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[inthemytdl]

how I miss him dearly

MICKEY BOLITAR Harlan Coben's Shelter (2023)

[inthemytdl]

It is inherently fun and sexy to say statements that swap the traditional genders of pronouns and terms mid-statement, such as: "I'm going to make him my wife" "She's my boyfriend" "Who says a guy can't be a pretty princess?" "That girl's the coolest dude I've ever met" "She's a madman who has to be stopped" "It's not his fault he's a material girl" Gender is a set of watercolors and the prettiest shades come from mixing the paints together.

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mickey found spoon with candy after she died… we never got to see him comfort spoon

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I need Shelter on prime to blow up cause it’s a crime there’s not more people obsessing over Ema, Spoon and Mickey’s friendship with me

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mickey calling Troy a goofy ass b!tch 😭😭😭😭

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we don’t talk nearly enough about Mickey helping Ashley with her Spanish 🥺

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Camping

Summary: Mickey and the gang go camping

“Are you sure there aren’t any bears out here?”

“There are no bears in New Jersey, Mickey.” Ema was snappier than usual, a result of their mindless wandering out in the outskirts of New Jersey.

Spoon shone a flashlight in her face. “Actually, there are quite a few black bears in New Jersey. It’s a relatively small amount and they aren’t dangerous unless you provoke them.”

Ema slapped the flashlight away. “Point that at me again and I’ll get you before any bear does."

"But then you'll have one less person to help if a bear attacks."

“Does anyone have any idea where we are?” Mickey interrupted.

They had lost their campsite at sundown when Spoon convinced them to visit a pond a few miles away and had been searching for it ever since.

It must've been well past six now, as the skys were pitch black, and Mickey was starting to get angsty. He had never been afraid of the darkness but he had also never experienced darkness quite like this. A complete emptiness. The ambiguity of what surronded him and what it could do. He was relieved to have Spoon and Ema along but wasn’t sure if they'd keep him sane or if their bickering would drive him to insanity.

Spoon crouched, digging into the ragged canvas.

“What are you doing?” Ema snapped.

“I left a trail of jelly beans to track our path but I think something ate them,” he said.

Mickey trailed away from the group. He clicked away the Low Battery signal on his phone and shone his flashlight around. “Hey, guys, I’ve seen this tree stump before. We passed it on our way to camp when we first got here.”

They must’ve not heard him because Spoon and Ema continued their bickering, the sound almost as loud as the chirping cicadas.

“Why would you use jelly beans!” Ema shouted.

“I didn’t exactly think they were an approved animal diet!”

“You idiot! I’ll show you an approved diet—“

Mickey stepped between them, holding his arms out to keep them at bay. It took more force to hold Ema back than expected. The adrenaline from her anger must have upped her strength ten times.

“Guys. Camp. I think it’s over there.”

Spoon stepped back, looking in the direction Mickey pointed.

“Do you hear that?” he said.

The three of them quieted down. And low and behold, between the hum of cicadas was the roar of whales coming from Spoon’s noise machine.

“Follow me!” he said.

Ema slapped Mickey’s arm away and followed behind.

“Why do you even need a noise machine? We’re in the woods. There’s noise everywhere.”

Spoon shrugged. “It helps me sleep better."

When Mickey caught up to them and was back at camp he wanted nothing more than to climb into his tent and fall asleep. Ema was quick to enter her own tent. She zipped it shut without a word.

“Night, Ema!” Spoon yelled before looking at his own unbuilt ten.

Mickey was the only one of them with experience camping. He knew the proper way to build a tent and where to set up camp. He knew how to start a fire and could tell good firewood from bad. Ema quickly catched on, building her tent almost as fast as him, and aquiring a hefty amount of firewood. Spoon, on the other hand, did not. His tent laid on the ground in a sad pile of poles and tarp, next to the twigs he collected for smores.

Mickey sighed. “Do you want to stay in my tent?”

“Yes, please.” Spoon gathered his noise machine and rushed inside.

Mickey followed behind and zipped the tent. He was too tired to register the whistle of whales as he fell asleep.

———

a/n: writing shelter fics to fill the void of shelter season 2

[inthemytdl]

the only way to keep harlan coben’s shelter alive is to continue to talk about it and I will be doing that 💞

[inthemytdl]

Love & Basketball

Summary: Mickey teaches Ashley to play basketball

b/c we didn’t get enough scenes of them :(

Mickey felt Ashley’s eyes on him. Her gaze burned hotter than the afternoon sun. He wore a sleeveless tank top to avoid the heat but was starting to think she alone could cause heatstroke. It almost threw him off his game.

Almost.

Ashley studied him carefully. She watched as he dribbled the ball before letting it fly in the air and into the basketball hoop. She thought about how good he was at basketball, how effortlessly he handled the ball, like it could never escape from him. He gripped it in his hands and lifted his arms. She looked away when his tank top rose, revealing the remnants of a happy trail.

Her arms rose in celebration when the ball fell through the hoop with a swish sound.

“You’re really good at that,” she said.

He smiled, wiping sweat off his forehead. “I’ve been playing since I was a kid.” He found a spot in front of her on his driveway. The basketball laid between his legs before Ashley grabbed it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever made a shot in my life,” she said, grabbing her chin. “Nope. Never.” Her hand-eye coordination was almost as bad as her Spanish.

Mickey stole the ball back from Ashley. “I can show you how.”

“Oh, no. No no no.” She shook her head.

Mickey grinned, standing. “You can’t be with me and not know how to shoot a ball. That’s like… if the ice cream man sold pickles instead of ice cream.”

Ashley laughed, she couldn’t help it. Mickey was never short on bad analogies. He had an everlasting supply that always made her laugh.

“Whatever. You know what I mean.” He pulled her to her feet. “Stand here. Spread your legs like this.” He demonstrated two slightly separated feet. Ashley followed along. “Bend your knees, then dribble and release.”

Once again the ball flew effortlessly into the hoop. Mickey chased it before passing it to Ashley.

She caught it nervously.

Ashley was usually nervous and quite shy, but it wasn’t shooting the ball she was afraid of. It was looking dumb while doing it. That feeling you get after you embarrass yourself. The memories that haunt you even years after the embarrassing event first occurred.

But she tried anyway.

The ball hit the backboard before falling to the ground. No swish. No score. She had missed.

“Not bad,” Mickey said, retrieving the ball.

“Not great,” Ashley said.

“Your hands… You were holding the ball wrong. Let me—here.” He handed her the ball, adjusting her hold on it. He put one of her hands on top and the other on the side, then looped to the front to examine his work. “That’s good,” he said, nodding. “Try now.”

Ashley dribbled the ball, careful not to ruin her hand placement, then bent her knees, jumped, and released.

Swish, the sound was overshadowed by Mickey’s cheers.

He scooped her in his arms and all she could smell was his amber scent. All she could feel was his warm sweaty skin against hers. He spun her around a while before putting her down.

They were face-to-face now. Both smiling. Both leaning forward. Mickey was slightly out of breath, his mind preoccupied with Ashley, and Ashley, still reeling from her shot, was incredibly nervous. They were going to kiss. They had never kissed before.

Their faces were inches away when Shira Bolitar came outside.

“Hey guys, I’m gonna order a pizza. Is pepperoni okay?” she asked.

Ashley had never been so red.

Mickey had never wanted Shira gone more.

He pushed down a surge of anger and said, “Pepperoni’s fine!”

Ashley nodded, following Ms. Bolitar into the house.

They’d have to save their kiss for another day.

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Mickey Bolitar - Harlan Coben's Shelter (2023)

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THE BESTIES PARTY | Harlan Coben's Shelter 1x08

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Game Day

Pairing: Zach MacLaren x Zoey Miller

Summary: Zach & Zoey play soccer!

They were halfway through their game day and Zoey had beaten Zach in almost everything. She had several chess wins under her belt and one win in paper football, which prior to today she didn’t know was even a thing. Her mind was still reeling from the wins when Zach suggested they juggle a soccer ball.

Zoey wasn’t sure what he meant by juggle. The only juggling she knew was by hand, preferably with something soft that wouldn’t hit her in the head. Again. But when Zach pulled a soccer ball down from the top shelf of a closet, she knew she was in for something entirely different.

“Oh... you meant juggle a ball?” Her voice was as shaky and dubious as she felt. “We shouldn’t… We could break something.”

“I’m seriously offended by how little you trust our soccer skills,” Zach said. “Just control the ball. It’ll be fine.” 

The ball in question was old and dusty. And probably more flat than it should’ve been. Zach blew the dust away and dropped the ball to the floor before picking it up with his feet. The ball balanced on his toes as he passed it from one foot to another before kicking it to Zoey, who against her better wishes, flinched.

“I wasn’t ready!” she shouted.

“If you stay ready you won’t have to get ready.” Zach chased the ball and handed it to her. “Here. You start,” he said.

Zoey took a deep breath. She knew how soccer worked. She watched a few games with her dad the days before he and her mom split, but had never actually played before. The cocky part of her—the part that believed everything could be solved with numbers and algorithms—believed she would do well, if she ever got a chance. If she could deconstruct the architectural design of a building with geometry, surely she could kick a ball with her feet. How hard could it possibly be? 

She held the ball above her foot and let it drop to the ground, then she picked it up with her other foot like Zach did, hopping around on one leg until she built up enough courage to pass it to her other foot.

A smile stretched across her face as she caught the ball.

“Oh my god,” she said. “I did it!”

“Right, now pass it to me.” Zach stepped back, awaiting the ball.

Zoey nodded and launched it his way. Only she must’ve done something wrong because it curled to the side, flying past him and into a vase. She watched as Zach’s jaw dropped comically slow, and a wave of guilt shot through her as his blue eyes trailed the ceramic pieces now scattered on the wooden floor.

“I am so sorry!" She rushed to collect the pieces.

How much would the vase cost to replace? Tens? Hundreds? She wasn’t sure. But mostly she worried about Zach, who would now know for sure that she wasn’t a real soccer player. A real player would control the ball. Pass it with ease and accuracy. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Zach said, crouching down next to her. His amber scent engulfed her as his eyes met hers and any worry she had diminished. “Careful. You might cut yourself.”

She wished his warning came sooner when a speck of red emerged from a slit on her finger. A burning feeling accompanied the wound and she stuck the finger in her mouth to reduce it.

“I’ll get a bandaid,” Zach said.

Moments later he returned with a blue bandage to wrap her finger in. His eyes shifted away from her as he swept the remainder of the ceramic bits in a dust pan and she plopped down on the couch to watch.

“Sorry about that. I’m a little off my game today.” 

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Zach said. “It was my idea to play inside.” He joined her on the couch, laying his head down on her lap as if nothing had ever happened. “At least now we know who the better soccer player is.”

Zoey bopped him on his head, feeling unusably defensive of the soccer playing Zoey that wasn’t her. Would that Zoey have beaten him? 

They sat in comfortable silence as she ran a hand through his short hair.

“Wanna play battletoads?” Zach asked.

“Sure,” she said. And somehow she felt jealous of Zoey Wallace. The Zoey she never knew and could never be. Because if this was her life, then she was pretty damn lucky. “Let’s go play battletoads.”

———

a/n: this is my attempt at learning to write in 3rd person

[inthemytdl]

zach maclaren being a bookish boyfriend 📖🎧

tags @winterrrnight @runningfrom2am

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THE OTHER ZOEY (2023) dir. Sara Zandieh

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THE OTHER ZOEY (2023) dir. Sara Zandieh

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Jack in Every Episode ✫ 13.1 Lost and Found

My mother, she’s in heaven. My father, he was supposed to be here, but he’s not. I’m trying to find him. I have to find him.

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her filmography is kinda insane

it (1990) / ginger snaps (2000) / she’s the man (2006) / juno (2007) / another cinderella story (2008) / supernatural