#wow it’s been a long time since i’ve drawn her

[steampunk-raven]

i’ve been possessed with the sudden urge to draw a zombie girl

[alientee]

Alastor x Jessica Rabbit reader part 3

I lied there will be a fourth part 🤣 sorry I’ve been gone for so long. By the way this amazing art was drawn by @klaudia96art it’s based on this story I just had to have me and my demon drawn lol

Alastor and you made it back to the hotel without any more problems, you both headed towards the kitchen the kitchen. “Alright darling I’ll get the ingredients out, I can’t wait to taste your cooking once more.” You set your gift down on the table pulling your hair back. “Well considering I’ve spent so much time with your mom I bet it’ll taste just as good as hers.”

You start to wash your hands and hear something crash to the ground. As you turn around Alastor is looking at you with a thin smile his eyes as wide as they can get. “H-how is my ma….I’m sure she has her doubts that id ever show up in heaven seeing as it’s been so long” You walk towards him bringing your hand up to caress his face. He leans into your touch his eyes looking more gentle than crazed as usual. When it came to his mother Alastor wanted nothing more than to make sure she was happy, her opinion is what mattered most in the world. "She always say’s she just hopes your alright and happy wherever you are. And that she misses you.”

Alastor rest his head into your neck, inhaling your scent. It had been so long since he’s been able to hold you, to feel content again. Usually he hates being touched by others, it feels like a disgusting burn he can’t get rid of. He was never a fan of touch unless he initiated it, unless it was from his mother and you were soon added to the equation. A thought hit him and once again he was tense pulling back looking at you frantically like an actual deer caught in headlights.

“Please don’t tell her why I’m down here. It would break her heart, and I can’t stand the thought of knowing I disappointed her.” You could feel his fingers tighten on your shoulder, any harder and he would break skin. As you tried to calm him down you realized just how much your husband was still there. Yes he was a killer and a cannibal who had no problem taking in the joy in the suffering of others. But he was still a mamas boy through and through.

“Alastor I have to tell your mom I saw you she misses you so much. She just wants to know you’re doing ok. But I won’t tell her…. Why you’re down here, it’s not my story to tell anyway.” He paused for a moment sighing “I suppose that’s good enough for me….. should we start cooking?”

“Oh no mister I’m cooking. Your gonna sit down and relax” you push alastor to the table pulling out a chair for him “But dear-“ “No buts! It’s been so long since I cooked for you. I missed spoiling my husband hehe.” Alastor could only sigh and lean both arms on the table his hand resting in his hands looking at you with that large goofy smile. “If you insist sugar”

As you began to cook more of the residents started to show up much to alastor an annoyance. Angel was the first one to walk through. “Wow toots you got it smelling great in here! Watcha cooking?” You giggled, you were kinda embaressed to say you went overboard with the cooking. “Well I made jambalaya, shrimp and grits, fried chicken, corn bread and a peach cobbler. Husk almost spits out his drink at the spread your making.

“I know I went to overboard, it’s just been so long since I’ve cooked for alastor I wanted to make all his favorites minus the cobbler. Feel free to join us I know we won’t eat it all.” You hear alastor muttering under his breath that the others could leave. You went back to cooking as the rest of the residents filled in but you stare at Charlie when she entered with a man who looked just like her. When both your eyes lock he looks at Charlie happily. “Charlie is this the angel you were telling me about?”

You leave the stove and walk towards him “hello I’m ____,It’s nice to meet you.” Lucifer pulls your hand up to his lips kissing it. “Charmed, it’s a pleasure to meet you” the room is filled with a sound of large static making everyone cringe. Lucifer is the only one who looks bored, rolling his eyes. “Problem bell hop?” Alastor is by your side in an instant.

“Keep your mouth away from my wife” Lucifer looks at you and alastor back and forth until his eyes land on Charlie. “So you weren’t kidding, he’s actually married….. to them…..and you agreed to marry him willingly not by force?” He looks back at you and seeing you nod in confirmation is all he needs for him to put a deadpan look on his face. “…….But you’re way out of his league like waaaaaay out of his league. Plus I don’t think Bell hop boy here knows how to…..satisfy needs that’s arnt cananalistic?” “I beg your pardon? Why the fuck does everyone keep bringing that up?”

You shake your head as you hear angel dust laughing in the back ground. Saying how he had said the same thing earlier, in between laughs. “Yes so I’ve been told, and I think he’s in my league just fine, I can’t wait to show y’all the pictures after dinner, alastor was so handsome hehe.” Alastor looks caught off guard for a second before grabbing your shoulder. “Now dear I’m sure no one wants to see that-“

“He’s lying”

“We all want to see it”

“My rival in hissss youth? Excellent ammunition for later batlesssss”

Alastor just looks more annoyed but seeing your big doe eyes looking at him reminding him so much of why he couldn’t resist your wims when you were both alive. “Very well but you will only see the pictures of my choosing and there will be no more than 3” Everyone groaned but accepted it knowing alastor shouldn’t be pushed over the edge. “Foods ready! I hope y’all like it” Everyone starts to make a plate except for alastor, you make him two plates with all the food you made on them except for the dessert.

While you serve him his plate kissing his cheek everyone can’t seem to stop staring,even nifty. Seeing the very independent radio demon getting served with a goofy smile on his face was so domestic and strange. But what no one else expected was for you to make a plate for Lucifer. He started thanking you profusely looking really shy about it. Everyone else was trying to scoot away from alastor who was starting to let his shadow tendrils rise. “Thank you! So much but I’m… you didn’t have too. Not that I’m not grateful! It’s very sweet of you”

“It’s my pleasure you are the king after all.” “Oh NO no no no no no. Please treat me like any other guest. I hate all the kingly stuff haha. How bout I make you a plate full of pancakes tomorrow?” You shrug stating you’re only here for today but you appreciated the offer.” Cherri bomb looked at you giving you a crooked smile. “So tell us about you and smiley, any good stories?” You tried to think of the least embarrassing but most entertaining memory you can think of.

“Well now that I know Al’s past this story makes much more sense now. Me and him went camping with some of my friends. Mind you I’ve known these people for over 10 years. One of my friends got really drunk and ended up falling off a cliff but he swear he was pushed, but none of us believed him because he was waisted. Then a bear ended up chasing him because he had leftover food in his pocket. He just had terrible luck the whole trip and guess who was near him that whole time.”

Everyone turned to look at alastor who continues to eat with a thin smile. “What? He talked over everyone, made crude jokes to my wife, and thought he could play jokes on ME of all people. The trip was more enjoyable with him unconscious. He should consider himself lucky he’s not dead, had he not been my wife’s good friend he wouldn’t have left the camp grounds.”

“I still can’t believe all of that really was you” You made your way back to the sink to clean the dishes, you could hear all the complements on your food and while you thanked them you could feel something pulling at your side. It’s nifty, and it looks like she’s trying to reach for your face. “A mess! Don’t worry I’ll get it miss.” You didn’t know what on earth she was taking about untill you felt someone come behind you and a wet sensation on your cheek.

It didn’t dawn on you what happened until you saw Alastor behind you. You blush in embarrassment realizing that he licked your cheek. “You had a little sauce on your face dear, now come sit and eat” you were about to comment until angel muttered. “I can’t believe I got that” you turned to see him holding his phone up, he must’ve wanted to take pictures of you and alastor. Speaking of alastor you don’t think you could move fast enough to stop him from pouncing at angel dust.

Speaking of alastor you don’t think you could move fast enough to stop him from pouncing at angel dust. “Alastor No!” Lucky enough Lucifer had been enough to restrain him. But if looks could kill both Lucifer and Angel would be dead by now. Seeing as the “big dick in charge” had a hold on Alastor, Angel Dust decided to get one final jab in. “Can you tell us a story now of why Ole freak face is sad in the sack?”

Too bad for him Lucifer’s grip couldn’t hold shadows though.

This was not proof read much~

@fairyv-ice @sirens-and-moonflowers @cannibalcoyote @jyoongim @thereeallink @sakuraluna2468 @fandomfan-102 @crystal-freak24

[cherryredlove]

☆ fair verona ☆

Modern! au Helaena Targaryen x female Reader SMUT

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• • • • • • • • • • • • ✦ • • • • • • • • • • • •

Spurred by your best friend Cregan, you audtion to be a brave for the role of Romeo. Learning your lines is so much easier when your Juliet is also your longtime crush.

Word Count: 2.8k

Themes: SMUT, 18+, poetic lesbian smex, oral smex, face riding, titty sucking, praise, alcohol consumption, cigarettes, nice fluff tho

• • • • • • • • • • • • ✦ • • • • • • • • • • • •

The corridors of Blackwater University echo with the chatter of students bustling between classes. You find yourself standing at the notice board in the main hall, staring at the flyer announcing this year’s play: Romeo and Juliet. It’s tradition for the Drama Department to host an annual production, and this time, they’ve decided on Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy. You long to try out, but the fear of rejection is too strong.

“Thinking of trying out?” A familiar voice breaks your reverie. Cregan Stark, your best friend since forever and classmate in Valyrian History and Linguistics, appears beside you, flashing a teasing grin.

You shrug, feeling a mix of excitement and apprehension. “I don’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve been on stage.”

“You’d be great,” he insists, nudging you encouragingly. “Besides, imagine being a brave and playing Romeo. You would wow the entire audience!”

Rolling your eyes, you chuckle at his enthusiasm. Despite your reservations, you can’t deny the allure of the stage, the thrill of applause. And there’s another reason you’re considering it—a certain someone whose presence in the hallways never fails to make your heart skip a beat.

Helaena Targaryen, the ethereal beauty with her signature silver-blonde hair and pale eyes. You’ve harboured a quiet admiration for her, watching from afar without the guts to ask her out. You watch as she signs her name on the flyer, her friends cheering.

“Well, if you think so,” you concede finally, feeling a sense of determination. “I’ll give it a shot.” Cregan knocks you with his shoulder as you write out your name before dragging you to class.

The auditions are held in the university’s grand theatre, an antique hall with velvet seats and ornate chandeliers. As you wait for your turn, you catch a glimpse of Helaena. She’s sitting a few rows ahead, surrounded by friends, yet eyes looking ahead, lost in her thoughts.

When your name is called, you step onto the stage with a flutter of nerves. The audition goes smoothly, and the moment you finish, you feel a wave of exhilaration. Whether or not you get the part, you’ve taken the plunge.

A few days later, the cast list is posted. As you scan the names, your breath catches in your throat:

Romeo: [Your Name]

Juliet: Helaena Targaryen

A mix of excitement and nervousness floods your system. Cregan is ecstatic when he hears the news, clapping you on the back with congratulations.

“You’re going to be amazing, I'm getting a front row seat,” he assures you. “And maybe this is the chance you need to finally talk to her. My best gal needs some action, I bet it's got cobwebs down there!" Cregan laughs at his own joke, and then he yowls when you punch his arm in retaliation.

• • • • • • • • • • • • ✦ • • • • • • • • • • • •

Rehearsals for Romeo and Juliet are underway before you know it. The director, Professor Harrold Westerling, is known for his passionate and somewhat unconventional methods. He often goes off on ranting tangents about his career as a thespian with the famous theatre group, the Kingsguards.

From the first rehearsal, Helaena proves to be a star. She’s a natural on stage, her performance enchanting and her characterisation of Juliet breathtaking. You can’t help but be drawn to her, and the scenes where your characters interact are charged with an undeniable chemistry.

“Romeo,” she says one afternoon, her voice just as lyrical as Shakespeare intended. “Deny thy father and refuse thy name.” You find yourself caught in her gaze. Her eyes, like amethysts, hold a challenge.

“Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet,” you respond, the words rolling off your tongue with ease.

Helaena smiles, a knowing glint in her eyes. It’s a look that suggests she sees more than you reveal, a look that makes your heart race.

Between scenes, she’s charming and playful, often catching you off guard with her flirtatious banter. “I hope you don’t mind me stealing the spotlight,” she teases one day as you stand outside smoking during a break, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and passing you her energy drink to take a sip from.

You laugh, feeling the warmth of her attention. “I think we can share it.”

Her presence is intoxicating, and each rehearsal leaves you dreaming for the next. Cregan notices your growing attachment and offers his support, often helping you rehearse lines late into the night. He insists on wearing a wig he nicked from his sister to play Juliet, much to your amusement.

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The night of the play arrives, and the theatre buzzes with excitement. Backstage, the cast is a flurry of activity, adjusting costumes and going over last-minute notes. You can feel the energy in the air, a mix of nerves and anticipation.

Helaena stands beside you, radiant in her Juliet costume. She looks every bit the part, ethereal and beautiful. “Ready for tonight?” she asks, her eyes meeting yours.

You nod, swallowing the lump in your throat. “As ready as I’ll ever be."

Her smile is reassuring, and she reaches out to hold your hand. You squeeze it tightly.

The curtain rises, and the play unfolds seamlessly. Each scene flows into the next, the audience captivated by the tragic tale of star-crossed lovers. Your chemistry with Helaena is unreal, each interaction charged with emotion and intensity.

Finally, the pivotal moment arrives—the kiss. As Romeo and Juliet, your characters share a tender, passionate kiss on stage. The audience holds its breath, and you spy Cregan sniffling into a tissue in the front row.

When your lips meet, time seems to slow. There’s a spark, an electric connection that goes beyond the script. The kiss lingers, and you sense something shift between you, an unspoken understanding.

As the performance comes to a close, the audience erupts into applause, and the theatre is filled with cheers and whistles. You take your bows, Helaena gripping your hand tightly, adrenaline coursing through your veins, the thrill of the performance still fresh in your mind.

• • • • • • • • • • • • ✦ • • • • • • • • • • • •

The Targaryen twins, Baela and Rhaena, Helaena's close friends, throw a celebratory party at their house in the centre of King's Landing. The place is alive with music and laughter, students spilling into the garden and onto the balconies.

You arrive with Cregan, who promptly disappears into the crowd to try and see his own crush Jace, leaving you to navigate the throng of partygoers.

You find Helaena in the living room, surrounded by friends yet somehow separate, her presence commanding the room. She’s out of her costume now, dressed in a blue dress and a navy cardigan that accentuates her beauty.

When she sees you, her face lights up with a genuine smile. “There’s the star of the night,” she calls out, her voice carrying over the music. She holds out a bottle of Asshai beer for you to take.

You approach, feeling a rush of warmth at her words. “I think that title belongs to you.”

She laughs. “You were incredible tonight,” she says, her gaze unwavering. She takes your elbow, leading you slightly away from her friends. “That kiss… it felt real.”

You hesitate, the memory of the moment still vivid in your mind. “It did, didn’t it?”

There’s a pause, a charged silence filled with unspoken words. Around you, the party continues, but your focus remains solely on Helaena.

“Do you want to get some air?” she suggests, gesturing towards the garden.

Nodding, you follow her outside, the cool night air a welcome contrast to the heat of the party. The garden is illuminated by strings of fairy lights, casting a warm glow over the scene.

Helaena leads you to a quiet corner, away from the noise and commotion. She takes out a pack of cigarettes, offering you one. You pull out a sparkly lighter, lighting hers and yours. She nods in gratitude. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” she admits, her voice softer now.

Your heart races. You exhale shakily. “About the play?”

She shakes her head, a playful smile on her lips. “About us.”

There it is, the moment you’ve both been dancing around for weeks. The admission hangs in the air thickly.

“I’ve liked you for a while,” she confesses, her eyes searching yours. “I’ve always thought there was something special about you.”

Her words leave you breathless, a mix of surprise and elation flooding your senses. “I’ve felt the same way,” you admit, the truth spilling forth. “Ever since I saw you in the hallways during freshers week, I knew there was something about you that drew me in.

Helaena steps closer, her hand reaching for yours, smoke drifitng into the sky from her pink parted lips.

“What do you say we make this more than just a stage romance?” she suggests, her tone sincere.

You nod quickly, lips cracking into a smile. Helaena grins as well, the pair of you standing staring at each other goofily. She ashes out her cig, and you follow.

"Cmon," Helaena tugs your hand. "Let's go back to mine."

Helaena's room is perfectly her. Fairylights everywhere, lace curtains, the rich smell of incense in the air. You see bookshelves crammed with books, crystals, and plants. The walls are covered with posters and photographs of her with her friends.

Your gaze settled on the centrepiece of the room: a large, canopied bed draped in sheer, flowing curtains. The bed was covered in a soft, plush quilt.

Helaena released your hand and moved gracefully across the room, lighting a few candles perched on her windowsill. The warm glow illuminated her face, casting shadows that accentuated her high cheekbones and the lovely quality of her violet eyes.

Helaena reached out, her fingers lightly brushing against your cheek, her touch as gentle as the brush of silk. Slowly, almost as if testing the waters, she leaned in closer, her breath mingling with yours. With a gentle touch, she closed the distance between you, her lips meeting yours in a tender kiss. Her hands slid to the nape of your neck, pulling you deeper into the embrace.

Your hands rested on her hips, pulling her body flush against yours. The softness of her lips, the warmth of her touch, and the sweet scent of her hair all combined to create a heaven of Helaena.

Finally, after what felt like both an instant and a lifetime, you pulled back slightly.

Helaena smiled, her fingers tracing gently along your jawline. "I’ve wanted to do that for a while," she confessed, a playful glint in her eyes.

You laughed softly, a sense of pure relief washing over you. "I’m glad you did."

"Do you know how long I've wanted this? Us?" she whispers, her voice barely audible over the gentle rustle of the curtains in the breeze.

Your heart races. "I think I have an idea," you reply, your voice equally hushed. Your hand finds its way to the back of her neck, fingers tangling in her soft silver hair as you pull her to you once more, your lips meeting hers in a fervent kiss.

This time, there is no hesitation, no lingering questions—only a shared hunger to taste each other, to consume. Helaena's hands slide over your shoulders, her touch light but insistent as she presses herself against you. You feel her fingers tracing a path down your spine, her touch leaving a trail of fire in its wake, and you respond in kind, your hands exploring the curve of her waist, the softness of her skin beneath the fabric of her dress. Helaena gasps into your mouth, adding fuel to the fire that has been burning between your legs.

As the kiss intensifies, Helaena guides you backwards toward the bed, her movements graceful and sure. You lose yourself in her touch, her scent, the sound of her soft gasps as your hands roam her body.

The edge of the bed meets the backs of your legs, and you sit down, drawing her into your lap. She straddles you, her dress flowing around her like liquid, the fabric cool against your heated skin. The sensation of her thighs pressing against yours sends a jolt of pleasure through you.

Helaena breaks the kiss. Her lips are slightly swollen from the intensity of your kisses, and her breath comes in soft, ragged bursts.

"Is this okay?" she asks. You can feel the heat of her pussy through her panties. You shift, desperate to touch her.

You nod, unable to tear your gaze away from her. "More than okay," you murmur, your voice thick.

Her smile is a thing of beauty. "Good," she replies simply, before leaning in to capture your lips once more, her movements fluid, as if she knows exactly how to draw every ounce of pleasure from you. Helaena's hands roam over your shoulders and down your chest, her touch igniting every nerve ending.

You mirror her movements, your fingers trailing along the line of her jaw, down the delicate column of her neck, and across her collarbone. She shivers beneath your touch, moaning as you cup her breasts through her dress. You feel a surge of pride at how you also have an effect on her.

With a gentle tug, Helaena draws the straps of her dress from her shoulders, letting the fabric pool around her waist.

"You are so beautiful," you murmur, the words escaping you.

Helaena's cheeks flush pink, and she ducks her head slightly, clearly pleased by your compliment. To thank you, she places your hands upon her perked tits once more, begging you silently to touch her. She arches against you, her body pliant and eager.

Your hands move, exploring the gentle curves of her body, the dip of her waist, the swell of her hips, all while she responds with a fervour that matches your own. You pull off your own dress, bearing yourself to her. Helaena's eyes speak her approval, and she pushes your shoulders down to lie on top of you.

You can feel the wetness of her pussy seep through her panties, leaving dampness on your hips. You remove the delicate lace, pulling your own off too. The both of you completely nude, Helaena begins grinding her bare pussy against yours. A moan gets caught in her throat as her clit grinds down against yours. Helaena throws her silvery head back, gasping as you lean up to flick your tongue against her tits. You suck lightly, the other one being tweaked by your hands. You feel a hot warmth begin to build in your sex, and a desperation to make Helaena cum.

Helaena gropes your own tits, moaning appreciatively.

You grab her hips, flipping her over onto her back to lie against the bed. She spreads her legs, fingers grazing between her labia to show you her soaked hole. Your eyes darken at the sight, and you lower your mouth onto her sopping pussy. Helaena releases a high keening noise as you suckle her clit, pointing your tongue and flicking against her sensitive nub. You lap up her juices, tongue sliding between her folds as your fingers press into her, gently beckoning against her sweet spot, drawing out a long orgasm from your girl.

Her hips buck wildly and she grasps the pillows tight, one hand squeezing and the other tugging your hair as you relentlessly eat her pussy through her orgasm. She creams against your tongue and your eyes roll back at the sweetness.

Helaena pants, eyes glazed but determined. She yanks your hands up, lying down fully. Her hands go to grab your hips. You raise an eyebrow as you realise what she wants.

"You sure flower?" You tease. Helaena huffs, purple eyes beseeching. She nods desperately and you lower your hips down to sit upon her face.

Her tongue instantly begins suckling your clit and you delight at the feeling. Her lips are wettened with your arousal. You can't help yourself but begin to grind against Helaena's small but expert tongue. Helaena looks to be in heaven as you ride her face, hands digging into your plush hips and ass, leaving fingernail crescents as she worships your swollen clit.

You don't last long, hands gripping the headboard as you throw your head back and cry out for Helaena, cumming right on her face. You fall back, panting, as Helaena reaches for you, drawing herself close and nestling in your arms.

As you both drift off, sleepily kissing and whispering words of promise, you thank the Gods for your beloved Juliet.

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AN: there is a severe lack of (lesbian) Helaena fics and modern au ones aswell, im here to fix this! genuinely loved writing this, i love modern flirty helaena and sassy bestie cregan. phia is such a goddess fr tho. check my masterlist for more modern aus and sexy times, luv ya!

[musings-of-a-rose]

I'll Always Wait For You - Chapter 18 (Final Chapter)

Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader

Word Count: 6900+

Rating: Mature - 18+ ONLY!

Warnings: Just like ao3, “creator chooses not to use warnings.” If you click Keep Reading, that means you agree that you’re the age to handle mature themes. Also by clicking Keep Reading, you understand warnings may not be complete in order to avoid spoilers for the story. 

Notes: Well, this is it. The final chapter. I’m feeling very emotional about this one, as these 2 are my babies. This fic was the second thing I ever started writing AND my first series. I started it in November of 2021 and now I’m ending it in June of 2023. Thank you to everyone who has read it, left comments, reblogged it, talked about it off of Tumblr (I am still FLOORED that this has happened!). This is what keeps people creating. Even if you think you have nothing important to say, or if all you say is just a keyboard mash of letters, I can promise you ALL of it means the world to us. So I dedicate this fic to you, the reader. You’re the real star here and I can’t express my love enough. If you’re ever wanting more, I am always down to write one shots, drabbles, character insights, what ifs, etc for this fic (and any of my others).

Now excuse me while I go cry

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**Reader is not described

Main Masterlist

I'll Always Wait For You Masterlist

Frankie Morales Masterlist

<&lt;Chapter 17

“You look so beautiful!” Olivia gushes over you after she tucks the last braid into place, watching you stand and do a little twirl in your white dress.

“You think so? It’s not too much?”

“Too much? Girl, it’s your wedding day. You can’t be too much!”

Smiling, you smooth out your dress as you take in your reflection. You’re marrying Frankie. Your Frankie. Frankie, whom you’ve been in love with since you were 19. This is real. It’s happening.

Ok, technically, in the eyes of the law, it happened a few weeks ago at a courthouse. But there’s something special about gathering in front of your close friends and family, wearing a beautiful dress, and getting to repeat those vows in front of everyone. A soft knock at the door brings you out of your head and Olivia walks across the room to peak her head outside. 

“Mosa, it’s the photographer. Are you ready for the first look?”

“It’s HERmosa!” Frankie’s muffled yell comes from behind the door and Olivia smirks. 

One last glance in the mirror at your reflection and you nod, turning your back towards the door. You hear some shuffling as Frankie is ushered in backwards and the photographers get into place. 

“Turn in 3..2..1..Turn!” Olivia says and then steps back.

You turn, your eyes finding his almost immediately, as if they were drawn there. He’s dressed in a tailored suit, fitting his form perfectly, his grandfather’s kerchief folded and poking from the pocket. But what you’re really interested in is his face, his eyes growing wider and glossier the longer he looks at you.

“Hermosa, you…you’re beautiful,” Frankie says, awestruck.

“You’re just figuring that out?” You say behind a smile.

“No, I mean I always knew but…wow.”

He walks up to you and cups your cheek, running his thumb across it as Olivia hisses something about makeup from the corner of the room. But you couldn’t care less. Frankie was here, marrying you. This is all you’ve dreamt of for well over 10 years. A tear runs down Frankie’s cheek and you wipe it away.

“Are you ok?”

He sniffs and smiles. “I’m the best I’ve felt in a long time. I just…I only wish we would’ve done this sooner.”

“We did. We got married in the courthouse, remember?” 

He smiles at you. “I meant more that we never…that we stayed together since that first kiss.”

“Me too. But we can’t dwell on what-ifs. We can only think about the here-and-nows.”

Frankie tips your chin up and presses a light kiss to your lips, the clicks from the camera going crazy. You pose for photos for several minutes before Olivia ushers everyone from the room, winking at you when she says she’ll give you 10 minutes of alone time before she came to get you. The second the door closes, Frankie pushes his tongue in your mouth, pulling you as close as he can. 

“I can’t mess this dress up, Frankie,” You say pouting.

“That’s ok. I can work with that.” Frankie grips your hips and spins you around, bending you over the back of the chair and clasping a hand to your mouth as he takes you, your hands desperately trying to reach behind you to pull him in closer. 

15 minutes later, Olivia knocks on the door and enters hesitantly, smirking when she sees you smoothing down your dress, Frankie’s face more pink than when she had left. 

“It’s time,” she says, tossing her thumb over her shoulder and looking at Frankie pointedly. He turns to you and kisses your cheek.

“See you out there?”

“Raging sharks couldn’t keep me away.” 

He kisses you once more before Olivia starts clearing her throat. When he straightens up a curl falls on his forehead and you softly push it back to where it was, feeling Frankie’s eyes on you the entire time. He opens the door and looks outside befire turning back to you. 

“Your gift is here.”

“You don’t have to get me a gift, Frank-”

Santi walks through the door, dressed in a nice tux and smiling from ear to ear. You hadn’t seen him since the day he confessed his love for you and you had missed him terribly. Frankie was your best friend, but Santi was a close second and you’d hated the idea of getting married without him there.

“Santi?”

“Hey, Hermosa.”

You catch a glimpse of Frankie’s smile before he closes the door as you wrap your arms around Santi, feeling him squeeze you back just as hard. Separating a few moments later, you dab under your eyes as you try to choke back tears. 

“If I smudge my makeup, Olivia may kill me.”

Santi laughs. “She’s Benny’s girl, right? She’s perfect for him.”

“She’s really great…but how are you here?”

“I uh…Frankie called me a few weeks ago and told me…well, everything. I’m sorry I was screening my calls, Hermosa. I just…I needed time.”

“I understand. But…you’re here now! Are you ok?”

“I’m doing alright, Hermosa. Actually, pretty good.”

“You’ll have to tell me all about her.”

He laughs. “I will. But uh, hey - do you need a Man of Honor? If…if that would…be ok?”

“I would love to have to as my Man of Honor! But…Benny already agreed and I don’t know how to tell him -”

Santi waves his hand. “Benny was in on this. He knows and already said it was ok with him as long as you wanted it.”

Your eyes go wide. “Wait. Benny knew you were coming and he didn’t tell me?”

“Yeah.”

You gasp. “That bitch!”

Santi laughs his hardest yet. “So…”

“Let’s go, Man of Honor.”

The next thing you know, Frankie’s kissing you, everyone whooping and cheering, Aurelia throwing more flower petals into the air as they announce “Mr. and Mrs. Morales.” The rest of the night was like a blur, between photos and eating, first dances and cake, you barely had time to sit until things started to wind down long into the night. When you tried to help clean up, Olivia literally slapped your hand away and glared at you.

“Absolutely not. Benny!” He walks over and play groans when she says she’s recruited him to help clean up. She pretends to twist his nipple when he starts to complain and he yelps, high pitched and smiling as they play fight for a few moments before he gives in, grabbing plates and stacking them to wash. 

Frankie looks exhausted and he’s limping a little, so you beg him to not carry you over the threshold. “You did that when we got courthouse married.”

“Yeah but-”

“No. I’m not having you throw your hip out on our wedding day. Not from this.”

He chokes and smiles, giving in, a dark twinkle in his eye. “Alright. If you insist.” But by the time you’d made it upstairs and gotten your clothes off, both of you were too exhausted to do much of anything aside from a shower and literally fall into bed. But Frankie made up for lost time the next morning, waking you with what he claims was already your third orgasm of the day, his curls mussed up from being buried between your legs. He presses his body to yours, swallowing your whimpers before he adds his own, hips shaking with release. 

You spend your honeymoon at the Miller family cabin upstate, the only clothing you wear being one of Frankie’s shirts and sometimes his hat, which drives him wild. He celebrates another sobriety milestone while there, smiling wide at your praise. When you get back home, you can see he has an extra pep in his step, always a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, always wanting to touch you, whether a hand to your wrist, a touch to your lower back, or a smack on your ass, chuckling as you yelp and smack him back. When you ask him why he looks exceptionally happy, he credits you. “I finally got the girl of my dreams, the love of my life.”

—-

Frankie and you settle into a comfortable routine. You were no strangers to living together, the adjustment taking no time at all. Life goes on as normal, except now, you get to live it with Frankie, no longer separated by a stupid argument, misconceptions, or a bitch of an ex wife. This was exactly where you were meant to be. 

Several months later, Frankie follows you into the family restroom at Target, slinging your purse over his shoulder as he rifles through the bag of stuff you’d just purchased.

“Pink dye first, right?” He asks, raising his eyebrows as he looks at you.

“Yeah. They’re more accurate supposedly.” 

Frankie tears open the box and studies the directions, as if he hadn’t done this several times already. He opens one of the sticks and hands it to you, turning around to give you a little privacy. 

“Start the timer,” you say as you zip up your pants. Frankie hits go on his timer and turns to face you, a pregnancy stick held face down in your hand. He can see your nerves, your worry and concern on your face.

“It’ll be ok, Hermosa.”

“Yeah I know. But what if it isn’t?”

“It will be-”

“We’ve been trying for months, Frankie. I know the OB said to try for a year before fertility testing but-”

Frankie walks up to you and pulls you to him, applying a gentle pressure as he hugs you close, kissing the side of your head. “If it’s negative, then we keep trying, ok? It hasn’t been a year yet and sometimes these things take time.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Will told me that it took them months to conceive Liam. And they were trying too. Just…breathe. In….out…”

You breathe with him for a few breaths. “You always were annoyingly calm in a crisis.”

He smiles. “Wouldn’t help to freak out behind the joystick.” 

You open your mouth to reply, but his timer cuts you off. Your mouth jams shut, nerves taking over your body as Frankie holds your gaze. 

“If it says negative, we can keep trying. Remember that. I love you no matter what, Hermosa.” You nod, taking a deep breath. “Ready?”

“Ready.” You flip the test over and look, 2 bright pink lines staring back at you. Tears immediately fall as you laugh, turning the test around to show Frankie, who yells, grabbing you up in his arms and hugging you tightly. He kisses you for a moment, pressing his forehead to yours. 

“I fucking love you, Hermosa.”

“I love you, Frankie.”

He yanks the door open and whoops loudly, people turning to look at him as you follow him out of the bathroom. 

“I’m going to be a father again!” He pumps his fists in the air, smiling from ear to ear as people cheer, clapping and congratulating you as they finish their purchases, one older couple handing you a gift card on their way out, telling you to spoil that baby. 

—-

Frankie was hesitant at first with your pregnancy, despite being so supportive and actually wanting a child with you. A couple months in, you finally ask him why he seems afraid to touch you, that you won’t break. He finally confesses to you that when Elizabeth was pregnant, she did nothing but yell at him, belittling him and wouldn’t let him touch her at all, not her belly, not even to rub her back or feet. She called him horrible names and would blame it on the hormones. Your heart breaks for him and you have no words. Well, you have words but they aren’t nice ones. Instead, you sit next to him on the bed, leaning back onto one arm, and take his hand with the other, gently placing it on your lower belly. His eyes light up as he looks at your tiny for the moment bump, tears welling in his eyes as he brings his other hand up to take the other side. He pulls your shirt up just enough to see your belly skin, giving it a tiny kiss.

“Hey, little one. You grow strong in there and don’t give your mom too much of a hard time.”

From then on, Frankie is all in. Whatever you need, he gets it, even if it’s a ridiculous request at 3am. He’s constantly touching your growing belly, talking to it as much as you do. He finds Aurelia’s old crib in the attic, a few boxes of baby stuff and a bassinet up there as well. He sets up the nursery under your instruction, letting Aurelia help with the decorations when she comes on the weekends. You decide to wait to find out the sex of the baby, thinking it would be something fun to do. So instead you call it “Bean”.

“Think Bean will like this?” Frankie asks, pointing to a baby swing. 

“They might, but Frankie, that swing is nearly $150. We can’t afford that.”

His shoulder’s slump but he agrees. “Maybe we can check the thrift shop. It’s the one thing Will didn’t toss our way.”

He was there for all of the classes too, birthing ones, breathing ones, even the hypnobirthing ones. He signed up for a “birthing partners” class, learning the best ways to support you not just during labor and delivery, but during the 4th trimester, or immediately postpartum. He helped you practice your meditations, making sure you had everything you needed and that you remember to take your prenatal and drink enough water. 

When you’re 8 months pregnant, getting winded from walking down the hall, Frankie gets a call from his boss at Flyboyz on his day off, asking him to come in. He grabs his hat and gives you a quick kiss before leaving, reminding you to drink water. He’d been working a lot lately, trying to make extra money so he can stay home with you and the baby for the first month. You’re not sure how long he’ll be gone, so you plop yourself down on your bed, pulling over the basket of baby clothes that still have to be sorted and you get to work, separating the sizes, long sleeve vs short, nightgowns from onesies. A couple hours later, the front door opens and Frankie slams it behind him, the picture frames rattling on the walls. You set aside the footie pajamas you were folding and go to stand up, but Frankie comes storming into the bedroom before you can move, anger coming off of him in waves.

“Frankie?”

He yanks his hat from his head, tossing it onto his dresser, knocking some things off of it. “I can’t fucking believe her!”

Struggling a little, you manage to get up and cross the room to him, placing your hand on his mid back. He recoils, anger flashing in his eyes but it’s not directed at you. Unsure of what happened, you know he needs to calm down before he can tell you. You grab an ice cube out of your glass of water and turn to Frankie.

“Give me your hand.”

He looks at you, eyebrow raised. “What?”

“Just do it.”

He stares at you for a moment before shoving his hand out. You flip it palm up, opening his fingers and place the ice cube in his palm. He yelps, but you hold his hand firmly so he won’t drop the ice.

“What the fuck, Hermosa?”

“The cold will help reset your nervous system.”

“I don’t think- it’s too fucking cold, Hermosa.”

“Just another few seconds.”

His chest, which had been heaving a moment ago, has slowed down, the anger still there but at a manageable level. You tip his hand and grab the falling ice into your own palm, putting it in the sink in the bathroom before coming back to the bed and trying to sit on it. Frankie is there, taking your hand and helping you into bed. He goes to stand but you squeeze his hand and pull him until he sighs, sitting on the edge, his shoulders slumped.

“How do you feel?”

“Fucking angry, but…the edge is gone. Ice…who fucking knew?”

“So..may I ask what happened?”

His eyes darken with repressed outrage. “I thought I was getting extra work. Instead, my pilot’s license has been suspended, pending a review.”

You sit up quickly, eyes going wide. “What??”

He nods, his jaw clenching. “Apparently, someone made a claim that I was using when I flew some clients and now they have to investigate.”

You knew that Frankie had been clean over a year, that he wasn’t using at all. “Oh, Frankie. Wait..who made the claim?”

He looks at you. “It was anonymous but I know it was Elizabeth.” He says her name with absolute disgust and hate that you nearly pull back from him. 

“Elizabeth? Would she-”

“Oh come on, Hermosa. You don’t think it was her? I’ve been clean for well over a year. She’s the only one who would have known that I used that would make claims.”

“What about Rick?”

Frankie shakes his head. “Nah. He left Flyboyz while you were…out of town. I told him he had to leave or I would report him for selling. He started to threaten to bring me down with him, but then remembered you were…not in my life and he could see the rock bottom in me, I guess. So he backed off, just left to go elsewhere. There’s no way it’s him. It’s her. It’s always her causing shit. I’m so fucking sick of it!”

Placing a hand on his back, you start to rub it, adding in little scratches here and there like he likes. “She is a bitch.”

“I just got my license back. I worked so hard on that.” He puts his face in his hands, resting his elbows on his legs. You scoot towards him wrapping your arm around him. 

“I know you did. But you said suspended? That doesn’t mean revoked, right?”

He shakes his head. “No, it doesn’t.”

“So…what does it mean?”

“It means, I can’t fly until it’s reinstated. I have to pee in a cup at random times during the week for 6 months to prove I’m clean before they will lift the suspension.”

“Well there you go!”

He looks up at you, his eyebrows pulling together. “There I go, what? We can’t afford for me to not have this income, Hermosa.”

“We’ll be ok-”

“You’re about to have a baby. Your income won’t happen for a bit, and that’s fine, but we needed this extra money and now I can’t provide that. All because of my bitch of an ex!”

“Frankie, we’ll be ok. If we have to borrow money, we can.”

“I’m not borrowing money.”

“Fine. Then I will borrow it.”

“No, I’ll…I’ll figure something out.”

“Frankie-”

“Just…can we just stop for tonight? I’m trying to process this.”

You open your mouth to argue but then see the exhausted look on his face. “Sure. Why don’t you come talk to us? That always makes you feel better.”

Leaning back against the headboard, you watch as Frankie scoots up the bed, getting level with your belly as you turn on your side so you’re not being squished. He chats to the baby for a while, about everything and nothing and by the time he’s done, his shoulders are relaxed and he’s not as angry anymore. 

Elizabeth never fully admits to being the one to make the claim, but you see the look on her face through the car window when you make your next exchange for Aurelia after Frankie confronts her and you know she did it. There’s nothing you can say or do except wait it out. Frankie getting his license back will be all the revenge you’ll need.

—---- (Skip to the next line if you don’t want to read about labor. It’s not terribly graphic at all, but I know it’s not everyone’s thing)-------

“I never thought I’d have to beg you to have sex with me!” You stomp your foot, furious that Frankie won’t follow the doctor’s advice. 

It had been a few weeks since his license was revoked and you were a week past your due date and not happy about it.

“Hermosa, I don’t-”

“Want to hurt me, I know, I know. But the midwife even said that sex is the best way to induce labor because of the prostaglandins in your semen.”

“You make it sound so sexy.”

“Frankie,” you pinch the bridge of your nose, taking a deep sigh. “I am the size of a house. I am miserable and sweaty and I haven’t seen my feet in months and I just want to have this baby already. If it’s my belly, I can turn around-”

“You are fucking gorgeous.”

“Then please?”

Frankie studies you for a long moment, his shoulders starting to slump and that’s when you knew you had him. “Alright, fine. We can try it. But we’re going slow, taking our time, ok?”

“No arguments here.”

Contractions started within an hour of Frankie cumming inside of you. You weren’t sure at first what you were feeling, but it sort of felt like a bad period cramp, so you assumed this must be it. Frankie timed them all for you, helping you breathe as they got more intense and closer together, and when they were close enough apart, Frankie helped you to his truck and drove to the hospital. In between contractions, you watched him as he drove, expertly winding his way through traffic, a look of focus on his face, a little furrow between his brow the only indication that this was not a normal day behind the wheel. How lucky you were to have this man, who can be calm in stressful situations, want to spend his life with you. 

“What?” Frankie glances sideways at you before turning back to the road.

“You’re cute when you focus.”

A smile pulls at the corner of his mouth. “Remember how cute I am when you’re in transition.”

Before you know it, you’re in a labor and delivery room, barely spending any time in triage before they whisked you away. Hospitals can be a frustrating place to have a baby. Each nurse walks in and tells you to rest between contractions, try to get some sleep when you can, but then a new nurse comes along within an hour, always rousing you from sleep to take your blood pressure or put their fingers where you didn’t want them. You’d finally had enough of the latter and told a nurse to kindly fuck off, and denied internal exams unless it was a medical emergency. Frankie was by your side the entire labor, putting counter pressure on your hips when you needed it, pulling your hair from your face, sneaking you snacks because they forbid food and you said you’d chomp off your own fingers if they didn’t let you eat. Transition was hard, but all of a sudden, you knew it was time to push. Following your body, you get on all fours, taking your calming breaths, but then realizing that Frankie was not next to you. Turning your head, you see him, wide eyed and backing towards the door.

“I’ll just-” He points his thumb over his shoulder at the door.

“No, please. I need you here with me.” Another contraction has you breathing again and it’s a minute before he replies.

“You want me here?”

“Yes. I need you, Frankie.” 

His eyes start to water over and it doesn’t occur to you then, but later that night it’l come to you - he wasn’t trying to dodge out of the delivery. He was having a flashback to when Elizabeth kicked him out of the room right when Aurelia was making her way into the world, and your heart hurt all over again. Frankie is at your side in an instant, turning to yell for the nurse who had surprisingly not come in for some random check.

“No time!” You yell, letting out a low groan, a technique you learned to help move baby down and out. Frankie’s face slides into focus mode and he moves behind you, just in time to catch the baby as it comes sliding out. He gathers the baby up, holding it close as it screams into the world. The nurse comes running in then, having heard the baby crying as you turn onto your back, arms outstretched to hold your baby, skin to skin.

“Baby is here! I didn’t even know you were transitioning! You were pretty quiet.”

The nurse bustles around and does her thing while Frankie transfers the baby to your bare chest. Tears stream down your face as you look at Frankie, who has tears of his own. He kisses the top of your head. “I am so proud of you, Hermosa.”

A few moments pass, the baby calming against your chest. “Hey Frankie? Is the baby a boy or girl?”

He slaps his hand to his forehead. “I forgot to look! I was so focused on catching the baby and whether it was breathing and not dropping it that I don’t think I looked! Here.” He lifts the hip of the baby and smiles.

“We have a son. I have a son!”

—---No more labor/delivery details—---

Luis Christian Francisco Morales was born perfect. 10 little fingers and 10 little toes, skin glowing. He was the perfect combination of you both, although you say he favors Frankie mostly. 

You both settle into your roles as new parents, a lot of it being new to Frankie too, since Elizabeth had denied him so much. He was determined to not miss out on things this time, making sure you both had everything you needed and watching Luis when he stayed awake between feeds so you could have a nap. Aurelia cries the first time she sees Luis, big ugly sobs, and when Frankie finally calms her down enough to ask what’s wrong, she simply says “He…he’s…s-so so cute!” She happily takes up the mantle of “Big Sister” when she’s with you. Once, you wake from your nap only to find all 3 of them sleeping, Luis curled up on Frankie’s broad chest, Aurelia tucked onto his other side. You snap a photo and then quietly leave the room, taking the time to actually shower. 

About a month in, Frankie comes back from dropping Aurelia with her mom. His eyebrows were pulled together in confusion as he stares down at his phone.

“Everything ok?” You ask, shifting the bottle you were feeding Luis with so it was a better angle.

“Yeah. Uh…Santi just texted me.”

“Oh yeah? Everything ok?”

“Uh..he says congrats on Luis, that he’s the cutest, and that he was out of service for a bit and he’s sorry he didn’t text earlier.”

“That’s ok. I know he’s busy.”

Frankie is quiet for a moment. “He offered me some work.”

“Work?”

“Well, not just me. Benny, Will, and Tom too.”

“What kind of work?” When he doesn’t answer, you look up at him. He kicks his shoes off and sits next to you on the couch. 

“Consulting.” His eyes don’t meet yours, focusing instead on his fingers, where he starts to pick at the skin around his nails.

“Consulting.” You say in disbelief. 

“Yeah.”

“Wait, like a mission?”

Frankie shrugs. “No? I mean, it’s just scoping out a place and looking for weaknesses. We give our report to the government he works with and then come back. Easy peasy.” 

“If it’s so easy peasy, why aren’t you looking at me?”

He takes a deep breath and let’s it out slowly before looking at you. “It’s for a week. Just trying to find holes in a fence.”

“And why do they need you?”

“They need a pilot.”

“You don’t have your license.”

“It probably doesn’t matter over there.”

“Frankie, I don’t-”

“I’ts $17k, Hermosa. We need the money.”

“I don’t like it. So much can go wrong. Who’s house is it? Definitely no one that’s a stand up citizen. What happens if they find you first? No, I don’t like it.”

“Just..he’s coming to town tomorrow and we’re going to chat about it at Benny’s fight. Let me ask some more questions.”

“I don’t like it, Frankie.”

“I know. Just..let me talk to Pope.”

—----

It’s late the next night and you start to pace the floor of your bedroom, wondering when he’ll be back. He’d texted you to tell you Benny had won the fight and they were stopping at the bar for a quick drink before Olivia takes him home to play nurse. 

That had been 2 hours ago.

The door finally opens downstairs and you quietly make your way to the kitchen, where you were hearing Frankie move around. 

“Did I wake you?”

You shake your head. “I was awake. Luis is asleep.”

“Good, good. He go down ok?”

“Yeah, actually in his bassinet, but Frankie? How did it go?” 

He gets a glass of water, chugging half of it before setting the glass down on the counter. “It’s just a recce. No live fire.”

“There’s a possibility of people shooting at you??”

“I mean, we are casing a place. It’s always possible if guards see you or-”

“No.”

He looks at you. “Hermosa, we need the money.”

“No.”

“I don’t have a job. We need this.”

“No money is worth your life, Frankie. None of your lives.”

“I won’t be in any major danger. I’ve done worse.”

“Yeah but you didn’t have a family then.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“No. No, I don’t like this, no.”

Frankie puts his hands on his hips, cocking one hip back as he looks at you. “We’re behind on bills.”

“So? I’ll borrow some money and you can stay.”

“Hermosa-”

“Or I can get another job? A new client. I can-”

“You just had a baby, so no.”

“Then I can-”

“Hermosa.” He says it firmly, that hip still cocked back as his eyes find yours, resolve in them.

“You’ve…you’ve already said yes, haven’t you?”

His tongue comes out to swipe across his bottom lip. “We leave Thursday.”

Silence stretches between you both as you stare at him in disbelief. “I can’t believe you made that decision without me.”

“I made the decision for us. We need the money.”

“Oh, fuck you and the money! I said I could borrow it. You’re just being stubborn!”

“I’m taking responsibility! We needed money and this just happens to come our way? I have to take it.”

“So you’re saying it’s fate that Santi texted you to lure you down there with the promise of $17k? You’re telling me that it’s just consulting and nothing else? Can you promise me that?”

He shrugs. “That was the original deal.”

“But can you promise me?”

He studies you for a moment, his eyes lingering on yours. “I’m going, Hermosa.”

And with that, you turn on your heel and walk out of the kitchen, closing the door behind you, wishing you could slam it. 

The next couple days were torture. You kept trying to convince Frankie to stay, convince all of them to stay. You didn’t want any of them going. But they all said the same thing that Frankie said. “It’s just consulting.” Thursday morning, Tom comes to pick up Frankie pretty early. He leans over to kiss you in bed and you take one more shot at trying to get him to stay. Your fingers wind into his curls as you pull him to you, deepening the chaste kiss he had started. 

“You can still stay,” you say, your voice barely a whisper.

“I’ll be back in a week, Hermosa. I love you.”

Tears streaming down your face, you reply. “I love you too. Please don’t die. Don’t any of you die.”

Frankie chuckles. “We’ll be fine. I’ll call you in a couple of days once we’re settled, ok?”

—----

Except, Frankie did not call in a couple of days. Neither did any of the others, nor had they reached out to Stacy, Molly, or Olivia. There was no one to call, no contact. They needed it that way for whatever consultation they were on. Stacey brought the kids over and Olivia came too, all of you opting to stay together and support each other at least during the day. As the few days stretched into a week, which stretched into nearly another, Olivia split her time between you and Stacy’s, offering to watch the kids so you each could have a moment to yourselves. She was at Stacy’s tonight, Luis snuggled and tucked in beside you as you channel surf the tv, landing on nothing in particular. It was day 10 and about 2am so all of the infomercials were on. You landed on one for some random kitchen gadget when your phone rings. You jump, grabbing for your phone to quickly hit the silent button before it wakes Luis. It was an unknown number, but definitely foreign and so you pick up right away.

“Frankie?”

“Hermosa,” he breathes a sigh of relief, his voice wavering on the last syllable of your name. 

“Are you ok? Is everyone alright? Fuck, I’ve been terrified out of my mind.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. Things got…out of hand. I can explain more when I get home.”

“I understand. But you’re ok?”

“I’m ok. A little banged up but ok.”

“Everyone else?”

The way he’s silent has your throat closing up, making it difficult to speak. “Frankie?”

“It’s Tom.”

While Tom and you never were best friends, there’s no way you would’ve wished death on the man, nor would you have wanted to have his girls without a father. 

—----

Frankie’s mom takes Luis while you drive to the airport, there to pick up Frankie as Olivia and Stacy were going to get Benny and Will. You had experienced all of the emotions these past 10 days, mostly anger and fear, but when you heard his voice, a part of you caved. You just wanted him home and were grateful that he was alive.

You spot Benny first, towering over a majority of the crowd as people file out security and head towards baggage claim. Then you see it - a dark blue standard heating oil cap bobbing next to Benny and suddenly, you’re running, pushing people out of the way as you run towards him, Frankie seeing you at the last moment, dropping his bag to gather you in his arms, burying his face in your hair. Olivia and Stacy copy your actions, Will hissing when Stacy throws her arms around him. He mutters “I’m ok.” before pulling her to him. Pulling back, you look up into Frankie’s black brown eyes, taking in all the features of his face, his laugh lines, the spot where his one dimple pops up, the fact that he had the audacity to shave his beard. 

“You shaved,” you said simply, running a finger along his jawline.

“Yeah. But I’ll grow it back just for you.”

His lips crash to yours, his hands cupping the sides of your face as you press your body against his, fingers twisting in his shirt. 

“I’m still mad at you,” you breathe out between kisses.

“Fair enough.”

Hugs were exchanged all around before everyone went to their homes. On the drive home, Frankie tells you everything, how it was just a consult but then they decided to try and do it themselves, how it would’ve all been fine if they hadn’t missed their window, or if Tom had listened when he said it was too much weight for the helicopter. 

“Wait..you crashed?” 

“Yeah. It was just a little crash.”

“Frankie!”

“It’s me. I landed us…mostly fine. We all walked away.”

He explains about the money and the people from the village, and how they had to trek up the fucking Andes mountains and down the other side. How a young man from the village had wanted revenge and got it, dying himself in the process. How they carried Tom down the side of the mountain, leaving a ton of money there, only to make it to safety and come back with a new chopper to get the money and safely make it back in a whole other country, which is where he called you from. By the end of the story you’re silent, tears quietly falling down your face as you realize how easily they all could’ve died on the side of those mountains. How one of them did. 

“We each put about $5mil in a trust fund for Tom’s girls, made sure Molly was taken care of. It’s what Tom would’ve wanted and it’s…it’ll never be enough.”

“Hey,” you squeeze his thigh and he looks at you, tears on his cheeks. “You are not to blame. Every one of you knew what you were doing, knew there were risks. And while I can’t say who shot first as I wasn’t there, Frankie, it was self defense. And, I’m sorry, but knowing you and knowing Tom? I’d bet money on him shooting first.”

Frankie nods. “Yeah I guess so…. are you mad at me still?”

“I was all prepared to be so pissed at you, but honestly? I’m just glad to have you here and alive.”

Frankie spends the next hour between your legs and you spend the hour after that washing his hair and tending to his arguably minor wounds. Once you were clean and dressed, you made him something to eat, as you’d have to go get Luis shortly. When you set his glass of water down, he grips your wrist, pulling you into his lap.

“How are you feeling? Do you need to call your sponsor?”

He shakes his head. “Surprisingly, no. I think I’m just so grateful to be alive. And there’s one more thing.”

“What?” You ask nervously.

Frankie leans in closer, speaking low in your ear. “We got the rest of the money.”

“The $17k?” You said stupidly.

Frankie smiles and shakes his head. “A lot more than $17k.”

Your eyes widen. “What?”

“Millions, Hermosa. Each. Millions. We’re set for life, as are Luis and Aurelia.”

“Can we stay here?”

Frankie chuckles. “What?”

“I don’t want some giant mansion. I want to stay here. In our house.”

Frankie smiles and kisses you lightly. “We can do whatever you want to.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Besides take care of my family?”

“Besides that.”

“Once I get my license reinstated, I want to start my business.” His eyes light up as he talks about it, how he had already looked into getting retired choppers, and had gathered up some possible contacts, even scouted out some property. The only thing that had stopped him was the money, which was no longer an issue. 

—----

6 months later, Frankie’s license gets reinstated, the owner clapping him on the shoulder and apologizing for everything. A month later, Frankie opens Chopperz, his veteran owned and operated helicopter tour business. It’s a instant success - apparently people really want to experience flying in various retired military equipment being flown by actual veterans. He even has repeat customers, although a lot of them are women and you catch more than one of them blushing when he talks to them. 

Will and Stacy build a new house, much bigger to fit their expanding family, ecstatic that they were finally having a girl. He quits giving speeches almost immediately, staying home with his family and helping Frankie out when he needs it. 

Benny and Olivia confessed that they had actually gotten married the day after Benny’s last fight, not able to wait any longer. When he came home, they took off to travel the world while their dream house was being built just down the road from Frankie and Will. 

Santi went to Australia to find Yovanna and her brother, following them around until they got settled. He and Yovanna stayed together for a while, and he took some time for himself, wandering the world to see things when he wasn’t in a uniform. He eventually came back, building a house down the road from Frankie and the Millers. But to his first get together with everyone, he brought a girl, which wouldn’t have surprised anyone, but you could see the way he looked at her, constantly touching her lightly, pressing kisses to her head, shoulder, lips, anywhere he could. And she was doing the same, her eyes lighting up every time they looked at each other, so when you asked him later, away from everyone else, he scratches the back of his neck and admits that he thinks she’s the one, that she gets him, understands him, and doesn’t give a flying fuck about his money, which she didn’t even know about until now.  

Frankie and you were finally happy, after all these years. Elizabeth finally stopped her shit, leaving you and Frankie to be happy and only communicating when it regards Aurelia. Instead of moving, you decide to expand your house, adding another couple of bedrooms because you want to eventually expand your family. Frankie is beyond happy, smiling at Luis and Aurelia as they run around their new treehouse in the backyard, feeling you wrap your arms around him from behind, kissing his broad back before moving to stand next to him, his arm around your shoulder as you both watch your kids.

“What are you thinking about?” You ask, turning your head up to him.

“How happy I am. How I wish we had started this all sooner, that it didn’t take such a shitty road to get here, and that it didn’t take us this long.”

You reach up and cup his face, pulling him to you as you kiss him, his soft lips lightly nibbling at yours. 

“I’ll always wait for you, Frankie.”

—----  

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[casdeans-pie]

Falling (In Love)

Destiel Fanfiction 2,065 words Rated G

Tags: Aftermath Of A Case (we don't see the case, but we see what Situation Dean and Cas have ended up in because of it), Castiel Is A Fallen Angel, Dean Sees Cas's Wings, Near Death Experience, First Kiss.

Summary: Desperate times call for desperate measures even if those measures are jumping out of the window on the seventieth floor with nothing but hope and mangled fallen angel wings to keep you in the air. Probably not the best time for a kiss... or is it?

------Read on AO3------

---------

In terms of ‘situations where escape seems impossible’ Dean would probably rank this at a solid two. He’s not entirely sure what keeps it from being number one, since there are currently a group of eight witches blocking the only doored exit to the room, and the only other way out would be through the floor-to-ceiling window behind him – seventy stories up from the ground. Dean lost his gun a few floors back, and Cas’s angel blade was stolen by the witches, so they’re also weapon-less. But he figures that while the spell book that he and Cas just stole is still in his hands the witches won’t risk damaging it, so at least they can stall for time while he thinks of some way to get them both out with the book. He’s escaped with impossible odds against him all the time.

It just feels a little more impossible than usual.

Dean glances over at Cas, hoping to see some kind of glint in his eyes that means he’s got a plan. But he’s not looking at Dean. His eyebrows are drawn together in indecision and worry and he’s staring straight ahead with a vacant expression that means he’s deep in his thoughts.

Hope flares in Dean’s chest.

He’s learned enough from Cas’s expressions over the years to know that he’s got something up his sleeve. Something risky, but hell, Dean’s not picky about that right now.

The witches all take a pace forwards as a unit and Cas tugs on Dean’s shirt sleeve to pull him back further towards the window, to keep their distance. Nothing but a desk separates them now.

The huge glass window is pressing cold and solid against their backs in a cruel reminder that freedom is a pane of glass away, but they’d never survive the fall.

“Just give us the book Winchester,” one of the witches snaps.

“Give us the book and we’ll let you both live,” another adds in a low, persuasive tone.

“Like hell you will,” Dean retorts with a snort, “you think I’m gonna trust a single damn thing that comes out of a witch’s mouth?”

A witch taller than the others takes another step closer to them both, her chin held high, and she examines her long, blood red nails as if bored by the whole situation. “Boys, boys, boys,” she says, with a shake of her head, “I grow tired of this. You’ve stolen my book, and I want it back. There is clearly nowhere for you to go, so I suggest that you hand it over, or I will regretfully have to kill you both and hope that my book survives.”

“This book contains angelic spells, and it belonged to the angels before it belonged to you. You’re the ones who stole it in the first place. You have no more claim to it than we do,” Cas says suddenly, his voice firm and full of defiance.

“Yeah, except Cas is an angel, so really, yknow, if it belongs to anyone it belongs to him,” Dean adds, tapping the front cover of the old book with his knuckles and scoping out the room again while he stalls for time, hoping to find any way out of this. Preferably without him and Cas becoming spell-practice for witches or bloody smears on the sidewalk below them.

The bold witch at the front laughs in a throaty cackle.

Dean smiles. “Wow, nice laugh you got there, Wicked Witch of the West, you about to tell me you’re gonna get me and my little dog too?”

“Mm, you are pretty I’ll give you that. But no, I’m just amused that you can call that an angel. I’ve been using those spells a long time, so I can see something of this… abomination’s true form, and trust me, Winchester, if you could see what I see you wouldn’t call it an angel.”

------Read the rest on AO3------

[laurenairay]

I’m the first in line - T. Jost

Summary: Tyson plans a picnic date, and Chloe realises exactly how much she likes his romantic side.

Words: 3.4k

Warnings: fluff, cheesiness, Tyson being adorable

A/N: it feels like it’s been a while since I’ve written for Tyson and Chloe, so here we go! This fic wasn’t even in the plan I had for them, but I feel like it’s a necessary one to show the first real changes in their relationship.

Series masterlist. (if you want to be notified, please sign up!)

Title from Take a Chance on Me, by ABBA

*

“Hey, what are you doing this Saturday?”

“Hello to you too,” Chloe mused.

Tyson’s face flushed as he walked into her apartment, kissing her cheek in greeting as he passed her, Chloe just grinning at his sheepishness. Six weeks she’d known this guy, and seeing him fluster and squirm never got old – and she doubted it would any time soon. He looked so pretty when he blushed.

“So…Saturday?” he asked hopefully, once they were standing in the kitchen.

Chloe raised a sharply-drawn eyebrow at him, dramatically humming in thought as she genuinely mentally scrolled through her calendar. The fact that he was so eager to know what her plans were intrigued her. What was he up to?

“Yeah I’m pretty sure I’m free,” she said casually, shrugging, “Why?”

Tyson just grinned, clearly unfazed by her cool tone in the slightest. “I want to take you out on a date.”

Chloe found herself smiling slightly. She could appreciate a guy who knows what he wants.

“Out on a date huh? We’ve gone out to dinner and drinks a lot in the last month and a half – what makes this so special?” she mused.

“I want to do something other than dinner and drinks,” he said simply.

Well she was definitely intrigued at this point.

“Alright, I’ll bite. What have you got in mind?” she asked, smiling slightly.

“A picnic,” he grinned.

A picnic?

Tyson just laughed at the frown on her face, holding up his hands in surrender.

“I’ve already scouted out a location, gathered all the items, planned out the food, and found a place to park the car,” he said, smiling easily.

Oh wow. He really was eager to take her out. All of that planning, just for her?

“You were that sure I’d agree, huh?” she said dryly, trying to mask how stunned she was.

“I’m pretty confident that you like me at this point, Chloe Duncan,” he teased.

“Don’t push your luck, Tyson Jost,” she shot back.

Tyson just laughed, eyes scrunching in the adorable way that they did, making those treacherous butterflies re-emerge. But still Chloe found herself smiling, shaking her head fondly at the ridiculous guy she was slowly letting into her life.

She couldn’t remember the last time that someone put in the effort like this for her. Not past casual dates, certainly not the couple of terrible boyfriends she’d had. She’d wondered from the get-go what it was about Tyson that made him so special, and it was becoming more and more clear. He was a romantic. She’d never dated a romantic, even as casual as they still were. So the fact that he went to such lengths for her, to continuously strive to win her over, it made her heart flutter like nothing else ever had before. Tyson Jost was one of a kind, that was for sure.

“Are we still ordering pizza tonight?”

Tyson’s cheerful voice broke her out of her thoughts, practically bouncing on his heels where they were still standing in the kitchen.

“As long as your trainers don’t come after me, sure,” she mused.

He just grinned. Well she wasn’t going to tattle on him.

*

Saturday came all too soon. Even though the year had reached April, it was still cool enough for a jacket outside, so when Chloe came to get herself ready ahead of Tyson picking her up for their picnic date (11am sharp, apparently), she found herself at a loss of what to wear. It was a date, right, so she didn’t want to be super casual like they were when they ate at each other’s houses, but she knew Tyson wouldn’t be dressing up fancy for a picnic. With no-one really to ask about her outfit choices, she had to guess and hope for the best, choosing a comfortable pair of black jeans, a grey and black plaid shirt, paired with a pair of black sneakers and a thick black bomber jacket rather than her typical leather jacket. Wearing her usual silver jewellery (necklaces, rings, many tiny hoops in her ears), red lipstick, and smoky eyeliner, Chloe could only hope that she’d gotten things right.

The fact that she was questioning how she looked, how she dressed, how she presented herself to the world by his side made her disgruntled enough to almost cancel the whole day, but as she opened up the message thread she had with Tyson and saw his last string of heart emojis, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Her long-fought anxieties were not going to rule her life, and she wasn’t going to waste her opportunities with the sweetest guy she’d ever met because of them. No, not a chance. He knew what she looked like, how she dressed, how she acted, and he never once made her feel like anything less than amazing.

Not that Tyson would judge her or even say anything if she didn’t match the aesthetic he was going for. That just wasn’t him, and it never would be.

Soon enough, 11am came, along with Tyson knocking at her door. The briefly-stunned look on his face as he first saw her, followed by that familiar bright smile, melted away those lingering doubts. It helped that he was wearing a pair of jeans and a plain blue shirt under his jacket, matching her level of casualness. She kissed his cheek in greeting, catching his cheeks blushing as she turned to grab her handbag and lock the front door behind her, Tyson just smiling at her as she turned back round to face him properly.

“Shall we?” he asked, holding out his hand for her to take.

What a cheesy dumbass. Still, she took his hand without complaint, smiling to herself as Tyson threaded their fingers together on the short walk to his car, trying valiantly not to blush as he kissed the back of her hand before he let her go. Literally any other guy who would try this kind of softness with her (and previous people had) would usually turn her so far off she was already out the door. But not Tyson. Why not? What was it about him that was so different?

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow at him as he started the car, “Or are you committing to the mystery of it all?”

Tyson just grinned, laughing as he pulled out into the road. “Definitely committing to the mystery.”

Of course he was.

“Any hints?” she mused.

“There will be lots of grass...”

Great.

“…Maybe some water…”

Great.

“Any definitely some fresh air,” he finished.

Oh he was the worst. “You are the least helpful person ever, Tyson Jost,” Chloe groaned, narrowing her eyes at him.

He could clearly see her out the corner of his eyes as he watched the road, because he just grinned. “Embrace the mystery! Wait and see! How often can I actually surprise you, eh?”

Well he had a point there. She knew she wasn’t going to get any more information out of him, not with how much he was enjoying this, so she settled back into the seat of his car, letting the music wash over her as he drove. She kept an eye on their surroundings, watching their journey as they went, smiling to herself as Tyson drove them slowly through downtown…and then he drove them over a bridge. She knew this bridge.

“Are we going to Harriet Island?” she asked, turning her head to look at him.

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it a mystery for much longer,” he mused, “Yeah we’re having our picnic in the park on Harriet Island.”

He didn’t take long to find a space for the car near the East Gate, and Chloe was just happy that the parking lot wasn’t crammed full. At least for the moment, they would have plenty of space in the park to themselves, and she couldn’t wait. She couldn’t help but laugh as Tyson opened the trunk of his car though.

“You weren’t kidding about gathering all the items, huh?” she teased.

“I like to be prepared!” he said, laughing even as he defended himself, “All of these things are absolutely necessary for a picnic.”

Chloe just rolled her eyes fondly as he pulled out a thick blanket and a couple of cushions, tucking those under his arm, and she could see another bag along with a giant picnic basket too.

“Would you mind carrying this bag if I grab everything else?” he asked.

She felt a sharp barb on the edge of her tongue, something cutting about being forced to do manual labour, but the hopeful look in his expression made her swallow it. He really was so excited to do this picnic thing right, wasn’t he? How could she crush that?

“Yeah sure, I think I can manage that,” she said dryly, the small smile on her lips letting him know that she was teasing.

Tyson just beamed at her, passing her the tote bag – which only contained napkins and cutlery, bless his heart – and pulled out the hamper before he shut the trunk behind it all. With a quick click to lock the car, he was ready – and so was she. Chloe didn’t know how far Tyson had decided on their location, if he had an ideal spot or not, but she knew he couldn’t have taken anyone else here yet. That thought alone made her soften her hesitant edges just that little bit further. This was so romantic, the two of them strolling slowly through the park, only a few groups of people dotted about, allowing her the time to ease into the unfamiliar situation. While they weren’t holding hands, they were still walking side by side, close enough that it was intimate without being so ridiculous that they were tripping over each other, Tyson just smiling at her all the way. It was…sweet. She should’ve expected that from him, really.

Eventually they reached a secluded grassy space with a decent view of the river that Tyson apparently deemed suitable, far enough from the water’s edge that she knew they shouldn’t be particularly disturbed. It was kind of perfect, if she was being honest. Had he scouted this out too?

“Voila!”

Chloe found herself smiling as the scene in front of her; Tyson had laid out the blanket into a traditional square and had placed the two cushions in the middle for them to sit on. In the top of the open picnic basket was a cup holder with two glasses in, and she could see a few Tupperware boxes in there too. He’d made things from scratch? Not just store bought?

“Jeez, Tyson, you’ve gone all out,” she said, huffing out a laugh.

“Oh it’s nothing much,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “I just made a salad with feta, walnuts and strawberries in, then a pasta with chicken, spinach and tomatoes, and I bought these amazing key lime pie cookies from a bakery downtown. Also bought the chips and salsa. Oh, and I found this sparkling lemon water which the bakery girl recommended. Just stuff I know you like, that’s all.”

Holy shit. He’d gone above and beyond anything she could’ve expected. He’d remembered all the little things she liked? And created dishes for them without even thinking it was anything special?

“You’re incredible,” she said earnestly, eyes locked with his, “This is amazing.”

“Yeah?” he said, cheeks flushing as he finally looked pleased with himself.

“Yeah Tys, I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it. I can’t wait to try all of it,” she nodded, smiling at him.

Never had she freely given so many genuine smiles to anyone either. Another tick on the list for all the reasons Tyson Jost was shaking up her world.

The two of them sat down, Tyson passing her the cutlery from the bag she’d been carrying before pulling out the boxes of food. Somehow, as he had done ever since she met him, he eased the two of them into easy conversation, each taking turns to talk about the last few days since they saw each other, including the cutest dog that Tyson saw outside the bakery that morning, all the while slowly eating the delicious food that Tyson prepared. Sure, he admitted that he’d rung his mom for recipe ideas and sure, he’d sped over to a teammate’s house to borrow a picnic basket this morning (which she knew he was absolutely going to get teased for), but it all just added to how much she liked him. Because she really, truly did. And yes, that thought scared her a little, knowing that he was easing his way into her heart bit by bit, but he was so genuine, and sweet, and thoughtful, and funny, and he didn’t even look disgusted when she spat out a little sparkling lemon water at a particularly funny story he told – he just handed her a napkin and carried on.

He’d even thought about what to do with the dirty cutlery, napkins, and Tupperware boxes – the tote bag. Why was it that little thought, about not leaving trash behind in this beautiful setting, that had her head whirling?

Putting all the effort into planning a date was one thing, but actually pulling it off like he had? No-one had ever gone to this level for her, not ever. Why Tyson? Why now? Why her?

“Looks like you’re thinking up a storm over there.”

Tyson’s soft words drew her out of her thoughts, and she tried smiling at him to reassure him, but by the frown on his face she knew she failed. Time to own up.

“I just…don’t know if I deserve this?” she said hesitantly.

Tyson’s lips parted in surprise, before his face slipped into a scowl. “Did someone make you think you don’t deserve to be treated nicely?”

Holy shit, way to hit the nail on the head.

But that wasn’t something she was ready to talk about. Not with him. Not right now, after this amazing date he’d poured his heart into.

“Something like that,” Chloe sighed.

His scowl softened into a sad smile, making her wince, to which he frowned slightly. “You deserve the world, Chloe. Anyone who’s ever told you otherwise can sit on a cactus.”

She choked out a laugh at the vivid imagery, making Tyson’s frown shift into a smile.

“You’re too sweet for me,” she said softly.

“I’m exactly the right kind of sweet for you,” he shot back, undeterred, “I know there’s still so much about you that I don’t know, but I really want to. If you’ll let me, I want to get to know you, Chloe Duncan, inside and out, all the good and the bad.”

She inhaled sharply at his words, breath hitching in her throat, the intensity in his eyes making her lips part and her own eyes sting with tears.

“Really? Even though I’m mean and cold and shut people out at the drop of a hat?”

“Really really,” Tyson said, smiling, “You’re one of a kind, Chlo, and I’ll be damned if I let someone so special slip out of my life.”

This was the guy that she was falling for. The gentle kind-hearted sweetheart who put everyone else before himself. The passionate athlete who loved what he did with his whole heart. The gentleman who only ever kissed her cheek and rested his hand on her waist because he knew she wasn’t ready. The adorable guy who blushed at her sharp comments but didn’t run away. This guy, Tyson Jost – and he wanted her in a way that no-one ever had before.

“Tyson, I…”

Chloe hesitated, cutting herself off as she was lost for words. For so long she’d hesitated with him, held herself back, just because he was so different than anything she’d ever known – but wasn’t that a good thing? Someone who pushed past her barriers, turned her world upside down? Tyson had done all of that, was continuously doing all of that, and more. He was…different, in all the good ways she’d tried to ignore how much she wanted.

Tyson’s smile dimmed slightly at her hesitance, just enough to send a pang through her chest, just enough to let her instincts overtake her mind for once.

Enough for her to lean over and press her lips to his.

Tyson made a soft sound of surprise, making her freeze slightly, before he softly kissed her back. Wow. As she melted into his embrace, clutching at his shirt with one hand while her other propped up her body weight, his free hand coming up to cup her face, she found herself sinking into the feeling of his lips against hers. Even though she had initiated the kiss, Tyson easily took over, kissing her slowly, sweetly, softly, over and over again until all she could think of was him. Never had a kiss made her feel this way; certainly not one as sweet and innocent at this.

Chloe inhaled sharply as his tongue brushed her bottom lip, Tyson just smiling against her mouth, so much so that he broke the kiss. She found herself making a soft noise of disappointment – why did he have to stop? – and Tyson just laughed softly, as if he couldn’t believe what just happened.

“You’re amazing,” he murmured.

She felt the heat rising on her cheeks, knowing her usually pale skin would be so red at his simple words, and just shook her head.

“I’m sorry I took so long,” she murmured.

Because everything had been at her pace. Always her, never him, and she could never thank him enough for that.

“It was so worth the wait,” he grinned.

She batted at his chest, making him laugh, and found herself laughing as she moved to sit back properly, still marvelling at the way her lips tingled with the phantom press of his. As she settled back comfortably, picking at a stray strawberry, Tyson turned to face her, a hopeful look on his face. What did he want now? How could he possibly top this?

“I know we’ve only known each six weeks, and I know this was first time we’ve kissed, but I gotta say…I’m all in, Chloe. This, you and me, it’s all I want. And yeah I’m aware that I’m rambling now and I’ve shared a lot of feelings which give you hives, but I don’t want to be in this limbo of not knowing where we stand. I want something serious with you, Chlo. I don’t want anyone else to sweep you off your feet.”

“I haven’t been seeing anyone else,” she blurted.

Tyson let out a relieved laugh, making her blush slightly even as he smiled. “I haven’t either. I haven’t even looked at anyone else because you’re all I think about. You’re all I want to think about, you know? You’re it for me.”

“Fucking hell, Tyson,” she said incredulously, her cursing mixed with a gasp.

“Too much?” he winced.

I’m all in.

I want something serious.

You’re all I think about.

You’re it for me.

How could she not let him past one of her many barriers when he said all the things she’d been so desperate to hear, all from his golden heart?

Chloe huffed out a shaky breath, but shook her head, Tyson’s happy smile letting her know she’d done the right thing in letting him in, as much as it scared her.

“I gotta know, Chlo, will you be my girlfriend?”

His sweet words, paired with his earnest eyes, made her heart beat that little bit faster, and she found herself smiling even as she cursed herself for the tears stinging her eyes.

“Yeah, I’d love to, Tys,” she murmured back.

Tyson immediately whooped, dramatically punching a fist in the air, making her burst into laughter even as she batted at his chest. But he didn’t care. He looked like he literally didn’t have a care in the world as he turned that incredible smile back to her, and she couldn’t stop the smile that she sent back.

“We’re going to be amazing, you’ll see,” Tyson said happily.

“I’ll hold you to that,” she laughed.

She could only hope.

*

Taglist: @starshine-hockey-girl​ @youngbeezer​ @fiveholegoal @senditcolton​ @fallinallincurls​ @typical-simplelove​

[hannahssimblr]

Chapter Nine

I huddle behind the till with Petra on the last Friday before Christmas, watching as she tallies up the till for the final time before the new year. 

“Okay, so we sold five of these, three of those, and the last eight of those ones… and I’ll have to check the books again but I think I sent twelve to the post office today.” I glance over her shoulder at the long receipt that’s been spit out of the till to confirm. “So that’s almost all of them sold?”

She glances over to the card rack on the wall nearby. “Everything except for, I think, four?”

“Wow.” I say. “I can’t believe people actually wanted them.”

“Oh for goodness sake!” She grins. “Of course they did, you did a beautiful job on those cards. You should be very proud.”

I blush. “I actually am.”

Petra empties the last of the till coins into a plastic bag and locks it into the safe for the bank. “Well you can enjoy the money, my dear, and enjoy your christmas. Have you planned to do anything nice?”

“The usual. I’ll just go to my granny’s house and we’ll have dinner with my aunts and uncles and cousins. We just found out that my uncle’s wife is pregnant again, so that’s something to chat about at the dinner table.”

“Sounds lovely.” She muses, and I suppress a grimace as I zip up my coat. “Yeah, well, have a safe flight home to Spain. I hope you have better weather than we do here.”

“Me too.” She says. “Happy New Year, since I won’t see you before then.” I smile and let myself out onto the dark of the early evening street as the jaunty little bell jingles in the door behind me. 

Luke, who owns the coffee shop across the street, is closing his shutters too, and gives me a quick wave and a “merry Christmas, Evie.” as he covers up the window art I did for him a few weeks ago. He liked what I’d done for Mezzotint so much that he asked me to do one for him too. I went out on a limb and asked him for one hundred euros for it, and he paid it without batting an eyelid. All of that money has gone towards Christmas presents, as for the first time in years I’ve been able to afford them. I hop on the Luas and ride it towards the centre of town. It’s jammed with commuters in big coats, the windows fogged up and dripping with condensation. The lights outside blur together through the fog. 

I get off at Jervis Street onto pavement that’s still wet with the rain from earlier and wander up towards Henry street, where I buy a hot chocolate from the crepe and coffee kiosk that’s still open, just because I want one, and then head towards Arnotts where I walk around looking at fancy things that I cannot afford for half an hour, just for the sake of doing it. There are discounted Christmas decorations in one section, and I’m drawn to a pair of pink feathered ones with silver beads laced along the ribbons. On sale, they are ten euros each but I buy both of them anyway, because Claire would love them. 

On the way out I go to the perfume section and spray Tom Ford on myself. The shop assistant smiles at me like she thinks I might want to buy it, but I avoid eye contact. I will never own perfume like this. I bring my wrists to my nose and inhale the complicated aroma as I head back onto the maniacal December crowds, imagining for a moment how satisfying it must feel to smell like two hundred euro perfume every day, to know that you can throw money at something frivolous, just because you like the smell of it. 

When I arrive home, Claire is in her pyjamas and eating a bowl of plain pasta on the couch. She grins at me as I come in and asks me if I want to binge some Christmas films. It feels like a perfect way to spend our last night of the year together before we go back to Tullamore tomorrow. I go upstairs and put on something comfortable. I don’t really have pyjamas in the way that Claire does. Hers are always matching, satin with lace trims, flannel with pockets and buttons down the front, but I don’t have anything like that. Perhaps it says something about my personality. I grab an ancient vest and a pair of jersey shorts and head down to the couch, stashing the wrapped feathered baubles into my half-packed suitcase to give to her tomorrow. 

First we watch Miracle on 34th street, because we watch that every year, and then inevitably we put on Love Actually, just to scream about how much we hate every single character except for Sam, and we drink more hot chocolate and eat sweets from a tub until I feel sick. As the credits roll I glance over to her to see a glazed expression on the face. She’s gazing through the window at nothing. Blackness, the sky clouded over leaving no space for the stars to peek through them.

“Are you alright?”

“Mm. Yes.”

I shift in my seat. “I’ve been meaning to ask how things have been with Shane, you know, like, with his college work and the football and all that.”

“Oh, it’s fine. The usual. I don’t think we’ve made any progress, to be honest.”

“And his Christmas exams?”

“I don’t have a clue. He barely studied for them so he’s probably failed them, for all I know.”

“Oh.”

She looks at me then, brows furrowed and voice defensive. “I love him, you know. I still love him. I won’t like, break up with him or anything.”

“I didn’t think you would.”

“Things will get better. All couples go through this kind of thing. It’s what happens when you’ve been together for three years, things just feel a bit less perfect than they used to, and you have to make compromises. Really though, I love him. I’d do anything for him.”

I wonder if it’s only my projection that she sounds a bit like she’s trying to convince herself of those things, not me. “I’m sure the exams went fine.” I say, even though I’m not sure. On every run and every gym session I’ve been to with Shane in the last few months he hasn’t mentioned college once. His twenty-five-grams-of-protein yoghurts and his various friends who injured themselves in various ways from using the machines wrong (like me), he’s mentioned plenty of times, but unless I knew for a fact that he was in college, I’d assume he didn’t go. 

Claire is frustrated. “I wish he’d just get it together. That’s all. I’m sick of feeling like I’m nagging him, but it really just feels like common sense… oh!” her phone springs to life on the table in front of us, vibrating loudly against the wood. “I bet this is him now, speak of the devil.” She flips it over in her hand and her brows knit together with confusion. “Oh, it isn’t.”

“Who is it?”

“Um. It’s Jude.” She brings it slowly to her ear, as though it might bite her. “…hello?”

It’s quiet enough in the room to hear his side of the conversation. “Hey. Hey Claire. I’m so sorry to call you. Are you with Shane at the moment?”

Her face screws up. “No. I amn’t, I’m at home with Evie.”

“Ah, right. Do you know if he’s around? I tried to call him a few times and there was no answer.”

“He’s in Tullamore. He’s gone home for Christmas already, he had training at the pitch at seven, sorry.” She glances at the clock in the kitchen. “It’s also almost midnight. I imagine he’s asleep by now.”

“Right, okay. That’s fine… uh. Sorry to call you, I better-”

“Is everything alright?” 

“Yeah, yeah, it’s nothing, I’m just home in Dublin for the next week. I misplaced my house keys, I was hoping to crash at his.” A pause. “And also like, maybe because he has a car I was thinking he might be able to drive me to A&E.”

“What?” I exclaim. Claire’s eyes are wide. She doesn’t know what to do. I take the phone. “Jude.” I say. “It’s Evie.”

“Hi Evie, how’s it going?”

“What happened?”

“No, no, no, nothing big, it’s not a big deal, I just might need a couple of stitches.”

“Stitches where?”

“My-” He breaks away and sucks air through his teeth, muttering “Jesus, fuck” under his breath. “- my eyebrow. It’s fine. It can wait, I can just get a taxi back to Clontarf and get my parents to let me in. Hopefully they’re still awake.” He sounds doubtful. “Sorry to disturb you, seriously. I’ll work it out.”

“For God’s sake.” Claire grabs the phone again. “Come here. We can’t drive you to the hospital but we can clean you up. I at least have a first aid kit. Where are you?”

“The docks.”

“You’re only a few minutes away. Can you walk to us?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright.” She gives him our address and they hang up, then she sits there in disbelief, shaking her head. “Bloody men.” She says. “I’m exhausted.” She gets up and heads towards the stairs. 

“Where are you going?” I ask her. 

“To put on a bra.”

Beginning // Prev // Next

[eclectic-sassycoweyes]

hi! for the character ask game: 9, 10, 21 for tk!

Hi!! Thank you!! (Character ask game)

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

Wow this genuinely a very good question.. hm🤔 well, even though TK is sometimes depicted as the opposite, I actually feel like he has his sh*t together way too much for us to be compatible roommates - I’d feel intimidated lol. At the same time, he is kind of chaotic and, we know he sometimes skips dinner and eats a 2 in the morning and can be very emotional.. and in those regards I’d feel like we’d compliment each other too well 😅 we’d end up eating dinner after 11pm ever day talk ourselves into a spiral about feelings.. and I have lived with a dear friend of mine before who were impulsive in her emotions and sometimes lashed out a bit as a reaction which I hc TK has the tendency to, and her emotions took up quite a lot of space, and while it didn’t damage our friendship that was very hard bc I’m the opposite, I hardly ever get annoyed and like to talk things out calmly and rationally lol.. and so when people lashes out at me it feels like a Big Thing and I don’t always handle that as well as I imagine Carlos would😊 so I guess we wouldn’t be the most compatible..? Or maybe it’s just because I’m picky with roommates atm and looking for at place of my own since I have literally not been alone for more than maybe a week in hours added together in the last year, (😭)and also I can’t imagine TK living with anyone but Carlos🥰 BUT! TK is such a genuinely good person who I like very much, so that counts, AND he’s a pretty good communicator, which I consider myself to be too so we’d make it work😌

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

I think this question would be answered with some of the same pros/cons listed above. Although it is sometimes easier to be best friends than rommies! Added to that, I think that TK is kind of drawn to people who are kind of steady, and are natural caregivers, in his close relationships. And while I am definitely caring and also the one of my friends who kind of analyzes and their chaotic situations and give them solid advice, the everyday caretaker role of like cooking food and reading other’s emotions and needs without having them explicated sometimes and stuff doesn’t come very natural me. I am unstructured, slightly chaotic and very reflective and bad at even making food for myself to be ready on the Correct Mealtimes hehe. But okay, considering Carlos fills out that role for TK, I guess pros are that we are both nerdy about and love animals (also the non-furry ones lol) and both like to go dancing and are open about things that many people might consider private, and have a thing for short sleeved shirts with cute patterns🥰

I guess again, I don’t see it as a perfect match, but we could definitely make it work! Some of my best friends are not friends who are perfect matches either but are best friends because I’ve known them for a very long time and fate brought us together lol, and they are the types, like me, to form close bonds with openness and vulnerability and you can be yourself, and I think TK can be the same way:)

Wow sorry for the long answers, those were difficult questions! I really went not only ‘hm how do I see TK as a roomie’ and ‘what make people compatible as best friends’ but also ‘who am I??’ lol

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

I love writing and reading TK Strand shenanigans. Him being the biggest adventure of Carlos’ life. Just being slightly chaotic and menacing😌 Also TK being sexually open-minded and adventurous, and communicative. Hm. Something I’m aware of when both reading and writing TK is writing him as also insecure and somewhat inexperienced, in that I think he hasn’t felt comfortable sexually and romantically the way he does with Carlos. So I don’t like to depict him as some sort of savior of Carlos’ love life who knows all the answers. But I also don’t like to depict him as if nothing in his past has been good you know?

Also it’s important for me to make sure to depict TK as nuanced in terms of “masculine” and “feminine” (I really don’t like those words) traits. But like yeah, TK is slightly chaotic, his voice is lighter than Carlos’ and he dresses more colorfully and in light colors and is a bit more flamboyant and does the cutest little bouncy-shimmy and he is definely more in tune with his emotions. But he is also steady and badass af in a storm, he is Carlos’ rock, unfazed in emergencies involving sickness, gore and literal fire and explosions, he is strong, caring and hella competent, and he’s good at communicating (when he’s not too wound up and lashes out it runs off) but yeah. I love those nuances about him and it’s important for me to depict those, which can feel like a challenge to do it in a subtle show-don’t-tell way bc I’m such a beginner at writing!

TK’s past and present with addiction can also be difficult to write, mainly because people who struggle with it have a lot of different experiences, and it’s a subject surrounded still by a lot of stigma and I want to be sensitive about it without leaving out the hard and nitty-gritty parts.

I really gotta practice shorter answers, thank you for the asks, and thank you to anyone who have actually reached the bottom of this😅😅

[sportsthoughts]

BEER LEAGUE UPDATE!!! Woo! Happy Sunday

I did not skate for 30 minutes this week! …I skated for 60. I subbed in for the game after mine and both teams I played on only had two right wings. Honestly, I thought it would be more exhausting than it was. I was getting pretty gassed going into the third period of the first game, but then I found a second wind and was straight-up vibing throughout the next game.

We lost the first game 2-0, so sadly we are no longer undefeated. However, my adopted team won the next one (2-0 again)! For that game, I was playing AGAINST my goalie friend and that was a blast. I got some shots on her, but every time she stopped them with a very emphatic “no”. Once she said “anyone can score except for you!”. I didn’t get to score on her (though I got some SOG in both games, and even lifted the puck pretty well on one! I’ve been working a ton lately on lifting the puck while moving, so I was really psyched to actually pull it off in a game.), but I did get an assist! Made a play in the neutral zone that set up the first goal.

Highlight: my skating is getting SO MUCH better and people noticed! I got a really nice compliment from one of my teammates about how much I’d improved since last week. I’ve been practicing crossovers for ages but have never really used them in a game cause it’s just not natural for me yet, but I did it a bunch of times tonight and it went really smoothly. I’m also falling a lot less. I’m not actually sure I have a low point this week, aside from the fact that we lost.

Your last response made me laugh because my dad’s parents lived in Bloomington their whole lives! I’ve been there a lot. You randomly picked a city I’m very familiar with. Their arena is known as BIG, both because that’s the acronym and because it’s huge. If you’ve seen the movie Miracle, that’s the arena where that team practiced before the Olympics! I think my dad may actually have been living there at the time. This is the same dad who once met Crosby and Fleury in a hotel on a work trip and while his coworker was freaking out and getting a picture with them, my dad was just like “dude, can we hurry up and go to dinner” because he doesn’t really care about hockey. I will never not laugh picturing that interaction. Imagine being a super famous athlete and encountering a man who was less enthused by you than he was about the Italian place he was on his way to. I’ll leave you with that tidbit until next week!

First of all i'm sorry it took me so long to get to this, anon! In my haze of covid and getting ready to move house this got buried in my ask box and it just occurred to me that I never replied!!

Wow they are working you HARD huh! I'm laughing at the thought of you playing against your goalie friend. I'm picturing sid and flower teasing each other during practice.

And yeahhhh your skating is getting better! That's awesome!! Next stop all stars.

And what do you know?! I must have been drawn to Bloomington for a reason. I'll be real with you, I had to just google a map of America because I have no idea where MN is - I thought it was kinda central and to the right? Turns out it's at the top near Canada! The hockey makes sense!

I also have not seen the movie Miracle - should I? Also wow that your Dad Experienced The Presence. I think if I were in that situation I too would run off to find my dinner because I would feel awkward to see Sid in real life. 100% a fairytale character to me and 0% Real Boy.

I am curious how long your beer league runs for - and the fact that it doesn't run in time with the ordinary hockey season? Is that for a reason? Do all beer leagues run at the same time each year? Or is it a year round thing?

[jacksonroseroth]

~The Price~Chapter 22~

Moodboard made by @badwolf-in-the-impala none of the pictures are ours

Warnings-Some smut

~

Tristan sat at the table with a redhead, his arm around her as he gazed at her adoringly as she spoke. His blue eyes sparkled as she laughed, his own chuckle slipping loose before he pressed a kiss to her cheek. The redhead stopped talking as her cheeks turned pink, then kissed him, quickly. Theo sat opposite  his twin, with a blonde that the red head was speaking with. She sat back with a soft giggle, exchanging amused looks with Theo before they engaged in their own conversation as the door opened and Thatcher led Taddie inside.

Taddie took a deep breath as she looked around the room, seeing Thomas in the corner with a black haired woman, who had the same stark blue eyes Thomas had. When they landed on Taddie and the woman’s brow raised, Taddie quickly looked away and gripped Thatcher’s hand as he led her to the table. Theo turned as Thatcher held out Taddie’s chair for her, smiling as he said, “Glad you could join us.”

“Shut up, Theo.” Thatcher shot at him with a smirk. Sliding his hand over Taddie’s shoulder he chuckled, then said, “Taddie, this is my little brother, Theo, Tristan’s twin. And this is his wife, Luna.”

“It’s nice to meet you. Thatcher’s told us a lot about you.” Luna said with a sweet smile. Taddie returned it and nodded at them both, then stopped and raised a brow, turning to look up at Thatcher.

“So, you’ve told everyone about me?” Taddie asked with a soft giggle. Thatcher chuckled, stooping down to press a kiss to her cheek before he said, “All good things, kitten. All goods things.”

Thatcher took his seat beside her as he gestured across the table as he said, “You remember Tristan-This is his girlfriend, Leah. Ah-Uh--Luna and Leah are cousins and they’re both in fashion.”

“Really? Wow. How did you end up meeting both brothers? Twins?” Taddie asked with a soft laugh. Laughter swept the table before Leah sat forward and said, “I’m 3 years younger than Luna. She came to Virginia to open a store for her company and met Theo, 3 years later, I was out of college and needed a job. She offered me one and Theo introduced us on a blind date.”

“That’s sweet. How long have you been dating?” Taddie asked as Thatcher slid his arm around her waist. Instinctively, she leaned against him and he chuckled as he nuzzled her curls, lightly.

“Two years-Three, this upcoming February.” Tristan said with a wide, practically giddy smile. Taddie bit her lip, knowing the possible reason behind it, but she held her tongue, simply smiling at them as Tristan tugged Leah closer, tickling her sides and making her squirm around until she’d pushed his hands away. Taddie’s hand slid over Thatcher’s thigh and he slid his free hand over her arm, lightly.

Luna turned to the new couple and asked, “How long have you been dating Thatcher? We’ve only been hearing about you for a month or two now.”

“Oh, um…” Taddie quickly looked up to Thatcher with drawn brows that she quickly relaxed once he gave her a nod and quickly whispered to her. She pulled her smile back to her face as she let out a soft giggle and said, “Well, it honestly feels like it’s only been a week…But since-since March? I-I’ve been really busy with work and so has he-We didn’t get to see each other often until recently.”

Thatcher’s lips skewed in a smirk as he exchanged a knowing look with Tristan as Leah asked, “What do you do for work? Thatcher mentioned you were a painter?”

“Oh…Y-Yeah, uh--In my off time? I, um, I haven’t done anything new in a while, but, um, I actually work at the Wench…I’m a, uh, a bar-bartender…” Taddie said, her confidence quickly melting away as she suddenly felt inferior around them. Thatcher gave her hip a squeeze and gave Theo a look.

Theo quickly shifted toward her and said, “Are you the one that talks back to Jimmy and Hudson? The town bullies? Thatch has told us about some of the spats--This is the same woman?”

Taddie’s cheeks went red as she gave a sheepish smile, shooting Thatcher a look that made him smirk down at her and give her a squeeze. “What? You’re feisty, I like it…I’ve gotta brag a little bit, baby.” He said, pressing a kiss to her temple.

“Is that where you’ve been spending all your time lately, Thatcher? In a bar?” The raven haired woman asked with a smirk as Thomas led her to the table, pulling out the chair next to Leah. Taddie’s smile faded as Thomas and his wife sat down, an uneasy silence settling over the brothers as Thatcher cleared his throat and said, “Taddie, you remember my older brother, Thomas--His wife, Lara. Lara’s a former supermodel, when she married Tommy, she retired.”

“O-Oh. Wow. Um, well, it-it’s nice to meet you.” Taddie said, her wide smile shaking, lightly, now feeling like an absolute peasant sitting at a table to kings and much more accomplished women. Lara gave her a polite nod and a friendly smile as the doors opened again. The brothers all turned and quickly stood, making Taddie jump, half rising until she saw the women all remained seated. Taddie shifted and bit her lip, taking a deep breath as she glanced over her shoulder, seeing Tyr and Tora walk in. Thomas moved from his seat as Tyr stopped at one end of the table, Tora going to the other. Thomas pulled out his mother’s seat, tucking it in as she sat, the men all sitting as she did.

Thatcher shifted in his seat then gave Taddie a warm smile as he slid a hand over her thigh. She covered his hand, lacing her fingers over top of hers as she let out a soft sigh. He lifted her hand to kiss the back of it, then kissed her temple. Tyr watched his son with his new woman, eyeing the girl closely. He had excused himself rather quickly because something about her had brought up an old, very painful memory and he went to his office to leaf through a few old photo albums. Staring at her now, Tyr had the feeling he knew this girl, and shuddered at the reason why it might be.

The table was soon loud with the clinking and scraping of utensils against ceramic as everyone served themselves and started their own conversations. Taddie took a deep breath and glanced around the table, unsure of what to reach for first. Before she could decide, Thatcher picked up her plate and nodded at Tristan as he said, “Tris-Gimmie some meat and potatoes.”

“Salad? Beans?” Tristan asked as he put three pieces of rare steak onto Taddie’s plate then gave a hearty helping of mashed potatoes.

“Some salad, no beans…Thanks, brother.” Thatcher said, pulling the plate back once the salad was on it, setting it in front of Taddie again. She looked up at him with a soft giggle and curled her arm around his, briefly. “Eat, kitten.”

“Thank you, Thatcher.” Taddie whispered back, her eyes closing with a wide smile as he pressed a kiss to her temple, then began cutting up his steak. Taddie did the same, then took a few bites of her salad before she stabbed at the steak, dragging it through the potatoes. She ate in silence beside Thatcher for a while, until Tora piped up with a question.

“Taddie-Are you from Roanoke? Or native to Virginia?” Tora asked before she slipped a bite of steak into her mouth and chewed. Taddie’s head shot up and her eyes darted around.

“U-Um, no, ac-actually. I moved here with a friend about a year ago? This is her hometown.” Taddie said with a small smile. Tora nodded then gave her a friendly smile before she rebuttled with, “Where are you from?”

“Um…We, uh, we moved from California. LA area.” Taddie said as her blush deepened and spread to her chest, her eyes turning back to her plate. Thatcher watched her as he chewed, slowly, furrowing his brow with concern.

Tora raised a brow and exchanged a glance with Tyr before she asked, “So, you’re from California?”

Taddie closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she lifted her head to look at Tora as she said, “I, um, I-I--I actually don’t know where I’m from? I, um, I lost my parents in a freak accident when I was 5…I-I don’t really remember much before or after the accident.”

Thatcher quickly put down his fork and slid his hand over her back, up under her curls to the back of her neck. Tora’s features softened as she let out a soft sigh, feeling for the young woman, while Tyr tried not to let in interest show too much as he cleared his throat and said, “I am very sorry to hear that, child. You…Were not in the crash, correct?”

“I was. They were bringing me back from an art show with one of their friends…I, um, I’ve always known I wanted to be a painter and they-they made sure that got nurtured…A-As best they could anyway.” Taddie said, quietly. Something wet fell onto her hand and she let out a soft gasp, quickly turning away from everyone as she said, “Oh, f-I-I’m sorry. I’m-I didn’t mean to cry, I-”

“It’s hard for anyone to remember and talk about, Taddie. It’s completely understandable.” Tora said, watching as her son quickly and gently lifted her chin to wipe her face, Taddie pressing her hands to his chest for a moment with a sniffle and a soft sigh. Taddie closed her eyes as Thatcher swiped his thumbs under her eyes, then dropped a light kiss to her lips before dropping his hands, one hand slipping under her chin, cradling it gently.

“I’m okay, Patch--I-I actually don’t-don’t talk about them…Because I don’t remember.” Taddie said, clearing her throat, lightly, as she turned back to the table, glancing around quickly. Luna and Leah both gave her sympathetic looks, while Thomas and Lara’s faces remained more or less neutral. She didn’t bother to look at either Tora or Tyr, simply casting her gaze down as her skin went prickly and she said, quietly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin the mood…”

“Not at all. As you can see--Family is very important to us. I’m sorry about your parents, Taddie.” Tora said, sympathetically, giving her a soft smile as she glanced up at her. Taddie gave one back though it didn’t last and she shifted in her seat, pushing the steak around with her fork before she set it down and tucked her hands under the table. She took a deep breath as Tristan and Theo picked the conversations back up, and she closed her eyes with a frustrated sigh.

“Kitten, it’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up…Please eat, love?” Thatcher whispered to her, easing his arm around her waist and rubbing his hand over her thigh. Taddie nodded along and stared down at her plate, locked in a flashback for a moment before she blinked and looked up at him. “Are you with me, Princess?”

“Yes. Yeah, yeah, I’m-I’m here, Patch.” Taddie said, with a steadying breath, laying a hand to his chest, briefly. Tristan choked on his wine as he took a sip and Theo whipped his head over toward the couple with a smirk.

“What did you just call him?” Theo asked with an amused chuckle. Taddie had picked up her fork again, then stopped, first looking at Tristan, then to Theo.

“What?”

“Did you j-just call him--Oh, God--Patch?” Tristan wheezed out in between coughing fits. Leah firmly pat her hand on his back, drawing her brows together until he waved a hand at her, patting her thigh, lightly. “I’m fine, my darling. Wrong pipe--Did you just call him Patch?”

“I-Y-Yeah? Why? What-?” Taddie asked, looking between the twins, then up to Thatcher as his face was now red, but he still smiled and chuckled as he said, “Jaq was the only one that ever called me that.”

“You’ve taken her to get fitted?” Tora asked, raising a brow at Thatcher, caught off guard. Lara nodded and nudged Thomas as she said, “I knew I recognized the pattern-Tom, it’s the first dress you bought for me.”

“You never told us you took her to be fitted, son?” Tyr said, raising a brow at his middle child, surprised.

“Okay, everyone can relax--She’s only been fitted for a dress for Christmas dinner. What she’s wearing-It’s one of the pieces he already had made. She hasn’t been fitted yet.” Thatcher said, sweeping his gaze around the table, stopping at his mother, who had narrowed her gaze, lightly.

“Exactly…How long have you been…Seeing my son, Taddie?” Tora asked, an edge of judgement to her tone. It made Taddie flinch and she took a deep breath before looking up at her.

“Since March. So, about 8 or 9 months, give or take.” Taddie said, trying to keep her voice as strong as possible. Tora nodded, pursing her lips, lightly, as she reached for her glass as she asked, “When did my son first take you to see Jaq? That is a spring print you’re wearing.”

Tora narrowed her gaze at Thatcher as she took a deep swig of her wine before Taddie said, “Actually, on Monday. I’ve been busy with work, we didn’t have much time together until now.”

“Busy with your painting? My son tells me you are a painter.” Tora said, almost bored. Tyr cleared his throat and shot his wife a look, but Taddie answered anyway, “Actually, no, I paint when I can. I hope to be a painter one day…But for now, I’m a barmaid at the Drunken Wench.”

“So, my son, Tristan, controls your schedule, you didn’t think to ask for some accommodations to see Thatcher?” Tora asked.

“Mother-”

“Tora-”

“I actually didn’t want special treatment. I’m the back bone of my team and I’d never just abandon them--Not even for my boyfriend.” Taddie said. She opened her mouth to add something else, then stopped, snapping her mouth shut and turning her gaze back to her plate, glaring at it.

“Go on, child. What else do you want to say?” Tora asked, setting her glass down and leaning her elbows on the table.

“Mother, please-” Thatcher started, but Taddie cut him off as she said, “If the actual bar manager did his job, I wouldn’t need to do several in order to support my girls. I play bar manager, waitress, bartender, busboy, and bouncer. You might have guys at the door letting whoever is of age in, but I’m the one that boots them back out when they get nasty and start badgering and assaulting my girls. I apologize if this isn’t worthy of missing time with your son…”

Thatcher ducked his head down, hiding a prideful smirk and giving Taddie’s hip a squeeze. Tora sat back with a satisfied smirk on her face as she nodded along, then said, “Very well, then.”

Taddie let out a light sigh, pushing at her food again as the conversations picked up once more. She felt overwhelmingly frustrated that she didn’t feel like she belonged here, despite what Thatcher said; She felt like she was being ripped apart by his family because they saw through her. Taddie slowly lifted her gaze, seeing Tristan giving her a smirk and an approving nod, earning the same from Leah, who gave Taddie a warm smile. It put Taddie a little more at ease, knowing she at least had Tristan on her side, but she still felt uncomfortable. She stayed quiet throughout the rest of dinner, picking at her food as Thatcher urged her to.

Finally, Tyr called for them to take a few minutes before they regathered in the library for coffee and desserts. Taddie quickly tossed her napkin onto her half eaten plate about to push away from the table, but the men quickly stood and shifted behind their women’s chairs, pulling them out as they stood. Taddie gripped the edge of the table as she scrambled to stand with them, Thatcher quickly taking her hand and guiding her around to him. He held her close as his brothers left, along with his parents, Thatcher and Taddie trailing behind. Instead of going back to the foyer and going up to his room, Thatcher led her further into the mansion, to a back room. As he reached the door, Thatcher stopped and turned to her with a smirk.

“Close your eyes.” He said.

“Why?” She asked, narrowing her eyes at him with a small smirk. He chuckled and pulled her closer, rumbling out, “Close. Your. Eyes.”

“Yes, Sir.” Taddie said, biting her lip as she closed her eyes, gripping his shirt as she heard him open the door, then he guided her into the room, keeping a hand on her hip. She heard the door close behind him and she let out a nervous giggle, feeling for his arms then gripping them as he moved her into the room more. “Oh, Th-Thatcher--Patch, careful!”

“I’ve got you, kitten. There’s nothing in front of you-Do you trust me?” Thatcher purred in her ear. Taddie let out a soft sigh and nodded, relaxing back against him as he walked her a few more steps in, then stopped her. “Open your eyes, kitten.”

Taddie let out a light gasp, giving his hands a squeeze, then chuckled as she opened her eyes, a louder gasp escaping her lips as she saw all of her work that she’d shown him hours earlier mounted around the room, piles of blank canvases sitting beside a number of easels. Thatcher chuckled and let go of her hips as Taddie wandered to the window, that went from ceiling to floor and wall to wall, showing the backyard and the forest that was covered in a thick, undisturbed layer of snow. Thatcher came up behind her as she pressed her hand to the glass, looking around as her eyes filled with tears.

Feeling his hands slide over her hips, Taddie turned to him with a sniffle and started, “Thatcher, what-?”

“Merry Christmas, Princess.” Thatcher said, cupping her jaw and tilting her chin back to kiss her deep and slow. Taddie kissed him back, digging her fingers into his waistband and tugging him closer. He held her hip as he walked her back a few steps, until her back hit the windows.

“Thatcher, this is too much--We’re not here that long, I’m not gonna have time to-”

“We’re gonna be here every weekend for the next month. You’ll have all the time in the world and I needed a way to give that to you.” He said, caressing his thumb over her lips, slowly, beginning to grind against her, briefly, then pulled back with a soft grunt. She let her lips part as he traced them, then let a light moan escape her as her hands slid to his hips, tugging him back to her.

“Thank you, Patch. This means a lot to me.” She whispered with a soft sniffle, her lips curving into a smile as she let out a light, wet giggle. Before he could comment on her tears, she slid her lips over his in a passionate kiss, guiding his hands under her blouse. She was thankful the skirt had enough give to it, that she easily gathered it up enough to still keep herself covered as she slipped her leg over his hip, pulling him closer. “Please, Thatcher--I want to, I want you.”

With a groan, Thatcher gripped her hips, then pushed his hands over her skin before sliding over up to grope at her breast, both of them panting heavily as Taddie’s fingers fumbled with his belt, then got it unbuckled, quickly popping the button and undoing the zipper of his pants. “Fuck, you’re gonna kill me, woman--Go on, Princess. Take out my cock like a good girl…Mmm-That’s my girl.” 

Thatcher moaned into her ear as her hand pushed into his boxers and guided his shaft out, stroking it at first, then wrapping her fingers around it, pumping him slowly and swiping her thumb over the tip. “Do you want my cock inside you? Tell me-Use your words, little one.”

“I want you to fuck me against the window before we go meet with your family again…Show me I’m yours.” Taddie breathed as his fingers pushed over her thigh and rubbed at her through her panties. Thatcher groaned and smashed his lips to hers as he tugged her panties aside to allow his thumb to rub her until she was biting back her moans and near dripping before he let her guide his tip to her entrance and he pushed inside of her. Her breath whooshed out of her and he held her close, one hand wrapped around to the opposite hip, the other shoved under her hair, cradling the back of her neck. “Ohh, fuck…Mmmph-Goddamnit…I forgot how big you are, Patch. Ohh, please make me come.”

“That’s the plan, but you need to be quiet. Bite my shoulder if you need to. We can change after. Now, take my cock like the good, little girl I know you are, Princess.” Thatcher growled down at her before latching his lips to hers as he began to thrust inside her. Taddie gasped and moaned, arching against him as she rocked her hips to meet his. Breaking the kiss, Taddie tilted her head back against the window panes, Thatcher ducking down to pepper her neck in kisses as he moaned into her skin. She gasped and bit back her moans, panting hard as he tunneled in and out of her so hard and fast, her ass began lifting off the glass and smacking back with each thrust.

“Ohh-F-Fuck, yes, yes. There, Patch, there--Hmph, yes, Sir, faster, please…” Taddie panted as she stared up at Thatcher, his brows furrowed with lust and pleasure as he rammed into her, the tip of his cock beginning to slip deeper and brushed against her G-spot. With a gasp, Taddie’s eyes went wide and Thatcher quickly clamped his hand over her mouth as she moaned his name, arching against him as she came around him. Thatcher groaned and gave three, quick, hard thrusts inside her before burying his face into her hair as he came inside her. Taddie whimpered and moaned, tugging at his hand until he slid it down her neck and she let out a light gasp and breathed, “Yes--Thank you, Sir. Oh, Thatcher--”

“She uses her please and thank you’s…My sweet, good, little girl being so naughty…Do you need more?” Thatcher purred against her neck as he slowly moved inside her. Taddie twitched and shook her head, pushing at his shoulders as she said, “N-No-No. We-We’ll-We’ll be l-late…Hmm--Thank you for the room, Thatcher.”

“Of course, Princess. I don’t know how many gifts you’ll really get on Christmas--I wanted to give you something better than anyone can.” He purred at her, slowly pulling out of her with a soft groan and taking a step back so they could fix themselves up as they panted, lightly. Taddie shifted her panties back into place then tugged her skirt down before she smiled up at Thatcher, lifting on her toes to kiss him slowly. With a soft chuckle, he said, “Let’s go, kitten--Do you want to change?”

“I think I’m okay…Promise you’ll come up with an excuse to have me leave first?--I still want to get ready for my Viking to ravage me.” She breathed against his lips, letting out a light moan as he pinned her against him and slid his hand under her jaw, gripping it lightly.

“You know what the means right? It means I want to get a little rough with you…I promised I’d never hit you and I won’t…But I just want you to fully understand what I’m asking…” Thatcher said, staring down at her with a firm gaze. Taddie nodded and pushed her hands up his chest as she took a deep breath and said, “I know--I want you to pin me down and tell me what to do while you’re inside me. I want you to take that control from me…Because I know you’ll stop if I tell you to, and you’ll be as gentle as you can. I trust you, Thatcher Price.”

Thatcher saw a hint of a sparkle in her eyes as her smile grew, her bottom lip slipping between her teeth as she threaded her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. He smiled down at her, wide and laughing softly, then ducked down to kiss her deep and slow before he said, “I think you should wear the ring. Not on your left hand--But I want you to wear it tonight.”

“Tonight? I thought-”

“I know I said to wear it for Christmas…But I saw how uncomfortable you were at dinner. I promise you, wearing that will make you feel a lot better. I-I know you don’t think these things mean anything, but they’re small things that show your status. Right now…They think I’m not serious about you, but just serious enough to bring you home. The fact that I bought you a ring and got you fitted for a dress with Jaq in the same day says something.” Thatcher said, brushing his fingers over her cheek. Taddie gave him a light smile and nodded, brushing her nose against his as she said, “Yes, Sir. I’ll wear it for you.”

“Good girl. Let’s go.” Thatcher said with a chuckle.

~

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[chaotic-super]

The Vampire Woman - 10

Read The Vampire Woman on Ao3 here!

Lena leads Kara around the lab excitedly, flitting around from place to place, barely turning around half the time to make sure she’s still behind her, still listening to what she’s saying.

“And this is something that I’m still in the early stages of, I haven’t even got around to making the prototype for it yet, but I’m hopeful.” Lena spreads the blueprints for a complicated-looking machine out across a desk for Kara to look at.

“What does it do exactly?”

“Well, If it all goes to plan, this is going to help map out damaged nerves in a person’s body and then this…” Lena pulls out a second set of blueprints, “is to help fix those nerves, or at least repair them to the best of our ability.”

Kara’s eyebrows shoot up at the sight of it, impressed and confused. She doesn’t really know what she’s looking at and all of the scientific calculations around the edges are going right over her head. “Wow, that’s impressive. It almost makes me sad that I don’t have a clue what I’m looking at.”

Jess snickers from behind her, “yeah, that’s how I feel when I look at it too, I’d move on though, if you stare for too long then you’ll get a headache.”

She leans back away from the papers, looking up to Lena to move them along to the next thing. “This is the final thing that I’ve only recently started working on. I started this as a project for myself. I’m trying to figure out how to make artificial blood.”

“Really? That’s awesome. The medical benefits that could come from that would be astronomical too, that’s incredible!” Kara’s eyes light up, already scribbling something down in her notebook. “Tell me everything.”

“It’s more of a pet project really,” Lena says, a little bashful at Kara’s reaction, shocked at the sudden outburst since she’s been nothing except quiet and respectful since she was brought down here to be shown around. “I haven’t gotten that far into it, I’m still trying to figure out how to get it to last in the body for a longer period of time. Usually, blood, when transfused, will last in the body for up to thirty-four days, all of my calculations only put the artificial blood up to last around two, maybe three days, so basically, I’m still a ways off yet.”

Kara shrugs, “I still think it’s awesome and if you’ve gotten that far already, then I’m guessing that you’re going to be able to do a good job of fixing those issues. You said transfusions though, does that mean you’re focus is on helping people who are in need of donations or is it mostly for yourself, so you have something to feed on?”

“Both really, I want to be able to use it as my main source of sustenance and use it for feeding eventually but it will never be completely sustainable because I simply can’t recreate blood to a T and it will miss vital compounds found in blood, however, I do want it to help people, that’s my main goal for all of my projects here at L-Corp. I want to make a difference.” Lena gesticulates with her hands as she talks and Kara finds her eyes drawn to them.

The movements are soft yet unpredictable, her hands making themselves into a claw shape from time to time, always facing the floor, not facing another person, each movement matching the rise and fall of her tone as she speaks. It’s intriguing to watch.

“That sounds amazing, you’ll have to keep me updated on that one. I think this might just be the thing I need to pitch to Ms Grant for my article, she’ll love it. Is that alright with you?”

Lena and Jess share a look, mutually deciding on whether or not they should try and spin Kara towards something different but really it’s as good as any of the things they’ve been working on. “Go ahead. It might spur me to dedicate a little bit more of my time towards it.” Lena smiles.

Jess scoffs. “Please, you spend all of your free time down here as it is.”

“I sleep because I want to most of the time, not because I need to, I can just skip out every now and again.” Lena counters.

Kara’s head rears up in shock. “You don’t have to sleep? I never asked you about that before.”

“No, not really. I can get by on about twenty hours of sleep per week, a lot less than your average human. I still usually try and sleep for a few hours every day, usually in the morning after the sun rises, but it’s unnecessary really so if I want to spend more time down in the lab, it’s a simple thing to sacrifice.”

Shaking her head, Kara brings a hand up to gently scratch the side of her face. “You couldn’t pay me to give up on my sleep, I get really cranky when it gets disrupted, something you’ve now witnessed first-hand, although I did also have a good reason for it alongside that one.”

“We don’t hold anything against you, everything you did was completely understandable.” Lena offers up, guilt creeping back up inside of her. “However, it might serve us all well if you make sure to get your forty winks before you come in for your other interviews just to keep everyone happy, we can tell you slept well last night because you’ve been nothing but pleasant.”

“I’ll have you know that I am always pleasant where possible and I was even voted ‘biggest sweetheart’ my senior year of high school.” Kara jests back, glad that the atmosphere is light and there isn’t a growing storm cloud overhead like there was the last time she was here.

“Of course you were, I could have actually guessed that because those garlic cloves you threw at me were whispering all of your secrets to me, each strike was telling me how gentle and kind you are.” Lena laughs at her own joke while Kara and Jess watch on, mildly amused by her finding herself so funny.

Jess begins to take them over to another part of the lab, purposely bumping Lena as she goes. “You have a weird sense of humour.”

“I know, it’s good, isn’t it?” Lena smiles wryly.

Shaking her head, Jess begins to speak, focusing her attention on Kara instead of the vampire with weird humour. “I think you’ll like this other thing that L-Corp has been working on, it’s a little different from the other stuff we’ve shown you. While we usually stick to medical equipment and work to progress a lot of space equipment, we have also been working on something else too.”

“That sounds promising, what is it?”

Neither Lena nor Jess get the chance to answer because there’s a loud, blaring alarm cutting through the room and the light suddenly switches from the warm yellow hue into the brightest white that makes Kara squint as her eyes are forced to rapidly refocus because of it.

Her hands fly up to cover her ears and she instinctively ducks despite there being nothing in the room to physically hurt her.

It makes her feel less silly when she sees Lena do the same out of the corner of her eye but it doesn’t take her long to figure out why Lena is also suddenly so close to the floor.

She’s on her knees, palms pressed to her ears and face scrunched in pain, leaning forward so much that Kara’s worried she might actually topple over and land flat on her face.

Kara finds herself reaching out to her before her brain can catch up to her and tell her that touching a vampire that is in pain and vulnerable could be a bad idea.

Her hand falls onto Lena’s back, rubbing in what she hopes to be soothing circles. “Are you ok?”

She gets no response but that’s not at all surprising. Kara’s eyes search for Jess, hoping that the woman will have answers to the vampire-sized problem knelt on the floor but she’s somewhere off to the side of the room and she’s talking into a phone that’s attached to the wall, talking rapidly.

Kara can’t tell what she’s saying at all, the overwhelming noise of the alarm drowning out her voice and any other sounds that Kara could hear before it started going off.

Her heart is beating like crazy, her breathing picking up and panic building up inside of her, bringing on a familiar feeling that she’s praying will go away because now is not the time for a panic attack, not only because she’s in an unfamiliar place, somewhere she already doesn’t feel all that safe, but also because Lena is clearly in need of help.

Blinking rapidly and trying to focus on her own breathing, Kara still manages to push her hand atop of Lena’s hand, which has now fallen to the floor, holding her up from falling all the way down, holding tightly to not only help Lena but to ground herself too. Her eyes fall closed for a moment and then the hand beneath hers is turning beneath her own and the fingers and gripping back at hers.

“Lena?”

“It hurts.” Lena winces. “We have to move, that’s the fire alarm. I can’t go out because of the sunlight but I have a fireproof room we can get to.”

Jess finally comes over to them, the phone abandoned. “It’s real, we have to get out of here.”

“One step ahead of you, Jess,” Lena says, using Kara’s shoulder to push herself up onto her feet and then pulling on the human’s hand to pull her up. “The door down there.” She points to what appears to be a steel door leading out of the main lab space. “Hurry.”

Kara lets herself be dragged by Lena, the cool hand in her own heated one refreshing instead of frightening. She can’t help but flick her eyes around the room as she tries to figure out how much danger they are in. There’s no flames or smoke down here but they are in a place where there are a whole lot of very flammable liquids so they are not safe here anyway.

Lena grabs the handle to the door, and it clicks open quickly, the door swinging wide under her unnatural strength where any human would struggle with the weight of it.

They don’t have time to think about that though, not now. To her surprise, Lena pushes Kara and Jess into the room before her, making sure they got in first before climbing in after them and pulling the door shut, locking it with a large latch on the other side.

It’s dark inside, so much so that they can’t see a single thing. It’s a good job that they have Lena with them, her vampire eyesight much better than their own, cutting right through the darkness to find a flashlight that’s sat in the corner of the room atop of a pack of bottled waters.

She heads right over to it, squeezing past Kara in the tight space and feeling guilty when the woman jumps at the brush of her front against the human’s back. The flashlight turns on right away luckily and she’s handing it to Jess before she can even think about it.

“Sorry it’s so small, I had to install one here and one up in my office as an excuse to not have to go outside when the fire alarm goes off, besides, when there’s a lab, it’s good to have a fireproof room nearby anyway. I am regretting not ordering a bigger one to be built though.”

Kara stumbles back and presses herself against the nearest wall, closing her eyes and so badly trying to focus on her breathing instead of the tiny space she’s trapped in. She was just barely focusing with the alarm going off and the lights sending her into a panic and now it’s almost like she’s trapped in the opposite situation.

It’s dark and the walls of the room are blocking out the sound of the alarm and she’s trapped. She can’t get out and the walls are all so close to her and she’s trapped. She’s trapped.

Then there are hands at her neck, clawing and grabbing through the dark and Jess’ face, illuminated by the flashlight, can be seen across the way from her, worried and mildly terrified.

The panic keeps rising and she can’t breathe.

“I can’t-“

“Kara?” Lena’s voice fills the air, dominating and soft. A juxtaposition if there ever was one, the only word that can be used to describe the woman at this point.

Her eyes open, searching for the green eyes of her attacker.

Lena’s not the one clawing at her neck. It’s impossible, she’s beside Jess. Those are her hands. She can’t breathe and everything is surrounding her, her knees weaken and she falls to the ground, back sliding down the wall as she goes.

“I can’t breathe.” She gasps out.

Her eyes close again but there’s a body on either side of her now, pressing against her sides, and a hand on each of her knees, now pulled up to her chest.

One hand is warm, the other cold. It’s a confusing sensation, one that Kara isn’t sure she likes but she can barely force oxygen into her lungs, let alone figure out how to speak and even if she could, putting her feelings into words is impossible when all her brain is capable of saying is, ‘I can’t breathe.’

She can hear her own wheezing, her throat working hard to try and suck down the air she can’t find. Her hands find the floor, checking it’s still there, her palms rock against it, proving to herself that it’s real and that down is down meaning up is up, she’s ok.

She’s ok.

“You’re ok.” Lena’s suave voice cuts through the air. “You’re ok, everything is ok.”

“We’re right here with you, Kara,” Jess adds in from her other side. “It’s just a panic attack, you can breathe, just focus on taking big deep breaths for us.”

Kara’s brain latches onto the words, repeating each one after it’s been said. Big deep breaths, she can manage that.

Closing her mouth, she sucks the air in through her nose, feeling her lungs filling up before releasing it through parted lips.

“Again.” Lena murmurs.

A second breath, another pull of air into her lungs, then release.

“Again.”

A third.

“Good, keep going.”

Lena’s hand starts a soothing motion against her forearm, rubbing back and forth in a steady, careful rhythm.

Kara focuses on it, sets her mind to think about that motion, thinking about how it feels to have those fingertips run across her skin, the ice-cold touch feeling warm as the friction of the movement takes hold, yet there’s still that cool sensation beneath it.

Slowly, steadily, it gets better. She breathes easier, her body feels looser and less tense, and she finally opens her eyes, greeted by a different kind of darkness from that which she was enduring before.

“I’m ok.” She mumbles. Trying to figure out her surroundings since she didn’t really get a chance to take a good look around before the panic set in.

The first thing she notices is that she’s leaning to one side, her shoulder pressed to something soft and her head tilted to one side, resting on the shoulder of someone else. Lena’s shoulder.

She snaps her head up quickly like she’s been burnt. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was leaning on you like that.”

“Don’t worry about it, are you feeling better?” Lena’s voice is soft, with a hint of a gentle tone mixed in with her normal neutral monotone.

Pressing her shoulders back into the wall and clutching at Jess’ hand that is still in hers, she nods. For a second she feels silly about nodding in the dark but ultimately she knows that Lena can see her, although she does then feel silly for feeling silly.

“Yeah,” Kara says, more for Jess’ sake than anyone else’s. “Are you two ok?”

“We’re just fine,” Jess answers. “We’re more worried about you, what was that?”

“That was a panic attack that I thought I had managed to avoid until we got in here and then my claustrophobia kicked in.”

Lena’s hand is still moving on her forearm, the steady rhythm still going. “I didn’t think about that, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, you’re not the one that set that alarm off.”

Jess squeezes her hand to get her attention. “Hey, what can we do to help.”

Kara shrugs. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do, we’re kind of stuck in here until the fire is out. Oh crap, there’s a fire, I hope it’s not too bad and that nobody is hurt.”

“Me too,” Lena whispers, more to herself than anything.

“Do we just wait for someone to come down here and tell us that it’s all clear up there or something?” Kara asks.

“Pretty much.” Jess holds her hand tighter.

Lena’s hand disappears from her arm and kara immediately misses the motion and the pressure of it but she’s back not ten seconds later, a bottle of water being pressed into her hand. “Here, drink.”

“Thank you, Lena.” She struggles with the cap for a second, her fingers still shaky but then Lena’s fingers are gently batting hers away and loosening it for her before guiding her fingers back to it once she’s done.

She takes greedy gulps of it, egged on by Lena’s happy hum when she’s drained half of the bottle. “Good, that will make you feel better.”

“How are you? You looked like you were in pain out there?”

“I was. I am very sensitive to noise. If I am prepared then I can usually drown out the loud noises but that alarm was unexpected and the frequency of it is just awful. There’s no point in changing it though, all of my employees recognise it and understand what it is, if I change it then it could potentially put them in danger.”

“You’re not in pain now though, right?”

Lena shakes her head and Kara can only just see the movement through the dark. “No, I’m not, the walls of this room muffle the sound of the alarm very well and it has given me the chance to adjust to it accordingly.”

“I’m glad,” Kara says and she actually means it. She might not have meant it quite as much before but after the woman just sat beside her, tracing a comforting pattern against her skin and allowing her to lean her full weight into her while she uses her shoulder as a pillow, the whole time doing nothing but being worried about her and getting her to breathe, she can’t hold any ill will against her, at least not as much as she did.

Every waking moment she seems to spend with the woman today seems to make her like her a little more, their trust building despite her brain telling her that it’s a terrible idea. Of course, she isn’t suddenly about to be best friends with her or be a hundred percent comfortable around her but now, she can at least spend some time with her without wondering if she’s going to be tackled f she turns her back.

Jess is shining the flashlight around the small space, looking around at what is in there with them but other than the bottled waters and the single flashlight, there’s nothing but a box of what appears to be protein bars, not exactly a gourmet meal. Hopefully, they won’t be trapped long enough to need those.

“How long have we been in here?” Kara asks, eyes following the path of the light as Jess moves it around.

“Not too long, probably about twenty minutes, maybe a half hour. Something like that. You were out of it for a little while.” Lena estimates, hand now tapping casually on Kara’s knee, foregoing her arm this time.

The taps are more annoying than the rubbing and it gets old fast so to stop her, Kara covers Lena’s hand with her own, holding it between her own and her knee.

Lena doesn’t pull away though, she just sits there and lets it happen, although if Kara could see her properly, she would see that Lena’s eyes are wide and her body is practically frozen, too afraid to move in case Kara pulls away.

The truth is that the touches she was doing weren’t just to try and make Kara feel better but were also because it’s been a really long time since she has touched another person in a way that isn’t violent or aggressive.

It’s not often people are willing to come into contact with a vampire and she’s more than a little touch-starved, Kara’s touch addicting to her lonely skin.

The warmth radiating from Kara is incredible in a way she wasn’t expecting when she started offering her comfort and she could feel Kara’s blood pulsing through her arm before, unconsciously finding herself tracing along the path it flows through up her arm.

The strangest thing about it is her lack of need to bite her though. Usually, she would be craving a good drink of blood after being in such close contact with a human, she even finds herself lusting for Jess’ blood from time to time because of their close proximity but this time it’s different, she just wants to touch her, to hold her hand and smell the citrusy scent of Kara’s shampoo while she rests her head on her shoulder.

Her lack of desire for Kara’s blood isn’t to do with taste either though, Kara’s blood was divine and she’d gladly go for a second serving, maybe even thirds, but now, it’s not even on her mind.

“I spoke to the front desk when the alarm first went off, they don’t know anything other than that the fire is real and that the fire department are on their way. I can’t imagine that it can be too bad because they didn’t sound particularly bothered or scared.”

“Or they are just good at hiding their feelings and putting on a brave face.” Kara offers up, a little unhelpfully.

“Yes, or that.” Jess agrees, reluctant to believe that it could be anything other than a small accident. The best case scenario is that someone forgot to take their fork out of the microwave before turning it on, the worst case would be that there is no longer a building above them. “I told them that we were getting into the fireproof room anyway so they will send someone down to us when it’s safe to do so.”

Lena, feeling Kara’s hand wrap around hers more snuggly, allows herself to move more than a centimetre at a time and nods along. “So, do you have more questions for your interview while we are in here?”

“Not really, I forgot my notepad out there somewhere and it’s definitely not worth getting fried for.”

“We can agree on that.”

Kara’s fingers start tapping, the ones on her left hand against Jess’ hand and the ones on the right against Lena’s. “How long does it usually take for a fire to be put out if it’s just a small one?”

“Well, the fire station is just a couple of blocks from here so probably not too long.” Lena lets her head fall back against the wall. “I guess we’re in for a little wait though. I’ll have to get some cushions or something for in here though, maybe an electric lantern, it’s not at all homey in here and I’m getting a double dead butt.”

“Double dead?”

“Well, I’m dead so it’s a dead butt but since I can no longer feel it from how long we’ve been sitting on this floor, it’s now double dead.”

“Are you actually dead though?”

Lena shrugs. “I think so, I mean, my blood doesn’t flow anymore and my heart doesn’t pump so I’d say so, clinically anyway.”

“That’s…” Kara isn’t sure how to respond to that, she had no idea that blood doesn’t flow in vampires’ bodies, it does explain why Lena is always so cold though.

“Weird?” Jess chuckles.

“Kind of.”

Lena tilts her head, lips pressed together. “Fair enough. It is kind of weird. It’s weirder that I can’t remember what it’s like to feel my heart pounding in my chest or what it feels like to sweat. I almost miss it.”

That intrigues Kara greatly. That one word. “Why almost?”

“Because you can’t miss what you don’t remember.”

Kara feels her eyebrows lower and her lips pull down like she doesn’t have control of her own face, her emotions demanding to be let out. “I don’t believe that.”

“Why not?” Jess asks, genuinely curious.

“Because I’m adopted. I can’t remember a lot of my life with my parents before they died, before the Danvers took me in as their own, but I miss it anyway. I miss the family dinners I can’t remember and the bike rides there are photos of that I can’t place and the hugs that are nothing more than a ghost lingering in the back of my mind. I miss it and I can’t remember it.”

None of them were expecting that kind of revelation to come out but now it is and they have nothing to distract them from it. It’s a heavy admission, for Kara, especially for obvious reasons.

Lena’s hand tightens around Kara’s knee. “I’ll give you that one. I miss my family too, even though I can’t really remember them either. How old were you?”

“I was twelve, they got in a car accident, and neither made it. My dad worked with Eliza, my adoptive mom, when she heard what happened and found out that my only living relative, my older cousin, wasn’t going to take me in, she did it instead to keep me out of foster care. I got an older sister out of it, Alex, she’s two years older and the best sister I could ask for, it doesn’t stop me from missing them though.” Kara can’t stop her mouth from running, from telling these women her secrets.

Maybe it’s just the vulnerability that comes with having a panic attack in front of people she barely knows and having them take care of her but she finds herself wanting to tell them things. Maybe they’re passing into the tentative friend territory. Maybe.

“I don’t really know why I’m telling you all of this.”

“My dad cheated on my mom and they divorced when I was sixteen, I found out first because I walked in on my dad having a lady over to the house and they were holding hands on the couch. He begged me not to tell my mom but I did and they separated not long after that. My dad never forgave me, blamed me for telling my mom and I haven’t had a relationship with him since.” Jess looks down at her lap as she says it, not that she can see the faces of the other two women anyway. “Since we’re sharing, that’s my sob story, not as compelling as yours though.

“I’m sorry that happened to you. Their divorce isn’t your fault, you’re not the one who cheated and as someone that sheds light on dark secrets for a living, good job. Some people deserve to be exposed for the harm they’re doing. Bad things done in the dark are still bad things, even if nobody was aware of them before you exposed them.” Kara pulls Jess closer by her hand, tightening her hold.

Lena huffs out a little chuckle. “You’re here for a day and you’re already getting all of our darkest secrets, you really are a good reporter.”

“If it helps, you now have mine too, and I can assure you, none of this is going anywhere near that magazine. Can you keep a secret?”

Both Jess’ and Lena’s ears prick up and they are nodding furiously, hungry for whatever information Kara is about to bestow upon them.

“CatCo kind of sucks for the hard-hitting articles and it’s not the best news outlet by far. Don’t tell my boss.”

“And here I thought she was about to admit to a carjacking or something fun,” Jess complains, good-naturedly.

“Oh, you know about that?” Kara jokes, tone light and laughter barely concealed in her voice.

“Of course we do. You can’t keep secrets from us.” Jess bumps her shoulder into Kara’s.

“I’ll have to trust you to keep that to yourselves then.” Kara chuckles, waiting for the muffled laughter to die down before asking her next question. “Does anyone else have anything else they want to get off of their chests? This is a safe space, the room of secrets, fireproof and all.”

Lena snorts. “I didn’t realize that when I built this room it was a double design, keeps fire out, keeps secrets in.”

In the time that they’ve all been talking, Kara’s hand is still atop of Lena’s her fingers fallen between the gaps of the vampire’s, her warm ones heating up the cold ones as much as they can do and Lena’s cold ones keeping her nice and refreshed. “I wouldn’t know, you built it.”

“I’ll have to go over the old blueprints to see how it works,” Lena says, amused. “Although, I do have one more secret.”

“Do tell,” Kara says, waiting with bated breath for the confession of a vampire.

“I’m a really big fan of pizza to the point where every once in a while I will order one and eat the whole thing to myself and have a side of garlic bread. It leaves me offside for a solid week after but once or twice a year, I put myself through it because it’s so good. I always arrange for the whole week off in advance. I’m sorry, Jess, I never told you that before.”

A hand flies up to Jess’ chest. “I am so offended that you’re willing to tell Kara, a woman you have only met a handful of times, but not me, your faithful assistant of many years. It’s just rude.”

“Kara’s less likely to make me give up on my masochist diet.”

“I’m not going to stop you. I’m going to join you. I love pizza too.”

“Me three. I’m really craving pizza now. Where did you get that one from before? The one after I passed out from having my blood drawn.”

“The place up the street. Marco’s, I think.”

“We should get one after this,” Kara says, thoughtful and suddenly hungry. Not hungry enough to touch those damn protein bars though, hell to the no.

Lena hums. “We should get three, and fries, and onion rings, and garlic bread.”

“And mozzarella sticks,” Kara adds. “This is making me salivate just to think about.”

“This is the strangest week of my life and given how long I’ve lived, that’s really saying something.” Lena sinks back against the wall further. She was already partially leaning against it but at this point, she doesn’t give a hoot about decorum. “I need a nap.”

“Me too.”

“Me three.” Kara chimes in. “You should add hammocks in here, I love a good hammock.”

“Me too.”

“Me three.” Lena laughs. “I’ll add that to the list.”

=

Four long hours. That’s how long they spend in that room and by the time an L-Corp employee comes to let them out, Jess and Kara have to run to the nearest bathroom because they need to pee that badly.

On their way up to Lena’s office, after they have relieved themselves, they get to take a look at the damage. It’s not overly bad but it doesn’t take a person with more than four brain cells to tell that it’s going to be pricey.

It’s also blaringly obvious that it was deliberate. A few of the offices on the first floor have had the windows smashed in and gasoline was thrown through which was then lit on fire. Since it was at the back of the building it wasn’t immediately clear how bad it was to the person Jess spoke to on the phone.

Lena is not going to be happy about this.

“That looks really bad, Jess,” Kara announces once they are making their trip up the stairwell, slightly out of breath because the elevators have been temporarily shut down since the fires got close to the wiring and they have to get an electrician out to check that they are safe before they can be used.

“I know. Hopefully, the CCTV has footage though. It’s probably just some kids messing about and getting themselves into too much trouble. We haven’t had anything like this happen in a while, I really thought we’d gotten past it.”

“What do you mean? There’s been things like this happen before?”

Jess nods, breathing heavily and struggling to get the words out as they keep climbing up the stairs. “Yes, unfortunately. Lena’s designs are well coveted, people want them and quite often that means they will threaten and blackmail and attempt to extort her for them. The cops always end up taking out the people stupid enough to try anything but it doesn’t make it any easier.”

“That’s awful, if there’s anything I can do to help, an article maybe, let me know. The offer is on the table but I don’t really know a lot about this kind of thing so I don’t think I can be all that helpful.”

“You’ve changed your tune. We don’t even have to force you to be here anymore.” Jess points out her sudden change of heart.

With a sigh, Kara comes clean. “Maybe I’ve seen a different side to you guys.”

“Lena’s not a bad person. She’s done bad things and she’s probably going to do them again at some point but she’s not a bad person.”

“I’m seeing that. I’m still struggling to figure out where Lena starts and the vampire ends. It was her vampire side that attacked me all those times, I could see it in her eyes, it’s like they’re brighter when she’s acting out, I didn’t see that today.” She has to be honest with Jess, there’s just something about the woman that makes her incapable of hiding her feelings.

Jess takes her time thinking, assessing what she could possibly say to that. She has her view of Lena, and yes it’s probably skewed but she also understands Kara’s point of view and why she’s confused. She’s seen two very different sides of the same woman. One obnoxiously kind and caring and the other absolutely terrifying and full of aggression. Only one is the real Lena.

“Well, I’m still going to be with you the entire time. Just you wait and see though, in time you’ll see her for the person she really is.”

“I hope so, if she really is the person I saw today, the one in that stupid little room, then I think we’ll get along just fine.”

They casually wander into Lena’s office, finding the vampire sitting at her desk with a glass of whiskey beside her open laptop.

“Do you usually drink in the middle of the day?” Kara questions.

“Only when I’m scouring through camera footage to try and find the assholes that tried to burn down my building and put my employees in danger. If they want to start shit with me then that’s fine but if these idiots think that they can put the lives of innocent people at risk then they have another thing coming.” Lena fumes as she keeps her eyes pinned on the screen, a much brighter green than they were earlier.

Kara shares a look with Jess, one that asks if she’s seeing what she is seeing too.

She does. That’s the rage of the vampire right there.

“Why does that mean you have to drink?” Jess questions.

“It helps me think.”

Kara jumps in, not wanting to be in the same room as an intoxicated vampire. “It will make your reaction time slower, you’ll be better off drinking water.”

“Or I could drink…” Lena pauses mid-sentence, catching herself. Her eyes dull slightly. “Water, yes, water sounds good.”

Kara does not want to think about what she was about to say. There are more layers to this woman than an onion, one she isn’t sure she wants to strip back and investigate, especially since she saw such a nice side of her today.

Maybe it’ll be worth getting past this part of Lena so she can find the person Jess is always talking about. The Lena that Jess trusts. She makes it sound worth it.

Lena has to be worth it. If she isn’t then Kara has no clue why she’s here.

Read a whole bunch of chapters early on Patreon here!

[its-kitten-now]

Happy Anniversary

Okay y’all, um, this was kind of just an outlet the other day, and I’ve never posted anything of mine before, so umm yeah. It’s angst. Let me know what you think? (I’ll have to learn all the formatting people do with these soon.)

Satan x f!MC

----------

She gave up on paying attention to anything and turned on some music videos as she looked out the window into the pitch-black void of night. Ever since she’d left, she’d felt like she could only breathe after the sun went down. It reminded her of home, or at least the only person and place she’d ever felt like she belonged. Yeah, sure, it was only a handful of years. But it was the first time she’d ever felt completely free to be herself and just see what happened. They’d all just accepted her, seemingly delighted by every clumsy or embarrassing thing… until it wasn’t embarrassing anymore. Okay, mostly not embarrassing, anyway. 

And then there was him. When she first met the brothers, she glossed right over him. She’d never really gone for blondes, focusing instead on the commanding presence of the eldest, the Prince, and there was even something quietly powerful about the butler, though she didn’t know what at the time. Just that she was drawn to their sure and confident presence. Most of the others seemed pretty chaotic, to be honest. There was so much going on with each demon as she got to know them; she loved them, and they quickly became her adopted family. But she enjoyed the quiet solitude after those encounters, or the moments when Lucifer or Barbatos would come in with an authoritative air and guide her away from the crazy. 

But that never happened with Satan. He would joke around with the other demons, all eyes on him as he recounted some event with sarcastic wit and charm, but he pretty much just pretended she wasn’t there, aside from the occasional polite smile he’d give while not even really looking at her. Which was… a little uncomfortable, as he was basically a permanent staple in the library she loved to escape to… but oh well. She just tried to explore the areas he wasn’t occupying on a given day. 

Movement pulled her attention back to the present. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness now, and as a car had driven past, she noticed a silhouette. Could it be? Did he come back after two long years to bring her home?? 

She fell back against the chair as she audibly sighed, disappointed in herself for being so stupid, yet again. It was just someone pausing while their dog explored the patch of grass. He looked nothing like her de- No. Nothing like Satan. 

She thought back on how back then, any time she’d felt sad or insecure, all she’d have to do was recall a handful of important moments, and she could instantly feel peace flow through her. The peace of knowing that he loved her back, and he was choosing her every day. He knew every piece of her, the good and the truly horrid. He’d seen it all and still chose to love her through everything. Despite battling his own internal demons every day, and despite his instinct to run from anything that could make him vulnerable. Who does that? I mean, in stories, sure, but real life? And what, for her?? 

“... Then again,” she rationalized, “we’re talking about demons and another realm. Hell, the Devildom, whatever you want to call it. So I guess… maybe, if it hadn’t been me, maybe it could have been like in the stories. If it had been someone better, someone who could have given him what he needed. Then they could have loved each other enough to save them both.” 

She closed her eyes and sighed, pressing her lips together as she willed the water to stop filling her eyes. Relaxing again, she thought back to grabbing a book from the shelf about the lore of different tourist spots in the Devildom. Ha, tourist spots in hell. Of course. But wow, the cover had this gorgeous rolling valley of blue and purple… grass, maybe?... with an emerald lake and rose-colored sky, and she couldn��t resist it. Engrossed already, she turned away from the bookshelf, actively searching for the name of the gorgeous place she was looking at, and as she looked up she came face-to-face with her disinterested housemate. Their eyes locked for the first time since she’d arrived. Even her heart paused as everything inside and around her froze. Everything except the bolt of electricity zooming throughout her entire body, lighting it on fire. It was only a split-second, and she was pretty sure he only noticed her to the extent she was in his way. She quickly went over to her usual chair, near the fireplace but not close enough to be overly affected by the heat. Not that it mattered, with as red as her cheeks must be right now. As she opened the book to note the gorgeous landmarks she wanted to get to know and visit, she found her eyes darting more and more frequently over to Satan. Surprisingly, a couple times she caught him looking up from his book at her, and she’d have to rush to look away and suppress the smile that threatened to make known these sudden feelings swirling inside her. But she didn’t even know what they were yet, or where they came from.

She concentrated with everything she had at staring at the pages, only allowing her smile to break through in moments she could blame on the book if asked. Why was she turning red? Unable to stop smiling? She’d seen him so many times over the last couple weeks, but something in his eyes had changed her entire world. 

In the days that passed, she still went to the library but avoided any view of Satan that she could help. She’d even moved to the couch directly facing the fireplace, though she now needed a blanket to feel comfortable, to block her view of him completely. Of course it couldn’t last forever, but it worked for now. She just had to figure out… “MC?” Fuck!

She was so focused on not looking at him that she failed to notice him walk over to the side of the couch, and in true MC fashion, she jumped a mile high and lost her place in the book as it slipped through her hands to the floor. Great. Just great. Could she be any more of a mess?? Whatever. Time for self berating later. She rushed to take a breath and steady her voice and face as she turned toward him. 

“Yeah? Can I help with something, S-Satan?” she asked as nonchalantly as possible, tripping up on having to actually say his name to him, out loud, as she met his eyes and felt the now-familiar electricity return. 

“I was wondering if you might want to walk with me down to the local coffee shop. It gives us a break and it could be a good start to your exploration and understanding of the Devildom,” he offered. It sounded casual enough, but there was a hint of unease in his stance and expression. 

“Oh,” she hesitated, as her thoughts were shooting off in a million different directions. “Um, yeah, that sounds good. Thanks!” She was sure that this would either go really well or really, really badly. But fuck it. Only one way to find out, right??

~~~

Fuck, she’d gotten lost in those thoughts again. The memories that used to bring so much joy, and as a sick joke they’d still start to, before she’d remember that it was all over now. 

A downside to only feeling peace in the quiet of night is that the loneliness is so much more pronounced. She felt tears welling in her eyes against her will and started to push them back again, but hell. Sorry, Devildom. No one who matters can see them anyway. She slid into her purple slippers, wrapped her massive, fuzzy blanket around her, and went out onto the porch. Settling into her chair, she took a few deep breaths, let the crisp wind brush past her face, and let the tears fall as she continued to re-live the best and most painful memories of the Devildom. 

Going for coffee had become a regular occurrence, and often lasted a couple hours while they were supposed to be working for the RAD student council. Oops. But he was so fascinating, especially when talking about what he loved. And he encouraged her, as though he were kissing away every insecurity with his words. They laughed so much, and she’d never felt so comfortable even around her own family. She was falling with every word, every laugh, every glance, but she somehow knew she was safe, and it was okay. He was her home, and it was okay. 

There were dark times too, of course. Early on, he’d gotten out of bed, shaking and crying as he told her she should run. He didn’t deserve her and she should run while she still can. His tears drew her own out of her, and she slowly reached for his hands, pulling him into her embrace as she tried to soothe his soul as much as she could. For such a solid start, moments like this one had begun soon after they went “official,” as if a switch had flipped. 

Over the years, they’d skirted a breakup countless times. She worked on herself in therapy (yeah, the Devildom has therapists, because demons deserve good mental health too) to be who she needed but also someone who could be better for him. He eventually even started going to therapy too. 

Satan. THE Satan. In therapy. “HA!” she choked out a laugh as her tears renewed. It was so loud in the otherwise still night, and the volume of her own bitter laugh startled her. If only it had done any good. But they’d get closer, and he’d yank himself back and away, emotionally. Over and over again. He still laughed and still told his stories, but it was different. He went out more with his friends - which is great, but he’d double-book MC and his friends, and cancel on her. He told her less and less about his days. One day he even just bailed on her altogether, completely unable to be reached for the rest of the night. 

MC kept trying to maintain normalcy between them, but at some point you have to stop sacrificing your own armor and asking to be hurt. At some point you have to stop putting yourself out there, stop being so intentionally vulnerable. Still, she loved him and she knew what he’d been through, so after brief respites she’d go back to laying herself out there for him to, increasingly, reject. 

Then one day he was gone. She knew a close friend had been hurt days prior and wasn’t doing well, but she assumed he’d come to her when he was done needing space and instead needed comfort. The friend passed, and she waited patiently.

That day never came. 

~~~

Pulling the blanket around her as she sits in the cold night air, sobbing tearlessly as her tears had run dry, she remembers how different he became. Never cold, but… she was locked out nonetheless. He would act like himself until evening, when he’d drink himself unconscious or awkwardly avoid emotional or physical intimacy. Anyone watching would have thought he and Levi had switched bodies at this rate. Then it came. She’d calmly asked him to reconsider and wait it out, pointing out that no one should make major decisions after any big change, let alone losing someone so close to them. But he held to it and withdrew. He was leaving her.

For a while, she tried periodically to reach out, but it was too painful, living in the realm where everything reminded her of their lives together. Not to mention having to actually live under the same roof, even if she never saw him anymore - he never ate with the family and he’d stopped visiting the library almost entirely. But she still knew he was physically within reach. At one point she even had Lucifer cast a spell on her door so she couldn’t open it during curfew hours, afraid she’d go and make some pathetic display to try to reach Satan’s heart through his grief.

Eventually she left the Devildom. The brothers and royals loved her, but they struggled with the new dynamic and though they didn’t know if leaving would help, they knew that her staying wouldn’t do any good. So she left. She stopped by his room, knocked, and spoke through the door. She could tell from the thickness in the air that he was awake and listening. In demon form, but listening. As she told him she would always love him, and that she wasn’t giving up on him but was just giving him space to heal, she couldn’t keep her voice from wavering nor eyes from filling with water. She left for the Prince’s Castle, where Barbatos was waiting with a portal ready, and disappeared from their realm forever.

That was almost two years ago. She’d thought he would have come for her by now, but the opposite happened. It was two days before October 25th, the would-be anniversary of the day they finally got together at Dia’s birthday/costume party, and Asmo had just sent her a letter. They’d been having a heart-to-heart, and instead of healing, Satan seems to have lost the last couple years of their relationship, as well as other time periods sprinkled throughout their entire history together. He remembers dating her and loving her initially, he says, but basically anything involving deep emotional intimacy has been blocked, whether from a spell gone wrong (or right) or naturally. He’ll never remember that they were in love, apparently. 

On October 25th, sitting there in the familiar cloak of night, MC lost the little composure she had regained as she’d relived the past. Loud sobs once again escaped her as she wailed into the empty darkness. Despite knowing better, she’d always held on to the hope that Satan’s mind would heal and he’d come back to her. Now, on their anniversary, she had to face that that would never happen. He was never coming back. She cried until she could cry no more, then started again ten minutes later. After another half hour, she retreated inside to her bedroom, where her tears stained her pillow and her cries could be heard through the night.

He was gone. Their future was gone. Her life and home were gone. Forever.

~~~

Stepping out from behind the tree, he watched his old friend and lover go inside. He was sorry he couldn’t love her like she wanted, but they’d tried for years and he just couldn’t feel how he wanted for her. He wasn’t even sure why he was here in the first place. Yet, as she closed the door behind her, he noticed his eyes were wet and he felt like someone had ripped a hole in his chest. How strange. Maybe he’s just too lonely right now? With a resigned sigh for yet another “feelings mystery” he’ll never understand, he walks across the park and back through the portal. He can make the feelings disappear soon enough.

[marypsue]

would you consider doing DVD commentary for Delilah? Any bit of it at all; I personally would go CRAZY for anything about Grauntie Ford because she lives permanently in my head. I seriously adore that series, if I have not made it clear enough to you. <3 <3 <3

[from this meme]

Delilah

Thank you so much! Yeah this is a short one, so I'll do the whole thing.

It's been a while since I wrote this one, but I'm pretty sure that I wrote the first scene or two, and then the last big long scene with Mabel, and then all of the rest to connect the two together. They were, originally, two different stories, and then I realised that they could be the missing pieces for each other.

The title is, of course, in reference to the story of Samson and Delilah, and specifically to cutting Samson's hair taking away his power. Hair and cutting it is a running theme throughout the fic, obviously, so that one's a bit of a gimme. I used 'Delilah' instead of 'Samson' for the title for two reasons, though - obviously, Delilah is a woman's name, and because of the Amanda Palmer song of the same name that lent a line to the fic. Iirc she had said in an interview that the frustrating Delilah the song is sung to, who keeps trusting people who'll only hurt her and walking blithely into situations against her own best interests, is her talking to herself. It all just dovetailed really beautifully together.

The campaign takes them, tonight, through the Haunted Wastes of Aden, once a lush and fruitful valley, now a giant, open grave for the fallen warriors of a recent, vicious, and utterly pointless battle.

It's been a while since I wrote this, so I can't be sure, but knowing myself, I'm guessing this was entirely intentionally to be a nod toward Ford's relationship and recent schism with his twin.

I met a Farrah the first time I dipped my toes in the waters of playing D&D. Life imitates art.

“I was born a girl,” he says, and then, quick, “I just, I just - thought. I wanted you to know.”

I forget, now, whether this was a prompt or just in an ask about the fic, but this line was sent to me by @angelsarenamederika, I didn't come up with it. This whole scene was built around that line. Past!me also helpfully mentioned that some of the scenes - especially the second-to-last and the last scene - were also inspired by their asks.

Dipper unwinds slightly, though that only means he is drawn tight as a violin string, rather than a bowstring.

I was just particularly proud of this simile.

“Exactly! Well done, my boy, you have a better understanding of the scientific process than many grown adults I’ve known.” Ford clears her throat, trying to remind herself to stay on track, though the way Dipper is beaming at her makes it very difficult to think about anything other than how terrifyingly lucky she is to be here to be able to meet him, and his sister. “You and I, my boy - we’re theories. There’s no way to conclusively, objectively 'prove’ something you can only feel for yourself.” She leans forward just enough to rest what she hopes is a comforting hand on Dipper’s shoulder. “And perhaps someday, you’ll encounter new evidence or a new dilemma that will change everything you understand. But until then, we don’t just stop doing science because we don’t have an absolute, indelible certainty to work from! We don’t stop exploring and creating, we don’t stop growing and changing. We start from what we do know."  Dipper bites his bottom lip, rubs the elbow of one arm with the opposite hand. Ford gives his shoulder a soft squeeze, and says, "And we do amazing things that way.”

Also this! Wow, I'd completely forgotten this was even in there. I'm still really pleased with this one.

This fic went up in 2016, so it would still have been relatively recently that I had come to the conclusion that I was, in fact, some flavour of queer. Clearly I was Working Through Some Things.

“Do you know, the other day I asked her to open her mouth and she burped glitter all over my face?”

I think I took this from an unused storyboard! Or possibly an Alex Hirsch tweet. I don't...remember it having actually made it into the show, but then, I definitely need to do a rewatch.

(Ford will never forget the sight of it, emerging from the trees, caved in on itself from its fall and looking for all the world as though it had stood empty and abandoned these last thirty years.)

I think, in canon and here, that seeing the Shack in the denouement of the finale gave Ford a new appreciation for how Stan preserved it. Just a small part of realising how much Stan had done, how much Stan had cared, how much Stan had mattered, just slightly too late.

Ford and Mabel should get to commiserate about being tricked by Bill into helping him end the world. That is all. And man, I'd forgotten how delightful Mabel is and how much fun she is to write.

"...Mabel, no one in their right mind would blame you for what happened."

This was published in 2016, so...this line was definitely, definitely a little pointed.

The Gravity Falls finale saying 'hey. Your pain also hurts the people you love and who love you, and an important kind thing you can do for them is to also be kind to yourself. You can't punish yourself out of their lives and make those lives better, they're better with you in them' got me crying in the club and I'm still emotional over it nearly a decade later.

The sun is brilliant, blinding, the sky a blue so blue it’s almost black at the very centre. The sea is calm and cold, the occasional little waves hitting just right against the prow and making it echo like a drum. The rigging creaks like old bones overhead. The internet connection is crap.

I just love the juxtaposition of high, poetic, dramatic, descriptive language, and casual vernacular. Tolkien does it particularly well. I am but a humble imitator.

The less said about Gravity Falls, the better. It hurts too much to remember, how bright everything had seemed, how rich with possibility.

...

The rift is closed. Bill is gone, and the sun shining off the water is so bright it almost hurts her eyes.

I leave you with this parallel, presented without comment.

[mostspecialgirl]

Insiders (2023) - redrawn from 2019

(rambling under the cut)

thank you tumblr for compressing my image down to disgusting crusty poop pixels on the app

i love to do a new big reference piece for my babies every few years, and the time has finally come due… and WOW !!! LOOK AT THAT IMPROVEMENT !!! everyone looks Normal And Alive and Non Bugeyed !!! everyone is a little less pasty white (im talking about you, tanith) !!! i think they all show a lil bit of nice personality in their faces now too which is lovely for me. i love to see my children happy. now to write about each of them

angelo’s line art has the least effort into it here and i was GONNA redraw him but honestly if anyone is going to look like a scrunkly little bug IT IS GOING TO BE HIM !!!!!! It’s been a minute since i’ve drawn his body-saws and on a whim i made them red AND !!! IT WORKS !!! I’M A FAN !!! i think he’s due for a main-outfit change though. not sure. i struggled with finding him a natural-looking skin color too because i’ve slowly made him as a person less undead-corpse-like and i think i’ve found a good spot. for now.

i pulled the perfect angora out of my mind and honestly i am shocked at what i have created. she looks so sweet and kind and innocent here (as she should) that to any unfamiliar observers you’d be hard pressed to tell she’s a big lazy gross vulgar piece of shit rat of a fishwoman. and that is EXACTLY how it should be. i have lost the plot for too long, giving her more sharp edges and a hunched back and wild expressions, but the standard angora really should be deceptively pretty. because that’s my girl.

Mila looks great as always. What more can I say? She’s always perfect. I had fun giving her lips for the first time!

AMPH … MY ADISHESHA … (slamming my fist down) I’ve finally perfected him… isn’t he pretty? isn’t he so pretty? I chose to draw him in his naga/incarnated form instead of the shadow form this time because i wasn’t lazy. I decided to throw a big coat on him, originally intended to be more lab coat-y, but influenced by how fucking cold it is outside i allowed myself to give him a big fur collared one. because if you can’t tell i love giving characters though. i think it worked out well for AMPH here, and now I have to be putting him in all sorts of cowls and capes until the end of time.

TANITH !!!!!!!! GGGGYRRRRAAAAHHHHH!!!! LOOK AT MY GIRL !!!!!!! I’M FERAL OVER THIS!!!!!! LOOK AT MY IMPROVEMENT !!!!!!! it’s been a hot minute since i’ve colored her, but i changed her palette in my mind a while ago AND looking at it here ? existing ? i’ve done it again. My lovely little sword daughter … i know i JUST doodled her but christ something was in the water here because SHE LOOKS SO GOOD. this is the best ive drawn any of them. i gave her some nice clothes this time instead of her usual big t-shirt because i realized i only gave her that in the past because i didn’t know how to draw clothes.

speaking of “best ive ever drawn any of them” somnus … THIS IS HIM … i’ve gotten close to capturing him in all the times i’ve drawn him but i think i’ve finally pinned him down here. and of course, he’s hitting the same pose as his wife because they’re cute like that. i ripped his colors straight from the solo reference piece i made for him a while back which has held up quite wonderfully.

FINALLY !!! SETH IS HERE !!! HE HAS ARRIVED IN PROPER INSIDERS GROUP ART !!! he looks pretty good here. i think he could still look BETTER, but for the purpose of having a nice group reference piece he looks pretty great i think. I struggled pinning down some colors for his clothes and was pretty lazy with the Purple Under His Hair That Glows BUT WHO CARES !!!! LOOKS GOOD TO ME !!! LOOK AT MY HANDSOME SON !!! i also decided to stick his full name on here that i’ve kept vaulted up for the reason that i’ve never had to put it anywhere before. if you know why he has “-zoe adamiel” as his chosen full name, congrats, you’re a huge fucking nerd.

eventually, i’m probably going to tack daisy, kane, sampi and demiurge onto the right side of this piece, but that’s for another day down the line. thanks for reading!

[bklynmusicnerd]

I’m glad I found ppl that can have a good perspective on the show. I’m not one to overreact to things so it’s nice to read comments from others who aren’t acting like everything is on fire. I’m one of the ones that was drawn to GH because of Sprina, more specifically TA & NAC version of Sprina. I did watch some of the SM version of Trina and she and NAC had great chemistry and she was really good, it just didn’t pull me in enough to keep watching so I stopped. Fast forward probably 8 months later, I saw a clip of TA & NAC at Trina’s party at the Savoy and I was immediately intrigued and kept looking for more. I don’t know exactly what it is but I saw the fire, the chemistry, the angst, this beautiful slip of a woman and I wanted to know more. I know recasts are hard for all involved. For me, this version of Sprina did something for me that I can’t explain and I’ve been watching ever since. Ironically, those scenes were leading to a big Sprina drought since Spencer was going to prison and we had to deal with the cop bf, I was still hooked because there was still angst between the two even though they didn’t share scenes for a while. I’m looking forward to this version of Sprina for however long we have left. They really nailed it with these two for me

I'm glad you're enjoying GH tumblr as a discussion space, anon. I've said this a couple of times but I really do think SM's Trina and TA's Trina is one of the best recast transitions I've ever seen on soaps. It was just really seamless to me, and I still feel like I can see the foundation of SM's Trina in TA's young adult Trina. I tend to feel that way about the two versions of Sprina as well.

I think the more fiery chem that drew you in with current Sprina works as well as it does because we got to see this sweet connection build up with og Sprina. I still really love how TA played Trina's first big fall as a character. We'd never seen her really screw up before she got arrested and she played the beginnings of that loss of innocence, that realization as a late teen that you actually don't know everything, really well.

It was this real transition from "Awww" to "Wow" that has really added to the richness of both Trina's an individual arc and the Trina and Spencer story. And I agree, I'm looking forward to seeing this iteration play out as well. Hopefully, the writing makes the most of these performances.

[in-my-feels-probably]

Heyy… so I saw your 1000 Follower celebration and I think this is a very sweet Idea, so I definitely have no choice but to „participate“ in this. So the fandom I’d like would be Bridgerton, with option two. I’d want the blurb to be with one of the guys, romantically (but please not Anthony since I’m not a huge fan of him in that way, if that makes sense)

So let’s see… some thinks about me:

My Name is Alissa (she/her) no idea if you’ll include names or not but just to be sure

I have roots in Germany (the west to be oddly specific)

I have brown hair, brown eyes & my skin is probably what people would describe as tanned, but it must be natural since I barely leave the house 😂 fun fact because of that people also always thought I was adopted because my parents look very white

My hair is a bit longer than shoulder length and it’s really straight

I’m around 5‘3, if that’s something you wanna include as well

In my free time I often draw, mostly Portrait but sometimes also animals. I always hoped I could make this my profession at some point but I haven’t gotten that lucky yet. I’ll be working on it tho :)

I also read a lot and write a bit as well

I love all animals, especially dogs (I have one named Zoey)

My favorite color is Purple 💜

The most important thing in my life is definitely my family. I hate being away from them for too long. I’m very close with my mum and stepdad, they have always been there for me when I’ve had a hard time (back in school for example) since I was struggling a lot with anxiety and depression (wow feels good to admit that)

(You don’t have to use all of this, but I think it’s better if you have a few options so it’s easier to write)

I think that’s a lot of information already. If there’s anything I forgot please tell me, I’m really tired right now since I’m writing this at 2 AM so I wouldn’t be surprised if I did forget something 😂

Well, thanks so much for doing this. It’s such a sweet Idea 💗

- Alissa 🪐

hi!

thank you for participating :)

i ship you with benedict!

you’re an artist, like he is. it’s not a profession you can really make a living out of at the time, at least unless you’re already rich. it’s not a profession people generally respect, despite the greats becoming rich and famous. regardless of your skill level, or how well known your work would be, benedict would absolutely adore that you value art as much as he does. when he’d have a block, you’d give him ideas. you’d inspire him to create what he loves, not what others expect of him. you’d always encourage him to create, never judging his choices. whatever the outcome, you’d praise it. he’d never feel judged or embarrassed by you.

you seem like a gentle soul, which he’d really love. not only does he love art, but he loves literature and poetry. he’d think of you with every poem he read, and in any he writes. he’d see you in the gentle things of the world. a flower blooming in the first of spring, or one of the horses having a baby foal. you’d be a breath of fresh air for him, always making him feel light and airy. he’d be content as long as he was with you. if you didn’t want to go out, he’d be content to stay in. wherever you were, even if it was away from the ton, he’d be.

he’d also love that you value family. he cares so much for his, and is constantly surrounded by them. if you got along with them well, he’d love you even more. being around them, you’d never feel alone. but there’d still be days you felt alone, even with all of them around you. benedict understands this, being the second born son who is considered far less important than anthony by society. i think benedict struggles with his own mental illness. when you finally confided with him about yours, he’d think you were the bravest person in the world. getting up and facing every day with a smile on your face, despite your struggles, you’d inspire him even more, if that was even possible.

benedict would go through a period of a few days to week where he hadn’t drawn or painted anything at all. one day you’d walk in to see him sitting by the window, finally painting a sketch you’d seen him drawing in the weeks prior. a lavender flower.

“what are you doing, love? is that lavender?”

“it is,” he’d smile up at you, motioning for you to come closer. “lavender is said to reduce stress and anxiety. and i know purple is your favorite color. purple is associated with admiration. like mine for you.”

you’d nearly cry at his expression, smiling tearful down at him as he set down his brushes.

“we’re getting this one framed. i hope you know that.”

he’d chuckle, wiping his hands before wrapping an arm around your waist. “you like it then, i take it?”

“i love it,” you’d smile, bending down to press a kiss to the top of his head. “and i love you.”

“i love you too, darling.”

—

i hope you liked this! i really enjoyed reading about you and writing this for you. thank you again for participating :)