#today!! we went to pick up my grandma’s medicine and he was the one working 🤔 seems he’s on shift around 2ish cause I also had to pick up

[mymelodyisme]

Is it annoying hearing about the people I find attractive in town 🤔

[kazuzuhaha]

She Used To Be Mine

Zhongli x Reader x Childe

Mentions of Zhongli x Ningguang

======

She's imperfect but she tries

“Ehh?? But you said-“ a girl with beautiful ocean deep eyes widen when the merchant glared at her “I said buy the gold fabric not this disgusting green” he said throwing the fabric in the ground “congratulations you just lost your job and now owe me 350k mora” the girl gasp “wait-!!”

She is good but she lies

“Ohh?! Mr. Zhongli- you don’t have too…” the gentleman smiled at her “I know your tired Y/n” the brunette flinched “I- I’m not!!” Zhongli laughs and ruffled her hair “Yes you are” he said as he walks away from the said girl

Gosh mr.zhongli is really making me fall hard huh

She is hard on herself

“Yes yes I’m on it!!” Y/n picked up four boxes of crates “Y/n, your still working??”

She looked up and at the moment hands grabbed the boxes of crates “Wha- Mr.Zhongli wait..” she sigh as Zhongli ignored her “There’s really no stopping you huh” he chuckled and shake his head “I want to help Y/n, you’ve been working since 5AM… its 10PM” Y/n laughed nervously “I didn’t notice… How about you Mr.Zhongli why are you still here??”

“Hmm?? Well…”

What would I do without him…

She is broken and won't ask for help

“Grandma… pls stop working I can handle this” she sigh and she supported her grandma to her room, gently sitting her down “but I don’t want you to suffer honey, find a man and enjoy your youth not spending your time with an old woman like me” Y/n gently grabbed her grandma’s shoulders looking at her with sad eyes “But I chose to take care of you granny, you toke care of me when I was young now its my turn, ok?” her grandma sigh in defeat “at least you some of the money you earn for yourself too”

“Ehh?? But that’s for you medicine” she giggled “don’t worry about me grandma” she then left the room looking back to her grandma and gently closing the door

…I didn’t eat anything today

She is messy but she's kind

“Y/n…” she looked behind her smiling slightly “Mr.zhongli… I haven’t see you in a while” Zhongli looked at her sharply with his amber eyes “amm… Mr. Zhongli??”

“Your not taking care of yourself” he then made her look forward gently brushing her hair with his fingers, her cheeks went red trying to distract herself from the way he was brushing her hair “And pls just call me Zhongli… we have been friends for so long”

“What ever you say then… Zhongli” She slyly replied back

Truly she was really falling her for him…

She is lonely most of the time

Y/n looked at Zhongli and Ningguang as they talked together drinking tea oh so flawlessly, she felt a small pang on her chest… ah yes she was hurt, for what?? For the way the two of them looked like they were meant for each other. Lady Ningguang is part of the Liyue Qixing, how can she compete to someone with such high status and someone so damn beautiful…

She couldn’t even make enough mora to feed herself 3 times a day… Truly she knows she was not enough for someone like Mr. Zhongli, the most respected man in Liyue Harbor for his gentle yet so eye catching aura

“…we have been friends for so long”

Yes… friends, just friends nothing more nothing less. She shouldn’t feel this kind of feeling towards him

She is all of this mixed up

“Y/n right?? I heard so much of you from Mr. Zhongli” the reader turned around and was meet with a dull yet so full pair of blue eyes “you… your childe right?” the ginger laughed “Yep”

For a few seconds, silence filled the room…

“You don’t look ok” Y/n sigh and looked at childe “Do I really look miserable right now?” he chuckled and patted the top of her head “Don’t worry, Im just good at reading people”

Once again silence filled the room…

“You can let it out if you want, I wont tell a soul” the harbinger’s eyes soften as Y/n’s eyes become teary “Theres just so many things happening right now… my grandma’s sickness is becoming worse and this stupid feelings I feel to… forget it”

“Its ok Y/n let it out” he said as he put her in a warm tight embrace

This is…

And baked in a beautiful pie

“CHILDE!!! GET BACK HERE!!” The ginger laughed as he carried tha packages she was suppose to deliver, day by day the two seems to get closer and closer together, they even tell each other secrets no one else knows “CATCH ME IF YOU CAN PRINCESS!!” The female groaned

“DON’T CALL ME THAT YOU DAMN GINGER”

She is gone but she used to be mine

Amber eyes stared at the two, laughing at teasing each other. Yes, he felt jealous, perhaps he really did feel something towards her… the way her eyes shine everytime she smiles, her hair that’s so soft to touch, how hard working she is…

Yes he did love her but it seems its too late…

=======

EHE this took me awhile, also the last parts were kinda rush so im sorry bout that TvT

[young-dumb-and-vaccinated]

The Cult Girl (Hannibal x Female!Reader) pt. 13

Hello friends we have come to the end of Cult Girl. Thank you all for hyping me up throughout this story and giving me the confidence to actually post my work. Y/n and Hannibal throw a dinner party.

The sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the entire kitchen in that homey mid-morning glow. You were enjoying your coffee and scrolling through an article on your phone.

"Senator Hatch reportedly coughed up his late wife's toe on the floor of the precinct." You read out loud. "Huh. Wonder how that could have happened."

You side-eyed Hannibal, who was contentedly sharpening his knives. Placing a rather large meat cleaver to the side, he met your gaze. "I have my ways."

You finished off your coffee and brought the mug to the sink. "There was no way Theresa was going to survive that night, was there?"

"Clever girl." Hannibal praised.

"You were going to kill her if I didn't, were you?" You felt a smile coming on. "Did everything turn out as expected?"

"Darling, this all went much better than I could have ever hoped for." He smirked. "See, I had the whole evening mapped out. I was hoping you'd be the one to deliver justice and kill her, but I had to prepare for the possibility that you wouldn't."

You folded your arms and leaned against the island. "Is that why I was so sick that day?"

You could have sworn you saw some hesitation in Hannibal's face. Maybe even a touch of regret. "Yes. You needed an alibi. It was as easy as removing a single birth control pill from your packet. You'd see it was missing and think you'd already taken your medicine-"

"So I'd neglect to take my focus meds." You cut in. "Yeah, I knew something was off."

"By the end of the day, you'd be experiencing full withdrawal symptoms." Hannibal nodded. "I don't take any pleasure in upsetting the delicate balance of your brain chemistry, and for that I am sorry. I did what I had to."

"Yeah, don't ever do that again." You ordered, no disarming smile in sight. "I need those meds to function."

"I promise you, darling," Hannibal said, sincerely. "I would never keep you from being anything but your very best. I was just looking after you."

"I suppose now that all this is out in the open, you won't need to pull any shit like that again." You muttered. "But I'm still going to keep my pills at my apartment."

"That reminds me." He said. "Would you like to invite your roommates for dinner tonight? I've prepared a wonderful Spanish-inspired menu that's perfect for entertaining."

"I'd love for you to meet my friends, but, they all keep such weird hours I doubt they'll all be free tonight." You shrugged. "I'll give them a call though."

"Wonderful." He smiled. "You make arrangements while I prepare the kitchen."

You stepped into the office and called up Pilar. She answered within the minute.

"[F/N]!" She near shouted. "Holy fuck, how are you doing?"

"I'm actually doing..." you looked back into the kitchen, watching your beloved Hannibal in his element. "Really well."

"I heard about your cousin." Pilar cut in. "One down, two to go."

You snorted. "No fucking shit."

"Sorry, was that okay for me to say?" She apologized. "I know you said Theresa was a bitch, but it's your trauma and I-"

"No, you're fine." You laughed. "She was a bitch. Hey, do you have any plans tonight?"

"Uh, no. I don't think so." She answered. "Why?"

"Hannibal wants to invite you all for dinner tonight." You said with an audible smile. "Y'know, to celebrate the bitch's death."

"Yo! Steph!" Pilar shouted across the room. "Wake Randy up! We're having dinner at [F/N]'s rich boyfriend's house!"

You could make out Stephanie's voice in the background. "It's about damn time. We've been waiting for her to redistribute the wealth."

"She means thank you for the invitation." Pilar corrected.

"It's not like I had to twist his arm or anything. It was his idea." You chuckled. "He loves having guests. And excuses to dress up."

"Oh so we're getting fancy, huh?" Pilar's voice turned up in excitement.

"Hey [F/N]!" Randy snatched the phone from Pilar. "Text me the menu for tonight. My girlfriend'll steal a nice bottle of wine to pair. She's a pro, she works over at Cavatappi's wine and spirits."

"Much obliged, Randy." You said. "I'll see you guys at seven."

You returned to the kitchen with a smile. "They're coming."

"Well, we don’t have a moment to lose, then." Hannibal placed something wrapped in butcher paper on the counter. "Come now. Let me show you how to properly prepare a heart.

You and Hannibal spent the rest of the morning and the whole afternoon preparing a bountiful meal. You reveled in the irony of finally finding a space for Theresa in your life. That space just so happened to be on the stove.

Seven came far too quickly, but your friends were always a welcome sight. You greeted them at the door with hugs, Hannibal watching with stoic adoration.

"Guys, this is Hannibal Lecter, my partner." You introduced. "Hannibal, this is Pilar, Stephanie and Miranda."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, ladies." Hannibal greeted. “Please, make yourselves comfortable.”

"Here you go, Dr. Lecter." Randy handed him a bottle of wine. "Thank you for inviting us."

Hannibal examined the bottle. "Yes, this will pair quite nicely with our meal. Thank you very much. [F/N], could you show our guests to the dining room?"

You nodded and accepted the bottle, given the extra responsibility of pouring. You led your friends to the dining room and wasted no time distributing the alcohol.

"A toast." Stephanie rose her glass. "Too many of history's worst have had the privilege of dying on their own terms. Today, we celebrate the death of one who didn't: Theresa [L/N]."

"She will join her sisters Nancy Reagan and Madame Nhu in hell tonight." You concurred, tapping your glasses together with a series of satisfying clinks.

"Okay, you need to spill." Randy scooted her chair up and leaned towards you. "How the hell did you get away with it?"

"Well, it helped a lot that her husband was already a felon." You teased. "If I didn't kill her, he was going to eventually."

Pilar made a face. "I can't believe it took actual murder to get that latter-day lump thrown in prison."

"Well, the LDS church is a very influential organization with a stronghold on all of Utah." You explained. "There's a long history of legitimizing sex abuse there."

"We know, cult girl." Stephanie laughed. "You remind us every time your pedophile cousin-in-law comes up. Relax and take your victories where you can get them.” 

“Ladies,” Hannibal entered. You rushed to his side to help him with the dinner plates. “Have we ever tried organ meat before?” 

Everyone’s eyes found Pilar. 

“Braised liver is delicious and you guys are just cowards.” Pilar protested. “I will die on this hill.” 

Hannibal smiled and presented your friends with their plates. “You are a woman of good tastes, Pilar. Our first course is Riñones al Jerez.” 

“Kidneys.” Randy translated. “Who’s kidneys are we eating today, Dr. Lecter?” 

He tilted his head. “Theresa’s, of course.” 

“I don’t care whose organs you harvested.” Stephanie said, her eyes rolling back into her head. “This is delicious.” 

You and Hannibal shared a glance and a smile. 

You and your roommates devoured the Riñones al Jerez, then dug into the next serving of heart stewed with chickpeas and olives. You finished off the evening with natillas de leche and a bottle of Sauternes Hannibal just happened to have lying around. 

“This is the first time since like, Keith Raniere got sentenced that I’ve seen [F/N] happy-drunk.” Stephanie observed.

“Or even just... happy." Pilar said, looking at Hannibal. "I'll have some of whatever she's having, please."

"My pleasure." Hannibal poured her another glass of wine.

Your phone began to buzz on the table, capturing the attention of your guests. You didn't even need to look at the caller ID to know who it was. Nobody else in the world had such horrid timing.

"Shit, you've got to answer it here!" Stephanie pleaded. "So we can all give her a piece of our mind!"

You looked over to Hannibal, who you knew was just as curious.

You dragged the answer icon across the screen and put it on speaker. You gestured for your friends to be quiet. "Yeah?"

"Well look who finally decided to pick up." Grandma said. "Thank you for gracing me with your attention. I know you have so much going on right now, you're just too busy to pick up the phone and talk to your grieving grandmother."

"For your information..." you stumbled over your words. "I was interrogated by the police yesterday. I think that counts as having something going on."

"Are you drunk?" Her voice was laced with a disproportionate level of disgust.

"I'm grieving too, Beatrice." You counter. "What, suddenly you're the only one who can drink the pain away? That's not very democratic of you."

"In your state, you shouldn't even be thinking of alcohol!" Grandma scolded. "You of all people should know the effects alcohol has on an unborn baby."

You smacked yourself on the head. Of course Theresa would plant a seed to fuck you over one last time. "Did Theresa actually tell you I was pregnant?"

"It was her last message to me, actually. Anyway, you're coming home." Grandma said, without so much as waiting for a response. "I won't have my great grandchild living in that dangerous city that your cousin was killed in."

You exchanged looks with your friends, who were going through the same combination of emotions as you were. Grandma's words just seemed to fade out as you shared an entire nonverbal conversation with the people around you.

"And you're leaving that terrible, terrible man."

Hannibal raised an eyebrow and looked at you, waiting to see how you'd respond. You knew what you had to do. It was finally time. You did something you should have done a long time ago.

"No." You said, your nerves loosened by the wine.

"What?"

"No. And I mean it." A big smile crossed your lips. "Theresa lied to you. I'm not pregnant. And you have to live with the fact that your granddaughter's last words to you were a blatant lie."

Hannibal looked at you with pride and your friends began to silently gas you up with encouraging gestures. "

"...And that you're the only one to blame for her deception." You continued. "You raised her in your own image."

"This is why I refuse to let you raise my great grandchild with that man!" She wailed. "He's twisted your mind against me! He's made you cruel!"

"Hannibal made me see clearly that you made me cruel." You said with absolute certainty. "You'll never see me again."

"Don't be like your mother, [F/N]." Grandma snarled. "Don't cut people out for trying to help."

"You'll never see me again." You repeated and decided to leave it at that. You ended the call and blocked the number, joined by an eruption of excitement from your friends.

It was finally over. Your life could truly begin.

[bts-reveries]

expect the unexpected | 18

You sat on the toilet (with the lid closed) waiting for the results. 

Can this really be happening?

You just got back from the store and are now in your parent’s house. You told your parent’s that you were just going to get medicine, which you did, but you really went for one other thing. 

*Dit. Dit. Dit.*

The three minutes were up and you were nervous to check.

What if…

No it’s not likely.

Who are you kidding? You took a deep breath, grabbing the pregnancy test from the sink next to you. 

Two lines. 

“Oh boy..”

-

The following evening…

“I already finished all of my homework,” Minseok says, jumping onto Jin’s bed. 

“Me too!” Soojin says, following her brother. 

“Me too me too!” Haneul says, climbing up the bed.

“You don’t go to school,” Soojin tells him, pushing him off of the bed. 

“Soojin don’t push him,” Minseok says, hopping down to help Haneul up the bed. “That’s mean.”

Jin sighs as he walks out of the bathroom that you two have in your room, seeing all three kids hopping on the bed. 

“Hey, what are you three doing in here? I thought I already tucked you all in bed?” he says, wearing a bathrobe and rubbing a towel on his head as he just got out of the shower.

“We wanted to hangout with you,” Minseok says, sitting down and pulling Soojin with him. 

“You have school tomorrow morning and daddy’s tired,” Jin says, walking over to his closet to change into some pajamas. It was a long day. Again, the kids spent their time with Jin in his office after school. Haneul and his siblings had fun running around and Jin was having a hard time focusing. He was glad that he was able to do some work as Haneul was finally not crying and clinging onto him, but that was just replaced with three loud kids running around. 

“Can we stay with you here until we fall asleep then,” Soojin asks with her puppy eyes, looking up at her dad when he walks to his bed, now in his pajamas. Soojin knows her dad can’t say no to her puppy eyes. He sighs.

“Fine, only for tonight,” Jin says, climbing onto his bed. “Scoot over,” he says to Haneul, who crawls to the other side of the bed. 

“Your hair is still wet daddy, you need to dry it or you’ll get sick,” Minseok says, pointing to Jin’s head. You told them that every time you’d dry their hair after their nightly showers. You’d be glad to know that your words stick to them.

“It’s dry enough, I’ll be okay,” Jin says, laying his head onto his pillow, facing the kids. “Now come on, lay down so you can fall asleep and I can carry you to your bed when you do,” Jin says, smiling at them with that ‘please just cooperate I’m tired’ smile.

-

Meanwhile...

You laid in bed, just thinking.

*Flashback to the day you left for Jeju*

“Uhh..vitamins,” you say to yourself, grabbing the vitamins. “What else? Oh yeah!” You say, reaching out for your case of birth control pills. It was placed right next to Jin’s allergy medication. “Shoot, I ran out.” You shake your head, holding the empty case. “We’ll just get more later.” 

>>fast forward to that evening after all the unexpected turn of events>>

“A long night in bed sounds great after today’s ‘festivities’,” you tell Jin. Your first night away from the kids, it was a stressful day… 

“If that’s what you want,” Jin says with a small laugh, leaning in to give you a kiss. “I’m up for whatever you want to do.”

“I think it’s the only way we should be spending our first night away from the kids.”

You didn’t need to say the word for Jin to know exactly what you meant. 

-

You and Jin cleaned up after finishing all of your food. You two were cuddled up on the couch when you called Jin’s mom to facetime the kids to say your good nights and sweet dreams.

“Alright my babies, good night~” You tell the kids, waving at the camera. 

“Aww I wanna talk still,” Soojin pouts, grabbing the phone out of her brother’s hold.

“It’s mommy and I’s anniversary,” Jin tells her. “We still have to go celebrate.”

“But it’s time for bed!” Minseok says, peeking in from the side. “How are you going to celebrate?” You turn your head to look at Jin, wondering what he was going to say.

“Mommy and I are going to watch Netflix. We need to relax,” Jin says. “So bye, love you.” Jin waves and waits for the kids to say it back before hanging up.

“Love you,” Minseok says, nudging his sister to say it back. She sighs, clearly upset that you two are going to hang up soon.

“Love you too..”

Haneul was already knocked out according to grandma and grandpa. 

Jin and you send them a kiss before hanging up and Jin sighs, throwing his phone on the couch.

“Let’s go,” he says, pushing you off of him just so he can stand up and stretch. You were about to get up when he suddenly picks you up and throws you over his shoulder, walking to the bedroom.

And I shouldn’t have to tell you what happens after that.

*end of flashback*

“I guess this is a late ten year anniversary present for both me and Jin,” you say, rubbing your belly. You couldn’t believe it. Another one. You and Jin have always planned for a big family. Three to be exact. But maybe four is what’s meant to be for you two. 

It was definitely a surprise. Definitely unexpected. And definitely unplanned.

But were you happy? Excited even?

Heck yeah.

-

*ring ring*

“Hello?” You say, leaning over to turn your lamp on. Jin suddenly called you on Facetime. 

“Mommy!” Soojin says in a loud whisper. 

“Soojin? It’s so late, why are you calling me? Is everything okay? Where’s daddy?” You say, rubbing your eyes. You had just fallen asleep not too long ago.

“He’s here,” Soojin says, flipping the camera and showing you Jin’s sleeping face. His mouth was wide open and you could see drool on the side of his lip. He was only like that when he’s really tired. It must’ve been a long day for him.

“We wanted to hang out with him tonight,” Minseok says, popping his head into the camera in front of Jin’s face. “But daddy was too tired and said we can stay here until we fall asleep and he’ll take us to our room, but he fell asleep first.”

“Oh poor daddy, you three weren’t too much on him today, were you?” 

Soojin flips the camera back to herself. She shrugs.

“Well let daddy get his sleep. You three could stay there. Wait, where’s Haneul anyways?” You ask, only seeing your two oldest on the screen. Soojin moves the phone to the side to show Haneul sleeping on the edge of the bed.

“Oh my gosh, Minseok, move your brother to the middle. He moves a lot in his sleep, he’s going to fall,” you say quickly. Minseok gets up and carries his brother, putting him next to Jin.

“I’ll sleep on the edge mommy,” Minseok says. “So don’t worry.”

“Thank you baby. It’s already getting late and you two still have school tomorrow. Make sure you sleep soon okay?”

“We will,” Minseok says.

“But I’m not sleepy yet,” Soojin whispers to him. 

“Well if you lay down and close your eyes you’ll get sleepy,” her older brother says. You laugh upon hearing their conversation.

“Alright you two, go to sleep. Mommy’s sleepy too.”

“Wait mommy,” Soojin says.

“Yes sweetheart?”

“Why didn’t you answer our call yesterday? We missed you,” Soojin says, pouting. 

“I was asleep sweetheart, I’m sorry. I had a… very surprising day yesterday. Mommy got some news that she had to process and she ended up falling asleep,” you tell her. 

“You and daddy like to nap a lot,” Soojin says, half smiling. You laugh at her comment.

“Well a lot of things happen that make us tired,” you tell them. “Speaking of being tired. Let’s sleep now okay? We can talk again tomorrow.”

“Okay, night night mommy! We love you~” Soojin whispers, pressing her nose to the screen. Minseok waves from the side, sending you a flying kiss.

“I love you too.”

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

expect the unexpected

♡ part eighteen: oh boy ♡ 

pairings: ceo, dad!jin x interior designer, mom!reader

a/n: a short update to explain the previous one aha... it literally took me three different times to make this i- but yes, most of you guessed it from the last update (well it was pretty obvious~) but only a couple of you were suspicious of it before! told you to expect the unexpected ;) also i know i haven’t answered some asks! some of you have asked things that will be explained in further updates 👀👀 if i answer it’ll just spoil everything ahead ahhhhhh so i will answer them later on~ but omg, it’s already part 18??? did i count wrong?? lol there should only be 10 parts left since i always do 28 parts (for some odd reason). there’s literally so much to unpack after this larfhkjreh

taglist: @silentlyimpractical @jillianmarie @waddlebby @cecedrake2217 @ddofa @samros95 @sope-and-shine @joonjoonsmiles @codeinebelle @aianloveseven @Chamchamcham @princessjazzyjazz @notvantaes @casspirit0705 @ramyagovindraj @brinnalaine @ephyra1230 @betysotelo18 @thoughtfultaledreamer @salty-for-suga @cosmicdaylight @dreamcatcherjiah @kookoo-kachoo @justinetingball  @josierosie @jayhope88 @butterflylion @hobiismyhopeu @momma-said-that-it-was-oke @ygbubs @catspancake  @somewhereofftheglobe @strawberryforever25 @rjsmochii @prdshobi @beeeb05 @eatjeanjin @taekookcaneatme @Cheeely14 @kookietsukkie @anpanman-sonyeondan @glitteringcoffeefreak @chocobetterknot @alpaca1612 @ohmy-fandoms @liljooniecutie @Jikachoo @preciouschimine @fan-ati--c @Joondala @httpmuffin @dammit-jjk @jikooksgirl19

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[thebrochtuarachs]

Something in the Rain - “Situations”

A/N:  WHAT?! BACK TO BACK UPDATES?! Yes, you're not dreaming, it is happening and even I, am surprising myself. I'd like to thank you all for the support even though I haven't written in a while. I've never received much more heartfelt messages and comments. With much encouragement, this next chapter wrote itself quickly. :) I hope you like it. As always, your comments and suggestions are very much welcome.

AO3  / C1: A Day In June : C2: Definitely, Maybe : C3: So We Meet Again : C4: Friday Lunch : C5: Finding Solid Ground

XXXXX

“Are we on for lunch next Friday?” she asked, three blocks away from her home. 

“Actually, I’ll be going on a two week business trip to London.” Jamie answered. “I need to look at our office down there, catch up with our staff and clients” 

“Oh, I see.”

“Yeah, sorry, I didn’t mention it earlier. But my schedule is going to be cramped.” 

“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s work!” Claire bumped his arm with her elbow. “Message me when you’re back and settled and let’s catch up then.” she followed, hoping to keep communication lines open in line with what seems to be a long break. 

“I will.” Jamie noted that offer. “How about you? How is your week looking?” 

“Uhm, between my rounds, surgeries, and department duties” Claire counted with her fingers for emphasis. “My days are pretty much full. Lunch, late evenings and the weekends are generally my free times.” The answer also serves as an indirect information Claire hoped Jamie would figure out about how unpredictable her time and availability is.

A brief silence and then Claire asked the question that was on her mind since the afternoon. “Erm, why didn’t you tell me you were popular?” 

“What?” Jamie chuckled. “What is the world are ye talking about?” 

“It has come to my attention that you, Jamie Fraser, apparently, is one of Scotland’s most eligible bachelors.” Claire said and Jamie groaned. 

“Ugh, how’d you find out?” 

“Geilis mentioned it earlier. Apparently, there are magazine pictures that I should see. She’s showing me her copy on Monday.” she added, earning another joking sigh. “I wondered why it never came up and/or why you didn’t tell me?” 

“One, I thought you, at least, knew. I mean, it was in a national magazine. Second, it’s not the first thing I share with the people I meet. How would you feel if I said, ‘Hi, I’m Jamie Fraser, did you see my photo on Tatler?” he saw her tilt her head and stick her tongue in feign disgust. “Exactly.” 

“I guess that’s a valid point. Still - I guess, I’d rather knew about myself first or you.” 

“I’m sorry, Sassenach. It just comes with working at a local, historic business, keeps us afloat, ye know. I’ll warn ye ahead of time of any write-ups about me out there.”

“What’d ye call me?” Claire stopped walking.

“Hmmm?”

“You called me a Sassenach?” she raised her eyebrow. 

“Aish, it’s not as bad as ye think it means. It just means Englishwoman, an outlander, not from Scotland.” Claire didn’t look convinced, forcing Jamie to explain further. “It was my first thought about ye when you slipped under my umbrella. I guess it kinda stuck and is what I’ve been calling ye in my head.”

“Mhmm, alright.” She shook her head and smiled. “This is me” 

Jamie looked at the Georgian building and took note of the place and surroundings. “I guess, I’ll see you in two weeks.” 

“I’ll see you in two weeks” Claire waited briefly if Jamie had anything else to say or do but when he didn’t move, it was her cue to leave. “Bye, then.” 

“Bye.” Jamie watched Claire enter her home and when she was safely in, he walked back to his car, berating himself if he missed a big opportunity. 

--

Claire reached the emergency room and immediately asked for a patient in the nurse’s station. “Tammas Baxter?”

“Bed 4” She quickly went to where the nurse pointed and opened the curtain to find a pale, sickly, boy, a frightened grandma, and a fidgety young lady. 

“Hi, I’m Dr. Claire Beauchamp and I’ll be checking on Tammas today. Are you his family and what seems to be the problem?” She asked the ladies on the other side of the bed as she examined his physical state. 

“Yes, we are. I’m Mrs. Fitz, his grandma and this is Laoghaire, his cousin. He came home from school this afternoon and just started vomiting and developing a head and stomachache.” 

Claire leaned down and smelled Tammas, having a hunch already on what the boy might be going though but she needed to confirm. “Tammas, my name is Claire. I know you’re in pain right now but I need you to tell me something so we know what medicine to give you, okay?” The boy nodded weakly. 

“Did you eat this?” Claire shared a photo on her phone and despite his frailty, everyone saw the panic in his eyes looking from Claire to his grandma. Claire looked at the old lady as she soothed rather than scold her grandson, telling her he was in no trouble and just needed to tell the truth. With that, the boy turned to Claire and gave a nod to confirm her suspicions. 

“Thank you, good lad.” Claire patted the boy and proceeded to order her treatment to the nurses. “Get blood and urine samples, hang an IV and start to give him a dose of anti-poisoning” 

After getting a clear from the nurses, Claire invited his guardians outside to explain his situation better. “Hi, Mrs. Fitz, was it?” the older lady confirmed and she proceeded to explain the situation. “Tammas ingested a plant called Lily of the Valley. It is incredibly poisonous and you made the right decision to bring him in immediately. We caught it at the right time and we’ll treat him with fluids and medicine and we’ll observe him in the next couple of days until his situation improves. He’ll be just fine.”

Mrs. Fitz sighed in relief and then hugged Claire which she returned. As a pediatric surgeon, she’s already used to these moments but it always warms her heart when it happens. Mrs. Fitz then asked her niece to check on admitting Tammas and left. They checked on Tammas again, the boy now asleep after being medicated. 

“I’ll check up on him before my shift ends. I’ll ask the nurses to page me if anything changes on his condition.” Claire said, signing his chart and placing it back on the caddy. 

“Thank ye, Doctor.”

“Please call me Claire” 

“Ye know, it was my nephew who told me to go straight to the ER and look for Dr. Beauchamp. He didn’t mention, though, that Dr. Beauchamp was a pretty lady.”  

A blush threatened to creep Claire’s cheek but she kept her composure. “Jamie called ahead as well, told me that you were coming. I was free and was able to come down to the ER. I’m happy to help” 

“And how did ye know it was poisoning right away?” 

“I dabble in medicinal herbs sometimes. The plant has a distinct smell that I picked up while I was examining him. Jamie also had a hunch and told me about a tradition with the boys about eating the plant as a right of passage. Between those two, it kinda showed itself.” 

“I see. And how long have ye known Jamie?” Mrs. Fitz found the opening and she took it. 

“Not too long.” Claire smiled and answered honestly. Just then, Laoghaire returned with documents for them to sign and she excused herself out. 

As Mrs. Fitz finished the paperwork, her thoughts flitted back to Claire. When she asked about Jamie, she somewhat expected the lass to immediately gush all over him as what she’d experienced with his previous affairs. 

But what she found, instead, in their short conversation thus far, was a genuineness that was incredibly refreshing to see. She didn’t know the extent of their relationship, yet, but for whatever’s worth, she knew Jamie found a good one. 

---

“You were right, it was poisoning. Yep, no - he’ll be fine now, Jamie. We’re treating him and should be able to go home in a few days.” Claire put the phone on speaker as she signed documents in her office. It’s been a week and a half since they last saw each other and due to the nature of their jobs, they’ve texted sporadically, just catching up or checking in, here and there. But, today, the emergency forced them to communicate more directly and urgently to which each of them welcomed.

Jamie was on the other line, wanting to hear the update himself. “I told the lad not to do it and he still did. Mrs. Fitz might not have a thing to say anymore to him but I might have” 

“Like you were not a ten year old that broke the rules before.” she gruffed. 

“Still, my da told on me.” 

“Jamie, I’m sure Tammas would have plenty to hear about it by the time you come back.”

She heard a sigh on the other end and she knew she’d saved the lad against more scolding from his family. “Yer right. I’ll just settle for a really, really stern look and not give him his presents” 

He can hear her roll her eyes and moved to change the subject. “Who accompanied Mrs. Fitz, Sassenach?” 

Claire smiled, still not use to the name but truthfully, she liked it because it came from him. “A granddaughter, I think her name was Laoghaire.”

“I see.” he said plainly and Claire caught on. 

“Anything you’d like to share?” she pressed but instead the call ended and rang again, this time a video call. 

Claire was surprised but took a quick look at her mirror and accepted the call. 

“Yes?” 

“Nothing. Just wanted to see how are ye” 

“You called after I mentioned Laoghaire. That is suspicious.”

“There’s nothing to tell other than, she might have a wee crush on me, Sassenach.” 

“A wee crush. That explains the weird look she gave me earlier today.” 

“What weird look?”

“Like she was sizing me up or something. Didn’t last long, though, Mrs. Fitz had her do all the errands earlier. 

It was Jamie’s turn to make a face and shrug. “Don’t let her get to ye, Claire. I’m no interested in her” 

“Oh yeah? Why so?” she quipped back. 

“For starters, she isna my type and…” 

Claire cut him off, “Alright, alright, no need to say more” a laugh bubbling as Jamie looked so serious on her screen. “Anything else, you need to say, Mr. Fraser? Some of us have to work here.” 

She saw Jamie scratch the back of his head, turn red, and hear the shuffling of his feet. “Erm, Claire, would you be free this Saturday evening?” 

She looked at her calendar, “My schedule is free so far” 

“May I have the pleasure to take you to dinner then?”

“Are you asking me out, James Fraser?” Claire asked, eyeing him adorably. She was not at all surprised that their lunches would eventually become dinners. It was only a matter of time. If they we’re not interested in each other, they had stopped meeting a long time ago. 

“Aye.” Jamie replied, anticipating her answer.

“Pick me up at my place around 7:00?” 

“It’s a date, then.”

[luvspence]

roommates (IV)

spencer reid x reader

synopsis: roomates roomates you know the drill

word count: 1.3k 

masterlist 

more roommate fluff -> I, II, III

———

lily

you were a dog person

cats gave you allergies, and you always thought they were mean

but spencer

loved cats

every time you two would pass by the animal shelter on the way to the grocery store

“y/n please!!!! please let’s go in!!! i just wanna look”

you could never say no to him so often you followed him into the shelter, watching as he waved to every cat

on one of these occasions spencer was reading the summary of a little gray cat named lily

“lily is a mellow kitty with a lot of love to give! she loves to cuddle next to you and fall asleep on your lap. she ha-“

he was cut off my the shelter employee

“saying hi to lily? i love her. unfortunately we have to put her down tomorrow”

“WHAT” spencer nearly passed out at the idea of killing this little kitty

“yeah, she has a respiratory condition, so if she doesn’t get adopted today we have to put her down”

spencer looked at you with pleading eyes

with “please let’s save this cat” eyes

with “i’ll literally buy you all the allergy medicine” eyes

you looked at him, then the cat, then him again

you couldn’t say no

you nodded your head and before you knew it you were walking down the street, lily in a carrier in spencers hand

“this is so great”

spencer was rambling on and on

“you know you’re gonna love her, just take an antihistamine and you’ll be fine”

you sighed and looked at him and the cat

you crouched down to lily, gave her a pet on the head

she reciprocated by scratching your arm and sending you into a sneezing attack

you looked at spencer, eyes watering from the allergies, runny nose and all

“your lucky i love you spence, because this cat will be the death of me”

———-

sos!

“he’s kinda werid y/n...”

“says the man who just knows the surface area of every major lake in america”

spencer was sitting on the floor of the bathroom while you go ready for your date

“okay,,,, he’s a little strange, that’s why we’re having our date here!, so you can help me if need be”

“still, this idea doesn’t sit right with me”

it actually didn’t matter who the guy was

it could’ve been the most perfect guy in the world and it still wouldn’t sit right with spencer

because in his eyes, no one way right for you, no one was good enough for you

and he wrote that off as being “overprotective” when he really just just jealous

you finished curling your hair and turned to him

“how do i look?”

he stared at you in the bathroom of the apartment, you were dressed casually, but you put up your hair into one of those little bungee cord hair ties that spencer adored. as well as a fun patterned grandma sweater that you two found together at the thrift store

“b-beatiful, in the truest form y/n”

you gave him a smile

“aweee! you’re gonna make me blush”

you headed out the bathroom to set up

“wish me luck! and i’ll call sos if need be”

“okay! have fun”

—-

the entire night spencer would practically hear your uncomfortableness from his room

how often your date crack a joke and you’d awkwardly laugh, or you’d talk about something your passionate about and he’d make an insensitive joke

spencer decided it was time to try and intervene, he walked out into the kitchen and saw you doing dishes

“oh tyler this is my roommate, spencer”

“why hello there spencer! isn’t he a handsome fellow, if you have him why did you even bother inviting me over”

you gave him a half smile and spencer stood next to you while you washed dishes

you and spencer both were fluent in american sign language

so you signed

“ S O S “

in the sink to get the message across

spencer nodded

tyler was asking spencer “so how do you contain yourself while living with someone that looks like that!”

spencer gave him a look, he was clearly creepy and you were visibly uncomfortable

right when tyler was about to open his mouth spencer said

“oh i’m sorry, i’m getting a phone call”

he picked up the phone

“hello?

oh hi

right now??

okay okay i’ll tell her

okay thanks so much hotch”

he turned around and looked at you

“look tyler, that was our unit chief and we’re getting called in on an emergency case”

“oh damn! they need both of you?”

you stepped out of the kitchen

“yup, the whole team, i just got the text from penelope”

“aw rats! well i guess i could walk you guys down then?”

you and spencer looked at each other, you both knew there was no case

“y-yeah let’s go”

you grabbed your coat and spencer grabbed his keys

tyler made conversation with himself while you and spencer scurried down the stairs

“well, y/n i had a lot of fun tonight, call me?”

“yeah... for sure”

he went in fir a kiss but before he could open his eyes you and spencer were driving down the road

“oh. my. god.”

spencer just laughed

“i can’t believe that just happens to me”

“i told you so!”

“oh my god! i’ve got to listen to you more often”

“indeed, now we have to drive to the bau in case this creep is going in the same direction”

you sighed and looked back, thankfully he wasn’t there, but you didn’t mind making the drive with spencer

“thank you spence thank you”

“anytime y/n”

———

one bed 😱

{this is cheesy but it’s a classic}

“cimex lectularius, more commonly known as the bed bug. usually feeding on human blood, their bites have usually an allergic affec-“

“spencer, can you just hold your end”

you and spencer were dispensing of your bed bug ridden mattress

“ugh! this is so gross spence”

you said as you lowered the mattress into the dumpster

“i hate this”

——

later that night you were packing a bag

“hey where are you going?”

“pens, she’s letting me sleep on her couch until my new mattress comes”

spencer’s face went sad, he hated when you left

“we have a couch here!”

“it’s too small”

“y/n... penelopes is all the way other other side of town, and i don’t want you driving their all by yourself “

you sighed

“jeez you sound like my mother, and spence a girls gotta sleep somewhere”

spencer looked at his bed then you

“i have a bed”

“spencer you sleep in that bed”

“yeah but it’s a big bed! and i don’t mind! and wouldn’t you rather be at home with all your stuff?”

you looked around for a second

“are you sure?”

“yeah i’m sure”

“thank you spence”

you said as you started to unpack your bag

you worked at the computer until around midnight when you decided it was time to head to bed, you found spencer awkwardly curled up on the left side

you crawled into bed trying to take up as little room as possible on the right edge

spencer flipped onto his side

“y/n you’re about to fall off the bed”

you pretended to not hear him and before you knew it he wrapped his arms around your torso and pulled you the center of the bed

“well hello there”

“hi spence”

you two laid there next to each other for a while, so badly wanting to be closer but also not wanting to violate any boundaries

“hey y/n?”

“yeah?”

“are you cold?”

you lied

“kind of”

“me too, here is it okay if i come closer?”

“yeah of course”

he scooted up next to you, and you slumped into his chest a little, until you eventually drifted off

[worldoffanfiction2021]

Eternal Love of Dream - Chapter Next 2

(Image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/1829656087662319/)

The Bai household was bustling with activity today. The former queen of Quingqui and the future queen  of Sky Kingdom, Bai Xian was visiting after a long time. Her son Ah-li was with her too. He had always been quite close to his Fengjiu Jiejie. Knowing that Fengjiu was in coma had had both Xian and Ah-li worried. So they had come to check on her.

Bai Xian and Dijun exchanged pleasantries. Dijun introduced Gungun. After the initial shock and surprise, Bai Xian and Gungun took an instant liking to this little silver haired boy.

Bai Xian checked on the sleeping Fengjiu and then excused herself. She went on to look for her mother.

Ah-li and Gungun took a seat at the window, watching the birds outside and started chatting. Dijun busied himself with preparing medicine for his wife. He could hear the little boys talk excitedly nearby.

“So, where have you lived all this while, Gungun? What’s your home like?”, asked the ever curious Ah-li.

“Mother and I lived in the mortal realm. Not in any one place though. Mother says I grow much slowly than mortal children so to avoid people talking and making more trouble, we move every few months or every couple years.”, Gungun explained. “We still do get into plenty of trouble anyways, but at least we have gotten better in the last couple years”, he added.

That just piqued A-li’s interest immensely and his eyes shone brightly. “Tell me all about it. I know when I went around with Fengjiu Jiejie we often got into trouble, but she always made an adventure out of it.”

Dijun was listening, he did get worried when Gungun said trouble, but on hearing Ah-li’s response, a tiny chuckle escaped him. Yes, that was true. His Xiaobai could turn a trouble into an adventure any time. That was one of the many things he admired about her. Curious to learn more, he diverted his attention back to the little boys by the window.

“Well, my earliest memory is of Mother fighting a bunch of roughs. Their leader wanted to hold Mother’s hand and take her away. He said he had never seen a beauty like her. Mother tried to reason with him to leave her alone, but when he didn’t listen, she kicked him. So they all came to fight with her.

Out of nowhere Mother took out a knife, made it into a sword and fought them all by herself. But the leader guy was sly. He picked me up and started threatening her. She was furious. She did something with her hand, a bright red light shot up and the guy holding me went flying backwards, while Mother caught me. That scared them all and they ran away shouting. But all that fighting had injured Mother too. She was bleeding all over and was also spitting blood. I was very scared. But Mother is brave. She smiled at me, told me not to worry, collected just a few things from home and took me away.” Gungun’s face showed all kinds emotions as he spoke. But most of all, you could feel the pride the little boy felt for his Mother. She was his hero.

Listening to all this perturbed Dijun’s heart. He should have been there for her. She had been all alone while he was still alive. He had promised her, over and over, that he would never leave her alone. That he would always be with her. He had failed miserably to keep that promise. No wonder she had not believed him and walked away, when he had said no one was more important to him than her. After what she had gone through, after what he had inadvertently put her through, how could she ever believe him? Why should she believe him? His heart broke at the thought. The ring on Xiaobai’s finger glowed again.

Ah-li’s eyes had grown as big as saucers. “Wow, what an amazing story! I am so proud of Fengjiu Jiejie. Tell me more.”, Ah-li said leaning closer.

“More? Well there are so many stories like this. A few months later, Mother had started covering up the Phoenix feather on her forehead with something she called cosmetics. She had also started dying my hair black so we could both look more like mortals. At that time she ran a small tea stall in a different town. One day it started raining heavily and before we could wrap up our stall and go home, we were both drenched. Her cosmetics had washed away and the Phoenix feather on her forehead glowed. I thought it looked so pretty, but there was a mortal nearby who saw and told everyone she was a demon. People gathered around us and wanted to throw all kinds of things at us. The bad guy jeered at us, he told everyone to capture Mother and hand her over to him. Mother did something clever this time. She did some magic to make the black snake come out of his sleeve. And then she told everyone that the guy himself was a bad wizard and he kept black snakes as pets. That scared everyone long enough and we ran away.”, Gungun recalled.

“You ran away to where? What did you do after running away? Did the bad guy chase you? Tell me, tell me, tell me....”,  Ah-li begged to know more.

“He tried to chase us, but we were too fast for him. Mother flew us away to nearby forest and we took shelter in a cave that time. Her magic had hurt her though. She was spitting blood for so many days after that. She said it was because of backfire from her magic. Immortals were not allowed to use magic in mortal realm, so it was like a punishment. ”

“We began living in that cave. We did not have any quilts etc in there, but Mother made us beds with some grass and we kept fire running at the door all the time. Mother said it kept the wild animals away. She worked hard there too. She would take me on her back and go gathering fruits and hunting during the day. At night she would feed me first and eat only if something was left over. She used to get fever at night for several nights - may be because of the back fire or the cold in that cave. But at least we were safe from bad guys for the time being. In spite of all this, she always kept smiling and told me I was enough for her to be happy. I tried to help as best as I could. Slowly things got better as Mother recovered. We lived in that cave for several months, all the way till winter was almost starting.”

“That’s an amazing story! I wish I could have been there with you both. I would have also helped and would have also enjoyed the adventures.”, Ah-li sighed.

Chonglin came in at that very moment. He bowed to Dijun and the little ‘your majesties’. He had brought dinner for Dijun and a message for the boys. “Your grandma said you both need to come with me. I will help you wash up for dinner.”, he said.

Gungun looked at Dijun as if asking for permission silently. He didn’t really know Chonglin yet. Dijun smiled and nodded a yes. All of them left to go eat.

Dijun was alone with his wife. He left the food alone for the time being and gave her her medicine. He lovingly wiped her face and adjusted the quilt on her. He bent down and planted a soft kiss on the Phoenix feather on her forehead. Dijun sighed. Xiaobai did not stir.

He sat next to her bed as he started eating. His thoughts drifted again. He had wondered why she had stubbornly stayed away from him for almost 200 years. Even if she was mad at him, she could not have stayed mad at him for that long. She would have at least tried to meet him once. She would not have made a deliberate attempt to avoid him like that.

Her actions were becoming more and more clear now. When he did not show up for their wedding and also didn’t show up for over a couple months after that, she was forced to believe that he had given up on them. She must have believed that he had chosen Ji Feng and left her. She must have realized she was pregnant at that time. So to avoid complicating things, she had taken herself away. She had stayed away to protect his son and also to protect him.

It had been a huge mistake to hide things from her. It had been his mistake. It had been his love. She had paid the hefty price for it.

And yet, she had come. In spite of everything. When she had heard Dijun’s side of story from Chonglin and found out about his battle with Miao Luo, she had kept everything else aside and rushed to protect him.

He recalled how her delicate, fragile frame had burst in through the Star Light ward wielding her Pottery sword in front of the fearsome Miao Luo. Her graceful, agile movements had showed no trace of hesitation. She was determined to save him. Even if it meant sacrificing herself.

How could someone love him so much? How could she love him so much? Love was mysterious in many ways!

He realized that while he thought he was protecting her, she had suffered so much. For him.

And in the end it had been her who had protected him. It was the blood from her heart, the heart of the only red nine-tailed fox in the universe, that had cleansed the immense negative energy from Miao Luo. It was her blood that had destroyed Miao Luo forever, cleared up all the negative energy, broken the Star Light ward and saved him. Saved Bihai Cangling. Saved this universe from chaos.

Yes, he had underestimated her grossly. He had been captivated by her ethereal fragile beauty, her innocence. He had completely missed her strength, her perseverance and her power. Yes, she was powerful. In her own right. She had not need him as much as he had needed her, he thought wryly.

Yes, she was the only one for him.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who most likely won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

When Dana Terrace did her AMA on Reddit, a fan asked what we could expect for the new season. To which she replied by listing five things:

Parental conflict

A lot of emotions

Island exploration

New characters

...There's a fifth thing in there. You just got to look closely.

Now, when Dana mentioned parental conflict, dozens of fans assumed she was talking about Alador and Odalia, which, I mean...valid. They were the only two parental figures who presented any real conflict, and the idea of Camila being involved seemed implausible due to Luz being cut off from the human world. But no matter how you perceived that line, one thing’s for sure: No one expected Eda and Lilith's mother to be a source of conflict!

Yup. Today we met the woman who created two of the (former) greatest witches in all of the Isles. Was her introduction welcomed? Or did she give the Blights a run for their money for the "Worst Parent(s) of the Year" award? Only spoilers can answer those questions, so keep that in mind as we go in-depth with "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances."

Let's review, shall we!

WHAT I LIKED

The Flashback: Already, this episode comes out swinging by giving us so much information! We get an explanation of what Eda goes through when cursed (which is horrifying), the reasoning behind her gem, the revelation that Eda ran away from home, and the reveal of how she got the portal door. The best part is, none of it feels rushed or forced. Eda's curse and the portal are integral threads to this story, both in this episode and in future ones. Tying them together sets up Gwendolyn's determination to cure her daughter while showing Eda's determination to escape her mother by skipping town into another dimension. There's also a sense of mystery in how and why the portal was in their backyard. And judging by how we got all of this incredible information in episode FOUR of the new season, something tells me we'll get answers to those questions sooner than we might think. This was such a strong opening to the episode. Despite giving so much information, it makes fans like me want even more. Which is an A+ in my book.

Gwendolyn: Yeah, might as well step out the gate in saying that I like Gwen...but I can already see how others won't. Immediately, she sets herself up as a mother who would do anything and everything to cure her daughter. That aspect of her character is perfect, and it quickly won points from me in terms of liking her. It's just that Gwendolyn's disregard of what Eda wants and the complete dismissal of Lilith are aspects of Gwen that are certainly going to rub some people the wrong way. Especially if those kids come from households where their parents are a lot like Gwendolyn. I was in the same boat of hating her too for a while, but thankfully, the last act saved her.

First, there's that scene where Gwendolyn threatened the lives of the demons for not only screwing her over but making things worse for Eda. It's one of those "Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned" moments that I always love to see.

Then there's the fact that Gwendolyn learns her lesson and, more importantly, apologizes. Not many actual abusive mothers would do that (Looking at you, Odalia), so it's nice to see that she makes an effort to make amends. Oh, and by the way, since I mentioned it, don't go around calling Gwendolyn abusive. She isn't. Or, at least, not to my eyes. If anything, she's a lot like Sara Fitzgerald from My Sister's Keeper (The book. Not the movie. The movie sucked).

In that story, Sara makes controversial choices that result in her youngest daughter Anna getting the short end of the stick due to putting all attention towards her eldest Kate. But here's the thing: KATE HAS CANCER! So while Sara's choices are beyond questionable, you can understand her point. And if you don't, well, I'd see how you would react when in her shoes. Trust me when I say that situations like this aren't always cut and dry. It's the same with Gwendolyn. She's far from "Mom of the year," but you understand where she's coming from. She wants to do what she can to help Eda, even if her methods could have been better. But that's just how I feel, and I can't speak for everyone who dealt with mothers far worse than her. If you refuse to forgive her, I'll understand. But to me, I consider Gwendolyn a worthy addition to the series.

(Plus, she just radiates Grandma energy when interacting with Luz. It's cute, and therefore I must love it!)

Luz: This season is on FIRE when presenting Luz!

I adore that the first thing we see her doing in this episode is sleeping after, most likely, another all-nighter to find a new portal. It proves that she has a determination made of iron and an intense dedication to getting back to Camila. In fact, it's that dedication that works as a perfect way to build a connection between Luz and Gwendolyn. They both want to reconnect with their families and are willing to do whatever it takes to do so.

Regardless, despite so desperately wanting to see Camila again, I'm glad that Luz still has common sense when it comes to helping Eda. She quickly sees that Gwen's cures are doing more harm than good, and it's great that Luz is the one to call malarky on the whole thing. No one had to spell things out for her because she's smart enough to notice that everything Professor Warlop is marketing feels a lot more like the fake medicine real people sell in the human world. It's a testament that despite having a big heart and the best intentions, Luz still has the intelligence to know when something is up and put a stop to it. And, again, let's hope that more people pick up on that.

Lilith: ...who would have expected Lilith of all characters to have most of the emotional moments in this episode?! I sure didn't!

But...Yeah. Lilith is the best thing in "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances." On top of her seeking Gwendolyn's approval being relatable for some viewers, it's also really heartbreaking. I mean, listen to the shocked and hurt tone in her voice after finding out Gwen visited Eda regularly. That alone should give away how much Gwendolyn is important to Lilith and says so much about how strained their relationship became after the curse. Then there's that scene where she just breaks down, feeling both scared and torn apart by the fact that she experienced the curse in its full form and could do nothing to stop herself. It...stung. That's the best way to describe it. It stung seeing a character who is (mostly) cool and collective to become so vulnerable and broken. And, you know what? It's because of this that Lilith has won me over. I still don't think she should have been as forgiven as quickly as she was, but after learning what Lilith went through and what she's currently going through, I'm more than willing to be ok with her. And--I can't believe I'm saying this--I'm going to miss her being a part of the Owl House. She earned her place, in my opinion, creating entertaining dynamics with everyone. Sure, she'll make appearances every now and again, but I wouldn't mind a few more episodes with her being with the main group. But I'm positive the writers will have plans for her in the future and seeing how well she was written in this, I can't wait to see what they do next.

King Hoping to see his Dad Again: This was just a cute tidbit that ties nicely into last week's episode. Bonus points for that scene where King and Lilith get drunk off of Night Market ice cream. It got a good chuckle out of me, especially when Hooty was the one who ended up being the voice of reason.

Cursed Lilith: ...How does she look worse and more terrifying than Eda?

How Beast Keeping Magic Works: Not much I can say about this. It's neat to be given a visual explanation of how Beast Keeping magic works and how it's more than just controlling animals. Judging by the roof shingles, it can also be making objects more animal-like. It's pretty cool, and I hope to see more of how the rest of the magic from the prominent covens work.

Luz wasn’t the only human: To tell you the truth, this doesn't surprise me. Eda did say that every myth humans have is a bit of the Boiling Isles leaking into the human world, so why can't the opposite be true? However, the reveal of there being a famous human around many years ago presents many more questions, and possible theories, that deserve to be discussed in a future post. For now, I'll just say that it's awesome how this reveal perfectly transitions us to next week's episode, "Through the Looking Glass Ruins." We already know Luz is going to the library. But, seeing how Gus is going to be a prominent character in that episode as well, he probably wanted to tag along with Luz to study about the first human in the Boiling Isles. Only to then get sidetracked by some cool kids from Glandis. It's in the realm of possibility, thus proving how more serialized this season compared to Season One while still being somewhat episodic. Because even if "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances" presents a lot for the overall story, it's still its own tale about family relationships and knowing how to truly be there for the people you love. Resulting in a necessary and cute episode that ends on a wholesome note without any major surprises like--

Creepy Clone Luz: ...

...Dana Terrace, you lying--YOU SAID CREEPY LUZ WAS A FARCE! IN THE SAME AMA, TOO! CURSE YOU! CURSE YOU AND YOUR SNAKE TONGUE, GOSH DANGIT!

...Alright, now that I got my overreaction out of the way, this was an amazingly well-written surprise!

Tricking fans into thinking that Camila is crying over the realization that Luz is gone, only to then reveal this...thing, is the best shock to the system that this series has done so far. Even better, it results in all the right questions:

Who is it?

What is it?

Where did it come from?

When did it get there?

How did it get there?

How does it know about Camila?

And why? Just, why?

To me, a series that presents all of these questions, and makes me excited for whatever answers are given, is a series that's doing something right. Because if I'm still reeling over something that lasts for a second, despite seeing the episode hours ago, that is a testament to how good a surprise really is.

WHAT I DISLIKED

Trust me, I want to give this episode the A+ just for that ending alone. But, there are some issues I have that are worth discussing.

Eda’s Outfit Change: I know. It's the nitpickiest of all nitpicks I could present. Particularly because Eda doesn't even look bad (although that's no surprise). The issue is that it feels weird that Eda's having this permanent outfit change in the fourth episode of Season Two. Or, to me it is, at least. Because I think that if you're going to give a small yet constant change to the look of a character, it should be done right away. Like, in the first episode of a new season. I highly doubt fans would question why Eda is wearing different clothes by then, so it wouldn't be too bad if the first time we see her, she’s sporting a new outfit. Again, this is just me, and I have no problems with the outfit itself. It just seems odd they would do this later rather than sooner.

Screwing with Eda: I...did not like this. At all. It was funny at first to see Luz and Gwendolyn lure Eda with Apple Blood like how Wile E. Coyote would bait the Road Runner with birdseed, but it quickly took a turn. Because I don't want to see Eda meet inconvenience after inconvenience from her mother and surrogate daughter. I like Eda, and seeing her happy makes me happy. If I wanted to laugh at a character's suffering, I would have picked Boscha, Mattholomule, Alador, and/or Odalia. This? This was just unnecessary cruelness to a character who doesn't deserve it. And it takes up a good chunk of this episode, making me question whether or not this would be the stinker I was fearing. Fortunately, the ending increased my enjoyment by several notches, but that doesn't change how this was the low point of "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances."

IN CONCLUSION

Despite the road being rocky in the middle, I still consider "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances" to be another solid A episode. The first and last few minutes have some quality writing that adds more to the characters, ongoing plot, and mystery that the series is building up. It's one of those important episodes you can't skip when watching a series, but given how it's keeping the new season's impeccable track record, I fail to see how that's a problem.

(Although, I am scared. We haven't gotten a stinker yet, and I really don't want it to be next week's episode. It's a Gus episode with sweet Lumity content on the side! That cannot fail!)

[binniedeactivated]

txt reactions. || 👾👾

I saw a national children’s day post earlier and got inspired so I’d like to bless ya’ll with some fluff!

(yes I included the maknaes,, even though they are still young I think they would make amazing fathers in the future🥺)

TXT finding out you’re pregnant ....

soobin; it was the same time around soobin’s birthday. you’d been getting so nauseous and sick the past couple of weeks and you had an idea of what was going on, you just weren’t sure. gathering up your courage you decide to buy a couple of tests from the drug store, trying to settle the issue once and for all. you’re heart sunk to the floor once the two small lines appeared on the mini screen. you checked the box a thousand times to make sure the two lines meant you were pregnant. you read it over again trying to make sure you weren’t losing your mind. but you weren’t. you were pregnant. you were kind of freaked out about it so you didn’t know how to tell soobin, in words especially. once he went off to work on songs and dances with the boys, you went out to the store and bought a small t shirt. a baby one that snapped cutely at the bottom. you bought a gift bag and some tissue paper and piled it to the top so soobin had no idea what he was in for. once soobin came home your palms immediately became sweaty. you tried your hardest not to show your nerves. “hey baby. you okay? how was your day today?”. he’d ask. “it was good. I still feel kind of sick though. I bought you something while i went out”. you’d say, shoving the bag in his chest. he’d grasp it smirking, “what’s this?”.  “it’s a shirt that kind of reminded me of you. I thought you’d like it”. you explain with your heart pounding. soobin throws layers and layers of tissue paper on the floor until he got to the very bottom of the bag. he clutches the t shirt and unfolds it in the air to get a better look at it. his eyes widened once he saw that it was a baby’s shirt that read, “I’ve got the best daddy ever”. 

“are you really-?”. he trailed off with his mouth agape. 

“yes soobin”.

soobin drops everything and hugs you, kissing you on your cheeks. “I love you and we got this alright? don’t be scared”. he was trying to be as affectionate as possible but he was jittering on the inside. a little soobin? oh he couldn’t wait.

yeonjun; yeonjun tried to be as patient as he could with you. he thought maybe you were on your period so that’s why you’ve been grumpy these past couple of weeks. the funny thing was, your period had already passed. you couldn’t explain the reasons for your emotions. they were just there and you had no control over them. you cried over every wrong thing yeonjun did. he bought you the wrong flavor ice cream, the wrong sized shoe, the wrong sized clothes. usually you’d shrug these types of things off so you couldn’t believe yourself when you actually began tearing up. you thought maybe you were going through an early menopause or something, you were quite terrified of what was happening to you. you went to the doctor’s office as soon as yeonjun was out of sight. you couldn’t believe your ears when the doctor told you that you were two months pregnant. you told him he had to be lying to you. but it was kind of hard to lie once he rubbed the aquasonic gel on your tummy and placed the probe against it. you saw a tiny being growing inside you on the screen. you also heard some weird sounds to which the doctor was telling you it was your baby’s heart beat. you could cry; as emotional as you were. 

your nerves were already wrecked and to make matters worse you didn’t know how you were going to tell yeonjun. he enters the house that night and you glare over at him. he immediately sighs, knowing you were going to cry over something stupid once again. “you know what babe? maybe we just need some time alone from each other”. he finalizes. “i don’t need time alone. why don’t you want to be with me? you’re supposed to be there for me through everything not just leave”. 

“I’m not leaving. but your attitude is really getting the best of you and I don’t want to lash out on you”. 

“then don’t”. 

“see? it’s smart remarks like that that pisses me off and you know that”. yeonjun snaps. you didn’t know why his attitude grew another type of anger inside you. you took the envelope from your lap and threw it at his head. 

“and now you’re throwing things?”. yeonjun complains while picking the envelope up off the floor. he was going to toss it to the side until he realized it was from the medical office and it had your name on it. “wait what is this?”.

he questions before opening it and sliding the folded ultrasound pictures out of the slot. once they were out for him to see all of them unfolded and he saw it with a full view. his eyes were as wide as moons and he pushes his lips together humming frantically. “baby! you serious?!”. it was kind of cute how his attitude had went away. you folded your arms. 

“two months”. yeonjun smiles and punches the air. “yes!! yes! you know what? I should tell the guys. nah first i’m going to tell my mom. or my grandma. as a matter of fact i’ll wait until we know the gender I hope it’s a boy. he’s going to be a sexy beast like his daddy. if it’s a girl she’ll be so spoiled i swear--”. 

yeonjun babbles, going on and on about his plans. you wanted to continue being angry. but your new soon to be father was just too cute for your eyes.

beomgyu; you knew already. from the constant peeing to the puking you knew what was up. beomgyu didn’t though so it was kind of hard to keep letting him cater to you day after day. he’d leave work early just to come home to you and make sure you were well fed and taken care of. he’d even stop by the store and pick up some medicine to help you feel better. whatever was wrong with you he hoped to god it wasn’t anything serious. more than anything else he loved spending time and having fun with you and it was kind of hard when you were sick like this. well at least, he thought you were sick. you were thankful for everything he was doing so there was no way you were going to keep this secret from him any longer. however you didn’t want to tell him with your own words. you decided to call yeonjun. “hello?”. he answers, “hey yeonjun i have to tell you something”.   “listen if beomgyu once again turned the washing machine on forgetting he had to put clothes in it, that was his own stupidity and i’m not in charge of controlling him”. 

you laugh, “what? no. that sounds like something he’d do. and it kind of worries me considering what I’m about to tell you”. 

“what is it?”. 

“I’m pregnant. alright? what I’m going to call for a delivery to the studio to surprise him. I want you to record everything. don’t tell him”. 

“holy shit he’s going to be a parent? god bless you”. you laugh again, “yeonjun record it!”. “I will”. he promises. 

beomgyu had been practicing really hard today. trying to get the moves correct before the soon to come show. all the members were against the wall on their phones or carrying on. they had the moves down already so there was no need for constant rehearsal for them. but for beomgyu this was the peak of his stress. he watches himself attentively in the mirror until a delivery guy walks in out of the blue. 

“delivery for Choi Beomgyu”, he informs, with a big box of diapers in his hand. beomgyu turns around confused. “diapers?”. the delivery guy nods and the members are on the wall staring with just as much confusion. all except for yeonjun who was recording like you’d ask. the guy hands beomgyu the box and he instantly shoots a look to the rest of the members. “quit trying to be funny. this was a weak joke”. 

“it wasn’t from us”. yeonjun smiles with his phone camera pointed at a frustrated gyu. “oh yeah? then whose it from?”. “your girlfriend”. beomgyu looks back at the box in his hands and think for a moment. “why would she send me a box of---”. and it was clear that his lightbulb had went off. he dropped the box and started jumping around like a lunatic. “babe! baby! is she on the phone with you yeonjun?! is that her?!!”. he screams while the rest of the members clap and laugh. “she told me to record your reaction”. 

“I’m going to be a fucking dad!! holy shit!!”. he screams to the top of his lungs.

taehyun; oh boy. it was a battle between you and taehyun. it was you trying to figure out how you were going to tell him that you were, versus him trying to figure out how he was going to tell you that he already knew. either way it goes, you both knew there was soon to be a little taehyun on board. you’d get all the symptoms, fatigue/exhaustion, cramping, peeing and vomiting. taehyun would do his research on how to comfort you better or how he typed it in his search bar, “how to comfort a pregnant woman”. for some reason taehyun was very knowledgeable on this type of thing. to taehyun it was easy. you were acting out of character way too often and it was often companioned by a stream of odd emotions that he couldn’t explain. something was definitely off about you and it wasn’t hard for him to know exactly what it was. he wouldn’t get angry at anything, he’d rather hold your hands and calmly tell you to relax and that things were going to be okay. he’d ask you if there was anything you wanted from him and if you wanted him to cook your favorite foods before he was off to work. you weren’t far along but you were feeling fat already. you felt yourself get kind of heavier and as a result you ached more than normal. taehyun would run you warm baths and compliment you often. you only let a couple more weeks pass by before you gained the courage. you woke up one saturday morning determined that he was going to know. but there was way too much noise in your house and before you did anything you had to know what it was. you painfully walked to where the noise was coming from and there was taehyun in a black sweat suit with his hat turned backwards. he was sweating and you were trying to figure out what he was doing. 

“taehyun? why are you making so much noise?”. 

“I’m moving things”. 

“for what?”. 

taehyun pushes the dresser in the hallway to the side. he pushes open the door that was behind it. once you saw the view you could just cry. he was turning one of the empty rooms inside your house into a nursery. He already started painting it grey and yellow and adding elephant teddies on the furniture. you held your heart in awe.

“taehy--”. 

“yes i know already”, he laughs. “you’re going to be such a good mommy”.

kai; you have been missing kai like crazy. and even more with your hormones raging now that you know you’re 3 months along.  you couldn’t believe that you guys were going to be parents. it was insane. kai, the chaotic and you, his sidekick? you didn’t know how this baby would turn out. maybe just as crazy as kai. maybe just as crazy as you. maybe a little bit of both. either way you didn’t mind. kai had been touring these past three months and it was especially hard for you receiving the news on your own. he’d face time you quite often and you had to try your best to be normal and to not let your emotions get the best of you. it would be another couple of weeks until he came back but you couldn’t wait any longer. the secret was eating you alive and you figured he had to know one of these days. you and taehyun had been working together to figure out a plan for the surprise. yes, you picked taehyun because you figured out of all the members he’d probably be more organized with this. 

and you were definitely right. it was late and the boys were performing in Kai’s hometown. Honolulu, Hawaii and what a better feeling was it to get this news while he already felt at home? After performing more than half of their newest album, The Dream Chapter: Eternity the boys were more than exhausted. But they couldn’t forget their end of show ritual of talking with MOAS and having a good time with them before they were back on the road. each of the boys gave a separate small speech about their love for moas and how they appreciated them. Taehyun however, assured MOAS that he loved them but he had an even better speech in mind, and that his was especially for kai. The lights in the stadium dimmed at taehyun’s command like he planned, and the giant screen behind them glowed a soft yellow color. There was baby footprints, and a poem that read, 

“Mommy told me your name was kai, so I wanted to tell daddy that I said Hi!”.

within an instant the members were screaming and jumping around along with moas. Kai was shocked. but he was so happy he’d be raising a child with you. he raised the microphone to say something but he couldn’t. his lip trembled and he immediately started crying out of pure joy. 

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

From Eden: Two

Warnings: noncon sexual acts, mentions of mental illness; tags to be added throughout series

This is dark!Bucky. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: The mc suffers from agoraphobia. After a new neighbour moves in across the street, her home becomes even more of a prison.

Note: Yo, so here’s part 2! I hope you all enjoy. As before, there is a transcript at the end for anyone having issues with the images.

Thank you so much for your patience! And support!!

As always, if you are so inclined, please like, reblog, and comment. <3

Transcript:

Sunday

I called Dr. Tisha this morning. I told her about the neighbour. She said it was nice of him to help with the garden but ignored me when I mentioned the broken gate. I don’t know if she believed me. It didn’t seem like it. 

She’s coming by tomorrow to check on my progress. That means I can’t keep those magazines on the dining table anymore. The last time she made me throw half of them out. She didn’t listen when I told her some were so old they were priceless. Sometimes it feels like she doesn’t listen to me at all. Well, what do I pay her to do then?

I haven’t been back outside. I should water the garden as it’s only getting hotter but I don’t appreciate the unwanted audience. An intruder!

Later

I still haven’t found the courage to venture out. I made sure the bike lock was still in place from the front door. It is. Though, if that man’s metal hand could break the old lock, it will likely shred the chain lock. 

Thinking about it makes my heart race. I should go lay down. I’m dizzy and the humidity is making me sick to my stomach. Or maybe it’s something else.

Monday

Dr. Tisha came by early today.

I showed Dr. Tisha where I kept my medicine in the bathroom cabinet, the pills divided into the days. I check off each day on the calendar so I don’t forget either. She said that was good. The last time she was here, it was because I’d stopped taking the pills so I hope this made her happy.

Then she walked through the house, she said she was happy to see the top of the table this time. I laughed but it wasn’t really funny. Then she went to the kitchen and checked all the drawers. 

She found some books hidden under the sink and asked if I’d ever read them. I mean to but haven’t yet. She took them to the guest room where she found the bins of books stacked in the corner. Better than last time when they were a pile on the carpet. 

She said I have too many things. Too many things that aren’t mine. She says it’s okay to be sad about grandma but that holding onto all her stuff won’t bring her back. Like I don’t know that! I do know! But she left me these things so yes, they are mine.

Then we went to grandma’s old room. It’s the same as it was. As it’s always been. Dr. Tisha frowned and went to my room next. 

She asked me about the broken bed frame. I told her it was nothing. I made sure to replace the duvet I’d dragged out the couch to sleep without threat of rolling onto the floor in my sleep. Not that I sleep very much.

She opened my closet and found the magazines. That didn’t impress her either.

We had tea in the kitchen and talked. She asked me how I was feeling. About side effects and all that. Besides the occasional bout of nausea and vivid dreams, I’m fine. She agrees.

Then she asked about the tall shelf of vinyls in the living room. Which one is my favourite? I told her the old Vera Lynn record reminded me of grandma and it was still on the needle.

Then we argued. She wants me to get rid of the ones I don’t listen to. And the magazines in my closet! And she wants me to go through all the books, too. 

She also suggested that I think about redecorating. I told her I didn’t want to do any of that. I like the house the way it is. Who is it hurting if I have a few extra books laying around?

She calmed me down after I raised my voice. She made me count my breaths and explained that I don’t have to get rid of everything, just a little. She says it would help with my progress. And, she said, I could probably make a healthy profit off a yard sale. 

Well, I don’t care about the money, I don’t want to have a sale. I don’t want to deal with people and them thumbing through grandma’s thing for pennies. 

Dr. Tisha said she’ll make some signs and we’ll have the sale on Saturday. My task for the week is to decide what to sell and prices. We argued again but not very long.

When she left, I started crying. Everywhere I look, I see grandma and this place is empty enough without her.

Tuesday

Lorena showed up today.

I gave her my list, it wasn’t very long. She asked about the bike lock and I asked if she could stop by the hardware store and get a new mechanism. She asked me if I even knew how to fix it. I said I’d figure it out.

I told her about Dr. Tisha’s idea for the yard sale. She said it was a great idea. I still don’t agree but she offered to help me sort through the guest room. I shrugged and asked her how long she’d be at the store. She said the usual and left.

I waited by the door. I watched the front gate for her return. She had the combination to the bike lock now and could let herself in. I just wanted her to come back and drop everything off so I could be alone.

When she did return, she wasn’t alone. I saw her at the gate, fumbling with the lock. As the gate shifted open, a metal arm reached past her to push it all the way. The man held a paper bag in his other arm as Lorena carried the other.

He was smiling as he spoke to her and let her pass. He followed her to the door and he saw me before I could back away from the slated window in the door.

“Open up,” Lorena called as she tapped the door. 

I didn’t know what else to do but open the door. When I did she handed me her bag and reached for the one the man held.

“Sorry, but… I can’t let you inside.” She said glumly. “But thanks for the help.”

“No problem.” He glanced past her and I tried to hide behind her but he’s taller than her. He’s very big up close. “You have a great day. Both of you.”

“You, too.” Lorena said and he strode away.

When the gate clattered closed I waited until I was sure he was gone. I dropped my bag and rushed to check the lock. He’d secured it. Good.

I went back to the house and locked the door too. Lorena already had both bags on the table.

“He didn’t mean any harm,” She said as she unpacked the groceries. “He was just helping me so I figured--”

“You shouldn’t have let him in.” I told her.

“He was only in the yard. He didn’t come into the house.”

“I could have helped you.” I said.

“When’s the last time you went past the gate?” She asked as she pulled out a small plastic bag and slid it across to me. It was the new lock. “That should fit, if you can figure it out.”

“That’s not the point, Lor,” You slapped the table. “You let him into my space. A stranger!”

“He’s your neighbour. I’ve talked to Dr. Tisha and you know you’re supposed to be working on your socialising. This yard sale will be a good first step.”

“This yard sale is bull shit,” I was so angry I could have yelled. “I like being alone. I like it here. This is my home and these are my things!”

“Calm down.” She set down the carton of milk and neared me. “Look, I’m sorry. You’re right. I should’ve asked before I let him past the gate.”

I felt so tired. Suddenly weak, like the air had been let out of me. I felt bad for being so mad with her after she went all the way to town for me. 

“I’m sorry I got upset.” 

She forgave me and I forgave her. She convinced me to fill one bin for the sale before the end of the day. She left shortly after. Her and Shelby are going to see a movie. I’m watching one too. An old black and white movie Grandma had on her shelf of cassettes. It’s interesting but the edges are fuzzy and the audio is muffled.

Oh, well, I’m tired. And I’ll be sleeping on the couch anyway.

Wednesday

I tried to fix the lock today. I haven’t been outside that long since last week. The garden needs to be watered.

I took out grandma’s old toolbox, the tools half-rusted but intact. I got what was left of the old lock off easily but the new one was more of a task to get in. I had to open the gate to get it in. The holes for the screw were off-kilter but I couldn’t turn the lock enough to get them to line up.

Then he showed up. That man. Bucky. The lock slipped out as he scared me and my screw driver hit my shoe. My toe still hurts.

“You need some help?” He asked.

I shook my head and tried to close the gate on him but he was already picking up the mechanism and screwdriver.

“I can do it.” I sound like a dying mouse. I reached for the lock but he didn’t even seem to notice. “Hold the door steady and I’ll just--”

“I can do it myself,” I said louder but he still didn’t seem to hear me. Or chose not to.

He reached around the gate and pulled it closer to him. I grabbed the bars and he slid the lock into place. His metal fingers shifted it and aligned the holes.

“Do you have the screws?” He asked.

I found the box on the bunch of rocks just beside the gate. I handed him each long screw and he easily twisted them into place.

“There ya go,” He gave the screwdriver back and smiled.

I closed the gate, as good as pushing him out of the yard. He let me but looked confused. I took the key from the box and slid it in the slot. I turned it and the click slowed my racing heart.

“I still don’t know your name,” He said.

I didn’t tell him and left him there. You think he’d get the clue.

Thursday

It’s not even 5am. I woke up in a sweat. The fan is dead and the house has grown stolid, even as the night air slips through the open window.

I thought I’d closed it more but it is wide open and the power is out. There is an eerie silence as the buzz of the fridge is entirely gone and the house is pitch black. 

I swear I saw something move in the window. Maybe a bird?

I tried to get back to sleep but it’s too hot. I guess I’ll just sit and wait for the sun to rise. It’s already starting to.

I want to go out in the garden today. I just hope that man doesn’t bother me again. I hope the lock is still in place.

Friday

Well, yesterday was fine. The power came back on at noon as I watered the garden and trimmed some overgrown plants. The freesias had grown despite my neglect. 

Today was just as boring. I read at the patio table for a while but then the phone started ringing. Dr. Tisha was checking in. She said she put the signs up yesterday and hoped the turn out would be good. She asked me how much I got done. I lied and said a lot.

Now I’m going to go sort through the guest room and toss a few records on top to get her off my back. I guess I’ll just have to hide under the table tomorrow.

Saturday

Everytime I think I’m doing better, it all goes so bad! 

Dr. Tisha and Lorena arrived early to set up the yard sale. They unfolded a table just inside the gate, leaving it wide open, and helped me arrange everything on top of it. I was nervous and tired. I didn’t sleep very much.

I waited nervously and the first customer showed up. Gladys, an old friend of Grandma’s. She bought an old pin cushion and the Miles Davis record. I should have kept that.

I watched mostly as Dr. Tisha and Lorena took the money and helped people, both familiar and not. 

Dr. Tisha made me introduce myself to them at least. I hated it but they were mostly friendly. A woman with two children, I think she said her name was Essie? She said she liked my shirt. That was nice.

But then he showed up! I ignored him at first as he played with the ornamental cowbell. He took that and a few records from the table. He didn’t even seem to notice Dr. Tisha or Lorena as he came to me.

I kept my head down as I lined up the thimbles beside the painted sewing box.

“How much for the records?” He asked. 

I didn’t say anything and went to the other end of the table. He followed and I turned back and went back to the other end again. He followed me. Again.

“Now,” Tisha stopped me. “What are you doing? He asked you a question.”

I looked up and blinked dumbly. “What? I didn’t-- I was--”

“Bucky,” Lorena greeted him as she neared. “Tisha, this is the neighbour who helped with the groceries the other day.”

“Oh, hello,” She held out her hand as she blocked me from getting away. “I’m Tisha.”

She introduced me then and told me like a child to say hello. I did, quietly.

“Are you… the one who gave her the flowers?” Tisha asked.

“I did.” He smiled. “But I guess she already has enough.”

“She’s shy,” Tisha lowered her voice. “She’s working on it. Now,” she turned to me, “how much do you want for the records… and bell?”

I didn’t know what to say. The man watched me and I felt as if I would melt.

“Come on.” Tisha poked me. “We talked about this, right? This is your sale.”

“Ten dollars each,” I doubled the price. “And twenty for the bell.”

“That’s a bit pricey,” Lorena said. I shrugged.

“Sounds fair to me,” The man took out his wallet as he leaned the record on the table beneath the bell and used his leg to keep it from falling. “I’ve never listened to these bands before and I’m trying to expand my library.”

He held out the money. Tisha had to elbow me to get me to take it. I snatched it from him and counted it. Another elbow as Lorena kept me from turning away.

“Thank you,” I said to him. 

“I hope you enjoy the records,” Tisha offered gently before she pulled me aside.

She took me closer to the house as Lorena watched the table. She lowered her voice. “What’s going on?” She asked.

“Nothing.” I lied.

“Nothing? Why were you so rude to him?”

“I don’t like him.”

“You don’t know him.” She insisted.

“I don’t want to.”

“Look, I know you’re uneasy around men, but he was nice. And he’s your neighbour. You’ll be seeing a lot of him so I think you should at least try to be friendly. And remember what I said about friends?”

“My only friend is dead.” 

I was so upset I ran inside. And now I’m locked in my room, waiting for them all to just go away.

[softboywriting]

Serendipity | Santiago “Pope” Garcia

Summary: He is everything you never wanted but you fell in love all the same. [Film: Triple Frontier] [tw for violence, gunfire, injury, age difference(?)] [fluff ending] 

Word Count: 2.1k

|Masterlist In Bio|

You grew up telling yourself you would never fall for a military man, a police officer, any sort of authority. Their lives were too rough, too dangerous. You couldn't stand to get a call one day that your husband had been killed in the line of duty. Until you met Santiago Garcia.

Just over six months ago you moved to a small town outside of Sao Paulo, having tired of the city and the noise and corruption. Two of your friends have ended up in prison in the last year because of association with the wrong people. You want nothing to do with it.

You met Santiago while he was on a job and you got caught in the crossfire during a drug raid. It was late afternoon on a Friday and you were picking up some medicine at the pharmacy across from the apartment building where the raid was taking place. Your apartment building to be exact. This is the first time in six months you've been thrust back into the corruption you left the city because of. As soon as you heard the big black SUVs pull up, tearing across the dusty old roads, you knew exactly why they were there. Armed men and women were everywhere, blocking every entry and exit to the town square, cops and special forces flooded the street.

The pharmacy owner promptly walked around the counter, locked the door, and pulled the security cage closed and locked it too. He said something about how this was happening again and you were surprised. The area did not seem that troublesome, it's why you chose to move there. Honestly it does not surprise you though. You know there is a massive cartel that runs the city and outlying towns, but you thought this area was better, far enough away to be quiet and safe.

Minutes after the fleet of cars arrived you see a man in plain clothes, jeans, a khaki green shirt and a tactical vest. He walks toward the pharmacy, sunglasses up on his head. He is flanked by four men in police uniforms, all heavily armed. He looks through the window at you and the man behind the counter, giving a little nod. He is gorgeous, dark eyes, dark stubble, tan complexion and curly black hair. He's not the usual type of special agent you'd seen when you lived in the city. They were always older white men, angry and tired looking with the same ugly military haircut and white button down shirt.

You never got to ask the pharmacy owner what was going on, if he knew who the police were after. Because the next thing you knew gunfire was deafening you, the sound of glass shattering blocked out any thoughts aside from the ones telling you to run and hide. Guteral instinct told you to drop down, and move away from the windows.

You find yourself running up the stairs behind the pharmacy counter and kicking desperately at the door at the top until it swung inward. Inside is a living room, a small home belonging to the owner you assume. More glass shatters and you drop to the floor. Your arm is on fire, aching and burning. When you look at it, you've been grazed by a bullet, the skin open and bleeding but no hole. You curl up against the back of the couch in the center of the room and close your eyes.

Shouting and gunfire is all you hear for about two minutes. Then there is a loud boom like a bomb going off nearby. You look around as a heavy quiet fills the room. There isn't so much as a foot step to break the silence. After another minute or so ticks by you decide to move, to find something to help your arm because it is bleeding a lot and it hurts like a son of a bitch.

The bathroom is small and not very well cleaned but it's better than nothing. You turn on the water and grab a towel from a rack over the toilet. Heavy boot laden footsteps startle you and you turn to see the special agent from before standing in the bathroom doorway.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break into this place. I was scared." You drop the towel and put your hands up. "I'm sorry."

"You're alive...and bleeding." He steps in and offers his hand. You tentatively take it and he gently turns your arm to see the wound. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah it's just grazed it's fine. Why did you come in here?"

He picks up the towel and presses it to your arm. "I saw you through the window when I passed by. They were shattered when I came back and the police went to storm the apartment building. I came to check on you and the clerk since things kicked off very fast, I knew there wasn't not enough time for you to take cover."

"Oh."

"You did the right thing." He opens the medicine cabinet over the sink and digs around in it. "The clerk was caught in the crossfire, he didn't make it."

"Oh God."

"There's nothing in here to use....you'd think a pharmacist would be better stocked. I can get a medic to look at you." He releases your arm and you hold the towel against it. "Follow me."

You follow after him and stop at the top of the stairs. Why is he helping you? What does he gain from this? Shouldn't he be in there with the police?

"What's your name?"

"You can call me Pope."

"Are you a special agent?"

Pope looks back at you on the stairs and raises his eyebrows. "You're a curious one."

You narrow your eyes. "Yes or no?"

"Do you always talk back to authorities?"

"Do you always come after people caught in the crossfire of your missions?"

"Don't say it like I'm arresting you." He steps back up the stairs and looks at you pointedly. "I came to check because I saw you before everything started and I saw the windows were shattered like I said. Should I have left you to bleed alone?"

You look away and he clears his throat. "No. Thank you, I guess."

"You're stubborn."

You glare at him and he chuckles. "Can we get to this medic you supposedly are taking me to? This hurts."

"Yes, come on. We'll get you patched up."

_____________________

One thing leads to another, and you and Santiago end up at the same bar chatting hours after the raid.  A few drinks lead to going home together, and that leads to seeing each other again and again and again. He is everything you never wanted and yet, you cannot get enough of him. His touch, his voice, his smile. He lures you in effortlessly and you take the bait every time. He tells you how he's trying to clean up the country, to release it from the grasp the cartels have upon it. You're infatuated with his work, his dedication and love for the people. He's a good man with a good soul and you find yourself falling in love so easily.

It's been a year and half that you have been together. There are things you know, things you wish you didn't know, and things you don't want to know about him. He has never hidden anything, he has always been an open book with you and you have been the same to him. Honesty and trust are the core building blocks in the relationship you started together.

There is one thing you have hesitated to ask. His age. It must seem silly, that such a normal thing to share hasn't come up, but truly it has not. When you think about it, falling in love with someone and not knowing that information changes things. It allows for a relationship without hindrance toward a preconceived notion of what a person of a particular age should do or say. You know rationally he can't be that much older, you've got much of the same music taste and the same sense of humor. You just have not asked and he has not mentioned it.

In all honesty you are not sure if you don't want to know because you know he's much older than you think and you'll feel uncomfortable, or if you just don't want a preconceived idea of him that your mind will inevitably create the moment you know. But it's time, you have decided that no matter what you find out, you will not be any less in love with him. You want to take him to meet your grandmother soon and she will definitely say something since he does look a bit older than you. Grandma never holds back when it comes to you and men.

So here you are Christmas morning in his apartment, laying together as the sun rises. You're both early risers, so it's no surprise that today is no different. "Santiago? Can I ask you something?"

"Anything, always."

"How old are you?"

He hums. "I wondered when you'd ask that. Why are you curious now? You're into older men aren't you?" He rolls onto his side and you turn to face him. "You get off on it right?"

"Santiago!"

He laughs and you shove him. "I'm teasing you. But I'm curious too. What's your guess?"

"Well, you've got a little gray." You run a hand over his curls, sinking your fingers into his thick hair and giving a gentle scratch. "And you've got lines outside your eyes when you smile, but that doesn't always come with age. You have had a rough life so you could seem older than you are...hmm."

"Mmmhmm. Your guess?"

"Thirty seven."

He smiles and kisses your nose. "So close."

"Up or down?"

"Mmm just keep guessing."

"Santiago, you're playing with me." You twist your finger around the thin gold chain on his neck. He covers your hand with his and curls his fingers around yours. "Can I have a hint?"

He shakes his head.

"Are you....fifty?"

"Ouch. That is not close to thirty seven, that hurts. Do I look that old?"

"Well you won't give me any clues!"

Santiago rolls on top of you and holds himself up, forearms on the pillow bracketing your head. "I'm thirty nine."

"Turning or?"

"I'll be forty on my birthday next month."

You close your eyes and laugh softly. "My grandma is never going to let me live this down."

"Why?"

"Because I'm only thirty. You're a solid decade older than me. I've told her my typical type and you're so not it."

He leans in and kisses you softly. "Do you love me any less? Am I too old for you now?"

You smile playfully, teasing him. "No, well, maybe. I used to say my limit was five years older."

"Until you met me." He grins and kisses you again. "I broke all your rules. You like me, you like my-"

"Oh shut it." You cover his mouth and he licks your hand. "Hey!"

He rolls his hips down against you and you shudder. "We should get up and open gifts."

"What? You got me something?"

"Of course."

"I thought we said no gifts."

"No, I said don't get me a gift. Everyday with you is my gift." He kisses along your throat and down your chest. "You're more than I could ever want for."

"Santiago...I didn't get you anything. Did you really get me something?"

He hums against your skin. "I did."

You arch against him as he shifts and it pulls the blankets away, making you cold. "That's not fair."

"It is." He crawls forward, covering you with his body and supporting himself on his forearms again. He reaches under his pillow and brings out a square box that he sets on your chest. "It's nothing too big."

You look down at the little gold lidded box. "Wh- no."

"Open it."

"I swear to God." You take it and open it, turning it over in your hand. Out falls a little delicate ring with eight stones in a tiara like shape.

"Are you ready for the big gift?"

You look up at him and he grins like a fool. "This is a big g-"

"I want to give you my last name." He bumps his nose against yours. "Will you marry me?"

"O-oh. Yes, I'll take it. I mean- yes of course I'll marry you!" You slide the ring on your finger and he presses a kiss to your lips. You bring your hands up and grip his back in a crushing hug. Never did you think you would fall in love with a man who is everything you thought you never wanted. But here you are, and you wouldn't choose anyone else.

----------

end

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Header image by delicate-venus

*****Note: none of my works should be posted anywhere outside of my linked accounts. I do not give permission to repost with or without credit to my accounts. Please notify me of any reposted works.*****

[padfootagain]

Girl Crush (XXI)

Chapter 21: Acacia's Secret Love

 Here we go again for a new chapter!! This is cute, very cute, terribly cute... Why am I like this?

I don't know anything about medicine, but I remember my mum had to pass that kind of stuff once and it gave me such an amazing opportunity to have Harry take care of Y/N, I couldn't resist. So if something is wrong with my medical explanations, please, just... humour me on this one and just enjoy the cuteness.

I hope you'll like this new chapter! Next update in 48 to 72 hours, as usual!

Word Count: 3096

You were terrified, to be honest.

You had to check your eyesight, pass a test with a specialist. Which in itself was not particularly pleasant, but what really made you straight up terrified was that the test to be performed required your doctor to put a serum in your eyes that would make you blind for a few hours. And the idea of not seeing was just... unbelievably scary.

Gareth was busy with work and couldn't possibly get free for the afternoon to accompany you. But it was alright, you weren't alone. And if you had been honest with yourself you would have admitted that you were happy Harry was by your side instead of your boyfriend.

You blamed how reassuring it was to be by his side, Harry simply had a soothing aura about him. And God knew you needed every relaxing thing you could get right now.

But Harry was not as calm as you longed him to be. He kept on tapping the wooden ground with his foot and biting on his bottom lip. He had a small frown that wouldn't leave his brow and his eyes seemed a little greener than usual.

You heaved a sigh, looking up at the ceiling, and he moved to take your hand in his.

"I know," he nodded in a voice that was much calmer than what his pounding heart should have shown. "It's gonna be okay though. It's nothing."

"What if they find something weird?" You started to babble. "What if I react badly to that thing they'll give me and my eyes melt and I can never see again..."

He rolled his eyes.

"Your eyes will not melt. You're going to be fine. I just hope it's nothing serious causing your headaches. But I bet you just get old and need glasses, like the grandma you're becoming..."

"Pfff... a grandma? Already? Then you're a grandpa too."

"I am. I'll make soup for our poor teeth tonight."

You chuckled, shaking your head at him.

"You're so silly today!"

"It made you laugh though," he replied with pride.

But then, your name was called...

You and Harry exchanged a look, but you were to get in alone. So he merely gave you a thumb up, an encouraging smile, and waited for you.

He dried his sweaty palms on his blue jeans, heaving a sigh and biting on his lip once more. He was sure that it was nothing, you might need a pair of glasses, and that would be all. Still, medical tests were always stressful, and especially so when you were the one passing them.

Ever since his tour was over, Harry spent most of his time in L.A. It gave him a lot of time to spend with you, and after months of being apart, it was a welcomed change. He reckoned that he deserved a couple of months to rest before starting to work on a new album. It didn't mean that he had stopped writing music, he reckoned he never did. But before going back into a studio and surrounding himself with his team again, he wanted to spend some quality time with you.

And one of the advantages of being a musician was that he could spend as much time with you as he wanted. He could drop by at the flower shop, pick you up after work, eat with you at lunch, spend his evenings with you... He had nowhere to be, except by your side.

He reckoned that Gareth wasn't so happy about his return and the amount of time the two of you spent together, but you were adamant in ignoring him. Or, well... Harry reckoned that you didn't ignore his worry, you were too kind and loving for acting like this. But you also had an important rule when it came to your relationships, and that was that anyone controlling was out of the game. You had your boyfriend, and you had your friends, and if Gareth didn't like your friends, it was his problem, not yours. You would never give up on the people you loved for him. Which was why, Harry reckoned, you still spent so much time with him and Jas.

And Harry was the obvious choice to accompany you now. Gareth and Jas were both working, and Harry, being the artist he was, was available all day, like he had been ever since he had come back from tour.

If the test was unpleasant, it was nothing too terrible. It was rather quick, even, and you were soon back by Harry's side. The effects of the serum would take a few hours to dissipate, and you should get your sight back to normal during the evening. Harry drove you back to your apartment and guided you towards the staircase leading to your apartment with careful steps.

"Okay, we're at the stairs... Why can't you live in a building with an elevator like a normal person?" Harry complained, making you chuckle.

"Harry, your rich arse is showing."

You held his arm tightly, but seeing how slowly you walked up the stairs, and how you tripped on the third step already, Harry shook his head.

"Okay, stop, this is ridiculous. You can't climb to the fourth floor like that. Get down."

"Well, I'm not gonna wait in the hall until my sight comes back!" you replied, but Harry was already taking your arms and wrapping them around his neck. "What... what are you doing?"

"You're up for a piggy-back ride," he answered, and you could hear the cheeky grin in his tone.

You rolled your eyes.

"I can walk..."

"It'll be much faster and safer if I carry you. Come on, are you that afraid I'll drop you?"

"I mean... I wouldn't if you were like... Chris Hemsworth or Chris Evans or the Rock.... you know... more... muscular..." you mocked, doing a terrible job at hiding the amusement that was spreading across your features.

Harry shook his head, faking outrage.

"You're lucky you're blind and in so much need of my help right now. Are you saying I'm not fit enough to carry you up the stairs?"

"I'm saying I'm afraid you'll drop dead before we reach the first floor. I'm not so sure all your hours spent at the gym were enough to prepare you for that kind of effort."

"And I was trying to be nice..." he shook his head, but you were both chuckling, your voices made shaky by your badly-hidden laughter.

He turned around, bent down, and slipped his arms around your legs, letting you lean against his back before he would pick you up with a grunt.

Before you could protest, he was starting to climb the stairs.

"Honestly though, I am genuinely worried that you will get an asthma attack if you carry me all the way," you said, your tone serious now.

He waited to have reached the first floor before answering, stopping to adjust your position on his back.

"I'm fine."

And there he went, climbing another flight of stairs.

By the time he reached your floor, he was panting heavily, and you were properly worried, all traces of humour gone from your voice.

"Are you alright?" you asked as he gently put you down.

You could hear him struggling for breath by your side, but obviously couldn't see him as he nodded.

"Give me... a minute..." he answered, wiping the sweat away from his forehead.

"You're not gonna die on me, are you?"

Harry laughed despite his scattered breath.

"I'm fine. But give me a minute, I've just carried you for four floors!"

"Sorry about that."

"Give me your keys."

You reached for the item in your pocket, and handed them to Harry without a word.

He guided you inside your flat and to your sofa, and only relaxed when you were safely sitting on the comfortable cushions.

"Coffee or tea?" he asked, and you noticed that he was still out of breath.

"Tea. Thank you, Harry."

He brushed your remark away, which you didn't see, and disappeared in the kitchen, taking long and deep breaths while he prepared some boiling water.

"When will you get the results?" Harry asked from the kitchen.

"Next Monday. But the doctor said that it wasn't anything serious."

"Right..."

"Thank you again, for taking care of me today."

"Don't mention it."

He came back with two cups of tea, and handed you yours, that he had prepared exactly the way you liked without even a thought.

"Reach up a bit, I'm handing you your tea. Be careful, it's hot."

You were clumsy as you grabbed your drink, but still managed to take your cup without burning yourself or Harry.

"Do you need anything?"

You could hear Harry's concern in his voice, and it made you smile tenderly at him before you could think about the gesture. It was a bit selfish, but you felt loved and cared for whenever he was worried about you.

"I'm good. Thank you."

"I was about to propose to watch a movie, but that might not be the best activity for you right now..."

You laughed at him, shaking your head.

"Music is good though."

"Sure, what do you want to listen to?" Harry asked, already on his feet and heading towards your collection of vinyl.

"You."

"Hmm... the narcissist in me likes this answer, but my mum wouldn't approve something that gives such a boost to my ego."

"I meant... maybe you could... sing me something?"

Harry exploded with laughter.

"Sing you something?"

"Look, my best friend is a singer. And I'm blind, in case you had forgotten. Can't I ask for a little lullaby?"

He shook his head, but reached for your guitar anyway and sat down by your side on the couch, settling on your left.

"That's a no," he teased, securing the guitar against his leg.

"Hey! I'm very sick! I'm blind!"

"You're not sick. And it's just temporary."

"Alright, then... I won't ever listen to your music again."

"You're so mean."

"I know... but you're the one being mean now! I'm blind!"

He heaved a sigh, a large smile digging dimples in his cheeks.

"I'm lucky it'll wane today, God knows how many crazy things you would ask me to do because you're blind if you had more time."

You opened your mouth to reply, but Harry pulled on a string and started to tune your guitar.

A grin made its way across your lips, and you snuggled deeper in your sofa, sipping on your tea while patiently waiting for Harry to be ready.

"What would you like to listen to?" he asked in a soft, deep voice.

"Anything you'd like to play."

You weren't surprised when the first notes of Landslide echoed through your apartment. His voice was soft and warm and so reassuring as he sang. You closed your eyes, and didn't even notice your movements as you leaned closer to him, until you sat shoulder to shoulder together. Time felt like it had stopped altogether, and maybe it truly had, settling to take a look at the tender scene playing in your apartment, making the moment stretch a little longer.

And as you rested your head on Harry's shoulder, you reckoned that you had rarely felt so safe before.

And Harry kept on singing, bathed in the familiar melody and the way your warmth seemed to run through his whole frame. And it felt peaceful, so peaceful to have you against him like this, so close. It had been an awfully long time since he hadn't felt lonely. He wasn't surprised to find that it took having you against him to make the feeling go away.

Well, I've been 'fraid of changin'

'Cause I've built my life around you

But time makes you bolder

Even children get older

And I'm gettin' older, too

While he sang, Harry's eyes drifted towards your face, admiring the line of your eyelashes, and the bridge of your nose, and the curve of your lips...

Your lips... They seemed so soft, so reassuring. The sight of them made his heart stumble in his chest, missing a few beats and then pounding. He wondered how they would feel like against his. Would they taste like your tea? Would their appearance change a little if he kissed them long enough? What kind of sound would you make if he bit them lightly?

He almost missed the end of the song, and tried to focus on the strings he played again. Because he wasn't supposed to think about all these things, he wasn't supposed to... want to kiss you so damn much. It was a physical effort for him to not lean down to capture your lips with his. They looked so daunting, so tempting, it made his whole body ache to not cup your cheek and smash his mouth against yours.

The song was over, and silence settled back into the room, the sound of his heavy breathing the only noise ringing through your apartment. He could hear his heart beating, the movement vibrating against his eardrum.

You were alone, and you were so close, it would be so easy to finally kiss you. It would feel so right... Maybe he should tell you everything, actually. Maybe he should admit it all to you. How he dreamt about you, and how he missed you whenever you weren't in the same room as him, and how he wanted to love on you, God... he would love you so good. He would cherish you if you gave him the chance. He needed you. He was selfless when it came to you, he thought of your happiness before his, and he would have done anything you asked without a second thought.

Maybe it was time to admit that he thought of your lips when he couldn't sleep at night and was staring at his ceiling in the dark. That the taste of your name on his tongue was his favourite flavour. That the sound of his name in your voice was better to him than any song he had ever heard. That he was cheesy and desperately romantic when it came to you. That he was in love with you to a disgusting degree. That you had made his life better, and that you were, for a huge part, the reason why he felt better in his own skin these days. That all he wanted in this world, really, at the end of the day, once his existence had been stripped off of all superficial layers, was to hold you in his arms and keep you there to make sure nothing wrong would ever happen to you.

And he almost did.

He opened his mouth to let out the words he had been holding in for so long. Because perhaps you would change your mind. Maybe you would leave Gareth to be with him instead...

But the sound of keys turning in your front door made him jump, and you sat up, frowning.

"What time it it? Gareth isn't supposed to come home before six."

"It's not six yet. Stay here."

Harry had barely stood up and reached for the lamp next to your sofa to serve as a weapon that your boyfriend was entering the room. He heaved a relieved sigh.

"Fuck, man... you scared the shit out of us."

"I left work early to take care of Y/N," Gareth replied, and you turned to him with a smile.

"Hi, babe!" you chimed. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I managed to finish early. Had to take care of my girl, right?"

He finally noticed the guitar in Harry's hand, and clenched his hands into fists.

"How did it go, baby?" he asked, ignoring Harry altogether and walking around him to sit on the sofa next to you.

"Okay... it wasn't too long. The side-effects should be gone by this evening. I actually see a little better already. It was all black before, and now it's all white. I guess it must be a good sign."

"I'm sure it is. And the results?"

"Next Monday. But the doctor told me not to worry, I should be alright."

"That's a relief. You've really had me worried, you know?"

He tugged you against him, and you didn't protest, didn't resist. It was a gesture the two of you had done a thousand times. Harry could see it in the way Gareth knew exactly how to hold you, how to get you comfortable, how you rested against him without thinking, it would seem. And he wondered if you would fit so naturally well in his arms too.

Gareth finally turned to Harry, offering him a polite smile, and your best friend didn't fail to notice the cold nature of the gesture.

"We'll be fine here, don't worry. I'll take care of Y/N now. I'm sure you have more important things to do," your boyfriend said, his tone almost condescending.

Harry's hold on your guitar tightened, and if you hadn't been in his arms now, he would have punched Gareth in the teeth.

"I have nothing planned, I can stay a little longer."

"We'll be fine. Won't we, babe?"

You nodded.

"Yeah, we're alright," you answered, and Harry hoped he wasn't inventing the touch of reluctance he could hear in your tone. "You can go if you want to, Harry. Gareth will help."

"Are you sure? I can stay for a little longer."

"I don't want to bother you."

"Don't be ridiculous, you never bother me."

"It was the deal, that you'd stay until Gareth was home and could look after me for the rest of the day. Thanks for everything. And the song was lovely, it made me feel better."

"Anytime," Harry nodded, his voice weaker than what he had hoped for.

He put back your guitar on its stand, and walked towards the hall, ready to leave.

What else could he do now?

"Text me if anything goes wrong," he told Gareth. "And you, do tell me when you've got your eyesight back, huh?" he added to you.

You gave him a bright grin, your eyes unfocused but turned in his direction.

"Of course I will. Bye, Harry!"

He took one last look at you, at how perfect you looked, how soft and gentle and warm and radiant you were. Then he and Gareth shared one last glare, and he turned towards the front door while your boyfriend held you even closer.

"Bye, Y/N. Take care, yeah?"

*********************************************************

Tag list :   @ponycake27​ @horsesreign​ @xinyourdreamsx @jbluevelvet​@notkeppeki @daynigt-dreamer-stuff @fudgeflyss​ @stuckupstucky​@snek-shit​ @suchatinyinfinity​@i-padfootblack-things​  @buckybsarmy @heyohheyitsgabi@jigsawlover10​ @emyyjemyy​ @addictedtofictionalcharacters @staringmoony​@madamrogers @cronias13 @stylesfics-xx @mellamolayla @mariaenchanted

[lovelylogans]

paper rings

i like shiny things, but i'd marry you with paper rings uh huh, that's right, darling you're the one I want i hate accidents except when we went from friends to this uh huh, darling, you're the one I want

part of the wyliwf verse.

ao3 | other fics on tumblr | coffee?

warnings: food mentions, underage drinking, drinking, slightly tipsy/drunk adults, proposal, complicated parental relationship, this one is really mostly just fluff y’all but please let me know if i’ve missed any!!!

pairings: moxiety, logince

words: 9,924

notes: okay. so, SOMEHOW, it is the first anniversary of me uploading the first chapter of where you lead, i will follow!!!!! i remember where i was when i uploaded the first chapter; i was studying abroad, and i thought that i may as well keep on writing during the trip, since i always keep writing, and this was the project i felt most passionate about, at the time. and now, a year later, the world certainly looks very different, and my life does, too. but this project is still going. i love this little universe, so much, and i’m so happy and proud and grateful that all of you keep reading it, and you’re cheering these characters along right beside me. so, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so very much for reading. and happy birthday to this little universe.

patton’s been basically vibrating with excitement since monday, and now that it’s actually friday michel’s banished him to his office because “your happiness is scaring the customers,” but patton can’t help it!!!!

it’s labor day weekend, starting today, which means at any minute logan’s going to be coming into town, straight from yale, his first time being home since he moved into his dorm about three weeks ago now, which means logan’s gonna be home!!!!!!!!!!! 

he’s due back in town any minute!!!!!! he’s going to be here for about four days!!!!! logan and roman are going to be in town for four! entire! days!

sure, patton has seen him at friday night dinners, but that’s not the same as him being home! patton can pester him about classes and how frequently he’s taking breaks and ask questions about how he’s settling in and any potential new friends, because sure, he and dee are roommates, but patton wants to ask questions about his other dorm roommates (suitemates? it’s technically suitemates, isn’t it?) because patton only got to see just a glimpse of them on move-in day, so he doesn’t really know much about them, and—

and patton has a lot of questions and a lot of things he wants to know, generally, and also, logan’s going to be here!!!!!

patton looks down at the paperwork on his desk, considering it.

yep. he cannot focus on this at all. it’s basically a lost workday, at this point. goodbye productivity, he hardly knew thee. it’s time to go and sneak downstairs under the guise of checking in on the guest’s dining room, but really to sneak a cup of coffee and maybe also a cookie.

he descends the stairs.

“no,” michel says, without looking up from the guestbook.

“i’m just checking on the dining room!” patton protests. “i’ll be out of your hair, in and out, you’ll barely even notice me.”

“too late,” michel says, then, “stop making that facial expression.”

“i’m smiling, michel,” patton teases. “i’m happy.”

michel grumbles something in french, and patton’s about to ask what he’s saying, when he hears the door open. he swivels to see—

logan.

he’s wearing the navy blue yale sweatshirt patton bought him when he made his college decision, part of the pack of “yay yale, go yale!” stuff patton had kind of went nuts on—he can see an unbuttoned shirt and a loosened tie underneath it, along with a pair of jeans and sneakers that host a couple of roman-penned doodles. he’s got cocoa’s leash wrapped around one hand, cocoa panting happily at his feet, and he’s holding onto the strap of his backpack with the other.

patton’s moving before he can even think about it; logan drops his backpack to the ground, and patton’s wrapping his son up in the biggest bear hug he can manage.

logan’s done growing now, and is still firmly stuck at taller than him, something that when he thinks about it too much still strikes him as strange and still makes him a little bit emotional. logan smells like the laundry detergent he and virgil bought in bulk for him, and something patton can’t quite pin down, maybe something Inherently Yale, and maybe he’ll never be able to pin it down, but patton crams down the wave of sadness at the idea of him and logan growing apart; kids grow up, that’s what they’re supposed to do, he reminds himself.

still. all of those complicated feelings aren’t quite enough to quell the wave of my baby’s home, my baby’s home!!!!!!! happiness and excitement that’s been building since logan mentioned over phone that he was going to come back to sideshire as soon as his friday class was over.

patton draws back, hands on logan’s shoulders, beaming.

“there’s my college-goin’ boy,” he teases. “how’ve you been, kiddo?!”

logan’s lips twitch up into a smile, and patton feels his heart swell up with fondness at the sight of it.

“good,” he says, then, “i have eaten basically nothing but dining hall pizza for three straight days.”

patton laughs, and claps him on the back. 

“very collegiate,” he quips. “i’ll keep the secret from virge, if you want. i’m assuming you’re probably not going to want pizza, then?”

“like grandma and grandpa will serve us pizza tonight,” he says, adjusting his grip on cocoa’s leash; patton reaches out a hand, and logan hands it over as he picks up his backpack.

“true, true,” he says, and reaches down to pet cocoa, because she’s butting up against his shins in a clear ploy for attention. “i know, yes, you’re a very good girl—well, clearly you’ve been by the house, do you want to hang out here or—?”

“please get him out of here,” michel shouts from the front desk, and patton pivots, holding up the leash. 

“but cocoa is here!” patton says teasingly. “you don’t wanna kick out cocoa, do you?”

cocoa wags her tail at the mention of her name. she loves michel; patton really doesn’t know why, but ever since patton had taken her to work for the first time, back when they were training her as a puppy and didn’t think she’d do well shut up at home all day, she’s always made a beeline straight for michel.

michel, also, is very much a dog person. he watches the westminster dog show religiously each year, and his two chows, paw-paw and chin-chin, probably eat better-quality food than patton’s parents. and ever since he’d discovered that cocoa’s part chow, well...

it’s moved him to look at least tempted to take back his continual askings for patton to get out.

“no, that’s okay,” logan says. “i was going to ask if we could stop by the diner, anyway?”

“hungry?” patton guesses, and smiles a bit when logan nods.

“didn’t have time to stop for lunch,” he admits sheepishly, and patton gasps, only a little jokingly.

“oh, well, we definitely have to get you right to virgil, then,” he says. “he’ll get you something nice and healthy and not dining hall pizza—we’re going now!” he calls to michel.

“good riddance,” michel says, perhaps a bit less enthusiastically than he would have if it was just patton and logan, and if cocoa wasn’t part of the deal.

patton’s about to head over to the inn’s parking lot, but logan says, “can we walk?”

“oh! yeah, sure!” he says. “wanna see the town, huh?”

“just—cocoa,” logan says awkwardly, and moves to take back cocoa’s leash. “and it’s, um. nice out today. have you taken your allergy medicine?”

“yes, no sneezing because of pollen from me,” patton says, not to be deterred, “and you missed the town?”

logan grumbles something, and then moves to check his phone, and patton directs his grin out toward the inn’s grounds.

it’s that sweet point between summer and fall, where all the sweltering heat and humidity has died down, but the fall chill hasn’t quite crept in yet; the leaves and grass are all still green, the sky still a perfect shade of cloudless blue, but there’s a slight breeze that tempers any of the heat of the bright sunshine. 

it is very nice out today.

it’s the perfect backdrop for a walk with his son and his dog; cocoa eagerly plants her nose against the ground and spends most of the walk sniffing every little plant, weed, and patch of grass she can find, while he asks logan all about classes and dorm life and how his first quizzes and papers went; he knows most of this, from their daily phone calls, but it’s still very nice to hear logan say it without the distortion of the phone’s speaker.

it’s probably good that they’re treading old ground, conversation-wise, because people keep stopping them on the sidewalk. 

dot and larry beam at logan and patton. babette and morey stop in the middle of a walk to enthuse over the pair of them. emile’s walking toward remy aserinsky’s café, and clasps his hands together and gushes over them. mrs. torres nearly starts crying at the sight of the pair of them. 

patton guesses people are really happy to have logan back in town? which, like, fair, he doesn’t blame them, not one bit. logan’s the best, and his absence has been keenly felt during all sorts of town activities; mayor porter had even stopped him after the last town meeting, bemused, holding out a paper of pr-perfected answers that always frustrated logan about needing to include, asking where on earth logan was, he’d usually emailed the mayor’s office three times to get these answers.

except the occasional visitor seems like it’s almost nothing, when they approach the main square of town; there’s a veritable crowd.

patton, bemused, looks around at them: his neighbors, the business-owners in town, even a few of his workers—it’s like half the town has turned out, and patton turns to logan.

“is it a holiday or something?”

“hm?” logan asks, distracted by making sure cocoa doesn’t tangle her leash around a telephone poll.

“it’s just,” patton says, and jerks his chin out toward the crowd. logan seems to catch sight of all of them, and his eyes narrow, just for a moment, before his facial expression smooths back over into indifference.

“it’s not a holiday, to my knowledge,” logan says. “but who knows, with taylor involved?”

patton acknowledges this with a slight laugh. “i bet it’s double-coupon day at the store, or something. i can never keep track of all the promotional deals that he puts on. i haven’t seen any posters for festivals or anything.”

“that’s probably it,” logan agrees, still somehow distracted by cocoa, who has long since freed herself. 

they draw closer to the diner, and his son lets out a laugh, and surges forward, and runs to hug a familiar face, also grinning from ear to ear.

“roman!”

patton watches roman rush forward, wrapping his arms around logan’s waist and picking him up off the ground, spinning him around with the force of his hug, and he can’t help but smile when he hears logan laugh; to patton’s knowledge, this is the first time they’ve seen each other since they went off to school.

“my love!” roman enthuses, setting logan on the ground but keeping his hands wrapped around his waist, “mi querido, my beloved, oh, i have missed you—”

“i’ve missed you too,” logan admits, barely above a whisper, and as patton’s politely averting his eyes from them kissing, that’s when he notices something strange.

the curtains are drawn.

virgil never draws the curtains, not even when they’re closing at night. the last time patton can remember that happening is when they painted the diner, nearly two years ago.

and there’s a CLOSED FOR BUSINESS, ONLY OPEN FOR DANES, SANDERS’, AND PRINCES on the door.

“do you think virgil’s doing something at the diner?” patton asks logan and roman, who have stopped kissing, but they’re holding hands.

“what?” he says.

patton gestures to the curtains.

“oh,” logan says. “maybe you should go in and check.”

“if he’s doing something—”

“he would have deliberated it for months at a time and argued the pros and cons with you,” logan says pointedly. “i barely managed to convince him to re-upholster the seats a couple summers ago, remember?”

patton does. “but still—”

“he specified that it’s open for us, go check,” roman insists, at a pitch barely below a squeal, and so patton slowly opens the door to the cheerful jangle of the bell.

and he’s overwhelmed by yellow.

there are bundles, heaps, mountains of yellow daisies; crowded in every booth, sitting at the center of every table, fighting for space among candles that definitely weren’t there before, clustered around the feet of the table. there’s the biggest daisy chains that patton’s ever seen, ringing the diner’s ceiling, brushing against the pride flags behind the counter, and pots of daisies sitting in every chair, every booth. 

patton pivots slowly, trying to take it all in—daisies bundled up in mugs, daisies twining pillars, bouquets of daisies tucked into every spare surface, every spare nook or cranny, soft instrumental music that patton definitely knows, even if he’s never heard this particular version of it—and he knows, he knows something big is going on here, hovering just at the edge of his brain but refusing to click, and he hears footsteps, turning to see.

virgil’s stepped out of the kitchen, through a clearly designated path from all the daises, there’s so many daisies, and smiles at patton.

“hey,” he says softly.

“hey,” patton breathes out. “what’s—” he struggles for a word, still trying to search for what this is, what the sense of déjà vu is—“all this?”

virgil smiles at him. there’s something nervous, in his face, making his smile a little awkward, and virgil wipes his hands on his jeans. he’s wearing the homemade hoodie, the one virgil wears most often, the one patton loves best, and his dark outfit looks strangely out of place in all this brightness, these florals, all this cheerful yellow.

he has That Look on his face, the soft one, the loving one, that always makes patton feel like he’s melting into a sentimental, happy little puddle of goo.

“so, turns out,” virgil says, “a thousand yellow daisies sounds super impressive, but once i got them all piled in here i decided i needed, like, way more, so i’m pretty sure i’ve bankrupted the east coast out of all the yellow daisies it’s got.”

“i’m sure you did,” patton says breathlessly. 

virgil’s smile quirks at the edges. “you don’t remember?”

“i—”

“i mean, you were pretty specific, but i don’t blame you, it was eighteen years ago,” he says. “and you were kind of preoccupied with a lot of other things, it being logan’s first christmas eve and all the rest of everything going on, back then.”

and then, very suddenly, it clicks.

“ but proposals… that’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, right? it should be planned. it should be magical... it should be—it should be more. there should be music playing and romantic lighting and a subtle buildup to the popping of the questions. there should be a—a thousand yellow daisies, and candles, and—and more than just an oh, i guess.”

“oh,” patton breathes. all of a sudden, he feels very dizzy, and very warm, and the thoughts in his head could really only be described as the sound a kettle makes when water comes to a boil.

“yeah,” virgil says, “so” and he slowly gets down on one knee. patton is distantly aware of some clicking sounds.

“virgil,” patton says thickly, vision already blurring with tears, even as virgil smiles up at him, removing a small velvet box from his hoodie’s pocket.

virgil clears his throat, but it doesn’t stop his voice from sounding rough as he begins, “when i first thought about us being married—” 

patton can’t help but let out a choked noise, somewhere between a sob and a laugh of sheer delight. married. married!!!!!!!!!

“—i thought that maybe this part would happen like how we’d moved in together; we’d slowly come to the realization, and figure out that we’ve basically been married the whole time, and maybe go off and elope, with the kids in tow. 

“but then, well, i kind of remembered something you said, and i realized i agree. this—us—it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. you are a once-in-a-lifetime thing. you and logan and roman—the family that you’ve helped make and bring me into—that’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, one that i cherish, so so much. you let me into your life, you let me be a parent to your son, our son, and i can’t—i can’t thank you enough. for everything that you’ve done for me. i don’t know who i’d be without you in my life, and i don’t ever want to find out.”

patton sniffles, and hastily reaches his fingers to swipe at his eyes under his glasses, because virgil’s going blurry, and he doesn’t want to miss this. he doesn’t want to miss a single second.

“you deserve the—the big romantic gestures, with the daisies, and the candles, and the music, and wedding with cake and cookies and flowers and dancing and—and everything you want, i’ll try my best to give it to you, because you deserve—” virgil’s voice breaks, and he clears his throat. 

“you deserve everything, anything, that i can give. you deserve the very best in life. you’ve been through so much, and you’re the strongest person i know, and i just—you deserve everything good in life, everything you want, and, for whatever reason, somehow, you’ve chosen that you want me, and—and i’m so grateful for that, for you, every day, and i want to show you that, and i want to give that to you, because i love you.”

“i love you too,” patton manages to squeak out. his cheeks are wet, and aching.

“so,” virgil says, drawing himself up as straight as possible, cracking open the ring box, and patton lets out another sobbing laugh, like he’s so full of joy he can’t help but let it escape his body somehow, “patton thomas sanders. i adore you. i love you more than anything in the world. i—i am not sure how many times i can communicate i love you, i feel like i don’t have words big enough for how i feel about you, but. i want to spend the rest of our lives trying. will you marry me?”

“yes,” patton bursts out the millisecond the question’s fully out of virgil’s mouth, “oh, my goodness, yes, yes, a thousand-million times yes, virgil—”

virgil breaks into a relieved smile, and he fumblingly removes the ring from the box and catches patton’s hand, his own hand shaking. he holds onto patton’s hand to steady himself—or steady patton, patton thinks he might be shaking too—and carefully slides the ring onto his finger.

it fits perfectly.

patton lets out another sobbing laugh at the sight of it, the ring on his finger, they’re engaged, they’re going to get married, and virgil rises to his feet, smiling the biggest patton’s ever seen him, and—

“oh,” patton sobs out, and pats down his pockets, even if he knows full well he doesn’t have it. “oh, this is so silly, it would be so much more romantic if i had it on me—”

logan clears his throat.

patton had nearly forgotten he was there, but he whirls, and—

and logan’s smiling, just a little, but his eyes are wet enough that patton can tell he’s emotional over this, too; roman’s clasping his hands to his chest, practically bouncing up and down, clearly just barely holding in every comment he could possibly make.

and logan’s holding a camera in one hand, and the black velvet box that patton’s been hiding in his knitting supplies since logan helped him pick it out in the other.

“oh,” patton says, beaming. logan knew, logan knew about this, logan knew and he went by the house to get the ring box for him, and patton loves him, so so much, and he leans in and rocks onto his tip-toes to kiss his son on the forehead before he takes the ringbox from him, and spins to present it to virgil, opening it—

and virgil laughs, and this time he’s the one who’s crying, and patton can’t help but laugh, too, opening the box.

“virgil—”

“yes,” he says immediately, smiling so big, and patton is so in love with him, and patton lets out a messy, sobbing laugh.

"can i ask?”

“oh! sorry, sorry—”

“marry me?” and “yes” leaves virgil’s lips as soon as he asks, and patton manages to slide the ring onto virgil’s finger, and virgil immediately cups patton’s face in his hands and leans down for a kiss.

and cocoa’s barking at their feet, knowing that something’s going on and excited to get in on it, and he can hear the clicking sounds of logan taking pictures, and roman is hollering behind them.

and everything is perfect.

⁂

virgil feels so jittery with happiness that he thinks he might vibrate to another plane of existence.

patton had scooped up a discarded daisy chain fashioned it into a flower crown that’s nestled in the midst of his curls, and every time he looks at virgil he bursts into delighted laughter, eyes crinkling up with a smile, and he’s adorable, and virgil is so lucky, feeling the urge to reach out and touch patton, just to make sure that it’s all real.

they’re engaged. patton said yes. patton had also been planning on proposing.

virgil thumbs the ring on his finger—still new to him, even with the retro look it’s got going for it, still something to get used to, but the metal’s already warm. it’s fairly simple: a gold band with a single diamond inlaid in some kind of silver rectangle, flush set, ‘cause i read that lots of little stones are bad when you work with food, since you don’t wanna get anything lost in the dough and stuff, patton had explained, and then he’d bitten his lip and asked do you like it? as if that was even remotely in the realm of possibility, as if virgil could not like the engagement ring that patton got him to symbolize their commitment to each other for forever.

virgil had tried asking patton the same thing, though, and patton had spun his gold band around his finger—well, it looked more like two gold bands joined around several small diamonds—and said “you silly goose, of course i love it” so virgil figures that their emotions are the same on this particular subject.

they’re alone, just for a bit; roman and logan had dashed off to get the champagne that roman had apparently badgered his mother into buying for them on his behalf, so they’re sitting together on the floor of the diner, surrounded by their thousands of yellow daisies.

“i just,” virgil says, and fiddles with the ring on his finger, before looking at patton. “we’re almost married.”

patton giggles, leaning forward to press their foreheads together. “we are,” he agrees.

“i love you,” virgil says, giddy and almost a little helpless, because he couldn’t think to say anything else, he couldn’t think of words big enough, but—but patton knows that. he’d told him.

patton twines his fingers into virgil’s hair, and pulls him in for a kiss.

patton is an exceptional kisser; virgil has known this for years. but apparently, they get exceptionally clumsy when the pair of them are beaming so widely that they can barely even move their lips together, and they keep trying until patton laughs and virgil breathes it in, lightheaded with the euphoria of all of it, and they break apart.

“we’re so happy we can’t even kiss right,” patton howls with laughter, which gets virgil to start laughing, which means the pair of them are cackling like hyenas at each other as the bell jangles, roman calling out “who wants champaaaagne?!”

virgil tries to explain, but he catches sight of patton, flower crown gone askew from their kissing attempt, which just sets him off again.

logan sighs “dads” at them, which makes virgil even happier, which turns to him grinning even wider which means he’s laughing louder, and roman rolls his eyes at logan, grinning, looping an arm through his.

“they’re happy,” roman says.

“overjoyed,” patton offers, grinning.

“elated,” virgil tacks on.

“ecstatic,” a voice says, which is when he notices ms.—isadora, right, she’d told him to call her isadora, but it took a lot to break eighteen years of habit—and he and patton scramble to their feet.

after a pause, logan adds, reluctantly, because he cannot resist a word association game, “jouissant.”

“ooh, good one,” patton says. “that’s a ten dollar word right there, look at what you’re learning off at college!”

“from the french,” isadora says. she’s holding the champagne bottle awkwardly; virgil had learned on the day after both logan and roman moved to college the amount of times she had drunk alcohol could have been counted on one hand, then, but after that day it was escalated to two. patton moves to take it from her, looking at virgil, clearly about to ask for—

“i don’t have champagne glasses,” virgil realizes.

patton says, “i think mugs’ll work, it’s not like we’re going for class, here.”

virgil acknowledges that with a shrug, and, after checking with isadora, goes to gather five mugs. 

patton’s the one to pop the champagne, and virgil quickly moves to put a mug underneath it to catch anything fizzing over—he just mopped these floors, before all the daisies had come in—and patton splashes a generous amount into it.

they end up splitting the bottle among five mugs, and roman lifts his, clearing his throat.

“to virgil and patton!” he declares. “we have seen this coming since i was five—”

patton elbows him jokingly, grinning.

“—and we wish you all the best together,” roman finishes. “salut!”

“salut,” they all echo, clacking their mugs together in a chaotic rendition of cheers, and patton smiles at up at him.

“aren’t we supposed to link arms or something?” virgil asks him an undertone, and patton’s smile widens.

“save it for the wedding,” he says, in the same undertone, with a sly grin that he barely hides with his sip of champagne, and virgil has to hide the silly grin that springs onto his face with his own sip of the bubbly, sweet champagne.

isadora sips at her mug with all the delicate class that he should have expected, but it’s still kind of funny to watch her lift her pinky and sip demurely out of a gaudy SIDESHIRE PRIDE PARADE branded mug, which has more rainbows on it than possibly anything else virgil owns.

roman breaks off with patton to start making his own daisy chain, and they tug logan to join them, too, so that leaves isadora and virgil standing alone together.

“congratulations,” she offers quietly, and virgil smiles at her.

“thank you,” he says, equally soft, touched.

a pause, and then, “remus would be thrilled.”

theres a prick of bittersweetness near his heart; not nearly enough to puncture the happiness, but enough to twist his smile, just a little bit.

“he’d try to pull a carrie at my wedding,” he says, and isadora smiles. it’s a very nice smile, one that he almost never sees.

“part of the reason he’d be thrilled,” isadora agrees. “still. regardless. he should be here congratulating you.” a pause, a sip of champagne, before she says, “he would be proud of you. as am i.”

virgil swallows down the sudden lump in his throat.

remus had, almost always, relentlessly teased him, on the rare occasions he’d had dates as a teenager. the baby’s growing uuuuup! he’d croon, and then proceed to attempt to sabotage him, “lovingly,” with something that virgil could easily undo, but something that would distract him from any mounting anxiety over a date. 

he thinks remus and patton would have eventually gotten along. it would have been a rocky road, to be sure, but. they probably would have bonded over fatherhood, over their sons being friends. maybe because virgil cared deeply about both of them. he’ll never know, though.

“thanks, izzy-dory,” he says.

isadora’s smile has its own bitter quirk to it, at the re-emergence of a nickname that no one but remus had had the bravery to use on her; but, somehow, it isn’t sad, even as they’re remembering their own shared grief.

because she’s right. remus would be thrilled.

⁂

patton feels like he’s filled up with helium and he keeps bursting into peals of laughter at absolutely nothing at all.

virgil had taken over driving, like he usually did when he came to friday night dinners. they’re a bit late, patton’s sure, because when he and virgil were changing into their suits patton kept giggling, because they’re almost married, and then he got distracted by trying to kiss virgil again, so—

so, they’re a bit late, but he got engaged today, sue him.

virgil’s holding his hand, the other one on the steering wheel.

“i wonder how they’re gonna react,” patton muses, because, well, it shouldn’t exactly be a surprise, they moved in together a while ago and patton’s been pretty gosh-darn clear that virgil’s gonna be the one he’s spending the rest of his life with. he really hopes they aren’t gonna be too... well. them about it.

virgil says, “i did ask your dad about a family ring, a while ago—”

“oh, shoot,” patton says, turning to face him. “i totally didn’t think to do that!”

“essie got the family ring,” virgil says reassuringly, “so you didn’t miss anything, there isn’t a male family ring, as far as i know, but—but they had some forewarning, at least.”

“well, good,” patton says decisively. “they’re gonna be happy about this, okay? they’re gonna pop open some cristal and say congratulations and they are gonna like it.”

“that’s the spirit,” logan says dryly from the backseat.

“that it is,” patton says, and squeezes virgil’s hand. “anyway, logan, you’re home! do you have anything you wanna do over the weekend?”

logan considers this, before he says, “virgil told me he was planning this for this weekend, so—”

patton turns slightly. “you did?”

virgil shrugs. “i knew you’d want lo to be there.”

patton beams, and presses a kiss to virgil’s knuckles. 

“roman was planning on something tomorrow with all of us,” logan continues, “but otherwise—i think the regular things. the bookstore, the press, the diner.”

“roman’s planning something, huh?” virgil says warily.

logan smiles, and doesn’t say anything else. virgil grumbles to himself.

“he’s a journalist, he knows how to keep secrets,” patton says, and, teasingly, “especially if they’re from his boyyyy-frieeeeend.”

logan mumbles something under his breath, turning ever-so-slightly red, and patton grins.

they end up plotting out a loose plan for logan’s weekend: a shopping spree of all the latest books at the bookstore, topping up any school supplies logan might have forgotten at home, doing the laundry logan had hauled back from yale, and an investigation of the library’s most recent shipment, hanging out with roman, and lots of diner food.

they pull up to the sanders’ house, and patton takes a deep breath, squeezing virgil’s hand one last time before he gets out of the car.

as soon as he walks closer, virgil immediately laces their fingers back together, squeezing.

“if you want, if they end up turning on us, we can go,” he says, in a low voice. “this day’s for us, right?”

“right,” patton says, and lets out his breath. “and who even says that they’ll react bad anyway?”

virgil doesn’t answer that—probably a good choice on his part, since he’s most likely already overthinking and patton is nervous enough—and logan knocks on the door.

his mother opens it.

“finally, you’re here,” she says, and they file in after her.

“sorry we’re late,” patton says, smiling, “we got a bit held up.”

she sighs. “well, nothing to do to fix it, then—come in, come on, would you like a drink?”

“um,” patton says, “well—”

“now?” virgil says in an undertone.

they enter the living room, where his dad’s already fixing himself a scotch at the drinks table.

“why not?” patton says, equally quiet; if we don’t, they’ll be upset we didn’t say right away, patton tries to communicate with his eyes, and virgil seems to understand, squeezing his hand.

“hello, logan,” his dad says, turning. “how’s yale?”

“busy,” logan says. 

“hey, dad, why don’t you come over and sit down?” patton offers. “we, um, we have some news.”

richard and emily exchange a glance, before they sit on the couch together.

“what?” his mother says, turning to face them.

“it’s, um,” patton says, and makes the mistake of looking over at virgil, who is giving him That Look which makes his heart burst into butterflies and he can’t help but giggle, “well—”

“we, um,” virgil says, trying to help, but he can’t help smiling, too, and patton covers their held hands with his own—hiding his ring from view, coincidentally.

“oh, my god, you didn’t,” his mother says, aghast.

patton blinks, and virgil squeezes his hands harder. “didn’t what?”

“oh, my god, you did,” she says, a look of horror blooming across her face.

“now, emily—” richard says.

“you eloped!” his mother fumes, slamming his hands on the couch cushion and standing, and patton yelps out “mom!”

“i knew it, i knew you’d do anything to keep me out of your wedding!” she rants. 

“mom, that’s not—”

“well, that is just cruel, patton,” she continues, overriding his attempt to intervene, moving to begin to pace, “a mother waits and plans for this day, even your mother, and tonight you just waltz in here—”

“we’re engaged,” patton bursts out. “we didn’t elope, i mean—well, we’re going to get married. in the future. since we’re fiancés now.”

his mother stops in her tracks.

“oh.”

she slowly sinks down to the couch.

“mom...?” he prompts, because he can’t really interpret the look on her face right now.

“who proposed?” she says.

“i proposed, but he had a ring too,” virgil says.

“it was very romantic,” patton says, and he can’t help but smile at virgil, all soft and silly. 

“i was there, it’s true, he was very romantic,” logan confirms.

“oh,” richard says, attempting to blink off whatever whiplash must come from expecting your son to have eloped only to figure out he’s gone about the thing properly, for once. “well, congratu—”

“when’s the date?”

“oh,” patton says, caught off guard, and looks at virgil. “um—”

“the venue, the florist, the registry?”

“we got engaged today, mom,” patton tries to point out.

“i know that in a million years, you would never let me plan your wedding,” his mother starts, sounding a little wistful, and oh, no.

“um, mom—” patton begins, because. well, he’d expected the “differing social classes,” protest, he’d expected the “he’s not well-educated enough” protest, he’d expected, maybe, the “we revoke every little thing we’ve done to signify approval,” protest, or maybe even “we will start openly attempting to sabotage your relationship now.”

he hadn’t expected the mother-of-the-groom version of bridezilla. mother-in-law-zilla, maybe?

“i gave up on that dream a long time ago,” his mother continues, putting on the full, oh, what could have been, i miss that dream so face. emotional manipulation, emotional manipulation, he chants to himself, trying his best to summon emile’s voice. “yours was going to be a russian winter theme—the romanovs.”

huh. that sounded strangely familiar, but patton couldn’t put a finger on it; his brain’s been doing that a lot today.

“before the firing squad or after?” logan asks, in a blank, studious tone that only barely masks the sarcasm, and virgil just barely manages to stifle his snort. patton elbows him in the side.

“snow white roses, trees with white lights and candles, snow everywhere—”

oh, well, that doesn’t sound too—

“—you arriving in a silver sleigh with white horses...”

aaaaaaaand there it is.

“wow,” patton manages to get out, and she deflates.

“you hate the idea.”

“no, it just—” patton says, and struggles with how to put this delicately. “it doesn’t seem very... us, mom.”

“yes, well, it would have been beautiful,” she sniffs. “what will it be now? burgers and fries for the dinner? you walking down the aisle with a ketchup dispenser in hand?”

“hey,” patton says, a little sterner. 

“i dunno, pat, a diner wedding could be cool,” virgil says jokingly.

“what do you think of the romanovs?” his mother says, giving virgil her most withering stare.

“they probably had it coming,” he says, stone-faced, and patton elbows him again, a little harder.

“happy day,” patton says, and looks at his mother. “let’s celebrate the engagement now, and leave all the wedding planning for later.”

frankly, it had probably been kind of naive to assume that his mother wouldn’t try his best to butt her way into wedding planning; she had gone into raptures about the potential of his debutante gowns and future outfits enough when he was younger to ohhhh he’d forgotten about the wedding talks. that’s where he’d heard all the talk about the romanovs.

well. at least it isn’t a bad reaction, he figures.

“yes, yes,” richard says. “ah—champagne?”

“yes!” patton says eagerly, ready to get past his mother attempting to worm her way into wedding planning. “yes, let’s—let’s do champagne!”

“elsa!” his mother calls, then, undeterred, “you know, it’s tradition for parents to help pay and plan for the wedding, and if we could just get in touch with your aunt celine, i bet most of your father’s side of the family—”

“small wedding, mom,” patton says, “we’re probably going to want a small wedding.”

he glances at virgil. “right?” he checks.

“yes, small wedding, absolutely,” he confirms. “my family, your family, the town—”

“the town constitutes a small wedding,” his mother says, doubtfully.

“we were talking about champagne!” patton says quickly, as elsa comes into the room. “um, elsa, can i go help you find champagne flutes, preferably until my mother exhausts this topic of conversation?”

“you’re doomed,” logan says, and patton tries his best to glare at him.

he can’t really manage it, though. 

because, well. he can’t really blame his mom. he’s very excited about his wedding, too.

patton decides to take this as a win, even if he knows he’s going to spend the rest of his evening trying to dissuade his mother from throwing money at their wedding.

⁂

“okay, spin, twirl,” roman says.

virgil sighs, but does so, awkwardly; he’s wearing a purple flannel and a pair of black jeans, very regular for him. like, not very fashionably forward of him, but very regular. roman surveys him, squinting.

“since when do you need to do outfit approval for an outing?” virgil grumbles.

“since always,” roman says happily, before he smooths his hands over virgil’s shoulders; he supposes the whole thing is semi-formal—he’s wearing a white top tucked into a red skater skirt, which he guesses passes for cute but semi-casual. “okay, but, hang on, what if—”

“how many times have i told you i don’t want a makeover,” virgil says wearily.

“and how many times have i listened?” roman says. “it’s not even that much, anyway, just—” 

he digs out a jacket that pairs well with it, a black one, one that at least takes virgil’s outfit to i threw it on to i at least attempted to plan, which virgil shrugs on with a sigh, and roman immediately sticks his fingers in virgil’s hair.

“hey—”

“i’m not even doing that much,” roman says, correcting virgil’s bangs, before stepping back. “okay, now you’re set.”

“finally,” virgil grumbles. “why don’t you do this to patton and logan?”

“because patton is very set on his sense of dad-fashion and logan at least has some kind of officious-looking thing going for him,” roman says. “you are just helplessly grunge.”

virgil rolls his eyes, but gestures for roman to go ahead. roman skips down the stairs, catching logan’s hand, because they’re together, in the same space, where roman can touch him and not just see his face over grainy video call.

“hi,” roman says, and presses a kiss to his cheek. “ready to go?”

logan smiles at him; unlike patton and virgil, he knows exactly what’s going on.

“we all are,” logan confirms. 

“right!” patton says brightly. “what’d you have in mind, kiddo?”

“you’ll see,” roman says, instead of stating an elaborately crafted cover story he’s sure he could come up with on the spot—virgil not knowing what’s going on means he won’t be super surprised when roman leads him to, well. the thing.

he keeps a tight hold on logan’s hand as they walk, swinging it between them. they hadn’t really gotten to spend a lot of time together yesterday, with the engagement and logan’s grandparents and all, so roman is absolutely planning on capitalizing on logan time when everyone else is occupied. 

it’s an easy walk, from patton’s house to town; the weather’s still really nice, and the breeze feels nice on his legs, and logan’s hand is cool in his, and the closest thing he has to dads are behind them, trying to be subtle about their reinvigorated lovebird honeymoon phase but failing miserably.

roman squeezes logan’s hand. “so, my big yale man—”

“nickname denied,” logan says.

“all right, eli-logan—”

“slightly better,” logan says, then, “wait, you researched yale nicknames?”

“of course i did, that’s four years worth of new material there,” roman says. “so, anyway, i have news for you.”

“news?” logan says, startled.

“um, yeah,” roman says. “i asked my mom and caught up on all the taylor gossip, i bet you could write an exposé over thanksgiving break. so, i’ve got common knowledge, and town meeting stuff, and apparently my mom’s got some info for you, so i managed to get her to tell me that so you know everything before everyone else—”

a little smile breaks out on logan’s face, and he leans in to press a kiss to roman’s cheek.

roman blinks at him, but smiles. “what was that for?”

“just,” logan says, and he smiles wider. “you look very pretty today.”

roman preens; he did put extra effort into his hair, and he’s wearing a bit of makeup, a fun little glitter look on his eyes, and he usually wears skirts on special occasions, he used to wear them more when he was a kid; he borrowed this one from charlotte.

this skirt would be pretty short on him, if it weren’t for the fact this skirt is too big for her. most ballet women are tiny; charlotte’s 5′5″, and she’s the tallest of his new friends. 

“well,” roman says, and preens even more obviously, so that logan will laugh. “obviously.”

logan’s laugh buoys him all the way to the point where they’re nearly to the town square, and he can hear the rush of noise, and music.

“what’s going on?” patton says curiously.

“well,” roman says slyly, and moves aside. “go and see.”

patton breaks into a smile, probably remembering the last time that roman told him to go see something.

“roman,” virgil starts, and they turn just in time to see.

the town square’s decked out with all the yellow daisies that virgil had used to propose, and a banner that says PATTON AND VIRGIL’S ENGAGEMENT PARTY, and the gazebo’s twined with blue and purple ribbons and there’s stacks of presents, and there’s a cheer that comes from people gathered: his mom, and a ton of girls who go to the dance studio, and mrs. torres, and emile and remy, and dot and larry, and babette and morey, and even taylor, all here for—

“what’s all this?” patton says, delighted.

“well,” roman says. “since i’m a poor college student and couldn’t exactly afford an elaborate engagement present, i figured i’d do the next best thing and give you an engagement party.”

“roman,” virgil says.

“i—i made it so that there’s music, and dancing, and food and stuff,” roman says, gesturing vaguely, “so even if it’s a party for you, the attention won’t always be on you, since i know how you feel about—”

he gets cut off, though, because virgil cuffs him gently around the head and pulls him in for a sidehug.

“you’re a good kid, roman,” he says, gruffly, and roman can’t help but smile. he feels like his heart is glowing, from the happy look on patton’s face, to the outward expression of fondness from virgil, to the way logan’s looking at him all proud like he’s doing something super special.

“well, duh,” roman says, like he isn’t grinning so big that he’s sure it’s messing up his makeup. “go on, go, it’s time for the party!”

and so virgil goes to patton, who takes his hand and drags him straight for the throne-like chairs that are set up for them to start opening their presents, and logan bumps up against his shoulder.

“i still can’t believe you did this,” he says quietly; they’ve been facetiming a lot so logan could help plan it, so it’s not like this party is news to him.

roman shrugs, and leans into logan’s side in a blatant ploy; logan obliges him, and wraps an arm around roman’s shoulders.

“well,” he says. “they’re important to me, too. i wanted to do something special.”

logan presses a kiss to his temple, and says, “wanna get some cake?”

“hell yeah,” roman says, and so they go and get in line to get some cake.

⁂

the sun has set, there are twinkling lights on, the music is playing, the party is still going fairly strong, and logan sways to the music.

this mostly has to do with roman dragging him out to dance, and he’s obliged, mostly because of how happy it makes roman, how excited he gets, how beautiful he looks.

roman’s hair is sweaty and has long since become a bit more of a wreck than it originally was. the glitter around his eyes has smeared a little, and his sweat catches the light, making him gleam and glow in a way that is unfairly attractive, for his version of being a sweaty mess.

he’s never, ever going to be as good a dancer as roman—for one, he hasn’t been training for nearly fifteen years—but he’s perfectly content to dance with hm, so long as he can see roman look this great, be this happy.

the song ends, and roman whoops, putting his hands up in the air, before he fans at his face.

“want a breather?”

“yes,” logan says gratefully. he runs fairly frequently, but he also isn’t nearly as in shape with roman (again, training for nearly fifteen years) and his feet ache.

roman grins at him, grabbing his hand so that he could drag logan out of the crowd, and logan follows along, trusting roman’s sense of direction in a crowd far better than his own.

they pop out somewhere near the beverage table, and logan spies, somewhere deeper in the crowd, his dad trying to twirl virgil around and virgil awkwardly ducking his arm, to gales of laughter from his dad.

“they’re happy,” logan notes.

“yeah,” roman says. then, “do you think sookie’ll kill me if i steal this bottle of champagne for us?”

logan glances over at roman, who’s grinning, and holding up a recently-opened and not-very-depleted bottle of champagne.

“it’ll be worth it,” logan decides, and roman giggles, before taking logan by the hand again, dragging him to the exact place that logan expected.

they settle on the steps of the gazebo, stretching out their legs and beholding the crowd. roman sighs, pleased, and logan tries his best not to stare at roman’s tanned thighs and the way they look in that skirt.

he has been doing that quite a bit today.

“champagne, my good sir?” roman says, mockingly officious, and logan blinks.

“we forgot to grab glasses.”

“well,” roman says, and takes a swig directly from the bottle, before offering it to logan. “i’m pretty sure you don’t have cooties, and if we do, we’ve definitely cross-infected each other by now.”

“well, who knows what kind of super-cooties you could have picked up in new york,” logan says, and tries his own swig; he’s less practiced than roman, and he gets a near-painful mouthful of fizz and bubbles that makes him cough, just a little.

“a joke!” roman says, thumping him gently on the back. “college really has taught you things.”

logan rolls his eyes, and bumps his shoulder against roman’s.

they technically both got drunk for the first time at the same time; patton had offered his house for it—you’ll both probably get offered to drink at college, and i want you to try it somewhere where you know you’re safe just in case, all right? patton had said, and so they’d drank candy-flavored drinks in glass bottles and roman had tried to experiment with bartending and they’d kissed a little but logan’s pretty sure that he’d fallen asleep in the middle of it, because the next thing he remembered was waking up with a dry mouth, draped over roman, on the floor of the living room.

he hasn’t drunk very much since; unsurprisingly, roman likes parties more than logan does.

they swap the bottle back and forth in mostly companionable silence, watching the party go on; patton and virgil get champagne flutes clanged at them a few times, making them lean in and kiss each other to cheers from the crowd; the music rumbles on, and roman dances in place, singing along quietly; they watch emile and remy dance, and kirk’s bizarre arm-flailing that might pass as dancing.

logan feels warm, and pleasant, and a little floaty, and he turns to rest his head on roman’s shoulder.

“this is nice,” he says.

“yeah?” roman says, amused.

“i—this is really nice,” he says earnestly, and roman snorts, adjusting so that he can cup logan’s chin in his hand and examine his face.

“are you tipsy?”

“moderately, i think,” logan admits, and roman throws back his head to laugh, before cupping logan’s face in both his hands.

“you’re adorable,” roman teases, and he leans in to kiss him.

logan hums happily into his mouth, leaning into it as much as he can. he’s missed this; he’s missed him, so bad. this is his first time living away from roman, his first time not going to school with roman there, to talk to him at the press or for logan to steal into the studio to watch roman dance. it’s been harder than he thought it would, to be away from him. from home.

but he’s here now, and he’s so happy, and he feels so warm inside.

his dads are getting married, and roman is right here, kissing him, and logan parts from him with a dreamy little sigh.

“i love you so much,” logan tells him, and roman’s face goes soft.

“well, i love you so much too, bulldog-an,” roman says, and brushes some of logan’s sweaty hair out of his face, ignoring the face logan made at the highly questionable bulldog logan pun. “like, so much.”

“oh,” logan says, relieved, “good,” and roman laughs, but not in a mean way, not at all.

“you’re a peach, baby,” roman says, and logan rests his head on roman’s shoulder.

the party’s still going; it’s a slow song playing, and his dads are dancing slowly, eyes closed, completely in their own little world.

“you know,” logan says thoughtfully, “when i propose to you, i wouldn’t mind something like this for us. i think that’d be nice.” 

roman laughs, a little nervous, and he says, “what?”

“when i propose to you,” logan repeats. “or when you propose to me, i guess. however. i don’t care which way. but a party like this, then, it’d be pretty—mmph,” because roman’s pressed his lips against logan’s, hushing him.

and oh, logan has missed kissing like this; feeling like he was melting into it, hyperaware of every swipe of roman’s tongue and promising hint of the scrape of teeth and the taste of champagne on both of their tongues, roman’s hand a warm presence he can feel burning through his shirt that’s inching lower and lower, and logan twists his fingers in roman’s shirt in kind, dropping down to squeeze at roman’s bare thigh—

“this skirt,” he growls, “has been distracting me all day.”

“yeah, i know,” roman says, pleased, wiggling into the touch, flexing his muscles on purpose, “that was the goal” and how could logan not lean in to kiss him even more at that, spreading his hand as wide as he could to feel as much of roman’s soft skin as he could, kissing him heated and quick and desperate, and—

and there was the clanging of champagne flutes starting again, someone hooting and hollering, and roman and logan broke apart.

well. logan kept a possessive hand on roman’s thigh. because feeling up roman’s muscles was just very nice.

“we should probably get back to the party,” roman breathes, and he’s still close enough that logan can feel the breath on his face.

“i—yeah,” logan says. “we probably should.”

roman laughs, and leans in to kiss him on the cheek. “i’ll get you some water first, though. stay put, okay?”

“okay,” logan agrees, leaning back; well, as much as he can lean back, when he’s sitting on stairs.

roman giggles, and walks off, with more swaying to his hips than he usually would, looking over his shoulder to give logan an ostentatious wink.

logan can’t help but burst into a smile.

i’m going to marry that man.

⁂

"wait! wait, wait, wait, wait,” virgil says, frowning, wrapping his hand around patton’s wrist to keep him from going into the house, and patton bites his lip to keep himself from laughing.

listen. patton knows he’s a lightweight. he usually plans for these kinds of things, so that he doesn’t end up drunk off his butt from what would usually get other people teetering their way from tipsy into drunk.

with that, it follows that he’s been around virgil drunk more than virgil has been drunk around him.

but the champagne had been flowing, and everyone had been eager to fill up the newly... affianced? newly fiancéd? the engaged couple’s drinks throughout the entire party.

and as such, virgil is frowning, almost over-exaggerated, clearly going through some kind of calculation that must make sense in his drunk brain.

“i gotta do the,” virgil says, and vaguely mimes something. “the carry-you-over thing.”

it clicks in patton’s brain, then.

“you want to carry me over the threshold?” he asks, amused. “honey, that’s what newlyweds do. people do that when they get married.”

“we’re basically almost married,” virgil argues, and patton tilts his head, considering this.

look, he’s not sober either, okay?

“all right,” patton agrees with a laugh, holding out his arms. “carry me over the threshold, darlin’.’

virgil beams at him and, carefully, gets into place.

“ready?” he asks, and, when patton nods, lifts him with a small grunt, and patton squeaks as his feet leave the ground, wrapping his arms tight around virgil’s neck.

virgil slowly ascends the porch stairs, patton beaming at him, until virgil comes to a pause.

“what?” patton asks.

“the door,” virgil says.

“oh, i can get—”

“i’m not putting you down,” virgil says, as if offended by this potential slight to his ability as a good fiancé, and scowls at the door, as if he’ll be able to open it with telekinesis. 

“no, virge, i mean—” patton says, with a laugh, then, “hang onto me tighter?”

virgil obliges, and patton reaches over, twisting the doorknob.

“there,” he says, satisfied.

virgil leans ever so slightly to smack a kiss of gratitude to patton’s cheek, before stepping carefully over the threshold, making sure that patton doesn’t bump his feet or his head against the doorframe.

and patton expects that to be it, for virgil to set him down right there, except he keeps going, ignoring cocoa barking excitedly at their feet.

“virgil!” he squeaks.

“night, logan!” virgil calls to logan, who calls out a cheerful “night!” and moves past them, clicking his tongue for cocoa to follow him, for her to go out one last time before bed.

and virgil keeps going, moving up the stairs much more slowly than they usually would, a combination of the pair of them being tipsy and giggly, and virgil climbing the stairs with patton in his arms.

the door’s slightly ajar, and so virgil turns to bump it open with his hip, and carries patton across that threshold, too, and, at last, deposits patton on the bed, patton bouncing ever so slightly with his landing, bursting into laughter.

virgil immediately looms over him, crawling above him, and patton giggles at the sight of him, moving to cradle his cheeks in his hands. 

“my big strong man,” patton purrs, “you’re such an amazing almost-husband—”

virgil dips and immediately moves to devour patton, and patton gasps into his mouth, snaking his arms around virgil’s waist. virgil bumps noses with him, and patton laughs, adjusting, before he surges up and kisses him again, and he feels so excited, all of the energy of the party resurging and making his blood heat and patton presses himself closer and nips at his lips and kisses him, and virgil gasps into his mouth, and—

“you’re drunk,” patton groans, and virgil sighs, resting his head on patton’s collarbone.

“but kissing,” he whines into patton’s chest. “and—other things.”

patton snorts, nudging virgil so he rolls off of him, and he does so easily, with no resistance.

“you’ve had to tell me to not get too eager when i’m drunk,” patton says, “and now i’m telling you.”

virgil pouts, and it is awfully difficult to not just dive right back in and kiss him, when he’s all rosy-cheeked, and he’s got kiss-swollen lips. 

“nope,” patton says, and swipes a kiss across his cheek. “payback for that one time after my final final exams.”

“you were drunk,” virgil protests.

“and so are you!” patton says, laughing. 

virgil lets out a long, weary sigh, and grumbles, “fine,” rolling away from patton.

“aw, lovely,” patton says, and puts his hand on virgil’s side, shaking him a little to get his attention. virgil pretends to mope—or maybe it’s not pretend, virgil can be a sulky drunk, and he usually is, until patton draws him out of whatever corner he decided to brood in, and then he gets all blushy whenever patton kisses him on the cheek or gives him gestures of affection or pays attention to him, generally—“hey, honey, we can still cuddle, n’stuff.”

virgil visibly perks up at that. he rolls back over.

“yeah?” he says hopefully.

“yeah,” patton says, “of course we can cuddle, just—we should get ready for bed, first, and then we can cuddle all you want.”

“mkay,” virgil says, and steals one last kiss before he ambles away to go brush his teeth, even as patton squawks after him, because that’s cheating, they aren’t supposed to kiss and stuff when they’re drunk, those are virgil’s rules!!!

patton ends up butting up against him in the bathroom, bumping his hip against his, and they brush their teeth together, making funny faces at each other in the mirror. 

they tumble into bed together, patton letting out a relieved groan.

“the party was very fun,” he sighs. “but i am very tired.”

“seconded,” virgil groans, wrapping an arm over patton gracelessly; it’s like he wants to touch as much of patton as possible, hug him as close as he could, and patton smiles, burrowing closer.

a beat, then, “okay, i know that i’m the one who said we should follow the rules, but—”

“mm-mm,” virgil grunts, and patton sighs.

“yeah, i figured.”

“well,” virgil says, after a beat. “look at it this way. we’ve got the rest of forever to kiss and stuff before bed.”

patton hides his grin at the thought of that in virgil’s chest; he knows their rings are resting side-by-side on their nightstand table, their symbol of their commitment for the rest of time.

virgil’s right. they do have forever.

and that sounds just about perfect to him.

[george-mackay-macfine]

Dear Diary, Prt. 12

November 28th, 2011

He messaged me, Tom messaged me. 

Nothing dramatic, nothing too big, but he took the time out to message me, even though it was a simple 

Hey Y/N, It’s Tom from the pub. How was the rest of your night? 

A guy messaged me, 

November 30th, 2011

Dear Diary, 

Tom and I’s conversations are going well, We’re asking each other the normal questions, you know just the basics. 

How old are you?

Are you at school? / What are you studying? 

Where were you born? 

The basics, 

He’s nice, he’s friendly and he hasn’t told me he’s going to knock on my door at one o’clock in the morning just because he’s horny. 

So that’s a positive, 

December 3rd, 2011

Dear Diary, 

The revision has officially begun. I have six more days of studying before my exams officially begin, 

Tom and I are still talking, we’ve made plans to go out for a drink after my final exam on the 15th, 

Do you know what that means Diary? 

I have a date. 

December 6th, 2011

Dear Diary,

Charlie pulled me out of the flat today, and away from my textbooks. He tried to convince Dean to come with us, but he was meeting Charlotte for a study session, so in the end, it was just the two of us. 

“I didn’t know you liked vinyl,” I called to Charlie as I stopped to look at a pile that sat in a milk crate by the front door of the shop Charlie had driven us too. I shuffled through the various albums, stopping when I found “Rumours’ by Fleet Wood, standing with a final glance at the crates before pushing the heavy glass door open. 

“Dad got me into them,” Charlie smiled pushing the heavy glass door open, I walked inside taken away by the number of vinyl they had. The shop floor had so many vinyl that there were some still in crates underneath the stands that the owners hadn’t even had a chance to look through. The walls were lined with shelves, each had vinyl separated into them, most appeared to be in categories of artists but I could see some that were done by years. 

“Wow.” I looked around to see Charlie move away to a crate and squatting down. I kept looking around, unable to believe this place was here. 

“Pick out whatever you want,” Charlie called. “My treat,” 

“Charlie, I can’t let you do that,” 

“Course you can. Think of it as a Christmas present,” He was smiling now, a couple of albums tucked under his arm tightly. “Beside’s I’ll get as much out of it as you will,” His lips turned up into a heart-fluttering smile that had me melting on the spot. I looked around again, taking in everything for a second time. I shook my head in disbelief 

“How did you find this place?” Charlie rocked on his heels a little, nervous energy radiating off him. 

“I found it one morning when I’d been out all night drinking, after Elle you know. Literally stumbled into it.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Since then I come back every couple of weeks, do a bit of crate digging.” He looked around, up to the vinyl that had been stuck on the roof I followed him and looked up. “It’s one of the best places I’ve found, including the ones around home,” I looked back at him and smiled, grabbing onto his hand. 

“You know Charlie Hudson. You never cease to amaze me.” He reached up and scratched the back of his neck. 

“Y/N?” 

“I mean it,” I gave his hand a quick squeeze. “First time I met you, you were so nice to me, and you’ve never been mean to me, even though I’m the biggest idiot.” 

“Y/N,” 

“I am, I promise you. I’m a total idiot, even though I’m studying medicine, I’m dumb.” I rattled. “Emotions aren’t my friend, but Charlie… You are one of my best friends, and you’ve helped me so much this year, even if you don’t know it.” 

“You’re something special Y/N Y/L/N.” He gave me a toothy grin. 

“Come on, let’s find some records.” I pulled him down a random aisle and started to look through some of the artists. “They have new stuff here too?” I mumbled as I picked up ‘21’ by Adele. “I love this album.” I smiled putting it under my arm. “Have you heard of her?”

“She sings that ‘Someone like you’ song right?” I nodded my head. “Yeah, I’ve heard of her then.” Charlie grabbed onto me and pulled me down the aisle more. “This is where you find the rare stuff.” He knelt by the crates on the floor and motioned for me to do so. “The owners haven’t gotten around to this stuff yet, so they’re untouched. People drop their crates in for a couple hundred or so… I’ve gotten some good stuff from in here.” He started to look through the crates. I copied him and pulled a crate towards me. Looking through it I didn’t find anything too fantastic. I looked up from my crate too see Charlie still looking through his, I couldn’t help but study him, from the way his tight black shirt fit him, to the curls in his hair. 

“How’d you get into vinyl?” I questioned him as I continued to look. I heard him stop shuffling and look up at me. A smile pulled at his lips. 

“My dad used to play some every night and then I guess I just fell in love with the sound.” He picked up an album. “Sex Pistols, God Save The Queen” He flipped the album over to read the back. “Have you listened to them?” 

“Yeah, I have once or twice.” He added the album to his pile and continued to sift through. “If you find ‘Please, Please me’ by the Beatles I will fight you for it.” I laughed pulling a different crate towards me. 

“Why that album?” I looked up shocked that he’d asked me that. I took a breath and smiled.

“It was my grandfathers' favourite album. I remember him playing it for me just before he passed away… My grandma sold the collection he had to pay for the funeral…” I picked up a copy of Bruce Springsteen's ‘Born in the USA’ and studied it. “I’ve always wished of recreating his collection… Please, Please me… is one of the hardest ones to find. I’ve found the White Album,” 

“I promise if I come across it, it’s all yours.” He smiled looking down at his crate again. With a final smile at Charlie I dig through my crate pulling out different records here and there, I found some good ones. Nirvana’s ‘bleach’, Bob Dylan’s ‘Freewheelin’, Paul McCartney ‘Put it there’ The RollingStones ‘Sticky fingers’, Beach Boys ‘Pet sounds’, Stevie Wonder ‘Songs in the key of life.’ I began to hum as I dug through the crates, “You’ve got a pile there.” I looked up from my daze to see Charlie watching me, a smile on his lips. 

“I never want to leave.” He chuckled and looked back at the album he was holding moving to lean up against the crates. “It’s so peaceful in here.” 

“I’m really glad I met you, Y/N,” Charlie laughed said suddenly spoke. I looked over at him. He was leaning up against the crates, eyes closed legs pulled up in front of him. “Even though you thought I was a girl before we met,” I gasped shaking my head. 

“Dean told you?” 

“Course he did,” 

“I’m going to kill him,” 

“You excited for your date?” 

“Yeah, I am.” I nodded my head, “He’s a nice guy,” 

December 10th, 2011

Dear Diary,

Day one of the exams, wish me luck. 

I’ve been listening to the vinyl Charlie and I got the other day to get me through my studying, I hope it works. 

Love Y/N, 

December 12th, 2011

Dear Diary,

Four exams down, two to go. 

Tom messaged me earlier today, making sure I was still okay for our date, 

Of course, I was. 

December 15th, 2011

Dear Diary,

My last exam is finished, done, complete. I made it through the first major part of my university career is done. 

When I’d gotten home Charlie, George, Henry, Jordan and Dean were waiting with dinner and wine. 

I love my boys, 

December 17th, 2011

Dear Diary,

It was my date with Tom tonight, let me recount it for you. 

First I spent almost two hours digging through my closet, trying on clothes for my date with Tom tonight. Eventually deciding I couldn’t do this alone and called Henry in. He sat on my bed and choose what looked good, what didn’t look good. 

“Black tights,” Henry pushed me down on the bed and began to rip my room apart, “With this skirt,” He grabbed out my old school skirt,

“Henry, this is my school skirt.” 

“Perfect,” He smirked. “Get his blood pumping,” He winked before he turned to my closet grabbing my oversized maroon jumper. “And this,” 

“Henry I’ll freeze,” I gasped. 

“Ah,” He frowned before his eyes perked up. He rushed over to my door ripping it open, “George, Charlie, Dean.” He called out, “Whose got a denim jacket Y/N can borrow for her date,” 

“You mean with bartender boy?” Charlie called back bitterly, 

“I do,” George called back, “I’ll get it.” 

“Sorted.” He smirked proudly turning back to me. “You’re going to knock his socks off kid,” 

When Tom picked me up, he told me without a missing a beat that he thought that I looked ‘beautiful’, which caused my cheeks to heat up. 

“Be good kids,” Jordan called as he walked into the flat with a six-pack of beers. 

“Don’t do anything we wouldn’t,” Dean chimed, 

“You hurt her,” Charlie stopped at the door, “I’ll kill you,” 

“Charlie,” I hissed. I turned to Tom. “I’m so sorry, he’s joking,”

“No, I’m bloody not.” 

“I’ll watch him.” I turned as George pulled Charlie back into the flat, “Have fun Y/N,” He smiled softly. “Behave,” 

“See you later,” I shut the door behind me, facing Tom. “Sorry about them,” 

“They’re funny,” Tom shrugged, he turned to me as we walked, his hands in his jacket pockets, “Do you like Italian?” 

“Love it,” 

It only took us fifteen minutes to get to the restaurant, we spoke between ourselves, talking about our families, and how my exams went. Talking to Tom was easy, but the nerves in my stomach didn’t stop, and I began to wonder how my friends can make going on dates look so easy. My worrying doesn’t go unnoticed. As soon as Tom notices my fingers tapping anxiously on my thigh, he immediately reaches for my shoulder. 

“You okay?” 

“I don’t go on dates often,” I blurted, “At all really.” I cleared my throat. “Sorry if I’m a boring date,” 

“I don’t think you could ever be boring, Y/N.” 

When we walk in, the place is already packed with a lot of uni aged students which is understandable for most exams have finished. Tom and I wait behind another couple and I take a minute to look around. The walls were painted a soft yellow filling the whole inside with a soft warm glow, a wall of fake stones lined the far wall with paintings of olives hanging above each of the booths that ran along with the stones. All the tables apart from two booths were filled, a mix of college students and families occupying them filling the whole restaurant with a loud buzz. 

“How are you tonight?” The hostess smiles at Tom and me as the couple in front of us moves on. Tom grabs my hand and pulls me towards her. 

“Hi, very well thank you,” He cleared his throat. “We have a reservation, for seven,”

“And what name is that under?” 

“Tom,” He smiled. The girl blushed and looked down at her book, her lips puckering.

“Sir, I apologize for the inconvenience but your table may still not be ready yet. You would have to wait another five or so minutes, would it be alright?” 

“Totally fine,” Tom presses his lips into a smile as she nods her head. “We’ll wait,” Tom placed a hand on the small of my back and led me to the corner where we stood huddled. “Do you want to go somewhere else?” He whispered in my ear, 

“No, I don’t mind waiting,” I smiled looking up at him. 

“I promise, the wait will be worth it,” He laughed, 

“I’ll hold you to it.” Tom’s hand found mine, his fingers twining between mine. 

Deep breath Y/N! You can do this. 

I lent my head on his should leaning my back against the wall as we waited. 

“Comfy?” 

“Mhhm,” I closed my eyes, unable to stop the grin on my face. I was comfortable with Tom, I wasn’t on edge, I wasn’t constantly in the near state of a heart attack, or about to have a conniption like I was when I was with George, or even near Charlie. 

I was comfortable, and it was nice. 

“Tom,” The waitress called us, we pushed away from the wall and followed her through the restaurant. “We’ve seated you outside, don’t worry about the cold we have heaters at either end, and the view is lovely for a date.” She rambled as she pushed the door open. Outside we were in a garden, surrounded by fairy lights and under the stars, it was quieter out here, only two other couples sat at the tables. “Is it okay?” Tom looked at me and I nodded. 

“Perfect, thank you.” 

“Sit wherever you like.” She smiled going back inside. 

“Near the heater?” I whispered pointing towards the furthest table from us, but the one closest to the table, enough to fight off the chill of the Scottish winter. 

“Sure you’ll be warm enough?” I nodded my head looking at the fairy lights. 

“This place is beautiful,” I smiled as Tom pulled my chair out for me. I sat down and crossed my legs. “Thank you,” He sat across from me offering me a menu. Tom and I sat in silence as we looked over the menu,

This may just be the perfect night, 

But all perfect stories have their ups and downs, 

As I’m scanning through the menu I felt something hit my shoulder with a light thud, brushing it off I didn’t think any more of it until the downpour begins, Five seconds was all it took for Tom and me to be soaked through grabbing our jackets as we rush to the small bit of cover near the door. Tom holds me against the wall his body against mine trying to shield me from the heavy rain. 

“Oh my god,” I cry unable to stop the barrels of laughter that fall from my mouth. “Are you okay?” I cried over the rain. “Get under the shelter more,” I try to pull him, his hair is soaked and beginning to drip down his face. I push the dark hair away from his eyes as he laughs. 

“No, I’m being a gentleman,” 

“Stop being silly,” I tried to tug him again, “Get under here,” 

“Let me do this Y/N,” He laughed. 

“We’re all wet,” I called loudly, “What are we going to do?” Tom looked down at me, his lips twisting into a small smile, cheeks tinged red… I’m sure it was from the cold. 

“We can go back to my flat and have some takeaway?” My mouth fell open slightly as my brain searched for an answer. “Just to eat, and maybe watch a movie.” 

“Okay,” I nodded my head. 

The heavy downpour obscured the view from the windows in Tom’s flat as the wind and raindrops beat on the glass. 

“Seems we made it in time,” Tom laughed as he carried our McDonalds bag to the settee in the living room. “What do you want to watch?” 

“I don’t mind,” I smiled looking around. Tom’s apartment was a lot more put together than mine and the boys. But I suppose being two years older gave one that advantage. 

“I like rain, always sleep better when it’s raining outside,” I whispered thoughtlessly eyes moving back to the window. 

“Then let’s listen to the rain,” He smiled sitting down, hand patting the spot beside him. I sat beside him, pulling my legs up under me. “I’m sorry the date didn’t go as planned,” 

“Can I be honest with you?” I asked picking up a fry, 

“Please,” 

“I actually would rather this,” I motioned around us, the dim apartment, the rain, the man across from me, “Over some uptight dinner where we are both worried about being in public and can’t be ourselves,” 

“Really?” He whispered, 

“Yeah,” I nodded leaning forward, 

“I’m really glad you walked into the pub Y/N,” He pushed some hair behind my ear, his hand resting against my cheek, fingertips dragging against the skin. “Really glad,” He whispered leaning in. 

Oh man, we’ve reached that awkward pause in the conversation. You know the one where he looks at my lips and I look at his… IS IT GOING TO HAPPEN?

“Me too,” I smiled leaning in ever so slightly. 

Wait—is my breath okay? It has to be okay, right?

“And coming back over to talk to me, that was badass,” 

He's going in for the kiss! Are we just going to peck, or are we making out??

“And you were so smooth with the free drinks,” 

“Had to impress the pretty girl,” He whispered before his lips brushed mine, so softly I wasn’t sure it was real. When neither of us pulled away we went back in, harder this time, needier. My hands went to his shoulders as his tongue licked my bottom lip. 

Kissing Tom was different to kissing George… A soft different, something flowed differently between us… It was nice, comfortable. 

[antpernas]

12/28/20

Today was a VERYYY eventful day!

So, when I woke up around 6:00 AM, I browsed on my phone for a few minutes until I had the energy to get up. When I did, I noticed that some of our family friends from the night before had stayed over! I didn’t want to wake anyone up too early, so I went back into my room and killed time until about 7:00 AM. When the sun was up and I felt it was about appropriate, I started making everyone coffee and breakfast. Unfortunately, they were in a hurry and ended up leaving before getting the chance to eat, but I served my parents and my brother and we all ate good!

(Sidebar, one of the people who stayed the night was my friend’s grandma, and when she woke up she went straight to the bathroom. This would be pretty ordinary if not for the fact that she farted like 20 times in the minute it took her to walk from the couch to the bathroom. I just about died laughing.)

After that, I did the dishes while my mom was getting ready for work. When I finished that, I did my facecare, packed my bag, and got ready to head to my mom to help her with some deliveries. I also made sure I had a change of clothes since I had plans to play tennis with someone later.

At the pharmacy, I took some cute pics of my fit (the ones I posted earlier), and did some work on my laptop while I was waiting for her to get the medicines ready. Once she got them, I packed up and delivered the medicines. I’m a little annoyed with myself because I took them in the wrong order and ended up having to double back the way I came, but it worked out because I ended up going to a nursery to buy my friend some plants after I took the second medicine!

The nursery was adorable (as always) and, of course, had SO many plants! I called my friend to let her see what was around so I could get an idea of what she’d like. I probably spent about an hour or so picking out the plants and pots. While I was there, the guy I was hoping to play tennis with cancelled on our plans, but it worked out since now I wasn’t in any rush to get to the courts! After I bought the plants, I loaded them into my car (no easy task) and drove home. 

(Sidebar, having the plants in my car kind of made me wish there were a way to permanently adorn cars with plants! Seeing the light so brightly bounce off the leaves of the alocasia... Gorgeous.)

When I got home, I unloaded the plants I bought my friend and made a mental note to burn all the shit I had piled in my car. Once I was inside, I changed into the sporty clothes I grabbed earlier, just to take advantage of the fact that I was home. I also grabbed my MIDI cable that I had left, as well as my other bag, which had a cuter beach outfit in case I decided to go after. (I forgot a towel though, oops!)

Once I was ready, I headed out to West Palm to practice at the courts there. I figured I could 1) at the very least still get some practice in, since I want to get more into playing tennis, and 2) had better chances of finding some stranger to play with in downtown than in Loxahatchee. 

Practice itself was pretty cool! I learned that any skill I might have had with tennis has pretty much flown out the window and directly into a sewage drain. I spent just about the entire time I was there trying to perfect my serve, to little avail. It started raining at some point, which was annoying... However, I did manage to figure out how to consistently get the ball over the net and into the service box by the end of it! Just, not with much power. I also ended up rallying with this really sweet guy who was waiting for his dad. I felt bad, since I sucked, but I think it was fun!

Once I finished there, I went to downtown to get some coffee. I (surprisingly) payed for parking at a little meter (I downloaded the app and everything!), then walked about a block to Subculture, a place I haven’t been in FOREVER! They were doing some renovation, which was cool to see since the last time I’d visited was before I had left for Hawaii. I bought a cute little merch shirt and an iced chai.

Once I finished there, I went back to my car and downed my coffee. I decided to go to Palm Beach for a bit, just to walk on the sand. That went out the window after I dared myself to swim in the water no matter how cold it was. It was very cold. But worth it!

Once I finished there, I started on my way home. As I was getting off the exit from the highway, though, I noticed a car wash that I hadn’t ever noticed before; it’d always been there, I’d just never payed it any attention. I decided to go in and WOW what a great decision!

So first and foremost, the car wash itself was amazing. I’m not sure why it had never occurred to me to go to an ACTUAL car wash to get my car cleaned as opposed to using the cheapy shit one attached to the gas station somewhat close to my house. This thing FINALLY scrubbed all the dead bugs off my bumper, those things had been there since my trip to Atlanta! My car was sparkling!

The other thing that I absolutely ADORED was that they have these really strong vacuum stations free for use after you get your car washed! When I tell you I deep cleaned the SHIT out of my car. I threw away all the trash, vacuumed all the seats and carpets, and even finally got all the dirt out of my trunk from when I had taken my second set of plants home and they fell over while I was driving. That was like three months ago!!! They also had towels and spray bottles, which wasn’t a big deal, but it was nice to finally get the fingerprints off the inside of my windshield. All of that combined is making me consider getting a monthly membership there, just so I can make a habit of cleaning my car.

This is where it got super interesting. On the way home I checked my OnlyFans messages and saw that I had a new message from a guy who had offered to be my sugar daddy a few months ago. At this point, I have nothing to lose, so I messaged him back over iMessages and we started chatting. He turned out to be really cool and told me his terms/rules, and I’m not entirely opposed?? And then he sent me a selfie and he’s super attractive and not even that much older than me?? And he’s SUPER generous?? I’m not going to lie, I’m still going to need to get used to the idea of being a sugar baby; I feel inherently guilty in taking his money, or making him feel like the only reason I want to interact with him is his money, even if he offered, but fuck! It’s actually a REALLY great deal, and from the way he layed it out, this is going to be a more stable and fulfilling relationship than all of the courtships I’ve pursued in the last year COMBINED.

When I got home, we facetimed and hammered out the details, and made it “official,” or at least agreed to give it a try. I sent him a bunch of pics and videos, and a cute little introduction video, and he was really sweet and complimented me a bunch for each thing I sent. I’m really excited to see where it goes!

After all that, I had dinner, showered (finally getting all that seawater off me), did my facecare, and hopped into bed. I just finished setting my jewelry order appointment at a piercing shop (that I’m SUPER excited to go see) and getting a list of the jewelry I’m thinking to eventually get! After that, I checked my emails, and now I’m writing this. And that was my day!

OK, I’m gonna knock out now! Good night, I love you, be safe, and sweet dreams!

[sweetness47]

It’s a Parent Thing

 Pairing Sam x Reader

Other characters include Dean, Cassie (OFC), Jackie (OFC), Castiel, Jack, Mary, Donna, Jody, Claire

@teamfreewillbingo​ – Sam wears makeup

@as-the-saying-goes-bingo​ – laughter is the best medicine

Warnings: PG audience mostly. Maybe some fluff, hints of future smut, light language moments, the joys of being a parent

Final word count: 1546

“Mommmmmmy!” The 5-year-old girl to whom the voice belongs comes running around the corner into the kitchen. “Where’s dad?”

I shrug. “I don’t know, but he can’t be far. Did you check the library?”

Cassie shakes her head. “Not yet. Do you think Uncle Dean is in there too?”

A giggle escapes my lips. “It’s Uncle Dean. He’s more likely to be in the garage.”

“Thanks!” she shouts and runs off, leaving me wondering what she’s up to. No sooner do I go back to preparing dinner when Jackie comes running in. He looks up at me, then looks around the kitchen, and I know he’s looking for Cassie. I point toward the library and he hurries after her.

Now I’m really wondering. Those two can get into some pretty interesting crafts when they’re bored. Being cooped up with this pandemic has got them so wired, it’s a wonder I’m still sane. Mind you, Jody, Donna, and even Claire help a lot, plus of course, Grandma. Mary loves the kids, and spoils them rotten every chance she gets.

Oh yeah, the kids…well, better go check what’s up. Dinner isn’t going to be ready for a while, so there’s plenty of time to investigate. I make it to the library just as Cassie is talking…no more like pleading with Sam to do something.

“Pleeeaaasseeee??? C’mon Dad, you gotta. It’s not going to work with only one person. You and Uncle Dean have to help.”

I almost die laughing when he responds, “I’d love to help Cassie, honest. But guys don’t typically wear makeup.” Then he looks toward the door. “Did you ask Auntie Donna or Aunt Jody? Or how about Claire? She would love to be in the beauty pageant.”

Oh God, I’m pissing myself now. Cassie is persistent though. “Claire’s already in it, and Auntie Donna and Aunt Jody are the judges. So that leaves you, Uncle Dean, Uncle Cas, and Jack.”

I choose this moment to pop in. “She’s bored Sam. She’s looking for something to do. And she wants her dad to help. I think you’d be perfect.”

He gives me a ‘just wait till we’re alone’ look before smiling at his daughter. “Ok. I’ll come help, and I’ll even convince Uncle Dean to help. How’s that sound?”

Squeals of delight followed Cassie as she skipped cheerfully out and down the hall, Jackie close behind. Sam glared in my direction. “You owe me big time for this.” Then he kissed me and followed the two youngsters.

After having a huge fit of laughter, I sought out Jack and Cas, telling them to prepare for something fun, then went looking for Mary. She’d be thoroughly dismayed if she missed this.

I find Mary in the weapons room, cleaning guns. I sit beside her and pick up a cloth and a barrel from the glock she’s currently working on. “Hey Mom. S’up?”

She smiles at my greeting. My own mother passed away years ago, and Mary has been nothing but amazing to me since. “Not much. I heard the kids are up to something.”

I giggled. “That’s an understatement.” I tell her what I heard and what Cassie was asking Sam. “Want to see this?”

She puts the chamber down. “Definitely. And I’m bringing the camera.”

“Me too.” I say as we head out to the family room.

According to Donna, the ‘show’ starts in about 20 minutes. The ‘contestants’ are still getting ready. I’m literally dying inside. Of all the things for the kids to come up with, a beauty pageant. I’m not just going to take pictures, I’m filming the whole damn thing.

Jack agreed to be a contestant as well, saying he felt sorry for Sam and Dean. I smile. Jack is great with the kids as well. He seems fascinated by the simplicity of playing pretend, and imagining things.

Jackie comes out a few minutes after we all get seated. “Nuncing our beuty pajent.” We all giggle. Jackie is three, still struggling with pronunciation, so conversations with him are never dull.

Cassie comes out first and pretends to hold a microphone. “First contestant, Miss Claire.”

Claire comes out strutting to her own beat, hand on hip as she twirls around to show off her outfit and makeup. Her hair (I’d say done by Jackie) has a hap-hazard ponytail sticking out the top of her head, and numerous fake flowers. Claire’s outfit was a 40’s style dress, no doubt taken from a huge prop room the former MoL occupants had stashed. It was quite flattering on her actually, the rich burgundy velvet was a beautiful contrast to her fair skin.

Jack came out next, and we had to hold in our laughter. Jack was wearing a gold color suit, like very shiny glittery gold, and had little barrettes in his hair. He had lipstick and some eye shadow, both various shades of red. His shoes were actually pink flats, also very shiny, and very neon. We clapped and cheered for the way Jack managed a graceful walk down the runway, then waited for the next round.

“Our third contestant, Uncle Dean!”

Dean came out in a whirlwind of color and lace. He lightly skipped down the runway, hand on hip, while making kissy faces to everyone. Even Castiel was doubled over with laughter. I had tears running down my face now. His hair had been covered in a flowery hat, bright orange, and was wearing a really eye-catching shade of purple on his lips.

“And, our star contestant, Dad!”

I nearly fell off the couch as I doubled over with laughter. Tears rolled freely now, my sides hurt, but I couldn’t help it. Sam was in a frilly pink cocktail dress, satin with tulle gathered around the bottom, mermaid style. His legs were encased in shiny tights, and he wore matching pink sandals. His makeup was the best, I’m guessing Claire had some input on this one. Sam had glitter over the bottom of his eyelids, shadowed by a light pink and a touch of silver. His cheeks were toned in a pale coral, and his lips wore a lip gloss of the palest pink. I say Claire had some input because he had fake lashes glued to his eyelids. They were silver and pink tinted long lashes. His outfit was completed with silver barrettes and a pink flower in his hair, and white lace gloves.

I was so glad I was filming the entire thing. Sam made his way down the aisle with as much grace and dignity as he could muster, giving the audience smiles, winks and blowing kisses to all. He looked so adorable, although I was pretty sure he was going to kill me later, still I was glad I’d convinced him to participate.

The contestants came back on stage, waiting for the judges to finish their scoring. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the judges stood.

“In third place, we have Uncle Dean!”

Dean, bless him, smiled and waved to everyone as he walked over to receive his ‘medal’ and bouquet. He really did love the kids, there’s no way he’d have done this otherwise.

“In second place, we have a tie! Jack and Claire!”

The two second place contestants walked over to the judges and were awarded their medals and bouquets. There was only one left.

“And, in first place, Dad!”

We stood and cheered as Sam smiled and blew kisses to everyone, walking over to the judges’ desk and receiving his awards. He bowed and curtseyed. It was a beautiful sight. My husband…or was it wife now…I’d be teasing him about that later, if I lived that long. Cassie gave him a huge hug, and also gave hugs and thanks to the other contestants as well. Dean smiled and genuinely hugged them back. So did Sam, and Jack and Claire.

While the contestants got cleaned up and changed, and the living room area got fixed up, I set about finishing dinner and dessert. The house was greeted at the dining table with fried chicken, baked potatoes, all the fixings, and cherry pie. Salad and dressings were also available. There was one personal cherry pie for each of the ‘contestants’, and two more big ones for everyone to share.

Dean gave me a kiss on the cheek later, thanking me for the dessert. I thanked him for helping the kids out, and he smiled. I retired to my room, finding Sam already there, a dark glint in his eyes as he ran his gaze over my body, then bringing his eyes to meet mine. Fuck.

“So, about that payment I mentioned…”

I giggled as he scooped me into his arms, kicking the door closed behind him. “You looked so cute today though.”

He growled as we fell on the bed together. He made sure I spent the entire night paying for his beauty makeover. Numerous times.

@legion1993​