#alchol abuse

[crashdevlin]

Losses and Gains 6- Reunited

Author’s Note: This is the sixth chapter of Losses and Gains, the second part of To Have it All. This is Something More...from Jensen's side!

Summary: Jensen gets Y/n back in his trailer, and back in his arms, but does that mean everything's going to be okay?

Pairing:  Jensen x Reader, background Reader x Tom Hiddleston

Word count: 4378

Story Warnings: open marriage, mentions of depression and heartbreak, bad things, alcohol as a crutch, anger, fighting, divorce, anxiety, panic attack

~~~

“She’s okay.” That’s all Jared had to say after he got back from lunch with Y/n on Sunday. I raised my eyebrows at him and silently demanded more information. “What?”

“That’s all? She’s okay? That’s all you have to say?”

“That’s all I feel comfortable sharing.”

I scoffed and shook my head at him. “What the fuck, dude? She’s not okay! We talked about this yesterday!”

“She’s okay enough…and even if I was willing to share, you don’t want to know what she told me.”

“Of course, I-”

Jared shook his head and patted my shoulder. “No. Listen, I talked things out with her. If things are the way she says they are, then it’s a simple fix. If it’s worse than that, then she knows what she needs to do. It’s going to be okay, either way.”

“You’re really not gonna tell me what’s wrong?”

“It’s not mine to tell. If you want to know, then make friends with her again, and maybe she’ll be okay to tell you eventually.”

I rolled my eyes and let it go. He wouldn’t tell me, so I moved on. “I don’t think I could be friends with her again. I love her, man. I don’t think I’d be able to ignore that.”

“Yeah. I understand that. You gonna be able to work with her?”

It was a valid question and I wasn’t sure of the answer, even as I responded, “Yeah, of course.”

When I got back to Vancouver, I knew I had to put on a brave face. I had to act like I had everything together…which was really fucking hard when the writers sent me the script for the episode Y/n did Second Unit shooting for a couple weeks before.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me." I was in awe. I couldn’t even be mad about it because I was shocked…and a little bit excited that I was gonna get to kiss Y/n again, even if it was gonna be in front of a dozen people on set.

"Not just kissing, Ackles. This is a real sex scene. You haven’t done one of these since the Born Again episode." Jared flipped through the pages and sighed. "This is bad. This is gonna set you back weeks and-"

"Are you kidding me? I'm a professional, Jared. I think I can draw the line between-"

"Who do you think you're talking to right now?" He tossed the pages on the coffee table and pointed at the fresh beer in my hand. "That's your second beer and it's not even 10am and you're at work. You're a consummate professional." I set the beer next to the script and started to tell him to shut up but he kept going. "I know that you're excited about this and you're happy to pantomime getting her back in your arms but you have to end that shit right now. You have to approach this like a sex scene with any other actor, completely detached and looking out for their emotional welfare. She's gonna be in agony over this."

That took me aback for a minute. "Agony?"

"First off, this is gonna be her first sex scene…and it's with an ex. Not just any ex, but the one she can't tell people is an ex. So she has no one but me and Tom to complain to. Beyond that, she's still in love with you and she remembers exactly how you really are in the sack and she's probably missing that about now and she can't have it because she's with the gentleman bastard. And you think you should come in and act like everything is good?"

"Since when have I been acting like everything is good?" I snapped. "Like you said, it's not even 10 and I'm on my second beer. I'm not expecting everything to be magically better since Tara and Dean are gonna fuck, but maybe, just maybe Y/n will talk to me since we have to work together. Maybe we can start making things better. And in the very least, I get to kiss her again. I get to hold her again. I get to feel just a bit like things are going to be okay…and that’s all I want."

“Dude, detach. Things are not going to be better. Not now, not in a few months. You need to act like everything is over because it is. Move on. Don’t make this harder for her than it already is.”

Why was it about her and not me? Why did I have to tippy-toe around her emotions when I was feeling shit, too? Why did I have to fucking detach?!

I seethed a bit as Jared left, knowing that he was ultimately right, but still hating to hear it. I needed to be calm and cold and not show how I was feeling. It was better that way. It was better for both of us.

So when she knocked on my trailer door and came in, looking shaky and nervous, I locked my emotions away as best I could and welcomed her back.

“Did you get Wednesday’s pages?” she asked, looking around the trailer.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

She leaned against my counter, careful to keep her eyes anywhere but my face. “So, how, uh…how do we-”

“We follow the script,” I interrupted. “Just like every other scene we’ve ever done. You’ll be Tara and I’m gonna be Dean and they’re gonna share a messy first kiss and then Dean is gonna fuck Tara on one of the tables in the Men of Letter Library and then I’ll come back here and you’ll probably go back to your hotel and call up your boyfriend.”

Well, cold and detached didn’t last long.

Her eyes glistened as she looked up at me and she started to say my name but I cut her off again. “Y/n, look, I know this probably isn’t any easier for you than it is for me, but I…I really fuckin’ miss you and the fact that you are standing right there in front of me and I can’t-” I convinced myself to shut up, reminding myself that my emotions were not important in this moment. “At least he treats you well. That grand declaration of love on Facebook…something I could never do.”

“I didn’t want him to,” she asserted weakly. “I told him not to do that.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, that’s fuckin’ nice. The man ignores simple requests.”

“Come on, Jay, don’t be-”

I put my hand up, a finger raised to get her quiet. “Don’t call me that. We’re just coworkers now. I’m fighting calling you ‘Baby Girl’ so you’re gonna respect my efforts and call me ‘Jensen’.”

Fuck, I didn’t mean to make her cry. I didn’t mean to snap like that. “Jensen, please. You can’t tell me that you don’t understand,” she begged.

“I understand. I understand just fine.” And I did. I completely understood exactly how I managed to get to that moment in time. “But it doesn’t make any of it hurt less. It doesn’t matter that you saw the end of my marriage rapidly approaching because I couldn’t get you out of my head and you distanced yourself for my family’s good. It doesn’t matter that Tom capitalized on that distance the moment you created it.”

I don’t know what came over me, just trying to get the honesty out, maybe. Maybe I was just trying to rail against Jared’s decree about detachment. “What matters is that I haven’t talked to you in months, but I still pick up my phone to call you after we wrap every night. What matters is that you left that bottle of your perfume in the bathroom and I can’t bring myself to throw it away because the pillows on your side of the bed don’t smell right if they don’t smell like CK Eternity. What matters is that I’m so in love with you that it hurts and you saw that, saw how I feel, and you left so that I wouldn’t fuck up my life over you…”

I could see the pain in her eyes as I reached out to cup her cheek. “All of that just makes me love you more.”

She closed her eyes but she didn’t move away. She leaned just a little closer. “You can’t,” she whispered.

I pulled her closer to me, hand on the back of her neck. “Shit, that doesn’t change a thing. Baby Girl, your protests don’t change a goddamn thing.”

She gave a full-body shiver but then she pulled away. It was like she didn’t really want to pull away but she felt like she had to, so I put my hand on her hip and pulled her back again. Gently, not aggressively, not in a bad way, just in a ‘please don’t leave me’ kinda way. Her eyes snapped open and she looked me dead in mine as she pushed me away just enough to get her point across. “Jensen…I can’t. I’m not that woman.”

I knew exactly what she meant. She couldn’t cheat on Tom…and she didn’t want to hurt me, either. So I let her go and stepped away from her. “I know. It’s part of why I love you. You’re too damn good for me. But you’re also too good for fuckin’ Loki.”

She wiped her tears away and shrugged, sniffling. “I don’t know about that. There’s a lot of people on Twitter who seem to think I’m not good enough for him…if the death threats are any indication. I mean, Tom’s got some rabid fans…but I’m sure they’re not as bad as our fans would be if they found out-”

“That Danneel is divorcing me?” I finished…even though I know that’s not what she was planning to say. I couldn’t help but laugh at the shock and confusion on her face. I picked up my warm beer from earlier in the day and took a drink. “Yeah. It’s not official, but Gino said she’s talking to lawyers.”

“No!” she shouted and slammed her fist down on the counter. My eyebrows went up as she grabbed her wrist. “No, you have to fix it! I did not walk away so that you could still fuck it up!” Seriously?! She’s blaming it all on me? “You love her! You love her and you love your kids and you just have to get over this stupid other feeling-”

“My feelings are stupid, now?” I demanded, offended to my bones but somehow…excited to be having an honest conversation with her about everything.

“That feeling is! You feeling like you think you’re in love with me is stupid! You…” She looked lost and frustrated as she threw her hands in the air. “Go to counseling! Go see a fucking shrink! Go fucking fix it! Fix! It!” she demanded.

“We fucking were! We’ve spent months talking to a shrink. Ever since you left, we’ve been trying. It hasn’t worked!”

“Try harder!” She scoffed at me and I could see it. She wasn’t mad at me. She was regretting it. She was regretting leaving because it didn’t stop the end that she was trying to stop. “Three months isn’t enough! Between the show and the cons and everything, it’s not enough time. Try to-”

“I don’t want to!” I admitted, tossing my beer at the floor. I didn’t want to drink anymore. The desire was fucking gone in that moment. I just wanted Y/n. “I’m tired of trying to not love you. I tried! I really did. Everyone told me to stop and I tried but I’m fucking exhausted and I can’t fuckin’ do it. It fucked my family, but I can’t stop how I feel.”

Everything stopped. We were both breathing heavy. My heart was pounding, I’m sure hers was too. But neither of us moved for a few moments. We just stared at each other, shoes and legs covered in beer…and something in the air said this was one of those pivotal moments. This was a moment where literally everything could change if we let it.

Finally, she broke the moment. “Fuck, Jay,” she whispered, covering her mouth with her hand and looking away from me.

“I know…” I started, but I bit my bottom lip to give myself a minute to think. I had one chance. I had one opportunity to make this work. “I know that you’re with Tom. I know he loves you. I’ve spent…months wanting you to not love him, but I saw you on Colbert and you looked so happy, but when you talk to Jared…”

She stepped closer to me, regret etched across her face, and she wrapped me in a hug. “I’m so sorry, Jay.”

I wrapped my arms around her, excited that she initiated the embrace. “You got nothing to be sorry for, Baby Girl.”

“No. I do. If I’d never come here, you wouldn’t be in this situation. Everything would-”

“No, no, hey. Never say that. If you hadn’t come here, you’d be in a worse-”

“I’d be depressed, but you wouldn’t be. It’d just be me sad and you’d still be happily-”

I kissed her before she could finish that thought. She was regretting everything, which meant she was regretting Tom. She was back in my arms. It seemed like the right way to move forward. It seemed like the best way to get both of us happy. Her hands went to my hair. Mine went to the back of her thighs. I hauled her up so her legs wrapped around my waist and I held her close as we kissed. My hands roamed her body as I walked her to the bedroom. It was almost like I was on autopilot. She was making these breathy little noises and she was grabbing at me and it was like things were the way they used to be.

We found the bed and dropped to it, still kissing. I wasn’t going to waste any opportunity, and I was gonna go as far as she’d let me…and as fast as possible before she realized we might be making a mistake. I didn’t want either of us to focus on the mistake. I wanted to focus on the way her skin tasted, the way she whimpered when I started inching my hand up under her shirt, and the feel of her lace bra under my fingertips. God, and I wanted to feel the matching lace underwear I knew she was hiding in her jeans, but she stopped me as soon as I went to unzip them. I can’t even lie and say I wasn’t disappointed at her cockblocking, but I understood.

“I’m sorry. I swear I’m not trying to be a tease, Jay, but I can’t.”

“I get it. You don’t wanna do to Tom what Nate did to you.” I rolled off of her, staring at the ceiling and willing the discomfort in my pants to go away. More than that, I was willing for this to be the start of a new chapter of us. I had her back. She was literally lying in my arms. She was nestling in close to me. As long as she didn’t go back to Tom, everything was going to be okay.

“I’m sorry that everything is so messy,” she whispered, half into my chest.

I kissed the top of her head. “It’s okay. I can handle it. I can handle any mess, as long as I’ve got you.”

She hugged me a little bit tighter and sighed, the adrenaline falling and exhaustion taking over.

As long as I had her…

~~~

My trailer door opened about fifteen minutes later and I slowly extracted myself from Y/n’s embrace. She looked so peaceful and I was happy that I could get up without waking her. The bedroom door opened up and Jared’s eyes zipped from me to Y/n. I didn’t want him waking her up, either, so I put a finger to my lips and pointed toward the living room. He took the hint and I followed him, closing the door as softly as possible and turning to him.

“What did you do?” he whispered, pointing at the door.

“Nothing! I didn’t do anything!”

“Bullshit! What the fuck, Ackles?”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t give me that. She came here of her own accord, she talked to me of her own accord. I tried the detached and cold thing but it didn’t fucking work.”

“And how��d she end up in your fucking bed?”

“We didn’t do anything. She’s not a cheater.”

“That doesn’t answer the damn question. How did she-”

“It just happened. We were talking and we both admitted to some regrets. I told her that Dee was divorcing me. She said she never wanted to cause anybody any harm and…we kissed and we ended up in the bedroom but nothing happened and she fell asleep, okay?”

“It’s asking for fucking trouble.”

“Jesus, Padalecki, Danneel’s already leaving me. What more trouble could she give me?”

“She could take everything. She could take the house, the kids, the brewery; she could take your good fuckin’ clubs, Jensen, just for spite.”

“She can have ‘em!” I snapped in a whisper before processing all of what he said. “Well, not the kids, but anything else she wants to use against me? She can have it. I lost Y/n once already. I’m not letting it happen again.”

He sighed. “What about Tom?” I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to respond with a well-thought-out “Fuck Tom” but Jared continued. “Hey, we may not like the guy, but she has a boyfriend.”

“And that’s the only reason why she’s still got clothes on right now; because she wanted it just as much as me, dude, and as soon as she breaks up with him and it’s not cheating anymore, I’m gonna make her scream and I do not give a damn who hears it.”

“You idiot. Danneel hasn’t even filed yet. You can’t start fucking another woman when she hasn’t filed, because then she can list infidelity as the reason for filing.”

“You say that like I give a fuck about the money. I don’t.”

“You should,” Y/n said as she stepped out of the bedroom.

I smiled at her, hoping she’d smile back, but she didn’t. “Hey, Baby Girl. How was your nap?”

“You should care about the money, Jay. Because even if she doesn’t hit you for everything, the judge is probably going to-”

I shook my head. Already back to worrying about me. “You don’t need to worry about any-”

“Jensen, of the three of us in this room, only one of us has been through a divorce. I have specific, sad expertise about this, so let me help you see things correctly.” Jared smirked as she walked over to the fridge a grabbed a bottle of water. “She’s gonna get a shitload of child support out of you, whether she asks for it or not. The judge is just going to give it to her, for the kids’ benefit. I mean, you’ve got three young children, two of whom are still in diapers. You’ve gotta pay for daycare, private school, the nanny, it’s going to be a lot. If she wants, Danneel can definitely come at you for alimony, since she hasn’t done much acting since One Tree Hill, except the Harold and Kumar movies, but I can’t really imagine that those made bank for anyone except John Cho, Kal Penn, and NPH-” She stopped her lesson to take a drink of water from the bottle she pulled out of the fridge and cleared her throat. “If she files with infidelity as the reason, the judge is going to hand her your life on a silver platter.”

“I feel like she’s gonna do that anyway. I mean, she’s leaving because I couldn’t stop loving you.”

“That was different. The old agreement wasn’t infidelity. You had her express permission to have a relationship with me. Hell, she apparently suggested me, and if you’ve still got the phone you had in January of last year, then you’ve got proof of that. I did a screen recording of the Skype call between me and Danneel.”

I pulled my phone out and looked at it, a bit shocked. “No shit?”

She nodded and opened up my videos folder. “Yeah. I figured that if the media found out, it’d be a good idea to have proof that I wasn’t a homewrecker.”

I bit my bottom lip as I watched the beginning of the conversation that led into it all. “You thought of doing this in the few seconds after I handed my phone over to you?” I asked, looking over at her.

“My dad taught me to cover my ass. As soon as I knew we weren’t doing anything wrong, I wanted to have some sort of proof that it wasn’t a bad thing. Back then, it wasn’t infidelity, but anything we do now…it would be, because that relationship is over. I left, she withdrew her permissions…and then there’s Tom.”

“Tom’s a dick,” Jared said, obviously pulling on the knowledge he didn’t feel he needed to share with me.

“No, he’s not,” she disputed, running her hand from her forehead backward. “He’s a good man and he was so fucking worried that he was going to lose me and that’s why he was so controlling and-”

“Controlling?” My eyes went wide. I knew it. I knew that there was something wrong there. I schooled my expression into something serious. “Tom’s controlling?”

She looked down at her feet and bit her lip. “It doesn’t matter.”

Yes, it fuckin’ did. It definitely mattered. “It does fucking matter, Y/n. What did he do?”

“Tom thinks she belongs to him,” Jared said, and Y/n flinched. He didn’t think to tell me that before all this?! He didn’t think I should know? She wasn’t fucking happy and he made it seem like I was making it up because I didn’t want her happy and that was fucking horrible.

“No, I talked to him about it. It wasn’t that big of deal anymore. He stopped.” She looked down at her phone and sighed. “I will tell you about it later, okay? Right now, we need to get to work.” She started to walk out.

The way she turned suddenly so cold and was still defending him, it worried me. “You are gonna dump him, right?”

She threw her hands up in the air and shook her head. Her voice took on a high-pitched sound as she shouted, “I don’t fucking know! I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I don’t know what the right thing is here!”

I smiled and reached for her, attempting to calm her down and soothe her. “Y/n/n, you just need to-”

“No, shut up!” she cut me off and I could see the panic welling up in her eyes. “Don’t tell me to calm down. Don’t tell me that everything is going to be fine, because nothing feels fine right now!” She started tugging lightly at her hair and looked at the ceiling. “You’re getting divorced, Jensen. Your beautiful and amazing family is going to be broken in half a-and that’s not fine, and Tom told the world about me and him and if I break up with him for my not-even-divorced-yet coworker, what kind of whore am I? What kind of bitch am I?”

I hadn’t even processed my shock over the way she was talking about herself before Jared had rushed over to her. “You’re having a panic attack, aren’t you?” He put his hand on her shoulder. “Do you have any PRN anxiety meds?”

“No. I haven’t needed them. I…I can’t breathe,” she rushed to say as she sat on the steps of the trailer and Jared followed. “I can’t breathe.”

“Hey, Jensen, go tell Rich that Y/n and I are gonna be late,” Jared demanded.

My jaw dropped a little as I debated staying and trying to help. But as Jared rubbed his hand up and down her spine, I knew that I was part of the problem. She needed someone who could help her calm down, and it wasn’t me in that moment, so I left.

I took a moment to calm down myself before heading to the set and cleared my throat as I approached Rich at the director’s chair. “Hey, uh, we’re gonna be runnin’ a little behind. Maybe we should switch some scenes around or something, ‘cause Y/n is having a bit of a panic attack and she’s not going to be able to-”

Rich’s eyes went wide. “Shit, is she okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, Jared's in my trailer with her and he’s talking her down, but it’s gonna put us off schedule. I know that we’ll make it work and we won’t make a big deal about it.”

"Of course not, but she's going to be okay, though, right?"

"Yeah. Definitely. She just needs a little time to breathe."

Rich nodded and sighed. "We'll wait for her. It's a Tara-heavy episode so we can't do much without her. But, hey, at least you two aren't fighting anymore."

My eyebrows came together and I cocked my head to the side a bit. "What do you mean? We weren't fighting."

He scoffed and grinned up at me. "Come on, man. I may not be a genius but I have eyes. Your little breakup was killing the con scene." I opened my mouth to argue, my brain telling me to keep to the rules despite the fact that the rules weren't going to matter much longer, but he reached out and patted my shoulder as he walked toward the set. "When you lost your con cooch to Hiddleston, everything went sour. I'm glad you guys are getting over that. Tomorrow would be very awkward otherwise."

I chuckled and watched him sit in his director's chair. Con cooch. At least he hadn't put it all together. He didn't know we were in love…and I’m sure he didn’t know we were going to end up together for real.

[marvelsdc22]

Home For The Summer

Intro: Hey guys! Its been a hot minute since I've posted an actual story on here, I've been having severe writers block and have been going through a lot recently, but I managed to make some time and write something, I hope y'all enjoy! And thank you to @wokeupinawalnut for the assistance in creating this :) love you <3

Summary: Melissa is your mom's best friend, she's become someone you looked up to and could come to for anything, what happens when feelings start to change and your mother turns ruthless?

Warnings: Potential trigger for alcoholism, verbally abusive behavior, reader is 23/24 by the end(let me know if I missed any)

Word Count: 3k

You had known Melissa since you were thirteen, your mother had brought her over after a long day at the school, the two of them having become friends earlier that year when you and your mother had moved here after your mother divorced your dad, who was no longer in the picture, getting the second grade teaching position at Abbott. Melissa had then become someone you looked up to and could confide in when your mother wasn’t around to listen, which happened more and more the older you got.

When you turned seventeen, you started seeing Melissa in a different light, you started to feel things for the other woman that you knew wasn’t right to feel when it came to your mother’s best friend, but you couldn’t help yourself, you found your gaze on her everytime she was around, quickly averting your gaze when you saw her turn your way, you figured this was just one of those stupid crushes, hell you hadn’t even been on a date yourself, no one interested you enough to get that far.

You had hoped that going away for college would change your feelings for the fiery redhead, getting a decent scholarship to Stanford for their medical school, ever since you were given the opportunity to volunteer at the local hospital, you had your heart set on becoming a doctor so when the opportunity appeared, you took it with no hesitation and immediately accepted the offer you had received.

The day you left, your mother was supposed to drop you off at the airport and see you off, but instead you had to call Melissa last minute when your mother told you she was unable to, grateful that she agreed with no hesitation, loading your bags into the bed of her truck before climbing into the passengers seat, you a bundle of nerves and not just from flying away for school.

The ride was silent aside from the quiet music playing through the trucks speakers “You doing alright over there, kid?” Melissa asked, lightly nudging you with her elbow and causing you to jump slightly, having been lost in your thoughts and looking at her after a moment, furrowing your brows before sighing “Nervous and a little upset that my mom isn’t willing to take the time to see her only child off” you admitted, wringing your hands out in your lap, freezing when she rested a hand on one of yours “It’s her loss, you’re gonna do amazing, I know it might not mean much coming from me, but I’m very proud of the person you’ve become and who you’re going to be, kid” she said, squeezing your hand and you felt tears building in your eyes as your stomach flipped and your heart pounded, the praise making you feel lighter “Thank you”.

When you got to the airport, you expected Melissa to just drop you off at your terminal but she took the turn for the parking garage instead, her taking you the whole way through until she couldn’t follow you anymore “C’mere” she said, pulling you into a tight hug and rubbing your back as you buried your face in her neck “Let me know when you land, I’m gonna miss you so much” she said, giving you one last squeeze before pulling away “I will, I’ll miss you more… Thank you” you smiled, squeezing her hands which you were still holding before turning and heading through security, heading for the next phase of your life.

xxxxx

Little did you know that Covid would hit and hinder any and all travel plans you had, keeping you trapped in California to the point you just never visited, not like your mother cared, you were lucky to get a message from her a day, let alone a phone call, you finally found time during your fifth year, you finally had a small break in classes that you were able to come home for the summer, you still kept in touch with everyone, especially Melissa whose been with you through it all, the nights you were stressed out from all the studying? She was a phone call or facetime away, when you were excited about something that just happened? She was there, as the years went by though, you felt something change between the two of you, she seemed to be more flirty when it came to talking to you, but maybe you were overthinking it all and your brain was twisting what was really happening.

I just landed - You

Just found a parking spot, I’ll see you shortly ;) - Mel

You stumbled slightly when you saw the emoji she chose to use, why would she use that one? Was she trying to hint at something? Here you go again, overthinking, she didn’t mean anything by it, you heading for the baggage claim and waiting for your bag to come on the conveyor, fixing your mask as you scrolled through your phone, you didn’t trust planes when it came to this virus, so you’d rather be safe than sorry, you glanced up when you caught a glimpse of what seemed to be your bag, barely able to set it on the ground before you felt arms wrap around you, causing you to tense before you saw the red hair and smelled her usual perfume, turning in her grasp to return the hug just as tightly.

“I can’t believe you’re home” Melissa said softly, pulling back and cupping your face as to get a better look at you, your heart stuttering before you rested your hand on one of hers, lightly leaning into her touch and missing the flash of adoration in her gaze as you closed your eyes “I’ve missed you” you said softly, looking at her once more before you took a step back and grabbed your suitcase, her still holding your hand as she led you through the airport “I missed you more, your mother has been getting on my nerves without you there for buffer” she laughed, glancing back at you and smiling when you let out a giggle “Not surprising, she doesn’t have me to annoy”.

The drive to your mothers house was quiet, the familiarity of the ride calming as she drove you guys through the busy city “You hungry? That sandwich shop is on the way” Melissa said, breaking the silence as she glanced over at you, catching the smile that appeared on your face at the suggestion “When do I ever say no to that place?” You laughed, throwing her a grin before you relaxed back in the passengers seat, feeling more at home than you have in a while.

When you finally got into your mothers house, it felt different, everything was moved around, it didn’t look like the house you had finished growing up in “About a year after you left, she did a whole renovation of the place” Melissa told you as she followed behind you with your suitcase that she insisted on bringing inside, watching as you took in the new layout, a little lost but it was your mothers house and she could do what she wanted with it.

Heading back to your room, you stopped in front of the closed door; would it be changed too? Your mother wouldn’t do that… right? You so lost in your mind you didn’t notice Melissa looking at you worriedly, opening her mouth to say something when you pushed the door open, the two of you freezing when it was a basic room, not at all how you left it “I didn’t know she did this” Melissa admitted, knowing that she would’ve warned you if she had known, anger evident in her tone and looking at you when you released a shaky breath, setting your suitcase down and tugging your arm so you’d face her “Oh hun, c’mere” seeing the tears building and pulling you into her without another word.

Later that night, you were waiting for your mom to come back, having asked Melissa to give you some time to yourself after she helped you calm down, needing time to figure out what you were going to say to your mom about changing your room without notifying you first, startling when you heard the front door open, your mom staring at you in slight shock, she must’ve forgot or wasn’t paying attention when you had told her that you were coming home for the summer “What are you doing here?” She asked, irritation evident in her tone, it feeling like a knife was dug into your chest at the harsh question “I only told you three times that I was coming home for the summer” you said, watching as she set her things down and kicked her shoes off, basically brushing you off as she headed for the kitchen.

Getting up and following her into the kitchen, you watched as she dug around in the fridge, completely disregarding the food that was on the stove that you had made and was keeping warm until she got home “There’s food on the stove-” getting cut off when she slammed the fridge door closed “What do you really want, Y/N?” She asked, crossing her arms and watching as you started wringing your hands out, a habit you had developed over the years when you got nervous or stressed out, both happening right at that moment.

“I saw you changed things… it looks nice” you started, gesturing to the living room behind you which was decked out in new furniture “Why didn’t you tell me that you were changing my room too?” You asked, feeling yourself start to shrink back under her sharp gaze that seemed to analyze everything about you “I don’t need your approval to change things in my house” she stated, raising a brow when you let out a frustrated sigh “I know you don’t, but that was my space, it would’ve been nice to know-” “You don’t live here anymore, you are no longer my responsibility nor do I want or need you, so do us both a favor and get back on that plane and leave me alone!” She shouted, pushing past you and heading upstairs, you noticing this time just how much she reeked of alcohol, a door slamming jarring you out of your shock.

With tears in your eyes, you ran out of the house, ignoring the fact it was raining as your legs carried you to a familiar destination, ending up at Melissa’s front door, tears running down our cheeks and soaked to the bone, the minutes between knocking and her finally opening the door feeling like an eternity, feeling a rush of relief when she finally opened the door in a comfy looking shirt and sweatpants, her hair a little everywhere indicating she had been asleep and a bat in hand, making you idly wonder what time it really was “Mel…” you choked out, more tears slipping out.

“Y/N? What the hell? Get in here-” setting the bat to the side before pulling you into the house and shutting the door behind you “-you’re soaked, let me grab you a towel” she said, turning and rushing down the hallway, returning quickly and wrapping the towel around you before pulling you into her arms “Shhhh… tell me what happened, hun” she whispered, holding you tighter when you let out a choked sob into her chest, letting you take the time you needed to explain what all went down, her heart breaking at the fact your own mother treated you the way she had.

After you explained everything to Melissa, she led you to her room so she could give you some fresh, warm clothes to change into “I’m sorry I woke you up” you apologized, watching as she pulled one of her eagles shirts out and a pair of sweats, her setting them on the bed before going over to you and cupping your cheeks, wiping a stray tear away with her thumb “Don’t apologize, I would rather you wake me than go wandering around in this weather… go change, I’ll be in the living room” she said, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead before leaving the room, closing the door behind her to give you privacy.

When you came back into the living room, you felt your face start to burn when you caught her smiling at the fact you were in her clothes, watching as she set her phone down and patted the spot next to her, tugging you closer when you sat on the other end rather than next to her “You are free to stay with me as long as you need, do you need anything before I head back to sleep?” She asked, wanting to make sure you were taken care of before returning to her room, smiling and patting your leg when you assured her you were okay, pressing a kiss to your head before she headed back to her room.

About an hour later, you got up to head to the spare room for the night when you saw something light up on the coffee table, looking over and seeing Melissa’s phone still sitting there, catching a glimpse of a message from your mother on it.

If you care so much about them then you keep them… - Y/M/N

That small bit that you could see without unlocking the phone was enough to twist the knife that was already buried in your chest, taking a deep breath to steady yourself before returning Melissa’s phone to her room, moving carefully as to not wake her, plugging her phone into the charger and setting it on the nightstand before turning to sneak out, making it to the end of her bed when your pinky toe caught the end of the bed “Shit!” You muttered, collapsing to the floor and holding your foot in pain.

Melissa jumped up when she heard the thud and quickly turned the lamp on before she turned and saw you on the floor “Are you okay, sweetheart?” She asked, helping you up and having you sit on the edge of her bed “Yeah, I was heading to bed and noticed your phone was still on the coffee table so I wanted to put it where it belonged and my toe caught your bed” you admitted sheepishly, watching as Melissa fought hard to not laugh but a small chuckle slipped out “Well, thank you for returning it-” picking her phone up and seeing the message “-what did you see?”

Dropping your gaze to the floor, you messed with the strings on the sweatpants “Enough” you shrugged, taking a shaky breath “She’s not wrong, I’m not important and I don’t deserve anything-” trailing off when her hand firmly gripped your chin and turned your head to face her “Stop that, you deserve everything and your mother is stupid for not realizing that” she said, lightly running her thumb along your bottom lip “Anyone who gets the chance to love you will be the luckiest person alive” she said, her eyes drifting to your lips before meeting your gaze once again “Mel…” You whispered, feeling an imaginary pull between the two of you.

“Can I kiss you?” You asked, locking eyes with her for a moment before realizing what you had just said “I’m sorry, I don’t-” you stuttered before her lips cut you off, stealing the remaining words you had before you melted into the kiss, the two of you pulling back when breathing became necessary, resting your foreheads against one another “I’ve wanted to do that since that night you went to that party and sent me that selfie” Melissa admitted, that having been the night you went to a party last summer, it having been a small one with some classmates, you having sent her a selfie to make sure you looked good, you had wondered why it had taken her so long to respond.

You smiled as you looked at her “Really? I’ve had a crush on you since I was seventeen, I thought it would go away when I left for school… Obviously not” you admitted, reaching over and tucking some loose red strands behind her ear, smiling into the small peck she gave you “We should get to bed… we can talk about this more over dinner?” Melissa suggested, tugging you a little closer by your hips “Dinner sounds wonderful… I’ll see you in the morning?” You asked as you stood, stopping when she grabbed your hand “Or you could sleep in here? If you’re comfortable with that of course” smiling when you nodded and let her tug you onto the bed next to her.

The next morning, you woke up to the spot beside you cold but the smell of breakfast being made and the sound of soft jazz playing from the kitchen, groaning, you forced yourself up and out of Melissa’s bed, making your way to the kitchen and smiling when you saw Melissa standing at the stove, humming along to the music, already dressed for work, this being the last week of school before summer break “Smells good” you smiled, heading over to her and cautiously wrapping your arms around her from behind, unsure what you could and couldn’t do with her, smiling and resting your chin on her shoulder when you felt her lean back against you, the tension releasing from your body.

“I figured you deserved something homecooked” Melissa smiled, pressing a kiss to the side of your head, enjoying this downtime with you “So, I have to work, but when I get back we can go get your stuff from your moms, get you settled here then dinner at this new restaurant that just opened up” she suggested, looking at you when you extracted yourself from her and stole a piece of bacon off the plate, to which she smacked your hand away with a laugh “That works for me, I’ll be here” you said, munching on the bacon.

After Melissa left(after many many kisses), you busied yourself with doing dishes(which was a pain to convince her to let you do) and cleaning up until Melissa got back, taking you to your mothers house who was thankfully nowhere in sight(Melissa had ripped her a new one when she saw her at school) before heading back to Melissa’s, the two of you splitting off to get ready, you wearing your nicest top you had in your suitcase and the nicest pair of pants you had, sadly you didn’t think to pack nice shoes so you were stuck in your vans, checking yourself in the bathroom mirror one last time before heading into the living room to wait for Melissa.

When she entered the room, your jaw dropped, her red curls were down and hanging over her shoulders, her black dress showing off her curves just right and her heels completing the look “Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies” she teased, pushing your chin to close your mouth “Are you sure we need to go out for dinner? I got a whole meal right here” you said, shocking yourself as she smirked “C’mon, I promised my baby dinner, you can have dessert later” she winked before leading you out, the promise being fulfilled as soon as you guys got home, you knew this summer and the next several were going to be the best summers of your life.

[lifeofafreckledredhead]

I lost everything loving you

I lost my sanity

I lost My identity

I lost my standards

I lost my morals

I lost my boundaries

I lost myself loving you

A.Val

[goodmorninglovelies42]

My least favorite take is that the story of Jamie’s dad is about substance abuse. It’s not. Addiction is a disease. At least in the US it’s classified as substance use disorder. And it’s a treatable condition that should be viewed as a public health matter and not a moral matter.

But that’s not the issue with James Tartt, Sr. The issue with James is that he’s abusive — physically, emotionally, and sexually — towards Jamie. Now, maybe that is exacerbated by substance use, particularly alcohol. But that doesn’t fully explain or excuse behavior.

And again, I believe that people can change. No matter how old they are or what horrible things they’ve done. And I believe that *societally* those people deserve second chances. But believing both of those things doesn’t require that the the *individual* they harmed extend forgiveness. Those are complex and individual choices.

The show implies that James Tartt Sr. is in rehab. And I think that’s great. People should absolutely get the medical treatment they need (AA isn’t evidence based, btw, but that’s a discussion for another day). But getting treatment for substance use disorder doesn’t automatically fix the behaviors he engaged in, even while under the influence. And me saying that doesn’t mean I’m demonizing people with substance use disorder.

[spoocys-glade-of-dreams]

Years of trauma, heavy drinking, and hard drugs fragmented a lot of Rayman/Ramon's memories. He doesn't have very many left of Dimension X. He has trouble trying to remember what his own parents looked like.

The only person he really remembers from Dimension X was Globox. Rayman/Ramon assumed he died back in Dimension X.

He has to rely on pictures and stories to help jog the memory.

He latches onto Bullfrog as a friend after the rescue because of how much he reminds Rayman/Ramon of Globox. Bullfrog was hesitant on befriending Rayman/Ramon at first, but they did eventually bond. Rayman/Ramon and Bullfrog becoming close allies and friends.

[anaaxiety]

Getting blackout drunk while watching jersey shore lol

It's almost empty lmao, gotta get another bottle. I usually get the 100cl ones they're for sale now too

[talkingteardrop]

chat yall wanna hear an angsty backstory?

@woodrocko Tw for abuse

Trabsmasc Snowball! Icy and Snowball are siblings, snowball is a few years older. Before icy was born their father left their mother. Because of this, when Icy was two and Sb was 9, their mom started drinking. Heavily. So their mom was drunk 24/6. And since she was drunk, she would abuse Snowball and icy. With Sb often protecting icy and getting hurt even more. Snowflake (mom) would smash empty beer bottles on them.

Till eventually. Snowball had enough. He packed up every single clothing item he and icy had in a big bag, then set icy into the bag. Then he ran. He ran and didnt look back. He was gonna get him and his sister to safety

[yentrinh81]

How can someone live their life in a fog every day? Always drunk, barely remembering what they did or said the night before, and always regret what they did yesterday but wake up and do it all over again.

[thewomenbehindthegodfather]

[hawksheadcanonblog]

Headcanon - Roller Ricky relapsed briefly after Whistling Night. He was worried it would be harder to come back from if not impossible without Teddy to help him out like he did before, he just couldn't trust him again knowing what he knows now, but was able to find the path back to sobriety just fine without him. It was oddly enlightening for him.

[lifeofafreckledredhead]

I sacrificed so much to love you

I sacrificed friendships

I sacrificed parts of my family

I sacrificed my sanity

I sacrificed my time

I sacrificed everything I worked so hard to keep and maintain

All while loving you because I kept choosing you

Everytime

And you still won't choose me

A.Val

[bluejay-writes]

Heaven is a Misnomer - Chapter 1

To protect him from his unsafe home life, Jake's mother sends him to the Celestial Realm for an exchange program. Jake faces a pile of Celestial Realm biases, a broken system of oppression, and unlikely friends. This year is going to be unpleasant at best, but he'll survive. Hopefully.

Fandom: Shall We Date?: Obey Me! Rating: Teen, for now. Might bump it up for violence but I don't think it'll get that bad. Chapter 1 Wordcount: 3136 Characters/Relationships: Jake (Exchange student OC) / Raphael (Eventually. This is a slow burn). Michael exists, mentions of all the demon brothers and extras exist, and they appear in some of the middle chapters. A bunch of new OC angels because we don't know enough about the celestial realm in canon. Notes:

Well fam, here we are, as promised. First week of 2024, Jake's story in the Celestial Realm. Bad Khakis. Michael being problematic.

I'm really excited for you all to get to meet the extended OC cast, given that we don't have a lot of named angels in canon! Also the exchange students that got introduced in DD get fleshed out so that you can meet them more as real people. (The more I write of this the more I love Bunny and Aya, honestly.)

I'll be posting a chapter every Tuesday, and given how long the chapters are turning out and how many chapters I've got plotted past what I've written, I hope you're down for another ~100k word ride.

This follows the canon timeline, and is happening simultaneously with "Devils in the Details" which chronicles Nia's first year of the exchange program in the Devildom. If you're here and sad that there aren't a ton more scenes with the demon brothers, well! There's a whole fic for that already! Knowledge of that fic is not necessary to read this one, but the tie ins make it fun!

You can also read this on AO3, if that's your jam!

|| Next Chapter >

Chapter 1: What do you mean, Exchange Program?

“Same time tomorrow, Mr. Costello?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Jake said, a smile plastered onto his face as though it was the most important thing in his world, and that he hadn’t been fighting tears for the last twenty minutes.

He’d been having tutoring sessions over lunch time for his entire high school career.  It had been the cause of no end of strife in his school life, but it was better for him than not.  The tutoring sessions were a cover, of course, for counseling sessions. Therapy. It was something his mother had worked out with the school counselor the moment she knew what school he was going to.  Jake had always been a troubled kid, and his mother wanted to avoid that kind of thing following him to high school.

This of course, was the cause of a ton of rumors that made his life ridiculous, but Jake was the king of gossip and rumors, so he was entirely too happy to either play along or do something completely contrary to what they were spreading that made the rumormongers look like idiots.

On his way to his locker, Jake glanced down at his phone. He still had five minutes before passing time to wolf down his sandwich. He was leaving the bathroom after washing his hands when he practically ran into his bestie Nia making a beeline for the ladies’ room.  She didn’t seem to even notice him, and he pursed his lips.  Great. Something happened while she was reading under the bleachers again.  That was the only real downside to his lunchtime therapy sessions. He never got to have lunch with his bestie, and as much as she claimed to love the time for reading, he knew she was dealing with her own personal hell. People were assholes. Especially their fellow students.

“Jacob, can you see me at my desk, please?”

Jake sighed, stepping up to his Chemistry teacher’s desk.

“Care to explain why you didn’t turn in last week’s assignment? The late work deadline was Monday.” He said, lips pursed in a way that made Jake think of a cranky old woman librarian.

“I did, Mr. Cook.” Of course he did. Jake did all of his homework, it was the one reliable escape at home.

“I have no record of your lab report, nor the associated worksheets.”

Jake bit back his retort. Fighting with Mr. Cook about this never worked, and only got the Chemistry teacher more and more on his case.

“I have the slip you signed when I turned it in.” Jake said, pulling out his binder and getting out the slip in question. He refused to let go of the paper, simply showing it to the teacher. He just knew if he let go of the signed slip that it too would get “lost”.  He didn’t know if Mr. Cook did it on purpose, but his grades were suffering because this man was determined that he never did his work.  The signed turn-in slips were his mother’s idea, after the last parent-teacher conference where his academic reputation had been dragged in the mud. Mrs. Costello was having absolutely none of that, she knew full well how much focus her boy put on his academics.

“Ah. I see that you do.” the teacher said, and seemed to set his jaw. “I will have to look into what might have happened on my end.”

“Please.” Jake said. He was thinking ‘See that you do.’ but he just had this feeling if he said that out loud he’d never hear the end of it. “Is there anything else, Mr. Cook?”

“No, that is everything I need from you, Mr. Costello.”

“Great, can I have a pass to my next class? I still need to stop at my locker, and—“

“You’ll be fine if you hustle.” Mr. Cook said, and then promptly dismissed Jake from his attention.

Jake cursed internally, and walked out of the room as fast as he could - he couldn’t do with being yelled at for running, but he was going to need to pull off the power walk of his life if he didn’t want to be late to his last class of the day.

“Welcome home, Jakey.” his mom said from the kitchen, where she was busily cooking dinner.

“Hey Mom.” Jake said, setting his bag by the stairs and plopping down at the kitchen counter.

“And how was school?”

“I had to show Mr. Cook one of his signed assignment slips today.”

“Seriously? That man gets on my last nerve.” 

Jake watched as his mother chopped ingredients for dinner slightly more aggressively than she had been.

“It should be fine. If not, I can go to the AP’s office and complain directly.”

“Heaven help that man if I have to get involved again.”

“I still think he’s just homophobic and taking it out on me because I’m the one most publicly out at school.”

“It could be, as much as I hate to say it.” his mother said, sliding the chopped vegetables into the skillet. “But maybe we shouldn’t talk about that right now—“

“Talk about what?”

Jake froze at the sound of his father’s voice from behind him. Shit. He’s home early.

“I was thinking it was possible that Mr. Cook is intentionally ‘losing’ my assignments because I’m gay, is all.” Jake trailed off towards the end of his sentence. He knew how this was about to go down.

“Some teacher is losing your things.”

“Yes. I have pr—“

“And it’s because you’re supposedly gay.”

“It could be.”

“So tell him you’re not gay. Then it’s handled.”

“That would be a lie, dad.”

“You’re kidding, right Jacob? This whole thing is a joke, haha, joke’s on old dad.”

Jake looked up at his dad and winced.

“No, I’m not kidding, dad. I’m gay.”  It was probably the fifth time he’d accidentally outed himself to his father.  It wasn’t like his dad was old enough to have Alzheimer's or something, he was just usually too drunk to remember anything the next day.

“Oh Andy, leave the kid be. You know it’s just a phase.”  His mother said from the kitchen, and he winced. That was her way out of this argument every time.  Honestly, all he wanted was his dad to realize that being gay wasn’t the worst thing that a kid could be these days. It wasn’t even that rare for a kid to be gay, especially in the city.

It wouldn’t be that big of a deal, really, his dad not thinking the highest of him, but he knew that when his dad got upset like this… well… it went bad for his mom, real fast.

“Yeah sure, just a phase.”  his dad said, and threw his bottle against the wall.  From the way it splattered, it wasn’t quite empty, either.  Jake didn’t look forward to cleaning that up.

Here we fucking go. Jake thought. He started to say something, but his mother spoke before he could.

“Jake, go to your room.” His mother said, gaining all of his father’s attention.

“What, Marnie. You just going to take his side?” his father spat, and Jake all but sprinted up to his room, grabbing his bag on the way.  There was a reason he always left it against the stairs, much as he wished there wasn’t.

He got into his room and shut his door, practically collapsing into his desk chair. Perfect way to spend a Thursday night, he thought, pulling out his math homework and his phone.

Jake > Nia: Nia, they’re at it again. Nia > Jake: Oh shit. What this time? Jake > Nia: Same shit, different day. Dad found out I’m gay, I guess. Nia > Jake: You came out to your parents more than a year ago!!! Nia > Jake: How many times is this going to happen? Jake > Nia: I don’t know. What can I do? I can’t.. Anything. Nia > Jake: You know you’re always welcome here. Jake > Nia: I can’t leave my mom. Nia > Jake: I know. Hey look on the bright side, tomorrow’s Friday. Jake > Nia: Friday… gods bless Friday, I need my Ma hugs. Nia > Jake: Me too! Also it’s Pizza and Ice Cream Friday. Jake > Nia: Now there’s inspiration to get my math homework done.

Downstairs, more glass shattered, and Jake winced. He just hoped his mom was going to be okay, after this.  He knew he’d hear all about it tomorrow, how much he was a bad son, and did he have any idea what she went through for him…

I really do understand. Jake sighed, and put his headphones on.  The music was far too loud, but it served to drown out the mess that was his home life so that he had a chance to get his homework done.

Now… how was this supposed to work again? A squared plus B squared…

Jake woke suddenly to a hand on his shoulder, and jumped so hard he almost fell off of his bed.

“Sorry Jakey.” his mom said quietly. “Your dad’s out again. I brought you some dinner.” She set the bowl of vegetable-heavy macaroni and cheese on his desk.

“You don’t need to apologize, mom.” Jake said, reaching out to pull his mom into a hug. “It’s not your fault he’s like this.”

“I know, baby. But you deserve better.”  She ruffled his hair, and chuckled. “Looks like we need to trim your sides again.”

“Oh no, am I getting scruffy?”

“Just a little bit.”

Jake felt a strong need to put a hat on. Scruffy did not fit his aesthetic one bit.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure he fit his own aesthetic at all.

Circumstances made it so that he came out of the closet way earlier than he really felt comfortable, but he knew that if he was just himself, but gay, that it would backfire.  So instead, he was flamboyant, expressive Jake.

At least in the privacy of his own bedroom he could be himself. Quiet, melancholy Jake. Much less bright than anyone thought he was.  Anyone but Nia, at least. His bestie knew him inside and out, so at least he had that going for him.

Friday dawned like any other day ending in Y, and Jake hauled himself out of bed and to school. Early, of course, for track practice.  His mornings were utterly incomplete without a long run.  Something that helped him clear his mind and get his school mask settled into place.

Of course, by the time he was in the locker room showering off the sweat and changing out of his running gear, the rumors and gossip were already flying.  There were two new students today. Something about an exchange program.  Jake soaked in as much gossip as he could on his way to his first class. He absolutely had to share this with Nia. Hopefully she was already in class, and there hadn’t been some incident keeping her from her morning reading. It seemed like that kind of week.

Jake bounded into the classroom, glad to see Nia in her usual place.  He plopped down in his chair, facing backwards so that he could chatter at her before class started.

“Nia!!!”

“Morning Jake. Happy Friday.” Nia looked up from her book, casually putting her bookmark in to hold her place. 

“That’s your normal Friday Greeting. Today is not a normal Friday!”

“What?”

“There are new kids!”

“On a Friday?”

“Yep!”

“Their parents are the worst. Why would you start your kids on a Friday, at least wait until Monday.”

I think my dad takes the cake for the worst, but… sure, Nia.

“Okay, okay. I get your point, but like… they’re both seniors. Brothers, apparently. And smokin’ hot.”

“I’ll take your word for it?”

“No way. Between the two of us we have seven classes today. Surely we’ll catch sight of one of them, right?”

“Yeah. Hell of a story to tell ma later.”

“Miss Laney. Language.” Mr. Randall said, entering the room.

Jake rolled his eyes, grateful to be facing away from their teacher initially.

“English, Mr. Randall. Christian jargon, specifically.”

The teacher laughed. “Alright, alright. Good morning.”

At least he was dealing fine with Nia’s pedantic backtalk this morning. Maybe he was excited about new students to teach, as well.  Jake turned himself around in his chair, as the rest of their classmates started to file into the room. Jake was excited to meet the new kids, but he got the vibe from Nia that she could do without adding any new potential bullies to her watch list. He didn’t really blame her for it. She had the worst luck.

After lunch, Jake walked into Chemistry, expecting to have another discussion with Mr. Cook about his homework.  What he wasn’t expecting was for his usually vacant table to be populated… by the two new kids.  Oh, sweet! He’d get to meet them and could tell Nia what to expect in case either of them were choir kids.  The blonde looked… choir-possible. The other… seemed like he’d rather be skipping.  Did he just wink at me?

Jake settled into his usual chair, and engaged immediately with the new kids.

“Hi, I’m Jake, and apparently we’re table buddies now.”

Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome - the one who’d winked - grinned. “Hi there, Jake. I’m Diaval. And this,” He gestured to the blonde who looked like someone had taken him off of one of those 90s trashy romance book covers, “is my brother Mark.”

“Pleasure to meet you. Brothers, both seniors…” Jake said, thinking. “Don’t let me sound too stupid here, but you don’t look like twins.”

Mark scoffed. “Please. We’re barely brothers. My father is—“

“Someone entirely different than mine.” Diaval finished, rolling his eyes.

Oh. Jake thought. They don’t get along at all. This is going to be interesting.

He slipped his phone out and sent a few quick texts to Nia, before turning his focus on Mr. Cook, lest he get his phone confiscated.

Jake was looking forward to band.  His last period class, Band usually kept him sane and happy. He was surprised, after their conversations in Chemistry not to see Diaval here in band. He’d seemed like a musical sort. Maybe he was in choir with Nia.

Shaking his head to get the new kids out of it so that he could focus, Jake waved to his fellow percussionists before getting himself settled at the timpani.  He’d just picked up the mallets when the director beckoned him over. Setting the mallets down carefully, he practically flounced over to the director. The man never needed him for anything before, so this was a novel experience. He wasn’t even the percussion lead…

“I just got a call from the office, Jake. Your mother is here.”

Jake blinked. “Why is my mom here?”

“I certainly don’t know.” the director said, shrugging. “But apparently you’re going to be heading out straight from the office today, so grab your bag. I’ll see you Monday.”

Jake knew not to argue. If mom was here to pick him up, there was probably a good reason. Better her than dad, that was for sure.  He’d have to text Nia from the car, though. She’d worry, otherwise.

Of course, he didn’t have to do that, as he ran into Nia in the hallway.

“Oh hey! I have to go to the office—“

“—because my mom is here…”

“Weird.” They said in unison, and weird only began to cover the next few hours.

Their moms had come together. And had taken them out to get fancy coffee. Which was like ten red flashing lights right there. Something was very off.

Of course something crazy was happening. Of course.

“So, you’re saying you signed me up for an exchange program?” Nia said, and the look she was giving her mother over the top of her coffee-adjacent drink was telling.

To be fair, Jake was giving his own mother the same look.

“Isn’t it just supposed to be like, to another country though?” he said, concerned.

“Well…” Nia’s mom started, and his mom interrupted her.

“It was my idea. I didn’t know if you two would get in, but I suggested to Lynn, I mean Nia’s mom, that we could sign you both up so you’d be together.”

“Well, that backfired.” Nia said, bitterly.

“They said you can still text though! And video call, and regular call!” Nia’s mom said, trying to sound excited for them.

“But…” Jake said, not excited about being separated from Nia, and especially displeased about leaving his mom alone with how his dad was being.

“And there’ll be a big dance at the end of the program.” Jake’s mom said, her smile equally fake.

“So you’re saying the two hot guys who just transferred in today are our replacements?” Jake shared a look with Nia. That would explain some things about the supposed ‘brothers’ they’d met.

“Well…”

“In Nia’s case, yeah, literally.” Her mom said. “They’re staying at our place since we have the space…”

“And you’re going to trust them to take care of the girls?” Nia said, cautiously.

“Well, no. I had to take a few months of 8-5s to cover Janice’s maternity leave, so it works out.”

“That is suspiciously convenient.” Jake said with narrowed eyes.

“Jake… There’s a reason we did this. I’m divorcing your father. But It’s going to be messy… and I need to know that you’re safe, okay?”

“So you’re sending me off to Literal Actual Heaven where Angels are from to keep me safe.” Jake was angry. Nia just looked like she was numb. “And you’re sending Nia off to Literal Actual Hell.”

“Technically it’s the Celestial Realm and the Devildom.” His mother said, quietly.

Nia still hadn’t done so much as blink in the last five minutes.

“Adania. Please. Just try it. It’s a year. It’s Room & Board covered, and we have been promised you will both be entirely safe.”

Jake reached out and took Nia’s hand in his, at which point she basically melted, falling over into his shoulder.

“Ugh. Fiiiine. Can we still have pizza and ice cream night?” Nia asked, sighing.  Jake could feel the subtle trembling.

“Yes. But we’re going out for pizza.” her mother said, grinning. “And Marnie’s coming along.”

“What.” Nia said, so blankly it wasn’t even a question.

“Yeah, we’re gonna do the whole arcade thing.”

“Mom, we can’t afford that.”

“With the stipend they’re giving me to house a literal angel and a literal demon? We’re good.”

“Mo-om!”

“Hush. You’re leaving tomorrow. Let me spoil my baby girl.”

Nia rolled her eyes and Jake just laughed. 

A year in Heaven, huh? Wonder if it was going to be anything like Seven Minutes in Heaven. Maybe he’d kiss an angel. Ha. Gay angels. Unlikely. This year was going to suck.

[menheradoll884]

pink themed trigger warnings any TW/CW requests are welcome, including combinations of these.  > I started making these for personal use in my blog and thought they might be useful for other people. No crediting needed! 

[weird-unlimited-ramblings]

I’m gonna make a theory or headcanon about every Oak-Garcia . (Not counting Hilda, Barry, Birdy, or Autumn) this is the first post that I have made something darker, I added warning tags ,but this is also my first time using them. If I did something wrong feel free to correct me so I can edit the post.

Due to Henry and Mercedes living in Ecuador (with Birdie), neither of them know a lot about what happened to Hero. However, both of them know about how strained Normal and Hero’s relationship is and call frequently to give advice. They also talk with Hero a lot, who only really talks about her jobs. Both probably know it’s related to the doodler and something they are unaware of happening, but they tried pushing before and it didn’t work out well. They both just remind Hero and Normal that if they ever run into some trouble to call them.

Lark had always gotten obsessive about killing the doodler, but prior to “killing” Nick he was a lot better. After that night park finally crossed a line. Every negative trait in him got worse, and the good things began to fall away. Lark removed the safety from guns, he and sparrow harshened Hero’s training, his patience kept getting thinner.

Sparrow has always struggled with an alcohol addiction. The time normal remembers (mentioned in dance dance revelations (part 2 I think) is probably related to Hero’s mental breakdown at seeing the doodler. Or the thing I will be referencing in my section about Rebecca

Rebecca had known about the doodler, and didn’t know how hard Hero was being pushed (I need my kids to have one slightly redeemable parent). She was mostly at work or at home with Normal. When Hero came home after one of the trips and started crying for every night. Sparrow refused to talk about it. After things escalate Rebecca has a mental breakdown. Lark and Sparrow choose to stop Hero’ training and to also remove the memories of the doodler from Rebecca.

Hero has more jobs than just the internship and pizza delivery. She tries to keep herself busy so she never has to think about her own childhood, or her parents. She also likes that she’s making so much money. One she makes enough money to survive without her parents assistance she’s cutting contact fully with her family (including normal cause he’s a momma’s boy). She plans to get back in contact with him when he turns eighteen

Normal has connected sparrows’s pride and love together. He knows that even if his mom isn’t proud of him (she is) that she loves him whole heartedly. But he remembers being little and his dad looking at him weird, and always hanging out with Hero taking her out for ice cream (he wasn’t allowed to go.) When he finally got a properly relationship with Sparrow he connected it with something that had happened. He assumed that his dad was now proud of him.

The doodler definitely is gonna be defeated by Hero, if Normal goes full doodler. Cause the doodler above all wants to be loved, and it knows how much Hero feared it, knows how long she cried. Normal is her brother though, and in many ways her only family. The doodler is scary, but normal is a funny little freak. She’s gonna be terrified, but it’s her brother. The doodler wants to be loved, and Hero wants her brother back… any ways normal is gonna be the big sister of the doodler and they are gonna kick the oak twins in the crotch and then be siblings together. Happy happy happy

[nevalizona]

Hi there, please please please read the tags before clicking the readmore. Thank you🫶

Pardon any errors.

John's cheek still stung. He was angry. He was sad. These feelings are the same, for today at least. He hates being reminded that he is small. He is young. He's a son.

He could hear his parents fighting inside. His mother screaming about how she'll "never let him do that again!" John rolled his eyes. Yeah, right. She can't stand up to him. Not that John wants her to. He can't watch anything happen to her. He knows the routine. She'll come outside to check on him, tugging along a bag or two, and she'll take him to his Aunt Molly's for a week. Maybe more. Then, one day, she'll have their bags packed again and announce that they're going back home. (John can usually hear his Aunt and Mom whisper fighting about this. "Why do you keep going back to him? Grow a spine!" "He is my husband, Molly. He's had his space." "Oh sure! Bring Johnny back home where he can get knocked around by his old man. Great thinkin', Marjorie!" John's mom will not respond to this.)

Today is different. Today, John has had enough. He wiped his eyes, cursing himself for being an angry crier. He wills himself to his feet, and he's heading back in the direction of the house. Heart beating so hard that he can hear it in his ears. He whips the screen door open and lets it slam behind him.

"You better not be slamming that fucking door, Johnny. How many times have I told you to watch that fucking door?" His father didn't miss a beat.

"Michael!" John's mom pleaded. She didn't have to say it, but you could hear it. 'Stop! Be the adult! He is your son!' He can hear his Dad clicking his tongue like he didn't believe it. How many times does this family have to do this?

"I'm tired of you fucking hitting me!" John tried to strike his dad, but he was grabbed and twisted into an odd embrace. His arms bent and unable to move.

"So fucking tough, huh? You see this Marjie? Look at your boy, all grown up. Whatcha gonna do Johnny? Gonna hit your old man? I fucking dare you to. Fucking try it, you fucking punk. Hit me!" Michael bent John's arms further causing him to cry out.

"Michael! Stop!" She was tugging on her husband. John, too angry to see. Too angry to think, lifted his foot, and kicked his dad as hard as he could in the shins.

"You little shit!" He spat, letting John go and gripping his leg.

"You fucking pansy. You actually did it." His Dad scoughed, and for a second John thought he saw a smile pulling at the corner of his father's mouth. Nothing is more sobering to John than realizing he's falling right in his old man's trap.

Without saying anything, he turned and left the way he came. Not stopping at the front porch this time. He kept walking 'till he was at the bus. Away. He was going as far as he could be away from his father for now. A breather. The lake. His safety. His comfort. His home.

"Fucking drunk. Fucking prick. Piece of fucking shit." John grumbled to himself as he took a seat. John is a lot of things, but he will never be his father. For certain, he'll never be him.