#Sophie's just there for the juicy gossip

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

[rafesbunny]

just a friend- rc 🎀

where r and rafe are childhood friends, but will that all change?

it was finally friday, and you could relax and forget about the the tiresome week you just had. sarah, your best friend, said that after school you could go hang out round her pool with your mom before you two had to go out. you and your mom didn’t have the best relationship, everything she said seemed to have some snarky attitude to it and her compliments were always backhanded, but either way ever since you were little you two would go to the theatre every week to watch whatever was on. you loved the theatre it was a place to escape from your life and the opportunity to get sucked into someone’s else’s reality. it was a bit ironic that you would go to your place to escape from your mom with your mom, but it didn’t matter who you were with, as long as you were at the theatre. not too long after you had arrived your sister, scarlett and her friend , the older cameron daughter, sophie, arrived, and you took off your clothes, revealing your sweet little red bikini. you always have cherished your relationship with your sister, despite the five year age gap she was your best friend. you felt like a child again, playing mermaids, splashing each other and gossiping with a drink in your hand around the pool.

as you got out and dried yourself off, slipping back into your shorts and oversized tee, a giggly wheezie came out attacking you, scarlett and sophie with a water gun, getting you drenched again. and trailing behind her and scolding her was rose who was also bringing over a plate of juicy, colourful fruit over, “i’m so sorry girls” she apologised, but you just laughed and dismissed her with a shake of your head, how could you ever stay mad at wheez? as you continued talking to your sister and her friend, and rose caught up with your mom, she exclaimed to everyone, “you guys come for the annual celebration tonight! it will be lots of fun, plus it’s not too dressy so you could borrow something from the girls,” she said to you and scarlett, and to your mom, “and i can give you something of mine” your eyes lit up, you’ve always wanted to go to the cameron’s annual party but your mom never allowed you to go. you’ve heard about how amazing it was from whispers in the hall way and from peoples stories on snapchat and instagram: they would have heaps of food, from every cuisine you could think of; games and competitions, that were silly but everyone wanted to win; music blasting through the speaker, whether that be from a delicately made playlist throughout the years or from a live band; and an open bar that would serve everyone. “maybe, we’ve got plans” your mom said coldly, you looked at her pleadingly but she just ignored your attempts to get her to change her mind.

finally sarah, had arrived home and came into the garden. you two have always been friends ever since you were little girls learning their abc’s, even when you two grew up, you had stayed in the same friendship group. your other friends were a lot more like sarah, they were bubbly and outgoing and adventurous, and you were still bubbly but in bigger groups you were more reserved and kept to yourself, this meant that you never really went out with them outside of school, much preferring the solidarity of your room. as she got down to the pool she stripped off her clothes revealing her bathing suit, she also brought up the grand event happening later, “you guys should totally stay, it will be the best time. you’ve never come before so it will be even better as it’s your first time”. you girls slipped back into the pool and as you swam to the middle of it you whispered, “yeah just gotta convince my mom, y’know how she is” sarah understood, she’d known how yours and your moms relationship has been for years now so she gave you a sympathetic smile. you’d been doing gentle, slow laps of the pool for nearly an hour now when you decided to get out and dry off, the stage for later was being set up and caterers were making their way in and out of garden. even though you probably wouldn’t be staying, you and your sister decided to help set up. as you and sarah were doing some finishing touches, rafe walked out in those beige kook shorts he always sported and a lose white linen button up, he gave you a nod of acknowledgment and made his way over to rose to see what he needed to do before guests started to arrive. you, sarah and rafe used to be a little trio when you were younger, always going out together, if it was to the beach, the zoo or just to the park, you were always together. every weekend you would all have a sleepover and during the summer it was practically nearly everyday, and during the day, if you were busy at a family event, they would also be invited and vise vera. you were inseparable. but as you grew older you drifted away from rafe, he started to hang out with his own friends more, he wouldn’t hang out with you and sarah as much, he only would if you were at Tannyhill and he wasn’t busy. there was no bad blood or any argument that happened, you guys just simply grew up. but even with that the whole of the island knew not to mess with rafes girls- his sisters, and you.

slowly guests start arriving, it was mainly younger couples with children, as they couldn’t stay until too late they just showed up early to make the most of it. Sarah grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the stage which had five chairs with a deflated balloon on each, sarah was too your left and rafe was to your right. you looked rafe and then went to look back at Sarah but she was gone, rafe saw your puzzled expression and pointed at the stage and there sarah was with a mic in her hand. “what is going on?” you asked rafe in bewilderment. “basically every year we host the same competion. it’s only silly but everyone loves it. five people from an age range- so these ones coming on will be like ten years old, and the next will be like teenagers and so on- and out of these age groups they have to blow up a balloon and whoever pops it first wins out of that age group. then out of the end of the night all the winners from different age ranges compete against each other for the ultimate winner. it’s stupid but everyone has fun” you laughed softy at the stupidity of it all but you loved it, you wished you could stay longer, “you think i could win?” “doubt you would win against me” “is that a challenge mr cameron?” “maybe it is” you two bantered back and forth. as sarah was explaining the rules to the children, through the mic, your mom was talking obnoxiously loud from where she lounged on the sun bed next to rose. out of the corner of your eye you could see rafe turning his head quickly to look at her, clearly getting agitated. you knew he was stressed because no matter how silly this was all, he hated seeing people disrespect the effort his family had gone through to set this up, he also knew how mad ward could get at this too and didn’t want to deal with that later. you just about heard him murmur , “oh my god just shut up” as he ran his hand down his face and turned the top half of his body to glare down at your mom. with your best efforts, you pushed rafes shoulder so he was back to looking at the stage and said to him, “just tune her out and ignore her, y’know that’s what i do” with a playful smile on your face. chuckling at your lighthearted joke, he put his arm around your shoulders bringing you into the side of his chest as you watched the group of tots try to blow up a balloon. after it was done, sarah got off the stage and made her way back over to everyone else gleaming, she always managed to bring the light into any room. as you stood around talking another one of your friends showed up, grace, she embraced you in a big hug causing you to detach from rafes hold. your conversation got onto the topic of an upcoming party, it was this girl in your english class birthday soon and she was hosting a house party with nearly everyone from your year and other people from outside the island, and afterwards instead of everyone going home you’d camp on her fields she had attached to her house. you weren’t really that close with her, the only conversations you had was when you sat next to her in english, but she was a sweet girl so you were you to go and celebrate her big day with her. plus who were you to say no to a party! this obviously sparked something in sarah as she once again grabbed your hand and dragged you over to where rose was sun bathing, “rose y/n is going to that party in a few weeks!” this was her way of subtly asking rose again if she could go, you have always been the person who your friends parents trusted the most so you were used to people telling their parents you were going to something so that they could go. “well then i guess you two could go together” sarah squeezed your hand out of excitement she could now go and she carried on rambling about the event. this physical touch made you realise rafe wasn’t here now with you guys, the thought of that made your heart ache. why though? he was just a friend.

[cloudcountry]

Beethoven is a boyboss fr fr ✊ /lh

SJDBFS HELP I’m loving your love for Zero,, And thanks for the birthday wishes, too! >w< 

As promised, here are those TWST thoughts/ideas I had- Keep in mind they’re all really random, so they may be a bit unhinged-

(Also, sorry I didn’t send this in sooner! My birthday was yesterday and things were pretty busy!)

TWST Thoughts (General)

-Rook would be such a fan of Shakespeare

-Yuu/Reader riding on Kraken!Azul’s shoulder,, I saw this as a fanart piece once, where both of them are peeking out of the seawater looking at an island far away, and I can’t stop thinking about it

-Savanaclaw students but it’s just this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KSVUZsiEAQ

-Okay but seriously, we don’t consider the talking paintings of NRC much. I remember seeing a fan comic where a siren in a painting lured a Yuu!MC to them and was about to hurt/most likely kill them (the comic was in Japanese, so I couldn’t get the full context), but Jade managed to snap them out of their trance (and then slashed the painting soon after Yuu!MC was gone). This comic has etched itself into my mind and now I’m wondering what other types of paintings in NRC there are,, There’s gotta be some pretty wacky ones, right?? Do they know all the juicy gossip going around school??

-The iconic Howl and Sophie moment where they walk through the air together but with Yuu/Reader and Malleus/Lilia

-TWST as a musical. I know I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again 😩

-TWST Zombie Apocalypse AU,,

-Speaking of AUs, I’ve had the random thought of the TWST cast being freedom fighters/part of a revolution,, I’ve been rewatching Les Misérables songs, that’s why 💀 (Though, then again, some of them literally helped save the world in Idia’s chapter, so I guess it’s not that farfetched-)

-TWST AU where literally everything is the same except Idia is a dog person (It’s a cursed thought, I know)

-TWST Corpse Bride AU (I have a lot of AU thoughts-)

-Now that I think about it, Jamil would have a heart attack once he hears about Kalim’s escapade in Playful Land 💀

-I can’t imagine Riddle handling spice,, You could put ketchup on something and he’d think it’d be spicy /j

-Okay, this is kind of a long one, but this is based off a Genshin Impact theory I saw; I’m kinda paraphrasing the theory, but one of the characters, Bennett, has astronomically bad luck. Like, can’t even have a normal day without something happening, kind of bad luck. The theory was that Bennett’s bad luck stemmed from the thought that the world itself didn’t like him and had forsaken him. As such, bad things happen to him all the time. I kinda shifted this theory onto Yuu in Twisted Wonderland, but I changed it just a little bit. Yuu themselves aren’t from Twisted Wonderland, they’re from another world entirely. They don’t belong there, and so the world itself is trying to get rid of them, and Yuu is now experiencing the same experiences of bad luck Bennett has. Sometimes it’s little things, like a rock falling on their head, or they trip a little on some uneven ground. Sometimes it’s not-so-little things, like almost getting struck by lightning, a tree falling on them, or the ground suddenly giving way under them when they’re on a mountain hike with Jade and now they’re falling into a river— I’m sure you get the point. Yuu is, quite literally, hated by the world itself and it wants them gone. (Which, now that I think about it, is a little creepy if you think about the implications; the world itself is alive, has a conscience, and it’s entirely against you.)

-The TWST cast but they all work as weather anchors at the same station. 

(This is purely because of these two videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Goz0PnhEg8 + https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXuc7SAyk2s

-Okay, so you know how in Hunchback in Notre Dame Quasimodo swings around the church on ropes and stuff? I love the image of Yuu doing the same thing around Noble Bell College,, Maybe they get into the final fight with Rollo and get pushed off the edge, but they manage to grab onto a loose rope and swing back around or something,,

-I just love the image of Yuu and the Adeuce duo shaking with laughter and leaning on each other for emotional support,,

-The TWST cast, but they’re all in a school band-

-Are there guns in Twisted Wonderland??

-You know how Ace and Deuce went to Scarabia because of Yuu’s emergency message? I NEED there to be a fic of them travelling together and freaking out along the way there. I want these two to be in a taxi. I want these two on a boat. /lh

I do have a few more thoughts (mainly on TWST Reader concepts- *cough*), but I don’t haven’t had the time to type them all out,, I hope you like these ones, though! :D

Jackdaw Anon 🐦

JAHSGDJAHS THANK YOu!!!! zero is sososoososo sweet im foaming at the mouth whenever is ee him. i finished hsi route a few days agao and now i MISS HIM :((( UGH ZERO COME BACK JONAH IS SO WEIRD

PLS DONT WORRY ABOUT IT it takes me FOREVER to get to long asks because my brain lags when i see them SO YORUE FINE

i agree w you on rook because shakespeare >>>>>>

PELAS EPELASE PLEASE JUST A WEIRD PERSON AND THEIR BEST FRIEND KRAKEN I NEED IT I NEED ITTTTTTTTT

OOOOOOOOO honestly talking paintings is such a concept sometimes i forget abt that thing w cater.,.,.,.,.

AWWW :(( please give that idea to lilia it just fits so much bette rin my head theyre so cute

idia pspspspspsing jack....................

JAMILW OUDL FUCKINGD IE IF HE HEARD ABOUT THAT HOLYS HIT OMGGG/!??!?!?!

riddle cant handle spice but thats because of his MOTHER WHO SUCKED AT PARENTING >:T

awww,..,., wait that theory is so creepy and so SAD . gahhh AZUL MAKE A CONTRACT WITH THE WORLD SO IT DOESNT HURT YUU ANYMORE PELASE!!!! A S A P!!!!!!!

THEY SWING BACK AROUND AND KICK HIM IN THE BACK AND KNOCK HIM OUT HELL YEAH

there are probably guns in twst.,,.., i dont see why nnot!!!!

JSAHDGJHAS I KNWO RIGHT??? THEIR TRAVELLING PROCESS WAS PROBABLY SO MESSY KNOWING THEM HELP ME ^&$!%^@!$@!

TEHSE WERE ALL SO SILLY THANK YOUUUUU

[iliveiloveiwrite]

Flash of Mauve, Splash of Puce // Colin Bridgerton

Request: Hi Millie!! Could I request a Colin Bridgerton comfort fic, in which the reader gets anxious about their grand first soirée as newlyweds? 🧡 - @gryffindors-weasley

A/N: Oh Sophie, I do adore this request. Thank you so much for requesting! I hope I have done it justice! This does get a little steamy towards the end so I apologise if that makes anyone uncomfortable or if it offends anyone (that wasn't my intention). Title: The Phantom of the Opera - Masquerade.

Pairing: Colin Bridgerton x Fem!Reader

Warnings: use of female pronouns, use of the word ‘wife’, masquerade balls, lots of fluff and comfort, anxiousness, worries, panic, ballroom dancing, mentions of alcohol. THIS GOT ACCIDENTALLY STEAMY AND THEN FADES TO BLACK, I AM APOLOGISING NOW.

Word count: 3.2k

The annual masquerade ball held exclusively at Bridgerton House was not an event to be missed. Anyone who was anyone in London society was invited; it was a night in which alliances were forged, relationships bloomed, and wit tested to its very brink.

There was no better hostess than that of Violet Bridgerton; her astute eye caught every imperfection, fixing it within a matter of moments. Having held this ball for close to thirty years, she knew exactly how to play the crowd to achieve the perfect reaction.

This meant that her family had to be punctual; they had no excuse for lateness no matter how early into a marriage they find themselves. Violet Bridgerton rarely demanded anything of her children; happy for them to find their own way in life with only little interference on her behalf, but she would absolutely not accept her beloved children being late to their own mother’s ball when they have been guests at the event for all of their lives.

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

The rings sit happily on your left hand. At the right angle, they shimmer in the light of the room, bringing a small smile to your face even as you release a shaky breath. Your gown of gold hugs your figure, cut in the same style as your wedding dress. The skirts flare out in a manner that you know would be spectacular when spun around the dancefloor.

Nerves were beginning to make themselves known; in the shaking of your hands, the turning of your stomach and the wateriness of your smile. Tonight would be your first event with Colin as your husband. How many balls had he courted you at? Four? Five? Too many to count yet tonight was something else entirely; a new level to your life that felt as if it was going to be inspected at every turn.

Pinching your cheeks, you try to bring some colour to your face, hoping it would do something to bring some life into your worried expression.

The door to your bedroom opens with a small click. In the mirror, you spy the muscular figure of the man you had pledged your forever to. Colin shuts the door to your room; leaning back against it with a satisfied smile.

“Are you going to stand there all night?” You ask, trying to keep the hope out of your voice. You’d give anything to stop the growing worry turning your gut to lead, even if that meant trapping yourself in your room all night.

Colin remains silent, his blue eyes growing darker as his gaze runs over the way your dress hangs from your body. The tightened waist pushing your breasts higher on your chest; he lets his stare linger there for a moment before meeting your eyes in the mirror and smiling wickedly.

You roll your eyes, returning your focus to ridding yourself of the worry plaguing you. Logically you knew that tonight was going to be a wonderful evening; spending time with your family and dancing with your new husband. Yet, you couldn’t help but panic over the myriad of eyes watching your every move, waiting for you to mess up in some shape or form so it can become the juicy material whispered around high tea in the week after the ball.

Without a word, Colin pushes himself off the door, strolling leisurely to where you stand before the large mirror. “You look exquisite,” Colin murmurs, trailing feather light kisses along your shoulder to the base of your neck. You tilt your head, giving your insatiable husband easier access to the skin he had spent most of the honeymoon marking with his lips.

He shifts your hair to one side, dropping a slow kiss to the nape of your neck before whispering against your skin, “If I wasn’t so terrified of my mother’s wrath, I would have removed this dress by now.”

Laughter leaves your lips, but it doesn’t sound right. It sounds strangled; too much emotion clogging up your throat, making it hard for the laughter to sound genuine. If you had it your way, Colin would be removing your dress, kissing you on whatever piece of skin a button reveals.

“Darling,” Colin whispers, gently commanding, “Look at me.”

Turning to face him, you can just about make out his brunette hair. The rest of his face is blurred with tears that threaten to fall with the ever growing need to blink. His hands are gentle as he clasps your face; thumbs stroking your cheekbones in a comforting manner.

“If you can, tell me what the matter is.”

Releasing a deep breath, your hands shake slightly as you whisper, “There are so many people coming tonight.”

“It’s the largest ball of the season…” Colin admits. “You know my mother,” He offers apologetically.

“They’re going to be watching us. Watching me, checking for signs…”

“For signs of what?”

“That the marriage is prosperous,” You stutter, uncomfortable with the idea of so many eyes on you so soon after your wedding.

Colin frowns; hands slipping from your face to your shoulders where he rubs soothing circles into the bare skin. Your eyes slip closed from the simple touch; skin heating at the feel of your husband’s hands.

“Think of it as no different from any other ball you have been to,” His hands drop to your waist, pulling you to him, “I am going to be here the entire time.”

You hide your face in his chest, your arms coming up to hold him. “I hate the speculation.”

“I do too,” Colin mutters. “I’d like to live my life without constant comment from the ton but it’s part and parcel of being a Bridgerton.”

You sigh, keeping your face hidden in his chest, relishing the way his hands run up and down your back. “It’s our first big outing as a newly married couple,” You state smally, “I’m scared.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” Colin asks, a smile gracing his face.

“What?”

“I’m scared too.”

“You are?” You gasp, your eyes running over his face, trying to find a hint of the fear and worry you feel.

He nods. “But I have you by my side all night so I know I can face it.”

“You have me,” You state firmly. “Do I have you?”

“You have me,” He promises, “Now and forever.”

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

The gossips of the London ton could never deny one thing: Violet Bridgerton always outdid herself. She always managed to keep the theme of the night current and the decorations spellbinding.

This year’s theme for the annual Bridgerton Ball was the sun and the stars tied in with the masquerade that Violet so adores.

Your golden gown shimmers under the light of the room; catching sight of the youngest Bridgertons – Gregory and Hyacinth – arguing over something impossible to decipher. Colin remains a steady presence by your side, leading you through the room, smiling and nodding at the many people.

Freezing in place, your breath catches in your throat as you take in the sheer amount of people. The Bridgerton family were adored by all; it made sense for this many people to show when beckoned by its matriarch. Still, seeing it from a new perspective had your fear returning full force.

Colin’s warm hand settles on the small of your back, coaxing you out of your stupor. “You’re doing wonderfully,” He murmurs, “You’re the most beautiful woman in the room.”

“You’re saying that because I’m your wife,” You tease breathlessly, fear freezing your veins.

Colin shakes his head in fake exasperation. “Even if we weren’t married, my love, I would still think you the most beautiful.”

“I love you,” You respond, voice loud enough for only Colin to hear. He ducks his head at your words; still not used to hearing them leave your lips despite the rings sitting on your finger. “I love you too,” He answers, reaching for your hand and bringing it up to his lips.

He looks pained as he catches the eye of someone across the room. “Anthony is beckoning me,” Colin states, turning his attention from his brother back to you.

“Go,” You urge.

“I don’t want to leave you when you’re this upset.”

“Colin,” You whisper, briefly touching his cheek, “He’s your brother; go to him, see what he needs and then return to me when you can. I’m sure I can find someone to talk to, I think I saw Eloise and your mother a few moments ago.”

“Are you sure?” He asks, blue eyes running over your face.

“I’m sure. Anthony wouldn’t ask for you if it wasn’t important.”

Colin ducks his head; pressing a lingering kiss to your cheek then another to the corner of your mouth. Quietly, so only you can hear, he whispers, “I love you more than life itself.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” You say with a playful shove to his shoulder. Standing on your tiptoes, you press a kiss to his cheek. “I love you too. Now go before Anthony throws a tantrum.”

Colin leaves you with a wide smile and a bow. Shaking your head fondly, you think of your husband as you take a turn of the room, looking for a Bridgerton to talk to. Metallics fill the expansive room; silver and gold flashing on dresses as they’re spun across the floor. Dark blues and purples dotted about as conversations and laughter perfume the air, bringing with it a lighter atmosphere that has you wondering what your initial fears were about.

“Mrs. Bridgerton!” An all-too familiar voice calls.

Turning on instinct, you find yourself face to face with Miss Whittaker. She had come out with you in the same year; she had received a number of proposals – all from well to do gentleman but none were good enough for her. She knew her worth which was admirable, but the way she belittled those she called her friends made it hard to find her truly likeable. A month into your season, you chose to stay well away. You hadn’t looked back since.

“How are you, darling?” Miss Whittaker titters; her acute gaze taking in every aspect of your outfit – down to the very last stitch in your dresses hem.

“I’m very well, thank you. How are you?”

“Delightful, darling. Delightful.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” You answer as earnestly as you can, eyes dancing around the room in the hopes of finding Colin free from Anthony’s clutches.

“Has he already disappeared?” She asks, voice laced with something akin to venom.

“Has who already disappeared?” You ask; face the picture of innocence despite the anger laced with worry settling deep in your veins.

“Why Colin, of course!” She laughs, “I never thought him serious enough for marriage.”

You step back, your mouth falling open in shock as her barbed words poison the very air around you. The familiar burn of tears starts in the back of your eyes, but you push them away; refusing to let the odious woman see how she affects you.

“That’s an awful thing to say,” You whisper, feelings hurt on behalf of your beloved husband.

Miss Whittaker simply shrugs; her voice bored as she utters, “It’s simply the truth.”

“I would hope that the truth you are admitting is one with reliable sources,” Colin’s voice sounds from behind you; his voice stern as he fixes his stare on Miss Whittaker.

Colour blooms high on Miss Whittaker’s cheeks; anger flushing her complexion. Without another word, she flicks open her fan before stalking away from the two of you.

“Are you alright?” Colin asks when Miss Whittaker is a safe distance away, his voice concerned.

“She always was a piece of work,” You comment; keeping your tone light when all you wanted to do was return home.

“You’re not hurt though? You’re sure you’re alright?”

“I’m fine, my love,” You state, bringing a gloved hand up to brush his cheek, “Only shocked and hurt at her words.”

Colin frowns, but it doesn’t remain on his face long when you poke at the expression, uncaring whether the whole ballroom was watching you in this exact moment. “I don’t like it when you frown,” You state, poking his cheek one last time.

Colin catches your hand in his, kissing each individual finger before kissing the back of it. “And I don’t like it when you’re upset or when someone upsets you.”

“I guess we’re even then,” You sigh, your now tangled hands dangling at your side.

Colin rolls his eyes, smiling widely at you. The band falls silent to which Colin gets an idea; his mother had told him the order of the dances which he memorised, so he knew which ones to dance with you. He loved nothing more than holding you in his arms; feeling your body pressed against his, noting every rise and fall of your chest.

Clasping your hand tightly in his, Colin begins to lead you the dancefloor. “What are you doing?” You ask, sounding panicked as Colin leads you to the dance floor.

“Dancing with my wife,” Colin states bluntly, settling in front of you with an open hand.

“It is not customary for the husband to dance a waltz with his wife.”

Colin smirks; the picture of nonchalance as he lifts his shoulders in a shrug. “I am not one for custom when my wife looks as stunning as you do right now.”

The music soon begins, and you are swept away in a symphony of rises and falls and the intoxicating presence of your husband. Colin holds your gaze through the dance; his eyes searching yours for any hint of panic and upset. His face relaxes into a breathtaking smile when he finds you happy in your current state; held by your husband in a sea of dancers.

Those that find themselves without a partner stand on the side of the floor, whispering behind their fans of the impropriety being shown here tonight. However, among the many are the few that watch Colin and you twirl across the floor. They take note of how gently he holds your hand, how steadily his hand rests on your lower back and how smitten he looks as he smiles down at you.

In years to come, this dance would still be a topic of conversation amongst London’s gossips but even the gossips could no longer deny the true love exemplified by the both of you.

The orchestra falls silent as the dance comes to an end. Light applause breaks out across the room as your chest rises and falls with the exhaustion that accompanies such a dance. Colin smiles at you, leaving you even more breathless as you step away from far enough for him to still keep a grip on your waist.

“Are you ready to go?” Colin asks, eyes holding the promise of something far more fun than countless dances with the love of your life.

“Take me home, Colin.”

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

Colin dismisses the maids and his valet as soon as you walk through the door to your home. When your maids protest, worried about how you would get out of your dress, Colin states quite clearly for the staff that he would be the one to help you with the buttons, laces, stays and whatever else he may come across.

Your maids flush deeply, and you send them an apologetic smile as your husband leads you up the stairs to your shared bedroom.

Any and all worries are forgotten the moment Colin presses his lips to yours, walking you backwards to the bed. Laughter spills from your lips as Colin continues his trail of kisses, beginning at the corner of your mouth before travelling down the expanse of your neck to the top of your breasts, peeking out from the top of your dress. Your breath hitches when Colin kisses a particularly sensitive spot; a low groan follows when he latches onto that area, kissing a love bite there.

As your breath deepens; as your eyes follow Colin’s path of kisses down your chest, he suddenly stops. With a devilish smile, he taps your side, “I think this is getting in our way, don’t you?”

Wordlessly, you nod. Colin’s smile grows larger as his arms wind around your back, finding the buttons to your dress. He undoes them with expert precision, barely interrupting the way in which he captures your lips once more. Sighing happily against his mouth, you note that he tastes of the champagne he had enjoyed before your final dance of the evening; if you focused, you could feel the bubbles of the drink on your own tongue.

You can’t focus, however. Colin’s undone your dress, letting the gold slip from your body as if it were molten liquid. He stands back; loving the way you chase him for further contact. He stands back to get full sight of you before him; standing like a goddess before a mere mortal man. Colin is ready to worship on his knees to be worthy of a woman such as you. He doesn’t deserve you; despite your arguments, you’re too good for him but he would be damned if another man got to see you like this. Skin flushed, chest heaving with anticipation. No – this was a sight purely for him.

His attention turns to your corset, bringing you to him, his nimble fingers begin to work on the criss-cross of laces. With every lace undone, Colin presses a kiss to your bare skin, enjoying the way it heats under his touch. You hum contentedly with every kiss; your fingers running across the broad plains of Colin’s shoulders, squeezing whenever he find a sensitive spot.

The corset is torn from your body; leaving you before him without an ounce of shame. He loves you so wholly that you can’t find it in yourself to hide from him.

Colin’s famously blue eyes do not leave yours as he reaches up, tugging loose the cravat wrapping around his neck. In no time at all, your husband is shirtless, and reaching for you like a starved man would reach for food.

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

Your dress is hung. Your nightdress hugging your body softly as you slip under the covers of your marriage bed waiting for the love of your life to join you. Colin tugs on a pair of light cotton trousers he had bought on your honeymoon not even two months ago before joining you in bed.

Rolling onto your side, you rest your head on Colin’s bare shoulder, feeling the rise and fall of his chest with your hand.

“You were a marvel tonight,” Colin whispers into the dark room; his voice giving away his tiredness.

“I had you there to help,” You confess, feeling your eyelids grow heavier as Colin’s arm tightens around you.

“And I’ll always be there,” are his last words before sleep sweeps Colin into its land of dreams. Turning your face, you let your eyes slip closed as you press one, two, three kisses to Colin’s shoulder, enjoying the sleepy hum that falls from his lips and the squeeze of his hand on your waist.

Sleep soon claims you, bringing you to your own land of dreams. Your final thought of the night relating to the man holding you so gently in his arms, feeling his love for you emanating from his body, knowing happily that you return it just as earnestly.

******

Bridgerton Taglist: @heloisedaphnebrightmore @dreaming-about-fanfictions @now-its-time-for-a-breakdown @janelongxox​ @aspiringsloth20​ @wallwriterstuff​ @magicalxdaydream​ @darkestbeforethedawn16​ @gryffindors-weasley​ @spideysz​ 

Taglists are open! Drop me an ask if you would like to be added!

[sailor-kaiju]

I posted 2,704 times in 2021

18 posts created (1%)

2686 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 149.2 posts.

I added 15 tags in 2021

#spoilers - 4 posts

#queer - 2 posts

#wandavision - 2 posts

#segregate by size when necessary fine - 1 posts

#ilu - 1 posts

#my mom took me and a boy to denny's for a shake - 1 posts

#i went to his church meetings until my demon soul started catching fire - 1 posts

#always my kuro - 1 posts

#and my jupiter - 1 posts

#tv - 1 posts

Longest Tag: 109 characters

#i was absolutely pretending to be sailor moon fighting the samurai pizza cats (the other kid's hyperfixation)

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

So I have been thinking a lot about Bad Art Friends, and why it evokes SO many feelings in people on both sides.

And I think it's because we have all BEEN both sides of it. And this isn't saying everyone has a nasty little private chat where we bash peers all day. But we've all vented, and wondered if we got too mean. Or snorted at a joke that, a few minutes later, sank in and was more mean than it was funny. And most of us wouldn't have the audacity to call a friend and grill them about Facebook activity...lbr, we don't have the audacity to call anyone. But we've all posted something, and felt emotions it didn't get the response we wanted. Maybe sometimes even so much we wanted to point to someone and go "Hey, WTF???" I don't think Bad Art Friends hit so hard because of the hot juicy goss, because really...it's not that juicy of gossip. But it's gossip that we all can feel an echo of the emotions at play, even if we don't agree with the actions of the parties involved.

6 notes • Posted 2021-10-17 03:06:40 GMT

#4

Why do Tumblr users think every show need to be specifically made for them down to like...episode counts per season

Like you'll were in the golden age of TV AND a pandemic. There's more good TV than you ever can (and defiently ever should) watch.

Stop being mad preference /everything/ isn't personally made to your prefrence. Go enjoy the MANY things that or.

Or, Gosford, enjoy something that pushes outside your comfort box.

But srsly, it's find to only want media that comforts and conforms to your every need just stop assuming what YOU need is what everyone needs.

9 notes • Posted 2021-08-02 01:56:49 GMT

#3

With April Fool's day coming up I would like to share my prank rule:

If it cannot be fixed in less that 5 second if it's goes sideways, INCLUDING emotionally, it's a bad prank.

(and no, "fake" life destroying news cannot be made better in 5 seconds)

10 notes • Posted 2021-03-26 00:31:59 GMT

#2

So I have this library anime art class that is pretty much the same group of cool, nerdy teen kids.

For some reason, JFK came up and they wanted to know why he was important, and I gave them the best explination I, a 34 year old, can.

Which mentioned that a lot of people connected to the idea of him being the savior of all things precisely because he never had to fulfill that concept, so he will always be a possibility, and many obsess over the idea he was THE possibility, but because he never was given the chance they can project that on to him and never be proven wrong.

(We discussed a lot more like WHY he had that effect but anyway)

While I was gone for a week they all decided a "JFK thing" is when everyone assumed something would have been great despite evidence because it'll never actually fulfill fulfill promise anyway.

Which I learned while telling one of them about Firefly to which she replied "Oh so it's like a JFK thing."

18 notes • Posted 2021-09-07 00:23:52 GMT

#1

I think part of my issue with the movie version of Howl's Moving Castle focusing so much on Sophie being plain looking is that it deeply diminishes the point in the book that we don't see how good we are not because of ourselves, but because of how much time we compare ourselves to other. If you have not read the book (you should), in their world there is EXPLICITLY a rule that, because they are in a fairytale land, the younger sibling always has the best, most exciting life. When Sophie gets her siblings, she pretty much gives up on having a cool life due to that rule, not because she's too plain and boring. Sophie's issue in the book don't come from her not feeling like she's enough, they come from her comparing herself to her sisters. The growth isn't external, it's not Howl seeing her as beautiful (and, which also gets scrimped on in the movie, POWERFUL) it's her realizing that just because others are better than her doesn't mean she has nothing to offer and should just give up and settle. And I think that's really important. We can't all be waiting to be the VERY BEST or give up. Those aren't the only choices. There will always be someone more beautiful, more talented, more rich, more magical, whatever. That doesn't mean we can't have amazing wonderful adventures with hot wizards just because, say, our sisters are having MORE amazing MORE wonderful adventures with BETTER wizards. Our adventure is also totally worth while even if we're not the BEST.

97 notes • Posted 2021-09-28 19:15:28 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[legionnaireslover]

Does this apply to CELEBRITY MARRIAGE CONSPIRACY THEORIES, Gator?

Found Gator reblogging this today - an excellent video by John Oliver and his analysis of the problem with conspiracy theories. He suggests everyone should ask themselves these 3 questions when looking at conspiracy theories...

Well, how about confusing correlation with causation in Ben and Sophie's relationship? Like assuming "fuckery" is afoot just because Sophie goes with Ben to red carpet events. Or that every time some no-nothing website posts a bit of boilerplate clickbait about who Sophie is (and of course that happens) it doesn't mean that she is masterminding an anti-PR campaign to slag her husband. There isn't ANY causational relationship between these two events but the Haters have invented Sophie being the driving force of these articles.

Here's the second question -

Not anonymous unsubstantiated accusations on gossip sites, but reports from VERIFIABLE sources about the legitimate marriage of the couple and births of their children. Let's look a just some of them. Like the engagement announcement in The Times, which had to have been verified as a matter of policy. Or like the newspapers (not tabloids) that reported on the wedding. Or the MANY, MANY bylined articles that that announced the birth of Kit. How about the fact that Ben (and even Sophie on rare occasion) has been quoted extensively about his pride and love for his family. And let's add to that the overwhelming amount of KNOWN people who have talked about, mentioned or related stories of how happy Ben is as a father and a husband.

Weighing this mountain of verified sources of information about his marriage and children against a handful of anonymous gossips or a mysterious "Enty" making nasty accusations that are never sourced, it's easy to see which holds up to REAL scrutiny.

And finally we get to the last and most salient point -

By the sheer number of "co-conspirators" or those who Sophie and Ben would have had to have pulled into this supposed web of "lies" numbers by the THOUSANDS, this "sham" would have been exposed years ago. Add to that the stupidest part is that the Haters keep insisting that EVERYONE in the "biz" knows about this "fuckery" (including tabloid reporters) and yet miraculously they just NEVER quite get around to publishing this juicy story! And yet, every once in a while an anonymous poster appears or contacts Gator or Aeltri and drops some stunning revelation that confirms EVERYTHING the Septics have been accusing Sophie or Ben of!

Which surprisingly DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!

But do the Haters see this? Nope! They are just too knee deep into THEIR conspiracy theory to even honestly ask or answer these questions for themselves.

[samanthadalton]

Everything has changed

Based on the VIP book A Very Scandalous Proposal (I recommend reading it if you have vip!) 

pairings: Ava Montjoy x Sophie Macdonald 

(based on chapter 6 and 7 but rewritten bc we shouldve gotten a kiss in chapter 7) 

You requested and I’ve delivered @thedaft1 I hope you enjoy! 

taglist: @thedaft1 @cloud9in (idk any Ava Montjoy stans but if I do write more for her in the future and you wanna be tagged let me know 😊)

word count: 1.6k 

After asking Ava to stay with you for the night, platonically of course, you sit in comfortable silence, eyes glued to the tv screen, entranced by the show that’s playing. As you laugh along to the jokes, you see in your peripheral vision Ava sneaking glances at you, a hint of a smirk playing across her lips. You conspicuously try not to gaze at her, fixating your focus to the tv, but you begin to feel your cheeks burning as you recollect about the kiss you shared earlier, the very fake real kiss you shared in front of her friends. Considering how much you had to drink tonight, you barely remember what happened after but your mind lingers on the kiss, the way Ava’s lips felt against yours, how her tongue slipped into your mouth setting your entire body alight. How the intensity of the kiss left you feeling weak in the knees as her toned arms slipped around your waist, steadying you. Ava blamed it on the alcohol, presuming you had too much to drink but what she didn’t realise was how much of a physical impact the kiss had on you. How it had left you dizzy and craving more, but as your mind drifts off, assessing and analysing every moment of the kiss, Ava’s voice breaks you out of your trance and you clear your throat, wishing away all your unbridled thoughts about the Brit as she give you a small smile. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” 

You turn your head slightly to gaze at her, your body sobering up as the moments pass but you definitely still feel the alcohol in your system. “Just thinking.” 

“About?” You raise a playful eyebrow at her, “come darling, I’m your fiancee you should be able to share stuff with me.” And there it was, her absolutely infuriating but somehow incredibly charismatic personality shining through and you can’t help but laugh. 

“I guess I’m still embarrassed by tonight. I didn’t say anything out of order in front of your friends right?” Your voice is laced with a bit of insecurity as your gaze nervously burns into Ava’s. 

Ava gives a sinister grin that is anything but innocent. “Well…..I will say that you are a right cheeky bugger when you’ve had a proper chin wag.” 

“Ava, real english please.” You know you sound like a dumb American in this moment but after a few weeks you’re still trying to wrap your head around the absurdity that is British slang.

Ava lets out a small airy laugh, “god you’re so hopelessly American.” Her smile broadens, as she slightly shakes her head. “You tend to say some things which are quite barmy, while under the influence of alcohol.” 

You groan, your hand raises as you give yourself a physical and mental facepalm, “just rip it off like a band-aid, what did I say?” 

“Let’s just say you were very persistent in me taking you to bed,” Ava trails off her cheeks dusted red as you pointedly glances away from you, her eyes boring into the telly but not fully focused on the screen. 

“Oh god.” 

Ava turns back to you, her lips quirked into a toothy grin, “well you’ve already enticed me into your bed so I say you’ve done a bloody good job.: Her voice chirps with playfulness as her accent strengthens when pronouncing certain words and you feel as if you’ve fallen under her spell. What started off as an innocent agreement between the two of you is beginning to grow into something more, however you’re unsure if the feeling is unrequited or if Ava feels the same way. She leans forward slightly, her gaze slightly darkens as she takes you in, “I can’t exactly blame you, you’re not made out of stone. I know how…” she pauses, contemplating for a few seconds before giving you a devilish grin, “alluring I can be.” You facetiously swat at her arm, your cheeks reddening by the second. The sounds from the tv become a background noise as you stare intensely at her, all rational thoughts thrown out of the window as your gaze involuntarily darts down to her lips. Ava notices your wandering eyes and subconsciously runs her tongue along her bottom lip, the wetness of it glistening under the dim glare of the television. 

“Sophie,” your name leaves her lips in a low breathless manner, whether it’s a come on or a warning you’re still internally debating as you edge closer to her, but Ava retracts her gaze from yours pulling you out of the moment. 

“We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow, we should get some sleep.” She shifts in the bed leaving a wide gap between the two of you which suddenly feels like a chasm. Hyper aware of the awkward shift in the atmosphere,  you cover up the look of disappointment flashing across your face with an exaggerated yawn before turning to face the other way. 

“Goodnight Sophie.” 

“Goodnight Ava.” You close your eyes and let the sleep that you tried so hard to subside earlier take you. 

…..

After spending the day researching for your book, you begin getting ready for dinner after Ava has promised to take you out to dinner after criticizing the lack of public exposure to your relationship. After indulging in a dinner, where you catch a glimpse of Ava’s hedonistic nature in the way in which she takes the reins, teaching you about the art of eating oysters she offers to take you to a small private club called Firefly. 

“I’d much rather entertain you somewhere more...intimate than regale this stuffy lot.” She holds out her hand which you cordially accept and as your hand slips into hers, she lifts it to her lips, gently pressing a kiss across your knuckles, sending shivers down your spine. Ava tenderly strokes her thumb over your knuckles, and you can’t help but feel the butterflies in your stomach even though you know it’s for show. 

Temporarily stunned, you’re at a loss for words as you take in the mischievous glint in Ava’s eyes. “I-,” 

“Cat got your tongue?” Ava teases as her hand still remains on yours, her fingertips ghosting around your knuckles. 

Seeing the smug look on Ava’s face strengthens your resolve as you assertively raise an eyebrow before leaning in close to whisper, “I’d love to go.”

Ava breaks out into a wolfish grin, “Marvellous. I’ll just grab the check and then we will be on our way.” 

…. 

Ava leads you into a glamorous setting, the sultry old timey music washing over you as she leads you to a table near the front of the stage. 

“Ava, this place is beautiful. I feel like I’ve been catapulted back into the 1920s.” 

“Yes, Mitzie has always taken a liking to this place and I guess she has passed it down onto me. Whenever I feel like I need an escape, I like to come here and lose myself in the music.” 

You indulge in some more conversation with Ava in which she lets some juicy gossip about her grandmother being a lounge singer in this very place when she was younger, after making you promise not to add it to your book, fearing her wrath. A slow romantic song begins to play as couples begin drifting towards the dance floor. Ava holds out a hand, “indulge me?” You take her hand and let her lead you into the middle of floor. Her hands hang loosely around your waist while you find yourself doing the same with your arms around her neck. 

You dance in content silence for a few moments, but you feel Ava’s gaze boring into you as she softly speaks out, “I have to say Sophie, I’m… pleasantly surprised.” 

“About what?” 

“Everything I suppose. I know it must have not been easy when I propositioned you with the devil’s bargain so to say, but I have to say, this has been unexpectedly delightful.” You draw your head back, slightly started by Ava’s admission, catching an amorous glint in her eye which momentarily takes your breath away. 

“I-. I have to admit, this has been more enjoyable than I thought it would be. When you first approached me I thought you were a pompous, stuffy, self-centred upper crust girl.” 

“You wound me.” Ava brings a hand over her hand, exaggeratingly clutching at it before moving her hand back around to your waist, her hands gripping your hips slightly firmer than before. “So what do you think of me now?” You see a flicker of vulnerability in her eyes as her half-lidded gaze roams your facial features as if she’s searching for something. 

“Oh I still think you’re incredibly pompous,” your jesting tone elicits a few laughs from the Brit before she gleams languorously at you, “but you’ve been nothing but kind to me. Sometimes a giant pain in my ass but you’re different than what I expected.”

You feel a surge of adrenaline rush through you at the spike of your admittance as the air between the two of you suddenly feels dense, heavy with anticipation as you close the gap between the two of you, her soft plush lips easing into yours. You moan softly as your arms around Ava’s neck tighten, surging yourself against her. Your kiss grows warmer, as you explore the depths of her mouth, forgetting about the people around you. Unlike the kiss you shared last night, this one feels more authentic, as you begin to lose yourself in her. Ava pulls away as the music shifts into something more spirited and she rests her forehead against yours, her darkened eyes staring deeply into yours, as the feel of her lips still lingering on yours. 

As you glare into each other’s eyes you know that everything has changed. 

[babylooneytoonz]

Trip Mines & Broken Hearts [Tommy Shelby x Reader]

Quick link to read the other parts here.

Part-4

You stood in the tiny kitchen of your tiny apartment in Small Heath, Birmingham.

War was long over, but the wounds still felt fresh—

You put the kettle on boil, pulling out an empty tea cup and laying it on the counter. You were twenty five now, already in line to twenty six and a complete, utter mess. Your hair had lost the lusciousness, your eyes looked swollen, droopy and lethargic and you had bags under your eyes. This was mostly because you suffered from nightmares, at times, so crippling, you couldn't sleep at night, and spent your night locked up in another room, sniffling soundlessly.

What was different was that now you had grown up, or you thought you did. Years of war did that to most people. You were married to the man you had once treated, a man who had lost his leg in the war— a soldier. He was a nice man, he had taken you, accepted you when everyone had shunned you out, even Johnny, your elder brother. And of course the evil society. But you didn't blame them, you blamed yourself.

Everything that had happened, it had happened because you had let it happen— you had let Tommy Shelby in, when you should have locked him out.

But years after you had lost contact with the boy who was your first love, you still remembered him, you still missed him, and often found yourself thinking of him.

It wasn't as though you hadn't tried, you had tried, many times, even after that day he never joined you back, on that train, back home from France.

It was a grey morning, the war was finally over but there was no celebration. You looked around yourself, your eyes moving from one man to another, all over the swarmed station. Soldiers, men who had fought and survived, scars on their faces, pain in their eyes, their bags hung on their shoulders. Most of them spoke to each other in low voices, and their heads were almost hung low. You noted that none of them were genuinely happy.

It was like the war had taken something from them— a part of them.

You then looked at Johnny, but the man didn't look at you. He hated you, of course he did.

It was because of you, he was reduced to nothing but a walking, living joke. A man who's sister was a fucking whore.

Damaged goods—

"Are you gonna bloody get in or not?" Your brother's cold voice chastised you, causing you to flinch at the harshness in his words. How had one mistake — of falling in love with a boy — made your own brother a complete stranger to you? Why did this happen to you? Why did you even let yourself fall in love ?

The questions tortured you, tormented you and forcing yourself to blink your tears away, you nodded solemnly in your brother's direction and instantly pulled your hat over your head. You had to reach out and grab the bar and then pull yourself into the train, that was about to leave any minute.

But still, you knew he would come. Of course, he would.

He loved you—

As much as you loved him —

You had to wait for him.

So you bit your lip hard, and turned around, staring at the crowd swarming the train, men getting in. You couldn't see him anywhere, no matter how hard you trained your eyes.

The sound of the engine pulled you back out of your reverie and you felt your brother almost grab you by your shoulder but you didn't move. You feet were stuck to the ground.

"Jesus, fuck, I'm coming, Johnny."

"He won't come." Was all your brother said, before he pushed past you, into the train bogey. When you thought he was right and almost decided to turn away, that's when you saw him.

He was just a head in the crowd, his two brothers walking on either side of him. His hair were disheveled and he had a lit cigarette in his fingers, a bag hung over his shoulders. You raised your hand, instinctively and waved at him. You wanted him to join you, in your compartment. Johnny would finally stop chastising you, once he had met Tommy, and Tommy him. You waited for him to catch your eye, a twinkle in your eye. You didn't know why, but Tommy hadn't been there to see you for almost two months, that was the longest he had been away from you, without seeing you, all the while you two were together. And you had no idea why.

Tommy's eyes met yours; briefly, and a warm smile crept over your lips.

Only, he pulled his gaze away, stepping into the train, into the other compartment, completely ignoring you, shunning you out of his life, just like that.

Even though he betrayed you that day, you still tried. Even after you all were back in Birmingham.

A few months after you were back, you tried again, after all, he deserved to know the truth. He deserved to know what he didn't know. And, most of all, she needed him. So, you'd wrapped your shawl tighter over your body, and made your way to a pub called Garrison, to look for the man you thought you knew. But that's when you saw him, with a blonde haired barmaid, and your heart broke into pieces.

That was the last you tried, and you finally let go.

That wasn't the last of your troubles. This was because you were a center of gossips, of jokes and of abuses. And your brother could take no more of it, so he kicked you out. And you were on the streets, with no one to turn to.

Days turned to weeks and you found shelter at an old orphanage.

It was only days later you found a companion from the war working in that orphanage— the man that you had treated during war, the man who would soon be your husband. He took you in, when you had no one to go to, no one to turn to. You got married. It was a tiny affair, with just a handful of people and moved to his tiny house in Small Heath, a few houses away from the Garrison used to be, before it was blown to shreds and Tommy moved to the Arrowe House, with his wife and son, Charlie Shelby.

And it was a miracle, how you managed to hide from Thomas Shelby's eyes, and not come face to face with him for five long years until then.

• ───━━━━─ ● ─━━━━─── •

Smoke coiled around him, his eyes trained on a man as he walked out of one of the houses, a briefcase in his hand. Tommy exhaled the smoke from his cigarette and let the butt drop to the floor, immediately stepping on it before he slowly started walking towards the man, following him. The man was one of the spies that had been sent by a rival gang to spy on him, on his work.

Minutes after having followed the man down the street, Tommy realized that he had been dragged into a fruit market and now the man was nowhere in sight. His fingers clenched into a fist and anger coursed through his vein— raw, distilled anger. He reached out with his hand, grabbing a juicy looking apple from one of the racks in front of him and dig into it, his eyes scanning the crowds.

Everyone in this city knew who he was, and no one uttered a word, when he was around — not when razorblades were strewn into his cap.

Thomas Shelby felt stupid, which was a rare thing, stupid that he had lost such an important man, in such a stupid way. He was so mad at himself, although his expressions were stoic and icy, he wanted nothing more than to leave this horrendous place, and lock himself in his study, drowning himself in work. Ever since he lost Grace, things didn't feel the same. It felt like he was was floating through thin air, making ends meet, trying to bring up his son all by himself, but somehow failing at it.

He was about to turn away, when a tiny, carefree laugh perked his ears up.

Slowly, he turned towards the source of the voice and his eyes caught a glimpse of a beautiful black haired girl, not more than five. She was standing with a basket in her clutch, a basket that was stuffed with bread, biscuits and oranges.

It suddenly fascinated him, causing him to look around and see, if he could either find her father or her mother, but she seemed alone. It surprised him, how a girl of not more than five was all alone, in a fruit market, getting a basket filled. He wondered how a girl of not more than five was much more in control of what her life was, than a grown man like him. So, with slow, reluctant steps, he walked up to her. The woman who was speaking to her, the fruit seller; she saw him approach and immediately stopped talking, her eyes widening as she realized who he was but the tiny, oblivious girl kept on blabbering.

"Miss Luis, I would also like some fresh cantaloupes." The little girl said, her accent brummie, although her words were a bit jumbled and broken.

"Aren't you too young to be fetching groceries? All alone?" Tommy fixed himself next to her.

The tiny girl looked up at him, her blue orbs widening slightly when she heard a male voice speak. She shuffled the weight of her body from one foot to another, her hand flying to her hair. She gave Tommy a smile, and Tommy noted that two of her teeth were missing, so he let himself smile for a bit.

"My mummy sends me here every week," she mumbled, her voice barely audible, but only, Tommy wasn't listening. He was captivated— pulled back into the sands of time, back to France, back under the oak tree, where he used to lay in (Y/N)'s arms. This little girl, although five, her eyes nothing like (Y/N)'s (Y/E/C) eyes, reminded him of her. Maybe it was the hair, her long black hair, the same colour as that of hers, and the nose.

He shook his thoughts away, when he saw the girl run off, her tiny basket in her arm, skipping slightly, as she started running away.

Little children and their tiny attention span. Tommy couldn't even keep his own son engaged in a conversation for more than two minutes, but this was just a stranger child.

"Who was she?" Tommy turned towards the fruit seller, who looked a little nervous.

"Her name's Sophie, lives a few houses away, Mr. Shelby."

Nodding, almost lightly, Tommy slid his hands into his pant pockets and slowly made his way out of the fruit market.

As he walked down the street, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. He had lost his wife, the woman he thought he loved, much more recently than things had ended between him and you in France, and yet, even all those years, almost six, you still came to his mind, at the oddest of times, your image reflecting in the strangest of people.

As he made his way towards his motorcar, that was parked outside one of the buildings not far from there, he couldn't stop thinking of the betrayal, the way you had broken his heart. And after all these years, he still hadn't collected all the broken pieces.

As he got into the car, his hands resting against the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road, his mind was racing. He was wondering what was worse, the horrors of the war, the torture he'd seen, felt or the heartbreak he had experienced.

It was as though it was only yesterday when he had run up to your camp, to spend some time with you before he was sent off to another location, that he saw you with a man, sitting in a corner, hugging, your arms wrapped around his neck. He could not erase the look he saw on your face, the look of content, of pure love and happiness.

So, he'd left.

Feeling betrayed, and cheated on.

Little did he know, how wrong he had been, and had he given you a chance to explain what he had seen that night, things would have been different. Had he given you a chance to explain, you would have told him, that you loved no one but him and the man that he had seen you with was your elder brother, Johnny.

[tabloidtoc]

OK, April 20

Cover: The Truth About Bindi Irwin’s Shotgun Wedding -- Baby Bombshell 

Page 1: Big Pic -- Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas 

Page 2: Contents 

Page 3: Contents 

Page 4: Now free of their royal duties Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are starting over in L.A. as a family of four 

Page 6: Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falchuk aren’t exactly roughing it as they quarantine but she has confessed that their blended family is starting to crack 

Page 7: Between a music career and hosting her talk show and coaching aspiring singers on The Voice Kelly Clarkson barely has a minute to herself these days but she’s still as present as ever in her children’s lives, with Angelina Jolie and ex Brad Pitt’s custody battle and divorce drama dragging on Angie has fallen into a funk but her eldest son Maddox is helping her pick up the pieces while home because his college in South Korea closed because of the Covid-19 crisis and he’s been a pillar of support for his mom, from the juicy gossip in her revealing memoir to the stories told in her short-lived reality series it’s clear that Caitlyn Jenner isn’t afraid to air the Kardashian family’s dirty laundry and now that she’s confessed she could see herself joining the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills ex Kris Jenner is panicking over what else she could say in front of the cameras and Kris is looking for ways to stop Caitlyn’s casting before it even gets off the ground 

Page 8: Though Brandi Glanville called a truce with ex Eddie Cibrian and his wife LeAnn Rimes after years of feuding she has publicly reignited the animosity over their custody arrangement during quarantine procedure because she was requesting that her and Eddie’s two sons hunker down with her because she lives alone, Rihanna confirmed she’s aggressively working on music for her highly anticipated ninth album but she’s equally focused on staring her own family is making that a priority despite her hectic schedule, Maren Morris is a mom and she couldn’t be happier

Page 10: Red Hot on the Red Carpet -- Carolina Herrera -- Janet Mock, Rachel Brosnahan, Mindy Kaling 

Page 11: Anna Paquin, Natalia Dyer, Yara Shahidi 

Page 12: Who Wore It Better? Leonie Hanne vs. Selena Gomez ✅, Gigi Hadid vs. Elizabeth Banks ✅, Jessica Alba ✅ vs. Laura Dern 

Page 14: News in Photos -- Reese Witherspoon on a bike ride around the neighborhood 

Page 15: Brooke Burke and one of her dogs, Steve Kazee and Jenna Dewan and newborn son Callum and daughter Everly, Melissa Gorga and kids do a puzzle, Willow Smith goes to Whole Foods 

Page 16: Andy Cohen and son Benjamin reunite, Demi Moore, Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook and new dog Dumpy, Carson Daly and wife Siri with newborn daughter Goldie 

Page 18: John Krasinski behind-the-scenes of his new YouTube show Some Good News, Sasha Farber and Emma Slater walk their dog Ruby

Page 19: Elizabeth Olsen out in LA, Joshua Jackson and pregnant wife Jodie Turner-Smith who’s past her due date, Kelly Bensimon goes for a jog 

Page 20: Twice As Nice -- Kylie Jenner and daughter Stormi, Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez’s son Max, John Legend and son Miles 

Page 21: Gisele Bundchen and daughter Vivian, Coco Austin and daughter Chanel, Kate Hudson and daughter Rani, Serena Williams and daughter Alexis 

Page 22: Tori Spelling and son Beau, Amy Poehler running errands 

Page 23: Ryan Phillippe 

Page 24: Inside My Home -- Cardi B and Offset’s Atlanta mansion 

Page 26: Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell’s wedding plans 

Page 27: Now that Daniel Craig is done with James Bond he and wife Rachel Weisz are ready to have another child, after mere weeks of dating Demi Lovato and Max Ehrich decided to shack up together during quarantine and her inner circle is concerned that he’s just another bad boy so they’re begging her to slow down, Kristen Stewart said she was going to propose to girlfriend Dylan Meyer but now she’s become bored with their routine relationship because she has this nervous energy and impatience -- it’s reflected in all her failed romances 

Page 28: Ariana Grande is dating real estate agent Dalton Gomez since February, Elle Macpherson and boyfriend Andrew Wakefield are eager to get married but his dragged-out divorce is preventing that, Love Bites -- Irina Shayk and Vito Schnabel dating, Shia LaBeouf and Mia Goth back on, Jessica Chastain and husband Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo welcome second child 

Page 30: Cover Story -- there’s a good reason Bindi Irwin and Chandler Powell rushed to tie the knot -- they’re expecting 

Page 34: Jennifer Garner’s surprise engagement 

Page 36: Chip and Joanna Gaines keeping the faith 

Page 38: The Most Spectacular Push Presents -- Jessica Alba, Kristin Cavallari, Kylie Jenner 

Page 39: Jessica Simpson, Ashlee Simpson, Duchess Kate Middleton, Kim Kardashian 

Page 40: Elisabeth Moss opens up about her soaring career, her life at home and her latest film The Invisible Man 

Page 42: ‘90 It Girls -- They’ve Still Got It -- Sarah Michelle Gellar, Keri Russell, Claire Danes 

Page 43: Tiffani Thiessen, Katie Holmes 

Page 46: Style Week -- Ana de Armas’ winning complexion 

Page 48: Ashley Graham’s hot-at-home beauty 

Page 50: Fashion -- pastel -- Rachel Brosnahan 

Page 54: Entertainment 

Page 55: Q&A -- Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton of Love Is Blind 

Page 58: Drake and baby mama Sophie Brussaux finally let the world see the face of their son Adonis Graham

Page 60: Hollywood Heat Meter -- Scott Disick and Kourtney Kardashian shut down son Mason’s Instagram account and he retaliated by going on TikTok, Christopher Meloni will reprise his role of Law & Order: SVU’s Det. Elliot Stabler, Kylie Jenner’s makeup company is producing hand sanitizer for healthcare workers, Ben Higgins and Jessica Clarke engaged, Sound Bites -- Miley Cyrus, Joshua Jackson, Courteney Cox 

Page 62: Horoscope -- Aries Emma Watson 

Page 64: By the Numbers -- Kaia Gerber

[asecretsummer-rpg]

Name: Lexi Christensen Age: 29 Sexuality: Bisexual Gender: Female Portrayed By: Samara Weaving Availability: Closed

“This town has turned into a nightmare.”

→ Background

Born in France but raised for most of her life in England, where her mother was born. Lexi was two years old when her father died, and only fifteen when her mother died. By then they were living in England, in Baberton, which had slowly become her favourite place in the world. She really didn’t know how to handle the loss. It knocked her pretty badly and she spent a long time in a complete depression. Her life changed pretty dramatically, with her older sister Helena having to get a job and cut her studies down to part time just so she could look after her. For a little while there, Lexi acted out and rebelled. She skipped school and resented the world simply because it just wasn’t fair! Eventually, though, she found herself settling down again and managed to sort of overcome what had happened. Lexi never really let go of the grief but she learned how to live around it and get on with life. Isn’t that how it always goes?

→ Back to Baberton

Lexi had always wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps and became a journalist. When they moved to Baberton, her mother quit her job but she always used to tell the girls exciting stories about her life as a travelling writer. Sadly, Lexi’s own experiences contain much less adventure than her mother’s considering she only works at the local newspaper, writes about local news, and doesn’t get to travel. Though of course, in Baberton these days, there’s surely a lot to write about. She writes a lot about the recent murders and a fair bit of negativity about the police force… something that causes a lot of friction with her sister because Helena is a forensic scientist and can get pretty defensive about the police station. The two can sometimes get into arguments about it but they are otherwise pretty close considering Helena practically brought Lexi up. She kind of owes her sister a lot.

→ What’s Her Secret?

Has been following/keeping an eye on a couple of people who have been the subject of the most gossip and scrutiny over the past few years, in the hopes of digging up some juicy secrets or something she can use for a story to get her more noticed in the journalism world or just her local workplace. Mainly she’s been keeping her eyes on Annie Pierce’s old friends and also Sophie Baker’s father, Charlie, after the scandal he got into when it came out he’d had an affair with his own daughter’s best friend. Lexi has a tendency to come off as if she’s harrassing him a fair bit and she knows it frustrates him and he tends to argue with her when she approaches him but it doesn’t deter her. Other people she likes to keep close tabs on include the family of Annie Pierce’s old friends, Katie White, Eric Matthews, and the newly-discovered-alive Sarah Clarke.

Has a bit of a drinking problem. She likes to go out and party but she ends up doing it to excess and very often blacks out her nights, which can be fruatrating at the least and terrifying at most, considering one night she woke up covered in bruises and cuts. Still, she can’t bring herself to stop.

[prettylittlelyres]

Never an Ounce of Scandal

Etta’s younger sister, Angie, was sat on the top bunk when Etta returned to the bedroom they shared. Immediately as Etta came in she looked up, and grinned, with raised brows.

“And where have you been?” she asked, “You’re later than the White Rabbit!”

Etta laughed, and put her bag down on her bunk, the lower bunk; it was easier to get into when she had migraines. “Well,” she signed, “Since you ask, I have spent the night at a house of scandal and debauchery.” She winked dramatically.

Angie looked impressed. “Did you sleep over at Char’s, then?” she asked, “After Sophie’s party, I mean. Or did you sleep at Sophie’s?”

“Gordon’s, actually,” replied Etta, “But Char was there, and, since you mention her, I suppose I ought to say: yes, the scandal and debauchery involved her. It was actually quite mild, considering what went down at Scott’s party last month.”

Angie patted the mattress of her bunk, and waved for Etta to come up. “Do tell!” she signed, grinning, “There’s never an ounce of scandal in my class!”

“That’s because you’re thirteen,” replied Etta, “Wait until you’re fourteen, like me, and then you’ll see. Scandal galore.”

“Whatever,” signed Angie, “I’m just glad I’m not twelve, or in Year Seven.” She quirked an eyebrow, and darted her eyes off to the side. “Grubby little things. Glad I was never that grubby that the whole school needed deep-cleaning.”

Etta laughed. “You’ve had your moments,” she signed.

“But I’ve never had E-Coli,” pointed out Angie. She paused. “On the bright side, though… five day weekend! Have you got anything planned?”

Etta shook her head. “It was Sophie’s party last night, and then the after-party at Gordon’s today. I’ve got some homework needs done but it won’t fill the whole break. You?”

Shrugging, Angie replied, “I might pop up to Kirk Yetholm to see Alex and Gina. You could come along. Share the scandal. Go on. Can you even resist it for a moment?” She grinned. “So what did Char do that was so scandalous?”

Etta smirked, and rubbed her hands together conspiratorially. “Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies...” she said. “Nah, fam, just kidding,” she signed, “Gordon kept daring Char and Stef to kiss each other in Truth or Dare, and then, Char said, either she nor Stef could sleep, so they got to talking. And it turns out-” She flicked her eyes side to side, and simpered, as if savouring the juiciness of the gossip, “Stef actually really likes Char. And she really likes him. And, technically, they slept together.”

Angie gasped. “You don’t say! Oh, my God, oh, my God! With the rest of you in the room?! What did you say?”

“We were asleep,” Etta replied, “And, yeah, OK, I apologise. I deliberately misled you with some creative language choices.” She grinned. “Nah, they just napped together on the sofa. That’s to say, they literally slept together, all twined together like spoons.” She giggled. “Ha, and you actually fell for it!” she exclaimed. “Wow,” she signed, “By that logic, you could say Tim and I slept together! ...Although we had the rug.”

Angie’s jaw dropped. “Well,” she replied, “I’m thoroughly scandalised. Thank you for that, sister mine. So… Char and Stefan. Are they going out now? Like, boyfriend-girlfriend?”

Etta shrugged. “Not a clue,” she replied, “But if they’re not already going out, I don’t think it’ll be long now before they are.”

“And… you and Tim?”

Etta snorted.

“OK… And, um, can I just ask? Are you happy with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” asked Etta.

“Oh, no, no reason, not really,” signed Angie, “I was just wondering. You seem quite close. I thought maybe you liked each other… and, you know, if you did, I was going to ask if you were going to do anything about that any time soon.”

Etta shook her head. Then she frowned. “That’s a funny thing to ask, though. I notice you don’t ask me anything like that about, say, Gordon, or Scott. I’m about as close to them.”

“You’ve never slept curled up next to either of them,” Angie replied, “And they weren’t really relevant here. Maybe if you had, or if they had been, they’d have crossed my mind, but...” She trailed off. “We never talk about crushes, do we?”

Etta considered this, and, after a moment, shook her head. “It’s never really occurred to me to talk about that sort of thing,” she signed, “Or even to think about it. Now you mention it, though, I got asked, for my Truth, if there was anyone I fancied… and I said no. And Char seemed to be quite surprised by that. Shocked, even. Like it was something bad.”

“A life without love would be, though,” Angie replied, “And, for her, feeling the way she feels about Stefan, it’s probably difficult to imagine not feeling that for anyone at all.”

Etta frowned. “I don’t live a life without love,” she replied, “I love you, I love Mum and Dad, I love my friends, and I love my birds. Just because I don’t love anyone romantically, it doesn’t mean I don’t love anyone at all.”

“Do you think you could?” asked Angie.

Etta shrugged, her shoulders rising and falling in the heaviest way they’d done that whole conversation, and said, “Does it matter? Especially right now, does it matter? I’m focussed on schoolwork and pigeon-fancying. Fancying people isn’t really a priority right now.”

Etta’s phone buzzed in her pocket, and she took it out to see what had come through. “Oh,” she signed, “It’s a text from Gordon. “Do you want to come camping by the lake for a few nights? Everyone’s going: me, Char, Stef, Scott, Lena, Sophie and Chris. You up for it? Meet at six tonight.”” She showed Angie the phone, and grinned. “It looks like I have some plans after all!”

“Absolutely not,” signed Bertie Carter, two minutes later, when Etta showed him the message and asked if she could go. “For one thing, you missed your curfew this morning, How can we trust you to behave after that? And, for another thing, I’m not sending you on a camping trip with a bunch of boys.”

“Girls, too!” Etta protested, “And it won’t be like that, I’m sure! Look, they’re all nice, and we all know each other really well from school and swimming and parties. It’ll be fine! Please?”

“I know exactly how nice boys can be to get what they want,” replied Bertie, “And you’re not putting yourself in that situation. You can visit the camp during the day, but you’re not staying overnight, and I don’t care how far away the camping trip is: here at the lake or at the top of Kilimanjaro: you’re not sleeping over!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Etta saw her Mum, Isobel, grinning. "Mum, can't I go?" she asked, "Please let me go!" she signed, "Talk some sense into Dad!"

Isobel got out of the armchair she'd been sitting in, crocheting and watching the conversation, and put a calming hand on Etta's shoulder and Bertie's shoulder. "Coming home an hour after a morning curfew is nothing to worry about," she signed, "If you'd come in late for an eleven-at-night curfew, Etta, I'd have been concerned, but this is different. Bertie," she signed, turning to her husband, "You're conveniently forgetting you were a boy once, too. You were nice enough to learn BSL for me."

Etta grinned. She and Angie had been told that story more times than they could count. Somehow they never tired of it.

"Can we agree that growing up in inner-city Glasgow might have skewed your idea of how teenagers behave?" Isobel asked, "I think you're expecting the worst to happen, and I just don't believe it will. Everything will be fine. Etta, pack."

Beaming, Etta ran upstairs and threw some clothes and a swimming costume into her schoolbag. She wasn't going to need it for school any time soon, after all.

[feral222]

98 questions

Thank you @hunbunnybby for tagging me aaaah 💖💖

1. Full name: my first name is sophie

2. Nicknames: /

3. Birthday: september first!

4. Age: uhm old/

5. Zodiac star sign: virgo

6. Moon sign: sag

7. Ascendant: aquarius

8. Venus: virgo

9. Gender: female

10. Pronouns: she/her

11. Sexuality: ???????????????

12. Myer-Briggs type: enfj or entj i cant remember aah

13. Relationship status: relationship 💖

14. Best friend: good question :)

15. Religion: next question :)

16. Favorite color: pink, red, orange and light blue

17. Favorite music genre: oh. hiphop. i guess

18. Favorite band/artist: besides being slightly overobsessing over lil pump, brockhampton And bts ofc, i listen to lil peep and other useless weird music, also german hiphop/ cloudrap, i am basically trash when it comes to music. oh and lana

19. Favorite song: top 5 bc i Can't decide: bts - baepsae, brockhampton - zipper, lil peep - star shopping, lana del rey - cherry, yung hurn - rot

20. Favorite holiday: christmas, i love getting presents and i love food, and i love being cozy

21. Favorite tv show: gossip girl or dance academy or avatar

22. Favorite youtuber: probably amber scholl i love her

23. Favorite perfume/cologne: i'm poor, i have body sprays wow. i love coconnut and i love warm scents

24. Favorite season: late spring early summer, the first really hot days where ur filled with joy about the hot weather and just drown urself in ice tea

25. Favorite flower: pansies and roses

26. Favorite gemstone: rose quartz

27. Favorite roller coaster: /

28. Favorite fruit: peaches, strawberries, watermelon

29. Favorite vegetable: in german its called kohlrabi, i translated it and its the same in english apparently. its the best. you can eat it raw like a snecc, or stuff it, or just cook it. i love it

30. Favorite icecream flavor: lemon, or cookie dough

31. Favorite candy: anything with caramel or vanilla

32. Favorite restaurant: /

33. Favorite fast food restaurant: K f c their mashed potatoes are??? heavenly

34. Favorite starburst flavor: /

35. Favorite pizza topping: sweet corn and mild chillis and mozarella ofc

36. Favorite chip flavor: saltyyyy

37. Favorite non-alcoholic beverage: ice tea. flavoured water with like peach or tropical. gimme that cancer juice. waldmeister lemonade, god tier drink.

38. Favorite alcoholic beverage: mama russia :) and also i like baileys, and gin n t is very drinkable lol. at the end of the day i drink everything but i hate everything hard except for vodka, like i hate whiskey and rum its disgusting

39. Favorite video game: zelda or tboi

40. Favorite board game: /

41. Favorite city: p a r i s, where i wanted to go this year. but now bts tickets (!!!!!sdkjfghasdiufhzaisudfz THEYRE COMING TO GERMANY) are more important so goodbye summer vacation :)

42. Favorite dog breed: everyone, but the extra fluffy ones? Special

43. Favorite animal: moths. cats, deer

44. Favorite number: 2

45. Coffee or tea: tea

46. Vanilla or chocolate: vanilla

47. Leather or denim: denim

48. Short or long sleeves: short, or long sleeves rolled up

49. Patterned or plain: both :)

50. Floral or plaid: neither

51. Black or white: both

52. Makeup or no makeup: makeup

53. Tumblr or Twitter: tumblr

54. Facebook or Snapchat or Instagram: ig

55. Phone or tablet or computer: phone

56. Liberal or conservative: bruh its 2018 not 1918

57. Sunrises or sunsets: sunrise

58. Are you vegetarian: no

59. Are you vegan: no

60. Are you allergic to anything: cats. i cri

61. Are you polyamorous: no

62. Have you been out of state: ya

63. Have you been out of country: ya

64. Have you kissed a boy: ya

65. Have you kissed a girl: no

66. Have you kissed an enby: no

67. Have you broken a bone: no

68. Have you been to the emergency room: ya, infected a fresh thing with all the blood and juicy things :)

69. Have you ever been high: not yet

70. Have you ever been drunk: ha i had 2 blackouts this year already :)

71. Have you ever been in a band or choir: ya

72. Have you ever catfished someone: no

73. Do you have any siblings: ya

74. Do you live with your parents: no

75. Do you have more than 100 followers: ya

76. Do you have more than 1,000 followers: no

77. Do you have more than 10,000 followers: no

78. Do you smoke weed: no

79. Do you drink: too often but not often enough. once a week or every 2 weeks is ok

80. Do you have a job: kinda

81. Do you own any musician/youtuber merch: i own merch by: marina and the diamonds, yung lean, lgoony, miyavi, yung hurn, eeeehm more probably

82. Do you have any internet friends: ya n i luv u

83. Do you play any instruments: i wish

84. Where did you go/are you going to college: i am rn :)

85. College major: textiles and clothing

86. Names of all your group chats: dont have friends apparently oops

87. Tap the middle autofill button 10 times:

88. What time zone do you live in: +1 i think? europe time

89. Your best friend’s sign: /

90. Your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th closest friends’ signs: my close friends are pisces, aries, gemini, sag

91. Your crush’s sign: my boi is a cap

92. Your mom’s sign: leo

93. Your dad’s sign: aquarius

94. Your sibling(s)’ sign(s): leo

95. Your enemy’s sign: i hate leos.

96. Your ex(s)’ sign(s): /

97. An ex best friend’s sign: leo

98. Tag 5 people to participate: idk who to tag. i tag @kanashii-yunikon and @slowtofu <3

[westallenfun]

A Long Winter's Nap, Chapter 1

Westallen Secret Santa gift from @jade4813 for @westallen94

Author’s Note: My Christmas gift for Westallen94. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and that you enjoy reading this story as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it!

______________________________________________________________________________________

Iris West was deeply, hopelessly in love.

She wasn’t particularly happy about it. Her feelings were completely out of her control. Inconvenient. Messy. And entirely unrequited.

In fact, the object of her affection barely knew she existed. Oh, she knew he’d seen her around. They’d exchanged polite nods a time or two. He’d even spoken to her a couple of times. But she doubted he knew her name – or anything else about her for that matter.

Iris stifled her sigh and turned her attention firmly back to the lunch before her, trying to ignore both the object of her affection and her best friend, sitting across from her.

“You know,” Cisco mused, breaking into her thoughts. “You could just talk to him.”

She scowled at him, picking up her sandwich and taking a large bite. His smile didn’t slip, so after a moment, she grumbled, “He doesn’t even know I exist.”

He didn’t seem terribly sympathetic. “Coincidentally, that’s also a problem that can be fixed by talking to him.”

“I have talked to him,” she shot back, wincing when she realized her tone sounded suspiciously close to a whine. “He still doesn’t know I exist.”

He threw her a skeptical look. “I doubt that. Have you seen you?”

She snorted and rolled her eyes. She and Cisco had been friends for years. There had never been any real romantic interest between them, so she didn’t really take his compliment seriously. “I’ve seen the look on his face when he looks at me. Do you know what it’s like to have someone look right through you and not really hear a word you say?”

He raised his eyebrows. “I teach physics to high schoolers. What do you think?”

She waved a potato chip in his general direction. “Point taken. But believe me, Officer Thawne wouldn’t notice me if he tripped over me. Now eat your burger and stop worrying about my love life.”

Cisco grinned and picked up a fry. “I like worrying about your love life. Keeps me from worrying about mine.”

Iris laughed and threw a potato chip at him. Her crush on Eddie Thawne might be hopeless, but at least she and Cisco and would always have each other’s backs. Wanting to change the subject, she asked, “So, you hear about the new Chemistry teacher transferring in from Coast City when we get back after Christmas break? Singh said something about him having a background in photography, too. Maybe he’ll help me out with the school newspaper.”

He shook his head. “Not really. I just hope he’s less uptight than Julian was. What’s his name?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Allen something?”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Iris sighed and slipped on her gloves as she stared out the window at the snow falling gently on the ground. It was her turn on parking lot duty over the lunch hour, making sure the students returning from class trips made it safely back into the building. The snow and freezing temperatures over the last few days made even a short walk across the parking lot treacherous.

She adjusted the collar of her coat and headed towards the door, expertly weaving between students on the way to lunch. The persistent hum of teenage chatter was so much a part of her daily life that she was used to tuning it out, but one conversation caught her attention.

“Did you hear what happened to Officer Thawne at the self-defense seminar?” sophomore Sophie Crews asked, her voice full of the kind of excitement that indicated she had some juicy gossip.

“I was there!” her friend, Ella Marks exclaimed. “Vice Principal Bridge said he’s okay, but I don’t know. He hit his head pretty hard.” Iris stumbled to a halt and had to resist the urge to grab them to demand more details. Before she could, however, Sophie asked, “So, what are you doing for Christmas?” The friends chatted about their plans for the upcoming holiday as they slammed their locker doors and headed towards the cafeteria.

She shifted her weight back and forth a moment as she debated what to do. She wanted to go check on Eddie, but she didn’t really have a good excuse to do so. They were hardly friends – he did even know her name. Just because Cisco knew her dirty little secret didn’t mean she wanted the rest of the school to be in on it, as well.

Besides, the first bus was due back any minute, and she had students to attend to. She had to trust that the vice principal was taking care of matters and he would be all right. With a sigh, Iris headed out the door. After lunch, she could perhaps contrive a reason to track him down and ensure he was okay.

She was pacing back and forth on the sidewalk, lost in her thoughts as she tried to keep warm. It gave her time to think about her classes and prepare for the rest of the day ahead. She was pondering ways to help a couple of kids who were struggling in her sixth period English when she heard a footfall behind her. Thinking it was one of her students, she turned to make sure they weren’t trying to sneak out of school over lunch.

Iris was ready to stop a truant student with a shout, but her cry died in her throat when she saw a familiar crisp blue uniform. Eddie Thawne had stopped on the edge of the sidewalk, his head bowed as he rubbed his forehead. “Um, Ed-Officer Thawne?” she asked softly, stepping forward. “Are you okay?”

He lifted his head and looked towards her, and her heart lifted for a split second when their eyes met and he smiled. “Oh, hey. Merry Christmas.”

Iris made a soft sound in the back of her throat – barely a reply. In that brief moment, she could swear Eddie’s eyes had been vague and unfocused. She wavered hesitantly as she watched him step off the curb.

She bit her lip and sighed, telling herself that she’d read too much into things. He seemed to be fine. She turned to go, but then she saw him stumble, his hand flying to his forehead again. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the bus pull into the lot, headed straight for him. It didn’t even slow down; the snow was falling hard; the heavy snow seemed to be obscuring the driver’s view.

Iris gasped, her feet propelling her forward before the thought to move even occurred to her. “Eddie!” she yelled. She heard the screech of the bus’s brakes as she launched herself at Eddie in a dead run. As tiny as she was, it was the only way she’d be able to move him out of the way. She felt him sag against her, and she managed to twist as the two of them fell, landing hard and taking the full weight of his body when he fell on top of her.

Her breath whooshed out of her body, pain shooting from her hip all the way through the top of his skull. She managed a smile, however, when he lifted his head and looked down at her. “H-hey,” she managed in a breathless voice. Then she saw his eyes roll back in his head and he collapsed on top of her.

[aion-rsa]

Batwoman Season 2 Trailer Shows Ryan Wilder Taking on “The Batman Rule”

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The Batwoman season 2 trailer is out, and while it’s only about a minute long, it’s chock full of new information to tease us until the premiere in January. There’s always a build-up before a new season, but with the longer time gap and Javicia Leslie coming in to play a new Batwoman, this feels like an extra juicy hiatus.

We’ve seen some stills and behind the scenes footage, but this is our first proper introduction to Javicia’s Batwoman – and our first peek at how the Batwoman writers will handle Kate Kane’s absence. Let’s dive in.

Check it out here…

Alice is still the queen of Batwoman

It doesn’t matter that’s she’s technically a villain or that the show is named after someone else – Alice is clearly still the most magnetic thing happening on Batwoman, though Mary and Luke are giving her a run for her money. Her “twinkle, twinkle little bat” is a nice mix of creepy and somehow making us root for her harder. One of the biggest concerns with Ruby Rose leaving the show has been how it will impact the Alice-Kate sister dynamic.

Based on this trailer, it seems like Alice is still invested in taking on the new hero in town. Might she be even more vengeful of whoever steps into her sister’s boots?

Alice still has plenty more irons in the fire. It seems like she’s talking to other villains in some of her voiceover here, and there are plenty of options to choose from – other than Mouse, who she killed at the end of last season. Hush, who’s now wearing a face that looks just like her cousin, Bruce Wayne? Safiya, who seems to be the only person she’s afraid of? Or maybe someone entirely new? There are still more years in Alice’s timeline that are unaccounted for, so I’m sure she’ll keep finding ways to surprise us.

Whatever happened to Kate Kane?

Why yes, that is a Baby Jane reference. The memorial for Kate – prayer candles, flowers, the works – points to a Gotham in confusion and mourning. As Mary points out in the trailer and the many posters during some kind of rally illustrate, this city needs a hero.

In a way, this brings us back full circle to the show’s premiere, which told the backstory of how Kate rose to the occasion after Batman disappeared mysteriously. The real question is, will the people of Gotham start to notice a pattern that for the second time, a millionaire playboi from the same family has mysteriously disappeared at the same time a member of the Bat Family did?

I’m guessing resident gossip columnist Vesper Fairchild (voiced by longtime Batwoman fan Rachel Maddow, dripping with gleeful irony) will float plenty of sordid theories. After all, to the outside world, Kate is a millionaire college drop-out going to parties with one hot woman after another while playing at being a real estate mogul.

Ryan Wilder gets powerful

The only real hint we have about what happened to Kate comes in the form of Ryan, who appears to find the bat suit by accident, down by the water. Maybe at the docks? It looks like Ryan carries the suit around a bit before deciding to put it on, fighting a little crime, and eventually tailoring it to better fit her. We briefly see the van she lives in – maybe this vantage point will allow her to see different people in Gotham who need rescuing.

It’s not going to be an easy road for Wilder to become the new Batwoman. Kate’s family and friends are in mourning in a big way, and it seems like they’re going to be grieving both Kate and the Batwoman she was. Sophie is crying, Mary’s sobbing in bed, Luke and Mary are hugging (OK it’s not all bad – #HamilFox forever!) Luke Fox, for one, insists Kate is Batwoman. And he didn’t enjoy it when Kate played with the gear, even after they got comfortable with each other, so I doubt he’ll love Ryan’s alterations.

Poor Commander Kane says he won’t give up hope looking for his daughter – he now knows that he gave up on Beth too soon, which might make it impossible for him to ever stop looking for her twin, Kate.

But a huge highlight of the trailer is seeing the red Batmobile cruise down the streets, Ryan fighting in a school bus and dropping in from above to scare bad guys. There’s a quick clip of her fighting and then a nice shot of her standing tall, ready to square off. Our Batwoman is here, y’all.

Will Ryan Wilder follow “the Batman Rule”?

It’s a cardinal rule of the bat family: no killing. Yet hearing Luke Fox say it to Ryan in the trailer, it sounds less like an FYI about a company policy and more like he’s talking someone off the ledge, or considering kicking them out of the top spot. Does this mean Ryan Wilder kills someone, wants to, or comes close?

At the end of last season, Kate Kane killed the man who abused Beth, the single human most responsible for bringing about her change to Alice. It was manipulative and hard to watch, and Kate was devastated. It felt like seeing her find her way back to herself and find her honor code not from a place of superiority but from real human failure was going to be a highlight of season 2. Perhaps the writers agreed and decided to find a way to salvage that story line with a new Batwoman?

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Whatever way the writers go, Batwoman has long been a flawed character working on some serious soul-searching.

The post Batwoman Season 2 Trailer Shows Ryan Wilder Taking on “The Batman Rule” appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[carlos-penavega]

How had it already been two years since their divorce? Where did the time go? Oliver had clearly remembered crying despite their mutual agreement of the divorce; they weren’t getting along anymore, their communication had dwindled down to the point where they began lying to one another again, and on top of that they argued a /lot/. They just couldn’t see eye-to-eye anymore. What finally broke the straw on the camel’s back was that they had a child together and they both had agreed that they didn’t want to raise their child in such an environment and had come to conclusion that divorce was the best answer.

Oliver had gotten custody because Connor was working long hours at his law firm, while Oliver would be more attentive towards their child. Connor didn’t fight this because he agreed and he wanted what was best for their kid. Connor, on the other hand, had custody during the weekends and occasionally during certain days of the week.  

Now Oliver stood at the park where he waited for Connor’s arrival. This had been the spot they decided on meeting up whenever they had to hand their daughter over to one another. Originally they wanted to do it where the other would pick them up or drop them off from the other’s place, but as their kid got older, they both realized how much she would enjoy the park; plus, it would give them a chance to talk without being confined behind closed doors. The moment Oliver spotted his daughter walking while holding Connor’s hand, a smile formed on his lips.

“Daddy!!” The little girl screamed loudly as she quickly removed her hand from Connor’s and dashed over towards Oliver.

“Hi, sweetie!” Oliver’s face was lit up and his lips couldn’t help but tug into a huge grin; he kneeled down, opened his arms widely, and gave her the biggest bear hug. When Connor managed to catch up, he smiled at Oliver who was now standing back up with the little girl in her arms.

“Hey…” Connor spoke out to which Oliver gave him a “hey” back.

“I’ve packed all her stuff in this bag…” Connor held the bag up to show Oliver and this made the older man laugh some as he took hold of the bag.

“You act like we’ve never done this before…”

“No matter how many times we do this it still feels weird…” With that, the younger man’s shoulders came up into a shrug, but before they continued on talking, the both of them sat down on a bench and Oliver let their kid down to run around and play.

“Did you bring Sophie’s teddy? Last time you forgot it and she refused to sleep without it.” Oliver suddenly asked while his eyes were focused on Sophie just to make sure she was okay.

“Teddy? She has a teddy?” Connor teased Oliver, but when Oliver shot him a look Connor began laughing and pointed at the bag he had handed over to him.

“Don’t worry, I made sure to put it in the bag.” Before any other words could be shared, the both of them spotted Sophie running towards someone which alarmed Connor. Practically jumping off the bench, Connor stopped himself when he noticed who it was; it was someone he recognized, someone he knew. How had he not noticed him earlier?

“Really?” The mood of their encounter suddenly changed and Oliver stood up to try and make sure Connor wouldn’t do anything stupid.

“You had to bring /him/ along?”

“Connor…” Oliver opened his mouth, but Connor was quick to shut him down.

“You didn’t have to bring Drake, out of all people!” He was now irritated.

“I mean, seriously? Drake?” Oliver closed his eyes because this hatred for the man for no actual reason was getting exhausting, but Oliver didn’t want to argue about this; there was no point. 

“Okay…first of all, his name is Simon and secondly, he’s honestly the sweetest man ever.” Oliver wasn’t sure why he was trying to explain and justify this to Connor all he knew was he wanted to defend Simon from Connor’s words. On top of that, he was just tired of Connor playing the “Mean Girl” role when it came to Simon. Purposely trying to act like the top-dog and leaving Simon out of things. Talking behind his back in negative ways; honestly, Oliver wouldn’t even be surprised if Connor had a burn book with Simon’s picture and a bunch of nasty words attached to it. That’s how petty this whole thing had gotten. 

“Do you love him, though?” Oliver felt Connor’s eyes on him and he turned to look over at the other before he scoffed at the question because it had felt like such a ridiculous thing to ask; of course he loved Simon. Averting his eyes back onto Simon, who was now chasing Sophie around the playground, both of them laughing as one tried to run as fast as they could while the other attempted to catch up.

“I do. I love him /very/ much.” His lips curled into a genuine smile as he said this. And there it was, that /look/, the look that Connor noticed and felt on multiple occasions when he was together with Oliver. Now Oliver was looking at another man with those eyes and there was nothing he could do, but be happy for him.

“How does he treat Sophie?” As Connor asked this, he turned his attention in the direction to where Sophie had been and could now observe how well the two of them got along. A small sigh escaped his lips because as hard as it was to admit it, the dude really wasn’t all that bad and if he was able to make Sophie giggle and smile like she was now, clearly Simon wasn’t an issue.

“What do you even see in that man?” Connor suddenly asked, which sounded more like jealousy than curiosity. It wasn’t that he wanted to come off as jealous, but it came out of him almost like a habit. 

“Connor, we’re not doing this.” Oliver knew he didn’t have to answer such questions, especially when they were being asked in a way where one person would hope for juicy gossip in attempt to boost their own confidence. 

“I’m seriously, Ollie. I wanna know what makes him special. What is it that you see in him that I just can’t understand?” Oliver glanced over at Connor slightly surprised because the tone had sound genuine; like Connor had actually wanted to truly get to know Simon. Releasing a sigh, Oliver faced forward again and opened his mouth to begin speaking,

“When I look at Simon, I see kindness and love…” Oliver knew how sappy that sounded, but he didn’t care because it was true. He could be himself around Simon. Someone who wouldn’t judge or laugh at him for liking video games or nerdy things or even the fact he enjoyed spending one or two days out of the week dedicating it to game night. When he was with Simon, everything just felt right like nothing could bother or harm them. On top of that, just knowing and getting to observe Simon’s love for Sophie and Sophie’s love for Simon and that they got along made Oliver’s heart soar because that was the main thing he fretted about, but knowing he didn’t have to worry about that anymore was a relief.

“…I see the world when I’m with him.” Oliver continued on and he knew it didn’t really answer Connor’s question, but it really put things in perspective for him. At that point Connor didn’t have anything else to say; there were no more words. Oliver Hampton was in love with another man and Connor would just have to be okay with that.

“I’m happy for you…” Is what Connor wanted to say, but he couldn’t. Was he /truly/ happy for Oliver? Of course, but was he truly happy that Oliver was with Simon? No. He wasn’t, but maybe overtime he would be. All he knew was that he would have to accept it because there was no changing things. They had given it a shot for the longest time, but somewhere along the lines they fell apart and they were both to blame for it; they clearly weren’t ready for marriage, but they had forced it. Made it work for a few years, but then it slowly began crumbling down. What happened was in the past and Connor knew it had to stay there. Oliver had clearly moved on and maybe now it was time for him to move on as well.

“We’ll see you Friday, Connor.” Oliver finally broke the silence between them. Waving goodbye, he began walking over towards Simon and Sophie and they all headed off to go back home.

[c-rankin93]

SHE'S NO YOU - Ch.8

A/N: So this is a bit of a change up. No Rae and Finn? What in the world will you do? Read this so you know what's in the mind of the other characters! ❤ Not even bothered to even double check this. My editing skills suck. 😂 -- CHAPTER EIGHT: EYE OF THE BEHOLDER -- OLIVIA POV: "What else am I meant to think Betty?" My sister Belinda had been trying to calm me down ever since I arrived at her place after work. The embarrassing confrontation in front of all whole floor left me a scorn woman, but I haven't been able to think about anything else. Of course I took his threat about staying away for a while seriously. I didn't come all this way just to loose Finn. It was that stupid bitch, Rae's fault we are even having an argument. Her and those fucking kids! Every second of our lives together, revolve around them. He's so invested in them, it makes me sick! I just want to shake the life out of Finn sometimes. I understood my boyfriend had never been a romantic man, we went to business dinners together but never any by ourselves. I wish he would show me off but I understood that he wants his private life out of the publics eye. I respect him enough to respect his wishes. "Calm down Livvy" Belinda scolds. She places the nail file she was using down and turns to me. "Don't worry about that stupid bitch, and those pesky children. Your the one sleeping in his bed. Not her. Jesus Olivia! Who's the one with an unlimited credit card?" "Me?" "Exactly!" "What's that got to do with anything!" "Nothing screams 'I love you' more then 'here spoil yourself with my money'. Your loaded, I'm loaded. We're loved". My sister had always been a no-nonsense type of women. She knew everything about the ins and outs of our relationship. Belinda was the only one I truly trusted. From the moment I started working as Finn Nelson's personal assistant, she knew I wanted him. All of him. And she helped me get him. "I just want him to tell me he loves me!" "Olivia, you practically threw yourself at him after the breakup. You forced yourself into his life, after he spent over a decade with that ugly bitch. You need to give him time. He will tell you, i can promise you that" she smiled snuggly and picked up the nail file again. "Does John still have those photos?" I inquired. I needed to use my backup plan - well Betty's plan - I didn't like the bickering Finn and I were doing. We were once happy, before Joshua's birthday. "Of course he does! I made sure of it, there was no way I was letting him destroy them! Why?" "I need to do something. I need to push them further apart, then maybe he will forget about her and them bastards". "Ohkay. Well ill be seeing John tonight at the roosevelt hotel, so I'll tell him to bring the photos along" she wiggled her perfectly manicured eyebrows. I shuttered thinking about my model-like sister sleeping with that fat old man. "Why are you still sleeping with him Betty" I scrunched my nose in disgust. "Have you seen the way I live? I have everything I've ever wanted. He even brought me a fucking house! If that means I have to open my legs to a greedy old man, then so be it! Plus if he hadn't of done all that, you wouldn't of seen Gregory again when I brought this place" she laughed, taking a sip of red wine. "Don't remind me please!" I rolled my eyes at the mention of my ex boyfriend. "Oh come on! He was the perfect trifecta to our plan!" "All I did was inform him of the newly single Rae, and told him where she worked. Still, he didn't even start to date her til a year after that, and he still doesn't think she's over Finn". "I didn't know you still spoke with him?" My sister seemed more interested now, anything to do with juicy gossip and she was right there panting at my leg. "Oh come on, I saw him again a few months ago at a club. It's not a big deal I just asked how his relationship was going. Plus Josh told Finn about a year ago that Rae has a boyfriend and you brought this place, what, two years ago. Simple maths Betty". Finn had not been impressed when Josh had disclosed that information with him. He kept ranting and raving about another man taking his place, and how he wouldn't allow it. Finn did jack shit after Rae had put him in his place  I seriously don't know how Finn managed to stay with that crazy bitch for so long, it really reflects on her children too. "Yeah, yeah whatever. He was the love of your life at one time". Here she goes again, she's digging for more information. She knew we dated for 3 years in high school, but I never did tell her the reason we broke up. And I don't think i ever will. "We broke up over 10 years ago Betty, we grew apart. End of story" I hissed, earning a scowl from my sister. "Well, we have the photos.." she effortlessly changed the subject. "We will make Finn hate Rae even more. Then you can have your happily ever after - eww by the way, and I can stop listening to you complain about this everytime I see you". Did I mention my sister can be a bitch of a bitch sometimes. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree in our family. Once Finn sees these photos with the time stamp, he will definitely think she cheated on him. She won't be able to deny it. The photos Betty took were perfect. This will tear them further apart, and I will have Finn to myself. "Well I'm going to head home now. Maybe Finn will be in a better mood now that he's seen the kids" "Whatever. I'll be in contact with you tomorrow about the photos. Love you!" I left my sister to finish her nails. We had always been close, Betty and I. The moment I told her about my interest in Finn, she jumped at the chance to help me eliminate the problem. She had a socialite business man hanging off every word she would say, so when the plan was formulated John immediately agreed. I knew that the sick bastard would. He had always had Alot of mistresses, his stupid wife was clueless of course. My sister seemed to be the only one that stuck around though; for the lavish lifestyle she couldn't dare part from. In reality she was a nobody, without the money she would be left with only me and our parents. Maybe that's why she's so bitter? She hadn't always been this way.. No, but since Mark Earl - Rae's brother - broke her heart at 18 she had been a different woman. She really did play the vengful-ex quite perfectly. My half crazy sister, a womanizing prick and my devastatingly handsome ex boyfriend all helped me in their own way get the love of my life. Gregory helping without even realising, he truly did fall in love with that cow. I should know. But what my sister didn't know, was that I had a secret of my own. A secret that I couldn't wait for the world to know. I knew the moment Finn found out he would never consider leaving me. He wouldn't be able to live with himself and I will get what I want. Just him and me, away from his former life, surrounded in money and power. I decided I needed to tell him as soon as possible. I couldn't wait to see his reaction. --- ARCHIE POV: There was still 20 more minutes until 6.30pm, and I wasn't sure if I was going to get that phone call. Or if it was a good idea to bring the kids around them whilst they were 'sorting themselves out'. I still couldn't beleive what Finn had told me about what happened at the ball. It hurt that Rae hadn't said anything to me in confidence, but I totally understood why she wouldn't. Of course, I'm my head I still hoped that this was a load of shit. John, the slimey bastard was always one to stretch the truth from time to time. He was a regular at dinner parties, along with his decent wife Pam. Sometimes I wondered why Finn would always invited him. The children were putting their pajamas on for me, whilst I made my second cup of coffee for the night. My niece and nephew knew how to run rings around me in such a short space of time. Between plating hair, and preparing tea with Joshua, I had been going nonstop. Sophie was a placid little girl, who would stick to you like glue. She would rather cuddle you, instead of going out and doing something. In a way that was my own fault, I never put her down. Thankfully Ben had completely understood. Even when he knew I wasn't telling him everything. He reassured me that he would keep my side of the bed warm for me, even if it's the middle of the night when I return. I heard the front door slam shut and ran from my half made coffee to the foyer. I hoped Finn was Ohkay, and that he finally got the answers he needed. I shouldn't of been surprised when I found it to be Olivia instead of my brother. She did live here after all. "What are you doing here? Where's Finn?" We had never gotten along, even before she had started dating my brother. She had once tried to get me booted from my family's building when she told security I was a crazed homosexual man who was in love with Finn. Not once did she apologize, even when Finn gave her a verbal lashing. "He's out. I'm just looking after the kids" I shrugged walking back towards the kitchen. I needed caffeine now more then ever. She followed. Perfect. "He wouldn't of just left the kids here on his night without something serious happening. Are you going to tell me what that is? Or do I have to ring my boyfriend?" Olivia tapped her heel on the tile, a plucked eyebrow was slightly raised. Obviously her mother never taught her to respect her elders. "He just said that he needed me here, and here I am. End of story" I dismissed. I wasn't going to tell her where he was, it was none of her business. "Your a real peice of work you know th-" "Why are you so mean?" Ruby interrupted a stunned Olivia. "Excuse me?" "I said why are you so mean?" "You have no right to ask me a question like that, thank you" she scoffed, slamming her Prada onto the bench top. "Well your always mean to me, Josh and mommy. Now you are being mean to uncle Archie" Ruby glared. The Feisty little 6 year old had a point. Olivia was a bitch. Olivia looked like she was going to fly off the handle bars at any moment. But somehow the raging bull was suppressed, with a fake smile she grinned and bared it. "I'm not mean sweety. Your mom and I just don't get along because she just a bit jealous that I'm with your daddy and your daddy loves me" I was about to step in when my nephew, who I didn't realised had stepped into the room spoke up. "Then why is dad mean to you? I love my mom and I'm never mean to her" I covered up my smile with my now steaming hot mug. "You'll find out soon just how much your daddy loves me" she smirked, collecting her things and headed straight for Finn's bedroom. "Unle Archie she's strange" Joshua crinkled his nose up in confusion. Even I had no idea what she meant, but she was out of her mind if she though Finn had anything but Rae running through his head. I tried to ring Finn's mobile number, but it had been diverted straight to voice mail, same with Rae's. I didn't want to stay here for much longer with Oliva in the house and I didn't want to interrupt whatever Rae and Finn had going on. "Hey babe" my next victim was my husband, luckily he knew how to pick up his phone. "Hey" I sighed. "I need help" "What do you need? - Sophie! Don't you dare touch the cat food!" I chuckled listening to my daughter and husband argue. "I hear everything is going great at home... Ohkay, well Finn and Rae aren't answering their phones and I never got Rae's address off Finn before he left. I don't really want to stay here because queen bitch is home" I looked around the lounge room making sure there was nobody listening. "Bring them here" Ben said calmly. "Are you sure? What about school in the morning?" I stressed. "Bring their uniforms with them. I'm sure Finn has a clean pair for both. He's so fucking pedantic, so I would be surprised if there is multiples. And when you get a hold of either one of them just explain what's going on. If Rae wants them home, then I'll take them home". The thing about my husband was that he was always rational when it came to situations like this. "What would I do without you?" I sighed. I couldn't help but smile, I loved my husband dearly. "You would eat your body weight in taco bell". "Shut up. I'll see you soon" I hung up the phone and headed towards the kids room. I just hoped Finn got back to me soon. -- A/N: did you expect that? Ohkay guys, I need a couple of days to complete the next chapter. This is actually 14 chapters smooshed into 8, so bare with me I'm still righting the story. But the concept and timeline is complete. How many more chapters? I dunno... Haha @lily-pop-2 @mmfdfanfic @milllott @hey1tskat1e @milymargot @tinakegg @luly310 @I88cym @arathewallflower @i-dream-of-emus @lurkernolonger @eveerez