you never said anything about the LGBTQ community and I figured that you might not support it.’

She has a point, he thinks to himself. He always jokes about how the girls should get themselves a boy like Trey, he barely mentions anything about the LGBTQ community and knowing that that scared her into thinking that he would get mad, makes him want to curse himself. ‘I’m sorry I gave you the impression that I do not support the LGBTQ community. I really am sorry about that and princess, I’m also really sorry that I made those jokes. I just didn’t really think about it, I guess.’

She pulls back a little and he sees her red and puffy eyes. ‘Dad, do you still love me?’

The fact that she has to ask this, is a punch in the gut. ‘Of course I still love you, Elodie. I love you so so so much and this will not change anything about that. Absolutely not.’

Elodie lets out a nervous laugh. ‘I love you too, dad.’

‘You still think I’m mad at you?’

She shakes her head. ‘No, I don’t.’

‘Good, little princess.’ He smiles at her and it earns him a beautiful, yet timid smile of his second daughter. He pulls her securely to his side and she places her head against his chest. ‘Now tell me all about this girl, because I need to know everything about her.’

‘Her name is Katie and she is in my Math class.’

He frowns. ‘Katie?’ he asks. ‘Didn’t she come over a few weeks ago?’

Elodie nods. ‘Yes, she did.’

‘Oh, but I thought she was really nice,’ he says.

Katie was open, extraverted and had the sense of humor that was quite crude, but also very funny. He liked her a lot and was happy that Elodie found a friend like her, who would pull her out of her shell a bit.

But the fact that they are dating makes him even more delighted.

‘When can we meet her as your girlfriend?’ he asks.

Elodie lets out a chuckle. ‘Maybe tomorrow. Vanessa, Chloe and Heather really wanted to meet her too, as my girlfriend this time.’

‘They knew?’

‘Yeah, they did. I think two weeks ago. Mom knew that Katie was my girlfriend when she came over. She actually has known for about two months now, that I like girls and for a month now that Katie and I are a couple.’

Now he really feels like an idiot. Why isn’t anyone telling him anything. Is he really not a good enough dad?’

She knows exactly what is going on inside his head. ‘Dad, the reason I didn’t tell you, was because I thought you’d love me less. Vanessa is this perfect daughter with the perfect boyfriend and then Heather and Chloe are also doing really well and I’m just me. Just boring, but gay.’

‘Oh no, sweetheart,’ he sighs, feeling like an even bigger idiot right now. ‘You are not just boring. You are so intelligent, such a lovely young lady and you, my love, are never just you. You have so much to offer and your mother and I are so lucky that you are our daughter.’

When they finally walk back to their house, she holds his hand. He doesn’t know how long ago that has happened, but he enjoys this moment, because he figures it won’t happen again any time soon.

She stops walking when they are almost home. ‘I love you, dad,’ she says. ‘And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.’

‘It’s totally fine. You should only tell me, your mother or sisters something when you feel comfortable. I mean, this is pretty big news.’

‘I know,’ she chuckles.

‘Can I ask you something?’

‘Sure.’

‘How long have you known? That you liked girls?’

She looks at their hands and says: ‘I always thought I was really weird for not falling in love in elementary school. But a few months ago I changed my math class and I sat next to Katie. It just clicked, I guess and then I started to dream about her. A lot. And I got so nervous all of the sudden around her, until one day she just asked me why I was being so weird. So I just told her and it turned out that she liked me too.’

He pulls her into a hug and closes his eyes, as he is happy that his daughter is visibly more relaxed right now. ‘I’m so happy for you, Elodie,’ he tells her and he means it from the bottom of his heart. He never thought about it really, that one of his daughters could come back with a girl, hence the comments he made to them. But seeing that smile on her face when she talks about Katie, it reminds him of how Simon talks about Belle, how he talks about Olivia and how Vanessa talks about Trey.

He just has to remember one important thing.

Love is love.

A few years later:

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[mixxoh]

Save You | One

Contents/Warnings: Swearing, Violence, Gore

Word Count: 7.3k

It had been a while since Veena had been comfortable. The constant feeling of fear and uncertainty had dwindled as the years went by but never went away, a reminder of that time three years ago in Shiganshina.

Veena was only a young teenager at the time of the attack on Shiganshina District. Living with her parents and older sister, she had a happy life living in the quaint yet busy district. Her parents owned a small shop around the corner where she often worked to pass time with her older sister, Olivia. Olivia had been the sweetheart of the district, captivating the hearts of men in Shiganshina and the surrounding districts. She is beautiful, ethereal, and has a way with her words that ensured the likeness of everyone she met. Those characteristics didn't pass well to Veena, however. Veena is pretty, but not beautiful. She's charismatic, but not as much as Olivia. She's well liked, but not as popular. In a way, Veena has always envied her older sister but ever since the fall of Shiganshina, the envy she held for her sister slowly diminished until it no longer existed.

Olivia and Veena were working in their parents shop when the Colossal and Armored Titans destroyed the wall. Veena was behind the counter counting the money they made so far in the day while Olivia was assisting the customers in the shop itself.

"Ven," Olivia called out. Looking up from the cash in her hands, Veena found her sister deeper in the store assisting a man, giving Veena a soft smile with a book in her hands. "Can you check him out? Give him the discount, please!" She asked while handing the book back to the customer, her smile growing larger.

Giving her a small smile back, she looks back down at the cash in her hands. Putting the cash in an envelope, she hears Olivia and the man exchange a few more words. The discount that Olivia gives out isn't much, really, only about 5% off, but she gives it out only to the nicer guys that hit on her. Their parents don't mind either, taking advantage of their daughter's good looks and personality to keep men coming back to the shop. Hearing the customer walk up the the small wooden counter, Veena glances up. Meeting his eyes, she gives him a smile while grabbing the book he handed out to her.

"Just the journal is going to b-"

Suddenly, a loud boom interrupted their conversation. Startled, Veena locks eyes with Olivia across the room, her eyes wide.

"Ven-" Screaming interrupted what Olivia was going to say to Veena. Veena's head snaps to the front windows of the store, breaking eye contact with her sister to see a mass of people running past the store. Now very much scared rather than concerned, Veena puts the book down on the counter and rounds the wooden counter to crosses the store to the set of windows, her gaze set on the chaos outside. Looking out to where the now even larger mass of people are running from, her fear only grows larger. As the smoke dissipates, Veena sees a large titan peering over the wall.

"There's no way..." Veena mutters to herself.

"No way, what? Veena!" Olivia screams at Veena, hearing Veena's muttering over the sound of screaming and shoes on pavement outside. Meeting Veena at the window, Olivia can feel her heart drop into her stomach as she sees the titan for the first time. "Is that...?" She mutters.

Their gaze is interrupted by another loud boom. Casting her eyes slightly downward from the large titan peering at them from behind the wall, Veena sees a large hole in the wall with titans now coming through into the district. Olivia must have seen the event too, quickly grabbing Veena's hand and squeezing it tightly. Veena was frozen in fear, not even wincing at the death grip that Olivia was giving her hand, while Olivia starting shaking in fear, feeling tears form in her eyes as she began to sob. After hearing her older sister's whimpers, Veena snaps out of her daze. Turning to face her sister, Veena grabs her attention.

"Olivia, we gotta go." Olivia's head snaps to meet Veena's gaze, her eyes wide as her heart starts to beat impossibly faster.

"Veena, are you crazy? We can't go out there, there are titans!"

"Are you kidding? We can't stay here, Liv." Veena observes the scene in front of the shop, trying to piece together a plan of what to do. Her mind was scrambling, her eyes fitting everywhere almost all at once, observing the people running by, the titans pooling into Shiganshina, and the large titan that continues to peer at the chaos it's caused.

"Crap." Veena jumps, surprised by the male voice behind her. She had completely forgotten about the customer in the shop. He's peering outside the windows with Veena and Olivia, his eyes wide and breathe hard and fast. This sisters watch as he rushes to the front door of the shop, forcing it open despite the large crowd of people running against the door. Immediately, he's knocked down as the rush of people push past him, no one caring about the grown man knocked to the ground being trampled on.

Olivia starts to sob harder, watching the man being trampled to death in front of her. Staring in horror, Veena struggles to think of a plan to get out of this situation. They need to leave immediately before the titans reach their location and they get eaten, but they can't leave through the front door or else they'll be killed by their own people during the chaos.

"Olivia, we need to go, now." Veena emphasizes to her sister. Turning towards each other, Veena has problem focusing as she watches her sister crumbles to the ground and break down in front of her.

"We'll, um, yeah we'll leave through the back door into the alleyway and follow the crowd. The alleyway should be empty. I'm sure the Garrison is doing something about the crowd right now." Veena concludes out loud. "Liv, let's go." Grabbing her hand roughly, Veena pulls her sister up to her feet and starts to make for the back door on the opposite end of the shop. Pushing the door open, Veena pulls a sobbing Olivia into the alleyway. Looking at the open end of the alley, another large crowd of people are rushing by. "C'mon Olivia." Pulling her sister's hand hard, Veena and Olivia start running to the open end of the alley to the mass of chaos. Meeting the crowd, Veena pushes herself and Olivia into the swarm and beginning sprinting with the flow of people.

It's absolute chaos, the sounds of people's screams and cries are deafening as they run to who knows where. The sight of everything are traumatizing itself, lone children crying for anyone to listen, dead bodies already littering the streets, and destroyed homes.

As they continue to run, Veena can feel Olivia pulling back on her arm. "Ven, what about mom and dad?" She manages to say despite her sobbing and her being out of breath due to the running.

Veena's blood runs cold, forgetting completely about her parents during everything happening. Truthfully, she's doesn't know what to do. She's conflicted, because if she risks finding her parents, her and Olivia's lives are even more at risk than they are now. However, if they were to continue with their current plan, they may not even see their parents again. Veena realizes she has to decide quickly seeing as they're approaching the market where their parent's were shopping at during the time of the break on the wall.

"Fuck, okay," Veena hesitates, "we'll swing by since the market's close, but we're gonna be quick, okay? We can't risk wasting too much time." She concludes as she tells Olivia. She can hear Olivia hold in her sobs, grateful that Veena is taking over in this situation.

Olivia had always envied her sister. Veena had always been headstrong and quick to think and move. She's incredibly strong mentally, never allowing things to bother her, or at least if it does, she never shows it for the sake of those around her. Olivia wasn't dumb like many thought, she knows many girls of the district were jealous of her beauty and charisma and many men wanted her. She knows her reputation in Shiganshina, but never truly understood why her sister didn't have the same reputation alongside her.

Honestly, Olivia was scared. Her mind is racing with thoughts of what will happen, what did happen, and is happening. She desperately wanted her parents here to help them and to make sure they were safe. Olivia felt immensely guilty right now, having her younger sister take over and protect the both of them during a time like this.

Turning right, Veena continues to pull Olivia throughout Shiganshina, weaving themselves around people, rubble, and bodies. After a few more minutes, they reach the almost deserted market. The market was a large area filled with booths of vendors selling anything you need or can think of, however, now it was just an area of destruction. The usually large, empty, area was now littered with broken booths, produce, bloodied bodies, and stone from the now destroyed wall. With barely any people making their way through the area, it was easier for Veena and Olivia to look around.

"Remember, Liv, make it quick. Okay?" Veena tells Olivia. After Olivia makes her understanding known, they separate their hands. Veena and Olivia begin to look in every spot they can for anything to identify their parents with. They look under pieces of booths, around corners, and even under rocks in their desperate search for their parents.

Suddenly, Veena hears Olivia release a scream. Snapping her head in Olivia's direction, just a few feet to the right of her, Veena finds her older sister with her knees on the pavement, her shoulders shaking as she sobs. Veena feels her stomach drop, immediately running in the direction of her sister. Meeting her, Veena feels her heart break at the sight in front of her. Sinking to her knees next to her sister, she too starts to cry at the sight of their parents dead bodies. Veena couldn't believe, just a while ago her parents were leaving the shop with a smile and a wave, claiming they'd be back soon.

Olivia starts sobbing harder and hides behind her hands, not believing her eyes while Veena sits still, tears running down her cheeks as she's frozen, not being able to process what she's seeing. Closing her eyes, Veena leans her head back, facing the sky, and inhales deeply. After she lets out a breath, Veena brings her head back down looking one last time at her parents. As Olivia continues to sob, Veena reaches for her parents' hands and grabs their wedding rings. She pockets them after slipping them off of their fingers and moves to stand up. As she leans back, she feels the ground rumble. Alarmed, Veena looks up and around, trying to find the source of the noise. Wiping the tears from her blurry eyes, the sound continues. Veena attempts to find it while she stands up, getting ready to grab Olivia and run. The rumble gets louder each time it occurs. Footsteps, Veena realizes. Now very alarmed, Veena attempts to get the attention of her still sobbing sister.

"Olivia, we need to go right now." Veena emphasizes, reaching down to grab her sister's shoulders, still searching for the source of the footsteps.

"Ven," Olivia manages to choke out, "I don't think I can go." Her hands still holding her head, covering her eyes.

Veena snaps her head to the back of her sister's, "Olivia, you're kidding me right? We can't stay here, let's go." Veena's grip on Olivia's shoulder's tighten as she attempts to pull her sister up to her feet. Olivia struggles, wanting nothing more than to be with her parents right now.

Veena's eyes sting with fresh tears, "Liv, please, we need to go."

"I can't leave them, Ven!" Olivia for the first time since finding their parents lifts her head from her hands and locks eyes with her sister's. Veena's heart aches more, if that were possible, as she looks at her sister with red eyes and tears threatening to spill out, but trying her hardest to hide it for her older sister's sake.

"Olivia, please, I can't lose you too. Let's go before-" Suddenly, Veena realizes the footsteps are much, much closer than just a minute ago. The thuds becoming louder and louder with each passing second.

"Hey!" Veena whips her head behind her to the sound of the deep voice calling out to them to find two Garrison soldiers running their way. "What are you guys doing? Get to the boats!" One screams as they make their way to Veena and Olivia.

A loud thud distracts Veena however, bringing her gaze to the area before her, locking eyes with a titan standing at the opposite end of the market. Her breathe hitches and her adrenaline rushes through her, her blood turning cold with panic at the sight of a titan just mere meters in front of them. Olivia either doesn't notice or fails to care, continuing to grieve their parents' deaths with her head buried in her hands.

The Garrison soldiers arrive to the sisters, noticing the titan standing just in front of them. "Shit," one of them mutters, "Smith, grab her and run before that titan decides to move for us, alright?"

The other soldier swallows thickly and nods, moving to grab Olivia's elbows to pull her up from the pavement. The soldier that spoke grabs Veena's shoulder, spinning her around and taking her frozen gaze from the titan that still hasn't moved.

"Are you okay? You both need to get to the boats immediately. Let's go." He says to her as he pushes her in the direction the soldiers came from on the opposite end of the market from the titan that continues to stare at them.

"Wait-" Veena tries to reason, not wanting to be separated from her sister.

"No, you need to leave now. Understood? The boats are waiting, you know where they are. We'll deal with her. Just focus on your safety right now." The Garrison soldier interrupted.

Veena knew he was right, in times like this you need to be selfish and think for yourself, no one else. However, Veena had already lost her parents and didn't want to lose her sister too. Veena's mind was racing with what to do, either she stays and risks her life, or she leaves and risks never seeing her sister again, whether that be death or being separated wherever they end up as refugees. She felt herself finally break down. Veena always prided herself in keeping her stress and fear hidden from others, in knowing when to step up and be there for everyone else. But she was tired. As the seconds ticked by, she felt her resolve dwindle little by little until she could barely hold herself up. She felt her eyes stinging with tears, threatening to slip out at any moment. Veena felt sick with herself. She's ashamed that the one thing she prided herself in is failing. She's ashamed that she can't support her sister who needs her right now more than ever, that all she wants to do is run and never look back.

"Liv, please, let's go." Veena pleaded with her older sister as her tears finally slipped out, staining her cheeks. She stood just a meter behind Olivia, watching as Olivia shook her head no. In a way, Veena was mad. She was extremely frustrated at her sister, her collected façade finally fading away at her sister's constant denial to save herself and her sister. Veena felt herself get angrier as the seconds ticked by. Why is her older sister acting like this, a child? Veena shouldn't be the one calling the shots, being the comforting hand in a time like this. She's only so old, being 15 years young and having to save her older sister's life as well as her own.

Veena sense movement in front of her, noticing the titan beginning to move slowly toward the group.

"Shit, Olivia, get your ass up and let's go the boats, now." Veena demanded with her sister one last time, her patience stretching thin as the situation gets worse and her stress level rises.

"Smith, bring this one to the boats," motioning towards Veena, frozen in fear as she watches the titan slowly but surely make its way towards them, "I'll carry that one to the boats. Move now!" the Garrison soldier ordered to the other. Immediately, Smith sits up and makes his way to Veena, grabbing her elbow and pulling her with him to the boats. Veena wants to struggle, wants to stay with her sister, but she can't find herself doing so, allowing the Garrison soldier to pull her in the direction of the boats. After taking a final glance at her older sister, Veena turns around and runs to the boats with the soldier, making a silent final goodbye to her family.

Veena was sitting on the soft grass outside, basking in the cool air of the autumn season as she looked at the calming scenery in front of her. She was enjoying the view when she heard footsteps behind her, the sound of flattening grass causing her to turn her head as she observed who had decided to interrupt her intended time alone that she sets time for everyday. The bright sun behind Veena had blinded her momentarily as she shifted her gaze to the intruder, quickly covering her eyes to protect them from the bright sunlight. She curses, turning her gaze back around to the view of the small town below her from the hill. Veena heard a deep chuckle resonate from behind, the person coming to interrupt her peace and quiet now just inches behind her. Immediately, she scoffs, knowing exactly who is now taking their seat next to her on the grass to join her.

She rolls her eyes, "Shut up, Marco."

He fully laughs this time, always amused by way of conversation. "Oh please, Fischer. You're a dumbass, I can't help it."

She felt herself crack a smile at that, "You're such a fucking smartass, Marco. Now leave me alone, you know 5pm is my alone hour." Out of everyone in the 104th Training Corps, Veena was closest to Marco. After the fall of Shiganshina, she had been alone for years, her witty and quick to engage attitude long gone. Veena never looking anyone in the eye, never stood up for herself, and never bothered to befriend anyone. In a way, Veena did this to punish herself. She greatly regretted what she did to her only sister, Olivia, leaving her to die in order to save herself. Veena had always hated selfish people, but had turned into one even with family involved. Her life had no direction during those years, only living to survive. Granted, there wasn't much she could do as a refugee. She constantly felt like a burden to those around her and the locals made sure the refugees knew that with either their words or their actions. Veena felt empty during those years, at some points just waiting to die, the loneliness and guilt eating at her constantly. Everyday, she wished to go back and do things differently on that day in Shiganshina.

She finally started to feel like less of a burden and more of a person when she joined the 104th Training Corps. Seeing it as a way out of being a refugee, Veena reluctantly signed up and started her training. As the days went by however, she started to actually enjoy herself. She made friends with those training alongside her and felt her burdens slowly lift off her shoulders.

Veena began actually looking forward to being a soldier, getting the opportunity make up for her sins and protect others rather than herself. She trained hard everyday, never backing down without a fight, in hopes to make it to the Military Police to live a quiet and comfortable life. Granted, it would be more rewarding for her to join the Survey Corps or even the Garrison, but even after the fall of her home district, she was still a selfish person on the inside now matter how much she hated it. Veena definitely wasn't the best cadet out there, far from it really, but her dedication to improve had caught the eyes of her superiors and fellow cadets to where she was seen as a respectable soldier, despite her skills. However, she wasn't as skilled as she had hoped, choosing to join the Survey Corps after failing to make the top 10 cadets during her training.

Veena felt Marco place his hand on her shoulder from beside her, giving it a small squeeze as he said, "Yeah, well, dinner's ready. I thought I should be a good person and grab you before all the food ran out and you just got the scraps."

Feeling herself scoff, she muttered out, "Fucking Sascha. I swear, she hasn't gotten better about this food thing after all these years, even with everyone beating her ass about it everyday." Looking to her right, she sees Marco pull a large grin, silently agreeing with her.

"She is crazy, that's for sure." He agreed. "Eat with me, we haven't eaten together ever since our first day of training."

Veena felt her blood boil, getting annoyed with what Marco was requesting despite knowing how his bestfriends act around each other. "Marco, you know I can't do that. Meals are Jean's time with you." She reasoned with him. She loves Marco, she really does, but she would definitely rather spend less time with him if it meant she could avoid Jean.

Jean and Veena used to get along, them two with Marco making an iconic trio. However, Veena and Jean's friendship ended suddenly, for reasons both of them couldn't identify. Now, it's a mutual hatred, both competing for Marco's attention. Granted, Veena knows she doesn't need to prove her friendship with Marco to Jean, very confident that her friendship with Marco is strong. Normally, she would find this type of behavior childish, wanting nothing to do with it. But for a reason unknown to her, Jean frustrates her to no end, to the point of her participating in his childish competition.

Looking to her right, she sees Marco frown, still looking at the scenery of the small town in front of him. "Yeah, I know." He mutters to his friend to his left.

She leaves it at that, feeling Marco's obvious disappointment but not wanting to get into it, knowing her attitude would get the best of her. Jean and Veena's constant competing has affected Marco the most, no doubt. Constantly being called to one of the two while the other is present, having no choice but to be in the middle of whatever their trying to prove to each other. It was hard on him, his usual nice and friendly demeaner running thin when the two of them are together. Veena obviously senses this, so she tries her hardest to either avoid Jean or ignore him, for the sake of her and Marco's sanity. Jean makes it hard to do so, however, loving how he can rile her up and see what reactions he can get out of Veena.

Veena moves to stand up, Marco's hand sliding off her shoulder at the movement. Brushing the dirt off of her pants, she holds her hand out for Marco to grab. After reaching his own to her, Veena helps him up. "C'mon, let's go eat before Sascha gets a chance at the food."

They make their way back to the Mess Hall, the sun now setting behind them. "I'll stop by your dorm after dinner for a little, I promise." Veena says, peering up at the tall man next to her. His happy eyes fit to hers, giving her a warm smile at the promise.

"Good," he says, turning his gaze back to the Mess Hall, "I miss you, Fischer, we don't hang out anymore." He informs her, the pair getting closer to the doors of the cafeteria.

Veena scoffs, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

Marco interrupts her before she can say anything, "I don't wanna hear it, Fischer, I know. It's always Jean. Why can't you guys just get along? Like old times?" Marco asks Veena, he voice softening. He really did miss his best friends getting along.

Veena sighs at that, not wanting to continue the conversation. "I don't know Marco, ask him." She stops the conversation at that. Arriving at the doors of the Mess Hall, Veena gives Marco a small wave and smile as she opens the doors and walks in, "I'll see you after dinner, I promise!"

Marco gives her a small smile back, following behind her and making his way to sit with Jean, Sascha, and Conny. He takes a seat next to Jean, saying his hello's and settling into the conversation at the table. Sascha and Conny are complaining adamantly about training tomorrow, not looking forward to the hand-to-hand combat that was scheduled for the cadets. Jean was listening to the two friends complain, saying things here and there, but never saying too much in the fear that their captain, Levi, will hear, who will not hesitate to enforce the harshest of punishments on his scouts.

"I cannot be paired up with Mikasa again this time." Sascha emphasized to their group, remembering Mikasa landing Sascha on her back every time they re-matched. "She's insane, I was sore for a week after that."

Conny nodded enthusiastically, "She really did beat your ass over and over again, it was impressive you didn't die from embarrassment, honestly." At that, Sascha smacks Conny's arm next to her, "Ow!" He exclaims, rubbing his somewhat sore arm.

"Annie's insanely good, too." Marco butts in, remembering her spar with Ymir just last week.

"Fischer's really good too, definitely not on the same level as Annie or Mikasa, but definitely a good fight." Conny commented, watching her spar last week with Christa. Granted, Christa wasn't much of a fight, but Veena made very good technical points.

Jean scoffed at this, "Please, I could take Veena in a fight." Glancing to a table a few meters in front of him, where Veena sat eating with Reiner and Bertoldt. This made Conny and Sascha laugh hysterically, eyes wide at the claim.

"Jean, you're hilarious! There's no way you'd win in a fight against Fischer, but I'd definitely pay to see you try." Conny managed to let out in between his laughs, his mouth set in a wide grin as he looked at Jean. However, Jean had his hard gaze already fixed on Veena, planning to prove his friends wrong by beating her at training tomorrow. Jean pushes up off the table suddenly, standing up and beginning to make his way to Veena.

"Oi! Jean, where are you going?" Conny calls out to him but Jean ignores him, already close to the table Veena resides at with Reiner and Bertholdt.

"Hey." Veena jumps, startled at the sudden intrusion that interrupted her conversation with her friends. Looking up, she sees none other than Jean making his way to her table. Instantly, her mood sours.

She rolls her eyes, "What do you want, Kirstein?" She asks, fitting her gaze onto his.

"Pair up with me tomorrow."

Her eyes widen, amusement starting to settle in as her lips start to curl into a smile. "Are you serious right now?"

This infuriates Jean, seeing her amusement in her eyes.

"Um, Jean, no offense, but I really don't think that's a good idea." Bertholdt butts in, sitting to Veena's left.

Jean scoffs, "What's that supposed to mean?" He accuses.

"Jean, listen, we don't mean to be rude to you when we say she would easily put your ass on the ground." Reiner points out from across the table, causing Veena's smile to turn into a grin.

She meets Jean's eyes again, "Why would you even want to pair up with me Kirstein?" She asks him, confused by his request.

"Well, Veena, everyone seems to think you're good at hand-to-hand combat." Her smirk grows at this, "But," he continues, "I disagree, you're average, at best."

Immediately, her smirk vanishes and her eyes narrow at him. At this, Jean wears his own smirk, satisfied with her reaction.

"Excuse me?" She asks him, offended. She can't believe his words, her ego definitely wounded as he insults the one of her defining features as a scout. They have the attention of the whole cafeteria now, everyone watching the scene unfold, nervous as to what's going to happen next. Veena and Jean are known to get aggressive with each other, constantly bickering, with some of their arguments almost reaching physical. This sort of thing was common for the group, Jean and Veena always finding something to argue about.

Veena chuckles darkly, standing up from her seat and leaning onto her hands that sit on the table in front of her, eyes set firmly on the man in front of him. Their eyes narrow at each other, trying to figure the other one out. Veena rounds the table, making her way to stand in front of Jean, never breaking eye contact with him.

"Y'know what, Kirstein, why even wait for tomorrow? We can find out right now if my 'skills are average, at best.'" She challenges, blood boiling and adrenaline running. They step closer to each other, challenging each other with their eyes as they continue to stare, eyes never fitting anywhere else. Veena can hear someone stand, the sound interrupting the silence that had fallen throughout the Mess Hall, shoes hitting the wooden floor as whoever it is comes closer to the pair. Eren put his hands on Veena and Jean's shoulders in an attempt to calm the situation.

"Guys," Eren said to the pair, "break it up before Captain gets here."

"Shut the fuck up, Jeager."

"Stay out of this, Eren." Veena and Jean snap at Eren at once. Eren backs off, removing his hands from their shoulders and huffs out a sigh, returning to his table with Mikasa and Armin.

"I'll take you up on that offer, Veena." Jean mutters to Veena, his voice quiet and deep.

Ignoring how he called her by her first name, Veena's eyes widen slightly at the sound of his voice, a shiver running down her spine and her body warming up, not expecting it to sound so deep. She's startled at how she reacted to his voice, realizing that she sort of liked hearing him say her name like that. Scoffing, she rolls her eyes, annoyed with herself.

Jean notices the actions. Thinking her attitude was a result of what he said, he feels his annoyance at the girl grow. He takes another step closer to her, watching as she instinctively takes a step back at his intrusion.

"Watch yourself, Kirstein, don't cross a line with me." Veena warns him, feeling uncomfortable with how close he's gotten to her, not enjoying how her body is reacting to him being so close.

Jean, of course, is unfazed by her warning, staying where he is. If he's being honest, Jean is worried. His body is on fire being this close to Veena and he doesn't understand why. He's never been this close to her, even when they were good friends, and a small part of him doesn't mind being this close to her. However, the majority of him had sirens going off in his head, telling him to back away before he did something dumb.

Before he was able to, though, the doors of the Mess Hall slammed open, revealing Captain Levi alongside a nervous-looking scout. His eyes fall on Jean and Veena immediately. "You two," his voice booms in the quiet Mess Hall, grabbing everyone's attentions immediately. Jean and Veena salute him, turning away from each other and facing their captain. Veena can finally feel like she can breath, the situation far too tense for her liking. "Come with me," Levi orders, turning on his heel and walking outside.

Nervously, the pair follow. After meeting Levi outside, he stares at them for an uncomfortably long period of time.

Jean and Veena stare back, too scared to move or say anything. After a few more long minutes, Jean begins to speak, "Um, Captain-"

"No," Levi cuts him off. "You'll speak when I allow it. Now, one of you, tell me why I just had a scout interrupt my meeting with the Commander so I can make my way over here to break up a potentially physical altercation, which, as I saw when I arrived, was very close to being violent." He orders at the pair, his eyes flickering between Veena and Jean, waiting for an answer.

Veena's heart starts racing, trying to get a grip to give her superior an answer before Jean ruins it by opening his mouth. "I apologize sir," she starts, her eyes meeting Levi's, "Our argument got out of hand, it won't happen again, sir." She apologizes, starting to feel ashamed she let Jean get to her and for things to get so far.

Levi is not satisfied with her apology, he will not condone behavior like this from his squad. "I will administer your punishments tomorrow," Levi informs, "now, finish your dinners and don't let this happen again. You're supposed to work with each other, not kill each other," He warns, "If you desperately want to fight each other, do so during training." He finishes, leaving the pair as he returns to his office.

"You're a dumbass, Jean." Veena breathes out after the Captain is a good distance away. She's exhausted from everything that has occurred in the past 15 minutes, feeling a headache take over. She turns, intending to walk back into the Mess Hall to finish her dinner before bed, seeing as she needs to shower and chat with Marco before heading back to her own dorm for the night.

"Fuck you." Jean counters, saying the first thing that can come to his mind as he trails behind her. She ignores him, and continues to her table. She plops back down on her seat, her elbows resting on the table in front of her. Veena brings her head into her hands, shielding her eyes from the views of everyone and massaging her temples.

"Are you okay, Fischer? What happened out there with Levi?" Reiner asks her, moving across the bench to sit in front of her.

She lifts her head looks at him, "He's deciding our punishments for tomorrow. I just have a major headache right now. I think I'm gonna leave dinner early and head the showers, I'll see you guys tomorrow, yeah?" She says to the two, standing from her seat.

"Yeah, see you. Let us know if you need anything." Reiner ensures, sliding her dinner his way to finish. She smiles at that, appreciating that the food won't be going to waste due to her loss in appetite. She waves them a goodbye, turning around and entering the hallway to head to her dorm to prepare for her shower.

Veena's mind is racing, if she's being honest, not quite used to her reaction to Jean being so close to her. She hates him, that fact is obvious, and the way her body started heating up at his deep voice and close proximity made her feel sick. She decided to ignore this for the time being, pushing it to the back of her mind. Arriving to the room she shares with Christa, Veena walks to her side and begins rummaging through her dresser. Finding her pajamas and grabbing a towel, she begins her trek to the showers. After her shower, she arrives back to her shared room, finding Christa also getting ready for her shower.

"Veena! Oh my god, are you okay? You seemed really stressed out after talking to Levi." Christa expressed her concern, wanting to make sure her roommate wasn't hurt as Levi is known to be harsh with his punishments.

Veena smiled at this, looking at her roommate, "Don't worry, Christa, I'm fine. He's telling us our punishments tomorrow. I'm just exhausted, is all. Jean infuriates me too much. Also, you know-"

"Yeah, yeah, 'Only call me by my last name,' whatever." Christa rolls her eyes. "But Jean can be a pain," Christa agreed, "be sure not to let him get you too worked up, okay? I'm worried about you."

Veena laughs at this, genuinely happy that she has someone to look after her. "Thanks Christa, but don't worry about me, I'll be fine." She promises to her roommate. After getting dressed, Veena turns her attention to Christa, watching as she grabs what she needs to freshen up before bed. "I'm going to chat with Marco for a bit, so don't wait up!" Veena says to Christa as she opens the door, heading out into the hallway. After hearing Christa throw out a, 'See ya!', Veena shuts the door behind her and begins her walk to the other side of the dorms that house the boy's rooms. After walking only a short few minutes, she arrives at Marco's door, giving it a knock. After a minute of waiting, the door swings open to Jean with his shower supplies being carried under his arm.

At the sight of Veena standing outside his door, Jean lets out an annoyed huff, turning his head to Marco, who was sitting on his bed reading a book, already having taken his shower. "You didn't tell me she was coming over, dude. Warn me next time so I can be out of here before I have to look at her."

Veena scoffs at Jean's annoyance, shouldering him to push into the shared dorm room. "Shut it, Kirstein, I'll only be a minute." She says, making her way to sit on Marco's bed with him.

Jean watches her pull herself onto Marco's bed, leaning her back against the wall next to him. "Whatever," he says, "Just be sure you're out of here before I get back." He finishes, heading out the door and shutting it behind him.

Jean couldn't help but feel annoyed. He hated how she was everywhere, whether that be in the same area as him, hearing her name slip out of other people's mouths, or now, even in his head. He hadn't thought of her like this until recently, tonight's events at dinner riling him up. Jean wasn't sure if it was due to annoyance or something else, but his body reacted to her in a way he didn't want to happen again, embarrassed by how caught up in the moment he got. Yes, he likes to push her buttons to see how far he can push her before she cracks (he honestly couldn't believe he almost got her to crack tonight), but tries to restrain himself from going too far, before things get physical or things are said that can't be taken back.

Veena misses hanging out with Marco, this fact becoming much more present as they talk on his bed. They were laughing, Marco bringing up what his friends were talking about at dinner tonight, specifically about what made Jean snap and challenge Veena. She was laughing hard as Marco recounted what Conny and Sascha had said of Jean when he left the table to find her. The door to Marco and Jean's dorm swings open suddenly, causing Veena to halt her laughter and snap her gaze to the front, startled by the sudden intrusion. In walks a topless Jean, his towel hanging around his hips and his hair still dripping with water. Veena's eyes widen an embarrassing amount, her eyes glued to Jean as he steps in the room. Holy shit, Veena thinks, her cheeks starting to burn. Immediately, Veena whips her head to the side, taking her eyes off of the man in the doorway as she shuts her eyes, Ew, she thinks to herself, disgusted that she had this kind of reaction to Jean.

"Fuck dude, put some clothes on next time, yeah?" She shouts angrily at him, her head turning back around to face him, eyes concentrating on his as she glares at him.

Jean scoffs, turning away from her as he rummages through his drawer to find some clothes to change into. "Shut it, Veena, I thought I told you to be gone by the time I got back. Plus, this is my room, don't overstep." He warns her, annoyance creeping up on him. It was embarrassing enough to have to walk around the halls in nothing but his towel, and now he really didn't want to be reminded that the reason he had to do that in the first place was due to Veena's presence. He had completely forgotten about his change of clothes, for some reason his mind wiping clean when he opened his door to her small figure waiting on the other side.

Veena rolls her eyes as she jumps off Marco's bed, smoothing out her clothes after her feet land on the wooden floor beneath her. "Alright, whatever, I'm leaving now." She announces to the pair, turning her body back in Marco's direction behind her. "See ya tomorrow, Marco." She says to him, giving a wave. She makes her way to the door, "Later, asswipe. By the way, stop calling me by my name, you know it pisses me off." She calls out to Jean as she opens their door, continuing through the doorway as she hears him respond with, "Yeah, whatever."

After pulling on his clothes, Jean climbs onto his bed on the opposite wall of Marco's, leaning his back against the wall. He looks at Marco, who pulled his book back out after Veena had made her leave.

"You still like her, don't you?" Jean asks Marco. Pulling his eyes from his book, Marco cracks a smile as he looks back at Jean.

"Oh please, Jean, that was ages ago, I'm over it. You never got over your crush for her, huh?" Marco cracks a smile, the memories of those years ago resurfacing as he turns his attention back to the book in his hand. Marco had always thought about this, assuming the reason Jean had changed his attitude with Veena was because of some dumb crush, but as the days turned into months and the months now turned into years, Marco isn't confident in his theory anymore.

Jean doesn't even hesitate as he scoffs, "I never liked her like that, Marco, you know that. She pisses me off too much."

Marco knows Jean is lying, "I really don't believe you, Jean. You know, it's okay to like her, she's cute, you gotta admit." Marco teases, enjoying this (one-sided) playful banter.

Jean is really annoyed now, "I'm not talking about this right now."

"Life for us is short, Jean, don't waste too much of it with petty arguments and being in denial, yeah?" Marco lectures. Jean lays down now, pulling the covers over intending to go to sleep soon. He can hear Marco sigh, putting his book on the nightstand next to him. As Marco puts out the oil lamp, hiding their room in darkness, Jean can't help but replay Marco's words in his head over and over again, annoyed knowing Marco is right about having a short life in this world.

Yay! First part! I'm not sure how many part there are going to be total, I didn't plan that far ahead. You can also find this work on my Wattpad and AO3 account! I'll be combining chapters here since I'm anticipating over 20 chapter so far and I don't want to have that many on here! Let me know how you think of Save You so far!

[endless-vall]

It meant everything - Drake x Olivia fanfic

Summary: It doesn’t mean anything. Until it does.

Author’s note: Another Drake x Olivia fanfic. From Olivia’s POV. A lot of time jumps. Pretty much sums up how I see them ending up together.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” Olivia pulled herself out of Drake’s embrace, just long enough to spit out these words.

“I know.” He pulled her back in, his lips rough and voice hoarse and so demanding, but Olivia was just as eager so she let him take this one,

and they continued right where they left of. Striping each other of their clothes in a secret passage of the palace, where no one could ever interrupt them.

He pulled her back in with a passionate kiss, almost brutal, but it was just what Olivia needed right now.

The hole in her heart bled, but at least she was able to put these thoughts aside while she was entangled in Drake’s arms and limbs and -- OH

Who knew that Walker could make her feel that good in the pit of her stomach and make those sounds get out of her mouth?

Amber and Liam had just announced their engagement.

Sure, they both knew it was coming. They were both living in some sort of a fantasy that one day they’ll wake up and realize that their heart laid someplace else. She wanted Liam to love her, and Drake wanted Amber.

But life wasn’t always as easy and fun, and sometimes your heart broke into millions of pieces.

And suddenly you find yourself finding comfort in the arms of the last person you could’ve imagined. And this is how their story began.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” This time, she barged into Drake’s room. He was laying on his bed and reading something on his phone, not expecting anything or anyone.

Drake understood immdiately, and put his phone away.

Olivia was half naked by the time she reached his bed, and Drake was already basically in underwear.

He caught her in his arms as soon as she was close enough, and threw her onto the bed with some mix of hunger and need in his eyes.

It made Olivia’s stomach twist with excitment, and she bit down on her lip.

He quickly found himself between her legs, and Olivia’s arms gripped at his sheets.

“Dammit Walker, faster!” She ordered. “AHhh-”

They were standing in opposite sides of the ballroom. In the middle of the Unity tour.

But their eyes crossed and suddenly they knew. Without saying a single word.

They met at the exit of the ballroom, behind closed doors.

“This doesn’t--” She started saying, but got cut off by Drake. “Mean anything. I know, let’s go.” He took her arm in his and lead the way.

Olivia’s breathe caught in her throat at the way he lead her by her arm away, but other than a soundless gasp, she didn’t let him know.

That night, she drifted off to sleep before she could sneak out of his room.

She woke up, the sunlight shining throught the window. “Is it morning... Already...?” She mumbled, forgetting where she was.

Her words stirred him awake, and he slowly opened his eyes and faced her.

They were both lost for words.

“I should- I should go.” Olivia threw her dress back on, not minding how she looked, she just wanted to get the hell out of there, as fast as possible.

Someone might’ve saw her, in her way back to her own room. But even if they did, they wouldn’t know where she was coming from.

Besides, Olivia had the tendancy to look great at all times.

Olivia was going throught a lot. Even after the hole in her heart started melding and it didn’t hurt as bad when she looked at Liam and Amber together, she was still facing the consequinces of her parents betrayel of the crown, and what it meant to her people nowdays.

Her aunt was back, it almost felt as if she came back from the dead. And Olivia, well... She didn’t trust her.

It was a shame, she couldn’t even trust her own blood.

She had no one to talk to about these... Kind of stuff.

So the next time...

She didn’t run that early in the morning.

Instead, she laid in bed until she was completely awake. The birds were chirping outside the window, and she had her back to Drake.

She could feel him behind her, just barely touching her.

She finally turned around, to meet his eyes just as awake as hers were.

“Were you watching me for a long time?” She asked, raising an eyebrow but you could make the hint of a smile on her lips.

“I was wondering when will you sprint out like last time.” He snarked at her.

“Do you want me to?” She asked, voice unwavering.

“It’s not what I said.” He protested.

But other than that, his face was mostly unreadable.

Some nights, especially before they find themselves hot and naked in each other’s arms, she’d see the real Drake. Vulnerable. 

But in the morning, he’d be the same old Drake she knew. Closed off and untalkative.

Did she really want to confide in him, of all people?

Or maybe it was that it was him, of all people, that made her trust no matter what she told him, it wouldn’t change his opinion of her.

Until that other night, she’d always leave before morning came. And that other night, was a slip-up. She felt so secure and warm in his embrace, she fell asleep before her judgment caught up to her. But today? It was a concious choice.

And the thing is... Olivia didn’t start to regret it.

Olivia rested her head on her arm, positioning herself over the pillow. She studied Drake for a long time. He didn’t say a word, either. It’s like he was studying her too.

“What is it?” He asked, eventually.

“You’re not that bad, Walker.” Olivia simply said. It was easier than what was going through her mind.

“Don’t get all mushy on me, Livie.” Drake amused himself with the nickname, a smile spreading over his feature.

“You did not just call me that.” And before he could see it coming, her pillow was already meeting with his face, and the sound of giggles rolled around the room.

They met for a late night drink. It was the day before Lykithos’ turn in the Unity tour.

“Whiskey?” She offered, although she didn’t know why she bothered. It was all he drank anyway.

“A woman after my own heart.” He let out before he could catch himself. They both froze for a second, before Drake bumped into her shoulder and made a joke out of it.

Olivia shook her head in disbelief, as if she was done with him, but a smile played on her lips.

She poured two glasses, before joining him on the couch in her guest room.

Tomorrow everyone will arrive. But today they had all the palace to themselves.

She even sent all the staff home.

“Did you send everyone away so no one will see us?” He asked after a couple of drinks.

“Yes... And no.” Olivia admitted.

Drake raised an eyebrow at her, distracting himself with his glass, but his gaze rested on Olivia questioningly.

“I did ask them to go so no one will spy on us... But no for the reason you’re thinking of.”

“For what reason, then?” He put his drink down, watching Olivia carefully.

It was clear to Olivia, by that point, she’d moved on from Liam. It didn’t hurt anymore when she thought about him. When she saw him with Amber. When she helped pick out stuff for the wedding.

But maybe, just maybe... Someone else started occuping the place in her heart.

It was too early to admit that, and it wasn’t the reason she asked him privately today.

“If I tell you something... Will you promise to keep it a secret. Even from Liam?”

Drake considered for a long second, but eventually he nodded. “You can tell me everything.”

“I... Think my parents had more involvment than just the coup. But I’m too afraid of what I might find out, if I go down that route.” 

She was right. His opinion of her didn’t change. And he didn’t judge her, either.

“When you’ll be ready, you’ll know. And we’ll all be there. But until then, I’ll be here.”

This night felt different.

They took their time.

taking off each garment of fabric of each other. Caressing and worshiping every new exposed skin. Kissing passionately but also tenderly. 

Biting and cursing but also hugging, and kissing everything away.

Sex with Drake was always great. But this was a whole new level.

They fell asleep in each other’s arms. 

A heaviness in Olivia’s chest lifting, ever so slightly.

She woke up facing him. It was almost time to get up and get everything ready at the Duchy.

Soon the servents will arrive and not so long after the other guests.

Drake smiled at her, still half asleep. He moved his hand up to caress her cheek.

“You’re so beautiful...” He mumbled, eyes fighting to stay open.

Olivia hesitated, but she smiled and covered his hand with her own.

That night, she learned more about her parent. But more importantly, she learned it wasn’t over. Her aunt and Anton (”Justin”) had a bigger ploy at play.

She was betrothed? What? And to... That poor excuse to a human being?

Not that it meant anything to her. Not that it’d stop her.

But right now, she had bigger problems.

Annuling the marriage, and standing up with Cordonia.

She will not be going down her parent’s footsteps.

“Olivia, wait” Drake was running after her.

“I don’t have the time right now, Drake.”

He took her hand in his, and put it over his chest. “Let me help.”

It was both the motion of stopping her, but also sharing something deeper.

She sighed, eventually.

“Fine.”

It was the day of Liam and Amber’s wedding, and Anton has been defeated.

Assassins slayed, enemies defeated, and a happy celebration in front of them.

They both watched as Amber went down the aisle.

As Liam and Amber promised to love each other forever.

As they sealed it with a kiss.

“Great party, huh?” Drake stepped in Olivia’s way, two flutes of champange in his hands.

He offered her one.

“I’m impressed.” She took one in her hand.

“Exquisite. Slaying assassin is my second favorite activity. And throwing my aunt along with Anton behind bars has defenitely made my night.” 

They clincked their glasses and drank from them.

“So...” Drake lowered his glass.

“Did it mean anything...?” He finally dared to ask.

“With Anton?! Of course not--” “No.”

“Oh.”

Olivia stopped in her train of thought.

She considered for a moment, a smile spreading on her lips without even trying.

“It meant... Everything.”