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mystique-shanty · 3 days ago

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Fortunately enough, the Bible surprisingly opens on “Matthew” and your eyes just so happen to land randomly on the verse 18: 20…

In a panic, you don't exactly read what it says, much less process it, you just hope it is enough to remind your friend of his beliefs, convince him maybe. A dirty tactic, really, to use his religion against himself… Not your proudest moment.

“Then- Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” you raise your voice and even go as far as to raise one of your hands. Was it not for your trench coat, you might have passed as a pastor “As many as seven times?”

You're aware the ‘brother’ this Peter mentions is not a brother by blood and yet your mind drifts to your own… Your twin who may be in trouble. For once you want to be there to help him… it's the least you can do after he helped Bill steer off the [Journal 1].

Fiddleford has that look of shock that you always had to fight not to laugh at, it's silly and definitely not fitting for the situation but it twists into an ugly scowl soon enough.

You're vaguely aware he's reaching for something but your eyes skim over the words on the page and your passionate hand, that had lifted as if you truly cared about the Word, slowly began to drop as you said the words softly to yourself:

“Jesus said to him… “I do not say to you seven times… but seventy-seven times”

The smell of toffee peanuts assaults your nostrils and you scratch your nose despite knowing it's all in your head. You recall the sidewalk you saw through your window and wonder if Stanley had seen the window from the sidewalk…

It's a silly thing to wonder about. Of course he had.

Stanford had forgiven Stanley plenty, really. Stanley had a knack for messing up after all, always getting into trouble in class, with father and even mother.

…

How many times had Stanley forgiven Stanford?

How many times has Stanley gotten into trouble because you were always seen as the well-behaved one? And how many times had Stanley been wrongfully accused of some science project of yours gone wrong or haywire?

How many times has Stanley been ditched for said science projects? How many times had Stan waited for you to turn up at the beach to work on the Stan'O'War, that silly ship you two loved so much, but were too deep in a book to remember to?

And how many times had Stan come and made a problem about it? Had made a fuss?

You… don't recall. There's nothing to recall… Stanley simply never really took it to heart-

No… He simply never confronted you about it.

Suddenly, you're reminded of a young Stan, sitting alone on the beach hugging his knees like he wasn't nearing 16. He refused to sit on his swing, opting for the ground for whatever reason…

You were late. Extremely so.

You two had agreed to meet at the end of school, just after you were done with homework. It was long past sunset.

How many times have you forgiven Stanley?

When you look up, when the smell of the sea water and toffee peanuts leave your mind, you're faced with the memory gun pointed straight at you… What you see, however, is the moisture in your friend's eyes as he shakes in place.

“You dare use my faith against me?!” Fiddleford roars, the gun in his hold making a clattering noise with the tremor in his hands.

“You don't have to forgive me, Fiddleford” you find yourself saying, surprised by how soft your voice sounds to yourself and by the small smile that you feel on your face “I'm pretty sure you've forgiven me far more than seventy seven”

Defeat. Warmth. Grief.

A series of emotions cross your friend's gaze and the judge gently sets the gavel down. There is no slam of a weapon, no destruction or cheer to never go back to it… The memory gun is simply placed back inside his robe.

“Admitting you were wrong and being okay with not having your way” the man before you massages their scarred temple as he steps down from the altar, a weary smile appearing upon his lips “you've changed, Stanford Pines”

“Although” Fiddleford steps closer to you tentatively, it reminds you of a wild animal, checking if you are safe to approach as though he isn't the one with the fangs and claws

“Sure is hard to imagine you came here without anything prompting you to”

#8 #💣︎♋︎⧫︎⧫︎♒︎♏︎⬥︎#📝⌨️#📃 - 🗄

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snowy-vee · 5 months ago

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KOL: December 1st (1)

n/a: I come out of the basement with a new WIP, I know I promised an update on ALL MINE but I am still working on it, in the meantime, I hope yall can enjoy this fic! I wanted to make it CaitVi but I miss my girl Ellie, it's not going to be 'x reader', more like OC (trying new things) THAT'S ALL, LOVE YOU. Any mistake will be corrected later on, but feel free to point anything!

—————————— Insert cool divider.

The smell of fresh coffee hit her, mixed with the alcohol of last night, making her reach for her forehead as soon as the headache came. She groaned walking towards the back of the counter ignoring the ‘finally, you show up’ of Dina and putting her apron on.

“Remember that tonight Dina and I have our anniversary dinner and you’ll have to open up tomorrow, also, the new hire has experience working in coffee shops, still you’ll have to instruct her.” Jesse said while preparing some cappuccinos. “I told her to arrive at the same time as you, so please don’t be late”

Ellie nodded, opening the cash register and slipping a five-dollar bill into the back pocket of her denim jeans. Behind her, Dina let out one of her usual loud sighs, muttering under her breath, “Unbelievable. There she goes again.”

“Got something to say?”

“Yeah, clean up the tables, rush hour is coming soon” Dina threw a cleaning cloth at her. “You may be the owner but you still have to work for those fives you be taking out ¡I want to see my face, make’em shine!”

Just like she said, in less than fifteen minutes, the coffee shop was full with uni students and office workers that were going to spend eternal hours (until closing time) finish work and drinking coffee, eating the little pastries, gossiping and making some calls. Ellie liked that time, it kept her busy and running, so her mind had zero time to think about the bad times, even less once Dina clocked out.

Sure, she had to make most of the coffees while Jesse interacted with the clients and keep filling up the ‘freshly baked’ pastries but that was better than pretending to be friendly and having to smile. If she was the one receiving the costumers, they would leave the worst reviews online, her smile? Crooked, never met the eyes, her tone? Rude, she wasn’t in the mood, service? Thank the genetics that she was hot enough to make anyone ignore all of the above, pretty privilege.

She yawned, checking that they had enough of everything in the storage room for the next day. Check here, check there, enough milk, enough coffee… yeah, everything seemed to be enough, even the sound of the coins falling back in the cash register as Jesse counted them wasn’t enough to fill the silence that surrounded her now.

Ellie coughed, trying to get herself back into her task and not wander through those bad memories, of that cold night, the last night she had with him and she wasted it by fighting… no, no… her breathing starting to be irregular and her heart seemed to be beating faster than usual, She told herself it was nothing she couldn’t handle until the light bulb flickered, fro that moment it was fight or flight. ‘‘Fuck no, I’m leaving-’’ she shook her head and tried to open the door but it seemed locked, it wasn’t locked before, this door doesn’t even lock, why couldn’t she get out?

‘‘Oh, god, Jesse! Jesse, open the door, please! I’m stuck, Jesse!’’ Ellie started hitting the door repeatedly, if that bulb stopped fully and she was left in the dark, she was so sure that she would die, her heart would jump out of her body or maybe she would turn purple. Like flashes, images of that one moment came to her head, the sounds were vague but they felt so close, almost as if she was transported to relive that day once again and the coldness of that room wasn’t playing in her favor, much less the humidity that started forming in the room since the winter started.

The dizziness she wasn’t unfamiliar with, finally catch her up, her legs became weak and threw her balance off, making her fall on her ass, she searched for stability leaning on the closest wall, putting pressure on her pounding chest. She knew that she was exaggerating, that she wasn’t going to throw up her whole stomach, but why did it felt like that? why did it felt like her lungs were closed? as if something sucked them dry and now she wasn’t able to breath normally?

“Wow, wow! Ellie? Hey!” Jesse quickly grabbed Ellie, shaking her up a little so she could snap out of it, she ,instinctively, pushed him away. “Ellie, you are okay, I am here with you now, the door is open too, let’s breath… Inhale… Exhale”

“I-It’s difficult, I can’t breath” she gasped in the middle of her hyperventilation, Jesse put a hand on her shoulder and slightly pressed it, repeating the same words. “I can’t breath, it hurts- I can’t-”

“Ellie, I’m right here. Focus on my voice. Inhale… now hold it for a second… exhale. That’s it, one breath at a time” He kept talking her out of her trance. Jesse thanked god that Ellie had her eyes closed, otherwise, the worried look he had on his face would’ve triggered her more, she needed help. Delete Created with Sketch.

“We’re home!” Jesse said loudly opening the door of his highly lighted house.

“Fucking finally, go get dressed. We’ll miss our reservation.” Dina walked ahead, adjusting her earring as she went upstairs with her husband following behind “Ellie, I left everything written on a note on the fridge, JJ already had dinner he’s watching some cartoons while Amaris leaves, two more hours and he goes to sleep, no more than that”

Dina kept talking but her words became muffled as the distance grew and the sound of her footsteps replaced them as she turned the corner, Ellie rolled her eyes, as if it was the first time they left JJ on her watch, the kid loved her, one hot glass of milk for him and a cold beer for her and they could fall asleep instantly “Who the fuck is Amaris?”

“That would be me” She turned around to find the soft voice behind her, there was a girl putting a big brown coat on and wrapping a cranberry red scarf around her neck. “And you are Ellie”

“How do you know?

“Dina said your name” she smiled grabbing her bag “Dina, I’m leaving!”

The sounds of heels clacking towards them made them looked up at the top of the stairs, there she was wearing an amazing red dress paired with dazzling heels of the same color, her dark wavy, voluminous hair, and her simple yet glowing makeup. It had been a long time since they had an opportunity of having alone time, so Dina wanted to look her best.

“Thank you so much love! I don’t know what I would have done without you, text me when you get home!”

“I will! You look gorgeous, have fun!” Dina disappeared the same way she came, leaving Amaris and Ellie at the entrance once again “And I’ll see you tomorrow, bye, Ellie!”

“See me tomorrow?” Ellie asked but the girl had left without hearing it, leaving her confused. The girl was new in town—Ellie was sure of it. And if she wasn’t, there was no way Ellie would have forgotten a face like that.

She had to ask Dina and Jesse, she was curious now, so she went upstairs towards their room, they had the door half open so it was easy to hear their conversation, she was about to knock when she heard her name in the middle of it.

“I’m telling you, Dina, I found her curled into a ball and trembling, full of tears, she needs professional help”

“We are helping her, she’s not ready to open up to strangers yet”

“And when is she going to be? Look at her, she needs to get wasted to sleep, she barely eats…”

That wasn’t true—she usually ate the breadsticks they sell all the time, just… not much lately. But it was nothing for them to worry about. Ellie stepped back from the door, she didn’t want to be a burden for them, that’s why she was being distant to the couple and for what? Her action made them concerned about her and she couldn’t have that.

What happened today at the storage room might have not been the first but it was a first for Jesse. She has had panic attacks in front of Dina, who swore not to tell him, so Ellie wasn’t surprised that she was trying to dodge having that conversation, maybe she felt bad for not telling Jesse.

That thought made Ellie feel worse, even her chest felt heavy, she was the one that begged her to not tell anyone, she knew how bad her friend must’ve be feeling at he moment, having to lie to her husband for the sake of their friendship.

“When she feels like it! All we can do is show her that we are here for her, that we love her and that she can count on us”

Jesse sighed “I know but-”

“But nothing, please, let’s enjoy this night, hm? I’m wearing an amazing set and I can’t wait to show it to you’’

“Oh yeah?” That was her cue. Slowly without making noise she went downstairs to the kitchen and she grabbed a beer from the fridge, her hand twitching before she picked it up. The conversation she’d just overheard still echoed in her head, but now, the noise in the back of her mind needed to be silenced.

She sighed heavy plumbing down on the sofa next to JJ “What are you watching, big boy?”

“Amaris put a Ghibli movie for me to watch, Ponyo” The seven-year-old pointed at the TV, his eyes weren’t even meeting her, he was immerse in the colorful and exciting cartoon in front of him.

“Amaris… Did you like her?”

“She’s super funny! And she prepared pasta with carbonara, it was delicious!”

“Is she funnier than Aunt Ellie?” JJ put a hand to his chin and hummed as if he was debating between them two “You’re joking, come here, I’m gonna tickle you until you choose me!”

“No!” JJ tried to run away but it was late, the moment Ellie put her beer down, she was grabbing her nephew and tickling his belly while he kicked and giggled. This moments warmed her heart, she used to babysit him every Saturday night with- well, she used to, but after what went down, she stopped. Today was the first night since then and, God, did she missed this.

The giggles of them both joined two more voices, Dina and Jesse were watching the whole scene with heartfelt smiles, for a moment they saw Ellie glow like she used to. Dina approached them giving a kiss on her son’s cheek and giving a twenty dollar bill to her.

“I pay you in advance, do not finish all the beers, I counted them” Ellie chuckled and nod “And you, not because Auntie Ellie is here, you can stay up all night, okay young man? I will know it and I will take your TV rights”

“Better listen to you mother, and no overeating, you’ll get sick” Jesse added messing with his hair but he was looking at Ellie.

“I know, no candy for the kid, you two can go and have a great time”

Dina narrowed her eyes and smiled to the side before sighing and nodding. “Anything, don’t hesitate to call.”

Two hours later after they left, JJ was passed out on the couch, drooling a little bit on the cushion, Ellie laughed at the image, so cute! Gently, she picked him up and carried him to his room, put him in the bed and tucked him in before hitting the night light and leaving. Time to finish all the beers and smoke a joint in the backyard. Delete Created with Sketch.

When the morning alarm rang, she woke up startled in her apartment, kicking some beer bottles she had around, but not hard enough to shatter them. She had a short time to shower, but she still did and got dress real quick and basic (Blue jeans, white t-shirt and her green flannel), grabbed her keys and got out of her apartment.

“Fuck, I shouldn’t have drank so much” Ellie said locking the door. She knew that the moment that Dina saw her, she would reproach as to why she finished all the beers when Dina ask not to, but Ellie couldn’t stop herself and once she got home-Jesse had to dropped her- she kept going at it until she passed out on the couch.

“I know the feeling” Chills. Through. Her. Whole. Spine. Behind her was JJ’s one-night babysitter, Amaris, closing the door of the apartment in front of her “Would you look at that? We are neighbors”

She had a big smile and she look radiant, she was wearing the same scarf as last night and Ellie swore for a second there was a halo making the girl shine. She nodded her direction barely meeting her eye and raised her hand to signal ‘bye’ and took off towards the coffee shop.

How embarrassed she felt, oh god, she must look like crap and it wasn’t something that she usually cared because she was so used to the people in town that she barely cared about their opinions on her, if she wanted to hook up with any girl from her- Not that she wanted to hook up with the new girl- she knew they wouldn’t care, she’s been like this since… Whatever, why was she thinking about how she looked? She needed to focus on opening the shop and training the new hire—not obsessing over cranberry girl.

Also, what a coincidence that the new neighbor after Ms. Johnson was Amaris, she knew that someone new had moved in a few days ago but she never payed attention nor cared, Ellie felt as if she unlocked a new character in a video game, you see them once, you see them forever. They’ve only interacted twice but Ellie could tell that she had a charming personality and she made everything very casual.

The streets were getting colder, Ellie’s flannel wasn’t enough to keep her warm anymore, winter was close and with that the busiest holiday for the coffee shop. When the little snow, the charming lights and the jolly songs surrounded the town, it was enough signal for everybody that wanted to spend time outside of their houses but not freeze the whole day to go and order the hottest drink in the menu and enjoy the heating the shop provided them, and Ellie hated that… What doesn’t this girl hate? Oh! And not to mention how Dina made her wear a headband with a little Santa’s hat. Another year of torture, she thought unlocking the back door and hitting all the lights on.

She yawned again looking at the hour in the big clock as she got in the front and started turning on every machine, the new hire should be nearby, I will wait for them before starting to do anything, meanwhile I’ll arrange the cash register. Ellie started doing the task, counting that it were close to 200 dollars like everyday when the bell of the front door jingled.

“We are not open yet, you can comeback in 30” It wouldn’t be the first time customers dismissed the closed sign and came in before the opening time, so automatically, without taking her eyes off the money, Ellie gave her usual line listening to the steps getting closer to the counter.

“I’m the new hire, actually” That voice. Ellie couldn’t seem to escape it since she heard it last night, was she everywhere? Amaris smiled taking off her coat and her scarf, as she did that, she contaminated the whole air with her essence, a combination of cherries and amber, smacking Ellie off guard. “Oh, yeah, here… for your headache, I can’t have my boss being grumpy on my first day”

Amaris handed a plastic bag to her with some pills in. “What?”

“Sorry, was it too much? too friendly too soon? God, I’ve been told that I should slow down and not be all up in people’s business specially if we are not close but this morning you seemed hangover and you said-”

“Uh, yeah, no, you’re good” Ellie frowned looking at the girl that now seemed flustered and nervous, even embarrassed which was a new look for Ellie since Amaris seemed pretty confident the little times she have seen her (two fucking times), coughing a little bit to maintain her focus, Ellie locked the register “Let me show you where you can leave your things and then the basics, Jesse told me you already have experience?”

“Yes, I do, I used to work in one at the mall in my town, always filled, so I work really well under pressure”

“Huh” Ellie nodded pointing at a locker when they got there “You will have to buy a lock yourself, tho, but this is yours now”

“Dina told me, I came prepared” Amaris winked at her showing a lock and key, she folded her coat and stashed it inside with her scarf and her tote bag.

That winked surprised Ellie “Is this what you meant by seeing me tomorrow? You already knew who I was?”

“Yes, I had the interview in your office, there are picture there, but sorry if it was too much, again, I’ve been told I could be too much… but that doesn’t affect my efficiency when working! I am very moderate” Amaris rushed to say.

From her point of view, Ellie didn’t seem someone playful at all, not someone you could crack jokes with easily unless you were in her inner inner inner circle and she was trying so hard to restrain herself to not start blabbing and fuck up her first day in the job and having the boss instructing her the whole morning. Amaris wanted to present herself as she normally is but just with those little interactions with Ellie, she felt as if being her usual flirt self would get her into trouble, she had to tone it down. Another thing she noticed was how different Ellie looked from the pictures, a little bit more gloomy, as if someone had sucked the color off of her, the light pf her eyes and any happy emotions since she looked pissed off with the world almost every minute.

Amaris hit her forehead mentally questioning herself if she was there to think of Ellie or to work “Okay… Let’s get into it and hope you weren’t lying”

Ellie turned around just in time to not see how Amaris mouth opened showing how offended that comment was. Great, so she is the jerk boss type, nothing you can’t handle, Amaris, remember why you need the work- money, money money ,with a deep breath and two taps on her shoulder to cheer herself, she followed the boss.

#ellie williams #ellie tlou #ellie fanfic #ellie the last of us #ellie x reader #the last of us part 2 #tlou2 #ellie x fem reader #the last of us #the last of us 2 #snowy vee #snowy read🖇📓✒️🗄#oc #slow burn #december

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