#I’ve been going back and forth on whether or not to make this for forever but I might as well

[tyk-tyk-tyk]

Hello

https://www.tumblr.com/communities/cabin-in-the-woods

[goldengalore]

Ready

An anxious!reader fic.

Summary: Harry wants kids. Y/N isn’t sure what she wants. Feeling pressured to make up her mind, she agrees to something she’s not ready for.

Word count: 3k

Warnings: angst, smut

A/N: Hello! It’s been a while. This fic is based on this ask I received forever ago. Enjoy :)

***

Y/N has always been on the fence about having kids.

As a young teenager, she assumed she would have them when she grew up, fell in love, and got married. Social norms, along with her own childish naivete, made her believe that this was the only path one could take in life. Having children was the next logical step to marriage, which was the next logical step to falling in love.

And then she matured and realized that life is not nearly as cut-and-dry, that having kids is a choice, not a necessity, and that she can absolutely go her whole life without having any if that’s what she wants. This realization came as a relief but also felt somewhat unnerving because how is she supposed to know what she wants? She is quite possibly the most indecisive person on the planet, so it’s no surprise that she has bounced back and forth between wanting and not wanting children throughout her entire adult life.

On one hand, she thinks of her friends who have kids and how their lives have become utterly consumed by the little humans that require their constant care and attention. There is just so much that Y/N wants to experience and achieve before settling into a life like that.

Not to mention the horrors of pregnancy. It’s not exactly a walk in the park, having to carry a human life inside of you for nine months and then give birth to it. The health complications, the irreversible bodily changes, the sheer, agonizing pain of childbirth.

And yet, on some days, she fantasizes about becoming a mother, of holding a tiny life in her arms and nurturing it into a full-grown adult. An important character in these fantasies has always been the sweet, thoughtful, loving partner by her side who takes equal responsibility for their child. This person was always a faceless individual—an idealistic depiction of the kind of partner Y/N hoped to find someday.

And then Harry came along.

Sweet, thoughtful, loving Harry who, unlike her, was always sure of his desire to have kids. For him, it was never a question of whether he wanted them but a question of when.

That moment finally arrived for him a year ago. But Y/N wasn’t sure if she felt ready yet.

“What are you afraid of?” he asked her one day. “I don’t mean that in a judgemental way. Bringing a child into this world is scary for anyone, including myself. I’m just curious to know what your specific concerns are.”

“Well, there’s the usual stuff, like whether or not I’ll be a good mother—”

“You’ll be a phenomenal mother.”

She smiled at him, then continued, “Or whether my kids will be able to have a good future with so much chaos in the world...” She trailed off hesitantly.

“But there’s something else,” he said, gently urging her to share what was really holding her back.

“I… I’ve always been terrified of the idea of having to raise a child alone, either because something bad happens to the father or he leaves out of the blue or we break up and I’m left to take care of this child by myself. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I… I’ve never been able to shake this fear.”

“Doesn’t sound ridiculous to me. I was raised by a single mother, so I know it’s not an easy job.” He reached for her hand and kissed her knuckle, never breaking eye contact. “But I’m not going anywhere, Y/N. You know that, right? We’re in this together. We’re a team, always.”

She nodded. “I know.”

“Well, I’m alright with waiting until you feel ready. I want us both to feel ready before we jump into this.”

In the six months following that conversation, the topic would crop up several more times, like after Harry saw her interacting with his godchildren at a party or they walked past a cute baby in a stroller at the grocery store. Y/N didn’t mind discussing the topic. It gave her a chance to ponder and become more comfortable with the concept of motherhood.

Yesterday, Harry returned home from a month-long movie shoot in Sweden. Y/N surprised him by showing up at the airport. What he doesn’t know is that she has another surprise in store for him.

While he was in Sweden, she decided to go off her birth control and now wants to try for kids.

She plans on telling him later tonight once they get home from their friend’s birthday party. They’ve been all over each other tonight. That’s what being apart for a month does to them. Hell, even a week apart is enough to turn them into a couple of horny teenagers that can’t keep their hands off each other.

“You look so hot in that dress,” Harry whispers in her ear, half-joking because they both know this is his fifth time saying that tonight.

Emboldened by a couple glasses of wine, a tipsy Y/N whispers back, “I want you to put a baby in me.”

His eyes widen. He chuckles. “That wine bringing out your wild side?”

“I’m serious,” she states, glancing around to double check that no one is within earshot of their conversation. “I went off my birth control a month ago, after you left for Sweden.”

He stares at her blankly, like her words haven’t quite sunk in.

“H, I’m ready to do this.”

“Really?”

She smiles. “Yes.”

“We’re doing this,” he says as it finally sinks in. He kisses her wine-stained lips. “Let’s get out of here, yeah?”

“Yes, please.”

Y/N can hardly keep her composure on the way home. Harry appears to be in the same boat, as he keeps sneaking glances at her while driving, his hand caressing her thigh. While he’s always been a responsible driver, she can sense the impatience in his maneuvers tonight.

Once they’re home, it’s almost a race to the bedroom. Harry gently pushes her onto the bed and climbs on top of her.

“Do you have any idea how hard it’s been to watch you walk around in this dress tonight”—he runs a hand down her front—“and not be able to bend you over and just slip my cock into you?”

She moans as he cups her pussy through her dress with a firm hand. He lets her grind against it for a minute before pulling away to take off his clothes. She follows suit.

Soon, they’re back on the bed, sharing another series of ardent kisses. By the time he goes down on her, she’s already dripping wet and he licks it up as if he hasn’t had a drop of water in days. Her hips grind against his tongue like they did against his hand just a moment ago. It doesn’t take her long to orgasm.

He shifts up the bed to hover over her body. He kisses her again while lining up his cock with her entrance. As he slides into her, she feels a slight discomfort from being stretched open for the first time in a month. He pulls out and pushes in a little deeper each time to let her adjust until he fills her up completely and she’s too immersed in pleasure to have a single coherent thought anymore.

“Fuck, you feel incredible,” he says, starting to pump in and out. “Gonna come inside you, yeah? Gonna come deep inside your tight little cunt and fill you up, put a baby in you. Is that what you want?”

Those words flip a switch in Y/N’s mind. She makes an involuntary noise that makes it seem like she’s agreeing with him, so he picks up his pace. Just as he finishes inside her, the terrible realization dawns: She is not ready to have a baby. Not at all.

“I love you,” Harry whispers in her ear, his body resting flush against hers as he comes down from his high.

Tears spring to Y/N’s eyes as she realizes what she’s done, what they’ve just done. When she doesn’t reciprocate his statement, he lifts his head to look at her. A tear escapes her left eye at that exact moment.

Concern furrows his brow. “Lovie? Hey, what’s wrong?”

She just shakes her head while staring at the ceiling.

“Y/N.” He caresses her cheek, urging her to look at him. “What’s the matter? Are you hurt? Did I go too—”

“We shouldn’t have done this. It was a mistake,” she says in a trembling voice.

“What are you talking about?”

She tries to sit up. Harry moves out of her way.

“I’m not ready, H. I’m not ready to have a baby.”

His face falls. “I— But— Then why did you say you were ready?”

“I don’t know… To make you happy?” She covers her face and hears him sigh heavily.

“Y/N, you can’t— You can’t lie about things like that just to make me happy. It’s not like we were deciding what to have for dinner. We’re talking about having a baby, for Christ’s sake.”

“I know that. Of course I know that. But I just— I see the disappointment in your face every time we talk about this, every time I tell you I’m not ready. You seem so sad, Harry. I hate it.”

“Well, I’m sorry I’m not able to hide my emotions as well as I thought I could. That still doesn’t mean you should lie to please me. I thought we were past foolish antics like this.”

She squints at him. “Foolish antics?”

He sighs again. “I didn’t mean it like—”

She turns away from him and gets off the bed.

“Y/N.”

She shuts herself in the bathroom. For a brief moment, a part of her resents him. Resents him for being ready to have kids before she was. For bringing it up so often. For making her feel as though she needed to lie about being ready just to make him happy.

But now, as she stares at her teary-eyed reflection in the mirror, she knows she has to take responsibility. She is the one who led him to believe that she was ready when deep down, she knew she wasn’t. He never once pressured her to make up her mind or acted like he loved her any less for not wanting kids yet. He never made her feel any type of way about it. He has done nothing but be the supportive, understanding partner he’s always been. It was her who doubted that. She let her own paranoia get to her.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Y/N? Can I come in?”

A few moments later, he knocks again.

“Please, lovie? I’m getting worried.”

Finally, she opens the door. He takes in her red, puffy eyes and tentatively places his arms around her, only pulling her in when she steps into his embrace.

They stand there silently until he says, “Why don’t we head over to the pharmacy and get you a morning after pill?”

She agrees, so they get dressed and head out. The ride to the pharmacy is a quiet one. Every time she glances at Harry, his eyes are focused on the road, both hands gripping the steering wheel, and he appears deep in thought. It’s the complete opposite of their ride home from the party, when he could hardly keep his hands or his eyes off her. She tries to think of ways to break the silence, but nothing feels appropriate. The last time she felt so awkward and unsure about what to say around Harry was when they first started going out and she was terrified of saying the wrong thing.

When they get back from the pharmacy, she swallows down the pill with some water and they head back to bed.

***

Y/N: Hey H, you on your way home? Hope you’re hungry, I made your favourite for dinner 😊

H: I have a business dinner tonight. Mentioned it this morning

Y/N: Oh! Sorry I forgot about that. I’ll save some in the fridge for you for tomorrow

H: Sure, thanks

Y/N stares at the message. She can’t tell if she’s reading into things or if Harry’s replies really are as dry and aloof as they sound. Her propensity to overanalyze everything makes it difficult to know. Ever since the incident in the bedroom a few days ago, it feels as though Harry has been avoiding her. Spending long days at the studio, coming home late at night when he knows she’ll be asleep, giving short replies, taking longer to text back. They haven’t had sex again since then either.

After scrutinizing their text conversation for twenty minutes, she comes to her senses and realizes that she can’t keep going on like this. It’s driving her crazy. What she needs to do is talk to him. But he’ll most likely be tired when he gets home.

At first, she thinks she’ll sit him down tomorrow morning and talk it out. But when he walks through the front door just after eleven o’clock that night, she can’t help herself.

She stands in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with a cup of tea, when he enters. The dark circles under his eyes are noticeable. He has been willing to sacrifice his sleep just to avoid being around her any longer than he has to. Her chest constricts.

“Hey,” he says, placing his phone and keys on the counter. “You’re still up.”

“Can’t sleep.” She stares down into her half-empty mug, the remainder of the tea quickly growing cold.

“How come?”

“I can’t stop thinking.”

“About…?”

She swallows the lump in her throat and looks up at him. “About whether or not you’re upset with me and how I can fix it.”

He frowns. “Why would I be upset with you?”

“Because of what happened a few nights ago.”

His frown dissolves into something different—sympathy? Guilt?

“Y/N, I’m not upset with you about that.”

“Are you sure? Because it seems like it. You’re gone before I’m even awake and you come home when I’m going to bed. We’ve barely talked or kissed or cuddled in the past few days. I know you haven’t been that busy since you got back from Sweden, so… I don’t really see any other explanation.”

He stares at her wordlessly for a long time before speaking. “You’re right. I have been avoiding you. But it’s not because I’m upset with you. It’s because I’m upset with myself. I feel like I pressured you into doing something you obviously weren’t comfortable with. I never saw myself as someone who pressures people into doing things they don’t want to do. So, I suppose I’ve been feeling some shame and guilt about it… and then avoiding you because it’s hard to face these feelings.”

Y/N sets her tea on the counter. She never could’ve guessed that Harry felt this way. She was so convinced that he was mad at her, it didn’t even occur to her that he might just be feeling guilty about it all. After how long she has known him, it should have been obvious that the latter is more consistent with his character, but her anxious brain wouldn’t even let her consider that possibility. She walks over and wraps her arms around him.

“H, I had no idea you felt that way.”

He squeezes her tightly, resting his chin on her head. She turns her head to the side so that her cheek is against his chest.

“To be honest, there were times I felt pressured when the topic of kids came up,” she says. “But a lot of that pressure was created by my own fears and insecurities. I just hated disappointing you over and over. I was scared your feelings about me, about us, would change if I kept saying I wasn’t ready.”

“This hasn’t changed how I feel about you or us. Y/N, I want you more than I want kids. Way more. If you decided one day that you don’t want them at all, that still wouldn’t change how I feel about you.”

She pulls back to look at him. “Are you sure? That’s a dealbreaker for a lot of people.”

“Well, not for me. Not when it comes to you. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Suddenly, he lifts her up onto the counter and stands between her legs.

“So. What did you get up to today?” he asks, planting a kiss to her collarbone.

She rests her hands on his chest. “Hmm, what did I get up to? I hardly remember anything other than obsessing over this whole situation.” She laughs.

“Aw, lovie, I’m sorry I had you all stressed out.”

“It’s okay.”

“Maybe I can make it up to you. Help you relieve all that stress.” He peppers kisses along the side of her neck and jaw.

She sighs softly and closes her eyes. “I would like that.”

***

Thank you for reading! For more anxious!reader and other fics, check out my MASTERLIST

[luvbinnies]

rollercoaster of emotions

sungchan just wanted to go to the amusement park with his two friends, unforunately for him, those two friends are absolutely smitten for each other

Genre: wonbin x Gn!reader. fluff humour. Warnings: mention of piss/pee, sungchan third wheeling. Rollercoasters, swearing (I think), I wrote this in three in the morning 😭 wc: 1.5k

A/n: I won’t be posting anything until probably next year since my last exam is the fourth and I should probably have been studying instead of writing this lol

“Wow I swear this is the most fun I’ve ever had at the park before.” You state as the game worker hands Wonbin the big penguin plush he had won for you.

“Yeah that’s because it’s your first time at the park for fun, and not to be working.” Sungchan replies, tired of all the complaining you do as a worker at the park.

“And you’re not spending half your wallet on stupid plushies.” Wonbin grumbles. “You’re the one with the job, why did I have to pay for your game, just for you to continuously lose.”

He crosses his arms around the toy not letting you have it. “I had to win for you or you would milk out every penny from my pocket.”

You couldn’t help but giggle at your friend in front of you as he frowns with a pouty face and turns the other way pretending to act upset, at least you think he was pretending.

“Bini, I was the reason you got in the park for free because I work here, the least you could do is let me hold my child.” referring to the penguin in his arms, but he still refuses to acknowledge you.

“Fine, let’s go get those animal ear things. I’ll pay for all three of us to make up for it.” You attempt to grab his hands, but really so you can get the toy from him. Wonbin knew what you were trying to do and wasn’t going to just let it happen after he watched you empty out his wallet and repeatedly fail, probably the simplest rigged game at the park.

Causing the two of you to wrestle for the big plushie. Sungchan has to awkwardly stand there as two of his friends who are so obviously smitten for each other fight over a toy like children.

The two of you almost trip when Sungchan barges between you two and captures the fake animal for himself. “Hmm, what to name you? Mr. Peepee pants?”

“What no that’s so stupid-”

“I love it.” You unintentionally speak up as Wonbin was talking.

“Yeah great name.” Wonbin wholeheartedly agrees. Sungchan watches as his friend helplessly simps over you as you start contemplating whether the first name should be ‘Uranus’ or ‘Neon’.

“You know what I think,” Wonbin starts and you give your undivided attention to him. Sungchan knows that you only do that for Wonbin, whether it’s intentional or not, he can see, everyone can see how you are with him. Maybe except you two. Somehow both blind to the other’s admiration.

“I think we should get those animal ear bands, antlers would look great on Sungchan hyung.”

“Yn, it’s not that serious.” Sungchan whines as you take forever in choosing which animal headband would look best on Wonbin.

There weren't any antlers thankfully for Sungchan, so the bear ones were a good second choice. Sungchan had mentioned how’d you look good with the frog eyes one, knowing fully well that Wonbin thinks you look the best in green.

No doubt about it, Wonbin literally said that in his sleep one time.

Wonbin was just staring at you going back and forth between a bunch of different animal bands, both of you too absorbed at what you were doing, not noticing the employees getting annoyed on how much time it is to take to choose a hair accessory.

“I think I got it.” You walk back to the two, biting back a smile holding the band behind you.

“What is it?” Wonbin asks.

“Close your eyes.”

The boy in front of you rolls his eyes but obeys your demand.

You gently place the band on his head with a stupid smile on your face as you admire your best friend, all sungchan can do is groan at the interaction.

You tell him to look and he opens his eyes to see you smiling down at him with a cheeky smile on your face. He thinks you look pretty.

Maybe bro was thinking out loud because you seem kinda startled and confused saying, “Yes you do look pretty, but you didn’t even get to see it yet.” Awkwardly scratching the back of your head.

Wonbin clears his throat with the back of his hand, “Yeah, but I m-meant it like a question. Is it pretty?” Heat rushing through his face as he tries to cover for himself.

“Yeah, pretty. You’re always pretty.”

Sungchan is just standing there watching his two friends awkwardly throwing glances at each other and turning their faces away as if they aren’t right in front of each other in the middle of the store. It’s taking every ounce of his to simply not drive off a cliff.

The awkwardness between the two of you passes when sungchan starts pestering them to go on a ride with him.

It’s kind of always like that with you two, teasing and joking until someone compliments the other on a thing and both the receiver and the one who complimented get flustered over it.

“Isn’t that like the fastest ride in the park?” A terrified Wonbin asks.

“I think I read somewhere that it’s all of Korea.” You mention.

Sungchan knows that everything remotely scary is absolutely frightening to the younger boy and you’re quite the opposite. You have the most irrational fear of pumpkins. Not Jacko lanterns, just pumpkins, claiming they are frightening to simply look at and that you will simply start screaming when in the presence of one.

“Wonbin you don’t have to if you don’t want to, I can just go with yn-”

“No I’ll go. I love rides.” He attempts to say as convincingly as possible.

Which confuses both you and sungchan. “Bini, since when did you like rides? You can barely handle the pirate ship ones.”

“u-uh, it’s I- that ride you guys want to go on, I used to go on it as a kid, it’s just been a while.”

Frowning, not convinced, “Are you sure? You know we don’t have to go if you don’t want-”

He grabs your arm, cutting you off, walking in the direction of the ride. “No, I’m sure.”

Waiting in line wonbin would not let go of your hand, instead of being worried that maybe he was frightened about the whole ride thing, or that people around you might think you two are those annoying couples in amusement park rides who can’t keep their hands off of each other.

You were really distracted at the fact you felt like you were losing circulation in your hand and everytime sungchan said some fact about the ride his grip would just get tighter and tighter, making you want to squeeze sungchan’s neck hard everytime he opens his mouth.

Finally when it was your guys’ turn Wonbin lets go of your hand so he can put your guys’ bags in the boxes. Only for you to realize that you guys were at the end and the cut off was before sungchan, as he was behind the both of you.

Before you could mention it and say that you didn’t mind waiting for the next round. Sungchan had pushed you and when you turned to him he just gave you a quick wink and started making kissy faces.

Rolling your eyes at him, you kind of figured that sungchan knew you might’ve liked your friend without you ever telling him so.

Getting into the seat next to wonbin at the back since they were the only seat available, the minute you touch the seat, wonbin’s hand is on yours all over again. This time it was shaking completely.

“Wonbin, are you sure you want to do this? Sure you went as a kid, but most kids don’t understand the concept of danger and you're shaking badly.”

You stare at him as his eyes are closed, taking in deep breaths slowly. Watching as they start to speed up once the ride starts moving. The best thing you could do is hold his hand in yours.

As the ride starts pulling upwards he speaks up, “You know I never understood as a kid people liked going on scary things like these.”

“Huh? Didn’t you go on this one though?”

“No, I lied.” His voice became eight octaves higher.

“What? Wonbin why?”

“Because I wanted to go with you, I wanted to be with you-” his voice ends his sentence with a shriek when the ride stops at the edge of the highest concave.

His hand was not squeezing badly onto yours and as the ride went down you couldn’t really be scared anymore.

Sungchan got off of his ride with the wind completely messing up his hair and a jump in his step. Walking to the exit, he sees his two friends waiting for him. He sees the two of you still holding hands from before and wonbin’s face hiding in your neck still probably shaken up from the ride.

Now he’s wondering which highway to sleep on tonight.

[yallthemwitches]

October Country

“Lily, I love you.”

Her eyes go wide. She starts to jerk around in his grasp, a panic setting in.

“Sirius, what are you doing—”

“No, Merlin, that came out wrong—sorry, let me try again— I love you because you have made James finally shut up.”

Written for @jilytoberfest Day 2, Prompt: A: “If anyone does X I’m going to love them forever.” B: Does X.

Rated T

Read Below or on AO3!

“Moony, it’s still October right?”

“I’m not a calendar, mate—but yes.”

“Like October—Quidditch season October?”

“Did it really take you seven years to put that timeline together?”

Sirius turns his head to either side of the room. He is sitting at the same desk as every year, Peter and Remus flanking him like always. Nothing has moved out of place since third, besides that the boys have grown taller with four years passed, hair a bit more wild looking.

“Then why the fuck is it so quiet?”

His answer sits just behind him. Sirius leans his chair back to investigate. Evans has had the same seat for years. In earlier times, she cursed the days she would have to share such close proximity to them, but now as she scribbles notes lightly on to her parchment, she looks like the paragon of happiness. James busies himself with tucking his face into the crook of her neck. Her hair barely shrouds his lips pressing firmly to her pulse point then traveling up behind her ear. A smile curls at her lips and every so often a small squeak bubbles forth, causing James to reappear from the veil of auburn to press his nose against her cheek and say something low under his breath. Her face, perpetually flushed these days, swats at him but with no clear attempt to deter. 

“Oi, Prongs!” Sirius isn’t making an attempt to be subtle. His best mate emerges once more from his girlfriend's neck and flashes his mate a smile that looks drunken and dazed—a look he has been sporting more and more since he and Lily became official a week prior. 

“Isn’t it quidditch season?” 

“Christ Pads, you’d think seven years with me would make you catch on to things like that.”

A muggle swear, another new and interesting development. Lily seems pleased to hear it, halting her notes to poke a finger into James’ cheek, taunting him in a soft, teasing voice. James turns and makes a playful bite at her retreating hand, eliciting another shriek that was fast becoming a new staple in Lily’s vocal repertoire. 

Sirius ignores them. 

“---You just haven’t been talking about it so much.”

“Really? Haven’t noticed, I’m sure I’ve been—” but James takes a reflective silence, then shrugs. 

“Guess I’ve been thinking about other things.”

Out in the corridor, James wastes no time pinning Lily to the stone wall right outside the classroom. The boys hover from afar for a moment, sizing up whether this round would be a quick snog, or one that they would have to abandon their mate for until he resurfaced. 

“Hey Evans—I need a word!”

Peter and Remus might be too timid or modest to ever try to interact with the couple when they were in such a state, but Sirius had an incredible passion for intercepting people’s private time. 

“---’m busy Black.” Lily attempts to make eye contact, but James’ hands are already weaving back through her hair, pulling her face back up to his. 

“Prongs, unhand your girlfriend, I have business to discuss.”

James’ head snaps back to cock an eyebrow. 

“What kind of business do you have with her that doesn’t include me?”

Sirius shrugs. “Well I was hoping to get a full performance report on your snogging capabilities, but I think I’ve already compiled enough unsolicited evidence on my own.”

Lily laughs, using it as leverage to wiggle her way out from under James’ grasp, inciting him to make a disappointed whine and stare pointedly at his mate.

“Fuck Prongs, don’t look at me like that—it was a joke. I’ll return your precious girlfriend to you in a sec, I just need to have a few words.”

He leads Lily out into the side courtyard, leaving James to stare into their retreating backs.

“I still haven’t sorted out if it’s cute or alarming how doting he can be,” Lily says lightly, more to herself than to anyone. 

“Your words.” Sirius snorts.

Once far enough out of earshot, Sirius whips around, startling Lily enough to jump. He places his hands on Lily’s shoulders, lowering his head to look straight into her eyes. He can tell she is uncomfortable but doesn’t pull back.

“Lily, I love you.”

Her eyes go wide. She starts to jerk around in his grasp, a panic setting in.

“Sirius, what are you doing—”

“No, Merlin, that came out wrong—sorry, let me try again— I love you because you have made James finally shut up.”

She stops her struggle. Her eyes search his face, mouth sloped into a frown. Sirius just returns it with a warm grin. 

“You’re mental Black, right fucked in the head, you know that right?”

Sirius snaps his head back in a laugh.

“What else is new.”

“You care to elaborate?”

“It’s quidditch season,” his tone imbues an obviousness that is not there.

“---why is this feeling like I’m back in ancient runes?” 

Sirius huffs, dropping his hands. Lily folds her arms against her chest with her eyebrows disappearing past her fringe. 

“Work with me, Evans. Quidditch season. Quidditch Season. Every year your stupid bloke of a boyfriend spends this time of year never shutting up about the damn sport. The stats, team performance, new strategies… ”

“Of course he does, he’s the captain. So what?”

“That’s my point! Now that he’s too busy snogging you, he doesn’t have time to talk about it.”

Lily blinks, eyes narrowing.

“So you are telling me you love me because I’m a…a distraction.”

Sirius frowns slightly in a moment of thought. “Yeah, reckon I am.”

“Goodbye Black.”

Lily turns on her heels, heading back towards an idle James who had spent the whole interaction pretending not to be spying behind one of the stone arches. 

“All I’m saying is—you can do whatever you want to him as long as you keep it up until the season passes.”

 His scream echoes far enough to turn the heads of lingering students. Even from afar, he can see James’ brow furrow, clearly confused and annoyed. Lily just turns back, her laugh chases the remaining echo of his words. 

“Will do. Thanks for the permission.”

[boydepartment]

“i’m in love with you” - with enhypen

a/n: last post for tonight i am sorry i’m trying to get back in a groove i promise

warnings- angst, fluff, it’s a good mix 😋 reader is intoxicated in jakes

wc- i’d say 100 words per member

MASTERLIST

jungwon- stupid for you by waterparks

you knew jungwon was a smart man. he always had a plan and he was always observant. until it came to you. oh my god he was so so so stupid. for years you were pining after him and always hyping him up. he always thought that’s just what friends do. so one day when you were hanging out at the dorms he turned to you.

“i don’t think you’ve ever had a crush on someone? that i’ve known about?” jungwon was curious. because he did like you, hell he LOVED you. he was just too stupid to realize you actually liked him back.

“because i haven’t.” you shrugged simply, you saw his face fall so you continued speaking, “…but i have been in love with you for years now.”

heeseung- my love mine all mine by mitski

heeseung and you have been dating for a couple months now, your relationship healthy. something you never thought you’d get in your life. for the most part you thought you’d die alone or unexpectedly. your luck was always against you, except when it came to heeseung… you both were in the kitchen slowly swaying back and forth. he told you about his busy day and you just watched him talk. his little mannerisms making your heart feel so warm.

“what’s going on in your pretty head right now, princess?” his smile got you

“i’m in love with you.”

jay- sea of love by cat power

jay had been in love with you since he became sentient. he spilled something on you in daycare and that was it. you smacked him upside the head and BOOM sentient. you were his first real memory. he’d never want that taken away from him.

but people grow, and move apart from eachother. and that’s what happened, while you continued studying, he became an idol. of course you still saw him for family things, but he’d always had a camera or body guard with him. it wasn’t the same anymore. so you distanced more. this wasn’t the lifestyle you liked or wanted.

during a holiday meal, jay finally got a minute alone and he pulled you into another room.

“what’s going on with you? i haven’t seen you in forever and now it’s like you don’t want to be around me…” jay mumbled

you looked at him now feeling extremely guilty, “i-i don’t know… it’s just a lot, your lifestyle isn’t for me and-“

it was now or never for jay.

“i’m in love with you. me being an idol isn’t forever. i want forever with you…”

jake- your graduation by modern baseball

you and jake had history. too much of it. it was constant of you calling him to pick you up from a party or something that you weren’t proud of. he was sick of it. jake was tired of watching you practically waste away. it pissed him off. and it honestly pissed you off, why did he care so much when he was the one who would never take your confessions of love seriously?

which led to the argument in the driveway, you drunk off alcohol and him drunk off anger.

“why do you even do this?! you didn’t used to be like this in highschool!” he yelled waving his hands around.

you poked him in the chest, “i don’t owe you any explanation for my feelings!”

“what do you have to be feeling about y/n?! to the point of making fucked up decisions!?”

his voice was loud.

you had enough, “IM IN LOVE WITH YOU AND NO MATTER WHAT I DO YOU NEVER NOTICE IT!”

sunghoon- kiss me by sixpence none the richer

sunghoon was infatuated with you. every spring you worked the saturday market. and every spring he would be your number one customer. always tipping you and always buying your produce. whether it be the apples, flowers, grapes, strawberries, anything. his favorite was when you made bracelets one year though. this went on for a really long time. sunghoon wanted to play the long game with you, you didn’t know he was an idol clearly. and he didn’t want to scare you.

“there’s my favorite customer! sunghoon how are you?” you’d smile at him. all sunghoon wanted was to kiss you, you and your bright smiling face.

“i’m really good today!”

he’d visit more than usual and the flirty banter would come back almost immediately.

“with how much of my stuff you buy i’d assume you’re like in love with me.” you laughed slightly

“i am. i am in love with you.”

sunoo- puppy princess by hot freaks

you had a boyfriend and sunoo was STUCK. he didn’t know why it bothered him so much that you were dating someone. you were his best friend, what was the issue?

oh yeah the fact he’s in love with you? yeah…. that’s a pretty big issue.

no matter what though, he kept you smiling and he kept dreaming. at some point sunoo couldn’t hold it in anymore. especially after your boyfriend dumped you out of the blue.

“he doesn’t know what he’s doing y/n. you’re too good for him.”

you looked at him with tears in your eyes, for a few minutes now he’s been joking with you trying to keep you laughing.

“i don’t know…. sunoo you’re gonna be biased because we’re friends.”

sunoo gave you a look, “i’m going to be biased because i’m in love with you.”

riki- apple cider by beabadoobee

you were never supposed to like him at all, you didn’t WANT to. neither did he if he was being honest. it was a weird dynamic between you and him. riki was conflicted and so were you, which led to both of you growing distant thinking the other was tired with the other.

one night when he had free time, he finally made his way to your home. riki obviously stuck out, it was dangerous and stupid but he was running on adrenaline. he knocked on the door hands shaking, when your parent called you from your room you were shocked to see riki standing there. he was obviously not supposed to be here.

“what’re you doing here?” you walked out and wrapped yourself up more when you shut the door behind you, now standing with him outside. it was cold and late, well later at night. you thought something was wrong especially when he refused to speak. you went closer to him and put a hand on his head to check his temperature.

“are you sick? did something happen? do you need to come in-“

“i’m in love with you.” he blurted out

[mirkwoodshewolf]

The dad who stepped up; John Wick x oc teen

*Author's note*

Okay so this is the first update in what feels like forever. Now that I'm on winter break and away from home I can start to feel the creative juices flowing. I might also post up some other stuff that I've had saved but didn't feel confident in posting before as some christmas gifts for you all.

But this oneshot (possibly might turn this into a series but only AFTER I've seen all the John Wick films. I've seen bits and pieces on youtube but never all the way through *dodges flying objects*) So just to put in prespective this is a prologue before the first film. Like the five years John has once he retires. But I wanna see how all of you like this and if anyone wants to see this turned into a series, give me a shoutout below and comment whether you wish to be tagged or not.

Warnings: Fluff, angst, parental abandonment, cancer mentioned.

Taglist:

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queen-paladin

@waddles03

@plethora-of-things

@psychosupernatural

@remussl0vers

@queensdivas

_______________________________________________________

If you think being a teenage girl is bad enough, try being the teenage daughter of the infamous Baba Yaga.  Well not blood related but I’ve known John Wick for most of my pre-teen/teenage life.  He was a wild card I never expected coming into mine or my mother’s life, hell men like him only exist in my mom’s Fabio romance novels. 

Even though I would later in life learn of who he truly was, I still can’t help but think back to the days when he first came into our lives.

Age 11

It all started when I had came back from my first summer at Camp Walden.  I had learned about this camp from my best friend and I pleaded with my mom for me to go.  At first she acted like she wasn’t even going to allow me to go but then on the last day of school, she had surprised me with an application of approval and a plane ticket for me to go to Camp Walden.

I spent eight weeks at the all-girls camp learning how to fence, canoe, all the typical fun camp stuff.  Made some new friends and would write letters to my mom every single night (as per her conditions since there wasn’t any cell service up there).

I got off the plane with all my bags and looked around the gate until I caught sight of my mom.  She held out a welcome home sign and when she found me from the load of passengers, she and I raced up to each other and hugged each other tightly.  She picked me up rocking me back and forth kissing me repeatedly.

“Oh I hope you had a lousy time at that camp because I am never sending you there again, I missed you too much!”

“I missed you too mom.”

“Wait did you…..you got your haircut?” when I had went I had pretty long hair and now I come back from camp with my hair up to my shoulders.

“Yeah when we were playing truth or dare, a girl was dared to cut someone’s hair and since I had the longest I was the victim. Luckily for me her mom’s a stylist and she learned from her. Are you mad?”

“I would be but she did something I’ve never been able to make you do since you were little.” We both laughed as she held me close to her again and we began to leave the airport.

“So mom how’s your summer been?”

“Oh the typical single mom empty nester. Watching trash tv and drinking mimosas.” I shook my head at her.  “But I wanna hear more about camp. Eight weeks of not hearing your voice is way too long for me.”

“Yeah it was a lot for me too mom. But it was a lot of fun. I got some pics of some foxes that came by the camp.”

“Ohhh exciting. I know you’ll be adding those to your collection my little fox kit.”

“Yeah. And canoeing is much more difficult than they make it seem on TV. We got tipped over like five times and we didn’t even leave the docks.”

“Awww man, I’m sorry baby.” We threw my stuff into the trunk and I rode in the passenger seat while mom drove us out of the airport parking lot and we headed for home.  “Oh by the way your aunt Chessy just had to be here to see you come home so expect to be smothered by her.”

“Did she bring Sammy?” I asked excitedly.

“You know your aunt. Never leaves home without that dog of hers.” I clapped my hands excitedly.

“Also baby I have surprise to tell you once you get settled in.”

“A surprise? What is it?”

“It’s a surprise and like I said I want you to get settled in first before I tell you what it is. It’s tiring flying from coast to coast non-stop so I want you to take as much time as you need to get settled.” I let out a groan as I sat back in the seat.  When you’re a kid and you hear the word ‘surprise’ you never want to wait for it.  But grownups just love to do that to you.

Before long we finally arrived at the house and mom put the car in park in the driveway and turned the engine off.  I stepped out of the car and looked at my house in relief.  The door was left wide open and I immediately heard barking as Sammy, my aunt’s golden retriever raced out and came over to me.

“Sammy!” he came up and sat down allowing me to hug and kiss him.

“Oh now this fully grown woman can’t be my little Sarah can it!?” I heard aunt Chessy’s voice say as she came out.  I let go of Sammy and ran up to her and she too picked me up just like mom did at the airport.  Spinning me around and rocking me back and forth.  “Oh welcome home baby girl. We missed you soo much! Hey,” she separated our hug and took both my arms in her hands as she continued, “Don’t you dare convince your mom to send you that way again for far too long. You’re lucky I soil you too much otherwise I wouldn’t have extended my stay.”

“I love you too aunt Chessy. Camp was fun but there’s truly no place like home.”

“Amen to that sister. You’re just in time I made cornbread and chili your favorite.”

“Did I just hear cornbread and chili?” mom perked up as she carried my bags over her shoulder.

“Yeah it’s on the stove but Sarah gets the first bowl. And Helen don’t carry all that weight, that’s what I’m here for.” Aunt Chessy grabbed my bags while mom briefly gave her a glare but aunt Chessy gave her a look back.  “C’mon kid, let’s get you inside and well fed.” As we walked back inside with Sammy sticking to mom’s side whimpering and licking her hand, that’s when I began to notice the black mustang also parked in our driveway.

I sat down at my balcony bed while aunt Chessy began unpacking my bags.  I had my bowl of chili with the cornbread inside of it in my lap and I said.

“Hey aunt Chessy, how’d you afford a mustang from the rental car place?”

“Oh I wish I could afford one in real life. But that car doesn’t belong to me.”

“So what did mom get it or something?” I asked.  That’s when we heard my mom giggling.  I turned and looked outside and saw her with a man right out by the pool.  The man was sitting on one of the pool chairs and I could see he had pure black hair, wore sunglasses and a dark t-shirt.  “Who is he?”

“Sarah it’s none of my business how my big sister ruins her life she’s a big girl.” Aunt Chessy said as she began taking out all my dirty clothes.  I set my bowl of chili aside and went up to her and said as I wrapped my arms around her right one.

“C’mon aunt Chessy I need to know. Who is he?” aunt Chessy let out a deep sigh and turned to me.

“His name is John Wick. Your mom met him at the gas station when she accidentally forgot to grab her wallet to pay for gas. If you ask me I think he wanted something a bit more than just to be a good Samaritan.”

“What do you mean?” this time we could hear a splash by the pool and mom’s laughter before it turned to shrieks and then back to laughter again.  Aunt Chessy let out a groan as she rolled her eyes.  I went to grab my camera while Aunt Chessy continued on her rant.

“Look you know how I’ve felt about men especially after your father left you guys. So I gotta ask myself what does a man like that who belongs in a Fabio romance novel want with a woman who is trying to work out her life as a single mom? Then I realize there’s a million reasons why that man has stuck around, and all of it is just waiting to be spent from the New York bank.” As she talked I stood there with my camera to see both my mom and John in the pool together at first playing like little kids before being wrapped in each other’s arms.

“What you think he’s loaded or something?” I asked.

“Ehh what do I know? But I’ll tell you one thing, this man’s got your mother eating out of the palm of his hand. They do everything together, they go on drives in that car of his, they swim together, they go out to eat dinner every single night. But you know what, meet him. See for yourself, don’t let me influence you.”

 I saw them making goo-goo eyes at each other before kissing each other as they remained in the pool.  I snapped a quick picture of them and felt an odd feeling in my stomach as I looked down at them.  Could he be the surprise that mom was talking about?

After I had my lunch and aunt Chessy was now doing my laundry, I got on my bathing suit and put on a Shadow the hedgehog t-shirt over it along with some old sandals.  I grabbed my sunglasses and decided to head out to the pool. 

There I saw John once again sitting on the pool chair with my mom just coming out of the pool and grabbing a towel.

“Ohh Sarah, didn’t expect you to come down so soon.”

“Figured I’d stretch my legs out in the pool. At least this time I won’t have algae or wet sand between my toes.” I said wiggling my toes as I kicked my sandals off my feet.

“Well since you’re here I guess there’s no time like the present ehh? Sarah, I’d like you to meet a friend of mine.” She came up behind me and walked us closer to John.  “Sarah, this is John Wick.”

He removed his sunglasses and I finally got a better look at his face.  A sharp facial structure and a scruff beard that had some hidden grey to it.  Deep brown eyes that pierced through my very soul and almost sent a chill of fear up my spine.

“Hello.” His voice had a slight ruggedness to it but it also had warmth and friendliness to it.  Not like how when someone who has a rasp to their voice it makes them creepy.

“Hi, Mr. Wick.” I greeted shyly as I placed my sunglasses on top of my head.

“Well I can’t believe I’m finally meeting the famous Sarah. I’ve been looking forward to this all summer.” John said as he adjusted himself to sit up properly and get a better look at me.

“Really well here I am.” I said with a shrug.

“Helen, you’ve been holding out on me. The way your mom has talked about you I expected to meet a little girl but you are so grown up and just as beautiful as her.”

“I’ll be 12 soon. How old are you?”

“Sarah!” exclaimed my mom as tugged me by my shoulders.

“It’s fine Helen. There should actually be no shame in children asking adults their ages.” John assured my mom.  “To answer your question I’m 43.”

“That’s 32 years older than me! How old are you again mom.” I asked looking up at her.

“Wow if only you were this interested in math when it comes to your homework. Look I’m going to head inside and get some food. Maybe even check to make sure Chessy is doing the laundry correctly. I love my little sister but sometimes she can be a scatter brain when it comes to laundry. Be right back.” With that mom left me alone with her new ‘boyfriend’.

“My aunt said that you guys met at a gas station, is that true?”

“Yes that is true. I don’t know the full story but from what I did see, the cashier was giving your mother a pretty hard time so I thought I’d give her a hand and help pay for her gas. And not three days later at the Walmart nearby she actually helped me with finding the better laundry detergent. From there I guess you could say the rest is history.”

“How come my mom didn’t mention you in the letters she’d send me?” John let out a deep sigh and looked at me with a sympathetic look.

“I imagine this is pretty awkward, right?” I merely shrugged as I crossed my arms over my chest.  “Your mom felt that this type of news would’ve been better to be talked about in person. But I want you to know this Sarah, these past eight weeks I’ve really come to care for your mother. And I wish I can do the same for you, but if not I’ll understand and I’ll walk away.”

Now this is something I’ve never heard of happening in real life.  Normally the partner wouldn’t allow their lover’s child to dictate whether or not they’ll stay together.  But just from seeing mom and him together, that’s the happiest I’ve seen her since……him.

Needless to say (and as you all know) John Wick stuck around with my mother.  They waited to get married until a year into their blossoming relationship.  And it was also after their marriage that mom and I would leave our home of Nappa, California and go to live with John in his house in New York.

It was out in upstate New York so just roughly about a 20-30min drive away from the city.  It was fairly similar in size to our old house back home with wide open spaces, a good sized backyard, and a two door garage. 

Ever since they got married, mom’s always tried to have John and I do some ‘father-daughter’ bonding time.  And even though John did his best to understand my interests whether it came to gaming, music, or movie trivia, there was just something about being alone with him that didn’t sit right with me.  I already got fooled once by my dad once, I wasn’t going to let another one do the same thing to me again.

Age 13

I was sitting in the passenger seat of John’s mustang as we drove into the city to pick up some groceries.  Mom had to suddenly be called into work with an emergency and John said he didn’t want to leave me alone in the house by myself.

After a brief back and forth with each other of how whether or not I was capable of staying at the home by myself, I ended up losing that battle and had to tag along.  As we walked through the aisles picking out everything we needed, my eye soon caught a bunch of people at a table advertising something.

I noticed their posters for the Gotham Archery classes.  And there happened to be one right nearby in Manhattan.  I turned to John to see him looking at some deals on eggs then turned my attention back towards the table.  Archery did always fascinate me but there was never any schools or lessons back at California that were within driving range of us so I could only fantasize about shooting an actual bow and arrow like Legolas or Merida did.

“You want to go talk to them?” I jumped at John’s voice and looked up at him.

“Huh?”

“You’ve been staring at them for the past five minutes without even blinking. So either you’ve got some beef with one of those gentleman or you’d like to go talk to them and think about joining them.”

“Yeah that’s funny. Me doing archery.” I scoffed as I brushed it off with a laugh.

“What’s so funny about that?” he leaned his arms over the shopping cart as he raised his brow at me.  One look at his eyes and I knew he wasn’t kidding around.

“You—you’re being serious?”

“If it’s something you’re interested in, you should go for it.” A strange fluttery feeling came into my chest when he said that.  Dad never really took the time to encourage me to go out for something, it was always mom who tried to push me to achieve what I want.  So hearing this from an adult male, especially someone like John Wick felt strange and new to me.

I took a deep breath and walked over to the table and it was there I began my journey into the world of archery.

After bringing John over to the table so that he could get some of the information too (since I was under 18 I needed to have an adult present for the information given and to ensure that there would be an adult present whenever I was taken to classes).

We had a meeting that night with my mom and she was so proud that I had managed to find something to do here in New York.  And already having John be the chosen supervised parent to go along with me also made her happy to know that we finally managed to find something to bond over.

After several months of lessons, I actually ended up doing a lot better at archery than I could imagine.  So much so that my instructor encouraged me to participate in the upcoming tournament that would be held at their school in Brooklyn.

Mom, aunt Chessy and John all came to support me in the tournament but when I began to see the large crowd that was gathering around to see all of us that was competing, my heart began to race and my stomach began churning.

“Full house, oh sweet Jesus.” I groaned as I held my stomach tightly.  I fiddled with my archer’s glove unhooking and re-hooking the straps as my anxiety was starting to go through the roof.

“And here we have future gold medalist Olympic archer Sarah Wick.” I shook my head trying to hide the smile etching at the corner of my mouth and looked up to see John with his phone pointed right towards me.

“Haha you’re such a comedian.” I mocked sarcastically.

“No joke. Those archers don’t know who they’re about to go against.” I winced slightly as I looked down and fiddled with my glove once again.  “Hey, everything okay?” he asked concerningly.  He pocketed his phone and sat down in front of me.

Could I maybe trick him into taking me home? Mom never fell for the classic ‘fake sickness’ trick whenever I needed to get out of something.  Guess that’s just something mom’s automatically know, but John—he wouldn’t know and I’ll bet he wouldn’t even ask questions about it.

“I’m not feeling so good John. I think I need to go home and lay down. Yeah that’s it let’s go home.” I went to sit up but he held onto my shoulder and pressed his other hand to my forehead.

“You don’t seem to be running a fever.”

“It’s a stomach bug. Suddenly started up out of nowhere.” I let out a pained hiss as I groaned lowly.  When I looked up at him, one look on his face told me that he wasn’t buying this act for a second.  “This isn’t working is it?”

“It was a good try.” He acknowledged giving me a wink.  I dropped the act as I let out a deep sigh.

“How do you guys always seem to know when we’re faking it?”

“I may have only been in the parenting game for a short time, but I know how to spot the classic ‘feigning sick bit’. Even pulled it myself from time to time. Now you wanna share what’s really going on?”

I don’t even know myself why I suddenly felt like coming clean to him.  Whether it was him not talking down to me in order to get the answer, or him even acknowledging that I did my best to fake him out.  Either way I finally came clean to him.

“I didn’t think there was going to be so many people here to see us compete. It’s stressing enough with the judges, but the people in the audience……I’m just—so afraid that I’m gonna make a total fool of myself.” John let out a soft hum as he nodded softly.

“I believe what you’re going through right now is what they call stage fright. Everyone gets it, even me.”

“You? I don’t believe you.”

“Oh yeah. Believe it or not this 45 year old, 6’1 giant of a man has and still sometimes deals with anxiety and stage fright.” We both softly chuckled at his statement.

“How do you get by?”

“One step at a time. I can only control what I can. And yes there will be the unknown that you wish you could say ‘hey I want you to do this’ or ‘you’re gonna do it this way’. But we can’t let the fear dictate over something we love.”

“Wow…..that’s—deep.”

“I try my best.” John merely shrugged, which got another laugh out of me.  “And think of it this way; after today: No one but your mother, aunt, instructor and I will remember what you did here today. So don’t do your best for those nameless people out in the audience, do it for the ones that really know you.”

“Thanks John. That really helped more than you know.” He gently squeezed my shoulder and said.

“Glad I could help. And good luck out there.” He stood up and walked back to join my mom and aunt at their seats.

Whenever mom gave me advise or encouragement while she always looked on the positive aspects of it, just between the lines I knew there were times that she would sugarcoat certain things.  Like there was too much optimism in certain events that I knew wouldn’t be good but she’d always make it seem like everything was going to be okay.

John, however, just hearing him speak about the reality of the situation but not making it sound too cynical.  He somehow managed to find the perfect balance of optimism and realistic philosophy.

And it paid off.  By the end of the tournament I had gotten three bronze medals and a silver medal for all the categories I had decided to compete in.

As the years went by, there would also come a test that would push the Wick family to the extreme.  When I turned 14, my mom was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor.  There would be days when she was able to live with us and live a normal life, but there were dark days when she’d have to live in the hospital for weeks on end.

Age 15

This was one of mom’s bad weeks.  One day when John and her were out on their wedding anniversary date out in the city.  I had gotten a call from John telling me that she had collapsed when they were walking along the docks after their dinner.

However unlike before, this time the tumor had attacked her so aggressively that she now has to be on a ventilator to help her breathe properly.  The doctor’s say that even though there’s brain activity, she’s unfortunately locked in a coma-like state and it’s unknown on when she’ll wake up…..or ever.

It was also throughout this time that John and I began to lean more on each other now more than ever.  Especially when he came back into the picture out of nowhere.

It was just after school when John and I decided to visit mom in the hospital.  I had gotten my German test that he had helped me study for and I wanted to tell mom how I had aced it.  She always wanted to make sure that I never fell back on my class work no matter what events or after-school activities I had.  We arrived at the hospital parking lot and as we got out of John’s mustang, I asked him.

“Before long I’ll have to start driving, think I can practice driving the mustang?”

“Just because you passed your German exam doesn’t make you an expert on my mustang.” He told me.

“Oh come on John. I’ve been paying attention to how you shift the gears and I dare say I’m confident enough to drive it.”

“There’s a difference between confidence and arrogance.”

“That hurts John. That really hurts!” I exclaimed as I held my heart like I had been shot.

“Yeah, yeah report it to Child services. Come on.” we headed into the building and checked in to see my mom.  We walked down the familiar corridor and saw mom in the same position as she has since her check in.  Laying still and motionless on the bed.  I came up and sat beside her and took her hand in mine.

“Hey mom, we’re back. Just like we promised. Hey get this, you know that German test that John’s been helping me with? I aced it. Can you believe it, after months of struggling I finally get an A+ for that class.”

“The real credit goes to your daughter Helen. She’s the one who took the test, all I did was teach her a few tricks to remember what she needed to learn.” Said John as he sat on the other side of my mom’s bed.  Soon my mom’s doctor came in and greeted us.

“Mr. Wick, Ms. Wick.”

“Dr. Sanchez. How has she been?” John asked.

“Well some good news at least. We’ve noticed how she’s been able to now breathe on her own so we took her off the ventilator and for the past ten hours she’s been breathing just fine on her own.” We both sighed in a huge relief.

“Any signs on when she’ll wake up?” I asked.

“That unfortunately is still yet to be determined. But we’ll continue to constantly monitor her progress and we’ll call you with any new updates Mr. Wick.” He said the last part to John since he was the emergency contact for my mom.

“Thank you Dr. Sanchez, truly.” He nodded and soon left the room leaving the three of us alone.  John took his spot back at my mom’s right side while I fiddled with the new bracelet that John had gifted them for their anniversary. “You were right about the bracelet.”

“Told yah. Mom’s never been one for clunky or flashy jewelry. And it really is beautiful.” I stroked along the silver flowers that decorated the bracelet. 

“I’m gonna head down and get some coffee, you want anything from the cafeteria?”

“I’ll be okay till we get home.”

“I’ll get you some water.”

“John!” I whined.

“You don’t drink enough of it, you gotta stay hydrated.” He said standing up and circled around mom’s bed before gently shaking my head around before leaving the room.  I shook my head and said.

“He really is a great guy mom. We’ve actually been getting along more lately since you had to stay here. He’s been taking me to school, archery practice, helping out with my homework. And been the support system I needed even though he’s hurting himself. He may not want to admit out loud, but I sometimes hear him cry at night without you there. So—keep fighting mom. Please, we need you home.”

I lay my head down on her bed as I gripped her hand in both of mine as tightly as I could.

“Helen? Sarah?” I gasped as my eyes shot wide open.  I turned towards the door and there I saw someone I never expected to see ever again.  My dad.

“D-d…..d…..” I stammered.

“My god, Sarah is that really you? God look at you you’re all….”

“What the hell are you doing here?!” I snapped.  “How did you find us?!”

“I-I didn’t. My son’s here for his final chemo treatment.” His son? He went and had another kid after he abandoned me and mom? “So Helen’s got……”

“I don’t need to tell you shit!” I snapped. “Get out of here since that’s what you’re good at!”

“Sarah come on. It wasn’t my fault. I thought you were right behind me, honest!” bullshit.  He knew what he was doing that day, I’ve come to grips with it.  “That day at the mall…..”

“Don’t ever mention that day to me. I was so—so.......” my voice quivered as I tried to contain my emotions that were boiling inside of me after 8 years.

“Oh hey, hey. Don’t-don’t cry baby girl.” He tried to comfort me.  I heard his footsteps getting closer to me and once I saw his feet within my vision I pushed him back aggressively.  “Sarah!” my dad exclaimed in surprise.

“Get out.” I lowly sneered.

“Baby girl I’m trying to make things right with you.”

“Get out, get out, get out.” I kept muttering as my hand fidgeted at the door.

“Sarah I’m your father—” the second he stepped closer to me.  I lashed out with my best right hook and nailed in right across the face screaming at him.

“GET OUT!!!” I tackled him beating him with my fists.  Punching, clawing and slapping him repeatedly in a blind rage repeatedly telling him to get out through my grunts and growls.

I really don’t recall what all happened after that but I soon felt arms wrap around my waist trying to pull me away.  I tried fighting back but my arms were soon pinned to my side as I heard John’s voice suddenly break through my rage.

“Sarah enough! Easy! Easy!” I stopped and my vision became clear once again.  My dad’s face was bleeding profusely as nurses and security had now came to see what the commotion was.

John escorted me out but security tried to stop him.  There were words exchanged between the two of them before John took me out of the hospital.  All the while keeping a secure grip on me but not manhandling me.

Everything felt—numb.  The sounds of the city were muffled and I barely felt myself being moved around.  My hands wouldn’t stop shaking and my heart was pounding so fast I thought it would burst out of my chest.  Never before have I felt such rage to get me into that blind state and attack someone like that.

Next thing I knew, I suddenly felt a stinging sensation on my hand and I went to lash out but a hand stopped me and my vision suddenly became clear.  I found myself back at home with John kneeling in front of me, my wrist gently grasped in his calloused grip.

“Easy, easy. You’re home now Sarah.” Home.  Frantically my eyes looked around to see if it was true and I soon came to realize what had happened.  I was home, my real home.

Like a crack steadily increasing along a newly broken mirror, my shock suddenly began to overflow as tears rapidly fell down my face.  Immediately I wrapped my arms around John’s waist as I buried my face into his chest and wept hysterically.

“I’m sorry John….I’m so sorry John…..I-I didn’t want you to see…..” I spoke through my hysterical sobs.  John instantly wrapped his arms around me, one hand rubbing my back while the other was buried within my hair gently stroking and massaging my scalp.

“It’s okay, let it out. Just let yourself fall apart. I promise to hold you together.” He softly whispered into my ear.  The moment he had said that, I had let out the most gut-wrenching, raw, almost animalistic sob of rage, grief, self-hate, confusion, and sorrow that I had kept bottled in since the day my dad abandoned me.

And true to his word, John kept his tight yet comforting hold on me with each raw sob that came out of my mouth.

After what felt like an eternity and for doctoring up my bruised and bleeding knuckles and palm, I lay there in my room just fingering the bandaged wraps that John had placed over my wounds.  We didn’t speak after my breakdown but somehow he knew that I needed to have some alone time.

Slowly I got out of bed and headed towards mom and John’s room.  The door was shut so I went up and knocked so softly I thought he wouldn’t hear me.

“Come in.” I heard him say.  I opened the door and saw John laying across the bed.  “Hey Sarah. You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Can…..we talk?” John nodded and allowed me to sit on mom’s side of the bed.  I pulled my legs up to my chest as I took mom’s pillow and held it over my knees.  The faint scent of her perfume still lingered onto the pillow.  “Did she ever tell you about him?”

“Your aunt made it clear that your father was a…..sensitive subject.” Of course she did.

“I was seven years old. We were out at the mall having our monthly daddy-daughter date. He took me out to red lobster to eat, and then took me to all my favorite stores. Next thing I know as I’m looking at some video games, he’s just gone. I called out for him in the crowded mall but I couldn’t find him anywhere. It was pure luck that a mall cop found me after 20 minutes. I was so frightened and confused…….” I sniffled and wiped away the tears that were burning in my eyes.  “Why did he just leave me like that? Was it something I did or said or—And to come back after supposedly living his new life…..”

“Hey, hey.” His large hand encompassed both of mine as I was clenching mom’s pillow so tightly my knuckles were turning white.  His touch alone made me relax even though I didn’t want to.  “He had no right to suddenly come up to you after all these years. And you are not to blame for him abandoning you.”

“Then why did he do it?” I asked brokenly.

“I wish I had an answer for you. But know that no excuse he can come up with will ever justify what he did.” he wrapped his arm around me, allowing my head to rest just over his heart once again.  I shut my eyes allowing a few tears to fall drip down my face.

“You’ve been nothing but supportive and loving to me these past few years. And I never thought I’d find myself saying this but I like you John. I really, really do like you. But I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to call you…... you know. It still hurts to even say the word out loud.”

“I understand. I never expected you to come forth and call me ‘that word’ as soon as your mom and I got married. I just wanted you to know that you’ve got another person in your corner whenever you feel like you can’t talk to your mom or aunt about something.”

“Thank you John, for everything.” We looked at each other lovingly and he brought me into a tight hug.

“And can I just say, that was an impressive right hook you gave him.” I laughed as I buried my face chest and gripped onto him tighter while I felt him place a loving kiss to the crown of my head.

One last thing I’ve noticed about John were his hugs.  There truly was a difference between the way my mom hugs and the way he hugs.  Mom’s hugs were always a gentle comfort like being wrapped in a fleece blanket.

John’s hugs—well his were like a protective barrier.  Like nothing in the world could get to me and he was going to ensure it with each tight, comforting squeeze he gave.  And while it felt like my bones could pop and break any second, it felt comforting to know that such strength could be so gentle when needed to be.

[ssplague]

Chapter Four

Mature 

Masterlist

Warnings: A/B/O themes, soulmates, mating, sex, manipulation, power and control.

Oh how can one’s feelings

spin a tale so profound? 

For only true love shall

Determine whether darkness 

Or light shall abound?

You were now queen of an earthland kingdom, you were married to the Dragon King, a mere princess no more

                                                                                                          ✨          👑          ✨

“Gods for the millionth time, I’m fine! Why are you two so worried about this all of the sudden?!” Bakugou snapped, slouching further in his high backed chair.

It made him angry that he’d had to leave you like he did just to meet with these two old geezers! That combined with their repeat line of questioning had him growing increasingly furious. 

“Now more than ever are your draconian instincts going to need regulating Katsuki, you can’t run the risk of letting them get the better of you, if you get upset and do something irresponsible like shifting accidentally, your wife could be in real danger” Jeanist reminds the soon to be king. It was frustrating for a decorated general like himself having to tip toe around the truth. A surprise shift pales in comparison to what those “in the know” truly feared happening. Both himself and Aizawa had made a promise to Midnight that they would advise Bakugou to the best of their abilities in order to keep tragedy from befalling the Royal family once more. If they fail, then what would remain of the kingdom would forever be condemned to suffer, and surely the young King’s soul would be eternally damned.

“You’re sure she’s your true mate? What does your dragon feel about her? If we’re satisfied with its response then we’ll dismiss you for tonight” Aizawa offers, yawning loudly before focusing on the young monarch. Closing his eyes, it’s easy for Katsuki to call forth his dragon and it needs no prodding to talk about you; “I knew she was mine as soon as I laid eyes on her, her scent puts the most expensive perfumes to shame, I’m growing restless, what importance are these stupid human customs when it comes to claiming my mate? I want to kill anyone that looks at her with lust in their eyes, and crush the skull of anyone harboring perverse thoughts about my goddess, she’s mine and im going to make sure she knows it, 

y/n…my greatest treasure”.

“You harbor no ill will towards the lunarian princess? You do not despise the light that radiates from her pure heart?” Jeanist asks, studying the king’s form for any hint the dragon is thinking of uttering a false hood. “Dragon’s protect their mates, our love knows no bounds, our love is eternal, and unconditional…unlike you human’s” snarls the beast. “That’s good enough for now” Aizawa states, signaling for the king’s consciousness to return.

With a fierce display of teeth Bakugou returns, “There, are you geezers happy now?”.

“For now…but I think we should meet once more the morning of the wedding, and weekly after that” Aizawa says, looking at Jeanist for his approval. “I agree, just as a per caution-“ the finely dressed dressed man adds, only to be cut off by a furious snarl. 

“I’m getting real fucking sick of you two insinuating I’m some loose cannon that would bring harm to my woman!” The irate blonde shouts, banging his sparking fist on the table “Ever since I returned home and told you guys about her you’ve been acting weird, is there something going on that I don’t know about?!”.

Both of the older men give each other a side eye, which only proceeds to agitate the temper-mental man further. 

“For years I’ve respected you both for your knowledge and strength, that’s why you became my trusted advisors in the first place! That aside, I’ll tell you one last thing…” the dragon king gets to his feet, leaning forward on the sturdy oak table “If I find out either one of you has been keeping information from me, are aware of any conspiring, privy to any plot against my marriage or that could possibly bring harm to my wife…I will execute you myself…understand?”.

Crimson irises are alight with fury as they stare down the two men. Neither one of them display any emotion as they reply in unison;“Understood, your majesty”.

“Good, this meeting is fucking adjured…Tell the old hag I’m retiring for the evening” with that, the soon to be king storms out of the room, red cape billowing behind him.

Mate is safe, she’s here where she belongs, that’s all that matters…forget their words, the Thoughts and feelings of humans mean nothing when it comes to the bonding between dragons.

With a heavy sigh, Katsuki can’t help but agree.

The day before the wedding has you bombarded with last minute preparations non stop. You’d stood for nearly two hours as the capital’s best seamstress, accompanied by her assistant, took your measurements and quite literally crafted a dress (made from your ideal choice in fabrics) by magic. Naturally everything happening was seen under Queen Mitsuki’s watchful eye. Which allowed the two of you time to bond, the stories of her time as ruler had you looking at her with stars in your eyes. This woman was not to be trifled with; She was a warrior unlike any other, going as far as to ripping out the heart of an enemy general who had attempted to over throw her rule. You weren’t entirely sure how old she was, since it’s rude to ask (but dragons do live extremely long lives), she looked to be in her late twenties, and her mannerisms were every bit as youthful as her outward appearance.

“My son is lucky that the goddess has granted him such a perfect bride, and myself such a wonderful daughter” the older woman says as she marvels at your appearance in the finished wedding gown.

Examining yourself in every angle from the surrounding mirrors you can’t help but be delighted. You finally felt like you were coming into your own as a future queen, not just the daughter of the moon goddess.

As the day wound to a close you were finally dismissed from wedding preparations! Completely worn out, you couldn’t be happier to finally sit down for dinner. A table had been placed in your room to make things easier for the maids helping you get dressed tomorrow. A small spread of food rests atop it, along with four place settings for yourself and the three individuals you insisted dine with you.

“I don’t understand where Katsuki could have run off to, he’s been gone all day…I didn’t even get to see him off this morning, he left before I woke up” you glumly inform your new friends. Serro and Denki took Kirishima’s place in guarding you, as his majesty had apparently needed the bulky redhead for something. “You most likely won’t see him until the wedding your highness, he had plenty of his own preparations to see to” explains Serro. “You gotta tell us your secret on how you deal with him y/n, he’s been so weirdly calm ever since you came to stay” Denki states, tearing his bread roll in half.

“Well I hope to continue keeping the peace around here in the future, I’ll do my best….unfortunately I have no special secret, or method that I use on him” you reply with your usual polite smile in place.

“Not even your “womanly wiles”? Ow! I was joking Mina geez” the electric blonde cries, rubbing the knot on his head.

“Do you want to get executed? You idiot! You are talking to the new queen, if his majesty hears that kind of talk happening around her you are dead!” The pinkette scolds.

“I swear I won’t tell! We’re all friends here, right? No telling the king anything that won’t hurt him!” You exclaim nervously, “That was a hard hit you delivered Mina, how does a hand maiden know anything about hand to hand combat?”. The two men begin to snicker at your question, hiding behind their hands as the pinkette glares at them. “Actually y/n…I have a confession to make…I’m not a hand maiden, I’m the second in command of his majesty’s royal guard” Mina admits, giving you a bow and a wink.

“Wait…what?! Oh no! How rude of me to have been thinking you were my assistant this whole time! Oh goddess, what must you think of my ignorance” you fret, the other three watch you with amused smiles. “You didn’t treat me badly y/n! We’re friends remeber?” Mina asks, using your earlier words against you. “Yes, we are…we’re all friends! Regardless of station, you’re all my precious new friends” you say with a nod, dazzling smile back in place. The rest of the meal was uneventful, your guards tease you about tomorrow’s festivities until it’s time for you to turn in. The two males take their places outside your door, while Mina stays to brush out your hair. Once you bid her good night and get into bed you already know it’s pointless. Your mind and body are abuzz with excitement and anxiety, sleep won’t be coming so easily. Moonlight peeks in through the cracks in the curtains, you sit up noticing the soft glow growing brighter, the shadows shrink back as if they were being burned, the air in the room began to shimmer.

Without any warning a gorgeous woman materializes at the foot of your bed. Her long silver hair sparkles, her deep blue eyes twinkle, she wastes no time in coming to hold you close to her chest. “My sweet girl, so far from home…about to become Queen of this foreign land…my how you’ve grown up so much in such a short time” her voice is as beautiful as the sound of wind chimes in a summer breeze. “Are you proud of me? I’ve finally found my way” you ask, nuzzling into her embrace.

“I am always proud of you, that will never change” Selene responded, holding her princess tightly. 

“I wish you could have met Katsuki before the wedding, I know it all seemed so rushed but words can’t describe how he makes me feel…It’s just right, I know it is” your words are rushed as you try to get everything out in one breath. This makes the moon goddess chuckle, your bottom lip begins to poke out.

“What makes you think I haven’t met him, hm?”

The question hangs in the small space between the two of you.

She motions for you to scoot over and she brings her legs up to rest atop your bed. Her hand begins to caress the top of your head once you’ve gotten comfortable with it laying in her lap. “How? When?” You ask, blinking up at her in adorable confusion. “The first time was about a year ago…the last was around six months ago” Selene says thoughtfully, “Before you get angry at him for not telling you, I used my power and swore him to secrecy, he couldn’t have told you if he wanted to”.

Just as you open your mouth to protest, she cuts you off;

“That story can wait until another day, you need to rest, tomorrow is an exciting day, your mind needs to be focused on the present”.

“You’ll be here tomorrow? From the time I wake up?” You ask as your eyes begin to grow heavy.

“After you get dressed I’ll come to see you, but I want to be seated well before the ceremony begins so I don’t take away any attention from you, we’ll have time to talk afterwards, good night my love” as soon as her words reach your ears you fall asleep.

“Your majesty”

You’re suddenly roused from the most peaceful slumber you’ve had in ages. 

“Princess, it’s time to wake up”

“Mm awake…jus need a minute” you murmur groggily, yawning and rubbing your eyes. 

“We prepared a light breakfast for you your highness, it’s on the table” says a maid to your left.

“Would you mind if we applied some oils to your hair while you eat? That way once you finish, it will be ready to wash out before you get in the bath” says the maid to your right, who places a robe over your night gown.

“Whatever you guys need to do is fine, let me know however I can help make this easier on you” you replied, shuffling over to the table that had a single plate amongst a number of other items. Unwrapping the silk scarf from your hair both maids lightly brush out your strands and set to work applying the conditioning mixture. It doesn’t take long to finish your toast, handful of grapes and swig down the cup of tea that made up your breakfast.

The same two maids usher you into the bathroom and you’re immediately reminded of that first day with Mina and Momo. Only you aren’t nearly as shy when you allow these women to exfoliate your entire body and scrub all your cracks and crevices. It was during that time each of them gave you their names.

“You have such a lovely complexion, it’s nothing like I’ve ever seen before!” Hakagure croons as she and Tsu finish drying you off. “Is it true you come from the moon, princess?” The green dress the dark haired woman wears reminds you of a frog’s skin. Especially with the off putting way her tongue seems to peek from between her lips on occasion. “Yes, that’s where I was born…” you replied, hesitating to disclose any more private information to these two women. So you skirt around any further personal questions, just replying politely to mundane small talk as they got you ready. Mina stuck her head in to check on you a little while later, and immediately took over the task of styling your hair. Demoting Tsu to polishing your now sharpened nails as she did so. Momo entered shortly after that greeting you and giving congratulations before handing you a silk bag.

“Ooooh let me see!” Mina squeals as you examine the contents. Reaching in you grabbed out what appeared to be a scrap of lace, confusion had you looking further into the bag and upon further inspection your face burns with embarrassment.

“You‘ll change into them after the ceremony!” Ponytail assured you “Those things are for his majesty’s eyes only, so don’t feel embarrassed”. The pinkette snickers, waggling the hair brush at you, “I’ll help you put them on 

y/n don’t worry!”. The other two women laughed along with her while Momo berated them for such childish behavior. The memories of having the king pressed up against you the other night immediiiately came to mind.

“Treasure…”

Just remembering the way he sounded growling in your ear as he ground into you against the wall. It had a flush crawling up from the tips of your toes to the roots of your hair. “I need to tell you guys something…so I can ask some questions��and I hate how this will sound so commanding…” purposefully using the repeat pause between words to build up the nerve you needed, your eyes briefly close. When they reopen any flicker of insecurity or hesitation was absent, the e/c irises now sparkling with confidence,

“As your soon to be Queen I demand that any part of this conversation is not repeated outside of this room, is that clear?”.

A cheerful chorus of “Yes, your highness” comes from each of the women helping you get ready.

A relieved sigh allows you to relax against the high backed chair you occupy, “I’ve never had any sort of intimate encounter with anyone, let alone anyone of draconian descent sooooo…What exactly am I supposed to do? How will our um…how will he? Oh goddess you lot know what I mean right?!”. So much for the cool, calm, collected persona you’d channeled seconds ago.

MoMo clears her throat in attempt to hide her embarrassment, “Ahem, well my lady if I may, since you are looking for pointers on how to go about consummation-“

“Bite him!” Mina interrupted.

“Scratch and growl at him!” Hagakure exclaims.

“Stroke his ego” Tsu offers.

“Ladies please!” Momo shouts, the other three are still tittering with laughter as she clears her throat once more “Now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, when it comes to consummation in our culture”.

Now that her mediative hour had concluded Midnight gets to her feet, stretching her limbs to combat the soreness from being stationary for so long. Extinguishing the incense she’d been burning, the dark haired woman moved across the room to push back the heavy drapes and throw open the large floor to ceiling windows. Inhaling a large breath of fresh air, she savored the taste of spring on her tongue. The oracle was optimistic, her cheery disposition had been favorable as of late. Eyeing the dark purple slip and black robes she planned to wear for the days festivities, she began to get ready.

Only for a sharp rap on her door to interrupt, her cheeks puff out in frustration as she hurried to answer it. The two men on the other side don’t wait to exchange pleasantries as she allows them entry.

“How did your talk with his majesty go?” 

The difference between the two men was always similar to that of night and day. Today however, it could be considered comical; With Jeanist in his perfectly pressed dark blue General dress robes adorned with shining silver metals, matching cuff links sparkling brilliantly. Standing tall beside Aizawa in his black Dress robes with a few obvious wrinkles but equally decorated with badges of honor, his tattered scarf ever present around his neck. The latter speaks first; “The king was more on edge than usual, I’d chalk that up to pre wedding jitters, the beast-“.

His companion is quick to take over the explanation, “The dragon gave the same answers as we reported the other night, I detected no treachery or malicious intent, to be honest it seemed preoccupied…possibly a bit bored”.

“So it’s thoughts were elsewhere? Where might that be, my lord?” asks Midnight from behind her changing stands, an airy chuckle reaching their ears. “I hardly think it’s up for discussion if there was no indication of hostility towards the Princess” Jeanist replied in a clipped tone, but professional as always. Stepping out in her new outfit, the oracle grabs a black ribbon off her vanity and moves towards the dark haired man. 

“Since you will be amongst the audience you’ll get a chance to see the two of them interact, we can rehash our individual thoughts after the ceremony concludes” Aizawa says with an annoyed huff as Midnight pulls his hair back, tying the ribbon around his messy locks.

“I agree with that, now which of you is escorting me?” Her violet eyes fluttering as she smiles at the men, even though she knows the answer.

Jeanist opens the door, gesturing for the Oracle and Advisor to go ahead of him. “Don’t forget to lock it!” The woman calls as she tosses a key towards the sharp dressed man. Heeding her request, Jeanist shakes his head as Midnight’s patronizing giggles echo down the hallway.

“Are you nervous?”

The question comes from one of the two older women sitting behind you. It was strange to see Selene and Mitsuki enjoying a cup of tea together in this setting.

Both beautiful in their own right, two powerful women, one a queen of this earth land kingdom, and the other a queen residing over the moon that oversees this blue planet from the heavens above. It was the moon goddess herself that had made an offhand suggestion that perhaps Mitsuki would be able to trace her lineage back to the warrior queen of Mars. They both chuckled at this, and watching their exchange you can’t help but wonder if there just might be truth to her claim.

Seeing them get along so well made you feel at ease.

“A little” you admit, examining your reflection in the mirror for the umpteenth time “But listening to your banter has made it easier to relax, you two seem more like old friends rather than two women who just met the morning of their children’s wedding”. Both women looked towards each other before looking back at you with smiles on their faces. Almost like they knew something you weren’t aware of.

“Maybe Goddess Selene will bless us mere mortals with her presence more often now that you’re here” Mitsuki’s voice had a slight teasing tone about it, and you could swear your mother had the slightest flush to her cheeks.

“Careful what you wish for, what if you were to grow tired of my constant intrusions? Then I’d have to give you twelve years of bad luck” Selene replies, as quick witted as ever, yet her tone held no malice.

“Mother!” You squeaked, shocked she would even joke about such a thing. The two older women laughed at your reaction. 

“Well I suppose I should go check in on Katsuki, I haven’t seen him yet today” the blonde woman says as she gets to her feet.

“You haven’t seen him at all?” You ask confused.

“That boy is a nightmare to deal with when he’s preparing for an important event, one could hardly blame me for preferring the company of two lovely celestial ladies over the company of my foul mouthed brat” she replies, patting you on the back as she walks past. Only to pause at the door and glance back at Selene, “I’ll meet you in the foyer in fourty-five minutes?” She asks.

Your mother nods and the two of them hold eye contact for a few seconds before the blonde woman leaves the two of you alone.

“How long have you known?” 

The question is sudden and quiet.

The goddess sighed before answering your question,

“After you fell asleep last night she came to your room and sought me out, I just found out”. You merely nod in response, now wasn’t the time to confront her about it.

“You look so beautiful, I’m happy that you followed your own path, I raised a perfect young woman” Selene comes to stand behind you, wrapping an arm around you.

The both of your reflections smiled in the mirror, “Oh no! I forgot to ask you-“ your sudden exclamation was hushed by your mother “I have it”. The shimmering piece of selenite appeared in your hand, it was crafted into a perfect crescent shape, a small gold hoop stuck through the top. “Thank you momma” you gushed happily “It’s perfect”. “I have one more thing to give you” she replied, moving towards your dresser. She brought back a small stone box with a large moon on the lid, ancient inscriptions were carved in on all sides proving its age. 

“This belonged to my great grandmother, and now it’s yours” 

The handsome (albeit grumpy) king readjusted the gold chain and fang necklaces around his neck for the umpteenth time. An annoyed growl rips from his throat as he takes the smaller few off. Looking back In the mirror he nods, now sporting only the largest golden chain and his newest piece made from the fangs of the ancient dragon he’d slayed recently. The Royal jeweler had just delivered it this morning, along with a few other pieces that Bakugou had also requested be made.

“Very impressive your majesty” Kirishima says with a flash of his own fanged smile. The red head and three other members of the king’s personal guard lean against the wall of Bakugou’s bedroom closest to the door. Just the five of them occupied the room, the servants that had tried assisting the temperamental Royal at getting ready had vacated the premises a long time ago.

“Looking a little nervous my king” Kaminari says offhandedly.

“Not getting cold feet are you?” Serro is quick to add, both men smirking at the king’s now obviously ruffled feathers.

Katsuki whirls around on them with clenched teeth and fire alight in his eyes, and just as he opens his mouth to begin a ferocious tirade, the bedroom door opens.

“You clean up well brat” Queen Mitsuki teases her son as she enters the room “Would you four give us a moment, it’s about time for you to take your places”.

A chorus of “Yes your majesty” comes from the four knights as they single file out of the room.

“Here it is, the day of my first and only son’s wedding…The day you will become king in more than just words, this land will be not just your’s to rule but your Queen’s as well” the blonde woman comes to stand before her son, “I know your father is proud of you, and I am just as proud of the man that you have become Katsuki”. The way his mother wraps her arms around him comes as a surprise to the king, he is still quick to return her hug just as tight, mumbling a soft “Love ya mom”. When the two of them separated the older woman dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her dress, “Don’t you dare hold this against me, I’m probably going to be bawling more than once today”.

“Wouldn’t dream of it hag”

“So much for a sentimental moment between mother and son, you brat”.

“My lady, it’s time” the voice of a servant alerted you. Taking one last look at your reflection, the glittering tiara atop your head fills you with new confidence. The magic that flowed through your veins even seemed to be amplifying thanks to the treasured heirloom. You had to walk yourself down the aisle, which would mean that every eye will be focused solely on you. Remembering that you are a representation of the lunarian kingdom, you were sure to stand tall and proud, walking with the utmost grace. Exiting the open door, a beautiful burgundy rug has been laid out over the grass, leading down the sloping palace grounds, between the many rows of occupied seats. Excited whispers began as everyone turned to watch you walking down the aisle.

“Absolutely stunning!”

“Is she really from the moon?”

“How beautiful our new queen is!”

The compliments only made you more reassured in your self-confidence. You look towards where the rug ends, seeing steps leading up a raised platform and your heart skipped a beat. The Dragon King stands waiting for you in all his glory; His usual fur lined cape is draped over his shoulders, tribal ink snaking up his impressive biceps, that unintentionally flex as his arms are crossed in front of his chest. The golden chain around his neck glitters, drawing your attention to the second necklace he wore made up of black beads and large jagged teeth. Somehow you manage to keep yourself from hurrying forward. Each step you take is slow, and meaningful and once you finally reach the bottom step Katsuki reaches a hand out to you. Which you take and return his firm grip with a squeeze, allowing yourself to be led up the remaining few steps. He resembles something like a demigod, with the way his blonde hair shines in the sunlight, surrounding his head similar to the halo of an angel. Both of you smile as you take in the appearance of one another, quick to become lost in each other’s eyes. The priest clears his throat and it puts an end to the stupor you two were seemingly caught up in.

“Today marks a momentous event that will forever change history; A bridge between heaven and earth, the joining of celestial and terran, the blessed union between our Dragon King and the Lunarian princess” the elderly man says, pausing to allow the applause and cheering of the crowd. It was nice to see the few hundred or so people seated in chairs closest to the raised platform, but it was astounding to see all of the hundreds if not thousands of people, along with magical creatures, crowded in to the castle grounds. Those that didn’t fit were seated atop the heads of dragons, enabling them to watch the ceremony despite being behind the protective walls.

Turning your head away from the crowd, the squeeze of the grip on your hands has your eyes flitting upwards. Looking into Katsuki’s eyes was like being swept up in a harsh current. The priests words were immediately garbled nonsense, you were drowning in a sea of red. The veil over your face fluttered in the wind, and the king says something aloud. 

The smile he gives you has you feeling weak in the knees.

“Princess Y/n”

The sound of your title has you standing at attention, listening to the priest’s words intently;

“Do you take King Bakugou Katsuki as your husband? To have and hold through good times and bad? To stand beside him and rule this country to the best of your ability as a queen and wife?”.

“I do and I shall” you replied confidently, squeezing the large hands holding your own.

“Then by the power invested in me, witnessed by all that are here, I now pronounce you husband and wife” as soon as the words were said the veil was lifted from your face and Katsuki was kissing you. The kiss was deep and breath stealing, you could feel the desire and happiness in it. Cheers had broken out all around the courtyard, the roars and shouts echoing from all around the kingdom. Just as your lungs began to burn from lack of air did the kiss finally end.

“I now present your new King and Queen!” Announces the priest, holding his arms open as he declares this to the crowd.

The events that followed all happened in such a rapid procession, it felt like you were wrapped up in a sort of whirlwind.

You remember receiving hugs from both Mitsuki and your mother, but after that it was just a bunch of congratulations, well wishes, and handshakes from a variety of strangers. It was only once you were ushered back into your bedroom that you could take a moment to breathe. Sitting down on the soft bed everything had started to sink in; You were now queen of an earthland kingdom, you were married to the Dragon King, a mere princess no more. Speaking of which, you hadn’t gotten a single moment with your husband, the kiss at the altar was the only one you’d gotten thus far. He hadn’t said a word while you two were being bombarded by the gathering well wishers. You hadn’t even been able to give him your present…

Fishing the selenite out from your cleavage, you sighed. Without warning the door of the room burst open and in came Mina and Momo.

The latter holding three champagne flutes, while the former clutched a half empty bottle.

“Congratulations y/n!” The pinkette cheered, hugging you happily.

Kicking the door shut behind her, the dark haired woman strides over gracefully, offering you one of the flutes, “How about a toast before we help you get ready for your special night?”. “Ah yes! That would be lovely” you smile, taking the glass as you get to your feet.

“To our new queen, and beloved friend y/n! May your marriage be happy and the fires stemming from undying love as well as passion never extinguish!” Mina exclaims and the three of you clink glasses.

Laughter proceeds only after you’d each drained your respective glass, along with Momo giving Mina a hard time about her ridiculous toast.

True to her word, Mina had indeed helped you Into the garments from that silk bag.

You couldn’t bare the embarrassment as you peeked at your reflection in the full body mirror. The two women had made sure to bathe you throughly once again. “The king won’t react well to anyone else’s scents on you during your bonding” Momo had explained, as you gave her glove covered hands a strange look.

They rubbed you down with a slightly vanilla scented, shimmering body oil (Apparently it was close to your natural scent, according to Mina). Now you were standing in the middle of your room skin glittering, clad in what was essentially scraps of silk, with dragon scale accents that hid your nipples and pussy (barely). Just as you were downing another glass of champagne, the girls pulled a thin, floor length black cloak over your shoulders. Making sure it was secured before placing a cape over your shoulders. “A gift from the King” you had been told. The outside fabric was thick and white while the inside was a black velvet, and a black fur made up the collar. It was almost just like the one your husband always wore. Your helpers made sure everything was fastened to keep any of your unmentionables from slipping out.

Just as they both stood back to admire you, a loud knock could be heard on the door. “You’re all set! You look lovely your majesty” Momo smiles. “Remember everything I told you! Especially that last bit! Just relax It’s going to be great, no worries!” Mina reminds you cheerfully as the two of them accompany you out of the door.

Kirishima was standing there waiting to escort you with his usual smile in place, he offers you his arm. Taking hold of it, the knight begins to usher you down the hall, both ladies cheering until you rounded the corner. “You look very nice my lady” the red head compliments, keeping his eyes forward but still smiling all the same. “Thank you…” you appreciate the compliment but the nervousness you felt grew with each step forward.

Finally reaching the end of the hallway, its down a short staircase and the knight opens a door for you. Another exit from the castle you weren’t aware of. The breeze is gentle, and stars are beginning to twinkle in the twilight sky. You see your mother and Mitsuki talking to Katsuki, who immediately looks towards you as you walk across the grass. His intense gaze has your face heating up, and if both your mothers weren’t standing there he probably would have pounced on you. Once you come to stand beside the three of them your king takes your hand in his and kisses the back of it “Ready to go?”. The spot his lips touched sends tingles throughout your body, all you can do is nod in reply. “You two have fun” Mitsuki says while pulling you into a hug.

“Mother, I thought you and I-“

Selene interrupts you before giving a hug of her own, “Plenty of time for that when the two of you return, enjoy this special time with your husband”.

You don’t have time to argue due to the sudden appearance of a familiar red dragon waiting just a few feet away. Bakugou bids your mothers goodbye and scoops you up bridal style. He doesn’t set you down once the two of you are seated, you stay in his lap as Kirishima takes flight. Katsuki groans as takes in your scent, nipping and kissing the sensitive flesh “Been waiting for this moment all day, could hardly wait to get my hands on you”. One of his hands slips beneath the cloak to run up your bare legs. Your toes curl as he squeezes one of your thick thighs, he doesn’t miss a beat when engaging you in another passionate lip lock. Your fingers lightly caress his cheeks before running them down to his pecs.

Your tongue tangles with his when you finally feel yourself slicking up.

The wetness between your thighs reminds you that a thin string is the only thing there to catch any drips, and you’d rather not leave a wet spot on your new husband’s pant leg.

Breaking the kiss, you rest your forehead against his as you catch your breath. “My king…I’m sorry if I may not act like a proper lady tonight, I hope that come sunrise you won’t hold any of my actions against me” You say with a sigh, moving your head back to properly look him in the eye. A blonde brow is raised before a sinister smile appears on the king’s handsome face, “oho is that a challenge or a threat? my queen”. Your eyes catch sight of the slivers of sharp canines in his mouth, and your gaze lingers on them as you quietly reply, “It’s neither…I just don’t exactly feel like my usual self right now, not to say I’m someone else but my feelings are unfamiliar and overwhelming”.

Gently you reach for one of his hands and guide it towards your chest, laying it over your heart.

A sudden shyness comes over you, and looking up at him with innocent eyes you enquire, “Do you feel it?”.

Unbeknownst to you, Katsuki had been able to hear the pitter patter of your heart this entire time.

How adorable, it’s just like a bunny that’s been cornered by a hungry wolf

He can’t help but agree, his hold on you becomes impossibly tighter.

Eliminating any space between your bodies, he cradles the back of your head in a large palm. Guiding you to rest it in between his neck and shoulder. “S’normal to be nervous treasure, because after tonight you will be a different person” your king presses a kiss to your forehead “Just relax for now, it won’t be much longer until we arrive”. Something inside of you feels as though Katsuki’s voice has this underlying nefarious tone to it. An abrupt shiver shoots down your spine, in attempts to soak in the natural warmth that radiates off his skin you’re quickly wrapping your arms around your lover.

The wind is always a bit cooler at night, especially at this altitude. That explains where these continuous chills are coming from.

Right?

A/N: Something I didn’t call attention to at the end of last chapter; If you read the prophecy laid out in the prologue, and compare it to the version that Izuku reads during the flight in chapter 3 you’ll notice quite a big difference! Just to explain that in case anybody didn’t catch onto it; Only a few people in the kingdom were made aware of the complete prophecy that Midnight spoke of. There was a heavily censored version that was put out to the kingdom’s general public and it’s regarded in a celebratory way. So much so, the people turned it into a nursery rhyme song for children. This is because they remain ignorant to the other half of it. The version they know only speaks of the king finding love and that the kingdom will in turn be blessed and forever remain prosperous.I felt this was important for me to explain, just so nobody is thinking “This bitch is so dumb she can’t even remember words that she wrote three chapters prior 🙄”.I would hope none of you think that negatively of me 😅 It sure doesn’t seem that way but just Incase! ❤️‍🔥 So any thoughts or theories as to what’s going on or going to happen?

Thank you all for every like, share, comment and follow! 

Honorable mentions 💌

@lalachanya  @mrsmelaninhood 

@whatdidshesayyy @faemagic88

@viridianhero  @alishii @rv19 

@maggiecc @crazy-eight17 @nnubee @nemisimp @yesitsmewhataboutit 

[the-mountain-flower]

The Exiled And The Outcast

Chapter Twenty-Three: I Never Thought He’d Actually Say Yes! What Was I Thinking?!

Ao3 link

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What. Was. He. Thinking?!

Falst paced back and forth in a lonely room at the complete opposite side of the castle from where he’d left Dainix that morning, face beet red and hands unable to be held still.

What was he thinking? Clearly, he hadn't been thinking at all!

He'd kissed Dainix. He'd fucking kissed him!

And then Dainix had kissed him back! Falst had had the audacity to ask if he could kiss him, and Dainix said yes!

Why?!

Falst had no idea what to do about these damned feelings before he'd gone and kissed Dainix! Now- what? He didn’t know how to be romantic or anything like that, he was still figuring out the whole friendship thing! Why did he have to go and mess it all up like that?

And …and why did Dainix kiss him back?!

Falst placed a hand over his mouth, like he could feel the echo of Dainix’s lips on his and was trying to preserve the sensation. Kissing him had felt so, so… right! He might as well have been blessed by Serenis to make Falst feel this way.

And damn it all, Falst had no idea what to do about it.

He put the other hand up so both were in front of his mouth, and indulged in a small, muffled scream.

That made him feel a little bit better, but still had no idea what to do.

He could always leave. Run far away and never have to face Dainix again-

No. Not happening. He surprised himself with the thought, even if it seemed obvious.

Okay, so for once, no running away. That was still new to him. Usually running was a matter of survival, but not this time. It felt like it was, but it wasn’t. Just… emotional vulnerability.

…

He yelled into his hands again.

Dainix didn’t know whether to go find Falst or not.

On the one hand, if Falst hadn’t woken him up, it was definitely on purpose. He probably needed space.

On the other hand, what if he was embarrassed about it? Or worse, what if he felt ashamed about it? Or what if he needed help with something? What if…

Dainix sighed. He should give Falst the space he needed. He knew that.

He just wanted to see him again after… after last night.

‘I’ve never done this before.’ Well, he was still really good at it. Dainix would definitely say yes again, given the chance.

Dainix‘s cheeks ached from smiling so much. He'd actually kissed him! The thought made him feel giddy, though also a bit flustered.

Thank Serenis, he thought the kissing itself had gone pretty well. And then they’d fallen asleep cuddling by the fire. It was basically perfect.

How long had it been since Dainix realized he might wait forever if he was waiting for Falst to make the first move? A little over a sef, maybe. Definitely better than forever, in his opinion.

And if I’m not careful, I’ll sit here thinking about it all day, and then I might start overthinking it and get all worked up about it.

Dainix sighed. He really didn’t want to leave the relative warmth of his location, and he wasn’t sure how much he could focus on research with the kiss still on his mind, but it was better than sitting there doing nothing.

The cold air bit him to the core, even with the warmth that the memory of kissing Falst provided. The contrast seemed to make the chill sharper, somehow. So much so that it felt like the cold wind from the day before followed him to sneak up on him as soon as he was alone, to surround him like a flood in a collapsed basement.

He shook the thought from his head. Gods, he could really, really do without the cold.

Was that actually a bruise on his neck?!

It hadn’t even been that hard. Really gentle, actually. Really romantic too, and had felt amazing...

Falst huffed and turned away from the window whose reflection had practically shouted that little detail at him from across the room, only becoming more obvious when he’d stopped to take a closer look.

Whatever. Falst got bruises all the time. This one… there was no reason to assume it had come from last night.

Even if was definitely in the exact same place, and he could almost still feel Dainix’s lips pressed against his skin...

Shut up, he told himself, just… just ignore it! Of course, he went about this by hyperfocusing on trying to pay no attention to the bruise. Which, obviously, didn’t work.

No way he could face Dainix while he was still such a mess. He didn’t like letting himself get flustered like this, but he didn’t know how to stop it. Especially when a part of him didn’t want to.

A distraction, that’s what he needed. And reading would be a good way to do that...

Unless Dainix was in the library. Which he probably would be.

Good thing Falst was so good at hiding.

Nope. Nope, this is worse.

Dainix was indeed in the library, and Falst couldn’t stop paying attention to him.

Falst gripped the open book in his hands, having reread the same several paragraphs over and over again because he just couldn’t get himself to really pay attention. Not when the guy he’d made out with last night was right there.

He was distracted, alright. In the exact opposite direction he came for. Godsdamnit.

Falst hissed quietly and pulled his hand away from the book, a tiny drop of blood marking the spot where his fingertip had brushed against the page’s edge.

Almost immediately afterward, he heard Dainix stand up from the desk. Falst held his breath, worried that Dainix had heard him, but watched as Dainix wrapped his arms around himself and left the room, shivering noticably more than usual.

Which was probably fine and nothing to worry about.

He was probably just taking a break to warm himself up again. There was definitely no reason it should be any different this time.

I’m not going to follow him. That would be creepy and weird. And probably not the best impression to make after kissing him. Instead, he was going to use this opportunity to actually focus. Like he’d been trying to do since he got there. The reason he came to the library in the first place.

He told himself that multiple times. Even when Dainix didn’t return for a while. Midday passed and daylight changed and Dainix still hadn’t come back.

...

Oh screw it, he might as well go check to make sure he was okay.

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

Remember to drink water, eat food, take your meds (if applicable), and get enough sleep. Love you all, and have a great [insert time here]! <3

[pinkposies]

0.4 Haunted

So sorry for not being active! I’ve been busy with ACT prep and college apps, but I’ve finally gained free time :) Wc: 4209 Not proofread :P Please tell me about any mistakes. Song - Moonsoon by Tokio Hotel

pervious

Elaine sat down, watching her friend pace back and forth. “I don't understand why you have to leave," Cami said, her face reddened. Do you even have anywhere to go?”

“You don’t have to worry about me anymore, Cami." She insisted, standing up to pull the stressed woman into a hug, “I’ll forever be grateful for your kindness.”

“You can’t expect me not to be worried about you! You’ve been acting so weird lately.”

Elaine pulled back from the hug to look Cami in the eye. “I’m pregnant!” She blurted out, a flush crept up her face, “And the father has decided it’ll be best if I move in with him.”

“The same man who you said left you?” She scoffed when the fae nodded. “Why would you ever want to go back to someone who treated you like shit?”

“I can’t go through this pregnancy alone, Cami and you don’t know the full story, okay?”

Cami sighed, For the short while she’d known Elaine, she knew once the girl’s mind was set on something, it was not likely she’d change her mind. “Just promise to call and visit me, please.”

“Of course! I’ve already planned for you to be the godmother of my baby." She giggled, trying to lighten the mood, then went in for another hug. “I love you, Cami; you’re practically family to me.”

“I love you too; don’t hesitate to call me for anything.” The two women stood in the living room, embracing each other. “Do you need help with your bags?”

Elaine shook her head. “No, it’s not much, but thank you.” She responded, awkwardly leaning down to pick up the two bags. As she headed towards the door, she turned around once more, whispering goodbye. Then walked out.

On her walk to the door, she couldn’t stop the tears filling her eyes. She couldn’t cry in front of Cami, knowing the blonde would also cry, which would make the process of leaving harder. When she stepped out of the apartment complex, she saw Elijah leaning against a black SUV waiting for her.

“I could only assume that you’re not taking the move so well.” Elijah pointed out the obvious as he observed the girl cry, “Please allow me to take your bags.” He voiced softly, in hopes the fragile girl wouldn’t be further upset.

She sat in the car when Elijah opened the door for her. Elaine waited until he put her bags in the backseat so she could speak to him. Watching as the man got into the car and started the car, “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but I don’t understand why I have to live with you two.”

“Elaine, you already have a target on your back; imagine what it’ll be like if word gets out that the Mikealson family is expecting a new family member,” he explained as he kept his eyes on the road. “Throughout the centuries, our family has gained enemies that’ll stop at nothing to get revenge, and you're not in a stable state to protect yourself.”

She put her face in her hands, bringing her knees to her chest. “I just don’t want to leave her. She was the only one there for me when my family dumped me.” Elaine hiccuped, “Cami was the closest feeling of a friendship I’ve had in a while. I’ve grown somewhat of an attachment to her.”

“Please understand, the decision we made would not only protect you but your friend as well.”

Elaine did understand, but she couldn’t help feeling guilty. “Am I even wanted? Klaus didn’t seem enthusiastic to have me back in his life.”

Elijah turned to finally look at her, his expression hardening. “If Klaus didn’t care for you, you'd be dead.”

“I’m just scared.”

“There’s no reason to be; I’ll do everything in my power to protect you. Your family now, whether he is willing to accept it or not.”

જ⁀➴

Waking up early, Elaine rushed to make breakfast for the two men as thanks for their kindness. She hated having tension with people, especially someone she was living with. Her mother always told her food was the way into anyone’s heart, and for once she was going to take her mother’s advice. She carefully baked and cooked many foods that she could think of, even though it was hard considering the brothers barely had any food in the pantry.

Numerous plates floated around the kitchen as the fae finished cooking. The sink was full of dirty dishes, which she used her mind to clean. When she was finally done with the garnish on the hashbrowns, she began to set the table. The floating plates were slowly placed onto the awaiting table that she decorated with flowers she found outside.

Elaine took a step back, admiring her work. She had made pancakes, beacon, beignets, fruit salad, hashbrowns, and cinnamon rolls. The fae was startled by someone clearing her throat; she quickly turned her head to see Klaus leaning against the entry of the kitchen.

“Oh! Good morning!”

Klaus’s face filled with amusement as he scanned the fae from head to toe. "I'm wondering why you were making so much noise." He slightly teased, “I see you made quite the mess.” He pointed towards her.

The fae looked down at her appearance; she had flour in places where flour shouldn’t be. She beamed seeing the vampire’s relaxed stance, “I wanted to make breakfast as a thanks to Elijah and you,” Elaine pointed towards the in a ‘Ta - Da’ gesture, “Where is Elijah? Did he leave early this morning?”

He clenched his jaw, a sign of hidden regret, “Elijah decided it’s in his best interest to leave.” Announcing nonchalantly.

“But why would he do that? All he could talk about yesterday was staying here to protect me.” Elaine tilted his head in confusion, observing Klaus’s extremely serious face.

Klaus scoffed, walking towards the dining table. He sat down, picking up a piece of fruit, “Maybe he got tired of your constant crying.” He shrugged, almost a little too smug, “The walls are pretty thin.” Klaus mocked her.

“There’s no need to be so hostile. I’m just concerned.” She muttered, avoiding eye contact by looking down at her feet. Confusion was a thick fog that clouded her senses; his sudden mood change practically gave her whiplash.

“Here's a suggestion: don’t stick your nose in something that isn’t any of your business.”

“What is wrong with you?” She stared down at the vampire, appalled. “If this attitude you have about what happened in Kallos, then we can talk about it.” Elaine pleaded, wishing to ease the tension.

“Are you that deluded?” Klaus, the sound of his laughter filled the quiet room. “This is about me finally thinking I’m free from the constant annoyance you bring! Yet somehow you find a way to pop back into my life!” His eyes were poisonous to even look upon; so much hatred tainted his soul.

Her eyes suddenly burned to hold back her tears, “Don’t say that! What we had was-”

“Fake! Did you seriously think I loved you?” He exclaimed, standing up and getting up in her, “God, you are so naive. I used you.” He slowly said the last three words.

“Fuck you.” Her words were almost squeaked out, betraying the tears residing behind her eyes and threatening to spill.

“The only reason you're here is because of that thing you’re carrying. Otherwise, I would’ve left you for dead.” He smoldered with resentment as he stared at her, “Clean this mess up.” Klaus spat at her, quickly leaving the kitchen.

Elaine fell to the ground as her knees became weak, She pressed her palms onto her mouth in an attempt to contain her sobs. She released all of the emotions she had been holding inside for the past few days. The overwhelming emotions she had allowed to grow inside of her exploded through the gates, leaving her powerless to do anything but feel.

Her tear-stained face was puffy and swollen with grief; she hated that she let him get the best of him. She hated that he was the one who drove her family away. She hated him. She had a lump in her throat and was blinking away the tears, anger surged up inside her, burning through her.

She swiftly got up from her place on the ground, speed-walking up the stairs towards one of the offices in the mansion. Her mind set on a book she saw when she was snooping around earlier in the morning. Elaine tried her best to open the door with it creaking; once she succeeded, she tiptoed towards the bookshelf.

The fae rapidly searched for the book that caught her eye earlier, flipping through the books. Finally, she spotted an almost ancient-looking book that read ‘The Lycanthropes.’

Her eyes widen, opening the book to the contents page. She flipped through the many pages until she found what she was looking for.

‘Wolfsbane, when ingested, causes a werewolf to become severely weak and feverish. In some cases, death

Elaine jumped as she heard a door suddenly slam.

“Elijah, if not answering your phone is part of your clever plan to get me back to this godforsaken city, then well done. I'm here, and I'm worried.” A feminine voice came from downstairs.

The fire poker that was once placed in front of the fireplace ended up in her hand in an instant. She tightly gripped her weapon to her chest as she made her way to the stairway. Peaking her head from behind the wall, she saw a stunning woman with full lips, light blue eyes, blond hair, and pale skin standing seething with anger in the foyer.

“Who are you?” Elaine gained the courage to walk down the stairs, only stopping in the middle to ensure some type of safety.

“You must be that girl my brother Klaus knocked up. I was expecting to see some kind of supernatural, miracle baby bump. Guess you're not showing yet.” She bombarded Elaine, “Where's Elijah?”

Elaine shrugged. "Apparently, he just left.”

Rebekah stopped pacing and peered intently at the fae, “What do you mean, "He just left"?”

“Well, all night long he was reassuring me I’m wanted and that he’ll protect me. Come morning time, Klaus told me he left.” She whispered the last part, the post-adrenaline from the argument has yet to wear down.

“Klaus! Get out here and tell me what you've done with our brother, you narcissistic, back-stabbing wanker!”

Klaus opens a pair of doors and enters the room. “Enough with all the shouting. Little sister, I should have known. I assume the six dead vampires were your doing." He bemused, seeming more in a good mood than Elaine is.

“They were very rude. Trying to victimize a poor, innocent girl just trying to find her way to the quarter. So sorry, were they friends of yours? Oh, that's right, you don't have any friends.”

“I do have friends. I have Marcel. You remember him, don't you? Yes, of course you do. He fancies himself the 'King of the Quarter' now, and he has these rules about killing vampires. It'll be fun to see what sort of punishment he comes up with for you.”

“I don't care about Marcel or his rules. Elijah doesn't welch on deals. What did you do to him?”

“Perhaps he's on holiday... or taking a long autumn nap upstairs. Well, go on. Take a look around. You remember this house as well as I.”

“Now where is Elijah?” A pinched expression spread over Rebeak’s face when Klau’s phone suddenly rang and went to leave. “Where are you going?”

“It appears the night is not quite over yet. I'm off for another drink with Marcel.”

“Elijah told me about your plan to take apart Marcel's empire piece by piece. I don't remember it involving you two drinking New Orleans dry together.”

“I know you don't have many friends, Rebekah, but what some friends do when they get together is they drink. And when they drink, they tell secrets. Marcel has somehow found a way to control the entirety of witches in the Quarter, and I aim to uncover the 'how' so I might take it for myself. Finding Elijah didn't make my to-do list today.” He paused at the door and turned around. “Oh, and welcome home, little sister.”

“He sucks,” Elaine muttered when he left the house.

A small laugh escaped Rebekah’s lips as she turned to the fae, “I agree. I'm going to search this house inch by inch until I find what my evil brother has done to my good one. You're helping.”

જ⁀➴

Rebekah leads Elaine into a secret corridor. “What is the place?” Her words tumbled out in a rush; the closer they got to the end of the stairway, the colder it got.

“The governor had lots of secret rooms. I'll show you his favorite.”

When reaching the end, Elaine squeaked when she got caught in a cobweb, flailing her arms around, “Get it off of me!”

“Relax, doll,” Rebekah’s laughter spilled out as she watched her freak out. “Come here.” She demanded; she picked the webs from the girl.

“Why are there coffins here?” Her voice was still traced with a hint of panic.

A sigh escaped Rebekah’s lips. “Klaus has a set of mystical silver daggers. One in the heart sends us into a deep slumber. Klaus gets his jollies from keeping us in a box until he decides to pull the dagger out." She abruptly stops in front of one of the many coffins. “That must be what he's done to Elijah. This one's mine.”

“That’s awful. Who would do such a thing?”

“He likes to be prepared for when his family members inevitably disappoint him. Elijah's isn't here—he must've stashed him elsewhere.”

“This is sick.”

“Welcome to the family, love. You should've run the second you realized Elijah was gone.” She offered, as a form of sympathy, “You'd best find a way to run.” She forced a smile before leaving Elaine alone.

In the quiet moments that followed, the only sound was the echoing resonance of sorrow, which lingered like an evil spirit over the room. Elaine shook her head in an attempt to get rid of the negative thoughts flooding in.

Examining the room even more, she began to realize she didn’t know Klaus as much as she thought she did. He seemed to be a completely different person.

“I got to get out of here." She whispered to herself, disgusted that someone would even think to do this to their loved ones. “Stars!” She exclaimed as she hit her on the corner of one of the coffins.

Elaine tilted her head to the side, seeing something shiny underneath the coffin. She kneeled, wincing when pebbles dug into her knees. Eyebrows furrowing and then releasing while examining the shiny objects. Connecting the dots, she noticed these must be the daggers Rebekah was talking about.

“It seems you’ve found the daggers.”

Elaine froze, feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand up. “Who are you?”

“You can see me?” The brown-haired man exclaimed.

“Uh yes.” She hesitantly nodded.

The man practically jumped with joy. “You don’t know how long I’ve been stuck in solitary. Felt more crazy than usual.” He seemed almost drunk with happiness.

“Who are you?”

“Kol Mikaelson.”

Elaine scoffed, “Great, how many more Mikaelsons are there?”

“Love, it only gets worse from here.” He muffled a laugh, seeming to be the only one laughing. “How are you able to see me?”

“One of the many abilities of being a fae.”

“A faerie?” He repeated as a question, “Faes haven’t walked Earth in centuries, and my brother knocked you up.”

Elaine grasped the daggers in her hand as she stood up. “Not for long, though, I plan to get rid of this baby and rid Klaus from my life.” Elaine had a lot of questions and worries, and her mind was racing with disorientation.

“Explains why you were sneaking around earlier." Kol drew his lower lip between his teeth. “My brothers won’t react so kindly if you go behind their backs.”

“I’m not scared of your brothers. I can handle myself.” She declared, scrunching up her face, "Plus, I don’t think Klaus would mind. You must’ve heard us earlier.”

His face twisted, “My brother may be borderline heartless and extremely paranoid, but,” His brows drew together as he went into deep thought and added, “It’s in your best interest to run as far as you can.”

Her mouth slackened in disbelief. “You can’t even make up a lie to make him seem good.”

“Selfish or not, I’d rather you stay here, so I’ll be able to bother someone.” He admitted smugly.

“I’m so sorry, but I need to do what’s best for me.” She apologized, his ghostly figure disappearing when she tuned him out.

જ⁀➴

Elaine gazed at the moon, silently praying for courage. The busy streets of New Orleans filled her ears—jazz music, cars passing by, and people talking. “Divine is the right choice, please give me a sign.” She whispered, “No, this is the only choice.”

She collected the droplets and swiftly dripped the wolfsbane in her. “Come on, Elaine. One upset stomach and you’ll be free.”

Elaine lifts the cup to her mouth but flinches at the horrible spell. She closes her eyes and drops the cup to the ground, the liquid splashing her leg. “I can’t do this.” Elaine sighed, quickly turning her head when a branch crunching came from the darkness. She immediately stood up, feeling the aura of something dangerous consume her.

“I didn’t believe when I caught wind of a fae being in New Orleans, thought your species was a myth. Mm, but the rumors were most definitely about your blood." He moaned, his eyes darkening and veins forming underneath.

When he reached for her, Elaine twisted her hand, hearing his bones crunch. The man roared out in pain, and instantaneously two other vampires appeared behind. She spins around, waving her hand, causing the two vampires to be thrown into the trees surrounding us. One of the vampires ends up impaled; she goes to snap their necks until she feels the vampire behind her put her in a headlock.

Suddenly Rebekah shows up and rips the vampire’s heart out. “Now, that is no way to treat a pregnant lady. I do hate bad manners.” She scoffed, throwing the heart on the ground. “You surprise me, doll, You're not as helpless as I thought.”

જ⁀➴ “Elaine, what were you doing in the bloody French Quarter in the first place?” Klaus growled, looking at the distressed fae, when she didn’t answer right away, that only angered him more. “Answer me!” His booming voice made her flinch.

“Doing us both a favor and putting your little baby out of its misery.” Everything in its path was consumed by the rage in her voice, which burnt like a raging fire.

Klaus runs at her with vampire speed and pins her to the door by the neck. Elaine gasps for air. Rebekah runs at Klaus with vampire speed, pushes him off of Elaine, and grabs him by the shoulders. Elaine coughs and splutters, massaging her throat.

“Keep your hands off her! She is pregnant, for God's sake! All of this bluster about not wanting the child, and then the second she tells you she's ready to get rid of it? It's okay to care. It's okay to want something. That's all Elijah was trying to do—all he's ever wanted for you. All we've ever wanted.”

Klaus lets out an exhausted sigh as he sits down on the stairs, putting his head in his hands. “I gave Elijah to Marcel.” He muffled through his hands, his voice filled with regret.

“What?” She was exasperated, face changing into disgust.

“Marcel was nervous. It's bad enough that one Original returned to town, but two? His crew was getting antsy. He wanted Elijah gone, so... I gave him a peace offering.”

“You bartered our brother?” She said in disbelief, but at the same time, she didn’t expect less.

“Have a plan. Gain Marcel's trust, dismantle his empire, and honor Elijah's wish that that baby be born. I am executing that plan the only way I know how. If you don't like it, there's the door. See if I care.”

જ⁀➴

Elaine opened the patio door, peeking her head out to see Rebekah staring into the darkness. The fae sat down next to the vampire, bringing her knees to her chest. "I appreciate you helping me. I don’t know how to thank you properly.”

“Us girls have got to look out for each other.” She smiled at the younger girl, placing her hand on Elaine’s knee.

“I know I shouldn't stick my nose into your business, but if you know that guy has Elijah, why don't you just get him back yourself?”

"Because if I cross my brother, there's still a coffin downstairs with my name on it.”

Elaine smiles at Rebekah before reaching down and grabbing something wrapped in cloth. “I found this and thought it was best to give them to you.” She announces and unfolds the cloth and reveals the two silver daggers.

“Oh, my god.”

“If this is the only thing holding you back from getting back Eligh, then here you go.” She placed the daggers in Rebekah’s awaiting hand. The vampire’s eyes sparkled with awe, bringing Elaine into an embrace.

“Thank you.”

જ⁀➴

“I didn’t use it.” She blurted out, she was pretending to sleep when she heard Klaus sneak into her room.

“What stopped you? You could have been free of all of this... of me.”

Elaine shuffled in the bed to set up, patting for Klaus to sit, which he accepted. “Klaus, as much as I want to hate you, I can’t bring myself to.” She gained the courage to express her feelings. Elaine looked towards the window. “I know you say what we had was fake, but I only felt love for you during our time together,” she muttered, hating that her voice cracked.

The room fell silent; she felt his eyes on her, but she didn’t dare look at him. Only when Klaus’s hands touched her balled-up fist, unballing them before she caused any harm to herself did she look at him and say, “What I said yesterday was misplaced anger. You didn't deserve that.”

She sighed, biting her lip. “I only want us to get along, Klaus, but you need to put in effort as well.”

“I’ll try, dearheart.”

“This whole thing with Marcel—the deal you have with the witches, trying to take him down, take what's his—Rebekah told me that you two once loved each other like family. What happened?”

“I made Marcel everything that he is. I treated him like a son. And when my father chased me and my family from New Orleans a hundred years ago, we believed Marcel was killed—we each mourned him in our way. Yet, when I returned, I found not only had he survived, he had thrived. Instead of seeking us out, instead of sticking together as one, he chose to take everything my family had built and make it his own. Now, he is living in our home; he is sleeping in our beds. That 'M' he stamps everywhere... it's not for 'Marcel'. It's for 'Mikaelson'. I want it all back, and if I have to push him out to get it, then that's exactly what I'll do.”

Rebekah burst into the room before Elaine had a chance to speak. “You were right. The girl, Cami—she's the key. Marcel likes her, and because of that, I got to see the secret weapon of his that you've been going on about.”

“Wait! Cami? Like white girl with blonde hair, Cami?”

“You know of this woman?” Klaus questioned.

“She was the one who took me in once I got to New Orleans.”

Rebekah cleared her throat. “We’ll be able to establish a plan using her with you later, Elaine, but a girl, Davina. She can't be more than sixteen is Marcel’s secret weapon, and I have never felt power like that.”

“A witch.”

“She's not just any witch; she's something I've never seen before, something beyond powerful, and now because of you, she has Elijah. Who knows what she could do to him?”

“Where is she?”

Rebekah stops her rant to think, “That clever bitch. I don't know.” She angrily blurted out.

“What's wrong?”

“She wiped my memory of the location. Marcel possesses a weapon bigger and more powerful than an original, and you handed our brother to him! How many times will Elijah forgive you? How long until his hope for your redemption finally dies?”

“I did what I had to do! Marcel took our home!”

“And our home is worthless without family. I am finding Elijah—whatever it takes. Are you going to help me?”

“Whatever it takes.”

“I think I can help with gaining your memory back.” Elaine inserted herself into the conversation.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Writer Torn Between MC's Two Worlds

king-ofconfusion asked: I'm struggling with my story's ordinary world. The MC discovers they're from a magical world and finds their original family, but I'm not sure what to do with the MC's adoptive family. He's 20 and in college, so it's not like he needs permission to leave or there's anything blocking him from going, but I feel weird having him abandon the world he was raised in, and I don't feel like he'd lie to his loved ones about his other life. Having him tell his adoptive mom the truth and "peace out" feels very flat.

[ask heavily edited for length and content]

I see a lot of different options here...

1 - Outright Honesty/Peace Out - I don't think this is such a weird idea, actually. I have heard of international adoptees locating their birth family as an adult and leaving their adoptive country to return to their homeland/birth family. Whether or not they maintain contact and visits with their birth family depends on the relationship, but many do. On that same note, Outlander comes to mind, where there's all sorts of back and forth between worlds with the intention of never returning (of course, they always inadvertently do), but there are fated couples who "part forever" out of necessity, parents and children who "part forever" out of necessity, friends and family members who "part forever" out of necessity... and if it's good enough for a book series that has sold 50-million copies worldwide and is the basis of a popular TV series, you're in good shape. So, I think the honesty/"I need to return to my homeland" option is perfectly reasonable, especially if they can promise to keep in touch and/or visit.

2 - Necessary White Lie/Cover Story - If you're worried about the MC lying to their ordinary world family because it's out of character or you're not a fan of this kind of lie, you could always make it a necessary lie. For example, maybe the MC is warned that this fantasy can't be revealed to ordinary world dwellers. Or, maybe the MC is simply afraid that his family might sacrifice everything and follow them into the fantasy world, face danger, etc. You can definitely come up with a reason. And then being at college provides the perfect cover story. If the character can travel between worlds, you could even have them periodically return for a few days to catch up on homework, sit in on important lectures/exams, or zoom through online classes. Maybe they say they're taking half a course load so they can intern somewhere (and maybe here you can work whatever they're doing in the fantasy world into something that sounds like an applicable ordinary world job they could be shadowing). I think with some brainstorming, there are good options here.

3 - Ordinary Family is From Magical World - Another option, if it would work, would be for the adoptive "ordinary world" family to actually be from the magical world. If it would work with the MC's birth story and whatever led to them being placed in the fantasy world, maybe instead of being placed with an ordinary world family, they were sent to the ordinary world with a magical world family who is just waiting for them to be old enough to return to their rightful place. Or, you could even hybrid a little here, and maybe the MC was sent with a magical world adoptive mom or dad to the ordinary world, and there the magical world parent met an ordinary world love interest, and they started an ordinary world family together. That way, the MC's family can already have a foot in both worlds, and you can have the ordinary world parent already know the situation. That way, the MC can return to the magical world, but maybe communicate through the other family member (who maybe can travel back and forth or has powers that allows for the communication, or whatever.) Again, lots of possibilities.

I hope something here will work for you! ♥

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[d8nielaa]

hello again! i requested the brody imagine about him giving the notebook to the reader with his number in it and i was wondering if you can do an extension? part 2? of it where reader does call him or texts him and they just go back and forth until one of them decides to just ask the other out and it’s really sweet and they’re just blown away by each other.

thank you 💜

Authors Note: yes yes yes! of course my dear dear anon!

More than words

Brody Grant x fem!reader

Part One - Part Two - Part Three

It had been a few days since Brody handed you the notebook with his number, the small, scribbled message that had left you smiling more than you’d like to admit. You’d stared at the number for a while before finally deciding what to do with it. The options felt endless—call, text, leave it alone, or risk the awkwardness of it all. But, after thinking it over, you couldn’t stop yourself from pulling out your phone one evening.

The idea of actually calling felt too forward. So, you typed out a message instead, your fingers hesitating over the keys as you finally hit send.

You: Hey, Brody. It’s y/n Just wanted to say thanks again for the notebook… I didn’t expect that.

You stared at the screen for what felt like forever, waiting for a response, hoping he wouldn’t think it was too random or awkward. But just as you were starting to overthink everything, your phone buzzed with a reply.

Brody: Hey, y/n! No problem at all. Glad I could make you smile. 😊

You could practically hear his warm, easy smile through the words. You smiled to yourself and typed back.

You: Yeah, definitely made my day. I didn’t expect it to be so sweet, though.

Brody: You’re making me blush over here. 😅 I just thought it was a nice way to get your attention.

Your heart skipped a beat at his casual mention of getting your attention. It felt so effortless, and yet, his words had meant so much more than just a simple “hi.” You paused for a second before replying.

You: Well, you definitely succeeded. I’m glad you did it.

Brody didn’t reply right away. You chewed on your lip for a moment, wondering if maybe you’d said something too forward or if he was just busy. But then your phone lit up with a new notification, and your stomach flipped.

Brody: I’m glad to hear that. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if you’d even text back, but I’m happy you did.

You: Why wouldn’t I? It was a pretty cool way to start a conversation.

Brody: True. It was definitely different.

The conversation kept flowing easily after that, the both of you exchanging stories and little snippets about your day. But the whole time, there was this unspoken thing between you two—like you both felt a little more drawn to each other with every message exchanged.

Then, after a while, the conversation began to slow down, like it was drifting toward a natural end. You didn’t want it to end, though. Something inside you wanted to push a little further, but you weren’t sure how.

You: I have to ask, though… what made you decide to give me your number?

It felt bold, but something about Brody made you feel like it would be okay. And just as you hit send, you held your breath.

Brody: Honestly? You seemed like someone I could talk to. You made me laugh when I really needed it, and I figured… why not? I thought we might get along.

The simplicity of it took you by surprise, but it made you smile. It felt so genuine—no games, no pretense, just two people who liked each other’s company.

You: I’m glad you did.

Brody: Me too.

There was another pause, this one longer than the others, and it made your heart race a little. You were both sitting with your phones, wondering what the next step was, whether this would turn into something more than just texting back and forth.

You: So, what now?

The message sat there for a moment. You could almost see him thinking, weighing the decision on the other side. Finally, the three dots appeared again.

Brody: I’ve been thinking about asking you this…

You: What’s that?

You almost held your breath as you waited.

Brody: Would you want to go out sometime? Maybe grab a coffee or dinner?

You couldn’t stop the smile that spread across your face. He’d asked. He’d really asked.

You: I’d like that. A lot.

There was a moment of pure, unfiltered excitement on your end. You couldn’t help but feel your heart leap at how simple and sweet it was, like there was no pressure, just the genuine want to spend time with each other.

Brody: Good. I’ll pick the place, but I’m giving you the chance to say no if it’s not your thing.

You: I’m sure whatever you pick will be perfect. I’ll trust you.

Brody: Perfect. It’s a date then.

You paused, your heart skipping a beat. A date. It felt like the moment you’d been waiting for—when the chemistry turned into something more, when words finally became action.

You: Looking forward to it.

And just like that, there it was. The start of something new. Something exciting. The kind of sweet, thoughtful connection you hadn’t expected to fall into so easily, but you were glad you had.

The day of the date:

You stood in front of the mirror, smoothing down your outfit for what felt like the hundredth time. Your heart fluttered nervously in your chest, but you couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at your lips. You were going on a date with Brody. You had barely known him a week, but the way he made you feel—so comfortable, so seen—had you feeling like this could be something real.

When you arrived at the spot he’d chosen, a cozy café tucked in a corner of the city, you spotted him immediately. Brody was sitting at a table by the window, his head turned slightly, scanning the room until his eyes landed on you. His face lit up instantly, a smile spreading across his face as he stood to greet you.

“You look amazing,” he said, his voice soft but genuine, his gaze lingering on you with admiration. “I’m glad you came.”

“I’m glad you asked,” you replied, feeling a warmth spread through you at his compliment. You sat down across from him, and just like the messages, the conversation flowed easily. There was no awkwardness, no pressure—just two people enjoying each other’s company.

By the end of the night, when he walked you to your car, there was a moment of silence, the kind where you both felt the connection stronger than ever.

“You know,” Brody started, his voice slightly teasing, “this was really nice. I’m glad we did this.”

You smiled, your hand brushing against his as you both stood by your car. “Me too,” you said, your voice quieter now, more serious. “I’m really glad you texted me.”

Brody took a deep breath, his smile turning a little softer, a little more vulnerable. “I’m glad you didn’t overthink it and actually replied.”

And as he looked at you, there was this look in his eyes, something deeper than before—something that said, without words, that this wasn’t just a fling. It was the beginning of something beautiful.

With a soft laugh, Brody stepped forward and gave you a gentle hug, lingering just long enough for you to feel the warmth of his presence. "I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes," he whispered in your ear.

"Me too," you whispered back.

And as you parted ways, both of you were left with the quiet understanding that, whatever came next, it was going to be something special.

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

Authors Note: I want noodles 😥

[fangirlwriting-stories]

Early Endings

Summary: Relativity/Reunion Falls, Mabel tries to decide whether or not she can keep Ford in Gravity Falls.

Masterlist

Author's Note: We're jumping ahead to the season 1 finale!

...

Mabel looks at the phone up with dread curling in her stomach.  She knows what Filbrick’s going to say when she explains what happened, and she knows that he’s never going to allow Ford to come here again, even if the situation with Bud owning the house gets sorted out.

She looks over towards the living room, where Stan and Ford are pouring over a book laid out on the floor, clearly shooting ideas back and forth.  Maria is next to them adding in commentary.  Mabel’s not sure what they’re talking about, but they seem at least somewhat optimistic.  She sighs as she walks into the other room.

“Kids,” she says.  “I’ve got some bad news.”

Both of them and Maria all look up at her, worry immediately slipping into their faces.

“What is it?” Ford asks.  “Is Bud doing something even worse?  ‘Cause if that’s it, you don’t have to worry!  We have a plan!”

“Yeah, we’re gonna get Fiddleford to build a giant robot!” Stan calls, throwing his hands up.  “And it’ll be shaped like Bud to throw suspicion off, and—”

“Guys,” Mabel cuts them off, before they can run away with ideas.  “Listen.  I— I’m sending Ford home.”

“What?” all three of them exclaim, including Maria, who looks just as horrified as the boys.

“When I said you could stay here for the summer, it was because I knew I wouldn’t have any problems taking care of you,” Mabel says, rubbing the back of her neck.  “But that’s changed.  I don’t have a house or a job anymore.  And we can’t all stay here with Maria’s abuelo forever.”

“But— but that’s not fair!” Ford says, and the desperation in his voice makes Mabel look away.  “That’s not— Stanley’s staying!”

“Stanley doesn’t have anywhere else to go,” Mabel says, squeezing her eyes shut.  “Believe me, if I could send him with you, I would.”

“But— but we’re just getting to know each other!” Stan yells, his footsteps pounding closer, and Mabel feels him grab her hand.  She looks back at him.  He’s doing his puppy dog eyes, though there’s a note of fear in them Mabel doesn’t see when he just wants an extra dessert.  “Please, you can’t split us up already!”

“Kids, please,” Mabel says weakly, pulling her hand away.  “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.  He’s not going anywhere until the end of the week, so you have a few days to say goodbye.”  She turns and walks into the other room before either of them can argue.

In reality, she’d planned on Ford leaving the next day when she’d walked in there, but she— god, she’d been right.  That kid has been the death of her.  She’ll have to ask Soos if Ford can stay a couple extra days more than they talked about.

If she thought she could convince Filbrick to take both of them, she would.  She’d endure all of his smug self-righteous tones about how she’d been wrong when she said she could do this, if it meant Stan and Ford didn’t have to keep growing up without each other.

But Filbrick won’t take Stan too.  He’d made that clear 12 years ago.  And she doesn’t think there’s much she can say to change his mind now.

Mabel sits down at the kitchen table, but before she can have even a moment to herself, Stan runs into the room and plants his feet in front of her.

“I’m going back with Ford for the summer,” he says.

Mabel sighs, exhausted, and turns to face him.  “You can’t.”

“Then Ford’s staying here.”

“No.  It’s going to be hard enough to figure out what the two of us are going to do.”

“We’re getting our house back is what we’re going to do!” Stan exclaims, slamming his hands down on the table.  “That’s our home!  You can’t just let Bud keep our home!”

“I don’t see a way to get it back,” Mabel says, trying to sound firm.  “I’m sorry, Stan.”

“No you’re not!  If you were sorry you’d be trying everything you can to keep Ford here, and I wouldn’t have to lose him!”

“I have tried,” Mabel says, standing up and crossing her arms down at Stan.

“No you haven’t!  If you had then he’d be staying here!”

“Life doesn’t work that way, Stan.”

“Why not?”

“Dammit Stanley, because you’re a Pines twin, and they don’t get to spend life together!” Mabel snaps.

Stan reels back, and blinks quickly, and then wipes at his eyes.

Mabel’s stomach drops.  “No, Stan, I— I’m sorry,” she says, kneeling down and pulling him into a hug.  Stan grabs onto her tightly.

“Because sometimes life isn’t fair, Stan,” Mabel says quietly.  “And that’s just how it goes.”

Stan sniffs, and Mabel pulls him closer.

“I didn’t even know I had a brother two months ago,” Stan whispers.  “He’s not even gone yet.  Why am I already missing him?  How is that fair?”

Mabel rubs her hand along Stan’s back.  “You know kiddo, when you’re eighteen and adults, you get to make your own decisions,” she says.  “Filbrick can’t keep you apart then no matter how much he wants to.”

“But that’s not for forever,” Stan says.  “I wanna know him now.”

Mabel almost laughs for a second, almost says Kid, I could tell you some things about forever.

Instead, she just holds Stan a little tighter and says, “I know.”

[lycandrophile]

hey, sorry idk if its ok for me to ask for advice here, but im really lost and dont know where else to go.

i might be starting testosterone really soon, (via informed consent) but i keep flipping back and forth on whether or not i'm sure i want it. some days i think, "yes 100% im a man i want T right now" and thinking abt the effects of T makes me euphoric. other days i think, "wait AM i sure tho? what if it turns out i hate it actually" and thinking abt the effects of T on those days makes me anxious and ambivalent.

i think it might be just a fear of change, but i'm not sure, and i'm worried about making a decision i'll regret forever. it doesnt help i keep seeing ppl say things like "you need to be 100% sure you want hrt before u start because going back and forth puts a huge strain on the body" etc, but i dont know if i ever will be 100% sure.

what do you make of this? do i really need to be 100% sure? am i rushing in too fast? or is this just anxiety talking?

i spent years agonizing over if i was really sure that i wanted to start t, and you know what it taught me?

no one is ever 100% sure about anything. it’s an impossible task. that’s just not how people work — you’re always going to find more things to be anxious or unsure about when you think about it because it’s an unknown thing and it’s completely natural to be at least a little unsure of unknown things.

and most of the time, nobody expects you to be 100% sure about big decisions because we all know it’s an unfair expectation. nobody told me i couldn’t go to college because i wasn’t 100% sure where i wanted to go. nobody tells you to never drive anywhere because you’re not 100% sure that the car won’t crash. accepting risk is a part of life. trusting ourselves to make the best decisions we can — and trusting ourselves to be able to handle whatever happens next — is an unavoidable part of life.

the only reason we’re held to that impossible standard of 100% certainty when it comes to medically transitioning is because people are transphobic and they want us to second guess ourselves and put off hormones or surgery out of fear. if everyone waited until they were 100% sure, no one would ever transition, and that’s exactly what they want.

i look at it like this: hormones are like any other medication. you take them because you decide they have a good shot at making your life better even though there’s also a chance they might be ineffective, have bad side effects, or even make things worse in the end. we accept that risk every time we take a medication because we weigh the options and decide the good that could come of them is worth that risk. imagine if doctors only offered medical care to people when they were 100% sure it would work and not have any side effects — they would never do anything at all!

i can’t tell you if hrt is right for you. i can’t tell you if the risk is worth it for you. what i can tell you is that, when i was unsure about what to do, there were two things that made me decide it was worth the risk:

the first is that i knew i wanted to give myself a chance. the idea of going on hormones only to get more dysphoria from it sounded terrifying, but the reality was that i was already living with dysphoria! and the idea of just accepting that because i was afraid to try the thing that could make it better was even more terrifying. at the end of the day, i decided it was better to choose the option that could make things better than it was to just spend the rest of my life wondering if it would’ve helped. the worst case scenario in both choices is dysphoria, so i figured, why not pick the option where the best case scenario is euphoria? i know dysphoria is something i can live with because i’ve been doing it for years, so i felt that i could trust myself to be able to deal with that outcome if it came. i knew it was possible that i would regret it and wish i had never started t, but i also knew i would regret it even more if i went my whole life never having given myself a chance at something better than the dysphoria i already live with. i figured, if i have to take a risk, why not take the one that excites me instead of the one i would just be taking out of fear?

the second is that hormones are fucking slow. there can be some changes that happen fast but for the most part, the changes on t take time to happen fully, and if i wanted even more time i knew i could take a lower dose to slow things down further. it’s not like you just wake up one day with a totally different body — it’s a process, and if at any point in that process you realize you don’t like what’s happening, you can stop! you’re completely in control; the second it starts to feel like it’s making something worse instead of better, you can decide to stop taking it. even with the changes that came quickest for me, i had time to assess as they started happening, and it would’ve been as simple as putting down the syringe and never using it again if i decided i didn’t want those changes to continue.

(and the people who say you can’t start and stop because of the strain on your body are exaggerating — i had to start and stop multiple times because i was having allergic reactions to all of the serums we tried, and i was totally fine. that was never even a concern my nurse brought up to me. i’m sure it’s not ideal to do that constantly, but i don’t think it’s a big thing you have to worry about.)

again, i can’t tell you if starting t is the right move for you. all of this is just how i made that decision for myself; i can’t make yours for you. what i can tell you is that you are more than capable of making a thoughtful and informed decision without being 100% sure. certainty is not a requirement.

and frankly, anyone who tells you they were 100% sure when they made that decision is either lying about it because they feel like they should’ve been totally certain, or they were in a position to make the decision so quickly that it didn’t leave time to mull things over and find things to be unsure of.

which leads me to my final point: if you’re thinking about it this hard and trying to be this meticulous about making the right decision, you’re absolutely not rushing into it. whatever decision you make, you’ve clearly put a lot of thought into it and that’s all anyone can ask of you.

this is your decision, not anyone else’s, and already you have everything you need to make the best decision you possibly can. trust yourself to choose wisely, and trust yourself to be able to handle whatever your choice brings. you got this.

[enigmalynne]

A Newsroom Reunion

Title – A Newsroom Reunion

Pairings – Y/N&Jensen

Word Count – 3,970

Warnings – war crimes, depictions of torture (just in case)

Prompt – Journalist(s)

A Jewish reporter goes to Israel to cover the Israeli/Gaza war and gets taken hostage live on air in front of her boyfriend, who is anchoring the news. She's kept hostage for weeks, with no information on whether she's dead or alive being given back to her station, and her boyfriend is beyond panicked about her safety. One night, she gets rescued in a trade: American hostages for Hamas soldiers. How will her boyfriend react when she is brought back to the studio after being gone for so long, a prisoner of war?

“If anyone is going to know what the hell is going on over there, Eric, it’s me. I’ve been inundated with this shit since I was a child. If we are going to cover this, we need to make sure we cover this correctly and not like these other media hacks who are acting like this is a brand-new war,” Y/N said, pacing in front of his desk with her hands on her hips. Eric followed her with his eyes, confusion coloring his expression. 

“What do you mean?” he asked her. She scoffed as she shot him a look, continuing her path back and forth. 

“Israel and Palestine’s governments have been duking it out over land forever. I think the last negotiation back in… I think it was in 2010 when it was not accepted because Jerusalem wasn’t included in the Palestinian portion. Still, it was one of the best land distribution deals Israel had ever offered them. But that’s the key point. It’s not the people who are fighting; it’s the governments. Most of the people have been living peacefully amongst each other for decades. The people want peace,” Y/N ranted in one long breath. She then stopped and turned to face the news director face-on with narrowed eyes. “Hamas is a terrorist organization that is killing everybody: Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. Hell, they are killing their people! They are using the Palestinians as human fucking shields and teaching the children that Jews are evil and need to be murdered.” 

Eric was quiet for a long time as he considered her words, and when he finally spoke, his voice was low and concerned. 

“Your fiancé isn’t going to like it.”

“It isn’t his choice to make.” 

“Are you trying to prove something?”

“This is work, it’s not personal.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure! I want to cover this, and you know as well as I do I’m the best one to do it.” 

Eric went quiet again for a long moment before sighing. 

“Alright, fine. But you explain it to Jensen.” 

“It’s been almost three fucking weeks since anyone has heard from her, Eric, don’t tell me to calm down!” Jensen shouted at his news director. The entire newsroom at CNN pretended to ignore them while listening to the argument that had been occurring and growing in intensity every day since their lead reporter… their lead Jewish reporter… went missing while covering the Israel/Hamas crisis. 

“We are working on a solution to getting her out of there, but it takes time,” Eric explained with exaggerated calmness.

“That’s not good enough! Do we even know if she’s alive?” Jensen asked, pounding his fist into a nearby desk. Eric opened his mouth to say something to calm his lead anchor down but closed it, knowing nothing he had said could. The truth was, he had no idea if she was alive or not because despite what they were hearing about Hamas treating hostages humanely… there was zero proof of that. 

“Jensen,” Eric said, his voice low and controlled. Said Anchor roughly, running his hands over his face and shaking his head. 

“I know how good of a reporter she is, and I know she’d beat my ass for saying this, but that doesn’t mean she should have been sent there. You know she was spoiling for a fight.” 

Y/N was standing before the camera wearing a bulletproof vest with the word PRESS across her jeans and polo shirt. She wore a helmet with CNN’s logo on her head. She knew that helmet would do nothing to protect her skull from damage should a rocket land near her. Jensen knew it, too. 

Around her neck was a thin gold chain and a Star of David charm he gave her on their second anniversary. He begged her not to wear anything remotely Jewish over there, but she said she was going to represent her religion and her culture and tell the true story of the war. She had it around her neck when she kissed him goodbye at the airport before walking through the security checkpoint. She had it around her neck the last time she was seen on the air. 

Before she even finished her live shot for the evening news, Hamas terrorists were there. They grabbed her, knocking off her CNN helmet and yanking on her arm. The camera was still rolling as they shouted at her in Arabic. She tried to pull away from the man yanking on her, yelling at them that she was a reporter. She turned toward the translator with them and shouted at him to translate what she was saying. 

Back in the United States, Jensen and the rest of the staff of CNN watched in horror as Hamas dragged Y/N away from the camera and shoved her into a waiting vehicle. Jensen started shouting at the screen, saying things like she was American and a member of the Press; they couldn’t do this to her. The terrorists couldn’t hear him. No one other than the people in the studio could listen to him, not that it mattered. The car had already driven away, and she was already gone. 

“Never should have sent her out there,” Jensen muttered, leaning on one of the tables. 

“You weren’t going to stop her,” Eric said with a sad smile. “She was going to find a way to get out there and cover this war regardless of whether we sent her.”

“Hey, Jensen!” Katie called out as she walked over to where they were standing. 

“What!?” he snapped at her, turning her head to the side to glance at her. Katie paused, her eyes growing wide as she stumbled a little bit. She had never been on the receiving end of his temper before.

“Yuh… You’re uh… you’re needed on… on set… in 10,” she stuttered, her voice much more subdued and quieter than her usual perky, cheerful self. She then immediately turned and walked away as fast as she could, heading toward the producer desks with a glance over her shoulder at him. Jensen turned his head forward and closed his eyes, a curse muttered under his breath. 

“You need to get your shit together. You can’t just snap at AP’s because you’re worried about Y/N. We all are, but we also have a job to do. She’d be furious if she knew you were acting like this,” Eric reprimanded under his breath, so no one realized that he was disciplining his lead anchor in public. 

“I know,” he muttered guiltily, running a hand over his face before rubbing it over his hair and neck. “I’m just scared out of my mind and hate feeling this helpless.” 

“We’re gonna get her back,” Eric said, touching Jensen’s shoulder. “Have a little faith. Go get ready to get on air.” 

Y/N had no idea how long it had been since she had been taken, only that she was exhausted, hungry, and desperately wanted something to drink. She was given very little food and only had one glass of putrid water daily. Her clothing, which was nothing but rags at this point, was hanging off her body. Her shoes were long gone, and her feet were cut up in various places as she was forced to walk barefoot across the burning, sharp stones. 

She was sore. There was a cut on her mouth from where she was backhanded by one of the Hamas soldiers when she mouthed off to one of them, another above her eyebrow for struggling when they came into her cell. Her eye was black, her stomach hurt, and her muscles ached from lack of nutrients. 

Loud voices speaking in Arabic started shouting just outside her small room. Y/N startled, trying to shrink closer into the corner she was sitting in. Wide eyes watched as arguing men walked over to her room, one of which was unlocking the door. Someone shouted at her in Arabic, and she sat staring at the man. He repeated it, louder and angrier, but she shook her head slowly. With frustration, he walked over to her and grabbed her arm. He yanked her up to standing and shoved her out the door. 

“No, no, please,” she begged with a rough voice. Another man grabbed her arms behind her, slipping her hands through rope and tying them tightly. 

“Whatever is happening, please don’t hurt me,” she muttered, shaking her head as tears flooded her eyes. With a man on each of her sides holding tightly to an arm, Y/N was dragged out of the building and toward a waiting car. Shoved not so gently into the back seat, the door was slammed behind her. When she looked up, she saw another American there.

“What’s happening?” she whispered. The man sitting there shook his head. 

“I don’t know. Are you hurt?” he asked, his voice scratchy. 

“No, not really.” Y/N moved herself to a seated position and looked out the window. She was jolted awake over an hour later when the car stopped moving. She hadn’t even realized she had fallen asleep. 

“What’s going on? Where are we?” she asked, her voice still just a whisper. The man in the car with her shook his head. Suddenly, her door flew open, and she was yanked out of the car. The man shouted after her, but the same happened to him moments later. They were dragged around to the front of the vehicle and shoved toward a patch of grass. More Arabic shouted at them, guns drawn and pointed at them until they were standing on the green grass. Once there, they returned to their vehicles and drove away. 

The four Americans looked at each other, wondering what to do next, when a string of Jeeps bearing the Israeli Defense Foundation insignia pulled up. The relief that flooded Y/N at that moment brought her to her knees, and she began to sob. 

“They didn’t even untie their hands, those filthy bastards,” she heard one of the soldiers with a thick Israeli accent mutter as they came closer to them. One of them came up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder as another one went to the ropes behind her back and began to untie her hands. 

“Are you alright? Here, has some water,” she said, holding a bottle of cold water. Y/N looked up, her tear-streaked face looking into the kind eyes of a young Israeli soldier. She held the bottle to Y/N’s mouth and let her drink a bit before pulling it away. “Only a little; you don’t want to be sick.” Once her hands were free, the other soldier approached her opposite side. 

“Come, let us help you up and get you someplace safe. You have many people worried about you,” the kind Israeli soldier said. They each took one of Y/N’s arms and helped her stand and walk to one of the waiting Jeeps. 

“With the latest on the Israeli/Hamas conflict, we head into the newsroom to our correspondent Jared Padalecki. Jared,” Jensen read off the prompter. Jared nodded his head with a somber expression.

“We have just learned moments ago that Hamas has released four American hostages, however, the identities of those hostages are currently unknown,” Jared said as he referred to information he was looking at on a computer. 

Jensen’s eyes lit up at the comment, his heart picking up its pace. Hostages have been released.

“What we do know is the four hostages are American and were taken during the early days of the conflict,” Jared continued. “As you know, CNN’s Y/N Y/L/N was taken hostage from assignment during an air raid near the Erez Crossing. CNN has been in negotiations with Hamas for the safe release of Y/L/N but with no success yet.” 

Jensen’s breathing ticked up a notch, his eyes bouncing between the monitor showing Jared, his report, and the camera. He knew Eric was in the control room, monitoring the show from the booth tonight. He knew Eric was monitoring him from the booth tonight. 

Jensen shook his head as he glanced down at his hands, wanting nothing more than to jump up from his seat and call every contact he knew to find out if Y/N was among the four rescued Americans. There were four chances that Y/N were among the rescued hostages, and he could have her back in his arms any day now. 

Jo, the female anchor for the evening, reached over and squeezed his hand. He looked over at her with red-lined eyes. She gave him a hopeful look before retreating to her seat. 

A few days later - 

Y/N watched the elevator numbers change slowly, shifting her weight back and forth between her feet. Her arms were wrapped around her middle as if they were holding herself together. Her hair was dirty despite multiple showers at the hospital she was taken to, and then she was debriefed at the military base, so she pulled it back into a messy bun on the top of her head. Whisps and strands fell around her face and down her back anyway. Her skin was sunburnt: her cheeks and nose were bright red, and her lips were chapped despite the heavy layers of ChapStick she had been wearing since the hospital. The cuts to her lip and eyebrow were still healing, but the black eye was still dark and swollen.

They gave her a pair of worn jeans that belonged to someone who worked on the base and an oversized T-shirt that fell to her knees. She took a pair of scissors to the T-shirt, slicing up the side and knotting it at her hip. Military-issue boots adorned her feet.

She was tired and still hungry despite the food she was given. She was still thirsty despite countless bottles of fresh, cold water she had drank. And this? This was the slowest elevator ride ever. 

The two Marines escorting her had been kind the entire time they were with her. Making sure she had enough water and whether she wanted any more food. She was always asking her about her comfort. She asked one of them if they had any advice on how to make the nightmares stop so she could get some sleep. He had smiled in a reflective, sad way and told her that time was the only way. She didn’t speak much after that. 

When the elevator finally opened on the 18th floor, she walked out and looked around the newsroom for someone she knew. When her eyes landed on a television and saw that Jensen was on air, she realized just how late it was. Without thinking about it, she slowly made her way toward the studio. That’s when the whispers began around her, but she ignored them. She had one thing on her mind at that moment.

“Ma’am, do you know where you are heading to?” one of the Marines asked gently. Nodding, Y/N reached over and grabbed the handle of the heavy door that led to the studio. 

“Y/N!?” a voice called out in surprise. She turned her head toward the voice, staring blankly at Meg. “Oh, my God… Y/N…”  Meg started to go over to where the tired woman was, but Y/N shook her head.

“I’m seeing Jensen first. I don’t care if he’s on the air,” she whispered roughly, her eyes watering. She gave the producer a broken smile, then pulled the door open. 

“Oh, my God,” Meg repeated, watching as Y/N entered the studio with two dressed Marines following her. Suddenly, she snapped out of her stupor and turned, shouting as she ran to the booth. “Katie!! Find Eric and tell him to get his ass to the booth! Y/N’s back, and she’s about to interrupt the newscast!” Katie was startled, confusion coloring her face. 

“What?”

“Now, Katie!” Meg shouted as she ran down the long hallway to the production booth, where a crew was putting the show on air. She threw the door open, startling the people inside. 

“What the fuck, Meg!” the director shouted at her, looking at the well-liked executive producer like she was crazy.

“Whatever is about to happen, stay with it. Y/N’s about to reunite with Jensen on air right now!” she shouted, walking over to the producer's seat. She pushed the producer out of the way, holding out her hand. “Gimme your headset, gimme gimme gimme”

Y/N slowly made her way around the long wooden wall that made up the set's backdrop and turned the corner into the room. Lights above them angled toward a large desk centered in front of the backdrop, and cameras with people manning them were also pointed at the desk. Y/N didn’t see any of it. Once she spotted Jensen, she made her way to stand in his sightline. The water gathering in her eyes started to fall as she stared at her fiancé. 

He was studying the paper scripts in front of him, a pen in his hand. He made some notes in the margins of the paper. Suddenly, he frowned and moved to hold a button down before he spoke. 

“Whatever it is, Meg, it can wait,” he snapped, letting go of the button and returning to his notes. A small smile danced on Y/N’s lips, the movement feeling foreign. He repeated the action a moment later, snapping at the producer again. 

“Jensen,” she tried to say, but it came out as a whisper. Dropping her head, she tried to clear her throat, swallowed, and then looked up again… into the vast green eyes of her fiancé. He was staring at her in disbelief, his breath almost nonexistent. 

“Jen,” she muttered roughly, quietly. 

“Y/N?” Jensen asked in disbelief, moving slowly: he stood, reaching into his ear to pull out his earpiece simultaneously. The second time, he said her name was stronger. “Y/N?”  She nodded a small smile on her lips, tears making their way down her face. That’s when his restraint broke. He moved around the desk and to her in three steps, wrapping her in his arms. 

“Thank you, God,” he muttered as he held her as close to him as he could get, one arm wrapped around her, the other pressed against her neck. Once Jensen’s arms were wrapped around her, and her arms were wrapped around him, she began to cry. 

“I thought I was never going to see you again,” she whispered, pressing herself as close to him as possible. He pulled back slightly and gently brushed her tears away with his thumbs before pressing his mouth to hers in a gentle but passionate kiss. 

“I love you so much,” he breathed once they separated. 

“I love you,” she repeated, pressing her lips back on his. They separated and stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment before Jensen pulled her back into his arms, relishing the feeling of her being there again. 

“I’m never letting you go on assignment again.” 

“I’m okay with that,” she said with a smile, looking up at him, her face wet with tears. She looked tired and beaten up, dressed in clothing that wasn’t hers and didn’t fit her, and it was the best thing Jensen had ever seen. 

Moving carefully to wrap his arm around her shoulders, Jensen led them out of the studio and back into the newsroom. Once there, the entire room erupted in cheers, causing Y/N to flinch and pull away. One of the Marines with them immediately took control of the situation and moved forward to quiet down the cheering friends. 

“What’s wrong? Are you alright?” Jensen asked quickly, his voice laced with panic. Y/N shook her head frantically as she pulled away, trying to back away from him. The other Marine who was with them gently removed Jensen from her side and began to speak quietly to the frightened woman who was on the verge of a panic attack. 

“Take a breath, ma’am. You’re in New York now, not Gaza. Close your eyes and pay attention to your surroundings. Notice that the air smells different here. Things feel different here…” 

It took almost ten minutes, but soon, Y/N could open her eyes and breathe normally again. At some point, she had made it onto the floor. She looked to the Marine apologetically and shook her head, looking away. She rubbed her hand over her chest and held back a sob. 

“Hey, we talked about this. It’s going to take a while. Finding a good therapist to help you work through the trauma is going to be necessary, but having friends and family here to help you is a great first step,” the Marine said, kneeling next to her. Jensen came up next to her, finally being allowed to approach her. “We didn’t warn anyone about your aversion to loud sounds like we had discussed doing, so it’s expected that this would have happened.”

“Is she okay?” Jensen asked quietly, kneeling. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

“She will be. Right?” Y/N nodded slowly, accepting the hands to help her stand. She looked over at the group of people watching anxiously.

“There’s a lot of people who want to see you,” Jensen said quietly, looking back into the newsroom. Everyone stood and looked on worriedly. “You think you can handle that?” Y/N nodded and made her way over. Moments later, they swarmed her in a group hug. 

“Are you the gentlemen who brought our Y/N back to us?” Eric asked, approaching the two Marines standing near them. The Marines turned to face the news director, and one nodded. 

“We escorted her here as she requested,” he answered. “She was held there the longest and experienced the worst of the abuse. I’m the Chaplain of the Navy, Captain Mathew Davis, and this is Lieutenant William Arnold.” Eric held his hand out, which the Marine shook.

“Thank you for bringing her home.” 

“Just doing our job.” 

“You did more than that, trust me,” Eric said, shaking the other man’s hand. The two Marines nodded, then turned and left the building. 

“I wanna go home. Can we go home, Jen?” Y/N asked softly, looking up at her fiancé with tired eyes. Jensen looked down at her, pressing his lips to her forehead. 

“Of course. Let’s get you home,” he muttered. Eric watched the couple stand and turn. 

“Take a few weeks off, Jen,” he said, causing Jensen to turn and look at him. “I’ll send you the contact information of a good therapist. You both should go. We’ll talk next week sometime.” 

“Thanks, Eric,” Jensen said with a soft smile, his arm wrapped around the most crucial thing in his life. Eric’s eyes drifted down to his star reporter, recognizing the look of trauma all too well. 

“You have no idea how glad I am you made it out of there, kid,” Eric said quietly. Jensen looked down at Y/N and moved his arm as she hugged Eric. Eric closed his eyes and held her tighter, kissing her temple. 

“Thanks, Uncle Eric,” she whispered before pulling away. Eric brushed some hair from Y/N’s face, causing her to smile softly before curling back under Jensen’s arm.

“Get out of here. I’ll come by this weekend, and we can talk more then,” Eric said. Jensen nodded, pulling Y/N with him. 

“I’m never letting you go,” Jensen whispered to her hair as he kissed her head, guiding her to the elevator. Y/N laid her head on his chest and sighed. 

“I’m holding you to it.”

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

Do you have any idea why John may have cut Julian out of his will? I don’t know much about it but what I’ve seen has cut Yoko out to be the guilty party but I don’t really understand that seeing as she had no relation to Julian besides distant ‘stepmother’. I know John’s relationship with Julian was fractured as is usually the case for these type of parental dynamics but based off secondhand accounts John was quite soft and sensitive (and did love his first kid) so it’s hard to wrap one’s head around the idea of John deliberately wounding his child but he was also clearly capable of making brash decisions so I’m left with no idea of what John’s thought process behind this was if there even was any. So now I’m just thinking about how sweet it is that Julian and Sean have apparently managed to sustain a loving relationship despite other factors. But really I can’t conceive why John would’ve done that unless it was a grand gesture of devotion to Yoko and their family or he simply viewed Sean as the wanted (harsh but it is what it is) child and therefore the ‘special’ one. OR John’s will was impromptu and not intended as a final piece? As an aside, what do you think John’s relationship with his sons would’ve been like? Clearly Sean would’ve been his baby boy forever but I think Julian would’ve had his ups and downs culminating with the tentative friendship that usually evolves (in my experience anyway) from stunted child/parental relationships. An aside to the side lol but I I know John was very coddled by Yoko and the people close to him so I’m curious as to whether you think Yoko would’ve continued to be the main delegate on John’s internal connections? And when or if you think J&Y would’ve stuck it through (marriage 💀) together or not? I know people are generally against J&Y but by 1980 they did seem to have solidified their commitment to their partnership despite the cracks if Double Fantasy is anything to go by. Sorry it’s a lot lol

I had a back and forth about John's will about 10 months ago. My thoughts on it haven't evolved much since and aren't too different from yours. I really am not sure what to make of it all. But I have a hard time believing it was a serious, thought-through document.

Here's all the relevant posts: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

As for how John would have been with his kids, had he lived, I think I agree with you. It's not like John and Julian never saw each other, though I personally kind of side-eye him for choosing to continue living so far away from his kid, even if I get why he liked New York better. I don't know Julian that well, so I don't want to be too presumptuous, but I suspect that John dying contributed a significant amount to his resentment. Once reciprocated reconciliation is taken away from you as an option, forgiveness must become so much harder.

I tend to think JohnandYoko would probably eventually have broken up, but they weren't super close to it in 1980. It more seems like they were both invested in re-vamping their relationship. I get that a part of that was probably PR, but given that Double Fantasy isn't actually all sunshine and roses, I still think it's credible they were genuine. I talked about this a few days ago actually. Here's some more thoughts: 1 / 2

Whether Yoko would have loosened the "reins" on John is very hard to say. I feel he didn't have enough time to adapt to his newfound self-confidence for me to say :(

[bufomancer]

I do think I’m going to take a break from hamsters after my current 3 pass as well… I am still back and forthing about whether I will continue having a mouse colony after my girls pass, luckily half of my girls are not yet a year so I have time to make decisions about that.

Things have been a lot more manageable around here lately, almost all of the rats are adopted or in other foster homes! I have 6 boys, 3 sanctuary girls, and then 1 current foster and 1 incoming foster that don’t have other fosters lined up. The remaining 8 rats at my house will all be leaving in the next week or two for new adventures!

The rats take up the most amount of time and space so this is a major relief! I will likely always have a few foster rats, but I’ve decided they really just aren’t a great fit for my household longterm. Luckily I have built up a pretty good group of rat fosters to take over for me after initial quarantine and vet visits are done with.

I am still seeking more male mouse foster homes. Male mice are one of the most difficult animals for us to place and while they aren’t very high maintenance individually, having 7 of them adds up! I have 1 going to a foster soon, and possibly a second. Right now the 5 baby boys are still cohabbing but they won’t be able to for much longer.

After a decent run with almost no gerbils coming in, we have 4 scheduled to come in over the next few weeks (plus 2 already at the rescue), 2 of whom are in need of bonding to each other so no one is alone. That’ll be fun! I love gerbils :)

I also have a pair of chinchillas likely coming in. I haven’t had chins at my place for a few months so I’m a little bit excited!

Nothing else too crazy going on. We are at just about 30 enclosures right now and 72 animals, with 13 scheduled to go out, and up to 7 coming in.

Sadly I have a lot of seniors right now as well:

Sniper the rat, who is 2y8m and his hind limb degeneration is increasing rapidly

Sunny and Bandit the rats who are just over 2, but still totally happy and healthy

Frog, Mushroom, and Nyx the mice who are all between 1.5-2 years, though none have health concerns right now

Fuzzy and Two Scoop my syrian hamsters who are both 2 years

Asperita my dwarf ham who is a little over 1.5 years and starting to slow down

Salt and Poundcake the rats who both have mammary tumors and are 2 years or older

Blossom and Bubbles the mice are not quite 1.5, but Bubbles has heart disease and is on medication for life and may have a shorter lifespan

All 10 african soft furs I am fostering are over 1.5, and soft furs don’t tend to live much more than 2. Luckily, only one has papillomas and only a very small amount.

Eggy the foster mouse who is just over 1.5

It is really disheartening watching all my animals become seniors. I have been less active on here, in part because I have been trying to spend more time with my critters while I still can. Especially knowing these will be my last rats and last hamsters for a while, it just feels extra hard.

I will ALWAYS have a good crew of permanent critters but with our intakes up 86% compared to last year and 4 months still left in the year we need foster space more than ever to ensure animals have a safe place to go. We are projected to end the year with over 400 intakes! Likely going forward my forever animals will end up being primarily special needs or hospice critters that are not good candidates for adoption.

I frankly never imagined when I started fostering for Tiny Whiskers how much it would become my life. From one hamster at a time to managing the social media and most of the intakes/adoptions, getting our 501c3, partnering with other amazing organizations in the state, and at one point having over 100 animals in my house after that eventful May mass intake… It’s been a wild ride.

But that’s enough rambling for now 😅