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yourlocalfictionalenthusiast · 3 years

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IN LIFE, IN DEATH...

PART NINE

:Masterlist:

Warnings: swearing

A/N: It’s Unsaid Emily time, folks. Also sorry this took me forever to post, I’ve been sick. Feedback is always appreciated! <3

"This is fine."

You rambled quietly as you paced up and down Hollywood Boulevard.

The familiar sounds of the cars on the road and the conversations of people walking by calmed you down a little, but you were still dizzy trying to keep up with your own feet.

Alex, who was watching you carefully from a bus bench cleared his throat, making you stop in your tracks. "Was what I think was happening in there actually happening?"

"Yes." You said immediately. "No. Maybe? I don't know."

Alex stared at you for a minute before sighing deeply and pinching the bridge of his nose. "(Y/n), I mean this in the most loving way possible, but you need to get your shit together."

"What?" You sputtered. Alex was usually so sympathetic and understanding when it came to giving you advice, but as he took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair, you prepared yourself for one of his 'big brother' lectures.

"I'm sorry, but you've been so disgustingly in love with each other your whole lives. Except you were the only one who realized it. Then that summer you guys were practically glued to each other, I thought that he finally figured it out too. I was just about to give Reg his twenty bucks..."

You shifted your weight as you thought back to that day at the beach, when you had stood there in the sand and let yourself think about what it would be like if Luke liked you back.

"But then he started ignoring you and being an idiot." Alex continued. "At first I thought that maybe he was just coming up with a way to tell you, but then it just never ended. It killed me to see how much it was hurting you, and I was all set to lock him in his guitar case."

You laughed a little at that and Alex smiled. “But judging by tonight, I think he realizes it now too.”

After spending so much time thinking Luke didn’t feel the same way, it was a reflex to try to deny it or come up with some excuse. But you realized that you really couldn’t anymore. You groaned loudly and plopped down on the bench.

“This isn’t fair.” You said. “I mean, I finally have an idea of what’s happening in his head just in time for us to die.. again.”

“That’s why you need to talk about it!’ Alex insisted. “Before anything else, you guys were best friends who told each other everything. Do you really want to cross over or whatever without telling him how you feel?”

Of course you didn’t. But you also didn't see the point of telling him if you were just going to disappear forever. What if you were misreading everything? Or what if you can’t figure out a way to play at the Orpheum and…?

You quickly pushed the thought out of your mind. You weren’t ready to think about any of that. With another groan, you leaned over onto Alex’s shoulder. “Al?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we’ll ever stop having boy problems?”

Alex laughed and you couldn’t help but join in. You wanted to pause this moment in time and just stay here with your best friend, far away from all your problems. But then there was a bright light and suddenly Willie was standing on the sidewalk in front of you.

“Alex, can we talk?”

You sat up straight and looked between the two of them, raising your eyebrows at Alex in a silent question. He nodded and you gave him a reassuring smile before poofing away.

You wandered around the city for a while before heading back to the garage, frowning when you found it empty.

You knew that Reggie was probably inside with Ray or Carlos but Luke was usually always here at this time of the day. You looked over to the table to see Luke’s songbook sitting open and you frowned in confusion. Luke had been extra secretive with his songs since Julie read them at practice, so it was weird for it to be out in the open for anyone to see.

As you went to close it, you saw that it was turned to ‘Unsaid Emily’. You ran your finger over the words, your heart flipping as you looked at his little notes and scribbles in the margins. It looked like the edges of the paper were blotted with tears.

You now figured that he was at his parent’s and your heart ached for him. It was obvious from the way he disappeared to their house every moment he could that he wanted to reconnect with them but you didn’t know it was this bad. Waves of guilt washed over you. You knew he wasn’t mad at you, but you still felt a little guilty about pushing so hard about Bobby when all Luke wanted was for his parents to be proud of him.

You got an idea and gently ripped out the page, knowing that there was a finalized version in your journal that Luke could have. But you knew that his parents having the version with his own handwriting and little notes as he workshopped it would be a lot more meaningful.

You folded it up and placed it in your pocket before poofing out of the garage and into the school hallway. You made a beeline for Julie's locker, getting there just in time to see Nick walking away with a blush and a triumphant smile.

Before you could even say a word, Julie put her phone to her ear and opened her mouth to scold you for showing up at her school again but she couldn't stop smiling long enough to get the words out.

"So, what did I miss?" You teased, making Julie roll her eyes.

"Nick might've just asked me out." She shrugged, trying to seem casual. "And I might've said yes."

You cheered and folded your arms. "I told you so."

"Shut up." Julie laughed and shoved her hand through the air next to your shoulder. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Your smile faded a little, having forgotten about your plan for a moment. You cleared your throat and carefully unfolded the paper to show Julie.

“I need your help.”

You and Julie walked side by side up the Patterson’s driveway.

You rubbed the page between your fingers and it seemed to get heavier in your hands with every step. You had been so sure that this plan would work but now you were actually here, you felt like this might be a bad idea.

You and Luke just got back to being friends again. Maybe even something more now after last night. The last thing you wanted to do was mess any of that up.

But you knew how much he missed his family. Even if he never said it out loud, you knew that he regretted leaving them more than anything.

Julie seemed to sense your thoughts and smiled at you reassuringly as you reached the porch. You handed Julie the paper as went to ring the doorbell. But before she could, Luke phased in front of the door.

“What are you guys doing here?” He asked, his eyes finding yours immediately.

Julie stepped forward a little. “I just, I wanted to know more about you guys so I asked (Y/n) to bring me here this time.”

“This time?” Luke repeated.

“We might’ve stopped by on your birthday.” She admitted.

“So you guys have been spying on me?” He scoffed at her. “After all your talks about boundaries?”

“This was my idea, Luke.” You explained, making him look over at you again. “I asked Julie to help because I’m worried about you.”

Luke’s jaw clenched slightly. “You don’t have to be.”

“Of course I do.” You said. “I understand. I know what it’s like to not be able to reach someone you love.”

Luke blinked rapidly, tears starting to brim in his eyes as he stared at you. He knew you were talking about your parents and Cece. But a little part of you meant him too, and how he had felt like a stranger to you for the better part of a year. “I wouldn’t even know what I’d say to her even if she could hear me.”

You pulled the song out of your pocket and smoothed out the paper before holding it out for him to see. “Maybe start with this.”

Luke instantly recognized it and there was a moment of heavy silence as he scanned the paper with his eyes before he slowly nodded. You handed it to Julie and pressed the doorbell, moving aside so she could stand on the welcome mat.

Luke fell back into the space next to you, watching the door with anticipation. A minute passed before it creaked open and Mitch stuck his head out. He greeted Julie and she introduced herself before clearing her throat.

“I believe you had a son named Luke?”

A look of pain crossed Mitch’s face but he nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Your son’s band used to play in my family’s garage.” She said as she stroked the song between her fingers. “I came across this song that he wrote and I figured you might be interested.”

“Yes, of course.” Mitch opened the door and invited her in. You and Luke followed behind her closely. You looked all around the living room, smiling when your eyes fell on a picture that was propped up on a small table. It was taken on the day you both started high school. You were squishing Luke’s cheeks with your hand as he protested, although there was a bright smile on his face.

It warmed your heart to know that Emily had kept that picture after all this time. You looked back at Luke to see him already looking at you with an almost wistful look on his face.

Julie glanced at the picture before asking Mitch, “Do you have any other children?”

Mitch shook his head and the room got quiet for a second before Emily came in. “Did I hear the doorbell?”

Luke instantly tensed behind you, unconsciously taking a step back. You reached out and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before letting so just as fast. But before it could even fall back to your side, Luke wrapped it back around his.

You held onto him a little tighter than necessary, keeping him as close to you as possible because you couldn't even imagine how hard this moment was for him. Emily gave Julie a warm smile as she tucked herself into Mitch’s side.

“Julie lives in the place where Luke and the band used to rehearse.” He clarified. “She was just telling me that she found a song he wrote.”

“It’s about a girl named Emily.” Julie said as she looked down at the paper.

Emily gasped a little as she stepped forward slowly. “I’m Emily.”

“Then I think your son wrote this song for you.” Julie handed the song over and then stepped back slightly, giving them space to read it. The air became charged with emotion as they began crying, the paper shaking in Emily’s hands.

You knew the basics of what happened that night, but as you stood there, it was like a movie reel started playing and you could almost see Luke storming out, ignoring his mom calling out for him and running away until he got to the studio.

You remembered holding him in your arms later that night as he cried tears of frustration, sadness, and worry and before you knew it, you were doing it again. You dropped his hand and wrapped your arms around him and he immediately buried his head into your shoulder, sniffling quietly.

“Thank you.” You heard Emily say tearfully and you pulled away just enough to see her pressing the paper tightly against her chest.

Julie gave her a watery smile, wiping away tears of her own as she continued talking to them. Just as Emily laughed, Luke disappeared from your arms and you heard the sharp pop of him phasing away.

You looked at the spot where he was just standing and a part of you wanted to follow but you knew that he probably needed space. You followed Julie out the door and you walked beside each other in comfortable silence, each of you processing everything that just happened.

“Thank you for helping.” You said.

“Of course.” Julie smiled.

“So, when’s the date?” You teased as you wiggled your eyebrows.

“Remember what I said about shutting up?” She rolled her eyes but there was a bright smile on her face.

It was just after sunset when you got back to the house.

You couldn't remember the last time you had laughed as hard as you did when you were with Julie. It was still new to you, having a friend like her. You connected on so many levels and it only added to the guilt of keeping the secret about the stamps from her.

Just as you reached the walkway up to the front door, Julie nodded her head towards the porch where Luke was leaning against the railing. She mouthed ‘go’ before walking through the garden gate that led to the studio.

As soon as she was gone, you hopped up the stairs and cleared your throat. “I’m sorry. I know I overstepped and-”

“No, I just had to leave.” Luke stepped forward. “That was…I mean, how do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“You just always know what I need.” He said. “I never really had any regrets other than running out on them. I’ve been wanting to do something about it but I didn’t know how.”

You smiled. “You would’ve done the same for me.”

“Still,” Luke insisted. There was that look again. The same one that he gave you on stage, the one you saw last night just before Alex came in. The one he gave you the night he ran away. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” You almost whispered, only now realizing how close you had gotten. Luke was only a few feet in front of you, and he looked almost nervous. Just as he stopped in front of you, a jolt flashed across his chest, sending him backward into a pillar.

He groaned and you winced in sympathy as you raced up to him. “Are you okay?”

Luke nodded, but he looked a lot paler than usual. “We’re running out of time.”

Just then, Julie came storming up the walkway, her fists clenched at her sides. She didn’t even bother looking at either of you as she marched up the stairs and disappeared behind the door.

“I’m guessing Alex and Reg told her.” You said and looked back at Luke to see him rubbing the sore spot on his chest. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”

Even before you walked through the doors, you could feel the cloud of sadness, guilt, and regret hanging in the air. You couldn’t imagine how Julie was feeling right now. She had just gotten back into music again after losing her mom and now she was losing more important people and her band all at once.

You walked Luke over to the couch and plopped on the ground next to the coffee table, watching absentmindedly as Alex tried to balance his drumsticks on his nose. Then trying not to laugh when Julie came storming in and he fell to the floor.

“I think you broke Alex.” Reggie said.

The scowl on Julie’s face didn’t falter, and she looked pointedly at each of you.

“Do you guys want to cross over or what?” She asked, her arms crossed as you all stayed quiet. “Get it together!”

“They’re never going to let us play the Orpheum.” Luke said. “We’re nobody.”

“Our video is going viral, that counts for something!” Julie insisted. “This isn’t over. We were brought together for a reason, to help each other.”

You found yourself nodding along with what she was saying, her enthusiasm eating away at the feeling of hopelessness you’d been carrying around. You could tell by the slight smile on Reggie and Luke’s faces that they felt the same way.

“Yeah, but like Luke said, people don’t just play the Orpheum because they want to.” Alex said.

“People don’t.” She agreed, a hint of a smirk on her face. “But ghosts do.”

December 1994

It was a rainy night in L.A.

The flashes of lightning and occasional roar of thunder echoed through the garage so loudly that any hope you had of focusing on studying was long gone.

You sighed and shoved your textbooks into your bag before leaning back on the couch and staring at the ceiling. The stress of studying had started to give you a headache but you felt a little more relaxed as you stared at white Christmas lights hung across the loft's railing.

There was a loud bang on the side of the building and for a second, you thought it was just another clap of thunder. But then the garage doors swung open.

You were frozen in fear for a moment before you made out Luke’s figure in the dim light. He didn’t seem to see you as he stormed in and threw his backpack on the ground, making its contents spill out. It wasn’t until you cleared your throat that he spun around with wide eyes.

“Hey.” You said. “What are you doing here so late?”

Luke's eyes held yours for a minute before he slowly crossed the room and climbed onto the couch next to you. He wiggled around until he was comfortable on his stomach with his head in your lap and his arms tucked under his chest.

“Rough day?” You asked, resisting the urge to laugh as he let out a deep breath and sank further into you. You could feel his pulse racing and his breath was uneven, like he just ran all the way from home.

You felt your stress from before disappear completely as you stared down at him. Ever since you realized your feelings for him, it was hard to not overthink these kinds of moments.

Before you could stop yourself, you reached a hand down and brushed his messy, slightly damp hair away from his forehead.

His breath hitched and you mentally cursed yourself.

It was no secret that Luke was a touchy person. Ever since you were kids, he had a habit of making people his personal pillow or just absentmindedly grabbing people’s hands and shoulders. But maybe this was a step too far.

Before you could pull away, Luke nuzzled his head back into your hand until you got the hint and softly ran your fingers through his hair. The sinking feeling in your stomach turned into butterflies and you cleared your throat.

“Seriously, you okay?” You whispered.

Luke being this quiet worried you. Normally he would be rambling on about a new song or complaining about school. But now he just seemed deflated.

You gripped his arm with your free hand, muttering a soft ‘hey’ until he finally turned over. His green eyes flickered open and you saw that they were bright red, along with his nose.

“Oh, Lu.” Your heart sank. “What happened?”

Luke shook his head, tucking the side of his face into your hand.

“You feel warm.” You said as felt his forehead with your other hand. “Luke, please tell me what happened?”

You knew that if he wanted to tell you, he would, and you shouldn't push him. But you had only seen Luke cry a handful of times in your life, and it always broke your heart.

It felt like hours before he finally spoke, his voice rough and heavy. “I ran away.”

“You-?”

A dozen emotions hit you all at once. The first being disbelief, then anger, then sympathy. Of course, you knew how much his parents not supporting his dream was killing him, and he had mentioned running away before. But you never thought he would actually go through with it.

“What happened?” You asked quietly.

“I failed another test.” Luke said as he sat up, his voice getting a little louder and tears returning to his eyes as he ranted. “I just spaced on studying and she freaked out, threatened to make me quit again or sell my guitar and I just kinda lost it. I tried, (Y/n), I just-”

“Okay, hey, it’s okay.” You ran your hand through his hair again in an attempt to calm him down. You would freak out about how very obvious you were acting later but he clearly had a fever and looked like he was about to start crying again. “You need to get some rest. We’ll figure everything out tomorrow, I promise.”

“Stay here with me?” He asked and your heart felt like it was going to beat out of your chest but you nodded.

“Yeah, of course.” You went to get up and get a sleeping bag from the loft so he could take the couch but his hand gripped yours. He let go a second later as he leaned back, propping himself up against the armrest and gesturing for you to lay down next to him.

You knew that your face must’ve been bright red but you carefully climbed into the space between his body and the back of the couch. You slung your arm around his torso and rested your head against his chest.

After a few minutes, Luke started snoring quietly. You stared up at him, trying to resist the urge to pinch yourself. It wasn’t the first time you and Luke had cuddled, not by a long shot. There were countless sleepovers when you were kids and even during movie nights as you got older.

But this was different.

Any other night, you probably wouldn’t be able to sleep with all the thoughts racing around in your brain about what all of this meant. But between the soft glow of the lights, the sound of the rain hitting the roof and Luke’s steady heartbeat beneath you, you felt yourself drifting off.

In Life, In Death Taglist:

@ifilwtmfc @instabull @wanniiieeee @tenaciousperfectionunknown @charliegillespiewife @merceret @itismeasmolpotato @lilostif16 @dangerouslyclose @iainttakingshitfromnobody @givemebooksorgivemedeath @sunsetcurvedotmp3 @askgeoff @mayleenicole5676 @puppy11148 @vampire7595 @wackyworrieruniverse @reallysparklychaos @lovelydaydreams15 @rachmmb

JATP Taglist:

@caitsymichelle13 @sunsetcurvej

Let me know if you want to be added!

#luke patterson #luke patterson imagine #luke patterson x reader #Alex Mercer #Reggie Peters #julie molina #jatp fanfic #jatp

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penelopebridgerton24 · 3 years

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Babe

So.... remember that post I made about how I was watching New Girl and Cece and Winston would call each other 'Babe' and Schmidt would always look annoyed, (you can find it here) well..... I wrote it! And if anyone wants to write another version of this, please do! I would love to read it! I hope you all enjoy this!

Colin didn’t realize it at it first, he was so enraptured in his relationship with Penelope, that he didn’t see how close she had gotten with someone. You would think that his biggest annoyance would be Eloise, being Penelope’s best friend and an avid hog of her time. And yet, his biggest annoyance was his brother, his own brother, Benedict.

Of course Penelope can have friends. She could be around whoever she wanted. And really it wouldn’t have been such a surprise if he had been home more, he begrudgingly admitted to himself. He had been with Penelope all of one when it really hit him.

They were sitting on her couch, all cuddled up and watching TV. He was nuzzling her hair and pulling her close, she was smiling and gave a happy sigh, settling further into his embrace. Bliss, he thought to himself, and then the door burst open, Benedict strides in and takes Penelope from his arms.

Pen seems surprised but not surprised at all by his brothers presence, which in turn confuses Colin because why on earth is his brother barging into Penelope’s apartment?

“Pen, you’ll never guess what happened!”

Benedict had taken hold of Penelope’s arms when he had pulled her away from Colin, and Colin was annoyed by the fact that he was still holding her quite close. He tried not to notice that Penelope seemed to be holding him close as well.

“What happened?” She asks, excitedly.

“I’m having my first art show.”

She screams with joy and jumps into Benedict's arms, fully embracing him. He hugs her tightly and Colin wonders, for a moment, if he should be worried about their relationship.

“I’m so proud of you,” she says, squeezing Benedict once more, before stepping back.

“You know I couldn’t have done it without you,” Benedict replies, looking at her fondly.

Colin notices they still haven’t completely let each other go and Penelope’s eyes become a little misty.

“Babe, don’t,” she points a finger at him with a watery smile.

“Babe.” Benedict replies with a similar smile.

“Babe.”

Colin’s head whips back and fort between the two, surely he must be hearing them wrong, why are they calling each other babe? He’s sure his face is scrunched up in confusion.

“What the hell is going on?” he finally voices, standing from his spot on the couch.

Penelope and Benedict both turn to him in surprise as if they forgot he was even there. Penelope recovers quickly turning to him and grabbing his arms in excitement.

“Your brother is going to have his very first art show!”

Benedict is beaming with pride and Penelope is smiling at him with so much joy, he pushes his annoyance aside and smiles at them both.

“Congratulations, Ben,” he says and hugs his brother.

It was probably just a weird one time thing.

××××××

It wasn’t just a one time thing. The next time it happened was a few months later. Penelope and Colin had decided to move in together. He couldn’t wait to have an apartment that Eloise and Benedict didn’t have keys to. He had lost count of how many times he was enjoying his time alone with Penelope and his siblings would barge in. Penelope usually placated him with a kiss and promises of more later, which always brought a goofy smile to his face. Which in turn always made Eloise roll her eyes and Benedict give with a smirk, but what could he say he couldn’t get enough of her. Colin enjoyed spending time with his family and he loved how well Penelope fit with his family, he loved his family, he really did, but he would love a lot more if they just let him enjoy Penelope.

And this wasn’t how things were supposed to go, Colin had planned a romantic one last night in Penelope’s apartment for just the two of them. Unfortunately, once again his family had to take over his time with Penelope. It was doubly irritating this time because he had planned to thoroughly ravish Penelope on their last night in her apartment and he never misses a chance to completely ravish the love of his life, but his siblings apparently had other plans.

He was just getting everything ready for their evening together when, the door burst open, revealing Eloise and Benedict. Their arms full of food and alcohol.

“I can’t believe you’re not going to live here anymore,” Eloise exclaims, going straight to Penelope and hugging her tightly.

“There are a lot of fun memories here,” Benedict agrees, embracing Penelope as well.

Penelope smiles at them both, while Colin stares at them slack jawed.

“What are you both doing here?” He nearly bellows.

Eloise gives him an annoyed look.

“We’re giving Penelope’s apartment a proper goodbye,” she replies as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“Neither of you ever lived here.”

“No, but we both have very happy memories with Pen here,” Benedict cheekily smiles, knowing his brother was getting annoyed.

“And,” Eloise says, scowling, “you never lived here either.”

He was about to reply, but she cuts him off before he can.

“In fact, we’ve probably spent more time here than you ever have.”

She abruptly turns away from him towards the kitchen, knowing she was right and he didn’t have an argument.

“Well, we had our own plans, so leave,” he says loud enough so that she can hear him from the kitchen.

“Colin!”

Penelope looks at him shocked, although she shouldn’t be he could be quite selfish about his time with her.

“Don’t worry, Pen,” Benedict smirks, as he rises from the couch and moves to her side and pulls her into his side. “We know you actually want us here.”

Benedict continues to smirk as Colin scowls at his brother. Colin reaches for Penelope to pull her into his arms.

“Will you please ask them to leave?” he whispers, nuzzling her neck.

“Colin….” She sighs, easing into his arms.

“Please,” he kisses her neck now, soft and teasing.

“I can’t,” she groans.

“Why not?” His kisses trail to her collarbone and back up to the sensitive part behind her ear.

She sighs softly before replying, “I invited them.”

He pulls back to look at her, his features painted with disappointment and just a bit of betrayal.

“Why?”

“Well, we were all talking about all the fun times we’ve had here,” she looks at him bashfully, her cheeks growing pink, “and they mentioned one last hoorah and,” she trails off, wincing, “I said that we should.”

He sighs in defeat because if it was something Penelope wanted to do with her friends that just so happened to be, he decided, his two most annoying siblings, then he would relent. He couldn’t deny her anything, especially when she looked at him with pleading eyes, pink cheeks and was biting her lip. He sighs in defeat.

“Colin, please don’t be upset,” she says quietly.

“I’m not,” he pulls her into his arms again and kisses her temple. “My plans to ravish you will just have to wait till later,” he bends down so that he can look her in the eyes , “and it will be happening later.”

“Colin,” she gasps and he smirks, enjoying the way her cheeks went from pink to red.

“Enough of that,” Eloise her face scrunched in disgust, grabbing Penelope’s hand and pulling her away from Colin.

A few hours later, the four are sitting in Penelope’s living room sharing memories and stories. Colin is mostly just listening and enjoying a tipsy Penelope leaning into his side. While he was still annoyed by his siblings presence, he couldn’t deny how adorable Pen was when she was tipsy. She would look at him from time to time to realize he was continually staring at her. She would smile and blush, which would just make him smile wider at her.

Once she quietly told him, “Stop.”

“Stop what?” he whispered back.

“Looking at me like you want me.”

He gives her a wolfish smile and whispers directly in her ear. “But I do want you, I always want you.”

He takes pleasure in the way she shivers against him. Just as he attempts to convince her to send their guests away, Eloise pulls Penelope out of his arms, again. This was really starting to get on his nerves.

“Pen,” she pulls her best friend into her side, “this is where we were when you got your dream job.” Eloise's eyes look glassy, as Penelope nods.

“Its where you decided you wanted to marry Phillip,” Penelope replies with a wistful smile.

“It’s where you both convinced me to share my art,” Benedict stands with the two women, smiling.

“That was mostly, Pen,” Eloise smirks, “but I was there.”

They all chuckle together. Benedict turns to Penelope.

“Its where we went from friends…”

He trails off, while Penelope shakes her head.

“Don’t do it.”

“Babe,” Ben smiles at her.

“Babe,” she replies with a watery smile.

“Babe.”

“Babe,” Benedict replies one last time, before pulling her into an embrace.

Colin is once again completely weirded out, confused and irked by their exchange.

“What has your panties in a bunch?” Eloise asks at his scrunched up face.

“Is that not incredibly weird?”

She shrugs her shoulders.

“It doesn’t bother me.”

“It’s weird!”

She rolls her eyes.

“Relax, it’s not like they’re in love with each other or anything.”

Colin supposes that that was true, but still.

“Penelope is absolutely mad about you and Ben is still searching for his mystery lady.”

Colin smiles at Eloise's comment, he knew Penelope loved him, but it was still nice to have it confirmed.

“Besides I call Penelope ‘babe’ all the time, its really not that big of a deal.”

Colin slowly nods along until her words register in his mind.

“What?!”

× × × × × ×

Colin loved pampering and spoiling his wife year round, but on her birthday he always went all out. This year it was her 35th birthday and he had a full day of spoiling and loving her planned, followed by a surprise party in her honor. With the help of Daphne, Eloise and his mother because “Colin Bridgerton if you think for one moment I wouldn’t be a part of planning a celebration in honor of that dear girl, you obviously have no idea how much I adore her.”

After being appropriately berated all the plans were made and the day had gone by without a hitch. Colin was proud to say the smile he loved so much never left Penelope’s face. He was leading her Blindfolded up the steps to the Bridgerton family home, where everyone was waiting.

“Okay, are you ready?” He asks standing behind her and reaching for the blindfold.

“Yes,” she exclaims with a laugh, “the suspense is killing me!”

He makes sure she’s in just the right spot and then removes the cover from her eyes.

As soon as he does she met with a chorus of a loud-

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

She sees the entire Bridgerton clan along with their spouses, her younger sister Felicity and Lady Danbury.

“Oh my goodness!”

She’s beaming at the group of people who came just to celebrate her and her eyes grow misty. She turns back to look at her husband who’s just looking at her with so much love and adoration she thinks she just might melt into the floor.

“Colin,” she whispers, bringing a hand up to caress his cheek and hoping he can see all the love she has for him in her eyes.

And just like he always does, it seems he reads her mind because he nods and takes her hand caressing his face and kisses her palm.

“Now, now, enough of that,” Lady Danbury interrupts, “you’ve gotten to celebrate her all day, if our turn now.”

“And I certainly have,” Colin says with a smirk, that his brothers return.

He only barely misses getting his toe crushed by Lady Danbury's cane. Eloise is quick to move in and like she had been their entire relationship, steal Penelope from his arms.

“Yes, Colin, I hardly ever get to see my best friend because you hog her all the time.”

Penelope giggles at Eloise's antics.

“You just saw her the day before yesterday!”

“Exactly, it’s an absolutely eternity to be away from one’s dearest friend,” she replies pulling Penelope further away from him.

Colin rolls his eyes but let’s her whisk his wife away.

“Eloise does have a point, you know,” Benedict smirks at Colin before embracing Penelope with a fond smile.

“You just saw her last week!”

The group laughs, as Penelope squeezes his hand before she’s enveloped by all the people she loves so much.

The party is alive with laughter, music, memories and of course food (Colin did plan this party after all). When it comes time for gifts she can’t keep the smile from her face as she tries to keep her eyes from watering.

Benedict is the next to give her his gift, they share a smile because it’s in the shape of what she knows is a painting. She has always been fond of Benedict's work and one of his biggest supporters, but she can’t keep the tears from her eyes when she sees the painting.

“Ben,” she whispers as she stares at the painting.

“I know it’s your favorite park,” he shrugs, “it was Sophie’s idea,” he smiles at his wife.

“Thank you,” she smiles at Sophie and gives her hand a small squeeze.

She looks back at the painting and gasps when she sees her and Colin in painting as well. She looks back up at Benedict.

“This is the most beautiful painting I have ever owned.”

“Babe…” Benedict says his hand over his heart.

“Babe,” Penelope replies.

“Babe.”

Colin sighs in exasperation and rolls his eyes as Benedict and Penelope embrace.

“What has you so annoyed?”

He looks to his side at Sophie.

“This babe thing doesn’t bother you at all?”

She scrunches up her eyebrows in thought for a moment and then shakes her head as she watches the two friends with a fond smile.

“Benedict calls me, my love and Pen is as much my friend as she is Benedicts.”

He thinks for a moment.

“Penelope always calls me the love of her life or her love or darling,” he thinks aloud.

Sophie smiles.

“Do you really have anything to complain about then?”

“No, I guess not.”

She smirks. “She did marry you after all.”

His smile widens.

“She absolutely did,” he smirks.

He smiles watching his wife, she looks back at him with nothing but love in her eyes, only for him.

Sophie smiles at the exchange, and then laughs at his last reply.

“Its still really weird though!”

#polin #bridgerton #eloise bridgerton #benedict bridgerton #polin fic #bridgerton fanfiction #penelope x colin #colin x penelope #colin bridgerton #penelope featherington #penelope bridgerton #my first polin fic!#i hope you all enjoy #my fic

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simplyadorkable-blog1 · 7 years

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Season 6, Episode 22 - “Five Stars for Beezus”

Jess prepares to tell Nick how she really feels about him. In other events, Nick has a meeting with a book publisher, Aly helps Winston reconnect with someone important and big news comes along for Schmidt and Cece.

The season finale has arrived and please bear with me, this one is extra-long. Get ready to be shook. We pick up with Cece driving Jess back from the airport. Jess is filling in Cece on her plan to meet Nick at his book reading and confess her love. She even has flash cards ready to go. Too bad we don’t get to hear any of it because some of the jokes are at Cece’s expense! I would love to know how that works into her profession of love.

We then quickly shift to Nick reading at a local bookstore to a large group of teenagers. By the way, do yourself a favor and find the screencap of Nick’s “About the Author” poster. Anyways, Nick is reading the ending of his book and we are reminded of the evil Schmith and the beautiful Jessica Night. Hello, callback! After he finishes, a girl in a strange vest (no offense) asks what we have all been wondering, are Pepperwood and Jessica Night going to get together? Sadly, Jess arrives to hear Nick’s answer: no. Standing between who is clearly Pepperwood and Jessica Night cosplayers, Jess’ face falls in heartbreak. Nick notices Jess running off and tries to amend his answer by explaining that Pepperwood blew it. Everyone’s dejected faces at Nick’s awkward “So, let’s hear it for books!” is actually just a mirror of everyone watching at home.

After leaving the stage, a book editor named Merle Streep (goofy name) approaches Nick. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel like Nick said he had no idea who Meryl Streep was in an earlier season. If he didn’t, he did in my headcannon. Too bad for Merle, Nick is too concentrated on Jess and blows him off to call her. We see Jess just outside the door answer the phone with Nick fully in the background of the shot. The tension here was equally perfect and tortuous. Nick is glad Jess finally answered and after questioning if she was in L.A., launches into how well his reading went. He trails off to explain that he and Raisin broke up. Go ahead and take a few moments to remember who Raisin is. Jess hurries Nick off the phone and Merle approaches Nick again to express his interest in publishing The Pepperwood Chronicles. Congrats, Nick!

At Jaipur Aviv, Cece is preparing a romantic pants-off dinner for herself and Schmidt when Jess arrives, crying. While Jess fills in Cece, Aly and Winston finish moving Aly into the loft. Among her boxes is one labeled, “Documents.” While Winston sets down this box, a mug shot of the diaper bandit falls out. Upon further investigation, Winston discovers a phone number scrawled across the back. No, Aly has not been keeping in touch with the diaper bandit. It’s actually Winston’s dad’s phone number. Winston said he wanted to find him, so Aly found him. Props to Aly for not pressuring him in anyway, but instead just supporting him. Oh, and no, his dad is not the diaper bandit, that’d have been weird.

Later that night, Schmidt arrives home to who he thinks is Cece asleep on the couch. Of course, instead of it being his wife’s breast that he touches, it’s Jess’ and she is immediately awoken and scarred for life. After Jess calms down, she fills in Schmidt, explaining that she can’t go back to the loft. Schmidt tries to assure her that Nick was only talking about the characters in Pepperwood not getting back together, not her and Nick. Jess asserts that Nick was talking about her when Nick suddenly knocks at the door and conveniently counts down his entrance. This gives Jess just enough time to sneak into the kitchen.

Nick bursts in and plops down on the couch (which he doesn’t like) and explains that he had to come over because his cellphone is at 5% battery. Remember that cold open where they all share one charger? Apparently that’s still a thing because Winston has it hidden under his pillow. But Nick didn’t look for it so he came directly to Schmidt to tell him that an editor wants to publish his book. Nick tried to call Jess to tell her first, but she didn’t answer. Once again, he really wanted to talk to Jess. I’m getting teary-eyed just thinking about it. While Nick recruits Schmidt to go with him to the meeting with Merle, Cece finds Jess hiding in the kitchen. The girls text Schmidt to go to the kitchen, hoping to get a word in, but of course Nick can’t resist and follows, causing them to scurry out undetected. Nick scours the fridge for angel hair pasta and Schmidt is beckoned to the bedroom. Jess tells Schmidt that he needs to go to the meeting and keep Nick occupied while she moves out of the loft, unable to continue living with her ex-boyfriend whom she’s still in love with. This is so sad, even Schmidt and Cece are shook. Before they can continue to question Jess, Nick barges in and Jess hides behind the door. I only include this because Nick’s line is hilarious. He couldn't find the trash bin so he threw the salami from the fridge into the toilet. “You’re going to have a bunch of salami floating around in your toilet bowl.” As Schmidt says, “What?”

After Nick leaves, Schmidt and Cece discuss the bewildering relationship that is Nick and Jess. Schmidt is everyone at home when he details their inevitability. “I’ve been watching these idiots do this dance for the last six years.” Spot on. Schmidt really wants to tell him that she loves him. Once again, the turn tables. Remember when Jess wanted to tell Schmidt that Cece loved him? Cece seemingly convinces Schmidt not to get involved. As we’ll see, she’s just about as successful as when she’d tell Jess not to get involved with Nick and Rai—who?

The next morning, Nick is complaining that he should’ve worn shorts to the meeting with Merle Streep. Nick continues to say that he would’ve looked amazing in shorts, but Schmidt got rid of all the shorts. Schmidt’s grumpiness alerts Nick that he was up late last night talking about him with Cece. Schmidt holds it in for another few moments as he questions Nick why he was so okay with his breakup. Nick immediately gets over it and worries about Jess. Nick, you nutball! Schmidt then asks him why he didn’t want Jess to move into the loft in the first place. Nick tries to say it was because he’s freaked out by sanitary napkins, but it was really because he was afraid. Schmidt literally has to spell out that Nick’s been in love with Jess since the moment she walked through that door and he laid eyes on her. He had never seen Nick look at anyone like that in his entire life except maybe Coach once or twice, himself several times, and Winston, never. Nick’s attempt to argue back is that the first time he saw Jess was actually when he was standing in her empty room, looking down at her trying to get into the building. He goes on to say, with a wistful smile on his face, how hilarious she was. Satisfied, Schmidt’s vow to secrecy lasts another few seconds before he spills the beans that Jess is moving out of the loft. At this exact moment, Merle arrives to call Nick into the meeting, leaving Nick torn on what to do.

Back at the loft, we get another little visual treat when Jess packs away the yellow cat hat that Schmidt put on in season one when they went to get her stuff back from Spencer. Cece walks in, straight from her gynecological appointment to help Jess pack. She points out that Jess barely has anything packed and that Nick will be back in two hours. Note that I have no concept of time throughout this entire episode, as usual. It’s clear that this is hard for Jess and Cece even encourages her to take some time to think it through. Apparently it’s the end of the school year because Jess goes on to say that she’s going to Portland for the summer and when she comes back in the fall, she’ll find a new place. Jess and Cece’s sad “it’s just one summer” charade is also all of us at home as we wait for a renewal announcement.

Jess continues to pack and goes out to grab her things from the living room where Aly and Winston are hanging out. Like everyone else, they are shocked she’s moving out. Oh, and Winston completely breaks down and blurts out that Aly has his dad’s number. His dad’s name is Van, by the way. Jess is equally shocked at this news and asks if he’s going to call him. Winston’s quivering lip and look at Aly is really too much. He says that he just can’t call his dad. Jess offers that he can escape to Portland, you know, because she is escaping to Portland. Despite Portland being the second most cat-friendly Portland after Portland, Maine, it’s hella white and Winston declines.

As Jess returns to pack in her room, Cece’s phone rings. It’s her gynecologist, Sadie. TBT. Jess answers and Sadie excitedly announces that Cece is pregnant, thinking it was Cece who answered. Jess’ jaw drops and so does mine. Sadie is not impressed with Jess answering Cece’s phone and even less impressed with the idea of lying to Cece and having Jess at every appointment. Cece suddenly enters and offers to take boxes down to the car while Jess gives her a goofy smile. When the pair carry one box down together, Sadie calls back and Aly answers it to also find out that Cece is pregnant. Winston is standing with Aly so he also finds out the exciting news and starts to yell.

While Schmidt is using the dog Snapchat filter, Winston interrupts him with a call to congratulate him on becoming a papa. Jess rushes in to try to stop Winston, but it’s too late. He reveals that Sadie told Aly that Cece is pregnant, officially breaking the news to Schmidt. Schmidt asks Jess if it’s true and I’m crying all over again as she confirms and tears spring to his eyes. Cece then walks back in, happy to have found a parking spot. Now it’s Winston and Aly’s turn to smile at her weirdly. Before she can figure out why, Jess sends her home.

We finally return to Nick’s storyline. He apparently went through with the meeting because he’s now listening to Merle’s suggestion to kill of Jessica Night in the next book. Nick realizes that he’s not afraid, remembering Schmidt’s advice, and we can almost see the cogs moving in his head as he thinks of Jess. Before he runs out, he refuses to kill off Jessica Night, citing that she is the reason Pepperwood gets up every day. When he runs out to the lobby to grab Schmidt, the receptionist informs him that Schmidt had to go but he left the name and number of his favorite Uber driver, Beezus “The Man” Tequito. And we finally know what the episode title means. Beezus is off the rails with his party lights and acapella performance of “Hot Cross Buns.”

Back in the loft, Jess stands in her empty room. Wow, they moved fast. Again, I’m so confused on the time. As we’ll see shortly, it’s already night time in the next scene. Anyways, Winston walks in to tell Jess he hasn’t seen this room empty since Steve left, the roommate before Jess. Coincidently, he was also in love with Nick and too cowardly to tell him. When Winston questions if Jess is really not going to tell Nick how she feels, she says shakes her head no and admits she’s a coward. Before the trio can get on the road, Winston gives one last-ditch effort in convincing her to not be afraid (wow, that sounds familiar). He calls his dad and leaves an emotional message. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work, Jess still can’t.

Near the end of the episode, Cece finally makes it back to Jaipur Aviv where Schmidt is waiting. The room is full of flowers, he just couldn’t decide, and he stands in the middle of the room with tears in his eyes. “I’m pregnant. I mean, you’re pregnant. We’re pregnant.” He manages to get out, a huge grin on his face. Schmidt recaps how he knows and tells her they’re having a baby. It’s a caramel miracle. Aw, I’m tearing up just thinking about it.

Moving on, Nick rushes back to the loft as Jess rides away in the moving truck. Winston settles on the oldies station and “Time of Your Life” begins playing. This is such a great callback to the first episode when Nick sings to Jess in the restaurant with Schmidt and Coach. Jess is reminded of when she first fell for Nick and jumps out of the truck to rush back to the loft. Meanwhile, Nick makes it up to Jess’ room to find it empty. Like the first time he saw Jess, he looks out her window to see her trying to get into the building. He watches as she shouts for help and shouts down to her. He rushes down to meet her when Jess gets let in and rushes up. “Green Light” really ups the ante as Nick rides down the elevator and Jess runs up the stairs. Nick runs out to an empty street and now Jess is the one in her empty room. They both yell to the other to stay right there and run to the elevator again. When the elevator dings open, we see Jess turn to look at it and Nick as the door opens. A delivery man exits the elevator as Nick yells, “Oh, come on, please go faster. I got to tell my best friend I’m in love with her!” As the man leaves, we see Jess waiting in the elevator with a smile on her face for Nick. “Hey, Miller,” she greets. “Hey,” Nick stops the elevator from closing and enters. They smile at each other and then the door closes, soon opening again to reveal the pair kissing passionately as the music grows louder. Jess’ foot even pops! It’s perfect. Holy cow, that’s the end. (#reNewGirl)

Originally Aired 4/4/2017

#New Girl #Season 6 Episode 22 #Five Stars for Beezus #Recap #Breakdown #Spoilers #Zooey Deschanel #Jake Johnson #Hannah Simone #Max Greenfield #Lamorne Morris #Nasim Pedrad #Episodes #simplyadorkable

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