#But like I wanna know how Aarons grandfather was | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

whump-town · 3 years

Text

My Baby's Got A Gun

Major Character Death, Blood, Guns, Abuse

Haley/Hotch by a matter of technicality

Haley sneaks out in the middle of a snow storm to see Aaron.

Word Count: just shy of 3k

Inspired by Mother Mother's Hayloft 2 because it's a banger (haha get it?)

My Baby’s Got A Gun

An eye for an eye, a leg for a leg A shot in the heart doesn't make it unbreak She really didn't wanna make it messy She really, really didn't, but the girl gone cray

The grandfather clock in the parlor strikes midnight, three chimes ringing through the house and authorizing Haley the all-clear. She’s already dressed to withstand the storm outside, the hard part is sneaking out. Jessica is supposed to be the bad Brooke’s daughter – always a new streak of color in her hair and a boyfriend on her arm but Haley is making a quick, easy name for herself lately.

The snow crunching under her shoes, she stops just a moment only three steps off the porch to glance over her shoulder. All the lights in the house are off, she didn’t even dare with the porch light, but her heart still pounds with the anticipation of her misdeed. With the idea of breaking rules and being caught.

But no one knows she’s sneaking out and by morning, when her father comes outside to curse and spit at the snow while he brushes it off the car, her tracks will be covered by more inches of snow. She won’t be caught, no one will suspect a thing.

She’s breathless, the cold stinging her face and her legs tired from the exaggerated way she has to walk through the foot of snow separating her from the ground. By the time she gets to the shed, she’s certain her breathing will give her away. Huffing and puffing out here in such a state that if anyone bothered coming out they’d suspect a bear is walking up and down the street. She raps her knuckles against the doorframe, the old wood shaking and rattling loudly, “Aaron?” The sound of her voice makes her jump, her body flinch at how far her voice manages to carry in the empty air of the night. So loud in the dead of night.

The door swings open, Aaron’s eyes wide and his hair in a state of disturbance. “Are you alright?” It’s always the first thing he asks, one of his hands coming to her side so he can look her over. For bruises or welts. Injuries, she’s only ever acquired from playing too rough. And though his scans always come up empty, he does them anyway.

The shed smells like dirt, freshly kicked up like the playground on a hot summer day. There’s a smudge of it on Aaron’s cheek, the outline she can make out the closer they get to his candle.

“You don’t have a jacket,” she realizes when he takes her hand. Leading her back through the lawn mowers and miscellaneous tools, she has a moment to step closer and see him better. He’s only wearing a sweatshirt, a beanie pulled down over his ears. “Aaron, why didn’t say something? I could have brought you a blanket at least.”

There’s not always a chance to grab things he needs when his father gets like this. Convicting Aaron of things he didn’t do without trial or jury, just one final judge with a bias for the same sentence. His mother could hardly spare him the warning to get out of the house without endangering herself, flipping the scales, and making her his drunken target. The shed isn’t safe either, his father, if his temper is flared enough, will come out here looking for him. And the snow only gives him away. Footprints leading all around the building. The only place Aaron could be when the weather is like this without freezing to death.

“Here,” Aaron ushers her to the corner, the warmest spot where he can trap her in his body heat so she won’t get cold. He offers her half of his thin blanket and forces himself to hold still, to remain stoic.

All of her uncovered skin aches from her small walk, she’s not as stupid as he wishes her to be. As blind as every adult around them. Haley unzips her jacket, ignoring his soft protest. She takes his hand in her own, her hands protected by new gloves. She makes a note to remember to grab her old ones so he can have them. “Here,” she wraps him in a hug he’s resistant to at first. Stiffly sitting there.

“Haley,” he tries to pull away but she’s got leverage and it helps that she’s not been sitting in the freezing cold for hours. He starts to shiver then, giving little by little until he rests his head under her chin. “You can’t stay long,” he says, chin chattering against his will. Biting up his words. He tilts his head up, looks her in the eyes so she knows he means it. “It’s too cold out here.”

Knowing better than to argue with him she nods, simpling smiling at him as she lays her gloved hand over his uncovered face. “I’ll leave you my gloves and scarf,” she bargains, knowing he won’t take her coat. “Get some sleep, I promise I won’t let you sleep long.”

His eyes are already closed, his body relaxed in her arms, but he hums. He hears her, he’s just exhausted.

Haley waits until she’s certain he’s asleep before blowing out his candle. He keeps a stash of them back here, tucked underneath them. A series of old dog beds stacked atop a mound of dirt that once had a sack containing it all but it’s worn away over the years. He calls it a bed and it makes her sick to her stomach to think about him sleeping out here. He says it’s worse in the winter because it’s too cold to sleep, which is why he hadn’t wanted her out here. Why he tried and obviously failed to keep her home. He’s alright out here, he knows how to live through a freezing night. She doesn’t.

He shivers in his sleep, no matter how close she tries to keep him. His hips hurt her, his bones protruding and digging into the flesh of her thigh. She can’t understand how adults freely say the things they do about him. How her own father had warned her away from Aaron, that boy ain’t good for nothing Haley. ‘Cept starting shit, you hear me? Stay away from him. If he don’t get himself killed, he’ll end up dragging you down with him. I don’t want you around him.

But… Haley just sees a boy. He’s like her, tabbing his favorite books and unable to wrap his head around math. She has his torn-up copy of Oliver Twist in her nightstand and he has her copy of The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, both expecting to return their copies with thoughtful annotations of their own. Ready to dissect parts they liked and didn’t in a huge argument they’ll have in several segments.

Haley has no idea what everyone sees. Can’t imagine it.

There’s a loud, sudden rustling outside. She flinches, jumps when she hears voices. She’s not sure what to do, if she has to wake Aaron or if they can just lay here. Silent. Hidden. Then, through the howl of the wind, a long, loud shout breaks through. Aaron! The voice shouts, get out here, you little fucker! Bring your sorry ass out here! It wakes Aaron. Their hearts thundering against one another, chest-to-chest. “Aaron?” she whispers, realizing exactly where the sound is coming from. Who it is.

He sits up, sleep forgotten, throwing the blanket aside and pulling her up. “Run, you have to run.” He gets down in the dirt, throwing things around until his fingers wrap around the cold metal of his Zippo and his candle. “Come on,” he whispers. There’s a section of rotted wall on the far left side Aaron’s already kicked out. With a slight groan from the old wood around the rustling of burlap, Aaron moves things out of the way until the light outside pours in through the hole. “Go,” he instructs.

Haley shakes her head, “what? No–”

He grabs her shoulders roughly, it startles her. Scares her. His eyes are wild, reflecting that dangerous boy she shouldn’t be messing with. “Get out.” He pushes her and she goes, too afraid to speak now. “I’ll be right behind you.”

White. She can only see a few feet in front of her, everything further is eaten by a cloud of white. Except for two shadows. They’re still on the porch, arguing. There’s a gun in his father’s hands, a shotgun tucked under his arm.

“Haley,” Aaron grabs her by the back of her coat. “Get up! Go!” He pushes her in front of him. “You have to get out of here.”

Snow catches in the sleeves of her coat, burns her hands as she struggles to get to her feet. She’s crawling, weak with adrenaline, and too afraid for coordination. Aaron grabs her by the back of her pants, hauls her up to her feet.

“Hey!”

Haley turns to the shout and watches as Aaron’s father starts moving to the edge of the porch. Sees them. The gun raises but she stumbles and Aaron pushes her again, keeping her on her feet as she stumbles.

“Haley!” Aaron pushes her harder, “fucking run!”

She does. Aaron’s hand stays on her back, keeping her in front of him.

The first shotgun blast misses, blows snow and dirt up into their faces where the pellets scatter around their feet. Haley looks over her shoulder, an unnecessary double-check, when the shell of the round dispenses on the ground with a loud crack as the handguard on the forestock is pumped. She runs faster, harder. She looks back as he pulls the trigger. Aaron’s arms fly out in front of him, chest thrown forward and his arms making no move to catch him as he flies with the force of it. His eyes wide, looking straight at her.

Haley! The momentum of the blasts carries him forward, his feet sliding two more steps before he falls to the ground.

The forestock pumps again. She screams. She can’t keep her feet underneath of her, the next shot blows her down to the ground. All she hears are the breaths she rapidly takes, the pounding of her heart in her ears. Her fingers tangle across the front of her shirt, she’s afraid of pulling away and spotting the crimson wetting her fingerprint.

Her hand slips through the wet fabric, she holds her breath as she looks down at her fingers. Nothing. She wipes her stomach, again, sitting up as her hands flatten her unbuttoned white blouse to her chest and there is nothing. The shirt is wet, freezing to the touch, but bloodless.

Spotless.

The voices, the yelling are carried away in the wind. Swept up as morsels of dust.

The moon is bright and the freshly fallen snow makes the world a vibrant white. It’s not just the sky, it’s all she can see in every direction. Even the silhouette of Aaron’s father, out of her reach, nearly out of her sight. The snow is thick and no matter how harshly the wind blows, how the chill makes her nose and ears hurt, the snow falls so easily. The wind howls. It whips and rushes. The snow is methodical, it’s easy.

So easy.

The wind carries Aaron’s mother’s screams, throws the harrowing sound in every direction. Haley doesn’t feel anything. Her body is shaking, trembling so hard she can hardly make sense of her own movements. Her joints loosened, her mind urging her forward, but her body unable to meet the commands. She plants two hands in the snow, pushes her shoulder back, and forces herself to stand.

She’s never seen Aaron’s mother before. Caught her ghosting through a window, a dark-haired thin woman. Not nearly as old as she would have thought. She can’t be any older than thirty, a child when she had a baby. Aaron’s father is in her face, holding her bloody hands by the wrist as she cries. Distracted.

The gun is laying right there. The metal is cold. Iron. Heavy iron in her arms. It’s foreign, the weight of the gun in her hands, but she holds it up. She points it at Aaron’s father. Her finger wrapped around the trigger.

“Little girl,” he, turns to her, smiles condescendingly as he looks her up and down. He chuckles, shakes his head. “You’d best put that down.”

Pump action. That’s what it’s called, she thinks. Pump action shotgun. It’s not the sensation she was anticipating, the rough grate of the metal requires a force she doesn’t have. Her father has a shotgun but he never taught her how to use it. He would look at it and shake his head, the magic of a shotgun is that it does your job for you. The sound alone scares intruders away. It is just a gun. Press the gunstock to her shoulder. Not over. Not under. Against. Breathe.

“Listen to me you little bitch –” he steps forward.

She’s never been hit before but she knows what comes next. The evidence spread across Aaron’s ribs, bruised into the pale skin under his eyes. He’ll kill me, Aaron always whispers, eyes cast away from her. One day… he’ll kill me. She doesn’t let him get close enough. The shot blows her back onto her ass, her head snapping back against the ground as the air is knocked from her lungs.

Her shoulder hurts, it feels broken, too sore to move but she sits up. Holds her limp arm to her chest and gets up. Stand up, it hurts. Everything hurt. Get up. This is her fault. He said she shouldn’t have come. He told her not to. He pushed her forward. He protected her.

She crawls, tears freezing on her face, to Aaron. His mother is already beside him, singing something slow and haunting in a hushed voice. She’s pulled him into her lap, cradles his head to her chest, holds the side of his face with her palm. The snow is red where he’d lay. A crater of gore carved into the surface, shadows of blood thrown in every direction. Flecks and arches where pellets made their entrances as they tore through his body. “Oh my baby,” his mother folds herself over him, kisses his forehead. “My poor baby.” My sweet baby. She goes on. Rocks them back and forth, Aaron’s wet gasping carrying through the settling of the snow around them. It lands in his hair. Over his body. All around them.

Haley watches the white flakes land on his shirt, the blood soaking them. Changing their color and melting them, halting their existence in a blink of an eye.

“Is he…?” Haley picks his hand up out of the snow. It’s cold, freezing, so she cups it between her own. Blows across his stiff fingers.

Aaron jerks, a mouthful of blood gushing over his lips. He panics, his arm pulling away from Haley as he tries to sit up. Fights to breathe through the damage done to his chest, the wide wounds left by the bullet. His mother holds him tighter, prevents him from jerking and moving around. He’s crying. His tears falling down his face, mixing with the blood sliding down the corners of his mouth. He holds her thin wrist in his hand, eyes wide and afraid.

“Shh,” his mother shakes her head, wipes the tears with the corner of her shirt. “Hold on, sweet boy. You’re okay.”

His eyes are open and his hand clawing at his mother’s sleeve but there’s too much blood. His shirt is slick with it, more slipping down his neck and under his shirt. The blood gurgles, blocking his airway, and gushing out with every failed attempt he makes to breathe. His eyes flick to Haley, his fingers sliding off his mother’s shirt to land on his chest. More blood smeared across his skin.

“Aaron?”

His mother’s sobs louder, pulling his stiff body to hers. Holding their faces together despite the blood, her hand pale and thin in the nest of his hair.

Her sobs carry through the silent night.

Snow wetly landing.

Two blocks away, the grandfather clock in Haley’s living room strikes the hour.

#major character death #criminal minds #aaron hotchner #haley hotchner

30 notes · View notes

babymetaldoll · 4 years

Text

The BAU First online Secret Santa (aka: Rossi vs Zoom) (Spencer Reid/ Reader)

Summary: Rossi might have said too much when he wasn't muted in the BAU online Secret Santa Celebration. And Reid is too embarrassed to face (Y/N) afterward.

Requested: Yes. My boyfriend asked me to write this, and asked for some specific gifts for some team members. (Based on season 7 of Criminal Minds in COVID quarantine).

Pairing: Spencer Reid/ Reader- feat the whole team

Warnings: None

Word count: 3K

Masterlist

- “Hello?”- Penelope waved at Rossi, but he didn’t reply. She sighed and stared at the camera on her computer, and nearly started jumping and waving.

- “Rossi!! Hey!”

- “Penelope??”- Rossi screamed, looking at the screen, unable to find the tab with the Zoom video conference on his navigator. He could hear her but couldn’t see her.

- “Where are you??”

- “Rossi!! I can’t hear you! you are muted!”- Penelope was already frustrated, and it had been only two minutes.

Rossi had been struggling using Zoom the whole quarantine. Every online meeting for the last couple of months had been filled with “Rossi, you are muted,” “Rossi, we can see you picking your nose,” “Rossi, you aren’t mute, we can hear you fart.” It had been as frustrating as funny for the team.

- “Hey!”- Prentiss waved at the camera- “Where’s everybody?”

- “We’ve got Rossi trying to find us and unmute his mic”- Emily chuckled and nodded- “And Hotch just logged in… hey!”

- “Hello everybody”- Aaron Hotchner waved, and his son Jack appeared in the back of the room, waving too.

- “Did you clean your room?”- he asked his son

- “Yes…”- it was clear Jack was lying

- “So if I go upstairs right now, your room is going to be clean, your bed made, and your toys in their place?- Jack stayed still and just smiled. Slowly, he turned around and ran back to his room.

- “Hey, how did you change your background?”- Emily asked Garcia, who started explaining how to do it.

- “Henry! what is it?”- JJ logged into the conversation, but her attention was really on her son, who kept crying somewhere near her.

- “Hello? Hey? can you hear me?”

- “Hey Spence!!”- Prentiss and Garcia said at the same time and chuckled.

- “Hello! How’s everybody!”- he smiled and stared at his screen.

For someone who hated technology, he was pretty comfortable meeting the team online. Maybe because his germaphobic self was glad they didn’t have to go to the BAU if there was a pandemic going on.

Germs were worse than technology, which was good to know when it came to his phobias.

- “Baby girl, what are you doing?”- Derek’s voice interrupted Garcia’s class of “How to change backgrounds one on one.” Emily enjoyed her time switching pictures on his background, laughing, while JJ tried to convince Henry to eat his banana. Hotch was reading a case file, not paying attention to anything going on around him. Rossi was lost and muted still, trying to find the right tab in his browser, and Spencer was reading a book, sipping a cup of coffee.

- “Hey!!”- (Y/N) waved at the screen and stared at the scene. Everyone in the BAU was on their little bubble.

- “Hello, hey! How are you?”- Spencer closed the book and waved. (Y/N) blushed and waved back. She just stared at him, and all the memories of their last video call came to mind.

They had literally spent the night together. They started a video call around seven, then cooked dinner. Spencer actually cooked ‘cos (Y/N) gave him an easy cooking lesson online. Both of them ate spaghetti with homemade bolognese sauce.

They started talking and talking, drinking tea, and coffee, and cocoa, and more tea. They snuggled on their couches and kept on talking, laughing. Somehow they started reading each other their favorite parts of their favorite books. And somehow, they ended up in their beds, drinking one last cup of tea. They were hugging a pillow, wishing they could actually hug each other, but never saying those words. And so they kept talking until they fell asleep.

(Y/N) had fallen asleep first. Spencer felt he had bored her ‘till she passed out, but the truth was, she had made her best effort to stay awake but failed at four in the morning. She loved talking with Spencer. She loved Spencer, all of him, including all the facts and statistics he would ramble on for hours.

If only she knew he felt the same. He could hear her ramble about books and albums she loved. He didn’t know half the bands she talked about but always googled them after their conversations to understand her a little bit better. And to add facts to their next talk.

- “Rossi! Rossi! unmute your mic”- Aaron repeated for the hundredth time during the call, but Rossi still had no idea what he was doing.

- “Ok, ok, don’t touch anything, I’m hacking into your computer,”- Garcia simply said, already tired of waiting. It wasn’t the first time she had done it during the latest months. I wouldn’t be the last either.

- “Hello? can you hear me?”

- “Yes, David”- Aaron nodded and almost smiled- “Hello everybody, I trust you are all having a nice day.”

It was their annual Secret Santa, and for the first time, it was online. They had all made sure to mail their presents earlier enough, and everybody had gotten theirs already. It was December 24th, and though it was still just noon, Rossi enjoyed the first whiskey of the day.

- “I sent you all cookies!!”- Penelope clapped and smiled, staring into the camera- “Did you all get it?”

- “Yes!”- they all answered but (Y/N).

- “No… I didn’t”

- “What?! But I sent them yesterday! the delivery said you had gotten them,”- Penelope explained, but (Y/N) just shook her head.

- “Sorry Garcia, I just got my Secret Santa present this week, and that’s it”

- “Someone stole your cookies, pretty girl!”- Derek chuckled and took a bit of one of his- “Your lost, ‘cos they are delicious.”

- “Great… not only I get to spend Christmas alone, now I have to bake my own cookies.”- she groaned and sighed.

- “What? Alone?”- JJ was in shock- “What about your family? Family get-togethers are allowed this weekend. It just has to be less than ten people in each house.”

- “They live in Seattle, and I can’t travel ‘cos I don’t wanna expose my grandparents to any risk, so I decided to spend Christmas alone”- (Y/N) cut the team a short smile. They all wide opened their eyes in shock. Christmas alone was never a good plan.

- “Me and Jack are going to spend it with his grandfather and aunt. We would be glad to have you over.”- Hotch immediately said, and (Y/N) smiled.

- “Thank you, but that’s ok, it’s just Christmas…”- that really didn’t sound good.

- “I’m gonna be alone too,”- Spencer texted her ‘cos he didn’t want to say it in front of the team- “Do you wanna spend Christmas with me? I can save you some cookies”.

(Y/N) chuckled as she read, and Spencer smiled, staring at her. You don’t usually get to see the reaction of the person you text. And he loved it.

- “Why are you going to be alone?”- she wrote back

- “Same as you, I don’t wanna expose my mom, and she is all the family I’ve got. She’ll spend Christmas with aunt Ethel”.

- “Hey! (Y/N), are you listening?”- Penelope waved and nearly yelled.

- “Sorry, what?”- (Y/N) left the phone aside and tried to focus on the team.

- “JJ was saying you are also welcome to spend it with her mom, Henry, and Will.”

- “Thank you guys, but… I think I’ll be ok.”

She blushed at those words and made her best not to look at Spencer as she smiled. Which was incredibly useless, ‘cos no one knew where Spencer’s image was on her screen. And at the same time, it was so easy for the team to profile what was going on. That’s why neither of them said another word.

- “Ok, can we start opening presents now?”- Prentiss asked. Her background was now a beach, and she had put on a big hat and sunglasses. Penelope and JJ laughed at her so loud that they didn’t listen when Aaron said they should make a distant toast.

- “Wait! let me get something to drink!”- (Y/N) stood up quickly and poured herself a cup of tea.

- “Ok, now I’m ready, sorry”- and when she looked at the screen, Spencer was blushing, and everybody was chuckling.

- “What did I miss?”

- “Nothing pretty girl”- Derek just smiled- “Let’s do the presents thing… who wants to start?”

- “Henry is pretty restless today, so if you guys don’t mind, I want to start”- JJ waved and showed everybody her present.

“You have to guess who gave you your present,”- Emily explained and sipped her cup of coffee.

- “Alright… let’s see… I got this envelope from my Secret Santa and… it’s just what I needed!!”- JJ smiled and nearly jumped on her seat

- “It’s a whole spa day!! Mom needs a day off when this pandemic ends!! thank you, Secret Santa!!”

- “Who do you think gave you that?”- Penelope asked, and JJ looked at each one of her teammates on the screen.

- I’m gonna go with… Hotch, ‘cos I think he understands exactly what’s like being a parent in quarantine- Aaron chuckled and shook his head.

- “Sorry, I would have given you that, though, but it wasn’t me.”

- “Then who?”- Rossi raised his hand and smiled

- “I noticed you were a little… stressed last time we talked. I thought maybe when this whole thing ends, you would enjoy a day to treat yourself.”

- “Thank you so much, Rossi. I really appreciate it!!”

The whole team continued opening their presents and laughed, trying to guess who was their Secret Santa. Hotch got a horrible (and yet adorable) Christmas sweater with a gigantic Rudolph on it and a matching one for Jack. He guessed right away it was from Penelope.

Hotch bought García a fantastic pair of high heels and confessed he had picked them himself. Aaron Hotchner had a pretty good fashion sense. Who knew?

Rossi opened his present and laughed, shocked. It was one costly and hard to find Scotch bottle. He thought it was from Emily, but no, it was from (Y/N).

- “I remembered you said it was your favorite, and I thought maybe you’d like to share it with us next time we have a real get-together in your house.”

- “It’s very nice and naive of you to think I might actually share this present with anyone”- Rossi smiled and waved at the screen- “Thank you, kid.”

Emily got a weekend in Vegas from JJ to make it up for the “Sin to Win” weekend she lost because of a case a few months before. And again, she refused to explain to the team what “Sin to Win” meant.

Morgan got a life provision of baby oil to rub on his six pack and biceps each time he took his shirt off. It was a joke from Emily, and Rossi nearly had a heart attack laughing at it. Penelope wanted a demonstration, but Derek promised a private show. Prentiss also got him a new kit of tools for home repairs, which always came in handy for him… mostly to fix all the doors he kicked.

- “And what did you get, Spence?”- JJ asked, now holding Henry in her arms, trying to keep him calm. Reid opened his present and smiled. It wasn’t a happy smile though, it was a “are you fucking kidding me?” smile.

- “Dating for Dummies”- he said and showed the book- “And I’m pretty sure this is from Morgan.”

- “As soon as this quarantine ends, you and I are going to a club, so you better study that book, ‘cos I’m gonna make you put it on good use.”

Morgan joked, but after all those years, it just wasn’t funny anymore, not for Spencer, at least.

- “And last but not least, what did you get (Y/N)?”- Penelope’s eyes were shining. She loved Secret Santa. She had forced Hotch to put on his sweater, and he was now feeling like a dork on camera. Garcia, of course, had taken many screen-captures to save that amazing moment.

- “Well, I’m pretty sure this is from Spencer”- she smiled, ‘cos he was the only one left. He blushed and waved.

- “I hope you like it”- (Y/N) unwrapped the present carefully and smiled, surprised.

- “Where did you get this?”- it was an original edition of The Little Prince, in french. It was tough to find.

- “You said you loved the book ‘cos your mom read it to you when you were a kid, so… I thought you’d like it.”

(Y/N) couldn’t stop going through each page, as a million memories of her childhood came to her mind. Her mother had passed away when she was in high school, and the book meant more to her than anyone could imagine.

- “Thank you”- she whispered and bit her lip, making her best not to cry.

- “Jesus Christ! When is he going to tell her he loves her!?”- Rossi nearly yelled. He was in the back of his office, pouring himself a glass of his Secret Santa present.

The whole team stayed quiet, making their best not to laugh. Spencer wanted to die. He rested his head on the desk and controlled the urge to leave the conversation.

- “Hey, Rossi… just so you know, you weren’t muted.”- Prentiss managed to say and chuckled. He looked at the screen and stayed quiet.

- “Ok... I think I’m gonna go now. This Scotch is already getting to my head, so… see you guys!!”- Rossi waved and tried to leave.

- “Fuck! I hope I didn’t ruin it for the kid. Well, someone had to say it anyway”- he whispered, embarrassed.

- “Rossi, we can still hear you. You didn’t close the conversation, just minimized it”- JJ warned him, and that time, everybody burst out laughing.

- “Ok, I’m gonna go now…”- Spencer couldn’t even look at (Y/N) anymore. He just waved and closed Zoom.

- “I’m gonna go too”- (Y/N) whispered- “I hope everybody has a nice holiday!”- she didn’t even wait for anyone to say anything else. She just left the conversation and walked to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water.

What the hell had just happened?

Spencer had a panic attack. What was he supposed to do now? Confess his feelings? Rossi had already done it for him. Should he call (Y/N) and tell her it was just a joke? Tell her the truth? Invite her over for Christmas, again?

- “Fuck!!”- he shouted and walked to his kitchen. Some whiskey Morgan left last time he visited was still there, and though Reid wasn’t much of a drinker, he needed one.

He honestly had no idea what to do. He knew he couldn’t face (Y/N) now. How? he would fluster just to be in the same room with her. Rossi really ruined everything. It seemed it was the end of the world.

- “I’m gonna have to quit, move from DC, change my name, start my life from scratch…”

Yes, Spencer was making a drama out of the whole situation. But in his defense, he had never been in that kind of situation before.

It was eight pm when Spencer heard a knock on the door. He had been lying on his couch most of the afternoon, trying to read. Still, his mind kept coming back to (Y/N) and the embarrassment he felt after Rossi’s comment.

- “Hi”- (Y/N) whispered as soon as Reid opened the door, and his heart stopped- “You said I could come for Christmas… so…”- he stood still and just nodded. She was there, wearing a Dr. Who mask, with some snowflakes on her coat.

- “Can I come in?”

- “Sure! I’m sorry, I just…”- Spencer moved from the door and watched her taking off her shoes, leaving a few paper bags on the table, and smiling at him as soon as she removed her mask.

- “Can I wash my hands?”

- “Of course, the bathroom is…”- Reid stopped himself. She knew where the bathroom was. That wasn’t the first time she was there.

While she washed her hand, he made his best to clean a little, folded the blanket on his couch, and piled all the books that were lying around.

- “So… I hope I’m not interrupting anything…”- (Y/N) started apologizing again, but Spencer just shook his head.

- “No, not at all, I just wasn’t expecting you to come after… what…”- he couldn’t even mention it.

- “After what Rossi said?”- she turned around and avoided looking at Spencer. She walked to the bags she had brought and started taking things out

- “Should we worry he was getting drunk so early?”- she simply said, and Reid chuckled

- “I don’t know, maybe… what are you doing?”

- “Well… I’m not into chicken tandoori for Christmas, so I cooked some things.”

- “It smells delicious”- Reid smiled, and so did (Y/N), feeling her cheeks blushing.

- “It’s mom’s turkey recipe, so it better be good”

- “Let me put that in the fridge”- Reid held the turkey, roasted potatoes, and many other things (Y/N) had cooked and walked to the kitchen.

- “I also got you this”- (Y/N) giggled and followed Spencer. As soon as he left everything he was carrying, she put a Santa hat with red and white stripes on his head.

- “You look like the cat in the hat”- she joked, and Spencer laughed, feeling like the happiest nerd on earth.

- “I’m gonna take that as a compliment.”

- “It is…”- (Y/N) stared at him and sighed, both of them smiling in silence for a second.

- “Did you get one for yourself too?”- he finally asked.

- “Yes! so we can take dorky pictures and send them to Garcia, she is gonna love those”- she made a pause and bit her lips for a second.

- “So… do you like Christmas traditions?”- she asked and looked down at her shoes

- “Mmm, sure… like watching Home Alone drinking hot chocolate?- Spencer asked, thinking he hadn’t really lived many Christmas traditions growing up. However, he knew his mother had made her best to make him happy each holiday.

- “Yeah… that and… maybe this”

(Y/N) took a mistletoe from her pocket and lifted her arm to place it right on top of their heads.

Spencer didn’t move. He just wide opened his eyes, staring at (Y/N), who was now smiling, completely blushed.

- “Since we are spending Christmas together, I thought… we… could…”- but she couldn’t finish talking, ‘cos Spencer leaned in slowly, very slowly until he reached her lips and kissed her. His hands cupped her cheeks carefully, and her arms ended up wrapped around his neck.

- “Merry Christmas, Spencer”- she whispered, rubbing her lips against his when the kiss ended, but neither of them wanted to move apart.

- “Merry Christmas, (Y/N)”

#criminal minds #spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fanfic #criminal minds fanfiction #david rossi #penelope garcia #derek morgan #emily prentiss #jenifer jareau #aaron hotchner #Matthew Gray Gubler #bau #merry christmas #babymetaldoll writes

641 notes · View notes

james-stark-the-writer-wips · 5 years

Text

A Year At The Opera - Excerpt

Chapter 9: A Body In The Woods

A/N: Its 5K words, I hope you like it!

Eleanor and Aaron

Eleanor opened the door and stepped in, only to be greeted by darkness.

“Hello?” She called out, checking to see if anyone was there. No response. She flicked the light switch on. Nothing. She did it again. Still nothing.

Power must be out or something.

“El?” A voice came from the second floor.

“A?” She called out. “Where are you?”

“Upstairs.” His voice was faint.

Eleanor shrugged and put the car keys in the bowl, heading to the stairs. She quickly turned on the flashlight on her phone. As she reached his door, she knocked once before pushing the door open.

“Why are the lights out?” She asked, turning her flashlight off.

“Power outage or something, Ingram’s looking for the gas valve for that chandelier in the living room.”

“Any idea when they’ll be back?”

“Ingram called his mom. She said she’d check and call back soon.”

“Okay, so, nothing’s working? They don’t have a backup generator or anything?”

“Well, they do but it’s not working. Or at least that’s what Mrs. Shaw said.” Aaron replied, turning on his phone’s flashlight. “So, where have you been all day?”

“Went for a drive around town. Saw a movie, had some lunch and just drove around for a bit.”

“Really?” Aaron asked. “And what exactly did this drive entail?”

“It was just a drive. Jeez, mom.”

“Eleanor, it’s never just anything with you. What did you do?”

“Look around for people.”

“Any chance these people happen to be cute guys?”

She paused. “Maybe.”

“El—”

“Look, I know what you’re going to say but… I need a distraction and technically, we are on vacation.”

“If you’d let me finish, I’d tell you I’m not your parent, you can do whatever you want. You don’t have to hide things from me.” He said casually.

“But?” She offered, almost looking for him to stop her.

“There’s no buts. That’s it.”

“Really?”

Aaron nodded.

“I don’t believe you.” She said.

“You can choose to believe whatever, I guess.” Aaron stood up, turning off his flashlight and flexed his back to crack it and release the pressure that had built up in it for a few hours, sitting on his bed trying to write.

“Sure.” She said unsurely.

“And by the way, you should never feel like you have to hide anything from me. Sure, I’ll judge you for a little bit but it’s because I’m trying to be helpful, you dumbass. Okay now I actually sound like your parents. Just forget I said anything.”

El smiled.

“Found it!” A voice came from downstairs. El stood up, following Aaron out of the room.

Mason turned on his flashlight to guide El and Aaron down the stairs. Ingram shouted from the basement, “Tell me when it’s bright enough!”

The lights on the chandelier flickered to life with a small hiss, casting bright amber across the room.

“That’s good!” Mason shouted back.

“Okay!” Ingram said, before rushing back up the stairs.

“Is that a gas chandelier?” Eleanor asked, looking at the chandelier with childlike amazement.

“Yep. An original one too.” Ingram said, walking up to her. “My great great-grandfather built this place in the late 70s. The 1870s. We’ve obviously upgraded stuff but a lot of it is original.”

“I did not know that.” Aaron stated blankly, wondering why he didn’t actually know that. Of course, they were only six when they stopped associating with the same social circles but he still couldn’t believe he didn’t know that.

Ingram chuckled. “Yep. We were the first cabin built in the area, actually. Pappy was the first one to start then everyone else started building around us and eventually we branched out into the town.”

“Pappy?” El asked.

“Yeah, that’s what my grandparents called him whenever they told me about him.”

“Really?”

“Mmhmm. Super genius, generally beloved, helped the people a lot, great with tools, practically an inventor. He sounds so fun whenever I hear about him.”

“So,” Mason began, clapping his hands. “Anyone wanna play a game of strip truth or dare on this dark, cold night with only a gas chandelier as a light source?”

“Uhhhh, duh.” Ingram said, lightly pecking Mason on the cheek. “I’ll go get the bottle.”

“What the fuck kind of bullshit horror movie setup is this?” Aaron muttered to himself.

“Let’s sit!” Mason sat on the floor around the small coffee table.

“Wait, what’s strip truth or dare?” Eleanor asked.

“It’s regular truth or dare but if you don’t want to answer or do whatever, you have to take off an item of clothing.”

“But it’s so cold.” Aaron said.

“All the more incentive to spill or sit naked in the cold.”

“Cool.” Eleanor said, taking the place next to Mason.

“Uh, okay.” Aaron said cautiously before taking the seat opposite Mason.

Ingram arrived from the kitchen with a bottle of wine and four glasses.

“There’s not much left in this, figured we might as well finish it, right?” He said, opening the window before taking the last empty spot on the floor, right next to Mason. He quickly placed the glasses in front of everyone and popped the cork, filling each glass up as equally as he could. “Bottoms up, bitches.” Ingram said, raising his glass.

A soft ‘bottoms up’ escaped Aaron’s lips as he gulped down a quarter of the glass in one sip. Eleanor quietly sipped hers while the duo gulped almost half a glass down.

“Who wants to go first?” Ingram topped off the glasses and placed the empty bottle in the center of the table.

“I’ll go.” Eleanor took a sip of her wine before laying the bottle flat on the table. She took a deep breath and spun it.

It spun slowly, not enough force behind the spin. But, regardless, it came to a stop.

Ingram.

“All right.” He said. “Let’s start off easy. Truth or dare?”

Eleanor felt a pit form in her stomach as she struggled to pick one. Fuck it. “Truth.”

She immediately regretted it.

Ingram mulled over for a second about what he should ask her. “Hmm. Best kiss you remember. When and where. Go.”

El leaned back, took a sip of her wine and tried to remember the answer. To be honest, she didn’t even need to think. She knew the answer. She really didn’t want to say it though.

“Two months ago. Passenger seat in a Corvette. That’s all you get.” She said, taking a slow sip of her wine. God, this better get me drunk.

Aaron gave El a tight lipped smile. He knew exactly who she was talking about, after all it’s kinda obvious, but he looked at the bottle and took a sip of his glass.

“My turn.” Mason said, spinning the bottle.

The bottle spun fast. It stopped. Aaron.

“Truth or dare?” Mason asked.

“Dare.” Aaron said enthusiastically. Might as well be first, right? Get this shit over with.

Mason grinned. “Take a shot of hot sauce.”

“Dude!” Ingram looked at Mason in shock.

“What?” Mason defended himself. “He asked for it?”

“You don’t have to do it, you know.” Ingram said, placing a reassuring hand on the table.

“No, it’s okay. A dare’s a dare. Plus I like hot sauce anyway.” Jesus fuck forgive me for the words I just uttered. Nathan, how fucking long is this night?

Aaron’s phone buzzed. He quickly took it out. Four hours till midnight, buddy. Stay in there. We need this. I texted him.

“Alright, that’s the spirit!” Mason jumped out of his seat enthusiastically. “I’ll get the glass and the sauce.”

“It’s open.” Ingram said and Mason rushed off into Mr. Shaw’s study, emerging a minute later with a bottle of hot sauce, a spoon and a glass of water.

The bottle looked suspect on all accounts. It had no label except for a handwritten ‘HOT SAUCE’ on the bottle scribbled in what seemed to be sharpie and a very awful drawing of a chicken breathing fire accompanying it.

“So, fair warning,” Mason put the bottle down on the table.

“No.” Ingram said. “Not that one.”

“Relax. He’ll be fine.” Mason said, which did nothing to reassure Aaron. He was regretting his decision with every passing second.

“So, fair warning, but this is super hot sauce so you should only do a spoonful instead of a shot. Because it will kill your tongue otherwise.” He put a spoon beside the bottle.

“Oh, boy.” Aaron said lifting the spoon. The world versus my tongue. You can do this, you little shit.

He cracked the bottle open and poured a little bit on the spoon. He brought the sauce a little closer to his nose to smell it. Instantly, the noxious fumes of the hot sauce obliterated his nostrils. He suppressed a gag and touched the tip of his tongue to the spoon. Hmm. Nothing. It’s one of those. Aaron shoved the spoon in his mouth and gulped the sauce down trying his best to not taste it.

As the sauce moved through his body, the heat from the sauce began to come through. Aaron grabbed the glass of water and held it near his lips, ready to guzzle it. The spice coursed through his veins and he shoved the glass in his mouth to try and stop the pain. Of course, it didn’t do much, but the coolness helped a little.

As the pain began to subside, he put the glass down and took a deep breath. “Who’s next, bitch?” He announced proudly.

Ingram chuckled, grabbing the bottle and spinning it.

As the bottle began to slow, a savior came in the form of the doorbell.

“I’ll get it,” Ingram announced, jumping from his seat.

He rushed to the door and opened it. Aaron leaned back to see who it was.

“Mr. Shaw?” The man at the door said, making Eleanor lean back too.

“Yeah?” Ingram said.

“Your mother sent me to get you some supplies.” The man said, handing Ingram two bags of groceries and food.

“Oh, okay.” Ingram took the bags.

“Oh, and here’s my number if you need anything else, just call me and I’ll get it to you ASAP.” The man handed Ingram a card.

“Uh, cool.” Ingram shoved it in his pocket.

“Alright, I guess I’ll be going then.”

“Uh, okay.”

As awkward as the conversation was, the man left without another word, driving off in the blue sedan he’d arrived in.

“We got food.” Ingram said, holding up the two bags.

“Tell me there’s something good in there.” Mason said, rising from his seat. El and Aaron followed them to the kitchen.

Ingram and Mason quickly emptied the bags on the counter. El turned the flash on her phone on to be able to see the things better. The first thing that caught Aaron’s eyes was the pack of chocolate chip ice cream. The pain from the hot sauce had mostly gone away but his throat was still burning a little and that ice cream looked really good right about now. Mason put his hands on one of the loaves of garlic bread and announced it was his. Aaron quickly grabbed the ice cream.

“Mine.” He said, placing the container in the freezer.

El grabbed one of the other ice cream containers. “I don’t mind sharing but mine.”

The rest of the food was either quickly divided up or put away for Mason to cook with later.

“Let’s get back to where we were, shall we?” Mason suggested.

“Happily.” El said, returning to the table. El and Aaron took their previous seats but Mason and Ingram switched seats.

El grabbed the bottle and spun it.

Mason.

“Truth or dare?” El asked, an evil smile on her face.

“Truth.” Mason said.

“Most embarrassing thing no one in this room about you knows.” El said. Either he answered the question in which case she got a new topic to talk about or he didn’t and she got a new piece of eye candy.

“I—” Mason began but stopped, looking defeated. He pulled his shirt over his head and placed it next to him.

“Try not to faint, Eleanor.” Aaron whispered.

“Believe me, I’m trying.” Eleanor whispered back. Holy Jesus fuck do you live in a gym?

Mason looked like a walking Greek god with his sculpted abs and chiseled pecs and muscular arms. Talk about unrealistic standard for teens. But as he looked at Mason, Aaron felt himself getting… excited. Oh boy.

“It’s that bad?” Ingram asked.

“Let’s not talk about it.” Mason said, quietly taking a sip of his wine.

“Alright then. My turn.” Aaron grabbed the bottle, quickly spinning it, trying to get his mind off Mason.

Ingram. Oh Jesus fuck me.

“Truth or dare?”

Ingram smirked. “Dare.”

“God why?” Aaron murmured to himself. “Alright, easy one. Give me your credit card. I get to make one purchase, whatever I want.”

“Oh.” Ingram said after a short pause. “So much for easy, huh? My mom would kill me, so…” He quickly took his shirt off and placed it behind him on the couch.

“Are you trying to kill me?” El whispered to Aaron as she laid eyes on Ingram. “What the fuck? How are you so built?” She said out loud without thinking.

Ingram chuckled. “Thanks, I try.”

“I mean, he plays a shitton of ball.” She gestured vaguely at Mason. “What’s your excuse?” Eleanor prodded further.

“I just go to gym a little bit.” Ingram said, trying his best to sound humble.

“Alright, I’m next.” Mason grabbed the bottle and spun it in an attempt to change the topic. He could see everyone getting uncomfortable.

“Eleanor.” Masons said as the bottle stopped. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.” She said, absentmindedly.

“Right.” Mason cleared his throat. Eleanor shifted her attention to him. “Uh, give me your phone, I get to text anything to a random person but you aren’t allowed to tell them it was you for at least 48 hours. And you can’t see who I texted what until midnight either.”

Eleanor hesitated for a second but figured, how much harm could he really do? She reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone, handing it to Mason.

“Right. Mind unlocking it?”

“Oh, sorry.” She took the phone and quickly unlocked it before handing it back. “There.”

“Perfect.” Mason opened her messages, quickly scrolling through the names. “No, no no. Maybe? No. Wait. Who is that? Interesting…” Eleanor watched in anticipation as he scrolled through the chat. “Alright, I know exactly what to say.” He quickly typed out a message before handing the phone back. “I’m sorry, Eleanor. You’ll be able to explain it all in 48 hours.”

“Who did you text?” She took the phone.

“You’ll find out soon enough. You can’t look at your phone yet though.”

“Aw, come on.” She put the phone back in her pocket. She didn’t like not knowing but she was a good sport. She could at least respect not looking at it while everyone was around.

“Sorry, those are the rules.” Mason said.

“Who’s next?” Ingram asked enthusiastically.

“Me.” Aaron said, turning the bottle.

The bottle spun quick. Aaron swore he could hear the bottle grinding against the table as it slowed to a stop, just inching further like it was being pushed.

Ingram.

“Truth or dare?” Aaron asked.

“Truth.” Ingram declared. He didn’t want to lose more clothing. He felt cold as is.

Aaron felt a wave of emotions wash over him all of a sudden. “Why did we stop being friends?” The words slipped past before he could stop them. And he wanted to stop them so much. But now they were out there. In the open, seared into everyone’s brains.

Ingram cleared his throat. Instantly, the room felt a lot hotter, the tension was practically palpable.

“What?” Ingram asked, pretending he hadn’t heard the question.

“Nothing, never mind.” Aaron said, trying to brush it off. But he wanted the answer desperately. He’d never really understood why they’d stopped talking. He’d attributed it so far to just having different interests but there had to be more than that. There had to be.

“Well, so much for a fun game.” Mason mumbled to himself.

And so they sat there, waiting for someone to get up and leave so the situation wouldn’t be that awkward anymore.

Mason faked a yawn. “Well, I’m tired all of a sudden. I’m going to go sleep.” He stood up and turned to Ingram. “You coming, babe?”

“Yeah.” Ingram stood up and followed Mason out of the room.

“I should go too.” El said, placing a comforting hand on Aaron’s shoulder. “Get some sleep, A.” She rushed up the stairs and into her room.

With an exasperated sigh, Aaron rose as well. “Fuck me.” He muttered under his breath as he began to walk up to his room.

The room was shrouded in darkness when Aaron entered.

“What the fuck happened there, Nathan?” Aaron whisper-screamed into his phone as he closed the door behind him. He walked over to the window and pushed aside the curtains to let some moonlight in. It wasn’t very bright but it was better than before.

“I don’t know, dude!” I said. “You might not be as resistant to the spell as I thought.”

He walked over to his bed. “Oh, God. You’re telling me there will be more of these incidents?”

“I don’t know!” I said, “This is completely unprecedented! I don’t know anything! Why do you think I’m here for your help — as useless as that has been?”

Jesus fucking christ what the fuck have I done? Aaron put his head in his palms, contemplating how complicated he’d just made everything.

“Look, just try and sleep on it, we’ll figure it out in the morning.” I said.

“Can’t you like, do some magic and fix this?” He asked. The desperation in his voice really made me want to try. But there was simply no way of doing it without alerting the Council of what I’d done.

“I can’t. Believe me, if I could, I would have. That was not fun for anyone involved.”

“Then how did you do the wish spell in the first fucking place, Nathan?”

“I don’t know!” I said. At this point, even I was starting to get frustrated. “Have you not been listening to a single word I’ve been saying? I have no idea how this happened!” I let out a soft sigh. “Just, try to get some sleep man. Hopefully in the morning everyone will have forgotten about it. After all, isn’t that how these things usually go?”

Aaron chucked his phone onto the bed and closed his eyes but sleep was not to be found. He lay there silently, trying to keep his mind blank but the intrusive thoughts of the consequences of what he’d done snaked their way in like a temptress, driving the idea of sleep even further away. Groaning, Aaron grabbed his phone and his earphones from the nightstand. Maybe music would be a comforting distraction.

As morning dawned, Eleanor knocked on Aaron’s door. “A?”

“Come in.” Aaron grumbled, half asleep, reaching for his phone to check the time. 8:36 am. He didn’t even know what time he’d fallen asleep at. After the music, everything was pretty blank.

The door swung open and Eleanor walked in, dressed in slutty-pink running gear.

“El?” Aaron asked in a soft mumble.

“Yeah, it’s me.” She replied. “Mason’s making breakfast and wants to know if you want any bacon and eggs.”

“Ugh. Tell him no, I’ll just have some cereal.” He said groggily.

“Okay.”

“And where are you headed dressed like a bored housewife who’s really into yoga?”

“Oh you just never stop, do you?” She put her hands on her hips.

He sat up, adjusting the pillows to provide more support to his back. “Hard to turn off a personality. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Had a revelation last night. I’m just going walking, maybe running. Figured might as well use the time we’re here to have some fun.”

Aaron’s phone buzzed and he picked it up. Go with her. I texted him.

He let out a soft grumble. “You mind waiting for me?”

“How long are you gonna take?”

“Like half an hour. We’ll leave together at nine.”

“Fine. But you better hurry up because once it’s nine, I’m leaving with or without you.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be ready. Now get out.” He chucked a pillow at her.

She smiled, turned around and left the room.

“Why the fuck am I going walking at 9am?” He said out loud.

Because you need to get out of the cabin. I texted him.

“Oh come on.” He said.

GO.

“Ugh. Fine, I’m going. God, get off my back.”

He pushed the covers aside, slipping away from the warmth of the bed to the harsh cold of the room. He grabbed the pillow he’d thrown at Eleanor off the floor and carefully put it back in its place.

Letting out a dramatic sigh, he trudged his way to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, he descended down the stairs into the living room.

“You want anything?” Mason asked as he spotted Aaron walking to the couch to join Eleanor.

“I’m good, thanks. I’ll eat something when I get back.” Aaron said, taking the seat next to Eleanor. “Ready?”

She nodded, tying her shoelaces. “Ready.”

“Alright, let’s go then.” Aaron stood up.

Eleanor rushed to the door, throwing it open and jogging out. Aaron walked through the door, closing it behind him. Eleanor was already halfway down the path cheerily skipping along. He closed the door and ran up to catch up with her.

“You seem extra cheery.” He said as he caught up with her. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. Just happy to be out and about.” She replied coyly.

“The fuck you are. What’s up?”

“Idk what you want me to tell you, dude. Just feeling happy. “

“Alright. Good to hear. You deserve to be happier.”

“Don’t get cheesy on me.” She joked.

“I thought you liked cheesiness.”

“On the TV, dude.” She took a left turn into a narrow path. “Not irl.”

Aaron’s phone buzzed. You’re telling me this was for nothing?

He shoved his phone in his pocket without a reply. Rude. “So you have any idea where we’re going or is it just a random walk?”

“I kinda do. Not exactly but I have an idea of our path through.”

“And where are we heading?”

“There’s apparently a beautiful stream that cuts into the forest, right on the border of Athea, Tenebris and Ellesburg. That’s where we’re going.”

“Cool.” Leaves crunched below Aaron’s feet as he walked through the damp forest, following Eleanor’s lead, hoping they didn’t get lost.

They walked mostly in silence as they made their way to the stream, making the occasional small talk but mostly looking at the trees and listening to the birds. It was serene. Calm. Peaceful. No loaded emotions, no baggage. Maybe this walk was exactly what Aaron needed.

The green leaves provided great cover from the sun but small gaps allowed tiny beams to pierce through, making a beautiful pattern along the way. It really was a sight to behold.

The ground beneath them was a little soft, slowly dragging them in as they walked. But it wasn’t too much of a hindrance.

“I hope this place is worth going this far, Eleanor. This mud really isn’t. Do you know how hard it’s going to be to get this off my shoes?” Aaron said, walking up next to her.

Eleanor ran her hand along the trees, feeling the jagged trunks as she walked. “It is, far as I know.” She reassured him. “And besides, even if it’s not, the walk is pretty fun, isn’t it? And sure, the mud isn’t ideal but this is the closest route.”

“Fine.” Aaron mumbled.

As they walked further in, nearing the boundaries of the three towns, the ground began to dry a little and the cover of trees began to reduce. The ground changed from the wet mud to a softer sand, the opposite of what you’d expect to see near a stream. But that strangeness was what made it such a special place.

“I see it!” Eleanor announced, running off over a small hill.

“Wait up, Eleanor.” Aaron said. God for someone that small, she sure is fast.

“It’s amazing.” El’s voice came as Aaron cleared the hill.

The stream flowed smoothly, its water clear as day. El could even see a few tiny fishes in there, dashing through the stream like it was some sort of obstacle course.

“Okay I take it back.” Aaron said. “Definitely worth it.”

“I don’t wanna say I told you so, but I did tell you so.”

“Fair enough.” Aaron walked up next to her.

Aaron and El spent about an hour by the stream, walking along the edge, just hanging out, walking. The hour cruised by and before they knew it, they’d begun to grow hungry and tired.

“Wanna head back?” Aaron asked.

“Sure.” El said, picking a small flower from a bush and tucking it into her hair. “How do I look?”

“You look great.” Aaron replied. “Now come on, I’m starving.”

“Alright.” El said, following behind him.

They walked through the mud again though it had begun to dry a little bit now. El almost tripped over a branch sticking out of the ground and Aaron turned to help her stand up. “Careful there, El.”

“God!” She said as she regained her balance. “I think I sprained it.”

“You are kidding.” Aaron said.

“Do I look like I’m kidding?” She took support against the tree and rubbed her ankle.

“Uh, okay, what do I do?”

“We have to get back somehow.”

Oh god. Are you fucking serious. Can we please not do this? He thought.

“You’ll have to carry me.”

You are fucking kidding me. Goddamnit why does this need to happen?

But Aaron had to go along with it. He couldn’t just leave her here in this forest alone. If these past few days had been any indication, she’d probably be kidnapped or murdered or worse.

“Ugh, fine.” Aaron grumbled.

He put his hand under her knees and another on her back to lift her up. She put her arms around his neck to hold onto something and he slowly started to walk.

“You know, we really should start looking for someone for you.” El said, trying to start a conversation that didn’t need to be started.

Aaron chuckled. “No, thank you.”

“Oh, come on. I’m not that bad at judging people.”

“Ha!” Aaron carefully maneuvered over another root sticking out of the ground.

“Okay, fair enough, my record hasn’t been the most spectacular but I’m a good judge of character. After all, I’m still friends with you, aren’t I?”

“Fair.”

“So, tell me. What are you looking for? Tall, blonde, dumb? Smart, short, brunette? Like, what do we have to work with, here?”

“Well, there is this one girl…” Aaron mentioned casually.

Eleanor gasped. “You little shit! What’s her name, where did you see her, I’m going to need all the details!”

“I’ve just started talking to her, found her on twitter, she seems nice.”

“Well, what does she look like?” Eleanor asked.

Aaron froze in his track. “Oh fuck me.” He muttered under his breath.

“What happened?” El asked, looking in the direction he was looking.

“We might have a big problem.” He said. “I’m going to have to call for help. I’m putting you down, okay?”

She nodded and Aaron gently put her against the tree. He reached into his pocket and quickly dialed Ingram’s number.

Ingram and Mason

Ingram took a last bite of his cereal, pushing the bowl aside. “So, babe. Now that it’s just the two of us and the guests are gone, do we have any plans?”

“I don’t know, do we?” Mason leaned forward, placing his hand on Ingram’s.

“I do have plans and I know you are going to love them.”

“Really?” Mason smirked. “What makes you so sure?”

“It involves me being naked.” Ingram whispered.

“Oh, that does sound fun.” He said. “And what will I be doing during this… plan?”

“I mean, it’s practically an event.” Ingram leaned in to lightly kiss Mason.

“And what will I be doing during this event?” Mason asked, slightly leaning away from the kiss.

“Participating, hopefully. I’m not getting naked alone.” Ingram said in a breathy rasp.

Ingram took Mason’s hand, gently pulling him towards and into the bedroom.

“Sit.” Ingram said, vaguely motioning towards the bed.

Mason complied without a second thought. He was enjoying this side of Ingram. Ingram had always been a little laid back before but in the last few days, he’d gotten a bit more controlling and, as awkward as it was to admit, Mason liked it. A lot.

“Now watch and learn, baby.” Ingram took a small step towards the bed.

Ingram slowly raised the shirt above his head, letting Mason enjoy the delicious reveals as it came off. Ingram chucked it behind him.

“God, you’re spectacular.” Mason said in a breathy whisper.

“And so are you.” Ingram took a step closer, unbuttoning his jeans. The waistband of his boxers peeked just slightly over the jeans. Mason couldn’t wait to get him out of those.

Mason quickly pulled his own shirt off and yeeted it across the room. It hit the door and landed next to it.

“Let me help you.” Mason said, leaning forward, slowly slipping the pants off Ingram to reveal his black boxers. Mason slipped his fingers into the waistband, slowly tugging them down. Ingram grabbed Mason’s hands and set them aside.

“All in due time.” Ingram said, placing a soft kiss on Mason’s cheek.

The tips of their noses touched as Mason kissed Ingram. It was a passionate kiss, like a soldier kissing his significant other after seeing them for the first time in years.

Ingram hands slipped under the covers, into Mason’s boxers.

“Someone’s excited.” Ingram whispered, breaking contact for just a second before kissing him again.

“You see what you do to me?” Mason whispered back.

“I love you.” Ingram said, laying a trail of kisses down Mason’s neck, slowly leading to his stomach. As he approached the edge of the covers, his phone rang, vibrating in his jeans.

Ingram let out a soft groan.

“God, let it be.” Mason said, a desperate whimper.

“Just let me see who it is.” Ingram grabbed his jeans, quickly reaching in and retrieveing his phone. “My god these two are mood killers.” Ingram groaned.

“Who is it?” Mason asked.

“Who do you think?” Ingram turned the phone towards Mason.

“Oh, come on. They wouldn’t be calling if it wasn’t important.” Mason said.

“Are you seriously siding with them?” Ingram looked at Mason in shock.

“I’m just saying, if they’re calling, it must be pretty important. Now pick up, already.”

“God, you’re annoying. Fine.” Ingram picked up the call. “Hey.”

“Oh thank god you picked up!” Aaron’s voice sounded relieved.

“Is everything okay?” Ingram asked.

“No, absolutely not.” The reply came back quick.

“What happened?” Ingram sat up straight.

“There’s been an accident, El’s sprained her ankle and there’s something you should see. I texted you our location, come here ASAP.”

“We’re on our way.” Ingram said. Aaron cut the call.

“What’s the matter?” Mason asked as Ingram jumped off the bed and grabbed his jeans.

“They’re in trouble.” Ingram said, tossing Mason a shirt. “Get dressed.”

“Are they okay?” Mason slipped the shirt on.

“Eleanor’s sprained her ankle and I think he’s fine but apparently they need us to come find them.”

Mason got out of bed and quickly pulled on a pair of jeans. Ingram grabbed the house keys and Mason followed him out the door. Quickly locking up, Mason and Ingram set out to find the duo.

Aaron

“You still haven’t told me what’s happened.” El said, leaning against the tree.

“El, you see that over there?” Aaron pointed at the ground in the middle of the trees a few feet from them.

El peeked her head around the tree, looking at where Aaron was pointing. “Yeah?”

“Look a little bit off the center, towards the left.”

“Holy fucking shit!” Eleanor almost lost her balance but Aaron caught her, helping her stand against the tree again. “Is that a human hand?”

#writeblr #writblr #original writing #creative writing #writer #ayato #A Year At The Opera #wip #oc #excerpt

7 notes · View notes

foreveralwaysanauthor · 5 years

Note

oooh I’d definitely like to see mick and xander for the character sheet thing!

Alright! I’ll do Mick on this one and a separate one for Xander.

Dotted orange text is category

Numbered bold text is subcategory (ie. favorite food and favorite color under Favorites)

—————

Name: Makana Kaya Birch

From: Broken Record and Creating a Rift (my Teen Beach Movie fanfictions)

Age: 16 (Broken Record) and 18-19 (Creating a Rift

Appearance: Brown hair, just past shoulder blades. Brown eyes with a green ring. Wears mostly shorts and t-shirts in her world, but wears more dresses and play suits in Wet Side Story.

Preferences:

Sexuality: Straight

Favorites:

Food: Tacos

Color: Red

Animal: Octopus

Weather: Snowing. She visited New Hampshire with her parents for Christmas one year and fell in love with snow.

Season: Summer

Time of day: Afternoon/Evening

Music: Beach Boys

Foods they will/will not eat.

Will: Pretty much anything.

Won’t: Chili and yogurt. (Frozen yogurt is fine, just not regular yogurt)

Religion: The attend church, never said which. It’s up to the reader.

Political Beliefs: Independent. (She chooses whoever seems best, not by their status as either a Democrat or a Republican)

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

Personality: Empathic. Laid back to an extent, but mature enough to know when to be serious. She has a good head on her shoulders and has high hopes for attending a college in Florida, the other side of the country.

Family:

Parents: McKenzie Phoebe Birch, née Ellis, and Brady Aaron Birch

Any siblings? No.

Family life:

What was it like growing up? Pretty nice. Mack was the more serious one and Brady was the more laid back one. They evened each other out enough for Mick to have a simple, yet loving childhood.

Anything from childhood that affects them in their present state? Being taught to surf at only 3. Her great-grandfather (Mack’s grandfather) teaching her that communication is important in relationships. Her parents making her watch Wet Sode Story all the time and listen to their stories about being there.

Discipline as a child? If she got in trouble at school/at home she was kept from surfing, dancing and listening to music. If she got grounded for any reason, she was kept between home and school along with the aforementioned discipline. Getting low grades was never something Mick worried about, but her parents knew that if she got a grade lower than a C, she would get a tutor, but that was all.

Rich, poor or in between? In between. They weren’t rich rich, but they had enough to not worry about money much. Due to Mack being a professor and Brady creating new technology along with taking over the surf shop, they were well off.

Cultural history:

Any affects? Not really. She is French, Italian and a touch Scottish. Mack and Brady taught her that she was no different from anyone else and that skin color/cultures don’t mean you can treat/be treated by others differently.

Traditions? Visiting her Mom’s family back in New Hampshire every other Thanksgiving. They visit Australia to surf every year. Brady’s family will take the family for a vacation every once in a while.

Flaws

Overthinker. Mick takes things apart bit by bit until she’s come to her own conclusion, whether it be right or wrong.

Too straight forward. She has no filter to keep things from going directly from her mind to her mouth. Sometimes, she’ll catch herself, but other times, what she’s thinking will make it’s way out.

Over emotional. I think we’ve all seen her overreact to things like the whole journal thing and the idea that Butchy might drop her for someone better.

Wants

Attend a college.

Get married, maybe get a dog.

Visit England and maybe Japan.

Help her dad make new kinds of surfboards.

Needs

Family time.

Medication (EpiPen and inhaler).

Love, both familial and otherwise.

Pictures of cute animals.

Fears

Heights.

Alzheimer’s/Dimentia.

Losing the ability to surf.

Being strangled/attacked.

Losing her best friends/family/husband.

How do they handle:

Disappointment: If directed toward herself, she clams up and holds it against herself for a while. If directed towards others, she will make sure to say she’s disappointed, yet not make it a big deal after maybe a day or so.

Anger: Depending on the range, she can go from rolling her eyes and scoffing to full on assault mode where she can (and will) harm the person *cough* Xander *cough*

Embarrassment: Try to fight it and pretend her face isn’t a cherry look alike.

Betrayal: From a friend, probably alienate herself from them slowly until there isn’t any more contact between them. From others, most likely just say “why?” and try to move on.

Fight or flight: Depends, once again. In an attack, fight. In a situation she really doesn’t wanna be a part of, fly like a bird.

Money: Mick hates to spend money on herself. She likes to save her money and use it when necessary if it’s on herself. She’s all for spending on her friends, though, as long as it’s in reason.

Lack of sleep: Insert Red Bull and energy pills.

Alcohol: Hahahahaha! Fucking drunk off her ass. I could see her going through this, stage by stage, within maybe an hour of drinking:

Injustice: Try to find a way to make things right again. “There will always be a solution as long as we try hard enough.” -Mick from a future chapter...

Mental illness: She gets so frustrated about it, lemme tell you. When she got her memory back, a seed of fear planted itself in her that she may lose her mind someday. She’s not from the perfect world Butchy’s from, she’s scared of forgetting everything again.

Grief: Closing herself off so nobody can see her crying or worrying over existential fears.

Exercise: Other than dancing, surfing, and maybe riding her bicycle, she despises exercising. Her gym teacher in elementary school made them run laps on the track around the football field almost every class, so she developed a hatred of exercise. (My school had a mile long track around the field that our teacher forced us to do. Use that as a guide for how far the teacher made these 5-9 year old kids run)

Defining moment: You’ll see it soon, let’s just leave it at that.

How do they feel about:

Glitter: Every Halloween, Mick will run to the costume supply shop and stock up on all of the glitter they possess. Pressed glitter, yup. Little bottles that you’re supposed to put on as necklaces, you betcha! Glitter eyeliner, ooooh yeah! Glitter witch hats and sparkly crowns, she owns three of them already!

Ferris Wheels: HECK NO.

Camping: In a camper, yes. On the ground, no. Not with all the mosquitoes and other creepy crawlies lurking about. In other words, Mick is our average Glamper.

Coffee: Brown water with ground up beans? Yeah, no, she’ll pass.

Crispy or floppy bacon: Any bacon is good bacon. She likes it in the middle, but anyway is good, really.

Mushrooms: Allergic.

Twilight Saga: Sparkly boys and werewolves and a fucking creepy cgi baby and-, hold up, is that Jay? Like, Mal and Malina’s friend? Wtf??? 🤨🤨

Guns: Owns a mini gun for protection and shares custody of a shotgun with Butchy. Butchy taught her how to use them both properly in case of an emergency or if someone were to break in. She is a licensed owner and never has had to use them before. She believes that guns don’t kill people, the people holding them do.

Extras

Do they have a signature smile? Not really.

Do they have a tell when they lie? Fidgeting with fingernails or scratching her head.

Do they have any nervous ticks? Her fingers shake, she bites her lips/cheeks, and her legs bounce if she’s sitting at a table or something.

Do they speak loudly, softly, or average? Average, leaning more toward loud.

Quality of voice. Smooth, like a lake on a windless day. Her voice rises more toward the middle of her sentences, but can also fall into a deeper tone if she’s not really concentrating on her inflection. It’s almost like watching a pinball rise and fall throughout a game, never sure where it’ll go.

Do they gesture when talking? She’s French. Of course she talks with her hands. Perhaps she should take up sign language, that might help her to stop gesturing so loudly 😆

Do they understand personal space? Yes, very much so. She enjoys her personal space and grants that to other as well out of habit.

How do they greet others? Usually “Hey” “Hi” or “What’s up?”

How do they say goodbye? “See you later/around!”

Something they always have with/on them. The bracelet with Butchy’s initial that matches the one he has with her initial. Her engagement ring. The flower ring. Her lucky shell necklace with a heart bead dangling from the center.

Do they recognize people better by their face or their name? She’s terrible with both, to be honest. She knows the names of people, but can never decide if it’s them or not by looking at them.Reversely, if she were to recognize someone as familiar, she wouldn’t be able to place a name with them until they said who they were.

What do they admire most in others? Honesty. Fairness. Compassion. Love of animals. Love in general. Intellect.

Pet peeves. Silverware grinding on ceramic plates/bowls. Questionably sticky floors. Loud people when there’s no reason to be loud.

What grosses them out? The smell of sliced cheese with nothing else on/with it, the smell of peroxide/rubbing alcohol, moist objects, the smell of diesel radiating off of a truck.

2 notes · View notes

defleurtradingco · 5 years

Text

The Merry Month of Mirth- Fussy

(Previous: Tender , Next: Fire)

“I don’t know about this Solaina- what if we get in trouble- WHAT IF SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS-” “Ben- relax, it will be fine. You are being fussy over nothing.” “AM I?”

Solaina furrowed her brows at the moth. The moth-man as it were.

Ben’s antenna twitched and his mouth curled upwards into an awkward toothy smile. “Ahah- well when you put it like that I guess I could take a quick look- b-but no more ok?! I don’t like messing with this stuff...it’s scary!!” “I know, but you are the only one I can ask right now. Grandfather wouldn’t help me.” At that Solaina brought out the packet of cigarettes and handed them over.

Ben took them gingerly and squeezed it briefly. “Huh...well I mean, I coulda toldja that,”

The woman rolled her eyes. “Anyhow...” “Right, right! Ok uh...let me see...” He closed his eyes (who knew bugs had eyelids?) and waited. Every so often he would twitch or make some funny little chattering sound. “Hang on I’m- I’m getting something...Oh it’s coming...it’s coming!-” Solaina leaned forward, as though that would help her see whatever he was possibly seeing or sensing, when all of a sudden Ben exploded with a loud screech and tossed the packet into the air. She fumbled for it but managed to catch it. “What in th-” “YOUUU NEED TO THROW THAT AWAY! OR BURN IT- You know what, burning it and LAUNCHING IT INTO SPACE would be good!!” Ben had already run a few lengths away to hide behind one of the recreational room’s couches. He peeked out over the top of it, shivering. “Why? What’s wrong? Did you find something? Do you know where this came from?” Solaina asked, coming closer. Ben ducked down behind the sofa again, hands gripping the top of it tightly still. “OH I know fae when I smell it! That’s covered in the stuff! Now why I had such a delayed reaction about it I couldn’t tell you- it felt like it was like...buried somehow- like it was masked- oh just like the logo! I get it-OH THAT DOESN’T MATTER THE POINT IS IT SMELLS LIKE FAE it LOOKS LIKE FAE and it’s just plain bad- burn it! But don’t smoke it! Smoking’s bad for you!” Solaina sighed, brushing her hair back with one hand as the other held onto the cigarettes. “Why would fae have touched this?”

“Well I dunno. Maybe it’s just the one? You said whoever it was gave it to Ray and Aaron right?”

“I never said that.” “Well, you were going to! You’re welcome for saving you about twenty seconds I guess...”

She put her free hand to her chin next. “...We need another to confirm that this may be the only anomaly. But I have a feeling that may be easier said than actually done.” “Well good luck to whoever you send cuz I ain’t goin’!” Ben whined as he looked over the sofa again.

“No, I would need to ask the others exactly where they found this. That will be my best bet.” With that she turned to leave.

“W-wait right NOW? D-don’t you wanna like- I dunno, look more into it or, or something??? I mean-” “I don’t have time to, I’m afraid.” Solaina answered as she pulled her cell phone out.

“But it’s right in the middle of dinner time!! You know how cranky Ray’s gonna get.” “I do,” She sighed as she tapped on their number. Or Aaron’s rather. He was more amicable about such things, usually. “Unfortunately this cannot be ignored.”

“J-just be careful- it feels all gross and ugly- I don’t like the energy that’s attached to that. It’s nasty! Stuff you don’t wanna be messing with.” “Or, ‘stuff’ I DO want to be messing with. Because that would mean something dangerous is left unchecked. And, judging by Grandfather’s reaction, and now yours? That seems to have become more and more true.” “W-well yeah- I MEAN- agh,” Ben finally stood up in his spot, refusing to move. “Fae are finicky! You don’t find them unless they WANT YOU to find them Solaina- c-c’mon you know that! It’ll be like looking for a needle in a haystack, only- only there’s no needle! It’s stuck in a portal to another dimension somewhere...”

Before Solaina could respond, Aaron finally picked up the phone, just before the last ringtone.

“...Yes?? Is something wrong??” “Always.” She couldn’t help but say it so lightheartedly too. “I’m afraid I need you to come back to the location where you found these cigarettes.” “...Wait- right now? Must we? We were just going to start dinner right now-”

Already Solaina could hear Ray complaining in the background and getting angry. “I apologize- as soon as you’re through, meet me back at the donut shop by the park. I will be waiting for you.”

“… Fine, I suppose.” He hung up then, not sounding very happy about it (and understandably so.)

Solaina slipped her phone back into her pocket and shook her head. “Stay here. It will be safer that way.” “Oh Solaina you know I’d come with ya b-but-” Ben shivered as he came over reluctantly. “I-I just don’t like messin’ with that stuff. Funny coming from me I know! B-but-” “Yes I know, I know.” She reached over and gave him a few pats on the back. “Don’t worry. I have everything handled.”

“I-I hope so...” “Relax, it will be fine… Anyway, I’ll be back. Keep the place safe.”

“Oh please! Let me just get out my laser beams and things to defend headquarters with!” Ben waved to her back as she left.

She laughed a little as she headed off to the outside yet again.

#mirth #ben screams at everything

2 notes · View notes

gayasinstupidpodcast · 6 years

Photo

Gay As In Stupid’s second episode is out! (pun intended)

Hey y’all! It’s Isaac and Aaron and we’re back with another episode of our Fantastically gay podcast, Gay As In Stupid! This month’s episode is about gay trans experiences, where me and Isaac share some of our experiences as gay trans men, talk about the history of societal and medical prejudice, and share an interview with a spectacular trans lesbian on her point of view!

You can find us on the Itunes Podcast App/Webpage at Gay As In Stupid Podcast! You can also find our episodes uploaded to Youtube and Soundcloud! Sorry for any audio goofs this episode! Recoding in my college dorm has proven to be a thotty whom we will have to get used to working with.

Ordinarily, me and Isaac would put our main sources under Further Reading at the top, but I (Aaron) found the main sources I had to go through for this month’s topic to contain disgusting levels of transphobia that I would feel irresponsible telling our listeners to read. If you want to know what I looked through and used, however, feel free to DM me @albert-dj-cashier

Aaron’s 2018 September Recs!

What The Trans?! (podcast)

A roughly hour-per-ep podcast by Michelle and Ashleigh, two trans women living in the U.K! The hosts are witty, informative, and compelling, and they talk about topics like the current events in UK trans politics, representation in media, institutionalized prejudice, and personal experiences! Their episodes are really fun as well as interesting, and they have a great dynamic!

Big Eden

This is an absolutely Classic gay feel-good film, and one of me & my friend Lauren’s personal favorites! It centers around a gay New York artist who returns to his childhood home in Montana to care for his grandfather, and finds himself having to deal with the loose threads he left behind (and Also finds an unexpected love interest). It’s cute, romantic, super funny, and doesn’t leave you with long spans of meaninglessly meaningful shots and call it Film.

Isaac’s 2018 September Recs!

Yank! A WWII Love Story: A New Musical

Follows Stu, a young man who gets drafted into World War II where he ends up becoming a photographer for ‘Yank Magazine, a journal for and by the servicemen’. In present day, Stu’s old journal is discovered, and his story of the war, and his romance with Mitch; a handsome Private he met during training. It’s fun, colorful and absolutely heartbreaking. The songs are memorable, and so are the characters. If you like heart-string pulling gay romances and strong lesbians, this production will make you horny!

MIKA

If you aren’t already listening to MIKA, then I don’t think you’ve been living yet. His songs are sweet and fun to dance to, and truly never get old. He’s gay and a talented singer-songwriter. The music he makes can be best described as Pop/Glam Rock (also GAY!!!) Love yourself and go give “Talk About You” and “Grace Kelly” a listen.

MARCY’S FULL AND WONDERFUL INTERVIEW UNDER THE READ MORE

Q: How do you identify? A: I am a trans woman and a lesbian.

Q: How do you feel trans straight people react to your identity? A: honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t personally know any straight trans people. I’d imagine that we have common grounds on dysphoria and trying to understand gender, but with regards to sexuality, I’m sure it’s kinda up in the air. I doubt there’d be like, hostility regarding my identity. Probably just general acceptance, maybe some minor prodding.

Side note: not to generalize, but from what I understand, straight trans women tend to have different experiences with self-discovery than bi or lesbian trans women. The former tend to figure things out earlier, are sometimes seen as more traditionally feminine, etc. Some of this is from rather TERFy science, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

Q: How do you feel your identity is perceived in the LGBT Community? A: from an intracommunity standpoint, I think that trans WLW in general are steadily becoming more accepted as we speak up about or lives and experiences. Many cis WLW, whether actively or passively, exhibit an alarming amount of transphobic beliefs, but I like to think they’re in the minority.

Q: How do you present your gender and what do it mean to you? A: I’m butch, so my experience with womanhood and femininity is… interesting, to say the least. I certainly don’t take a traditional approach to femininity, and I find that very empowering, especially as a trans woman. I don’t wanna force myself into a role that I’m not comfortable filling, just to appeal to what society expects of me. I wear suits and vests and I keep my hair short and I’ve honestly never even touched makeup, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Q: What role do you feel like the intersection of your gender and your sexualilty play in your life? A: my gender and my sexuality are both very important to me, the intersection thereof even moreso. Understanding that intersection has helped me piece together a lot of the questions I had growing up. To put it simply, figuring out that I’m not just trans, but also a lesbian, has helped me figure out like, the past eight-to-ten years’ worth of failed romantic endeavors. The way I experience relationships, the way I interact with people, the way I love are all impacted by both my gender and my sexuality; neither’s importance can be understated.

Q: Do you feel like your gender presentation makes people more prone to invalidate your identity? A: pardon my language but, of fucking course. Like, cis people and transphobes alike will find any reason they can to invalidate a trans person. But the second they find a trans woman who’s a lesbian, who isn’t presenting like a perfectly feminine stereotype, all bets are off my dude. Until I have like, B-cup tits and a soft face, I’m essentially a straight guy in most people’s faces. Which, eh, who cares at this point? Straight people have never understood butch womanhood. I don’t expect them to recognize a trans butch when they see one.

Q: Do you feel like your identity as a gay trans person makes it harder for you to receive proper medical care (hormones, sexual health, etc)? A: quite honestly, I don’t know yet. I’m still pre-HRT; I have yet to jump through the hoops and red tape necessary to get hormones and whatnot. I imagine it’ll be tough, though.

Q: How has your coming out process been different than if you were just trans or gay? A: the biggest difference, for me at least, is that it’s been a multi-step process. For a while I thought I was a bi cis man, then pansexual and agender, then a bi trans woman, and it wasn’t until ~June 2017 that I figured out I was a trans lesbian. Coming out to friends has always been easy; they pick up on new identities and pronouns fairly easy. Honestly, I don’t think my parents quite understand what being trans is right now, but we’re working on it.

Q: Have you ever found yourself feeling guilty over your attraction to women because of your gender identity? A: honestly? At least once a week, I have that dysphoric voice in my head telling me I’m just some creepy straight guy preying on lesbians. I know it isn’t true, it’s just self-doubt and internalized transphobia and TERF rhetoric echoing, but it’s hard to not think that, frankly. Especially when it’s repeated so often.

Q: Do you feel like your voice is heard/your identity is seen between media and the community? A: in media? Outside of a few niche places (and surprisingly, IDW’s Transformers comics), trans lesbians are largely pretty nonexistent. Of course, in the actual community we’re much more populous, but frankly we’re a little bit insular as we tend to mostly befriend and date one another. All in all, don’t think we’re entirely invisible, but I do think we could do with some more fictional representation, and to get more involved with the larger LGBT community.

Q: Is there anything else about your experience as a gay trans person you would like to add? A: admittedly, it hasn’t been until recently that I’ve felt truly comfortable around cis lesbians. Most of my relationships in the past few years have been with other trans girls. There’s a variety of reasons for this, and every woman’s experiences are her own, but for a long time I was afraid that cis lesbians just wouldn’t recognize me as a woman. Q: Would you like your instagram/tumblr to be linked in the episode description? A: sure! I’m @opossumghoul on tumblr and @opossumbutch on other social media

#gay as in stupid podcast #Gay Podcast #lgbt podcast #LGBT Creators #lgbt #gay trans

40 notes · View notes

thorne93 · 6 years

Text

The Newcomer (Part 8)

Prompt: You’re Y/N Beauchamp, daughter to Wendy Beauchamp. When you’re sent away to Spenser Academy, you have no idea what waits for you there…

Word Count: 1649

Warnings: language, violence, anger…

Notes: This is for @xx-multi-fandom-imagines challenge! Crossover of The Covenant, and the show Witches of East End. Beta’d by @like-a-bag-of-potatoes and @carryonmyswansong. Wouldn’t be possible without brainstorming with @carryonmyswansong, so thank you for that, darlin!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day of the party… Since you and Caleb lived together you figured it’d be easier if you and the guys went, instead of you and Chase. Caleb double checked to make sure he wasn’t taking you away from your boyfriend.

“No, I wanna be with you and the boys,” you assured.

“Really? Hardly saw you all summer,” he teased with a half smile.

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry about that, I just--”

“Hey, don’t apologize for meeting a cool guy and having a good time. So long as he treats you good, right?” he said, pointing a stern finger at you as the two of you walked down the stairs.

“Right. Does this look okay?” you suddenly asked, looking down at your ensemble for the beach. You chose jeans and a tight sweater with a tank top underneath. It would be cold tonight and you didn’t want to freeze just to look hot.

“It looks great. Stop worrying,” he instructed. “I’m sure Chase will dig it,” he noted, knowing what you were worried about.

“Thanks,” you shyly responded as you stepped into the kitchen. The two of you made a quick snack, waiting on Tyler to pick you all up in the Hummer for the party.

He arrived sooner than you thought, with the other three guys already in the car. You and Caleb slid in the back with Pogue, greeting them all as you got in.

“Why are you guys here so early?” you wondered.

“We’re gonna hang out a bit before the party, then when it’s going good, we’re gonna drop in,” Reid explained.

“Ah, okay. Sounds good.”

“You sure? You don’t need to check with Chase?” Tyler joked, looking at you in the rearview. You reached up and flicked his ear and stuck your tongue out.

“I don’t need his permission to do anything, jackass,” you joked back.

With that, all of you were off. Tyler parked the Hummer with the rest of the kids’ cars near the Dells, maybe a two minute walk from the bonfire and party site. But the five of you actually headed up to hang out on the cliff that overlooked the beach.

It was still daylight and you decided to have a little bit of fun with them. With all of you lying on the ground, you manipulated the clouds above you into a fantastic scene. Clouds formed into dragons, breathing lightning; or fireworks of clouds and little puffs shooting out of them; or a girl and a guy dancing across the sky. The guys started to make requests after the first few, to which you obliged.

Talk of senior year started, everyone talking about college, future plans. Eventually talk somehow rounded back to you and your family.

“Any word from them?” Caleb asked.

“Yeah, is that grandfather of yours here or…?” Pogue wondered.

“I have no idea,” you informed them. “My mom told me I would hear from them if he was defeated or when the coast was clear and so far, nothing. Complete radio silence.”

“Man that blows,” Tyler remarked. “To not know what’s up with your family.”

“Yeah, but you guys have really helped soften the blow,” you assured.

“And Chase,” Reid teased with an eye roll and mocking tone.

“Yes, and Chase.”

Caleb interjected, “Hey, so what’s the deal with this Chase guy anyway?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean like, can you trust him? If he found out about your powers?”

“Yeah, he’s a good guy,” you assured.

“If you say so,” Pogue said, sounding uncertain. “When school starts though, we’re meeting this kid, for real. No thirty second stop-and-shop.”

You laughed. “Okay, okay. Well he should be here tonight, you can meet him then, really meet him.”

“Good. He needs to know exactly what will happen if he even thinks of hurting you.”

All of you shared a small laugh before going back to talking about school, upcoming classes you shared, and how you planned to help get them through this school year.

Finally, it turned dark and all of you agreed the party should be in full swing by now so you ventured from your spot on the cliff to the edge. You looked down, seeing a group of about forty or fifty kids dancing, listening to loud music, and drinking.

“Looks pretty crazy down there,” you noted with a small smile.

“Well hell, let’s drop in,” Reid said just before jumping off, making you gasp and step forward before Caleb caught you.

“Oh shit yeah,” Tyler agreed before he turned and stepped off the cliff backwards.

“Tyler!” you and Caleb shouted together.

“Come on, you two. It’s not like it’s gonna kill us… yet,” Pogue slyly remarked before diving as well.

“Ugh, those fucking morons,” you uttered.

“I know,” Caleb said with a sigh. “You ready to join ‘em?”

You rolled your eyes and let out a huff of air. “Yeah, fuck it, let’s go.”

The two of you stepped off, and you held your hands palm side down to slow the fall and fly gracefully. The two of you landed as if you stepped off a half-foot step. Joining the other guys, you began walking your way over to the beach where everyone seemed to turn to notice the five of you, as they always did.

Of course, Pogue caught sight of Kate and all of you headed that way. It seemed that Reid and Caleb had their sights set on a new blonde girl who seemed to have a delicate, innocent aura about her. Kate gave Pogue shit for being late, to which you fought an eye roll. Before you knew it, Reid and Caleb were already hitting on the new girl, Sarah.

“Hi, I’m Y/N,” you greeted and she nodded and shook your hand with a smile.

Suddenly, Kira, the class skank was between Sarah and Caleb, making you want to throw up. Kira was about as desperate and fake as they came.

“Hey, Caleb,” she greeted, pushing Sarah back.

“Kira,” he responded.

“How was your summer?” she asked before turning to condescend Sarah. “I’m Kira.”

“Sarah,” she politely said.

“Oh, right. From the Boston public. Tell me, how does one go about getting into Spenser from a public?” Kira quipped making you roll your eyes.

“Why don’t you give it a rest, Kira?” Caleb requested with exasperation.

Within a flash, Aaron the prick was in the way, throwing Caleb’s words back at him. ‘Why don’t you give it a rest?”

“I don’t want any trouble, Aaron,” Caleb informed easily.

The thought that Aaron could be any trouble for Caleb as amusing and you had to fight a smirk and laugh.

“I’m sure you don’t,” Aaron stated.

Aaron’s friend suddenly spoke up and said, “You posers make me wanna puke.”

“Is that right?” Reid asked as he charged forward.

Caleb held him back and ordered, “Hey, let it go.”

You took Reid’s arm and tried to calm him down with just your presence, which usually worked.

Aaron said, “I think you owe Kira an apology.”

Caleb challenged, “Actually, I think Kira owes Sarah the apology.”

Aaron looked back to the two girls before shoving Caleb, making your anger flair. Just as you were about to step in and break his fucking jaw, Chase was there in a flash.

He smiled that charming smile, disarming the situation before looking to Kira and stating, “You were being kind of bitchy.”

A small laugh escaped you at his comment and he looked over at you and winked.

In two seconds, Aaron’s dumbass friend puked on Aaron and Kira, making the rest of you back away, just as you heard someone announce that cops were on their way.

“Oh, shit, we gotta go!” you called out with a laugh. Within seconds all of you were nearly jogging back to the car.

Chase said he needed a ride, to which Sarah offered him one. The lot of you got in your respective rides when Sarah called out stating her car wouldn’t start. They offered her a ride but she said she couldn’t leave her car. Reid suddenly told her he could fix it.

“Reid, don’t,” you warned.

“It’s not over yet, Y/N,” he sing-songed.

“Reid!” Caleb called as Reid got out of the car.

“Let it go, it’s his life,” Pogue reminded but you couldn’t. You’d grown so attached to these boys and you really wanted Reid to stop being so damned immature when it came to his magic.

Within a few seconds, Reid fixed Sarah’s car, making you sigh in frustration before he ordered Tyler to move over to let him drive. Caleb wanted Reid to stop driving when the cops showed up behind the car but Reid made a compelling point that this wouldn’t look good to Harvard so Caleb acquiesced and told Reid to cut across the huge cliff that was Marblehead.

The ride was wild, intense, and crazy as Reid drove at break-neck speeds. The car was quickly approaching the cliff when everyone agreed that it would take everyone’s power to get the car over the cliff an back onto the main land. As soon as it was time, all of you invoked your magic to lift the huge SUV and its occupants over the cliff, forcing the cops that had been chasing you to stop dead in its tracks before it flew over as well. Next thing they knew, the SUV had landed behind them. Making all of you laugh as Reid spun the vehicle around and headed off toward the main road.

“How about that for a start to senior year?” you asked with a breathless laugh, to which the guys joined in on. Pretty soon, all of you were home, in your own beds, ready to start senior year. You hoped you wouldn’t have to go through senior year without hearing from your family…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forever Tag:

@cocosierra94

@essie1876

@magpiegirl80

@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked

@iamwarrenspeace

@marvel-imagines-yes-please

@superwholocked527

@missinstantgratification

@thejemersoninferno

@rda1989

@munlis

@thefridgeismybestie

@bubblyanarocks3

@igiveupicantthinkofausername

@kaliforniacoastalteens

@feelmyroarrrr

@kaeling

@friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo

@damalseer

@heyitscam99

@yknott81

@sorryimacrapwriter

@glitterquadricorn

@xxqueenofisolationxx

@little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama

@bittersweetunicorm

Sebastian Stan:

@nedthegay

@lostinspace33

@alwayshave-faith

@elleatrixlestrange

@buenostardissherlock

@lenawiinchester

@the-red-world-of-jess-chibi

@memory-of-a-goldfish

@shamptain-shmerica

@crazybutconfidentaf

@esoltis280

@alwayshave-faith

#the newcomer #chase collins x reader #chase collins fic #chase collins #the covenenant #witches of east wick

26 notes · View notes

troublemakerfiction · 6 years

Text

35. Pt. 1

Imani

“Imani, I need to see you when everybody leaves.” Dr. Anderson said as everybody was packing up to leave class.

“Okay,” I nodded even though I was confused.I was one of the best students in this class so I don’t even know what she needed to talk to me about.

I walked to the front of the class waiting for everybody to leave so I could find out what was going on. Walking past me Malcolm bumped my shoulder then glared at me.

Apparently this nigga is still salty about Kason beating his ass and he’s been acting like an asshole since it happened. I understand being mad but this nigga was really trying my damn patience.

“What’s going on Dr. Anderson?” I asked once everybody was out. Dr. Anderson who was a very attractive older black woman took her glasses off then sighed.

“I don’t like beating around the bush and I’m actually very pissed about this so I’m going to be honest with you. Have you ever heard of Aaron Bradford?”

“Uh yeah, he’s like the most decorated surgeon to come out of this school.”

“Exactly and he donates a lot of money into this school and this program. He’s also related to one of your classmates.” She said.

“Wait you said Bradford right?” I asked just to be sure. The only Bradford I know is Malcolm Bradford, the fuck does his people mean to me?

“Yes,” she gave me a sympathetic look.

“Okay, um…what does he have to do with me?”

“Well they wanted me to say that something went wrong with your admission but the truth is Aaron Bradford made some calls and you can’t come back here.”

“Wait what?” I had to be hearing her wrong because I know she didn’t just say I was kicked out.

“You cannot come back to this medical school; actually he’s been making phone calls to every major medical school in the state. Nobody will admit you, I don’t know how you got on his bad side but it’s not a good place to be if you want to make it in this field.”

“I don’t understand how he can just get me kicked out. I’m a straight A student, I’ve been working my ass off! I sacrificed my fuckin’ relationship for this shit and they’re just going to put me out. Finals are next week!”

“There’s nothing I can do about it Imani.”

“What about my tuition, my dad paid a lot of money to this damn school.”

“I know and I was told to give you this,” She grabbed an envelope out of her bag then handed it to me. I opened it to see a refund check for my tuition. I had to grab the table to keep myself out because I felt like the wind was just knocked out of me. I was really kicked out, what the fuck?

“Are you okay?” She grabbed my arm helping me keep balance. “I’m sorry Imani; you’re one of my best students. I wish there was something I could do.”

Not even bothering to say anything I walked out the classroom and straight outside so I could get to my car. Just as I was unlocking my door I heard laughing from behind me so I turned around.

“Had a good meeting?” Malcolm smirked at me.

“You think this shit is funny? Your pussy ass got me kicked out of school!” I shouted at him; he was lucky I wasn’t breaking his fucking neck right now.

“Aye this isn’t my fault; blame your man for being out of control.”

“Out of control my ass, you’re just mad your pretty ass got beat the fuck up. I had nothing to do with what happened to you and you know it so why are you even going this far?”

“Because I can,” he shrugged. “You know I can easily get my grandfather to fix this if you cooperate,”

“Excuse me?” I looked at him as if he was stupid, “What the fuck do you mean by cooperate?”

“You know exactly what that means,” he grabbed my hand but I snatched it away from him.

“Kiss my ass Malcolm; I’m not fucking you to get back in school.”

“Fine, stay kicked out then it really means nothing to me. It is what it is and there aint shit you can do about it.” With that he smiled at me then walked off.

I got in my car then pulled my phone from my purse. “I can’t do shit but I know who can.” I went down my call log then hit the number I was looking for. Putting it to my ear I heard it ring twice before it finally got answered. “Daddy,”

***

“How the fuck can he kick you out of school like that?” Haze questioned with an angry look on his face. We were in my dad’s living room along with Kason talking about the bitch shit Malcolm pulled on me.

“He’s a major donator or some shit like that, I don’t know exactly but he did it.”

“That’s fucked up; you would think ole boy would know not to try you.” Kason said and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

“Kason shut up, you’re the reason I’m even in this mess.” I snapped at him.

“Man I told you what the nigga said,”

“Alright but it wasn’t worth me getting kicked out of school. I always tell you to keep your damn temper in check but no Kason just has to do whatever the hell he wants. Now I’m out on my ass because of that bullshit!”

“You can be mad all you want to but calm the fuck down. Yelling at me aint getting your ass back in so quit with that shit. I apologized to you for that shit a long time ago, the fuck else you want me to do?”

“Nothing, you can’t do a damn thing.”

“Alright alright, shut the hell up.” My dad said when he came walking in the living room. “Look I made some calls and that lady was right. That Bradford has a lot of pull in the medical field; more than I have. That nigga is a heavy hitter.”

‘So now what? I’m supposed to just say forget being a surgeon?”

“No because there are how many medical schools in this damn country? You can pick one and go to any of them but it’s up to you if you want to do that. Now if you don’t want to leave then don’t but you’re going to have to figure out another career plan.” My dad told me.

“I’ll think about it, besides that though what about the Bradford’s? They get to get away with screwing me over?”

“You know I can handle that a couple of different ways,” Haze said. “Just let me know what you want me to do,”

“I don’t think getting rid of them are necessary, it’s not that deep.” I was pissed off but they didn’t have to die for that shit, it’s not that serious. “They do need their asses checked though,”

A smile crossed Haze’s face as he pulled his phone out. “I got an idea. You don’t want that nigga dead fine, he can live. When I’m done with his ass he’s going to wish his ass was dead though.”

“Don’t touch that man Haze, she just said it aint that serious.” Dad told him.

“I’m not about to touch that nigga, I am about to fuck his name and pockets up though. Give me a few hours and that niggas whole world is about to come crumbling down.”

I looked at Haze trying to figure out what his crazy ass was up to. As long as it’s nothing that will get anybody in trouble then I’m cool with it. I hope he fucks Malcolm’s life up.

After talking to my brother and father a little while longer Kason and I left and went back to my apartment. He hasn’t moved back in and he wasn’t going to but he was allowed to stay a few nights out of the week.

“You alright?” Kason asked after getting on my bed and lying next to me.

“No I’m pissed off. All of my hard work flushed down the toilet because he can’t handle getting beat up, then he waited to do it. A whole year’s worth of school down the drain. I don’t even know what I’m going to do now.”

“What do you wanna Imani? As a career what do you want to do for the rest of your life?”

“I wanna help children. That was the main reason I wanted to go to medical school in the first place.”

“You can still do that, like your pops said if we have to move to make that happen then so be it. If you don’t want to move there are more options.”

“Like what?”

“Your degree is in psychology, do something with it.” I nodded not even bothering to say anything else. What he was saying wasn’t a bad idea at all but I wasn’t trying to hear that shit. I wanted to be a surgeon and that bitch boy Malcolm just fucked it up for me.

***

“Girl you can do something else, it’s more than one way to help kids.” NuNu told me while I drove. We had just come from getting something to eat and now we were on our way to get our hair done. I made today my personal pamper day because all the drama with school was stressing me the hell out.

“I understand that but this is what I wanted and now that bitch of a nigga stepped in my way.”

“He’s going to get his, Karma is a big bitch and it will hit ass soon, trust me.”

“Well I need for Karma to hurry up because I need this to get done now.” I joked making us both laugh.

“Yo what the fuck?” NuNu said we pulled up to a red light.

“What?” I looked at her confused.

“Are those little bitches jumping somebody on the corner?” She pointed across the street and sure enough it was a group of girls looking as if they were all fighting the same person.

“That’s what it looks like.”

“Hell nah, park this car. I hate little punk ass girls like that.” I parked my car then we both got and went across the street. NuNu started grabbing them girls and pushing them while I took the civilized approach and separated them.

“Little bitch I dare you to hit me, I’m not her I’ll fuck you up.” NuNu threatened one of the girls that was involved when she looked as if she was about to swing.

“It’s cool; we’ll see you tomorrow you broke bitch!” The girl laughed then she and her friends ran off.

I looked at the girl on the ground. She was balled into a fetal position shaking like a leaf, she looked petrified and my heart instantly broke for her. The girl was wearing a navy blue polo shirt and khaki’s which told me they were still in grammar school so she couldn’t be older than 13 years old.

Squatting down I moved her hand from her face so she could see we weren’t there to hurt her. “You’re okay now, come on get up.” I grabbed her arm noticing she had multiple scars going up her forearm. Shaking it off I pulled her up off the floor.

“Oh hell no, which way did those little bitches go.” NuNu shouted when we got a look at the girls face. Her lip was busted, and even though she had a milk chocolate complexion her black eye was more than evident. Her clothes were dirty and obviously too small for her and her sneakers were run down. I wanted to believe the girls’ jumping her was the reason her clothes looked like that but something was telling me that wasn’t it.

“Can you help me get her cleaned up before you try to fuck somebody’s child up,” I said to NuNu. “Get some napkins out the store Rambo,”

She sucked her teeth but went to get some. I looked at the little girl and shook my head, I felt so bad for her. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“They jumped me,” she shrugged her shoulders. “I’m fine; I’m used to it anyway.”

“This happens a lot?”

Instead of answering she just shrugged her shoulders again. “Listen I don’t know why those girls were on you like that but you can’t just lie back and let somebody beat on you like that.”

“I’m one person,”

“That’s no excuse; people only do what you allow.” NuNu came back out with some napkins and a bottle of water. “Maybe your mother can switch schools or something,”

“Oh please,” she mumbled.

“What’s your name?” I wet some of the napkins then gave it to her so she could wipe the blood from her face.

“Ayanna,” She answered.

“How old are you?”

“13,”

“Okay well Ayanna, you need to talk to somebody about this because this isn’t right. If you don’t wanna talk to your mother I can do it for you.”

“No!” She shouted immediately then looked down at the ground before looking back up at me. “I don’t need you to talk to my mother, I’m fine.”

“Okay well where do you live I can drop you off.”

“That’s okay I’m fine,”

“You were just getting jumped by five girls how are you fine?” NuNu questioned. “We’re taking you home so you might as well get your little ass in the car and come on.” She walked over to the car and got in the front seat leaving me and Ayanna standing there.

“She’s rude but she’s right, I wouldn’t feel right leaving you here like this. So you can either let me drop you off or we can call your mom to come get you. Either way I’m not leaving you here alone.”

“Okay,” she walked over to the car and got in the backseat. When I got in she told me her address and I pulled off. When we pulled up in front of the address she gave me there was a woman sitting on the steps smoking a cigarette. I looked back at Ayanna and the fear was written all over her face. If I didn’t know that look so well I would’ve been confused about what was wrong with her.

“You alright?” I asked her and she nodded. I told NuNu’s rude ass to stay in the car then me and Ayanna got out. The woman on the steps looked at me confused as we walked up to the steps.

“Who the fuck is you?” The woman spat at me. “Ayanna get your ass over here,” she ordered and Ayanna rushed over to her.

“My name is Imani, me and my friend was driving and we saw her getting jumped by a group of girls so we broke it up. I didn’t feel right letting her be by herself so I brought her home.” I told her.

“Got your ass beat again,” the woman said before laughing then looked at me. “You didn’t need to break it up; I tell her all the time she gotta learn how to defend herself.”

“I’m sorry, are you her mother?” I asked if she said yes I was going to go off. I tell you she was jumped and your response is to laugh? Not only that this bitch was dressed like she was about to go on a date. Hair, clothes, nails and everything else was done but this little girl is walking around looking as if nobody loves her. What the fuck?

“Please does it look like I would give birth to that?” she said, laughing again then went up the stairs. She opened the door then looked at Ayanna, “Brings your black ass on, got people out here in my business.” She told her then went in the house.

I looked at Ayanna and I could tell her feelings were hurt. “I told you I was fine,” Ayanna said to me.

“You’re not fine,” I grabbed her arm looking at the scars I noticed earlier. “This doesn’t look like you’re fine to me. Neither does that eye,”

She snatched her arm away from me then looked down again. “I was jumped remember,”

“You were but that bruise on your face is not from today.” I lifted her face up then shook my head and sighed. “Listen, I don’t know who that woman is to you but it’s clear she doesn’t have your best interest at heart.”

“She’s my aunt; she’s all I have.”

“She doesn’t have to be,”

“What am I supposed to do? Tell somebody then get put in the system where it’s 10 times worse? This is my life lady; don’t pretend to care because I know you don’t.”

“How would you know that?”

“Why would you? I don’t need a rich girl like you feeling bad for me. You’re probably going to leave and laugh about everything I’m going through. You don’t know me so don’t act like you do.”

“I don’t have to know you, I was you!” I snapped at her then stopped and took a deep breath to calm myself down. “Ayanna I know you don’t know me and you have no reason to believe anything that comes out of my mouth but I know what you’re going through. I was in your place once, living with somebody that basically hates you except it was my own mother I was getting abused by. I know the life you’re living and I know that if you don’t get help you won’t be living period.”

Ayanna shook her head as tears went down her face. “Who’s going to help me? My mother is dead, nobody else wanted me she’s all I have.”

“Like I said before she doesn’t have to be.”

“So what am I supposed to do?”

“Nothing, I’ll do it I just need to know that you trust me.”

She looked at me as if she didn’t know what to do and I completely understood where she was coming from. Her aunt may hate and hurt her but it’s a pain she’s familiar with, and foster care can be hell for certain kids so I understand why she’s fearful.

“I-I don’t wanna go into foster care.”

“You won’t; will you trust me?”

She looked at the house then back towards me. “I’ll trust you. Just please don’t make me regret it.”

“I won’t I promise you. Stay right here,” I went up the stairs then knocked on the door. When the woman opened it she sucked her teeth.

“Are you still here? Damn, the fuck you want?”

“I wanted to tell you that I work for the department of children and family services.” I said and her whole face went damn near white.

“I um…umm I-“She stuttered.

“You can stop planning the lie you’re about to tell. The abuse and neglect of that little girl is more than clear so I can either call the police or you can let her go right now and forget she exists.”

“I can-“

“You can’t or you won’t? Listen to me, that girl is standing there with a black eye, a busted lip and dirty clothes that she can’t even fit yet here you are dressed like you’re living high and mighty. Do you really want me to get the police involved?”

She looked down at Ayanna then back at me. “Fine take her; just don’t call the police on me.”

I smiled a little bit then went back downstairs. “Come on, get in the car.”

“Where am I going?” Ayanna asked looking at me confused.

“Somewhere safe.” We went over to my car and hopped in. “Don’t ask I already know you were listening.” I said to NuNu without even looking at her. The window was cracked so I know she was eavesdropping.

“You know me so well.” She chuckled. “So I guess we’re not making it to the hair salon huh?”

“Nah not today,” I pulled my phone out and sent Shante a text briefly filling her in. “Ayanna are you hungry?”

“Yes,” she answered back.

“Alright we’ll get something for you to eat then we’ll head to where you’re staying.” I told her before I pulled off.

I stopped by a drive thru and picked her up something to eat before heading to my parent’s house.

When we pulled up I looked in the rear view mirror at Ayanna’s face and her mouth was almost at the floor. I couldn’t help but laugh, I know my dad’s house was huge.

“Whose house is this?”

“My parents come on.” We all got out of the car and I let us all in the house with my key. “NuNu take her to the living room.”

NuNu took her and I went upstairs to find Shante and my dad. I looked in all the rooms and found them in one of the guest bedrooms. My dad was on the bed watching Shante fold up clothes and walk back and forth from the closet. I know the door frame getting their attention.

“You work fast,” I told Shante looking at the bags on the bed.

“I know, I’m a pro at shopping. It’s a gift.” She laughed.

“What happened Imani who is this little girl?” My dad asked me.

“Long story short, we saw her getting beat up I took her home and her aunt was like my mother in another body. The way she talked to her, the way she didn’t even give a damn about the fact that she was beat up. She has scars on her arm so she’s taking whatever she’s going through out on herself. I wouldn’t have felt right seeing all that and just leaving her there. She’s 13, her name is Ayanna; dad she reminds me of myself so much it’s kind of scary.”

“Well I’ve talked to my lawyer already and he’s going to work on her staying here with us. She better not be any trouble, I don’t have time for that shit.” He said.

“Nasir shut up,” Shante waved him off. I know she was happy about this because Shante loves kids. Had it been up to her she and my dad would’ve had a house full but after Haze she found out having more children would be damn near impossible for her.

“I’m just saying,” He shrugged.

“I’m just glad y’all are open to letting her stay I know it’s really out the blue.”

“It is but she’s a child and just like you won’t turn your back we’re not going to either.” My dad said. “Let’s go meet her,”

We went downstairs to the living room where NuNu had Ayanna laughing extra hard. I don’t know at what but she found the shit funny.

“Ayanna,” I called her name getting both of their attention. “This is my dad Nasir, and my step mother Shante. Y’all this is Ayanna,”

“It’s nice to meet you love,” My dad said to her and Shante nodded with a smile on her face.

“Hi,” Ayanna said back in a shy tone.

“You’re going to be staying here while we figure everything out because there is no way I’m letting you go back to that witch you were just with.”

“Really? I’m going to live here, in a mansion? Are you serious?” She jumped up in excitement.

“Yes you can stay as long as you act like you can stay as long as you need to. She told me you were small I went and picked up some things for you, they should fit you perfectly. You can come with me I’ll show you to the room.” Ayanna left the room with Shante and I plopped down on the couch.

“I’m going to go back to the house when I get to the city and get all of her important paperwork so y’all won’t have a problem getting her in school.” I told my dad. “I’ll bring it to you guys tomorrow.”

“How do you know the aunt won’t be an issue?”

“Dad I told her I was child services and she almost shitted on herself. She knows she wasn’t treating that girl right, she’ll give me what I want.”

“Well as long as you’re sure I’m good. You’re staying for dinner? Shante took them damn ribs and shit out when she got that text so you know she’s about to go in.”

“We’re staying,” NuNu said before I could even answer making us laugh.

“I already knew your greedy ass was going to say that.” He told her before leaving the room.

“I told you, you didn’t need to be a surgeon to help kids.” NuNu said after we sat there in silence for a minute.

With a confused expression on my face I turned and looked at her. “What are you talking about?”

“You just turned that girl’s life around in a matter of hours.”

“That’s only because I could tell she was being neglected.”

“Exactly, if you can see that in her you can see that in other children too.”

“What are you getting at NuNu? I can’t move every abused child into my parents’ house.”

“No but you can help girls like her. You can talk to them, counsel them, make them see that being abused is not their fault and it’s not something they should keep quiet. Bitch you have a degree in psychology, us that shit.”

Chuckling I shook my head then nodded. “Kason was telling me the same thing.”

“My nigga, see I knew I liked him for a reason. He’s smart.” She laughed. “Nah for real though I think you should look into counseling young kids.”

“That’s a really good idea.”

With everything I’ve been through, helping kids in similar situations really seemed like the right thing to do. No it’s not being a surgeon but it’s still a way for me to help kids and save lives. Malcolm’s bitchassness might’ve just worked in my favor.

“Turn on the news,” Shante said when she came rushing in the living room.

“Why what’s wrong with you and where is Ayanna?”

“In the shower, Haze just called me, turn the TV on and go to channel 5.” I grabbed the remote off the coffee table then turned the TV on. When I got to channel 5 there was a breaking news report.

“After an anonymous tip award winning surgeon Aaron Bradford’s Saddle River, New Jersey home was raided by the FBI. After confiscating computers and other electronic equipment investigators found what is reported to be an enormous amount of child pornography.” The reporter on the news said and my mouth dropped.

“Oh shit, that nigga is a pervert!” NuNu shouted.

“According to investigators there are some videos of Aaron Bradford himself on tape having sexual relations with underage girls, some as young as 12 years old.”

“Wow,” I pulled my phone out of my purse and called Haze who picked up on the second ring.

“Yo,”

“How the hell did you find that out?”

“I may not have as much pull as that nigga but I know a lot of people.” He said before laughing.

“You called the police?”

“Hell no, fuck I look like talking to the pigs. I had somebody else do it, I just provided the information.”

“You really came through Haze, thank you.”

“I told you I got you, don’t even thank me. Tell NuNu to bring that ass home though, fuck is y’all doing?”

“I drove her here and Shante is about to cook so you know her fat ass aint leaving.”

“Ma cooking? Aww shit, I’m on my way.”

“Alright,” I laughed. “I’ll see you when you get here,” I ended the call then sat back against the couch. “Their whole family is about to be a joke,”

“Good, I can’t believe that shit. Nasty ass, they’re going to tear that ass up in prison just watch.” Shante said.

“I’m going to check on Ayanna,” I got up and went upstairs to the bedroom. I knocked on the door and waited. When she said come in I opened the door then walked in. “How are you doing up here?” I asked closing the door behind me.

“Good,” she smiled. “Thank you for helping me.”

“You’re welcome.” I sat on the chair that was in the room then looked at her. “So you can fit the clothes good.”

“Yeah she got the right size, how did she know?”

“Shante is just like that.” I shrugged.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead,”

“What made you wanna help me? My teachers don’t even do anything when I go to school looking the way I did.”

“I was in your position before, I was taken care of as far as clothes and things because of my dad but my mother was a monster. She would beat me, and just talk to me like I wasn’t shit. When I heard your aunt talking to you crazy it made me think about my own past. My dad took me out of that situation when he found out, and I’m grateful for that. I would’ve felt like shit if I didn’t try to step in and help you.”

“I don’t know why she hates me,”

“She has her own issues; anybody that can treat a child the way she did you has mental problems. You can’t let her problems become yours though. How long have you been cutting yourself?”

“How did you-“

“My scars used to look like that before they healed completely.” I cut her off and said.

“I just started doing it six months ago. Now that I think about it it’s stupid but at the time it made me feel better.”

“It’s a pain you can control, I know what you mean.” I stood up and went over to her. “You’re here now and my parents are going to make sure you’re good. They’re good people so you don’t have to be afraid of them.”

“Okay,”

“What happened to your mom? How did you end up with that evil bitch anyway?”

“She died last year,”

“How? You don’t have to answer me if you don’t want to.”

“its fine, umm her boyfriend killed her while I was right there then he killed himself.”

“Are you serious? Damn, I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”

She nodded then wiped her eyes that were filling up with tears. “Is that another reason you cut?” She nodded again. I pulled her in for a hug and let her cry as much as she needed to on shoulder. I don’t know what she was feeling but I know it’s not easy.

When she finally started to calm down she went and washed her face. While she was in there I thought about what I could do to help her. The abuse from her aunt I could help her deal with because I knew what that felt like but the pain she feels about her mother’s death is something different. I couldn’t really do too much for her when it comes to that but I knew who could.

Millz

“Hi pretty,” I said as I walked into my living room. Imani was sitting on the couch with a little girl I assumed to be Ayanna. About a week ago Imani called me telling me about a girl she ended up helping, after giving me all the details about that sick ass Bradford.

His perverted ass tried to fuck up my cousin’s future and got his own life fucked up; shit has a really funny way of working out. If he didn’t get Imani kicked out, she would’ve been in school at the time that girl got into the fight that NuNu spotted. Now Ayanna is in a safe and stable place and that pedophile is off the street.

“Damn you look swollen,” Imani said when I sat down.

“Shut your ass up; you’re supposed to say something nice. Rude ass,” I laughed, I knew she meant it in a joking way so I wasn’t going to bite her head off.

“That was nice but let me introduce y’all. This Ayanna, Ayanna this is my cousin Millz.”

“Hi,” she smiled showing off the prettiest set of dimples then turned her eyes to the floor. I couldn’t help but smile back at her, she’s beautiful.

“I wanted her to talk to you because you’ve went through similar things, but she can talk for herself so I’ll leave y’all alone. Are you okay with me leaving?” Imani asked her and she nodded without looking up. “Okay, I’m going upstairs to see the rugrats.” She got up and left the room going upstairs.

We sat there for a few seconds in silence before I decided to speak. “So what has Imani told you about me so far?” I asked, I needed to know where I had to start.

“She said that you saw your dad get killed when you were younger,” Ayanna answered me.

“Okay that’s true, you have any questions?”

“Ho-how did it happen?”

“Somebody was trying to rob him, and he wasn’t willing to give up his money or me so they killed him then killed my uncle too. I still have nightmares about it sometimes; it’s not an image you can escape.”

“I know what you mean,” she mumbled.

“What happened to your mother?”

She looked up at me with a sad look on her face. “Her boyfriend killed her.”

“Have you told anybody what you saw exactly?” I questioned.

“Besides the cops, no.” she shook her head then looked at the floor again.

“Well I think that’s something you should try to do. I know thinking about it is hard but holding it in feels even worse. It can start to eat away at you and that’s when problems start to form. So far what happened to you has taken away your self-esteem.”

When I said that she looked up at me confused. “Huh?”

“My dad always said anybody that can’t look you in the eye when they’re talking to you or vice versa that means they’re not sure of themselves. You keep looking at the floor like my face is down there and I’m talking to you.” Honestly her keeping her eyes on the floor as I’m talking to her was getting on my nerves.

She’s a shy girl and she’s timid as hell but I can’t stand when somebody has their eyes planted to the floor. That shows a weakness and I don’t play that shit. I feel for this girl, she’s been through a lot but I’m not about to coddle her, knowing Shante the way I do she’s probably doing that enough.

“When somebody is talking to you, you look at them. You’re not looking me in my face tells me you don’t’ give a damn about what I’m saying and I don’t play that game with kids. So keep your eyes at me; I know you’ve been through a lot but keep your held high don’t ever bow down to the bullshit you’ve been through. Do you hear me?”

“Yeah,” she nodded keeping her eyes on me.

“Okay,” I gave her a smile. “Tell me about your mother? Who was this boyfriend?”

“I don’t know she was just a mom,” she shrugged her shoulders. “A really good one, she cooked for us,”

“Us? You have siblings?”

“Amir, he w-was my brother.”

“Was?”

“He died,”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

She nodded wiping her eyes. “But yeah she was a good mom; everything was okay until she met Manolo.”

“Wait, who?” I asked. I know she didn’t just say Manolo, that’s a not a common name so what the fuck?

“Manolo,”

“Was he kind of light, tall? Big ass head?” I described Manolo the best way I could from the pictures I’ve seen of him,

“Yeah, you know him?”

“I know of him. How did your mother know him?”

“She met him in New York and he started coming around a whole lot. My brother didn’t like him, and he didn’t like my brother either. He was nice to me most times, he would buy me stuff to get on her good side and it worked. I thought he was a good guy until he started hitting on her.”

“How bad was it?”

“Um, he broke her nose because he pistol whipped her.” I grabbed some tissue from the box on the coffee table then gave it to her so she could wipe her eyes. “Thank you,”

“You’re welcome,”

“He would beat her all the time, if my brother tried to get into it they would fight and my mom would try to break it up but he would just beat her worse.”

“Wow,” I shook my head thanking God he was no longer breathing. Ole pussy ass niggas like that doesn’t deserve to live.

“We would beg her to leave him alone but he kept coming back and she would let him back in.”

“What happened the day she was murdered?”

“They were arguing and he started hitting her. My brother said he couldn’t take it anymore and went to try and fight Manolo. I begged him not too but he wouldn’t listen he did it anyway. Usually he would get the best of Amir but I don’t know what happened but Amir was beating him up. I guess he was really at his breaking point because he was winning the fight. Out of nowhere Manolo pulled his gun out,” she stopped and just stared off into space.

Getting up I moved over and sat right next to her putting my arm over her shoulders. “He sh-shot him, he shot my brother because he was winning a fight,” she shook her head chuckling. “My mother screamed and tried to fight him but he just shot her too. He put the gun back in his pants then walked past me and out the house like it was nothing,” she said before she started crying. Small sniffles turned into sobs within seconds. I put her head on my lap and rubbed her back while she cried her eyes out. I wasn’t going to tell her to stop or try to calm her down.

She watched two of what was probably the closest family to her get murdered in cold blood then got sent to live with an aunt who didn’t give a fuck about her. Something tells me she hasn’t had the proper time to grieve or even let out what she was really feeling, she needed this cry and I was going to let her have it.

Ayanna cried on my lap for almost 45 minutes before she finally began to calm down. Once she was all good she sat up and I gave her a much needed hug.

“Do you feel any better?” I asked her.

“Yes, and that sounds weird; why would crying make me feel better?”

“Sometimes people need to have a good cry. Life isn’t easy and you’ve been through a lot so far in your life. You needed to let that pain out. It’s still going to get you down sometimes but you just need to release it. Holding it in isn’t good for anybody, trust me I know.”

“How do you forget what you saw though?”

“You don’t, that’s the fucked up thing about it. You will never forget seeing the people you love being murdered. What you can do is deal with the hurt from it and try move forward; if you dwell on it will haunt you and loom over your life like a black cloud.”

She nodded her head then smiled a little bit. “Thank you for talking to me.”

“You don’t have to thank me. We’re a lot alike so I’m talking to you so don’t end up with a bitchy attitude like me,” I winked at her before laughing.

I got up off the couch then looked at her. “I’m about to go sneak a cookie, come keep lookout.” I said with her walking out right behind me.

#heather sanders #chris brown #heather sanders fanfic #heather sanders fan fic #chris #chris brown fanfiction

33 notes · View notes

whippedkoalas · 7 years

Note

Hi! This is a very unusual request. I really liked your meeting at the cafe with the kids drabble and absolutely loved the idea that Noorhelm have a little Lili. Could you write a drabble from Lili’s POV when she is spending her days with her daddy, how she sees the relationship of her parents and life in general and maybe a meeting with her grandparent(s) which doesn’t go as planned. Have a good week! Ruby xx

Hi Ruby!

Lili’s POV seemed a bit weird when I tried so I twisted it a bit and made her talk to us instead (well, to Santa). Excuse me for the clichés, and all of that, I’m not sure it makes sense but well, she’s only 7 in this drabble (she was younger in the first drabble but it worked better that way). I tried to “speak” like a 7 yo little girl, I hope it doesn’t seem too weird and that you’ll enjoy it :)

« Noora? Did you let Lili play with our camera? » William asks. From the kitchen, Noora shouts « no, why? » « Well, she filmed herself talking to the camera, apparently » « What? Plug the camera into the TV, I wanna watch it! » she chuckles. William executes himself. He waits for Noora, who prepares hot cocoa with Marshmallows and comes back to the living room. Snuggling under a blanket, they press play. The little blonde girl appears, a bit too close to the camera. She seems serious. « Hi! I’m Lili Magnusson. I am 7 years old. At school yesterday, someone told me that every child should record a video where they talk about life for Santa. It’s David who said that, so I don’t know if it’s true, and I don’t know if Santa even exists but I’ll do it just to be sure. Today I spent the day with my dad. I love spending time with him because he always lets me choose what we are doing, what I want to eat and even sometimes he buys me my favorite candy. It’s a little secret between us, I cannot tell my mom. I also love spending time with Mummy, because we always do « girly things ». Mummy always tells me that nothing is « girly » and that I can do whatever I want and wear whatever color I want but I love make up, dolls, and princesses. I want to be a doctor when I’m older, like aunt Sana because Sana saves lives, according to Naïm and Yanis. I love my friends; Aksel, Noah, Liv, Yanis, and Naim. We always argue because Aksel says he has the best mom, and we think our moms are the best. Well, Liv doesn’t have a mom, so she says that we’re stupid. I love Aaron, Alia, and Karla too, but they’re still babies so they’re a bit boring.We are all friends because our parents are friends. Noah says he’s the chief of the clan because he’s the oldest but it’s not really a good reason to be chief. Noah is great, he really makes me laugh. I see him quite often because our dads are best friend forever. Noah doesn’t see his mom often. Aksel doesn’t see his dad at all, he says that it is because he lives on an island. Livy has two dads, and she says it’s pretty wicked. Yanis and Naim are twins, they say they can communicate by telepathy but I don’t know if it’s true. Boys lie a lot.Anyway, I spent all my day with daddy and then I went to an amusement park with everyone, it was great. I had a lot of fun. I wish Mummy was there but she had work. With daddy, we watched a Disney movie on telly this morning. It was Rebel. I love that movie and Daddy does too. We made pizzas for lunch and it was great. My dad knows how to cook and he teaches me, so I made my own pizza. He asked me to do another one for Mummy so that she has something to eat when she comes back. I asked him if he loved Mummy because Inna’s parents are not in love anymore. He said that he is very in love with her. I think that it’s cute. They met when they were 16 and 18. They went to school together and that means they’re high school sweethearts or something like that, it’s aunt Vilde who said that. The other week, my teacher asked us what is love for us and I said that love is when you make the other laugh because Daddy makes Mummy laugh a lot. I hear them sometimes at night. That probably means that Noah is my boyfriend too. He wanted to kiss me the other day but I said no. I told Aksel about it and Aksel said that his mom always says that Noah is just like his dad, a heartbreaker but he didn’t break my heart so maybe Aunt Christina is lying, I don’t know.Sometimes, my parents argue but Mummy says that it’s because they care about each other. When Mummy is upset, my dad makes hot cocoa because he says that she can’t be mad at him when he makes cocoa. Mummy says that Daddy makes the best cocoa ever. When daddy is upset, my mom gives him a kiss and tells him she loves him. They have complimentary tattoos which is cool. Daddy has a moon, and Mummy a sun. Dad told me it’s because she is the light in his life and because they’re inseparable but very different but Mummy says that Daddy is just too romantic. Inna told me all her parents were doing was fighting. I was worried because my parents fight sometimes but today daddy reassured me that they will never divorce. They’re not married but he said that they have their tattoos. Aksel told me that my parents broke up once, for a long time. I asked Mummy and she said that Christina talks too much and that yeah, it is true but that it’s in the past. Livy says that she is gonna be a big sister and that maybe I will be one too one day. I don’t know if I want a little sister or a little brother. I love my family now. I love it because we do things together. We go to the park. Daddy teaches me how to ride a bike. It’s great. He always has time for me and for Mummy too. Some days, I go to my nanny’s apartment because they go on a date. David says that parents don’t go on dates, but my parents do. Daddy or Mummy surprises the other with a date at least once a month. Mummy says it’s because they’re in love. So, I don’t know if having a little sister or brother would be cool. Mummy said that it’s not me who decides that kind of things.David is mean. He always tries to hurt people. Mummy says that I shouldn’t answer him, that I should ignore him. Daddy says that I can fight back, just a bit. With words of course. I did the other day, and Mummy said « Oh, god. You are just like your dad » and it made me smile because I love him. Last week we were all at the park and I stood up for Livy because a boy was bothering her and Daddy laughed and kissed me. He said I’m just like my mother, so I don’t know. Aunt Eva says that I took the best sides of both. David says it’s weird that I don’t see my grandparents. Yanis and Naïm say that it’s normal, it depends on the family. I remember meeting Mummy’s parents once. They were weird. They came to my birthday party last year. I had never seen them before. They said mean things to Mummy. After they left, I saw Mummy crying but Daddy comforted her. He told me that my mom and her parents do not get along. Last summer they asked if I wanted to go on holiday with them for a week but I said no because I don’t know them. Aksel told me I have an uncle. Daddy has a brother. I didn’t know he had one. I know that I’m called Lili because he had a sister, Amalie. Mummy told me that Christina talks too much, once again. She said that it was true, Daddy has a brother but that I will never meet him because he’s a bad person. If one day, he tries to talk to me, or to contact me, I shouldn’t answer him and I have to tell Mummy right away. Last summer, we all went to London because Aksel told me that my parents had lived there for a few months and I wanted to see the city. My parents accepted but they also said that aunt Christina definitely talks too much. We had dinner with my grandfather. He looks like Daddy but he’s much older. He invited us to a great restaurant but it was boring. Daddy said that it was a restaurant for adults, not for children. I didn’t like him very much. He was not very kind to Mummy and it upset Daddy very much. He gave me a lot of presents though. Daddy told him « You cannot buy my daughter » and we left. Mummy says that we are our own family and that we do not need anyone else. Noah’s grandparents love me a lot, and they always give me presents for my birthday. Noah says we can share grandparents. Next week, Daddy said that he will go bowling with me. I love bowling. Mummy organized a sleepover for me and Livy next weekend. She said she could take us to the swimming pool so I’m excited for next week. Christmas is approaching too. I don’t know how you will bring me presents because I will be on holidays with Daddy and Mummy. We’re going to Bali for two weeks. I’ve never been there, but my parents say it will be cool and that the hotel will have swimming pools. They chose a hotel where there is a kid club, too so I can make friends there, while Daddy and Mummy spend time together. David says that it’s weird to see your parents kiss. Apparently, his mummy never kisses his daddy. I asked Liv this afternoon, she said she sees her parents kiss sometimes. She even said that one time, she saw them kissing naked on their bed. Noah said it’s called sex but Livy said that Isak just said they were kissing. I personally don’t know. I just see Mummy kissing Daddy every chance she gets. They always cuddle on the sofa, too. It’s great because that way, I can lay down and cuddle with them too. For Christmas, I really want a cat but I don’t know if you can manage to bring one to Bali. I think I prefer my present to be a surprise, anyway. I just wanted to let you know how my life is so that you can see that I’m a great girl. I always try to behave! Daddy always tells me he’s very proud of me. I overheard Mummy telling him that she knew it was because he never heard it from his dad when he was a kid. I think that’s very sad because I’m very proud of him. Mummy is the best mom ever, too. I love her. She is beautiful, and I love picking our outfits every night with her. I also love when she braids my hair in the morning when we have time. So, Santa, if you have a few presents left, could you please give at least one to my parents? I think that this year, we all deserve one. Maybe not David. And I promise I have been good all year. Well, I’m recording this without Daddy’s consent but, you know… I… Well. I think I hear Mummy coming so bye, Santa. Have a great Christmas! »

Santa may find a way to give Lili a cat for Christmas.

#noorhelm #drabble

30 notes · View notes

20qs20somethings · 7 years

Photo

Aaron, 25

1. Can you use three to five words to describe our generation? Creative, Independent, Defiant

2. Talk about a person or an experience that has helped shape you into the person you are today? I was raised by a lot of very strong women and my family is a lot of people who really believe in hard work, passion, independence, as well as the strength that comes with community. So I would say the people who shaped me the most would be my mom and grandmother because they really led by example and lead everything they do in life with love. My mom raised me when she was a teenager and my grandmother brought all of her children over to the states from Jamaica. She and my grandfather raised this whole family as the first generation to immigrate to the states and her perspective on life and work is always thinking about the person next to you as opposed to yourself so much. They shaped me the most because they are very strong, resourceful, compassionate, artistic people who always encouraged me to do the thing that I felt the most scared about doing but that I also felt the most excited about doing at the same time.

3. Talk about your relationship with social media? Social media has become this necessary evil for a lot of people. I don’t think many people are thrilled to log on anymore, you do it out of necessity and habit. But I do think there are communities of people who are using it in ways that excite me. Social media kind of feels like this puzzle that isn’t quite connected to real life in a way that is meaningful. There’s still this projection of another self that we put out on Instagram or things we say on Twitter for attention, retweets or engagement and there is a more authentic version of someone’s self that they’re willing to present to the world. I really would rather not be on Twitter all day.

4. Who or what is your biggest motivator in life? My friends. I’m really blessed to have a community of black writers and creators who support each other. We kind of found each other just through admiring each other’s work, our drive, and now our collective vision for what the future might look like online and other spaces. They are my rock and they are such beautiful people. I think whenever one of us shines, all of us shine and we try to make sure that we are always there for each other and lift each other up. Whenever I see them doing great work, it makes me want to do great work as well.

5. Do you believe in love? Of course.

6. Fill in the blank: “Happiness is _______” Community

7. What are your thoughts on race? I think race is something people can use to both edify and bring down. When we talk about race, conversations on race are centered around whiteness and what whiteness does to other groups of people. But I also think that race is something that there is a deep sense of pride and individuality with it as well.

For me at least, my blackness is something that I carry a lot of esteem, pride, and joy because I love being black, I love being surrounded by black people, I love lifting black people up and singing praises and making it clear that what we do, what we make and how we live is valid, necessary and beautiful. So for me, race is something that even if it began as a system of oppression, wherein most cases a white person decided to marginalize another group that isn’t white, I think that we’ve come a long way and have established and built remarkable communities that identify as both products and overcomers of their own oppression which is a really amazing and devastating thing.

Whenever someone points at you and says you’re lesser than, in that process you’re able to become stronger. That says a lot about the resilience of your people and what they stand for and what they believe is true, which is in direct defiance of being called lesser than. Race is complicated and it’s messy and it’s fascinating. But as far as I’m concerned and my family and friends who are concerned, being black is a gorgeous, complicated, intricate, and a powerful thing.

8. Who or what brings you the greatest joy in your life? Probably my sister Eliyana. She was born when I was 15 (we have the same mom and have different fathers) When Eliyana was born, she was the only sibling who shared the same mom as me and I was an only child in that sense in my mom’s home growing up. So when Eliyana was born, I felt this new sense of purpose in my life that I haven’t really felt before. I was having a conversation with her recently, she’s 9 now. We were talking about work, what I did that day and I said, “I was working with some of the developers on our team.” So I started to explain everything developers do, how they build things, how they code websites and she was like, “I think I wanna do that, that sounds cool.”

But whenever I tell her anything I do that involves someone doing something cool, she thinks she can do it. Without hesitation she’s like “my brother does something like that so I want to do something like that.” It fills me with so much joy and pride and I swell with emotion every single time she says something like that to me because it not only reminds me of the possibility of everything when you were young, but she’s this intelligent, brilliant kid who the world is not something that’s daunting to her, it’s something she wants to jump into and do amazing things in. Not to mention, she’s a really funny person.

9. Do you think the American Dream is still alive? The American Dream is this idea of success that was only afforded to certain people for a long time. It’s like the biggest PR stunt in American History. The way that that was coded to mean something to white people was really astounding. The American dream wasn’t for me, it wasn’t for my family. I think it was something that was specifically invented and coded as a whisper to people who are privileged and already had access to that ladder that it describes.

The whole term and idea is really sinister to me because it was kind of pointing fingers at people and saying that the only way you can quantify your success is by working through a certain system to get that success and really not acknowledging the context that people bring with them when they come to America and a lot of time the context...is not one of coming here to build a better life, it was to survive.

There were a lot of promises that came with coming here, but it was not the golden vision that it portrayed itself as when people got here. For a lot of people who are black Americans, getting to America was not a choice. No, I don’t think the American Dream as it was invented and as it was pushed out to people and the ideology behind it is not something that i think is available to everyone.

10. Would you rather have security or fulfillment in your work? Fulfillment.

11. What are your thoughts on marriage? Marriage to me is mostly something that I think about in terms of choice and having the option to do something like that. I don’t like to be in people’s business as much, they can make their own choices, but I think people should...have the option to do that.

12. Do you think there’s a certain pressure to live a certain life online? I think it definitely exists. I think that if people feel that pressure, they should always interrogate where that’s coming from and what they’re trying to emulate and go after. I think there’s always validity to anyone presenting themselves in any way they want to, but if that pressure is leading to them feeling negative about themselves or other people then I think it requires some inward questions about why that is and always taking a breath wondering why they feel the need to do this, and if that answer is truly positive, then that’s fine.

13. What do you want out of this life? I would like to live without hesitation, to feel like I’m free of any system or any person. To make the people around me happy to be around me in a genuine way.

14. What’s something that makes you angry? Inefficiency, people who are bad at communicating.

15. Do you think our generation is too focused on being politically correct? I think whenever people talk about political correctness and what is too much and too little, the conversation should really shift toward: What is the intent? What are you trying to get someone to do? Are you calling someone out because you want to look cool or you want to look like you’re smarter than them, or you want retweets, or are you calling someone out because you’re genuinely invested in them getting better and being better. I am of the school of thought that I am not on this earth to educate everyone and I don’t expect everyone to do the same for me. So I think we really have to think about our intent and think about the fact that not everyone is going to change, not everyone’s going to get to that place with us that we’re all understanding of each other. Some people are just not going to make it there and you just have to let them fester in their ignorance. It’s too much work to be policing, correcting, and all that effort.

16. How do you want to be remembered? Someone who in everything that they did was dedicated to making it better and helping people be their best selves and making their best work in conjunction with making things that are great.

17. What are qualities that you value? Compassion, great work ethic, empathy, honesty, creativity

18. Fill in the blank, “I wish we had more _______ in the world” Sincerity

19. How would you describe what it’s like to navigate your 20s? There’s a lot of waiting for something to happen. I’m a hardworking person and I’ve put a lot of time into my career, friendships, and people I know, but I was still waiting for this script to appear to give me a recap and give me a path forward. I think it’s this year I finally realized that no one is going to write that for me except for myself, I have to take those steps to move. I think realizing that is daunting too because you don’t know which step to take or what to do. But I think the first five years of my twenties was a lot of thinking to myself, “oh people say when you’re 23 or 24 this or that should happen.”

20. What is the best piece of advice you want to leave the world with? Always find your peace, always know where the sources of that are, and always make that your default in everything you do. There are times to be fast, there are times to be slow, times where you need to be bold and loud, but I think the one place people will always find the most clarity is when they’re at peace.

#20qs20somethings #millennials #20somethings #love #advice #social media #profile #interview

6 notes · View notes

throwmyheartawayagain · 5 years

Text

Something About You

Characters: Bucky Barnes, Reader, Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Reader’s Family

Pairing: Bucky/Reader

Prompt: Fake Dating

Word Count: 1689

Warnings: Language

Part 7

After dropping Edward and Bucky off at the door of the rented hall, Y/N went to park the car, and quickly walked back to the main door. Grabbing Bucky’s hand in hers, she tugged to get his full attention.

“Listen, Bucky, things will probably get out of hand fast. If and when you want to leave because you are feeling uncomfortable, angry, upset, or just want to get the hell out of there, let me know and we’ll leave. No questions asked,” she said.

“I appreciate that, but I think I can handle some crazy family drama. I did survive seventy years of H.Y.D.R.A. brainwashing and being used as their pawn,” he said with a smirk.

Y/N sighed. “Look, I know you can probably handle it, but I’m still letting you know just in case.”Bucky studied her, he noticed the hand that wasn’t holding his was shaking, her eyes were darting around, trying to take in her surroundings- as if she were looking for all escape routes. “Hey, hey,” he began as he pulled her into a hug. He could hear her heart thumping in her chest as she tried to calm herself down. “You are going to be okay. I’m going to be okay, and your grandfather is going to be okay,” he finished.

Y/N pulled away from Bucky’s warm embrace and tried to figure out if the thumping of her heart was because of what she was about to walk into or that it was because of the close contact with him. “Thank you, Bucky,” she smiled at him. “I really appreciate that.”

“You’re welcome.” Bucky leaned down and pressed a kiss to Y/N’s forehead. “The same goes for you, too. If you want to leave, then we leave. No questions asked.”

She hugged him and buried her nose in his neck. “Thank you again, Bucky. I’m really glad you’re here with me.”

“I’m glad as well.”

“Hey! You two canoodling over there!” Edward shouted. “Hurry up and just kiss already, I’ve got a party to get to and I can’t wait to see you roast everyone in there.”

Y/N groaned as she pulled away from that warm embrace. “Grandpa, you have no fucking tact, old man!”

Edward laughed. “Damn right! And, my lovely little granddaughter, I’ve earned that right. When you get to be as old as I am, there are literally no fucks left to give.”

That got Y/N laughing again and Bucky smiled.

“It appears that the fun and snark gene skipped a generation, but skipped or not, that apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Bucky remarked.

“She’s always been my favorite for a reason,” Edward proudly grinned. “Well, shall we?”

“We shall. Let this shit show begin!”

The trio walked through the doors and into the banquet hall where the party was being held with fake smiles plastered on their faces.

Surprisingly, Y/N’s family members waited until after Edward had a chance to say hello to everyone that was there before they started in on the drama.

“Oh, who have you brought home with you?”

“This is my boyfriend, James Barnes,” Y/N said, while wrapping her arms around Bucky’s middle. “Sweetheart, this is Callie, my sister-in-law.”

“Are you fucking serious? What the hell were you thinking? Bringing the Winter Soldier here? Especially to Grandpa’s birthday?”

Y/N just rolled her eyes and kissed Bucky’s cheek. “You doing okay, Buck?” she asked as they walked away from Callie.

“Yeah,” he replied.

She couldn’t quite tell what that look meant, but she knew he was at least feeling uncomfortable; and that was because she was feeling that way, too. “Like I said before we even walked in here, when you’re ready to get the hell out of here, let me know and we’ll go.”

Bucky didn’t say anything, but he squeezed her hand to let her know he appreciated that.

Not even five minutes later, Y/N’s mother, Margie, walked over. “I always knew you were an idiot, Y/N, but really? Dating the Winter Soldier? He’s a Russian assassin.”

“Are you just pissed that you didn’t get to set me up with one of your “nice, closeted racist, all American, white boys” from your church?” Y/N snapped back. “You just hate that I’m not like you and I’ll never be like you.”

“Y/FN Y/MN Y/LN!” her mother shouted. “You better listen to me, god damn it! We are here for your grandfather and you are the one acting out of line, bringing that piece of shit traitor into our presence. Into the presence of a war hero!”

“Oh,” Y/N seethed. “You wanna talk about war heroes? Have you ever listened to your own father talk about what happened in Italy? How he was captured at Azzano and thought he was at the end of his line? How Captain Fucking America came and rescued him along with Sergeant Barnes? I don’t think you ever listened. Grandpa and Sergeant Barnes went on more missions than you’ve ever been honest in your life, Egg-Donor. I bet Grandpa never told you that he was offered a chance to go home after being rescued from Azzano, like all of the 107th had been offered. He didn’t take the honorable discharge, instead Grandpa stayed to fight. So did Sergeant Barnes.”

“Come on, he’s a fucking assassin! He’s killed tons of people!”

“And you’re really going to blame him for something he had absolutely no control over? You guys are fucking dumber than I ever gave you credit for,” Y/N exploded.

“You’re ruining the party by being here, and especially bringing that thing here,” another aunt, Susan, snarled.

“You guys are all a bunch of fucking idiots. How in the hell did you all turn out so horrible that you only care about yourselves? Have any of you ever given any thought to how Grandpa would have like his own birthday party? No, you sure as shit didn’t. You planned this entire thing to your liking and to get as much out of it as you could. An article in the paper that was to celebrate this amazing man’s life and his achievements, Susan? You turned the entire thing into an article about you and you barely mentioned Grandpa.”

“Y/N-”

“And you! Julie, you didn’t even bother to pick up the two people he actually wanted at this glorious shit show from the airport a day ago. Instead you were out bumpin’ uglies with your first ex-husband while your current husband- and who I’m guessing is about to be your second ex-husband, was home with your kids. Are they even your second husband’s kids? I’d look into that, Davis, if I were you.”

“What about you, little miss perfect? Living the dream with your shitty little used bookstore, and your assassin boyfriend.”

“What about me and my shitty little used bookstore, Aaron?” Y/N turned to her brother. “I don’t have a perfect life, far from it in fact. I work my fucking ass off to make sure I’m able to pay for the things I need to live, and in case you were wondering I barely scrape by to make ends meet. I’m at my shitty little used bookstore every single day. I put in over a hundred hours there every week to make sure my one shitty little employee in my shitty little used bookstore is able to be there for her shitty little kid. Why do I still work there? Because I love working there. I love seeing kids find a book and get excited about it and that is priceless. That store is my life and I would give everything up just to save it if it ever came down to that. What have you ever done in your shitty existence, Aaron, that makes you better than me or anyone else in this room?” Aaron sat there, silent. “Yeah, that’s what I fucking thought.”

Edward cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention. “Listen up! You are all my family, and I love you, but you are all fucking insane! I honestly don’t know where Betty and I ever went wrong with you kids, but come on, this is asinine. I know we raised you to be better than this. To be inclusive and to treat everyone as equal. I sure as shit taught you to be forgiving and to give people second chances.”

“But, Dad,” Margie tried to talk, but was shut up quickly.

“Marjorie, just stop talking. You’re one of the worst in this family. You have never once treated your own daughter with an ounce of respect or kindness. You wonder why she never comes home? You’re it, sweetheart,” Edward said.

“Dad,” Margie tried again.

“No. This party is over and I am going home.” Edward walked over to the chair that he draped his coat over. “Until you can prove you have truly seen what you’ve all done to this family, I’m done with you. Enjoy what’s left of your party since it was all for you assholes anyway. I’m leaving and I’m taking the cake with me.”

Coat in hand, Edward walked over to Y/N and Bucky. “Ready to go?” he asked.

“Yes,” Y/N replied while putting the huge sheet cake, that was sitting on a table with gifts and cards, back into the box it arrived in. “You want the gifts are cards also, Grandpa?”

“No, leave that shit here; I don’t need it,” he responded. “Barnes, if you want to grab a platter of sandwiches, that’d be great, too.”

“On it,” Bucky answered.

Y/N looked up after boxing the cake and saw her family just staring at her and Bucky, like they were the two worst people in the world. Finally, her mother couldn’t take it anymore.

“You are absolutely the worst and most selfish person in the world, Y/N,” Margie seethed. “You and that piece of shit traitor deserve each other.”

“Yep, we sure do,” Y/N rolled her eyes. “Ready, Bucky?”

“Absolutely.”

“So long, assholes!” Edward merrily called out over his shoulder while giving the rest of the family the finger as they walked out of the banquet hall.

#emmas 1k writing challenge

1 note · View note