#to Saturday school or repeat the credit

[totallynotanthony]

You guys aren't going to believe this but I'm starting to think the school system is abelist :o /j /sar

[zahri-melitor]

One of the many tragedies of Jack Drake is that not only was he bad at being a parent, but that he had the perfect person to discuss how hard the experience was for him right there and yet the only conversation they ever have about parenting Tim is conducted at gunpoint.

Because look at Jack Drake. As far as he was concerned, he had everything under control until Janet died and his world fell apart.

Tim was a Good Kid™ as a kid. He was well behaved and polite and not a difficult child and that's obvious from the fact that many of his memories of his parents together are of being taken out in public. Jack and Janet had one kid and they clearly wanted that kid to enjoy the same things they did, so they took him with them to restaurants and museums and art galleries and the opera. And he enjoyed it and enjoyed that time with them.

Jack however clearly saw his role as a father and a husband in the very traditional position as the main provider. It was his job to work and bring in the income that supported their lifestyle (his depressive episode after losing the company and their having to move makes it very clear how much of his self-worth was tied up in that role). He had a son, but his time with Tim was pretty clearly about taking Tim out with him on a Saturday afternoon to watch sport, or play tennis with his friends, or go to the monster trucks, or go fishing: being able to spend a few hours with Tim and show him off to his friends and then return home and someone else took over looking after Tim. And in his mind, he clearly thought he was a good parent! He spent time with his son! His son was a credit who was worth showing off! He could take Tim with him when he and Janet went out for the evening, and Tim could be relied upon to behave. He was winning at being a father!

The part Jack never realised, of course, was that like many men in his position, he'd handed the day to day logistics of raising a kid over to his wife (Janet) and to people he paid to do it for him (Tim's boarding school). He wasn't the disciplinarian parent. He was the 'fun' parent, who got to have the good times with his child.

If Jack was ever actually involved in decisions about discipline and consequences of actions, it was probably at the ultimate stage: the 'wait til your father gets home' sort of threat. The nuclear option. He didn't handle the everyday stuff - he probably never SAW the everyday stuff.

So, Jack thinks he's a great parent. He can brag to his friends about how well behaved HIS child is, unlike those little ruffians you see screaming in public or whose parents can't take them anywhere because they're disruptive.

Then his world falls apart. He's injured and disabled and grieving. He's a single dad. And the kid he's got is suddenly not the child he remembers. Tim frequently acts out, lies, runs away and comes home with bruises and notes from school saying they’re worried something is going on. He also starts dating and possibly trying to have sex ‘too young’ (being caught with Ariana sleeping over and the couch situation, Steph being pregnant even if Tim insisted it wasn't his).

Jack Drake has to suddenly step up to be the main parent of a 14 year old who he's probably never had that dynamic with. He doesn't have the years of experience in how Tim reacts to various forms of boundaries and punishments, because he's never been the one who set them or enforced them. He's probably never sat down and talked to Tim about his feelings in his life. And Tim, I repeat, is fourteen years old, possibly one of the most difficult ages for a kid. Everyone's 14 year olds are suddenly more difficult than usual and pushing boundaries.

On top of that, he's got to learn this all on the fly, in circumstances where he basically has no support. "Help, I'm a new single father to a teenager' isn't really a genre of self help book or parenting group that gets a lot of love - most people who are single parents aren't men, and most people looking for advice on dealing with problems with raising their kids are talking about under-5s, because by the time kids are out of the toddler stage most parents have a reasonable idea of what works and what doesn't, have networks set up, and are usually reaching out for a bit of advice or support about a specific situation, not Dealing With It All.

What Jack really needs is a buddy or two who are also single fathers to teenage boys, who have experience navigating this, maybe who also acquired responsibility for their son in his teen years. Wow. I mean that's a big ask, but funnily enough, there's someone who lives right next door who exactly fits that description...

(The tragedy that Bruce and Jack only ever have the one discussion about parenting Tim, the kid they've been effectively co-parenting since Tim was 13 years old, and that that discussion took place with Jack holding a gun on Bruce).

So of course Jack is terrible at being a parent to Tim. He's inexperienced, he doesn't have any support, he doesn't SEEK support outside of marrying Dana (and Dana clearly while lovely is both ineffective and reluctant to interfere in Jack and Tim's relationship). Now, he fails on very specific axes, in ways that are both understandable and also signs that Jack has a bad handle on his temper.

His go-to threat is sending Tim back to boarding school, because: when Tim was at boarding school, Jack didn't have any discipline issues with Tim! It clearly worked!; Tim doesn't want to go back to boarding school, making it a threat to hold over him; again, Jack's seeing a kid who is sneaking around, lying, running away and he's at his wits end - there's a narrative in the circles he lives in that such kids DO need to be taught to behave and sending them to boarding school is a way to do that.

He runs hot and cold on paying attention to Tim because up until Tim was 14 that was...what he did! And it wasn't such an issue then, as he wasn't a single parent. And when he pays attention, he does tend to be focused (laser focused, in fact), in getting Tim out of No Man's Land, of the dramas at school during Cry of the Huntress when Jack's getting outraged over Tim's bruises and getting into fights, when he's arguing with Ariana's uncle over whether Tim and Ariana's relationship was going too far.

It's just that he never developed the day to day, in between level of parenting and boundary setting and discipline. He's got a temper, and he swings between "it'll be fine, Tim's a smart kid, I trust him" laid back permissiveness, and getting mad and going immediately to the nuclear option: "You are going back to boarding school!" and so on.

He doesn't know how to walk away and calm himself down when he's worked up. He's not particularly good at redirecting his aggression. And he gets easily frustrated, because in his mind everything went smoothly for years...until it was all his responsibility.

And the thing is, there are so many ways Jack could have tried harder to be a good parent, that were available to him. But because of his background and the culture he lived in and the demands of storytelling he never reached out for any of them.

(And Bruce was right there! They knew each other socially! Everyone knew Bruce had worked through having two teenage sons on his own! He could have asked for advice, and he even knew Bruce knew Tim, given Bruce had officially fostered Tim while Jack was in a coma and in hospital. If you were putting together a specific support group you'd kick yourself over how perfect this was)

It's just such a part of the tragedy of Jack Drake.

[st4rrzynight]

Hey, sincerely asking. What do you think will happen should trump win?

hi! thanks for asking 🙃

shit will get expensive for people who are not millionares because of trumps tax that benefits the wealthy.

also project 2025 as it states at aclu.org

"Project 2025 is a federal policy agenda and blueprint for a radical restructuring of the executive branch authored and published by former Trump administration officials in partnership with The Heritage Foundation, a longstanding conservative think tank that opposes abortion and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants’ rights, and racial equity."

i personally don't want to fear for my right to love a woman, and my rights and my families rights because were mexican. i also want to have rights for my own body for reproduction.

MASS DEPORTATIONS

Targeting immigrant communities through mass deportations and raids, ending birthright citizenship, separating families, and dismantling our nation’s asylum system.

i personally dont want to see my family getting deported, im not sure if my birthright citizenship would also be at risk but id assume so.

What Are Donald Trump’s Connections to Project 2025?

Project 2025 was published by The Heritage Foundation, a longstanding conservative think tank with direct ties to former President Trump’s administration. Though Trump has falsely claimed he is not connected to Project 2025, a recent report from CNN found at least 140 people who worked on Project 2025 previously worked in the Trump administration. The Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts also previously worked on President Trump’s transition team in 2016, and has described his organization’s role as “institutionalizing Trumpism.”

he claims to not have anything to do with project 2025 but he is a liar.

ROLLING BACK TRANS RIGHTS

Weaponizing federal law to require states and private actors to discriminate against transgender people by threatening to sue schools that protect the rights of trans students or telling hospitals that they would lose their Medicaid funding if they provide gender-affirming medical care to trans adolescents

why are we going back in time? he literally wants to abolish so many rights that people fought so hard to have

"If Donald Trump wants to make America great again, as his oft-repeated slogan promises, then that leads to the question: When was the last time America was actually great?

Trump has an answer. In an interview with The New York Times published Saturday, the real estate mogul was asked when the country last reached the GOP front-runner's lofty ideal -- as a reporter asked, when do "you think the United States last had the right balance, either in terms of defense footprint or in terms of trade?"

The answer, Trump explained, was during periods of military and industrial expansion at the onset of the 20th century and again in the years after World War II."

the years after world war II?

Truman announced Japan's surrender and the end of World War II. The news spread quickly and celebrations erupted across the United States. On September 2, 1945, formal surrender documents were signed aboard the USS Missouri, designating the day as the official Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day).

world war two ended 1945

In the 1950s-1980s, women often lacked the right to full control over their finances, property ownership, career choices, reproductive decisions, equal pay, protection from workplace discrimination, and were often expected to prioritize domestic duties over professional ambitions, with societal pressure to primarily be wives and mothers, limiting their participation in politics and other public spheres; they also faced restrictions on access to credit and the ability to make legal contracts without their husband's consent in many cases.

Key points about women's limited rights in this period:

Limited employment opportunities:

Many jobs were considered "men's work" and women were often pushed towards traditionally female roles like secretarial work, with lower pay compared to men doing similar jobs.

Husband's legal authority:

Married women often had limited legal rights, with husbands having significant control over their finances and property.

Restrictions on reproductive choices:

Access to contraception and abortion was often limited or heavily regulated, with societal pressure to prioritize motherhood.

Discrimination in credit and loans:

Women often faced difficulty obtaining credit cards or loans without a male co-signer.

Lack of protection from sexual harassment

Legal protections against sexual harassment in the workplace were largely absent.

Limited representation in politics:

Women were significantly underrepresented in political leadership positions.

why would we want to vote for someone who wants to take us back in time to a point where we were restricted of so many things?

thats why i dont want trump to win cause if he said himself he had a part in overturning roe v wade imagine what else he would do with another 4 years of presidency.

(please reblog so this gains more traction so people know that trump is legit not a good candidate or person at all)

[girlactionfigure]

🟦 After Shabbat - Saturday night - events from Israel  

Yet More after-Shabbat UPDATES

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

( VIDEO - a Lebanese screams in shock at the massive airstrike in Beiruit that took out Hezbollah leader Nasrallah. )

SELICHOT start tonight (for Ashkenazim).. Selichot services are communal prayers for Divine forgiveness, said during the High Holiday season and on Jewish fast days. The first night of Selichot is the biggie, held after midnight on a Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah.  We ask G‑d to forgive us on a personal and communal level. An oft-repeated phrase is the “13 Attributes of Mercy,” which G‑d revealed to Moses at Sinai as the key to forgiveness. (Chabad.org)

❗️AIR TRAVEL.. The European Commission and EASA have decided to issue CZIBs recommending not to operate within the airspaces of Lebanon and Israel at all flight levels. The recommendation is valid until October 31, 2024, and can be reviewed earlier and adapted or withdrawn subject to the revised assessment.

A number of Wizzair flights TURNED AROUND on the way to Israel, as well as halting further service for 48 hours. 

Many Israeli travelers trapped overseas.

⚠️SCHOOL SUSPENSIONS.. Tiberias - Sept. 29-30, Golan - Sept. 29-30, remote learning only.

♦️IDF AIR FORCE COMMANDING GENERAL.. flew personally in the bombing mission against Hezbollah’s Nasrallah.  

♦️IDF WARNS.. IDF spokesman: Anyone who helps Hezbollah in Lebanon is putting himself at risk.�� Residents of the Beka’a and the Dahiya in Beirut should evacuation.

♦️ATTACKING DEPOTS.. Lebanese reports that the IDF is attacking ammunition depots and rockets throughout southern Lebanon.  The reports also indicate that the IDF attacks weapons warehouses located in residential neighborhoods.

♦️BALLISTIC MISSILE INTERCEPTION.. arrow interceptor fired from Eilat, some missile parts fell into Jordan starting wildfires, previously noted a large piece fell by Tzur Hadassah, Judean hills, another large piece fell near Tulkarm - not far from Route 6.

🔹IRAN’S LEADER.. Reuters: Iran's supreme leader Khamenei was transferred to a "safe space”.

🔹SHEBA.. Enemy reports: An Israeli officer called a citizen at the Sheba farm and told him in Arabic to evacuate the entire place. (This is a tiny border area that Hezbollah has been claiming after the UN drew most of the border line placing it in Israel.  Also would be a good entry point for ground troops.)

🔹NASRALLAH REPLACEMENT.. Number 2 in Hezbollah, the chairman of the executive council, Hashem Safi al-Din, Hassan Nasrallah's cousin and Qassem Soleimani's son-in-law, was not killed in the attack in Beirut and he will be Hassan Nasrallah's successor.

🔹VARIOUS EMBASSIES in Lebanon evacuating non-essential staff.

🔹IRANIAN PROPAGANDA OR PARANOIA? Secretary of the Iranian Council General Mohsen Razai: "After Lebanon, Israel will attack Damascus and then Baghdad and maybe even Iran, for this reason the governments of Iran, Iraq and Syria must make their decision on this matter as soon as possible."

🔹RUSSIA SAYS.. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia: strongly condemns the elimination of Nasrallah, calls on Israel to stop all acts of aggression.

🔹US SEC STATE SAYS.. Blinken: We call for a ceasefire along the border between Israel and Lebanon.

🎯Did Israel just try to assassinate the head of Hezbollah's executive council, Hashem Safi al-Din?  Reports from Beirut about a powerful attack by the Air Force on a residential building that is suspected to have housed Safi al-Din.  We will wait for the IDF's verification.  Follow up, looks like some other Hezbollah commanders.

▪️ECONOMY.. Following the possibility of a severe war in the north: Moody's lowers the credit rating by two notches and adds a negative forecast, which will severely affect the cost of Israel’s borrowing.

[beardedmrbean]

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. (FOX 9) - Ramsey County law enforcement officials said what started out as a plan to catch a credit card thief led them to a "disturbing and dangerous" discovery at an Airbnb in Maple Grove.

Images shared by the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office show 11 guns found at a home in Maple Grove, including stashed in board games and a McDonald’s bag.

"The guns were in backpacks, purses, above the furnace, in the walls, behind couches," said Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher. "This is the fourth Airbnb incident involving guns. We had three here in St. Paul. We had one in Roseville."

Finding the weapons actually started with the search for a 17-year-old suspect from St. Paul. Deputies said the repeat juvenile offender stole credit cards from a car in Shoreview last week and used them at Target.

Deputies learned the teen's mom had reserved an Airbnb in Maple Grove Saturday night for his birthday party, so they staked out the home. More than 50 people between the ages of 15 and 21 were inside, along with alcohol and marijuana. Deputies have had contact with most of the party attendees before because they belong to a group that's been involved in auto thefts, carjackings and shootings the last two years.

"One of their members was knifed and killed at Harding High School," Fletcher said.

The sheriff said the most unusual and troubling part of the Maple Grove incident is seven of the guns recovered had what's known as a "switch" or "auto sear," which allows them to fire fully automatic. Possession of a switch is a state and federal offense.

"An extended magazine of 33 rounds, which many of these guns had extended magazines, can be fired in two seconds or less," he explained.

The 17-year-old fraud suspect was arrested. At the time, he was out on bail for previous credit card fraud from August. He's been booked in the juvenile detention center on the new credit card fraud charge and for violating the conditions of his release.

More party attendees could be charged if authorities can match fingerprints or DNA on the guns. Fletcher believes the weapons were involved in other recent crimes, including a shooting at a St. Paul cemetery.

St. Paul police are working hard to find answers for the friends and family of those affected by the shooting at the cemetery, and those answers, as well as firearm testing, take time. It is an open and active investigation.

"There were 130 casings found at the Oakland Cemetery shooting. We believe these guns were probably used in that shooting," Fletcher said.

The crime is also further proof to Fletcher that suspects from the cities are bringing their parties and illegal activities to the suburbs in jurisdictions where they’re not known to law enforcement. 

He encouraged citizens to call 911 when they see something suspicious in their neighborhoods. 

"There was a citizen that saw [the 17-year-old] breaking into the car that started this whole cycle for us. So, the good news is if citizens call when they see things suspicious, we never know where that case is going go, and in this case, it went to 11 guns," Fletcher said.

In a statement, Airbnb said, "Unauthorized and disruptive parties are banned on Airbnb, and our Safety team has removed the booking guest from the platform. We are supporting our Host, including through AirCover, and we stand ready to assist the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office as they investigate."

[blackal]

SPRITE FRIGHT AFTERMATH

The poor girl was a nervous wreck as she sat in one of the interrogation rooms at her town's police station. She didn't want to be here, she wanted…she didn't really know exactly WHAT she wanted, maybe to crawl under the covers and never have to come out again. She was still traumatized over everything that had happened. How long had she even been there? It could've been a few hours or less than 1, she honestly wasn't sure.

It had started out so harmless. 4 of her classmates were failing biology, and the teacher gave them an extra credit assignment: go camping in the woods and document what you come across (Latin names giving bonus points). While they had all bemoaned this assignment, they each knew it was do it or have to take summer school.

They should have gone to summer school.

When Victoria, the head cheerleader, pointed out they would be hopelessly lost out there, their teacher offered a suggestion. Thus, he called in his top student to help them out.

Eleanor "Ellie" Chang was top of most of her classes, but ESPECIALLY biology due to her love of nature. Despite being top of the class and thus not NEEDING extra credit, herself, the teacher pointed out that if she took this "tutoring" gig, it would look really good when she was ready to start her college applications. Ellie jumped at the opportunity.

Oh, what a fool she had been.

So that Friday evening she had instructed each of them what to bring, and the following Saturday after breakfast, they had met at the park on the edge of their town, venturing past the general public area and into the woods for their camping trip.

At first things went smoothly, them finding a good section of the forest to set up camp in and getting ready for some fun. Of course, the others were mainly planning on letting Ellie do the majority of the work, but being a go-getter, she was fine with that. To be honest, the main reason she had even agreed to come on this trip wasn't so much the extra credit, but the chance to rekindle an old friendship.

See, back in elementary school, Ellie and Victoria had been best friends, practically sisters. But once Victoria started playing with her mother's make up, things slowly changed. At the start of middle school, Victoria stopped hanging out with Ellie and joined the popular crowd. It had hurt, but it had helped Ellie learn a few life lessons, namely on trust.

Still, Ellie had thought if she had helped Victoria get a passing grade and NOT have to repeat Sophomore year, maybe the duo could become friends again. And even though they may have seemed a bit…crass at times, Ellie thought maybe Victoria would invite her to hang out with them. Truth was Ellie didn't have a lot of friends, mainly acquaintances she sat with at lunch, but nothing really like what Victoria had with her friends. It was mainly due to hurt over Victoria abandoning her that she hadn't formed any other close friendships throughout middle and high school.

As she sat there, she glanced at the bandage on her left hand from where one of those THINGS had jumped on her and struck her with that thorny branch. Honestly it was the least serious of her injuries. She had some bruising on her torso, not to mention one on her face, along with a noticeable limp. These were why she had been taken to the police station by the people who found her when she exited the park. She was pretty sure it wasn't even a citizen's arrest, the people who brought her here (a middle-aged couple out for an early morning jog) seemed concerned for her. Plus, she thought she overheard one of them mention Phil. Perhaps they knew him and were aware that he had been with Ellie in the woods?

Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of multiple people yelling outside. At first it was hard to determine who all was out there, but then she heard a VERY familiar shrill tone yell out, "WHERE IS MY BABY?! WHAT DID THAT LITTLE WH*RE DO TO HER?!"

Ellie winced, instantly recognizing the voice of Victoria's mother. She had never really liked the woman, and she knew the feeling was mutual. Shaking her head, she realized that along with Victoria's mom, Jay, Phil, and Rex's families were likely outside the room, too, all ready to barge in and demand answers about where their kids were.

Except…Ellie didn't have any solid answers for them. She had a pretty good GUESS as to what had happened to the others, but aside from Phil, she didn't know 100% whether they were alive or…she shuddered at that train of thought. She was aware that due to their city being near the coastline, and the twists and turns of those woods, the area that they had been camping in would be pretty hard to get to due to that log bridge collapsing. Not impossible, but she was aware that that area led out to some steep cliffs over the ocean, and the general terrain all around it was also pretty steep. Hopefully that meant no one would ever go to that area again.

"PEOPLE, PLEASE CALM DOWN!" A commanding voice suddenly cut through Ellie's thoughts and the adults outside arguing. Ellie recognized it as the officer who had greeted her and the couple when they came in. Despite his rough-sounding voice, he had been gentle with Ellie, first taking her to the medical labs to get a quick examination and get bandaged up, before getting her a cup of coffee and leading her to the interrogation room. He didn't try to bait her or force anything out of her, merely asking if she was ok, before asking for her name and who to contact for her.

"CALM DOWN?" A male voice that Ellie didn't recognize shouted, "My neighbors were out for a jog when they spotted that girl come stumbling out of the forest looking like she'd just gotten into a tussle! I know she was one of the ones with my boy on some class project, and I wanna know what happened!"

"And we will get answers," The officer (Officer O'Malley, Ellie remembered him giving his name) told them, "But there is a certain process for this."

"What process?" Victoria's mother snapped, "Is she under arrest? Do we need to be worried? Should we search her room for what she may have used to do horrible things to our kids?!"

This started a bunch of concerned murmuring from the other parents as Officer O'Malley tried to restore order. Before he could, however…

"YOU!" Victoria's mother shouted, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOUR DAUGHTER DID TO OUR PRECIOUS BABIES?!"

"Oooh," Ellie winced, knowing her mother had likely just arrived. This would be…interesting. Basically, both of Ellie's parents were loving and supporting. But when they got mad and got on the warpath, they were TERRIFYING. She was just glad her dad was out of the country on business, so she would likely only have to deal with ONE angry parent for now. Well, one of HERS, along with the parents of her classmates. And aside from Victoria's mom, Ellie had no idea how the other parents were personally, thought given the situation, she figured they were pretty ticked off.

Sighing, Ellie prayed that Officer O'Malley would hold off everyone for a few more minutes, maybe with the door getting stuck, because she did NOT want to deal with this. After all, what was she supposed to say? Little green Smurfs with mushrooms on their heads had most likely killed all their kids for disrespecting nature? She had no proof. Heck, even if she still had her notepad, they likely wouldn't believe her. Nope, saying that would just getting her a one-way ticket to the nuthouse.

Ellie put her face into her hands and groaned, knowing this wouldn't end well. And even if by some miracle is DID, she would still likely have nightmares for the rest of her life about what had happened. She saw those little green monsters every time she closed her eyes.

As the adults outside continued to argue, the door creaked open. Ellie kept her face buried in her hands, hoping to put this off just a few seconds longer. The door closed, so hopefully it was just one officer. Or a lawyer. Wait, did she need a lawyer? Oh crud, she was going to be blamed for what happened to her classmates, and it'd be either jail or a mental institution. She had escaped the Sprites, but she was still doomed!

As Ellie started hyperventilating as her thoughts ran wild, she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her, followed by a soothing, "Hey, hey, it's gonna be ok. Just breath."

Recognizing the voice, Ellie's panicking slowed as her breathing returned to normal. Looking up, Ellie looked into the eyes of her older sister giving her a comforting hug.

"M…Millie?" She asked hesitantly, unsure if her big sister was actually there or if she was just a hallucination brought on by the stress. She looked up at her big sister, who looked just like her, albeit with glasses and a pink streak in her hair.

"It's ok, Lil' Sis, I'm here," Millicent "Millie" Chang, Ellie's older sister who was currently in college, said as she stroked her younger sister's hair, "Mom's out there dealing with all the other parents. Most of them, especially Victoria's mother, are out for blood, but Mom's helping that officer calm them down."

"Oh geez," Ellie moaned. She was still stressed, but she had always felt safe in her sister's arms. Due to their parents often working long hours throughout both their childhoods, Millie had been a fulltime babysitter for Ellie. Needless to say, Ellie looked up to Millie more than she did their parents; she respected and loved her parents, of course, but Millie had just always been there for her whenever she needed her, always ready to lend an ear or give a hug. Even when she went away to college, she called Ellie twice a week and came home whenever she could.

"Don't worry," Millie told her, "It's all gonna be ok. Just…before any of them realize I slipped in here, I gotta ask, what's going on? Apparently, some people found you stumbling out of the forest this morning? And you were…" She paused, looking at Ellie's bandaged hand, before pulling her away and looking at her face, noticing the bruise around her right eye. Frowning, she asked, "What the hell happened? Did one of those punks hurt you?"

"No!" Ellie exclaimed, shaking her head, "They didn't do this. It was…" She paused, unable to think of what to say that wouldn't sound crazy.

Millie looked at her, concerned, but before she could ask Ellie to elaborate, the door was slammed open, Officer O'Malley glaring at the duo as he stated, "Miss, you can't be in here with the suspect."

"SUSPECT?!" Millie asked with rage, getting up and stomping over to the officer as she snapped, "My sister has done NOTHING wrong, nor is there any evidence of any wrongdoing in general, so don't you DARE call her a suspect!"

O'Malley, a man banking on 6feet tall, was clearly not used to being berated like this, and thus was stunned silent as he stared at the furious college girl in front of him.

"Millie, please don't antagonize this officer," A tired sounding voice spoke from behind O'Malley, "He's just doing his job." The girls' mother, Sonya, was standing behind O'Malley, still in her nursing scrubs, having come straight from work due to getting the call about Ellie. One look at her would let anyone instantly know she was the mother of the 2 girls in the room, with her similar facial features and black hair.

"Not to mention he's clearly RIGHT," Victoria's mom piped up from behind Sonya, trying to barge in the room to glare at Ellie as she snapped, "What did you do to my baby, you little monster?"

"I…I didn't do anything," Ellie managed to squeak out, causing the four people in the room, plus the other parents just outside the door, to look at her. Needless to say, the poor girl instantly shrunk down, unsure of what to say next.

Luckily her mother instantly shoved past O'Malley upon getting a look at Ellie, her exhaustion from her double shift at work instantly disappearing as she fretted over her younger daughter, "Oh, baby, what happened?" She turned her head to get a look at the bruise on Ellie's face, before inspecting her hand. She frowned as she asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Um…I have some bruising on my stomach and back," Ellie said, not looking her mother in the eyes, "And a sl…slight limp."

"Clearly got it from my daughter and her friends fighting back!" Victoria's mom snapped, which caused a slight uproar from the other parents behind her.

"Alright, alright!" O'Malley regained his composure and turned around, beginning to push the rest of the group out, "I understand this is a heavy situation, so you are all allowed to watch the interrogation from behind the two-way mirror as long as you are QUIET!" His tone let the others, even Victoria's riled up mom, know that this was their only option if they wanted answers right away. The group slunk away from the door, and O'Malley closed it behind them, turning to look at the trio of women in the room. He took a deep breath before explaining, "Ok, here's how this is going to go: we don't know what's happened here. All we know is that you," He pointed at Ellie, "Went into the forest yesterday around noon with a group of your classmates, and this morning you came out alone, injured, and according to the couple that found you, out of breath, like you'd been running a good distance. Now, I'm going to ask you, Ellie, do I need to call you a lawyer?"

Ellie looked at the floor, wondering what to say here. She wasn't guilty of anything! But she couldn't tell the truth, either, because they'd never believe her. Oh, why did it have to be the Sprites? Ellie almost wished it had been a human who-

"No!" Ellie said, instantly realizing what she could do to get out of this, "I…I'm just still in shock, is all. But I know I need to explain what happened. However, I don't…EXACTLY know what happened to the others."

"Well, let's start small," O'Malley said, sitting across from Ellie. Millie took the seat besides Ellie, and O'Malley let Sonya drag the seat next to him around to sit on the opposite side of Ellie. "What happened to you? Or better yet, what happened in general?"

Taking a deep breath as she went over the story in her head one last time, Ellie began, "Well, the 5 of us ventured into the woods, eventually coming across the log bridge to the more secluded section of the forest, figuring it would be the perfect spot to do our research for our project. As we were setting up camp, we were suddenly greeted with a hello."

"A hello?" O'Malley asked, getting an uneasy feeling. Outside the room, the other parents felt the same.

"A man walked into our campsite, from the opposite direction of the log bridge," Ellie continued, "He appeared to be an older gentleman, as he had a bushy white beard. He was also wearing a red cap that covered almost the entire top half of his head, along with a simple green suit that had some tatters in it. He introduced himself as…" She paused, knowing this would sound weird, but figured she could make it believable, "Mr. Sprite. He said he had lived in the woods for a good long while, and welcomed us. Once…" She hated to throw the others under the bus, but she figured they wouldn't mind, since they were, ya know, dead, "Once Phil told him what we were up to, he offered to help us by offering to take us on a tour of the area. Since I was only helping and didn't HAVE to be there, the others told me to set up camp, so I did." She paused at that, actually shaking a bit, which resulted in Millie rubbing her back.

"And then what happened?" O'Malley asked tenderly, now reminiscent of the kind man he had been when Ellie first arrived.

"The others came back a couple hours later, each with their notebooks full of useful stuff for the project," Ellie continued, "But Mr. Sprite wasn't with them. Jay said he had his own little cave a way off, and he had headed back there, but he wished us well. I didn't think anything of it, and asked for everyone's notes to start getting the report ready. As we had dinner and chatted, I noticed the others were starting to act funny while drinking from their bottles. I asked what was up, and they said Mr. Sprite had shown them his distillery and let them each have some moonshine from it. At that moment I got a bad feeling, and insisted we leave. But by then it had started getting dark, and the others told me everything was fine. I tried insisting, but Rex, clearly drunk off his ass, told me I was being a buzzkill before passing out. Victoria told me not to worry, and we'd leave first thing in the morning. Then she crawled on top of Rex and passed out, too. Then I turned around to see Jay and Phil already out, so I sighed, figuring I was overreacting." At this, she let out a sigh as she exclaimed, "God, what I wouldn't give to go back to that moment and SCREAM at everyone to get up so we could leave." At this, Ellie remembered seeing Phil's already dead body being burned, along with when Elder Sprite showed up right before she was able to escape, and a few tears fell. Her mother and sister reached over and rubbed her back soothingly, and O'Malley looked at the girl with nothing but pity, realizing she was not a suspect, but a victim.

"If you need to stop, I understand. We can wai-" O'Malley began, but Ellie shook her head in defiance.

"No!" She stated, wiping her eyes, "There are people outside that window that deserve to know what happened to their kids." She looked at the window and said, "I'm sorry." She then turned back to O'Malley and continued, "I knew it would be cold at night, so I at least put everyone's sleeping bags over them before gathering everything up and getting it ready so we could leave as soon as we got up. I then did a little more with the notes again before falling asleep, myself. I must've slept for a couple hours before I was awoken by a cry of pain." At this, Ellie allowed a couple more tears to fall, before regaining her composure, "I got up and noticed the others were all gone, so I naturally got nervous, thinking maybe it was a prank. Then I heard some cackling from the direction they had gone in earlier with Mr. Sprite. I nervously headed towards it, and I saw…I saw…" At this, Ellie thought about the horror she had dealt with that night, including the fact that the others, including her former best friend were most likely DEAD, and became a bawling mess. Her mother and sister both wrapped her in a hug, whispering soothing things into her ears.

"You don't have to continue the story," O'Malley said, rubbing his temples as he hadn't really expected things to go THIS far. He didn't believe Ellie had done anything to her classmates, but he figured SOMETHING had happened. But this, this was almost too much, even for a hardened cop like him. He sighed as he watched the sobbing girl in front of him for a few moments before he asked, "I do have to ask, though, are your classmates dead?"

"I…I don't know for sure," Ellie sobbed, "I saw M…Mr. Sprite burning Phil's body, but I didn't see any of the others." Needless to say, from outside there was a bang on the window with a cry of anguish, along with what sounded like someone dropping to the floor.

"And…did Mr. Sprite hurt you?" O'Malley had to ask.

"When he noticed me, he…said he enjoyed hurting others, but he thought I…thought I…" Ellie hated to make up this lie, but it was the only thing she could think of for why Mr. Sprite hadn't killed her initially, too. She blurted out, "He thought I was really pretty and wanted to have some fun with me before killing me, too."

Millie and Sonya both gasped in shock as they tightened their hug around Ellie. O'Malley seethed with rage, finding THOSE types of people to be the worst.

Through her tears, Ellie finished up, "I ran, but he tackled me, and we rolled down a small hill. That's how I got banged up. I was able to give him a kick to his manhood before stumbling back up the hill. I yelled out for the others, but didn't hear anything, so I hurried back to the campsite. I tried to grab what I could, but I heard him yelling for me, so I just ran. I got to the log bridge and started crossing it, when it started to fall. The end where we had initially come from was sinking into the ground, which almost caused me to fall down that chasm. Luckily, I used my fanny pack as a makeshift grappling hook, snagging a branch and swinging across." At this, Ellie shook with absolute fear as she recounted, "And apparently not a SECOND too soon, as I heard the yell and felt his presence right behind me as I made it across. I looked and saw his red hat fluttering down the chasm."

At this, Ellie finished her tale, and there was silence both inside and outside the room. The air was tense, with Millie almost wishing that this Mr. Sprite fellow hadn't fallen to his death so that she could personally kill him. Sonya was feeling like a failure of a mom, as her always working long hours meant she hadn't been there to protect her baby girl. O'Malley sighed, before calling out, "Bring it in!"

Another officer hurried in, handing O'Malley an envelope before hurrying back out. O'Malley frowned before opening it to reveal a stack of papers. He sighed, feeling utterly ashamed as he admitted, "Over the past few years, we've had SEVERAL missing persons cases around those woods."

"WHAT?!" Sonya asked in rage, glaring daggers at the officer, "And you didn't think to TELL anyone about this, maybe close off those woods?!"

"The mayor didn't want to cause a panic," O'Malley explained, even though he knew it was a pathetic excuse, "But now that we have a NAME, we're gonna go to the press with this." He then looked at Ellie and asked, "Would you be willing to talk to a sketch artist? Even if you're sure this Sprite fellow is dead, it would be good to see if he's a match to any known suspect."

"I…I guess I could," Ellie said, "But between his bushy beard and giant hat, I didn't really get a good look at his face. He had a big nose, and he was white, but other than that, I don't think anything I say would be of much help."

"Anything you can give us will be more than enough," O'Malley said gently, "I'll organize a strike force to head to that section of forest, while I give a statement to the news station. You head home, you can come back later this week to give an official description." At that, he stood up and headed out to console the other families.

The Chang women sat there for a few minutes longer, waiting to make sure that Ellie was doing alright before getting up and making their way outside, Millie allowing Ellie to lean on her to help with her limp. They passed the other families, all of whom were either in tears or had thousand-year stares as they processed what they had heard. Ellie had to look away, ashamed that she hadn't been able to help her classmates.

As they walked, Sonya noticed something else about Ellie and asked, "Did you…cut your hair, sweetie?"

"My ponytail…got tangled in some thorn bushes when he tackled me down that hill," Ellie quickly said, having honestly forgotten about having to cut her ponytail to escape those spiders, "I was panicking, so I just pulled out my pocket knife and used it cut myself loose."

"Ok, we're getting you home, Mom's gonna check you out, while I get a nice hot bath ready for you," Millie said, as they exited the station and headed towards Sonya's car, "Maybe make you some nice soup, too." At that, Millie briefly broke away and headed over to get her bike; due to Sonya having come straight from work, she quickly called Millie at home, and she raced to the police station on her bike, figuring it was close enough and that it would be good for both her and her mom to be in the same car with Ellie on the ride home. Sonya popped the trunk, Millie placing her bike inside before getting into the backseat next to her sister.

Once everyone was strapped in, Sonya pulled out and headed home, keeping an eye on the road yet also checking on her daughters in the rearview mirror when she got a chance. Ellie was curled into a ball while Millie was rubbing her back. Sonya bit her lip, before deciding to ask, "Ellie, sweetie, I think it might be a good idea for you to talk to a therapist about what happened. Even though you told Officer O'Malley everything, I think it's clear you need to talk to a professional about what you've been through, get everything off your chest."

"Ok," Ellie mumbled, only half paying attention. While she wanted to forget everything that had happened, she knew her mom was right, that she needed to talk to someone about this. Even if she had to maintain the lie about a human killer, she had STILL been almost killed after witnessing the death of at least one of her classmates. She shuddered at the thought, suddenly realizing how exhausted she was. Well duh! She had been up over half the previous night running for her life.

"What time is it?" She muttered, looking out the car window and noticing the sun was already starting to set.

"It's about 6:30," Sonya replied, "You were there quite a while before you told the officers your name. They said you were really out of it."

"Of course she was," Millie said, stroking her little sister's hair to keep her calm, "She's lucky to be alive." She then winced as she noticed Ellie start shaking at her blunt choice of words.

"Can…can I stay home from school tomorrow?" Ellie asked timidly. She was certain she wouldn't sleep a wink tonight, and REALLY didn't wanna face any of the other students or her teachers.

"Um, sis," Millie began slowly, "You…do remember why I'm home this week, right?"

Ellie looked at her curiously, only just now seeming to realize her sister wasn't several hundred miles away at college. Then it suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks as she remembered, "Spring Break, forgot. I…. guess that's good."

Sonya shared a look with Millie in the rearview mirror, but didn't say anything. The rest of the car ride was silent.

Thankfully it was only a few minutes before they arrived at their destination. However, when Ellie looked up, she saw they weren't at their house, but rather…

"The hospital?" Ellie asked numbly, "Did you forget something, Mum?"

"No, sweetie," Sonya shook her head, "When your sister mentioned checking you out, I realized it'd be better to get you an official look-over, maybe even an x-ray. I told my bosses that you were at the police station and had some injuries, so they shouldn't be too surprised to see us."

"Ok," Ellie nodded, unbuckling and getting out. Millie again allowed her sister to use her as a crutch as they walked inside.

A couple hours later, Sonya pulled into their driveway. Thankfully Ellie's checkup showed no broken bones, and her bruises and limp would heal up in a few days as long as she took it easy. She had been given a prescription for some painkillers, which her mother would head out to pick up the next morning. Luckily Sonya had been given the rest of the week off to look after Ellie.

As they headed inside, Sonya told her older daughter, "Millie, go draw that bath for your sister. Nice and hot, it'll help with her injuries." Millie nodded and, after getting Ellie seated at the kitchen table, headed off. Sonya headed to the cabinet, stating, "You must be starving after all this, sweetie. I'll fix you some soup."

"Thanks, Mum," Ellie said, looking around her kitchen in an almost wonder-like trance. She honestly thought she would never see her home again, first due to the Sprites killing her, then due to possibly being locked up for murder. It felt so good to be in the safety of her house, miles away from the woods.

Ellie's nostrils alerted her to something wonderful, which caused her stomach to growl. Looking down, she saw that while she had been lost in thought, her mom had placed a bowl of beef stew in front of her, along with some saltines. Ellie looked at the food like a starving dog, recalling the last food she had eaten was the sausage Phil had cooked the previous afternoon.

Ellie dug in like a ravenous dog seeing a T-bone steak, devouring her meal in a matter of minutes.

"Someone was hungry," Sonya said, having sat next to her daughter, "Did the police station offer you anything to eat? Even if you're a suspect, I'm pretty sure they're supposed to offer you at least a snack if you're gonna be there more than a couple hours."

"I…" Ellie paused in thought, "I think one of them brought me a chocolate bar at some point, but I barely registered it."

"Well," Sonya said, caressing her daughter's face, "You're home now, and Momma's gonna take care of you." She then took her daughter's hand in her own as she stated, "I…am SO sorry you went through all that, Sweetie. I can only imagine what's going through your head right now."

"It's…it's a pretty big mess up there," Ellie admitted, before offering her mom a smile, "But I think I'm gonna be ok. It'll take time, but I'll get over it." She frowned before adding, "Hopefully."

"Well, for now," Sonya said, getting up and taking Ellie's dishes to the sink, "Let's get you upstairs. Your sister likely has your bath ready." Ellie nodded, getting up and beginning to head upstairs on her own, before her mother appeared beside her and began helping her.

"Mum," Ellie offered Sonya a smile, "My limp isn't that bad."

"I know, Sweetie," Sonya replied as they headed upstairs, "I just…I wanna make up for not being there for you."

"You couldn't have known," Ellie assured her, "None of us couldn't have known." At this, she frowned as a thought occurred to her, "Well, actually, we SHOULD have known, if those disappearances hadn't been covered up."

"Well," Sonya offered a mischievous smile, "You didn't hear this from me, but you know how one of my bosses is married to the Deputy Mayor?" Ellie nodded, and Sonya chuckled as she stated, "Word around the breakroom is that after Mayor Harper just barely got a second term, city officials are looking for any excuse to get rid of him. Once O'Malley goes to the press with all this, Harper will be lucky to find a janitorial job willing to hire him."

This news, especially being delivered as "gossip" by her own mom, caused Ellie to smile widely, relieved that at least someone would be punished for this negligence.

After stopping by Ellie's room to get her pajamas, Sonya helped her to the bathroom, where a hot bubble bath awaited her.

"Just call if you need anything, Sweetie," Sonya said as she headed back downstairs, "Stay in there for a good half-hour, the hot water will be like Heaven on your bruises."

"Will do, Mum," Ellie replied, shutting the door behind her before stripping down and tossing her clothes into the hamper. She then gently lowered herself into the hot water, instantly feeling relief as it enveloped her body.

Between all the stress and not getting any sleep the night before, Ellie was almost ready to doze off in this nice hot bath…until the door opened and Millie came in, a book in hand.

Shooting awake, Ellie quickly rearranged the foamy bubbles to make sure they covered her up to her neck as she stated, "Um, occupied!"

"I know, Sis," Millie chuckled, putting the lid down on the toilet seat before sitting on it and opening her book, "I made the bath for you, remember?"

"Right," Ellie said, a little red in the face, "But, uh, why are you here?"

"Oh, figured you'd be so exhausted from all the hell you've been through, so I thought I'd do my reading in here," Millie explained, holing up her book, "One of the joys of college: Spring Break homework."

"Millie," Ellie whined, "I'm more than capable of not falling asleep in the tub on my own."

"I know that," Millie replied, "But better safe than sorry. Besides," She chuckled, "Not like I haven't seen ya naked before, little Miss Nudist."

Ellie's blush deepened as she recalled how, when she was a toddler, she apparently did NOT like wearing clothes. Millie and Sonya had had to frequently watch her whenever they went out, due to an instance when they had been at a clothing store and both parents had been distracted, which had allowed Ellie to strip down and hide in the clothing racks, ready to spook people. After an elderly woman had gotten shocked by a naked Ellie yelling a loud, "BOO!" at her, the family had been banned from that particular store. After that, Ellie always had to be holding one of her parents' or her sister's hands when they went out until she grew out of that phase.

"That…that was a LONG time ago," Ellie mumbled in embarrassment.

"Still a funny yet stressful memory," Millie chuckled, reaching forward and tussling her sister's hair. Ellie pouted and pushed her hand away, yet said nothing else, figuring if her sister was just watching out for her, it wasn't so bad. Plus, with the layer of bubble bath on top of the water, she still had some privacy.

At that, Ellie allowed herself to relax again, sinking down into the bath, ready for some good soaking and relaxing…

"Vincent, I promise you, she's ok, just a little banged up," Sonya said, barging in while talking on the phone.

"Mum!" Ellie hissed, blush returning.

Sonya didn't notice, trying to assure her husband that their daughter was fine. "Honey, I promise you, she's relaxing in the tub right now, with Millie watching over her."

Ellie frowned, a bit annoyed that her mother was talking about her as though she wasn't 2 feet away from her. Before she could voice her opinion on that, she felt something brush against her head. Looking up, she saw Millie, currently using one hand to read her book, holding out the towel they set by the sink to dry their hands off.

Realizing what her sister was getting at, Ellie sat up (while still using bubbles to cover her chest) and took the towel, using it to dry her hands off. Once this was done, her mother handed her the phone.

"Pumkin, are you alright?" Came the frantic voice of her father, Vincent Chang.

Vincent was currently on a business trip. ANOTHER one, to be precise. Growing up, Vincent's family struggled with money. He wanted to make sure his own family never went through what he'd had to as a child, so upon working his way through business school (with scholarships, thankfully), he got a high paying job almost immediately after graduating, and slowly worked his way up over the years. Now, his family was practically upper-middle class. However, this meant a LOT of business trips, usually a dozen or so a year. He hated always being away from his family, but recalling his guilt over how sometimes his parents would go to bed hungry so he and his siblings wouldn't have to, he knew this was the right choice.

"I'm fine, Daddy," Ellie replied, relieved to hear her father's voice. She loved him dearly, and he was yet another part of her life she had briefly believed she would never see again.

"What happened?" Vincent asked worriedly, "Your mother told me…your mum told me that you encountered a serial killer on a class trip and that 4 of your classmates are…are…dead?!"

Ellie took a deep breath, before looking at her mother setting the towel back by the sink, and her sister still reading her book. However, it was obvious they were both listening to her, watching over her. She sighed, and told her father the tale she had spun for Officer O'Malley.

"…and a couple of Phil's neighbors, out for a morning jog, saw me as I stumbled out of the woods," She finished up, "They took me to the police station, where I got a quick checkup. I eventually told my story, Mum took me to the hospital, and now here I am."

"Oh, Pumkin," Vincent sighed forlornly, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that hell. And you're sure you're alright?"

"Physically I'm fine," Ellie replied, "A little banged up, but I'll live."

"And…mentally?" Her father asked after a moment.

Ellie said nothing for a good minute, staring straight ahead, remembering the cries of the Sprites, seeing Phil's body burnt to a crisp, knowing what most likely happened to her classmates…

"Pumkin?" Vincent finally asked after the silence. Shaking out of her stupor, she noticed her mother and sister staring at her in concern.

Taking a deep breath, Ellie replied, "I…may need some therapy, but otherwise I'll be ok."

"Ok, Pumkin," Her dad replied sympathetically, "Please, if you can avoid it, don't be alone. Keep around your mother and sister this week, ok? I've got a couple meetings I have to take care of on this trip, but I'm gonna talk to my boss. He's an understanding guy, so after I explain what's happened, hopefully he'll let me come home early."

"Ok, Daddy," She nodded, "But don't ruin anything at work because of me. I know this trip was supposed to last another week. If you can't come home early, don't just leave to come see me. I'll be fine."

"I know you will," Her father replied, "Could you put your mother back on? There're a couple things I need to talk about with her."

"Sure thing. Love you," Ellie said, as she handed the phone back to her mother, who headed out of the bathroom.

About 20 minutes later, Ellie was ready to get out, due to the bath water starting to cool down. After making sure she'd be ok, Millie headed out, allowing Ellie to get changed into her pajamas. After getting her undies on, she pulled on her grey sweatpants and green t-shirt she wore to bed, before brushing her teeth and making her way back out to the hallway.

The moment she opened the door, Millie was there, allowing her sister to lean on her for the short walk to her bedroom. "Don't worry about setting your alarm," Millie said, as she guided Ellie to her bed, "Sleep in as late as you want. I figure you'll need it."

Ellie nodded, getting situated on her bed before turning off the bedside lamp…and instantly regretting that as, aside from the hallway light, her room was almost completely enveloped in darkness. It made her think of when she had woken up the night before to see her classmates' sleeping bags empty and thinking (honestly hoping) they were playing a prank on her…before discovering the horrible truth about those cute little forest creatures.

Feeling a panic attack coming on, Ellie quickly took some deep breaths before calling out to her sister, who was just about to exit the room. "Wait!" When Millie turned to look back at her, Ellie bit her lip before asking, "Would you…um, if it's not too much trouble…maybe…" She paused, frowning as she looked down, feeling so childish for wanting to ask this, even though she knew she needed it.

Millie picked up on what her sister was getting at and offered her a reassuring smile as she replied, "Give me a sec, ok?" She then hurried off to her own room, returning a moment later in her pajamas, a pair of black gym shorts and a blue tank top. As she entered, she called over her shoulder, "Night, Mom!" She closed the door behind her, yet not all the way, allowing a sliver of light to blanket the room. As she crawled into bed beside her sister, she assured her,

"Don't worry, the moonlight should give us a good nightlight."

"Thanks, sis," Ellie said sincerely, as Millie wrapped her in a hug, "For all of this."

"Anytime, sis, anytime," Millie said, planting a kiss on her sister's cheek. Ellie smiled at this, and felt herself relax as she started to drift off…

Ellie and Victoria were laughing as they hung out at their mall's food court, munching on cheap pizza and sipping fruit smoothies.

"…and then Rex realized he lost his swimsuit," Victoria finished her story, resulting in Ellie laughing so hard some of her smoothie came out of her nose.

"Oh gosh," Ellie laughed, using a napkin to clean herself up, "That must have been hilarious."

"Oh yeah, Jay and Phil didn't let him hear the end of it for the rest of the trip," Victoria laughed, "I wish you could have been there. But at least you've been there for every hangout since then."

"Yeah," Ellie chuckled, before frowning as a thought occurred to her, "When…when did this happen, again?"

"During Spring Break, after that nature assignment," Victoria reminded her, "I don't know why you couldn't come with us, but I'm so glad we were able to reconnect as friends."

"Right," Ellie nodded, before frowning again, "Are you…SURE that's what happened?"

"Of course," Victoria nodded, "We became besties again after you single-handedly fought off those murderous gnomes and saved us." She sighed in bliss at the memory, "It was great how you saved us, and didn't run off to save yourself."

Ellie's frown deepened at this. She was about to retort that that didn't sound like what she remembered, before Victoria started laughing. It started out light and friendly, but grew deeper, turning almost maniacal. Ellie grew uncomfortable and scooted her chair away from her friend.

"Yep, you saved us!" Victoria cackled, "You risked your life to save us and NOT run away like a COWARD!"

At that, a giant flame suddenly appeared behind Victoria, and Ellie gasped in horror as Victoria suddenly went limp, slamming her head on the table. Before Ellie could check up on her, Victoria shot up, her eyes lifeless and a pinecone jammed into her mouth, mush like how Phil had been before the Sprites burned his body.

"VICTORIA!" Ellie screamed in horror, jumping back. Suddenly she heard cackling all around her. She turned and saw all the other people in the mall had turned into Sprites, and were moving menacingly towards her.

"No, s…stay back!" Ellie cried, looking around in a panic as they surrounded her. Unlike last time, however, there were HUNDREDS of them, and no salty snacks anywhere in sight.

"No, no, no!" Ellie cried, turning around in a panic, looking for a way to escape. But there was none. She was doomed. "No, no…"

"No, no," Ellie mumbled, tossing and turning in her bed.

"Ellie, Ellie, wake up," Millie was shaking her sister awake, instantly realizing she was having a nightmare-induced panic attack.

"NO!" Ellie cried, finally jolting up in shock. She was sweating in panic, and as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she noticed she was…crying? Yeah, she was definitely crying, too.

"Hey, it's ok," Millie said, sitting up and wrapping her arms even tighter around her little sis, "You're safe now."

Ellie turned around and returned the hug, burying her face into her sister's shoulder as she lightly sobbed. Millie continued whispering soothing nothings as she rubbed her little sister's back in comfort. They stayed like that for a good few minutes, Millie giving her sister all the time she needed to cry it out.

"I…I could have saved them," Ellie finally choked out.

"You don't know that," Millie replied, "If you had stayed to try to find them, that psycho would have killed you, too."

"But-" Ellie began, only to be cut off as Millie broke their hug so she could look her sister right in the eyes.

"Ellie, listen to me," She began sternly, yet still with as much compassion as she could manage, "You had no way of knowing that guy was dangerous, and after you found out, there was nothing you could do to save your classmates. It's horrible, and I know you're dealing with survivor's guilt, but you have to understand that running was all you could do."

Ellie frowned at that. She knew her sister was right; ignoring the truth about the killer(s), the fact remained that after freeing her classmates, all they could do was run. And if she just so happened to be the only one who got away, that wasn't her fault. Those little psychos were relentless. She knew she had to accept it. But…

"It's just so hard," She admitted, "I mean, I may not have known the guys all that well, but Victoria was my best friend."

Millie frowned at that, thinking over what to say for a moment before finally stating, "You're right, sis, she WAS your best friend. I know for a fact that you haven't hung out for a good while because she thought was better than you."

Ellie sighed at that, recalling how honestly, Millie had NEVER liked Victoria, even before their friendship fell apart. She could…kind of understand that. Due to being a bit spoiled by her parents, Victoria had always been a little bit of a brat. But Ellie still cared for her, and felt bad that she had failed her and the guys.

Millie shifted them so they were laying back down, still in their hug. She was stroking Ellie's hair as she said, "There was nothing you could have done, so it's best to just accept what happened. You survived, now you need to power forward. And you've got your family here to help you." Millie smiled an encouraging smile.

Ellie was still unsure, but she returned the smile as she tightened her hug. "Thanks, Sis, I really appreciate all this. You're a great sister."

"I try," Millie smiled back at her, before lifting her head and looking at the alarm clock on Ellie's bedside. It was after midnight, meaning they'd been asleep for a couple hours before Ellie's nightmare. "You gonna be able to get back to sleep?" She asked.

Ellie bit her lip, before shaking her head. "I…I don't wanna close my eyes, and I definitely don't wanna have more nightmares."

"Well…" Millie thought for a moment, trying to think of SOMETHING she could say to help her little sister out. Then, it came to her! "How about we just chat instead? You'll likely fall asleep on your own, and whatever we talk about will be the last thing on your mind."

"Ok…" Ellie thought for a moment, before frowning as she admitted, "I…got nothing, honestly."

"Hmmm…" Millie thought for a moment, before smirking, "Ya wanna talk about when Victoria and your friendship ended?"

"Why would I wanna talk about that?" Ellie asked, confused, "That was NOT a good memory."

"Oh, but it was, sis, it really was," Millie chuckled…

Ellie was sniffling as she sat on the couch. She had always tried to be a good little girl, but it was so HARD with Victoria's mommy. The woman was just a big old MEANIE in Ellie's opinion.

Anytime Ellie went to Victoria's house to play, her mommy ALWAYS had to start something, usually by stating that Victoria was "too good" for Ellie, whatever that meant.

At the very least, Victoria's grandpa was always nice to Ellie. He was a kind old man who, even though he had lots of money, never looked down on people. He was also a good father figure to Victoria, as it was just the 3 of them, no daddy anywhere that Ellie had seen.

"I am so sick of that wh*re!" Sonya raged from the other room, "She's practically a bully to Ellie!" She was currently on the phone talking to Vincent, away on a business trip, raging about the latest incident that had sent Ellie home crying after playing at Victoria's.

Ellie frowned, knowing the word her mommy had just said was a bad word. She listened some more, before timidly getting off the couch and making her way upstairs to her sister's room.

Despite it being Saturday, Millie was a bit of an overachiever, and thus was finishing up a book she had to read for a book report that wasn't due for a week. However, having heard her mother on the phone, she knew it was only a matter of time before she heard, "Millie?"

Looking up from her desk, she smiled at seeing her little sister in her doorway, a pout on her face. Setting her book down, Millie got up and opened her arms, silently signaling Ellie to run into them. Luckily it looked like Ellie was all cried out, so, after navigating them so that, while still in their hug, they were sitting on Millie's bed, she began stroking her little sister's head and asked, "What did Mrs. Chance do THIS time?"

"She told Victoria that she shouldn't play with me anymore, because she can make better, prettier friends," Ellie whined, "And Victoria said she understands what her mommy is saying! She's never said that before! She always tells her mommy that we're best friends and that I'm a good girl. But today she actually AGREED with her mommy, saying she knows that one day she'll make better friends than me." At this, the tears started up again.

Millie sighed, hating this, but not surprised it was coming to this. In all honesty, she had hoped that Victoria would have at least been willing to stay friends with Ellie until middle school where popularity and all that nonsense came in, but it looked like her mother had been working on her so that it would be much earlier.

Truthfully, Millie had never even really like Victoria to begin with, and wished that her sister had picked another girl to be her best friend. But alas, in kindergarten, the kids sat at 2-person tables, alphabetically by last name, so of course Victoria Chance and Eleanor Chang ended up sitting together for the whole year, becoming close in the process.

But Victoria was always a bit of a brat, at least in Millie's opinion. Sure, she was nice to Ellie, but now that Millie was in middle school, she had become more aware of things like backhanded compliments and manipulation.

But still, she knew Ellie cared for Victoria, so she instead said, "Maybe we can have Mom sit down and talk to her, explain how the 2 of you really care for each other, and that you're a good influence on her."

Ellie stopped sniffling and brightened up at that, asking, "You think so? Because maybe if I apologize for what I did wrong, Mrs. Chance will offer to help us out."

While Millie wanted to STRANGLE that woman for making Ellie think she had done something wrong, her curiosity was piqued as she asked, "How could she help us out?"

"Well, you know how Mommy and Daddy ALWAYS have to work?" Ellie asked, and Millie nodded, so she continued, "Well, I heard Mommy say that Victoria's Mommy has a MINE. And if I apologize, maybe she'll let us go in and get some gold."

Millie looked at her for a good moment, before finally bluntly saying, "…you lost me, sis."

"When I heard Mommy yelling to Daddy on the phone," Ellie explained, "She said Victoria's mommy likes to go digging for gold!" She had a giddy smile on her face as she finished, "So maybe if I tell her I'm sorry for not being a good friend to Victoria, she'll let us go into her mine, we can get some gold, become rich, and then Mommy and Daddy won't have to work all the time."

Millie merely smiled sweetly at her innocent little sister. The few times she herself had been to her sister's best friend's house, she had suspected that the old man living there was NOT Victoria's grandpa. The last time she had been there, she had seen Mrs. Chance kiss him on the lips; now that she was old enough to know what a gold digger was, she had no more questions about how amoral Victoria's mom was.

Millie merely remarked that that sounded like a good idea, before rocking her sister in her arms a bit more while their mom ranted downstairs.

"Oh gosh," Ellie laughed, "I had honestly forgotten about that."

"I still get a chuckle every time I remember you wanting to go digging for gold," Millie chuckled. However, she then grimaced as she muttered, "Still can't believe there are actually people like that, marrying someone old enough to be their parents just to get a shot at the good life."

"Maybe that's why Victoria and Rex were so sickeningly sweet with each other," Ellie mused, "Rex was gonna go to college on a Cricket scholarship, probably gonna go pro, same for Victoria with cheerleading. If they stayed together, she would have been able to continue her rich life without having to marry someone 20-40 years older than her."

"Makes sense," Millie replied, "Most people don't actually WANT to be with someone that old if they can help it. Heck, I'm sure Victoria's mom has probably cheated on her husband at least a couple times over the years."

"More than likely," Ellie said, yawning. "I know I'll never do something like that." She shifted a bit in their hug, as her eyes started drooping. "I'll find a nice guy my own age, who likes me for me, not some…some rich old perv…"

Those were the last words out of Ellie's mouth before she nodded off again. Millie was sure they'd probably be up again that night, but for now she'd pray her little sister could have a peaceful sleep.

She reached forward and pecked Ellie's forehead, before closing her eyes and allowing herself to drift off.

It was just before noon the next morning when Millie stumbled into the kitchen. Sonya, who was preparing lunch, frowned at seeing her older daughter still half-asleep at such a late hour; even when she was a kid, Millie RARELY slept in, 10:00 being the absolute latest she'd sleep on weekends.

"How is she?" Sonya asked, pouring the girl some coffee.

"Not too good," Millie sighed, "Ellie woke up several times due to nightmares, and the majority of the time she WAS asleep, she was tossing and turning something fierce."

"My poor baby," Sonya muttered, shaking her head.

"I imagine she'll sleep most of today," Millie said, before chuckling, "Despite everything going on, I know I helped. A bit too much, maybe."

"Oh?" Sonya asked curiously, handing Millie a sandwich, which the girl began eating as she told her story.

"I had to get up to go to the bathroom a couple hours ago, and even though I'm pretty sure she was asleep, she had a death grip on my arm. Took a good couple minutes to get free. Same for just now. If I didn't need something to eat, I would still be up there with her." She sighed as she finished her sandwich, finally stating, "I've got some things to take care of this week. Figure I'll at least do my homework in Ellie's room today, be close by when she wakes up."

"I'll make some food for her in a little bit," Sonya stated, "And I'm already looking up potential therapists for her to talk to. I may call Officer O'Malley and see if he knows of any who specifically deal with this kind of trauma."

"Hopefully he'll suggest someone good," Millie replied, before asking, "Did you see anything on the news?"

"Yup," Sonya replied, "O'Malley did the press conference around 10, and Mayor Harper is TRYING to do damage control, but last I checked the news, there's already an angry mob of protesters on his lawn."

"Good, that man deserves to be fired…" Millie growled, "Out of a canon!"

"Agreed," Sonya nodded, "I'll keep you informed, you call me when Ellie wakes up, and I'll bring her some food."

"Will do," Millie said, turning and heading back upstairs, first stopping in her own room to get the book she was reading for her book report, before heading to Ellie's room. Her sister was sleeping peacefully at the moment, which Millie took as a sign that she'd be ok.

For the rest of the day, Millie stayed in Ellie's room, eventually finishing her book and getting started on her report. Around 3ish, Ellie woke up, groggy and disoriented, but muttering she was hungry. Millie called for their mom, who brought Ellie a sandwich and some juice, which the girl (after waking up some more) again wolfed down.

During this, Sonya explained that things were not looking good for the mayor, and the police had already headed into the woods looking to see if Mr. Sprite was still alive. Ellie, despite not wanting to, felt the need to keep up her obliviousness about certain aspects of the story, and timidly asked, "Did they find any of the others."

"I haven't heard back, Sweetie," Sonya said, stroking her daughter's hair, "But I'll let you know as soon as I either hear back from Officer O'Malley or see anything on the news."

Knowing that was as good an answer as she was gonna get (as despite being pretty sure her classmates didn't make it, Ellie still had a sliver of hope), she finished her sandwich, before her mom and sister insisted she lay back down. Ellie initially resisted, but it was clear she was still very emotionally exhausted, and thus eventually obliged.

She slept for most of the rest of the day, Millie again joining her when night fell. Thankfully Ellie's restlessness seemed to be dissipating. She still had a couple nightmares, but having her sister there comforted her enough to get through them.

On Wednesday afternoon, Ellie was uneasy as her mom pulled up to a local psychiatrist office, having been recommended by Officer O'Malley.

Ellie nervously rubbed her shoulders, unsure of this. Sonya offered her daughter an encouraging smile and gave her hand a squeeze, while Millie, sitting in the backseat, reached forward and squeezed Ellie's shoulder. Though neither said anything, Ellie smiled, grateful for their support and loving comfort.

"We're gonna run a couple errands, then be back in an hour," Sonya told Ellie, as she got out of the car, "Remember, Officer O'Malley said that Dr. Luhn is the best psychiatrist in town, that all the members of the force who deal with PTSD go to him for help. He'll be able to help you, too, Sweetie."

"I know, Mum," Ellie nodded, sighing as she entered the office, turning to wave at Sonya and Millie as they drove away.

Upon telling the receptionist her name, she was informed that Dr. Luhn was running a bit behind and would be a couple minutes. Thus, Ellie took a seat in the waiting room and thought over how this was going to go.

As an apology to Ellie for what she had been through, Mayor Harper promised to pay for as many therapy sessions as she needed to recover from her trauma. Of course, he didn't tell her or her family this directly, instead announcing it on the news, clearly as a way to try to save face for his actions leading to the deaths of her classmates by not closing off the woods long ago. Still, Ellie planned to take full advantage of them, because she was NOT going to spend the rest of her high school life and beyond having sleepless nights filled with restlessness and nightmares.

As Ellie sat there, she took a photo out of her pocket, looking over it with melancholy. It was a photo of her and Victoria in second grade, having just gotten ice cream. Ellie wouldn't say for sure, but she was almost certain this was the last picture taken of her and Victoria before they stopped being friends. She sighed as she looked at it, knowing they'd never have a chance to reconcile now.

"Eleanor Chang," The doctor called her back, catching Ellie's attention. She put the photo back into her pocket before taking a deep breath.

As Ellie stood up and made her way into Dr. Luhn's office, she muttered to herself, "What happened was awful, but you can't undo it. It's best to move ahead, remember Victoria and the guys, pray that the Sprites will be taken care of, and try to stay strong. You've got Mum and Millie to help you, to listen to you, to be there for you. You're Eleanor Chang, you don't back down."

Taking another breath, she entered through the door, still feeling unsure about everything, but certain she would be fine if she just kept her head up.

So, I want to stress that I'm no longer super concerned about perfectionism, as I've realized that will only hold me back in my potential writing career. Thus, I merely had fun with this. I hope you all enjoyed!

The doctor mentioned at the end, Dr. Luhn, is named after the short film's director.

[killaura]

I was 14 when ioh came out. It was the first time I had ever anticipated an album release and held on to announcements and teasers like gospel. I was already a massive @falloutboy fan at the time, spending all my time on the fobrock forums and going on with my best friend about how we had to ‘get out of this town’ while sitting on the swings at the elementary school or in the grocery store parking lot. Classic. It was also a little gay. Classic. I’d babysit the neighbor’s kid in exchange for an order on the clandestine website because my parents didn’t own a credit card. I made fall out boy and associated bands my entire personality and all my weirdo friends were doing the same. I don’t know what the general public was feeling in anticipation to this album release but me and my friends were electric. We would comb through the q&a section looking for hints and it felt like the guys were talking directly to you, letting you know to be patient. The day this ain’t a scene dropped we knew ~something~ was coming and after refreshing the homepage a million times in my best friend’s basement on the family pc, the webpage changed. it turned ioh blue and there was a singular play button in the center of page. we screamed like only middle school girls can and listened to that song on repeat for hours, it felt like the most exciting day of our lives. my local CD store got in a 5 foot tall promotional poster for the album and I harassed them daily over the phone until the young 20something manager agreed to let me take it home when the displays changed. Once the album finally released I remember it more sombrely than the wait was. I was going through some typical teenage heartache at the time and would listen to golden on repeat looking up at those little glow in the dark stars on my bedroom ceiling. it was SO cliche, but it’s important and integral to the experience anyway. I wore that thing out. I stuck the little tarot cards on the wall next to my life size poster. I had no concept of limited edition, I just knew I needed to see them in front of my face all day, every day.

I did end up getting out of the aforementioned town, about ten years later to the major city I live in now and I made good on promises to my 14 year old self. I saw fall out boy for the first time in 2017 and I won’t even lie to you, that wrecked my shit. by the time they played saturday, I was a weeping mess, dragging the lyrics up from my guts and shouting it back at them. that night I messaged the golden repeat boy (now man) who broke my heart at 14 and told him about the concert. he messaged back very sweetly and indulged in a bit of nostalgia with me. (he also jumps into my dms every few months trying to fuck now, but I digress.)

I’m seeing fall out boy twice this coming summer, once in my (now home) city that saved my life and once in their home city. I’m sure there will be a whole new round of emotions to come up and dig through, but if I’m being honest, I love being a bitch with big feelings and I can’t wait.

Happy 16th, Infinity on High. Stay classy, baby.

[whyispotatoheadalreadytaken]

Response 1

Bourbon and Toulouse is fine. I feel like I’ve said this before so sorry if I’m repeating myself. I’ve said it so many times to so many people that I can’t remember who I’ve said it to. If I have to work more, it can’t be in mental health. It has to be a job I can walk away from that is super chill and straightforward. That’s the best part about BnT. I clock in, take orders, clean tables, and then clock out. Depending on whether I’m closing or not makes a difference in my responsibilities. I plan on working at BnT through the winter until Spring. There’s no way for me to keep a second job in the spring or summer because of the demand for music during that time. I’m not sacrificing music. I think I would rather eat ramen for four months if I had to. The nice part about gigs is that we usually get free food, so we can rely on those meals. The end goal of BnT is to get by…which is so sad because that isn’t really an end goal. It is to keep our heads above water and try to also save at the same time. I have some credit card debt from our last trip to Hawaii that I’m trying to pay off, so I don’t have to worry about paying on those and can just save. We will work mostly Fridays and Saturdays. I am also worried about burnout, but it is also not forever. If I could work 12-hour shifts 7 days a week for 6 months in a factory, I could do anything for a time. It hasn’t been an easy adjustment. My back has been so angry at the concrete floors. I was in so much pain after working the 12 hour shift on Friday, and I limped out of BnT, unable to drive home after being there for 6 hours. I curse Jill every time I experience lower back pain like that. Makes me wanna forward all of my chiropractic bills to her. We desperately need another car for so many reasons. We’re highly considering a tax ID for the band because we’re making money from it and could be claiming taxes. The sad thing would be that we would lose a portion of our income, but we could write off SO. MANY. THINGS. Like a car, for instance, because we need a better one to travel in that is reliable. I essentially kept our fingers crossed the last time we went to Paducah.

Yo, isn’t it crazy how normalized unpaid work is in America???? Like, you gotta learn how to do your job, and you gotta learn for free. All of my practicums during my senior year were unpaid positions. I’ll never forget having to do 19 credit hours, my practicum, working at the after-school program and guitar center on the weekends. If I can do that, I can also go to BnT for a few months, hahaha. It’s awful, though. Student teachers should be paid for that work. IT IS THE SAME WORK. I bitch about this alllllll the time hahaha Why on gods green earth do I make a third of what licensed clinical social workers make???? WE HAVE THE SAME JOB I JUST MEET WITH SOMEONE EVERY WEEK ABOUT IT UGGAHHHH. Sorry, just makes me scream internally every time I think about it. Sometimes externally.

Poor Zoë is only recently fully realizing how much she has sacrificed to personally attempt to keep the business afloat. For a long time, she was always like oh, it’s awesome 99% of the time when Karen isn’t in a mood. She’s now realizing that it’s been a lot more than 1% of the time, and the only reason Karen has had the business for so long is that she puts out all of the fires for herself. I dream about quitting and finding a new position. It’s hard, though, because I need to have at least 30 hours of clinical work, or my whole timeline gets all fucked up and dragged out even longer. I can’t even go back for my doctorate until I have my independent license, or I would already be back in school to prolong the student loans.

The music thing is so weird cuz I don’t wanna be famous. It would just be really nice to be successful and be able to maintain that as my sole income with something else I’m passionate about on the side, like advocacy work. I already attempt to do that through music anyway. Sustainability would be my dream. Traveling and playing music for people. The dream started when I started learning how to play guitar. One day, something just clicked inside me when I was learning how to play the live version of “I Hear Noises” by Tegan and Sara. It has three chords. That’s it. Just over and over, with a different rhythm for the chorus and a different chord for the bridge. Then I started learning the Mean Everything to Nothing by Manchester Orchestra from beginning to end. I thought it would be this crazy hard thing, and I was blown away by how simple it was, and that made no sense to me because it sounded complicated. I wrote a little bit about how Andy goes back and forth between his full band sound and his acoustic sound, and I became very enthralled by that concept. So, I started recording acoustic versions of various Tegan and Sara, Coldplay, and Snow Patrol songs on my brother's Macbook. And I was like, woah, I can do this with other people’s songs, so what is keeping me from writing my own??? Once I started writing, I couldn’t stop. Music always seemed too magical for me to be able to write my own, and then suddenly, I was creating magic. Getting to share that and receive positive responses just fueled the fire to keep going and see how far I get. Our geographical location is the biggest barrier to success in music. If you don’t do country or bluegrass in KY, no one really cares about you so it’s hard to break out. It’s all about making connections and networking. That was what Julien Baker told me when I met her. Make friends with everyone because you never know where those people will take you.

I feel like I’ve always dreamed of making a lasting change, which is why I wanted to be a therapist. If I can’t change the world, maybe I can change someone’s world? Maybe that will have a ripple effect? I think my depression and anxiety come down on me really hard when I feel like I’ve amounted to nothing. It took me so long to become a therapist, to begin with, and I’ve spent so much of my life just wishing I was dead. And I’m 30 now…unable to pay my bills…so stressed out and in survival mode for a lot of the time. I know I’ve made a positive difference in the lives of other people…at least, I hope I have. I just would have hoped I would be more successful than I am currently. Like, I never thought that life would be easy, but holy shit, why is it SO hard???? Surely it isn’t supposed to be this hard, right? I feel like our generation got handed the shittiest hand, and we’ve just been white knuckling through life since 9/11.

                  I am so glad that the thought of amounting to nothing isn’t something you’ve been worried about. I mean that too, that’s not sarcastic. Keeping it super simple is the way to go and the way to see it. If we’re doing something good with our lives and we are happy, that’s all we can do.

BROOOOOOO, I would have lost my absolute shit on that lifeguard if I had been there. YOU HAD ONE JOB. You literally had your baby in your arms like for the love of god HELP. That is so scary. Poor Rory was just being a kid not really knowing what he was getting himself into. I’m sure that was horrifying for you and also for him. I’m obviously so happy he’s alright.

My cousins came to visit for a summer when I was in 6th grade, and the youngest was such a brat. I could not handle her. I love my cousin who was my age. I got to see both of them the last time I was in Ireland. Lauren decided she didn’t care if she could swim; she was just gonna jump in the pool's deep end at the pavilion by the slide…which children are not supposed to be in any way because of the slide!!!!! She was something else, man, just defiant. Well, she jumped in and never came back up, and the lifeguard didn’t notice because he was watching the slide!!!!! And no one swims there!!!!! So, I jumped in after her and pulled her out of the water. So, when I was visiting, my Aunt Karen was like remember when Niamh saved you from drowning??? BRUH.

Praying Mantises are COOL, but they are aggressive, so you can’t get too close hahaha. There was one in the sensory garden last year that was longer than a pencil. That was horrifying, hahaha. They are awesome to have in your garden, though, because they kill caterpillars!!!!!

Bro Aiden and his croc charms for trump. Will literally never understand how people can still support that dude. Like, okay, republicans, be republican but why this guy???? I’m glad that he is kind to the babies. That is very nice and preferred.

Tabby is my new daddy 😭 broooooo. Is John doing any better now? Do those comments not bother him or motivate him to self-reflect on why his son would say things like that? Kids pick up on whether or not adults pay attention to them, especially their parents. I hope he can figure it all out. I have all the empathy in the world for struggles with mental health, but like he can do something about that.

The fact that kids will fight naps is so crazy to me. Like my brother in Christ, what I would give to go beddy-bye hahaha. Those toddler years are hard; learning how to process and communicate big emotions is hard for little people. Your parenting is solid. It takes a lot of practice for kids to regulate their emotions, but it eventually clicks for them. Having a supportive parent who can teach and model them those things is so important and so good on you, momma. I love that he’s telling those things to you. Has he gotten better about not being picked up when your back is in shambles? I remember you mentioning that he struggled with that and understanding why you couldn’t pick him up.

I can’t believe Jonah is gonna be one soon. That is so insane. I know he is an October baby, but I was unsure if he was the 13th or the 14th?

[conflictandscotchblog]

It's All In The Cards

Saturday, September 14th

There are two ways your day can go.

There are those mornings when you wake up and your day is planned. There is a time and place for each moment of your life.

Then there are those mornings when you wake up and a surprise awaits you just around the corner.

Today was the second type of those days.

Beautiful afternoon, I decided to drive over to Somerville (New Jersey) to take a walk. It’s a charming little town that has reinvented itself over the past decade with restaurants, shops, and bars. One of the biggest changes, they turned Division Street, from a cross street to a walking mall. There are unique shops on either side, with round metal tables and chairs throughout the walking area.

On my walk, I start on one side of town. I go down the main street, cross over, then up the other side of Main Street, loop through Division Street, then back to where I started.

Repeat as necessary.

On my first loop through Division Street, I noticed something in front of one of the storefronts named ‘Soul Trip’.

Two women sat across from each other over a small, cloth-covered table, the size of a school desk. What caught my eye was on the table. Three rows of cards, and they looked familiar.

Tarot Cards.

I kept walking, but my interest was peaked. Went back, and saw a small sign tacked atop the sandwich board for the shop, ‘Tarot Readings: Saturday 12 – 3 pm. $25’.

When I returned from my second walk around Somerville, the table was empty.

I’ve been told by my brother and a friend (both named Joe) I should not indulge my interest in psychics.

The reason? Because we are not meant to know what our future holds (like, will Al ever go out on a date again? But I digress).

After a quick rationalization that tarot card readings were different than psychics, I stepped inside the shop.

But I had another problem.

When I walk, I don’t carry money. I do, however, have two credit cards and a twenty-dollar bill tucked inside a compartment on the back of my cell phone case.

After a quick scan of the floor, I spot the young woman from the tarot reading behind the counter with another young woman. As I moved toward the counter, and the tarot card reader, I began to tell her my problem.

“Good afternoon,” I asked, “you do the tarot reading, right?”

She said she was, so I continued.

“Well, I would love to get a reading,” I said as I tried to open the back of my cell phone case. “But, I don’t have twenty-five dollars, but I do have…”

Just as I said that I snapped the back off of the cell phone case, and a neatly folded twenty-dollar bill fell on the counter.

I further explained that I only had twenty dollars on me, but that I had a blog (handed her my card) and I could help promote her, and the store, in a post.

The two women agreed, and off to the table, we went.

The reading would be done by a twenty-three-year-old woman named Azaruh. We chatted briefly while she prepared the deck (but I gave her no personal details).

Azaruh then asked what kind of reading did I want. She explained she could do general, career, love…

I stopped her on love.

Told her I was retired, so career meant nothing.

General was too, well, general.

And since lately I think constantly about meeting someone (we’ll get back to that), I said let’s do love.

First, this is how tarot cards work (my understanding).

There are three rows of cards pulled from the deck.

The first row represents my current situation.

The second row represents what I should change to improve my current situation.

The third row would represent advice from my spiritual guides.

I know nothing about tarot cards, so she could have said anything, but when the first card hit the table, she said this:

“You overthink everything in a relationship.”

That did and did not, surprise me.

It surprised me only because this young woman, whom I just met, was spot on with her assessment.

It did not surprise me because the biggest problem I ever had before, during, and after a relationship, is that I do overthink everything (check).

As more cards dropped, she continued, “Even when you invest more into a relationship than your partner, and it is not appreciated, or returned, you still try to maintain that relationship.” (check).

Then added, “You need to exude more confidence.”

(oh, for the love of god, check, check, check)

Was this woman having me followed?

Azaruh continued to pull cards and soon filled the first and second rows.

Could not tell you exactly what she said once we started the second row, because what she said was not important. I’ve had this exact conversation with family and friends about my attitude and actions while in a relationship.

The difference now, however, was that same conversation now came from a total stranger. Also, the fact that she was right on so many levels, amazed me. Somehow, it hit home coming from this woman more than it did from others.

I equate it to when I was married, and Arlene asked my opinion on a subject, and would immediately dismiss my reply without a thought. But, if someone else gave that exact same opinion to her inquiry, she would inevitably reply, “That’s a good idea.”

It felt good to talk to Azaruh about this, and I really did feel better as we talked.

Then it hit me.

“You should do tarot card therapy,” I said. “Become a tarot card therapist, you’d have very little competition.”

As Azaruh shuffled the deck for the third row (spiritual guides), a few cards jumped from the deck and fell to the ground.

“See,” I said, “even my spiritual guides don’t know what to do with me.”

When it was over, I thanked her, and actually felt better about my future.

With all the uncertainty ahead of me, there was one thing I knew for certain at that moment.

I knew that when I woke up that morning, the furthest thing in my mind was that I would be sitting at a table, in the middle of Division Street in Somerville, surrounded by dozens of people, with a young woman as we discussed my love life.

Who knew (well, maybe Azaruh did).

* * *

Author’s Note: My brother and my friend (the two Joes) are not going to like this, but here I go.

If you find yourself on Division Street in Somerville some Saturday afternoon (between 12 and 3 pm), go to ‘Soul Trip’, and say hello to Azaruh. Whether you believe in tarot cards or not, she’s a joy to talk to.

Also, I found it to be very therapeutic.

Tell her Al sent you...

[martinespastries]

Our annual much enjoyed visit from the Girl Scouts is this Saturday March 11 at Martine’s. On Saturday from 9:30am-1:00pm Martine's Pastries welcomes Junior Girl Scout Troop 815 from the fourth grade at The Lexington School for their Girl Scout Cookie sale at the shop. And, Waffles Caturdays will feature a Girl Scout cookie garnished waffle. The troop will set up inside the bakery and customers can bring home boxes of Girl Scout Cookies in addition to their morning coffee, savories, waffles, cakes and pastries. Cookies will be $5 per box ($6 for Gluten Free Caramel Chocolate Chip). Cash, check, PayPal, VENMO, and credit card accepted. Flavors available (while supplies last) will be Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Peanut Butter Sandwich, Toast-Yay, Trefoils (formerly Shortbreads), Lemonades, Caramel Chocolate Chip, and Adventurefuls. Every Girl Scout Cookie purchase goes to Girl Scouts’ adventures through the year. Troops get a portion of every box sold. Following the Girl Scout values of money management, Troop 815 plans to give some back to their school, some to a Reusable Water Bottle troop initiative, and save some for future activities and events. “I met Martine over 16 years ago in the wedding industry and could immediately feel her passion for her craft,” says troop co-leader Amy Campbell with @amycampbellphotography “For Martine to invite our troop to sell cookies at her bakery says so much about her character. She understands the bigger picture of why Girl Scouts sell cookies. The boxes of cookies are teaching tools for our girls to learn money management, goal setting, decision making, and good customer service skills. The girls had such a fun time last year selling in a real bakery and hope to see several repeat customers!" Please join us Saturday March 11 9:30-1pm #cookiesale #girlscoutcookieseason #girlscoutcookie #cookielovers #cookiegifts #bakerycafecakes #lexingtonkentucky (at Martine's Pastries) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpfgLrOuYFW/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[fingfamily-blog-blog]

Blitar and the Work Week

In a few days I will have been here for 6 months. That's a milestone, and it means my time here is 60% done. I've repeated the idea "This will someday be over" enough that it really doesn't need to be said again, but with 4 months to go, this week I had an unusual feeling, that I finally have something to do that's worthwhile. Like, even though so much time has been wasted, so much trust destroyed, that I'm surprised I could feel positively at all. First, I'm coming off of two straight weekends of travel, to Bromo and then Blitar. And, as begrudging as I was about my experience at the middle school, those people came through with a nice shirt, and 3 million rupiah, as a gesture of thanks. Nice! Plus, I gave one of the middle school students my Instagram info, and about 45 of them have since followed me. And they like my pictures from around east Java, so that's been a boost too. About Blitar, I chose to go there because it's only a couple of hours away. I've made a connection with a driver (one of our guides around Java in December) and so he picked me up on Friday afternoon and we drove south and west through the rain and around Mt. Kawi to get there. I stayed at the historic Tugu Sri Lestari Hotel, which is one of three owned by a single family who are folk art collectors, and they decorate their places with fabulous old stuff, furniture, gamelan sets, kitchen utensils, wood carvings, wayang puppets, marionette puppets, and in this hotel an inspiring thirty-yard tunnel of banyan tree roots at the entrance. When the sun shines through the roots, so carefully cultivated, it's a rare sight indeed.  On Saturday we went first to Mt. Kelud, an active volcano, not as high as Bromo, so not as cold, but visually striking. The walk was super steep and a nice workout. And people noticed me, but nobody gathered around or asked for my photo. It was cloudy, but some blue sky opened up here and there, so I was able to get some good pictures. The lake at the basin of the volcano which last exploded only 5 or 6 years ago, was deep green, and the craggly rocks, bursting with green life, looked fabulous in the sun. There's actually a 100-200 foot long bunker there, if it so happens that the volcano explodes when you're there. I would not want to have to flee there, but if it saved my life, I guess it would be ok. It could also get plugged up on both ends, as well as the escape hatch in the middle, and it could be the place where you slowly starve to death. So, I'm glad I didn't have to face that! Later that day we returned to sea level and went to the Candi Penataran, a Buddhist temple from the 12th century. The excavation and restoration, though incomplete, are well done and it's one of the better old temples I've seen here. But the yahoos were out in abundance and I soon became the object of interest, with family after family approaching me (with guileless smiles, to be fair) asking to take my picture with them, with their children, with their husbands and wives. I've said before, this is a strange feeling. What could it mean for them to have a picture of me with their family? My driver, and teacher, Syaiful (Shy - full) tells me that they are proud to have met a "bule" (foreigner) and they will share the picture on social media and in their kampung (neighborhood). I appreciate his perpsective, and I tried to be patient, but when I see people gathering to line up and take a picture with me, I have a deeply-pained reaction - "I'm here to see this great historical sight. So are you! Don't mistake me for someone significant."  And it confirms my desire to stay away from fame as much as I can. Strangers freaking out when they see you is not healthy. Then having them approach you and claim some part of you that you never offered to them (and which you cannot understand the value of) is a cognitive dissonance to be avoided. To their credit, no Indonesian person has lashed out at me for turning away from them. But, the next day, I went to the Serang beach. It's a nice beach, big waves, a wide swath of sand (piled at the high tide line with dozens of sizable pieces of driftwood, and framed by fantastic rock outcroppings and pine trees, and I could tell right away that I would be hassled. So I walked as far away from the center as possible, and sat in the shade watching the waves. Even so, groups of young people gathered around me, looking over their shoulders at me, talking amongst themselves about the bule. I had sunglasses and a beach hat and I pretended they weren't there, wearing what I've heard called a "resting-bitch face." Still one young man came over and asked for a photo. I shook my head negatively. He said, Just one? I said nothing, kept the face on and shook my head. He relented. Later two younger boys paraded around me but I guess they were intimidated. One of them turned to me while his friend watched and flipped me off with both of his middle fingers. He laughed at his action, and I was tempted to run toward him and do something rude too. But it's not my world there. So, beautiful as the place was, I didn't want to be the monkey at the zoo. I left the beach after about 90 minutes. So I recommend Blitar for some things, like the Sukarno museum, archives, home and gravesite. But bule beware! Returning home, this week I was invited by Ibu Renzi, and Ibu Yusnita (my minder), to teach a workshop for students who are applying for a government-sponsored scholarship for one semester of international study. So, I had three sessions with about 25 students each and they are all keen on learning some basics and winning the award. That makes for an energetic classroom. I found myself sitting with Ibu Renzi and talking about my life and work here. She has many years of experience overseas and she asked me, "What do you do for your social life?" (My answer? "Nothing, but I'm not depressed.") And she was disappointed to hear how seldom I am used by the school. She suggested a Reading Club, and I have begun taking notes for Heart of Darkness.  I also spent more time with Ibu Yusnita than in a couple of months. She seems more relaxed these days. She even invited me to join herself and some other teachers at a neighborhood wedding! I ought to describe it in some detail, but we weren't there for more than 20 minutes, the bride and groom were not there, so it was more a social call than a cultural event, but still a nice change from the routine. And I spoke with Ibu Rahmati again. Previously, she had me teach one of her classes a pronunciation lesson. I wasn't all that happy with that, although I do it well enough. During our casual conversation she revealed that she had a misconception about me, that I was somehow an expert in pronunciation and ESL speaking, when I have no such expertise at all. Seeing her realize that she had it wrong made me more comfortable about working with her again, which she's already set up for this coming week. That she knows that she is using me outside of my range of strengths is better for both of us. Between these three teachers, I am less in the clutches of an administration which, as I've said before, is perfectly happy to do nothing with me. Talking with and working with the teachers directly has given me this feeling of being of some use for the first time in 6 months. And if that's the way it continues, at least I'll be able to say it was getting better when my time ran out. It wasn't all a complete waste of professional time. Also, my brother is due here in 6 days. He'll be staying with me in my home for more than two weeks. He is an international program worker and he's running a seminar for various locations in the Far East. So his bosses allowed him to come here and conduct his classes via Zoom from a more conducive time-zone. That will be nice, to have someone else in the house. to share my little world with my brother, with whom I am especially close. After two weeks, a third friend of ours will arrive here and we'll gallivant off to Bali for 10 days. So March has about it some fine expectation and some real adventure. After that, then I'll have three months to go. Time. How to perfect its use is the great challenge of life, as this little microcosmic interlude in Java has spotlighted.

[raspberryconverse]

So I finally had time to go over there and get my box, but they threw it away because it was starting to stink. I guess they didn't think to refrigerate it.

I shouldn't be so upset about it because I did get credited for the box, but I wanted my fucking tacos this week!

So I'm here, crying, because my stupid fucking Hello Fresh box got delivered to a fucking catholic school and I was too busy at work yesterday to get there and retrieve it and they didn't think that maybe there were perishable items in said box so it probably should go in a refrigerator (I mean, it's a school, so they should have a cafeteria with industrial size refrigerators, right?). I almost wish someone had just stolen the box instead of having this hope that I could get my meals I chose for this week.

I'm just a fucking mess right now and I don't know why.

Last night I got upset because my spouse is running low on cat food and the repeat delivery is all messed up. They only tell me they're almost out when they barely have enough cans to get through the shipping time (which also varies wildly because it never ships from the same place). I also didn't know they got locked out of our Petco account to take care of it themselves, so the responsibility falls on me. Sometimes it's worked that I get the email saying it's almost time for the repeat delivery, so I can ask if they need it sooner than it's supposed to ship, but Meeah's appetite varies so much because she old (15) and in stage 1 kidney failure and has allergies and probably asthma so she's on steroids now. We even went to Petco on Saturday because they were out of cat litter and they probably could have gotten a few cans there, but they forgot. So with all of this, I feel like the pressure is on me to get the cat fed, even though it's probably not.

And then today Spouse asks me if their dentist appointment is today. Like I'm supposed to fucking know! They send email reminders and texts messages. Check your fucking email! Then they started filling out the forms online and asked me when they last went to the dentist. Again, like I'm supposed to fucking know! I know when I went to the dentist (and hell, they asked me at my appointment when the x-rays were taken and I said I honestly had no clue so 🤷‍♀️), but I don't know when they did because I wasn't there. Again, check your fucking email or your calendar! So I snapped. And I told them I can't be responsible for remembering all of their shit on top of my own and that they need to be a fucking adult. I told them it adds to my anxiety and they said, "Well get some medication to take then."

Oh fuck no.

I wrote here about what my doctor said about me going on anxiety meds and how I not only need to find a new doctor, but I can't really do it right now because I'm getting new insurance in 2 months (I'm finally getting hired as an actual instead of being a contractor, which comes with a $12k raise, but also different insurance that's not as widely accepted).

So yeah, I yelled about the doctor thing, went upstairs, got dressed, came downstairs and said the whole thing about how the medication options would be as needed, "So what am I supposed to do? Take a pill whenever you ask me about things can't be an adult and take care of your own shit?" Like honestly, IDEK.

Adulting is hard enough, but having to adult for 2 people because your spouse is neurodivergent is a whole other can of worms and I don't have the mental spoons to deal with it.

Which reminds me, I need to make sure the mortgage and roof loan get paid.

Apparently the @HelloFresh driver delivered my box to the church the next street over 🤦‍♀️

Don't worry, they credited me my box. But I'm still gonna walk over and see if it's still there. — Coley 💗💜💙 Bisexual people exist (she/her) (@raspberrychucks) Feb 25, 2023 February 25, 2023 at 02:30PM via Twitter https://twitter.com/raspberrychucks

[murdockparker]

Good Vibrations

Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: Eddie never backs down from a dare, even if he had to drive out to the middle-of-fucking-nowhere to a sex shop to prove it.

Word Count: 3k

Rating: 18+ for mature themes (no actual smut)

Warnings: mentions of sex, swearing, adult themes, reader works at a sex shop, Eddie and reader are over 18

A/N: first time writing for Eddie! well, first time posting what I’ve written for Eddie... may or may not have more in my drafts lol (also bad title but fucking sue me okay)

__

This was stupid. 

The entire notion of this dare was completely and utterly stupid.

But, a dare was a dare and Eddie Munson wasn’t one to chicken out—not when he drove his sorry-ass thirty minutes out of his way to a building sat in the seemingly middle of nowhere. But, to the building’s credit, Hawkins itself was in the middle of nowhere to begin with—the point? Moot.

Why was this even the dare that Gareth came up with anyway? He could’ve had Eddie run a hundred laps at the school field, lick the bottom of his own sneakers—the thought alone was nauseating—hell, Eddie would’ve taken spending an entire Saturday at the library… studying. This? This was embarrassing. 

After finishing the blunt he had stashed away in his glove compartment, Eddie finally found enough nerve to pull his ass out of his truck and move to the building next to the small lot he parked in. The neon sign hanging in the front door flickered and nearly fizzled—it had to be as old as the building it hung in—it wasn’t looking like a great sign for him to continue on, but, like a soldier going into battle, he ventured on and into the store. His first impression? It was… clean. Surprisingly so, hell, even the air smelled fresher than the outdoors he just came in from. He guessed his preconceived notions about an establishment such as this one was just— 

“Hello?”

Eddie couldn’t have turned his head faster.

“Oh good, you can hear me,” the girl at the register laughed lightly, “thought you were ignoring my very kind greeting.”

“I—uh—guess I was,” Eddie replied sheepishly, his hand finding a home at the back of his neck, “sorry.”

“I was trying to ask you,” she smirked, shifting her weight from one elbow over to the other, “that I needed to see some ID.” 

“ID?”

“I’m afraid this shop isn’t exactly a watering hole for children and tweens—I’m sure you already knew that, though.”

“W-what?” 

She blinked once. Twice. “Y’know, because…?” With that, she ended her thought with a—rather ostentatious—gesture to the sales floor in front of them, products lit up and blinking like a Christmas tree. 

Eddie’s face grew warm. “Uh, yeah, right,” he fumbled up to the counter, fishing into his back pocket for his wallet, “here you go.”

The girl took his ID and scanned over it quickly—it was obvious that she had done that quite a few times—before handing it back to Eddie. “Not that I thought that you were in middle school or anything, but, y’know, store policy and all that.”

“Really? Damn, here I thought I could’ve weaseled my way into the Snow Ball this year and wreak some havoc.”

“You want to go to a middle school dance?”

“Well, no, obviously not,” he laughed shakily, “I was… sorry, it was a joke.”

“I know,” she hummed, “well, it was an attempt at a joke—didn’t really land though.”

“Ouch,” Eddie grabbed his chest dramatically, “that cut me deep.”

“If a stranger working at a sex shop cut you deep with an insult, I’d hate to know what happens when a friend does the same thing.”

“My friends are respectable people,” he stood a bit straighter, pulling on his leather jacket, “they would never defile my honor like that.”

“Uh huh,” she clicked, “sure.”

Eddie blinked. “You don’t believe me?”

“Tell me, Edward—”

“How’d you—”

“Your license,” she shrugged as if it were such a simple explanation, “though I can’t say I pegged you for an Edward, seems a bit too… basic for someone like you.”

“I go by Eddie,” he clarified. 

“Eddie,” she repeated. He couldn’t say he hated how it sounded coming from her—beautiful and pink—lips. “Okay Eddie, as I was saying, those friends of yours whom you claim would never defile your honor—” 

“They would not,” he nodded.

“They wouldn’t happen to be the whole reason you’re here, right?”

Eddie was at a loss for words. Was it really that obvious? Did he look truly that out of place? “You don’t think that I came here on my own volition? By my own choice?”

“Nope,” she shook her head, “I reckon you probably buy your rubbers and nudie magazines from some corner store in town, so why would you bother coming out all this way unless it were for… I don’t know, a dare of some kind?”

“Maybe the nudie mags that are offered near me weren’t my speed,” he shrugged, trying to play it off, “or I already burned through the corner store’s stock of rubbers?”

“Oh I’m sure that’s it.”

“Y’know, being sarcastic with your customers isn’t exactly a great business model.”

“Don’t really have to worry about scaring off someone who wasn’t planning on buying anything anyway.”

“I’ll have you know I was planning on buying something,” he corrected, “but your attitude is just entirely off-putting. Maybe I should take my business elsewhere?”

“Okay.”

She turned her attention back to the—completely safe for young eyes—magazine that had sat on the register beside her, effectively ignoring Eddie. He stood silent, nearly shocked at absolute gall of the beautiful stranger. “Aren’t you supposed to fight for my business?”

“Aren’t you supposed to not lie to people?” she asked, not looking up from her magazine. “Isn’t that, like, the first rule of kindergarten or something?”

“I’m not lying to you.”

“…right, and I’m the Queen of England.”

“Oh, Your Majesty,” he bowed deeply, “my sincerest of apologies.”

Her gaze flicked up for just a moment, laughter bubbling in her chest at the sight of Eddie bowing so elegantly before her. She’ll bite. “Alright, you’ve made your point,” the laugh she tried holding back escaped her, “do you need help finding anything in here?”

“Actually,” he rose his head, still bowing, “yes, I would appreciate some assistance in finding what I seek from your humble establishment, Your Majesty.”

“Humble establishment,” she mumbled, pulling herself away from the desk, “so, what’re you looking for?” 

Her arms were at her hips, giving Eddie full view of the outfit she was wearing—it was relatively normal—he was expecting something more… out there. “That’s an excellent question, use it often?”

“Yeah that’s, like, my job?”

“Just tryin’ to make small talk, sweetheart,” he held his hands up in admission, “but, uh, I guess I’m not really sure exactly what I’m looking for.”

“You drove yourself out to a sex shop without knowing what you’re looking for?”

“I think I said ‘exactly’,” he narrowed his eyes, “obviously I know what I’m looking for.”

“And that would be…?”

“A… vibrator,” he mumbled, suddenly feeling very shy. 

“I’m sorry, I’m gonna need you to speak up?”

“I’m looking for a vibrator,” he repeated, speaking more clearly, “you know? Something that vibrates or whatever.”

“Well that I can help you find, easy,” she smirked, waving him to follow her. She continued to walk across the small store, was hardly bigger than a classroom, a classroom filled to the brim with all sorts of fun looking things, things he didn’t know existed until that moment. “What kind of vibrator are you in the market for? You’ve got a few options.”

“Ah, I don’t think that it has to be anything fancy—”

“I’m sure your girlfriend would beg to differ,” she laughed airily, thumbing through a few options hanging on the wall.

“S’not for my girlfriend,” he rocked on his feet, heel to toe.

“Oh, in that case, you may want to get one with a flared bottom just so it doesn’t get lost up your—”

“No!” Eddie didn’t mean to shout, but the sound carried a bit farther than he expected it to. “It’s not for me either, no ma’am. I’m very comfortable in my tried and true methods, thank you very much.”

“Never hurts to try something new,” she said, gently putting back a package that she had pulled from the wall, “so if it’s not for your girlfriend and it’s not for you…?”

“Well, considering I don’t have a girlfriend—”

“No?”

“What? Are you shocked?” He felt his chest swell the tiniest bit, she seemed relieved. 

“Honestly? A little bit,” she agreed, “you’ve got that whole rock-n-roll vibe and everything. Most girls are into that nowadays.”

“Is that something you’re into, sweetheart?” 

“I could be persuaded, sure.”

“That’s not a no.”

“I guess it’s not,” she smiled lightly, turning her attention back to the wall of colorful machinery. She looked as if she was contemplating the options, mulling over a fine wine or critiquing a piece of art, before pulling a package from the wall. It was a small thing, hot pink and—if Eddie had to guess—was bullet shaped. “Is this something that will fit your very cryptic needs?”

“No fucking way that thing is a vibrator,” he scoffed, pulling the package from her hands, “it’s tiny.”

“Size doesn’t matter,” she laughed, “from what I’ve heard this model packs quite the punch.”

“What? Do you not fancy one of these for yourself?” It was a bold question, Eddie knew that much, but the blunt from earlier was finally kicking in—the adrenaline from entering the store probably outweighed the effects earlier—so anything was seemingly fair game. “Or,” he pulled a rather large, more phallic shaped thing from the wall, “is this more your speed?”

“I can’t say I test all the merchandise,” she nearly yawned, “but if you really want to know what I like…”

He held his breath.

“You better be taking me out first,” she winked, turning her back to the now furiously blushing metalhead. “Seriously though, if you’re not gonna share any sort of information of what you’re wanting with me I’m just going to rip down the entire wall into your arms.”

“I’d like to see you try that.”

“Don’t test me, Zeppelin.”

Eddie smiled at the nickname, his attention flicking back to the colorful wall beside them. Led Zeppelin wasn’t at the top of his favorite bands, but for some reason he had the strange urge to go and listen to any tape or record he or Uncle Wayne had of theirs—for research purposes, obviously. He reached out to pull another box off the wall, the weight surprising him. “Do people actually buy these? I mean, really?”

“Some people prefer the realistic look,” she said simply, “the realistic feel.”

“Oh,” he put the package back, “sure, yeah that… checks out.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

“Do I look surprised?”

“You do.”

Eddie stood silent for a moment before taking a deep breath. “Fine, maybe I’m a little surprised. I guess I never imagined that when people came to buy… these, that they’d really be going for a realistic thing, you know?”

“Oh yeah,” she nodded, “there’s something for everyone these days.”

“But, I mean,” he pressed his finger to the plastic, “this is like… scary real looking.”

“Some people just really miss their partners I guess, wanting a similar feel, if I had to take a wild guess,” she laughed, “but I try not to judge people’s interests, not too critically anyway.”

“Ah.”

He tapped his fingers a few times against the packaging, his rings not offering much of a different sound on the surface. The girl nearly sashayed back up to the register whilst he was momentarily lost in thought, only turning her attention back to Eddie when she returned.

“Well?”

“Huh?”

“Aren’t you gonna buy it?”

“Oh,” he raised the package closer to his chest, reading the text on the plastic diligently, “yeah, I think this will be fine.”

“I think your buddies are gonna love that one,” the tap of her fingers against the glass of the counter rang throughout the room, “it’s terribly realistic.” 

“Yeah I think they’ll be alright with—”

He stopped dead in his tracks. 

Shit.

“Uh huh,” she clicked, a small smile creeping onto her lips, “I knew it.”

“Fuck,” he ran his free hand through his hair, “was it really that obvious?”

“I work at a sex shop in the middle of the fucking woods, the only people who come out here are perverts, curious ladies looking to change up their solo time or some freshly-eighteen boys on a bet or dare. It’s not hard to catch onto a pattern.”

“How often does that happen?”

“Eh, twice a week?”

“Shit, really?”

“Lots of people lose bets, apparently,” she helplessly shrugged, “either way, it’s good for business and my parents can keep the lights on this shack a bit longer.”

“I’m sorry, parents? Like, your mom and pop own this kind of shop?”

“Yeah, not exactly a quaint little downtown boutique, but it’s got charm and the cash flow is insane. Who knew perverts would blow a couple of Benjamins on this shit?”

“I—yeah, that’s actually pretty impressive,” Eddie agreed, fishing into his back pocket again for his wallet, “so… what’s the damage?”

“Ten bucks,” she said, putting the purchase into a hot pink plastic bag—thankfully with no store branding on it to Eddie’s relief.

He pointed to the back wall, “but the sign over there said—”

“Consider it a new customer discount,” she said nonchalantly, pushing the bag across the glass countertop. He hadn’t noticed it before, but the glass case she stood behind was full of higher-end, colorful, glass blown products. They weren’t all toys, he realized, he might’ve spotted a few pipes if he looked hard enough.

“Aw, a discount for little ol’ me?” Eddie handed the girl a crumpled bill. 

“What can I say? I’m feeling generous.”

“You sure it’s not a handsome guy discount?” 

Another bold statement from Eddie this evening, it seemed. It was worth a shot, anyway, right?  

“A discount is a discount,” the girl smirked as she loaded the money into the register beside her, “could be the senior citizen discount and you’d be none the wiser.”

“Okay, that’s a little gross to think about—”

“Old people can have sex—”

“You think I’m a senior citizen?”

“Of course not,” she laughed, “you’re not much older than I am.”

“Yeah?”

“You seem to forget I read your license earlier?”

“Oh. Right,” he deflated a little bit, “is it by a lot…or…?”

“Well, I sure as hell am not a minor, if that’s what you’re asking,” she laughed again. God, he loved that laugh. “Couldn’t be working here if I was.”

“That’s good, wouldn’t want to catch a case for thinking the store clerk is cute,” Eddie smiled, leaning against the glass counter. 

“Do you normally think minors are cute…?”

Eddie stumbled. “Jesus, no! Of course not! I was—it was a bad joke—”

“You seem to have a lot of those.”

“Well, pretty girls make me nervous,” he tried to play it off. 

“Huh,” she clicked, clearly fighting back a grin, “alright, well, I hope your buddies get a kick outta their prize.” She pointed to the bag that now firmly sat in Eddie’s grasp.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “I’m sure they will.”

“Can I ask?”

“Ask?” He turned his head. 

“Why did your friends make you come out here to buy a vibrator?” she quirked her brow. “Aren’t they sitting in your car or something and just dare you to spend like, fifteen minutes or whatever in the store?”

“That—well, funny you mention that,” Eddie nervously chuckled, “that was the original plan, but they had something come up tonight so… they insisted I buy evidence that I came in here.”

“They insisted you buy something you have no use for?”

“I’m sure I could find some use for it,” he grinned, “or maybe find someone to use it with.” He couldn’t really tell, but he could’ve sworn he saw the tips of her ears darken—her cheeks following in a similar fashion. 

“I threw our business card in the bag. Y’know, just incase your buddies don’t believe you—”

“I’m sure the realistic sculpted dick vibrator is enough for them,” Eddie winked, pressing his hand up against the door to handle, “but I appreciate the excellent customer service, sweetheart.”

Without even a goodbye, Eddie practically ran out of the store and back to his van. Why did he do that? He could’ve at least asked her out—she was clearly interested in what he had to offer. He never even got her name.

“Fuck!” Eddie hit his head against the steering wheel, fists resting on both sides of his face. “You’re an idiot, Munson. Obviously can’t go back in there now, she’d think I’m a crazy pervert or something,” he hit his head again, “stupid, stupid, stupid…” It only took him exactly seven minutes to finish with his pity party he threw for himself before he dared to look in the hot pink bag in the seat next to him.

The business card. 

It had to have had the shop’s phone number on it, right? He could speed home and try giving it a ring before they closed for the night. Maybe she’d answer? Laugh with him about how stupid he was—or maybe just laugh in his face at his mistake. Either way, he had to give it a shot. Eddie reached into the bag for the card, his shoulders slumping immediately when there was no phone number listed on the face of the card, just the name of the shop and the address. “What kind of store doesn’t have a fucking phone number?”

It was only when he flipped the card over he saw it.

There, on the pristine white of the backside of the card was something written in pink ink—a bit smudged—it was obviously written in a hurry. It was a phone number, a personal home phone number if Eddie had to take a wild guess. 

-

You better call me, Zeppelin

~ (Y/N) 

-

He pursed his lips, his face contorting into probably his biggest grin of the night. She gave him her number. “(Y/N), huh?” Eddie laughed to himself, re-reading the card as if the ink would fade away. He’d be an idiot not to call her—to ignore such a pretty face.

Maybe he’d get use out of his recent purchase after all. 

[httpdabi]

Jealousy

Word count: 6,5k

Genre: Smut, romance, no quirk lol

Warnings: 18+, a little bit of choking, a little bit of daddy kink, rough sex, dom!dabi , jealousy kinda, unprotected sex, alcohol

Credit to the owner of the pic!!

✨Friends to lovers fic✨

Throwing your phone across the room, deep breath coming out of your mouth. The fact that he was coming back today made the time pass so slow it was painful. You were glancing at your phone every now and then checking what time it is, knowing he should arrive around 17PM. Rolling down on your old bed, you took a good look of your room.

Pastel pink walls, white bed, small working table in the left corner of the room. Beside your bed were photos taped on the wall. All those photos woke a memory in you. Some of the photos were of you and your friends, but most of them were of you and Dabi.

Dabi.

Your childhood best friend. You will never forget the day you first met him. Shy little Touya not wanting to play with your dolls. I’M A MAN. He screamed back then, throwing the doll away, making you cry loudly. You will never forget how scared he got in the moment you started screaming around, trying to hush you down somehow. He did everything he could hoping his parents won’t hear.

Yours and Touya’s parents were literally best friends, visiting each other almost every day. Having to face him so often, you two almost had no choice then to become friends. At the beginning none of you were impressed by each others company. But how both of you grew up, you were becoming closer and closer. At some point, you two became inseparable.

When Touya started getting piercings, you were so jealous. You wanted to get that Certilage piercing just like him, but your parents were so strict even the thought of it made their hair get up. Of course Touya being Touya, he didn’t give a two shits about their decision. Picking you up one day after school and brining you to his friend that did his piercings too. That night both families were fighting. His parents lecturing him how he is such a bad influence to you, and your parents screaming on you how you’ll never get married with piercing like that. Saying it’s not ladylike.

,, If no one marries her, I will’’ Touya said, making your heart flutter, and everyone else in the room laughed loudly, finding it cute how he was protecting you.

Of course, growing up both of you went different directions in your life. Moving out of your parents place was best thing that happened to you. Having that freedom you never had before, you were appreciating even little things.

Dabi moved out in another city, saying he never wanted to live in his hometown anyway. Of course, there wasn’t a day that he didn’t contact you. But having him so far away made things much harder for you. The only positive thing about him moving to another city was the fact that your huge crush on him would melt down, at least you hoped so.

You were so in love with him. How could you not be ? Having him around so much, such a handsome and good guy, you simply had to develop feelings toward him.

Walking downstairs, you heard Enji laughing loudly at something your father said. You visiting your parents home again, while Todoroki’s were also there, all of you waiting for Dabi to return. It made your heart warm up again, missing moments when all of you were spending time together so often.

Making your way toward kitchen, you opened the fridge looking for something to eat. Not that you were hungry, you were simply bored and something had to kill that boredom.

Taking the milk pudding, you opened it and took one spoon. You tried to multitask somehow, with one hand you were eating the pudding, while with other hand just scrolling your instagram feed.

Suddenly, a head placed on your shoulder, trying to see what you were looking at. Your parents always did that. They had to know why you were always holding that damn phone in your hands.

,, Dad, this is private, I’m not a child anymore’’ you whined, pushing your fathers head away. You hated when he does that, privacy is privacy and it has to be respected.

,, I didn’t know you were into daddy kink’’ a familiar voice whispered, making you flinch in surprise. Turning around you immediately jumped on the person standing behind you. Dabi laughed, placing his hand around your waist hugging you strongly, before he pulled you up in the air.

,, You little piece of shit, I missed you so much’’ you said hugging him back, not paying any attention to your parents in the background.

The rest of the day was all about Touya. How he was, what did he do, does he have a girlfriend and so on. Of course he liked to be the center of the attention, talking about everything. Not that you were complaining, you were sinking in every word that came out of his mouth, admiring him as always.

At the end of the day, your parents made plans that this week all of you should meet and have a super cool bbq like in the old times. Which meant one big ass sleep over, with Todoroki’s. Those nights were always amazing, so much food, so much sweets and of course so much alcohol for grown ups. That was the reason why Rei and Enji slept over after all. All of them would simply get wasted.

Dabi decided he will sleep at your place, since he never saw your new apartment, all of them agreeing, knowing that there’s a lot he probably wanted to tell you.

First both of you went to his old home, placing his suitcase and taking just few stuff to bring over. He didn’t want to waste any time, since his parents were still at your place, and he really wanted to finally see your new apartment.

Placing his bag in his hallway, he immediately went inside your living room, looking around, commenting what doesn’t look good and how he would decorate it much better. He opened the fridge, feeling like home and took one ice cream out of the freezer. Making his way toward your couch.

,, So, where’s that piece of shit called Kai’’ he asked, biting the chocolate on the ice cream. You were confused a bit, since you broke up with Kai long time ago.

,, Didn’t I already tell you? It’s been six months since we broke up’’ you laughed out. How can it be possible that you left your dear Touya uninformed about your love life.

,, Oh, that breaks my heart.’’ He said sarcastically. ,, What happened?’’ he added licking the ice cream.

,, Well, he cheated on me’’ you lied, sitting down beside him. Well, technically he did cheat on you, but the reason behind it was because he found out about your feelings about Dabi. He found out that he was only being used to forget your one sided love. Not that you didn’t like Kai, you did find him attractive, but you couldn’t force yourself to do with him stuff every couple did. Which made him cheat on you, hoping he will make you step further. But at his surprise you did something every normal person would do, broke up with him.

You did feel disappointed that you two had to part your ways like that, but you also understood him and with that you couldn’t force yourself to hate him or be that much hurt.

,, He didn’t deserve you anyway. I have no idea what did you see in him. Dude looks like he fed a whole Village in Africa, no offense ‘’ he said, making you laugh.

,, Anyway, we are invited to Mina’s birthday this Saturday’’ you said placing both of your legs on the table.

,, Aren’t we having a bbq that day?’’ Dabi asked as he placed the stick of his ice cream on the table.

,, Yeah, but we can still go tho. They’ll be really happy to see you again, I told everyone that you are back’’ you said, as he placed his head on your lap. You smiled, knowing how much he loves when you play with his hair.

,, Sure, we can do both. I am glad I’ll see them all again’’ he said making your stomach twist out of jealousy. You knew how much Yua and Akari liked Dabi. Of course you were friends, but the fact that all these two had their eyes on him made your blood boil. Even Mina was into him, until she found a boyfriend recently. They didn’t know that you liked him, but you knew very well that they weren’t happy that you had him by your side all the time.

After telling you about the city and all his experience, you two decided to go to sleep since it was already 2AM. You went to the bathroom to change into your silk pajama, coming back only to find Dabi in your bed wearing only shorts.

,, I really wanna get some tattoos too’’ you said looking the tattoos over his chest and arms, wanting to touch every single one of them.

,, Do it’’ he simply said, placing his arms under his head. You just rolled your eyes on him, he knew very well that you weren’t that brave.

,,You can sleep here, I’ll crash on the couch’’ you said ready to stand up. He was a guest after all, and for him you would sleep on the floor if he asked you to.

,, Of course you’re not’’ he said grabbing your arm and pulling you in the bed beside him. Wrapping his one arm around you.

,, Don’t get all cold with me suddenly’’ he laughed while covering both of you with your covers. Of course, you two slept together in one bed before, it wasn’t something unusual. But knowing how you feel about him, you knew that with every move like this, your feelings will grow back even stronger then they were before.

,, Touya, we aren’t children anymore’’ you said, trying to wiggle out of his grip.

,, That’s exactly what I was thinking about. Might as well do stuff adults do’’ he said jokingly, making you push him even harder. Making sure you are smiling he just held you stronger repeating that he was joking.

Once you realized that he won’t really give up, you just gave in, preparing yourself for one sleepless night with him.

Dabi placed your leg over him, slowly caressing your tight while telling you about some nonsense like he did before until you would fall asleep. Once he thought that you fall asleep, you felt his long arms around you and his lips on your head.

Having him so close to you, he didn’t know what effect he had on you. For him it was just one normal night, while for you it was something you won’t be able to keep out of your mind next upcoming weeks.

The next days it was like before. Dabi was spending more time at your place as he did home. You two would spend time together, playing games, going grocery shopping together, visiting cafes and so on. You even saw Akari in one café, and of course she was all over Dabi. You couldn’t watch it, she was touching his arm so recklessly, and the fact that he wasn’t doing anything about it didn’t’ help either.

Excusing yourself, you said that you felt sick. Dabi wanted to follow you home, but Akari was insisting how he should stay, since they didn’t see each other for such a long time. Not wanting to make any scene, you just told him to stay, not to worry and left them.

On your way home, you felt terrible. It wasn’t anything big, but yet you overacted there and had to leave. But you simply couldn’t watch or hear anything more. You were the one that was supposed to touch him like that. You wanted to touch all those tattoos, and even tho you were his best friend you couldn’t find the courage to do it. Yet, stupid Akari did it without a problem.

Knowing that Dabi will probably just come back to your place, you made your way toward your parents house, not ready to face him somehow. In that moment you wished you didn’t gave him your spare keys. You didn’t want to wait for him and think about what they were doing.

Of course your parents were more then happy to welcome you home. Since you moved out you didn’t sleep at their place that often. But they knew something was wrong, not wanting to bother you, they just let you be.

Once again the night was sleepless for you. Dabi did contact you, asking if you are ok and if he should bring something to you, but once you saw that Akari posted him on her Instagram story, you couldn’t even force yourself to text him back.

You knew that It was so childish of you, he didn’t even know how you feel about him, yet that something small would upset you so much. But your feelings were getting better of you. The whole night you were rolling around in your bed, thinking if he’s home yet, if they are fucking somewhere. You were thinking what would have happened if you just stayed. If you did, he would probably just leave home with you.

Waking up next morning, you wanted to kill yourself. The soreness in your eyes didn’t help either. You saw few messages from Dabi, asking where you are, yada yada. Seeing that it was sent around 4am, you tossed your phone across the bed. Did he stay that long with her ?

You slowly stood up and made your way toward the bathroom, brushing your teeth before leaving home. Your parents were insisting that you should stay, and spend the rest of the day with them. It was Saturday anyway, so you’ll be here later anyway.

But you didn’t want, you had to clean your apartment a bit together with your thoughts. Also it was Minas birthday today, so you had to get ready before you leave for the bbq and her birthday.

Opening the door of your apartment, you saw Dabi’s shoes placed beside yours. Slowly tip toeing, you found him in your bedroom asleep. You slowly closed the door, and started cleaning quietly, making sure not to wake him up.

You wanted to lay down beside him, and simply cuddle yourself close to his body, but because of the thought of the last night, you also wanted to grab his hair and force him out of your apartment.

Of course, once he woke up, you couldn’t be mad at him anymore. You had to act it up, and just ignore what happened, after all how could you explain to him why were you even mad ? Dabi left your place around 16PM, leaving you all alone with your thoughts once again. You whished you could tell him how you felt, you wished he would understand.

When the time came, you wore your light purple spaghetti strap dress. Since the evenings were still kidna cold, you decided to wear your oversized black cardigan that was the same length as your dress. Covering just enough.

After doing your make up and straightening your hair, you placed your small bag over your shoulder and wore your overknee lace up boots before you left. The cardigan was bothering you a bit, since you knew how hot it usually gets when you’re in club, but once the wind brushed your naked tight, you didn’t mind it anymore.

Once you got at your parents place, you helped them with all the preparing. Your mom didn’t let you prepare the food, being scared you’ll ruin your dress. But you still helped with plates and all the alcohol. Placing everything on the table outside.

When they arrived Enji and your dad immediately started with the bbq. Rei and your mom were simply enjoying the evening and sipping on their wine, waiting for their food. While both of you and Dabi were simply on your phones. Once again you were upset, all of them complimented your looks, everyone but him. Piece of shit like he looked any better, whit his simple white shirt and jeans.

Lies.

He looked so beautiful without any effort, the tattoos on his arm totally visible.

You took the wine from the table filling your glass, drinking it fast down. Just the thought of Akari and other girls being all over him was driving you crazy. You had to prepare yourself.

,, Slow down doll, I don’t want to spend the rest of my night holding your hair in the toilet’’ Dabi said taking the now empty glass away from you and laughing a bit.

,,Don’t worry about me, I’m capable of taking care of myself on my own’’ you said taking the glass back and filling it with wine again. Who does he think he is ?

When the meat was done, both of you ate and drank a bit before leaving. Dabi didn’t want to drive since he also had plans to drink. Enji was insisting on giving you a ride, but you two didn’t want to break his fun, after all the club wasn’t that far away.

,,So, who will be there tonight?’’ Dabi asked you, taking the box of cigarettes out of his pocket and lighting one cigarette.

,, Mina of course, Yua, Himari, Ryohei, Hiro, Akari and Kai’’ you said, placing your hands in the pockets of your cardigan.

,, We should make your little Kai jealous, what do you think?’’ He said, placing his arm around your shoulders.

,, Nah, no need’’ you said looking down on the floor.

When you arrived the club was already full of people. Thankfully Mina waited for you two in front of the club, not wanting for you two to waste your time looking for them. You gave her the present that you and Dabi bought few days ago and graduated her. Knowing that Mina is in relationship with Hiro, so the hug she gave Dabi didn’t bother you so much.

Once you got inside, you greeted everyone and ordered your drinks. Of course Akari was giving all of her attention to Dabi, trying to get as close as possible to him.

None of you wanted to wait, so all of you ordered your drinks. You ordered Malibu with cherry juice, you were up for something sweet. Since the sweet drinks kick in much faster and that’s exactly what you needed. Dabi ordered whisky, while Kai, Hiro and Ryohei ordered pure Vodka. Rest of the girls ordered Wine.

,, Hey’’ you heard very familiar voice close to your ear. You turned around sipping on your drink, welcoming Kai with a small smile and nodding your head.

,, How are youu?’’ he asked loud enough for you to hear. Body too close to your own in your opinion.

,, I am good and you?’’ you simply answered finishing your drink, asking yourself why is he starting this random boring chat. Realizing that your friends were eyeing you and your ex down, you smirked to yourself. If they only knew, how little shit you gave about him.

,, Let’s go get another round of drinks’’ you said, and made your way toward the bar, while Kai was following every step you made.

,, You look beautiful tonight’’ Kai pointed after you ordered what everyone was drinking. Well, at least someone appreciates your effort tonight, you thought to yourself.

,, Thank you, you look cool yourself’’ you said already trying your drink, while giving the money with your right hand to the bartender. He didn’t look bad at all, wearing black button up shirt, one part of it tucked in his jeans. His typical black convers shoes. He looked good.

Once you two got back, placing all the drinks on the table, you could feel Dabi’s eyes on you. You weren’t sure if he wanted to tell you something, so you took his Whisky and went to him.

,, What is it ?’’ you asked giving him his drink.

,, Nothing at all’’ he replied eying you down. He was about to say something more, but Akari interrupted him, saying some nonsense. Not wanting to watch them together, you just left them, making your way toward Ryohei, Himari and Kai on the dancefloor.

All of you were dancing. Jumping around and waving your body to the sound of the music. You realized that Kai was trying real hard to get you to himself, but sadly your drinks didn’t hit you that much yet. Still the only person that was on your mind was Dabi. You wanted to look at him, and see what’s he doing, but you were afraid once you turn around you’ll find Akari all over him again, or even worse making out with him. It would definitely ruin your night.

After few more drinks, you finally started getting tipsy. While Mother Mother was playing, you and Himari were jumping around, making your way back toward the table to get your other drink that was already there, you two were screaming at each other ,, My daddy’s got a gun, My daddy’s got a gun, My daddy’s got a gun, you better run’’ moving your body crazily just as the music was.

,, Cheers’’ Himari screamed, once both of you placed a bit salt on your hand. Licking the salt of your hand, both of you drank the tequila fast before sucking the lemon. Making the weird face, both of you laughed preparing another shot.

Making your way back to the others, both of you were going crazy to the beat of the song you loved. With a new drink in your hand, you didn’t think about the consequences. After all the music was just so good, you simply had to drink.

Dancing around, you felt a body pressed against your. Tilting your head to the side, you realized it’s Kai standing behind you, trying to get as much of you as he could. At that moment you didn’t give a fuck anymore, just giving in and dancing with him. You saw Himari and Mina laughing at you, thinking you two will get together.

,, I’ll go smoke one fast, wanna come?’’ Kai asked. You simply shook your head giving him a sign that you'll simply wait and found yourself once again dancing with Himari. You were glad Himari was there, since without her you wouldn’t have much fun as you had now.

,, You are fast’’ you said, feeling Kai’s body behind you again. Slow down by Chase Atlantic started playing, no better song for grinding your body against someone else. Moving your body slowly, you felt his hands holding your hips firmly.

,, Are you sure you aren‘t into daddy kink doll?“raspy and deep voice made you twitch in shock. ,, What’s wrong? Didn’t expect me ?’’ he added, holding your hips stronger, not giving you any chance to move away from him.

You felt like there was no need to answer him, since Mina bought you another drink you were already busy sipping on your drink . After all, all you wanted to do was drink and get wasted in that moment anyway. So you moved your body from the side to the side, enjoying how close his body was to yours.

Realizing that you drank your drink, Dabi took it form your hand and gave it to the bartender that was passing by anyway. Turning you around to face him, he took your arms and placed them around his neck, while his own arms found their way to your waist.

,, Wasn’t the plan to make Kai jealous?’’ he asked. You could feel his hot breath on your ear. Tilting your head a bit to the left, you closed your eyes and gave him a small nod with the biggest grin ever.

The grin was long gone once you felt his hands over your ass, squeezing it tightly. ,, Then why am I at the end the jealous one ?’’ He asked giving you one more squeeze. Drunk like that you forgot about your friends and what might they think.

,, Is this how you treat your daddy?’’ he added, not giving you a chance to even progress the last question he gave you. You were never into daddy kink, but coming from his lips, you were ready to call him daddy as much as he wanted.

,, I want.. drink.. haha’’ you said laughing, hoping he will get you another one, since you weren’t capable to do it on your own anymore.

,, We are going home’’ he said. He was already tipsy on his own, but nowhere drunk as you were. He told everyone that you two are leaving, not giving you much time to greet them. Seeing disappointed look on Akari’s face made your night. IN YOUR FACE YOU BITCH ASS HOE

Dabi helped you wear your cardigan, and placed your bag over your shoulders, before he placed his hand around your waist helping you walk a bit. Well, you could walk, but with his grip around you, it was much easier.

,, I thought you could take care of yourself’’ he said once you two were outside. He placed you on the nearest bench, just to light up his cigarette before he pulled you up once again. You placed your arm around his shoulders, bragging about how you can walk perfectly fine.

,, Stop pissing me off doll, you’re hard to hold’’ he said as his grip was getting stronger.

,,Or what ?’’ You laughed, taking the cigarette from him and placing it between your lips. You don’t smoke usually, but alcohol took over you. Dabi laughed surprised, not used at the sight of you smoking.

,, My little Touya, you weren’t even born when I started smoking’’ you managed to say, while he was just laughing at the nonsense you were telling him.

Dabi didn’t know what he should do first, hold you firmly or pull your dress down, scared it was to high up for everyone else to see what’s under it.

,,Now, behave yourself, we are almost home’’ he said pulling your dress down a little, and throwing the almost done cigarette from your lips on the floor.

At his and your surprise both of your parents were still outside enjoying their time. You threw your arm up in the air ready to greet them, but Dabi stopped you fast enough. It’s not like your parents have anything against you drinking. But he wasn’t in a mood to talk with them about anything tonight. And he knew very well that drunk like that you were more then ready for a chat with them.

,, Already home?’’ Enji screamed once he saw you two. You were ready to brag about how you wanted to party a bit longer, but Dabi once again stopped you, telling them how you didn’t feel good that much.

,,What’s your problem man ?’’ You hissed at the party breaker that was pulling you upstairs to your room. Looking how your parents prepared your room made you grin. There was a mattress beside your bed prepared for Dabi.

,, They really think you’ll sleep down there’’ you grinned.

,, Obviously’’ Dabi said, placing you slowly on your bed.

,, Now, change into your pajama while I’m brushing my teeth’’ he said slowly, making sure you understand every word.

With alcohol in your system, you just lain down to rest a bit, before getting all the power and will you had to change.

Pulling your dress over your head, you started looking for your pajamas. Seeing Dabi’s shirt on the floor, you felt satisfied and just wore it. Standing there in the room, you thought if it’s his shirt he wore today, or just the one he got himself for bed. You would rather sleep naked than in a shirt he just wore in the club. Even the thought of the smell of all the smoke and alcohol made you feel dizzy.

Taking the part of his shirt, you pulled it close enough for you to sniff it making sure it’s not his shirt from clubbing.

,,What are you doing doll? ‘’ You froze. Looking to the side, you saw him leaning on the doorframe while smirk was formed on his lips. Luckily there was enough alcohol in your system to feel embarrassed in that very moment, since the view of you sniffing his shirt was weird as fuck.

,, Can’t get enough of me ?’’ he added getting closer to you. ,, You have to wear some shorts, or I’ll really be forced sleep on the mattress tonight’’ he added looking you up and down, while you just stood there speechless.

,, Come here, let’s take off your make up’’ he said, placing his hand on your back, leading the way to the bathroom.

Once you were in the bathroom, Dabi pulled you up, making you sit on the washing machine. Slowly helping you wash your teeth. Swinging your legs playfully, Dabi almost poured the water he prepared for you on the floor. Placing the glass to the side, he took your legs and wrapped them around his waist. Even tho you weren’t sober, you could completely understand the position you were in. Taking the wet wipes he started cleaning your make up carefully. You just closed your eyes enjoying his touch on your face, while he was giving his best to do it gentle as possible.

Sudden feel of a skin brushing over your nose made you open your eyes. Seeing his face not even inches from yours, made you froze. His nose brushing against your own, before you felt his soft lips against your own.

,, You are driving me crazy’’ he said, placing his forehead against yours. Not thinking twice you placed your hands on his cheeks and pulled him in for another kiss. At first you knew that he was surprised since he just stood there, but after a short second you felt him smile into the kiss, leaning in and wanting more.

With his hands under your, or better to say his own shirt, he was moving them up and down slowly. The touch of his hands rubbing your naked skin softly made you want more of him. Pulling him closer with your legs, you placed your hands on his chest , wanting to feel everything you could.

Pulling your head back breaking the kiss, you attacked his neck, leaving wet kisses all over it. Touya pulled your body up, placing his hands on your ass, making his way toward your room. Making small breaks while pushing your body against the wall trying to kissing you like his life depended on it.

Once he placed you on the bad, he didn’t waste any time, hovering over you and kissing your neck. Wanting everyone to know to who you belong to. He wanted to make sure the next time you see Kai, he will know that Dabi is the one that’s dicking you down.

,, I know you couldn’t stand the sight of me and Akari, but grinding on Kai like a little whore, making me all jealous was really unnecessary’’ he gasped between kisses. Pulling the shirt over your head he threw it over the room, leaving you only in your panties. ,, especially in that little dress of yours” he added, as he looked over your half naked body.

,, Fuck you, what did you expect of me, I was mad’’ you moaned out once you felt his lips on your breast, sucking and biting it.

,, Well.. guess what’’ he said, still sucking your boob, while squeezing the other one.

,,What?’’ you breathed out, eyes closed while enjoying his lips on your body.

,, Daddy will punish his little naughty girl’’ he said, once again leaving wet love marks all over your chest.

,,Touya, I’m really not into daddy kink’’ you said, your hands deep inside his hair.

,, But I am’’ he said, his head in front of your, making eye contact with you. ,, And tonight I want everyone to know who your real daddy is. I want everyone to know who you belong to’’ he said, wrapping his hand around your throat. ,, Do you understand me ?’’ he added.

,,Yes’’ you whispered, not breakig the eye contact.

,,Yes what?’’ he asked as his hand started to apply pressure to your throat. Not being used to choking, you couldn’t really manage to give him the right answer. It wasn’t the kind of choking where you felt like passing out because of the lack of oxygen, but you were still new to it.

,,Yes daddy’’ you managed to say somehow. Satisfied with your answer, Dabi moved his hand away from your throat, leaving small kisses over the same spot where his hand left small marks.

,, Such a good girl’’ he said, pulling your panties down. Licking his lips, as you were exposed to him. The fact that you were so valuable to him, and knowing how much power he had over you was turning Touya even more on.

Not wasting any time, he spread your thighs further apart, his head leaning down to run his tongue through your folds. Feeling his tongue piercing on your clit, something you always wanted to feel, made you throw you head back into the pillow, while grabbing Dabi’s head pulling him closer to yourself.

Licking you around your opening, the warm and hot feeling of his tongue, mixed with cold feeling of his piercing was making you shiver. You could feel him smirk against your core as he saw how much effect he has on you. You moan as his lips and tongue move against your folds, eating you out like it’s his last meal.

,,Touya please’’ you moan out, as he sucks roughly on your bundle of nerves, causing your body to jolt up, as your fingers grab his messy hair.

Flicking his tongue roughly and tugging your clit, his hands were holding your thighs firmly, as his light blue eyes were focused on you. It doesn’t take him long to make you cum all over his mouth, his name falling from your lips shamelessly. Climbing over you, he kissed you passionately, making you taste yourself on his lips.

Pulling away from the kiss, you started kissing his tattoos, something you wanted to do long time ago. Especially since he came back. Dabi breathed heavily, his head hanging low, while you were under him kissing every little line that covered his body.

He gave you the time you needed, exploring his body as much as you wanted. But once he felt your small hands pulling down his shorts together with his boxers, and licking the tip of his already erected dick, he had to stop you. At your surprise, even his dick was pierced.

,, Another time doll’’ he said, pulling you up. ,, I’ve been dying to fuck you since forever’’ he added, slowly rubbing the tip of his dick around your core. Without any warning his slammed his whole length inside making your scream both in pleasure and pain. Wiggling a little, trying to move just a bit away from him, hoping the pain will go away. But Touya couldn’t let that happened, now when he finally had his dick deep inside you.

,,Just relax baby’’ he said not moving, letting you adjust to his size. Placing soft kisses all over your jaw, then slowly moving out of you, only for him to slide back in, so slow that you could feel every vain of his dick move, together with his piercing rubbing your walls.

Dabi was moving so slow, grinding his hips against yours, as his fingers were rubbing your clit gently. Sliding out of you only until the edge of his head remains, before moving slowly again in, repeating the same move all over again. Only God knew how much he wanted to break you.

,, Touya’’ you moan out once he wraps his fingers with yours, placing your left arm above your head, while his right fingers were still rubbing your clit in circles. Your legs shake as you wrap them around him, another orgasm hitting you hard.

Dabi moans with you, as you squeeze his dick while riding of your orgasm. With you having your second orgasm, he couldn’t hold himself any longer. Your warm walls around him coated in juices were driving him crazy. All the soft and slow moves were forgotten, making his motions now much deeper and intense. Pulling out till the end and slamming recklessly into you again. Groaning in pleasure, he was slamming into you with a speed you could only imagine.

,, Touya, slow down’’ you moaned, closing your eyes, still sensitive from your second orgasm. ,, I don’t think I can take it’’ you added, trying to catch your breath.

,,Of course you can take it. Look at you, you’re taking it right now doll’’ he groaned, holding your hips in one place while fucking you hard like no one ever has before. You were a moaning mess, with every move your moans were louder.

,, Oh God, Touya’’ you moaned, fingers still connected to his. Grabbing his back with your left hand and digging your fingers inside his skin.

,, You’re takng it so well love’’ he said, groaning as he felt the pressure of your nails digging into his back. ,, Go ahead, scratch my back as much as you want’’ he added kissing you sloppily.

Once he started rubbing your clit again, you found yourself digging your nails into his back like a wild cat, finding comfort in it. ,, Touya’’ you moaned his name out as both of you were coming closer to your highs. You could feel his dick twitching inside of you, his moves becoming more deeper and jankier. His eyes were shut, while your body started shaking once again. Once again you felt your orgasm pulsing through your stomach, and there you were again squeezing his dick not being able to control yourself as you moaned his name over and over again. Dabi continued fucking you , his groans getting louder and louder, feeling your walls getting tighter and tighter while you were milking his dick down, he released. Emptying his seeds deep into you.

Both of you stayed in the same position, trying to breath normally. His thumb gently rubbing your hand, as he placed kisses all over your bruised neck.

,, You have no idea how much I wanted to be with you’’ he said between the kisses. ,,I’m so in love with you doll’’ he breathed out, making you feel butterfly’s inside your stomach.

,, Are you?’’ you asked, tilting your head just enough to look at him.

,, Don’t act like you didn’t know already’’ he said smiling, while brushing his nose against your cheek. Of course you didn’t know.

,,Fuck you, I was dying here for you, thinking my love is just one sided’’ you said hitting his chest lightly. ,, I even dated Kai hoping I’ll forget you somehow’’ you added hitting him once again, making him laugh a bit.

,, Don’t mention his name. That’s the past. You belong to me now, only me’’ he said, grabbing your jaw and kissing you. You were always his anyway.

,, All yours, Touya’’ you said, kissing him back-

,, Are you kids awake ? ´´ Enji’s head peeked inside your room, finding his eldest son naked on top of his best friends daughter. Making him choke on the air and forgetting the actual reason he was looking for you two.

[serendipity-writes]

In Which Steve Plots Robin's Murder

Written for Harringrove Week July 2022! Prompt: working at the car wash

Fics for this event: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Rated Gen, 2.2k

Summary:

“I’m sorry, a what?”

“A topless car wash,” Robin repeats gleefully, practically bouncing in place. “The band’s gonna make so much money off of this. Maybe we’ll even be able to ditch the decade-old uniforms.”

Unfortunately for Steve, his life is so batshit insane nowadays that once the initial shock wears off, he realizes this is like, the least concerning thing he’s heard in the last month.

read on ao3

--

“I’m sorry, a what?”

“A topless car wash,” Robin repeats gleefully, practically bouncing in place. “The band’s gonna make so much money off of this. Maybe we’ll even be able to ditch the decade-old uniforms.”

Unfortunately for Steve, his life is so batshit insane nowadays that once the initial shock wears off, he realizes this is like, the least concerning thing he’s heard in the last month. “Right, yes. End-of-year fundraising, that’s fantastic. How exactly did you get this approved by administration?”

Robin shrugs, a mischievous glint in her eye. “Well, you know, Jenny Fischer can be very persuasive.”

What she probably means by that is that Jenny stole her dad’s credit card and made a hefty “donation” to the school again. The rumor is that’s how she managed to convince the school board to hold prom at an offsite venue, which Steve definitely wasn’t upset about. And you know what? If the school okayed it, this car wash thing really isn’t his problem.

“Well, I hope you have fun,” he says, mostly trying to end the conversation because he somehow got roped into making a casserole for “family dinner” at the Byers’ and he really doesn’t know what he’s doing. Robin scoffs as he cracks open the oven. The edges look a little burnt, but the inside is still raw. Maybe he should turn the heat up?

“I’m not gonna be working it,” she says, as though Steve’s an idiot for even thinking that. “Besides, you have to come! We need some of that sweet, sweet blood money, Harrington.”

It’s smoking a little bit now, but like, not that much. “Sure, whatever,” he says as he fans the oven with a dishtowel.

“Great! It’s tomorrow from noon to three,” Robin hollers as she sprints out the door, her mission apparently complete.

Steve doesn’t really register her words. This casserole is looking more and more unsalvageable. What did his mom’s recipe even say? He casts about for it, but it’s nowhere to be found. Ah well, maybe the microwave will fix it.

He ends up buying one from the grocery store and letting Joyce cook it in her oven.

* * *

A knock, sharp and loud, echoes through Steve’s house at precisely 12:26 pm. He sets down the cereal he’d been shoving unceremoniously into his mouth and pads to the door, clad only in the shirt and boxers he slept in last night. It’s Saturday, who the hell is bothering him at this ungodly hour?

Robin, apparently. She doesn’t wait for a greeting or an invitation inside, just barges her way past Steve. “Ready to go?” she asks despite the clear evidence to the contrary, grabbing an apple from the bowl on the kitchen counter.

“Go where?” Steve asks as he reacquaints himself with his box of cereal. He leans his hip against the counter and raises an eyebrow at Robin when she just blinks at him, apple juice running down her chin.

“‘Go where?’” she repeats incredulously. “‘Go where,’ he says! Steve, Steve, Steve, did you listen to a single thing I said last night?”

He casts his mind back to crashing on the Byers’ couch for a couple of hours, before that to getting high with Jonathan on their front porch, even further to making that disaster of a casserole. That’s right, Robin was there for that bit.

“Yeah, your band fundraiser thing. The car wash, right?”

“Bingo,” she says, crunching into her apple. “And you said we would go today, to support your bestest friend in the whole wide world. So, here I am, ready for us to go.”

Honestly, that… sounds like something Steve would do. “Alright, give me a minute to put on actual clothes,” he says. Robin snorts. Before he’s even halfway up the stairs, she’s got her hand in his cereal box.

Five minutes later they’re on the road, heading toward the Hawkins High parking lot, which Steve thinks should be considered a crime on the weekend, even if it is the summer. About a mile away, signs begin appearing along the side of the road. Some of them are tame, advertising the band fundraiser aspect of the event, while others take a bit of a different approach. Steve’s personal favorite is the one that just says “TOPLESS CAR WASH” in big black letters on a white poster board. There’s nothing else on the poster, and for some reason Steve finds that hilarious.

Robin’s sporting a maniacal grin in the seat next to him, and he wasn’t terribly worried last night but now he’s starting to be.

As soon as they pull into the parking lot, Steve gets the joke. It is indeed a topless car wash, but all the washers in question are dudes. He thinks he recognizes a couple as band kids from the last few basketball games he played, but there are definitely guys out here that aren’t in the band. Steve wonders how they got roped into this. He has to give credit where credit is due, though; every one of them committed to the bit. He admires their dedication, even if there isn’t much else to admire.

He pays the two dollar entrance fee, then gets into the line. It creeps forward agonizingly slowly.

“This better be worth my two dollars, Buckley,” he threatens, and she chortles.

“Oh, it will be,” she promises, and suddenly Steve’s not sure he should be here.

But then he finds himself at the front of the line, and he’s waved all the way down to a spot at the very end of the swathe of soapy cars. After a moment, and what sounds like a short scuffle behind his car, a knuckle raps on his window. Steve obediently rolls it down, and this is where the problem arises.

Because Billy fucking Hargrove bends down to stick his head in Steve’s car, elbows resting on the edge of his door. And he is in fact topless, as the posters promised.

Steve is immeasurably glad he actually put on a clean shirt before walking out the door.

“Hello, valued customer,” Billy drawls, tongue flicking out to lick his bottom lip. Jesus Christ. “I’ll be servicing you today.” Steve doesn’t know how a person can make a wink look that fucking dirty. He’s gonna have an aneurysm.

“Don’t break anything, Hargrove,” he says on autopilot, thank God. Billy shakes his head before straightening up, purposefully flexing his bronzed abs and almost certainly lingering to make sure Steve gets an eyeful.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, pretty boy,” he says, thumping the roof of the car as if to disprove his point. “And you might wanna roll that window up, unless you wanna get wet,” he adds before sauntering around the front of the car to grab a sponge and a bucket of soapy water.

“Thanks,” Steve calls out sarcastically before doing just that. As soon as it’s closed, he turns to Robin, careful to keep his face neutral and his voice low in case Billy’s looking or listening in. “Hey, what the actual fuck.”

Robin looks like she’s barely holding back laughter. “You should have seen your face,” she hisses, smiling so wide she looks like she’s fucking insane. Steve isn’t quite sure she isn’t.

“Yeah, I’m sure it was a fucking riot. What the hell is he doing here?”

Of course, now Robin pulls her face into something resembling sincerity. “Hmm, washing cars I think. Yeah, that seems right.”

Billy starts wiping the sponge over Steve’s windshield, much slower than is really necessary. When he catches Steve’s gaze through the glass, he grins the kind of grin he likes to toss around near the mothers of Hawkins. Steve gives him a tight smile in return and pointedly does not watch the beads of sweat and water dripping down his toned arms.

“Okay, let me rephrase,” he starts, still very much not looking at Billy. “Why the hell is he here?”

Robin shrugs in his peripheral vision. “I’ve heard Jenny Fischer is quite persuasive.” He can hear the laughter in her voice. What a betrayal.

“That’s the same thing you said last night,” Steve grits out. He really wishes Billy would get on with it and move to the back. Of his car. The back of his car.

Robin claps, exaggerated excitement suffusing her voice when she squeals, “So you did listen to me!”

Steve rolls his eyes. Billy’s washing the driver’s side window now, and Steve has to physically turn away to hide the redness he knows is spreading over his face. “I don’t know what game you’re running here,” he says, even though he knows exactly what game Robin’s running here, “but you severely overcharged me.”

“Whatever you say.”

Robin’s undeniably smug as she settles back into the passenger seat, arms crossed over her chest. Steve’s going to strangle her. “I’m going to strangle you.”

“Better wait until we’re alone, pretty boy,” she mocks. Fuck his life.

Billy finally does get around to the back of the car, and for some unknowable reason, he seems to wash it much faster than the front. He still winks at Steve in the rearview, though. Steve flips him off in return, and he can practically feel Billy’s laugh even though he only sees it in the mirror.

Billy drags an upturned bucket over to use as a stepstool so he can get to the top of the car. Steve is one hundred percent sure it’s just an excuse to show off his ass in those fucking skinny jeans. They should be illegal. They’ve caused casualties before, Steve’s seen it. He does his time in the parking lot on school days.

But fortunately (or unfortunately, a traitorous part of his brain whispers), he only has to spend a few minutes trying not to make direct eye contact with the zipper on Billy’s jeans before he hops down from the bucket and drags a hose over from… somewhere. One quick rinse later, and he’s knocking on Steve’s window again.

“Clean as a dream, Harrington,” he says as soon as Steve starts rolling it down. “Hope you enjoyed your experience at the Hawkins High Band Car Wash.” Steve can hear the capital letters. It almost makes him laugh.

“Customer service could have been better,” he says instead. Billy raises an eyebrow.

“Is that so?” he asks, and there’s an edge to his voice that makes Steve’s heart race. “Do let me know how I can improve for the future.”

The easy answer is to complain that it took too long or the job was sub-par (which Steve is pretty sure it is), but Billy doesn’t go for the easy answers, and two can play at that game.

“You could have put on a better show,” Steve says, gesturing across the parking lot where several girls he recognizes from school, as well as some of their mothers, are desperately trying to look like they’re not watching Billy as they speak. “I don’t think every member of the fan club got to see you flexing your biceps.”

He has the satisfaction of seeing Billy’s eyes widen, hearing a surprised chuckle burst from his mouth, before he’s leaning forward, grin almost predatory. “I think the real fan club is in this car, Harrington,” he drawls. It sends a shiver down Steve’s spine.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he replies, but even he knows it’s not his best work. “Now back up so I can leave.”

Billy steps back, hands raised in a show of surrender. “You’re the boss!” he calls as Steve drives away. He sticks his hand out the window to flip Billy off one more time for the road.

He doesn’t understand the unusual number of people who snicker at him as he drives home until he parks his car in his driveway and actually opens the door. Or, tries to, because something’s holding it shut. Driving his shoulder into the door works on the third try, by which time Robin’s already out and collapsed in a fit of laughter on the pavement. Steve slams his door shut and stalks a few steps away to observe the full scope of what’s happened.

There, larger than life, across the whole side of his car, is a crude depiction of a penis made out of what appears to be masking tape.

For a moment, Steve’s almost impressed. He doesn’t know when or how Billy managed it; Steve was watching him the whole time. Wait, no he wasn’t. Billy had plenty of opportunities, definitely. Yeah.

So now he’s just pissed, stripping the tape off his car and rubbing at the sticky residue it leaves behind. “Robin, I swear to God—” he starts, then cuts himself off. Death threats are nothing new between them, and he needs to put the fear of God in her for pulling this shit on him. “I am going to lock you in a utility closet with Tammy Thompson for an entire week.”

“Oh my God, Steve, noooooo,” she whines from the ground. “Don’t do that to me! I don’t deserve to be bullied like this!”

She definitely does, but Steve thinks that walking into his house two weeks later to find him and Billy furiously sucking face against the kitchen counter, screaming something about her pure, innocent eyes, Steve! and promptly leaving the way she came might be punishment enough.

He searches Tammy Thompson’s number up in the phone book just in case.

[sunder-soul]

1- Love your writing it’s *chefs kiss*

2- Can you write about how Tom is trying to get the attention of Hufflepuff reader by actually being nice like buying them flowers,telling them they look nice, always offering to help them. But he does it in a grouchy way and at the end it’s just fluffy. 👉🏽👈🏽

Holy shit this is just the most. Yes. Yes yes yes.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

An Easy Mistake

Summary: Tom keeps trying to be nice to Hufflepuff Reader, but somehow it always seems to go wrong...

Wordcount: 1.6k

Content warning: none

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

“Is that Riddle?” Sebastian asks in sceptical disbelief.

Your whole group look around at once to see that yes, indeed it is Riddle coming towards you where you’re set up at a large table in the corner of the library, chatting more than you’re studying.

“What in Merlin’s name does he want?” Cecil mutters, shaking his head incredulously, the golden frames of his glasses gleaming against his dark skin.

“Maybe he’s going to tell us off for talking in the library,” Ethel giggles, blushing nearly as red as her hair as she glances Riddle’s way again.

“He’s quite pretty, isn’t he,” you say under your breath, giving Sebastian a cheeky look, “shame his face is hidden by a book half the time –”

“ – and kissing Slughorn’s arse the rest of it,” Seb interjects.

You both descend into giggles and Cecil pointedly thumps your shoulder right as Riddle arrives before you.

“Hello,” you say loudly, ignoring Cecil completely as you grin widely at Riddle.  

Riddle blinks once at the odd display, looking supremely unimpressed. “Hello,” he says smoothly as he stands tidily beside your table.

Sebastian kicks you under the table and you kick him back so hard that he chokes on a laugh. Riddle shoots him a sharp look and Seb attempts to school his expression into something composed (with very modest success) as you continue to grin blandly at Riddle.

“Might I have a word?” Riddle says coolly, his gaze swivelling back to you. He looks like he’s already regretting approaching you.

The other three immediately duck their head to hide their snickers as you gawp at Riddle, utterly bemused. “I suppose...” you say as you slowly stand.

He nods and walks off down a nearby aisle. You follow, giving your friends a baffled look over your shoulder – they shrug back theatrically, and then you turn the corner to find Riddle pulling something out of his bag.

“Here,” he says smoothly, handing out a small stack of parchments.

You take them automatically, scanning the first one. “Notes? On Delphi’s Brew?” you ask slowly, raising a questioning brow as you glance up at him.

“Yes,” Riddle says, sliding the clasp of his bag back into a place with a sharp click, “my notes. I heard that you’re attending Slughorn this weekend whilst he makes it.”

You stare at him a moment, unable to fathom how he knew about your extra credit assignment. “And… and why exactly are you giving me these…?” you ask, confused.

“To make sure that you do so correctly,” he says curtly, looking irritated.

You narrow your eyes and hold his notes back out to him. “Thanks,” you say coolly, “but I think I’ll manage.”

Riddle stares at you blankly. You hold them out a bit more and raise your brows. Something hard falls across Riddle’s face and he snatches them back. “Is there a particular reason you’re refusing my guidance?” he snaps.

“Very bold of you to assume I need guidance, Riddle,” you say sharply. “Is this because I’m a Hufflepuff?”

“No, it’s because Delphi’s Brew is an incredibly complex potion that only the most proficient Potioneers attempt,” Riddle says, just as sharp.

“Is that so?” you say, crossing your arms, “And why exactly did you assume that I’d need extra assistance rather than just raising your estimation of my Potions skills?”

“I was trying to help,” Riddle hisses.

“Perhaps you should offer Slughorn your notes then,” you say loudly, “considering I’m the one making it and Slughorn’s attending me.”

You wheel around and stalk back to your friends, sitting down angrily.

“What did he want?” Ethel asks quickly.

“To condescendingly insult my intelligence,” you grumble, returning to your work. “Merlin, some of those Slytherin boys really think they’re a cut above the rest of us, don’t they?”

“Ignore him,” Sebastian declares loudly.

“Shame he’s so pretty if he’s rude,” Cecil says casually. “What a waste.”

“You don’t have to talk to him,” Seb smirks. “You can just admire him from afar, like Ethel.”

“He’s much better from afar than up close,” you mutter.

“Like a Monet painting,” Ethel sighs dreamily.

“Or a Flesh-Eating Slug,” Cecil deadpans.

You all descends into giggles again.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. 

“You’re joking,” you say disbelievingly.  

A bouquet of flowers has just appeared in front of your breakfast plate, a huge bouquet of flowers. The garish, impractically large blooms are packed together and tied with a lavish green velvet ribbon, all wrapped in what looks like silk – it even has a few fairies clinging to the stems. It would have cost a fortune.

“Who sent that?” Seb laughs, picking them up. “Merlin’s beard, it’s hideous –”

“Is someone trying to buy your affection?” Ethel giggles.

You eye the bouquet disapprovingly. “I sure hope not, they must not know me at all.”

“This is hilarious,” Cecil says dryly, taking the bouquet from Sebastian and running his fingers across the ribbon. “To think, they could literally walk outside, pick a single weed and hand it to you, and you’d like it more than this.”

“That’s because that would take effort and time,” you say exasperatedly, “this is just...”

“Showing off?” Sebastian smirks. “Bet it’s from a pureblood whose whole personality is their family name…”

“Can I have the ribbon?” Ethel asks quickly, leaning forward. “It’ll look nice in my hair.”

By the end of breakfast you’ve given nearly everyone at the Hufflepuff table a flower from the horribly exorbitant bouquet – though the fairies linger around your head for a few hours before floating off out the door during Herbology.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. 

That Saturday, you step into the Potions classroom for your advanced assignment and just about turn around and leave again – Riddle is sitting at Slughorn’s desk, his eyes flashing to yours when you enter.

There’s a tense silence.

“Riddle,” you say evenly, stepping forward and letting the door shut behind you, “how… unexpected.”

“Slughorn was called away on business,” he says, calmly shutting the book he’d been reading and setting it on the desk. “I offered to attend you instead.”

“How generous of you,” you mutter, dropping your bag by the desk and collecting your cauldron from the cupboard before returning to set up.

“You look…”

You slowly look up, barely able to believe the words you’ve just heard come out of Riddle’s mouth. He’s looking at you with a supremely frustrated expression on his face, his eyes fixed heatedly on yours. “Yes?” you prompt disbelievingly.

“Different,” he finishes flatly.

You arch a brow. “I’m not in my uniform, Riddle, could that possibly be the difference?”

“No,” he snaps, “I meant…” he waves at you, his lips a tight line. “You look nice.”

You round on him fully. “And that’s a notable difference, is it?”

“Have I offended you somehow?” Riddle snaps, leaning back in his seat. “It seems that no matter what I do, you’re displeased.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I offer to help you with this potion and you act as if I’ve snapped your wand in half,” he says angrily, “I give you flowers and you pull them apart and give them away –”

“That was you?” you ask, dumbfounded.

Riddle’s eyes flash and he stands swiftly. “This is pointless,” he breathes, seizing his book off the desk. “I’m leaving. I trust you can handle this by yourself.”

He strides away and you watch him go in shock. The door slams a little too hard behind him.

You look back at the cauldron on the desk, your mind picking over your last few interactions with Riddle – and a horrible realisation dawns on you.

“Oh my god,” you whisper to your cauldron, mortified. “He was trying to be nice.”

Your head whips around and you dash across the room as fast as you can, wrenching the door open and skidding into the corridor as you frantically look around. You only just see a sliver of him disappearing around the corner and you sprint after him full speed.

You round the corner precariously, heart lurching at the sight of him about half-way down the corridor in front of you –

“Tom!” you shout, hurrying forward.

He stops at once, and slowly turns back to you as you slide to a halt in front of him, panting. “You – you were trying to be nice,” you gasp, leaning your hands on your knees.

Tom arches a brow. “Yes,” he says caustically.

“I didn’t realise,” you say, squinting up at him. “I thought you were being a condescending prick – you may want to examine why that was an easy mistake to make –”

Tom’s jaw tenses and he looks away. “Did you want something?” he asks through clenched teeth.

“Go to Hogsmeade with me,” you blurt out.

Tom’s eyes flash to yours, his tension melting into surprise at once. “What?”

“Hogsmeade. Go with me,” you repeat, standing up. “On a date.”

He stares at you. To your equally strong surprise and delight, you can see the faintest pink on his cheeks. “Alright,” he says quietly.

“Okay,” you say breathlessly, before giving him a cheeky smile, “just – no more ridiculously expensive bouquets, alright? Not really my style.”

He nods wordlessly, still staring at you.

You look back down the corridor behind you. “Listen,” you say slowly, turning back to him, “I… could use a hand with this potion… if you still want to.”

Tom blinks, and there’s a long moment before he replies. “I did bring my notes,” he says smoothly, a very small smirk building on his lips as he turns fully towards you. “In case you changed your mind.”

You snort. “I’m sure you did,” you say wryly, shaking your head.