#Dave forgot some of his training and no one wants to walk with him outside the neighbourhood anymore ^^;

[the-adventures-of-dave]

I didn’t get any photos, but Kepler joined me at the local science centre to watch the partial solar eclipse! He was a very good boy and even let a few little kids (and some adults) pet him.

We haven’t been doing many outside adventures lately, so I’m glad he was so well behaved. His last walk beyond the backyard was to join us for a fire and smokies. Maybe we’ll get a few more good walks in before winter?

[whosscruffylooking]

The Purest Things-First Day Jitters (Aaron Hotchner x Female Reader)

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: None.

A/N: There will be a Part 2 to this piece based on S3E10 in order to give some groundwork to the dynamics amongst the team once the reader joins them. Enjoy reading! I had so much fun making this piece. 

The Purest Things Masterlist

au! october 2007

"Criminal profiling is more of an art than a science. Modeling a criminal profile demands the precise marrying of psychological and rational instincts with the crime scene's particulars. What steps would you take in the process of analyzing a suspect to form a solid profile," the stoic BAU Section Cheif asks.

"First, I would want to accumulate all attainable information about the crime to help explain the "how" and "why" of the offense," you counter.

"What kind of information?"

"I'd want to acquire knowledge on the victim to examine the victimology. For example, I'd determine the victim's career and place of employment, friends, family, social status, criminal records, and daily routines and habits. Then, I can look at the connection between the victim and the unidentified subject. Did they know each other, or are they strangers? Why was the victim targeted, and was it them specifically, or are they just one quarry in a tangled web of attacks?"

You look for some signal in Cheif Strauss's attitude as to whether or not you should continue. 

Let’s ramp this up a notch. 

Taking the liberty of doing so regardless, you continue.

"Then, I want to know more about the attacker. I want to classify him...or her, as well as the offense. Why did it take place at a specific location? What is the motive? Is the suspect an amateur or a professional? This collection of data helps to assemble a proper crime assessment. I can now paint the picture of what happened before, during, and after the attack. Next, I can start to hypothesize and formulate a complete profile; I can deduce the kind of person we are dealing with. This assessment includes the age range, social status, what type of career he or she may hold, their I.Q., anything that describes the attacker. Now, I can give the profile to investigators and work to capture the assailant. The profile not only helps track him down but also helps refine the interrogation process."

Pausing the video recording, David sets the remote on the table.

"Academically, she's perfect for the job, Aaron. But will she fit in with the team? She seems too well trained, too straight from the textbook."

"That's why I wanted you to see this next part."

They both watch you in expectation.

"If I may Section Chief Strauss...as much as academic training benefits a student in laying the foundations for their selected career field, all of the studying and laboring over perfect grades becomes virtually obsolete once on the job. Instead, implementing the mechanics and learning through experience, trial, and error is far more beneficial. Executing what you've learned in the real world and refining your expertise in the field is the only way to accurately reveal whether or not you are capable of doing your job."

Rossi snickers at your straightforwardness. Aaron crosses his arms, struggling to fight back the urge to smile.

"Care to expound on that?" Strauss proposes.

"You don't trust the current...organization within the BAU. You feel as though Unit Cheif Hotchner and his team pose a threat to the unit. However, I think you put more emphasis on the chain of command. Specifically, you don't trust Agent Hotchner. In the entirety of this vetting process, you have continually undermined the Unit Chief's role in selecting a new agent. He has not been included in any of our telephone calls. Never once have you cc'd him on our emails. Nor has he been invited to sit in on our in-person interviews. I think the only time I've set eyes on him was in the lobby. He seemed to be completely unaware of my presence and purpose here. I'm sure that were I to be hired TodayToday, I could walk right into his office, and he would be blindsided entirely by my arrival and position on the team. Now, if I am to be apart of this renowned group of individuals, I want to know that I will be a part of it. I do not intend to be an outsider in my field or a pawn for higher-ups' ulterior motives. So, with all due respect Cheif Strauss, I would like to withdraw my application. If any of the aspects that I have touched on prove true and impact my role within this unit, I have no interest in undermining an established team that has no place for me."

Rossi claps Aaron on the shoulder, "She'll do just fine."

**********

You step inside the lobby of the FBI Academy. Although the sight is not new to you after your intense vetting process, it now takes on a new meaning. You have a new purpose. Processing your surroundings, you regard the entryway's clean efficiency. Considering the darkness that looms over this bureau, the lobby is welcoming all the same. 

So this is what my tax dollars have been paying for.

Noticing that an elevator has arrived, you call out to the person inside one of the many lifts. They hold it open for you. The sound of your clipping heels progresses as you run across the glossy tile floor. High heels may not seem like the most logical choice for your first day of work in the FBI, but when wearing them, you feel elevated. As if the world is your stage and you are the ballerina dazzling the crowd in her pointe shoes. Sure, they are uncomfortable at times, but wearing them can almost be considered a superpower. A quintessential accessory of the iconic femme fatale.

The woman in the elevator gasps as you climb on board, startling slightly.

"Are those Jimmy Choos?" She squeals.

You laugh and shake your head, peering down at the patent leather footwear, "No. I wish, though! They're just some old Steve Madden's I got on the clearance racks." Seeing her shoes, you imitate her enthusiasm, "Those are unique! I've never seen a green...quite that color on shoes before."

Chuckling, she thanks you, "Shoes are one of the many ways I express myself. I'm pretty sure at this point I have a pair of shoes in every color for every mood. Today I was feeling a little envious, so I chose this lime green."

"Envious?" You ask.

"There is a Doctor Who convention going on this weekend, and I have meet and greet tickets for the entire cast, but I've been called in on a case. Meanwhile, three of my friends from counterterrorism are on their way to meet David Tennant as we speak. So yes, I am envious."

"Oh my gosh, I heard about that! Catherin Tate is going to be there too. God, what I would give to meet Donna Nobel in the flesh."

"You watch Doctor Who?" Her eyes widen.

You shrug my shoulders, "I'm a bit of a self-proclaimed Whovian."

Shoving her bags underneath her shoulders to free her hands, she stretches them to you, "Penelope Garcia. We are going to be the best of friends."

Taking her hand in yours, you introduce yourself, "I'm Y/F/N/ Y/L/N. I look forward to having a best friend in the building. Today is my first day."

"Oh sweetie, you are going to do amazing," she looks up at the floor number as the elevator dings, "Well, this is my stop."

Stepping off alongside her, you notice her slight surprise. "Mine too," you announce proudly.

"Wait," she whispers, holding a hand up to your face in a stopping motion, "Today is your first day. Oh! Are you the newbie?"

"Today is my first day as a profiler at the BAU, yes."

Stomping her feet repeatedly, she cheers, "Oh, this day keeps getting better! My darling, you will fit in just fine. Now come with me. There's another fellow Whovian I'd like for you to meet."

Following her through the enormous glass doors and into the department, you can't help but feel slightly overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle. "Welcome to the bullpen," she turns around, beaming, "Oh! Spencer, come hither, the new girl is here!"

The young man spins around in his chair and raises his eyebrows, giving you a once-over; he strolls across the office to meet you. You can't tell if he is too tall or too thin. Perhaps, his head is just considerably big for his body, or his lengthy hair gives that illusion. When he nods at you, holding his hand out to greet you, he looks slightly like a little bobble-head doll.

"Dr. Spencer Reid at your service!" He melodically sings.

Nerdy pipe cleaner. I like him.

"It's a pleasure, Dr. Reid. I'm Y/F/N Y/L/N."

"I read you got a full ride through college and graduated from Berkley with a semester completed at the University of Kent for Psychology of Criminal Justice, and you have a degree in Forensic Psychology."

You nod, impressed by his research—time to dazzle him with yours.

"And you, Dr. Reid, attended Caltech. You completed your undergraduate degree at 16, and you hold Bachelor's degrees in Psychology, Sociology, and Philosophy. Very impressive."

"You forgot PhDs in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering," he adds.

You nod, "My apologies."

Breaking a tiny smile, he shifts his gaze to the floor as you notice the light tint of pink shading his cheeks. Unable to resist, you feel the heat rise to yours as well.

"Ah! You must be our newest recruit—Benvenuto nell'esperienza della tua vita," a gentle voice echoes from behind you.

Turning around, you see a familiar-looking, dapperly dressed older gentlemen gliding down the stairs to greet you.

"And you are Agent David Rossi. I attended one of your guest lectures at Berkley three years ago," you reach your hand out to meet his.

"Call me Dave, and you can thank me for inspiring your career choice later. Right now, we have a case. It looks like it'll be a first day via baptism by fire for you kiddo," he lifts his thick eyebrows and winks at you. David motions for you to follow his lead, and you eagerly journey behind him.  

In the conference room, you are met with the eager faces of four other new colleagues. The first to catch your eye is the herculean adonis, whose attention fixates on you. You watch as his eyes scour you top to bottom, taking your whole body in.

Four words. Sculpted by the gods. Where has he been all my life?

"Where have you been all my life?" The statuesque man purrs, running his thumb across his bottom lip.

Ha. Jinx. You can buy me a drink anytime.

"Hiding from men who lead an introduction with that," you strut over to shake his hand. A knot swirls in your stomach as your finger-tips touch, but you quickly dismiss it as mere infatuation.

Throwing his head back in laughter, he responds, "I like you already. Derek Morgan."

"It's nice to see you again," the bright, blue-eyed young woman you recognized as the media liaison smiles, "I'm Jennifer Jareau, but you can call me J.J." On the day of your first interview with Strauss, she offered you directions to the Section Chief's office.

Next, Agent Prentiss introduces herself. Her thick, raven-colored hair elegantly falls to her shoulders and encompasses her diamond-shaped face. There is a spirited as well as clever expression in her eyes.

Finally, Agent Hotchner stands up. You are taken aback by his astute and severe manner. He's taller than you recall, although you have only observed him from afar. Like most men, he seems to have become an automaton of the modern workplace, measured and valued just for his productivity and obedience. He is tense, most likely swallowing intense trauma and concealing it so he can get up each day and do the same tedious job again and again. Most men display these traits in the way they parent, becoming domineering companions, stacking decay over destruction until their home-life collapses. What remains is a mass of bitterness resentment.

Yet, he exhibits none of this. Beneath this rather tough exterior, you can discern that he is the kind of handsome that infiltrates your bones, that exudes an air of olden times before he's even said a word to you.

Tag List:

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[moirasimagines]

standing by | david budd x reader

summary: it’s the night of october 1st, and the reader is expecting a visit from david after an outing with his kids to see their grandmother. feeling nervous, they phone vicky and receive some less than reassuring news.

warnings: canon-typical mentions of su*cide bombing/terrorism and ptsd, lil angsty? but tender i promise, vicky and the reader each have one (1) drink, general concern is to be had about david’s mental state

word count: 2787

a/n: i kinda wanna make this a series? where david and the reader just? are dating so instead of sleeping w/ julia he just... becomes her friend and everything else just... happens the same way ig??? lemme know if anyone’s actually interested in this bc i might write it anyway but it’d be good to know if there’s any actual like... market for it bgjkrtbgkr

David is late. You aren’t angry–– it just seems odd. He’s a very punctual person, normally, and you couldn’t imagine why he wouldn’t just text you if something had come up with the kids. He hasn’t answered any of the texts you’ve sent him, and both times you called, his phone went to voicemail. You think about phoning Vicky, then decide against it. You like to think that the two of you are friends. She’s kind to you whenever you see her, anyway, and David has mentioned once or twice that she’s asked about you, remembered that your aunt had been sick and sent well wishes or mentioned a book you’d told her about. You like her. She’s a good mother to her kids, and she treats David with the love and respect he deserves. You’ve never met a pair of exes with such a healthy relationship, and though you know it’s a two way street between herself and David, you’re still impressed with her grace. It’s these feelings that drive you to give her a ring when an hour’s gone by since Dave said he’d be over and you haven’t heard anything.

“Hello?” 

“Hi Vicky, it’s Y/N. I was wondering if Dave––”

“Oh love,” she says, and you notice that her voice wavers as she speaks. Your heart drops. “Everyone’s alright, the kids and him, but…” She sighs. “There was a suicide bomber on their train home.”

“Oh christ,” you murmur, your heart rate picking up.  “But they're okay? The kids? And Dave? Nothing happened, no one got hurt?”

“They’re all fine, yeah. They’re taking a cab home now. Dave said to expect them in at about  half past 10. He…” she takes a deep breath on the other end of the line. “He talked the woman out of it. Nearly got himself killed, but…” For a moment, neither of you says anything. You glance at the clock. It’s 9:45. You have to make a conscious effort to even out your breathing, but you manage it.

“He saved their lives,” you say.

“Yeah,” Vicky manages, but you can tell she’s crying.

“Is there anything I can do for you, hun?” you ask, “Do you want some company?” She sniffles.

“That actually… That would be nice, if you’re offering. And that way you won’t have to wait to see him, or the kids.”

“Yeah,” you say. “Yeah, of course. I’ll start over right now. Should be able to get there in twenty. Thank you, Vicky.”

“Yeah, all right. No, it’s…” She pauses. “I mean, thank you, hun.” 

“See you soon.”

You smile as you hang up, but your stomach is still churning. He’s fine, the kids are fine. Everything is fine. Vicky obviously spoke to him, and they’re all on their way home now. But the thought of something happening is too much to bear, and you notice after a moment that your heart is practically pounding. You don’t want to keep Vicky waiting, though, so you toss your phone and keys into your bag and drive over.

She meets you at the door, and to your surprise, throws her arms around you. Relieved, you return the embrace, giving her a reassuring squeeze. 

“Thank you for coming all this way,” she murmurs against your shoulder.

“Thank you for letting me come by.” Vicky takes a deep breath and pats your back. You both pull away and she nods for you to follow her inside.

“Drink?” she asks, padding into the kitchen. She sounds tired. You trail behind her, realizing slowly that you’ve never really been alone together. Normally you feel a bit like you’re visiting your in-laws or something when David brings you round to Vicky’s. But the house feels smaller now, somehow, more intimate.

“I won’t say no to that.” She offers you a weary but genuine smile and takes a wine glass from the cupboard.

“I’ve got my own in the sitting room, so don’t worry. I’m not trying to liquor you up. White okay?” You let out a laugh at the joke and she shoots you a wry smile.

“Yeah, perfect, thank you.” You both go to sit and wait for David and the kids, finding yourselves on opposite ends of the couch. She sits so that she’s facing you a little, shoulder resting against the cushions.

“So, how’s things with you and Dave?” Vicky asks after a moment. You feel a guilty pang, but it’s clear that she’s really just curious. There’s no malice in her words–– of course, there never is. If anything, you imagine she just wants to fill the time.

“They’re good,” you say, hesitantly. “Thanks. It’s, ah… You know, obviously I love the kids, and––”

“Oh, they adore you,” she replies, smiling despite the anxiety on her brow. Your expression softens.

“Really?”

“Yeah, ‘course. They’re always asking about you.”

“Oh. That’s really sweet,” you say, genuinely a bit surprised. You love Charlie and Ella fiercely, but you’d always assumed they must have felt a bit strange about you. After all, you and David have been together for the better part of a year now. They know you’re dating their dad. You’d always thought it would be a little bit difficult for them–– and who could blame them if it was?

“We all love you, you know,” she says earnestly after a moment. “I’m pleased it’s going well with you two, really, I am.” Spindly fingers reach across the space as she covers your hand with her own, giving you an affectionate jostle. Tears glisten in her eyes, and you feel your chest tighten. “I know it’s probably weird, me saying all this, but…” She shakes her head. “I love Dave, he’s the father of my kids. And all I want is for him to be happy. I think you make each other happy.” You nod slowly, taking her words in, feelings tears slip down your own cheeks as you place your free hand on top of hers and squeeze.

“I think the world of you,” you say once she sits back. “I really want you to know that. You’ve been nothing but kind to me since day one, and––” She waves you off.

“Oh god, don’t give me so much credit,” she says, recovering a bit, “You were the one in the really scary position. Meeting the ex-wife? Please, I would have shat myself.” She lets out a shaky laugh, sniffs, wipes her eyes. “And you were so sweet!”

“Are you kidding?” you reply, halfway between tears and laughter, “If I had to meet my ex’s new partner, I probably would have had a cow.” Vicky laughs at that, and the two of you share an admittedly tearful but warm look.

As you’re wiping your eyes again, a car pulls up outside of the house, and both of your heads snap up at the sound.

“Oh thank god,” Vicky says, and you both hurry out the door. Charlie and Ella come bounding up to her, and just like that, you’re welling up again, seeing the kids reunited with their mother. David follows a few paces behind, and the kids step back from their little group hug as she goes to embrace him.

“Y/N, what are you doing here?” Ella asks, turning to you. Charlie follows suit, and soon you’re knelt on the ground to give them a hug as well. 

“I was worried about all of you,” you say, “so your Mum asked if I’d like to come see you.”

“That was nice of her,” Charlie says.

“Yeah,” you agree, pulling away to scrub at your eyes, “it was, huh?” They both smile at you, and you glance at David, who’s reassuring an understandably distraught Vicky. It had been easier to curb your emotions when the two of you were talking, but now you can’t help yourself. No sooner have you dried your cheeks than fresh tears roll down them and you look at the kids again, admiring their sweet faces. “I’m very glad to see you both,” you say quietly.

“We’re glad to see you too,” Ella replies. Charlie moves to hug you again, seeing that you’re still crying, and Ella joins him. You squeeze them both as David and Vicky walk over.

“Come on you two,” she says, voice a little calmer, but still tinged with emotion, “it’s past your bedtime.” You let them both go and Vicky offers you a smile, which you return gratefully. They scamper off after her into the house, and you can’t possibly stand up quickly enough. David’s arms are around you in an instant and when you exhale, it feels like you’re deflating into him.

“What are you doing here, love?” he asks gently, a hand coming up to cradle your head.

“I thought you were going to come over tonight,” you murmur, “and when I didn’t hear from you, I got worried, and I called Vicky and she told me about the train, and...” You feel David tense up for a moment, and then sigh.

“Fuck. Fuck, I’m sorry, love. I completely forgot.”

“No, it’s all right, Dave, really––”

“No, but you must have felt awful talking to Vic–– and I didn’t even call you.”

“Well, you had quite a lot going on from what I understand,” you say, pulling away to look at him. He looks exhausted, rattled, and upset at himself, no doubt. “I’m not angry,” you insist, “Really, I’m just so relieved you’re all okay.” You lift a hand to his cheek and though he leans into the touch, he looks down, brow creased in frustration. “David,” you say, trying to get him to look at you. “Your kids come first. I know that, I’ve known it since the day we met. It’s one of the many things I love about you.” Finally, he lifts his eyes to yours. They’re bright, you notice, more intense than usual. 

“I would’ve called you first thing in the morning.”

“I know you would have,” you say reassuringly. For a moment, you just look at each other, your thumb brushing across his cheek. “Love, are you all right?” David sniffs, nods. You drop your hand.

“Fine, yeah. I’m…” he takes a deep breath. “I’ll be alright,” he says, but he sounds defeated. You frown slightly, and nod. He takes your face in his hands and kisses you softly, quickly, before pressing another kiss to your forehead. “I’m gonna go help Vic put the kids to bed,” he says, nodding towards the house.

“I’ll drive you home,” you offer. “Yours or mine. Whatever you need.” He nods gratefully and tucks an arm around you. With your arm wound tightly around his waist, his kisses you on the temple and you both head back inside.

You sit back down on the couch and lean your head on your hand as he sheds his jacket and trots upstairs. You don’t even realize that you’re beginning to doze off until the sound of your name rouses you from half-consciousness. David’s face materializes before your own as you blink yourself awake. He smiles softly.

“Hi, you,” he says. You chuckle, and he reaches for your hand to help you up.

Vicky leans against the stairwell and hugs David and you each in turn.

“Don’t be strangers,” she says through a yawn, and the three of you shuffle to the front door. 

“Night, Vic,” David says, stepping outside.

“Night, Dave.” You pause before following him out and take Vicky’s hand.

“Thank you for tonight,” you say. “Really. Get some rest, all right?”

“You too,” she replies softly. “You’re always welcome here, you know.” You nod.

“Thank you. Night, babes.” Vicky smiles.

“G’night.” You turn and step out into the yard, David nodding to Vicky as she shuts the door. He puts his arm around you again and you start down the street towards your car.

“You two seem very cozy,” David says after a moment, almost sounding amused. You chuckle.

“Yeah, I like her. She was really sweet to me tonight.” You slow to a stop as you reach your car and dig in your bag for your keys. “It was nice talking, just me and her, I guess.” David’s smiling when you look up at him.

“Vicky’s good people,” he agrees. “And anyone would have to be out of their mind not to like you.” You can’t help but smile as you shake your head at him and unlock the doors. He climbs into the passenger seat and you go around to the driver’s side.

“Do you want me to take you home, love?” you ask once you’re situated. David looks at you almost sheepishly.

“I’d rather stay at yours, if you’ll have me.” You let out a breath and give him a tired smile.

“Of course I will,” you say, leaning over the console to kiss him. He chases your lips when you pull away, a hand resting on the back of your neck. You kiss him once more and start the car. 

The drive home is comfortably silent, and when you look over, you see that David has closed his eyes, is taking measured breaths. It’s something you’d recommended he do that you’d learned from your own time in therapy, though you’ve yet to convince him to go. It’s better than nothing, though, and while he doesn’t look completely untroubled when you park the car, he seems a bit calmer.

It’s nearly midnight when you finally trudge into your apartment, and David heads straight for your bedroom. You don’t bother to do anything more than take off your makeup in the bathroom before following after him. He’s already in his pyjamas–– he has a decent sized drawer at your place–– and you change unceremoniously into your own. He draws the covers back and climbs into bed and you do the same. You have to lean over him to turn the light out and for a moment, you hover over him in the darkness. You feel protective, like you want to stay poised above him, ready to frighten off any would-be attackers in the night. He shifts beneath you and you drop a kiss to his temple, then another. He exhales slowly.

“What do you need, darling?” you murmur against his skin, “What can I do?” He’s silent for a moment.

“I don’t know,” he admits softly, shaking his head against the pillow. “I dunno.” You nod.

“It’s okay.” You lay down beside him, one arm slung over his waist, face pressed to the back of his neck and your other arm tucked up against yourself. “It’s okay.” For a little while the only sounds in the room are his and your breathing. He reaches for your hand, interlocks his fingers with yours. Minutes go by. You close your eyes but don’t sleep. Then it feels like he’s trembling, and you hear his breath hitch. His grip on your hand tightens. He’s crying. You squeeze his fingers where they curl under your palm, your arm bracing more tightly around his body. The sound is so quiet, only a few gasping breaths every now and again, but you can still hear it rattling out of him. He could have died today. His children could have died today.

You don’t say anything–– there’s nothing to say. All you can do is hold him, and you do. When the shaking subsides a little, you move to cradle his head with your other arm and you stay like that until you’ve both fallen asleep.

In the morning, it’s almost as if nothing happened. David is a little bit quiet while you both eat breakfast, but that’s not terribly unusual. While you sit, he places a hand on your thigh, as if to silently reassure you that he’s fine. With a kiss to your forehead, he gets up to dress for work (there are a few of his suits in your closet), and when you’ve finished your tea you do the same. He has to leave a bit before you do, and you walk with him to the door.

“I’ll call you when I’m done today, all right?” he asks. You nod. “Okay.” His expression changes, becomes softer. “I love you,” he says earnestly, his voice soft. You can’t help but smile, even through your worry.

“I love you too, Dave.” He kisses you gently, a hand on either side of your face, and lingers there longer than he might ordinarily. Your hands find his waist and give a comforting squeeze. He smiles. Part of you wonders if he really is just okay. His expression seems peaceful as he kisses the side of your head again and turns to leave. You can only hope that you’re right.

[nachohypno]

Nate and Dave Ch. 13

Didn’t take long for us to leave the shopping street. We did take a few pictures together, mostly for storing. Dave is pretty photogenic and looks great in all of them (He even wanted to take his tank top off for a few! But I assumed that would attract unwanted stares. Silly old Dave...)

We left our bags at the back seat and drove off towards Dave’s house. Something I always liked about living in a town: Everything is close, and yet, a car never seems a bad idea. Maybe my ass is just lazy, but I enjoy relaxing next to Dave as my werewolf boyfriend just drives us safely towards our destination.

“I forgot to ask… Are your parents home?” I like Mr. and Ms. Walker! I really do! But there’s so many things you can do when a couple of werewolves with heightened senses are in the house with you. I have a feeling that they can hear every single sound in the house.

And that’s not really fun. I don’t think it’s intentional though, but it’s pretty hard to have a heart-to-heart moment when you think everyone is listening to you.

“Nuh-uh.” Dave mumbled, as he parked outside his garage. “Pop’s working during the evening, comes back by the time we’d be out of school, so we have quite a few hours before our private time is over. Mom’s out with some of her friends I guess, she doesn’t like spending much time ‘locked away’.”

“So, you really want to have a pool day? We’re a month or so away from Winter, big guy.” Not intending to sound like a party pooper. The day was nice and you can survive without a jacket, but I don’t think I’ll be going into the pool. Catching a cold isn’t something I look forward to.

“I’m always up for some swimmin’, but get what ya mean, bruh.” He turned off the engine and looked at me. “You can relax by the pool, and if things get really cold we can just go to my room and warm ya up!”

We entered the house. I couldn’t hear a single sound inside, which was a comforting thing.

“Lose the clothes! Lose the clothes! Lose the clothes!” Dave started chanting, as he stripped in front of me as fast as he could, soon standing naked in the middle of the living room.

I always liked how easily he loses his clothes at every chance he gets. Maybe he likes having his built body at full display for others to admire? I mean, who wouldn’t admire him?

The meaty pecs are not too big, but not exactly small either. His 6-pack abs are perfectly aligned and seem ready to take a few punches, breaking your hand in the process.

His cock was hard, of course. His cock was always hard when he’s naked, like an automatic thing. 

He seems like a 15 years old with those levels of horniness, and yet he makes such a great job holding himself back instead of suggesting to have sex everyday. I don’t know if he jerks off though, maybe he’s just happy to see me.

“I… prefer to stay clothed?” Such a party pooper, I know, but I’d rather not worry my mom with getting sick because I want to seem cool for my boyfriend. I’ll get naked in the bedroom, but the pool seems out of the question right now.

Dave frowned. “Still worrying about gettin’ cold? Wait here and strip, I’ll get ya a solution, bruh.” He raced upstairs, our bags in hand. I loved how the locket dangled in between his pecs, such a cool detail.

I did as told though, not because he told me to but because I was curious. And a little part of me didn’t want to be lame. That train is gone now, though, right?

I waited for my puppy boy, as I started feeling the cold getting to me. It wasn’t bad, but not exactly the most pleasant thing in the world. I stayed in my boxers, because I wasn’t looking forward to the air invading my ass.

A minute later or so, the jock dashed down the stairs with his varsity jacket on one arm, and a pair of towels on the other. He was already wearing his speedo, but it failed to hide anything due to his hard on.

“Uhm… Could you go soft like… down there?” I asked, trying to sound as nice as possible. Perks of having a werewolf soulmate, apparently everything you say sounds always as nice as possible, Dave is just happy to comply with everything that I may want or need.

Including controlling his body functions, like how his dick just got soft all of a sudden and the speedo looked a bit less revealing. Still, it fitted him quite well.

“Not gonna swim, right?” Dave asked, giving me a finger gun. I shook my head, before laying a towel on the ground and just laying down. “A’ight, watch these moves then, bruh!”

He jumped in the pool with a cannonball, making a big splash, before giving me a thumbs up and smiling. I clapped a lot, to show him some enthusiasm before he sank back down and started doing laps. I rolled my eyes, and started scrolling through my phone.

--------

Dave pulled himself out of the pool after finishing another set of laps, and started drying himself off like a dog: Shaking it off.

I covered myself with his jacket, and I heard him chuckle. “Water’s so nice today, bruh. You should give it a try!”

“Are you really not cold? It’s okay if you are… We can do something else instead.” I knew he wasn’t but I was worried about him.

“Chill out, my body’s as warm as a lighted chimney.” He finished drying himself off with a towel and sat beside me on the stone floor. “Us werewolves can take some really cold temperatures, especially while wearing our fur, babe.”

Huh, that awakened my curiosity!

“So… everyone in your family is a werewolf?” I asked, reaching out for my phone. I had to write this down or otherwise I would forget about it! I had made a special text file for my research on Dave’s… wolfiness.

As soon as I get some juicy new information, I write it down to satisfy my inner nerd. Never thought I would be so invested in investigating a supernatural creature, but yet again, I never thought I’d have a werewolf as my soulmate!

“Uh… not quite?. Like, I think there’s a fifty percent chance if one of the two is a normal person, but we don’t really care about that. It’s not like it’s a super important thing to have a werewolf son.” He tried to explain, putting on his sunglasses again and sitting beside me. “It is pretty important for my pops but between you and me, he’s just kinda racist.”

My fingers tapped the screen as I heard everything Dave had to say. I mean, not the part about his dad, but the werewolves’ children having a fifty percent chance to inherit lycanthropy.

“But,” He resumed his explanation. “Most of my family is a werewolf, maybe there’s just one or two not werewolves out there? There are a lot of Walkers, that’s for sure. Not sayin’ we mate like bunnies but… I do have a lot o’ cousins.”

“Any siblings?” I asked, but he shook his head in denial.

“Nope. I’m an only son, bruh. I always thought it was because I’m an alpha, and dad says I got the jackpot with that rank. Heheh.” A smug look on his face, he flexed his arms while pointing to himself with his head high. The guy was trying to seem narcissistic or he was really proud of himself.

He looked cute anyway. The speedo was holding his now-soft cock perfectly, and you could see his shape through it. Muscles in all the right places… the guy looked like a really little hulk. Just… human-like, and not green.

I took my eyes off him for a few seconds to finish writing this line at my notepad. ‘Werewolves seem to mate and reproduce themselves quite frequently, but it varies on a subject vasis.’

“Hey nerd, drop the phone.” Dave said, in a commanding tone. I definitely wasn’t expecting it, but I looked at him again and he seemed a bit annoyed. Maybe because I wasn’t giving him much attention? He wasn’t flexing anymore, then he started walking closer.

I tapped my way to the ‘Save’ button before leaving my phone next to me. “Uh… sure thing? What’s with the attitude?”

The puppy boy didn’t stop to answer, but instead got next to me and grabbed my hips in a swift move. Supernatural speed or reflexes, whatever you want to call it, I loved it. “Just enjoy it, babe…” He mumbled, before leaning in for a kiss. I closed my eyes as I kissed him back, and could feel my body being lifted from the nice towel on the grass.

His warm skin against my naked chest, only protected by his varsity jacket. A few seconds afterward, the varsity jacket was off. The locket necklace was cold, but I didn’t mind. I just enjoyed the moment, just like he said.

Dave was walking, but the kiss distracted me. My mistake was closing my eyes, because I didn’t see his prank coming. 

“One… two…” He started to swing me towards the pool. I opened my eyes as soon as he started counting, but I only managed to say a surprised “Dave-!” before he interrupted me.

“Three!” SPLASH. I fell in the water. The cold water, but my body was quickly getting used to it. I stayed underwater for a few more seconds to fully embrace the cold temperature, I knew that I would shiver a bit less if I did that.

I had my eyes closed once again, because I never got used to my eyes touching water, but I did feel the water movement as Dave jumped right after me.

I swam back to the surface. I’m not a good swimmer, but this area of the pool wasn’t that deep so I could touch the bottom with my feet and keep myself up with small jumps.

“Hey, hey. I got’cha now…” Dave mumbled, catching me in his arms and keeping me from jumping. I hugged him as tightly as I could. His body was still warm, so it felt really good. Like some kind of underwater stove.

“T-Thanks, big guy…” I managed to say. I would have loved to avoid seeming a weakling, but even with Dave’s hot body, I still felt myself getting colder the longer I was in the pool.

Pulling me closer, he leaned in for a good make out session which I really appreciated. I wrapped my legs around his waist and we stayed like that for a good while.

...Until the coldness was too much for me, that is. There’s a little line between ‘being a party-pooper’ and ‘my body can’t hold this temperature anymore’. The wind wasn’t making it any easier, making me feel colder at every part that stood out of the water.

“D-D-Dave… Let’s head... back in, okay?” I managed to say, holding him close. The jock nodded, and swam over to the edge of the pool, making sure to keep me as close as possible.

Once we were out, I reached out for the towel I was laying on a while before. Dave was shaking the water off him like a puppy boy would do, so he was okay in that part. Then, I noticed him getting zoned out again as the fur on his body started to grow. 

‘Oh, geez, I love this part!’ I thought, noticing a tail appearing behind him and his muscles growing with the yellow-ish/brown fur on his skin.

His human head morphed into a humanoid wolf one, two little fangs sticking out of his dog snout with a little black spot appearing where his nose was. His hands grew paw pads and claws, before finishing the transformation with a howl after going out of his self-induced trance.

I kept drying myself with the towel, hoping to get warmer with that, but then the puppy boy tackled me. I managed to grab my phone from the ground as he said “Don’t ya worry, my love. Gonna take good care of you…” before picking me up and dashing inside. He was already warm before, but his fur was really comfortable and helping out with the cold.

A few minutes later, the big guy entered his room with me on his arms. I felt like those couples on tv, being carried by my big and strong boyfriend towards his bed. Dave gently left me on top of it and then laid down next to me. A tight hug afterwards, I could feel the coldness fading away as a very comfortable warm invaded my body.

-------

Dave’s POV

Nate fell asleep in my arms. His shivering stopped, and he was warm again. 

I sighed, such a dumb move I’ve made. But hey, gettin’ to werewolf form to warm him up was pretty smart, right?

Reluctantly, I pulled away from him and tried to get up from my bed. Any other day I would love to do this, he’s my soulmate! Weeks after noticing him, I still couldn’t believe it. I’m supposed to make him happy and safe, fuck.

I grabbed the bedsheets and made sure Nate was well-covered in them. ‘Only the best for my boyfriend’ I thought. I shivered the bit at the thought of having a ‘boyfriend’, but that’s what he is. A guy. THE guy, the one I love the most in the world.

Magic can be quite funny, huh. How a soulmate can turn my whole world upside down. I would be beatin’ the heck outta this guy if he ever implied that we’re meant to each other. And now I fell in love with a guy. Karma’s a bitch, some say.

The sight of Nate being so comfortable in his sleep, not shivering anymore, just happily dozed off, it pushed all the buttons for me. He had to be happy, I had to make sure of that. I want to be a good soulmate for the guy I love.

Looked down at my hands, I noticed I was still in werewolf form. Mom hates when we go werewolf while we’re at the house, because the fur gets all over the floor sometimes. She’s not home though, so I can do whatever I want.

Nate’s phone was firmly held by his owner. He had all that investigation thing in there, so I guess that’s why. I knew he wanted to know more about me and my lycanthropy, and I was honored to help him! He wanted to try and understand me more? He’s the best!

I rubbed my hairy wolf head, what to do now? Should I wait for him to wake up?

I mean, I’d love to spend time just cuddling with him, but I kinda feel guilty for pulling him into the pool like that. Gonna start listening to him if I want to stop fucking up.

Nate’s really nice to me, and never tells me I fuck up, but there’s always that little possibility I actually fuck up our dates quite often and he just never tells me, and I love him too much to hurt him in any way.

That’s also why I’ve been trying to control my strength, too! Our first days together, I almost crushed the guy down with my weight, but after some practice I managed to keep myself at bay to make sure he’s comfortable with me around!

I clenched my fist and threw a punch to the air. A little unfamiliar ‘cling cling’ sounded as I did so, the locket. Watching it filled me with joy and a warm feeling. It’s like I carry a little reminder that I’m Nate’s soulmate. 

A puppy boy, always ready to please my owner in any way possible.

My own words, the ones I wrote on the little note inside the locket, resonated through my mind. “My heart, body and mind belongs to my lovely soulmate Nate Hall.” Followed by my signature. It was cheesy, and maybe a try hard-ish thing for my taste, but it was the truth. Nate was my owner and I was his puppy boy.

I held the metal thing tightly in my hand, before letting it go and turning around, heading out of my room. Empty house, still plenty of time to have fun.

I had to walk in tiptoes, because my heavy footsteps may wake up my boyfriend. I could just change back into human form, but I felt stronger and faster while in werewolf form. Any excuse I have to use it will be great.

Out on the corridor, I looked for the attic trapdoor’s handle on the ceiling. The attic is a pretty dirty and dark place, we just use it as storage. So, I assumed mom and pops would store their family treasures or memories. Boxes filled with old books, photo albums, letters and other trash. 

Somewhere in those boxes had to be my old copy of the ‘Being a werewolf: How to keep the secret safe and live among the human society.’ book. (Sounds lame, but I ain’t making that up!).

So, time for a good search. I can’t search it by smell, because I would only smell dust and humidity.

My claws made it a bit more harder to search through the boxes without breaking stuff, but I managed to search through quite a few of them pretty quickly. No luck so far.

A box next to a small window had a little ‘Old stuff from Dave’ tag on it. Mom liked to organize stuff, I don’t know why I didn't look for this one to begin with.

I opened the top of the box and began searching through full notebooks filled with gibberish writing from when I didn’t know how to read or write. I was quite the slow learner, according to a few old teachers. Then, there it was.

A brown book, with a wolf doing a thumbs up to me, with silver letters that read ‘Being a werewolf: How to keep the secret safe and live among the human society.’ And a little seal of quality on the bottom of it that said ‘Approved by the supernatural council’. This would make a perfect gift for my nerdy boyfriend.

I decided to look a bit more around that box and other ones, just in case I found more stuff for him, but I’ve been up in the attic for quite some time, apparently.

“Uh… Dave?” A dazed Nate asked, still in my room. I could hear him perfectly, great part of the heightened hearing.

“Comin’ up!” I answered, trying to sound loud enough for him to hear me. Searching for treasures would have to wait, my soulmate needed me.

I left the attic and closed the trapdoor, before running into my room. Another rule, my mom doesn’t like us running in the house because we could break the furniture, but pops always gives me a free pass on that one.

“Need anythin’? I’m so sorry for pushing you in down there, bro…” I tried to apologize, but Nate didn’t seem mad at all. Nor disappointed, he just seemed… comfortable. “If you want me to do something to make it up for you, just say it and I’ll do it. Anything. Oh, wait, got you this book for your investigation...”

I sometimes think I can exaggerate when around Nate, but there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him. And that’s not poetry, I mean it quite literally.

There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.

I gave him the book and Nate examined it carefully. “Being a werewolf… Is there actually a whole guidebook about being a werewolf?” He asked, before leaving it on my night table. I nodded, wondering if he liked it or not.

“Thanks so much! And about before, don’t worry about it.” Nate said, breaking the few seconds of silence. “I mean, I’m not dead so… it was just a fun prank!” Huh, I thought he would actually be mad at me after that. “Hey, c’mere.”

I did as told, while he reached out for my wolf head. I started giving light kicks to the floor as he scratched the back of my ear. There’s no way I can describe the pleasure this gives me. It’s just… the best thing in the world, next to him.

“‘sides, you also brought me up here and warmed me up. I can’t be mad at you for being such a good puppy boy! Who’s a good puppy boy? Huh? Who’s a good puppy boy?”

An urge to answer overwhelmed me. “I am!” I said. “I am a good puppy boy! Woof!”

“Yes, you are! You’re the best puppy boy ever, aren’t you?” He continued, now scratching my neck. My kicks came out a bit stronger now, as the pleasure went up. My cock was already rock hard, this was amazing!

“Yeah! I am your puppy boy, bruh! Woof, woof!” My urge to bark wasn’t a new thing, either. It was like my animal instinct and my human mind were at a bit of a struggle right now. I didn’t care though, Nate’s happiness was the thing that mattered the most to me right now.

“Come up on the bed, we’re gonna have some puppy fun, right puppy boy?”

I nodded excitedly, before climbing my bed. I loved how small Nate looked when on my bed. Probably because I’m way bigger than him, and the bed was actually made to fit my werewolf form on it.

“Also… could you just… zone out for a bit? You know, like we’ve practiced, puppy boy.”

No time to think, though. Had to obey.

If Nate was the center of my world before, then he just became the center of my universe as my mind emptied from every thought that didn’t involve obeying him.

Nate was my soulmate, my owner, the most important person in my life without a doubt. And I was just a simple puppy boy jock.

“My heart, body and mind belongs to my lovely soulmate Nate Hall.” Those words resonated again in my mind, this time stronger, as Nate pulled his wet underwear off. “Take off your speedo, puppy boy.” He ordered.

I was smiling, and my tongue was lolling out. I obeyed his order without a single doubt in my mind. Pure bliss by just obeying my soulmate was a great thing. Nate moved me like a ragdoll, having one of my hands wrapped around his cock and the other around mine. “Now, start jerking us off.”

It was an honor for me. My owner wanted me to jerk him off! I couldn’t disappoint him!

I did my best, trying to control my strength well enough so he could enjoy it without pain. I replicated my own moves on my cock, pleasuring myself as well. Nate was just laying there, eyes closed and arms behind his back. He moaned from time to time.

While we already went through the ‘fucking’ stage, I never knew if Nate enjoyed it as much as I did. We never did it again, so it’s hard to know.

But hey, any moment with my soulmate is an amazing one! 

I kept stroking him for quite a while, not minding anything but focusing on bringing him pleasure. My own pleasure was another thing, but he included it in his order so I had to pleasure myself too!

Then, he pushed my hand off and grabbed me by the locket. “That’s enough for now, let’s just cuddle together, all right?”

My answer was a bit of panting, as I did as he suggested and wrapped him in my arms. I hoped my fur warmed him a lot more, after the shitty move I pulled before.

“I love you, puppy boy. You’re the best and only puppy boy in the world for me...” A little yawn as he laid on my pecs.

I smiled, feeling myself blush a bit but it would have been not distinguishable at all due to the fur in my face. This was one of the few times that I had to fight against the influence of being ‘zoned out’, not for a bad reason, but because I wanted to answer him.

“I… love you… too, my love…” I managed to say, quite happy but still a bit unemotional. Eh, did my best there, and Nate seemed happier, since he hugged me tighter.

“Let’s just nap for a while… Okay?” I don’t know if that was an order, but I almost immediately dozed off.

-------

Chapter 14 is already available in my Patreon!  And by pledging you also get access to other stories before they go public!

[raysofcrosby]

LITTLE DO YOU KNOW PT. 10

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦." ━  𝐙𝐚𝐲𝐧 𝐟𝐭. 𝐓𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭, 𝐈 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫

gif credit (x)

series masterlist

requested: yes | no

warnings: just angst tbh

word count: 5,850 [again of un proofread material sorry lmao]

authors note: [quick sidenote: if you want to make this sad af, then listen to heal by tom odell here bc that’s what i did when writing lmao.] omg yay part 10 finally! when this posts i’ll still be at work, but i’m so happy that i was able to get this out to you guys today! this series is coming to an end soon and honestly i’m sad about it bc idk what the hell i’m gonna do once it’s over lmao. for everyone who reblogs, likes and even reads this series– thank you from the bottom of my heart. i enjoy reading everyone’s tags and messages and it makes me happy and want to write even more when i see how much you guys enjoy the series. i hope this part is good enough bc part 11 is coming up and well...we’ll see what happens :)

Two days after the incident in the training room, finals week had wrapped up, Kennedy had already gone home to celebrate an early Christmas with her parents before joining you in Victoria, campus closed down and you had found yourself displaced. Originally, pre-Typocalypse...you were supposed to stay with Jamie and Katie, then all fly back together after the game tonight. But those plans had since changed since Jamie was obviously still not talking to you. Kennedy offered you to come and stay with her, but you were already stealing her for Christmas, you didn't want to intrude on the few days her and her parents got to spend together for the Holidays.  Before you could even think about booking a hotel for the next few days, Big Rig offered you his guest room and the two of you have been temporary roommates ever since.

It was a great set up, honestly. Since you were still obligated to be at team practices, the two of you drove there together and left afterward. He was like the big shield that protected you from Jamie's glares and Tyler's horrible attempts at trying to please Jamie by not looking at you. When they went on their Florida series, Dave offered you a chance to go since you were on break, but you turned it down and made a joke about how if you went to Florida you might not come back. Instead, you relaxed on Big Rig's couch, thought about going to see Tyler's dogs and switched between binging 'You' and 'Fuller House' on Netflix.

But today was the day that you would be handing John the paperwork for your internship that he needed to sign and handover. Just things saying that your timesheet was correct, signing off and typing up a letter about how you did. The practice before they left for Florida, actually the same day he had offered you a spot on the trip, was when you broke the news to him that you wouldn't finish out the season with them. Of course, he probably had some kind of inkling as to the reasons why. You always thought that girls were the worst when it came to gossip, but it turns out grown men are a lot worse. But he was kind and never asked for the specifics and respected your decision not to continue and just told you to give him the paperwork whenever you could and that he'd fill it out for you. He also commented on how good of a job you did and that if you ever changed your mind, they'd welcome you back without a second thought.

And that's what you told Katie when the two of you went out to an early dinner before heading to the arena for the game. But now, as the two of you were in your uber and headed towards the arena, the daunting task of having to actually hand over your paperwork weighed heavy on your heart. Katie had invited you along to dinner and you thought that it was probably her way of reaching out to you since your brother was failing to do so, but you didn't mind. You really liked Katie and she was like the other big sister you never had. To your surprise though, the two of you didn't talk much about what had happened between you, Tyler and Jamie. Instead, she focused on your senior year, where you were applying to jobs and how life in L.A. had been treating her.

But now you were itching to get her opinion on the matter, because if there was anyone besides you who was closer to Jamie in this city and had the insight of his thoughts– it was her. When the two of you stepped out of the Uber and made your way through security to get to the back hallway, you broke the silence on the matter.

"Did you know?" You blurted out as the two of you bypassed security. She turned to you with a generic expression. "Did you know before he...found out?"

"I mean, I kind of had a feeling something was going on," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Just even during the few times I was down here and we all went downtown. The two of you had never really been as close or hung out too often before and I just noticed all of the little things that boys are too oblivious to see."

"Yeah, maybe going out together was a bad idea. Maybe this whole damn thing was a bad idea," you sighed, clutching the manilla folder close to you.

"I don't think it was a bad idea, I just think that you and Tyler approached it wrong. You guys should've been a little more upfront and honest with Jamie. He still might have been angry, but it would have been a lot better than the alternative."

You nodded, accepting her cold truth as the two of you made your way through the parking garage and towards the hallway entrance. "Has he reached out to you yet?"

"Jamie or Tyler?"

"Both, I guess."

You shook your head, pushing back the pain that came with the thought of the two guys you cared for most, ignoring you. "Not even an in-person acknowledgment."

"I've been talking to them both, trying to get them to see the sense of it all. I told Jamie he needs to talk to you before this gets any worse...but you know how he is."

"Yeah, I do," you nodded, opening the door and stepping into the hallway. You looked down the right towards the training room and took a deep breath. "Well, I guess this is it."

"I can come with you if you want? Give you a little moral support?"

"Thanks, but I need to do this on my own," you took a deep breath and nodded, giving yourself a little encouragement. "I'll see you at home in a few hours?"

"Longest plane ride of our lives," she joked, hugging you before turning towards the elevator. "Oh, one more thing about you and Tyler!"

"Yeah?" You asked, giving her a hopeful, but sad look.

"It wasn't just the physical things I noticed, like the small touches." She shrugged her shoulders and gave you a small smile. "But it was just how different the two of you seemed. You were a lot happier and open and Tyler...he was a lot calmer and genuinely happy. I think the two of you are very good together."

You didn't know what to say, but instead gave her a thankful smile and watched her get into the elevator to head up to the upper level. It hurt your heart, to think about how your relationship had changed the two of you for the better and yet here you guys were– avoiding each other at all costs. You brushed those thoughts aside and walked down the hallway. You needed to give Dave your paperwork, but there was something else you needed to do first.

You knocked on to the locker room door, hearing a voice on the other side. You covered your eyes with one hand and pushed the door open, stepping into the room. "Is everyone in here decent?"

"It's just me and Dobby, Y/N," Klinger said, laughing. "So yes, open your eyes."

You uncovered your eyes to see the two men sitting in their respectful stalls. "Where's everyone else?"

"Training room, on the bench or playing footy," Dobby said, standing up. "You okay?"

You nodded, walking over towards Big Rig's stall and holding up your purse. "Big Rig just asked me to bring something for him, he forgot it at the apartment."

They nodded and Dobby walked out of the door, Klinger stopping while holding it open. "Do you think you can tape me today?"

You felt a crushing feeling inside of you because he had no clue that you weren't here to work...but instead to quit. "If no one's busy." You smiled, as he nodded in reply before leaving the locker room.

You took a deep breath and sighed before walking away from Big Rig's stall and over to Tyler's. You dug into your purse and pulled out his house key, which was attached to the  '#1 labrador mom' keychain he had given you, and placed it right in the middle of his stall. You've been meaning to give it back to him since everything crumbled, but you just haven't had the courage to face him since the day of he and Jamie's explosion. Plus, you were flying home to Victoria tonight and there would be no better time than the present to give him back the gift. Now, you had to do the one thing that you came here for– turn in your hour sheet, along with some other internship paperwork, to John. You had talked to him earlier in the week about deciding not to finish out the season, and you had to admit that you felt honored that he was upset that you were choosing not to continue. For the first time in a while, it made you feel like you had accomplished something here and that your work was appreciated. But the hardest part wasn't telling him that you were quitting, it was turning in your paperwork for him.

You stood outside of the training room door, contemplating whether or not to call Katie and tell her that you had changed your mind, that you'd love for her to walk into the room with you so you could walk right back out. But then you thought back on all of your conversations with Big Rig since Kennedy left and how, in her absence, he's been more than willing to lend an ear and even give you some advice and boost up your confidence. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling and then opening your eyes again. "I can do this." You gave yourself a few more seconds before bringing your shoulders back, lifting your chin and pushing the door open, walking into the training room like you owned the place.

"Y/N!" Pavs cheered, throwing his fists into the air. "You're finally here! I've been waiting for you to come and tape my ankle for me, for like...ever!"

"Sorry for being late," you replied, looking immediately in John's direction to see him walking over to his desk. "I just need to–"

"And you're out of your uniform?" Dickinson scoffed, walking by you. "What are they teaching you at this fancy college?"

"Yeah Y/N, you're not on winter break yet. No, relax!" Rads chimed in as the rest of the guys just laughed.

You rolled your eyes at their chirping but kept the smile on your face because you were glad that things seemed to have rolled over when it came down to the tension whenever you, Tyler and Jamie were all in the same room. This was ringing true because the three of you were in the same room at this very moment. Tyler was sitting down by Big Rig, stealing a resistance band from him to work on his shoulder, while Jamie was lying on a table in front of John's desk, getting his hamstring scraped by Craig. Neither of them looked as tense as they had in the last week, but they still weren't paying any attention to you. Well, you thought they weren't until you caught Tyler looking away from you the moment you went to say something to Big Rig about his bands. He played it off, looking immediately to his right, probably not realizing he'd be staring at a blank wall– but you were over it all, so it didn't bother you one bit.

"Is this the paperwork we talked about?" Dave asked, finally sitting down at his chair and tossing a towel on his desk.

You walked forward with the manilla folder in hand and held it up, giving him a tight-lipped smile. "Yep, this is it. Sorry I couldn't get it to you sooner. It took a while to get together since Finals ended and everything is hectic."

You held it out to him and he grabbed it from you, placing it onto his desk and opening it, skimming through the pages and nodding. "Can I get this to you after you come back from break?"

"Absolutely. There's no need to rush," you looked off to see Big Rig giving you a supportive look. He was the only one in the room besides Dave, that knew just what those papers were for. "Just as long as it's before graduation."

"Y/N!" Miro said, rushing into the room and out of breath. "You're here! Please tape me, you're the only one who can."

"Looks like you're stuck with just Craig and me, Miro," Dave said, closing the folder and standing up from his chair. "You guys must have chased her away. She's finished with her internship and decided not to extend for the full season."

That non-existent tension that you mentioned earlier, sprung it's ugly head back into the room the moment that his announcement left his lips. Both Jamie and Tyler perked up at what Dave had said, both surprised and even had a split moment where they looked at each other. Though of course, they had no clue of your decision, so shock and confusion were along the lines of what you expected them to feel. You made eye contact with Jamie first and you couldn't exactly pinpoint just what he was feeling since three separate emotions ran across his face: shock, disappointment and finally, joy. When you acknowledged him back, he opened his mouth slightly as if he might just say something, but instead bit the inside of his cheek and rested his head back down onto his forearms as Craig continued to scrap him. Tyler on the other hand only had two visible emotions: sad and extremely pissed. And if it wasn't for the fact that his eyes carried hints of sadness, you'd only think he was extremely pissed, seeing as the scowl on his face and his knitted eyebrows were the key symbols of his anger. Rightfully, you were confused at his reaction. How could he even be bothered to be angry about your choice when he hasn't talked to you in nearly two weeks?

Screw him, he has no right to be angry.

You turned your attention away from him and started to make your way back to the training room door. "Well, shit, who the hell is going to deal with my shin problem now?" Big Rig said, clearing out the silence in the room.

Bishop laughed as well a few other guys who were still left in the training room before walking away from your desk and over to you. "You're 27 years old, figure it out, you dweeb!" He came to a stop in front of you and hugged you. "Good luck with the rest of your senior year. I hope you'll still come around."

"Eh, maybe I will," you joked, pulling away from the hug and giving the guys a small wave. "Good luck tonight guys. Someone fight Tkachuk or I'll disown you as my team and switch to the Canucks."

Your joke was followed by multiple groans and mumbles, in reply to your goodbye and to the fact that you were leaving their training room forever. Once the conversation returned to normal, you took that as your time to slip out of the training room unnoticed and back out into the hallway. The moment you stared down the empty hallway, you took a deep breath and felt as if a huge weight was lifted off of your shoulders. You, Kennedy and Big Rig had made yourself a checklist of things to do before the year came to an end and you came back from winter break.

The first? Talk to Dave and give him the paperwork to wrap up your internship.

The second? Somehow repair your relationship with Jamie, which has yet to even have an outlined plan.

And the third? ...Close things off with Tyler on a positive note. He was a friend way before he was a hookup and he's your brother's best friend. Just because the two of you had relations, doesn't mean you couldn't still be friends.

You weren't one to lie to yourself. You knew that the last one probably wouldn't happen before the end of the year, if at all. Confronting Tyler was terrifying to you. Sure, you've planned everything that you wanted to say to him– it's been boiling inside of you for days. But there was never a moment that presented itself to where you could get Tyler alone, and you no longer felt comfortable just showing up at his place. So, you just pushed it onto the backburner and knew that somewhere down the road, you'd be able to accept that things would be like this from here on out– avoiding each other and pretending like nothing ever happened.

"Y/N, wait!" Halfway down the hallway, you stopped in your tracks as you listened to the sound of a door closing and shoes scuffing along the floor.

You didn't want to turn around, hell, you didn't even want to stop. But it was like your body turned against you the moment that you heard his voice. His footsteps came to a stop just behind you and you could hear him panting a little, trying to catch his breath. In his hand, you heard the slight jingle of a single key on a lanyard, and your heart squeezed in your chest.

"You can't do this. You can't leave!" The anger in his voice took you by surprise, just like his reaction only moments ago in the training room had. "You can't let me stop you from keeping this internship."

"Excuse me?" You scoffed, whipping around and feeling pure adrenaline running through your veins. "That's awfully narcissistic of you."

He looked taken back as he held tightly onto the lanyard he'd gifted you. "That's why you're leaving, though. Because of...everything?" He took a step towards you, shaking his head. "If it is I–"

Maybe it was the way he had phrased the sentence or maybe it was the way that he had pretty much just written off every moment the two of you had shared in a hesitant state. Whatever it was, you felt a whirl of anger and adrenaline swirling around inside of you as you clenched your fists by your side. "I completed my hours, Tyler, meaning my internship is done. I've fulfilled my duties as an intern here and even if it was about you and 'everything'," you threw your air quotes as you stared at him, your eyes hoping to burn holes into his head. "My position here was never permanent and we both knew that."

You felt slightly proud of yourself for the sly insinuation you threw in at him, and even more so proud when you saw that he understood just what you were implying. "Y/N listen, we need to talk."

Even if you wanted to, you couldn't have prevented the laugh that escaped from your mouth. "You've had almost two weeks to 'talk', Tyler. Two weeks to send me a text or a phone call to meet up someplace! But now that I'm leaving and I'll no longer be around for your convenience, it's the perfect time to talk?"

He stood there silent because he knew damn well that you were right. He had plenty of opportunities in the last two weeks to reach out to you, but he hadn't even bothered to pick up the phone and there was no denying it. You stood there, taking him in and it only made you feel worse. He had a hurt look on his face like he was lost as to what you wanted him to say or to do– and that only made you angrier. It was simple, what you wanted him to do. For the last two weeks, all you've wanted was for him to just talk to you, to let you know that he hadn't tossed you aside like another pointless hookup. But now, all you wanted to do was get everything off of your chest, and it was then that you realized...the universe was granting you the alone time you've desperately wanted.

"You don't get it, do you?" You asked, shaking your head as you felt a knot tighten in your throat. "You don't get how...how embarrassed I am! Do you know how many people told me to avoid getting involved with you? That you'd do nothing but end up hurting me in the end?"

"'He has a reputation for a reason, Y/N!' 'All he does is whore around Dallas, Y/N.' 'You guys are in two different stages of life, it won't work out.'" You laughed again, trying your damndest not to try. "I've heard it all, Tyler. From Kennedy, from your teammates, from kids at my school, hell– I even heard it from my mom!"

You bit the inside of your cheek as you looked off to your left, giving yourself a few seconds to compose your thoughts before looking at him again. "But I brushed their worries aside because I saw a side of you that they never got the chance to. I saw how kind and sweet you were with me. How you'd jump at any opportunity to help me study and how you always made me feel welcome in your home."

"I saw it all and I thought, 'hey, you know what? They're all wrong. He's not that kid in Boston and he's not the same guy he was when he first got to Dallas.'" You pointed at him before letting your hand drop back to your side. "I gave you the benefit of the doubt because I know people can change and with my whole heart, I believed that you had."

He continued to stare at you, almost void of emotion now as if he had put up a wall and was just letting you scream at it, which only made you more upset. "I understand that you could have lost your best friend, I really do. And I'd never ask you to put our, whatever the hell we had, above your friendship with Jamie."

 Your bottom lip trembled as you thought about the nights since, where you've checked your phone every minute to see if he had texted you. "But you could have texted me. You could've said 'hey, I just need some space right now to figure stuff out' and I would have been fine with that! Instead, you just...tossed me aside and shut me out."

The more that you spoke, the more weightless you began to feel. It was as if speaking every word and feeling you had saved for Tyler was freeing you of the pain that him dropping you like nothing, had caused. Yet, you couldn't help but feel angry at how he was just standing there. You wanted a reaction, you wanted him to apologize– anything was better than this.

"Say something! Stop standing there and staring at me!" You yelled, feeling surprised at yourself for just how high your voice had gone and echoed off of the walls.

You watched his Adam's apple bob as his fingers tangled and twirled through the lanyard."Jamie and I... we've been talking and I think it's going well."

"Well that's great for you, isn't it?" You scoffed, shaking your head and motioning towards him with a hand. "At least my brother is talking to someone, right? Better you than me, I guess. I'm happy you got your best friend back, I truly am."

The longer you stood there, the more you felt your body begin to shake from the pure adrenaline running through you. And the more that he just stared at you, the more you felt your heart breaking because it was starting to become clear that you were the only one who was hurting from all of this. You laughed in disbelief at your revelation before turning away from him, preparing to walk down the aisle and out of his view.

"Why?" You asked, keeping your back turned. "Why did you do it?"

"...Why did I do, what?"

You turned around, your hair whipping into your face before you brushed it back with your fingers. "Why did you go back to Maisy?" Your voice cracked as you spoke softly, staring at him with the tears that were threatening to spill. "Why did you treat me like I was the most important person to you and then toss me aside like I was just another pointless hookup?"

"Y/N..."

"Did you even care? Wait, no, of course, you didn't and would you like to know how I know that, Tyler?" You stared at him, expecting an answer but knowing you wouldn't get one. "Because you practically rushed me out of your house and into an uber like I was nothing. You couldn't even be bothered to make sure I got home okay! The first sign of trouble and you toss me into an uber, sent me away and then ignored me like every..."

Your voice broke as you brought a hand to your mouth and turned away from him. You took a deep breath, trying to calm down your racing heart before looking back at him. "You ignored me like every moment we spent together meant nothing to you. And m-maybe they did but to me? They're some of the best memories I've had here in Dallas."

"So imagine how it made me feel, when my brother of all people, tells me that she's here...in your seats, not even four days after you had sex with me and tossed me aside." You glared at him as your bottom lip trembled once again. "You made me look like a joke Tyler."

"It wasn't like that, okay? Maisy was just–"

"I don't care what it was like, Tyler! She was here, in seats YOU bought her last season!" You yelled, throwing your arms in the air. "You told me that you guys were over! That you haven't talked to her since July and yet, there she was!"

The moment you felt the first tear glide down your cheek, you knew that you only had moments before you would burst into tears. You went to speak and a small sob escaped from the back of your throat. Tyler went into a small panic, his eyes widening as he stepped forward and reached out for you. "Y/N–"

"Don't," You stepped back, smacking his hand away. "Don't touch me, just...don't." You closed your eyes, focusing on your breathing and collecting your thoughts before opening them and looking at him one last time. "I gave you the benefit of the doubt Tyler, but it turns out everyone was right."

You laughed again, shrugging your shoulders and shaking your head. "You're still that 19-year-old kid in Boston, who doesn't have a clue about what he wants for his life...you're nowhere near the man I thought you were." You looked him dead in the eyes, not caring about the tears running down your face. "Grow up."

With that, you turned your back to him and started to finish your journey down the hall and to the elevator, choosing to ignore how his footsteps followed you. "Y/N, wait...please."

You stopped, this time choosing to and kept your head down towards the ground and holding back your sobs. "SEGGY WHERE ARE YOU? GET DRESSED, WE'VE GOT 5 MINUTES TILL WARM-UPS!" Big Rig called out, his loud voice echoing down the hall.

You expected to hear Tyler's footprints walk in the opposite direction, but you were met with silence. "Y/N, stay after the game, please? I just," he sighed, trying to figure out what to say. "We really need to talk about everything and just...please wait for me after the game? Five minutes, two minutes, one minute– whatever you want, I don't care. Just...please, let me explain?"

"SEGGY LET'S GO!" Rads called out this time, his voice louder as you kept your back to Tyler.

You heard him sigh again before listening to his footsteps run in the direction back towards the locker room. You didn't hesitate to walk as fast as you could to the elevator, letting out every tear and sob your body had held back as he pleaded for a chance to explain. It was all you wanted from him, an explanation, but he was too late. You weren't staying for the game, you were leaving the arena and hopping onto a flight to Victoria in two hours.

You just didn't have the heart to tell him that.

You were grateful for the elevator attendant who stayed silent your entire ride up to the upper level. Before the doors opened, you took a deep breath and wiped your eyes, fixing yourself up before you'd make your way through the crowds and out of the arena. The attendant gave you a friendly smile as you walked out of the elevator. As soon as the doors closed and you made your way through the crowds, you spotted Paisley turning away from the drink cart ahead of you and you were desperate for the crowd to swallow you up before she could witness you in all of your misery.

Unfortunately for you, the universe wasn't so kind because as soon as she looked up from her purse, her eyes locked on yours and she smiled and waved at you. You froze in place, probably bothering the fans trying to make their way around you as you watched in horror, Paisley coming towards you.

"Y/N, hi!" She smiled, just as cheery as the first time you met her, which again, made it so hard to dislike her. "What are you doing up here? I thought you were down in the training room and stuff?"

"How did you know that?" You asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Cole," she scoffed, rolling her eyes before taking a sip of her beer, which was another shock because you took her for a wine kind of girl. "He complained about it and Tyler Seguin and some dude named Big Rig? But I don't understand why because like, your job sounds really cool!"

"Well, it was pretty cool, but I finished up my internship, so I won't be here much longer." You replied, stuffing your hands awkwardly into your sweatshirt pockets.

She looked at you, her eyes taking in your appearance and lingering on your face for much longer than you'd like them to. "Are you okay? You look like you've been crying."

There were a lot of things you wanted to do right now and talking to the girl your boyfriend cheated on you with, was not on the list. But she was being so nice to you and after the horrible moment you just had with Tyler, you needed a little positivity right now. "I kind of just maybe...broke up with someone? I mean we weren't a thing, but we kind of were and it's just...it's a whole hot mess." You sighed, shaking your head and brushing it off. "It doesn't matter anymore."

She gasped, bringing her drink to her chest and grabbing onto your wrist with her free hand as she leaned in. "You broke up with Tyler? But why? You guys seemed so happy whenever I saw you out downtown. Even when I saw you walking around campus, you just looked so...happy."

"It's complicated."

She shook her head, sighing and taking a long sip of her wine. "I guess it is true then, men are shit. College guy or NHL player." She must have seen the shocked look on your face because she shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, I dumped Cole's ass. Sometime after you left the ABC party. He's just an asshole! And I'm sorry about everything...I never knew and I feel horrible about it."

"It's okay, he really was an asshole." You laughed, feeling a small flutter of happiness rush through you for the first time in what felt like forever. As she joined you in laughter, you dug your phone out of your back pocket and smiled. "What's your number? Maybe we can hang out after break?"

"Oh my God, yes!" She squealed, taking your phone from your hands and bringing her own out. "And I'll add you on snap and Instagram, too! Honestly, you and Kennedy seem like the coolest girls and I've always wanted to be friends with you since freshman year English lit, but we never really had classes together again."

"We can make plans for spring break maybe?" You suggested as the two of you added each other on social media before putting your phones away.

"Yes! We can plan it after break! Maybe you can even introduce me to a cute hockey boy?" She winked, nudging you playfully. "It seems to have worked out for Kennedy well."

You laughed again, nodding your head. "I know a few single guys, we'll see what we can do." You felt your phone vibrating and you brought it back out to see the notification about your uber being ten minutes out. "Oh shoot, I need to go and get my bags before my uber gets here. But I'll text you later?"

"Sure thing!" She nodded before turning to walk away. "Oh, and one more thing!"

"Yeah?"

"Don't count him out just yet, okay? As I said, I saw how he looked at you whenever I saw you guys downtown and if I know boys like I think I do...I'd say that boy loves you. And a boy in love doesn't give up that easily." She smiled and shrugged her shoulders before winking at you. "Just a thought."

You watched her disappear into the crowd, wondering what the hell just happened. When you made your way down the escalators and into the main lobby, you navigated your way towards the front office where Big Rig had asked the staff to hold your bags for you. Sneaking in and then out quickly, you grabbed the Stars 'staff' lanyard around your neck and stuffed it into your sweatshirt pockets before walking out of the arena doors with your luggage in hand and made your way to the spot where you'd meet your uber. As you stood there, waiting for your Uber to arrive, you thought about what she said. Out of curiosity, you brought your phone out of your back pocket again to see a new text on your screen...from Tyler.

'see you after the game?'

You went to reply to tell him the news, but your uber pulled up and you locked your phone and shoved it into your sweatshirt pocket along with the Dallas Stars lanyard.

You were leaving for Victoria, Tyler would go home to Toronto and there would be no waiting for him in the hallway after the game, giving him a chance to explain.

The damage was already done.

[ironwoman18]

The Worst Third Date Ever part 15

Chapter 15: We don't need a gun to kill someone.

"There are certain clues at a crime scene which by their very nature do not lend themselves to being collected or examined. How's one collect love, rage, hatred, fear...? These are things that we're trained to look for." James Reese

After they returned home from New York, Spencer and Max returned to their routine. She has to go to the school and the next week she will have a new presentation at the Smithsonian.

He, on the other hand, has a few small cases. The biggest of them was a man who wanted to find his perfect family and killed women and men.

So now that he is back home he wanted to spend time with her. He was so used to their dynamic of the past two week that he now missed it.

They planned to have dinner that night. He ordered thai food and when she arrived the food came shortly after.

They decided to not talk about work at dinner. So he told her about JJ thinking about leaving to New Orleans for a job there at the bureau, she would be chief there.

He was happy for her because she had been growing so much in all these years but he will miss her and his godsons.

She also told him about a teacher who may retire at the end of the school year. This teacher had been working for 35 years at the school and everybody loves her.

So she planned to give her a present made by the kids.

"That's really sweet of you Max, I'm sure she will love it" he smiled at her and after dinner they laid on the sofa and talked some more. Just be together made them happy.

"Have you ever invited your friends in?" She asked rubbing his arm around her "because you told me about Luke invited you all to his house to host Kristy's baby shower and Rossi who hosted every big party of the unit and even Penelope hosted some reunions but never heard of you doing it"

"It's because I never really invited someone else in here. I was germaphobic when I started to work in the BAU also I was nervous to get attached to those people, even though I ended up being attracted to them but truthfully I'm not sure if all of these apply as a reason"

"I understand and I think you should. As you follow your therapist about having a normal conversation, you should follow mine about invited them in. After all you share more time with them than anyone else"

He laughs softly and kissed her head "ok I will do it" she smiled and turned to face him and kissed him softly.

"Good boy" she laughed and hugged him tightly.

After that they share more time like that then she said she has to leave, it was getting late and she had to wake up earlier.

"I wish you didn't have to leave" he said as he walked her to her car, for protection.

"Me too but we aren't talking about moving in together. And I didnt want to mention it"

"Why?"

"Because it's what screw up everything with Mike" she looked at him "you meant so much to me to screw up"

He looked at her "you won't. You are amazing and when you are ready to take that step I will be right here. Ready for it"

She smiled "and this is why I love you you Doctor Reid"

He laughed and kisses her softly then she opened the door of the car and got in "see you and remember what your new therapist ordered you" she winked and he laughed and nodded.

"Yes ma'am" he smiles as she rolled her eyes and left. He looked until the car was out of his sight and returned home.

The next day he invited all the team to go to his apartment if they didn't have a case. Dave could not but the rest decided to go.

They talked while eating Chinese food then Penelope mentioned her thinking about a new job offer.

At first he was shocked because he was more used to think other members would leave first than her.

Luke was shocked too and he could see, even with their constant fights, that both care about the other.

Then JJ and Prentiss arrived and they did some games and had a good time.

Then they left and Spencer looked at them smiling. He called Max "hey Max"

"Oh hey Spence. What's up?"

"I did what you want me to" he smiled looking down.

"Really? That's awesome babe, you won a kiss" she smirked and he just laughed "I would like to heard all the details. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Sounds great" he smiled at that "see you tomorrow. Good night"

"Good night" they both hung up then he went to his bedroom, changed and went to sleep.

The next day, after his coffee with Max, Spencer decided to look for Rossi. So after he could not find him in his office or other places he would be. So his last option was the first office of the BAU.

There he was with all his evidence about Lynch on the wall "I don't know why it didn't occur to me yesterday that you'd come down here to recharge" Spencer checked the wall full of photos and details of Lynch "it's been a year since we first encountered Lynch"

"Yeah, I'll probably forget my wedding anniversary but I'll never forget that day" David's eyes focused on the room as his fingers played with his cup of coffee "and this is where the BAU began. It's the one place I can still hear Gideon's voice, prodding me to, um, 'think outside the box'" the last thing was an imitation of Gideon's voice.

That made Spencer laughs softly "something like, uh, 'I am the unsub'" said Spencer trying to make and imitation of the former member of the BAU.

"'Who's your daddy?'" That made the young doctor laughed "that's what we've been missing"

"Roberta gave us the name..."

"Roberta lied. She just wants to appear to be helpful to everyone. She's got her own agenda"

"What are you thinking... Get paroled, find her son and get revenge for the death of her granddaughter Grace?"

"The trifecta"

"Killing your own child is far more common than most people think and in filicide cases, mothers are just as likely as fathers to be killers"

"Which is why Roberta doesn't want us to get in the way of her taking care of family business "

"Still, filicide not only requires that she harbor deep resentment, but also that she disassociates from her relationship to her only child"

"Which she did when I showed her the photo of Grace's dead body"

"Were you gonna share all this with the rest of the team?"

"It's just theories"

"Dave, I completely understand your personal stake in this, but you and Gideon started something pretty good down here, and I think it's time that you let that legacy do what it's always done best... work together as a team" that made David to understand he was so focused on catching Lynch that he forgot the team. A team that he watched catching criminals over that past twelve years.

He nodded and both men went up to the office of the BAU to share this theory with them.

Penelope found out that Lynch was looking for a private detective to find his real father, the team speculated that maybe he was not a sociopath if killing his daughter triggered some memories of his father.

They decided to sent Spencer to observe JJ and Tara interrogate Roberta. Spencer could not see her really killing her son, she talked with hatred but he could not find a sign of filicide.

When they arrived back to the office the next day, Emily announced they will wheel up in 30 to Reno, Nevada, all the team but her and Tara. She will stay in DC and check the team.

"Fret not my intrepid crime fighters. You're no longer flying blind into the silver state. I have matched our mysterious searcher's I.P. address to business in Reno that touts itself as a 'private security firm' and it's christened Castle Security"

"Says here the company is owned and operated by Orlando Gaines" added Matt.

"What a piece of work. He's a former Concord Bay narcotics cop who spent five years in prison for selling police-confiscated drugs" commented Luke.

"It looks like either months ago, his company received a wire transfer for $25.000 from an offshore account connected to our old friend, Arthur Terrell" said Tara from the office.

"Terrell was still alive back then" said JJ.

"He was, but that account has since transferred into the hands of an Edward Myles, and Mr. Myles is turning out to be very elusive"

"Yeah, 'cause although that could be a very likely alias for Mr. Lynch, that name isn't popping up anywhere in Reno" added Penelope to Prentiss' information.

"JJ, Luke, Matt, check in with Reni PD, also our FBI field office" she ordered to those three, then added "Dave and Spence, see if you can get a sit-down with Orlando Gaines" Prentiss hung up after that last order then the team arrived to the city and they went separate ways to do what she ordered.

And in the meantime Roberta killed the father of Everett in the most salvaged way possible. After that David received a call from Lynch wanting to see him.

They had a discussion about what to do but at the end Emily left him go to meet Lynch, with JJ as a sniper for cover.

He and Lynch talked and David tried to convince him to surrender but the Chameleon showed his cards. Olivia has diabetes and they kill him they will not find her in time for her next shot so JJ took her finger away of the trigger.

After more research Penelope found the address were Lynch were living and sent it to JJ and Spencer.

Spencer could not see Roberta killing her child but the others doubted it. He knew she would not do it based on his quick profile at the interrogation they did to Lynch's mom.

They drove to the address and shortly after a SWAT team arrived there.

"Van to Montero. We need to surround and secure the perimeter" ordered JJ.

"Yes ma'am" said the captain of the SWAT team as they moved to the house door.

Spencer took his phone to contact Lynch and therefore Roberta.

After the phone rang five times or so Roberta answered it "is this Agent Rossi?"

"No, Roberta, my name is Doctor Spencer Reid, and it's important that you listen to me right now. Even though you have the gun, the moment your son realizes you're not gonna shoot him, he's gonna get the upper hand" JJ could not believe he still thinks she will not shot him.

"You're wrong... 'Cause my son is going to pay for what he did to Grace" said Roberta with tears in her eyes.

"Yes, but first you need to let Olivia walk out of there, ok?"

"Yeah" Roberta leaned to the young girl behind her "Olivia. Go, hurry, go"

"Now wait a second..." said Lynch trying to stop Olivia from escaping. Roberta did a warning shoot to the ground to stop him.

"Roberta?" Said Spencer at the other side of the line.

"Don't you worry. She's on her way out to you" after that a SWAT officer ran toward them with Olivia and JJ held her.

"Roberta, that warning shot is what's about to give you away, but we can help. Are you ready for us to come in? We can save you both"

"Ha!"

"You realize how this has to end right? Right?" She was having doubts. She wanted him to pay but her mother insists tell her she cannot kill her baby boy, even though he killed her beloved granddaughter.

"Roberta?" Spencer said.

"Yes... I'm ready"

"Captain Montero, breach" Spencer got out his gun and followed the captain of the SWAT team to walked in the house.

JJ was checking out Olivia with the paramedics when Rossi called her "Rossi?"

"JJ, Roberta isn't there to kill Lynch. She's there to die with him"

She just turned and saw Spencer walking there and she tried to run to him "Spence! Stop!" Suddenly the house exploded pushing the doctor to the ground. His head hit the ground and she cannot hear for several seconds. JJ tried to help him but he was confused "Spence, are you ok?" He looked the casualties of the team he was leading in and tried to stand up "No, no, no, no. Stay down, stay down" said JJ holding him for standing.

He felt sad because those men died because of his order. What happened? he could not understand.

The flight back was quiet and Spencer, stubbornly, denied to go to the ER to be checked. His brain was working on the plane.

He was reviewing everything from the beginning. He could not believe that Roberta was suicidal or wanted to die with her son. He held to his theory of her not being able to kill him so, why did she explode the house? Why did she let them walk in if she had that plan? She was not a mass killer.

The flight was in silence until they arrived and JJ walked to him "Spence... I think I should drive you home, just in case" he looked at her. He was tired "please?"

He sighed "ok JJ. I don't want an argument"

They both get out of the plane and headed to her car. As she drove she looked at him from the corner of her eyes "please don't blame yourself for making the call Spence. You did what you thought was correct"

He looked down "how couldn't I...? JJ six men lost their life... 6 families lost a father, a husband, a son, a nephew... because of me" he rubbed his forehead softly.

"Spencer..." she did not what to say "you once told me to stop blaming for Nadia and her daughter's murder. About that bomb that killed a bunch of marines... casualties are inevitable in this job and the people who joins in the bureau, the CIA, NSA, and more known very well they could die at any second. And so do their families"

He sighed more and looked down "I can't argue at the moment so I will just let it go for now"

She looked at him and took a deep breath "you don't look in good shape Spence. Please let me take you the hospital or at least call Max to come over" she handed her phone to him.

"I'm good JJ. Don't worry but if this makes you relaxed then I will go to the hospital if I'm still feeling bad" he said as she stopped by his apartment.

"Call Max or me if you need help. Please" he nodded and walked out. She looked at him and sighed. Then she decided to do it herself, knowing he will not do it.

Hey Max, is JJ. Spence had an accident in a mission. He hit his head pretty hard so please keep an eye on him. Bye.

Minutes later she got and answer from his best friend's girlfriend.

Ok JJ, thank you for the information. I'm at my dad's house but when I finished here I will go there. Good night.

Then she left to her house but the girls called to have a ladies night so she drove to Penelope's house.

Meanwhile Spencer was walking in his apartment still thinking about what happened. His mind traveled to a memory of him with Jason.

"Ok children. I'm the unsub. Why do you think I did this?" Asked Gideon to the class.

An Asian girl said "because you are suicidal?"

"No, I want to see my victims suffer. Why would I die before I complete my mission?"

"Someone else caused the explosion" said a much younger Reid.

"Correct! If you profiled that your killer isn't suicidal then something else happened and you need to check the crime scene" all the students nodded and take notes "Remember kids... your profile is everything, if you have it... you won't need a gun to kill your opponent. Just your knowledge of him"

-It doesn't make any sense to me. I don't understand how that kind of personality can choose to blow itself up-

"If Roberta gave in to him... and if he took the gun away... if he could get to a tunnel..." he was just thinking making hypothesis of what happened not really realizing his nose was bleeding "Lynch... he's still alive" and with that he passed out on his carpet.

OOooOOooOO

Ok so after this the episode 10 will be reworked a little bit.

I'm not sure if I should keep using the scenes of him into "The Light" or just show some parts of it. Like some parts of Maeve conversation, changing some verbs and adding Max to the things he love.

[thehelleniclunarwitch]

The Murder Academy 02

Here’s the first part of the series:  DFTR 01  DFTR 02  DFTR 03  DFTR 04  DFTR 05  DFTR 06  DFTR 07  DFTR 08

The Murder Academy 01

Warning: Homophobic slurs. Physical assault. Gun violence. Mention of blood. Please be advised when reading. 

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

*Seven Years Ago*

Klaus jumped off the bench and did a spin in the air. He landed in front of his boyfriend. Dave laughed, reached out to grab Klaus by his jacket and pull him in close. Klaus giggled as he leaned in to kiss Dave.

“You taste like whiskey,” Dave mumbled against his mouth.

“And you taste like happiness,” Klaus smiled.

The pair were too busy swept up in one another that they didn’t notice the three men walking towards them. Klaus finally spun away from Dave. They held hands as they continued to walk back down to the Academy where they would finish out their date night with a hot make-out session with some dumb moving playing in the background.

“Well look what we have here a bunch of fucking queers,” A man snarled.

Dave and Klaus slowed. They looked away from each other to the three men that stood in front of them.

“Listen, we don’t want any problems,” Dave started.

“Shut the fuck up,” The second man ordered.

“Hey, we haven’t done anything wrong,” Klaus said.

“The two of you gay boys were hanging all over each other. We don’t wanna watch the two of you suck face,” The third man snapped.

“Your right. We’ll go on home and out of your way,” Dave said slowly inching his way in front of Klaus.

The three men laughed.

“You think that’s going to make everything better?” The first one asked.

“Come on Drew let’s just beat the shit out of them and move on,” The second said.

“Now wait a minute Ryan, maybe they have something that we want,” Drew said.

Ryan raised his eyebrows.

“Kyle, what do you think?” Drew asked.

“Let’s see what these fags have,” Kyle said.

Before Dave and Klaus had the chance to react the three men descended upon them and attacked the couple. Dave and Klaus fought back as hard and as much as they could. The three men kicked, punched, spat, and did as much damage as they could.

Klaus lay there bleeding. One of his eyes was already starting to swell shut. It was growing harder to breathe. He was sure that he had a collapsed lung. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Dave struggling to get to his feet. Klaus tried calling out to his lover, but his words caught in the back of his throat.

“Oh look, the little fruit boy has balls,” Drew mocked.

Klaus forced himself to push through the pain and slowly get up to his knees.

“What do you think you’re gonna do?” Ryan asked.

Dave slowly raised his fists high. The other men began laughing.

“Cute. Real cute,” Kyle laughed.

“Give me your money then get back down you little piece of shit,” Drew demanded.

“No,” Dave said.

Klaus had to pause as a wave of blackness washed over him.

“What the fuck did you say to me?” Drew asked.

“No,” Dave repeated again.

“You’re an idiot,” Ryan said.

Drew looked at his buddies, to Klaus on the ground struggling to get up, and then back to Dave who was standing defiantly in front of him.

“You know what?” Drew said drawing everyone’s attention back to him. “Fuck this,”

Klaus screamed as the movement happened so quickly. Drew pulled out a gun and shot off two rounds. Klaus watched in horror as the bullets sunk into Dave’s chest. Klaus forgot all about the pain he was suffering and rushed to Dave’s side. He caught Dave before he could fall. Kyle and Ryan started swearing and pulling Drew away.

Klaus cradled Dave against his body.

“It’s going to be okay. I’m going to get help,” Klaus said.

“Stay,” Dave whispered.

“I have to get you help,” Klaus told him.

Dave shook his head. “Stay with me,” he pleaded.

“I can’t lose you,” Klaus began to cry.

Thunder cracked above them, opening the skies and rain fell around them. Dave lifted his hand up to Klaus’ face. His blood soaked fingers left a trail of blood on Klaus’ cheek.

“I love you,” Dave whispered.

“Just hang in there with me, Dave. Please Dave,” Klaus pleaded.

Dave gave Klaus a soft smile before his eyes drifted close. Klaus froze as he listened to his lover take his last breath. Tipping his head back, Klaus let out a loud piercing scream. He dropped his forehead down to Dave’s. He sat there for what felt like eternity crying over Dave’s lifeless body.

When Klaus heard sirens in the background he slowly placed Dave flat on the wet sidewalk. Pushing through the pain once again, Klaus grabbed the discarded gun on the ground and shoved it into the back of his jeans.

Klaus followed the trail of hooting and hollering. The three dumbasses lead Klaus right to the club where they had gone after attacking Klaus and Dave. Klaus knew this place. Had frequently visited this same place with Dave. He snuck in through the back to remain disguised.

Across the club, he could see the three men sitting huddled together. His body began to shake with anger as he slowly started to walk across the club. Friends of his tried stopping him to ask where Dave was. When they noticed that he was bleeding and hurt they tried tending to him, but he pushed past all of them.

Klaus stormed over to the three men who had just taken his whole world from him. With a shaking arm, Klaus pointed the gun at the three men. People began screaming and running. The three men broke apart and saw Klaus standing before them.

“Wait,” Ryan began.

Klaus gave them no time to beg for their lives. Instead, he fired three shots. One bullet to each of their heads. He watched as their heads snapped back and then they all fell over. Dead.

Quickly, he dropped his hand and then disappeared into the crowd and back out the way he came in. Klaus knew better than to throw away the murder weapon. He kept a deathlike grip on it as he ran and ran. Klaus continued to run until his legs gave out.

He crawled under one of the park benches. He curled up into a tight ball and let all of the emotions overtake him.

It was several hours later when Diego and Five finally found him. It took both of them to drag him out. Five had found the gun and shoved it into his coat pocket. Together, Diego and Five carried their brother to Diego’s car.

“How did you find me?” Klaus asked weakly.

“We’ve been looking for you ever since Dave’s body was discovered,” Diego explained.

“They killed him,” Klaus croaked.

Diego glanced at Five.

“I know,”

“He’s gone,” Klaus’ lip quivered.

“We know buddy,” Five said gently.

They got Klaus into the back of the car. Diego raced them back to the Academy. Klaus insisted on walking in by himself. Their butler, Pogo met them at the door.

“Take him down to the infirmary,” Pogo ordered.

“I’m not going anywhere. Leave me alone,” Klaus snapped.

“Klaus, you’re hurt,” Ben pointed out.

“I fucking know,” Klaus hissed.

“Let us help,” Allison urged.

“I want all of you to get the fuck away from me!” Klaus shouted.

He stumbled over to the stairs. He got up a few steps before falling to his knees. He let out a loud sob. Ben and Diego rushed to their brother’s side. Klaus tried pushing them away, but they continued on helping Klaus up to his room.

After they had gotten Klaus to settle down, Ben left the room to go and get medical supplies. Diego was trying his best to clean up the wounds with Kleenex.

“What happened, Klaus?” Diego asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Klaus muttered.

“I can’t help,” Diego began.

“Yeah, well I don’t need your murdering ways. I handled it on my own,” Klaus hissed.

Diego fell silent. He could tell his brother was hurting and it killed him that there was nothing he could do for him. But he stayed with Klaus until he cried himself to sleep and then swore to kill anyone whoever brought harm or pain to his siblings ever again.

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

*Present Time*

“No, no, put your thumb on the outside of your fist,” Klaus said walking over to Y/n and situating her fist.

“Like this?” Y/n asked as she showed him her new form.

“Perfect!” Klaus grinned.

“Okay, so what’s next?” Y/n asked.

“If you’re going to punch with your right-hand lead with your left foot. And vice versa,” Klaus explained.

Ben held the punching bag.

“Now give me two really good punches. Make sure you put your weight into it, but not all of it because you don’t want the momentum to knock you over,” Klaus said.

Y/n nodded. She concentrated on the bag, took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly as she went full force towards the bean bag. Ben and Klaus were both impressed with her first few punches.

“Good! Very good!” Ben beamed.

Y/n smiled as Klaus and Ben started to show her other things. The three of them stayed busy for quite some time. After a while, Ben left for a meeting leaving Klaus and Y/n alone. Y/n fell back against the mat and let out a long sigh. Klaus plopped down next to her and handed her a water bottle.

“You are a fast learner,” Klaus said.

“I had some great teachers,” Y/n beamed.

Klaus just gave her a soft smile in return.

“Klaus?” Y/n said.

“What is it, little bird?” Klaus asked.

“What made you become a serial killer? I mean what was that final push? The last straw?” Y/n asked.

She noted the way he froze and paled.

“That is a long story for another time,” Klaus finally broke the silence.

“Okay, I understand,” Y/n told him.

Klaus leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“You are too sweet,” Klaus whispered.

Y/n watched Klaus pop up to his feet. He ruffled her messy hair and walked out of the training room. Diego walked in. Y/n beamed up at him.

“What have you been up to?” Diego asked.

“Ben and Klaus were showing me some moves,” Y/n answered.

Diego bent over to kiss her.

“But I think I upset your brother,” Y/n told him.

“Which one?” Diego asked.

“Klaus. I asked him why he started killing people,” Y/n tattled on herself.

“Ah, yeah, all of these years later it’s still a touchy subject,” Diego sighed.

“Did I do something wrong?” Y/n asked.

“No, it’s just a really bad subject,” Diego said.

“Oh okay,” Y/n sighed.

“Don’t worry, Klaus will tell you in his own time,” Diego said.

Y/n only nodded. Diego pulled Y/n up to her feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He pressed a kiss to her temple.

“How about we get out of here and go get something to eat?” Diego asked.

“Yes,” Y/n grinned.

Diego and Y/n left the training room. They walked downstairs to the main level. Diego was telling her one of his wild stories as they headed for the front door.

“Hey, where are you two off to?” Five asked as he came out of the kitchen.

“To dinner,” Diego said.

Y/n noticed the way his eyes lit up.

“Do you want to join us?” Y/n asked.

Diego shot her a look, she glared at him and then pinched his side to keep him on his best behavior.

“You wouldn’t mind?” Five asked.

“If I minded I wouldn’t have asked,” Y/n said.

Five laughed and came to join the others. The three of them walked out of the Academy. Five and Diego both froze as they noticed two police cars slowly driving down the road. Diego was quick to turn towards his brother and pull him into a fake conversation. Y/n yawned and pretended to look at something in the sky.

Once the cars had passed by Diego brought his brother and girlfriend to his car quickly. The three of them climbed in and both boys let out a sigh of relief.

“I didn’t think the cops came on this side of the town,” Five snapped.

Y/n looked at them with worried eyes. “Do you think they are looking for me?”

“Nobody knows you’re here,” Diego said.

“If my brother put out a missing person report,” Y/n started.

“And they know nothing about me,” Diego growled.

“Unless Patch threw your ass under the bus,” Five said.

Five had never been a fan of Patch.

“She wouldn’t,” Diego hissed.

“Are you sure about that brother?” Five asked.

“Why would Patch turn on me?” Diego asked.

“She told the other Detective your true identity. How do we not know she shared other information?” Five asked him.

“Can you please get off my dick about Patch?” Diego shouted.

Y/n sat there in the backseat watching Five and Diego go at it.

“Boys,” Y/n said softly.

“I am only trying to look out for you, Y/n, and our family!” Five exclaimed.

“Five. Diego.” Y/n said in annoyance.

As Y/n tried to get the boys attention, they weren’t paying attention to what was happening in front of them. Y/n just happened to look up in time to see a black car zooming towards them.

“Diego!” Y/n screamed.

Diego and Five both looked up just as the car came barreling at them. Y/n gasped and braced herself as the impact tossed everyone around. The sound of crunching metal echoed. Somebody was screaming. Y/n smelt gas and could hear the ringing in her ears. As she lay crumpled in the back seat Y/n blinked a few times and as she lay there in agony she swore she saw a familiar face before blacking out.  

Tagged: 

@ahhhhkeya   @i-alyssa   @hedwigmoss   @les-bio-lie   @dawnson-hargreeves   @ryans-mad-queen   @alysweets   @hyradun   @lollipopdomination@awesometheydontknowiamhere    @buckyandstevegayornay @anotherfanficreadingblog @not-so-epic-iii   @ampbian   @liveitdoll     @gerardwayslips @snazzydoesthings   @gorgeourrific-nerd   @olkathefoxi   @umbrxlla-acxdxmy   @soul-of-a-traveller   @harrisbn@classyasssuperbitch @misspygmypie  @officially-kendra-hargreeves@sithskywalkers   @rose-01   @carryon-doctor-lock@ynm1505 @ampbian​ @i-am-a-smol-sweet-potato​ @klausbutgayer @love-chronicallyalice​ @5sos-wdw​ @robinruns

[sunsetstudiesx]

Film Recommendations!

I thought I’d recommend some of my absolute favourite movies, because I love sharing my love of movies and just things in general with people. So, in no particular order, here is my list of recommendations:

1. Tombstone (1993)

So I just watched this movie a couple days ago and absolutely loved it. Yes, it is a western. Do you need to like westerns to watch it? Nope. That’s why it’s great. And, it’s based on real people/real events. I sobbed hysterically at the end, but I’m also a huge sap. Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday is perfection. I love love love him.

Here’s the plot summary: Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and his brothers, Morgan (Bill Paxton) and Virgil (Sam Elliott), have left their gunslinger ways behind them to settle down and start a business in the town of Tombstone, Ariz. While they aren't looking to find trouble, trouble soon finds them when they become targets of the ruthless Cowboy gang. Now, together with Wyatt's best friend, Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), the brothers pick up their guns once more to restore order to a lawless land.

Quotes:

“I’m your huckleberry.”

“Why, Johnny Ringo, you look like somebody just walked over your grave.”

“You gonna do somethin’ or just stand there and bleed?”

2. Fight Club (1999)

Okay. Okay. I just watched this one, too, and let me tell you. If you haven’t seen it/haven’t been spoiled for it, you have no idea what it’s really about. Honestly. It’s so fuckin’ weird and it blew my mind which is something I thought only M. Night Shyamalan could do. Wow, just. . . wow. Watch it, I implore you. I think everyone essentially knows the basic plot, but here it is if you want it, straight from google:

A depressed man (Edward Norton) suffering from insomnia meets a strange soap salesman named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and soon finds himself living in his squalid house after his perfect apartment is destroyed. The two bored men form an underground club with strict rules and fight other men who are fed up with their mundane lives. Their perfect partnership frays when Marla (Helena Bonham Carter), a fellow support group crasher, attracts Tyler's attention.

Quotes:

“You met me at a very strange time in my life.”

“The things you own end up owning you.”

“It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.”

3. Unbreakable (2000)

Speaking of M. Night Shyamalan. While every one of his movies I’ve seen (Split, Glass, Lady in the Water, The Visit) have all been fantastic and mind-blowing, Unbreakable still has my favourite premise and my favourite Shyamalan twist ending. I love this one, even though I don’t really care for Bruce Willis.

Plot summary: A security guard, having been the sole survivor of a high-fatality train crash, finds himself at the centre of a mysterious theory that explains his consistent physical good fortune. When news of his survival is made public, a man whose own body is excessively weak tracks him down in an attempt to explain his unique unbreakable nature.

Quotes:

“Do you know what the scariest thing is? To not know your place in this world. To not know why you’re here.”

4. This is the End (2013)

Seth Rogen. Jay Baruchel. James Franco. Jonah Hill. Danny McBride. Craig Robinson. Playing themselves. The apocalypse. Hilarity ensues. Cameos from Emma Watson, Kevin Hart, Michael Cera, Rihanna, Paul Rudd, Channing Tatum, Aziz Ansari, Jason Segel, Mindy Kaling, and the Backstreet Boys. It’s so funny, I absolutely love it.

Plot summary: In Hollywood, actor James Franco is throwing a party with a slew of celebrity pals. Among those in attendance are his buddies Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride and Craig Robinson. Suddenly, an apocalypse of biblical proportions erupts, causing untold carnage among Tinseltown's elite and trapping Franco's party in his home. As the world they knew disintegrates outside, cabin fever and dwindling supplies threaten to tear the six friends apart.

Quotes:

“I don’t want to die at James Franco’s house.”

“Oh, no, no, no. I’m drinking and smoking weed. I’m on a cleanse, I’m not psychotic.”

“Take it easy, Dumbledore.”

5. You’ve Got Mail (1998)

Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. This might be my favourite romantic comedy, and I watch a lot. They’re adorable, and Meg Ryan is everything. This one made me cry twice. Once from sadness, once from happiness. Also it has Dave Chappelle in it, who I absolutely love.

Plot summary: Struggling boutique bookseller Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) hates Joe Fox (Tom Hanks), the owner of a corporate Foxbooks chain store that just moved in across the street. When they meet online, however, they begin an intense and anonymous Internet romance, oblivious of each other's true identity. Eventually Joe learns that the enchanting woman he's involved with is actually his business rival. He must now struggle to reconcile his real-life dislike for her with the cyber love he's come to feel.

Quotes:

“There’s the dream of someone else.”

“But I just wanted to say that all this nothing has meant more to me than so many somethings.”

“I love daisies. They’re so friendly. Don’t you think daisies are the friendliest flower?”

6. A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

For anyone who loves The Beatles. Here they play themselves, and show what their lives are like. It’s ridiculous and hilarious and god, if I didn’t love them before I loved them dearly after watching. It’s such a fun, easy watch and I adore it.

Plot summary: Over two "typical" days in the life of The Beatles, the boys struggle to keep themselves and Sir Paul McCartney's mischievous grandfather in check while preparing for a live television performance.

Quotes:

“How did you find America?” “Turned left at Greenland.”

“Hey mister can we have our ball back!”

“You’re a swine.”

7. Dazed and Confused (1993)

My favourite movie to watch at the beginning and end of the school year, and let’s be honest, every month in between. I’ve seen this movie more times than I can say. I love the ‘70’s setting, the actors, the plot. Another wonderful, easy watch that just makes me happy. Killer soundtrack, too.

Plot summary: The adventures of high school and junior high students on the last day of school in May 1976.

Quotes:

“You just gotta keep livin’, man. L-i-v-i-n.”

“It’d be a lot cooler if you did.”

“I just wanna look back and say that I did it the best that I could while I was stuck in this place.”

“I’d like to quit thinking of the present, like right now, is some minor, insignificant preamble to somethin’ else.”

8. Dirty Dancing (1987)

Anything with Patrick Swayze is wonderful, and this is no exception. Johnny and Baby are perfect. This movie also has the best soundtrack of any movie I’ve ever watched. Fantastic love story, fantastic movie. Watch it.

Plot summary: Baby (Jennifer Grey) is one listless summer away from the Peace Corps. Hoping to enjoy her youth while it lasts, she's disappointed when her summer plans deposit her at a sleepy resort in the Catskills with her parents. Her luck turns around, however, when the resort's dance instructor, Johnny (Patrick Swayze), enlists Baby as his new partner, and the two fall in love. Baby's father forbids her from seeing Johnny, but she's determined to help him perform the last big dance of the summer.

Quotes:

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”

“Fight harder, huh? I don’t see you fighting so hard, Baby. I don’t see you running up to daddy telling him I’m your guy.”

“You’re right, Johnny. You can’t win no matter what you do.”

“Go back to your playpen, Baby.”

9. The Sound of Music (1965)

This is such a beautiful movie, and I love it so much. My mom and I try to watch it every Christmas as our little tradition. Julie Andrews as Maria is so wonderful, and all of the songs are so, so good. I love all of the children dearly, and oh, do I love Captain VonTrapp.

Plot summary: A tuneful, heartwarming story, it is based on the real life story of the Von Trapp Family singers, one of the world's best-known concert groups in the era immediately preceding World War II. Julie Andrews plays the role of Maria, the tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey who becomes a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain with seven children, and brings a new love of life and music into the home.

Quotes:

“You cry a little, and then you wait for the sun to come out. It always does.”

“God bless Louisa, Brigitta, Marta, and little Gretl. Oh, I forgot the other boy. What’s his name? Well, god bless what’s-his-name.”

“I want you to stay. I ask you to stay.”

10. Gladiator (2000)

“Are you not entertained?” I think everyone has heard that line, from this amazing movie. One of the many that has made me cry, it’s such a beautiful story. Also, gladiators. That immediately sells it for me. All of the performances by the actors are top notch as well.

Plot summary: Set in Roman times, the story of a once-powerful general forced to become a common gladiator. The emperor's son is enraged when he is passed over as heir in favour of his father's favourite general. He kills his father and arranges the murder of the general's family, and the general is sold into slavery to be trained as a gladiator - but his subsequent popularity in the arena threatens the throne.

Quotes:

“My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius. Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, and loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance. In this life or the next.”

“What we do in life echoes in eternity.”

“Falling down is how we grow. Staying down is how we die.”

[wykart]

Fifty-one years (and one day) later

Part 2/3 

Read Part 1 or read on (ao3)

Summary: Dave doesn’t die in the war and Klaus has no reason to leave the past. Fifty-one years on and he finds himself back at the time he left the world he knew, now eighty years old. He decides to pay his siblings a visit. 

“Klaus!” He heard Diego calling after him, but he kept his eyes on the pavement in front, taking a long drag from his cigarette. He was sober the vast majority of the time, thank-you-very-much, but times like these, he needed something to take his mind off things. A knife sailed past his ear, whistling as the blade loped off a lock of hair.

He dropped his cigarette in shock, bringing his hand up to his ear. “What the fuck, Diego!”

“You d–d–don’t get to fucking walk away from this!” He turned to see his brother storming down the street, still sporting that ridiculous black leather vigilante get-up. His voice was cracked with threatening sobs as he carved a path through the crowd. People were staring, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Hey, woah there, calm down,” Klaus said, holding his hands out in a stopping motion, “you’re making a scene.”

“Oh yeah, what about the scene you made b–back there, walking in here after w–what – fifty years!” He pushed Klaus’ hands aside.

Klaus chuckled, much to Diego’s despair. “That was pretty good though, you have to admit.” Diego snarled. “Oh ok, fine. But if you do come to my funeral, I want you and Luther to fight just like you did at Dad’s – and no holding back this time. I want blood!” Diego grabbed him by the shoulders. Klaus thought he heard his bones crack. “You wouldn’t choke-slam a poor, frail old man now would you?” He cried, feigning distress. He couldn’t stop laughing, and every bought made Diego all the more furious.

“Stop fucking laughing, you hear me! S–stop!” There were tears in his eyes. Klaus had done it again, he’d gone too far.

“Aww come on Diego, I’m sorry, hey –“ he gave his brother a pat on the shoulder as he crumbled, laying his head on Klaus’ shoulder. “Hey, stop crying bro.” People were definitely staring now. “Come on, let’s go somewhere a little more private,” he said, eyeing the onlookers. Diego nodded and straightened up, trying to hide his tears. Klaus led him away, back along the street to the alley that ran along the side of the academy building. “Hey,” he cried at the amassing crowd, “nothing to see here, move along.”

…

“You feeling better Diego,” Klaus asked, patting his brother on the back. They were leaning against the wall, far from prying eyes. Diego seemed to have gotten over the initial shock of it all, his breathing was deepening, tears drying. He was better, but far from okay. Klaus lit another cigarette, was wasn’t about to do this unaided.

“I should have looked for you, after I busted the motel, I should’ve helped you.”

“Wouldn’t have made any difference, I was long gone by then, there was nothing you could’ve done.”

“Well maybe we could’ve given you a reason to come back.” He looked at Klaus – down now, instead of up, he’d shrunken in on himself in his old age – searching for the remnants of the person he knew from just days prior. The image of the man he’d always seen as his little brother, the one he always had to protect and keep out of trouble, was fading fast. “Would it really have been as easy to come back as Five said?”

“Yeah,” Klaus sighed, not meeting his brother’s eyes, “yeah it would have.”

Diego scoffed, shaking his head. “Then why the hell didn’t you, man?”

“You really wanna know?” He asked, tilting his head up towards the blue strip of sky running above the alleyway. “Okay then,” he sighed, breathing out a puff of smoke. “I fell in love.” Diego chuckled to himself. “No, dude, I’m serious,” he insisted.

“And that was enough –“

“To stop me from coming back to this hell-hole? Sure it was. There was nothing here for me, Diego, I was a junkie, I’d been pouring my life down the gutter since I was thirteen, and I was running on empty.”

“And what about us?” What about me, his eyes said. “Five says the world is ending, do you even care?”

“Oh come on Diego,” he cried, throwing his hands up in exasperation, “you’ve really gotta make this hard for me don’t you. For your information, I didn’t know the world was ending for real, I thought Five was just trying to get me to pretend to be his dad–“

“You did what?”

Klaus shushed him and continued. “– I just came by to give Five his little time machine, maybe tell you what I’d been up to, then let you all get on with your lives in peace.”

“But now –“

“But now apparently the world is ending in three days, which is fine by me I’ve got nothing left to live for, but you…” he trailed off, looking at his brother with sorrow in his eyes.

“You know, to be fair, I don’t have a whole lot going for me either,” Diego shrugged.

“You’ve got a future. Allison’s got her daughter, Vanya has a regular life ahead of her, Luther’s got… well he’s got nothing but we love him anyway. Even Five has some sort of weird old-man-child life of crime on the horizon – and that’s forgetting everyone else on the planet.”

“But you’re not going to help,” Diego finished for him, looking defeated.

“Look, even if I wasn’t eighty and not able to walk ten yards without putting my back out, I’m still useless to you. My power’s only gotten weaker over the years – that’s years of unabided recreational drug use, mind – and even if they hadn’t, how could I possibly help avert some sort of world–crushing cataclysm anyway?”

“I don’t know man, Five seems to think we need everyone together to fight this thing.”

“Well, tell him I’m out. If we only have three days left, I’m going to get high at the graveyard and talk to him one last time.”

“Him?”

“Diego, Diego,” he sighed, “are you seriously that fucking clueless.”

“So you loved him then, for your whole life… I can’t even imagine.” He thought of Eudora, gone now, but never really his. She was right, they never would have lasted even if they had given things another shot.

“Yeah,” he sighed, and Diego watched as his old eyes looked back into his memories, happier days, simpler days. A deep, yearning nostalgia one could only acquire after living through the greatest experiences, and the worst hardships, that life had to offer. “It was wonderful. After the war I moved back to Kansas with him, old country house on a farm and everything. We went out to the city for a while once every year or two, experienced the high-life, but I liked the quiet… less ghosts lurking around.”

“Wait, the war?”

“Yeah, bro, Vietnam.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “That’s incredible, I guess all of dad’s combat training paid off after all.”

Klaus chuckled “yeah, and speaking of, back in ’71 I punched dad in the face so hard he blacked out right there on the street.”

“What, seriously?’ He said, incredulous.

Klaus nodded with pride, “Yeah, man. I just saw him one day walking around outside the academy – before it was even called an academy – and I just thought, you fucking bastard and then – wham!” Klaus mimed punching through the air.

“What did he say?”

“Ow,” he laughed, “he didn’t have time to say much else.”

“What if you’d, like, changed time or something, by punching him in the face?”

“You know, I did think about that after, like what if getting punched in the faced rocked his brains so bad he forgot about his need to purchase seven children and abuse them all their lives.”

“Or it rocked his brains so hard he decided he wanted to do that in the first place.”

“Eesh,” he cringed, "that’s a disturbing thought. My thinking was, he’d probably just lay awake at night wondering who that gangly hippie bastard was that absolutely pounded his ass.”

“Serves him right – god he was a piece of work.” And here they were, complaining about Dad as if they were fifteen again, smoking out the back of the house, finally coming to realise what an asshole Sir Reginald really was after years of dancing to his tune. They were laughing, as if this were just another ordinary day.

“Did you ever see us – as kids I mean?” Diego asked.

“Well, I was curious, it’s not exactly something you get to see everyday, but I tried my best to stay clear of this city. I wanted to leave that part of me behind for good.”

“Well I can understand that, wanting to forget everything and start fresh. I wanted to do that, back after Ben died and you left, but the past always catches up – and here I am.”

“I tried to run, my whole life I tried, but it all caught up to me too, and here I am,” he sighed, “same as you.” Klaus looked down at the floor. Ever since Dave had died, he’d had a lot of time to reflect, time to question his decision to leave his family behind. Just a few months ago, he wouldn’t have dreamed of coming back to this place, facing them all one last time, he thought maybe it would be better for them to think he’d just disappeared off the face of the earth. “Should I have come back at all?” He thought of Diego’s tears, his anger, Allison’s horrified disbelief, even Five had seemed upset - though for him or the fate of the world he wasn’t sure.

“What do you mean,” Diego replied, as if Klaus had just said something unbearably stupid. “Of course you did the right thing, it would have been torture, living every day not knowing if you were dead or in pain somewhere.”

“Well, it’s not like you seemed to care before.” He knew how immature he sounded, like some whiny kid instead of the wise old wizard vibe he was pulling off nowadays. “I didn’t see you for thirteen years before dad’s funereal, I didn’t see any of you, and when I came back you’d all moved on with your lives, but I was still the same stunted little asshole you all know and tolerate.”

“You don’t think I cared?” Diego levelled his gaze, looking at him with an earnest sort of sadness. Despite his tough-guy front, he was probably the best out of all of them at understanding how others were feeling. “I had that stupid police radio on all through my time at the academy and every day since, because I knew you were out there somewhere on the streets almost every night, about to OD on all that crap you were taking. If anything had ever happened to you I just know I would’ve blamed myself for not being there for you.” His sadness was building itself into rage again. He screwed up his face, turning away. “I was supposed to protect you.”

“What difference does it make, Diego, I lived a way better life than I ever could have back here. Isn’t that enough?”

“I suppose,” he seemed unconvinced, “but we were all meant to grow up together, we’ve been together since before we can remember, I guess I thought that meant something.”

Klaus didn’t know what to say, of course it meant something, but it was something that every single one of the Hargreeves children had been running from their whole lives. It had never occurred to Klaus that it could be something to be embraced. “This is really messing you up, huh?” This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Somehow Klaus had pictured the whole thing as more of a comedic affair. He’d walk in, old and decrepit, his sibling would be shocked and he’d laugh it off, and he would go back to living in his own little world of pretending not to care. He’d kept secrets for so long, from Dave - who’d ask about that briefcase he kept duct-taped shut and padlocked under the floorboards where no one could find it, who always asked about his past and was met only by vague answers and the occasional name. He’d also kept secrets from himself, as he’d spent so long trying to remember his siblings in a way that justified him leaving and never turning back – he didn’t regret his decision, but that didn’t stop the guilt he felt as he watched Diego now.

“Yeah,” was all he said. Klaus couldn’t stand much more of this.

“Well,” he clapped Diego on the shoulder, but he didn’t look up from the ground, staring intently at nothing. “Sounds like you have world to save, best of luck – and I’m being serious this time.”

“Thanks,” he replied, shoving Klaus’ hand away and straightening up. He still seemed angry, subdued. He narrowed his eyes. “I’ll see you again, brother,” his voice was stony. Klaus’ heart sank.

Klaus flashed him a sad smile, “I wouldn’t count on it.” Diego glared at him and turned away, walking but out onto the street.

When he was sure the he was gone, Klaus turned around to face the figure that had been standing behind him, watching, silent in contemplation. Ben. He would usually butt into Klaus’ conversations, a sarcastic comment or scolding remark. These past few minutes, however, he’d been silent. “I’m surprised, Ben, I would’ve thought you’d have something to say by now.”

“Oh, I have plenty to say, but it’s hard enough just getting close to you – what the hell did you do to yourself?” And there he was, back on his case even after all this time.

“In between the drugs and the debilitating old age, I’m not quite the seance that I used to be.”

“Clearly.”

Klaus scoffed, “rude.” He couldn’t tell how Ben was feeling, he was just standing there, hands in his pockets, staring. “You’re not angry?”

“I’m still trying to figure out what I’m feeling. You disappeared, Klaus, I spend a day in purgatory or wherever it is souls go when you aren’t around to host the party, and then suddenly I feel your presence again, faintly, and I find you like this, I mean, what the hell Klaus?”

“You know, I’m hearing just a teensie bit of angry,” he teased.

He rolled his eyes, “I can’t believe you.”

“You still going to hang around – it’s not like I have a whole lot of time left, and apparently the apocalypse is coming so there’s that too.”

“Well it’s either this or nothingness, so I think I’ll stick around your sorry ass a while longer.” He smiled, and Klaus returned the gesture. “And, Klaus,” he added, “I’m happy for you. All this time I was afraid you were never going to actually start living your life, but you actually got your shit together for once. I mean, who would’ve thought you’d make it past forty, let alone eighty.”

“Aww, Ben, you’re so supportive.” He was only a little sarcastic. He put out his cigarette, quenching the flame against the old brick of the academy, just like he used to as a kid. “Do you think you could help me out with something?” he asked as he walked out from between the two buildings, Ben stalking behind, a persistent shadow. “I need to contact someone I’ve lost.”

…

Five was waiting impatiently in the entrance hall when Diego finally let himself back into the academy. “Diego,” he said, “did you talk to him?”

He sighed, collecting his thoughts. “Yeah, yeah I did.”

“And?”

“And what? He won’t help us Five, what did you expect? Besides, I don’t know what sort of help we’d need from him anyway.” His lip was quivering, and he struggled to get the words out. “He’s j–just a stupid old man now anyway.”

“Did he tell you why he stayed?”

Diego chuckled to himself, “he fell in love, if you can believe it. Some guy he soldiered with in Vietnam. It’s crazy…”

“I see,” Five said, simply. He’d already stopped listening. He looked down towards the briefcase still lying on the floor where Klaus had left it. “Very disappointing,” he muttered to himself. He wasn’t proud of what he was thinking, but there was only one way to stop the apocalypse. They needed the full force of the academy, Klaus included, and there was only one reason he had abandoned them.

After all, what was one life against seven billion?

[royalrastafariannaynays]

88 or 85 please bonus points for a happy ending

“You’ve never been loved, I can tell.”

The voice seeps into your mind like so much cloying cheery-sweet poison. It’s hot around your neck, branding into your skin with every move and scorching your tongue as you gasp for breath.

“That’s not true–” you start, eyes squeezing open for a bitter and blinding second before a boot catches you in the gut, and you curl back in on yourself, coughing out against the toxic gas in the room. It’s just enough to cause you pain, but not enough to knock you out or kill you. Its ‘Condy’s Special Blend, baby boy,’ she’d said. 'Perfect for humans, ineffective on trolls, cooked it up myself.’

“What? You think he would come?” She cackles. “For you??”

You try to stop coughing, turn over into a pocket of slightly cleaner air and hold your face to the cold, cold concrete floor. Closer to the floor, less gas. It’s a kinda warm gas, so you think that’s probably true, anyway. John… John said he’d come for you. He always would come for you, no matter what stood in his way. He would understand, he would see your truth, he would hold your face and smile into it and kiss your forehead in the stupidest approximation of intimacy you’d ever seen, and he–

Another kick, and you’re coughing again.

“Dirk,” she murmurs, coming around to your front again. Her heels click and clack on the floor, her hair grazes your face and you muster up the strength to flinch away from it. “Dirk, Dirk, Dirk.”

The gas not only makes breathing hurt, and your head feel woozy, but it’s like something is sucking the life out of you bit by bit. Somewhere in your brain you’re supplied the term 'tranquilizer’ and you sigh as much as you can between rasps of breath. It couldn’t be taking your literal life force away. And why would she do that? You wouldn’t be able to give her information anymore if you died.

“You gave away the location of your base, Dirk. Sure it was the smaller one you’d just vacated, but you left yourself there alone to be pulled out as a sacrifice,” she simmers, claws digging into your chin and cheeks as she turns your head. Your eyes squeeze open, to find hers inches away. “You knew you had so much information to give me, and you still gave yourself up. For what?”

You know the answer to this one, and you just barely resist spitting right on her overblown and tacky glasses.

She smiles wickedly at your weak approximation of a scowl, and draws a line down below your eye.

“You think he ever loved you, knowing that you would sacrifice his precious little resistance, just for your little brother and sister?”

With that line, your will crumbles. That one line from the one who would eradicate your species if given a chance. You’re prone here in her personal gas chamber, about to be siphoned for secrets and codes and tortured with hallucinogens until you don’t even remember your own name. You’ve seen video of it being done. One of the prisoners chewed off their own hand while alone and bled out on the floor.

Every time you blink, John is there, gazing at you across an empty research hall, confused at what you’re doing. Why you would want to stay behind when you knew that everything was already gone from the premises. Two operatives captured meant that the facility was to be moved, and everything was to start over. And there in your lab coat, when you kissed him goodbye, you couldn’t look at him.

John was your perfect balance. He was there to tear you away from your work even if it was important, because you were more important. Kicking and screaming, you would be grabbed around the middle and dragged into the kitchen, where he would feed you some kind of awful recipe he had thought up. Itd be served on the plate Dave accidentally dropped and broke when he found out you were casually seeing each other. And there would be hot tea (decaf, because you consume entirely too much stale coffee) in the mug Dave bought for you when he found out you were 'going steady’.

You would eat the food. With the silverware John had scavenged from the burning husk of his late father’s house, and with one of his hands on the small of your back. In that warm spot that was just nice enough to be both distracting and comforting. If John was lucky, you hadn’t slept for a few days, and he’d be able to pull you into your military-grade cot in your quarters.

The gas you’re inhaling is nothing like that.

Grief hits you like a freight train, solid and impossibly painful right in the middle of your sternum.

“You know it’s the truth,” The condesce purrs, letting your face go. Your cheekbone hits the floor with a hollow sound, bound to bruise some very ugly colors. Your eyes slip down to half-mast, and you listen to her footfalls as she walks around to the gas extruder in the corner. A button clicks and a valve hisses, and soon, you can breathe again.

And she’s right.

There’s no way he could have loved you. No way he actually looked at you over poker that night in the canteen, when you were both failing miserably, and thought you were…

'Something else,’ was the term he used. You were never sure exactly what that meant. Countless times he had waxed poetic about your skin or hair or freckles or the depth behind your eyes and your determination to succeed. And a bunch of other things, of course. But there’s no way that he looked at you and saw anything but bags under your eyes, gangly limbs, OCD, stress, tension, bad dietary habits, scars from drug addiction, anything. There is no way.

It’s been twelve days and eleven nights total here in this gas chamber. Maybe more? You’ve only counted what you were awake for. So however long you’ve been here, he would have come for you already. Or you would have heard something, or–

There’s the sound of a scuffle outside the glass. You would turn and look, but you’re too weak. Too bleeding and battered and broken. And it would be pointless, anyway.

There’s another hiss from the gas machine in the corner. Something sweet goes back into your lungs, and your whole body feels light. Everything is woozy and the world is spinning so hard. When you close your eyes, it only gets worse. Your stomach heaves but nothing comes up, only the bitter taste of acid on the back of your tongue.

“Dirk!” You hear, as if through a fog. You close your eyes, and John is there. He’s wearing his combat fatigues in the research hall, sprinting toward you with an arm outstretched. He looks angry, so angry. Black ooze spills from his mouth, and pus from the corners of his eyes. He says your name again, and a low moan seeps from your throat. A gentle 'no,’ an admission of failure, a desperate cry for help.

You’re flipped onto your back, and you can only tell from the fact that your eyelids turn red on the inside. The red turns to blood and lava. You hear a gunshot, and a thud, and a ripping noise, and magenta pours into your range of vision with no preamble. A blade clatters to the ground. You’re still facing up. Why?

The magenta begins to smile, touches your face in a way that you know means beatings. Another low moan.

Muffled voices are shouting and you can barely move your arms up to swipe at the pink that runs in rivulets down the domed ceiling, making hands and smiles and teeth and John looking so, so, so, so confused.

After that, everything goes to black.

……….

When you wake up, it’s to the aroma of fresh vanilla. Some noises you can’t identify yet flit along the edges of your senses. The blurry sensations of the sheets under your fingers, and the tubes wrapped around your arms, accompany the faint beeping of a heart monitor. Coming to awareness is always strange for you. It’s part of why you don’t really like sleeping a lot.

Fabric rustles, you can tell what that is now, and you lift your eyelids with no small effort. The smell of vanilla is also a little sugary, and almost like heat. There’s something around your chest that’s tight and making breathing annoying. Did you… ah. Right. Broken ribs.

A glance to the right yields you someone you’d never expected to see again, shoving a cookie into his mouth and trying very hard to not seem as upset as he is. It’s fair to assume he’s keeping a straight face for the sake of the rest of the resistance.

A cool hand touches your forehead, and your inspection of John is interrupted as someone softly gasps, bringing attention to you. It’s a troll with something like greenish-gray skin and black painted over her well-manicured claws. She’s wearing a smock that has a couple smears of blood on it, and she looks very tired. Must be the end of her shift?

“You’re awake!” She exclaims gently, and very quickly she’s taking all possible vital signs and a sample of blood from your vein catheter. She hurries off before anything else can be said to her, and you frown and sigh. You made it back.

Don’t you feel fucking stupid, huh.

“Hey,” John’s voice murmurs from beside you. Now that you’re more alert, you see the lines on his face, and the flour stains on his clothes, and you know he’s been stress-baking.

It hurts, but you try to tilt your body to him to make the pain of your neck a little less. It has the opposite effect, and spikes of white-hot shoot through your body like you’ve been electrocuted and then stabbed all over. Curses pour from your tongue and his through your teeth, and you figure out that the binding around your chest is definitely for broken ribs when you hear snickering coming from your right.

“What?!” You snap, trying to lie still and sink back into the high amount of pain meds they would have had to put you on before you woke up.

Oh fuck.

You forgot that he probably hates you now. Shit.

John is starting to frown when you look away from him in shame.

“You know I dont blame you, right?” He asks.

You weren’t expecting that, so you stay silent and try to comprehend what he could be saying.

You feel a touch at your right hand, and look over to see his calloused fingers touching yours. It’s incomprehensible. Everything you’ve been telling yourself the last two weeks, hell, two months since Dave and Rose were captured, has been a process of slowly breaking down your attachment to him in your mind. It didn’t work, of course, but you knew you would have to leave him, for good. Leave the fucking light in your life.

“Don’t be stupid,” you say, and try to pull your fingers away. Unfortunately he’s not having it.

“I’m not being stupid,” he says, unfathomably. And then continues with reiteration of what had to be fake news. “I understand why you left, even if it was idiotic.”

And… wait.

“I love you,” John says, then, and your mind is still reeling even as your chest bursts with joy.

“Did you kill the fuckin condesce???” You nearly shout, and break down into bouts of coughing and wheezing, prompting Kanaya to wander by with an oxygen tank and some cannula.

John looks sheepish.

Sheepish.

Crying will be for later. Right now, you’re too shocked to even remember what happened in the last five minutes.

----------

thank you to sam for the request, and i love you all and hope you have a good week :)

[haha-bri]

We Can Work It Out Chap. 4 (A Maylor Fanfiction)

Chapter 4 is already up!

You’re welcome to read it here

I’ve been enjoying this story so far. So, feel free to leave a comment and kudos on my AO3. It would mean a lot to me. It actually makes me really motivated to write another chapter. I hope you enjoy it and if you want to ask me anything, my inbox is always open. Anyway, this is chapter 4 of We Can Work It Out. Enjoy!

Summary:

“What are we, Bri?” Roger knew he regretted it the second he said those damn words. Roger could see the fear behind Brian’s hazel eyes and he hated it. He hated the fact that it was Roger that made Brian looked like he was scared or something. He knew it that Brian was not ready and he knew that whatever what was going to be Brian’s answer would hurt him.

OR

Roger and Brian were casually sleeping together. They had to sneak around behind Freddie's and Deacy's back and in the end they had to tell their bandmates.

You can find read the previous chapter here:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4: You Just Hate the Thought of Me with Someone New

Brian was sulking on Freddie’s couch while playing Spider-Man on Roger’s PS4. He could hear Roger was getting ready for his date and he couldn’t believe that Roger was actually going on a date with Mary’s friend. Even though Roger was confronting him about why he was being a dick after leaving the coffee house, but Brian could only manage to tell Roger that he was okay. He even told Roger that if Roger wanted to go on that date, then Roger should. In a sarcastic way, obviously. But now, he regretted it already. What did Roger do to him? Did he want to torture him or something? And why did Brian over think this?

He was furiously pressing the button on his controller that made Spider-Man was swinging to one building to another aimlessly while thinking about Roger. He just couldn’t bring the idea of Roger in a fancy restaurant with some random guy he never met before. And in the end of the night, the guy would bring Roger back to the blonde’s flat; maybe they would share a good night kiss. Or maybe they would end up on the blonde’s bed. Oh, God. Now, Brian was totally freaking out.

While Brian’s thumbs were controlling his Spider-Man wildly, the doorbell rang. Deacy, who was actually making a dinner, told Roger that his date was here. Freddie, who was previously reading some fashion magazine, now stood up and clearly the oldest member of the band was excited for Roger’s date.

Brian was on the verge of throwing his controller to the television when Roger was out of his room and opened the door for his date. Damn, the blonde looked good. He wore a black blazer and underneath the blazer was a white shirt. And oh, did Roger seriously wear the tightest jeans he owned? Brian cursed inside his head and he tried to focus on his Spider-Man who was now only jumping to a random building. Sometimes Brian forgot that Roger was beyond gorgeous. The blonde was even way too gorgeous to be male.

“Oh, hi, Dave,” Roger greeted the man who was now standing in their hallway. Brian could only glance and sulk even more. This Dave guy was only a couple inches taller than Roger. Not as tall as Brian, though. He had short black hair and he also had beard around his chin. And Brian hated it that Roger was actually smiling like a teenage girl when this Dave guy was talking to him. Why Roger did this to him? What did he want?

“Everyone, this is Dave. Uh… Dave, this is John, he’s our bass player. And um… you already know Freddie, I guess. And the guy who’s playing the Spidey is Brian, our guitarist.” Oh, the guy who’s playing the Spidey, he said. Why didn’t you say that I also did you, hm? Brian thought angrily. But he managed to give this Dave guy a nod and back to swinging his Spider-Man on the television screen.

“Hello, mate,” Dave waved to all of them. Deacy waved back and smiled politely while Freddie was beyond ecstatic. He wanted to punch Freddie because of his excitement.

After a short introduction to all of his friends, Roger said goodbye and left the flat. Brian only sighed and took a big gulp of his beer and his Spider-Man was now only swinging back and forth on the Empire State building. Poor Spidey, he could run out of his web but Brian couldn’t care less.

“Okay, what is your problem? You were like a total dick to Dave earlier.” Freddie, who was now joining him on the couch, gave him a questioning look. Brian could only glance and took another sip of his beer. He didn’t want to answer everything related to Roger and his date. He had suffered enough, he thought.

“I wasn’t,” Brian answered shortly. He paused the video game and stood up. He left Freddie with a bigger questioning look. Brian was actually walking toward the refrigerator and took another bottle of beer. He could feel himself getting a little tipsy after three bottles of beer tonight. He didn’t want to get wasted because he had to be in the university first thing in the morning tomorrow.

“Come on, if a look could kill someone, Dave would be a dead body by now,” Deacy joined them in the living room. He still wore a cute pink apron that was actually Roger’s. It was a Christmas gift from Brian and he intended to be a joke when he gave it to Roger. Brian just drank his beer, didn’t want to answer their friends’ questions.

“Is this because of Roger going on a date?” Bingo, Mr. Mercury. You got it right. But, Brian would never admit it in a million years and shot a death glare towards the older guy.

“I’m fine, okay? Can we just… enjoy this lovely evening? And Deacy, is the dinner ready? I’m starving.” Brian tried to change the subject and the younger male was nodding. He said that Brian should set up the table and quit playing with Spider-Man’s web and Freddie also had to help Brian.

***

After eating dinner, the three men decided to play Jenga on Freddie’s coffee table. They also talked about their upcoming gig in a couple of days. They had been playing in the local pub for about five months now and their band was somewhat being recognized by some of the university students. They were grateful of the pub’s owner because he let them play regularly there every weekend. The money was not that bad. It could cover their monthly rent though they also needed another job to actually survive in London.

During their game, Brian couldn’t help but always check his phone every now and then. He was worried about Roger. It had been three hours and why hadn’t the blonde home yet? Where the hell was he? Was the date going alright? Where did this Dave guy take Roger? Did they have a nice night? Did they kiss already? All this questions were running like crazy inside Brian’s head that he couldn’t focus on his game. Freddie and Deacy didn’t actually ask another question throughout the evening though. Both men were way too competitive to actually pay close attention to their tall friend.

His train of thought was actually gone when he could hear the Jenga collapsed all over the coffee table. Deacy was laughing his ass off when he saw Freddie accidentally poked the Jenga and now the older male was pouting. He didn’t like it when he lost, especially to Deacy. Brian couldn’t help but smile looking at his friends’ childish behavior. He kind of forgot about Roger for a while.

When Brian was about to rebuild the Jenga blocks, Freddie said that he needed to go to bed. He said that he had an early shift tomorrow and Deacy also said that he had an early class at 8. Brian was only nodding and saying that he would go to bed later. He hadn’t felt tired yet and he decided to eat some cookie that Deacy made earlier.

“I had a really great time. I think I’ll see you around?” Brian could hear Roger’s voice through the door. He stopped munching his cookie and wanted to hear about Roger’s conversation outside. Thanks to Roger’s flat’s thin wall that he actually could hear his best friend’s voice.

“Okay, I’ll call you, I guess?” Brian could only roll his eyes and he could hear Roger giggled to that.

“Sure. Sure,” and after that, Brian couldn’t hear anything. Probably this Dave guy was leaving. But, if this Dave guy was actually leaving, why was Roger still outside? Brian frowned and didn’t like the idea of this Dave guy gave Roger a goodnight kiss.

After five minutes of waiting, Brian could hear Roger was fumbling with his keys and the blonde was a bit surprised that Brian was still in his living room, eating some cookie. Brian could only see Roger from the couch and didn’t even want to make an eye contact. He felt betrayed. But why? It wasn’t like they were exclusive or something. This was what he wanted, right? It was just a couple of friends who had epic shag and nothing exclusive about it. Why did his brain won’t shut up about Roger’s date?

“I thought you’re in your own flat,” Roger mumbled. Brian could only see Roger’s movement from his position. Roger was kicking his shoes and left it just there. He could also see that Roger was opening a refrigerator and taking a bottle of water. Brian couldn’t believe it. How could Roger be so casual about it? Did he actually forget that they had had sex with Brian for more than two months? Did he actually move on just because of Brian’s answer the other day when they had sex in Brian’s bedroom? Was it that easy for Roger to replace Brian after two months of mind-blowing shag?

“I can’t believe you’re actually going.” Brian finally said it. Roger who was drinking his water was almost choking and Brian couldn’t help but smile a little. But his smile was gone when he saw Roger’s furious face. Okay, did he push some button here because he was sure he didn’t do anything wrong. It should be Brian who looked furious because Roger was going on this date in the first place.

Roger slammed his water bottle to the dining table and looked at Brian like he was ready to kill the curly-haired man. Brian was swallowing a huge lump down his throat but he tried to act cool about it. He didn’t want to look like he was intimidated by Roger’s eyes, which he did. But he had too much pride to show it up.

“You? Can’t believe it? Last time I check, you’re the one who told me to go on this date,” Roger’s tone was too calm to be true. Brian was now standing right in front of Roger; his half-eaten cookie was long forgotten.

“Because I thought you’re not going to exactly do that!” Brian was frustrated. He could only pinch the bridge of his nose and Roger stared at him, disbelieved. He could sense that Roger was getting angry and angry Roger was something you didn’t want to witness.

“And what exactly am I supposed to do?” Brian could hear that Roger growled under his breath. Brian knew that it was Roger’s way to suppress his anger. He had to take a step back before Roger was furiously throwing him something.

“I don’t know that we’re seeing other people!”

Roger saw Brian in disbelieve and Brian could feel that Roger was so close to punch him in the face. But he didn’t. The only thing that Roger did was sitting on the chair and let out a frustrated sigh. Brian had no choice and decided to join Roger and sitting right in front of him. The blonde man was rubbing his temple and Brian could see the annoyance on the blonde’s face. He didn’t understand, Brian could see that a moment ago, Roger was ready to kick his ass and kill him. But right now, the blonde man could only let out a long sigh with an angry growl and tapped his finger impatiently on the dining table. The taller man was beyond confused.

“What do you actually want, Brian? You said that you only wanted to be friends with me, fine. You said that you only want it to be casual between us, fine. You said that you only want to sleep with me with no strings attached, fine. You also said that you’re okay about me going on a date when I confront you the other day. And now what you’re saying those things?! What the fuck?!” Roger let out a frustrated sigh. Brian was silent the whole time. Okay, maybe it was kind of his fault. But he didn’t understand that Roger was actually going to do all that.

“MaybeIwantsomethingmore,” Brian mumbled that part incoherently and Roger raised an eyebrow.

“What?!” Roger almost barked and Brian shushed him before he woke Freddie up. The blonde guy still managed to say sorry but he asked Brian more quietly this time.

Brian could only stare at his long fingers and found it really fascinating all of sudden. He didn’t want to see Roger’s in the eyes and he didn’t understand what actually he was doing. He was beyond scared and he had a solid reason why he did this thing. He remembered the reason why he was so afraid of commitment but at the same time, he could picture it vividly about him having a real relationship with Roger. He always had this weird warm feeling every time he saw Roger in his arms after their sexual encounter. He also loved it every time Roger was writhing underneath him and chanting Brian’s name like it was a prayer or something. Two and a half months and Brian thought he would never want to sleep with anybody else. He just wanted Roger and only Roger.

Not only the sex, though. Roger was also doing the littlest thing that could make Brian’s brain going crazy. Like, Roger’s smile that was absolutely beautiful especially after the older man complimented him on something. Or maybe Roger’s voice every time the blonde male was talking to him or laughing about something. It did sound like an angel singing to his ear. Not to mention Roger had an amazing singing voice. He could hear the smaller man singing every day and not getting tired of it. He also liked it the way Roger cuddled to him on the couch while watching some movies on Netflix or on the coffee house. Even though Roger loved to cuddle everyone, including Deacy and Freddie, even Mary or Veronica sometimes, but he loved it when the younger male did it with him. Not to mention that Roger really cared about his friends. The blonde could actually kick some ass if some people tried to harass his friends. Because Brian knew how Roger was actually treasured his friendship.

But he was a coward and beyond scared.

Too scared to admit all that.

“I-“

Brian took a deep breath before. Oh, God. Why was it too hard? But Roger was waiting patiently even though his fingers were practically still tapping the dining table impatiently. And all of sudden, Brian lost his ability to speak. His throat felt dry and he couldn’t find his voice. He could feel his heartbeat was beating uncontrollably and his stomach was actually doing a back flip. He could throw up. Oh, God, maybe he should throw up. Why did he drink those beers before? Oh, God. Why did his chest feel like it was pressed with thousands bricks? Why his face like burning and his eyes were were stinging with tears? Why did every time he try to take deep breath, it felt like it was going to suffocate him? Oh, God. Did he get a panic attack? What did he do?

“Oh, God.”

Okay, breathe, Brian, breathe. You can do this. You’re not a coward. Breathe, Brian. He tried to calm himself down. It helped a little bit and now he closed his eyes. He took a deep breath to clear his mind and to actually find the courage to tell it to Roger. Brian was actually surprised that Roger was so patient to hear him out.

Okay, Brian. You can do this.

You can do this.

You can actually fucking do this.

“I probably want you more than friend with benefits,”

[little-bit-of-cinnamon]

So, That’s What They Call A Family - Javid

Jack and Davey spend spring break with Davey’s family. Total fluff

Jack’s friends were the most important part of his life and that was no secret. So, even though Davey was mildly appalled by the apparent immaturity and recklessness he’d picked up on from Jack’s stories, when Davey was invited to his first Wednesday Night Movie Night he was eager to accept and simultaneously nervous, hoping to gain the acceptance from Jack’s friends.  

Davey has since been to seventeen movie nights and has earned the official title of “One of the Guys.” And that’s where we leave him. The credits of 13 Going on 30 (Race’s choice) were playing on the TV in the dorm common room and Jack and Davey were alone, everybody else having gone to their dorms. Jack was leaning against the arm of a couch with Davey tucked into his side. They were both covered with a blanket and Jack ran a gentle hand up and down Davey’s bicep in a consistent rhythm as Davey fell in and out of sleep.

“Hey, Davey,” Jack said quietly, not wanting to disturb him but wanting to talk with him before he forgot. Davey hummed in recognition. “I was wondering if you wanna do something over spring break? We can like go on a trip or something like that. Maybe hit a beach? I dunno I was just thinking we could make some plans.”  

“Oh, Jack, I’m sorry,” Davey sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, “I promised my parents I’d go home this break. Apparently, my sisters staying with her girlfriend and they need at least one of us there so they don’t lose their mind,” Davey apologize.

“Oh, that’s okay. I understand.” Despite his words, Jack couldn’t help but look disappointed. He was looking forward to being with Davey outside of school as if being out in the real world would make their relationship real as well.

“No, now you’re disappointed.” While Davey did miss his family, his relationship with Jack is still fairly new and exciting and he’d rather spend his break with his boyfriend than his parents and little brother.

“Dave, it’s fine, really. There will be other breaks. I know you miss your family. Now, why are you twisting your fingers in the cute way you do when you get nervous?”

Davey quickly separated his hands and blushed slightly. “I had an idea. I mean, I know we’ve only been dating for a few months and I’m sure you’d rather hang out with Race or something but I thought that maybe-”

“Spit it out, Davey,” Jack said, grabbing Davey’s hands.

“Maybe, if you want to, you could come home with me for break? It’s probably a stupid idea and you don’t have to say yes or anything, it’s just a thought.”

Jack grinned at Davey’s unnecessary nervousness. “I would so much rather spend my break with you, with or without your family, than third wheel Race and Spot.”

Davey’s lips spread into a smile as he leaned back into Jack’s side as if remembering he was tired. “I’ll call my mom in morning.”

“Why don’t we get you back to your dorm?” Jack asked, but it was too late. Davey was already asleep against him.

-

“Okay,” Davey said, closing the trunk of his car. “My house is like an hour away if the traffic’s good. That’s enough time to give you the rundown and also do some adequate amounts of performing.”

“I really don’t think I need training, but I’m good with you singing to me,” Jack said, sliding into the passenger’s seat.

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong. Sarah won’t be home so all the attention will be thrown onto me. Not only that but you’re also the first guy I’ve brought home so my parents are gonna have a field day.” Davey pulled out of the student parking lot and began driving towards his house.

“Okay, fine. Hit me. Fill me up with some good Jacobs knowledge,” Jack replied.

“Don’t make it weird. My brother, Les, is eleven. He’s so sweet and I love him but I have no idea how he’ll react to meeting you. He’ll either be really chill or he’ll tell embarrassing stories without realizing they’re embarrassing. There’s really no telling with that kid. I think you’ll like him.”

“Got it,” said Jack. “Les. Eleven. Probably cool.”

“Exactly. Then we have my parents. My sister came out a year before I did and they were mostly okay with that so by the time I came out they didn’t even blink. So, I’m not worried about the actual boyfriend thing as much as I’m worried about them being too overbearing or making you sleep in Sarah’s room and that kinda thing. I think as long as you compliment my mom’s cooking she’ll love you, no questions asked.” Davey rambled on about his family for a few more minutes before Jack interrupted.

“Dave, as much as I’d love to hear you talk for the rest of eternity, I really think I’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about,” Jack assured.

“Yeah, you’re right. Will you play some music?” Davey gestured to his phone that was sat in a cup holder. “Passcode’s 5736.”   

By the time they arrived at the Jacobs’ house Jack had fallen in love with Davey all over again.

“Jesus, Dave. I knew you were a theater geek but that was a lot.” “Don’t pretend like you don’t love hearing me sing,” Davey said, putting the car in park.

“Oh, I do. I just didn’t know that one man could perform the Pippin cast album with such passion.” “Please, that was only like six songs. We should go an a road trip sometime. Then I’ll show you a performance.” Davey unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door, smiling back at Jack.

“That better be a promise, Jacobs.” Jack followed Davey out of the car.

“We’ll have to see if I can put up with you for that long, Kelly.” Davey opened the trunk and passed a bag to Jack before grabbing his own.

“Mom? Dad? We’re here,” Davey called as he and Jack walked inside.

“They’re outside at the grill right now, they’ll be in in a sec,” said Les as he stood up from the couch, walking over to Davey and Jack.

“Les! I missed you, buddy.” Davey opened his arms for his little brother to jump into for a hug. “The house is so quiet without you and Sarah here,” Les said, untangling himself from Davey to look at Jack. “Now, who’s the guy?”

“This is Jack, didn’t mom and dad tell you he was coming?”

“Nope. I barely had any notice that you were gonna be coming. You’d think I’d get extra attention being the only kid in the house.”

“Well, Les, this is my boyfriend, Jack. Jack, this is my brother, Les.”

Just then, Davey’s parents walked into the house. Ester placed the tray of chicken she was carrying onto the counter and began removing her apron as she saw the boys.

“David! You’re home!” Davey’s parents joined them in the living room, quickly engulfing Davey in hugs.  

“Mom, Dad, this is Jack. Jack, these are my parents,” said Davey. Jack shook hands with Ester and mayer.

“It’s nice to meet you, Jack,” Davey’s father said politely.

“Likewise, Davey’s told me a lot about you.”

“Wow,” Les started, “David’s never let me give him a nickname before. You must be special.” “I’m gonna show Jack where to put his bags.” Davey turned away to attempt to hide his blush. “C’mon, Jack, I’ll show you upstairs.”

“Remember when I said I wasn’t nervous. I have since realized that that’s not the case.” Jack said as soon as the door to Davey’s room shut.  

“What do you mean? I thought you said there’d be nothing to worry about,” Davey asked, confused.

“Yeah, I thought so.” Jack walked over to Davey, wrapping his arms around and and burying his face in his neck. “I guess I’ve just never been someone that people wanted to bring home before. People just haven’t been able to put up with me like you do.”

Davey hugged Jack back, tangling his fingers in his hair. “They’re gonna love you, I promise. This is the only time I want you to embrace your cockiness, don’t let me down.”

“Are you telling me that you want me to charm the pants off of your mother?” Jack asked, his voice muffled by Davey’s neck.

“Don’t word it like that, you’re making it weird again. Just be yourself, you look great and you have a wonderful personality and you make me happy. There’s nothing my parents won’t like.”

Jack pulled back, resting his arms on Davey’s shoulders and kissing his quickly. “How’d it change to you comforting me. I thought you were supposed to be the nervous one.”

“Let’s go back downstairs before you start bullying me.” Davey grabber Jack’s hand and led him out of his bedroom.

Once dinner began, the real challenge began.

“So, Jack. What are you studying?” asked Meyer when the sat down at dining table.

Davey took hold of Jack’s hand under the table as a way to ground him and soothe his nerves for his incoming interrogation.

“I’m majoring in Art History. I’m getting a minor in education but ideally I’ll be an artist full time one day.”

“An artist? What kind of art do you do?” Ester sounded genuinely interested as she asked.

Jack smiled at the engagement, “Painting is my passion, really. I draw primary but that’s just because it’s more convenient. I’m currently taking an sculpting course and it’s very interesting but not really my field.”

“Definitely sounds more interesting than David’s economics and policy classes, that’s for sure,” added Les.

“I didn’t bring Jack here as a tool for you to attack me, kid.” Davey feigned offense.

“We can’t all be nerds like your brother.” Jack grinned at Les.

Les looked pleased, “I like him,” he told Davey. “You should bring him here more often.”

“Not if you two keep teaming up on me.”

Dinner ending was met with Jack and Davey loading into Davey’s car to go for ice cream, Jack offering to drive after Davey’s long day.

“That went so well!” Jack exclaimed, finally getting to express his relief.

“I don’t know why we were ever nervous,” agreed Davey as they pulled out of the driveway. “Thanks for driving, I’m totally beat.” Davey yawned.

“It’s no problem, just tell me where I’m headed.”

“I think my parents really liked you, I know Les definitely did. Take this next left.”

“What’s so special about this ice cream place anyway, Dave?” Jack asked, making the turn.

“Oh, they only have the best cake batter ice cream in all of Long Island,” Davey explained.

“Who the fuck eats cake batter ice cream? If you’re gonna go for an unbaked dessert you have to go for cookie dough. It’s a classic!”

“It’s so basic!” Davey shot back. “I used to work there, take this right, and I’ve had every flavor they have to offer and I can assure you that cake batter is the best. By far.”

“Okay, I’ll take your word for it,” said Jack as he pulled into the parking lot.

“Alright, this is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” Jack stole some of Davey’s cone, leaning forward to take some more.

“Nope, I told you to listen to me and you refused. You must eat your basic cookie dough and suffer.” Davey pulled the cone away from Jack before taking another lick himself.

“I’ve always admired the way the employees can scoop the ice cream into such perfect little balls,” Jack said, pouting as he ate his own ice cream.

“The trick is heating up the scoops in hot water so they can get through the ice cream easily. One time while I was working here I forgot to use a heated scoop and I may have sprained my wrist,” Davey admitted.

“You did not! Davey, that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.” Jack was laughing so hard he began to turn red in the face.

“No, it’s not funny! I couldn’t work for three weeks. It was terrible, stop laughing!” Davey playfully hit Jack on the arm, acting offended even though he couldn’t help grinning himself.

“Tiny Davey with a wrist brace on due to an ice cream injury. I can’t, that’s hilarious.” Jack tried to catch his breath.

“Jack, Tiny Davey was like six feet tall. You’re probably shorter now than I was in high school.”

“I feel like you’re being mean for me for being short,” Jack said.

“You had it coming. You’re not supposed to laugh at injuries. Besides, you’re not even short.” Davey was right, Jack was taller than the majority of their friends. “You’re the perfect height for this,” Davey leaned toward Jack and kissed him sweetly on the forehead before wrapping him in a hug, careful to keep their ice creams safe.

“You’re a sap, Jacobs,” Jack teased through his smile.

“You love it, Kelly.”

Jack didn’t respond because he really did.

Back at the Jacobs’ house Davey showed Jack to the bathroom so he could get ready for bed.

“David, can you come in here for a second?” called Esther from her bedroom.

“Of course, what’s up, Mom?” Davey asked as he was standing next to his parents bed, where his mother was sitting.

“While you boys were out I noticed that you and Jack both put you bags in your room. I had been thinking that maybe one of you would be sleeping in Sarah’s room. Now, I know that-”

“Mom, no,” Davey interrupted. “Jack and I are adults, we can both sleep in my room if we want. Jack didn’t give up his spring break so sleep alone in his boyfriend’s house, and I didn’t come here to sleep in Sarah’s room. Besides, it’s not like we haven’t slept in the same bed before.”

Esther looked shocked that Davey spoke back to her. “Fine, David. You make a fair point but I do not appreciate the disrespect. Don’t let it happen again.”

“Goodnight, Mom,” called Davey as he walked back to his room.

Jack was sitting on Davey’s bed when he got back to his room.

“You alright, Davey?” Jack asked, locking his phone.

“Yeah, I’m good. My mom tried to exile me to Sarah’s room,” he explained as he started to change into pajamas.

“If it makes things less tense I wouldn’t mind,” Jack said, wanting to avoid conflict between Davey and his mother.

“I would. What’s the point in having a boyfriend if I can’t cuddle him?” Davey joined Jack on the bed, getting under the blankets.

“Glad to know that’s my only purpose.” Jack joined Davey under the blankets, resting his head on Davey’s chest.

“Jack, don’t be stupid.” Davey carded his fingers through Jack’s hair. “It’s not your only purpose, I also like when you bring me snacks to my dorm.”

“At least I know I’m doing a good job at the whole boyfriend thing, then,” Jack said, wrapping his arms tightly around Davey’s torso.

“I’m glad you’re here, Jack. You really didn’t have to come with me. I know you could have gone on that road trip with Spot and Race.”

“Oh, come on. Dave, I’ve been third wheeling with them since freshman year of high school, I’d much rather spend time with my own boyfriend.”

“Goodnight, Jack.”

“Night, Davey.”

[welcometowcwmondaynitro]

WCW Monday Nitro 22/07/1996

WCW opens this week with a shot of Mickey Mouse...

Because why not, I guess. As Tony welcomes us to the program we get a better image of the entrance area:

Probably should have opened with that instead of Mickey to be honest, but what do I know?

We’re treated to a shot on Tony and Larry Z with a VERY excited guy to their left.

That dude is ready for some WCW action. Going to be brutally honest and say neither of those shirts do Larry or Tony any favours.

Schaivone talks about the Olympic Games and Muhammad Ali lightning the torch at the opening ceremony. They then show video of Bishcoff giving a cheque to Ali at Halloween Havoc 1994, for a charity of some kind I assume.

Ali in his prime would have been 100% nWo, for the record. 

As Tony continues to go on about this, there are two ladies in the crowd looking very confused:

Like the cameraman is actually an alien or something.

They then switch to Shaq with Hogan, for some reason...

Again, from years ago. Not sure what relevance this has to the current program. Shaq looks like he’s just realised Jimmy Hart is squeezing his ass, though.

Tony says they will have an answer tonight from the Giant as to whether he’ll accept Hogan’s challenge for the Hog Wild PPV on August 10th. Larry says the Dungeon of Doom will force the Giant to defend his title against Hogan. Because you obviously can’t say no to Sullivan and those stupid, painted on eyebrows.

They show the Outsiders’ bedsheet stunt from last week (it’s amazing how much of the Outsiders they show on this program, considering they apparently don’t want them there).

Our first match begins 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the program. The Blue Bloods music is playing and I’m hoping it’s No Fucks Given Steven Regal, but unfortunately it’s just Squire Dave Taylor along with Jeeves. 

Tony says this is “the hottest ticket in Orlando”, which is funny as I’m not sure the people there actually paid for tickets. I could be wrong but I think they were just allowed in as general park guests.   

Next out is the eternally pissed off Scott Norton. The commentators tell us that Ice Train Vs Scott Norton has been signed for Hog Wild, on the basis of last week’s argument I guess.

 “Squire” Dave Taylor Vs Scott Norton

The Squire is the bad guy here, pretty much just because he isn’t American. The crowd chant “USA” at the start of the match to confirm Taylor is not welcome. This match consists largely of Taylor hitting about twenty european uppercuts whilst running into Norton a few times and falling over. Then this happens. 

Taylor is thrown over the top rope onto the floor. No big deal, right? WRONG. The ref calls for the fucking bell and disqualifies Norton. There is no crowd reaction whatsoever. This was a total waste of time for all involved.

“Squire” Dave Taylor defeats Scott Norton via Disqualification.

The pair of them brawl on the outside for a while as Tony and Larry finally catch up to the fact Norton has been disqualified, as if the bell ringing constantly wasn’t a big enough indicator. 

Norton carries Taylor on his back past the announce team, including the silent blonde woman, and they all duck to avoid being hit by Taylor’s boot or Norton’s girth. Taylor then just kind of falls off Norton’s back and rolls onto the floor. The referee declares Taylor the winner, and he’s very pleased with this. 

Wonderful. Jeez, have only 7 minutes of this show gone by so far?

IRS, aka VK Wallstreet, is cutting a pre-taped promo for his upcoming match against Konnan.

You’ve gotta love the dollar symbol on his jacket. Just to let you know he’s all about money.

Anyway, he tells Konnan that “VK Wallstreet knows international markets and knows international superstars”, he calls K-Dogg the “kingpin of Mexico” but that there’s going to be a “hostile takeover” and Konnan had better be ready. He says this with all the intensity of an infomercial about the benefits of herbal soap.

We come back and Mean Gene is with Arn Anderson, Mongo, Benoit, Debra, Woman and Liz.

They’ve set up that fucking VIP area again. WHY CANDLESTICKS? IT’S STILL LIGHT AND THEY AREN’T EVEN LIT. WHY A MASSIVE PINEAPPLE AND A BIG BOWL OF FRUIT? 

Well, at lest they’re using the area I suppose. Gene asks where Flair is. Anderson says it might be a question in Gene’s mind but it isn’t in any of theirs. He says Flair likes expensive cars and beautiful women, but that he likes one thing more than anything else. Gene says “he likes to showboat” and Arn continues “he likes to make an entrance”. I suppose that’s broadly the same thing. Arn says Flair will be here “right on cue” then takes a bite out of an apple. 

Doesn’t look very tasty.

Gene switches to Mongo and says he’s got his work cut out for him tonight. Mongo yells “OH! Thank you Mean Gene” and says it’s been his pleasure to “take care of a few pretty boys in the WCW” and now he gets a shot at the “real pretty boys” in Macho, Luger and Sting. One of those three fits that description a lot less than the others. Mongo is certainly happy though.

Okerlund suggests to Benoit that Sting, Luger and Macho Man might take out their frustrations regarding the nWo on the Horsemen tonight. Chris Benoit says the three of them will experience the crippler first hand, “unrelentless, vicious, merciless. Silent but violent”

Not sure what the fuck Arn is doing with his face here - did he bite into a sour part of the apple? - but for the record “unrelentless” isn’t a word. You could tell Benoit knew he’d fucked up as he paused briefly after saying it... but it was too late. 

Gene gets a bit too comfortable and asks Mongo for a banana. Mongo pretends to throw it at Gene, who reacts like Mongo is about to chuck a rock at him.

Arn is also holding up a banana. 

Our second match is set to begin. 

Why this guy is wrestling rather than checking the stock market or whatever else is beyond me. There’s an “IRS” chant as he comes out. 

Next out is Konnan looking... colourful.

I swear these guys both came out to the exact same generic, plodding instrumental rock song. Most people are cheering Konnan, but...

Check out the guy on the right. He is booing and giving the thumbs down to Konnan as aggressively as he possibly can. He looks fucking enraged. There is a sharp contrast in style between him and the three beside him. 

Konnan Vs VK Wallstreet

Larry says that Konnan wants the US title back because “he might not get back into the country without it”. It’s not a green card, Larry. 

There’s a fat kid in the front row entertaining himself by doing poses.

In fairness the match is nothing to get excited about. 

VK “IRS” Wallstreet dominates the match and spends the bulk of it working on Konnan’s leg. At one point Larry starts talking about putting women in their place again, but Tony shuts it down straight away. 

Fat kid and his mother or father (can’t really tell) are waving at the camera a lot. 

Well at least they’re having fun I guess. Dat Marvin the Martian t-shirt.

There’s a lot of rest holds in this one. Fairly sure I heard some “boring” chants. 

Match ends when Wallstreet hits Konnan with a samoan drop (which Tony calls the “Wall Street Crash” - geddit?) but then Konnan rolls him up for the pin and this one is over.

Konnan defeats VK Wallstreet via Pin.

Okerlund is back with Sting, Luger and the Macho Man.

Sting is half-hopping on one leg like he forgot to take a piss before he came out. 

Gene notes to Lex Luger that Flair isn’t here yet. Luger says Flair is “probably somewhere”. Yes, you’d hope so. Luger says that last week he got “stomped into a mudhole” (but wasn’t walked dry), “but where were (sic) everybody else? The Stinger and the Macho were in Japan”. He pauses for a moment, giving the camera a look...

Before repeating multiple times that they are here to make “a statement” - seriously, he says this about five times in the space of a minute. 

Sting says that there’s only one guy around here who rides around here in a “big fat limo” and he can “stick it” ... Gene’s face here is hilarious.

Um...

Anyway, Sting says he doesn’t care where Flair is, he just wants to chomp on a Horseman tonight. Alrighty. 

Gene says to Savage that he knows the Horsemen very well. Macho yells that he just wants to fight everybody and get it over with in one night. Oh, Macho, if only you knew.

Another Glacier promo airs. It’s funny because the original promos said “Glacier - coming July 1996″, then it changed to “Glacier - coming soon” and now it just says “Glacier”. From what I remember he debuted in September, so... yeah. Not sure what the delay was other than the realisation Glacier was a really shit concept... but I suppose after all the money spent on vignettes they felt they had to put him out there. We’ll get to that.

Tony says we’re about to see a “brand new 8-man tag”, as if that hasn’t been done before, then there’s a vignette on the participants. It starts with the four of them just... standing on some bridge, whilst generic rock music plays.

I think that’s “jobber” Jim Powers on the right, aloof from the group. He’s way too cool to be standing around with those dorks. Then Powers is walking towards us on the sand taking his shirt off, so we’re now essentially watching Baywatch...

He throws down the t-shirt aggressively, like he’s angry, but we don’t know what he’s angry about. Did he open the fridge and find that his last can of tuna had been eaten? Did he find his girlfriend cheating on him with another dude? Did another wrestler steal his “happy juice”? We’ll never know. I’ve just realised Powers is what would happen if you fused early 90′s Scott Steiner with Rhyno. 

Anyhow, we basically see the exact same shots of Joe Gomez, Alex Wright and the Renegade. Close ups of their faces followed by them walking towards us on the sand taking their shirts off whilst the same generic rock music plays. WCW does realise this show is watched largely by men, right? I mean, I’m sure some guys enjoyed that, but I can’t help but think the general demographic isn’t going to be enthused by these guys posing like they’re in a crossover between Baywatch and a boy band video.

The original JOB squad. 

We thankfully cut back to the arena (where that same fucking song still is playing) and Tony says this will be a “wild and woolly” eight man tag. I’m pretty sure only half of that description makes sense. 

Schiavone tells us a “new member” of the Dungeon of Doom is about to be revealed in this eight man tag. This should be good. Sullivan did say he wanted to bring “all athletes” into the Dungeon so maybe it’ll be Linford Christie. 

Three members of the DoD come out (along with Jimmy Hart), then suddenly a ginger guy wearing stereotypical old Irish clothes comes running out. As he sprints around the ring baring his teeth like a rabid dog, Tony says that he’s called “the leprechaun”. 

I mean, it’s not worse than “the Shark”, but for goodness sake. It’s basically a normal-sized version of Hornswoggle acting like he has the infection from 28 Days Later. This guy is better known as Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker and was one of the main trainers at the WCW Power Plant. This was clearly a demonstration of how some gimmicks will leave you dead on arrival.

The Original JOB Squad Vs The Dungeon of Doom

We are literally about ten seconds into the match before Tony says “there’s a disturbance in the back” and the cameraman literally turns away from the ring and starts running towards the backstage area. Because fuck the match. Some asshole is constantly blowing a whistle, also, which is annoying as hell.

We see a bit more of the match before cutting again to the back.

Hard to see in the dark light but basically the Outsiders have entered the production truck, which evidently has absolutely no security in place whatsoever. It’s amazing how Hall and Nash are pretty much able to do as they please with no security there to try and intervene. 

The Outsiders make the screen fade to black in and out. Tony and Larry are asking how and why Hall and Nash are able to waltz in and just start fucking around with a pretty huge TV show’s live production. Good questions.

Hall and Nash put in headsets and start directing camera shots. Obviously as the TV cameras are actually focused on them they are literally affecting nothing, but... whatever. They look like they’re having a lot of fun, and in fairness this is probably more entertaining than the match going on in the ring.

We do start seeing random crowd pans. 

This kid’s tank top appears to be a few sizes too big. It’s literally falling off him. At first I thought it said “milf” along the top but I don’t think it does. I’m fairly sure that wasn’t a term in 1996. Those were more innocent days. 

WCW yellowshirt security finally arrives and calmly ushers the Outsiders out of the production truck, telling them “we’re trying to do a show”. No shit. 

We go back to the match, which Tony calls “high impact”. We wouldn’t know because we’ve literally seen nothing of it. Schiavone is getting more and more upset by the Outsiders being at “master control”, as he keeps calling it, and says “it’s a crime”. Well... yes, it probably is. 

As Jim “Jobber” Powers stands around outside the ring...

Holla! Teddy Long comes out and informs him next week on Nitro HE’S GOING ONE ON ONE WITH... no, no he doesn’t. We can’t really hear what he’s saying because Zybszko is yelling, asking why Long is out there. 

Powers is fired up by whatever Teddy says and starts cleaning house on the Dungeon. The match breaks down, then out comes the Giant.

He chokeslams the Renegade, Gomez, Powers and “Junior Hitler” Alex Wright. The jobbers are disposed of, the match is obviously thrown out.

The Original JOB Squad defeat The Dungeon of Doom via Disqualification.

Giant accepts a well deserved round of applause for ending that match.

Okerlund rushes to the ring to get involved. He tells Jimmy Hart “you scare me... especially when you’re behind me like that.”

OK. By the way, check out the back of Jimmy’s jacket.

Now if the Taskmaster actually made the effort to put that facepaint on then he’d actually look slightly less stupid. Instead he just chucks on a couple of silly eyebrows and says “that’ll do”. Put a little pride in your work, Sullivan.

Gene asks Giant whether or not he’ll accept Hogan’s challenge for Hog Wild. Giant says that when he came into WCW it was his mission to win the World Heavyweight Championship, and he did that. He said once he won the title he “swore an oath” to defend the belt wherever he needed to defend it. That’s kind of how it works when you’re a champion anyway, but sure. 

Giant says that whilst Hogan has been off in Hollywood making movies and trying to win an Oscar (lol), he’s been wreaking havoc as the “cancer” of WCW. Giant says that once the nWo turned up WCW came running to him, asking what they can do about the nWo. Giant says he’ll chokeslam them all in the middle of the ring. There you go. Easy solution. What was everybody so worried about? 

Gene says to Jimmy Hart that “we saw you at the top of the program with Shaquille and Hulk” ... does Okerlund realise that was in the distant past? Hart ignores Gene and simply says “Hogan, the Giant will be ready for Hog Wild”. Good to know.

The Giant has at least one supporter behind him. 

There’s an advert for WCW Saturday Night, before we cut straight back to a match. The entrances were not televised so we’ll get straight into it.

Diamond Dallas Page Vs Prince Iaukea

I had to google the Prince’s last name. Easy to say, harder to spell. It’s just a case of getting all the vowels in the right places. 

Prince is still wrestling barefoot for some reason. You would have thought somebody would have advised him to put some boots on by now. They aren’t just a fashion accessory, kid.

This match lasts a couple of minutes before Page bounces off the ropes and hits the diamond cutter.

Diamond Dallas Page defeats Prince Iaukea by Pinfall.

Chavo appears in an “up next” promo where he basically tells Dean Malenko to get ready for a fight.

Those eyes mean business.

We get a promo video on the Benoit/Sullivan feud. It focuses on Sullivan’s worrying obsession with taking his opponents to the men’s restroom. No comment.

Chavo Jr is out... no name graphic, though.

For some reason these people are dancing along to Chavo’s generic rock theme...

Except the little girl in the bottom left, who looks bored beyond belief. In her defence, it’s not been a stellar night as far as matches are concerned.

Deano is out next... no name graphic for him, either. I wonder if the Outsiders legit fucked up something in the production truck? 

Chavo Guerrero Jr Vs Dean Malenko

The match begins and there are two oddities. Firstly I’m fairly sure the bell doesn’t ring to start the match, it just starts. Also the camera is panning across the crowd/nitro logo and totally misses the match starting. Good job. Maybe the Outsiders are actually still in the production truck controlling this thing.

A fast paced start to this one. Stinko eventually slows it down and starts hitting a bunch of suplexes and shit. Hour two is about to start and Tony has to remind us about the countdown because the little dynamite count down stick that’s usually in the bottom right corner is not there. I guess they really can’t get any on screen graphics up!

Fireworks go off and Eric Bischoff comes screaming through the audio as if he’s yelling to us from the end of a telephone line. They eventually get this under control, and Bischoff is way more enthusiastic than Tony was towards the end of that first hour.

Bischoff says that Heenan looks nervous, and although Heenan starts to talk you can’t actually hear him. He’s wayyyy in the background. Looks like production glitches aren’t just limited to the onscreen graphics. Some kind of gong sound affect briefly cuts off Bischoff before Heenan comes roaring into commentary on an unnecessarily high volume. 

Malenko continues to work over Chavo as a lone person chants “boooring”. It really isn’t. The match is decent enough. 

I’m telling you, that fat kid and the people who I assume are his family must be some of the most annoying people on the planet judging by how they’re acting like the front row. They’ve spent most of the show waving at the camera, making stupid poses and pretending to ‘fight’ each other. See example below: 

To be fair to the guy on the far left, he’s not really getting so involved with it, but mustache, pink shirt and the chubby funster are just acting like idiots nonstop. Check out the expression of the kid sitting next to fatso:

Yeah. I feel for you.

Malenko has Chavo in this hold for a while, as fireworks randomly start going off. 

Towards the end of the match Jimmy Hart randomly appears to start shotuing encouragement to Malenko. It wasn’t really needed as Malenko has been in pretty much total control for 95% of the match anyway. 

Malenko gets distracted by the mouth of the south, which allows Chavo to sneak up from behind and nearly get the roll-up victory.

But he only gets a two count. Chavo then attempts an inside cradle for another two count.

Match ends when Chavo jumps off the top turnbuckle, but is caught in mid-air by Malenko, slammed to the mat and then wrapped into the Texas Cloverleaf. Game over. 

Dean Malenko defeats Chavo Guerrero Jr via Submission. 

Bischoff continues to hype up Hog Wild with the tagline of one million bikers and you, or whatever. They all get in free so no gate receipts for WCW. Great idea. 

Meng is yelling largely unintelligible stuff. Jimmy Hart tells Ice Train that after he faces Meng he’ll be “cold as ice”. So, dead then? 

We’re back with Bobby and Eric, who says the Outsiders were “slippery enough” to get into the production truck. I mean... come on. Look at them. Two guys over six and a half feet. They aren’t ghosting in there, are they? It’s just lack of security. 

Eric then starts talking about the Giant/Hogan match, he says “talk is cheap, Hogan, and so are you”. There’s a lot of accusations you can level at the Hulkster, brother, but being cheap certainly isn’t one of them. Dude was one on hell of a wedge. 

We’re onto the next match, out comes Ice Train...

Bischoff reckons Ice Train could be one of “the brightest stars in the years to come”. Not quite, Eric, not quite. They’ve at least got the on screen graphics back up, so that’s something. I do love how happy Ice Train looks when he comes out though.

You get the feeling he’s just a super positive guy. 

The crowd are apparently loving the Train...

Except the little girl in the right. I think she’s actually crying. “No more jobbers, please”.

His opponent is Meng.

Get the feeling this one could be quite a stiff match. Ice Train is an absolute tank and Meng is... well, Meng. Speaking of Meng, Eric Bischoff says that “one hundred years ago, these people were cannibals”. I’m not sure that’s true. Apparently Tonga was known as “the friendly islands” when first discovered by European settlers and that was in 1773. It wasn’t the amazon jungle. 

Ice Train Vs Meng

Ice Train starts off this match with some impressive agility, managing a leapfrog over Meng and hitting him with a flying cross body. 

That is one heavy collision. 

Teddy is out here again, watching the match. This guy is all over the place recently. 

Meng and Train exchange some brutal chops outside the ring, before they get back inside and Train takes control. Meng swings momentum back his way and hits a huge leg drop. Meng pretty much continues to dominate. The match is very slow, as you might imagine. 

The match ends when Meng and Train are fighting on the outside, and suddenly Scott Norton appears and attacks Meng.

Norton rams Meng’s head into the ringpost and that’s a DQ.

Meng defeats Ice Train via Disqualification. 

Norton yells into the camera that he’s got Ice Train’s back, and Train won’t have to worry about anything until Hog Wild.

Could have just told him face-to-face, he’s literally a few feet away, but OK. Also not sure how this is watching Train’s back, he just got the guy disqualified. It’s not like Train was being double-teamed by the Dungeon. 

A promo airs of Hogan’s heel turn at the Bash of the Beach and subsequent events, with an attempt at dramatic storytelling by some guy. He asks “who’s next to join the New World Order?” 

Up next...

Eddie says to never underestimate a person, even after you’ve beaten them. Um... well, by that point it doesn’t really matter, does it? I guess he means in the subsequent rematch. 

We then get another Glacier promo. The same one as earlier in the night. They could have at least made two or three to help add variety. 

Now it’s a promo for Hog Wild. Jeez... are we ever going back to the arena? 

Finally, out comes Psychosis.

He has cool music. I can remember thinking Psychosis in general was a decent wrestler with an interesting look. A shame he never really did anything useful in WCW.

Eddie it out and he gets a random burst of pyro from the top of the set. 

Eddie Guerrero Vs Psychosis

Early “Eddie” chant from the crowd. 

Fast chain wrestling to open the bout. It continues in typical lucha fashion. Eddie clotheslines Psychosis over the top rope...

That’ll be a DQ, right? It was for Scott Norton earlier. No? No. Apparently not this time. Always cool when the rules are just applied whenever it suits the storyline. Helps build consistency. 

Well anyway, Eddie flies off the top onto Psychosis...

Bischoff says this is what makes WCW the most exciting place to be. What, rules applied differently depending on the match? Sure, very exciting.

Eddie rolls Psychosis back into the ring, hits a belly-to-back suplex and gets a two. Psychosis manages to hit some offence, then gets up onto the top turnbuckle and hits a flying spin kick.

Eric says that it is “magic”. Psychosis hits a suicide dive on Eddie, then a guillotine leg drop from the top rope.

The landing looks brutal on the back and buttocks though. Bischoff mentions that Psychosis is from “Triple A” and also name drops NJPW, which is interesting, as usually they just say “Mexico” or “Japan” rather than naming specific promotions. From what I remember WCW did have a working relationship with AAA and NJPW so it makes sense for them to mention the companies. They just don’t normally do so.

Match ends when Eddie hits a frankensteiner off the top rope on Psychosis, then gets up there again and flies with the frogsplash...

Doesn’t get much air on it so the landing looks kinda rough for poor old Psychosis. Anyhow, your winner is Eddie Guerrero. 

Eddie Guerrero defeats Psychosis via Pinfall.

Eddie has possibly been the most over wrestler on the show so far. Not a high bar, granted, but still...

Ric Flair’s music hits and some random guy is peering out of the “C” of the WCW sign.

Hello.

We’ve got two horsemen and three horsewomen (?) but no Slick Ric. 

We come back from a break to this...

Arn Anderson peering through blacked out limo windows, I assume looking for Flair. I find it odd that Flair hasn’t so much as contacted his best friend to let him know where he is, and Anderson instead has to resort to trying to see through dimmed limo windows. I know this is the era before cell phones were a big thing but surely somebody could have borrowed Booker T’s huge ass phone to make a call.

Arn eventually gives up and walks to the ring. Looks like he’ll be taking Flair’s place. 

Out come Sting, Luger and Savage.

The name graphics have disappeared again, by the way. Never mind.

Bischoff is insinuating that Flair might have joined the nWo. Heenan refuses to believe it. 

Mongo, Benoit & Arn Anderson Vs Sting, Luger & Savage

Sting and the Endomorph start things. Anderson pushes Sting, who shoves Arn back. Arn goes flying like Sting smacked him with a sledgehammer. Sting gives Arn a back body drop, then Benoit enters the ring. 

Dealt with.

Macho is wearing an extremely colourful outfit.

Like somebody took a paintbrush and just went crazy. It works for him though.

Mongo hits a fairly basic neckbreaker and the commentators act like he just performed a flying headscissors. “What a move from Mongo!” yells Heenan. Yeah. He then calls Mongo “phenomenal”. I think we have very different definitions of that word, Brain.

Mongo hits one if the shittiest looking drop kicks I’ve ever seen.

Heenan goes wild, screaming “look at that drop kick out of McMichaels!” ... maybe he’s actually being sarcastic. 

We get a shot of the limo...

Did they not do this same schtick a couple of weeks back? Just ban limos from the area. Problem solved.

Benoit beats on Sting in the ring. I don’t think Luger or Savage have literally done anything yet. Sting’s done all the work. 

The Horsemen are still beating on Sting. There’s only a few minutes of the program left so we aren’t going to see much from Macho or Luger tonight. Easy money. 

After what seems like an eternity Sting FINALLY tags in Luger, who comes in and starts decking all three of the horsemen.

Luger’s body is extremely shiny. It’s really noticeable.

The match starts to break down with all six men fighting in the ring.

You know something is about to go down. The camera cuts to the women - Debra is about to throw the metal briefcase in to Mongo, but for some reason Woman grabs it before she can and they have a brief tug-of-war. The Macho Man then appears and grabs the briefcase off them.

Bad intentions.

Savage comes in with Mongo’s metal briefcase and whacks Benoit in the back with it. Luger makes the cover...

And your team of babyfaces win using decidedly heel tactics. OK. I guess if you can’t beat them, join them? The crowd are delighted either way. 

We come back after the break and Mean Gene is in the ring with Sting, Luger and Savage. Something gets thrown in the ring, Gene says “please lady, don’t throw your underwear in here. It’s in bad taste” ... at a theme park, I would say so. Jeez. Macho says “that’s OK”. He doesn’t mind.

Sting is first up. Gene asks him about the match he and Luger have against the Outsiders at Hog Wild.

For some reason Sting is holding on to the briefcase. Not a bad idea if the nWo are around in fairness. He seems to be pondering Gene’s question carefully.

Sting says that last week “the Total Package was feeling kind of beat down, you know what I’m saying?” ... well, yes, he was quite literally beaten down. A bit harsh for Sting to be making light of that but whatever. Sting says he and Luger aren’t feeling down, they’re just feeling mean. “I mean real mean”. Sting says he knows when the Outsiders’ birthdays are, and he doesn’t believe in horoscopes, and he was thumbing through the newspaper and the PPV is going to be really bad for them. The date matches Leos and that makes the Outsiders Leos... erm... 

Indeed.

Luger says that the Outsiders have been pushing all the wrong buttons since they first came onto the scene. He says they’ve done a good job of pushing the three of them over the edge. Luger screams that he’s “losing it”, he says he cares about WCW and the Outsiders have had nothing but “disgust, disdain, and sarcasm” for it. Sarcasm doesn’t seem as bad as the first two but I get where he’s going. He says that at the PPV they’ll learn what he, Sting, Macho, WCW and the fans mean. I rag on Luger sometimes but I thought he had good, intense delivery here. He can cut a good promo when he isn’t stumbling over words.

Macho Man is next.

He says he’s talking directly to Hogan (with Luger giving the evil eye in the background). Macho says he’s going to beat Hogan up in the aisle before he gets to the ring to even face the Giant at Hog Wild. You might have wanted to keep that plan to yourself, Macho. Savage says the army, the navy and the militia aren’t going to be able to stop him kicking Hogan’s head in. Not sure the navy would have anything to do with it unless the fight spills onto a boat somewhere, and what’s the difference between the army and the militia? 

Macho finishes the promo by saying “we’ve got a date, don’t be late, suckerrr!” as Luger gurns into the camera and Sting makes a weird face.

Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen.

The show ends there. So no Outsiders or Hulk Hogan. We never find out who was in the limo either. Could have just been somebody randomly parked there, terrified as the Endomorph creepily tries to peer in. 

“If I stay really still and quiet, he’ll go away eventually.”

[marvelous-imagining]

Wrong

MASTERLIST

A/N: This story is already so dirty and nothing has even happened between Chris and the reader... This story is moving pretty slow but I don’t want to rush into anything. I don’t want this story to be like, “Oh we’ve seen each other in the classroom twice, fucked 513215687 times already and I’m already in love with him” like, I hope you can be patient with me. Sorry it’s taken so long to post this. If any of you have seen my posts lately, you know why. Sorry!

Pairing: professor!Chris Evans x student!reader

Words: 3,127

Warning: some description of sex (nothing too specific), cursing

Previously: Part 2

Part 3

Headboard banging against the wall, the mattress squeaking, pants heard from two people, one of them being you. Soft silky sheets between your fingers, sweat dripping down your warm body as moans erupted from deep within your throat. Rough hands gripped your hips as your cheek pressed against the mattress. Your mouth open, unable to close it as the blissful sounds made their way out of your parted lips.

Groans and grunts were heard from behind you as the grip on your waist got stronger. Suddenly, you were flipped around, pinned down to your back as you looked up at the man sharing the euphoric moment with you. Your hands pressed onto his muscular chest and you looked up at his face, beard framing his jaw while his lust blown blue eye were trained on you. A wave of pleasure shot through you and yet again, you moaned. This time, the name of the man accompanying you came out with the sound that pleasure forced out of you.

"Oh, Professor Evans..."

Suddenly, the obnoxious sound of your alarm clock made you jolt up in bed. It took you a while to clear your mind and register what had just happened. You turned to your nightstand and took your phone, turning off the alarm before sitting back on the bed and thinking through what you had dreamed about.

You had dreamed about Professor Evans again. The two dreams that you had had of him were both sexual. This one had gone a lot further than the previous one. You took a minute to breathe normally and sit still, waiting to see if you felt any different from the dream. Your eyes narrowed, feeling that familiar warmth. You also felt something very soft between your thighs and realized you had a pillow there. Apparently the dream had been so powerful, you had been grinding on your pillow in your sleep.

You let out a groan and cursed under your breath, feeling awfully frustrated by how turned on a damn dream had got you feeling. You took your phone in hand again and glanced at the time, wondering if you had enough time to take care of the little problem but were disappointed when you realized you had set an alarm for a little later. Having written the paper your professor had kindly asked you to write and return to him that day, you had needed to sleep a little later.

"Well," you huffed as you swung your legs over the edge of your bed. "I guess I'll be paying for my sinful dreams," you muttered dramatically as you grabbed your toiletries before going to the community bathrooms. "By suffering in my sexual frustration."

You scratched the back of your head and yawned as you walked through the halls to the bathrooms. You quickly went through your morning routine, ate a quick breakfast before going back to your room. You sat down at your desk, putting all that you needed in your bag before dressing into clothes that you were going to wear to your class. You really didn't feel like putting much effort into your appearance. You couldn't help but feel like you had to since a certain unbelievably attractive professor was going to be there but you just couldn't bother.

So you decided to take a moment and relax. You took your wallet from your bag and counted the exact amount of money you'd need for a coffee before getting ready to leave. You glanced outside and saw that it was drizzling so you grabbed an umbrella before putting on a jacket and threw your bag over your shoulder. You walked out of your dorm room and wished a good morning to some of your friends walking by before heading outside.

You started walking to the coffee shop near the campus with the umbrella over your head. You took out your phone and texted Dave, telling him you'd drop by to get something and asked if he wanted some coffee. Somehow, he found the perfect timing to text you right before you got in the coffee shop, hearing the bell ring as you stepped inside. There wasn't much of a queue. There was one girl in front of you, you didn't have to wait long until it was your turn to go up to the counter and give the barista your order.

You were just about to look at your phone to read the text Dave had sent you but you heard the little bell ring once again which meant someone either went outside or came in. You turned around and looked to the door to see none other than your English professor walking through it with his jacket held up over his head. Your eyes widened as he raised the jacket off of his head and threw it over his shoulder, running a hand through his soft brown hair.

Suddenly you were taken back to the dream you had had and you found your cheeks heating up at the memory. You had dreamed about him in such a sexual and intimate way that seeing him not even an hour later was making you quite uncomfortable. The dream was still fresh in your mind.

You realized you had been staring for a bit too long as you saw him smiling at you after seeing a familiar face.

You cursed the fact that there was no line behind you and turned around, hoping he wouldn't approach you.

"Hey," you heard a whisper right behind you and you turned around, seeing your professor tower over you. You gave him a small smile and greeted him as well. "Did you remember to do the assignment?" He asked, making you sigh.

"I did," you said with a small polite smile. "Should I give it now or—"

"No, you can give it to me in the classroom."

You pursed your lips and mentally cursed your mind as it practically screamed at you. Oh, I'll give it to you in the classroom, alright...

"Okay, great."

You looked into your bag, wanting to take out your wallet and pick out even amount of money to avoid getting too many extra coins. You dug into your bag, moving everything around as you tried to search for your wallet.

"Shit," you muttered quietly and placed a hand over your forehead.

"What's wrong?" Your professor asked, brows furrowing in concern.

"I... I forgot my wallet," you said with a deep sigh.

Right at that moment, the person in front of you left and the barista greeted you with a kind smile. "Good morning, what can I get you?"

"I actually, uhm—"

"Black coffee to go and whatever she's having," Professor Evans came to your rescue.

Dumbfounded, you gave the barista your order and turned to look at Professor Evans. "Thank you so much," you said with a relieved sigh. "You didn't have to."

"No problem," he said with a small wave of a hand.

You waited for the barista to finish with the beverages. You grabbed both of them as the barista told professor Evans the price. He leaned forward, chest brushing your shoulder as he handed the barista the money. The contact made you gasp and pull back. You looked up to see him look the barista in the eye.

As you observed his godlike side profile, you noticed just how dark and long his lashes were. You could have easily reached out to him and let the pads of your thumbs run across the soft lashes, you could have felt his soft beard with your palm, you could have easily leaned up and pressed your lips on his skin...

Of course you didn't.

"Thank you, have a nice day!" The barista said.

"Thank you, you too," Professor Evans said and turned away, looking at you.

You thanked the barista as well and handed Professor Evans his coffee. The two of you started walking out of the coffee shop. You took out your umbrella again. You saw the professor pulling his jacket over his head again.

As much as you knew saying what you were thinking would cause you to just want to jump his bones even more, you still opened your mouth and let it out.

"You can come under the umbrella if you want."

Professor Evans shook his head. "I don't want to bother."

"You're not going to bother me," you chuckled. You raised the umbrella a bit higher and stepped closer to him, making sure both of you were shielded from the rain.

You ignored the flustered feeling of being so close to his body. Or... tried to ignore it.

Your hand gripped on the umbrella tighter and you looked up at your professor through your lashes. You looked into his eyes that were gazing right down at yours. You let out a shaky breath, still keeping your eyes on his, feeling mesmerized by his intense gaze.

You could smell the cologne he had on. The smell was better than you could have ever even dreamed it would be. The man was absolutely perfect. Had the looks of a god, was nice and had offered to pay for your drink when you left your wallet at home, smelled good... God, did you want to find a flaw in that man that would finally make you drop your stupid little crush.

"We should, uhm..." He swallowed thickly, eyes falling down to your lips as your tongue pushed out to wet them. "We should head to the campus," he said much more firmly. "We don't want to be late."

You nodded, turning your head away with your cheeks burning from the sudden intense eye contact. You two started walking to the campus in complete silence. It was uncomfortable. The only thing that could be heard were the droplets of rain hitting the ground and the umbrella above your heads and the sighs that left both of your mouths.

You blamed yourself. You thought that he was probably feeling uncomfortable because your crush on him was so painfully obvious. You couldn't conceal it, not when he was right next to you and not even if he was on the other side of the classroom while you were trying to focus on the information he was sharing with the students.

You were thankful that the coffee shop wasn't far from the campus. It only took you a couple of minutes until you got to the building. Professor Evans got out from under the umbrella and opened the door for you, waiting until you shook off the excess water from the umbrella. You got in, thanking him before he got in himself.

"Thank you for... lending me a place under your umbrella," he chuckled.

You laughed a little as well and shrugged. "You're welcome. It's the least I can do after you bought me this," you said and took a sip of the beverage, feeling the hot liquid go down your throat. The feeling was soothing and you hummed in delight. "I can pay you back, though."

"No need for that," the professor said. "Well, I'll see you in class." He gave you a little nod before heading off.

You stood by the door, watching after him, feeling somewhat relieved he wasn't near you anymore. You let out a deep breath, shoulders slumping as you shook your head.

"Y/N!" You heard your friend Dave call from behind. You turned around and saw him looking down at your hands with his brow raised. "Where's my coffee?"

Your eyes widened and you raised the cup to cover your mouth. "Oh, shit, I'm sorry. I completely forgot about the... coffee." You said, shaking your head some more before looking back up at him to see him giving you a confused look. You sighed in defeat. "I saw this... person right as I was supposed to read your text and I got caught up and—"

"Was it Professor Evans?" Dave asked with a smug smile on his face.

You glared at him and turned around, walking over to the classroom.

"Come on, don't be mad," Dave mockingly pouted at you as he wrapped an arm around your shoulders. You shrugged his arm off and continued your way without acknowledging him. You two went in and took a seat in the front row. You felt Dave's eyes on you but you kept your gaze in front of you.

"Seriously, who did you see?" He asked, concerned.

"None of your business, Dave."

He nodded, humming as if he finally understood why you were acting up. "So, you did see the professor."

"Shut up, Dave," You said, hushed. "Jeez, say it louder so everyone in this building hears, why don't you?"

"What are you getting your panties in a twist for? I only said you saw him."

You pursed your lips, realizing you were overreacting. You folded your arms on your chest and leaned back on the chair.

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened. Drop it."

"Tell me—"

"Dave, just drop it," you said firmly and sent him yet another glare.

"Just like you'll be dropping down onto his di—"

"Dave!" You snapped, preventing him from finishing that sentence.

He lifted his hands up in defense and leaned back on his seat.

The door opened and Dave turned his head, chuckling. "Here comes the professor," he whispered. "Ready to fuck a certain school girl's brains out." He nudged your arm with his elbow.

You bit the inside of your cheek, ignoring Dave as your eyes followed your professor. He wished the class a good morning and looked down at the stack of papers labeled 'returned assignments'. He flipped through them before shooting you a look. He quickly set the papers down and moved on to the topic of the class. He probably checked if you had returned the assignment yet. You hadn't.

"Why did he look at you like that?" Dave asked.

"Seriously, Dave... Mind your own damn business. And I've yet to return the paper."

He nodded, still keeping an eye on you both.

Yeah, Dave wasn't helping your situation at all.

***

"Well, that was an interesting turn of events," Professor Evans said with a chuckle after finishing off an argument with one of the students. The student had complained about some classic romance novels and how ridiculous they were. Professor Evans of course started defending the stories but still admitted that the personality traits of some characters were quite infuriating, their actions were unjustified but they always made the story so interesting. The student was left speechless afterwards but the professor was mature about it and didn't boast, instead, he thanked the student for the discussion and told the class he hoped it got everyone thinking.

"That's it for today, I'll see you next week," he said and soon the students started gathering their things into their bags and started leaving.

You took out the paper you had finished writing the previous night and said your goodbyes to Dave before walking up to professor Evans's desk. He looked up and gave you a sweet smile, one that made your heart flutter. You ignored the warm, giddy feeling and handed him the paper.

"I saw you looking for the paper in the beginning of the class," the words rushed past your lips before you could even think them through.

Why would I say that? Now he's going to think I've been staring at him the whole class... Well that's technically true but still! Your mind screamed at you.

Professor Evans chuckled, scratching his beard. "Well, I guess you're quite the observer," he said. "I was looking for your assignment, yes."

You bit your bottom lip to prevent smiling. As stupid as it seemed to you, it made you happy to know he had been looking for your assignment. Had thought of you for a moment.

"To make sure you'll remember, of course."

You nodded. "Of course. Just to make sure I return it."

The both of you shared intense eye contact once again. He had a serious look on his face as he had his hands folded on the desk in front of him and his eyes were peering up at you from underneath his thick brimmed glasses. It was as if he was trying to make you see that he only wanted to make sure you returned the paper and that there was no other motive for his actions in the beginning of the class.

You didn't quite understand why he seemed to be doing that. You knew for a fact that was the only reason for him to look through the returned assignments. Your brows furrowed and you handed him the paper which he finally took from you.

He cleared his throat, shaking his head slightly as he placed the paper in his folder. "I'll read this as soon as possible and give my feedback on it."

You nodded, "Thank you, professor."

He took off his glasses and looked up at you again. "Have a nice day," he said quietly, trying to smile but his lips only curled slightly.

You wished him a nice day as well before turning around and leaving the class room.

As you started walking back to your dorm with the umbrella on top of your head, you found your mind drifting back to what had happened in the classroom.

The look... It really had been like he was trying to tell you that the only reason he did what he did was to make sure you'd remember the give him the paper using only his gaze, no words.

It was obvious that it was the only reason he looked through the papers. It was so obvious it hadn't been necessary to even mention.

Of course he just wanted to make sure you'd return the assignment. That's his job, to make sure his students do the homework they are given so they can pass the courses. Well, technically it was the students' responsibility to do all the work but it was the professor who needed to receive the assignments and make sure to figure out who'll pass the course.

You were convinced he saw right through you and wanted to make sure you wouldn't get the wrong idea. You were clearly attracted to him and you weren't doing a great job at hiding it. You weren't doing even decent job. It was just that bad.

He was clearly trying to indirectly tell you he wasn't interested. Why else would he have said what he said?

Unless he was saying it for himself as well...

You shook your head at the thought, chuckling to yourself. Of course that wasn't the case.

Still, a single question ran through your mind...

What if?

Next: Part 4

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My TOP 5 Festival Moments

Like I already wrote in my first blog post: I love festivals. And I attended a lot of festivals in the last years. Now I want to share my TOP 5 moments at festivals. I guess there are more than only five but these are the ones that totally stuck in my mind and I hope I will never forget them. Once I heard someone say “No photo can describe what you were feeling in this moment. So you keep these memories in the photo book of your heart” – I liked this quote.

So here are my TOP 5 festival moments:

 5. The perfect sound track for a setting sun

So I start with my fifth favorite festival moment. It was 2009, I was 18 years old and it was my second festival I ever attended. It was the “Hurricane Festival” in Germany. I was there with several friends when bands like Faith No More, Arcade Fire and The Hives were playing. But there was one special band that created the perfect festival moment. It was a band you may have heard of if you’ve watched the film “Fight Club”. When my friends and I went to the festival area on Saturday evening the sun was about to go down. We just had barbecue and a beer and were looking forward to the headliner of the night. But before that there was this band playing on the main stage. I only heard the intro and I was like “Oh my god, the Pixies!”. While we were walking to the stage they started playing “Where Is My Mind”. This moment will forever stick in my mind and my heart because it was one of the most beautiful moments I ever had at a festival. I still keep this image in my mind. The setting sun, the great weather and this song.

Thank you Pixies!

4. Feeling like a teenager again

In summer 2016 I attended three festivals. It was quite funny because I only planned to go to one of them. But it turned out that I was working at the second festival and I was accredited as a journalist for the third festival called “Chiemsee Summer”. It was the first time that I attended a festival as a music journalist for my music blog Hailtothebeat (If you know German you can check it out ;) ).

Me and my friend wrote an E-Mail to the festival to ask for an accreditation. Okay, to be honest, we only wanted to go there because two guys from our favorite band were doing a DJ gig at the festival and since we didn’t want to buy the expensive tickets we tried to get a press accrediting.

So we had this idea to write this E-Mail after a night with lots of drinks just for fun and it turned out that we got our accreditation for the festival and could go there for free. Of course we wrote our articles and did photos for our blog and it was just one of the best experiences I had since I started this music blog! We saw a lot of great bands playing and some bands we didn’t like – such as Limp Bizkit and The Prodigy – but there were two bands that let me feel like a teenager again.

When Sum 41 hit the stage I was like “OMG I listened to their music when I was 16 and now I get to see them live. After 10 fucking years!”. I didn’t even know that they did a new record – which is called “13 voices” and I can totally recommend it now that I listened to it! After Deryck Whibley’s total collapse because of alcohol addiction and his rehab they were back and they played all the songs I wanted to hear. They definitely let me feel like being 16 again.

One day later another band played that influenced my teenager years. When I was 17/18 I listened to a lot of hardcore/metalcore and one of these bands I listened to was Parkway Drive from Australia. I saw them one time live when I was 16. And now, 9 years later, I saw them again. Singer Winston McCall is not only a very hot guy but also a very funny guy. They played after a hip hop band and after them a German indie rock band was playing so they didn’t really fit into the running order but they did a great job. People were going crazy in the pogo and Parkway Drive beautified their show with some fireworks. For a short moment we were afraid they would burn the stage down but the firemen were standing next to the stage, so everything was safe.

That was not only a great festival moment but also a great final for one of the best festival summers I ever had!

3. The sound check of my life

In summer 2014 I was at a festival called “Highfield”. Bands like Blink 182 and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were playing. But on the last day there was also one band playing that is my favorite band for years: Beatsteaks (sorry that I mention them so often but I really love this band and I will write about them in another blog post).

On this Sunday which was the last day of the festival we woke up after a night full of rain. But in the morning the sun was shining. We had breakfast – Nutella toast and beer haha – and while we were enjoying our breakfast we suddenly heard some music coming from the festival area. We were confused because the festival started in the afternoon and it was only noon at that time. So we suggested that it was a sound check a band did. First we couldn’t really hear the music but after a few minutes it got louder. Since we were camping very close to the festival area we could hear the sound check very well. And on this Sunday our favourite band  - that wasn’t playing live for two years until this Sunday  - was doing sound check for their gig that night. Suddenly every one at the camping site was turning off their music and it seemed like everyone was listening to the sound check the Beatsteaks did on stage. Although no one could see them, people started singing and dancing along to their music at the camping site. It was just a great moment at a festival and I guess that’s what festivals are for! The Beatsteaks did a whole hour of sound check – I guess they had to rehearse a lot after a break of two years!

In the end the concert that night was just great and I never was so happy to see my favorite band playing live on stage again after they were forced to do a break because of a terrible accident the drummer had. This video was filmed during the concert at the festival:

2. The best after show party ever

It was a festival I attended this year in June. Such a small festival called “Kosmonaut” which is decorated very beautiful and detailed. There were umbrellas hanging in the trees with lights in it! At the last day of the festival me and my friend went to the official (unofficial) after show party at the backstage tent where only people were allowed to go who had the “friends”-pass. Since we had it we thought “Oh we should go there!”. And what should I say? It was the best party I’ve ever been to!

The German band Kraftklub was hosting the festival and the party and they definitely know how to throw a good party.  The DJ was playing such a great party set list. Only songs from the 90s and early 00s. Sometimes some newer German songs were being played but you could tell that the DJ, the hosts and most of the guests at the party were in their mid or late twenties according to the music at the party, haha.

We danced the whole night and had beer and sparkling wine. People were even crowdsurfing in the party tent. What a crazy night! When we left the party in the early morning the sun was already shining. So we went outside and sat down at the lake next to the tent (the whole festival was taking place close to a lake). We were just giggling (not only because we were drunk), it was just a funny and crazy night. Partying with some really funny and likable music fans was just awesome and great. We were just laughing when we passed the empty festival area to go back to the camping site. I don’t know what the security guy must have thought when we passed him tottering.

Maybe the last drink wasn’t a good idea and maybe only four hours of sleep during the whole weekend wasn’t good either – but it was WORTH it! The train ride back home was the worst train ride I’ve ever had because I was so hangover but it was the best weekend ever! <3

This is the official after movie:

1. “There goes my hero….”

It was the summer of 2015. It was so hot outside, like 30 degrees. I was attending the German festival “Rock im Park” with bands like The Prodigy, Slipknot, Bastille, Marilyn Manson and many German bands. The first day was and will ever be the best day of the whole festival! First my favorite band Beatsteaks played – which is always a pleasure as I already mentioned – but second, the headlining band on this first day were the Foo Fighters! I saw them once when I was 17 on my first festival ever. But at that time I didn’t know many songs and the sound was bad so I was looking forward to other bands that played at this festival. But seven years later I was sooooooo nervous and curious to see the Foo Fighters again.

We were already at the festival since noon and because of the weather we were totally fucked up. But when Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters entered the stage I felt totally happy and fit again. They started with “Everlong” and played all the great songs like “Learn To Fly” and “Times like These”. But there was one song that made me totally emotional.

After half of the set (so let’s say after 90 minutes – the Foo Fighters play very long concerts) Dave Grohl went on the stage in the middle of the audience and he was all alone with only a acoustic guitar in his hands. And he started playing this song.

“My Hero”

While he was playing I got goosebumps! And when everyone was singing along to the chorus I just forgot myself. It was THE BEST moment I ever experienced at a festival. 80 000 people singing along to “My Hero” while Dave Fucking Grohl was playing the song only with an acoustic guitar. I will never forget that moment.

I’m actually watching the live stream of the Foo Fighters gig from Lollapalooza Berlin 2017 and I get goosebumps again. If my 17year old me would have known that the best concert I’ve ever been to will be a Foo Fighters concert seven years later, maybe my 17year old me would have appreciated it more.

I hope they will tour soon here in Germany and this time I will definitely attend a concert to finally see them again!

“There goes my hero Watch him as he goes There goes my hero He’s ordinary”

[roundtheworldwithtaytay]

Disclaimer; wrote most of this blog drunk.  Not just drunk, totally pissed. Keep that in mind before offering judgement. Tea and scones with the queen at Buckingham Palace, a good two hours looking at Zach Thompson's war rooms and then a release... Today has been a quintessential London day.  I headed out of my hotel in Cartwright Gardens to the King's Cross Underground station where I catch the Picadilly line to Covent Garden. I take a brief look around (intending to come back) before heading to Trafalgar Square.  I have been to the Royal Gallery so I decide to skip it and visit St. Martin in the Fields and then over to the Churchill war rooms. Now... I have an inside joke that I would say only I have this day.  Winston Churchill reminds me of my dear friend Zach Thompson.  I can't see a single picture of the man without snickering.  Then a group of veterans show up.  They have all fought in different wars.  I see insignia of Vietnam, WW2 & Korea on their hats as well as the patch for the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) of which my grandfather was a member.   I strike up a conversation with an army vet.  Such a lovely man named Dale or Dave (I might have misheard him) who served in Korea.  We get along nicely having a wonderful conversation.  I see if there is any chance that he knew my grandfather.  He doesn't but my grandpa never talked about his involvement in this war so this is the next best thing.  We talk for what must have been 20 minutes but his group wants to move along.  He grabs my hand and says, "thank you sweetheart for listening to an old man."  I tell him that it is me who should be thanking him, so I do.  I understand the moment on both our parts to feel important .  I wish him well and am on my way.  Next stop, a walk by of Big Ben and Parliament before taking a tour of Westminster Abbey (a favorite of mine and this is my second visit).   This time in my tour Mary Queen of Scots takes a more important meaning although before I recall being very interested in her reign before. She is buried next to Queen Mary II which is funny because the two actually didn't get along very well, but here they lie in eternity in the same nave of this cathedral. I head over to poet's corner (the main interest of mine in the abbey) where I encounter tributes to Shakespeare, the Bronte Sisters, Lord Byron, Lawrence Olivier," and a favorite DH Lawrence.  "I never seen a wild thing sorry for itself,". That.  Is.  Me. So the rest of the night is basically a feminist/relations pub crawl.  I apparently am an anomaly for many.  Feminist.  Check.  Atheist.  "Eeek!" Check.  Human rights.  Check.  (They are fucked up over this.  Sorry fooked).  Army family.  "Who the fook is this person?"  Check.   I first go into Blackfriar's Pub near Fleet Street. First I should mention that I wasn't expecting to get to see this gem because I forgot to write down the address of it before leaving my hotel room, then low and behold I walk out and BAM, there it is. This pub is an Art Nouveau pub built in 1875 on the site of a Dominican friary. Located at the end of the Blackfriars Bridge, it was saved from demolition thanks to a campaign led by Sir John Betjeman. Should you look around the pub you will find jolly friars appearing everywhere including sculptures, mosaics and reliefs. It really is a rare building in shape and decor. Definitely one to check out. I order a Seafarer's Ale and sit down at a table with two gentlemen who notice I have nowhere to sit. They continue their conversation (as it was almost over and they were about to leave anyway) one offers me an uneaten bag of crisps, sea salt and malt vinegar, MY FAVORITE!!! I sit back and sip my beer watching pub life in London. This is not a cliche. This is a very beautiful part of London social scenes and when there is no room left at the bar, everyone starts to convene outside. Next off, I walk the streets of Fleet. That Fleet Street. The one of the same name in Sweeney Todd. I had tried to visit Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese last time I was in London, however it was closed for, "renovation." Now, I don't know what, "renovation," means, but it looks exactly its dark and dank self. The pub was rebuilt shortly after the Great fire of 1666, but there has been a pub in this location since 1538. Now... there are older pubs in the area, but this one has zero natural lighting. When you go it is dark and gloomy. I take a walk around and march right into the, "Gentlemen Only," bar and order a Samuel Smith's Double Four Lager. This is where I meet two guys at the bar from the east coast. We chat a bit and then I get my beer and take a look around the bar. It is as old and dark as anything you could ever imagine. Also fun is that doorways and stairs down to the basement are generally short, uneven and creaky. There isn't a ton of room so I head out to meet my new friends. We start down the road of politics. The one cocky guy tells me immediately that he voted for Trump and made sure I know that, "Hillary, was not qualified." That is where my brain starts weaving. I let them in. I listen to them. I hate to say I tricked them, but I finally get to my point that, "Hillary in fact is one of the most qualified candidates to ever run for president." I also remind them that it is sad that she actually won the popular vote and is constantly silenced by men even when she is saying nothing. Also I add that America has a stronghold on fear of vaginas that is perpetuated by men. I could hear the explosions in their brain. If it made a sound it would sound like a millions voices saying, "who is this broad and what is she?" I perplex them, but remain kind. We are sharing ideas after all. Hopefully if anything got through I succeeded. I thank the one that is a firefighter for his service to veterans. I talk honestly and earnestly with them. I'm never preachy or aggressive though the cocky one is with me. He then tries to change the subject by saying, "well you are young?" I ask, "how old do you think I am?" Fact is he is only about 10 years older than me. He doesn't believe me and believes I'm a good 15 years younger than I am. The kinder one of the two goes in and gets me a beer because we had a very nice moment talking about the importance of veterans and I told him of my conversation with a vet earlier in the day. He comes back with a Samuel Smith triple stout and says it is better than Guinness. I liked him until that point. :). The conversation then goes into human rights. It starts off with Colin Kapernick and then ventures into the gay community. They really do not know what they are dealing with. The conversation goes down another route of twists and turns where I basically get them to agree they are privileged as am I, but where I really turned the cocky one off is my mention of... GASP!!! I'm an atheist. That whole conversation takes more twists and turns back to my point that religion, politics, war, etc... many times is due to a man's attempt to control women or to have control in general. I enter into my argument that, "we are standing in a country who's king created a new religion just so he could get divorced." Enter Adam. Handsome. Young. Brit. Cheeky like me. Funny as hell and definitely more interesting to talk to. "How dare you question the decisions of our monarch?" He hangs for a minute. The guys gulp down their beers. I have about 1/2 left, but they excuse themselves when Adam starts occupying my time. He and I both finish our beers and I bid him adieu and exit the bar. Next... Ye Olde Mitre. Another public house that was built around 1773, though the pub website notes that the original build year was 1546. Seriously... these old pubs are ridiculous. Also you will notice as I get drunker there is less information about the bar. I can't. I just can't. It's old. Like others it was destroyed by the great fire and rebuilt. I watch a man at the bar.  Not a gentleman, a man, complain about a roll at the bar that he feels like was not up to snuff to his standards.  This carried on for 5 minutes or so.  I want another pint and what is standing between that and myself is this guy. I offer, "did you eat the whole thing?"  Him: "yes."  Me:  "And you are just this moment having a problem?"  Him:  well he ignores me.  He still wants the bartender to eat what he ate.  The bartender remains polite and refuses.  It carries on.  I offer to buy him a pint just to shut him up.  He agrees, the bartender pours him a pint and he goes back to his friend.  Then I get fooked, the bartender proceeds to pour me an additional pint.  What?  No!  I have to find the train.  I go to pay and he waves me away.  So... at this point I have received three free pints and a bag of chips.  This is why I feel like I am on a making people get along mission, but in the meantime f-ing myself.   I know there is a more official title but for real, I am three more beers in than anticipated and am around the area that "Sweeney Todd," was based on.  Leave.  Me.  Alone.  I don't even know how to get back to my hotel at this point.  I drop a 5 pound note on the floor.  The gent at the table next to me lets me know.  Karma!!!  Ohhhh!  "Foreign relations!!!  Diplomacy!!!"  Are those the titles?  Anyway...  I start trying to leave and then hear, "arrest this godless heathen for treason against the crown." It is Adam again. He teases me of losing my "fellas." They couldn't hang. We talk a bit more but I know I'm pretty pissed and need to get home so I go about finding a taxi. Things were going pretty well. I get to the front door of my hotel before thinking... "Ahhhh Mable's Pub."  No one in the world knows the significance of this Pub like I do. So attention must be paid. I decide to walk down to it, about a block away.   There is just something about this place.  Mable's Pub.  I order a Bishop's Finger Kentish Strong Ale and a bag of crisps and sit back in the back corner of the bar.  I was here some 5 or so years ago, in this exact seat in the Pub.  Whether I knew it or not at the moment it was the place that I started getting a glimpse that another person's needs did not superceed mine. During this event a few years ago I dismissed myself to, "go get cold medication," for my ailing travel companion and found myself in this Pub contemplating all the things I had been told were wrong with me, all the while, I became more determined than ever to enjoy my time, something I was rarely afforded. During that trip I enjoyed this foreign city.  I had conversations with people I did not know that thought I was alright. I dare say they thought I was interesting, while being told by another that I was, "in the way."  Even in that moment I am not fully sure I understood the significance of this Pub, but some 5 (give or take) years later I am giving it as a directional reference point to my friend MJ.  It means something.  Now I laugh at the fact that I had two pints one fateful night then ran to the pharmacy to get cold meds and later proclaiming, "I got lost," so that I was not berated. Well not as bad. One of the only times I had ever lied to this person.  This is significant,  it was why I had the taxi drop me off in front of my hotel only to be drawn back to this place. Today I realize was some working out of some demons.  I really needed this.  This trip was everything I needed it to be.  I have learned more than ever that I am a good person that wants the best for everyone around me.  While I have learned that, I also know that those that don't wish the same can really just piss off and I don't need them near me. Mable's Pub... you become my alter.  Forever I shall worship thee.  Excuse me while I get another pint.