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kn-1013 · 6 months ago

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Alligator Blood (AU) Part 1 - Tall Child

Summary: Travis isn't living with his father anymore, he's taking care of his sister and living in the Addison Apartments, because his father's been arrested and he's an adult now. He just wishes he felt like it. Word Count: 5,221 Rating: T Pairing: Gen/None Warnings: Alcoholism/substance abuse, mentions of past childhood abuse

A/N: This is the first thing I've written and finished about my non-magic cult AU. The basic premise is that the cult exists within Nockfell, but it's a lot smaller and, as the title suggests, magic isn't real, so none of their efforts amounted to anything. A lot of this AU just focuses on trauma recovery, because that's what I enjoy writing about most. Enjoy :)

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“You’re gonna be able to drive me to school, right?” A voice rung in his head, the echoes pounding in rhythm with the throb. “Travis?”

He groaned, registering the matted bath rug underneath him, and the hard linoleum floor he sat on with it. There was something sticky on the side of his face, and his shoulder ached from how he’d been sleeping on it all night. He tried to move, but his entire body felt like a magnet was pulling it back to the ground.

“Ugh, nevermind, just tell me where the keys are.” His exasperated sister flipped him onto his back, digging through the pockets of his pajama pants and sighing when she came up with nothing.

“No, no, I got it.” Travis slurred his words a bit as he managed to sit up, leaning against the tiled bathroom wall for support. He pretended he could blame everything on the sleep inertia rather than somehow managing to wake up both drunk and hungover at the same time.

“You have wine all over your face and in your hair, you don’t ‘got’ anything.” Madeline snapped, gesturing to his head. Travis blinked dumbly as he reached up and touched his temple, realizing that’s what the sticky sensation was. He was just glad it wasn’t vomit this time.

“Whatever, I’ll clean up. It’s fine. I’m fine.” He didn’t sound very convincing, and based on the look Madeline gave him, he wasn’t. He slowly stood up, gripping onto the sink for support, and looked at the mess in the mirror.

The right side of his face was now colored a mild reddish-purple, but it didn’t stand out too harshly against his tanned skin, it was the sticky feeling that bothered him the most. His hair was a different story, though; blond strands stained a reddish-pinkish-purple depending on where you looked, bunched together in ugly clumps. His dark eyes were flanked with a sharp redness from all the drunk crying he did the previous night—or, one of them was still dark. The right one was faded, now, and his vision had been going along with it as time went on. He tried not to think about why as he stared directly at it.

To his left, Madeline sighed. Travis didn’t want to look at the sad, pitying expression he knew was on her face right now. “Just, hurry up, please. I don’t wanna be late.”

Again.

That was the part she left out.

Travis washed himself up rather quickly after managing to get himself started, only nicking himself shaving once this time, which was a good sign. He didn’t bother getting dressed since he had nowhere to go today, but he did change out of the clothes he slept on the bathroom floor in, covered in wine, snot and tears, maybe a little blood of unknown origin.

He wore some thin, plaid pajama pants and a band shirt that Larry had gotten him, somewhat of a housewarming gift and a reconciliation gift at the same time. He swore they were really good, that Travis should check them out because he’d probably like them more than other metal bands, but he never did, he just wasn’t sure he’d be able to get into a band called Acid Bath.

He trudged out of the apartment after Madeline. As he left, he spotted Sal’s dad, Henry, exiting the elevator with some mail in his hand. He looked tired, but he perked up as he spotted Travis and his sister, and Travis tried to mentally prepare himself for a short conversation with the man.

“Ah, mornin’ guys. How are you?” He smiled. Travis couldn’t explain why that made him anxious.

“Tired, the usual. What else can you feel on a Monday?” Travis shrugged.

“It’s Wednesday, moron.” Madeline said.

“Wednesday, whatever. It’s one of the days of the week. I got close.” Travis fired back sharply.

“Well, at least you were only two days off, I woke up thinking it was Friday for some reason.” Henry shrugged, and Travis tried to let himself feel normal for a second, but it was just another face he put on. Just another long-practiced photogenic smile he pulled out. “That’s being an adult for you, huh?” He said back.

He could speak the part all he wanted, he’d always been praised by the adults for sounding a lot older than he was, but when he shut the door to his bedroom at night, he curled up in the sheets he brought from the house he grew up in and he felt just as small as he did at eight years old.

“Yeah, it sure is. Well, I’ll let you go, get Maddie to school before she’s late and all and I’ll catch you later. Say hi to Sal for me if you see him, alright?” Henry gave a stiff yet polite smile as he grabbed the doorknob with one hand and waved goodbye with the other. Travis and Madeline nodded, waving back as they stepped into the elevator.

“Will do, Mr. Fisher.” Travis said as the doors closed.

The two of them ran to their dad’s–right, now it was Travis’s–old pickup truck, trying to dodge the rain as best they could. The truck sputtered to life as he turned the key and he pulled out, only hitting the curb once as he turned out of the apartment parking lot.

“Why don’t you go on dates or anything fun like that?” Madeline asked as she adjusted her hair and makeup in the flip-down mirror, and Travis rolled his eyes. He was too tired for a conversation like this, too caught up in his head about all his flaws, and he scoffed bitterly. “That won’t be happening any time soon.” He said, focusing on the road.

Madeline pouted. “Why not? You clean up pretty nice when you lay off the booze, I’m sure plenty of girls are in-”

“I’m gay.”

The car went quiet.

“Oh.”

He didn’t know why he’d said it at all, let alone right now instead of in a situation he could escape from if she got angry. But she didn’t seem angry, she seemed like she was just… Thinking about it. The anger would probably come later, he was sure, when she realized the social repercussions of having a half-blind faggot for an older brother.

Nevermind the fact that the only other faggots he knew of in Nockfell he’d had a very strained relationship with, considering how he used to bully them for being faggots in high school, back when he was still convinced he could become normal if he’d just prayed hard enough.

Normal. Hah. What a fucking joke.

Larry’s shirt felt like it was choking him.

The rest of the drive to Nockfell High was quiet. It didn’t exactly feel tense, but the air still felt thick with realization.

“See you after school. Don’t get too wasted to pick me up.” Madeline’s movements and tone were hesitant, awkward. She left the car in the drop-off line, and Travis just nodded, his mouth dry.

When he got back to the apartments, he stood by the entrance for a while underneath the awning looking at the pathetic little life he’s managed to make with his sister in the wake of their father’s arrest. Of the arrest of a number of other townspeople. Of the arrest of their other sister.

It was raining when the FBI had arrived, too, easily pulling him off of the bloody pulp he’d been beating his father into in front of the church when his sister struggled. He’d been screaming so hard his throat was raw, his own blood and tears mixing in with the weather, and a woman pulled him into her arms, thrashing and shrieking like an animal. He couldn’t tell if she was trying to comfort him or restrain him.

He didn’t know they were coming. Nobody did.

Looking back on it, Travis thought there must’ve been a God, because that was the only way to explain the cosmic irony of finally being saved from their father the moment he’d finally accepted that nobody was ever coming to save them. That’s why he was prepared to kill his father that night, and he still feels like he should’ve, but when the social worker held his head into her chest as they put his barely conscious father into handcuffs, he curled up in her arms and wailed.

Now he was here.

Twenty-one, almost twenty-two, but he didn’t feel like it. In an apartment that didn’t feel like it was his, full of a lot of nostalgia and second-hand things.

He went to the bathroom and properly cleaned up the mess he’d left on the floor that morning, finding that his wine bottle still had a bit left inside. He finished it off as he cleaned, letting the alcohol lubricate his mind. When he was done, he tossed the bottle in the garbage and grabbed some more from the small wine rack by the kitchen as he continued around the house, grabbing his and Madeline’s laundry to bring down to the basement, then doing the dishes, vacuuming the carpet, mopping the kitchen, wiping the counters, cleaning the toilet, dusting the tube, re-organizing the fridge and pantry, cleaning out the kitchen drawers and doing anything else he could think of to keep his drunk mind off of the weight on his back.

He was going to bust out the grout to fix some holes in the tiling in the bathroom when he realized his insober hands would be far too imprecise. He needed to cut himself off if he wanted to be sober enough to pick up Madeline later.

He checked the time, assuming it had to have been several hours since he’d dropped his sister off, but it was only half past eleven. He gave a shaky sigh, unsure of what else to fill the time with if he didn’t want to keep thinking about it all but couldn’t get any drunker than he already was.

Sitting on the couch, he decided to flip on the TV. Maybe he could find something that would turn his brain off.

He channel surfed, flipping through morning talk shows, news channels, sitcom re-runs. He sat on an episode of Family Batters for a bit before deciding that Sbeve Urkel just wasn’t doing it for him today and went back to searching when something caught his attention.

It was the beginning of some children’s show he was only vaguely familiar with, My Glitter Ponies: Rainbow Spectacular. Madeline used to like the toys when she was younger, but she’d grown out of it in recent years. They never got to watch the cartoon, they didn’t have a TV growing up, so the only times they’d ever got to watch it was when they’d gone to a friend’s house. Maybe it was fun.

He pulled his knees to his chest and leaned against the armrest of the tattered love seat Lisa had pulled from the dumpster for him and let the episode play.

It made his chest hurt to think about childhood more often than not. Both his own childhood, and the concept itself left him feeling a deep seated ache. He was often familiar with a feeling he didn’t know the name of, he just called it ‘bad nostalgia’, named as such because nostalgia was usually supposed to feel good, and this generally didn’t. He mostly felt it when he was reminded of the good periods of his childhood, times he wanted to go back and relive just to feel like a child one more time before he had to grow up. Maybe if he was able to have just one good, strong childhood memory to point to, to orient himself under, he would feel ready for all of it to be over and he could finally move on.

But you only get one childhood, and he could never get those years back.

As the cartoon flashed in front of his drunken eyes, magical problems solved with the power of friendship, he was reminded of the figurines his sister handed to him when she wanted him to play with her. The two of them were so small. It was so easy for Kenneth to grab them and throw them around however he wanted, by the arms, by the ears, by the collar, by the hair. But he wasn’t home that day he was thinking of, it was just them in Madeline’s bedroom, and Mary making lunch in the kitchen—macaroni—back before her eyes went so dark and she still smiled. Nobody could get them here, not in Madeline’s bedroom or in his mind.

He woke up a couple of hours later, his face damp with tears. The sound of someone knocking at the door cut through the fog of his fatigue and got up fast enough to make himself dizzy, checking the time as fast as he could. He was thankful to find it was only three, and Madeline got off of school at around three forty-five. Plenty of time.

He stood up more carefully and wiped his face off.

“I’m coming.” He uttered, just loud enough to be heard through the door as he peered through the eyehole to find Henry.

He unlocked the door and opened it, hoping he didn’t look like total shit, but Henry’s grimace told him otherwise.

“Bad time?” He asked.

Travis shook his head. “No, no, I’m just… Y’know.” He wiped his face again.

“I just wanted to check in on ya, see how you were doin’.” Henry gave an apologetic smile. It felt like there was a weight to it that Travis didn’t understand, but he was never good at reading people.

“I’m- I’m alright, Mr. Fisher, thanks.” Travis gave an exhausted one back.

“You sure? ‘Cus you’ve got a stain that’s either blood or wine in your hair, and either way that’s not a good sign to me.” Henry gestured vaguely to a spot on his head, his mouth flattening itself.

Shit, he thought he got all that out.

Travis sighed and leaned against the door frame more heavily, arms loosely crossed, letting go of some of that mask and letting himself look as bad as he felt. Not that he was trying that hard in the first place to look fine, but he definitely looked worse as he took that extra layer off of himself.

“It’s nothing, really. Same shit as usual. Nightmares, bad memories, et cetera.” He smiled to try and make himself seem more lighthearted about it than he was, but he had a feeling it just made him look bitter. Whatever, he was bitter.

“Well even the same shit needs to get talked about, ‘specially if you’re drinking about it at three PM.” Henry’s voice was low and sympathetic, tilting his head inward while his thumbs hooked themselves through his belt-loops.

Travis really did not want to have a conversation like this right now. “Look, Mr. Fisher, I have to pick up Maddie soon, so-”

“Hey, doesn’t have to be with me. It could even be in a journal or something, that’s what Sal and Lisa do. Just as long as you’re not completely leaving it in here.” He tapped his temple with a raised brow, as if he was giving some kind of sage advice that Travis wasn’t already aware of. It’s not like he was trying to keep all of this in, it’s that he didn’t have anyone but Maddie, and she already occasionally has to comfort him when he wakes up from nightmares in the middle of the night, he can’t keep putting her in that position.

And Henry… That was Sal Fisher’s father. As in, Sal Fisher, one of the guys he used to bully for being a faggot in school. The guy who’d given him a lot more patience and grace than anyone else did, much more than he felt like he deserved. They’d long since reconciled, they’d never really hated each other anyway, but it wasn’t easy to pretend like tension wasn’t still there, especially when facing his father. He’d rather keep his distance.

Travis sighed. “…Alright, I will. And,” He flicked his eyes downwards. “Thanks. For checking.” He didn’t want Henry to feel like he was being completely rejected, even if he was going to take his suggestion of talking about it and immediately throw it into the garbage.

“No problem, kid. Just remember that people need people to live. Take care, I’ll see you around.” He walked back to his apartment, his socked feet padding over the matted and stomped-down carpet. Travis watched him until he opened the door and went inside, wondering why the man kept coming over like this, checking on him, trying to be friends with him. Travis didn’t want or need friends right now, and as nice as the guy was, he kind of wished he would take the hint and fuck off. Must be a family trait.

He shut the front door and went to clean himself up in the bathroom so he didn’t look like total shit when he went to pick up his sister from school.

He showered, moisturized, combed his hair, put cold spoons over his eyes to try and keep the bags underneath them at bay, and by the time he was finished, he almost looked like a person. He still felt somewhat disoriented as he put on his shoes and walked out of the apartment, but he could drive with one eye closed if he needed to.

He pulled out of the apartment parking lot and managed to stay in one lane for the majority of the drive.

In the drop-off line, Madeline flung her backpack into the back seat aggressively before getting in, slamming the car door shut and leaning against the window with her arms crossed. Travis raised a brow as he made his way through the line and back onto the main road. “Bad day?” He asked. Madeline just rolled her eyes. “I don’t wanna talk about it.” She huffed. Travis shrugged and decided to leave it alone. “Alright, then.”

The drive was quiet for a few minutes before Madeline spoke up again.

“It’s just that Celine is pissed off at me because I told her George Michael is gay and that stuck-up bitch won’t let it go.” She glared at the passing fences and power lines.

Travis blinked. That was news to him. “He is?” He asked into the rear view, and Madeline just looked at him incredulously. “Duh!” She said. Travis hummed contemplatively as he watched the world pass by from his dashboard. Just more pop-culture bullshit he was out of touch with, nothing new, but if George Michael was gay and doing alright, maybe he should listen to the guy sometime.

“And… You too, apparently.” Travis tensed as they made eye contact in the rear view again.

Right, he’d told her that this morning. He had no idea why. Maybe he was drunker than he thought he was this morning, maybe he was tired of her asking when he’ll go on a date or something, he wasn’t sure. That was the first time he’d ever said it out loud and he barely remembered it.

“Yeah.” Travis said quietly as he focused back on the road.

“How come you never told me?” She asked, and Travis could hear the disappointment in her voice.

He paused, focusing on the way his head swam a bit as he drove through the old roads. “I wanted to be normal.” His answer was shockingly honest, but it’s not like he had many options.

Madeline scoffed. “You know everything dad said was bullshit.” She said, looking back out the window.

A bitterness bubbled in Travis’s chest. She didn’t get it, she was normal.

“Knowing and believing are two different things when your dad beats you because your hair is too long and he doesn’t want you looking like a faggot.” That was a bit harsher than he’d intended for it to be. Madeline looked through the mirror with an apologetic expression before looking back out the window.

“Sorry.” She said quietly.

“It’s okay.” He replied, his face softening.

They arrived back at the apartments a couple of minutes later, wiping their shoes off on the doormat. Madeline made a beeline for the elevator while Travis stopped and double checked the mailbox first.

Bills, bills, local news station, a less local news station, oh—he’s pre-approved for some credit card he doesn’t care about. Awesome.

“Hurry up or I’m letting the doors close without you, dickhead.” Madeline called from the elevator, her arm held out, and Travis rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, I’m coming, you little shit.”

They stepped into the apartment and Madeline tossed her bag on the couch before pausing.

“It’s really clean today.” She looked around and made her way to the kitchen, looking for something sweet. She seemed careful, knowing what it meant when things were too put-together. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. It was nothing.” He grabbed his copy of Carrie off the coffee table and sat down to read it again.

It went silent as Madeline started heating up some of their apple cider on the stove. When it was done, she poured two glasses and left the rest on a low heat setting and covered it for later. She walked over to the couch, nudging her brother’s leg with her foot to get his attention, and she handed him the warm glass.

“Thanks.” Said Travis.

She hummed as she sat down close next to him, her head on his shoulder, watching the quiet TV he’d left on all day as he sipped his cider and read.

“You know we’re in this together, right?” Madeline asked, after a few moments of silence.

Travis looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She was staring straight ahead. “Yeah, of course.” He replied.

“Then why don’t you tell me stuff?” She sounded more than just disappointed this time, she sounded betrayed. “I tell you everything, but you don’t tell me what’s bugging you, you just drink. I’ve been asking you about dates for months and it’s only now that you tell me you don’t even like girls. Now you’re stress cleaning again and you won’t even tell me why. Is it money?” She turned to face him, and Travis looked at her apologetically.

“If it’s money, I could get a part-time job. I’m not in any clubs or anything special like that, and my grades are fine, I promise I can help.” Travis sighed and put the book in his lap.

“No, it’s not money, we’re okay on money.” Travis said, and they were. They didn’t really have any savings at the moment, but other than that, they were alright, so it’s not like it was a complete lie.

“Then what is it, Travis? Just talk to me, please?” She pleaded.

“I don’t need to be putting my shit on you like that, Lin, you just need to worry about finishing school.” His voice was soft as he tried to dodge her questions.

“Bullshit! How am I supposed to worry about finishing school when I’m not even sure you’ll be able to drive me there in the mornings because you keep drinking yourself to sleep every night?” Now she really looked pissed, and Travis had a feeling that it wasn’t Celine’s indignancy that put her in that mood on the way home.

He didn’t respond. He didn’t have a good answer to any of her questions, but especially not that one.

“I’m worried about you, Travis.” Madeline replied to his silence. “I know it’s been hard with the trial coming up and Mary being put away, but we’re not gonna get through this if you don’t talk to me.”

Shit, he’d forgotten about the trial. It was supposed to happen in late February. He’d been so stressed with other bullshit that he forgot to get stressed about that. And Mary—what day was it? They were supposed to visit her in the hospital that Saturday.

Travis set his book aside, and his drink on the table, sighing. He wrapped an arm around his sister tiredly. “It’s just bad memories. It’s nothing I can’t handle.” He said. It wasn’t exactly true, but it wasn’t entirely false either.

“Then why do you keep drinking about it?” Madeline’s voice was quiet and bland.

Travis sucked in a deep breath through his teeth. “It just makes things easier.”

“Easier than talking to me about it?”

“Look-” Travis started, but he cut himself off, staring at the wall behind the TV as he held her. “It’s just hard.” His voice shook as he realized he didn’t even know what to say. He hardly understood why he was so upset this morning. He knows he’d been drinking, but he felt so alienated from the ache of that familiar smallness he felt, curled up on the couch. Madeline looked up at him with a soft expression, and he looked away.

“I used to think that when we got away from dad, I would know exactly what to do and I’d be able to handle it, but now that I’m here, I don’t understand anything anymore. I went from having no control over my life to having complete responsibility so fast my head is still spinning.” He leaned back against the couch and tugged on his earlobe as he stared at the ceiling. “When you’re a kid, nobody tells you that all the adults are just winging it because you have no idea what’s going to happen next. I don’t even feel like an adult yet, I don’t know if I ever will.”

“Everything changed so fast it feels like I got whiplash.” Madeline replied. “I still can’t believe it’s over. My classmates keep asking me questions, and they make fun of me for it. They call me the cult girl.”

“Yeah, they used to call me church boy. I still can’t believe I tried to hand pamphlets out to people all the time.” He laughed bitterly, and he was hit with familiar pangs of loss over what his father robbed them of. “I wish I could tell you it gets better, but I don’t know. I don’t know anything. I’m sorry.” Travis’s expression grew anxious as he stared at the ceiling.

“I believe they will.” Madeline said, wrapping her arms around Travis. “As long as we stick together and work hard, things will get better. They have to.”

Travis felt like that outlook was rather naive, but then he remembered Sal Fisher, the boy who’d started it all by moving here and sticking his nose into the Phelps family’s business, not stopping until Travis’s father was arrested. He believed from the start that things would get better, and when Travis walked out of the police station early the morning after his father was taken in, Sal was there with his hair down, damp and clumped together from the rain that happened the previous night. He hadn’t even showered yet.

Travis was shaking, and it wasn’t from the cold, with his arms wrapped around himself. It wasn’t easy at 5’11, but he tried to make himself look as small as possible. He wanted to go home and pull all his hair out, but Sal wrapped a skinny arm around his waist because it was the best his height would allow for, and he led him outside to Larry’s van.

“This is it, Travis. A new start.” He’d said, his voice gentle. “Things are gonna get better.”

“I think you’re right.” Travis said, swallowing the lump in his throat. “As long as we stick together, it’ll be okay.”

Please God, don’t let her be wrong, Travis thought to himself. I don’t think I could take it if she was.

After a comfortable silence between the two of them, Madeline spoke up again. “Drink your cider before it gets cold, I made that for you, asshole.”

Travis let go of her and punched his sister in the shoulder a bit roughly. “Shut up, you were the one who made it and then decided to have a gut-wrenching conversation immediately afterward. Do we have any bourbon or anything to put in here?” Travis got up from the couch and went to look in the kitchen.

“Oh come on, seriously?” Madeline got up from the couch looking about ready to throttle him.

“Don’t worry, you can have some too, if you want.” Travis smirked as he picked the large bourbon bottle from the corner of the kitchen floor. It was too big to keep anywhere else.

She grumbled under her breath before giving in to the teenage allure of a trusted older family member offering her alcohol. “Okay fine, scoot over.” Madeline grabbed her glass and bumped herself into Travis’s side, causing him to almost spill the bourbon he was pouring into his cider.

“Oof- you little shit.” He glared at her, but there was no fire behind it, and Madeline laughed at him. “C’mon, my turn.” She gave up her cup and made her best puppy-dog eyes. Travis rolled his and poured a good amount of bourbon into her drink.

“Now c’mon, they’re about to play The Odd Couple on the ABC channel. That’s a fun one to watch drunk.” Travis began herding his sister back to the living room.

“Oh, great. Speaking of,” Madeline started as they sat down. “When are you gonna get a boyfriend? If you lay off the booze, I’m sure plenty of guys are into tall twinks with problems.”

Travis did a double take and nearly choked on his drink. “I am not a- where did you even learn that word? Fuck you.” Madeline just laughed at him a lot harder than he wanted to hear. “My friend Georgie. He said you’d get mad if I called you that.” Travis sneered. “Yeah, because he’s wrong. Tell Georgie to go fuck himself.”

Madeline raised her brows as she put her legs on his lap. “Mm, I don’t know, I think he’s right.”

Travis scoffed and continued bickering with his sister as he flipped through the channels, catching the opening credits to The Odd Couple just in time.

As Madeline kicked him in the shoulder and he threatened to kill her for almost making him spill his drink, he was reminded of his conversation with Henry earlier, about making sure things don’t stay in his head. He certainly felt better than he did before, he didn’t even feel like getting completely wasted tonight. It felt like he was drinking for fun, and not to make himself sleep as quickly as possible. He actually wanted to be awake as the afternoon faded into evening, to watch the movie with his sister, to get some drunk cooking done for the two of them later.

He sunk into his couch and smiled as the bourbon started to hit him a little bit.

Henry was right. People need people, and no two people needed each other more than Travis and Madeline, because they were all each other had right now.

As long as they held onto each other, things were going to get better.

#my fics #sally face #travis phelps #madeline phelps #alligator blood (au)

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she-karev · 1 year ago

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Birth (Andrew DeLuca x Alex Karev’s Sister Imagine)

Previous Part Here

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: Two of Two

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Head canon Ship: Andrew DeLuca x Amber Karev (Alex Karev’s Sister)

AN: Here’s the final chapter for the story you guys and I will try to post the next one as soon as I can and until then enjoy and I always appreciate and like and a reblog!

Editors Note: Hey guys so I just learned how to make GIF’s and decided to reblog this beautiful chapter with a GIF I made myself. Let me know what you think.

Summary: Amber gives birth to a girl with Andrew by her side and Dr. Montgomery delivering.

Words: 1441

October 20th, 2022

Simone Griffith stands outside Amber DeLuca’s delivery room peeking through the transom on the closed door. It’s been six hours since she and DeLuca found out Amber was in labor. She was curious on how her chief resident was after her water broke causing Dr. DeLuca to have her close after his surgery and couldn’t help but go up and see how they are.

Also, after witnessing her grandmother have an Alzheimer’s episode, she wanted a reminder that there were good things in this world too, like babies being born. Alex Karev walks down the hall with a welcome home baby girl gift basket from him and Jo to give to Amber. He spots Griffith outside the room and clears his throat causing her to stand back and look at him.

“Dr. Karev hi I-I was just uh-”

“Spying on my sister while she’s trying to bring a new life into this world right this second?”

“…It looks weird, doesn’t it?”

“Yes!” Alex confirms causing her to look down in shame, “Is there a reason you’re doing this very weird thing?”

“I just…I just needed a reminder that there’s good things in this world too. And watching a birth happen in real time works more effectively than faith in humanity videos.”

Alex grins at that understanding where she’s coming from, “Yeah there is something magical about my baby sister becoming a mother.”

“That is all I am saying sir.” He motions for her to step aside and she does so. He walks inside the room to find Amber lying on her side in her bed with Dr. Montgomery behind her inserting the epidural catheter. Andrew is standing by her side and holding her hand as she groans at the needle insertion.

“Hey kid how are we doing?”

“Terrible! You’re lucky your ex-girlfriend knows what she’s doing otherwise I would judge her based on her poor choices from sleeping with you.” Alexs eyes widen at his sister’s knowledge of his and Addison’s past relationship. Andrew looks at him in shock as well just learning about this.

“Is this true or is it the hormones talking?”

Addison finishes the insertion and looks up at Alex in disgust, “You told her?”

“No! I swear I didn’t.”

Amber groans and lays on her back on the bed, “Oh please the nurses keep tabs on your love lives and they love to gush with me. They could write romance best sellers with Alex’s disaster of a love life. I mean I’m still at the Ava/Rebecca chapter and it is a doozy.” She turns to Addison, “For the record you could’ve done way better back then.”

“You know I’m in the room, right?” Alex points out before putting the pink basket on the table.

“I’m gonna check how dilated you are.” Addison sighs and feels the need to clarify to Amber while she does her cervix exam, “And for the record I didn’t date him. I found him attractive, I was horny and he was there. It was one time and I judge myself for it enough as it is.”

“I’m his sister I know how shameful you’d feel sleeping with him when he was an intern and an asshat.”

Addison grins at that and looks back at Alex who averts his eyes from the exam looking at the wall instead, “I like her.”

Andrew asks trying to comprehend it, “Wait you slept with your sister’s OB and you didn’t think to mention it?”

“You slept with my sister and I had to find out after the fact.” Alex bitterly points out.

“I didn’t even know she was your sister man.”

“And I didn’t think my ex was gonna be delivering my sister’s baby over ten years later but here we are.”

Amber inhales and exhales in annoyance at their petty squabble, “Hey boys?” They turn to her and she looks disheveled while Addison checks her cervix, “I need you two to read the room because I have enough on my plate right now, I don’t need to mediate an argument between my husband and brother.” They quiet and look at her concerned as she continues, “I am just trying to squeeze a giant Escalada out of a compact FUCKING PARKING SPOT!” The boys look scared by her last exclamation.

“Very good.” Addison calmly says, “Swearing helps a lot, you’re at 7 centimeters.” Addison stands back up covering Amber with a blanket.

“Ugh I hate you tell me when I can start pushing this sucker out. Speaking of suckers exiting, Alex get out.” He looks offended by that as Amber continues, “You dropped off the gift and unless you can transport my daughter out of my body you are useless to me. And do me a favor. Let it be known that the only people allowed in this room are Dr. Montgomery and the people who provided genetic material to this baby otherwise they are gonna be in a world of hurt, now out!” Amber points at the door causing Alex to nod and pat Andrew on the back seeing the road ahead of him.

“God speed.”

Andrew nods, “Yeah.” Alex gets out of the room and closes the door behind him.

TWO HOURS LATER

I scream out loud as the next contraction comes and push per Dr. Montgomery’s instructions. While this happens, Andrew is by my side holding me encouraging me. My lower region is covered by blue tarps with Addison behind the curtain delivering my daughter, out of all of us I think she has the easiest job in the room because Andrew is no doubt in pain from me holding his hand with monster strength that’s coming from being in labor.

“Good Dr. DeLuca! Okay at the next contraction I’m gonna need you to really bear down but not until I tell you.”

I whimper at the never-ending cycle, “Oh god come on! I know my brother rejected you but don’t take it out on me!”

Andrew rubs my arm to soothe me, “It’s gonna be okay, you’re doing great, it’ll be over soon.”

I am too in pain and too mad at him to take in his soothing words, “If you think we’re having sex again after this you got another thing coming Andrew DeLuca!”

He chuckles at that and kisses the top of my head wiping the sweat off my forehead, “I think we’re stalled in the sex department until this kid goes off to college.”

I chuckle lightly at that but then I stop and gasp as I feel another contraction coming, “Oh god not again!” I scream as the pain courses through my body.

“Okay one last push Amber!” Dr. Montgomery instructed me and even though it hurts I do as she says, pushing with all my might. Andrew is holding me and encouraging me to push through my piercing screams. After what seems like forever, I feel relief in my body and slump back down on the bed panting for breath. I hear a baby crying and I felt my heart stop as I look down to see Dr. Montgomery holding our small, wriggling and bloody daughter already crying her lungs out. Addison is smiling and laughing in joy, “There she is!”

I’m so shocked by what’s happening I’m laughing and crying at the same time, “Oh my god.”

I can see Andrew laughing in joy too with tears glistening in his eyes, “Look at her oh my god you did that.”

“You helped.” I remind him. He takes the scissors from Dr. Montgomery and cuts the umbilical cord. After that Addison takes the baby to get her cleaned up and comes back a few moments later with our baby daughter wrapped in a baby blanket. She’s crying on the way until she reaches my arms and I hold her shocked at how tiny she is. I smile down at her still overcome with so much love and awe over this tiny human that made the last eight hours of pain I’ve endured so worth it, “Hi. Oh my god she’s…she’s…”

“She’s perfect.” Andrew finishes and I nod as he smiles. I can see the love in his eyes and grin at him.

“Here let’s go to daddy.” I carefully place the baby in Andrew’s arms and he handles her so carefully, no doubt shocked at how light she is too. He croons at the baby speaking words of affection in Italian cradling her head, “Ciao bambina, sono tua mamma e tuo papà.”

I sniffle and grin at the sight of both of them before cooing at our daughter, “Hi welcome to the world. Right now your the only pure and innocent thing in it at this very moment. And I promise we are gonna name you by the time you come home.” Andrew chuckles at that and we just enjoy this moment together as a family.

The Babys Name Here

#grey's anatomy #greys anatomy #greysanatomyedit #greysedit #amber karev #andrew deluca #lucy deluca #alex karev #elizabeth gillies #liz gillies #giacomo gianniotti #headcanon #mine #labor pain #labor and delivery #pregnant #pregnancy

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oliverreedmasterass · 2 years ago

Note

Greta Van Fleet having their own Disney Channel show like imagine if they were brought up that way omg

Notes: EVERYONE GIVE ALEX (@jmkho) SO MUCH LOVE FOR THE INCREDIBLE TITLE, I LOVE IT WITH ALL OF MY HEART SHE'S SO UNBELIEVABLY TALENTED!!! AND ADDISON (@starcatcherkiszka) THANK YOU FOR THE PROMPT AND TALKING ME THROUGH THE PLAN FOR THIS FIC!! Much love to you both 🫶

Synopsis: In this pilot episode of a Disney Channel-esque show, the members of Greta Van Fleet all face their own personal challenges: Josh struggles with writer's block, Jake is convinced the studio is haunted, and Danny and Sam are in the midst of an intense prank war

Words: 5k (but it goes by fast since it's a script, trust me)

Warnings: ghosts/spookiness/hauntings, allusions to insanity, chimpanzees, James Hetfield

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The scene opens in the studio. Josh is pacing back and forth while murmuring to himself, Jake is perched on a stool with an acoustic guitar in his hand staring blankly at a wall, Danny is behind his drum kit attempting to twirl his drumsticks around, and Sam is sitting at his keys cradling an impressive cup of coffee.

JOSH: I can’t believe this.

JAKE: It’ll come to you, don’t worry. It always does.

JOSH: No, it’s just, I don’t know. It feels different this time. Like, my brain isn’t coming up with anything.

DANNY: I think the song you started writing about your rhinestones had potential.

[Flashback to Josh brainstorming the rhinestone song]

JOSH: Twinkling, glittering, glimmering musical colors radiating on my face, my shining face, beaming at youuuuuuu…

[Cut back to the present]

Josh squints at Danny. It’s obvious he knows Danny is lying.

JAKE: We have time before this song has to be done, Josh. No need to force it out.

SAM: [to Jake] Actually I think he would work better under pressure. [to Josh] If we don’t finish this song in the next hour, I’m leaving the band.

JAKE, DANNY: Sam!

Josh drops to the floor and folds himself up in the fetal position with a moan.

JAKE: Great idea, Sam.

Jake sets his guitar down and squats next to Josh so he can place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

JAKE: [to Josh] Why don’t we give you some space to work out the lyrics?

Behind Jake and Josh, Sam takes a drink from his coffee and spits it out with a loud “BLEGH!” Everyone turns to look at him.

DANNY: [cheekily] Burn your tongue?

SAM: This tastes awful, like a salt lamp!

JOSH: How do you know what a salt lamp tastes like?

With a wide grin, Danny removes a handful of empty salt packets from his pocket and holds them up to Sam to see.

DANNY: Gotcha.

SAM: No!

JAKE: Is this a part of your stupid prank war?

SAM: It’s not stupid.

DANNY: I’m beating Sam by a landslide. I only have to prank him three more times and then the crown will be mine. Sam, you have what? Seven more pranks? You’d think with two older brothers and all, you’d be a lot better at this.

SAM: You haven’t seen my best pranks yet.

DANNY: I’m hoping they’re better than drawing a banana on my drum kit. And my car. Actually, why do you keep drawing bananas on my stuff?

SAM: It’s funny.

DANNY: It’s annoying.

Josh groans from the floor.

JAKE: C’mon, Josh. Get up.

Jake helps a limp Josh back to his feet and makes sure that he’s going to stand upright when he releases his grip on his shoulders. Josh looks dazed but stands vertically, which earns him a pat on the head from Jake.

JOSH: I’m gonna get the studio to myself?

JAKE: Yeah, we’ll give you some space to actually hear your own thoughts.

In the background, Danny crawls on his hands and knees to Sam’s feet where he proceeds to tie his shoelaces together. Sam is blissfully ignorant, giving his rank coffee another testing sip, which he spits out again.

JOSH: Okay, yeah, hear my thoughts, good, yeah.

Jake grabs his guitar and leads the way out of the studio, giving Josh a quick wave which Josh returns. Danny follows behind Jake and Sam stands to his feet, still unaware of his shoelaces.

SAM: [whispering to Josh] Hey, give me a call if you need any help.

JOSH: Thanks, I won’t.

SAM: I’ve got some good ideas to motivate you to write something.

JOSH: I don’t trust you.

SAM: I’m only a phone call away.

JOSH: Please leave the room, Sam.

SAM: You’ve got it, brother.

Sam starts to take a step forward and promptly tumbles to the ground with a thump. Danny and Jake pop their heads back into the room and start to laugh and taunt Sam, who is staring down at his feet in awe.

SAM: DANNY! HOW? WHAT? WHEN?

DANNY: [calling from outside the room] It’s too easy! 2 pranks to go!

Sam grumbles, hastily unties his shoes, and then ducks out of the room, hanging his head in embarrassment. The door slams shut, finally engulfing Josh in silence. He closes his eyes and lets in a deep inhale, followed by a long exhale. He opens his eyes and sits on the floor next to a notepad and pen that had obviously been discarded in frustration earlier.

Starcatchers Theme/Opening Titles

[acoustic theme song with a harmonica]

From the fires we emerged anew,

Singing, playing rock and roll,

Reviving a genre just for you.

Across the globe we traveled far

Recruiting an army of peace,

Enchanting crowds with our guitar.

A battle ensued at the Gardens Gate

And we preserved the gift of nature,

Standing up against a culture of hate.

We are the Starcatchers, reaching for the sky,

Discovering words of wisdom to live by.

We deliver a message from the heavens above:

Live your legend through the intelligence of love.

[end theme]

JOSH: [to the camera] It’s one song. Just a single song. What does it matter? People can never understand what I’m saying anyways, I could write literally anything.

Josh immediately stares daggers at his notepad, deep in thought. His face is starting to turn red and his eyes bug out. He stops before his head explodes and throws himself on his back, staring up at the ceiling of the studio.

JOSH: Nothing.

Across the hall and a few doors down, Jake is in an empty studio, walking in circles while strumming his acoustic guitar.

JAKE: [singing] What will we do with a drunken sailor? What will we do with a drunken sailor? What will we do with a drunken sailor ear-lay in tha mornin’! Way hay and up she rises, way hay and up she rises, way hay and up-

Jake is cut off by the sound of something scraping against wood. Jake’s face pales in fear and he whirls around in a quick circle, searching for the source of the sound.

JAKE: I just wanna say, for the record, I can kick really, really hard.

The scraping suddenly stops and Jake lets out a sigh of relief. Then, he catches a glimpse of a water bottle quickly jerking across a table in the corner of the room. It seems as though it moved on its own. In a blind panic, Jake drops his guitar and books it for the studio door. He jiggles and pushes on the handle to no avail. The door appears to be locked.

JAKE: Ruh roh raggy.

Jake is breathing heavily now, well beyond the brink of panic, and starts to kick the door with all of his might. The threat he threw out earlier has some merit: he can kick really, really hard, but the door doesn’t budge. Jake squeezes his eyes shut and smacks his forehead.

JAKE: C'mon, brain. Give me something.

Jake grabs hold of the door knob again. He twists the handle and tries pushing out, but the door is still sealed shut. Jake turns the knob again and pulls the door towards him. The door opens.

JAKE: [staring at the door warily] You’ve got to be kidding me.

Now free from the haunted studio room, Jake runs down the hallway as fast as he can, past Danny, who is sitting in the studio lobby.

JAKE: Ghosts!

Danny watches Jake run past and then, unbothered, looks back down at his phone. Behind him, Sam sneaks along the wall of the lobby like he’s in Mission Impossible, armed with two bananas. He creeps closer to Danny and can’t help but let out a soft laugh, which makes Danny turn around.

DANNY: What’s going on?

Sam quickly retracts both hands behind his back to hide the bananas.

SAM: Nothing…

DANNY: What have you got behind your back?

SAM: Oh, you know, stuff. Taxes. I have taxes.

Before Sam can react, Danny springs to his feet, barrels towards Sam, grabs his arms, and tugs them out in front of him so Danny can see the two bananas. Danny and Sam both stare down at what’s in Sam’s hands, and then Danny shoots Sam a tired look.

DANNY: More bananas?

SAM: Hyah!

Sam tosses the two bananas at Danny’s chest so they hit him with a soft thump before dropping to the floor. Danny stares down at the bananas, expressionless.

DANNY: You just bruised two perfectly good bananas.

SAM: Pick them up, you’ll get the prank. It’s a really stellar one.

Danny looks like he doesn’t want to, but he grabs the bananas and turns them around in his hands with his eyebrows arched.

DANNY: Oh my god. You drew my car and drum kit on these?

SAM: I’m on my A-game now, Daniel!

Sam runs off, cackling loudly. Danny watches him go and shakes his head.

DANNY: [to the camera] What does he think a prank is?

Danny places the bananas on the lobby table and then sighs and walks in the direction Sam went, passing by the studio where Josh is currently holed up. In the studio, Josh is stationed in front of a whiteboard.

JOSH: What story should I tell? What needs to be added to the Greta Van Fleet universe? [Speaking aloud as he writes on the whiteboard using a sharpie] I get carsick. No. Jake’s feet smell bad. No. Womb memories. No. European architecture. No. Argh!

Josh launches the sharpie off to the side and it crashes against one of Danny’s cymbals.

JOSH: This is impossible. I can’t do this by myself.

Josh eyes a landline phone sitting in the studio. The screen splits in two as Josh calls James Hetfield, and he answers the phone.

JAMES: Howdy, it’s the beast under your bed, in your closet, in your head. What can I do for ya?

JOSH: Hey, quick question, do you ever have such a hard time writing a song that you want to pull your brain out of your head and play basketball with it?

JAMES: Can’t say that I have.

JOSH: Darn.

JAMES: Want some advice? Don’t answer that. I’m gonna give it to you anyway. Write about the things that make your skin crawl, that make you shiver, that your brain actively avoids thinking about. That’s where your most complex emotions lay.

JOSH: Eighteen wheelers. I’m certain they can’t see me when I’m driving next to them.

JAMES: No, I’m talking about like the lowest of lows here. Think war, famine, plague, climate change, scary stuff.

JOSH: Chimpanzees. Ooh, I’m getting shivers. I think it’s working, James!

JAMES: Oh, um, okay, get to writing then, Josh. I won’t keep you.

With an air of triumph, Josh slams the phone down.

Outside the studio, Jake is talking on the phone with a 9-1-1 operator.

JAKE: I don’t think you understand what I’m saying, the water bottle moved.

9-1-1 OPERATOR: No, I get what you’re saying. That’s not an emergency, sir.

JAKE: Listen to me, the water bottle moved on its own. There’s something paranormal happening here, and I don’t want a poltergeist situation going down. Being sucked into a spooky closet is one of my top 10 fears.

9-1-1 OPERATOR: I’m going to hang up. I have other calls to get to.

The line disconnects. Jake huffs and jams his phone back into his pocket.

JAKE: How do they not have a paranormal sub-department?

In the background in the parking lot of the studio, Danny tiptoes into frame with a marshmallow gun and a pair of goggles on. He scans the area and then crouches down, on the prowl, trying to find Sam.

DANNY: [softly] Sammy, come out and play. I’ve got a little treat for you.

Danny continues creeping around the cars and, as he moves past Sam’s Tesla, Sam jumps out of the trunk, decked out in a banana costume.

SAM: [literally shouting] COME MISTER TALLY MAN, TALLY ME BANANA!

DANNY: [shouting back] WHAT IS WITH YOU AND THE BANANAS?

Sam reaches into his back pocket and retrieves a new banana, which he once again throws at Danny.

SAM: How does it ‘peel’ to get pranked this hard, Daniel?

Sam proudly removes himself from the trunk and stands in front of Danny, placing his hands on his hips with confidence. Danny can’t help but silently unload his marshmallow gun on Sam, pummeling him with mini marshmallows. Sam squeaks out in shock and ducks into a ball on the pavement. Danny continues until he’s out of marshmallows.

DANNY: [down to Sam] One more prank to go.

SAM: [coughing up marshmallows] You’ll never win.

Jake runs over to his band members.

JAKE: [still unbelievably on edge] There is something creepy afoot here.

DANNY: I’ve told you before, Jake, the moaning sounds you keep hearing are coming from the experimental band’s sessions down the hall.

JAKE: A water bottle moved right in front of my eyes.

SAM: [mocking, from the ground] Ooh scary.

Jake picks up a marshmallow from the ground and proceeds to chuck it at Sam.

JAKE: [back to Danny] There’s a ghost in there and it’s upset that we’re invading its space. I’m gonna get sucked into a closet if I go back in there, and I can’t risk it.

Danny and Sam exchange a glance.

DANNY: I’ll go back in with you and show you that there’s nothing to worry about.

SAM: And I’ll stay here because I really don’t care.

Danny shoots Sam a look and then guides a reluctant Jake back towards the studio.

JAKE: Do you have any holy water on you?

DANNY: I don’t think that works on ghosts, Jake. What do you think we’re up against here?

JAKE: I want to be prepared for anything.

Even though Jake is dragging his heels, Danny succeeds in pushing him through the front doors and guides him past the lobby, towards the “haunted” studio. Jake once again looks pale as a sheet.

DANNY: See? Nothing supernatural going on here. Except you. God, you look like a ghost.

JAKE: [whispering] I’m a ghost?

DANNY: No, no, come on, show me the room where it happened.

Jake starts to cautiously step towards the room when they hear Josh belting out lyrics down the hall. Danny and Jake stop in their tracks and listen.

JOSH: Ooh! Ooh! Aah! Aah! Chimpanzee on my mind, coming near me, he’s by my side!

Without uttering a word, it’s mutually agreed between Danny and Jake that they need to step in before Josh writes any more terrible lyrics. They both move to his studio door and storm in. Josh is sitting on a stool, shaking a tambourine, but stops when he notices them.

JOSH: Something wrong?

JAKE: What the hell are you singing?

JOSH: [cautiously] The new song?

DANNY: Chimpanzee on my mind?

JOSH: You don’t like it?

JAKE: Our album is called Starcatcher, Josh. Could you write about something a bit more on theme than apes?

JOSH: [matter of factly] They sent a chimp to space.

DANNY: This is a good starting point, Josh. Maybe try to work with something a bit more abstract. How do chimps in space make you feel?

JOSH: Confused.

DANNY: Okay? Try to work off of that.

JOSH: Yeah, yeah, okay.

Josh shoos Jake and Danny out of the studio and looks back at his notepad with a sigh. Jake and Danny step out of the room and move back towards the haunted studio. Jake stands by the door, glued in place. Danny watches him.

DANNY: Should I?

Jake purses his lips and nods. Danny slowly pushes the door open and steps in first. Jake hesitantly follows behind him. Danny scans around.

DANNY: Everything looks normal to me.

Jake has peeled himself away from Danny and is stationed in front of the haunted water bottle, where all of his problems began.

JAKE: [pointing a half centimeter to the right of where the water bottle is now sitting] It used to be here. But now it’s here.

DANNY: Uh huh.

JAKE: It jerked over on its own. I was nowhere near it. And there were weird scratching noises too. Maybe there’s something in the walls.

DANNY: Like a squirrel?

JAKE: Like a ghoul.

DANNY: You know, what is a ghoul?

JAKE: A force you shouldn’t reckon with.

DANNY: I wish you could be a bit more specific sometimes.

JAKE: I can’t help that I’m mysterious.

DANNY: No, actually I do think that’s something you can help -

A chilling sound fills the studio.

MYSTERIOUS GHOSTLY VOICE: Oohhohohooooohhhhhoooooooooo

Jake screams and jumps into Danny’s arms. Danny instinctually catches Jake. The lights start to flicker.

JAKE: RUN, DANNY, RUN! BEFORE THE CLOSET OPENS AND TAKES ME!

DANNY: THERE’S NO CLOSET IN HERE, JAKE!

Danny runs out of the studio anyways and bumps into Sam, still dressed in the banana costume, in the hall.

SAM: What’s going on?

JAKE: [not making any sense] Water bottle and wood and oohhhooooohooohooo sounds and ghouls and spooky and closets and -

SAM: Danny?

DANNY: The studio is haunted.

SAM: Oh, word.

Jake squirms out of Danny’s arms and faces Sam.

JAKE: You’re not freaked out?

SAM: Why should I be?

JAKE: Ghosts, Sam! They’ll get you! They’re always two steps ahead.

SAM: Ghosts don’t have feet.

JAKE: It’s an expression, Sam!

Cut to Josh in his studio. Jake and Sam’s argument is muffled outside the door, but still audible. Josh sits back on the ground in front of his notepad and pen.

JOSH: C’mere, lyrics, pspspsp, come to papa.

This obviously does not work.

JOSH: [tapping his pen on his chin] Maybe I’d be inspired by our old lyrics? Uhhh what’s a good one? Light My Love? Your mind is a stream of colors. Stream of colors, stream of colors, stream of co-lors. Stream of co…Hmmm. That’s it! A stream of consciousness! That should give me something to work with.

Josh picks up his pen, suddenly filled with a new surge of energy, and starts to scribble on his paper. A montage of Josh writing in different dramatic angles plays with a song similar to Gonna Fly Now blaring in the background. He finishes writing and drops his smoking pen to the floor.

JOSH: There.

As if he’s dealing with an ancient relic, Josh carefully lifts the notepad up to his eyeline and carefully scans over what he wrote.

JOSH: [reading aloud] All work and no play makes Josh a dull boy. All work and no play makes Josh a dull boy. All work and no play makes Josh a dull boy. Oh god! It goes on for four and a half pages!

Josh crumples the pages into tight balls and eats them, removing the evidence. Josh approaches the glass panel separating the studio from the sound booth and looks at his reflection, jabbing his finger into his reflection’s shoulder.

JOSH: No one can know about this, you hear me? No one! This is between you and me.

JOSH’S REFLECTION: Whatever you say, boss.

Josh shakes his head and backs away from his reflection.

JOSH: Woah. [to the camera] I wonder if Carole King has to deal with this.

JOSH’S REFLECTION: She doesn’t, but James Taylor does.

Josh hops away from the glass in shock and returns to the whiteboard in a daze.

JOSH: [to himself] It’s all in your head.

He attempts to wipe his previous notes away, but it’s not working since he wrote them out in sharpie. Josh drops his arms in defeat.

JOSH: What’s the point?

Josh reassumes his spot on the ground in the fetal position. In the studio lobby, Jake is in a similar position on the sofa, staring down at his knees in muted shock. Sam is sitting next to him, still in the banana costume, awkwardly patting his legs. Danny enters back into the room and takes a seat across from Sam and Jake.

DANNY: I didn’t hear any weird noises in any of the other studios. Well, actually, I think I heard Josh talking to himself, but that’s not out of the ordinary.

SAM: [to Jake] Hear that? The spooky ghost is on vacation.

JAKE: [softly] Ghosts can’t go on vacation.

SAM: How do you know? Are you a ghost?

Jake huffs but doesn’t continue to argue.

SAM: [to Danny] One of the assistants brought in some smoothies if you want one, they’re pretty good.

DANNY: Oh cool, thanks.

Danny grabs one of the smoothies from the table and takes a long sip. Sam is staring at him, looking on the brink of laughter. Danny sets the smoothie down and eyes Sam.

DANNY: What?

SAM: Got you!

DANNY: [paling] What? What did you do?

SAM: I put a little extra something in your smoothie.

Jake untucks himself out of his fetal position to watch the exchange between Danny and Sam. This is some interesting stuff.

DANNY: Sam, what did you do?

Sam, beaming wide, pulls out a banana peel and drops it on the floor in front of Danny. Danny looks down at it.

DANNY: I don’t get it.

SAM: I put a banana in your smoothie!

DANNY: Are you being serious?

SAM: Samuel Francis Kiszka does it again!

JAKE: Sam, smoothies already have bananas in them. It’s literally one of the main ingredients.

DANNY: Oh thank god, I thought you put laxatives in there.

SAM: The banana strikes again! I’m right on your tail, Daniel!

JAKE: I don’t think putting a banana in a smoothie counts as a prank, Sam.

Sam pouts. A bang and a crash comes from down the hall where Josh is. Jake springs to his feet in alarm.

JAKE: Josh?

Completely forgetting about his paralyzing fear of the haunted studio, Jake rushes down the hall to Josh. Danny and Sam trail behind him. Jake throws open the door to the studio and gapes at Josh, who is bashing a tambourine against the glass panel separating the studio from the sound booth.

JOSH: Stop! Talking! To! Me! Get! Out! Of! My! Head!

JAKE: Josh! Our insurance doesn’t cover trashed studios!

Josh continues banging on the glass. It’s as if he doesn’t realize Jake is there. Jake tries to turn Josh around to face him, but Josh doesn’t budge. From Josh’s perspective, he’s smacking his reflection with the tambourine while his reflection laughs and taunts him.

JOSH: Your treacherous ridicule will never break me!

Danny rushes to Josh’s side and drenches him with a bucket of ice water, finally snapping Josh out of his spell. He stumbles back from the glass a few steps and then holds at his head and grunts.

JOSH: [dejected] I didn’t write the new song. I got distracted.

SAM: Yeah, obviously.

Josh looks Sam down in his banana costume.

JOSH: Did Danny and Jake tell you about my chimpanzee song? Did you like it or something? Is this an act of solidarity?

SAM: Wait, you wrote a song about chimpanzees?

JOSH: James Hetfield told me to write about something that scares me.

SAM: And you wrote about chimpanzees?

JOSH: He shot down my idea about eighteen wheelers.

Sam doesn’t know how to respond to this.

JOSH: I’m sorry, you guys. I’m just not getting inspired in the right way. I don’t know if the lyrics are ever gonna come to me.

DANNY: Hey, they will. It just takes some time.

JAKE: I say we call it quits for the day. I wanna get out of here.

JOSH: [finally taking in Jake’s face for the first time] You look like you saw a ghost. What’s up with you?

JAKE: [whispering] That’s exactly what happened to me.

JOSH: Okay, yeah, let’s get out of here.

Jake and Josh move for the door but then stop when they realize Sam and Danny aren’t following behind them.

JOSH: You guys coming?

SAM: We’ll be right behind you, just give us a second.

Jake and Josh shrug and leave Sam and Danny behind. They move down the hallway and, when they pass the haunted studio, clawing noises sound inside the door. Jake and Josh exchange a terrified look.

JOSH: Is that?

JAKE: Yeah.

They’re both stuck in place, staring at the door in fear. The door starts to thump and spooky sounds come from inside the room. Before Jake or Josh can react, two sets of hands pop out of the door and drag them into the room.

JOSH: Oh mama!

Jake and Josh are standing in the dark as the door slams shut behind them.

JAKE: Josh?

A bunch of crashing noises sound and Jake lets out a yelp.

JOSH: Sorry, I tripped over something.

Jake fumbles for his phone and turns the flashlight on. Across from him he can see a panic-stricken Josh, his eyes darting around looking for danger. Jake slowly moves the flashlight around the studio, taking in the empty space, and then lets out a holler when he sees a shadowed figure standing in the corner of the room. Josh sees what he’s looking at and screams as well.

JOSH: It’s a chimpanzee!

JAKE: What? No, it’s a vengeful spirit!

The shadowed figure starts to slowly move closer to them and Jake and Josh embrace in a tight hug, screaming.

JOSH: [shrill] Stay back!

JAKE: I’m gonna kick you so hard in the gonads!

The shadowed figure stops about 20 feet away from Jake and Josh.

SHADOWED FIGURE: [in a large and booming voice] Jacob Thomas Kiszka and Joshua Michael Kiszka!

Jake and Josh scream at the top of their lungs, still hugging.

SHADOWED FIGURE: You have continually trespassed on my territory. You must face a reckoning for your carelessness.

JOSH: Would a simple sorry suffice?

SHADOWED FIGURE: NO!

Jake and Josh cower further.

SHADOWED FIGURE: You must go through the spooky door to another dimension.

JAKE: Oh god, no! Anything but that!

The door to the studio flings open on its own. Strobe lights and smoke flood into the studio from the door and Jake and Josh shield their eyes in fear. They both back up against the wall farthest from the door.

SHADOWED FIGURE: Whatever you think is beyond that door, it’s worse.

JOSH: [whispering to himself] Eighteen wheelers.

SHADOWED FIGURE: Three…

JOSH: Oh god not a countdown.

SHADOWED FIGURE: Two…

JAKE: What do we do?

SHADOWED FIGURE: One…

JOSH: It’s been nice knowing you, little bro.

Jake whirls to face Josh.

JAKE: By five minutes!

SHADOWED FIGURE: Zero!

Sam jumps between Jake and Josh, still in his banana costume.

SAM: IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH MESOTHELIOMA -

Jake and Josh jump about 4 feet in the air.

JAKE AND JOSH: AAAAAAUUUGHHHHHHHHHH!!!

The lights to the studio flick back on and Jake and Josh are greeted by the sight of Sam and Danny standing in front of them, laughing hard. Danny is wearing a cloak, revealing him to be the shadowed figure. Jake pushes out of Josh’s embrace and storms up to Sam and Danny.

JAKE: You need to start explaining yourselves now.

Sam puts his hands up, guilty as charged.

DANNY: I thought Sam was easy to prank, I guess it’s actually all the Kiszkas.

SAM: It’s amazing what a voice changing microphone and some strobe lights can do.

DANNY: And a fishing line.

JAKE: A fishing line?

Sam moves over to the haunted water bottle, steps behind the piano, and tugs on a string, making the bottle lurch to the side. Jake stares, dumbfounded.

JAKE: It was all you?

Sam and Danny share a glance.

DANNY: I mean, yeah.

JAKE: Why I oughta…

Jake moves his foot back, ready to kick Sam and Danny with all of his might when Josh speaks up, capturing all of their attention.

JOSH: I felt like such a massive chicken back there. But I think I finally understand what James was trying to tell me. I’m terrified of the unknown, of a feeling of hopelessness, where everything is crashing and burning around you, but you have to try and hold things together.

SAM: My god, he’s doing it.

Josh is already booking it back to his studio.

JOSH: The lyrics are coming! They’re crowning!

Jake looks back and forth between Danny and Sam like he still really wants to kick them, but ends up shaking his head and following behind Josh. Josh needs supervision in the studio moving forward - he can’t be left alone anymore.

SAM: That was one hell of a prank, Danny.

DANNY: I’m glad we could team up against Jake and Josh. They need a little humbling from time to time.

SAM: I couldn’t have said it any better.

Sam clasps Danny on the back and then motions towards the door.

SAM: Wanna watch Josh’s creative genius at work?

DANNY: I do like it when he yells, “BAJABULE!” every time he gets down a verse.

Danny walks past Sam and moves through the door. Sam happily follows behind him. When Danny turns into the hallway, he subtly drops the banana peel that Sam had thrown in front of him earlier. Sam doesn’t notice and steps on it, slipping backwards and falling with a loud THUD.

DANNY: Victory, baby!!

SAM: [dramatically groaning from the ground] What a tragic end to a war.

DANNY: Eat it!

Danny does an impressive victory dance over Sam, who is still sprawled on the floor in defeat. Transition to Josh, Jake, Danny, and Sam playing The Falling Sky in the studio. As the song finishes, they all come together.

JOSH: For a while there, I really thought I would never be able to write a song again.

DANNY: We’ve got a real winner on our hands. You know, like me.

SAM: Drop it, Daniel.

DANNY: I think you owe me something, Sam.

Sam grumbles but takes his bass off, retreats to the side of the studio, and returns with a crown made out of bananas. He brings it to Danny and places it on his head.

SAM: [emotionless] I hereby pronounce you, Daniel Jean Louise Marie Wagner, King of the Pranks. All hail the king.

Jake approaches Sam and Danny.

JAKE: As a congratulations, I would like to extend my foot into both of your shins.

As Jake is about to do this, the lights in the studio flicker out.

JOSH: The same joke twice isn’t very funny, guys.

JAKE: I didn’t think it was that funny the first time around.

DANNY: We didn’t do anything.

SAM: Yeah, that wasn’t us.

Chimp noises sound around the dark room. The band screams.

END OF EPISODE

#greta van fleet #gvf #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #sam kiszka #danny wagner #gvf fanfic #gvf fic #gvf fanfiction #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet fanfiction #greta van fleet fic #fanfiction script #disney channel pilot #gvf disney #GIVE ALEX SO MUCH LOVE FOR THE TITLE HOLY SHIT #try and guess all the horror film references going on here #my subconscious mind was HARD AT WORK

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whatstruthgottodowithit · 2 years ago

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Untethered

Fandom: Elvis Presley, American Actor

Pairing: Elvis Presley x Original Female Character

Characters: Elvis Presley, Original Female Character, Addison Goodwin, Joe Goodwin, Mona Goodwin, Jess Goodwin, Lisa Marie Presley, Gladys Presley, Vernon Presley, Minnie Mae ‘Dodger’ Presley

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 4319

Summary: Addison and Elvis have made it through more than most but that was because despite everything they always had each other. As if their souls were tethered but what happens when the rope snaps.

Tags/Warnings: Flashbacks, Love, Established Relationship, Cuddles, Hugging, Arguing, Parents, Implied Death, Implied Sickness, Family Arguments,

Notes: I'm up watching the candlelight vigil so I might as well post!

This a fic that links to The Girl He Left Behind/Here You Come Again. Set after Here You Come again by quite some years. Basically it’s the long and happy life Elvis deserved.

Special thanks to @ccab for letting me be such a masochist [and yes I cried writing it sue me]

LINK TO ELVIS & ADDISON MASTERPOST // LINK TO AO3 // LINK TO PINTEREST

Addison could hear them arguing. She was sure she wasn’t supposed to, not given how her father had told her to stay on the porch swing until he came back out or how they attempted to say everything in harsh whispers, yet she could hear every word as it floated through the open window. And to make matters worse they were arguing about her.

‘And who’s going to watch her?’ Joe said hands on his hips as he watched his wife rifle through her purse which she had just picked up off the hallway dresser. She was dressed differently from before, Addison could only see through a small crack in the curtains, but her robe was gone now, replaced by a sleek black dress and her shoes, the ones she had shouted at Addison for playing in earlier today - the reason her daddy had found her crying on the front porch - clacked along the wooden floor.

‘You’re her parent too y’know,’ Mona said her gaze never looking his way as she slipped a compact out of her purse and checked her appearance.

‘And when I have to go to work? When you traipse in at God knows what hour or better still don’t come home? What then?’

‘You’ll figure it out Joey you always do,’ Mona said sarcastically, blotting her lipstick with her finger before she snapped the compact closed and threw it in her purse and then finally looked up at the man in front of her.

‘I make it work because I have to! Because you make me-‘ he snapped, his voice growing heated as he felt his frustration mounting.

‘Make you?! I didn’t make you do anything! You wanted a kid, begged me remember? Now you’re trying to blame me for what you signed us up for,’ Mona said in a tight whisper making Joe push a hard lump down in his throat, ‘you wanted Addison. I wanted my life.’

‘Addison is our life,’ Joe said angrily waiting for his wife to say something, anything that might insinuate she agreed if even the slightest amount but she watched him, stony faced and unyielding.

‘I’ve had her all day you have no idea what it’s like,’ she said eventually.

‘What would you rather go to work? Bust your hump every damn day to put food on the table,’ Joe argued.

‘Be a damn sight easier!’ Mona snapped, ‘do you know what’s it like? She doesn’t want me, Joe. Every day is the same. I’m never the one she wants, it’s always Daddy this, Daddy that when I’m the one home with her all day.’

‘She’s a kid Mona! Kids push your buttons,’ Joe said.

‘Well she can push yours tonight,’ she said slinging her purse onto her shoulder as she headed to the door.

‘So what you’re just gonna run out every time it gets hard? We need you Mona,’ Joe said following her. Mona paused, her hand on the door handle before she looked back at her husband, ‘and what about what I need?’

And before Joe could protest she wrenched open the door an flung herself down the garden path. Joe moved forward, standing in the door frame as he watched his wife climb into the cab that was idling in the middle of the street before it took off at speed. He only looked up when he heard a tiny voice speak from somewhere on the porch.

‘Is Mama mad at me?’ Addison said with a sniffle as she sunk back down onto her bottom pretending she hadn’t been kneeling up at the window, listening to every word. Joe looked at her, forcing a smile as he walked towards her sitting down on the swing beside her as she climbed onto his lap.

‘No baby she’s not mad at you,’ Joe said placing a kiss on the top of her head.

‘Then where’d she go?’ she asked as she looked out at the garden in front of them.

‘She’s had to pop out to see a friend,’ Joe lied.

‘But she’s coming back?’ Addison asked hopefully.

‘Of course baby,’ Joe said though he wasn’t sure that was the case.

‘Okay,’ Addison said quietly cuddling into him as he started to rock the porch swing with his feet.

The sun was sinking in the sky now, creating orange and pink streaks above the houses across from them. And his baby girl was nuzzled into him, her little fingers playing with the chain he was wearing around his neck as he rocked them.

Any other time it would’ve been a nice moment. But not tonight.

He had just gotten home from a long day at work, back breaking labour he was hoping would be followed by a nice meal and maybe an ice-cold drink. But that wasn’t the scene he was greeted with when he got home. No, as he pulled up he found his little girl sitting on their front porch sobbing her heart out. She had been waiting for him and ran to him the moment he had put his foot on the garden path, burying herself in his neck as her tears made his already sweat soaked shirt damper. He had asked her what was wrong but she hadn’t managed to get her words out, every bit of speech broken by sniffles and erratic breaths as she tried to explain herself.

But as he stepped over the threshold of his home he knew what was the matter. Mona.

He had placed Addison down and told her to stay on the porch until he came back out and though she was still sniffling and her lashes were clumped together with tears she had nodded allowing him to go into the house alone.

As he walked towards the back of the house he could sense something was up. Mona was flitting around the kitchen taking pots off the stove and decanting vegetables onto two plates on the countertop. It was a domestic scene that would be seen all over the United States tonight and yet their scene wouldn’t unfold like everyone else’s would. His wife wouldn’t kiss him as he greeted her. She wouldn’t serve him his dinner or ask him about his day. She wouldn’t put their little girl to bed, the pair of them making sure she was soundly asleep before they settled down enjoying one another’s company.

No tonight would go as it had a thousand times before. Mona would throw a haphazard meal on the table and then she would leave for whatever good time she had managed to arrange. He would make sure Addison was fed, ask her what had made her cry which she would no doubt inform him to be something her mother had said or did, and then he would bath her and put her to bed wondering if his wife would be laying in the bed beside him in the morning.

All of that had been put into motion the moment he had asked her why Addison was crying.

That had been what had led him into the argument, it had been the reason the pair of them were now sitting on the porch swing both as broken as the other. The only bonus was that Addison seemed to have stopped crying, fresh tears didn’t even seem to come as she watched Mona flee from them as if she were leaving the scene of a crime. Yet that hurt in its own way. It hurt so much that he had to peel himself away from her.

He needed time to rebuild himself, if only the ten minutes it would take to finish dinner, so he could be there for her when the inevitable questions rolled in.

‘Addie?’ he asked causing her large hazel eyes to look up at him expectantly, forcing a wave of sadness to flow through him at just how familiar they looked, ‘I’m gonna make dinner okay?’

‘Okay,’ she said as he moved her off him, placing a kiss on the top of her head before he stood up.

‘You stayin’ out here?’ he asked earning a nod in response. It was a small relief, at least holed away in the kitchen he could let his emotions flood through him without upsetting her, ‘okay. But don’t go wanderin’ off ya hear me? You ain’t allowed out of this yard.’

‘I know,’ she said with a smile.

And then he headed inside the house and out of sight. Addison watched him go before she sat back on the porch swing. She didn’t want to stay outside, it was getting late and a chill was flowing through the air making her shiver in her thin dress but she knew it was better to be here. If her daddy had wanted her outside whilst they argued he’d want her out of the way when he cried.

She couldn’t hear it this time, he was deep enough in the house that she couldn’t hear anything but she was sure he would cry. Like he always did when him and her mama fought. She didn’t know why. She didn’t know how he could hold her and make her feel like everything was better and yet he couldn’t fix himself. How her mama could leave him so broken.

It made her tiny heart hurt.

She had heard how her Mama had complained about her wanting him and it was true that throughout the day she had asked for him nigh on a thousand times. It had gotten on her mother’s nerves and so she had told her to go and play though she didn’t say anything about staying out of her parents’ closet. She had been trying on one of her mother’s fancy necklaces and walking around in the shoes that clacked along the floor when her mother had found her. She had yelled blue murder, yanking Addison up until the shoes dropped off her feet and clattered onto the floor. And then she had shoved her through the bedroom door, screaming about how she could never have anything nice, how Addison was nothing but trouble.

It had made her cry and that had only seemed to make her mother angrier and so Addison had fled to the safety of the front porch, waiting for her dad to get home. He always made her feel better. He never made her feel the way her mother did.

That was why she wanted him around. She knew her Daddy loved her, her mother she wasn’t so sure about.

As the sun continued to set and the chill got worse Addison got up from her seat on the porch swing, moving into a strip of sunshine that warmed her body in a way that made her feel a touch happier. She was revelling in the warmth as she watched a bug flit between the gap in the concrete of the porch floor, her finger chasing it as it ran into the shadows, but her attention was caught as she heard a chugging engine coming down the street and looked up to find a truck pulling into the driveway beside them. Addison scooted forward; her face pressed close to the wooden slats of the porch fence as she watched with curiosity. The house beside them belonged to Mrs Miller, a kind older woman who always gave her candy whenever she saw her by the fence. But Mrs Miller hadn’t been home for a while so this car pulling up was odd.

Addison watched as the car stopped and a man she didn’t recognise jumped out. He looked like her daddy, though where her daddy lacked a smile, he couldn’t seem to stop, especially as the rest of the car’s passengers started to disembark. Addison watched as a lady stepped out, not as smiley though she did brighten up as the man continued to talk gesturing to bits of Mrs Miller’s house. Addison watched as he threw his arm around her shoulders, kissing her temple as he spoke animatedly about the house in front of them. Though she could see how happy they were it made her feel sad, it made her wonder why her parents couldn’t be like that.

Then she was distracted as she heard the clunk of a car door and looked across to find a boy a bit older than her making his way around the back of the car until he was at the other side, opening the door and helping out an older woman until she was firmly on solid ground. As he helped her up the path that had become overgrown and unloved in Mrs Miller’s absence Addison watched him.

He wasn’t a teenager but he was definitely older than her. His hair was sandy blonde, though it seemed almost as brown as hers as it was combed tightly to his head, the product he had used to get it that way making it look darker. Addison leaned in closer, watching him as he took a spot beside the younger woman, finally making a larger smile play on her lips.

‘What are ya doing down there, baby?’ she heard Joe say forcing her to whip around so quick as though she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t. Though as he watched her his gaze travelled beyond where she was sitting, clocking the fact there were now people next door. Addison watched as he waved to them and found the man she didn’t know waving back.

‘You wanna meet our new neighbours?’ Joe asked. Addison looked towards the family for a second and then back at her daddy who was waiting patiently then she nodded. Joe offered out a hand which she ran to, his large one encircling hers as they walked down the front steps and towards the fence where the man was now waiting, the rest of them talking amongst themselves.

‘Found it okay then?’ Joe asked with a smile as he leaned across the fence to embrace the man, his other hand still holding Addison’s who was watching them closely.

‘Yeah, just followed your directions,’ Vernon said, ‘again I can’t thank ya enough.’

‘Oh you know it was no bother,’ Joe said, ‘Jack didn’t sting ya too hard on the rent did he?’

‘Nah,’ the man said, ‘I think he’s just happy someone’s gonna be lookin’ after the place.’

‘Well from what I hear his mom’s gonna be headed to a long-term facility after hospital so you never know he might make it permanent,’ Joe said.

‘I hope so,’ the woman said appearing at the man’s side as she offered her hand out, ‘Gladys.’

‘Joe,’ Joe said, ‘nice we can finally meet. Vernon’s told me all about you.’

‘Only good stuff,’ Vernon ribbed.

‘Likewise,’ Gladys said rolling her eyes at her husband before she noticed the little girl standing beside him watching her inquisitively.

‘Which means you must be Addison,’ the woman Addison now knew as Gladys said looking down on her with a kind smile. She smiled back but tucked herself behind her dad’s leg as a blush flooded through her.

‘Hey now who are you tryin’ to convince you’re shy?’ Joe chuckled stroking her hair, ‘say hello baby.’

‘Hello,’ Addison said quietly.

‘Hi there,’ Gladys said.

‘Hi sweetheart,’ Vernon said with a smile.

‘You want me to come over and show ya round? I think they’ll have switched the power and gas off at the mains but everything’s the same as ours so I can show you how to get set up,’ Joe said.

‘You wouldn’t mind?’ Gladys asked.

‘Of course not,’ Joe said.

‘Thanks man,’ Vernon said as Joe nodded and climbed over the small fence one leg at a time before he turned back to Addison. She let him pick her up but as he placed her down on the other side of the fence, she stopped realising the boy from before was watching her. He was leaning against the truck, his blue eyes watching her closely as she looked towards him.

Then she found herself moving, her shyness from earlier disappearing as if there was something tugging her forward. She only stopped when she was stood in front of him, her large hazel eyes looking up at him as she smiled.

‘Hi,’ she said.

‘Hi,’ Elvis said leaning up off the truck he had been resting on.

‘I’m Addie,’ she said.

‘Elvis,’ he said offering a hand out which he expected her to shake but she didn’t. Instead she dove headfirst into his midriff, her tiny arms wrapping around him though they didn’t meet at the back. His own hands moved to her back holding her to him though far more tentatively than she was hugging him. When she pulled back she smiled at him, offering her hand out for him to take which he did without thinking, unable to say no.

He could feel himself being tugged, his arm nearly wrenching out of the socket as she raced forward following the grownups. But it was more than that. The tugging didn’t feel as though it was coming from that small yet powerful hand, but from within them. Something tethering them together and for some reason he couldn’t help but smile.

As Addison pulled out of the memory she felt a tug deep inside her. She didn’t know why, after all that memory was a happy one and given that she was awash with all sorts of memories these days she should take comfort in the ones that were as nice as that. Though she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised, not when that tugging seemed to be a permanent fixture of her being these days, as if it was pulling her at the seams, trying to break her apart. Especially as she watched Elvis. He was lying in bed, his eyes closed and the book he had been reading on his chest though it slipped as he shifted, falling into the crevice of his arm and startling him awake. Though as he grabbed it he noticed her standing by the bathroom door watching over him and he smiled at her, that old familiar knee weakening smile – not changed by age.

‘What are you doin’ over there?’ he said quietly, ‘c’mere.’

Addison didn’t say anything but she obeyed his request, moving towards the bed and climbing on it until she was able to lay down beside him, moving the book as she nuzzled into his side, his arm going around her. He held her for a moment, his fingers tracing soft circles on her arm. Addison didn’t look up at him, soaking in his warmth as he held her, trying to commit this to be one of the memories that plagued her.

‘What are you thinking about?’ Elvis said after a moment.

‘The day we met,’ she said honestly, still staring out across the other side of the room though she felt him move his head no doubt looking down on her as he said, ‘yeah?’

‘Yeah,’ she said quietly.

‘The day at the fair?’ he asked.

‘No, the very first time,’ she said making him breath a laugh.

‘Jeez you remember that?’ he chuckled quietly, ‘I can barely remember what I had for breakfast.’

‘I don’t know how. It just…came to me,’ she said.

‘You were barely three years old,’ Elvis said.

‘I know,’ she said quietly. She didn’t know how she remembered it. How her brain had plucked something she hadn’t thought about for years out and made her relive it and yet she wasn’t surprised. It was something her mind was doing more and more. As a way to cheer her up or torture her she wasn’t sure. After a moment she said, ‘you know what I do remember?’

‘What honey?’ he asked knowing there was more to whatever she was thinking about.

‘My mama and daddy were arguing if you can believe that,’ Addison said making Elvis chuckle, ‘so I was trying to ignore them. Took myself out on the front porch so I couldn’t hear my daddy cryin’….and then I see this big ol’ truck pull up and this nice couple get out followed by this older lady and then this skinny little thing helpin’ her out of the car-’

‘Lean not skinny,’ Elvis corrected making Addison smile.

‘This lean little thing,’ she corrected before she continued, ‘and y’know they looked happy. The mom and dad were smiling and the kid he seemed so kind and I just wanted to run right into the middle of it. To barrel headfirst across my garden until I was in it. In the middle of all that love.’

‘Addie your daddy loved you more than anything in this world you know that,’ Elvis said holding her a touch tighter.

‘I know and I wouldn’t have traded him for the world but I always wanted to be a part of it,’ she whispered.

‘A part of what honey?’ Elvis asked.

‘Your world,’ she said trying to push down the lump in her throat as she spoke, ‘I was drawn to it like a rope tied around my middle pulling me to it. To you.’

‘I know what you mean,’ Elvis said. He had felt it too. Every time she had walked into his life there was this pull, something pulling them together until they were tethered. It hadn’t been an easy road but it was never one they could escape. That was why he felt his heart shatter as she spoke again, this time in barely more than a whisper.

‘What am I gonna do when the rope snaps?’ she asked. Tears were falling now, rolling down her cheeks and onto the cotton of his pyjamas no doubt creating damp patches he would be able to feel but she couldn’t stop them.

‘Oh Ads,’ he sighed. They’d had conversations like this before but he’d never heard the fear in his voice that was present now. She’d always kept herself contained, strong.

‘I mean it. What do I do?’ she asked with a sniffle, ‘because I know you keep saying you’re ready. I know you believe in whatever’s up there…but what if I’m not? What if I’m never going to be ready El? All my life you’ve been there in some form, the rope pulling us back together.’

‘You think I wanna go?’ Elvis said unevenly, he could feel his own tears stinging in his eyes but he forced them back. It was the first sign of vulnerability she had shown and he wasn’t going to make her take care of him, ‘honey I would stay here with you forever if I could you know that…but God…he’s got other plans.’

‘He should change ‘em,’ she said attempting a joke though it was barren of mirth.

‘Only you would be so stubborn as to ask God to make an exception,’ Elvis chuckled.

‘You know me,’ she said. She pulled back, placing her hand on his chest as her hazel eyes found his blue ones each watching the other with the same pained yet loving look.

‘You’re right. I do,’ Elvis said moving a strand of hair off her face, ‘and I know you well enough to know you’re strong enough to survive this. I know that you’ll know what to do. That you’ll look after our girls, our grand babies and anyone else who needs it. I know that you’ll take care of ‘em the way you’ve took care of me all these years.’

‘But I could take care of everything because I had you,’ Addison said, her voice breaking as a fresh wave of tears rolled down her cheeks.

‘And you will,’ Elvis said firmly, ‘do you think I’d every truly leave you? Baby I was always with you and I always will be. I’ll be with you in everything you do and then one day we’ll be back together. You’ll see.’

As tears fell she tried to contain herself but she couldn’t stop the sob that broke free at his words, at the thought of him not being beside her as he had been all these years. Elvis moved his thumb across her cheek, swiping the dampness from under one of her eyes as he watched her.

‘Tell me you believe me,’ he said. Addison watched him. She had been so strong up to now yet as their deadline seemed to grow closer she felt more and more doubt creep in. Even when they had been apart she had always had him, she had known he wasn’t too far away. And she wanted to believe that would still be the case, that what he believed would be right, but she didn’t want to find out. She didn’t want him to go. Not yet. Yet as his blue eyes watched her she couldn’t tell him no. She couldn’t allow her doubt to ruin him. Not if that brought him any ounce of comfort.

‘I do,’ she nodded.

‘Good, though I demand you take your sweet time,’ he jested.

‘When do I ever do what you tell me,’ Addison said allowing his joke to lighten the sombre mood.

‘You will this time you hear me?’ Elvis said, an air of seriousness running through his tone, ‘because this life it still has so much left for you Addie…so promise me you’ll make the most of it.’

‘I promise,’ Addison said, putting her head down on his chest again as he clasped his hand over hers, his heart beating steadily under their touch.

‘Elvis?’ she asked after a moment.

‘Yeah?’

‘Can we just be us for now? No making the most of anything, no thinking about anything…just you and me?’ she asked. She had given him his comfort now she just hoped he would give her what she needed.

‘Whatever you want honey,’ Elvis said kissing the top of her head.

‘I love you,’ she said shakily.

‘I love you too.’

SERIES TAGS

@girlblogger2002 @sania562 @caitlin1996 @literally-just-elvis-fics @notstefaniepresley @artlesson8892 @18lkpeters @velvetelvis @jaqueline19997 @elvispresleyxoxo @amydarcimarie @presleyenterprise @everythingelvispresley @elvispresleywife @lillypink @richardslady121 @lettersfromvenus @louisejoy86 @ccab

#my writing #elvis and addison #elvis presley #elvis fic #elvis presley fic #elvis angst #elvis presley x ofc #here you come again #the girl he left behind #untethered

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cadybear420 · 1 year ago

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Cadybear's Reviews- The Billionaire's Baby

As of the day I’m posting this, this is the last series on the list of Choices stories that I’ve actually fully completed. So what does this mean for Cadybear’s Choices Reviews?

First of all, I can now upload a review (or re-review, for already-reviewed series) of a series sooner after actually completing it. While taking some time to complete a review does let me think about it more, I would prefer my reviews to be more fresh. And like I said, all reviews are subject to more updated re-reviews if necessary.

Second, there are still quite a handful of series on my tierlist where they consist of multiple books, but I haven’t played all of them– TRR, BOLAS, COP, ID, etc. Some of which are still waiting for more books. While I’d generally prefer to review by series rather than by book, I do still have these books ranked on my tierlist with all the rest, and sharing a review for them will at least provide insight to my thoughts on the books and why I gave them the ranking that I did.

So I may or may not plan to write up reviews for those kinds of books. But if I do, I’ll probably title them differently from the usual “Cadybear’s Reviews” or “Cadybear’s Brief Thoughts”. I’ll probably make them as less formally set up reviews, like a more casual text posts. We’ll see.

Third of all, as much as I love to share my thoughts on certain books, I also love to hear what other people think. So I may plan a little something bonus for the books where I’ve provided very extensive thoughts on them… stay tuned.

Welcome to the forty-first official Cadybear's Reviews! Today I'll be talking about The Billionaire's Baby, which I have ranked on the "PooPoo Tier" at 1 star out of a possible 10.

Bruhhhh. This is literally just a TNA clone but with a surrogate instead of a nanny. This is literally the pregnancy plot that PB clearly wanted to have with TNA. Yeah, I stand by my statement that if TNA wasn’t GOC LI, they’d have had Sam accidentally knock up MC at the company gala in Book 1 (hence the Jenny and Aditya subplot in Book 3, to make up for being unable to do that with MC and her LI). And I’m gonna hazard a guess that if TBB wasn’t GOC LI, they’d have had Cole accidentally knock up MC in a one-night stand in the first chapter. Granted they already did the whole “MC gets accidentally knocked up by billionaire LI” thing with BaBu Book 1 Chapter 1, but clearly that wasn’t good enough for PB since there wasn’t an affair involved, just Cassandra acting like she was supposed to be Clint’s future wife.

Okay, maybe what I’m saying might be a bit far-fetched. But I really do mean what I said about this being “TNA: Pregnancy Edition”.

Right from her very first appearance, they make LI’s current partner Daphne very irritable and callous and disagreeable, obviously so she can be a straw loser villain and make the MC seem like the “better woman” for the LI. Y’know, just like Sofia and Addison in TNA.

And of course, said LI’s current partner turns out to have been cheating on the LI all this time. Y’know, just like what happened with Sofia in TNA.

They even have Joss, a LI-gender-determinant character that MC can be flirty with a little to make the actual LI jealous. Y’know, just like Robin and Jordan in TNA.

Demi is the MC’s best friend who solely exists to churn out “le girly girl talk” exclusively about how MC totally deserves to be with the LI and to give MC the premium outfits that will totally turn on the LI. Y’know, just like Jenny in TNA.

Honestly, the only thing that’s surprised me about this book is that Joss wasn’t the one Daphne was cheating on our LI with. Which just makes it worse because now there’s just no point to Joss’s character other than to be Windows Vista Robin. Like, at least actual Robin had some actual character and point to existing in the story.

This book is just so unserious. A lot of Choices smut books try to force “true romantic feelings of love” onto couples that are clearly purely lust-based, TNA included. But this one is the motherfucking GOD of that. It puts TNA to shame in that regard.

Though, I’m gonna be honest, I think TNA as a whole was leagues better than TBB.

For one thing, TNA is at least honest about being an affair story. But I guess “The Surrogate Affair” doesn’t sound as marketable, huh? Sure, let’s instead just bait people into thinking the affair story is something actually compelling like FCL did.

For second, TNA at least had memorable characters like the Twins and Carter, and most of the other supporting characters did at least feel like actual characters. Characters like Robin, Sofia, Addison, Carter, Aditya, Paolo, even smaller ones like Sam’s parents, do genuinely stick with me. Characters like Carmen, Harrison, Joss, Collie’s parents, that one guy that Demi was crushing on… yeah you’ll probably forget they even exist barely an hour after you finish the story.

Thirdly, I can at least somewhat buy Sam admiring MC for how good she is with the twins. And their attraction to each other was more tolerable too because, as awful as MC was for pursuing Sam, I never got the feeling that she felt entitled to them. Whereas IDK what else Collie sees in MC other than “hee hoo sexy woman”, and it’s worsened by how much MC acts entitled to them, how much she goes on and on about how she should be with them instead of Daphne.

And last, the first TNA book at least plays up the affair aspect by having Sam and MC anticipate the trouble they’ll be in at the end. Books 2 and 3 were unnecessary garbage for sure, but at least during the first book, they had some sense of humility and self-awareness. TBB not only has none of that, but it thinks it has the fucking balls to throw in this end message about “remember to follow your heart”. If that isn’t just outright stating you want people to take your affair story seriously as being about true love rather than the lust-based affair it actually is, then IDK what is.

Like… overall, TNA may be pretty derivative and melodramatic too, but it’s at least fun and engaging to some degree? It has its own “so bad it’s good” charm to it. Like the writers actually cared about giving us a somewhat enjoyable affair story, even if it wasn’t very high-quality.

TBB is just… empty. The only thing it does better than TNA is that it ended after one book.

Now, this story gets a lot of understandable and deserved hate, but despite that I myself am ranking this on PooPoo Tier, I’m not even sure I can hate it because it’s just… so derivative in every way. Cheating, pregnancy, and billionaire romance is a combination that has probably been done countless times by literally every other VN app like Chapters and Episode that tries to pander to the “Facebook Moms” stereotype. I don’t even play those apps, I never have, but I’m pretty sure they’ve done this whole “OhEhmGee you’re pregnant with the baby of a sexy powerful billionaire isn’t that sooo hotttt???” thing already like a million times now. If MTFL is the equivalent to a dog eating another dog’s shit and then shitting it back out again, TBB is the equivalent to a dog eating its OWN shit, probably mixed with some other dogs’ shit too, and then shitting it all out into a great big steaming mess much worse than its predecessors.

And one of the worst things about it all is… how tragic this whole story’s existence is. The moment I heard this was about MC being a surrogate for a billionaire couple and you “uncover their scandals”, there was a small period of time when I was hopeful that this story wouldn’t be as cliched and formulaic as the title made it seem. (Of course, that short period of time ended when I learned that the LI was gonna be one of the members of the billionaire couple). Like, this could have been a story where MC doesn’t romance Collie (or even better, has both Daphne and Collie as LI options) and is a surrogate for them, but it turns into a sort of mystery story where you uncover a history of dirty scandalous secrets behind the couple, and your MC starts to feel conflicted about giving them this child and leaving said child in the hands of this couple while knowing all the shit they’ve done.

But no, we had to go with an affair story and the only “scandal” is that the billionaire couple doesn’t love each other. Oh wow, so spicy amirite? (Haha no)

So, why do I have this one in the “PooPoo Tier”? Seeing as I reserve that tier for books that actively anger me. TBB was originally ranked in the Stone Tier because of how little substance it had and how little emotion it evoked from me.

But as soulless and substanceless as it was, I eventually figured that it really did deserve to be in the worst list. Because it just does… everything wrong, from the very beginning. It baits us into thinking it’s a good story, only to give us a cheap affair story. It’s a rehash of previous, more mediocre Choices stories. It forces us to take it more seriously than it actually deserves. All of the characters are lackluster and empty.

Seriously, name me one thing that this story does right. I originally had this book on Stone Tier with books like Ms. Match, Slow Burn, Roommates With Benefits, and the whole TNA trilogy, but at least those books had some redeeming qualities. Heck, even all of the other books on PooPoo tier have some redeeming qualities. Surrender at least explored BDSM acts a bit and tried to normalize kink. FCL at least had some good energy with the road trip setting and all the different places the group explored. Untameable at least didn’t have toxic behaviors glorified as acceptable, heroic, or passable. Granted I still consider those books worse for how badly they fucked things up when they easily couldn’t have– they anger me because there are multiple points where they could have taken their story in a better direction but didn’t, and instead chose to make their story worse.

But TBB was pretty much doomed from the moment it confirmed we’d be romancing one of the members of the billionaire couple we’re a surrogate for. There’s no point of this story where it could have been even somewhat decent if they changed it, unless they just threw the whole thing out and started over from scratch.

And that’s why I think I can safely say, it’s among the worst.

#choices stories you play #choices #choices game #choices stories we play fandom #choices stories we play #the billionare's baby #the billionaire's baby #tbb #choices tbb #cadybear's reviews

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lighthouseas · 3 years ago

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thoughts on nhie s3 because i need to talk about it

i know i’ve said i’m a casual viewer (i somewhat am but also i kind of said that with st and look where we are now) but like i do actually love this show a lot so

obv major s3 spoilers under the cut so be warned!

the ending. benvi endgame

nalini ATE this season and she’s my new favorite character. her standing up for devi and becoming less strict and letting devi grow just. ugh. i love her

when paxton gave his speech i cried ngl, he’s had so much character growth and i love him for it

devi finally not constantly doing problematic shit (ok she did once or twice but it wasn’t terrible like the whole ed thing) was really refreshing and made the season easier to watch. she’s grown a lot and it’s really nice to see.

when devi hugged her mom after saying she didn’t want to leave for colorado i burst into tears. i want that kind of relationship with my mom

trent x eleanor. that’s it.

i got all excited for aneesa and fab but idk they kind of treated that whole relationship...weirdly. like it came right out of left field and we all thought “oh they’re gonna end up together” and then they didn’t work. i just don’t really understand the point of it if they were gonna do that??

i loved aneesa this season though!!! and fab!!! both of them were awesome

introducing a character who uses they/them pronouns and not making it into a big deal. it just is. i absolutely love them for that. also addison is hot as fuck holy shit i had fab’s exact reaction when i saw them for the first time lmao

why did they write eve out of the show???

that whole ben episode had be laughing my ass off but like ben and paxton bonding was really cute. and then ben hugging his dad had me bawling. my god do i need better parents

anyways. s3 was my favorite season so far. i cannot WAIT for s4 esp with that ending...

#never have i ever #nhie s3 #never have i ever s3 #devi vishwakumar #devi x ben #benvi #nalini vishwakumar #paxton hall yoshida #ben gross #phoebe speaks

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rended-symphony · 4 years ago

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I LOVE UR HEADCANONS 💯‼️ nyways since requests are open can i maybe rq feral boys and how they would deal with a long distance relationship ? mine ended badly sooo i will be coping with this lmao 👍

honey 🥺 i’m sorry yours ended badly, i’m sure you’ll be better in no time !! (assuming “rq” means c! lol still gotta edit the “characters i’ll rite thingy but it’s fine sigwsjuswond but we all know i’m gonna make a second part with cc!’s 😐 love em to much bestie)

warnings : swearing

~ c!dream ~

- of course it’s long distance he’s in a prison wihwksys

- his smart little head made a system where he could send you letters after sam stopped letting you visit (you visited him like everyday he suspected SOMETHING)

- he always seems so overwhelmingly sweet in the letters. just

- “and my love, each and every moment without you i feel like i’m burning from my core”

- meanwhile technos hovering over his shoulder like “bestie wtf”

- if he ever escapes he immediately runs out and tries to find you. most people hear that and assume he’s gonna try to… ya know… game end you

- and them seeing you as an innocent, try to protect you meanwhile you shove past them to go kiss your villainess boyfriend

- he is very passionate about most things, mostly you though

~ c!george ~

- he just naps on kinoko kingdom all the time and you live in the old l’manberg area, literallyright next to the l’manhole (cough cough enemies to lovers, you fought for l’manberg and he fell for you while guarding the walls)

- whenever he’s up he makes sure to write to you, before going off to mess with sapnap and karl (and quackity when they eventually make up and he visits them all the time 😌👌)

- sometimes he travels to the main smp to visit you and those day are so relaxing

- just sitting on a hill, wtaching over the smp peacefully. knowing that now, finally, all the war is over

- dream xd got jealous at first but then he started spending time alone with you and adores you

- if george can’t bother with a letter he’ll just tell XD to tell you something for him since he can just teleport

- listen the postal service is absolutely shit and we all know it. like literally still trying to send letters between lovers that are shocked that celebrity tommy wifehaver innit died

- “hey can you go ask y/n if i can have that cake recipe? oh also add in a quick love you, please” “sure pretty boy”

- “y/n!!” “oh hey XD! what’s up?” “george says, “can i have that cake recipe? also add in a quick love you please!” and you pat his head and tell him the recipe <33

- he bakes as a pastime and nikki helps him out, their countries are very good allies and you and nikki hang out whenever your over there

~ c!sapnap ~

- he cannot take staying away from you all the time, cc!sapnap literally made facetime canon JUST so his oc could talk to his lovers oc and it make slight sense

- the general situation with karl and quackity is that their all dating but your dating sapnap, but none of the others, though you are pretty good friends

- he used to live with you before moving to kinoko with karl and george, and you still have half his stuff at your place because he’s their half the time

- all the workers at the train are friends with him, so used to him going back and forth

- puffy will be out on a walk in peaceful times and always go “oh, other half of the happy couples back? good for you, sweet cheeks.”

- the whole smp likes to just watch you go on the longest walks. legit walked all the way to the arctic after being away from each other for a while.

~ c!quackity ~

- he honestly low key prefers it

- he doenst want you to get all messed up with casino life, he does really miss you sometimes. definitely visits you and everyone else in kinoko though

- even in peaceful times Las Nevadas is a reck, they only times there aren’t any major fights is…

- when your around. honestly the citizens just have such high respect for you they wouldn’t dare

- doenst really bother with letters but rather he just. texts you through chat. it’s easier and he gets his responses quick okay-

- but, oh whenever he visits kinoko

- days are filled with sunshine and jumping from mushroom to mushroom shouting “parkour!!”, karl and sapnap following a small distance behind, all the citizens hearing distant giggles filling the whole country

- “michelle” is his favorite song to slow dance to and he has no clue why. he just loves the look on your face when he dips you at the second “you are a monster from hell”

- love slow dancing. cant say more, he just loves to kiss you while dipping you as far as he can without dropping you

- which he definitely has done

~ c!karl ~

- cannot stand being away so much, sends like two letters a day and donates a fuck ton of money so that they can actually get to you quickly

- he loves just knowing that you giggled so he does random stuff in the letters to make you giggle.

- from just making stupid little dick doodles to literally sending it in a monster can as if he was lost at sea, he’ll go all out

- sometime he’ll hear a random noise and think it’s you doing your funky little surprise visits, but turns out it’s just a sheep that got it’s way into the house :(

- devotes lots little things to you. just a ton of rocks around the country written “karl + y/n <3”, torn up pieces of song lyrics karl wrote about you, toasts drinks to you. the kids literally make a scavenger hunt on items that like those that they found and placed around the country

- okay hear me out here- hear me out- he refers to the sun as your name. BECAUSE YOUR THE LIGHT OF HIS LI-

- ever heard “sugar rush” by addison grace? anthem

#; cherry writes #mcyt x reader #dsmp x reader #dream smp x reader #dream x reader #dreamwastaken x reader #karl jacobs x reader #georgenotfound x reader #karl x reader #sapnap x reader #feral boys x reader

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andacherrycoke · 3 years ago

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Fuck It Friday

Tagged by @clusterbuck ! Gonna do something a lil different and post a wip I started last night that I was really excited about for the entire like twenty minutes I was writing it and then got bored with instantly because I’m terrible like that 😂 but I don’t know, if what I post here sparks anyone’s interest maybe my interest will like. I don’t know, re-pique? Anyway, it’s ROUGH and also a Quantum Leap au lmfao because that whole thing Ben and Addison have going on is very buddie shaped

Buck wakes up and he immediately knows something is wrong.

He’s in the driver’s seat of an old, unfamiliar van. He looks down at himself and he’s in old fashioned clothes he doesn’t recognize, and there’s just something off that he can’t place.

Until he looks in the rearview mirror and the face staring back at him is a stranger’s.

He’s leapt out of the van before his brain even really registers the what the fuckery of what just happened. He stands on the sidewalk, gaping down at himself. Now that he’s seen his not reflection he can catalogue the things that had seemed off before. His hands are a little smaller, his center of gravity a little lower. He touches his hair, it’s a little longer than he remembers his being, the texture different as well.

“What the fuck,” he whispers. He looks around, spotting a movie theatre across the street, the marquee promoting showings for the Goonies and St. Elmo’s Fire. A record store next door has a poster for Live Aid, July 13th, 1985. “What the fuck,” he repeats, louder.

“Oh thank god, we found you,” a voice says behind him. He spins and comes face to face with the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen. Fluffy dark hair on top of big soft brown eyes, a tight green Henley doing little to cover up what Buck is sure is a mouth-watering physique.

“Do I know you?” He asks, and he regrets it for the way the man reacts like Buck had slapped him.

“I—” the man says, clearly thrown off. “We—we knew memory loss could be a side effect of a leap, but I still didn’t really expect…You really don’t know me?”

He studies the man. He somehow doesn’t feel like a stranger, but that’s about all Buck’s got. Well…He’s looking up, just slightly at him, and he has the same feeling of wrongness about that as he had when he’d looked down at himself. He’d wager he’s normally the taller of the two.

“Crazy question, but, since you obviously know me, do I uh. Look different?”

“Not to me. As your guide, you just look like you.”

“My guide? And what did you mean about a leap?”

“Uh, ok. We can handle this. It’s a lot to explain, but that’s ok. I—” the man is interrupted when a loud alarm sounds. They both whip towards the source, just as a group bursts out the front of the bank the van he’d woken up in was parked in front of.

They all have ski masks and loaded duffel bags, and they’re running straight towards Buck and the van.

“Nick, what the fuck? Get in the damn van,” one of them shouts, pausing and gesturing wildly at him.

“Nick?” He questions.

“Fuck ok, no time for explanations,” the gorgeous man says. “Uh, so, trust me here. They think you’re Nick, their getaway driver. So, you better drive.” And then, the most surprising thing of all happens, which is that one of the people running from the bank they’ve apparently robbed runs straight through the guy. He fritzes out for a second before looking perfectly solid and normal. “Oh yeah,” he adds. “I’m not really here. Just a hologram only you can see.”

“Nick!” One of the robbers shouts again, and Buck finally unglues his feet from the pavement and races back to the van. He jumps in, starts it, and peals out onto the street. And then promptly realizes he has no clue where he’s going.

Tagging @megslovesbooks @fiona-fififi @gayhoediaz @pettyeddiediaz @sibylsleaves @elvensorceress whassup

#quantum leap au #GUESS ILL DO A TAG FOR IT IDK #What you see here is literally all I’ve got for it lmao

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filmmaker-henry · 3 years ago

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2.5 - Filming Days Are (Almost) Over

Four long, long, long months. Struggles of school, work schedules, complications of cameras, weather.. Man, it was stressful to Hell and back. He had to monitor everyone's schedules, writing out the filming schedule around everything else. He did this alone, since he personally didn't work while his close friend group did. The only reason he didn't work was because no one hired him, no matter how understaffed they were. Messed up world, huh? Regardless, it gave Henry more and more time to think, plan, and get closer to the end of recording. So many scenes, so many characters and cast members, and yet.. It felt so natural and relieving. And yet- ----- "Hold it! Gonna break the fourth wall here. You are being REALLY dramatic! My time to shine!" Henry announced, before looking up. "Call this like.. 2.5 or something. If I'm gonna break the fourth wall, I'm gonna do it with style!" "Anyways! Here's an update of everything that's been happening." Henry said as he dramatically cleared his throat, standing up straight and looking directly ahead. "The building got fixed up near the beginning of the time we rented, about four months ago. The casting got completely filled up easily. Gabe and Addison have worked their asses off to give us amazing props on time. We've just about got everything filmed up, only have a few more solo scenes, and then a few BIG scenes. Specifically, the Matrix-Texas stand off deal and the 'John' joke I mentioned a good bit ago." His smile only grew. "Right now, me and Johnny are available for asks, and only us two for one reason; We're the only two on film site today!" "Everyone else is in class or work, maybe Dave and Rupert will meet up with us? Who knows? I don't. SO! With that being said, we're gonna pack everything up for filming, head over to Johnny's on my bike, pick him up, and go over to the film site! His truck broke down, or else we'd take that. Specifically, the AC, and we are not going to drive the thirty minutes out there sweating and come back even sweater." Henry the grabbed his things, including his costume, his leather jacket, two helmets, and a baggage loader for his bike. "Oh, yeah, this will probably be one of my only chances to break the fourth wall, so I'm gonna go ahead and say it; I appreciate every single one of you, and hope you have an awesome day/night! Now, follow me! [Thank all of you for your patience. I really do appreciate all of you.] [.5's will be more for a character to explain the deal to current askers. I thought this would be a funny touch of fourth-wall breaking (it won't be Henry every single time)]

#henry stickmin #filmmaker henry #asking update #mod ash

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writtcninthestars · 2 years ago

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@thebridgestarters // open starter for anyone! ; location: rivendell

addie walked around this new place, taking in all of the sights with a smile. “this place is beautiful,” she said out loud to a random person passing beside her. “don’t you think?” she was never one to shine away from making friends. addison loved seeing new places and making new friends. though this place was much different from sydney and seabrook, it was nice and no matter how long she was here, she planned to make the most of it. she was excited to see what this new place had to offer. “do you happen to know what this place is called?” the blonde asked as she looked around, just in pure awe of this place. it seemed cozy, comfortable.

#−−− ꧁ ADDISON : i’m gonna stand. ❨ writing. ❩#thebridge: open #thebridge: middle earth

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iamtrebleclefstories · 4 years ago

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that same kind of joy

98 - “You scared the shit out of me.”

Now, I wasn’t really sure how I felt about this fic when I first started writing it and I had no idea where it was gonna go, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It’s not exactly what you might’ve had in mind, but I hope you enjoy! @andreagraham

this takes place in a wonderful world where 16x16 never happened :)

She remembers a bang. It was loud and deafening to the point that when she comes to, there’s an incessant ringing in her ears. She wants to just lay there and sleep, but that’s probably just the mild concussion talking. Instead, she painstakingly cracks her eyes open just enough to get a good view of her surroundings.

Metal. Bright. Debris. Blood.

Blood.

It’s not her own. At least, Jo doesn’t think it belongs to her. It is a trail of blood that extends in front of her, leading in front of a woman with a swollen abdomen who is crying out in distress. Jo picks herself up from the ground long enough to realize what just happened.

She remembers getting on the train back to Seattle after a weekend medical conference in San Francisco with Carina Deluca. It had been a spur of the moment decision, something Alex had surprised her with when he presented her with a train ticket, booked hotel room, and a weekend off. She had been thrilled at the prospect of hearing Addison Montgomery speak as she considered a career switch to OB. It had been the perfect getaway, until about ten minutes ago.

Now, Jo stands in the remains of one of the train cars she’d been traveling in and looks around in horror to see multiple individuals in varying states of trauma. She quickly canvasses the area to determine who seemed okay and who looked as though they were in immediate need of assistance. After getting help from a nursing student, dental PA, and off-duty officer that happened to be riding in the same train car, Jo leaves the other passengers and makes her way over to the pregnant woman who was clearly in labor.

“Hey,” Jo crouches down in front of the woman. “My name is Jo Karev. I’m a surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial in Seattle. I see that you’re having some contractions. Is it okay if I examine you?” Jo waits until the woman nods her consent before gently pressing her hands on the woman’s bump to determine position. “What’s your name?”

“Alyssa,” the young woman breathes out heavily. “My name is Alyssa Belmont.”

“Nice to meet you Alyssa. Can you tell me how far along you are?” Jo looks down at her watch to monitor the length and interval of the contractions.

“I'm only 35 weeks,” Alyssa’s voice betrays her anxiety. “It’s too early.”

“It’s okay, the ambulance is going to be here soon and we will be able to get you and your baby to a hospital safely where some really nice pediatrician will make sure that they’re just fine,” Jo takes the hand sanitizer from her purse and uses it to disinfect her hands and ruffles through her first aid kit to find a single pair of gloves. “Do you know what you’re having?”

“A boy,” Alyssa nods. “My fiancé is stationed overseas but is supposed to come home in two weeks. He was supposed to be here for the delivery. I’m not supposed to be doing this alone.”

“Hey, Alyssa. Listen to me. You are not alone. I’m right here with you and I promise I won’t leave your side until you are holding a healthy baby in your arms,” Jo locks eyes with the young woman in front of her. “I need to know some things if I’m going to better care for you. Did you get hurt when the train derailed? Did you feel a tearing or a sharp pain in your abdomen?”

“No,” Alyssa shakes her head. “Just the contractions. But I had already been feeling some sporadic contractions throughout the day and the past week if I’m being honest. That’s normal though, right? Like Braxton hicks?”

“Yes, it's completely normal to feel a couple contractions here and there once you’re nearing the end of your pregnancy. It’s your body trying to prepare itself for birth,” Jo takes off her jacket and drapes it over Alyssa’s lower abdomen and pelvis to maintain some semblance of modesty. “Okay Alyssa, I’m going to push up your dress and remove your leggings and underwear so that I can get a look at how much you’ve progressed.”

Prior to the surprise delivery she was pulled into a couple weeks ago where all she had to do was catch the baby, it had been a long time since Jo had delivered a baby that wasn’t a c-section. It had been years since she had to check for dilation and effacement and in that moment she found herself really wishing that Carina - who had opted to stay in San Francisco for a few days more with a friend - had been on this train instead of her.

“Okay, Alyssa. It looks like you're about eight centimeters dilated and I'd say somewhere around eighty to ninety percent effaced,” Jo informs.

“What does that mean?” Alyssa brushes her hair out of her face and winces as another contraction comes over her.

“That means that pretty soon it’ll be time to push,” Jo looks around to the surrounding passengers. “Does anyone have a clean towel or blankets in their bag? And water. I need an unopened water bottle.”

A few of the lesser injured passengers step forward after ruffling through their bags to present Jo with the items she requested, “Here are two bottles of water, one clean towel, and three blankets.”

Jo does her best to keep Alyssa comfortable and wait until the paramedics arrive. But within minutes, Alyssa is fully dilated, effaced, and ready to push. Jo looks down at Alyssa and keeps her face as calm as possible so as not to alert the young woman to the anxiety currently building up inside of her.

“Alright, Alyssa, once you feel your next contraction I need you to push. You’re going to push for ten seconds and then take a break. Do you understand?”

Alyssa grunts in response, “Yup.”

After what seems like an eternity, the train car fills with a sharp, loud cry. Jo feels some tears prickle at her eyes as she’s the first person to hold this little one as it enters the world, “Hey there, little man. You’ve got a set of lungs on you. That’s good. I was worried about your little lungs. Let’s get you cleaned up so your mama can hold you.” Jo uses the surrounding materials to clean and warm up the infant before placing him on Alyssa’s chest.

“Oh God,” Alyssa chokes out a quiet sob. “You’re here. Hi baby. I’m so sorry your daddy isn’t here but I know that he’ll be so happy to meet you.”

Jo wipes a straying tear from her eye on her arm, “I hate to intrude on the moment but we do have to cut the cord and deliver the placenta.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alyssa shakes her head. “Can I just hold him for one more second?”

“I don’t see why not,” Jo barely has time to get those words out of her mouth when paramedics come rushing through the train car. She breathes out a sigh of relief and flags one of them down. “Hi, I’m a surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital in Seattle. This woman just gave birth to a premature infant at thirty five weeks. She and the baby need to go to the hospital immediately.”

The paramedic quickly calls her partner to assist her as they make quick work of getting Alyssa out of the train and into an ambulance. Just as Jo is about to turn around and head back inside to help in any way she can, Alyssa puts her hand on Jo’s arm, “Can you come with us? Please. You said you’d be there and I really don’t want to be alone.”

Looking up at the paramedic to make sure that it’s okay to ride along, Jo squeezes Alyssa’s hand gently, “Of course.”

+++

Jo shouldn’t have been all that surprised when she feels a familiar set of arms tighten around her, bringing her close to his chest. She sighs contently as she allows her husband to hold her tenderly. She whimpers in protest when Alex pulls away to get a good look at her.

“Jo,” he breathes out in relief. “You scared the shit out of me.” Alex presses a light kiss to her forehead. “When I saw the crash on the news I almost had a heart attack. I tried calling you and the hospitals but no one was saying anything. No one knew what was going on. All we knew was that the train derailed in the middle of nowhere Oregon and some of the cars detached and got flipped on their sides. What the hell happened?”

“I delivered a baby today,” Jo huffs a laugh. “After the crash knocked me out for a few minutes, I got up and there was a woman in premature labor. Her name is Alyssa. I-I delivered her baby. I was the first person in this entire world that got to hold him. The world was literally crashing down around us, but I got to deliver this beautiful baby boy with a surprisingly well developed set of lungs for how early he was born. I’ve been with her ever since it happened. They’re moving her up to a room right now. I’m supposed to meet her up there.”

“Baby, that’s incredible. But have you gotten checked out?” Alex asks quietly. “I need to know that you’re okay.”

“I’m okay, Alex,” Jo assures him. “I have a mild concussion and a couple of bruised ribs. Nothing that some ibuprofen and rest won’t fix.” Alex scowled unconvinced, causing Jo to laugh. “I’m fine. Really. Now do you want to come with me to see them?”

“Okay, fine.”

They make their way up to Alyssa’s room and Jo introduces Alex and Alyssa to each other. They spoke softly for a few moments until Alyssa’s doctor showed up outside the room.

“Sorry to interrupt,” the doctor smiles sheepishly at the group. “But you can go ahead and see your baby Miss Belmont. I can get one of the nurses to take you up to the NICU.”

“That’s okay, we can take her,” Jo and Alex help Alyssa out of the bed and into a wheelchair, carefully bringing her to stop beside her son’s warmer. “There he is.”

Alex looks up at the monitors as he listens to a resident list off the results of the studies they’d been conducting over the past few hours, “His SATs and his APGAR look great, all things considered. He’ll probably spend a week or two here before he’s sent home. He’s a strong and resilient little guy.” Alyssa and the resident both look at him in question. “I’m a peds surgeon.”

The hours go by quickly and before anyone knows it, night has fallen. Alex nudges Jo slightly, “Hey, I think we should get going. You need some rest. I got us a hotel room for the night.”

Jo nods in agreement and goes to move when Alyssa places a hand on her shoulder, “Wait. You can’t leave without knowing what the baby’s name is. I finally decided on a name.”

“What is it?” Jo asks expectantly.

“His name is Joseph Benjamin Harold. Joey for short,” Alyssa reveals. “It’s only fitting that he be named after the person who helped bring him into this world.”

“Are you serious?” Jo’s face breaks out into a wide grin. “I-I feel honored.”

“Thank you, Jo. For everything. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Those words stick with Jo all the way back to the hotel. As they’re getting into bed that night, Jo cuddles up to Alex and sighs dreamily.

“What was that for?” Alex’s face turns up into a half smile as he glances down at his wife.

“I’m just so happy right now,” Jo shakes her head. “I know I shouldn’t be. Today was a horrible day for a lot of people. There was a tragic accident. But in the midst of all of that, I helped bring a baby into the world and I feel so much joy because of it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Alex pulls her closer. “A big part of why I love peds is because of the joy you feel every time you’re able to save a kid and give them hope for a future. And I’ve assisted on quite a few deliveries and it’s pretty incredible.”

“I think I wanna switch. I wanna make the switch to OB,” Jo exhales. “I love surgery, don’t get me wrong. And maybe one day I’ll venture into maternal-fetal surgery, but I want to be an OB, Alex. I want to deliver babies and feel that same kind of joy every single day.”

“Okay. So as soon as we get back to the hospital, we’re going to talk to Bailey and see about getting a letter of recommendation to the OB program so that you can switch specialties without repeating an intern year,” Alex rubs circles on Jo’s back.

“Are you sure? I know this is a big decision. I’ll be a resident again. I’ll have longer hours and be making resident money again,” Jo eyes widen at Alex’s simple response to her desire to make the change.

“Jo, I make plenty of money for the both of us. We’re married, we have a joint bank account. You don’t need to worry about the money. We dated throughout your entire surgical residency and everything was just fine. I want to support you however I can, and if what you want is to be a part of the vagina squad then I’m going to support you in that. I’m going to be there for you every step of the way,” Alex’s lips curve into a smirk. “Besides, I think you’ll look really hot in pink scrubs.”

“Shut up,” Jo laughs and shoves him lightly.

“What? It’s the truth. But then again, I think you look hot in everything.”

“You’re so good to me,” Jo’s eyes shine with happiness. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

#jolex #jolex fanfic #alex x jo #jo wilson #alex karev and jo wilson #jo wilson x alex karev #train crash #surprise babies #switching specialties #pink scrubs #grey's anatomy #grey's anatomy fanfic #jo wilson fanfic #jo karev #grey's anatomy fanfiction #grey's anatomy au

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faeryseiko · 4 years ago

Text

Peace before storm || Sal Fisher

A/N: I decided to write this angsty thing while having a panic attack, I reread it once it was over and thought it was actually a good fanfiction so here it is.

TW: S/lf H/rm, angst.

————

Because everything was so perfect. Because everything seemed fine.

It seemed like it wasn’t even real. And Y/n knows what it actually means. It’s Peace before Storm. Since they tried recovery, it was always like this. Everything is fine and bam you returned to the start point.

They were almost waiting for it to happen. They never told anyone what was happening when the storm finally came. Not even their best friends, Larry and Sal.

Because they felt like they were hiding it well with the peace before storm thingy. Because they told everyone they were in recovery and ‘so over it’. But it was always coming back.

Were they really in recovery at this point ?

“ Miss. L/N, doesn’t seem like English to me.” The teacher called.

They blink at their exam, they were staring at the paper with letters for so long that they only had 30 minutes left to finish it.

“ I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.” They sighed.

The teacher nodded, finishing what he was doing.

Pathetic. They grabbed the pen and started to write. They were just in time to finish the exam. And of course, they knew there were a pair of eyes behind their head, staring. Maybe in confusion, maybe worried. They didn’t know.

But they did know where the eyes were coming from.

Finally, it was the end of the day. Also the end of the week. The ring echoed in the halls, people suddenly starting to yell ‘Woohoo it’s the weekend’.

They just got up, picking up their exam and giving it to the teacher. Sal mimicked them and followed.

“ So, how was the exam for you ?” The blue haired asked.

“ Not so bad. English is not that hard to be honest.” Y/n mumbled.

Sal was looking at them, his mask seemed to move, showing that he wanted to say something, but they both heard Larry and Ash calling for them.

Y/n smiled to them. Peace before storm. Peace before storm. You need to act normal. Don’t tell them.

Suddenly, these voices seemed louder than Larry’s.

Why were they suddenly so nervous ? They felt their skin becoming paler because of anxiety. Why ? What was happening ?

“ Hey Y/n, what are you gonna do this weekend ? Maybe we should all hang out ?” Ash asked, touching Y/n’a shoulder softly.

They looked at her, a little bit shocked but smiled nervously. Their hand reaches the back of their neck.

“ Sure. It would be fun.” They said.

“ Hell yeah ! We should definitely throw a party.” Larry shouted.

Sal nodded, his mask left up a little, showing he was smiling.

The three were talking about the party, Todd and Neil joined in, they all were happy with the idea of the party.

But Y/n was just walking. They were silent, just thinking. But also trying to calm their anxiety without success.

Neil and Ash went to their house while the other boys were walking to Addison. Y/n was in 403, so just next to Sal.

Larry and Todd went to their apartment, while Sal was just following Y/n.

“ hey, you’re okay ? You seem a little nervous. ‘’

“ Yeah. Just a little tired. See you soon, okay ? ‘’ They said.

Of course Sal didn’t believe them. But nodded and went to his apartment.

As they entered. They saw their dad sleeping on the couch, watching Sanity Falls’ show. They picked a blanket and covered him. He was the best dad they could ever ask. So supporting and always there for them.

They went to their room and lay down on their bed. So many thoughts at the same time. It was tiring. How many days were they clean again ? Maybe just a month.

Their eyes were shutting slowly. It was tiring. The recovery, their thoughts, the anxiety. It was tiring. Their eyes were shutting down as they fell asleep.

But of course it didn’t take long before they woke up again with panic. Too many thoughts. Too many voices.

‘Do if.’

They grabbed their head, as if it would shut down the voices. Everything was dark.

The next thing happened without even thinking about it. They grabbed the thing. Oh, the thing. The thing that they would use to hurt themselves.

They hated saying the word. It was triggering for them.

Their eyes were watering. They were crying. They don’t want to. But it’s so strong. They looked at the thing. Why ?

Why was it so hard ? Their hands were shaking. They were looking at their wrists. They threw the thing, making her plants fall and making a noise.

They took their jacket and hid their arms. They got out of their room and got out of the apartment.

Why was it so hard ?

Everything felt like it was too much. But the fresh air was just the right thing they needed. They sit on the chairs in front of the apartment. The moon was so bright. So pretty. Again it felt like a dream.

They looked at their feet and cried loudly, picking their cheeks. They wanted to hide. They wanted to disappear.

“ Y/n?’’

Their eyes widen, as they looked behind them.

There was Sal. Sal Fisher, standing in his pyjama, his hair, oh, his fucking beautiful hair falling on his shoulders.

They looked at him. They were still crying. So much. Sally didn’t know what was wrong. Even if his mask was hiding it, he was so worried.

“ I’m sorry..’’ they said, looking away.

He walked to them slowly to not startle them and hugged them.

“ I keep relapsing... I’m sorry, I lied. I’m a fucking liar, I’m so sorry Sally.’’ They cried out.

The boy felt like a knife going through his chest hearing this.

“ what do you mean ?...’’

They didn’t answer and hugged them back, crying a river. His pyjama shirt was already wet. He was holding them so tightly. He left just enough space to let them breath.

“ Y/n... relapsing is part of recovery. You don’t have to be perfectly fine after all these years of doing this to yourself. I understand, it’s an addiction, and you need time. ‘’

He sighed. Rubbing their back.

“ Please, don’t blame yourself for this. You’re pushing too hard. Please, please do not blame yourself. It will be okay and I trust you. You are not a liar, you are just recovering.’’

With that, Y/n’s cries were now just hiccups. His warm was so relaxing. They felt like melting with him.

“ do you know how proud I am ? How proud we are ? Larry keeps saying how much you seem way much better now that you finally accepted recovery. Ash is so happy to see you like this. Everyone is happy to see you this way. We are all proud of you, no matter how much you relapse. No matter how much you fall back. We will hold you and help you to go to the top. I promise.’’

They sighed with relief, and happiness. They knew Sal wouldn’t lie about that, they were suddenly so happy to hear about this.

“ I’m proud of you, Y/n.’’

#sally x reader #sal fisher #sally face #sally fisher #fanfiction #fanfic

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kaimelia · 4 years ago

Note

Would you write a story about Addison, Henry and Jake visiting Amelia for a few days and Ellis or Bailey or Zola being really jealous of Henry and that he calls her Aunty Amelia because she's their aunt and not his.

Homage

a/n: hi! thank you for the prompt and I hope you enjoy this!

---------------

"Who the hell is knocking on our door at 9 AM?" Amelia groaned, shifting her son onto her other hip. "Are your parents coming to visit again?" Link shrugged and pushed past her gently, rubbing his tired eyes as he opened the door and pulled on a mask.

"Hello-oh," Link's eyebrows rose, and Amelia paused from in the kitchen.

"Who is it?" She waited for a minute, pouring cereal into a bowl and placing it in front of Ellis at the table. "Elle, go grab the milk," she muttered, rushing towards the door.

"Amelia!" Her eyes widened at the familiar face in the doorway, and before she could think, she was rushing towards Addison for a hug.

"Addie, what the hell are you doing here? Oh, crap," Amelia pulled away and grabbed a mask from the table by the door.

"We all got tested this morning, don't worry. I came to visit you! You can't just have a baby and not expect me to visit; god, he's so adorable!" The red-headed woman held her arms out and grabbed Scout, immediately pressing her nose to his head. "I miss having a baby; their heads smell so amazing." Link laughed softly and pulled his mask off.

"Oh, Addie, you haven't met Link yet," Amelia leaned into his body, wide grins across both of their faces as he wrapped his arm around her.

"We've met over the phone, Amy."

"Amelia."

"Right, sorry. I knew if I called, you would've said no, and we all needed a vacation." Addison bounced her nephew up and down, smiling as he grabbed at her necklace.

"Is someone else here? You said we all," Amelia muttered under her breath, stepping out onto the porch. "Jake!" She ran down the steps and into the driveway, grinning as she wrapped her arms around her friend's neck.

"It's good to see you, Amelia," he opened the door to reveal Amelia's godson, much bigger than the last time she'd seen him.

"Henry! You're so big, now!" She picked him up, placing a kiss on his cheek before setting him down.

"I'll be honest; I never thought I would see the day when Amelia Shepherd was chasing four kids around all day," Jake mused, taking his son's hand. Amelia grinned.

"Neither did I, if I'm honest." They walked back up to the porch, where Link and Jake shook each other's hands firmly, their partners both rolling their eyes at the sight of their seriousness. "Okay, are you done?" Amelia grabbed her boyfriend's arm. "There are three very impatient kids in that house, and we should probably get back in there." They led Addison, Jake, and Henry into the house, introducing each of them to the children. Eventually, Link and Jake led all of the children outside, leaving Addison and Amelia alone with the baby.

"I like him," Addison brought her mug of tea up to her lips, taking a sip slowly before continuing. "Link, he seems like the perfect guy. Awfully tall, though."

"He is. Both tall and perfect," Amelia grinned. "I'm waiting for Jake to come back in here and tell me what he thinks. He was always a little overprotective of who I was dating, so if he can get past Jake, everything's fine." The neurosurgeon lifted her son from his play mat, holding him close to her as she approached her sister again.

"He looks exactly like Derek when he was a baby."

"You think?" Addison nodded.

"Mhm. I spent far too much time in your mother's house panning through dusty photo albums and staring at photos of him as a baby to not see it." She set her mug down, holding her arms out. "Have you told your Mom?"

"I did. She said she'd come and visit after the pandemic is over, but I'm pretty sure that'll never happen," Amelia handed Scout to her sister, picking up her own cup of tea. "I'm fine with it. Link's parents are both great, and his Mom honestly treats me like the daughter she's never had, so I don't need my Mom to come out here and validate all of my life decisions."

"You want her here. I said the same thing for a while, telling myself I didn't need Bizzy to approve of anything, but it feels good to have the support." Amelia sighed, easing her empty mug into the kitchen sink.

"So, you just showed up here to therapist me? I would've told you to at least bring Violet for that."

"Amelia, I'm just saying. You've built this whole life for yourself, the perfect boyfriend, your own family, your dream job, and I know you haven't always been close with your biological family."

"Haven't ever been close," Amelia muttered.

"Still. That doesn't mean that you can't build relationships with them. Think about how spoiled Scout would get on every birthday and holiday; gifts from his grandparents, aunts, cousins, friends, parents, everyone." The neurosurgeon shrugged her shoulders and remained silent. "But, whatever happens, you know I'll be here for you, right?"

"You don't have to try and parent me anymore; you know that?" Addison began to pace around the kitchen space, bouncing Scout up and down to calm his light fussing.

"I still feel protective over you, Amelia. I haven't seen you in person in years, and we both know that talking over the phone is so much different than being able to see you. I'm going to be coming up here a lot more often now; I have Scout as an excuse to come and visit." Scout cooed at the sound of his name, placing his tiny hand on Addison's face. "He's way too adorable for me to see all of his life through a screen. I'll be coming up at least three times a year."

"You've gotta bring Henry every time, too," Amelia looked outside, where her boyfriend was chasing her godson around the yard. "And Jake. I missed all of you; maybe Link and I will start coming down to L.A. a few times a year. He'd love to go surfing."

"Mm, maybe you two should just move down there." Amelia rolled her eyes.

"Well, if Meredith doesn't get better, Link and I get custody of the kids, and I doubt we'd be moving if that happens."

"For whatever it's worth, you're doing an incredible job with all of them. Having a newborn is no joke, and you're parenting three other kids during a pandemic on top of that? Charlotte keeps saying it's your payback for teasing her about the triplets." The door opened, and Link walked through with Ellis on his back, her giggles causing everyone to smile.

"Someone took a nasty fall, but we thought it would be better with a juice box," he walked towards the fridge and opened it, leaning down so Ellis could grab a juice box from the refrigerator.

"Auntie Amelia?" She looked over to see Henry standing in the doorway. "Can Scout come outside to play with us?" Amelia grinned and took Scout from her sister, walking over to where Henry was standing.

"You have to be super gentle with him," she whispered, leading Henry back outside. "Why don't I give Scout to your Dad, and he can make sure that everyone's being safe, okay?" Henry nodded enthusiastically and ran over to his father, tugging at the leg of his pants as Jake took Scout. "If he fusses, just walk around. The movement calms him down."

"Are you all gonna come back outside or just pawn off all the children on me?" Amelia laughed and crossed her arms over her chest, watching as her son snuggled into Jake's body.

"I'll go get Addison and Link," she muttered, heading back over to the door and calling for them.

"Auntie Amelia? I have a question," Ellis whispered, holding her arms up to her aunt. Amelia lifted her and sat down at the picnic table.

"What is it, Elle?"

"Why does Henry call you Auntie Amelia? You're my Auntie Amelia, not his." She shook her head in amusement, brushing back some of Ellis' blonde hair.

"Well, Addison is my sister too, just like your Mom is, so I'm Henry's Auntie, too." Ellis pouted her lip out.

"But you love me more, right?"

"I love you all, Elle; I don't love one of you more than the other." Amelia began to braid her niece's hair as she spoke, Ellis' eyes falling to where Link was playing with Henry and Bailey. "You're my niece, and Henry is my nephew. Just like I'm your aunt, and Maggie is also your aunt. That doesn't mean that you love one of us more,"

"You're my favorite Auntie." Amelia laughed softly, biting her lip to hide the satisfaction she felt.

"Well, I don't have a favorite. I love all of you, but I'm excited to see Henry right now because I never get to see him. I get to see you every day, Elle." The brunette tied a hairband around her niece's hair and hugged the girl lightly before standing up. "Let's go play with them, okay?" Ellis took her hand, and they walked over to the playscape, where Ellis quickly scampered up the ladder to the top of the structure. "How long are you staying?" She asked Jake as he paced around the lawn, bouncing Scout up and down.

"We're up here for a week. Figured we'd spend some time with you, go up to Mount Rainier, just do anything to give Henry a change of scenery." He moved to stand next to Amelia. "I like Link. He seems good, more relaxed than I expected for someone you'd be dating." Her mouth fell open before quickly turning up into a smirk.

"Hey, I haven't managed to corrupt him yet. I'm sure next time you come to visit, he’ll be a pessimist."

"Are you happy? Because last time I saw you, this was the life you didn't want to live. Every time someone brought out a baby, you'd practically gag and complain about women and babies."

"You know, I never thought I wanted this, but honestly? I wouldn't trade it for anything." She looked over at her son, his bright blue eyes staring back at her. "I'm happy, Jake. I really am."

#amelia shepherd #amelia x link #amelink fanfiction #atticus lincoln #amelink #grey's anatomy #amelink fanfic #greys abc #greys fanfic #scout lincoln #scout shepherd lincoln #addison montgomery #jake reilly #henry montgomery #private practice #my fics

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whatstruthgottodowithit · 2 years ago

Text

The Girl He Left Behind [Part Twenty]

Fandom: American Actor, RPF, Elvis Presley, Elvis Movie 2022

Pairing: Elvis Presley x Original Female Character

Characters: Elvis Presley, Addison Goodwin, Gladys Presley, Vernon Presley, Minnie May ‘Dodger’ Presley, Red West, Sonny West, Gene Smith, Billy Smith, Original Female Characters, Colonel Tom Parker, Billy Smith, Marci Cunningham, Steve Cunningham, Jerry Schilling, Mary Jenkins, Alan Fortas, Marty Lacker, Original Male Characters, Mona Goodwin, Joe Goodwin

Word Count: 2106 // Rating: Mature

Summary: When Elvis returns home to Graceland from the Army he’s followed by the headlines ‘The Girl He Left Behind’ but what the media don’t know is that Priscilla wasn’t the first. No, that title belongs to someone Elvis will never forget.

Tags/ Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Graceland, Poverty, Friends to Lovers, 1950s Elvis, Bad Parenting, Surprise Surprise the Colonel Is a Colossal Prick, Parental Loss, Grief, Fun Fairs, Kissing, Vaginal Sex, Oral Sex, Movie Nights, Arguing, Tension, Denial of Feelings, Age Gap Romance, Underage, Addison is 17 Elvis is 22, Guilt, Betrayal, Extortion, Blackmail, Jealous, Army Elvis, American Draft, US Army, Lying, Time Shift with Elvis moving to Memphis, Flashbacks, Caught

Notes: Okay so I’m ploughing through to the end. I think its gonna be about 25 parts and Im gonna write the rest of the parts together should there be things I need to change. So this is a short one but more is coming soon I promise!

LINK TO ALL PARTS // AO3 LINK // PINTEREST LINK

@girlblogger2002 @sania562 @caitlin1996 @literally-just-elvis-fics @notstefaniepresley @artlesson8892 @18lkpeters

Addison couldn’t move. As Elvis moved around the room looking for clothes they could both throw on she sat on the edge of the bed staring at the plush carpet under her feet. She felt like crying though she didn’t know why. It had always been the plan to tell them…eventually. They had both become tired of sneaking around and though she knew going public wasn’t going to be easy she had always assumed she could prepare for it. Lay the groundwork. Now it felt as though it was ripped from her. Whilst the Colonel might keep their romance out of the tabloids he would almost certainly tell everyone else. She wondered how Gladys and Vernon would take the news. After all, they had invited her into their home in an effort to help her and it seemed all she had done was cause unwanted drama.

When Elvis threw a dress beside her on the bed he finally noticed she was in a world of her own and moved to stand in front of her, breaking her trance. She looked up at him, her hazel eyes wide and worrisome which made his heart twinge.

‘Hey, hey, come on now it’s alright,’ he said with a reassuring smile. ‘Is it?’ she said looking away though he dropped down on his knees in front of her chasing her gaze until she looked at him. ‘Look the Colonel is just pissed I didn’t tell him,’ he said. ‘And what about everyone else?’ she asked, ‘they’re gonna be pissed too.’ ‘Maybe but they’ll get over it,’ he said, ‘besides this is what we wanted right? Out in the open, no more sneaking around.’ ‘I guess,’ she sighed, ‘I just wish it was on our terms y’know?’ ‘I know but it’s done now,’ Elvis said, ‘we just need to see how the land lays and go from there.’

Addison mulled over his words for a second. She wanted to question him. What if the Colonel said no? What if he wanted Elvis to end it? The problem was she wasn’t sure she wanted the answer. So she didn’t say anything. Instead she nodded which earned a smile from him as he stood up.

‘Right. Uh, I found that dress in the back of my closet…’ Elvis said his gaze flitting to the dress beside her on the bed a slight red tinge on his cheeks as he realised it was the dress she had been wearing the first time they’d slept together in his room. After the first time, Elvis was unsure. He’d give in and though he’d revelled in the benefits he was apprehensive to make another move. His resolve had lasted less than a day. All it had taken for him to give in was seeing her in that dress. His mind had gone blank and he had been a little too enthusiastic which meant that the dress had ended up screwed up in his closet, now sporting a slight tear and a couple of missing buttons.

‘Thanks,’ Addison said obliviously though as Elvis moved to start dressing and she noticed what she was now holding that familiar blush crept onto her own cheeks. Whilst it wasn’t the best outfit she couldn’t complain. After all, she didn’t have much of a choice. It was either a slightly imperfect dress or going downstairs and facing the Colonel in her night gown which didn’t seem appealing in the slightest. In fact, going downstairs at all didn’t seem very appealing but she knew there was no way of getting out of it. So, she allowed Elvis to take her hand and lead her downstairs.

The Colonel was in the living room, his arm resting on the mantlepiece though the fireplace he was looking at was unlit. He turned as he heard them enter the room which made Addison shrink back behind Elvis just a tad as she clocked that his angry face hadn’t soothed any since he had come downstairs. She gripped Elvis’ hand tighter and he squoze back though it didn’t remove that uneasy feeling from her gut.

‘Ah, nice to see the pair of you could tear yourselves away from one another for a moment.’ ‘Look, Colonel,’ Elvis said irately. ‘What my boy? Would you like me to give you more time to lie to me? ‘I didn’t lie to you,’ Elvis protested. ‘You told me there was nothing going on with the pair of you. Twice in fact!’ he laughed moving away from the mantel towards Elvis until the pair were squared up. He looked the younger man up and down before he said with a sneer, ‘how is that not lying?’ ‘I tried,’ Elvis said. The Colonel scoffed and walked away, Elvis following him though not getting too close, ‘when I told you I’d stay away from her-’ ‘You promised you’d stay away from me?’ Addison asked quietly making him turn around. ‘N-n-not promised,’ Elvis stammered. ‘Oh so it’s not just me you’re happy to lie to,’ the Colonel said. ‘I’m not lying dammit!’ he shouted. As the Colonel rolled his eyes he moved back towards Addison placing a hand on her shoulder, ‘I didn’t promise I’d stay away from you Addie. I just…I told him there was nothing going on and at the time,’ he said throwing the Colonel a dirty look, ‘there wasn’t anything going on but I knew if I didn’t pull myself away from you I wouldn’t be able to help myself.’ ‘So that’s why you pulled away? Because he asked you to?’ she asked incredulously. ‘Yeah, didn’t exactly work though did it,’ Elvis said with a wry smile. ‘Oh yes,’ the Colonel said with a roll of his eyes, ‘I’m just the villain in this love story. Not the man who has been trying to keep your image afloat for the past few months whilst you flout everything I ask of you! Keep your show clean, don’t antagonise the press but no-’

Before Elvis could retaliate their attention was pulled towards the living room door where Gladys had just appeared, Vernon following just a step behind her with a yawn.

‘What is all this hollerin’ about!?’ said Gladys as she pulled her robe tighter around herself. ‘Why don’t you ask your son?’ the Colonel sneered. Gladys looked at Elvis expectantly. ‘Mama, why don’t you and daddy go to the kitchen? I’ll be in a minute,’ Elvis said nervously as he tried to steer his mother out of the room though she remained unmoved. ‘Oh, so your own mother didn’t even get to know,’ the Colonel said, ‘that is comforting.’ ‘Boobie what’s he talking about?’ Gladys asked worriedly. ‘He’s blowing it out of proportion,’ Elvis said. ‘What?’ Gladys asked. ‘We wanted to tell you properly.’ ‘Elvis you’re not making any sense,’ she said. ‘Elvis and I are together,’ Addison blurted out making four pairs of eyes land on her. Elvis smiled appreciatively though his gaze went straight back to his mother who seemed to be trying to wrap her head around the news.

‘Well congratulations,’ Vernon said awkwardly as Gladys moved to sit down in her favourite chair, still silent. ‘You’re happy for us, right?’ Elvis said as he knelt down in front of her. Gladys took a moment to compose herself before she smiled weakly and nodded her head. ‘Yes, of course,’ she said, ‘it’s just a shock is all…how long have you two…’ ‘Not long,’ Addison said. Gladys looked at her and though it wasn’t a cold stare there was definitely something to it that made Addison shrink back. This was not the time to be intervening. ‘Why didn’t you say anything?’ Gladys said looking back at her son. As Addison watched she could see the fear on Gladys’ face. She hadn’t really given it a thought before. Not telling people seemed like the wise thing to do but they hadn’t factored in how Gladys might take being left in the dark. She and Elvis never kept secrets. Maybe that was why her stare had felt so off.

‘Mama we were going to tell you,’ Elvis said placing a hand on her knee. ‘What when you knock her up?’ the Colonel scoffed earning a scowl from Elvis. ‘Shut your damn mouth,’ Elvis said standing up. ‘Elvis,’ Vernon said in a warning tone. ‘No daddy,’ Elvis said before he looked back at the Colonel, ‘look I get you’re pissed at me or whatever. I didn’t listen, sure, but that don’t change the fact that I love her. More than anything. And just because it’s unwise doesn’t mean that we’re gonna be apart.’ ‘And if it costs you your career?’ the Colonel challenged. ‘If you’d rather me be rich than happy that’s on you,’ Elvis said. The pair were staring each other down but Addison wasn’t watching them. She was looking at the uneasy expressions on his parents’ faces as the gravitas of the situation dawned on them. Though he hadn’t said it outright it was enough to be concerning because she was sure he meant it. If it came down to it, if push came to shove, he’d give it up. For her. For them. And that was a terrifying thought. She could tell from the way they watched him, from the way Gladys’ eyes fell on Addison watching her with a look of betrayal.

The Colonel was the first one to break their staring contest. He hobbled towards Elvis his cane in hand until he had almost passed him but instead of walking away he stopped, watching the boy with a betrayed expression, ‘I didn’t ask that you be unhappy. Just honest.’

And with that, he walked away slamming the front door behind him as he left the building.

No one spoke. Elvis didn’t even turn around until Vernon cleared his throat capturing his attention. When he did he moved toward Addison, wrapping his arms around her as he hugged her tightly. She hugged him back though less dependently than he was holding her as if she was a mother comforting a hurt child. When they broke apart he still didn’t relinquish his touch and instead moved to put his hand on the small of her back.

‘Well, I wasn’t expecting my morning to go like that that’s for sure,’ Vernon said. ‘I don’t think any of us saw our morning going this way,’ Elvis grumbled, ‘I mean don’t you think he’s overreacting just a little?’ ‘He’ll come around,’ Vernon said, ‘he’s just been worried that’s all.’ ‘Maybe but would it kill him to be happy for us,’ Elvis said wrapping his arm around Addison who glanced at him with a weak smile. ‘Well, we are, right Lovie?’ Vernon said placing a hand on his wife’s shoulder. She smiled at her husband though it was about as reassuring as Addison’s smile had been. Neither man seemed to notice. ‘I’m glad,’ Elvis said, ‘because we really are happy right Addie?’ ‘Right,’ she nodded though she was still watching Gladys. ‘Well, we can talk about it over breakfast,’ Vernon said with another yawn, ‘all this arguing has got my stomach rumbling.’ ‘Yeah, me too,’ Elvis said as he pulled Addison along so they could follow his daddy towards the kitchen. However he stopped when he noticed his mother hadn’t moved from her spot, breaking away from Addison though he kept hold of her hand.

‘You are coming Satnin?’ Elvis asked. His mother looked up from her chair and smiled. ‘Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute,’ she said. Elvis smiled and nodded heading out towards the kitchen with Addison in tow though the young girl took one last glance behind her at the woman now sitting alone in the living room. Even though she offered Addison a smile there was something behind her eyes that made her nervous. She knew Gladys liked her, that she enjoyed having her around, but at that moment she couldn’t help but feel as though she had overstepped. That whilst she could live in her house and be a friend of the family to have a relationship with Elvis was an error.

And she knew it wasn’t to do with the money. She knew that they could live in a matchbox and Gladys would be happy. No, this was more than that. The way Elvis had gone to bat for her, uttered what he was willing to lose, had just been the start. Both women knew it.

If he was willing to give up everything. If he was willing to lie to his mother.

What would he choose if it came down to it? Or more to the point. Who?

#my writing #elvis presley #elvis #the girl he left behind #elvis presley x oc #elvis x oc #elvis presley x ofc #elvis x ofc #addison goodwin

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