#Jordan cellphone case

[perpetualproductions]

If We Were Vampires (Pt. 6)

- Jordan tells a story.

- Let's shout till we cry, and cry till we shout.

- Jordan needs a hug. And Marie's got arms.

CW: mentions of blood and violence.

~2.5k words

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Jordan Li stood outside Marie Moreau’s dorm, fist raised, trying to summon the courage to knock on her door. They let out a breath, running a shaky hand through their bob, and telling themselves that this is the right thing to do. No matter what happens, this is the right thing to do. With that, Jordan swallows their nerves and knocks on the door.

The door opens and Jordan is met with the absolutely stunning Marie Moreau. Even in just a t-shirt and jeans, she always manages to take their breath away. A small smile tugs at Jordan lips. “Hey.” 

“Hey.” Marie matches their casual tone, though Jordan can tell she's also a bit nervous. “Come on in.” She steps aside and Jordan walks into the dorm. Marie closes the door, then makes her way over to her bed and sits down on the edge. 

Jordan drops their backpack down by Emma's bed and takes a seat. They felt hot in this room, their nerves not seeming to let up, making them sweat. It was the first time they've felt hot since turning. Jordan slid off their jacket, leaving them in a fitting black tee and joggers. 

Jordan is about to speak when Marie pipes up first. “So, what did you want to talk about?” She asks as she nervously picks at her fingernails. 

“Right, um-” Jordan wipes their palms on their pants, as they think about the best way to start. “I'm here to apologize, and I'm also here to tell you the truth. For real this time.”

Marie nods. “Okay. Well, you have an hour, so…” she gestures at Jordan to continue.

“Okay. First off, I'm so fucking sorry. You were right, I had no right to decide if you could handle the truth or not. I told myself I was doing it to protect you, but I realized that if you know the truth, you could better protect yourself… and maybe actually listen to me when I tell you to stay away.” Jordan mumbles that last bit, but Marie still caught it. 

“Why would you want me to stay away from you?” She questions, finding the idea ridiculous.

Jordan takes a second to just look at Marie, memorizing every detail in case they truly lose her after they tell her the truth. Jordan pushes the thought back, not wanting to dwell on it. They switch into their male form before explaining. “What I'm about to tell you is going to sound completely ridiculous, impossible even, but I promise you it's the truth. The whole truth.” They speak with absolute certainty.

Marie shifts around a bit, Jordan's seriousness making them a bit worried. She wanted to ask questions already, but thought it best to just let Jordan speak for now. “Okay.”

Jordan takes a deep breath. “That night I went missing really is a blur. I don't really remember anything after driving over to the party. I don't even remember arriving.” They say, truly in disbelief. They thought the memories would slowly come to them, but the night still remained blank.

“What I do remember is waking up in an alleyway at like 3am, confused as hell, with no cellphone or anything. I couldn't drive or Uber, so I ended up walking back to Godolkin. That had to be the worse fucking walk of my life. I felt like I had the worst hangover I've ever had, ten times over. My head was pounding, every light was too bright and every sound was too fucking loud. And on top of that I had this terrible ache in my stomach that was slowly getting more painful.” Jordan explained, making sure they don't leave out any details.

Marie watched as Jordan spoke, engaged in Jordan's story telling. Marie always loved when Jordan told stories or went off on a tangent. Their face (especially their eyes) were always so emotive, using their hands to emphasize certain points. But in this instance, as Jordan described their pain and discomfort, which Marie really wished she knew about sooner, all she wanted to do was run over there and hug them. But she refrained for now, wanting to hear the whole story first.

“Anyways, after walking for a while I managed to hitch a ride from a lady in a red pickup. She was kind enough to drive me the rest of the way to Godolkin, but-” Jordan cleared their throat, choking on their words as they began to explain one of the worst moments of their life. They continued, pushing back the tears already threatening to come up. “-but we didn't get that far...” 

Jordan looks up, meeting Marie's eyes, and their heart breaks when they see how worried she is, not of them, but for them. That was gonna change soon enough. Jordan takes a shaky breath and continues. “I- I really wasn't feeling right. Something was clearly wrong but I was too overwhelmed to think about it. I… I noticed that the pounding in my head wasn't in my head. It was coming from her.” Their voice shakes, the inevitable truth on the tip of their tongue. “I couldn't take my eyes off of her… off of her neck. I think I disassociated for a second cause next thing I know the car stops and I'm stumbling out. I was so overwhelmed by every sound and smell, and the pain was fucking bad.” 

Jordan makes eye contact with Marie again, some tears managing to escape and slide down their cheek. “She tried checking on me to see if I was alright, but- but when I turned around…” Jordan looks off into the distance, not able to look at Marie. “She got too close. And I was so fucking hungry…” Jordan couldn't help it, they felt their face change, their true face pushing forward. It's as if they were back on that road, every emotion they felt then, coming forth just for a second. They quickly tried to push it down, but it was too late. Marie had seen it.

Marie's eyes widen as she watches Jordan's face change for a second. They black veins and dark red eyes, appearing as quick as it left. She involuntarily jumps back, as she stares back at Jordan, who was wearing an unreadable expression.

Jordan stares back at Marie, feeling a mix of emotions that they tried to not let get the best of them. A part of them was sad, distraught even, that Marie jumped back in fear of them. She looked at them like the monster they knew they were. Another part of them wasn't surprised, having anticipated a reaction like this. And the other part was angry, frustrated that they were right. That Marie would act this way, cause why the fuck wouldn't see? They haven't even explained the bad part yet and she was already afraid. They hated the look on her face, and that they were the one that put it there. 

“Jordan, your face! Wh- what was the fuck was that?!” Marie said, a combination of fear, shock, and worry in her voice. 

“It's what happened to me, Marie.” Jordan spoke, voice low and serious. “I haven't even gotten to the worst part and you're already afraid of me… Which you should be.” The words were cold as they left Jordan's mouth, adopting an almost cynical tone.

As startled as Marie was at Jordan's sudden change of behavior, she wasn't gonna let that slide. “I'm not afraid of you, Jordan!” She gets up from the bed, standing in the middle of the room. “I don't know what the fuck that was, but I'm not gonna run away because of it. Just, please help me understand.” She pleads. 

Jordan stands up, “You really want to know, Moreau? Cause I guarantee you'll never look at me the same way again.” They say, hoping she'll take the fucking warning and back down. 

“Nothing you say is gonna change the way I feel about you, Jordan. Just tell me what happened.” She speaks surely, tone soft in comparison to Jordan's. 

Jordan's not sure why, but this really infuriates them. Fuck it. Jordan flashes away from Marie's view, now standing behind her. She's visibly confused and jumps when Jordan begins to speak. “She was so close, and all I could hear was her pulse, pounding just beneath her skin.” Jordan slowly reached out to gently caress Marie's neck, right at her pulse point. Marie, now facing them, takes a step back. 

Jordan pulls their hand away immediately, and flashes behind her again. This time holding her shoulders, whispering into her ear. “I couldn't help it. The smell was fucking irresistible, and I was starving. I felt like I was gonna die if I didn't do anything.” Jordan did everything in their power to not bite into Marie's neck, her scent taking them over. A low growl escaped them as they fought to focus.

Marie shivered as Jordan's breath hit her neck, a small amount of fear climbing up her spine. “Jordan-” 

Jordan spins Marie around and pushes her back. She stumbles a bit, but doesn't fall down, catching herself on her bed. “Next thing I knew, I was biting into her neck. Her skin ripped like fucking paper.” They took a step closer to Marie, who was clearly too shocked to speak. “The taste was strange at first, metallic. But then, it was like electricity was coursing through my body, my mind lit up.” Jordan vividly recalled the feeling.

Another step closer, “It was fucking divine... I've never felt anything like it before, it was amazing. And the only thing I could think was, ‘I never want this to end’. ” An almost crazed look flashed in Jordan's eyes.

Another step. Jordan looks down at Marie, studying the mixed expression on her face. The unmistakable fear in her eyes. They started to feel guilty for what they were doing to her. Jordan's face softens. “But it did end. Reality came crashing back as I realized what I did. I dropped her on the ground after staring at the bite mark on the side of her neck. It- it looked like a fucking animal attacked her.” Now Jordan was the one with fear in their eyes, voice shaky. They really were terrified of themselves.

The tears begin to fall again. Marie stands up straight, her face softening as Jordan finishes the story. “I looked up and saw my reflection in the car window, and an animal is exactly what I saw. Next thing I knew I was running away as fast as I could.” 

The tears continued to stream down Jordan's face. “Jordan-” Marie said softly, reaching up to wipe the tears away, but Jordan pulled back, putting some space between them. “I just left her there, Marie! I fucking killed her like some animal and ran like a fucking coward!-” a sob interrupts their words. 

Marie tries to step closer to them. “Jordan, you didn't know-” 

“It doesn't fucking matter if I didn't know! I still did it! And that's not even the worst part! The worst part is I fucking enjoyed it!” Jordan shouts, begging Marie to stay away, to treat them like the monster they are. “You wanna know what I am, Moreau? I'm a vampire! A fucking monster that feeds on blood to survive! This is what I am now!” Jordan's true face comes forth once again, but this time they don't push it back. 

Marie stood there for a minute, looking at Jordan's face, managing to catch a glimpse of their fangs this time. She thinks, trying to wrap her head around what Jordan just said. Vampires… They were real, and Jordan was one of them. She really didn't know how to feel about this. Jordan just described themselves biting into a woman's neck and drinking her blood. She was half convinced this was all just a weird fucked up dream, but it wasn't. 

She studied Jordan's face, the blood red eyes and black veins just below them. Yes, it was an objectively horrifying look, but all Marie could focus on was the fact that this is Jordan. Her Jordan. The Jordan that would gently cup her face before kissing her. Who would insist on being the big spoon when they were in their female form, and vice versa. It didn't matter that Jordan had fangs or bloodied scleras, they still had that adorable beauty mark on their chin, and Marie could still make out the deep chocolate brown of their irises.

Jordan freezes in shock as they watch Marie step closer to them, not seeming to back down, even at the sight of their monstrous face. Their breath hitches as Marie lifts her hands to cradle their face, wiping the tears away. Jordan feels their face relax at her touch, slowly turning back to normal. Jordan closes their eyes and leans into her touch, breath still a bit shaky. 

Marie sighs as she continues caressing Jordan's cheeks with her thumbs. “Look… I don't know what to think of any of this. If I'm being honest, I'm still processing most of it. But if there's anything I know, it's you, Jordan. And you are not a monster.” She makes sure to look into their eyes as she says this, conveying her honesty. “Yes, you hurt someone, and that's bad, but you didn't mean to. You didn't know what was happening, and that isn't your fault. It took me years to realize that myself.”

Marie looks down for a second, an image of a blood soaked bathroom quickly flashing through her mind. She looks back up at Jordan with a sympathetic look, moving her right hand down to their chest, resting over their heart. “And the fact that you feel guilty about what you did, proves that you aren't a monster. No matter what your face looks like, your heart's still beating, and you still have your humanity.”

Jordan opens their eyes, looking at Marie as if she just grew a second head. “I can't control it, Marie.” Jordan forces out through gritted teeth, pleading with her. “It just takes me over. I lose focus, I can hear every fucking sound in a mile radius, I can smell everything, my stomach screams at me, urging me to feed… I've almost bit into your neck twice now. I managed to pull away at the last second, but soon enough I won't be able to. One day, I'll just be too hungry to stop myself.” Jordan begs her to see the reality of the situation.

Marie shakes her head defiantly. “That won't happen. Not if you learn to control it. I know what it's like to not feel in control, to be terrified of yourself and what you could do to others. I've been there, Jordan, and I can help you get out of this.” 

Jordan pushes away from Marie, walking over to sit on her bed. “Fucking hell, Marie! This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you yet! I don't want you involved in this Supe-vampire bullshit.” Jordan complains, gripping their hair in frustration.

Marie puts her hands on her hips and looks down at Jordan. “So it's too dangerous for me to get involved in this shit with you, but it's fine if you do it alone? That's bullshit, Jordan.” Jordan groans and puts their head in their hands, elbows resting on their knees. 

Marie sighs and walks over to sit down next to Jordan on the bed. “I can take care of myself, Jordan. You know how much I've been training lately. I have a much better grasp on my abilities, and as far as I can tell, vampires still have blood flowing through their bodies.” 

Marie reaches over and begins rubbing circles on Jordan's back. “If you ever do lose control again, I'll use my powers to stop you.” She adds in a reassuring tone. 

Jordan lifts their head, sitting back up and looking at Marie. “You promise?” They give up on trying to fight her on this. A part of them knew they'd never convince her otherwise, but they still had to try. 

“I promise.” She states firmly, emphasizing it with a nod. Marie scoots back, further onto the bed until her back is resting against the wall. “Come here.” She beckons, patting her lap. 

Jordan looks at her for a moment, wondering what in the world they did to deserve her. They sigh, kicking off their shoes and scooting over to Marie. They lay down on their side, placing their head on her lap, closing their eyes and relishing in the warmth radiating off of her. Marie began to run her fingers through their hair, earning a satisfied hum from Jordan. For the first time in a while, Jordan felt relaxed.

They sat like that for a while, forgetting about the rest of their classes. The two just enjoy the other's presence, choosing to stay in the calm while they can.

--

She knows!! Let me know what you think of the story so far! What do you think is next for our half-vamp couple? Hope you enjoyed. Have a nice day! 😎👍❤️

-PB

(Also, I have a masterlist now. If you want to check it out.)

[ausetkmt]

A statue of Emmett Till is unveiled in Mississippi : NPR

Emmett Till's statue reflects the afternoon sun, during its unveiling on Friday in Greenwood, Miss.

Rogelio V. Solis/AP

GREENWOOD, Miss. — Hundreds of people applauded — and some wiped away tears — as a Mississippi community unveiled a larger-than-life statue of Emmett Till on Friday, not far from where white men kidnapped and killed the Black teenager over accusations he had flirted with a white woman in a country store.

"Change has come, and it will continue to happen," Madison Harper, a senior at Leflore County High School, told a racially diverse audience at the statue's dedication. "Decades ago, our parents and grandparents could not envision that a moment like today would transpire."

The 1955 lynching became a catalyst for the civil rights movement. Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral in Chicago so the world could see the horrors inflicted on her 14-year-old son. Jet magazine published photos of his mutilated body, which was pulled from the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi.

The 9-foot (2.7-meter) tall bronze statue in Greenwood's Rail Spike Park is a jaunty depiction of the living Till in slacks, dress shirt and tie with one hand on the brim of a hat.

The rhythm and blues song, "Wake Up, Everybody" played as workers pulled a tarp off the figure. Dozens of people surged forward, shooting photos and video on cellphones.

Anna-Maria Webster of Rochester, New York, had tears running down her face.

"It's beautiful to be here," said Webster, attending the ceremony on a sunny afternoon during a visit with Mississippi relatives. Speaking of Till's mother she said: "Just to imagine the torment she went through — all over a lie."

This undated portrait shows Emmett Louis Till, who was kidnapped, tortured and killed in the Mississippi Delta in August 1955 after witnesses said he whistled at a white woman working in a store. AP Photo/AP hide caption

"But you, know, change has a way of becoming slower and slower," said Thompson, the only Black member of Mississippi's current congressional delegation. "What we have to do in dedicating this monument to Emmett Till is recommit ourselves to the spirit of making a difference in our community."

The statue is a short drive from an elaborate Confederate monument outside the Leflore County Courthouse and about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the crumbling remains of the store, Bryant's Grocery & Meat Market, in Money.

The statue's unveiling coincided with the release this month of "Till," a movie exploring Till-Mobley's private trauma over her son's death and her transformation into a civil rights activist.

The Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., the last living witness to his cousin's kidnapping, wasn't able to travel from Illinois for Friday's dedication. But he told The Associated Press on Wednesday: "We just thank God someone is keeping his name out there."

He said some wrongly thought Till got what he deserved for breaking the taboo of flirting with a white woman, adding many people didn't want to talk about the case for decades.

"Now there's interest in it, and that's a godsend," Parker said. "You know what his mother said: 'I hope he didn't die in vain.'"

Greenwood and Leflore County are both more than 70% Black and officials have worked for years to bring the Till statue to reality. Democratic state Sen. David Jordan of Greenwood secured $150,000 in state funding and a Utah artist, Matt Glenn, was commissioned to create the statue.

Jordan said he hopes it will draw tourists to learn more about the area's history. "Hopefully, it will bring all of us together," he said.

Till and Parker had traveled from Chicago to spend the summer of 1955 with relatives in the deeply segregated Mississippi Delta. On Aug. 24, the two teens took a short trip with other young people to the store in Money. Parker said he heard Till whistle at shopkeeper Carolyn Bryant.

Four days later, Till was abducted in the middle of the night from his uncle's home. The kidnappers tortured and shot him, weighted his body down with a cotton gin fan and dumped him into the river.

Jordan, who is Black, was a college student in 1955 when he drove to the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner to watch the murder trial of two white men charged with killing Till — Carolyn's husband Roy Bryant and his half brother, J.W. Milam.

An all-white, all-male jury acquitted the two men, who later confessed to Look magazine that they killed Till.

Nobody has ever been convicted in the lynching. The U.S. Justice Department has opened multiple investigations starting in 2004 after receiving inquiries about whether charges could be brought against anyone still living.

In 2007, a Mississippi prosecutor presented evidence to a grand jury of Black and white Leflore County residents after investigators spent three years re-examining the killing. The grand jury declined to issue indictments.

The Justice Department reopened an investigation in 2018 after a 2017 book quoted Carolyn Bryant — now remarried and named Carolyn Bryant Donham — saying she lied when she claimed Till grabbed her, whistled and made sexual advances. Relatives have publicly denied Donham, who is in her 80s, recanted her allegations. The department closed that investigation in late 2021 without bringing charges.

This year, a group searching the Leflore County Courthouse basement found an unserved 1955 arrest warrant for "Mrs. Roy Bryant." In August, another Mississippi grand jury found insufficient evidence to indict Donham, causing consternation for Till relatives and activists.

Although Mississippi has dozens of Confederate monuments, some have been moved in recent years, including one relocated in 2020 from the University of Mississippi campus to a cemetery where Confederate soldiers are buried.

The state has a few monuments to Black historical figures, including one honoring civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer in Ruleville.

A historical marker outside Bryant's Grocery has been knocked down and vandalized. Another marker near where Till's body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River has been vandalized and shot. The Till statue in Greenwood will be watched by security cameras.

Jordan won applause when he said Friday: "If some idiot tears it down, we're going to put it right back up."

[bejordan]

𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄 ˙ ˖  𝐉𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐍'𝐒 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐑𝐘 | 02 /?

𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: dance studio.

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

another day, another session, jordan had been working hard for most of the day. feeling his entire body drenched in nothing but sweat, he quickly reached down to grab the towel that was laid out on the stool. dabbing it across his forehead, he tossed it over his shoulders before sauntering over to where his camera was to end the recording.

although this was another dance session, this one was different. instead of having his usual online class, he decided to give his class a break this week. he wanted them to get the opportunity to study new choreography, catch up on their daily lives or do whatever it takes for their own reset; advice that he should have been following. but it wouldn’t be jordan if he wasn’t stubborn, right?

jordan had taken the time out of his schedule to record one of the things that he loves doing the most. for multiple reasons, but, one of them being to show to his parents. his parents had missed being in his presence and vice versa. dancing had always been in his blood since the day he was born. it warmed his parents heart the moment he broke the news that he wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. much to his surprise, he assumed he would have to of rebel against the people that gave him life in case they did not agree with his decision. it’s a relief that his choices in life to migrate miles away from them did not turn upside down.

“i hope that they will love this..” he mumbled to himself as he began watching a few clips of his recording. he was now in the process of editing the video; wanting to clip a small portion to send to his parents. taking a seat on the unoccupied stool he then pulled out his cellphone. once the device was unlocked, his thumb pressed against the phone icon and began dialing his mother’s number; anxious to catch up on everything that has been happening in both of their lives.

[pannimanagementteam]

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[lavegasvibes702]

“The only cellphone case you will need the rest of your life “

No matter what phone you buy this Fourth of July weekend, it’s always better and safer when you use protection, especially if you have an active lifestyle.

Whenever I buy a new phone I constantly debate over whether I should get the insurance it not because let’s face it, things happen. To pay or not to pay, that is the $1500 question most times. If you have an iPhone 13 like I do, then this most certainly is the case. Rebecca Lake wrote an article titled, “Is Having a Smartphone….

TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE FOLLOW THE LINK ABOVE.

[positivexcellence]

My worst moment: Jared Padalecki of ‘Walker’ on being unprepared: Like that nightmare of going to school naked

After 15 seasons starring on “Supernatural,” Jared Padalecki seamlessly switched gears last year to launch “Walker” on the CW. A reboot of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” the series is filmed in Austin, Texas, where Padalecki has been based, for years, with his wife and children. “Supernatural” shot in Vancouver, Canada — a significant commute — but that isn’t the case anymore with “Walker”; now Padalecki actually gets to spend time with his family while headlining a television show and fulfilling himself creatively.

Padalecki is also an executive producer on a forthcoming “Walker” prequel series set in the late 1880s that he said will be about “fleshing out the Walker world and learning about where they came from, and how where you’re born and raised affects who you become. I love the Walker family. I know my mom loves them as well,” he joked. “So hopefully people without the last name Padalecki are having a good time, too.”

One of his early career breaks was playing Dean, Rory’s first boyfriend on “The Gilmore Girls,” and when asked about a worst moment in his career, it was a memory from his time on that show that came to mind: “Having been in the business for 22 years, I’ve got several of these stories. But this one specific story has really informed how I’ve approached my career and my process.”

My worst moment …

“I didn’t shoot every day on ‘Gilmore Girls,’ and on this particular week, I wasn’t needed on set until Friday. So on Monday night, my friends and I are watching the Spurs — I had friends from San Antonio out in L.A., so we would always watch games and play video games. And again, I didn’t have to work until Friday — I’m an actor enjoying my life; I have three days off and I’m 19 or 20 at the time and I’m single — so I had a bunch of guy friends over and we played Grand Theft Auto until late into the night.

“My plan for the next day was to play with my dog in the morning, go get a workout in and then work on my upcoming scene that we were shooting on Friday. So I stayed up until, I dunno, about three or four in the morning. Well, I guess at seven or eight that morning, my phone started ringing. But I didn’t know this, because I was still asleep.

“I think what happened was, Lauren Graham (the show’s star) got sick and the scene that she was supposed to film on Tuesday had to be moved. So they had to film something else — let’s shoot the scene where Dean and Lindsay get married and come out of the chapel there in Stars Hollow.

“So they start calling me. No answer. They called my agent and then my manager, and they couldn’t reach me. And the thing is, you don’t often get a phone call at seven in the morning saying, ‘Hey, we need you on set today.’ But they were up a creek, so they were obviously trying to reach me. And I didn’t have a home phone, just a cellphone.

“So my manager ended up calling my friend Jordan, who had been over the night before, and he did answer his phone, and my manager was like: ‘Hey, Jared has to film today. Are you with him? Can you wake him up?’ And Jordan was like, ‘No, I’m home, but we live a block away. I can go try and wake him up.’

“So he comes over, and he knew the code to get into the building, so he takes the elevator up to the third floor, gets to my front door and starts banging on it. But because my bedroom was the furthest from the front door, I don’t hear anything.

“Jordan then goes to the exterior stairwell and Spider-Mans up the stairwell outside and does a four or five-foot ninja parkour jump onto my balcony. I had left my screen door open so he was able to get in through that and started waking me up.

“I thought it was a bad prank at first. He was like, ‘Hey man, they need you on set.’ I was like, ‘No, they don’t.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, they do. Look at your phone.’ And I had 20 missed calls and text messages. I was like: Oh my God. I shot out of bed, had a cup of coffee and a water, jumped in the shower and then drove over to Warner Bros.

“I was probably two hours later than they were hoping and I didn’t have the scene prepared, but I knew the basics of what was going on. Luckily I didn’t really have many lines at first, it was just us coming out of the chapel. But I ended up having other scenes later that did have dialogue, so at least I had time in the morning where I was in hair and makeup to learn those.

“But it was basically the feeling of that nightmare where you’re naked at school. Except unlike being naked at school, this was naked at school and there are cameras everywhere and it will be on film for all time.

“So now, these days, I’m known for my over-preparation. If there’s any scene in the episode we’re shooting, I know it backward and forward, because I don’t want to have that feeling again. It’s one thing if you embarrass yourself at a school play and everyone’s just going to clap for you anyway; it’s another if you’re putting it on television. Your kid’s kid’s kids will be able to see this.”

Shout out to Jordan, who was willing to risk life and limb to wake Padalecki up.

“He’s just one of those guys! He’s like a golden retriever; if there was a bear coming to hurt his friend, he’d jump in to help. He’s a dear friend, still is; he stood in my wedding. I think the reason my manager knew his number was because we had socialized together. Maybe we had played basketball and just hung out a few times, had a few poker nights.

“But that memory is one of those mortifying moments that motivates me to get up at 5 a.m. and know all my lines.

“I’m a born-and-bred Texan and there are a lot of different aspects of that, but for me that means taking your work seriously, taking your friends and family seriously and being respectful. And I was never the guy who assumed, ‘I’m a TV star, I’ll show up when I show up.’ I always wanted people to know: I’m here as a professional and I’m grateful to be here. I’m not going to waste anybody’s time. There are cast and crew who have friends and family and wives and mortgages and car payments, and I’m not going to waste anybody’s time. I may not be the most talented guy on the planet, but I promise you I’ll be the most hardworking.

“So that day was such a misrepresentation of who I was. It made me seem like I was some jerk who didn’t care. Like that cliché of the actor rolling in hungover and late. And I’m like, man, that’s not me. I want the reputation of the guy who will do whatever it takes and work as hard as he needs to, off set and off camera, to get the job done as seamlessly and efficiently as possible — and this was exactly opposite, as I blow in, hair still wet from the shower, like: ‘Uh, what are we shooting?’

“The cast and crew knew me by this point, and they knew that this was the exception, not the rule. It’s the guilt you put on yourself. If this had been my first day, I don’t think I would have had a second day.”

The takeaway …

“I am a much happier and calmer — and I’ve been very public about ‘Jared deals with anxiety’ — and a much less anxious person if I am prepared as much as possible. So I take preparation seriously. I think you kill two birds with one stone, because the more I prepare, the better I feel, but also the better my work is because I’ve thought about it a dozen or two dozen different ways. So when it’s time to get on set and play, I can play.

“I enjoy acting and I enjoy telling stories, and on that day, I didn’t give myself the chance to do the best storytelling that I could have otherwise done. So you’re really just kind of stealing from yourself when you’re not prepared.”

Chicago Tribune

[tinalbion]

Why You DEFINITELY Need to Check Out Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead (2008)

Yes, I am making this immediately after the first post because this is my absolute favorite of the 3 films, and you’ll see why later on, but please go and check out my post of why you should check out Joy Ride 2001!  This film, oh guys, this one is the reason I write for Rusty in the first place. 

This is the sequel to Joy Ride 2001, another fun horror thriller film that stars Nicki Aycox, Nick Zano, Kyle Schmid, Laura Jordan, and Mark Gibbon.

Melissa and her fiancé Bobby are on a cross country road trip to Las Vegas, to get married. Joining them for the ride is Melissa's sister Kayla. Along the way they pick up Kayla's online boyfriend Nik.

When their car breaks down in the desert, the four find an abandoned house. In the barn is a silver 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle in working order with a full tank of gas. Melissa and Bobby are reluctant to take the car but, due to Kayla and Nik's persistence, they give in and decide to return it after getting help. However, Melissa leaves a note in the house with her contact details for the owner of the car in case they were to come back.

Good start for absolute mayhem, am I right? And the music in this film is so extra, I love it so much. Adds to the 2000′s horror feel, seriously. 

Melissa receives a phone call from the person who owns the car they stole: it’s Rusty Nail, played by Mark Gibbon in this film, which REALLY adds to Rusty’s character in my humble opinion. 

He says there’s no rush to return the car, but he easily reveals that he can see her in the diner they’re at. Soon after, Bobby disappears from the restroom. The others find a CB radio in the car, through which Rusty Nail orders them to destroy their cellphones and obey his orders if Bobby is to survive. Rusty Nail promises them that they will all be reunited. He requests for Kayla to cut off her middle finger, given an earlier incident when she had flipped off a trucker who turned out to be Rusty.

Rusty, knowing they have broken the rules, cuts off Bobby's finger and puts it in the glove compartment of the Chevelle, where it is eventually discovered by the group.

Rusty soon pulls up at a bar in Utah, and Bobby tries to escape, which only leads to a fatality of a bartender and Bobby still in Rusty’s capture. He then commands Nik to walk through a party, dressed as a female hooker, to buy crystal meth. In the process, Nik gets kidnapped by Rusty.

Which, can I say, what a man, making sure the entire group once again is sure to know to feel the humiliation Rusty feels.

this film though, the shots and the way his face is covered perfectly just making sure you can’t tell who it is, its pulled off SO well in this one! It adds more to the actor change and the intimidating voice that this man has, has the feel of what the first film had but slightly lacked.

Now this YouTube video below is what got me into this series altogether thanks to a friend here on Tumblr, and I feel all movies like this should have fun with their villain much like Mark does with Rusty. If the voice doesn’t sell you, I don’t know what would.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rtf39cpWr0

It’s another intense joy ride with Rusty Nail, where he’s really come up into his own and grown from film 1 to this film, where he’s really allowing himself to flourish and have fun playing with his victims. The acting from Mark really sells it for me and makes me enjoy this even more, and I hope you guys agree! 

Again, I don’t wanna give up TOO much of this movie because this one is an absolute must see, please check it out!

It can be found to rent/ buy on YouTube, Apple TV, Vudu, and Amazon Prime!

Heck of a joy ride y’all are gonna have. 

[beardedmrbean]

Milwaukee — A 34-year-old Wisconsin man has been charged in the deaths of six people whose bodies were found in January at a Milwaukee duplex.

Bail was set at $1 million Sunday for Travis Lamar Birkley, who is charged with six counts of felony murder. An attorney who represented Birkley at the hearing declined to comment on the case.

The six victims were found with gunshot wounds on Jan. 23, but court documents detailing the charges against Birkley suggest they may have been killed three days earlier.

Investigators linked Birkley to the killings with cellphone data that included a selfie he took that appeared to show the basement of the home where the bodies were found several hours after the killings. Three of the bodies were found in that basement.

Investigators said Birkley appeared to be wearing an expensive pair of glasses that belonged to one of the victims in the photo, CBS Milwaukee affiliate WDJT-TV reports, adding that witnesses told police Birkley didn't wear glasses.

Court documents also say a witness told police Birkley had admitted killing the six people with his cousin during a botched drug robbery, according to WDJT. Court documents said shell casings found at the scene came from two different guns.

The complaint against Birkley doesn't identify his cousin by name.

No additional arrests have been made in connection with this case, and police said no additional information was available Sunday.

Authorities previously identified the six victims as Michelle Williams, 49; Donta Williams, 44; Donald Smith, 43; Charles Hardy, 42; Javoni Liddell, 31; and Caleb Jordan, 23. Michelle Williams.

Three of the victims lived at the home where the bodies were found.

[dalerwalker2]

'The only phrase I can think of to describe it is torment,' the Turpin sisters said of their family's haunted mansion.

'The only phrase I can think of to describe it is torment,' the Turpin sisters said of their family's haunted mansion.

Jordan Turpin was 17 years old when she crawled out of a window of her family's house, seeking to save her 12 siblings' lives. She had been plotting her escape for two years, after decades of horrible mental and physical abuse by her parents in their Perris, California home. Jordan hurried outside with nothing except an old cellphone she discovered in the home and dialled 911. Jordan, now 21, told ABC News' Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview Friday, "I was always frightened that if I contacted the authorities or attempted to flee, I would be caught, and then I knew I would die if I was found." "But, in the end, when I saw all of my younger siblings, I realised I had to do it." She informed officers during the terrifying 911 call that the family's home smelled so horrible that she couldn't breathe and that she and her siblings may need to go to the hospital. More about Turpin : New Dune Trailer Spotlights House

Jennifer Turpin and her sister Jordan Turpin with Diane Sawyer of ABC News. She instantly gave the first police officer her phone, which was full of images and videos she had taken of herself and her siblings to verify the abuse. Her daring escape in January 2018 led to the discovery of her siblings and exposed one of the "worst, most severe child abuse cases" ever seen, according to Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin. Some of the siblings, who varied in age from 2 to 29, were discovered chained and padlocked to their beds. A handful of the adults seemed to be young teens due to their malnutrition. Jordan sat in the back of a police cruiser that morning, watching as her parents, David and Louise Turpin, were taken into custody. After pleading guilty to 14 counts of torture, adult abuse, child endangerment, false detention, and other offences, the two were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Jennifer Turpin and her sister Jordan Turpin with Diane Sawyer of ABC News. Their first glimmers of liberation When authorities arrived at the Turpin house to do a welfare check, it didn't take long for them to realise the gravity of the children's harrowing situation. According to ABC News' "Escape From A House Of Horror," they found a residence reeking of human waste, decomposing rubbish, and mouldy food, with trash covering every surface. The youngsters were discovered sitting calmly in dirty beds, languid, thin, caked in mud, and with bruises on their arms. One youngster was discovered with his wrist and ankle shackled to the bedpost, where he had remained for weeks. The thick shackles put on the youngsters are seen on bodycam video from that day. " 'The only phrase I can think of to describe it is torment,' says the narrator "Jennifer Turpin, the oldest of the children, expressed her thoughts. The 13 Turpin children were transferred to a hospital, where they were treated for a variety of ailments by nurses and physicians. Some were so malnourished that they could scarcely walk, while others had cardiac problems as a result of a lack of nutrition. According to ABC, one preteen's arm was the size of a 4.5-month-old infant. The children were illiterate and had no knowledge of the outside world.   Neighbors leave notes for the Turpin children on the front door of David and Louise Turpin's house, where the couple was arrested for allegedly keeping 13 children prisoner. Hestrin added that in addition to acute caloric starvation and muscular loss, some of the participants suffered cognitive impairment and "neuropathy," or nerve damage, as a consequence of the harsh and protracted physical abuse. Jennifer Turpin began her celebrations by dancing in the centre of her hospital ward. "I got up because music was playing," Jennifer, now 33, told Sawyer. "I danced after making sure there was a tiny bit of a floor cleaned away." A thrilling excursion to a playground was also included. "I was giddy with anticipation because I could smell the grass and the breeze. 'How could paradise be any greater than this?' I wondered." Jordan remarked. "Oh my god, this is so free, like, this is life," says the narrator.  

Jennifer Turpin and her sister Jordan Turpin with Diane Sawyer of ABC News. "At the very least, I tried if anything bad occurred to me." According to investigators, the parents starved their 13 children by shackling them with padlocks and teasing them with pies placed on their kitchen counter. They hadn't seen a doctor in almost four years, and none of them had ever gone to the dentist. The girls informed Sawyer that their entire diet consisted of peanut butter sandwiches. They were only offered frozen items on rare occasions. They were severely punished if they were still hungry and were found attempting to eat anything else. The youngsters were sometimes so hungry that they ate ketchup packets and ice cubes. "It begs the question, 'How can any sane person do this?' when you have parents torturing their children to this extent, and they're their own flesh and blood." On the ABC News special, Hestrin remarked. "And the reality is that even rational individuals perform bad deeds on a regular basis." Jordan said she overheard her dad stating they were transferring the family to Oklahoma the day before she escaped. Jordan said that if they had relocated, there was a "good probability" that some of them would have perished. She said, "That was my only chance." "I believe it was our many near-death experiences. If anything were to happen to me, at the very least I would have tried." Jordan remembered the first time she imagined what her life might be like if she wasn't confined. She claims it was because of Justin Bieber, whose songs and interviews resonated to her. While "As Long As You Love Me," "Boyfriend," and "Baby" are among her favourite Justin Bieber songs, it wasn't only his music that prompted her to take action.

Jennifer Turpin and her sister Jordan Turpin with Diane Sawyer of ABC News. "I began to realise there's another world out there," Jordan said. She liked watching his interviews because she learned new terms from him and realised how much they had in common. Her mother, on the other hand, strangled her after she was found surreptitiously viewing a Justin Bieber video. Even if it is free, it is nonetheless ignored. Despite having survived a life that most people could never comprehend, the Turpin children aren't fully protected. A couple of the Turpin children were put with a foster family that was arrested and accused with assaulting many children in their care, including at least one Turpin kid, according to ABC. Another Turpin kid, now an adult, was put in a foster home where her foster parent explained why her parents had her chained up. "They felt deceived," Melissa Donaldson, Riverside County's Director of Victim Services, told the programme. "Did we ever see children being unable to find a secure place to live or stay? Yes. Was there ever a moment when they didn't have enough food? They didn't do it." "It has to be fixed. You'd think now is the time to get our act together and do all we can, but that wasn't the case "she went on. Some of the Turpin kids didn't have access to housing at times, so they depended on couch surfing for refuge, according to Donaldson, who added that they often resorted to churches for food. "Right now, I don't have a method to obtain food," Jordan said. According to ABC, it started when she was removed from the extended foster care system in July without any assistance with food, healthcare, or lodging. "Well, my neighbourhood isn't the greatest," Jennifer said. Despite collecting $600,000 from strangers throughout the nation, the Turpin children have had problems accessing the funds, and county authorities have refused to answer questions about why, citing court-ordered confidentiality, according to ABC. "They are living in filth. They live in a gang-infested area. There is money available for their schooling, but they are unable to get it "Hestrin said. "They've been victimised by the system again," he continued. "It's incomprehensible to me that we could have the worst instance of child abuse I've ever seen, maybe one of the worst in California history, and then not be able to pull it together to provide them with fundamental needs, basic requirements." more article from new 24 hour  Michigan basketball’s Eli Brooks and Hunter Dickinson lead the Wolverines to a 74-61 victory against UNLV. Reinaldo Marcus Green, the black and Latino director of “King Richard,” speaks about fathers and sports. As Biden has colonoscopy, Kamala Harris temporarily becomes the presidency. source : ''The only word I know to call it is hell': Turpin sisters share the details of their family's house of horror#instagram #happy #nature #photography #fashion #instadaily #beauty #instalike #fun #friends #me #summer #tbt #cute #beautiful #likeforlike #smile #music #ootd #family #model #follow4follow #lifestyle #design #motivation #beach #sunset #amazing #dog #makeup Read the full article

[aliaslua]

In broad daylight

Chapter 01: Out and about

Raphael is still learning to cope with his new life. On the rainy evening after Michelangelo's first national interview, the big and solitary turtle brother decides to go on a walk and while he tries to adapt to a world he never wanted to be a part of, he meets a human woman that changes his path.

This is an AU that diverges from cannon after the events of Out of the shadows. Instead of choosing to keep living hidden in the sewers, the family of mutants accepts chief Vincent's suggestion of trying to live a normal life among humans. This is a compilation of events that unfold after the fact, tales about the turtles and the humans that cross their paths.

This series may contain mature themes (Trigger Warnings will be included before every chapter), if you’re a minor please don’t interact.

TW: None

You can also read it in AO3

━━━━━━ • ✿ • ━━━━━━

It took Raphael two years to finally decide to walk on a sidewalk alone. It was the first time he was alone in... Well, Michelangelo called it “upstairs”, Leonardo called it “the real world” and Donatello just called the streets of New York by their common name. Raph didn’t called it anything since names carry meaning and that world and its residents were a mystery to him. When he had to describe the world above him, he called it “outside”.

He was 19 when he was outvoted and then convinced of accepting the idea of coming out into the world. Now a grown 21 years old man-turtle, he still felt his palms sweaty and his fingers cold as he held the knob of the door that led into the streets of New York. A shaky breath left his mouth when he finally opened the alley door.

It wasn’t the first time he walked among humans but in every occasion he had to (knowing he would only do it if he was obligated) he had Casey holding one of his shoulders or April holding one of his fingers. Now, the world presented itself in front of him and he was alone. Despite his anxiety, the landscape wasn’t as intimidating as he once anticipated, there was no big crowd filled with scared looks of disgust, only the concrete street and light rain drops. He didn’t know exactly what he expected, actually. It was too late in the night to be walking the street alone, no human would dare to bet their safety to wander around an ugly and stinky street. Raphael wasn’t human and he would bet his life knowing no one ill intended would dare to cross his path... No one would even dare to ask for directions or to wish him a good evening. No one would dare to approach him. He had learned sooner than later that even well meaning humans would avoid being alone next to him and despite his efforts to understand them there was a deep part of Raph that held a grudge against it.

The second oldest brother would rather spend the rest of his life avoiding contact with this reality. It took maybe two or three minutes after he started to walk down the street for him to regret that decision as he felt the warm thick air of the night against his skin. He kept his pace despite that, determined to reach at least one mile before coming back home. The streets were still empty and he could only hear his heavy steps on the ground and the distant sound of cars. There was a time he loved this city... A time when all he wanted to was to roam around hidden in the roof tops and the dark shadows of the alleys, a time when he could watch this world and not be a part of it, when he could be invisible, a mere observer. Maybe he still could, he thought, maybe his outfit made him look human enough from a distance... Raphael liked the clothes, he liked he was now able to hear Knicks' shirts that fitted him perfectly thanks to his new access to tailor-made clothing, he liked his loose trousers and the dark colored sweaters that covered his shell, he liked his sneakers and his watch. Life out on the surface had brought him many new luxuries: now the lair had tiles and furniture and a long corridor that led to a door facing the streets, it didn't smell bad anymore thanks to modern isolation and he had his own bed, a king sized bed, with many pillows and clean white bed sheets. Raph sighed loudly once again, maybe Mikey was right. Maybe life could be more than he perceived to be.

━━━━━━ • ✿ • ━━━━━━

"Turn it on!"

The crowd cheered lively as the host turned in his chair.

"Good night, ladies and gentleman." He started talking in a pleasant voice "Tonight, in a exclusive interview... An absolutely unique moment in history. It's an honor to be here, sharing this moment with you as we receive with a warm round of applause please welcome... Michelangelo Hamato!"

Mikey walked into the stage with the biggest smile as the applause kept going, he was wearing a well fitted set of blazer and pants and he looked nothing like the wild and anxious brother they new. He waved to the crowd with such confidence that the absurd size difference between him and the host looked funny instead of terrifying, he even flipped the edge of his blazer behind him as he seated in the two-seater sofa and crossed his leg, showing a shinny elegant shoe.

"Michelangelo.... May I call you Mikey?"

"Yes, please."

"It's an honor... and I mean it, it's an honor to have you tonight."

"The honor is all mine, Jim."

The crowd cheered once again.

"Now... Mikey, I've to start saying... You're a sight to be seen!"

"Thank you!" Loud claps echoing from the crowd.

"How tall are you?"

"I'am 6'5"

"Taller than Micheal Jordan!"

"... And the smallest in the bunch!" Mikey commented with a big smile and the host returned the smile with wide eyes.

"Must be a very tall bunch!"

"A very big bunch!"

"Yes indeed!" The crowd laughed along with the host as Mikey shared a wide smile again.

━━━━━━ • ✿ • ━━━━━━

Ten minutes had passed since Raphael started his walk and three minutes had passed since a man with a dog on a leash had walked past him, completely unbothered by his presence. Had he made it? Has he invisible? Comfortable enough with the prospect of an empty city that slept while he walked, Raph took his headphones and pressed play in the link Donnie had sent him, the cellphone opened a new tab and a podcast started playing. Soothing was followed by a female voice that introduced the name of the show.

"...As always, thank you all for listening. In today's episode we'll be discussing the new revelations in the law case that wrecked the nation: the case Sacks vs Hamato, that absurd demonstration of pure capitalist greed that tried to condemn four literal teenagers to pay an equally absurd amount of money - and prison time!- for materials damage caused to the Sacks company-" "...and illegal espionage." A second voice complemented "Yes, thank you Sabrina. We have already discussed the legal implications that case could open for the judicial system here in America and all the possible outcomes in the Thirteenth episode of the first season of this podcast, if you haven't heard it yet, I heavily suggest you do so you can follow the argument of the developments in this case. Now, Sabrina... Yesterday we saw the final outcome of this case and the hearing that decided the sentence ended with an incredible emotional speech from Donatello - we know he was one of the brother's more involved with the whole process" "Yes" "... And now they're free! Of all charges!" "...Yes Gabi what we saw today followed by Michelangelo's incredible interview in the Late Night Show back on Thursday was, honestly, a beautiful strike against bigotry in this country..." "Absolutely, I mean... The judge of the case himself assumed that the charges were unfounded and biased..." "Yes! And now we have a established background to be able to-"

Raphael stopped the audio, unable to disguise his contempt. Geez , is that the kind of thing Donnie spends his time listening to? Wasn't real life already a bore? He let out a grumpy sigh and put his phone away. A human figure across the street started to stare indiscreetly at him and Raphael felt his heart shrink before making a blunt turn in a different street. The rain had stopped and the night wind was starting to feel colder, just like Raphael's heart as he tried to escape whoever it was that was trying to identify his figure.

A bright blue light appeared at the end of the new street Raphael just walked into. An all-night convenience store. Raph had been in a place that before, he and Casey had brought snacks and a couple of beers. He felt his mouth water at the idea of a cold beer. He had cash - more than enough. Maybe if he promised a fat tip they would let him get in. He shift his height between his feet as he observed the inside, the neon blue light was coming from a weirdly shaped advertisement placed above the entrance, perfectly contrasting with the ugly green light inside the store, some shelves appeared through the glass window and door, but he could tell that the place was empty - or almost that. In his head, Raphael had decided to take that chance and he was determined to perceive, his body, otherwise, didn't seem as thrilled with the idea. He waited outside as the rain started to pour once again, trying collect the mental strength to got in when a skinny old man opened the translucent door

━━━━━━ • ✿ • ━━━━━━

"Mikey, your last name is now worldwide known since the start of the trial, tell me: is it Japanese? Was it inherited from you father...?"

"I don't know, actually... We made it up!"

"What?" The human man asked as the crowd giggled

"It's exactly that, actually. When we came to the surface and Sacks decides to sue us the judicial system needed a surname to use... Apparently!"

"So you just made it up!"

"Hell yeah! Wouldn't you like to come up with your name?"

"Yes, absolutely."

"What would you call yourself?" He host made a surprise expression as Mikey changed the dynamic

"Jim Linotax!"

"...Oh, it's a pleasure, Mr. Linotax!" Michelangelo said, offering a handshake as he managed to pull more laughs from the crowd

"Michelangelo... It's a unique name!"

"I heard once it was very popular in the sixteen century."

"Oh, really?"

"Oh yes."

"And all your brothers have renascence names, is that right?"

"Yes. Thanks to old dad."

"How 's that?"

"Well, you see, when you grow up in a tiny sewer house you have more concerns than you weirdly specific name..."

━━━━━━ • ✿ • ━━━━━━

"Are you gonna steal?" The tiny man asked and he seemed to fight the same nervousness as Raph. The turtle-man on the other hand, felt all his limbs stiff and his hands go numb at the sound of that old man directing calling to him. He made a genuine effort and reached his pockets for the dollar bills.

"I-I just want a couple of beers."

"Go AWAY! Go away! No beers here for you!" The man started to yell as Raphael finally caught up his accent. It was stiff and hard in the h's and o's, he couldn't decipher where it was from.

"I just want to buy something! I am a client!" Raphael responded too late to recognize his anger.

"Nothing here for you! Go away!"

"I HAVE THE MONEY!" Raph screamed back at him, waving the bills in the air. The world started to feel out of focus as he realized people had gone to their apartment balconies and were looking at him through the windows in the buildings surrounding the store. Had he woke the whole street? Did he hear someone saying they were calling the police? No, please... The last thing he needed was a scold from Leo for causing a scene... All he wanted was a beer. Fuck, fuck, fuck. More and more lights started to turn on as the buzz around him got bigger and louder. He felt his heart sink and his hand hurt from the tight firsts he could not undo. Something inside him couldn't decide between the want to murder that man and the uncontrollable desire to scream and shout. "No more roof climbing." Leo had said "We're like humans now. We can't just go out jumping through people's houses." He couldn't just vanish away, despite the burning desire to just escape that situation.

"Look," Raphael managed to say, after two or three deep breaths "... I am sorry. I just wanted to buy a beer... I am leaving now."

"Hey! I finally found you!" An unfamiliar voice shouted from the other side of the street. Raph turned to look and almost knocked over whoever it was. Their bodies bumped into each other but only the smaller of them reacted to the impact, he felt a tiny pair of hands grab his arm."OooOOooww! That was close... Hey, we've been looking for you! Did you get the drinks?"

"NO DRINKS HERE FOR YOU!" The store owner screamed once again.

"Damn... Ok. We can go somewhere else!" The female voice had a sharpness to it, finally Raphael finally looked at her.

Nothing in this world could have prepared him for the vision of the young women holding his arm. She was short (but most people usually are in comparison to the mutant), had a luscious curly hair, tied in two pigtails that ended in the back of her neck. She was wearing a very revealing blouse and high waisted pants that matched in color. She was clearly dressed up, with sparkly high heels and long elegant earrings and she was holding his arms with a casualty he had never experienced before.

"C'mon!" She said and turned her head to him, showing a full face of makeup and bright brown eyes "Let's get the hell out of here."

━━━━━━ • ✿ • ━━━━━━

The crowd followed Mikey and the host as they laughed at the childhood story the turtle just shared.

"Mikey, unfortunately our time is almost over... I just wanted to thank you once again for coming tonight, for coming out into the world."

"The pleasure is all mine Jim, really... I've spent all my teenage years watching you on TV... I never thought I would be here tonight, I never thought I'd have the pleasure of meeting such a welcoming audience (loud cheering noises) and I never thought I could be part of this world."

There was an almost child-like honesty in his words making the brief moment of silence that came after especially touching.

"He's killing it." - April whispered to the TV

"100%" - Leo's voice came after

"Thank you, Michelangelo... I hope we can have all your brothers soon!"

"You can count on it!" Mikey answered, excited

"You can NOT count on that" - Raphael responded at the TV

━━━━━━ • ✿ • ━━━━━━

"I thought you guys didn't walk the streets... I've red the interview your brother gave to the New Yorker... He said you probably would wait a while until you decided to stroll around." The woman said as they walked back to the lair's alley door. She had told Raphael her name was Clara and they had held hands until they turned the corner and were out of sight from those judging eyes. She was smaller than most humans, Raphael later realized, maybe 5'1 or 5'2 and had a high pitched voice that made the turtle think about those weird anime dubs he used to watch as a kid. The strangest thing about his savior was that she seemed strangely familiarized with his presence. He ignored her comment as they kept walking in silence for a while. Raphael couldn't stop thinking about how long it would take for him to finally reach his destination and how could he respectfully ask for her to back off. Not that he wasn't grateful but her presence alone made him incredibly uncomfortable. She was too small, too elegant, too beautiful to walk just like that, beside him.

"I guess it is equally strange to you, right? To be here, in the real world... Out and about." Clara walked casually with both hands in her pocket as she looked up to the streets lights, Raphael wondered if she actually expected him to answer "... Is it weird for me to be like this? I mean... I thought you could use some help back there. But I don't mean to be inconvenient... Is it ok if you just walk with me closer to the next bus station? It is a bit late and I guess you're the perfect body guard..."

They kept walking, Clara and her tiny hands in the neon green pockets of her pants and Raphael with his stiff steps and dark clothing, all he wanted was to walk home without meeting everyone else, lock the door behind him and drink until all the memories fade away... But it didn't seem his wishes would come true as a pair of men jogging appeared at the end of the street, just in front of them. They looked at the strange couple and one of them startled at the vision. Clara looked at them and waved.

"Good night to you!" She said with a calm tone.

"Are you alright??" One of them asked from far away, still trying to figure out Raphael's image.

"Yeah!" She answered immediately "Why wouldn't I be?" Then she gave them a wide welcoming smile that made Raphael's heart beat uncontrollably "Good night to you." Clara then said, just as she turned one corner, grabbing Raphael's arm.

She then let go of him and offered a warm smile "It's ok... I don't think they will bother you. The bus stop is just right there turning the other corner... Thank you for bringing me here. Good night!" And just like that, she turned her back to him and started to walk away. Each step pressing Raphael's heart against his chest.

"WAIT!" The worlds came out of his mouth before he could stop them. She startled at the unexpected sound and immediately turned to him

"What?"

Raphael waited a minute so he could gather all the emotional strength to ask: "Can you walk me home?"

Clara smiled as she approached the mutant once again: "Is it too far?"

Raph took a minute to answer but instead said: "I'll pay you a cab when we get there." Clara hums and adds:" You sure? I leave pretty far." Raphael only nodded. Then she gave him the same silence answer. He couldn't mentally trace the path he had taken that night but he knew it was almost morning. The rain had stopped long ago but the air was much colder than when he left the lair, he was actually getting cold and wondered if she felt the same. They kept walking in silence until it finally hit him:

"What were you doing in the streets so late at night?"

"Oh..." She seemed surprised by his question, her voice a comparison that made him realize how low he sounded "I was on a date actually..." She said showing her teeth in a straight smile that indicated self-awareness, well that explained the clothing. "The guy turned out to be a prick, so I bolted! I was completely lost when I heard all the fuss the store guy was making... Thank god I found that mess, actually... I was getting pretty scared."

Silence as they got closer and closer to the lair's street door.

"... It was a complete coincidence to find you, actually... I was watching the rerun of your brother's interview today... I am actually in love with him! "she said in a ambiguous tone "Can you introduce us? Do you think I have a chance?" Raph finally laughed. Not at the idea that Mikey was charming enough to acquire the interest a woman like Clara, but at the absurd fact she thought she had to ask if she had a chance. With Mikey?

"He's also a prick." Raphael responded sharply but with a captivating tone to his voice. Then... She laughed. Raph couldn't contain his own grin.

The first sunbeams were about to appear at the horizon and when the red-wearing turtle finally reached the large metal door, he felt a relief like never before.

"I'll call a cab and get inside… So you know… The guy doesn’t bail because of me."

"Ok." Clara said, a light smile in her cheeks. "It was nice to meet you..."

"Raphael." He added after realizing she never asked his name did she knew it already?

"Hope to see you around soon."

Raph nodded with uncertainty and grabbed the metal knob. Clara's last words engraved in his brain as he crossed the long corridor that led to his underground home.

[gloryofluv]

Order up! (Coffee Shop AU) Chapter 12

Hahaha. I'm actually dying over this chapter! So much going on, but soooo good as far as the banter.

Previous Chapter

The next day was a big win. She got her doctor's stuff done, ate a big breakfast, and they actually got Leviathan out of his room to help. He assisted with all of her electronics and was extremely meticulous. Of course, Alex actually couldn’t talk to him because he would blush and walk away from her.

Well, she would have to work on him slowly.

That left her with bringing over all the unneeded items to her now cleaned-out bedroom on Friday early afternoon. Then, of course, work. She was pretty tired considering her busy ass days lately. Tons of emotional sifting. Although, it seemed a lot easier with each of the brothers. Even Mammon was taking on a new role; her protector.

After Belphie explained what happened the other night, or at least she thinks he did, Mammon has been a new man. He’s been getting her water, carrying heavy things for her, even complaining about her going to work at night. Totally switched from who he was. Interesting.

Working in a cafe in the afternoon and evenings. Actually, there’s something to be said about that. The clients are different. The creative types who work long boring jobs during the day and need to feed off the energy of caffeine and others. The families that are out and about, ready for the weekend ahead.

There’s also a startling amount of mischief. Alex twice had to tell someone they couldn’t yell on their cellphone in the lobby. Gotta give it to Jess. She was ballsy enough to want to work evenings all the time.

Alex was fixing her displays near the register when she heard someone clear their throat. She turned around and blinked. Simeon was standing there and not in his usual sweater, but a tank top and jeans.

“Oh, Simeon,” Alex puffed with color-dusted cheeks.

“I wasn’t expecting you here this evening, Alex,” he beamed.

“I switched with Jess. Oh, um, did you want me to,” she stopped her stammering and smiled. “Are you drinking tea tonight?”

He nodded and watched as she walked around the counter. “I’m just out with some of the mentors,” he explained and gestured to a table.

Alex glanced over to see two men. One had flowing blond hair and piercing blue eyes, and the other had darker hair in braids with soulful chocolate eyes. Both were quite interested in watching their interaction.

“That’s nice,” Alex beamed with a bounce to her head. “Did you want to get them something as well?”

“Just three of the hibiscus ginger,” Simeon smiled.

She was preparing the cups and glanced back at him. “How are you doing? I feel like this is the first time Luke isn’t with you.”

Simeon laughed and shrugged. “We always see you after he’s done with school. I work in the mornings and evenings. Did you figure out your living situation?”

She set the bags in the cups and nodded. “Yes, Lucifer offered me a room.”

“Interesting. He’s not usually noted for his generosity,” Simeon mused as she set the cups in front of him.

Alex gestured to the pastry case, and Simeon shook his head. “Oh, I don’t know about that, but he has been pretty decent to me. All of them are helping me move my stuff. It’s been pretty,” she paused and exhaled while looking away from him.

“It’s difficult to confess to needing people in our lives, Alex. it gives us more opportunity to have rejection and abandonment. However, it fortifies our hearts,” Simeon beamed.

She bent over the POS screen and scowled. “Simeon, this whole time, I thought I was over it. This whole time and I realized I just never let myself touch it. To truly understand what was lost because then that makes me defective, undesirable, broken.”

“You’re very desirable, and not for being someone serving coffee with a magnificent smile,” Simeon said as his cheeks darkened a touch.

She pressed her lips together before she smiled. “Thank you, Simeon. You truly are divinity in human form.”

“I’d very much like it if you let me take you to dinner. I’ve wanted to ask you for months, but I only see you when small ears are lingering. Would you let me? I very much like you, Alex,” Simeon said with a hint of surprise. He wasn’t expecting to ask her?

“Oh, um, okay,” she smiled and nodded.

Simeon laughed and smiled. “Okay.”

Alex jerked to action and pulled out a sheet, writing out her number. “Now you can text me. I have a challenging time reaching out first. It causes quite a bit of anxiety for me,” she confessed and handed him the small paper.

He held it up before tucking it in his jean pocket. “I will take the first step then,” he paused and handed her his credit card.

Alex beamed and completed the transaction. “Simeon, thank you for having the courage to say something. I know that took so much.”

He chuckled and tilted his head. “Alex, you’re a very courageous woman. You’ve done many things others haven’t in their life and still are sweet and kind. Boldness isn’t about action. It’s feeling. Now, I’m going to go entertain the other mentors, but I will come to say goodbye before I leave.”

She rocked her head and smiled. “Okay, Simeon, have a wonderful time.”

“I will now,” he winked and left with the three cups in his hand.

Jordan, who was working with her, glanced over while wagging his hand. Alex skipped over, and they tucked behind the espresso machine, out of view from the trio.

“What just happened?” he whispered with a wild smile.

“He asked me out,” Alex breathed and covered her mouth.

“So you said yes, right? He’s like chocolate-covered yummy. Toothache sweet. And was that your number you gave him?” Jordan questioned in a low tone.

Alex bounced her head with a snort. “Jordan, I was so not me,” she giggled quietly.

Jordan stood and started to vogue with a beat. “Oh, yeah, that’s right, that’s my girl,” he voiced and yanked her up. “Come on, let’s go,” he snorted.

Alex groaned but started to vogue and laughed as they made faces. “You’re ridiculous,” she laughed.

“Yes, quite.”

Oh. Alex paused and spun around to see Lucifer standing at the counter. “Oh, hello, Lucifer.”

“What type of manic state were you expressing?” He questioned.

Jordan walked up to the glass and smiled. “We were doing our ‘get happy girl’ dance.”

Lucifer arched an eyebrow. “That seizer replication isn’t dancing.”

Alex twitched her nose at the dark roast timer and shook her head. “Lucifer, it’s going to be two minutes on fresh. This is too old to serve you with how sensitive your pallet is.”

He smirked and waved. “I have time.”

“So, doing anything special tonight, Lucifer? Seeing anyone special? Doing anything with someone?” Jordan asked.

Lucifer glared at him with a pointed incredulous expression. “Special? Jordan, what have my brothers been saying to you?”

Jordan raised his eyebrows. “Well, nothing. I was just asking.”

Alex put the brewer up and flicked it on before turning around with a smile. Lucifer eyed her and then wagged his index finger. “You. You know.”

Her cheeks were burning, but she walked toward the counter. “N-no.” Nice. Brilliant. Sound more like a frightened child.

Lucifer’s grin became wicked as he leaned forward. “Tell me.”

Her face was melting as she stared up into brilliant sanguine eyes. “It, well, I only heard in passing, it’s not,” she stopped dead when he touched her cheek.

“Don’t babble, darling. Just tell me,” he smirked.

“Well, I saw a picture of you and Diavolo,” she murmured.

His nose scrunched, and his fingers slithered away from her cheek. “Which of them was it? I was positive I destroyed all digital evidence of that party,” he huffed.

Alex looked down at the counter. Anywhere but his eyes.

“I’m not upset with you. My brothers, however, have been plugging this annoying concept for years since that party. Diavolo and I were drinking, a rarity and Mammon shoved Diavolo into me just as Asmodeus was taking the picture. Diavolo was attempting what Asmodeus called a duck face. I was positive I cleared out everyone’s phone, so Diavolo’s reputation wasn’t at risk, but it seems someone kept it,” Lucifer explained while shaking his head.

Alex blinked and glanced back at him. “You two?”

“Never,” Lucifer spat.

Alex covered her mouth and shook her head.

Jordan snorted. “Wow, your brothers sure love to hassle you, don’t they?”

Lucifer shook his head. “It’s unfathomable how they have so much time for it.”

“Seems Alex was under the impression you were,” Jordan noted.

Alex pivoted and began pouring the coffee. Dammit. She still was going to have to face him. Turning around, he was smiling, and his posture read, alpha man, baby.

“Were you upset at my brothers’ lies?” He asked.

She shook her head and plastered on a smile. “It was just surprising. I wouldn’t have guessed it.”

“Well, now you don’t have to. I’m single, very much available, and diligent at any role I take on,” he smirked and handed her his credit card.

Alex was so glad she was able to keep her smile as her heart was racing like a pack of marathon runners. She swiped it and handed it back. “You do appear to be quite diligent.”

Another form approached the counter, and Alex broke her vision of Lucifer. Simeon leaned and smiled. “We’re going now, Alex. It was lovely to see you this evening.”

“Simeon, I see you brought Michael and Raphael with you,” Lucifer noted as he glanced back at the mentors walking out of the cafe.

Simeon beamed and nodded. “We’re headed to the hills to watch the meteor shower.”

Lucifer rocked his head. “Have a good night.”

“You too. Alex, I will text you tomorrow,” he declared and waved.

Alex smiled and waved. “Okay, Simeon, have a wonderful evening.”

Lucifer scowled and watched Simeon leave. “You’re now texting him?”

Oh… yeah, that’s right. Alex rocked her head. “Yes.”

“They have a date this week,” Jordan pipped with a smile.

“Date?” Lucifer questioned.

Alex felt the size of a flea with how much presence Lucifer had. It wasn’t even that he displayed outward displeasure. No, it was definitely what radiated off of him as he stood straighter and his chest bolstered to pronounced masculinity.

“Yes, he just asked her before you walked inside,” Jordan laughed. By the way, he likely wasn’t going to make it through this shift. Alex was going to murder him. “I guess it makes sense. She thought you were unavailable,” Jordan shrugged. Dead. He was going to die from suffocation on the coffee grounds.

“Well, I’m clearly available. Have a good evening, Jordan. Alex, we’ll talk when you get home,” Lucifer declared and left a tip in the jar before strolling out of the cafe with the same presence he held at the counter.

“I’m going to kill you,” Alex growled and glared at Jordan.

She smacked his arm, and he pouted. “I was only doing what you haven’t done in months, honey.”

“I live with him now, you, numbskull,” she hissed and smacked his arm again.

Jordan laughed and blocked a few more of her blows. “Come on, don’t be so angry. It isn’t like a date is a commitment. I just wanted to see if he’d get jealous.”

“By the slam of his car door, I think he was,” Solomon laughed and peaked over the counter. “You alright, Alex?”

“Look away, Solomon, I don’t want you an accessory to his murder!” She snarled and hit Jordan one more time.

“Don’t murder my darling J Getlow.”

Alex exhaled and turned fully to see Asmodeus and Solomon standing together. Jordan scowled and dropped his smile altogether. Alex knew a good payback when she saw one. She skipped up to the counter with a bright smile. “Well, hello, you two, are you on a date?”

Solomon arched his eyebrow, but Asmo squealed. “Oh, it could be! We were just going to try this new fro-yo place down the street, and Solomon heard you were working.”

She eyed Solomon with a subtle nod. Click. He got it. “Oh, yes, I had to have an eclectic appetite tonight,” he chuckled.

Jordan was leaning on the glass with a deep-set frown. “Wait, Asmo, you said you were going to be busy when I got off tonight. Is that because you’re with Solomon?”

“Yes,” Solomon smirked at him. “Is there a problem?”

Asmo tilted his head but shrugged. “I guess not.”

Jordan pulled from the glass and began cleaning the machines.

“Doesn’t feel good, does it?” Alex asked.

Jordan glared over at her. “Bitch,” he said in a whisper.

“Now, what are you both really doing tonight?” Alex smiled.

“The frozen yogurt, which I despise. However, Asmodeus was on a mission to convince me to help tomorrow. He says that you have some very private information in your father’s study and need help sorting it,” Solomon explained.

Alex pouted and put her two hands together in a heart shape. “Asmo, you just made my heart go boom. That’s so sweet that you would take time away on your Friday for me.”

“Please stop,” Solomon puffed and waved his hand. “That’s too adorable, and I can’t bear it.”

Alex laughed and leaned over the POS screen at the pair. “Seriously, I need to do something nice for both of you.”

“Get drunk tomorrow. House party. Your homecoming!” Asmo cheered.

Alex groaned and shook her head. “I doubt Lucifer would agree to any of that.”

“After the very flustered retreat, I might estimate your correctness,” Solomon chuckled.

“What happened?” Asmo questioned.

“Well, hunty,” Jordan walked up and clamped his hand on Alex’s mouth. “Simeon asked Alex out before Lucifer got here. Before that revelation, I made him pry out of her that she thought he was with someone else, which is why she hasn’t been answering his texts with little happy faces like usual. So, he just now realized she was into him, and now she’s going on a date with Simeon.”

Alex shoved him and groaned. “You’re a wicked, wicked queen.”

“It’s truly a shame one of our rules is no dating, said 'girl' in the house,” Asmo laughed and shook his head.

Solomon smiled and waved his hand. “How is it that you always seem to find the predicament of always too much but never enough.”

“I don’t know, Sol,” Alex groaned.

“Drinks tomorrow, at your old home to send off your last day actually living there,” Solomon smirked.

“That doesn’t sound like that came with a please,” Alex snorted.

“It wasn’t a request,” Solomon shook his head.

“Fine, but you’re bringing the booze, and I’m not responsible for your ride home,” Alex said.

Solomon nodded. “I have exquisite wine. You’ll enjoy it.”

“We will?” Asmo asked.

Jordan nodded.

“Fine,” Solomon chuckled. “Yes.”

Alex reached over and ruffled his hair. “You’re just a big softy under all that analysis and formulas.”

Solomon puffed and pushed her handoff. “Yes, alright. Don’t patronize my kindness.”

“What am I getting you both?” Alex beamed. Solomon rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced up at the menu. “Decaf americano, two pumps with half and half,” Alex said.

Solomon laughed and nodded. “Actually, yes, that would be appropriate.”

“Multitude of gestures, Solomon,” Alex smiled.

“It’s actually freaky that you can do that, Alex,” Asmo gasped.

“I can remember everyone’s orders, but I have to label where to put my keys. Don’t even know why,” Alex laughed and turned to grab a cup. “Decaf skinny iced vanilla with a sugar-free caramel pump, Asmo?”

Asmo clapped. “You took my evening order once, Alex! That’s so impressive! Oh, I just want to bathe you in aromatherapy and take you to bed.”

“Let’s not go that far,” Jordan glared at him.

Asmo pouted. “Fine.”

Solomon paid, and Alex smirked at the pensive man. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, I was just thinking. There might be an opening in the company for public relations. I could put in a stellar word for you. It’s all research and pharmaceuticals, but you have a delightful personality, and you’re degreed.”

“Solomon, that would be awesome if you would do that for me,” Alex gasped.

He smiled and rocked his head. “Okay, I will. I’ll text you my email, and you send your resume to me.”

Jordan brought over their drinks, and Asmo left a hefty tip before blowing him a kiss. “Come over later?”

Jordan arched an eyebrow. “You’re not going to be busy?”

Asmo snorted and giggled. “No, silly, come on over. I want to have a pamper session,” he winked and sipped his drink.

Alex tried so hard to hide her blush. Wow, these two men. It’s like they were made to outdo each other.

“If you put your phone away during, then yes,” Jordan smirked.

“Fine,” Asmo pouted. “See you when you get off so I can,” Asmo laughed and flitted out the door.

“Strange creature,” Solomon chuckled.

“Says you, Doctor X,” Alex sneered.

Solomon laughed and waved. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Alex.”

Jordan sighed when he left and patted her shoulder. “Guess I’m getting laid tonight. Now we need to work on you.”

Alex yanked herself away and waved a hand. “Stop that. Nope. Not doing it. We’re not having that type of discussion after the man I’m going to live with said he’s going to suck your straw.”

Jordan laughed and skipped over. “Babe, come on.”

“Time to prepare to close, boss,” she sneered at him.

Jordan grinned and winked. “We’ll work on it,” he whispered and got to work.

Alex exhaled and shook her head, but a smile crept on her lips. It was really nice to see Jordan happy. However, the thought of closing came with another issue. What the fuck did Lucifer want to talk about. The thought made her queasy.

[broken-stardust]

What Goes Around Comes Around: Approximately Two Minutes And Thirty-Five Seconds (Part 1)

Content Warnings: mentions of kidnapping, menstruation, self harm, blood

"Hawthorne!"

My eyes shot open at the mention of my name. I looked around for the source of the sound, and I felt Hotch pat my shoulder.

"Wake up, Hawthorne," he said. "We're home."

I rubbed my eyes and got up from my seat. Next to me was Rossi, and across from us was Reid.

"You fell asleep approximately two minutes and thirty-five seconds into the flight," Reid told me. "And you slept the whole five hours."

Rossi laughed, and I thanked Reid for the much-needed information.

This was my third case with the BAU, and it was a rough one. Some sicko was kidnapping children and holding them for forty-eight hour periods before killing them, and he would send notes to their parents every twelve hours written in the childrens' blood. I felt a shiver go down my spine just thinking about it.

As soon as I got off the jet, I went to my desk to get some paperwork done - my least favorite part of the job. Reid seemed to have had the same idea because he went straight to his desk, which was right next to mine.

"Hey Jordan," he said.

"Oh, hey Reid."

"You don't have to call me that," he said. "You can call me Spencer."

I smiled. It felt nice to finally feel like I was being accepted as part of the team.

"Okay, Spencer," I said. "Are you getting up to date on paperwork?"

He shook his head.

"Actually, I wanted to tell you that you should go home. You barely slept all week in Sacramento, and I can tell how exhausted you are, even after your nap on the jet."

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Not only was the case freaking me out, but I still wasn't used to traveling. I hated hotel beds. I rubbed my eyes and yawned.

"I'm fine," I said through a yawn. "I really need to get this work done."

Even though Spencer was right, I wouldn't let him have the satisfaction of knowing it.

"Jordan," he sighed. "You're barely keeping your eyes open."

"Fine," was all I said.

I got up and reached for my car keys, but Spencer got to them first.

"There's no way I'm letting you drive like this," he said. "Let me give you a ride."

I reluctantly agreed, and he drove me home. As he drove, we sat in silence. I looked at his face, the way the moonlight illuminated it. I had thought he was cute from the moment I'd gotten here, but obviously, I couldn't let it become more than a little crush. It's always a bad idea to date co-workers, let alone the fact that he's almost definitely not into guys. So I just looked away and stared out the window instead.

I was home in no time, and I stumbled into my apartment and my bed. I was asleep in approximately two minutes and thirty-five seconds.

~

I woke up to a stomachache and a feeling of something wet. I got up and noticed bloodstained bedsheets.

"Fuck," I whispered to myself.

I had forgotten two testosterone shots in a row, and now I was having my period. This job was demanding, and I didn't have much time to remember personal stuff. I sat down and cried. The menstrual cycle: the ultimate indication of a female. I was not a female. I was taking hormones for a reason, but they would do me no good if I didn't actually take them.

I hated myself. It was my fault that this had happened. This, the case, it was all too much. I rushed to my bathroom just in time to throw up in the toilet. Then I opened the drawer and picked up my blade. I stared at it for a moment. It's funny. You'd think a behavioral specialist would have his own shit together.

I pulled my shorts up to expose my thighs and anxiously held the blade. My cellphone rang and startled me, and I dropped the blade, cutting my finger in the process.

"Shit," I said before picking up. "This is Hawthorne."

"We have a new case," Hotch's voice came from the other end. "We need you here ASAP."

I scrambled to clean up the blood and patch up my finger. Disinfecting it, I winced. It was deep. I was just finished wrapping it up when my phone rang again. I checked the caller ID.

"Spencer?" I asked.

"Good morning, Jordan," he said. He sounded like he was walking.

"What's up?"

"Did you get the call?" he asked me.

"Of course," I said. "I'm getting ready to go."

"How are you going to do that with no car?"

"I figured I would just take an Uber," I told him. And then I realized what he meant.

"I'll be. at your house in fifteen minutes," he said.

Before I had a chance to reply, Spencer had hung up.

I rushed to the shower as fast as I could. As the hot water poured over my body, I felt a sense of calm wash over me. I was okay. I was safe. I had my dream job, and I was about to use it to help people.

Spencer was waiting for me when I got outside. His hair was wet and messy. I could tell that he had just woken up and rushed to get ready. He hadn't had time to shave, it seemed, and the stubble on his chin made him look all the more handsome. His hazel eyes shined in the morning light.

"Jordan?"

I realized that I was staring, and I hadn't even gotten into the car yet.

"Sorry," I mumbled as I got into the car. "I zoned out."

As we pulled out of the parking lot, I realized that once again, in my hurry, I had forgotten to take my testosterone, and it wasn't in my go bag either.

"Shit," I huffed under my breath.

[aion-rsa]

Safe House and Watching Ryan Reynolds Before He Was Deadpool

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

There’s a scene midway through Safe House, the 2012 thriller which stars Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, that hits entirely differently in 2021. As with any number of films starring these leading men, the stars are cultivating an oil and water relationship in the sequence, one built on mutual distrust and loathing as they drive across a countryside. But in the case of Reynolds, it plays differently than how modern audiences likely expect. When Washington begins trying to get under the younger guy’s skin—poking at his insecurities like he’s Ethan Hawke in Training Day or pretty much the entire cast of Man on Fire—Reynolds is visibly shaken. He then folds like a cheap suit.

“Go ahead, you’re not going to get in my head,” Reynolds’ Matt Weston protests as he seemingly holds power over Washington’s Frost character. “I’m already in your head,” Washington smiles back. “I’m going to isolate you, Matt.” And by watching both actors, you believe him.

The sequence is boilerplate thriller dialogue, a generic sequence in a generic movie (at least in the 2000s and early ‘10s). But to see Reynolds play it so straight and so differently from what his star persona would later become is slightly jarring. For the first time in ages, it feels like you’re watching the actor play a character who isn’t Deadpool.

This thought occurred to me while revisiting Safe House this week, particularly in lieu of the film trending so high on Netflix. While the picture was a modest success in 2012, earning $208 million worldwide off an $85 million budget, it’s easy to assume many audiences are discovering the film for the first time due to the globe’s most popular streaming service. And they’re seeing Reynolds in a way unlike any part he’s played in the last five years.

That’s by design, of course. After being unfairly tarred by the cruelest parts of the entertainment press as “box office poison,” the actor who spent close to a decade fighting to get Deadpool made has embraced the Merc with a Mouth persona audiences love. It’s why his version of Pikachu in Detective Pikachu feels both earnest, yet glibly aware of his cuteness; it’s how Reynolds’ Michael Bryce can be as acerbic in his wiseacre sensibility in the Hitman’s Bodyguard films as Wade Wilson; and it’s why his steady post-pandemic hit, Free Guy (which has grossed $302 million as of press time despite the Delta variant), can have Reynolds be both completely earnest and self-aware since he is literally the only character in his world who knows he’s a video game NPC.

While Reynolds only fully breaks the fourth wall when he actually is in his red and black undies, all of these roles are in the same wheelhouse as Wade, as is the actor’s social media image, which has even created a joking alter-ego named “Brother Gordon,” Ryan’s alleged twin brother who sells Aviation Gin, a liquor the actor maintains an ownership interest in.

Which is why Safe House is suddenly so fresh now. Bittersweet, even. On its own, it’s a fairly standard (some might even say substandard) thriller wherein frantic editing and shaky handheld camerawork attempts to evoke a sense of real-world tension and espionage. Washington’s played characters like Tobin Frost before, and in better films, but Reynolds hasn’t played a straight man, or a character with a dawning sense of despair, in a long, long time. What’s more, he’s actually quite good in scenes where his Weston character—a low-level CIA employee that winds up having to both capture and team-up with Frost—is driven to cynical horror at his boss’ realpolitik manipulation, or where he must tell the woman he loves that he’s been lying to her for months and now must ghost her.

This is diametrically opposed to his character in The Hitman’s Bodyguard who has a similar frenemy camaraderie with Samuel L. Jackson on multiple road trips, and yet that guy remains perpetually nonplussed about the constant stream of shootouts and chases he’s in. He even has time to crack wise with Jackson about their rivaling badassery.

The first Hitman’s Bodyguard is a better film than Safe House, but that earlier movie is a reminder that Reynolds is more than just one persona. It’s easy to imagine Safe House is not one of the actor’s favorite films. It’s from that awkward period in his career directly after the notorious box office flop Green Lantern in 2011. Indeed, much of the recurring meta-textual humor in both Deadpool movies is Reynolds having a laugh at Green Lantern’s expense, mocking what it did to his career… including by making it that much harder for Reynolds to get Deadpool off the ground.

Ironically, Reynolds had kind of played Wade Wilson before Green Lantern or Safe House, but in such a bastardized form during X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) that 20th Century Fox became skeptical toward the idea there was a large audience out there for Reynolds to have his spinoff. Meanwhile, for every forgettable success like Safe House he was in, Reynolds was only getting mainstream roles in other troubled productions like R.I.P.D. (2013) and The Change-Up (2011).

The irony is, however, that Reynolds was also doing some of his best and most diverse work during this period. Likely a contributing reason to him getting to play Hal Jordan was the box office success he had opposite Sandra Bullock in 2009 with The Proposal. But while that romantic comedy saw Reynolds dabble in the sarcastic wit which marks his earliest breakout success in the sitcom Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (1998-2001) and his current run of hits since Deadpool, his character in The Proposal is not a smartass. He’s a put-upon employee who is driven by completely earnest and embittered estrangement from his father.

Meanwhile, outside of his would-be blockbuster fare which came after that hit, Reynolds was doing genuinely impressive dramatic work on the indie circuit. His one-man turn in Buried (2010), in which he plays a military contractor who realizes he’s been buried alive in Iraq and has only only a cellphone and 90 minutes before his oxygen runs out, is claustrophobic and viscerally terrifying stuff. Conversely, his depiction of a mentally ill man who begins hearing conflicting advice from “the voices” of his dog and cat in Marjane Satrapi’s The Voices (2014) is arguably the best work Reynolds has done in his whole career. In that dark comedy, he plays both sad sack Jerry with sincere pathos while also truly disguising his speech patterns by inhabiting the sinister voice as his cat Mr. Whiskers and his sagacious dog, Bosco.

Neither of those films were box office hits, obviously, and none of them earned Reynolds the kind of universal love that Deadpool did. As bleakly amusing as Mr. Whiskers is, that’s not a character who can sell bottles of gin. But being reminded of that more diverse talent now, even while watching something as pedestrian as Safe House, is somewhat nice. He’s gone on to much better mainstream entertainment since 2012, but Reynolds is still more than Wade Wilson. That’s worth remembering.

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[littleredlie]

Intervention (S1P4)

Series Masterlist | Master Masterlist

Chicago Med x doctor!OC Morgan Fitzgerald is a doctor at Chicago Medical and she returns back after a two week break. However, we learn that she didn’t spend her entire break off and instead focused on her sister’s murder.  Based off S1E11 of Chicago Med

2.3k+ Words (Short chapter)

Featuring: Morgan Fitzgerald, Hayden Everett (mentioned), Will Halstead, Maggie Lockwood, Connor Rhodes, Kevin Atwater, Adam Ruzek, Jay Halstead (mentioned), Sarah Reese Warning:  mentions of rape and murder, idk what else ??? A/N: Yikes, I started writing this chapter and ended up writing the next chapter so I had to write the end of this one and the beginning of part 5. This part was hard to write because the episode didn’t have much action to put Morgan in and so I made it a kind of Morgan-centric episode. It’s very shot, I had no idea what I was doing. Part 5 is better and I’ve already started part six. Sorry in advance. And we will never talk about this chapter again.

Part Three

“Hey Morgan, welcome back.”

“Hey Mags, how’re you?” Morgan tosses her stethoscope around her neck and picks up a few papers sitting on the desk.

“Nope, nada. I wanna hear how your vacation went. You’re gone for two weeks and not a single person hears from you. You do not deserve to hear about any work drama until you spill.”

“I think you are being overdramatic. And not that you need to know, but Connor heard from me,” Morgan shrugs, not daring to look at the nurse. Maggie had an eyebrow raised and was giving her a look; it was similar to the one she did during Jay and the doctor’s interaction.

“You two really have history don’t you?”

“Yeah, we’ve known each other for almost 15 years. He knew my sister first, but he and I were just closer.” At the mention of her sister, Maggie sends her friend a soft but the latter still isn’t looking. “And we made this ridiculous promise while we were drunk about how we were always gonna be there for each other, and yet, neither of us have broken that promise.” Morgan is quiet for a second as she thinks about the time she and Connor had as friends, but then she moves on. Like she always does when it comes to her personal life. She never lingers on it long enough for people to try and figure her out. “My vacation though was very quiet. Hayden and I drove up to a resort  up north and rented a cabin. We skied, went to spas, ate luxurious food. She had to leave for an assignment early so I just relaxed and did a little research too.”

“So you went all the way to a resort just to work, eventually.”

“The work’s never done Maggie,” with that Morgan leaves with a smile, heading to   the first patient of her day. Maggie just watches her receding back.

Before Morgan can make it into her assigned examination room, someone walks up to her, placing a gentle hand on her lower back.

“Hey Fitz,” Connor says, a small smile on his face.

“Fitz? No one’s called me that since med school,” she chuckles fully stopping to look at him. “What can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to welcome you back. You look good.”

“Yeah, I guess time off was vital. But I have to know,” she pauses, the anticipation building and Connor waiting. “Does everyone know about Olivia? I’d suspect everyone would come to you for some clarification.”

Connor pauses, contemplating whether or not to spew out a white lie. It was true a few people came and prodded for the truth. And he briefly heard whispered conversations among colleagues before they would stop when he got near, but he knew what the topic was. Connor also knew how private Morgan was. She always had been, and after Olivia’s death she just became more closed off. But she also didn’t like being lied to. “Yeah, people know. I’ve tried to handle it, but it has its own life.”

“I guess it’s okay. I just…. I don’t know.” She shrugs and Connor rests his hands on her upper arms.

“Will you be okay?” His voice is sincere and Morgan wants to hug him, but maybe not right now.

“I will be,” at that Connor is about to pull away but Morgan stops him. “Hey, I wanted to apologize for being a bitch before I left. You know how my family gets me.”

“I understand. I do. And I’ll always give you the space you need.”

“Yeah, I know. But I probably shouldn’t push away my best friend. I need you, especially now.”

Connor pulls Morgan into a quick hug and is going to say something but a commotion arises from the ambulance bay.

“Dr. Rhodes, can you get this, please?” The two doctors pull apart and turn to the pleading charge nurse. “We’re slammed.” 

“I’m on it!” He answers back and throws a ‘talk later’ look to Morgan over his shoulder.

She nods back to him and finally turns her direction to her primary goal. With notes open about the patient on the tablet and a smile on her face, Dr. Fitzgerald returns to work.

          ❦

Three hours later, Morgan is on a roll. Treating patients as quickly and efficiently as she could. She had seen her usual coworkers, except Will. She may or may not have been avoiding him. And it was about to get easier, because after her lunch break she was heading up the OBGYN. She loved emergency medicine, but always felt that there weren’t enough available people in the emergency room that specialized in the field. Just like Connor was pursuing cardiothoracic surgery and Natalie was focused on emergency pediatrics, Morgan focused on obstetric and gynecology emergencies. It interested her just as much as emergency medicine did and after losing a pregnant patient when she first got her match, the choice came easy to her.

“Dr. Fitzgerald.” Maggie calls, pulling the doctor in her direction.

“Yes ma’am. What can I do for you?” Morgan leans her body on the desk as the ensuing chaos of the emergency room flutters around them.

“I just need a signature here for your last patient’s discharge papers.” 

“No problem.” Morgan pulls out a pen from her pocket and signs the paperwork. During this, Will siddles up to her. Maggie notices first and wants to usher him away, since she (along with everyone) noticed that Morgan was ignoring him, but the redhead ignored the nurse’s glares and he turned to Morgan, who still hadn't noticed that he was there.

“Morgan.”

Morgan’s plump lips fold into a thin line as a breath catches in her throat, she was avoiding this. Slowly placing the pen back into her jacket, she finally lays her eyes on him. “Dr. Halstead.”

“It’s good to see you back.” He starts, trying to catch her eyes which were fluttering around the hospital floor, evading. “I was hoping we co–” a ringtone interrupts his words and Morgan notices it’s coming from her. She breathes out a sigh of relief when she pulls it out. It may have been petty, but she wanted to stay angry at him a little longer. 

“Sorry, I have to take this.” Without a response, she answers the phone without looking at who it is, and walks away. “Hey, are you here?” She asked.

“Yeah, we’re in the parking garage, top floor.” His answer beckons her to start walking to the hospital employee parking lot.

“We?” Morgan questioned. 

“Yeah, Adam’s here.”

“Kevin!” She screeches, annoyance bubbling inside her. There was a reason she didn’t ask for Adam’s help.

“He’s my partner Morg, I couldn’t blow him off.” Kevin answers back and she pushes out an agitated sigh.

“Ugh, whatever. I’ll be up there in a few.” Morgan hands up and stuffs her cellphone back into her lab coat pocket.

The weather isn’t bad when Morgan hikes herself up to the top of the parking garage.  She can see the two policemen leisurely enjoying a cup of coffee.  She’d met Kevin years ago through his younger brother Jordan. The younger kid ended up in the hospital and Morgan was the one to treat him. They got to talking, found out they had some things in common, and it was one of the closest connections she made when she first moved out here and after Olivia’s death. Dating wasn’t an option between them, the way the two cared for each other was something close to two siblings and again, the fact that she dated Jay wasn’t helping. She didn’t want to dip her toe into the police dating pool again.

Morgan knew Adam through Kevin and Jay. And she made the mistake of introducing Adam to her roommate. Those two were quite the pair. Hayden used him as an inside source when it came to her articles and he used her to do things that he as a police officer legally couldn’t do (Morgan wasn’t necessarily supposed to know that though). Together, they made an agreement to warm each other’s bed when it was needed. Morgan of course thought it was stupid as Adam was a mess when it came to his love life, Hayden reassured that it was no strings attached and they were practically best friends when they weren’t sleeping together. 

Other than that, Morgan and Adam didn’t have a bad relationship, she didn’t want to ask him this favor because she knew he’d tell Hayden. And Morgan doesn’t want her roommate on her back.

“Hey boys,” Morgan called out to them, her body leaning through the open passenger window. She gives a strained smile to Adam and he gives her one back, knowing why she didn’t ask him to do the favor. Without saying anything, Kevin passes the folder she asked for.

It was surprisingly thinner than what she expected it to be. This killer has been on the loose for a while and she’d hoped that the police would listen to her anonymous tips that tried to tie together all his crimes. But the evidence showed that they didn’t.

“This is all they have Kev?” Morgan flips through the pages, disappointment written on her face. 

“Yeah.  I tried digging up some more, but that’s all that was available.”

“God, cops are so fucking useless.” She huffs out, completely missing the offended faces on the two detectives. “I have more in my own files than this. I tried taking it in, but I keep getting shut down.”

“Morgan, you can’t do this by yourself.” Adam finally speaks up, placing a hand on her wrist. She pulls her eyes away from the paperwork to him. 

“But it seems like no one else wants to do the work. Olivia’s case has gone cold and I feel like the longer that it goes unsolved, the harder it will be to get justice.” Olivia’s throat aches as a sob threatens to creep out. There are tears brimming in her eyes and she turns her body away from the two men.

“I understand that, doc. But, you already have to worry about your patients and yourself.” Adam starts, glancing at Kevin, trying to get his partner to say something. The black man is unsure what to say, he’d recently learned about Morgan’s sister when she first asked him to acquire the files. 

“Why don’t we take a look into it?” Kevin says and Adam wants to hit him upside the head. Adam had promised Hayden that he would help Morgan move on, which meant getting Olivia’s investigation out of her mind. If he and Kevin pursued this case, Morgan would never let it rest.

“Would you really do that?” Morgan almost throws herself into the car, hope filling in her chest. “You’d do actual investigating?” Kevin hesitates when he meets eye contact with Adam,  but the look on Morgan’s face destroys him.

“Yeah, I’ll try to do some work in between my regular caseload.” There’s a soft smile on Kevin’s face while Adam sighs out then turns his head to look at the giddy doctor.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me Kevin. You too, Adam.” Before the second man could say anything, Morgan’s phone goes off indicating the arrival for one of her pregnant patients. “Looks like I have to go. Why don’t you come over tonight and I’ll give you everything that I have.” She smiles at both of them. “And Adam, please don’t tell Hayden or Jay.”

“Jay?” Adam questions. He understood why she didn’t want him to tell Hayden, but Jay?

“Yeah, Jay. The two of us are in a really good spot right now and I don’t want to jeopardize that anymore that it already has been.” Adam nods, understanding. “I’ll see you guys later.” With that, Morgan makes her way back into the hospital.

          ❦

Between patients Morgan finds herself peeking into the folder that Kevin gave her. One name stands: Isaac Elway. Apparently, his sister was a victim to the same killer that ended Olivia’s life. Details of the horrific crime, along with her sisters, were displayed in the paperwork. Morgan’s read the information about Olivia’s case numerous times before, but it still breaks her heart and it constantly keeps her up at night.

When she has no more patients, she pulls out a card with number on it. It’s Elway’s. She dials the number, her fingernail being demolished by the teeth in her mouth. She didn’t know why she was so nervous, she’d been searching for answers for years. This was the first time she had heard of Elway and she had to know what he knew. Why was phone number in the file? Was he that important.

The phone rings and anxiety rises in Morgan’s throat. Eventually she had to get answers, that’s why she had Kevin looking into more details. No one answers the other line, just the automated voicemail message and a beep. Morgan quickly debates in her head whether or not to leave a message,  but ultimately she does.

“Hi, Mr. Elway this Dr. Morgan Fitzgerald at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center.  I am calling in regards to Sabrina Elway’s case file and it’s relation to another case. This isn’t a topic would like to discuss over the phone so I’d appreciate it if you would give me a call back. Thank you.” She hangs up the call and shoves the phone back into the pocket of her scrubs. 

“Dr. Fitzgerald, I need an OB consult on a patient?” Dr. Reese pokes her head through the door, oblivious to the emotions ripping the attending.

“Yeah, give me a moment.  I’ll be there.” The intern nods her head and retreats back towards the nurse’s central desk.

Morgan watches Sarah leave and then her eyes graze over the presence of her fellow doctors and the patients inhabiting the emergency room. She needed to accept that she will get her answers soon and that she could not speed the process of the world. She couldn’t afford getting distracted or she’d put herself and her patients in danger. She leaves the doctor’s lounge and heads back to her job, finally relinquishing control of her sister’s case.

Part Five

[younghoax]

Sunday 20th June • Somewhere in Midtown

He’s only going for a piss. Ain’t gonna let a bunch of bozos put him off going to the bathroom in his own damn apartment, but he ain’t about to humour them, either. The bathroom door is right outside his bedroom. Just a short turn to the right and there it is. Easy fuckin’ peasy.

In theory.

“J!” Marco calls just as he reaches the handle. Spies him from the couch and waves him over. “Come light up kid. ‘Ey-- Benny’ll roll you one.”

The doorknob is already under his hand and Jordan twists it. Ignores the half-strangers that try to lure him across the room. Around half a dozen of them smoking in his living room with some kinda rap music playing from what he’s pretty sure is just a cellphone. Fuck that. He could go his whole life without facing these dickheads again and it’d still be too damn soon.

Dissatisfied with being ignored, Marco stands from the couch, steps over a couple legs and shoves the rest aside to get through until he reaches Jordan by the bathroom door. “Vieni qui piccolo,” Marco drawls through a grin, the guys sat around him on the couch repeating, “sì vieni qui piccolo,” laughing around joints and Jordan just stands there, arms crossed over his bare chest as he squints. Marco snides, “we got space. Sit on Benny’s lap if you gotta.”

With nothing else on Jordan’s body to grab, Marco tugs at the waistband of his shorts, the other hand reaching for the side of his neck. J squirms out from under his hands though, palms shoving the man’s chest. He hadn’t picked up on it until now, but his roommate must be on something.

Piccolo. He ain’t Marco’s fuckin’ baby. “Fuck outa here,” he grunts, letting them whoop and cackle like he just gave ‘em something to crack up about as he turns to continue his short trip to the bathroom. Not fuckin’ short enough.

“Come smoke with us, J,” his roommate tries again. “So tense all the fuckin’ time these days.”

“Yeah, well, got shit to worry about. A job and shit, y’know?” Nah, he wouldn’t know. “You ever heard o’one?”

Another audible reaction from their audience and Marco’s raising his voice slightly over the other voices. “What, like sellin’ those pills? Yeah, real good fuckin’ job you did of that, J. Complimenti!” The man cheers and his clowns cheer along. Probably aren’t even listening to what’s being said, just following their divine leader.

Sure, it took him a minute, but he wasn’t gonna sell to just anybody like Marco’s boys do. He gives a shit about the people that take it off his hands. Besides, they’re gone now. So what? “Stop fuckin’ speaking Italian, you were born in Staten Island from a schmuck from Texas, y’fuckin’ clown.”

“Fuckin’ talk about my old man, J.”

It’s Fathers’ day which is a laugh. Or, it would be if Marco weren’t so high that the irony’s lost on him. Got no fucking idea what day of the week it even is.

“A’right. Where’d you want me to start?”

There’s a single, “oh, shit,” that Jordan guesses the rest of the gang decide against humouring, Marco’s face going cold in a second. He doesn’t even get within six feet of Jordan when he says, “shut your fuckin’ mouth.”

“Nah, he was an alright father,” J tells him with a shrug, hands slipping into the pockets of his basketball shorts as his head lulls to one side. “Kept you fed, ‘ight? Soda and cigs by age fourteen. A nice, rounded fuckin’ diet.”

Looks like Marco thinks that’s the end of it because he gifts him with a short laugh, head shaking as he turns and swats one of his boys off the nearest armchair. Leaves him to find a new place to sit as he claims the space for himself. “Y’funny.”

J ain’t finished, though.

“Kept you safe too, eh? Got you a nice group of friends. Doubled as your babysitters. Oh neat!” He cheers. Nobody cheers along. “What was your favourite activity? Mine was a tie… Either counting cash and weighing coke with the boys or going to the park to play collect the syringes on the playground whilst daddy’s friends did their deals.”

“This meant to be hurting my feelings, J? Cause last I checked, you never had a dad.”

“How about the part where he beat you before bedtime? Bet that knocked you out like a light, eh? Get your eight hours, Marco? Yeah, he was the man.” A pause. “Y’just like him.”

Marco’s not moved. His friends ain’t said a word. Except one, who asks, “you takin’ that, Coney?” but he’s ignored by all parties. Marco scoffs, arms folded over his chest now, slouched back in his seat. “You wanna pretend like you hate me? It make y'feel better?”

“I do. I do fuckin’ hate you. You had me fooled back then Marco, but I see you now, doll. You ain’t shit. You’re suffocating me. Y’spoilt yourself. I realised how much of a fuck-up you are, and you ran outa people who gave a shit about you. Think these guys’d be here if not for your old man?” A roll of his eyes and J’s turning yet again to enter the bathroom, his words muttered. “Is that why you used to keep me at such a distance back then? In case I saw the light and stopped fucking worshipping you? Well, I see you in all your glory now, Marco, and it’s fucking ugly.”

Marco just scoffs behind him. “You still worship me.”

Jordan shakes his head, turning back again crossing the room to where the man is slouched in his chair, this dopey fucking smile on his face like he’s got him with that one. Like he didn’t spend years pushing J away, scared he’d see all the wrong sides of him. Spend years pining when Jordan moved states. Spent years in Jordan’s pocket when he got back, scared to be left alone with the big, bad wolves of the city again. As if he ain’t one of them. Worse, because at least those guys know what the fuck they are.

Jordan pauses in front of him. Spits. Tells him, “rot.”

That's all it takes to get a rise. Not a jab at his late father or his pathetic friends. Just the reality that Marco, himself, ain’t shit. To Jordan or to anybody. Marco’s out of his seat, arms around Jordan for long enough to get the leverage he needs to slam him to the ground, then it’s a rush of fists and nails. J grabs at the back of his shirt, trying to tug him off himself but has more luck shoving his elbows between them as a fist makes the first real impact to his side.

He can’t hear what’s happening around them, just hears his own breath punch out before Marco grunts and does the same again. J’s off to a shitty start with two punches to none and he’s still shoving to no avail at Marco’s torso until he finally gets a decent jab in and has his roommate doubling over. One quick manoeuvre and they’re flipped. J doesn’t hesitate, gets a good hit to Marco’s jaw and soon the guy’s reaching around, punching at his back and sides.

“I’ll fuckin’ kill you,” he spits, doesn’t know what exactly it is that he’s seething about, but it’s months -years- or built-up anger exploding out of him as his hands land around Marco’s throat and the guy keeps punching, but J tenses his body. Tenses his hands, squeezes, and feels Marco abandon his punches in exchange for shoves much like Jordan’s own; all elbows. He feels the man try to shift – try to turn his head, wondering where the fuck his so-called friends are whilst his roommate grits his teeth above him, squeezes harder like he’s trying to break his neck. And maybe Jordan is, he’s not sure, but—

There are half a dozen hands-on him outa nowhere and Jordan’s torn away from Marco with such strength that he lands halfway into the bathroom, bare back skidding against the floor, bruised skin burning from the friction as he stops in the room he’d been trying to get to all along. Only this time there are three pairs of fists punching as he curls up on himself.

There’s a kick and, somewhere in the back of his mind, Jordan thinks that’s a low fucking blow, three against one and now somebody’s kicking. But then there’s a couple more, simultaneously and, with his arms wrapped over his head, shoes pummelling into his sides and his arms and his legs, Jordan can’t tell how many of them are standing over him. Doesn’t know how the fuck they all piled into the tiny bathroom. He hears himself grunt, hears his own heavy, wretched breathing, hears his pulse and hears Marco choke, “stop. Get off him. Get the fuck off him!”

And just like that, they stop.

---

Everybody’s gone. It’s just the two of them sat beside each other on the couch, the kitchen light on and just barely illuminating the room from where it stretches to their side of it. Silent, watching the screen like it’s on. Like it’s not just black.

They haven’t been alone for long. Someone shot out an offer to take care of J. Something about getting him outa Marco’s hair for good. Marco lost his shit. J didn’t really have it in him to listen. Just paid attention for long enough to confirm that his roommate wasn’t about to confirm a kill order on him. He just lay there, the side of his face pressed against the bathroom floor, arms around his waist and knees drawn up and Marco cleared the room out. Then he’d knelt beside Jordan, hooked an arm under each of his, and pulled him up and towards the couch.

Honestly, considering there was a handful of them and they’re meant to be the big, bad wolves of Manhattan, J ain’t really hurting half as bad as he’d expected. All fuckin’ talk. Don’t mean he ain’t hurting, though. He’s pretty sure nothing’s broken.

“I crossed a line,” Jordan mutters now, a bag of frozen corn pressed to his side as he tries to breathe short and hollow. Tries not to move more than he has to. “I’m sorry.”

The freezer’s otherwise empty, so Marco decided to be courteous. Let J take the bag of frozen food whilst he suffered. “They won’t touch you again,” the man replies, his voice hoarse. His own version of an apology, Jordan’s pretty sure. “I’ll kill ‘em before they do.”

“What about you?” Jordan asks, and the man looks confused. “You gonna put hands on me again?”

“You started it.”

“S’just a question.”

A small laugh leaves his roommate's lips then; jaw slightly swollen and growing darker, and he shows his teeth for just a second before he closes his lips around a smile. “Probably. Can’t stand you.”

“Yeah?” Hard not to smile. J wishes he could explain why. He elbows him lightly and they both hiss in discomfort. “Back at you.”

Marco’s face ain’t so bad other than the welt on his jaw, but his throat is starting to bruise, and he hasn’t spoken above a mumble or a whisper since he called off his army. He’s a little hunched too, probably isn’t aching even half as much as Jordan is, but enough that, when they both fall into a soft bout of laughter, mostly huffing out breaths, they’re also both sucking air back in between their teeth again in pain. The synchronicity only pulls another chuckle from both, until they’re shaking their heads in unison and pulling their eyes from each other, looking back at the blank screen.

“I know,” Marco mutters before he slowly, carefully leans back into the couch. “I know you don’t fuckin… Worship me anymore.” Well, no shit. “We’re barely even friends.” Barely? That’s generous. “But I do regret what I did. Back on the Upper West Side. I think about it all the time.”

Jordan just nods. They’ve never talked about it. Somehow, it’s just never been brought up since. Both men as embarrassed as the other.

“Why’d you do it? Why’d you blame me?”

Lower lip between his teeth, Marco’s eyes are scanning the walls when Jordan looks over to him again. He looks a lot like he did that afternoon, nodding and repeating ‘yes, sir. Yes, sir. No, sir. I’m sorry, sir,’ as his dad spoke in that tone like he wasn’t gonna hit you but he might just kill you.

He looks guilty as sin. And his voice cracks when he speaks.

“I knew you’d run,” he tells him simply. “I was too scared. Saved up all that money to get outa there and never fuckin’ did it, but I knew you would.”

“Bullshit. You took a swing and then you passed the bat. You left me for dead. Y’thought I was gonna die just as much as I did.”

“I didn’t know what to do! What was I meant to do? His boys were downstairs, he was so fucking angry. I was scared, J.”

“Yeah, well so was I.” Jordan scoffs. “While you locked yourself in your bedroom to fuckin cry about it, your dad was beating the shit out of me upstairs for your fuckin’ lie. I didn’t know you stole those drugs, Marco. Fuckin’ asshole. I mean—what were you doing, eh? When I was up there. Counting another wad of stolen bills you had laying around?”

“I called Danny,” Marco snaps. “Put my fuckin’ neck on the line for you, calling him.”

That’s fucking rich. Jordan’s fucking hero picked up a phone and whispered an S.O.S down the line. “Well, then. I guess everything’s fine, then. Ain’t it?” Another scoff and he has to tear his eyes away from the man. Can’t fucking look at him, the way his brows bow like he’s got something to feel sorry about. “You only cared about yourself.”

“I was in love with you!”

“You’re pathetic.”

The light in the kitchen has something loose. A filament that rattles and makes the faintest tingling sound. It took a couple months of convincing himself that he’d accumulated tinnitus before Jordan figured it out. One of the many annoying fucking sounds in this apartment, right after the ticking boiler and the sound of Marco’s voice. There’s a long silence that he welcomes though. Is glad to hear the sound of the damn light if it means not listening to--

“You loved me,” the man decides, his voice level. Factual. “You were obsessed with me-- Don’t look at me like it ain’t true, Jordan. Fuck you. You loved me and you were fucking scared, too.”

Their first kiss was in a fucking storage container, full of cocaine and lit by a solar lamp. They fucked on the ground, lasted no more than five fucking minutes. And they’d talk back then, sure. Jordan’s mom would be off somewhere, and Marco’s dad would be making his next big deal, and they’d find themselves alone, watching TV or tryna cook their own food or navigate the ferry when they were a little too high. Back then Jordan would pretend they were a couple. In his head, they were cooking after a long day of work. Sitting down and watching TV. Putting their feet up after a long day. Making out when it was late and nobody else was around. Finally a moment alone.

And yet.

“You’re right, I was obsessed with you,” Jordan admits. “Everything you did was like… Fuckin’ genius. I wanted to be you. With you. Whatever.” Marco’s eyes light up, still needing to hear Jordan say it, after all these years. Still needing someone to tell him he ain’t nothing. “But I can honestly say, hand on fuckin’ heart, that I wasn’t in love with you. Not even for a second. Not even a little fuckin’ bit. I was fifteen and I was horny and I was bored of being scared all the damn time. So I picked the first asshole that kissed me and I latched onto it.”

“You’re full o’shit. You don’t even know what love—”

“I fucking know, Marco.” He doesn’t realise that he has it in him to stand until he’s on his feet, wincing as he forces himself to straighten up. “Y’really got yourself convinced that my life stayed miserable when I got outa here, huh?” Jordan accuses, bare arms crossed over a bare chest, soggy, defrosting bagged corn soaking into the couch. He could tell him about how he fell in love and it wasn’t even close to the shit Marco put him through. Could tell him that what happened in Massachusetts hurt more than what happened in Marc’s attic. Could tell him that he just fucking wants to go home but his home died in a prison cell with a needle in his arm.

Thing is, he ain’t sure Marco deserves to hear it.

“I didn’t fucking love you,” he tells him. “And I’m moving out.”

[theobaldhoratio]

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